For the second time in her life Sarah felt the odd bodily sensations that went along with Interdimensional travel. What began as a tingling feeling in the stomach soon spread throughout the body accompanied by flashing colors and an intense sense of speed and acceleration. Just when it seemed as if the whole experience would become overwhelming, it came to an abrupt stop and she found herself standing on a faded green road, much less brightly colored than she had recalled from her last journey to Quartzwater City. Perhaps this was due to the disappearance of the color green that Max had mentioned.
She seemed to have arrived in a part of town she hadn't visited last time as she didn't recognize any of the scenery around her, although she was unmistakably back in Quartzwater City as there were numerous animals wearing Hawaiian shirts walking around.
Max lay passed out on the road ahead of her in front of some sort of antique shop. An otter emerged from it carrying a bucket of water which it splashed on the prostrate toad. "Get away from my shop, you worthless bum! You're driving away the customers!"
Max sputtered and shook and then sat upright, looking around bleary-eyed. "Thanks for the shower, buddy. I needed to get rid of the Earth stink that was on me."
"Would you get out of here already?" the otter shook its fist at him. "I've got a gun and I'm not afraid to use it!"
Max stood up and puffed out his chest. "Do you realize who you're talking to? I'm a very dangerous man! I could break you!" He dusted off his shirt and turned around muttering to himself when he noticed Sarah for the first time. "Oh hello there, beautiful. Glad you could make it. I trust your journey went well."
"I'm fine. Have you seen Maurice or my uncle anywhere?"
An answer to part of her question came almost immediately as Maurice appeared suddenly in the middle of the road. He stumbled a few steps and then fell into Max.
"Hey, watch where you're going, man," Max shoved him back onto his feet. "Jeez, Sarah. This 'boyfriend' of yours is quite the embarrassment."
"Oh... I feel like death," Maurice murmured.
"It's not his fault he's not feeling well after you went and boozed him up," Sarah said defensively. "He just needs to lay down for a bit. Maybe we should try to get a room at the Galloping Centipede Inn."
"Not a bad idea," Max concurred. "I just took a bit of a nap myself. Does wonders for the constitution. But where's your uncle? He's the one I was sent to fetch in the first place."
A minute later Dr. Octavius emerged from the antique store carrying a rocking chair. "My, my. This will look marvelous in my lab. Only two strands of floss, too. A steal if ever I saw one."
"Aha! There you are!" Max shouted. "What are you doing dilly-dallying around when there's work to be done? Besides, I don't like the looks of that shopkeeper. I'll wager he's up to something no good."
"Sorry. I have been looking for a good rocking chair for a long time."
"Never mind that!" Max snapped. "We need to get you in touch with your scientist buddies so you can start fixing this problem we're having with the greenery."
"I have numerous contacts throughout the city so getting in touch with my fellow scientists shouldn't be difficult. We'll just go back to my secret laboratory and I'll send out a call. Maybe I can whip up a little something to liven up old Maurice here while I'm at it."
"That would be nice," Sarah smiled.
"No that would NOT be nice," Max interjected sharply. "Solving the green problem takes precedence over everything, I'm afraid. Your substance abusing boyfriend can just sleep off his hangover like God intended."
"Well, regardless we have to get back to the lab forthwith," Dr. Octavius said. "Besides, I'm dying to see how my new rocking chair will look next to my worktable."
They hadn't been walking for very long when something small, brown, and furry came running down the street in a blurry streak, snatched Sarah's purse without pause, and disappeared around a corner.
"What the?" she stopped short, barely realizing what had just occurred. "Somebody stop that thing!"
"Leave this to me," Max said boldly. "I'm an expert at the whole solving crimes thing. Doc, you just hurry on back to the lab. I'll get to the bottom of this." With that he leaped off down the street in pursuit of the thief.
He rounded the corner just in time to see the brown streak disappear under a vendor's cart full of a strange fruit that vaguely resembled a hybrid between an apple and a banana.
"I got you now, you little hoodlum," Max smiled to himself. "Think you can steal purses while Maximillian J. Toad is on the watch? Well think again!" He got down on all fours and poked his head underneath the cart.
He was greeted by the sight of a tiny little Chihuahua hunched over in the corner, trembling slightly as it clutched Sarah's purse tightly to its chest and stared back at him with large brown eyes.
"All right, hand it over," Max said as he reached a hand tentatively forward. "That's a nice doggy."
The Chihuahua responded by biting his finger as hard as it could.
"Yeeeeee-ouch!" Max screamed as he reflexively yanked his hand backwards and began to suck on the wounded finger. "All right. You're making me angry now! Don't make me come in there after you!"
The Chihuahua flipped him an obscene gesture and then bolted out the back side of the cart.
"Oh, you shouldn't have done that, you little mongrel! The harsh hammer of justice is going to fall down on you hard now!"
Max leaped back up to his feet and took off running after the little dog who had just disappeared around another corner down an alleyway. Max stayed hot on its tail and emerged in a large square that was filled from corner to corner with various merchants' stalls. A network of narrow pathways existed between the stalls but they were crowded with shoppers and merchants hawking their wares.
"Care to buy this carving of a chisel?" a fat tortoise nearby propositioned him. "Only one strand."
"Not now, my good man. I'm busy putting a stop to a dangerous criminal element." Max scanned around the marketplace, momentarily distracted by the spectacle. But then he spotted his quarry scurrying off down a busy avenue to the left. He chased after it, despite the fact that he was breathing hard from all the running.
The Chihuahua looked over its shoulder and let out a little yelp when it saw Max just a short distance behind. It took a sharp turn to the right, intentionally knocking over a barrel full of nails as it went past.
Max hopped over the barrel and landed in a big puddle, splashing a couple of leopards who were browsing a table full of sticks nearby.
"Hey!" the female leopard shouted. "This is a brand new shirt! My husband just bought it for me for my birthday!"
"Sorry about that, ma'am, but there's a hooligan on the loose!" Max tried to slip past but the male leopard grabbed him by the shirt collar.
"Hold on a second there, buddy! Where do you think you're going? You're not leaving until you reimburse us!"
"No time for that," Max tried again to get past. "Sorry, but there's always some collateral damage during the course of a criminal investigation. No getting around that. Have a nice day."
"I don't think you understood me," the leopard growled as it shoved Max backwards roughly. "That was an expensive shirt and you ruined it. Now fork over some floss!"
"Sir, are you aware you're obstructing justice?" Max said importantly.
"My fist is going to be obstructing your face in a second, dipshit!" the leopard bared its teeth.
"You get him, Harold!" the female screeched shrilly.
Max sighed. "I hate to resort to violence, but I'm afraid you leave me no choice." He quickly grabbed one of the sticks off of the merchant's table and smacked the leopard upside the head with it. It immediately fell on the ground unconscious.
"Actually, that was kind of fun," Max smiled.
"What have you done to my husband?" the female shrieked.
"Look lady, you want some of this?" Max shook the stick around threateningly.
She quickly shook her head no.
"Then shut the fuck up, for fuck's sake!" Max lit a cigarette and began grumbling to himself. "Lousy broad. You're giving me a headache. Now, what was I doing here again?" He looked around and spotted the Chihuahua off in the distance dashing down another side alleyway. "Oh yeah. Fighting crime one lowlife at a time. No time to lose!" He quickly extinguished his cigarette and shoved his way through the crowd towards the alley.
Once he reached it he saw the Chihuahua sitting down with its back against the wall carefully rummaging through the contents of the purse. It looked up when it heard Max's footsteps approaching, let out another little yelp, and then tucked the purse under its arm as it sprinted off again.
"You're not going to get away with this!" Max panted as he clutched at his chest. "I may be old and out of shape, but my superior crime fighting abilities will come through for me. Just wait 'til I catch my second wind!"
He continued to jog after the Chihuahua through various streets and plazas until finally the little dog ducked down a narrow side road.
"Aha!" Max shouted. "You've finally tripped up, you miserable little mutt! I happen to know that road leads to a dead end! There's no escaping now!"
With a final burst of speed Max followed after it gaining ground quickly. He was inches away from grabbing it by its little tail when it suddenly turned behind a dumpster and disappeared into a tiny little dog-sized door built into the wall, which slammed behind it with an audible click.
Max tried the doorknob to no avail and then began pounding on the door. "You open this door right now! Do you hear me? Open up, I say!"
After a few minutes it became apparent the door wasn't going to open. Max sat down and folded his arms across his chest. "Fine! Don't open the door! You can't stay in there forever! I'll sit here and wait it out if I have to!"
He sat still twiddling his thumbs and catching his breath. Soon he became bored and his attention was distracted by an attractive blonde woman who had walked past on the crossroad. He wandered out to the main street to admire the view when he noticed a little hole-in-the-wall bar nearby, which was literally a big hole carved out in the wall. He unconsciously smacked his lips in anticipation of a stiff alcoholic beverage and he found himself moseying on into the establishment and ordering a house special in spite of himself.