The Family Grimm [IC, Fantasy]

[The Cyberiad Council]

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Out Of Character | Roster | Theme

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“Turn back, turn back, thou pretty bride,
Within this house thou must not abide.
For here do evil things betide.”
― Jacob Grimm

"Hello, Flagstaff! This beautiful Tuesday morning calls for a blast from the past, so let's say good morning to those Mr. Blue Skys! Thank you for tuning in to 100.ONE!"

It was yet another perfectly normal day in Flagstaff. Mrs. Howards was putting fresh donuts in the display window at the Bakery, Mr. Fuller flipped over the sign to 'open' at his Gas Station, Kids were climbing of school buses emotionally dead and quasi-comatose. Yep, everything was normal. Except for the man in the tan pickup truck driving down historic route 66 with the windows down. Everything looked normal enough: The blue tarp covering the bed looked a little out of place, but still nothing to even raise an eyebrow at.

Cyrus pulled the beat up old Chevy into Mr. Fuller's gas station and parked it at one of the pumps. Stepping out of the cab, Cyrus took a deep breath, "Man its good to be back," he commented before slamming the truck door with a satisfying thunk. Walking to the bed, Cyrus checked the ropes keeping the tarp down, making sure they were all tight. After he was satisfied, Cyrus headed for the door.

"Hey, Cyrus. Back already?"

"Yeah, the Elk weren't biting." Mr. Fuller chuckled as Cyrus rooted through the shelves of candy bars and sunflower seeds.

"What's in the bed? Looks like you got something.'

Cyrus straightened up and the hairs on his neck stood up. "I... found a yard sale on the way home, and found a deal. I. couldn't. resist?" Fuller just rolled his eyes. Between Mr. Grimm and his children leaving town at odd times of the year for hunting trips and returning with all manner of strange things, Mr. Fuller was used to rarely getting a straight answer. Glancing out again, Fuller squinted his eyes, focusing on the tarp. "Say, looks like somethings moving in the back there."

Cyrus' eyes widened and he rushed out to the back of the truck. His eyes darted around like he was trying to pin something down. Then he drove his elbow into something under the tarp and the squirming calmed. Cyrus walked back into the store with a nervous smile on his face, wiping some sweat from his brow. "I think there was a raccoon in one of the cabinets." Fuller nodded his head, accepting the answer like it was obvious. Cyrus grabbed a bag of chips and a soda before walking to the register to pay for the truck and human fuel.

The rest of the way home took Cyrus though his favorite town in America. It wasn't the biggest or the newest or cleanest. Heck, it wasn't even the oldest, but it was where he had grown up, learning about all the things that go bump in the night. Even with all his training, he still wasn't completely sure what was in the back of his truck. After he drove up the wooded road to the house, passing the old familiar standing stones, he backed the truck down into "The Bunker". Old man Grimm thought it might be smart to have a rebar-reinforced concrete bunker buried five feet below the surface. Just in case. The ramp that led down to the steel door was narrow, but Cyrus managed to get the truck down there without scratching the paint or breaking off a mirror. Now came the fun part. Cyrus uncovered the bed of the truck and surveyed the monster he had hogtied with old chains. "You are one ugly motherFer."

---

Books littered the floor of Thomas Grimm's study as Cyrus tried to find out what he had drug in. "Damn it!" He muttered, slamming a book close. "I never was the best at this. Where's Dad when you need him? Where IS Dad?" Cyrus did a quick search of the house but yielded no padre. Then it dawned on him to check his phone...

Cyrus I'm on the trail of something in idaho
im leaving for the cabbin for a few days
be back soon

"Great timing, Dad. How am I gonna kill this bastard if I can't figure out what it is?" He looked back at books on the floor. Then an idea hit him like the Grimm Axe. "G.G.!"

---

"Can I help you... Sir?"

Cyrus gave a half-grin half-grimace to the sassy receptionist. "I need to pick up Ginger Grimm. I'm her brother, Cyrus."

"I.D."

"Excuse me?"

"Sir, I have to see I.D. before I can let Ms. Grimm go with you. Now if you want me to call the police on your sorry..."

"No, No, No! That is definitely not necessary!" Cyrus whipped out his wallet and handed the lady his Driver's License.

"Alright, Mr. Grimm. I'll have Ginger released."

"Released?" Cyrus asked with raised eyebrows and a joking grin that quickly traded places with an anxious frown when he saw the gargoyle face of the receptionist. "Never mind... I'll wait in the hall."

After he escaped the gorgon's den, Cyrus pulled out his phone and texted Alex.

Alex, I need you to swing by the house later.
Bring the biggest gun you got.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Alexander Grimm

"Alex!" a voice called out as Alexander, or Alex, as it is his nickname, plunged himself in the pool of paperwork. The one who called out, eventually went beside him. "It's Sgt. Alexander Grimm, Jane, not Alex," as he sternly pointed out. Which was then followed by a short chuckle from him and from the woman, Jane. Jane's a reporter, a local reporter. Someone who also has a lot of freedom in meeting someone else in this police station. Also his girlfriend. He can tell you about all of his meetings with her and how the 7-years difference (Jane's 32), but you're not here for that.

"What is it, Jane?" he asked. Normally whenever Jane's here, it means something. The last time, she came in with a birthday cake for him. He made the entire station jealous. Jane's beautiful, one of a kind. One of the Flagstaff's citizens who got out and got back with a strings of career resumes. Why she came back here is unknown. "Have you heard about the case in the forest? Of those..bodies found? I got the lead, the witness!" Oh, great. Here she is, having a witness of that strange case of death bodies. Jane's good, but he's better. And it is just a normal death, apparently just being found at that time and place. But Jane's looking for more, always looking for more.

"So, why don't you ask him. In the meantime, try not to bother me at working hours-," he said it quite nicely, in time for a text. From Cyrus'. Dammit, bring weapons to house? He's not entirely out of the hunting job, but he's hardly ever care about it much. Never mind the fact that his father cared about Cyrus more than him, despite him being just a bum. And he's the one with most stable career, of a police. Despite that, they are still his closest family members.

"So, any schedule you do tonight?" Jane asked, before she is about to leave the place. "Yeah, a paperwork duty. And that patrol duty, as usual," he is also the only one willing to do the patrol duty. The town's small, barely anything worth patrolling. But it's good for the image of the local police keeping the peace intact. "Alright then, see ya tomorrow!"

---

Not long after Jane left, Alex put on his time and went out to his Sedan. There, he hid it pretty well, a shotgun and a hunting rifle. He also brought out his standard-issued pistol. He was known as one of the less odd Grimm children, so he was given pass on doing this things. He texted Cyrus;

"Coming in soon. What do we hunt tonight, anyway?"

And went on his way to their place.

[WhatsamattaU]

"Hello, Flagstaff! This beautiful Tuesday morning calls for a blast from the past, so let's say good morning to those Mr. Blue Skys! Thank you for tuning in to 100.ONE!"

It was yet another perfectly normal day in Flagstaff. Mrs. Howards was putting fresh donuts in the display window at the Bakery, Mr. Fuller flipped over the sign to 'open' at his Gas Station, Kids were climbing of school buses emotionally dead and quasi-comatose. Yep, everything was normal. Except for the man in the tan pickup truck driving down historic route 66 with the windows down. Everything looked normal enough: The blue tarp covering the bed looked a little out of place, but still nothing to even raise an eyebrow at.

Cyrus pulled the beat up old dodge into Mr. Fuller's gas station and parked it at one of the pumps. Stepping out of the cab, Cyrus took a deep breath, "Man its good to be back," he commented before slamming the truck door with a satisfying thunk. Walking to the bed, Cyrus checked the ropes keeping the tarp down, making sure they were all tight. After he was satisfied, Cyrus headed for the door.

"Hey, Cyrus. Back already?"

"Yeah, the Elk weren't biting." Mr. Fuller chuckled as Cyrus rooted through the shelves of candy bars and sunflower seeds.

"What's in the bed? Looks like you got something.'

Cyrus straightened up and the hairs on his neck stood up. "I... found a yard sale on the way home, and found a deal. I. couldn't. resist?" Fuller just rolled his eyes. Between Mr. Grimm and his children leaving town at odd times of the year for hunting trips and returning with all manner of strange things, Mr. Fuller was used to rarely getting a straight answer. Glancing out again, Fuller squinted his eyes, focusing on the tarp. "Say, looks like somethings moving in the back there."

Cyrus' eyes widened and he rushed out to the back of the truck. His eyes darted around like he was trying to pin something down. Then he drove his elbow into something under the tarp and the squirming calmed. Cyrus walked back into the store with a nervous smile on his face, wiping some sweat from his brow. "I think there was a raccoon in one of the cabinets." Fuller nodded his head, accepting the answer like it was obvious. Cyrus grabbed a bag of chips and a soda before walking to the register to pay for the truck and human fuel.

The rest of the way home took Cyrus though his favorite town in America. It wasn't the biggest or the newest or cleanest. Heck, it wasn't even the oldest, but it was where he had grown up, learning about all the things that go bump in the night. Even with all his training, he still wasn't completely sure what was in the back of his truck. After he drove up the wooded road to the house, passing the old familiar standing stones, he backed the truck down into "The Bunker". Old man Grimm thought it might be smart to have a rebar-reinforced concrete bunker buried five feet below the surface. Just in case. The ramp that led down to the steel door was narrow, but Cyrus managed to get the truck down there without scratching the paint or breaking off a mirror. Now came the fun part. Cyrus uncovered the bed of the truck and surveyed the monster he had hogtied with old chains. "You are one ugly motherFer."

---

Books littered the floor of Thomas Grimm's study as Cyrus tried to find out what he had drug in. "Damn it!" He muttered, slamming a book close. "I never was the best at this. Where's Dad when you need him? Where IS Dad?" Cyrus did a quick search of the house but yielded no padre. Then it dawned on him to check his phone...

Cyrus I'm on the trail of something in idaho
im leaving for the cabbin for a few days
be back soon

"Great timing, Dad. How am I gonna kill this bastard if I can't figure out what it is?" He looked back at books on the floor. Then an idea hit him like the Grimm Axe. "G.G.!"

---

"Can I help you... Sir?"

Cyrus gave a half-grin half-grimace to the sassy receptionist. "I need to pick up Ginger Grimm. I'm her brother, Cyrus."

"I.D."

"Excuse me?"

"Sir, I have to see I.D. before I can let Ms. Grimm go with you. Now if you want me to call the police on your sorry..."

"No, No, No! That is definitely not necessary!" Cyrus whipped out his wallet and handed the lady his Driver's License.

"Alright, Mr. Grimm. I'll have Ginger released."

"Released?" Cyrus asked with raised eyebrows and a joking grin that quickly traded places with an anxious frown when he saw the gargoyle face of the receptionist. "Never mind... I'll wait in the hall."

After he escaped the gorgon's den, Cyrus pulled out his phone and texted Alex.

[floatleft][box][spoiler=Alex]

Ginger Grimm, Coconino High School, Flagstaff AZ

Over the last year, it had been a real pain for G.G. to keep her high school grade point average up, what with all the extra 'Family' lessons that she had competing with her school work for her brain. Say, 'goodbye!' to the volleyball team, and, 'hello!' to Kung Fu. In fairness, Kung Fu was probably, and currently, the best development that came after receiving the 'Family Curse'. Her mother had frowned upon the notion of raising a tomboy and what with Dad and her brothers poking about for things that went, 'bump', in the night, and the curse wasn't a totally automatic thing, so Dad was a little more inclined to let Mom have her way in the raising of G.G. But Mom had been gone for three years now. G.G. missed her something crazy, sometimes, but the world wasn't interest in waiting for G.G. to stop grieving, so she carried on. A year later, she turned sixteen and things got totally crazy. Dad showed her some kind of claw and asked her to pick it up. Hey, Alice, anymore room down the rabbit hole? Then to 'The Cabin' for intensive Grimm training and testing.

Now that G.G. knew what her ancestors and brothers were up to, even though she thought about what Mom had wanted for her, she couldn't turn her back on a greater responsibility to mankind.

She shouldn't have been surprised when the call came over the public address system for her to report to the office, right in the middle of Advanced Placement Chemistry. She carefully put down the re-agents for the substance testing and caught the eye of the teacher. He phoned to the school front office and let them know that G.G. would be excused from class as soon as she safely put away her lab materials.

In the matter of a few minutes, G.G. was making long, tall, smooth strides to the school office.

Inside was..., Cyrus? Okay, just deal with it.

The school secretary asked G.G. to vouch for Cyrus' identity and as soon as she'd given it, they were gone from the school.

Once inside the old Dodge pick-up, G.G. spoke, with a little anger, "Cyrus, this had better be important! Maybe you don't want anything more out of life that what you've got, but I want to go to college!" Then G.G. took a deep breath, it was her brother, and damn it, she couldn't stay mad at him. She sighed and said more gently, "What's so important that it couldn't wait for me to finish classes, today?"

[The Cyberiad Council]

Cyrus Grimm

Alexander's reply came back faster than Cyrus expected.

It's already hunted; I just can't kill it. Just a heads up, don't go into the bunker till I get back.

After he hit send, G.G. came walking down the hall.

---

Cyrus rolled his eyes at G.G.'s outburst and waited for her to finish. "Relax, G.G. You'll get into any college you want with your grades. Anyway, I thought you would be happy to get out of school, but I forgot how much of a nerd you were." Cyrus gave his sister a grin to let her know he was joking.

"Anyway, to answer your second question, I caught wind of a string of unusual disappearances in New Mexico. Naturally, I got curious, so I drove over there last night to check it out. It could imitate human speech, so I figured I was hunting a Crocotta. The thing wasn't hard to find at all; it tried to lure me in too. Almost bit my head off, but the curse kicked in. I knew something was off as soon as I landed the first good blow with the Grimm Axe; which did approximately nothing. Well, it made it mad. I've killed a couple Crocotta with the Axe before, so that was a dead giveaway this is something else. I managed to knock it out and tie it with some chains. I couldn't leave it there, so I brought it home and threw its sorry ass in the bunker until I could figure out how to kill it. That's why I need you: I've never been the best at research."

The way back to the Grimm home wasn't all that scenic. It took them through a few neighborhoods before the road started gaining elevation. Rows of Houses were replaced with rows of trees as the noise of the city faded into the distance. "I texted Alex too, he should be coming up soon with plan B: Blow it to smithereens. I have no idea how long that could take; it would be much easier to kill it right out."

After about another mile, Cyrus turned off the main road and onto their long driveway flanked on either side by two granite standing stones. The House was well hidden by the trees and impossible to see from the road. Cyrus stepped out of the truck and headed for the door. "Did Dad tell you why he was going to the Cabin?" Cyrus asked G.G. on his way to the door.

[WhatsamattaU]

G.G. got out of the truck and followed her eldest brother.

"No, Dad didn't say a thing to me about a trip", she answered, shooting a glare at Cyrus. "He's just like you and Alex. You all tell me things and don't tell me things because you look at me as, 'the girl'. Hey, I'm not really complaining, because you all handle some dirty jobs, but I'm not 'the secretary' either."

G.G. reached out and gently grabbed him on the shoulder, turning him around. "But, I have an idea about whatever you caught."

Cyrus' eyes lit up; "I knew you could figure it out. So lay it on me; what do we got?"

He was glad that they could potentially put another beast to rest, but the fact that Dad went to the Cabin without saying anything troubled him. They had a mutual agreement: If they were going after something dangerous (by Grimm standards), they would tell the other what they thought it was, where they were going, and when to go looking if they didn't come back. The only reason Old man Grimm would go to the Cabin is if he was on the trail of something big, not some random hunt. But Cyrus knew: 36 hours. That's how long his father had to make contact. Timothy Grimm rarely made promises, but he'd die before breaking one.

G.G. saw the look on Cyrus' face. He was concerned. Hell, she thought, she was concerned too, but she didn't fly off the handle or get panicked until things started showing signs of being a disaster. Like whatever this critter was. Still, G.G. wondered if maybe there wasn't something wrong with herself, that she was often emotionally distant to things that other people worried about. That Dad might be in trouble, or even die, heaven forbid, should make her really worry, but death would find them, like it found everyone, just maybe with Grimms a little faster.

"I can look up descriptions," said G.G., "but it's probably got some sort of 'Grendel' enchantment on it. Metal bounces off it's hide. The original Grendel was killed from blood loss after Beowulf ripped an arm out of it's socket. But you might try to beat it to death with a stone or shoot it with a crossbow bolt, just take off the arrowhead. If that doesn't work, maybe we can feed it poisoned meat or chain it up out back and toast it with a flamethrower?"

[The Cyberiad Council]

Cyrus chuckled as he pushed open the door to the house. "Don't tempt me. As much as I love pyrotechnics, we have to be careful not to set the woods on fire again. Remember last time? The fire marshall back in town still hates our guts."

With the late-night hunt finally starting to catch up, Cyrus broke off and headed towards the kitchen for some caffeine. "I'm going to put on a pot of coffee, you want any?"

G.G. replied in the negative. She had no desire to go to lay in bed with insomnia, that night. For her, coffee had a time and a place. Either you needed to wake up in the morning or needed to stay awake. If neither of those two needs were met, better to go without it.

She disappeared in to her room, briefly and returned to the kitchen with her laptop. Over the last year, she'd compiled a list of monster attributes to cross-reference and help determine what monsters might be responsible for a particular case.

After he was done setting up the coffee machine, Cyrus went back through the living room and up the stairs to the study. "I know history and mythology were never my best subjects, but I thought Grendel was humanoid. Some kind of troll or ogre, right? The thing I caught is definitely a quadruped. I even thought it could be a nemean lion, but it isn't golden and doesn't look like a lion."

"Give the man a prize!" responded G.G. "But personally, I never thought the ancient Greeks we great artists on all the jugs and urns. The Asiatic Lion doesn't have a mane, like an African lion does. Maybe," she continued, " the Nemean Lion was like this critter you caught?..," Then, G.G. gave out an, "Aha! Got it!"

"Now you're just showing off, G.G."

"It's a Persian cousin of the typical crocotta," G.G. answered, "a Leucrocotta. My data here says it can't be killed with steel. I can't imagine that bronze would be any better, or copper hollowpoint ammo, but if it's only immune to steel, those could possibly work.... Or, maybe you could try a baseball bat."

"Hmm. Usually with monsters, its 'only killable by gold' or 'must be stabbed through the heart with a holly branch grown on the banks of a river three miles away from a church'. Somehow its more annoying when they're immune to something specific."

"There could be an entry in the older diaries", G.G. said.

"You look into that, I'll get the gold, silver, and copper knives from the safe. I'll try carving it up, but if that doesn't work, we'll see if Alex's lead buckshot will do the trick." Cyrus headed for the basement where they kept the not-so-legal tools of their trade. A few seconds later, after making a loud racket, Cyrus reappeared carrying a leather knife case. "I nearly killed myself tripping over the shit down there. Remind me to clean up down there sometime. If you find anything interesting I'll be in the bunker."

"Take a break, Cyrus," G.G. said, shaking her shoulder length red hair. "The diaries aren't the work of minutes like my computer program. You'd best cool your heels before experimenting with different metals, or at least with knives of different metals, while I wade through the diaries. Or wait for Alex and go for some high velocity lead poisoning."

G.G. got up, reconsidered a cup of coffee, but thought against it. "I need to go down to the library."

"Fine, you have a point." Cyrus dropped the case in an armchair and headed into the kitchen to grab the freshly brewed coffee he nearly forgot. While he drank the coffee, Cyrus pulled out his phone and dialed his dad. No answer. "Something doesn't feel right." Even though he knew it was probably nothing, Cyrus couldn't shake the feeling. He thought about it a little more before he realized with a dawning dread that he would have to babysit his younger siblings. Sure they could fight off professional boxers, but Timothy made him swear to watch out for them if he went out of town.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Alexander Grimm

Alexander's car slowly approached their house, the Grimm house. He'd rather spent his time anywhere else if he met his father here, but if he is not, he is going to stay here and help his siblings. Cyrus is really the opposite of him, come to think of it. He's melee specialist, Alex's ranged. Alex also probably far calmer than Cyrus, the arrogant eldest sibling, he chuckled as he remembered it. He texted Cyrus, again:

"I'm here. Are you inside the house? Please don't tell me there's father inside."

The car stopped. Alex's brought up his shotgun and the hunting rifle. Hopefully this monster have normal weaknesses. Specialized ones are fine, but the ammunitions to kill the specialized ones are indeed rare. Well, he can makes the bullets just fine but if they want to kill the monster now, it will take some time. And he is hardly ever willing to take some time to not kill a monster.

He went to the door. It's unlocked, so he opened the door, with a warning, "Hey, it's your brother, Alex. Don't shoot me, don't try to stab me as I move inside," he warned. He'd been shot once. Granted, it was an arrow. But they though he was someone else! Like what, exactly? What kind of stupid people that barged in to this place? No one in Flagstaff is that stupid.

As far as he knows.

[WhatsamattaU]

Ginger thought she heard Alex announce himself, coming through the door. In the Grimm family, that was a good idea.

G.G. didn't hear a response from Cyrus, maybe he was napping in spite of drinking coffee?

She called out from the downstairs, "I'm down here, Alex, in the old diaries! Cyrus is in the house, but I think he might be napping! Also, there's a crocotta variant in the bunker, so be sure about who you're hearing!"

[The Cyberiad Council]

Cyrus was, in fact, not napping. When he heard Alex' knock he had taken up a hidden position just out of view of the entryway. He knew it was probably Alex, but with a voice-mimicking monster with extendable jaws nearby, he wasn't taking any chances. With the Axe in hand, Cyrus waited for the familiar rush of the curse. As Alex stepped into view, Cyrus let his guard down and he stuck the old weapon back into a loop on his belt.

"Hey, Man!" Cyrus said with a loud voice from behind Alex. He hoped to startle him a little bit, hopefully not enough to get shot, but hey, if that was the price of messing with his brother, so be it.

"Want any coffee? I just brewed a fresh pot. We're out of donuts, though. Sorry about that." Cyrus added a little tilt to his voice; he liked picking with Alex. Behind the facade of the impetulant older brother, Cyrus was happy that Alex actually showed up. He knew his brother didn't exactly see eye to eye with their old man, but despite what either of them said, they both had equal parts to play in straining the relationship between them.

"I'm glad you're here. Thanks to G.G. we now know that we have a big steel-proof hyena in the bunker. Not even the enchantment on the family Axe can cut it, but we didn't see anything that it was completely metal proof. Wanna blast it with some buckshot and try to kill it?"

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Alexander Grimm

To say that he's...uncomfortable with the non-existence of his father, is definitely weird. Hunting rifle slung on his back, shotgun on his hands. Pistol on his holster.

Ginger thought she heard Alex announce himself, coming through the door. In the Grimm family, that was a good idea.

G.G. didn't hear a response from Cyrus, maybe he was napping in spite of drinking coffee?

She called out from the downstairs, "I'm down here, Alex, in the old diaries! Cyrus is in the house, but I think he might be napping! Also, there's a crocotta variant in the bunker, so be sure about who you're hearing!"

Well, isn't that just great. The animal, a voice-mimicking one. He heard of it, and it wasn't a pretty good thing to be heard. Ginger's downstairs. Old diaries. His father really never thought of digitizaling the whole thing. This is the age of internet, maybe he can spends some money to installing a digital app to the phones so that they can look at what they are looking for instantly, and not making physical trips to this house?

Here he is, blabbering about his father. What a joy, right?

Cyrus was, in fact, not napping. When he heard Alex' knock he had taken up a hidden position just out of view of the entryway. He knew it was probably Alex, but with a voice-mimicking monster with extendable jaws nearby, he wasn't taking any chances. With the Axe in hand, Cyrus waited for the familiar rush of the curse. As Alex stepped into view, Cyrus let his guard down and he stuck the old weapon back into a loop on his belt.

"Hey, Man!" Cyrus said with a loud voice from behind Alex. He hoped to startle him a little bit, hopefully not enough to get shot, but hey, if that was the price of messing with his brother, so be it.

"Want any coffee? I just brewed a fresh pot. We're out of donuts, though. Sorry about that." Cyrus added a little tilt to his voice; he liked picking with Alex. Behind the facade of the impetulant older brother, Cyrus was happy that Alex actually showed up. He knew his brother didn't exactly see eye to eye with their old man, but despite what either of them said, they both had equal parts to play in straining the relationship between them.

"I'm glad you're here. Thanks to G.G. we now know that we have a big steel-proof hyena in the bunker. Not even the enchantment on the family Axe can cut it, but we didn't see anything that it was completely metal proof. Wanna blast it with some buckshot and try to kill it?"

"Fuck!" he was startled real quick, and he accidentally fired the shotgun to the air. It's a wonder that no one gets killed. He's a bit mad when he saw Cyrus behind his back. "Did you know you can get killed? Not that I can be arrested, since I can COVER this up," he put an emphasize on the word COVER. Damn right he's going to be mad about this. Coffee? It's fine. He's not your average cop who's looking for donuts every now and then, "I'll pick the coffee myself, thanks."

Cyrus told him that the animal is steel-proof. "Glad to know we have SOMEONE with guns and leads, right?" he chuckled at the whole thing. He likes to snubbed his siblings, considering...he has the most stable career out there in the town of Flagstaff. "Alright, then. Lead the way, brother. By the way, father's not here?"

[The Cyberiad Council]

"Oh yeah. I forgot how 'useful' your guns are. Wait. Can they kill vampires? Werewolves without silver bullets? Ghouls? Witches? Most of the things we go up against?" Pulling out the Axe with a smug look, Cyrus gave it a flip. "This little piece of family history can, so I'd choose it over your guns any day of the week."

Cyrus took a sip of his coffee as he headed for the door. "And no, don't worry. The man who gave you life, raised you, and provided for you is at the cabin last I heard. You need to get over this thing between you and Dad, man. It isn't healthy. Lets see if we can put those guns to use."

Opening the door, Cyrus headed towards the Bunker.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

"Oh yeah. I forgot how 'useful' your guns are. Wait. Can they kill vampires? Werewolves without silver bullets? Ghouls? Witches? Most of the things we go up against?" Pulling out the Axe with a smug look, Cyrus gave it a flip. "This little piece of family history can, so I'd choose it over your guns any day of the week."

Cyrus took a sip of his coffee as he headed for the door. "And no, don't worry. The man who gave you life, raised you, and provided for you is at the cabin last I heard. You need to get over this thing between you and Dad, man. It isn't healthy. Lets see if we can put those guns to use."

Opening the door, Cyrus headed towards the Bunker.

"It's useful, it's modern-day weaponry, and despite no enchantments, it still useful. At least lot better than bow and crossbow," Alex mussed up about it. The different use of bullets and cartridges to make sure that supernatural creatures are killable is a tiring method, but the many types of firearms making it up certainly well. "Well, each to their own opinions, Cyrus. Each to their own," he ended it. Apparently father's not here. A relief. "For me, it's a relief. I can get this thing over with, the fact he's not happy with my choice of career is entirely his own. I still close to our house, my law network is fine, the fact I now have the license to use firearms are better.

"Lead the way, brother," as they went into the Bunker.

[WhatsamattaU]

G.G. Heard Alex's exclamation about Cyrus surprising him, after which they must have started speaking in normal tones because she didn't hear the sound of gunfire or a lifeless body going 'thud' as it fell to the floor. Boys. Cyrus sense of humor mixed with his paranoia was not an endearing quality and Alex, as a cop, to her mind, had a continual case of mild P.T.S.D. One of these days there'd be a big fight....

G.G. returned to the scanning of diaries. She'd been at it for a bit before Alex had entered the home. She turned a few more pages and saw the word that She'd been searching for, 'leucrocotta'. It was in one of the diaries written in German, so she started transcribing the info to her laptop's translation program...

Meanwhile....

Cyrus rolled his eyes at his brother's spiel as they walked across the yard to the concrete ramp that led down to the bunker. "That's not the way Dad sees it, but that's between you and the old man."

The Bunker's door was almost ten feet below the surrounding ground and was built like those submarine bulkheads. Cyrus rotated the circular handle and pulled the door open. "Brace yourself, it can be pretty freaky when it wants to be." As they ducked inside, they could hear what sounded like a little girl sobbing. "Help me, please!" A large, lion-sized, hyena looking creature with a massive maw and cloven feet hung hog-tied from the ceiling.

"Finally awake? Let's see if we can fix that, permanently."

[Kazarogkai]

Solomon Grimm

In the Bunker, latter that day

The day had been a rather quiet one. Nothing in particular not even a whisper which ever since I was 16 was anomaly. Huh think about that, when your life has reached the point that normal has become an anomaly. The Strange becomes the mundane, the extraordinary a quaint bore. It was kinda sad really in a sort kinda way but on the otherhand one could argue it forces you to appreciate things which usually one does not. The quiet whisper of the wind, a flower that finds life in a patch of concrete, the taste of a good cup of sweet tea out of silo cup on a hot morning day. These are things one would rarely under normal circumstances would bat an eyelash to but when faced with the extreme and the fantastical on a daily or even hourly basis, they become like quiet respites in the storm. But not the port in the storm quiet but more the eye in the hurricane. The calm before the catastrophe so to speak.

Down in the basement of the bunker I was working on something though nothing in particular. I had found a few of Timothy's journals and had read something rather interesting and was hoping to potentially replicate it to the best degree I could. Crafting of various odds and ends being something I have always been personally rather interested in which along with the fact that I have sought to become a carpenter shouldn't be too surprising. Alongside that I have from a rather early age dabbled in metal working though admittedly most of that has been in the form of reading of books, applying the knowledge has been rather... difficult to say the least. The piece that laid before me, a rather crude knife blade made from some wrought iron that I had smelted, kinda attested to that fact.

Never the less as I worked my way along minding my own business I heard a rather heavy noise from above. I hadn't heard a call or anything of the like and as such was immediately suspicious about who it might be. Timothy was off somewhere so I doubted it was him but to his children I could not say what. So resolving to solve this mystery I in a rather surreptitious manner took the knife head that I had been working on and wrapped it partially in cloth to function as a crude handle. A simple weapon but It should get the job done so long as said thing is humanish. From there I snuck my way up quietly making my way to the source of the sound and what do you know one of the Grimms. Specifically it was Cyrus, the favored son, and seems to be he found something rather interesting.

He hadn't noticed me as of now me being the sneaky one in this rather strange and dysfunctional family and well what he had seemed a bit interesting but I decided to forgo bothering the man, atleast not directly. Instead I decided to do something interesting, a trick if you will. Just to see how well the man had kept up with his training and all. I was mulling it over in my head hiding in the shadows when Cyrus seemed to mention something about GG and left presumably to get the girl. And with that my plans changed and modified a bit knowing if he needed to get ginger then he is probably going to be bringing the rest of the family along, if that was the case then well this trick just got a bit more fun.

Creeping and crawling and making my way into the basement to hide I waited a while for an opportunity cackling lightly to myself...

Current Time

Ginger Ginger oh f****ing ginger. When I saw that little... I wont say and excuse the previous language, walking around in that self important way she always did my blood boiled just a bit. I didn't like the girl. Not at all. The little know it all had always from the earliest gotten on my nerves. Her and Timothy's wife. I don't know why maybe it's something genetic or whatever. From what I know it's normal for red heads to despise each other though(why do you think were going extinct?) so that obviously is part of the problem. Never the less I had my plan of what I was to do. The monster that it appears that Cyrus had bought along would distract him and Alex for a bit and in that time I would have an opportunity to do something interesting. Donning a black cloak and an iron mask that obscured effectively all of myself and bringing along with me my half finished knife emerged quietly from the shadows of my hiding place and I made my way upstairs.

Seeing that both Cyrus and Alex were finally gone I snuck my way over making sure to remain out of sight and mind into the study where my target was to be. It wasn't long before I found her, Ginger who sat quietly working on something I couldn't figure out. doing my best to remain quiet I out sight of the distracted Ginger pulled the door open slightly and edged on top of it a bucket full of soapy water. When someone opened the door fully they would be greeted by it falling on top of their head. But that wasn't the end of it all. Quietly I snuck up to the rather oblivious girl and positioned myself right behind and speaking in a strange half garble half snarl baritone esque manner I said unto her:

"Fleisch so gut
so schön zu reißen
die Haut knirschen
Haut zu strippen
zelten
so schön, die Streifen zu flechten
so nett
so rot die Tropfen, die fallen
Blut so rot
so rot
so süß
süße Schreie
hübsche Schreie
singende Schreie
Schreie dein Lied
Sing deine Schreie!"

And with that I grab for her hair with my right with the knife in hand on my right hand hoping to pin her by her little bitty neck. I figured her for a shreeker or a screamer and if such a thing occurred I knew her brothers would come running right into my trap...

[S i t k a]

Milo Grimm

arriving at the house

The school day had been normal enough. The same old stuff in history, stage fright in drama, physics making him want to pull his hair out. He got good grades, sure, but school still drove Milo crazy. But that wasn't the main thing on his mind right now.

It had been over a year since he had last seen Jacqueline in person. Sure, they could video chat over the internet every day, but that just made it so he could never get his mind off of what happened.

Sighing, Milo opened the front door, stepped inside, and looked around sadly. He seemed desperately, somehow permanently lost. Shaking his mind off the curse, he walked up the stairs to his room at the end of the hall. Going through the door, his bed and dresser were on the far left of the room. An old phonograph he had bought at an antique store sat on the dresser, and on the floor next to it was a box of records. On the opposite end of the room was a couch and a small bookshelf filled with novels, and on the wall opposite the door, in front of the window, was an old desk supporting a typewriter, a desktop computer, a projector, and a stack of papers he had printed off the internet while doing research on whatever topic he had been interested in lately. A slightly taller bookshelf to the left of the desk contained numerous books on the supernatural, the scientific, and the grey area in between. To the left, between the shelf and the dresser, a poster on the wall showed a blurry picture of a flying saucer and the words 'I WANT TO BELIEVE'.

He booted up the computer and opened a text file. He had been writing something as usual, and as usual it probably wouldn't go anywhere. It had a lot to do with The X-Files, a show he'd been watching far too much of ever since he got the full collection of it last Christmas.

Before he could start typing, however, he heard a noise from across the hall. Some snarling, garbling noise, mixed with... German? It was probably one of his older siblings playing a prank on him or someone else, but in this house he could never be sure. He closed the document and got up.

Looking out his door and across the hall, he saw... someone moving around in Ginger's room. He couldn't see much through the barely opened door, and whoever it was was messing around with their voice, but it sounded like Solomon, and in addition scaring Ginger seemed like something Solomon would do.

A mischievous thought formed in Milo's head.

G.G. felt the hackles raise on the back of her neck as she heard the soft but guttural singing, in German. Lord, help me, either it's Solomon, because this is his idea of a prank, or a psychotic human. If it was a monster, she'd be feeling the rush of power and the cramping in her stomach.

Ginger tensed, hoping to move at just the right time when....

Milo opened Ginger's door, and loudly yelled "Special Agent Fox Mulder, FBI! Put your hands where I can see them and get down on the ground, NOW!!!!"

The bucket teetered atop the door. Milo didn't see it.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Cyrus rolled his eyes at his brother's spiel as they walked across the yard to the concrete ramp that led down to the bunker. "That's not the way Dad sees it, but that's between you and the old man."

The Bunker's door was almost ten feet below the surrounding ground and was built like those submarine bulkheads. Cyrus rotated the circular handle and pulled the door open. "Brace yourself, it can be pretty freaky when it wants to be." As they ducked inside, they could hear what sounded like a little girl sobbing. "Help me, please!" A large, lion-sized, hyena looking creature with a massive maw and cloven feet hung hog-tied from the ceiling.

"Finally awake? Let's see if we can fix that, permanently."

Alexander Grimm

"Not much care, but here goes nothing," he said, not entirely care about Cyrus's reaction. Father's favorite, always has been. Despite being a bum and not entirely dedicated to the mother's wish. He, at the very least, managed to get a balance of the wish of his mother and the dream of his father. As they entered the bunker, "Help me, please!" was heard. "That's really creepy. If I'm not your brother and a cop, you'll be arrested for the crime of keeping a girl here," he chuckled at the idea.

"One of these days. One of these days," as he looked on the large, lion-sized, hyena-looking. "Wow, that's huge. Want to put the bullet now?"

[The Cyberiad Council]

"Yeah, try to put it right through one of its eyes. I bet it's not too resistant there. I'll go see if G.G.s found anything new. If it doesn't work after a few rounds, come let me know."

With that, Cyrus started heading back towards the house. He had almost made it to the door when he heard a voice yelling "Special Agent Fox Mulder, FBI! Put your hands where I can see them and get down on the ground, NOW!!!!"

His hands flew to the dragon claw he had hanging around his neck, and he felt blood rush to his head and limbs along with the feeling of the hair-raising on his neck and arms. Fucking FBI. Or worse, Monsters who knew where they lived. If they had come full-force with surrender commands, they likely knew something about the less than legal (but necessary) transgressions of the Grimm family. They had to be dealt with, fast. Cyrus slammed his shoulder into the garage door, launching the heavy piece of wood clean off its hinges as he charged through into the house. He grabbed the Axe from his belt as he charged up the stairs, four at a time.

He stopped with a bewildered look on his face when he saw Milo alone in the hallway. "What the fucking hell is going on!!!"

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

"Yeah, try to put it right through one of its eyes. I bet it's not too resistant there. I'll go see if G.G.s found anything new. If it doesn't work after a few rounds, come let me know."

With that, Cyrus started heading back towards the house.

Alexander Grimm.

Alexander checked his shotgun. Well, hunting rifle works as well, but shotgun is far more powerful up close and shotgun's bullets are pretty powerful on its own as well. The shotgun itself is also the pump one, not the automatic one. He regarded the automatic one as a mere shell of the true pump-shotgun. But enough about the shotgun, he'd better kill the monster.

"I don't like you, and it's better for both of us if you're gone. Like, forever," he grins. He cocked his shotgun, aimed it between the eyes of the animal, but he also took few steps behind him, for a cautious thing. He pulled the trigger and firing few rounds into the animal, straight between the eyes.

[WhatsamattaU]

(Ginger Grimm)

Milo! G.G. thought when she heard the shouting!

Swiftly, she grabbed a bit of monster finger, that she'd preserved like a rabbit's foot, which was sitting next to her laptop. Power mixed with revulsion flooded through her body as she spun to face the intruder, who was wearing a helmet!?!

While Milo's sudden shout had distracted the foe, G.G. gave a crane strike with the heel of her palm to the side of the foe's helm. Armored or not, with Grimm-Power and Grimm-Speed, the freak was going to feel it!

[Kazarogkai]

Solomon Grimm

The Study

*BANG*

Was the sound that reverberated around the room and on my head and on brain and in my ears when the little girl spun around like a fiend and round house kicked me across the face. The distraction created by Milo had given the girl the opportunity to get the jump on me. Damn. She's not a big girl so even with the extra grimm power it wasn't that terribly bad but still. Enough to knock me back a little and destroy my attempted grapple which was rather sad and make let out a brief "oomph". At least some vindication came in the form of the plastic bucket full of soapy water I had placed atop the door when I head it com crashing down with a clang and a thud on someone or something though I doubt it was the target(s) that I had been going for namely Alex and Cyrus.

God damn it everything has gone to shit. Usually these things were far more effective but I guess this wasn't my day. The question at this point was simple, should I continue or try to save face and let it end? I chose the latter. Fuckin hell ginger that dastardly girl. I would get her one day but it seems for now this would not be the day. With that I said I sat myself up from the half crouch stance that I had snuck up on ginger with and still swaying a bit took off the now dented iron mask revealing my ugly mug for the world to see. In a strangely quiet manner I spoke:

"Do you and the others know how long I have been here without you detecting me? Nearly a god damn hour."

Sighing in a seemingly exasperated manner "If it had truly been an emergency someone could have been killed. That bucket could have been a spell and this mask truly enchanted with something nasty. And I know what your going to say:

In a half sarcastic tone' "But we got enchantments and shit."

Resuming my normal tone "It don't matter! Your dad would be pissed you not knowing to be aware of your surroundings."

With that tangent I turned my back not waiting for a response from the girl and just thinking about taking my leave when I heard the man of the hour, Cyrus, and he seemed to be scared or pissed or something in between like he normally is. With that I made my way to the door making sure to avoid the mess while chuckling a bit at the results. To Milo I said "Down down piggy nothing to be found here" and then popped my head out and stating in a somewhat serious tone directed toward Cyrus "just a drill" like it was nothing.

[WhatsamattaU]

Ginger Grimm



"Hey! Dwarf!" screamed G.G. to the retreating Solomon, "Get your sorry ass back here, or I'll make you wish you'd bought the farm with my aunt and uncle!"

It looked as if Cyrus and Milo were in shock, or maybe they figured this day would come one day and they were letting G.G. have her way. No one, not even their father, had confronted Solomon about his part in his parents death. No, he hadn't killed them, but he'd gone out to wander the Black Forest all by himself when he was supposed to be safe at home. The Black Effing Forest! Goddamnit!

G.G. stood tall, to her full five foot nine inches, and screamed the accusation, "You Killed Them! You Freak!"

[S i t k a]

Milo Grimm

"Why did I do that..." Milo thought as he took the now empty bucket off of his head and looked down at his soaked clothes.

His thoughts were soon interrupted by Ginger's screaming remark about Solomon. Standing up to his not-very-intimidating 5.5 feet, he looked Ginger in the eye.

"Hey! I don't deny that wandering in the forest wasn't smart, but you have no right to call Solomon a murderer! I don't see you yelling at me whenever I go for a walk unannounced! You don't know what things were like for him back then. Maybe things were so stressful he just desperately needed to be alone for a time. I've had times like that. Blaming him for the death of his parents is just plain cruel."

The more assertive Milo had been in control there for a minute or so, but almost immediately after he stopped talking his timid side began to show again. He stood there awkwardly for a moment, looked down at his soapy shirt and jeans, and meekly said "Um, I think I better go change."

He had been thinking of telling Ginger something important. More specifically, about his problems with Jacqueline. He had been debating it for who knows how long. Ginger was really the only person he could trust, but Milo wasn't sure that she would keep that secret.

In any case, any opportunity he might have had now was ruined. He started for the door, but if Ginger had a response there was plenty of time to stop him.

[WhatsamattaU]

Ginger Grimm

Almost as quickly as it arose, G.G.'s anger was quenched by Milo's defense of their cousin. G.G. stepped quickly to embrace her youngest brother and twin, saying, "I'm so sorry, Milo. I'm so sorry." Her body convulsed with tears, because Milo was the one member of the family that seemed the most human to her. He still seemed to have that part of his soul that G.G. wondered if she'd lost from hers.

Ginger looked down the hall. Cyrus was blocking her view, so she couldn't see if Solomon had heard or cared. She believed that Solomon was, in part, the way he was because of "survivor's guilt". That maybe he did think he was responsible for his parents deaths. That he'd been lurking about and almost got the drop on her was embarrassing to her, but why he felt he had to do such things, she thought, was his attempt to prove to himself and the world that he hadn't been a big factor in the deaths of her aunt and uncle.

Maybe it was cruel of her, to hold him accountable for those deaths, but as much as she could apologize, the original words themselves, could not be taken back. And, Heaven help her, she just couldn't apologize to Solomon right now.

[WhatsamattaU]

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Cyrus lunged forward and grabbed Solomon by the neck before he could escape out of reach. With one arm, the older Grimm pinned the prankster to the wall, his legs dangling in the air.

"Don't think about sneaking off, Milo. I'll deal with you in a minute. Before I lose my patience, what happened G.G.?"

G.G. released Milo and wiped the tears that had come when Milo scolded her. She probably deserved it, the way she'd screamed at Solomon (she was so mad at him!). Pull yourself together, girl, she thought.

"You can let him go, Cyrus," she said. "Solomon was playing 'psycho-killer', to show us how unprepared we are. He's been lurking about the home, stalking us. He's good at it, nearly got me but Milo surprised him. Milo got a bucket of water on a door."

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Alexander Grimm.

It's barely alive, but apparently his bullets did something. At least now it wasn't in the best condition. "Gotta need his axe now," he muttered. "Please!" the beast called, a little girl's voice. "Quiet!" he shouted. Man, that beast did wonders on him, he'd better got out from here as soon as possible. He fired his shotgun to the beast. Until the shotgun's empty. And now, the beast died. "Finally, eh?
"I guess this is enough. Time to clean the bunker, or calling for assistances," he muttered to himself. He went home to their house, and opened the door.

"Hey, gu--, is that you Solomon, dangled in the air?" he asked, surprised but not thoroughly enjoyed it. Solomon dangled in the air, Cyrus held him. Milo and Ginger were there as well. "Isn't this a good family reunion?"