A simple series of one-shots based off Super Smash Brawl. R and R, please!

01- Swordplay

"HEYYAHH!"

Clang. Clang.

"Hup! HAHH—!!"

Cla-CLANG. Fwt—Clang. Clang.

"HIY—"

"Link, please," Marth interjected dourly, returning to his beginning position. Lifting Falchion's point to trace the movement of his opponent, the blue-haired swordsman eyed the object of his annoyance down the length of the sword with poignant exasperation. "Less grunting, more parrying." He charged.

"Sorry." Rolling away to dodge the steel, the Hero drew his bow with a practiced motion and let an arrow fly from the sturdy frame. Marth deflected the shot easily with a sweep of his blade, fixing the archer with a deadpan glare. The blonde grinned flippantly at him. "It's sort of a habit," he excused himself, grunting the last word as he flung a furiously hissing bomb toward the other man. The swordsman leapt back in a blur of blue and distanced himself from the imminent explosion. Link somersaulted out of range and plugged his long ears just in time: a second later the bomb went off spectacularly, spitting dark smoke and ashes in a plume of gray.

Marth coughed into a fist as he watched the dark clouds scatter for a chance to attack. "Extra noise hardly benefits a swordsman's performance," he refuted. Fending off a barrage of Link's arrows with a flourish of his thick cape, he lunged for an opening, sword flashing dangerously.

"Pshh. So?" With a grunt, Link raised his shield just in time to deflect the incoming attack. Reaching for the hilt of his own sword, the Hero of Time swept into the offensive. "Don't strike it 'till you try it! HEYAH!" Energy arced from the metal as it raked the area of it's bearer's circumference, shimmering an afterimage of the magic blade. The immediate danger of impalement now cleared, the teen's viridian eyes glowed with adrenaline as he faced Marth. "Besides, I'm not so much a swordsman as I am a… " He paused, searching for the right word. "I dunno. But I use a heckuva lot more… stuff… than a swordsman."

Marth considered the Hero's thinking visage with a raised brow. "A jack-of-all-trades, then?" he suggested, and the two swordsmen broke stance to consider this thought.

A shrug. "Eh. It's better than 'Dungeon Crawler'." Link smirked, and replaced the Master Sword with his trusty Clawshot.

"Very true," Marth inclined, a similar expression appearing on his lips. He rushed in without another word, Falchion at the ready.

Link's arm raised and aimed in a blur of speed, the hooked ends of his ranged tool all but flying toward his opponent and clamping down mercilessly on the metal of Marth's sword. The bluenette wrestled with the Clawshot's (literally) iron grip for a time, before muttering an oath under his breath when he noticed Link pulling out a bomb. The prince growled, re-gripping the hilt of his sword with renewed vigor.

"Saseru mono ka?" he asked, eyes flashing defiance. Lifting his sword to eye level, right elbow held high, Marth countered, "Dolphin Slash!"

The vertical slice freed the weapon from the jaws of its captor, sending the claw and chain flying toward the ground, and Marth harrumphed in success as he brandished his reclaimed Falchion. Grinning to himself, Link defused the unused bomb, retracted the metal shot and summoned his own sword and shield. Charging forward, he brought up his weapon in a vicious uppercut to meet Marth's downward aerial attack. The two met in a rage of steel and the clangor of blade against blade rang in both their ears.

Link grunted at the pressure Marth exerted on his sword arm as the Altean vaulted away in a perfect backflip, cloak billowing about his lithe form as he landed in a crouch, Falchion held taut to the side. The Hylian scoffed. "Showoff."

"Dungeon Crawler," Marth replied cooly, eyebrow raising in a silent dare.

Link chucked another bomb at him.