Author's Note: In this fanfiction, Dark Matter Swordsmen will be referred to as Dark Matter Businessmen.
*Chapter Two*
Grill's Diner
Taranza stared at his digital watch yet again. It was about to be 12:00 PM. He was now sitting down in a spinning brown leather chair, which was the only decoration in his new, vacant cubicle. However, it wasn't going to be empty for long.
Unfortunately for Taranza, his cubicle was right next to Marx's. This meant that Marx could easily sneak up on him. And he was sneaking up on Taranza, all right.
Marx silently tiptoed on the worn-out carpet to Taranza's cubicle. He had a jar of chunky peanut butter and a metal tablespoon in his mouth; you could tell that he had bad intentions.
Marx leaped to the edge on one of the sides of Taranza's white desk. He walked a few baby steps, and then he gently put down the jar of peanut butter. He inserted the spoon into it. He took it out, and he then cautiously put the tablespoon of peanut butter on Taranza. He repeated this process twice, and afterwards, he ran out of the cubicle as briskly and silently as he could.
Taranza didn't even notice the events that just happened; he was browsing the Internet on his cellphone. That all changed when a large blob of peanut butter decided to fall down, and it landed right on his cellphone.
He shouted, "Where did that peanut butter come from?!"
He scanned the ceiling for anything suspicious, but much to his disappointment, he didn't find anything. He searched his cubicle for a certain someone, but he didn't find him, either.
Suddenly, a low-pitched voice stated, "Sir, you have two large gobs of peanut butter on your forehead. You know that cleanliness is important in this office, right?"
Taranza glanced over his shoulder, only to spot an unknown worker. He had black skin and a red eye. He wore a white cape and a red tie, and the spikes on the top of his head were neatly combed back. He still appeared a little bit off-putting with his single, slightly intimidating eye, but he was nowhere near as strange as Zero Two.
Taranza shot a puzzled look at the stranger. "Do I?"
"Yes, you do, sir." He then took out a black pocket mirror and held it up to his face.
Taranza was rather irritated at what he saw in his reflection. Two blobs of peanut butter were slowly falling off his forehead, and he was pretty sure he knew who put peanut butter on his head. He grabbed a wet wipe from his desk and wiped the gobs off.
"Marx, you're in trouble now!" Taranza yelled.
Then, he said to the stranger, "Thank you for noticing the peanut butter. Who, or what, are you, anyways?"
"You're welcome, sir. My name is Albert, and they call me a Dark Matter Businessman. What is your name?"
"Taranza, sir."
Albert replied, "Interesting. I wish that I could chat a little longer, but I don't have the time. It was nice to meet you."
"You too."
Taranza waved his new-found acquaintance goodbye, and with that, he went to Marx's cubicle to chew him out. As it turns out, he was sitting on a blue cloth chair, and he was looking at the entrance of the cubicle, almost as if he was expecting for Taranza to walk in.
He shot a raging glare at him. "Marx!" Taranza yelled. "What was the point of you putting peanut butter on my forehead?"
Marx gave him a smirk. "Well, duh! I wanted to remind you that it's time for the daily lunch break. Speaking of that, I'm pretty hungry."
"I'm starving as well, but couldn't you just tell me that it was time for lunch?"
He stared at Taranza with a 'Are you stupid?' expression and said, "I was telling you that, but just in my style."
"Suuure." The word was dripping with sarcasm.
Marx then changed the subject, and rather abruptly at that. "I'm really starving now. Can we go eat?"
"Where do you want to go?"
"It's a surprise."
Taranza let out a sigh. "It better be good."
Marx smiled and said, "Oh, it'll be amazing. Could you follow me there?"
"I'll follow you; I don't know where this place is, after all."
Marx began to walk briskly alongside the rows of cubicles, and Taranza followed suit. The new employee wished he could be without Marx for at least the lunch break, but Zero Two came by his cubicle and informed him that he had to supervise Marx for his whole shift, even during lunch.
'I can tell that Marx is going to be quite the hassle,' thought Taranza.
The two employees were now in the elevator. Taranza was admiring the view of the massive skyscrapers and the artistic buildings that were in his line of sight. However, he couldn't enjoy the view for too long, as Marx broke the silence in the elevator with his voice.
Marx begged, "Taranza, will you carry me?"
The other employee sighed and replied, "You're a grown-up man, Marx. I'm pretty sure that you can walk by yourself."
But Marx wasn't giving up yet. "Please?"
"Nope."
"Pretty please?"
"No."
"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"
"No, Marx. How many times do I have to tell you this?"
Marx leaned against him and whined, "Taranzaaaa..."
Taranza let out a sigh, and he rolls his eyes. He then realized that they were in the lobby, and the elevator door was about to close on the two. He swiftly pressed the button that kept the door open, and both of the employees ran out of the elevator.
Taranza said, "Well, that was a close one."
Marx replied, "It sure was."
The duo stood behind the crosswalk that led to the other side of the street. The herds of traffic had lessened by this point of the day. The now-warm air had greeted Taranza, and he happily greeted the air back, as he loved warm weather.
While they were waiting for the cars to stop driving past the crosswalk, Taranza decided to look at the buildings that were across from him. The ones that were the massive towers and the ones that were works of art stared at him, but he didn't stare back. Instead, he observed a fairly compact one-story building that was directly across from him.
The building had a cream color that was splashed against its external walls. It was made of bricks, which surprised Taranza a little bit. Near the top of the front wall, there were two big, purple words that read 'Grill's Diner'. Under it, there were smaller words that said 'Home of the famous Star Stacker and Super Star Stacker'. The words were written in bright red.
'It's quite the misfit of the street,' thought Taranza. 'But that's why I love this building so much.'
Then, Marx shouted, "Taranza! The crosswalk's empty!"
"Oh, sorry!"
The two bolted across the street, and they were breathing quickly once they got to the other side.
Taranza pointed at Grill's Diner and asked, "Are we eating there?"
Marx gave him an impressed look. "How'd you know?"
The other employee simply shrugged as they stepped inside of the building. The floor of the interior was a series of yellow and white tiles; the yellow ones had a star that was drawn in the center of them. The wall wore a purple wallpaper that was adorned with green stars, and the seats were a vivid red. Every square inch of the interior possessed an aroma that smelled of fresh cheeseburgers, which gave Taranza an inviting break from the sanitizer scent that was in the office building.
The thing that shocked Taranza the most was not the interior, but rather the person that was standing inside. The person was a walking, talking onion that donned a long, striped purple-and-yellow hat with a yellow block on the end and red shoes that matched the seats of the restaurant. A green tuft of hair was sticking out of the hat, and the onion had two red lines on each cheek. However, the most noticeable thing about the stranger was her eager blue eyes, and the eyes were looking straight at the two employees.
The onion enthusiastically greeted, "Hiya, Marx! How are ya?"
Marx replied, "Doing good, Grill!"
Grill then pointed to Taranza and asked, "What's ya name, Mister Spider?"
He answered, "My name's Taranza, ma'am. I'm pleased to meet you!"
"Nice to meet ya too! My name's Grill."
"Could you take us to our seat, Grill?"
Grill smiled and said, "Sure."
She took Marx and Taranza to the seats. The two sat on the seats, and they were glad that they were off their feet. Grill brought out two menus and laid them down on the table.
Grill said, "Tell me when you're ready."
Marx decided on his order almost instantly-which was a Triple Deluxe cheeseburger-while Taranza was scanning the menu for food that wasn't a cheeseburger, hot dog, or a breakfast item. He could really focus on the menu because Marx was keeping his mouth shut for once, and the diner was vacant, save for a family of four. Taranza eventually decided on the Dreamstalk salad, for it was the only thing that sounded appetizing to him.
Marx impatiently huffed, "Have you decided yet, you slowpoke?"
He responded, "Yes, I have."
After they ordered their meals and two cans of Popster's soda, the two relaxed in their seats.
Taranza said, "You know, Dream City is a ton louder than where I live."
Marx rolled his eyes and replied, "Well, duh! This city is the capital of Popstar, also known as the planet that we live in! Did you think that the city was going to be quiet?"
"I know that. I was just pointing out that fact, for I live in a suburb by the city."
"Oh, okay."
After that 30-second long conversation, there wasn't much chitchat from either of the employees. Once their meals came out, they scarfed the food down, for the lunch break was almost over with.
As the two got out of their seats and waved goodbye to Grill, Taranza thought, 'This was fun, but it's time to get back to work.'
