After re-entering the "in-between", they met a mudluff which looked like a bubble and communicated using colours. It appeared to be trapped by something. Joey approaches it and as Joey tries to free the mudluff, a giant serpent (Revealed in the second book to be called a Gyradon) appears, biting Jay. The mudluff kills the serpent but Jay was already dying. Before he dies he gave Joey the direction to Base Town, where InterWorld HQ is. With his dying breath, he showed Joey a mathematical equation that would lead to Base Town: {IW}:=Ω/∞ (InterWorld is Omega over Infinity). The mudluff then becomes attached to Joey and he names it "Hue". Joey then went to HQ and learns that all Walkers were all copies of himself from different Earths. He began an intense course of exercise while studying very advanced science and magic to prepare him for his new role as a member of the InterWorld. Many of the other Joeys initially resented Joey for causing Jay's death, but soon come around about him as his skills improve.