A Grim Bond 5 (Patreon)

A Grim Bond 5 - or ‘The Grim Adventures turns into Broken Tales’ (Grim Tales from Below, OC!Brother to Mandy)

It’s been ten hours, and Mimi is still sleeping.

Much to my relief, the effort to patch up the window was an easy one and one that didn’t cost as much as I had thought it would have. Danny had finished with the seal situation just short of four hours ago, but there was still something that got inside the flat that I didn’t miss.

Something that had creeped through the house while I was ‘distracted’ and had taken position the nearest possible to the bed where Mimi was resting. Not a threat, but definitely silly enough to cause trouble.

Silent, yet worried, careful and yet too clumsy for his own good.

In the end, maybe it was patience running thin or my frustration demanding for this game of ‘make the spider squirm’ end there. So, in a rather calm and yet drained tone, I spoke up to ‘no one’ in the room.

“Jeff, I am not angry at you. Come out.”

Silence resumed, but it was brief as the tiny crawling noise made by the many legs of a fairly large demonic spider drew my attention to the entity himself. Jeff the Spider was… ‘old’. Due to his hellish nature, he was immortal and had been a ‘good guy’ for a long time.

He didn’t have a genuine mean bone in him, testament to that being that he hardly retaliated against Billy, whom he considered his father and main abuser in his first years of existence.

It was ironic how life took such a sad joke through different partnerships. With Billy getting too distracted to care, I ended up having him help around. He was quite happy to ‘help Uncle Artie’ and was quite the eager learner when it came to handling house chores. My parents hated him, while Mandy was mostly neutral until she got ‘bored’ of him.

She pushed me to have him moved out of the house, but it was also around the time I had considered giving him a chance to dodge the worst issues- so, I asked Blossom if she needed some sort of butler of the spider-kind to help her with house-related stuff.

Surprisingly enough, she was welcoming of Jeff. And from there… Jeff became Mimi’s nanny, something that he was doing even now by HIM’s order for some unknown reason I doubted he had been made aware of.

“Y-You are not? I mean, I would understand if-if you thought that I-”

“You did good, Jeff. You didn’t betray anyone and kept by her side to protect her,” I interrupted, staring at the tired-looking arachnid.

One would think that a year-long stay in hell would have broken someone like Jeff- made him twisted or something… but he had been around for far too long for his jovial and one-sided kindness to be shattered. Even HIM had limits and ‘priorities’ on who needed to be broken.

“I could- I should have done more.”

I sighed. “It would have led you to a stupid death, not a brave one. You endured, and you gave her shelter.”

He was faltering a bit, crouching beside me as I sat at the edge of the bed where the girl was resting.

“I… I never thought that… you know. Someone- someone would have told me t-this.”

Jeff was a crier- which was normal but… this was a big cry. And a silent one. He was letting out months of pure agony at once and I allowed him to vent out a bit.

“She will be fine now, Jeff. You will too.”

He didn’t talk back, merely focusing on letting out the pain in those quiet sobs. I reached for one of my pants’ pockets, fishing my wallet and… retrieving a picture I had long forgotten about. It was still there, but I hardly looked for it.

Jeff spared a look as I showed it to him. He… froze. He looked stunned, then… delighted.

“T-That’s when… I always asked Blossom to see it. I knew she had it somewhere but-”

“But she didn’t want to show it to many. It is telling of what plans she had in case Megaville fell- in case Mimi made it out of the city.”

As I said this, I felt someone pressing up against my back and had their elbows resting on top of my head. I glanced up and I was greeted by a certain devil girl that blinked at me before shifting down to sit between Jeff and I.

“G-Good morning, Mimi,” The spider greeted jovially, with just a hint of a stutter from his previous crying sticking momentarily. “Arthur was showing me a picture of when you were born.”

Mimi nodded slowly, her attention fully stolen by the picture itself and… she frowned at it before tilting her head to the side and tapping my shoulder unconsciously due to the gesture.

“Tiny.”

Soft, hoarse- her voice clearly wasn’t accustomed to deliver on words and Jeff’s surprised look on hearing the girl talk made it clear she had been a mute by decision for a long time.

“You were tiny, but already driven by so much energy. And you had quite the loud voice back then.”

Her lips twitched, but she nodded at my words. Still, the girl raised her right claw and tapped its very end to where I was and then tapped to where her mother was before looking at me.

A question was indirectly asked, and I offered a guess. “What was my relationship with your mother?”

Mimi nodded and I leaned back to think of the right words to use for that big question.

“Blossom and I… we were childhood friends. We had known each other since we were 10,” I explained calmly, drawing a calm nod from the quiet devil girl. “We weren’t too close early on, then I left when I was 16 to find work elsewhere and came back briefly when I was 20 to work with some associates of hers since Megaville had started to lose many heroes. There we were a bit close as I would be her liaison to technological devices when Dexter was busy and… then I had to leave because it was getting too dangerous.”

Curiosity blossomed in Mimi’s face.

“Love.”

“I loved her as a close friend,” I replied, thinking it was a question about if I loved her in a romantic way and-

“I… I don’t think Mimi was meaning that, Arthur,” Jeff muttered nervously. “She was asking if you knew that Blossom… Well, we once ended up finding some unsent emails that should have gone to you.”

…

“I am not following,” I said, but I was actually catching up just fine. I just couldn’t rationalize it myself.

“Mama loved you.”

Mimi muttered bluntly, giving me a serious look and I realized what it was all about.

“I am- I am surprised. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I am uncaring about this but… I suppose your mother never told you much on why she didn’t pursue romance, right?”

“It was never brought up,” Jeff admitted, and Mimi, still annoyed, decided to spare me some mercy and nudged me to speak up.

“Your mother has been contended by two love rivals since we were kids. One I think you knew as it was… Dexter,” I stopped a moment, seeing her appear a bit familiar with the detail, but was overall listening to this. “The other one was… Brick Brisbaine. He was the ‘perfect opposite’ to your mother- a dude with lots of ‘edginess’ to himself and a lack of understanding of some real dangers in town. He was… He was killed long before you were born, that’s why you never met him.”

The devil girl appeared a bit stunned by this other element.

“The reason Blossom never brought it up to anyone was because she was really upset by that situation and she blamed herself because of it. She even… I think that’s the one time I really saw Blossom the angriest. She ranted harshly to Dexter about not being interested in any romance ever again. That death ruined it for her. And I thought, up until you mentioned these emails, that it had been the case to her passing.”

Mimi deflated a bit to this and… I put a hand on her shoulder, getting her attention back to me.

“Kid, it’s going to be alright. I can’t say it’s going to be perfect, I can’t say if this is the end of it all or not, but he will never get you. I promise on my life that you will be safe and… loved.”

I had a hand by her cheek as I said that and I saw her stoic look fracture briefly as she looked close to crying. I offered a sad smile and then… a diversion.

“Now… How about I get you something to eat? Breakfast should be fine… with some cookies?”

She nodded, and I stood up from the bed.

“Then, I’ll get goodies ready while you and Jeff plot for the day.”

Another nod, and I turned to leave when-

“Thanks dad.”

I almost tripped at that, but continued to walk to the kitchen. Smiling a bit as I started getting some food ready…

And failing to realize that Mimi’s red skin had gotten a shade or two lighter than the first time I found her.

—--------d-d-d-d—-------

It was night, and Mandy was alone in bed. Alone with a glass with wine in it and a couple of bottles with the sweet and harsh liquid stored at the end of the bed.

Grim rarely checked that room, never needing much of a rest while in this realm and thus using this chance to research something that had gotten him quite tense: the ‘Stand’ that Arthur now owned.

Something about it had felt familiar to Grim, and it urged him to look into what happened to Arthur’s tricked death. The last time she spoke to him, right before going to bed, her ‘husband’ was growling over Heaven and the ‘coverup they made on the matter’.

Truth be told, Mandy was surprised that Heaven was involved due to how limited their intervention was in the human world. Yet, from what she could pick up from her ‘hubby’ was that Heaven had gone ‘heavy’ on the way they handled it and had bribed a lot of entities both Heavenly and Hellish to keep their mouths shut on what had happened.

It got so bad that Grim discovered that some souls had been outright relocated out of his reach to prevent anyone from learning what happened in 2011.

Mandy wasn’t too interested in this actually. She was curious, yes, but she was more focused on the person as he was twice as dangerous than any power he could now wield. Arthur was her brother- they had been together for a bit more than she had been married to Grim, and yet that time was far more meaningful.

At first, to ‘little Mandy’, Artie was nothing more than just someone that existed, lived in the same house as her, and was… convenient. He didn’t have anything that really stood out, but she still respected him as someone that could ‘withstand’ some stares she would hurl at him.

Never once he made her angry and kept to himself…

That was until that stupid dog died.

Back then, Mandy wasn’t sure why she felt so strongly about Saliva’s passing. Dumb mutt has been begging for an early grave even before she took him in. The idiot pet’s perishment should have warranted a resurrection and spared many tears from others.

But… Mandy did something she wasn’t sure even now what it was all about.

She wanted to do something evil towards herself. She knew it was ‘soft’ of her to keep some bounds like that and how she needed to be more independent. So, she refused to force Grim to bring Saliva bad… and she felt miserable for it.

Something in her had been opposed to this. Gnawing and whining at first, but then suddenly spreaded through her body. Tears, crying, sobbing, being weak. She didn’t even go to her room because she didn’t want Billy to somewhat find out about this.

Her parents were out, so she went to their bedroom. It was big, the bed was so massive compared to hers and… she felt so tiny in it. Usually that wouldn’t have been enough to worsen her mindset, but she just couldn’t keep the pain at bay.

And that’s where her brother became her brother. And more.

The hug that he gave her, so natural and instinctive just as it was granted to her as it was received from her. Mandy didn’t like hugging people- there was just something disgraceful in hugging someone that wasn’t someone worthy of it and… her brother was worthy.

In all these years preceding that hug, she never once envisioned this scenario, but, deep down, it was perhaps a welcomed surprise. The warmth, the smell, the intoxicating feeling of being safe and protected- not just physically but mentally.

To Mandy, this was a healing touch… at first. She thought it was just that, and that nothing else would have come out from it. She was back to normal, ‘stronger than ever’ and ready to never offer herself up to that sort of situation.

Yet, other events unfolded in the background that her brother was blissfully unaware about. The first in particular was… unforgettable. That stupid Mindy said something about finding Artie ‘yummy’.

That felt… disgusting. Not just because a girl could fall so low to call someone those terms. It felt disgusting because it was her brother that the cow was talking about. HER brother.

Mandy felt spurned to make a point, to ruin it for Mindy. Sure, it was impossible for that brat to get close to Arthur with how uncaring he was about romantic situations, but that hug had already opened a door that Mandy was unconsciously wandering through for ‘validation’.

It was during that very night that Mandy made her move. Mindy’s horrendous words still stained her mind and one in particular had led her to hatch a most unnerving plan: Mindy wouldn’t have any first kiss to claim from her brother… if he had someone claim it from him.

It felt ‘reasonable’ at first, then, as the night came and she found herself standing over the unconscious form of her brother, Mandy felt something burn in her chest. It was like that hug but worse. She felt her mouth watering as she stared at his lips for a few long seconds. She was unsure, she felt odd and… and then she did it.

That first sinful gesture she did on her brother without his knowledge was the beginning. She could remember thinking how ‘yummy’ his lips were.

But even as time went on and she ended up being more bold and obsessed with things to do in those visits… Mandy lost the chance to do something really intense with him as they both hit puberty. She had planned to do the big step when she had hit 16 herself but… Arthur left.

Any plan to delay that was ruined when Grim did something that angered her to the core- he told Arthur what happened when she was in control of the Reaper’s abilities. What deeds she committed, the atrocities, the mass-killings… her brother was still a ‘good’ human being and he left.

He left her. He abandoned her. Her brother rejected Mandy.

He spared her from a confrontation, but what many would see as a mercy was actually a loud statement- one that deprived her of any manipulation through excuses. She couldn’t defend her actions despite the truth being that she wanted it and she didn’t regret any of those.

Her brother left and Mandy felt pain. And that’s where she grew sick and tired of everything else. She worked her ass off to drop her education at an acceptable point, became the mayor of Megaville by day, a bounty hunter by night, got married to Grim and got to this point.

She found him. Mandy found her elusive brother.

He had grown handsome. The ache of the past had rekindled, but the way he moved and talked- it was like talking to someone else. Jaded, annoyed, mature and… hot.

So painfully hot.

Still, it had gone bad. The visit, ruined. Minnie was spared from punishment beyond being forced to be monitored from now on. Training will be unforgiving, but not something she will address too soon.

Oh no, Mandy had a plan to go through. Her brother- he was within reach now and an event was soon to come. Grim’s brother, Jack Skellington, had invited them to visit as a family gathering.

It shouldn’t be too difficult to use Minnie to coax Arthur to tag along- even if it meant to have the red vermin’s daughter around her… yes, this was going to be a chance to not waste.

Mandy had long matured from her hesitations- her brother shall be hers, this time without any doubt or trickery. Only… conquest.

—--------d-d-d-d—------

AN

And this is why Minnie is a light-yandere for Grim Jr.

Also, depending on how this story will be received, I may consider running a parallel version set in the PPGD verse which is confirmed to be in a different timeline to Grim Tales.