All-Star Toronto Maple Leaf Leo Komarov shifts slightly in his crouch. His Toronto Maple Leaf DSR-50 sniper rifle is heavy. Leo has been holding it for more than an hour. He will continue holding it all week if he needs to, if his team needs him to. Leo loves being a Toronto Maple Leaf. He reminds himself of this again and again as the temperature drops and darkness lands heavy. His sights automatically compensate for the lights departure.

“My boots aren’t working.” Leo says into his Toronto Maple Leaf comm-link. His boots are supposed to maintain a constant foot temperature of 31° C. Leo’s feet feel no warmer than 23°C at the moment.

“I’ll have the support unit look into it remotely, Leo.” Kyle Dubas does his best to reassure Leo from the comfort of Toronto Maple Leaf tower. “We should have them fixed in no time.”

“Remind me why I am here.” Leo asks, failing to contain the contempt he feels for the mission.

“You’re there because I god fucking told you to be there shit turd!” Lou Lamoriello is always direct in his praise and his fury.

Leo hears Kyle and Lou fighting over the comm-link. Finally the voice of the assistant GM speaks in Leo’s ear.

“We know the bandits are going to rob Herbert the Toronto Maple Leaf tank engine between the old mine and the station.” Kyle says. “Your mission is to maintain a visual on the tracks and to warn us when the bandits are coming. Don’t forget that Jake and Tyler are depending on you.”

Kyle does not need to mention Leo’s teammates, Jake Gardiner and Tyler Bozak, but knows doing so melts any sort of resistance and steels the resolve of the strong willed Leaf Leo.

“This look-out bites.” Leo snarls. “Jake and Tyler get to wait in the train.”

“How’s your caffeine blaster?” Lou asks ignoring Leo’s gripe.

“Oh, it’s fine.” Leo lies.

“Really gets the blood pumping right? Oh yeah!” Lou shouts.

Leo does not answer. His GM had insisted the Leo soak a tampon in coffee and then stick it up his ass. This way he would get all the caffeine without diluting it in any stomach acid or digestive juices. Leo had convinced Lou that he was definitely going to do it but never had. For months now Lou had been asking Leo about his ‘caffeine blaster’. Leo plays along out of habit now, but has learned not to encourage Lou much. The Toronto Maple Leaf GM is excited easily and cares little for personal space. One time Leo had nearly been caught when Lou asked about string tangling. Thinking quickly Leo had claimed to be balled as a baby in the nethers. Lou had been diverted by his disgust.

Movement catches Leo’s attention. dozens of dark shapes drift purposefully toward the tracks.

“I have them.” Leo says. “Requesting permission to go loud.”

Their hostile intent is clear in the way they spread out to cover a wide arc of the track. One figure surges forward alone and kneels at the tracks.

“Permission denied.” Kyle says. “Wait for the train. Your back up is on the train.”

The bandit at the tracks slips back toward the rest of the gang. Leo cannot see any sign of tampering. No bomb planted, no damage to the tracks, no proof at all that the bandit had even been at the tracks. Except that he had been.

“Stop the train.” Leo says as he takes aim.

“What?” Kyle asks. “Why?”

“Stop it!” Leo barks as his rifle spits death. Launching himself into the air Leo deactivates his Toronto Maple Leaf comm-link.

Leo cannot fly in the traditional sense. What his powers do is create an explosive blast of energy that can, among other things, launch the Leaf with the force of a space shuttles solid rocket booster.

By the time his first shot has pulped his targets head Leo is directly above the bandit gang, three kilometers up. As his trajectory begins its downward arc Leo takes aim again, firing quickly into the first target he sees. Leo has options at this point. His blasts are short lived, but he could theoretically stay above the bandits by hopping about the stratosphere. He could open up his parachute and glide away, hoping the bandits come after him. Or he could have fun.

An auxiliary aspect of Leo’s power is that he generate a force field around his body to protect it from impact trauma. Happily the force field also works very well on bullets and knives and other nasty weapons.

Dropping, with the grace and majesty of a concrete slab, Leo takes one last shot. He can’t tell if he hit anything because the ground is trying to break his shield. Laughing, Leo stands and takes in the moment.

His impact crater is only five meters around, far from his biggest, but he aimed it very well. Over half the bandits are down and of those still standing only a handful are not dazed. These brave few pull out their guns and start taking shots at the Leaf. Their aim is good, high caliber rounds bounce off Leo’s shield.

Laughing, Leo fires back. He raises his hands and blasts into the group scattering them like leaves. Leo doesn’t shoot traditional concussive blasts from his hands, however the effects of his energy bursts are so close to identical as to make the distinction moot. Suddenly an intense pressure constricts around Leo’s chest and the Leaf is flung deep into the surrounding woods.

Even though he blasts back to the clearing in moments Leo is not quick enough to catch the bandits. Only the dead remain in the clearing, the rest of the gang has vanished. Leo takes in this fact even as he is distracted by the thick black tentacle sprouting from one of the corpses. The first corpse Leo made in fact, the bandit that had been at the tracks.

The tentacle whips about in blind hunger. Leo raises one hand and blasts it. The tentacle swells. The corpse from which it springs begins to stir. Leo turns on his comm-link.

“Kyle?” Leo whispers as he backs away from the tentacle. “Are you watching this?” Several smaller tentacles have begun to push out of the corpse and soon the body is completely immolated. In its place stands a writhing black anemone, a tower of evil growing larger by the moment.

“We have bigger problems than that, fuck bucket.” Lou’s voice is unusually tense.

“What could be a bigger problem than this.” It is a reasonable question in Leo’s opinion. He does not like the answer.

“The fucking train, ass stick, it’s gone!”

As a tentacle wraps itself around Leo’s legs and lifts him into the air, the Leaf begins to question some of his choices.

“Naida.” Says Leo, which is how the Finns say fuck.

To Be Continued……….