Chapter Five:
This Kong Has a Cease-And-Desist and a DMCA...
Meggy and Mario's journey back to Peach's Castle all the way from Nintendo HQ went smoothly as they hoped it would be, very few Nintendo Ninjas attacked them along the way and were disposed of in seconds by the two heroes, despite the ninjas efforts to keep Nintendo's mascot from getting away.
The duo returned to the castle in the span of an hour and things seemed as if Mario had never left, Luigi was still taking care of the garden and Pikmin were still wandering about.
Mario made sure to feed the little guys plenty of seed, then he and his orange-haired friend headed inside the castle and went up to the Secret Slide Room to see SMG4.
"Yo, SMG4." Meggy said happily, "You don't have to worry about the matter anymore, I got Mario back and you can make memes with him again."
At first, you'd expect SMG4 to be happy and relieved. However, as soon as Meggy came in with Mario and told him what she'd done, SMG4 let out a scream and took Meggy by the shoulder, he glared at the former Inkling with terror in his eyes.
"MEGGY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" SMG4 pleaded, "DON'T YOU KNOW THAT YOU'RE PLAYING WITH FIRE?!"
"But I got Mario back..." Meggy replied, "We're safe! So, what are you even scared about anyway?"
"There are powers that be that we shouldn't be messing with and Nintendo is a big corporation; Mario is their property and you may have just landed us all in massive trouble with them." The meme man explained, "Sure, Mario and I are friends and he's happy to be free, but you're being reckless!"
Mario gave off a goofy face as he listened in. "Oooooohhh…" He said, "Very scary!"
"And I bet you Nintendo's legal team is gonna come back here any minute and we're going to be in so much trouble. IMAGINE THE CONSEQUENCES!" SMG4 cried, "They are a company you do not want to piss off, Meggy. But, since you probably just did, you might as well kiss everything goodbye!"
It took a minute for Meggy to think about what SMG4 was saying, but just as she was about to comment, a knocking on the door made SMG4 yelp in terror.
He ran towards his still-open meme box and ducked inside, all while whimpering about the prospect of being sued, making it clear he had a feeling he knew who was at the door.
Mario looked at his frightened friend, then he looked towards the door. Meggy put a hand on the plumber's shoulder.
"Let me handle it, Red." She suggested.
"NO, DON'T!" SMG4 shrieked.
Without another word, the beanie-wearing ex-Inkling went to get the door, finding none other than Lawyer Kong standing outside with crossed arms and a scolding frown.
"Can I help you with something?" Meggy asked innocently and firmly.
"DON'T SUE ME, I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!" SMG4 screamed.
"Relax, SMG4, nobody's getting sued."
"Heh, I don't know about that one." Lawyer Kong commented, "It would seem to me that somebody is in grave legal trouble after the ruckus you just caused at the studio, gonna take a while to clean that ink up after all of that splatting."
"Oh yeah?" Meggy remarked, "Don't underestimate me, buddy. You're talking to an Inkling who turned into a human and is a world class Splatfest champion from Inkopolis who whooped your crew's butt really good and we can do it again if we have to."
"Yeah, maybe you should piss off, you big monkey!" Mario yelled.
Lawyer Kong brought up his briefcase with a scowl and pulled out another piece of legal paper, which he showed to Meggy.
"Cease-and-Desist!" He said firmly.
Meggy laughed and crossed her arms. "On what grounds?" She asked sarcastically, "I'm just hanging out with my friend, Mario."
"I said 'Cease-And-Desist'!" Lawyer Kong said irritably as he moved the paper in Meggy's face.
The former Inkling was unfazed. She held up her hand and pushed the 'cease-and-desist' aside to look at the Kong sternly in the eye.
"Mushroom Kingdom Act 9, Clause 24; 'For a Cease-And-Desist order, a copyright infringement must occur.'" Meggy told Lawyer Kong, "I took a law class in college when I was an Inkling. We are not violating anything, so your 'cease-and-desist' is invalid."
Lawyer Kong gasped and dropped the paper in shock. "What the…?!" He exclaimed.
"Yahoo, you tell him, Meggy!" Mario whooped.
"I-I..." The Nintendo lawyer stammered, "You... This is..."
Without another word, Meggy smirked and then kicked Lawyer Kong in the groin. Lawyer Kong groaned in pain and stumbled backwards; he didn't watch where he was going and yelped as he tripped over the stairs, falling down to the lower floor.
Meggy closed the door and dusted her hands off, she walked back to Mario and SMG4, the latter of whom was still shuddering in fear.
"That'll teach him..." Meggy said.
"We did it!" Mario exclaimed, "We beat Nintendo!"
"Freedom for all!" Meggy held up a flag that bore the symbol of the Mushroom Kingdom and waved it proudly while Mario blew a party kazoo.
"Uh, I don't know if he's just gonna give up so easily..." SMG4 said in a nervous manner.
"Whaddaya mean?" Mario asked, "Meggy just schooled that monkey."
BAM! The door flew open and Lawyer Kong marched in, his face red and his eyes narrow with anger.
He approached Mario, Meggy and SMG4, glaring at them with disgust. Mario and Meggy prepared themselves, ready for the likelihood of a fight. SMG4 cowered in fear, shaking with dread. Lawyer Kong held up a piece of paper, likely another piece of legal paperwork.
"I hold here… A DMCA!" The Kong said menacingly, "A DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT! You do not want to mess with us when we have this one and you're making a grave mistake!"
"Oh no…" Meggy whispered with terror, "Anything but that."
"Whatsa that…?" Mario asked with confusion, "Mario's never heard of a Digital Millennium Copyright Act."
"Mario, Meggy…" SMG4 said with terror in his voice, "It means I'll have to stop making SMG4 videos and the channel will cease to exist. All of our accomplishments, all the friends we've made, everything we worked hard to achieve won't matter once that document is signed..."
"That's right." Lawyer Kong spoke, "You better come with me now, Mario. Otherwise..."
He paused, a vibrating sound turned the monkey's attention away from the former Inkling and the two fat Italians. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone as it was buzzing wildly. Lawyer Kong tapped the answer button.
"Yes, sir." He said firmly.
A voice spoke on the other end to the monkey lawyer and the Kong nodded, "I have Mario right here and..."
The monkey stopped talking as the caller continued speaking, the lawyer's caller then said something which caused a look of confused shock to replace Lawyer Kong's firm and stern demeanor upon his face.
"What?" Lawyer Kong asked, "You can't be serious... You want to...? Why would anybody...? But I...? He's our…?"
His caller yelled at him and Lawyer Kong flinched. Then he lowered his head. "Yes, sir. You're the boss. Whatever you say, sir. Thank you, sir."
Lawyer Kong hung up and glared at the trio, who'd been listening for a while.
"Looks like you're off the hook for now." The monkey said with disdain, "The boss has an idea for a new game starring Luigi and it involves gardening, I have my ninja team outside and one of them saw Luigi watering flowers, then he called up headquarters and I think you know where this is going."
Mario, Meggy and SMG4 looked at each other, then Mario peaked outside the window, watching with surprise as Luigi interacted with a man who was one of Nintendo's producers, accompanied by a Ninja. The green Italian had stopped watering, at least for now.
"Consider yourself lucky." Lawyer Kong announced, his voice showing a hint of displeasure hidden under slight generosity, "You are free to do as you please for the time being, Mario and SMG4. But be warned, you haven't seen the last of me."
With those words, the monkey shook his fist with silent fury and walked out of the room with the unsigned DMCA and his briefcase. Once Lawyer Kong was gone, Mario breathed a sigh of relief with Meggy and SMG4.
"I'm glad you could stay with us, Mario." SMG4 said happily, he hugged his friend.
"Yeah, looks like everything turned out well in the end." Meggy commented.
"Mario can make memes with SMG4 again!" Mario cried. He then brought out a massive plate full of spaghetti, "And to-a rejoice, we can-a have a whole plate of spaghetti. Yahoo!"
The fat Italian then started scarfing down his spaghetti as SMG4 and Meggy chuckled, some things just never changed with Mario and that was good enough for them. However, SMG4 frowned; he was thinking of what Lawyer Kong had said.
Something told him that Nintendo was not finished with him and Mario yet, but it would very likely be a long time before the Big N came for them again.
Until then, SMG4 was free to make memes with Mario once again while Nintendo worked on their next spin-off; a gardening adventure game with Mario's brother Luigi.
A long time passed and, very soon, every gaming store across the Mushroom Kingdom and the rest of the world had shelves stacked with copies of a new game with Luigi watering flowers on the cover. The game was titled: Luigi's Gardening Adventure.
Reviews came in with many critics and reviewers giving it a score ranging from a decent nine to a perfect ten; almost no negative reviews in sight.
As one reviewer stated: 'What a fresh game, something relaxing for once, has an occasional action sequence, but a nice breath of fresh air. Nintendo has pulled off the impossible again and accomplished something amazing.'
Many gaming fans across the world were so in love with the game overnight, they placed 'Luigi's Gardening Adventure' on their Top Ten Best Nintendo Games of All Time lists in the number one spot next to 'Luigi's Mansion', which now ranked at number two.
The game's success scored Nintendo a heap load of cash within days with staff members partying for hours; even Luigi himself was amazed by how a simple task given to him by Princess Peach had inspired the world's greatest gaming company to make a masterpiece about gardening.
The buzz went on for days and everyone wasn't worried about anything, no fears about the end of the world or insane rappers releasing diss tracks or some greedy lunatic trying to take over YouTube. But even then, nobody knew what to expect next from the team at Nintendo.
In fact, nobody knew what to expect from Nintendo's legal department with a certain monkey in charge with SMG4 all on his mind and, what came next, nobody saw it coming...