Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
July 9, 2017
Afternoon

In the main room of the GHP headquarters, Sidney, Jonathan, and John are sitting around the main table, appearing awfully bored. Bubby Jr. is perched on the table right beside his owner.

Sidney peers out at the large, yet majorly empty table; a small frown appears on his face. “What happened to everyone?”

Jonathan turns to the end of the table, where the temporal master is located. “They got kidnapped, remember?”

“And that’s for what purpose we are hereabouts: to formulate how to emancipate them,” John pipes in from across the goalie.

Sidney runs his fingers through his thick, wavy hair. “Riiight…”

“Where’s Reid anyway?” Jonathan asks with an irritated expression. “You did call him, Sid, right?”

Sidney drops his hands and nods his head wearily. “Yes, I did. He didn’t answer.”

“How many times did you give him a buzz?” John asks gently.

Sidney plops his head against the table. “Too many times,” he groans.

Jonathan then faces to John. “Should we look for him?”

John shakes his head. “If he doesn’t feel inclined to be hereabouts, don’t usher him hereabouts. Free will…” His voice then fades away as a strange sound approaches them from the hallways.

They all turn to the other end of the room, across from the entrance, where the archways to the hallways and the massive computer are located.

Levitating out of one of the archways are two small robots: One has a screen and a keyboard dangling below it; another is a sleek black orb with tiny wings propelling it and a lens in front of it.

The orb begins making huffing sounds as it makes it way to the main table while the tablet-look-alike effortlessly glides over to Sidney.

“Uhhh...Sid,” Jonathan calls out warily, eyeing the electronic devices. “Ari and Tatu are here.”

Sidney perks up with a tired expression. “Huh?” He instantly freezes as he hears heavy breathing by his right ear. He turns to the right, spotting the lens of Tatu staring at him.

“Oh! Tatu!” He pets the orb settled on his shoulder. “I forgot about you!”

Ari halts in between Sidney and John, by Tatu, and displays a phrase in a foreign language on its cyan-coloured screen: Missä kaikki ovat?

The three power players all eye each other with looks of uncertainty.

“Does anyone know how to read Finnish?” Sidney squeaks out.

Jonathan gazes at John. “John, what does it say?”

John gives a quick glance at the screen. “I, um—” He peers back at the others. “I am not cognizant of Finnish.”

The goalie gawks at him. “You don’t know? Don’t you know like all of the languages?!”

“Not every individual patois,” John corrects smoothly. “I do not fathom Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Basque…”

Jonathan waves his hands in the air, attempt to stop the scientist from rambling on. “Okay, okay, okay, thank you, John.”

John silences himself and nods his head genuinely. “Mm-hm.”

Sidney pulls out his smartphone from his pants’ pockets and begins tapping on it. “Okay, let’s go to my translating app…” He types some more, taking glances between his screen and Ari before his eyes light up.

“Ah-ha! ‘Where is everyone?’” He turns to the two. “That’s what Ari’s saying here.”

Jonathan chuckles mirthlessly. “Funny story. Let’s see here.” He begins listing with his fingers: “Antti lost his powers, so he’s no longer in the GHP—”

“—Jonas is no longer in the NHL, so he’s not in the GHP either—” Sidney adds on.

“—Toews, Kane, MacKinnon, and Rinne evanesced in some unfathomable modus operandi—” John pipes in.

“—and last time I checked, Carter is in St. Louis with Bortuzzo and Bennett and doesn’t know what’s going on since he’s wasn’t at the power player event because he’s not a power player,” Jonathan finishes off.

Sidney’s eyes light up. “Oh! But we did get a new member—”

“I don’t even consider him a member,” the goalie cuts in with a roll of his eyes.

“—he’s Reid Duke, the power player of the Golden Knights, the newest NHL team!” he finishes off excitedly.

“And we cannot make contact with him,” John states grimly.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Sidney lifts his wrist into view, gazing down at his intercom. He gasps happily. “It’s Reid!” He turns to Tatu. “Go guard, buddy.”

“Whew!” Tatu lifts itself into the air and buzzes off.

Sidney then turns back to his intercom and presses one of the buttons.

Instantly, a small, cyan-coloured hologram of Reid pops up on the intercom’s screen. He appears to be in a frenzy with his wide eyes and messy hair as he is running in place.

“Guys, guys!” Reid blurts out. “We’re coming to your base right now!”

Sidney gives him a perplexed expression. “‘We’?”

“Yeah, yeah!” He nods his head vigorously. “We got attacked Connor McCrazy and we have lots of stuff to talk about!”

Jonathan has narrowed eyes at the hologram “Who’s ‘we’?”

“Gorman and Chynoweth and Claguer!” Reid shouts quickly, throwing his hands in the air. “We’re here right now! Talk to you in like two seconds!” He immediately disappears in a glitch.

Sidney raises his eyes from the screen in shock.

Jonathan has a look of disapproval. “We should’ve not have let him joined.”

John drums his fingers on the table. “We’ll bestow him an additional opportunity at this present moment.”

Suddenly, rushing footsteps are heard echoing closer to them from the gaping entrance. They all turn to that direction, spotting Reid in the flesh rushing up to them. Following behind him is Tommy, Ed Chynoweth, the founder of the CHL, and Kale.

“See, see? I’m here!” Reid dives into the seat next to John, panting loudly. “Oh, sorry, guys that I didn’t catch your calls, we were practically mobbed.”

“And that is what we must discuss about!” Tommy exclaims halting between Sidney and John.

Kale gradually takes his seat next to Reid, his eyes on the NHL founder. “We were attacked by Connor McDavid.”

Next to Tommy is Ed, who is sadly shaking his head. “My power players do not deserve this.” He peers at the other founder. “Your men have got to get a grip on themselves!”

“We have a grip on ourselves!” Sidney shouts, clutching onto Bubby Jr. against his chest.

Kale slowly raises his hand at Ed. “I was your only power player that got attacked.”

Tommy shakes his head with a slight frown. “I am truly sorry about this incident. I do not have control over the choices of my power players and unfortunately even the NHL rulers.”

“But it’s not just Connor that attacked us,” Reid pipes in with a solemn expression. “Auston Matthews, him? Yeah, he attacked us too.”

“And Carter Hart,” Kale adds in sharply.

Sidney gawks at the defenceman. “Carter Hart…?”

Kale flicks his eyes to him. “Yeah, Carter. Hart…”

“Carter Har—” Realization cross his face. “Oh! Carter Hart, Carter Hutton, oh, okay!”

John turns to Sidney. “Yes, Sid, in spite of the fact that they’re both Canadian and both bear the same forenames and initials and are both goaltenders, they’re discrete personages.”

“Okay, whew!” The temporal Master wipes his hand across his forehead with relief. “I was about to say!”

Ed eyes Kale and Reid with surprise. “Carter Hart? He went against you guys?”

“Yup.” Reid nods his head with excessive movements and pursed lips. “He even kidnapped Doctor Pat.” He pauses. “That’s Nolan...Patrick.”

Tommy gives a playful glare at the CHL founder. “And you said my men had to get a grip on themselves.”

Ed runs his fingers through his hair in distress. “Oh dear…”

Kale waves his left index finger between him and his former teammate. “But Connor and Auston said that they wanted us two.”

“And yet it was Doctor Pat who got kidnapped,” Reid mutters goofily with narrowed eyes.

Jonathan gawks at the two friends. “Why would they want you guys? No offense.”

Kale shrugs. “Beats me.”

Reid fashionably runs his fingers through his hair. “They’re just jealous of us!”

Sidney places Bubby Jr. back on the table. “Well,” he starts off, “Connor wants the NHL. That’s simple and clear. So if Auston joined him, that means they BOTH want the NHL. That’s clear.” He turns to Reid and Kale, holding a hand out toward them. “And if they want you guys, then you’re most likely the key to getting the NHL or an obstacle that’s blocking them from getting the NHL. Those are the two reasons why they would want you.”

Kale shakes his head. “Yeah, they didn’t really specify what they needed us for.”

“Just don’t fall into their clutches,” Jonathan states to them flatly.

Reid gives him a thumbs up. “Gotcha!”

“Actually,” Kale begins, “this wasn’t the first encounter we, as in Duker, Pat, and I had.” He peers at the others. “He attacked me and Pat once in our rookie season, then again this past Halloween, then just attacked Pat during the camp, but not us.” He scratches his head as bewilderment clouds his face. “But what really confuses me is why he is attacking us. He never told us why all throughout the years. He took Pat, but we don’t know if he’s gonna take us two or even you guys. He’s practically unpredictable.” He drops his hand and gives a small shrug.

Silence takes over the conversation as the others rattle their minds for an answer of Carter’s haphazard wrongdoing.

“I postulate that Hart colludes with McDavid and Matthews,” John speaks up, breaking the silence.

Tommy and Ed eye each other with raised eyebrows.

“But Connor and Auston were surprised at his appearance,” Reid points out.

“Well, that doesn’t make things any better.” Jonathan purses his lips.

Sidney chuckles. “At least we aren’t the only confused ones here!”

“Maybe Carter DOES want the NHL, yet he’s working separate from Connor and Auston, which is why they were confused,” Kale suggests. “But what gets me is…” He cranes his head to look at John. “...why? Why would he hurt us to get the NHL?”

John shrugs. “Who doesn’t hanker after the NHL? Has he ever participated in it?”

The defenceman shakes his head. “No, not yet. He just got drafted last year with me.”

“Maybe he harbours swelling rancor of not forthwith participating in the major league once he was drafted. And this is his reprisal and modus to participate in the twinkling of an eye.” John pauses with a slight frown. “Yet this is just a conjecture.”

Reid rubs his chin with raised eyebrows. “The NHL would’ve been long-gone if I did that.”

Suddenly, hurried footsteps are heard approaching the main table. The others at the table turn to the entrance to spot the source of the sound.

Walking up to them swiftly is the founder of the NCAA, President Theodore Roosevelt, and his loyal power player of Boston University, Jake Oettinger. Jake has has light brown hair with a blond highlight in the front brushed heavily to a side, squinted, brown eyes, and freckles across his cheeks and nose bridge.

“President Roosevelt!” Tommy exclaims with surprise, following him with his eyes. “What brings you here?”

President Roosevelt halts next to Ed. “There has been a disturbance in the supernatural world of collegiate hockey.”

“KALE!” Jake flies up to Kale and pulls him into a hug, lifting him up slightly from his seat. “Oh, it’s so good to see you!” he exclaims in his elation-thick voice. He drops him, making him plop back into his seat.

“I was so worried—” He zips to his left between him and Reid. “—this mean guy attacked me—” He darts to his right, punching the air in front of his chest. “—we fought and fought—” He then throws his hands in the air. “—but he almost tore me to shreds…!” He covers his face with his hands as he wails and slumps into the seat next to him.

President Roosevelt holds his hand out toward the sobbing goalie. “Did any of you men catch that?”

Sidney shakes his head with wide eyes at him. “Nope.”

Jonathan jabs his thumb toward the collegiate power player’s direction with a skeptical expression at the NCAA founder. “Who’s he?”

President Roosevelt gazes down proudly at Jake. “Jake Oettinger, my first power player!”

Jake immediately perks up and turns to the founder attentively. “Yeah? You said my name.”

“Oh, no, no—” He waves his hand at him. “—you were just asked who you were.”

“Oh, right, right.” He turns away.

Tommy peers at Jake with concern. “So, what happened to you, Jake?”

Jake whirls to the NHL founder with hurt in his eyes. “Well…” He swallows hard, attempting to get rid of the brittleness of his voice. “I was-I was packing up for the summer when...this-this bear-man came and attacked me.” He pauses with his eyes wide. “He fought and I tried to hold him back and get him to run away, but he…” He takes in a deep breath. “...he almost shredded me…” He slinks into his chair, slipping down to only his eyes, forehead, and hair can be seen.

Kale eyes him. “Does he look familiar?”

Jake darts his eyes to him. “Kinda. I don’t know his name.”

Reid cranes his head back to peer at the goalie. “That must be Carter Hart.” His eyes light up. “Hey, you guys are rivals if you’re both junior goalies from different countries.”

Jake takes in a long, deep gasp as his eyes grow wide. “That is him…!” He instantly straightens up, revealing his whole face and torso once again. “Carter! Hart! Almost ripped me to shreds!” He throws his hands in the air frantically before slamming them back on the table. “Another reason why not to like him.”

John peers at the enraged goalie. “Was there any additional individuals aiding you in striving against Hart?”

Jake softens his features at him. “Um, no...” A hint of sadness is in his voice. “It was just me.”

Confusion sweeps throughout the conversation.

“If Carter is going after the NHL,” Sidney starts off again, using Bubby Jr. as a pointer, “why would he go after you?” He points Bubby Jr. at Jake.

Jake blinks at him with bewilderment. “Uhhh…” His eyes sway from side-to-side. “I guess because I was just drafted into the NHL. And that I’m a goalie too. And that I’m not Canadian.” He dips his head with shame. “And that he hates me.”

“Very well, sanction me to inaugurate these matters perspicuous—”

Sidney holds his hand out at John, cutting off his sentence. “I’ll do that. In plain English.”

John lets out an irritated huff, turning away from the temporal Master.

Sidney faces the founders and power players. “So Connor and Auston were surprised at Carter’s appearance. Carter took away Nolan. He also fought against Jake. What can we conclude with that?”

“He doesn’t like dogs or dairy-free ‘n gluten-free people!” Reid exclaims with a kooky smile.

Kale stifles his laugh with pursed lips and shuddering shoulders.

Jonathan proceeds to slap his forehead.

Jake slowly turns his head away from the others with a scowl. “I don’t like him…,” he grumbles.

“I do not deduce that’s a bona fide pretext,” John tells Reid with an unamused expression.

Tommy then hops in with his hands clasped behind his back. “Well, this is a work in the making and will not be resolved in one meeting,” he tells the power players. “There is not much we can do, since we do not know the location of Connor, Auston, Carter, or the victims, correct?”

Sidney lets out a heavy sigh. “Unfortunately, yes.” He eyes Ari, who is still hovering next to him. “Unless you know, Ari.”

En ymmärtänyt sinua, Ari displays on the screen. Puhu suomea.

Reid squints his eyes at the foreign language. “Ehn...yee...mahr…”

Sidney faces the others with a flat expression. “I don’t think he knows.” He then grabs Ari from the air and closes it before placing it on the table’s surface.

“Well, then—” Tommy claps his hands together in front of him. “—I will grant permission due to emergency situations to allow junior and collegiate power players to join the GHP.” He peers down at Kale and Jake. “Welcome to the GHP, Kale and Jake.”

Kale’s eyebrows shoot up. “Whoa, really?”

Reid pumps his fists in the air. “Yes! Saving the NHL and Doctor Pat together!” He extends his hands.

Kale smacks his palms against his hands, high-fiving him in the air.

Jake is gazing at the power players sitting around the table in awe. “Oh, wow...this is such an honor…” Worried swiftly crosses his face. “But-but—” He turns to the founders, who are slightly behind him. “—what about the others?”

Tommy gives him a look of confusion. “What others?”

“What if others are in danger of Hart’s attacks?” Jake has wide eyes of trepidation at him.

The three founders stare at the goalie in bewilderment.

Kale then turns to Jake with a solemn expression. “You want Flame Wave, don’t you?”

Jake’s eyes immediately light up as he takes in a deep breath of excitement with his hands by his mouth. “YES!” He flaps his hands by his face. “Yes, yes, yes! I wanna make sure Brett’s okay! I need to know if he’s okay!”

“Ah!” Ed’s eyebrows shoot up with understanding. “You want other members of the GJHP to join?”

Jake drop his hands and nods his head vigorously at him. “Yes, yes, yes, I want Brett here.”

The CHL founder nods his head slowly as he processes the request. “You know what?” He fixes his eyes at the others. “I will contact the other GJHP members to see if they are available. The more men, the better, right, Gorman?” He turns to Tommy.

Tommy nods his head. “Yes, that will be good.”

Ed then throws an index finger in the air. “I’ll be back!” He walks away from the table and into the tunnel that leads to the exit.

Tommy and President Roosevelt then turn to each other and begin conversing quietly with one another.

Sidney gazes at his society’s members observantly. “So now we got…” He begins pointing to each one. “...Jonny, John, Reid, Kale, and Jake!” He interlaces his hands together. “That is six members including me!”

Jonathan nods his head with a slight frown at the others. “Not bad.” He turns to him. “Better than three.”

“And then we’ll have seven when Brett comes!” Jake exclaims, raising his pointer finger in the air.

“IF he comes,” Kale points out, turning to him.

Jake darts his eyes to him. “He will come. He has to come.”

Reid cranes his head forward to look at the goalie. “You’re the power player of the what?”

Jake turns to him. “Boston University! We’re the Boston Terriers, so I have canine physiology! Ruff!” He smiles innocently.

“Awww!!!” A great big smile grows on Reid’s face. “That’s why you act as excited as a dog! How cute! Do you like to be pet too?”

Kale peers up at the goalie. “If you can reach his head.”

Jake lifts his eyes to his head. He then faces the others. “Am I the tallest one here?”

Sidney turns to him. “Well, I’m not taller than you, that’s for sure!”

John scrutinizes him from head to torso, comparing his height to the others. “I opine you are.”

“What?” Jake gawks at him in confusion.

“He thinks you are,” Jonathan translates for him flatly.

Jake nods his head in understanding. “Ah!” He halts his movements. “Cool! It’s good to be the tallest!” He instantly freezes, his eyes darting from left to right. He begins to sniff, perking his head in all direction upward. “I smell him… Brett?” He turns around to face the archway to the entrance.

Sure enough, following after Ed are two more power players: One power player has thick, wavy, dirty blond hair combed in perfection with intensely thick eyebrows over his emerald-coloured eyes and goatee. The other player is must shorter with thick, messy dark brown hair and small, gray eyes on his delicate, rounded face. The two are Kailer Yamamoto and Brett Howden, respectively.

Jake gasps in excitement, flying up to his feet. “BRETT!” He rushes up to him.

Brett halts in his tracks and peers at the flying goalie. “Jake—? OOF!!” He stumbles back as Jake throws himself against him, pulling him into a hug.

Jake nuzzles his face against his thick, wavy hair with a large smile. “Oh, Brett, it’s so good to see you again!” He then pulls away from him, grasping onto his upper arms. “I was worrying about you because I’ve been attacked and” —he embraces him tightly once again with fear, causing Brett’s eyes to fly open— “I didn’t want you to be attacked so I asked if you can be here and—”

“Let the poor man go!” Kailer scolds at the goalie, glaring up at him.

Jake slightly pulls away from his friend to peer down at the small skater from behind his shoulder. He narrows his eyes at him with a rolling growl in his throat.

Brett warily rubs Jake’s arm. “Easy, Jake Dog, you can let go.”

Jake quickly faces Brett, softening his features at him. “Okay!” He slides over to Brett’s side happily.

Finally free, Brett runs his fingers through his hair skillfully, attempting to fix it back up.

Ed is standing next to Kailer with a proud expression, facing the power players at the table, who are now gazing at them.

“These are the only power players that are available from the GJHP.” He holds his hand out at Kailer. “This is Kailer Yamamoto, the power player of the Spokane Chiefs.”

Kailer gives them a formal wave. “Good afternoon, everyone.”

Ed then reverts his hand farther to Brett. “And this is Brett Howden, the power player of the Moose Jaw Warriors.”

Brett gives them a quick wave. “‘Sup.”

Jake shoots him an excited smile before turning to the others. “He’s my best bestie!”

Tommy steps up to the CHL founder, halting next to him, and faces the power players. “With that said, you men are now the GHP, working together to keep not only the NHL safe, but also the CHL and NCAA safe from attacks.”

Notes