That Which Springs Eternal

Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins owned by their own individual companies. This story is based on the Nelvana series but the story plot is mine. Be advised there are some rather dark scenes in here, hence the PG-13 or T+ rating but nothing overly graphic. That said, I hope you enjoy.

Chapter One

Thunder and lightning were well known for putting No-Heart in a good mood, one reason his castle was located where it was. The dark atmosphere and thundering light was a comfort to him and he found it an easy environment to plot in for more than one reason. It was dark which meant that spying eyes were not a common occurrence. Its location made it hard for even the Care Bears, without good motivation, to enter. They, for the most part, steered clear of his domain.

No Heart had his other reasons for this location as well. Perhaps it was something he would sooner forget but at one point in time, he had been human, many centuries ago. He had begun to forget that fact but occasionally, he would draw on those forgotten memories to try and plan ways to rid the world of that disgusting caring he so despised.

Thus, what he was doing presently.

He sat, overlooking his Thunderpit, tapping his fingers along the stone. His Thunderpit was not something of his own creation, not entirely in any event. It was an accumulation of many dark auras, from all aspects of history. Every time an atrocity occurred, the feelings gathered and his Thunderpit grew ever stronger. At its base were the core aspects of evil, things that permeated his very being for that very pit was what had transformed him into this everliving vessel of hate.

Reciting them in his ancient tongue, he pondered his options:

"Luxuria, gula, avaritia, acedia, ira, invidia, superbia."

Those seven aspects tossed, turned and grew at the base of his Thunderpit, fed by every atrocity committed by the world. Unfortunately, with every atrocity came those willing to oppose it so the amount of evil that his pit could absorb was dulled significantly. The Care Bears and their Cousins had made the amount of evil influence he was able to absorb become almost nonexistent.

The very thought made him clench his fists in anger, growling a deep almost demonic snort deep in his throat. Normally, he would have taken such frustrations out on Beastly but the odd pig-like servant was working away in another section of the castle and No Heart was loathe to bring him into this chamber where he was more than likely to destroy something he could use.

As for Shreeky, she was probably planning her own ways of bringing some type of discomfort to the world and that made No Heart smirk slightly under his hood. She was certainly more useful than Beastly was but for the moment her shrieks were silent which made it all the easier to think. No Heart eyed the pits of the curled yellow clouds, once again considering his options.

To use the seven elements that made up his Thunderpit would eliminate the Care Bears and their cousins easily enough; in fact, it would probably be little more than a trifle when all was said and done but it would also render him pretty much powerless. That was not something he was willing to endure. He didn't only need to eliminate the Care Bears but he also needed to be able to launch an attack on the earth when he was done with them.

There in laid the problem.

Even his most powerful spell at the moment would be easily defeated by the Care Bears. He ground his nails into the stone by his side, then blinked and his muscles relaxed.

"…rather complicated…draining but more than enough to wipe out at least half."

He may have been rendered powerless by using the elements themselves but the demons that reigned within them were easily accessible, with the right spell.

He was wary about summoning their lead demons however. He had not lived for centuries by being a fool. A commander of such powerful elements as he was considering would easily have a way to eliminate him from the picture. No, what he needed were creatures that had reign within but not total control. Lesser demons that he could easily persuade to do his bidding without having the risk of them overpowering him.

No Heart got to his feet and began to flip through his books, seeking out just the right spell for each element and writing down what he needed for them to be summoned in his fine penmanship.

"Jewelry from Old Babylon."

"White hairs from the hills of Old Persia."

"Basket Fibers from Ruins in European Fields"

"Ash from Ancient Arabia Fires"

"White Fabric from Burial Cloth of Japan"

"Ancient Roman whip"

"Sword from Ancient India."

They were very difficult artifacts to find and he found himself writing down detailed directions next to each element, including where the land was in today's standards, where the element was most likely to be found and its physical description. The amount of preparation for such a spell was immeasurable. It would take him two weeks at the least to gather enough power and strength. Two weeks should be sufficient for Beastly and Shreeky to gather the ingredients. He usually did not assign his niece to such missions; her talents were far better used as an aggressive opponent in physical confrontation. In a battle, she had a ruthlessness that almost made him pity his opponents and definitely showed that they shared even a faint trace of the same bloodline. Still, he would not hesitate to have her take on mundane chores either, much to her dismay.

Likewise, he thought that if the two were split up then there was a far greater chance of them succeeding and hopefully of the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins not taking note of his activities. He would be vulnerable for quite some time, until the spell was complete, enough so that even his shadows would be absent.

No, that was too much quiet. Without he or another stirring up trouble, those wretched bears became suspicious and usually caught onto his plans. He would need to keep them distracted somehow or another. He needed both Beastly and Shreeky and to be honest neither one of them were much trouble without his intervention. Shreeky had promise but she had yet to come to her prime as of yet.

No Heart snarled, a sound deep, deep in his throat. He was not known for working well with partners but it seemed that he would need some kind of partner to keep those wretched furballs distracted and busy while he prepared himself. Disgusted slightly at the concept but willing to endure it if it would enable him his victor, the dark wizard summoned up his tornado and was gone with nary a word.