SMG4 Oneshots

07. Spiraling

Three let go of Mario's head with a frustrated snarl, sending Four staggering backwards and Mario further off into the dump somewhere. He gasped and sputtered from the strain of trying to yank Mario away from Four, then growled at the other man. Though, really, he was growling at himself for being so fucking selfish.

Four got back on his feet and fixed a glare on the other man, though confusion quickly replaced his irritation when he realized that Three wasn't mad anymore. Instead, he looked upset. What was genuine anger and panic five seconds ago was now an entirely different mood in just seconds. Four hesitated, completely forgetting what they were fighting over.

"You can have your stupid endorsement." Three clenched his fists, averting his gaze. "I don't care about it anymore. Just take Mario and go."

"Whoa, Three," Four put his hands up, trying to pacify the other man, "I'm not just leaving you here."

"Just GO, SMG4!"

"I don't understand!" Four rose his voice, unsure on how to read Three's feelings. "Just seconds ago, you wanted to take the endorsement for yourself for god knows what reason! You don't even know why you want it! Now you're just letting me have it?"

"You're NEVER gonna understand!" Three snapped back, growing angry. "I don't know what I was thinking anyways! I just didn't want you to have it!"

"It was my endorsement!" Four gestured to himself. "You always want to take things from me! It's been this way for over a decade! What, are you just gonna keep stealing my content like you've always done!? Have you really changed?"

Three recoiled, those words stabbing him right where it hurt. He only grew more heated. "DON'T YOU DARE!" he shouted, his body beginning to shake with increasing rage. "I HAVE changed! I changed for YOU!"

Four paused at those last words, but his agitation quickly overrode his thoughts. "We've been friends for several years and I still can't understand you. You're right that I can't understand. You're like a diary locked up tight with no key! I really like the good times we have together, I really mean that, it's just that... other times, I feel like you're hiding things from me."

"I'm FINE!" Three stubbornly insisted, his throat growing tight with emotion. "I'm not hiding shit! Look, I gave you Mario! Are you happy?!"

"No, I'm not!" Four shouted. "Can you just tell me why you want my endorsement? It'll really help my channel more and extend its reach on YouTube! I'll reel in more subscribers and have more devoted fans, and-"

"AND YOU'RE SUCCESSFUL!" Three cut him off, baring his teeth. "Y-you have everything! You have fame, you have love, you have support, you have everything you could ever WANT!"

"Yeah, and I don't know why that's a problem!" Four retorted. "You're being really selfish! It's like all you care about is yourself!"

"Th-that's-" Three faltered on his comeback, his defensive walls cracking. "You're on the top of the goddamn world! You have friends, you have support, and I barely have SHIT!"

Four did not reply right away, so Three continued on angrily.

"Yeah, I am SO successful, Four!" His voice got rougher the more he ranted, his tone rich in bitter sarcasm. "I have a THRIVING shop and I have SO many goddamn customers! You have everything that I want, and you are EVERYTHING THAT I'M NOT!"

Three's eyes pricked with tears. Four was left stunned, unsure how to respond or what to say in the heated moment. Three stared at him with fierce red eyes, smoldering with jealousy, anger, and self-hatred.

"I-I want to be successful like you!" Three's voice was cracking, trying to keep himself together. "I want love! I want fame! You have no fucking idea how much I HATE MYSELF! I want to be PERFECT! I'VE GOTTA BE FUCKING PERFECT!"

Three was devastated. Four's world stopped, hearing that word again after it caused his own downward spiral in Peach's castle. His thoughts were at a standstill and he scrambled for the right words, any words, any at all, but his heart was heavy and gripped in ice. Three really had the same problems as him. He was going down, swallowed up in his own raging storm of emotions, and Four felt helpless on what to do.

"I'm just a shitty, worthless, WORSE version of you!" Three continued on, letting his tide of emotions dictate his words. Tears slowly rolled down his cheeks, refusing to make eye contact with the man before him. "Now I understand why you wanted to be perfect those years ago! It made you feel good about yourself, and it made you feel alive! All I can do to feel alive is being a shitty fucking ASSHOLE desperately trying to return to my villain roots just to matter again!"

"Being perfect destroyed me!" Four finally found his words. "You saw that! You had to save me from myself!"

"And now I'M trying to save me from myself!" Three choked back a sob. "I'm so swallowed up in my own emotions. I just want popularity and I'm destroying myself, too! Why else do you fucking think I want that endorsement?! I really am worth as much as the popularity I have, and I don't have shit!"

Three was falling apart, destroying himself in front of Four.

"I lie to everyone that I'm fine. I inflate my stupid ass ego around you to desperately convince you that I'm fine. I'm so busy forcing myself to act cool. The other villains think I'm some fucking joke and I'm so stupid for trying to turn back to that life. Every day, I brace myself for the moment where you get sick of me and abandon me if I'm not as perfect as you are. ...I just want to be like you, Four."

Four was hurting inside. His throat felt tight and he didn't know what to say. He was hit with a whole document of Three's true thoughts and feelings, and all of a sudden, the pieces came together perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle. He felt weak with profound sadness and empathy. The man before him was in his most vulnerable state, finally putting his stainless steel walls down and trusting him with this side. Four had no proper words to respond with, so he scooped Three up into a tight hug, squeezing him close.

There were no words exchanged, and there didn't need to be. Three tensed up at first, doubting that he was even worthy of comfort right now. But he quickly realized just how touch-starved and lonely he was that he reciprocated the hug. He cried into Four's shoulder, his voice cracking with distraught sobs. He wept like he was a child again. His entire body was weak and he fell apart in the other's arms, feeling safe enough to be this way.

Nothing else mattered. He wanted to be held. He needed Four. He needed him so bad. The two sat down and Four refused to let him go, softly shushing him and rubbing his back. Mario, who had been watching their argument from afar, clambered onto the platform and joined the hug. He wrapped his arms around Three's back and squeezed tight, hoping he was helping.

Three cried his heart out. God, it felt so nice to let it all out. What was he thinking, being so used to bottling shit up? What was he so terrified about? Four buried his face into Three's neck, trying his hardest to comfort him in the moment. Three finally relaxed. He went quiet, save for little sniffles and hiccups.

"You matter so much to me." Four spoke softly. "You matter more to me than my channel. You may not see it now, but you've made my life so much better since we became friends. I'd..." He hesitated, "I'd be dead without you, you know."

Mario nodded along, offering some semblance of empathy. Three didn't respond, but he melted at those words. For what felt like the first time, he was glad he let himself be vulnerable.