Grimmlord 2.15 (Patreon)

“You?”

The Justice Collective stared as a tall woman dressed all in black with long, flowing black hair descended from the portal. She wore Apex symbol on her chest, and had kitten ears nestled in her hair.

Silence. No one knew what to say or do. Then, finally, Grimmlord shook his head and said, “Who are you?”

“I am your daughter,” the woman said.

“But, why would you turn your father into a woman?” Pronto said.

“Because she is my mother!”

“What?” Everyone said I unison.

“I’m your mother?” Grimmlord said, both warmed and chilled by the notion that he would have a baby. “But, how can that be if you are the one who made me into a woman in the first place?”

“You’re so young!” Grimmlord’s daughter said, staring at his face. “We look so much alike.” She took off her mask, and the resemblance was striking. “I’m— you named me Hanni. In the future, I am the new Apex.”

“The costume? Am I?” Apex asked.

“Yes, you are my father. You and Kitty end up a couple. You have five children.”

“Five?” Grimmlord said in shock. “Five?”

Hanni could not help herself. She put her hands to Grimmlord’s cheeks, kissed him on the head. “It’s so strange to meet you like this. Mom.”

“It’s a bit strange for me, as well,” Grimmlord said. “Did you say I have five kids?”

“Yeah. You spend a lot of time pregnant in the next few years.”

Apex put his hands on Grimmlord’s shoulders and squeezed.

“Just HOLD IT!” Danger Cat said. “I need some sort of explanation. What the hell is going on?”

The group sat down, and Hanni, who insisted on sitting next to her mother, explained. “In my time, Grimmlord was transformed into a woman by the Fearsome Four— Daughter Despair, Zeppelin, Data Stream and Shenanigans.”

“Why?” Grimmlord asked.

“Daughter Despair. One of her mind games. You know her. Just screwing with people.”

“Just screwing with me? This?”

“Like the time she turned you into a six year old, or when she made you think you had purple skin.”

“I forgot about that one,” Grimmlord said.

“Whatever she thought would happen, she never expected you to fall in love with Apex.”

“Why not?” Apex said, shocked at the thought any woman wouldn’t fall in love with him, even one who was his ultra-macho former best friend.

“Because he was a guy and not one with much in the way of feminine leanings,” Danger Cat said. “Get over yourself.”

“After defeating the Four, you decided to stay a woman,” Hanni explained. “You were so in love!”

“So what happened that you had to come back and make the change?”

“Praxis Rotor happened,” Hanni said, her face growing dark. “We just call him Pain. He got his hands on a time machine, and after having been defeated so many times by me, he decided the simplest way to eliminate me was to make sure I was never born.”

“So he altered the time line? Made it so the Four never transformed Grimmlord?” Spellbinder said.

“Yes. At first, my mother began to turn back into a man. She was horrified, and even more so when her children began to flicker in and out of existence. Once we realized what was happening, we had to save ourselves, and our mother.”

Simulata chimed in. “They utilized the android Four in order to recreate the original transformation as close as possible.”

“In the hopes of preserving the timeline as much as we could,” Hanni finished.

Grimmlord was silent for a moment. He shook his head. “I don’t even know what to say. This is all so much to take in.”

“I came back because the whole timeline was destabilized when the Collective came to attack. That never happened in our time line, and the death of Pronto at Apex’ hands would have had terrible repercussions for all super beings.”

“Hear that?” Pronto said. “You were going to kill and wreck the timeline!”

“I— was upset,” Apex said.

“You owe me more than that.” Pronto said.

Hanni now got down on one knee. “It seems that stopping the attack has settled matters. Everything will be fine. I will be born and live to fight off the Desarian Invasion, the Universal Hunger, and so many other threats. And so, I am asking you,” she said, taking Grimmlord’s hand, “will you remain a woman and be my mom?”

Grimmlord looked into her eyes, this beautiful and amazing woman. His daughter? It didn’t even seem possible, and yet neither did condemning her to non-existence, or living without Apex. “Do I have to have five babies?”

“Yeah,” Hanni said. “It’s pretty necessary.” She took a deep breath. “Please. I know it’s asking a lot, but I want to live. I don’t want to die. Please.”

Grimmlord looked at Apex. The decision was not as hard as Hanni thought it would be. He’d changed so much. Tears began to roll down Grimmlord’s cheeks. He couldn’ even say why. He was totally overcome with every emotion he’d ever felt. “Yes,” he whispered. “Yes!”

“Mom!” Hanni said, now crying as well, throwing her arms around the woman who had been Grimmlord, the Grimm Knight detective.

Next week, the conclusion to Grimmlord, Episode 2