Chapter Eight:
Phone Calls and Prank Bombs
He sat back in his comfy sofa by the table, feeling relaxed and at peace. His eyes were closed and he seemed to have nothing else to worry about, other than his daily task of looking after the memes in the realm of the forgotten. SMG3 smiled in his respite, running the Internet Graveyard was a lot of hard work, and he deserved a good rest sometimes.
A delicate breeze swept through the open window, filling his nostrils along with fresh air. SMG3 breathed slowly, his arms resting on the sides of his chair, with his feet propped on the table. For another day in the Internet Graveyard, it felt really nice to kick back before getting back to that one task.
That meme life cycle wasn't going to look after itself, nor were the memes capable of fending for themselves without a leader, even if SMG3 had changed them for the best after he'd arrived here.
Oh, the endless Wheel of Fate, always landing on whatever surprises were in store for the likes of someone such as the man who wanted to be the king of YouTube, unaware that he was destined to be the king of the forgotten memes. If anyone had told him back at meme school that he would become the Internet Graveyard's number one celebrity, he would have laughed at them.
Now, after trying to become just as famous as SMG4 for so long, it felt like he was living his dream, even though he did often need rest in order to tirelessly fulfill the duty that the realm's last rulers had failed to properly accomplish.
SMG3 sat up in his couch and opened his eyes. He stretched and started to yawn, then he heard his phone buzzing.
'Phone call...' He looked at the phone laying on the desk, seeing SMG4's icon flash on the screen, '...and look who's calling.'
He picked up the device and tapped the 'answer' button, sliding it across the screen, and the call was in progress.
"SMG3, lord of the Internet Graveyard, speaking." SMG3 said coolly.
"Hey, SMG3, been a while. Just callin' to check on ya." SMG4's voice came over on the other end, vibrating the speakers.
"Well, it's been some time since I last heard from you..." SMG3 smiled, "And I was wondering what you were up to, Internet Graveyard and memes aside..." He frowned, "...and I got a little worried about you, having this feeling that... you were in trouble. I considered calling to check on you."
"You were worried about me?" SMG4 chuckled, "Well, you don't need to, man. I'm perfectly fine now, I... had a little episode after the anniversary and fell off."
SMG3 laughed, tickled by the last part of his former nemesis' sentence, "SMG4 fell off?! What the heck did you do to 'fall off'? You didn't go make some shit nobody liked, did you? That can really screw a YouTuber over."
"Ok, ok..." SMG4 chuckled, "I didn't really 'fall off'. I got curious about the things that SMG1 and SMG2 were talking about with Avatars, Guardian Pods and SMGs, tried to piece all of it together and I... went a little crazy."
"How crazy? Cuckoo crazy, as Mario would put it?"
"Yeah, that kind of cuckoo crazy. Thankfully, Mario helped me get out of that funk, but I ain't forgetting it until the answers to everything are found. Just need some rest first, then I'm gonna set out and find those answers. After all, SMG2 said he and SMG1 had a Guardian Pod and told us to find it before they sealed off Zero in your, uh, USB..."
"You gonna invite me along? I'm pretty busy over here."
"Now that you mention it, I'll let you stay in the Graveyard and do your thing while I set off to find SMG1 and SMG2's Guardian Pod and the answers I'm seeking. When I do find what we're looking for, I'll call and tell you about it."
"Hope so..." SMG3 shivered, "...because I'm so tempted to head off on a quest to find the answers, potentially leaving the Internet Graveyard and leaving the memes undefended, and because we're talking about it, I too am wondering what it all means. Oh man, oh man. Zero, Guardian Pods, SMGs, and Avatars. WHAT DOES ALL OF IT MEAN?!"
"Take it easy, dude. Just focus on your job, you probably don't give a sh*t anyway. By the way, have you looked at my YouTube channel?"
"Let me guess." SMG3 rolled his eyes, "You did more videos."
"And another movie."
"WHAT?! A MOVIE?!"
"Yup, a movie, about my ten-year anniversary and our encounter with Zero."
"AND YOU DIDN'T INVITE ME TO WORK ON IT WITH YOU?! WHAT THE HELL, DUDE!" SMG3 yelled, "I cannot believe you just left me out of the production! Where's my respect? WHO MAKES A MOVIE ABOUT WHAT WE WENT THROUGH AND DOESN'T EVEN BOTHER INVITE ME TO PLAY MYSELF?!"
SMG4 laughed on the other end, "Take it easy, man. Tell you what, I'll invite you to join the production when I do a third movie."
"I hope so, SMG4, BECAUSE I CAN HACK YOUR ASS AND STEAL YOUR VIDEOS JUST LIKE I DID BEFORE YOU AND SUZAN WORGAMI BANISHED ME TO THE INTERNET GRAVEYARD, even though some good came out of it since I'm this place's number one celebrity and I'm too busy to give you trouble anymore. BUT STILL, YOU ARE A JERK FOR NOT INVITING ME!"
"Ok, I'm sorry. Thanks for thinking about me and worrying about me while I was losing myself unbeknownst to you. I gotta go, Mario's causing a ruckus again."
"Oh, uh, thanks, SMG4." SMG3 smiled, "See ya later."
The meme man hung up and SMG3 put away the phone in his pocket, then he heard a knock on the door and turned as Terrance entered with a pair of Ugandan Knuckles guards following behind the ex-villain's majordomo.
"SMG3..." Terrance said, "Some Trollface memes have come with a gift."
Hearing the news, SMG3 was curious and told his guards to let the memes in. A pair of troll-faces, followed by a Dancing Banana, entered the room with a wrapped package in hand. They waved to SMG3 and set the box on the table. SMG3 became mildly curious and approached the memes, who said it was "a gracious and special gift for the Internet Graveyard's Number One celebrity".
"Oooooh." SMG3 grinned, "I wonder what it is."
Unable to even resist, he tore away the wrapping paper and opened the box underneath, revealing...
"PIPE BOMB!"
He looked the troll-face memes with shock, then he looked at the pipe-bomb in the box, which was actively counting down to detonation, starting at twenty-five seconds. The troll-face memes snickered evilly and departed the room while Terrance shrieked and clung to SMG3, wailing, "I DON'T WANNA GET BLOWN UP! WHY WOULD YOU GUYS BLOW UP OUR NUMBER CELEBRITY?!"
"DA BOMB'S ABOUT TO BLOW!" An Ugandan Knuckles screamed.
"I CAN'T GET IT OUT OF THE BOX!" Another one exclaimed as he tried to lift it.
"HIT THE DECK!" SMG3 dove for cover as the bomb beeped, the countdown was ticking down in the red zone; Sixteen seconds to detonation.
"DOES SOMEONE IN THE INTERNET GRAVEYARD HAVE A HATE BONE WITH ME?!" SMG3 shrieked, twelve seconds to detonation.
"Maybe they don't know the way like you do." Terrance remarked, eleven seconds to detonation.
"WE'RE DOOMED!" An Ugandan Knuckled howled in fear.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four...
"Goodbye, Terrance!" SMG3 whimpered as he hugged his majordomo.
"I love you, SMG3!" Terrance stammered.
…three, two, ONE!
POP!
"Wha...?"
He expected an explosion, that thing was a pipe bomb, but there was no explosion?! SMG3 and Terrance stood up, seeing the pipe bomb steaming as a few streamers landed on the floor. The other Ugandan Knuckles guards looked around, nearly confused. SMG3 looked at the pipe bomb and tapped it, nothing seemed to happen.
Terrance hopped on the table and examined the 'explosive', raising an eyebrow in bewilderment. As everyone looked around, confused, they heard the sound of laughter and the troll-face memes re-entered the room, laughing hysterically.
"YOU JUST GOT PRANKED!" One of the troll-faces said, "PRANKED HARD, B****!"
"It was a prank?" SMG3 looked at the guards, "Did you know this was a prank?"
"I don't know." A guard replied.
As the shock settled, everyone began to breathe a sigh of relief, SMG3 felt relieved that he wasn't going to be blown to bits along with one of his most trusted companions. At least he didn't have to dread another Ugandan Knuckles attack, even though those still happened now and then. Either way, he could...
KA-BOOM!
An explosion shook the room, prompting SMG3 and the others to head outside. SMG3 headed down the stairs, avoiding smoke and rubble. He looked up and yelped in shock when he saw the statue atop of the temple that was his lair, it's head had just been blown off, a part of it anyway.
"OH, SHIT! MY STATUE!" He screamed, "WHO BLEW UP THE HEAD OF MY STATUE?!"
"Now that is no prank." Terrance remarked, "Someone is really out for you."
