Ruby was sent reeling, and Jet was pushed back through the snow, leaving two trails in the snow. Ruby met his eyes, and she saw the same look of confusion and fear.

"Ruby… I-" Jet tried to say, but then, the blue flames surged around him once more with an angry roar. Doomsayer reappeared in his hand, and he shuddered as he roared in pain.

"JET?!" Ruby called, uncertainly.

"You… will not… CONTROL ME!" Jet yelled in-between gasps of agony. He took his lance, held it like a javelin, and directed it at his own heart.

Before Ruby could do anything, say anything to stop him, Jet thrust it into his own chest, and made it glow with his own destructive power. He collapsed, blood pouring from his wound.

The living flame around him shrieked once more, before slowly dying away, flickering in its last breaths, before finally dying to nothing but glowing embers around him. A crimson puddle began to grow around Jet as he laid there, panting.

Ruby got up from her prone position and ran towards Jet's side, kneeling next to him. He reached out a hand, and she took it in both of hers. It was icy cold, and Ruby tried to warm it as best she could. Her mind was reeling.

"No no no! Jet, why?" Ruby asked, tears falling thick and fast as she gazed upon her dying boyfriend. It was growing cold, and she knew why. Jet was losing his power, and as a result, she was losing hers.

"I had to." Jet replied, hissing as she tried to pull the otherworldly weapon out. He flicked her hand away. "Stop that. That will only hasten my demise."

"But you're a god!" Ruby cried. "You should be able to take this and get back up!"

"Not anymore. Even if I had succeeded and killed you, I would have died too." Jet said with a smile. "Ruby, there's something you should know about me. Something I've been keeping from you since the first day I met you."

"What is it?" Ruby asked tearfully.

"The first time I truly met you was actually at the prison where Jet was being held captive." Jet said. "You should know, I'm not actually from your timeline."

"Wait, what?" Ruby interrupted confusedly.

"You don't have to understand, and I won't explain. We have too little time." Jet insisted. "Raven and I chased the Flux from our time into your time about fifteen years ago, with Izzet's help. She also shielded us from any paradox. But we were separated, and so we disguised ourselves in case anyone recognised us. Raven became the masked hunter, I became Shade. That story Dennis told you…" he hissed as a spasm erupted from his chest, "that was actually me, the one who saved my younger self. Raven was also the one who saved Yang back on that train, to ensure the future remained our designed future."

"So that shadow clone that was killed at the prison-" Ruby said.

"Was my younger self, yes." Jet interrupted. "After I assumed his form, I followed you and influenced your training. I made sure that you all were ready for when we would face our Flux, only feeding you snippets of information so that you would want to know more, and would follow me. Then, Raven met her end. She was a martyr, as she made sure that we would feel enough dark emotions to awaken my powers. Then, I set up everything so that we would run into Flux. I planned it all."

"Wait, you knew everything?!" Ruby asked, astounded. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I owe apologies to so many, including you, my love." Jet replied. "You were all my puppets, and I made sure that everything played out the way I wanted it to. I manipulated you all. You should hate me, for what I've done." He closed his eyes, a grimace on his face. "I could have told you everything, but I was afraid, paranoid. I didn't want anything to happen differently. I wasn't taking any chances. What would you have done had you known everything I knew?"

Ruby could see his point, but that didn't stop the stab of betrayal she felt.

"My power all came from my knowledge of the future." Jet continued. "The reason I was so good in class, in combat, in everything I seemed to do, it was all because I'd done it all before. I just acted like it was new to me. And believe it or not, I already had all of your semblances before I met you, it was solely a matter of touching each of you so that it seemed like I'd only just copied them."

He opened his eyes and locked them with Ruby.

"I understand if you don't love me anymore." Jet said, a tear in his eye. "I don't deserve your love. You should just leave me to die, after what I've done."

Another surge of sadness broke through Ruby. Sure, it hurt to hear that he'd been keeping all this secret from her, but it was a bigger heartbreak to hear that he thought it better for her to simply leave him for dead, and even more that he thought Ruby didn't love him anymore.

She leaned down and kissed him on the lips, brushing them. Jet remained motionless as she sat up. The blood was staining her trousers now, but Ruby didn't care.

"Jet, I don't love you any less!" Ruby cried. "You're breaking my heart, thinking that I wouldn't love you!"

The look of shock on Jet's face was a first for Ruby. Then, a pained smile.

"Stubborn as a mule, you are." Jet replied. "You can take the lance out of me now. There's one last card I have to play."

"But you'll die." Ruby said, still sobbing.

"Nothing can stop that now." Jet replied. "After you've done that, lie next to me. Don't worry about the blood."

Ruby obeyed, gripping the hilt tightly, and wrenching it out, causing a fountain of blood to pour out of the wound. Job done, Ruby laid next to Jet.

"Let me hold… your hand for one… last time." Jet requested, holding an arm up. His breathing was becoming ragged, forced. Ruby immediately took his arm with her own, and Jet's whole body glowed purple.

"One… final power. Goodbye, to both… my life and… my love." Jet gasped, before he unleashed a purple fireball into the sky from beside Ruby. It exploded in mid-air, and without warning, Ruby felt herself lose consciousness, and the world turned black.

"One… last… sacrifice… I give my heart and soul so that... the world may... live on..."

The four girls gradually made their way to their dorm, Weiss, Blake, and Yang all barely able to keep their eyes open as they trudged down the corridor, each footfall weighted with tiredness. Ruby, however, despite feeling drained, was wide awake, in stark contrast to the rest of her team.

As they walked into their dorm room, Blake and Weiss immediately crashed into their beds, neither bothering to get changed. Yang was not going to be denied her sleep either, after saying "Night, Ruby.", she clambered onto her bunk, and, within seconds, Ruby could hear her sister's gentle snores start to permeate the room.

Ruby sat down in a corner of the room, looking at the sleeping beauties that made up her team. They had all been through a lot, she thought, and so had she. So why was she still wide awake? Ruby sighed, resting her legs, and slowly, her energy came back. She thought about studying for a test that Professor Port was going to give them in two days' time, but decided against it. Ruby knew that studying in an attempt to fall asleep only brought boredom, not tiredness.

She decided to go outside, to take a stroll in the numerous parks that surrounded Beacon. She picked up Crescent Rose, the cool feel of her weapon bringing with it the warmth of an old friend. Ruby smiled, her darling had been through nearly every bit of action she had. Walking down the corridor, she thought to herself. What did she want to do? It was incredibly boring, being on her own.

Ruby reached the door leading out of the building, and pulled it wide open. A cool breeze greeted her along with the deep orange sky that signified the onset of night was beginning. Ruby looked around her, seeing no one, before activating her Semblance, and speeding through Beacon. Yang had told her of a sweet spot near Emerald forest where one could watch the sunset, and Ruby wanted to check it out.

The spot itself lay on a grassy hill, overlooking the entrance to Beacon on one side and the Emerald forest on the other. Ruby looked up in time to see the gentle semi-circle sun that was dipping, and relaxed her shoulders. As Yang had told her, it was a nice sight to see.

Ruby was about to more towards the peak, when she felt an immense, crushing feeling of sadness. It was like a stab in her otherwise happy heart, and tears rushed to her eyes. Ruby looked down and wiped her eyes, confused as to why she felt so crestfallen. She looked up to the hill once again.

There was no-one there.

Fin