The real Super Mario was the friends we made along the way.

[p1]

Who: Anyone willing to take on Mario's MAR10 challenge, laugh at those failing or just. Mingle.
When: March 10
Where: Soleil Town Square
Warnings: LETS-A GO

For some people in Soleil, they wait the whole year for March tenth. Others pull the curtains across and beg for March Eleventh to come.

Every March tenth, Mario celebrates. Because it's MAR10. He's been around long enough plenty of residents have grown up with it. Some seem to think it's an international holiday or something. Sometimes it's an absolute disaster. Like when he brings out the karts.

This year, it's relatively tame as the invitation pushed under every door in the academy explains.

Overnight, working with the same delighted energy he attacks any challenge with, Mario has constructed an assault course.

All the fresh faces of this new year have had him thinking back to his early days and the iconic course features clockwork minions, real working power-ups, actual warp pipe and musical accompaniment by a live band.

Prizes are promised for participants that complete the course- with special ones available if they beat Mario in a race.

There's also a lot of pizza, pasta, Italian coffee and gelato around.

Those with real guts and smarts may realise the invitation, if folded just the right way into the shape of a mushroom, will give directions to a second course hidden in the mountains open only after the sun goes down. There are no prizes here, aside from knowing you're one bad mama-Luigi if you can beat it.

Comments

LET'S-A-GO ! | OTA

[soft_focus]

Reira remembered once seeing a place filled with many many mushrooms- mushrooms that could be canopies and floors all alike. She doesn't really remember much beyond this however, because not long after she started walking around she saw what almost looked like a roving shell of spikes and passed out.

Thanks, sprites. But Reira follows her invitation (not the secret way of course, and that's probably for the best)- and is somewhat shocked to see that apparently one of her teachers has made...a party? But why? Why is there a party? What is so special about March 10???

someone please explain, please,

Before the start, Reira can be seen boggling at the stretch before her with wide eyes. Her four sprites- all of them- can be seen either sitting beside her or just clinging to her shoulders somehow, an array of violet, yellow, teal, and pink.

But During the course, she is doing her BEST!! "Umn!! Wind..!" she tries to insist to her teal sprite occasionally, typically before making a jump. Wind doesn't seem to really consider this a worthwhile use of power however, and typically Reira is left scrambling up the other side of the pit.

This is hard. It's hard.

She Makes it Through though- and can be seen in a chair near the foods and things (what do you mean there were prizes???), face buried in Moon as she tries to cool down from the adrenaline rush.

During

[p1]

If emotional potentcy were light and joy was warmth, Mario would be his own sun of joy today. He'll take an excuse to party any time, but MAR10 is the ultimate in self-indulgent nonsense.

"Hey! You can do it!" Mario calls to Reira from the sidelines, hopping from foot to foot and throwing an alternating fist into the air as he does. "Try it like-a this!"

He demonstrates one of his own legendary leaps a few times to illustrate the best way to clear that particular hurdle.

[soft_focus]

And what a warm sun indeed! Classes with Mario are always nice suffice to say, and even just getting encouragement at a small course like this gives something of an emotional boost. "Mnh!" She manages to pull herself up over one rock, watching Mario's legendary leaps. One fist, two fist...

"O-Okay..!" Hup! She'll do her very best to try it herself then!

Not sure how well it'll work, but she can at least hope one block at minimum like this. "W-hoo!" She's even trying the wahoos, those help right?

Open

[schemerfreak]

Day
Mal loves Mar10 day. The music isn't her thing, nor most of the food. But she loves running a clinic on Mario's assault course. A chance to stretch her wings, which are useful for both platforming and battering clockwork goombas. And her fireballs do the job on those plants.

She makes short work of the course, because 1-1 wasn't made for someone who basically has both cape and fire flower at once, and ends with a flourish spinning down the flagpole because naturally she crossed the finish line at the highest point. She tries to pretend she wasn't having a blast out there while she sips her coffee.

But just one look at her rushing the level makes it clear how much fun she was having.

Night
Of course Mal takes on the harsher course, and with the same gusto. Eyes gleaming green as she has another fun romp breaking clockwork enemies and scaling impossible platforms. This she takes her time with, mostly because she doesn't wanna start over. And while she can jump with more precision using her wings she can't, technically, fly.

As this is at night and away from the crowds she's trash talking the mechanical turtles a lot more than she was during the day. Expressing a lot more fun than even the day course got out of her. She loves a challenge.

Day

[p1]

Mal is greeted at the finish line by Mario, two cups of coffee on hand. One how he likes it and one just how she likes it. Of course, he knows what that is, he was told it once sometime.

"Mama Mia, one of these days I give you a real challenge, eh?" Holding up her coffee, a head shorter than her, Mario sips his own with a lip-smacking 'mm.' He's vocal like that. The twinkle in his eyes shows his joy that someone is getting into the spirit of the day, even if she pretends otherwise.

Jailbreak | OTA

[nor_iron_bars]

[Jail doesn't really intend to run the course, personally. But she's definitely curious, and as always up for a good time.]

[So she's found her way over to the track, and is sitting crossed-legged on the safety railing, holding an honest-to-God bowl of popcorn and casually munching on it while she watches the contestants make their way through.]

[Periodically, she calls out to them, offering dubiously useful advice. Or just amusing commentary. ...Well, she's amused, anyway. This continues with fairly little respite on both the easily-seen broad daylight course and the more hidden night one.]

[Interestingly, some of her suggestions are actually legitimately helpful ideas. While she might not have been planning to run this course, the kind of high-speed acrobatics involved falls well within her skills, as a thief used to occasionally having to cat burglar her way into (and even more risky, back out of) various secure areas.]

[If someone could talk her into trying it, she might provide a very skilled example...]

[Or you could just chuck something at her head to try and get her to shut up, that works too.]

[p1]

[ On MAR10, Mario usually ends up running the courses several times- looking to break his record, in a race, to give people hints or just because it's fun.

So, for the challenge, he starts following some of Jail's more... interesting suggestions. It starts with the simple 'do a flip' which he performs perfectly. At the peak of a jump. Physics shouldn't allow it, but even physics fear Mario.

When he lands on the edge of a floating brick, he turns to give a wink and a 'well? what next?' hand gesture. ]

OTA

[eudaimonikos]

[Obstacle courses aren't really Michael's thing. He's still growing accustomed to having a physical existence all the time - eating, walking, occasionally getting intoxicated. When it comes to a fight, he always prefers to fall back on what he knows and go intangible again. Which would make most of the course meaningless.

But there's music! There's food and entertainment! MAR10 is great!

Michael will be hanging around on the sidelines for most of the day, chowing down and yelling advice at the students on the course. In a gracious display of magnanimity, he's not heckling anyone, but his advice - mostly stuff like "JUMP HIGHER!" - is questionably helpful at best. He also seems very entertained by people falling.]

[p1]

[ MAR10 is indeed the best.

Being below most people's line of sight, Mario tends to just appear right under their noses though. ]

Hey!

[ Which is a 'hello' not a 'hey what're you doing here.' ]

You having a good time?

[ In general. Not laughing at people skinning their knees. ]

[foolishjustice]

[An obstacle course...he really can't resist a challenge like this. It fits well with his hobbies, and in a way...the setup almost seems familiar. So familiar, in fact, that he briefly forgets that he's supposed to be pretending the closest thing he has to real combat experience is suspects resisting arrest.

The way he handles the pipes, clad in a strange outfit, is almost as much scaling as it is jumping. The smooth sides don't offer much friction, but he's able to cling well enough to get a foot under himself to spring further up. When he has the high ground, he snipes at the clockwork mooks with a rune inscribed laser pistol with precise aim...despite the occasional trick shot. When he has to get up close and personal, he handles a weapon that looks oddly like a lightsaber as though he's had it for years. It seems he can't resist the urge to show off.

Of course, by the time he finishes, he's hungry. He hits the food with gusto, eating an impressive amount of both pasta and pizza even for a teenage boy. The coffee he's more careful about, drinking it slowly and with a focus that makes it evident he's taking his time to appraise it rather than just gulping it down.]

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya's been all about the obstacle course, determined to perfect his run (he almost had it last year). That means he runs it often over the course of the day, of course, but besides that he also keeps an eye on other people's attempts.

He makes a line straight to where Akechi sits to eat with his own plate of pizza, dropping is uncerimoniously on the table across from him with a wide grin.] Hey, you were great out there!

[p1]

Oh wow! It's like-a carnevale!

[ Mario is clearly very approving of the outfit- though he does hold out a large bib, with a mushroom emblematic on it. ]

But take-a care, eh? Sauce is a real pain to get outta white!

[ The bib is not the prize for completion, thankfully. ]

[playitagain]

[THAT OUTFIT THOUGH.

Nana hasn't tried the obstacle course yet -- but she's eager to see others doing so. As a result, when Akechi finishes, she is there quickly. She applauds for him; she knows Akechi a little, from a distance, as one of the other people who lives on Lumiere's third floor.

She applauds at him.]

That was great, Akechi-san! You really did well! And such a great outfit, too!

[She wants to get a picture of it.]

OTA

[hattersgonnahat]

A - Day

[Just a new up-and-comer already plowing through the course and stepping on mechanical moving mushrooms... Because that is proper way to get rid of them and no she doesn't understand it either. Either way, she was doing just fine and had no need for the power ups or pipes. Just pure jumping skill.]

[The flagpole was perhaps the hardest part. She had not really mastered the drive technique quite yet and over all felt like a leap of faith. Then there was the extra problem of getting down when she did grab the top of the pole, and a mysterious "1UP!" text appeared over head.]

[Some time later when the elusive starman was discovered Puella would opt to run the course again. Run as an unstoppable force of rainbow sparkle power? Hell frickin yes. But it would only be for that reason.]


B - Night

[Now here was a proper challenge! Actually... Actually this might be too much of a challenge. Oh geez why.]

[She kept trying though, with usually a different approach each time. Except she would just fall down a new 'pit' or touch another 'enemy'. And were those cannons too?!]

[After awhile however, the attempts went from gradually improving to regressing. Puella had allllmost perfected wall climbing but now continued to slip it up. Patience was also running thin and also might've been the leading contributor to screw ups. Not to mention frustration and fatigue - it was getting late after all. And yet, she still refused to give up.]

C - Night Night



[Whether or not Puella finally finished the course, she was beat herself. It was the second time this week the kid was pushed to a physical and mental limit, both of these things even happened within the last 3 days.]

[Hopefully there was some pizza left...or even just water. Anything to stay awake just a little longer.]

B

[p1]

Hey, paisano!

[ Which it should be noted is not an insult.

From the sidelines, Mario has started to note Puella flagging- looks like she's been stuck on the big leap for a while, the one where there's only one floating red mechanical turtle to jump on. As she's gearing up to it again, he points at the pipe and the two blocks before it, counting them off with one hand.

One. Two. Three. Use the force triple jump! ]

C

[yokeye]

[Toki had spent the entire event watching and eating. Obstacle courses were not something he was inclined to participate in, but it was fun to observe. Mario's energy seemed to infect everybody, until it was over. Now there were people looking half-dead, wandering away from the course; like this small girl who looks ready to collapse in front of him.]

Are you okay!? Do you want some coffee~!?

[Should children that young even have coffee? It doesn't matter, because that's all he has. That, and a half eaten slice of pizza already gone cold.]

[prisoneroffate]

[This is the kind of thing Joker is made for - he will aggressively and continuously attack the course - both courses, really, once he figures out the second. Employing acrobatic flips, dodges, and a number of tactics, he'll do fairly well for himself too, improving his speed with each run in an effort to optimize his performance.]

[shinetagonist]

[Guess who is filming using his phone while Ren... well, goes full HAM on Mario's extreme challenge. It's impressive. He has water for the rare moments he takes a break]

OTA

[nevernoaction]

[This might be the greatest thing Ren has read since he got to this academy. A chance to test his skills and to go against a teacher!

He kind of stares at the course for a bit, studying it. Trying to figure it out and watch other people first, since he's not sure why the band is here. But he is stretching. He might need a little encouragement to just go out and do it!]

[p1]

Nyyyyyyyyoum-

[ Why yes, said teacher just ran past with his arms outstretched making plane noises. He makes a full loop, leaning as if truly is a plane before he skids to a halt in front of Ren. ]

Hey! You gettin' ready for a run, fella?

OTA

[talkstoposters]

[Oh here we go. If there's one day that gets Bowser even grumpier than usual, it's MAR10. Why does he get a day to himself, anyway? Where's his Bowser day, where everyone punches things and eats chicken? Sheesh, no respect.

Not that any of this means he's not going to participate. Bowser can be found around the course, chowing down on the free food, even though he probably wasn't invited. He'll also be yelling advice at students and faculty alike who decide to participate. While some of what he says is legit, a few pieces are obviously meant to trip people up for a laugh. He'll also be ranting and raving, talking mad smack about Mario to anyone who will listen and especially to those who won't.

Bowser himself will participate in the course. He'll be running the course several times to beat his score. Despite his size, he's pretty quick on his feet, though he seems to be going out of his way to avoid any and all minions he encounters without eliminating them. When he finally reaches the flag, Bowser lets out a mighty roar and pounds his chest. Even gives a little pose or two.

Later on, however, there's going to be a mini-event of sorts going on. Bowser will be taking on Mario in a race through the obstacle course. He'll also have totally set out really poorly made invitations (correction, his minions will have sent out said invitations) to advertise this event.]

[p1]

[ The race may well gather quite a crowd for a very simple reason. No adult should race Mario. The kids he goes easy on, soft on them like he always is. But the faculty knows to their bones- Mario doesn't mess around with races.

Mario takes the chance to show off with his entrance. ]

Oh yeah! Its-a go time!

[ He shouts from a nearby rooftop, letting out a cheerful 'yahaaaaaa' as he launches off the ledge, sailing gracefully through the air to land on his hands. The handstand is nothing but the first move of a quick break dance routine, ending with a flip back onto his feet at the start line.

What? He's fired up! There's no one he loves beating more than Bowser! ]

The Race / Spectators / ota;

[yokeye]

[This is the event of the year so far. Mario vs Bowser. The excitement is palpable all around. Toki has made a sparkly sign to show his support for his favorite in the race. He's confident of the outcome, and will be taking bets if anyone is looking for more of a thrill than the race itself can provide. After obtaining a large pizza and some gelato, he sets his sign in a prominent place and settles in to watch the event. The sign reads simply:

★·.·´ GO BOWSER~! `·.·★

Open

[thedevilwearsgucci]

Daytime

"Hm! And here I was hoping he was going to bring out the karts again."

Some women just want to watch the world burn, it seems. Cereza wasn't about to miss this, and karts or no, he really went all out this year!

She quick changes into her battle suit (which means that she poofs into a cloud of bats and reforms nearby, leaving her day clothes behind in a pile) and ducks down into a sprinter's ready stance, in such a way that a group of teenagers standing behind her simultaneously drop their misshapen Mario ice cream bars in distraction.

"Here we go~"

She launches forward, and into the obstacle course. To give this even the thin veneer of a challenge, she only jumps ONCE each time, and doesn't fly at all. That doesn't stop her from having fun with those restrictions, however. Clockwork goombas are kicked into the stratosphere--naturally all aimed in one place for collection later. Piranha plants snap close to some VERY tender parts of her as she leaps overhead. Instead of hopping onto one of those mechanical parakoopas to gain some air, she clings to it and swings around in a quick midair embrace where you could SWEAR the thing was blushing... however, Cereza-sempai quickly launches it away from her before any pastel sparklies happen to show up. She leaps up the stairs, leaving sparks with her heels on the stone, hits the flagpole at the top and... you guessed it.

She spins. The whole. Way. Down.

Want to take some pictures? Talk to her at the espresso bar afterwards? Ask her about her relationship with the parakoopa? Challenge her to a race?

Nighttime

Cereza was a LADY, dammit. She wasn't going to turn down a special invitation like this. The directions lead into a mountain pass, and she finds the course hidden away with a smirk of amusement.

"So this is what you've been up to at night lately." She murmurs to Mario in-absentia, and slides down the sloping rock to the course below.

This one is tough, but she's tougher, and she's not holding any restrictions this time. The hammer bros. don't expect their hammers shot back at them from the mighty flick of an enormous blue set of fingers out of hell portals, do they? Probably not. And the Bloopers likely didn't expect her to turn into a snake-like sea serpent, gain tons of momentum through the water, and launch herself joyfully BACKWARDS over the half-surfaced islands before slithering through again.

But wait. There's no flagpole down there.

"...Aww." She seems disappointed. "Now I wonder where this pipe goes...?"

Late backtag, if you're down for it? :D

[nor_iron_bars]

[Jail doesn't rise from her leisurely sprawl on the side of the daylight obstacle course, but her eyes track Cereza carefully.]

[Slowly, wickedly, she smiles behind her mask. Casual and relaxed as she seems, there's an interest there. The kind that she only knows one way to satisfy:]

[Being an absolute shit.]

[When Cereza hits the night course, Jail is ready for her. As soon as she sets off, the thief follows after her, running through the obstacles just a step behind. She's not gifted with the kind of raw power that her fellow professor is using to breeze through the race, but she's incredibly quick and agile, and doesn't seem at all bound by gravity, running up vertical surfaces and on water with no strain at all.]

[Every time something seems to get close to her, it just doesn't quite manage to make it, always just a fraction out of reach, even if it means having to twist herself into poses that strain the limits of human muscle. She dodges and dives like an acrobat, flinging herself through the air with a reckless grace that makes her seem either skilled or suicidal.]

[And then, Cereza reaches the end, pauses for a moment at the pipe, and she sees her chance. She puts on a burst of speed, moving through the last few obstacles at a pace that makes her previous ridiculous gymnastics almost look slow, and-]

I'll let you know-

[-launches herself into the air and flips herself around into a dive, at an angle that lets her pass right over Cereza's head for just a single brief second, so close they could reach out and touch each other, meets her gaze and winks. With intent.]

-when I get there!

[The whole move happens in an instant, and then she's gone, the momentum of her dive carrying her past Cereza and headfirst down the pipe, to death or victory. Every single muscle in her body is going to be screaming at her for the strain she just put them through in the morning, but she's not at all sorry.]

[There's flirting, and then there's flirting.]