Disclaimer: See first chapter.
The Slightly Bizarre Challenge: Part 3
Beast Boy rammed into the wall again, this time as a rhinoceros. Having no luck, he changed tactics and forms, becoming a pterodactyl and flying at the ceiling and hard and fast as he could. Failing again, he slammed his body, now a T-rex, into another wall.
"Give it a rest," Raven advised from her seat on one of the crates. "You're beginning to repeat yourself."
Beast Boy returned to his normal form and checked the clock, trying to shake off a weird sense of deja vu.
The timer read, "5:56:28"
"I can't believe we've been in here almost six hours!" he ranted, pacing the small floor. "And we haven't gotten any closer to escaping then when this stupid challenge began!"
Raven listened with half an ear. "Beast Boy," she said, interrupting his verbal list of obscene names in reference to Slade. "What do you think is in these boxes?"
Beast Boy stopped mid-stride and frowned at the crates. "I don't know."
They were all made of wood, and each a different size. The largest had probably housed a refrigerator once before. That one was laying on its side, so the two had been using it as a bench of sorts.
The middle one was smaller. About the size of a large television, but only the width of a computer monitor.
The smallest resembled a square end table. It was only as tall as Beast Boy's knee, and was a perfect cube.
The crates were set in what was probably some attempt at a circle. None of them seemed to have any purpose whatsoever.
And all three were completely free of dust.
An idea struck Beast Boy. "Maybe they're part of the challenge," he offered. "Maybe we have to use whatever is inside the boxes to get out."
"Or maybe it's a trap." Raven levitated off the refrigerator box. "Maybe if we open one, things just get worse."
"Oh, c'mon, Raven," Beast Boy laughed, walking over to the box she had just vacated. "How could things possibly get any worse?"
He examined the top, and noticed a pair of hinges on one long edge. Obviously, it was meant to be opened. Chuckling at his own brilliance, he slowly lifted the lid. It wasn't that heavy. The wood was fairly thin. He lifted the lid, looked inside, and saw...
Nothing.
Beast Boy frowned. "It's empty. What a gyp." He closed the box and looked at the other two.
"Beast Boy, I don't like this. Slade doesn't do things for no reason. If he put these here, they aren't to be trusted."
Beast Boy snorted and reached for the top of the smallest box. "That's probably what he wants us to think." This box didn't have hinges. The top was like that of a shoebox. He tugged on the lid. It didn't budge.
"Hey, Raven. Do you think you could give me a hand?"
She clapped softly.
Beast Boy gave her a look over his shoulder. "You know what I meant. Help me get this thing off. It's stuck." He brightened suddenly. "This probably has the key to getting out of here!"
Raven rose hesitantly and walked beside her friend. Together, with his physical strength and her telekinesis, the top of the box came off.
"Bad decision!" Slade's voice boomed from nowhere. "You have opened the Midway Box. That means your time is automatically counted at 24 hours!" The timer switched to read, "24:00:00". "And that means, the dust bunnies come alive!"
Beast Boy and Raven looked at each other, then around the room. Sure enough, all the dust was coming alive and gathering itself together. Before Beast Boy could finish saying, "Oh, my God", they were surrounded by one dozen rabbits, each the size of a cow. And all were made of dust.
The bunnies roared viciously and attacked. Beast Boy changed into a tiger and clawed at them. Raven began levitating and attacking the mutant powered with dark energy. Each time the dust bunnies were hit, they burst into billions of tiny particles, but they always rejoined into the giant rodents again.
Raven choked on a mouthful of rabbit. "This isn't working," she coughed.
Beast Boy swiped at another creature before returning to human form. "Quick," he coughed back. "Into the big one."
They both ran to the largest crate, powdering any bunnies in their way, and jumped in, closing the lid behind them.
"At least there's no dust," she said, twisting into a seated position and keeping her head low.
They sat in the dark, cramped area, listening to the masses of dust bang against their hiding place, unable to get in.
"How're we supposed to get rid of them?" Beast Boy asked.
"We aren't," Raven snapped.
" 'Scuse me," he snapped back. "I'm only trying to figure a way out of this mess."
"We wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't gone snooping through the booby traps."
"I'm only trying to get us out of here."
"Well, you're not doing a very good job."
"Like you can talk! You're not even trying to find a way out."
"Because there is no way out."
"So what're we supposed to do? Just give up?"
"We can't do anything else."
Beast Boy was about to say something nasty, but noticed a slight quavering in her breathing. He looked closely, his keen night vision picking up things not regular human would be able to see. Things Raven probably couldn't even see. He noticed that...
She was scared. Raven, shoulders slumped, huddling in her cape, was terrified.
"Raven," he said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to be afraid."
She closed her eyes tightly. "I can't help it."
"What? You're afraid of bunnies?" he grinned, trying to make light of the situation.
She shot him a glare in the dark. "No. Beast Boy, our powers are useless here. There's no way out. And who knows what's going to happen at the end of the 48 hours."
"More like 30 now, actually."
"Whatever. The point is, you can't escape from a room with no--" She stopped suddenly, her fear of what might happen seemingly forgotten.
"What?" Beast Boy asked. "What is it?"
"Have you noticed," she said calmly, "that there is no door?"
"What?"
"This closet has no door. How did we get in here without a door?"
Beast Boy pondered over this. "There's no way. Unless..."
"A secret passage," they said together.
"Oh, man," he said, slapping his head. "Why couldn't we have figured that out six hours ago?"
Raven knocked on the bottom of the crate. "Well, one thing's for sure. We won't find it in here. The floor is completely solid. If we're going to find it, we have to go out there."
Beast Boy cringed at the sound of the dust bunnies banging and scratching at the box. "Then, I guess we have to get rid of those guys." He jerked a thumb, indicating the creatures outside.
"Yeah, but how?"
Beast Boy scratched his head, then snapped his fingers. "I've got it! It's in the other box!"
"What is?"
"I don't know," he said excitedly. "But whatever it is, it's what we need."
Raven grabbed him when he started to open the lid. "Hold on. How do you figure?"
"Well, think about it. The small box made the bunnies come to life early, right?"
"Yeah."
"And the biggest box is a perfect hiding place." He banged on the side. "We both fit, and the bunnies can't get in."
Raven frowned. "I guess so. But..."
"Don't you get it? Both boxes served a purpose. The smallest brought the bunnies, the biggest protected us from them, so the middle one must get rid of them!"
Raven thought a moment, then shrugged. "I guess it's worth a shot. But how will we get past the powder puffs?"
"I've got an idea."
Cliffhanger! Is BB right? Will they ever get out? Why dust bunnies? Hope you still like it! More to come.