The smell. Oh that vile, musky smell. Aaron had a already endured so much, but if the odor of last night’s practice was to be the worst of it, then it would be worth it for his revenge.

He would make his play by hiding in the plays, or rather, in Tom’s forearm play cards lying in the bottom of his practice bag. While it seemed that the legends about Rob’s familial connections to the warlock were true, further investigation would have to wait. Rob would die tonight on a field in front of a few thousand spectators. It didn’t matter if Aaron were magically shrunken down to a few millimeters in height. Rob would not profit one single night for taking advantage of Aaron’s good will.

………….

Like a tick, Aaron curled himself into a little bump under the play card. The darkness underneath was as obscuring as the roar of the crowd was deafening, and Aaron savored the moments when stadium lights would illuminate his new hunting den. He realized that he would likely suffer more concussions if he didn’t stable himself, so he straggled those tiny yet still powerful legs around one of Tom’s chestnut arm hairs.

The motion of the opening plays jostled his stomach more severely than he imagined. It only took until the first third down before he found himself making sick over one of Tom’s skin tags.

He needed to wait for a pass that would find its way into Aaron’s hands. The risk behind this maneuver was insurmountable, but if he didn’t make this move, he would never get a chance to ever get close to Rob, and he was sure this schemer was already sure of that.

Finally, several drives into the game on a second down play, Aaron finally heard his opportunity was ready.

“Hey… Hey!!! Hurry up! We’re ramming this one down their throats. Stop fucking around. Omaha 87, Omaha 87 on me. 1… 2.. 3… BREAK!”

He scurried. He scurried like he’s had never scurried before. Like a mouse bent on gnawing an entire mansion down to its foundation. He drove his calves and glutes to exhaustion getting out of the play card and onto surface of Tom’s wristband.

Stabling himself on that damp and putrid fur he summoned whatever adrenaline he had. He would need to exert himself past any known limit to make this jump, and then spend all his energy again for the journey, and then the kill.

“Omaha, Omaha!”

“54 on right 54 on right”

“Dasher… Dancer…. Fly! Fly! 32”

An audible….. he didn’t account for an audible he had to get back in. But before he could turn back around to shelter he heard it:

“HIKE!”

Hands whipped upward and wind flew past his face. He was vulnerable, and he knew he couldn’t take a sack unprotected like this, so he left it up to the cruelest fate which orchestrated Rob’s betrayal. He jumped.

Little tiny feet landed on leather, and he felt an ankle crunch beneath him.

“Get to the stitching. Get to the stitching”

He ran up against he incline of the ball, and just has he grabbed onto that white wall he felt a thud and all went dark.

What exactly was going on, he didn’t know but things were suddenly very bright and loud, and then dark again. Looking up he saw an overhanging bluff of dark, muscle.

“Hand-off. No. I need to get to Rob. To Rob!”

The train of force carrying him now barreled right, then a quick juke left, then a spin, and Aaron and the ball went flying.

Migraine-enduring swirls of noise and chaos. Then shocking stop. The whiplash Aaron just endured could have broken his neck. Tom’s audible must have been called for a lateral. Was he back in Tom’s hands? It didn’t smell like it. Tom’s sweat had been an overpowering aura of salt, but this smelt of old buffalo wings.

Another throw. This one went far. Flying, flying, gale force winds nearly whipping him away as he grabbed the microfibers of stitching through white-knuckled fists ready to rip right off.

“THAT’S RIGHT BITCH YOU CAN’T STOP ME! CAN’T STOP ME!”

That was Rob’s voice. By some miracle, he made it.”

“TOUCHDOWN, MOTHERFUCKER WOOOO!”

Aaron turned around and saw the giant white 87. He jumped before Rob would make his ceremonial spike, and he made it.

Serenity overcame him now as he held on amidst pats on the back and his teammates celebrations. He was safe. Well relatively safe. He couldn’t exactly control what would happen next, but he had reached his destination.

As he climbed, he gave himself the grace to catch his breath. By now, his offense was back on the bench catching their breath before their next drive.

Hands in those cavernous breathing holes, Aaron hoisted himself up and up until he reached Rob’s ham-like neck.

He reached hairs and pulled himself upward, finally up to an ear, and then as he felt soft flesh in his palms he grasped and pulled himself into the ear canal.

It was as good as done. Nothing could stop him now. He was absolutely sure of it. He had just survived an unprotected touchdown drive onto the body of his once-fellow tight end. It was the shaking of Rob’s head that alerted Aaron at the noise he was making laughing this whole time. He felt some ogre-like vibrations emanating from Rob’s big, stupid mouth, but he knew not wat Rob was saying, nor did he care.

When he felt a good tilt downward, he let gravity be his accomplice, sliding down the ear canal, savoring the feeling of unctuous ear wax beneath his hands, until finally, he came across a tube.

The quaking around him continued, but Aaron chose to interpret it as the triumphant herald of the justice he would soon take for himself. He pushed, and suddenly the quaking around him grew more violent.

In and in he went, and as he burrowed he felt thunderous thuds shaking that hulking structure around him. He clawed his way onward, descacrating ground as much as he could, until he reached something gelatinous. The treasure had been found, and he attacked it.

Microscopic hands, teeth, and feet flew and dug their way on ward into brain. He was like a dog being treated with hamburger from its masters table. He made as many little gashes into Rob’s brain as he could until he started to notice wet, hot liquid enveloping him.

No matter. He didn’t need to live to savor the results of his revenge. Knowing that he would leave inexplicable suffering on this Earth was enough for him. He took one final chomp with his teeth, and felt thick liquid fill his lungs as the once arrogant and invulnerable world around him toppled over and came to a crashing fall.