Dumb Rick Riordan Presents Shorts

What's a McDonald's?

"I'm hungry," Brynne declared.

Everybody ignored her. Even Mini, who, had anybody else said that, would have instantly had a MOMDPA and told them to get some food, and warn them about all the potential consequences that were quite disturbing caused from lack of food. Aru, Aiden, and Rudy didn't want to move. Sheela and Nikita were on vacation in Paris.

So nobody spoke. The only sound in the room was Brynne's stomach screaming bloody murder.

Until finally Mini cracked.

"When was the last time Brynne ate?" Mini asked the rest of the Potatoes, who were currently gathered on a couch and watching Encanto, at Aru's insistence. "What is an ... 'Encanto'?" Rudy, a naga who was extremely undereducated about the human world, had asked. Aru had replied with "Watch it," and here they were.

"Three minutes ago," Aru replied, not taking her eyes off of the television. Mirabel was currently following some rats, and had discovered a secret passage behind a portrait. She was almost bursting with curiosity on what would happen next, and wasn't going to miss a single moment.

"Approximately six pounds worth of McDonald's," Aiden put in.

Rudy, who like Aru, had been entranced with the movie that was playing, suddenly switched his focus. "What's a McDonald's?" he asked. "Is it some kind of horrific mammal?"

"No," Aiden replied.

"Is it a type of fruit?"

"No," Aiden repeated.

"Is it a – " Rudy started to ask another dumb question, but Aru interrupted.

"Shh!" Aru hissed. "I want to hear what happens!"

But she never did, as at that moment, Brynne declared, "I'm hangry."

"Oh gods!" yelped Mini. She grabbed the remote, which was unfairly next to her, even though it was Aru's turn to choose what they would watch, and flipped off the television. "Quick! Call a McDonald's!"

"My phone's dead," Aru said, rather upset that she had been interrupted in the middle of an engaging movie.

"Same," Rudy said.

"Why are you two so irresponsible?" asked Aiden, exasperatedly pulling out his phone. "My phone's also out of battery."

Aru nearly cursed. Now that her head was pulled out of Encanto, she was fully focused on satiating Brynne's hunger – she wasn't the god Agni, who would burn down the whole building to eat it in the case that he were hungry, but Brynne was pretty darn strong. More likely she would try and eat the house the traditional way, with a knife and fork. Not a good thing.

"Quick! To the car!" she called.

"Aru, none of us have a license," Mini pointed out.

"Oh," Aru said, sagging down. "Right."

"I guess we just walk there?" Rudy put out hopefully. Rudy really disliked running, especially recently, since his parents were trying to get him to "stop eating human food and exercise already!"

"Run," Aiden corrected. If this were a group chat, he would have definitely put an asterisk before the word "run".

"Of course," Rudy said. "I don't get to learn what an 'Encanto' is, and I have to run."

"On the plus side, you'll get to see what a McDonald's is?" suggested Aru pathetically.

"Really?" asked Rudy. "Let's go!"

"How are we going to get Bee there, though?" asked Aiden. "She's not exactly the easiest person to drag around."

That was true. Brynne was definitely not going to lie around while they dragged her to the nearest fast food restaurant.