19 years ago
Prince Marth said not a word as he packed his few belongings into his satchel. Taking only the essentials, he wrapped them up in linen cloth and strapped them to his back. He then picked up his most vital possession – the shimmering blade of Falchion. The sword seemed to have extra weight in his hands as he stared at it for a moment before decisively slipping it into the sheath at his hip. Taking one last look at the room that had been his home for the past year, he turned abruptly and headed for the door. He nearly collided with Roy, who had been standing there for an uncertain amount of time.
"You aren't even planning to bid them farewell, your highness?" Roy asked, disappointment in his voice.
"I already explained this to you, good Roy." Marth sighed, trying to keep his voice firm. "If I told them where I was going and what I planned to do, they would insist on accompanying me. I cannot allow that."
"And why not?" Roy sharply asked, before backing down out of respect. "Forgive me, your majesty, but you know very well that any number of the Super Smash Brothers, myself included, would consider it an honour to aid you."
"But this fight is not theirs." Marth insisted. "We arrived in this strange place to defeat the Hand fiends, as they were a threat to ours and many other realms. After that I remained here for a year, strengthening my swordsmanship. At last I am ready to face my birthright. I will reclaim the throne from Hardin, or die with honour in my attempt." He placed a hand on his sword. "It is something I must do alone."
"Why must it be alone, my prince?" Roy asked. "Nowhere is it written that…"
"I am of the blood of Anri." Marth interrupted. "Anri would not want innocents from another world to place themselves in jeopardy over Altea's affairs."
"Neither would Anri march headlong into certain death, despite the fact that there are a good many brave and strong warriors ready to assist him at this very hour!" Roy snapped. "That is not bravery, my lord. It is foolishness."
Marth angrily shoved his way out of the room. "Do not contradict me, Roy! My mind is made up." He made a few steps down the hallway before his anger cooled and he sighed.
"Forgive my disrespect, your highness." Roy said quietly. "But I do not wish to see you take this suicidal course of action. Please heed my advice." The younger swordsman paused, searching for the right words. "This past year we have spent as Super Smash Brothers… have we not bonded as family? Good Mario, and Link, and the rest… are they not our most trusted allies?"
Marth ran a hand through his silver mop of hair. Finally he turned back and looked Roy in the eye. "What you speak is true, friend Roy. Not only you, but all the others… in their own way, we are blood. And I would readily die for any of them if fate demanded it."
"Then let them return the sentiment in kind!" Roy insisted. "I beg of you." He added, softly.
Marth lowered his head. "I will tell them of my intentions." He said at last. "But I will not ask for aid unless they volunteer it. Is that understood?"
Roy smiled. "Understood, my liege."
"Let's shake a leg!" Fox McCloud insisted as he trotted through the corridors of Smash Central, heading towards the common area. "We're going to be late!"
"Another stinkin' meeting." Falco Lombardi snorted, jogging alongside Fox. "What's the big emergency this time?" Behind them trotted a very tired-looking Kirby, who struggled to keep up with the two fleet-footed half-beasts.
This trio was the last to reach the meeting place, as the room was full of all 25 Smash Brothers. The layout was typical; Mario, Peach, Link and Zelda were seated at the head table, with Ganondorf and Bowser not far away. Mewtwo hovered slightly overhead, a look of disdain on his face. Captain Falcon leaned against the back wall with a smug look on his face, and Samus stood nearly, barely moving a muscle. The chairs and cushions that filled the rest of the room were where the rest of the bunch. Fox and Falco took their seats, Fox looking attentive and Falco looking bored and annoyed out of his skull. Kirby saw – to his annoyance – that the only seat left was next to a very friendly Jigglypuff, who was sitting around with Pikachu, Pichu, Ness, and the Ice Climbers. Dr. Mario, Young Link and Luigi sat on chairs near the front, wondering what the commotion was all about. Donkey Kong and Yoshi were at the snack table, which meant that there was very little food left for anybody else. Mr. Game & Watch was already scurrying to get more.
And this time the centre of the room was Marth, looking extremely uncomfortable. Roy stood by him, as if offering support. After a few moments Mario signalled for silence, and the massed characters all turned their attentions towards the Altean prince.
"Okay, Marth." Mario announced in his friendliest tone. "Now, what's this all about?"
"Well…" Marth took a moment to recover his nerve. "I first would like to thank all of you for your support over the past year. Living in exile is no easy life, and I will be eternally indebted to you Super Smash Brothers for allowing me a place to stay and train my combat skills. However…" he lowered his head. "Tonight I shall take my leave, and I may never return."
There was a murmur of disbelief through the entire room. Link raised his hands to silence the crowd. "What do you mean, Prince Marth?" Zelda asked, concern on her elegant face. "Why must you leave so abruptly?"
Marth sighed. "I must return to my kingdom… or rather, what was once my kingdom… and challenge the traitor Hardin for my father's throne. Altea is… a broken nation." He continued. "Hardin's coup, so soon after the Doluan invasion, has utterly devastated the populace… there is no hope for me to organize another people's army." He raised his head. "This is a battle I must fight on my own."
"We can't let you do that!" Luigi exclaimed.
"What are you, nuts or something?" Falco asked.
"You'll be killed for sure!" Nana added.
"Nutty kid." Bowser grumbled.
"You don't have to go alone, Marth." Princess Peach spoke up, the worry evident in her voice. "We can help you. We can…"
"That is just my concern." Marth insisted. "I would never forgive myself if any of you were harmed aiding me in my quest. This fight is personal. I cannot ask you for assistance."
"Hey, who says you have to ask?" Mario piped up.
"…What?" Marth asked.
"Hey, we're Super Smash Brothers!" Mario continued. "We always help our friends out! We want to help you! Right, Link?"
"Mario speaks the truth." Link nodded. "Alone we have our weaknesses. But if we work together…"
"My lord, alone you have no chance of winning this battle." Roy finally took the opportunity to speak. "But with the Super Smash Brothers aiding you, we have a chance of liberating Altea. What is your verdict?"
A tear actually ran down Marth's cheek. "Thank you, my friends." He said solomnly. "I do not know what to say…"
"Just say when you're ready to go!" Fox insisted. "We're with you to the end!"
"I must warn you…" Marth insisted. "Even together, there is the chance that somebody could perish in this coming conflict."
"Hey, facing death is nothing new to us." Mario shrugged.
"We love good fight!" Donkey Kong hooted, pounding his chest in anticipation.
"And overthrowin' kingdoms is nothin' new to us!" Bowser cackled, slapping Ganondorf hard across the back. "Right, Big G?" Bowser was Ganondorf's self-proclaimed buddy, and when Bowser decides he's going to be your pal, look out.
"Verily, Koopa King." The Gerudo King sniffed, indignantly straightening his cloak. "Although this kingdom means nothing to Ganondorf, it would be foolish to attempt such a coup without his incomparable might aiding them."
There are innocents in that kingdom. Mewtwo's voice vibrated in everybody's minds. Innocence is a precious commodity in the universe. It must be defended at all costs, regardless of whatever differences we may have. That is why I joined the Super Smash Brothers to begin with; to defend the innocence that I shall never have.
"So all of you are in agreement?" Marth exclaimed, barely believing the truth. One by one, the Smash Brothers stood up, each pledging their support. Finally all that remained were the two mercenaries near the back wall.
"Why not?" Captain Falcon asked at last. "Things were getting boring around here anyway. How about you, Sammy?" he asked, smirking; he knew that the female bounty hunter despised that nickname he had given her. "Think you can handle it?"
"I'd like to see you keep up with me, Falcon." Samus replied, priming her arm cannon. "Let's rock and roll."
Marth was truly touched. "My dear friends… I do not know what to say." He remarked.
"Just say when you're ready to go!" Mario replied.
A smile crossed Marth's face. "We do it tonight!"
Evening cast a dark shadow over the capital city of Altea, even as the cruel despot Hardin revelled in his palace, his vile henchmen gathered about him as they feasted and drank well into the night. This was the way the kingdom was run; Hardin and his cronies gorged themselves as the peasants starved. But tonight's debauchery was to be rudely interrupted.
"Halt! Who goes theEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" The voice of a lone sentry rang out as some unseen assailant punched him so hard that he flew all 20 stories up to the topmost tower of Castle Altea, landing with a crash on top of Hardin's banquet table.
"What is the meaning of this?" Hardin demanded, jumping to his feet. "What is going on out there?"
Another guard suddenly burst through the main door. "Your highness!" he gasped. "Through the front gates! They overpowered us! There were…"
"Still your babbling tongue, sergeant!" Hardin roared, silencing the trembling soldier. "Who did this?"
"I-it… it was…" the guard stammered, knowing full well that the King's wrath would be great once he found out who was responsible.
"WHO!" Hardin bellowed.
"I will accept the responsibility." Declared a voice. Shoving the guard to the ground, Hardin looked on with a mix of fury and bemusement as the former prince stepped into the room. In his hands he held Medeus' Bane: the divine blade of Falchion. "Surprised to see me again, Hardin?" he asked.
"It is not surprise so much as irritation I feel, whelp." Hardin hissed. "Apparently you did not learn your lesson when last I bested you. I generously allowed you to flee like the pallid coward you are. This time I will not be so merciful."
"I am prepared to face you and accept my birthright." Marth replied, raising Falchion in a defensive stance. "My skills have improved since last we battled."
"Fool of a boy!" Hardin sneered. "What good will your training do you when you fight alone? Your army has been crushed, and the populace cannot rise against me; I have ensured it to be so!"
"Perhaps you speak the truth, Hardin." Roy retorted, entering the room and taking his place at Marth's side. "But the prince has not come alone. The Sword of Seals is sworn into his service."
"Then you will serve him into eternity!" Hardin replied. "No two swords can overthrow a kingdom."
"Perhaps three can?" Link asked, stepping in and taking his own place next to Marth.
"Who in the devil are you?" Hardin demanded.
"I am Link of Hyrule." Link replied. "But I know that means nothing to you. All you need to know is that the Master Sword is in my hand, and my allegiance is to Marth, the true leader of your ill-begotten kingdom. And that your reign, your highness…" he added, "…is at its end."
And as Hardin watched, the rest of Marth's supporters also took their places at his side, one by one. In addition to Marth, Roy and Link, he counted amongst their number two men in labourer's outfits, two women in pink gowns, a warrior clad in bizarre orange armour, two young boys armed with playthings, a fox and a falcon who walked and dressed as men, a man in a ridiculous purple outfit, two elfin figures in Nordic dress armed with wooden hammers, two small round pink creatures, two yellow overgrown rodents, a large turtle, a mysterious black wraith, a man in strange white robes, a hulking, troll-like giant of a man, a sleek feline creature that floated in the air, a dim-witted reptilian creature, and, last but not least, a gorilla.
"The decision is yours." Marth said at last. "What say you, Hardin?"
The usurper responded with hearty laughter. "Do you take me for a fool, boy?" he guffawed. "I expect an army, and you arrive with a circus? What manner of idiocy is this?"
"I gave you your choices." Marth stood firm. "Surrender, or fight. Which do you choose?"
Hardin looked annoyed. "You will fight, child… and you shall die!" With a wave of his hands the doors were barred. Fifty soldiers, covered in armour and bristling with weaponry, marched to aid their king. Every window suddenly had an archer with a crossbow therein. Hardin laughed, searching for terror on the faces of his opponents. He saw none. "Upon my command, you all shall perish." The wicked king gloated. "Have you any final words? I would be most pleased to hear your pleas for mercy."
Marth turned to Mario. "Well, Mario?" he asked.
Mario shrugged. "This is your show, Marth. You do the honours."
Boldly, Marth turned to Hardin and raised his blade high in the air. "For Altea!" he cried.
"For Altea!" the Super Smash Brothers echoed, each assuming a fighting stance.
Hardin's face boiled red with rage. "Slay them! Slay them all!" He commanded. The guards unsheathed their swords and charged. The archers loaded their bows. "Spare no one!" Hardin continued. "The women, the children, the beasts; all who oppose Hardin the Great will be destroyed! And I will give a year's subsidy to the soldier who brings me the head of Anri's heir as a memento of this glorious day!"
The Super Smash Brothers braced themselves for the coming assault. Luigi swallowed uneasily. Mario lowered the brim of his hat. Link raised his shield. Pikachu's cheeks began glowing.
"Time to party!" Donkey Kong yelled.
The melee had begun.
Suddenly the clanks of steel against steel dominated the air, and arrows flew erratically through the closed quarters. One arrow was deflected by Link's shield, another bounced off of Ness' force field, and most of the rest missed their mark, striking the walls or the furniture.
One arrow drilled itself into Bowser's shell, eliciting a grunt of pain from the Koopa King. "You're payin' for my next wax job!" Bowser snarled, yanking the offending projectile out. He turned, breathing fire on the arrow to set it aflame and tossing it back at the archer. The archer dodged the flaming projectile, but in his haste forgot that he was 20 stories up, and lost his footing, screaming as he crashed to the ground far below. "Oh yeah! This is classic!" Bowser boomed. "This is why I get up in the morning!" he then turned and blasted a wave of flame at another soldier's sword, cackling with glee as the sentry dropped his red-hot blade and nursed his scorched hand.
"C'mon, Luigi!" Mario announced. "It's Bros. Attack time!"
"Ohhh, that usually means you end up bouncing off of my head." Luigi sighed. Nevertheless, he assumed the ready stance.
"Here we goooooooo!" Mario cheered as he bounced off of Luigi's head, plowing into a line of guards, scattering them like ninepins.
"Well, at least one of us is having fun…" Luigi remarked.
Two other guards had cornered the two electric mice. "Time to deal with this infestation." One sneered, receiving a laugh from his comrade.
Pikachu's cheeks flashed and crackled with energy. "Pi… ka…" he grunted. "CHU!" he suddenly screamed, sending forth a bolt of lightning that blasted the guard. And since 90 of his body was covered with metal, suffice it to say that guy was out of commission.
The other guard raised his sword to strike down Pichu in revenge. "Pi… pi… p-pi…" Pichu, squeaked, desperately trying to build up enough energy. Her entire body hummed and crackled dangerously. Had Pichu more experience, she would have realized that she was actually overcharging herself. Pikachu tried to call out in warning, but it was too late. The blade dropped…
"CHU!" Pichu shrieked in the nick of time, summoning an electrical blast that not only zapped the soldier something fierce, but also sent him rocketing clean through the roof and over the horizon. A somewhat smouldering Pichu coughed and flopped to the ground. "Pi?" she wheezed, asking for approval.
"Pika!" Pikachu replied, giving his little counterpart a thumbs-up.
"Stand your ground, varlet!" a burly soldier barked, trying to get a reaction out of Samus Aran, who was standing still as a statue of titanium, her unseen eyes glaring at him through the cool emerald glare of her visor. "Very well. Have at you!" he bellowed. Had Samus been the jovial sort, she would have laughed merrily as the poor slob made several valiant attempts to pierce her Chozo Armour with his sword. Even aiming for her neck and arm joints produced no results. She only acknowledged his presence when he tired, levelling her arm cannon at his face.
Samus finally spoke. "In this cannon is enough plasmic energy to separate every single molecule in your head into an ethereal gas cloud." She intoned each word carefully.
The guard stared at her as if she were speaking Hindu. Which, Samus realized, she may as well have been, for all that this medieval moron knew of quantum physics. "What the heck." She grumbled, knocking the baffled guard unconscious by clocking him over the head with her arm cannon.
Before she could consider what to do next, she was knocked slightly off-balance by something rushing past her at superhuman speed, just slightly clipping her hip. She glowered beneath her helmet. It was, of course, the only being in the universe that could actually get her to lose her cool.
"You holding up okay, Sammy?" Captain Falcon grinned rakishly. "I got five down already! Want to concede defeat now and get it over with?"
Turning around to deliver a scathing reply, all thoughts of retribution disappeared in Samus' mind when she saw that the window directly behind Falcon was still occupied, and the archer was silently making a kill shot. "Falcon!" she shouted, even as the bowstring released.
Both Samus and the archer expected to see Falcon fall to the floor dead, but it seemed that the race champion had other plans. Without even looking behind him, he had reached back and plucked the arrow out of mid-air, stopping it inches from his body. The archer's jaw dropped as he fumbled in an attempt to reload. "Bet ya didn't know I could do that, did ya, pal?" Falcon quipped. "But that's nothing," he added, marching towards the archer with the arrow still in his fist. "You won't believe the places I'm going to stick…" he ducked suddenly as a wild shot flew over his head.
Now frantic, the archer pulled out a dagger and swung it at Falcon, only for the grinning pilot to sidestep the blow, and sock the archer in the face with a punch that was so fast, his fists were literally on fire. The dagger clattered out the window, and the archer foolishly fumbled to retrieve it. Foolishly, because he ended up following his knife right over the edge.
"Well!" Falcon clapped his hands together. "That was… aack!" he suddenly yelped as the plummeting archer grabbed his collar, dragging him out the window into free-fall as well. "Oh, not good." Falcon muttered as he fell. His descent was rudely interrupted as he jerked to a halt. Looking up, he saw that Samus had snared his ankle with her grappling beam.
"Someday I won't be around to babysit you, Falcon." The female of the two bounty hunters remarked as she pulled him to safety.
"Ah, I was just giving you an excuse to touch me. I don't let just anybody do that, you know." Falcon grinned, making her want nothing more than to knock his teeth out.
But now was not the time. With a nod, the two fighters rolled away from each other and rejoined the fight.
Mewtwo hovered near the ceiling, a detached look on his narrow face. His mind hummed ever so slightly: instead of combating the soldiers directly, he was subtly altering their minds, making them clumsy, giving them irrational fears, and providing distracting thoughts. On the weak-minded such as these, it was almost too easy. If he wanted to, he could do some serious mental damage, effectively lobotomizing everybody in the room, but he chose against it. Vital as this battle was, this was not his destiny. His time was soon. Seeing the hovering psychic Pokémon, an archer aimed a shot. Without even looking, Mewtwo waved his hand slightly, sending the archer shrieking out the window, pushed by some unseen force. It was really all too easy.
"The power!" Ganondorf cackled, brutally flattening a soldier with a blast of magical purple flame. "You simpleminded fools cannot even conceive such power!" A soldier approached Ganondorf, raising his sword in challenge. "As you wish." The Gerudo King sneered, pulling out his own sword, which made the other man's look like a butter knife. The soldier's sword clanked to the floor and he let out a wordless squeak as he fainted dead away. "Coward." Ganondorf spat, kicking at his opponent's inert form.
Zelda's brow furrowed with concentration as she threw a guard against the wall with nothing more than her mind. Her telepathy was powerful, but it wasn't designed to be used on the fly like this. Seeing three guards closing in on her from all sides, the Hyrule princess decided it was time to change tactics.
"Well, it seems the pretty wench desires to face a real man." A guard sneered as they approached, and the other two chuckled in agreement. Zelda gracefully sank to one knee. "Capitulating now won't save you, my little…" the guard began.
POOF! A puff of smoke, and the princess was gone. "Where'd she go?" one of the soldiers idiotically asked.
And none of them noticed the lithe Sheikah warrior clinging to the ceiling above them. That is, until a spinning drop-kick knocked all three of them over.
The guards put up a good fight, for sure, but Sheik was like a tornado, pummelling them with a dizzying variety of lightning-fast kicks and punches. She elegantly spun around and rose to her feet at the same time the three buffoons collapsed to the ground. With the agility of a cobra, Sheik then whipped around and used her retractable chain as a bullwhip, nailing a soldier around the neck and yanking him hard to the ground as he foolishly attempted to sneak up on Princess Peach.
Peach herself had her hands full, but she had to admit it was fun seeing the guard running like a ninny as an endless stream of vegetables bounced off his head, and the flaming two-dimensional sausages Mr. Game & Watch was hurling at him was no picnic either.
"Yah!" Ness yelled, swinging his baseball bat as hard as he could, the thick wooden club nailing a guard right in the shin. As the sentry opened his mouth to cry out in pain, something red and blue popped down his throat, and his gag reflex swallowed it before he could do anything else. Suddenly his face flashed all the colours of the rainbow and he collapsed to the floor, grinning like an idiot. Ness smiled and nodded at Dr. Mario, who unleashed another volley of multivitamins at some other guards, wreaking all kinds of wonderful havoc with their digestive systems.
Donkey Kong was hammering a guard into the ground like a stake with one massive fist. The Ice Climbers had jumped onto two guards' shoulders, and were cheering as they malleted their heads mercilessly. Another archer tumbled out the window when attempting to aim an arrow at Yoshi, only to end up with the biggest egg he had ever seen exploding in his face. A guard swung his sword at Kirby, thinking the puffball an easy kill. After he got a first-hand tour of Kirby's digestive system, the dazed and sopping soldier found himself faced with the pink creature attacking him with a replica of his own sword, using all of his own moves.
But nobody was using finer swordplay than Marth, Roy, Link and Young Link, who spearheaded the assault, their blades moving like a symphony as they bested the guards one by one. Between parries, Roy noticed a certain intensity in Marth's movements he never recalled seeing before. Although his eyes never strayed from the battle before him, his focus was always on Hardin, who seemed to grow more and more anxious as he watched his elite guardsmen being smashed around like bowling pins. After all, all this would be for naught if Marth were to fail…
With a crash, the guard that Donkey Kong was hammering into the floor finally fell clean through to the floors below. This was the final enemy; the rest had either fallen out of the tower, or fled, or was lying unconscious. The Smash Brothers allowed themselves a slight reprieve from the gruelling battle.
"Well, that was a load of laughs." Falco sneered, blowing a puff of smoke from the barrel of his blaster pistol.
"Falco!" Fox scolded. "You didn't…!"
"Eh, just enough to stun 'em." Falco shrugged, flipping the gun back into his holster. "You know it's more fun knocking these chumps around with my bare wings anyway."
"Always the itchy trigger-feather." Fox sighed.
"Geez, Fox. Just because you got all 'spiritual' after getting with your little princess doesn't mean I'm gonna give up my old blaster, ya hippie." Falco teased.
Marth wiped the perspiration from his brow. "It seems that my circus has made fools of your army, Hardin." He declared. "Now will you end this pointless altercation?"
"The battle has but begun, my boy." Hardin hissed. "Executioners!" he shouted. Five extremely large men, clad in heavy robes and brandishing battle-axes, marched into the room. "This group has been found guilty of high treason! Execute them at once!" The glowering giants turned to the group of intruders, who, while still ready for a battle, were rather worn out from their previous excursions.
"Hoo boy." Falco muttered.
"I'm getting too old for this." Dr. Mario moaned.
"Be still." Marth whispered to his companions. "I have anticipated such an occurrence."
The five executioners marched towards the massed Smashers, axes at the ready. Suddenly, a little pink ball of fluff dropped from the ceiling and stared up at them, large round eyes twinkling. The executioners paused. The puffball opened her mouth and began to sing.
"Jigg-leee-eeee-puff… Jiggle-leee-eeee-pufff…"
There was a crash as the executioners' axes clattered to the floor, followed by their bearers, lured into a deep sleep. "Well done, my small friend." Marth complimented.
"Jiggly…" Jigglypuff coyly replied, blushing.
"Incompetent fools!" Hardin roared, pulling out his own sword. "Must I do everything myself?"
"Let's get him!" Mario yelled, but Marth gestured for his friends to stay back.
"This part of the battle I must fight alone." He declared. He stepped towards Hardin. "For the throne, Hardin. For eternity."
"To death!" Hardin replied, and the two swords clashed.
The other Smash Brothers could only stand back and watch the duel in tense anticipation. Working together, they could easily take down Hardin, but Marth would never consider his ascension to the throne legitimate if they did. The fallen prince was fighting for his birthright, his bloodline, his destiny. And, win or lose, that was a battle he could only fight alone.
Hardin seemed surprised at Marth's prowess. The last time they had clashed he had thoroughly humiliated the former prince, allowing him to live only out of scorn. He decided that letting the boy live as an exile was far crueller than slaying him outright. But now Marth handled his sword with much more confidence; all of the aplomb he had shown after slaying Medeus, but none of the hubris that had led to his defeat. Wherever he had trained, he had learned his lessons well. The sparkling blue blade of Falchion now shone a brilliant azure, symbolizing the mastery its bearer had now achieved. All of this served to rather unnerve Hardin. Once again he looked into his opponent's face for some trace of fear or uncertainty to exploit. He found none.
The duel grew more desperate… lunges, parries, feints… even as Hardin felt his own control slipping. Marth was now dominated the duel, setting his own pace. In fury, Hardin made an ill-prepared lunge… and with a single swipe of Falchion's blade, his own sword flew from his grasp.
Hardin attempted to roll to the side to reclaim his weapon, but suddenly he was in a sitting position, the tip of Marth's blade pressed against his throat. Looking into the former prince's face, he saw only grim determination.
"Treason!" Hardin shouted, his voice hoarse. "Will no one rise to defend their king?" He looked around desperately for anybody to jump up and aid him, but nobody moved.
"It seems that the decadence of your rule has bought you no friends." Marth coldly intoned, the flatness of his voice unnerving his enemies and allies alike. "Beg." He whispered. "Beg for your miserable life."
The colour drained from Hardin's face as he heard his own words turned against him. When nobody came forth to aid him, he broke down. "Please! Your most exalted majesty…" he whimpered. "Please do not kill me!" He clutched the hem of Marth's cloak, trying desperately to appeal to his opponent's merciful streak.
Marth's facial expression did not change. "You have no idea how many nights I have dreamt of this moment… o king." He prepared to swing his blade one final time. He friends stared in shock.
"M-my lord?" Roy asked. Marth did not respond.
Marth raised his blade and brought it down sharply and swiftly towards Hardin's bowed head. Everybody gasped.
CLANG!
Hardin opened his eyes and realized that Marth had merely knocked his crown off of his head. Marth stooped and picked up the crown, turning his gaze back to the treacherous King's face.
"To execute you would bring me no honour." He said at last. "And, despite the great crimes you have committed in the name of this kingdom, death would be far too kind a punishment." He lowered his blade. "So go. Flee this realm and never return. To spend the rest of your life an exile will be your sentence."
Hardin tried to say something, anything, but his arrogant tongue had been silenced. In a blind panic he raced out the door, out of the castle, out of the city, out of the kingdom. He was never seen in Altea again.
Marth sank to one knee, resting on the hilt of his sword. He whispered something, but nobody heard what he said. Regaining his strength, he rose once more to his feet and turned to his friends. For a moment no words were exchanged between them. Finally, Marth's smile returned at last. "Shall we go and tell the people the good news?" he asked.
"Let's go! …Your Majesty." Mario replied with a similar smile.
Outside the castle, the peasants had all gathered. They had heard the great battle that shook the castle and had seen Hardin's panicked flight. Now Marth triumphantly strode from the castle gates, the crown perched on his head. "Good citizens of Altea!" he declared. "Hardin's grip on this once proud nation is no more! I, Marth, of the Altea royal family, swear from this day forward that Altea will be a fair, strong, and prosperous land once more!"
"Hail! King Marth of Altea!" the crowd cheered, and then bowed reverently to their new leader. Marth turned to the castle gate and saw the Super Smash Brothers standing there. Roy reverently lowered his head in a formal bow, and the rest of the Smashers echoed his gesture, some more willing then others, but all out of respect.
Marth strode towards his friends and motioned for them to stand up. "In this kingdom, my friends," he declared, trying to keep his tears at bay, "you will not need to bow to any man." He led them in front of the crowd. "My people, kneel and give thanks to our most trusted friends; the Super Smash Brothers, the champions of Altea!" The entire kingdom lowered their heads and kneeled in solemn gratitude. Most of the Smashers were choked up. Luigi fainted, as you'd expect.
After that, everything was one big celebration. Hardin's cruel taxes were rescinded, and the entire kingdom attended the grand jubilation in the capital city, the poor and starving fed at last. And at a special banquet to commemorate King Marth's official crowning as King of the realm, the new King then took Falchion in hand and made a special series of dedications that had never been seen before in Altea's history. Each of the Super Smash Brothers, regardless of their station in their home universes, were now and forevermore a Lord or Lady of Altea, the highest position after that of the King himself. Both the subjects and the fellow Smashers cheered enthusiastically as each stepped forward to receive this most cherished honour.
Lord Roy of Pharae, Loyal Friend of Altea. Lord Mario, the Courageous. Lord Luigi, the Steadfast. Lord Donkey Kong, the Fearless. Lord Link, the Noble. Lady Aran, the Peerless. Lord Yoshi, the Loyal. Lord Kirby, the Brave. Lord McCloud, the Clever. Lord Pikachu, the Unhesitant. Lady Jigglypuff, the Compassionate. Lord Falcon, the Swift. Lord Ness, the Wise. Lady Peach, the Fair. Lady Zelda, the Resplendent. Lord Bowser, the Mighty. Lord Popo and Lady Nana, the Harmonious. Lord Physician Mario, the Healer. Lady Pichu, the Tenacious. Lord Lombardi, the Wit. Lord Link the Younger, the Destined. Lord Ganondorf, the Powerful. Lord Mewtwo, the Esoteric. And Lord Game and Watch, the Valiant.
Needless to say, it was one of the best nights that the Super Smash Brothers had ever enjoyed.
And yet, they would years later look back on it with bittersweet reminisces, as this was the last time all twenty-five of them had fought together. It was not long after this that things began to… deteriorate.