Senbo and The Watermelon Man -an SMG4 story-
It was a chilly and starry Halloween night in Mushroom City, pumpkins were aglow and trick-or-treaters were about, collecting candy, while some just hung out with their friends without dressing up or relaxed at home. Young Senbo Mazushi was out for a walk, heading down to the local watermelon patch to find some watermelons for his parents. They hadn’t eaten a melon in days and Mrs. Mazushi had asked the young man to find a watermelon and he’d decided to go out at night, while everyone was doing Halloween stuff, which was a little odd. And yet, Senbo had his job. He strolled past the Mushroom City park, not even worried about the Toads dressing up as spooky ghosts, nor did the sight of Boos floating around give him the chills. After all, Goombas and Koopas lived in this place without causing much of a ruckus, so a Boo floating about the town, even on Halloween, at night wasn’t a bother as long as nobody gave the spooky spirit trouble and the Boos didn’t cause mayhem for anyone. The spiky haired teen was just approaching the city limits, passing by a couple of signs, when someone tapped him on the arm. “Yes?” Senbo turned around. Melony, the watermelon waifu warrior, playfully booped the boy in the purple shirt with the skull symbol on the nose and quipped up in a near-teasing manner, “Someone’s a little sussy baka desu here.” “Ugh, what do you want, Melony?” Senbo groaned, “I’m... kinda busy, and don’t call me a sussy baka.” “Tsk, tsk.” Melony held her finger, “You are a sussy baka for what you did to Saiko... and I doubt you should be wandering around at night, especially when the Watermelon Man is about.” “Are you trying to play a game with me?” Senbo raised an eyebrow, “Who’s the Watermelon Man?” “Oooooooh...” Melony raised her hand and moved her fingers in spider-y gestures, “The Watermelon Man is a horrific monster, made from watermelons. If you see the Watermelon Man, you’ll be coughing up red juice in your sleep and then, your butt will turn into watermelons, CAUSING YOU TO HAVE A HARD WATERMELON BEHIND FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!” Senbo looked at Melony with annoyance. “Yeah, I’m not buying that shit.” He said, “Go tell the spooky story to someone else, like Mario...” Right on cue, Mario appeared. “Oooooh, very scary.” The fat Italian quipped, “Hate to tell you, Senbo, but he’s reeeaaaal!” “Go eat spaghetti.” Senbo told the plumber, then he looked at Melony, “And you, uh... Why don’t you... go sleep with a Tellytubby?!” Mario laughed and Melony gasped. Senbo chuckled and walked off without waiting to hear another word from any of them. The young man waltzed along the road outside the city and strolled into the countryside, following the sign that read; ‘To the Watermelon Patch.’ Senbo chuckled. With Melony off his tail, he could collect watermelons for his parents to eat. Hopefully, that watermelon-turned waifu warrior didn’t drop in when they were having a watermelon-themed dinner, he heard a few stories about how Melony would wig out if someone used a watermelon as food or other... purposes while she was close by. Now, he’d entered the watermelon patch, bristling with small and medium green-colored fruits growing in the bushes. His mother had asked him to pick a big watermelon, a couple big ones, but getting them all home would be a massive chore to accomplish. Senbo shrugged, he would be just fine. ‘The Watermelon Man doesn’t exist.’ He told himself, ‘Its just a damn story, Melony was trying to mess with me, I don’t care about that bastard. Even if he did exist, I bet someone would try to eat him. Heck, if he is a monster, then you probably wouldn’t just get a watermelon butt, that thing would probably try to take your life...’ He breathed in the night air and felt the large blades of grass under his fingers, then he reached down and picked up a watermelon. It looked big enough, now he had to find a couple more. Carrying the fruit in his arms, he looked around to see if someone was watching. Thankfully, nobody else was close by, not even Melony. However, he did get the feeling he was being watched. No, now was not the time to be paranoid, especially when... “The fitness-gram pacer test is a multi-step aerobic exercise that progressively gets more and more difficult as it continues...” ‘What the heck?’ Senbo turned around, spotting Old Man Hobo standing next to a radio, doing a yoga stretch. When the old man saw the teen, he threw up his arms and shrieked, “I was just trying to stretch these old bones and couldn’t hear it clearly!” Old Man Hobo began working to turn down the volume just as a shadow crept over Senbo. A chill shot up his spine and he turned, spotting a dark cloud rolling across the starry night sky. The ex-troublemaker breathed slowly, he didn’t need to be so nervous. He went to collect another watermelon and looked back at the old man doing his exercises, but then... “The fitness-gram pacer test is a multistage aerobic exercise that gets progressively more and more difficult as it continues...” “IT WASN’T ME THIS TIME!” Old Man Hobo yelped. ‘What’s goin’ on then?’ Senbo turned around and his eyes popped wide as a balloon from a cartoon. Looming over him, and only two inches from the teen, was a large creature made up of watermelons. Even without eyes, that thing could see Senbo. Senbo dropped his watermelon that he’d collected, his mind filled with shock as he processed what he was seeing. The watermelon entity raised a watermelon arm and glided towards Senbo ominously. And right then, it hit Senbo hard as he realized who and what this thing had to be. It was said the five stages of grief were denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. In this situation, Senbo was almost in denial. He was beyond shocked, it couldn’t be. But it was, and seconds later, the denial was replaced with full-blown terror. Melony had been right. “OH, GOD! OH MY GOD! IT'S THE WATERMELON MAN!!!” Senbo screamed. He screamed like a banshee, his heart pounding ten times per second, and he turned hard, running through the field. And when he dared look back, that big green creeper was after him. Senbo ran for his life, running towards Mushroom City and leaving the watermelon patch with the Watermelon Man coming for him and all while it spouted off something about the fitness-gram pacer test. Senbo’s legs were spinning like wheels, his joints moving like lightning. He ran into the city and jumped over a Goomba in the middle of trick-or-treating. When the Goomba saw the Watermelon Man, it shrieked before the monster stomped on it, flattening the Goomba and causing a coin to pop out. Neither Senbo or the Watermelon Man cared to turn back, neither of them thought about picking up the coin. Let it lay in the streets and gather dust until someone else collected it. The only thing on Senbo’s mind was survival, running for his life, and not getting his tail end turned into a watermelon. On the Watermelon Man’s end, all he thought about was catching his prey, catching the young boy he would pursue until he was in his grasp. Flashes of a near-similar situation echoed in Senbo’s mind, the memory of the monstrosity known as Starved Eggman rising back to the surface of his sub-consciousness. And then, he thought about the day he met Saiko’s old friend Kaizo from the Kevin’s School game, the day when that crazy human-looking demon chased after him with his glinting black scythe. The kid shook his head, bringing himself out of the flashback zone and back into the city, back into the reality of his current situation. He ran past the park, weaving around a pair of Boos as they were floating by. The ghosts made a screech sound, as if they were saying ‘hi’, but he ignored their greeting. “The fitness-gram pacer test...” Watermelon Man popped up in front of Senbo next to a stop sign, its arms high and wide with an object resembling a knife in its watermelon hand. Senbo let out a scream and ran to the right, running around the tall green monster that may have been a Slender Man rip-off. He never dared to play the Slender-Man game, he never dared to play the Siren Head game too. All of them were scary, even if a certain red Italian had befriended and tamed both creatures. And speaking of that certain dimwitted hero. Senbo could see him feasting on a plate of spaghetti a block away, unaware of what was going on. And he could see Princess Peach walking past, triggering an idea that quickly took form in the teen’s mind. He ran towards Mario, grabbed his half-eaten spaghetti plate to the plumber’s shock and threw it at the Watermelon Man, hitting him in the face. Then, he grabbed another plate of spaghetti that the shocked Mario had on standby and threw it at Peach, hitting her in the middle of her dress. The princess yelped and turned in both Senbo and Mario’s direction. “It was him.” Senbo said to her, pointing to a surprised Mario. Catching a glimpse of Peach’s face, he ran for it, right before he heard the Watermelon Man speak again, spouting off another line referencing “the fitness-gram pacer test”, and right before he heard Mario yelp as the princess came for him. And the ear-splitting shriek of Princess Peach filled Senbo’s ears, he could hear it from a distance, even as he kept running through the half-darkened streets. Senbo felt his heartbeat intensify and his forehead sweated, tears of sweat rolling down his face until it was all dropping off in the cold of the night. He gasped and panted, full of fear mixed with slight exhaustion, he couldn’t run forever. But if he stopped, even for one second, the Watermelon Man would catch him, and would do so many unspeakable things to him. However, Senbo knew he would be the least of his concerns, especially when a certain princess came after him. He feared the moment where she hunted him down, screaming madly, and unleashing her wrath upon him regardless of his age. Many thoughts on how to survive the night, how to escape the Watermelon Man, were exploding in his mind, and some of those thoughts all involved a certain anime girl. She’d helped him once before, she could help him again. If he wanted to seek her out, he had to keep running, and Senbo continued to make a mad dash through the streets of Mushroom City while often dodging the Watermelon Man whenever he teleported in front of him. And whenever he appeared, he would get closer to Senbo, close enough to touch him. Left, right, right, left. Everywhere the Watermelon Man appeared, Senbo ran hard and thought quickly to make mad maneuvers around his relentless pursuer. He stumbled over a small rock, but quickly got his balance and ran towards the house on the other end of Mochi-Kutu Street, seeing Saiko’s house just up ahead. He could make it, assuming the Watermelon Man didn’t have another trick up his sleeve.Close by at the anime girl’s residence, Saiko, dressed as a witch, made her way to the door as she heard the ding-dong. She grabbed the bowl of candy and answered the door, finding a green-eyed boy dressed in an SMG4 costume. “Trick or treat.” The teen said, holding his candy bucket. “My gosh, that costume looks so nice!” Saiko exclaimed, she grabbed some Kart Krush candy bars from her bowl and dropped them into the boy’s bucket. “Happy Halloween.” The boy waved. Saiko closed the door with a wave and Senbo #484 happily stepped away from the anime girl’s house, making his way through the streets, right when a spiky-haired kid wearing a purple shirt with a skull symbol came running by. Senbo noticed the trick-or-treater who looked similar to him, but didn’t even blink, not with a monster after him. “Hi, Senbo.” The trick-or-treater said with a happy smile. “Hi, Senbo!” Senbo replied in a hurried tone. “The fitness-gram pacer test is a step-by-step aerobic exercise...” “WHOA, LORD ABOVE!” Senbo #2 exclaimed when he saw the Watermelon Man. ‘Looks like I got a decoy.’ Senbo thought, hearing the scream of his visiting, trick-or-treating alternate counterpart. He dashed up the doorstep of Saiko’s house and knocked on the door hard, knocking as loudly as he could to get his ex-idol’s attention until a pink-haired witch in black answered the door. Senbo, as fast as he could, slipped into the house, grabbed the knob and locked the door shut before racing into the living room to catch his breath right as Saiko exclaimed, “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE, SENBO?!” “Yeah, what the heck are you doing here, kid?” Senbo looked up in the voice’s direction, seeing Saiko’s friend Kaizo sitting on the couch, wearing a pirate costume complete with an eye patch. “WATERMELON MAN!!!” Senbo screamed, “THE WATERMELON MAN IS FUCKING CHASING ME!!!” Kaizo laughed, “You’re being chased by watermelons? That’s a laugh.” BAM! The door burst open and Saiko jumped back in alarm, Senbo turned, his eyes wide with dread as the Watermelon Man glided towards him ominously. The creature growled, arms raised high, and Kaizo grabbed his scythe. Senbo looked from the demon drummer to the approaching Watermelon Man, then he ran towards the couch and grabbed the scythe from Kaizo’s hand. Kaizo protested, demanding for his weapon back, but Senbo stood his ground and faced the oncoming Watermelon Man. The monster came closer, closer, closer, getting ready to pounce on Senbo. “STAY AWAY, YOU MONSTER!!!” Senbo yelled. No more running, no hiding, he stepped towards his oncoming foe and swung Kaizo’s scythe, striking him across the torso. The Watermelon Man stumbled backwards, the front of his melon-made body leaking red juice, and snarled furiously. Senbo raised the scythe once more, ready to deliver another crucial blow, and swung it hard, driving the blade into his pursuer’s head. Down fell the Watermelon Man as Senbo pulled out the scythe, the creature was dead. Senbo handed the scythe back to an annoyed Kaizo while Saiko flashed a polite thumbs up. With the Watermelon Man out of action, Senbo breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that it was finally over... A burst of light filled the room and the Watermelon Man shot back onto its feet, glaring at Senbo, who screamed with horror. No, it couldn’t be possible, no one could survive hits like those. How was that thing still alive after he’d hit it in its crucial weak-points, just what manner of monstrous entity was the Watermelon Man if it could survive scythe slicing and stabs to the head and heal very fatal wounds that would take the life of anyone else? Was it a very powerful demon out for Senbo’s soul? Or was it a malevolent god that was out to drag Senbo to a realm of darkness, a god that he couldn’t destroy? ‘Its over.’ Senbo thought, ‘There’s no way out of this, nowhere left to run, nothing else anybody can do about it. Mom, I’m sorry I couldn’t get the watermelons that you wanted. The Watermelon Man’s got me backed into a corner in a way that leaves me unable to fight back or figure out a way to even escape my inevitable doom.’ He braced himself, prepared to either be shish-kabobed or have his behind turned into a watermelon. Senbo stared into the unseen eyes of the Watermelon Man, not even looking at Saiko or Kaizo, and surrendered to his inevitable fate. The Watermelon Man moved towards the surrendered Senbo, its arms raised, and then... It hugged him. ‘Wh... What?’ Senbo’s eyes were wide, he thought it was going to kill him or turn his rump into a watermelon. But this whole time, IT WAS CHASING HIM TO HUG HIM?! He heard laughter, he heard the Watermelon Man say ‘fitness gram pacer test’, then he looked at Kaizo and Saiko as they laughed. Melony appeared in her Fierce-Deity mode, giggling like a kid. And then, Mario, who appeared unharmed, emerged from behind the watermelon waifu and laughed. Apparently, Senbo had been pranked, the Watermelon Man wasn’t gonna hurt him after all. Now there was an odd, but surprisingly happy ending. Sure, Senbo was still in Saiko’s house and still hadn’t gotten the watermelons for his parents, but at least nobody was gonna really hurt him. He just smiled, but then, the window shattered and Peach appeared with livid eyes. “SEEEENBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” And everyone freaked out as Peach grabbed a frying pan in a threatening manner...The End...
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