THE SPACE CUBE MISSION

CHAPTER 1: DARKNESS RISES

The Science Cube had been in the news a lot recently. Wish faintly heard the TV program going in the living room as she and Funshine were playing an alien space arcade game. Cheer Bear was watching the tube since she had just gotten back from roller skating with Champ Bear.

"Wasn't the Cube attacked recently?" Funshine Bear asked in between turns.

It had. The Cube was a huge scientific base out in space, but it was a very unique and elite place. It was made of light green clouds, and was 1 mile in every dimension. The inside was huge, and there were so many levels that held scientific mysteries and tests that Wish couldn't even imagine half of them. The Care Bears had never been there before as there were no problems up until now.

"Yes, I think it was, by the Evil Bears. I wonder what they want with it."

"Me, too." Funshine agreed, shooting more aliens with perfect accuracy, "I don't know about you, but I hope those Evil Bears knock it off. It's not funny."

Wish nodded, and Funshine let her play the next round. She shot down only a handful of enemies, and smiled proudly. She wasn't as good as Funshine, but she was having just the same amount of fun. Unfortunately, she lost the game.

Just then, Cheer came into the room to see what they were up to. She had her usual hop in her step and the room seemed to brighten even more with her presence.

"Hey, fighting the aliens again, aren't we?" Cheer said to Wish.

"Yeah. It's always good to keep our skills stellar." that got a hearty laugh out of all of them, but it quickly vanished.

"Oh my colors guys, did you hear what happened on the news?" Cheer asked both of them, struggling to remain positive, "Its not good. Not only have the Evil Bears attacked Science Bear's cube, it's also having an effect here. The Care-a-lot National Space Center relies on the Space Cube as a partner in science. Things are going to go from bad to worse if someone doesn't lend a helping paw…"

"Really? I didn't know that." Wish said, shrugging.

Just as she said that, Tenderheart's voice boomed through the Hall of Hearts loudspeaker. He said, "Attention Hall of Hearts, I'm requesting everyone joins a family meeting at the heart-shaped table in five minutes, please!"

He wasn't exactly requesting, it was an order. Nonetheless, Wish, Cheer, and Funshine all looked at each other questionably. Would this meeting be about the Space Cube? Probably so, Wish thought.

The three of them joined the other Bears were gathering around the table. Wish sat in her usual spot.

As expected, Grumpy, Grams, Hugs and Tugs, Bedtime, and Love-a-lot came in last. Love-a-lot was pampering herself with blush and fixing the new bow in her hair, and Grumpy was muttering to himself under his breath, probably about having to come to another meeting again. Grams tried to take away the toys from the cubs, but it seemed they were content in playing with their rocket ship and astronaut figures. Hugs made space noises that kind of disrupted the serious atmosphere.

"Wee!" Tugs said, making the astronaut jump through space, "Boing! Boing! Look, I'm space walking!"

"Space walking? A nap sounds better…" Bedtime yawned.

"Thank you for joining. Alright Care Bears, let's get down to business. I requested you all come to this meeting because as I'm sure of it, you all have heard of the recent attacks on the Space Cube, owned by Science Bear." Tenderheart started.

"Why hasn't anyone done anything about this yet?" Grumpy asked, "Shouldn't the Care-a-lot National Space Center have this all under control?"

"It should, yes, Grumpy, but it doesn't. That's why… we need to help Science Bear save his cube. I first want a show of paws to see who would like to come and help volunteer to save Science Bear and his Cube."

Wish's paw was up in a flash. "I want to help!"

Then, Funshine, Cheer, Friend, Grams, Hugs and Tugs, and Share put up their paws. Wish was disappointed that none of the other Bears did. So was Tenderheart.

"Well, 6 Bears can't run a space ship. We're going on the Happiness this time. Now that I know who really wants to go, I'm going to ask the rest of the family to come along on this journey. We need everyone to help."

"What do those pesky Evil Bears want with Science Bear? I'd love to know." Love-a-lot said, only half paying attention.

"Love-a-lot, my sweetheart. I thought you knew already. Well, in case any of you don't, the Evil Bears are attacking Science Bear's Cube because they want a new project he's been working on. What it is, I'm not so sure."

"Oh, I love it when you call me sweetheart." she swooned, and fluttered her eyes at him, not really paying attention to the rest of what he was saying.

"Love-a-lot, why don't you knock it off?" Share poked her best friend's side.

"Hey! I love going on space missons." she said, crossing her arms and pouting.

"Well I didn't see your paw up first, like Wish Bear." Tenderheart pointed out, and most of the Bears nodded in agreement.

"Ugh. You're so unappreciative, my teddy bear."

Tenderheart blushed and everyone gave him a strange eye. He coughed to get everyone's attention again.

"Sorry, Love-a-lot. But please, pay attention and at least act like you care. Okay. We're all going on this mission to help Science Bear. We leave for the Care-a-lot National Space Center to board Happiness this afternoon." he said, "And that's final. We will learn more at the Space Center."

"Can we come too?" the cubs both squealed a little too loudly.

"Only as long as you are on your best behavior…" Tenderheart reminded them. He was glad that they had put their paws up earlier.

"We will be!" They then dismissed themselves, with Hugs' space ship zooming after the astronaut.

"I will keep a stellar eye on them." Grams said with a wink.

The Care Bears cleaned up the Hall of Hearts, and packed PJs, blankets and anything else they would want on Happiness to remind them of home while they were travelling. They could only bring one bag aboard, and Love-a-lot complained about this so loudly that everyone could hear it upstairs.

"But how am I going to get all of my make up in one bag? Explain that, Tenderheart!" she screamed. Wish winced at her harshness, and wondered why she was making such a big deal of every little thing.

"Ugh. Why is she doing this… we have more important— uh, more scientific things to worry about!" Wish said to herself as she finished packing the last of her wishing stuff into her Mary Poppins style bag. No one told her she couldn't bring it. Besides, it was just one bag. Weight didn't matter to it, she could put anything inside.

"And I want to bring my vanity!" Love-a-lot wailed.

Wish had enough. She zipped up her bag, now that everything was inside. She stomped over to Love-a-lot's bedroom.

"This is a mission of scientific and caring importance!" Wish said, barging into Love-a-lot's room, and found Tenderheart splattered with a rainbow of make-up and he glittered too. He blinked at her with surprise. Wish gave him a strange look, but all he wanted was for her to help him.

"Forget the make-up, or bring just what you absoultely need!" Wish crossed her arms.

"How long is this voyage?" she asked.

"A few weeks, a month maybe." Tenderheart said, "It will be a week to get there, a week to come back. And we spend seven days there."

"Oh, that's too long! I need all of my make-up, Wish Bear!"

Wish rolled her eyes. Love-a-lot tried forcing a bag close, but of course, was having no luck at all. It was jammed packed, and bursting at the seams with pink scarves, slippers and nightgowns. Then Wish came up with a solution. Wish herself didn't personally like it, but it was the only reasonable thing she could come up with.

"I'll wish your make-up when you need it." she said, finally.

"Really? But… it won't be the same as mine."

"Do you want my offer, or no make-up at all on the ship?" Wish said.

"Teddy bear, why aren't you helping me out?"

"Look at the mess I'm in!" he said, showing her how much make-up and glitter was on him. He tried wiping it off, but that only made it worse.

"Oh boy. You really need to learn how to do your make-up right. It's quite a disaster. And fine, Wish Bear, I'll take your offer. But I'm not going to be happy." she said, "You have no idea how much I love my make up."

"I do, actually. Forget the make up and accessories, you only need PJs."

"Fine. Miss bossy. Get out of my room! Both of you! Geesh, can't a girl have some breathing room while she packs?" she pushed both of them out.

"She's really a pawful." Tenderheart sighed quietly so Love-a-lot couldn't hear. Love-a-lot was playing some loud and annoying pop music while she packed and Wish wanted to back away from her door as much as she could.

"I can wish that off you if you want. You look like a messy rainbow smoothie." she offered.

"Thank you, but I think I can handle this mess. Besides, I have a feeling I should be fresh and clean before our trip to the Space Center." Tenderheart said, and rushed off to the bathroom.

Then Wish went to go see how Funshine was doing with his packing.

"What was all that yelling?" Funshine asked, scratching his head, "Love-a-lot getting into a make-up fit again?"

"Yeah. She wanted to bring all her make-up, and her vanity. I told her I'd wish her up her make-up on the voyage."

"Oh. Hey, are you using that Mary Poppins bag?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah but I don't want to abuse it." she poked his shoulder.

"Aw, I was just wondering if you could squeeze in my Wii device…"

Wish laughed kindly and said, "I don't think there'll be time for that."

"Oh well it was worth the shot. Ready for a stellar adventure? To boldly go where no Care Bear has gone before?" he asked and tickled her.

"Ha ha ha ha, yes I am!" she pushed way from him, after she ruffled his yellow hair. It was so much easier to hang out with Funshine than it was with Love-a-lot.

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, one that she found herself starry-eyed over. It was sweet and soft and filled with pure happiness. She kissed him back the same way, and then she skipped away to lock her room up and bring her bag downstairs.

The Care Bears got all packed up, then had a quick sandwich lunch, and were all ready to go. They hopped into their cloud cars. Wish, Funshine, Bedtime, and Cheer all shared one cloud car and everyone followed Tenderheart. Tenderheart shared a car with Love-a-lot, Grams, and the two cubs. Share, Friend, Good Luck, and Grumpy were in another. Then they turned on the radio, and followed Tenderheart to the Care-a-lot National Space Center.