SMG4: The Power Crystal (Episode)

Chapter 6 - The Crystal is Missing!

   "THE CRYSTAL! IT'S MISSING!"

  Was the first thing that SMG4 heard when he woke up with a jolt.
   "What?!" Turning towards the voice, he saw that Saiko and Boopkins were standing near the display case. Looking behind them, to his horror, he saw that the crystal wasn't there.
   "What happened?!" Meggy's voice rose up. SMG4 could see the ginger girl rise immediately from her sleeping bag.
   "What's going on?!" Another voice asked in a panic. SMG4 could recognize that it was Luigi's.
  Around him, SMG4 could see that everybody was waking up now.
   "Somebody broke into the castle and stole the crystal while we were asleep!" Saiko yowled.
   "Somebody WHAT?!"
  As SMG4 watched everybody caterwaul and screech in panic, he glanced down at his lower pocket and saw that the key for the cabinet wasn't there. His eyes bulged out of his head.
   "How did they even manage to crack the lock? SMG4, don't you have the key for it?"
   "THEY STOLE THE KEY!" SMG4 hollered.
  Everybody gasped. "HOW DID THEY EVEN—"

   "Wait... where's SMG3?!"

   "Bob's missing too!"

  Everybody instantly went silent.
   "If they aren't here... and neither is the crystal... then that must mean..."
   "THEY GOT KIDNAPPED BY THE EVIL MONSTER THAT STOLE THE CRYSTAL!!" Boopkins shouted innocently.
  Everybody narrowed their eyes and stared down at him in silence.
   "No Boopkins! SMG3 and Bob are the monsters!" Saiko sneered.
   "T-their the one's who stole it?" Tari stuttered in disbelief, biting her lip nervously.
   "Those... double crossing... ASSHOLES!" Slamming her foot down onto the ground, Meggy had caught everybody's attention and stood up. "THEY TOTALLY BETRAYED US!"
   "Bob, I can understand..." Luigi started. "But SMG3...?"
   "Yeah... I thought SMG3 was done being a villain..." Boopkins whimpered disappointedly.
   "So did I! But SMG3 clearly doesn't care about that! In fact, it's clear as day that he doesn't even care about us!" Meggy snapped. "He only cares about himself! Why else would he throw us away like trash?"
   "And remember yesterday when he tried to kill us...?" Melony winced by the memory.
  Yowls of fury erupted from the crew.
   "Traitor!"
   "Back-stabbing cunt!"
   "Jerk!"
   "He totally double crossed us!"

   "QUIET DOWN EVERYONE!" SMG4's shout had brought everybody back to the present. When everybody in the room had cooled down, SMG4 spoke again. "Now I'm sure that SMG3 had a perfect reason for doing what he did—"
   "Yeah right!" Meggy spat. "If he needed the crystal so badly, why couldn't he just do the most logical thing and ask for it?"
  SMG4 scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, you know how he is... he isn't very open about what he wants... In fact, I'm pretty sure he bottles up ninety percent of his emotions."
   "Okay, but that doesn't excuse him for how he behaved back at the cave," Saiko argued. "That was pure evil if I've ever seen it."
   "And imagine what he could do now..." Tari whimpered and hid her face behind a pillow.
   "Oh come on!" SMG4 scoffed. "Do you guys seriously believe that SMG3 would give up on his entire redemption and throw us under the bus for a piece of glass?"
   "A piece of glass that holds ultimate power!" Meggy corrected.
   "Well I trust him!" SMG4 argued. "And you guys should too! He's our friend!"
   "Well you're an idiot," Saiko growled.
  Meggy's expression darkened. "It's sweet that you care about your friend, Four. But you have to face the facts. SMG3 is evil."
   "Once a villain, always a villain."
  SMG4 couldn't believe what he was hearing. After everything that he and the others had went through. All of the adventures, all of the memories they made... and this is how they treated Three? They knew that he was on a path of redemption, some of them grew very close to him from the progress of it.
  But this is what it took for them to completely lose all of their trust in him? He didn't even do anything wrong!
  Yes, he stole the Crystal in the most atrocious way possible. And he ran off to god knows where. But if he really was a horrible person, why were he and the crew still alive? And why was the castle still in one piece?
  You'd think that if he actually had villainous intentions towards the group, he would've had this place shredded and destroyed in two seconds flat.
   "Now let's not get ahead of ourselves. We have no proof that SMG3 is actually a traitor. We're all still in one piece, aren't we?"
  Everybody exchanged uncertain glances.
   "If SMG3 actually had beef with us, he would've had this place destroyed, would he not?"
   "How do you know that's not what he plans to do in later on?" Meggy sneered. "Villains aren't stupid, you know. And neither is SMG3. He's a very cunning man."
   "And with that kind of power, who knows what he'll do."
   "And why would he need it?" Meggy jeered, bringing up SMG4's previous assumption. "It could just be me, but I don't recall SMG3, or ANYBODY in that matter of fact, having a logical reason to become a large 50 foot giant."
   "Maybe he needs it for his coffee shop? To promote it? He did vent one time about his business running low."
  Meggy whirled her head around. "What does that have to do with becoming a colossus?"
SMG4 shrugged. "I don't know, bring more attention to himself?"
   "SMG4, you literally saw how SMG3 behaved back at the cavern," Saiko repeated her previous statement. "Their is no excusing his behaviour."
   "I know, I know..." SMG4 hung his head. "But their has got to be a better reason for him taking the crystal, their has to be! I can't see him just throwing his entire hard work of redemption away." He clenched his fists. "Their has got to be a better explanation!"
   "SMG4, their is no better explanation!" Meggy replied with a snap. "SMG3 went back to his old villain ways, and he chose to take that path over his friends because he finally got the power he wanted."
   "I severely doubt that!" SMG4 snapped. "I can't believe you are all just... going to bail on our friend like that!"
  Meggy had enough. She swished towards her friend and pulled him close by his overall strap. "He's the one who bailed on us!" She reminded him with an angry hiss. "Just accept it SMG4! He betrayed us! He betrayed you."
  SMG4 wanted to argue, but he suddenly couldn't find the words. What if Meggy was right?
  Meggy's rage immediately subsided when she saw the destroyed expression on SMG4's face. "Four..."
   "I just don't understand why he would do it!" He finally snapped. "It was such wasted potential! I really thought me and him had something going on!"
   "Wait, you guys are dating—"
  Mario was cut off when Meggy kicked him in the groin. "No you idiot! That's not what he means!"
   "Everything we had went through together... and this is how he gives his gratitude? I gave him a second chance! I helped him get his stupid notebook back!"
   "I'm really sorry, Four... but the evidence is overwhelming at this point," Meggy comforted her friend by placing her hand on his shoulder. "But It's not your fault."
   "But what if it is?" SMG4 pushed Meggy away with a light shove. "He's only ever had it for me. The reason he targeted you guys was because of my success. He wanted my YouTube channel more than anything..." He dipped his head. "He's been so jealous of what I accomplished, but now that he has the crystal and discovered that I don't have a special power like you guys, he feels as if he's finally superior to me." He blinked in realization by what he just said.
  The room remained silent.
   "And now he's gotten himself brainwashed thinking that this crystal will somehow solve all of his problems..."
   "How..." Tari spoke up. "How do you know that...?"
   "Because I know Three," He replied. "I've grown to know him more and more since the whole remote fiasco." He turned his head. "He's good at hiding his feelings, I'll give him that. But his outburst yesterday kinda made me open my eyes a bit and view his situation from a different perspective?"
   "Okay so what if is just jealousy? This is no way to solve it!" Meggy snapped. "If anything, this will only make it worse!"
   "I've been exactly where he's at. And from my personal experience, if he doesn't get rid of that crystal soon, he'll begin to abuse the power it holds." Saiko warned. "And it'll come to a point where he will do something he'll regret. If he truly is good at heart."
   "SMG4, do you really believe that SMG3 deserves a second chance? No, a third?"
   "If my assumption is correct, then yes."
   "And if it's not?"
SMG4 didn't reply.
   "If it's not, then we kill him!" Meggy growled. "It's as simple as that."