Stepping through the crimson portal, Tsutsumi narrowed his gaze at the group standing before him. His purple hair moved slightly in the cold night wind as his ominous purple eyes settled on Qrow.
A faint, dark green glow appeared within those eyes as his gaze slowly shifted from the old Huntsman to the two sisters that he once called friend and landed on the boys standing beside.
Tsutsumi immediately recognized one of them. Oscar Pine, the unfortunate soul that got dragged into this because of Ozpin.
Someone who original life got ruined by that old wizard.
"Ozma, you've got some guts showing your face before me again," Tsutsumi said, his voice carrying directly toward the older soul within Oscar.
He hadn't expected to run into him here.
Honestly, Tsutsumi hadn't planned on meeting Ozma again at all, at least not until he had finished traveling across the world and collecting his wife and children by destroying them one after another.
The reason he had even bothered using Raven to search for Qrow in the first place was simple. He wanted to turn the old Huntsman into one of his Shikigami, just like he had done with Raven, the man's sister.
Qrow, like his sister, possessed a magical ability that allowed him to transform into a black, with him being a crow. That made it possible for Tsutsumi to fully control him using Black Bird Manipulation.
When he turned Raven into one of his Shikigami through a Binding Vow, her existing abilities weren't simply erased. She Semblance and other supernatural powers were converted into a Cursed Technique.
Tsutsumi wanted to know if turning Qrow's bad luck into good luck would help him change his fate.
Plus, he already knew that Qrow was connected to Ozma, and he had assumed that Qrow would be one of the first people the old wizard would seek out after reincarnating into another body.
He just hadn't expected Ozma to have already found him.
Still, it didn't really matter.
Tsutsumi had come here for Qrow, and he wasn't going to let Ozma's unexpected appearance change that.
He could deal with the old wizard later. Ozma could run if he wanted to. He could hide, change hosts, travel to another kingdom, or disappear somewhere Tsutsumi wasn't currently looking.
It wouldn't make a difference.
As long as Ozma remained somewhere on this planet, Tsutsumi could eventually find him through the Gaia Library. He could simply search for his location and track him down whenever he was ready.
Tsutsumi calmly raised one hand and formed a hand seal.
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Mythical Roc Manifestation."
Raven, who had been standing silently beside him, suddenly slumped forward as black, ink-like liquid began spreading across her body. The substance crawled over her clothes and limbs before sinking into her skin, while the eyes beneath her white mask began glowing with an ominous crimson light.
Then her body began to change.
A pair of massive black wings suddenly erupted from her back, spreading outward with enough force to kick up dust and debris around her. Her body expanded as her muscles and limbs grew larger, while her legs twisted into powerful bird-like talons. Long black and red feathers spread from behind her hips, forming a thick tail that moved naturally behind her.
Her hands changed as well.
Black and red feathers grew across her arms and hands, while her fingers extended into sharp talons.
Rather than shrinking her physical presence down into a small and inconspicuous bird like she normally did, the positive energy produced by the Reversal Technique did the exact opposite. It expanded Raven's transformation, turning her into a massive humanoid avian creature that towered over everyone around her.
And this wasn't even her maximum size.
Tsutsumi could have poured more energy into the technique and made her considerably larger, but there was no real reason to do so. Making Raven gigantic would have been excessive for what he needed.
It would have been like bringing a massive butcher knife to cut a small chicken. The current form was already more than enough.
Raven threw her head back and released a deafening screech.
The sound shook the abandoned village.
Dust rose from the ground, loose pieces of wood rattled against the ruined buildings, and the windows of several abandoned houses cracked from the sheer force of the cry.
Qrow's eyes widened.
"Raven!"
The transformed Maiden suddenly spread her wings. The air exploded outward as she launched herself forward.
Qrow, Taiyang, and Tyrian immediately scattered. Raven's talons slammed into the ground where they had been standing only moments earlier, cracking the stone and sending chunks of dirt flying.
"Raven! Snap out of it!" Qrow shouted.
He quickly transformed into his crow form, shrinking down and flying backward as Raven's claws swept through the space where his body had been. Her talons passed through empty air, but she didn't stop.
Qrow circled around her, trying to find an opening before she released a powerful burst of wind outward, crashing into his small body and sending him crashing into an abandoned house, forcing him to transform back into his human form.
"Raven! It's me, Tai! Your hus-"
Taiyang didn't even get to finish. Raven's wing suddenly swept toward him, sending yellow electricity toward him; the high electrical voltage scorched the ground that trailed from her position toward him.
"Ahhh!"
Taiyang threw himself sideways, rolling across the ground as the lighting passed over him. He quickly pushed himself back onto his feet, only for Raven's talons to crash down where he had been standing.
"Okay, definitely not the family reunion I was hoping for!"
Tyrian, meanwhile, was laughing. The scorpion Faunus twisted his body around another sweeping attack, his tail snapping through the air as he landed several meters away.
"Oh, this is wonderful!" Tyrian laughed. "A Branwen fighting her own family! How wonderfully tragic!"
Raven shifted her crimson eyes toward him.
As Tsutsumi's Shikigami, Raven was bound completely to his will. Whatever resistance she might have once possessed had been removed when he subdued her. His commands were absolute, and she couldn't disobey them.
If Tsutsumi ordered her to attack, she would attack.
If he ordered her to stop, she would stop.
And if he ordered her to do something that would destroy herself, she would carry out the command without hesitation.
Raven spread her wings again and released another animalistic screech.
A powerful shockwave erupted from her body, mixed with an icy wave of energy that spread across the battlefield. The temperature suddenly dropped, frost forming over the ground as the wave rushed toward the three men.
"Move!"
Qrow threw himself to the side as Taiyang jumped in the opposite direction. Tyrian quickly ran back, getting out of the range of the wave, grinning as the icy energy almost touched him.
The frost spread across the ground and climbed over the ruined buildings, covering everything in a thin layer of ice.
Qrow landed hard and immediately looked back at Raven.
"Raven!"
She was already moving. Her massive wings beat once, launching her into the air before she folded them against her body and dove toward them.
Qrow raised Harbinger. Raven's talons slammed into the weapon. The force of the impact nearly knocked the scythe from his hands.
"She's even stronger than before!?"
Qrow gritted his teeth as Raven pushed against him, her talons grinding against the metal of Harbinger.
He couldn't bring himself to attack her properly. That hesitation almost got him killed.
Raven's other claw suddenly came swinging toward his chest. Qrow released his grip on Harbinger and dropped backward, letting the talon pass over him before rolling away.
"Qrow!"
Taiyang rushed in from the side and slammed his fist into Raven's wing.
The impact made her stagger slightly.
Taiyang followed with another punch, then another, forcing Raven to turn her attention toward him.
"Come on, Raven! I know you're still in there!"
Raven answered with another screech. She swung her wing. Taiyang crossed his arms in front of his body and was sent sliding backward across the ground from the impact.
He dug his feet into the dirt and stopped himself before he could crash into a ruined building.
"Okay," Taiyang muttered, shaking his arms. "That still hurts."
Tyrian suddenly appeared behind Raven. His claws flashed as he tried to strike her.
Raven's entire body suddenly burst into glowing flame; the heat burned him badly as she spun, letting her flaming wings slam into his body.
Tyrian's grin disappeared as he crashed through the wall of an abandoned building and disappeared into the dust.
Raven's massive body shot forward, her wings beating hard enough to kick up a powerful gust of hot wind. She ignored Taiyang completely and went straight for Qrow.
Qrow immediately transformed into a crow.
Raven's flaming talons closed around empty air. Qrow flew away, making some distance before transforming back into his human form several meters above the ground.
He landed on the roof of a ruined building and looked down at her.
"Raven, listen to me! Whatever he did to you, you have to snap out of this! You're stronger than this, aren't you!?"
She looked up.
For a moment, Qrow thought he saw something behind those crimson eyes. There was a small hesitation, the moment their eyes met, giving Qrow hope that he might be able to get through to his sister.
Yet at the next second, Raven spread her flaming wings and charged toward him.
Qrow jumped from the roof just as Raven smashed through the building, her massive body tearing through the old structure as she pursued him, setting it on fire.
Qrow landed in the street and immediately rolled away.
Raven emerged from the burning building behind him, scattering debris across the ground; the fire she started began to spread outward.
Tyrian climbed out of the wreckage nearby, coughing lightly as his gaze landed on the blazing avian in the distance.
The flames spread from one building to another, quickly consuming the abandoned town. Old wooden houses caught fire one after another, their windows glowing orange as smoke rose into the night sky. The entire town was slowly being swallowed by the flames, casting a massive orange glow across the dark streets.
Tsutsumi stood in the middle of it all without reacting. The heat washed over him, but he didn't seem to notice it.
Then a sharp scraping sound came from beside him, like metal grinding against something far harder.
Tsutsumi slowly turned his head. His dull purple eyes met a pair of blazing crimson ones.
Yang had already jumped backward.
She was clutching her mechanical arm with her normal hand, staring down at it in disbelief. The yellow paint covering the knuckles had been completely scraped away, exposing the damaged metal underneath. Several of the fingers were covered in small scratches as well, and there were even deeper marks across the surface of the prosthetic.
She had tried to punch him.
She had put everything behind that attack, using her Aura and Semblance to increase the force of the blow, only to realize at the last moment that the same invisible barrier protecting Tsutsumi was still there.
The difference this time was that she had actually felt something.
Back at the bridge, it had felt like no matter how hard she punched, she simply couldn't reach him. Her fists would stop before ever touching his body, as though an invisible wall existed between them.
This time, however, it felt completely different. The instant her fist reached the barrier, it was as if countless tiny blades had struck her mechanical hand all at once. The damage wasn't enough to destroy it, but it was enough to leave visible scratches across the metal.
Yang stared at her damaged hand for a moment before slowly raising her eyes toward him.
Tsutsumi looked back at her.
"Yo," he said in his usual blank tone. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Yang's expression immediately twisted with anger.
"Tsutsumi..." Her voice trembled, as her anger exploded. "You bastard! What have you done to my mom!?"
Yang leaped into the air and threw several punches toward him.
Her Ember Celicas snapped open, and both gauntlets immediately fired their Dust ammunition. The shotgun blasts spread across the air toward Tsutsumi.
They never reached him. The bullets were sliced apart into tiny particles before they could even touch the first layer of his defense, disappearing harmlessly in front of his face.
Yang didn't stop. She continued throwing punch after punch, firing another volley of Dust rounds between every attack.
Yet, none of them worked. The bullets were cut apart. Her punches stopped before reaching him. The damage to her mechanical hand only became worse as she repeatedly tried to force her way through the barrier.
But Yang didn't care. She was too angry to care.
Her feelings toward Tsutsumi had completely changed.
The memories of their time together at Beacon, the moments when they had fought alongside each other, the conversations they had shared, and even the fact that he had once been willing to believe her when others didn't were now bitter memories in her mind.
Their relationship had never been especially close, but there had been trust between them.
At least, she had thought there was.
Now, she couldn't even tell whether any of it had been real.
She couldn't understand him.
She couldn't understand why he had been so furious when they stopped Roman Torchwick, yet seemed perfectly willing to kill him himself.
She couldn't understand how he could stand there with that same emotionless expression when Pyrrha died.
Pyrrha.
Her friend.
Her sister's friend.
And, most importantly, Tsutsumi's girlfriend.
Yang had seen the aftermath. She had heard the stories from Ruby, Qrow, and the others. She had heard what happened at Beacon, how Tsutsumi had turned against everyone, how he had summoned that monstrous creature, and how countless people had died during the destruction of Vale.
She had also found out that Ruby get hurt. Her little sister had been blinded because of him.
Every piece of information she had received only made her anger worse.
And because she didn't know the truth about what had actually happened to Pyrrha, she could only believe what everyone else believed.
Tsutsumi Ryoko had killed Pyrrha Nikos, the Four-Time Vytal Festival Champion. One of the greatest young Huntresses of their generation. His girlfriend.
Someone Yang had once believed he cared about.
How could she look at him the same way after that?
Her anger had slowly become hatred. And with that hatred came an ugly thought she couldn't completely get rid of.
Maybe all of it had been fake.
Maybe the person she thought she knew had never really existed.
Maybe every conversation, every time they had fought together, every moment when she thought he was actually trying to help them had only been an act.
Yang couldn't see what was underneath his cold expression, the grief, the anger that had been eating away at him. She couldn't see how much Pyrrha's death had affected him or understand what had actually happened inside Beacon.
All she had were the stories everyone else had told her. Tsutsumi ignored her.
Ruby was firing at him as well, her weapon sending round after round toward him, but every bullet was shredded apart before it could reach him. The two sisters had already learned that getting too close was dangerous, so they kept their distance and continued attacking from afar.
Empty Dust casings fell onto the burning ground around them as they reloaded and fired again.
Tsutsumi barely acknowledged them. His attention shifted toward Oscar.
"For someone who has lived for thousands of years, this will be your biggest mistake, Ozma."
Oscar froze. The boy looked terrified as Tsutsumi's gaze settled on him. The other soul inside Oscar remained silent. Ozma didn't dare take control.
Tsutsumi's presence alone was enough to make Oscar feel like he was standing before something he had no way of stopping.
Tsutsumi finally looked away from him.
"Get lost, you two. This has nothing to do with you."
His voice remained completely cold.
He turned toward Yang and Ruby. The flames surrounding the town stretched their shadows across the ground, making Tsutsumi's own shadow seem to crawl toward the two sisters.
Yang's eyes widened.
"Nothing to do with us?"
She stopped firing as her ammunition ran out.
Her mechanical hand clenched into a fist.
"THIS HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH US!"
She charged forward while Tsutsumi barely reacted.
Then another voice suddenly shouted from behind him.
"Take this!"
Tsutsumi's eyes shifted slightly. Jaune came charging from behind with his sword raised above his head.
He had waited until Tsutsumi's attention was focused on Yang and Ruby, hoping to catch him off guard with a surprise attack.
Tsutsumi didn't even bother to turn around.
"Get lost, extra."
He swung his fist backward.
Jaune's eyes widened. He quickly raised his shield with his other hand, trying to block the incoming punch.
Only for black and red lightning to suddenly exploded from Tsutsumi's fist.
"Black Flash."
The punch slammed into Jaune's shield.
The impact shattered the defense, slammed right through it, breaking his arms and bones, slamming deep into Jaune's guts that make him cought up blood and saliva. Jaune was sent flying backward, forcing him to release both his sword and damaged shield as he crashed into one of the burning abandoned buildings.
"Gahhhh!"
"JAUNE!" Ruby immediately turned and rushed toward the burning building.
Tsutsumi's attention, however, had already shifted toward the damaged sword and broken shield lying on the ground.
His eyes narrowed as he use Tracing. Letting the history of the two weapons unfolded within his mind.
Tsutsumi clicked his tongue.
"Dreamed of becoming a hero, yet never trained for it until someone finally pushed you into the role. Ran away from home while taking your family's heirlooms, only to stumble into an old man's secret and receive a power you didn't even know how to control..."
He paused. His expression remained completely flat. Then, for the first time, there was a hint of confusion in his eyes.
"Why does that sound familiar...?"
Tsutsumi stared at the damaged sword and shield.
For some reason, Jaune's story sounded almost seventy percent like the story of some idiot with green hair that he already knew.
He couldn't help but wonder if the universe was making fun of him.