Angry9guy: Hey guys enjoy also Big Warning there will be some... dark stuff. Also thanks for the help if this story does go well this may have a sequel.

AN: Yeah, what he said. Viewer discretion is definitely advised

Chapter 6 Climbing the Mountain

Aqua exited the house, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw the kids sitting around in the backyard. Not that she was expecting them to be anywhere else, but… eh, whatever. The point was that they were still here. She walked over to them, going at a slow and careful pace. She took notice of their faces; they all had the same downcast expression, the same look in their eyes that indicated the types of emotions the last conversation caused them to feel. Deciding that she needed to get to the bottom of the cause right away, Aqua walked up to the trio.

"Hey guys," Aqua said, her voice soft. "You seemed really sad back there. Is everything okay?"

AL and Bill exchanged a look. They didn't say anything though, just sat in the same silence that had been dominating the scene from the very beginning. Aqua looked over at Savannah, who somehow seemed the most hurt of all. At least, when it came to the way she looked at her two friends.

"Is everything okay?" Aqua asked again, this time with a more serious (but no less concerned) tone. She stepped toward the kids, at this point wondering if they were even going to bother answering her. They seemed extra determined to not do so, so… perhaps this was in vain. Perhaps there was no point in coming out to talk to them. If they weren't going to answer her, how could she help them? How could she help them with their problems if she had no idea what the problems actually were?

With this thought in mind, Aqua started backing up. "Okay. Okay, if you don't want to talk, I'll leave you guys be." She turned around, about to head back into the house when…

"Wait."

Aqua blinked before turning around. Savannah had just stood up, and despite the apprehensive looks Bill and AL sent in her direction, she walked over to the princess.

"I'll tell you what's wrong. You seem like the kind of person who will listen."

Aqua felt a pang and she didn't know why. "I… okay."

"But Savannah!" AL objected. "I don't think we should…"

"Brandy," Savannah said, giving AL a stern look. "It's going to be alright." Her face softened. "As unbelievable as it may seem, not everyone is out to get us."

AL shrunk back. "I… I guess, but…" he took a deep breath. "Okay. Just… be careful, Savannah."

Savannah chuckled and smiled at him. "When am I anything but?"

With that, she joined Aqua, and the two of them went to the back porch. Aqua and Savannah took seats at the table on the deck, all while Aqua couldn't take her eyes off the young girl. She fidgeted with the edges of her dress, looking hesitant. Whatever she wanted to say, it clearly required a lot of willpower.

"So… what's wrong?" Aqua asked, hoping the question would be the prompt Savannah needed to talk.

Savannah took a deep breath. "Where do I even begin?" She grabbed hold of a lock of her hair, pinching it between her fingers as she bit her lip. "It's so complicated, and…" She took another breath. "AL, Bill and I haven't exactly had it easy."

"Okay…" Aqua adjusted her position in the chair, all without taking her eyes of Savannah.

"The truth is… well…" Now it was Savannah's turn to adjust her position in her chair. "We were born here in th Mushroom Kingdom. Our parents are from here, and it's where we originally met each other." She looked down at the floor. "But when I was about four, all three of our families moved to the real world."

"The real world?" THAT… Aqua had so much trouble processing that information. "As in… THE real world? The one where Mario and Luigi originated from?"

Savannah nodded. "Yep. And what's interesting is that we didn't move to just any random place in the real world. We moved to Brooklyn."

Aqua gasped. "No way! That's where Mario and Luigi grew up!" Her eyes were wide as she still tried to process the information that was told to her. "That's such a crazy coincidence. It's…" she shook her head. "That's so weird."

"Yeah." Savannah put her hands on the table. "We lived there until we all turned nine, which was when we moved back to the Mushroom World. And the reason we moved back…" Oh God, were those tears forming in her eyes? "The reason we moved back…" She rubbed her right arm, looking like she was about to break down. "I don't know if I can say it."

"Savannah, it's okay," Aqua said. "I'm here to listen and help. Not to judge."

"I know, I know." Savannah wiped her eyes again. "Just… give me a minute." She did a deep breathing exercise, which Aqua joined in on for the sake of helping Savannah feel less… isolated? Yeah, that was the word Aqua would use; isolated. They breathed in and out, and Aqua was pleased to note that Savannah looked far less uncomfortable by the time they finished.

"Okay…" Savannah exhaled before jumping right back into the explanation. "The reason why we moved back to the Mushroom World was because a lot of people… didn't really like me and my friends. We… when we first went to school in the real world, we told everyone we were born in the Mushroom Kingdom, and… they didn't believe us. And as such, we were teased by them. A lot. The teasing went on nonstop. We couldn't go a full day in school without running into someone who wanted to make our lives miserable." She whimpered. "Nothing we did stopped them."

Aqua stared at Savannah with wide eyes. "Oh… I'm so sorry." She frowned as she looked at the crying girl, who she was just starting to notice had a very grim look in her eyes. She hadn't noticed it before, but now that she was looking at Savannah, she felt like she had met someone who had gotten a true taste of despair. It… it kindred of reminded her of…

"I really am sorry," Aqua said. "I know what it's like to experience pain. Especially when you're so young."

"Yeah." Savannah sighed. "The only thing that really kept us going at the time was…" she stopped before chuckling, surprising Aqua. "This might sound weird, but in the real world, the people made games about Mario and Luigi. They were the main characters, and you got to play as them as they went on some of their adventures."

"Really?" THAT piece of information was probably the most shocking news Aqua had heard that. She had never heard of this before! It was interesting, but… which adventures Mario and Luigi had gone on were immortalized in real-world games? Their adventure in space? The time they jumped into the paintings in Peach's Castle? The time they went to Isle Delfino? Sure, the fact that the people in the real world had ANY knowledge of these games was weird, but… still. This was… interesting.

"Yeah," Savannah said. "In fact, that's how AL came to like Luigi so much; through the games. He would always play as him, and after a while, he started wanting to be like him. He dressed like him, he would always talk about all his amazing feats… he was just in love with this figure who was considered a hero in the world that we originally came from."

Aqua laughed. "That's pretty wild when you think about it." Savannah shrunk back a little, causing Aqua to stop laughing. "I mean that in a good way though. Not in a 'you guys are major weirdos' way."

Savannah snickered. "Okay." She paused. "But that love for Luigi created even more problems for us." She took a deep breath. "You see, the three of us ran into this guy named…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Luigi came out the backdoor. His eyes immediately fell on Aqua and Savannah. "Hey." He approached them with careful steps. "Are you guys okay? You've been out here for a while."

Savannah took in a breath. "Well… we're fine, it's just…"

"Savannah's been explaining to me why the three of them are sad." Aqua got out of her chair and gave Luigi a sad frown. "Apparently, the three of them lived in the real world, in the same city you and Mario grew up in."

"What?" Luigi's face brightened up. "You're kidding! That's so cool!"

"I thought the same thing, but… apparently, the three of them got teased and bullied a lot because… well, no one believed that the Mushroom World actually existed."

Luigi did a double-take. "What?" He looked over at Savannah as she nodded. "That's horrible! I'm so sorry!"

Savannah whimpered. "It… the teasing was unbearable, but… compared to the guy who REALLY gave us trouble… it was nothing."

Aqua blinked. "Who was the guy who really gave you trouble?"

Savannah fidgeted with a thread on her dress again. "His name was Spike…"

"Spike?" Luigi's eyes grew wide. "Wait. Mario and I knew a guy named Spike. And… he was…" Luigi gasped before shaking his head. "No, no! It can't be the same guy! There's no way it's the same guy!"

The lifeless, sorrowful look in Savannah's eyes returned. "It actually was."

If Luigi was shocked before, now he looked ready to faint. "WHAT?"

"Yeah. We met him because he was my family's go-to plumber. He was fine at first, but when he found out AL really liked Luigi…" she shook her head. "All niceness went out the window. He treated us like garbage. He said stuff straight to our faces when our family wasn't looking. Called us stupid for liking such pitiful plumbers, foolish for thinking there was anything in Mario and Luigi that was worth looking up to…" Savannah sighed again. "It was… it was…" she shook her head again and dried her face.

A silence filled the air. Aqua and Luigi didn't even bother speaking. Aqua's mind in particular was reeling. How could someone be so cruel to NINE-year-olds? How could a full-grown adult think doing that be okay?

"Oh… My God…" Luigi said. "I… I knew Spike didn't like me and Mario, but… I'm so sorry, Savannah."

The look that Savannah had on her face… there were no words to describe it. None. To say it was sad would be a gross simplification. "It gets worse."

Aqua's stomach churned. "Worse? How?"

Savannah shook. More and more whimpers came out of her mouth. She dried more tears from her eyes, but doing so was a practice in futility. When she tried to speak, it took several attempts to get the words out. And when she finally did, the reason why became apparently and painfully obvious.

"AL couldn't take the bullying. It was hard for me and Bill, but he was the main target of Spike's scorn. Putting that on top of everyone else being horrible and that left AL in a… horrible state. And… it got so bad that… that…" she held back a sob. "One time, he got a knife…" Aqua's eyes grew wider than they had ever been before. "He… he… he got a knife and… he tried to…"

Savannah couldn't finish, as she burst into a round of sobbing. But she didn't need to finish, as both Aqua and Luigi fully understood what she was trying to say. Aqua could barely move. She could barely think. She didn't even know what to feel. She looked at Savannah. She looked at AL, still sitting out in the yard with Bill right beside him. The pit in her stomach… it threatened to consume her.

"Oh my God…" Her emotions were borderline uncontrollable. She hadn't even met AL that long ago, but hearing his story… after finding out what he went through… well, how could she not feel bad? Especially since AL was ELEVEN! An eleven-year-old got exposed to evil, got exposed to the cruelty and injustice in the world. How could he not be expected to fall into despair? He no doubt lost some innocence, so…

Not saying any other words, Aqua went over and hugged Savannah, hoping that doing so would comfort the young girl. No one talked for about seven minutes. Not that there was much anyone could say. Aqua's own mind flashed back to the trouble she went through in her childhood. She had never done what AL did, but… she too knew what despair felt like. She knew what pain felt like. She supposed, in that sense, she and AL understood each other.

"I'm so sorry, Savannah…" It wasn't much, but maybe those words could help her? Even just a little bit?

"Our parents decided to move back to the Mushroom World after that," Savannah said. "And… well, we started feeling a little better. Bill did the experiments to give AL his superpowers. We were doing good… but there was this one quote from Spike that we always kept in our heads…" she shuddered. "'You guys are a joke. Mario and Luigi barely qualify as heroes, so what makes you think you can be as great as them? You can't be like them. You're too small. Too weak. Too… insignificant.'"

Aqua felt a pang, this one worse than all the other ones. She heard sniffling behind her and turned around to see Luigi dabbing it his eyes with a tissue.

"He's wrong," Luigi said. "You three aren't insignificant. Spike… the only value he sees in people relates to how they will be able to make him money." He whimpered. "He had no right to say that to you. To any of you."

"I know," Savannah said. "That's what everyone keeps telling us, but… it's still hard."

Aqua stood still for a little bit. "Yes. It can be hard sometimes, but…" She stopped before she got an idea. "Hold on." She walked past the table. "I think I can help." She cupped her hands to her mouth. "AL! Bill! Come over here please!"

Bill and AL exchanged a look before getting up and coming over to the group. Aqua gestured for them to sit down at the table. As all three kids kept their eyes glued to her, Aqua took a deep breath.

"I have to tell you guys something." All three kids gave her interested looks, so she cleared her throat.

"I lost my parents at a very young age," she began. "They died right in front of me in an attack made by King Bowser Koopa." She paused, the memories of that event coming back to haunt her like they so often did over the course of her life. "This all happened when I was about four. And.. the nine years that followed that event were the worst years of my life. Bar none. I… I felt like I had no one to turn to. Even when I talked to my sisters about it. Sure, doing so helped me a little bit, but it never made the pain go away. Never. I was so deep in despair that I felt like there was no way out. As such, while other thirteen-year-olds were playing with friends and spending time with their families… I was left alone in my room trying not to cry."

AL, Bill, and Savannah all looked saddened by those words. They exchanged looks, and it was obvious to Aqua that they wanted to say something to make her feel better. But they didn't know what that something was.

Thankfully, they didn't need to say it, as Aqua wasn't done with the story. "But that all changed when I went on vacation to Isle Delfino. That was the first time I ever met Mario." Aqua began to smile. "And, like you felt when you found out about Luigi, AL, I was inspired by him. His go-getting attitude, his courage, and kindness… even his sense of humor. It was all incredible to me, and in some ways… actually, in most ways was the light at the end of the tunnel that I was missing for most of my life." Aqua's smile grew bigger. "And it was because of him that, when he got framed and thrown in jail, I was able to rise to the occasion. I went through all of Isle Delfino, trying to erase the mistake that Bowser, Bowser Jr, and every single last minion in Bowser;s army caused. And, as such, I was able to free Mario. And when he was free, when he was by my side to congratulate and encourage me… that made me realize something. My past, and the pain that came with it? It didn't have to define me. Even though it hurt at the time, it wasn't where my story ended. Quite the contrary. I was able to find a fresh start. I was finally able to be the person who Mario knew deep down I was meant to be." She sniffled. "And… honestly, the happiness I felt with Mario… I feel like it was made even sweeter because I knew what despair felt like. I wouldn't have felt nearly as much joy if I had never known how dark and ugly depression was."

Savannah, Bill, and AL stared at Aqua in awe. A small smile grew on Bill's lips, and AL even cried a little bit.

"And I think it could be the same for you," Aqua said. "Just because you went through the wringer doesn't mean that there is no hope for you. The horrible things that people have done to and said about you aren't who you are. Neither are the dark feelings you've felt and fought with." Aqua's smile grew bigger. "You three are all amazing in your own special way. So what if the people in the real world didn't like you? So what if Spike said you're insignificant? You prove them wrong every single day! Just being here, being able to live despite all the awful things you've gone through… you can't tell me that's insignificant! You can't tell me that you guys don't have value! You absolutely do! Sure, it might take you a while to believe that. I know it took me a while to truly start healing." She smiled. "But as big as the mountain you're climbing is, there is a top to it. And once you get to the top, you'll see a whole world of beauty that you never thought possible before. Trust me. I know."

AL, Bill, and Savannah all had tears in their eyes. Despite that, all three of them smiled at each other, looking at each other in ways that would've seemed impossible a mere ten minutes before. AL dried his eyes as he looked at Aqua.

"Thanks, Aqua." He smiled. "Maybe there is a way for us to reach the top of the mountain."

"Yeah," said Bill. He paused. "I know we have a lot of friends that are rooting for us." He turned to AL. "Our parents, your sister Emma, your brother Alem Tuber, our friends Jason and Chrissy…" he smiled. "They're all rooting for us. They want us to succeed."

"And you three will succeed," Luigi said with a grin. "Mario and I are gonna train you. We're going to be with you every step of the way. There's no way you can fail, and we're gonna show you that."

AL looked at Luigi in awe. "You think so?"

Luigi beamed. " Of course, mi amico."

The effect those words had on AL were… quite frankly, amazing. He smiled so brightly, in a way that contrasted even with the excited way he had talked to Luigi earlier. He got up from the table and gave Luigi a hug.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"You're welcome." The two of them stood in place for a second, and when they let go… oh, Aqua wanted to remember AL's face for the rest of time.

"Well… let's not waste any time," she said. She looked between AL, Luigi, Bill, and Savannah. "There's a lot of work we have to do if we want to fight Bowser."

"You think we can do it?" asked Savannah.

Aqua grinned. "I know we can."


Angry9guy: *Sniffs* So sad. But the question is will this story make it to Angry Luigi's All star pack 3 well we'll see also We need to go cry some more kids don't commit suicide

AN StarlitDuck: As you guys have probably noticed, Aqua is a little older during the events of Sunshine than she is in supermariobroultimate's story. This was done so that it better aligns with the continuity of SK.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you guys are enjoying this :)