Chapter Twenty-Seven:

The End, The DMCA-pocalypse

SMG4 and Meggy made their way out of the library and back the way they came, trekking carefully through the eerie corridors of the castle, all the way to the entrance where their motorcycle was parked, untouched by anyone except for a pair of birds sitting on it until the duo shooed them away.

Without a second on the clock to lose, Meggy started up the engines and drove across the bridge, driving to the Mushroom Kingdom as quickly as she could with SMG4 riding behind her.

They drove across the countryside, trees and rocks zipping behind them with a determined look showing on Meggy's face in contrast to SMG4's worried expression. Meggy's foot pressed hard on the gas pedal and dust blew up behind them as they tore across the grass and then drove through the desert.

'Hang on, Mario. We're coming...' Meggy thought.

Mario and Luigi stood outside the firewall with the others, watching the production of the latest game, an SMG4 Phoenix Wright crossover, which was being treated as a DLC.

A couple of Capcom lawyers were invited to watch, especially since Ace Attorney was known to be in their domain, and it wasn't the first time Nintendo and Capcom had teamed up. One scene being shot involved Bob and Boopkins in a trial with Kirby acting as a judge.

Thankfully, Bob and Boopkins' Nintendo-friendly appearance protected them from the likely impending DMCA signing so at least Mario and Luigi could still hang out with them, depending on circumstances.

"As YoU cAn SeE, tHe DeFeNdAnT ClEaRlY hAs No B****eS!" Bob declared as he gestured to Boopkins, who looked sad.

"OBJECTION!" Phoenix Wright slammed his hands on the table, "2D girls don't count as b****es!" He brought out a poster showing 2D anime girls, which made Bob's eyes widen and Boopkins became a little more sadder.

"Oh, ShIt!" Bob exclaimed, "He'S r..."

WHAM!

Lawyer Kong came flying in, kicking Bob right off his stand and down to the ground, all to the shock of everyone in the area. The attorney was steaming mad.

"OK, enough is enough!" The lawyer declared, "I've made my decision..." Mario and Luigi gulped, wondering what was next, and Lawyer Kong brought out the document that everyone dreaded, "WE'RE SIGNING THE DMCA!"

Everyone gasped in shock!

"No, don't sign it!" Luigi pleaded.

"This has gone on long enough!" Lawyer Kong said, "Very few of your ideas have been impressive, but this here is beyond ridiculous. And so, it has to be done..." He turned to Kirby and snapped his fingers, "Judge?"

Kirby waved his hammer with a smile as he let off his signature, "Puyo!"

"NO! STOP!"

Mario turned, seeing Meggy and SMG4 approaching. The former Inkling-turned human held up a piece of paper in the air, waving it for everyone to see. "WE HAVE SOMETHING THAT CAN STOP THIS!" Meggy called, her voice filled with desperation.

"No!" Lawyer Kong snapped as he handed a Nintendo Ninja the DMCA and a pen, "No more obstacles, no more stalling! This ends now! Mario, you know better than to hang out with these types of people!"

Meggy ran closer, racing towards Judge Kirby's stand, holding the piece of paper, which looked like toilet paper and had the words "parody contract" written on it. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, but despite her running speed, a pair of Nintendo Ninjas blocked her way.

Meggy stopped in her tracks, completely shocked, but held up the apparent contract with a nervous smile. The Nintendo Ninjas shook their head, almost anxiously and nervously, despite Meggy's attempts to get around them.

"All signed, boss!" A Ninja called.

"Excellent!" Lawyer Kong took the now-signed DMCA and handed it to Judge Kirby, leaving everyone in the area in shock! The DMCA glowed ominously and Lawyer Kong looked at everyone watching, from SMG4 to Meggy and the others, smiling victoriously.

"It's over..." Lawyer Kong cackled.

SMG4 dropped to his knees and looked at his phone, seeing that his YouTube channel had vanished. The sky seemed to darken, Mario and Luigi looked at each other with terror as they saw the DMCA take effect all around them.

They heard a blip and saw Hal Monitor's computer face shut down as the cop deactivated. SMG3, Swag and Chris collapsed to the ground, their eyes going blank in seconds. Wheeler the Mushroom Robber slumped over in his wheel chair and Shroomy dropped to the ground.

Tari's eyes became blank and she dropped along with Belle. SMG1 and SMG2's eyes went blank and the two meme guardians shut down before their bodies vanished into thin air.

Phoenix Wright looked over what was happening, he lowered his head and remarked, "This is a tragedy, despite the legal justification."

Saiko and Kaizo dropped together, Boopkins cried in horror as he watched JubJub fall. Fugeo the Water Bottle cursed in Russian before he toppled over. The Old Man Hobo coughed and fell over, not making any other noise.

Rob the Scarecrow collapsed, falling alongside Whimpu. And despite possessing the power of the Fierce Deity Mask, Melony dropped as well. Meggy groaned, doubling over and gasping for breath. Mario caught her before she fell, holding her gently in her arms.

"I guess we didn't make it in time..." Meggy said in a horse whisper as she placed her arms around Mario, moving one hand under his hat for some reason, "A-All of that work, for nothing, fate really is... cruel."

"No, Mario can fix this." Mario said with a whimper.

"I'm so glad we met, Red." Meggy said, "So many adventures, us coming out on top in Splatfest, never forget me..."

Mario held Meggy until her arms went limp and her eyes closed shut, Luigi walked over, looking over what was left of their friend. All around them, many people lay in heaps, those who still stood either bowed their heads solemnly or walked off or knelt among the corpses.

SMG4 looked over it all, the nightmare he'd fought to prevent had come true. Every adventure, every bond, every battle and victory, none of it mattered now. How he was still breathing, it was anybody's guess.

But what likely kept him from shutting down like the others was his meme guardian powers. After all, he'd been sent here to protect Mario. And without him, Mario would've been corrupted by that horrible virus.

SMG4 looked among the bodies, seeing SMG3 among them, having shut down. Egg Dog was nowhere to be found, he'd likely gone back to the Internet Graveyard before the DMCA was signed. Hopefully the DMCA didn't touch that realm.

But the work was done, it always would be. Nintendo was inevitable...