South Park: Dragging Me Down

Questions

Kenny was stressed.

After seeing to his sister and putting her to bed, he'd dressed as Mysterion and headed back to the alley to see how Pip was doing after his long day alone. Kenny had managed to steal some food from school and was hoping to give some to his friend to cheer him up, but when he actually got to the alley he found it empty.

Mysterion deflated. He looked around the opening to see if Pip was sheltering in any of the other nooks and crannies but nothing came up. He wasn't there, and neither were his belongings.

It was empty.

What?

This was serious.

Pip was meticulous and stuck to his daily schedule as much as he could. The only reason he ever missed anything was usually because of his bullies.

Is that why he's not here?

Mysterion quickly elevated himself onto the roof and started exploring every little bit of South Park to see where his friend had gotten to, but by the end of the night the vigilante had given up hope.

Pip just seemed to have disappeared.

It was like this for a few days afterwards. Through careful observation and study, Kenny noted that Pip wasn't turning up at school either. Despite this, Mysterion continually visited the alley in the evenings to see if he'd gone back there, but it was always empty. The British teenager was nowhere to be seen.

Kenny found Pip's sudden disappearance very disconcerting. It had hit him surprisingly hard and he found he was struggling to cope without seeing his new friend around school and in the evening. He thought he'd built up trust - a little friendship with the Brit, but now apparently he'd done a runner?

Did Mysterion really mean that little to Pip?

Kenny clawed at his hair as he stared into the void of the canteen where everyone was acting as if nothing significant had happened. Acting normal, as if Pip disappearing was of no concern to them.

Assholes.

"Nice to see you remaining calm as ever and not losing control."

Kenny jumped at the encroaching voice. "Michael."

Michael rested on his cane beside the blonde. "Kenny."

"The hell do you want?"

"I was just wondering about the Brit."

"That makes two of us." Kenny scowled. "I don't know where he is. I've looked everywhere."

"Hm." the goth boy looked deep into the cafeteria, across at Pip's usual bullies. "We've been keeping an eye out too. Can't say we've seen him."

"Thanks for looking."

"Just find him, will you?"

"I'll try."

Michael nodded and sloped off around the corner like a shadow, leaving a little bewildered Kenny on his own. He didn't know the goths cared that much about the Brit and it was actually a little touching, considering their status.

"Goth boy giving you trouble?" Cartman asked, sidling up beside the skinny teen.

"Ah, no. Just being his usual weird-ass self."

Cartman nodded. "Sounds about right; fucking hippy." he snorted. "Coming back to us? Clyde has something to say about his party."

With a sigh, Kenny followed Cartman back to the table.

~~~~~

"Hey Wendy, what are you staring at?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, think I just zoned out." Wendy shook herself out of her thoughts and turned back to Red and Bebe, who were talking about Clyde's upcoming birthday party.