Opening File: The Realm of Darkness
The Realm of Darkness has gone by many names including the Pit of Hate, Shadowlands, Great Darkness, the Shadow Creature, the Primordial Darkness, the Ultimate Darkness, the Dark Zone, and the Ultimate Evil. Considered a realm of primordial, quasi-sentient darkness that has existed since before the creation of the matter it is said that realm itself was the physical manifestation of a God of Darkness whose consciousness formed it when the universe was created. Only a handful know of the realm's existence and those that do believe that from that realm came the monster that would one day fall to Earth and lead to the creation of the Grimm. It is said that the Darkness came into contest with the Light over how the universe should be made thus battled each other for dominance.
The Light created powerful beings to aid it against the Darkness and succeeded. However the Darkness unleashed one last creation to destroy the universe to exact revenge for its loss. A sentient plague that would devour all in its grasp and would have destroyed the universe if not for the Light's warriors. However the evil would survive and fall to a newly made planet and from there it would remain dormant for centuries before it awakened again, not in a singular form but in the form of many beasts meant to destroy everything.
The beast would come to be known as the Creatures of Grimm.
Close File
Xxx
"Since first looking up to the stars people have wondered how it all began. We turn to religion and science for answers and find even more question. Along the way do you ever stop to ask yourself 'does it really matter?' Does it impact how you live now and you plan to live the rest of your life?" TOM asked, closing the file. "Feel free to search for answers but always keep an open mind to the possibilities out there. Who knows, you might get surprised."
Xxx
Liza Beatles swore she was going to pull her hair out one day.
Her son had gotten into fights back at home and even here in America, though he had gotten into less fights after moving here and even made a few friends. He was immensely brave in the face of danger but out of all the foolhardy stunts he had pulled this was one that made her proud and made her want to ground him until he was on his deathbed.
Jumping down after the sinking house with his friends inside and facing some sort of lave rock golem lurking underneath GrimmFall.
That story made Liza pause and wonder if leaving Australia was such a good idea.
She watched as the three kids were checked over in the hospital and given a clean bill of health. Once that was done she proceeded to give her son a full scolding while Monty and Jennifer Uno proceeded to hug their son and surrogate daughter with all their might. Just as they left their rooms they came into the lobby and saw someone in a suit waiting for them out in the hall.
What made him stand out were the wings extending out of his back.
"Uno and Beatles family?" The man asked. "Harvey Birdman, here to speak with you and the other witnesses about the recent attack."
"Harvey Birdman?" Monty asked, recognizing the man. "What do you wish to speak with us about?"
"I am here on behalf of someone who wants to meet everyone who was present when the attacker was revealed."
"Who is that?" Liz asked.
"Phil Ken Sebben, mayor of GrimmFall and headmaster of Nevernest Academy."
Xxx
Mayor Phil Ken Sebben was recognizable by his blonde hair, an eyepatch over his right eye, and a dark suit. He was physically fit with a small moustache and an air of authority around him as he stepped into the waiting room where his guests were waiting for him.
Max Tennyson and his grandchildren, Ben and Gwen Tennyson.
Kim Possible and her partner Ron Stoppable.
Hego, former leader of the now disbanded Team Go.
Skips, the Yeti Cryptid who works in GrimmFall park.
A veteran Hunter named Pops who retired but recently had taken on two apprentices.
And the two families who were at the center of the attack, the Uno and Beatles families.
"Greetings to you all. Let me just start by thanking the people in this room who helped save the three children who were attacked by a monstrosity." Sebben spoke clearly and calmly. "It pains that such a thing has happened in my city but I have you to thank for ensuring it did not end in tragedy."
Ben softly elbowed Gwen. "I'm starting to like this guy."
Gwen rolled her eyes but remained silent.
"I also like to apologize to the Uno family for their home being dragged underground. I assure I have workers bringing your house back up. You will be fully compensated for the damages and if you wish to move we will pay for any residence you choose to take up in GrimmFall or even anywhere else." Mayor Sebben continued.
"Thank you, Mr. Sebben." Monty nodded gratitude.
"I know it's been a difficult day for all of you but I have questions about the attack, specifically the monster responsible for the attack." Sebben continued. "I have ordered the best people I have working me to make sure this never happens again but I have to ask you all about this monster to better understand how to defend against it."
Nigel quietly glanced at Abby who looked away, clearly still upset about the fact that the monster was the one who killed her parents.
"It was Human." Skips spoke up, earning everyone's attention. "A Human inside the rock body."
"That's impossible. A Human couldn't survive the heat that thing was giving off." Hego protested.
"It is possible when the Human inside is protected by an unbreakable crystal and uses his Aura to manipulate the earth around him to form a body made of rock and magma." Skips continued, not batting an eye at Hego's interruption. "The crystal protects the Human body, preserving it perfectly while the Aura leaks out of the crystal, perhaps for a very long time until finally it bonds with the earth and can be freely manipulated as an extension of the person's will."
"Someone can really do that?" Kim asked, surprised by the fact it was possible.
Skips nodded. "It can be done. I have seen such things before."
"So it's a Human inside a monster huh? Well, that's unexpected." Pops commented, making sure Johnny and Carl stayed quiet.
"Perhaps the kids can skip out on this." Monty suggested.
Max nodded. "I agree."
"Awww, come on!" Ben complained as Gwen pushed him out.
"I'm free to go too right?" Johnny asked before Pops pushed him and Carl out.
Xxx
"So this watch lets you change into aliens?" Wally asked, looking at the Omnitrix on Ben's wrist. "Like real aliens?"
"Yep. Makes me a real life super hero." Ben said, proudly puffing his chest out. "I can turn into ten aliens total and they all got super powers."
"Neat! Can you bring one of them out for a fight?" Wally asked.
Gwen cut in. "Can we please not that do out in the back of Mayor Sebben's yard?"
"Aw!" Wally and Ben groaned.
"Great. Two of them." Gwen sighed and rubbed her face.
"Is she always a buzz kill?" Wally asked.
"All the time." Ben answered, glad there was someone else here annoyed with his cousin.
"Still, the fact that a device that can morph someone into a completely different life form is amazing." Carl said, watching the kids…
And Johnny.
"So, how does it work?" Johnny asked, feigning interest.
Ben shrugged. "I don't know."
Nigel looked over and saw Abby sitting away from them on a bench, her back turned to them.
Wally noticed Nigel glancing over at his friend. "Say, is she okay?"
"I am not sure but I think I know how to make her feel better. Just do me one thing." Nigel answered.
"What?"
"Don't come to rescue me."
Wally raised an eyebrow but said nothing as Nigel walked over towards Abby. As he came closer Nigel noticed Abby's Faunus ears perk up under her hat and knew she had heard him and the others.
"Please, Nigel. I just want to be alone." Abby said, not turning to face her friend.
Nigel stopped in front of the bench. "I just want to make sure your okay."
"I'm fine." Abby said simply, trying to end the conversation.
"Well, want to see the fancy device that kid over there has? He says it turns him into aliens." Nigel gestured over his shoulder at Ben with his thumb.
"Nigel, go away." Abby said a little loudly to make him leave.
Nigel sighed and stepped back. "All right."
Abby heard him take a few steps back…And then her senses perked up again as something hit her in the back and knocked her down.
"GAH!" Abby rolled and jumped up to her feet, looking at Nigel who was smirking at her.
Her back felt cold and wet and when she looked down she saw snow melting on the grass of the backyard.
She looked back at Nigel, shock etched across her face. "Did you just-"
Nigel conjured a small blue of Frostfire and threw it at Abby, knocking her hat off her head and into a pile of ice and snow created by Nigel's Semblance.
"Hey!" Abby shouted as Nigel threw another Frostfire blast that hit her in the face, knocking her down.
The Frostfire didn't harm her but left her face and hair cold and covered in snow, numbing her senses. Abby was frozen, metaphorically speaking, in shock that Nigel had done that.
Then she heard Nigel laughing at her which caused her to sit up, the snow melting instantly as she glared at Nigel.
"I thought you'd need to cool off. You know? Because you look angry." Nigel commented, chuckling at the bad joke he just made.
"Angry…YOU WISH I WAS ANGRY!" Abby jumped to her feet, looking very angry. "NOW YOU'RE GETTING IT, BOY!"
Nigel took off running for his life, trying to escape the wrath of his enraged friend who chased after him while the others look on.
"Should we help?" Ben asked.
"Nah." Wally shook his head. "Nigel's got this covered."
Nigel ran for his life, knowing the second Abby caught up to him he was dead. Unfortunately for him Abby was faster and jumped on his back, knocking them both down.
"She's not going to hurt him, is she?" Carl asked, slightly concerned.
Abby kept Nigel pinned who was laughing at the angry look on her face. "What do you think is so funny?"
"The look on your face when I knocked you down." Nigel said, still laughing.
"You think that is funny?" Abby grabbed Nigel's collar. "How about I give you a fist full of dirt and worms and see if you still think it's funny? And what are you doing using your Semblance on me anyways?"
"Trying to cool your hot head off." Nigel simply said.
"Oh yeah?" Abby smirked dangerously. "Well, here are a few bumps I think I see on your head. Let me pound them in!"
Nigel chuckled nervously as he and Abby wrestled across the ground. The two of them ending up getting dirty before finally stopping, taking a small break as they rolled apart.
"Well, I hope wherever we stay has a nice shower." Nigel remarked, looking at his mud covered clothes.
Abby let out a small laugh. "Since when are you afraid of a little mud?"
"Since the ground nearly swallowed me." Nigel sat up.
Abby sighed and leaned back, looking back up at the sky. "…I finally find out who killed my parents and they slipped away."
Nigel looked back at Abby, his smile fading. "You couldn't take that freak down. We were all lucky to survive that."
"And he's still out there…Along with the monster he is working for." Abby looked away. "They'll be back."
"And we'll be ready."
Abby looked back at Nigel with a confused face.
"They want us both so we'll train and get stronger." Nigel explained with a solemn face. "Remember when we were little and a Grimm attacked us in the park and I froze it?"
Abby nodded.
"You didn't leave the side of my bed the entire time I was sleeping and when I woke up you were always close by, watching me because you were afraid of something happening to me. I promise you that you won't lose me like you lost your parents and sister." Nigel smiled, placing a hand on Abby's shoulder. "We're best friends so we need to stick together. You can lean on me for support and I'll do the same. We'll support each other and any friends we make and the next time someone like that monster comes looking for a fight we'll send them scurrying back to where they came from."
Abby looked ready to cry now, a fear tears slipping of down her cheeks.
These were not tears of sadness.
They were tears of joy.
Abby grabbed Nigel in a hug. "Thank you, Nigel."
Nigel hugged Abby back for a second before they pulled apart and stood up. "Now come on, let's get something to eat."
Abby nodded, following Nigel back to Wally and the others but stopped for a second to look up at the sky. 'Momma, Daddy, you don't have to worry about me anymore. I'll be fine as long as I have my friends watching out for me and I'll be watching out for them too. And I will find Cree make her tell me why she suddenly left. That is my promise.'
Xxx
Mayor Phil Keb Sebben looked out the window, watching over his beloved city. He had just finished speaking with the witnesses of the attack by the lava monster known as Drago and what they had to say was not good.
Not good at all.
The sound of the door opening caught his attention and in the reflection he could see it was his best friend, Harvey Birdman.
A unique Faunus to be born with the wings of an eagle Birdman was one of the most powerful Hunters before settling for retirement and helping Sebben build and manage GrimmFall.
"I take it you understand what this attack means, Birdman?" Sebben asked rhetorically, still gazing over the city.
Birdman nodded. "It can only be the work of one force on this planet. If the Uno family's son and surrogate daughter are the Ice and Candy Elementals it'll draw attention from him."
Phil turned around and walked around his desk. "We've always had his attention, Birdman. From the beginning when the meteor that spawned the Grimm fell to the Earth and from it rose the Grimm. When the Emperor tried to seal the Grimm behind the Great Wall they quickly spread. We didn't know why until we understood that there was something guiding the Grimm and then we learned."
"That as mindless as the Grimm are they had a force guiding them that soon enough took many forms." Birdman continued as Sebben activated a projector.
The projector showed the image of various warriors and Grimm fighting each other but what stood out where humanoid figures covered head to toe in black with glowing red eyes.
"Soliders of the Pit of Hate, fallen beings who were corrupted by evil." Sebben stated, gazing over the imagery. "They appeared once, thousands of years ago. When they first appeared the Elementals seemingly destroyed them, keeping the Grimm contained and dormant but when the Grimm awoke again…"
"And it seems they are now back." Birdman said grimly. "Seemingly human beings but have been born with the essence of the same evil that spawned the Grimm."
"These are either newborns or survivors from the Forgotten Age." Sebben narrowed his one eye at the figure leading the humanoid creatures. "And then there's him."
Xxx
"He was there when the Emperor gathered his best warriors across the world to build the wall."
Deep in a land where the sky was dark with red clouds, showing the stars and moon resided a castle. Inside the castle a gathering had been called with dark figures seated around a single table. The doors opened and in stepped a tall man dressed completely in black with a long flowing coat with red flames at the bottom. He had luminous red hair trailing down his shoulders, pale white skin with black, red and purple veins traveling down his face from his eyes with a strange eye-like tattoo on his right hand, a diamond marking on his forehead in between his piercing red eyes.
"When it became clear the Wall would be built he had the Grimm spread across the world in order to prevent the Emperor from sealing them up."
Everyone at the table stood up as the man glided past them, standing near the end of the table. He held out his hand, signaling for them all to sit.
"There has been a curious development, my friends." The man said, facing them all with a smirk. "It seems two Elementals have revealed themselves and survived an attack from Drago."
"When it became clear the Grimm and his band of Fallen alone would not be enough to destroy us he changed tactics and started gathering followers."
"Two Elementals, surviving an attack from Drago?" One of the people at the table spoke. "They must be powerful."
"They have the potential to be powerful but they were actually saved by the intervention of several powerful warriors inside GrimmFall. It only proves that that they are protected by many allies in Phil Ken Sebben's city." The leader spoke.
"Ever since then he's been in hiding but we know that people like him like to hide in place highly populated by Grimm such as the Darklands or the Pool of Darkness in Japan."
"Shall we move to capture the Elementals?" Another person spoke.
"No. We are still several years away from moving forward with our plan. Even if we did capture them we'd still have to wait until we were ready and of course the other two Elementals are still unaccounted for. I have no doubt that the Candy Elemental's people by now know where she is." The man replied. "No matter who is sent to capture them we risk open war which is not what we need at the moment. For now everyone will continue their previous assignments until ordered otherwise. They will of course be monitored and observed to ensure they don't grow into too much of a threat. Obsidian will see to that."
"The problem is that he can afford to wait, gather his resources and minions, wait and plan his next move for years, even centuries."
"I have already dispatched my newest disciple to take care of Bill Cipher and his little cult. If she by any chance fails I already have a fallback plan ready." The man continued. "I trust everyone is satisfied with our current course of action."
No one objected.
"Good." The man smiled, looking around the table. "By the end of this journey the balance of power will forever be ours. I fight to ensure domination, you fight for survival. Rest assured we are all on the same side. Our enemies will fall, this world is ours."
Xxx
"But if he sent Drago to truly kill the two children Elementals he would have tried a different tactic. Drago is too destructive to properly trust with a simple assassination." Phil turned around, looking back out the window. "No, he was after something else."
"What could he have wanted?" Harvey asked.
"The Elementals are the greatest forms of power on this world except for a few others. They reincarnate every century, traveling the Path of One Hundred Cycles before they are ready to take a new host. Not only that but they can naturally find each other if their senses are honed even when the others are hiding. If the Ice and Candy Elementals are here that just leaves Fire and Slime, out there somewhere." Phil said thoughtfully. "If he wanted them dead now he'd have to worry about them again in another century while still looking for the other two."
"You think he was planning to use them to locate the other two?" Harvey asked, catching onto what Phil was thinking.
"Or still is." Phil closed his eye. "If he really plans to capture them all he'll wait until they have all gathered before making his move."
"Then let's not give him the chance. We can find the Fire and Slime Elementals before he does and keep them safe." Harvey urged.
"If they are even in the same country." Phil turned around. "There's no guarantee they are not on the other side of the planet."
"But we must do something!" Harvey exclaimed.
"We will." Phil turned back to the window. "He made the first move and even if he caught us off guard we still have a chance and time to prepare. In the meantime, make sure the Uno family has a nice residence to rest at while their house is retrieved."
Harvey sighed but nodded. "All right, Phil."
He turned around, opening the door and left, leaving the mayor of GrimmFall alone with his thoughts.
"You finally started haven't you?" Phil whispered, glaring out into the distance. "But I assure you, it will not be easy for you. We will make it hard for you, every step of the way. I promise you, that we will fight to the last…"
Xxx
"Sammael."
The Master and Deliverer of Darkness, Sammael grinned as he stared across his land. "Let the games begin, Phil Ken Sebben."