Your Pursuit of Perfection

It's All Your Fault

The others were walking through the home of this mysterious TV Adware. It was nothing like they had ever seen with dripping walls, sticky floors, and of course most of it was made out of that weird goop. Tari was shaking so Mario tried to cheer her up. "Don't worry Tari! Mario and his friends will be okey dokey! Let's play a game!" Three rolled his eyes and kept walking. "Mario spies with is little eye...something that is...Black!" Tari looked around, but everything just felt creepy to her. It was a realm made of nightmares after all.

"Uh is it that thing that looks like a shadow?"

"Nope!"

Boopkins tried to join in. "I KNOW! I KNOW! ITS-" Three was sick of this stupid game as he grumbled "Every single thing in this place is black idiots." This game seemed pretty stupid when almost everything here was the same color.

Boopkins ignored Three's comment and said "It's that extra dark patch over there in the corner!" Mario jumped up and down saying "You're right! Yippee!" Bob and Three looked dumbfounded on how Boopkins picked that. "BRUH! HOW DID YOU SEE THAT?" Tari tried complimenting Boopkins efforts. "Good job Boopkins! I was so close."

Meggy suddenly stopped and said "Uh hey guys... I think those creatures that Smg1 and Smg2 spoke of know we're here." Melony turned around and asked "How can you tell?" They instantly saw as tentacles and creatures made of goop and eyeballs surrounded them. They all froze and Three whispered to One and Two "Well you're the experts on these things. Now what?"

One and Two were more focused on something in the distance. "Something is coming..." The dark fog came back for round 2. Quickly One shouted "RUN! IT'S THE MIST OF NIGHTMARES! WE DO NOT HAVE ANY POWER OVER IT!" They all bolted off, sprinting as fast as their feet would take them. One and Two followed behind, using their powers to protect them from the creepy creatures.

Luigi then called out "Wait a minute...WHERE'S MY BROTHER!!!" They all looked back to find Mario teasing one of the goopy creatures. "Oh god...Why'd that idiot have to come with us?" Three groaned as he darted for Mario. "THREE NO!!!" yelled Meggy, but Three didn't listen. "IF MARIO DIES THEN WE ALL DIE!!!" Mario was spinning around in circles, making plane sounds. "Ooooo you are very scary. Not to Mario! Mario isn't scared of anything!"

Three rushed up to his avatar and yelled "OI MOVE IT RIGHT NOW!" Mario then noticed the nightmare mist coming straight at him. "NOW MARIO IS SCARED!!!" Three grabbed him as the mist dove on top of them. "THREE! MARIO!" Meggy yelled, but then another wave of mist swept over the others.

Three woke up to be surrounded by a familiar setting. "I'm...back home?" He was right back where he started, at the Showgrounds. He then saw his friends standing over something. He raced over to them and said "Guys! There you are! Why are we back home!?"

They all turned to him and said "Oh look who decided to show up." Three took a step back, confused. "What?" Saiko stomped her foot hard on the ground and said "SMG3, YOU HAVE NO RESPECT FOR YOUR FRIENDS! YOU ARE CARELESS AND DANGEROUS!"

Three just stood there speechless as Meggy added on to Saiko's remarks. "You never cared about him, abandoned him when he needed you, and you didn't save him in time. YOU KILLED HIM!" Three finally croaked out words from his stunned mouth. "Killed who?" They all stepped out of the way, but not losing their glares.

When Three saw what they were looking at, his eyes widened and his cheeks went pale. It was a grave for Smg4. His signature hat was on top of it, covered in blood. "NO! FOUR!" He yelled as he ran up to the grave and sadly examined the remains of his dead partner. "No...why...he didn't deserve it..." Tears slowly slid down his face as he collapsed onto the ground. Mario shot back "WHY SMG3! WHY DID YOU KILL MARIO'S BEST FRIEND!!!" Three tried speaking through his sobbing. "I never meant too. I never wanted to lose him." All of his friends began circling him and telling him mean things. Not just any random remark, the thoughts of his guilt.

"You brushed off his nightmares!"

"Why didn't you stay with him!? He needed you!"

"You were so close to saving him and you lost him!"

"You gave him the idea of the perfect video!"

"You could have prevented this if you just admitted how much you needed him!"

Three just sat there crying every ounce of strength out of his body. "I'M A TERRIBLE FRIEND! IT'S ALL MY FAULT! I'M THE ONE WHO DESERVES THIS! NOT HIM!"

Two voices rang out "Smg3 wake up!" He gasped as those voices belonged to One and Two. "Three! Remember it's just a nightmare! We're here to save Smg4!" One added on "You must fight it Three! Use your bravery to tell these nightmares they aren't real!" He breathed heavily as he whispered "But Four is..."

Two tried to remind him of what they were trying to accomplish."Then why would we be here? It's not true Three!" One could see him trying to break through as he continued "It's all fake! The Adware is trying to trap you into your worst fear!"

Three breathes in deeply as he says "Four is not dead..." A shoot of meme energy wards off the mist and he yells "AND MY NIGHTMARES AREN'T REAL!!!" He finds himself back in the dark world, but it's better than being stuck in a world filled with eternal guilt. Two says happily "Glad your back Three! We have to rescue the others from their nightmares before they are trapped in them forever!"

Three pulls his cap tighter onto his head and says "Don't worry I got this." The three of them raced off to go save their friends. No dawdling now. The mist doesn't show any signs of stopping.

Everyone has something they're afraid of...