Chapter Nineteen:

Intel for The Boys

"What a wonderful show it has been shaping up to be so far!" The mysterious entity said with glee, observing the footage of SMG3 wandering Mushroom City along with the footage of Mario and Marty at the casino, "All the pieces are coming together, slowly but surely. The theft was just the opening act, but we don't have to wait any longer for the action ..."

Gloved fingers tapped together, "Perhaps I should contribute to SMG4 and SMG3's efforts to find where Mario has the notebook. Anonymously, in fact. Oh, you handsome son of a gun, you. It feels so good for a director to have fun in his own show, even in a minor way..."

The figure cackled. "But we must be subtle. If I contact SMG4 via the TV Adware popup, just like when I sold the Suspicious-Looking Keyboard, our performers will catch on to what is unfolding. Yes, I will make sure no one knows where the SMG4 Crew got the intel. Mystery is just... absolutely perfect!"

A loud laugh filled the shadowy, mysterious lair, followed by the sound of clicking and beeping along with the creepiest giggle that nobody had ever heard...

SMG3 walked past the Mushroom City Mall with EggDog on his shoulder. His head was lowered, and his arms were slumped on both sides. After spending what felt like hours putting up missing posters for his notebook, the meme guardian didn't know what else to do. Until something came up, it was time to call it in for the day.

Everywhere he looked, the police were roaming, and searching everywhere for a sign of Mario and the notebook. EggDog barked a little nervously when a pair of cops walked by with a band of hounds, but SMG3 gave his little pet some comfort.

'Dear diary.' He thought, 'I still haven't found my notebook, and it seems like Mushroom City is turning into a messy police state. At least this isn't the days of the Anime War, when anime trends swept across the kingdom and pro-anime groups were locked in battle with those who supported banning anime-related products.'

The former villain stopped short as he felt a vibration in his pocket. SMG3 heard a buzzing sound and pulled out his phone. SMG4 was calling him, and the Internet Graveyard's ruler tapped the 'answer' button on the screen, eager to answer his old enemy's phone call.

"SMG3, Meme Guardian speaking." SMG3 said in a not-so-upbeat voice.

"Yo, dude. You should get back to the castle right away. Something just came up." SMG4 piped up, "I think we got a lead on where Mario took the notebook."

'Wait, what?!' SMG3 lowered his phone, his eyes completely wide. He ended the call and rushed to the closest Warp Pipe in the area with EggDog on his shoulder before diving in, with his mind on the Showgrounds.

The former YouTube supervillain and his egg-shaped pet popped out of the next pipe right next to the SMG4 Castle. As the pipe disappeared into the ground, SMG3 ran through the doors, and raced to his fellow Super Meme Guardian's room, and saw SMG4 waiting for him by his computer.

"What's going on?" SMG3 asked.

"A tip from someone anonymous." SMG4 gestured to the screen, "Apparently, Mario was seen taking the notebook to a place called Casino Paisano. Look!"

EggDog growled, and the two SMGs looked at the computer screen, focusing on the image of a large casino building. And, on the ground near the entrance, was Mario, holding a purple-colored object in his hand;

SMG3's notebook.

"What's Mario doing taking my notebook to a casino?" SMG3 questioned with annoyance, "And just what the hell is Casino Paisano?"

"I have no idea, but I guess it's some Italian casino that's been in business for some time..." SMG4 quipped, "And I don't think Mario's the head honcho running that place. H-he isn't competent enough to run a casino. Not to mention we've seen what happened when he tried to run Nintendo a couple of years ago."

"Don't forget that he tried to rule the Mushroom Kingdom." SMG3 pointed out, "And, while Peach was on vacation, he renamed it 'Mario Land'. The jackass! But where is Casino Paisano, and is the notebook actually there?"

SMG4 pulled out his phone. "We're about to find out." He declared, "I texted all the people I could call, and they've been doing everything possible to find your notebook..."

"I hope you told them NOT TO OPEN IT OR LOOK INSIDE WHEN THEY DO!" SMG3 barked.

"Hey, I respect your privacy." SMG4 chuckled, "Why are you so secretive about what's in your diary?"

'Here we go.' SMG3 grabbed his ex-nemesis' shoulders, "It contains secrets about you and me and certain events in an igloo, dude! Remember that snowy day when I was out to kill you as usual? Before we found out the truth? When we got stuck in that freaking igloo and went super crazy before Mario got us out? You remember that?"

SMG3 pulled back, and SMG4 stood with wide eyes.

After being trapped in an elevator, the meme man didn't think he'd have to be reminded of the incident again. Now, he remembered; Being stuck in that igloo, trying to survive and freezing to death, going crazy and doing extremely crazy things while that freaking parrot watched.

How could he forget? Not to mention that SMG4 had made a video about those events, and he'd gone out of his way to tell his subscribers in the following years that the events in the igloo weren't real.

"You actually wrote an entry about it in your notebook?" SMG4 said with dread.

"And you made a video about it that people can see on YouTube?!" SMG3 shot back.

"WE GOT TO GET THAT NOTEBOOK!" The meme man screamed, "IF MARIO OPENS IT, AND HE, ALONG WITH WHOMEVER ELSE HE'S WORKING WITH, FIND THAT EXACT ENTRY AND LEAK ALL OF YOUR SECRETS TO THE WORLD WITH THE EVENTS OF THE IGLOO BEING ONE OF THEM... who knows what will happen."

"First, we get more intel on the casino and where the notebook is being kept." SMG3 snapped his fingers, "And then, we kick ass and get it back... after we devise a plan because we shouldn't go running in like dumbasses with no idea what to do from there."