Rainbow Road [Super Mario Bros.]

5

It was hard to get Luigi up and going. Once he realized that the warmth of the cafe and the Hootin' Tootin' apple cider was, in fact, not a beautiful dream in which he could stay forever, he turned into something like a lump of stone, refusing to budge from his seat.

Mario told Daisy and the others to go along, and after they left, he spent a while staring over at his younger brother, rapping his fingers on the table, and wondering how in the heck he could get him the rest of the way into the exosphere. Threats? Bribery?

Perhaps the sobering realization that he didn't have a choice...

"Look bro, we're already three miles up," he said. "You're kinda stuck. Nobody's gonna carry you the rest of the way into orbit, and nobody's gonna carry you back either. Either way, you'll be getting a ton of exercise." He tapped Luigi's empty glass. "Come on. We've got seven miles left to go. You can do that, right?"

Luigi looked up at him, hope suddenly shining in his eyes. "Seven miles until Orbit City?"

Mario smiled a sorry-to-bust-your-bubble smile. "Seven miles until the Horizon Hotel. That's where we're all staying the first night, remember?"

Luigi's shoulders drooped, aghast. Another seven miles until the hotel. Not the finish line, just another marker on the map. If he could've pooled into a depressed puddle, he would have.

But... He groaned and bit his teeth together. Much as he hated it, big bro was right. If he didn't keep going, he would have to go back, which would be another gruesome journey on its own, picking his way down a downward slope three miles in the air... When he thought about it, he found that hiking up into the sky sat better with him than edging back towards the ground, where the distance between him and the grass would have his acrophobia flaring nonstop.

Another groan, as he rallied all his resolve. "O...kay," he said at last. "I'm ready... I guess."

Mario's face lit up. "That's the spirit!" he said. "Let's hop to -- we've got some catching up to do. Everyone else is already far ahead of us!"

It was true: by the time they journeyed back out into the pouring rain — not before buying an umbrella and two plastic raincoats from the tiny convenience stand crammed into the far corner of the shop — every Rainbow Walker in the cafe had pretty much cleared out. The wind was up again, moaning and keeling as it scraped around the metal walkways, leaving them rattling and Luigi wondering how securely they were moored in place.

They reached the Road safely and started the arduous uphill climb once again. It was truly a grueling hike, and not because of the muscle-spasm-inducing upward slope, but the elements: the wind and rain were fierce, and forced the two to duck their heads into their raincoats and lean into the wind in order to push forward. Once again, Luigi's umbrella got snatched right out of his hand, and several times lightning flashed down a little too close for comfort, making the brothers' famous mustaches stand on end.

But one and a half miles later, just as Luigi was sure he was reaching the end of his rope, something incredible happened: up ahead, the Road twisted up into what looked like glowing portal, or a boiling supernova. The rain eased up, and the clouds rolled back, and suddenly, they entered a pocket of heaven.

Mario's mouth dropped open as he gazed around. "Would you look at that, bro!" he cried, his eyes glowing with amazement. "Look at this... Look at this!"

Far above and below the storm continued to rage, but right here was a breath of serenity: luminous white clouds as far as the eye could see, blue sky, cold wind, and a glorious, burning sun.

It was staggering to behold, but the cherry on top for Luigi? In the far, far distance, he could see something rainbow-colored and small floating among the majestic clouds: a hot-air balloon! He pointed it out to Mario, who smiled.

"Picture perfect, isn't it?" he said. He patted his backpack. "Hey, bro, why don't you take a picture?" He tugged out one of those disposable cameras you could buy at a one-coin store, and handed it to him.

Luigi took it uncertainly. "Maybe you should do it. I might mess up."

"Don't take one, then, take ten. One of 'em has to come out great, right? Law of averages."

Still a little doubtful, Luigi peered into the viewfinder, and felt an ache in his heart as he tried to position himself for the perfect shot. Perfect shot? It didn't seem possible to take a perfect shot of this little piece of heaven. This couldn't be experienced through a still image, he thought — you had to be here to see it, breathe it in, be in it. A picture would cheapen the wonder.

But at the same time, he needed a picture of this. It was just too mind-blowing a view. If he could just get a good shot, even a semi-decent shot of this... Well, maybe this trip would have been worth the hassle.

He clicked rapidly, taking Mario's advice and doing something like fifteen snapshots of the hot-air balloon before handing it back to his brother. "Don't lose that," he said. The camera suddenly felt worth a lot more than one coin.

Mario placed the camera carefully back into his pack, inside the plastic bag where he'd stashed it earlier. "It'll be safe as houses in there," he promised. "I won't let anything happen to it, scout's honor." He turned back to the clouds, the sun. "Wow," he said.

He and Luigi stood there for a good while, simply breathing in the breath-taking view. When he finally tapped Luigi on the shoulder and beckoned him along, Luigi had almost forgotten that a backbreaking hike came along with this view. But still, part of him was a little more excited. They were heading back in the storm, but once they got into the highest layers of the atmosphere... He could only imagine the vistas up there. Maybe I'll take some more pictures...

As they headed up through another spiral, they ran into a group of tourists who were also snapping pictures. Some of them, though, were daredevils, and had parachutes on their backs. Luigi stiffened as he watched them launch themselves off the Road with enough speed to break through the gravity wells, and soar down into the sea of clouds. He knew he could never do that... And was jealous. He wished he could be closer to the view too.

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"Clouds" by Carbon-Based Lifeforms goes quite well with this chapter. If you're into space-ambient music, please check it out! (It's attached to this chapter at the top.)