The blanket spread open and they began to drift slowly down towards the ground. "Who would have ever thought this crazy trick would work?" Max asked.
"I did," Dr. Octavius said. "That's why I suggested it."
"I think I see the door back that way," Sarah said as she cupped one hand over her eyes while holding on tightly to the corner of the blanket with the other.
They came to a gentle landing in a small puddle, which at their current size seemed more like a moderately sized pond.
Max let go of the blanket and did a couple of backstrokes. "Ah, reminds me of my pollywog days. Nothing like a rancid pool of water to really take you back."
Sarah had managed to get herself tangled up in the blanket, which was quickly becoming soaked. "Would someone like to help me get out of this thing?"
"I always said you were a wet blanket, Sarah," Max chuckled. "But really, there's no need to get all literal on us."
"I'm serious," she said. "This thing's starting to drag me down. I really don't want to die by drowning in a puddle."
Dr. Octavius waded over to the thrashing spot on the blanket and cut Sarah loose with a pocket laser. "There, you're free. Now which way did you say you saw the door?"
Sarah looked around. They were surrounded by numerous pairs of feet that appeared to be the size of houses. Above these extended giant legs that looked like skyscrapers. She couldn't even see people's faces from down here. "Well, we were moving forward through the crowd, so it stands to reason the door should be behind us. So let's go in the opposite direction from which the feet are pointing."
"That's exactly the same conclusion I came to," Max said as he whirled around and headed away from the direction he had been about to suggest they go.
"Just be careful," Dr. Octavius said. "This is going to be somewhat like navigating our way through a jungle, except the trees can move and crush us."
They circled their way around a giant hoof as they headed back in the direction in which Sarah had seen the door. "I'm pretty sure there was some hairy purple guy standing right next to it. He should stand out somewhat in this crowd so keep your eyes peeled."
"Look out!" Dr. Octavius shouted as he pushed Sarah and Max to the side. A giant shuffling foot in an enormous dirty tennis shoe slid past them just inches from where they stood.
"Thanks, Doc," Max said. "That was a close one. I almost became toad paste."
"This is incredibly dangerous," Dr. Octavius said. "The longer we stay out here the greater the chances of us getting accidentally squashed. We need to cover more ground. Perhaps we'd better split up."
"Wait, I see a big hairy purple foot up ahead," Sarah said. "And the door is lying there on the ground right in front of it."
The purple foot shuffled forward, unintentionally kicking the door.
"Incoming!" Max shouted as he pushed Sarah and Dr. Octavius to the ground. The door flew right over them, bounced off the back of the dirty tennis shoe and then rolled off out of view behind an enormous dog paw.
"I've got you now, you stupid door," Max said as he raced after it. He went around the giant paw and saw the door rattling to a stop. He was halfway to it when a shadow fell across him. He looked up to see another giant dog paw descending rapidly towards him. Evidently the dog had been scratching behind its ear with its other paw and was now returning it to the ground, right where Max stood.
Max began running as fast as he could, trying to get out of the shadow. He made a diving leap for the door just as the paw came crashing down behind him. He landed a few inches away from the door, but appeared to be all in one piece. He lay on the ground panting and was soon overtaken by a coughing fit. "I've suddenly come to the realization that running and smoking six packs of cigarettes a day is probably not a very good combination."
Sarah and Dr. Octavius came around the paw and saw Max on the ground. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine," Max coughed. "Just give me a moment. Besides, the door is right here."
He'd barely gotten the words out of his mouth when a humongous black heeled boot shifted to the side and sent the door sliding away.
"Oh no you don't," Max said as he leaped up and hurried after it. This time he jumped right on top of it and held it down with both feet. "There! I'd like to see you escape from that. No door is going to outsmart Maximillian J. Toad."
"Cool! A toy!" A gigantic dirty pink hand suddenly scooped Max up. He watched helplessly as the door dwindled away beneath him, still lying on the ground which was rapidly getting further and further away.
Max found himself staring into the beady eyes of a gigantic boy with a blond crew cut. He looked somewhat human except he sported pointy ears and a long curved nose.
"You're an ugly toy," the boy said. "I think I'll call you the Frog Monster."
"Listen kid, you've got to put me down," Max said. "Lives are at stake here. And by the way I'm a toad. Also the only capacity in which I'm a monster is in the sack."
"You can talk! Awesome!"
"Don't get your panties in a bunch, kid," Max said. "Talking's not all that impressive of a feat. I mean, look at you. You're talking and I'm not getting all spazzed out about it."
"I can't wait to show you off to Billy," the boy said as he shoved Max into his pocket.
"Oh for crying out loud," Max said as he found himself in a dark, confined, and vaguely smelly place. "Unless this 'Billy' you refer to is a hot buxom blonde, this is seriously not cool."
*
Maurice pushed his way through the revolving door and was greeted by the unexpected but unmistakable scent of leather. "Is this Big Dave's?" he called out.
"Welcome!" an overweight yellow man with a bushy mustache called out. "You're in the right place. I'm Big Dave."
"Interesting decor you've got here," Maurice said as he looked around. The walls were covered in studded leather and various whips and chains hung everywhere.
"Why thank you," Big Dave said. "My dear friend Bruce designed it for me. Now please, take a seat and sample some of my wares."
"You give free samples? That's really neat. This way I can make sure I bring Lothar the absolute tastiest doughnuts you've got." Maurice found a big metal chair and sat down in it.
"Wonderful, wonderful," Big Dave said as he emerged from behind the counter. Maurice couldn't help but notice the shopkeeper was dressed in a form-fitting leather outfit with a spiked collar. He also seemed to be sporting assless chaps.
Big Dave swooped to the back of Maurice's chair and cuffed his hands behind him with a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs. "You're just going to love these. They're the latest model. Their called the WristGrasperX2000. Completely inescapable."
"That's really interesting," Maurice said. "I don't really see what this has to do with doughnuts, but okay."
"Next we'll tie you up with some ultra-smooth nylon bungee cords. Much sleeker than ropes, I'm sure you'll agree."
"I do agree," Maurice said as he was bound up by the bungee cords. "Once again I'm slightly confused here as to where the coffee and doughnuts come in."
"Well I'm sure you won't be confused at all when I demonstrate these nipple clamps. They just came in and they're already one of our top sellers." With that he lifted Maurice's shirt and proceeded to attach a couple of vise-like objects to his nipples.
"Actually this confuses me even more," Maurice said as he winced in pain.
"Silly me, I almost forgot. You'll definitely want to try out our top of the line ball gags," Big Dave said as he reached onto a shelf and pulled down something that looked like a big orange tennis ball attached to two leather straps.
"I'm not sure what the purpose of that thing is," Maurice said. "I'm sure it's really quite fascinating, but I honestly just wanted to place a to go order for a dozen doughnuts and a large coffee."
"Mmm," Big Dave said. "I don't know why you keep mentioning doughnuts, but they certainly do sound good right now. I like the bear claws personally. I think I'll go pick some up after this. Thanks for the suggestion."
"Isn't this Big Dave's cafe?" Maurice asked.
"Oh goodness, no," Big Dave said. "Big Dave's cafe is several blocks away from here. This is Big Dave's S & M shop. Completely different store. Although I suppose I do understand the confusion. Now, anyway, open wide." He shoved the ball gag into Maurice's mouth and strapped it behind his head.
Maurice muttered something unintelligible as he pulled futilely at his restraints.
"Next I'd like to demonstrate some of our most popular whips on you," Big Dave said as he pulled down a particularly nasty looking strap with several spiky balls attached to the end of it. "Brace yourself. This is going to sting a little."