Quick note: Samejake thanks for the follow/favorite.

Volume 3 Intro Song: Rise (feat. The World Alive) by League of Legends, The Glitch Mob & Mako

The next morning Ruby is sitting on Weiss' bed, Yang sitting next to and comforting her, Weiss and Blake sitting on Blake's bed, baffled, and the AZL of Team HAZL spread throughout the room of Team RWBY.

Yang: "So where is Hedge now?" She is trying to keep herself calm and not wanting to just run over to Team HAZL's room to whoop Hedge's ass for making her sister cry.

Anne: "He's still sleeping. I guess that after he teleported away from Ruby, he either stayed out a while longer or he came back into the room and went back to sleep. Even with our enhanced hearing for being a Faunus, both Leo and I were in deep sleep, so we didn't hear him leave or come back." She looks over at Zion, wondering if he heard or saw anything. "Zion?"

Zion: "I didn't see or hear anything either. I was out like a light."

Blake: "So then what could've caused Hedge to act like that? We weren't around to see what happened during your fight, but from what we heard from Sun and Neptune, it seems that something had some sort of effect on him."

Weiss: "We know he has some anger issues, but we never expected them to get this crazy."

Leonidas looks around the room at everyone in it, the expressions on their faces looking in worry and curiousness as to what Hedge might be going through, him (along with Anne and Zion) knowing full well what is really going on, but neither Anne nor Zion wanting to reveal the truth. He decides it's time to do so. "We do know what is really going on with Hedge." Anne and Zion turn to him dumbfounded that he would want to tell them the truth, but he shoots back a glare at them to cut the act.

Anne: sighs "Guess it's time to reveal the truth then." Team RWBY look at each other, then quickly turn their heads back at the 4th years, Ruby wiping tears away from her eyes. "During Ozpin's special mission he gave us, we ran into Team GREN, last year's Vytal Festival victors; their leader Gable being the one Hedge lost to in the final match."

Leonidas: "As you may know, each and every semblance is able to undergo an evolution through intense focus and training." The four girls all nodded in agreement to that. "However, Rackley somehow knew that Hedge not only has a normal evolution of his semblance, one that he can gain through that focus, but also a darker evolution, acquired through anger and stress."

Yang: "Wait, two evolutions? How is that possible?"

Zion: "We're not entirely sure, especially on how Rackley of all people knew before any of us did. During the mission, just the sight of Gable caused Hedge to get angry, but all it did was attract Grimm to us. He didn't tap into this dark evolution, but we get the feeling he could've done so if our fight with Team GREN wasn't interrupted."

Ruby: "Could it have been from Doctor Badnic's work on him?" She remembered Hedge explaining what had happened to him before he killed the Doctor, but all he had mentioned was the Doctor wiped his memory, and forcibly unlocked his semblance.

Weiss: "Now that you mention it Ruby, that would make sense if the Doctor had also done something to his semblance to give him this dark evolution. Heck if it's from anger issues, I'm surprised he didn't unlock it when dealing with Cardin in combat class."

Blake: "But I thought you said that Hedge always had anger issues back at Shade? Over the past three years, he never once tapped into this evolution?"

Leonidas: "Truthfully, we never knew it was a possibility for him to acquire until just a few months ago. I've kept in touch with Rackley since then, and he confirmed that Hedge had tapped into that power to defeat Gurkha, but aside from that, Hedge hasn't really said anything about this power to us. For all we know, Hedge might not know we know anything regarding this power."

Yang: "That's not a good sign. Did he ever have solo missions?"

Anne: "He did, but in all the reports of those missions, nothing out of the ordinary was reported. Routine work really."

Weiss: "You all realize he can't continue on in the tournament, right? Who knows what might happen if he was to access it again." The three seniors look at each other with a knowing look. Team RWBY catch this and deduce what this means.

Blake, with a deadpanned look: "He's moving on to the doubles round, isn't he?"

Anne: "Yes, with me as his partner." She grabs onto her skirt as she looks down.

Ruby: "Are you sure that's wise? You're his fiancé. If anything happens to you, surely that will throw him off his game, and cause him to lash out in anger."

Leonidas: "We appreciate the concern in allowing Hedge to move on in the tournament, but you also have to understand that Hedge isn't one to back down from a challenge."

Zion: "Not to mention that he has his focus on winning the Vytal Festival. Need we remind you how close he's gotten to winning in the past three years?" Team RWBY look at each other and then down at the ground. In truth, they did forget Hedge's goal, aside from becoming a full fledged Huntsman, was to win the Vytal Festival. "When Hedge saw Gable again, it's no doubt he wanted to return the favor of losing to him, and with Rackley talking about sensing something within Hedge, most likely his semblance, it seemed to remind him of what the Doctor had done to him, and that he had no say in the outcome."

Yang: "And why he wants to forget about the past and have a good future. Even start a family." She looks at Anne with that last statement. Anne looks away, her knowing what Yang meant by that. Soon after, their scrolls' alarms go off, signaling that the tournament was going to start up again. As they were already dressed in their combat attires, they all left Team RWBY's dorm and ran off to Beacon's air pad to catch a ship to Amity Coliseum.

Time adjacent to the conversation happening in Team RWBY's room, Hedge had woken up in his team's room, still thinking about what had happened the night before. He looked around and saw his team wasn't there. He suspected that they woke up before him and got a head start to the day before the tournament started up again. He decided to take a shower to not only wake himself up, but also think on the Doctor's words to him along with the dark mast of himself.

Hedge: "That mast was definitely me, but…it looked different. Is that supposed to be me if the Doctor got his way and I didn't kill him, or is that what I'm supposed to look like in the future?" He stands in the shower for a good while, letting the water run down his body to try and get a better understanding of the situation. When he exits the bathroom with a robe on, there's a knock at the door. Just the knock itself threw him on high alert. "Who is it?" he yells out.

"It's me, Hedge. Pyrrha." The spartan warrior calls out. Hedge walks to the door and looks out the peephole to confirm it's truly Pyrrha, which his tension goes away when he does see her. He opens the door to her.

Hedge: "Hey Pyrrha. What's up? Didn't expect to see you this early."

Pyrrha notices that he's in his robe and his hair was still wet, causing her to blush a bit. "Oh, must be here at a bad time. I'm sorry." She starts to head off, but Hedge stops her.

Hedge: "No, not at all. It's fine. Come in." She appreciates the gesture and walks inside the room. She sits on one of the beds, evidently being Anne's bed, as next to it shows a picture frame of her and Hedge, probably sometime after they got engaged. She smiles at the photo, thinking about a possible future with someone she cares about too. Hedge walks over and sits on his bed. "So, which two of Team JNPR are going on to the doubles round?" This draws Pyrrha's attention away from the photo and her thoughts back to Hedge. "Or should I be asking which one of your teammates are joining you in the doubles round?"

Pyrrha chuckles at that remark. "If you must know, it will be Nora joining me. Although Jaune would be a nice partner since we trained so much together, along with your help, I don't think he would be of that much assistance in a fight of importance of this proportion." Hedge looks at her at first trying to understand her meaning, but after a bit he realizes she does have a point.

Hedge: "And what about Ren?"

Pyrrha: "We did actually think about having him be my partner at first, but Nora insisted on joining me. You know her and wanting to 'break some legs.'" Both of them laughed, knowing just how enthusiastic the hammer-wielder could be. "What about you guys?"

Hedge: "Anne and I will be the ones heading off to the doubles round."

Pyrrha: "Aw, how sweet. You guys will definitely have each other's backs."

Hedge: "Yeah." His demeanor changed to that of concern. "Pyrrha, can I ask you something?"

Pyrrha senses his change of demeanor too. "Sure."

Hedge: "Have you ever had the feeling that things could go from good to bad in a matter of a few seconds?"

Pyrrha: "Where's this thought coming from?"

Hedge: "Sorry. Forget I asked." He turns away, stands up, and starts to grab his combat gear, just in case Anne and him are chosen to fight; the Doubles round is across a few days after all. He heads into the bathroom.

Pyrrha: "No, it's fine. To be honest, I've been afraid of my semblance getting out of hand and someone getting hurt. Or worse." This peaks Hedge's interest.

Hedge: "What is your semblance? I don't think you ever told me, not even during our training sessions for Jaune."

Pyrrha: "There's a reason why I don't." She grabs her left arm with her right hand. By this time, Hedge reappears in the doorway of the bathroom, now in his combat gear, but with a look of concern and intrigue. "I actually keep my semblance hidden from everyone else, but when I do use it, I tend to use it in spurts. In a way that if you really focused in on it, you would be able to notice me using it. Since being here at Beacon, I've only used it three times." She looks at Hedge. "My semblance is polarity."

Hedge: "Magnetism, huh? That's an interesting semblance. Not to mention, one that can turn the tide in a battle if your opponent utilizes any metallic weapon. Doesn't help against Grimm all too much, unless you use it to pull an ally out of harm's way. But I'm curious on why you hide it?"

Pyrrha: "I'm sure you've heard of me being called 'The Invincible Girl.'" Hedge thinks about it, then nods his head at her when he remembers hearing it from Zion. "I gained that title because I've never lost, but it was mainly because of my semblance, not just because of my own personal skill. If people learned the truth, people would look at me differently. Please, don't tell anyone else."

Hedge: "You have my word, Pyrrha." Their scrolls go off, denoting that the tournament was about to start up the Doubles round. Hedge lets Pyrrha walk out of the room first and he closes the door behind him to lock it.

--

They arrive at Amity Coliseum and meet up with their respective teams: Hedge back with the rest of HAZL and Pyrrha with the rest of Team JNPR. There are no questions from Hedge about where his teammates were, nor any questions about what Hedge was up to late last night, which relieves some stress of both parties. Both teams head off to their respective kingdom sections and await Professors (Doctor) Oobleck and Port to start up the tournament again. Soon, both of them walk into the commentator's booth, await confirmation from the tech crew that the broadcast is ready to start, and then address everyone in attendance and watching throughout all of Remnant.

Oobleck: "Welcome back to the Vytal Festival Tournament, everyone. We're about to kick off the Doubles round. Each team that had moved on to this round have selected two combatants to represent them."

Port: "Correct. Now, we shall run a randomizer to see who will face who in each match." The professors disappear from the screen, and show each teams' combatants that are a part of this round. Everyone looks up at the monitors. For Team RWBY, Weiss and Yang were chosen. For Team JNPR, Pyrrha and Nora. For Team SSSN, Sun and Neptune. For Team CVFY, Coco and Yatsuhashi. For Team HAZL, Hedge and Anne. The randomizer then starts up. After 10 minutes, every duo gets their opponent, with the first match being Emerald and Mercury versus Coco and Yatsuhashi. Pyrrha and Nora have their match after, with Hedge and Anne being third up against a team from Haven: Jet and Wave of Team JWLS (Jewels). "The randomization process is complete! Ladies and Gentlemen, your doubles tournament line-up!"

While the two doubles head off toward the arena stage, Zion gets a message on his scroll from Weiss.

Weiss: "Hey Zion. Winter invited me to spend some time together. Would you like to join us?"

Zion looks up to address his team. "Hey guys, you don't mind if I go hang out with Weiss and her sister, do you? As we just saw, it would be a little bit before it comes your turn to fight, same with Weiss and Yang." As it is, Team RWBY's fight is two rounds after Hedge and Anne's fight.

Anne: "No problem with me."

Hedge: "Me neither…so long as you make it back in time to watch our fight."

Leonidas: "What are you and the Schnee's going to talk about? You going to ask Winter if you could date her sister?" He then receives a punch in the shoulder afterwards.

Zion: "No, I'm not! I'm just going to be asking how things are down in Atlas. I want to make sure everything is going well with my family too and the business. They're so busy lately that I can't really reach out to them as often."

Anne: "With how things are with the White Fang, I wouldn't be surprised if they were making moves in other kingdoms."

Hedge: "Let us know if anything of importance comes up." Zion nods and replies to Weiss. He then takes his leave from the stands.

Professor Port's voice is heard on the intercom again. "Emerald and Mercury of Haven. Versus. Coco and Yatsuhashi of Beacon." Cheers from everyone in the stands are heard throughout the coliseum. "3. 2. 1. Begin." While Emerald and Mercury start to back up into the weeds of the grass section of the battle arena, Hedge looks around the stands to see if he notices the black mast again. He does see it moving around the stands at some points of the fight, but his attention is brought back to the fight when Emerald pulls Coco into the forest section of the arena, and Anne calls it out.

Anne: "Emerald and Mercury seem to know the one thing to break Coco and Yatsu's strategy: separate them both and take them out 1v1."

Hedge decides to remember how Coco and Yatsu fought during the breach fight to make it seem like he was paying attention the whole time. "The one weakness of them is that they are slow, movement-wise. If Emerald and Mercury can out speed them, then this match is in their favor." As Mercury fights against Yatsu in the geyser fields, Hedge then turns his attention back to the last spot he saw the black mast in the stands, but instead of seeing the mast, he sees Doctor Badnic, with a smile on his face looking at Hedge. He again is thrown back to the fight, with Yatsu being knocked out by Mercury. He quickly looks back at the Doctor, but he's no longer there. "You think you have power over me, Doctor, but you are mistaken. Your plan died with you." By the time Hedge looks back at the fight, Emerald had succeeded in knocking out Coco, winning the match for her and Mercury.

Oobleck: "And with a massive upset, Emerald and Mercury are victorious."

Leonidas: "Guess you were right, Hedge. Coco and Yatsu are either too stationary or too slow with their attacks. Sad that they lost, though."

Anne: "Yeah, but did you notice something about Coco, though? It almost looked like she was spooked by something."

Leonidas: "Now that you mention it, you might be right there. She couldn't seem to find Emerald anywhere, and yet she was able to be snuck up on and knocked out. While Mercury just ran around Yatsu like it was nothing. He shouldn't be a problem for you Hedge if you end up fighting him in the Finals."

Hedge: "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Leo." He still doesn't seem to know what the Doctor's true plan was, or just how he is seeing visions of both him and the black mast of himself.

"What were you really planning, Doctor? Whatever it is, I'll put a stop to it."

Doctor Badnic, in Hedge's mind: "You can try. Hahahahaha."