Akai Tsubasa

Akai Tsubasa, his real name Messenger of the Southern Cross, Phoenix is one of Joker's Phantom Thief rivals in Season 3 of the anime.

He was sealed in a tomb for more than 3000 years and escaped after Devil Fang accidentally releases the seal. It was later revealed that he and Hosshii are aliens that crash landed onto Earth more than 10000 years ago and were on the quest to find a way to go back home.

Appearance
In his human form, he is a young teenage boy with orange/red hair and unusual cross pupils on his pink eyes. His normal attire consist of a hoodie, baggy trousers and sneakers.

Personality
As he was sealed for more than 3000 years before escaping, he have no knowledge of the modern world, with things from the new era surprises him. He also have a habit of answering his rival's question through listing. He have a tendency to yawn frequently and lamenting that he want to go home, much to Joker's annoyance, earning a nickname of "Yawning Jerk".

Despite the social flaws, he have some knowledge of the ancient treasures and the trails in the tomb where the God-beast/Hosshii was sealed. He also find thrills in dangerous games, even enjoying it when more people participates in it. He might have knowledge about the greatest treasure, with Hosshii and the legendary treasures being a key in finding it. He at least cares for Acrux as he cannot forgive someone who will harm his friend.

He have loathing of humans to some extent. Part of it is because he is an immortal and have outlive humans, especially on those who just wanted to fulfill their selfish desires. However, he finds Joker interesting due to his value of human life and unexpected events. He does not like water and can't swim, which was ironically fitting as he is a being that controls flames.

Synopsis
More than 10000 years ago before the events of the series, both him and Acrux were exploring in the galaxy. However, their ship malfunctioned, leaving them no choice but to escape through the escape pod. The pod crash landed onto an island and both Phoenix and Acrux were left stranded on Earth.

Acrux's food which was on the ship scattered onto Earth, which later assume the forms of jewels and are part of the ancient treasures. The jewels were needed to produce the guidance stones, which was then needed for them to find their spaceship.

Season 3
His tomb was first surveyed by the organization Devil Fang and he escaped after it was activated.

He managed to went all the way to Australia to get the Crystal Skull Key. However, he got interest in Phantom Thief Joker and passed the traps without any difficulty. He eventually reveals to Joker, Spade and Queen about the true treasure they are searching for, before he steals the key from them and revealing his true form.

He went to the temple in order to reunite with his former companion Hosshii before Joker and the gang foiled his attempt to reclaim him. During the search for the Star of Thor, he controls a giant squid to do his bidding, but his plan was foiled by Joker, Hachi and Captain Blue. However, he was able to steal the jewel that Hosshi produced when the Star of Thor was consumed. Observing the jewel with the dragon imprint, he calls his game with Joker a tie.

Later on, he attempts to take back the genie's lamp, but got trapped in a sand trap together with Joker and his group. He queried the king about his ancestor, but got enraged that he got betrayed by them just to have eternal life. He was able to tell Joker that the jewel with the beasts imprint is a guiding stone and escaped the trap due to Joker's earlier preparations of setting a card bomb which was stuck on the ceiling right below them. He admits his loss to Joker, for having 1 stone, with Joker having 2, but leaves happily for the fun game and Acrux taking a liking for Joker.

During the Phantom Thief Grand Prix, the island he and Hosshii have crash landed for more than 10000 years ago was used as the location of the tournament, with the treasure related to the stones, the 'Gaia Bird' was used as a prize. He returns back to his home, apparently heard about the ruckus caused by the competing Phantom Thieves and the member of the Devil Fang Kaitou 'Mini-Mini'. He carries Hosshii who was not affected by the Mini-Mini beam and approaches Mini-Mini, saying that it was his line for intruding his island.

He transforms to his true form, in which President D recognizes as the one from the tomb. He eventually got ahead of Joker, but was unable to get the Gaia Bird as it was underwater and he cannot swim. So he controls an alligator to do the work. However, Mini-Mini got in his way, fortunately, Joker won the treasure by making use of Mini-Mini's ray to his advantage by storing the whole lake water that was shrunk by the beam earlier and tossing it downwards once the actual volume returns to envelop high water pressure for him to win.

He retrieves his spaceship escape pod and shrinks it and finally reveals to Joker who he is. It was later revealed that the ancient treasure that Joker was looking for was actually his spaceship needed for him to go home.

Abilities
As he was not human, he have supernatural abilities, being able to manipulate flames even in his human form. He was also capable of forming tools through his flames and was able to fly in his true form.


 * In episode 31, he was shown to be capable of controlling creatures and animals, with the controlled host having Akai's eyes.He have some degree of combat as he was able to fight Joker in even terms, even in human form.

Trivia

 * It was stated that he can't stand water and swim, which was ironically fitting as his true form is a Phoenix, a creature who controls flames.