AAOOOSC! All-Stars!

In a sunlit restaurant, Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner sit at a round table by the large window displaying the serene downtown.

Jack cuts into his steak as he hears his teammate exclaim, “MMM! MMM! MMM! MMM!!!”

He flicks his sharp eyes up ahead of him.

On the other side of the table, Jeff wiggles himself with closed eyes and large smile as he chews.

He swallows and opens up his bright eyes. “This is so good!” He shakes his fork at his own plate. “You gotta try some!”

Jack gazes down at his plate. “It’s the same plate as mine. You decided to get the same thing as me.” He then continues to cut into his own steak.

“Ohhh right!” Jeff tears another piece of steak with his fork and consumes it. “So after this, we try to find banners with you in them?”

“Yeah,” he replies with no eye contact.

“Oh, I can’t wait—!”

Jeff throws his hands in the air, accidentally throwing his knife behind him.

The utensil hits the red carpet flooring behind him.

With a drop of his smile, Jeff twists his body and peers behind the backrest of his seat to stare at the strayed knife.

“Uh oh,” he croaks out with large eyes. “I-I kinda need that…”

He untwists himself and gazes around the restaurant. People happily enjoy their food or converse with one another. A waitress takes an order. A waiter places hot food on another table.

With a gulp, Jeff turns back to face in front of him. His eyes light up.

Jack stares at him with his hand out to him. In his hand is a clean steak knife.

“Oh, thank you!” Jeff snatches the knife and continues sawing into his steak. He then stops with realization setting in his face.

He peers up. “Wait, do you have a knife?”

Jack looks up from his plate and holds up his knife.

Jeff gazes at his new knife. “So how did this knife…” He turns his eyes up to Jack with wide eyes.

He gasps. “You used YOUR POWERS!!!”

Jeff springs from his seat and rushes around the table to stand next to him. “And you didn’t let me see them?!” He bounces up and down in place, his hands on the table’s surface. “Let me see them, let me see them!!!”

Jack shoots him a glare. “You already got your knife; go sit down.”

Jeff halts his jumping. “But I wanna see them! It must be so cool make knives like—” He chops his hands in the air with a joking serious look as he creates whizzing sounds with his mouth.

Jack holds an unamused look at his actions. “No, it’s not cool.”

Jeff whirls back to him. “Ohhhh, it is—” He snags his hand, forcing him to drop his knife in shock. “—seeing knives come out from your hands like—” He shakes his hand; a blade whizzes out. “WHOA!!!”

The blade soars across the room, stabbing a faux plant at the entrance of the building. With a laugh of amusement, Jeff continues agitating his hand.

More blades fly out in various directions: Multiple blades impale the nearest tables, chairs, booths, and walls. A couple more blades dive into plates and almost hit bypassing customers and waiters. A few crash into the window beside the two, gliding into streets.

Parallel to the window, across the sidewalk, is a tree which Patrik Laine is climbing on. His eyes are aimed at a squirrel scrambling up the tree’s thin branches.

A blade flings through the tree’s trunk and continues its flight across the street. Patrik halts, his small eyes wide with fear. He peers down, spotting the trunk askew. He gazes back ahead, panic in his face.

“Ruwr oh.”

With snaps, the tree leans over and crashes onto the sidewalk along with him.

Inside, Jeff continues shaking Jack’s hand, his excited eyes lost in the soaring blades. Jack twists his arm around with a frown.

“That’s ENOUGH!” Jack rips his hand out from his teammate’s grasp, closing his hand into a fist.

The restaurant falls into deep silence. They are left in an empty restaurant with shredded walls and furniture, shattered windows and lights, and scattered blades.

“Oh...wow...,” Jeff breathes out at the scene.

With a groan, Jack shoves himself away from the table, throws a bill on it, and storms pass him.

Jeff watches him approach the exit with surprise. “Eichs!” He hurries after him, watching him open the shattered glass door. “Eichs!”

Jack slams the door on him. He halts as sadness forms on his face. Through the opening lined with jagged glass, Jack disappears down the sidewalk to his left.

Jeff frowns at the sight with large, watery eyes. He then reaches out his hand to place it on the door, only for it to swing through the open air of the space. Jeff stumbles back and gazes at the broken door. He then ducks his head and steps through it.

On the sidewalk, Jeff turns his head to the left, where Jack is no longer visible. He then turns to the right, slips his hands into his jacket’s pockets and shuffles down that direction.

His head hangs, making him watch the grainy, dull sidewalk drift under his shoes.

Cheers and laughter then meets his ears. He knits his eyebrows and turns to his right.

The small outdoor ice rink approaches him with its palm trees and fun, emoji-decorated boards. Skaters giggle and smile as snow drifts on them and around the rink. Snow covers the ice rink’s property, where more people play by making snowmen or snow angels. Among those people are Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon; the two are building up their own petite snowman.

Sidney peers up ahead, spotting Jeff in the distance. He waves to him with a massive grin. “Hiya, Skinny!”

Nathan peers behind his shoulder to gaze at him. “Hey, oh, that’s something I’ve never seen before…”

Jeff dips his head and trudges to the two friends. He lifts his large, pained eyes at them. “Hi…”

Sidney aims a compassionate expression at him. “What’s up?” He pops up onto his feet. “Where’s that smile you wear all the time?”

Jeff drops his eyes back down. “Drowning in the neverending waters of regret and misery.”

The two friends exchange looks of concern.

Nathan looks back at him. “What was something so bad that happened that made you like this?" He stands up, takes Jeff’s hand, and places a fresh snowball in his hand.

Jeff sits in the snow and pats the ball onto the snowman’s head. The other two sit as well and continue applying snow onto their creation.

“I was having lunch with Eichs,” Jeff starts as he pats down the snowman’s forming head. “It was really good. The steak was delicious. It’s the type that has juice after you’ve chewed it two hundred times and you don’t need extra sauce.”

Sidney eyes him, balling some snow in his hands. “You’re sad over steak?”

Jeff turns to him and lets out a laugh. “Oh, hah, no, it’s-it’s that while I was enjoying my delicious steak, I dropped my knife.”

“You’re sad that you betrayed a knife,” Nathan states with narrowed eyes while snow forms in his hands.

Jeff whirls his head to him. “No, not that either, although it did break my heart to let it go like that. So I didn’t have a knife to cut my delicious steak and enjoy it. But Eichs did because he used his powers to create one! And I wanted to see how cool his powers are because I didn’t see him make the knife, so I shook his hand and all these blades went everywhere!” He waves hands in the air and creates whizzing sounds with his mouth.

Sidney gawks at him, his hands on the snowman’s head. “That sounds like a whole lot of insurance.”

Jeff drops his hands and upbeat demeanor. “But Eichs was not happy and he left me behind.” He rubs his arm. “I want him to be happy. I never meant to make him mad or hurt.”

Nathan directs his created snow onto the snowman. “You used his powers without his permission. It makes sense why he’s not happy with you.”

“I know, I wanted to see them but he refused and—” He lets out a heavy sigh and dips his head. “I should’ve never have done that. I feel so bad. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry to us—” Sidney holds a hand out to the streets. “—say sorry to him! He deserves the apology!”

Jeff raises his large, hectic eyes up at him. “But how?! I don’t think he would even want to talk to me! See me! THINK OF ME!”

Nathan scrutinizes him. “Okay, it’s pretty hard to NOT think of you.”

“I think he’s willing to hear your apology,” Sidney tells him. “You guys are good teammates from what I’ve seen.”

Hope pops onto his face. “Really? You think so?”

“Absolutely!” Sidney hops onto his feet. “We can even help you!”

Jeff gawks up at him. “How?”

Nathan aims furrowed eyebrows at his friend. “Yeah, Sid, how?”

Sidney zips to Nathan, leans into his ear with a cuping hand, and whispers to him.

Nathan’s eyebrows shoot up before he pulls away from him. “Okay!”

Nathan stands up then follows his friend to Jeff. They stand on each side of him.

“We got it!” Sidney tells him with a thumbs up. “Just follow us!”

Jeff whirls his head to grin at each of them. “Alright, thanks!” He then scrambles up to his feet and follows the two down the sidewalk.

* * *

Later that day...

Jack ambles down the sidewalk beside the SAP Center and the main road. He gazes up at the silver-colored building, which is draped with teal-colored banners displaying the All-Stars.

“So they don’t have my picture here…,” Eichel murmurs as stares at the faces of the familiar players on the banner. He gazes ahead as he comes up to the corner. “Maybe they should have it over here…”

“Eichs!”

With a groan, Jack turns around.

Jeff glides and brakes next to him. “I knew I would find you here since I did remember you wanted to find all the banners that have you on it!”
He keeps an expressionless look at him. “Yes.”

“Maybe ice skating around town could help?” Jeff creates the familiar clomping sounds of ice skates against ice.

Jack peers down at his feet; perplexion overcomes his face. Jeff wears his hockey skates with their blades exposed; however, a sturdy thick sheet of clear ice is under the blades, glistening in the golden sunlight.

“Why and how are you ice skating in seventy degree weather?” Jack asks as he looks back at him.

“Don’t ask, just do!” He pats his shoulder. “Come on, let’s find your face!” He then skates off past him, up to the corner.

Jack follows him with his eyes before he gazes back down at the sleet of ice now under his feet. With a flick of each of his hands at his shoes, ice skate blades materialize under his soles. He spins around and dashes around the corner, into the shade of the building.

“See, there you are!” Jeff wags his pointer finger at continuing banner over the box office.

Sure enough, Jack’s determined face while being in action stares ahead.

“That’s one!” Jeff exclaims.

He then hops down the sidewalk and glides across the small street. With a gasp, he waves his finger at a nearing streetlight that holds a banner of Jack Eichel in action. “There’s another one of you! That’s two!”

Jeff flies onto the sidewalk, speeds down the straightaway and dips down to make the wide turn into the maze of palm trees and the large puck-shaped banners. He zig-zags around the obstacles, his alerted eyes capturing each flying color, including navy blue and gold.

With a gasp, Jeff brakes next to the banner. “And three, we found three faces of yours in less than a minute!” He throws his hands up in the air. “That’s a record!”

Jack drifts to a stop beside him. He holds a soft expression at him. “Thank you.”

Jeff grins at him. “Yeah! I always want to help a friend!” He softens his expression into a look of remorse. “And I never meant to hurt you. I’m sorry I used your powers like that. I’ll never, ever, EVER do that again.” He crosses and uncrosses his arms. “EVER. EVER. EV—”

Jack holds his palm out at him. “Yeah, I got it.” He lowers it. “I forgive you.”

He drops his arms with a look of satisfaction. “So we’re still friends?”

Jack cracks a small smile. “Yes.”

He holds his arms out. “Hug?”

With a playful sigh, Jack drifts up to him and embraces him. Jeff wraps his arms around him and bobs with a large grin plastered on his face.

Jack then pulls away from him. “Okay, now tell me—” He stomps on the ice. “How did you get ice like this?”

“By Sid and Kinny!” Jeff throws his hands out to his right. His teammate turns to that direction.

Staring back at them is an empty park with grass and trees surrounding a playground in a sandbox. Sitting on the second level of the playground is Sidney and Nathan. They both wave at the two with smiles.

“And they offered to use their powers,” Jeff adds in from Jack’s right side.

Jack peers at him. “Good. I was about to say.”

Jeff drifts away from him. “And now, let us—” He spins in circles and halts with two hands in the air. “—FIGURE SKATE!”

He skates backward with crossovers, throws himself into a tight spin in the air, and lands with one foot perpendicular to the ice.

He lowers his leg and claps with a large grin. “You try, you try!”
Jack glides backward and hurls himself into the air.

Nathan throws his hand out in front of him.

Jack lands in a pile of snow on his back.

The three laugh with large smiles.

With a groan, Jack climbs back to his blades. He shakes the excess snow from his curly hair.

“Okay, Mr. Figure Skater, let’s see you beat me!” Jack blasts down the sidewalk, whizzing past his teammate.

Jeff giggles and dashes after him. “Wait, for me, you’re going too fast!”

“That’s the whole point!”

At the playground, Sidney and Nathan chortle together.

Sidney then holds his palm out to him. “Awesome job!”

Nathan smacks his palm against his. “We should follow them to keep up with the ice and snow.”

Surprise takes up his friend’s face. “Oh, right, let’s go!”

With that, the two soar up into the sky and over the street with the aid of their cold-based powers.



The End of “Power Hijack.”

Notes

Episode 2/15