Chapter Twenty-Five:

SMG4's Mirror of Doom

With each passing second, the more Beeg SMG4 stared at him, Mario became more uneasy. He felt as though that thing was getting ready to attack. Plus, his friends didn't know what awaited close by, and they were likely about to deal with an ambush sooner or later.

"Uh, guys?" A nervous Mario asked, "Can we keep moving?"

"You're right." Meggy said, letting go of SMG3, "We should start checking rooms. Maybe SMG4 is in one of them."

The trio walked towards the mirror room door close by and walked through it, seeing the place was dimly lit just like the rest of the castle. However, the place looked a little off. As Mario, SMG3 and Meggy looked inside the room, they noticed the large mirror had changed and looked so different, the trio couldn't see their reflections anywhere.

"Odd, isn't this supposed to be a mirror?" SMG3 questioned, stating the obvious.

"Guys, look!" Meggy exclaimed.

And they looked into the changed mirror, seeing an image in the middle of it. Frozen in place, as if he was floating above the ground, was a man who looked like Mario in white and blue overalls. It was SMG4, the original version of him, prior to the legal battle between the Glitchy gang and Nintendo that saw the meme man change to look less like a Mario clone.

"It's SMG4's old appearance, what's it doing here?" Meggy questioned.

Mario smiled and pulled out his phone, snapping a selfie of himself with the frozen image of the old SMG4, "Ah, don't you miss what you looked like when you were younger?"

"Maybe he's trying to change his appearance back." SMG3 commented.

Just then, Classic SMG4's eyes stared at the group and the Mario-looking meme man emerged from the mirror, grabbing SMG3 without warning. Mario and Meggy yelped and dove in to try and save SMG3 from the reflection of what SMG4 used to be, even as the former villain was pulled closer towards the mirror.

"SMG4, my man. You have to stop." He pleaded, "I understand the pressure you're under, but we're here to... AHHHHHH!"

He was pulled into the mirror and then, to the shock of Mario and Meggy, he reappeared next to SMG4, taking on the Mario-like appearance that he shared with the meme man before they both changed after Lawyer Kong was sent packing.

Meggy gulped. "Oh crap, this is bad." She said uneasily, "C'mon! We need to find SMG4 quickly!"

Mario tried to punch the mirror in an attempt to save SMG3, only to end up hurting his hand instead. He then nodded to Meggy, then they made haste and hurried out of the room, determined to find their friends and rescue them from trouble.

Elsewhere, SMG3 screamed as he fell through a swirling void. He was unsure where that... reflection... of the old SMG4 was taking him. However, he could see those creepy demonic eyes and hints of that ugly goop stuff. And then, SMG3 saw a glimpse of SMG4, his eyes blank and his body partially covered in demonic tendrils.

"It's gotta be perfect! IT'S GOTTA BE PERFECT!" He heard him shout.

"SMG4!" SMG3 yelled, "YOU GOT TO LISTEN! I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH! SMG4, YOU HAVE TO SNAP OUT OF IT, WE'RE TRYING TO SAVE YOU!"

"A perfect story... requires a villain!" SMG4 howled, "And perfect work must be guarded!"

"DUDE, PLEASE! LET ME HELP YOU! WE WANT TO HELP YOU! I KNOW HOW YOU'RE FEELING RIGHT NOW, WORRYING ABOUT LOSING EVERYTHING YOU CARE ABOUT AND WORKED HARD TO ACHIEVE!" SMG3 pleaded, "AND RIGHT NOW, YOU'RE NOT BEING YOURSELF!"

Just then, a shadow loomed over him and SMG3 looked up. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he took in the sight of the hideous entity that had made its appearance, summoned from the realm of nightmare-inducing video game stories, thanks to that strange and frightening power that SMG4 was using.

There were many corners of the world and the internet that dredged up the most terrifying things imaginable, SMG3 had studied memes for years and he'd read so many creepypastas. And now, he could not believe that he was face-to-face with the demonic nightmare that had possessed a copy of a classic NES title based on the famous Japanese monster movie franchise.

And that monster had a name; Red.

His flesh colored red, claws bared, with frightening black eyes, and standing at almost the exact height as Anguirus, Red growled at SMG3 and moved closer towards him. SMG3 was helpless, unable to run, as the creepypasta kaiju demon came closer and his claws closed around him.

"Oh, oh go... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" SMG3 screamed.

It was pain beyond pain, unlike any other pain he'd dealt with. He knew the realm where Red came from in that creepypasta and this pain was not the type of pain found in that world, it was the pain of merging. Oh man, he had not forgotten the fact Zero had possessed Axol and that must have been painful when Axol first came under the possession of that frightening virus.

Except, SMG3 wasn't being possessed by a horrible otherworldly virus; he was merging with a creepypasta monster. And they were becoming one! He could feel the demonic goop's presence, seeping into him as they merged even more... and it hurt GREATLY!

'No.' SMG3 thought, 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!'

"IT'S PERFECT!" He heard SMG4 cry.

And he knew that he wasn't talking about the video.

All SMG3 could do was fester in the shadows in a hideous hybrid body, with his consciousness fused with the mind of a horrible beast, and hope that it would all be over soon...