The four had been making their way down the apartment stairs to the first floor and were taking a break on a landing. Pom Pom pulled a map out of his backpack and began to inspect it. Homestar took a seat on the stairs, and Marzipan walked over to the nearby door and stuck her head out into the hall.
"We should have taken the elevator." Homestar suggested.
"I didn't see any elevator." Strong Bad retorted.
"I did. It said 'service elevator: inploys only.'" Homestar replied.
"Employees, Homestar." Pom Pom corrected mildly.
"Right. That's what I said." Homestar got up and looked over the railing at the lower flights of stairs.
"You know for a minute your lack of a speech impediment made you sound smarter, but now I know better." Strong Bad grumbled.
"Every single floor looks exactly the same." Marzipan commented, returning from the doorway. "How dull."
"Any luck with that map, Pom Pom?" Strong Bad asked.
"I don't think I'll be able to make any sense of it until we're outside. I just wanted to see if Homeschool marked anything on here." Pom Pom slipped the map back into his bag and the group descended three more flights of stairs.
"Hey Homestar, check that thing out." Strong Bad pointed down at a garbage can. "That's what a garbage looks like, for future reference."
"Looks the same to me." Homestar leaned in and peered at the trash can. Strong Bad grabbed Homestar by the ankles and sent him over the railing and head first into the garbage.
"Strong Bad, what are you doing!" Marzipan demanded. "This isn't the time or place for you two to be messing around. Homestar, get out of that garbage barrel right now."
The garbage barrel wobbled as Homestar attempted to pull himself out, his feet kicking the air. "Umm… I don't really think I can… AH! You guys, something is moving in here! Get me out!" The garbage began to wobble more violently until it tipped over, scattering trash across the floor. Homestar crawled backwards out of the garbage and snatched his hat, shaking a candy bar wrapper off of the propeller.
"Come on guys." Pom Pom beckoned them out of the stairway. Strong Bad was struggling to keep a straight face as he followed Homestar out the fire exit. They emerged in an alleyway a few yards back from the sidewalk. Beyond the shadows of the apartment building walked the residents of Atlanta.
"I'm pretty sure staying around here isn't a good idea. Last time I was in a place like this there was a man hiding in the dumpster." Homestar explained.
The group moved into the sun and stood at the corner of the building. Pom Pom dug in his backpack to examine the map again. Meanwhile, Strong Bad grabbed an empty patch of wall to lean on and watched the pedestrian traffic.
Pom Pom looked up from the map. "I need to figure out what street this is in front of us."
"I'll ask someone." Strong Bad offered. He walked up to a passing female pedestrian and cleared his throat. "Pardon me, hot stuff-"
"Ugh! Get away, weirdo!" The woman scowled and walked away briskly, glancing over her shoulder.
Homestar started chuckling.
"What are you laughing at, Lord of the Stench?" Strong Bad demanded.
"Oh man, you totally got rejected Strong Bad." Homestar snorted with laughter. Strong Bad started to raise a fist, but Marzipan intervened.
"Don't even think about it. We have a job to do, remember? I'll ask someone." Marzipan turned around and almost ran into a stranger coming out of the alley. "Oh! Excuse me."
The man from the alley seemed to have been in a big hurry, but as soon as he caught sight of the group he seemed to relax and pull together. "Oh no, my fault entirely, miss. It's just… someone was trying to get my wallet back there." He straightened his coat and then stuck out his hand. "I'm Scott."
"Oh…" Marzipan shook his hand. "I'm Marzipan, and these are my friends. We were just looking for someone to tell us what street this is."
"Are you lost?" Scott inquired.
"Well, yes, actually. We're trying to get to… Pom Pom, where were we going again?" Marzipan turned to Pom Pom.
"The airport. Our flight leaves tomorrow morning." Pom Pom replied.
"We're going on a plane? Since when?" Strong Bad asked.
Pom Pom grabbed a plane ticket out of his backpack and held it up. "Since I found these in the backpacks. Did you even look in yours?"
"Tomorrow morning, eh… it's a little early to be trying to get to the airport then. I'd at least stay another night in a hotel rather than trying to avoid security at the airport. They don't like people sleeping there when there aren't delayed flights."
"We don't have anywhere to stay, so we'll take our chances." Marzipan replied.
"Oh! I can recommend somewhere or-"
"We're broke." Strong Bad interrupted.
"I'm so sorry. Well, in that case I suppose you couldn't get a cab either. Here, I'll show you the quickest way to get there on your map." Scott went over to Pom Pom and started explaining the directions as Marzipan looked over his shoulder.
Homestar looked on quietly from several feet away. "I don't like that guy." He mumbled.
"Huh?" Strong Bad turned to Homestar. "Did you say something?"
"I don't trust him. Just look at him. He's... freaky." Homestar practically stared laser beams at Scott.
"Oh boy, I'm not even gonna go there. I see what's going on, and no way am I getting involved." Strong Bad walked away.
"Where are you folks headed?" Scott asked once he'd finished giving directions. "You don't seem to be from around here."
Marzipan hesitated. "We're going south, for a vacation."
"Oh you too then? I'm leaving tomorrow for Cancun. I work for NAHTA." Scott explained.
"What's that?" Marzipan wondered.
"The National Association for the Humane Treatment of Animals. The locals have supposedly been poaching sea turtles, so they're sending me down to check it out." Scott pulled out a business card and handed it to her. "I have to get going, but if you guys need anything else feel free to call me." Scott locked eyes with Marzipan as he said the last few words.
"Thank you very much, Scott. Good luck with those sea turtles!" Marzipan waved, then she turned around. "Well, he sure was nice."
"I think he was creepy. And weird." Homestar said stiffly. "And he looked funny."
"Oh come on, he gave us directions. Quit sulking, Homestar." Marzipan scolded.
"All right guys, we should get walking if we want to get to the airport before dark." Pom Pom announced.
"Thank goodness. I need to get out of this disgusting soap opera…" Strong Bad remarked.
I get the feeling that's not the last we'll see of Scott. ;)