"It's time to wake up, honey," Dr. Octavius said cheerfully. 

Sarah opened her eyes blearily and looked around. She was laying in a cot with a thin blanket covering her. Unfortunately she still appeared to be a rat. 

Max lay in another cot a few feet away snoring loudly. The other cots were empty as all of the scientists already appeared to be up and moving around. 

Sarah had tried to follow their discussion the previous night, but most of it had eluded her and she had felt herself quickly becoming drowsy. Dr. Octavius had led her off to a small side room where the cots were set up and she had fallen asleep within minutes of lying down. 

"Breakfast is being served in the conference room, if you want to wake your friend up. As soon as we're finished eating we need to hit the road." 

"Okay," Sarah said sleepily. She rolled over and nudged Max. "Hey! It's morning!" 

Max smacked his lips but didn't open his eyes. He let out another loud snore. 

She shook him again. "Hey wake up!" 

"What's that?" Max murmured. "Make love? Not now, sweetness. Sleep." He rolled over and continued to snore. 

Finally Sarah smacked him on the head. He woke up with a jolt and looked around blearily. "Where the hell am I?" He turned and noticed Sarah. "Aaaah! This place is infested with rats! Get away you filthy vermin! Where's my shoe?" 

"Relax!" Sarah shouted. "It's me, Sarah! I swear, you're the most out of it person I've ever seen when you wake up." 

"Listen, sweetheart, I'll have you know I'm never 'out of it,' whatever the hell 'it' is. My mind is constantly working, staying on top of things, figuring out angles you've never even come close to imagining!  Now, where the hell are we again?" 

"We're in the basement under the cloud factory. We found my uncle last night, remember?" 

"Oh yeah, the dubious old man," Max rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Well, don't worry. If he tries anything unscrupulous I'll pull out my patented ninjitsu on him." 

"If you a lay a finger on my uncle I'll kick your ass, toad. By the way, breakfast's served." 

"Now that's music to my ears," Max patted his belly hungrily. He stood up and squinted at her. "No offense, but you look like you could use a shave." 

Sarah growled at him and stormed out of the room.

* * *

Breakfast consisted of some sort of green muffins and a glass of sweet tasting nectar. Sarah and Max both ate until they were full and then a three-toed sloth carried their dishes away. 

Dr. Octavius appeared and smiled cheerfully. "Are you ready to head back into town? The others already left, but I thought I'd let you sleep in a bit." 

"Do we have to go through those traps again?" Sarah asked. 

"No, we have a switch to turn them on and off. We can make our way out in perfect safety." 

True to his word, they walked straight through the trapped rooms and up the stairs without any trouble. Once outside he reached into a bush and pulled out three wheels with seats attached to them. "Shall we be on our way?" 

"What are those things?" Sarah asked. 

"Unicycles, of course," Dr. Octavius smiled. "One for each of us. Much better than walking, don't you think?" 

"I don't know how to ride a unicycle," Sarah said. 

"Nothing to it," Dr. Octavius said as he hopped on one, placed his fists on his hips and wheeled back and forth several times, spun around and hopped off. "Just stay on the seat, lean forwards and don't look down. Keep your eyes ahead of you and you'll be fine." 

"I don't know about this," Sarah said nervously as she awkwardly put a foot on one of the pedals and attempted to hoist herself onto the seat. She failed miserably and dropped to the ground. 

Max appeared to be an old hand at unicycles as he deftly jumped onto the seat and rode circles around Sarah. "Come on, woman! You're holding us up!" 

"You shut up," Sarah glared as she tried to get on again. She balanced shakily for a few seconds and then fell over again. When she hit the ground this time her body resumed its normal form. "Well, at least that's an improvement." She stood up and tried once again to mount the unicycle unsuccessfully. 

Dr. Octavius patiently gave her advice and gradually she began to get the hang of it. At first she could only travel a few feet at a time without tipping over, but after awhile she was able to make a complete trip around the factory without falling. 

"All right, now that we're all up to speed, let's head back to the city," Dr. Octavius said as he mounted his unicycle and led the way. They followed a short path and rounded a bend. Immediately a rainbow bridge stretched in front of them and they could see the blue city wall across the ravine. 

"Wait a minute," Sarah frowned. "We were this close to the city this whole time?" 

"Of course," Dr. Octavius replied. "As you exit town you simply cross the rainbow on the left and round the bend and there's the cloud factory." 

"Your keen detective skills told you we should take the rainbow on the right!" Sarah turned on Max accusingly. 

"Hey, I got us there, didn't I?" Max shrugged. "Besides, wasn't it a lot more fun taking the scenic route?" 

"I don't even want to talk to you," Sarah muttered as she rode across the rainbow. 

They reached the other side of the ravine without difficulty and wheeled their way up to the city wall. 

"How are we going to get back through the gate?" Max asked as he rubbed his chin. "We had a bit of difficulty last time and we don't have our large polar bear friend to lift us over again." 

"Nothing to worry about," Dr. Octavius replied. "We have a secret entrance to the city just a short ways down the wall." 

"You and your secrets," Max shook his head. "I tell you, you're not doing much to remove yourself from my list of suspicious characters. Well, you and your little band of outlaws better be careful." 

"For the love of god, Max," Sarah flung up her arms. "How many times do I have to tell you?  They have to take precautionary measures against Trevor Mastodon." 

"A clever cover story," Max said dismissively. "I'm willing to play along for now, but rest assured, I will figure out their real agenda." 

"Zeke overheard Trevor Mastodon plotting to kill my uncle!" Sarah persisted. 

"And you believed him?" Max asked. "I suppose Zeke never informed you of his little part in the conspiracy?" 

"What are you talking about?" 

"Zeke was supposed to kill you on their behalf." 

"What?" Sarah asked in disbelief. "Zeke would never do that." 

"You're right," Max agreed. "He cleverly arranged his own capture by barbarians rather than carry out the task. Gave up his own life rather than take yours. It's rather chivalrous, I suppose. Poor misguided sucker." 

"Is that what happened?" Sarah was taken aback. "Zeke sacrificed himself for me?" 

"Sure, why not?" Max shrugged. He figured as long as Zeke was dead he may as well make the poor bastard look good. 

"That's amazing," Sarah began to tear up a little. "Poor Zeke. I never knew he was so brave." 

"Yeah, yeah," Max mumbled. "That's enough of that. We're getting off track here. The point is, Trevor Mastodon's real aim is to kill you, not your uncle. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if your uncle was secretly in cahoots with Trevor Mastodon and this whole 'disappearing act' was just an elaborate plot to entangle you in their devious little trap." 

Dr. Octavius chuckled again. "You're full of the wild theories, aren't you? You'd make quite the mad scientist if you applied your skills in a slightly different direction." 

"Why are you being so difficult anyway?" Sarah asked. "I hired you to help me find my uncle and now we've found him. I don't really need your services anymore, so maybe you should just leave." 

"That's where you're wrong!" Max said emphatically. "You need me now more than ever! Look, I'm not trying to be difficult, I just don't want to see you get hurt by vicious hoodlums who don't have your best interests at heart." He glared in Dr. Octavius' direction. 

"That's very kind of you, but I think I'll take my chances," Sarah said. "When we get back to the hotel I'll give you your severance pay and then we'll go our separate ways, all right?" 

"You say that now, but you'll be singing a different tune later, sweetheart. Just you wait." 

Dr. Octavius came to an abrupt stop in front of a stretch of wall that didn't look particularly different from the rest of it. "Here we are," he said as he pulled two bricks out of the wall and switched their locations. A small section swiveled open revealing an opening into a thickly vegetated area. They made their way into the city and broke free from the cover of the bushes and found themselves on a busy road. Numerous creatures were passing by, but nobody gave them a second look as they emerged on their unicycles. 

"It should be a straight shot to the Galloping Centipede from here," Dr. Octavius said. "We ought to get there in about forty-five minutes or so, barring any unforeseen distractions." He pulled out a bright blue Afro wig and pulled it over his head along with a pair of oversized sunglasses. "From here on out I'm traveling incognito. If you need to talk to me, please refer to me as 'Juan.' Now let's get back to the hotel."