Peekaboo

There was loud knocking on the door that was nearby to them, which stopped the rising argument. Antti began walking over to the door. "Hello, guys!" He waved to his teammates and then unlocked the door, letting in the rest of Patrick's group.

Brad gasped. "It's Nemo! Stop him!" He whipped out his sword and began to charge after to the goalie.

"No, no, no, no, no!!!" Patrick slid in front Antti to protect him. "He's fine, guys, he's back to himself; no harm done."

The newcomers made a confused look.

"I...it's a long story." Patrick nodded his head slowly. "Yea."

“Well we got time, right?” Sharp asked, looking at the blond prince.

“Well, we really should get back to Avondale and get this potion on that crystal. I really want my memories back, not sure about any of you?” Tyler spoke, holding up the bottle with the purple-ish black memory liquid inside.

Patrick nodded at him. “I’m with Tyler on this one.”

“And I am too. I don’t want to remain in this…place anymore!” Jonathan said, rubbing his shoulder.

“I don’t blame you,” Antti agreed, putting a hand on Jonathan’s shoulder.

There was a sudden loud roar from outside, followed by a thunderous thud. Jonathan gasped, “It’s Stalock!” He ducked behind Patrick in fear.

“The dragon who kidnapped you?” Patrick asked him.

Jonathan nodded. “Stalock, Nemo’s pet dragon!”

“Stalock? Alex?” Antti inquired and then raced out of the room and onto the platform. He returned shortly with someone new.

“Hey it’s Stalock the Dragon!” Scott exclaimed, in a teasing way.

“More like ‘dragon’, eh Kaner?” Jonathan remarked. “Cause he’s not a dragon anymore...you know…”

“Yeah, Jonny. Good one.”

Antti led Stalock over to the Sharks and then let him go. Whatever curse had been placed on Stalock, he was no longer a dragon and he could speak normally once more. He gave Scott an earful when he regained his confidence.

“So, how do we get back to Avondale? Just take the same exhausting trip back the way we came or what?” Patrick asked the red haired princess.

Ariel shook her head. “Of course not. There’s a much quicker way back. Tyler, hand me some of the dust you have in that purse, please?”

“It’s a satchel! Satchels are for men and purses are for women.”

“Whatever you wanna tell yourself, man. Just get me the dust, please. And Patrick--” The princess turned to the blond. “--may I have Showtime, please?”

Patrick nodded. He unsheathed the stick sword and passed it to her handle first of course. Tyler passed her the dust, sprinkling it into her hand. She, in turn, sprinkled it on the blade of the weapon and then waved it back and forth in the air as she muttered an incantation to it. Then she raised it into the air and shouted, “To Avondale!”

In the blink of an eye they were all teleported quickly back to the kingdom…well the treeline in front of the bridge that led to the kingdom. The group raced across the bridge happily: Sharp and Adam with Brandon and Andrew and Reilly with Torey; Val and Jamie with Tyler and Brad; and then finally Ariel, Patrick, Jonathan and Antti. They were all welcomed with cheers and shouts of joy. Antti purposefully hid and kept out of sight, ducking between Patrick and Jonathan in the center of the group.

On the palace’s steps, Amy and Chelsea stood waving at them. Ariel ran to join them; she still had Showtime in her hands.

“That princess took my sword,” Patrick remarked.

“You mean stick?” Jonathan laughed.

“Stick? Sword? Showtime!” Patrick exclaimed with a laugh as well. “How am I gonna play hockey when I get back to America? I mean, all my sticks broke and one turned to silver! What if we have a game the same night we get back?”

“How about I make you one, Patrick? Or you can have one of mine?” Jonathan asked, elbowing his friend in the shoulder. “It’s the least I can do, since you saved me.”

“No, no, I can’t take your sticks Jonny, those are yours, but I won’t forget that you owe me.” Patrick winked at the brunette.

“Then as soon as we return, we’ll get some sticks for you, how about that?” Jonathan exclaimed, holding his arms out to either side of him in a questioning pose, a smile pasted on his face.

Patrick put his hands on his hips and cocked a pose, raising an eyebrow at his best friend. “Like a hockey shopping spree, is that what you are driving at, Jonny?”

“Sure!”

“So...you, Jonathan Bryan Toews, are taking me on a shopping spree?” Patrick pointed at Jonathan then placed his hand on his chest.

Jonathan nodded and then reassured the blond with, “For hockey equipment. Nothing more or less. And no awkwardness I swear.”

“Good. I was hoping you weren’t gonna fall head-over-heels in love with me.” Patrick laughed a little bit, crossing his arms over his chest.

Jonathan nervously laughed with him and put a hand on Patrick’s shoulder. “What? You’re my best friend. Patrick Timothy Kane Jr., how can you think like that? I’d never fall helplessly in love with you.” He then nudged Patrick with his elbow and a shake of his head. “You’re silly Peeks.”

“Just making sure, Jonny; now let’s get everyone’s memories back and return to America and the good old NHL!” Patrick remarked. “It’s been long enough!”

They ran up the steps and into the castle. Brad and Andrew were playing up the celebration and dramatically waving and bowing and saying, “Thank you, thank you!”

Sharp and Adam reappeared and pulled them inside.

The San Jose Sharks: Brent Burns, Logan Couture, Tomáš Hertl, John Scott, Alex Stalock, and Antti Niemi all stood together. They all stood in the great hall looking at the three princesses. Amy and Chelsea were standing to the sides of Ariel, who had found a magical crystal. It sat in the center of a gothic or medieval holder, which had dozens of celtic engravings carved into it. She placed the holder on a pedestal, which had been dragged out by Amy and Chelsea. It was at least five feet tall.

“Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews of Chicago, step forward please,” Ariel commanded.

The two shared a look and the group parted to allow a walkway for them to walk through. They shrugged and padded up the ‘aisle’ and came to stand before the princesses.

“Avondale thanks you, Patrick Kane, for saving it from the evil warlord…but mostly by one of our jealous sisters, Lauren,” Ariel spoke. “And Jonathan, your bravery and knowledge and friendship with this handsome man is greatly appreciated. Avondale is forever in your debt and like we told Jonny before, you are always welcomed back here.”

Patrick looked back to see everyone nodding at him in agreement. Brad was in the arms of Tyler Seguin for some reason; he was actually allowing someone to manhandle him. The honey badger had his paws wrapped around Tyler’s neck. The thief smiled largely; he looked happy to be back with Brad… What would happen when Tyler learned of his real life? What would Brad do to Tyler?

And what about everyone else?

But Patrick knew they had to get their memories back and return to their homes in Chicago, Boston, Dallas, and San Jose. That was where they belonged, not in some fairy tale kingdom fighting evil. It was Jonathan who spoke up first, pulling Patrick from his thoughts.

“Now, about the memories and you all remembering what hockey is,” Jonathan said.

Ariel nodded. She signaled to Tyler, who scampered up to her, still holding Brad in his arms and passed her the bottle of memories. She opened it up and then instantly dumped it on the crystal. It soaked in changing the color of the milky white ball to purplish-black. She placed Showtime flat on top and then looked at the two Blackhawk princes standing before her. “Place both of your hands on the crystal, Patrick and Jonathan.”

They both did as told and immediately the crystal glowed a magnificent purple color. Streams of light energy shot out from the crystal ball and flew at everyone. Soon there was a thick purple thick mist that covered the castle room and probably the kingdom too.

“JAMIE!! VAL!!” Tyler’s scream sounded.

The thick cloud dissolved and Jamie was standing as a human with Tyler wrapped around him in a big hug. Val was smiling by them looking clueless.

Brad was on the ground as a human, shaking his head. He then looked up and glared at Tyler. “Why did you drop me Tyler? I thought we were friends!”

“You’re a Bruin, Jamie’s a Star and I’m a Star!” Tyler replied, cooly. “I’m not a Bruin anymore, Brad. We are friends, but not like that, man!”

“Да! (Yes!)” Val chimed in with his thick Russian accent.

“One vote for returning Tyler to the dungeon!” Brad remarked, raising his hand up. “And the Russian and Jamie can go with him!”

“No!” Jamie and Tyler shouted in unison.

“Нет!! (No!!)” Val yelled.

“English, Valeri!” Jamie snapped, smacking him on the arm.

Val looked at his feet. “No.”

Adam was also human once more and he was looking at Sharp weirdly. Reilly shoved away from Torey, looking awkwardly at him. And Andrew was looking around in wonder. He finally ended up staring at the Boston pest, who was looking back at him.

“No one needs to know about our friendship, Shawzy!” Brad snapped.

“Couldn’t agree more, Marchy!” Andrew retorted.

“Whoa! Everyone’s human and normal! I guess the memory cure also works on human-animal transformations!” Patrick exclaimed.

“It does. Now that everyone knows their real lives, there’s no need for them to be animals,” Ariel responded.

“So now what happens?” Patrick asked. “Can we return to the NHL?”

Ariel responded by tapping Showtime’s tip on the crystal three times and then shouted, “Boston!”

“This isn’t over Tyler Paul Seguin; keep your head up on the ice!” Brad yelled as he faded away.

“Whatever, Marchy!” Tyler quickly shouted back.

Then Reilly, Torey, and Brad all vanished from the room, twinkling away like stars.

Ariel then shouted out, “Dallas!”

Tyler, Jamie and Val grabbed hands and vanished now, twinkling away like the Bruins.

“San Jose!” And Antti, Stalock, Adam Burish and the other Sharks disappeared, again twinkling like stars.

Only Chicago’s players remained now. Ariel turned to the two lead superstars. She eyed Patrick and smiled at him.

“Patrick, I wish things could have worked out for us, I mean you are a handsome prince and a devoted friend. And I’ll try to remain available, if you know what I mean…” She winked at him and giggled.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Ariel.”

“You are always welcome back here, I mean it.” She was focused on Patrick, but it was Jonathan who spoke up, breaking the moment.

“Thank you, Princess Ariel,” Jonathan said, bowing slightly and nodding to Patrick, who was blushing bright red in the cheeks.

“Again, thank you, both; now we remember what hockey is: a wonderful sport crafted by kind Canadians. We look forward to enjoying the sport here once again like it should be. Oh, and you may need this--” She held out Showtime to Patrick, by the handle. “--if it doesn’t change back when you leave here, at least keep it as a memory or your greatest triumph,” Ariel remarked, passing Patrick Showtime. The blond took it and instantly, before he could lift it off of the crystal, the red haired princess shouted, “Chicago!”

And all the Blackhawks waved farewell and vanished from the fairy tale kingdom.

Notes

And so, this story comes to a close....
...but wait, there's one more chapter, an epilogue left.


Next up: Patrick's Epilogue