Rainbow Road [Super Mario Bros.]

3

A good third of the Rainbow Walkers started off with a healthy uphill jog. Since there was no way that Luigi could handle that, he and Mario wound up near the rear of the pack, with other Walkers that preferred a slow stroll to take in the sights.

However, Mario probably should've forced Luigi into a run, because after the first mile, the younger Mario bro was already ready to go home: the constant uphill slope had nearly wiped him out already, and he was drenched clean through because of the rain; early on his umbrella had been snatched away by a sneaky thread of wind, and being forced to watch it pirouette back down to Earth seemed like a bad omen to him.

"Just another mile and a half," Mario tried to encourage him over the wind. Rainbow Road had its own atmosphere, thanks to some metaphysical and quantum mechanical work done by Rosalina's Lumas, but at this height it was continuous in nature with Earth's existing elements, and so was subject to Earth's weather like anything else up this high was. "This high" being approximately 1.5 miles — high enough to be able to see Mushroom Castle, Toad Town, and the surrounding countryside had the rain not turned everything into gray mush.

"A mile and a half and we'll be at the first rest stop," Mario continued. "They've got vending machines and benches and even a small cafe — up for some coffee?"

Luigi was up for catching the next bus back down to the surface, but he didn't dare say that, not with other people watching: like Wario, who was panting more than he was; three Toads in yellow rain jackets; and a Hooski named Charlie wearing a beanie and a scarf. They had all stopped to let Luigi catch his breath, and it was hugely embarrassing, them watching in a small, damp, shivering circle as he tried not to wheeze his guts up. Probably they all thought that if he hadn't been there weighing them down, they would be refueling with hot chocolate and muffins by now. Gritting his teeth, Luigi straightened.

"You bet I'm ready for coffee," he said. "I'm fine now. Let's go!"