Illyana had to catch her breath as the high speed transportation stopped and she found herself in a vast cavern over looked by the grey uncaring crystal throne upon which No-Heart sat.
“What is going on?! Where are we?! Who and what is that?!” Illyana pointed up at No-Heart.
Mental Heart bowed towards No-Heart, “This is Lord No-Heart. He is our master, yours included as well.”
“I see you’ve brought a new ally to serve me,” No-Heart looked down at her, “What worth does she have to our goals.”
“Human resources.” Mental Heart looked up at No-Heart, “She has a large number of mercenaries under her control and the ability to function in the human world without the interference of the human government.”
“A pity then that you brought her at this time,” Quenos approached the two, “I’ve just completed the prototype for our new weapon with the resources from Professor Cold Heart, Doctor Fright and Andross, and I plan to deploy it at the next meeting of the United Nations.”
It was only then that Illyana noticed the massive starship parked inside the cavern. “What is all of this, and you!” She spotted Andross approaching her.
“They will get you acquainted with what’s going on. I need to speak to Lord No-Heart.” Mental Heart stood up and approached the throne as Andross and Quenos began to show Illyana around.
“Well. What have you managed to accomplish?” No-Heart leaned back, expecting a satisfactory answer.
“Despite their leads, I managed to kill about 127 of the Care Bears lost on earth, I can remember a few, two blue horses, an old rabbit with her own family…”
“Enough, I don’t care about the details,” No-Heart waved him off, “Is there anything else?”
Mental Heart seemed contemplative for a moment, “Yes, I encountered an anomaly when I found them defending an old eagle and moose. A brown bear Lylatian who seemed… off. I would have brought this to your attention sooner but I needed to be certain about my suspicions.”
“What suspicions were those?” No-Heart would have normally bellowed and ranted at a servant for failing to report this, but due to his success he granted Mental Heart more leeway than he had anyone else in his service.
“I believe he does not belong here, in fact he is the same as the leader of the Care Bears, Tenderheart. If what I glimpsed in his mind is correct then this bear is Tenderheart from the future.” Mental Heart waited for No-Heart’s response, but was interrupted by Cold Heart who had come over to eavesdrop.
“If he’s from the future that means we’ve won!” the professor gave a sinister grin, “Why else come back in time to mettle unless we are going to win?”
“That would appear to be the case,” Mental Heart said, “But if he is here that means he is interfering with this certainty, and no doubt knows what we are planning.”
“Then you should put a stop to him, once you confirm this suspicion.” No-Heart sat up straighter, tugging at one of the cords feeding uncaring energy from his crystal throne into him, “We will see how our new weapon performs at the U.N. and if it fails catastrophically then you will ensure this future brown bear’s demise at any cost, save your own life, Mental Heart, I will need you alive if all other plans fails.”
“Of course, Lord No-Heart,” Mental Heart bowed again.
OoOoO
Take Care Bear decided to tidy up her office and exam rooms the day after her dinner date with Indy. Though she kept everything organized, every so often she had to go through everything as a touch up, counting supplies she needed to get picked up and make sure everything was in a place that could be easily found in an emergency.
Take Care went about her tasks with a smile on her face and humming the tune to one of her favorite country songs. She felt so light on her feet she literally danced between tasks, never missing a beat or a count of her medical supplies.
Get Well Bear and Cautious Heart Cat were drawn to their mother’s humming and watched in confusion as she danced around the exam room then into the waiting room to organize the reception desk, followed by Cautious and Get Well.
“So, did you have a good date last night?” Get Well asked.
Take Care didn’t break concentration or even lose focus as she replied, “It was magical.”
Cautious Heart shuddered, “OK, mom, this is too weird. I mean you’re acting like Cheer or Love-a-Lot right now.”
“Maybe,” Take Care didn’t even seem to register what Cautious had said.
Cautious Heart shook her head, “Now I know something’s up.”
As if to answer her question, Independent Bear stepped through the front door with a big smile on his face. “Good morning, Take Care.”
Take Care was out of her chair in an instant, “Good morning Indy!” She darted over to Indy who caught her in a big hug. Then they kissed.
Cautious Heart threw up her arms, “Alright, I’m going out until things start making sense again.” She turned and left by the side door even before they broke their kiss.
Get Well was grinning as she approached them, “So this is why you’ve been dancing around the office. Told you you were in love with him.”
Take Care laughed, “Ok, you were right Get Well. I’ve never felt like this before.” She leaned her head up against Indy’s chest.
“Me neither,” Indy smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek, “I just had to come over today to make sure I wasn’t dreaming again.”
“You’re not,” Take Care looked up at him and giggled, unable to contain her giddiness as they kissed again.
Get Well stepped back, “Cautious Heart is right, it’s weird seeing you like this.” She smiled and shook her head.
The moment was interrupted when the front door opened again and Anger Heart walked in. Take Care’s doctor instincts took over in an instant as she and Indy separated and her normal serious demeanor returned. “Anger Heart? You should be resting.”
Anger Heart had either not noticed their intimate moment or it didn’t matter to him what he had seen. “Actually, I don’t think I need to.” His voice didn’t sound raspy at all.
Take Care was taken aback. “Alright, into the exam room.”
Once the exam was finished, Take Care had to check it twice to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. “Anger Heart… if I hadn’t checked you earlier this week I wouldn’t be able to tell you were even injured. I know Magi recover faster than normal Care Bears but this… even your foot calluses look like they’ve come back with years of development. Did you get magical healing?”
Anger Heart shook his head, “I didn’t get anyone to heal me, no, I just started feeling better every day after I woke up, until this morning when I felt back to normal.” He looked up at her.
Take Care was inclined to believe him but something told her he wasn’t being 100% truthful. “Do you know why this happened?”
“I think I do… it’s my kitsune powers.” Anger Heart looked back at his still single tail, “Life Heart said I’m a nascent Kyuubi which means my powers are still growing. I think they’re affected by my desires and emotions. I guess I just wanted to get better that badly.”
“I see.” Take Care did her best to understand magic, but it seemed like there was always one more unanswered question about how magic worked, and that was before she had to distinguish between magic and psionics. “Thank you for telling me. If you need to tell me anything else, then let me know.”
“OK.” Anger Heart slid off the exam table and left the office.
“He’s more worried than he’s letting you know,” Indy said as Take Care emerged from the office.
Take Care nodded, “Yeah, but much as I want to I can’t force it out of him.”
“I’m more worried about why he let himself be tortured instead of breaking out on his own.” Indy put an arm around Take Care’s shoulders and she leaned up against him. “Didn’t you let him go a little easy today?”
“No, not much else I could have done,” Take Care turned to look up at him, “Thanks for stopping by.” She gave Indy a kiss on the cheek. Indy turned and kissed her back. “I do have to finish organizing the place.”
“Alright,” Indy let go of Take Care as she returned to work, “Mind if I stick around.”
“Not at all, I shouldn’t be too much longer,” Take Care went back to re-organizing her desk.”
Indy went to Take Care’s living room to find something to read in the mean time.
OoOoO
“…and that’s all that happened in the last month or so,” Defender Bear sat with Futureheart Bear in the Great Fox’s cafeteria.
Futureheart was still wearing the Star Fox uniform he’d brought back from the future with him and now had his black and silver bladed sword strapped to his back. He folded his arms and nodded, “A lot of that didn’t happen the first time around, we didn’t even know Illyana existed or that Mental Heart was scouring the globe and killing the Care Bears that hadn’t been saved.” He stared down at the table in front of him, “we never knew, none of us ever knew why there were so many bears and so few of everyone else in the Care Bear Family… No-Heart took them all from us…” He shook his head, “Can’t dwell on it, this is still a huge improvement. Things are changing and I’m going to make sure they keep changing.” He stood up, “Alright, Defender, the next big moment is approaching. The U.N. meeting.”
“The one in two days?” Defender stood up and followed Futureheart as he headed for the exit.
Futureheart’s face was grim, “Yes. That was where things started going downhill. No-Heart will attack the assembly with a monster called a Nanomorph, a monster made out of nanomachines. Several of the delegates will be killed before it’s destroyed. The Star Fox Team will be accused of sending it and since we harbored them we’ll be cut off from the human governments and our search for No-Heart will be massively delayed, which gives him all the time he needs to strike, and unleash The Prank on us.”
“You mentioned The Prank before, what is it,” Defender asked as they reached the exit ramp in the hangar bay.
“A much more powerful Nanomorph, one we were never able to destroy,” Futureheart stopped, “It killed Anger Heart, Good Luck, Polite, Guidance Heart, Flair Heart, Champ…and Love-a-Lot before the world was destroyed.” He clenched his fists, “Not this time, I won’t let it happen this time.”
Defender had walked past Futureheart and turned to face him as he looked up, “Well then, we need to be ready for the U.N. meeting. I’ll be accompanying Tenderheart since Love Heart’s taking a vacation. What do we need to know?”
Futureheart resumed his walk, “First thing we need to do is make sure we don’t look like we know the attack is coming or the nations will get suspicious, and you’ll need to bring backup under the excuse of needing increased security.”
“I’ll bring Anger Heart, he’s recovered since his imprisonment and he should have the power we need to fight it,” Defender said.
“Also, the Nanomorph’s keystone is a powerful cooling unit created by Professor Cold Heart called the Zhivago Module, to counteract the heat friction built up by all the nanomachines moving around. It can be disabled by a Care Bear Stare but you can’t use it right away, make it look like a last ditch effort or it will look suspicious…”
OoOoO
Anger Heart was nervous as he was dressed in what could be described as his uniform: red dress shirt and pants, thankfully not too restrictive. He admitted he envied Defender being able to wear his normal cargo shorts and shirt along with his blue cloak with the red trim.
The guard at the U.N. building eyed them as they approached with Tenderheart Bear and Fox McCloud. “Who are you? Where is General Love Heart?”
Defender didn’t flinch as he replied, “General Love Heart is on leave, I am Colonel Defender Bear, Love Heart’s second-in-command. I will be filling his place for the foreseeable future. This is Lieutenant Anger Heart Fox; he is accompanying me as additional security because of the threats against our people as of late.”
The guard checked the notes he had been given, which had ID pictures of the two on them, “Alright, you’re cleared to go.”
Anger Heart was just grateful he hadn’t been asked to say anything as he and Defender Bear took up positions at the top of the hall, instead of in the waiting room like Love Heart usually did. Tenderheart went to his seat with Fox at his side as they waited for the meeting to start.
Defender Bear kept looking around the room, trying to spot the Nanomorph, at the very least standing at the ready didn’t raise any suspicions. Anger Heart was doing the same until Tenderheart was asked to speak.
“Tenderheart Bear, how is the progress on technology trading with Star Fox?”
Tenderheart turned to Fox, who nodded for him to speak. “We’ve managed to finalize most of the trade, but Star Fox can’t provide us with physical trades, they’re a mercenary craft and all the equipment they brought with them is needed for their mission. However, we have secured schematics for most of their non-military technology: star and warp engine technology, alloys, food replicators and experimental alloys. We can provide these schematics to all member nations within a week as long as we have time to translate them.”
“No military technology?” one member questioned.
“I agree with that, such weaponry would be too dangerous if our history is any indication,” another said, “what about medical technology?”
“Actually, our medical and science teams in the Kingdom of Caring have medical technology that surpasses what Lylat has to offer,” Tenderheart couldn’t help but smile as he heard Fox cough in embarrassment, “According to their team’s mechanic, Slippy Toad, the only thing they have that we don’t is advanced cybernetic prosthetics but they don’t have the schematics for those onboard as they are the property of medical research groups back in their home system.”
“Hey, is something wrong?”
Defender’s attention was drawn to a pair of other security guards nearby, one of whom was twitching and jittering around. The guard’s clothes dissolved as his body was replaced by a shivering grey mass.
“Holy shit!” the other guard drew his sidearm and pointed it at the grey mass, “Hands up! Hold still!”
“Everyone get down!” Defender Bear pulled out his sword a moment too late as the nanomorph skewered the guard. Delegates dove under their desks as shots from other guards rang out. The nanomorph ignored them, the bullets having no effect on it’s body.
“Anger Heart help me!” Defender charged at the nanomorph slicing into it with his sword. He cut a deep gash into the monster’s side but it just sealed up a moment later.
Anger Heart jumped over the nearest desk to get in front of the nanomorph as it surged forwards to try and attack one of the delegates. “Stay back!” Anger Heart shot a blast of fire at the nanomorph, which dissipated harmlessly off its front. Anger Heart gulped then focused as it surged forwards. A ball of blue fire appeared in his hand as his tail split into eight and he shot the fire forwards. The blue stream enveloped the nanomorph for an instant before Anger Heart cut off the flow. The floor was scorched but the nanomorph hadn’t even been stalled. Anger Heart was riveted to the spot, staring at the monster as it advanced. He tried to step away but missed his step and felt backwards down the aisle.
Defender Bear jumped in, lightning jumping from his hand to his sword as he stuck it into the nanomorph. It had the desired effect as the monster stopped in its place, it’s component pieces short circuiting for a moment.
Fox looked up from where he had dropped at the fight in progress, “I wish I had my blaster.”
“I think I see an opening,” Tenderheart stood up right as Phoenix cut a huge piece out of the nanomorph, “Care Bear Stare!”
The bright red beam lanced out from Tenderheart’s tummy symbol (or rather the pattern on his suit over his actual symbol) and struck the nanomorph dead on. At first it looked like nothing had happened, then the what sounded like static began to pour out of the nanomorph’s body, its movements slowing until it collapsed forwards in what could be best described as a pile of goo.
The air in the room hung still as Defender poked the remains with his sword, only relaxing when it didn’t move. “It’s dead, whatever it is.”
Other guards approached, one pulling out a plastic bag he used to scoop up some of the remains with, “We need to study this.” He turned to Tenderheart who had collapsed in his seat, “How did you know that would work?”
“I didn’t, I just had to try something.” Tenderheart didn’t want to lie about this, but he had to keep the rest of the assembly from getting suspicious.
“Then this meeting is adjourned until we get answers about what that… thing is,” the secretary general stood up from behind his podium where he had ducked when the machine went on a rampage.
Defender had sheathed his sword behind his cloak then ran over to the security guard the nanomorph had skewered, thankfully he was still alive so it just took some of defender’s phoenix magic to bring him around and heal the injury. Once the guard was stable, Defender turned to Anger Heart, who still sat on the floor, forcing his tails back into one through sheer force of will. He looked over to Tenderheart, who nodded, “If the meeting is adjourned, we’d like to take our leave.” Once they got the go ahead, the four members of the Care Bear Family were outside and flying back to their home.
OoOoO
“Sorry to pull you away from your family,” Defender apologized to Love Heart as they walked in step with each other towards Anger Heart’s house.
“It’s alright. Just because I’m on leave from missions doesn’t mean I won’t get involved in serious situations, besides I’ve been meaning to talk to Anger Heart ever since his rescue.” Love Heart had decided to wear his general’s uniform for this occasion and he tugged at the collar, which seemed to feel tighter than normal.
Anger Heart was sitting on his couch when the front door opened, seemingly lost in thought until Love Heart cleared his throat. Anger Heart looked up at Love Heart and waited for the green bear clad in his general’s uniform to speak.
“Lieutenant Anger Heart Fox, Colonel Defender Bear told me what happened at the U.N. meeting earlier today, how you froze up after barely attempting to fight the nanomorph monster that attacked you. I want an explanation now.” Love Heart didn’t raise his voice but the edge to it told Anger Heart he was in serious trouble.
“I was scared,” Anger Heart said.
“Of that monster? That’s not like you. Look at me, Anger Heart.” Love Heart tried to keep his voice level as Anger Heart looked him in the eyes.
“No, of my powers, I was afraid I might burn up everyone around me, set the building on fire and bring it down on everyone’s heads.”
“Is that also why you didn’t try to escape from your imprisonment earlier this month?” Love Heart dropped the serious demeanor and walked over to the couch, taking a seat next to the fox.
“It’s more than that.” Anger Heart stared into his lap as Defender walked closer, “When I was held captive over a decade ago and I thought Guidance died… I lost control.” Anger Heart Fox gripped his knees, shaking as he spoke, “I killed everyone in that facility, I vaporized it without a second thought, I still see the scared face of the scientist as I turned them to ash while Doctor Fright ran away but it didn’t matter to me, all I cared about at that moment was destroying that evil place!” Anger Heart grabbed the sides of his head, “I’ve had to live with that for years, and what’s been happening since. I went to Life Heart and she said that I’m a nascent kyuubi which means my powers are growing, I can feel them growing every day no matter how much I try to hold them back. It’s getting harder and harder to keep my tails hidden and I know I’m going to snap someday and reach that apex, and then I have no idea what I’m going to become. I’m scared that I’m going to burn up everyone and everything I care about and I can’t let myself slip even for a minute or I could end everything even before No-Heart does!”
Anger Heart sat there, shaking, as Love Heart and Defender shared a look for a moment before Love Heart stood up. “Lieutenant Anger Heart Fox, in light of these revelations I’m putting you on leave until further notice. You will not participate in any combat missions until I say so but you may continue to train with us and join us for meetings.”
Anger Heart looked up at Love Heart, speechless.
Love Heart sighed, “I’m sorry, but you clearly need time to sort this out and I can’t have you freezing up or hesitating in a critical situation. Take time off to spend with your family, sort this out and decide what you’re going to do with it. Have a good day.”
“Thank you, Love Heart,” Anger Heart said. Neither Love Heart nor Defender turned to say anything.
“Think that was a bit much?” Love Heart asked once they were certain they were out of earshot from the door.
Defender shook his head, “No. He needs this time, even if it takes him longer than this war to sort it out.”
Love Heart smiled, “Thanks,” he undid the top of his uniform, “I need to get out of this uniform.”
Back at the house, Guidance and Flair emerged from behind the doorframe where they had been listening. Flair walked up to his father, “Dad, are you going to be alright?”
Anger Heart reached down and lifted his son up onto his lap, “I don’t know, but I’m going to be spending more time at home now.”
“Anger Heart, you didn’t have to keep this a secret,” Guidance sat down next to him, “You can always talk to us.”
Anger Heart smiled, “Thank you.” They leaned together and kissed. “I think I’ll get supper started.” Flair got off his lap as Anger Heart headed for the kitchen.
