Chapter Forty-Six:

Dire Desperation In The Apocalypse

Steam puffed into the sky, rising from the smokestacks of the building known as the Spaghetti Factory.

Even with the apocalyptic events taking place across Mushroom City, Tubby Wonka had no intention of shutting down the factory, and the top hat-sporting Tellytubby had relayed orders for the factory to be on heavy guard inside and outside.

TF2 model sentries were positioned near the entrance, with all guns loaded at all times, and a few uniformed soldiers patrolled the perimeter, with little-to-no exchanges between any of their colleagues. A couple trucks departed the factory now and then, loaded with boxes on boxes of spaghetti that had just been churned out.

Sirens wailed in the distance, and people screamed before they were silenced, and a menacing laugh echoed through the air. The spaghetti factory remained busy, and on alert, while keeping their cool as hard as possible.

Inside the factory, Swagmaster696969696969, or Swag for short, stood on one side of a door with a fully-loaded rifle in his hand, and his associate Christopher "Chris" Gordman stood on the other side with a polished machine gun ready in his arms.

The door they guarded led into the meatball maker room, which housed a machine that churned out chunks of meatballs to be used in the spaghetti. Both Swag and Chris had been on duty the whole morning since breakfast, and it didn't matter how long they'd been guarding the door to, what Swag called, the meatball room.

"Yo, Chris. You want to grab a meatball from that room for lunch?" Swag asked Chris, he was defined by his somewhat mentally-challenged personality.

"You want to risk getting fired over meatballs?!" Chris responded rhetorically, "We are not interfering with the meatball-making process, Swag, and we were ordered specifically to not go in there no matter what."

Swag suddenly chuckled. "Knock knock, Chris." He said to his associate.

"Knock-knock it off, Swag. Nobody is home!" Chris replied with annoyance.

"Knock-knock, knock-knock!" Swag pressed on.

"Oh, for the love of... Who's at the door?" Chris rolled his eyes.

"Something that starts with the letter 'T'."

"T what? What does the letter T want?!"

"T-Pose!" Swag did the T-pose and slapped on some shades, which irritated Chris in the process, it was absurd that someone like Swagmaster would make a "knock-knock" joke about T-Posing of all things.

"Oh my God, Swagmaster, that is the stupidest knock-knock joke I have ever heard!" Chris yelled, "Focus on the damn job and stop acting like an immature child!"

And that was when red lights flashed as the alarm went off, the loudspeaker buzzed, and someone shouted; "RED ALERT! T-POSE ZOMBIES HAVE BEEN SPOTTED NEAR THE SPAGHETTI FACTORY! T-POSE ZOMBIES HAVE BEEN SPOTTED NEAR THE SPAGHETTI FACTORY! TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS, AND DO NOT APPROACH THE T-POSE ZOMBIES!"

Outside in the streets, a horde of T-Pose Zombies consisting of Whomps, Koopas, Toads, and Piantas glided towards the factory, wordlessly, and ominously. Guards took defensive positions, and a soldier picked up a megaphone.

"You are trespassing on secure factory grounds!" The soldier yelled, "Show us your hands and turn away immediately! The spaghetti factory is not open to tourism at this time!"

The zombies ignored the orders, and came closer towards the factory, quickly prompting the guards to open fire. Sentries beeped, and unloaded at eight meters, with the barrels all aimed upon the T-Pose Zombies. Purple lightning rained down, blowing up a nearby warehouse, and a smokestack exploded off the roof before collapsing on a pair of guards.

More T-Pose Zombies entered the vicinity, and the soldiers guarding the factory screamed as the approaching masses overwhelmed them, and attacked the guards viciously.

A pair of Toads smashed the sentries near the entrance, disabling the other defenses, and the air was filled with the sounds of screaming and the cracking of bones before silence followed. The factory guards joined the infected as T-Pose Zombies, and the horde glided through the entrance into the facility.

In his office, Tubby Wonka was observing the security feeds when he saw the T-Pose Zombies flooding the factory, and overpowering the guards, right before the lights cut out and the screens were filled with static.

The red Tellytubby acted fast, and slapped the alarm button while turning on the intercom; "THIS IS TUBBY WONKA! ALL PRODUCTION OF SPAGHETTI PRODUCTS IS TO HALT, AND ALL STAFF AND GUARDS WILL PREPARE TO EVACUATE THE FACTORY! A PLAGUE IS SPREADING, T-POSE ZOMBIES HAVE ENTERED THE FACILITY!"

Without a momentary warning, the door slammed open, and a trio of T-Posing Zombie Teletubbies glided towards Tubby Wonka with menacing blank stares, ready to make him one of their own.

"GET BACK!" Tubby Wonka grabbed a custard bowl and held it dramatically, "The power of Tubby Custard compels you! The power of Tubby Custard compels you!"

He picked up a rifle that hung on the wall, and opened fire, desperate to drive the T-Pose Zombies out of his office. It was too late! A Tellytubby grabbed Tubby Wonka and a T-posing swarm surrounded him, ganging up on the Willy Wonka-wannabe, and the power of the T-Pose virus made it's way into his body in moments.

Tubby Wonka screamed as his blood ran cold, and the red Tubby attempted to fight back, only for his body to give out on him. The zombies came down on the spaghetti factory boss, and his free soul slipped away as Tubby Wonka fell into the dark abyss of pain.

Chaos consumed the factory halls as the zombies took every room and every level. People screamed as they fought for their lives, only to be infected by either a zombie or an appearing purple mushroom. Swag and Chris stood side-by-side, ready to fight until they had no ammo left, and a T-Posing Heavy approached with a couple T-Posing Chargin' Chucks.

"Chris, in this special episode of Guard N' Reload, the letter of today is 'T'." Swag said to his associate.

"And T is for T-POSE ZOMBIE!" Chris yelled, "PULL THE TRIGGER!"

Swag and Chris raised their guns and fired all they had at the approaching zombies. Gunfire rang out through the halls, and after another volley, the gunfire was followed by screaming as Swag and Chris were overrun in seconds. Swag grabbed a pistol and fired into the face of a Chargin' Chuck, which did little to save him.

"Well, if I'm dying..." Chris quipped, "At least I don't have to worry about Swag!"

"Chris! Chris!" Swag wailed as he dropped the gun, feeling the effects of the virus in his body, "I didn't get the chance to tell you!"

"Ugh! What?" Chris inquired.

"You're the silliest friend I have ever known!"

And those were Swag's last words before the virus overcame him and Chris, before the factory was overrun by Waluigi's slaves, and the production of spaghetti came to a halt at the height of the Wah-pocalypse!

Many avenues away, Mushroom Square was engulfed in apocalyptic chaos. Police squads and military troops were engaged in battle against the Wah-Man himself and his forces, determined to protect the citizens at all costs while working to evacuate as many people as they could.

Tanks fired at Waluigi, and machine gun barrels were blazing, filling the air with explosions and bullets that hardly affected the rogue Wario Brother. Artillery roared and the streets trembled to fierce explosions as all batteries were aimed at the advancing T-Pose Zombies on every street.

Waluigi laughed madly, and aimed his staff at a military-police unit. Lightning rained down, and several tanks vanished in a wall of flames and debris with a handful of soldiers and trucks.

He descended to the streets, staring down at a cop who barely had time to take cover. His uniform was smoldering, and his leg was bleeding from a shrapnel wound in the knee as he held up a stump where his hand used to be. Blood trickled down the side of his head, and the officer groaned in pain.

Smirking viciously, Waluigi lifted the wounded cop in the air, and threw him into the burning wreck of a tank. The lanky rogue Italian summoned another volley of lightning, and the unknown police officer screamed as he was burned alive in the following explosion.

BLAM!

Waluigi felt a bullet in the back, and he wheeled around, seeing a Toad holding a service revolver he'd taken from a dead soldier. The Wah-Man smirked, and levitated the Toad in the air, then he clicked his fingers and aimed his staff at the fungus. The Toad writhed and screamed, feeling bones snap in his body, and transformed into a lifeless, purple mushroom.

"Who wants to eat a mushroom?!" Waluigi declared to a pair of watching, terrified citizens.

He twirled his staff, and pulled a Pianta out of the masses. The Pianta whimpered, and stared up at the merciless Wah-Man, begging for his life while Waluigi laughed menacingly. Right when he was about to force feed the vacationing Isle Delfino inhabitant, something slammed into the side of the godlike Italian rogue's head.

Waluigi grunted and dropped the mushroom while casting the Pianta aside. He turned around with a snarl, locking eyes with a green-eyed blue hedgehog in red shoes and white gloves as he stood upon a pile of rubble.

"Sonic the Hedgehog..." The Wah-Man sneered.

Sonic tapped his foot with a disapproving look. "Been a while, Waluigi..." He said, "I remember when you and Wario ran me over that day. And I see you became an apocalypse god and decided to destroy the world. Let me guess, this is because you won't be accepted into Super Smash Bros?"

"That's none of your business, hedgehog!" Waluigi declared, "I have a world to destroy and rule! And you will submit to me!"

"My, that's a low-quality show you're putting on here!" Sonic quipped with a smirk, "I can't let you turn more people into T-Pose Zombies, and you're not even the first mustached bad guy I've ever faced. So, let's do it to it!"

Waluigi yelled furiously, and pointed his staff at the blue hedgehog. Lightning shot from the orb, streaking towards the humanoid speedster, and Sonic leaped off the rubble at the last second. The hedgehog curled into a ball, and launched himself at his godlike foe with a homing attack, bashing Waluigi on his bulbous pink nose.

The intrepid hedgehog landed back on the ground, and took off at light speed, racing around the rubble-strewn district while Waluigi cast beams of energy at the ever-fast Sonic. He ducked, rolled, and leaped around, avoiding every attack imaginable, and the blue blur curled up into a Spin-Dash before throwing himself at Waluigi again.

However, the Wah-Man anticipated the attack, and swung his staff, knocking Sonic into the ruins of a house. Sonic grunted as he slammed into a table, and dropped to the ground on his front.

Dazed for a moment, the hedgehog shook off the blow, and shot back onto his feet before racing out into the streets again. Waluigi threw a T-Posing Toad at him, and Sonic evaded, moving to the side, before leaping on top of a broken tank, then he threw himself at the nigh-powerful Wah-Man and bashed him in the torso with a homing attack.

Waluigi snapped his fingers, and lightning exploded near Sonic's position, knocking him over for a moment. He rolled out of the way before the Wah-Man levitated a burning tank above him, and Sonic ducked quickly as Waluigi brough the tank down, and an explosion shook the district.

"GO! GO!" Sonic yelled to the onlookers.

People saw their cue to leave, and ran like their lives depended on it. Waluigi raised his staff, and just as he was about to unleash his T-Pose virus power, Sonic slammed into him with another spin dash. The super-powered rogue shot an angry glare at the speedster, and grabbed him by the neck, then he threw him into a pile of rubble on a sidewalk nearby.

Bruised, but not out yet. Sonic stood once more, and raced back into the battle, avoiding blasts of energy, lightning strikes, and Waluigi throwing debris at him. Sonic narrowly avoided being hit by a T-posing Koopa, and grabbed a Goomba before throwing it into the ruins.

"Hey! Wah-Wah Loser!" Sonic shouted at Waluigi, "HOW ABOUT THIS?!"

And he was cruising like mad.

The hedgehog ran around the vicinity that surrounded Waluigi, and he let loose with all the speed force he had, generating enough kinetic energy to trigger a tornado of debris with one angry Wah-Man in the middle of it. Waluigi yelled with fury, and attempted to break free from the storm, right before Sonic leaped up and slammed into his face.

He screamed furiously, his rage building by the second. Waluigi was done playing. He hovered to the side before Sonic came at him with another attack, and the burly, lanky Italian blocked with a staff-generated shield when Sonic launched a Homing Attack/Spin-Dash combo.

Waluigi twirled his staff madly, sending down beams of energy at the ever-fast hedgehog, and Sonic wove his way around the strikes before he made another attack run at his enemy. The muscular Wah-Man snapped his finger, and Sonic grunted as a purple bolt slammed into him.

The speedster shook off the momentary pain, and launched his next attack on Waluigi, with Sonic's sights set directly on his staff. Sonic rolled into a blue ball, and slammed into the core of Waluigi's weapon hard enough to surprise the staff's wielder.

By this point, Sonic was feeling a sense of exhaustion. And, quite unusually, he was somewhat overcome with a sense of dizziness. With the strength he had left, Sonic bashed Waluigi in the face with another homing attack, then he slammed into the staff again, causing the orb to crack violently.

Sonic landed on the streets, and stared up at Waluigi, contemplating his next action before exhaustion consumed him. The blue hedgehog collapsed to his knees, and fell onto his back, seeing a hint of purple in his vision.

In that moment, he realized how strong Waluigi was. And, when Sonic had been hit by that bolt, it allowed a hint of the wannabe Smash fighter's T-Pose virus power to take root. And, when he attacked Waluigi's staff, he ended up taking in another ounce of his foe's energy.

Now, as Sonic lay exhausted while Waluigi hovered above, the outcome was clear. It wouldn't be long before the speedster was another of the Wah-Man's T-Pose slaves.

"Sonic! SONIC!"

His little buddy Tails flew in, and Sonic, knowing he had little time before he was fully infected, yelled at the twin-tailed fox to run. Tails pleaded with Sonic, telling him he couldn't give up, then the hedgehog yelled, "Get out of here!"

Waluigi was busy taking care of his staff, which was fading from his hand due to the damage it had just taken. At that moment, Tails flew away, right before Waluigi summoned another identical staff. He stared down at Sonic, beaming with victory, as the virus' effects took hold, and the hedgehog's free soul faded as he became another T-Pose Zombie...