Still chasing Sergei, Max was actually surprised when the evil circus owner stopped suddenly. He came to a halt as well, baring his teeth. Laughing quietly, Sergei murmured, "You want to play little doggie?" Whirling around fast as lightning, he pointed his gun right at the Jack Russell terrier. He also held Gidget over the railing, threatening to drop her. Squirming, she yipped, "Max, run! Save yourself!" His eyes on the gun pointed right at him, Max lost his courage in the blink of an eye. Whimpering, he tucked his tail. Meanwhile, the dark tall man laughed his head off sinisterly. Putting his finger on the trigger, he sneered, "This shall be fun!" Before he could shoot though, a firework whizzed past, followed by another. Looking down, Max saw more coming. Confused, Sergei muttered, "What in the world is going on here? I didn't authorize this-"

One huge firework caught him right in the gut, causing him to drop Gidget while taking him with it up into the darkening sky, climbing higher and higher.

"GIDGET!" Max howled, panic filling up inside of him and fear gripping his heart with an ice cold hand. Without even thinking about what he was about to do, he jumped off the catwalk and plummeted down behind her. Eventually, he was right next to her, the wind rushing past them and the ground below looming closer and closer. Reaching his paw out towards her, he barked, "Grab a hold and don't let go!" Frightened, Gidget grasped his paw without any hesitation. Pulling her close to him while they continued falling, he hugged her. Shaking slightly, the fluffy white Pomeranian hugged the Jack Russell terrier back. Time seemed to slow down. Not wanting to think about what awaited them when they hit the ground, the two small dogs shut their eyes, squeezing them tight. Any second now, they would become a flapjack on the ground.

However, they never hit the ground, instead landing on something very soft. One might even say fluffy.