"This thing is getting heavy," Dennis panted. "Can we please take a break?"

"No we may not," Lothar snapped. "We've got to take it somewhere that hooligan is unlikely to find it and there's no telling how much time we have. Besides, it's just a door. What are you some kind of namby-pamby little weakling who can't even transport one measly door without bellyaching?"

"I don't see you volunteering to carry it," Dennis grumbled.

"Are you getting fresh with me, Dennis?" Lothar asked. "Hauling doors around is clearly assistant work. We mad scientists need to focus all our energies on our towering intellects. This is what I pay you sub-minimum wage for. Now do your job and stop complaining."

"I swear it's gotten heavier since we shoved Dr. O's stuff in there," Dennis said with an involuntary groan.

"Nonsense," Lothar said. "Everything we put in the door is tucked away in a completely separate universe. Do you have the unmitigated audacity to believe you're carrying a whole universe around on your back? That door is merely a means of transportation. A simple gateway, if you will. You could shove ten fully grown elephants in there and it wouldn't add even an ounce of weight because it's still just a door."

"If you say so, boss," Dennis grunted.

"Besides, it's not like Dr. Octavius even put that much stuff in there. Even if you somehow could feel the extra weight, I doubt it could be much more than a couple hundred pounds. You sure you didn't need to transfer more stuff?"

"I got the most important items put in there while you were working on those doors for me. Thank you for that, by the way. Everything else in my lab is mostly just standard equipment. Beakers and flasks and the like. Easily replaceable and also just as likely to get broken being jostled around in another universe. Plus I figured we don't know how long it will be before Vance delivers on his threat to blow up my lab, if he even does it at all. We might have a bit of a wait and I thought we could pass the time performing some science experiments. You know, for fun."

They were forced to slow down to maneuver their way through a large group of pedestrians walking in the other direction. Dr. Octavius did a double take as they passed by.

"What, did you see somebody you know?" Lothar asked.

"If I'm not mistaken I believe I hired that toad to do some detective work for me. And that boy he was walking with looked mighty familiar, too. Reminds me a bit of a truly terrible assistant I once had. Oh well, no point in dawdling. Let's carry on."

"We should only have a few more blocks to go," Lothar said. "There's an overgrown field I know about that's a bit off the beaten path. It should make a good hiding place for this door. I'll activate the invisibility function as well once we get there to make it extra difficult to locate."

"Maybe we could put it in the middle of a patch of poison ivy as well," Dr. Octavius said. "A good old fashioned rash would certainly teach Vance a lesson he wouldn't be forgetting any time soon."

"I don't know if there's any poison ivy in the field, but I'm pretty sure there are a couple of mildly irritating ferns. We could place the door there. Speaking of doors, I'm happy I was able to outfit your doors to your specifications, but are you sure it was a good idea leaving them in your lab? What if that moron turns up there while we're gone and destroys them?"

"If that were to happen, then all is truly lost," Dr. Octavius said. "But I don't think that will happen because none of what's happening right now would be possible if it did. I just had a feeling that I should leave them in the lab. And as far as those doors are concerned, I believe that will turn out to be the correct choice. Of course, if it isn't, then I might possibly break all of reality, which probably wouldn't be a good thing. I'm thinking it might be prudent to attend to my business with the doors sooner rather than later. On the other hand, I suppose it will happen when it's meant to happen."

"True," Lothar said. "I still feel strongly that you should not be the one to carry out the task. We really can't risk losing you if something were to go wrong."

"I concur," Dr. Octavius said. "This is also why you shouldn't be the one to do it either. I believe it will take the combined efforts of both of our talents to ultimately pry the energy away from Vance and into some more suitable container."

"We could always send Dennis," Lothar said. "After all, he's expendable."

"That may be the case," Dennis piped up. "But who's going to haul around the heavy stuff for you if I get myself lost or killed?"

"You make a good point. No, we shouldn't send Dennis. There must be somebody else. Didn't you just say that toad we walked past a few minutes ago was in your employ? Do you suppose we could send him?"

"He might do," Dr. Octavius said thoughtfully. "Although, if I recollect correctly, he's a bit of a drunk. Can we trust him with such a monumentally important task?"

"Didn't you say he was walking with a friend? Maybe we could enlist that fellow as well. Perhaps he might prove to be a positive influence on this alcoholic amphibian employee of yours?"

"Hmm," Dr. Octavius stroked his mustache. "The more I think about it, the more I'm certain that was Zeke he was with. And now that I dwell on my memories, it seems to me those two have come through for me in the clutch a couple of times in the past. Perhaps I've been too hard on that boy. Maybe he wasn't a truly terrible assistant. Maybe he was merely sub-par."

"At any rate, we're here," Lothar said, indicating a field filled with bright orange and yellow grass and a multitude of overgrown plant-life in a rainbow of colors. It was quite nondescript, by Quartzwater City standards. "Let me see... Ah, here we go. Dennis, if you would be so kind as to place the door right here."

They found a suitable spot smack in between one fern-like bush that emitted a sound similar to somebody loudly slurping soup and another fern that was an insufferable know-it-all. Lothar hit a switch on the back side of the door and it faded into invisibility.

"Well, that's taken care of," Dr. Octavius said. "Now I suppose we should figure out what's next on our to-do list. Obviously we will need to focus our attention at some point on this problem of creating a container for the energy that inhabits Vance, but I'm not sure we will be able to do that until we can get at least one of our labs back up and operating at full capacity."

"Agreed," Lothar said. "I used to have an operational lab inside the pocket universe where we just stashed all our stuff, but I'm afraid I stopped paying the power bill on it quite some time ago. Now it's pretty much just an over glorified storage closet. No, I believe our top priority at this moment is taking care of this business regarding your doors. And for that we shall require the services of your two employees, who are retreating further and further in the opposite direction of us as we speak."

"They looked like they were moving pretty fast," Dr. Octavius said. "I'm not sure if we'll be able to catch up to them."

"That's what Dennis is for," Lothar said. "Dennis! I have your next task! I need you to run back the way we came and fetch a certain toad by the name of... what did you say his name was?"

"Max," Dr. Octavius replied.

"Yes. Max. Have I met that guy? I think I might have met that guy before. Well, no matter. Go fetch this Max. And his friend, who I believe you said was named Zeke?"

"Correct," Dr. Octavius said.

"Go fetch this Max and this Zeke and have them meet us over at Dr. Octavius's lab as soon as possible. You got that? And if you make it quick, I'll throw in a sugar packet for your morning cup of coffee."

"Yes, sir!" Dennis shouted. "Right away, sir! Oh boy, oh boy! A sugar packet! I'll have these guys at your lab before you guys can solve a math equation!" He took off on a mad dash down the sidewalk.

"And now we wait," Dr. Octavius said. "Let's return to my lab. We can do some good old fashioned science experiments until Dennis returns with Max and Zeke. Or until Vance shows up and blows everything up. Whichever comes first."