Still here? Cool.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
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The annoying thing about stopping the movement of the planet was that time was nearly impossible to determine by ordinary means. There was no day or night anymore. Just the eclipse.
Granted it was a wonderful view, but still annoying.
As far as Ruby could tell, it had barely been a week since she'd brought the human world to an end. Sadly those creatures were too stubborn to lay down and die, which meant she had to leave Remnant frozen in orbit for longer than even she wanted. She had to wait until they all laid down and gave up. Thing is, they were following Adrian, and as long as he stood against her, the only option was total genocide. The sooner the better.
Ruby adjusted her new dress – she had to replace the one that got stabbed by her future husband – and listened with half an ear as Raven relayed her latest report to Weiss. It was the usual bullshit, of course. Humans hiding, planet dying, no sign of Adrian, blah blah blah. They stood in the dim office of the Headmaster, her office, and waited for the bird to finish; once done, Raven morphed back into her winged form and took off without another word.
All four of them had to get new outfits after the battles in and around Vale, as the humans were annoyingly persistent. Weiss now sported a black dress that was similar in form to her original white ensemble back in their first year, though with her back on full display. Armored shoulders now accented her jaw armor and claws, along with a pair of black high-heels. "I assume you heard most of that?" she said.
Ruby nodded, not bothering to turn around and look at her old team. They weren't worth it.
Blake spoke next, the former Faunus wearing a more exotic offering from Mistral; a black and red kimono-style dress that didn't even come close to her knees yet still featured billowy sleeves where her arm tendrils could hang free. Her matching wooden sandals were annoying to hear when she walked, but otherwise fine. "We know they're hiding in the Old City, right? Why haven't we just set off Fire Dust bombs to clear it out?"
Ruby growled quietly, clenching her black hand into a fist.
Weiss saw the motion and answered for her, "D-Did you forget? If Adrian Arc dies, everything we've done will amount to nothing."
Yang also now wore a Mistralian outfit, albeit a bit more scandalous in design; a dress commonly worn by waitresses with exposed shoulders and a halter top, along with a long skirt divided all the way up to her hips on both legs. Her monstrous right arm was a real nuisance indoors like this, but her left now sported a full-length set of armor. Upon hearing that name again, Yang chuffed, "Yeah… wouldn't wanna hurt her boy-toy, now would we?"
Ruby's anger flared to life, but she held it in. She didn't scream at them just yet. Instead she smiled, mostly to herself, as she imagined how much fun she was going to have in a few seconds. It was the only thing holding her back.
"For fucks sake, Yang…" said Weiss. "Are you still sore about your wife?"
"Ex-wife," Yang clarified. "I was really hoping I could turn her into one of us, that way we could stay together."
"You'll get over it. Just like the rest of us did," said Blake with a deadpan voice.
"I guess…" Yang pouted.
"Why not go back to her?" said Ruby quickly before any of them could change the topic. She didn't turn around yet. "I mean, it's not like this would be the first time you've walked away from me."
Dead silence. Ruby could actually hear the organs that passed for their hearts hammering from across the room. What a wonderful sound…
She slowly turned to find all three of her former teammates quivering by the door, Yang in particular with tears in the corners of her dead black eyes. Ruby let herself grin as she said, "What's wrong? Got cold feet all of a sudden?"
Yang rapidly shook her head, sending her wild mane of pale yellow hair flopping.
"Tell me something, Yang…" Ruby walked around the desk and clasped her hands behind her back, smiling at the trio in a pleasant way. "…Who are you?"
A whimper escaped Yang's throat as she said, very silently, "I'm… y-your… s-s-sister…?"
"I DON'T HAVE A GODDAMN SISTER! ! !"
Ruby unleashed the full fury of her Soul Crush on the pitiful creature before her; Yang screamed as her pale flesh began to roast from the inside out, reddish-black lightning dancing across her entire body in arcs of angry electric power. Skin smoldered, bones cracked and organs ruptured, but Yang did not die. No, she only wished she would.
Unlike the powerful ability of all her Imu, Ruby's unique iteration of Soul Crush was not merely several times more powerful than normal, it also affected Creatures of Grimm. However, since Grimm did not have 'souls' to be crushed, they burned instead.
Ruby held the attack for a full minute before finally letting it go. Yang's screaming stopped, quickly replaced by sobbing whimpers as her Grimm power quickly began repairing the damage. Neither Weiss nor Blake dared move a muscle to help. They knew better by now.
Within a minute, Yang's head was fully fixed and Ruby quickly grabbed one of her massive horns, yanked it close and whispered, "One… more… time."
"I…" Yang groaned, "I… am… garbage. Lower than… garbage… a worm…"
"And what did the worm do?"
Yang coughed as the rest of her body returned to full health, "I… abandoned you… to live a… a selfish life… for myself…"
"Yes…" Ruby threw her back, trying not to chuckle as Yang bounced off the back wall. She addressed all three, "You left me. But I didn't leave you, now did I? You should all be dead and rotting in some Beowolf's belly… but I came back for you. I saved you. All I ask for in return is your undying loyalty… is that really so much~?"
As one, moving on shaking legs, all three former Huntresses knelt before Ruby and pointed their faces to the floor. In unison they intoned, "Hail the Rose… May She Live Forever."
Deep down, Ruby knew they didn't mean it. Fear only guaranteed cooperation, not respect. And definitely not love.
Still, those words were always nice to hear.
"Now then," Ruby cleared her throat and took a step back. "Since even Weiss forgot, I'll be generous and remind you all – there are still plenty of humans on this planet aside from Adrian Arc who still haven't died yet. Fix that. Now."
They grunted in unison and scrambled to their feet, rapidly descending through the empty elevator shaft. Seconds later, Ruby was once again alone in her old office.
Good timing, too… for just a moment, she felt another lurch from her gut. Nothing came out this time, but it was getting worse. Salem probably had to deal with this shit too, but no one ever saw that part. Ruby took a moment to make sure nothing was about to come up, sighed and returned her attention to the view of the city.
In all honesty, if she never saw any of her old team again, she wouldn't have shed a tear. She'd done her grieving back before the end, back when her world did not consist only of pain and torment. They left her to start their own personal lives, not even bothering to check in and make sure their leader was okay. They didn't care about her, so why should she give a shit about them?
"You have quite the temper, don't you?"
Ruby summoned her twisted Aura in a heartbeat, sending out Soul Crush in a wide area attack-
-only for it to bounce off a ball of green energy centered right at the door, making the air ring like a giant bell. The flash of the recoil left spots in her vision.
The ball of light only lingered for a moment, and when it faded… a child stood there, watching her from underneath a deep hood. She wore a familiar red cloak, but Ruby ignored it – everybody wore that kind of cloak a few years ago, so it didn't really mean anything. "Who are you? How did you do that?"
"You already know the answer to one of those questions," said the child… although her voice was more than a little jarring, as it sounded exactly like an adult woman. She lifted one small hand and produced a series of sparks that swirled in a tiny tornado over her palm.
Ancient memories triggered in Ruby's mind, and while she knew they were not her own, what mattered was that they informed her of what she was looking at now. "Magic…"
"Indeed." The child looked around the room, and Ruby was momentarily caught off guard by how deep the hood sat over the kid's head; her face was completely concealed, only her tiny red lips visible. "I wish to discuss a business matter," she said calmly as she found a chair and hopped up into it.
Ruby snarled, "Get lost, brat. I'm not interested in anything a human has to say."
"You assume too much."
"So I've been told," Ruby held back her Aura for now, wary of what other tricks this little witch might have up her sleeve. "If you're gonna talk, then talk. I'm a busy tyrant."
Ruby's gut gave another lurch. Crap. It didn't normally happen more than once a day… she put a hand to her gut, hoping it didn't look like she was in pain.
It didn't work; the kid tilted her head, "You are unwell."
"No shit, Hemlock. Now unless you have some other brilliant observation to make-"
"I want to show you something…"
Before Ruby could stop her, the kid lifted both hands and quickly chanted something incomprehensible. Another light appeared, this one vaguely bluish-purple. A similar flash of light engulfed Ruby for a moment as the kid formed her own ball of light into a flat sheet and expanded it like a curtain between them.
An image began to appear in the sheet of light, fading in slowly from white emptiness. Different pieces came in faster than others, the setting first; it was the same office they were in now, obviously. Then came people, and she immediately recognized her former team as well as both of her spies and, for some reason, that mute brat Neo; they were kneeling off to one side, though the subject of their reverence was not yet revealed.
Two figures began to emerge from the whiteness in the middle. Ruby herself appeared on one side, but she was… wrong somehow. She still resembled the Grimm form she had taken when facing Adrian, but her eyes were not the burning red orbs she had become so proud of. They were empty, like coals in a dying fire. Blank.
And standing over her was a figure Ruby never thought she'd see again: Salem.
The immortal witch appeared far more powerful than before, standing much taller and bearing both elegant horns and a total of six wings, three leathery and three with white feathers. The positioning of both Salem and Ruby made it very clear what was going on – Ruby was succumbing to Salem's will and swearing her loyalty. She was surrendering.
Needless to say, it was not a pleasant image.
"This is an image of your future," said the kid as she came around to see it from Ruby's side. "A blurry image would mean the future could easily be altered by your decisions. This one is very clear, isn't it? That usually means it is all but guaranteed to take place, and soon."
Ruby fought back the panic in her voice, "How soon?"
"I cannot say." The kid waved a hand and dispelled the image, though Ruby knew full well it was seared into her memory. There would be no forgetting that nightmare.
"Why show me this? What's it got to do with this 'business' thing you mentioned?"
The kid, who still hadn't introduced herself, went back to her chair and hopped up into it again. "I want to hire you for a job. It might take some time to complete. In return… I offer you the chance to change your fate. To rewrite the future you just witnessed."
Ruby scoffed. "I may not have much experience with magic, but even I know that's asking a lot. And besides, you just showed it to me. I can avoid it on my own."
"Do you really believe that?"
Ruby's gut lurched again, harder than before. She clapped her normal hand over her mouth before she could stop herself. She could taste the black goo in her throat this time.
"Where exactly do you think that woman will come from?"
Ruby's eyes went wide.
She alone knew what had actually happened that day. She alone knew the secret of how she took the Power of Darkness into herself. And with that in mind, she suddenly realized what this lurching feeling must be…
Salem was… growing inside her. Like a goddamn parasite.
And she was getting stronger.
She was almost free…!
"I would advise you not to do anything rash," said the kid. "Neither you nor I can know what will happen if you try and eliminate this problem yourself. You may well unleash her upon your world regardless of your intent."
Ruby was, in fact, mere seconds away from ripping her own stomach out. It would've grown back. But if that meant she would accidentally unleash the true Master of the Grimm upon a world now filled with them… including herself…
"Now you see," the kid hopped down from her chair and came closer. Ruby could hear the grin in her voice even without seeing her face. "I am your only hope."
"… … …Why should I believe you?"
"If you do not want to trust me, then there's nothing I can do," she said with a shrug. "All I offer is my word. But if that's not good enough, then I shall depart… and take your salvation with me-"
"Wait!"
Silence fell over the office. No one spoke for almost a minute.
"Alright, I'll…" Ruby swallowed hard, keenly aware her own heart was now hammering in her chest. And she didn't like that sound quite as much. "I'll do it. I'm in."
The kid smiled.
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Designation: Remnant-6600 (Grimm World)
Type ? World – Error: Type does not match anything in the database
Class ? Population – Error: No viable ratio found
Grimm Threat DETECTEDDETECTEDDET ECTEDDET ECTEDDETECTEDDETECTEDDE TECTEDDETECTE DDETECTEDDE TECTEDDETE CTEDDETECT EDDETECTEDD ETECTEDDETECTE DDETECTEDDETECTEDD ETECTE DDETECTEDDETE CTEDDETECT EDDETECTEDDETECTED DETECTED DETECTEDDET ECTEDDETEC TEDDETECTE DDETECTEDDETECTEDDE TECTEDDETECTEDDETEC TEDDETECTEDDETECTEDDETECTED
Environment: BLACK
Integrity: BLACK
Culture: BLACK
Dust/Aura: RED
Deviation from Standard: 83.9 %
Special Note: Holy shit… I just… what… There's literally nothing I can say. Nothing. I've seen worlds go bad before, but nothing like this. By the gods, what IS it about the ones that have 66 as the first two digits? I don't even want to send Rain out to this one; as much as we argue, I do actually like having her around. Even SHE might not come back from a shitshow of THIS magnitude. It's not often I have to flag a world as a lost cause, but this one absolutely deserves it.
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Grimm Ruby
will return
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Author's Note: Alright, I don't wanna give away too much, but I can say that I've got a multiverse project in the works and Grimm Ruby (whom I will now lovingly refer to as 'Grimby') is set to play a pretty major role in the narrative. I know some of you were asking for more flashbacks of her fall into insanity, and while this bonus chapter might not scratch that itch, we'll have plenty of chances to learn more about her in future stories. So assuming you guys have a lot of patience (cuz I have the writing speed of a glacier), be sure to look forward to it.
Now, if any of you happen to stumble onto this story some years down the line (and assuming the internet hasn't been shut down), I would still love to know what you think of it. Feedback is always appreciated, whether it be critical or otherwise, as it lets me know that someone out there actually gives a crap. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you in the next one!
=^..^=