Brett and Jake have ended their chicken nugget throwing session and are now back at the table, rejoining Jeremy. Matteo is not in sight anymore.

Brett leans forward, peering the two goalies with anticipated eyes. "Should we give Wild Mike a codename?"

Jake immediately nods his head vigorously with a massive smile. "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

"We can call him 'that cool guy.'"

Jeremy perks up from his smartphone with a wrinkled nose at him. "More like 'that random guy you guys brought along.'"

The other goalie then throws his head back and whines, "We’re so sorry! He was just an innocent bystander and now he’s caught up in our mess!" He drops his head into his hands and lets out wails.

Brett whirls to him excitedly. "Jake Dog, you’re a genius!"

Jeremy knits his eyebrows. "Since when?"

Jake lifts his head back up with a happy look. "Since I learned how to eat a sandwich in under ten seconds."

"Ugh, gross." Brett shivers with a disgusted expression.

"So why did you call him a genius?" Jeremy asks him.

"Because…" Brett peers at both of them, building up the suspense in the atmosphere. "…we have 'The Innocent Bystander' in the house." He leans back with an arrogant smirk and arms under his head.

Jeremy gapes at him in confusion. "Aren’t nicknames suppose to make a name short?"

"You guys do call me 'Jake Dog,'" Jake points out, turning his head to each of them.

"Forget it—" Brett throws his hands in the air. "—I’m sticking him with "'Wild Mike.’"

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

The three instantly perk up, whirling their heads with wide eyes at the control booth, where the beeping is coming from.

Instantly, Kailer appears next to the control booth in a flash of blue energy. "FIDDLESTICKS!" He throws himself underneath its cover, sliding onto its nearest chair.

His hands fly over the control panel laid out in front of the seats.

Right away, a rectangular, cyan-coloured hologram pops into view feet from the control booth, serving as a screen to the control panel. Red dots and blue graphs fly all over the screen as Kailer furiously locates the problem.

Matteo rushes from the nearest staircase next to the control booth. "What’s going on?" he cries out, halting next to the scientist.

"There’s danger!" Kailer hollers, not breaking his concentration from his typing. "One of our ice rinks have been targeted!"

"What?" Matteo knits his eyebrows down at him. "Our ice rink down there is fine."

The small teenager halts his movements and perks up at him. "Not that ice rink." He then promptly presses a white button.

The screen immediately zooms in smoothly on a map.

Kailer jabs his finger at the screen. "THAT ice rink!"

A pulsing, red dot is on a light shade of blue next to a ribbon of a darker shade of blue. Next to the dot is text in red: AGGANIS ARENA.

Jeremy, Brett, and Jake amble to the other side of the control booth with curious eyes on the massive, floating hologram.

Brett has his thick eyebrows scrunched at it. "What is…?"

Jake’s eyes immediately fly open in horror. "My rink!"

Matteo turns to the others. "What do we do?"


"You’re the Master!" Jeremy replies, holding a hand out toward him.


"Uhhh…" Matteo darts his eyes around as he scrambles for a plan. "Okay, okay, okay!" He gazes at the three on the other side of the booth. "You three come with me" —he points down to Kailer— "Doc'll stay behind" —he looks up to his left, spotting Michael strolling on the walkway of the second floor—" and Mike" —he points up at him, grabbing his attention— "You stay here too with Doc and Kale."

He then turns to the goalies and the forward. "Let’s go check this out."

---

In Boston, the air is warmed by the bright sun as blue skies look down at a vacant, dirt rectangle. The rectangle is surrounded by streets, lined with pine trees and a parking lot on one side. Less than a mile away is a wide river, which is the Charles River.

Matteo, Jeremy, Brett, and Jake are wearing their Suit-Motos, walking through the parking lot, up to the desolated lot laid out in front of them.

"MY RINK!" Jake dashes into the empty area, kicking up dust and leaving his footsteps on the smooth dirt. "OH, MY PRECIOUS RINK!" He then throws himself on the dusty ground, sprawling himself on his stomach. He pets the sandy ground. "Where did you go…?" he whispers.

Matteo gazes at the empty lot in confusion. "There was a rink here?"

Jake quickly pulls himself into a sitting position, facing the Master. "YES! Agganis Arena!" He slams his hands on the ground. "It was my new home rink! It's supposed to be here! It’s now gone!" He lifts his hands to his head and stuffs his head in there. He sobs in them.

From the parking lot, Brett eyes his friend with concern. "Aw, Jake Dog…" He jogs up to him to the best of his ability with his hefty suit, kneels next to him, and pulls him in a hug.

Jeremy also appears bewildered, snaps his head in all directions. "Who-how-what…?"

"How did this happen?" Matteo asks, helping him speak.

He whirls to him. "Yeah, how?"

Matteo holds up his wrist, revealing his Wrist-Moto above his glove. "I’ll let Doc figure that out with us." He presses a button on the device and waves his arm slowly from side to side as a blue-coloured, vertical sheet of laser pops out from it, scanning the almost-empty lot.

Jeremy steps closer to the area with observant eyes on it as Matteo retracts the scanner and begins advancing toward it.

"Did it burn?" the goalie guesses. "Did it melt—? No, no, builds don’t melt— What happened to it?"

The two stop at the edge of the parking lot, where the asphalt and dust meet.

Matteo knits his eyebrows at the perfectly levelled ground. "That’s strange: there’s no foundation on it. It’s just dirt." He kicks at it, throwing dust in the air.

Jeremy turns to him with raised eyebrows. "They got rid of the foundation too?"

"But there’s no sign in the dirt of footprints or rubble or any scuffs." The Master points at it, taking note of its unusual smoothness. "It’s smooth and flat." He then pauses as he spots two pairs of footprints. "Minus Jake’s and Brett’s footprints."

The goalie reverts his head to him from scrutinizing the dirt ground. "So you’re telling me that someone got rid of this massive rink, including its foundation. without laying a single scratch on the dirt?"

Matteo peers at him. "Well, that’s what evidence is showing."

"Where would it go, though?" Jeremy shuffles around in a circle, his eyes scanning the civilized scenery. "Where is it?"

Matteo also gazes around his surroundings in search of the missing rink. Yet, his eyes catch sight of a thrashed pine tree nearby with its branches snapped and a dent in its usual, rounded shape.

The Master points to it. "That tree looks like it got hit by something big."

Jeremy turns to face it. His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Oh yeah, that’s blown off…" His voice trails off as a guess pops into his mind. "Wait." He gradually steps around to Matteo. "I don’t know if this sounds insane, but I’m guessing that the rink floated off."

"That’s what I was thinking too." Matteo scratches the back of his neck. "Either that or someone yanked it off, including its foundation somehow."

In stress, Jeremy removes his helmet and runs his fingers through his thick, spiky brown hair. "I did not know being a detective came with being a superhero."

"Tell me about it." The Master gives the scenery another good visual search. "It’s empty. I don’t see anyone."

"We must’ve come too late." The goalie lets out a huff. "Either we’re slow, or they’re fast."

Matteo frowns at the empty lot. "Well, what confuses me is why someone would move this rink."

"Maybe they relocated it and it isn’t anything bad? Jeremy suggests with a shrug.

The Master’s eyes light up. "Maybe." He turns to Brett, who hasn’t moved from Jake. "Brett!"

In the middle of the vacant area, Brett peers behind his shoulder to look at the Master. Jake also gazes at him.

"Take a flight around the area, see if the rink just got relocated," Matteo commands him from the parking lot, circling his finger in the sky.

Brett gives him a nod. "Okay!" He then drops his hand and turns to Jake. He gives his partner a reassuring pat on the back. "Your rink just might be around," he tells him lowly.

Jake just throws his arms around him as best as possible, giving him a tight hug with fear written all over his eyes.

The forward peers down at him. "I need to fly. I can’t fly with you clutching on to me."

"I don’t wanna let go," he whimpers, his eyes watering.

"Same here." Brett pats his hand. "I’ll be back quick. Let go."

"Okay." Jake slowly slides his arms off from him, pulling away from him.

Brett then rises to his feet, staring up at the sky.

Instantly, fire explodes from the soles of his bulky super suit, launching him off into the sky like a rocket.

The wind blasts against Brett’s face and through his combed hair as he propels through the sky. He then curves through the air, turning himself into a horizontal position in order to fly over the massive area.

He peers downward, spotting the jutting array of all sorts of buildings, the weaving streets, and the bustling people and cars as dots. Yet there is no sight of an ice rink—or any building—out of place.

Brett then senses the sun being covered, engulfing him in a large shadow as its warmth is replaced by the cool air. He peers upward to see what is blocking the sun. His eyes immediately widen as he lets out a gasp.

Floating upward gradually is a massive brick building with white, red, and grey accents. He catches the silver title drilled on the front of the building by a row of windows: AGGANIS ARENA.

"I think I found it," Brett squeaks out. He instantly dives downward, returning back to his group.

"Guys!" he shouts as he rushes on the ground, up to the three. He halts next to them. "It’s in the sky!"

Jake, who has now joined Matteo and Jeremy, whirls to him. "It’s in the sky?" Terror is written all over his face. "We gotta bring it down!"

Matteo gawks at the forward. "What on earth…?" He slowly turns to Jeremy. "You were right, Brick Wall."

The goalie lets out a chuckle. "And that was just a wild guess." He places his helmet back on.

"How are we gonna bring it back down?" Brett asks.

Matteo holds a hand out at him. "Can you lower it down?"

"I don’t know, strength isn’t one of my abilities." He peers down at his hefty suit. "I’m not sure if this suit enhances my strength though."

Jeremy raises a hand in the air. "I can totally bring it down, but I can’t fly."

"Someone’s gonna get my rink!" Jake wails, flailing his arms in the air. "I’ll get it!" He then turns around, ready to run off.

Yet Brett quickly snatches the back collar of his jersey before he could take off. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Jake, Jake, Jake Dog, no, no, no." He pulls him back to rejoin the group. "We need to think this clearly to bring it back down."

"Take a spin around it again and find some ways to grasp onto it," Matteo orders, twirling his finger at the sky.

Brett nods his head at him. "Alright." He then blasts off once again into the sky, leaving a trail of ashes and smoke.

The three hockey players flap their hands in front of their faces, fanning the smoke away from their faces.

Once the ashes and smoke settle down, they peer up at their member travelling through the air.

"If only I can fly…," Jeremy mutters longingly.

Jake has his hands on his cheeks. "Oh, my rink…"

Matteo holds his wrist up to eye level. "I’ll tell Doc what’s going on." He then speaks into his Wrist-Moto: "Doc, we found the rink, it’s floating in the sky." He pauses. "I know, it sounds 'absurd,' but it’s true, Brett found it." He pauses once again. "Yeah, that’s what we’re trying to do, find a way to bring it back down."

From in front of them, Brett lands with a clunk! firmly on his two thick, metallic feet. His face appears red with his now frizzy hair matted on his side due to his sweat.

Matteo catches sight of him, quickly glancing at him. "Hold up," he tells Kailer through the device. He looks back at him. "You found a way?"

Brett shakes his head breathlessly. "It floated up too high, oxygen levels were decreasing. I can’t go that high."

He lets out an exhale. "Did you at least found someone controlling it?"

"No, it’s desolated here." He shakes his head again tiredly. "I’m sorry, I tried."

Jeremy turns to the Master. "Back to the base?"

Matteo shrugs with an unsure expression. "I guess." He turns around on his heels and begins strolling through the parking lot. "We’ve gotta do better than this…," he murmurs.

Jeremy follows the Master without saying a word.

With a large frown and wide eyes, Jake dips his head and lets out a whimper.

Brett puts his thick arm over his shoulder. "Sorry, Jake Dog." He breathes out heavily. "It’s okay, it’d be fine." He begins leading him through the parking lot. "There are still other rinks...and you still have us."

"Yeeeaaahhh…" Jake wipes his eyes. He then peers up at him. "But why my new rink?"

Notes