The two adult men in the group took turns carrying Carol’s car seat while the other pulled a wheeled cooler containing the magic milk and eggs they had collected from Mary. Meanwhile, Carol looked after a little yellow chick, the chicken woman who had laid eggs for Mary, now regressed into a hatchling and sitting on Carol’s lap, peeping in confusion. Little Ken insisted on holding Alice’s hand as they walked. All of them followed Candice’s lead as she checked her map against the street signs.

“Mary should be just around the next corner,” Candice said.

They crept up to the corner of a vacant storefront and peeked around the side. Candice was surprised to discover brambles and leafy vines having grown across the sidewalk, covering most of the street as well.

“Where’d that come from?” Justin asked.

“Must be the fake Chuck, right?” Alice asked. “You said he tied you up in vines.”

“Yeah,” Candice said. “Be careful. We’ll have to try to sneak past him, somehow.”

“Hold on,“ Alice said with a smirk. “I’ve got a better idea.” She opened the cooler and retrieved a bottle of milk from it.

“What’s that?” Ken asked.

“The growth milk,” Alice said. “If Mary tries to use a giant against us, then we can fight fire with fire. A quick sip should be all I need.”

“Wait,” Bill said. “Won’t the magic in the milk react to the other magic around us? Something unexpected might happen, right?”

“It probably wouldn’t,” Candice said. “The spell has already been cast on the milk. She’d just be activating it by drinking it. We would only be in danger if we tried to cast a new spell in such a strong magical field.”

“See,” Alice said. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Just hold off on drinking it until we know we need it,” Candice said.

Alice nodded and gave a thumbs up.

Candice waved for them to follow her towards the magic foliage, and the group crept forward, keeping an eye out for any movement.

“Look,” Justin said, pointing to their right.

Candice noticed what appeared to be two children wrapped up in the vines, hanging motionless. They moved towards the pair, and as they got closer, Candice recognized them as elves, in particular the ambassador and the chief from the embassy she had met with not long ago.

“Are they…?” Alice started to ask.

Candice examined them. “They’re still breathing,” she said. “Just unconscious. I don’t know what knocked them out, though.” She gave the chief a gentle slap in the face to try to rouse him, but he showed no sign of waking. “I don’t think we can do anything for them right now. Let’s keep going.”

“What are they doing here?” Bill asked.

“They were probably trying to stop Mary,” Candice said, leading them forward again. “The embassy is only a couple of blocks from here.”

“So,” Justin said. “They probably won’t be sending us any backup after this.”

“I think we’re on our own,” Candice said.

Suddenly, the brambles and vines shook beside them and a giant man made of wood rose from the midst of the leaves and towered above them. He still bore some resemblance to Chuck but the bark that covered him like skin obscured most of his human features. Vines snaked out from beneath him and hooked themselves around their ankles, tripping everyone to the ground.

Then, just as the vines began to constrict around their legs, Alice shouted, “Don’t you touch me!”

Candice looked over to see that Alice already had milk dripping from her lips. As the vines attempted to wrap around her limbs, her limbs outgrew them, stretching longer and thicker. Her clothes became tight as her body expanded, stretching to the limit before ripping and tearing apart at the seams, her underwear hanging on just a little longer until it snapped off as well, leaving her totally naked and still growing. She got onto her enormous feet and stood up to her full height, over twice as tall as normal and still rising. As she took a fighting stance, her growth slowed to a halt, having reached three times her regular height.

“Alright,” Alice boomed almost deafeningly loud. “Try picking on someone your own size.”

“Wow!” cried Ken, gazing up at her giant nude body in wonder.

Alice glanced down at him and said, “Avert your eyes, kid. You’re too young for this show.”

Ken gasped and looked away.

“Go,” Alice told them. “I’ll keep him busy. You get to Mary and deal with her.”

“But…” Candice said.

“Get Ken and Carol somewhere safe. Move it!”

The giant tree man grabbed for her, but she caught him by the wrists and the pair began grappling with each other. Alice had a slight size advantage, but the tree golem was stronger than he looked, putting them in a stalemate.

“I got you, you overgrown splinter,” Alice cried as they tore through some of the brambles.

“Come on,” Candice said, wriggling free of the vines on her legs and helping the others to their feet.

Justin grabbed Carol’s carrier and Bill took Ken by the hand and dragged him away from the fight. Candice led them through a gap in the brambles and out onto the open road again. Ahead of them they could see a fenced-off construction site with an eerie glow shining from behind it, lighting up the nearby snowflakes that drifted down.

“There,” Candice said. “Mary’s in there.”