AAOOOSC! #10

After the Penguins’ practice, Sidney returns back to the GHP headquarters. There, he finds Carter alone in a training room, practicing his moves with the nunchucks.

“Hey, Carter!” Sidney greets him as he strolls around him to face him in a safe distance.

Carter halts flipping his nunchucks around him and faces Sidney. “Sid! You’re back!”

Sidney gives him a sweet smile. “Yes, I am!” He then lowers his voice with raised eyebrows. “Had you talked to Pekka yet?”

Carter’s face drops. “No.”

“Why?”

He sighs. “I-I’m scared. Don’t know what he’d say to me. Probably lash out at me again.”

“No, don’t be scared!” Sidney holds onto Carter’s arm in place of wrapping his arm around his shoulder since he’s so short. “He is your goalie partner--”

“The dark side of my goalie partner,” Carter corrects lowly.

“But he’s still Pekka!” Sidney finishes off. “Do you know what he’s doing?”

“He’s in the security room, working with Tatu.”

“Alright, then! Let us go!” Sidney begins skipping with Carter, out of the training room and into the hallway; Carter starts skipping as well.

They go up a flight of stairs at the end of the hallway, then skip down another dim walkway, until they reach a door to their left. The door has a sign that says “Security Room” on it.

“Here he is!” Sidney exclaims to Carter after pulling apart from him. “Hopefully he’s not busy!” He steps aside with his hands clasped behind his back and eyes on the ninja. “Go ahead and knock!”

Carter does not too sure about this. “Mmm...maybe after he gets out--”

“And wait that long for him?”

Carter freezes. He then shrugs. “Fine.” He steps warily to the door, then knocks five times on it.
He stands back with wide eyes ahead. Sidney continues standing next to it, on the other side of the hinges.

A few seconds later, the door swings open, revealing Pekka on the other side. He does not look pleased, either to be bothered or to see Carter or both. His left hand is pressed on the doorjamb.

“What?” Pekka asks in a flat tone.

“Ummm…” Carter starts off with his eyes on the ground. “I-I, um…” He flicks his eyes back up at his goalie partner, filled with sorrow. He sighs heavily. “Look, I’m sorry--”

“You--”

Carter holds his hands up gently with his palms facing Pekka, signalling him to quiet down. “I’m sorry for what I’ve done. Not what I just did to Antti, but also for goofing off and thinking about myself.” He lowers his hands down, making a guilty expression. “We’re part of a team and I should’ve known that. There’s no “I” in team. We work together for each other, not for ourselves. I got the message all messed up and that put us in a risky situation that costed us one of the GHP’s most valuable people. If only I would've thought rationally-thought about others and the mission we have to accomplish-then none of this terrible stuff would’ve happened.

“I would be more than happy to go back in time and be a more responsible hero, but we don’t have that gun those Gulls got a hold of. But what I can do is become the responsible and selfless hero I am meant to be since I am on this team. I’ve learned my lesson and I am ready to save the NHL. Together. No more goofing off, no more “look at all I can do” stuff. It’s only the GHP saving the NHL. And we are the GHP. I’m sorry that I didn’t see this earlier.” Carter then dips his head down, waiting for the worst.

But instead, he feels someone embracing him. He perks up to find that is is Pekka giving him the massive hug. With a small smile, Carter wraps his hands around him, absorbing the warmth of the embrace.

“Thank you for acknowledging that,” he hears Pekka say from the side of his head. “I know you can be a better hero. And I’m glad to hear that you are ready to become a better one.” He then pulls away, gazing down at his goalie partner; his hands are on his shoulders. “But I must admit, I am sorry for shouting and snapping at you like that for something you couldn’t fixed. I could’ve talked to you nicer.”

Carter chuckles. “Don’t be sorry, I definitely deserved it. Knocked some sense into me, eh?”

Pekka chortles. “Yeah. But I must admit, I was a bit jealous of you for all of what you can do.”

Carter gawks at him. “Jealous? You’re the one with the powers!”

“But you can do all those awesome flips and moves and whatnot-- I just turn big!”

“Don’t you know how much I’d LOVE to turn big! I could go from Thunder Bay to Nashville in just three steps!”

“Those ninja moves though would help a lot not only for fighting but also for on the ice.”

“I can teach you.” Carter blurts out with a smile.

Pekka’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really? You would actually teach me?”

“Yeah! We can be like the Ninjas of Nashville! NN! How sweet would that be? And then we teach the other guys our ninja moves!” Carter does some choppy ninja moves, stepping around.

“So when can we start training?” Pekka asks excitedly.

Carter spins on his heels to face him. “How does right now sound?”

He shrugs. “I can do right now! Tatu is fine at the moment!” He closes the door behind him and faces his goalie partner with a huge smile. “Let’s go!”

“Alright!” Carter wraps his arm around his shoulder and they both stroll down the walkway.

Behind them, remaining next to the door is Sidney. He has a pleased expression on his face with his cheeks being pushed up by his huge closed-smile, turning his eyes into slits.

He lets out a sigh of happiness. “Ah, finally! The Preds’ goalies are back together! Now we can set out to accomplish the first step of this mission--”

Sidney makes his way down the hallway in a serious manner, his face forming into a determined look: “Rescuing Jonathan. Jonathan Toews.”

Notes