Chapter Four:
What Course of Action to Take
Betrayed!
OnyxKing had trusted SMG4 for years, through so much insanity, from the Miku incident, all the way to Zelus' machinations. They were on good terms, despite the one time they fought before Zelus got free from the computer, and it made no sense that the meme man would turn into a lawyer and straight up sue OnyxKing just because he used Funky Kong in his Lawyer Kong persona in a video.
The YouTuber thought about what Lawyer SMG4 had told him as he, Funky, and Mario departed Attorney Hall, and the memory filled OnyxKing's headspace during his drive back to Peach's Castle, all the way to when he and the others sat down in the sitting room at the castle.
Funky Kong made some phone calls on his cell phone, most likely telling his relatives on Kong Island about what had just happened, and Mario took to Twitter to angrily curse SMG4, despite OnyxKing's advice not to do so. Calem the Spider and Starlow, who was visiting the castle, joined the group, and OnyxKing told them about the shocking turn of events.
"Now this is a predicament I never thought would ever happen!" Calem exclaimed, eyes wide as though he'd just tasted some nasty coffee.
"Did SMG4 put you on blast for how I'm similar to Bob?" Starlow inquired.
"He only sued me because I used Lawyer Kong in 'Mario Goes To The Kitchen to Make a Sandwich'." OnyxKing quipped, "And don't you find it strange that SMG4 became his own lawyer instead of sending someone to sue me on his behalf? Meggy was a freaking lawyer at one point, and she served as SMG4's lawyer during the Lawsuit Arc, so why not have her be the one to do it?"
"Yo..." Funky Kong raised a hand, "I just had a chat with Miyamoto-san at Nintendo on the phone about our situation. He said that he's staying out of this mess, and that the matter is none of Nintendo's concern, even though folks like us, who belong to Nintendo, are in this hot mess."
OnyxKing raised an eyebrow. "I don't know if I should be relieved or be uncertain..." He remarked uneasily, "But in fairness, the last thing we need is the biggest video game company in the gaming industry suing me as well, and I've worked hard to avoid ending up in their crosshairs just as so many others did. Did you hear about what happened to SML?"
"Eh, Logan's overrated..." Mario quipped, "GMOD, SFM and sprite animations are more entertaining than plushy videos, and that kid with a pencil in his nose sucks spaghetti noodles."
"Let's not get off track..." OnyxKing waved a hand, "This is SMG4 we're talking about here, and the question is: How are we going to handle this? What course of action do we take? And is this some sort of prank? Or has SMG4 gone insane? I respect the guy, I can't just take down my videos that have involved some nods to him, or edit those videos to remove the SMG4 references."
"But he's sued you, and he's taking you to court." Starlow pointed out.
"Yes, he's arranging an OnyxKing67 v. SMG4 trial..." OnyxKing said with exasperation, "...but there's got to be a way out of this mess, and there has to be a way. For crying out loud, my videos fall under 'fair use' and 'parody' in the matter of entertainment purposes, even if the content I'm using isn't in public domain."
"Write an appeal." Mario suggested, "Try to send one to that cuckoo crazy glitchy attorney, and maybe he will reconsider."
"Doubt that." Funky quipped, "My Lawyer Kong character doesn't care about appeals in court, and Lawyer SMG4 is probably so twisted and stubborn to a point where he might try to counter OnyxKing's appeal."
"Noted." OnyxKing nodded, "But we gotta fight back, fight back hard, and ensure my channel's future... and I still want to include nods to SMG4's videos here and there, include a character or two from his series. But right now, how can I take care of my YouTube channel and do stuff while a crazy lawyer version of my friend is suing me and threatening to send someone after me?!"
Calem coughed. "Eh, excuse me, OnyxKing?" The spider said, "Have you seen your YouTube channel? Something just came up a short notice ago..."
"Eh?" OnyxKing pulled out his phone and clicked onto his YouTube channel. His eyes widened as he saw the message, then he went to his playlists, and saw the two playlists for his arcs involving Zelus. He could not believe it, his arc-related videos had just gotten copyright strikes. And there was a message too, from SMG4, Lawyer SMG4.
"Your arc has similar plot beats to the Waluigi and Anime Arcs, noob." The message read, "Not to mention there are SMG4-y elements in the videos themselves."
"Oh my gosh, HE'S GOT TO BE THE CRAZIEST YOUTUBER LAWYER EVER!" OnyxKing yelled with fury.
"That isn't all..." Calem said as he held up a phone, "YouTube's on a copyright strike frenzy, OnyxKing reaction videos and SMG4 reaction videos are being hit with them, and someone called No Null had their SMG4 theory videos hit with a copyright strike. I mean, who goes and does that when those videos are just for discussion or entertainment purposes?"
"Talk about political correctness gone mad." Starlow commented, "No, this isn't just political correctness, this is the definition of insanity. I'd say, someone has taken too much weeds and got very drunk on a bunch of scotch."
"Mama mia..." Mario said, slumping on the couch in an uneasy manner, "...and I called Lawyer SMG4 'cuckoo crazy' earlier. As if suing and threatening OnyxKing wasn't enough, he's launching a copyright strike attack on YouTube, and this is just as stupid compared to Waluigi trying to destroy the world just because he wasn't allowed to be in Smash."
OnyxKing slammed his fist on a table and put away his phone. "Mario!" The YouTuber said in a furious tone as he looked at the fat Italian, who shot to his feet with wide eyes, "Get some Power-Ups ready! We're going to YouTube HQ and we're going to sort out some copyright crap..."
