Marko vs. Decade

As promised, the test fight I was working on, released today because Marko Man Sparring Sessions needs work. And lots of it.

Enjoy!

*********************

Marko stood in the middle of street as Decade rode towards him on his motorcycle. Decade was coming fast, but Marko stood his ground, simply waiting.

This guy is a fool, Decade thought. Whatever. If he wants to die instantly, it's his wish.

Decade rode towards Marko at full speed, head-on with a sinister, evil grin on his face.

"Mega Kick!"

Marko jumped and delivered a Mega Kick to Decade's head, knocking him off the motorcycle, having him laid out in the middle of street as the motorcycle traveled some distance before losing its own balance and skidding on it's side to a complete stop.

Marko looked at Decade as he got up with a smile on his face. Decade did not return the smile, but instead a frown indicating insult.

"You fool!" Decade bellowed furiously. "Don't you know who you're messing with?!"

"Yeah," Marko replied, "some guy named Decade."

"That was a rhetorical question you asshole!"

"Oh..."

"Fuck this... Die!"

Decade pulled out two daggers and tossed one at Marko. He dodged it and countered with a Blaze Dash, which hit Decade and knocked him into the air. Marko followed up with a Megodoken, but Decade slashed the blast away with his spare dagger as he landed. He ran at Marko with incredible speed, hoping to stab him in the eye, but Marko dodged the stab attempt and countered with an uppercut, Mega Kick combo that knocked Decade to the ground. Marko took a step like he wanted to hit him while he was on the ground, but he decided not to. Instead, he allowed Decade to get up on both of his feet and smiled.

"This is very fucking annoying," Decade claimed. "You don't even actually attack me. You just sit there and wait for me to make a move, and the you counter accordingly. What a bitch."

"Well look at that," Marko said in a cocky tone, "seems like you got me all figured out. Now only if you could apply what you learned."

"Oh I'll apply it... I’m not going anywhere."

"Have it your way..." 

Marko charged up and fired a Bazooka Blast at Decade, which was dodged, just as Marko expected. Decade ran towards Marko after avoiding the attack and shot a fire ball at him. Marko dodged the blast and jumped towards him ready for a Mega Kick. Decade dodged the kick and countered with an uppercut that knocked Marko into the air. The uppercut was followed up with a fireball, which connected, and just before he landed, Decade connected a solid kick to knock Marko to the ground hard.

Marko got up after the attack, and Decade stood there looking unimpressed. Marko nodded, then he ran towards Decade. He initiated hand to hand combat, rushing him down with punches and kicks, but Decade maintained his defense, blocking every attack. Marko went for a sweep kick, which Decade managed to jump over, then an uppercut, which Decade managed to avoid. Decade countered with his own punch, but Marko was able to avoid it with a step back. Marko took another step back and launched a Megodoken at Decade. 

Decade avoided the blast, but did not provide a counter attack. This gave Marko room to shoot another Megodoken, which was dodged as well. Still, Decade maintained his position, refusing to attack Marko.

"You have no offense," Decade declared.

"Neither do you," Marko retorted.

"No, your defense is simply stronger than my offense."

"My offense is stronger than your offense as well."

It took Decade a moment to understand what Marko just said.

"Wait, you're implying that you can outfight me blow for blow?"

"Exactly." A small, sly grin grew on Marko's face, then he ran towards Decade. Decade ran back at him, wanting to prove a point, and when they were in striking distance, Decade threw the first punch.

"Gotcha," Marko said, dodging the punch. "Mega Kick!"

Marko connected with the Mega Kick, knocking Decade to the ground. He jumped high into the and followed up with a Megodoken aimed towards Decade, so he rolled to his right and got up, avoiding the blast. Once up, Marko was on his way to the ground, so Decade decided to attack Marko on landing. However, Marko performed a double jump, being able jump once more in mid air, which threw Decade off. Marko launched a Megodoken at Decade while he was still in the air, and it connected, stunning him for a moment. Marko landed and performed a Blaze Dash, but missed on purpose to quickly end up behind Decade just as he tried to turn around. From that position, Marko connected a 15 hit combo that ended in a Bazooka Blast, leaving Decade on the ground, hurt.

"I think you just suck at fighting," Marko taunted. "Yeeeeah, that's what it is."

Decade got up with an angry look on his face. He did not like the fact that he got duped into an attack sequence that was designed for Marko to take advantage of, so he started to rapidly fire energy blasts in Marko's direction. Marko dodged the attacks with relative ease, and soon decided to advance towards Decade as he fired the blasts off. Decade noticed that Marko was moving towards him, so he stopped firing the regular blasts and charged up one extra powerful blast at Marko. He was able to dodge the blast, and avoided taking damage from the resulting explosion, but hitting Marko with the blast wasn't the intent. With Marko preoccupied, Decade ran off to get to his motorcycle.

When the smoke cleared, Marko looked around for Decade. He eventually heard the revving of the motorcycle, finally learning Decade's motives with those attacks.

"Okay Marko Man!" Decade yelled from his motorcycle. "Your end is near!"

"Sure it is," Marko said.

"Oh? You don't believe me? Fine! Allow me to bring you face to face with your end!"

Decade revved up the motorcycle's engine once again, then he started to take off towards Marko, though not as fast this time. Marko prepared himself to fight Decade on the motorcycle, but Decade pressed a button and the motorcycle flew into the air. Once it was in the air, it was transforming into a two armed, two legged mech, with Decade as the head controlling it, and the large contraption was flying directly at Marko. When the machine landed, it tried to punch Marko into the ground, but Marko dodged the huge metal fist. Unfortunately, Marko didn't see the follow up from the huge metal foot coming, as Decade's mech kicked Marko into a building.

Decade walked the mech near the building, and he had it charge up a blast, ready to destroy the building and kill Marko.

"Say hi to the Motor Mech, Marko," Decade said, "and now, say bye... TO EVERYTHING!"

Marko jumped out of the hole quickly just before Decade could finish his statement. He wasn't sure who was in the building, but he knew that he could let that attack hit. When Decade saw that Marko had moved, he called the attack off, but maintained his focus on Marko.

Marko ran down the street, and the Motor Mech put up chase. Decade had it fire powerful blasts at Marko, but each blast was dodged with a change of lane. This went on for a while, frustrating Decade for a bit.

"Come on you fool," Decade said. "Be still!"

Marko came to a stop, only to turn around and take a few steps in the opposite direction, having the Motor Mech run right past him. Marko then stopped and started to charge an attack, and the Motor Mech stopped to turn around as well. 

"Bazooka Blast!"

Marko launched the Bazooka Blast at the head of the Motor Mech, not only doing a significant amount of damage to it, but hurting Decade as well.

"Ahhhrg!" Decade yelled. "You bitch!"

"Says the guy running around in a robot," Marko said.

"You know what? Just die already! ERRRRRRAAGGHHHGHH!"

Decade had the Motor Mech launch a bunch of blasts towards Marko. He used a Blaze Dash to quickly get out of the line of fire, then he continued to run. The Motor Mech followed him, still blasting like a mad machine. Marko came to a stop in the middle of an intersection, and waited. It didn't take the Motor Mech long at all to catch up to Marko when he stopped, but Marko used another Blaze Dash to quickly end up at the corner of the intersection. Once there, he kept running, this time towards the Motor Mech as it readjusted its aim at the mobile Marko. 

Marko dived under the blasts and ended up near the Motor Mech's feet.

"Dumb move!" Decade declared. "Now die for it!"

Decade tried to make the Motor Mech stomp on Marko, but he rolled out of the way of the huge metal foot and ended up behind the Motor Mech. Marko got up on his feet and started to charge a Bazooka Blast. Decade noticed that he didn't stomp Marko into ground meat like he intended, so he turned the Motor Mech around to see where Marko went.

"Bazooka Blast!"

Marko launched another Bazooka Blast directly at the head of the Motor Mech once again. It connected, doing more damage to the Motor Mech and hurting Decade as well. At this point, the Motor Mech started to emit smoke from where Decade was sitting. Decade saw the smoke, and this had him enraged.

"No no No!" he yelled. "I will NOT lose!"

"At this rate, that's your only option," Marko taunted.

Decade was about to say something, but he elected to keep his mouth shut at this point. The Motor Mech jumped high into the air, and it launched a huge blast at Marko. Marko dodged the blast and wanted to retaliate with a third Bazooka Blast, but he noticed that Motor Mech seemed to transforming again on its way back down to the ground. Both legs and the left arm sprouted wheels, while the right arm maintained its original blaster but gained additional blasters both under and over the arm.

"Wow," Marko said, nodding his head, "while it looks kinda awkward, it looks like a much more formidable weapon. Clearly that should have been the initial transformation."

Decade's anger grew, but not a word was said. He drove the Motor Mech towards Marko, firing blasts at him. Marko quickly got out of the way of the blasts and the Motor Mech, watching it zoom by as it still tried to shoot Marko. With the new arm, it was definitely able to maintain some kind of aim, keeping Marko on his toes.

The Motor Mech made a quick U-turn and started to head towards Marko again, still firing blasts. He saw the Motor Mech coming, not quite sure how he going to get off an attack as of yet, so he made moves to evade the Motor Mech with a Blaze Dash. 

This time, the Motor Mech slowed down as Marko Blaze Dashed, and it stopped shooting. Decade made the Motor Mech slowly approach Marko, and he made the weapon arm charge up three separate blasts. Marko saw the predicament he was in and knew he had to not get hit, but he realized that the arm had a good lock on him, as when he moved to the left, the arm kept its aim on him, and when he moved back to the right, the arm's aim was still steady on him. He also noticed that the machine was still giving off smoke from where Decade was sitting, so the Motor Mech was still damaged. This gave Marko an idea.

The Motor Mech was still charging up its three blasts as it slowly approached a very still Marko.

"It seems like you understand your end now," Decade spoke. "Good."

"Yeah," Marko mocked, "my life is so over."

"Ugh... you have no idea how tired of your mouth I am. Time to keep it shut permanently."

The Motor Mech fired the triple blast, and the instant those three blasts were fired, Marko jumped into the air, then jumped up in mid air once again.

"Bazooka Blast!"

Marko launched the Bazooka Blast at the top of his second jump, aiming for the Motor Mech's head. The arm was able to get in the way of the Bazooka Blast and block it, then it swiped at Marko on his way down and slammed him into the ground.

With Marko down, the Motor Mech took aim, charging up three blasts once again. A single shot was fired, and Marko quickly rolled out of the way, avoiding the hit. He got up on his feet as a second shot was fired, and he started to run away from the Motor Mech, avoiding that shot as well.

"Oh no you don't Marko Man!" Decade said. "You're not getting away from me like that!"

The Motor Mech accelerated, beginning its pursuit of Marko Man. The third blast of the Motor Mech was still being charged with energy while it was catching up on Marko. He looked back to see how close the Motor Mech was to him and saw that it was definitely getting closer and closer to him much faster than he thought it could.

"Okay Marko!" Decade announced. "Time to die!" 

The Motor Mech fired its powered up blast at Marko. He jumped at just the right moment, avoiding contact with the blast and its resulting explosion. He performed a double jump, this time doing a back flip in the air while he charged up a Bazooka Blast. He landed on the Motor Mech with his feet set sturdy to maintain balance while the Bazooka Blast was charging up, directly behind the head area where Decade was sitting.

"Hi, I have a present for you," Marko said. "BAZOOKA BLAST!"

Marko put a whole lot more power into this Bazooka Blast, and it hit the Motor Mech's head hard enough to cause an immediate explosion that knocked Marko off the Motor Mech. He landed on his back in the street as the Motor Mech started to slow down in a fiery blaze. Suddenly, there was a spectacular multi-tiered explosion from the Motor Mech. The entire thing came to a stop, and there was one last, huge explosion that made sure the Motor Mech was destroyed.

Marko got up and walked towards the ruined machine. There was still fire, but the smoke from the first set of explosions started to clear. He cautious navigated his way around the mess, trying to find Decade, but he was nowhere to be found. He looked around, thinking that maybe he'd see him, but there was no one around.

"Looks like a win to me," Marko said to himself, "but he's alive. That's cool. He's already got a pretty cool name. We'll redesign him, give him some new powers and maybe a purpose, and this guy could prove to be a real bad ass."

With that thought, Marko started to walk away from the scene to go home.

"Till next time Decade. Till next time." 

Marko Man Sparring Sessions: Delayed...

I wanted to put out the Sparring Sessions on April 20th.
I wanted to have them out by April to begin with.

But unfortunately, things are a little cluttered, and I want to really dig into the quality control of the Sparring Sessions, so unfortunately, they won't be out on April 20th, or in April for that matter.

Right now, I'm aiming for June, but I'm not even going to be 100% sure about that month, either.

What I can assure you is that when the Sparring Sessions do come out, it will be top quality material, in a top quality new blog... or maybe a tumblr... I'm not sure yet.

There are a bunch of things I'm working on, and life is giving me interesting scenarios to deal with, and multitasking is something the brain scientifically fails at, and so on and so forth with the excuses... right now, I'm focusing on poetry, since it's poetry month. Beyond that, there are a couple of other things I want to explore before proceeding with the Sparring Sessions...

What I will do on April 20th, however, is post a fight that I was kinda working on when I was testing writing stuff on my phone in this blog. I have two fights "done" otherwise, but I want to work on them some more.

So yeah, Sparring Sessions are delayed. For the few dedicated fans out there, this may come off as disappointing, but I believe that it will be more than worth the wait. And if it's not... at least the official reboot of the series will be.

Because in the end, that's what all of this is for, anyway.

A Flower Spared

I am not going to pluck
The petals from a flower.
There is no reason that I should
Share my pain with such beauty.

Midnight Cry

Delayed therapy.
I am having a moment.
Let my tears flow free.

What to Chase

Should we chase the dog?
Should we chase the squirrel?
Should we chase the sloth?
Should we chase the world?
No matter the choice,
The goal will be there.
Forget external voice,
Do not be scared.
You can stay on the ground
Or you can choose to soar.
No matter where you're bound,
The choice is yours.
So whether in deep blue
Or in other space,
Let no one tell you
What to chase.

Broken Heart

Unwanted black void,
Like a night with no starlight
And endless shadow.

Secret Fetish

It's a strange little fetish,
More erotic than you'd ever know.
Very powerful, yet very quiet.
But yet I see and feel it all the time.
Just thinking about it
Gets me aroused and ready to go.
But what is this fetish I speak of?
I'll just leave it to your imagination...

The Weapon

I can make you paranoid without hard reason to believe and I can make you think it's safe while I'm carrying five guns. You see the weapon that I wield hits where it hurts the most, with unlimited ammunition and perfect for many a situation. It works well against numbers and works well against one, and if you know anything about one, then you know it's a number, too. Three seconds to think about it and more for the fifth guess, but for three of your people, it might be too late. Now you're left alone, wondering what happened, as you don't see a threat, but you thought you had it all in the palm of your hand.

But that was the problem. You thought. You shouldn't have thought. For the first thought brings the second thought, and the second thought brings the first loss, and the second place is just the first loser and you waffle between the numbers one and two until you add it up and get to three, thinking, "Where did this all go wrong?"

And you'll never realize that thinking got you fried because you don't get paid to think, so therefore, those who think, get fired. Ask your buddies... oh, that's right... you can't.

You come to me, wondering what's going on, still thinking even though you shouldn't be thinking at all, but that's why you come to me, because at the count of three, you'd be below the sea except for the fact that you were the first to flee. And you get to me, and you ask questions, riddled with fear, needing answers to calm your adrenaline-filled blood, your heart pumping, afraid of hearing the wrong words but needing to hear words regardless because the silence is killing you.

"Don't worry about it," I tell you.
"It'll be okay," I reassure you.
"Everything is going to be fine."

And slowly, your heart rate starts to decelerate as you begin to feel safer within my confidence. But your heart rate continues to decelerate as a sharp pain enters, then leaves your bloodstream. You realize that there is no one to blame but yourself as gravity has its way with you and you begin your final countdown. You get to three and figure out that I was never on your team from the beginning, but by then, it's too late. And then there was one.

With zero opponents left, I proved exactly what I wanted to prove. Perception. It's the best weapon around.

Care for another Game, folks?

You Don't Force This

Why walk against wind?
Why swim upstream?
Why fist fight a tank?
You don't force this.

Softly tumble downhill.
Slide on the ice with the calm.
Naturally adjust to the light.
You don't force this.

It's one thing to go against what's in.
It's another thing to go against what this is.
And this... this something special.
You don't force this.

No... you let this arrive easy.
No earthquake. No turbulence.
In and out like breath.
You don't force this.

Sonic ReBoot?

http://mynintendonews.com/2012/04/05/sonic-brand-in-for-a-major-reboot-may-go-the-skylanders-route/

A Sonic Reboot? That's a pretty intense rumor. In the event of all the points made being true, how would I feel about it? Well, first, let's break it down, point by point.

Sonic Team and Sega are looking to better monetize Sonic: because apparently, Sonic hasn't already been monetized to hell and back...

Potentially “massive” and “total” reboot: I mean, they can reboot whatever they want, but fuck you. Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles happened and can't no one tell me otherwise.

Sega and Sonic Team are “committed” to the reboot: I guess that means that they're serious... assuming this isn't a rumor.

Speed, platforming, and surreal environments will remain: This is a good thing. No need for Sonic to be in the same bland, 256 shades of the same color world that plague too many video games these days.

Sonic and Dr. Eggman’s rivalry will continue: How can it continue if it's a reboot? (semantics) No, but this is cool, perhaps.

Both characters may undergo a makeover: So... green eyes are out? 

Everything else is up in the air and may see radical changes, including Tails: if they give Tails nine tails and therefore make him a god... in other words, I'm not sure if I like this... a lot of the characters are cool enough as they are. They could maybe use a bit more character development... you know, be a bit more dynamic with their personalities, but that's it.

May birth a new universe and characters: Because everyone loves new characters.... personally, I'm not against new characters as long as they don't come out like how Big came out, Amy came out, or how Silver was originally perceived to come out. (I used to hate Silver with a passion...)

New gameplay methods and gimmicks: Who didn't see this coming?

Zones would be massively expanded and become their own world: Now this sounds interesting... this could be the "Sonic Adventure 3!!!!!" that everyone seems to have wanted, but yeah... this could totally be something amazing.

Zones feature individual levels masked as missions: Acts = Missions, I guess... 

Idea likened to Burnout Paradise: Why? Because of the Speed? Seriously though, I haven't played much Burnout Paradise to 

Includes a brand-new engine: once upon a time, a Sonic game tried a new engine too fast, and Sonic 06 was born... let's try and not rush things this time Sega...

Photo-realism is of no concern: Good.

May aggressively pursue a collection model as part of the reboot: SUPER EMERALDS? Noooo, you guys are reboot things, not returning things. This is probably the sole thing I'm worried about in terms of gameplay though, because the whole "Collect 4372894 things" in DK64 is what turned me off from it. But then again, I kinda loved the original Spyro the Dragon for it.... guess it depends on execution.

Targeting the young audience that enjoys physical collectibles: I'm still young at heart... just make the game play work.

May require physical emblems and collectibles to unlock special features: See, this is where the problem may begin... pay to win...

SEGA inspired by Skylanders’ success: I have no idea how Skylanders plays...

Physical toys and collectibles may have an interactive component with a new cartoon series: a new Sonic cartoon... oh boy... well, as long as it's not SONIC UNDERGROOOOOUUUUND!!!! quality, we could be in the clear... but then again, if it's like the third season of Sonic X....

May offer classic characters in-game as DLC: !

So... in general... Personally, I think that the reboot has promise. I'm not exactly sure why they have to "reboot" the series to be able to do all the things they want to do with the series in terms of game play and making money, but at the same time, I'm not Sega, nor Sonic Team.

And once again, can't no one tell me the "Death Egg Saga" of Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles never happened. It's the greatest piece of Sonic history there is.

That said, whatever they do, I hope they at least take their time with Sonic and this reboot, and make sure that they at least make a Sonic game the best way they can.

But remember, though... this is merely a rumor... nothing concrete, so this entire post could be moot.

I thought it was......

The

The sorrow. The find.
The hustle. The grind.
The struggle. The sign.
The sparks. They fly.

*subconsciously inspired by DMX's "Who We Be"*

April is the Write Month for this Chaos.

So it's April. This is the month that I said the journey would begin. I got the Sparring Sessions coming out soon, hopefully on the 20th. I have one fight ready (well, technically two, but the second fight is a special event that requires a special occassion), and I have one that has a freshly finished first draft. I hope to have about 3 or 4 fights by the time the 20th rolls around. I'm also working on a new logo for Marko Man.

I also want to go to a few poetry readings and read some of my stuff and get my name around the block and whatnot. I have half a lead, but I need more, obviously, so there's that to look into.

Furthermore, apparently April is Poetry Month. So that means I'm either going to write a poem a day or have at least 30 poems by the end of the month. Sounds simple, except I put so much food on my plate this month otherwise. But then again, if I did NaNoWriMo, then 30 poems should be easy... NaNoWriMo is like the hyperbolic time chamber of daily writing in my opinion.

In short, this should be a nice, busy month for me in terms of writing, especially since April has a slew of things I want to do beyond writing (it's getting warm, so we should know what that means...). I should also see some form of improvement in my writing with all the writing I'll be doing (I know I'm good, but I'm always looking to improve).

Random bit: I was planning on reading "The Hunger Games" and the two books that follow it, I think I'm going to have to bump that into May. I read a synopsis of "The Hunger Games," and it seems to be something more along the lines of something I'd like to read as opposed to Harry Potter... I'm not really into wizards and magic in that nature/of that degree.

So wish me luck. I'm a use today to freshen things up (because if I'm going to be writing as much as I am, I might as well get into a form conducive to such), plan things out in more detail, and get ready for the ride.

Like I said, the journey begins. Will the journey be better than the destination? Who knows...

Keys

White as the background,
Black as the snow.
Silent like sound,
Deadly, we grow.

Cold as the heat,
Hot as the cold,
Silent the beat,
Young as the old.

Pain in the heart,
Enduring your love.
Pain from the start,
From below, from above.

Failures are failed,
Success, we're hopin'.
When ignorance bailed,
Minds, we open.

Because Apparently, April's Poetry Month

Awake because fuck work, that's why.
I'm a rebel waiting for failure.
All these pieces of paper in my pocket.
And only one of them holds a tease.

Nose runs, thoughts run, she runs.
There are actually no feet involved here.
And therefore, no socks.
And therefore, the past needs not to be brought up.

Yes, that's the way.
Remember the lessons, forget the details.
Perfection doesn't exist, but the clay does.
Molding and molding are two different actions.

So ride if you ride, fly if you fly.
Do within your means, and do more than that.
Fuck all the meaningless things,
And make love to the meaningful.

Super Mario Bros. Z: Cancelled Because of Dishes?

So you probably know what Super Mario Bros. Z is.
If you don't, I'll give you a quick synopsis, but it might be in your best interest to Click This Link Right Here and discover it for yourself, even in lieu of the sad news about it...

Super Mario Bros. Z was probably the best possible fan-made crossover between the worlds of Sonic and Mario. As the Z may imply, it has a heavy Dragon Ball Z influence in it, and that's what made it so awesome.

The guy who was working on the series, Mark Haynes, but better know as Alvin Earthworm, had recently cancelled the series due to a lack of motivation. The two reasons that he sited for his lack of motivation were the impatient fans (that of which he said is the vocal minority, because I know most people are relatively patient with the series and have no problem waiting months/years on end before a new episode came out... I know I didn't) and his monotonous job. The job in question? A kitchen porter. So he washes dishes and cleans the kitchen and probably does a shitload of other bullshit tasks.

Just. Like. Me.

And this is what hurt me the most... reading that his job as a kitchen porter is a reason for his lack of motivation... because I know that pain first hand. I know what it's like to sit there and do such silly, underhanded work that deals not with my talents but instead totally ignores that fact that maybe I do, in fact, have talents of some sort. I know what it's like to have worked that long, hard day cleaning a bunch of shit you didn't make a mess of, and then when you get home, you don't wanna do shit. I know what it's like to come home from work, and simply have absolutely no energy to do anything you may ever wanted to do at all because your energy and your life and your soul has been zapped out of you by your employer because they need floors cleaned and dished washed and walls scrubbed and boxes carried and shit.

I know that pain all too well.

Combined with the pressure that he seems to feel from the impatient people that can't wait for these episodes to come out (because, you know, guy clearly put no dedication to his work and simply just tossed out random episodes, so therefore, they definitely should have come out faster), and boom... the answer is obvious. Super Mario Bros. Z is cancelled.

But this makes me wonder... exactly how many talented people are having their talents snuffed out by terrible jobs while people that are horrible at life (Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, Snooki) are making insane amounts of money simply for existing and being horrible at life? My imagination is pretty insane, so to even try and think up a number would likely make me sick.

So this... yeah, this is very sad news. It's almost depressing...

Almost...

But I can't let news like this stop me. If anything, I have to make this inspire me... make this inspire me to keep the spark... keep the blue fire burning.... keep the MMMMMMMM's going.... keep rising, keep fighting... keep working until I make it work.

Yea, my job zaps life and energy and soul from me. And yea, my job keeps me from doing as much as I'd like to do with Marko Man and other ideas and projects and hobbies and stuff that I'd like to get going. But you know what? Even if I keep it going with baby steps, I have to keep it going, period. I will not let my shitty job stop me from claiming my throne....

Even if it means getting that upgrade out the hyperbolic time chamber..... (okay, ignore that, that's a metaphor out the ass)

Regardless, it's sad to see the awesomeness that was Super Mario Bros. Z be no more.

Still, Marko Man won't die.

Here's the little bit of episode 9 that he worked on before he quit...