Requester: brave boy.
Author's Note- If you want to request a Ruinverse chapter, either send a PM or type it down in the reviews, it can be either a single question like 'What if' or a detailed description on what the chapter should be like. Just remember, not every idea will be placed into the story, and enjoy the Ruinverse.
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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 Five, Ignis Le Dystopia.
Xxxxxxx
-Remnant, Off the coast of Solitas, Somewhere at the bottom of the sea-
Within the darkness of the cold and desolate sea, the camera moved deeper and deeper into the abyss, seemingly unfazed by the pressure, as small microscopic plankton floated against the current, hoping to find either suitable mates, prey or possibly the chance to lay its eggs.
However, after a few thousand feet of pressurized liquid oxygen infused hydrogen, the unseen camera lense made it into a wide undersea canyon, where nothing seemed to thrive, not even the elusive worms that live within the bones of the mighty whales.
"Ggggggggguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu."
A loud 'hum' echoed across the canyon, reverberating through the water like jello, as in the center of the canyon was an enormous Monstra Grimm, who seemed to lie motionless on the seafloor as bubbles of air formed from its blowhole at a rhythmic rate.
"Ggggggggguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu."
Blackened steam oozed out of the cracks around the canyon as life, despite sharing the home with monsters made by a deity that abandoned them, thrived and prospered in the pressurized depths.
Within this world sparse of life, it was another moment of peaceful serenity for this realm of unconquerable pockets of microbial life.
Rumble…rumble.
CRACK!
RUMBLE!
Until it was shattered-
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!
By a massive dark purple explosion that erupted from the planet itself, instantly raising the ground upwards as everything, including the surrounding water, instantly vaporized as the Monstra Grimm shot upwards towards the surface like a rocket, it's skin melting off and transformed into a gaseous state.
And instantly, the screen became blinded by the purple energy and then…faded to black.
(Many hours later)
The screen slowly reignited with color as the world was…vastly different.
In place of the cold water of the Solitas sea were the burning pillars of orange flames from countless destroyed forests, all illuminating the horizon as the seabed was turned into glass by the intense heat.
Within the former undersea canyon, toxic gasses began to billow outwards from the fissures, feeding the fires and slowly destroying the breathable air left on the planet.
As the camera moved across the landscape, a strange mass of black ooze seemed to have enveloped the coastline, it's tar-like exterior dissipating quickly in the superheated wind as the outline of a giant whale was seared into the ground, an aftershadow of a catastrophic blast of unknown proportions.
Sissssle.
Crackle.
Crackle.
Flames licked the darkened mass of tar as dark purple crystals started to become exposed to the elements, seemingly the only things to survive the unexpected apocalypse of life itself.
Squish!
Suddenly, from within the mass itself, a single claw-like hand erupted from the ooze as a figure pushed its own body out of the mass and into the burning world itself, white, red, orange and yellowish purple energy covering the figure in a protective cocoon as they screamed in pain.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" they screamed, the ooze covering their body dissipated in the process as they fell on their knees and panted heavily. "A..a…h..a..h…"
As the figure caught their breath, the suffocating air burning their lungs in the process, the protective cocoon started to dissipate, revealing their true form to a barren world.
That being a tall fair skinned woman with short ashen-black hair that covered her left eye, a bright amber eye, a black left eyepatch with two straps that ran both above and below her right eye, small black veins near the upper portion of the right eye, semi ruined blush on the cheeks that was smeared near the lower eyes, a D cup chest and small ass, thick white bone-like struts jutting from the right elbow, upper right ear, thighs and forehead, a pointed white horn-like protrusion extending from the left ear to the scalp, a long skeletal black left arm with white claw-like nails that went up towards the upper left shoulder, wearing a black gold lined tank top, a long black shoulder cape draped over her left arm with gold trimming and a red inside, a collared cuff around the neck that held the cape in place, a small black ring-shaped earring attached to the right ear with a dangling black diamond shaped gem earring on the earlobe, a long black belt with a golden buckle and a thin black strap with a small pack on her left hip that were lined with gold trimming, a blue feather-like accessory over the right side of her upper shoulder, a black and gold band on her upper right shoulder, white bandages covering the lower shoulder, a black band on her right wrist, black shorts with gold lining, and black knee-high laced heeled boots, who panted heavily as the flames grew in intensity around her.
This was Cinder Fall, treacherous servant of an immortal sorceress, the false Fall Maiden, and mastermind of the Fall of Vale. However, at this point in time…she was nothing more than a confused animal, one that knew nothing of the destructive chaos that destroyed civilization itself in the blink of the human eye.
"A…a..h..a..ah..w..hat?" she panted before looking upwards, only to see a charred wasteland, one that made her eyes widen in disbelief. "No…it can't be…"
As she slowly stood up, her knees weak and on the brink of collapsing back upon the ground, her mind began to recall certain memories buried within her very psyche. Each one produced a state of mental electrocution as she gripped the sides of her head in pain.
From pain, trauma and anger came flashes of long forgotten days of kill or be killed, false hope of family, child servitude, hope and heartbreak, careful planning, glory, battles between titans, failure, poor planning, belittlement, power, and self preservation.
But as the painful shocks began to leave her mind, a jolt of pain made the woman cry out in pain as she recalled something horrifying and…possibly life altering.
The truth.
Not just any truth, but a single underlying truth about her former employer…
She had no intention of keeping Remnant in one piece. Instead, the immortal wanted to wipe away everything, humans, faunus, Grimm, planets, animals, and even herself, all because she wanted to die and finally rest.
Cinder groaned in pain as she forced herself to keep standing, despite the weakness in her legs, as she felt hollow and empty, feeling lower than dirt and akin to a helpless child, something she hasn't felt in years. "Ah…I…can't believe it."
The flames licked closer to the edges of the Monstra's outline, seemingly unable to stop burning the ground with its destructive touch, as the ex-criminal slowly moved her hands away from her skull, letting some blood drip from the puncture wounds made to her left side by her own clawed hand.
"I…was taken for a fool." she said to no one, her tone seemingly devoid of arrogance or even cruelty, her mind clearer than it has ever been before and since. "Like a fly to a spider's web, I…I let her use me, molded me into…this freak."
Looking upon the Grimm appendage, she frowned and quickly gripped it, causing black ooze to drip from the palms upon the ground in the process.
"And for what? A false dream of conquest, one where I became something I wasn't." she said while her left arm twitched and trembled, seemingly also sharing the same emotions as it's host. "I was supposed to rule over Remnant…not live to see it's destruction."
Sissle.
Crackle.
Cinder looked upon the sea of flames, her eyes narrowing with anger, before noticing that her left hand was coated in a familiar energy, making her shocked as she closed her eyes slightly. "I see, the Maidens chose me, all of them…ironic. I wanted all of their powers and went about it with force…yet Salem killed them all…before my imprisonment…they chose me of all people. Me, the one that destroyed two Kingdoms and robbed one of its greatest champion…the one that chose to become a monster for the sake of conquest." 'What foolish arrogance…'
As the multicolored aura vanished from her hand, the woman took a heavy breath of tiredness and expelled it into the burning world, hot ash brushing against her nose and nearly burning the inside of her mouth in the process.
Upon taking that sigh of resignation, Cinder recalled how she got to this position. She had acquired the Relic of Creation and its mate, the Relic of Knowledge, from the strange void Team RWBY created for the people of Atlas and Mantle and returned to the immortal in triumph…yet she was imprisoned in the belly of a Monstra Grimm for centuries, all because she was not required, an old model for an already broken system.
Cinder was too unpredictable, too focused on power and, in the immortal's eyes, a liability to her plans of mass destruction. For Salem, she was nothing more then an experiment in acquiring the Maidens, which failed as in light of her troubles in Atlas, the immortal found and took the Maidens of Winter and Summer, used the Summer Maiden to acquire the Relic of Destruction and then…utilized it to find the Relic of Choice…her relic which eluded her grasps for over a year at most.
And now…she was alone, an irony as she spent her life working for herself, only to face a lifetime away from any form of contact.
"...a sea of flames. How fitting." Cinder muttered to herself while the flames started to move closer to her. "I became a monster when my semblance activated, and now fire destroys what remains of the Kingdoms. Perhaps it would've been better if I never existed to ignite that flame?"
As the flames licked closer to her feet, a blast of white aura projected itself from the woman's body, causing the fire to freeze in place and transform into frost within seconds of touching her feet.
"I see." the former criminal muttered to herself as she recognized the Winter Maiden's powers 'protecting' its host from self harm via letting herself die in the flames. "They won't let me die…unfortunate." 'Even death mocks me, I guess toying with it long enough would have consequences.'
That was when something clicked in her head, a single thought against a sea of uncertainty and despair.
What if there was a way to negate the apocalypse?
Raising her head upwards, her eyes unable to see the moon or stars due to the thick clouds of ash and soot looming overhead, Cinder started to analyze all possible scenarios in her mind, all leading to either false hopes or dead ends.
Some scenarios talked about finding survivors, others locating the relics, and still other possible ideas which were to find the spot where Salem made her dreadful summoning and recreate the conditions to implore the gods for a 'redo'.
But all came to one conclusion.
Her plans will end in failure.
"...there has to be a way to reverse this." she muttered while noticing her Grimm appendage moving it's fingers and formed a 'mouth' from it, confusing her a little but let it go since this wasn't the strangest thing she's seen in her lifetime.
The 'mouth' moved a little, making no sound at all as Cinder seemingly 'understood' it, possibly a remnant of her own sanity or even a possible hint of the Grimm's sentience.
"Eh? What are you talking about?" she asked in confusion while cocking her head to the side. "A way to fix all of this…with what now?"
The arm 'spoke' again as Cinder's eye widened in surprise, the flames continuing to turn into ice around her feet.
"Time travel? Really?" she frowned. "That isn't possible, no one cracked that, not even Salem. What makes you think…wait, using the four relics? No, that's not going to work, they might be destroyed by now. Mmmm…so you're saying find other relics? The ones from Kuchinashi? No…that one. But it's been lost for centuries. Even if I find it, how is it going to help with time travel?"
The hand 'yelled' at the former criminal, snapping it's nails at her in 'annoyance'.
"Ok ok! I get it, but if this is going to work, we need to find it first." Cinder said while gripping her right hand a little. "And I doubt anyone knows the location besides him or…the Grimm."
The hand nodded and while Cinder smirked a little, seemingly getting the hint.
"Huh, that might work." she said before realizing something. "Wait, even if I found it and used it to travel back to before this…wasteland existed, how am I supposed to even BE the hero? I…I never did a kind thing in my life, I cheated, I stole and I killed so many for power. Just…what am I going to do once I escape this infernal world?"
The hand quickly rubbed her left cheek, seemingly giving it comfort…or just trying to get the woman going, as she sighed heavily and began to walk away, the flames turning to ice around her as she expelled a white aura around her body.
"Very well, I will find it. Even if I have to wander this world for eternity, I shall not rest until I rewrite this world's fate." Cinder said to herself, her confident face feeling more like a mask than actual conviction. "My mistakes will be nullified. For now, the villain of everyone's story, will take the role of the hero, for as long as my soul endures the burning fires and…mistakes of the past, I will search for the relic of my redemption."
The camera quickly panned away as the flames covered the screen momentarily.
(Elsewhere)
-Unknown Location-
Only for the camera to reveal a dark cave overlooking a now charred forest, which soon moved closer to view as within the heart of the cave as an ancient set of ruins, older then the Four Kingdoms that fell just moments ago.
And within the central temple-like building, hanging upside down on the ceiling by skyscraper sized Gravity Dust, was a large blue crystal that seemed to shine with an otherworldly radiance.
But as the camera moved closer, it was revealed that a long ornate brown staff with a gray metal floral pattern, two gray bands, a rook-shaped upper point with a large green emerald in its center, was encased within the mineral itself, frozen in time and radiating an ethereal green glow.
[I shall find the Staff of Ozma, greatest of heroes and its greatest of fools.]
Xxxxxxx
Name/Designation Title: The Last Maiden/Cinder Fall (Ignis Le Dystopia Cinder Fall- ILDCFRWBY)
Age: 2,000+ (Physically in her Mid 20's)
Affiliation: Normal Evil.
Dimension: - 041- 00 ILDCFRWBY
Abilities: Enhanced speed, strength, durability, endurace, agility and accuracy, Huntress skills and knowledge, high manipulation skills (limited by progressing madness), high charisma (lowered due to madness), high persuasion skills (limited by madness and internal karma), high tolerance to pain, master marksmanship, hand to hand combat skills and knowledge, unarmed combat skills, high swordsmanship skills, high stealth skills, espionage skills, piloting skills, airship knowledge and handling, Aura manipulation (defensive), Aura blocking skills, Dust knowledge and handling, weapon creation (via semblance or Maiden power), weapon detonation (via Maiden powers or semblance), dual blade knowledge and skills, high archery skills, polearm knowledge and handling, knowledge of Remnant's 'true' history (limited), elemental masterly (via Maiden powers), pyrokinesis (via Fall Maiden powers), cryokinesis (via Maiden powers), Aerokinesis (via Maiden Powers), Geokinesis (via Maiden powers), fulgurkinesis/electrokinesis, glass creation (via either semblance or Maiden powers), aerial tactics and skills, control over the Grimm (nulled), regeneration (limited to left arm via Shadow Hand Grimm prosthetic), high elasticity (limited to left arm via Shadow Hand Grimm prosthetic), Maiden power extraction (nullified), parasitic symbiotic sentience (limited to left arm via Shadow Hand Grimm prosthetic), magic channeling (limited to left arm via Shadow Hand Grimm prosthetic), Fall Maiden powers, Summer Maiden powers, Winter Maiden powers, Spring Maiden powers, eternal youth (via Grimm Ooze and Maiden power infusion), limited immortality (via Grimm Ooze and Maiden power infusion).
Semblance(s): Scorching Caress
Bio: In this timeline, set after the Fall of Atlas, Cinder Fall presented the Relics of Creation and Knowledge to her mistress, trying to regain her favor after betraying all her own allies to oblivion. However, behind the Fall Maiden's back, Salem obtained the Relics of Destruction and Choice from their respective hiding spots and seeing the Fall Maiden as a wild card, chose to restrain her, via her Shadow Hand implant, and imprisoned her within the belly of a Monstra. Learning of the immortal's true motives and that her own plans would result in nothing, Cinder remained trapped in torment within the Grimm's stomach, the Summer, Spring and Winter Maiden powers entering her body after Salem utilized the relics to summon the Twin Gods and destroy the world, leaving her as the only surviving thing on the planet. Granted eternal youth, due to the Grimm ooze and Maiden powers, she was able to escape her prison but saw a now charred and ruined world in place of the one she knew, causing her to realize her dreams and past accomplishments were moot due to being the last sentient creature on the planet's surface. Her own sanity was restored, the dark influence of the Madame's evil actions being dispelled by the full powers of the Maidens, but the guilt of her own actions and what it led to caused her to wander the planet, looking for a way to rewrite the fate of herself and Remnant, choosing to play the role of 'hero', even if it's only a mask to hide the pain of being the only sentient being to survive this ruined world. Forever Fall, let it be decreed, the fate of one Ignis Le Dystopia, the Last Maiden, upon the ruined historia of this dying world.