Chapter 10 - Understanding the Burden
Team RWBY, team JNPR, and Jason waited in RWBY's room, waiting for Ozpin to appear. "Jason, what was that?" Blake asked, looking like she had just seen the apocalypse. "I wish I could tell you, I really do. But I've never seen that side of him before.". Just as Jason finished answering, a knock on the door was heard. "That must be Professor Ozpin!" Yang said, but as she opened the door, she saw Velvet looking like she was about to cry.
"Velvet?" Yang asked, before the faunus girl immediately yelled towards Jason "What happened to him? Before, he was so kind, but now, it looks like he's some kind of monster!". "Hey!" Ruby responded. "That's still Matt!". "I know, I'm sorry." Velvet apologized, "It's just been so long since someone stood up for me, and when they do, they go crazy over it. He even said that he "must protect me"!". "We know, Velvet. Something seemed very off, and we'll figure it out. Why don't you stay with us until the professor gets here so we can figure out what happened to him?". And so Velvet stayed and waited for Professor Ozpin, who was now waiting for Matt to wake up.
Matt slowly began to open his eyes, only to see Professor Ozpin waiting by his side. "W-what happened?" Matt asked, only for Ozpin to ask him the same question. "The last I remember, Cardin started saying stuff about Velvet. He called her disgusting things. Then, I began to feel extremely angry. After that, all I remember is waking up here." Matt began to look worried, "Is everyone fine, what happened to Cardin?". "Cardin is in a medical bay away from you." Ozpin assured Matt, "While you were passed out, you kept on yelling his name and flailing around, making us think you were going to try and attack him again. I sent team RWBY, team JNPR, and Jason to team RWBY's room. For now, the doctors are going to do some tests on you. Your team will see you tomorrow.". "Alright." Matt responded. "Thanks Professor.". "Just doing my job." Professor Ozpin said, while leaving the room to go and find team RWBY's room.
A whole day had past, and Matt was still in the medical bay. He was feeling much better, his hair was now back to normal, but he was just waiting to get his results back from the test. Suddenly the door opened, revealing Yang that was sneaking in. "Damn. You gave Cardin some tough hits." Yang said, giving Matt a little smile. "I tried my best." Matt said, giving off a little laugh. "Do you know what happened yet?" Yang questioned, only for Matt to shake his head. "Not yet. The tests should be getting back anytime soon though. You do realise you're not allowed to be in here, right?" Matt asked Yang. "Ohh, well when you hang around Blake, you kinda learn how to sneak around." making Matt laugh, but still worry for Yang in case she got caught. Yang and Matt both continued to talk for a solid fifteen minutes, before the door opened. "Excuse me, miss!" A doctor yelled. "You're not supposed to be in here!". "No, it's fine." A voice came from around the corner, only for Professor Ozpin to appear. "She has special access.". "Oh, my apologies. These are the results." The doctor said, before handing them to Matt. "Thanks Professor. You really saved me." Yang said, before being interrupted. "Not a problem. You were clearly worried about your friend, that's all. So, what does it say?" Ozpin asked as Matt looked at the letter.
As Matt opened the letter, his eyes couldn't believe what it was telling him. He was told that his semblance was activated through anger. It has three stages. Stage one increases strength, speed, and durability minorly for 1-2 minutes. Stage two increases strength, speed and durability significantly for 3-5 minutes. And stage three increases strength, speed and durability majorly for up to 7 minutes. However, it also told him that whenever he used his semblance in the third stage, he would become crazy in anger, doing whatever it would take to harm that which had angered him. It also told him that the reason he passed out was because he had used stage three immediately after unlocking his semblance, meaning his life, at the time, was in danger.
Matt told this to Yang which brought a smile to her face. "So you're fine! Oh I'm so happy!" She said while hugging Matt. "There's one more thing, Yang." Matt said, staring at the smile on Yang's face. "With each stage, my hair becomes more purple. After one week, it will become a new stage. It's almost like it's charging. However, with every stage, I become angry constantly. I don't have a choice in the matter." Matt said, now crying. "I'm gonna be living my life in stages two and three in pure anger.".
Yang, who was now comforting Matt by hugging him told him "Well I know that it's not really you. So the other week when you snapped about nothing, it wasn't you. When you fought, you fought for equality. This means that you're always gonna try to help, no matter how angry you are. And besides, if you ever wanna blow off some steam, you can go to the training room, or... I know an amazing massage that I can give you…" causing both to laugh. "Thanks Yang." Matt said smiling, delighted with having a friend that looks out for him. "How about we go and find everyone else, and fill them in?" Yang suggested, while Matt looked at her, took in a deep breath and said "Yang. I…I...I think I…" Yang's eyes began to grow wide, thinking that Matt was about to confess something huge. "Yang." Matt continued. "I think I was gonna have to explain that to everyone anyway, considering they saw what happened!". Matt then gave Yang a devilish smile, before she said, "You little tease!" as both of them broke down in laughter.
Matt eventually left the medical bay, and met up with everyone, including Velvet. Matt and Yang described what his semblance was and how it worked. Everyone congratulated Matt on unlocking his semblance, even Velvet, despite seeing exactly what it had caused.
Eventually, only Matt and Velvet were left alone to talk while everyone left to get some food. "Velvet?" Matt said, causing Velvet to jump out of her skin after realising she was staring up at the sky, looking at the stars. "Oh sorry. Just daydreaming." Velvet replied, acting nervous. "You know," Matt began to say. "It's getting pretty late. You want me to walk you back to your room?". Velvet gave a slight blush before agreeing with Matt's idea. The entire time walking towards Velvet's room, the pair had both shared laughs and were talking about anything they could think of. Eventually, she reached her room, and they both said their goodbyes. Once Velvet walked into the room, she was confronted by her teammate and team leader Coco. "So...you and loverboy, huh? I can dig that." Coco said, before Velvet said, "Ohh shut up!" and buried her face into her pillows before lifting her head out and saying "I wish.". But unknown to her, was Matt who was sat at the other side of the door, listening to Velvet, before standing up and walking back to his room, with a smile on his face.