November 7, 2016

So, as you know from the previous entry, I was out to eat with Marchy...as well as Jo, Brayden, Stammer, TJ, Kuch and Pally. We were at this nice seafood place by the beach, sitting outside in our own private little area. Steps led down to the beach from the private area on the outside porch part of the restaurant.

"It's good to see you again, Marchy, we still miss you, but not too much," I tease my friend as we sit down at our table outside, watching the sun beginning to set.

"Hey, business is business. Just keep your head up out there, Vladdy."

"Are you threatening Vladdy, Marchy?" TJ scolds playfully.

Marchy turns to him and smirks. "Of course not. You know me well, TJ. I'd never threaten this beautiful young man." He smacks my arm.

I give him an extremely cheesy smile. "Very funny, Marchy, I AM beautiful, aren't I? Let's eat! I'm starving!"

"You had 20 string cheesesticks on the bus ride, Vladdy...like not even an hour ago!" Stammer exclaims in shock.

"Hey, cheese is good!" I remark.

Marchy shakes his head. "Same old Vladdy."

"I want plate of cookies!" Kuch exclaims.

"I want your mom!" Jo grumbles, slumping down in his seat and kicking out at Pally's chair legs under the table.

"Would you stop that Jo?" Pally snaps. "And no, Kuch, no cookies before dinner. You know the rules."

"Pally!!" Kuch sing-songs. "Kuchereon!" He withdraws his favorite stuffed animal Vaporeon and pokes the Czech player's face with it. "See? See? See? Kuchereon, best! Kuchereon say cookies are dinner!"

"Kucheron is wrong, and get your damn Vaporeon out of my face!" Pally growls as Jo continues to kick his chair.

"Your mom is wrong..." Jo grumbles.

"Say, go through the darkest of days

Heaven's a heartbreak away

Never let you go, never let me down

Oh, it's been a hell of a ride

Driving the edge of a knife

Never let you go, never let me down

Don't you give up, nah-nah-nah

I won't give up, nah-nah-nah

Let me love you

Let me love you

Don't you give up, nah-nah-nah

I won't give up, nah-nah-nah

Let me love you

Let me love you

Oh, baby, baby," Brayden sings out.

"Hey! I LOVE that song!" I cry out. I know it well, cause it's Justin Bieber.

Brayden continues to sing, while Jo kicks the chair and Pally looks at TJ, with Kuchereon pressed against his cheek. He mouths, "Help me." TJ giggles to himself and Marchy and I can't help but chuckle too.

Poor Pally.

"TJ, please, switch seats with me! Stammer?" Pally hisses.

"NO!" Kuch wails. "Pally, stay!" He wraps his arms around the Czech player.

"You know the rules, Pally," Stammer and TJ say in unison.

Just then, there is a loud crash of plates, before smoke billows into the room. Marchy and Stammer both dart over to protect me, blocking every path possible and remaining on high alert.

The smoke finally clears though and I can see this average height brunette man, standing there snickering. Then he withdraws a sword and a hockey stick. "Jimmy Vesey's the name! Get ready to pay for your foolishness, Namestnikov!"

"Vladdy, run. Take Brayden and Kuch with you!" Stammer snaps. "Pally, TJ, Jo and I will hold him off!"

I nod at the captain and then slide under the table and slip up on the other side. Kuch and Brayden join me. We then take off for the steps.

"Wait, I'll go with them!" Marchy exclaims.

"No, you're staying here," Stammer snaps.

"You think I'm going to hurt Vladdy? I owe him one! You don't know what all he did for me...I owe him, Stammer." Marchy then races off after the three.

Stammer sighs and turns back. "Pally, go with them!"

Pally nods and bounds off after Marchy. TJ and Jo join Stammer as they face Vesey.

Vesey laughs evilly. "You think they can escape me?" He throws a stone at the ground before Stammer and instantly smoke clouds them. "WRONG!"

Stammer hugs Jo and TJ close as the smoke causes them to cough and stumble to the ground and pass out.

"When you awake dear Lightning Bolts, I'll have my prize and you can't stop me!" Vesey then sits them all back to back and wraps a rope around them that he'd pulled from one of the fancy restaurant's curtains. He knots it and then grabs a few more ropes and tosses them over his shoulder. "Now to go find Namestnikov!"

He dashes for the steps and streaks toward the ocean, finding that Kuch is in the sand, holding his leg with the others gathered around him. He is crying, but he stops and points out with wide eyes as Vesey closes in.

"What luck is this?" Vesey sneers, reaching for a rope.

Pally look down and says, "I'll stay with Kuch, you all go and find help. And Marchy, I trust you." He winks at the Panther.

Marchy nods back and grabs Brayden's and my wrists and pulls us away, just as Vesey cackles and throws the rope at Pally, perfectly wrapping it around his arms, pinning them to his sides.

Kuch gasps. "Let Pally go!"

Vesey snickers as Pally struggles in place before he is shoved down into the sand. Then he looks at Kuch, who screams out in fear and starts to try and escape. Vesey easily stops him and pulls him back to Pally and ties him up back to back with his babysitter. Kuch kicks at the sand and snaps. "You no get away with this!"

Vesey just laughs. "I love how I'm SINGLE-HANDEDLY getting away with this." He ruffles Kuch's hair. "Now, now, I must do something about that mouth of yours!"

"Don't you dare!" Pally growls at him. "If you harm a hair on--!" He is cut off as Vesey wraps one of the restaurant napkins around his head. Pally grunts in distress, swinging his head around trying to get it out.

Kuch screams, but his screams are soon cut off as Vesey wraps another one around his head and ties it tightly in place. Vesey then picks up Kuchereon from the sand and jams it down into the center of the ropes around Kuch's chest.

"There, I'll at least be nice enough to let you keep your little toy, baby Russian!" Vesey sneers.

Pally and Kuch struggle in the ropes as Vesey bounds off once more, exclaiming, "Three more ropes and two more napkins!" He vanishes from sight, leaving the two tied up and gagged on the beach.

Brayden and I are being forced to follow Marchy, before Brayden slips free and we lose him in a maze of streets in Downtown Sunrise. Marchy and I try to find him, but Vesey apparently finds him first.

Brayden wanders around, singing to himself softly as he looks around corners of buildings, before Vesey jumps him from behind, rapidly binding his wrists and arms and then wraps the napkin around his head as he screams out.

Marchy and I hear it though and race as fast as we can toward the scream, only to find Brayden struggling in Vesey's hold. The villain holds a sword to the rookie's neck. I step back. How has Vesey single-handedly taken out...did he take Stammer and Pally out too? He had to have.

Vesey flings Brayden away into the building and stalks forward toward us.

Marchy and I share a look and then back away. There is one more rope over Vesey's shoulder and I know it has my name on it. I don't have Yzerchuk with me for once and I am really regretting it.

But how was I supposed to prepare for a New York Ranger rookie showing up to kidnap me?!

We back up as far as we can, realizing that we have nowhere to go really. Vesey realizes this too and begins to snicker wickedly as Brayden struggles, trying to break the ropes binding him. And that's when Vesey flings the rope out at me and lassoes me, pinning my arms to the sides.

"Marchy, do something!" I shout out as Vesey yanks me into his arms. "HELP!!" He finishes wrapping the rope around my arms more and then wraps the end around my wrists, just to make sure that I can't get free or hit him.

Marchy looks around and then an idea appears to come to him. Most don't see or even really know Marchy's different expressions, but I know that my friend has thought of something. He throws his head back and howls out, "SPACEY, LET OUT YOUR ROAR!"

Spacey?

"Spacey," Vesey spits and then turns back to me. "Your friend is a little loopy I guess...which is good for me, now that I have you helplessly in my clutches."

"AH! NO! MARCHY, HELP ME! PL--!" Vesey wraps the napkin around my head now, muffling my screams for help and then he launches me over his shoulder. I kick and scream into the gag, hoping Marchy will just come and save me, but then I hear a loud roar.

Like a cougar. Or a lion. Or...a panther.

Vesey halts and I try to look, spotting a giant panther leap over the fence where Marchy is standing proudly. "Oh, look it's a cute little panther..."

"Not just any panther, Vesey. Meet Spacey! Spacey is Florida's Yzerchuk you could say..." Marchy remarks, putting his hands on his hips as Spacey stands at his heels loyally, snarling and scraping at the ground.

I gasp behind the gag. Spacey was Florida's Yzerchuk? What? How was that so?

"Spacey, sick him!" Marchy then exclaims, throwing his hand out.

Spacey snarls and bounds forward. He then leaps at Vesey, who drops me in the panic, realizing that he needs to fight back. I fall to the ground, bracing for the impact but I find Marchy under me and he's broken my fall.

"There, now we're even, buddy," Marchy gasps. He then recovers and helps to free me and then we both free Brayden and watch as Spacey slashes the sword and hockey stick out of Vesey's hands and then pins him down and nicks him on the face for good measure.

"Spacey, that's enough. Good work." Marchy commands and Spacey backs off, still snarling with rage.

Vesey staggers to his feet a nice bloody scar etching across his cheek. "You-you haven't seen the last of me, Namestnikov! I WILL get you!"

"Get out of here!" Marchy spits at him. "You have five seconds to run away or I can let Spacey make you!"

Vesey growls and turns on his heels and sprints away at top speed, forgetting his sword and hockey stick, which are under the snarling panther. He soon vanishes from sight and Spacey sits back and looks at Marchy, almost cracking a sweet smile. The panther slaps his tail on the ground and it's tongue lolls out.

"Wow, you have some explaining to do, Marchy!" I remark, shoving my Panther friend playfully.

Spacey takes it as a threat and begins to scowl.

Marchy throws his hand out in a 'calm yourself' motion. "Easy, Spacey, Vladdy's a friend and he has a point."

"A Brayden Point, to be exact, "Brayden remarks, before earning a slap across the head from me.

"I told you no puns!" I scold him. "But let's go find Pally, Kuch and the others and make sure everyone's okay and then you can tell EVERYONE about Spacey here."

Turns out, Spacey is just a gift from Wayne Gretzky and the Hockey Gods, bestowed to Florida. His owner is Alexander Barkov, as well as Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault. Apparently when Marchy had first arrived and did the tour, meeting Spacey, the panther seemed to love him.

But, hey, who wouldn't love Marchy?

He saved me from that wicked Jimmy Vesey! I, honestly, owe him one! And Spacey too. Just...not on the ice. We both know that is a battle we both must fight for and leave our friendships to the side. And our gifts from the Hockey Gods too.

After we get back to the restaurant and find the others and help to free them, we rush to the arena just in time for the game. And then afterward, I introduce Yzerchuk to Spacey and I guess they are good friends, since my magical hockey stick hasn't sparked and electrocuted the panther yet.

But if Florida has Spacey, I wonder...is it just our two teams, or are there more? Turns out, I am going to find the answer to that out, whether I have to continue to thwart Brendan Gallagher or Jimmy Vesey's clever schemes to kidnap me, I will not rest until I have visited each and every team and maybe meet their "Yzerchuk."