Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was in the wee hours of the morning at the Showgrounds that, within SMG4's castle, the clacking of keyboard keys could be heard as SMG4 worked on his newest video. The occasional chuckle slipped past his lips, accompanied by frustrated grunts as he added ideas and scrapped others.

After a few moments, he pulled away, leaning back on his chair with a satisfied grin as he played out his newest masterpiece, checking it for any last-minute problems before uploading it to his channel.

He would've stayed to keep an eye on the video, checking for new likes and views, but the rumbling coming from his stomach made him rethink that.

Ah.

Guess it was time for a trip to the kitchen.

SMG4 stood up from his chair, staring at the screen one last time before turning around and heading for the door. He could check how the video was turning out later.

His hand was just about to grab the knob when his phone buzzed, stopping 4 in his tracks. It didn't stop buzzing as he pulled it out, an unknown number flashing on the screen.

That's weird. Who would be calling SMG4 at this hour?

His eyebrow raised, he stayed still for a moment before swiping, raising the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

Chapter Text

The day had started out decently enough.

SMG3 had opened up the cafe that morning and had ended up with way more customers than usual. Thankfully, nothing had ended up broken, and he hadn't had to deal with any upset customers either.

Everything was working out fine, perfect even.

Yet, something felt off, and despite SMG3's efforts, he couldn't figure out why.

He had just sent off Eggdog with the latest order when the bell rang, accompanied by a bang and a distressed, yet familiar cry.

"SMG3!!"

Three raised his head in time to watch a blur of red come into view before it crashed into the counter, metal clinking together as it shook from the impact. SMG3 yelped, spreading his arms as he tried to steady the counter.

"MARIO! Be careful, you idiot!" SMG3 yelled, scanning the counter for anything missing before letting out a relieved sigh, and turning to scowl at the plumber as he popped up from under the counter, comically wide eyes full of tears.

"SMG3, you gotta help Mario find SMG4!! Mario can't find him anywhereee!" Mario blubbered, leaning over the counter to grab onto SMG3, who cringed at the contact.

"Dude, ugh, get off me!" Three cried out, pushing Mario away and ignoring the pained yelp that came from the plumber. "And what do you mean, 'find SMG4'"? I'm sure the idiot's at his castle, making another video or something." he said dismissively, turning to inspect the rest of the counter.

Mario popped up again, shaking his head sadly. "He wasn't."

Three froze.

Well, crap.

At least that explained the uneasy feeling Three had been feeling all this time. Now that he thought about it, SMG4 hadn't even shown up at all today for his usual order.

Not that he'd been paying attention or waiting for him or anything. Even if he had been, it was only because SMG4 was a paying customer, and 3 needed those if he wanted to keep the cafe running, nothing more.

Still, while it wasn't unusual for Four to leave on his own at times (the guy did have a life, as surprising as it was to SMG3), not even telling Mario where he was going definitely raised concern. It was entirely possible that SMG4 had simply gone to run some errands, and that the plumber, currently sobbing a mess on his counter and holding up the line, was overreacting over nothing. Yet, the thought didn't reassure him or make the unease in his stomach disappear.

SMG3 looked back at Mario, silent for a moment before pinching the bridge of his nose, letting out an annoyed groan.

"All right, Mario," Three started, rolling his eyes, "I'll help you look for SMG4."

The reaction was immediate. Mario's cries stopped, a joyful "Wahoo!" replacing them as he jumped in joy before immediately making a beeline for the exit.

"Eggdog!" SMG3 called out, stepping out behind the counter. From across the cafe, the egg's bark could be heard.

"Be a good boy and look after the cafe while I'm gone." Three commanded, already striding towards the exit. Eggdog barked in shock, but it went unheard as the door shut behind SMG3.

As SMG3 trailed behind Mario, he thought to himself,

' This should be easy enough. Looking for SMG4? How hard could it be?'

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Apparently, the answer was "pretty fucking hard."

As Mario had said, 4 hadn't been at his castle, and a search for clues in his room had turned up empty. He hadn't visited any of their friends' houses when they went to check either. He hadn't even been seen by anybody out and about when they had headed into the city and asked. It was strange.

For someone who always managed to stand out, SMG4 sure was making himself hard to find right now.

"Ugh, this isn't working! If this keeps up, we'll never find him!" SMG3 cried out, eyebrows furrowed as he scanned the streets.

Seriously, how hard was it to find a dude who wore white?

Next to him, Mario sighed as he also looked around, staring sadly at the crowd that passed by.

Unknown to the plumber, SMG3's expression softened, feeling sympathetic for the guy. SMG4 was Mario's best friend, and it was obvious that 4's sudden disappearance had affected Mario. Not to mention, it wasn't like 4 to just up and leave without so much as a note explaining why.

It was weird.

3 hoped something would turn up soon. Mostly for Mario's sake, but also for his own.

Three had opened his mouth to hopefully reassure Mario through some sappy, heartwarming words, but when he turned to look at the plumber, he was nowhere to be found, leaving SMG3 on his own.

"OI! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO?!"

Luckily, the yelps echoing across the street gave Three a pretty good idea of where Mario was. With an annoyed huff, he took off, following the trail.

Three ran, shoving and pushing through the unusually crowded streets (seriously, when had the street gotten so crowded all of a sudden??), nearly tripping over a few times as he followed after Mario, the yelps and cries becoming louder the closer he got to the plumber.

He eventually stopped where the cries had been the loudest, in front of an alleyway where Mario stood, his back facing SMG3.

"Dude," SMG3 panted out, walking up to Mario, "I swear you better have a good reason you ran off, or I swear I'm-" Three's went silent, eyes widening as, among the broken bottles and garbage, they landed on a person, their form slightly trembling as they lay curled up into a ball.

"SMG4?"3 asked nervously, his heart pounding as he took a step forward.

The ball slowly uncurled, blue and green entering the duo's vision.

"Oh, no, it's just Luigi," SMG3 said flatly, swallowing a pang of disappointment as he stepped back. Anger replaced it as he ignored Luigi, turning to face Mario.

"Seriously, bro?! How did you mistake Luigi for SMG4? They don't even look the same, you dumbass!!"

"Hey, all Mario saw was blue and white! How was Mario supposed to know it was plastic bags and not SMG4's overalls??" Mario shot back indignantly.

"How do you mistake-?!"

However, before the argument could escalate any further, Luigi's voice interrupted them.

"Hey Mario, hey SMG3! Uh, is everything okay?" he asked, having stood up and now nervously looking between the two. Before SMG3 could say anything, Mario grabbed Luigi by the shoulders, shaking him roughly as he half-cried, half-explained their current situation.

"SMG4's gone missing? You sure about that, bro?" Luigi asked once Mario finished. Mario nodded sadly.

"That's weird," Luigi said, eyebrow raised as he cocked his head. "I could've sworn I saw him this morning while I was making deliveries for the flower shop."

The news caught Mario and 3's attention, with Mario looking visibly brighter than he had all day. Luigi opened his mouth to elaborate, but before he could say another word, Mario grabbed him.

"You saw SMG4? Where did you see him? Tell me, TELL ME!!" Mario screamed, shaking Luigi yet again as he tried to get more answers from his younger brother.

Luigi, for his part, was too busy getting treated like a maraca to really give Mario a proper answer, so it was at this point that SMG3 decided to step in.

As if he were grabbing a feather, SMG3 plucked Luigi from Mario's grip, leaving the red plumber confused for a split second as SMG3 set Luigi down, the green plumber wobbling for a moment as he regained his balance.

"Okay, Luigi, spill.", SMG3 started, "Tell us where you saw SMG4."

Luigi nodded. "I saw him entering a building. I didn't get the name of it, but I can tell you where it was."

SMG3 listened intently as Luigi gave him the location. Once Luigi had finished, Mario, who had been half-listening, immediately turned on his heel, running out of the alley as he screamed about finding SMG4.

"MARIO!!" SMG3 cried out, chasing after the red plumber, but not before turning to Luigi.

"Luigi…Thanks.."

Luigi smiled. "You're welcome, SMG3." He looked around for a moment. "Wait, SMG3, do you think you could help me with-"

When he had turned back, SMG3 was already gone, leaving Luigi with the mess of spilled groceries strewn around the floor.

He sighed.