Chapter Four: And the bloodbath begins

a/n: I have to be honest with you… I don't really have much knowledge about hockey, and how to play it. This is the first time I'm writing something like this. I did a little research, though. Anyway, please forgive me for any inconsistencies on how it works.

The placed was packed and the crowd was lively. Everybody from Eden Hall Academy was there to watch the last game of the school year between their very own Eden Hall Ducks and its archrival the Blake Bears.

"Okay Ducks let's go huddle up, come on," Ducks Coach Orion shouted over the noise, waving his clipboard at them. They all surrounded him. "Remember, defense! Don't let them get in those shots." He looked at each one of them. "Okay everybody, hands in."

"Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, go Ducks!"

A buzzer sounded signaling the start of the first period.

Connie took her seat between Ken and Luis, and watched as Adam, Charlie, Russ, Fulton and Guy made their way on the ice.

"Go Julie!" She shouted as her best friend skated over the goal.

Adam took his place on the center ice. In front of him, jersey number 45 of the Blake Bears, glared. He pointedly ignored him.

"All right, gentlemen. Let's have a good, clean game of hockey." The referee blew his whistle before finally dropping the puck on the ice.

Adam wasted no time. With his quick reflexes, he easily won the face off. He stole the puck and quickly passed it off with a forehand to Charlie. He pushed the player in front of him and skated passed the blue into the attacking zone. Charlie passed it off to Guy, who then returned the puck to Adam. He continued his way to the goal. Two Bears were suddenly headed his way. Fulton appeared from behind him and checked one into the boards. The other one was still charging at him, though. He drop passed the puck to Russ, who was behind him, and dodged the charging Bear. Russ continued stickhandling the puck and waited for him to take his position.

"Over here! I'm open, I'm open!" Adam tapped his stick on the ice. He was barely five feet away from the net. Russ quickly sailed the puck to his direction and in one swift move, he sent it flying towards the goal.

The sirens blared and the crowd went wild. Adam Banks has scored the first goal of the game.

"Alright, that's it. Change it up. Averman, Conway, Tyler, get in here!" Orion shouted at his players. He waved to Charlie, Les, and Russ, opened the door, and then turned to his bench. "Portman, Robertson, and Banks, out there, now!"

The score was 3-0 in favor of the Ducks.

Charlie and Les skated over, both panting heavily, with Russ right behind them. It was only halfway into the third period, but the team looked so exhausted they were ready to collapse anytime. Guy sat on the corner, holding to his stick for support. Beside him was Luis, who didn't look as tired, but worn-out just the same. Connie was on the other side of the bench wiping her face, with Goldberg sitting to her right. Dwayne and Adam, who were sitting side by side with Goldberg, immediately jumped on the rink as soon as their three teammates came over. Russ immediately took a seat beside Luis and began cursing the other team. The only one who didn't look tired was Julie, their goalie. In fact, she looked bored. That was because most of the action happened on the other side of the rink.

Ever since Adam's goal during the first period, the Bears turned the game into nothing more than a wrestling match.

Charlie grabbed Dean's arm before he could skate away. "Make sure," he said, breathing heavily, "to nail them, hard. Especially that big enforcer of theirs: Clayton, number 25." He pointed to the big beefy player of the Bears. The guy looked as big as Portman, but at least twice as heavy. "He's been beating every one of us to death since the game started."

"Don't worry Charlie, I got it." Portman gave him a cocky smile and skated on the ice. "Hey big man," he shouted to the enforcer. "Why don't you show the Bash Brothers what you got?" Fulton skated over and stopped beside him. They gave each other high fives, before taking their position. Again, Adam was on the center ice, with Dwayne and Ken taking left and right wing, respectively. The Bash Brothers were on defense.

"I don't think I can feel my legs, anymore," Averman announced, falling to a seat beside Goldberg. He took off his helmet and grabbed his water bottle.

"Man, they must still be pissed about that loss the last time." Goldberg supplied, referring to the last game they had against the same team. The Ducks won that time, 5-4. A buzzer-beating goal by Charlie prevented what would have been a draw between the two teams.

The two of them winced as the big enforcer checked Dwayne – who was trying to get the rebound – into the board.

Meanwhile, Charlie staggered to the seat right beside Connie. "How long are they planning to keep this torture up?"

"Probably until the game ended." She handed him his water bottle.

"Thanks." He smiled at her gratefully. Charlie gulped down a generous amount of water and wiped off sweat from his eyebrows. "Hey, hey Adam, watch it!" He suddenly shouted.

Connie watched as two players from the other team shoved him hard to the floor. That got them a resounding 'boo' from the crowd.

Orion was on his feet, shouting instructions to his players. He paced back and forth, looking helplessly at them.

The Blake Bears were bludgeoning them to death.

"Those guys are maniacs," Connie said in disbelief. "They're not even trying to score anymore!"

"You mean murderers," Charlie's voice was dripping with anger. "They're swatting us like we're just a bunch of fucking flies."

All of the sudden, the Ducks erupted into cheers as both Fulton and Portman knocked down the big enforcer that has been terrorizing them all. The bash brothers have been throwing their weight around and taking down as many Blake players they can.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

As soon as big man Clayton got up, he charged towards Ken and banged him to the board. He then quickly skated over to Dwayne and banged him too.

"Come on, Ref, call something!" Orion yelled. "They're not even playing hockey anymore!" He tossed his clipboard on the floor, looking more irate than ever. Apparently, the referee was looking the other way.

"Hey man, what's your fucking problem, huh?" Before any of his teammates could stop him, Portman skated over and shoved him.

The referee blew his whistle.

Clayton stood up. Dusted himself and laughed.

"Eden Hall Ducks, Number 21. Two minutes for roughing." The ref motioned Portman to follow towards the penalty box.

"Oh, oh, now that one you see."

The Ducks spun around and looked at their coach in astonishment.

The referee shot him a warning glare. Orion rubbed his head in frustration. "Moreau, Mendoza," he called them. "Robertson, Wu, change it up!" Connie and Luis stood up, and then picked up their sticks and helmets.

"Oh, look, they're sending in the mother goose again."

Connie turned her head to see Clayton circling her. "It's appalling, really," she snapped condescendingly, "you passing all those years of school without even knowing the difference between a goose and a Duck. How that happened totally eludes me." Connie shot him a withering look. "Oh wait, I forgot. That's what your daddy's money was for."

"Goose or duck, it doesn't matter." He stopped and took a step forward. "You don't belong here on the ice either way."

"Bite me – " Adam tugged her arm.

"Are you crazy?!" He hissed, dragging her away. "That guy's five times your size. Stop picking fights with him."

"Alright, alright," she answered dismissively. Clayton was dead wrong if he thought he could scare her away.

Never taking her eyes off the big oaf, she glided to her position. Clayton eyed her like a hawk.

The Ducks easily won the face off. Luis raced towards the attack zone with the puck. Faking his defender with a shoulder deke, he quickly sailed it to Connie. She then sent it to Fulton with a forehand.

"Connie, look out!" Adam suddenly called out from the other side.

She whirled around to see Clayton coming at her at full speed. Before she could get out of the way, he had already crashed her to the boards. Connie fell to the floor, totally winded. Adam skated over, totally ignoring the on-going game.

"Hey, ref, that's charging!" Orion shrieked from the bench. However, no violation was called.

"Are you alright?" he asked, pulling her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered coolly. Connie skated off, and went back to the game, shaking off the pain. There was no way she was going to let them see she's hurt. Not in front of all these people. She was going to prove to that big goon that she belonged on the ice just as much as everybody else did.

Adam looked at her feebly and skated after her. He knew better than to push it. The one thing Connie hated the most was people underestimating her hockey skills. For the next couple of minutes, he did nothing but trail after her. During that time, the opposing team managed to put themselves on the board, scoring a goal. Clayton was still hot on her tail, and Adam made sure the enforcer didn't get too close to her.

Goldberg came in for Portman after his penalty ended.

The puck was in their defensive zone. The Bears then took another shot at the goal. Julie, however, made a fantastic save, and Luis went over to get the rebound. After clearing the puck, he then sailed towards Connie. She stickhandled it on the neutral zone before sending a lead pass to Adam, who then slap shot it to the goal.

She never saw the puck go in.

Ha ha, got you there on that one! ;P Tell me what you think!

anne918: wow, thanks! that's really great!!! glad you like it. :P

Emily Henson: lol! yeah, that would probably make it worse. i think he'll recover, though, with all that's in store for him. haha! ;P

antiIRONY: thanks! i'm happy you're liking it so far. :P