Rainbow Road [Super Mario Bros.]

6

They were the last ones to arrive, but at least they got there. There'd been lots of rest breaks, lots of bellyaching, lots of slow-walking, but at long last they were at the Horizon Hotel. Luigi was too pooped at that point to feel accomplished, so Mario had to be proud for them both.

Like the cafe at the Three Mile Rest Stop, the Horizon Hotel was anchored to Rainbow Road, the underside of the Rainbow Road. This was accomplished by a complex series of docks, pillars, poles, clamps, hooks, and docking clips. It was constructed like this intentionally, so that when guests looked out the window, they had an unobstructured view of the now significantly-bent horizon line, which had swallowed most of the sun at this point and burnt the clouds into a whitish orange color.

Beyond, the sky was looking blacker and blacker, and the first of the stars were beginning to come out. It truly did feel like they were getting closer to the threshold of outer space now: below them, the ground was obscured by clouds, making the familiar fields, trees, and hills of the Mushroom Kingdom feel very very far away.

From the Road, they joined a long line to the lifts, which were a little rickety due to old age and the high wind. Luckily, Luigi was a little too busy wheezing to notice, and they reached the metal sidewalks at the bottom without any whimpering. From there, they followed a covered path up a set of stairs and arrived at the plaza.

The Hotel was the central figure in this wide, suspended, diamond-shaped metal space, but there were also a couple of shops built alongside it: a convenience store, a noodle joint, and a sporting goods shop where you could buy very unusual merchandise, like parachutes and telescopes. For now, Mario dragged his brother to the Hotel, which soared above them and attached directly to the underbelly of the Road.

The lobby was posh. The carpeting was cosmically-themed: black, with patterns of suns, moons, and stars running in lines throughout. Pillars stood like white trees in the corners of the space, with sculptures hewn from moon rock sitting at the tops, staring down at them. There were very few lights -- instead, elaborate chandeliers hung from the ceiling, illuminating the space by reflecting the light coming up from the planet and down from outer space.

Rainbow Walkers were everywhere. Most were in line to check into their reserved rooms. Others were at the wide windows or resting in chairs and couches, beat from a long day of pounding the pavement. Mario threw Luigi into an empty armchair and joined the line.

It was a long wait: by the time he got back to Luigi, forty-five minutes had passed, and his brother was semi-awake again. "Bro?" he groaned when Mario hauled him to his feet. "Where are we?"

"We're at the Hotel. You did it, little bro." Sort of. Like at the rest stop, he'd had to drag Luigi over the finish line.

"Can I sleep now?" Luigi asked.

"Not yet. You should stretch first--"

"Why are you so mean?" Luigi wailed.

Mario gave him a stern look. "You've got to take care of yourself, else you'll have an even more trying time tomorrow. Just do as I say: trust me, it's for your own good."

Luigi continued complaining all the way up to the fourth floor, where they'd been booked for room 459. Luigi's mood took another nosedive when they entered and were confronted by a smell so noxious that Luigi's mustache stood on end.

"What in stars' name is that stench?" he cried.

That stench was Wario, who was sitting at the kitchen table and tucking into four or five bowls of noodles. He looked up when the brothers came in.

"Sorry," he slurped around a mouthful of ramen. "I tried to hold it in, but..." He shrugged.

"He's sharing the room with us," Mario said, a little pained. "Let's all try to get along, okay?"

Luigi cradled his head as though he'd just contracted a terrible headache — which he had! "I'm going to bed," he said. Mario seized his collar before he could get very far.

"Not so fast. Didn't you hear what I said? Stretch first."

"Bro, I've exercised enough! Why can't I—"

"Quiet." Mario drew himself up and then pointed to a space in the entryway floor. "Go on, sit. I'll help you."

Luigi thought about protesting, but every minute he spent complaining was one more minute he wasn't sleeping. So with a grumble, he folded himself down to the ground. Mario had him start by sticking his legs straight out and touching his toes. Then he bent one leg in, and then the other, and they wrapped up with him forming a V with his legs and reaching for a floor tile about two feet in front of him. It was pure agony, all of it — Luigi was certain he could feel the fires of purgatory burning in his muscle fibers.

And Wario letting out a toxic, loud, and hugely inconsiderate fart right near the end made it even worse.

"There," Mario said when they finally finished. "Now doesn't that feel better?"

Better? "I think you broke me, bro," Luigi grumbled.

"Wimp," Wario muttered from the table. He was starting in on a mountain of egg rolls now.

Mario helped him up. "Well don't worry, that's just step one. You'll feel loose as a noodle after you've had a proper bath."

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Note: The attached image is not exactly what their room looks like, but I thought it looked pretty cool! :D