Without a word, Izzet vanished, presumably to rouse the rest of her team. Ruby continued onwards, running out of Beacon and towards the forest. Before she reached the outskirts of the forest, she was intercepted by none other than Glynda Goodwitch, who was swiftly joined by General Ironwood. Both were wearing stern looks.
"Stop, Ruby. You cannot enter the forest right now." Goodwitch said, putting an arm out to stop Ruby.
"Where's Jet?" Ruby asked, tears growing in her eyes.
"He went into the forest." Ironwood pointed towards it. "Another team was sent to intercept him, but we've received transmissions that indicate Jet is… attacking them. Two of them are severely injured, so they are in the process of retreating, while we call in some heavier arms." At his words, several Paladin robots descended from aircraft above, along with many Android soldiers, all heavily armed.
"I don't have time for this!" Ruby yelled, ducking under Goodwitch and activating her semblance, rushing to the forest, leaping over several glyphs Goodwitch conjured to stop her.
"RUBY! Stop this instant!" Goodwitch yelled after her, intending to pursue her, but was stopped by Ironwood, who had put a hand on her shoulder. She turned, eyes blazing.
"We still need to protect the school, in case Jet returns." Ironwood said. "As your superior, you must obey my instructions."
"In rank only, Ironwood." Goodwitch said, throwing off Ironwood's hand, but did not pursue Ruby, instead watching the machines move into the forest.
Ruby was a blur, shooting through the forest, swinging, sprinting, searching for Jet. A scream of pain alerted her, and she turned towards a clearing, and burst from the bushes.
The scene that greeted her was one she would never forget. Two students lay sprawled on the earth, one barely alive, the other providing a feast to a Beowolf that had stumbled upon the clearing, gore covering them both. She looked towards the centre of the clearing to see Jet uppercut one of the students still standing and followed up with a decapitating slash with Midnight Rose that ended the student, his ginger haired head rolling even after his headless corpse crumpled to the ground, blood flowing like a crimson fountain out of his neck.
The last student, a girl with hair similar to Ruby's, but longer, was backed up against a wall as Jet approached her. His top half was completely naked now, the machine that was his heart visible, along with his dark wings. His eyes were pits of darkness now, and his skin seemed to be grey instead of pale, gore covering his hands and half of his face.
"W-w-w-w-hy are you d-d-d-doing this?" the girl stuttered, her eyes showing pure fear. Jet merely grinned at her trembling form, malice full in his black eyes.
"Because I was set free. That, and I hunger." Jet replied, and brought his scythe down in a wide arc that eviscerated the unfortunate girl, cutting her in twain.
He then turned around, and his eyes met Ruby's, who stood there, Crescent Rose out.
"Well, well. Look what sprouted from the foliage. It's my little rose." Jet said. His voice had lost any semblance of control, and was tinged by insanity. "Come to play?" he continued, eyeing Crescent Rose.
"What have you done Jet?!" Ruby yelled at him, her façade failing as she lowered Crescent Rose. Jet looked confused, but swiftly regained his composure.
"Jet? Oh, right, his name." he said. "I'd nearly forgotten it. Well, come dine with me, Ruby, and see the morsels I have to serve up!" At this, he gestured towards the corpses of his victims, some of which had stopped bleeding, the Beowolf having left.
"I'm going to bring you back, Jet!" Ruby swore, but before she could pull out the crystal, an automated voice sounded from behind her.
"Wanted Individual Jet. Put down the weapon and raise your hands."
Turning, Ruby saw the androids, their weapons trained on Jet. Turing back to him, she saw Jet's crazed eyes widen in fear at the sheer amount of guns trained on him.
"Ah, stuff this!" Jet yelled, before a blur appeared around him, and he vanished into the trees. As Ruby chased after him, she realised that it only made sense that Jet had copied some of his team's abilities.
After what felt like several hours, Ruby saw Jet's blur disappear into a cave somewhere deep in the forest. She had no idea where she was, only that Jet was now cornered. With her heart beating harder than she'd ever felt in her life.
She entered the cave, and it didn't take long for her to locate Jet. He was standing in the centre of the dome-like cave, which was the size and dimension of a tennis court. By the light of sunset entering the cave, she gazed upon her lover. He was watching her expectantly.
"Enjoying my little game of tag?" Jet asked.
"What do you think?!" Ruby panted.
"I see that crystal in your hand. You're not going to restrain me!" Jet roared, pulling out Midnight Rose. Ruby readied herself, but Jet suddenly smiled, as if having a sudden realization.
"Ah, that's an idea." Jet said, now calmer than before. He threw Midnight Rose into the air, and it disintegrated into shadows before gathering around his hands. They materialised, this time forming purple versions of Ember Cecilia, but there were four scythe blades on each gauntlet, each forming an X, and crystal spikes covered each gauntlet, with a gun barrel in the centre of each claw. Jet flexed each claw, and the gun barrels started to glow purple as he did, his wings expanding and stretching.
"I'll use these to fight now. Ruby," Jet laughed a little as he said this, "meet the combination of Midnight Rose with Ember Grave. Ember Roses: Pain and Agony, meet your first victim!"
After saying this, Jet fired a purple ball of energy directly at Ruby!
Ruby immediately leaped over the energy ball, which detonated against the cave wall behind her, and fired a bullet from Crescent Rose in order to fly straight at Jet, scythe aimed at his chest. Jet immediately parried with one of his claws, before raising the other and making a grab at Ruby's weapon, but Ruby snatched her weapon out of his reach.
Snarling, Jet fired another blast at the ground and leaped away. Ruby dodged away from the blast as Jet charged at her from the roof of the cave. Whirling Crescent Rose, Ruby span straight into Jet, who raised his gauntlets to parry it, but the force of the blow knocked him over instead. Ruby immediately moved to push the crystal into his chest but Jet immediately rose with a spinning kick that pushed her back.
Switching to her cross-clips, Ruby dashed around Jet, trying to disorientate him, but Jet followed her movement and grabbed Crescent Rose, this time successfully wrenching it from her grip. Ruby herself was thrown into the wall, and gazed up in fear at the red-eyed Jet attempting to crush her weapon. After struggling to do so, he threw it against the opposite wall of the cave and turned to face Ruby, but she'd already retrieved her weapon, and raised it defensively.
Roaring in frustration, more animalistic than human at this point, he charged at her again, but misjudged and slammed into the wall when Ruby ducked under him. The hit hadn't phased him, but Ruby realized that his weakness was his frustration. She changed tack, dashing around him, getting within an inch of striking distance, but dashing out of reach every time he swung at her.
"Stay. Still. So. I. Can. Hit. You!" Jet yelled, slashing at Ruby with each word, but each attack was dodged by the younger girl. Finally, Jet made a furious charge against Ruby, intent on cutting her down, and Ruby seized her chance, ducking to the side of Jet and plunging the Control Crystal into the device on his chest! Jet's red eyes immediately widened, his pupils becoming pinpricks as he stopped moving.
"I-I don't… believe it." Jet whispered. His eyes were now a deep orange, and he looked at Ruby, now using his claws as support. "You… have… beaten me! Now… I will… relinquish control." He roared his last, before crumpling to the ground.
Ruby knelt over him, folding Crescent Rose. Her repressed feelings of fear, pain, and sadness came flooding back and she shuddered, finally breaking. Tears flowed freely onto Jet's exposed stomach as she cried, holding him tightly.
Jet felt awful as he awoke. The first thing he noticed was that he hadn't any shirt on. The second was that there was something wet and heavy on his chest. Opening his eyes, he noticed Ruby, still crying onto his chest. Memories suddenly came back to him like a tidal wave, everything Flux had done. He felt sick, and the sticky blood on his hands wasn't helping.
As he raised his head, Ruby looked up. Her cheeks were flushed scarlet, her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Fear was evident in her eyes, but Jet somehow knew the one thing he could say to calm her down.
"Ruby. Ruby, I'm back."
He knew his eyes had returned to their emerald colour as he spoke those words.
Ruby said nothing for a moment, before pulling Jet in, kissing him. Jet submitted, noting as he did so that Ruby was shuddering, clearly remembering what he'd been like before the Control Crystal. As they pulled apart, Jet spoke.
"Ruby. I don't know what my other side did, but thank you, thank you for bringing me back."
Ruby smiled weakly, but the moment passed. "I'll fill you in." she said.
After Ruby had finished explaining what he'd done, Jet looked a little green. He slammed a fist into his own chest, not caring about the fact that it was caked in dried blood.
"Stupid, fucking idiot." he said to himself. "But wait," he continued, as Ruby drew a sharp breath from his curse, "if you ran away with me, then that makes you…"
"Wanted as well, yeah." Ruby said, glumly. It was now dusk. She had no idea how much time had passed. Jet stood up, and Ruby did so too.
"It looks like we're on our own for this one. I'll have a look around, see if I can find a way to wash myself down. Check my backpack. It'll have useful stuff inside." Jet said, as he left the cave. Ruby picked up the black leather pack, and turned it upside-down. Out fell Jet's jacket, along with a dust light, an igniter that Ruby knew was also powered by dust, and 8 days' worth of rations. She immediately lit the dust light, illuminating the cave, and noticed a spiral device that she didn't recognise, and left it alone.
Jet didn't take long to return, bringing with him a batch of strawberries and a slab of meat along with a few branches from a tree. Ruby also noted he was now clean. He sat down opposite Ruby.
"Found a river near the cave, and there was a deer that a Grimm must have gotten. I stumbled upon these strawberries on the way back." he said, and Ruby's eyes lit up at the strawberries. At Jet's nod, she tore into them eating all of them in the space of a second. Jet was not too far behind with the raw meat, his Grimm constitution protecting him from food poisoning or any bugs in the meat.
That reminded Ruby of what Izzet had told her. She waited until Jet was done wiping his mouth, before turning to face him. He had a contented smile, but this changed to a serious expression once he saw Ruby's face.
"Jet, when were you going to tell me about your Grimm side?" Ruby asked, an accusatory tone in her voice. Jet sighed, and his shoulders sagged.
"I was hoping to avoid it entirely. After all, who would still love someone who was part calm and collected, and also part ruthless killer, ready to strike the moment I lose control?" Jet confessed, not making eye contact with Ruby. She said nothing, but tackled him to the ground, embracing him.
"Jet. Get a hold of yourself." Ruby whispered. "I'm not going to stop loving you."
Jet smiled as he wrapped his arms around her and his wings as well, forming a cocoon-like structure. As Ruby gave a cute little yawn, Jet's wings started producing heat, which caused both lovers to swiftly fall asleep, still embracing one-another.