SailorStar9: Considering its Christmas tomorrow, this is a special chapter just for my faithful reviewers. So, enjoy! (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?
Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny.
Chapter 13: The Christmas Special: Hearts in Ice
The seasons flew by quickly and before anyone knew it, it was winter.
Deep in space, an asteroid was speeding towards Earth.
"Ah, beautiful Earth." Princess Snow Kaguya droned. "I shall make it even more beautiful and Earth shall be mine." Chuckling, she sent out her ice shards.
On Earth, Hashiba Touma was observing the night sky via his telescope when he saw the comet come into view, before five shards of the meteor shattered away. Exiting his house, the Samurai Trooper of Heavens watched as one of the pieces fell on a nearby beach. Wasting no time, he took off after the shard. Reaching the beach, he stood stunned at the crystal's brilliance.
"Wow, that spaceship is gonna go to the moon…" Minako gushed, popping a takoyaki ball into her mouth. "I want to go on a trip to the moon with Hyoga in that, too!"
"What kind of happy-go-lucky idea is that?" Rei deathpanned. "This is your last winter break in middle school. Shouldn't you be studying for your high school entrance exams?"
"Spoilsport." Minako struck out her tongue.
"Girls…" the Ice Saint shook his head amusedly, the three males watching their respective ladies.
"Let them dream." Seiji waved.
"I'm just surprised Makoto hasn't jumped in yet." Uryū joked.
"By the way guys," Seiji voiced. "One of my fellow Samurai Troopers found something two nights ago. I think it's related to you girls."
"I found a comet two nights ago." Touma informed the group gathered at his house. "I saw it near the moon, so I dubbed it 'Princess Snow Kaguya'."
"You were looking at the moon again." Seiji remarked. "Are you sure it's not a mistake?"
"It's not a mistake!" Touma snapped. "I really did see it! And this may be part of it." He showed them the shard from the beach. "It fell from the sky the night I saw the comet."
"So pretty…" Makoto gushed.
"But the comet disappeared soon afterwards." Touma sighed. "You guys believe me, right? I'm sure I saw it!"
"Are you alright?" Seiji asked, concerned about his best friend when Touma winced.
"I'm not feeling well today." Touma shook off the pending headache. "I'm sorry, but can all of you go back?"
"Gotcha." Seiji nodded. "Give me a call when you feel better." He bade the archer farewell.
"Beautiful Earth…" Kaguya droned in space. "The treasure that I've wanted since so long ago… it's finally time for it to be mine." Teleporting to Earth's sky, she blew out a chilling tornado that formed her Snow Dancers. "Snow Dancers… my sweet little servants… turn Earth into one giant block of ice!"
"It's snowing…" Makoto blinked, the couples having spilt off their separate ways.
The screaming began when a Snow Dancer landed on the pavement and started turning the passersby and the vehicles into ice.
"Seiji, go hide!" Makoto instructed, her henshinn pen already in hand. "Celestia Jupiter Power!"
The Snow Dancer spotted its opponent and charged straight towards Celestia Jupiter, tossing a wave of snow at her.
Celestia Jupiter backflipped to dodge the charge. "Thunder…" she rose her punch and electricity crackled around it. "Punch!" and hammered the Snow Dancer's head with the electricity-charged punch and with such strength that the ice woman was slammed through a nearby brick wall. Jupiter fell to her knees as the Snow Dancer started disintegrating.
"Flaming Spear!" Celestia Mars' fire spear was tossed at the incoming Snow Dancer, the heat melting the ice woman.
"Crescent Storm!" Celestia Venus' light beam shower placed some distance between herself and the opponent, Hyoga's ice attacks having close to no effect on the Snow Dancer. "Morning…" energy started swirling around her, slowly gathering in her gloves. "Star…" more energy gathered as she pointed her index fingers at her flying opponent. "Smash!" two twin star-shaped beams tore through the air and hit the Snow Dancer dead on, vaporizing it in a blink.
"Ice Blast!" Celestia Mercury's ice ball did little to dent the charging Snow Dancer. "Gee, why can't they give me a fire elemental enemy for a change?" She muttered, dodging out of the ice woman's charge.
"Mercury, just stop it from moving!" Uryū barked, already in his Quincy suit.
"Sabão Spray!" Celestia Mercury's bubbles fired out of her outstretched hands, trapping the Snow Dancer.
One super-charged up Spirit Arrow from the archer vanquished the ice woman.
"Okay, this is definitely Senshi related." Celestia Mercury noted.
"What was your first clue?" Uryū muttered.
"To think Earth actually has people against me…" Kaguya muttered. "Snow Dancers, have you found the crystal that's in Japan? That can freeze the entire world at once. Find it!" she barked when her scouts reported back. "Long ago…" she reminisced. "A light bounced me off when I tried to approach Earth. And it forced me to take a long journey. No need to rush now." she soothed herself. "I just need to switch my plans on how I take over Earth. I will slowly make Earth mine, without anyone noticing…" she closed her fist. "After I find that crystal."
Touma groaned, clutching his heart as the shard glowed on his table.
"What are those things?" Minako questioned via video conferencing.
"Another new enemy trying to take over Earth?" Makoto mused.
"In any case, we should be careful." Rei cautioned.
"I checked it out." Ami reported, once the girls met up at Rei's Temple. "But there wasn't a comet like Hashiba said."
"If it can't be detected by Ami's computers…" Rei mused, the sweet potatoes baking in the yard.
"And there hasn't been anything strange since…" Makoto added. "So maybe that was the end of the enemy?"
"Ami, is that…" Minako sniffed. "Potpourri?"
"Oh…" the other two grinned mischievously at the blushing ice Senshi.
"Sailor Senshi, you can stay in that illusion." Kaguya chuckled as her ice palace grew.
"Touma!" Seiji was suddenly alerted when he spotted a Snow Dancer peering into the archer's house.
"I've found it!" Kaguya manifested in Touma's room. Shattering the petri tray, she retrieved the crystal. "This crystal seems to have multiplied its powers by sucking up your life energy." She turned to the heaving archer.
"So, the comet was…" Touma breathed. "Princess Snow Kaguya…"
"Princess Snow Kaguya?" Kaguya echoed. "What a beautiful name. Yes. A part of me is slowly approaching Earth. You too will become part of my lovely collection, along with this Earth that would soon freeze." Laughing, she vanished.
"So, the girls' enemy hasn't given up at all." Seiji realized and dialed Makoto's number. "Touma was in pain because of that crystal from the comet."
"And now is the time to lock Earth inside a beautiful world of ice!" Kaguya declared and cast the glowing shard into the seas below.
"This is…" Ami gasped, when an article in her compact computer came up. "'Long ago, an evil star appeared and spread crystals of ice all about.'" She read.
"'Crystals that covered Earth froze the land and turned it dark.'" Uryū read over her shoulder. "'However, the power of love and friendship, the Silver Crystal Power, dissolved the darkness and saved Earth.'"
"An evil star…" Rei started. "Could it be the comet Hashiba was talking about?"
"I wonder what the Silver Crystal Power of love and friendship is?" Minako mused.
"Anyway, it's a fact that, after much time, the evil star finally returned to take over Earth." Ami concluded.
"I won't let that happen!" Makoto swore.
"Everything happens in Japan, huh?" Hyoga joked, the guys gathered at Touma's place to safeguard the archer.
"Says the one who's useless against the enemy." Uryū smirked.
"Ain't my fault my attacks don't work on them." Hyoga shrugged.
"And the Troopers' armors disappeared after the battle against Arago." Seiji defended himself. "Man," he remarked, seeing the roads freezing over. "The guys would hate to be in this weather."
"Now everything, freeze away!" Kaguya laughed as her ice castle grew.
"Flaming Spear!" Celestia Mars' fire weapon melted one of the Snow Dancers.
"So you appear, Sailor Senshi." Kaguya mocked. "But it's too late!"
Celestia Mars dodged the three charging Snow Dancers and readied an attack. "Fire Snake!" the flame construct melted the three Snow Dancers.
Kaguya simply laughed and activated the crystal, reviving more Snow Dancers.
"Morning Star Smash!" Celestia Venus' twin light beams blasted three Snow Dancers to bits. "Sorry I'm late." She apologized.
"Whatever you do is all fruitless!" Kaguya taunted, revitalizing her Snow Dancers. "Snow Dancers, don't freeze them now. Lead them to their doom slowly."
"Thunderbolt!" Celestia Jupiter's attack eradicated the four front-most Snow Dancers.
"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Celestia Mercury's ice storm tunneled through an entire line of Snow Dancers.
"It doesn't matter how many of you there are!" Kaguya mocked as the other two Senshi joined in the battle. "Go have lots of fun with them!"
The Senshi brought out their weapons and started blasting away; however, it was not long before they were simply overwhelmed by the numbers.
"Sailor Senshi, looks like this is it." Kaguya grinned, certain of her victory and powered up two ice balls. "This is it! Isn't it beautiful? Earth will soon be a world of snow and ice, and become part of my collection."
"Collection?" Celestia Mars echoed.
"I'm sorry, but we have no intention of being one of your accessories." Celestia Jupiter snorted.
"You shall forever sleep in my ice." Kaguya declared. "Ice that never melts! Without any worries, a calm and quiet world. It is quite wonderful."
"We decline!" Celestia Venus snapped. "We fall in love, our hearts may break."
"There are times when we lose sleep, longing for someone." Celestia Mars added.
"There are many sad or painful events like that…" Celestia Jupiter got to her feet.
"But that's how we know that we're alive!" Celestia Mercury announced. "If there are painful times, when we get over them…"
"Times of happiness always arrive!" the four Senshi chorused.
"Anyone who disobeys me ends up like this!" Kaguya was unmoved and powered up her twin ice balls, tossing them at the Senshi. "This universe is all MINE!" she declared, the Senshi dodging the blast.
"You're too selfish to understand what it feels like to be in love!" Celestia Venus retorted and brought out the Holy Blade. "Light..." The sword started glowing with light "Sword..." The light gathered at the sword's tip and split into over a hundred small light balls "Barrage!" The swarm of light balls shot forward, countering Kaguya's ice balls.
The ice balls blasted through the light spheres, hitting Celestia Venus head on.
"I will finally put an end to you this time." Kaguya swore.
"The world of ice that you feel is beautiful…" Celestia Venus muttered. "Is the world of the dead!"
"You seem in pain." Kaguya remarked. "I will take that pain away from you now." and powered up a massive ice ball from her body.
"There is no beauty in a world that is completely still." Celestia Venus got back to her feet, willing out her Citrine Crystal.
"Venus, if you use that now…" Celestia Mars protested.
"That's it." Celestia Mercury recalled the text on her compact computer. "Everyone, we can recreate the legendary Silver Crystal Power of love and friendship."
"Everyone…" Celestia Venus breathed, Uryū and Hyoga playing defense as the Senshi gathered around their leader, their respective Planetary Crystals in their palms. "To a world that nurtures life…"
"Take this!" Kaguya roared, her Snow Dancers disintegrating when they met the energy pyramid, and she released her energy buildup. "This light…" she recognized the familiar light beam when both attacks clashed. "It can't be… the one from back then…?" and channeled more power into her attack.
"Sailor Planet Attack!" their resolve solidified, the Senshi poured more power into their combined assault, which overpowered Kaguya's own attack, vaporizing the ice alien.
Kaguya now blasted into oblivion, her Snow Dancers were also destroyed, the towering ice structure crumbling as the source of power vanished.
The Senshi's attack then shot into space, disintegrating the comet heading towards Earth.
"You girls okay?" Hyoga asked, the four Senshi slumping on the ground.
"That was tiring." Celestia Venus admitted, her transformation reversing.
"As always." Makoto agreed.
SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.