Raging Demon Reaper

Disclaimer: I don't own Grim Tales.

Read: FANS OF DOWN BELOW, I HAVE RETURNED!

Haha! Five goddamn years I have slept on this story, but I'm back! I have returned to recalim my throne as the GT King! There are more updates for more GT stuff in the works, and I will DEFINITELY be working on this more.

Oh, and if you were wondering what I was busy doing: I conquered the Star Wars Fandom.

The attack, if it could even be called that, was over as quickly as it began. The bisected Lavado was seized by a host of Nergal tentacles, erupting from the ground surrounding the queen and prince. With its own momentum, the limbs flung it over head and slammed it upside down on the rocky ground, Mandy firing no less than three times into its skull with her sniper rifle, all before it even hit the ground.

The great beast laid unmoving as the guards and lords all looked on in surprise, or interest in HIM's case. Minnie calmly walked up to the duo with Wrath at her side, expecting nothing less from those two.

"Sis, I'm not exactly comfortable putting you between a zombie behemoth and a river of lava," Junior pointed out bluntly as she approached, his tentacles slithering back underground and into himself. "And I'm fairly sure Mom is of the same mind."

Mandy made no attempt to answer, merely lighting a cigarette

"I trust that nary a safer place canst be found than amongst mine family," Minnie retorted with a smile before turning to the corpse. "Tis a sorry state, this one. Twas that beast even alive in any sense?" She asked with a head tilt.

"..." Junior's silence held more meaning than he initially expected it to, Mandy glancing to her son.

"Junior?" Mandy asked with a frown.

"No, it wasn't alive. That's what has me on edge," Junior answered warily, Wrath possessing all the tension of a tiger ready to pounce.

"Agreed, me boy," Grim agreed as he approached along with Charles while HIM's astral self appeared direction in front of the Lavado, looking into its whited out eyes.

"Yeah, this thing is giving me all kinds of soulless hebies-gebies," The Pajama wearing demon admitted with a scowl.

"You don't like soulless things?" Junior asked skeptically. "I find that hard to believe."

"Can't sin without a soul, Junior. Not really," HIM answered with a shrug as he turned to the Grim Clan, "Without a spirit is another topic all together."

"We didn't come for a spiritual lesson," Mandy snipped evenly, looking to Grim, "Necromancer?"

"Pretty mooch, ya. Neva a good ding when ya mix dat an soul eatin," Grim commented with a scowl as he stroked his chin.

"Ahem," Minnie coughed, her eye lightly glaring as it darted from father to son meaningfully, the latter raising an eyebrow at Minnie.

"...No offense, Son," Grim added in awkwardly as he caught what Minnie meant.

"None taken. I wouldn't want to fight me either," Junior answered offhandedly, briefly recalling his Garden vision and the...'Shadow Junior? Dark? I'll just stick with Inky Junior,' Junior mentally mused.

"Says the self-replicating one-hybrid army," HIM quipped, glancing over his glasses.

Junior grunted at that with an eyeroll, "So, is anyone else going to poke the elephant in the room?"

"Doth thou refer to the fact that the nature and impotency of this attack likely points to it being meant to be beaten, yet our lacking knowledge of the perpetrators dictates that any clues of true value will in all probability rest with this corpse?" Minnie summarized with a head tilt.

"Smart girl," HIM admitted with a smirk, getting only glares for his compliments.

"Right. Anyway, Dad?" Junior called, getting a head tilt. "Do me a favor? If things get weird, help me start chopping."

"Gottcha, Boyo," Grim acknowledged, gripping his scythe firmly.

Junior nodded in return, prompting Wrath to walk up to the beast.

"Charles, make sure all the troops have their weapons trained on this thing," Mandy ordered evenly.

"Yes, Mistress," Pain acknowledged as he pulled out a radio to send out the order.

"Do we really want to risk him going rogue?" Mandy muttered thoughtfully, getting a hum from Junior.

"I wouldn't worry," HIM said with a yawn as Wrath jumped on top of the Lavado's torso, tentacles emerging from his back and stabbing into the demon-beast's skin, just below the neck.

"Why?" Mandy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because I'm not even here," HIM reminded with a smug look.

"And, ya know, Minnie's righ here," Grim reminded offhandedly.

"Using your daughter- I'm sorry, adopted daughter- as a sheild, Grim? I'm impressed," HIM taunted.

Wrath growled as Junior glared out of the corner of his eyes. HIM just chuckled but held his tongue on the matter.

The group fell silent as the Lavado's body began to twitch.

"Junior...?" Mandy called, holding up her rifle a bit tighter now.

"Don't worry, that's just me poking in its brain," Junior assured dismissively as his eyes glazed over and Wrath went completely still. "Okay, this is...easier than I thought? But even weirder than I imagined," he muttered to himself as he dug through the memories of the creature.

"Anything important?" Mandy asked idly.

"Not much. Using spit and vomit to quick freeze lava into caves, walking around the camp with the Caci, lava bath, demon snack here and there, and...ahhh, fuck!" Junior cursed to himself as he made an annoyed face, his eyes unglazing as he rubbed his eyes.

"Dat ding's brain damaged?" Grim guessed patiently as Wrath facepalmed to everyone's confusion.

"No, literally, fuck," Junior answered with a scowling look of disgust. "I jumped right into the memory of this thing in mating season. Why do they have three penises if their females only have two vaginas?!"

"Brother," Minnie called with a cough as she blushed and Wrath let out a scratchy groan.

"Right, right," Junior acknowledged with a resigned sigh.

"...Master, Mistress, don't these beasts only go into heat once every decade?" Charles questioned in confusion.

"Yes, yes they do, Charles," Mandy answered with what almost sounded like amusement.

"Well, we can tell what the Demon-Reaper has on his mind," HIM noted, ruining the mood simply by agreeing with them.

"You try absorbing ten years of memory," Junior muttered as his eyes glazed over again while pointing a cannon arm at HIM, daring him to comment.

The Lord of Sin looked away in ill-practiced innocence.

"Still want him around, Junior?" Mandy asked with a smirk.

"Not the time, Mom," Junior growled out, from attempting to focus rather than anger.

"Brother, please, just focus on thine works through Wrath," Minnie requested softly.

Junior just grunted but obliged her, turning his arms back to claws and putting them in his Nergal-coat pockets.

"...Wrath?" HIM repeated curiously, getting annoyed looks from all of the Grim Clan.

"Why would I tell you anything?" Mandy asked blankly. "You kidnapped my daughter."

"She was already kidnapped, by angels," Kare reminded. "And, you know, best possible chance of stopping a rampaging Demon-Rea-"

Junior grunted, harshly.

"Okay, I get it," HIM said, rolling his eyes behind his shades, deciding he wanted to know what happened here more than he wanted to poke at the Grim Clan's family problems.

"That...wasn't for you..." Junior muttered in concentration.

*SCREEEEEEE*

Everyone, guards and all, stared at the Lavado and the Clone General in conjusion and warriness. Both entities were unmoving but clearly where the screeching noise originated from.

"Son?" Grim called, frowning in concern. "Boy, wha jus happened?"

But Junior just stood there and said nothing.

"...Well, that doesn't bode well," HIM murmured, leaning forward to look at Junior's unresponsive gaze.

"Brother, brother? Please speak to us," Minnie implored, grabbing his arm and tugging at the sleeve.

"...Guys?" Junior said uneasily, his eyes still glazed over. "We have a problem."

"Is it a bomb?" Mandy asked, blunt and immediate.

"No?" Junior answered.

"Why is that a question, Prince?" Charles asked warily, holding his mace at the ready.

"It's not going to blow up, I think, but there is...or was something else inside that thing," Junior answered. "Good news? I killed it. Bad news, the brain is now Swiss cheese."

"I imagine it's more like a blended smoothie," Mandy remarked. "Any idea what it is?"

"I may have eyes all over my tentacles, but I can't just see through guts, blood, and grey matter," Junior pointed out.

"I can attest, this is truth," Minnie remarked sagely.

"Nergals," Grim muttered. "Kids, I love ya, but yer demon bits still be freaky."

"So, you going to tear this thing up, or we just going to enjoy the view?" HIM asked with a yawn.

"Just give me a damn moment," Junior said with a sigh, waving to the beast again as Wrath finally moved, standing up and walking on the torso of the Lavado. Everyone watched without shock as Wrath began to claw into the chest, with some care.

"You're sure it's dead? Mandy asked pointedly.

"I'm sure you'll shoot it if it's not," Junior answered honestly.

It didn't take long before the Wrath of the Demon-Reaper broke through the ribcage, breaking off sections of the giant bone to make way for something to climb out. Or, rather, three things. Two of them were more clones of Junior, climbing out of the insides of the beast, while holding some kind of creature. With a great heave, they threw it out. The group watched as it landed at the feet of the Grim Clan with a sickening flop.

"Nice," Grim said dryly as he looked at the red and purple thing.

"It looks like some kind of octopus," Junior stated with a frown as he looked at its five limbs. No head, no body, just a lump of flesh and limbs. "It's weird though."

"I've seen weirder," Mandy said with a shrug.

"He's not talkin abou dat, Woman," Grim corrected with a frown.

"Yeah, Mom? This thing is soulless too," Junior said with a bizarre look on his face. "And it was not undead or anything."

"Did thy...consume it by accident?" Minnie asked cautiously.

"No, I would have noticed that," Junior said with a scrunched brow. "Even a fly has something of a soul, but this thing just has...nothing?"

"It's not that uncommon in the grand scheme," HIM said with a shrug. "Biomancy and Necromancy, fused into one unholy abomination. Someone is definitely stealing your shtick, Junior."

"Okay, you're done here," Mandy said pointedly. "Get lost. Now."

"Fine, I know enough now," HIM waved off before smirking at Junior with a tip of the head. "Always a pleasure, Lord Demon-Reaper."

He vanished as Junior took a deep breath. "I'm going to enjoy eating that guy some day."

"Tell me when, I'll record it for posterity," Mandy stated flatly.

"Was anyone else mildly disturbed by HIM wearing PJs?" Junior asked idly, getting no response. "Just me? Okay, so, we have someone who can turn the dead into these little eldritch minions."

"Fleshweavers," Grim muttered distastefully. "Dat noot be one of Kare's typical minions."

"Just as a reminder," Junior spoke up, glancing to the river of lava again. "There are still three of these guys missing, plus some of the soldiers."

"They're either duds or not here," Mandy remarked with a hum. "I'll have the river searched, just to be sure."

"I'll have a team put together, Mistress," Pain assured, getting a nod from Mandy.

"Brother? What, might I inquire, is thine Wrath doing?" Minnie asked curiously, drawing the parents' attention to the clone.

Wrath currently had his tail extended around to the front and was harshly peeling off what appeared to be pieces of it.

"Do I want to know?" Mandy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Some of the insides of the Lavado are freezing and, I guess are...coagulating? Clotting? It dries up and is basically turning solid on me," Junior explained, eye twitching notably. "And, for some reason, it itches."

Minnie sighed. "I shall aide in his cleansing," she said as she walked over to the duplicate.

"Does it really itch?" Mandy asked idly.

"Yes, but I just wanted to talk to you both without Minnie playing mediator," Junior answered with a scowl.

"Ya find anyding ou in dat ding's skull before ya got interrupted?" Grim asked with a frown.

"Not really. I think I got a bad look at one of the two that were here," Junior said with a shrug. "I just wasn't going to say anything until HIM left."

"Smart," Mandy remarked. "What is it?"

"Can't make out what he or she is, but they're tall, wearing a cloak, and I...think a top hat? Can't make out the colors, this thing has a different vision spectrum," Junior described, his scowl deepening as Mandy and Grim tensed notably. "Someone you know?"

"I know few people dat dress like dat," Grim answered. "None are good news ta have aroun."

Junior knew they were hiding something, but decided not to press it. Not here and not now.

"Don't suppose you saw any soul eating?" Mandy inquired.

"Didn't get that far. This was like a frame getting froze on a screen thing," Junior answered, stretching his neck. "Memory viewing is weird."

"Says the one containing a decade of memories not his own," Minnie mused as she returned, whipping frost off her rapier with Wrath behind her.

"Thanks, Minnie," Junior said, Wrath growling his agreement.

"No thanks are needed, Brother," Minnie said with a smile. "Twas anything of importance discussed?"

"Yeah, look out for anyone tall wearing cloaks and a top hat," Junior answered idly.

"Top hat? Are we facing the Ripper?" Minnie asked with a frown.

"I have me doubts on dat, Minnie," Grim answered.

"For now, we're heading home, and- Junior, what the hell are you doing?" Mandy asked with a furrowed brow.

Grim and Minnie looked to Junior in confusion, who hadn't moved an inch. They followed Mandy's gaze and found that Wrath was currently forming a circle of tentacles to create a portal.

"What? I decided to try this thing out over a long distance," Junior answered with a shrug.

"You left a clone back at the castle," Mandy summarized, pinching her brow.

"Yeah, and?" Junior answered as if it was obvious.

"Brother, are you certain that would be wise and safe?" Minnie asked in concern.

"Well, in theory, if I don't come out the other end I should fall out somewhere between here and the castle," Junior mused idly.

"In deory," Grim repeated flatly.

"Let him. If he gets lost, he can fly himself home," Mandy said uncaringly.

"Minnie, if I'm not home in five minutes, no, ten minutes? Just go play Dante's Inferno," Junior said as he walked over to Wrath.

"Ya all hear de boy!" Grim called out. "Skeletons keep an eye on de place, women an horsefaces get ova here before I leave ya hides behin."

"What about Charles?" Mandy reminded as the royal guards gathered around them.

"I said women," Grim said, tapping his staff as they were enveloped in the cloud of deathly smoke.

"Well, Dad's in a mood," Junior mused as he walked over to the portal, glancing down at the vortex before glancing to Wrath. "We're sure this'll work, right?" Junior asked skeptically.

Wrath shrugged before re-fusing into Junior, who sighed.

"Can't even pep talk myself," he muttered as he decided to just flip the bird to the whole thing and jump in, the tentacles making the portal being swallowed in as they followed him.

For Junior, going through these Nergal portals were less like flying and more like falling side ways. If he had a stomach that wasn't part of his shapeshifting demonic nature, he'd probably hurl from the experience.

"If this somehow lands me anywhere but home, I'm going to be pissed," Junior said to himself as he soared through the path between space, spying the exit-

-And rocketing out of it.

"Shit!" Junior exclaimed as he Nergalized, flipping himself in midair so that he landed crouched on the ceiling, his powers and claws holding him there, "Well, that was almost...well, not too painful, but still," Junior remarked, realizing he could have probably taken the crash head on with nothing but his annoyance to show for it.

His red eyes blinked as he realized two things.

The first was that the clone he left in the castle, in his room specifically, had just reformed from the portal. But said copy did not see the original.

The second was that Junior himself had in fact not appeared in his room, but instead in another part of the castle.

*Grrrrr*

Specifically where Cerberus guarded.

Junior glanced down at the giant three headed dog, leering up at him with barred fangs.

"Guys, it's me, Junior?" Junior called, pulling down his hood to reveal his face.

"Ruh? Rittle Rince?" the Great Dane asked in surprise.

"Liar!" the Poodle growled.

"You don't smell like the kid," the Doberman snarled.

"Guess you guys didn't get the memo," Junior murmured as he pulled his hood back up and...

"Down."

The three heads froze and whimpered, their ears pushing backwards as the sheer depth of Junior's power filled the hall. The boy didn't move, didn't growl, just sat there and allowed his unrestrained power to do the work for him. Cerberus, realizing their folly and Junior's strength, lied flat against the floor in a show of submission.

"I'd feel so badass right now if I didn't feel bad for scaring our dog," Junior said with a sigh as he jumped down and stopped the intimidation display. He stood right in front of them and de-Nergalized. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," Junior assured with a small smile as he patted them on the nose of the Great Dane.

"Rittle Rince!" the head exclaimed happily. "Re're Rorry!"

"The hell happened, kid?" the Doberman asked curiously.

"This have something to do with why the princess smells like dolls now?" the Poodle asked with a cocked head.

Junior fell silent. "Yeah...yeah, something to do with that," he answered half-hearted.

"Raw, hre srad," the Great Dane said in sympathy.

"Lots happened, guys, lots happened," Junior said with a sigh as he turned to walk off. "Sorry about scaring you. I'll get you an extra big T-bone tonight."

The pet of Grim watched on with concern as the prince stalked off, now smelling the power left in his wake. What had happened to their Little Prince?

Junior was almost unsurprised by his cellphone going off. "Mom?" he guessed without even checking the ID.

"Was that you just now?" Mandy asked with a scowl he could hear.

"Yeah. Came out near Cerberus, and they didn't recognize me. New scent and all that. So...yeah, I had to intimidate them a bit," Junior explained.

"Is there a mess?" Mandy asked flatly.

"Not unless they pissed on the carpet," Junior answered with a shrug. "...Hey, Mom?"

"Yeah? Mandy asked, noticing the uncertain voice again.

"About earlier? Why did you...show me that website, or ask me that question at all?" he asked carefully.

"Same answer," Mandy started. "You're a shapeshifting entity of living death, on top of being an eleven year old with at least twice your age's worth of memory in your skull now. Given all off that, no offense, I assumed that your body is and/or will become whatever age you feel you are in time. Top that off with Minnie's relative maturity, I assumed you were having hormone problems that a simple jerk off session wouldn't deal with."

"Well, this got even more embarrassing than I thought," Junior remarked with a sigh and a blush as he glanced to the side.

"Given the way you freaked out, I thought I was on the money and you needed an...outlet," Mandy answered with a scowl. "Was I off?"

"Maybe? I have no idea," Junior answered with a sigh.

"If you're not comfortable with it, you don't have to do anything," Mandy assured. "I just, well, didn't want a horny version of the Repear-Beast to happen."

"Pfft. I want to be mad at you for saying that, but it's actually funny," Junior said with a weak chuckle. "I just thought that...you were implying something else."

"Like?" Mandy asked in confusion.

"Either that I was plotting to take over or well..." Junior swallowed and decided to bite the bullet. "You might have thought I had more incest issues than just Minnie."

"Oh...Oh," Mandy said with understanding. "I can...see how you might come to that implication, in hindsight. But no, I assumed any Oedipus issues you might have would just be a carry over from trying to imagine Minnie when she's outgrown that ragdoll body."

"R-right. Speaking of which, you doing the Nergal Cyborg thing or not?" Junior asked curiously.

"Don't change the subject. You're pissed at me and your father. I don't agree with why, but you're allowed to be pissed at your parents. That is probably the most normal part of this family right now," Mandy remarked bluntly. "But I'm still your mother. So, what's wrong?"

"I don't know anymore," Junior admitted, rubbing his eyes. "...I...I can't do this over a damn phone. I'm hanging up, Mom," Junior said bluntly as he closed the phone.

Mandy looked at her phone with a hum. That had gone a lot better than she thought it would. "Grim, how the hell did we accidentally raise Junior to be so...normal?" Mandy asked idly as they stood in his study.

"Ya might not be de most empathic of Mama Bears, but ya are one," Grim answered as he scrolled through his library.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Mandy asked with a scowl.

"Dat up until de boy was five, ya looked ready to kill Charles fer so much as giving him de wrong juice," Grim remarked with a smirk.

"Parents tend to overreact to their first children, even me," Mandy acknowledged with a shrug.

"My poin be Junior grew up kinda normal. Or as normal as he could be," Grim answered with a shrug before his face turned into a scowl. "Do me a favor, an tell me is any of dose dead troops of yer's turn out to be bloodless."

Mandy furrowed her brow. "Vampires of the soul-sucking variety?"

"Well, we know it wasn't Succubi or Incubi. The place would be more messy than gorey," Grim retorted with a shrug.

"Valid point," Mandy acknowledged. "I don't mind if he ends up hating me."

"In some ways, dat makes ya eida a good or terrible paren," Grim commented idly.

"Grim," Mandy said pointedly. "What happened?"

They both knew what she meant.

"You've been weird since Halloween Town, and I'm not sure Junior in the reason anymore," Mandy stated.

Grim raised a boney brow. "Righ, sure, my boy havin nearly los his min isn't de reason I'm actin strange. Migh have somedin to do wid my daughta gettin ripped apart in me broda's town, or de near en of everydin we were powerless ta stop," he pointed out drying.

"Well, you have more of a spine, if nothing else. Even if it's a snappy one," Mandy mused, unphased. "So, should we talk about that instead?"

"Abou wha?" Grim asked with a grunt.

"What do we do if Junior goes berserk again?" Mandy asked with a scowl. "Because you're right, he beat us. And he'll be stronger if and when it happens again."

"Yay. Inna few years, he'd be able ta make Halloween Town look like a joke," Grim accepted with a shrug ."But dat's not wha ya really mean."

"Is that so?" Mandy asked neutrally.

"Ya want to know, wha are ya goin ta do if Junior decides ta be jus like you, and decide he doesn't need ta be secon fiddle ta anyone," Grim said knowingly.

Mandy stared for a moment. "Fine. What do we do if Junior goes berserk, or decides to try and overthrow us?"

"So, ya do dink he's gonna do it then?" Grim inquired pointedly.

Mandy blinked. "What is this, Grim?"

"You've been off since dat nigh too, woman. Yer jus betta at ignorin it," Grim mused absently. "Ya said ya don't mind if he hates ya. Do ya really dink him turning on ya and him lovin his moder are two exclusive dings?"

"I'm not a child, Grim. I know things aren't simple. Junior can love me like I was Mother Teresa and he could still decide to take the throne from me," Mandy retorted with a glare.

"Yay, maybe ye're right. But ya know what I dink?" Grim asked with a frown. "I dink ya wan him to try it."

"And why would I want that?" Mandy retorted.

"Because dan he'd be jus like you, woman," Grim accused. "And not like me. Righ?"

Mandy didn't say anything to that, eyes searching his skull. "You don't think you could beat him, do you?" Mandy realized slowly. "What did Junior do to you in that gut of his?"

Grim grunted as he turned back to his shelves. Mandy scowled, but ultimately decided she would get nothing better from him and turned to leave the room.

Grim stood there in the silent solitude of his study. But it was not silent, not to him. For in his skull, he could only hear three words.

Three words that haunted him still.

"I...AM...DEATH!"

Grim balled his fist as his own deathly energies churned. "Fooking damnit."

Meanwhile

HIM yawned as he went about his morning routine: shower in the boiling blood of the innocent, brush with toothpaste laced with ashes, and putting on something more suitable than pajamas. He was feeling a bit suave today, and so went with a classic: a business suit. And, just for extra irony, a white one.

"You look like a waiter."

HIM scowled as he turned to the white haired teen, leaning on the doorframe. "What are you still doing here, Bliz?"

"Playing games with Mimi and Jeff. Little Kanojo is finally cooling off to me," Bliz answered with an easy going grin.

"She just hates that you actually like your father," HIM stated with a wave of his claws. "And don't call her that."

"You're going to have to own that whole Kare thing one day, it's not going away," he reminded.

"You do know those names also mean boyfriend and girlfriend, right?" HIM stated idly, glancing over his shades at his godson.

"They do? Well, never claimed to know Japanese," Bliz said with a shrug. "So, what happened?"

"Someone attacked one of Mandy's posts on the border," HIM answered with a frown.

"And by your expression, it wasn't secretly you," the boy noted with interest. "Do you want me to check it out?"

"No," HIM answered instantly. "I'm saving Junior's first meeting with you for a special occasion."

"You do know I can just slide over to Grimskull anytime I want and introduce myself, right?" he reminded with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, but you like bunking here," HIM said in warning, pausing as a small explosion popped in the air. "What was that?"

"Just Jeff's soda can. I don't mind being used as a quick-freeze solution, but I take no responsibility for potential explosions."

"Or frozen laptops, obviously." HIM muttered with an eyeroll.

End of Chapter

Yeah, I've decided to make the chapters shorter from now on. Stil, I hope this was a decent chapter to mark my full return to GT. Junior mindjacked the Lavado and found...something in there. Meanwhile the entire Grim Clan still has there issues from Halloween Town, just beloe the surface.

Hope you all enjoyed the start of my Glorious Return! Until next time!

p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64