Here's a little something…

…

… what, were you expecting some dramatic intro? Get reading!

It had been an… eventful few days.

Junior really shouldn't have been surprised considering the opponent he was facing. For what little he knew about his sister in the grand scheme of things, he could begrudgingly acknowledge that she had a lot of dedication in her pursuits. Considering that they were "unofficially" sharing a bedroom at this point, he should have been especially aware what she was getting up to.

Instead he sat back and watched for weeks on end, utterly zoned out, as Minnie shimmied, jived, and just moved about the room with that pair of headphones perched upon her scalp. It barely even registered that she was getting pretty good at the various new styles she was practicing; the moment she was in motion, Junior's eyes locked onto her and his brain promptly shut off. If he could properly think about it, the implications of this would have been concerning.

It was only a matter of time before Minnie eclipsed him. His moves may have been inspired and he may have had more experience, but his sister really was a dance prodigy. Once she got into a rhythm, she was unstoppable. Even worse though, she practically fed off of her brother's energy. Before he knew it, Junior was swept up in the moment, the entire bedroom becoming some combination dance floor/gymnasium for the two of them. They were laughing up a storm, happy to just be in the groove together.

An hour passed before either of them realized it. They flopped back on Junior's – their mattress at the same time, chests heaving from the strain. Laughter still forced itself from their mouths between hurried breaths, clear smiles plastered onto their faces.

That had been the scene up until Minnie declared herself the obvious victor.

Junior sobered up almost immediately, his dumbfounded look hurling his sister further into her humor fit. It actually took the skeleton boy a few seconds to registered what had been said… and he really couldn't place his reaction. The familiar jealousy was there; as a young man as well as a kid who'd gotten used to feeling certain ways about things, even his newfound understanding of his sister's circumstances couldn't just break that habit.

But he felt more in control. Seeing Minnie doubled over next to him, cackling like it was the last chance she'd ever get to laugh, he really just couldn't summon the anger. It was an odd middle ground, but he figured it was a step in the right direction compared to what their relationship used to be. Muddled as his feelings were, he could at least appreciate making his sister smile like this.

Then she took things a step too far when she started up a "victory jig," set to the timely tunes of Safety Dance of all things… And she decided to fucking belly dance, one of the stranger skills she'd been building up over the past few weeks. It really drew attention to her exposed midsection and animated hips – Minnie having donned her somewhat skimpy "spar attire" for their footwork duel.

That little touch of "confused interest" added to the cauldron of feelings had Junior boiling over. The young reaper hopped to his feet and turned away from his sibling's display with a groan worthy of any dramatic teenager. Minnie responded to this by sashaying in behind him, bouncing her hips barely an inch off of Junior's back. He could practically feel her body heat.

The urge to hit something manifested and Junior offered a rather halfhearted swing towards a dark dresser standing near the room's entrance. He hardly registered that he didn't make a proper fist as he swung. He didn't even seem to care that the distance between himself and his target was considerably more than his tiny armspan could reach.

And Junior sure as hell wasn't conscious of the energy he was channeling through his limb.

The dull glow that described the boy's bedroom suddenly fell to absolute black. By the time he noticed the added weight in his grasp, Junior had already whipped his striking arm down. There was an audible cleave and a brief flash that sent the little boy Death scrambling backwards. He walked right into Minnie, the girl snatching him up in an instant and easily steadying the pair. Visibility slowly returned as the soft lighting bloomed back into being.

No sooner could they see it did Junior's tall dresser topple apart, the top half neatly severed from the base. In the back of his mind, the Grim Prince mourned the loss of several hoodies. As he stood there, wrapped up in his sister's arms, his own limbs extended fully to either side, he again noted that sudden weight. Turning his gaze towards his right hand, he could feel his boney sockets strain to widen at the sight.

A neat looking scythe, black shaft and a polished blade, nothing fancy. It stood maybe a little taller than the boy holding it, the weight easily manageable. But for its unassuming appearance, Junior found himself unable to look away. No… he was almost scared to look away, there was something captivating about the thing. Dark… dangerous…

"Brother dear," Minnie spoke in a hushed tone, "your scythe. You summoned your scythe!"

As the statement sunk in, Junior's slack jaw slowly turned into a smile. His reaper powers, he was finally coming into his reaper powers! With an air of almost reverence, the son of Death tilted the weapon horizontally, grasping the handle with both hands. It felt real, like a part that he'd been missing his entire unlife.

"Tis unfortunate it shan't help you become a better dancer…"

Junior let the scythe fall from his grasp. At once his arms shot out, a considerable show of force dislodging the boy from his sister's hold. Even with her superior experience and technique, Minnie was caught off guard by her sibling's strength. Though he wasn't totally conscious of it, his newfound ethereal energy was still in play. Before it could hit the ground, the boy's scythe dispersed into a plume of dark smoke.

Turning to face his sister, Junior's hands shot forth. Minnie, still too stunned to react, quickly fell to her brother's brutal tickle assault.

"You wanna have a laugh," the kid skeleton spat with faux wrath, "then here you go, take as many as you want!" The pair were absolutely roaring, skipping back until Minnie's waist crashed into the mattress. She ended up falling on her rump, her back pressed into the comforter as Junior kept up the offensive. Wearing a get-up that left so much of her exposed was really coming back to bite Minnie in the ass, her brother having plenty of easy targets to choose from.

The merrymaking came to an instant halt when the door abruptly flew open. This in turn utterly crushed the bottom half of the dresser, ensuring the complete decimation of Junior's precious hoodie collection. The boy himself was in motion before he registered the boom of impact, leaping off his sibling and partially placing himself between her and the doorway.

Drawing out his scythe the second time took even less thought than the first. Crouched in a low stance, he had the polearm drawn across his back, his left hand holding it by the low end of the shaft.

Mandy stood in the threshold, a black semi-automatic held out in one hand. There was the briefest hint of panic in her eyes as the Bitch Queen swiftly scanned the room. The sound of Junior's toppled furniture smashing into the floor had been a little more than the usual rough housing she heard coming from her son's room as of late. What had Mandy so keyed up were the sudden spikes of dark energy her numerous sensors had picked up in the boy's room. A quick glance at the alert had her dashing through the castle halls.

The last things Mandy laid her eyes on were the children themselves. Given their swift response, they didn't seem to be in any peril. She saw what she expected of her daughter, Minnie ever ready to counter any sort of attack on herself or her brother. The wife of Death glossed over the girl's heated glare, she knew that reading definitely wasn't Minnie's.

Once her eyes locked on Junior she allowed some genuine surprise to show. The young death held a visage every bit as scathing as his sister's, cementing Mandy's unwelcome presence within their space. Again, she looked past that, far more interested in the black shaft and curved blade held against his back. She didn't have her devices in front of her to check, but Mandy could feel the wrath pouring off her boy in veritable waves.

Fuck, one look at his face and she could tell he wasn't even aware he was doing it.

Mandy stood straighter, more formally, as she holstered her pistol. "Finally deciding to grow up, boy?"

The sensation of pressure forcing itself against her increased marginally. For someone like Mandy, who'd faced down the lowest of the low both in her time amongst the living and in the Underworld, this was about as daunting as having a hanging sheet blown against her face. Still, it was more than she would have expected from her lackluster son. Looked like he was starting to show some of his father's better qualities.

Mandy turned, her side profile facing her children. "We'll talk about this at breakfast tomorrow," she simply declared, striding for the exit before either sibling could respond. But before she disappeared around the frame of the door, the Bitch Queen paused, her head half turning back to the silent pair. Junior had a "scathing" remark on the tip of his non-existent tongue but his mother stated quickly, "And Minnie, do watch your appearance."

The Grim Princess' seething glare faltered at the comment. In that tiny blip of confusion, Mandy took her leave. Unconcerned with his mother, Junior whirled around to see just what about his sister had lead to that statement. Once he caught sight of the girl, herself having hopped off the bed to stand in a defensive pose behind him, the boy had to do a double take.

Minnie's puzzlement continued before she took note of the rapier she held towards the now vacant doorway. And the fact that the guard and hilt were dotted with numerous fangs and glowing green eyes. And the dark, scaled tentacles slithering over her hand, burrowed up from the skin around her wrist. And she was now noting the bright lime hue tinting the edges of her vision.

"Minnie… what the fuck?"

From her spot in the hall, just out of view from the room's threshold, Mandy allowed a humored grin to light her features. Her desire for cheap entertainment satisfied, she began her march down the castle corridor.

The smile she wore refused to leave. She wondered if what she was feeling right now amounted to pride of some kind. She'd known it briefly in regards to her own deeds, fleeting as the feeling was. Pride in someone else though… that was a little foreign to her. Maybe she had held such things for Minnie's many accomplishments, but then she had always expected more of the girl.

She was Mandy's daughter, after all.

But Junior? As far as she was concerned, the boy was well ahead of schedule. If she'd known setting the both of them against her would have elevated things so swiftly, she would have done it years ago. Oh well, things were progressing at a new pace regardless. She would adjust.

And, if for a moment, she could feel some semblance of maternal pride… that was a nice bonus.

Then her pleased smile turned vicious. If her boy was coming into his powers and the two of them were determined to be against her, then she could stop being so damn soft on them.

I'd been thinking about adding something to this for the past few weeks but I just had no idea what to do. Then the thought of "Junior gets his scythe" started bouncing around in there and, five days later, here you go.

So… spoilers, I guess? One thing about this series is that Junior acquires his powers early whilst Minnie keeps her own. If there is an ultimate "goal" for this, it's making the Grim siblings into Bash Bros. Obviously, they're not gonna achieve this unless both of them have some power in their back pockets. Beyond that, I'd like to form a bit of a Badass Crew out of the youths of the Underworld, but we'll get there step by step.

Minnie won the breakdancing contest… now I have to write that scene where she gets to wash her brother's hair. She won't be using a sink. Again, I do like having these young scenes, these moments of having fun and being kids. For these two especially, considering how torrential their canon relationships are.

And another Mandy appearance! Yeah, giving her a character tag now, she deserves it. Her state of being is just fun to dissect and play with.

The Bitch Queen's gloves are coming off…