Penny sat atop a tree overlooking the mouth of the cave she knew Jet was in. She'd disappeared when team WINBLY had arrived, Jet teleporting her. She'd reported back to Ironwood, and had then returned, and was now pondering whether to descend and find Jet or Ruby.
Penny still didn't know what to really think about them. She'd detected signs of affection and attraction between them, which was a little odd. What did that mean?
She was brought out of her reverie by the appearance of a small girl with silver hair from the mouth of the cave. From the large branch she was perched on, she watched the girl scan the upper treeline. For some reason, she didn't turn in her direction, but instead continued to watch the treeline directly opposite the cave entrance.
As Penny watched her, she suddenly vanished from the spot she was standing. Mere moments after that, the same girl appeared right in front of her, perched on the large branch Penny was, making Penny jump and lose her balance. That shook the branch, and the unknown girl fell too, both landing on the roof of the cave.
As Penny pushed herself into a sitting position, she saw the girl already standing, with a red and a blue blade attached to her arms. The roof of the cave itself was uneven and jagged at places, and it was a miracle that neither of them were seriously hurt. Penny rose and activated her swords, the 8 blades hovering beside her, but her opponent smiled and pointed her red blade at the swords, and each was encompassed in a grey sphere, before they themselves turned grey.
Penny tried to move her swords, but couldn't. They were locked in place? How? Penny looked at the girl, who stood with a frown, both swords by her side again.
"What have you done to my swords?" Penny asked the girl, who was still frowning, but was approaching her, looking confused. "Doesn't matter, I can still beat you without my swords *hic*." That hiccup said all it needed to the girl. After reaching Penny, who was quivering slightly, the girl took Penny's hand, and held it in a gentle grip. A blue glow appeared at the contact.
"Finally, I can communicate." A voice echoed at the back of Penny's mind.
"You're telepathic?" Penny asked aloud.
"I'm also mute, which is why I couldn't speak to you directly. What are you doing here?" the voice asked.
"I'm looking for two friends. Have you seen Jet and Ruby?" Penny asked the girl
"They're here." the voice responded. "My name's Izzet, and I'm one of Jet's teammates."
"Greetings Izzet. My name's Penny." Penny said. "Can you take me to them?"
"We are all out of our cave gathering supplies. I'm on guard duty right now, care to join me until they return?" Izzet asked, letting go of Penny.
"It would be my pleasure, Izzet. Can you release my swords?" she asked, hopeful.
Izzet nodded, and collapsed her red blade, pointing her blue blade at the blades, which unfroze. They retracted into Penny's back. The two girls then dropped from the roof, and entered the cave.
Penny and Izzet took up positions near the dust lamp and sat down. They'd swept all the dust out of it, thanks to Nouvelle and Izzet's Flame Tornado, and so they sat on the stone floor, with a good view of the cave entrance.
"Back then, when we met, you disappeared and then reappeared in front of me. You were also able to freeze my swords in place. How?" Penny asked Izzet.
The silver haired girl smiled, then replied telepathically. "It's my semblance. I'm able to manipulate time. The teleportation is me stopping time everywhere but around me, and freezing your swords was me stopping time around the swords."
"Were you here to capture Jet as well?" Penny asked.
"I was. At the time, Jet wasn't quite… himself, so we were asked to take him down. We found out that Jet was indeed sane, and after I froze him in time, he was in a suit of armour that had enough dust to break my time freeze."
"Jet Black Phantom." Penny recited.
Izzet nodded, before she continued. "If Jet combines five of his dark weapon copies, he creates Jet Black Phantom. It is a vicious weapon, possessing both dust and physical weapons en masse. He can only sustain it for a short period of time, but he's practically invincible with it."
"Invincible? Surely there must be some way to beat him?" Penny inquired, incredulously.
"Time. That's Jet Black Phantom's only weakness." Izzet explained, to Penny's confusion. "As soon as he runs out of energy, he will lose that form."
"What weapon does he use when he's not in that suit? Penny asked, determined to find out every bit of information she could. If Penny was to prove herself, one of the trials she'd have to face would be facing Jet, alone.
"It's normally Midnight Rose. His normal scythe, after his girlfriend." Izzet's voice came softly.
Penny knew she meant Ruby. "Are those two really going out?"
"Well, they aren't really going out per se, but they are a couple, and they've already kissed many times, though I don't think it'll go much farther than that for the time being."
Penny simply let the conversation drop at this point, her mind still attempting to put two and two together. If Jet and Ruby were indeed a couple, as Izzet had told her, then did it mean that Ruby, despite her young age, had already found true love?
As she and Izzet kept their silent vigil, Penny sent out a silent prayer for them to still be together after all of this.
Izzet must have noticed this, because as she turned away to check that the bags were there, she cracked a small smile. She was sure that Ruby and Jet would work things out, one way or another. They did fit each other like lock and key after all.