I own no rights to The Grim adventures of Billy and Mandy, nor am I affiliated with Grim Tales by Bleedman. This fanfic was inspired by his AMAZING series (my childhood set on awesome!) and is meant to be an homage to it and hopefully not a rip-off.

Most of these will be some ideas of what I think could have happened before Grim Tales: From Down Below, mainly in regards to the events around Grim Jr and Minimandy's births. It's like a prequel, which is why it's called Before the Burial (Get it? Down Below? Burial? Ok.).

Part 1: The Carriage

Grim paced around impatiently in the hallway waiting for his wife to exit the bathroom. He checked his sundial watch, sighing heavily knowing he'd have been long gone already if Mandy hadn't declared that she was coming with him.

"The one thing for Mandy to have in common with normal women and it had to be taking forever in the bathroom." Grim thought to himself.

Once again Grim had to deal with the matter of Billy. With both Heaven and Hell wanting nothing to do with him, Billy's soul was moved from realm to realm, with no one being able to put up with him for very long. His most recent home, Walker's prison in the Ghost Zone, fared no better than the others, as Grim had received a letter from Walker himself, demanding (and later begging) that Grim come and take Billy somewhere else.

After telling Mandy where he was going, she decided she was coming with too. She claimed she wished to see how efficient Walker's prison was, as it could serve as a good holding place for her enemies until she decided what to do with them. But Grim knew the truth. Deep, deep, DEEP down inside she felt nostalgic for old times. Billy was probably the only person in all of existence that was Mandy's true friend and despite never wanting that kind of bond with anyone, she still had it (and the fact that Billy never noticed that he was dead or that Mandy was in her mid-twenties meant it was just like old times for all of them).

Finally Mandy emerged from the bathroom. "What do you do in there that takes so long?" Grim asked.

"Reading."

Grim shot her a look. "You couldn't just do that another time?"

"You have your make-up time, I have my reading time. I don't get mine and you don't get yours." She stated. Grim quickly shut-up about it, his "me" time in jeopardy (have to keep the old bones looking fresh, you know).

"Well, now that you're ready, I'll open the portal-"

"No."

Grim stopped and looked at her confused. "No?" He asked.

"No, we're taking the Carriage."

If Grim had a heart it would have sunk deep into his chest. "T-th-the Carriage?" He sputtered out.

"Is that a problem?" She asked, coldly staring at him.

Snapping to attention, Grim said "Problem?! No! No! No problem at all! I'll go and have Pain get it ready!" And then he quickly made his exit.

"Why?! Why the Carriage?!"

The Carriage looked the same as any carriage you'd find in old Victorian London, only a lot more black and driven by two burning horses. It ferried its travelers from one dimension to the next until they reach their destination. It takes longer than a scythe portal but the views more than make up for it. All in all the Carriage rides were actually quite relaxing. But it wasn't the Carriage that Grim was nervous about.

Whenever Mandy had them ride in the Carriage it was because she had something to discuss with him and it was never anything good. Previous talks included the extinction of the Thundercats because "the sword would look good in my vault" and reawakening Trigon "because I have some ideas of how he could prove useful to me" and enslaving all figure skaters because "do I need a reason?". Grim couldn't use his scythe freely in the Carriage and he couldn't jump out during a multi-dimensional road trip. In that Carriage he had no possible escape and all of Mandy's undivided attention ("I love me wife. I do. But she still scares the ever-loving crap out of me!"). She could get him to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted anyway. The Carriage just made it go faster and feel worse for him.

Once Pain finished readying the Carriage, he opened the door so that his masters could enter. Grim and Mandy entered and sat down on opposite sides. After giving Grim and Mandy fresh cups of coffee, Pain sat into the driver's seat and commanded the horses to take them on their way.

Mandy sat sipping her drink and quietly looking out the window. Grim stared into his drink, just waiting for Mandy to end the torment and tell him what new monstrous act she was about to force him to commit with her.

After about 10 minutes of silence Grim was about to take a drink when Mandy finally spoke.

"Grim, I take it you remember the day you asked me to marry you." She said.

"It's a day I'm never likely to forget, M'dear." Grim said, lowering his cup. "If I recall correctly I nearly gave your secretary a heart attack when she saw me."

"She had it worse at her last job."

"So I've heard." Grim said, deciding to get back on topic. "So what about that day do you want to talk about?"

"It occurred to me recently that you never answered my question." She said.

Grim looked at her, puzzled, racking his brain trying to remember what she'd asked him.

Mandy reminded him. "I told you that I hate kids, but then I asked you how'd it even work for us to have kids. You said we'd discuss it later and never spoke of it again." She stared at him menacingly. "You haven't been avoiding the question, have you Grim?"

Fearing Mandy's accusation Grim quickly denied it. "NO! I mean…you said you hated kids, so I figured you really didn't care about how we'd be able to have any."

"I always care when it comes to what I don't yet know." Mandy said. "Knowledge is power and even the smallest scrap of information can have its uses. Besides, I don't like the idea of anything being keep secret from me."

Grim, realizing that there was no avoiding Mandy's question, decided he'd better tell her. At least this way she wouldn't falsely accuse him of forcibly impregnating her again, like she had when she laid that giant egg (damn space chickens).

"Well, for skeletons, creating a kid is actually pretty simple." Grim explained. "You just take bones from both parents and piece them together until you get a nice little kid skeleton, minus the skull of course, that needs about 9 months to grow onto the body.

Mandy was skeptical of this 'bones and the bees talk'. "I've met both your parents. They weren't missing half their bones last I checked." She pointed out.

"Skeleton bones grow back over time, Mandy. Didn't you ever notice that even after all the times you and Billy broke my bones or made me explode that eventually I'd come back together just fine?"

"Honestly, as long as you could still do the dishes I didn't care." Mandy stated bluntly, Grim grumbling under his breath. "So, that's how you have kids?"

Grim looked a little sullen. "Well, no actually." He said. "That's how skeletons have kids. I, myself, am a different story."

Mandy raised an eyebrow. "Explain."

Grim sighed. "Well, I can't have kids because…well…I'm death. I can't give life, I can only take it."

"What about the time you brought Billy's Dinobinoids to life, or that time you brought to life that watermelon Billy dressed up to look like me?" Mandy asked.

"They weren't truly alive, just animated, with personalities based on something that already exists, like the Dinobinoid's TV show."

"Are you trying to claim that little freak was based on my personality?" Mandy angrily said more than asked.

"Well, no, that was just meant to terrorize Billy." Grim said, his laughter echoing throughout the small space of the Carriage.

Mandy thought about what her husband said for a moment, then questioned him again. "There's something I've been wondering about Death for a long time actually." She said, causing Grim to stop laughing and pay attention. "When I was a child you made it sound like being the Grim Reaper was hereditary, but the Spider Queen made it clear that you were elected into the job. You know better than to lie to me so I'm curious as to how both those things could be true."

Grim always believed she'd eventually ask this, so he was a bit more calm when answering. "Well Mandy, the powers of the Reaper are both hereditary and elected." Grim explained. "Now Death can't have kids the normal way but it is possible to sire an heir to be another Reaper and that person would basically be like their child. The person they sired would become the Grim Reaper after them, and so on until that line comes to an end. Once that happens the title becomes open for election."

Mandy had been sitting quietly, absorbing all this new knowledge. "So what happened to the Grim Reaper before you?"

"His time simply came and he never wanted any heirs I suppose."

His time simply came… "His hourglass ran out, you mean?" Mandy asked.

"Yep, as mine will too, eventually."

Mandy remembered Grim's hourglass well. It was far larger than any of the others and used black sand. But what she'd noticed the most about it was that barely any sand had fallen from it. Grim had existed since the dinosaurs, but if that amount of time was represented accurately by the sand, then Grim still had several eons left.

"I don't suppose you can add more sand to your hourglass."

"Certainly not! No one can open up or destroy the Grim Reaper's hourglass. Death needs to exist and Death needs to move on. Besides, from what I understand the past Reaper's grew bored of life and death after a while and couldn't wait for the sands to run out."

Mandy pondered this for a while, Grim taking the time to finally enjoy his drink. "So, Bonehead has a while left to go, but eventually he still has to go, and when he does the title of Death will be handed to some idiot monster elected by a bunch of middle-schoolers." The idea repulsed her.

"Grim, I've decided we're having a child." She stated.

Grim spat out his drink in surprise (thankfully hitting the window and not Mandy).

He supposed he should have seen this coming due to all of Mandy's baby questions, but…no, he couldn't have seen it coming! Mandy hates kids! She hates everyone!

"A…a…a child? A-are you sure, Mandy?" Grim asked nervously.

"Do you doubt I can handle it, Grim?"

"No, it's just that you don't…like kids…at all…ever."

"And you don't believe I'd feel differently about my own?"

"Honestly, no. In fact you might hate them even more if they don't turn out like you want (like most kids don't)."

Mandy showed no signs of being offended by this (thankfully). "Perhaps you're right, Grim. But after all this time I've managed to turn Death into a respected title again and I'm not just going to let some snot-nosed brat be elected into it by a group of other brats." Mandy said. "If we sire the next Grim Reaper, then I can at least personally make sure they're worthy of that title."

"Not to mention have complete control over them." Grim thought to himself.

"So, Grim, how are we going to have a child?" Mandy asked, taking a drink. "I imagine we'd need the scythe and a sperm donor." Mandy said.

"…That, and a very open minded doctor." Grim said quietly.

"How open minded?" Mandy asked.

Grim looked to his feet in shame. "I told you that Death can't have kids the normal way." He explained. 'When the child is ready to be born, basically when your water breaks, we would have the child…the child…"

"Aborted." Mandy said, realizing where this was going.

Grim nodded his head. "There are things I'd be able to do with the scythe before and after…that…which will make our child into a reaper. His or her powers would awaken later on in their life. But it would only work if the child is…dead first."

A moment of silence pasted between the two before Mandy spoke. "I suppose this explains why you didn't pester me about having kids. Technically all aborted or still-born children are yours, aren't they? You have millions to deal with already."

Grim couldn't look her in the eye. She wasn't judging him and it wasn't like this was something he wanted, but for whatever reason he'd always felt deep shame over this part of his title. And this time he himself would be the one having the kid killed. He felt nauseous. He wasn't sure which was worse: what he and Mandy would have to do to have a child, or the fact that Mandy seemed completely unfazed by it.

"We'll start making preparations when we return to the castle." She said with no change in her expression.

Unsure of what else to talk about, Grim asked "So, uh, who do you think we should get as the donor?"

"I've got some ideas." She replied. Grim could see her mentally scrolling through a list of possible candidates. Grim wanted a say in who it'd be, but he knew that was not likely. Mandy was going to control this as much as possible, as she did everything else.

Finally the Carriage reached its destination. Pain let Mandy out first, who quickly began emasculating Walker, calling his prison the most pathetic little jail she'd ever seen, showing him what punishment and humiliation really means.

As Grim exited the Carriage he felt a massive uneasiness in his gut, a feeling he knew was going to last for several more months.