Several months have passed and every team that has qualified for the Vytal Festival Tournament have been training nonstop to ensure they can win for their respective kingdom. Team HAZL is no different from any of these teams. After their training sessions, Hedge and Anne have continued to enjoy their newly created relationship, even getting frisky at times in the dorm room when Leonidas and Zion aren't there. After their final training session, the day before the Tournament, Hedge goes to place Chaos and Destruction back into his locker, and as he leaves the locker room, no one notices that Destruction regains the faint glow it had back during their mission. We then see them entering their dorm room.
Anne: "Well, I think we worked out all different strategies for every different fight outcome we could come across, including some team attacks we could utilize." Zion enters in right behind her.
Zion: "Hedge being able to infuse our weapons with his semblance is pretty useful." Leonidas enters third, Hedge right behind him.
Leonidas: "But that ability is very taxing on his aura, right Hedge?"
Hedge: "15% each time I utilize it. I'd have to decide on whether to use it at the start of a fight and keep a steady control on any future uses of my semblance throughout the remainder of the fight, or use it as a last resort to win the fight. Plus, I'd have to be able to generate the orb in my hand and be right next to any of you to infuse it into either of your weapons, meaning the orb can be knocked out of my hand and it would be a total waste. So for all intents and purposes, I don't think I'll be using that ability as much, if at all."
Zion: "Alright, I guess that seems fair. I'll admit, that ability with Light and Shadow would be pretty awesome. Not only firing the ice and gravity dust, but infused with lightning? Damage over time would be detrimental to anyone we fight."
Leonidas: "It would only be detrimental if they didn't know how to work around it." By now, Anne had gone into their bathroom to prepare for bed.
Zion, now laid out on his bed, "But I don't think Hedge ever had that ability in any of the past tournaments." He looks at Hedge, who is also changing into his pajamas. "Right?"
Hedge: "No. At first, I didn't know I had the ability to do that, but when you have a semblance that literally generates lightning dust within your body, the possibilities are endless. I gained that ability over the school year break, so the only people that really knows about that ability are you guys. Well, Team GREN now too in a way."
Leonidas: "I guess they did help us get qualified for the tournament. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be participating tomorrow."
"But could this act of kindness also end up being a double-edged sword?"
Zion: "I just hope we get to fight Team RWBY again. I want to beat Yang this time. And if that isn't possible, then maybe fighting Team JNPR would be a good exchange."
Leonidas: "You want to get beat up by Pyrrha? Be my guest." Anne walks out of the restroom in her white shirt and pink short-shorts.
Anne: "Bathroom's all yours, boys." They each take their turn brushing their teeth and getting ready for bed. Before turning out the lights, Hedge is standing looking out their window. Anne walks up behind him and wraps her arms around him. "What's wrong, Hedge?" He places his hands on her arms.
Hedge: "If there's any time to show the world what we're made of, this is that year. Let's go out there tomorrow, and have a strong first round." He turns around, gives his fiancé a kiss on the lips, then goes to turn off the light. Soon after, they all fall asleep, mentally preparing for the tournament.
--
As quick as they all fell asleep, the next morning had come just as fast. The Tournament, which was being held in Amity Coliseum, a floating arena created by all four kingdoms, was underway. The very first match was of Beacon's very own Team RWBY and Team ABRN (Auburn) of Haven Academy out of the Kingdom of Mistral. Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck are commentating on the matches.
Port: "And that's the match! Team RWBY is victorious!" Yang had delivered a devastating knockout on three members of Team ABRN to win them the match. We then see Team HAZL in the stands in the section for Shade Academy.
Zion: "Ooh, that punch must have hurt."
Leonidas: "What's the matter, Zion? That bring back some bad memories?" Hedge and Anne both chuckle at that joke from Leonidas.
Zion: "Yeah yeah. Laugh it up. I'll get my payback on Yang someday."
Oobleck: "The next match will begin in fifteen minutes." Knowing they are next to fight, the Vacuo team look at each other.
Anne: "Well guys. This is it. We got this."
Hedge: "Right. Let's do it." They all head to the prep area and each grab their weapons, then once it's time to enter the arena, they walk out to the sound of the crowd cheering. Most of the crowd knows the history of Team HAZL in the Vytal Festival Tournaments, having been in the 1-1 Finals for the past three years and how strong they can be. Even Team GREN are watching the tournament at a restaurant in downtown Vale.
Echo: "Here they come. Do you think they have what it takes to go all the way?"
Napa: "Hard to tell. We haven't seen them since the mission."
Rackley: "Yeah. Who knows if Hedge has full control of his anger. Leonidas has told me he's still skeptical about Hedge's power and if it even has a ceiling."
Gable: "Guys." Gable places his drink down on the table. "I think they have things under control. Enjoy the fight."
The winners of last year's Vytal Festival look back at the TV as the other team arrives in the arena. Team SAVG (Savage) of Beacon, consisting of team leader Seara Oracle, Abellio Valantis, Vanessa Trinity, and Gurkha Sagar (pronounced cigar): Vanessa and Gurkha look both like knights with the type of armor they have on, Abellio dressed like a druid, and Seara dressed as a mage.
Zion: "So these are our opponents. I'll be honest, they don't look like much."
Leonidas: "Don't get too cocky, Zion. They may be our first match, but that doesn't mean this will be easy." He takes off his jacket to let his dragon wings spread and throws the piece of clothing out of the arena. Their opposing team starts to address them.
Gurkha: "Team HAZL, huh? Didn't expect facing you in the first round. Your reputation exceeds you."
Their team lead Seara also adds in. "I'll agree with Gurkha here. Being finalists is one thing, but if you were winners, well, then maybe we might be a little afraid of you." She looks at Hedge while saying this, earning a growl back at them. Anne steps in front of him, which makes him drop his anger.
Anne: "Underestimating us will be your downfall, Seara." She looks back and smiles at Hedge, which he reciprocates.
Abellio notices something on Anne's hand (on the arm she is using to hold back Hedge). "Well I'll be. Looks like someone finally decided to wrap their finger around you."
Anne knows what he's getting at, and puts her free hand around her hammer hilt. "Alright, no more being nice."
Oobleck: "3, 2, 1. Begin!"
Team SAVG rush in to attack, Abellio onto Anne, Vanessa onto Leonidas, Gurkha onto Hedge, and Seara onto Zion. Gurkha takes some slashes with his giant sword at Hedge, which he just dodge rolls around to not get hit. Hedge then finally takes out Chaos and Destruction from their sheathes to exchange some blows. Hedge manages to strike down hard on Gurkha's sword, knocking him back a bit of distance from him.
Gurkha: "The 'legendary' Hedge Badnic. Tell me something, do you really think you have a chance to get to the finals and actually win this time?"
Hedge electrifies himself. "Save your threats for when you have an advantage in the fight."
Gurkha chuckles and smirks. "Oh trust me, I will," as he starts to walk toward Hedge.
Rackley notices this. "Oh boy, that can't be good. If my intuition is right, Hedge's dark side may seep its way out."
Echo: "Has Leonidas mentioned anything different about Hedge that may lead to that happening?"
Rackley: "Not unless you count asking the big question and getting a 'Yes' from Anne," he states as he shows his teammates pictures Leonidas sent him of Hedge and Anne kissing and of the diamond ring on her ring finger."
Gable: "I'll be damned. Didn't expect that." He raises his drink to the TV screen toward Hedge as a form of congrats. The battle scene transitions over to Anne jumping back from Abellio's blast from his staff. She recovers rather quickly to prepare for another blast from the staff as Abellio speaks to her.
Abellio: "Is that all you're good for? Running away from danger?" This only succeeded in angering Anne.
Anne: "Oh I'm going to enjoy knocking your ass out." She transforms Piko to its rocket launcher form and fires it quickly at Abellio's staff, which caught him off guard and knocked it out of his grip, earning a smirk on his face as he returns his gaze back to her.
Abellio: "Big mistake, girl." He growls as he starts to undergo a transformation, causing intrigue and some minor panic from the audience members in the stands. The camera shows Anne's face change into shock as the next time it appears on Abellio, his human body is no longer there, but now instead a beast-like body almost reminisce of that of an Ursa, but definitely more feral.
Port: "My word. Looks like Mr. Valantis is able to transform into a beast."
Anne: "Great, a shapeshifter. Expect the unexpected, I guess," as she transformed Piko back into its hammer form, believing it to be more efficient for defense from the inevitable claw strikes.
Leonidas and Vanessa, her semblance being able to grow angel wings, fly around the arena trading blow for blow with their sword strikes. They end up in a sword struggle, neither side overpowering the other, until Vanessa's sword lights up with fire dust, igniting it. This catches Leonidas by surprise and Vanessa is able to push Leonidas back. In response, Leonidas activates his semblance, his wings spreading further than normal and glowing, along with Omega glowing with the activation as well. Each of them trade aerial slashes, flames from Vanessa's sword and energy slashes from Omega.
Vanessa: "For someone that is a Faunus, you sure are tenacious."
Leonidas: "Does everyone of your team think you can just spew words and think you are intimidating? News flash: you aren't. Also, you might want to be more aware of your surroundings."
Vanessa: "Huh?" Two ice bullets are fired at her from below which ends up freezing her wings, causing her to fall to the arena floor. Leonidas flies fast at the falling knight and slams Omega down on her, the resulting crash into the arena knocking her out of the fight. The camera then reveals Zion with Light and Shadow in their ice sniper form with a smirk on his face.
Oobleck: "Oh, now that's a cold move by Mr. Venus. Ms. Trinity is knocked out by the combined teamwork of Mr. Venus and Mr. Darkin."
Seara off-screen: "Keep your guard up, Venus." Zion turns his head to see some time glyphs being thrown at him, which he dodge rolls out of the way and detaches Light and Shadow back into their pistol forms.
Zion: "Hmph. Oh, I'm sorry. Did I do something wrong, sweetheart?" He puts his arms in a nonchalant pose as he says this. Seara is shown now on screen with her time glyphs on her hands, with anger in her face. "Cause if I did, why don't you do something about it?" He raises up Light quickly and fires at Seara, which she fires back at the ice bullet causing a snowy cloud to take the two forms of ranged attacks' place. Leonidas lands next to him.
Leonidas: "She giving you any trouble?"
Zion: "Hmph, she won't be too bad to deal with, but…might want to be ready to back me up if need be."
Leonidas cracks his neck. "Whatever you say."
The camera returns to Anne and Abellio's fight. Anne continues to block all of the claw slashes, but is unable to do substantial damage on the big husk of Abellio's beast form. She is however able to use her semblance to keep him at a distance to fire off rockets from time to time. Abellio notices what she is trying to do, and rushes at her, which Anne moves to dodge roll out of the way, however Abellio anticipated her movement and jumps at her with his mouth open and sharp teeth extended.
Anne: "Crap!"
She holds her hammer out in front of her to not be beast food, but Abellio has already achieved his goal. With one strong chomp, he strips the hammer out of her hands and tosses it out of the arena.
Oobleck: "Oh Peter, looks like Mr. Valantis is fighting smart. Disarming Ms. Rosemary of her hammer is surely to turn the tides in favor of his team."
Port: "I'd have to agree with you on that. How will she fare against him now?"
Anne continues to utilize her semblance to evade Abellio's claw slashes and run him around the arena. Hedge notices his fiancé having a hard time.
Hedge: "Anne!" He gets her attention, and electrifies Chaos. She nods and runs over to him. He hands off the sword and winks at her, which she returns with a smile.
Gurkha: "Hahaha! Really, giving one of your swords to your teammate? You're weakening yourself by doing so, you know that?"
Hedge keeps his attention on Anne, but addresses the knight, who is to his right. "I only need one sword to beat you." He gets a quick glance at his aura level, which he notices is a lot lower than what he anticipated it to be. "50%? I haven't been using my semblance THAT much. Unless…" He looks over at Gurkha who has a big smile on his face. "I see." He closes his eyes. "That's why you have such confidence you'd win this fight and chose to fight me specifically. Your semblance drains away your opponent's aura passively."
Gurkha: "Well done. You catch on quick, don't you?" He laughs in an evil manner. "Even if we don't win, taking you down a few notches can lead to you not being chosen by your team to go on to the next rounds, meaning you wouldn't succeed in your goal to win one of these things." Hedge continues to keep his eyes closed, but continues to listen to Gurkha, his grip on Destruction tight, it starting to glow again. "You think you're so tough just because you've made it to the finals each year, but all you think about is yourself. You don't care about your team. All you think they are is an obstacle in your way." He prepares to rush in on Hedge. "You don't deserve to be a leader."
At that moment, Gurkha rushes in with his sword behind him, ready to strike down Hedge, but Hedge doesn't move out of the way or open his eyes. Instead as Gurkha goes to swipe down onto him, Hedge electrifies his right hand and stops Gurkha's sword mid-swing.
Gurkha: "Huh? What the…?" He looks at Hedge's face, his eyes now wide open, but with a dark flame in them. With a tight grip on Gurkha's sword, he kicks the knight in the gut so hard he is sent flying, causing him to lose grip on his giant sword. Before Gurkha is knocked out of the ring, Hedge, now armed with Gurkha's sword and Destruction, activates his shoes, teleports into Gurkha's flight path, and cross-slashes the knight, taking out his aura on impact with the arena's barrier, lightning dust still affecting him even while knocked out.
Hedge: "You talk too much." Destruction's glow subtly dispels its glow.
Port: "What a devastating blow from Hedge there on Gurkha. Mr. Sagar is eliminated by ring out and aura level."
Hedge tosses Gurkha's sword away and focuses his attention back on the remaining members of Team SAVG. Anne, now equipped with Chaos and its electrical capabilities, is able to turn the tides on Abellio's beast form, which he can't keep up for much longer. Anne utilizes her semblance to the fullest and lands a bunch of electrical sword strikes on Abellio, who appears to be slowing down. Abellio tries to go for broke with one final charge on Anne, which she recognizes. They both charge at each other, but Abellio's charge missing due to Anne sliding underneath it and also slashing him with Chaos, which both knocks him out of his beast form and takes him down underneath the aura threshold.
Zion and Leonidas focus in on taking down Seara. While her attacks are all ranged, she doesn't have much in terms of close combat defenses, which Leonidas picks up on, and goes in closer for some hard sword strikes, but Seara prepared for this. Thanks to her semblance, she's able to conjure up dust bombs in her place, which catch Leonidas off-guard. As a result of some explosions, Leonidas is knocked out due to too much damage taken, but thanks to Zion's semblance in pistol form, he's able to freeze her escape routes with Light, and pepper her down with shots from his weapons. With one final shot from Shadow, the gravity dust bullet takes her aura down and knocks her out of the ring.
Oobleck: "And with that final shot from Mr. Venus, Team HAZL is this match's victor." The crowd cheers ensue in the arena. Zion runs over to Leonidas to help him up.
Zion: "You alright big guy?"
Leonidas: "Heh, you couldn't have frozen her movement sooner?" This got a chuckle out of the Atlesian. Hedge walks over to them, and is joined by Anne, who hands off Chaos to him. She also gives him a kiss on the cheek. Hedge wraps his arm around her to place it on her opposite side from him and they all look up to the crowd, waving to them.
Before the scene fades away, Hedge can't help but wonder what that burst of power came from that allowed him to defeat Gurkha. All he knows…is that for that small amount of time…his aura didn't drain.
Volume 3 Intro Song: Rise (feat. The World Alive) by League of Legends, The Glitch Mob & Mako
Author's note: Team SAVG consists of characters from the mobile game Summoners War: Sky Arena by developer Com2Us. I tried my best to give the monsters Seara, Abellio, Vanessa, and Gurkha fighting styles and tie their abilities from the game into their semblances and weapons. As for their last names, Seara's is literally what her monster name is before you awaken her (the game's version of evolving). Abellio's last name is another Druid monster, along with Vanessa's (hers being another Valkyrja) and Gurkha's (his being another Slayer). Thinking up their fighting styles is what took me a bit to get out this chapter originally, and I had the same problem with the 2v2 round, but for chapters not consisting of HAZL fighting should be done in a timely manner (this of course will apply to the chapters after I've caught up where I left off, which is only a few more chapters. I do plan on putting more oomph into these chapters, so expect some banger chapters moving forward. Please leave any reviews on what you all thought of this match. Explaining fight scenes is a lot more difficult than actually showing the fight visually.