Jet and Ruby stepped through the door of Team RWBY's dorm to find Weiss and Blake soundly asleep, and Yang at the desk with the dull light on. As the two Angels ventured in, Yang raised her head from her work and, upon realizing who it was, bounded over and pulled the two weary siblings into a hug.
"Welcome back!" she greeted cheerfully, but upon realizing how tired they supposedly looked, not to mention when Jet visibly suppressed a yawn (at least in his own mind), Yang didn't say anything else. She lifted the pair on either shoulder, and Jet watched as she deposited both of them gently onto their floating bed, taking off their shoes and outer coats before laying them side by side.
'Thank you, sis'.' Jet sent her via telepathy as he embraced Ruby under the covers of Ruby's bed. He didn't hear her reply, as he was swiftly off to sleep.
When Jet next awoke, it was early morning.
The first thing he felt was Ruby, who had wrapped herself around his side. He looked at her face and saw a sweet, contented smile on her face. Jet felt his heart skip a beat upon seeing it. How on Remnant was she this cute?
Jet gently prised himself off of his fulcrum, and the Angel of Darkness leaped lightly off the bed. All four girls were asleep. He texted Ruby using his scroll, then realised the date was January 01. One day before classes started again.
Exiting the dorm, Jet wandered outside and into the plaza that was bordered by the cafeteria and the dorm rooms, with the training arena not too far away either.
"I should probably test these new powers." Jet muttered to himself. He took flight, and soared above the walls into the arena. In reality, the arena should be closed until it opens at 8 am, but walls were no barrier to him.
He landed in the middle of the arena and released his restraint on his powers. The purple flames flickered around his body, and the shield and lance appeared. He noticed writing on the haft of the lance now that he looked at it closely.
Doomsayer.
"Fitting name." Jet said to himself. He checked the shield for a name. He found it on one of the spiral patterns on the inside of the shield.
Darkening.
"So Doomsayer and Darkening." Jet said to himself. He sent out a pulse with his mind, and felt his flames roar even greater, fuelling him with more energy. When he pictured that pulse drawing back inwards, the flames died down, and eventually ceased burning.
He then crouched and pointed his lance at a particular section of wall, channelling his willpower through his lance. Purple aura started to glitter around the whole weapon, growing slowly in brightness and heat. Jet maintained this pressure for several seconds and then released. A massive laser, the size of it enough to engulf a battle tank, blasted forth and pulverised the wall of the arena, shattering the shield normally protecting it and burning away part of the wall.
Jet grinned as he twirled the lance around, watching as his flames arose once more. He laughed to himself, crouching and charging another beam, aiming this time at the opposite section of the wall, and this time letting his flames flicker. He kept charging for a full five seconds this time, before unleashing a torrent of energy that blew the wall apart this time, exposing a changing room with a tumultuous crash.
This feeling of power was insane! Jet could feel the raw energy flowing through him, empowering his muscles, filling him with unlimited stamina, fuelling the fire he created. It felt so good!
"I am now Jet Xiao Rose," Jet muttered to himself, "a demi-god incarnate. None shall stand in my way. With Doomsayer and Darkening by my side, I will plunge my enemies into the abyss!" His last words were a shout, and he took flight, bathing in the unlimited power he held.
"Now, it's time to create a new weapon. One that I should only require if I need more power."
With the arrival of January 2nd came the first of classes of the New Year, and with it, Ruby's first taste of the third semester. While the first lectures had come with the usual reactions (Weiss furiously scribbling notes, Blake picking up her pen occasionally, and both Yang and Ruby trying not to doze off), there had been several unexpected changes. Combat training had changed from team games to random matches.
When Ruby arrived at the arena for one such session, she found LIJN tucked away in a corner of the seats, awaiting the start of Goodwitch's new system of combat. Ruby caught Jet's eye, and she waved, to which he waved back before gesturing to the ground, where Goodwitch stood.
The first set of teams were Weiss, Nora and Dove against Cardin, Sky and Jet. Knowing that they weren't on the best of terms, Ruby wondered briefly if Jet could beat his opponents despite having Cardin and Sky as teammates. Then, she remembered that he was an Angel of Darkness.
He wouldn't lose.
She watched as the aura indicators started up immediately. Jet's turned gold.
"You'd better not get in my way." Cardin growled as he and Jet stared down their opposition.
"Heh, very well." Jet muttered darkly to Cardin. 'But I have a better use for you than as a teammate.' he sent. Cardin stole another glance at him, before standing off to Jet's left. He grinned as he looked at his three opponents, feeling the darkness coil around him like a protective viper, ready to strike.
"Begin!" Goodwitch called.
Cardin and Sky took off towards their enemy. Jet, however, hung back, knowing he had a wicked grin on his face even as he watched the fools go, aiming his lance in his opponents' direction.
Three minutes in, Jet looked up at the aura indicators. Apart from a brief skirmish with Nora, he'd remained unscathed. His teammates were faring badly against the clearly superior team before them.
He noticed said teammates running back towards him. Cardin looked livid, Sky far from happy.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Cardin asked him, getting in Jet's face, unconcerned about their opponents. Jet took a step back and let out a quiet, but sinister, chuckle. His wings slowly outstretched.
"Cardin, Cardin, Cardin." Jet replied, chiding him even as he took a step back. "Always thinking about what's right in front of you."
Cardin immediately swung his fist in a brutal punch that would have knocked Jet flat on his back had it connected. Instead, Jet moved the minimum distance required to avoid it, and the fist glanced off his aura.
"With such weakness from the pair of you," Jet continued, "it isn't worth my time to keep you two as teammates." A gasp from the crowd at his words, and Jet felt his smile widen. "But you can serve me in another way."
He stepped between the steaming boys and faced his enemies, who weren't attacking, and Jet knew why. When he was like this, fear kept them away. And they never know what's coming. He pointed behind him at his two teammates with his shield arm.
"I think, you two will instead serve me as nothing more than sources of energy. Lock!" he called. He heard the struggles of the two behind him as well as more shocked outbursts and gasps as his two teammates collapsed. He felt the violet flames begin to stir around him even as his opponents watched. Even Nora, the crazy one, looked fearful. Hah. "Now, feed me, my sacrifices!"
Black mist started to flow from the locked ones into his chest, and the flames around him grew. The strength in his muscles grew even more, his lance grew longer and sharper, and even his shield curled as if in pleasure. He let out a harsh laugh, still growing in power, as he looked upon his two teammates behind him, locked, useless.
Helpless.
He turned just in time to see Weiss with her sword slicing towards him, and laughed even harder when he caught the blade without cutting himself and ripped it from her grasp with only a single tug. The shock on her face was like art to him.
"Know your place!" he yelled, curling his wings inwards, before unleashing the new and improved Red Pulse Exceed, blasting Weiss up in the air, and her aura instantly hit 0 from that single attack. He turned towards Dove, who attempted to run but was blasted by a laser from his lance, also taking him down with a single hit. He then turned to Nora, who looked petrified to him. He took a few steps towards her, and pointed his lance at the still girl. Blue energy gathered around the tip. There was no way she'd dodge this. Pathetic fools.
BLAM!
Jet fired a great blue beam at his target, obliterating her with a single-
"Stop!"
The smoke cleared to see Goodwitch, who had dived into the arena and shielded her student. Now she turned to Jet, a scowl on her face.
"Jet," she said in a quiet voice, but one with great anger behind it, "be mindful of the aura indicators. Miss Valkyrie's aura hit zero before you fired."
"My deepest apologies." Jet replied. "I got caught in the moment."
He extinguished the purple flames, seeing his aura bar return to green. He then flicked his hand at his locked teammates, and heard them flumping against the ground. They at least deserved being put in their place. Drained of energy to fuel his own.
"May I ask what you did to your teammates?" Goodwitch asked as a medical team arrived on the scene. Jet glanced over to see Cardin glaring at him, fiery anger plain to see.
"I simply shielded them from harm and drew on their strength to support my own." Jet answered smoothly. That was bending the truth, and he knew it.
When someone was locked, every conscious movement was instantly prevented. The result was total and utter paralysis. The aura that sealed them also sealed their own aura, preventing the victim from using their semblances or dust imbued body parts. This aura also prevented damage from the outside to the body, only allowing damage to the aura of the victim, and nothing else. Put simply, they were completely immobilized.
But Jet had acquired a new function from his locks, as a result of his status as an Angel of Darkness. A locked human would have their aura and energy drained from them, and said aura/energy would flow into him, replenishing his own. These were known as Delta Locks to those that studied this forbidden art of Deus, Jet being one of them.
Of course, this was a rather secretive art, as Goodwitch justified with her response.
"I have never seen such a… ruthless tactic." she replied in answer to his previous statement. Jet chuckled a little, but it was quiet such that only Goodwitch heard him.
"Ruthless? I call it a combination of combining our power and removing liabilities." Jet countered, before he turned and walked back to the seats.