Chapter Four:
The Talking Dog At The Diner
After a sweet romantic alone-time together, Sonic and Amy decided it was time to grab a bite to eat at the diner, Sonic was looking forward to having a chili-dog meal, especially with Amy.
The heroic blue speedster walked out of the motel with Amy by his side, then he swept her off her feet and they raced across the street to the Resort Town Diner, which was a good couple of blocks away.
However, Sonic's little speed boost caused a car to swerve and crash into another car, resulting in car alarms going off again as cats yowled.
"HEY!" A man in a trench coat and a fedora with a black and white mask yelled angrily, "I JUST RENTED THAT CAR AFTER MY OTHER CAR GOT TOTALED THANKS TO THAT RED STREAK! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHATSOEVER ABOUT HOW MUCH MONEY THAT IS GONNA COST ME?"
"MAYBE YOU SHOULD WATCH WHERE YOU PARK YOUR CAR, BUSTER!" Another man in a police uniform with a mustache demanded.
An annoyed Sonic rolled his eyes; he didn't have the time for people's car troubles or heated arguments.
He and Amy walked towards the diner, which had a burger and chili-dog logo above the entrance. The two hedgehogs entered the establishment to the sight of anthropomorphic animals and humans enjoying delicious meals while waitresses delivered their ordered foods.
Sonic licked his lips and grinned, knowing it wouldn't be long before he was feasting on a delicious chili-dog at the same table with Amy. The two hedgehogs walked up to the front counter just as one of the waiters, a tall middle-aged man in a white suit, was giving out a cheeseburger to an anthropomorphic shark wearing shorts.
"Welcome to the Resort Town Diner, customers." The man said, his name tag reading 'Kane Moore', "May we take your order?"
"Hi." Sonic waved, "We'd like four chili dogs, a cup of milk and a milkshake glass."
"Please make yourself comfortable." Mr. Moore said, "We'll be right with you on that order."
Amy and Sonic thanked the waiter and went to find themselves a spare table, they found one by the window and sat down upon the diner seats that had red-colored cushioning on them. Amy sat on one end across from Sonic, allowing the two hedgehogs to see one another without having to turn their heads.
Sonic casually tapped his foot and looked at his watch, Amy ran her fingers through her hair and looked at herself in a mirror; both heroes waiting patiently for their order to come, one of the waiters or waitresses would be along any minute, and then they could eat.
Sonic heard his stomach growling, he sure was hungry. Amy's had to be rumbling as well.
Footsteps came in their direction and one of the waitresses soon arrived, carrying a tray of chili dogs with a glass of milk and a cup of milkshake for the two hedgehogs.
"And here's your order." The waitress said, she was a red-haired mongoose with a shapely figure and eyes that were as blue as Sonic's fur. A name tag on the front of her waitress uniform read; Serena Mongoose.
"Thanks." Amy said happily.
"Hey. Serena!" Sonic said with a grin, "How've you been?"
"You know her?" Amy asked her boyfriend.
Sonic grinned, "Long story, Eggman was causing trouble at a construction site and Serena's dad is a construction crewman. Serena and I used to hang out for a while, but, uh, let's just say she has a motion sickness problem."
Serena set down the tray and set up the plates. "But we've been on good terms since then." The mongoose said, "Sonic's still nice and I still respect him, I see you two have gotten on quite nicely."
"We sure have." Amy nodded, she raised an eyebrow, "I think he told me about you once and I don't remember, Sonic talks about his experiences a lot and they can be a blur when you take into account that you're dating the fastest thing alive. So, Serena, how long have you been here and what are you up to?"
"My parents and I moved recently..." Serena explained, "In fact, I'm volunteering here."
"Way past cool." Sonic grinned, "I'd say you make a snazzy waitress here, Serena."
"Thanks, Sonic." Serena shook Sonic's hand, "In fact, my mother was a waitress; so I guess I'm following in her footsteps. Well, you two take care."
"Bye, Serena." Amy waved.
"Take care now." Sonic nodded.
Serena walked off to take care of more customers' orders, leaving Sonic and Amy be to their meals.
Amy sipped some milkshake and Sonic began to chow down on his chili-dogs. Thankfully, the table had napkins for the two, just in case they made a mess. Sonic enjoyed his meal, feeling nothing but happiness. Everything just felt so perfect.
No Eggman, no world threats, no drama.
It was just him and his girlfriend eating very spicy chili dogs together. Resort Town truly was a paradise; the perfect place to chill and enjoy everything that life had to offer, and this made Sonic and Amy feel glad that they came here even more.
What could possibly happen now, especially at a time when the world was safe and at peace?
Sonic was just about to dig into his next chili-dog when he heard Amy snickering.
"What?" The hedgehog asked, he wiped some chili sauce off his face. The pink hedgehog was looking at Sonic's side and it almost seemed she was laughing at him, that was a little unusual.
"Oh, nothing." Amy replied, "Well, actually, a dog just jumped up on your chair."
"Huh?"
Sonic looked to his left, finding himself face-to-snout with a strange brown-colored dog with black spots on its body, the dog's tongue was sticking out and the dog seemed to be smiling at him. However, the dog was not looking at Sonic.
The hedgehog took a minute to realize, this guy was eying his chili-dog!
'Oh crap.' Sonic thought.
With a bark, the dog lunged, its mouth open wide as it made a move for Sonic's precious food. Sonic acted quickly and grabbed the dog's nose, holding it back with one hand while holding his chili-dog in the other.
"Get back!" Sonic yelled, "GET AWAY FROM MY FOOD, YOU STUPID DOG! THAT IS NOT YOUR CHILI-DOG, YOU DON'T EAT OTHER PEOPLE'S FOODS! Bad dog, bad dog!"
"So-nic!" Amy chided, "Let him have your chili-dog, you can share."
He heard the dog whimpering and stopped struggling, he looked at the Great Dane, which the dog appeared to be, and saw its ears were drooping. Sonic sighed, he couldn't believe he was doing this.
"Ok, buddy." He said, "Have a chili-dog."
Sonic offered the chili-dog to the canine and the dog seemed to brighten up.
The dog bit into the chili-bun encased meal and ate every last piece of it, scarfing it down like a rabid eater. The dog ate and ate until the chili dog was gone from Sonic's hand. The dog finished chewing, then it gulped and panted happily… then it belched right in Sonic's face.
Amy laughed.
"Jeeze!" Sonic waved his hand, "Not in my face. What kind of dog does that?"
"Oh, Sonic. I thought you liked dogs." The speedster's girlfriend quipped with a giggle, "Don't you often hang out with Muttski?"
Sonic took a second to think. 'Oh yeah.' He thought, 'Dogs are very cool.' Memories surfaced; the times he played Frisbee with Muttski, read him dog stories at night and watched TV shows about silly dogs doing silly stuff with him whenever they were hanging out at Uncle Chuck's place. How could he forget his connection to dogs?
He looked at the brown dog in front of him, looking at Sonic with it's doggy smile, its tongue sticking out as it panted. Sonic thought about it a little longer, wondering if he could connect with this fella. No point in hating this dog for going after his chili dog, where was his owner anyway?
'Eh, what the heck?' Sonic thought.
"Sit, boy!" He instructed the dog.
The dog sat.
"Wow, whomever the dog belongs to spent a lot of time training him!" Amy exclaimed.
"Yeah, he's quite a dog, Ames." Sonic agreed.
He looked at the dog firmly again and said, "Shake!" The brown dog smiled and shook Sonic's hand with a steady paw.
"You really are a nice doggy." Sonic pat his new friend on the head. "Ok, now speak!"
The dog growled.
"C'mon, buddy." Sonic laughed, "Don't get niffed, speak up."
"Do I look like a normal dog to you?" The dog asked.
"Whoa, you... you just spoke like a normal human!" Sonic's eyes widened.
"A talking dog." Amy commented, "That is quite cool."
"Duh, everybody talks." The dog replied in a rough dog's voice, "A lot of us animals in this crazy world have the ability to speak and I'm one of 'em."
Sonic took notice to the tag around the dog's neck, looking closer at the words 'S.D' etched onto the green color. 'S.D?' The hedgehog was wondering what those words meant, he looked straight into the talking dog's eyes, looking at him with more curiosity.
"Would you care to tell us your name and what S.D means, buddy?" Sonic asked.
"S.D?" The dog exclaimed, "Those stand for what you just called me, you stupid dofus!"
"Hey!" Amy and Sonic protested.
The dog suddenly giggled. "I'm just kidding. S.D stands for Scooby-Doo, that's my name, Scooby-Dooby-Doo!"
Upon hearing those words, Sonic's eyes were wide. He knew that name, he'd heard it once before. It couldn't be, this couldn't actually be, but it was happening right now in this diner and he never saw it coming. Sonic couldn't contain himself, even Amy was just as surprised as him.
"Hold the chili!" Sonic exclaimed, "You're THE Scooby-Doo, Mystery Inc's mascot?"
"Mascot?" Scooby remarked, "I'm a member of the team!"
"Dude, I am a big fan!" Sonic said, "I've seen you in the paper a few times, you are such a big deal in all the towns I've visited. I mean, wow. Never in a million years would I believe that Amy and I would be meeting you, right here, in a diner."
"Well, sometimes, ya gotta expect the unexpected, hedgehog." Scooby quipped.
"Yeah, like, you may never know who or what you'd run into around these parts."
A man in a green shirt with a scraggly beard had just walked up, Sonic and Amy looked at each other, their eyes wide with surprise.
Sonic scarfed down his chili-dogs, fed one to Scooby and drank his milk as fast as possible while Amy drank all of her milkshake. With their meal complete, Sonic looked back at Scooby and then at the second newcomer.
"Talk about full of surprises and never knowing who you're gonna run into!" Sonic exclaimed, "You're Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, Scooby's best buddy! How's it goin', man? What brings you to this neck of the woods, I guess you're takin' a vacation after wrapping up another mystery with the rest of the gang or somethin'."
"Like, are you kidding?!" Shaggy said, "We ARE on vacation, you just couldn't be more right. Like, I can't believe that I'm meeting the world famous Sonic the Hedgehog and he just happens to be a big fan of us. Oh man, I've seen you on the news during dinner. Like, you are the talk of the world!"
"Dude, we gotta have your autographs?" Sonic said, "And don't tell me the rest of Mystery Inc is here too. If you say they are, I don't know what I'm gonna do."
"The whole gang's here, Sonic!" Shaggy nodded, "Scooby and I just popped by the joint to find a meal when Scoob smelled chili-dogs and here you guys are, the others are outside and gettin' ready to check in."
Amy stood up. "Then what are we waiting for?" She asked, "Let's go and chat with them, Sonic!"
She and Sonic excitedly threw their arms around one another and laughed excitedly while Scooby giggled in his own doggy manner, even Shaggy seemed to be smiling with intrigue.
By this point, things were getting more interesting than ever and nobody knew what else lay in store with Sonic and Amy about to meet the rest of the Mystery Inc gang…
