Volume 2 Intro Song: Finale (Original Mix) by Madeon

Pyrrha and Jaune are stretching out on the roof when the door to go inside the dorm opens and Hedge and Zion walk outside.

Zion: "Why hello, Ms. Nikos," while tipping his hat.

Pyrrha: "Zion Venus? Are you joining in on this training session too?"

Zion: "Just watching. I'm intrigued to see what Mr. Arc can learn from you and Hedge."

Hedge: "Shall we begin? I'll use only one of my swords." He takes out Destruction and hands it to Zion to hold on to. "So I'm not tempted to use it." He then takes Chaos out of its sheathe, and looks back at Jaune. "Don't worry, I don't plan on using any of my semblance: electricity or teleporting."

Jaune: "How can I be sure of that, Hedge? I saw what you are capable of during the fight with Team RWBY."

Hedge: "Hehe, trust me. I'm a man of my word." Jaune looks over to Zion for confirmation, with Pyrrha now next to him.

Zion: "He may be cocky and edgy, but he is definitely a man of his word."

Hedge: "Hey, I'm not that edgy, and you're one to talk, Mr. Cocky."

Zion: "Oh really? Is that a challenge?" He brings Destruction into a fighting stance and places his left hand near his holster for Shadow.

Hedge starts to turn to Zion with a grin on his face, but Pyrrha steps in between the two. "As much as that would be an interesting fight to see, and for Nora to probably bet on, this is supposed to be a training session for Jaune."

Hedge: "Right." He turns back to Jaune, still grinning towards Zion during the turn. "Let's work on defensive tactics first."

Jaune: "Alright." He preps his shield and sword. "How are we going…woah!" Hedge starts to do some swings with Chaos towards Jaune, catching him off guard for a second and needing to dodge out of the way.

Pyrrha: "Block his sword swings, Jaune!" Jaune regains his composure and starts to block Hedge's swings, a few with his shield and a few with his sword. Hedge continues to pick up the pace with his sword slashes. "If you find an opening, retaliate with your own attacks!"

Jaune continues to block Hedge's attacks, and tries to watch for an opening. Zion chuckles next to Pyrrha. "If I know one thing about Hedge, it's that he never leaves an opening for his opponents." Pyrrha turns to Zion with interest. "His semblance always has his back in dire situations, which is why he always uses those electric spears around him as a form of both offense and defense.

Pyrrha: "If that's true, wouldn't he had won all those times at the Vytal Festival?" Hedge was too busy focusing on keeping the offense up on Jaune to hear Pyrrha say that, and Zion knew this.

Zion: "You do have a good point. Hedge has always exerted himself too much in battles, sometimes to the point where he does end up leaving himself open to a counterattack, or he runs out of aura due to how much he uses his semblance. See those bracers on his wrists and ankles?" Pyrrha's gaze focuses in on the four yellow bracers Hedge has.

Pyrrha: "Yeah. What are those for exactly? I've noticed them for awhile but I never asked him why he wore them."

Zion: "They suppress the amount of aura he drains every time he uses his semblance. Without them on, Hedge could tire himself dry of aura in just a few usages of his semblance. His 'father,' Dr. Badnic, had created those for him when he was little, due to tiring himself out just by using his semblance twice. Ever since we became a team though, we have never seen him take them off. I assume it's of fear of not knowing how much he has improved his stamina to maintain his aura without them, or if it's fear of letting his semblance go haywire."

Pyrrha looks at the 4th year huntsman-in-training with concern of what he said last. "What do you mean 'go haywire?'"

Zion closes his eyes and sighs. "During our mission and earlier today, we learned from Team GREN, the winners of last year's Vytal Festival, that Hedge's semblance has two evolutions."

Pyrrha: "Two? Semblances should only have one evolution."

Zion: "Oh believe me, I learned the exact same thing from Sanctum, and I too was surprised when Leo, who learned of the information through Rackley, told Anne and I about it. You and I both know that the evolution is gained through intense training and focus." Pyrrha nods in agreement to that. "But Hedge's other evolution is gained through intense anger," he turns back to Hedge and Jaune, where the latter is now throwing in counterattacks to the former's sword slashes, "and he nearly unlocked that evolution during our mission."

Pyrrha also turns her attention back to Hedge and Jaune, now with a look of sadness on her face. Hedge and Jaune get into a sword clash, Jaune starting to grow a grin on his face. Hedge, noticing this, looks down, and starts to grin too. He then does a sweeping motion with his leg to knock Jaune to the ground.

Hedge laughs. "Well done." He puts Chaos back into its sheathe. "Your swordplay has improved immensely." He puts out his hand to help Jaune up.

Jaune: "Couldn't have done it without you and Pyrrha." He wipes the dust off his clothes.

Pyrrha and Zion walks up to the both of them.

Zion: "I must say Mr. Arc, I'm impressed. I've never seen Hedge have so much fun with a training session." Hedge looks at him with a frown and folds his arms, Zion just shooting back a smirk at his leader.

Pyrrha: "So Jaune, ready to move onto aura?"

Jaune: I'm actually thinking we maybe just skip aura tonight. Might go on a jog or something." He looks flustered.

Pyrrha: "Come on. I know you get frustrated. But you must keep trying. I'm sure we'll discover your semblance any day now."

Zion walks over to Hedge upon hearing that and whispers, "Wait, he doesn't know what his semblance is?" Hedge quickly elbows him in the gut, shushing him as well.

Jaune: "That's…not it. It's just...," he sighs, "...it's dumb."

Pyrrha: "What is it?" She walks toward him now. "Jaune, you know you can tell me."

Jaune is even more embarrassed to say what he is about to say not just to Pyrrha, but also in front of Hedge and Zion. "It's…Weiss." Hedge and Zion's eyes go huge upon hearing the Ice Queen's name.

Pyrrha, showing sadness in her face again, "Oh…what about her?"

Jaune: "I asked her to the dance, and she shut me down. Big surprise, right?" He chuckles half-heartedly.

Pyrrha: "Well, I believe the saying goes 'there's plenty of fish in the sea.'" She does a brief glance at Hedge and Zion, who both look at her at first with surprise, but then they both understand what she meant by that.

Jaune: "That's easy for you to say. You probably got guys clamoring over each other just to ask you out."

Zion: "Oh you sweet summer child."

Pyrrha, nervously, "You'd be surprised."

Jaune: "Heh, oh please, if you don't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress. Heh." He walks back inside. Pyrrha then looks down, very sad. Hedge and Zion both look at each other and then back at Pyrrha.

Hedge: "Hey, Pyrrha, you ok?"

Pyrrha, with some sadness in her words, "I'm fine. I think that's enough for tonight. Thanks for coming out tonight you two." She heads to the door and walks back inside. Soon after the two boys also head back inside, Zion handing back Destruction to Hedge, who puts it back into its sheathe. They head back to their dorm room to end the night.

--

The next day comes by quickly. Zion and Leonidas tagged along with Yang and Hedge into town to find nice suits for the dance, along with dress shoes as well. Zion had been to formal events before back in Atlas, some even attending Weiss' concerts, but he never participated in any of the dances he went to with his family. When they got back to Beacon, Yang was about to head off to the auditorium to start setting up for the dance with Weiss, since Team CVFY was still out on their mission and couldn't plan the dance.

Hedge: "Mind if we come and help you guys set up? We'll go put these in our room and be there really quick."

Yang: "That would be great. The more help, the merrier."

Leonidas and Zion place their free hands onto Hedge and Hedge teleports them into their room, while Yang runs off toward the auditorium. When the three boys of Team HAZL arrive back in the room, they find a frantic Anne running around making sure she has all her attire for tomorrow evening. She would rather not have to go back into town to find any missing pieces of it. During her frantic running, she finally notices the rest of her team were in the room.

Anne: "Oh, hey guys." She says cheerfully.

They all place their shopping bags on their beds, and hang up their suits in their closet. Leonidas speaks up to Anne. "Anne, how many cups of coffee have you had this morning?"

Anne: "Only two Leo." Hedge and Zion do a quick glance at each other, not fully believing her response. She doesn't catch it. "I was making sure I had bought everything I needed for tomorrow." She notices all the bags they had brought with them. "What's in the bags?"

Zion: "All of our stuff for tomorrow."

Hedge: "We were going to go help Weiss and Yang set up the auditorium up for the dance. Would you like to join us, or did you want to keep checking if you had all you needed again?" He smiles at her with a teasing grin.

Anne: "Haha, very funny. Sure, I'll join you guys."

They all grab onto Hedge and he teleports them into the auditorium. Yang and Weiss were awaiting their arrival.

Weiss: "I will never get used to that. Thanks for agreeing to help us get everything set up."

Leonidas: "Of course. Anything you need hung up, just ask me. These wings aren't just for show."

Yang: "We can definitely get some help with these party streamers being hung up around the chandeliers and columns."

Leonidas: "Can do." He heads off to hang them around the interior. Ruby also walks in. She still shows a bit of solemnness about Blake. She sits at one of the tables.

Yang: "Can you guys help me set up more of the tables and chairs around the room, please?" She asks the rest of Team HAZL.

HAZ: "Sure." Yang shows them a rough sketch of where her and Weiss want the tables to be placed. None of them are slouches when it comes to the strength department: Anne wielding her hammer helps her immensely. Hedge always works out every chance he gets, and the same goes with Zion and Leonidas. While everyone is placing decorations around the auditorium, Weiss walks up and slams down two pieces of cloth in front of Ruby.

Weiss: "I need you to pick a tablecloth." She pushes the two cloths closer to Ruby. Ruby looks at the two oddly similar in color cloths.

Ruby: "Aren't they both the same?"

Weiss: "Ugh, I don't even know why I asked!" She storms away with both cloths. Yang is seen carrying a huge boom speaker and places it on the ground near Ruby, causing the redhead, chair, and table all to bounce into the air and then back down.

Yang walks up next to her pouting sister and asks, "So, have you picked out a dress yet?"

Ruby: "What's the point? Who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going?"

Yang: "Oh don't worry. She's going." The blonde then sees Weiss picking out between a few sets of doilies on one of the tables, trying to get an opinion from Anne. "Weiss, I thought we agreed. No doilies."

The Ice Queen runs up to her teammate stating, "If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines." This causes some slight laughter out of the boys of Team HAZL. The doors to the auditorium open and Sun and Neptune enter the room.

Neptune: "Your dance is going to have fog machines?"

Weiss walks up to Neptune with a smile on her face. "We were thinking about it."

Neptune: That's pretty cool." Hedge and Zion take notice to how Weiss is around Neptune, remembering that Jaune had tried to ask her out, but didn't try asking Pyrrha out.

Zion: "You think Jaune will ever realize Weiss wants nothing to do with him?"

Hedge: "Only time will tell."

Sun: "You ladies all excited for dress up?"

Ruby: Pfft, yeah right."

Yang: "Laugh all you want. I'll be turning heads tomorrow night."

Zion butts in a bit while he places another table, "I don't know Yang. I think Anne here may have you beat." This causes Anne to blush a bit, which Hedge walks up behind her and places his hand around her.

Weiss: "What are you two wearing?"

Sun: "Uh…this?" He points at his normal, everyday outfit.

Neptune steps in front of his friend and leader. "Ignore him, for he knows not what he says."

Sun: "Hey, I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo. It's not exactly a shirt and tie kind of place."

Hedge: "Can very much agree on that."

Yang: "Yeah, we've noticed."

Sun: "So uh, what does Blake think of all this? She still being all, you know, Blakey?"

Weiss: "Obviously."

Ruby: "I still can't think of a way to change her mind."

Yang: "Guys. Trust me. Blake will be at the dance tomorrow."

Everyone in the auditorium look confused at what the blonde brawler has planned to try and get Blake to come out to the dance. They finish up setting the building up for the dance and the day ends without any problems.

--

The night of the dance arrives and everyone is getting ready to head off to the auditorium. Hedge was the first to take a shower and start to get dressed in his vest and suit. He knew he needed to grab the small box out of his compartment in the dresser, but wanted to wait until Anne would be the one in the bathroom getting ready. He made sure not to draw so much attention to the dresser so that Anne didn't suspect he was hiding anything. An hour passed and the boys were fully dressed and ready to go to the auditorium, leaving the bathroom all to Anne.

Before she went in, "Why don't you two head off to the dance ahead of me and Hedge? I'll try not to be too long."

The Atlas boy and dragon Faunus both looked at each other and shrugged their arms.

Zion: "Alright then. We'll see you guys there." Anne closes the bathroom door behind her and Zion winks at Hedge, as he and Leonidas walk out of the room and closes the door. Hedge knew what that was for and he walked over to the dresser to open his compartment, pulling out the small black box. He opened it up to reveal a diamond ring inside. Although his account was still hurting from the transaction trying to buy it, he knew there would be no turning back if Anne agreed to commit to their relationship. However, he does remember the conversation he had with Zion Friday night before they came back inside after the training session.

Zion: "So Hedge, are you sure you are making the right call wanting to propose to Anne? You two haven't even officially dated yet."

Hedge: "I know, but you and I both know Anne loves the crap out of me. Plus I previously mentioned that our profession puts us in danger 24/7. What if I do wait longer, and then all of sudden, one of us falls? I don't want to make that mistake. Yes it may come off as a shock to her, but I think she will say yes."

Zion: "And if she doesn't?"

Hedge: "Well if that happens, I will accept her decision. At the end of the day, it will be her that could either seal our fate together as a couple or just keep us as teammates. I'm fine with whatever the outcome may be, and I hope you and Leo will be alright with that too."

Zion: As long as you two are happy, we're happy."

Hedge hears the water turn off inside the bathroom and quickly closes the box and places it inside his back left pocket. He also grabs a handkerchief out of the drawer to place into his suit's chest pocket, which can be slightly seen thanks to the gray vest he has on top. He knew Anne would be walking out of the bathroom soon, so in the few minutes he had, he practiced a few ways to say the most important phrase he would say to her. He kept the phrases to himself in his head so Anne couldn't hear him.

Soon, Anne walked out of the bathroom. She had on a dark pink dress on that went to her ankles, with a slit down the left side up to her knee. Her long, light pink hair in a pony tail, while majority of it hid her hedgehog quills. She wore light red heels, though they were somewhat obstructed from view thanks to her long dress.

Anne: "How do I look?" Hedge could feel his heart beat grow faster just at the sight of her.

Hedge: "Wow…you look…beautiful." Anne started to blush, but she came back to reality and looked at her scroll for the time.

Anne: "We should probably get going. Hopefully Zion and Leo found a good spot for us."

Hedge: "Right. Shall we?" He stretches out his right arm for Anne.

Anne: "We shall." She interlocks her left arm with his and they walk out of their room to head for the dance.