Sitting On A Curb - Chapter 6 - ZoiIsSomehowHere (2023)

Chapter Text

The first level is based on world 1-1 but instead of going through it, you jump down a hole and are chased by a thwomp. Mario struggles a bit at first but makes it through without a 1-up… Somehow.

The second level is Lead the Lads, easy for Mario, just getting some Pokeys through a course. This was even easier than the first level. The third level, Hop Skip Jumpscare, required a 1-up to get through. Mario just kept missing the jump cues and though he usually fell to the ground (hard no thanks to Peach) he managed to eventually get through, only briefly struggling with the Boom Boom flying around with thwomps trying to curb stomp him.

Fourth was Difficulty Spike, which saw Mario with Boomerang powerups guiding a spike ball through a pretty simple world. It was irritating, but he managed.

Larry’s Lopsided Lava Lift. This was the first instance of a Koopaling in these levels set up by Peach. She convinced Larry by giving him a large supply of hair care items. Larry, even with the spike ball cannon, fell easily to Mario, and this was the first time Luigi stepped in, taking care of Larry’s wounds and making sure the Koopaling was okay. Thankfully, aside from a bit of burns from the Lava on Larry’s child scales, he was okay.

World 2

Buzz On Buzz Off utilizes a special mushroom to get Mario to the end. Using the pull and throw. Mario uses Buzzy Beetles to get through the level. After that is Rock Bottom, where Mario uses the frog suit to get through the level with a thwomp chasing him, he gets through on 2 life shrooms. Ghosts in a shell had lots of falling, but no real problems there.

Kamek’s Miner Inconvenience. Mario struggled a bit with the thwomps and the pressure on him from them but managed through okay. He was pretty bruised, and his butt hurt from breaking the blocks so many times. It wasn’t Kamek, but a mindless Magikoopa that took Kamek’s place since the advisor wanted nothing to do with Mario. But that Magikoopa was a little sus…. Something must have happened to him since he really was so mindless.

Roy’s Twisted Mole Hole is next, the second koopaling to be fought by Mario. Luigi also appears after this fight to check on Roy since his brother forged ahead. Mario only needed regular mushrooms to get through his injuries on Roy’s level. Roy was convinced with some new shades and boxing gloves.

World 3

The Munchies, Mario bounces off springs, paratroopas and munchers. Inflated Ego is after that, where Mario has to stay inflated as Balloon Mario. He struggled a bit but managed through okay. He didn’t need any 1-ups. He struggled to stay inflated through since the power up was difficult to maneuver around with, but aside from powering down and shrinking, he was able to get through after just a few tries.

The Great Deku Tree, Peach, after meeting with Link, managed to procure mushrooms that turned Mario into Link temporarily to battle a little level based on one of Link’s adventures in the Deku tree. But Mario gets through without dying once. Mario had to learn how to be Link though lol.

Dinosaur Lazer Fight. Uneventful

Morton’s Milton Factory, Morton was convinced with some training equipment. Morton’s injuries were a little more severe and Luigi worried about how his brother was treating the Koopalings at this point, but they weren’t even half-way though. Morton had a bunch of bruises from Buzzy Beetle shells hitting him. Mario needed about 5 1-ups to get through this level.

World 4

I fired and I Missed. Mario had to reset this a lot, but never really died.

Release the Kraken. Somehow, even after getting eaten a bunch, Mario got through the level with only mild difficulty, even with all the obstacles.

The Rude Sandstorm, Mario used about 6 1-ups for this, as he kept getting squished between the dry bones and getting hit by the munchers. He struggled a lot with the sandstorm pushing him and getting the right traction without falling face first into a dry bones. It wasn’t a long level, but he struggled a lot. This one really fucked with his head since Peach kept insisting, he keep trying. Mario was skilled, but some of these levels were really grating on him.

Pyramid of Patience This One- This one is really grating on Mario. He needed 12 1-ups to get through it, even with patience. He was being timed after all. He struggled a lot with getting passed the skewers. They crushed him. It really got to his psyche, much to Peach’s delight. It was at this point, when Mario was starting to break down, that she told him how important he was, that once he passed these trials, nothing could stop him. That not even Luigi would get in his way. And Mario had fought at first, but as he kept dying, he wondered where Luigi was.

Luigi was being kept from the level by Toads, even if he tried to fight past them, they kept him at bay until Mario beat the level. This is the first level where Peach began to manipulate Mario.

The SS Updog, Mario was given a break before this world to get some sanity back, but he never really processed Peach’s words about Luigi not being there. Because Luigi was there as soon as Mario came to rest, giving his brother mushrooms and making sure he was safe. Using too many 1-ups messed with the brain, but Peach didn’t seem to want to end her hero’s practice, even at Luigi’s insistence.

Luigi didn’t know Peach had something up her sleeve, just thinking she wanted Mario to be extra prepared. They’d fought a lot of things over the years after all, never knew what was next.

During SS Updog, Iggy is who Mario fights, and Luigi follows to make sure Iggy gets home safely. There wasn’t too much damage, but Iggy had some nasty bruises and cuts from Mario fighting him and getting bitten by the rogue chain chomp. Iggy was convinced with some private research on minerals and materials for the Mushroom Kingdom’s mines. Mario only needed 1 1-up this level since his fight with Iggy threw him off some.

World 5

Castle Breakout, start of the cloud world where Mario had to kill all the goombas, this was really easy for Mario, no problem at all. Then was Starbomb and other than letting the sun light the bombs, it was easy for Mario to platform through. Giant Man was generally easy if not a little panic inducing, but Mario got through pretty simply, though he was a little grossed out by being “pooped” out… Why had Peach thought of that? Toilet humor for the plumber?

P is for Purgatory. Easy enough to pass through, if not hectic. He only needed 1 life shroom to pass through, struggling just past a checkpoint. Beethoven’s Bullet Symphony has Ludwig, who was bribed with some secret Mushroom Kingdom music scores that he’d been trying to sneak for years. This level really took a toll on Mario too since Ludwig, the oldest, is one of the more powerful Koopalings and there was essentially a bullet hell. Mario needed 10 1-ups to get through and Ludwig, although getting burned, was relatively okay, maybe a little concussion. Luigi cared for him though and listened to Ludwig’s ranting about the music score not being worth Mario pummeling him like that, sure his ears would ring for a day or two, keeping him from playing the symphony.

World 6

Winter Volleybrawl, Mario fell a lot but never died. It was annoying though and this also started to grate on him, even with the last levels being relatively easy. Mario was starting to get more ruthless though, Ludwig good evidence of that since he was the only koopaling so far with a concussion. Meltdown Mountain was grating too, more annoying than anything, but Mario got through on 2 life shrooms. After that was Frost n furious snowkyo drift. This one was simple too, not a problem for a skilled plumber and kart drivier. He failed a lot on the time challenge, but never died.

Following was Cursed Cavern. The music in this was designed to put Mario into a little bit of a trance. This was when Peach really dug into Mario, telling him that he shouldn’t worry about anyone but her and her kingdom. That no one else mattered like she did. That not even Luigi mattered and if anything happened to him, that Mario was to let him go.

Mario sort of fell into the mindset thanks to the music, and he was given a break while Peach whispered her corrupt words to her hero.

Wendy’s Frosty Fortress. Wendy was bribed with new materials for clothes that are exclusive to the mushroom kingdom and some new bangles. This one was a little rough on Mario, but he was getting even more ruthless, going as far as knocking Wendy out after battling her. She was frost bitten too, and Luigi had to use a fire flower to help warm her back up as much as possible without damaging her scales. Mario died about 10 times on this level, struggling with the falling platforms, icicles, and Wendy’s magic rings.

World 7

Danny’s Scream Train. Lots of repetition that was grating on Mario, very annoying for the plumber. He kept dying because he’d get pinned between Spike or a boo or a bounce platform. He also got stumped on the boxes and getting past the Magikoopas. He was getting more and more angry with each level now, annoyed with the magikoopas. He needed 5 lief shrooms.

Steel Ball Run, very annoying and he fell a lot. He also got impaled and squashed a bunch. Used about 7 1-ups. He’s skilled though. Compared to the players that play Ross’s levels, Mario is very skilled and advanced in his platforming and puzzle solving.

Hops and Dreams, frog Mario. Jumping through saw blades in low grav. He struggled at first with the frog suit, but after the first death, he easily figured it out. Only needed 1 mushroom. Painbow Road was next, and Mario kept falling, but never died. It was very irritating with the fast, tinkling music and in his subconsious was Peach telling him that he was her hero and to not worry about anyone but her. He just needed to save her, that’s what all this was about. No one would get in his way.

When Luigi came to check on Mario after this level, Mario was very dismissive of Luigi, although he still loves his brother. Mario just seemed tired and twitchy, and Luigi assumed that the trails he was facing were taking a toll on him, not knowing about Peach’s nefarious plan. He’s an innocent boi who assumes the best about his friends after all.

Lemmy’s Bouncy Buzzkill. Mario fell a lot, but only died 5 times by getting hit by the spikes and the buzzsaw between the treadmills on Lemmy’s boss battle, Lemmy didn’t really do damage to Mario besides some bruises, but Lemmy was knocked out with twice the power since he’d been given a Double Cherry. His other form disappeared, but he was knocked cold and battered thanks to being smashed between Blue dotted line blocks. Luigi made sure that Lemmy was okay. He had a broken arm that was fixed with a mushroom (thankfully it wasn’t out of place and just shattered, but it certainly hurt the youngest twin). Mario moved on without checking in with Luigi, even after seeing his brother was there to support him.

World 8

Compainion Spring Forever, brutal. Absolutely brutal. Mario had struggled with this quite a lot, getting burned by falling in the lava. Mario got through it eventually, only needing 6 life shrooms. You are the Monster really fucked with Mario because he kept having to kill Yoshi’s even if he didn’t want to.

The Monster Cage. He died a lot, needing the most life shrooms yet at 13 of them. He struggled a lot with the bosses and kept getting more and more irritated and angry by his frustration of not making it through and Peach’s harsh words about not being good enough to protect her and her kingdom.

But what about protecting Luigi? His mind had supplied. No, not important. His brother could wait until his training was done. Until Peach was safe from her own worlds.

Rubber Rush. It’s a boss rush with Larry to start. How Peach was able to bring back the Koopalings even after they were injured like that was beyond Luigi, and he trailed after Mario to collect the Koopalings, wincing at how beat up they were. Broken bones, bruises, black eyes. Luigi had to pull all the stops and bought them all ice cream and promised to try and see them soon to check up on them. Roy followed and he was hurt the least so far, only getting a mild concussion thanks to his size and digging abilities. After Roy was Morton, who’s also not so injured, but had a few burns from the piranha plants. Iggy followed and he had some bad concussions too from getting hit with the shells. Ludwig was pretty badly beaten, getting blown up. Luigi had to keep the other Koopalings back so they wouldn’t see the gashes that Luigi had to heal and patch up from the bombs exploding. Sure, Koopas were explosion resistant, but not when the floor was basically made out of bombs! Wendy also got some burns and a concussion. Lemmy thankfully didn’t get hurt at all other than a bump on his head. His room was full of donut bumpers, so it wasn’t so bad.

Junior was pretty bad for Mario with the treadmills, bombs, and shells. Junior, however, got pretty beat up. Mario was brutal, hitting Junior even after he was knocked out. Luigi had to keep the Koopalings back again so he could treat Junior without them seeing the bad bruises on their little baby brother, who was only just past being a tot. Sure, Junior is young, but he’s strong. (He was convinced with some special paints and canvas). Mario needed 17 mushrooms to get through the rush

Luigi had the kids wait outside while he checked on Mario, healing his brother, but Mario didn’t seem to acknowledge Luigi at all, bouncing on his heels. When Luigi tried to ask why Mario was being so mean, the older twin shot back that he was just trying to save Peach and sometimes people had to get hurt along the way, which was very out of character for Mario. Mario is normally a sweetheart and doesn’t let prejudices take over his opinions of people. He usually even set aside his differences with Bowser so they could be more friendly rivals during tournaments and games. Honestly, if Mario and Bowser got along somehow, they’d actually be pretty good friends since they have a lot of positive (and some negative) traits in common. Both are confident, proud, and strong but both are also stubborn and determined.

The stress of Take a Bow, Sir took its toll on Mario. It was only a Bowser shaped robot, but it was very strong and a good replica (it was actually supplied by Bowser as a substitute for his involvement. He still got the rations he was promised by Peach for it, just less than what was promised because of the compromise). Mario died 21 times on this level, getting crushed, falling into the lava, getting hit by the blasta mechakoopas or getting crushed by the bowser mech. Thankfully there were only dolls at the end getting bounced between the springboards, but it was brutal to see Peach put that in there.

Once Mario was in the infirmary to heal, Luigi asked Peach if all that was necessary and asked why Mario was so… Mean? Peach just said it was, since Mario needed to be prepared for anything, no matter how difficult. And that he was okay thanks to the life mushrooms. Luigi could only accept it at face value and after making sure Mario was getting treated, he took the Koopalings home, carrying them to Bowser’s castle.

Though the kids didn’t want to leave Luigi, a bit scared of his brother, they knew their father was worried and asked Luigi to try and visit soon, they’d deal with their father.

A few months later is when Luigi was kidnapped for ransom and the whole plot takes place.

Mario needed a total of 125 mushrooms to get through Rubber Ross World, the psychosis that came with taking that many mushrooms and dying that many times allowed Peach to manipulate him almost fully.

After a few months of the mindset settling in, seeing Luigi eased the thoughts since Mario would always love his brother, so when Mario sees Luigi later, the spell is slightly broken, though he’s still a little crazy. Only spending time away from Peach managed to snap him out of the mindset and let him realize just how paranoid and a bit psychotic Peach was to do that to him.

Mario decides to take a break from Peach once he’s back to normal, allowing her to think back and really realize her problems. She eventually apologizes, but their relationship is very rocky from then on.