“Fireball!!”
     A globe of flames formed between the palms of the mighty sorceress Lina Inverse. She spun around before bowling it up the frozen pathway, melting away the ice and evaporating some of the remaining water. A frigid arctic wind blew through the area a moment later, extinguishing her fireball and freezing the residual water into a new sheet of glare ice.
     “Mega Mars Firestorm Flash!”
     A wave of flames crept up the walkway, melting the new sheet of ice and some of the snow on either side of the pathway. The caster of this power was none other than Alex West, who happened to be living at the bottom of the walkway. A wind more powerful than the first hampered his attempts and eventually broke through his power, dissipating it and freezing the water back into solid ice.
     “Well, this tears it,” Lina said, her stomach grumbling quite loud a moment later, “I’m hungry, I’m cranky, and this weather is really starting to get on my nerves!”
     “Calm down Miss Lina,” Sylphiel Nels Raada said, “I’m sure we can get to the dining hall before they close for breakfast.”
     “We have five minutes,” Zelgadis Greywords said, checking his watch, “and I doubt we can break through this in five minutes.”
     “I’ll take my chances,” Lina said, “Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows...”
     Lina found herself wrapped up by Gourry Gabriev a moment later, who restrained her arms behind her back. “Lina, calm down. There’s no reason to cast the Dragon Slave over this.”
     “But I’m HUNGRY!”
     “Burst RONDO!”
     A large stream of fireballs sailed through the area, melting the ice and blowing up parts of the walkway. The group turned to Amelia Will Tesela Seyruun, all grumbling with annoyance and a bit of anger, since more than likely they’d get blamed for the destruction.
     “Sorry guys, but that’s the only spell I can think of short of a Burst Flare to melt the ice,” Amelia said.
     “Oh brother, this could take forever,” Gourry said as he finally released the kicking and screaming Lina.
     The temperature in the area suddenly reached sub Sahara levels as a hot wind blew through, neutralizing the arctic wind, melting the ice, and drying the pavement so that ice couldn’t form as quickly. Lina and Alex, not thinking to look for their savior, ran at their top speed up the hill to the dining hall, getting their feet in the door moments before they were to close up breakfast. The others stared in awe before looking up at the roof of Eaton House, where one Mackenzie Andrews stood, his trench coat billowing dramatically in the wind.
     “And just how long have you been standing there?" Zelgadis asked as Mackenzie hopped down to join them.
     “Oh, about three minutes,” Mackenzie said, “give or take a few seconds. Ya gotta love that instant transporter unit in Alex’s lab.”
     Zelgadis face faulted before saying, “You used Alex’s lab? Does he know about this?”
     “Not yet,” Mackenzie said, “and I plan to tell him at some point.”
     “Well, at least we know those two won’t kill somebody since they can get food now,” Gourry said. A moment later he took back his statement, since the roof of the dining hall suddenly exploded, sailing into the air, where it flipped over before landing upside down atop the walls.
     “You spoke too soon Mister Gourry,” Amelia sighed as they ran to see what the problem was this time.

     “Congratulations,” Lina said to a pair of extra crispy freshmen males, “you have just felt the wrath of Lina Inverse.”
     Alex floated above her, safely inside of the bubble of a protection spell. In each hand sat a plate of chocolate chip pancakes with strawberry sauce.
     “Was a boosted Mega Brand really necessary?” he asked, a large sweat drop on his head as he surveyed the damage to the dining hall.
     “I was really hungry and these two punks,” she said, kicking one in the side for emphasis, “cut in front of us and took the last of our favorite pancakes, so of course it was necessary.”
     “You’re.... a little monster,” the larger of the two said. Lina’s eyes flashed red when he said the word little.
     “Did you just call me little?!” she asked, fighting to control her voice, “Because if you did then I’ll really have to get nasty!”
     “I’ll wait to cast the time reversal spell until you finish blowing them up and exacting your revenge,” Alex sighed, ‘I have really rotten luck.’
     Zelgadis, Amelia, Sylphiel, Gourry, and Mackenzie entered at that moment, all face faulting when they saw the damage done by one spell.
     “Miss Lina, how could you?” Amelia demanded, “Have you no sense of justice?!”
     “Watch it or you’re next on my list!” Lina growled, fireballs forming all around her body. Amelia hid behind Mackenzie and Zelgadis, since the two of them would find some way to survive the blast. Lina turned her attention back to the two extra crispy people on the floor, “Now to punish you for calling me little. Bomb Spread!”
     For the second time in a ten minute period the roof of the dining hall sailed into the air, flipped several times, and landed right side up atop the remains of the walls. A sweat drop formed atop the roof of the building as Lina ranted and raved away inside.

     “Mmmmmmhmmmm, those were some of the most delicious pancakes I’ve had in a LOOOONG time.”
     “That goes double for me Miss Lina.”
     “The two of you are an embarrassment to hang out with.”
     “Watch it Zel or I’ll hit you with a Dragon Slave.”
     “*mutter mutter mutter curse mutter*”
     “What did you say about Lina’s chest size, Mister Zelgadis?”
     “You... how could you?! I’m not in the mood to be blown up by her right now.”
     “You’re all going to get it!”
     “Nooo... don’t do it Lina. I don’t think I can cast another time reversal spell today!”
     “Burst Rondo! Dam Blast! Dare Brando! Mega Brando! Garv Flare! Dragon SLAVE!!”
     The buildings around the dining hall all sweat dropped as it was reduced to rubble by Lina’s spell string. Amidst the wreckage sat two large protection spells and a panting sorceress.
     “Oh man... you really over did it this time Lina,” Mackenzie said, “there’s nothing left but rubble.”
     “I’m not sure that was necessary,” Sylphiel said. She found herself on the business end of a Digu Volt a moment later. She sighed a puff of smoke and said, “But then again it’s none of my business to tell you what’s necessary and what’s not.”
     “Good girl,” Lina said, patting her on the head, “you’re finally learning something.”

     High above the campus, in a cloud of silver with ice blue and light blue tints and tones, sat Frigidera, who watched the antics of Lina and her band of friends with growing concern and embarrassment. Around him several snow dancers set about performing menial chores and whatnot in hopes of pleasing their master and keeping their cloud home spotless and beautiful.
     “What am I going to do with them?” he asked as he watched them through his viewing crystal, “That Lina girl has one fiery temper, and that Mackenzie boy seems to have the power to harness heat and wind to create, what did he call it? A heat wave.”
     “Having trouble with your mission so soon?” Chilla asked as she appeared in a shower of snowflakes and ice crystals. Several snow dancers immediately set to work cleaning up the mess left by her entrance.
     “Nope,” Frigidera replied, running his fingers through his dark blue hair, “I’m just studying our targets to gather relevant data before I turn this little snow and wind storm into a raging blizzard.”
     “Good luck,” Chilla said as she took a seat, draping her cape and dress about her in a stylish manner. She giggled before saying, “You’re going to need lots of it going up against this group.”
     “Oh, hush you. I almost have all of the data I need. I just need to see the extent of their powers. Snow Ifrits, go forth and cause trouble to this university. Draw out Lina Inverse and her band of friends and help me to ascertain how powerful they are.”

     Beneath the cloud a pocket of sub space opened, spewing forth Snow and Ice Ifrits of all shapes and sizes, each one with glowing red eyes. They immediately zeroed in on students unlucky enough to have to walk through the snow and wind, attacking and causing a general nuisance to the populous.
     Two girls ran past the demolished dining hall at top speed, catching the eyes of Zelgadis and Mackenzie, who looked up in time to see two medium sized ice ifrits chasing after the young women. The pair immediately leapt into action, only to be stopped by Amelia and Lina.
     “Just where do you think you’re going?!” the two asked as Zel and Mack landed on their butts, “We’re not done here just yet.”
     “We have trouble,” Mackenzie said, pointing out the hordes of snow and ice ifrits that were causing trouble all over campus, “We can’t sit idly by as the students are terrorized by these things. It’s the just thing to do to go and help them.”
     “That’s right,” Amelia said, launching into one of her justice speeches. She was stopped short by Lina pulling a mallet out of subspace and smacking her over the head with it.
     “All right, let’s go and stop these things. I need to work off that heavy breakfast and the aggression I have over this lousy weather!” Lina said as she leapt from the debris field that had been the dining hall, catching some air with a Levitation spell. Alex, Zelgadis, Amelia, and Sylphiel also cast Levitation spells, lifting Mackenzie and Gourry as they took to the air.
     The minute they were airborne, though, a gale force wind caught them and threw them back to the ground. They landed in a large snow bank, several arms and legs sticking out of it following the impact.
     “Now I’m getting really pissed off!” Lina grumbled as she pulled herself from the snow bank. A wave of blowing snow and ice caught her, cutting her face and arms. She muttered a curse before firing off a hail of flare arrows that exploded into a wall of flames that blocked the winds.
     “Hey Heatwave, time to rise and shine,” Lina said as she freed one hand from spell casting to reach into the snow bank to grab hold of Mackenzie’s leg. She released a Digger Volt that caused the young fire wielder to unleash a heat wave that instantly melted their snow bank and dried their clothes. Once free of the snow Mackenzie wheeled on Lina and shouted, “Why the hell did you do that?!”
     “I did that to keep the winds from turning us into popsicles and shredding us!” she replied, pointing out the scratches on her face and arms, “Now keep that heat wave focused around us.”
     “What’s going on Lina?” Zelgadis asked as he righted himself.
     “That wind was no coincidence,” Lina said as she regained her feet, “there is a force that doesn’t want us to help the people.”
     “Or they know our limits,” Alex said as he looked around, “Levitation can’t be sustained in high winds, and I doubt a Ray Wing will work in winds like that.”
     “Guys, my strength is going to give out,” Mackenzie said weakly, “these winds are too much for me to stand against.”
     “So release,” Sylphiel said as she cast a protection barrier around the group. Mackenzie ceased the use of his technique, and the shrine maiden instantly felt the impact of the winds on her dome.
     As the winds continued to blow against the dome assorted objects sailed by them, people clinging to some, people following behind others. The snow and ice ifrits seemed unhindered by the winds, and swooped in to annoy people. Several crashed against their dome, weakening it and the caster immensely. The ifrits who didn’t bugger off immediately wound up on the business end of a fireball or some other fire spell.
     “Miss Lina, my magic is weakening,” Sylphiel said after a couple of minutes.
     “If we drop the shield we’ll be blown away,” Gourry said.
     “Anybody detecting the center of this disturbance?" Lina asked as she reinforced the dome.
     “I’m trying to,” Alex said, his computer visor blinking several different readouts as he looked around. “Man, this is such a crock. I can’t zero in on anything here.”
     “I’m not getting any centers either,” Sylphiel said as she gazed into her crystal wand, “all I see is a cloud.”
     Alex craned his gaze skyward, the targeting sensors on his visor locking onto a large silver and blue cloud above the campus. “Bulls eye. That cloud is practically glowing with magical power.”
     “Then let’s head on up and say hello,” Lina said, “Zel, Amelia, Sylphiel, you know the drill for our little flights together.”
     “Roger that,” Zelgadis said as he summoned a wind barrier, which Amelia reinforced this time since Lina was using a protection spell. Sylphiel cast Levitation, the three spells coming together to form a bubble around them. The bubble began to rise towards the cloud, winds buffeting against it. The casters fought to maintain their spells as they rose higher and higher. Alex and Mackenzie used their fire techniques and magic to keep the ifrits away from them, and they quickly gained altitude.
     “Let’s teach whoever is in there not to mess with us,” Lina said as they approached, “Mackenzie, if you would.”
     “With pleasure,” Mackenzie said, forming a large globe of flames in each hand. He smashed these together a moment later, creating what he called an Arc Pulse, which struck the cloud and raced over the surface.

     Inside of the cloud all hell was breaking loose. Chilla was laughing hysterically at Frigidera’s failings and imminent failure. Frigidera was gazing into his crystal in awe, since those who were approaching his cloud were far more resourceful than he had imagined them to be.
     “How can my plan fail now?!” he asked as a snow dancer tumbled into his lap. He tossed her to the floor before he began calculating a plan where he would still come out on top.
     “Just admit defeat and go home,” Chilla giggled, “the wind princess may still keep you around because you’re so damned handsome.”
     “Just shut up!” Frigidera snapped, “I always have a backup plan.”
     “What? Wet your pants and run away?”
     “No. Stand and fight.”
     With those words he formed a large scimitar of ice in his right hand, which left Chilla in awe because all she was ever able to produce was a spear or a hail of ice shards. The cloud around them melted away as Frigidera stepped towards the wall, opening a doorway to where the attackers were. He gave one final wave to Chilla before he leapt from the cloud, entering freefall. A large ice ifrit appeared beneath him, and this he landed on.
     “I’m getting outta here,” Chilla said as she watched this. “If he wants to get toasted, so be it.”
     She then vanished in a spray of snowflakes. The cloud also vanished a moment later, leaving the sky to begin to clear.

     When Lina saw Frigidera leap from the cloud her first reaction was to unleash a hail of fireballs. Unfortunately she was sustaining an important part of what was keeping them airborne at that time.
     “Mackenzie, target sighted at twelve o’clock high,” she said, alerting the fire summoner of approaching danger.
     “Just what do you expect me to do about it?!” Mackenzie asked, “I’m stretched to the breaking point here!”
     “Alex?”
     “No can do,” Alex said as he fired off another solar pulse that eradicated several of the ice ifrits that threatened their bubble, “I currently have my hands full.”
     By now Frigidera had gained a mount, and was screaming at them with scimitar in hand. Lina muttered a curse before shouting, “Burst Flare!”, channeling the spell through their bubble. The resulting beam missed Frigidera by scant inches, and he retaliated by swinging the scimitar, a blizzard erupting forth from the swing. The bubble shook violently before beginning a rapid plunge towards the ground.
     “We’re all going to die!!” Amelia cried, wrapping herself around Zelgadis, “Mister Zelgadis, please save me!”
     “Amelia, get a grip,” Lina grumbled, peeling the princess from the chimera and dropping her to the floor of the bubble. “As soon as we land we’ll need a Burst Rondo or a Bomb Spread spell,” Lina explained, “Alex is going to try to retro boost us so that we don’t splatter on the ground.”
     “Stand back,” Alex said as he held his hands together with his index fingers extended. A spark formed above his fingertips, a small fireball spiraling into existence out of the spark. He shouted, “Mars Firestorm Flash!”, a stream of flames erupting from his fingers. The stream struck the ground, slowing their descent.
     “We have incoming on all sides,” Gourry said, alerting them to all of the snow and ice ifrits that were surrounding them. The ifrits began to advance upon the bubble, some attacking with freezing breath, others throwing their bodies against the walls of the bubble.
     “Mackenzie...” Lina said, turning her head towards the fire summoner. She didn’t continue her thought, though, since he was warming up for something quite powerful.
     Mackenzie’s hands were glowing, his hair blown by some unseen wind. An aura of fire red formed around his body, and he held his hands so that his palms were facing. A large ball of flames and electricity formed in his hands, and this he held above his head. He shouted, “Nova Pulse!” before the globe exploded into a shockwave of fire that decimated the center wave of attackers.
     “New attack?” Zelgadis asked as he fired off a Burst Flare.
     “One I’ve been working on,” Mackenzie replied as he charged up for a second go at the attack.
     The bubble touched down a moment later, vanishing to release the Slayers, all of whom landed on their feet. Mackenzie fired off another Nova Pulse, this one a beam splitting the sky before a shockwave of flames exploded from the beam, destroying more of the ifrits.
     A blizzard encompassed them a moment later, blocking their vision. The hum of a singing blade filled the air moments before it struck Zelgadis’ stone skin, a different pitch of a hum filling the air.
     “Damn, now I’m really glad for Rezo’s curse,” Zelgadis said, noting the gash in his tunic where the blade struck.
     “Where’s he coming from?” Gourry asked as he spun the sword of light over his head, creating a shield of sorts to deflect incoming blows.
     “Lord of these dreams that terrify, sword of cold and darkness, free yourself from the heaven’s bonds. Unite with my body, unite with my power, and let us walk the path to destruction together. Power to smash even the souls of the Gods. Ragna BLADE!”
     A black blade formed in Lina’s hands, and this she swung before her. A great screech filled the air, and a moment later the ice ifrit that Frigidera had been riding upon crashed to the ground and skidded to a stop at Lina’s feet. It then proceeded to disintegrate into a pile of snowflakes.
     “Where the hell is that blue haired guy?!” Lina grumbled as the black blade vanished from her hands.
     “Right above you!” Frigidera shouted as he dove at them. He swung his sword downward in an attempt to cleave Lina in half. The sorceress and company moved out of the way as Frigidera’s scimitar crashed into the ground, a spire of ice erupting from the strike point.
     “By the nine hells!” Zelgadis said as he came out of a roll in a crouch, “He’s playing for keeps!”
     “I will not fail the Wind Princess in my mission,” Frigidera grumbled as he began to swing wildly at those who opposed him. “Just... DIE!!”
     A whirlwind of snow and ice formed around them, destroying the army of ice and snow ifrits, which added to the destructive power of the wind storm. The whirlwind picked up the Slayers, striking them with ice shards.
     “Any bright ideas?” Lina asked as she fired off a barrage of Flare Arrows to protect herself from the larger pieces of ice.
     “A couple,” Alex replied as he drew his no-dachi from subspace. The blade glowed and burst into flames before he swung upward. “Fire.... BALL!”
     A large globe of flames erupted from the blade, splitting off into multiple fireballs as it sailed towards the source. The fireballs converged upon Frigidera, who simply waved his sword at them to turn them into ice. The ice boulders shattered, raining more ice shards down upon the Slayers.
     “Any more bright ideas?!" Lina grumbled, her talismans glowing.
     “Try using a Nova Flare,” Zelgadis said as he fired off another Burst Flare. Alex and Mackenzie looked at one another before maneuvering back to back. A flame red aura formed around Mackenzie while an orange aura formed around Alex. The two summoned their attacks, two globes of colored energy forming in their hands. They brought these together above their heads, a larger swirling globe of orange and red coming into existence.
     In unison the two cried, “Nova Flare!”, combining the Nova Pulse tech with the Solar Flare. The resulting energy wave tore through the whirlwind, melting all of the ice shards, canceling out the wind itself, and striking a powerful blow against Frigidera. As they fell Sylphiel cast a Levitation spell around them, allowing them to land as light as feathers. Frigidera crashed to the ground near them a moment later, his blade embedding itself between his legs, scant millimeters from something important.
     “I.... I lost,” he gasped in disbelief, “I lost to mere humans.”
     “Who are you calling a mere human, you frozen scum bag,” Lina grumbled as she and the others approached him.
     “You’re in the presence of two excellent swordsmen, a sorceress supreme, a sorcery genius, two of the best shrine maidens anyone could ask for, and a hotheaded punk who can easily roast your butt to a cinder,” Zelgadis said, drawing his sword and pointing it at Frigidera, “So show some respect before all of us decide to use you for target practice.”
     “Tell us what the Wind Princess is plotting,” Alex grumbled as he grabbed Frigidera by the lapels of his coat, “otherwise I’ll ask Lina here to stick a flame saber someplace quite uncomfortable.”
     “I’ll never tell you what the princess has planned for this world,” Frigidera said, “you can torture me all you want and I’ll never tell.”
     “And that reason is because she didn’t even share her plans with you, her most trusted general,” Mackenzie said as he put a restraining hand on Alex’s. “You can let him go. He’ll just go crawling back to the royal one as a failure and be labeled a loser like the other three.”
     “Mackenzie?” Lina said, arching an eyebrow in question at the fire summoner.
     “Mister Mackenzie?” Sylphiel asked, a little stunned.
     “I have it all figured out,” Mackenzie said, lifting his sunglasses up and resting them atop his head, “First we had to deal with Frezon, then Chilla, then Icezer. All three of them didn’t really know what the Wind Princess had planned. They simply acted on what they were told. The crew back in Newport were able to kick some butt. The guardians were also able to deal some damage and find out where the castle is located. Even Bethany and Adderson and some of the others, with a little help from Alex here, were able to turn the tables on Icezer. And our little band here managed to put the hold on Frigidera.”
     “Bravo human,” Chilla’s voice said from above them. A small blizzard tore through the area, blinding them long enough for Frigidera to get free of Alex’s grasp and vanish into a cloud of snowflakes and frost.
     “Damn!” Lina grumbled, “We had him, and one of his friends helped him to escape!”
     “At least we know they’re all in the dark,” Zelgadis said, “and isn’t it about time for lunch?”
     Alex and Lina turned to head for the dining hall, only to see it was still in ruins. “Oh man, we completely forgot about the time reversal spell!” they cried in unison, both falling over in a mass of twitching limbs.
     “Come on you two, we’ll treat you to lunch at the Student Union,” Gourry said as he lifted Lina over his shoulder. Zelgadis and Mackenzie helped Alex to his feet and the group made their way towards the center of campus and the Student Union building.

     In a small room inside of the Wind Princess’ castle a cloud of snowflakes and a cloud of frost and flakes formed, depositing Frigidera and Chilla into darkness. A small, cold blue light quickly came into being, showing that Icezer and Frezon were also in the room, which was sparsely furnished and out of use for quite some time.
     “Welcome back Chilla,” Frezon said, flipping a chair off of a table for Chilla to sit on. He looked up to see Frigidera standing off in the shadows, nursing a bruise to his ego. “I see you didn’t have any luck either.”
     “Just stuff it Frezon,” Frigidera grumbled, “I almost had them, but that sorcerer and the fire user managed to pull off a combined tech that destroyed my lovely whirlwind of death.”
     “If it makes you feel any better they knocked me out of my attack with a well placed arrow,” Chilla said, “and I was going for the same effect.”
     “So the question is, what good are we now that we’ve all failed in our mission?” Icezer asked, taking a seat next to Frigidera.
     “That is a good question,” Frezon said, “if the princess still has use for us, why hasn’t she called us to her throne room for the past few days?”
     “Maybe she was waiting to see how Frigidera fared,” Chilla said.
     As if on cue four large ice ifrits appeared in their room, taking each one of them into custody before all vanished like the drifting snow, leaving the room cold and silent once again. But what plans did the princess have for them? All will soon be revealed.