A new legacy begins...

As the darkness rises...

The light strengthens its warriors...

A dragon will rise from the ashes of the old...

To protect all that is new...

From the monsters who seek to end it all...

(A scene of chaos is shown at the famous Navy Pier in Chicago as creatures bearing black skin and white bone plates attack the civilians, but then a youth decides to intervene in the fight, only to get injured severely.)

Start Period - Fullmetal Alchemist OST

(The boy is shown in a hospital, lying on a bed as the camera pans in on the flashing light before it fades to blackness.)

Title: GrimmFall: Dragon's Rising

At last we're here at the half way point (A pair of violet optics flash online as the screen pans out to show a dark blue colored mecha with a pair of draconic wings on the back as he stands atop a building in a city surrounded by mountains.)

In the heart of our endless journey (The mecha flares his wings and takes flight as he draws out a sword from his shield, charging at an imposing black Grimm with large wings and scars across its body.)

At last, while everything still is calm (As the two collide a flash of light is shown to reveal a young woman with brown hair and blue eyes looking at the camera, a rapier in her left hand as she holds a Dust canister in her right.)

Take a deep breath (She swings her sword, only for it to extend into a whip as it swirls with wind around it, curtesy of the wind Dust in the chamber.)

We both have just began to grasp it (The wind engulfs the screen only to vanish as fire surrounds a sword, the camera panning out to show a redheaded woman with a fiery sword in her grasp.)

But it's slipped out of our hands (The woman slashes with her sword as the camera follows the shockwave before it hits a wasp-like Grimm, incinerating it before the camera is engulfed in flames.)

And we will learn from those fragile mistakes (The flames vanish as the camera moves up and out of them, showing a city under siege.)

'til nothing stands in our way (The city defenses struggle to keep the Grimm Horde at bay, only to be aided by two more figures, one of them leaping into the air and firing a Dust-laced rocket from a rocket launcher at the closest Grimm.)

An unbreakable bond will forever link our hearts (The two figures land, one of them being a man wearing a trench coat and behind him appears a buxom woman in shadow as beside him stands a woman with a hammer in one hand, her gaze locked onto the sky above them.)

There's no spell, no hell, that will undo us (The camera pivots to show the two from the side and then from the front, only this time they stand beside the mecha and other two women as they stand in front of a large metallic structure.)

We have made it here at last (The fortress is shown in all its glory, cybernetic organisms lurking around it and several of them aim at the camera as two sinister green optics appear behind the scene, flaring brightly.)

In this never ending dance (The light envelops the camera only for it to vanish as the scene shows a woman with blonde hair and a man with a slightly darker shade of blonde hair standing in front of the mountain city, the others landing beside them.)

And we'll live through us the period of time (The group lunges at the screen, weapons drawn as more Grimm attack.)

GRIMMFALL: DRAGON'S RISING

Opening Files: Fallen

Not much is known about the Fallen, so much speculation and rumors are rife, coupled with only limited contact with them. The most well-known facts about the Fallen are that they are humans with the essence of Grimm located within them, and that it gives them powers to rival even the most experienced Hunters and Huntresses at times.

One of the most infamous Fallen is the man known as Sammael, one of the first Fallen to ever gain control of his powers and to master his Grimm instinct for killing. He has lived an incredibly long time, so some speculate that the essence of Grimm boosts the life expectancy of any Fallen once they master their abilities. His powers are otherwise unknown, but one thing is clear: he is to not be underestimated, as it is said that he was present at the battle in which the Emperor of Japan lost his sword. However, no one can confirm if it is true or not.

Close File

"Many things in the unknown are usually feared by others such as children, the elderly, or just any ordinary person. Such fears can give rise to tales of beasts that go bump in the night, and these tales often change over time into stories of caution and warning," TOM explained as he closed the Fallen file. "And sometimes they can lead to lessons one does not expect. And those kinds of lessons only make us stronger in the end."

...

Voices...

What are they saying?

...

"...r..."

Wait...

What...what happened? And for that matter...

Who am I?

Wait...

Things are starting to come back.

I'm seeing images... visions... wait, no. These are memories. They're my memories! Yeah! Everything's coming back now!

My name is Joseph Matthews, and I just survived a Grimm attack that left me for dead after I finished saving my friends, Martha Preston and Hunter Jenkins, and our families. The only thing is, I was left a cripple. My entire right side was injured, and I couldn't even move it, save for my eye and mouth. I was given a chance to live without being a cripple courtesy of a new project that was developed in an attempt to cull the enormous numbers of Grimm that attack the cities.

And now...I'm confused. What the hell happened... and why can't I hear anything...?

"...ea...e?"

Oh. Wait. I can. But it's all muffled...

Hang on... Why is it all muffled? Was my hearing damaged or something?

No... I can still hear, but it's not... muffled, per say. More like... softer. Or... it's hard to say what it's like.

"...ear...?"

"Don...nk...an..."

What's going on? What are they talking about? And who's speaking? If only I could hear better...

Did the Grimm attack leave me with only minor hearing? I... I wish I could hear better... Dammit! I need to know what's going on! I hate being left in the dark like this!

Hold it. Is... Did my hearing just increase?

"Seph? Can you hear me?"

"I don't know if he can at the moment. I already told you that. We just have to wait until he comes to."

I... Wait... Until I come to? I'm already awake! But... wait. Why's everything so... so dark?

Hang on a moment... If I could increase my hearing, then surely I can bring myself to see, right? Let's see... How do I do that?

Oh... What's this?

Booting...
Systems operational
Weapons systems: online
Servos: online
Thrusters: online
Communications: online
Optical sensors: online
Audio receptors: online
Tactile sensors: online
Radar: online
Psycho frame: offline - activation pending
Newtype Destroyer System: offline - activation pending
Minovsky Reactor: online

This... Does this mean...?

Slowly, my vision began to flicker and come back into existence. My mind was reeling as I watched the surrounding scenery fade into view, mostly as static at first, but slowly becoming clearer. I could now see that I was in a room of some sort, with people surrounding me. I could make out their faces, each etched with worry and concern. I noticed Martha Preston off to the side, her blue-grey eyes filled with worry and her sandy blonde hair covering her face partially. Off to her left stood Hunter Jenkins, his own, slightly darker sandy blonde hair covering one of his brown eyes. The man that stood beside the two was the one who initially offered me the proposition, but his name escaped me.

I tried to turn my head, and was surprised when I did, but the sensation felt very weird, as if gears were moving in my neck. I shuddered at the sensation and at once Hunter cried out and wrapped his arms around my chest. "Seph!" he blurted. "Man, I wasn't sure you were gonna wake up, dude!"

I couldn't even move or do anything, I was so weak. Or rather, my mind had not fully acclimated to my new frame at that point. At least I was able to move my head for the moment. I finally tried to speak, and winced at the harsh sound of static coming from my throat.

Or rather, I tried to.

I discovered that my facial features were no longer capable of physical expressions.

The faint tendrils of panic began to creep its way into my mind and I felt my new reactor increase its humming in my chest. The very sensation sent shudders racing through my frame and I couldn't help it.

"Take it easy, kid," the man said, placing a hand on my shoulder guard. I turned my head to look at him, and he must've seen the panic in my eyes - err, optics - because he had a reassuring look on his face. "I know everything's new to you, and I can't blame you for panicking. I would too, if I were in your situation. But in order to get a better grasp on your frame, you have to calm down. Panicking won't do you any good in this instance."

I nodded, trying to take in deep breaths to calm my frazzled nerves, or figurative nerves at this point. The sensation of taking in air through intakes was weird, but it did help to reduce the panic.

Well, somewhat.

My reactor was still racing, but at least it wasn't as loud as it had been before.

The man nodded. "Good. Now, I'm sure you know of me since I introduced myself before the procedure, but in case you forgot, I am Dr. Cardias Vist, the CEO of the Vist Foundation, and head of the Project."

I remembered that. It just was all blurry at the moment. It would take me some time to sort through the data that was now my memories. The mere thought made me shudder again, but he merely smiled reassuringly. "Just hang on for a moment." He removed his hand from my shoulder guard and turned to look at the screens beside my table. From what I could see, they were displaying diagnostic information on my frame, and one of them had a full body image of it with arms and legs spread, as well as a set of wings.

Now that I thought about it, as I shifted a bit - trying to get used to my frame - I could feel something pressing against my back. Something folded rather tightly. It felt very uncomfortable. I tried to move to alleviate the sensation in my back, and the next thing I knew I was on the floor of the room, sprawled on my chest in a heap of dark blue metal armor. I managed to lift my head as Cardias and my friends gathered around, my parents looking extremely worried as they watched from further back.

At least the uncomfortable feeling in my back was gone.

I tried to glance over my shoulder, but I still wasn't used to the way my frame moved, so the effort was useless. But I could feel something partially spread behind me.

And yet... I hated this.

I just felt so... helpless. Even after the procedure... I had expected to be more adapted. I had no idea how wrong I'd be. In fact, I almost wished I hadn't gone through with this stupid idea!

Key word, almost.

I struggled to get one of my arms under me, to at least get myself off the floor partly. But I couldn't even move my own hands now. I mentally gritted my teeth in frustration. 'C'mon... Move, dammit! MOVE!' I thought angrily. I tried to flex a hand, but I didn't get anything.

"I said you have to calm down," Cardias said, his voice reaching my audios as he slipped a hand under my frame and started to lift. He shifted and finally laid me back against the side of the table, making sure that I wasn't too uncomfortable. Now that I was sitting down, I could at least take a glance at my sides. I turned my head to the left and was shocked to see what appeared to be a draconic wing-like appendage partially spread, equipped with some kind of fin-like devices. My head whipped to the right and there was the same thing.

'The hell?!' I thought in confusion. 'I have wings?!'

Cardias seemed to have sensed my confusion and he smiled a bit. "Don't worry. The wings are something that will be of use to you down the road."

'Gee, ya think?' I grumbled to myself in my thoughts. I couldn't speak, let alone move the rest of my body, at this point, and it really made me frustrated.

"Uh, Dr. Vist? Are you sure that he'll be able to move and stuff?" Martha asked in worry. "Because right now, he can't even do any of that."

Dr. Vist nodded. "Yes, but he needs to get used to his new frame, and that will take some time. Right now, he's basically at the level of an infant for movement and speaking," he explained. "But he will be able to."

"Somehow I doubt that," Hunter grumped. "Seems to me like you just wanted to use him for your little project to see if it would even work."

I was shocked at Hunter's bluntness. But also, I was a bit worried that he had only used me to test the project out. He hadn't really said why he even asked me to begin with. I looked in his direction, still feeling like I wasn't in a much better position than I had been as a cripple.

Dr. Vist's face was unreadable as he knelt down beside me, ignoring Hunter's comment. He grabbed a small light from a nearby cart of tools and held it up, shining it in my left optic. I turned my head away in response to prevent my optics from being blinded. He grabbed my head and turned it back to face him, and he leaned in, examining my optics closely. I shivered a bit under the intense scrutiny, wondering just what was going through his head at that point.

Thankfully it didn't last for long as he finally let go of my head and turned to make a note on the tablet he held in his hand. I couldn't see what it was, but somehow I had a feeling it had to do with my frame's functionality. He finally sighed before he placed the tablet down and ran a hand down his features. "This is going to take more time than I anticipated..." he muttered. "Seeing as how you're unable to really do much else aside from movement of your head."

I nodded, feeling my reactor increase its humming in my frustration. I tried to speak again, but once more static issued from my new electronic vocalizer. I mentally winced at it. I hated this so much...

Martha stepped closer to me and knelt beside me. "Seph, it's gonna be okay. We'll try and help you somehow," she said.

Hunter nodded, ignoring Dr. Vist and kneeling beside Martha. "Yeah, dude. We'll help you."

I felt relief surge through my frame and my shoulders sagged, the tension escaping my new hydraulics. The sensation felt awkward as they hissed with releasing tension. A sigh of relief escaped me in the form of air being expelled from my vents. Until I could figure out how my new vocalizer worked, it was all I could do at the moment.

Dr. Vist finally stood and made his way over to where my parents were and started to speak with them in hushed tones. That left me with just my friends as they both slipped one of my arms around their shoulders, Martha to my left, Hunter on my right. Together they were able to at least lift me off the ground so I was somewhat standing.

"Man... this bites," Hunter muttered under his breath. "Having to help you adjust to a whole new body? I'd rather you'd not gone through with this, Seph."

I nodded, feeling the same way.

"Sure wish you had the ability to speak," Martha said softly. "Then we wouldn't have to guess what you're thinking."

Again I nodded in agreement.

"Okay. Let's try and get you standing at least," Hunter remarked. He and Martha proceeded to guide me over to an empty corner of the room, so as to not cause any damage to any of the instruments or equipment back by the table. The two of them slowly removed my arms from around their shoulders and stepped back, but unfortunately I still couldn't control my frame, so I wound up collapsing onto my side, one of my wings pinned beneath me. The two scrambled back over and hauled me to my feet, and this time they didn't let go.

"Geez! This is gonna take forever!" Hunter grumbled as he slipped my arm around his shoulder again.

"Seph, can you at least try and move something else?" Martha asked.

I jerked my head to look at her. But since I couldn't make facial expressions anymore, I had to resort to a stare, and she seemed to get uncomfortable. I felt a surge of guilt and helplessness within me and I expelled some air from my vents in a pseudo-sigh. I turned my head away in shame and embarrassment for making her uneasy.

I really, really wanted to be able to speak to them, and to move at least something else, as well as stand or something.

I really, really, really wanted it. I wanted my old independence back. My old freedom. My old life.

Well, maybe not my old life, but... my ability to live my life as I saw fit. Not trapped in a frame I could barely use, let alone control at the moment. It felt like I had been reduced to... well... a baby. The whole thing was really embarrassing to me, for I was a nineteen year old kid, having to relearn everything about my body and movement. I hung my head and growled to myself in my thoughts. In a way, this was sort of like the ultimate irony: crippled by a Grimm, given the chance to live again and fight them on an even footing, only to be trapped in a frame I had no control over, basically stripped of my independence.

But then again, wasn't that why I had chosen to go through with this in the first place? To protect the ones I cared about from the same fate? If so, then my reasoning had to have been flawed from the beginning.

Still, I had to try. My friends were very close to me, as were their parents. I had to try this despite my feelings on it. After all, if there was any threat that needed to be halted, it was the Grimm. And I wasn't about to let anyone else die like those innocents at Navy Pier.

I lowered my head and, after a bit of frustrated fiddling around, managed to turn off my optics as I focused. I let myself go, my mind starting to tentatively explore my frame. I still couldn't move, but I could at least feel things. I focused on that instead, even though I wasn't sure it would be of much help.

The things I could definitely feel were my wings as they hung sort of half-open, half-closed against my back. I also felt the joints, and I tentatively tried to move them, or at least I imagined how they'd feel if they moved, since I couldn't move to begin with. I had no idea that it was all it took in order to regain movement capability. But at the time, it seemed like it hadn't worked. I turned my optics back on and growled to myself. But that was not just in my head.

A low rumble seemed to resonate from somewhere, and I jerked my head up, looking left and right in confusion before I realized my two friends were staring at me. Hunter had his eyes wide and Martha was staring with her mouth open. "Dude... Seph... Did you just growl?" Hunter asked.

I looked at him in surprise. "W...W...Whu...?" I suddenly stopped, realizing that I was actually speaking, and not just emitting static. Oh, sure it was still somewhat present, but there were sounds that resembled phonetics in there too. Words, basically. I looked at my hand draped over his shoulder, and, on a hunch, tried to wriggle it.

The digits twitched ever so slightly. I tried again, feeling elation and excitement flooding my frame. This time they twitched a bit more, and made a slight movement like they were trying to clench into a fist. A third attempt yielded the results I was hoping for as my hand curled into a fist. Hunter watched with a slight smile forming. "Well, looks like you're starting to get the hang of the new frame," he said.

I merely chuckled, trying to clear out the static in my voice.

It was progress, at least.

The next few hours yielded some good results. By the time Dr. Vist was done speaking with my parents, I was at least able to stand on my own and had some basic control back. I still had a long way to go, but it was far better than being immobile. He came back over to the three of us as we made our way over, with me actually stumbling a bit as I still wasn't used to my new wings. A look of surprise crossed his features.

"You figured out how to move," he muttered as a small smile tugged at his lips. "I guess we were right about you, son."

"Yeah? Then mind explaining to me why you really did this project?" I growled, my voice coming through somewhat clearer, despite the static.

The man merely shook his head. "I cannot say, as that's classified. But what I can tell you is that this project will hopefully turn the tide against the Grimm and other individuals who may harbor dark ambitions," he explained.

That threw me for a loop. "Others with dark ambitions?" I was confused.

Dr. Vist nodded, his expression grim. (No pun intended.) "Yes," he stated. "Grimm aren't the only threat out there. And one of these threats is a lot closer to home than we initially thought. For they are both Grimm and mortals."

All of us were confused by the statement. Except for Hunter's mother, who had been a well known Huntress before a Grimm took her left eye and arm. Her one eye hardened and she gritted her teeth. "I remember those beings clearly," she snarled.

"Yes..." Dr. Vist narrowed his eyes. "The Fallen."

That threw me for a loop. "The Fallen?" I cocked my head, confusion flooding my optics.

Dr. Vist was dead serious as he turned to face us. "Yes. Fallen are humans who have the essence of Grimm instilled within them. No one knows for sure how they come into existence, let alone how they get the very essence of Grimm implanted within them. Some theorize that they're the offspring of a human and Grimm, but scientific evidence has shot that claim full of holes. So... they're as mysterious to us as the Grimm are. What little we do know is that the Grimm usually attack them at birth and then raise them within their territory to become followers of the Grimm. It's a terrifying prospect for any family to lose a child to those things," he explained. "I should know, as one of my children was stolen to become a Fallen at birth." His eyes hardened and he clenched his fists. "Alberto... my oldest child..." He gritted his teeth and I got a sense of pain from him.

I hesitantly reached out a hand, feeling a strange sensation in my throat as I took a step forward. It felt like a lump was forming in my throat, even though I no longer was flesh and blood. I gulped nervously, and the sensation faded slowly. I laid a hand on his shoulder and he turned to look at me. "I...Dr. Vist..." I had no idea on what to say. I just didn't have anything that could be conveyed into words. But the gesture was enough to make him smile a bit.

"Thanks, son. You're a good man," he said. "But it's too late for him. He died three years ago during a major operation against several Huntsmen. I've gotten past his death, but..." He looked down, and clenched his fists tighter. "...I just wish I knew what led to Fallen forming..."

I nodded. "Yeah. I kinda figured as much," I joked, trying to cheer him up.

The man smiled as he grasped my mechanical hand and removed it from his shoulder. "Right now, we have more important things to worry about though," he said, his face becoming serious as he returned to the matter at hand.

Mom finally turned to look at me, and Dad joined her. "Seph..." I turned to face them, and I hoped they saw my emotions in my optics as I waited for them to speak.

"Seph, we're so proud of you for what you did," Mom said finally. "But... this is still hard for us, seeing you give up your old life like this. Sometimes I still wish you were a little kid... so I could tuck you in and say good night..."

"I know, Mom," I said.

"Joseph, I'm not too thrilled about this idea, but you have proven yourself in the past, so... I guess I can live with this," Dad told me. "As long as you be careful and stay in contact with us from time to time."

My optics flickered in a smile as I nodded. "I would never stay out of contact for long," I said reassuringly. "That much you know from my childhood and high school."

"Then I guess this is it. You've finally chosen your path, and we wish you the best of luck," Dad remarked with a smile.

Mom and Dad both embraced me and I hugged them back, trying to not use my full strength. I hoped that I hadn't used too much, but when I let go, it became clear that I had used just the right amount of strength and pressure.

Dr. Vist smiled as he turned to face me. "We'll start your training as soon as you feel you're ready," he said.

I nodded. At least he was being considerate of my feelings.