So, I was going to save this story for later in the Summer, but with how unbearingly hot it's gotten, this would be a refreshing change of pace. At least, until it isn't.

"Attention students, this is your...Principal speaking. This is a reminder that Echo Creek is experiencing one of the...the hottest days of the year thus far due to the ongoing heat wave. The temperature is...oh, who cares. It's hot. Just...just please remember to limit your time outside, wear sunscreen, and to...to stay hydrated. Oh, God, I could kill for a slushie right now!"

That was the latest of several announcements that came over the PA system at Echo Creek Academy. Or, as its occupants were currently calling it, Hell. All over the school, students and faculty alike were listless and unresponsive, struggling not to succumb to the intense heat of the SoCal Sun.

The problems started earlier that week when a heat wave rolled into their neck of California. People were used to experiencing warm weather year-round, but before long, the temperature had risen from the normal, SoCal hot to hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, and then it just kept climbing. The heat proved too much for the town's A/C systems to handle, and they proceeded to short-circuit one by one. Echo Creek Academy had been one of the last holdouts, but earlier that morning, it, too, lost its precious air conditioning.

All of this led to the current state of the school, with the unbearably suffocating heat all but shutting down classes. None of the teachers bothered to teach, and none of the students bothered to learn. The school wasn't closed because they knew it wouldn't matter; their homes would be just as hot.

"Guys, I think I might be dying from heatstroke," Alfonso complained as he laid back against a tree in the central courtyard, his face covered in sweat.

"Hang...hang in there, Al. We can't let this get to us," Ferguson said, trying to reassure his friend.

"Says the guy who tore off his shirt because he couldn't take the heat anymore," Marcia criticized. Ferguson had been sweating so much that he couldn't take it anymore. So he had ditched his shirt in a vain attempt to help stay cool, much to the dismay of Marcia and Brittney. "You could get in huge trouble for indecent exposure."

"Oh, sure, single me out," Ferguson said with a roll of his eyes. "Meanwhile, Jackson's doing the same thing, and you're not even batting an eyelash. Hell, you're probably enjoying it!" True to Ferguson's argument, Jackson was sitting close to Marcia, his shirt currently wrapped around his head like a headband, revealing his tan and modestly toned body underneath. Marcia couldn't help but blush from seeing her new boyfriend's developing physique.

"Just let us do this, Marcia. I'm pretty sure Skeeves will let this one slide due to the circumstances," Jackson tried to argue.

"*ahem* Be that as it may," Marcia continued, "I still don't think that you guys should be"

"Just drop it, Diaz," came the voice of Brittney Wong, sounding harsher than she meant for it to be. "I'm not complaining, and I would be the first person to get grossed out by that sort of thing," she admitted. "Besides, I can always bribe Skeeves or the teachers if they have a problem," she added as she slumped against the tree, trying desperately to stay cool even as her body sweated underneath her old cheerleader outfit. Despite leaving the cheer squad some time ago, Brittney had managed to keep the outfit. Her rationale was that she liked how she looked in it. Brittney also wanted that for some...fantasies behind closed doors.

In hindsight, she was glad that she kept it. It was one of the few articles of clothing she had that could risk getting drenched in sweat, and even that was pushing things right now. At the rate things were going, she might have to sacrifice her top to cool off even further, regardless of how embarrassing it might be!

"Hey, guys," came Sabrina's tired voice as she walked up to them, her cheerleader outfit covered in a thin sheen of sweat and water she had used earlier to cool herself off. It reached the point where, if one looked closely, they could see a little underneath the fabric, revealing her underwear. Not that any of the boys present cared. They were too hot to ogle girls!

"Dios mio, Sabrina. You look like you're about to melt," Marcia said in astonishment. "Get under here and try to cool yourself off before you ruin that outfit!"

"Thank you, Marcia," Sabrina said before taking her up on the offer, shuffling over to the shade and collapsing on the ground. "It's alright, though. I'm too exhausted to care about that."

"And I'm too exhausted to notice," Ferguson admitted. Normally, he wouldn't mind something like that, but right now, he was in no state to enjoy anything.

"How's the rest of the cheer squad, Sabrina," Brittney asked. "I thought you guys had practice right now."

"We canceled it. It's even hotter in the gym. I told everyone to take refuge in the locker room and hope the water would help cool us off," Sabrina explained. "Though that might have been a mistake."

"It's alright, Sabrina. I doubt anyone's going to get mad at you about that right now," Marcia told her. "Nobody's doing anything right now, for that matter."

"At this point, I think that it might have been a good idea for us to join Karla in skipping out on school," Alfsono said, his voice filled with regret. "She and her dad are probably enjoying themselves in some state park right now!"

"It's not like they had much of a choice, Alfonso. They had to go out of town because the heat was getting too much for Kevin to handle." Due to the heat wave, people were advised to keep pets indoors for safety. Since Kevin was a Griffin, though, that proved impossible, so Karla and her old man told everyone they were heading to one of the many state parks to find a lake for him to cool off in. For their sakes, everyone hoped they got there okay.

"Damn it, this sucks. It feels like no one can handle this heat right now." Jackson bitterly noted.

"Hey, guys!"

Then, as if the Universe wanted to mess with them, someone came jogging by that instantly proved them all wrong: Comet Dragonfly. And while usually, his arrival would bring a smile to the faces of those who knew him, all he found waiting for himself were looks of irritation and envy.

"And how are you guys doing on this wonderfully sunny day?" Comet innocently asked with a grin on his face...only to be met with stone-cold silence. "What? Is it something I said?"

"Comet, I'm going to ask you this nicely since you are one of the coolest guys I know," Ferguson began to say in a level tone before shifting gears. "HOW THE HECK ARE YOU HANDLING THIS DAMN HEAT?!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Comet tilted his head in confusion, only making his friends more upset.

"Comet, the temperature is in the triple digits right now, and you're hardly breaking a sweat!" Marcia complained. To the other's surprise, they saw that Marcia wasn't exaggerating. He looked fine, even though he was wearing one of his sky-blue hoodies. He should've been roasting in it!

Comet looked himself up and down briefly before choosing to open his mouth again. "Huh. That's odd. Guess it just doesn't feel that hot to me," he said with zero consideration for how his friends must feel in the suffocating heat.

"HOW?!" everyone asked in exasperation. Southern California was well known for being consistently warm year-round, meaning the people living there had built a heat tolerance...or so they thought. If the temperature was enough to make SoCal residents run for the shade, then it was hot, end of discussion.

"I'm just not," he shrugged before reconsidering. "Then again, it may have to do with the fact that I've spent time visiting the Underworld when I was dating Tammy," he added. "With the volcanoes and beaches made out of lava, I guess something like this would feel like nothing!" he said with an embarrassed chuckle. This did little to make his friends feel better about their current situation.

"Just once, I wish I could be as carefree as you are, Comet," Marcia remarked as she let out a resigned sigh while the others maintained their looks of annoyance at the aforementioned Prince.

Now Comet felt guilty about everything. "Aww, geez. I'm sorry, guys. I didn't realize that the heat was that bad for you all."

"It's cool, Comet. We're Californians," Ferguson noted. "We're used to the heat."

"It's just that this is abnormally hot, even by our standards," Alfonso pointed out as he struggled to hold up a figure, only to be met by a wave of nausea coming from the pit of his stomach. "Oh, man. Guys, I think I might be in the early stages of heatstroke!"

Marcia did her best to stand up at this point. "Alright, that's it. We need to find someplace to cool off!" she said as she shakily got to her feet. "At this rate, one of us might die!"

"Wait, what?!" Comet began to panic as he realized just how badly his friends were being affected by the heat. "Don't worry, guys! I think I saw Jonah handing out snow cones and blocks of ice near the cafeteria! He can help!" Before Comet could run off and do anything, though, he felt Marcia grab him by the hoodie to hold him in place.

"I'm sorry, what?" Marcia asked, now very concerned. "What did you say Jonah was doing?" The others had also managed to process the fact that Comet had said the words "Jonah" and "help" in the same sentence...and it didn't involve him getting arrested and needing to be bailed out of juvie.

"Oh, that," Comet said as he realized the absurdity of what he'd just said. "I saw Jonah handing out snowcones, drinks, and blocks of ice to people near the cafeteria. I don't know where he got it from, though. Probably should've asked that, in hindsight."

"Okay, I've heard enough," Marcia said in a very blunt tone. "Take us to him."


After that, Comet quickly led the others to where he'd last seen Jonah. Well, led might imply that they managed to walk there. Sabrina, Alfonso, and Ferguson were so exhausted that they could barely walk. Comet had to summon Cloudy to carry them all, and even the talking cloud complained about the heat.

When the group arrived at the entrance to the cafeteria, they saw that Comet hadn't been joking. Standing behind a fold-out table in front of a substantial crowd of students and teachers, Jonah was busy handing out stuff meant to help everyone beat the heat. He had snowcones, shaved ice, drinks resting on top of blocks of ice as big as desks, and things of that nature.

"Step right up, people! We've got everything you need to keep you cool! Get it while supplies last! Also, we only accept cash!" Jonah was shouting at everyone present as they were digging into their pockets and pulling out their wallets to give him their money by the fistful.

"Un. believable," Brittney said, a pretty accurate assessment of everyone else's thoughts. Marcia and Sabrina nodded in agreement.

"Somehow, it would be even weirder if he wasn't trying to use this to his advantage," Marcia commented.

Sabrina spoke up. "So, is one of us going to go buy something from him or-?"

"I'm already on it," Marcia said as she made her way to the table, pushing her way past the people clamoring to buy from Jonah with one hand, holding onto Comet with the other.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Skullnick," Jonah said as the aforementioned teacher traded a wad of cash for two massive blocks of ice sitting on the table. "And thanks for allowing me to conduct my business on school grounds."

"Just remember that this is a one-time thing, Ordonia," Ms. Skullnick told him as she grabbed her purchases. "And that Principal Skeeves is expecting you to-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll give Skeeves the school's cut before the day's out," Jonah said with a nonchalant wave of his hands. Skullnick chose not to dignify her student's rude behavior beyond an eye-roll as she walked away...and Marcia walked up to the front of the table in full view of Jonah. It didn't take the Filipino boy long to notice his hot and sweaty acquaintance was giving him a look that screamed, "You disgust me."

"Ah, if it isn't my good friends, Miss Diaz and Mr. Dragonfly," Jonah said in a cheerful tone. "Oh, did you happen to catch all of that just now? Well, rest assured, I'm not doing anything wrong. Principal Skeeves agreed to let me do this so long as I give the school a generous...donation afterward," he said with a smug look on his face.

Comet let out a whistle as he looked at the merchandise that Jonah was currently selling. "Dang, Jonah. Where did you get all this ice in the first place?"

"Some of it I made using alchemy," Jonah admitted. "The rest I got Black Frost to make," he said, referring to his personal, Demonic underling.

"Jonah, I could stand here and lecture you about how many rules you're breaking right now, but it's so hot, my brain can't focus on anything." Marcia reached into the pockets of her shorts underneath her skirt and pulled out her wallet. "Just tell me how much for me and my friends."

"Going rate is $3 for drinks, plus $5 for snowcones and shaved ice. The blocks of ice are $10," Jonah said without skipping a beat. "$15, and you'll get the drinks and ice as a package deal."

At least he's trying to be reasonable with the prices, Marcia thought in an attempt to keep calm. "Deal. Just give me two of everything," she said as she handed him a wad of cash.

A few minutes later, a small group of Meseeks that Jonah had spawned had finished delivering all of the ice and frozen drinks and stuff to Comet and Marcia's group. Comet had offered to do it all himself, but Jonah insisted...for an extra delivery fee, exacerbating Marcia's already foul mood. The others didn't seem to care much, though. They were just happy to have something that could beat the heat.

"Oh, this feels so good, you guys!" Ferguson said as he lay prone atop one of the giant ice blocks, allowing it to soothe his tired, sweating body. "I needed this so bad," he said while Brittney shook her head, disgusted by the boy's behavior.

"I don't think we're going to die at this point, you guys," Alfonso said as he enjoyed a snowcone. "Though now we have to worry about getting sunburn, and sunburn can lead to skin cancer, so-"

"Dolittle, why don't we just worry about that after our brains have stopped going into meltdown?" Jackson suggested as he grabbed a bottle of water, and, rather than drinking out of it, he just squirted it all over his body, much to Marcia's surprise. If she were in better control of her mental faculties, she might have noticed that she'd been biting her lip a little.

"Oh, wow. You guys weren't joking. You really needed this," Comet said as he looked on in amazement. "I mean, I'm not bothered it because, well, I'm me," he said with a cocky look on his face. "But this must be torture for you guys!"

"Oh, it's absolute Hell, Comet," Marcia said as she reluctantly chose to take off her long, red shirt to stave off the heat. Who cared if this meant her bra was showing now? They had much bigger concerns to worry about! "I just wish this darn heat wave would go away already!"

"The curse of climate change, Marcia. Blame the elites for dragging their heels on fixing things until it's almost too late," Ferguson snarked. "No offense, Brittney," he then added as he looked at the heiress to the Wong fortune.

"None taken. My parents actually donate a lot of money to environmental projects," she added as she had to shed her own top to keep the sweat from ruining it while she lay against a giant ice cube. "By the way, if I see anyone taking photos, they're in for a world of hurt."

"Wow. It sucks to see everyone so miserable," Comet admitted as he looked around the school and saw how everyone looked ready to keel over and die. "It's too bad we can't do something about the weather," he chuckled. He had only said it as a joke, something meant to make everyone feel a little better.

However, the more intelligent members of Comet's group didn't take it as a joke. Marcia and Aflonso got these serious looks in their eyes as something dawned on them.

"Comet, what did you just say?" Marcia asked as he raised her head up to look at her friend.

"Excuse me?"

"About the weather? What did you say just now?" Marcia reiterated. Comet blinked at her in confusion, not sure why this was a big deal.

"I just said that it's too bad we can't do something about the weather," he told them sympathetically.

Somewhere inside Marcia and Alfonso's heads, a lightbulb went off.

"Comet," Alfonso said as he jumped to his feet, any heat-related fatigue now forgotten. "I know I don't say this often, but you're a freaking genius!" he excitedly told him as he clasped both the boy's shoulders.

"Okay, I won't dispute that, but I'm still not following-"

"Comet," Marcia interjected, "we," she said as she gestured to the entire group, who were still lost, "may not be able to do anything about the weather..."

"But you can," Alfonso said as she finished Marcia's thought. At this, everyone's faces lit up in realization. One by one, they got to their feet and approached Comet, hopeful looks on each of their faces.

As Comet found himself surrounded by his friends, though, he got uncharacteristically uncomfortable. "Guys, what are you-?"

"Comet, you can fix all this!" Ferguson said as he waved his arms around. "You have magic!"

"You could just use your magic to change the weather! Get rid of this heat wave in one go!" Sabrina explained to him.

"Wait, guys-"

"We could finally step outside without fear of melting on the sidewalk!" Brittney said as she felt excitement well up in her head.

"Um, guys-"

"I wouldn't have to worry about sweaty clothes clinging to my skin!" Marcia said with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"I don't-"

"I won't have to cover myself in sunscreen when I want to go the skatepark," Jackson chimed in.

"Guys!" Comet shouted, finally bringing everyone out of their respective fantasies. "I hate to burst your collective bubbles-and you know I mean it-but there's one problem: I don't know how to do something like that."

"What?" "Come on!" "Are you for real?" everyone began to complain.

"Are you telling me that, with all the crazy stuff that you can do with magic, you have no idea how to do something like change the weather?" Brittney said, her hands on her hips in a clear show of disdain. "Why do I not believe that?"

"It's the truth, guys! Honest! I've never thought about doing anything like that before!" Comet said, trying to defuse the simmering hostility he sensed from the group. "It seems too advanced and outside my comfort zone!"

"Too advanced for you, Comet? What kind of quitter talk is that?" Ferguson admonished. "Comet, if you have a way to help us, then you gotta do something," he asserted.

"But I-" as Comet struggled to figure a way out of admitting that he wasn't sure if he could do something like this, he got an idea. "Look, there might be something in my Book of Spells, but that's Book's back home. Are you really suggesting that we ditch school?"

If Comet hoped that Marcia's adherence to the rules would persuade her to defend him, though, he was sorely mistaken. "Comet, what school? In case you haven't noticed, Echo Creek Academy's closed in all but name," Marcia pointed out. "I doubt any of the teachers will care!" Without warning, Marcia then grabbed Comet by his hoodie and brought him in as close as possible. "Now you are going to take us back to our house, and we are going to get that book and use it to make things better for us. ¿Entender?*" (*Understand me?*)

Comet could tell by the look in her eyes that Marcia wasn't going to let this go. So this is what it's like, huh? Comet mused as he realized how his and Marcia's roles were reversed. "Fine! Let's go!" he said as he led everyone toward his locker. "I've got a secret portal to my bedroom in my locker," he explained.


"Glossaryck, are you in here?"

As Comet and the others made them through the portal in his locker to his bedroom (and not questioning how someone as big as Ferguson could fit), they were dismayed to find that the bedroom was as hot as the rest of the town. The animals weren't doing so well, either. Poor Coryn looked ready to die from the heat, while the poor little laser puppies were panting like crazy as they tried to ration the water Comet left for them. As soon as they saw Comet, though, they perked up and began running up to him, barking and yapping at his feet.

"Oh, laser puppies! I'm so sorry! I didn't realize that you were having so much trouble with the heat," Comet said, sympathy etched all over his face as he hastily went to refill the animal's water bowls. As luck would have it, he'd brought with him some of the leftover water and ice, which they greatly appreciated. His friends...not so much.

"He treats his pets better than he does his friends," Ferguson whispered under his breath, just loud enough for Comet to hear.

"Okay, okay, already!" Comet responded in a flustered tone. "Let's go get Glossaryck and ask him about this. "Glossaryck? You in here?"

When they heard a loud moan coming from the center of Comet's bedroom, everyone looked over to see the Book of Spells sitting on the floor. And atop that Book was Glossaryck, who was, for whatever reason, attempting to cool off...by sitting in a cup of pudding. Judging by how much he was moaning, though, it was clear that it wasn't working.

"Glossaryck? You alright, buddy?" Comet asked as he knelt down next to his mentor, who shot him quite a dirty look.

"Oh yes, Comet, I'm fine. I'm just wasting away in this infernal heat with even the delicious taste of pudding able to make me feel better," Glossaryck said sarcastically.

Deciding not to beat around the bush about it, Marcia shoved Comet aside (rude) and looked Glossaryck in the eyes. "Look, Glossaryck, I'm suffering from this heat as much as you are. Everyone in Echo Creek is at the breaking point, and unless you help us, the entire town might drop dead from heat-related illnesses," she said, her voice never losing its serious tone. "So if you know about a spell in that book that will let a person change the weather on a mass scale, then now's the time to whip it out!"

"A spell?" Glossaryck's eyes widened in realization. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that before? There is a spell that can alter the weather-!" Hearing this, everyone began to cheer and let out sighs of relief. "-but it's not in the book."

Everyone's faces fell at this.

"What do you mean it's not in there?" Brittney demanded to know. "I thought that Comet said it was

"I mean, it's not in there. It's a spell written by King Aeolus the Windbreaker around 600 years ago in the original Book of Spells, and that was destroyed in a fire centuries ago. The one you see now is the second version of it," Glossaryck explained as he fanned himself with his hands. "Fortunately for us, it just so happens to be a spell I memorized!"

"So then we can still do this?" Ferguson asked.

"Well, I mean, Comet can do it since he's the one with the Wand, my boy," Glossaryck pointed out. "But yes, we should be able to pull this off. All we need is a high enough vantage point from which to conduct the spell."

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let's head back to the school!" Marcia said. "The rooftops should be good!"

"ALL RIGHT!" Everyone cheered in response as they returned to the portal to Comet's locker. The only one who wasn't enthusiastic about this was Comet himself.

Why do I get the feeling that this is going to backfire on me? Shaking off those thoughts, though, Comet joined the others.


"Okay, so we're here," Comet said as the group now found themselves standing atop the roof of one of the buildings of Echo Creek Academy. "Now, what do I do?"

"Now, we begin," Glossaryck instructed his student. "First, take out your Wand," Comet did as he was told, extending the Wand into staff mode for good measure. "Now, spread your legs apart, as far apart as they can go while holding your Wand out in front of you."

"Look, I know that this is rich coming from me," Comet started to say, "but are you sure this is a good-"

"JUST DO IT!" "DO IT!" "QUIT STALLING!" Everyone yelled at Comet, even Glossaryck. They were in no mood to deal with this. Comet chose to shut up and do as he was told.

"Now, repeat after me as you twirl the Wand around your body," Glossaryck instructed him.

"Okay, got it." Comet continued to listen to Glossaryck.

"Now, repeat after me," Glossaryck said. "I call upon the sky..."

"I call upon the sky..." As Comet continued to say the words, his Wand began to glow.

"I call upon the air..."

"I call upon the air..." As Comet continued to follow the chant, his Wand began to glow with magical energy, prompting everyone to begin stepping back.

"I call upon the great spirit of the northern wind..."

"I call upon the great spirit of the northern wind..."

"Grant me the power to change the four seasons..."

"...grant me the power to change the four seasons..."

"...to bring upon this land the cold embrace of winter..."

At this point, Comet's Wand began to crackle with energy as he continued the spell.

"Quickly! Aim the Wand at the sky and call upon the spirit of the Wind!" Glossaryck said as the ritual reached its climax.

"I act in your name, in the name of the great spirit...BOREAS!" With this final line, Comet pointed his Wand at the sky and sent a beam of energy upwards, creating a flash of light so bright that the others had to cover their eyes. As Comet continued to cast his magic, the sky began to darken, and those on the ground began to take notice.

"What in the world...?" Ms. Skullnick said as she looked at the darkening sky.

"What do you suppose is causing this?" CometFan13 asked aloud as he and Justin were trying to buy ice from Jonah. Jonah just gave them a knowing smirk.

"I'm willing to bet that it has something to do with our resident boy wonder," he said.

As the others continued to watch from the rooftop, they began to notice changes in the weather. The temperature, which had been unbearably hot moments before, had begun to cool down. At first, it was subtle, but then it got more pronounced. As the skies began to darken further, they were surprised to discover that their breath had become visible; their bodies also began to shiver to preserve heat. Anyone who had removed their shirts now began to put them back on.

"All right, that's enough, Comet!" Glossaryck called out to his apprentice, urging him to stop what he was doing. It took some doing, but Comet managed to get himself under control before collapsing to the ground, exhausted from what he just went through.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there, buddy!" Marcia and Alfonso said as they helped him to his feet. "We got you!"

"Thanks, guys. That took more out of me than I thought it would," Comet said in exhaustion. As the two teens helped their friend to his feet, the others began to notice what was happening. Little by little, small, white dots began to fall from the overcast above Echo Creek onto the ground. Out of curiosity, Comet held out his hand to catch one, wanting to see if it was what he thought it was.

"Is that...snow?" Marcia asked in astonishment.

"I think it is, Marcia," Alfonso said as he looked carefully at the sky. Sure enough, a steady stream of snow had begun to fall across all of Echo Creek, much to the townsfolk's amazement but to the group's amazement, most of all.

"Oh my gosh...I don't think I've ever seen actual snow before!" Sabrina said in awe at what was going on.

"Well, I think that it's safe to say that you did it, Comet!" Glossaryck said with a smile. "I had faith that you could!"

"Really?" asked Comet.

"Of course! I knew that you'd be able to handle it and definitely didn't plan on telling your Dad if things went south," Glossaryck said, his eyes suspiciously glancing off to the side.

"If you had done that, I would've told him that you were the one who put me up to it," Comet countered with a smug smile.

"Touche," Glossaryck said as he conceded the point. "Well then, now that the weather has been altered to something funner," Glossaryck said as he put on a snow cap and gloves, "let the revelry COMMENCE!"


The rest of the day was pretty much a blur of fun for Comet and the others. It didn't take long for the snow to stick to the ground, and once that had happened, the town of Echo Creek was covered in a blanket of snow. At first, everyone in town was confused by the sudden change in weather. Then, they realized that they didn't care all that much. In no time, everyone in town had either dusted off or bought snow gear and began to enjoy the welcome change in weather.

Now it was snowing on the ground; Principal Skeeves closed school for real, letting everyone do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day.

Jonah managed to adapt his business model to the change in weather quite well. Instead of selling ice and cold beverages, he went to selling hot cocoa and pre-made snowballs while he used the surplus of ice as igloo bricks.

That only proved to be the start, though. Jonah then got it in his head that he should summon Black Frost and have him join the fun, which the demonic snowman was more than happy to do once he saw what was going on. Especially once Jonah had given him a battalion of Meseeks to command. With Black Frost leading them, the Meseeks used the snow to turn Echo Creek into a veritable winter wonderland. The sidewalks became paths for sledding and snowboarding; snowmen were on every corner. And in the center of town at the park, Black Frost used his powers and minions to construct a massive castle made out of ice and snow. It rose out of the ground like a glacial version of the famed castle from Disney World, its towers reaching the heavens as it overlooked Echo Creek. Once that was built, everyone seemed to have even more fun than ever.

Jackson managed to impress everyone from ECA by pulling off some sick snowboarding moves, which were enough to make Marcia swoon in excitement. Comet showed everyone how to sled "Mewman Style," which amounted to body-sledding at incredibly high speeds. Brittney and Sabrina wound up leading the girls and more artistic people in a snow sculpture contest. One which, surprisingly, Ferguson ended up winning. Say what they want about him, but his sculpture of himself as that guy from Frozen riding his reindeer companion was impressive.

As a side note, Black Frost briefly went mad with power and declared himself the Ice King of Echo Creek and demanded everyone bow down to him. He even made a crown and everything. Comet, Jonah, and Ms. Skullnick were prepared to take him down, but Marcia negotiated Frost's abdication in exchange for a giant snowcone.

By the time night had fallen and everyone had returned to their homes, a sense of peace had fallen over Echo Creek. Thankfully, while the A/C remained broken, the heating in everyone's homes remained intact, leaving them perfectly capable of surviving the cold. And so, it was to the gentle fall of snow outside that Comet had nestled himself into his bed with Glossaryck at his side.

"You know, I have to admit, Glossaryck. This might be one of the best things that I've ever done. I managed to fool Mother Nature!" Comet said excitedly as he put on his one-piece sleepwear.

"I have to admit, that was rather impressive, Comet," Glossaryck said with a pleased look. "And don't worry about the snow. Those clouds you made should dissipate in about a day or so. After that, everyone should go back to normal, albeit not as hot as before."

"Well *yawn* that's good to hear," Comet said as he got underneath the covers. "For once, I pulled off a big spell, and everything turned out perfect..." Comet said to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

With his protege now fast asleep, Glossaryck went to get ready for bed himself, content with how things went today.

Little did anyone know, in Echo Creek Park, a portal had opened...and as soon as it did, the snow began to fall harder.


Spongebob Narrator: the next morning...

As Comet awoke from his slumber, one glaring thing became obvious to him...

"HOLY SHIT, IT'S COLD!"

As Comet bolted upright, shivering from the frigid air, he looked around at his room. Much to his surprise, ice had begun to line the walls of his tower while his breath was now visible, despite the fact that he shouldn't have been able to see it indoors. That's when he realized something: the heat wasn't working inside the house.

Carefully, Comet got out of his bed, grabbed his blankets as he did so to keep himself warm, and made for the balcony of his tower. He had closed it the night before using an insulated door to help him sleep without losing any heat. As he made to open the door, he had no idea what he was going to find on the other side. What he did find, though, stunned him.

To start off, the balcony on his tower was covered in at least a foot of snow. Maybe even more, given how difficult he found it to walk in, having to raise his legs incredibly high before bringing them back down. To make matters worse, he also discovered that the topmost layer was covered in thin coating of ice, making it slippery and hard to gain a footing on. That wasn't what he was most surprised about, though. It was what had happened to the rest of the town.

As far across as the eyes could see, Echo Creek was completely buried in layers upon layers of snow. Stop signs were buried halfway up the poles, most of the plants were entombed in snow, and nothing was left to distinguish between lawns, sidewalks, and streets. Everything was covered in snow that was blocking any means of travel whatsoever!

Also, it was freezing cold!

"Oh no..." Comet bemoaned as he looked at what was transpiring before him. Echo Creek had fallen victim to a new ice age in less than a night!

Morgan Freeman: It was at this moment that he knew...he fucked up.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Hey guys, RJ Writing Ink here. I just wanted to say sorry for the late arrival for this chapter. I was pretty busy during the last two weekends, and that is when I normally get a lot of my writing done. I also didn't intend on adding this part to the story until later. However, with the fact that July, 2023 was the hottest month on record (look it up!), I felt that this was appropriate.

As for what I used as inspiration, I'm leaving that up to you guys to figure out. If you can let me know in the reviews what you think I took inspiration from, then I will give you a shoutout. Speaking of reviews, it's time for

READERS REVIEWS

Julalya-Who's heating up now, man?

Ted Glass-Good eye. He might not know it yet, but this is the first hint of jealousy that Comet will feel towards Marcia. How far he'll end up going with it is another matter entirely.

Pedro-Hmm...I'll consider it.

You know what to do: fave and follow this story, and follow me on Twitter (JZ-Gaming), Insta (RJ Writing Ink), and YouTube (Jungoguy).

See you guys mid-August as we see how Comet will save Echo Creek from his biggest screw-up yet. Or is it even his fault in the first place?