The days towards his journey with Ruby came and went quickly, and Jet strode through them as though they were mere stepping stones, such was the speed of their passing.

It was two days before New Year's eve, a day before he and Ruby would depart to Forever Fall, the mountaintop where Ruby's mother, Summer Rose, died and was laid to rest. Jet sat in the library of Beacon in one of the private rooms, with a sheet of paper before him.

Gone was the smile he'd so often worn in Ruby's presence. Jet's face was one of pure concentration as he wrote on the sheet. It was a list.

'Ruby's Speed, Weiss' Glyphs, Blake's Shadow Clones, Yang's Strength, Lilac's Electricity, Izzet's Time-Warp, Dennis' Healing, Phoenix's Senses, ?'s Sleep Poison…'

This list comprised all the powers and abilities, all the semblances and weapons, and the Dharc armour modules that he had. With the last noted down, he leant back in his chair and looked at the sheet. It served as a reminder for him, of which powers he had copied via darkness. Closing his eyes, he allowed his mind to wander.

Flames. Screams. Death.

Jet stood at the foot of a mountain overpass. He was watching the city of Vale burn. And he was laughing.

Spreading his wings, one of a raven and the other of a bat, he soared downwards into the fray. Grimm were swarming the normally peaceful streets. Innocents were dying left and right, and as Jet watched, stalking the ruins, an Ursa Major burst from a building into a group of terrified children huddled together. With a rush of savage pleasure, he watched the unfortunates being torn limb from limb.

All but one. Jet noticed the little blonde haired girl running towards him, her fear of strangers clearly being put aside by the big black bear behind her. Jet knelt down and lifted the whimpering girl, who seemed to be about three or four, and held her tightly, burying her head into his shoulder as she cried, the Ursa behind her crunching into flesh and bone before looking up at Jet, its maw bloody.

"I've got this one. Go forth and feed." Jet commanded in a darker and deeper version of his voice. The Ursa immediately padded off in search of more victims, and he looked down at the girl he held, who was now looking up into his eyes.

"Did you save me, mister?" she asked, very tentatively. "Is the big scary bear gone?"

"Yes." Jet replied, looking out, surveying a pack of Beowolves that were chasing another group of panicked survivors. A hunter seemed to be with them, but the Beowolves numbered too many. He was dragged down and devoured by the immense pack. Jet then felt a small hand on his cheek, and looked down to see the girl staring at him.

"Why do you have green and black eyes? Where's mommy?" the girl asked, her worried face shimmering in the flickering flames of the burning city.

"Don't worry, I'll send you to mommy." Jet replied, and he felt his mouth twitch upwards in a grin. He held the girl in front of him and gave a keening cry from the back of his throat. Two of the beowolves feeding on the now dead group raised their heads at his call, and loped over. Jet knelt down and stood the girl in front of him, facing him. His charge was unaware of the Grimm approaching her.

"Promise you'll take me to mommy?" the girl asked, her bottom lip trembling.

"I promise. You'll see her very soon." Jet replied softly, as the Beowolves neared him. With one swift movement, he pushed the girl towards the ravenous Grimm, and took flight, seeing them pounce on her, hearing her scream of pain and fear before, after a few seconds, she was silenced with a final crunch of bone.

He soared upwards, evading falling debris and flickering flames until he overlooked the entire city.

"You were all fated to fall." Jet barked. "Isn't that right, Jet?"

From all around him, he heard his own voice, in the distortion of telepathy.

'Yes. Yes, slay them all. Make them pay dearly for their sin.'

Jet immediately snapped out of his dream. That vision. That vision that Flux had shown him of the future by her own hand. That, and a thousand other atrocities would come to pass if she achieved her goal, and why Jet hated her so much.

Because it wouldn't be her committing them.

Jet looked down at his own hand. Flux, his alternate persona, was a taint. They were separated as of now, but their minds fought for dominance within his own body when they were together. He knew Flux's body, no matter how strong, was only temporary. Once she was strong enough, she would discard her form and return to him.

Her control would be absolute, almost impossible to escape. His own mind would eventually fall to her, and he would start to enjoy inflicting pain and destruction upon the world, a beast revelling in its own strength and dominance.

This was a race against time now. And yet, Ruby and the others shouldn't know.

'Why shouldn't they?' A little voice spoke in his mind. Jet turned in his seat to see Izzet behind him, who kissed the back of his neck before sitting in the chair next to him.

'Because they'll be closer to figuring out everything.' Jet replied. 'You know what will happen if that occurs.'

'I do, but more than anything, you don't want Ruby to be hurt.' Izzet thought, gazing intently into his eyes. 'But won't all this deceit bring more pain when it comes to light? Even I've had to lie for the sake of our mission.'

'Izzet, we have to maintain that deceit in order to hide the fact that I'm a walking nuclear time bomb!' Jet sent. 'Once all this is over, then we can confess our sins.'

'You and I both know that won't happen.' Izzet replied, and Jet looked down. 'And for the sake of all that is good in this world, I would gladly lay down my life for you. Lilac and Nouvelle too, if it comes to that. But I think Ruby should know.'

'She mustn't.' Jet responded at once. 'She might try to stop me.'

'Then I'll tell her.' Izzet thought forcefully, standing up. Jet rose too.

'You'd be prepared to risk everything based on this revelation?' Jet asked. 'Because I will not.' He raised a hand to the door and placed a dark glyph, preventing his teammate from escaping.

'Yes. Because it will ultimately do more good than harm!' Izzet yelled, before drawing her twin blades. Jet looked apprehensively at his teammate. So she was prepared to fight for this.

"You'd draw swords on me?" Jet asked aloud. He summoned his copies of Penny's swords, the Shadow Sirens, and the eight blades floated around him, all pointed at Izzet. "We both know the end result of that."

'Ruby deserves to know. It is for her that I fight you now.' Izzet replied, staring him down intently. Jet held her gaze for a moment before relenting. He had an idea.

"Before you engage in a futile effort to defeat me, why not make a compromise?" Jet asked. Izzet's swords dropped a little, though they were still pointed at him. She nodded, as if to say 'please continue'. "You know about my journey with Ruby taking place on the day before New Year's Eve? She will know before we return. I think it would be for the best, as she'll take it better from me than you."

Izzet closed her eyes for a full ten seconds, dropping her swords' points to the ground. Then, her eyes opened and she glared at him as he dispelled the glyph.

'Fine. If you don't tell her before then, I'll say it to her myself.' Izzet replied, before turning to leave, sheathing her swords. Jet's vanished, and he turned to watch her go.

"What had brought that on?" Jet asked himself, before sighing and stopping time, vanishing from the spot.