A Grim Bond 4 (Patreon)

A Grim Bond 4 - or ‘The Grim Adventures turns into Broken Tales’ (Grim Tales from Below, OC!Brother to Mandy)

Fate is tied to you.

This sentence was once told to me by someone I had faced in the past. Someone that told me of how easy it is for omens to be perceived in regard to something important soon to happen.

It’s been four days since Minnie came along to stay at my place, and I want to say that… today was not going to be a pleasant day. I just felt it in my guts as I decided to be extra cautious, and had Minnie rush through breakfast and get her new clothes on as swiftly as possible.

The little blonde was confused by this pace, but obediently went through the efforts to be presentable. I just told her a few words, and the confusion turned into tension as she knew it was going to be big.

“We are going to receive a visit today.”

To Minnie, like it was for me, this was clearly going to be tied to her mother. I didn’t want to meet her at all- I really didn’t- but it was less about me being the ‘running sibling’ and more about me being the ‘protective uncle’.

There was something going on between Mandy and my niece and I needed to know what it was. Once I had a clear view on the situation, I would cast judgment on what to do with Minnie’s life situation.

I wasn’t sure it was abuse, but the kid was scared of her mother in a way that went beyond how my parents reacted with Mandy. It was more than mere glares behind that fright.

As expected, the doorbell rang around two hours before lunchtime. Minnie was tense, but I had her sit by the couch as I walked up to greet her parents myself. If before there were doubts on who was going to visit, I was now sure it was them- I recognized ‘Grim’ presence, and that he was with someone that was ‘darker’ in their essence.

I don’t need to tell how flat my expression was at how edgy Mandy’s overall outfit was. I think she had worn this once for Halloween… why the fuck is this her standard outfit?

As the door opened, however, that thought was brief. Grim looked away, suddenly aware that brother and sister were staring at each other. Mandy’s eyes used to be pitch-black, pure darkness, and now they were bloody red. Her hair was now long but still straight and… well, there’s the aforementioned dress. I really can’t tell what was the rational thought behind that choice of fashion.

“Arthur,” She greeted calmly, uncaring of the previous silence and carrying forth the same stoicism as before, but there was also… a sense of mastery to it that felt dangerous.

Nostalgia was not advisable for my survival’s sake.

“Amanda,” I returned with equal quiet. “I suppose you are here for your daughter.”

“That is correct,” The ‘Queen of Grim’ replied. “Has she given you grief?”

“She has been a lovable individual. Which is perplexing considering you were not that at her age.”

The jab stirred a most displeased scowl, and Grim… sighed calmly, yet carried some tension.

“Arthur.”

“Grim, or should I call you Brother-in-law now?”

“...Grim is fine.”

“I am glad. Now, I believe we can take any conversation indoors rather than waste any further time.”

I gestured them to come inside, with Mandy stepping through first, and Grim pausing a moment to merely spare me an ‘awkward’ look. He clearly wasn’t happy about the situation, but he surely had noticed more than me being now two decades older than he remembered me being.

Did he see my Stand? Even if it was dormant? Considering the Grim Reaper was no slouch when in a tense mood, there was a high chance that was the thing that had him suddenly so nervous.

The two parents took to seat on the other couch rather than the one occupied by Minnie and-

“Mother, Father,” The little blonde greeted solemnly, trying to hold herself together but clearly showing some fear at the repercussions of running away from home.

“Minnie,” The older woman returned with no emotion in her voice. “This isn’t the dress you were wearing when you left the castle.”

I saw the girl tense up as she knew the explanation would warrant punishment, which is why I decided to intervene on the matter.

“I took responsibility to buy my niece clothes considering she forgot to bring her luggage with her,” I pointed out. “From my understanding, she was quite excited to meet me, so she forgot that.”

“It’s something too important to forget-”

“If I remember correctly, I used to forget a lot of important things too at her age. But I turned out just right.”

I was tempted to use her as a template, out of retaliation, but I felt it was baited. She wanted me to make it about her and to compare- after all, it was clear she was trying to model her daughter to be her successor.

Sadly for Mandy, Minnie was a good person and, maybe I was looking too deep into this but… she appeared to have taken a lot from me in some personality-related circumstances. And this made it easier for me to not only relate but feel genuinely protective of her.

I could tell Mandy picked up this detail as well as she scoffed and turned to look elsewhere.

“You had back-up plans.”

“After I got accustomed to near-death experiences,” I retorted, the woman letting go of the topic and-

“What happened on March 20th 2011?” Grim inquired, drawing some attention to himself. “Dat’s the date I told you woulda have died.”

“...”

I was surprised he was already connecting dots with that. Was my past assumption that my Stand did something to my lifespan correct? I had thought it was a possibility, but couldn’t truly confirm this… until now.

“I died. And then I got brought back-”

“Don’t!” Grim sternly said, manifesting my life hourglass for me to see in its unusual form and… his sheath promising pain if I- “Lie.”

I leaned back and thought about the strange appearance of the hourglass itself. It was frozen, permanently.

“Is it about that spirit haunting you?” Grim pressed, clearly unwilling to let the topic stir for long. He appeared worried by the sight.

I frowned. “That’s not a ‘haunting spirit’, that’s a manifestation of my soul… altered slightly due to circumstances.”

“What spirit?” Mandy asked, sounding really annoyed. “Grim-”

“He can sense I have something that is correlated to what had happened to the hourglass,” I interjected the woman’s accusation. “What he sees is my Stand, a manifestation of my soul that takes the form of a humanoid spirit.”

As I said that, I decided to reveal it at once and the reaction from the other occupants in the room was mixed. Minnie was already familiar with the Stand’s appearance, Grim appeared quite drained at the sight, while Mandy…

Mandy looked awed.

“What is dat?” Grim asked curtly and I replied.

“｢Grave Mistake｣, that’s the name it found itself. Originally, its appearance was simpler and less threatening, but when I was killed, something from my killer remained and it shifted something in its nature.”

It wasn’t a Humanoid Stand before Pucci shoved ｢C-MOON｣’s fist into my chest. I still remember how painful that was… and how I was ‘brought back to life’ by something, changing my Stand to adopt what Mr. Kujo would go on to call…

A grim version of ｢The World｣.

“And that’s all I can tell without going into details.”

Grim frowned. “Arthur-”

“What can it do?” Mandy demanded, and I scowled. “Brother, this is not something you can just-”

“We are not siblings, Mandy. Drop it,” I vehemently interrupted, causing her to appear as if I had slapped her or something. Minnie herself jumped in surprise at my loud rebuttal. “It’s been two decades, that’s for sure, but what you did has long broken any form of trust you can hope to regain.”

Anger burned on her face as she was ready to return vitriol with vitriol but-

Two smoke grenades came through the window, detonating and causing a thick gray curtain of nothingness to consume everything and cloud any sight of someone entering  through the broken window.

What I could feel was, however, my Stand perceiving the threat as it rushed towards where Minnie was.

The smoke was already dissipating, but the intruder was moments away from getting the little blonde when- They had to stop as ｢Grave Mistake｣’s fist rushed to intercept them.

I noticed their arms being brought up and the Stand’s punch cracked a bit against what felt like… claws? HIM was attacking us like this?!

I couldn’t feel any of the intense energy the bastard mustered when he was around, but red shards that shone a familiar shade that exploded from that brutal clash was proof of it.

I bolted towards where the intruder was, ready to kill the bastard for good but… as the smoke cleared and I was upon the intruder, I felt my approach draw to a full-stop and soon I was looking down at the wide-eyed look provided by…

“Mimi?”

The intruder was super-tense, yet her full attention was on me. It was her. Her skin was red, her ‘hands’ were now claws but… not? I could tell those were made of plastic- what happened to the girl’s hands?!

As we were stunned into that staring contest, I noticed Mandy rushing with what looked to be a SMG and- ｢Grave Mistake｣ moved to intercept all bullets. The Queen looked stunned by what I just did but- but my eyes were still aimed at Mimi.

She was still alive. She was still alive.

The girl was perplexed, but a glint of familiarity played in her eyes before she stepped forward, walking close to me and… giving me a hug. She was leaning into it, and I had to catch her as she suddenly slumped against me. Her eyes were closed now as the girl had fainted.

But the tense situation was far from over as-

“Arthur, that girl. Hand her to me.”

Mandy stood over us, eyes narrowed at the little Devil girl, but someone else spoke up.

“He will protect her, dear,” Grim pointed out, stopping the blonde from initiating a battle he knew would have been bloody.

As Mandy was distracted, Minnie had moved out of the couch and taken to stand right beside me so she could see the unconscious girl properly.

“What happened to her, Uncle Artie?”

Perhaps it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the curiosity- but Mindy had dropped her formality while addressing this situation.

“I don’t know, kid.”

That BASTARD!

Mandy frowned harshly at the exchange, but instead of saying something she would come to regret, she merely watched how deeply concerned I was on the situation, her angry look faltering to a flat one as she turned to her daughter.

“Minnie. Get your things- your Uncle is busy with important things.”

Minnie’s attention snapped back to her mother, then back to me and… she nodded.

“Y-Yes, mother.”

I managed to exchange a ‘see you soon’ with my niece before they left. Mandy said nothing, but she looked on the verge to utter something. She just didn’t and Grim, always the passive watcher, merely stared as this unfolded. Gone was the relatively ‘relaxed’ Reaper as his marriage with Wedding had depleted him of his comedic elements from the looks of it.

I had to make a few calls after they were gone. One to have the window fixed, one to have a few wards set up as I had Danny Fenton, my old school friend that had moved here in Endsville after college, help me with this as he owed me a favor for helping him settle with his wife and… and I had to get everything ready for when Mimi woke up.

She looked so at ease in her sleep as I set her on the couch, her head resting on my lap as it seems some habits were unwilling to perish - and perhaps gotten worse - since Mimi struggled to have a peaceful sleep if I wasn’t around, starting to shiver and struggle in her slumber if I wasn’t close enough to her.

This… this was going to be tough.

—-------------d-d-d-d—------------

AN

And now the big question? What was HIM’s plan? To create a feud between Mandy and Arthur- a new one that is. He almost got it, but what remains now is renewed bitterness as the Mimi situation will become a reason for contempt on both sides.

Even more when Mandy starts to look into Mimi’s situation in regard to her mother. And yes, Arthur was a ‘secondary character turned main protagonist for last episode’ for Jojo: Stone Ocean. Pucci made a ‘Grave Mistake’.

｢Grave Mistake｣
Leitmotiv: A Grave Mistake - Ice Nine Kills
Destructive Power: A
Speed: A
Range: B
Stamina: A
Precision: B
Developmental Potential: ?

Abilities:
1)?;
2)?;
3)?;