AN: I have the final chapter here. This one is the last battle, as well as the epilogue to the entire story. I know it has been a long while coming, I apologize for the wait, but here is the last chapter to Color Theory. Hope you enjoy this chapter, leave a review with your comments and questions, and have a nice day.
Chapter 10 – Blue Light of Hope
Yang and Atrocitus landed at the festival grounds, no one else in sight of the two Red Lanterns. The Leader of the Red Lanterns held out his ring, scanning the area. As the light grew brighter, the two began to fallow it. Eventually, they found the crash site of the two animal's fight. However, the fairground was destroyed beyond the point of impact. Yang looked over at the broken vendor stands, "What happened here." She said before her eyes widened, seeing her pet corgi on the ground, "Zwei!" Yang called as she ran over, seeing his face bloody and a gash across his body, "Who did this to you?"
"Ru…Run…" Zwei tried to speak, Yang was slightly taken back at hearing her dog talk.
Close by, Atrocitus lifted a broken food stand, discovering a battered Dex-Starr underneath. He tossed the wreckage away before kneeling, placing his right hand on the feline. Dex-Starr's eyes slight open before he meowed through his pain, "What?" Atrocitus said before turning back to Yang, "It's a trap!"
Suddenly, a yellow dome encased Atrocitus and Dex-Starr, entrapping the two Red Lanterns. Yang looked over and gasped before picking up Zwei, then jumped into the air. She narrowly avoided the same fate, the yellow dome just grazing the tips of her boots, "Yellow energy, that means-" The blond Red lantern said before being cut off by someone.
"So, you did have a ring?" Yang heard someone call to her. She turned to discover it was Cinder, her arms crossed with a smirk on her face, "No wonder you blew off my subordinate's leg so easily."
"You mean Mercury, you're his team leader," Yang said as she descended, placing Zwei on the ground, "And aren't you also the team leader for Emerald?"
"Based on your tone, I see that you have figured it out," Cinder responded as Yang glared back, "You were just a pawn in our mission to cause Vale's downfall. We knew we could exploit your temper to dive up panic. All caused by your…accident."
"You ruined my life!" Yang said as her ring glowed, catching Cinder's eye. "And used Dex-Starr and Zwei as bait?"
"I am looking for a real test of this new power of mine." Cinder said as she showed her yellow lantern ring on her finger, "As for your life, allow me to end it for you." The yellow lantern ring then glowed in its light, encasing the black-haired woman. Once the light faded, a yellow mask covered the upper half of her face. Her dress glowed with the yellow light of a fire. On her back, just below a black marking, the ring's emblem was seen, "I want to push this power to its limits while I can." She looked over to see Atrocitus firing a red beam from his ring into the yellow prison, but could not break himself free, "Even if this one runs out, I have more rings at my disposal."
"That's not going to happen," Yang said as she cracked knuckles, "Because I'm about to break every finger you have."
"Try as you might," Cinder said as she assumed a fighting stance, "This is the final round." She said before silence filled the fairground.
Suddenly, Yang punched the ground with her left hand, causing an eruption line of red pillars of energy to head towards Cinder. However, the yellow lantern dodged right, spawning a bow made of dust. As for the arrows, she formed five with her yellow light. All strung at the same time. Cinder fired at the blond red lantern.
However, Yang ascended to dodge, hovering a few meters in the sky. She raised her left hand in a fist, the red ring glowing brighter. Suddenly, a red ball started to form, growing and expanding. The core glowed brighter, the heat radiating off the sphere starting to rival the morning sun, "Try dodging this one!" Yang said before swinging her left fist downward. Cinder smirked as the red sun started to come down towards her. Yang watched as the fireball crashed into the ground, incinerating all in its path, "Did I get her?"
Suddenly, Yang felt a heel kick to the left side of her head, seeing her a few meters back. she looked to see her assailant was Cinder, a smirk on her face, "You're such a waste of potential." The yellow lantern said as Yang gritted her teeth, "That sphere could have been twice as big, but you were worried about hurting the others." Cinder then crossed her arms, her yellow ring glowing, spawning hundreds of arrows behind her. All aimed at the blond red lantern, "Now, die," Cinder said before snapping with her left hand.
The volley of arrows started to fire towards Yang. She attempted her aerial dodging but soon found one striking her right shoulder. After a few second an arrow hit her right thigh. Cinder began to chuckle as more arrows embedded into Yang. However, the yellow lantern had a look of confusion as Yang's hair started to glow, "AAAAAA!" the blond red lantern let out a battle cry as she exploded with red energy, destroying all incoming arrows. Cinder gasped, but before she could finish her breath, Yang rushed her. The glowing blond red lantern delivered a left gut punch to Cinder, the red ring's power shining at the apex of the hit. Suddenly, a horizontal beam of red energy encapsulated Cinder, spawning from the end of Yang's punch.
After the energy dissipated, the yellow lantern's body was radiating a black smoke, her ring blinking a dimmer light. However, Cinder still giggled, "I guess I should start wrapping things up." The yellow lantern said before holding out her right hand. Suddenly, a yellow energy King Taijitu erupted out. Yang barely had time to dodge the monster as watched it sore through the sky.
However, her eyes widened as he noticed its true target, Vytal Festival Coliseum. High over the seats and stand, the civilians looked up to see the gigantic snake flaring its fangs. They screamed in terror as the King Taijitu descended at ramming speed, enough force to drop the whole stadium into the Beacon tower. One mother hugged her daughter as they closed their eyes in fear of the end. However, they soon realized there was no impact. in opening her eyes, the mother scanned the area, while the daughter point to the sky.
Intersecting the King Taijitu was Yang, who held the yellow energy monsters mouth open. Her hands on the upper jaw, her feet on the lower. The King Taijitu struggled to close its mouth as Yang gritted her teeth, "How about you choke on this!" the blond red lantern declared before taking a deep breath in. Upon exhaling, she fired a continuous beam of red burning vile directly into the King Taijitu's mouth. The yellow snake monster began to squirm as its core glowed in a red tube down its body.
Yang still shot fire from her mouth into the creature but noticed something approaching from her left, the second head of the King Taijitu. Its mouth opened as it attempted to return the vile. However, Yang aimed her ring at the second head, making a gigantic hang. The hand shut the serpent's mouth, leaving the vile with nowhere to escape. As the pressure built to its climax, the King Taijitu exploded in a mixture of red and yellow energy. Yang sighed in relief as the energy's dissipated.
Suddenly, she felt as if someone was watching her. She turned down to see all the spectators of the tournament looking up at her, speechless. The blond red lantern made an awkward wave to the crowd, "Uh, hey." She said with a slight giggle in her voice, "Crazy day, right?" At that moment, a yellow energy arm grabbed Yang by the right foot. Before she could blast it, the arms dragged her at high speed. the blond red lantern felt her body start to rip apart from the g-force before slamming into the fairground. As the smoke settled over the circular crater, Yang landed on her back, "Ouch…" Yang said As she started to push herself up. Suddenly, multiple yellow energy clamps crashed into her arms and legs. Just as she was about to blast them with her breath, a clamp slammed into her mouth.
"You are more troublesome than I predicted," Yang turned to see Cinder talking, spawning a yellow executioner's blade. The yellow lantern then smirked at Yang's left hand, "However, I do thank you for delivering this to me." She said before raising the blade over her head, Yang's muffled screams as she struggled to break free, "It's time I tried red on." She said before swing down. However, as the blade was a foot away from the blond red lantern's wrist, a scythe intercepted. But to Yang's confusion, it was not red, but blue, "What?" Cinder said as she saw the blue energy weapon parry. In looking towards the wielder, she saw Velvet glaring back. Quickly, the rabbit faunus changed the weapon into its sniper form, blasting a high velocity round into Cinder's gut. The blast launched the yellow lantern into the wreckage of one of the destroyed stands.
Velvet then changed her weapon from a blue sniper to a blue pistol, shooting the clamps that bound Yang. "Velvet!" Yang said as her mouth clamp was removed, "I'm I glad to see you." She said with the rabbit faunus smiling, "But, how did you find me?"
"The light show was a pretty big give away." Velvet said with a giggle, "Ruby told me about the situation." She said before Cinder erupted out of the debris, "But she left out that part."
"This is a new development." Yang said before she held her side in pain, "Look, I have an idea. But I need you to hold her off for just a minute or so. Can you do that?" She asked with Velvet nodding. The rabbit faunus then turned her attention towards Cinder and started walking forward.
Cinder gritted her teeth as Velvet created a blue rapier in her left hand and a blue cleaver in the right, "Another lantern." The yellow lantern said before summoning her dust bow. However, she noticed her ring blinking, "I need to save a little bit." She thought before spawning her arrows made from dust.
Velvet then rushed forward as Cinder opened fire. The rabbit faunus ducked the arrows before holding the cleaver horizontally. She tried to slash the yellow lantern, but Cinder jumped the strike. Velvet gasped as Cinder broke her bow in half, creating two short swords, and then making a downwards slash. The rabbit faunus blocked with her rapier as Cinder gritted her teeth.
They then engaged in a battle of blades, each parring the others attack. However, Cinder jumped back as she tossed both her sword at Velvet. The rabbit faunus dodged then but glanced back as she saw the dust sword explode. The shockwave sent Velvet towards Cinder, who then charged into the rabbit faunus with a chock slam. As Velvet coughed blood, her two weapons vanished. Cinder smiled as her left hand's grip on the girl's neck tightened, "Now, give me your ring!" the yellow lantern said before she looked at Velvet's hands. However, she gasped at the rabbit faunus' empty fingers, "What, how? Where is it!?"
Velvet then grinned as she spawned blue gauntlet in her left hand, then punched Cinder in the right side of her head. The yellow lantern then landed a few feet away as Velvet stood up, "I keep it here for safe keeping." Velvet said as she walked over to a small brown box near a piece of rubble. In reaching inside, she pulled out the blue ring, the light glowing more vibrant, "I was only told to put it on as a last resort. As I don't like confrontation." She said before slipping on the blue ring onto her right ring finger. Suddenly, her body flashed in blue light, temporally blinding Cinder. When the yellow lantern opened her eyes, they widened in fear at the sight. Velvets brown outfit turned blue, matching the new mask on her face. Above her head hooved hundreds of blue weapons used by huntsmen and huntresses, famous and old. From Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Team, SSSN, and even her own team, Velvet had their signature weapons on display, "But I am not afraid to fight." The blue lantern said as she glared at Cinder.
Cinder began to hyperventilate as she spawned to more dust swords. However, Velvet narrowed her gaze, causing all the weapons to aim at the yellow lantern. Cinder gritted her teeth before tossing the two swords into the ground, creating a smoke explosion. As Velvet jumped back to avoid the attack, Cinder used the cover to run away, "This was not part of the plan!" Cinder said to herself as she ran to familiar ground, "No matter, I'll rip off those other rings and put them. I should have enough power then-"
Suddenly, she looked forward to seeing Atrocitus tackle the yellow lantern. Cinder coughed blood as crashed her into multiple destroyed stands. In regain some focus, she spawned one more dust sword, reeling to stab Atrocitus in the back. However, Dex-Starr leaped onto her face, clawing at her eyes. Cinder screamed in agony as Atrocitus stopped, launching her forward. He then raised his hands, causing a whirlpool of blood to carry her upwards. As Dex-Starr leap off, Cinder reopened her eyes, discover Yang unleashing a right cross into the center of her face. the yellow lantern slammed into the ground, while the three red lanterns stood next to each other.
"You-" Cinder said as she slowly pushed herself up, "You freed them while I was busy with the faunus."
"That prison was a lot weaker on the outside than the inside," Yang responded
The blond red lantern then noticed Velvet running over to a hobbling Zwei. As the blue lantern funneled her energy into the corgi, Zwei's green lantern ring glowed brightly. His wounds and outfit began to heal before he smiled with joy. However, the green lantern corgi then snarled as he walked over to Cinder, "Surrender now, you do not have the power to fight all of us."
Suddenly, Cinder began to laugh, "You have no idea what power I have!" the yellow lantern said before her eyes glowed a fiery yellow, her ring glowing even brighter than before, "All of you can die!" Cinder declared before unleashing a massive beam of yellow energy on the group.
As they saw the attack approach, Atrocitus and Yang nodded towards each other. They then faced the blast head-on, each unleashing a red beam of vile from their mouths. Dex-Starr added his vile to the mix, creating a combined blast of red energy. The two colors collided with each other in a beam struggle.
Suddenly, Velvet stood to Yang's right. While Zwei hooved to Dex-Starr's left. The blue and green lanterns each summon multiple blades in their respective colors, each forming a circle with energy gathering at the center. Velvet pointed as Zwei howled, each firing a beam of lantern energy to combat the yellow energy.
Cinder struggled to maintain her footing, the shockwaves of the three opposing lantern energies proving more than she thought. However, just as she was about pump more of her ring's power into the attack, the yellow light faded away. Her outfit returned to normal, as her attacks power was cut dramatically. The RGB beam evaporated the remained of the yellow energy, making its way towards Cinder. With her final moments, the yellow lantern's eyes filled with fear. The RGB beam fully engulfed her body before traveling for another quarter of a mile.
As the lanterns ceased firing, each was out of breath. Yang looked at the scorched trench from the attack, the ground still simmering from the heat. Nothing remained in the flat trench, except the yellow ring.
The next morning.
Near the shipyard, Blake discovers the blond brawler looking out at the ocean. As the wind passed through her hair, Yang turned around to face her friend. Her eyes were lilac, and a smile was on her face.
"How are you feeling?" Blake asked with a similar smile.
"Pretty good," Yang said before having a slight chuckle, "It's hard to believe it's the next day."
"I know," the black cat faunus said before looking down, "Yang, are you sure about this?" She asked as she handed Yang the red ring.
"Well, technically it is mine," Yang said as she looked at the ring. She tossed it in the air once before catching it. Suddenly, she looked back towards the ocean. The blond brawler chucked the ring as far as she could, only seeing a red glint in the distance.
"Nice arm," Black responded.
"Thanks, but boy is that going to make Big Red angry." Yang said before shrugging, "Granted, I think everything does with him. He and his cat said they still had some business on Remnant. Then, just blood vortexed away." She then looked at Blake with a smile, "Come on, let's go met the others." She asked with her friend responding with a nod. As the two walked across the docks, Yang looked back out to the ocean. "You know, Big Red told me something else about Red Lanterns that was the deal breaker for me. They can't be in love, or else the ring rejects them and the user dies." The blond brawler said with Blake looking at her teammate, "I can't wear that ring then, especially if the person loves me back."
"Yang…" Blake said as her teammate turned around. The black cat faunus reached into her pocket, pulling out the violet ring, "You're right. You don't need a ring to tell you how you feel." She said before tossing the violet ring over the railing and into the water, sinking to the bottom, "It's the heart that knows the truth." Blake said with a smile on her face.
"Yeah, thanks Blake," Yang said before smiling back. However, that smile turned into a smirk, "Still, you could have put it on at least once." She said before continuing to walk, sighing. "It felt really cool to fly."
"I can live without it," Blake responded with a chuckle, "Also, I saw the recording of you saving the Coliseum. Despite your mask, people knew it was you. The little kids are calling you a superhero."
"Well, at least my reputation is starting to even out." Yang commented, "And Emerald is in General Ironwood's cell after the stunt she pulled." The blond brawler said before a look of sadness filled her eyes, "Still, I feel a little bad for her. I mean, all her teammates have died. Except for Roman and Neo, who bailed as soon as the offshore check cleared."
"Yeah," Blake said in empathy, the image of Adam showing up in her mind one last time, before fading away.
Suddenly, Yang put her teammate in a headlock as they walked, "Come on, we should both be in a happy mood when we see the others. Right?" the blond brawler asked with a smile.
"Right," Blake said with a nod, a smile returning to her face as well.
Meanwhile.
Sitting on a bench were two members of Vytal Festival tournament, Sun and Pyrrha. The monkey faunus had bandages wrapped around his forehand, "Man, I feel fat." Sun groaned as his hands were on his stomach, "That's it, no more rings." He said before Pyrrha glared at him with her broken left hand in cast, "Sorry."
"It's okay," Pyrrha responded, "At least we made it out of yesterday alive."
"Yeah," Sun said before looking up at the clouds, "I can't believe both of use were disqualified from the tournament. Now some no name is champion." He said before looking to Pyrrha with a smile, "Still, if it was me versus you in the final, I probably would have lost." He said with her having a slight giggle, "Hey, I just said 'probably'."
"I know," Pyrrha said as she continues to chuckle, "The rest of my team is visiting Nora while she recovers. Yours?"
"Neptune is telling them everything." Sun said before putting his hands behind his head, "Whether or not they believe him is up in the air." He then turned to see Yang and Blake walking over, "There they are." He said before waving at the black cat faunus, then turned back to Pyrrha, "You ready?"
"Yeah," Pyrrha said before the two got up. However, she noticed someone looking at her, a woman in a brown hood standing in an alley with an aura of familiar to her, "On second thought, give me a minute." Pyrrha said as Sun nodded. He walked towards the two members of Team RWBY, while she walked to the hooded woman.
"You're Pyrrha Nikos, right?" the hooded woman said in a slightly weak voice, Pyrrha nodding once she was close enough. She then placed both hands on her hood, pulling it back to reveal her face. Pyrrha's eyes widen in shock at the identity. The woman had short brown hair, an odd shaped scar primarily on the left side of her face. Her right eye was brown, but her left was a vacant white, but a soft smile was still on her face, "It's good to meet you."
"You're ...you're Amber." Pyrrha said with the woman nodding, "You're the Fall Maiden."
"After the one who stole my powers was killed, I regained a large amount of my strength back." Amber responded before touching the right left side of her face, "The process didn't fully heal me, but I'm alive." She said with tears filling Pyrrha's eyes, causing Amber to hug the red-haired warrior, "Ozpin told me about the hard choice he gave you."
"I…I…" Pyrrha tried to speak through her tears, "I thought I had to-"
"It's okay, Pyrrha." The Fall Maiden responded, "You don't have to make that choice anymore." She said as Pyrrha continued to cry into Amber's shoulder. After a few more second, the Fall Maiden let her go, "Enjoy your life at Beacon."
"What about you?" Pyrrha said as she tried to wipe away the tears from her eyes.
"I need to recover more before traveling again. Going to where my powers are needed." Amber said as she up her hood back on. As she smiled, her right eye slightly glowed, "A Maiden's work is never done." Amber said before walking into the alleyway, vanishing in the shadows.
Pyrrha made a small nod, then turned back towards her friends. The waved to her as walked over, a smile on her face.
Meanwhile.
At the end of a vacant shipping dock, Ruby and Weiss looked at a hoovering Zwei, "It is time for me to go." The green lantern corgi said to his owner, "I must go to the Green Lantern Corps headquarters to report on these incidents on Remnant."
"Will you be back?" Ruby asked with a look of sorrow in her eyes.
"Of course," Zwei said, "Even if I am not designated to this sector of the universe. Remnant will always be my home. And you are always my master." He said with tears filling the red-hooded girl's eyes. Weiss patted her friend on the back as Zwei began to ascend. His body then became shrouded in a green ball before blasting off into space.
Ruby continued to wave, even long after she knew he was gone, "Well, Dad's really not going to believe this one." She said with a slight giggle in her voice. However, she noticed a look of depression on her white heiress teammate, "Weiss, are you okay?"
"Ruby, I still feel awful." Weiss responded, "I…I killed you?"
"It's okay Weiss, I was brought back," Ruby responded.
"No, it's not okay, you still had to go through dying and coming back." Weiss retorted, but her leader was still smiling, "How are fine after that?"
"Weiss…" Ruby said as she continued to smile, "…I got to see my Mom again." The red hooded girl said with a look of astonishment in Weiss' eyes. Ruby then looked out to the vast ocean, "After I fell over, I woke up in a blank white void. There was nothing for miles, I was starting to get scared. But then, I saw her. She was wearing all white, but it was my Mom." Ruby said as a tear ran down the right side of her face, "I didn't know what to do, but my Mom did. She hugged me, and I hugged her back. It felt so real that I began to cry and closed my eyes." She then turned back to Weiss, "And when I opened them, I saw you and my sister again." Ruby said with her smile on her face, "I'm never going to forget that moment for the rest of my life." She said with Weiss now smiling.
The two then looked over to see Yang, Blake, Sun, and Pyrrha approaching, "You already said goodbye to Zwei?" Yang asked in slight disappointment, putting her hands behind her head, "I knew we should have taken my shortcut."
"Man, I wanted to see the talking dog," Sun spoke up.
"No, you don't" Blake coldly responded, "These rings can create the stuff of nightmares."
"Speaking of which," Pyrrha said as she turned to Weiss, "You said you sent all the other rings to your sister."
"Yeah, she's the only one I knew who knows anything about the way they work." Weiss said as she crossed her arms, "And I trust her more than I trust Ozpin or General Ironwoods."
"Makes sense." Yang said with a nod before looking to the group, "Well, now that all the drama is over, let's all go out for ice cream."
"Uh, does it have to be ice cream?" Sun responded, holding his stomach.
"Oh, I know a vendor that sells cookie flavored!" Ruby said as she jumped with joy.
"Lead the way," Yang said to her sister, "And my treat." She said with Ruby's eyes lighting up with excitement as she ran off. Yang and Pyrrha smiled as they followed. Sun sighed before Blake patted him on the back, causing him to have a slight smile return. The two followed the others, while Weiss looked off into the distant ocean. She then smiled before turning around, following her friend to their frozen treats.
Later that night.
Back at the dockyards, a person in a dark gray cloak looked out in the ocean. In his left hand was an atlas suitcase. While he raised its right hand towards the vast water. Suddenly, two lights began to shine in the night. One red, and the other violet. The lights grew close to him, until resting in his palm. He looked in his right hand to discover the red and violet rings. He then knelt to open the Atlas suitcase. Inside were the black, yellow, orange, and indigo rings, "There are others to be chosen." The Vendor said before taking the four rings out of the box, kicking the container into the ocean. He held the six rings in his hands before placing three each into his pockets, "Others meant to dawn a ring." The Vendor said before walking away from the docks, vanishing into the shroud of night.
Meanwhile.
At her domicile, Salem sat at the head seat of the table, her eyes closed. Suddenly, the door shot open with a body being thrown through it, landing on the center of the table. Salem slowly opened her eyes to discover it was Tyrian, a look of death on his face as his chest bubbled with a red plasma, "Salem!" The Queen of Grimm looked to the door, seeing Atrocitus calling to her he. He walked in with Dex-Starr at his side, "Your creatures of Grimm have slaughter millions. The victims, as well as the fallen, of this entire planet demand Vengeance!" the leader to the Red Lantern's declared, accompanied by the feline's hissing. Salem had a smile as she stood up, a black aura radiating from her body, as her gaze narrowed. Atrocitus had a similar look as he glowed with red energy, "I will enjoy watching you burn."
AN: There you go, that's the end it. It was hard deciding if Yang should keep or get rid of Red Ring. But this felt like the right choice for her character here, same for Blake. Pyrrha also gets a somewhat happier ending with the Fall Maiden outcome in this storyline. And Ruby, if you read my story Fates Collide, you will understand why her death experience looked like that. By the end, only Zwei, Neo, and Velvet (Who had an amazing moment to write) have their rings. The Vendor collected the remaining six, waiting for the next to be chosen. Salem basically lost all her allies and is about to fight two red lanterns, but I leave the outcome for the reader to decide. Now, if you're wondering if I will do a sequel in the future, I would say no. I like this ending as an alternate outcome to V3's events. If the series were to end on V3, this is kind of tone it could go out with. I don't need to continue the story of if the lantern rings were in Rwby. That is all for now, thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed Color Theory. Have a nice day.