Chapter Text
“Thank you for using Mushroom Airlines!” a voice announces through a speaker. “We hope you enjoy your flight to Diamond City, estimated five hours and thirty-two minutes until arrival. Please make yourself comfortable!”
…’How the hell am I supposed to get comfortable with this?’ you wonder, looking at the plastic slab they call a chair.
While it is widely-known that Mushroom Airlines doesn’t have the…best quality, you didn’t expect it to be this bad!
Granted, you didn’t have a lot of money, as you lost your job at the restaurant Yoshi’s recently, so you took this flight, hoping to get a job.
You sighed and prepared for the pain that would come after sitting in that for five and a half hours.
You had looked up various places in Diamond City, and you found one company that seemed like you might be able to work there.
WARIOWARE-Come here and make games AND money! Run by the extremely handsome Wario, he is generous to everyone, and an awesome and cool guy! The pay is…existent!
Surprisingly, you drifted off to sleep fairly fast.
“Attention!”
You were jolted from your sleep to hear an announcement.
“We have landed in Diamond City Airport. The local time is 4:36 PM. You may now exit the plane.”
The next few hours were a blur, but you exited the plane, took your belongings, and decided it would be best to look for a hotel or a place to stay.
Then you realized that the few hotels that did exist were so expensive you got a headache looking at the cost.
You were looking around, and noticed you were starting to get hungry.
“Well, this isn’t great,” you thought. You quickened your pace walking down the street, until suddenly you crashed into a woman.
“Ah!”
You fell over onto the sidewalk. You heard her voice.
“Oh! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”
She extended her hand, which you took as she helped you up. You got a good look at the three people in front of you.
The woman who you had run into had orange hair and a white jacket. The one to her left had black hair with white streaks, and was in a blue outfit. The one to her right was fat. That…was his one defining feature, aside from his nose.
“Yeah…sorry, I should’ve looked where I was going,” you said.
“Are you going somewhere in a rush?” The one on her left asked.
“Uh…something like that.”
The woman then noticed something. “You don’t look too great. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I…I just flew here, and I don’t have a lot of money. I can’t afford food or a hotel, because I was fired from my previous job.”
“We didn’t ask for your life’s story!” the fat one said. “We’re going somewhere!”
The woman kicked him in the shin.
“OW! What was that for?!”
“Sorry about him,” she said. “My name’s Mona, and this is Young Cricket and Wario.”
“Oh, uh…nice to meet you, I guess. My name’s Y/n.”
“You know, we were headed to a diner, wanna come with?” Mona asked.
“WHAT?!” Wario protested. “I’m not paying extra for some rando off the street!”
“I was gonna pay, obviously!” Mona retorted.
“Ugh, FIIIINE,” Wario said.
“Really, you don’t have to-“ you started, before Cricket interrupted you.
“You’re clearly in need, and I’ve been taught to offer assistance to anyone in need.”
“It’s the least we can do,” Mona added.
You caved in. “Alright, fine. But I don’t want to seem like an annoyance.”
“All I see is someone who’s poor and needs help,” Mona said.
“Fine, follow us,” Wario said. “But don’t slow us down!”
“Ignore him,” Mona whispered in your ear.
You followed Wario, Mona and Young Cricket to a restaurant called “DIAMOND CITY GRILL”.
As you entered, everyone seemed to agree on a seat next to the window. You sat on the far right side, while Cricket sat next to you. Across from you was Mona, and next to her was Wario.
A waiter came up to you, and handed you all menus. “Hello! Can I get you anything to drink?”
You, Wario and Mona got water, while Cricket passed on drinks.
“Okay, I’ll be back with the water.”
You decided to take a look at the menu, and immediately saw the Classic Burger, which came with Lettuce, Tomato, Pickles, Cheese, Ketchup and Onions. It also came with a side of hand-cut fries.
The waiter arrived again with your drinks. “Have you all decided on something to eat?”
“I’ll have a large Caesar Salad,” Cricket said. “But could you remove the tomatoes, please?”
“Sure thing,” the waiter replied. “You?”
“Uh, I’ll have the…Classic Burger.”
“How much do you want your burger cooked?”
“Medium-rare, please.”
“Okay. And what cheese would you like?”
“Let’s go with cheddar.”
“Understood. You?”
“I think I’m in the mood for your steak, well-done, with a side of garlic fries.”
“And finally, you?” the waiter asked Wario.
“Garlic.”
“I…I’m sorry?”
“Garlic. Just a plate full of garlic.”
“I’ll…see what I can find. Is that all?”
“I think so,” Mona said.
“Alright. Your orders will arrive shortly.”
“Thank you!” Cricket said.
As the waiter walked away, Cricket turned to you.
“So, tell us about yourself.”
“Well, I was born in the Mushroom Kingdom. My parents worked 7 to 9, so I was alone a lot. After my parents died, I started a job at Yoshi’s, and I worked there for a few years until they started firing people to save money, and I was one of those people. Then, I flew here, hoping to find a job.”
Cricket looked at you with shock, while Mona looked at you with pity. Even Wario seemed slightly surprised, although he quickly changed his expression.
“You…your parents died?” Mona asked.
“Yeah,” you responded. “It was a while ago, so I’ve gotten over it. I barely saw them anyway, so it doesn’t really matter anyway.”
“That sounds horrible,” Cricket said with sympathy.
“I guess. I’m more concerned with finding a job, though.”
Wario’s eyes lit up. “Did you say…JOB?!”
“Oh boy, here we go,” Mona sighed.
“I HAVE A JOB FOR YOU! I RUN A COMPANY CALLED WARIOWARE AND IT WOULD BE PERFECT FOR YOU!”
Wario then noticed half the restaurant staring at him.
“Eheh…sorry.”
“Wait, you own WarioWare?” you asked.
“I sure do!”
“I heard about that! I actually came to Diamond City looking for a job there!”
“WH-WHAAA?!” Wario exclaimed in shock.
“This is quite the coincidence,” Cricket said.
“So, I-“ you started.
“YOU’RE HIRED!” Wario said in happiness. “No questions asked!”
“Th…that’s it?” you asked. “No job interview? No…nothing?”
“We don’t have a lot of workers,” Mona explained. “Wario’s kinda desperate.”
“Wow…” you thought. “I can’t believe my luck!”
Your food arrived just as you said that, and your mouth started watering looking at the burger. It actually, honest-to-god resembled the food you would see in advertisements. Like, the food that isn’t actually real food, but is designed to look delicious. This burger looked so amazing.
It was sent in front of you, and the other food was set in front of the others.
You took a bite.
Oh sweet mother of god.
The burger was juicy, the lettuce provided a great crunch, the melty cheese made the texture better, the pickles added a great tang…wow. Just wow.
You absolutely tore into that burger. You were used to having not a lot of food, because even Yoshi’s was near-minimum wage (twenty dollars an hour).
“Wow, you sure are hungry,” Mona said, slightly amused.
“I haven’t ever had food this good,” you said in between bites.
“I will admit, Diamond City Grill does have outstanding food,” Cricket said.
Wario had, somehow, actually received an entire plate of garlic, and was vacuuming it up.
There wasn’t a lot of talking while you were all eating, but when you had finished, Mona spoke up.
“Do you think after this, we could introduce Y/n to the building?”
“Eh…I don’t see why not!” Wario replied.
“Cool! It looks like we’re all done.”
Cricket signaled the waiter over, and everyone payed for their parts of the bill, with Mona paying for yours.
You exited the building, and Mona, Cricket and Wario led you to a building that was sort of small, with a big purple-yellow “W” on the top. You entered the building, and saw a few others in the building as well.
“We’re back!” Mona said.
“We found someone who wants to work here!” Wario said.
The people here were…strange, to say the least.
There was a humanoid cat and dog, some cyborg guy, what looked like a witch with an imp, a kid with some odd headset, and a woman with brown hair.
“Oh?” the brown-haired woman asked. “You got someone?”
“Yep!” Wario said proudly. “He says he came all the way from the Mushroom Kingdom for this job!”
“Wow, really?” the dog asked. “He must really want the job!”
“You could say that,” you said.
“Y/n, meet Dribble, Spitz, Ashley, Red, 9-volt, 5-volt, and Crygor!”
A chorus of “hello”s and “hi”s came from everyone. The witch girl, known as Ashley, however, just turned her head in your direction.
“Since it’s about closing time, there won’t be a lot in terms of getting to know the others, but tomorrow I’m sure you’ll be able to!” Wario said.
“Uh…Wario?” Spitz asked.
“Yeah?”
“It’s Friday.”
“So?”
“…I think what Spitz is tryna say…” Dribble said. “Is that tomorrow’s the weekend.”
“…oh.” Wario quickly regained his composure. “W-well, I’m sure on Monday you’ll be able to do…all that other stuff I had said that I forgot about now!”
“…Monday’s the start of break,” Spitz said.
“OH COME ON! Fine! After the days of which aren’t work days, you can meet the people or whatever!”
“Oh. Well, I look forward to that day!” you said. “I can’t wait to get to know all of you better!” you turned to leave, but Mona called after you.
“Wait, Y/n!”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you say you didn’t have anywhere to stay?”
You froze, dread filling you.
“I, uh…you’re right.”
“You could stay with me,” Mona said.
“Wait, what?” you asked. “No, I don’t want to impose, and I-“
“I’m not gonna let you sleep on the streets,” she said firmly. “And also, my house is really big.”
“I…” you gave in. “Fine.”
“Great!” she said. “I’ll take you to my motorcycle.”
A/N: I don’t care if Mona actually has a scooter in canon, how the heck is Y/n supposed to go with her on a freaking scooter?
Mona led you to a motorcycle, and got on.
Reluctantly, you got on behind her, and she started driving.
It took about 15 to 20 minutes, but you arrived, and you felt you almost suffered a heart attack from how large the building was.
“I-I-you-how-“ you stuttered. “What the-oh my GOD that’s huge!”
“Yeah, my parents have high-paying jobs,” Mona said slightly sheepishly. “My dad’s an artist, and my mom’s a model.”
“That’s…crazy…” you said.
“They travel a lot, so I don’t see them often, though. Most of the time it was just me. I got a few pets about a year ago, so it became less lonely, but the loneliness still remained. Kind of like your situation, now that I think about it.”
“Wow…that must have been hard for you.”
“Yeah…” she said, before remembering that you were both standing outside her house. “Anyways! Come on inside! I’ll show you to the guest room.”
Mona led you to the door, and unlocked it, and the inside of the house was even more amazing than the outside. You followed Mona upstairs, and down a hallway, taking a door on the leftmost side. The room definitely looked great, and the bed looked comfortable. There wasn’t a lot of decorations or furniture, but you assumed that was why it was a guest room.
“Well, get comfortable! If you need me, I’ll be on the first floor to the right.”
Mona closed the door, and you sat down on the bed.
“Wow, things have been getting so lucky for me lately…” you thought aloud. “For once…things are starting to look up for me.”
You drifted off to sleep, even though it was only 5:30.
And, for once, you felt something.
Something you hadn’t felt in a while, if ever.
Hope.