Glynda sat in her office alone, grading papers from her students' midterm exams. Most of the teachers and staff were having a good time with the students, celebrating the first round of the tournament's completion. Glynda however prefered the quiet. She would of course celebrate her students' victories later, but Glynda couldn't stand the thought of leaving her paperwork unfinished. Besides, she had to keep up her reputation of getting her work done as soon as possible, even days ahead of the deadline. Still, it was a little lonesome working on papers with no one to talk to. Not that there were many in this academy, staff and students alike, that were capable of intellectually stimulating her. And while the students were plenty kind and loyal, with the exception of a team or two, they just weren't in the same intellectual level as her. They were young, inexperienced, and even a little foolish at times. Glynda just wished that there was someone in this building besides Ozpin who she could actually have an intelligent conversation. Weiss was smart enough, but far too stubborn and prideful to see any other point of view besides her own. Glynda was the best teacher in the Beacon academy, and she and all the other teachers knew it. It was hardly an arrogant statement, all the other teachers and Ozpin had given her outstanding reports on her and her track record with the students was superb. No student had ever failed her class, partially because of her excellent teaching, but also because they were too afraid to. But over the years the job had gotten tiresome. She wished more than anything to be with another magician or sorcerer again. To seek out new knowledge and power, to be able to mold and shape the world, and to be truly understood. But the gift of magic was only given to those with the strength and wisdom to wield it, and Glynda knew from the first days of every class she had ever had that none of the students were worthy. The only true sorcerer she had ever met was from a totally different world, and now he was gone.
Suddenly she heard a knock on the door. Glynda looked up, irritated by the interruption, but not about to be rude to a student who probably had a stupid question. With a wave of Glynda's riding crop, the door was unlocked.
"Come in." she said drily. She was hardly interested with the company of someone so dull. She didn't even bother to look as he entered.
"You seem rather vexed Miss Goodwitch." observed the guest. His voice seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite decipher who it was. She decided that it might in enjoyable to see if she could guess this person's identity without looking. Whoever it was wasn't a complete moron, after all he had correctly used the word vexed. Although he could be a student who wanted to seem smarter than he was.
"That I am." Glynda replied without looking up. Her voice seemed stale, uninterested, and projected her total boredom.
"I know how you feel." informed the guest. "No one here truly understands you. Not even Ozpin." At this Glynda was surprised. She had done her best to hide her contempt for her current situation. Yes she was doing good here, but she knew she could be doing so much more with someone of her talents at her side. She finally looked up, and was completely taken aback to see her old teacher once again. The most powerful sorcerer she had ever met. A man with such power that even the wills of mortals were not out of his control. He was the sorcerer, the necromancer, and deceiver, Quan Chi.
At first Glynda was so surprised that she had no idea what to feel. Then she remembered all the pain and anger quickly took over. She walked around her desk and approached Quan Chi with murder and fire in her eyes.
"Glynda it's so good to see-" Quan Chi started before Glynda stopped him by slapping Quan Chi in the face.
"How could you?" Glynda started, her rage boiling over. "For a year you let me believe you were dead, and now you show up out of the blue and think it's all okay! I had to mourn your death in secret, without being able to let anyone in! So what's your excuse for not telling me you were alive for all this time?" Glynda was crimson red with purest rage. The last time Quan Chi saw that much pure rage was in Scorpion a year ago, and that encounter ended very badly for Quan Chi. Quan Chi had expected the slap, after all he did deserve it, but he had gravely underestimated her strength as her hand left a red mark on his pale skin.
"Glynda," Quan Chi started, "I was dead for all that time." Glynda was surprised by the answer, but she wasn't about to show it. "I've only been back for a few days, and coming back to life had... complications. But I'm back now, back for good." For a while Glynda said nothing. It took her a minute to let it all sink in.
After a while, she sighed and said, in a more calm tone, "At least you died fighting Shinnok and helped save billions of lives." At this Quan Chi looked away, embarrassed. "Please tell me you didn't work for Shinnok. After Shao Kahn you said you were done serving warlords."
"Shinnok was different." Quan Chi pleaded. "He was like us. He was a true sorcerer. Far more powerful than I was and because of him I am far more powerful than I ever was. I wasn't going to let him win. I had a plan in place to stop him before I lost my head. Quite literally." Quan Chi rubbed his neck as he said this, remembering the experience vividly.
"Well you still shouldn't have done it." accused Glynda, trying her best to stay mad at him.
"You're right. I should have stayed here with you. But now I have the chance to make things right. I can't wait to see how you've evolved since we last met and to show you what I have learned." Now it was Glynda's turn to be embarrassed. In a whole year her abilities as a sorceress hadn't improved much, if at all. Her environment and situation had little to no opportunities to learn and grow. She tried to meet with self proclaimed professionals on magic, but they knew nothing of what magic truly was. They thought magic was merely a form of dust and aura manipulation. They were fools to think that magic was something that could be explained by the science of their world. Quan Chi could sense her hesitation and smiled.
"These people can't help you." Quan Chi continued. "You're beyond them, above them, better than them. They could never understand the world the way we do. Most of them believe their world is the only one. You should be leading these people, not teaching the unworthy." Glynda remained silent, contemplating her options. Quan Chi was offering all she ever wanted, but would her students need her? They needed someone strong to help them become true hunters and huntresses, but they did have other teachers who were acceptable.
"I need a minute to think." She finally replied as she walked towards the door. Quan Chi made no move to stop her as he did his best to hide a devious smile. Just as she opened the door and stepped out, with a wave of his hand a portal appeared right in front of her, too focused on thinking to notice in time, she stepped through it and ended up back in her office, right in front of Quan Chi. Glynda's face turned red from rage.
"You know I hate it when you do that!" she accused.
"Yes but you're just so cute when you're mad." Quan Chi replied, trying to hide his smile. With a wave of his hand a wine glass appeared in his hand, filled with her favorite drink, "Ace of Spades". She angrily snatched the drink from Quan Chi's hand, trying not to look grateful for the gift. She did however take a large sip of it.
"I'm still mad at you." Glynda finally said.
"That's fine. Let it all out. Just say all the things about me you hate." He replied. Glynda took a big breath. She had a lot to get off her chest. Quan Chi braced himself for the incoming storm.
"You died, you're bald, you're literally the whitest person I've ever seen in my entire life, you literally never wear a shirt, you don't ever do the dishes, you get jealous of every man I talk to, you constantly get into fights with everyone, almost all your other friends are your undead slaves, you're a freaking demon, you never return my calls because you refuse to get a phone, you're always trying to take over the world, you keep working for people who just end up getting killed, you have these weird markings all over you that I have no idea what they mean, pretty much everyone from your world hates you and or wants something from you, you always do your stupid trick with your portals, whenever you have to do chores you just make your creepy skeleton soldiers do it, you haven't watched any good movies ever, and you snore like a bear!"
"Well this is the first time I've heard you complain about me not wearing a shirt." Quan Chi replied with a sly grin. Glynda's face turned even more red from embarrassment, but she couldn't help but give a little smile.
"Quan." she started. She was the only person who referred to Quan Chi by just his first name. "I don't know if I can do this again. With the thunder god trying to kill you, Scorpion trying to kill you, actually almost everyone wants to kill you where you're from, and I can't lose you again." At saying this there were tears in her eyes. Of course she tried to hide them by looking away.
"Glynda," Quan Chi started, placing his hand on her shoulder, "I have a way for us to never deal with any of that ever again. It'll just be you and me again. Just like old times." Glynda wiped away the tears in her eyes and turned to him.
"If you're lying to me, I'll kill you." she threatened. This wasn't a joke, this was a legitimate threat. Quan Chi had gotten Glynda into some sticky situations before and she wouldn't take it anymore.
"I would never lie to you." Quan Chi lied. "But there is one thing…" Glynda let out a heavy sigh.
"Who is out to kill you this time?"
"Just Raiden again. But he's changed, they… we pushed him too far. He's not just defending earth realm anymore. He's hunting down its enemies. He wouldn't be able to find me here except for the fact that he's already been here and spoken to the head master. Raiden gave the headmaster something to contact him with. I need whatever that is to insure our safety."
"I'm surprised you didn't kill Ozpin and take it." she replied with venom in her words.
"I know you care about him. I would never kill someone you care about." Quan Chi lied again. In her heart Glynda knew Quan Chi had spared Ozpin purely to win her back, but she wanted to believe he had changed. After all, in a way, he was everything she was looking for. "It's your choice Glynda." Quan Chi continued. "You can embrace who you truly are with me, show the world the goddess that I already see you as, and become an immortal being that will shape the path of the universe. Or you could stay here, teach a few kids to fight monsters that we could exterminate."
It was a tempting offer. Could she trust her former lover? He was known to be a liar but he had loved her, and obviously still did. But then again, what was the alternative? To die here some day, maybe get a few nice words at her funeral, but ultimately be forgotten.
"What do you want me to do about Ozpin?" she finally asked. Quan Chi smiled a sinister smile, his eyes glowing an unusual shade of blue for a moment.
"I want you ask Ozpin for the device Raiden gave him. He won't deny a request from you." Glynda thought about it for a second and nodded. "This will all end well for everyone Glynda, I promised." With a wave of his hand a green portal appeared, and both the sorcerer and the sorceress stepped through it. They appeared outside Ozpin's office. Quan Chi placed his hand on Glynda's shoulder as he said "It's okay. You can do this. No one can resist your charm." At this Glynda made a little smile. "I have to speak to Fujin a minute about my 'parole'. Quan Chi lied. "Shouldn't be more than a few minutes." Glynda nodded in silence. And turned to the door. Quan Chi made a portal and walked through before Glynda entered Ozpin's office and saw the carnage that awaited her.
Quan Chi appeared in one of the student dorm hallways, one which had the bloody and badly burned corpse that once was Dove. If Quan Chi didn't know any better, he'd say that Reptile must have killed him, but someone so primative had no way of entering this realm. In a burst of flames Quan Chi's favorite slave appeared, Scorpion.
"The student Ruby Rose is not in this building." Scorpion informed Quan Chi. Quan Chi looked into Scorpion's lifeless and pure white eyes. In those eyes was more hatred and rage than Quan Chi had seen in any other being he had met in all the realms he had visited. Not even the soulless Grimm were able to compete with the smoldering anger that was inside Scorpion. If Quan Chi's magic didn't hold Scorpion under his control, one of them would be dead.
"That is your problem to deal with." Quan Chi replied, aggravated by Scorpion's failure. "Find her and kill her, but bring me the body. Without it, her death would be meaningless. Did you at least finish your other assignment?"
"Yes, Ozpin is dead." Scorpion replied, handing Quan Chi Ozpin's blood stained cane.
"So this is what Raiden gave you. Poor Ozpin. You were a fool to choose him as an ally instead of me." Quan Chi dropped the cane into a portal, safely transporting it to Quan Chi's enchanted safe.
"You truly love this Glynda don't you?" Scorpion asked out of the blue.
"Is it that hard to believe? Yes I do love her. You knew love once as well Hanzo."
"Until you took that away from me sorcerer! How could you do something so cruel to someone you love? If she knew what you made me do-"
"She won't and never will." Quan Chi interrupted. "She will have her vengeance on you, and soon all of this will behind us. I couldn't risk Ozpin not giving her the cane."
"I swear by the Shirai Ryu when I am free from your curse I will kill both you and the bitch!"
Before Quan Chi could discipline the revenant ninja for his threat, the sound of a portal opening got both of their attentions. Out of the red portal walked a masked woman clad in red and black, armed with a sword of incredible power. Raven looked over to Quan Chi and Scorpion.
"Hello Quan Chi." she greeted in mocking tone. "Surprised to see your star pupil."
"Why yes." Quan Chi admitted. "I was surprised to see Glynda. You however are merely a disappointment. A testament to my greatest failure. I should have never trusted someone as rash and pathetic as you with such a powerful weapon." As he said this Raven tightened her grip on her sword's hilt.
"You still need your puppet to fight your own battles?" she insulted as she gestured to Scorpion.
"I will not spare you this time!" roared Scorpion. "You will bathe in hellfire as a tear out the heart of Quan Chi's failure of a concubine!"
"Actually Scorpion, your mission is too important. Deal with your target and meet me back at my fortress. I'll send you some help shortly." Scorpion was turned to Quan Chi with literally fire in his eyes. Quan Chi thought Scorpion couldn't get any angrier, he was wrong. With a burst of flames, Scorpion was gone.
"What's this about Raven?" asked Quan Chi. "Come to thank me for giving you that sword? The only thing that really gives you any identity." Raven's blood began to boil with rage. Quan Chi knew just the right buttons to push. After all, he had known her for years.
"I'm here to kill you." she replied, her eyes turning crimson. "For all the years you let me on, letting me think that we could make a difference together. But I was always just your pawn. You never accepted me like you did the others just because I can't do your stupid tricks!"
"At least Glynda and Cinder were actual sorceresses." Quan Chi shot back. "Your lack of magic made you what you've always been, a mere weapon. Nothing more. The only potential you ever had came from the that sword."
"Then it's a damn good thing I know how to use it!" Raven unsheathed her sword, it glowed red with Aura. "When you gave me this sword you told it adapted and evolved. This won't be anything like last time."
"You mean the time I did this?" Quan Chi asked as reached out to Raven. His dark magic made a green spirit like essence come from his hand and wrap itself around Raven. With a swing of her sword the energy dissipated instantly.
"Your little mind control shit isn't going to save you this time. Looks like after years of abusing me with it, the sword found a way around your little spell. Guess you'll have to fight me like a man. But you're not a man, not really." Quan Chi merely laughed at the insult, cleverly hiding his nervousness.
"Oh god this foreplay is getting old. If you're going to kill me Raven at least do it quickly. The grating sound of your voice is torture enough."
In the blink of an eye Raven had already cut the distance between them him half with an impressive sprint. Quan Chi merely raised up his hand and opened a portal in front of her to the hellish netherrealm. He had underestimated how much she and the sword had evolved. Raven cut through the portal with a single slash and made the portal dissipate as fast as it appeared. Two swords materialized in Quan Chi's hands as he blocked her first strike. Quan Chi could barely keep up with the fury of strikes. At this rate, the greatest sorcerer in world was soon going to become a headless corpse, again. Quan Chi's swords locked with Raven's. Both kombatants had impressive strength, but Quan Chi's demonic strength was no match for Raven's ferocious tenacity. Raven's sword began to overpower Quan Chi's blades, moving them dangerously close to Quan Chi's throat. But Quan Chi had learned a few new tricks as well. As soon as the blades were almost at his neck Quan Chi fired a green spirit skull from his head. The impact of the skull shattered Raven's mask, sent her staggering back, and broke her nose. Raven recovered swiftly and prepared for the frontal assault most opponents would perform after stunning an opponent. But Quan Chi had her right where he wanted her, at a distance where he could harm her and keep away from a direct conflict. With a wave of his hands, Quan Chi summoned a winged demon, a netherrealm bat to be precise, above him.
"Kill the bitch!" Quan Chi commanded. The demon bat swooped at Raven's face. Quan Chi however wasn't content to just allow the demon to do the fighting. He opened up a small portal behind himself that opened up behind Raven. Quan Chi kicked through the portal in an attempt to kick Raven in the back and push her into the bat's assault. This tactic however wasn't a new one and Raven anticipated the kick, moved out of it's way, grabbed Quan Chi's leg, and stabbed her sword through his knee. Quan Chi screamed out in pain. Blinded by rage, she twisted the blade to make Quan Chi suffer more, instead of dealing with the incoming demon bat. Raven ripped the sword out of Quan Chi's leg just before the bat reached her, but by then it was too late. The demon bat tore into Raven's neck with his mouth and ripped out a few of her teeth with its clawed wings. The demon was in pure ecstasy as it lapped at the blood that was spurting from Raven's neck as she gurgled and vomited out more blood. Quan Chi pulled his now broken leg back through the portal. The wound was crippling, but not fatal. Given enough time Quan Chi could heal from this back at his fortress. But Quan Chi couldn't escape, not yet. He needed to make sure Raven died, and even now she was starting to fend off the bat. Quan Chi then remembered Dove's corpse. If Reptile was here somehow, he'd need his help. Quan Chi could get that, one way or another. Quan Chi limped through a portal that led to the other side of the hallway, where he headed, painfully slowly, to the cafeteria. Quan Chi blasted the doors open with a magical skull projectile to see the bloodfest inside. In the corner lay a half dead faunus, bleeding profusely from her face, or lack thereof. All she let out was a sad whimper as she lay wondering whether or not suicide was a viable option to end the pain. Quan Chi could have helped her, but she seemed of no use to him. Her soul wasn't worth the blood dripping down his broken leg. However on the other side of the room was a much more useful situation. Cardin knelt by the headless corpse of Reptile, the contents of his smashed skull making a green and sticky layer on the floor. Cardin was weeping profusely as he pounded the corpse of the beast who killed the only people who had ever understood or cared for him.
"Why?" Cardin demanded to the dead Zaterran. "Those guys meant everything to me and you just-" Cardin was cut off by a sharp pain in his neck. Cardin looked down to see blood gushing from his neck and falling over the ground and all over Quan Chi's sword. Quan Chi jabbed the sword through Cardin's throat to make his death more quick. Quan Chi needed a good and usable corpse fast.
"Oh Quan Chi!" coed Raven from just outside the cafeteria, her voice distorted by her badly injured throat. "Don't leave so soon, I have so much fun planned." Quan Chi painstakingly knelt down beside the twitching and dead Cardin. The powers of the Neatherrealm and of hell itself surged through Quan Chi was he began to bring new and unholy life into Cardin. Cardin's eyes opened and glowed an unnatural shade of yellow, his skin became as pale as as deadman's, and his veins began to glow yellow. The wound in his throat repaired itself as Quan Chi removed his sword from it. Cardin was first felt nothing but coldness. As if he was not in his own body, but merely an observer. Then came the pain. His entire body seemed to explode in hellfire to him, yet he couldn't scream. But as his body began to come back to him, and become movable, he started to be overcome with adrenaline. It consumed and even blotted out the pain. He could feel every fiber in his body knitting itself together. He would be good as new, no, better! Stronger, faster, tougher, a superior warrior.
"Now my warrior, you will destroy my enemy!" Quan Chi commanded. Cardin got up and picked up his mace. Even with the pain of death still fresh in Cardin's mind, his excitement was undeniable. Raven entered the cafeteria, one hand clutching her bleeding throat, one hand firmly grasping her sword. Quan Chi pointed at her, and Cardin grinned at the chance to test his new power. With every step Cardin took as he charged, a small tremor in the ground was caused by his sheer strength. His first swing was a total miss and left him wide open for Raven to stab Cardin through his stomach. The pain was perplexing. He could feel the sword and it was an unpleasant feeling, but nearly the worst thing Cardin had ever felt. Hell, Cardin had worst beatings from his Dad than this. Cardin's grin widened as he realized his new level of durability. With one hand he knocked the surprised Raven across the room. Her jaw was broken and unhinged by the impact and she dropped her sword as she hit the wall, hard. She looked up, her vision blurred from the blood loss and the massive impact to see Cardin approaching her. She reached out to Quan Chi.
"Please don't make him do this Quan Chi!" She begged, tears flowing down her eyes. "I'll become your servant again. I swear to god. It'll be like the old days. Please god don't kill me!" Quan Chi let out a diabolical laugh, seeing her beaten and broken was almost as satisfying as wiping out the Shirai Ryu.
"That ship has sailed Raven, and your fate is sealed." Quan Chi gave Cardin a nod to approve of her execution.
"You won't regret giving me the honor boss." affirmed Cardin. Cardin dropped his mace and picked Raven up by the hair. He then slammed his fist into her gut, over and over again. Cardin punched all the air from her body and made Raven convulse mouthfuls of her own blood. Finally, Cardin put both his hands on each side of her head and began to push his hands together. She began to half screech half gurgle what little blood she had in utter agony as her skull began to give way. Quan Chi's spine tingled as her heard the heavenly sounds of Raven's skull cracking. Finally, Cardin's hands met one another in a loud splat. Raven's head exploded in chunks of bone and brains. Her eyes popped out, surprisingly unharmed even. Cardin licked his face to clear off some of the warm and salty blood of his dead opponent. Her body dropped like a rag doll, lifeless, and motionless. Quan Chi let out a deep sigh of relief. Today was a good day.
"Now my warrior, you shall return to my fortress and await orders from D'vorah." Quan Chi commanded as he opened a portal, large enough for Cardin to enter. Cardin nodded enthusiastically as he picked up his mace and walked through the portal. Quan Chi suddenly remembered Glynda, and quickly made a portal to outside Ozpin's office. Quan Chi hesitantly opened the door, feeling guilty for the pain he had to cause her for his own safety.
"I'm sorry I took so long dearest. Fujin and I had a-" Quan Chi stopped mid sentence, as he pretended to be surprised by the corpse of Ozpin. Quan Chi almost smiled in pride at his wraith's work. He had really outdone himself this time. Ozpin's head was nailed to the wall with one of Scorpion's sword, blood flowing down it and staining the wall and floor. His body was vertically cut in half, allowing the organs and blood to flow out smoothly. It was a squishy and sticky mess, and Quan Chi almost laughed, but contained himself so Glynda wouldn't notice. Glynda was looking away from Ozpin's body, her face was red from crying for so long. Quan Chi's heart ached a little bit at the sight of her like this. Quan Chi limped to her and put his arm around her. He threw her arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder.
"Why did he do it Quan?" She asked, unable to contain her feelings.
"I don't know. But I won't let him get away with this."