It was pouring, and he hated it. It had been sunny the entire day, why did it have to rain now? Lightning flashed overhead, and he groaned. The pavement was a dull grey, with patches of grass drowning in the showers. This street was mostly hedges, with the odd fence or houses scattered here and there. A lonely light post flickered weakly overhead, slapped by trees which were automated by the freezing, howling wind. This would not do.

The boy, for that was what he was, grumbled inside his head. Every second step seemed to lead to another puddle, soaking his sneakers even more. But his sneakers could withstand some water. It was his cargo that couldn't. Hundreds of dollars worth of gaming equipment, headphones, and games, all of which could be destroyed beyond repair with the slightest drop of water. Luckily, he had been lent a waterproof bag, but the bag was a slight too small, and he had to carry one of his precious games, wrapping it in his coat as best he could.

Saying Mat Doreninino was annoyed was an understatement. He wanted to get over to Louis' house ASAP. They had been planning this massive sleepover for weeks. Louis' was to rent a movie, Mat was to bring his gaming equipment, and they were both to have a bunch of fun with Louis' big screen. However, his house was still 3 blocks away, and the chance that he would arrive with all of his equipment intact was small. He examined the game in his hand.

"Warioware: Smooth moves" he whispered to himself, making sure no water got on the casing. He had bought it a day earlier. He also had Game & Wario and Touched, not to mention beaten them, but he hadn't played this one. But from the reviews, it seemed really good. Plus it was a freaking Warioware game. Of course it would be good. Warioware, besides Pikmin, was Mat's favorite series. The gameplay style was absolutely amazing and ingenious, not to mention the characters, who were easily one of his favorite parts about the game.

Suddenly, the sky was illuminated in a brilliant flash of light. A lightning bolt, as if called from the heavens, shone down and struck Mat's hand. The game in it became oddly distorted, and vortexed inwards, forcing the wind through it. Mat tried to yell out, but colors merged with each other like a psychedelic whirlpool, and he blacked out, leaving not a trace that he was there in the first place.

Diamond city was bustling. As part of the mushroom kingdom, some say that it is outshone by the magnificence of the princess's castle and that surrounding it. However, others argue that the city stands out as a landmark of it's own and should be praised more. Whatever the case, it was obvious which one was more populated. Most of the Warioware programmers were not extremely busy on this particular afternoon. Wario was being his lazy self, Mona was trying out for a new cheerleading career, Young Cricket was practising a new stance Master Mantis had learnt on his trips, called something like "Carmy Harmy Har" and most of them were doing equally average things. Most.

Over at the Volt household, a couple of people were getting psyched. Another was getting ready for a bunch of organising. Now, don't get me wrong, the Volts were rarely quiet. And this was no exception. But the excitement, at least for two of the house's occupants, was a record high. The reason? It was the day after E3 2004, and they had released many new games, including the first 4-player Mario game, which they were giving away to all attendees for free! Also, 9-Volt, who was attending E3 as "Nintendo's biggest fan" got his helmet personally signed by Miya-freaking-moto himself! So, 9-Volt was arranging a sleepover with his ninja friends, Kat and Ana, and his best friend 18-Volt. 9-Volt had even cleaned his room. So you know he wanted this sleepover badly.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't care what 9-Volt's canon age is. He is 10 and so are Kat and Ana in this story. Ana is 4 months younger than Kat. Also the ninjas are orphans. Back to the story!

"Did you ask your Sensei?" 9-Volt asked Ana over the phone, his helmet visor showing an approximate representation of the person on the other side.

"Umm, yeah! He was fine with it, seeing as we passed our annual Ninja exams so well!" his friend replied happily from the other side of the phone. 9-Volt grinned.

"Alright! Guess I'll see you in, say, one hour?" he asked, and upon getting a positive response from the young ninja, hung up. He turned back towards the living room. The couch was comfy and adorned with pillows, the light was adjusted high enough for good visibility, but not so that it would hurt the eyes. In the corner was the Disco Dance Revolution machine that Jimmy T had lent him, and 5-Volt was just finishing hooking up the cool Synthetician keyboard that she had bought to the living room television. All the stuff was ready.

An hour later, the doorbell rang. 5-Volt opened it to see the two young ninjas smiling on the doorstep, carrying bags of ninja equipment, snacks, and other generic sleepover items.

"Hello girls!" she greeted them, offering a plate of cookies.

"Hello!" they replied, taking a cookie each and thanking her before walking inside. Inside were 9-Volt and 18-Volt, who greeted them.

"Hi Kat! Hi Ana! How you doing?" he asked, as his mom took their bags and put them next to their respective inflatable mattresses.

"I'm good." smiled Kat. Ana was hyped up visually. "Can we show you what we learned?"

"After a bit of gaming of course." added Ana, not wanting 9-Volt to think that they were only interested in Ninja arts. Nevertheless, 9-Volt smiled and agreed.

Two hours later, after extensive playing of the four-player mario game and Kat and Ana showing the other two some Ninja skills and telling them about a ninja technique called the Sherry-gan eye, it was nearly dinner. 5-Volt was ordering a Pizza, her treat, and the other four were hungry, especially the two ninjas. Apparently using the doppelganger art was quite draining. Suddenly, 5-Volt, being the protective mother, heard something like a sneeze from outside. She put the phone down and opened the door, finding a 13 year old boy sitting on the lawn. His hair was red and spiky, but was heavily dampered by the rain. He was holding a waterproof bag, and shivering massively. She tried to approach him, but he went as white as a sheet, as if he had seen something strange in the neighborhood.

Or something that he shouldn't be seeing.

Chapter 1 finished! Yeyah!

Then again, probably no one will read it.

But, if you are reading it, stay tuned! Chapter 2 coming soon!

Also, there are 10 references in this chapter, try to find them all!

Bye!

-TF