Author's Note: Apologies for the slightly shorter chapter this time around. Originally, a different chapter was supposed to be posted, but I changed my mind at the last minute and wrote this. Hope this turned out all right.
Ness's eyes widened.
"Your sword can vanquish all evil?" he asked.
"Well, the title is 'Blade of Evil's Bane', I don't know if it's got any special properties beyond being a Haxium weapon. But the Master Sword worked against Ganondorf pretty well," said Link with a smile.
"I told you Link's sword was awesome!" said Toon Link.
"What about you, Marth? What about your sword?" asked Popo
"Falchion? Well, it's been passed down by my family for generations. Many dragons, tyrants and villains have fallen to this blade. My ancestor Anri first wielded it alongside Master Hand and his companions in the Second Subspace War," said Marth.
"That's awesome!" said Popo.
"Did your ancestor wield the Master Sword with Master Hand in the Second Subspace War, Link?" asked Nana.
Link shook his head. "It wasn't my ancestor, but one of my predecessors as the Hylian Champion, a warrior by the name of Groose, wielded the Master Sword alongside Master Hand. That's how he got the title 'Hero of Subspace'."
"Ike! Does your sword have a cool story?" asked Ness.
"Ragnell?" asked Ike. "Uh, it was wielded by the legendary Beorc hero Altina, along with its sister sword, Alondite. She fought with Master Hand as well."
"THAT'S AWESOME!" shouted Popo excitedly. "Did she dual wield them?"
"The legends say that she did," said Ike.
"That's really cool!" said Nana, her eyes sparkling with admiration.
"Isn't your sword also pretty special too, Toon Link?" asked Marth.
"Yeah! The Four Sword lets me split into four copies of myself! It's really awesome!" said Toon Link. "I just thought that only my sword and Link's sword were the only cool ones! I guess I was wrong!"
The Kid smashers talked amongst themselves excitedly. Meta Knight smiled as he cleaned Galaxia. Their enthusiasm was contagious.
It was a little noisy for his taste. They were all crowded down in the armory of the mansion, a usually quiet place where each Smasher could store their combat weapons, supplies and gear in a personal chain link cubicle. Meta Knight's own cubicle was modestly furnished, housing a few lockers with his backup capes, and cleaning supplies for Galaxia. He had a bench to sit on and some personal training dummies and sandbags. It was far simpler than some of the others….
"Hey Snake! Where'd you get your knife from?"
Snake turned from his many lockers of weapons and ammunition.
"Uh, it was the one they issued me as part of my kit when I enlisted. I've had it ever since. Been with me through a lot."
"Hey, that's still pretty cool!" said Toon Link.
"Yeah! It's something that really belongs to you!" said Ness. "I mean, not as cool as being a legendary weapon wielded by a legendary hero, but still, that's cool!"
Igrene frowned. "Hey! Don't be rude!" The Inkling shook her head in disapproval.
"Ack! All right! Sorry!" grumbled Ness.
Snake cracked a slight smile. "No problem. It's not the flashiest weapon, but its reliable. That's what matters to me."
"Hey Meta Knight! Your sword's pretty cool, right?" said Popo. He rushed up to Meta Knight with the other Kid Smashers in tow.
"I suppose it is. My weapon's name is Galaxia. I have wielded since before the Second Subspace War," said Meta Knight.
"Wow! Wasn't that over 300 years ago? That's a really long time!" exclaimed Igrene. "You must take really good care of it!"
Meta Knight smiled behind his mask. He remembered a time when he was the one staring in awe at the blade when it was first given to him. Ah, those were good memories.
"Indeed. It has been a very long time since I was given Galaxia. Maintaining one's weapon is always important. Even for a Haxium one like mine. Don't forget that. Care for your weapon, and it will care for you."
"Of course, Sir Meta Knight!" said Toon Link with a sloppy salute.
Galaxia, the gleaming blade of justice. Meta Knight and his sword had indeed seen many battles over the centuries together, including the climactic final battle against the Lords of Subspace during the Second Subspace War. Of course, any weapon not made of Haxium, the legendary supermetal alloy created by the Hands wouldn't last for as long as Galaxia had. Famous for its light weight, inability to conduct electricity, immunity to magnetism and extraordinary durability, Haxium was widely known as the toughest supermetal to the galaxy. Galaxia had come into Meta Knight's possession during the war, when the Hands had made Haxium weapons for their strongest allies. These weapons included the Master Sword, Falchion, Ragnell, Alondite, and Galaxia, among many others. Meta Knight still remembered the day Master Hand had presented him with the blade. It was a day he'd never forget. Even to this day, centuries later, he was still honored that he was given the weapon, and he wielded his blade with immense pride.
He watched as the kids began to talk amongst themselves again. Suddenly, somebody caught Ness's eye.
"Hey Corrinne? What about your sword?" asked Ness. "Does it have a cool story?"
"Uh…where did I get this sword?" wondered Corrinne. The Nohrian princess inspected her silver sword for a moment. "Oh right! I took it from the armory of this castle we took towards the end of the war against Garon. Hasn't broken yet!"
"Eh? That's a lame story!" protested Popo.
"What about taking care of weapons so that they don't break?" said Ness.
"Yeah! Like Meta Knight said!" added Igrene.
"Meta Knight has a very nice Haxium sword. Mine isn't so nice. Sure, I take care of it, but it's going to break eventually. Here, let me show you my backups!"
Corrinne grabbed an armful of swords from a locker and dumped them unceremoniously in a pile. She held one up.
"This one I pulled out of a marsh! One of our enemies dropped it while retreating and I thought that it was too nice just to waste…"
"Really? That's the story behind that sword?" said Nana, sounding disappointed.
"Oh! And this one! I haggled Anna for eight hours to get a 20% discount for this one!"
"Boo! That's boring!" shouted Ness.
Meta Knight cast an amused look to Chrom, who was cleaning his own sword on a bench quietly. He shook his head.
"Haggling with Anna is no mean feat, you know," Chrom said.
"But haggling is boring!" protested Toon Link.
"Wait, what about your bow?" asked Igrene. "Maybe your sword doesn't have a cool story but maybe your bow does? Like it was used by an ancient hero or something?"
"Nope! I got this one on a fire sale from an armory. It was apparently damaged by smoke or something, but I've had no problems. Got it on a 75% off sale. Not too shabby of a deal."
"WHAT!" shouted Toon Link in surprise and disbelief, "That's not a cool story!"
Ness asked, "Well, what about your axe?"
"It's a hatchet for cutting wood. It's not a weapon unless it's an emergency," said Corrinne flatly.
"That sucks!"
Popo piped up, "You have a pretty cool combat knife, right?"
"I literally don't remember where I got it," said Corrinne after a moment of thought. "Wait, was this the one that Silas got for me? No, I gave that to Flora when hers broke…"
"Do any of your weapons have a cool story?" asked Popo in disbelief.
"Yeah! Even us Kid Smashers have cool weapons!" said Toon Link. "Like my Four Sword!"
"My hammer was made for me by my tribe's elders! So was Nana's!" said Popo.
"My baseball bat and yoyo were given to me by my dad, who was a legend! All of our weapons have special stories, why don't yours?" asked Ness.
"Uh…because I'm cheap?" said Corrinne nonchalantly.
"THAT'S SO UNCOOL!"
"BOO!"
"WHAT SMASHER DOESN'T WIELD A WEAPON WITH SOME COOL BACKSTORY!?"
Marth and Ike facepalmed. These kids just had no idea. Meta Knight frowned a little under his mask. These youngsters should be treating their elders with a little more respect than that.
"Now, now. Let's not be too hard on Corrinne," he said. "Not everyone can have a legendary weapon."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," sighed Igrene. "Fire sale gear isn't cool, though."
Suddenly, Mario stuck his head in the door.
"Oh! There you all are! You ready to go to the arcade? The van's ready!"
The kids cheered in unison and rushed out of the armory.
"Sorry they were giving you trouble," said Mario. "Tires looked a little low so I went to check the air pressure, and I couldn't find the air pressure gauge. Took me longer then I thought it would."
"Don't worry about it," said Corrinne. "We weren't too bothered by them."
"All righty! I'll see you later. Don't want to keep the kids waiting too long!" said Mario cheerily with a wave.
The Smashers waved as Mario ducked out of the doorway, heading after the kids.
There was a short silence.
After a moment, Link said, "Say, Corrinne, how'd you manage to beat down Anna to a 20% discount? I think we could all learn from a master negotiator."
"You want to hear it? Fair warning, it's a long story. Settle on in, because we're gonna be here a while."
Meta Knight inspected Galaxia one more time, satisfied with the way he'd cleaned it. He put it back in his sheath.
"All right, Corrinne. Let's hear this tale of yours."
So, some of you may have noticed that I have managed to put out a new chapter about once a week by some miracle. There's a reason for that. Stay tuned for next week's chapter – it's meant to be a lead in chapter for something big. There will also be an announcement for that "something big" at the end. What is it? Find out next week!