It was just another day in Riverdale High, though today wasn't just any ordinary day. The students sat in the auditorium as there was a big announcement going on before they would leave school today, but a lot of the students seemed to be too busy and preoccupied with the clock at the moment. The entire school body is there, making noise and throwing papers during the chaos as they sat all around together with a certain girl on stage.
"As student body president, I just want to say, like, 'Yay' to all of us for a really neat year." Cheryl Blossom told her fellow students with a grin until she was interrupted and annoyed by a certain someone.
"Yo, Cheryl!" Jughead called out from the crowd and laughed. "Talk to me! Talk to me! Talk to me, baby!~"
Cheryl rolled her eyes at him and soon continued her little speech. "And also, that I hope you can all attend my totally amazing end-of-school party next Saturday to watch The Dazzlings' concert live on Pay-per-view," she then continued with a smug. "If you're cute and invited like a boy like Archie Andrews or Alan Mayberry that is~"
The students then cheered at this announcement.
"Thank you. Thank you very much," Cheryl then grinned at their excitement. "And now, without further ado, Vice-Principal Kraft."
The room was suddenly silent as Mr. Kraft came up on stage to talk to the students. "Thank you, Cheryl! And good morning, boys and girls! You know, every year, on the last day of school, I have several youngsters approach me and say, 'Principal Kraft, what can we do to not waste our summer vacation'?" he then began to say.
Jughead and Archie then shared a look with each other at that.
"'We don't want to waste our free time sleeping or visiting friends'..." Mr. Kraft then rambled on in the background while students began to fall asleep or talk to each other during his announcement.
"So, guys, what're we gonna do this summer?" Cherry asked as she sat with her friends. "I could use a break from The Watchtower for a while."
"I say we go out and take a road trip." responded Lionel.
"A trip?" Thor asked. "Out on the open road?"
"Exactly." Lionel nodded.
"Hmm... I guess we could get out of town for a little while," Cherry replied. "But where would we go?" she then pondered.
Atticus looked like he was about to say something.
"No offense, Atticus, but we're not going to Smallville to visit Clark's parents," Cherry said before he could say anything. "I know they're your grandparents by love, but I'm not built for farm work or whatever people do in Smallville."
Atticus rolled his eyes. "Fine."
"How about West Covina, CA?" asked Thor. "They've got an awesome burger place."
"What's it called?" Lionel responded.
"It's called 'Good Burger'," said Thor. "It's a humble little place... but their food is phenomenal."
"How do you know this?" Lionel inquired.
"Guy Fieri went there once." Thor said.
"Well, that explains it." Cherry smirked.
"It does sound interesting at least." Mo remarked.
"Okay, I guess we'll visit this place called Good Burger," Cherry then said. "Though knowing our lives, somehow there'll be a new adventure for us there."
"We're gonna need someplace to stay," said Lionel. "Gonna need a plan for THAT also!"
"Most likely a hotel or motel," Thor replied. "We can plan when we hit the road."
The others agreed before glancing back at Mr. Kraft as he continued his speech that almost no one was paying attention to.
"How about... science slumber parties?!" Mr. Kraft then said to his students with a grin.
The students just stared at him blankly and the only sounds that could be heard were coughing and crickets chirping.
"Ah, just get out of here already, you future hamburger flippers," Mr. Kraft complained. "This generation is so hopeless."
"Booo!" yelled one kid as he threw a soda can at him. "You got a problem with flippin' burgers? You think you're better than us?"
"As a matter of fact, I do!" Mr. Kraft remarked. "What are you going to do about it?"
Minutes later, he found himself being chased out of the school by an angry mob of students. The Toon Force group then stepped out of the school as Mr. Kraft kept running for the hills.
"Wow. This school is crazy sometimes." Atticus remarked.
"Tell me about it." Mo agreed.
"So, uh, you guys wanna head home and maybe meet back at Hilda's in 10 minutes before we hit the road?" Cherry then suggested to the others.
"Oh, yeah."
"For sure."
"You got it."
"Aye-aye, kemosabe!"
"All right then," Cherry nodded at them. "Let's make it so."
And that was what they did as they left the high school and the final bell rang, but the students didn't run outside, cheering and chattering with each other since they were already going after Mr. Kraft.
"You're going away, Kitten?" Selina asked her niece.
"Just for a little bit," Cherry reassured her. "Just a little vacation adventure with my good friends."
"Well, all right then," Selina said before smirking a little. "Guess I could use my free time to bond with Bruce if he isn't too busy~"
"He'll find some way," replied Lionel. "But then again... so will you."
"Well, all right," Selina said as she crossed her arms. "You kids go and have fun, but call me when you get there."
"We will." Cherry and Lionel promised her together.
"Good," Selina nodded. "Just don't eat too many burgers if you find this Good Burger place."
"I'll try, but I promise nothing," stated Lionel. "I intend to eat my fill!"
"Have a safe trip and a good time." Selina told them warmly.
"I'm sure we will even if it's just to check out this burger place." Cherry reassured her guardian.
"At least we can get some pictures." commented Lionel as he got his things ready.
"I'd love to see pictures of your little adventure." Selina smiled.
"Sure thing, Aunt Selina," Cherry nodded. "Maybe we'll get you guys some Good Burgers back if Thor doesn't eat them all on the way back home."
"I'll make sure he doesn't," Lionel gave a salute before he picked up his suitcase and backpack. "Anything else we need before we go?"
"I think we're good to go," Cherry said before checking the time. "Ah, we better go and meet up with everyone else real quick."
"You got it, kemosabe!" Lionel responded. "Shall I teleport us over?"
"Yeah, I suppose so," Cherry nodded before looking at Selina. "Say goodbye to everyone for us, okay?" she then requested.
"You got it, kid," Selina replied. "Have a safe trip and adventure to California."
"We will!" Lionel responded as he clapped his hands, and he and Cherry vanished in a puff of smoke.
Selina smiled at that as she stayed behind while they would meet up with the others.
Atticus, Mo, and Thor were already shown to be over at Hilda's coffeehouse as they waited for Cherry and Lionel to join them.
Thor grinned as he was looking through a Good Burger menu to see what they could have to try out when they would get to go to California to see this restaurant he told them all about. "We could try a Good Burger, or some Good Fries, or a Good Shake or some Good Pies," he said, reading off the menu. "Or a Good Beverage, or a Double Good Meal; that's two Good Burgers, two Good Fries, and two Good Beverages..."
"Thor... do all of the menu item names start with the word 'good'?" asked Mo.
Thor rolled his eyes. "Well, of course, Mo," he replied. "It's called 'Good Burger', isn't it? Little something called branding."
"Hmph..." Mo shrugged and smirked at that.
POOF! Cherry and Lionel soon made it over.
"Ah, there you are, guys." Atticus said to them.
"Yeah, just had to say goodbye real quick." Cherry replied.
"We set to go then?" Lionel added.
"Just as soon as I get some driving coffee." Atticus nodded.
"Alright, fair point," nodded Lionel. "Gotta keep yourself awake while we're out on the road. Speaking of which, I've been thinking of getting an RV sometime."
"Sounds good for a big vacation, especially if we had a family together someday." Cherry replied.
"Ooh, wouldn't that be nice?~" Thor gushed as he hugged both Cherry and Lionel suddenly. "If the three of us had a family together... Hmm... I wonder what they would call me if you guys were the parents?"
"How about you can be 'Uncle Thor' if Lionel is the father and you can be 'Dad' if you're the father of these metaphorical kids?" Cherry suggested.
"Sweet!" Thor beamed. "Three parents are better than none!"
"Hear-hear." Lionel replied as Atticus got called up to retrieve his coffee.
Hilda held out the to-go coffee cups for Atticus.
"Thanks, Hilda." Atticus told the woman before paying her.
"Certainly," Hilda nodded. "You kids have a nice trip now."
"We will!" replied Atticus as he and the others headed out with their stuff.
Hilda waved at them as they soon set off for their new vacation adventure.
"All right, guys! Let's hit the holiday road." Atticus told the others as he took the wheel of his car.
"Right!" The others agreed.
"And awaaaay we go!" Attius then told them before he drove them out of Riverdale and straight to California.
MEANWHILE...
A worker was shown to be at the most average burger joint in America known as Good Burger, manning his post behind the counter and wearing his striped uniform with his nametag that read "I'm Ed" on it. It seemed to be just another day of work for him.
"Excuse me?" A woman called. "Hello? Young man?"
Ed then turned and faced the woman, giving his usual greeting to any customer who would come in. "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger. Can I take your order?"
"Just a Good Burger, please, and I'd like that to go." The woman replied.
"To go where?" Ed then asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"To go... well... to my house." The woman explained with a confused frown.
"Okay!" Ed replied cheerfully as he took out a notepad and pen from his pocket, taking that a bit too literally. "What's your address?"
"My... what?" The woman asked, sounding very frustrated right now. "Look, I just want a Good Burger, okay?"
"Okay, okay. Easy, Mister." Ed said soothingly.
"Mister?" The woman then muttered in confusion.
Ed then turned around and spoke into his microphone as it seemed to be a normal day of work so far. "One Good Burger!" he then announced.
And that normalcy lasted until Ed turned around and faced the neatly-wrapped Good Burgers lined up beneath the heat lamps. He plucked one of the burgers from the tray and shook open a paper bag, but before he could stuff the burger into the bag, he heard a small, muffled voice.
"No, Ed! Noooo!" The voice whined. And it was coming from… the hamburger!
Ed's mouth dropped open. "What the…" Opening the wrapper, Ed peeked inside at the burger… and he was so shocked, he nearly dropped it.
The burger stared up at him with great big puppy dog eyes and a happy beef-patty-and-lettuce grin. "Don't sell me, Ed!" the burger cried in a squeaky voice. "Please? I wanna stay here with you!"
Two more burgers beneath the heat lamps began to wiggle around until their faces were poking out of their wrappers.
"Me too!" One of the burgers exclaimed.
"We love you, Ed!" Another cried.
"Whoooaa!" Ed blurted out. "I'm hallucin... hallu-cin... er, uh... hallu... I'm imaginin' stuff!"
Suddenly, all of the burgers under the heat lamps poked their faces from their wrappers and grinned up at Ed. The burgers rose from their places on the aluminum tray and began to float around Ed in a grinning swirl of beef patties and sesame seed buns.
"Come with us, Ed." One of the burgers said as they all chanted to him.
"Fly, Ed, fly!"
"Yes, Ed! Fly with us!"
Ed's eyes then grew twice their normal size as his feet suddenly left the tile floor and he began to float up with the chattering, smiling Good Burgers. "Whooooaaa! I'm flying with fast food!" he then cheered until he suddenly heard a loud buzzing sound and he began to plummet downward until he suddenly blinked and he found himself somewhere else all of a sudden.
"Ah! Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger. Can I take-" Ed babbled rapidly until he saw that he was in bed and was in his bedroom until he realized what just happened. "Whoa... A dream!" he then heard the buzzing and saw his alarm clock as the time read 9:50 and he picked up the clock. "Whoa! A clock!" he then hit the button to kill the buzzer, then jumped out of bed, and went to go take a shower in his uniform, singing in the shower until he wore his roller-blades to go out to work where everyone else was.
As he was doing that, three kids known as Carly Shay, Sam Puckett, and Freddie Benson were talking to each other.
"I'm telling you guys, I saw three colorful hedgehogs in the city when I was on vacation with my mom," Freddie said to the two girls, the blonde one looking very annoyed with him right now. "I tried to get a picture, but you just have to believe me! I really, really saw them!"
"Get real, Freddie," retorted Carly. "You know how it goes: pics or it didn't happen."
"They got places for people who see things like multicolored hedgehogs," said Sam. "Of course, in places like that, they wear straitjackets and sit in padded rooms."
"I'm telling you, it really happened!" Freddie insisted.
"Alright, Carly, let's lock him up," Sam suggested as she took out a jump rope. "You hold him down and I'll tie him up."
"Where'd you get that jump rope from?" Carly asked the abrasive blonde.
"Not important." Sam replied.
"HENRY, SHE STOLE MY JUMP ROPE! GET IT BACK FOR ME!" A loudmouth girl named Piper Hart complained.
"I hate to do this, Fredward, but you left us no choice." Sam smirked darkly as she brought out the jump rope.
"Mornin', kids!" Ed called out as he sped by suddenly, closing in on them before getting tangled in the rope. "Whooooa!" he then cried out before recovering his balance and getting untwined by it.
And then, as though by an act of karma, Sam was tangled by the rope and it was tied by Ed's leg, dragging the blonde girl behind him as she cried out and grunted as her head rapidly hit the pavement underneath her.
After a few dozen sidewalks, Ed disentangled himself from the rope and let it go. "My fault!" he called as he raced down the sidewalk. "Happy jumpin'!"
"Glugh..." Sam groaned, her head now peppered with more lumps than a bowl of oatmeal.
As Ed hurried to Good Burger, the line at the counter was growing longer, and the customers were becoming angry.
The woman standing at the head of the line leaned over the counter, frowning, and looked around. When she spotted Monique, she called, "Excuse me? Miss?"
"Yeah, can I help you?" Monique asked, hurrying to the counter.
The woman's face screwed up into a tight, angry expression. "I just wanna order some food!"
"Oh, no problem!" Monique said with a smile.
"Good," The woman huffed. "Finally!"
"Ed?" Monique called, stepping back from the counter and looking around. "Ed? Hey, Ed!"
But of course, Ed wasn't there. He was weaving his way down the street, trying to get to work as fast as possible (though that wasn't very fast, due to Ed not being a great in-line skater. He hopped on a curb and zigzagged on the sidewalk, trying to avoid pedestrians. He annoyed a few people, but always called out an apology or at least a "Hello" over his shoulder as he passed them, but each time he turned his head around to call over his shoulder, he took his eyes off where he was going just for a couple of seconds. Before he knew it, Ed found himself hurtling toward a woman passing by with a baby carriage.
"Whooooa! Look out, lady!" Ed called out to the unexpecting mother.
The woman let out a sharp yelp as she plucked her baby out from the carriage and stepped backward, but it was too late.
Ed slammed right into her, bouncing her back like a pinball. "Sorry!" he then called out to her before seeing that he suddenly had her baby in his grasp. "Hey, baby! Cootchie Cootchie Coo!" he then smiled at the baby.
The baby then let out a small gurgle and giggled at him.
Ed then suddenly came down the block of the neighborhood basketball court just as a game was going on. "Oh! Watch out! Baby coming through!" he then told them cautiously.
Ed and the players grunted until Ed made it out of the way and checked on the blanket he was holding with a bundle inside of it... only for the bundle to be the players' basketball and not the baby that he picked up.
"Put it up, man, put it up!" A player called out.
A second player then dunked the baby into the basket and caught it again until he realized what just happened. "Two points! Huh?!"
The other players also looked stunned once they saw what just happened.
"Does that count?" The player then asked his friends.
In minutes, Good Burger was in sight. Ed whizzed through the parking lot, wobbling and swerving a little. An old lady with a cane was hobbling toward the front entrance. Her hand was on the handle of the door as Ed closed in quickly.
"Doooor!" Ed shouted.
The old lady made a sound like a duck and stumbled backward, still clutching at the handle of the door, pulling it open.
"Thank you!" Ed said as he sailed into Good Burger.
"That's it!" barked the angry man in the construction worker's helmet at the counter.
Ed glided in and made his way into the back.
"Five more seconds and I'm calling the manager!" The man threatened before counting down. "5... 4... 3... 2-"
Ed soon rolled right into the restaurant, fell behind the counter, then balanced himself right side up before he faced the customer in front of him. "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger. Can I take your order?" he then greeted the customers like he always did.
"Well, it's about time," The man growled. "Can I get two Good Burgers?"
"Oh, sorry, dude, I have to go get 'em," Ed replied innocently. "Customers aren't allowed in back."
"Just give me two Good Burgers!" The man then barked in annoyance.
"Dude, I just can't give you two Good Burgers. You have to pay for 'em." Ed said, still sounding oblivious.
"Forget it! Forget it!" The man complained as he sounded ready to explode. "I've had it up to here with Good Burger! I can't wait for Mondo Burger to open~" he then added with a dark smirk.
"Mondo Burger?" Ed soon asked cluelessly. "What's Mondo Burger?"
Everyone else seemed to roll their eyes at Ed's question before the girl Monique approached him and pointed out the window for him. "Ed, you see that giant building there across the street?" she then asked him. "The one that they've been building for 10 months?"
"Yeah!" Ed exclaimed, amazed after he took a look. "I see it!"
"That's Mondo Burger." A guy named Fizz told Ed.
"Yeah, they open in, like, three days," A girl named Deedee added. "Just another establishment that profits from the slaughter of poor, defenseless cows."
The others then looked at her blankly due to her staunch vegetarian diet despite working in a burger joint.
"They're opening in three days?" Ed asked. "Well... cool!"
"It's not cool, Ed," The manager, Mr. Bailey, told him firmly. "They're competition. Big competition."
"Yep. They could put us out of business." Monique added quietly and solemnly.
"Oh, come on now," Mr. Baily said with a loud, artificial laugh. "Good Burger has been here for over forty years! We're a beloved institution in this town. The people love us!" He glanced at Ed. "...well, most of us," He looked around at each of them, grinning broadly, but his eyes kept returning to the window. "Don't you worry. No one's going to put us out of business," His eyes finally settled on the window… on the building across the street. "At least, probably."
Fizz, Monique, Deedee, and even Ed turned to look out the window at Mondo Burger.
"Ooohhhh..." Mr. Baily groaned miserably as he turned and hurried back toward his office.
"We could be in big trouble." Fizz said.
Ed looked around at the others and muttered, "Uhhh... no?"
In the meantime, Atticus made it to California with his friends as they passed by a high school. "Well, we're officially not in Riverdale anymore." he then told the others.
"And we weren't, four states back?" Lionel commented.
"Very funny." Atticus rolled his eyes as he continued to drive over.
"Are we going straight to Good Burger then?" Mo asked her boyfriend.
"Might be a good idea," Atticus nodded. "It can't be too hard to spot since we're now in where we need to be."
"Yeah, we should be fine," commented Thor. "But where are we gonna be staying?"
"We passed an inn, I think it was like a Bed & Breakfast, on the way into here when you guys fell asleep," Atticus explained. "I can call them and ask if we can stay of course, but don't worry, I'll cover finances. There was just one catch."
"Oh, yeah? Thrill us, Detective Boy." Cherry replied flatly.
"There were rumors that the house is haunted and that eight monsters once stayed in there together," Atticus replied. "They called it 'The Unreal World'."
"Haunted?" Thor asked before smirking. "Pfft! We ain't afraid of no ghosts."
"Well, we'll deal with that later," Lionel responded. "In the meantime, let's focus on the here and now."
"Exactly," Atticus nodded. "Let's get some grub."
"I know I could eat," Thor replied. "I feel like I haven't eaten in days."
"It's been a few hours, Thor." Cherry rolled her eyes.
"Exactly! 180 minutes of pure agony in my tummy!" Thor pouted before he bit down on the driver's seat.
"Please don't eat my car, Thor." Atticus told the warlock teen.
"Thorry, Atthicuth, gueth I overdid ith." Thor muffled before he let go and sat back in his seat.
"Okay, guys, we can either go to this place and order Good Burger from the place or we can go inside there and eat." Atticus then said as he had to park the car soon.
"We're heading in to eat," Lionel declared. "I wanna see what we're working with culinarily."
"All right, let's go in and get some good eats." Atticus nodded.
"Fine by me." Thor replied as he hugged his grumbling stomach.
Soon, Atticus found a place to park and stepped out of his car along with the others, allowing him to lock the doors and they began to head into Good Burger.
Ed was laughing behind his work counter as he looked entranced by the salt he was pouring out as The Toon Force group came to visit the burger joint. "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger," he then said. "May I take your orders?"
"Yeah, you can!" Lionel responded. "I'd like four Double Good Meals, with two Good Sodas and two Good Shakes."
"Oh, good choices, dude!" Ed beamed. "I hope you're gonna pay for all of that."
"Uh, yeah, that was the plan." Cherry replied, glancing at him strangely.
"Oh, that's good too, dude!" Ed replied. "Mr. Baily would be mad if I just gave you all this stuff for free."
"I'm not a dude, I'm a girl." Cherry remarked as she crossed her arms.
"Oh, I call everybody a dude," Ed replied, seeming to trail off a bit. "I'm a dude, you're a dude, he's a dude, she's a dude, we're all dudes~" he then started to sing until he stopped. "...what was I doing again?" he then asked.
"ED! GIVE THEM THE PRICE!" Mr. Baily complained from his office.
"Oh, yeah!" Ed laughed before he looked at them again. "You guys gotta give me at least $24.99." he then told them, sounding serious for once.
"Alright." Lionel responded as he took the money out of his wallet and put it on the counter.
Ed then accepted Lionel's money and put it in through the register. "We're really glad you guys came in to see us," he then told them. "Everybody's bummed out about that Mondo Burger across the street."
"Mondo Burger?" Cherry snorted at the name. "What is this, the 90s?"
"Oh, you mean it isn't?" Ed asked out of confusion.
Cherry just rolled her eyes in response with a small smirk.
"I'll go get your orders ready." Ed said as he went to take the order back to the kitchen and as he did, the group went to a table and sat down.
"Well, this place seems nice so far," Cherry remarked. "Even if that guy Ed is a little out of touch with reality."
"I don't get to say this to a lot of people, but I think I'm smarter than he is." Thor nodded.
"I'm sure his heart is in the right place though." Mo said.
"Most certainly, just like yours," Lionel said, patting Thor on his head. "But maybe he's more clever than he lets on, and just doesn't realize it."
"Yeah, maybe." Thor smiled at that.
Monique smiled as she soon came by to give them their food. "Here you go, guys. Enjoy and thank you for choosing Good Burger!" she then told them kindly.
"Well, you seem nice at least," Mo said before seeing her nametag. "Monique, huh? That's my name too, but everyone calls me Mo."
"Nice to meet you at least," Monique replied. "I've never seen you guys in town before."
"Oh, we just came here for summer vacation," explained Lionel. "We dropped in and decided to see if all the buzz about Good Burger was true."
"Oh, well, you made the right choice coming here," Monique replied. "It's good to see people who still believe in us especially with Mondo Burger trying to take customers away from us."
"What're they up to?" Thor wondered.
"We don't know yet, but it's really making Mr. Baily more tense than when he tells us he has to wash his mom's feet after we lock up for the day." Monique replied.
"Whoof," remarked Lionel. "Well, I bet these Mondo Burgers aren't anywhere as good."
"Enough chitchat, let's eat." Cherry suggested.
The rest of the group agreed to that and soon began to eat their food.
"Hmm... Not bad..." Thor commented after a few bites. "A lot better than the ones they make at school."
"Oh, yeah!" Lionel beamed as he licked his lips. "Definitely delicious!"
"You can't beat a Wendy's burger, but I can see why they call this a Good Burger." Cherry commented.
"Totally burgalicious." Atticus added.
"Guys! Check out the shake!" Mo told the others as she beamed and sipped her shake. "It's the most amazing shake ever!"
Lionel picked up his shake and started taking sips from it. "Yowza, now that's tasty! Like the right mix of ice cream and milk!"
Monique smiled as Cherry and her friends seemed to really enjoy their Good Burger experience.
Ed, however, was still distracted by pouring salt behind his work counter.
"Hey, Ed!" Mr. Baily said cheerfully as he approached Ed with a bulging Good Burger bag. "We've got a delivery! Take this Good Meal over to Chief Arlin at the fire station, would ya?"
"But... dude!" Ed said with wide eyes and a little panic in his voice. "I don't do deliveries!"
"You do for the time being. I fired O'Malley."
"He was? How come?"
"He came to work without pants again."
"Wow." Atticus mumbled as he overheard that.
"The address is on the bag." Mr. Baily then continued to Ed.
Ed took the bag and smiled. "It shall be delivered!"
"Go for it, Ed!" Thor called out. "I know you got this, buddy!"
"Thanks!" Ed called as he put on some roller skates and headed out to make his delivery.
"I like that guy," Thor said to the others. "He's alright."
"Hm... I guess he's not totally horrible," Cherry shrugged. "A lot of heart and passion in him, but not a lot going on upstairs if you know what I mean."
"I am familiar, yes." Lionel nodded as he tucked into his burger again.
"Oh, it's so nice to have such loyal and new customers like you all," Mr. Baily grinned as he appeared behind them suddenly. "Please tell me you would prefer this place over Mondo Burger."
"I'd prefer to judge those burgers first before I officially decide which is better, sir," Cherry remarked. "But I gotta say, you're an old fellow, but you know how to steam a ham."
"Steam a ham?" Mr. Baily asked out of confusion before shrugging. "I'll never understand kids these days, but I'll take that as a compliment."
"You better," Atticus advised. "Cherry has a weird way of expressing her feelings sometimes."
"But we love 'er anyway!" Lionel beamed.
Cherry rolled her eyes. "You guys are annoying." she then said.
"See? That means she loves us!" Thor beamed.
"Eh, if you say so..." Mr. Baily mumbled before he walked away. "I just hope Mondo Burger doesn't ruin my business."
"We'll see for ourselves." Atticus responded.
Mr. Baily kept muttering to himself.
After a little while, The Toon Force finished up their food and shakes, finding them to be a lot better than they expected. Thor was even hugging his stomach and using a toothpick on his teeth once he looked happily satisfied with his meal.
"Man, I don't know what it is, but I just love these burgers." Cherry commented.
"They're actually pretty good." Mo commented as she wiped her mouth.
"Hey, guys, you wanna come back here again in the future?" Atticus asked the others as Mr. Baily overheard their conversation.
"Yeah!" The others agreed eagerly.
"Then we shall." Atticus then told them.
"This is truly the greatest day of my life," Mr. Baily said to himself. "A bunch of complete strangers enjoy my food~"
Spatch grunted and spoke up as he waved his spatula in the air.
"Yes, they like you too, Spatch." Mr. Baily told him as he rolled his eyes slightly.
Spatch nodded in response and went back to work.
"Well, I guess we better get settled into our new surroundings," Atticus told the others. "I'll call in a reservation for us at that place I told you about on the way over here."
"Hey! Wait! Are you guys gonna come back to Good Burger?" Ed asked hopefully.
"Well, of course we are!" Cherry replied.
"We don't know when yet, but your place is better than I was expecting, so you can guarantee it." Mo added.
"Oh, cool!" Ed smiled. "That'll really make Mr. Baily happy. He often says that the money is always right, I always thought it was the customer, but I guess he would know better cuz he's the boss." he then added.
"Perhaps." Lionel responded as he and the others departed from Good Burger.
"Later, guys!" Ed laughed and waved at them.
"See ya, Ed!" The group replied as they left the burger joint.
"I kinda like that guy," Cherry commented. "He's not the brightest bulb in the box, but he's pretty nice and passionate about his work. Kinda like Thor."
"Yeah!" Thor laughed and added until he narrowed his eyes. "Wait, did you just call me dumb?"
"No, Thor." Cherry reassured him as they began to pass by other places such as a "Blockblister Video Store", another shop called "The Groovy Smoothie", and even a movie theater called "The Premiere" until they made it back to Atticus's car.
"Sweet! I got complimented by Cherry!" Thor then cheered like that was the best thing that ever happened to him.
"Glad to hear it." Lionel responded as he patted Thor on the head.
Thor beamed and grinned.
"Let's just hope this place we visit isn't too creepy for some of you guys." Atticus chuckled as he drove them to an inn that was offered to them during their visit.
"No place is too creepy for me," Cherry replied. "Except for maybe The Gray Area of The Other Realm."
"Let's just see what this place is like first," replied Lionel. "Then we'll see how creepy it supposedly is."
Atticus nodded as they continued to drive along a bit longer.
Eventually, the car finally came to a stop and they pulled up to what looked like a haunted inn complete with a lightning strike in the background with the sounds of screeching bats.
"Well, if this doesn't look like Disney's Haunted Mansion, I dunno what does." Cherry remarked.
"I'll take that as a compliment." A dark and creepy goth girl droned as she was suddenly in the car with The Toon Force group and no one saw her come in beforehand.
Atticus, Mo, Lionel, and Thor yelped as they turned around and saw the girl in question.
"You scared my friends." Cherry complained to the mysterious girl.
"You're welcome." The girl simply stated.
Cherry rolled her eyes at that slightly.
"One of you must be Atticus Fudo." The girl said to the group.
"...yeah, that would be me..." Atticus managed to respond. "And who might you be?"
"My parents designated me Claudia." The mysterious girl replied.
"Well, uh, it's nice to meet you then, Claudia." Atticus said with a friendly smile.
"You'll get over that," Claudia replied. "Follow me."
The storm continued in the background as the group followed Claudia inside the house which looked like a haunted inn.
"Nice place you got here," Lionel commented. "Very Addams Family."
"I'll take that as a compliment as well," Claudia said. "My dad bought it for us."
"So, uh, legends are saying this place is haunted or something," Mo said to the gloomy girl. "Care to tell us more about that?" she then suggested.
"I guess I could if you don't feel scared," Claudia smirked before she told them the story. "Legend has it that this house was built for a reality show in The Netherworld called 'The Unreal World' where monster residents were forced to live here for a year during the series. They included Spella the Witch, Vlad the Vampire, Pharah the Mummy, Frankie the Frankenstein, Spirit the Ghost, Gabe the Accountant, and Zoe the Zombie."
"They had an accountant?" Cherry asked in deadpan. "What's so scary about that?"
"Unless he works for the IRS." Thor remarked.
"He was actually a werewolf in every other episode." Claudia explained.
"There it is." Cherry remarked.
"Have a nice stay if you think you're brave enough," Claudia told them mysteriously before backing up into the shadows. "No one who is a pure human stays here for more than one night."
"Well, good thing we're not pure humans." Cherry smirked at the goth girl who was gloomier than her which was really saying something.
"Interesting," Claudia responded as she vanished. "This should be fun..."
The others glanced at Claudia while Cherry smirked at her.
Soon, everyone came upstairs and found their new room in the inn as the door seemed to creak open even without their key. The room was very simple with a couple of twin beds, a master bed, a couch with a TV in the corner, and a mini fridge for snacks and drinks.
"Is this a hunting lodge for rich weirdos?" Atticus wondered.
"No, that's Dick Cheney's house." Cherry quipped as she went to get settled.
"If nobody calls the master bed, I call it!" Lionel declared as he ran over to it.
Thor soon tried to run and beat Lionel over to it.
Cherry sweat-dropped as Lionel and Thor went over a playful duel with each other.
"Does this happen a lot?" Mo asked Cherry.
"More or less," Cherry replied before she lay down on the couch. "Somehow I feel like we have to do something."
"You mean besides R&R?" Atticus wondered.
"What does reading & reviewing have to do with this?" Thor wondered as he was currently sitting on top of Lionel, but not in a painful way.
"No, no, no! Rest and relaxation." Mo explained.
"Ohhh..." Thor said before nodding.
"I mostly mean about that place Mondo Burger," Cherry clarified to her friends. "I don't like the looks of it."
"It IS rather shifty, I'll admit," replied Lionel. "Who KNOWS just what they get up to in their kitchen?"
"If only there was some way we could find out," Atticus said. "Maybe one of us should try to get a job there and see what happens and do undercover work?" he then suggested.
Cherry looked a little deadpan at that idea before she looked at the others to see what they would think before she would say something.
"Hmm... I guess it could help," responded Mo. "That way if we see anything unethical in there, then we can at least gather evidence."
Cherry just shrugged at that.
"All right, but who should do it?" Atticus wondered.
"Maybe you?" Thor suggested before he jumped onto the master bed suddenly. "It was YOUR idea~"
"...tell you what..." said Lionel as he was launched into the air by Thor jumping onto the bed. "...we'll wait a bit, and see if an opportunity presents itself. Okay, Storm Cloud?"
"Hmm... oki~" Thor chuckled and nodded before he held out his arms to catch Lionel.
Lionel dropped down and plopped into Thor's arms.
"Hi~" Thor smiled.
"Hey." Lionel smirked.
"All right, we'll give it some time before we do something crazy," Cherry suggested. "Either way, I don't trust this Mondo Burger place. Good Burger might not be big and flashy, but I enjoyed my time there." she then added.
Everyone gave a noise of agreement in response.
"Anyways, is everyone all settled in?" Lionel asked.
"Yep! Good to go." Atticus replied as he got comfortable in his bed.
"Same here." Mo added before yawning.
"We should probably get some rest while we can," Thor suggested. "We had a pretty big day."
"Yeah, I guess that's true," Cherry replied. "Even if it wasn't Toon Force/Justice League training."
"Yup," nodded Lionel. "Good night, everyone."
Everyone said good night to each other and they began to settle down and get some sleep for the night. The night seemed to slip by, giving way to the next morning.