Endless Winter
chapter 1.

     “And all across the Northeast we have snow, snow, and more snow. Gee, isn’t the snow supposed to be gone by late April?”
     “Yes, it is,” Rich Doremus mumbled to himself as he stared out his bedroom window at the falling snow. He rolled onto his back and stared at his ceiling, “Something isn’t right with the world.”
     “What gave you the first clue?” Jenn Lynn asked from the bed she was stretched out upon. She, too, was looking out the window.
     “And now for the traffic report...”
     Rich clicked the radio off with his foot and sighed. He pulled out his transformation pen and looked at it. ‘I don’t know how well my ice powers will come in handy if we fight an ice monster.’ he thought as he looked at the glittering ice crystal and the other jewels set into it.
     “Hey guys, wassup?” Nicole asked as she bounced into the room followed by Matt Emmerton.
     “You notice the snow falling?” Jenn asked.
     “Who can miss it?” Nicole replied, “The roads are getting worse and it’s getting colder. Look at what it did to this flower.”
     Nicole reached into her purse and pulled out a crystal daffodil, and Jenn was about to ask where she could get one when she noticed the hints of yellow and green in the crystal. “That was a real flower, wasn’t it?” Jenn asked. Nicole nodded.
     “It’s not only the flowers, but other things,” Matt said, shifting his hands in his pockets, “the weather grows steadily worse and the world is becoming blanketed in ice.”
     “Is it that odd ice queen again?” Erika asked as she and Michelle entered, both dripping snow.
     “She was a pain to destroy,” Michelle said as she shook herself free of her jacket, “we almost lost to her.”
     “I don’t think it’s her,” Diana said as she entered atop Reeny’s head. Following Reeny were Susana and Steve Huff.
     “We have to stop this eternal winter,” Susana said, “or else this world will surely perish.”
     “Have you found anything of interest?” Rich asked, knowledgeable of Susana’s computer skills.
     “Nothing yet,” Susana sighed, “we know that there are several entities involved in several places, and all are working this spell of winter.”
     “Maybe it’s an ice ifrit or spirit,” Reeny said. Everyone turned and looked at the girl.
     “She might be right,” Diana purred, looking up so that the bell around her neck jingled.
     “Is it possible that an ice ifrit or an ice spirit could cause this much trouble?” Matt asked as he gazed out the window at the clouds over head. He squinted and stepped back in shock a moment later.
     “What’s wrong muffin?” Nicole asked as she caught her man.
     “It’s possible,” he said, “there’s an ice spirit in the clouds.”
     “To the great outdoors,” Reeny said as the small army of Sailor Soldiers and Warriors ran through the house, closing their coats and putting gloves on as they ran. Once outside they found a small army of ice spirits, each one ready to attack by throwing small blizzards at the heroic good guys.
     “Everyone, transform!” Diana shouted to the group as they scattered.

“Ice Crystal Power!"
“Hellfire Crystal Power!”
“Thunderbolt Crystal Power!”
“Starblaze Star Power!”
“Pluto Crystal Power...”
“Saturn Crystal Power...”
“Uranus Crystal Power...”
“Neptune Crystal Power...”
“Moon Crisis Power...”
“MAKE UP!!”
     There were nine flashes of colored light, ranging from fiery red to emerald green to garnet to indigo and violet. From the lights stepped Warriors Arctic Chill, Hellfire, and Thunderbolt and Sailors Starblaze, Pluto, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Chibi Moon. The ice spirits looked at one another with unblinking eyes and unchanging expressions before they turned back to where the group had been standing moments earlier. The spirits looked about, since the Sailor Soldiers and Warriors had vanished from the ground.
     From above the spirits came a cry of, “Space Sword Blaster!” before an energy blade slashed one of the spirits in half. The ice spirits looked up moments before Sailor Uranus landed and cut another pair of ice spirits in half with her still glowing sword. The spirits she struck exploded into clouds of snow flakes seconds later.
     “That takes care of three,” Sailor Uranus said as she flipped away from the other spirits.
     “And this scratches a few more,” Warrior Hellfire said, “Blaze of Glory!”
     Hellfire swung his now engulfed axe in an upward arc, releasing a wave of flames which caught several of the ice spirits in its wake, melting them to puddles in an instant. He landed amid a cluster of ice spirits and spun around in an elegant roundhouse, catching those around him off guard. Six more melted before he leapt away to bring some more after him.
     “Moon Gorgeous Meditation!” Sailor Chibi Moon shouted as she swung her glowing kaleidoscope at the spirits. A beam of rainbow light enveloped many of the spirits, erasing them from the battle field. She landed on Warrior Hellfire’s shoulders, striking a victory pose.
     “Don’t get too comfortable,” Diana said as more spirits appeared..
     “Where are they all coming from?” Sailor Neptune asked as she ducked and dodged.
     “From me,” a creepy male voice said from the sky. From a tornado of snow came a man with ice blue hair that was pulled back in a ponytail, ice blue eyes, and pale skin. He was clad in long white pants, white shoes, a light blue shirt, a white jacket, and a flowing cape of white with ice blue trim.
     “Who are you?” Warrior Thunderbolt asked, a sphere of thunder forming between his hands.
     “I am one of the generals of the Wind Princess,” the man said, “You can call me Frezon.”
     “And you can consider yourself dusted,” Warrior Thunderbolt said as he hurled the sphere at Frezon, “Thunderball!”
     “Flame Blade!” Warrior Hellfire shouted as he swung his axe, a wave of fire arcing towards Frezon. The Thunderball and flame blade was stopped just inches from Frezon’s face by a barrier and turned back on their users.
     “Ice Barrier!” Warrior Arctic Chill shouted, a wall of foot thick ice forming between the attacks and Warriors Hellfire and Thunderbolt. The attacks struck the barrier and fizzled out before the wall cracked and shattered.
     “Where is the Wind Princess?” Sailor Pluto shouted to Frezon as she fought off some of the spirits with her staff, “Tell me!”
     “You will find her when you are ready, or she will find you,” Frezon said, “however, there are three other generals. Chilla of the South Wind, Iczer of the East Wind, and Frigidara of the West Wind. You know me as Frezon of the North Wind. Remember.”
     Frezon vanished much the same way he arrived - in a twister of snow and ice. The ice spirits vanished with their boss and the weather resumed being cold and snowy.
     “This bites,” Sailor Uranus said as the group transformed back to street clothes and identities, “we still have to find a way to defeat them.”
     “At least your powers came in handy,” Jenn said to Rich as the group went inside to warm up, dry out, and have hot chocolate, “if it wasn’t for you then Matt and Steve would have been toasted.”
     “We did get some vital data,” Susana said as she opened up her laptop and logged onto the net, “I just need to forward this to Ami, Alex, Steve Young, Tod, Joss, and Roxy.”
     “A group effort?” Nicole asked as she sat next to Susana and sipped her cocoa, a marshmallow sticking to her lip. Susana nodded and giggled when she saw the marshmallow stuck to Nicole’s lip.
     “And here’s the current weather across the globe,” the radio announcer said as Rich clicked the radio on.

To Be Continued...