Chapter Thirteen:
Showdown at the YouTube Royale: Wave Two
Outside the building, SMG4 watched the action as it unfolded on the jumbotron, his gloved fists anxiously clenched. Mario had done well so far, but something told him the action was going to get harder from here.
Even the others were uncertain, many of them crossed their fingers, hoping for the best.
A pair of Inklings waved their Mario signs, one started eating some spaghetti. Some Gorons began grunting and chanting the plumber's name in their own way. Toad grumbled to himself, feeling anxious and grumpy at the same time.
Meggy seemed to take her eyes off the screen for a time, lowering her head, looking as if she felt useless.
'Come on, Mario. You got this.' SMG4 thought, wiping some sweat off of his forehead. He returned his focus to the arena, watching Mario face his next battle...
"Hey, I'm Grump." The first Grump said.
"I'm Not-So-Grump." The second said.
"And we're THE GAME GRUMPS!" The Grumps said in unison.
Mario rolled his eyes; these guys were so stupid.
"Mario may not remember everything..." He said, "But-a the last time we fought, you were working for SMG3 when he threatened to post-a cringe on your channel. The only similarity here is-a that my friend's channel is at stake too. Even now, you guys are still going to lose. So, let's-a go."
YouTube Video Gamer Stars:
-The Game Grumps-
Fight!
"LAUNCH THE CANNONS!" The Grumps cried.
The Game Grumps whipped out a big black skull cannon and aimed it right at Mario, Grump pulled the trigger hard and a Bullet Bill exploded from the barrel towards the plumber. Mario leaped out of the way, but the Bill had locked onto him.
He noticed and ran towards the Grumps with their ammo following him, he leaped into the air over the cannon just before they pulled the trigger again.
Another Bullet Bill emerged and crashed into the first Bill, the two of them exploded and the blast caused the Grumps to scatter while their cannon smoldered in heaps and ashes on the ground.
"Oh, this is so shit." Grump said.
"Yeah, real shit." Not-So Grump agreed.
Grump picked up Not-So Grump and threw him at Mario. Unlike the last time, Mario expected the attack and leaped out of the way, avoiding the possibility of getting latched onto by the Grumps. They were like leeches, they may have been YouTube gamers, but they were formidable fighters.
"WE WON'T LET THESE F***ERS TAKE THIS LAND!" Grump yelled in a Toad-like voice, holding up a flag that had the Grumps' faces on it.
Not-So Grump made a leap dive for Mario in an attempt to knock him down, but in the seconds before his foe made contact, Mario brought out his hammer and whacked the Grump in the face. Not-So Grump crashed into Grump and they collapsed to the ground in a heap, Mario ran in and kicked them in the groin one-by-one.
Both Grumps cried out in pain, yelping in agony as they hopped around as Mario laughed at them. These guys were joke fighters, despite being half-formidable in battle.
If they were in Smash, they would not last long against the other Smashers or the likes of Master Hand for that matter. However, the two gamers recovered fast and looked at each other before looking right at Mario intensely.
The Grumps smirked at one another and shared a high-five, then they... started dancing. They twirled around while chanting in some odd foreign language, Mario wondered what they were about to do. Then, Grump bent sideways, his hands pointed to Not-So-Grump, who did the exact same thing.
"GRUMP FUSION!" They cried.
Mario ducked for cover as a blinding flash filled the arena. He stood up as the light settled and turned around, seeing a huge bearded man with a grumpy scowl looking at him.
Impossible, those two had done the fusion dance, they were…
-The Great Grump-
The Great Grump flexed his bulging muscles and charged towards Mario, his footsteps shaking the arena. The hybrid leaped into the air with his fist raised and yelled, "GRUMP SMASH!"
"WHOA!"
Mario leaped for cover, narrowly avoiding the impact of the attack as the Great Grump smashed into the ground. The Great Grump grunted and brought up his fist, eyes fixed on Mario. Even despite his low intellect, Mario thought of a tactic and made his move.
He charged and ducked between the Great Grump's legs, coming up behind his back and then launched his attack.
Mario kicked the Great Grump in the back and knocked him down, he then picked up the hulking gamer fusion with all of his strength and threw him into the force-field across the arena. The Great Grump hit the barrier, screaming as the energy tore through his very being.
With a scream, the Great Grump tumbled to his knees and struggled to get back up. However, Mario brought out a rocket launcher and fired a rocket at him/them.
BOOM!
The explosion knocked the Great Grump into the field again and he screamed and screamed as the force-field's energy tore through his body, weakening him. As Mario watched, the screaming entity split back into Grump and Not-So Grump, both of whom fell to the floor in exhaustion and unable to keep fighting.
"Ah, screw it." Grump grumbled.
"We really suck..." Not-So Grump remarked.
Dazed and disoriented, the two Grumps collapsed and remained motionless. Mario danced a jolly jig, humming with glee, and flashed the victory sign. Another earned victory!
The YouTube CEO disposed of the Game Grumps' unconscious heaps through a portal with the press of a button on the remote and rang the gong, calling for the next contestant.
The shield lowered and Mario watched as a man with a beard stepped into the arena as bagpipes began playing somewhere, the bearded man wore a kilt, sunglasses and a black shirt. In fact, he looked very familiar.
No way, Mario couldn't believe it, it was him, the one whom Weegeepie had partially based his intro off of. It was YouTube's number one comedic Let's Play streamer...
"Top of the mornin' to ye, laddies!" Jacksepticeye introduced, "My name is Jacksepticeye, and I'm here to give ye a kick. C'mere and bring it to me. Aye, I've been trainin' hard and I'm not gonna lose to some pudgy man with a spaghetti obsession…"
"Let's-a go." Mario quipped.
Comedic Let's Play YouTuber:
-Jacksepticeye-
Without wasting a second, the Irish YouTuber pulled out a sword and made a run towards the plumber. He sliced at Mario, trying to graze him where he stood, the plumber got out of the way in time and grabbed the sword from his hand before throwing it into the force-field. The sword melted from the contact with the intense ray of energy, leaving Jacksepticeye near-defenseless.
However, the YouTuber was still a combatant. He swung his leg at Mario, attempting to kick him in the gut. Mario jumped into the air and soared over his foe's head, then he kicked him in the back of the skull, knocking him on his face.
A surprised Jacksepticeye stood back up and grabbed for Mario, but the Italian ducked and swiftly avoided every incoming move from this guy. Italian vs. Irish, The Awesome Mario versus Jacksepticeye, it was so on.
Up above, The YouTube CEO drank a can of soda provided to her by one of her employees and continued to observe the battle.
POW! In one lucky maneuver, Mario landed a hard blow to Jacksepticeye beneath the belt. The YouTuber had picked a bad place time to wear a kilt, especially as the attack struck him right between the legs.
The Irish gamer yelped and danced around, crying out in agony from the pain brought on by Mario's kick. The dim-witted plumber dashed in and kicked Jacksepticeye again, knocking him to the ground and flat on his back. His opponent grunted and got back up, eyes ablaze, and he grabbed a pipe, swinging it right at Mario.
"Oof!" The plumber exclaimed as he received a concussion in the head.
"How do ye like that, lad?" The YouTuber taunted.
Mario shook his head, recovering from the blow in a quick manner with the adrenaline pumping through him. Jacksepticeye had hit him hard, but not hard enough, it was time to return the favor.
Jacksepticeye moved in for another attack, but Mario grabbed the pipe and swung it out of his hands, smacking him in the face across the nose while poking him in the eye.
The Irishman stumbled back, yelping in agony as he clutched his agonized face. Mario took advantage of the attack and made a leap, moving in swiftly with his fist and punched Jacksepticeye square across the head.
KNOCK-OUT!
The YouTuber stumbled over, collapsing to the ground on his back and fell unconscious. Mario danced around his defeated enemy, narrowly jumping out of the way when Jacksepticeye's leg moved in his direction, his fallen opponent's last attack ever.
Mario watched as The YouTube CEO disposed of Jacksepticeye, likely sending him to a recovery room where he would heal from the battle alongside those who'd been defeated thus far.
Up above, the jumbotron flashed, showing the results of the battle and who was up next. The force-field simmered down again and Mario stood firm as he faced his next opponent.
A black-haired man with a scraggly beard wearing a checkered shirt and black shorts entered the arena, the jumbotron gleamed and premiered the promotional image of the upcoming battle that was next.
Mario knew this guy; he'd seen his videos a few times and so many of them had produced some memes that SMG4 often used or made more memes out of. An inspiration to SMG4 or not, this guy was gonna go down like the others, each of Mario's victories ensured that his friend continued to make videos and memes.
"Ooooh, get ready to see Mario's tunnel of doom, very scary!" Mario said tauntingly.
"Ha!" JonTron chuckled, "I don't even know what that is supposed to mean, but I'm gonna rock you to the tube YouTube style."
Video Game Critic:
-JonTron-
JonTron walked towards Mario, staring at him dramatically, then his walk became a run. Mario ran to meet him and their courses collided in the middle of the arena, the plumber struck first and punched JonTron in the gut, causing him to cough with shock.
The gaming critic recovered in the span of a minute and kicked at Mario, who countered with another kick and then slugged his foe hard in the chin.
He struck him so hard, JonTron was launched into the air while shouting several profanities, many of which Mario didn't hear as bleeping sounds filled the arena, courtesy of The YouTube CEO pressing the censor button on the Remote.
Mario's opponent landed on the ground, almost unscathed, and tumbled across the floor until he stopped dangerously close to the force-field.
JonTron yelped and shot back to his feet, he turned back to the fat Italian and ran towards him, shaking his fist wildly like a wrecking ball. He shot his arm, his fist flying in Mario's direction and the plumber ducked his head to the left. Another fist flew and he ducked right, evading every single incoming attack that came his way.
He timed his next move, waiting for an opening in the YouTuber's defenses. He leaped back, dodging the next attack, and launched himself into the air with precise agility. Mario landed behind JonTron and kicked him in the backside with a roundhouse kick, causing him to stumble over.
"WHAT?" JonTron shouted.
"Take-a this!"
Mario brought out a Koopa Shell and threw it at his foe, the projectile spun across the ground and slammed into JonTron's feet, tripping him up. Mario then brought out his baseball bat and whacked him hard in the head, sending him sprawling. Then he whipped out his next weapon;
Waluigi Launcher!
PYEW! Mario fired the Waluigi rocket in JonTron's direction and it exploded at his feet, sending him into the air. JonTron yelled as he went sky high, "AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, HOLY SHIT, WILL ALWAYS LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUU!"
Bam! He slammed into the ground and Mario laughed happily as dust rose around him. JonTron sat up, completely shocked by Mario's attack.
"WHAT?" He yelled, "WHAT THE F***?!"
"Looks-a like it's-a time for you to die." Mario brought out another rocket launcher and fired it at JonTron, who screamed Wario style as the rocket came for him.
"OH MY GO..." JonTron yelled.
BOOM!
Mario shielded himself and uncovered his eyes a second later, when the dust settled, he saw JonTron's body sitting there without a head. Smoke rose from the stump of the neck, even the YouTube CEO and the staff were surprised.
Outside, SMG4 was wide-eyed as he saw what happened on the Jumbotron, the whole crowd was amazed to say the least.
JonTron's headless body collapsed, a smoking motionless heap. Mario flashed the victory sign, knowing full well that the YouTuber's demise wouldn't technically last forever.
The YouTube CEO stood up and pressed a button on the Remote. She spoke with her voice reverberating around the arena, but her voice wasn't her real voice, it was the voice of one of the hosts of Mortal Kombat...
"Fatality!" The CEO declared.
"Oh yeah, let's-a go." Mario quipped with his chipper mood, regardless of how his opponent was defeated, a victory was a victory and it was time to bring in his next opponent...