Ruby sighed as she propped herself up on her bed, watching the finals match between LIJN and JNPR begin on her scroll. Before the match, she'd been visited by her team before they had headed to class. Weiss had very helpfully promised to let Ruby take her notes after class, and Jet had also visited, though he did so after her teammates had departed.

As she watched Jet and his teammates charge into combat, she noticed a change over her lover. He was grinning viciously as he fought, taking on Pyrrah and Jaune singlehandedly with Midnight Rose. As she watched, one of Jet's attacks connected brutally with Jaune's stomach, sending him flying towards Pyrrah, taking them both down. Her two friends had been shielded by their aura, but Jaune was reeling from the blow. She also noticed that Jet's normally emerald eyes were slightly darker, dulling their normally brilliant shine.

The rest of his team weren't doing so good though. Nouvelle was engaged in combat with Nora, desperately trying to protect Lilac, who had gone down with a sliver of aura above red, but her own aura was plummeting. Blurs were flashing around them as Izzet and Ren duelled, both using their various semblances in an attempt to out-manoeuvre their opponent.

Getting up from the blow to his stomach, Jaune checked the aura of all of the contestants. His own aura was in the yellow, after being hit by Jet's scythe. Pyrrah's was at a similar level to his, having taken a hit from Jet as well. Nora was slightly lower, but she looked set to overpower Nouvelle and Izzet, both of which were near zero. Ren and Izzet were at similarly low levels.

Jaune readied himself as Jet looked set to charge. His aura was still green. Jet suddenly changed tack, and jumped back. Pyrrah and Jaune watched him cautiously. He held his hand up, and as he did so, his team mates went in eerie unison from their fights to moving towards him. Izzet disappeared and rematerialized beside him as Nouvelle and Lilac stood in front of him, both barely able to stand.

As team JNPR gathered, Jet raised his scythe into the air. The entire arena was quiet.

"Time for you to take your exit, team JNPR! Final Phase!" Jet roared.

As one, LIJN yelled the cursed name of this move.

"DARK ULTIMATUM!"

Jaune watched in horror and confusion as Jet swung his scythe and brought low all three of his team mates. Pyrrah and Ren looked on with similar expressions on their faces, and even Nora seemed cowed. Jet's aura now glowed a dismal dark purple, and he grinned at them, steeping over his fallen team.

"Now, witness the epitome of darkness!" Jet yelled, almost crazed, his eyes now a deep black. Storm clouds were gathering around him, and Jaune was sure he could feel the power emanating from him. He'd been scared before, but nothing could compare to this!

Jet pointed at each one of them in turn, and called out.

"Lock!"

Jaune was instantly paralyzed. He struggled, using his aura up to the last dregs to break free, but the red aura holding him imprisoned only seemed to tighten its grip. He could hear his teammates struggling against their own bonds, and could only watch as Jet approached him. Jet said nothing, but his eyes gave it away. He was enjoying this, Jaune realized.

He felt the laser blade of Midnight Rose glare as it sliced through his torso. It did not draw blood, but sucked away his aura, leaving him unable to fight. After seeing to his teammates, Jet finally clicked his fingers, and the locks were released. Jaune's muscles could not support his body, and he crumpled.

Jet walked over to his teammates, who were all down on the ground. Gathering them together, he lightly shook Izzet, and ignoring the stunned silence that had greeted his earlier actions, the entirety of team LIJN vanished.

Back in her infirmary room, Ruby was in shocked silence. Yang was too, having come to watch the match with Ruby. Both were thinking the same thing, and it was only a matter of time before one of them spoke. It was Yang.

"How could he be THAT mean?"

"I d-don't know." Ruby stuttered. "I just don't know."

They didn't have long to wait, as they glanced out of the window to see a completely healed Izzet materialize in the room. For a moment, there was silence, before Yang, remembering what Jet had done to Izzet, asked her "Are you okay? That looked like it hurt."

Izzet did not reply, but with a desperate look, pointed at Ruby, then at herself, then made a talking motion with her hand.

"You want to speak to Ruby?" Yang said, confused. "Go on then."

Izzet shook her head, pointing more insistently at Ruby and herself, and Ruby understood.

"Yang, she wants to speak to me ALONE." she said, emphasizing the last word. Izzet nodded vigorously. Yang sighed.

"Feels like I'm being left out of everything." she said, leaving the room. Izzet immediately started speaking telepathically, tumbling over her quick words and fidgeting.

"Ruby, you have to help us! Jet's losing his self-control, and the Grimm is taking over! Please, please get him to put the control crystal back in his chest! It's the only way of keeping him sane and –"

'"Stop, stop!" Ruby said aloud. Izzet immediately stopped, looking fearful. "First of all, what's this about the Grimm taking over? And what about Jet's sanity? Is he in danger?" She looked at Izzet, who was staring to show signs of hyperventilation. 'Calm down' she thought.

Izzet took several deep breaths, before saying the one thing Ruby did not want to hear with every fibre of her being.

"Jet's in danger. From himself."

Ruby looked at Izzet in disbelief. It was the one thing she feared most. Jet's eye colour change had not been coincidental, after all, she realized.

"Let me start from the beginning." Izzet said. Ruby nodded. "If you're in love with our leader, you should know what he really is."

"Jet is half Grimm." Izzet continued, as Ruby's eyes widened. "He has two personas, as you may recall me saying the first time we met. One is the persona you're in love with, cool, calm, always has an answer for everything." Ruby smiled at the memory.

"The other is a ruthless killer, delighting in inflicting pain. His Grimm half. That half broke free once before, but we were able to stop it. When that 'thing's' in control, his eyes turn black. Did you see it today?"

Ruby had. She recalled the way Jet had delighted in dealing all the damage he legally could to JNPR, eyes dark red and a wide grin on his normally stoic face. She thought 'I did' to Izzet.

"His wings come from his Grimm heritage. So does his strength. But the way we control his alter ego is through the Control crystal that's networked to his heart. Normally, he wants it to be under control himself, but now…"

Tears started to flow from Izzet's eyes, and Ruby grasped her hand. Izzet flinched at the touch, but did not retract her hand.

"He doesn't want it in. I managed to persuade him to keep it in, but he wants to take it out. He claims to have made friends with it, but I don't trust it. But even with my time-travel abilities, I can't match him in combat. He's superior to all of team LIJN. But he'll listen to you. That's why I need your help, Ruby."

'Are you saying that Jet can be like he was before?' Ruby thought back. Izzet nodded, grasping her hand tightly. 'What do you need me to do?' Ruby asked.

"I can take you to him. You need to talk to him, persuade him that he NEEDS the crystal where it belongs!" Izzet's voice rang out as she pulled out a Control Crystal from her pocket, and gave it to Ruby.

Ruby held the small crystal out in her hand. She'd made her decision the moment Izzet had told something was wrong. Flexing and stretching her muscles to make sure that they were working, she nodded at Izzet.

Izzet took Ruby's other hand with her own, and Ruby got out of the infirmary bed.

"We have to save him. Ruby, I'm entrusting everything to you. This crystal is a stronger one than the first one he has. We need to replace it."

Ruby nodded as the world slowed to a stop once more. She knew that she loved Jet too much to let him go. No-one would tear her away from him now. 'Jet WILL come back to his senses, even if I have to fight him to do it' she thought to herself, forgetting that Izzet was telepathic.

"It may come to that." she sent back, as they reached Sunset Hill, the place where Jet was most likely to be. As time resumed, Izzet gasped, and was mirrored by Ruby. Bloody footprints were leading away from the mountain, going towards the forest. As Ruby looked on, an alarm sounded.

It was the Beacon alarms, and after what she'd heard from Izzet, Ruby knew it could only mean one thing.