Hello guys! I won't apologize for not updating in so long, life loves to kick my ass, but I'll make up for it. This story and one new one that I'll be starting will be the main focus of my writing. The Gijinka Event will just have to wait until I actually want to write it. Same reason as why this hasn't been updated in forever. Even when I had the time, the drive wasn't there and I wasn't about to give you guys another half-assed chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 25: Brotherly Hate

Standing alone on the stage now, Gaiden glared at the camera's winking at him. "The brawl is over, can I leave now or what?" Though not said, the answer was no. He would now be subjected to the thing winners won. Attention.

Being teleported back to the Smash World, he glowered at Master Hand and Crazy, who were holding his shoulders so he didn't run. He really had no wish you talk to these people. They were weak, inquisitive, and not worth his time. Unfortunately, their opinion was quite different. "That was really an incredible battle Mr. Gaiden! Care to let us in on what exactly that transformation was?"

He opened his mouth for his customary retort but was interrupted as Flair ran up beside him, covering his mouth with both of her hands. She smiled at the reporters before turning back to Gaiden, her expression turning fierce. "I don't care that you don't like attention. You're a smasher now and you'll have to act like one. Just answer one question, at least, and then you can leave. That way you'll satisfy some of their curiosity and still leave them wanting more. You don't want to get on the press' bad side, believe me."

Again, Gaiden opened his mouth to state how little he cared but the look in Flair's eyes made him hesitate. Those brown eyes were very close to his own and the message was clear. Do this, or be destroyed. He nodded slowly. "Fine. One question. Then I'm gone."

She smiled good naturally and removed her hands. Only to slide one of them into Gaiden's own. He bristled at the open display of affection, but decided that he'd already made her mad enough. Turning to the reporters, he sighed in defeat. "That transformation is my demon beast form. It makes me much more powerful, though my speed is slightly reduced. I can also take a lot more punishment than I normally could." He wasn't about to let them know that he'd only just recently been able to control it. Now he realized what a formidable enemy these boring people could make. If that fact got out, he'd probably have to kill somebody to get his respect back. Then he'd have to do something to make Flair happy, knowing that killing someone would probably cause her to become angry with him.

He raised his hand to stop any more questions. "That's all for now. I'm tired." What he didn't say was that he was tired of these people. But again, then he'd have problems.

Stepping away with Flair, he quickly walked away from them, causing Flair to have to jog a bit to catch up even though he was shorter than her. It was that or be dragged, since she refused to let go of his hand. "See, that wasn't so bad? You should just listen to me more often." She said happily, ponytail bouncing behind her.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Don't get used to it. I'm just-!" His eyes widened as something appeared behind them. Something that they'd just seen in the last brawl. It was a portal to hell. Reaching for his blade, he flinched, instead shoving Flair into a corresponding hallway. "MOVE!" He yelled.

She yelled back, not yet seeing the gate, and was annoyed that he'd seemingly shoved her for no reason. Seeing him now reach for his blade, he didn't have time as he'd used his second to push Flair to safety. A huge blast of bright green, emerald flames enveloped him, veiling him from her sight. "Gaiden!" She yelled, not understanding what just happened. Instead, she saw a man she'd never seen before step in in front of the hallway.

He was of medium height and was wearing a light brown leather jacket. Under that a white shirt was visible. He wore brown dress pants and had a pair of tan hiking boots under that. His skin was pale, like Gaiden's, and he had fairly long black hair, framing his handsome face and splayed out above his shoulders. He spare her a glance, during which she saw bright green eyes, then turned his attention back to Gaiden, who'd been blasted from her sight. The face looked familiar, but she couldn't place where she'd seen it before.

"That was a foolish mistake brother. Better to let the human burn and escape than take the full blast yourself." He pulled a long, sharp katana from the sheath that rested on his back. It was a beautiful weapon. The sheath itself was a pale, dull green and the color was mirrored on the swords hilt. The cross guard was silver in color and she could barely make out that it was made from two curling wings, not touching each other, but close enough to make the piece circular in shape. It was altogether a more stylish weapon than the simple one Gaiden carried.

Then the words the stranger spoke hit home. "Brother?"

Letting the blade trail along the ground, sparks kicking up, the young man flicked his hair out of his face, green embers leaving his fingertips. "But what else could I expect from a filthy half-breed like yourself? That's the human in you acting. A true demon cares only for himself and his power." Stepping up to the rising figure of Gaiden, he kept his blade pointed down. "You really think I wouldn't notice you opening a portal? More foolishness on your part, Gaiden."

The smaller boy stood up, eyes locked on the other's in hatred. Truthfully, he didn't even know that it was possible to sense something like that. Anytime Samael had opened a gate, there'd never been any unwelcome visitors. But he wasn't about to admit his ignorance. Not to this man. "Did you come here to fight me or not Bub?" He said, saying the words carefully. He was aware that his father wanted him alive, though he wouldn't go through any trouble to insure that. He knew that, in turn, Bub wanted him dead. He was a threat to the throne and demon's dealt with threats in only one way. They erased them.

Bub nodded, seemingly calm but his finger beating at tattoo on his sword hilt. "Obviously. But I just wanted to thank you before doing so. Now that the hellhound is out of the way, my thanks, no one will be able to stop me from killing you." His face turned hard, his grip on the sword becoming just as solid. "A dirty hybrid has no place near the throne. That seat is for me and me alone. And I will eliminate all who stand in my way." His sword blade erupted in green flames, burning like his now apparent anger.

Gaiden quickly drew his own, smaller blade. He glared back at his brother, teeth bared. "I don't want the damn throne! How many times do I have to say that?" Gaiden's own sword burned brightly with his familiar purple and black flames, showing Flair just how similar these two brothers were.

Bub glowered down at him. "I don't care if you want it or not. I refuse to believe that you will sit silently by while I claim the throne. The only way you'll remain silent is if I make it so! Now die, brother!" He swung his sword in a downward stroke, sparks flying as the Gaiden blocked the larger weapon with his own.

Flair went stop the two boys from fighting, but Gaiden saw her coming. He turned away from his brother, struggling to keep the blade up. "What the hell do you think you're doing!? GET OUT OF HERE!"

Taking the distraction, Bub spun Gaiden's blade to the side and sent him flying with a kick to the face. Turning towards the defenseless girl, he sneered. "What foolishness. Both of you!" He flung his sword in Gaiden's direction, sending the boy further flying with a blast of hellfire.

As if remembering that she was here, Bub turned towards the unmoving girl. He raised an eyebrow. "You humans really are weak creatures. You don't even know when to run away. Suddenly, his hand was on her throat and his mouth was by her ear. "You think I won't kill you, just because you're an innocent bystander? Everything in this world is beneath me. You're no exception, gaining a false sense of security just because this pathetic bastard protects you." He held her at arm's length, regarding her with an amused expression. She was vainly holding onto his hand, to stop herself from choking to death. "You're struggles are futile. I could snap your neck with the twitch of a finger and there wouldn't be a damn thing you're demon boy could do about it. Beg for mercy and maybe I'll do just that, it'll be quick and painless."

She glared at him over her hands, and gathered her breath. "Go…to hell!" She yelled weakly, to which his eyes narrowed.

"That's not begging. I'll make sure this hurts." He raised his sword and her eyes widened in fear. Then he prepared to slash down, but his arm was grabbed from behind.

Gaiden was breathing heavily, his sword still in his hand. "I was about to say the same thing." His smaller sword darted toward the taller boy, aiming for his heart. There was no room to dodge. But he underestimated the speed with which his brother could move.

Bub smirked and disappeared in smoke, re-appearing at the end of the hallway. He glanced to his side and saw the demon's he'd brought with him keeping the smashers busy. There were even some greater demon's among them, which could definitely cause some problems. Good, now there'll be no interruptions. He looked back at Gaiden, who was kneeling beside Flair. She was holding her throat gently, struggling to get her breath back. "Why do you protect the weak? You should focus more on yourself…you'll live longer."

Gaiden stood up and stepped in front of Flair. "Why do you pick on the weak?" Then his eyes erupted in flames and he blasted towards his brother. Hate flowing from his sword and eyes. "You'll die sooner!"

Bub blocked the blow with contemptuous ease, striking back with a ring of steel. "You? Kill me? That's laughable!" He pushed the offensive, his sword dancing in a deadly pattern, matched step for step by Gaiden.

Gaiden gritted his teeth as he blocked his brother's superior strikes. He needed to take this fight somewhere else, otherwise Bub might try to go for Flair again. He wasn't really interested in her, Gaiden knew that, but he'd kill her if he got the chance. He'd already almost done just that and it had caused Gaiden's blood to run cold as he saw that steel blade heading for Flair's defenseless face. Roaring in rage, he allowed more power to seep into his blade, pushing his brother back.

He attacked with nothing on his mind but getting his brother as far away from this place as possible. The taller boy gave ground, eye's alight with malice as Gaiden's attack forced him on the defensive. "You've definitely improved…but it's still not enough!" Locking their hilts, he brought his other hand above his head, green hellfire coming to life in his palm. "Know you're place!" He brought it forward, creating an explosion of fire that sent Gaiden crashing through walls. Phasing out, he followed his brother through the mansion.

Fortunately, one of the smashers had made his way through the battle raging in the room. They were fighting twice as hard, since they had to protect the innocent people who had no means of protecting themselves. He saw Flair laying on the floor and calmly walked over to her. "Where is Gaiden?"

Flair looked up and saw a tall man. He had blue hair and a green bandana keeping it out of his eyes. "Ike!" She said, with some surprise. Then again, she should've expected him to make it through that blood bath.

He nodded. "Yeah, that's my name. Now please tell me where Gaiden went. I'd rather like to meet that friend of his that I saw before some stupid demons got in my way." He seemed quite at ease, as if he hadn't been fighting his way through a horde of otherworldly monsters.

She pointed at the hole in the wall, thinking that Gaiden would need the help. From what she saw, he'd been having trouble with his brother. Looking at the wall, Ike smirked. "Of course. Guess that was rather obvious. Well, see ya! I'm gonna go see if I can introduce myself to this guy. Did you catch his name?"

She nodded. "His name's Bub."

Ike nodded and began to step through the wall. "Thanks. Now I won't have to waste time with introductions."

Flair stared at him. This guy's nuts! "One more thing Ike!" He rolled his head over onto his shoulder, obviously wanting to get moving. "He's Gaiden's brother. From what he said, he wants to kill him."

Ike sighed. "Thanks for that useless information. I could've figured that out myself." His expression became thoughtful as he considered the name. "His brother's name is Bub? I'm gonna have to ask him that when I meet him. That's honestly kind of lame." With that, he ran through the walls, Ragnell in his hands.

Flair went and sat against the wall, her energy drained from her encounter with Bub. I just hope nobody gets hurt. She frowned and shook her head. Scratch that. I hope Bub gets hurt a lot.

Not bad, I guess. Gaiden has a brother. I'd planned on that for a while now, since I started this story, but wasn't sure when or where to bring him in. I knew that he'd have to be Gaiden's rival in this story, since he hasn't had a real one to speak of. You guys will just have to wait until chapter 26 for the rest of the fight. And yes, I really just wanted to get the smasher out of the way. Hence the demon fodder. Thanks for your patience and feel free to hurl abuse at me. I deserve it. Let me know what you think of this development!