He stood in the park across the street from the courthouse, gazing up at the clock tower, staring at the crimson-colored sky. Mario's heart pounded intensely and he felt nervous, knowing what he and the others would be going through soon. This was nothing like last year when they faced Zero, this would potentially be far greater than the other wars, the looming war made him nervous.

Lawyer Kong stood close by, watching Mario in an ominous manner. SMG4 stood next to the Italian plumber, a grim look of almost-certain determination upon his face. They'd done this massive event War of The Fat Italians before, during the Waluigi Crisis, during the battle with SMG3 and during the chaos of last year.

And this time, this battle had shaped up to be something ominous and filled with great uncertainty. Mario was unsure of how this was going to end. Would they succeed, would they defeat Lawyer Kong, was this the end of his time on the show as one of the main protagonists, a role he had filled since it all began a decade ago?

"You're not leaving, Mario." SMG4 told the plumber, "You're here to stay."

"Protected by parody law." Meggy Spletzer said, she was sitting on a bench in her lawyer outfit.

The clock hand moved, striking 11:58. Almost midnight, almost time! And nine hours later, the whole event would be on the internet for all to see. Whatever came next, whatever changes they faced together, the SMG4 crew would emerge victorious in the end. There was no doubt about that, good always prevailed, nobody could truly change that.

But still, given the scope of the matter over the past weeks, it had been leaving everyone with a sense of dread and that wasn't helped by what had happened during the Anime Crisis, the Snitch Takeover and the chaotic events of Zero's attempts to destroy the universe.

And after the signing of the DMCA, despite its reversal, everyone was filled with more dread than ever before. Many times in the past, everyone had lived and one losing their life was very rare. Lawsuits and people being axed didn't usually go together, but this was different in SMG4's case. When the DMCA was signed, almost everyone in the universe had ceased to be.

Now, with the Parody Law being passed for now, it would be a hard battle to get the DMCA fully overturned. This case, this battle, the gang could not afford to lose.

The clock's hand moved again: 11:59, the time was inching closer and closer, closer to Judgement Day, closer to what some once again believed to be the end of the world, the end of everything as everyone knew it.

Mario's fear faded for the time being, replaced with determination. He looked at SMG4 with a nod and glared at Lawyer Kong, both adversaries facing each other down. Then the plumber looked towards Meggy, who winked with a thumbs up, then they looked at Judge Kirby standing on the courthouse steps. Judge Kirby smiled and waved his gavel, giving the heroes an encouraging smile.

GONG! The bell tolled; it was time! War Of The Fat Italians 2022 was imminent.

"It's time!" Lawyer Kong told the heroes, "Good luck, losers!"

Judge Kirby headed up the steps to the courthouse door, followed by Lawyer Kong. Mario and SMG4 fist-bumped, then they hugged Meggy. SMG3, Saiko, Luigi, Tari, Bob, Kaizo, Shroomy and the others joined their side, either confident or nervous. Together, they headed inside the courthouse, ready for their greatest battle yet: SMG4 vs. Nintendo, War of The Fat Italians 2022 was on...

The End