Eleven Days Escape Time

Day 4.

September 10. 7 days before the competition.

"So where did you get to lad?" Wallace's voice came from upstairs "I thought I told you to stay put! I had to walk home!" He complained. He hadn't even been down yet and Gromit knew he was in for a verbal lashing. He heard his footsteps come down the stairs, and then he was met with a sight he least expected to see that morning.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Wallace stopped in the doorway to the dining room, following Gromit's gaze. The beagle pointed to his own ears, and Wallace stared back, confused. "Your ears hurt, lad?" Gromit shook his head, rolling his eyes and standing up, coming behind Wallace and pushing him to the mirror hung on the wall. He let out a yelp, nearly falling backwards over a chair as he gripped onto the table. "W-what's going on? What-" He caught his breath, standing back up to look into the mirror. Out of the sides of his head sat two large, fluffy bunny ears, taking the place of where his normal ears should be. Wallace turned to Gromit, who just shrugged. "Well, maybe it's just... he looked around the room for an answer, his eyes lading on the breakfast of vegetables Gromit had made. "The toxins! In the vegetables!" He exclaimed, reaching for a carrot. Gromit stared back, slightly raising an eyebrow. "It's a reaction to this healthy diet you've got me on!" Wallace tried to calm himself about his strange deformity. He sat down, taking a bite of the carrot he'd grabbed. "Mm," he said, swallowing a bite, "Let's get to the basement and see what we can do about that Mind-o-matic," Wallace said. "Oh! We have to check on Hutch!" Wallace looked to Gromit, "I completely forgot about the little fella!" Wallace jumped to his feet, quickly heading to the basement, Gromit on his heels.

They both suddenly stopped at the doorway. Down the stairs they could see a broken cage, and the rabbits all wide-eyed, obviously scared of whatever was in the mangled cage. Wallace slowly descended down the stairs, his eyes locked on the cage. "Oh, Gromit-" Wallace approached the cage with a catcher. "We created a monster!" He grabbed the rabbit by the neck, lifting it out of the cage.

Gromit stared at the creature as Wallace held it up. It was still a rabbit- but bigger. It was nearly 4 feet tall, and had changed shape a bit. It looked almost Wallace-like. "The lunar panels-" Wallace gazed back at the panels, one of the still in-tact pieces from the shattered invention. "They must have over-stimulated Hutch's primitive bunny nature," he theorized, "and now, when the moon appears, he undergoes a hideous transformation," Gromit, not sure if he could take in much more supernatural happenings, took a deep breath and was confused when Wallace claimed that this was actually a good thing. "Okay, so we've created a veg-ravaging rabbit monster, but we've also captured it! Just like I promised Lady Tottington!" Wallace referred to the events at the church meeting, where he'd promised the aristocrat he'd safely and humanely capture and care for the rabbit beast. "I'll go and tell her the good news!-" he began, then paused, "Wait, not like this-" Wallace frowned, remembering his rabbit ears, which drooped down with his mood. Then he got an idea. "Wait, Gromit!" He got the attention of his loyal companion, who had zoned out in thought. "Can you go and tell her for me?" Wallace pleaded. "I can't let her see me like this," he looked around for a piece of paper and a pencil. Rabbit beast captured! All is in good hands. -Wallace, he wrote and handed to Gromit. "Take this to her for me." He smiled. "I'll keep an eye on Hutch." He assured as Gromit headed up the stairs. He closed the basement door behind him and headed for the garage.

It had begun to rain as Gromit drove the 15 minute drive to Tottington Hall, pouring down from the darkening sky.

He swerved into the driveway of Tottington Hall, jumping out quickly and running into the protection of the building's roof. He banged on the door, the note Wallace wrote tight in his hand. Tottington answered the door. "Gromit! What a surprise!" She exclaimed. He handed her the note. She took a second to read it, before smiling widely. "Wallace captured the beast? Spiffing news!" She exclaimed happily. "With the beast in captivity, the competition can go on as planned!" She crouched to Gromit's level. "Tell Wallace he's a real hero." She smiled. Gromit nodded, turning to head towards the van and jumping in before he got too soaked.

***

Gromit shut the front door behind him as the moon began to rise in the distance. His ears perked up as he heard a loud bang come from the basement. Before heading down, he scanned the first floor for Wallace. He was nowhere to be found. Growing increasingly worried, he headed towards the basement.

Opening the door, he was met with the giant rabbit creature, ramming into boxes and crates on accident, backing into them accidentally, as the room was very small, and seeming scared and on edge. Gromit, obviously scared of it, stayed well up at the top of the stairs, nervous to approach it. It suddenly noticed him, and let out a soft roar, almost trying to get his attention for help. It seemed almost apologetic and... familiar, like it was in need of his help. Then his eyes landed on Hutch in the corner of the room, wearing a Wallace tank-top and his slippers, biting into a slice of cheese. The small rabbit noticed and waved at him, his mouth full of cheese. If Hutch was there.. then....his eyes drifted back to the giant rabbit monster.

He descended down the stairs towards the beast, which looked incredibly sad and somewhat scared. It looked as if it was trying to talk, but the only thing coming out were animalistic grunts and growls. Gromit nodded, putting a hand on Wallace's rabbit snout, letting him know he understood. It was Wallace- and something in his gut knew that he was aware beforehand that was the true reason he had sprouted rabbit ears overnight, not from vegetable toxins. It also explained why he was so open to eating veg for breakfast. Wallace sat down, a little calmer after realizing Gromit understood. His stomach began to growl, and he turned to Gromit, pointing at his stomach. The beagle nodded and headed for a bag of carrots in the corner, and dumped them out in front of the large rabbit, who began hungrily digging into them. At least his friend was safe in the comfort of their basement rather than out and about, destroying people's property.