Chapter Ten:
Melony in The Dark Land
It was hard to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing they were safe for a time, as OnyxKing, Mario and Grasshopper spiraled through the great Warp Zone transcending space and time to who knew where in the world. A green hue surrounded the trio after a while, and, when they emerged from another Warp Pipe, the trio found themselves in rough terrain.
While they weren't in the desert, both Mario, OnyxKing and Grasshopper saw they were in a near-barren landscape full of rocks, and jagged peaks with a few large mountains, and a volcano in the distance all under a pitch-black cloudy sky.
"Mama mia." Mario breathed, "It's-a the Dark Land. Mario hasn't been here in a while."
"Be careful, guys." OnyxKing cautioned, "Bowser once had a stronghold in this place, and there's bound to be lava pits around here somewhere. For now, I think we should be safe. As far as I know, Oneshot Wren hasn't tried to follow us through the Warp Pipe."
The Warp Pipe the group had just exited vanished into the ground, and the trio was alone. Grasshopper kept her helmet on, just in case combat was inevitable, and both Mario and OnyxKing looked around the terrain. Despite the dangerous reputation of the Dark Land, there had to be something useful around here somewhere, perhaps something safe.
BOOM!
A peak exploded, and the group dove out of the way as rocks fell around them. Mario shot to his feet with clenched fists, and OnyxKing stood up, coughing with surprise, while Grasshopper activated her suit's wings.
"Is someone attacking us?!" A shocked OnyxKing67 asked, "Either a piece of volcanic rock came down or somebody fired something at a rocky peak. The Dark Land ain't the safest place on Earth."
"MAMA MIA! IS THAT-A MELONY?!" Mario exclaimed.
"Wha...?"
The YouTuber looked up, spotting a green-haired female standing upon a nearby hillside, sporting watermelon seed tattoos on her cheek, green hair, and wearing a watermelon-themed hoodie dress with thick black boots. A gold aura surrounded her, and the woman's eyes glowed white as she hovered towards the trio in a serious and dramatic fashion.
"No way. No. No. No." OnyxKing stammered, "Freaking Melony? The beanie-wearing watermelon anti-Meggy who donned the Fierce Deity Mask and turned into a human with the powers of a god, and dominated Zero?!"
"Now's not the time to be an SMG4 fan, OnyxKing!" Grasshopper cried, "She looks like she's going to kill us."
"Wait! Wait!" Mario stepped forward, "Melony? It's-a me, Mario! Remember? The silly Italian who eats lotsa spaghetti? Meggy's best-a friend? I tried to make you a stand-in for-a Meggy one Christmas? I know that was-a in SMG4 and all of SMG4's adventures aren't-a canon to OnyxKing's world, but you have to-a remember me."
"I don't think she's listening, Mario!" OnyxKing warned.
Melony held up her sword, and pointed it at the YouTuber, staring at him intensely while ignoring Mario. Grasshopper took action, and flew at the watermelon waifu with her leg up in a flying kick attack. Melony noticed the incoming attack, and she floated aside. Grasshopper wheeled around, and the watermelon-turned human turned to face her.
The Tennanite suit-clad superhero breathed calmly, preparing for whatever attack that Melony was preparing to launch. The watermelon warrior waifu's eyes narrowed a little more, and then, she swung her sword as the blade glowed with energy. A mighty beam of light shot forth from Melony's weapon, streaking right towards Grasshopper.
Elena swerved out of the way, and the blade beam struck a mountain, causing a chunk of it to explode. Grasshopper flew towards her opponent, and threw hands with the nigh-omnipotent SMG4 waifu. She jostled with the sword-wielding waifu, gripping her wrists, and Melony pushed back, then she swung her leg at the green-clad crime-fighter.
For a moment, time slowed down a little, and Grasshopper ducked her head to avoid the incoming kick strike. She counterattacked, and tried to grab the sword from Melony's hand, only for the watermelon waifu to headbutt her.
Luckily, the helmet protected Grasshopper, and she launched another attack against the waifu. She punched and kicked, and Melony evaded every incoming strike. She swung her blade, aiming for Grasshopper's head, and Elena ducked down like it was nothing. And, when she saw an opening, she dove towards Melony and kicked her in the arm.
And Grasshopper struck at the right angle, so precisely, it knocked the sword out of Melony's hand, similarly to how Meggy had kicked the Splat-Blaster out of the hands of the infamous Team Killer Ink leader during the Splatfest some few years prior. The blade landed in a rock, wedging itself into the surface it had landed in.
Melony gasped, then she turned back to Grasshopper. Even without her sword, she could still fight, and the superhero knew it. As the watermelon waifu lunged at her, Grasshopper grabbed her wrists and pushed back against Melony, who tried to resist her grip.
Grasshopper maintained her grasp, and she pushed back just enough to drive Melony to the ground below, despite the strength that the Fierce Deity Mask granted to the watermelon-turned human waifu warrior. Melony's eyes were wide, and her godlike powers subsided a little, as her dark-red pupils appears.
"Did Lawyer SMG4 send you here?" Grasshopper asked, breaking the wordless silence between combatants.
"SMG4 instructed me to track down and subdue OnyxKing as well as anyone who was helping him." Melony said, "A contact told me you'd shown up in the Dark Land, SMG4... He knows the map of the Mushroom Kingdom, and had his eyes on wherever you would go."
"It doesn't need to be like this, Melony." OnyxKing stepped forward, "As a matter of fact, you might not know this, but does it seem fishy that SMG4 would sue me? He hasn't said anything on social media about filing a copyright strike and lawsuit against me for using his characters."
Melony looked at the YouTuber with surprise. "What?" She asked with wide eyes, "He hasn't?"
OnyxKing nodded. "Yeah." He replied, "And I know SMG4 said that I used his characters 'without legal authorization', but I'm not the bad guy, and the appearances of certain ideas and characters from his videos in my videos falls under parody & fair use. If you stop attacking us, I'll... I'll let you appear in one of my videos."
Melony processed what the white and yellow-clad mustached Machinist said. "You'll use me in a future video?" She asked, "Even though you've aspired to stand out from SMG4, even though you've already used other characters for minor roles in previous videos?"
"It'll be a major role, even if it's a small one." OnyxKing said, "There's no need for us to be enemies, and I have great respect for SMG4. I'm not a bad YouTuber, and you're real cool, Melony. Out of every character in SMG4's show, alongside the ones I've used for cameos or key roles, you are one of the coolest and most badass female characters SMG4 has ever had."
Mario nodded, and Grasshopper set Melony down. Melony held out her hand, and her sword broke free from the rock it was stuck in before flying back into her palm. The watermelon waifu turned to look at OnyxKing, sheathed her weapon, and smiled in a bubbly manner.
"OnyxKing..." Melony said, "I am flattered by your kind comment, and your kind offer for me to make an appearance in one of your videos. I... don't know how to describe how I am feeling right now?"
Just then, the group heard an odd buzz, and Melony reached up to tap a green-colored earpiece communicator that was visible in her left ear. A second later, OnyxKing could hear Lawyer SMG4's voice speaking through the speakers in the watermelon waifu's earpiece almost loudly, likely due to high volume.
"This is a very disappointing development that I have just witnessed..." The rogue YouTuber said, "You can't neutralize and catch OnyxKing67, even though you have him right there?! Oh, Melony, Melony, Melony! And you're considering agreeing to appear in OnyxKing's videos?"
"B-But SMG4..." Melony stammered, "He's not a bad guy."
"You leave me no other choice. I knew you would fail, and now, the world shall witness as I unleash my secret weapon from beyond this universe. Nothing else matters at this point, it is officially... zero hour!"
Up above, the cloudy sky began to darken even more, and red lightning flashed violently over the mountains. Grasshopper, Mario, OnyxKing67 and Melony looked up, watching as odd distortions in the sky began to take place. Just then, the clouds parted, revealing an ominous red wormhole as it took form... with a crossed-out zero symbol in the middle of it.
Melony's eyes widened. "NO!" She screamed, "YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T UNLEASH HIM!"
"Guess what..." SMG4 hissed, "I lied." And with that, the headpiece was filled with static.
"Oh, oh god..." Mario whimpered, "Mama mia..."
"Wh-What is that?!" Grasshopper stammered with disbelief.
A large, dark monstrous figure emerged from the wormhole, a single red eye flashing bright red, and a roar echoed through the ominous terrain. The portal closed as more lightning flashed, and the newly arrived monster became clearer for everyone to see. OnyxKing froze, recognizing the visage of the demonic beast that had just entered this world;
Purple wrinkly skin, no lower half with an exposed ribcage and spine, areas with missing textures visible, a head adorned with small ears and a large ring-shaped horn, complete with a mouth lined with razor-sharp teeth and a monstrous red eye.
Lawyer SMG4, using some indescribable power that transcended time-and-space, had summoned the horrendous eldritch virus Zero, a frightening merger of two beings made possible by the evil power of a magic box long-destroyed.
The Zero that SMG4 faced had long since been vanquished, and the Zero that had appeared was an entity from another universe, another timeline where it's reign of terror continued unchecked. Now that it was in this universe, who knew what this version of Zero would do, it was likely far worse than it's counterpart.
Zero gazed upon the world beneath it, and looked down, spotting Mario, OnyxKing, Grasshopper, and Melony as they watched. A horrifying smile etched its way onto the virus' face, and the great horror came closer, letting out an ominous snarl. And it seemed to have it's sights set on not just OnyxKing, but a certain fat Italian who stood next to him.
"Avatar..." Zero hissed.
