AAOOOSC!: Gulls' Adventures!

The wooden floor of the second floor’s suspended hallway creaks underneath the black shoes of Brandon and Joe as they step up to the first lightly shaded gray door to their left. They halt in front of it.

Joe is the one to knock on it three, hard times: Knock, knock, knock!

“Oohhhh Mooresy?” he calls out sing-songy. “Are you in there?”

There is no response from the other side of the door.

Brandon knits his eyebrows with a frown at the odd reply Bryan, the most talkative person he knows, gave them. He raps his fist harshly against the door.

“Bryan?” he shouts at the door.

Silence only answers them.

Joe scratches the side of his chin, slightly gawking. “Huh, this is very peculiar.” He drops his hand, accidently hitting it against the gray-coloured doorknob.

The doorknob jiggles against the force.

Joe’s eyes light up at the touch. “It’s unlocked!” He then quickly turns the knob and pushes the door open.

On the other side is a narrow bathroom with a sink protruding from the left wall and the toilet situated between the sink and the bathtub. The bathtub is located on the other side of the room with a narrow window above it. The walls and floor are made out of ceramic tile with the walls having a darker shade of gray than the floor.

Yet the bathroom is empty.

“He's not in here,” Brandon speaks into the vacant room. He turns to the captain. “He must've gone back down without us seeing him.”

Joe nods his head. “You must be right!”

With that, they leave the door ajar and head back to the first floor.

“Guys, guys!” Brandon shouts as he rushes up to his teammates. He halts in between Stu and Joseph. “Bryan's not in the bathroom.”

Stu peers behind his shoulder and gawks at him. “WHAT?”

“Did you see him down here?” he asks him.

“No! What do you mean he's not in there?” Stu extends his hand toward the bathroom’s direction.

“The door was unlocked, we looked inside, it was empty!” Joe exclaims from next to Brandon.

Joseph narrows his eyes at them two. “Are you sure? He's tiny, remember that.”

“We're sure, Joey,” Brandon tells matter-of-factly.

“Aw, you know what?” Joe cries out with a sad frown and fists on each side. “I'll go back up and check on the bathroom again!” He stomps his foot and points to the ground.

Brandon beams at him. “Alright, thanks!”

“I'll find Mooresy!” Then Joe dashes away from his team, up the stairs, and slips into the bathroom, vanishing behind the closing door.

Stu turns to his team with an upset expression. “First we're back in time and NOW Mooresy's gone?!” He groans with his hands in his hair.

Brandon sits next to him. “It couldn't get any worse than this.”

“Well, hello, gentlemen,” an unfamiliar, sophisticated voice is heard from by them.

The men at the table turn to spot the owner of the voice. It is a middle-aged man with dark gray-shaded hair. He is wearing a light-coloured sweater vest with “San Diego Skyhawks” patched on it over a white collared shirt and tie.

Brandon flashes him the best smile he can muster up in seconds, which does not look too convincing. “Oh, uh, hi?”

“Hello, gentlemen. I am the coach of the San Diego Skyhawks,” the man replies formally. “We need a fine man for our team.”

Ryan narrows his eyes at him with bewilderment. “What team is that, exactly?” He adjusts the top of his tie.

“There's the Gulls, Chargers, Padres, Aztecs, Toreros, and Shockers,” Stu counts off the San Diegan teams with his fingers, “but I don't recall a Skyhawks team here…”

“The Skyhawks are a hockey team here in San Diego,” the man replies with a smile.

The coach then catches sight of Joseph. His eyes light up at him. “Ah, there's the one I'm looking for!” He wags his finger at him once before strolling up to him. “What's your name, sir?”

Joseph shifts his body to gaze at the man. “Joseph Cramarossa,” he replies with pride.

Brandon grimaces at all the thoughts he is having about the aftermath of this situation.

“Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cramarossa.” He shakes his hand firmly. “Do you have time to be on a hockey team?”

Joseph peers at his teammates. He then turns to look back at the coach.

Before he could say a single word, a mass of cats pours across the room in all different shades of gray, scurrying out of the front door in a cacophony of “meow”s.

Matt’s eyes widen at the stream of cars rushing out into the street through the opened doors. “CATS!”

He jumps out from his seat and rushes to the door. He peers at the cats scrambling down the roads as vintage cars brake for them with a series of honks and squeals.

“Oh no, they're gonna get run over by the cars!” Matt peers behind his shoulder at his teammates. “I gotta save them!”

Brandon is gawking at the sudden, strange situation that just happened to pop out of nowhere. “What the--?!”

“Sorry, Monty, but cats are precious,” Ryan tells him while jumping onto his feet. “We'll be back.” He quickly adjusts his fedora then jogs after his goalie buddy. Then the two disappear through the door.

Joseph is now staring at the padding cats passing by him with a disgusted expression. He then looks back up at the coach of the Skyhawks. “To get me away from cats, yeah.”

A smile appears on the coach’s face. “Great. Follow me, we just need you for a moment to meet the team and try out your equipment.”

Joseph then rises to his feet and follows the coach toward the front door, avoiding stepping on the last of the cats. Right before he exits the building, he peers behind his shoulder, giving a nod of reassurance at his shocked teammates.

Now with the sudden absence of most the teammates, it is only Brandon and Stu left sitting on the table. They sit still with surprise while groovy jazz music is playing in the background.

“And WHAT were we just talking about moments ago?” Brandon spits out incredulously.

“The power of friendship,” Stu answers blandly.

Brandon slaps his hand over his forehead.

The tallest skater looks at him with concern. “Had you seen Joe?”

Brandon peers at him with a weary expression. “Don't tell me he's gone missing too.”

“Should we go check?” Stu bares his teeth with worry.

He takes in a deep breath before letting out a groan. “Let's go, since everyone else has abandoned us.” He then pushes himself onto his feet, steps over the bench, and storms down the room toward the staircase.

Stu quickly follows him.

Notes

E.17 "The Icemare Decade"
Part 4/6
Episode 17/20