Chapter Fourteen:

Caught on The Forklift

Luigi forgot about the sudden accusation thrown at him by SMG3, and continued with his flowering around the castle's vicinity. Tending to the flowers in the Showgrounds was important, even with the winter approaching within several weeks. Just then, the green Italian heard rumbling engine noises, and turned to see a forklift coming... with SMG4 at the wheel.

"WHOA!" Mario's younger brother cried, and dove out of the way when the forklift came closer.

SMG4 stopped the vehicle, even though Luigi was nervous with the two forked carriers pointed at him. The meme man behind the wheel stood up with an excited smile and said, "Luigi! Guess what?!"

"What?" Luigi asked.

"Guess!"

"What?"

"I've been forklift certified!" SMG4 exclaimed happily, he pulled out some paperwork that one could have mistaken for a driver's license, but it was actually the certification that the meme man needed to drive his new forklift.

Luigi yelped when SMG4 started up the engines again, and he drove around the area near the castle. The meme man laughed with glee, riding about in his forklift while backing it up now and then, almost as if he was trying to do some sort of forklift dance. And, unbeknownst to the YouTuber, Mario and SMG3 were watching from the bushes.

"There's that ass." SMG3 snarled, observing his old nemesis through his binoculars, he watched SMG4 and waited for a clear sign that his own notebook was in the meme man's hands. Unbeknownst to him, a sentient cardboard was watching from behind a tree.

'Patience... is a key to victory.' Marty thought, 'Soon, that notebook... will be in my hands.'

SMG3 and Mario waited, watching as an oblivious SMG4 rolled about with the forklift. And then, the blue cap-wearing YouTube content creator cut the engines after countless minutes, and pulled out a pencil... along with a purple notebook. SMG3 was livid when he saw what was happening, Mario was right on the money.

"HE'S WRITING IN MY NOTEBOOK!" SMG3 shrieked, "LET'S GET HIM!"

Mario and the meme guardian charged out of the bushes like a pair of angry bulls. SMG4 heard a shout, and he turned to see SMG3 rushing towards him with fury in his eyes. The meme man slammed the pedal, and his turbo forklift was racing across the showgrounds, while running over some flowers in the process.

SMG3 wasn't about to let his fellow meme guardian get away, he and Mario grabbed a certain sad red-nosed fella, and threw him with all of their near-impossible superhuman strength. Depresso yelped as he went flying, and he crashed into SMG4. The meme man fell off his forklift, which crashed into a rock, and tipped over.

A surprised SMG4 looked up, watching as SMG3 and Mario approached, and the purple-black-clad Internet Graveyard lord threw a grenade-looking device at SMG4. A ringing filled everyone's ears, and the sound-blast shook the meme man.

Disoriented, SMG4 collapsed to the ground, and was out like a light as his two friends came closer...

He was out only for a short time, but when SMG4 regained consciousness, he was seated at a table in a dark room. When he blinked, it was clear the room was the castle kitchen. Moments later, SMG3 and Mario approached with the former glaring at the disoriented SMG4 furiously.

"GIVE ME MY NOTEBOOK BACK!" SMG3 shouted.

"What?! I didn't steal your notebook!" SMG4 protested.

"I SAW YOU WRITING IN IT!" His former archenemy slammed his fist on the table in a mad manner, "MY NOTEBOOK IS NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN TAKE AND WRITE IN IT, IT'S ALL MINE, AND YOU CAN'T TAKE IT FROM ME, YOU LYING SNEAKY MEME GUARDIAN!"

"It's best you give it up, SMG4." Mario told his best friend with a warry face.

'They need to see what's going on.' SMG4 thought, and he reached into his pocket.

"OH MY GOD!" SMG3 shrieked with wide eyes, "HE'S PULLING HIS PINGAS OUT!"

"Idiot, I'm showing you something." SMG4 held up a purple notebook, allowing Mario and SMG4 to see it closely, "It's my forklift driver's notebook, part of every certified notebook driver's commitment."

"You didn't steal my notebook last night?!" SMG3 asked.

SMG4 raised an eyebrow. "No, I was playing Club Penguin last night." He told him.

"While Mario was playing World of Warcraft?" SMG3 went on, recalling what Mario had told him he was doing last night.

"What?" SMG4 was bewildered, "Since when was Mario into World of Warcraft? The only games I've played as of late are Shrek Online and Club Penguin. I didn't see anyone playing that, and I don't recall where he was last night. Heck, to my knowledge, Mario wasn't online."

'Mama mia.' Mario thought, 'They're gonna be onto me soon...'

SMG3 took only a second to process this, filled with suspicion, confusion, and shock. He looked at SMG4 with a raised eyebrow, then his eyes went wide, and he drew a gun from his pocket with a yelp. SMG4 pulled out a gun as well, and Mario did the same as he flashed a look of shock on his face.

"Mario's going to commit war crimes!" He cried.

The standoff was tense, both Mario and his two formerly-identical guardians aimed their guns at one another in a warry manner, eyes wide and filled with anxiety, as fingers twitched near the triggers. Both of them were about ready to start shooting, and it was uncertain who could be trusted and who was their ally.

Drops of sweat rolled down the group's heads, and their hands shook as the trio gripped the handles of their weapons and their teeth shook. Tensions in the room increased with each passing second, and any sense of trust was dwindling even more.

Who was going to shoot who?