Taking an hour or more steps back, the GHP are staring at the open window Sidney, Nathan, Jonathan, and “Galchenyuk-in-Zadorov” flew right through.

“Well, that’s one way to get rid of ‘em,” Carter points out.

“Yeah...” Pekka turns to him and the others. “But where are they now?”

Antti shakes his head with a frown. “I have no idea where they would’ve gone…” He turns to the others with a worried look. “Would anyone care to check outside and see if they landed out there?”

Carter opens his mouth to say something, but before he could, Pekka volunteers.

“I will.” Pekka crosses the main room and into the hallway where the entrance is located.

Carter has his eyes locked on the open window. “I never knew force fields could be so powerful…!”

“Same here.” Jonas anxiously pulls out a bag of chips, opens them, and starts munching from them.

Antti sighs. “I hope they’re out there…”

They stare at the window with hopeful looks and crunching sounds in the air.

Pekka ambles back over to them with a frown. “No.” He shakes his head with a pitied look.
“They’re out of sight.”

“Oh no…” Antti covers his face with his hands. “Where could they’ve gone?”

“We can ask Ari!” Jonas suggests.

“Yeah, that flyin’ tablet!” Carter exclaims, pointing at Antti enthusiastically.

Antti tilts his head from side to side. “I’ll go consult Ari. It’s charging right now, so I’ll be back in a moment.” He turns around and whisks back into the hallway.

Carter turns to Pekka. “So they’re nowhere to be found around here?”

“No where,” Pekka answers. “Couldn’t see ‘em-- Hard to miss ‘em in the location the headquarters are in.”

“Aw, if only John was here!” Jonas yammers from beside them; they face him with inquiring looks while he continues talking: “He could make some tracker that can track ‘em down…, manipulate the weather--something!”

“Ummm…, I’m here.” Carter places his hand on his chest, looking like his pride got poked at.

“You can track ‘em down?” Jonas gazes at him with hopeful eyes.

Carter thinks for a moment. “Eh, yeah, but it’d take days...weeks...months…” He frowns. “Dang, I’d be hungry by then.”

Jonas shakes his head with disappointment as Pekka gives Carter a frown.

Antti struts back over to them from the end of the hallway. “Ari can’t track them down,” he tells them with anguish. “It says that they’re too far for it.”

Carter turns to Pekka. “How about your orb?”

“Tatu?” Pekka shakes his head. “Tatu can’t fly that far. Besides, it needs to stay here as our security guard. I think some of us are gonna have to track them down.”

“This is such a setback to our plan…” Antti mutters with his eyes casted down.

“Hey, at least Galchenyuk-in-Zadorov is set back as well to get us all!” Carter points out.

“But we gotta get Sid, Nathan, and Jonathan before Jimmy comes here with John’s machine and Toews’s powers!” Pekka points out harshly.

Jonas peers at Antti with hopefully, pleading eyes. “We gotta go to John! He can make a tracking device for us! He can help us out! We need more people…”

Pekka turns to Jonas. “Why would you think he’d help us? He’s betraying us!”

“Actually…” Antti starts while emerging from deep thought. “...I think that’s a great idea. And with being close to John, we can know more of his plans against us. And what’s his chances to overcome all of us with just his powers and whatever he would use to take away our powers?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m here,” Carter tells them like as if that assures them nothing would go wrong.
The group stands there in still seconds.

Then, Jonas speaks up. “So we’re gonna go to John?”

“Yes.” Antti nods his head. “We are. But someone must stay here to guard the headquarters and take care of Patrick.” He lands his eyes on Jonas. “You’ll stay here.”

Jonas shrugs. “I suggest...and I stay behind.” He continues eating his chips. “Fair enough.”

Antti reverts his eye’s direction at the other two goalies. “And you two come with me. We’re on a mission.”

---

A black, small car rolls up to John’s house’s front yard. In the driver’s seat is Pekka with Antti in the passenger's and Carter in the back. They stare at John’s still house once Pekka puts the car in park.

“Are we gonna get out or what?” Carter hisses at them with his eyes eagerly looking at the red door.

“Shhh…,” Antti whispers to him. “Patience.”

Carter sighs.

Pekka shifts in his seat to face Carter. “Hey, you’re a ninja. Ninjas have patience, right?”

Carter sighs with a flat look. “Yeah…”

Suddenly the sound of a car door opening and closing is heard from their right. They snap their heads to that direction to see John’s antique '60s Corvette, which is in the driveway, coming to life.

“He’s going somewhere…!” Carter whispers with surprise.

“Nooo,” Pekka answers sarcastically.

John’s car backs out of the driveway, then turns to face and street and roars off down the road.
Pekka immediately shifts his car to drive and makes a U-turn to follow John.

“Where do you think he’ll be going?” Carter asks Pekka, eyeing the blue car that’s in front of them.

“That’s what we’re going to find out…” Pekka mutters as he stops behind him in at a red light.

“What if he’s going to the grocery store?” Carter questions him. “Then what? What about if he has a doctor's appointment? Dentist appointment? What if he wants to have his shoes repaired? Or--?”

“Carter, shush!” Antti snaps at him with a glare. “Please.”

Carter leans back in the leather seats slowly, finally shutting his mouth.

Pekka continues following John through the main road by his neighbourhood, then on a freeway, and exiting into downtown New York City.

“What if he’s going to practice?” Carter picks up his “what-if's?” “I don’t think we’re allowed in their arena if we’re not playing against them…”

Pekka makes a left turn after John makes one.

Antti shakes his head. “We’re not going the direction of the colosseum. This isn’t the way.”

“Hm…” Carter sits back in his seat with crossed arms and a skeptical look.

Pekka then approaches a tall, polished office building while John’s car’s brake lights light up as he pulls over to the side of the curb.

“I think we found his destination…” Pekka pulls into an empty space beside a short building next to the office building. He then turns off the car; he stares ahead at John’s car, which is now also off. “And we wait.”

“Patience…,” Carter mutters, trying to get patience himself.

Finally, the driver’s door pops out from the left side and John emerges from it. This time, he is carrying an object concealed with black cloth over it.

Carter’s eyes widen as he leans toward the front of the car. “What is that? What is he carrying? Why is it under a blanket? People are gonna get skeptical--!”

“I have no idea,” Antti murmurs under his breath with his eyes on John’s mysterious object as John enters the office building.

Carter says, “We should follow him--”

“Not yet.” Antti turns to Pekka and Carter. “We know he’s going into that building. We must come up with a plan to confront him the best way possible.”

---

In the office building, John is having his meeting with the League Leaders:

“So, Tavares, where are the GHP members, hm?” Harry drums his fingers on the desk’s surface.

There is a pause in the conversation before John answers: “Their whereabouts are in Ottawa,”
he answers as sternly as possible. “Adjoining the NHL headquarters. We can circumnavigate there.” He pauses. “Through the medium of an aircraft.”

“Very well.” Harry rises to his feet slowly. He peers down at the other two members. “Shall we go?” He then turns to John with that same smirk.

Pushing away his guilt and attempting to not show his uneasiness, John nods his head in agreement. He swiftly turns around, empty-handed, and strolls to the doors of the room. He opens them widely, and continues ambling into the hallway before halting in front of the least expected people he would see.

“Wh-wh-what are you guys doing hereabouts?” John asks with confusion written all over his face.

“The question is, what are you doing here?” Antti asks him back, giving him some Finnish sass.

“That must not be disclosed.” John tries to push past them, but Pekka steps in front of him.

“We need you to drop this plan of betraying us and help us.”

John is taken aback. “How-how do you cognize--?”

“We’re not stupid. We can figure the puzzle just as good as you can solve a literal puzzle,” Pekka snaps back.

“I necessitate you gentlemen to vamoose,” John commands them lowly, yet sternly.

“We are definitely not vamoosing!” Carter exclaims, stepping forward. “How can we if they’re no moose here--?”

John gives Carter a frown. “Who are you?”

“How can you not know who I am? I’m Carter Hutton!” Carter tells him like he’s the most famous person in the world. “But who are you?”

John raises his eyebrows with disbelief. “You don’t recognize who I am?”

“A betrayer or a helper?” Carter finishes. He then whips out a ninja star and thrusts it at John.

“WHOA!” Before John could duck, the star snags his sweater vest and tosses him back into the League Leaders’ office.

He smacks his back against the ground and skids against the smooth floor against his back.

Harry, who is now leaning over his desk, has his eyes widen at his fallen companion; Larry is also looking at John with the same expression; Gary is still snoozing.

“What is this?” Harry roars.

“We’re here to bring justice!” Antti’s voice is heard from the other side of the room.

Harry's eyes snap up to face the three members of the GHP marching into the room. “Niemi! Rinne!” He halts his growling. “Hutton?”

“They’re power players!” John shouts as he scrambles to his feet. He quickly rushes to the desk, scoops up the power-negating gun, and aims it at the three; he immediately begins blasting purple energy at them.

“Woopey cats!” Carter exclaims as he does back flips to dodge the energy.

Antti redirects the blast with a flick of water.

With a furious frown, John continues shooting at them from his same position.

Rays of purple beams fly toward the three. Antti immediately brings up a wall of water from the ground, burning the beams into nothingness.

Antti turns to Carter. “Get the gun!” he snaps at him quietly.

Carter nods his head. He then slides to the edge of the wall of water and takes out his nunchucks. With skill, he throws them at the gun. The nunchucks spin through the air like vertical helicopter blades and knock John’s gun to the ground.

Before John can respond, Carter lunges at the weapon and lifts it into his hands. “Got it!”

“No!” Harry’s voice booms from behind him.

Suddenly, a cane pops up next to Carter and slaps the gun out of his possession.

John catches the gun and shoots a strip of energy straight at Carter. Carter stumbles back a bit due to the impact with a confused look. “Huh...fuzzy feeling!” He chuckles.

John stares at him oddly.

Harry gazes at the scene with shock. “Isn’t it suppose to work...?”

“I’m not a power player…,” Carter tells them. “Duh.”

“Right.” John then shoots to his left after turning his gun to aim at that direction.

The streaks of purple energy fly out straight at Pekka. Pekka eyes them, knowing he does not have enough time to move out of their path. But before the energy could make contact with them, Antti pushes Pekka out of the way, falling right on the path.

The energy hits Antti, causing him to flip out backwards due to the harsh impact. He slams against the wall then plummets onto the ground, letting out a groan.

“Antti!” Pekka rushes over to Antti’s side, going down on his knees beside him.

John aims the gun at Pekka, who has his full attention on his fallen Master. “One down...twenty-eight to go--”

Suddenly, the scenery begins to ripple as it shifts into a the scenery of a forest in midnight: The deep black sky, the stars scattered around the top of the dome, the shady, ominous trees, the dark brown dirt ground, the stillness in the air with the critters singing at night…

Carter turns around to see John and the League Leaders gaping at the scenery in confusion.
He then takes the chance to make a move. He runs through the trees, taking in the cold air as the leafs ruffle by him. He quickly spots Pekka and Antti, who are not too far away, and rushes over to them.

“Come on, let’s go before the imaginary bomb wears off!” Carter hastily tells his goalie partner.
Pekka nods his head, slips his arms under Antti, picks him up, and jogs out of the imaginary-forest room with Carter right behind him.

Notes