The 11-year-old lunged ferociously at the smaller boy, but Scott, much like Kai, was light on his feet. He’d recuperated a bit from their last physical challenge, that godawful wrestling that had caught him so off guard, his adult consciousness ambling about in a body that predated his academy days. Now, though, he was ready.
“Get over here, runt!” Ernesto clawed and dashed and scrambled, anything to get ahold of Scott. Any semblance of decorum and tact had gone out the window the very second Barrie had counted them down into the match.
Scott focused on deflecting the bigger boy’s leaps and grabs, and, so far, he was doing rather well. Finally, he could properly implement his skills, no doubt a shock to the viewers who had only seen the third grader as no more capable than a boy truly his age.
Forty seconds had already gone by, and Scott was wearing down. Fortunately, Ernesto appeared to be losing his own steam, huffing and puffing as his movements grew more and more haphazard. Scott could only outmaneuver the boy for so long; his tiny, minimal muscles could only redirect Ernesto’s weight so many times, until…
“Gotcha, Scottie!” Ernesto had pulled poor, little Scottie clean off his feet. A successful dive for his foot and a quick grab had finally put the agent in exactly the position that Ernesto wanted him in. “I’d say I was sorry, but I don’t wanna come off as too much of a liar to the folks at home.”
As Scott lied helplessly on the floor, his eyes met Kai’s, who looked on sullenly as the other half of his masterplan wriggled pathetically, unable to dislodge his exposed foot from the older boy’s grasp. Would this be it for the two of them? If he and Kai got much younger, there’d be no chance in hell they could win future competitions. That very outcome had happened last season with that prison guard… he’d had a decent start, but once he lost the first game, he became the contestant with the lowest win/loss ratio in his season. Making matters worse, he was hardly a fan favorite, walking in on his first day and boasting how he’d mop the floor with the other boys. It's a shame he was the only one to go home in diapers. Still, a similar fate, perhaps a more permanent one, awaited the two agents, unless Scott could hold out for just 16 or so more seconds.
Ernesto wasted no time digging into Scott’s bare sole with a flurry of fast fingers, and the younger boy exploded into a raucous, uncontrollable laughter that sent shivers down Kai’s spine. Surely, this was but a prelude to Scott’s surrender… but seconds passed, Scott cried laughing, and Ernesto pressed on in his dogged pursuit of a white flag.
Unlike his corporate counterpart, Scott had undergone months and months of rigorous, demoralizing counter-torture training, but nothing quite compared to the tickle torture game of NGA. In fact, Scott hadn’t even considered tickling as a form of torture in his training, as he’d long outgrown the reflexive jolting and giggling of tickling. Now, though, in this new body of his, those nerve impulses were being received loud and clear, the boy helplessly unable to stifle the laughter that escaped him.
“Just surrender, Scottie!” Ernesto moved his fingers even faster across the boy’s soft sole. “The audience will think it’s so cute if you just give up! Who knows, maybe you’ll lose and get even younger! One roll of the dice and you could be the cutest little guy here, sure to be a fan favorite!”
The thought of being reduced even further sent a surge of adrenaline racing through the boy’s system. No way was he about to be the youngest again! He could pull through this! He’d show Ernesto, and he’d show Kai how much of an asset he really was, even if it meant enduring Ernesto’s nimble fingers just a bit longer! He juussssttttt had to hanggggg onnnnn a litttlllle moooorre…
“AND THAT’S TIME, BOYS!” Barrie’s announcement relaxed all the muscles in both boys’ bodies, Scott finally freed from his tormentor’s clutches. “ERNIE, POOR LAD! YOU GAVE IT YOUR ALL, BUT I THINK LITTLE SCOTTIE HERE PROVED HIMSELF NOT AS HOPELESS IN THE PHYSICAL CHALLENGES AS I THINK SOME MEMBERS OF THE AUDIENCE MAY HAVE BELIEVED!”
All the boys watched as the TV lit up with a burst of surprise and adoration for their little underdog’s victory. Perhaps the audience had already forgiven him for his untimely betrayal just yesterday.
“SCOTT AND JACKSON, SINCE YOU’RE THE WINNERS OF TODAY’S GAME, YOU GET TO PICK: DO YOU WANT TO ROLL THE DICE FOR AN AGE BOOST, OR DO YOU WANT YOUR OPPONENT TO HAVE TO ROLL THE DICE FOR AN AGE PENALTY?”
Jackson, contrary to appearances, was quick to pick up on the implications of such a choice. “Wait, so if I roll a 6… I’d be 19. Is that even allowed?”
“NOT QUITE, JACKSON! SEEING AS WE DON’T WANT YOU GETTING TOO OLD, YOU’D BE ROLLING A D3!” Like magic, Barrie cleared away the screen, showcasing a digital 3-sided die. “NO OLDER THAN 16, AND THAT’S THAT!”
“I’m already the oldest, so it’s not like I gotta be 16 to keep winning.” Jackson flaunted his two consecutive wins. “Hey, Kai, since you were goin’ on about being so cute, how about you get even cuter?”
Kai gulped, but he put on a brave face for the cameras. “Yeah, just you wait until that comes back to bite you in the butt!”
“AND WHAT ABOUT YOU, SCOTTIE?” Barrie asked.
Scott knew the answer, easily. “Age boost, for sure!” He needed a leg up way more than Ernesto needed a penalty. Besides, as the earliest bloomer in the bunch, he could stand to benefit greatly if he got up past ten.
“ALRIGHTY, BOYS! KAI AND SCOTT, PLEASE STEP FORWARD FOR YOUR SHARED DICE ROLL!”
“What?!” Kai sputtered.
Scott shared in his rival agent’s shock. “You mean…”
“THAT’S RIGHT, BUT IT MIGHT NOT BE HOW YOU EXPECT! SCOTTIE, WE ROLL A NUMBER FOR YOU, AND THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE DIE IS FOR KAI! NOW, LET’S SEE WHAT NUMBER YOU ROLL IN 3! 2! 1!”
The pair had barely a moment to brace themselves for the appearance of a rolling 6-sided die on the screen. Scott glanced to his side, noticing that Kai’s gaze was transfixed on the screen, perhaps not wanting to face his rival that he’d underestimated the past couple days. Whatever the case, Scott would use his restored years to win more challenges, gain audience favor, and secure the tech, a mission he and Kai had neglected yesterday. Despite their feuding, they could both silently agree that no matter what would go down the rest of today, they’d better spend some time snooping.
“SCOTTIE, YOUR NUMBER… IS…
…
2! SCOTTIE AND KAI, I HOPE YOU’RE BOTH READY!”
Again, Scott looked over at Kai, except this time, the boy had turned his attention to his roommate. Kai pleaded with his sad, brown eyes, knowing that he was about to be youngest on the show, but Scott sensed a deeper, more profound disturbance in his rival’s gaze. Scott tried to reassure the other spy, shooting him a warm smile, but just as he did, Kai’s eyes glazed over, as did his.
Scott hadn’t yet experienced the feeling of NGA’s tech running in reverse. There was still the same soothing, warm, shroud that weighed upon his very being, but rather than a bombardment with memories of years gone by, Scott was confronted with very real growing pains in his legs. Immediately beyond that, a discomforting tightness presented all over his body, particularly his torso and legs. When the sensation failed to subside, instead growing more intense, Scott looked down, realizing that it was his undersized clothing that was impeding a smooth, comfortable transition into puberty.
He wanted nothing more in that moment than to free his body from its juvenile constraints, so with little regard for anyone watching, he quickly shed his entire third grade wardrobe. The tech had a way of making him completely apathetic to the fact that he was now entirely on display for the other boys and digital audience. Had he the strength to move his completely relaxed eyes, he’d have seen the insanity that was the TV screen flooding with reactions.
In this brief moment of blissful indifference, Scott thought of Kai. He remembered the cool, confident persona of the mysterious, well-dressed man, whose aura commanded submission, ever so subtly. He hadn’t really thought it at the time, since he’d been too focused on preliminary investigations of the other contestants, but Kai was actually a pretty handsome guy. His initial attraction had only manifested in their regressed states, but at his new age, Scott’s trance-induced recollection of the man’s image stirred to life a feeling that made sense for his years, right around the beginning of puberty.
Shaking himself back to awareness, Scott felt another warmth enveloping him, but the feeling was far more physical. He looked down, finding that a throw blanket from the couch had been wrapped around him.
“Looks like you’ve got some big feelings there, kiddo!” Jackson laughed. He gestured to the blanket. “I thought you could use a little privacy. Although, it doesn’t look like you’re old enough to need quite as much as me yet hahaha! And he definitely isn’t!”
Kai! Scott had been too preoccupied by the tech’s trance to have considered Kai’s transformation. If his number had been 2, then Kai’s must’ve been… oh god… Scott summoned the courage to look over at where Kai had been positioned next to him… Standing at no more than 3’ tall was the cutest little spy that Scott had ever seen, the boy’s face totally devoid of emotion, still reeling from his 5-year regression.
“OKAY, GUYS! WHY DON’T YOU TWO GO ON UP AND GET DECENT? I’LL ANNOUNCE TODAY’S PLANS SOON ENOUGH!”