My throat is raw to the point where I am sure that the next scream will cause blood to splatter across the wall. My muscles spasm, chemicals in my bloodstream making my brain go haywire. I know that nothing is or can be real. My actions aren’t my own. My thoughts aren’t my own. I can’t submit. The only thing I know is myself. She can’t win.
I have seen the others. The girl that was brought in at the same time as me surrendered a week ago. One from the newest group didn’t even last a week. I would have been happy if they died, but it is so, so much worse. They aren’t human anymore, they are living weapons, genetically altered to fight, to kill. The only solace I have is that they can’t start me on that until I am “Conditioned” as She calls it. So the only thing left is to fight or to look for an opportunity for death. I’m not hoping to make an escape, that would be a futile endeavour. Another chemical burn, a pit of despair that opens up in my mind. I can’t win. I should surrender. I should let her win just so it ends. I am too weak to fight, and the voice in my head that is both sugar and shards of glass encourages me to give up.
I scream again. It is the only thing I have found to give me the brief interruption to reset my thoughts. It’s a shame, I was told I had a really good voice, but I doubt my vocal chords will survive this unscathed. I scoff, survival is an utopia anyway. How long was I gone already? Had the others gotten the hint, would they continue my work, would the fight continue? I have to continue my fight. Thoughts form and dissolve and whatever they’ve pumped into my body now, it makes it impossible to form a coherent thought. So I scream again.
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Tom wanted to start a new chapter in his life, that’s why he left. He’d done some amazing things, and despite what anyone said, he was leaving behind a legacy. But to him, it felt different. He’d fought alongside these men for a long time. Hell, he’d played for the team for twenty seasons. He joined that team before most of Gronkowski’s slam pieces could talk. So to him, he wasn’t just leaving behind a legacy. He was leaving behind a family. That’s why Gronk was making him go out tonight. They were celebrating an end of an era, and as Julian had said, they were cementing that their bond would last beyond any team.
Tom was hesitant for this boy’s night out, he was a good decade older than his former teammates. He may be in peak physical condition, but he couldn’t deny that he couldn’t keep up with them on any sort of club scene. He’d much rather be at home with his family, just enjoying a beer. Tom had tried to convince Gronk that they should just come over, have a nice dinner, and maybe a game of poker, but his playboy friend wouldn’t have it. Gronk had insisted they go out in a blaze of glory.
So after picking up Julian, he and Tom met up with said playboy friend, and they all jumped into the overly extra escalade limo. “I told you we’d need a driver, Tommy boy,” Gronk said as he pulled open a bottle of cognac and started pouring. “We’ll ease you in with a drink now to get you’re warmed up, but we are definitely taking shots right after.”
“Guys, I can’t go too hard, I’ve got early morning brunch with Giselle and the kids tomorrow,” Brady pleaded to deaf ears. Gronk shoved the glass into his hands before taking a swig directly from the bottle.
“What’s the point of the driver if we don’t have some fun?” Gronk chuckled. He rose to his feet, pulling Brady up with him and said, “Tom, look at me.” He placed his hand on Tom’s shoulder. “This is our last hurrah, you can go back into family mode in the morning. Tonight is all about having fun, right Edelman?”
“Right,” Julian responded, laughing at his friends as he reclined into the cushiony limousine chair.
“You said you wanted to start a new chapter, Tommy boy, well that starts with us closing this chapter. You want to give it a proper ending don’t you?” Gronk said, putting out his hand for a shake to seal the deal.
Tom reluctantly grabbed the other man’s hand, finally giving in. “Fine, but you have to explain my hang over to Gise-” Before he could finish his sentence the limo came to a crashing stop. Brady and Gronkowski went flying from the impact, and everything went black.
Tom woke up in a room he’d never seen before. It looked like a hospital room, but one that would be on the set of Star Trek. There were all sorts of machines he’d never seen in a hospital before. He couldn’t understand what anything was or why he was there. Then everything came back to him. He was standing in a limo with his friends and then…
“Rob! Julian!”
“Julian’s fine,” a soft voice said. Tom looked over and saw his former teammate laying in a hospital bed like his own. He looked deflated. The rugged face and imposing frame Tom was used to seeing was gone, replaced by a softened face sitting on a withered body.
“That’s good, what happened to us? How long have we been out?” Tom asked in a panic, assuming it must have been a long time if Gronk’s muscles have atrophied to such a degree.
“The crash was last night, you slept in for a while but not much more than a hangover would have caused,” came an unfamiliar voice. An insanely tall man walked into the room, “My name is Vince, and I think we should have a talk, Tommy.”
“My name is Tom,” he yelled, “And what’s going on? Where are we?”
“You’re in our lab. You suffered a fatal accident last night, so you were brought here,” the man said calmly.
“How could it be fatal if we are talking?” Gronk yelled out.
“We have found a way to heal even the most egregious wounds. A way to pull someone back even when they have one foot out the gate. However, there are some side effects,” the man said, moving towards the two. “Your colleague, Julian, is quite the fan of ours. He quickly called us and got in touch with your families. We filled them in with what we could do, and what the outcome would be otherwise. We also filled them in with what our end of the bargain would be, and they all agreed.”
“What do you mean your end of the bargain? We didn’t agree to anything,” Brady said angrily.
“It’s simple enough, you’ll be the newest additions to our new wrestling league,” the imposing man said, “And I assure you, all of the paperwork has been signed and the contract is binding.”
“I think I’d rather stick to my current career,” Tom responded, “I don’t know much about wrestling.”
“I think you’ll find your body isn’t much fit for football anymore, and don’t worry, this isn’t your typical wrestling. I think you’ll be a fan favorite soon enough.” As he said this, a nurse walked into the room, pushing a rather large mirror. “Now brace yourselves, boys, this step in the process can often be jarring. It’s time to meet your new you.”
Tom and Rob started to climb out of their beds, their feet dangling above the floor. Reality began to set in to both men, formerly well above six foot, that it wasn’t just their muscles that had shrunk. They walked to each other first, which gave them a terrifying glimpse into what their own appearance would look like. Rob realized that he’d lost the two inches in height he’d usually had over his friend. Realizing he didn’t know the size of this room, he had no focus point to find out his new height.
“How tall are you Vince?” he whimpered.
“Well, I tell everyone 6’2’’, but I’ll be honest. I’m 6’1’’.”
Both men’s eyes went wide, this imposing man was standing three to five inches lower than where they should be. And they didn’t even meet his chin. Gronk oddly held out his hand to his friend. He needed support to take that next step of looking in the mirror. The former ladies man wouldn’t have ever felt the need for that physical embrace, but for some reason all he wanted was the former Tom there to protect him. The new Tom’s hand was small and dainty, void of any of the callouses two decades of ball had given him, which made Gronk’s stomach drop and flutter simultaneously.
“If you’d like a moment to take everything in, I can step away. I’ll be back in a few minutes so that you can redress.”
Hand in hand they walked in front of the mirror and took in their new selves. Their hospital gowns fell shapelessly, masking their new silhouettes. They undid the strings and let them flutter to the ground. With their hands still clasped, they studied every nook and cranny of their lithe new frames. Their muscled chests had been completely flattened, and their rigid abs had been completely smoothed out. The dainty hands that were still entwined were connected to slim and hairless arms. Their shoulders had collapsed in on themselves, showing that their backs would no longer have the straining muscles either was used to.
Their bodies weren’t the only things that had changed. Though they could still recognize each other, there was no denying that their faces were slightly different. Most obvious at first glance was the complete lack of hair beneath their eyes, while the rest of their hair had grown more lush. Even their lashes were longer, fluttering whimsically every time they blinked. Rob’s lips had filled out, something that he’d love to see on a girl about to go down, but it was jarring on his own face. No longer did Tom look older than his peer, all signs of age had vanished from his face, crows feet, laugh lines, they’d all faded away leaving him looking twenty years younger.
The men took a deep breath and finally looked down. Their once proud packages had dwindled away to nothing. Gronk had always been proud of the girth that he had hidden, but now it would like tiny even in his own diminutive hand. They were completely devoid of hair, it looked like they’d gotten the full Brazillian. Tom caught himself staring more at his friends package then his own, he’d seen it in his former glory time and time again, and didn’t know why he was missing it so much. For a moment, Tom realized that he was standing naked, holding a man’s hand, staring at his package. But that thought quickly faded, as Rob was the only part of this whole experience that felt right.
When Rob looked over to do his own inspection of his peer, he was shocked to see that something hadn’t shrunk at all. If anything, it had grown. “Holy shit, that’s huge!” he said, his jaw dropping. For the first time since they’d stripped he untangled his hand as he walked behind his friend for a better look. “Tom, you’re thicc.”
“What are you talking about?” he said as he placed his hands on his rear. His once perky behind had grown massive. He could still feel muscle, but it was now behind a healthy layer of jiggling fat. Before he could continue his exploration, Rob pushed his hands away, placing his own palms on the other man’s naked ass. The two ballooning cheeks felt even bigger with his now tiny hands, and he couldn’t help himself from tightening his grip firmly on them. This sensation shot all the blood in his Tom’s body directly to his package, his tiny nub now standing firmly at its full inadequate two inches. Never before had a man’s touch caused this sort of feeling, which put him into a panic. Rob was dealing with a panic of his own, as all he wanted to do was dive face-first into the other man’s new assets. Quickly stopping himself, Gronk turned around to check out his own rear end, looking to see if he’d gained a similar new shape.
Tom was terrified that his friend would see his erection, but his smaller endowment went completely unnoticed. They both craned their necks to look at their new buns in the mirror. Gronk was actually happy with his new butt, he’d been known to shake his booty on the dance floor. His butt looked like it had stayed the same size, while the rest of him had shrunk around it. But even with how disproportionate it was, it was still overshadowed by the mammoth behind his cohort had grown.
“Knock, knock” Vince said. Quickly the men pulled up their robes, not comfortable with someone who’d been smaller than them seeing their fairy like frames. As he entered the room he chuckled quietly, noticing that neither man was able to keep their shelf like bubbles contained in their robes. “I hope that was enough time for you to get acquainted with your post rejuvenation bodies. Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty of your new contracts. Obviously, Tommy, we’ve made the appropriate payments to the Buccaneers and your contract with them has been dissolved.”
“You can’t do that!” Tom yelled.
“I think you’ll agree that you don’t belong on a football field anymore. Now, due to some of the psychological aspects of this change, we’ve found that it’s best you have a care taker. We’ve decided it best to keep you both together, so we’ll be setting you up with a nice apartment for your caretaker and you both.”
“I have a family! I’ll be living with them! My wife-”
“Your wife is well aware of our new arrangement and is in full support. She’d rather you be alive like this than not at all. And she understands that you will have certain new needs that she can not provide. She also advised us she didn’t want your children seeing you like this just yet. Now, the nurse here has been kind of enough to help you both get dressed and drive you to your new residence, so be polite to him. I will meet you there where we can get you set up with your new wrestling personas.”
As they waked into their new apartment, the nurse bid them adieu with a nice goodbye smack on Brady’s ass. Tom was more shocked by the soft moan that the grab had elicited, so he quickly started to explore the new apartment. It was a pretty nice place, wonderful view, nice modern set up, but though it had multiple rooms set up, only one had a bed. The bed was bigger than any he’d seen, but he was still shocked to find he’d have to share with Gronkowski. He made a note to himself that Gronk would have to sleep on the couch.
As Tom walked back into the living room he saw Vince standing there. “Ah good, you’re finally here,” Vince said. “You’ll find the room down the hall has your new costume, Tommy. Robbie, yours in the room to your left. Your handler has filled us in on the personas that you would both be most comfortable with.”
As they’d time had gone on, both men had grown more complacent with their new lot. Though Tom hated it, he found that if even his wife wanted this, there was nothing he could do. Gronkowski at first was furious at his loss in stature, but all the attention he’d received from the nurses and lab staff had made him start to enjoy his new role. Even if the attention had all come from men, he was an attention whore and he’d take it where he could get it. As they both made their way to their rooms to change, they heard the noise of a door opening and a familiar voice coming from the living room.
“Ah, you’re finally here. I’m sure you’ve filled out all the paperwork and you understand your new duties as a member of our company?” they heard Vince ask.
“I do. And honestly I’m elated to get to be a part of it. I’ve been a big fan of the new league. Are they here yet?” The other voice asked.
“Yes, Mr. Edelman, they are getting changed into the costumes you suggested as we speak.”
“Oh, call me Julian. And I’m so excited you liked the names.”
“Alright boys! Time to come out!” Vince yelled down the hall. As the two former athletes walked out to the living room, they were shocked to find their former teammate standing in front of them. “Julian, meet the Playboy and the Patriot.”
Julian looked down to see the scantily clad twinks that had once towered over him. Tom Brady was wearing a blue tank top that showed off his supple lithe arms, which had his former number twelve emblazoned on the breast. His small package was now concealed in an American flag styled speedo. Julian smiled to himself as Tom tried to shield the view from his bulge, and smiled harder when he saw how far those stripes stretched out on Tom’s backside. With Tom, the tank top at least hung a bit to hide his upper body, but with Gronkowski, the skin tight black leotard was painted on. Julian was ecstatic to see the direction they’d gone with his Playboy idea. Bunny ears stuck up from Rob’s styled hair, while his neck and wrists were encased in a cute bow tie and adorable cuffs. The piece de resistance however, was the fluffy bunny tail resting above the tight end’s wide receiver.
“Tommy, Robbie, I couldn’t handle what had happened to either of you and I knew I couldn’t go on in a world with either of you missing. So I called Vince’s people right away and of course I volunteered to be your handler when they explained the mechanics of the situation.”
Rob had always had to look down at his smaller friend, but now he was staring straight up at the other man. He’d never really thought about it in his former life, but he couldn’t help noticing now that Edelman looked as much like a model as he did a NFL player. His heart fluttered as he walked over to his friend. Tom had a similar feeling, wanting to be mad that Julian could do something like this to him, but he also felt an unusual feeling while he stared at the sculpted man. Again he felt his tiny nub raise to attention, hardly noticeable even in his skin tight briefs.
“Come here for a second, Robbie,” Julian beckoned. Gronk’s heart fluttered a bit as he walked over to his friend, who reached down and tugged on his fluffy bunny tail. Immediately Gronk moaned out in pleasure, confirming Julian’s theory of how the tail was kept in place. “Nice,” he said as he moved his hand down to cup Gronk’s left cheek.
“Now you will all have plenty of time to discuss your new arrangement boys, but our league moves fast. We have to go out and take some promotional pictures of you in your new personas. You’ve got your debut match coming up this Friday and you’re going up against the most popular tag team in the League,” Vince explained, rushing the men out the room.
“Don’t worry guys, I’ve been talking to Dean, their handler. I think you guys are going to do so great against the Leather Lads. Now in this form of wrestling it’s less about taking your opponent down and more about getting your opponent off,” Julian said as they walked. With one hand already around Gronk’s waist, he grabbed Tom’s enormous shelf with the other and pulled him into his arm. He slid his hands beneath Tom’s speedo and began to slide a finger in and out. Until this point, Tom had still been putting up a fight. But the pleasure he was feeling now was unlike anything he’d felt with any of the women he’d been with. He arched his back pushing Julian’s finger deeper into him as Julian slipped in a second finger. All thoughts of sleeping on the couch dissolved as he started to fantasize about the different things him and his former teammates would be doing each night.
Walking with both men pressed into him, he said, “Dean was even telling me about a new idea where you would work together against the other wrestler’s handler, trying to get them off before the other team. You two versus Dean, while I go up against Seth and Brad.”
The men all arrived at the camera set for their upcoming match to find the other wrestlers were already mid photo shoot. Dean Ambrose stood there with his leather clad twinks, Seth Rollins and Brad Maddox.
“Oh yeah, we are definitely doing the handler match,” Julian said, his eyes focused on Brad’s perky little tush.
“Agreed,” Tommy said, his mouth watering at Dean’s broad shoulders.
Self-consciousness, he thinks, keeping his eyes closed, is like a flash of lighting after a sultry night - waking up is not interrupted by sleep, but sleep by waking: unconsciousness is man’s natural condition, only the sleeping and the dead are really at home.
