Disclaimer: I do not own any characters mentioned from Nintendo, M.G.S, Sega, Namco, Shonnen Jump, and any other animes/manga and Square Soft in the story except for my own.

The Dark Flame

A Super Smash Bros. Brawl Fan Fiction

Prologue: An Invitation

A dark atmosphere, yet a peaceful environment; some would say this is an unlikely combination. But, truth be told, this place once belonged to the angel that had brought death many times to the people of this world. Wait, let me rephrase that… I did not mean, "once belonged to…", I should've actually said, "belongs to…" No matter, he's doing what he normally does to the mortals that wander this world that have reached the ends of their paths. You're probably going to ask, "Why don't you care…?" or something along those lines, and let me answer you before that. To put it in simple terms, I'm merely here because I made a deal with him, or rather, he made a deal with me. A few weeks after my birth, I was found in the ashes of what was left of the home of my mortal family.

Don't ask why I'm referring to them as mortals, because I myself am one myself, but to put it simply, I lost my humanity that day. Death saw me, and instead of taking my life, he made the decision to train me, and when I was old enough, he asked me to search for a woman who had taken some of his powers away from him. His reward in me doing so was to allow me to keep my teen-like appearance for as long he's the angel of death. Many wish to become immortal, and even though this reward was not permanent for me, I accepted it. In order for me to surpass or have strength at least equivalent to the woman's powers, he gave me the power to harness the elements of fire and darkness, and use them in whatever ways I see fit. He also granted me the use of his scythe, Soul Eater, a scythe that will feed off the souls of those I kill, becoming stronger in doing so. He assumes that the woman would desire to have all of his powers, but since he's busy with other matters, he cannot handle fighting her, despite his powers.

Humans do not know the truth of the realm I reside in, and do not know the truth about the existence of Death. But despite my mission, I was never able to come across such a woman with powers of the elements she had taken, which were the elements of water and light. But one thing I learned from Death, is that she absolutely loves making people suffer as much as she can. A true sadist, as she's often referred to, but why she hadn't revealed herself these countless years yet still complexes my mind. But, fighting most definitely her thing; besides that, this mystery woman is as she is referred to; a complex mystery.

I figured my meditation for the day has reached an end, and as such, I soon found myself standing, gazing around the room. Plain as it may be, almost pure darkness with what appears to be no way in, and no way out. It was then I felt some sort of presence, the same kind that Death radiates when he finds something on his walk of the Earth. I raised my left arm, the gloved hand of mine with an amethyst ring on the index finger opened up, and my mind focused. My black hair with natural red streaks in it began to flow as if a wind was blowing around my body. The black shirt I wore, as well as the red vest over it, the dark grey jeans on my legs, and the black bandaged-ribbons on my right arm began to let out fluttering sounds as the winds began to pick up also. The color of the gloves I wore was black, and exposed two-thirds of my fingers, though in this case, it did not matter too much; the dark colors showed my allegiance.

"The darkness that is the void,
Awaken and open the gate of Earth.

Allow me to pass through the doorway,
In which the human world separates here.
Answer my call, the power of darkness!"

This spell could only be cast by those who have a connection with the darkness; Death and I, to put it more bluntly. The amethyst ring that was on my hand began to release a dark fog of sorts, which soon formed in my hand in the shape of a sphere of sorts. When I had enough focus, I closed my hand, pulled it back, and with that, I pushed it forwards, the sphere expanding when it released my grasp, and began to become more flat. I watches as it took shape in an oval of sorts, and became large enough for me to walk through, and would close when I pass through it. The portal always takes me to wherever Death is, so all I had to do was walk in. I walked forwards, the combat boots that I wore, which were black with red lining, made hearable sounds with each step I took. I closed my eyes as I passed through the gate, and when I opened them, I saw myself in what appeared to be an alleyway.

Before me stood a young man in a black robe, the hood covering his face, preventing me to see his expression. As expected with Death, though there was one mishap that allowed me to see his face once, and it was actually quite young, despite his size. He stood five foot six inches, some fair two or so inches shorter than I was, but the scythe he held in his right hand looked very menacing, that made up for his size. That is, if anyone would be able to see him, but nobody could; not unless they reached the brink of death. In front of him, lying on the ground, appeared to be two street fighters; martial artists by the looks of it, one male and the other female, yet one held nunchucks in their possession. Their bodies were lifeless, I can tell that right away, and felt no traces of their souls, despite the training that Death put me through.

"A little late as always, Dark… But, even I too was late myself… Her trace is no longer here, and it never was when I showed up…" I listened to him speak, sounding like an old man, but his voice was quite youthful. He only said part of the name he gave me, "Dark Fire", biased on the two elements he allowed me to use.

"So she's long gone…" I spoke silently to myself, and cursed mentally. However, somethin in the male street fighter's jacket caught my eye, an envelope of sorts, which I reached and pulled out. Like his clothes, it was covered in blood, but it wasn't quite as heavily covered as his garb. I took a look at the seal, which appeared to be a circle with a cross meeting at the bottom right corner as the envelope seal, which I broke in order to open it, and looked at the message within. The words were easy enough to decipher, despite being in what may have been in a foreign language, which went…

"To a Sir Demitri Flint,

We would like to say that you have been accepted by our fine experts to join in on the fight at our establishment. In the next few days, we are going to prepare a ride for each of the normal fighters like you, and returned letters to those we have found worthy of joining the fight. We would also like to include that if you have any questions, look us up online at the Brawl Central website you heard about. We cannot wait to see you compete against some of the most renown brawlers of all time. Just remember that killing others is not welcome here.

Sincerely from:

The staff of Brawl Central."

I looked over the letter once more, blinking a few times, and it occurred to me that it was an invitation of sorts. I saw nothing in the envelope or the letter that said they knew of this chap's appearance or fighting style. I looked around, and saw a similar envelope, but the seal was broken, and the letter was not there.

"Perhaps she is closer than we anticipated, Death… This may be a theory, but she may be intending to attend this tournament of sorts… She wants to ensure that there are people for her to fight, and leave in the state of these unfortunate souls here… I'll be willing to go as this, "Demitri Flint" character that lies before us, and seek her out; I'll keep you well informed over the duration of my absence." I explained to the young man, and he appeared to be in thought. I could sense he knew what I was planning, and he gave a nod, before handing his scythe, Soul Eater, over.

"You will need this, but just remember, only this woman is your target; you are not to kill any contenders that participate in this tournament except her, or the consequences will be severe on your end, understand?" Death warned me, and I gave a nod, grasping the scythe that was Soul Eater, and set it on my back in the self-designed case for it. "Then I shall leave this to you…" I heard him say, and without chanting anything like usual, he snapped his fingers, and a portal appeared.

"This should save you time from having to wait for that ride… And here…" I listened to him say, and he created what appeared to be an ID card of sorts. It had "Demitri Flint" as the name, the general age, and anything else that was necessary. But instead of the man's facial picture, it was replaced with my face; sure it may have been identity theft, but it was for the good of humanity. "Now remember, Demitri is your name as long as this goes on, and you will be seen by others, but only you will be able to see her." I heard him say, and I sighed.

"Yes, I know that… I promise I'll return with her, and you'll take your powers back away from her. Until then, I will keep you informed of the situation…" I told him, watching as he opened another portal back to where another death was occurring. I took a deep breath, and gazed at the portal he opened before me, and saw it was a very crowded place by the looks of it. Despite it, I knew I had to find her, even if it would take a long time to do so; the put a minor dark charm on the scythe so it appeared to be a normal scythe, but the fact is, it was not as it appeared.

I took a step forward, and found myself walking through the portal, yet when I was on the other side, I heard it close behind me. I was here for good now, at least, until my mission is completed. It is my job to defeat her, and Death will expose her to justice; defeat for me just was not an option in my eyes; to her, or anyone else here. No way in hell…

AN: I know I haven't been on frequently, but I promise to be back in the swing of things soon enough. I'm trying to make new chapters for the other fan fictions I'm writing also, since I made the promise to myself to do so. I just hope not to disappoint you any further.