Death of a friend

The Showgrounds were unusually quiet for a Tuesday afternoon. SMG4 was hunched over his computer, the blue light of the monitor reflecting off his tired eyes as he struggled to edit a particularly stubborn scene involving a rubber duck and a lawnmower. Beside him, Bob and Fishy Boopkins were arguing over which anime had the best filler episodes, while Meggy practiced her kicks in the corner.

The sudden, shrill ring of a Discord video call shattered the mundane atmosphere.

SMG4 groaned, rubbing his temples. "Who is calling at this hour? I’m right in the middle of—"

He stopped mid-sentence when he saw the caller ID. It was Mario. Usually, a call from Mario meant a pizza emergency, a legal restraining order from a spaghetti factory, or an accidental fire. But something about the icon felt heavy.

"Hey guys, Mario’s calling," SMG4 announced, waving the others over.

Luigi, who had been dusting a nearby shelf, brightened up immediately. "Oh! Maybe he wants to go to the funfair!"

Melony looked up from her nap on the couch, rubbing her eyes and clutching her sword-pillow. "Is it time for snacks?"

SMG4 clicked the 'Accept' button, and the large monitor on the wall flickered to life. The room went deathly silent.

The image on the screen wasn't the vibrant, chaotic Mario they knew. He was lying in a sterile, white hospital bed, surrounded by the rhythmic *beep... beep... beep...* of a heart monitor. His iconic red hat was sitting limp on the bedside table. Mario himself looked pale, his mustache drooping, and a series of tubes connected to his arms.

"Mario?" SMG4’s voice cracked. "What... what is this? Is this a prank? Did you try to eat a Bob-omb again?"

Mario looked at the camera, his movements slow and labored. He tried to give his signature thumbs-up, but his hand trembled and fell back onto the sheets.

"Hey... guys," Mario whispered. His voice was raspy, stripped of its usual high-pitched energy. "Mario... Mario doesn't feel so good."

Luigi pushed past SMG4, his face turning a ghostly shade of white. "Mario? Big brother? What did the doctors say? We’re coming to get you, okay? We’ll get some 1-Up mushrooms, we’ll—"

"Luigi," Mario interrupted softly, a sad smile touching his lips. "The mushrooms... they don't work this time. The doctor says... the spaghetti in Mario's heart... it’s all gone."

The silence that followed was suffocating. Saiko dropped her hammer with a heavy thud. Tari covered her mouth with both hands, her cybernetic eye flickering with distress.

"What are you saying, Mario?" Meggy asked, her voice trembling as she stepped closer to the screen. "You’re Mario! You survive everything! You’ve been flattened, exploded, and erased! You can’t just..."

"I’m dying, Meggy," Mario said simply.

The word hit the room like a physical shockwave. Luigi collapsed to his knees, his breath coming in ragged gasps as the reality set in. Melony, usually so detached from the world, felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Her eyes welled up with tears that spilled over instantly.

"No," Melony sobbed, clutching her pillow tighter. "No, not Mario."

SMG4 felt like the world was tilting on its axis. The man on the screen was his best friend, his rival, the chaotic force that had defined his entire life since he arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Everyone," SMG4 barked, his voice thick with emotion as he grabbed his keys. "Get to the van. Now! We’re going to the Mushroom City Hospital!"

The journey was a blur of red lights and panicked silence. No one spoke. Even Bob remained uncharacteristically quiet, staring out the window with his hood pulled low. When they arrived, they sprinted through the sterilized hallways, the scent of antiseptic stinging their noses, until they reached Room 104.

SMG4 pushed the door open slowly.

The room was dim. Mario was staring out the window at the setting sun, his breathing shallow. When he heard the door, he turned his head with great effort. Seeing them all there—the whole chaotic family—brought a faint, genuine sparkle back to his eyes.

"You came," Mario breathed. "You didn't stay for the memes?"

"Shut up, Mario," SMG4 whispered, walking to the side of the bed and taking his friend's hand. It was cold. "Of course we came."

Luigi and Melony didn't wait. They threw themselves toward the bedside. Luigi grabbed Mario’s other hand, burying his face in the hospital blanket as he wailed.

"You can't go!" Luigi cried. "Who’s going to help me check for ghosts? Who’s going to take the top bunk? Mario, please, I’m not ready to be the only brother!"

Melony stood on the other side, her green hair disheveled. She looked at Mario not as the goofy plumber who tripped over his own feet, but as the person who had always been a constant, protective presence in her strange, evolving life.

Mario looked around at them, his gaze lingering on each face. He looked at Saiko, Tari, Bob, Boopkins, and Meggy, who were standing at the foot of the bed, tears streaming down their faces.

"Don't be sad," Mario said, his voice fading. "Mario had... a lot of fun. We went to space. We fought gods. We ate... so much spaghetti. Thank you... for taking Mario on adventures. Even when Mario was a big, dumb-dumb."

"You weren't just a dumb-dumb," Meggy sobbed, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "You were our hero, Mario. You saved us more times than we can count."

Mario’s eyes began to flutter. The heart monitor’s rhythm was slowing down, the intervals between the beeps growing longer and more agonizing.

"SMG4," Mario whispered.

"I’m here, buddy."

"Make sure... the memes are spicy," Mario chuckled weakly, a small cough racking his chest. "And tell the Princess... I’m sorry about the castle. All forty times."

SMG4 let out a wet laugh, tears dripping onto the bedsheets. "I’ll tell her, Mario. I promise."

Mario’s hand tightened slightly in Luigi’s grip, then began to relax. His gaze drifted to Melony, who was shaking with the force of her sobs. She reached out, placing a hand on his forehead.

"Mario," she choked out, her voice rising in a desperate, raw crescendo. "Please... Father! Don't leave me!"

The room froze. Even the sound of Luigi’s sobbing hitched for a second. Everyone looked at Melony in shock. She had never called him that. But in the strange, logic-defying way of their world, Mario had been the one who helped bring her to life, the one who had looked out for her in his own clumsy way, and the one who had filled a void left by those they had lost before. To her, he wasn't just a friend. He was the foundation.

Mario’s eyes opened one last time, wide and filled with a profound, peaceful warmth. He looked at Melony and reached out a trembling finger to boop her nose, just as he used to do when she was just a melon.

"Be a good girl... Melony," he whispered.

The monitor emitted a long, continuous tone.

*Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.*

The silence that followed was the loudest thing any of them had ever heard.

"Mario?" Luigi whispered, shaking his brother's arm gently. "Mario, the joke is over. You can wake up now. I’ll buy you a pizza. A large one! With extra pepperoni!"

There was no response. The plumber’s chest remained still. The goofy, wide-eyed expression he usually wore had softened into a mask of eternal rest.

Luigi let out a harrowing scream of grief, collapsing against Mario’s chest. Melony fell to the floor, her hands over her ears as she wailed, the word "Father" repeating like a broken prayer through her tears.

SMG4 stood frozen, still holding Mario’s hand. He looked at the empty space where his best friend’s soul used to be. The weight of the world felt unbearable. Behind him, Meggy had collapsed into Tari’s arms, both of them sobbing uncontrollably. Even Bob had taken off his hood, his glowing eyes dimmed with a genuine, heartfelt sorrow.

They stayed there for hours, a broken circle of friends gathered around a bed in a quiet hospital room. The sun went down, casting long shadows over the Mushroom Kingdom, a world that felt significantly darker now that its brightest, most chaotic spark had finally gone out.

The adventures would continue, the memes would still be made, and the world would keep turning. But as SMG4 looked down at the red hat resting on the nightstand, he knew that nothing would ever be the same again.

"Goodbye, Mario," SMG4 whispered into the dark. "Thanks for the ride."