Raging Demon Reaper

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Grim Tales. If I did, this would be on the SNAFU website.

NOTE TO ALL: Wow, I am amazed and impressed with all the feedbacks and guesses I got for last chapter. However, as you're all probably aware of, I can't tell you which of you are exactly right as it'll give away surprises. Still, thank you for all the guesses! I love to see what you all think is going on in this fic!

Guest- Happy to have a new fan!

theeternalguest- Thanks!

Broconi-Heheh, I love your answers, but I am surprised by how many people are guessing future Junior for who/what the Farmer is. 4. Okay, his relative sanity than. 5. Point taken...though, why can't I find this question in the chapter anymore?(scratches head)

Guest- Maybe.

NergalReaper904- No one blames Junior, really. With Mandy, its hard to. As for the farmer? I will say that yes, he knew Junior was there the whole time and yes, they are connected. Ohh, don't worry, I have something planned for when we get to horror's hand. Many things, actually. And you don't have to worry about me quiting this either- I'm not even close to being done with it!

death korp grenadier- Hehe, very nice guesses. And in a way, yes, it is about Junior's power in a round about way.

nightmaster000- Yes, yes she will.

detrametal- Sorry it took so long!

Cf96- Maybe. Many things are not set in stone.

DPSS- No, Junior used Grim's arm to make that scythe, so it was 'unmade' when Junior gave the arm back. Don't worry, it'll come back one day.

Your answers: 1. If I didn't already have a LOT of things planned, I would probably have made gone with both- yes, I'll comfirm that Junior and his father are two different beings, but that's ALL I'm comfirming 2. Hehe, not exactly. 3. Hmm, interesting answer- I recently made a comment that a Nergal and a plant seem very similar. 4. Not bad. 5. Among other things. 6. Not too far off, actually, but dependds on how you look at it. 7. Well, depends on your definition of real, but yeah. 8. Spot on! 9. Pretty much, yeah. 10. You'll see. 11. Again, BINGO! 12. I'd have to agree. 13. And junior isn't looking for a fight right now. 14. Ohh, I like that guess- Was hoping people really take note of what the eye colors mean for Junior. 15. Honestly? I have to agree with that, but sometimes parents can be vain like that- wanting thier kids to be just like them. 16. Yep. 17. Guess that was a given.

Lord Razer: Wait no more.

Coldblue: Hope you're still around and well!

Sorry, I can be a bit of a review hog sometimes(grins sheepishly).

But I really like your analysis of this, of Junior's vision being a play on his reaper nature. I've come to realize that that vision means a LOT more than what I just meant it to be. But, yes: Mandy having odd dreams, Junior hating himself and being unjaded only around Minnie for the most part, Minnie trying to support her brother while keeping the family together, Dan refusing to die,

1. Possibly, I know of at least TWO alternations that will happen to her ragdoll form, but possibly more.

2. Yes, but this Minnie is more worried about the mental state of her brother for the time being. If she thoguht Mandy was lusting after Junior, she's going to be territoral for more than just jealousy since Junior and Mandy aren't on the best of terms right now.

3. Yes. That is ALL I'll say on that. I want WHO to be a surprise- it's gonig to be good, trust me.

Onto Your answers: Gaz is involved in this: You'll see how later.

1. Hehe, people like this idea for some reason. Not saying its wrong, just making a comment. 2. This is probably the most interesting take on the garden scene- that the two main plants represent mortals and immortals. Definitely not what I intended, but I like your take on it. 3. Hehe, that might be true, given this chapter. 4. Hmm, the idea of losing sanity being a right of passage might have been true in the past, but in the present, things are far more like the human world then they use to be. 5...With a few minor detail changes? You're pretty spot on here. 6. They're mostly about Jack's histories, actually. 7. To my own surprise, this version of Jack has a LOT in common with Junior. As for the citizen? Thats part of it, yeah. 8. I won't say any of that isn't true. 9. Read chapter. 10. Possible. 11. Hehe, might be right there. 12. You actually inspired part of this chaper with that answer. 13. Oh yeah, she'll be back.

Well, hope you enjoy this, and my newer works!

Regular speak

Thoughts and Emotions talking to person outside mind

Demonic or Animalistic Speak

Demonic or Animalistic Thoughts

Mellori smiled as she followed one of her animal friends through the graveyard. You didn't grow up in Halloween Town without growing to like graveyards. After all, if you ever wanted peace and quiet, this was where to go.

"So, the Prince shall go free and unpunished for this slaughter?" The black cat asked evenly.

Mellori nodded her head, "Yes, Drez, probably. His mother is Queen Mandy, after all. Not to mention that Jack is his uncle," Mellori answered with a sigh.

"Such is the way of the Underworld, Mellori. Coveting fear and power, even at the expense of one's own subjects," Drez commented solemnly. "Despite how things have changed, that never did. This is just another one of many reminders the afterlives have been getting lately."

"But why? Oogie Boogie never did this much damage, before or after Jack banished him to that club house. That boy killed thousands in one night, and most of them were royal soldiers! I can understand if we were the enemy, but this is the Pumpkin King's land and Queen Mandy already has dominion here!" The young witch protested, clearly upset.

"And what would you have them do?" Drez asked with a sigh of his own as he sat atop a tombstone. "Even if anyone were stupid enough to demand retribution from his parents, what could they do to that boy?" He reminded, Mellori drooping her head in resignation. Drez smiled in a way only a cat could. "Now cease with this sadness of yours, child. You're alive. After a night like that, you can't ask for much more," He encouraged gently.

Mellori sighed at that and petted him, "I just...can't get him out of my head. Every time I close my eyes...he's there, staring at me. As if he's deciding what I might taste like...but all he does is stare. I feel as though my end has come and every moment is merely an agonizingly long instant in which I'm waiting for the blow to come...," She explained, shivering at the end.

"Mellori, calm down. He's not going to...come after...you...," Drez started, slowing down and turning scared as his gaze turned upward.

"Drez?" Mellori asked as she dried her tears, looking at the cat oddly, "What's wrong? Is it a buzzard or something?" She asked curiously, turning to scan the area with her mauveine eyes. She froze when she saw him. There was the Demon-Reaper, walking along a cliff in all his demonic glory, his fiery red eyes still as hellish as she remembered them. She stared until he suddenly stopped in his walk, causing her to flinch violently out of her trance, before turning to run as fast as her legs could carry her...

"Mellori! You have to slow down!" Drez warned as he ran behind her.

"I can't, he'll catch me! He'll take my soul!" Mellori cried frantically as she ran, fast and hard.

"Mellori, stop! He's not following us! He never even saw you!" Drez tried to assure, to no avail as the young witch continued running until...

While the Reaper-Beast and the Demon-Reaper had not touched the cemetery, the intense shaking of the earth had still caved in and ruptured parts of the burial ground's geography.

"Ahhh!" Mellori screamed as the grounds caved in from under her. Frantic, she reached out and tried to grab something, anything to keep her from falling into the pit below her. By sheer luck, she grabbed onto a good sized tree root, leaving her dangling off the wall at least a dozen feet from the surface.

"Mellori! Are you okay!" Drez called as he poked his head over to see her predicament.

"I'm fine! But I'm not sure if I climb up!" She answered, "Drez, you have to get out of here." She said sadly.

"Don't be a fool, I'm not leaving you," He assured, sounding annoyed with the suggestion, "Besides, the Prince isn't coming after us. I don't even think he noticed us."

"Drez, the Demon-Reaper is here, in the graveyard. What other reason could he be here for? If you run now, you might make it out of here, but if you stay, he'll find both of us," Mellori warned with a sad smile and a tear down her green face. Drez groan at her almost absurd certainty.

"Mellori, he's not-!" Drez stopped with wide feline eyes, making Mellori hang her head in dread as she felt the tentacle wrapping around her waist. He had her. He wasn't going to let her get away. She would be in the prince's stomach in another moment. She shivered, but let go, resigned to her fate as the tentacle slowly pull her off the wall and lifted her up.

"Drez, run away," She whispered as she closed her eyes, waiting for the teeth to sink into her soul...only it never came. She found herself deposited on one side of the hole, where Drez still stood in shock, as the tentacle unwrapped itself from her. Her senses barely returned in time for her to spin around and catch a glimpse as the axe-tail of the Demon-Reaper vanished around a bush, "He...saved me?" She asked in shock and disbelief.

"...I'm starting to think this Demon-Reaper has a thing for you, Mellori." Drez said with wide eyes, making Mellori blush.

"Drez, he almost killed me last night!" She reminded.

"Yet, somehow, you survived," Drez countered argued, making Mellori shut up, "Maybe he just wants you to bear his spawnlings when you grow up?" He added on thoughtfully, tilting his head. Mellori wasn't sure whether to be embarrassed, sickened, or just plain horrified of that prospect. All she knew was that the Demon-Reaper still left her feeling terrified, in more ways than one.

Meanwhile

Grim Reaper Junior's hum came out like a growl as he crept under the stone fence around the outskirt of town. In all honesty, he couldn't bring himself to be scared of how the townsfolk would react to him, but he didn't want to start anything. And having as many eyes, if not more eyes than Argus Panoptes really helped in being undetected. Nergals being tentacle-based shapeshifters just made everything easier.

Using the eye on the end of his tail to peak over the fence, he glanced down the streets. Seeing no one in the area, he jumped over the top of the small structure and raced across the street, climbing up a mostly intact building. He was tempted to denergalize, if only so his form wouldn't frighten anyone if he was spotted, but if he did than he was more likely to get spotted, 'I don't think I'll get any good options to pick from ever again,' He thought in annoyance and lethargy.

He prowled atop the roofs, keeping out of sight as he got a chance to observe his own handiwork close up. The first sights he saw were of the town itself. Deep, gaping cracks into the ground, allowing pooling and gathering blood to pour down into the sewers below, like little rivers of death. Sewers that he had been buried in. Buildings, reduced to rubble or permanently scarred, where he had done battle against all who would fight him in his crazed state. The stench of the corpses produced by the war he waged alone with his own, many, bloody hands.

He raised his gaze and found a pillar of fresh smoke climbing into the air. As silent as wind, he climbed and sneaked his way towards it, until he stood on the rooftop of a building, gazing down into the street, the flames reflecting softly in his red eyes. There was his mother's Tikbalans, her horse-faced royal guards, all standing around a large pile of burning bodies. Their fallen brothers-in-arms, or what was left of them. Some were mostly intact, others were missing a limb or two, others only had a mess of unrecognizable chunks left. An elite force of thirteen hundred reduced to less than a hundred strong. They all stood in silence around the pyre, nothing to say for those souls that had been truly lost.

Junior sighed to himself as he turned on his heel and went leaping across streets. Everywhere he looked, he had memories. Memories of his clones fighting, killing, and eating throughout the streets. Ripping people from their homes, tearing them apart and feasting on their flesh and souls. Of his Reaper-Beast destroying and devouring in bulk. There were few places in this town that he had no memory of now.

He reached the town square far quicker than he had thought he would. He inhaled deeply through his nose as he gazed at the field where most of the fighting took place. Due to the Reaper-Beast, both as him and the Nergal-Beast, only three or four buildings still stood amongst the rubble. All was peaceful now, but Junior's eyes saw slow afterimages of what had happened here.

Over his right shoulder he saw where his father and uncle had rained fire and death upon his forces from atop a building that was now collapsed. Over his left shoulder, where his mother had made her entrance with the Sword of Tengu. To his right, where Clone had devoured his father's arm. To his left, where Clone had single handedly fought Mandy, Jack, and Dan. In front of him loomed the Reaper-Beast, slowly losing its pumpkin-themed armor and grinning hungrily with red eyes, the army of clones standing before it with the same expression. Above him, he saw Clone dueling with Nergal Junior in the air with knives and cannons.

He slowly turned around and looked on with forlorn eyes at the last spectacle. The last sight he wanted to see, but the one he needed to see the most. A large, shriveled, severed tentacle that stuck out of the ground. On its side, it was coated in royal blood. Junior ran his bladed right hand over the surface of what was, technically, one of his own limbs. This was where he had done it. This was where he slain his own mother, skewering her like some wild beast. No, it was worse than that. A simple predator doesn't impale prey through the eyes, the mouth, the neck, and every organ just for the sake of the hunt. No, what he had done was try to utterly destroy her once he had her in his grasp. How long had she been impaled on this, with her wounds unable to heal, her immortal soul trapped within her own corpse and forced to stay in a place between being dead and alive?

His breath hitched in his throat as a smell invaded his nose. A very familiar scent, one he had been trying to avoid. One that sent shivers down his tail in remembrance. He shakingly turned his gaze down wards and saw, just before his feet, where the smell had come from. Rich, red life liquid formed a large, thick pool around the base of the tentacle, the sheer volume keeping it from drying up in the few hours since it had been spilt. It almost seemed like someone had overwatered a large, strange plant with blood.

He licked his lips, to his own dismay, as he gazed down intently at the crimson puddle, giving off that wonderful and intoxicating smell. For some reason, the blood smelt so much stronger than the living thing did when he was in the same room as her. Before he even realized it, he had one knee on the stone bricks, his left hand's fingers dipped into the blood. With his eyes half lidded and his breath heavy, he slowly withdrew his digits and brought them to his face. His long, serpentine tongue crawled out from between his lips, slithering to the sanguine substance. And as his tongue slowly inched closer to his fingers, his mind drifted farther and farther into the pleasant quietness that he had wanted all night...And suddenly, in his mind, the image of the War of the Garden flashed in his head.

Just as his tongue would touch that forbidden drink, he stopped, his eyes looking past his fingers into the pool below. At some point, he had denergalized without ever even realizing it, now in his skeletal form. It was only now, with the fingers dripped in blood, that he noticed his left arm was still burnt black from his uncle's fire. Halfway kneeling, eyes wild with longing, and tongue out to desperately get a drink...he looked like a begging dog...

The hybrid raised an eyebrow as he turned his head to gaze behind himself. There was a horde of tentacles, slithering out from his back at a hauntingly slow pace, hovering weightlessly and silently. They were Nergal tentacles, but there wasn't an eye anywhere on them. Not an open one, at the least. Junior shook his head as he retracted his tongue, turning around to fully gaze at the swarm of tentacles, their bases effortlessly changing sides as to keep the entire mess of them from whiplashing about.

And as Junior gazed upon his tentacles, he realized that he could feel them. All of them. Every last one of them. Every twitch, every slither, every curl, every little blow of the wind upon their demonic skin, the warmth of the sun upon them. He raised his left, black hand, as if to examine his own bones. Bones had been the only body he had known all his unlife, and now...

"I don't even know what I am anymore," He whispered to himself softly.

"I'm not sure anyone knows that one either," A voice answered with a soft, tired chuckle.

"You're still around, Nergal?" Junior asked with a cocked eyebrow as he looked up and saw the green and see-through mental projection of the grandfather of his sister standing before him, amidst the horde of tentacles.

"I'm in your mind, so that's a given," The spectator joked lightly.

"Not if I lose my mind," Junior retorted simply, shrugging absently.

"Oh, you'll never lose your mind enough to lose me," Nergal assured with a small grin.

Junior sighed at that, "What do you want, exactly?" He asked impatiently, "If it's to guilt trip me over last night-"

"No, no, I think you're doing that quite well just by coming back here," Nergal Senior retorted with a mirthless chuckle, "And I see you're having mommy issues in just about every way possible," He added on tactlessly.

"I think I'd take the guilt trip over that subject," Junior said with a glare.

"Right, right," Nergal Senior acknowledged, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

"So...what's with this?" Junior asked, pointing to his horde of tentacles.

"Hmm, sometimes, when the power of a Nergaling and its host grows to a certain point, they can have issues with their tentacles unwinding when they relax," Nergal theorized, stroking his chin as he looked over the army of tentacles, "I never had this problem as I'm really just all tentacles, but for a host with your amount of power, relaxing at times can be very...," He elaborated, gesturing around him, "Well, you get the idea."

Junior rose an eyebrow at that, "I don't have any memory of that," He questioned.

Nergal shrugged again, "Minnie was young and only a quarter Nergal. Her powers never grew to the point where we'd have to warn her about this," He supplied, "So, anything on your mind?" He asked helpfully.

"Like you don't know," Junior answered with a snort, "But I didn't come here to talk, Nergal. I just came here be alone for a while."

"Yes, but why do you want to be alone, Junior?" Nergal asked curiously, "Is it to see what you did? To avoid the people of the town you destroyed? The soldiers whose comrades you devoured? The parents you almost reaped? Or is it just Minnie?" He asked plainly. The moment he finished the sentence, a thousand hellish red eyes opened on the many tentacles, as Junior narrowed his gazed and nergalized before standing in all his monstrous glory. The demon from the center of the earth looked on, unphased by this.

"Nergal..." Junior whispered harshly as he flicked the blood from his claws, back into the puddle.

"I'm sorry for that, I am," Nergal Senior apologized with a weak smile before sighing, "I just want you to remember something, Junior. You have all of Minnie's memories in that eye of yours. Her entire being is practically bare to you for now," He reminded gently, getting no response. "I can't tell you how your mother, father, uncles, or anyone else will react to what you've done...but you can already take a good guess at what Minnie feels about this," He pointed out softly.

"..." Junior didn't say a word, just sighed as his tentacles started to retract into him, like watching a tree's roots growing in reverse, as he retained his demonic and tailed form.

"I believe you have someone wanting very much to see you, Demon-Reaper," Nergal prompted gently.

"Nergal!" Junior whispered sharply through his teeth, not looking at his great-uncle.

"...Yes?" Nergal Senior asked cautiously

"Leave. Me. Alone," Junior ordered, almost desperately.

"...For the record, Junior, I don't hate you either," Nergal called sadly as he faded away.

Junior grunted to himself, most of the tentacles now back within him. He turned left to figure out which was the way back to Jack's home, holding his left arm up to block the sun out of his eye. With the morning sun upon him, his shadow looked the part of a hooded angel with a fist raised to the sky, the shades of the tentacle giving some semblance of wings. He never took notice of the sight as he headed off, knowing he'd have to sneak past the townsfolk and the army. After all, he had enough on his plate to deal with...

And on top of the shriveled tentacle, the green eyes of the Eagle silently watched as Junior made his leave.

Meanwhile

"And that's the last you saw of Junior until today?" Mandy asked with a scrutinizing look at her now-ragdoll daughter, who nodded in confirmation. "So, Junior haggled with HIM. A daring and dangerous move," Mandy mused absently. "The fact the HIM didn't pull any kind of loophole or double-cross is more troubling than it is shocking." She added in interest.

"Mother?" Minnie inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"HIM only truly keeps good on his word when either he has to or when he wants to," Mandy pointed out, "And he only wants to with people he wants on his side."

"Thou worry Brother would betray ye?" Minnie asked evenly, almost accusingly.

"I'm more concerned that Junior feels there wasn't any loyalty between him and us to begin with," Mandy retorted, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

"Brother distrust thou, admittedly. And HIM hath claimed that he give the truths that Junior would hath to obtain with tooth and nail from ye," Minnie admitted.

"I think this is more than just about being kept out the loop for Junior, Minnie," Mandy said idly, "If it was, this would be little more than a bruised ego. No, he distrusts me for far more than just not telling him a few things. Only Junior knows what's going on in that skull of his," She added on thoughtfully.

"...Mother, art thou well?" Minnie asked softly. Mandy rose an eyebrow until she saw Minnie's gaze was south of Mandy's eyes. At the top of the valley between Mandy's cleavage was a small scar from where Junior's scythe had tried to reap her immortal soul, shaped almost like a star. It was the only scar upon her entire body.

"Yes, Minnie, I'm fine," Mandy answered bluntly. In all honesty, she preferred to keep the scar. A reminder to herself of her greatest defeat, "My ego is a bit bruised about being bested by an eleven year old, but that's a very common aliment today," She added with a snort.

"...And how wilt thou be remedying such an aliment?" Minnie asked cautiously.

"I'm not going to hurt Junior, Minnie," Mandy said bluntly, "But there's nothing I can do to help him either."

"Mother, Brother's distrust is founded upon the secrets thou have insisted on keeping from him," Minnie pointed out.

"I saw no reason to tell him anything, and he had no desire to learn of anything about being anything more than a little boy," Mandy stated calmly. "I only told you that Nergal Junior was your father because of your powers."

"...Thou might claim to see it as nothing more than circumstance that mine brother was the only one left oblivious, Mother, but I doubt he will see it as such. And not to be disrespectful, Mother, but that IS thine problem...and if ye refuse it as thine problem, then t'would be mine own," Minnie said determinedly, "I hath just regained mine brother from the pits of madness...I hath nary a desire to lose him again," She added, almost defiantly.

Mandy stared down at her daughter for a long, hard moment. That stare had reduced men and women, demons and monsters, to quivering messes in the past. But Minnie's one, steely grey eye would not waver under it. And finally, it all became clear to Mandy, "...You believe this is your fault, don't you?" Mandy asked suddenly, making the ragdoll stiffen. "You'd take all the blame for everything that happened, all the deaths and destruction, just to rob Junior of his guilt," She continued evenly, "What did that boy ever did to enthrall you so heavily, Minnie?" Mandy asked with a raised eyebrow.

Minnie just gave a small smile at that, giving no answer.

Meanwhile

Nergal Junior sighed as he munched on a few Yponikas while sitting on a stone slab in front of a ruined house, the complete front wall of the house destroyed. He watched as the army went about, checking houses and treating the wounded. His legs were both in casts, meaning he'd be needing stilts until he could regenerate them fully. He could use tentacles to help him walk, but his energy was just too far gone to try that right now. His right arm would take much, much longer to replace though. The fact that he was half Nergal would be the only reason he could fully recreate his arm at all, instead of getting a mechanical one or some other substitute.

"Well, well, well. I didn't think I'd see your sorry ass alive after that light show," Dan said with a smirk as he headed over and sat beside the demon.

"Who are you, exactly?" Nergal Junior asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ahh, right, we never actually met. Name is Dan Phantom, strongest ghost you'll ever meet," Dan introduced, "And you?"

"Nergal Junior, Bounty Hunter," The son of Nergal answered, "So, how bad did things get after I got knocked out?"

Unknown to both of them, there was someone else there with them. Junior had been sneaking up along the street where part of the army had set up camp for their stay in Halloween Town. He had been walking along the rooftops until he realized that he would probably be spotted. As foolish as it might seem to head towards more potential eyes to spot him, he had to get by them anyway to get back to his uncle's house. And as he prowled deeper and deeper into the army, he found more and more of his former opponents, his...victims.

The townsfolk whose lives he had torn asunder in one way or another. The soldiers that had called him their Prince. The warriors that had held him off at the risk of their own souls. He gazed upon all of them, his face showing nothing. No sadness, no regret, no silent plead for forgiveness. No one even noticed him, as if he was Thanatos himself, as he snuck by these soldiers and monsters.

Now he sat behind the stone the two warriors rested upon, the ghost and bounty hunter not detecting his presence. He decided to hear just what these two men that he had nearly killed had to say about what he had done.

"The tailed shitstain you lost against? I, the Bitch, and that skeleton named Jack fought him…he took on all three of us, and was still winning. Oh, and he also ate an arm of Death," Dan explained, laughing sadistically. "I also dropped an entire street on him after trapping him in the sewer and ripping his tail off," He added, before gaining an annoyed look. "Than he beat me into unconsciousness and didn't even bother to finish me off," He finished.

'Considering what happened with him in the sewer, I'm not surprised he enjoys fighting,' Junior thought with a roll of his eyes.

"..." Nergal Junior slowly reached behind the slab he was sitting on and pulled up a bottle of beer, "I didn't think I'd drink this, but I'm glad that soldier gave it to me."

"Well, I suppose looking as fucked up as you do, you'd need one eventually," Dan commented as Nergal Junior took a swig of the drink, "So, I can't help noticing that you and that brat have similar abilities. What's the story behind that?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My daughter died last night and gave him her demonic powers by giving him one of her eyes," Nergal Junior explained, quick and blunt.

Junior winced at that, 'Well, blunt and to the point. I wonder if he's more upset about that or if he's just annoyed with this Ghost of War?' Junior asked himself, blinking as he looked at Dan's back, 'Well...he certainly has the muscles to be Kratos's ghost...The Ghost of the Ghost of Sparta?'

"...Sounds like there is a sex joke or two in there," Dan commented, slightly surprised by that answer, "So, what does that make you? His father-in-law now?"

Junior glared at the wall opposite of the room, 'Yah, another reminder from the universe that I'm the Poster Child for Incest,' Junior thought, biting back a sigh.

Nergal Junior rolled his eyes as he put the bottle down, "He's my nephew," He answered simply.

"Well, you and his old man must be proud of this mess he caused," Dan commented with a smirk, gesturing to the destruction all around them.

The prince blinked at that, stunned and confused by the one word, 'Proud?'

"Proud? Why would I be proud of this?" Nergal Junior asked, glaring at the specter, "He mindlessly killed hundreds, if not thousands of people for no reason other than he was angry."

Junior hung his head in resignation at that as he quietly got up and headed farther back into the house to sneak further on towards Jack's house. But then he stopped in surprise around the corner, out of view now, as Dan laughed uproariously, "And? Here I thought you would be a real demon after I met the brat's other uncle! Not some tentacled, pretty-boy pussy," He said mockingly.

'Uncle Jack?' Junior wondered with a raised eyebrow. He knew his uncle fought alongside this ghost, but didn't realize they got along, 'Well...I didn't see that coming.'

"I'm HALF-demon, and I hardly see what Jack has to do with anything." Nergal Junior corrected with a glare.

"And clearly your human half wears the pants in your gene pool. That or Nergal Senior was as sad an excuse for a demon as you are," Dan said simply, "This is the Underworld, buddy. Two Steps from Hell, might makes right, and all that jazz. If I wanted to hear people cry about how unfair it is to tear up people's lives, I would just head back to Earth," Dan said, taking another, deep swig of the drink. "Jacky seems to understand that, but his brother doesn't, and he is supposed to be the goddamn Grim Reaper. If Death himself isn't proud of this slaughter, than something is very wrong in the afterlives. If that was my boy, I'd be laughing the entire time he tore this town apart. I'd be patting his back as I died," Dan said with a dark smirk, "But, he's not my boy, so now I have a score to settle with him," He added on with a chuckle.

'Uncle Jack really isn't mad at me?' Junior wondered before he blinked with wide eyes as he grabbed the side of his head, remembering his vision, the Farmer patting him on the shoulder with praise, 'Could...could that...Farmer have been praising me...for this?' Junior wondered in shock, 'Proud...of this? Can I even bring myself to feel that when I almost killed my family?' Junior wondered, looking up at the ceiling.

"You're insane," Nergal Junior said blandly.

"No, boy, I'm ahead of the curve. I'm a ghost, a true phantom. You're just a human walking around with demon powers. That nephew of yours should have eaten you and saved the real demons the disgrace of being associated with you!" Dan declared as he got up and headed off, "Come find me for a fight when you've grown a pair!" Dan called mockingly over his shoulder.

"Battle loving fool," Nergal whispered as he reached for the bottle, only to blink as he saw it was gone, "Bastard took my drink," He grumbled.

"Yep, I'm a bastard, Uncle Nergal," Junior said to himself as he climbed out of the window and into an alley, taking a drink of the alcohol he snatched from Nergal Junior, "After all, I don't even know who sired me. Though, I suppose Minnie is technically a bastard since Mom and Dad are married," Junior murmured absently as he walked through a hole into the next house, burping up a small flame as he went. "Wasn't expecting that," Junior commented in mild surprise as he shrugged and continued on, not even ten feet from the soldiers he had been fighting last night...

Meanwhile

Grim stood ominously on the roof of a building near Jack's home, looking over his army as they worked to get to the survivors of the Battle of Halloween Town, the battle against the Demon-Reaper. And as the Wielder of the Scythe looked over the field his own son had battled upon, his empty eye sockets perceived the numbers of those dead, and the number of those devoured. He knew because he couldn't sense the souls in Junior's stomach, the ones he ate. Grim had no doubt that those souls still existed, fueling Junior's own power with their own. But they were outside his ability to reach or perceive. Two-thousand, one-hundred, eighty-seven total died in this madness while two-thousand fifty-five souls devoured by the Demon-Reaper.

"Nostalgic, isn't it?" Jack asked, almost making Grim jump in surprise at the sudden and silent arrival of his brother. The younger reaper walked up to the edge of the roof and, despite the limp and wrapping, he still managed to stand tall and look dignified, "Reminds me a lot of Troy's end," He continued wistfully. "Ahh, we really had fun with that: Making sure Eris didn't get the message about the party, watching her drop that apple on the table of the gods, and seeing those three drama queens fight among themselves for it. All the while, we were just grinning in the shadows, waiting for the fun to start." Jack said, chuckling darkly as he blew out some smoke from his mouth.

"...Dat was a long time ago, Jack. We wer all differen back den," Grim stated warily.

Jack shook his head and continued on like he didn't hear Grim at all, "And to think, all you had to do was make sure every woman more beautiful than Helen at the time was killed off or disfigured, and I just had to make those vain goddesses so very terrified of losing that title to each other that they would throw in everything. Give the Prince of Troy dominion over a continent, wisdom and skill in war, or the wife of the king of Sparta? All roads led to war, and we all kept that war roaring for a decade," Jack narrated, turning to see Grim staring at him, wide eyed from the recounting, "I sometimes regret letting Odysseus live and end that war, but I suppose the fear caused by him and his soldiers being lost at sea for so long, felt by both himself and his family, was a good icing on the cake," He finished, blowing out another puff of smoke, this one taking the form of an ancient Greek ship breaking up and sinking into stormy waves.

"...Jack, wha de fook has gotten inta ya, man?" Grim asked, stunned by his brother's renewed trip down memory lane.

"I am Fire and I am Fear, Brother," Jack reminded. "What, did you think I wouldn't take enjoyment in feeling my own elements at work?" He asked with a condescending smile, as if it were obvious.

"Not when dere set loose on yer own people, no," Grim retorted, trying to keep an even tone.

"Forgive me if I don't take that seriously from you, Thanatos," Jack returned, watching Grim flinch before turning to gaze back over the town, "Has it been so long that you can't even bear the sound of your own name?"

"Wha is dis really abou, Jack?" Grim asked sharply, trying to change the subject.

"You're worried about Junior," Jack said simply.

"Of course I am," Grim acknowledged with a nod.

"So am I. But not for the reason you are. You're worried your son is becoming a monster. I'm worried he won't," Jack answered.

"...Wha?" Grim asked with wide sockets, not believing what he was hearing.

"I don't know about you, Grim, but there isn't one thing I regret doing in my distant past. I don't regret all the people I've killed and terrorized, I don't regret the disasters I've helped orchestrate,...and I don't regret meeting my Brother Death. It's only in the last century or two that I've started to regret things," Jack monologued with a sigh. "Do you know why I came to this town, Grim?" Jack asked solemnly.

"...No?" Grim answered curiously.

"That's because you never bothered to ask," Jack stated flatly. "What Junior did last night, solely in terms of death toll, is nothing compared to what I did when I first came to the mortal plain. However, what Junior did tonight is impressive and it is terrifying in the implication that he could one day devour us all." Jack admitted.

"...An?" Grim asked slowly.

"And so what?!" Jack all but snarled at his brother, who leaned backwards in shock, "He's not the first Devourer to pop up. Fenrir, Kronos, Apep. He's a reaper, yes, and has the abilities to do more than they ever could. Still, the fact that he so easily bested us all is not something I blame on Junior, Grim, I blame it on us," Jack said venomously, "Take a good look at yourself, Grim Reaper, and decide WHO you really are anymore. Because I know who I am. My nephew just did me the favor of waking me up," Jack growled, his breath growing hot.

"Wha exactly did Junior do ta ya, mon?" Grim asked in disbelief at what he was hearing.

"He slammed my skull into the ground several times before throwing me through a wall." Jack said bluntly...

Flashback

And he slowly stood up from the rubble, shaking the bricks from his back, his eyes slowly widening as a strange numbness wandered over him. He slowly walked out of the hole his impact made in the wall, looking up and around to see the battle raging through the town he had lived in for so long. But for the first time in years, he felt it.

He could feel the fear of all those that lived here that they might be devoured, and Sally's that he wouldn't survive this night. He sensed the fear of Clockwork being unable to prevent a horrible future, of Grim that he would not save his son from his own madness, of Pain that he would lose all of the royal family in one way or another, of Nergal Junior of never getting to see his daughter again, and yes, even Mandy's fear. Pinned and bound up against a tentacle, her fears now ran so deep that she didn't know what to fear most anymore. Losing her son, dying at his hands, or living with that defeat...living with knowing that her son, at any time, could slay her…

As he breathed deeply, he sensed far more distant fears. He sensed the King of Asgard's fear that Mandy would truly fall tonight and never rise again, Eris's fear that her beloved would do something stupid, The Redeemer's fear that he would not be able to save Minnie's soul and bring her to Heaven, Jeff the Spider's fear that the Demon-Reaper would come to devour him and Mimi, Minnie's fear for the fate of her Brother and family and all others that night, Mimi's hateful fear of Junior's eyes, and the fear of the Eagle tha-...Oh, now that was interesting. That was very interesting.

Skeleton Jack, the Pumpkin King, had been thrown through that wall. Out of it stood Fire. Out of it stood Fear. And as he looked upon Clone, ready to kill Mandy, his skull formed into a snarl as it finally struck home that a child had been besting him, his nephew nonetheless. He wasn't about to lie down and accept that, not yet...

Flashback End

"And finally woke me up from this day dream I've been walking through," Jack finished with a growl.

"Jack...we can't jus go back ta how we were," Grim reminded pointedly.

"Of course we can't," Jack said with a glare. "We're both too pathetic right now to do that. And you don't even realize it."

"Watch yer tong-" Grim started with a glare of his own before Jack continued without pause.

"You're little more than a dog to a mortal, of less than a hundred years no less, that tricked you into being her servant when you should have just reaped the goddamn gerbil and been done with it before they had a chance to speak," Jack said flatly. "The only good thing I can say about that is that without her, Junior would have never been born, and we never would be having this conversation," He finished, Grim standing there, stunned beyond words. "Don't you have an army to attend to, King of the Underworld?" Jack asked lowly as he looked back out to the town.

Numbly, and not sure what else to say, Grim just left, glancing to Jack's back as he reached the stairs, not sure what to think about anything anymore. As Jack stood at the edge, he waited until he sensed Grim at the bottom of the staircase, "Having fun, Junior?" Jack asked, knowing that Junior now was standing ten feet behind him, in all his demonic glory.

"Tons. Turns I burp fireballs with alcohol now," Junior said as he took a last swig, burping out another breath of fire, leaving about a quarter of the bottle left. "Here, you can have the rest," Junior said, tossing it to Jack, who caught it effortlessly before it hit his back, never even turning around, "That was quite a speech you gave to Dad, though," Junior added on with a raised eyebrow.

"I meant every word," Jack stated simply.

"Uncle...I know you don't hate me," Junior said hesitantly. "But can you tell me I'm supposed to stop hating myself?"

Jack looked over his shoulder at Junior before slowly turning around, looking at him strangely, "Is this about the Town or about Minnie?" He asked curiously.

"It was always about Minnie, Uncle," Junior admitted with a sigh as his tail laid itself to the ground, "I hated myself the moment she was taken away, the moment the memories began to set in. And as they did, my own memories started to overlap and I knew what both of us felt and thought at every instance. At some point, the memories just started looping over and over again, going faster and faster." Junior explained, sagging his shoulders. "...Then everything goes red and I can't remember who I am, or who anyone else is. After that, I just kept fighting and eating..."

"All that for her," Jack murmured with a small smile. "A long time ago, someone might have said that was romantic, for us Reapers," He commented idly.

"Incest, an issue of mine that keeps smacking me in the face lately," Junior grumbled, his tail twitching back up in annoyance.

"You do realize that incest is normal amongst us immortals, right?" Jack pointed out. "Then again, I knew even a few people from the old days that had that issue getting over that when they were youngsters themselves," He admitted.

"So...the feeling of self-disgust I get whenever the subject of incest is hinted at is going to go away eventually?" Junior asked skeptically, his tail lifting up in a bit of hope. He wouldn't admit that that question was more in regards to Mandy than Minnie, but Jack didn't need to know that.

"Well, if it's with Minnie? Now it might be less that she's your sister and more your guilt trying to legitimize itself in relation to her," Jack suggested with a shrug. "Not sure why'd you still feel guilty though. You saved her soul from Kare. I think that's a good payback for getting her killed, considering the things he often does to souls. The rest of what you did was regular sibling jealous, which you can make up to her in time," Jack pointed out.

Junior sighed at that, "It's not tha-...Wait a minute," Junior stopped, giving Jack a suspicious gaze as his tail went stiff, pointing upwards. "How, exactly, did you know that HIM was involved? Minnie has only told Mom so far and I haven't told anyone one yet," He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I have my ways of knowing, Nephew," Jack answered with a crooked smile. "After all, Minnie was very scared with Kare," He explained vaguely.

"...You are impressively terrifying, Uncle Fire," Junior said with a smirk. "Do you think you'll miss it?" Junior asked curiously.

"Miss what?' Jack asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Being the beloved king of this land?" Junior asked curiously.

"I have been a king many times, Junior," Jack said sagely, "But I am still Fear, Junior. I've been it for longer than I ever even realized. Even if I am no longer simply the Pumpkin King, I will always rule these lands, these beings that delight in freight. It's just not how one usually uses the word, Rule." Jack assured.

"Uncle, I'm still eleven. Don't expect me to understand everything yet," Junior pointed out bluntly.

"Don't worry, I think you'll understand what I mean sooner rather than later," Jack retorted with a chuckle.

"...Do you think they hate me, Mom and Dad?" Junior asked curiously, his tail drooping again.

"Hate? No. Grim is just lost in trying to understand what he should do now. In truth, I think he's been lost for a long time now. Mandy? She hates that she lost regardless of who beat her," Jack said simply, "She'll prepare for you, but most rulers prepare for their heirs rising against them anyway. Comes with being a prince," Jack simplified.

"...," Junior paused to collect himself for this next question. "Is it wrong that I hate that they kept secrets from me?" Junior asked slowly, knowing that in all likelihood, Jack would say that it was a childish concern, that they were in the right on that one at least, that he shou-

"No."

"What?" Junior asked in disbelief.

"Junior, I am not Grim's brother by any biological means. We have simply been together since the earliest of eons, and for most of our immortal lives," Jack explained.

"...What's your point?" Junior asked curiously.

"I never knew who my parents were, Junior," Jack admitted with a sigh, "I never knew who sired me or whose womb I crawled out of. For the start of my long life, I wandered high and low for the truth of how I came to exist. I never found out. If Grim had hid that from me, I would have been furious. I would have burned him to cinders because he knew how much that meant to me," Jack explained as he looked Junior square in the eye, "You're the first person I've told that to in over fifty thousand years."

Junior didn't say a word for a moment, before slowly lifting up his hand to pull down his hood, showing his human face. His red eyes dimmed to grey and blue as he looked up at his uncle, "Thank you," He said softly and truly, "...Was this what you wanted us to talk about?" Junior asked curiously.

"Mostly," Jack acknowledged with a shrug, as he pulled out the book from his ribcage, the same book Junior had read earlier. "You know what this is, Junior?" Jack asked with a smirk.

"At this point, I'm guessing it's your journal," Junior answered.

"Exactly," Jack confirmed, "It's a journal that covers just about everything I've done over the eons," Jack added on, chuckling at Junior's surprised expression, "It's bigger on the inside."

"Like a phone booth?" Junior asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, no time traveling for you, Timelord," Jack countered with a smirk as Junior gaped at the comeback, "Surprised?"

"Very," Junior answered honestly, "I thought Mom was the only one that got references like that." He added on.

"Well, when they have something like the Weeping Angels, it's going to have my attention," Jack said with a chuckle. "Even I need a little inspiration every now and then."

"The implications of that are terrifying," Junior said blandly. "So, what does your journal have to do with this talk of our's?" He asked curiously.

"Simple. I'm giving it to you," Jack said, tossing the book to Junior, who caught it in surprise.

"What? Why?" Junior asked, confused, stunned, and even a bit in awe by the gift.

"It contains everything I've ever done over the eons, Junior," Jack repeated slowly, "Even the things I never let Grim know about. I don't need that book to remember what I've done and who I've been. However...I think you might have a need for it," Jack said mysteriously, "Call it a feeling."

"...Thank you, again," Junior said with a small smile, "I'll make sure Dad and the rest don't read it," He promised as he put it inside his demon coat.

"Oh, I want to talk and you give me the cold shoulder, but he wants to and it's all thank you and gifts," Nergal Senior said with a mock pout as he appeared on the roof, to Junior's annoyance.

"Sorry, but this was a talk better suited for Reaper to Reaper, Nergal," Jack said with a smirk as both Junior and Nergal Senior blinked and slowly turned towards the skeleton.

"...You can see me?" Nergal Senior asked in amazement.

"Transparently," Jack retorted snarkily.

"Again, Uncle, you are terrifying," Junior said with a small grin, "Nergal, if you please?" He requested.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, Uncle-Time is for the skeleton, not for the slimy demon." Nergal Senior said with a sigh as he vanished.

"Well, at least we Reapers aren't the only ones with issues," Jack said with a chuckle. "Well, best head back to the house before someone realizes you just left a clone behind," He suggested, getting a nod from Junior.

"Uncle? There's one last thing you should know before I head off," Junior informed.

"And what's that?" Jack asked with a raised eyebrow.

Without saying a word, Junior denergalized his left arm to show his blackened bones, Jack's eye sockets blinking at that, "I just wanted you to know, Uncle, that you are the only one that left a physically lasting scar on me from last night. I don't know if that makes you feel any better about everything, but I thought you might take some pride in that," He informed, enjoying that look in his uncle's eyes.

"...Guess I should be thanking you now, Junior," Jack said with a small chuckle.

"You don't have to, but you're welcome," Junior responded with a shrug, "Now, if you'll excuse me Uncle, I have a family to meet with," Junior said with a sigh as his eyes turned back to red in a single eye blink before he pulled up his hood and headed towards the edge of the roof.

"Junior," Jack called with a smirk as Junior halted, "One of these days, I'm going to want a rematch," He informed with a dark grin.

"And I'll be sure not to disappoint you, Brother of Death," Junior retorted, watching him evenly.

Jack cackled a bit of that as he turned back towards the edge and finally took a drink of the bottle of beer, before tossing it over the edge, where it exploded into a small fire ball in the street, shocking everyone. Jack looked back over his shoulder and saw that the Demon-Reaper was long gone. "Note to self: Kill Mandy and Grim if tehy let that guilt tear Junior's self esteeme to shreds," Jack said as he stared down into the fire before sticking out his tongue in mild disgust, "Also note to self: Find better alcohol."

Meanwhile

MiniMandy slowly opened the door to the room in which, she believed, her brother slept soundly within. In all honesty, she wanted nothing more to curl back up beside him and return to blissful slumber for a bit longer. But she doubted that would be the case. Still, she wanted to check and see if Junior was awake yet.

She blinked her one remaining eye as she saw that the bunk bed was empty, "Brother?" She called as she walked in further in search of him. She was sure he hadn't left the room while she had been conversing with their mother downstairs. Had she bothered to look up when she first came in, she would have seen a few tentacles vanish behind the door.

Junior quietly closed the door as his sister went towards the bed before making his way to her. She peeked under the bed before rising to try and check the bottom one. As she turned, she gasped as she came face to face with the human form of her brother, her eyes wide at his sudden and very close appearance, "Brother, thou startled me," She said catching her breath as she starred into his crimson eyes.

"I seem to be doing that a lot lately," Junior said with a sad smile before he glanced up and down at her new body, "How are you feeling?" He asked softly.

She was touched by the concern, but only wished his eyes didn't look so sad, "I am well, Brother. Doctor Finklestein managed to help make a suitable body with the material he used to make Sally and some of the scattered Nergal-flesh," Minnie elaborated with a small, comforting smile.

Junior raised an eyebrow at that, 'Scattered Nergal-flesh?...Come to think of it...' He wondered as he realized something, "Good to hear. That reminds me, whatever happened to the rest of the Reaper-Beast's body? I know I didn't eat all of it," He asked evenly.

Minnie blinked, wondering why Junior would be asking that. Did he look out the window in another room and see that the body was gone? "T'was destroyed by our Uncle Jack. He burnt the corpse into dust with use of his fireballs," Minnie answered, having been awake briefly when they put her soul in her new body and saw her Uncle's blaze.

Junior looked to the floor as he gave a small chuckle, "Yeah, that sounds like him," He murmured idly before he looked back up into Minnie's grey eye, "Minnie...It's really good to see you," He said with a smile.

Minnie allowed herself to return the smile, "Tis most grand to see you as well, mine Brother." She said softly. She slowly moved to embrace him...only to find him crushing her into his own embrace, "Br-brother?!" She asked in shock.

"S-sorry," He said, still holding her tightly...it was only now that she realized he was quietly sobbing into her. Feeling her own heart break a little, she wrapped her arms around him as well.

"Shh, Brother, all is well," She tried to soothed him, to calm his heart, but all she got was a broken laugh.

"Th-things are about as far from well as they've ever been for us, Minnie." Junior said sadly as he rested his chin on her shoulder, "I'm...I'm so sorry."

"Brother, please, don't torment thine self like this. I forgive ye, I truly do," Minnie assured desperately.

"I'm not apologizing for what's happened Minnie. I'm apologizing for what will happen," Junior said, feeling her confusion at his statement. "I'm sorry that the life you knew is over, Minnie. Things will never go back to how they were. And...and I'm not sure how long this family will even hold together. So I'm sorry, for everything I've put you through and everything you will go through because of this night, because of me," He whispered into her ear.

"...Brother, regardless of what the consequences of this night wilt be, I stilt forgive ye," Minnie assured as she steeled herself. "And I'm sorry as well." She stated, Junior not reacting to that statement, "I'm sorry that thou despise what I made ye by giving thou mine eye. But...knowing what I do now, I would stilt hath given it to you."

"...What?" Junior asked, his eyes wide, "You...you would have still allowed this to happen?" He asked, shocked and confused by that.

"Forgive me, if my statement upsets ye, but if I had not given thee mine eye, thou might have suffered a fate most foul. For all that was lost and nearly lost, thou art safe...as horrid as it may sound, I would rather they all be devoured than let you be slain!" Minnie yelled, closing her eye as tears started to fall from it as well.

"...I forgive you, Minnie" Junior said smiling as he buried himself into her neck for a moment longer before pulling back and gazing upon his sister, "Thank you...thank you for loving a fool like me." He said quietly as he wipped her tears away.

"Your welco-" Minnie started before blinking as she noticed an odd fact. His sad red eyes were still so dry, "Brother, thine eyes...they do not tear?" She asked, surprised by that as she realized her neck and shoulder were dry.

Junior chuckled hollowly at that, "I guess Demon-Reapers can't cry..." He suggested with a fake, shaky grin.

Minnie looked on sadly at her brother's face, his red eyes practically baring his own deathly soul to her. Then she slowly closed her eye and took a calming breath. From her lips came a soft and lovely tone in her Nergalic tongue. It was slow, melodic, and peaceful. And as his mind was gently lured into a calm state, he allowed his forehead to rest against hers. Minnie never once stopped or faltered in her soothing lullaby, feeling her brother's form relax against her, all his stress and worry melting away.

Inevitably, the song came to its end. And as Minnie opened her eye, there wasn't even a twinkle of fear in her eyes as she saw the horde of tentacles, covered in thorns and red eyes that had slithered out from her brother's back while she had sung her tune. They arched over and around the sibling, until their ends met behind her and arched inward. The tips lapped at her arms and back lightly, the equivalent of a very intimate hug for a race like a Nergal. She giggled at their touch, Junior's appendages a bit clumsy in their inexperience.

And Junior just smiled as he watched his sister smile so truly, even in the grips of the appendages with which he had slain so many. They both knew that things hadn't changed in the last five minutes. Minnie could still see the wrath and rage in her brother's ruby spheres, so similar yet so different from their mother's. Junior wouldn't, couldn't change what he had become, what he had awakened and created within himself...but for his sister, he could afford to keep himself calm, mostly, and see if there was a chance this family could pull itself together.

"Minnie...," He whispered as her attention returned to him. Or rather, him proper instead of his tentacles, "Thank you...for stopping me," He said thankfully.

"Brother? What doth thou mean?" She asked in confusion.

"When I stopped rampaging, when I finally came back to my senses? It was because I heard you screaming for me." Junior explained with a small smile. He rose an eyebrow at the concerned look Minnie gave him, "What, what is it?" He asked curiously.

Her tentative answer made every bit of his body tense and every eye widen, "Brother...I never screamed for you."

Meanwhile

"Dare I even ask?" Mandy asked as Grim strolled into the room with a haunted look on his skull, "Haven't look that worried since the first time Billy stole your scythe," She quipped evenly.

"Jus a...bad talk wid Jack," Grim answered vaguely, wiping his boney hand over his face to help regain his composure, "How are Minnie and Junior doin?" He asked, hoping to take his mind off that discussion.

"Junior's still sleeping. Minnie's awake and filled me in on what happened. You want the short or long version?" Mandy asked, rubbing her forehead for a moment.

"I'll take de shor version," Grim answered tiredly.

"She rescued Junior from Oogie Boogie, he blew up at her for having demon powers, a giant pumpkin robot ripped her to pieces, she gave Junior her eye, he destroyed the robot, an angel came along, tried to take her to heaven, got stolen by HIM's daughter, and was forced to watch as Junior fought us while under HIM's powers. Junior showed up, successfully haggled for her soul from HIM, realized that we have been keeping secrets from him, and was offered a chance to learn about his biological father from HIM. Junior stalled for time until the angel got free, fought their way through some tainted souls, and then let the angel take Minnie away," Mandy explained in rapid succession, pausing to let Grim absorb that.

"...Ahhh, fook," Grim cursed with a sigh. "Jus when I dough our troubles were over fer awhile," He muttered, "How bad is it?"

"Junior's is somewhere between being either pissed off or just outright not trusting us anymore. Hard to tell from Minnie's story," Mandy answered with a shrug.

"Dat man is neva goin to stop causin me grief, is he?" Grim asked in exasperation.

"It was what he did best," Mandy retorted with a shrug.

"I guess I shouldn't even bother to ask," A voice commented stonily, Mandy and Grim snapping their heads to the side to see Junior sitting halfway up the stairs, looking dispassionately down at his parents with Minnie standing at his side. He did his best to ignore the lingering guilt and to fight down the shiver, decidedly NOT a fearful one, that crawled down his tail when he met his mother's gaze, "Glad to see you've both recovered," He stated evenly. "...I'm guessing you both want to ask me a few things?" He prompted.

"What happened?" Mandy asked pointedly before Grim could collect himself.

"Minnie pretty much already told you everything that happened," Junior retorted with a shrug.

"That doesn't explain why you went berserk like that," Mandy shot back, narrowing her eyes.

"I get ten years' worth of memories from someone opposite my gender shoved into my head, along with an insane demonic-symbiote. Do I really need a better explanation than that?" Junior asked with a raised eyebrow, "Though, judging by my eyes, I might have just awakened up your genes in me," Junior added as an afterthought.

"Junior, dis be serious," Grim said warningly.

"Was there a point where you thought I was joking, Dad?" Junior asked lowly, narrowing his eyes at his father, who blinked in surprise at his son's tone. It was one thing to hear Mandy say it but it was another to see it himself.

"Brother is most serious, my Grim-Father," Minnie said, almost apologetically, to the elder reaper, "Doth thou believe that mine memories were not the cause of your heir's descent into madness?" Minnie asked simply.

"...Nah. Dat be de reason we assumed from de beginnin, more or less," Grim answered warily, not liking the tone of this conversation.

"My turn for a question," Junior said bluntly, "What, exactly, was the point of keep Minnie's powers a secret?" Junior asked evenly, catching even Minnie off guard by that.

"At what point did you think we would be taking turns?" Mandy asked coldly.

"At the point where I decided to come down here and talk to you at all, Mother." Junior shot back, "The cat's out of the bag that Minnie had Nergal powers, obviously, so what is really the point in not telling me why you kept that one a secret?" Junior pointed out smoothly.

"Is it so hard to believe that I chose not to get my children involved in the schemes of the Underworld before I thought they were ready?" Mandy retorted.

"Yes." Junior said pointedly and bluntly, "You're all about appearance and power, Mother. If everyone knew that Minnie was half-Nergal, they would all eventually put two and two together and figure out that Nergal Senior or, more likely, Nergal Junior is her father. Having Nergal Junior is one thing, but having his daughter also heavily implies that the original Nergal himself is on your side. True or not, that suspicion alone would have added another point to the already long list of reasons why most people don't want to fuck with you," Junior reasoned.

There was a long, long silence after Junior ended his argument, "How de fook did ya come up wid dat?" Grim asked in disbelief.

"Still my turn, Dad," Junior refuted plainly, keeping his eyes on his mother, who glared lightly at him. The slight twitch of her jawbone told him that she was annoyed with him.

"How about because I didn't want to hear you complain about how Minnie had powers and you didn't," Mandy retorted again, keeping her tone level.

Minnie actually looked upset with her mother's jab, but held her tongue as she saw a lack of reaction on her brother, who just sighed in annoyance, "Mother, please have the dignity to not try to get out of this by guilt tripping me with a low blow like that. If you don't want to answer, just say so," Junior responded, almost sounding...disappointed with her.

Mandy narrowed her eyes at that, "You have a lot of nerve, you know that?" She asked, clenching her fists.

"From you, I'll take that as a compliment," Junior stated simply.

Mandy looked ready to rip Junior's head off at that, until she caught Minnie's gaze. It was a sad, pleading look. The girl didn't want to see her family tear itself apart, but she wasn't about to stop her brother from confronting their parents.

"...Dat was my faul," Grim spoke up, getting everyone's surprise as all eyes turned to look at him as he looked sheepish. "I didn' like de idea of Mandy havin dat wife-humpin-bastard's child, but I went along wid it. I was pissed, dough, when de refused to let me turn Minnie into a reapa," Grim explained. "I mainly did dat to spite Nergal Junior, but I didn't expect Minnie here ta have her own slimy ding grown and ready to use before yer reapa powers came in," He explained as it grew deathly quiet in the room.

"...And when, exactly, did you plan on letting Minnie use her powers more freely, Dad?" Junior asked, raising an eyebrow.

Grim shrugged at that, "Was goin ta have it be a birthday or Christmas gif dis yar or next." He answered.

Junior glanced at his mother, who seemed a bit gobsmacked by Grim's admission, and her eyes somehow looking both annoyed and thankful for it. He glanced over at Minnie, who was openly gapping at the revelation to why she hadn't been allowed to use her powers after getting control over them, "And...you went along with this, Mom?" Junior asked, honestly surprised by this one.

"Grim can be very stubborn when it comes to you two," Mandy admitted with a roll of her eyes, "So, I guess it's our turn again?"

"No, now it's Dad's since you didn't answer yours," Junior retorted.

Mandy opened her mouth to retort but, "How mooch of...las nigh do ya remember, exactly?" Grim asked curiously. Mandy glared at him for going along with Junior's game more than she wanted, but he just shrugged, "Ya snooze, ya lose, woman," He said flatly.

"I remember every last detail, Dad," Junior said bluntly, "Of the stuff I and my clones did, that is. I don't have the memories of Minnie's Nergal after it tried to take over," He added on for clarification.

"So, ya remember-" Grim started, only for Junior to answer.

"EVE-RY-TH-ING!" Junior said, slowly and loudly, to drive the point home.

"Okay, okay, I get de picture!" Grim said, holding his hands op in surrender.

"...As I said, I'm not going to even bother pushing to get who my biological father is," Junior said as he looked towards Mandy, who glared at him lightly, "But I will ask this: Did he rape you?" He asked, making Grim and Mandy blink at that.

"...What?" Mandy asked, honestly taken off guard by that one.

"Tis because of one of HIM's many word games," Minnie supplied simply as Mandy and Grim got looks of understanding.

"What that bastard and I did cannot be described as mere sex, fucking, or anything else. But I will say it was consensual," Mandy answered with a smirk as Grim gave her an annoyed stare.

"TMI, Mom, TMI," Junior said with a shake of his head.

"Now, here's my question to everyone, what made you stop berserking? Because no one has bothered to fill me in on that," Mandy asked, a bit annoyed at that.

"Not fun being left out of the loop, eh?" Junior asked with a smirk, Mandy glaring at him with flames in her eyes, "Turnabout is fair play," Junior said with a shrug.

"He heard Minnie's scream while in his belly," Grim supplied before the two red eyed member of the family went at it. At Mandy's raised eyebrow, Junior nodded his affirmation.

"I'm never going to get used to the thought that you were walking around in my proverbial stomach, Dad," Junior said bluntly.

"I'm surprised you're used to having one at all," Mandy quipped with a smirk

Junior shrugged at that before turning to his sister. "You got a question, Minnie?" He asked curiously.

Minnie blinked as the eyes turned to her, before thinking long and hard on a good question to ask, "...How doth thou feel about us three?" Minnie asked tentatively, knowing that was what her parents really wanted to know.

Junior had a long pause at that before sighing, "I'm pissed off at Mom and Dad for too many reasons to list regarding them and their secrets. I'm honestly don't trust them at all right now," He said, not even looking at the two in question, "As for you? You're one of the only ones I do trust at the moment," He added on. Minnie smiling softly while Mandy just kept glaring and looked away while Grim sighed in resignation.

"But...doth thou hate them?" Minnie asked, smiling at Grim and Mandy, the first looking up in surprise at the question while Mandy's head zipped back to face her children with an unreadable expression.

Junior looked fairly annoyed at that question, "Apart from a few tiny details, I knew everything HIM mentioned from the start because of your memories. Even if I didn't realize some of them fully, I still knew them from the moment I came back to my senses. Had I hated them because of this, I wouldn't have given Dad his arm back, I wouldn't have returned Mom her lightning sword back, and I certainly wouldn't have come down here to talk with them to see if there was any chance of me ever trusting them again," He explained bluntly.

"...Did you two plan this while you were upstairs?" Mandy asked, her eyebrow twitching.

"You have your secrets, Mother, and I have mine," Junior answered simply, as he rose from the steps, "But I figured Minnie deserved some proof that this family has a little hope of not falling apart completely," He explained, scratching the back of his head idly, "By the way, where is Charles? I'm surprised he left your side, Mom," Junior asked, having not seen him at all during his wandering.

"He went out to look for his mace around the town hall," Mandy answered simply.

"He does love that mace," Junior mused before he turned to head upstairs again, "Tell me when it's time to go home," He said over his shoulder.

"Junior," Mandy called sharply, getting his attention, "What would you have done if we didn't answer your questions?" She asked curiously.

"I would have given up all hope on either of you," He stated flatly, not even looking at them.

Grim and Mandy shared a look at that before turning back towards Junior...who had disappeared without a sound. Minnie blinking at their confused faces before turning to see her brother was long gone as well. She looked in every direction for a moment before heading upstairs to find him.

"Great, he's still Batman," Mandy muttered with a twitching eyebrow.

"I'd dough ya'd be happy wid dat at leas, bein a forma assassin and all dat," Grim commented.

"The fact that I'm a former assassin is what makes it more annoying," Mandy retorted before sighing, "Well, at least he doesn't hate us," She pointed out.

"Fer now," Grim acknowledged with a sigh.

"I wish he had kept asking questions though. I was going to ask him what happened in HIM's realm after Minnie left," Mandy added on as an afterthought.

"Why didn't ya?" Grim asked curiously, getting a shrug.

"I would have if you had bothered to tell me Minnie's screaming brought him back to his senses," Mandy retorted with an eye roll.

"I figured Minnie told ya?" Grim retorted in confusion.

"She didn't say anything about it," Mandy said pointedly.

"...I heard her," Grim pointed out.

"I didn't say you didn't," Mandy retorted, "I'm just saying that Minnie doesn't remember it. Which means either she didn't scream at all or Kare made her do it and she doesn't recall," Mandy explained with a shrug, "Either way, we're not figuring that out today, and neither are they. Today, we're all just licking our wounds," She finished simply.

"...Ya do realize dat jus because dere's hope lef, doesn't mean dat Junior migh not eventually get fed up wid ya, righ?" Grim pointed out.

"If he wants a rematch, I'll be sure to be prepared for him," Mandy said simply.

Meanwhile

'...What is with everyone wanting a rematch with me?' Junior wondered in surprise as he sat in a crouching position, having heard the conversation down stairs, 'Seriously, everyone seems to either be terrified and hates me or verbally patting my back while wanting to fight me again,' He thought, not sure how to feel about that one, 'Well, on the upside, I think I got a better grasp of what the fuck is up with my family. Dad's a bit misguided and insecure at being a father, and Mom is just the overly controlling Bitch Queen who likes to think she can take and keep as much as she wants without anyone under her biting back out of fear,' Junior summed up with a sigh.

"Brother? What art thou doing?" Minnie asked curiously as Junior looked up to see Minnie starring down at him from above him. Or, to be more exact, he was upside down on the ceiling, having nergalized his feet to use the claws and stay attached to the wood.

"Just hanging around," Junior answered. Despite the issues in his family, he couldn't resist saying that.

"Wilst thou come down, then?" Minnie asked, sweat-dropping at the joke.

In response, Junior summoned his bladeless tail and wormed it into a hole in the ceiling before extending it to hang upside down, right in front of Minnie's face, "Why?" He asked, both blunt and curious.

"I hath a request to ask of thee." Minnie asked, apparently steeling herself for something.

"Name it," Junior answered without hesitation.

"...Wilt thou aid me in becoming stronger?" She requested, a silence falling over them.

"...Why?" Junior repeated, narrowing his gaze in curiosity, "Why me? Why not Mom or your father?" He asked curious

Minnie smiled softly at that, "Mother ingrained into me never to settle for less than the best of anything," She explained, "Why should I settle for the teachings of them when thy hath defeated both of them at once?" She reasoned.

The Prince of the Underworld tensed at that reminder, but brushed it off, "...Minnie, I can kill and devour an entire town in a night, granted…but you no longer have the same abilities. How can "I" even help you get stronger if you don't have a Nergal?" Junior asked, honestly confused by the prospect.

Minnie sighed at that and gained a steely look in her eye that almost surprised Junior, "Brother, put away thine guilt for an instant and think clearly. Thine chief clone engaged in hand to hand combat with Uncle Nergal, Uncle Jack, The Phantom, Charles, and Mother. To say nothing of what thine accomplished in the Land of Tainted Souls with nary but thine soul," She pointed out, Junior looking down...er, up as she laid out those facts. "Thy may regret these accomplishments, but the very fact that thine was capable of doing such speaks greater of thine own capabilities then thy might fully grasp yet," She explained, watching her brother hang there in silence as he thought over her request.

"...I'm pretty sure that you're really just doing this as an excuse to spend time with me more often," Junior commented idly, Minnie blushing and looking away, before he sighed, "Not now, Minnie. You have a new body to get used to and I...I have a lot to get used to," Junior answered tiredly.

"I am patient, Brother," Minnie accepted, before leaning forward to kiss him on the forehead, "But I think we need nary an excuse to enjoy each other's company after a night like this," She added happily as she turned to head off.

Junior watched with a bittersweet smile as Minnie left, 'Even with her eye and memories, I didn't see that one coming,' He thought with a mental chuckle, 'How did this family ever get a soul like hers? Among us all, she is the only one that truly and solely wants our family to remain unbroken. But even a soul as pure as hers can't prevent what is to come. Mother and I aren't done with each other. And more than likely, one of us will snap at the other eventually. And then, I might lose even you, my sister. For I dare not believe that even you could choose me time and time again over our own family.' Junior thought sadly.

End of Chapter

Well, that's that! Sorry for the long wait, I had a hell of the time with the opening scene. I eventually had to rewrite it because I didn't like how I orignally wrote Drez the Cat. So, we get a parting scene, for now, of Mellori the Witch, and Junior observes the aftermath of his own handiwork and hears a conversation between Nergal Junior and Dan Phantom.

Now, Dan Phantom and Nergal Junior are suppose to symbolize to opposite mentalities. Nergal Junior is the underworldians that have been falling more towards human level in power and attitude. Dan is those that revel in madness and chaos, like in the olden days. So, technically, Dan was born(created? fused?) a few thousand years too late.

And Junior keeps getting reminded of his issues of incest, lol. On that note? I am shocked by how popular that "Poster Child for Incest" line has become. It's been mentioned in review of about three ot five of my fics by different reveiwers. Ironically, there wasn't one comment of it in reviews from the last chapter.

Jack and Grim have an argument about their pasts, Jack's humanish nature apparently shattered by the beating Clone/Junior gave him several chapters back. And Grim doesn't seem to like the change too much. Jack realizes how far they've fallen and Grim seems not too care just yet. And yes, you all read that write, Grim and Jack were two of the REAL forces behind the Trojan War. And you can see how really terrible they were back then. Speaking of Jack, him and Junior had one hell of a weird-but-nice family moment there.

Minnie, mean while, is in an odd position. She's determined to support her brother- hence their first entire scene together since they were in HIM's Realm and her verbally damning an entire town for the sake of her brother-, but she DOES want to try and keep their family from falling/tearing itself apart- hence her showing her parents Junior does'nt outright hate them right now. And, she asked Junior to help her get stronger- that surprised even me, to be honest, and I wrote it! Still, I want this to be clear, Junior isn't calling Minnie weak when he asked how "he" could help her, he's just not sure HOW he what could do to help her at all at the moment. Mandy, however, is still taking stock of everything that's happened before she acts on anything.

As for Junior's scene where he almost drunk Mandy's blood, and his two flash backs to the Garden War vision? Read into that however you all wish. And yes, Mandy made the Batman comment again, and yes, I had Junior pull a Spiderman directly after that as well. And yes, everyone that doesn't hate Junior seems to want a rematch with him.

Finally, I realize this got more light hearted at that end. Don't worry, we'll eventually get back to more dark stuff like earlier chapters. Even wars have their cooling off points.

By the way, THIS is my longest chapter ever, so far, counting at about 13K before I put in notes and review responses!

QTP: Why did Junior save Mellori? Why did he almost drink Mandy's blood and why did he stop? Why did Jack bring up his past and their involvement in the Trojan War? Why doesn't Grim like being called Thanatos? Why does Jack think Junior will need his journal? And what did Jack do when he first came to Earth that was so horrible? What is Grim going to do once he fully absorbs Jack's speech? And why is it that Jack was the only one able to leave a scar, or burn rather, on Junior? Are Demon-Reaper really incapable of crying? Will Junior be able to help Minnie get stronger, and what will the rest of the Grim clan think of that? If Minnie didn't scream, than what/who did Junior and the others hear? And why did Junior not want to talk with Nergal, but was fine talking with Jack? Why, of all things, did Junior ask Grim and Mandy about them keeping Minnie's powers secret? Is there really any hope for this family?