Peekaboo

Back in the castle, they made some last minute precautions and preparations. Jonathan, Amy, Lauren, Chelsea, Brandon, and Andrew were already suited up and ready. It seemed weird seeing Jonathan as a Disney prince, but so was Patrick now.

Patrick let Ariel join her girl friends, while he came up to his three friends. He watched the girls, as they giggled with one another. Andrew brushed his head against Brandon’s leg.

“Shawzer, stop it!” Brandon screamed and lightly moved his leg against Andrew’s as a gesture for him to move and get lost.

“I’m a dog and I have an itch on my face that is bugging me. Just let me itch it with your leg, please?”

“That’s what your hind leg is for.”

“Oh right. I forgot about that.” He sat back on his hind quarters and lifted one of his hind legs and scratched the area. “Ah, yes!”

Brandon rolled his eyes. “You better not have fleas!”

“Why?”

“Because…” He trailed off, beginning to scratch himself. “Dagone it, Andrew!”

Andrew laughed.

“Give me the backstory of how you came here, Johnny,” Patrick asked, folding his arms. He ignored Brandon and Andrew who were bugging one another. He watched as Andrew followed Brandon around, taunting him with, “Scratching. Itching. Fleas. Oh, I’m sooo itchy!”

Jonathan motioned to one of the couches for them both to sit down in, while Brandon screamed and shoved the grayish-brown dog back. Andrew jumped up and down like he was a jumping bean, continuing to annoy his friend. He really WAS a pest. The two sat down on a red colored royal couch and turned to one another.

Patrick looked at his best friend, who sat across from him. He had a similar prince cape to the blonde’s, but his outfit was much more normal. He had an elbow-length sleeved blue-ish gray shirt on. All but two buttons were unbuttoned, showing a little bit of his freshly waxed chest underneath. There were six buttons total that ran down to his middle chest region from the round collar. It fit him snugly and looked nice. It wasn’t too formal, but it was dressy enough for him. The end of his shirt ran just over the waistline of his pants, which were animated jeans. And he had a nice black belt on, running through the loops of the denim. On his feet he wore a pair of nice black shoes, not boots like Patrick’s.

“So what do you want to know?”

“Why didn’t you ever tell anyone about this? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t think you would ever need to know, Kaner.”

Patrick looked down at his hockey stick, which glimmered in the light, shining a brilliant silver. “Can I even still play with this?”

Jonathan reached out and touched the weapon. He ran his hand lightly across it. “I don’t know. This never happened to me. I don’t have my hockey stick here. It’s interesting though.”

“What if I can’t play anymore because of it?”

“You want to test it out?”

“Test the stick out?”

“Yeah. Brandon has some pucks in his man purse!” Jonathan flicked his gaze, in the direction of his teammate, who had somehow managed to fall onto another of the couches.

“It’s a satchel!” Brandon snapped, as he was jumped on and licked by Andrew. “Gross, Shawzer, get off-a me!”

Patrick and Jonathan got up from their seats and walked over to the two.

The captain shoved Andrew off. “Bad dog!”

Andrew whimpered and tucked his tail between his legs, dropping his head and looking downward at the ground. Patrick patted him on the head, gently and scratched behind his ears. Instantly the dog’s tail popped back out and began to wag back and forth.

Jonathan took a few black disks from Brandon’s satchel and then turned to his friend and motioned to the long empty hallway. Just beyond that, on the opposite side of the castle, the princesses were deep in conversation with one another.

“If you have been here before, why do they not remember what hockey is? Surely you had told them? And it’s just bizarre that when I found Ariel in the tower, she had - or someone had - painted our Chicago Blackhawk symbol!”

Jonathan nodded as he placed two pucks on the ground, where Patrick had come to stand. He stood back up and looked his best friend in the eyes. “They did. They do. They know what hockey is.”

“Than how did Ariel have no idea what I was talking about?”

“Nemo must have wiped their memories or done something. But don’t worry, once we defeat him, we should be able to get them back and things will be clear once more.” The leader stepped to the side and gave Patrick an “okay...go” look.

The blonde hockey player got set, moving the stick into position, like normal. The only difference was the blinding silver that it was made of now. He raised the stick back, feeling a little odd without his typical equipment on. But he ignored the bizarre sensation and hit one of the pucks. It sailed down the hallway, clanging off the walls as it traveling all the way down and into the room at the far end.

“So?”

“No difference. Man, that felt awesome! We should talk to Q and the NHL about getting some of these silver sticks. Imagine having these on the ice. We could blind the goalie and score more often!”

Jonathan chuckled, but shook his head. “That wouldn’t be very fair, Kaner.”

“Eh, you’re right, Captain.”

Jonathan bowed playfully, putting one hand to his stomach and bending over. Patrick leaned on the blade of his stick, watching him.

Suddenly a loud screeching noise came from outside. It halted everyone, who turned in the direction of the eerie sound. On the stained glass windows, on the princesses’ side a shadow was reflecting on it. Patrick clutched his stick in his hands. Brandon and Andrew trotted up and the princesses all shrieked and backed up.

“Not again!” Ariel screamed.

The four woman took off to the giant double doors that led back outside to the city of Avondale. Jonathan, Patrick, Brandon, and Andrew followed close behind. They all skidded to a halt at the bottom of the stair, whipping around to gaze to the right side.

Out of the mist and over the lake, a huge, like even larger than a standard fairy tale sized, dragon was soaring through the air, breathing fire.

“What the--?” Patrick began, his blue eyes wide open.

He watched as the scaly, black and red creature flapped its wings in fury. It made more screeching roars, unlike anything in the real world of Chicago, Illinois. It swooped around and came down, blowing fire at the kingdom. Terrified screams came from all around and people were darting back and forth.

“We aren’t in Chicago anymore, Peeks,” Jonathan yowled. He didn’t seem in utter shock like the rest of the three player were.

He snatched up a sword and shield, joining in the fight with other people and the princesses. He let out a loud battle cry and charged toward the beast, who landed in the middle, right on top of the Hawk fountain. It opened its mouth a let out an extra ear-splitting caw. Its sound was deafening, louder than sitting next to the jet on a commercial flight. The foreign sound made Patrick shiver with horror.

Just yesterday he was playing hockey and enjoying his life and now he was trapped in some Disney world fighting a dragon. Talk about adjusting to change.

The dragon’s eyes glowed, like a cat’s or snake’s. It had beady red eyes that flashed yellow in color. It spotted Jonathan darting forward in attack mode. There was another deep pig squealing noise that erupted, followed by a blazing hot shot of fire. The flames raced toward the Blackhawk captain, who raised the circular shield up in front of him, to block the danger.

“Hey dragon, over here!” The Blackhawk captain taunted the beast.

“Johnny, are you crazy!?” Brandon gasped, behind Patrick, who was thinking the exact same thing.

Jonathan did a spin-o-rama and darted around to the other side of the dragon and he jabbed his sword into its side, drawing black ooze. The dragon reared up, taking flight once more. It circled in the air above, like a vulture. Jonathan gazed upward, ready for an aerial attack. The other brave men had abandoned the scene, leaving him alone to defend against the beast.

Jonathan was doing pretty good so far, but he needed some help and Patrick knew that he couldn’t just stand there looking like a fool; he had to help his friend, no matter how weird it would feel battling a dragon. Brandon and Andrew also gave nods of their heads and launched forward.

Andrew Shaw snapped down on the dragon’s tail, as it swooped down for Jonathan once more. There was a horrible squeal, as it wrenched its head around, trying to spot the perpetrator. But the small dog was quick and darted out of the eyeshot rapidly, growling and showing his teeth in fury. Brandon had a sword and shield and was jabbing at the other side, double teaming with Jonathan.

“This will be something to tell the boys back in Chicago, eh?”

The dragon dove upward, before spreading its wings out to full length. Brandon, Patrick, and Jonathan backed away, gazing upward. Andrew darted for cover, being a dog.

“Why do I have to be the dog? You all get to be princes, and I’m a mutt!”

“You are a mutt, Shawzy!” Patrick teased.

Andrew cocked his head and tried to give the blonde man a look, but struggled mightily and ended up cursing about it.

“Hey, watch your mouth, Andrew, this is a Disney Land, not the locker room or the ice at the UC!” Jonathan snapped, becoming distracted for a split second.

It was a bad thing, as the dragon’s tail knocked his shield to the ground with a loud clanging noise. The captain let out a sudden gasp and dove for it, trying to be quick and smooth about it, but he didn’t make it as the tail wrapped around his arms, making him drop his sword as well.

“Tazer!” Patrick screamed. He lifted his hockey stick upward, holding it out in a sword-like pose. He threw caution to the wind and shoved his fear aside. He had to help his best friend out.

Jonathan struggled in the grip of the dragon’s tail, which squeezed him tighter. The dragon started to rise upward, as Patrick brought his stick down in a swiping motion and chopped off the end of the dragon’s tail, holding his captain. The brunette man pushed the scaliness off of him, to the ground. He went for his sword, diving to the ground as the beast roared and dove again, stretching its claws out of its feet.

One of the wings flapped and hit Patrick in the face, knocking him back into Brandon. He stumbled back into his teammate’s awaiting arms. The dragon dropped low and its claws grabbed Jonathan by the shoulders, before he could reach the handle of the sword. The animal quickly flapped up, going skyward, with the Blackhawk captain dangling down from its talons, helplessly.

“Johnny!!” Patrick yelled, darting forward, after the monster, trying to get to his friend.

“Let me go!” the hockey player ordered, thrashing about and trying his best to pull himself free from the grip of the talons. “Kaner, help!!”

Patrick tried to ignore the stinging sensation on his lip, as he pursued the creature all the way to the right side of the kingdom, to the water’s edge. He watched with horror as his beloved leader was carried off by some mean dragon.

“Jonathan!! No!!” he cried, as he skidded to a halt on the dock, catching himself so that he didn’t fall in the water. The wind whipped around him, off of the lake, blowing through the locks on his head.

The dragon’s squeals and Jonathan Toews’ terrified screams faded into the mist and soon the two vanished. Patrick stood, wide-eyed, on the dock. He was so scared and bewildered. Had he actually witnessed a dragon, a fire-breathing mythical dragon, kidnap his beloved captain? He could feel his heart beating furiously in his chest, threatening to explode. His anxiety was at a peak and he struggled to breathe, as his breathing was heavy and distorted.

He heard Brandon Saad, Andrew Shaw and the princesses rushing up behind him. There was a moment of horror and silence that followed, as they remained in place, staring at the thick mist that concealed the true view ahead and where Jonathan had vanished. The blonde slowly turned, his eyebrows kit upward at a slant, giving him a worried look. He gripped his weapon with both hands; it had no dents or bangs, and was still in crystalline condition. He looked down at his weapon and frowned. “We need to get Johnny back!”

“Absolutely! But where did he go? How do we find him?”

“We’ve got to find out! And I think I have a pretty good idea of where he is!”

“Lord Nemo’s lair?” Chelsea questioned.

“Right!”

“Well that dragon is Nemo’s pet,” Ariel revealed.

“Antti Niemi has a freaking pet dragon?!” Brandon, Andrew, and Patrick blurted out in unison. They were all in shock at this.

Ariel nodded, giggling at their ignorance. “He does. Every other day he seems to send it out to terrorize the kingdom. He must have received word that you guys were here and had arrived. He must have known and sent the dragon to kidnap Jonathan.”

“What does he want with Johnny, though?” Andrew spoke up.

“I don’t know. But it is really bad that he has Jonathan. Who knows what he will do to that poor man!?” Amy pipped up, quivering her lip in nervousness. She looked downward at her feet, sorrowfully.

Patrick raised his head up, valiantly. “We’re going to save him! After all, he would do the same for me, or any of us Blackhawks. We’ve got to find him and rescue him, right away!”

“Than it is time you set out on your journey,” Lauren spoke, stepping forward to him. “We will gladly join you and help out. It would be our honor, Sir Patrick Kane of Chicago.”

“Please, call me Patrick, Kaner, Peeks, or Lil Peekaboo.” He flashed them a wink and a cute look that made Amy and Chelsea melt inside and sigh dreamily.

“Really, Kaner, you’re already hitting on and flirting with the women?” Andrew remarked, headbutting his fellow teammate in the back of the leg with his head.

Patrick gave him a scolding look, but he simply sat back on his haunches, lifted his head and flashed a big, rather terrifying, dog smile.

“Okay, so let’s go rescue my best friend and our precious captain!”