Another peaceful day on the Spooner Continent. The sorcerer hunters were doing what they had wanted to do for quite some time - take a vacation. Their destination was a quiet beach resort on the southern edge of the continent, with warm tropical waters, perfect sun, and people running around all day in their bathing suits. Chocolate Misu and Tira Misu had recently purchased a new pair of bathing suits and were trying them out on the male members of their group. With them were Strawberry Limone and Rune, the other two members of the female persuasion.
     “So, what do you guys think?” Chocolate asked as she stepped from the changing booth clad in a violet bikini with a heart shaped hole between the cups.
     “Well Chocolate, it’s stunning,” Gateau said. He looked at Carrot Glace, who was staring off into the throngs of scantily clad women, “Say Carrot, how does Chocolate’s new suit look?”
     “It’s nice, really nice,” Carrot replied, not even glancing at the now fuming Chocolate.
     “DARLING!” Chocolate grumbled, her hands instinctively going behind her back to pull out her garrote.
     “Woah, get a grip Chocolate,” Tira said, stepping from her booth clad in a crimson one piece with a cutout in front to show off her stomach, “Carrot has other things on his mind.”
     “And it’s not you,” Marron said, sighing as he watched his brother.
     “Yeah, he’d rather watch the other women whom he hasn’t seen before,” Strawberry said, stepping from her booth clad in a black one piece that barely covered anything. Chocolate took one look and sighed.
     “Well, somebody’s being a bit more of a flirt than usual,” Rune said as she stepped from her own booth clad in a black bikini with violet stripes, “eh Strawberry.”
     Tira sighed. “Nobody even noticed what I’m wearing.”
     Andrew McAnirlin, a.k.a. Orion, sat up in his chair and pulled his sunglasses down on his nose. “Tira, your suit is wonderful. It accentuates all of your curves without giving away too much.”
     “You really think so darling,” Tira said, flopping back and laying her head on Andrew’s stomach. Andrew nodded. “Thank you. You just made my day.”
     “And he’ll probably make your night as well,” Alex West, a.k.a. Ice, said from his own chair. He was stretched out for optimal tanning, and was clad only in a pair of black swim trunks with gold stars and moons and violet Saturn symbols. Tira giggled and blushed.
     “Well, we finally got what we deserved,” Gateau said, reclining in his chair, his jacket and shirt in a pile next to him, his boots there as well.
     “Yeah, a nice, long, relaxing vacation,” Strawberry said, pulling her hair back and clipping it into place. She pulled a chair up next to Gateau and stretched out upon it, laying on her stomach so that her back would get tanned first.
     Clouds darkened the sky a moment later, leaving the group to wonder what the hell was going on. The day had been clear and sunny only moments earlier, and yet the sound of thunder echoed in the distance.
     “What’s going on here?!” Tira exclaimed as people began to run from the water. A moment later waves began to lap at their chairs, which under normal circumstances would be near impossible since they were halfway up the beach and the tide was out.
     “Trouble always follows up no matter where we go,” Rune sighed as she stood up, her bracelets beginning to glow multi colored with energy.
     The clouds grew darker a moment later, lightning flashing through the sky with thunder claps following almost immediately. Rain began to pelt them, which quickly turned to sleet and hail. Alex stood on his chair, an aura barrier extending from his body and encircling the group, protecting them from the nasty weather. From the clouds came a woman dressed in flowing blue robes, her ocean blue hair billowing out behind her.
     “What?” she said in disbelief when she saw the group, “Sorcerer Hunters, here?! No matter, I shall blow them away!”
     The winds began to pick up as a hurricane formed, tearing the beach asunder. Alex’s aura barrier began to falter, but Andrew reinforced it with his own barrier. Tira, Chocolate, Marron, Rune, and Strawberry poised for attack, with Carrot hiding behind them for protection.
     “Take her out before the entire coastline is destroyed,” Strawberry said as she notched a golden arrow into her bow, the arrowhead bursting into flames.
     “Leave it to the spell caster,” Gateau said, pointing to Alex, “I’ve seen what he can do and I trust he has a spell for such a situation.”
     “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Alex said, giggling nervously, “but the only spell I can think of for such a situation wouldn’t work with conditions like this.”
     “We believe in you Ice,” Chocolate said as she pulled Carrot out from behind everyone, “isn’t that right, Darling?”
     “Yes Chocolate,” Carrot whimpered as Chocolate pulled his ear, “that’s absolutely correct. Go get her Ice.”
     Alex held his hands above his head, palms facing, a globe of aqua energy forming. A magic circle formed beneath him, spiraling in a clockwise direction as he chanted the spell.
     “Never underestimate the destructive power of nature, for what may be beautiful one minute can be destructive the next. I call forth the powers of thunder and lightning, wind and rain, to strike down all those who oppose me. Goddess of the skies, deliver your smiting blow!”
     The sorcerer stopped and listened to the words to the spell, shock and horror filling her face when she realized what he was casting. The winds in the area swept in the opposite direction of what her powers were doing, blowing her backwards and out to sea. A beam of light emerged from the globe in Alex’s hands, piercing the clouds above. Lightning crackled through the air a moment later, striking the sorcerer and shocking her with enough voltage to light the coastline for quite some time. With the spell over and the sorcerer temporarily out of commission the weather returned to normal, people slowly returning to the somewhat ruined beach.
     “Woah... remind me not to get on your bad side,” Carrot said as Alex crumpled into his chair, a loud sigh filling the air as the spell caster resumed a relaxed state.
     “I think we wore him out,” Gateau said as he helped Alex to straighten out.
     “At least we got rid of that sorcerer,” Tira said, “isn’t that right darling? Darling?”
     Tira looked over to see Andrew flat on his face in another chair. She sighed and said, “I think the barrier they erected burned both of them out.”
     “Let them rest,” Rune said as she resumed her position on a beach chair, “they’ll need to recharge.”

     In the middle of the ocean sat an island with a VERY large mountain in the center. Carved into the mountain was an immense castle with some very ancient architecture. Around the bottom of the mountain was a river, which acted as a natural moat, and around that the tree line and a beach. This island was the home to Tempest, a sorcerer whose powers revolved around the weather. Following her encounter with the Sorcerer Hunters and Alex’s spell she managed to make the beach before her own powers failed her, her body falling and impacting on the ground with such force that a sand was blasted for about twenty feet around.
     ‘That hunter knew the ways of magic, yet he did not bear the mark of a sorcerer,’ Tempest thought as she dragged herself out of her crater, ‘no matter. I shall have him and his powers for myself. He will help me to rule the world and destroy the sorcerer hunters for good!’
     She cackled maniacally as she dragged herself to the tree line, where she sat for a while to recharge her powers. When she could command the winds once again she rode them to her private magical laboratory, where she began work on a magic extraction device.
     ‘I must command his powers,’ she kept telling herself, ‘that way I can get my revenge for what they did to me! I SHALL HAVE MY REVENGE!’

     Later that same day the group of Sorcerer Hunters sat around a table, an umbrella open over their heads to give them some shade, tropical drinks melting before each of them.
     “I can’t get over it,” Strawberry said, mixing her drink absentmindedly with her left hand as her right propped up her head, “we’re supposed to be on vacation and a new sorcerer comes out of nowhere and makes a mess of things.”
     “Don’t let it eat you sis,” Rune said, sipping at her drink, her bracelets jangling and jingling as she moved, “we couldn’t know she’d show up.”
     “But do we kick her ass or let her terrorize this place?” Gateau said, chugging down some of his own drink. He stopped a minute later, holding his hands to his temples, “Woah, brain freeeeeeeeze!”
     Alex slid his sunglasses down, taking a good look at their surroundings. His Hawaiian print shirt billowed out around him as a gentle breeze filled the air. “We might have more trouble than is necessary in defeating this new threat. Her powers are weather oriented, which means my Storm Striker can’t handle the full brunt of her attacks.”
     “So what you’re saying is that we should let her terrorize this town while you’re powerless?” Carrot said. Tira and Chocolate smacked him upside the head.
     “No, what I’m saying is that I need a little time to devise some new spells, ones that focus on one element, not a whole bunch of them.” He took a long sip of his own drink before adding, “Either that or find spells that focus on two or three elements and not just one.”
     “Which is it?” Strawberry asked, leaning back so that her hair fell behind her chair. The eyes that hers met were those belonging to the sorcerer. “Guys, we have company.”
     The other hunters turned their heads to meet the icy gaze of sorcerer Tempest, whose ocean blue hair was now pulled back in a long ponytail, her blue robes exchanged for a comfortable sarong, bikini top, and vest. She grinned wickedly and said, “So, you’re the Sorcerer Hunters.”
     “That’s us,” Tira said as they all stood up, “And you are...”
     “I’m called Tempest, the weather sorcerer,” Tempest said, “and I want that spell thrower who managed to strike me down.”
     “You’re not getting him,” Gateau said, stepping to the front, “not if I have anything to say about it.”
     Tempest waved her hand and a gust of wind picked Gateau up and tossed him into a nearby bush. She repeated this until only she and Alex remained.
     “So, you’re Tempest,” Alex said, sipping at his drink, a lightning bolt sparking around his finger. “Nice to meet ya. I’m called Ice, and you look like you’ll make a worthy opponent.”
     Tempest sighed, summoning her energy into forming a sword of electricity. Alex summoned his ice scythe before leaping to his feet. The forces leapt at one another, weapons flashing in an impressive display of blade work. Yet Tempest’s sword was too quick for Alex’s own blade and the spell thrower dropped like a sack of bricks, electricity sparking around his frizzled hair.
     “I have done it!” Tempest shouted before laughing maniacally, “I have found the final component to my ultimate weapon, the ecomancing powers of this one hunter!”
     A tornado surrounded the pair, whisking them off to Tempest’s island. The other hunters recovered in time, wondering why the hell the sorcerer would want Alex. They turned to Andrew, who wasn’t fully aware of all of Alex’s powers.
     “So, why would she want him?” Rune asked, staring him right in the face, “He’s not some sort of monster, is he?”
     “No ma’am,” Andrew said, sitting back since Rune was so close, “his spells are powerful, but they’re not really what she’d be looking for.”
     “Then why would she want him? And what is an ecomancer?” Chocolate asked.
     Andrew and Strawberry perked their ears up at hearing this.
     “Ecomancer has powers over the weather and such,” Strawberry said, “he’s an elemental wizard, and that Storm Striker spell of his summons a massive thunder storm. If she could amplify that type of raw power...”
     “Then this place is going to get hit really bad,” Marron said, “I just hope we don’t have to....”
     “Don’t even think that Marron,” Gateau said, “just don’t even think that.”

     When Alex awoke he discovered he was bound to some sort of platform, his arms spread out at his sides, his legs slightly spread. Assorted electrodes were attached to his forehead, as to his chest and arms. Tempest stepped into his view a moment later, her lightning sword reappearing in her hands as she approached.
     “So young Ice, you’re awake at last,” she purred, touching the tip of her blade to his left pec. Electricity ran through his body a moment later, causing him to scream in pain. “That sound is so delicious it makes my hairs stand on end.”
     “Lady, when I get free I’m going to make you pay,” Alex snarled, his eyes beginning to glow red.
     “Uh uh uhhhhhhhhh,” Tempest said, wagging the blade at him, “you try anything and we’ll see just how many volts you can handle before your brain is a puddle of mush.”
     ‘How am I going to get out of this mess?’  he thought as he tried to run some spell calculations, which he gave up as being futile, ‘I can’t concentrate long enough to cast anything focused, and heaven knows what’ll happen if I.... maybe she wants me out of control.’
     Tempest pressed a switch off to the side, the roof of her lab opening to reveal swirling black clouds. Thunder rumbled all around and lightning arced through the sky. “How do you like it? It’s my magically powered hurricane, and with your raw elemental power this thing will go force seven in a matter of minutes!”
     “You’re insane,” Alex said, trying to clear his mind enough to reach out for help, “if that thing reaches force seven this entire island will go down like the Titanic!”
     “I don’t know what that was, but my island is protected by a natural barrier,” Tempest said, grinning evilly, “So relinquish your power unto me and let’s get DESTRUCTIVE!”
     Tempest touched her blade to his stomach a moment later, the electricity running through his body until he screamed with such force he released raw elemental power, which the platform he was on absorbed and channeled into the hurricane. A matter of seconds later the storm reached its maximum deadliness, winds tearing trees up like they were nothing.
     “And now I shall have my revenge!” Tempest said as she watched the destruction. She broke into maniacal laughter a moment later.

     Midway between the island and the continent a tiny boat sped along, the engine nearly overheating from the exertion the speed put upon it. Standing at the bow of the tiny craft was Marron, his long black hair trailing out behind him, a magical seal in one hand glowing as he cast a spell to calm the winds about them. Standing behind him was Andrew, the lenses of his glasses wet with rain and sea foam as he maintained a force shield around to boat to keep it together. Rune stood behind him, her hands resting on his shoulders as she cast a spell to keep his strength up. At the helm stood Gateau and Tira, at the tiller Chocolate and Strawberry. Carrot was perched atop the wheel house, a telescope in hand.
     “How does it look up there Darling?” Tira called periodically, and every time the response was, “It’s getting worse.”
     “Can’t we go any faster?” Rune called back.
     “We’re going as fast as we can with the waves and wind as they are,” Gateau responded, “any more and we’ll break apart.”
     “If we press it any harder WE’LL break apart,” Andrew said, one lens in his glasses starting to crack, “As is the pressure around here is getting intense.”
     A lightning bolt crackled through the sky a moment later, striking the water off to their left. Several more lightning bolts crackled through the sky a moment later, striking the water around them and causing the boat’s engine to overheat. The engine stalled out a moment later, leaving them dead in the water and sitting ducks for the next lightning bolt.
     “Now what do we do?!” Tira cried, grabbing Gateau by the collar and shaking him, “We’re all going to be fried to a crisp!”
     “Calm down Tira,” Andrew said, sweeping her up in an embrace and kissing her on the lips. Tira fell limp a moment later, a warm blush spreading over her face.
     “Was that really necessary?” Chocolate asked, arching an eyebrow, “We might need her hunter form you know.”
     The waves began to increase in strength, rocking and tossing the craft about. Andrew strengthened his barrier to the point where he was on the verge of passing out from energy depletion. Marron set up a protective barrier around them, but to little avail, since the boat began to break apart a moment later.
     “Do something do something do something!” Carrot squealed as he ducked into the wheel house.
     “Sea Blast!” Strawberry shouted as she plunged her hand into the water. A moment later the water behind them churned up as she used the spell to propel them along at breakneck speed. Several minutes later they arrived at the island, which was already beginning to experience the side effects of the hurricane.
     “Where are they?” Chocolate asked as she transformed into her hunter form, “That lady really needs to be punished.”
     “We’ll take care of her,” Andrew said as he formed an energy spear, “Marron, stay and protect the craft. We’ll need it should we have to make a hasty retreat.”
     “Be careful,” Marron called as the others ran off. As the fury of the storm raged about him he couldn’t help but hear a screaming in the winds, a scream of pain and anger, and somehow it sounded familiar. But whose was it?

     “Hahahaha.... that resort will be destroyed by my wonderful hurricane and I’ll have some delicious revenge,” Tempest shouted as she sent more electricity into Alex’s all ready smoking body, “Just give me more power boy, and I *might* stop before you’re fried into a vegetable state.”
     “You hold it right there you horrible little pain in the neck,” a male voice shouted from the darkness. Lightning lit up the sky a moment later, revealing the sorcerer hunters, all in hunter form and ready to rumble.
     “So you survived the trip here,” Tempest said, spinning her sword about, “too bad you won’t live long enough to see my dream become a reality.”
     “It’s you who won’t be living too much longer,” Alex groaned as he broke free of his bonds, his hair trailing out behind him. Dark flames swirled about him, changing him into his hunter form. His ice scythe formed in his hand, the blade glistening in the lightning filled sky. He swung the scythe downward, burying the blade in the ground as he screamed, “ERUPTION!” A circle of flame formed around Tempest’s feet, quickly followed by a geyser of molten rock that catapulted her into the air. A tornado, though, returned her to the field of battle, her lightning blade glistening.
     “It’s going to be a long and tiring battle if Ice doesn’t come up with a new spell,” Strawberry said as her hair began to frizz from the electricity in the air. She took one look at this and shouted, “Lady, you owe me a new bottle of conditioner!”
     “Stay out of it Strawberry,” Alex growled, his eyes glowing blood red as he swung the scythe, a tornado funnel forming around Tempest. A moment later it was dispelled, the attack too simple to be of any use.
     “Give it up and unleash your real power,” Tempest said in a seductive voice, “I know you want to.”
     ‘Raw power equals instant victory,’ flashed through his mind, ‘but raw power also equals instant loss if it goes out of control. What is the right course of action?’
     Tempest began hurling lightning bolts, which struck Alex in the chest, knocking him back. Gateau ran to his aid, as did Rune, who cast a quick healing spell to give him renewed energy. A very pissed off Alex sent both back to the others by harnessing the powers of the winds.
     “A friend of mine once told me what my natural elements were. The first is water, since I can be calm and flowing or rough and turbulent. The second is air, since I can be gentle or be really nasty. The third is earth, since I can support others or be really hard to move when it comes to things.”
     “And what does this have to do with me?” Tempest asked, her hurricane increasing in force yet again.
     “It has nothing to do with you except for your downfall,” Alex said as he took to the air, the winds carrying him up to Tempest’s level. “My Storm Striker might not have been able to defeat you, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t try something else.”
     He dove at the ground, the ice scythe above his head. He arced the blade downward, driving it into the ground. Beneath Tempest a ring of water flowed, which quickly exploded upward into a powerful water spout. Alex spun his scythe around, winds in a localized area increasing in power and forming a sphere of high pressure around Tempest. For the grand finale Alex drove his fist into the ground, columns of molten rock spiraling upward around Tempest, crashing together before bludgeoning her into the ground. A dark spirit escaped from the resulting pile of rubble, which dissipated in the air. A very tired Alex dropped to one knee a moment later, his scythe vanishing.
     “Ice, are you O.K.?” Rune asked, helping Alex to his feet.
     “Yeah, I’m fine. I just wore myself out,” Alex said, “I’m not used to casting so many elemental specific spells without incantations.”
     “The storm is raging out of control,” Marron said as he entered the room, his hair and robes soaking wet from the driving rain.
     “We need to get out of here,” Tira said, “but if we don’t have a boat how do we do it?”
     “Let’s worry about that later,” Gateau said, “right now the storm is out of control and the coast is going to get flattened!”
     “.... one golden lord floating endlessly upon a sea of chaos,” Alex mumbled, gathering the remainder of his power into a single globe of darkness, “I call upon thee, swear myself to thee, and pray that the fools who stand before us will be destroyed by the power you and I possess.”
     Andrew caught the incantation moments before Alex passed out, the dark energy tearing through the island, causing the dormant volcano deep inside of the mountain to become active. In a last ditch effort to save everyone’s butts he formed an energy barrier around them. Strawberry added a whirlwind spell to the mix, sending them skyward and into the storm. Though the bubble wasn’t as steady as something Alex and Andrew could cast together, it was stable and it kept them from getting torn apart by the high winds.
     As they neared the eye of the storm Alex began to regain consciousness, and with Rune’s help was back at full power by the time they reached the eye. In the calm center of the otherwise turbulent hurricane Alex, Andrew, and Strawberry pooled their powers for what would hopefully be a powerful delta attack.
     “I know this is highly uncharacteristic of a hunter to rely upon magic, but these are troubled times and the coastline is going to get pounded,” Alex said as he joined hands with Andrew and Strawberry. Andrew and Strawberry in turn joined hands, forming a triangle. The trio called upon their combined powers, a wave of pure elemental energy expanding from them and dissipating the hurricane just seconds before it hit landfall.
     “We did it,” Tira said moments before their bubble burst, “Oh crud....”

     The following day the Sorcerer Hunters resumed their vacation on the resort’s beach. Alex and Andrew were stretched out on beach chairs, tropical drinks melting nearby. Tira, Chocolate, and Strawberry frolicked in the water. Gateau and Rune lay in chairs as well, but they were on their stomachs. Carrot and Marron watched the world pass them by from the patio of the resort’s dining area.
     “Do you think it’s over?” Chocolate asked as they returned to the others, “I mean, did we really defeat Tempest?”
     “We saw her encased in lava,” Strawberry said, “and that was after Ice nearly killed himself casting spells. I never knew he had THAT much power.”
     “Well, he and darling are from a world different from our own,” Tira said, speaking of Andrew, “and both are said to be quite powerful warriors and spell casters in their own rights.”
     The trio resumed their seats, Tira with her head on Andrew’s stomach, Strawberry and Chocolate near Gateau, and Alex rolling onto his back so he could watch the birds soar overhead.
     ‘Well, I did it, and I really should write those spells down for later,’ ran through his head, ‘but for now, I’m going to lay here, relax, and bake in the sun.’

 ‘The Spooner Continent, where a handful of sorcerers hold power over everyone else. In these troubled times there is a select group of people to fight this evil. They are the Sorcerer Hunters.’