"And Roy, our new transfer..." said the Coach, looking at his clipboard. "Reserve Quarterback."

"Reserve?" said Roy, indignantly. He had been on track to go pro at his last school, but with his family moving state he was in another situation entirely.

"Sorry Roy, maybe next time." said Coach. "Tom's been our QB for a long time, he's used to our gameplan."

"You know I'm good enough to be the starting quarterback." said Roy. "Just because these clowns have been at the school for years doesn't make them any better than me."

"You just don't have team spirit." said Coach, the portly man shaking his head sadly. "You think you can carry this team, so you won't let them support you."

"I think he'd fit in better if he was the mascot for this game." said Aaron, one of the meathead jocks Roy had ended up stuck on a team with.

"Yeah, we all went through that when we joined up." agreed Tom, fist-bumping his long-time teammate. "And now here we are! Wolves! Wolves! Wolves!"

His teammates picked up the chant. "Wolves! Wolves! Wolves! Awoooooo!"

Almost out of nowhere, they produced a mascot suit - a large, fluffy and cartoonish wolf wearing the school's football uniform, with a zipper pulled all the way down the back.

"Seriously?" said Roy, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Nothing wrong with being the mascot, bro!"

"Yeah, dude, it's an important job."

"Tell you what, Roy. You wear the mascot suit, I'll consider making you starting QB in the next game." said Coach.

"Alright, I get it, this is a dumb hazing thing." sighed Roy. "Can't help picking on the new guy."

He stepped forward, sliding one leg into the mascot outfit. The outside may have been fluffy, but the inside was smooth rubber - a little loose around his leg.

"Jeez, this thing must get stuffy before half-time." he said, lifting his other leg and pulling up the lower half of the suit as if pulling on a second pair of pants.

"It's all one piece, too. Must be a pain to take it off." he said, the other players pulling up the top half of the wolf mascot so it could slide over his arms, his hands filling up the cartoonishly oversized paws. Roy closed the paws in an experimental squeeze

"Wolves! Wolves! Wolves!" chanted the players as the same two jocks from before fitted the head.

"You okay in there, bro?" said Aaron, twisting the head into place.

"Yeah, it's a little tight around the ears." noted Roy.

"You can see fine, right? Don't want you missing the game." said Tom.

Roy narrowed his eyes at him, the gesture going unnoticed behind the wide eyes of the wolf head.

"Yeah, I can see you, Tom." sighed Roy.

"Alright team, starting positions." said Coach. "That means you, too." he said to Roy, pulling up the zipper on the boy's back to seal him in before patting him on the back.

"I should be out there playing, but fine." he said, muffled by the wolf's muzzle.

"Now get out there and dance, show your team how much you support them." said Coach.

"Look, Coach, I'll wear this suit. But I'm not going to dance."

"You'll support this team whether you like it or not." said Coach.

Coach pulled a remote from his pocket, and flipped a toggle on it.

"Hey, wha-"

The transfer student's cry of surprise was interrupted by the muzzle expanding inwards, a thick plug of material gagging his mouth.

"Mmph!" was all he could manage, feeling the rest of the suit expand to lock him in place. The arms and legs inflated with a soft hiss, pinning his real limbs. He felt the head of the suit clamp down around his ears, too - he could do nothing but look ahead through the eyeholes.

"Wolves! Wolves! Rah rah rah! Wolves! Wolves! Rah rah rah!" chanted the pre-recorded voices of cheerleaders, the sound from his headphones drowning out everything else around him.

Even if he could reach the zip on his back, it was no use. The thick limbs of the mascot outfit were locked still by some mechanism under the rubber pads that in turn held him.

"Now, dance for your team." said Coach, turning up a dial on the remote before pocketing it.

Roy felt his left foot move of its own accord. He stepped forward as naturally as if he was walking, though he was unable to direct it himself. His right foot followed. His head, held in place by the inflated rubber, turned to face the crowd that had gathered for the game. His arm raised to wave to them.

Nobody saw anything strange in the team mascot's movements. Nobody noticed they were a little stiff and mechanical. Nobody but Roy, that is.

Some unseen mechanism inside the suit was moving it, forcing his body to follow as he was trapped inside. Coach was right - he was cheering his team on, whether he liked it or not. Waving his arms and legs in a dance, leaping in the air, all the while taking his body with it - just what kind of suit was this?

"Wolves! Wolves! Rah rah rah!" chanted cheerleaders. The headphones that had locked in over his ears were pumping the cheer directly into his mind, accompanied by an almost inaudible noise. Roy, not able to resist the suit's movements, could do nothing but stare out its eyeholes at the game and crowd around him while he listened to the chant about the team.

What was that other sound anyway? Roy focused on it, trying to make out what it was.

"You love your team... you support your team..." whispered a robotic voice, barely audible under the roar of the crowd and the hypnotic rhythm of the chant

"Mmph!" said Roy, straining against his rubber restraints, trying to get out any kind of objection as he helplessly burst into a dance.

He was being brainwashed!

"You will give your team 110%... you will give your team everything you have... these are your only thoughts now..."

Was this why the team was so full of camaraderie for each other?

"You are full of team spirit... your team is your family... your team is the Wolves..."

"Uh oh! Looks like someone's so filled with team spirit he's dancing even at half-time!" said an announcer, sounding distant to Roy even though he must have been at the edge of the same field.

"Mmphm?!?" said Roy. Half-time already? He had been trapped inside the mascot for half the game! How had it been that long? Was he losing track of the time he had spend being hypnotized? He had no control over his body as the suit forced him to go through motions, and now it felt like he was losing his mind!

"Wolves! Wolves! Rah rah rah!"

"You love your team..."

"Wolves! Wolves! Rah rah rah!"

"You support your team..."

Being forced to cheer on his team with his body. Being forced to think thoughts of teamwork. Being forced to become the conforming team member that Coach needed him to be. His very sense of self was fading into the chant, the dance, the team spirit.

Roy couldn't take it anymore.

He passed out inside the suit, the brainwashing still flooding his ears as his puppeteered body helplessly entertained the crowd.

---

Roy woke up an hour later, in the locker room.

"Coach... What happened? I think I fainted!" he said, his mind still hazy. Coach had waited by his side for him to wake up, long after the others had showered up and left.

"Congrats, Roy. Wolves pulled it off again, all thanks to your cheering."

"My cheering?" He looked down in confusion - the top half of a wolf mascot suit had been peeled off him, but his legs were inside it. He couldn't remember anything since before putting it on, but he was happy to hear his beloved team had won. The Wolves were practically family to him, after all, yeah, that sounded right.

"Yeah. You remember how you volunteered to be the mascot today?" Coach put a hand on his shoulder. "Showed a lot of team spirit. Really inspired us."

"I guess I did volunteer." said Roy. "I must have collapsed after that... I was really giving 110%."

"You got it, Roy. You really gave it your all today. How's about you start as quarterback next time?"

"Yeah, I'd love to support the Wolves." said Roy. "It's all I can think about."

It truly was. Any thought of being too good for the team was gone. Why had he ever wanted to go against the gameplan? It was a good thing he had volunteered to wear the mascot suit.

"Good. You're finally full of team spirit." said Coach, giving him a kindly smile. "You ever feel you want to be the mascot again, the suit'll be there for you."