A Grim Bond 12 (Patreon)

A Grim Bond 12 - or ‘The Grim Adventures turns into Broken Tales’ (Grim Tales from Below, OC!Brother to Mandy)

A picnic was not how I envisioned the next encounter I had with Mandy to be.

I had a feeling this was not her idea, the clues leading me to believe this were: 1) She didn’t like picnics; 2) Minnie and Junior had organized most of the meal from the way they were aware of the various snacks inside the bag; 3) Grim had that ‘I know this will end up poorly on a certain someone’ kind of grin.

Those signs were not missed and I was already bracing for what was going to shape to be quite an interesting day at the park. And to make the picnic ‘spicier’ to some extent, someone else had been invited to the event.

It’s been so long since I have last seen Nergal Jr. The guy had grown a lot from the eldritch dorky kid from back in my childhood. His hairstyle in particular was… unusually expanded. It reminded me of a certain pompadour-aficionado if that hairstyle stretched a bit longer and then curled upward.

“So, should I still call you ‘Junior’, or is it best I call you ‘Nergal’ to avoid confusion?”

He blinked, being a bit taller than me compared to how things used to be and… he smiled.

“Nergal is fine, Artie.”

“Wait!” The ‘new’ Junior exclaimed. “Uncle Nergal knows Uncle Arthur?”

We both turned to look at the kids, the trio having chatted up a bit before turning to stare at the interaction.

“Yep. Nergal and I were close buds back when we were still kids,” I replied honestly, the other man nodding.

“Then things went quiet ever since he left.”

I frowned at the little emphasis on our friendship crashing down because of me. I spared a brief look to Mandy and I saw how emotionless her current look was.

“Hm, and I guess you were never told why I had to leave?”

He blinked, leaning back. “No. But how much would it matter?”

“A lot.” Of lives.

We shared a relatively intense look and then he darted his gaze elsewhere.

“Minnie says that she was the one to find you. That you treated her nicely.”

“She is my niece. Same for Junior being my nephew.”

Nergal slowly nodded at my calm response, a thoughtful expression appearing as he seemed to be fishing out details on the situation. He was no idiot- I know the guy enough to know, deep down, he was not an utter submissive minion. He had his mind and opinions, it was a matter of interest and drive to broaden his perspective on some topics.

“Arthur.”

Mandy’s voice cut through that exchange, drawing my attention back to the Queen of the Underworld.

“Yes?”

“How are you?”

…

What? I mean, I could perceive the simple question lacking any genuine weight behind it but… that was a bit sudden.

“I am well.”

Which is why I replied and waited for a reaction which could grant me more insight on what she was up to.

“I am glad to hear that. I have heard you have visited the City of Aku recently.”

…I don’t like where this is going.

Mimi actually perked up at this and whispered something to the other kids. They all looked hooked by the topic as they whispered to each other while the adults… Well, we were not going to be quiet at all.

“What about it?”

“You are aware as much as anyone that had the chance to interact with Aku that he is not someone to thread lightly with.”

“...I would say that your words bear some truth if not for the fact that things can change a lot when you are bored- especially for someone like Aku.”

She frowned at me. “You seek to defend that demon?”

“I never was one to defend, only understand. And actions speak louder than words.”

The jab was perceived by the Queen as her eyes narrowed back to mine.

“Why did you visit the City of Aku?” Nergal inquired, clearly clueless on the topic. “I thought Aku was still an unpleasant individual to you.”

“Our daughters are friends,” I replied without hesitation and the reaction to this was quite unique.

The kids didn’t produce much as the trio was still engrossed in their own whispers but… the rest offered quite the looks.

Nergal looked quite surprised, eyeing the kid that came with me with a different understanding of the situation… despite how similar to a certain unpleasant individual she looked to be.

Grim had a look of unease as he knew everything was about to go tits up, while his ‘wife’ decided to not hold back about this.

“She is not your daughter.”

“Legally, she is.”

“She is not of your blood,” Mandy remarked, sounding even more annoyed and I snorted.

“And? I thought you were above such concepts, Mandy-”

“She is not family,” The Queen snapped, glaring actively at me. “I refuse to be related to that thing.”

Everything came to a crash at that response, and I… I never felt so disgusted by this sort of conversation. The utter boldness of being such a bitch was manifesting alright.

“Mandy, I want to remind you that my niece and nephew are family, my daughter is family, but you are not family to me.”

She was quiet, but I could tell she was gritting her teeth behind her lips.

“Despite what you may feel accomplished from these efforts to mend what you broke, I can assure you that it will not work. And the worst part is that you are your own enemy in this attempt- because as much as you try, your true self still comes up as the domineering brat you were and still are.”

“Be careful with your words, Arthur.”

“You are not above me, Amanda.”

We both stood up, the rest looked tense, but none acted as the glaring competition went on for a while and… I closed my eyes, sighing.

“Mimi. We are leaving.”

Mandy scowled, and I thought she would have said something to let us stay. She didn’t, but that’s because someone else did it for her in a rather compelling manner.

“U-Uncle Artie! Do-Don’t go just yet, please. It’s- you can fix it, right?”

“I am afraid you can’t fix what is not broken. You can only turn the cheek for so long and-” Before I could finish, the girl had literally latched on my leg with her tendrils. “Minnie, don’t make this difficult or I will…”

My voice trailed as a familiar feeling erupted from my ear. A tendril had made its way there, providing a sight that wasn’t mine. No, it wasn’t a sight- it was a group of scrambled scenes that were part of the same memory.

Minnie’s memory of her…

Training.

(SCENE 1)

Minnie looked to be six. Maybe seven. She was-

Forming a sword, like Mama taught me. It’s scary, but Mama would never scare me too much. Papa is here too.

“Yes, good. You’re learning,” Mandy assured. “Remember Minnie: Control and Power are everything. Master them both and any foe that stands before you will fall. Keep your wits as sharp as your blade and remember your training.”

This is going to be simple and easy. Like other spars. I half-listened to her Mama’s words, ready for a strike without a warning through her blade but-

“For my lessons will not be as tame as the others have been,” Mandy proclaimed, ready to strike with a surprise. “Now, let’s begin.”

BANG!

?!

(SCENE 2)

P-Pain! It- it hurts so much!

“Lesson two: your opponent will not always fight fair,” Mandy’s voice came through unflinchingly, showing a complete disregard for her daughter’s condition. “Victory isn’t given, it’s taken by those who’ll do anything to win.”

Tummy hurts so much, bullets are- Leaving but- Blood, so much blood.

“Your enemy won’t care how much you’re suffering. They won’t care that your feelings are hurt,” Mandy pushed forth, dropping her gun and blade on the ground.

M-Mama?! She was holding a gun. But why?  The pain, it’s- it’s-

GU-URK!

“And they will not care how many tears you have shed.”

String. Throat. Too tight, can’t breathe. It hurts. Struggle- futile. Air, I need air! Can’t hear her mother as she continued to talk. Her philosophical rant numbed out as her brain tried to find a way to survive this situation.

(SCENE 3)

SLASH!

Papa? No, it was the chatty tendril. It had moved on its own to save her.

“Tch, disappointing,” The cold tone shattered any remaining pride within the girl. “Remember what I said about control? That wasn’t it.”

But-

“You have great power. One with limitless potential. That may even rival Grim’s own, yet you must learn to be its master,” Mandy’s words were now excluded from a source as Minnie merely stared at the one-eyed tendril that had rescued her. “Your power is a weapon, a means to an end- a tool. You do not sympathize with it, you do not feel for it and you do not let it control you- you control it!”

…Why are you like this, Mama?

“Now, patch yourself up! We’ll continue your lessons tomorrow…” Mandy took a puff with her smoke, gaze aimed elsewhere.

“And I expect better results.”

I blinked, brought out of that nightmare fuel experience I was subjected to and… I looked at Minnie. Mimi looked confused at what had happened, after all I was currently crying in a mixture of pure wrath and utter mortification.

I had expected something- not this. God, not like this.

“M-Minnie.”

She glanced up, she was crying too.

“How… How long has training been happening?”

Grim looked away, the fucking coward! Mandy looked surprised and… nervous? While Nergal looked confused.

“Training? What is she-”

“A-A lot. I don’t want that, Uncle. I don’t- please, don’t go.”

The hysterical tone was more than justified. Little Junior looked confused, but could spot immediately that something was off about his sister’s reaction.

“Minnie… Do you want to come live with us?”

“Arthur-”

“Shut it!” I snapped furiously at Mandy, the woman tensing up as she mustered a gun. “You dare to try and oppose this?! You think that I will let this sort of abuse go through any longer, you monster!?”

“Artie, this is-” Grim muttered, sounding extremely alarmed by my irritation.

“Arthur, Grim,” I growled angrily at the mass of bones that should be the Grim Reaper. “Spineless even more. At least you had wits and guts in the past.”

He bowed his head, any protest killed off. I turned to Nergal and gave him a brief response to soothe his confusion.

“If you want to know what happened, do visit later on. But the kids can no longer stay at their home. The place is no longer safe for as long she is around.”

“I trained to protect them, you cretin!” Mandy finally exploded. “Of course you would be unable to see it-”

“Protect them?!” I snapped back. “You don’t know anything about protecting, you spoiled brat!”

She leaned back, angry but as if she had been slapped across her face.

“I was the one that protected you, Mandy. All those years I was the one that had to cover you for all those times you thought you had it covered yourself. You have the potential, Mandy, but control? It wasn’t always there! I was the one that had to go through endless traumas just to have you protected, dammit! And the worst part? You think that killing people indiscriminately is to be seen as ‘protection’!”

…

“The kids will no longer live in that castle,” I continued with a quiet threat. “Test me now, Amanda, and I will crush you, Grim and anyone here that so dares to threaten those I consider family.”

I expected more from Mandy. But she went utterly silent, glaring down to the ground. Junior looked hesitant to follow me out of the park, but as he gave a look to his other Uncle and got a nod from Nergal, he tagged along. Minnie was surprised, but she proceeded to cry on my shoulder as I managed to pry her away from my leg and hug her dearly as we left for home.

Mimi was perplexed by what had just happened, but she could tell something big was about to change a lot.

What she didn’t see or know was, however, that Grim and Nergal were most drawn by the rarest sight yet: the quiet sobbing of Mandy Endswell as she realized she fucked up big time.

No anger, no wrath- only pain remains.

—--------d-d-d-d—------

AN

It took me a while to decide on how to develop the picnic. After all, I know this is where the pace has to be decided to some extent and how the stakes are meant to be developed.

This picnic will amount to much more quite soon as someone will use it to make a power move… and other groups well beyond hell will make moves themselves.

All I will say is that Arthur is ready to fight to the very end to protect his family and Fate is on his side.