Within the vastness of the omniverse, powerful beings have, and would frequently do, take certain characters into their arms and reveal to them the secrets of their own realities.
The RWBYverse is no different, the same old routine, summon characters, show them an altered character or different multiverse entirety. Rinse and repeat…but what about the more darker iterations? What about them?
Oh sure you see some of them on a blue moon, but that's not the meat of the idea. But what if there was a 'theater' that could show one the darker side of the RWBYverse? What if someone showed the characters the possible 'bad endings' that would arise from their own fears and mistakes, intentional or not.
This is that theater. One that holds true to the darker side of fairy tales.
The screen flashed bright red before several insect-like letters poked out of the corners, forming a semi cartoonish title in the process.
The Ruinverse Theater
The Ruinverse Theater: Chapter One: Once Upon a Nightmare.
xxxx
-Outside the Omniverse, Unknown Location-
Darkness. Pitch black darkness.
"Gah!" cried out a voice from the darkness as the lights flickered on, revealing a large red curtained, early 1920's styled theater in the process as a red cloaked being rubbed their head in pain. "Fuck. Damn it, I really need to stop running into walls."
As they continued to rub their head in pain, he looked at the screen and bowed to the unseen audience.
"Ah, hello there. Names Omni, god of time and space, alternative paths and the like." he said with a smile. "And this is my 'theater' or so the other 'gods' keep referring to this space in infinity as."
Silence.
"Right. Can't talk back. Ahem. Well, I'll explain the details when I bring them here but keep in mind, this isn't me showing them the RWBYverse, that's kinda been done to death by now and I'm not as popular as the others." he grumbled the last part to himself as the doors began to open. "Anyway, enough talking, let's see the guests."
Silence.
"...huh." he muttered while seeing no one at the doors. "Must be slow, either that or the entrance way is wonky. Well, this hasn't been done before so that is a possible-oh! Here they come."
As the figure looked upon the doorway, he noticed a very familiar face, that being Yang Branwen Xiao Long, who seemed to be sporting her Hunter attire, much to Omni's surprise.
'Huh, it was supposed to be all at once. I think the gate is broken.' he muttered as Yang looked around in confusion, given she was supposed to be returning to her room after a long day of class, among other things.
"Hey, where am I? This isn't my dorm room." She muttered before seeing a cloaked figure and instantly saw red. "YOU!"
"Oh hello. I-"
"You damn midget! I'll kill you!" she yelled while jumping right towards Omni's, her right fist connecting to said person's face.
POW!
CRACK!
"YEEEOOWWW!" he screamed as the screen flickered with red energy.
(Flashback)
-Remnant, Sanus, Vale, Beacon Academy-
"Ugh." Yang groaned as she walked down the hallway, her team currently talking with the headmaster about a destroyed Atlasian Paladin, her stomach currently filled with noodles as she really felt sick. "I knew I shouldn't have eaten so much." 'First finding those two knuckleheads, which was hard in itself, and then challenging them to a noodle eating contest!? What was I thinking!?'
As she groaned, she didn't notice that the door to her room was replaced with a black theater styled mahogany door, via a red portal.
It wasn't until she went through it and rubbed her stomach did she look around at the expansive interior.
"Hey, where am I? This isn't my dorm room." she said in confusion before seeing a cloaked figure, instantly going on the defensive as she recalled the crazy criminal midget. "YOU!"
(End of Flashback)
"YEEEOOWWW!" yelled Omni while falling to the ground, rubbing his face as Yang raised an eyebrow at the figure's voice. "What the hell!? Why did you punch me, mid introduction!?" 'I think she nearly popped an eyeball too!'
"Wait…you're not the midget." Yang said while recalling that said girl never wore red, nor spoke during their last encounter.
"No I'm not! I'm not Neopolitan!" he yelled while standing up and nursed his bruised left eye, one obscured by his own hood. "Ow! You nearly popped my eye too! You know how HARD it is to regrow an eyeball!?"
"Uh...oops." Yang said nervously before realizing where she was. "Wait a second! You should be the one apologizing to me! You kidnapped me!"
"No I didn't." Omni groaned while shaking his head a little. "I only changed the door, I didn't kidnap you at all. Heck you could leave any time you want, but I'd advise against it."
"And why not?"
"Because the door is tied now to another point in your timeline. If I just let you walk out, you might get stuck either in the past or future." He said while Yang looked very skeptical, for obvious reasons.
"That's the lamest lie I've ever heard, see ya." Yang said before walking to the doors and opened them.
Only to discover a charred and burned Vale, one attacked by Grimm, robots and White Fang members.
SLAM!
Yang quickly closed the doors and spun towards Omni, who chuckled slightly.
"Told you. It won't be the same point in time as you left it." He chuckled as Yang's face was pale from the sight she saw beyond the doors.
"Just...what the fuck was that!?"
"A possible future, depending on how you look at it." He said while moving towards Yang. "Right, introductions. Name's Omni, god of time and space among other titles. Nice to meet you Yang."
"How...What...What the heck is going on?" She asked in shock as Omni saw the doors opening as Lie Ren walked in, sporting a more V4 styled attire as the doors closed again, making Yang take notice. "Eh?!"
"Yang? Wait…." he looked at the blonde's right arm and went wide eyed for a second. "...how?"
"Ah, Lie Ren." Omni smiled. "Welcome to my theater, names Omni and yes, this is Yang, but from your past, her future." 'Hopefully no one from V7-8 pops up, then it's going to get hectic fast.'
"Ren? What's up with the new look?" Yang said with confusion. "And why are you so...you know."
"Older?"
"Yeah."
"It's a very long story." He said while Ironwood, in his V7 attire and sporting a beard, walked in and stared at the room in confusion.
"What the?" he muttered out loud as he saw a cloaked figure looking at him with a 'smile' causing him to pull out Due Process and point at the figure. "Who are you?"
"Omni, I'm a god." he said while pushing the barrels away from his face. "And please calm down. This isn't...whatever point in time you left from. Which makes me curious, where are you from?"
"...Atlas Academy."
"Ah, so before Ruby pops up or when she talks about...the lantern." he asked with a wink while Yang and Ren looked absolutely confused.
"Huh?" Both said at once as Ironwood, understanding what the being was referring to, felt a tinge of fear for this unknown variable.
"Come on, tell me Ironboob." Omni snickered, making Yang chuckle slightly at the bad joke.
"It's Ironwood and I was just about to discuss top secret materials with Miss Rose." he frowned, only to notice that his semblance, Mettle, wasn't kicking in.
"Don't bother. This place negates semblances." Omni said before noticing Ozpin, alive and well in his V1-3 attire, walking into the room with a confused expression on his face. 'Oh boy.'
"Strange, this isn't the dance floor. And why in all Remnant is James sporting a beard?"
"Ozpin, we have a problem." Ironwood said before pulling his weapon on him. "And that's you."
"Now hold on-"
"Quiet! I know for a fact you're dead-" the general said before Omni pulled down his pants, revealing a pair of pink boxers with a kitty cat logo on it, making Yang laugh at the casual de-escalation of tension. "HEY!"
"Calm down, this will be explained once everyone is here." Omni said while holding in his own chuckle. "Pssss. Pink boxers. Ha."
"Huh, never would've thought." Ozpin said in surprise while Emerald, in her V1-3 attire, entered the room.
SWISH!
Only for Ren to put Stormflower's blades near her neck, shocking her in the process.
"YOU!"
"Eh?" she said in confusion while Ren pushed the blades closer to her neck.
"You dare show yourself after the stunts you did!?" Ren narrowed his eyes before two red portals appeared and caused the weapons to get sucked in, landing in Omni's hands.
"Relax Ren. She didn't do anything yet." the deity said while Emerald felt very confused. "She just got to Beacon for her mission, she didn't do any bimbo mindfucking yet. If you kill her she might cause you to cease to exist given you and Ironwood here are from the future."
"All the more reason to strike while the time is right." Ren said while glaring at Emerald, who seemed ready to defend herself with her weapons.
"I'd like to see you try, pretty boy."
Omni facepalmed as Ironwood finally pulled up his pants, much to Yang's disappointment. "Guys, please. Let's not try to kill each other, this is a neutral zone. I don't need you guys killing each other and causing your timeline to explode into antimatter."
Ozpin looked upon the hooded figure and felt a strange sensation run down his spine. 'Mmmm, he reminds me of the Twin Gods, but less...robotic.'
"I don't care, she needs to die." Ren frowned before seeing Omni bop him on head with a toy mallet. "...really?"
"The only thing I could think of on short notice. Now please, put the weapons down, all of you, and I'll explain why you're here." 'And hopefully be able to summon the other guests later on.'
"Or?"
"Or I could just destroy you all." Omni said while a chill ran down everyone's spine. "Take your pick. Also for the mint haired girl, Cinder is going to betray you soon. In about two years." 'Or less, I keep forgetting.'
"What!?" Emerald yelled in disbelief. "You're lying!"
"Mmm no. She's going to ditch you and Mister Black for a fancy new arm. Can't say more." He shrugged. "But onto business, you all want to know why you're here right?"
"Well duh." Yang deadpanned. "What else would we wanna know? The weather?"
"So you want to know the weather?" Omni said sarcastically. "Because I really don't want to 'rain' on anyone's parade today."
"Hey! I make the puns here." Yang frowned.
"Really?" Emerald deadpanned. "What makes you the only one to monopolize puns?"
"It's MY thing!"
Omni deadpanned. "Look, before we go any further, I need you all to take a seat. Please."
Ozpin was the first to oblige and take a seat. This was soon followed by Ironwood, who glared at Omni, and then Emerald, Ren, still giving her a deadly glare, and then finally Yang.
"Ok." Omni said while taking a seat next to Yang. "To start off with, do you know of the multiverse theory?"
"The what?" said Yang while Ren raised an eyebrow.
"You mean the other worlds theory?"
"Yep, the same one that Jaune likes to read about." Omni said while Ren nodded.
"Makes sense."
"I'm lost, what now?" Emerald asked in confusion. "Multiverse?"
"It means worlds or timelines where things happen differently, usually drastically different, that splinter off from our base reality." Ren said as Omni nodded.
"Exactly."
"Wait? That's all real?!" Yang yelled in realization.
"More like the omniverse but in this context, the multiverse is real." Omni said while looking at Ozpin. "Your multiverse is called the RWBYverse."
"I had my suspicions but lacked any real evidence." Ozpin said while Omni deadpanned.
"So you knew Team RWBY was going to accidentally name their entire multiverse or are you just saying all that out of Blake's Bellabooty?" Omni asked as Yang facepalmed and tried to hide a chuckle at her partner's expense.
"...moving on."
Ren raised an eyebrow at Ozpin before looking at Omni, a little a little uncomfortable about the 'Bellabooty' comment for obvious reasons. "Why is this relevant to our current predicament?"
"Oh that's easy." Omni smiled. "But I have to tell you this, this theater can see into other timelines but we aren't going to view the regular RWBYverse."
"...why?" Yang asked in confusion.
"It's been done to DEATH!" Omni yelled while standing up, raising his arms out as the group of mismatched mortals flinched at his sudden aggression. "I mean come ON! It's been done to death so much that why bother?!"
"What do you mean?" questioned Ironwood.
Omni groaned in frustration before sighing heavily. "To be fair, I have no qualms with my fellow 'gods', who own sectors of the omniverse and in proxy the RWBYverse, at all, such as LordHellPhoenix, Gold-Sith, Dahmiel, 12interestingname34, SoundBlastersuperior, animegamer89, JC of the Corn, mrbj24, OldWolfLogan, etc. But it factors to one tiny little thing, they do the same thing over and over. I'm someone that likes a change of pace."
"What do you mean?" Ozpin asked while confused why there are gods with strange names running about, although given his own name of Ozpin, he couldn't fault them for having such names either.
"Every time they do a story, they rarely see or allow the audience to see the darkness, the tales that shake the omniverse to its core." He sighed while letting out a heavy sigh of annoyance. "What I mean is, they rarely stop and do dark timelines, never stopping to see them and learn from those mistakes. It's always hope and friendship wins out and well...I feel more like the Brothers Grimm when it comes to fairy tales, darker stories are meant to teach, not to shun."
"I think I understand." spoke Ren with a nod. "In fairness though, the things I've dealt with are far from something as easy as friendship making things all better."
"Or mine." Emerald muttered to herself.
"Really?" Omni asked with a raised eyebrow. "Your village's destruction is far from easy? Ha! That's somewhat amusing."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, this is the root of why your here." the deity said seriously. "At the beginning of creation, when your two gods were warring against the other. The dark god created a weapon, a living verse, where all the fears and bad choices from the main RWBYverse were cultivated like ants. All in an attempted to kill the RWBYverse, the God of Light's pride and joy."
Ozpin's eyes widened upon hearing this information, for not even he, one of the first generation of humanity, had ever heard of the age before Remnant's birth.
"However, this verse came to odds with its creator and the lord of darkness sealed it away behind a silver gate, locking it in purple chains of pure destruction before sending it into the darkness between realms." Omni said while internally smirking at their rising fears. "And thus, we are going to watch these timelines, known collectively as...the Ruinverse!"
"Wait, a realm of bad choices? That doesn't sound possible." Emerald said with skepticism.
"But it is, and it's not just bad choices, it's mistakes, fears, dark intentions and altered fates. For example, what if Yang lost her arm to a certain midget, what if Cinder never found you Emerald, what if Nora died as a child, what if Beacon never formed." Omni said while seeing the varied reactions of the individuals, each one filled with dread, fear or disbelief, as he looked at Ironwood. "Or what if you, General Ironwood, lost the war."
James looked more serious at the sheer idea. "What isn't possible."
"Oh? And explain to me why that is?" Omni asked with interest as Ironwood frowned.
"Because Atlas is the most technologically advanced Kingdom on the planet, no one can match that, not even the Grimm."
"Even though Mantle was the one that was powerful in the last war?" the deity asked while James felt a little bit of his pride break for a second. "But since you seem so skeptical, the first viewing will be a timeline based on you. And I have the perfect one to choose from."
"Before that." Ozpin said while looking at Omni straight in the eyes. "You said before that the RWBYverse is lacking in dark timelines yet you also said the Ruinverse, to you, is a place of altered fates. Could you better explain the reasoning?"
"Oh that, it's not that the RWBYverse is lacking dark timelines, it's more that about 70% of the RWBYverse is filled with timelines of hope or resolve while the 30% potion is dark, with most of it being filled with 'betrayed' timelines. For the Ruinverse...well that margin is different, there are 99.99999% of timelines that are twisted into hopelessness with only a 0.001% chance that any timeline holds hope or a hero that could change that fate for the better. The Ruinverse's main design was to destroy hope and turn their denizens into living weapons of evil."
Yang felt a shiver go down her spine as Ren placed a hand on her left shoulder, making her calm down a little.
"Now then, shall we get started?" Omni said before seeing Emerald raising her hand up. "Yes?"
"Will there be anyone else here?" 'Including…Cinder. Bitch…no, maybe that's not true…right?'
"Yep. But after the first preview, given well...I really don't want Ruby to see this one, at all." Omni said with a gulp, causing Yang to get nervous. "Now let's get started."
The light turned off as the projector screen started up, showing a chibi Ruby kicking a chibi Yang's butt a few times as a stylized countdown began.
"If you need anything answered, just ask." Omni said with a smirk as the title, The Cost of Paranoia, appeared on screen.
The sky glowed with the setting sun's light as the camera zoomed downwards to reveal a large expanse of wheat that went onwards for miles in every direction, however for some reason...everything was inoperable.
The agricultural machines, the large tractors of green, were stationary near a patch of overgrown wheat, small amounts of scythes and shovers were lying haphazardly on the ground and covered in rust, and in the distance, a large fence with deep white hexagonal hard light constructs loomed over the fields like oppressive sentries.
Overall...this wasn't the home for Atlas' agricultural needs, it was a time capsule to a different era.
"What the fuck happened to Atlas!?" Ironwood yelled out in disbelief.
"Be quiet and you'll find out James." Ozpin said while Ironwood looked very distressed, especially for the kingdom he was SUPPOSED to protect.
"Word of forewarning, my bad." Omni chuckled. "This one is a little...drastic compared to most timelines, so try not to 'freak' out."
STOMP!
Wooosh!
Clang!
"What was that?" Emerald asked while feeling the entire theater shake.
"No idea." Ren said, seemingly trying to not kill the mint haired girl in her seat, for various reasons.
The sounds of machines could be heard from the distance, causing the earth to quake and the wheat to sway from the superheated wind. As the camera zoomed towards the northernmost part of the fields, the landscape changed drastically and with an abrupt manner.
For in place of wheat and soil were the deep bare bedrock of the cold Atlasian land, craters ten miles deep littered the land as in the distance, plumes of blackened smoke rose into the sky and created a blanket of darkness for all those without artificial light sources.
"My word." Ozpin muttered in surprise, never expecting a sight like this in his many lifetimes, as he saw James struggling to keep his emotions under control.
"What...has...happened!?"
"Simple, chaos." Omni said while Ren narrowed his eyes at the scene in front of him.
And lo, in the distance, where the City of Atlas was supposed to be, was something...unnatural.
This unnatural thing was a massive mechanized monstrosity of blackened steel and hexagonal green polymer with five spider-like legs that moved upwards and downwards at varying intervals, thick white armor plates covering the outer rim of the structure itself, the remains of a massive wall surrounding the border of a central city, large uniformed yet jagged structures that juttered upwards and formed spines that were connected to luminescent green tubes, and within it's center was a massive cylindle cannon held together by white hard light pillars as a spherical gold orb was stationed above the main tower, which itself was shaped in the form of an iron giant of steel and glass, it's face facing towards the cannon in an expression of anger as blackened smoke spewed from it's mouth like serpents.
As the camera zoomed closer to this monstrosity, a small military base, spherical in nature and with a strange emblem on it's side that seemed to mirror a spear being pierced in the heart of a Wyvern, came into view as several people were currently in attendance in the main courtyard.
"And that's Atlas itself." Omni said as the group's eyes widened in shock. "It took a long time to construct, especially after Atlas destroyed every single Kingdom in that timeline just to prevent war and uprisings from occurring."
"Wait...THATS the city of Atlas?" yelled Yang and Emerald at the same time.
"Yep. And it's no longer even called a city." Omni said while Ironwood felt a deep sense of dread forming in his heart. "It's a massive weapon of destruction, named O.Z.M.A. Mk 1."
Ozpin's face turned pale as he felt a deep pang in his soul, especially after hearing the name of the moving city.
"And that stands for what exactly?" asked Emerald, feeling rather small compared to the large monstrosity on the screen.
"Omnidirectional. Zealous. Mechanized. Annihilation. Stupid yes but there isn't many words that could even work with Ozma." Omni said while Ozpin felt his soul pang with pain.
Within this courtyard was a podium, a few rows of chairs and a large green hard light screen, all seemingly created overnight for a big event as armored soldiers stood around the border of the courtyard.
However...something was off about these military soldiers, for instead of the normal white armor, it was replaced with black and green, their firearms were fused to their arms and looked more like high grade sniper cannons than anything else, and their expressions feless, as if they had no emotions at all.
It wasn't much said for the Specialists that were in attendance, as their garbs were now black with a green trim as their ears were pierced with a strange blinking black earring and their eyes filled with dread, or the high positioned members of the society either, who's eyes were nervously looking around for a possible means of escape from an unknown danger.
"What's with them?" Emerald asked while feeling a little confused about their attires.
"Oh that, they have explosive bombs attached to their brains. If anyone does anything wrong, BOOM!" Omni said gleefully. "They explode, and that's not counting the fact they are forcibly fused to their weapons after unethical experimentations occured."
"That's all kinds of messed up!" spoke Yang in disgust.
"Well yeah." Omni agreed while pointing to Ironwood's direction. "But they are all clockwork machines now, right, general?"
And lo, from the right hand side of the podium was a tall muscular pale skinned man with short black hair with gray areas near the sides, blue eyes with two metal strips of silver above his eyebrows, two gold trimmed black robotic prosthetic arms that were sleek yet muscular, wearing a white long sleeved overcoat, a gray short sleeved undercoat, black long sleeve sweater, a red necktie, white suit pants that were tucked into gray accented silver boots, dark blue accents on the sides of his pants and overcoat sleeves, white fingerless gloves that revealed the black nails of the prosthetics, a dark blue belt around his waist, a long dark gray cape that went down his shoulders to his legs, and had several gold medals pinned to his left breast pocket, who gave off a look of unrelenting paranoid and determination as he walked to the microphone and stood tall towards the organized spectators, all nervously looking at him in attention.
This man was James Ironwood, Supreme General of the newly restructured Atlesian Kingdom and currently the most powerful man on the planet.
"Oh gods." Ironwood said while looking at his counterpart with horror.
"This is you, if that semblance of yours took control on the day Ozpin let you into his Inner Circle." Omni said while Ren and Yang cocked their heads in confusion, also noticing that Ozpin was trying to tell the god to be quiet. "Wasn't a pretty sight if you ask me when you shot everyone in the room."
"Oh gods." he facepalmed, mortified as he was ashamed of his counterpart's actions and possibly his own guilt at being unable to control his own semblance well.
"What do you mean? Inner circle?" Yang asked while Omni shrugged.
"I'll tell you later on, but putting it out there, Qrow Branwen died by this Ironwood's gun." He said while Yang's eyes dilated in shock. "Brain matter and skull fragments everywhere, on the carpet, the floor, his face-"
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah...he killed him. To stop his semblance from fucking everything up." Omni said calmly. "Ironwood's semblance, Mettle, made him overthink things and well...it didn't end well for anyone." 'And that's putting it mildly.'
Yang looked at Omni in disbelief as the Ruinverse Ironwood began to speak to the crowd.
The soldier's saluted to the general along with the Specialists as Ironwood raised his right hand up to return them to their standard positions.
"People of Atlas. Today is the day of great celebration, for after years of battle between the treacherous Kingdoms of Vale, Vauco and Mistral, along with the complete annihilation of White Fang and it's irk on the island of Menagerie, we have ensured the prosperity and peace that our ancestors strived for when they colonized Solitas." He said with a stern yet neutral tone devoid of emotion. "Through domination and perseverance the Kingdom has brought everlasting peace upon Remnant, for the next generation in a world where Hunters and Huntresses can rest easy and grant the mantle of protector to the Atlesian Government."
"Wait, what!?" Ironwood cried out while looking very much horrified at his counterparts' words. "Atlas is supposed to be a beacon of hope, NOT it's destroyer!"
Ozpin patted the man on the back. "This is something I've seen far too much of my friend."
"Ugh." Ironwood groaned in frustration, his emotions getting the better of him as Emerald looked at the screen with mixed feelings.
"So...how exactly did the general fuck up?"
"Oh that, besides stealing technology, creating a few cyborgs, raiding the Kingdoms of their resources, forcibly fusing the Schnee Dust Company into itself, sacrificing human rights for productivity and stealing a few people, there was a LOT wrong with him. But this story is at its end so let's move on." Omni said while Emerald raised an eyebrow at him.
[Though years of hardship.]
The camera zoomed towards the top of the massive walking fortress and into the translucent pipes as it went deeper and deeper into the underbelly of the city, where various men and women, both human and faunus, were toiling on the boilers, pipes, gears and mainframes of the behemoth itself, the temperature higher than the outside world and the soot and ash suffocating like a boiling volcano.
"They're no better than slaves." frowned Ren.
"Which Ruinverse Ironwood exploited for peace." muttered Ozpin while Ironwood groaned in self frustration.
[Atlas has brought Remnant out of the dark ages of fear and into a shining future.]
The camera zoomed out of the pipes and down into the heart of the beast, where several scientists, all with the same blinking black earrings on their right ear, were experimenting on live Grimm and the corpses of humans and faunus, attaching cybernetics to each one while ripping strange balls of multicolored lights out of the bodies of still living people.
"AHHHHH!"
"No gods! Not the le-AHHHH!" screamed a skeletal white haired man with a formerly bushy white beard as he had his leg forcibly amputated with a hard light green energy scalpel.
"And that was Jaquces Schnee." Omni chimed in while Ironwood's eyes widened in shock. "After the SDC's forceful merging, the Schnees were considered political prisoners and thus forced into becoming guinea pigs for Dust and Grimm experimentations. Most of them died, although Winter Schnee escaped that fate to become his secretary...after being lobotomized that is."
"Wait! Does that mean Weiss was...YOU BASTARD!" Yang snapped, her eyes turning red as she moved towards Ironwood with the intent to kill, only for Ren to put a hand on her shoulder.
"Calm down, this isn't the one on the screen. He hasn't done anything to your team."
"But-"
"He's right." Ozpin said calmly. "None of the events of this Ruinverse have happened in our own time, thus James never tried anything to harm Miss Schnee."
She frowned before turning away, her eyes still red, as she crushed a nearby chair with her left hand.
[Where the Creatures of Grimm no longer attack civilization, where the differences between species holds no place in the utopia that is Atlas.]
The camera zoomed down a hallway where several cells made of green hard light constructs held the disheveled bodies of humans and faunus, all trying to escape their prisons and getting their hands burned from the intense heat the constructs were making as rotting corpses lined the floors.
"And those are the prisoners that no one wants." Omni said while Emerald felt a little sick. "And I think your counterpart was once living in a cell, until she was turned into an 'Atlas' Knight-400, a cyborg."
Her eyes widened as she felt like puking at the thought of being transformed...into a cyborg.
[Where the Schnees and their corrupted Dust Company hold no sway upon the intentions of the people of Atlas and it's government.]
The camera zoomed deeper into the core before stopping at a thick metal vault gate, only for the gate to open up to reveal a darkened room illuminated only by green tubes on the floor and ceiling, a strange gray spherical orb floating high above the floor itself.
"What's that?" asked Ozpin, confused at what the tubes and orbs were meant to be used for.
"The orb is a powerful focusing device made up of very rare metal. It took years, about twenty years to be exact, to make and it's highly explosive if used improperly." Omni said with a sigh. "Shame too, that thing could power ten cities for life."
[For today, Atlas shall have its savior.]
The camera zoomed a little towards the center of the room before it was illuminated by bright lights, four square green hard light boxes floating above the camera as four objects rested inside.
A multi pronged crown of gold with three rubies studded in the front.
A golden lamp with a blue orb in its center.
A golden ornamented staff with a blue spearhead-shaped crystal on top and a smaller blue crystal at its base.
And a golden sword covered in black mist.
Each one seemed to have rusted over time and blue energy seemed to leave it as pipes sucked it out and into the main green tubes.
Ozpin and Ironwood's eyes widened seeing the sight of the Relics, all together and being used to power the monstrous walking machine, as Yang, Ren and Mercury were slightly confused at the sight of these objects.
"What are those?" asked Emerald. 'And why do I feel like stealing them now even more? Wait...was Cinder looking for one of these when she chose me?'
"The Relics, four objects made by the gods of light and dark that control four aspects of each other, knowledge, choice, destruction and creation. Originally placed under the schools to protect them from evil, well...in this timeline, Ironwood conquered the Kingdoms to take them to power his machine." Omni said while Ozpin looked at the screen with a serious glare on his person. "But that's not what makes the weapon dangerous."
"Eh? Then what does?"
"Just watch."
[I present to you, O.Z.M.A. Mk 1. Omnidirectional. Zealous. Mechanized. Annihilation. It's power and might is unbounded by human hands for its power source is abundant and ecologically safe.]
The camera zoomed towards the top of the room as the walls were lined with the still alive yet skeletal bodies of men, women, children, both faunus and humans, from every Kingdom, as their bodies were plugged into the walls by thick green tubes and their eyes forced open by metal pliers towards a mirror near their cells, ten times the size of a normal hand mirror yet angled upwards towards the ceiling.
Their eyes…..glowing silver.
[With one command, the threat of the Grimm shall fade away into legend. On this day.]
The camera zoomed towards the top and right near the center of the massive cannon, a single glass orb connecting the various tubes from all over the monstrosity as a single young figure was held in place a cross shaped metal beam, her hands and legs covered in necrosis as her blackish red hair seemed to grow disheveled towards her feet.
Yang's eyes widened as she looked carefully at the girl's hair, her body shaking with rage as Omni, seeing her rage, nodded his head in guilt.
"Yes, Ruinverse Ironwood took Ruby and Summer to redirect the energy of the Relics." he said sadly. "It's the eyes he was after, the Silver Eyes."
"AHHHHH!" she roared in fury, having lost her temper as she lunged at James before Ozpin and Ren rushed to hold her back, with great difficulty. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
"Yang calm down!" Ren yelled while restraining her left arm. "This isn't OUR general's fault!"
"FUCK THAT! I NEED TO KILL HIM!"
"Miss Xiao Long! Calm down!"
"I NEED TO HURT HIM! HE HURT RUBY! HE HURT EVERYONE!" She yelled while Emerald was trying to avoid being near the blonde, her body shaking like a leaf due to the immense wave of hate emanating from her body.
Omni sighed and appeared in between Ironwood and Yang via a red portal. "Yang, just calm down. Please, before I have to kick your ass."
"I NEED TO-"
"Would Ruby want you to hurt an innocent man?" Omni interrupted, making Yang freeze in place. "Would she?"
"Would she and mom want to end up like THAT?!"
"No, but think. This is a different timeline, a different outcome. It might be sick to watch for one born from a 'calmer' timeline, but you must learn about the consequences of the wrong choice to help better yourself for the future." Omni said while looking at Ironwood. "Now, calm down and let's watch the show, it's almost done."
Yang narrowed her eyes before punching a few chairs to her right, sending them flying as she sat back on her chair, giving Ironwood a very nasty glare.
[Humanity wins the war.]
The machine began to rumble as the tubes started to glow a deadly blushing silver color, moving towards the orb as the girl's body began to glow pure silver and her eyes gained the aura of a burning inferno.
"A...A...AHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed, her voice slowly being destroyed by the energy buildup from the canon itself.
"Shit!" Emerald cried out while feeling a little empathy towards the girl, even if it was from another timeline. "Brutal."
The camera zoomed quickly out of the five legged beast as the cannon's muzzle began to form a silver light that caused all in the military base and around the planet to watch in awe and horror.
ZzzzzzzzrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
BOOOOOOOM!
The earth quaked, the sky was split apart, the very air crackled with power as the beam of silver raced across the world and towards its intended target, dissipating in just a few seconds.
Silence.
FLASH!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
And like that, the largest explosion ever known to Remmant, one that rocked the sky and made the sea tremble, occurred as a silver cloud of superheated rock and aura rose into the stratosphere in a mushroom cloud.
The group looked on in horror and awe as the mushroom cloud rose higher and higher into the atmosphere, making the room glow brightly as a mini sun in the process, making all of them have to shield their eyes in the process.
"W-What was that!?" yelled Ren, his emotions kicking in after seeing so much horror.
"A Relic powered cannon with a Silver Eyed powered laser point. It's a rail gun that focuses the power of the Silver Eyes, a legendary power that can turn Grimm into glass, into a destructive force of nature." Omni said while trying to explain the details of the O.Z.M.A. Mk 1 to the group. "However, one pair of eyes isn't enough so it has to be powered by multiple Silver Eyes at once, then redirected into a set of mirrors that then redirects itself into the main Silver Eyes, aka Ruby, to expel the energy at a given target. Using this can guarantee the complete destruction of an entire continent."
Ironwood and Ozpin looked at Omni like he was insane, knowing that it was the most terrifying weapon in the world and would literally cause the end of their own Remnant's existence if it appeared in their timeline.
"But it needs a lot of Hard Light Dust. So it wouldn't work unless you mined the planet dry." He said while the lights dimmed again. "Ah, much better, time to see the end of Ironwood's tyranny."
"Wait, where was it aiming?" asked Emerald in confusion.
"A Queen's realm." Omni said cryptically as Emerald, Ozpin and Ironwood's blood became cold with fright.
He blinked as the ground began to shake as a small ringing sound was heard in his right ear, which he touched instantly as a hard light construct appeared over his eyes. "What is it?"
"Supreme General! The walls! They are being swarmed with Grimm!"
"That is a normal occurrence."
"Not this one! There's thousands of them-AHH!" the woman on the other end cried out before the feed was cut.]
"Uh oh." muttered Ren as he started having flashbacks to his childhood.
"It will get worse." Omni said while Yang heard the sounds of Grimm from the speakers.
The crowd's eyes widened in horror as the sky was covered from head to toe with Nevermores, Wyverns, Griffons, Sphinxes, Manticores, Lancers, Queen Lancers, Monstras, Sea Feliongs, Teryxes, Ravagers, and other horrors unimaginable to human eyes, each one filled with anger unseen before as their now glowing red eyes made them even more fierce.
"W-What? But how!?" Ironwood yelled in shock as the ground began to shake as the walls around him crumbled.
"ROAR!" howled an alpha Beowolf as numerous Grimm charged towards the Specialists and soldiers alike, ripping them apart as in the distance, several King Taijtus and Leviathans began to overwhelm the City of Atlas, breaking its five limbs in a mad frenzy as Tempests began to batter the city to the ground, numerous Grimm riding in the currents to cause maximum damage upon the hard light barrier and other unprotected areas.
"M-My city!" Ironwood cried out in horror as Omni looked at him.
"I told you it would get worse. And before you ask, the weapon was the one that aggravated the Grimm, like kicking a Rapier Wasp nest with a grenade."
"So this is karma." Ren remarked.
"Yep." Omni said with a sing-song tone as Ironwood groaned in frustration.
"Please stop reminding me of my own faults."
"Then you wouldn't learn from this experience."
Ironwood pulled out Due Process, now fused to his arms, before seeing a Death Stalker charging towards him and stabbed him in the heart with its stinger, causing his aura to shatter and blood to drip from his mouth.
"SKIIIII!"
"It….can't….end...like…." he got out before being overwhelmed by the Grimm, the camera zooming away to reveal a sea of Grimm, all focused on one thing and one thing alone.
The destruction of Atlas.
"Well..." Ozpin said as the projector screen turned off and the lights turned on. "That was...disturbing."
"You mean fucked up." said Emerald while looking very disturbed at what she just saw on the screen. "That place was just fucked up."
"For once, I agree with her." Ren said with a frown while Yang was currently shaking Omni around like a ragdoll.
"What happened to Ruby!? What happened to her!?"
"Ah! Stop!" Omni cried out while feeling sick. "Stop! I'm not good with motion!"
"Then tell me!"
"Ok ok! She died during the attack! She was ripped to shreds by Nevermores to prevent the weapon from firing again! Please stop shaking me!" 'Ugh! My stomach!'
"That's fucked up!" Yang yelled as tears ran down her cheeks.
"It is." Omni said while disappearing in a red portal and appeared near the exit. "But that's what happens when the Ruinverse creates a timeline, it warps it into a hopeless and unfair fate. Now, let's meet the others shall we?"
Emerald blinked as the doors opened up and a figure walked in.
That figure being Pyrrha, in her V1-3 attire, as she was currently holding a bag of 'Kung Pow Burgers' in her left hand.
"Eh? This isn't the dorm." She muttered as Ren went wide eyed, stood up and ran towards her. "Oh Re-OOF!"
And cue the mentally scared man, who saw both the death of his friend and the horrors of the Fall, hugging Pyrrha tightly as the bag fell onto the ground, safely keeping its food items from falling out in the process.
"R-Ren?"
"It's...really you."
"Yes, it's me...you know that." She said, stunned while noticing that he was...much older than before. "Um...what's going on?"
"A long story, Miss Nikos." Ozpin said while Ironwood was currently trying to process the 'film's' terrible 'future' to himself. "So, what point in time are you from?"
"Um, after lunch?"
"No, I mean when are you from?" he said while Omni was currently sneaking some burgers from the bag.
"Like what?"
"Time and place, like what did you do before you got the burgers?" Omni said before Pyrrha grabbed the bag from his hands. "Hey!"
"That's not for you...whoever you are. And to answer your question headmaster, I just helped my team defeat Doctor Merlot."
"Ah, that means she's from before the Vytal Festival." Omni chimed in as Ren kept on hugging the woman tightly. "Interesting."
"Ren? Why is your hair longer? And why did you change your clothes?"
"Pyrrha." he said while moving back, tears running down his cheeks. "It's hard to explain...but I'm from one year in the future. And..."
"She died." Omni said while the red head went wide eyed in shock.
"...what...?" she muttered while not seeing Blake, currently wearing her V4 attire, walking in as she looked absolutely confused.
"Wait...this isn't Kuo Kauna." she muttered before seeing Yang, shocking her a little before seeing the NON mechanical right arm and went wide eyed. "Y...Yang?"
"Oh hi Blake." Yang said, trying to not get upset or cause a fight. "Um...this is weird, seeing you with your ears out in the open."
"...yeah." Blake muttered while trying not to feel ashamed, as Weiss, in her V4-5 attire, walked in and jaw dropped at the sight of the room.
"How did I get here from the Branwen camp!?" she cried out while seeing Yang and gasped. "And how do you still have your arm!? What's going on here!?"
"Hi Weiss Cream."
"Don't call me that!"
'Oh great, more of them.' thought Emerald in annoyance. 'What next? Mercury?'
As this was going on, Jaune, currently wearing his V4-5 attire, busted in while looking rather crazed.
"CINDER FALL!" He roared before freezing in place due to where he was and...the 'dead' 'ghost' of his partner right in front of him. "...WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"Oh Jaune." Ren said while surprised to see his team leader, given the last time he saw the blonde was when he was reforming his sword at a blacksmith's shop. "This is a surprise."
"Ren? PYRRHA?!"
"Um...hello aga-OOF!" she said before getting hugged by her partner, making her turn bright red as Nora, in her V8 attire, jumped right at them, hammer in hand. "J-OOF! NORA!"
"Smash the Grimm! Wait..." she looked around before seeing Ren, blinked and then cocked her head to the side. "Eh? Ren, why are you not fighting the Grimm...and why are you wearing our Team JNRR uniform?"
"Because we are? Wait Grimm, what Grimm?" Ren asked in confusion. "Also its' Team RNJR."
"The ones attacking Atlas duh, and it's Team JNRR." She said while Ironwood went wide eyed and turned to her, only for her to get on guard seeing the man. "AH! Crazy general!"
"I'm not crazy and what is this about Atlas being attacked!?"
"You are crazy and-"
"Nora, get off me." Pyrrha groaned while under the ginger's thunder thighs, Jaune currently resting between her chest by complete accident.
"Oh! Sorry." She said before doing a spit take, Emerald getting the brunt of the ginger's spat in the process. "P-PYRRHA!? YOUR ALIVE!?"
"Yeah..." she groaned while Emerald wiped the spat off her face with her left arm, not seeing Neo, wearing her V1-3 attire, walking in and raising an eyebrow at the sight in front of her.
"Did you really need to do that?" She gagged before Neo saw Yang and playfully walked over to the blonde, who saw her and narrowed her eyes.
"Oh, it's Roman's tiny midget." she frowned. "Up for round two, without the Paladin?"
She raised an eyebrow at that as Omni coughed.
"Um, just want to mention to anyone that comes here." he said while pointing to Pyrrha. "Pyrrha, along with yourselves, are from different points in time and space. Try not to get too confused, especially you Vomit Boy."
"Don't call me that!" Jaume blushed while still having his face between the champion's chest, currently trying to not faint from shock and renewed hope.
Omni chuckled while Yang noticed the last person to walk into the theater before the doors closed.
That being Ruby, wearing her V4-5 attire, who seemed to be very much confused as she held the Relic of Knowledge in her left hand.
"Um...what's going on, and why is SHE." Ruby yelled while pointing to Emerald in an aggressive tone, not seeing that Yang was crying for some unknown reason or that she was running towards her. "HERE!? Just want it-AH!"
"Ruby!" Yang yelled while hugging her sister very tightly, with the intent to never let her go.
"Oh thank gods you're ok!"
"AH! Can't breathe, CAN'T BREATHE!" She cried out in pain while trying to figure out why Yang was hugging her, why she had her right arm and...why was everyone looking at her with mixed emotions, especially the weirdly older ones.
"I'M NEVER LETTING YOU GO!"
"AHHHH!" 'My spine!'
Omni sighed as he watched the older sibling hug her sister to death, as he shook his head in annoyance. 'Looks like I have to keep them from killing the main character of the RWBYverse...ugh.'
XxxxX
To Be Continued In The Next Chapter.