The night rolls around and so do the pumped-up fans as they amble into the Valley View Casino Center. It is game night in San Diego: San Jose Barracuda versus the San Diego Gulls.

Inside the arena, all the fans are cheering and clapping and hooting, waiting for their team to skate onto the ice.

Then, the announcer’s booming voice echoes throughout the whole rink: “AND HERE ARE YOUUUR SAN DIEGO GULLS!”

With fog pouring out from the home tunnel, the Gulls themselves rush out onto the ice with Matt as their leader. All the fans cheer louder at the sight of their team.

Matt takes the crease as Brandon and Nick stay out on the ice with Michael Sgarbossa, Ondřej Kaše, and Jaycob Megna since they are on the starting lineup.

From the home bench, Joseph is peering out at the two rival teams set up for the opening face-off.

He chews on his mouthguard as a way to calm his emotions. “Better not mess up,” he growls.

And the puck is dropped.

As the puck is tossed from one team’s possession to another, the lines are changed. Yet within the two team’s skaters, only two skaters stand out from the rest.

Brandon softly receives the puck from a Barracuda and precisely passes it to Jaycob.

When the line changes, Joseph charges onto the ice with his eyes on the puck. He immediately swipes the puck from the possession from a Barracuda and speeds down the ice with it. He then spots a perfect pass to Matt Bailey, which he takes.

The lines change and Brandon is back out on the ice. A Barracuda wrist shoots the puck toward Matt. Right away, Brandon raises his stick and blocks the puck’s path with its blade.

The puck knocks onto the ice. Brandon quickly scoops it into his possession and makes a sharp pass to Jaycob.

“YEAH!” Jaycob exclaims before taking it out of the Gulls’ zone.

Joseph is on the ice again. He receives the puck from Antoine Laganière. With the possession, he blasts up by the boards, advancing through the neutral zone.

Suddenly, a Barracuda skater slams into him, crushing him against the boards. He automatically holds onto his balance; he spins against the boards to get his two blades on the ice.

He quickly spots the puck sliding into the Barracuda’s possession. In a snap, he snatches the puck back into his blade and snipes it over to Shea Theodore, the closest Gull on the ice.

The first period ends, the ice resurfacers clean the ice, then it’s time for the second period!

The second string is on the ice. Shea has the puck as him and his teammates are entering Barracuda’s territory. He then passes the puck to Bailey.

Bailey observes his options; he spots Antoine being the most open, yet with a risk from behind him as a Barracuda defenceman is ganging up on him. Even with the risk, he still passes it to him.

Antoine misses the puck and it lands in the possession of the Barracuda.

Before the opponent could do anything with this advantage, Joseph smashes him against the boards. The rival collapses onto the ground, leaving the puck up for grabs.

Antoine instantly regain the puck and pops it in for the goal!

Gulls goal! The score is now one to one.

With the line change after the goal, Brandon is back on the ice.

The Barracuda takes the faceoff and take their path toward the Gulls’ zone. Brandon smoothly skates backward with Jaycob by his side, aligned with the puck.

The Barracuda whom he is aligned to has his eyes on his partner that is on the other side of the ice. He launches the puck toward him.

Instantly, Brandon reaches his stick out, cutting the puck’s path short. He then pulls the puck toward him and redirects it to Jaycob skillfully.

“AWESOME!” Jaycob then changes the flow of traffic by skating back to centre ice.

Brandon then skates back to the benches and climbs over it, exchanges places with Joe. He plops himself next to Joseph.

“You’re doing well out there,” he tells his roommate with a nod.

Joseph stares out on the ice, giving a little tilt of his head. “Of course I am.”

Suddenly, the horns blow and the siren wails. Another goal by the Gulls!

“Yes!” Brandon jumps to his skates and pumps his hands in the air with his stick.

Joseph stands up as well with chill. They then lean out toward the ice to first fist pump the scorer.

“Yup, I can score!” Corey Tropp states arrogantly as he glides by his teammates, taking in their fist bumps and the glory. “I just scored for you guys! I broke the tie! You’re welcome, you’re welcome.” He ignorantly skates by Joseph, who is giving him a glare. “I know, everyone loves me...”

Joseph immediately sits back down with a massive scowl. Brandon sits next to him again and notices his expression.

“Lighten up, Joey!” He playfully shoves his padded shoulder. “We scored!”

“Or do you mean Maxi’s number thief scored?” Joseph grumbles sarcastically.

Brandon lets out a huff. “True. But at least we’re in the lead.”

Joseph rolls his eyes and shifts his body away from him.

With another goal by Ondřej, the second period closes with two to three as the score, Gulls in the lead. Twenty minutes later, the third period starts!

The Barracuda quick responds with a game-tying goal. But that does not discourage the Gulls.

The puck slides down the ice and lands in the wide stick blade of Matt. He peers up to see whom he can pass it to. He spots Shea being the closest Gull to him, open for the pass. With the push of his stick with his blocker and catcher gloves, the puck skips into Shea’s possession.

Shea transitions backward then crosses over to begin advancing forward with Brandon, who is almost done with his shift. He then brakes inside the blue line of the Barracuda’s zone. He makes a fake slapshot to throw off the goalie and Barracuda defence then rapidly passes it to Brandon.

Brandon easily grabs hold of the puck and slingshots it at the net. The puck sails into the top shelf.

It’s another goal! Gulls are ahead, three to four!

Matt hops subtly in his crease with excitement. “I got an assist!”

The game continues on with Joseph on the ice. He receives a pass from Antoine and heads down the ice vigorously. He swerves the puck from one side to another side of his blade, making it a tough challenge for the defenceman to get a poke at it. He then spots Ondřej ahead of him; he smoothly passes the puck to him.

The next line changes; Brandon is back on the ice. Brandon has the puck, making room for it to enter the Barracuda’s zone. Nearing the zone, he spots Stefan Noesen in the distance, waiting for a pass with a Barracuda skater near him.

Brandon shoots the puck to his blade’s stick, connecting it flawlessly.

With glee, Stefan zooms into the Barracuda’s zone. He then passes the puck to Nic Kerdiles, who knocks it in as a goal!

Five to three, Gulls are in the lead! Time runs down and the horn sounds as the scoreboard hits all zeroes. And the San Diego Gulls win!

---

Two hours later, a Cooper rolls into the dim, empty streets of Del Mar’s residential area. With its headlights shining ahead of itself, it parks by the sidewalk, in front of the Monarossabergie House.

In the driver’s seat of the car, Joe cranks the gears into park and turns to his right, where the house’s residents are sitting.

“Here you go!” he announces to them with a cheery smile.

From the back of the car, Brandon smiles at him. “Thanks, Joe.” He then opens the door and steps off.

Nick rolls off of the car from the other side.

Sitting on the passenger’s seat, Joseph nods to him. “Yeah, thanks.” He then clamours off from the car and slams the door shut.

He stands next to Brandon, who is waiting for Nick to round the small car. “If Squirrel and his buddy weren’t dropped off in PB, I would’ve blown my top off,” he murmurs to him.

Brandon gives him an unsure expression. “At least they were dropped off…!”

Nick finally makes it to his friends and halts next to Brandon’s other side. He waves to the driver with a sweet smile. “Thank you, Joe.”

Joe returns to him a beaming grin. “My pleasure, buddy!”

With one more happy wave, Joe guides the car away from the sidewalk and down the road, disappearing into the darkness.

Then the three roommates make their way to their house through their front lawn and up the porch.

“I’m gonna get ready for my post-game meal,” Nick announces lazily as they step into the foyer.

The other two eye him as he then trudges down the hallway to the right.

Once Nick has disappeared into his bedroom, Joseph nudges Brandon. “Nothing happened.”

Brandon whirls to face him from looking at the hallway. “What do you mean nothing happened?”

“No powers came about.”

“I think they did…” Brandon narrows his eyes at the thought. “...but they weren’t so obvious.”

“How?” He gives him an incredulous expression.

Brandon places his hands on his chest. “Did you see that I scored a goal AND assisted? And I got no penalty minutes.”

Joseph rolls his eyes and exclaims flatly, “Whoop-de-doo.”

“No!” he snaps with wide eyes, dropping his hands back to his sides. “But what’s better is that YOU didn’t get any penalty minutes!” He jabs a finger at him. “You were perfect!”

“I didn’t score,” he points out bitterly.

“But you were so clean! Doesn’t that strike you as odd?” He leans back, relaxing a bit.

Joseph responds with a shrug.

“I think the power had something to do with hockey.” Brandon holds up his index finger. “A perfect hockey game.”

Joseph spins around and rounds the bend, making his way to the kitchen. “It wasn’t perfect!”

Brandon follows him into through the living room and dining room and into the kitchen. “Well, anyway, I think the power is gone because I’m hungry and it’s been awhile since we ate.”

Joseph halts behind the countertop, staring hard at it in deep thought.

Brandon eyes him from the other side. “Joey?”

“What is causing this?” he mutters, not breaking his stare.

“Well, we can think about it while we cook…!” Brandon pads over to the refrigerator and opens the door. He then pulls a package of chicken out and waves it in the air. “Chicken?”

Joseph peers behind his shoulder to see the uncooked meat. He shrugs.

Brandon tosses the chicken onto the countertop and swings the refrigerator's door closed. “We’re doing chicken.” He strolls over to the oven and presses a few of its buttons to start preheating it.

He then walks over to the other side of the kitchen, where the fruits and vegetables are laid out. He plucks out a potato and raises it in the air. “And potatoes!” He steps over to his roommate and shoves the vegetable into his hand. “Here, make mashed potatoes.”

With a begrudging sigh, Joseph collects more potatoes, salt, milk, butter, a small bowl, and a wooden smasher. After steaming the potatoes, he dumps them into the bowl and lets out his frustration by smashing them. He then adds the other ingredients and continues smashing them into a creamy perfection.

After popping the chicken into the oven, Brandon wanders over to Joseph.

Joseph halts his smashing; his roommate peers down at the bowl’s contents.

He perks up at him. “Can I taste some?”

Joseph reaches over to the drawer, opens up the silverware drawer, and pulls out the wooden spoon. He hands it over to him.

Brandon takes it and gazes at it in awe. “Hey! This is the spoon I’ve always used to make my food!”

“Where’d you find it?” he asks with a hint of interest.

“In the back of the silverware drawer.” Brandon nods toward the opened silverware drawer. “Why?”

“I used it to make my lasagna.”

Brandon points the tip of the wooden spoon toward the mashed potatoes. He darts his eyes up. “And you never used it before?”

He knits his eyebrows. “Before my lasagna, no. When did you start using it?”

“When I first made the pancakes. And then I continued using it for my other dishes.”

“And the pancakes were the start of this string of curses, eh?” He raises his eyebrows with chill.

Brandon stares at the spoon. “Do you think it’s the spoon?”

Joseph plucks the spoon from his grasp, breaking his stare. “Let’s not use it.” He then strides across the room and tosses the wooden utensil into the sink.

Brandon nods his head at his roommate’s action. “Okay!”

---

An hour later, the three roommates are sitting around the dining table. On the table are the steaming mashed potatoes and oven-baked chicken. The roommates serve themselves and begin munching on the meal.

Brandon chews and swallows a piece of his chicken. He holds his breath, ready to feel the strange energy swirl through him. Yet he does not feel a single hint of the frizzy sensation through him. A smile creeps on his face. He gazes at Joseph.

Joseph returns to him a smirk.

“Don’t feel anything?” he asks him quietly.

“Nope.” Joseph shakes his head firmly.

His eyes drift away. “The spoon then…”

“I’ll get it.” Joseph pushes himself to his feet and strides into the kitchen. He picks the wooden spoon from the sink and breezes down the massive room, past his two roommates.

Nick peers at Joseph with confusion. “What spoon?” He then reverts his gaze at Brandon.

Brandon perks up at him. “Nothing, Nicky.” He shakes his head while gradually turning away from him. “Nothing at all…”

---

The night passes and the new day has arrived. The sun is shining highly and brightly over sunny San Diego. Inside the dining room of the house, the two roommates, Joseph and Nick, are sitting around the dining table.

Brandon then steps into view with a pan in his hands. He then places the pan in the middle of the table.

The two roommates peer over to take a look at the inside of the pan. Inside the pan is a massive block of charcoal, or what appears to be charcoal.

“Awww…” Nick lifts his eyes up at the chef with disapproval. “...what happened?”

Joseph makes a harsh, disgusted expression at the pot, then at its owner. “What is this?”

“I didn’t use the spoon.” He shrugs.

“Hm.” Joseph nods his head. “Well, let’s go get actual breakfast—”

“The car’s broken,” Nick tells him, turning to him.

Brandon adds in, “Unless you wanna carpool with Joe and—”

“NO,” Joseph blurts out brusquely. “I’m fine.” He leans back against his chair with a glower. “How do we get that stupid car fixed?” he mutters.

“If only the car was fixed…,” Brandon mutters with a sigh.

Joseph frowns with his eyes cast down. Suddenly, he lifts his eyes up with enlightenment. “I’m getting the spoon.”

Brandon gawks at him. “What—?”

Joseph is halfway standing up with his hands on the table. “We’ll get a legit breakfast and car.”

Brandon makes an “o” with his mouth and nods his head.

Joseph then fully stands up and strides out of the dining room with the intention of using a curse to their advantage.

Maybe this won’t be the only time they can achieve such clever feat.


The End.

Notes

E.14 "What A Great Dish!"
Part 7/7
Episode 14/20