Onto Volume 2. Apologies for the gap between the previous chapter and now, but even though my chapters up to mid Volume 3 are already made from my original version, I'd still like to put some gaps between chapters, but also still have to add in extra info into the rewrite. Please bear with me.

As YouTuber/streamer gh0xttheRebel would say, "Into the thick of it!"

Hedge is sitting at a table in a room waiting for someone to come in. He had been asked to come and discuss something. He already kind of knew what it was going to be, but he went anyway. Suddenly the door to the room opened and Professor Ozpin walks in with his cane in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

As he takes a seat in his chair, "Good evening, Mr. Badnic. How are you doing tonight? How's Professor Goodwitch's class treating you?"

Hedge takes a moment and smiles at Ozpin. "I'm doing fine, Professor. The class is going well, but I already have an idea of what this 'meeting' is about, so we can skip the pleasantries."

Ozpin smiles back at him. "Straight to the point. I like that. Very well, I'll make this brief then. How did you know about the robbery at the docks, and why were you there?"

Hedge laughs. "Come on Professor. I'm from Vacuo. We tend to hear a bunch of things in town and around the kingdom, so we have a knack for knowing about secret things happening. Plus, being a Faunus helps with the enhanced hearing." He crosses his arms as he leans back in his chair once he finishes.

Ozpin takes a sip of his coffee. "That may be true, but Vale is nothing like Vacuo. Laws here are much stricter." He leans forward to Hedge. "And what about Team RWBY? Did they know too about the robbery, or did you and your team tell them about it?"

Hedge squints his eyes and realizes what Ozpin is trying to do. He knows that Team RWBY spoke with Ozpin before him, so he comes up with something on the spot. "When we got there, they just happened to be there too. I don't know how they knew about it. Made stopping the robbery from happening easier with two full teams being there." He makes sure not to make any sudden movements or stutter his wording.

Ozpin leans back and clasps his hands together. "I see. Is there anything else you'd like to tell me, Mr. Badnic?"

Hedge now leans forward and uncrosses his arms. "If you're wondering if I'd been or am part of the White Fang, the answer is no." No hesitation in his response.

Ozpin smiles and starts to get up from his chair. "Alright then. That is all Mr. Badnic. If there's anything else you'd like to tell me, you know where to find me." Ozpin grabs his cup, turns, and walks out of the room. Hedge gets up from his chair and teleports back to his dorm room. The rest of HAZL are in their pajamas getting ready for bed, but were also waiting on Hedge to return from his meeting with Ozpin. When Hedge arrives, Anne speaks up.

Anne: "How'd it go?" Hedge starts to get ready for bed as well as he responds back.

Hedge: "As expected. Ozpin was wondering how we knew about the robbery. I simply told him that it's our Vacuo traits that allowed us," he looks and points at all of them, "to know what was going to happen, but I didn't tell him how RWBY and Sun knew about it." He's now in some shorts and a simple black T-shirt, however before he had put on the shirt, all of them noticed the scars on his chest and stomach, a reminder of the work that Doctor Badnic had done on him to unlock his semblance. Zion speaks up.

Zion: "That Professor Ozpin sure is an interesting fellow. He's been curious about us ever since we got here. I'm surprised he didn't ask you about the rest of us the whole time you were here, Hedge." Leonidas then addresses Zion.

Leonidas: "Maybe because he wanted to see how Hedge was without us here to "influence" how he acts."

Hedge takes note of what Leo said. "Could that really be how Ozpin views us? What exactly did our professors at Shade tell him?" Anne notices that Hedge is being silent.

Anne: "Hedge?"

Hedge snaps out of this thought and speaks to them. "For now, let's just finish out the rest of this semester and start the new one fresh. We have to also prepare for the Vytal Festival at the end of the year too. Get some rest." Everyone else nods and goes to their bed. Leo's bed is the closest to the room's light switch so he turns off the lights. Hedge lays in his bed and thinks more about Ozpin and if it's true about what Leo said regarding him. After a while he drifts off into sleep.

--

Day before second semester starts

Team HAZL is walking in the courtyard and looking for Ruby or anyone from her team. Hedge knows that classes start up tomorrow and wanted to ask them if they were ready to accept his proposal for sparring, as the only other time they might get the chance to would be during combat class with Professor Goodwitch.

Zion: "I wonder where they could be. We've been walking all over the schoolgrounds, you'd think we'd find them by now." Zion is just being antsy and ready to get some action. Leonidas and Anne just ignore Zion for now as they walk up to the cafeteria lounge. They see Sun speaking with another guy with blue hair and goggles.

Hedge: "Hey Sun." The two of them look over to see Hedge and his team walking up to them.

Sun: Hey Hedge. What's up? By the way, this is my buddy Neptune."

Neptune: "Sup."

Everyone says hello to Neptune, while Hedge adds on, "Sun, have you seen team RWBY? We've been looking all over the schoolgrounds for them."

Sun: "Oh, they should be in here." He points behind him to the cafeteria. "I was going to introduce Neptune to them."

Zion then speaks up. "The one place we didn't look." They all walk into the cafeteria, but they see a bunch of students running out as they hear both Team RWBY and Team JNPR yell out, "FOOD FIGHT!!!!" All six of them watch as Team RWBY and Team JNPR used all the food in the room to fight each other. Food is being thrown all around the room and some even coming toward Team HAZL and Sun and Neptune. Hedge takes some of the food that was heading toward Anne, Leonidas uses his wings to keep some of the food off his uniform, but Zion and Neptune get the brunt of the food on them.

Team RWBY ends up victorious after Ruby uses her semblance to bring all the food and soda cans to pin Team JNPR up against the wall. Sun then states, "I love these guys." Everyone else tries to clean the gunk off them, with Leo shaking his wings to clean them. Professor Goodwitch rushes in to clean up the mess they made in there, using her semblance to put all the lunch tables back to where they belong.

Goodwitch: "Children. Do not play with your food." Nora burps and Yang falls back into the cafeteria, since she was knocked up out of the cafeteria by Nora with a watermelon-makeshift hammer, crashing into one of the tables. Professor Ozpin appears behind Goodwitch and places his hand on her shoulder.

Ozpin: "Let it go." She sighs and looks back at Team RWBY and JNPR.

Goodwitch: "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world."

Ozpin: "And they will be, but right now, they are still children. So why not let them play the part." He starts to walk away and out of the cafeteria. "After all, it isn't a role they'll have forever." He starts to walk out, but Hedge calls out to him.

"Wait, Professor Ozpin." Ozpin stops and looks at Hedge.

Ozpin: "Yes, Mr. Badnic?"

Hedge: "We were on our way here to speak with Ruby and her team, as we had planned on doing a sparring match." He then looks over at Professor Goodwitch. "I know classes start up again tomorrow, and I can imagine everyone there would like to see us fight, but is it alright if we use your classroom to have the match today? You two, along with Team JNPR, Sun, and Neptune can watch the fight…after we all clean ourselves up that is." Everyone else hears Hedge bring up the sparring match and smiles at Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch. Goodwitch looks at Ozpin, who smiles at her and nods. She looks back at Hedge.

Goodwitch: "Very well. Everyone go freshen up and meet in the classroom in two hours." Hedge smiles at her.

Hedge: "Understood."

Teams RWBY, HAZL, and JNPR run off to the dorms to shower. They then head off to the classroom. Team JNPR joins Sun and Neptune in the stands, while RWBY and HAZL head off to their lockers to gather their weapons: Hedge and his swords Chaos and Destruction, Anne and her hammer Piko, Zion and his pistols Light and Shadow, and Leonidas and his sword Omega, while Team RWBY grab their weapons: Ruby and Crescent Rose, Weiss and her rapier Myrtenaster, Blake and Gambol Shroud, and Yang and her gauntlets Ember Celica. Both teams walk into the arena of the classroom, with Professor Goodwitch and Ozpin standing in the center with tablets in their hands. Professor Goodwitch addresses Hedge.

Goodwitch: "So, Mr. Badnic. I assume this will be a standard tournament rule match?"

Hedge: "That's right." He looks over to Team RWBY. "You are officially eliminated if your aura is depleted below 15%. All tactics are acceptable. No overboard attacks either." Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch look over at the rest of Team HAZL for acknowledgement of the rules. They nod at the professors. They then look at Team RWBY for acknowledgement of the rules and they all nod as well.

Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch look at each other and tap on their tablets. Each member of each team appears above them along with their aura bars. Everyone gets into their fighting stance. Hedge addresses Team RWBY.

Hedge: "Like I mentioned before, we aren't going to go easy on you."

Yang snarks back at Hedge. "Let's see if you can back up that confidence, Hedge."

Zion replies to Yang. "The same applies to you, Ms Xiao Long."

Nora talks to everyone in the stands. "Alright, who's betting on who to win this? I got 20 lien on Team RWBY."

Sun actually takes up her bet. "20 on Team HAZL. They don't mess around. There's a reason they've made it into the finals for the past three years." Nora and Sun shake hands.

Ozpin and Goodwitch prepare to start the match.

Ozpin: "Everyone ready?"

Everyone replies, "Ready!"

Goodwitch: "3. 2. 1. Fight!"

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