Chapter Three:

The Corrupted Morshu

He sat at his desktop in the Secret Slide Room, watching funny egg memes on his Twitter feed with a snicker and a grin on his mustached face.

SMG4 couldn't have been happier in his life, he was very happy and proud of his work. In the years of his channel's existence, in all the years he and the others had been on wacky adventures, the meme man felt more special and important than ever. With all the fame and followers that he'd achieved, SMG4 felt like the king of memes.

No, not just the king of memes; the world's number one celebrity and the greatest of all time.

Despite all the hurdles, all the challenges and everything he'd faced with his friends, SMG4 remained on top and he had his friends to thank for their support and valuable assistance.

The meme star looked away from his computer to his calendar, knowing that with all of that fame, the biggest day of his life was coming. In just a couple of weeks, it would be the ten-year anniversary of when the SMG4 channel came to be, when SMG4's career all began.

SMG4 deserved this; he'd earned it after working so hard to get to the top despite the likes of someone like SMG3 trying to topple him and take everything for themselves.

And after what had happened nearly a year ago with SMG3's near-successful takeover with the power of the YouTube Remote and after he was sent to the Internet Graveyard, SMG4 was glad he didn't have to worry about the likes of that nutcase trying to oust him. SMG3 messed with a power he had no right to wield and, in the end, he paid the ultimate price; Banishment to the Internet Graveyard.

Even after all that, SMG4 knew when to expect the unexpected, especially when there were so many wacky adventures to face.

Heck, you'd never know what to expect around here.

SMG4 was starting a video that involved Sonic's nemesis Doctor Eggman when the door suddenly slammed open and Mario raced into the room with a scream. "SMG4, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, HEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP!" The crazy plumber screamed.

"Damn it, Mario!" The meme man yelled, "What is it?"

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Huh?"

SMG4 stood up as Mario curled in a corner, whimpering in fear. The meme man heard footsteps and turned to face the most shocking sight ever: Morshu, with a sinister gleam in sinister eyes and bearing a strange gray-color upon his body, staring at Mario with evil intent.

What the heck just happened?

"No, no!" Mario whimpered, "Get away from me!"

"Stay behind me, Mario!" SMG4 told the plumber, he stepped in front of Morshu, looking at him in the eye sternly and determined to protect the frightened Mario. However, the apparently corrupted salesman swatted the meme man aside and grabbed the plumber before advancing outside the room. SMG4 got back up, following Morshu and the captive Mario with relentless determination.

SMG4 stepped in front of Morshu, who held Mario in one hand with ease. The meme man glared at him with crossed arms. "Put him down!" SMG4 demanded.

Mario whimpered and Morshu eyed SMG4 with disregard, then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bundle of rope, causing Mario to let out a scream of horror as Morshu held it up near the plumber's neck.

"Rope." Morshu said.

"Oh no, you don't!"

SMG4 made a meteor dive and grabbed Mario, then he kicked Morshu in the face, knocking him over the stairs. Mario and SMG4 leaped off the balcony and made a mad dash out the door, heading through the hallway. When they looked back, the corrupted Zelda meme was after them, Mario and SMG4 reached the backdoor and ran outside into the courtyard with the star fountain.

However, it did not take long for Morshu to catch up. The door burst open, the huge salesman lumbering towards the two Italians with a chilling growl, a red aura glowing around him.

The air became cold, the sky turned a shade of orange and leaves fell from the trees. Morshu opened his mouth, letting out an inhuman snarl with fangs showing. His eyes gleamed red, the salesman extended his arms like a zombie, his eyes fixed upon Mario and SMG4.

A determined SMG4 punched Morshu in the face, forcing him back. Mario joined the attack, leaping onto Morshu's head and kicking him in the back of the skull. None of this slowed Morshu down. He grabbed Mario and slammed him into the ground, his large hands grasped tightly around the plumber's neck. SMG4 kicked his shin, yelling at Morshu furiously.

"Knock! It! Off! You! Stupid! Morshu! Meme!" The meme man demanded.

Morshu turned towards SMG4 with fury in his eyes and he pulled out a chainsaw. "You want it?!" The Koridian asked, he pulled the chain and the saw buzzed to life.

"MAMA MIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Mario cried, "SMG4, NO!"

Thinking quickly, SMG4 spotted a wandering Boo close by and dove for it, grabbing the ghost before it noticed that it was being seen and then he threw him at Morshu. The corrupted Koridian salesman dropped the chainsaw and froze as the Boo enveloped him. Mario and SMG4 stared at the ghost, who froze and turned invisible, revealing the trapped Morshu inside.

"Whew, that takes care of that for now." SMG4 high-fived Mario.

"Mama mia…" Mario remarked, "Mario thought his spaghetti noodles were toast."

SMG4 pat him on the arm, "I'm just glad we're safe, buddy."

"WHAT THE FUNGUS IS GOING ON HERE?"

Toad was outside with a broom in hand. When he saw the corrupted Morshu stuck inside the Boo, the little mushroom was in shock. He glared at Mario, feeling more grumpier than ever. "Is this one of your stupid antics?" Toad asked, "You really know how to make a ruckus, Mario!"

SMG4 ignored Toad and pulled out his phone, the meme man turned on the camera and set it to selfie-mode, making sure to have the Boo-encased Morshu in the background.

Click!

He didn't waste a heartbeat with the picture. SMG4 grabbed a black background with an empty white space and inserted the photo, making sure it was at a reasonable enough size, then he put in the words 'Oh man' under it. With that, SMG4 went to Twitter and put up the picture.

'We almost bit the dust today, LOL!' The blue-clad meme man typed. He made the Tweet and, by clockwork, the post was receiving millions of likes and several retweets at once.

"Darn, would you look at all of those likes..." SMG4 said with a grin.

He put away his phone and high-fived Mario, the two looked at Morshu, who was eyeing them with fury.

Just then, a warbling sound perked Mario and SMG4's ears and they turned to their right just as an ominous blue portal appeared in the courtyard, similar to the ones that led to the Internet Graveyard whenever an Oomph Button was summoned by the YouTube Remote.

Seconds later, clicking sounds filled the courtyard as an Ugandan Knuckles wielding a spear appeared from the portal, followed by two more. The memes took a good look around the vicinity as though they were trying to find something, then they spotted Mario and SMG4.

"There's the corrupted meme!" The first Ugandan Knuckles declared, "Detain and capture!"

The Ugandan Knuckles surged forward and seized the fat Italians, even as Mario protested. The trio carried them towards the portal as Toad watched with shock, however, he did smirk and wave to Mario. The little jerk was hoping for something bad to happen to the plumber.

Mario and SMG4 protested, struggling against their bonds, but their resistance was no good and there was nothing else they could do as the guards dragged them through the mysterious portal that led to who knew where...