Peekaboo

After what felt like a millenium, Patrick and Jamie finally limped toward the exit of the maze. The others were still waiting and behaving themselves. Patrick was pleased to see everyone behaving once again and not tearing each other apart. He was also happy to see everyone present and accounted for.

Ariel was the first one to run forward to them. She still had on her purple dress with the puffy sleeves and her hair was still pulled back with the flowers. She halted before them, looking bewildered and concerned. “What happened?”

“I had a run-in with Nemo. Jonny’s with him...still alive, but he’s a mess.” Patrick patted Jamie, who helped him to sit down on the grass. The reindeer then shook his head and sat beside him. Patrick stroked him in thanks. His leg was killing him and he just needed to sit down and recover.

“And Jamie, where did you go? What happened to you?” she asked, looking at the reindeer’s broken antler.

Jamie looked at the redhead princess with big brown eyes. “The Shark minions got to me. One of them snapped my antler. It hurt for a little bit, but it’s fine now, it just makes my head a little top heavy on one side.”

“Well, I’m glad you are okay and in one piece.”

Jamie dipped his head instinctively, but his head tipped to the side. He grumbled something under her breath. Patrick patted him once and then resumed petting him.

Adam and Andrew shared a look and stepped forward. “Why don’t you pet us like that?”

Patrick faced them and stated, “Because Jamie’s a good boy.”

Jamie raised his head up as best he could and grinned.

“Oh, snap!” Sharp exclaimed, giving Adam an earful.

Brad remained silent, just giving Andrew a nod. Then he choked out, “I can pet you, Andrew?” He unsheathed his claws and made a petting motion in mid-air.

Andrew looked at him and shook his head quickly. “Uh, that’s okay. I’m good.”

Brad shrugged and sheathed his claws once more.

“Anyway, Nemo may have broken my leg, I can’t walk on it and what’s even more humiliating is that I stole Showtime from him, but then he stole it back from me. He beat me. How am I supposed to save Jonny if he beats me?” Patrick questioned.

There was a moment of awkwardly uncomfortable silence that followed.

“I’m serious! We were all almost killed in a maze, Nemo has a dragon, he’s kidnapped Tyler and Val for some reason, he bested me in the maze, I’m sitting here hurt and Nemo has Showtime, Jonathan and has pretty much won! He’s just having fun now. All he needs now is to kill me and it’s all over. One mistake from me, it’s over.”

“That’s not true!” Torey spat, hugging Reilly close to him.

“It is! Open your eyes, we can’t do anything, because Nemo’s got all the power on his side! Might as well limp into his bloody castle and wave the white flag in his face.”

“Patrick, don’t speak like that...” Ariel and Jamie calmly tried to say.

“You all know I’m right, Jonathan’s lost, this kingdom’s lost, we’re all lost. It’s over. Nemo’s won. Game over.”

“No, it’s not, Patrick,” Ariel insisted. She squatted down and looked at Patrick’s leg. Patrick watched her. She could help him, heal him with her magic, but it wouldn’t be enough to motivate the young Blackhawk. Patrick was seriously considering accepting defeat. And what if he was right?

“Who says he’ll beat you twice in a row?” Brandon suddenly spoke up. “If I know Patrick Kane, no one can beat him twice in a row at anything!”

“Yeah, if anyone can save your captain, it’s you Kaner!” Brad remarked. “And save Tyler too!”

“And Val!” Jamie added on, still struggling to keep control over his head, which swayed back and forth unsteady. Patrick helped him out, propping his head up with his hand. Jamie thanked him.

The blond winger for Chicago looked at the eager group of faces looking at them. They all were filled with hope, but all Patrick felt inside was disappointment and failure. He’d had a chance to save Jonathan and win, but like the Maple Leafs chances at making the playoffs, he’d missed. Nemo had instead stolen Showtime back, injured him, and disappeared with Jonathan again. What hope was there?

Ariel worked her hands in a circle motion over his injured leg and a pinkish glow surrounded his hurt leg, coming from her hands. Patrick gritted his teeth together and tensed up, unsure what was going on. Jamie gently nuzzled the Blackhawk winger, butting his head against Patrick’s. He was careful not to stab the blond man with his antler and stump.

The pain lasted for a few moments. Then Patrick was hit with a warm sensation.

Ariel got to her feet and stepped back. She pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips. “Get to your feet, Patrick,” she ordered.

“I--I--” Patrick stammered, as he touched his leg.

“I said get to your feet, Patrick.”

“What did you do to--me?”

Ariel narrowed her eyes and spat at him, “GET TO YOUR FEET, PATRICK TIMOTHY KANE!”

Patrick dropped his hand that was propping up Jamie’s head. Luckily, it didn’t do much of anything to the reindeer, who watched him scramble to his feet. He didn’t feel any pain and he stood up, perfectly fine. He looked at Ariel, stunned.

“How did you--?”

“I told you, this isn’t Chicago. This is Avondale and we have magical healing powers here.” She was back to being smiley and charming.

Patrick walked over to her. He paused before her a heartbeat, before he threw his arms around the redhead princess. “Thank you so much. But how can we beat Nemo?”

“You have to have courage and hope mostly…”

“And a killer plan!” Brad snarled, flexing his claws in and out of his paw.

“Yeah, exactly. That too,” Ariel stated with a short giggle.

Patrick let go of the princess and walked back to Jamie, who still hadn’t moved. He grabbed Jamie’s full antler in his hand and held it firmly but loosely, so that Jamie could move his head once more. Jamie got to his hooves and nudged Patrick’s side.

“You can do it, Kaner,” Jamie spoke.

Patrick looked down at his reindeer friend, the captain of the Dallas Stars. He smiled and nodded his head; Jamie gave him a wink. “You’re right, I can do this. I can save Jonny and the kingdom! Let’s get in that castle and find Val and Tyler.”

“That’s the spirit, Patrick!” Ariel exclaimed.

Notes

So I learned something new yesterday, Jamie Benn's middle name is Randolph! That's right, he's Jamie Randolph Benn. XP
The more you know! :)
Anyway....Brad wants to pet Andrew...so nothing new.
Enjoy this update. XD I really don't know what to say here. Sorry.


Next up: Time to Set Tyler and Val Free