Meanwhile, in the NHL basement underneath the NHL headquarters in New York City, the holographic figure of Thomas Gorman is sitting in front of a large computer screen.

The screen is displaying various windows showing articles and videos of the same exact content: Kale’s outburst of powers on the ice, in front of millions of people in person or through a screen.

Thomas stares at the replays of the purple energy blasting out from Kale’s body and words screaming SUPERNATURAL, HIDING, NOT SAFE, SUPERPOWERS from the articles.

“Oh no…” he murmurs. “Oh, no, no, no… This-this can’t be happening…” He pulls himself closer to the keyboard below the screen and gazes down at it. “What to do, what to do…”

He hastily presses a few buttons on his extensive keyboard.

Instantly, the windows of Kale’s videos and articles are swung to the side as four new windows pop up in the middle of the screen, forming a square. Each window is taken up by a live video chat with another holographic founder: Ed Chynoweth, the founder of the CHL, is to the top left, Maurice Podoloff, the founder of the AHL, is to the top right, Dani Rylan, the founder of the NWHL, is to the bottom left, and President Theodore Roosevelt, the founder of the NCAA, is to the bottom right.

Tommy flashes them the most reassuring smile he can whip up in a few seconds. “Hello, ladies and gentlemen—”

“Gorman!” Ed cries out. “What have you gotten us into?”

Tommy leans back as he chuckles. “Well, just men, I supposed, since you are not so gentle today—”

“Of course we’re not,” Maurice spits out, “you just disclosed the supernatural universe!”

Tommy lets out a heavy sigh, dropping his crumbling, light-hearted attitude. “I am so sorry, I never knew that this would happen.”

“You know how critical it is to keep the supernatural a secret!” Dani snaps, not taking his apology.

“I do, trust me, I do.” Tommy holds out his palms toward the screen in defence. “One of my power players just slipped.”

“Well, now the WHOLE public knows about the supernatural,” Podoloff points out brusquely, leaning closer to the screen. “Next thing we know, they’ll be asking US about our supernatural status.”

“Our leagues are going to be in grave danger thanks to a silly mistake from your power player,” Ed adds on.

Tommy raises his eyebrows. “Well, he was yours at one point.”

“This can seriously destroy Sami’s and my leagues!” Dani continues on with worry in her eyes. “This really cannot be happening!”

“Well, it is and there’s nothing we can do to take it back.” Tommy leans back against his swivel and clasps his hands on his stomach. “Unfortunately, none of our power players has the power to erase mistakes in a snap. Therefore, all we can do is move forward, eh?”

Maurice stares at him in disbelief. “How can you be taking this so lightly?”

“Getting mad won’t fix it, that’s for sure.”

Ed juts his chin toward the NHL founder. “He’s right. Getting mad will get us nowhere! It’d be a good idea to spend the time thinking of a plan.”

President Roosevelt finally speaks up: “I got one.”

Everyone grows silence in anticipation of his plan.

“Why don’t we consult the rulers?” he proposes sophisticatedly. “They can associate well with Mr. Clague and make a fit punishment.”

Dani’s eyes light up. “That’s a great idea, President Roosevelt!”

“Well, time to call in the rulers.” Tommy then leans over and presses on a couple of buttons.

The square of the four live video chats of the founders slides to the left side of the massive screen, causing the windows of the videos and articles to downsize and fly up to the top left corner.

On the right side of the computer screen, five windows pop into view, each displaying a live video chat of each ruler: Jonathan Toews, the ruler of the NHL, is in the middle, Dylan Strome, the ruler of the AHL and ECHL, is to the top left, Hannah Brandt, the ruler of the NWHL and CWHL is to the top right, Stuart Skinner, the ruler of the CHL, is to the bottom left, and Maddie Rooney, the ruler of the NCAA, is to the bottom right.

“I KNEW this was gonna happen!” Toews bursts out, swinging a fist down. “I just knew it!”

Dyan is gaping ahead. “Someone used their powers ON the ice in front of EVERYONE?” His eyebrows scrunch up, like the rest of his facial muscles. “What is he: nuts?”

“This is the last thing we need,” Stuart points out flatly.

“Someone doesn’t deserve their powers if they use them like that!” Hannah states fiercely.

Maddie slaps her hands on his cheeks with an anxious look. “Oh no, the power player system is gonna be destroyed!” She throws her hands in the air. “We’re ALL gonna lose our powers!”

“Alright, everyone,” Tommy starts off gently, at ease, at ease.” He waves his hands up and down, signalling the rulers to calm down.

The hockey players quiet down, regaining their stately composure and turning their attention to the NHL founder.

Then Tommy begins to speak: “I know this is a nightmare we are living in and we all wish this had never happened, but it did and there’s nothing to do but to move on. Since you guys are all hockey players with powers, please enlighten us with your ideas of Clague’s consequence.” He holds a hand out toward the five rulers.

“He should be stripped of his powers!” Hannah proclaims.

Stuart’s eyes fly open. “Whoa, no! He already went through that!”

“So?” She scrunches her nose with insensitivity. “He’d be used to it!”
“He shouldn’t play anymore,” Dylan proposes much more collectedly. “Everyone’s gonna think he has the advantage over everyone else.”

Maddie peers down with large, sad eyes. “Oh, that’d be so sad to not be able to play anymore.” She then lifts her head up to gaze ahead, her expression turning more compassionate than stern. “But you’re right, Dylan, if he can’t be responsible to not use his powers on the ice, he either shouldn’t be able to play or have his powers removed.”

“It’d be best if he apologizes,” Toews simply states.

That instantly drops the room in sudden silence.

“Are you crazy?” Hannah hisses out.

“No,” Toews replies in his same tone. “He should tell everyone what really happened and that he didn’t mean to and he won’t do it ever again.”

Tommy gazes up at him with uncertainty. “That’d just be affirming that the supernatural is real.”

“Well, everyone now knows that, so it wouldn’t make much of a difference.” The NHL ruler shrugs.

“The reaction, Toews, the reaction of the public!” Ed speaks up in a gradual rise of his voice. “If Clague goes out there and speaks about the reality of the supernatural, everyone will go haywire!”

Toews raises his eyebrows. “Really? They would?”

“That’s what we speculate,” Dani replies.

“But is it a fact?”

Gorman stares at him. “It’s a possibility.”

“But it’s also a possibility for the public to accept the supernatural.”

Hannah narrows her eyes ahead in growing frustration. “Haven’t you seen the way society reacts to new things? They totally go against it—”

“—and then accept it sooner or later,” Toews cuts in cooly. “How else did you guys get a promising future in hockey?”
Maddie gazes upward with sparkling eyes. “I love the public.”

“We have to give them a chance,” the NHL ruler continues on. “And we also need Kale to own up for what he did and not cower back like what he did in the fight.”

Dylan snickers. “That was so funny.”

On the other hand, Tommy keeps his look of doubt at his ruler. “This is a huge gamble you are suggesting, Toews.”

“But it’s one that makes sense,” he counteracts. “Kale has to do his duty too, not just suffer what we place on him. He has to act too. We can’t do all the cleaning here.” He then raises his bent arms by his sides as he leans closer to the screen. “So what do you say? Kale put us in this mess, he’s the one to clear things up!”

“Yeah!” Maddie exclaims. “I like it!”

“Oh, this is gonna be so fun to watch!” Dylan chuckles with thrill.

Stuart shrugs with less than half of the excitement as the other three. “It’s better than him losing his powers again.”

“Sure, and then we’ll all fall with him too,” Hannah predicts dryly.

Gorman gazes at Toews with furrowed eyebrows. “Are you sure? Are your powers telling you otherwise?”

Toews looks down at the founder with a small, reassuring smile. “My powers assure me that it’s not gonna go as bad as you assume.”

---

Kale’s jaw instantly drops with wide eyes. “I’m going to WHAT?!”

He stares up at the screen displaying four windows of the founders and five windows of the rulers as he is standing next to Tommy.

Toews begins to speak: “On behalf of the League Rulers’ Council—”

“No, no, no—” Kale waves his hands in front of him. “—I know, I know, but you’re really gonna put me out there in front of everyone and TELL them that I have powers and the supernatural is real and everyone else has powers too!?”

“You didn’t have a problem showing them, you shouldn’t have a problem telling them,” Hannah tells him brusquely.

Kale stares up at them with uneasiness. “But didn’t you want to keep all of this secret?”

“Yeah, until you blew off the covers.” Dylan rolls his eyes.

Kale groans as he dips his head.

Maddie gazes down at him with sympathy. “I feel for you. I want you to have the easiest path. But you do have to go through this. The public will love you.”

Kale lifts his large eyes up at the screen. “Didn’t you guys say that the public would react badly?”

Toews eyes him skeptically. “I don’t think so.”

Kale straightens up with narrow, cold eyes. “You guys are setting me up for humiliation again, aren’t ya?”

“No, we’re just serving you your punishment.” Hannah crosses her arms. “We’re not letting you off the hook of this one.”

The defenceman softens his expression as he places his hands on his head. “But what if they don’t like me?”

“Their problem,” Dylan replies carelessly. “And ours.” He pauses. “And yeah, we’ll just end up getting rid of the system.” He ends with a shrug.

Kale gawks at them. “No!” He throws his hands up in the air in a frenzy before pacing around in a small circle. “No, no, no, no, no, the system can NOT go away!”

He whirls around to face the screen once again. With a deep breath in, he drops his hands and closes his eyes.

He then flutters his eyes open, now with a growing confident expression. “I will do the BEST speech anyone has ever seen before…!” His eyes light up at the thought; he peers up at the founders and rulers and pumps his fist at them. “Yes, I’ll make the crowd LOVE the supernatural!” He then lowers his fist and mutters, “I really want to keep my powers…”

With the stress of his task’s reality creeping up on him, Kale spins around and begins to pace around the entire basement.

Tommy gives his power player a look of concern before turning back to his screen.

Toews gives Tommy a smirk with a nod. He then states lowly, yet firmly, “It’s a go.”

Notes