Chapter Twelve:

Operation: Diary

-A few weeks after the elevator incident-

Marty stood still as a statue behind the desk in the CEO's office, waiting calmly, patiently. His eyes, unmoving, were on the door. The clock ticked slowly towards the late-night hour, and on the desk, the paper with the image of SMG3's notebook sat. The pizza mascot/casino owner knew what he wanted, and it was too good to resist a secret pizza recipe.

A knock filtered its way through the door, and the gold knob clicked, and turned. Mario entered the room, humming his favorite tune in the overworld theme. He walked towards the desk, facing his OC and boss, his employer, his king.

"How may Mario help you and your casino today, Marty?" Mario asked in a chipper manner.

Audible silence. And yet, Mario could hear Marty speak, but not verbally. They had a special... telepathic connection, and when the fat Italian heard his OC/boss' voice, it sounded just as Italian as his voice.

'Do you recognize the picture on the desk?'

Mario looked down, seeing the picture of SMG3's Sussy Notebook laying still on the desk, and the fat Italian was fascinated by the fact his counterpart, his self-inspired OC, and special boss had just taken a fascination with such an artifact.

"Oh yeah." Mario nodded, "Mario recognizes that notebook, he's seen it before, and I got my hands on it while SMG4 and SMG3's hands were stuck together, and while they were taking a friendship obstacle course. Ha-ha! I saw all sorts of dirty, dirty secrets inside, SMG3 is so sneaky. Oooooooh."

'It would seem there were secrets you missed, my creator and employee.' Marty told Mario, 'From... information I've discovered... that relates to his notebook, SMG3 knows of a secret pizza recipe, and there may be other secrets that can change your life. It could even help expand our business, think of the money it will help us earn.'

"And how may Mario be of service, my king?"

'Go to the Internet Graveyard, and steal the notebook, and bring it back here. This task is important, and we cannot fail. We cannot be exposed. Make sure you are not seen, and make sure nobody finds out the truth of this operation. I am counting on you, Mario, and you will report to me.'

The lights flickered intensely, and when they popped back on, a PK.47 pistol lay on the desk in front of Mario. The plumber picked it up, and loaded a couple bullets into it, and smiled at Marty as he sheathed his weapon inside his inventory.

"Mario won't let you down..." He told Marty.

'I knew I could always rely on my creator.' Marty said to him, 'You will be rewarded.'

He stepped away from the desk, ready to carry out the mission, and smiled with a hint of pride as Mario thought about how much Marty had changed. 'I made him only a few months ago, and he's grown up so fast, the benefits of drawing someone as a grown man and when they gain sentience...'

'Do not forget how you treated me.' Marty's voice echoed in Mario's mind, 'You used me as a mere money-making tool so your friends could make that castle, and remember why I 'interfered' with construction after you returned home from that fallen Inkling hero's madhouse.'

Mario nodded his head, and a small tear rolled down his cheek, remembering one of the days when he was running the pizza shop with Marty "assisting" him as customers gave out money, which the flesh-and-blood Jumpman took for the SMG4 Crew to use with funding the construction of their new hang-out spot. Oh, how times had changed since then.

The mission, the assignment, it was important, and he was not sleeping on it. While Marty didn't give him a time table, the spaghetti-loving mustached head of security/pizza salesman/Avatar was making a move tonight, and he knew how to get into the Internet Graveyard at this time.

Following the battles with Zero, the apocalyptic chaos caused by the God Box, and the legal debacle with Lawyer Kong, the realm of dead memes had become a little more accessible to the people of the Mushroom Kingdom. One didn't have to get nabbed by Oomph Buttons via YouTube remote anymore, and you didn't have to be a dead meme either.

Portals would often appear in various regions across the land, likely thanks to the Ancient Protectors of the Internet Graveyard using their power, or it was some sort of side effect from the God Box being opened. Mario preferred to think it was a mixture of both.

A sense of great determination was flowing through his spirit, and the universe's dim-witted avatar stepped out of the Casino with the night air sweeping into his nostrils, and through his lungs. A confident Mario headed towards the lush forest beyond the casino's premises, and his eyes detected a frog meme approaching a swirling portal.

'Its time to do the Mario.' Mario thought.

His heart thumped, and he rushed through the thicket towards the rift in time-and-space. Mario leaped at the opportune moment, letting out a "whoopie", and he landed on the other side of the vortex in the place he intended to go; the Internet Graveyard, and it hadn't changed that much since he was last here.

Luck seemed to be on his side as well, Mario had landed near SMG3's lair, and was in the vicinity of the Starbucks. He could see the meme guardian seated at his desk with the computer on, and judging by his activities, the slightly-intelligent Italian could tell SMG3 was doing a livestream... of Club Penguin.

'Just wait, and be patient.' Mario grit his teeth, recalling how much he loved that game, and how frustrated he was with the skin that he had. Club Penguin was still immersive and enjoyable, but it would have been more exciting with a different skin.

"...enough Club Penguin for tonight." He finally heard SMG3 say, the former villain announced they would be doing Shrek Online next, then he stepped away to take a bathroom break. Mario rubbed his hands together, it was time to get his hands on that notebook and be out of there before SMG3 could catch him.

Mario dashed to the door, and slowly pushed it open, he snuck his way inside the room, and poked around the corners to see there was no security. Slowly, swiftly, Mario approached the computer desk, and opened the closest drawer. He looked around, then he dug through the contents, pencils and pins, until he found the notebook.

'Mine!' Mario held it up with pride, now he had to return to base.

He froze, hearing a dog growl, and looked down to spot an angry EggDog glaring at him disapprovingly. Mario tried to shush him as best he could.

"Shhh, EggDog, shut up!" The fat Italian hissed, EggDog bit into the notebook, "No! Bad EggDog, Let. Go!"

"Alright!" SMG3's voice hollered as a toilet flushed, "I'm coming back, chat!"

"Fuck!" Mario hissed. He threw the notebook towards a copy machine as EggDog tumbled to the floor, and SMG3's personal item vanished in a second. The fat Italian slammed the drawer shut, looked around as he heard his old enemy's footsteps, and made a mad dash out the door.

"Alright, Shrek time!" Mario heard SMG3 declare, but he didn't bother to stick around to watch him. He was so close to getting that notebook, and he wasn't resting until he got it. Right now, it was best to get back to the house, or the Showgrounds, before anyone got suspicious of him. But luck would not last long...