Chapter Seven:

A Machinamist's Insanity Cured

'Always get back up no matter what.'

The words burned through his mind. SMG4 forgot about the boos and the sneers of his audience, he put aside the harsh words that had been said by the dark manifestations of his friends. He looked at Mario, filled with resolve and determination. The meme man felt more confident than ever and knew what had to be done.

He looked up at the horrible monstrosity that was Zero, staring down at him and Mario as it prepared to attack. Even under pressure, SMG4 would never falter in his goal of making people happy and helping his friends.

It was time to fight against the odds, against the very thing that stood for pain and sorrow. People dreamed of success and they would always fight to achieve their dream.

'Do it!' A voice shouted, 'Just do it!'

SMG4 attacked Zero's eye, striking it hard and sending flying right towards Mario, who kicked it back in his friend's direction. The beast roared with rage and it's aura shook vibrantly. A light flashed and the inner-most spirit of SMG4's mind appeared, joining the battle with the beast that fueled the meme man's insanity and fed on his insecurities.

SMG4's Inner-Most Spirit punched Zero's eye so hard, the entity exploded and the green mist with the floating digital numbers vanished. SMG4's crowd reappeared, clamoring and rooting for the meme man with excitement.

The shadow versions of Tari, Axol, Saiko, Luigi and Meggy disappeared, replaced with normal versions of them, smiling at SMG4 with glee and approval.

"You're our friend, SMG4." Tari said to the meme man.

"We will never doubt you." Saiko added.

"Don't give up, keep on going." Meggy encouraged, "We're rooting for you."

"I have faith that you'll do right." Luigi then said.

Good memories rushed through SMG4's mind, remembering the bonds and the times he'd shared with the gang, especially with Mario, regardless of the bad days that had happened. He felt at peace, knowing that his friends had his back, even if there were people who didn't like what he did and even if they went through the worst of the worst.

He gave Mario a thumbs up and the fat Italian smiled back at him. And then, Mario heard a timer beep, it was time to leave the meme man's mind. Hopefully, he would be all right and wouldn't go cuckoo-crazy anymore.

Mario felt the world around him shift and, then, he was back in the Secret Slide Room in Peach's Castle. He saw SMG4 strapped to the table and the meme man was slowly awakening, Mario untied him and put away E. Gadd's invention right as SMG4 finally woke up, groaning in confusion. SMG4 blinked, trying to figure out everything.

"Oh, man." He muttered, "What just happened?"

Mario then looked down on him, nearly surprising the blue-white overalls-clad meme man.

"Mario, what the heck are you doing?" SMG4 asked with a hint of confusion.

"SMG4, you're back to normal!" Mario said happily, hugging his fellow Fat Italian and helping him up.

"Yeah, thanks." SMG4 rubbed his head, then he and Mario began to leave the room, "But I still wonder what it all means. SMGs, Avatars, Guardian Pods. I'll find the answers, someday."

Mario chuckled in a dim-witted manner, "I think the lesson of the story is 'nobody cares'."

SMG4 bonked the plumber on the head with a bat and Mario fell over. The spaghetti-loving Italian hero rubbed his head as SMG4 glared at him, still holding the bat. Mario groaned before he carefully rose back to his feet.

'I guess I deserved that.' He thought.

"Did I hit you too hard?" SMG4 then asked with concern.

"Please, Mario is okie-dokie." Mario remarked with a chuckle.

"Ok, but don't ever say that again." SMG4 put away the bat, "For cryin' out loud, why would you even say that to my face, don't you ever ponder the universe's greatest mysteries? Think about what went down on my anniversary. If you encountered a mysterious evil entity and a couple fellas talking about special pods all on your birthday, wouldn't you get curious about the universe's greatest secrets?"

Mario scratched his chin and then, he nodded. "Of course, I'd get curious, but not if it made me go cuckoo crazy. And you scared Mario, SMG4. You even scared Peach as you were writing strange shit all over the walls in the basement."

"OH, CRAP!" SMG4's eyes went wide, "Peach noticed?! I thought you came down there without being asked. I hope I didn't make her angry."

He made a run for the door and Mario watched with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Yo, where are ya goin', bro?" Mario asked.

"I got a lot of explaining to do for Peach." SMG4 replied, "And I probably missed some phone calls from some buddies of mine, my Twitter notification feed is probably full of tweets from people showing concern about where I've been for the past several days. The others have got to be worried sick about me and I may have missed some wacky ass adventures."

SMG4 opened the door and raced out of the room with Mario following close behind. They found Princess Peach right as she was showing a pink-haired Inkling girl the castle foyer, the squid girl waved to the two mustached "Italians" when she saw them. When Peach saw Mario and SMG4, she had Toad lead the Inkling to the Bob-Omb Battlefield painting room.

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright, SMG4." The princess said, "Looks like Mario took care of the matter."

"Yeah, sorry about that." SMG4 scratched his head, "After the anniversary and after we dealt with that creepy virus thing, I had some questions about... Guardian Pods, SMGs, and how Mario was... related to an Avatar and I went a little overboard, didn't I?"

Mario stepped forward with a goofy grin. "At-a least he didn't do some cuckoo-crazy stuff that summoned a demon and caused the castle to sink into the earth." He said to the princess.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING EVEN SUGGESTING THAT FOR?!" SMG4 shouted.

"MARIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Peach shrieked furiously. She grabbed a frying pan and Mario yelped, SMG4 stood back, not wanting to get in the way of what was happening. Peach advanced on the spaghetti-loving Italian, glaring at him angrily, holding her pan like a bat and preparing to strike Mario angrily.

"That was nothing to joke about, Mario..." Peach snarled to the fat Italian, "...ESPECIALLY WHEN YOUR ANTICS HAVE DAMAGED AND MADE MY CASTLE EXPLODE SEVERAL TIMES, LIKE WHEN THAT CHAIN CHOMP WENT AFTER US AND I WAS MAKING MEAT LOAF AND WHEN YOU AND BOB HAD YOUR ANIME BATTLE! I WILL NOT HAVE..."

Suddenly, Mario leaped towards Peach, put his arms around her and kissed the princess on the lips. SMG4 watched with surprise as the dim-witted Italian boi kissed Peach, even though Mario and the princess had made love in the past.

Mario broke the kiss and stepped away from the princess as she dropped her pan, staring at Mario with surprise, then she gave off a dreamy look.

"Oh, Mario..." She sighed, "I knew you had a sweet, soft side."

"Feeling better, princess?" Mario asked.

"Not bad. Thanks for taking care of SMG4." Peach winked at Mario and headed to the Bob-Omb Painting room where Toad and the Inkling girl were.

"Wow, who could have thought that would work?" SMG4 remarked, he pulled out his phone, "Now let's see what calls I've missed and... CRAP!" His eyes widened, "ShadowSquid9 was trying to get a hold of me for the past few days and, dammit, I sure missed them. Lemme text him..."

SMG4 went to the text message screen and texted his dark-haired Octoling bro;

'Hey, man. Sorry about the radio silence. I was trying to solve a mystery and, as Mario puts it, went cuckoo-crazy.'

He waited patiently, then ShadowSquid9 texted him back;

'Wow, thank goodness you're alright. If you hadn't texted, I would have told the Squid Sisters or Off The Hook that you were inactive or had suddenly vanished. Looks like we're gonna be okay now, I'm looking at your YT channel and you haven't made a video since, darn, around the time of the anniversary party. You currently have four million, five-hundred and fifteen thousand, eight seventy-five subs.'

SMG4 texted back, 'No way. That is super, I got more subs even while I wasn't doing videos. I sure have missed a lot the last several days. You tell everyone that SMG4 is back!'

SS9 texted again; 'What are you gonna do to show your fans that you're still active?'

'It's meme time, baby! I'm postin' memes and I'm making some videos with Mario!'

SMG4 then looked at Mario. "Quick!" He said, "What wacky shit did I miss while I was down in that basement trying to figure stuff out?"

Mario chuckled, "Tari went to the dentist and then went to Mexico with Swagmaster, then we got hit with some crazy Friday Night Funkin' voodoo inflicted on by a vengeful demon b**** wanting to make us pay after we ass-whooped her and the father of Boyfriend's Girlfriend a whole back."

SMG4 snapped his fingers. "We're videos all about that! But first, I'm making a movie about the events of my ten-year anniversary, just like when I made that forty-minute movie about Meggy and you guys competing in the Splatfest tournament after Meggy came out on top, and you're gonna help me do it, Mario!"

"Do I have to?" Mario groaned.

"Yes!" SMG4 pulled out a camera, "After that and after we make those two other videos. We're making a video called 'SMG4 Goes Insane'. Oh, man. Forget about Zero, those Guardian Pod USBs and Avatars and SMGs, it feels great to be making content again!"

Mario groaned, he just wanted to eat spaghetti after helping SMG4 out, but that would have to wait until he and the meme man had made videos. But first, before any videos could be made, SMG4 had calls to make and began to call the others, except for Meggy, as she was still off in Port Aurora.

-Sometime Later-

The words 'Breaking News Story' appeared over a spinning globe as people tuned into the Mushroom Kingdom News. Seconds later, Kermit the Frog popped up in the news room, ready to deliver the latest news.

"Kermit the Frog here and we have breaking news!" Kermit announced, "Famous YouTuber SMG4 is back! Following his ten-year anniversary party, SMG4 suddenly became silent with no Twitter activity or YouTube uploads. But over the last few days, he has made a comeback and put out a few new videos, including a new movie, based on his ten-year anniversary.

"Our news correspondents met with SMG4 outside Peach's Castle and, when asked about his disappearance and what may as well be called a sudden hiatus, SMG4 had this to say..."

The scene of the news room vanished, replaced by camera footage of SMG4 standing outside the castle with a reporter holding the microphone up in front of him. SMG4 spoke to the viewers watching; "Honestly, I guess I needed a break after what happened with Zero and those two hobos. All that matters is I'm back, I'm ready to continue making content, and I'm okay."

"Well, there ya have it, folks!" Kermit said as he reappeared, "Until next time, I'm Kermit the Froooooog! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"