Shadow the Hedgehog 2: the Revenge of Maria- Ch 23

 

"Why is it that the only Crush 40 song that I absolutely despise is the only song of theirs on Spotify?" asked Shadow out loud as he and Maria zoomed through the streets of Station Square aboard the Dark Rider, his beloved motorcycle, his voice struggling to drown out, as he had previously mentioned, THE ONLY CRUSH 40 SONG ON SPOTIFY.  "Seriously- we can get songs from the first few seasons of the 4Kids! dub of Pokémon, and Disney Renaissance soundtracks that we want, but noooooo... No Open Your Heart nor What I'm Made Of.  Not even Live and Learn."

 

Maria was too mesmerized by the sights flying by her at sonic speed to listen to Shadow's legitimate complaint; she ignored the pain of holding on to the back of a three-foot tall hedgehog as the powerful motorcycle made its way through countless streets and past the enchanting city and felt the rush as the wind caused her hair to fly gracefully through the air behind them.  The two had planned their afternoon activities quickly, though their itinerary mostly consisted of getting take-out at a local dive and eating it in the vicinity of Station Lake (Maria had originally intended for them to go on a small row boat ride out there, but hedgehogs aren't exactly known for their love of water, plus the city's budget had cut funding for maintaining the spawning bubbles at the bottom, so it was a no-go in Shadow's eyes, er- one giant conjoined eye).  Later, the two would take a walk through the park, as Maria had never been to one before and they had some time to kill before they were to report back to GUN to be briefed on Team Hardline's upcoming mission.

 

Revvin' Up soon gave way to Everybody (more colloquially known as Back. Street's. Back. (AL-RIGHT!) and was only on the playlist at Maria's insistence) and the bustling streets soon gave way to green fields complemented by majestic wildflowers and endangered species of non-anthropomorphic critters (Flickies, Rickies, Cluckies, and whatnot), and were more often than not dappled with signs advertising the acreage and whom to call for more information regarding purchase.  The road delved into a more natural-looking unpaved path for a bit, and then slowly regressed back to the standard pavement once they reached the strip mall in which Shadow's favorite restaurant was housed.

 

Pudding on the Ritz was a bit of a local secret.  From the outside it seemed like a run-down mom and pop establishment that had no regard for health codes, but in reality was a run-down mom and pop establishment that had no regard for health codes and served the BEST FOOD EVER.  One does not simply walk into "the Ritz" and expect to "hang out".  The Ritz was an experience- something to be enjoyed and then regretted an hour later as one drifted into a food coma.  They did not specialize in a specific type of cuisine, but rather a mish-mosh of everyone's favorites: there was the standard pudding and Ritz crackers, of course, but also Italian, Greek, Mexican, French, Morroccan, Korean, American, Korean-American, British, Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Laotian, Polish, Turkish, Austrailian, Antarctican, and oh so much more.

 

All of it greasy, all of it delicious.

 

Maria had never tasted such foods before, and was astounded by this new and foreign concept of "grease".  Not that all food on the ARK was 100% fresh- the space colony did not have much room to grow vegetables for consumption, as most of them were being experimented on, but most of Maria's meals still tended to be healthy.  This may have accounted for her frail, lithe figure, but the NIDS was still mostly to blame for that.

 

It would be incorrect to say that they ate silently, though they did not speak.  It is considered polite in Japan to eat loudly in order to show one's appreciation for their meal, hence the reason why whenever someone eats in an anime, it's always ridiculously loud.  The girl and her hedgehog were eating loudly enough to write a book on Japanese manners- which would be rather impressive considering how anal-retentive they are considering those matters.  Seriously- more than a dozen ways to say "I am" depending on your age, gender, or whether or not someone is armed?

 

However, their "silent" lunch was about to be interrupted.

 

"Yo!  Slim Shady!  Good to know that even you step out for a little fun every now and then!"