After staring in shock at the phantom for about a minute, Wario performed the delayed reaction of completely freaking out. He hightailed it away from the phantom as fast as he could, but the now deserted and foggy city was an endless labyrinth. Everywhere he ran looked just like where he ran from, and at each intersection, he could see the phantom standing a short distance down one of the streets, looking at him. The chase ended when Wario, panicking too much to pay attention where he was going, ran dead-on (pun intended) into the phantom and landed on his big fat butt. Glancing nervously upward at the hooded monstrosity, Wario tried to communicate with it.
"Um... Y-You're t-the G-Ghost of C-Christmas F-Future, r-right?"
The spirit made no reply except for a single nod.
"I-I'm gonna t-take that as a y-yes..."
No reply.
"H-Hey, y-you got l-laryngitis or s-something?" Wario joked, trying to lighten up the drastically dark mood, "H-Heh, I'm h-hilarious..."
No reply.
"Erm... O-Ok, l-look..." Wario began, mustering up as enough courage to stop shuttering, "I know you look really scary, but I'm sure, just like the other two spirits, you're here for my own good. I am willing to go with you where ever you're planning on taking me! So, could you at least talk to me?"
No reply.
"Alright! Fine! You can keep you're big can shut for all I care! Let's get this blasted thing over with!"
Wario and the spirit began walking, and the city soon became populated again. However, the city wasn't in a natural light. Instead the whole city seemed to be washed out like some old B-Rate horror movie. As they walked down the streets, the spirit stopped and pointed his claw-like arm, the only thing visible from under the cloak, out at a small group of business people. Wario listened in on the conversation:
"Well, all I know about it is that he's dead," said an old toad with brown spots on his mushroom head.
"When did he die?" asked a bean-shaped female in a yellow robe.
"I believe last night."
"Anyone know how the ol' scallywag died?" an old bob-omb who was wearing a sea admiral's cap questioned in a heavy British accent.
"I don't think they preformed the autopsy yet and I don't think anyone wants to either," replied the toad.
"Oh my! Did he leave a will?" a weird, purple, ghost-like lady asked.
"Not that I know of," the elderly toad answered, "Probably thought he could take it with him."
The joke was met with a chain of laughs.
"There probably won't even be a funeral," the same toad stated, "considering his complete lack of friends. Maybe we should volunteer to go?"
"If there's food," replied the ghost woman, "then again, that would probably ruin my diet."
More laughter.
"Well, I'm not really interested at all," began the toad, "I despise wearing black, and I don't eat much anyhow. However, if anyone else wants to go, I'll go. After all, he talked to me once or twice, which is as close as anyone could probably get to being a friend with him. Bye, bye!"
The group dispersed, leaving Wario clueless on what they were talking about. It certainly wasn't Waluigi that had died, since he died in the past, and this was the future. Wario couldn't think of anyone who was alive in the present that could have died in the future either. He resolved that, whenever he ran into his future self, he would listen carefully to what it said, in hopes of it revealing the identity of the deceased. However, when they went by the WarioWare building, Wario noticed that it had changed a little bit. The sign on the front of the building said "Flavio Enterprises Inc.", indicating that he had apparently closed down the business.
The spirit led Wario away from his old office and down an alleyway. On the other side was a section of the city Wario always avoided since it had a rather bad reputation. The houses were run-down, it stank of human filth, and the whole place was dirty. In fact, it was almost worse than Rogueport! The spirit led Wario farther and farther into this den of thieves and scoundrels until he led him into a sad excuse for a building that was apparently a pawn shop. Random items were sprawled across the floor, none of them having any particular use (especially the dried shrooms that made up the majority of the mess). Sitting at a desk at the far end of the room was an old, blue-skinned, guy with sunglasses and a cowboy hat.
As Wario approached the guy, the door opened and a dark, old woman entered. She was wearing a blue-stripped, pointy hat and was attached to the ground by some sort of tail, which created a round shadow as it touched the floor. She also had a huge sack over her shoulders. She had barely entered the shop when another old hag that looked like a female magikoopa who also had a huge bag stepped in, and she was quickly followed by a bed sheet ghost wearing a party hat! They all looked at each other, and the first woman was the first to speak.
"So, we all have stuff to pawn, eh?" the shadow woman asked, "Fine! Freak-in-a-Sheet can go first, the ol' witch can go second, and I'll go last since we all want to save the best for last..."
"Um..." the ghost mumbled, "My name's Doopliss, but..."
"Eh, I don't really give a darn tootin' which one of yous goes first!" the manager of the store shouted, "Just show me yer stuff already!"
The ghost took his hat off and dumped its contents on the desk. It wasn't much, just another dried shroom, a half used up pencil, and a shirt button.
"What's this load of cow dung, eh?" the manager yelled, "I can't even give you one coin for all this hogwash! Now, get!"
"Geez..." the ghost muttered as he walked out the door dejectedly, "I'm just the undertaker's assistant. I can only get what was on him in his coffin..."
"Yeah, whatever... Next!"
The old witch stepped up next and dumped out her "treasures": a pair of boots, a towel, and (ew!) a soggy pair of underwear.
"Woo wee!" the manager gagged out, "That pair of tiddey-widdies smells worse than a manure farm in Dry-Dry Desert in August! Here's ten coins if you take that blasted undergarment with you!"
The witch complied, and the shadow woman came up.
"Now, check my booty..." the woman requested.
"Only if you mean what's in this bag..." the manager shuttered as he undid the knot.
When he emptied the bag, a sudden outburst of green fabric jumped out of the sack and covered his desk. There were also a set of gold rings lining down one side of the cloth.
"What in Sam's heck..." the manager mumbled, "...Bed-curtains!?"
"Told you mine was the best," the woman repeated.
"What did ya do, steal these while he was lyin' there cold as a stone!?"
"Yeah, and his blanket, too! He's not gonna need it where he's goin'!"
The two of them laughed uproariously while Wario looked on. Terrified, Wario tuned towards the spirit who was still staring at the two scum in the pawn shop.
"S-Spirit?" Wario shuttered, "T-this guy who e-everyone is looking d-down on... I-Is it... Me?..."
Suddenly, the scene changed to a room too dark to make anything out. When Wario looked at the spirit for direction, it only pointed towards the far end of the room, where dim moonlight was cast on a bed (with no bed-curtains, naturally), and upon the bed was a body. Nervously, shaking with every step he took, Wario approached the bed. The body was covered in a white sheet, so easy to pull aside and reveal to Wario who everyone was talking so negatively about, but he couldn't get himself to do it. Instead, he turned back to the spirit.
"Look," Wario began, "I get the message, and this place is giving me the creeps. Can we leave now?"
The spirit remained silent, only pointing towards the bed.
"Yeah, yeah, I know... But I just can't. The guy's dead! I just can't mess with a dead guy's body! That's just wrong!"
Still silent, still pointing.
"Ok, look... Is there even anyone who actually can show emotion about this guy's death!?" Wario shouted.
The spirit raised its robe with its hand, like it was wing, and immediately withdrew it, revealing a well-lit room behind. A mother toad and her children were in the room, and while the children played, the mother was pacing back and forward nervously, like she was expecting someone. Eventually, that someone entered the room, revealing it to be the father. The mother approached the father and began to ask him questions.
"Well..." She asked nervously, "Is it good... Or bad?"
"It was... Interesting." He replied
"Does that mean we're ruined?"
"Not exactly..."
"You mean, he might still hire you?"
"I don't think he will hire me... Since he's dead."
The mother gasped, with a panicked look on her face.
"Turns out the secretary was right the last time I tried to get the job," the father continued, "I thought he told her to tell me that to try and avoid me. Now I see that that was true: Not only was he very ill, now he's dead!"
"But how will you get a job now!? What about the children?..."
"Relax, dear. Another man had already brought the company when I went for the job interview! Not only that, he hired me! And he's giving me twice of what I would get as a salary if I had joined the other man's business!"
The mother hugged the father in joy of his sudden employment opportunity, and even the kids who were listening in started celebrating, even though they had no clue what their parents were talking about. It seemed like the only emotion caused by this man's death that the spirit could show Wario was one of happiness.
"Uh... Ok..." Wario grumbled, "Let me rephrase that: Is there anyone who is UPSET over someone dying!?"
The spirit, seeming to take advantage of Wario's lack of specification on who died that one was upset over, led him out of the room and back into the city streets. After a short walk, the spirit showed Wario towards a church cemetery. Makes sense, since one usually grieves for another's death at a cemetery. What shocked Wario, however, was who it was that was doing the grieving.
Mario was looking over one of the headstones in the cemetery, with Peach and Baby Luigi standing a little distance behind him. In Mario's hands was the small cap that his son, Baby Mario, had worn. Silently, Mario kneeled on the ground and placed the cap on top of the headstone. He looked at the headstone for a moment, with tears building up in his eyes, before saying one final goodbye to his son.
"At least you are finally with the one who can make you well." Mario whispered.
That was all Mario said. He got up, took his wife by the hand, and the three remaining members of the family slowly walked out of the cemetery.
"Spirit..." Wario sobbed, finally realizing the error of his ways, "Please tell me that this is just a 'shadow' of the future, like how Pasty showed me only 'shadows' of the past! You gotta tell me that this can be prevented! You gotta..."
Wario was interrupted by someone else in the cemetery who began yelling.
"Hey, this is one heck of a funeral, huh!?"
Wario turned and noticed that two koopa troopas were digging a fresh grave. One had a green shell, the other a red.
"Yeah, tell me about it!" the one with the red shell replied, "I've thrown parties that were considered duds before, but I woulda never thought that a funeral could be a dud! I mean, no mourners!? What kinda funeral is this, anyway!? How about we take a break and have a little snack, eh? He ain't gettin' any deader!"
The two koopa troopas dug their shovels into the ground and walked off. Wario, figuring that this was probably the grave of the ever-so-popular dead guy everyone was talking about, walked up to it, with the spirit right behind him, and looked at the coffin six feet below.
"Hey, uh, spirit..." Wario mumbled, "Who is this dead guy, anyway?"
Suddenly, a fireball blasted past Wario and into the grave, setting the coffin on fire. With the light from the now blazing coffin, Wario could easily read the headstone, which had his name carved into it. Franticly looking back at the spirit, Wario saw that it had taken its hood off to reveal the horrifying face of one really big mutant turtle... with horns... and fire red hair...
"Why, it's yours, Wario..." the spirit began, before suddenly kicking Wario off the ledge and into the grave, "THE RICHEST MAN IN THE CEMETERY!!!"
Wario landed in the coffin and it slammed shut. Wario tried to open it, but despite the fact that the wood the coffin was made out of looked rotted (and that it was now on fire), it refused to open. Looking through the cracks in the top, he could see the spirit pick up one of the shovels the koopa troopas left and begin burying him alive!
"WAIT! SPIRIT!" Wario screamed, pounding on the coffin door, "DON'T DO THIS TO ME!"
The spirit only laughed evilly, continuing to shovel dirt down the hole. Soon, dirt was getting inside the coffin, some of it falling in Wario's mouth, but that wasn't the worst of it. The coffin was still on fire, and the fire was spreading onto Wario's clothes!
"SPIRIT! STOP!" Wario continued to yell, "YOU WIN! I'LL CHANGE! I'LL CHANGE!!!"
As if those words were magic, the whole scene suddenly altered drastically. The coffin shriveled up and, instead of banging on a coffin door, Wario was now punching his bed sheets into the air.