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

Team HAZL leave the arena on the TV, which swaps to their waving poses, but the camera focuses in on Team GREN. Rackley has a worried facial expression, which his best friend and team leader Gable notices after taking a sip of his drink.

Gable: "Remnant to Rackley. That expression of yours doesn't leave much to speculate on." This also draws attention to Echo and Napa.

Napa: "Let me guess: Hedge tapped into his dark evolution there, didn't he?"

Rackley: "It may not have seen like he changed as much, but I think it's safe to say he did in fact do so. We know Hedge loses aura whenever he uses his semblance, but did you guys notice his aura bar when Gurkha went in for the strike?"

Echo: "It was at 50% wasn't it? I didn't really notice it drop when Gurkha went for his attack, as I was more focused on what Hedge was planning on doing."

Rackley: "You're correct, that is what it was at. But the thing is his aura never decreased any lower than that, even while electrifying his hand and teleporting to go for the final strike on Gurkha. If anything, his aura should've dropped into the 40's, whether that had been from his own semblance, or from Gurkha's aura drain or attack."

Gable: "What are you getting at then, Rack? All that means is that Hedge has an upgraded semblance that allows him to not worry about losing any aura regardless of how many times he uses it. To me, that seems like a plus."

Rackley: "It may be, but it's tough to tell if Hedge knows he's in that state and how dangerous that can be for anyone he's up against."

Echo: "Or allied with."

The scene transitions to Team HAZL about to exit the stands but Sun and Neptune run up behind them to get their attention.

Sun: "Hedge wait up!"

The hedgehog Faunus turns around and smiles at the blond monkey boy, the rest of Team HAZL also turning around too. "Hey guys. What's up?"

Sun: "'What's up?' That was an awesome win by you guys." He looks at Leonidas. "Pretty sure Scarlett is jealous of you with those big wings of yours." This gets a chuckle out of the tall dragon Faunus, not having known that one of Sun's teammates could fly without the need of any wings. He takes a short look at his wings. He's had them his entire life and can't imagine a life without them.

Professor Port's voice comes through on Amity's intercom. "Will Team JNPR of Beacon and Team BRNZ of Shade please report to the arena for the next match."

Anne: "Well Zion, you'll at least get to see Pyrrha fight, even if you want to fight her yourself." She elbows him in the side while saying that in a jokingly way. Leonidas chuckles and crosses his arms.

Neptune: "Wait, you actually want to fight her? No offense man, but I think she wouldn't have to try that hard to whoop you. I mean, Yang already kind of did that…" but he was stopped mid-sentence by a sharp glare from Zion. Everyone else was laughing.

Zion: "Let's just go to our seats already." He still glares at Neptune as he and Sun head back to the Haven seats.

Hedge: "Anne and I are going to go see if we can get some popcorn at least before the match starts up. You guys head back to our seats." This decision to go and get something works out, as it takes a bit longer for Team JNPR to arrive back to the arena, since they were busy conversing with Team RWBY at the fairgrounds and enjoying bowls of noodles for longer than anticipated.

On their way back to their seats, a large popcorn and large sodas in hand, Anne couldn't help but notice something off about Hedge. During their fight with Team SAVG, she thought she sensed something different about Hedge shortly after she took Chaos from him and he resumed his fight with the dark knight Gurkha. She decided to ask him a question.

Anne: "Hey Hedge, you alright?" Hedge looked like he was lost in thought.

Hedge: "Huh?" He snapped back to reality when she spoke to him.

Anne: "You seem like a deer in headlights." She decides to go straight for what she believes is bothering him. "Did something happen during your fight with Gurkha?" Hedge doesn't exactly give a verbal response to her as he still looks away from her, but this is enough of a response to Anne for her to expect there was something that happened that had a lasting effect on him. "Do you want to talk about it? It doesn't have to involve Leo and Zion, or anyone for that matter."

Hedge: "Everything's fine, Anne. Nothing to worry about." He didn't say it in a way to sound rude or raised his voice at her, but she did feel like he was keeping something secret from her, even if Hedge himself didn't know exactly what it was he tapped into during their match. They returned to their seats and watched both Team JNPR, which they won by a full team knockout from Nora with one giant swing of Magnhild, and the following match of Team SSSN vs Team NDGO, which the boys' team had won thanks to Neptune's "well-earned" attack on the ladies of Team NDGO. During those matches, however, Hedge couldn't help but think he saw a dark figure in the stands at times while looking around.

At first, he thought that maybe one of his teammates had also seen it, or maybe even some of the other spectators that it was seated next to at times, but no one ever seemed shocked to see it. Luckily, or unluckily, no one of his team had noticed Hedge looking across the arena to the opposite side of the stands, as they were focused on watching the matches.

Team SSSN's match was the final match of the day, so everyone had started to head back to their dorms. That is, aside from Zion. As everyone was leaving Amity, he noticed an Atlas ship flying over the arena. As he focused his look at the symbol on the side, he recognized who's ship it was and ran off to find Weiss. The rest of Team HAZL went off to their dorm, Hedge with his mind still on the dark figure he believed he saw. Anne was talking with Leonidas, making sure she was out of ear shot of Hedge.

Leonidas: "I've been keeping in touch with Rackley, and it seems he noticed something different about Hedge in the small time he was fighting Gurkha."

Anne: "I figured something was off about him. Good to know that Rackley still reaches out and asks if anything is wrong with Hedge and is keeping his anger in check. Before he gave me Chaos so I could resume my fight with Abellio, he was just fine, but even while battling Abellio, I couldn't help but feel like Hedge wasn't the same for a brief moment of time. Then, next thing you know, Gurkha's eliminated."

Leonidas: "Zion and I were too focused on dealing with Seara to really see what happened with their fight, otherwise I would have noticed a slight change from Hedge as well. Not sure if Zion noticed anything either."

Anne: "He didn't say anything while we were getting the popcorn?" Leonidas just shakes his head. A few hours pass and they were in their room getting ready for bed. Zion had returned and explained what had happened in the courtyard: apparently a fight broke out from Ruby and Yang's uncle: Qrow Branwen, a member of Team STRQ, and Weiss' older sister Winter Schnee, an Atlas Specialist in their military and General Ironwood's right hand. Zion described how the two were before the fight began, during, and after the General had stopped it. They had heard stories of the Branwen tribe, Anne confirming and explaining how she had to fight some members off in her time when she was in Mistral studying abroad. As for Winter, everyone knew her, and if there was anyone who didn't, Team HAZL would accuse them of living under a rock.

After everyone got ready for bed and the lights were turned off, Hedge laid there on his bed and slowly drifted off to sleep, hoping he would forget about the dark figure he saw earlier in the day.

He couldn't be anymore wrong about that.

He then opened his eyes and looked around. It was dark wherever he was and smoke was covering the ground. He started walking forward, hoping to find something that explained where he was, but nothing in his surroundings had changed.

Hedge: "Where am I?" The smoke clouds in front of him had separated into a clearing, but now in front of him was the same dark figure he saw. At first the figure was just a black mast, no features defined to really determine what it was. But then, a laughter broke the silence.

???: "Haahahahaha." Hedge looked around and tried to grab at his back side to wield Chaos and Destruction, but when he went to clasp his hands on the handles, he realized they weren't there. Thankfully, he wasn't like Ruby, and knew how to fight unarmed. He remembered Goodwitch and even Yang speaking with him about trying to train her in hand-to-hand.

Hedge: "Who's there? Show yourself."

???: "Aw, what's the matter, Hedge? It's been how long and you don't recognize me?" As the voice spoke out again, from the shadows in front of Hedge, the mystery person walked forward and stood next to the black mast, still no distinct features noticeable on it, but the figure? Hedge clenched his fist in anger at who it was. The camera now went from foot to head to reveal Doctor Badnic, a big smile on his face.

Hedge: "Doctor. How are you here? I obliterated you, not a trace left. You should be dead."

Doctor Badnic: "Yes, yes you did. But as you can see, I'm right here. No electrical marks on my body. You may have taken out my physical body, but you seem to forget how smart I really am." Hedge looked at him wondering what he really meant by that. "You see, I had a backup plan set in stone in case anything happened to me. Mind you, that is if you had assisted me with taking down James and the rest of Atlas."

Hedge now had a shocked expression on his face once he mentioned about a backup plan. "Let me guess, that backup plan involves me, doesn't it?"

Doctor Badnic: 'Precisely." He starts to walk back and forth behind the dark mast. "In case of an untimely death, whether that be while fighting against the General and the rest of the Atlas Military, or in the events that DID transpire…" he looked back at Hedge, "…my plans to get revenge could still go on through you."

Hedge: "As if I'd ever let that happen. I told you before I killed you that I'd dedicate my life to becoming a Huntsman, and I'm seeing THAT plan through." Although he may not have any of his swords on him, he does start to electrify himself, looking to end the Doctor again and whatever the dark mast next to him is.

Doctor Badnic starts to laugh again. "Is that so? And how do you plan to do that…when your fate is already sealed?" The dark mast starts to define its features, and to Hedge's shock, it turns into him, but slightly different. This revelation seems to put him in a stunned position.

Doctor Badnic: "All things shall be conquered by the Queen." Before Hedge could even react, the dark figure of himself blitzes him. As it gets close to him, he is awoken from his slumber, sweating hard. He looks over at everyone else's beds and sees that they are in deep slumber. He checks his scroll for the time and sees it's only 1 AM. He decides to get some air, puts his hover shoes on (he already sleeps with his socks on, so it's a quick slip of them), and makes sure not to make any noise or let the lights from the dorm's hallway inside the room to wake anyone up. He could've just teleported out, but with two other Faunus on his team, he'd rather not chance it. He runs outside into the courtyard and ends up at the statue of the two hunters and the Grimm, now out of breath. Though he doesn't suspect someone walking up to him.

???: "Hedge?" Hedge turns to his side where the voice came, not expecting anyone to be awake at this hour, or hearing him run out here for that matter. When he does turn, he's surprised to see Ruby, her being in her pajamas and her signature red cape. She had heard him running outside and could see him from her room's window, so she ran outside to see what was up.

Hedge: "Ruby? What are you doing out here? Matter of fact, why are you up?"

Ruby: "I should be asking you the same thing. Can't sleep?"

Hedge sighs. "You have no idea." He looks back at the statue, thinking about what he saw in his dream. Nightmare? Who knows really. "Ruby. I know that we are really close friends, but in the past 24 hours, I've learned something about myself that I think…we shouldn't be that close." He feels a pain in his chest for having to say that to her.

Ruby is shocked to hear that from the 4th year Faunus. Ever since they met before her initiation, she has seen him as a very close friend, inviting him to hang out with her team (after working things out with Weiss of course), introducing him to Zwei, and even being invited to come to his and Anne's wedding. But now hearing this from him, and seeing the type of mental state he's in right now, she can't believe him to be the same person she met last semester. "Hedge, what do you mean? Tell me what's going on. I can help. I can get Yang or Weiss or Blake, even Ozpin or Professor Good…"

Hedge: "Ruby, please." His voice starts to rise. "You're a good kid. Don't ever change. But I can't risk you getting hurt. I'd never hear the end of it from Yang."

He knows full well of how protective the blonde brawler is of her younger sister. Any type of hurt he would do to Ruby, would be returned to him tenfold. Even with his experience of fighting and knowing how Yang's semblance works, he would never be able to escape her wrath.

Hedge: "I'm sorry." His voice being more sincere, and he teleports away. Ruby had heard from Sun after leaving Weiss with her sister about how Team HAZL's match had gone, and was told of how brutally Hedge had eliminated Gurkha, but she thought of it as only Hedge showing off more of his power than what he showed in their sparring match at the beginning of the semester. She didn't think it could be due to some other source, or him losing control of his power.

Ruby: "But could it?" She didn't how right she was.

AN: (In Sonic.EXE voice) "THE DOCTOR...IS IN." Yes, Doctor Badnic has returned, but in Hedge's mind. There is of course a reason behind that, but that would be spoilers if I told the reason now. Tune in next time. Have a great day/afternoon/evening and a fantastic weekend (at time of posting).