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Adam threw open the door to his home and kicked off his shoes.  He was so thoroughly drenched in sweat that his clothing left very little to the imagination about his unimpressive physique.  He peeled off his socks and took a peek at what remained of Bruce.  His arm was flattened into nothing, and his face had turned a deep shade of blue from suffocation.  Satisfied with his work, Adam threw Bruce’s body into the trash and headed to his room.  Entering his room, he threw his bag onto the bed and sat down next to it.


Hank and Clint sat in the humid darkness accompanied by nothing but each other and the sway of the duffle bag as they sat in their glass prison.  With no stimulus outside, but too scared to get any rest, they sat in silence.  Then with a sudden jolt, a sudden surge of motion caused the pair to collide with the wall of their container with a loud smack.  Clint went dizzy from smashing headfirst into the side of the tupperware, while Hank’s ankle snapped.As they were recovering, a loud zipping sound was heard as light poured into the bag.  A shadow covered them from the new light source as the enormous face of their captor loomed over the opening.


“There we are.  Welcome home.  Don’t get too comfortable.  You aren’t going to be here long.  Come on, I want to show you where we’re going to play the last game of the day.  Let’s get you out of there.”


Adam’s hands reached into the bag and brought it to the light.  With that, Clint and Hank got a pretty expansive view of their new surroundings.  Movie posters for old sci-fi movies lined each wall.  Weird robot models filled the shelves of bookcase after bookcase.  His desk was strewn with papers from homework and his own side projects.  It was pretty much the sort of bedroom Hank would expect of the nerd he had been bullying all this time.  Though with the revelation of what his fate would end as, the room’s color scheme of light greens and rich blues was almost too cheery for what may end up being his tomb.  Clint was still reeling from his head injury and wasn’t in much of a space to reflect on his environment


Adam pried open the container and dumped the two onto his teal bedsheets and looked at them with an almost childlike glee.


“Today’s been fun, but I have stuff to do.  So I have time for one more game, and if you survive, I’ll let you go.  What do you say, little maid boys?”


Both nodded as enthusiastically as they could, which wasn’t much for either given their injuries.  Perhaps in other circumstances, this would have displeased the sadistic tormentor, but he was so excited about his own cruel game that he really didn’t care.


“The game is simple.  You know how kids hide under the covers at night when they think there’s a monster under their bed?  Well, compared to you, I must be the biggest monster you’ll ever come across.  So you both hide underneath the covers and I’ll try to find you without lifting the sheets.  The one who gets caught last wins and gets to go home.  The one who gets caught first…  I think you have a pretty good guess by now.  I’ll give you until the count of 50.  But first...”


Adam grabbed the shrink ray from his bag and messed with a few dials.  He pointed and fired at the duo, who quickly felt the world around them expand.  Soon, neither were bigger than a grain of rice.  While both were trying to get their new bearings, Adam dropped them near the edge of his teal blanket.  They tried to look around for an escape, but the now even more gargantuan titan started counting down.  With no other option readily apparent, they dived deep into the fabric canopy.  


Hank struggled to crawl forward with his busted leg.  He simply dragged himself forward as far as he could and hoped it would be enough.  Clint, by contrast, quickly got disoriented in the dark and panicked.  He stumbled about, trying his best not to attract attention from the giant outside, lest he give away his own location.


“5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Ready or not, here I come!”


Adam slammed his hand down on the matress.  The springy mattress gave a little beneath his palm.  He felt the blanket, the sheets, and the mattress, but none of his maid boys.  He lifted his hand and slammed against the bed a little to the left of where he slapped last time, but still no dice.


The two felt the mattress give way, the floor shifting beneath them.  The hand had come down pretty close to Clint, but he could feel where the slap was coming from, which helped him reclaim his bearings.  Hank was pretty far from the initial impact, but the second impact was getting closer.  He tried to go faster, but with his leg as it was nothing could be done.


Thankfully though, Adam shifted his efforts closer to the middle of the mattress, where Hank had already passed.  Clint, just focused on avoiding the last impact zone, was sent around in a circle.  He tried in vain to navigate away from the hand while not making any sudden movements to give away his position.  


Hank continued to crawl until his hand slipped and reached out to nothing.  He had crawled so far that he was actually at the end of the bed.  He instinctively reached out to catch himself so he wouldn’t fall off and latched onto the sheets.  Unfortunately, this would prove a fatal error, as Adam noticed rustling from the foot of his mattress.


“Well, well, well.  Looks like somebody’s trying to climb off the back end of the bed to safety.  Not on my watch!”


Hank didn’t have anywhere to go and quickly felt the cloth walls around him press around him as Adam pinched him through the sheets.  At first, it was only enough to confirm he caught his prey, but soon the pressure built.  First, he felt his ribs break.  Then his lungs compressed.  Until finally, his entire body popped in Adam’s grasp.  He was so small, what blood he had couldn’t even seep through to the outer layer of the blanket.


Adam went back to the head of the sheets and threw the covers off to see which of the two maids made it to the end.

 

“Looks like the other little guy was right in the middle the whole time.  Looks like I just barely missed you, slave boy.  If you had been just a bit slower, I would have gotten you.  Are you Clint?  You’re so hard to see down there!  But still, a winner’s a winner!  Are you ready for your reward?”

 

 

Chapter End Notes:

Will Adam be true to his word and let Clint go free?  Or is there something more dastardly in the works for him?  Find out next time for the last chapter of Cleaning Up Your Act!

 

Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter ready before the month is over. Let me know what you think.  As always, your input is welcomed.

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