Sarah thought she heard a series of popping noises somewhere off in the distance, but she conceded it could have been in her imagination. The balloons surrounding her were so thick she was finding it hard to breathe and movement was nearly impossible.

"Of all the ways to go, getting taken out by balloons was not what I was expecting," she muttered to herself. "It's kind of undignified really."

The popping noises seemed to be getting louder. All of a sudden the balloons on her right side disappeared completely and she found herself with some much needed elbow room.

Dr. Octavius appeared in the space that had been created holding his pocket laser. "Sarah? Thank goodness. I've already located our amphibian friend. He's right behind me. I also have our portable door. Given that it will take a very long time to pop all of these balloons and even longer to locate the mirror that contains the passageway our chihuahua adversary used to escape, I propose that we use our door as an exit out of here."

"I think I'm agreeable to that," Sarah said as she blew out a strand of her hair that had found its way into her mouth.

"I think we should go after that little hooligan," Max said. "He still has my flask."

"We might be able to find him more quickly if we don't waste a lot of time looking for a way out of here," Sarah said. "Besides, we can probably get you some more liquor faster if we make our exit now."

"It's pretty hard to argue with that logic," Max conceded. "You make a very good point. Okay, let's use the door to get the hell out of here."

Dr. Octavius leaned the door against one of the nearby mirrors. He turned the knob and they all stepped through.

The intense blast of heat was the first thing Sarah noticed, followed by an overwhelming smell of sulfur. A hot wind stung her eyes as she gazed at a sky that was a deep blood red color. Somewhere off in the distance a giant volcano spat out glowing green lava. A dark blue smoke plume wafted its way out of a crevasse just off to the left.

"I might be stating the obvious here, but I don't think we're back in Quartzwater City," Max said. A small meteorite fell from the sky and smashed into the ground entirely too nearby for comfort. "Either that or the place has really gone to hell since we've been gone."

"Back through the door!" Dr. Octavius shouted as he grabbed Max and Sarah by the wrists and pulled them through. He slammed the door shut behind them as they emerged back in the hall of mirrors. Balloons had begun to drift into the space they had created and Max took the opportunity to stomp on one until it popped.

"There must be something I'm missing as to how these doors work," Dr. Octavius said as he studied it intently.

Max let out a gasp as he took a look at himself in one of the mirrors. "I really think my green color's fading now, guys. Do I look a little grayish to anyone else or is it just me?"

"You are looking a little pale," Sarah said. "Less vibrant somehow."

"Oh no," Max said. "I can feel myself getting weaker by the moment. You've gotta get this thing figured out, Doc."

"Hmm," Dr. Octavius said. "It just occurred to me we came into this place through one side of the door. Maybe to get back where we came from we have to go through the other side." He flipped the door around so the doorknob was facing to the left. "You two stay here for a moment. I'll make sure it's safe." He stuck his head through the door and peered around for a moment before he pulled his head back out. "Come on through guys. It looks like the parade's still going on, but we've managed to make it across the street."

It became apparent as they emerged from the door that the shrinking ray was still in effect as everywhere they looked they were surrounded by giants. A pair of oversized chicken feet approached them and a loud high-pitched voice boomed out "Well if it isn't my lucky day. You little guys look like some tasty morsels." A giant yellow beak descended on them from above.

Dr. Octavius blinked as he looked up at his impending doom. "Esther?"

The huge chicken face stopped in its tracks and considered them carefully. "Dr. Octavius? Sarah? How'd you guys get so bite-sized?"

"You recall when I was doing experiments with my shrinking ray, don't you?"

"Oh yeah," Esther clucked. "I remember that. So, uh, is Zeke with you guys?"

"No he disappeared awhile back," Dr. Octavius said. "Probably tried to run away from his problems instead of facing them like a responsible adult."

"That's too bad," Esther said. "If you happen to see him tell him I said 'hi, studmuffin.' Make sure you include that studmuffin part."

"We'll be sure to do that," Dr. Octavius said with a small shrug.

"Who's your little gray friend here?" Esther asked.

"Gray?" Max said as he buried his face in his hands. "I'm Max and I'm as green as they come, lady. At least I hope that's still true. Am I really that gray?"

"Either gray or maybe a nasty brown color. I'm not quite sure. Definitely not green. Although you're not really seeing much green around these days, are you?"

"The green hue does seem to be getting rather scarce around here," said Dr. Octavius. "That's one of the problems we're attempting to tackle."

"One of the problems?" Max asked. "That's, like, the main problem."

"What about the missing items like my purse or Bobby's ring?" Sarah asked.

"Or my flask!" Max said. "Thanks for reminding me. That other junk is more peripheral to the matter at hand, but getting my flask back is right up there with solving the green problem in terms of importance."

"Perhaps you could be of some assistance to us, Esther," Dr. Octavius said. "Our friend Bobby was giving us a ride to a certain alleyway, but we somehow became separated from him."

"I can give you guys a ride on my back," Esther said as she squatted down. "Hop on."

"I really never thought I'd see the day that I was using a chicken for transportation," Sarah said as she climbed onto Esther's back. "These feathers actually make for a nice cushion though."

"Everyone aboard?" Esther asked. "Where is this alley you need to go to?"

"I've only been there once, and I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't pay attention to its location," Dr. Octavius said.

"I know the way," Max said. "Allow me to provide you with directions."

Esther waddled her way through the crowd and broke into a trot once she had enough space. Max gave her instructions and she took various turns down side streets accordingly.

"All right here we are," Max said after they'd been traveling for several minutes.

"This doesn't look like an alley," Dr. Octavius said. "It appears to be a bar."

"So sue me," Max said. "I haven't had anything to drink in a while. Besides, the alley we're looking for isn't far from here. It's just a little side excursion on the way. It occurred to me that the weakness I've been feeling may be due to alcohol withdrawal as well as losing my green color."

"Isn't this the same bar that you skipped out on the tab earlier?" Sarah asked. "Are you crazy?"

"That's a minor technicality," Max said as he waved his hand dismissively. "Besides at my present shrunk down size the bartender won't even see me. On top of that it shouldn't take as much liquor to do the job. There's always a little bit of brew dripping from the tap when it's not in use. That's just wasted booze anyway. It's not like they're getting paid for it. I'll just stand under the tap with my mouth open and a few giant sized drops ought to do me fine. I get to drink for free and the alcohol goes to good use. It's a win-win situation for everyone."

"And what are we supposed to do while you go get drunk?" Sarah asked.

"You're welcome to come have some drinks with me or you can wait here."

"Wait here doing what? Twiddle our thumbs?" Sarah said.

"It's not my responsibility to keep you entertained," Max sighed. "There's a whole wondrous universe full of limitless possibilities within you and without you. Take it upon yourself to be interested and be interesting."

"You know what? Spare me the life coaching and go drink. I can talk to my uncle."

"That's the spirit," Max said. "Now Esther I'm going to need you to get me up to that bar. You can order a water or something if you'd like and keep the bartender distracted while I make my way to the tap. Think you can handle that?"