Login with:

Facebook

Twitter

Tumblr

Google

Yahoo

Aol.

Mibba

Your info will not be visible on the site. After logging in for the first time you'll be able to choose your display name.

AAOOOSC! Exposed!

In the Kings' Clique

The locker room is still with echoes of the crowd cheering trembling through it. Yet deep in one of its corners, sitting in his stall, is Kale. His head is hung over his lap with his elbows on it, holding his face in his arms. His gloves have been thrown to the ground by his skates.

His mind is swirling in the flashes of the fight: the anger that gripped him, the panic that blinded him, his powers being released out into the open, in front of thousands of fans and spectators. Their looks of shock and horror haunt his mind, the result of his supernatural outburst makes him tremble.

Although he is not skating or moving in that matter, his breathing is hard and the room is tilting.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he starts off with a quivering voice, “it’s not that bad, I had to do it, I would’ve gotten killed or injured really bad if I didn’t do it, I won’t be in much trouble, people will forget about it—” He licks his drying lips. “—yeah, it’s-it’s not that bad, Kale, just-just calm down, you had to do it, it wasn’t cool what he was doing, you had to do it, you had to—”

“WOOOOO!!!” Drew’s voice is heard bellowing from the other side of the room. “IT’S A WIN!!!”

Following his shout, the sound of Kale’s teammates jabbering among each other, their sticks clattering against the walls and stalls as they set them to a side, and the ripping and snapping sound of their helmets and gloves equipment fill the entire room.

Kale stays in his place, only transferring his hands up to his hair. He grips his hair tight as he stares at the black, foam ground with large, panicked eyes.

Drew marches up to him with a large smile on his face. “And here’s our best fighter!!!” He gives him three hardy pats on the back.

Kale stiffens as his body jolts at the impacts, grimacing.

Jeff steps up to him with a proud smirk. “That was some pretty neat stuff you did out there, kid.”

“I was not supposed to do that,” Kale croaks out ahead of him, holding his hair-holding position.

Drew knits his eyebrows while rubbing his facial hair-coated chin. “What was that anyway? It was like…” His eyes slowly lift as he holds his hands up in a daze. “...purple light…” Life pops into his eyes as he shakes his hands as jazz hands. “Disco lights!”

Kale softens his scared expression and snaps his eyes up to him “I can’t tell you guys.”

Jeff peers behind his shoulder to look at the rest of the room and barks, “Hey! Kopi!”

Instantly, Anže hobbles up to the three. “Yes?” He halts in front of Kale and peers down at him. “Oh, you are so precious.” He pats his head. “We must—” He turns at the other two. “—let him in the clique.”

Bewilderment takes over Kale’s face. “Clique? What clique?”

Jeff holds his hands out toward the captain. “That’s what I was about to ask you!”

Drew hops up and down in excitement. “Oh goodie, you get to have your own black cape!” He wipes out a black cape from behind him and drapes it over his shoulders. It’s lopsided, but that doesn’t stop him from having a bright smile.

Kale drops his hands, becoming more confused. “What?”

Anže swoops down to Kale’s level and holds his hand up to his mouth. “Rookie, follow us.” He then flies back to his feet and marches toward the exit of the locker room.

Drew and Jeff obediently follow him. Kale stares at them stepping away in puzzlement. He then slowly rises to his skates and cautiously follows them out of the locker room.

Anže leads the three skates down the dark-coloured, narrow hallway before stopping next to a black door with a metal handle. He turns the handle down, pushes the door open, and steps through the open doorway. Jeff and Drew quietly file inside.

Kale slips in front of the doorway and peers into it. The other side is in complete blackness.

He swallows before stepping into the room. He flicks his eyes everywhere with his hands out in front of him to avoid bumping into anything.

“Uh, what’s this?” he cries out.

Suddenly, a candlestick is lit a foot away from Kale. Its small flame casts an eerie light around the room, giving enough light to see what is in its close distance:

In front of Kale, holding the candle is a circular table with a tablecloth draped over it. Standing directly across from Kale is Anže, who now has his own black cape. To Kale’s left is Jeff, who also has a black cape on. And to Kale’s right is Drew.

“Welcome to the Keengs Cleek,” Anže starts off in a mysterious tone, which matches the harsh shadows on his face.

“King’s Clique,” Jeff corrects bluntly.

Keengs Cleek!” Drew pipes in, imitating Anže’s accent. He then whirls to Kale. “It’s fun to say, isn’t it?”

Kale eyes them suspiciously. “Wait. what?” He displays a gawk with his hands out by his sides. “But I’m already in the Kings…”

“No, no…” Anže shakes his head with closed eyes. “...this is a much more small, exclusive group of the Kings.” He halts his movements and gazes back at him. “You see, we here have one goal—” He raises his pointer finger: “—to win the Stanley Cup every other year!”

On cue, Drew raises a popcorn maker in the shape of the Stanley Cup. He mimicked the sound a choir makes when the sun’s rays shine through the clouds: “Awwwwww…!”

Kale stares at the small Stanley Cup replica with puzzlement. “But didn’t you guys already won it two times?” He turns back to the two.

Jeff shoots the captain a flat look. “He’s doesn’t get it.”

“No…” Kale shakes his head at him. “...I don’t.”

Immediately, the candle flickers out, throwing the room in utter darkness once again. Kale gasps as he stumbles back, taken by surprise at the sudden darkness.

A spotlight then drops down on the other side of the table, causing Kale to halt his panicking and peer ahead.

The spotlight is shining on solely Anže, who has a smirk with sly eyes on him. He begins to sign to a groovy beat:

In the Kings’ Clique,
We want something neat.


The light snaps off, giving the illusion that Anže disappears. It immediately reappears above the table, illuminating it. Instead of the candle on the table, Drew is now lying on it on his side, facing Kale. He traces the symmetrical shape of the Stanley Cup in the air with his two hands as he sings in a scratchy, yet ebullient tone:

That thing that shines and sparkles in its physique.

The light instantly switches off and returns into sight, this time on Kale’s right. Standing under the light is Jeff, who is staring deeply into him. He sings in a deep, gruff tone:

It’s the one thing,
We all need.

Instantly, Drew appears behind Kale and Anže becomes visible on Kale’s other side as the spotlight expands to illuminate the four. The three embrace Kale with each of their arms and blurt out together:

But we want it once two years in the league!

Suddenly, a massive Stanley Cup rises out of the ground from behind the four with its own light shining around it as it shimmers and shines in it.

The four are now marching on the shoulder collar of the oversized Cup to the beat of the music. The three belt out in unison:

The Stanley Cup!

Anže jumps down to the base of the Cup and points to the engraved names of the 2015-2016 Pittsburgh Penguins’ roster.

It’s what the Penguins took away from us!

Drew and Jeff sing together:

The Stanley Cup!

Drew hops down to another location of the base and smacks his pointer finger against the engraved 2012 Los Angeles Kings’ roster.

It’s what we deserve very much!

Jeff and Anže bark together from distant places of the Cup.

The Stanley Cup!

Jeff then jumps down to the base of the Cup, landing in between the three. He hooks his arm across his body as he growls melodically:

It’s what makes us want to come in clutch!

The three carol together:

The Stanley Cup!

Anže holds up his arms out of view then pulls them back into view, now having Kale standing with them. Kale has an uncertain look as the captain states to the beat of the music:

But I think we just brought in luck!

Instantly, to the tune of trumpets letting out their last, shaky note, the room floods back to darkness before the table and the candle drop back into view with the four standing back in their place.

To the drumming beat of the music, Drew starts off the conversation:

“So,” he begins upbeat, “we were thinking you can join us so that you can use your” —he begins to imitate having superpowers by throws his hands out in multiple directions— “super, duper, epic whatever-light-thingie-you used-out-there to help us win!” He slams his hands flat against the table and leans toward Kale with a thrilled look.

Kale gives him an incredulous look, leaning back. “Wait— You guys want me to fight like that to win and get the Cup?”

“You can zap ‘em and blast ‘em and shoot ‘em and slap ‘em,” Jeff continues passionately, hooking and jabbing at the air to demonstrate his proposal, “to weaken them and then we can score a lot to win that Cup!”

Kale eyes him. “Uh, I don’t know about that—”

Anže appears behind Kale and places a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “No worries, rookie, we would only use you for that every other year!”

Drew slides up to him and hooks his arm across his chest with a large grin. “So whaddya say? Wanna win the Stanley Cup every other year…?”

The massive Stanley Cup then reappears. At its base, the four are marching around it in unison with Kale ambling behind.

The Stanley Cup!

Anže pops up next to the engraved 2016-2017 Penguins’ roster and points to it.

It’s what the Penguins took away from us!

Drew and Jeff belt out together:

The Stanley Cup!

Drew then slides over to the engraved 2013-14 Kings’ roster and holds his hands out toward it.

It’s what we deserve very much!

Jeff and Anže chant:

The Stanley Cup!

Jeff flies across the section of the base that has the 2017-2018 Washington Capitals’ roster engraved on it.

It’s what makes us want to come in clutch!

Drew and Anže shout together with their eyes upon Jeff:

The Stanley Cup!

Anže then appears next to Kale and hooks his arm around the back of his shoulder. He speaks to the beat of the song:

And look at that, I think we have struck luck!

The two step up on each side of Kale and Anže, singing slowly and sweetly:

To get the Stanley Cuuu-uuup!

Drew halts next to Kale’s left and talks to the dwindling beat:

Every other year…

Jeff finishes off on the other side in a rumbling tone:

Yeaaah…!

In a snap, the scenery shifts back to the four around the circular table with the candle subtly illuminating the area.

Yet Kale still has a perplexed look on his face. “Wait.” He holds his palms up toward them. “You guys are telling me” —he reverts his hands toward his chest— “to use my powers to win and get the Cup?”

The three vehemently nod their heads with eager looks.

Jeff snaps his eyes to the other two. “He finally gets it.”

Drew turns to Kale with surprise. “Wait, those were powers?”

Kale nervously rubs his wrist under his jersey’s sleeve with his hand. “Oh, yeah, um, superpowers, yeah, I got them…”

Drew lets out a long gasp as his eyes grow wide in awe. “Aweeesooome.”

Anže gazes calmly at the rookie. “So what do you say? Give the Kings their well-deserved victory with your aid! You’ll be the hero.”

Kale flicks his eyes up at him from his fiddling hands. “Um, haha, thanks, but I’m actually not allowed to use my powers on the ice.” He drops his hands and straightens up with a subtly stern aura. “What happened back there wasn’t even supposed to happen; I panicked.”

Jeff raises his eyebrows at him. “He is that bad at fighting.”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like anything bad is happening…” Drew peers around his dusky surroundings.

“That’s because we’re in the janitor’s room,” Kale states flatly.

The three instantly gasp in horror and gape at him, leaning away from him.

Kale furrows his eyebrows at them. “What? I know when I’m standing on a mop and it smells like cleaning supplies in here!” He stomps his skate against bundle of the soft, coarse mop strings.

Anže waves his hands in the air, dismissing the discovery. “Whatever, whatever.” He drops his hands and turns back to Kale. “So, join us, rookie” —he holds his hand out toward him— “and we will be victorious all together!” He turns his hand into a fist and shakes it with vigour.

Kale stares at him hesitantly. “Um, I’m sorry, but I already said, I can’t.” He steps backward. “I can’t use my powers on the ice. That was just a slip up I did.” He turns around to begin exiting the room.

“Well, you used them once already,” he hears Jeff state solemnly. “What’s so bad about doing it twice?”

Kale halts in place at the honest statement. He slowly turns around, facing the three skaters in the candle’s weak light again. “I can get into more trouble.”

Jeff narrows his eyes at him. “What type of trouble are you talking about, exactly?”

“Cheating trouble.” Kale steps back up to the table. “Because I’m using an unfair advantage since other teams don’t use powers on the ice.”

“Isn’t that because you’re the only one with superpowers?” Drew asks, rubbing his beard.

“No.” Kale shakes his head. “Each team has one player with powers.”

The three gasp even harder with awe.

“And why haven’t we known this until now?!” Drew exclaims.

Jeff rubs his stubble-dotted chin with inquisitiveness. “I wonder who has the powers for those Ducks…”

“These powers should be used in games!” Anže throws his hands in the air. “This is a game changer!”

Kale leans forward with his hands on the table. “All this I’m telling you guys is supposed to be secret, so please don’t tell anyone...!”

Jeff glares at him. “This clique is supposed to be secret as well, but oh well for that if you don’t wanna join!”

Anže holds his palm out to him. “Rookie, we will keep your superpower secret if only you keep our clique a secret.”

Kale gives him a big nod. “I will.” He steps backward with bigger steps than the first time. “Will do.” He lightly hits the door with his back; his twists his body to have his hands on the door. “Thanks though, guys.”

With that, Kale opens the door, flooding the room in blinding light, whirls around, and scrambles out.

The door quickly closes behind him, blowing out the candle and plunging the room in pure darkness.

“Does anyone know where the light is?” Drew is heard asking.


Notes





Comments

Do you know your AAOOOSC! Exposed!? Find out taking this jeopardy game!

Enjoy! :)

A Shruinger A Shruinger
12/16/18