#glitchybombs

SMG4 POV

Thank you so much for watching our show!

I always knew that, one day, this would happen. That the show would end. 

I always knew that, one day, I’ll have to say goodbye to Mario, Meggy, Tari… to everyone.

I always knew that, one day, we would share one last last hug, and shed a few tears before separating, maybe forever, to pursue our dreams.

After, of course, celebrating one last Christmas together, we uploaded our final adventure, the one that Mario had, in another universe.

He left first. He decided to continue his work at Nintendo.

Then went Meggy. She wanted to continue her career as a coach, and wanted to go, maybe, to one of those fancy universities that are too far away from family. And maybe stay there.

Saiko, Kaizo and Bob became famous musicians and rappers, being one of the most famous people in the mushroom kingdom and beyond. 

Boopkins and Melony decided to and create children’s books and comics together. Boopkins also began studying for animation, wanting to create anime too.

Tari got enrolled into computer science, thinking about also working for Nintendo or some other game company as a programmer and perhaps help the test some of the games and fix the bugs from inside.

Luigi opened one of the most successful restaurants in the world, and also his very own cooking show. I often see him while scrolling through the channels on the TV in the gaming room.

Everybody found something. Their call. Their destiny.

Including me.

But SMG3 stayed.

Like always, working in his café during the day, streaming after work, and disappearing each Saturday, doing “Special SMG3 stuff”, as he calls it. And then on Sundays, if I’m not busy, we stream together or play some Nintendo. Sometimes we even go to the mall or the park. Since it is still winter, we often make snowmen with Beeg and Eggdog or have snowball fights, using our meme energy.

I’m really grateful for these moments I get to spend with him. Even though the rest of the crew promised to set up meetings once in a while, to goof off like the old times and catch up on each other’s lives, I would have been absolutely lonely without SMG3’s constant and stubborn, but also caring presence.

Today was yet another Sunday, yet another day that we would hang out. I finished all the work I had to do pretty quickly, and I wanted to ask Three if he wanted to go to the mall, since the last time we went there was almost two months ago. I, actually, need a new pair of overalls and some pajamas, and was sure that SMG3 would love to raid the Hot Topic (again).

I marched through the snow toward his café. It was snowing almost every day and me and Three had to shovel a path from his house to mine to be able to walk without going knee-deep into the snow.

I was also to planning to ask him how his week went, because I had a nagging feeling, in the back of my mind, that SMG3 wasn’t really okay right now. I wish I could try to sense his feelings, so I could maybe cheer him up, if he IS sad, but SMG3 seemed to have, again, block the link to not let me do so. 

He didn’t do that often, since, as 1 and 2 explained, “blocking” the emotional guardian link may be really unhealthy for the mindset of the guardian and is overall dangerous. 

Meme guardians, like me and 3, are… basically soulmates in the literal definition. We are connected by a link, a connection, a rope, that is composed of many little threads: the emotional link (that lets us feel each other’s emotions and thoughts), the physical (that lets us feel each other’s discomfort and pain) and many other ones that secure our cosmic connection into what is is.

Meme guardians always need to know how the other one is feeling, to protect each other, comfort each other and work together. Which is sometimes very hard with SMG3.

I entered the café, inhaling the warm, familiar smell of coffee and some sweets and treats SMG3 was learning to make. He sometimes gave me some (quite a lot, actually!) of them to “degustate”, though I think that Three just likes giving me little presents and treats. What a softie.

“Hi, Three!”

“Hey, loser.” answered SMG3, stirring some dough in a bowl, looking up and making eye contact with me for a brief second, his lips slightly tugging upwards, before resuming stirring, not looking up from his cookbook that Luigi gave him for Christmas. It didn’t really look like a smile, though. It looked bitter and sad. 

“The usual?” SMG3 asked me grumpily, though he already knew the answer.

I nodded and SMG3 interrupted his stirring, setting the bowl and spoon aside, quickly rinsing his hands in the sink and moved to the coffee machine, his hands moving by muscle memory as he made my favorite: the Cyanide Supreme Latte. 

“So… How’s the Incredible Virtual Carnival, or whatever it is, going?” SMG3 asked somewhat hesitantly, his hands working effortlessly. 

“Pretty good! The final episode just came out, and although some people were disappointed, I think it went pretty well.”

“That’s… Nice.”  

“How about you? How are-...”, I started, looking up to make eye contact but then, I  paused. I didn’t like the look in SMG3’s eyes. I just know him too well. I know something’s wrong. Despite SMG3 trying to play it off as casualness, I knew something was up.

“What is it…?” I asked tentatively. “Is something wrong? Did something happen?”

“Well, no, but…”

“But what? Three, you don’t have to hide anything from me. Please don’t! I’m your friend…” I pleaded.

“Well… I-... So… Four… I was wondering…”