It is the next afternoon and the Monarossabergie House is in a certain degree of peace.

The three residents of the house have already finished their post-practice lunch and are now doing their own separate things in the living room: Nick is taking his post-lunch nap on the sofa, Brandon is standing in the circle of furniture, working on his fire generation, and Joseph is vacuuming since it is his turn to do so.

RRRRRR!!! sounds the vacuum cleaner as it is guided to go around the foot of the sofa.

Nearby, Brandon flicks his hand in the air, creating a bright orange blaze around his hand. “Alright...and off!” He flicks his hand again.

The fire flickers, yet keeps itself in view.

He sighs. “Again.” He clears his throat, closes his eyes, then flicks his hand.

The fire whooshes toward his hand and disappears.

Brandon opens his eyes and lands them on his normal-looking hand. A smile appears on his face. “Yes!” He pumps his fist in the air.

He then senses something against the right sleeve of his shirt as the fabric begins getting sucked at.

RRRRR--SHHHHHHHH--RRRRRRR--SHHHHHHHH--RRRRRR…!

Brandon slowly turns to his right, spotting Joseph vacuuming his shirt.

Joseph gazes at him and notices his displeased expression. “What?” he says in a flat tone. “You got some fuzz on your shirt.”

“Yeah, sure,” Brandon remarks to him sarcastically. “Are you done now?”

“No.” Joseph continues patting vacuum’s hose against his roommate, leading up toward his shoulder.

“I’m gonna burn that vacuum cleaner if you don’t stop,” Brandon threatens him while staring ahead in growing irritation.

“And you’re gonna have to pay for it if you do,” Joseph snaps back as he guides the vacuum toward his upper back.

Brandon takes a deep breath and flicks his hand, mentally commanding to emit fire into his hand. He peers down to visually control the fire, yet when his hand comes into view, it appears normal.

“What?” He flicks his hand.

Nothing.

Again. And again. And again.

“What the…?” Brandon gawks at his hand.

Joseph peers from Brandon’s left side now. “What now?”

He turns to him with crazy eyes. “My powers! They’re not working!”

“Well, good--” Joseph tilts his head. “--you can’t burn up the vacuum cleaner now.”

“But…,” he breathes out. “...they were working seconds ago.” He then eyes the vacuum’s hose in his teammate’s hand. “Wait. Can I see that?” He holds his hand out toward the vacuum’s hose.

Joseph hands it over to him.

Brandon then presses it against Joseph’s sleeved upper arm.

“Gah!” Joseph immediately retracts, hugging his arm close to him. “What was that for?!”

Brandon nods to him. “Try out your powers.”

Joseph eyes him oddly. He then lifts his hand up and stares at it intensely. His hand stays still with nothing coming out of it.

“Are you trying?” Brandon asks him, his warily eyes on him.

Joseph drops his hand. “They’re gone.” He turns to him.

Brandon smiles as he lifts the hose to his eye level. “Joey…” He turns to him. “I think we’re gonna need to invite the team back in here for some curing.”

---

It isn’t until long the power-affected Gulls are back at the Monarossabergie House. They are all lounging in the living room, chattering among themselves as Joseph is ambling around, pressing the hose’s hole against each of their sleeves.

“And I just vacuumed all this…,” he grumbles to himself as he presses the hose against Brian’s upper arm.

Brian peers up at his teammate. “Hey, how did ya think we got these powers?”

Joseph shrugs. “I dunno.”

Brandon passes by the two, hearing the question. His eyes widen. That’s right...HOW did we get these powers? He looks ahead, spotting the two goalies standing in the dining room, conversing.

He walks up to them. “Guys, guys.”

The two goalies peer down at him.

“What’s up?” Ryan asks with a nod of his head.

“Do we even know HOW we got our powers?” Brandon shrugs with his arms out from his sides.

“Oh…” The two friends eye each other.

Matt turns to the skater. “Okay, we gotta think here: What is one thing everyone touched except for us two and Ritch?”

“Also,” Ryan adds in, “it has to be during the party since that’s when it happened and everyone was here and got the powers, so they had to touch one thing from the party.”

“Okay…” Brandon thinks for a moment with his eyes cast down. “What is one thing you guys did not touch but everyone else did, including me.”

“The refreshments?” Ryan suggests.

“No, no, no--” Brandon waves his hands out in front of him. “It also has to be an object that was in the house when Icemare came.”

Matt nods. “That makes things easier! It can’t be the furniture since that was touched many times and no one had this upon them before.”

“And it also can’t be the refreshments or snacks,” Ryan says. “How about the bowls the chips were in?”

Brandon shakes his head. “We used those many times for cereal.” His eyes then immediately widen. “I know what!” He points to his left toward the patio. “Did you guys touch the telescope?”

The two goalies revert their gaze toward the telescope. The grand object is still in its place from the party two nights ago, untouched.

Ryan turns to him. “No, we didn’t.”

“We were, but then the sudden outburst of powers happened!” Matt yammers.

Brandon’s eyes light up. “So that’s it!” He waves his index finger at them. “It’s the telescope!” He whirls to face the object. “We can’t let anyone touch it, though…!”

Right on cue, Bryan ambles up to it.

Brandon turns to the two goalies. “I’ll be back!” He then strolls up to Bryan.

“Well, today’s the last day I get to see my constellation,” Bryan mutters sadly.

He halts next to him. “Yeah, sorry about that.” He shoves his hands into his jeans’ pockets.

Bryan gazes up at him. “Can I see my constellation one last time tonight?”

“Uh…” Brandon slides his eyes from side to side, then peers down at him. “If you wanna get wind powers again.”

Bryan’s eyes widen at him. “The thing’s cursed?”

He nods his head. “Yup. How else could everyone got the powers?”

“Well…” Bryan rubs his stubble-lined chin with contemplation. “...it could’ve been the--”

Brandon waves his hands out in front of him. “Don’t-don’t try. Matt, Ryan, and I figured it out and it’s the telescope. Couldn’t be anything else.”

Bryan lets out a heavy sigh. “Okay.” He frowns at him. “Can I take the telescope to my place?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “We’re gonna have to toss it out.”

“How?” The small skater gawks at the large object. “The thing’s massive!”

Brandon has his eyes on it. He lets out a huff. “Yeah. I guess we’ll cover it up for now and put it away where it can’t see the light of day.”

“Sounds good!” Bryan salutes him. “I can help you do it!”

“Nah, I got it. Thanks, though.” Brandon then begins ambling away from the telescope and his teammate. He then spins around on his heels to face him. “Oh, Bryan--can you guard the telescope so that no one touches it?”

Bryan immediately glides in front of it. “You can count on me.” He places his hands on his hips.

Brandon nods at him, then continues making his way to the closet.

Once he makes it to the other side of the house where all is empty, he halts in front of the closet. He opens the door and begins rummaging through the clutter in search of an unused blanket or long cloth to cover up the telescope.

He feels a smooth, thin blanket stuffed in a plastic container between hard objects. He grabs hold of the fabric and yanks it out into view. In his hand is a good-sized black blanket, sufficient to drape over the standing telescope.

With the blanket at hand, he strolls back over into the living room and to the telescope.

“Thanks, Bryan!” he tells the guard with a smile. He then drapes the blanket over the telescope, obscuring it.

“My pleasure,” Bryan exclaims with his hands on his chest. “But where are you gonna put it?”

Brandon stares at the now hidden object with pursed lips. “I think it’d fit in my closet.”

“Your closet?” He gawks at him. “Out of all of the places, your closet? That’s the one place you touch everything!”

“Well, as long as it’s hidden from view and it has the blanket, it should be fine,” Brandon explains. “Besides, no one would go into my closet, therefore no one would have powers. And we know the cure.”

Joseph breezes by them with the vacuum at hand. “I was the one who discovered the cure, so thank me for curing you guys,” he remarks haughtily. He then walks into the kitchen, where Shea and Jaycob are hanging around.

“Yeah, to keep Joey from blowing up the house without powers, give him the credit.” Brandon nods toward his roommate.

“Ha ha, alrightie then,” Bryan says with a smirk at the other roommate.

Then his friend, Stu, approaches him from behind. "Hey, time to go, Bryan!" He places a hand on his shoulder.

Bryan peers up at him. "Alright, Pickle Stew! But did you know that the telescope gave us the powers?"

"Really?" Stu reverts his gaze at Brandon.

"Yeah!" Brandon shrugs. "It was the only reasonable object to do so. The goalies and I figured it out."

Stu nods his head. "Well, thanks for figuring that out. Now we don’t have to worry about getting the powers again."

"Yeah! I’m gonna have this kept safe and sound." Brandon pats the cloth-covered telescope.

Bryan cranes his head to gaze at his friend. "In his closet," he adds.

"As long as it’s out of anyone’s hands, we’re good," Stu exclaims. He then faces Brandon. "Alright, we’re leaving now. Bye, Monty!"

"Bye, Monty Muffins!" Bryan waves at him with a massive grin.

"Bye, Stu! Bye, Mooresy!" Brandon waves at the two friends.

The two then amble across the living room and disappear behind the wall of the foyer.

With a sigh, Brandon peers back at the covered telescope. He then scoops it up under with his two hands and begins lumbering out of the dining room and around the circle of furniture to get to his room with it.

He steps up to the foyer, shambles down the hallway, then almost trips into Nick and his bedroom. He throws himself into the open closet, depositing the cumbersome object through the rack of formal dress attire and against the back wall.

He steps back with his hands out in front of him and his eyes locked on the veiled object. With its black cover against the darkness of the closet, it is difficult to make it out.

Brandon nods his head at the camouflage technique the blanket is displaying. "Hopefully you’d never be used again," he mutters as he shuffles the hung clothes in front of the telescope, hiding it further.

He then steps out of the closet and slides its door closed. "Well, let’s head back…" He then spins around on his heels and ambles out of the room, leaving the labelled "troublesome" telescope behind.


The End.

Notes

E.10 "Earth, Wind, & Fire...and Lots of Water"
Part 5/5
Episode 10/20