And now, it's time for Danny to meet the WarioWare cast members. I should say, however, that the latest game I've played in this series is Smooth Moves. So if there's a character that appears in later games, you won't find them here, with the exception of 5-Volt. However, I'm excluding Penny, and you'll find out why later.
Chapter Four.
First day on both jobs, part one.
Danny walked through the doors of WarioWare Inc., straightening his necktie. Mona hadn't given him a rundown of the dress code, so he figured he'd do business casual; a blue dress shirt with black tie, black slacks and belt, and black dress shoes. It was funny, he figured he'd be struggling to find work, but he hadn't tried. He figured it would be pointless to get a job if he didn't have a way to get there, so he'd wait until he had his driver's license. But now that he could fly, he saw little point in getting it. And now, this job had just fallen into his lap.
The foyer of the building was rather large, with tiled floors and a relatively high ceiling. There were four halls, two against the back wall, and one on either side of him, across from each other with the front door in between. Mona had said to meet her in the developer's room, but she'd never specified where that was.
"Aw man!" Cried a voice, sounding like that of a child, "It got stuck!" He looked in the direction, to see two young girls, one standing on the other's shoulders, standing in front of a vending machine. The one on the bottom wore a blue shirt, purple shorts, purple socks, with blue shoes, purple fingerless gloves, and a purple bandana around her neck. Her hair was pink and a good-sized lock of it stood straight up.
The girl on her shoulders had the exact same outfit, but with inverted colors, and her own hair was orange, with two smaller locks of it standing up on either side, near her temples, almost looking like horns. Both girls were fairly chubby, their pudgy stomachs contained, but not hidden, in their shirts. And both had swords on their backs, but Danny wasn't sure if they were just toys or were real weapons.
"I told you that was gonna happen, Ana." Said the one on the bottom.
"I know," whined the one on top, assumingly Ana, "but I really wanted that chocolate milk today, Kat."
"Sorry," said Kat, "you can ask Sensei for some when we get home."
"Awww." Whined Ana. Then she jumped off of Kat's shoulders. Both were the exact same height without the hair, but Kat's pointed strand of hair gave her the advantage. The two began to walk off. Danny walked to the vending machine. The chocolate milk was indeed stuck, but he figured a good shake would knock it loose. He placed his hands on either side of the machine and gave it a hearty shake to the left, followed by a shimmy to the right.
Success, Ana's desired Chocolate milk came free, falling to the bottom. Danny reset the machine to its regular position, reached his hand in, and grabbed the child friendly beverage. He looked to see Kat and Ana were still walking down the hall. Danny started to walk after them, but figured it'd be quicker to hover. So, he lifted himself just a few inches into the air, and hovered towards the girls. When he got close, he called out.
"Excuse me." he said to the orange haired one. She turned around, just in time to see Danny hold the drink out to her.
"Yay!" She cried, taking the drink, "Thank you! You're so nice!" Ana looked at him, but her gaze was averted to his feet. "Woah!" She cried, going prone and rubbing the ground under Danny's feet, checking for something holding him up. "Kat, are you seeing this? How are you doing that?"
"It's just a power that I have." Said Danny. Kat gave him a look.
"I know you," she said, in a tone the floating teen wasn't sure was good, "you're that superhero."
"That's me, I guess." He replied.
"Don't act all high and mighty just because you have superpowers!" Asserted the girl, "You may be powerful, but Ana and I could beat you easily, so don't do bad things, or we'll get you!"
"I...wasn't planning to." Said Danny, rubbing the back of his head. He looked down; Ana was still gawking at him.
"Good!" Said Kat, almost condescendingly, "keep it that way." Ana seemed to snap out of her trance.
"Be nice, Kat." She said, "He hasn't done anything bad!"
"Not yet he hasn't." Kat grabbed Ana's hand and the two began to take their leave.
"By the way," said Danny, "I'm looking for the development room. Could you tell me where that is?"
"Nah," said Kat without turning around or stopping, "let's see if direction is one of your superpowers." The last Danny heard from the two was Ana saying,
"Kat! That was so mean! I'm telling Sensei when we get home!"
"Whatever." Danny said when they were out of earshot, with a shake of his head. He turned around, only to realize he'd bumped into somebody. They were wearing a blue boiler suit, and a green hat with a D on it, holes in the top for his dog ears to protrude through, and was about as tall as Danny. He appeared to be a dog of some sort, with fangs protruding from above the lower lip, the one on the left much bigger than the right.
"Whoops." Said Danny, offering his hand, "sorry about that."
"Stuff happens," said the dog in a passive voice, covered by a Brooklyn accent, grabbing Danny's hand, and the young teen pulled him to his feet. "I saw yer exchange with Kat and Ana. Don't worry 'bout Kat. She just has a hard time warmin' up to strangers, especially the super powered kind."
"Not that she knows many super powered beings, you understand." Came another voice. Danny looked around, then his peripheral vision caught something. A small yellow cat, about up to the Dog's knee. He wore a similar blue jumpsuit and had green goggles on his head, a red nose, and a white snout. "But think of it this way. You can fly, shoot lasers out of your eyes and hands, and lift a car over your head as easily as she could break a toothpick. Though you've shown yourself to be a hero, you could also be a threat if you decided to turn bad; the idea of someone hurting her sister, especially someone who'd be difficult to take down on a good day, doesn't sit well with Kat." Danny nodded in understanding.
"But again, don't worry." Said the dog, clapping Danny on the shoulder, "Just be a good guy like you are, and she'll come around eventually."
"Thanks," said Danny, "what are your names by the way?"
"I'm Dribble," said the Dog, then he gestured to the cat, "And this is my buddy Spitz. Alongside this gig, we also run a taxi service here around Diamond City."
"We've been workin' on a motto," Spitz chimed in, "Something like 'We get you where you're going in thirty minutes or less, or you don't pay.' What do ya think?"
"Kind of a strict deadline, don't you think?" Danny offered, "And in heavy traffic, I'd imagine you kiss the fare goodbye. Also, it's a bit choppy. I'd say something like 'a fair fare from here to there.' That's just me though."
"Nah," said Dribble, "we have ways of getting people where they gotta go fast."
"Well it's your cab," said Danny, "do what you want. By the way, can you tell me where the development room is? Mona's waiting for me."
"I thought she might have something to do with you getting hired." Mused Spitz, before Dribble answered his initial question.
"Just go up the elevator behind me, go to the tenth floor, turn left and it's on the right."
"Thanks." Said Danny, before leaving the conversation. He began to head in the direction Dribble had mentioned, but on the way, he saw a man walking towards him. He wore a red jacket with no shirt under it, white pants with a white belt and wide cuffs at the bottom, and black pointed shoes. But these were not his most striking feature. He had a long moustache, rounded at the ends, he wore glasses, a large red nose, and had a large blue afro on his head.
"Yo," he greeted Danny, "Name's Jimmy T. You must be new here."
"Yeah," said Danny, "just started today."
"Groovy." Said Jimmy, "Welcome aboard. If you ever wanna get your groove on, ya just come find me. Oh, and I should mention…" Jimmy leaned in a bit closer, "there's someone who looks just like me, just with different colors, and more tanned. He ain't me, don't let Mr. Wario tell ya any different." Then, without another word, Jimmy began to wander off to parts unknown. Danny finally made his way to the elevator and pressed the call button. He could hear the elevator coming down to him, and when the doors opened, he realized why Jimmy had given his warning. There in the elevator stood a man who was the spitting image of Jimmy, with a few notable exceptions. A yellow afro instead of a blue one, more tanned skin, blue jacket instead of red, and a pinker nose. Other than that, they were basically identical.
"Hey," said the man, his voice just a touch deeper than Jimmy's. "Watch out for my lookalike, he's not me despite what the bossman says."
"I ran into him just a bit ago." Said Danny.
"Oh good," he said, "so you already know. Name's Jimmy P by the way."
"Wow, same name too. I can see the confusion."
"Yep." Said Jimmy P with a nod. "Well I'm clocked out so I'll catch ya on the flipside, Mr. Superhero." Before Danny could say what his name really was, Jimmy P walked by him and was gone. Danny shrugged, got on the elevator, and pressed the button for floor ten. As the doors parted, he saw someone sitting at a table, eating a sandwich. He thought he saw a purple tentacle stick out for a moment before it was eaten, but couldn't be sure. He walked over to the person. She was wearing what looked like a red dress with an orange ascot on her neck, the hem of the dress the same color, with red shoes. There seemed to be an orange skull on the ascot, and her hair was black and long, with a large spikey orange headband, almost looking like a pseudo crown, and done in large pigtails. Her most striking feature, however, were her red eyes.
"Hey," Danny greeted her. The person didn't look up at him, and kept eating her sandwich.
"Hey, mortal." She said between bites. Danny could have sworn he'd heard that monotone, apathetic voice before, but wasn't sure.
"I guess you work here." Danny went on.
"Really? What gives you that idea?" The sarcasm was very palpable in her voice.
"What's your name, then?"
"Ashley. You're gonna bow down to me at some point, so enjoy your freedom while you have it."
"Huh… Okay then." Danny walked off. Now it was Ashley's turn to think she'd met him before, and just as she realized it, they were in each other's faces.
"YOU!" They both said in unison.
"You're the witch who kidnapped me and...and...gave me superpowers!"
"You're the lamebrain who was supposed to be my ingredient!"
"Better to be a superhero than an ingredient!"
"You sure about that?" asked Ashley, dropping her sandwich and standing up. But before they could take to fighting, a voice came from down the hall.
"Stop it, stop it!" said the voice, sounding like a mother scolding her feuding children. Then she came into view. She was a head shorter than Danny, wearing a red jacket under a yellow apron. Her feet bore red shoes, her hair brown with large bangs, yellow hairbands on strands adjacent to her eyes. Her eyes were brown, and she gave the appearance of a mother for some reason. And just as she finished saying her words, Danny felt oddly docile, his will to fight with Ashley gone.
"There." Said the woman, "that's better." She directed her attention to Danny, "Hey, I know you. You're the local superhero!"
"Yep," said Danny, though still wasn't used to being addressed as a superhero, "that's me."
"My son was just dazzled by your performance taking out those terrorists. He said it was like a living video game, and he loves his video games. Just like his mother, that boy. And now you work here. Oh, he's gonna flip out. He'll be the boy in the massive gaudy helmet. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should find said son and make sure he's doing his job around here, or his homework." She started to walk away, but then stopped, "And by the way, my name is 5-Volt." Then for real, the woman walked off to parts unknown. Danny had forgotten where the development room was, but had a sneaking suspicion Ashley wasn't going to be any help. So, he simply started walking in the direction 5-Volt had gone.
Not even twenty steps later, a figure began to approach Danny, he was tall, about as tall as he was, wearing a blue karate Gi and sporting a mop of black hair. He seemed to be doing back handsprings down the hall, before flipping, spinning, and landing in the superhero pose in front of Danny. He stood, just as a much older, much shorter man, in a purple robe and a foundation of short grey hair, before coming up in a grey braid, and what looked like grey headphones of hair on his ears walked up next to him.
"Master," The one in blue spoke, "is this that Superhero everyone's talking about?" The shorter, older man said nothing, simply nodding. "I heard he shrugged off bullets and took down that Wrecking Crew guy easily. He'd make a worthy adversary." Danny got a bit uneasy. Was this guy soliciting a fight? Danny was sure he'd win, but he didn't want to get fired over starting a fight with one of his coworkers...at least on the first day. But the short master shook his head. "You're right." Said the one in blue, "I cannot fight an ally." The man stood and came closer to Danny, "My name is Young Cricket, and this is my master, Master Mantis." Cricket took a step back, doing a few karate moves, some punches and kicks. One of the punches accidentally connected with Danny's chest. Cricket jerked back a bit, rubbing his knuckle. "Well, in any case, it would be an honor to fight alongside you."
"Perhaps later." Said Danny. "By chance, do you know where the development room is?"
"Certainly," said Cricket. "Just keep going down this hall, and it's about ten doors down on the right."
"Thanks." Said Danny. However, before he could get going, he heard something in a room a few doors up.
"Aw man!" The voice sounded like that of a kid. Then another voice.
"Now you've done it. How do you plan to get those out?" This one sounded deeper yet still had some sort of juvenility to it. Danny ventured into what seemed to be a break room, with some tables, counters and cabinets, and a vending machine as well, to see what the matter was. Inside were two people. One of them was on the ground, trying to look under the vending machine. He was about up to Danny's knee in stature, with a massive helmet with lights on the temples. He wore a red shirt, green pants, and red gloves and shoes. The other person was much taller, about Danny's height. He was a bulky fellow in a green jogging suit, with brown hair standing up like a tree on top of his head, shades with red and green lenses, and green and white shoes. His hands were massive, like two large slabs of meat hanging down from his arms.
"I can't just leave these here!" Said the kid in the helmet, "These are some of my favorites. And mom won't buy them again if I lose them."
"If only we had someone who could lift that machine." Said the other one.
"Maybe I can be of assistance." Danny spoke up. Both turned to look at him, and the smaller kid's eyes lit up at the sight of Danny.
"You're that superhero!" The kid squealed. "I loved how you took down those terrorists. It's like you live a video game!" The kid calmed down, then realized something. "Hey, do you think you could lift this vending machine for me?"
"I could take a stab, sure." Danny walked over towards it, and the two moved out of the way. Danny grabbed the sides of the vending machine and lifted it effortlessly.
"Yeah!" The kid cried, sliding under and grabbing his prized games, then getting clear for Danny to put the machine back down. "You really ARE a superhero!" Danny set the vending machine down when the kid was out from under it. "My name's 9-Volt." Said the kid, then gestured over to the larger fellow, "and this is 18-Volt."
"Word." Said the larger fellow. Danny nodded. 9-Volt sat down on one of the chairs at the table,
"Now, time to finish this darn level," he said, taking out a 2DS XL and turning it on. But before he could even get past the main menu, 5-Volt poked her head into the room.
"9-VOLT!" She snapped, "DO YOUR HOMEWORK!" 9-Volt began to grumble. Danny walked back out of the room and was just about to reach the development room, when suddenly, two figures walked out of it. Both were very short, the first having blue metal encasing the upper half of his head. There was a visor where his eyes would be, a red dot probably acting as the eye itself. He had a large red nose and what looked like two hairy boomerangs serving as a mustache. He wore a white onesie with a grey stripe going down the middle. His arms has the same blue metal and he wore blue boots. His companion was a robot. He had silver metal for skin, a large jaw, with red eyes and two microphones protruding from his head.
"Amazing!" shouted the man in yellow, "the Superhero?! In my presence?! This is a day to remember!"
"Ugh," said the robot, "chill toilet brain."
"Silence, Mike!" Said the man, then focused his attention on Danny, "Young man, I would love the opportunity to study you, and see if I may aid you or your powers."
"Um…" Said Danny, caught off guard, "perhaps later…?"
"Of course," said the man. "I am Doctor Crygor, and this is my Karaoke and cleaning robot, Mike."
"Hey, flying human." Said Mike, "good show saving the city and all, just try not to go crazy and do karaoke."
"Noted." Said Danny, though wasn't sure that was the best reply to the statement.
"If you'll excuse us, superhero." Said Dr. Crygor, "We should be getting back to the lab." The two walked by Danny and out of sight. Danny finally entered the development room, and realized that for the second time, he'd bumped into somebody. He looked to see an alien with a white body, black cape, and a bowling pin shaped head with massive black glasses, at least his upper half, sticking out of a pig themed UFo. It was ovular, with yellow eyes, snout, and moth of the pig, the rest of the pigs body, ears, and feet being pink. The impact had knocked the alien back a bit, swaying in his space.
"Sorry about that," said Danny.
"No harm done, as you humans say." Said the alien, steadying himself. "My name is Orbulon, and I find it fascinating how a human can learn to fly. Sadly I have no time to talk, I must get some mega burgers, hopefully they're not sold out this time." Then Orbulon floated away. Danny looked and finally saw her.
"You made it, Dan." Said Mona. Then she saw his attire, "Oh I totally spaced it. There's no real dress code, just wear clothes."
"Would've been nice to know that ahead of time." Said Danny, walking over to Mona and sitting in the chair next to her.
"My bad." Said Mona, then turned on the computer in front of Danny, "so let me walk you through how we make micro games here. Oh, but you need a theme. What theme do you want?" Danny thought for a minute, before blurting out,
"Superhero, I guess?"
"Good idea," said Mona, "now, here's how we do it." She guided him through a series of menus and interesting screens. She taught him that he'd either have to use premade assets, or make his own. Danny wasn't sure he could do that part well, since he wasn't a keen artist. After she'd set him up to make his first game, his nose caught a whiff of something awful. He looked up, and there he was. He was a shorter, fatter man, wearing a blue shirt under a ripped jean jacket, with pink pants and blue shoes, with yellow finger-less gloves on his grubby hands. He had a yellow, brown, and red helmet with a blue W on it with goggles, and a large pink nose with a wavy mustache. It was the man himself, Wario.
"Who's this bozo, Mona?" Asked the fat man assertively,
"This is your new employee," said Mona, "Diamond City's Superhero, Danny."
"Superhero?!" Asked Wario, before his eyes filled with dollar bill signs, "Perfect, that'll rake in the cash no problem!"
"Speaking of," said Danny, "how much does this job pay?"
"Pay?" asked Wario, before bursting out laughing. He was laughing so hard he fell to the floor, like Danny had just told him the funniest joke he'd ever heard, "Oh, that's rich." Said Wario between gasps, rancid garlic odor filling the air. Danny looked to Mona, who shook her head.
"Greaaat," said Danny.
Okay, so that wraps this chapter up. This chapter was gonna feature some other, more dramatic events, but it was getting pretty long so I had to split it to two parts. I hope to have part two out soon.