Later on February 8th, 2016

Vladislav Namestnikov settles down in his bed, tucking himself in under the warm covers. He turns out his lamp and closes his eyes, drifting off into a deep slumber. He finds himself walking with Nikita Kucherov out to his car, in the player lot. They are in conversation with one another as they pass by the Production Truck, a mysterious place to the Lightning players, but one they both could agree they had respect for.

"So, what are you gonna do with the rest of your night, Kuch?" Vladdy asks.

"Oh, nothing much. Just hang with girlfriend I guess. How about you, Vladdy?" Nikita replies with a shrug.

Vladdy shakes his head. "Might just sleep. Gotta catch up on some. Are you gonna stop for the fans tonight?"

"Well...was planning to, but look, no fans." He gestures to the metal fenced-off area.

"Huh, interesting...normally there are fans there...wonder where they are? Also, where's the guard?" Vladdy screws his face up in thought and he feels his heart pound in his chest. Something is off.

Nikita now shakes his head. "Oh well. Maybe it weird night..." He gets his keys out and unlocks his car, opening up the trunk to put his bag and sticks in. "Well, see ya tomorrow Vladdy!" He puts his bag into the trunk and then his sticks.

Vladdy looks at the empty area, still deep in thought and bewildered by the perplexing scene. "Oh, yeah, later Kuch. See you tomorrow I guess. Good night." He turns around after no response comes and he doesn't hear the sound of the trunk close. "Kuch?" He gasps as his eyes land on the unconscious body of his teammate. He takes a step back. "Kuch! KUCH! Oh my God, what happened? Are you okay? Speak to me!"

All of the sudden, he spots four black ninja people surrounding him and one of them smacks the keys in his hand to the ground. He gasps and takes another step backward. "W-what did you do to Kuch?" Vladdy stammers.

"Wouldn't you love to know, huh, sweetheart? Vladislav Namestnikov...it is a pleasure," Brendan Gallagher's voice sneers. "It's been so long since we've seen one another. I escaped, by the way. Stupid Mental Hospital couldn't hold me back from my revenge! It's a shame they couldn't 'fix' me."

"Don't come any closer, I've got a weapon and I also see that you don't have Yzerchuk!" Vladdy musters his bravery and folds his arms across his chest. "Forget something Gallagher?"

"No actually, we didn't." Gallagher smirks darkly at him and snaps his fingers. "I know your secret Vladdy."

Vladdy takes another step back, bumping into one of the ninja henchmen, who seizes him. He jumps and puts up a brief fight with the person and manages to pull himself free, sprinting back to his car, where he snatches a hockey stick from his back and whirls around to Gallagher.

"You and I both know, that's not Yzerchuk." The Montreal Canadien forward winks at him.

Vladdy grips the hockey stick in his hands, holding it out threateningly at the Canadien and the henchmen. His heart pounds in his chest and his breath catches in his throat. How did Gallagher know about the stick?

"How do you--?" Vladdy begins to question as he struggles to swallow his fear.

"How do I know about the hockey stick transforming into a lightning bolt? Maybe you should ask your ex-friend...Jo...he's the one who was kind enough to give us the information." Gallagher gestures to his side, as one of the ninjas comes forward and removes his hood and disguise to reveal himself as Jonathan Drouin.

Vladdy freezes in place. "Jo?!"

Drouin glares at Vladdy. "Paybacks a bitch, huh Vladdy?"

Vladdy stares at him in shock. "What did I do to you Jo? We were friends!"

"You messed up Vladdy, you shouldn't have stolen my spot! You and that prick Marchessault... but I know it was you who took it from me! If you'd only minded your own business and let me get the spot--"

"Jo, I didn't take it from you, I earned it. I worked hard to be in the NHL like my father. You just didn't try hard enough."

"I scored more goals than you! That spot on the team was mine!"

"No, Jo!" Vladdy snaps back. "It's my spot not yours. And I'll fight with you to the end, but I tried more, I fit in better. Cooper and Yzerman liked me more because I'm the better all around player, I can defend better than you Jo and you know it!"

"So you say...but at the end of the day, who's stronger, me or you?" Drouin snarls, darting forward and shoving Vladdy backward into the ninja, who smacks the stick from his grasp before he can even make a move to defend himself. His arms are grabbed and yanked behind his back.

"Jo, you can't do this!" Vladdy shouts, jerking at the grip on him and kicking backward in desperation.

"It's gonna be difficult for me to tell Yzerman what happened to the valuable owner of Yzerchuk!" Drouin sneers.

"NO!" Vladdy screams out. "Let me go!"

"You're just a bug on my windshield, a tiny bump in my journey to being the face of the Lightning! Except, you know what, I don't wanna be a Lightning Bolt anymore. No, I wanna dethrone Tampa and break your hearts, like you broke mine!" With that, Drouin walks back to Gallagher and they high-five one another.

"What about the unconscious a-hole?" Gallagher asks, nodding toward Nikita's limp body on the ground.

Drouin shrugs.

"Marksy, Emels, take care of him! And Subs and Patches, dispose of Kucherov," Gallagher orders.

"NO!" Vladdy screams again, fighting the holds on him as another person joins in holding him back.

Two people walk over to Nikita and proceed to tie up his ankles and wrists and then they heave him into the trunk and slam the lid down, trapping him inside. As they brush their hands off and high-five one another, Vladdy stomps his foot on the ground and screams super loud. It is enough to produce electricity from his hands. The two henchmen - Markov and Emelin - step back, releasing the Lightning forward for a split second.

After a few seconds, he calms down and gasps.

Gallagher chuckles. "Oh man, this is good...so, you're Yzerchuk?"

"No, no I'm not," Vladdy says, gulping nervously.

"How else can you produce lightning like that? You're Yzerchuk...it all makes sense now. GET HIM!" Gallagher orders, pointing at Vladdy.

Vladdy spins around and prepares to fight, but he is quickly outnumbered and within seconds, he is seized and led toward a van, kicking and screaming. "STAMMER! HELP ME!!" Gallagher's helpers bind Vladdy's wrists together tightly with duct tape and then tape up his ankles. Then they gag him with a necktie and place tape over his mouth and then shove him into the back of the van.

Gallagher leans in, smirking at the helplessly bound and struggling Vladdy inside. "Stammer cannot help you. No one can. And because of your secret, Tampa Bay is doomed!" He snickers and leans back, slamming the door shut and trapping Vladdy in darkness.

Vladdy screams into the necktie and tape and tries to get the tape off of his wrists and ankles but he feels the van lurch forward, taking him away. His vision shifts back to the arena, where he sees Steven Stamkos dart out with Anton Stralman, Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson at his sides.

"What's wrong Stammer?" Anton asks.

"I heard a commotion out here. I heard screaming..." Steven responds, looking out across the parking lot, scanning it for any disturbance.

"Whose screaming?" TJ asks, though he already knew the answer.

"It was Vladdy! Come on!" Steven exclaims, gesturing to them all to follow him. They reach Vladdy's car and find the stick and all of Vladdy's things scattered about. "No!" Steven gasps as he looks around.

"Where's Kuch?" Ondrej asks, looking at his friend.

TJ looks around and they find his car. A muffled banging comes from nearby and they slowly wander toward the trunk of his car. They open it up and find the bound Nikita inside. "God, Kuch, are you okay?"

Nikita nods as they quickly untie his bound wrists and ankles from the rope. "Where Vladdy?"

"He's not here...we have no idea. What happened buddy?" Ondrej responds, terrified. "Was it crazy fans?"

"No, I no know who was...they knock me out! But I remember lot of black dress ninjas!" Nikita says, rubbing his head as he gets out of the trunk. "Trunk of car good for carrying things, not people though. Too small of space."

Steven and Anton dash back to them. The captain is worried sick. "We checked all over the lot, so someone kidnapped Vladdy! And I bet it's those no good Habs!"

Nikita nods, picking up Vladdy's hockey stick that he'd dropped in the fight. "Whoever was, Vladdy in trouble!"

Vladdy's vision of his friends fades away as they all look toward the trolley car tracks. He finds himself back in the van. They arrive at the location and drag Vladdy out of the vehicle and into an old brick building. Terrified, Vladdy's vision fades to blackness and he jerks awake in his bed in real life.

Vladdy sits up in his bed, gripping tightly to the blankets. So much for sleep. They would play the Montreal Canadiens soon at the Bell Centre and Vladdy feels sick to his stomach. Is he really Yzerchuk? He stretches his hand out away from him and tries to produce the lightning/electricity but nothing happens.

He calms his racing heart and drops his arm. He whispers to himself, "How can I be Yzerchuk? I'm just a boy from Voskresensk, Russia trying to play in the NHL like my dad. I'm not that special. Besides, Yzerchuk is safe with my trusted friends Dani and Evelyna. And Gallagher is locked away in a Mental Hospital. Everything is okay."

Except that none of that is true...and the Tampa Bay Lightning are well on their way to Montreal, when the news breaks of Brendan Gallagher's escape from the Mental Hospital...and things get worse when Cooper informs them that the notorious traitor, Jonathan Drouin, is also in Montreal.

Vladdy's dream comes back to him as he sits beside Nikita on the plane. TJ and Ondrej are behind them. Ondrej keeps kicking the back of Nikita's chair, much to the Russian's dislike. But Vladdy ignores them and stares out the window, deep in thought. Is he really Yzerchuk? And if so, how does he activate his powers?