Disclaimer: Still don't own any characters mentioned from Nintendo, M.G.S, Sega, Namco, Shonnen Jump, Nippon Ichi, ATLUS, Square Enix/Soft, AKSYS Games, Sony, and any other animes/manga in the story except for my own. Also, in case you did not know, the plot is completely original, the mentioned characters so far are original, (Dark, Death, unknown woman, and the two street fighters) and expect more, but as far as I know, I'm going to introduce characters throughout; some you may recognize, others, not as likely; those characters for certain are made by the companies mentioned above.

The Dark Flame

A Super Smash Bros. Brawl Fan Fiction

Chapter 3: A Darkness Brawl

I walked further and further, until inevitably, I could not mistaken the sounds of what sounded like someone using martial arts against some alloys of sorts. I was here once before, and they provide an individual to fight against fully fightable holograms of other brawlers, or alloys designed to fight in basic forms. When I turned the next corner, I immediately sidestepped as an alloy was launched right by me, losing all function upon striking the wall. That was a close call, I would admit; any closer I would've been knocked in the direction with it. I turned to look and see who was training, and I recognized them a little.

This was the man who I was sitting next to earlier; his spiky white hair a dead giveaway, the complex metal slab that's a sword on his back, and the black and red outfit he had on. He was fighting alloy after alloy without his sword at all, easily defeating each one while avoiding or receiving minimal damage. He had a strange dark aura around him now at this point, though, and that intrigued me. So fighting with the darkness was common in his world as well, or he was the only one who could do so. I don't know; one thing for certain, he snapped his fingers and the alloys all deactivated, since it was clear they were not providing him with a challenge.

"Damn machines… Absolutely pointless to fight against when they do next to nothing against me…" I heard him speak, and he turned, and I saw his gaze had met my own. "Hmmm? Here to train also, I assume…? Kind of wasting your time though if you are…" I heard him ask, though his expression clearly showed that he was quite bored.

"I figured it would help prepare me for the challenges I might be facing up ahead in this tournament. I mean, everyone's fighting style is different from the next, their personalities are biased on how they fight, and what they use to fight varies; some use weapons, others use their martial arts abilities, while a few happen to use both, like you and I… At least, from what I've seen from you; admittingly, you seem quite skilled." I spoke to him, and I saw him shrug as he stepped out of the ring, and stretched a bit. It would seem that this man was looking in the shadows, and I couldn't help but question what he was looking for.

"I see… Knowing your enemy's attack patterns will help one achieve their victory against their foe, that is, if they can come up with a counter against each one." I heard her speak, and I watched as he was about to leave, however, I turned to face him.

"A bit unfortunate, however… That you and I will not be fighting against each other in this tournament, since we are in two different divisions. It would've been an interesting fight, though, I would think…" I said, and I watched as he stopped, and turned his head back at me, and heard him chuckle in a slightly mocking tone.

"You'd only think that, huh? More importantly, was that a challenge you were offering me, or are you simply wasting my time?" I heard him speak, and he looked almost half-amused at what I said, and I merely shrugged.

"Think, yes, since I sensed your darkness while you fought… And it just so happens that I…" I spoke, and my left hand began to shroud in a dark fog of sorts, and my exposed skin was starting to have odd, dark tribal designs across it. "I'm also skilled in the ways of darkness myself, and I'm curious to know whose darkness would consume the other's dark powers… Of course, I'd understand if you stepped down…" I spoke, wondering if aggravating him will cause him to drop his defense or anything.

"You'd think I'd surrender to a challenge like that? Ha, you must be in a little over your head; I have more years' worth of training than you'll ever know, you punk-ass kid! I guess I'll have to teach you a lesson by showing you I'm your superior in every way…" He spoke, and by the sounds of it, he was slightly pissed off, but amused at the same time. I saw him walk over past the ring to what appeared to be a hologram training grounds. There was four pairs of headgears that allow us to see the area as one's home world and fight lying on the desk just before. I watched as he grabbed one mask, and input a command into the module connected to the machine. I walked and grabbed my own headgear, and walked in behind him.

"Alright, I had set up the location we'd be fighting in… Now put that on, and let the fight begin." I heard him say, as he put his own, and I followed pursuit, and I watched as the area shifted to what was underground in a very tight location. Machines lie all around, and below us was some strange "cauldron" of sorts; quite odd.

"A simple warm-up should work for the first bit… I don't think I'll have to get serious with you." I heard him say, and his right hand was shrouded with what appeared to be a dark flame of sorts.

"And I should say the same to you…" I spoke, smirking a bit as the markings that appeared to be tattoos remained visible, as he looked at each other, waiting for the other to deliver the first blow. I chose not to use my scythe this time, at least, not until things would get serious; in my current form, I can fight well without my scythe, and I can fight well with the scythe alone without these markings. Having both show that I'm dead serious about fighting.

I eventually lunged towards him, and leaped up slightly while my legs swung in a spinning motion towards him, but he easily took a large step back, easily dodging the strike. Next thing I did was quickly brought my left hand down in an open palm, and a dark blast propelled me upwards quickly. My right hand came out in front of me, and enveloped in flames, before a few fire bolts emitted from it towards the man. I saw him pull his sword out and swung it, the strike disintegrating the magic I had formed. The fire magic pushed me back a little, allowing me to perform midair back flips before I landed comfortably on the ground.

"I underestimated you a little, but still, your abilities are a bit disappointing. Surely you can do better." I heard him speak, and I knew I had to remain calm; getting angry will lead to my defeat if my guard is down for too long. I soon saw him charge towards me as fast as he could, which actually was faster than I thought considering the weight of the sword on his back, unless its true weight is deceiving. I saw his left hand grasp his right, and it looked as though he was performing an elbow; when he performed it, I sidestepped to dodge it; however the next thing that came was a sideswipe of a kick to my side. I stumbled back from the force of the blow, but he didn't wait before he brought his leg down onto my body, forcing me to the ground stomach first.

While his guard was down, I made recover from the strike, swinging my leg which made contact with his own, forcing him to lose his footing and fell to the ground. Before he could counter with a swing of his sword, I somersaulted backwards to avoid the impact of the blunt side, which he then placed on his back again after his swipe. I think I heard him grunt something, but I couldn't really hear it. He wasn't using his sword too often, I took that into consideration, which could creak through my defenses if he tried.

"You're not too bad yourself… But let's see how you enjoy…" I spoke, and held my left hand back, and a dark sphere formed, and I pushed it forwards. "This!" I ended, and the sphere had revered into a dark, deep violet colored beam that made it's way in his direction, which he was able to jump out of the way, but he was inflicted with a bit of pain when it hit his leg as he landed behind me.

"Not done yet…!" I spoke, losing my left hand, and rushed up behind him with a kick, which he was able to block by raising his arm, but could not grab it. I tightened the grasp in my right hand, and what appeared to be a sword made entirely of flame was formed, which I swung at him. It hit him a few times, before I performed a somersault kick, sending him skywards a bit, but he recovered in midair easily. I then watched as he brought his leg into a kicking form, and he quickly picked up speed in his descent, giving me hardly any time to get out of the way. I grazed a bit by the blow, but I'm still in okay condition, but he appeared to be just warming up.

"Impressive, I have to say, you know quite a few abilities, it would appear, but… No more playing games; let's take this seriously!" I heard him speak, and he pulled his sword from his back, and held it firmly in his right hand, almost as if it hardly weighed anything. If he was getting serious, it may be best to learn what he could do here, and whether or not I would need Soul Eater.

I saw him charge again, but then I saw a gem on the back of his left hand glow brightly as he swung his sword with a surprising amount of force in an uppercut-like fashion. As I sidestepped, I could feel the wind the swing had produced, so I knew he wasn't holding back. However, I could not expect him to bring down the blade just as easily, with a battle-cry of sorts coming from him. I was knocked back a ways when the sword hit me, rolling a little, but my hands were able to flip me up to my feet part ways.

But he was right in front of me just as fast, and while he swung the sword upwards, he cried out, "Death Spike!" I was hit not only with the sword, but by a shadow beast formed from the sword's swing, which emitted a bit of dark energy, knocked skywards some. That hurt, oddly, as I recovered just as I hit the ground, and looked at him. He was in front of me once again, and I could see his red eye glint darkly, and watched as he swiped his sword suddenly.

I could not dodge, but I was able to take Soul Eater in hand, and watched as his sword took on a menacing scythe-like form of its own. He swung it quickly and precisely, cleaving through me, though due to our limiters, I was not scarred. After one last swing, I felt stuck in place, like I couldn't do anything as he turned his back towards me with his left hand held out. He grasped it suddenly into a tight fist, and I felt as my life force was diminishing quickly, and he appeared to be recovering from his earlier wounds.

I fell to my knees, but I was amazed; I did not become a trophy, which I was supposed to, unless I was not entirely defeated yet. This man had turned back to face me, just as I had time to recover a bit to get to my feet to strike him with the scythe, cutting him. I then released Soul Eater, and began to chant.

"Oh mighty darkness, take hold and fight,

Diminish those who are within my sight…

Oh mighty Soul Eater, hear my call,

Strike mercilessly, and bring forth their fall!"

As I said those words, my eyes changed from deep mahogany to pitch black with red glints within them. I was swinging my free arms as I released fire spell to dark spell, and repeating the pattern while Soul Eater reverted to its true form, cutting him up by itself, controlled by the chant and darkness. This was my truly ultimate attack when I am forced to use it, and the worse condition I'm in, the more severity behind each strike from Soul Eater, though here, lethality is not permitted, so it would just hurt like hell. When Soul Eater returned to my grasp, the man was unprotected before me, and like with Etna, swiped the scythe upwards, knocking him up quickly and suddenly.

I fell to my knees afterwards, with the markings disappearing while my eyes reverted back to normal through the reflection of Soul Eater's blade, which the weapon also took on its visible shape. I knew I was going to be a little sore tomorrow, after this fight and the fight with Etna, who wouldn't? I found myself getting to my feet after a moment, and the man's now trophified form landed before me, upright and he took on a pose of his own. He appeared to be in a battle pose of sorts, looking as though he's about to lung at whatever opponent he came across. I breathed deeply after a while of recovering, before I touched the base of his stand, and watched as he reverted to his normal self. He was slumped forwards a bit; looking a little bit pissed off with his sword on his back and more or less, just outright upset.

"Gah… Never expected anything like that to come from you, kid… Impressive, I must say… If we combined forces, we probably would be undefeatable, but, as much as the idea sounds, I prefer to fight alone…" I heard him say, as he recovered and stood up completely, and held a hand out.

"Heh, you weren't so bad yourself… And I only perform that whenever I have to get serious. But hell, after your assault, I was amazed you had recovered from the assaults I brought upon you… And like you said, I too prefer to fight alone, though the idea doesn't sound half-bad…" I spoke to him, and considering that we would probably be training a lot, it may be best to know who he is, and who I am, at least, publicly. "Back at where I come from, I was the second strongest, and I'm still trying to aim for top spot… Demitri Flint is what I'm called." I said, giving him my false name as I shook his hand firmly.

"People where I come from call me Ragna the Bloodedge, though I would prefer to just be called "Ragna", but… Doesn't matter too much; all the same, you fought well, and perhaps we may fight again in the future. Who knows, maybe I'll be the one to defeat you then…" I heard him say, and then the area dissolved as he removed the headset, which I did also, and he left moments after.

"I'll hold you up on that challenge, but I won't lose to anyone, even with one entitled, "Bloodedge"…" I whispered softly, before I left afterwards, and put the headset away. Again, I heard movements in the shadows, and when I looked, I saw a temporary glimpse of a woman who was watching me, before she was gone again. She had long, black hair, and most definitely had the speed of a ninja, yet that was all I saw, and something didn't seem right. All the same, I knew my time here was done for the night, and I should resume heading back to the room. However, that woman… Something about her sparked something in my mind… Did I, perhaps, know her? No, Death didn't say anything about her, so perhaps it wasn't too big of an issue. All the same, I didn't let it bother me as I returned to my room after several minutes of walking and a bus ride…