Chapter 32 Almost There
Mario focused on sparkling light blue force field surrounding the Comet Observatory as it shot through space. His nerves weren't nearly as prominent or as unbearable while looking on its soothing surface. He could almost forget that he was traveling lightyears away from what was homey and familiar, almost not even think about the fact that the place where Rosalina planned on taking him was hotter than World 8 and more dangerous than the Great Koopa King himself. Sure, those fact didn't disappear from his mind completely, but going on this smooth ride was, without a doubt, pleasantly enjoyable. It kind of reminded Mario of times when he and Luigi were little kids and would go on long car trips with their dad. The destination didn't matter to them in the slightest, as they were accompanied and led by someone Mario trusted with all of his heart.
So, to further soothe his nerves and just let Rosalina do her thing, Mario took a seat on the grass that surrounded the Terrace Dome. He breathed in deeply, noting in awe that the air surrounding the Observatory was somehow richer than the air on his home planet. The grass he sat on also felt extremely similar to silk, like it was made to be the softest and most comforting grass in the universe. He laid down, taking off his brother's cap and looking up at the stars as he did. He could almost sleep. He wanted to sleep.
"Mr. Mario?"
Mario turned, seeing a little white luma. This white luma happened to be the same one who ue accompanied him on his previous journeys throughout the cosmos. Mario sat up, smiling at his old friend. "Hey buddy." He extended his arm, prompting the luma to press up against it. The luma did so, and Mario put his arm around him. His armpit now rested on the tip of his head, and if the luma's coos were any indication, he immensely appreciated being in this position.
"How're you doing?" Mario asked the white luma, who he noted looked a little bigger than he did when they last saw each other. No doubt he grew and was closer to reaching maturity and turning into a celestial body. Honestly, Mario didn't know how to feel about that.
"I'm fine," the white luma said. He looked up at Mario, his eyes painted over with the most innocent type of curiosity. "How are you doing?"
"I'm…I'm alright." He brushed his finger against his cheek, causing the luma to coo even more. "This is quite a relaxing ride, I must admit." He stole another glance back at the force field, sparkling so much one would think it captured the essence of the stars inside it (which, Mario realized, might not be too far off from the truth).
"Yeah," the white luma replied. "I always do like traveling through space this way." He giggled. "We're so fast while doing it! I like going fast!"
"Oh, is that so?" Mario chuckled right alongside him. "You might want to be careful little buddy; if you move through life too fast, you might end up missing all it has to offer."
"I know, I know." The luma sank to the ground, laying down so he could get a full view of the top of the glimmering force field. "I guess I'm just making up for lost time."
Mario blinked as he laid down too. "What do you mean?"
"Well…" the luma sighed, the sound ladened with sadness. "When I turn into a planet, I won't be able to go as fast as I do now. I'll be stuck in one part of space for the rest of time."
Mario felt a pang. A horrible feeling overcame him, as he felt as if this was a terrible fate for his little friend to go through. And it was inevitable; that was the part that made him feel even worse. This was the fate that all lumas inevitably went through, that they had no hope of escaping. All they could do as prolong the day that they join the great, uncaring universe and lose any semblance of sentience they had. Man, and to think that some human children dreaded growing up; at least they didn't become giant hunks of rock or even larger balls of gas.
Nevertheless, Mario wasn't going to show his friend his own feelings of the nature of lumas reaching maturity. If anything, he was going to help him feel better about it. "Oh, but you'll still move as a planet!" Mario objected. "Planets revolve around their suns at great speeds, and they rotate at about one thousand miles per hour!"
The white lumas eyes grew wide. "Woah, really? Is that true for all planets?"
"Well, it was true of my home planet Earth," Mario answered. "Other planets can move faster or slow depending on several factors." He smiled down at the luma. "But hey, planets still move at pretty incredible speeds regardless."
"I'll say!" The luma's eyes twinkled, no doubt peering past the force field up at the many stars lighting up the vast universe. "Man, planets are probably the fastest things in existence." He gasped and giggled. "I want to see them compete in a race against each other! I wonder which one would win."
Mario blinked before giggling. "That would be quite the sight to see, wouldn't it?"
"Yeah." The luma sighed, this time with a happy inflection. "I guess…I guess becoming a planet wouldn't be the worst thing ever."
All Mario could do in response to this was nod. "Maybe not."
The two laid in silence for a minute. Mario heard the sound of other lumas playing, flying around and cooing as they tackled each other to the ground or spun around in circles. It was fun to watch that, but for the most part, Mario kept his eyes on the blue force field. Turning away from it caused him to think about inevitably reaching Melty Monster Galaxy, which he didn't want to spend too much time thinking about. If he could, he would shut off his brain, or completely remove his experiences in that galaxy out of his memory.
"Mr. Mario?"
"Yeah?" Mario answered the luma, on some level feeling grateful. He figured talking to his friend would help him distract him too.
"Is it weird being your brother?"
Maroo shifted his weight. He had already explained the swap to the lumas. "Weird?" Mario thought about this. "Uh, on some level. I mean, looking at Luigi, who looks just like me, is a pretty surreal experience."
The luma blinked. "What does 'surreal' mean?"
Oh right; he was talking to a child. "It's strange, that's what it means. It…it's one of the strangest feelings in the universe."
"Even stranger than turning into a planet?"
Mario snorted. "Well, I haven't experienced that, and I doubt I'm ever going to experience that, so I don't know if I can really say yes to that question." He put his arms behind his head. "But…it is up there as being one of the weirdest thing I've ever gone through. And considering I thought a giant turtle monster after he turned into a giant turtle cat monster with a super bell…well, that's saying something."
The luma laughed. "Man, what I wouldn't give to see that giant turtle cat monster." He laughed, making Mario aware that children tended to focus on…strange details. He stopped laughing eventually though. "Are you excited about getting your body back?"
"Oh yeah," Mario replied. His stomach churned. "However, the way that I'm going to go about getting it back…" he cringed. "I'm not looking forward to that."
There was half a minute of silence, probably because the luma was thinking about a way to respond. Eventually, the little guy flew up right in front of Mario's face. Even though he didn't have a visible mouth, Mario could tell that he was smiling.
"You're gonna do fine. You rescued your special one from the center of the universe. If you can do that, you can handle a silly little trip to Melty Monster Galaxy."
"You think so?" Mario asked as the corners of his mouth tugged upwards.
"I know so." The luma floated in closer. "You're Super Mario, the most awesomest man in the universe. You can do literally anything!"
Mario laughed. "Thanks little buddy. I'm flattered." Not only was he flattered, but that firmly stated belief from an old friend did legitimately help him feel better about his chances. Sure, that might just be because it was a very blatant stroking of the ego, but still.
"We're almost there!" Rosalina called out from her spot above the Observatory.
Mario let out a breath. "Well…" he stood up. "Looks like it's time for me to find out if you're right."
"Of course I'm right!" The luma squeed as he spun in a circle. "Let's a go!"
Mario chuckled. "Yeah. Let's a go."
…
With the sun up above and the ocean undulating just a few feet away, Luigi couldn't help but feel like he had reached the ultimate tropical paradise. Screw Hawaii, screw Barbados; THIS was truly the place to go. World 4 was the most pristine, most beautiful realm in the Mushroom World. It smelled of beauty, it reeked of pleasure. The sound of the waves crashing onto the beach, as well as the pure, untainted white of the sand were enough to make Luigi almost forget about the seriousness of his mission.
Almost. He knew that he wasn't going to stay here for long. When he and Daisy found the cannon, they were going straight from the wondrous tropical Heaven into the smoky, ashen, lava filled hell. This was why Luigi was intentionally going as slowly as possible as he and Daisy made their way down the length of the beach. Daisy hadn't noticed though (or at the very least didn't care). She studied the World, looking just as entranced by it as Luigi was.
"Man, this place is gorgeous," she said. She turned toward Luigi. "When you get your body back, you and I are coming back here immediately for a date."
Luigi chuckled as his ears and cheeks burned (for more reasons than one). "Date, huh?" He clasped his hands together. "That would be really nice. You and me. On the beach, getting suntanned…" he chuckled as he looked straight at her. "I think you'd look amazing if you were tanned."
"Oh!" Daisy put her hands on her hips. "You mean I don't look amazing now?" This caused Luigi's face to grow even hotter. He stuttered as he tried to form a response, but thankfully was put out of his misery pretty quickly when Daisy laughed. "I'm kidding! I'm just messing with you Lou."
Luigi let out a breath. "That's a relief." Now that he was aware it was a joke, he actually managed to chuckle a little. Daisy smiled as she watched him, no doubt overjoyed at the sight of the younger Mario brother loosening up and finding enjoyment in this rescue mission.
Of course, that didn't last long. As soon as Luigi stopped laughing, he faced forward and continued on the trek. He almost wanted the cannon to not be where he remembered it, if for no other reason to prolong their inevitable and horrible arrival in World 8. Heck, Luigi was seriously considering ditching the cannon and trekking through the other worlds.
He wasn't going to do that, of course. Not only had he promised Daisy that they'd use the cannon (she seemed pretty excited at the proposition of getting blasted into hell), but it would also be impractical. Peach needed to be rescue as soon as possible, and delaying getting to her would only increase the amount of time she had to wait in the birdcage Bowser no doubt forced her into. Plus, if they went through the other worlds, they'd have to fight the other bosses, a proposition that didn't appeal to Luigi at all.
So, he just continued on. He soaked in the sunshine and splendor of the world as much as possible. A good thing too, as the two of them arrived at the cannon within no time at all. It was exactly where Luigi thought it would be; tucked behind two trees and a flowering bush.
Luigi sighed as he looked at the blasted device (no pun intended). "Well, here we are."
"Yeah." Daisy beamed at the thing. "I've never used one of these before. Is it fun?"
Luigi snorted. "Only if you find traveling hundreds of miles through the air and not having any guarantee that you'll land safely 'fun.'"
Daisy chuckled. "Well, that sounds like my thing." She went toward the cannon, climbing up it and shoving her body into it. "Come on Weegee, let's do this!" Luigi didn't do it; he stood in place for about a minute. Daisy turned toward him with a furrowed brow. "Luigi, are you okay?"
"Uh…" Luigi scratched the back of his head. "I just…I…I don't know." He hung his head.
"Oh…" Daisy hopped out of the cannon and hugged him. "Don't worry Weegee, I'll be with you every step of the way." She let him go and smiled at him the giddiness she was famous for showing through in the expression. "We're going to rescue Peach. I know we can. No amount of erupting volcanoes or sociopathic Koopa Kings are going to stand in our way."
Luigi smiled. "Thanks Daisy." With that, he stepped toward the cannon. Daisy stepped in first, and Luigi got in on top of her. Once they were safely snuggled in, the cannon extended and pointed toward the east. And then…
BOOM!
