On an average day in Pure Heart Valley when monsters weren't menacing the public and Air Pirates weren't trying to rob the small kingdom of its riches, you could find the sworn protectors of this small town resting in their new home overlooking the village.  The quaint house that stood on a cliff over a beautiful waterfall had everything the three daring do-gooders required.  Living space, a kitchen, a bedroom, a highly advanced workshop for cybernetic parts, and of course a dojo where a true hero could train to keep their skills sharp.  Along with their weapons.  

Which was exactly what the new Sheriff Mao Mao was up to, running a rag over his golden katana to keep it clean for when it would next be needed to fight off evil.  Previously this was just another chore that was necessary for him to maintain his tools.  A needed exercise he conducted without thinking much of it.  However he'd earned an audience for this as the wide eyed Adorabat watched him polish his weapon.  Her eyes sparkling almost as much as the light bouncing off the metal before her.  Mao Mao couldn't hide the smirk over just how fascinated she was with something so simple.  Nearly all aspects of the hero life being wondrous to her.  

"She shines like a beauty after a good polishing."  Mao Mao said proudly, looking his blade over and making sure to curve it just right so the light from the sun caught the tip and shined for his audience.  

"It's so cooooool!"  Adorabat said cheerfully, her wing pressed against her cheeks in excitement.  "I can't wait to get a sword of my own!"  

"Heh, well, maybe one day.  But for a hero to be truly effective you need the weapon that suits you best.  A sword, a dagger, a glaive."  

"What's a glaive?"  Adorabat asked curiously.  

"It's like a big flying star thing with blades on every end... no wait, I think that's from a movie.  It's like a big stick with a blade on the end..."

"Like a spear?"  

"Yes... but no... that's more like a dagger where one is more like a knife and it's... never mind, doesn't matter.  What matters is we get you the weapon that suits you best."  

"The weapon that suits me best... hmmm... I wonder what that is."  Adorabat thought carefully, watching Mao Mao continue to polish his blade and spitting on it as he did.  "Eww, you spit on it?"  

"Of course, you can't clean it if it's dry.  Besides, the best weapon has a little bit of yourself in it as well."  

"A little bit of yourself... so a weapon with a little bit of Mao Mao in it is the most amazing weapon there could be!"  

"Heh, well, that's true."  Mao Mao thought of something and smiled proudly.  "Want to finish this up for me?"  

"Really!?"  Adorabat said in excitement.  "Oh yes oh yes oh yes!"  

"Alright, here you go.  Just be careful!  This thing is sharp after all."  Mao Mao explained, handing the blade to Adorabat who eyed it with wonder.  "Just put it back in the sheath when you're done."  

"Aye aye, sir!"  Adorabat saluted as Mao Mao walked back into the house, setting the sword down and taking the time to carefully polish the blade.  She ran the rag over it carefully, looking to remove any spec of dirt that might have been left after he had cleaned it.  Flipping the blade over Adorabat could see her reflection in the sword.  "This weapon has some of Mao Mao in it... so what if it had some of me in it too?  Would it be even stronger because I love Mao Mao so much?"  Wondering aloud Adorabat worked up her saliva and spit on the blade, carefully wiping the sword with it afterward to make sure no traces were left.  Blushing at her actions she slipped the blade back into its sheath and took into the air, carrying the sword in her claws.

 "Mao Mao, I finished polishing your sword."  Adorabat said, flying around the living room and carrying the weapon with her.  "Mao Mao?  Mao Maooooo?"  
 
 "He's in the bathroom."  Badgerclops said from the couch, his large frame resting comfortably on the cushions while watching television and eating snacks.  
 
 "Oh, okay.  I just got done polishing his sword for him."  Adorabat said proudly, landing on the end of the couch and hugging his sword against herself.  
 
 "Heh, well guess he's polishing his other sword then."  Badgerclops said absent minded while he kept eating his snacks from the plastic bag they were held in.
 
 "His other sword, he has more than one?"  Adorabat asked.  
 
 "Yeah, he's got- I mean no!  I uh... just, forget I said anything!"  Badgerclops said, seeming to realize he spoke out of turn though Adorabat didn't really get what he meant.  
 
 "If he's got another weapon then I could shine that one for him too if he wants!"  Adorabat said eagerly, Badgerclops covering his mouth with his hand so he wouldn't say anything else.  "He just showed me how to do a 'spit shine', so I bet I could get it all clean in a jiffy!"  With her declaration his cybernetic hand came over his mouth as well, one eye wide with terror.  "What's wrong?"

"Wait, what is wrong?"  Mao Mao asked, walking into the living room now with a puzzled look.  "What's going on here?"  

"Mao Mao, I polished your sword!"  Adorabat said in excitement, flying over to him to hand the weapon back.

"Ah, excellent work deputy.  A fine job."  

"If you want, I can polish your other sword too!"  Adorabat offered, Mao Mao looking confused.  

"My other sword?  What other sword?"  

"Badgerclops said while I was polishing your sword outside you were polishing your other sword in the bathroom."  Adorabat explained, Mao Mao's eyes shifting back and forth trying to understand.  When he seemed to get a grasp on what had happened he shot Badgerclops a death glare.  The other hero turning his robot hand into a clamp over his mouth as he hid behind the couch.  "I can clean that one for you too!"  

"Uh, um... well, you see he was uh... just, mistaken.  I wasn't doing anything like that."  Mao Mao said, seeming more flustered than before.  Adorabat didn't really understand why they were acting so weird so she tried to figure it out.  

"Wait, is this like, some special weapon I'm not allowed to see yet?"  She asked innocently.  

"You could describe it like that."  Badgerclops said, peeking up from behind the couch but ducked back down from a barrage of knives thrown his way by Mao Mao.

"You're not helping!"  The hero cat screamed as he breathed hard.  "Uh... you see Adorabat, he's uh... describing something you don't need to see because..."  Mao Mao was struggling here so his partner popped back up despite the near attack on his person.  

"You're just not ready for that yet, dude.  Wait till you're older."  Badgerclops said.  "Just forget I said anything about it."  Mao Mao seemed to agree with that but she wasn't about to let it go so easily.

"I'm plenty old enough!  Why I was living all by myself before I became a hero.  Just cause I don't have as much experience doesn't mean I'm a kid."  Adorabat landed on the couch and tried to fight the urge to cry so she didn't look more childish in front of her friends.  

"It's not that special anyway.  Not like Mao Mao knows how to use that sword anyway."  Badgerclops said and let out a shout as he ducked another knife thrown his direction.  

"That's enough of that!"  Mao Mao screamed.  "Let's get some lunch, I need to clear my head outside."  

"Don't gotta ask me twice, let's get going little buddy."  Badgerclops said picking Adorabat up and putting her small body on his shoulder.  Even though they were done talking about this it was in the back of her mind through the rest of the day.  Through lunch, through their daily patrol, through breaking up the illegal candy operation hiding in the bakery basement Adorabat just kept thinking about that morning.  She wanted to know what Mao Mao's other weapon was that he thought she wasn't ready to see.  It would be her mission tonight to find it.  

A good officer of the law always searches for clues.  So after everyone had gone to bed Adorabat snuck out of her bunk to figure out what kind of secret weapon Mao Mao had been hiding.  Flying into the bathroom she locked the door behind her and got to work.  Inspecting the shower but only finding the various cleaning products they all used.  The medicine cabinet was filled with various bandages, disinfectants and pain pills they kept on hand for those really rough monster battles.  "Hmph, nothing.  If he was polishing a sword in here he'd have to have something to do it with.  Maybe... down here!"  

Adorabat opened the door beneath the sink, a spot she almost never looked in before.  There were cleaning supplies for the bathroom, sprays and soaps.  A box of tissues and a bottle of some kind of clear liquid she'd never seen before.  Nothing that looked like a tool to clean a weapon.  Though weirdly there was a magazine in here that didn't look like the usual tabloids that Badgerclops bought.  Pulling it out there was a lady in a weird outfit on the front.  "Brave Beauties?  Is this some kind of warrior magazine?"  

Opening it up made it seem much less like a magazine for fighting, though the people inside did seem to be doing some kind of wrestling that she'd never seen or thought of before.  "This is... different."  Adorabat said, feeling a little embarrassed to be looking at these but not understanding why.  Still she picked up on one important detail: there was a sword that only boys seemed to have.  It didn't look like the kind of sword she was familiar with though.  Maybe it was like that glaive thing where it was a weapon that was hard to describe.  Also the ladies inside the magazine were giving it a polish too, sometimes with their entire mouth.  

"So that's the sword Mao Mao didn't want me to see!"  Adorabat said, putting the magazine back where she found it.  "They think they can hide it from me, but I'm smart enough to know how to handle all kinds of weapons already.  And I'll prove it!"  

Moving quickly through the house Adorabat landed on the floor of the bedroom and peeked over where Mao Mao was sleeping.  His cape was wrapped around his body as he was snoring against his pillow.  Her eyes and teeth gleamed in the moonlight as she felt one step closer to proving she was both an adult and a hero.  Clinging to the ceiling of his bottom bunk, Adorabat used her wings to carefully unwrap the cape around his body.  Once she had it unraveled and him exposed she was disappointed to find what she was after wasn't in sight.  

"That's weird."  Adorabat whispered to herself.  "The magazine showed that his other sword should be right here."  Feeling around with her wing Adorabat touched between his legs to in search of secret sword she sought.  Her prodding didn't discover anything quickly enough though and she was getting frustrated.  Mao Mao was really sneaky and could hide all sorts of weapons anywhere he wanted but how was he hiding this?  The more her wing searched and rubbed though it seemed to cause something to happen as she felt something press against her touch.  "I think I found it!"

Keeping her wing pressed against that spot where she felt movement, Adorabat watched as his Secret Sword grew before her eyes.  It was... different than she expected.  Certainly not the sort of thing she would have thought of as a weapon.  But that wasn't going to stop her from proving she could handle this just as well as Mao Mao's other sword.  Flipping off the top of his bunk onto the mattress she walked up to his body, looking at the sight before her.  "It's... a lot bigger from this angle."  She said, swallowing a lump in her throat.  "Don't be scared, don't even think.  Just... step into the unknown.  Like a hero would."  

Reaching up with her wings Adorabat rubbed the secret sword gently, finding it didn't feel like any weapon she held before.  "This sure is different..."  Thankfully Mao Mao hadn't woke up.  If anything he looked like he was having a really good dream.  She remembered he mentioned that you had to give a sword a spit shine.  You can't clean it if it's dry, and it's best to put a little bit of yourself into your weapon.  So putting some of her into his weapon would make it extra powerful.  Although spitting directly on it in front of her wasn't easy and she didn't want to get it all over him.  Instead she leaned forward and licked it with her tongue.  

"This sure tastes weird."  Adorabat whispers to herself but kept on licking to try and get it wet.  Which really did make it a lot easier to polish.  "I wonder how exactly Mao Mao fights with this?"  

"Mmm... ya see it?  It's... legendary."  Hearing Mao Mao suddenly talk Adorabat looked up to his face, but thankfully his eyes were still closed.  His fur even darker than the night around him.  "My strongest sword... ha ha... yeah, you like it."  

"Sounds like he's having a great dream."  Adorabat said happily, returning to her work.  Though this was making her wings tired and she wasn't sure really when she'd be done.  Then she recalled what the ladies were doing in that magazine.  "I guess that would make the most sense... maybe that's why they do it?"  Moving even closer Adorabat opened her mouth wide and took his "strongest sword" in it.  

Thankfully his other weapon wasn't sharp, though it did taste kind of funny.  In a way she couldn't describe.  Bracing herself Adorabat moved her head back and forth to make sure to polish it all, moving slow enough to be sure he didn't wake up.  It had been awkward at first but as time passed she found this wasn't that bad.  In fact, she kind of enjoyed it, especially at how she'd proven she could handle such a weapon with ease.  Maybe after this he would let her do it for him during the day too.  While daydreaming about how happy this was going to make her hero she suddenly was met with an unexpected surprise of something warm shooting into her mouth.  

"Mmph!"  She said in surprise trying to keep it from overwhelming her but had to eventually pull her mouth away.  The moment she did some of it getting onto her face as well.  "What... what's happening here?"  Adorabat said in surprise, not recalling anything like this when she polished his katana.  Though something even more important came up as she heard Mao Mao start to come around and wake up.

"Waz... waz goin on?"  Mao Mao mumbled half awake, looking around but finding no one near by.  Though realizing his cape was unwrapped he curled himself up again and rolled onto his side, green eyes closing in the dark.  From the bunk above him Adorabat peeked down to see him asleep again, swallowing what was in her mouth and wiping her face off with her wing.  

"That was lucky."  She sighed, having nearly been caught.  Still, she wondered what that was that happened just now.  Maybe it was part of his weapon's special attack?  Yawning to herself, she took her sleeping position in her bunk and decided that was a mystery to solve another night.  Still she was about as happy as could be.  Well on her way to becoming a hero that could handle any weapon, including the ones that were just for boys.