Jet perched himself on the building's antenna as he waited from the flat roof for Sun and Neptune to emerge. He felt sadness take over his emotions. This wasn't working, and it sucked.
Jet had only agreed to go with Sun and Neptune in order to forget about Ruby for a time, but it just wasn't working. The brunette was still firmly wedged in his mind, and tears threatened to emerge. He'd known about the result of reminding Yang about who was the most powerful out of them and himself, considering the previous fights between him and his half-sister, but it didn't make it any easier to bear.
Right now, Ruby was the only thing keeping him going, but now that they would be separated for a second time, he wondered what would keep him going. Everything seemed so hopeless, and yet again, time was running out.
"Hey! You coming down, or what?"
Jet turned around to see Sun and Neptune, who had finally made their way onto the building. He saw their faces fall at his forlorn expression and teary eyes.
"Hey man, what's wrong?" Sun asked, lowering his staff as Neptune did the same. Jet shuddered a little as he realised that they had figured out something was indeed wrong with him. It was too late to keep up the illusion.
Jet slowly summoned and unfurled Midnight Rose, still keeping his perfect balance on the antenna, his dark wings outstretched, capturing a small portion of the light breeze that swept the snowy air. His black jacket and trousers flapped in it, revealing a dark grey undershirt. He knew that these emotions would consume him if he allowed them to continue ravaging his consciousness.
"Will you fight me?" he asked in a quiet voice. Sun and Neptune glanced at one-another, then back at Jet.
"Why?" Neptune asked suspiciously.
"I need it… something's happened to me that I want to forget about, just for a moment." Jet replied, almost imploringly.
Neptune took a step back, putting his weapon away, but Sun took a step forward. Jet barely heard as he and Neptune muttered a conversation between them, before Sun raised his staff and turned back to Jet.
"I'll fight you, on a condition." Sun declared.
"What condition?" Jet probed, watching as Sun's face hardened into a look of determination as he pointed at Jet.
"If I win, you've got to tell us what's bothering you." Sun replied, taking his fighting stance, staff by his side. Jet felt his aura, which had already been swirling around him, fully flare at the challenge, creating a purple tempest that surrounded him. He closed his eyes, allowing his emotions to empty into his aura, his overwhelming sadness at the prospect of being separated from the one he loved.
It was time to do what he'd never done before in the past.
He'd use Deus' style of power.
"Very well." Jet intoned, his voice clearly giving his sadness away now. "But expect my full strength."
With that, he felt his powers grow stronger even as the negative emotion flowed like a current around him. Power flowed into him, feeling like both a well-known friend and an alien presence. He felt Midnight Rose respond to his emotional change, the blade thinning and glowing brighter, and the gun sparking with new and repressed energy.
He raised his scythe, and leaped off the antenna, closing with Sun at lightning speed. Sadness turned into strength, and Jet felt it surge through his veins as the notion of not being able to see Ruby overtook him. Sun deflected his first swipe at his exposed chest but was forced to deflect two more before Jet hooked his scythe around his staff and ripped upward.
Rather than break the weapon as intended, it unleashed a flash of energy which knocked Jet backwards, Midnight Rose flying from his grip and dis-integrating into shadows. He felt his aura turn red as anger rose in his chest, and saw Sun, who'd been about to attack, draw back, almost nervously. How dare he take Midnight Rose?
Jet called wordlessly for Ember Graves, his shadow copy of Yang's weapons, the gauntlets immediately forming on his hands, before switching to a more aggressive stance. Bluish flames rose as his anger took hold, creating a rouge and cyan conflagration that sparked and flickered. He charged, mimicking Yang's devastating right hook. Sun deflected the punch, but Jet threw a battery of light attacks, occasionally hitting him in the chest and arms, causing Sun to flinch at the abnormal strength of the attacks.
Sun suddenly slammed his staff into the ground, creating the shockwave that sent Jet flying backwards again, and he felt the sting on his back as he collided with the same pole that had previously served as a perch. He fell to his knees, feeling his strength starting to wane as he head footsteps approaching.
"Had enough?" Sun asked. Jet couldn't see his face, but it sounded stern. He tried to get up, but he felt his muscles starting to fail. Jet knew that he'd have to do his last-resort move.
He closed his eyes and felt darkness encircle him, transporting his mind to another world, a world consisting solely of purple and black flames. Jet called out the name of the one he needed now.
'Jet Black Phantom. Please come. I need you, more than ever now.' Jet prayed, and he felt the armour plating coat his body. An otherworldly voice spoke, in a soft, slow, reassuring tone.
"I will help you end this fight… Please, just hold on for a little while."
Neptune watched Sun approach the mass of darkness that held Jet, and stood up, grabbing his weapon as he did so. The fighting he'd witnessed was intense, and while he did like Jet, Sun should be the one to win this.
He strode to Sun's side. He heard no comment from his friend, and noted that it was a first for Sun to not throw out some comment. His eyes were drawn to a figure in the darkness, one that was growing in size.
"In a world of absolute zero," Jet spoke softly from the shadows, "even a blazing heart full of passion will freeze." The figure stood up. "That heart which now does not recognise happiness, compassion, or mercy." Several pointed things rose behind the figure. "Rise now, the bearer of that heart! Jet Black Phantom!"
With that, the darkness dissipated with a flash of white light, and Neptune gasped in surprise at Jet, who now stood tall in the same suit of armour that Weiss had described to him. The ice crystals… the purplish silver armour… Astro Reaper, that scythe. It was all the same!
"Get back, now!" Sun yelled, and Neptune only barely registered what had been said before he was blasted off his feet by a red tinted shockwave. He felt himself crash into a… something, before he blacked out.