Chapter Eleven:

A Viral Zero Hour

OnyxKing67 stepped forward, and slammed his fist into his palm. "There's no way we're standing around, and we're not helpless!" The YouTuber shouted, "I can't believe Lawyer SMG4 summoned freaking Zero, especially when he could have summoned another entity. And I don't care if there's four of us, we have to fight back before this crap gets worse."

"I agree, justice must be served no matter what." Grasshopper nodded, and adjusted her helmet confidently as her wings flapped, "I'm not letting that eldritch beast endanger the lives of everyone."

Melony channeled her deity powers, and floated into the air as a magic aura encircled her. The brave watermelon-turned warrior's clothes turned white, brown, and gold, the color-scheme of the Fierce Deity, and Melony's eyes flashed white. Her sword, agleam with power, reappeared in her hands, and the attractive fighter held it firmly as she faced the looming foe.

Mario took a step forward. "Mario's not about to let himself become fuel for a cyclops virus monster's plan to make a new universe and kill millions." The fat Italian quipped, "And even without memes, we can beat this paisano..."

The fat Italian reached into his inventory within his pockets, and he pulled out a mask with gold hair and white eyes. The mask let off a white glow, and Mario slapped it on his face, then a fiery blast of yellow energy erupted around the plumber's body while yelled so loudly, the scream carried through the terrain.

In the span of a second, Grasshopper, Melony and OnyxKing were taking in the sight of Mario sporting gold hair, a gleaming yellow mustache, and white-golden armor covering his overalls. And, it seemed that Mario had gained some muscle as well.

"Mario found this Super Deity mask lying around in the field the other day." The fat Italian explained, "A salesman told me what it was, and it looks-a like the situation calls for Super Sayan Mario Z. It should be enough to make up for the lack of memes and SMGs in this fight, now we have two godlike entities."

"Is it possible you can share your power with me?" OnyxKing asked with annoyance, "I don't know if I can summon a super powerful Iron Man suit, and I don't have any special godlike super powers."

"No problem." Mario clicked his fingers, and pointed at the YouTuber. OnyxKing's eyes widened as a bright gold aura akin to Melony's aura surrounded him, and he assumed it was from the mask that Mario was using. The shadow of Zero got larger by the minute as the eldritch horror approached, and moments later, an explosion of power shook the Dark Lands.

Zero backed up, and Grasshopper shielded her eyes as Melony did the same.

Mario laughed with satisfaction, and when the two female fighters looked, OnyxKing had adorned a cape, and his hair changed in terms of color and length as it glowed orange and flowed down the YouTuber's neck. Gleaming battle armor covered his body, and OnyxKing's eyes were flashing a shade of red.

"AM I SUPER SAYAN OR WHAT?!" Ultra OnyxKing declared, holding up a hammer that had appeared in his hands, "Let's take that beast down for the good of the universe!"

"HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOO!" Super Deity Mario hollered.

"Time to save the world again." Grasshopper said, ready for the inevitable showdown.

Both heroes flew towards the otherworldly eldritch horror, and Zero's red eye flashed with fury. The great beast's muscles bulged, and a thundering roar left its maw. OnyxKing, Mario, Melony, and Grasshopper nodded confidently at each other, and the watermelon-turned waifu warrior thrust out her sword, launching a blade beam that hit the virus across the shoulder.

Zero howled, and rushed towards the quartet of heroes, ready to smash Melony, OnyxKing, and Grasshopper, and subdue Mario before taking him as his avatar. In seconds, the sky was awash in flashes of light, roars, and battle cries, as the world witnessed Mario and friends battling Zero again.

'In this world's final hour, all shall witness, as I achieve perfection.

'Who needs chaos, when order is the only way, I care little about your fear of destruction.

'Come and witness, it is time for a new beginning, a new line of progress.

'All I need to assume my fresh new form, and hit restart, is the Avatar.

'It is he who serves as the life force of your world, and you see him as a star...'

Zero howled, and arched his shoulders, leaned forward, and fired a red laser from his singular eyeball, his sights set on the four heroes and determined to take them out. Mario, and OnyxKing dodged, along with Grasshopper and Melony. OnyxKing swerved around the evil virus, and launched himself at Zero, held up the gleaming hammer, and bashed Zero in the shoulder.

OnyxKing climbed higher, brought down his weapon, and smacked Zero in the side of the face near the jaw area. The force of the blow disrupted the virus' concentration, and cancelled the attack as the laser fizzled out.

The eldritch monstrosity roared and swiped at OnyxKing, who hovered out of the way. Mario took advantage of the distraction. He rotated his fist, summoned all of the energy the mask was offering, and rocketed towards Zero's face. He arched his arm back, and threw a glowing hook right into the beast's eye.

The malformed beast screamed with fury, covering the spot where his prey had hit him, and the howl shook and cracked the mountains below. Mario flew towards OnyxKing, and the two friends shared a super high-five, then they soared back into the battle together.

'Witness the world in its final hour, none stand a chance against my great power.

'Your efforts are in vain, it is through the Avatar, that I will be free from my pain.

'The universe will be perfect; you have someone important you can't continue to protect.

'It's going to be perfect, without a single defect. WITNESS THE END OF THE OLD!

'WITNESS A NEW BEGINNING! YOU ARE BOLD, BUT WITNESS MY GREAT POWER!

'YOU'VE STRUGGLED FOR SO LONG, NOW ITS OVER WITH THE RING OF A GONG!'

'ALL WILL WITNESS...'

Melony's eyes gleamed a pure light brown, and her attire was flashing an all yellow-gold color scheme, and her blade shone blue. The watermelon-turned half-deity smiled encouragingly to Grasshopper, and the girls charged as Zero recovered from OnyxKing's blow. The beast swiped at the incoming fighters, trying to knock them out of the sky with all that he had.

Grasshopper ducked when she saw an arm coming from above, and she moved fast when the other arm swiped at her. Melony held her sword, and fired several beams at Zero, grazing his shoulders, and blasting a chunk of his skin right off of his arms.

Zero snarled, and fired another laser at Melony, who blocked with a shield of light emitting from her blade, then she charged when the laser settled, and struck Zero across the face with a sweeping kick, followed by a blade to the eye as Melony drove her sword through Zero's pupil with all of her almost godly strength.

Dark blood spat out of the pupil, and the beast roared with fury, flailing its arms, and floating in various directions.

'The people in this world deserve a chance at life, to be safe, and free of grave strife.

'We can't let you destroy it all, you're what makes the peace and order decay.

'What needs to be witnessed is the beauty of this world today.

'You only bring pain, destruction, and terror, everything that all heroes stand against.

'People need peace and hope, you're sending peace on a downward slope.

'This world is protected, and your presence is objected.

'Peace is what needs to be witnessed.'

"RRRRRRRRRRGH!" Zero rumbled with a snarl of rage, and blindly threw a fist, trying to smash his enemies into oblivion.

Grasshopper, Mario, Melony, and OnyxKing stood side-by-side, gleaming with godlike energy, as they faced their blinded enemy. The super-powered quartet charged and attacked Zero on every side, hitting him in the face from every direction.

Melony streaked through the beast's horn, and her blade sliced through a chunk of it, cutting the horn in two. Mario and OnyxKing unleashed beams of light, blasting Zero in the shoulders before the super-powered Super Mario bashed the virus in the back, and knocked the beast into a jagged mountain down below.

The rocks pierced Zero's spine, and the beast roared, opened its mouth wide, and spat out a concentrated ball of orange-red energy adorned in the unmistakable symbols of the God Box. Grasshopper swooped down, and kicked the viral otherworldly entity under the chin as Melony and OnyxKing dove in with their weapons held high.

"FOR AXOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!" Melony cried.

"FOR YOUTUBE AND JUSTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE!" OnyxKing hollered.

A blast shook the universe as Melony's sword, and OnyxKing's super hammer made contact with Zero. OnyxKing slammed the end of his weapon deep into the great universe-destroying enemy's ribcage, and Melony sliced through her eldritch adversary's torso, striking him in the heart.

Zero floated up into the air, leaking dark liquids, and rocks fell from the peaks as weak roars echoed across the valleys. Mario swooped up, streaked down, and struck the annihilator of worlds atop the head with a well-placed super ground-pound that cracked the menacing beast's skull before Melony swooped up, and drove the blade through Zero's head above the eye.

Grasshopper hovered to the ground, and Mario, OnyxKing, and Melony flew back, watching as their viral foe collapsed with an ear-splitting howl. Both fat Italian, YouTuber, and watermelon waifu made their way to a safe spot with their superhero companion, maintaining a safe distance from the dying monster.

Zero's wounded eye darkened, and his flesh began falling apart, its chunks disintegrating in seconds, and a dark-red flash illuminated the Dark Land as the universe-hopping fusion terror known as Niles melted away into oblivion.

The rumbling ceased, and the cracks of thunder ended, as the sky returned to normal after being blanketed in a hint of red with Zero's arrival.

"Wahoo!" Mario pumped his fist excitedly, "The virus is deleted, and we saved-a the world again!"

The fat Italian removed the Super Deity Mask, allowing him to return to his regular self. OnyxKing's half-deity power, which was connected to Mario's super form enabled by the mask, faded away, and the YouTuber became his normal self again too. Melony smiled happily, and powered down from her super-charged deity mode.

"I'll say, that was tight." OnyxKing remarked, "But at least the world's safe from threats like Zero again, and I didn't think we'd end up facing him after SMG4's Revelations Arc."

"Despite having some disadvantages, the four of us did it together." Grasshopper removed her helmet and wiped some post-battle sweat off of her forehead, "It's great to see a world that isn't destroyed by a monster virus from another universe, summoned by a mad YouTube lawyer."

Melony took flight. "I must go now." She said, waving to Mario, OnyxKing, and Grasshopper, "Good luck resolving the situation with Lawyer SMG4, I actually do like your videos and the nods to the SMG4 series you made, OK67."

And with that, the watermelon waifu flew off into the dimly-lit sky, leaving OnyxKing and his friends behind as they took a moment to breathe from the battle with Zero. Even in that moment, the work of a hero was far from finished, and the Onyx-Gang still had business with Lawyer SMG4 to deal with... after they figured out what to do.