The Shrink Program

Chapter 88

"Prepare yourself, Garmen!"

A man with wild blue hair posed dramatically, a manic grin on his face.

To add to his already insane appearance, the slim man wore a large monocle and a baggy white lab coat.

"For today, the blue ninja dragonflies of death will defeat your puny team of green crickets!"

"They are the Green Grasshoppers, Do not call them crickets."

"Why not? It's punny."

The taller of the two men, though just as thin, wore his dark green hair short and his lab coat cut to fit.

Where one supervisor was eccentric in appearance, the other was the picture of elegance.

Though both had proved equally insane.

"That, Havoc, is the exact reason why you shouldn't. Humour is not needed on the battlefield. "

The neatly dressed man raised one arm from where they were crossed over his chest, arrogantly straightening his glasses.

"Aren't you being a little too optimistic? Considering that your team hasn't beaten mine once in the past seven days?"

The blue-haired supervisor only smirked knowingly at his colleague's criticism, raising a lecturing finger.

"Ah, but the thing you don't know yet, Garmen my dear friend, is that I have prepared a new secret weapon. Behold!"

With a flurry, Havoc pulled out a test tube of clear liquid.

"This new pheromone has been created for the singular purpose of crushing your pathetic team of crickets!" As he spoke, a dark aura seemed to fall over the small man, and evil lightning could be heard cackling in the background. At least in Havoc's mind, it did.

"Havoc, resulting to performance enhancers is hardly sportsmanlike." Garmen scolded with a concerned frown.

"This isn't substance abuse Garmen!" Havoc gasped in shock horror. "This is Art! Art, I tell you."

"You can't experiment on the children Havoc, at least not for the sake of winning a cricket match you can't... No, that would just be ridiculous." Garmen stated firmly, one eyebrow raised as if daring the blue-haired man to argue.

"... No fun." Havoc pouted, moodily tucking the vile away into his pocket. "Fine, but at least give me Maddison."

"No," Garmen replied flatly.

"But it's not fair that you get to have her every time!" Havoc waved his arms in protest. "Share with me!"

"No. The agreement is that we alternate on who gets the newcomer each time. Miss Trampth is a grasshopper, and that is final."

Garmen waved a hand towards where the two teams were lined up. "Besides, you got a new player just this morning...."

"Meh, I put him on mascot duty."

"We don't have mascots."

"Correction." Havoc's grin widened. "You don't have a mascot."

"... If he's your mascot, why is the poor boy in a bear costume?!"

"... It was the only one we had, okay?"

"Don't you think you're losing badly enough as it is without wasting a player on being a mascot? An inaccurate one at that?"

Havoc gasped in offence. "Excuse me for wanting to boost team morale!"

"You know what else serves to boost morale? Winning."

"How can I do that if you won't share Maddison with me? Let me have her!"

"No. She's mine!"

The argument quickly dissolved into childish bickering and with the two supervisors all but wrestling on the floor.

"Do I have to go?" I asked Reece, watching the scene from his shoulder.

Today's cricket match was set up as always, in the centre of the facility room, and we stood a little ways away from where the two team captains stood arguing.

"I'm afraid so Maddison." Reece nodded apologetically.

"There's a good chance that they'll break me in half fighting over which team I'm on," I muttered.

"I know, but I already placed my bet on the grasshoppers so... Good luck." Reece admitted all too seriously.

"... So, that's the real reason you came to get me for the match?" I glared accusingly.

Reece smiled softly.

"Afraid so. Since ninety percent of the staff here have put their bets on you winning, I had no choice."

"...I hope you people realise how strange and unusually cruel you all are."

Reece chuckled, making no attempt to deny it.

As we approached, Havoc and Garmen looked up from where they were trying to strangle each other.

"About time." They said together, identical looks of impatience on their faces.

I sighed, wondering if it was too soon to go back to bed.