The Shrink Program

Chapter 22

The boy Nigel was lecturing backed up another step, and I realised that it wasn't in intimidation.

Because as Nigel faced the retreating boy, his back was left exposed.

"Nigel!" I warned " Get away from-!"

Before I could finish, the grouped moved. Obvious planning and practice giving their motions a fluid synchronism.

Three students threw themselves at Nigel from behind, two of them each grabbing an arm.

Nigel yanked against them in surprise, jerking them around like children with his unchecked strength.

They held on and were eventually given their chance. The boy in front of Nigel swung the end of his bat up into the Joker's stomach.

Of course, he didn't feel any pain, but that didn't stop Nigel's body from hunching over with the impact.

In the split second that Nigel stumbled, the two students on his arms dragged his hands together behind his back. A third snapped on a pair of what looked to be handcuffs.

They had him bound, but the group didn't stop there, because we all knew that it would take more than restraints to stop Nigel.

Unfortunately, that was the part where Vain and I came in.

With a frustrated growl, I was forced to cling to Vain's collar as the remaining two members of the gang grabbed him and forced the pale boy down onto his knees.

Vain remained silent, going along with harsh movement with calculated calm.

I, on the other hand, refused to go down without a fight... Or dignity.

Gritting my teeth, I prepared to leap off Vain's shoulder, only to be stopped by a wall of glass.

I blinked at the glass in front of me, confused.

Then the world flipped, taking me with it.

It was at this point in my life that I realised that a glass jar had placed over me. Worse, was being used to scoop me up and away from Vain.

I collided with the glass painfully as my enclosure was turned the right way up, leaving me a swearing heap at the bottom of the jar.

A dull thunk came as a lid was placed over the opening, muffling the noises of the outside world.

... So much for fighting back.

Dizzily, I climbed to my feet, immediately shoving my toothpick away and rushing forward to beat my hands against the glass wall.

Of course, it did nothing towards getting me out of this prison, but I had to hit something.

The outside world was slightly distorted by the glass, but I could still see Nigel struggling to shove off the people clinging to him.

They were barely holding on as it was, and with his strength and endurance, it was only a matter of time before he broke the hold.

What came after that was the problem.

"Nigel!" I shouted, hoping that he would still be able to hear me. "Run!"

If one thing was certain, it was that Nigel needed to get out of here and take what they wanted with him.

Before they managed to do something worse to him than what they had already done to me.

At the sound of my voice, Nigel spun to look over his shoulder, meeting my gaze as the group roughly turned him around to face us.

Even from here, I saw Nigel's face went incredibly pale, his golden eyes widening with anxiety.

My heart sunk as he suddenly stopped struggling.

"You idiot." I hissed. "Don't you dare."

Not hearing me or just not listening, Nigel fell to his knees, making no movement to fight the gang as they held him down, one on each shoulder.

Like Vain, he didn't put up a fight.

"Damn it!" I hissed to myself angrily.

Now that I have had time to reflect, I realise I probably should have skipped the whole "you moron" part of my initial warning.

If I had been quicker, we might have avoided this mess.

As long as Vain and I were being held hostage, Nigel was unlikely to make a move.

Nigel's inability to feel pain could be considered a double-edged sword.

Nigel could only imagine what pain felt like, and sometimes imagined pain can be was worse than the truth.

He didn't understand pain, so he was afraid of it. Not for himself, but for the people he cared about.

He could fight all day if it was just himself on the line.

But when a friend was in danger, he wouldn't be willing to take any risks.

Unfortunately for us, that didn't leave us with many options.

Nigel's a pretty simple guy, honest to a fault. Being an unstoppable force of violence is kind of his thing. Talking himself out of a tricky situation, not so much.

Like the Incredible Hulk...But bubblier.

With Nigel frozen up, Vain biding his time and me trapped in a jar.

Our chances of winning this little encounter had slimmed considerably.