Quoted By:
The <span class="mu-i">HILL</span>, of course! Turning back towards where you emerged from, you begin the process of scanning the hill the bunker below the mansion was built into!
“You see something, bro?” Asks Raj as he instantly joins your search!
Not yet, you counter, but you had a thought: if Pepper left through the vents, well… it would make sense one of them might open up outside, right?
“Psssh, sure, that or inside the mansion!” Counters Rodney with a derisive eyeroll! “C’mon, D, you really want the <span class="mu-i">GARDENER</span> to stumble into your secret lair?”
You wanna tell Rodney he’s an idiot, but he’s got a decent point so you just flick his sunglasses instead.
“HEY!”
It’s a pretty slim chance, you’ll admit, but something in your gut compels you to keep searching the hillside! Even as the rain starts to pick up, you find yourself scouring the brush-heavy cliff for any sign of an exit… or at the very least some Pepper-sized footprints.
About ten minutes later all you have to show for your efforts is muddy shoes… Well, that and the fun of watching Rodney tumble down the hill when he slipped and fell. That was fun!
“Friggin’ weather…''Whines your grass stain-covered ‘<span class="mu-i">Rival</span>’, “As if bein’ stuck on an island with a buncha’ monsters ain’t bad enough, now we gotta play ‘<span class="mu-i">I SPY</span>’ in the rain… Hoo boy…”
You’re about to push him down the hill again when you see it–a lump in the side of the hill that’s almost <span class="mu-i">too</span>, well, lumpy! Calling the other stooges over, the three of you examine its surface and find a vent cover painted and molded to look like just another piece of the scenery! It even has moss on it!
“Good find, bro!” Remarks Raj as he gives the cover a tug. Sure enough, the vent cover gives–seems like whatever bolts were holding it in place are long gone! As you poke your head inside and turn on your <span class="mu-s">CELLPHONE FLASHLIGHT,</span> your search pays off: the vent opens up into a network of ducts big enough for a Pepper-sized person to clamber through!
If that’s the case, you muse to yourself, then there might be traces of her around here…
“<span class="mu-i">IF</span> she even came this way!” Adds Rodney as he wipes the drops off of his glasses! “C’mon, man, the hillside’s probably got more of these than holes in Swiss Cheese!”
Another surprisingly decent point from Rodney, but thankfully a <span class="mu-s">WRONG</span> one! You’re just about to tell him why he’s stupid when you see it–a sneaker-shaped imprint in the mud just next to your foot–an imprint much smaller than yours, to boot!
“Well I’ll be damned…” Your fellow Pizza Guy remarks in disbelief, “She <span class="mu-i">did</span> come through here…”
“Sure, but… but where is she goin’?” Asks Raj as the three of you follow the tracks to the treeline!
>CONTD.
