The screen began to bubble and boil as the familiar silver door rose from it's depths, the thick purple chains corroding and breaking apart as the door opened up and bathed everything in dark purple.
From the tainted light, came a single red eye that glared at the screen before the door slammed shut and everything became static, a crumbling rose symbol appearing every so often as the title began to form.
The Ruinverse: Chapter Twenty Three, Yellow Ring of Fear.
Xxxxxxx
-Sector 3700, Above Remnant's Atmosphere-
Space. The endless possibilities of the void, filled with stars, planets and the occasional falling star, all encompassing the little planet called Remnant.
One of which was in the path of a glowing yellow object speeding through space. As the yellow object moved closer and closer to the planet's surface, it stopped mid-flight and began to change direction towards a rather unknown portion of the world, one not yet touched by human or faunus hands.
(Later)
-Grimmlands, Evernight Castle-
Darkness filled the air as the Grimm continuously patrolled the lands, searching for any form of life to either consume or kill, as in their nature.
WOOOOSSSSH!
The object went over all of that, zeroing in on the large structure, which so happened to be a castle of purple crystals.
As the object moved right towards the structure, a tall marble skinned woman with bleached pale white hair styled in a half up-done bun that was large in the back and had six offshoots wrapped by obsidian ornaments on either side of her head, jet black sclera eyes with glowing crimson irises, dark purple veins on her face and arms, a black diamond-shaped marking on her forehead, a G cup chest and wide ass, long jet-black nails, wearing a very long short-sleeved black robe that obscures her feet and partially drags across the ground, a curved high collar with dark red trim bordering the outer edge of a narrow window exposing her bust in a vertical ellipsis resembling an eye, a long shawl emblazoned with three interconnected maroon-colored vertical elliptic sigils resembling a trio of overseeing eyes above a series of maroon-colored diamond emblems, and a black beetle shaped ring on her right middle finger, walked out of the nearest balcony and sighed.
'Another boring day of watching the sky.' she thought before the object went full speed towards her. "Wh-"
"Salem of Sector 3700." said a sultry tone, which soon was revealed to have come from a tall light blue skinned woman with long black hair going to her feet, deep yellow eyes, pointed ears, a G cup chest and wide ass, a single yellow eye in the center of her forehead that sported a black upside down hourglass symbol with two curved arm-like extensions on the bottom within the iris, wearing a sleeveless black skin tight V-cut dress that exposed her sides, yellow lines near the cleavage and hips, golden gauntlets that went to her shoulders, a long yellow cape that went past her body and seemed to glow an dull ethereal yellow, a black jagged armored skirt that covered her groin, thick yellow chains wrapped around her legs and were seemingly attached to the shoulders of her gauntlets, a bright yellow ring with a dull yellow upside down hourglass symbol with two curved arm-like extensions on the bottom engraved within its center, and had a large yellow tome connected to her neck by golden chains, who hovered above the balcony's side with a smirk. "I wish to formally congratulate you for being inducted into the Sinestro Corp."
"Who are you?" She asked the stranger with a frown.
The woman bowed courteously as the chains rattled in the air. "I am Lyssa Drak of Sector 3500, historian of the Sinestro Corp. I come from a world far from your own, one that like this one, was lawless and-"
"So you're a god?"
"No, I am not a god." she said with a raised eyebrow, annoyed that she was rudely interrupted mid speech. "I am merely the keeper of the book, someone who personally came here when the fear your presence brought to this miniscule planet was of another magnitude compared to most other members."
The robe-clad woman raised her eyebrow. "How so?"
"You tell me, your fear is on par with the great Sinestro, founder of the corp." Lyssa said with a smile. "I only have knowledge of those granted a ring, not before."
She frowned and turned her back to her. "Leave, less I feed your cadaver to the Grimm."
"Come now, I am a humble guest." Lyssa said while floating towards her. "Hospitality is common for those of royal blood such as yourself."
The woman blinked and quickly turned to the woman. "How?"
"I excel at observation. Now." she said while holding the book in her right hand, like a newborn infant. "Shall we have a meal together?"
(Later)
The queen of Grimm cocked her head to the side as she, currently sitting at her throne, saw the stranger named Lyssa floating nearby, looking at the Seer that was serving her some meat on a silver platter, and felt...kinship with her for some reason, as if she wasn't the only one that had a hard life.
"Fascinating. A construct, fused with an unknown substance." she muttered as she scanned the Grimm with her yellow ring.
[Unknown state of matter. Scan incomplete.]
"What are you doing?"
"Scanning the composition of this construct."
"Yes but how exactly?" she asked while Lyssa turned to her and raised her ring finger out.
"This is a power ring, a highly sophisticated computer with the ability to create constructs and other such wonders." she said with a smirk. "But the user must be attuned to the emotion of fear for it to work."
"Do you mean they must know true fear, or deliver it?"
"Both. One must conquer their own fear once they gain the power ring, placed in a special chamber on the Sinestro Corps' homeworld, and either they live or they die to their own fears." she said while the pale skinned woman's interest peaked. "Once they obtain the knowledge of fear, they will use fear to govern their sector, prevent crime and for some, show the multiverse true fear. You, Salem of Sector 3700, are such a being."
"...all I did was keep humanity and faunus from connecting. That isn't worthy of such a place." she muttered out loud.
"Perhaps, but judging from your looks, you had all the time in the universe to maintain it. But even then it would normally not be enough." Lyssa said while opening her book, allowing a yellow ring to appear from its pages. "But once you put this ring on, the answer will be revealed by the Book of Parallax."
"..." 'An organization...that can kill through fear? Is that even possible, and to use fear in such a way...no magic or science is even supposed to allow for such an affront of the gods.'
"Take your time, one such as yourself has the patience to keep your world in a state of primal fear. However." She said while smirking. "Sinestro has no such patience. If he learns you have taken your time with the ring, he might come with the entire corp to 'persuade' you."
"Then I'll be sure to 'persuade' him to think again about threatening me." She said while forming a ring of red orbs in her left hand.
Lyssa raised an eyebrow at that display as the woman stood up from her throne and moved towards the ring.
"Still, this ring seems to hold more power than the relics. I can use that." she said while looking at the visitor. "If I were to become a member of this...corp, how powerful would I become? And how will it affect me personally?"
"You will become the better version of yourself. Willpower will falter to your might, courage will be crushed under heel. With the fear you amass, you will be a god to those that threaten the peace." Lyssa said with a smirk. "However, to keep that power, you must have a power battery to recharge your ring."
"And where do I get one?"
"There is only one power battery, on the planet Qward. But to charge the battery, you need to know the oath."
"...eh?"
"An oath to swear your allegiance to."
Salem frowned. "I swear allegiance to no one."
"But you must, it is the way of Sinestro." Lyssa said calmly. "To uphold the oath is to become a god."
She narrowed her eyes before looking at the ring with mixed emotions, on one hand, she could just kill this intruder and return to her task of gaining the relics.
But on the other hand...how long has she been in power yet came no closer to ending her existence? She had no followers right now, Ozma has just become the headmaster of Beacon, and the world is just returning to normal after the Great War.
Did she even have anything to lose in accepting a power from the stars?
"...say I do say the oath, what's to stop me from betraying you and this Sinestro?"
Lyssa chuckled, knowing that the possibility of that happening was very low. "Sinestro made a failsafe to all the rings, only he can activate it. If you do try, he will let it kill you."
Salem internally chuckled at that while slightly amused. 'Like he could. But perhaps I should play along with that little 'failsafe' of his.' "I see. And once the ring is powered, what would prevent me from suffocating in the vacuum of space?"
"The ring will protect you." Lyssa said while Salem looked at the ring with renewed interest. "Now, do you want to know the oath?"
"Of course." Salem said while Lyssa floated over to her and whispered in her ear.
"In blackest day, in brightest night, beware your fears made into light. Let those who try to stop what's right, burn like my power, Sinestro's might."
"...that's it? That is the most narcissistic oath I ever heard of. And I met two individuals with ungodly arrogant natures in my life." Salem frowned in an unamused tone.
"I did not come up with it."
"Still, that is a terrible oath."
Lyssa sighed in frustration. "Just say the oath."
Salem looked at the ring before taking off her beetle ring off her middle right finger and threw it to the ground. "...In blackest day, in brightest night, beware your fears made into light. Let those who try to stop what's right, burn like my power, Sinestro's might!"
WOOOOOOOOSH!
The ring quickly shot onto the immortal's finger before bathing her in a bright yellow light that caused Lyssa to cover her face with her book.
'The fear...it's stronger than Sinestro. Just...how is this possible?' She thought as her book gained yellow lines and seemingly absorbed some of the light into itself, her eyes glowing yellow for a brief second as she realized why this woman was selected in the first place. 'Two gods fear her? How amusing.'
The light died down as a tall marble skinned woman with bleached pale white hair styled in a half up-done bun that was large in the back and had six offshoots wrapped by thick yellow spikes on either side of her head, jet black sclera eyes with dull yellow irises, dark yellowish purple veins on her face and arms, a dull yellow diamond shaped marking on her forehead, a G cup chest and wide ass, wearing a very long short-sleeved yellow robe that obscures her feet and partially drags across the ground, a black curved high collar with dull yellow trim bordering the outer edge of a narrow window exposing her bust in a vertical ellipsis resembling an eye, thick spiked yellow gauntlets with long claw like nail rings, curved yellow shoulder guards in the shape of Wyvern skulls, a yellow serpent-like corset that covered her chest, stomach, waist and sides, a long black shawl emblazoned with three interconnected yellow colored vertical elliptic sigils resembling a trio of overseeing eyes above a series of yellow colored diamond emblems, thick yellow cuisses that went from the hips to the knees, thick yellow greaves that went from her knees to her legs, slim yellow high heeled sabatons with claw like extensions at the front, and a yellow ring with a white upside down hourglass symbol with two curved arm-like extensions on the bottom engraved into the center on her right middle finger, floated in front of the visitor.
[Salem of Sector 3700. Welcome to the Sinestro Corp.]
"Hmmm, now this feels right." Salem muttered while feeling more powerful than she has ever been, even when she was mortal, only to point her arm out and create a massive yellow Beowolf construct with her ring, surprising her a little. "Mmm, almost like magic, but less...colorful."
"I see you have already learned the basics of constructs, Bane of the Gods." Lyssa said while floating near the nearest balcony. "Now come, Sinestro awaits."
As Salem began to channel the power of fear through her body to fly after the woman, no one noticed that all the Grimm, from the Grimmlands and beyond, started to gain glowing yellow eyes as their overall mental faculties were shot from the concentrated fear coursing through them.
"ROOOOOOOOOO!"
(Elsewhere)
-Sanus, Vale, Beacon Academy-
Ozpin watched on in horror as Grimm, of every size and shape, were charging towards the school in a blind rampage, seemingly unaffected by Dust, bullets or even semblances.
The sounds of students screaming in pain and fear mixed in with all the noise.
"What is going on? What has Salem done?" he muttered in fear, only to see a murder of Nevermores flying towards the tower at great neck speeds. "Oh go-"
CRASH!
SHATTER!
"AHHHHHH!"
"CAW CAW CAW!"
(Elsewhere)
-Above Remnant's Atmosphere-
Salem flew past the restraints of gravity as she saw the endless cosmos, the broken moon orbiting nearby as she turned and saw that Remnant was being overtaken by blobs of darkness, making her stop and look on in confusion. "What...is going on?"
"Fear." Lyssa smirked while floating next to the immortal. "As you are connected to these creatures, the power of fear now runs through their bodies, impervious to harm and at this moment, destroying everything in their madness."
"I...see."
"Fear not, once officially initiated into the Sinestro Corps, you shall return to this world and, if life still exists, protect them along with your sector. What you do with your powers is none of my concern, but let's be off." Lyssa said before flying away from the solar system. "Sinestro awaits."
Salem looked upon the blackened planet that used to be her home with sadness before flying away, leaving the planet to its inevitable fate.
(Sometime later)
-Sector 001, Beyond the orbit of the Planet Qward-
Through countless orbiting stars and ice coated asteroids, the two corp members flew, protected by their rings from the solar radiation and destructive pressure of interstellar space. Light years went by them like waves crashing into a ship, seemingly powerless against the might of fear itself.
As the two moved closer to the nearest solar system, Salem saw in the distance, a massive amber colored mechanical planetoid with a single bright yellow core jutting out from its equator and a bright yellow upside down hourglass symbol with two curved arm-like extensions on the bottom etched around the planet's very core, orbiting a large yellow tear in place of a normal sun.
"What…in Remnant?" muttered Salem in surprise, never in her long lifetime seeing a mechanical planet, or any planet for that matter.
"That is the planet Qward, home of the Sinestro Corp." Lyssa said, her tone laced with a hint of pride. "Made from the core of a dying sun and carefully placed within a dyson sphere, it is a marvel of the multiverse."
'Dyson what?' Salem thought as they moved closer and closer to the planet. "And the tear?"
"The gateway to the multiverse. Only Sinestro or a selected member of the corp can enter."
'Mmmm, interesting.' She thought while feeling the fear emanating outwards from the core, the alien metal frame seemingly more advanced than the greatest of Atlas' inventions or the brilliance of it's architecture.
(Later)
-Qward's Core-
Heat...scalding heat emanated from every direction as Salem felt the effects, her ring slowly losing its charge as it got closer and closer to the planet's dull red center.
'I see, the energy of the ring is being siphoned into…something within this planet's core. Possibly the special chambers that woman mentioned before.' Salem thought to herself as she made a quick glance to the blue skinned woman. 'Which means that the 'recruits' don't survive the trip either way, perhaps trying to weed out the weak and pathetic from their ranks. Oh, what fools they are.'
As the two moved deeper and deeper into the core, the denizen of Remnant noticed that the entire core was surrounded by a thick yellow hexagonal barrier that seemed to resist both the heat and the gravitational pull itself. But as the immoral looked upon the sides of the core, she noticed several metallic cocoon-like structures jutting out from the walls, hanging precariously over the barrier and were just inches away from breaking off at the slightest movement.
'This is almost like one of my own pools, but instead of Grimm, they use those pods to create new members through the process of fear.' Salem thought before noticing a small platform coming into view and stepped upon it, her companion doing the same.
"Great Sinestro, first of the corp, I have brought the one from Sector 3700. Grace us with your presence and judge the one who brings fear to divinity itself." Lyssa called out with a bow, the book in her arms glowing with a bright yellow energy.
The core shook momentarily as a beam of yellow energy formed in front of the two, slowly morphing into a light yellow construct in the form of a featureless face with stag-like horns.
'The God of Light!? No, that's impossible, it left this world ages ago!' Salem thought in terror, her eyes dilating as she saw the one that turned her into a monster, the one that ruined her life, right in front of her with an air of dominance around it's bodiless head. 'And I have none of the relics on hand…wait. Did she just say Sinestro?'
"Oh great Sinestro, first of the corp and bane of the holders of will. I, Lyssa Drak, loyal librarian of the corp, have brought to you Salem, Lantern of Sector 3700, to judge and endure the chamber of fear." she bowed as the head moved its 'gaze' towards the immortal.
"Potential. Disable. Ring. Now." it said in a low robotic tone as Salem's ring began to dim, which caused the immortal to realize that her lungs were busting and her body growing warmer from the intense heat and lack of air.
"Ah…a..a…a.g.a.g..!" she gasped before a bubble of yellow light covered her and placed her into one of the cocoons, its metallic form splitting open for a split second before closing tightly.
"Fear. Chamber. Activated. Estimated. Hour. Seventy. Two."
"As you decree, great Sinestro." Lyssa said with a smirk.
(Seventy five hours later)
Silence. Complete silence as the core continuously expelled intense heat from its bowels, the blue skinned woman having left the area to continue her sector's patrol, leaving only the silence and the first corps member as Salem's guard.
"Calculation. Error. Three. Hours. Overdue." the face said while looking upon the cocoon. "Probable. Scenario. Death. Extracting. Ring. Now."
Creak.
Crack.
The metal shell slowly pulled away to reveal its blackened insides, revealing nothing but a yellow power ring that floated towards the face, its creator and master.
"Ring. Extraction. Com-"
WOOSH!
In an instant, a thick black tar-like substance appeared from the ring and began to overtake the face, forming cracks around its surface as the substance formed tendrils that wrapped around a protective ball of energy within the construct itself.
Within said ball was a small skeletal creature, about the size of a human hand, coated in a thick layer of dull brown rock-like armor, thick overlapping flap-like blades that extended from the head down the spine towards the long tail, wide yet flat external spines jutting out from the lower flaps, three small flaps near the neck that curved downwards and formed two primitive claw-like fingers at the ends, two long plated tentacle-like appendages that curved near its 'arms', a disk-like mouth composed of wrinkled triangular shaped plates, large black compound eyes studden upon two bar-like growths at the ends of its head, a large fan shaped tail sporting four longer whip-like 'trails' that were coated at the tips with a hardened yellow energy, long yellow thin 'hair' near the underside, a dark amber shaped 'brain' near the center of its face and a yellow ring with a white upside down hourglass symbol with two curved arm-like extensions on the bottom engraved into the center attached to its upper spine, who squirmed and tried to use its protective ball as a shield against the tendrils.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack!
Crack!
As the barrier began to break, the tendrils started to morph into a hand as yellow chains began to form within the barrier itself, restraining the creature's tail and limbs in the process.
Crack!
CRACK!
The chains began to tighten as the hand began to grip the ball of energy, breaking it as an entire arm began to form from the hand, followed by a shoulder, a left side, until it revealed an entire skeleton as muscle and skin began to regrow upon the bones.
"L..Littl…e…w..o..r…m…" the skeleton cackled, its left arm gripping tightly against the creature's neck as white hair began to form from its scalp. "M…as..ked…i…n..f…e..ar…"
The creature struggled against the chains as the yellow ring began to crack on its back, seemingly drained of its powers in the process.
"I..e..nd…yo…u…now…" the skeleton spoke as eyeballs formed from the sockets, thick yellow chains jutting out from the ring on its finger as the creature tried and failed to escape from it's grip.
CRACK!
CRACK!
"In…fading d..ay, in void…less nigh…t…" the figure said as clothes began to remineralize upon its body. "Bew..are…the fea..rs..formed in…to might."
CRACK!
CRACK!
The creature's armor began forming cracks as thick yellow blood leaked from its body and eyes, the eye-like brain starting to burst like a pimple.
"Let…those who…try to stop…what's mine." the figure said before the Sinestro corp symbol appeared on their chest, soon revealing themselves as the rejuvenated and now powered up Salem, who squeezed harder on the creature's neck as the yellow light of fear was absorbed into her body and ring. "Burn with my power."
CRACK!
Gore and blood dripped from the fingers as the former leader's power ring exploded into pieces, its energy entering the immortal's body as a thick aura began to cover her body.
"Salem's might!" She yelled with sadistic pride, her rig becoming powered by the entire spectrum of fear held within the creature's body, her aura quickly forming into a massive yellow three headed Wyvern Grimm that floated behind her back and flapped its wings, destroying parts of the core in the process. "Such power…so much power!"
[Power level at 999%. Safeguard of Sinestro deactivated.]
She smirked at the ring's voice as she gripped her right hand tightly. "Good. Now, it's time for some reorganizing. Starting with the name."
[Name recognition. Set name to all active power rings?]
"Correct, and I'm thinking." Salem smirked while her ring glowed bright yellow. "Tyrant Corp."
"RRRROOOOOAAAARRRRRR!" cried out the draconic construct, sending a blast of yellow energy at the screen as it cracked and went black instantly.
Xxxxxxx
Name/Designation Title: Salem of Sector 3700 (Yellow Ring of Fear Salem- YRFSRWBY)
Age: Several Millennia (Physically 20~30?)
Affiliation: Omniversal Evil (Formerly Ultimate Evil)
Dimension: - 0098888878912- 11 YRFSRWBY
Abilities: Enhanced strength, speed, durability, agility, endurance, and pain resistance, immortality (divine curse), knowledge of Dust and auras, knowledge of Remnant's true history, master of human psychology, advanced knowledge of magic, high levels of magical power, telekinesis (via magic), clairvoyance, smoke manipulation, high manipulation skills, divine regeneration (curse), control over the Grimm, Grimm summoning, Grimm physiology manipulation, body manipulation and alteration (via Grimm ooze), astral projection, Grimm ooze manipulation, keen knowledge of the human and faunus physiology, yellow energy constructs (via ring), energy blasts (via ring), forcefield creation (via ring), fundamental forces manipulation (via ring), fear instilling (via ring), matter phasing (via ring), light refraction (via ring), invisibility (via ring), environmental playback (via ring), energy cloning (via ring), energy absorption (via ring), flight (via ring), interstellar travel (via ring), dimensional travel (via ring), wormhole/spacial warp creation (via ring), time travel (via ring), limited cellular regeneration (unnecessary due to immortality curse), electromagnetic scanning (via ring), universal translator (via ring), material alteration (via ring), ring duplication (via ring), homing/emergency beacon (via ring), mind alteration/mind protection (via ring), fear empowerment (via ring), security/preset conditions/protocols (via ring), control over the Yellow Central Battery and its members.
Semblance(s): None.
Bio: In this timeline, instead of the Green Lantern known as Jessica Cruz appearing in Remnant to stop Starro, it was Lyssa Drak of Sector 3500, the historian of the Sinestro Corp, who discovered the planet. Due to her emotion sensing powers, which detected a powerful source of fear across the known multiverse, she was able to locate a suitable candidate of the Sinestro Corp within the Grimmlands, home to its eternal ruler, Salem. Upon learning of Salem's innate ability to cause the divine to be wary of her, a Yellow Ring was gifted to the immortal and thus, became a member of the Sinestro Corp, although Salem decided to utilize this new power to kill herself permanently. However as she left the planet behind her, the Grimm became infused with the yellow light of fear, causing them to enter a primal frenzy and began to kill off every sentient life form on the planet, leaving it a ball of black tar in the process. During the initiation process, Salem was able to trick Sinestro, the leader of the corps and an Anomalocaris-like alien, into thinking she was dead from her own fear, allowing her to kill him and usurp his control over the planet Qward, the central battery itself, to create her new corp, the Tyrant Corp, from the ashes of the Sinestro Corp itself. Fear now rules the multiverse as Salem's powers dominate hundreds of timelines, all in the interest of making herself into a goddess of fear. A fearful path to take for one so broken.