SBG GANG MENTAL ANALYSIS
yup, him for part two. funny thing despite Aiden being my favourite character I'm most excited for the other three posts I'll make, especially the last one. there's a lot to unpack here so
also im writing this with a migraine pls read it-
Part 2: Aiden Clark
ah, yes. the obviously-mentally-ill from the start fan favourite Aiden Clark. let's go.
first, I want to start with something I find really important about his character, what makes him heavily mischaracterized in the fandom. the 'psychopath' cliche.
the terms 'psychopath', 'insane' and 'unstable' are often confused with each other due to media stereotypes, such as Aiden here. one, he is not a psychopath. psychopath literally means a self-centered person who lacks sympathy, affection and care; making them far from most other characters in their franchise. their lack of sympathy/empathy often makes them criminalized, here
disturbing content warning, for an example of a psychopath.
let's take Gressil from Homesick for example since a lot of SBG readers also read Homesick. so, here, Gressil is a perfect example of an actual psychopath. his lack of empathy makes him torment others, he's very self-centered. and when asked why he's doing this? he says he was bored. let's look at Aiden here. what does Aiden do when bored? probably dumb ideas or annoy Tyler. not torturing people for fun. Aiden is just a boy who likes thrills, but he has a sense of empathy, care and justice.
you wanna see a psychopathic Aiden?? the canvas is it
(our local Logan hater is publishing the canvas eps go checc beachy out)
but that's him, not our Aiden. canvas does not equal originals y'all
alright, now since we got that cleared out!! firstly, ADHD.
I think everyone in the fandom is already aware that Aiden is ADHD but I'm still going to talk about it just like Ashlyn's autism. Red has also said that she wrote Aiden with ADHD in mind but hadn't canonically confirmed anyone as neurodivergent. let's start with the main symptoms of ADHD, also known as Attention Decifit and Hyperactivity Disorder.
I know about 5 different ADHD people myself and did some research, it probably won't be extremely accurate since I'm not ADHD myself, but I'll try to do whatever I can. first with the AD part, Attention Decifit.
now as seen, he doesn't exactly have any problems with theorizing itself. but the problem is that his attention just goes away easily.
i mean cmon bro was making memes on the job
he tries to do work, but can't. he has a low attention span which makes him not able to concentrate. he can't keep it up for long, he'll get distracted or bored too easily about things that doesn't interest in specially.
it's just distracting. what his attention is on constantly changes, there's more to that after the ADHD part but we're here for now.
the hyperactivity... it's a lot more apparent. but I should explain the insane-unstable thing before that.
insane means that someone's mental health is not in an okay situation, where it prevents the person from thinking normally, acting rationally, very often found together with delusions. the person is seriously mentally ill where it might count as a disability.
unstable, however, where someone is prone to psychiatric problems, has moodswings etc. they're not exactly the most sane person, but they aren't insane either. Aiden here, obviously falls on the unstable side. maybe just a little bit insane if you squint. this will be brought up later too, but it mixed well with his hyperactivity too.
and as we all know, our boy isn't exactly the most stable person. (sorry for the collages, but since there is a tumblr picture limit i have to keep on collaging. yes i learnt from the last time) his hyperactivity mixes with his unstable mindset which makes him incresingly vulnerable to danger- which he likes. from when the first shift happened, he's been really careless about stuff but it's been all about his love for thrill.
and it irritates Tyler, too.
the main subplot about his character is that he's a person of excitement. guess what? ADHD people like the excitement, they like new things, they like the adrenaline and thrill. now, Aiden's main characteristic of being unstable mixed with ADHD makes him an even more reckless person. another thing mixing with the hyperactivity, is boundaries.
this part will mostly be about Ashlyn since the boundary issue only happens with her.
I talked about this on Ashlyn's side on my Ashlyn analysis, now it's time for Aiden's side.
he's really annoying to her at first. Ashlyn is someone with lots of boundaries, like high walls. and who tries to climb them with his dumbass? Aiden of course.
she kept rejecting his efforts to befriend her for some time, until the night they stole the jeep. then she managed to actually bring the walls down, and accept them all into her life. but damn was she blunt.
felt that honestly
and Aiden understands her that night, too.
Ashlyn was hesistant to hug him, yes, he was aware. but she still did which made him realize she was also trying. i have to tell you, people with ADHD and people with autism either have trouble getting along, or go perfectly well. my ADHD sibling for example, I have to push them away for a lot and tell them to lower their voice. but once they remember my boundaries it actually becomes a normal, even pleasant hangout. which, Aiden realizes and tries to get along with. he tries.
seeing his efforts on her boundaries makes something click in her mind. and she starts to be a lot nicer when they hang out in the arcade.
Aiden eventually learns and remembers what she's like and what she loves to do. he already tried to watch her ballet sessions once -got slammed-, he's been to her room where he remembered the mat from and her fighting makes it obvious. I'm sure he knew he'd get cooked by betting that. but he still did,
because he knew it'd interest her. which he succeeded, he saw her smile again. the arcade day went great until Barron and his gang pulled up, but if we ignore that part it all went well. Aiden started to understand and respect her boundaries.
anyways then Tyler fucking dies
he knows that Ashlyn feels guilty. Aiden wants to comfort her through it, but also do it correctly. without going over any boundaries. which makes him really,
really,
really surprised when she responds.
also including this pannel cause its hilarious
here we see that he's still trying. hell, I'm sure he spent minutes thinking if he should come close physically to help her. that's probably why he just nudged her softly before anything else. he's not used to it, he has to conciously make an effort to not cross said boundaries. keeping his voice lower, try to not be so reckless, not doing anything physically close unless she reciprocates. wow how i wish another someone i knew irl tried that hard instead of blaming it on me cOUGH COUGH COUGH
also other small things to include
he's yapping a lot
he has a comically large amount of puzzles in his backpack for one single trip
and sticks his head into lamps for some reason
but that's just Aiden and his little neurodivergent brain for ya.
now the part I wanted to get to the most.
Borderline Personality Disorder.
first, what is Borderline Personality Disorder?
shortened as BPD, borderline is when someone's mood is inconsistent and swinging. think of it's name; the person's mental state is in the border, in the border line, switching up fastly. the most easily understood and common type is when the person goes from a depression to a happy state. but no matter which state they are in and/or go to, one thing stays the same: it is unstable.
one thing about borderline is that it is frequently mixed with bipolar. however bipolar is a neurodivengercy which means it is what someone is born with and cannot be changed. but borderline is obtained later in life. it usually happens with depression. bipolar is much more random and the episodes last longer in comparison. it may last up to hours, and the person's memory might have trouble remembering their episodes. borderline, on the other hand, is a short-lived mood swing.
now here. here's the catch; people with BPD during mood swings can have reckless behaviour, suicidal thoughts -in his case as far as we know, lowered sense of protecting himself- or a loss of understanding danger. sounds familiar?
borderline's recklessness and dangerousness, sometimes self-destructive acts combines with ADHD's love for thrill and excitement, combined with Aiden's own personality all make up for a great condition of instability.
Aiden's behaviour constantly goes crazy, I think his most frequent mood swing might be his normal self (at least, as normal as he could be) to this more maniac way of acting. I noticed it from his eyes, when he's in a more calm-ish normal state his pupils are a bit more dilated. in the pictures above, you can clearly see that he's still in the episode; filled with the adrenaline, the unstable way of thinking.
but, what causes that? surely a mental illness such as borderline doesn't happen on it's own.
right?
cause it didn't.
it never works that way.
but it can get better.
eventually.
but what happened to him?
personally, as much as a large amounnt of people seems to believe it's something like family abuse I don't think so. maybe neglect, maybe withdrawal, maybe maybe. but we've seen his parents. I don't think they would hurt him like that. I can't put any more pictures, but this is the last part anyway. his parents seem to be kind and gentle, despite that picture in his house. I'm thinking the picture was only for the dramatic effect. his parents said that he used to be really calm and quiet during Lily's birthday, and both Aiden and Ben seem comfortable around them. they were happy taking Ben in too, any kind of abusive parent wouldn't do that at least that's what I believe. also there is that Aiden got serious and concerned when he learnt that their parents were also in the facility, most likely worried for his own as you would have thought.
there was a post that I've been trying to find for like half an hour, I commented on it but I can't find the post now. the person talked about their own theory. if I remember correctly it was that when Aiden was depressive as a child, his parents took him to a thrilling activity like the ones he's been talking about (bungee-jumping, skydiving etc.) and the thrill made him actually get excited. which is why his parents allowed him to go even more reckless, because they are aware of how prone their son could be to the depression.
what happened? let's ignore the parents factor. someone can have a loving family and still be traumatized, someone can be taken care of and still feel abandoned, someone can never have confronted a situation they are terrified of.
one of my theories is that, the loneliness. it must get to a child heavily considering children need to not be left alone, but Aiden was. he didn't have any actual friends since they always moved from one place to another from his parents' business, and they might have not had enough time to make for him (which I believe is bullshitting, every child deserves to be taken some time out for. some people quit their jobs entirely for their child.) and be unaware, and that doesn't change that he was still depressed and alone. his depressive state was seemingly before Ben was taken in. now here one thing with borderline, at least from my experience, is faking actions. smiles, laughs, friendships, conversations... almost as if there's two different lives; one fake, and one real. you keep on switching, you keep on swinging between the sides where you're yourself and where you're just mimicking 'normal human behaviour'.
it starts from faking a happy state during their depression, and by time you're faking it it becomes an automatic adition to your personality. to your mind. once it furthers, it becomes the disorder. Aiden we see is always smiling. it becomes a habit that only breaks sometimes. now, I'm not saying his smile is fake- I think his face is literally just stuck like that. it breaks ever so slightly sometimes. fake it till ya make it yanno? that kind of thing. and when he swings from his calm mood to his borderline-d mood, his pupils get small and his smile gets worse. noticably worse. I'll be rereading the series (AGAIN) and this time look at all the small details since Red loves putting them and I love theorizing so
which, wraps up the Aiden thing! im actually really proud of how i could put my thoughts into text which i never could. i'd love any additions because i love other opinions as well.
and you know what? im glad Ash and Ai are out of the place because the rest are what I'm actually looking forward to >:)
...and i should sleep. really.
(wow sorry yall i finished this hours ago and said 'alright reread to make sure its good before sleep' and fell asleep through it lol sorry for 4 hour delay ig)
(leaving for school rn see yall 8 hours later 🫡)
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IT'S FINALLY HERE !!!!
I recommend reading Sever the Ties before reading this one! As it does have references to it so reading this fic without context might make this fic more non sensical.
warnings: Gore although not explored to an uncomfortable amount, trauma upon trauma, Axol gets brought up in an awful way, I know that Mercy is from Overwatch
It turned out a bit gayer than I thought it would. If you end up having any questions after reading this, don't be afraid to ask :3 I'll try my best to answer you
obligatory @birrdify tag so you can find this beast easy !!
word count:16451
It had been a while since 3 and 4 had their rather emotional adventure. Since then, things have been better. 3 finally let 4 help him more seriously with the café while 4 let 3 help him with his videos. 3 still didn't want to just take help without anything so this was the compromise they reached. The others were peaceful too, 1 and 2 calmly doing their meme research, Meggy, Melony and Tari training together, mainly Tari since Clench appeared. Although he wasn't very fond of that. They had to give him duck pictures every few minutes to comply. He's like a toddler. Saiko was there too, although more passively, just making sure everything was okay. Everything that had been happening lately just had her really worried. Although she didn't show that, she didn't want to worry her friends. And usually when she would show concern, people many times thought she was overreacting.
Luigi was tending to his flower shop like usual, just… Very Peaceful.
Everything was just. A bit too peaceful, very little chaos present, almost worryingly.
4 started thinking about it. It was weird. He searched for Mario and, interestingly, found him in one of the unfinished rooms, watching TV.
He only managed to find him because a set of extension cords plugged into each other were leading to a room there.
“Mario?” 4 peaked in the room to see only the TV’s light and Mario, anything else that could’ve been there was obscured by the darkness.
“... Yeah?” Mario replied a bit slowly.
“What… What are you doing up here?”
“Watching Tee Vee” Mario said cheerfully. TV made Mario very happy.
“Why here?”
“Nothing distracts me here”
“Huh, um… alright. I was just worried because you haven't been bothering anyone for a while”
“Awww, SMG4, you miss it?”
“Um-”
“Oh my god, you miss when I mess with you guys! That's so funny”
“Mario… I guess. I guess I did miss it”
Mario chuckled.
“Sometimes even Mario has to rest you know”
“Yeah, I get that… what are you watching anyways?”
4 asked as he walked beside Mario to see what he was so occupied with. It turned out to be what 4 would guess is a spaghetti themed soap opera, considering the vibes of the scene he saw with pasta in shape of a man and also some in shape of a woman arguing then making out and then arguing again-
“It's very entertaining”
“I… sure see that…”
4 wasn't exactly that big of a fan of such dramatic television. 4 went to leave the room but stopped for a bit.
“Make sure to do something other than watch TV though. Dark rooms…. have their effects…”
“Okay, mom” Mario dismissed 4.
4 rolled his eyes then finally actually left. Besides, he had a lot of videos to work on with 3. It was kind of interesting working with him like this. Especially that things are really looking up now.
Although Mario wasn’t exactly respectful towards 4, he still took his word. But not to touch grass. He found a show that reminded him of Two Piece.
“Ooooh, Melony would love this!” Mario picked up the TV and ran with it in the direction of Melony. Actually, he wasn’t even running, he was flying like a torpedo. Must be all his pent up energy bursting out of him or something.
He found Melony sleeping. He repeatedly tapped her until she woke up.
“Hmm..? Mario?” she looked at him tired “Do you need something?”
“Mario found a show you might like!!” he slammed down the TV with excitement. The giddiness was kind of rubbing off on Melony.
“I’ll take a look at it then” she smiled, clapping her hands together.
Mario took off incredibly fast, which surprised Melony a bit. She thought cardio wasn’t his thing but guess that isn’t always the case after all.
The show was really fun for Melony, truly exploring the depths of fruit romance, in ways that resonated with her so deeply. She wished she could just… absorb it into her. She never saw romance between fruits shown so intimately. With the way they’d hold each other, holding onto each other until the end. Though she was especially sad about a pairing where one of them lost their life to an evil chef. Oh, she awfully hated that chef. She actually kind of resonated with the character that got left lonely. She wished… she could just grab her, pull her out of the screen… Tell her, it won’t be easy but… it’ll pass one day. Everything will be okay. And she also loved the way fruits rotting were depicted. She usually wasn’t quite comfortable with the topic but there was just… something so well done about it here. Slowly seeing your loved one succumb to a different, much more deteriorated life.
The deep excitement she felt about the show slowly put her to sleep. It was odd for her to sleep like that but hey! Sleep is always good.
She found herself in a black void. Though she could feel ground underneath. She breathed in. Breathed out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Relax.
She tried to make out anything in her surroundings. As she walked around, her steps echoed, although it didn’t sound right. The way how even just the sound of her breath would bounce off the walls, then the sound ringing in her ears. She wasn’t exactly the cowardly type but this was starting to freak her out.
Regardless, she marched on, trying to find a way out of whatever she was in. She found a doorway that was blocked by debris. She sighed then thought for a bit… She had her deity powers. She tried to pick up the debris bit by bit but for some reason, even the smallest bits felt infinitely heavy. Even just a dust particle made her sink into the floor, no matter how much she tried. She sat down on the ground. It had been a while since she felt so powerless. She didn’t think she would find herself digging out such feelings she held. She thought she got rid of them at this point. Though there will always be inevitable things she won’t be able to escape.
She just sat there. Her breath. Echoing. Yet it was so deeply quiet. Way too quiet. Ringing in her ear, the depths of this nothingness she was trapped in. It had been a while since something was threatening to drive her mad this badly. She finally got up, walking in a different direction. Maybe she’ll find the way out that way. Or at least a purpose so she could stop feeling so worthless again. She knew her friends cared but she still couldn’t quite shake off everything she was feeling. Especially after missing out on so much. She was wondering if she felt that way because she had been avoiding new adventures so much. Sleeping away another day or 2, in hopes that tomorrow would be a new day she could finally do something more.
As she walked, she found a doorway with a beaten up door barely in its place. As she looked at it closer, she noticed blood splatter on it. Some of it looked old… some of it new. She was starting to feel rather anxious. Although she should be strong, the sight of blood always did something to her head. As if reminding her of times she would rather forget about.
She barely thought much more as she opened the door. Hell, to her it almost felt like she was being controlled. As she looked around, a horrific sight filled her view. It was Axol. He tried to speak but…that wouldn’t have been possible, looking at his state. She couldn’t speak either. She couldn’t call out. She didn't want this. She JUST had this image slowly fading from her mind. The time when she had to kill him for the good of everyone. He wanted her to kill him at that point. They both knew there was nothing else they could do. Yet, she would still be often haunted by this scene. A scene only she had to witness. Only she had the burden of having to see the light leave his eyes, to see him go limp, lifeless. And now, it was so clearly in front of her, so deeply visceral. Just as visceral as it was in the moment. She cried, she couldn’t help it. She slowly managed to make herself look away. It was hard to do from everything that was boiling within her then.
Wait… She couldn’t really be back there. This must just be a nightmare! A really bad one but still, it wasn’t real. She began to walk away from Axol, slowly breathing in and out. After that awful scene, the awful music of the void like rooms were almost welcoming, even if it felt like they wanted to swallow her whole. As she walked, another familiar sound filled her ears. Sounds of drawing with a pencil on paper. As she walked closer to the source, she saw herself, drawing for the manga, Two Piece, which Axol wasn’t able to finish. There were so many crumpled papers scattered around her, her expression tired, focused but emitting a sort of hopelessness. She remembered this… Starting off really wasn’t easy. So many times she just… She just wanted to give up. But with her friends around it was better. She stared at herself for a bit. She wanted to say something.
She placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Hey… You’ll be fine”
Her tired self stopped, then slowly looked at her. No words escaping her mouth. Yet those eyes showed so much. All the ways she suffered with everything. The amount of work she put into it.
“I” she started again “...We… We might not make it perfect. But that’s okay. Axol wouldn’t expect that anyways, you know? We… still carried his legacy. That’s what only matters in the end”
Her tired self teared up and pushed her away, going back to hopelessly scribbling.
“Do you even hear me?? We’ll be fine! I promise! A mediocre manga isn’t the end of the world!”
Her tired self slowly raised her hands, bruised from holding the pencil so tightly and for so long. She stared at her. Her eyes were screaming thousands of words. She knew all of it. All the pain. All the doubt. The tears, the needless bruises she bore through it all. She knew it wasn’t for nothing. But it would be too much for anybody on their own. Maybe even with help.
With being so invested in her feelings, she only noticed an unfamiliar hand on her forehead when she heard a crack.
She woke up, sweating. She looked around. Just where she was before, with the TV still playing the fruit show. She slowly calmed down. It was finally over. Although the images that the dream left in her brain… She couldn’t bear them alone so… best thing to do is to go outside and tell someone about it. That would usually help her. She got up, fixing her hoodie.
She looked out of the room, seeing Meggy and Tari both resting and Saiko beside the 2, calmly strumming on her guitar. They must’ve been training even after she left. She admired how resilient they both were. Even Tari. After everything she had also been through with everyone, she changed a bit too. To her it felt like inspiration.
“Hi, girls!” she cheered at the 3.
All 3 looked her way saying hi back but stopping, all of them looking at her horrified. She felt a bit confused.
“Why are you looking at me so weird? Is… my hair looking weird or-”
“Your… face” Saiko was the only one speaking up.
“My face?” Melony slowly felt her face, from her chin to her forehead, her fingers brushing over her usual features until she felt something weird by her forehead. As she trailed along lines she could feel were like valleys on her face. She rushed to the bathroom, the other 3 running after her, with Saiko at the front of it.
Melony looked in the mirror, her face was cracked like a mask. Wait… The nightmare… the crack before she woke up. It was starting to make sense. Too bad she wasn’t too happy about that.
The other 3 finally caught up to her, finally being able to be by her side.
“Melony…” Tari looked like she could cry for Melony. Melony could cry too. She couldn’t take it, so she hugged Tari. Meggy patted her on the back and she got pulled in the hug too. Saiko stood there before Melony locked eyes with her and oops, she was in the hug now too.
“I- I.. I can use all the comfort right now” she spoke quietly. Saiko understood.
They stood there like that for a while.
“So…” Saiko started “What… happened?”
“Uh… I… I had a nightmare”
“About?”
“Well… Axol”
All 3 looked at her concerned.
“It’s been a while since he showed up like that in your dreams”
“I know! I don’t know… I don’t know why… Oh and… I heard a crack in my nightmare… so…”
Saiko already looked angry.
“I’ll look around in your room” she left.
The 3 looked after her sadly.
“I didn’t know it was still that bad…” Meggy commented again, feeling kind of guilty, as if it was her fault that Melony had such an awful nightmare.
“I thought it wasn’t either” Melony sounded sad.
Tari leaned on her more, trying to comfort her better.
“I know you were getting better! There must be an explanation for this… I think… This is unusual for you?”
Meggy and Melony shared a look, as they both realised Tari is right.
“We must get to the bottom of this” Meggy piped up, as she left the bathroom, going after Saiko. Tari followed, though stopped in the doorway.
“Are you coming too?”
Melony calmed herself a little, lightly clenching her fists, preparing herself to face whatever may come her way. Then she gave a small nod and followed after Tari.
They all got to where Melony slept before, the TV still in there, undisturbed for the most part. As there was nothing wrong with it, except for the fact that it was turned off. As Melony was looking at it, it was as if the screen itself was crawling deep into her soul. She wasn’t sure if she felt uncomfortable by it or not. But it was a strong feeling either way.
“What is this TV?” Saiko asked Melony.
“Well, Mario showed me a cool show on it. I actually watched it until I fell asleep”
Saiko looked back and forth between the TV and Melony. Seemingly, Tari was slowly catching on.
“Do you think… the show has something to do with it?” Tari looked at Saiko, lightly cocking her head to the side.
“I would say yeah”
“But the show was so good! I’ve never watched something so nice! It’s probably just the show that made me think of the past but that’s- that’s understandable! It was genuinely nice”
“What kinda show was it?” Tari asked.
“It kind of reminded me of Two Piece actually” she cheered.
“Oh, I love Two Piece! Could we watch it together sometime?” Meggy joined.
Saiko was a bit stupefied as the 3 went on to talk about the show as if there was nothing wrong. She still couldn’t shake off the fact that Melony’s face looked like that. She had to go look for answers. And… She might have had just the right idea…
It had been a few days then, Melony’s face still cracked but it seemed she cared less and less. Everybody else around just- seemed to care less. Especially as everyone seemed to be occupied with shows of their dreams. Meggy with a show with so much action and fighting she only could dream of. With wonderful character development, she was mesmerized. Not only that, the female lead absolutely had her from first sight, perfect role for someone so interesting. Playing the whole part perfectly, trying to survive in a world that tried to get rid of her and turning up victorious against all odds. Tari was watching a cutesy show, it was peaceful but still kind of mature with the way the characters talked. She related to the very real issues the characters had while adoring their adorable designs. They seemed to lead much more normal, relaxed lives than what they’ve been having in SMG4. It almost felt idyllic to her. She was close to just… jumping into the TV to escape everything else. 3 and 4 were too busy with their work to even notice at this point. It seemed, even together they can get a bit carried away. Or maybe flirting during work did them in a bit. And nobody even noticed that Saiko was still gone.
This continued. And only got worse. 3 and 4 only realised when barely any customers were coming in.
“You think we messed up? Do they think this place is bad again?” 3 sounded worried.
“No way, we’ve been doing so well! There must be an explanation” 4 wrapped his arm around 3 to comfort him. As usual, it did sort of work.
“I say we close up and look around”
“Just what I was thinking!”
They closed the café for the day.They first approached the castle, maybe the crew could know something about what was going on.
They both entered the castle. It was way too quiet.
“This is creepy” 3 quietly commented.
4 looked at him, that teasing look in his eyes.
“What’s the whispering for? Are you scared someone else will hear you and know you’re a coward?” he laughed.
3 grabbed 4’s face.
“As if you’re not scared!”
“A bit maybe” 4 laughed. 3 pressed a soft kiss on 4’s lips before moving ahead.
4 was left like a smiling idiot before moving along with 3.
They looked around everywhere, not seeing anybody.
Except… Mario. Mario was watching TV, just like how last time 4 really managed to talk to him. Because of work he didn’t manage to hang out with him as much as he wanted to.
“Mario! Are you at fault for people disappearing??” 3 barged into the room Mario was watching TV in. It was the same room 4 found him in before.
“Shhh!!” Mario shushes 3.
“Dude! This is serious!” 4 chimed in.
They both got slapped out of the room.
“Mario’s watching TV!! Go away!!”
They both got up, it was quite the landing as Mario slapped them pretty hard. 3 had a devious smile on. 4 looked concerned.
“Hey… 4… I have an idea. But you might not like it”
“Say it anyways”
“We could… unplug the electricity! He can’t watch TV then!”
4 thought about it.
“Well- Damn it, what else can we do anyways, let’s go”
“Heh… didn’t even need to convince you this time”
“I just don’t have a better idea”
3 chuckled. They went down to the basement to turn the electricity off. As they came up, they quickly met with a very distraught Mario. And quickly he also went past them. Screaming something about spaghetti. They followed him to see that he devoured the whole fridge.
“M… Mario?” 4 asked him carefully, he was kinda scared.
Mario saw him and ran out. 3 and 4 ran after him to see him yanking the extension cords with might and devouring the TV whole.
“Much better” he cooed as he sat on the ground, seemingly satisfied with himself.
“What… What was that Mario?” 4 was in disbelief.
Mario raised one finger then lowered it as he thought.
“I remembered I was very hungry! I couldn’t think! TV tasted kind of weird but it’s fine”
“Sure, man” 3 wasn’t even surprised anymore. Mario just pulls stuff like this.
“So… Mario…. Where are the others?” 4 asked, trying not to freak out as he remembered their original goal when they came into the castle.
“Hmmmm…. Mario doesn’t know…. Let’s look together?”
“Sure, come with” 4 said as he now led the way outside.
Walking around, everywhere was kind of quiet.
“Oh, sure hope this isn’t like that one time Mario stopped time…” Mario sounded scared.
“We’re still moving, idiot, you didn’t accidentally stop time” 3 replied.
“Yeah, 3’s right”
“You’re only saying that because you’re gay for him….” Mario pouted, looking away, crossing his arms.
“Just because I love him I’m not gonna spare him from the truth”
“You heard him!”
“Hmmmm…” Mario wasn’t convinced.
“Besides, what have you been doing all this time?” 4 questioned Mario.
“Watching TV. Only that really”
“Damn, shut in” 3 laughed.
“I… I felt glued to the screen. So… yeah…” Mario looked away from the 2. 3 felt bad almost immediately.
“Okay dude… I guess it’s not your fault- at least you’re outside now” 3 attempted to apologise.
“You tried” 4 didn’t spare 3 of the truth.
3 rolled his eyes.
Mario suddenly stopped by a window. 3 and 4 stopped too, to see him looking at a TV.
“Don’t tell me you’re trying to watch TV again-” 4 was about to freak out on Mario.
“No no- look” Mario said, pointing at the TV “This is just like the one I had at home!”
The 2 looked at it closely, and recognised it. Not only that, they saw familiar faces on TV. Acting nothing like themselves. Their friends were stuck in shows.
“That looks like the TV guy’s head who manipulated you” 4 almost shouted with how angry he was at just the sight of the TV.
3 was more calm, at least on the outside. He was more scared if anything. He really didn’t want to see that guy again.
“That means… that abandoned studio! We… we need to go back there” 4 said.
3 looked uncomfortable.
“Do we… really have to? I mean uh, it’s not like I’m scared but-”
“It’s okay, 3… I believe in us. This is… for all of our friends”
“Our friends… you’re- you’re right but-”
“You’re scared he could take advantage of you again, aren’t you?” Mario pointed at 3.
Both were a bit shocked.
“I… I am” 3 looked at him “How… How did you know?”
Mario twirled around once before finally giving a reply.
“Mario cares about his friends”
3 was a bit flustered by that.
“Aww, you’re still not used to being called a friend! 3 !!!” 4 teased him while hugging him.
“Awww, SMG3!!” Mario joined in on the hugging as well.
“C- Can- Can we just go, please??” 3 cried out. The other 2 laughed as they now got going to that very dreaded place. At least they felt a bit better now.
Just as they were about to go in, even if they likely just. Weren’t allowed to, they got grabbed from behind.
And, my god… All 3 screamed.
“What- quiet, oh my god” the very mysterious TV man said as he stepped back from the 3.
“What are you doing to our friends? Let them GO??!” 4 was ready to throw hands. He was so furious.
“Hold your horses, SMG4, we didn’t even have a formal introduction yet!”
“Hell if I care, I just want you dead” 4 didn’t look like he was kidding.
The TV headed man looked unamused.
“I should’ve expected that…” he reached a finger towards 4, stopping him in his place.
“Now! Might I introduce myself! I’m Mr Puzzles, the head of Puzzlevision, a studio that is on its way to be THE best one. You’re walking on historic grounds”
“This place was a dump not too long ago”
“Oh, you must’ve dreamed that!! And what an awful dream that sounds” Puzzles grinned, a menacing aura emanating from his gaze.
“Wh… What but… you… we… we…” 3 felt scared again. 4 wanted to move so badly to comfort him but couldn’t.
Mario wasn’t sure what to do. He realised, he needed to stop thinking. And so he stopped his needless thoughts and rammed right into Puzzles like a bull. It was so sudden, Puzzles had no way to react.
“Oh why YOU-”
It was then that Mario realised he got himself into a bit of a pickle. He didn’t have time to think, he launched himself right into the studio.
“YOU CAN’T GO IN THERE” Puzzles ran after Mario, looking so angry he was tearing up from it.
3 sighed, looking at the still frozen 4. He couldn’t hide it, he felt a bit hopeless. He grabbed 4’s frozen hand with which he was trying to reach for Puzzles. His hand still had the warmth he was very familiar with. At least something to comfort him amongst everything.He only stopped feeling so pensive when he could feel 4 move a finger. He got so excited, he squeezed 4’s hand as he then fell over with him. 3 chuckled, feeling a little stupid, a little embarrassed.
“Sorry, man” 4 chuckled back as he tried to get up.
“A little more?” 3 held 4 back.
“I appreciate that but- on the ground?”
“Okay okay, fine” 3 looked away as he got up.
“No need to be embarrassed! I do love your hugs”
3 sighed as he pulled 4 in for a quick peck on his lips.
“Yea yea but we have bigger things to worry about right now! That TV guy is still definitely chasing Mario”
“Mario! Right! Oh god, I hope he’s okay” 4 ran in, 3 followed after.
“Probably-” as they walked in, the place was in chaos. They looked around, finally finding the 2 with Mario being about to be caught.
“Mario!” 4 cried out when he saw him. Puzzles got distracted, which gave Mario the chance to fight back as he punched Puzzles’s screen. And not lightly at that. The sound of it shattering. It was as if the whole building went silent. Puzzles seemed to stop. It was so quiet, you could hear their breathing.
Puzzles slowly looked back to Mario, holding his own face. His gaze rained on Mario like an avalanche. He wasn’t exactly one to feel intimidated but here he was. It was as if the TV was bleeding pure technicolour. The TV itself still somehow worked, although glitchy. His head twitched.
3 had enough of watching as he kicked Puzzles in his shin. It distracted him long enough that the 3 of them could escape Puzzles’s grasp. For now.
They ran and hid in a room. It was dark. Not pitch black but pretty dark. As their eyes adjusted, they noticed 3 chairs by each other. It was a bit weird. Mario took a seat without thinking much about it.
“Mario, you can’t do that!” 4 tried to warn Mario who really didn’t give a single damn.
“Why can’t I? It’s just a chair!”
3 and 4 were staring at Mario for a bit, nothing seemed to happen.
“Eh, might as well” 3 took another seat.
4 gave into peer pressure, sitting down himself.
“Okay, but we still need to figure out what to do about this guy… But more importantly, how to save our friends.”
“Yeah… I don’t get it. I thought we got rid of him then!” 3 grumbled.
“If anything, he acted as your wingman with how long you took to get together” Mario said rather nonchalantly.
The 2 stared at him.
“I bet we would’ve realised without him!” 4 felt upset, 3 patted him on the back.
“Yeah! And our confession to each other would’ve been so much better if he didn’t step in!” 3 was upset at the idea that Mario proposed as well.
“Not to my knowledge”
“What do you know anyways?” 3 was agitated.
Mario just grinned so wide, even in the dark it was annoying.
Just as 3 was considering hitting Mario, light appeared in the room, in the form of a TV.
3 and 4 felt rather scared, jumping into each other’s arms, maybe even considering leaving while Mario looked excited.
“Yay TV time!” Mario cheered, as if he wasn’t JUST chased by a TV headed man out to kill him.
3 and 4 sat back, trying to calm down. A film started playing.
As the credits rolled, they recognised some names. Their friends were playing in the movie.
3 and 4 shared a glance while Mario was almost glued to the screen.
Then the title came up.
…
“The fragmented director”
The scene opened with a montage of a cheerful kid, drawing and getting older over time. Just as the time passed, his drawings were getting better too, more advanced, as if it could escape the screen and get you. Especially because they were animated. The film continued with the now teenager making more and more things. So much of it felt like a reference to something, especially from big movies and shows.
3 and Mario didn’t quite see it, but 4 was starting to get uncomfortable with how alone the kid seemed to be. Nobody else appeared in the scenes so far, just this kid and his drawings. 4 could relate in his own way. Thinking about all the times he locked himself up to work on things, just as lonely as this character, chosen but still painful loneliness. He was starting to feel it maybe a little too much…
“Dude.. are you crying?” 3 whispered to him.
As 4 took his hand to his face, indeed, tears were streaming down his face. How did he not realise it?
Mario looked at him too, immediately feeling worried for 4 as he leaned on him, trying to give him at least some physical comfort.
“It’s okay… I’m okay… just… a little too relatable”
3 shook his head, holding 4 himself. 4 was trapped in the hold of the 2 people he cared about the most…It was reassuring as he managed to look back at the screen.
The next scene began as the adult version of the once teen entered an office. As the scene continued, it became obvious that he got a job in the animation industry. He was still rather painfully lonely, even if there were people in the background. They were never directly interacting with him.
As the scene went on, he seemed to have more and more workload on his desk. His hand was shaking, his eyes not focused, with eyebags. He was overworked. He couldn’t stand it. It was obvious.
The scene ended with him finally clocking out and heading home.
4 was starting to feel weird about the relation of the title to the actual contents of the movie. This guy was nowhere near to being at such a high position, neither did he seem fragmented. It gave him a bad feeling.
It was late at night when the scene opened again. The man couldn’t sleep. He got up and went outside. The night looked peaceful, everything looked serene. The sky was just as pretty as ever.
The man looked up at the sky, as if wishing for something, then he went inside.
He seemed to think for a bit, before getting out a box full of DVDs of movies he could watch. As he was searching, he didn’t hear it. He didn’t feel it. He didn’t know what was coming. It was loud, sudden. Fatal. It ripped his head right off, whatever it was. The scene was dark enough that you wouldn’t be able to see too much detail, just enough to make out what happened. It left 4 stunned, but 3 seemed to take it worse as he noticeably hugged him tighter when the scene happened.
The scene slowly closed with slowly zooming in on the TV, kind of damaged yet for some reason it still seemed to be on and flickering.
The scene went dark, then it opened in the studio the guy worked at. It seemed the workplace was more alive. With some people chatting on a break, others working on stuff together, helping each other. Although it wasn’t corporate grade efficient, people were definitely having more fun.
Slowly, as the scene panned from everyone working, it seemed to go to one door. A closed door. The door slowly opened. As if for a split second it looked bloody everywhere, the red mixing with a familiar technicolour mixed within, making the scene pretty yet still gruesome. However the scene went back to normal, as if nothing was ever out of the ordinary.
The door revealed the all too familiar Mr Puzzles sitting behind the desk in a rather comfortable chair, directly looking at the camera. He was smiling, although it started to feel more threatening.
The scene switched back to the dark, red scene. Puzzles was holding a guy, limp. His expression and the amount of blood on him seemed to indicate that he killed the man. There was just enough detail on there to see that the dead man was dressed in formal attire. It seemed similar to what Puzzles was wearing, as if to indicate the idea that he took his place. The screen suddenly went black.
Then the outside of the studio was shown. Time seemed to have passed, as the text “A few years later” showed up on the screen. The studio was much bigger than what it seemed to be before. It looked like Puzzles brought the place to success. Just as someone with a gun just barely managed to appear on the side of the frame, the scene changed, being on the inside, full of very happy workers. Maybe too happy. Uncanny happy. But they were working.
The scene then switched to a smug Mr Puzzles, looking at something. The scene then switched to what he was looking at, which seemed to be a list on a computer with other studios’ names crossed out. It kind of looked like a hit list for competition in a way.
But just then. Gunshot. Screaming. And bam, the atmosphere changed. The environment coated red, with bodies littered everywhere, mercilessly. The figure that showed up in the frame before walked by, just as mysterious as before. Walking till they reached an all too familiar office. Though this time, it wasn’t Puzzles’s doing that everywhere was covered in blood. Perhaps the movie was just foreshadowing this. Because it was hard to deny that the scenes when 3 and 4 thought about it - Mario was busy thinking about spaghetti at the sight of the colour red - were way too similar for it to be a coincidence.
The door opens again. Puzzles looked terrified but not shocked. It was almost like he was expecting this to happen.
“I’m doing this for everyone” the chilling text read on the screen, oddly enough it was centered. Behind it the gun was slowly raised at Puzzles, who didn’t seem to do anything about it. He was expecting it for sure.
The screen went dark as soon as the gun was fired. Then a familiar scene showed up. With 3 and 4 when they were in the ruins of the studio. There wasn’t any audio but it was obvious they were being gay. Mario teasingly pointed at the screen, making both 3 and 4 roll their eyes.
However, after they were out from the crumbling building, once they were gone, a hand reached out from the ruins. A very familiar hand at this point. And that was where it ended. Although an abrupt ending, they could sort of start to guess what happened after this.
4 wished he could beat everything that’s left alive in him at this point. He was really tired of this guy. Although the movie had him kind of confused. How did he come back to life? What was even the thing that killed him? And… How did he acquire anti meme energy?
He hated coming back to this same point that had his head in the clouds, clouds that compared to the worst storms. He did get headaches from thinking about it sometimes. He was too curious yet he couldn’t figure it out… The Godbox was no more. They destroyed it. Wasn’t that the only place where anti memes would occur? It didn’t make any sense. And yet he tried and struggled for an answer either way to no avail. But it felt like he was missing something. Like a missing fragment of a puzzle that just wouldn’t complete.
He looked to 3, seemingly with a similar reaction. 3 looked back at him. While first with confusion, his expression heavily changed when he realised.
“We brought this bitch back to life!!”
“What?” 4 was as confused as ever. Clueless idiot.
“Our meme energy? I think… I don’t know…” 3 looked down, not quite sure now himself either.
“Hmmm” Mario joined in the convo “Maybe SMG1 and 2 could help?”
“Wow, smart!... From Mario. What a day” 3 laughed. 4 laughed too, maybe looking at 3 a bit too strongly.
Mario rolled his eyes at the gays, getting up from the chair.
“We don’t have all day… besides” Mario patted his tummy “Mario is about to crave some mad spaghetti”
3 and 4 exchanged glances, before they got up and walked to the door as well, cautiously opening it. Nothing seemed to be around. Nobody. Not a soul. So empty their tiny breaths could echo.
They left the room, walking out in the chaos Mario left. This felt… too easy… Though, they still didn’t know what happened to their friends. Only thing 4 noticed was they sometimes showed up in the background of that peculiar movie. They weren’t exactly in the focus so it took him a bit to realise that they were appearing from time to time.
Just as they were about to walk out of the door, Puzzles appeared again. His screen was fixed. It was quite fast for being so damaged.
“Mario can kick you again!!” Mario piped up “I’ll beat your ass”
Puzzles flicked his hand and stopped Mario in place.
He walked up to the other 2 as he shoved Mario out of the way.
“Enough of him, I wanted to offer you 2 something” his now well known menacing gaze came back.
“What?? No, I don’t want anything from you!!” 4 could care less.
“Really now? Not even your friends?” Puzzles laughed.
“Our… our friends”
“You’re a sick freak, I hope you know that” 3 tried to comfort 4 while staring daggers.
“I’ve been told, yes… but… my deal for you, SMG4”
4 stayed silent.
“You see… I’ve never seen SUCH a strong need for great content as yours. Your will to create… It’s rather marvelous. And I need it. If you joined me… We could make something perfect. I know… I know how long you have been chasing that, even if you don’t tell anybody. I know”
4 looked at him shocked. He couldn’t reply. Puzzles wasn’t wrong.
“Seems I gotcha, didn’t I?” he laughed “Regardless… I was hoping you could join me in this endless endeavor”
“4…?” 3 looked at 4 worried.
3 didn’t take long getting angry.
“He- He’s not leaving this world behind! I know he enjoys it more when it’s authentic and fun, he doesn’t need you and your artificial concept of perfection”
“Well, just look at him! Don’t you see it in his eyes?” Puzzles leaned closer to 4 “I can see it… that utterly strong urge in him to always prove himself… to prove himself worthy of people’s attention. And I can give that to him, unlike you”
“I helped him finish the perfect video though”
“And I got him there. I gave him the needed tool to make sure it could even happen in the first place. You 2 don’t even come close to what my tools can do on their own… Imagine how much greater… maybe even both of you would be? Wouldn’t it be great? Finally… achieving perfection, the height of creation… and, leaving behind the times when people didn’t even care about you, SMG3”
Puzzles grinned wide, seeing how he managed to get to the both of them until he got hit hard on his head.
“HUH??” he turned around to see Mario “HOW DID YOU UNFREEZE YOURSELF??”
“Kiss my ass” Mario threw it back before he started running around like crazy. Puzzles could feel something snap in him as he went to chase after him, even if that wasn’t the logical thing to do.
3 and 4 used that time to get away and find 1 and 2 to figure out what’s going on.
It took a while but at least they got away from Puzzles’s grasps.
“3…?”
“Yeah, 4?”
“You… You think Mario will be fine?”
“I… I’m sure. You know he’s strong”
“Yeah but-” 4 stopped “I feel guilty. We just left him there”
3 stopped beside 4, slightly annoyed.
“Maybe… we can lessen his suffering if we speed up and try to get to SMG1 and 2 as fast as possible!” 3 was rather snarky but it worked, as 4 shook his head then looked up to the sky, hope sparking within him.
“You’re right”
“Of course I am, now let’s get going, you lovable loser”
4 laughed at the name before he hurried along.
They got into the city. It was rather empty. No buses even going around. Cars left unattended. 3 already had his villainous look come up on his face.
“4, we gotta steal a car, dude”
“No… Not today, 3. We’ve gotta get to them without committing several crimes along the way.”
3 rolled his eyes.
They looked around more. Waited around. Genuinely, everywhere was empty.
“Okay… we’ll steal a car”
3 immediately chose one that he had been eying for a bit and got into the driver seat, speedrunning hacking it so it can be driven without a key. 4 just took the shotgun seat with a tired sigh.
“Got it!” 3 cheered.
“Alright, just start driving or who knows what will happen to Mario”
“Already ahead of you!”
And they sped off. No cops anyways so 3 wasn’t respecting any of the rules of the road. That much was expected though.
They got there pretty quickly considering there was nobody to chase them either for speeding.
They got out and knocked on 1 and 2’s door in their apartment which they had to sadly break into. There wasn’t anyone there to stop them anyways.
An exhausted 1 opened the door, who looked at them weird for a second before feeling relieved.
“Thank god you 2 are okay! Come in” he motioned for them to go inside.
Inside they saw 2 being greatly buried in research. It seemed they were looking for something. Saiko was there as well, doing her part in research as well. Though she looked more exhausted than the other 2.
“...Saiko? You’re okay?” 4 felt surprised.
She took a bit to look away from the book she was trying to get through.
“Okay is an overstatement”
“She’s been looking for a way to help Melony” 1 added context.
“What happened to her?” 4 asked.
“You didn’t see? Her face cracked, and from what I found… It might not be so great. But I… I’ve been looking either way. I wish I could help her”
“Geez… 4, maybe we’ve overdone the whole uh…” 3 turned to 4.
“We’ve been way too busy… we barely realised what was happening… How long have you been here?”
“About… a few days?”
“8 days and counting” 1 said before going back to searching himself.
“Well… 3 and I figured something out… And it might not look so great”
“Oh? A new lead is probably what we need right now” 2 crawled out of the books then yawned. Although he seemed intent to listen either way.
“So… I’m pretty sure it’s our fault…”
“What?” 1 looked up surprised “What did you do?”
“You remember that big amount of energy we caused when we uh… mended our guardian bond?”
“...Oh”
“The TV that had been haunting us used it to come back to life”
“It seems that was his plan all along” 3 commented “What an insidious freak… kinda envious in a sense”
4 looked at him, unamused.
“Anyways” 4 continued “I don’t know if I mentioned it before but… I’m starting to feel more and more scared about the idea that he had access to anti meme energy”
“Yeah… that shouldn’t be possible. We destroyed the Godbox!” 2, although tired, was still very adamant about that.
“At least we thought it seems…” 1 said.
Everyone looked at him.
“But we saw it blow up!” 4 joined.
“But you said it yourself. And both of you felt anti meme energy so…. you would know, no?”
4 wanted to combat it with something but he couldn’t.
“I just don’t… I don’t get it… I thought we destroyed it”
“Wait…” 3 thought for a bit “We didn’t destroy it… it was only blown up”
“Isn’t… that the same thing?”
“No! You see… explosions don’t destroy anything in a meaningful way… they tear things apart. If you exploded right now, we would still have the material you were made of!”
“... You want me to blow up?” 4 looked sad.
“No, you idiot” 3 chuckled “I just brought it up as an example. But if you continue that way…” 3 winked at 4 before getting back to the issue at hand. 4 understood the implications and became rather flustered.
“So you’re saying…” 1 seemed to catch on “fragments of the Godbox could be still out there?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying”
“Oh no…” 2 seemed to start panicking a little.
“Oh no indeed” 4 added on. He didn’t seem any better.
“We would… love to go right away but” 1 yawned “Well you know…”
Saiko already seemed to lean against the wall as a book slipped out from her grasp.
“Mhmm” she seemed to agree with the unspoken need to just pass out right about then.
“I don’t know… will Mario hold out until then?” 4 thought out loud, which made 1 and 2 go wide eyed despite their god awful sleepiness.
“What… What?” 1 questioned.
“We… only managed to get away because of Mario distracting the insane TV headed guy” 3 confessed, it felt heavy either way.
“Oh no..”
“Do we… Do we trust Mario? We… can’t go back alone” 4 proposed, although he didn’t feel good about it.
“I… I’m afraid yes” 1 felt just as bad about it. Everyone did. Mario didn’t deserve this.
They all decided to go rest up for today, they wouldn’t be quite as useful this tired anyways.
Although the guest room was taken, there was still a measly couch for 3 and 4. Saiko offered to switch but the 2 declined, saying she needs the best rest possible. It was great to feel cared for. She would’ve felt bad if she declined at that point.
Although 1, 2 and Saiko were quickly all asleep in their respectful sleeping places, 3 and 4 had a harder time.
4 laid on top of 3, it was at least a nice feeling to be close like this. 3 was petting 4’s head, which 4 laid on 3’s chest.
“Are you able to sleep?” 3 asked him softly.
4 raised his head up.
“I’m trying to…”
“I’m worried too, 4…”
“I just hope he’ll be okay”
“We’ll make sure of it, okay? I promise” 3 held 4’s face in an attempt to comfort him. 4 scooted a little closer to 3’s face to give him a short kiss.
“Okay” 4 smiled.
“Now sleep, blue, a long day is ahead of us tomorrow… as if we never have big evil to fight… we should take a vacation at some point”
4 chuckled at the suggestion.
“You’re right”
They finally laid down for good, managing to sort of fall asleep.
Mario didn’t have such a great time with Puzzles. The man was chasing him endlessly and was trying to trap him in some sort of substance. The whole area around the studio was covered in it. They both felt tired and yet Puzzles persisted, seemingly angrier and angrier with every strike he attempted to throw Mario’s way. His aim was definitely getting worse. But he got so tired, he raised both of his hands up together and in a downwards motion made enough appear to cover the place with it. Mario wasn’t able to run anymore. He got sucked right in. But Puzzles did so too.
Then, Mario found himself in a dark void.
“Am I dead?” he screamed as he got up “Is this hell??”
“Shut up, heathen” Puzzles didn’t take his behaviour well “You’re being too loud for my taste”
“Am I in hell??” Mario whisper shouted.
Puzzles rolled his eyes.
“No. I actually accidentally trapped both of us” he sighed “I have to be trapped with YOU of all people”
“You don’t like Mario and his sexiness, huh, TV man?”
“You PUNCHED in my screen??”
“You lived? Haha, cope seethe”
“YoouUUUU” he got up again, going for Mario’s throat.
Mario tried to punch his screen again, though he couldn’t quite reach. In a moment of desperation, he bit down on Puzzles’s hand as hard as he could, making him yelp in pain, yanking his hand away.
“You ANIMAL”
“Rawwr” Mario looked ready to fight again as he lunged at Puzzles.
They fought around for a while, until both felt tired enough to collapse. Kind of weird how they ended up beside each other. Looking up into the endless void was… somehow calming. Even for Mario. He almost forgot he was stuck in some of the worst situations he ever got into.
“Why did you steal my friends again, TV man?” Mario asked, turning to Puzzles. He seemed to be genuinely curious.
It took Puzzles by surprise.
“Oh? Well… I wanted to make my studio even larger so I can have the biggest and best studio in existence”
“What’s the point of that?”
“Wha… What? Are you kidding? Being accomplished like that? It’s the best thing anyone could have happen in their lives!”
Mario stared at him and slapped him.
Puzzles once again angry, he got up, trying to tackle him. This man annoyed him so goddamn much. Mario evaded him and tried to fight back but he was failing at hurting Puzzles as well. It was almost like they were syncing up in the worst possible way. Missing and dodging in harmony.
“Are you happy?” the question sounded from Mario’s mouth, echoing in Puzzles’s mind.
“What?”
“Are you happy?”
“Why are you asking me shit like this? I thought you were a bumbling idiot”
“Not right now. Are you happy, Mr Puzzles?”
“Oh… Oh! I get it now!” Puzzles got up and turned away from Mario “Your personality is inconsistent! That’s why my powers weren’t working on you! All along, your odd character PROTECTED YOU”
Puzzles whipped around, the anger was kind of familiar for Mario at this point. Another fight, another feeling of exhaustion kicking in. Even the fight felt familiar. Maybe it was just the weird atmosphere of this dark void but he felt sort of less worried now.
Once again, they ended up lying beside each other.
“You didn’t answer my question” Mario sounded calm.
“And I…. won’t ever”
Mario sighed. They both stayed silent for a while.
Mario wasn’t the one to usually think but he did find the behaviour weird.
“You gave up on killing me pretty fast I’ll say” Mario joked. Puzzles looked at him unamused, no verbal reaction.
After resting enough, Puzzles sat up. He kind of felt hopeless in this silence.
“You know what, Mario?” he looked to him “I’m not happy”
“Thought so” Mario sat up.
“Do you… want to know why?”
“I’m bored anyways”
“Well, you’ve… seen my movie… you know…”
“I know?”
“There’s something inside me that shouldn’t be” he raised his hand to his neck, gently brushing his fingers just above his collarbones.
Mario only now seemed to catch on. It took him this long to realise that whatever crashed into Puzzles’s living place that night was actually inside him.
“Heh, there’s lot of things inside me as well that shouldn’t be”
“…What?”
“Dumpster”
Puzzles looked at him horrified then chuckled.
“You’re truly a unique kind of a man, Mario”
“I knooow… very sexy and awesome”
Puzzles rolled his eyes at Mario’s grand modesty. He was starting to find it weird how he was actually starting to have peace with having to be stuck with Mario. Hell, it was a little worrying.
He never felt this way… Like, enjoying someone’s company? He only ever loved working on his beautiful creations, people were like filler to his life. What changed? Or is Mario really… this special? He didn’t know and never did being unsure in his life make him so conflicted. He always liked to make sure he knew everything, he thought he went into his plan knowing everything at this point. His plan was flawless. And yet Mario could walk in and ruin it all. And take away the perfection he wanted so much but… In the end, Mario would be right. He doubted it would make him happy. In a weird and twisted way, he felt alright with everything being ruined.
“So… how long are we gonna be stuck here, TV dude?” Mario asked, though seemingly not worried.
“I’m… not sure myself”
“Oh… OH?? Are we stuck here forever?? What have you done?” Mario screamed, jumping up, grabbing Puzzles by the straps of his pants.
Something hit differently about Mario’s grasp on him as he felt a sharp pain like that fateful day. He screamed as he pushed Mario away.
Mario was confused then saw the state he put him in. Although he tortured his friends, it was still hard to not feel bad for him.
“TV guy…?”
He was in so much pain he couldn’t speak. He slowly laid down, very carefully to not hurt himself even more. Mario sat beside him. His curiosity… He slowly reached out and touched that same place.
Puzzles winced in pain. He didn’t get why.
He pressed his hand against Puzzles’s collarbone fully.
While Puzzles was in utterly diabolical pain, Mario got reminded of something. This energy he felt. He saw this before. Images flashed in his brain, remembering everything from the time they went out there… Outside of their universe. The anti meme energy. He thought he wouldn’t need to face this traumatic memory again but… Guess he was wrong. Things now started to make sense to him. Although he didn’t know how it was possible. He didn’t need to know that to see that it was.
He didn’t know what was driving his body but he pressed harder. With both of his hands now. Puzzles screaming didn’t deter him. When he tried to push him away, he sat on his arms, making him ultimately vulnerable to Mario. He didn’t know how to feel. He pushed and pushed until he could reach inside. It was nothing like he thought it would be. Puzzles was warm like a person but not quite of the same consistency. Until he felt something hard within him that didn’t quite fit inside. The memories he had now felt even more real. It sure made him struggle. Even he stopped for a second, especially how it added onto it. Making it more terrifying than it already was. Giving him images of a world where he lost 3 and 4 to a force way beyond him. That was scary to him.
He shook his head. He knew what he had to do. He pulled again. Pulled until what was inside Puzzles seemed to loosen from its place. Puzzles fainted by this point, probably from the unbearable pain. Even though he wasn’t quite human anymore, pain was still a weakness of his.
He finally pulled it out, black blood escaping Puzzles body as he did. Mario felt a little weird now… Did he just kill a man? He wasn’t sure.
He was now alone in the void, with the wretched fragment in his hand, echoing past nightmares in his ears.
His act settled in even more now as he pressed his hands against the wound, not really knowing what to do. It only soaked his hands even more. He desperately grasped into him, just trying to think of something, anything. He didn’t want to be left alone. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Puzzles but it’s much worse without him. That was something he knew for sure. He couldn’t lose him now, no matter what.
As he desperately grasped, light appeared, in the form of dim white strings, seemingly loosely closing up the wound. It wasn’t perfect but the bleeding was getting less intense. Mario didn’t know he could do that. He stared for a bit, not really knowing where to put it.
He sighed, not thinking about it further. He just didn’t want to up his kill count… And he didn’t want to be lonely himself either. He could always get so caught up being around people all the time that he forgot how it feels to be alone. And it wasn’t a good feeling. Though the bleeding stopping made him feel a bit better as he lied down, closing his eyes.
It felt like forever passed as he kind of just fell asleep beside Puzzles. Just because he had the weirdest moment of his life didn’t mean he couldn’t go to sleep with ease. He woke up to movement beside Puzzles as he was lightly clinging to him in his sleep.
“Huh… I’m… not dead yet?” Puzzles spoke, his voice was weak. He looked at Mario. He was finding a fondness he didn’t know he could have for someone.
“Nhggh… Nope… Mario fixed you up with his… white thing”
“Wh… White thing?” Puzzles was confused.
Mario pointed to his wound. The strings were still visible.
“Oh you… you saved me?”
Mario shrugged.
“Mario didn’t know he could do that”
Puzzles chuckled.
“Very well. Thank you though. I owe you”
Mario smiled at him.
“Well, getting us out of here would be great”
“Mhmm… I don’t know how to still” Puzzles frowned.
Mario patted him on the back.
“At least this thing is out of your body” he showed him the fragment.
“Oh- Oh right” he stared at it “What… is this again?”
“Mario’s not the best at explaining things. It is evil though”
“I do agree… it did kinda kill me there for a second” he chuckled
Mario chuckled too.
“You know, Mario… Isn’t this… weird?”
“What is?”
“I don’t feel like getting rid of you anymore”
“Well if you got rid of Mario the world would end so I’m glad” he grinned as if he didn’t just drop information on Puzzles that kinda escaped him before.
“The world would end?”
“You see, Mario is the avatar and if he gets killed for good, the world falls apart”
“A… Avatar?”
“I’ll ask SMG1 and 2 to drop the lore on you”
“Oookay” Puzzles was a bit confused but he could wait. He would wait all the time needed to have answers if he needed to. It wasn’t the first time waiting rewarded him. He knew patience made greatness.
“By the way…. Mario’s wondering how you’re feeling now?” he looked at him, feeling a bit bad.
“I feel… free in a way. Mind’s less foggy and all that. Thanks, Mario”
“Hehe, I saved the day!”
“I’m still in pain though” he looked away.
“Damn…”
He grabbed Mario’s hand gently.
“It’s probably just the fact that you opened my body without any anesthetics. Which you wouldn’t have been able to get anyways”
“Heh… Mario sees your point” Mario squeezed his hand then thought, as if the brain cells in his empty head decided to align so well this time, he could have a genius idea “I’ve got an idea, Mr TV, but you have to listen to my instructions”
It had been a bit since last night 1, 2, 3, 4 and Saiko talked. Everyone was awake, preparing for their mission. Although 3 and 4 were a bit sore from the couch. It really wasn’t made for sleeping.
“So…what’s the plan?” 2 asked.
“Well uh…” 4 thought for a bit.
3 took a bomb out of his pocket.
“Can I?” he asked with a silly little smile.
“No” 4 said bluntly. He didn’t give a shit.
3 sulked a bit.
“Well, we know it has to do with the Godbox so… we have to go in, prepared to fight it”
“I guess the best we can do is go in and hope?” 4 sounded unsure of himself.
“Get yourself together, 4. I know you can be a coward but now is not the time” Saiko commented, making everyone look “Now is not the time to question your power to stop this, our friends are on the line here… Melony” the last part from her was rather quiet. She always tried to look out for her when she could so knowing this happened right under her nose filled her with a different kind of fury.
“I say we go in and kick ass” she finished her statement.
“Kicking TV ass does sound good” 3 added with a sly smirk on his face.
“Let’s get going then, shall we?” 1 said as he then led everyone out
It was quite the trip. Almost felt like a little road trip. 3 and 4 fell asleep along it, considering they didn’t exactly get the best sleep then.
Saiko was beside them, kind of trying to ignore them. She might have been a bit jealous. She wasn’t able to see any of the girls for a while now. Kind of hard to live like her, standoffish yet lover of touch.
She slowly got used to it.
“Oh, they fell asleep?” 2 looked back, while 1 was driving.
“Yeah… I guess they didn’t sleep well last night?”
“Probably the couch being uncomfortable to sleep on” 2 rubbed his chin, as if he was thinking strongly about it.
“If it was anything else I’m kicking their asses, I’ll tell you that” 1 added on quietly. 2 giggled while Saiko facepalmed.
They got there, to the wretched studio, which was covered in black goop. Not fully but there was definitely a place where there was a lot more.
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