Rise and Fall

Part 2:  Denouement

            "The price one pays for pursuing any profession, or calling, is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side."  -- James Baldwin

            Once the meeting at the Hall of Hearts had been adjourned, True Heart Bear and Noble Heart Horse had Phoenix Audubon, who had been newly named, "Defender Bear", follow them around Care-a-Lot.  "Defender Bear", True Heart said, "we appreciate you telling us about yourself, so I think we should let you know about the Care Bear Family's history.  Like yours, our story also starts 20 years ago.  Noble Heart and I were called on by the Great Wishing Star to gather orphaned animals all over the world and care for them.  All of these animals, and us, were to become one loving family, entrusted with a vital duty—to protect the people of the earth below, and to protect their feelings so they would be able to express them freely and spread their love all over the world.  In fact, it was because of a villain named Dark Heart who sought to spread hatred across the world that the Care Bear Family was formed.  He actually tried to stop us from saving the cubs.  He only managed to succeed once…" she trailed off at this point.

            "No, if you were thinking about apologizing, you don't have to." Phoenix assured her.  "From what I've heard so far, this Dark Heart was a real threat to everyone.  Besides," he said with a smile, "I not only ended up all right, but I'm a part of this family.  I'd call that a victory."

            Noble Heart chuckled.  "Well, Defender, if I didn't know any better, I'd say your shyness has passed."

            He shrugged.  "You think so? Well, I guess I'm getting the hang of this 'friends and family' concept better than I thought I would.  But, if you don't mind my asking, I'd like to know more about this 'Great Wishing Star.'"

            "The Wishing Star is just that," Noble Heart explained, "He's a star situated on the far side of Care-a-Lot, above the highest mountain.  He is the one who grants wishes to the people on Earth.  And, since his happiness is seeing the people happy, he has asked us to safeguard the earth from those who would seek to wipe out the joy and affection of human beings.

            "In turn, the Great Wishing Star gave us Care-a-Lot and the Forest of Feelings as a home, and provides us with whatever we need."

            "But, I can assure you, Defender Bear, that you don't have to worry about answering to the Great Wishing Star, or being closely watched, or anything like that.  We are all grateful for what the Wishing Star's given us, but we are allowed to live by our own decisions," True Heart interposed.  "Of course, if you ask any of us, we would do our mission even without our 'obligations'."

"I see," the new recruit replied.  It was a bit more information than he had expected, but at least now he didn't have to worry about asking again.

The party soon stopped in front of a house.  True Heart Bear presented Defender Bear with a pair of keys and piece of paper.  "Welcome to your house, Defender Bear.  Here are the keys to your door.  And, this paper has a list of people you'll need to see so they can help you settle in a bit.  Don't worry, there's a map on that back that'll tell you where to go.  If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask.  Well, Noble Heart and I have some matters to look over now, so we'll leave you to take care of yourself.  Good-bye!"

With that, they started to walk away.  Phoenix looked at the simple, silver-colored keys for a second, put one into the lock, turned it, and opened the door to his new home.  It was only one room, but it was a large room, and well furnished, as it had a large bed, a sofa, a television set, a desk and lamp, and a dresser complete with a mirror.  He had been carrying his clothes under his arm since his induction ceremony, so he decided to dress himself, and took a look in the mirror, with his new tummy symbol.  He looked himself over, and made several poses to get a good look at his new appearance.  Hmmm, he thought to himself, I'd say it looks all right.  Goes with my cloak pretty well.  He opened another door, which led to his bathroom.  To most people, it wasn't anything special—just a bathtub, a shower, a sink, and a medicine cabinet—but for Phoenix, who had lived in a cave all his life, it was like a far away luxury.  "This sure beats the pond," he said out loud.  He looked back into the main room, and he eyes were fixed on the bed.  It had been a long day, and was quite ready to sleep the rest of it away, but then he remembered the list the two leaders had given him.  He sighed in concession, and said, "Might as well knock these out.  He stepped outside, locked his door and pocketed the keys, then started to walk through the town, towards the first destination on the list.

· 1.) Grams Bear—Clothing

Phoenix wasn't really sure what to make of this one.  He'd only seen a few Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins wear clothes, and the rest went without, and neither side seemed to mind the other.  As long as it isn't fashion tips, he thought, rolling his eyes, and then knocked on the door.  He heard a gentle voice call out, "Come in," so he opened the door and went inside.  He found a gray-haired bear knitting a quilt while rocking in a chair.  When she looked up to see who had come to visit, she smiled and said, "Oh, it's you!  Defender Bear, isn't it?  My, you're a handsome young bear!  Don't tell me—you're here for your wardrobe, aren't you?"

"Um, well, I guess.  You see, I was just…" Phoenix started to say.

"…Following the list?  Well, don't you worry, because Grams Bear will give you all the clothes you'll need!  And, they'll even have your tummy symbol on them!" she announced with a wink of her eye.

"Oh, if it's custom-made, I can come back at a later time to pick them up."

"Nonsense!  I'll take care of you right now," Grams said, and then she sat up from her chair, and beckoned to Defender for him to follow her.  She opened a door at the back of her room, which led to a dark room.  She flipped the switch on the wall, and fluorescent lights revealed a moderately sized, gray brick room, with metal shelves, each one stuffed with all different kinds of garments and fabrics.  "Now, if you'll just follow me, we'll pick out what you need.  Let's see here, we'll give you some pajamas, and even a cap to go with it," Grams giggled slightly, as she set the outfits into Phoenix's arms.  "Okay, now, you could use a slicker, and here's a southwester to complement it.  What else…oh, I know, some overalls for doing some dirty work, and some sweats for when you're exercising.  Oh, right, and you'll need some shoes for that, and some boots and galoshes for bad weather, and…Ah!  I know!  A tuxedo for those formal occasions!  Now, did you want a black suit, or white?"

"Um, white," he managed to reply, as the pile of clothes began to weigh heavily in his hands.

"Perfect!  This'll do nicely," as she added it to the top of the stack, along with a white button shirt to finish the set.  "Now, I think you'll need some towels for your bathroom, and an extra set of sheets for your bed.  Hmmm, I think that's all, unless you have a special request?"

"No…" he grunted, deciding he'd save questions for later.  As Defender Bear tried to turn around to leave, he accidentally tripped his left foot over something on the floor, which caused him to lose his balance.  He tried to move to stabilize himself and his clothing, but it was in vain, as he ended up spinning slightly, and he let out an "Oomph!" as he fell on his back.  He opened his just in time to see the clothes fall right on top of him.

"Oh, my!  Are you all right, Defender Bear?" Grams asked in concern.

She heard a muffled voice from beneath all the garments, "Just…fine."  Phoenix sat up on the floor, and pulled the pair of sweatpants partially covering his face off his head.  "But, if I may ask, Grams Bear, how will you have time to put my symbol on all of these?"

She chuckled, and then said, "Oh, I won't have to.  Just pick up something, and you'll see."

Phoenix looked around him, and spotted one of the white sweatshirts.  As he held it by its sleeves, the fabric began to sparkle, and in a matter of seconds, his eyes widened as he saw his tummy symbol fade onto the sweatshirt.  He gasped slightly.  "How…How did…How did you do that?"

Grams Bear smiled.  "You didn't think you'd be the only one with some magic, now, did you?  Now, let's get you and your stuff off this floor."  Once everything had been collected, Grams asked.  "Are you sure you'll be alright getting all this back to your home?"  To which the white bear replied, "I'm sure it's nothing a little magic won't help me with."  With that, he lowered his eyes as he stared at the pile of things, then he put his arms out in front him, which caused all the items to begin to float above the floor.

"Well, aren't you the resourceful one?" said Grams Bear.  "Well, if you need anything else, you be sure to find me.  Enjoy your new outfits, little darling."

"Oh, I'm sure I will.  Bye-bye!"  With that, he walked out, followed by two hovering stacks of new clothes.  When Defender Bear got back to his place, he gestured with hands to command the flying fabric to set itself on the bed.  With that done, he let out a sigh, and thought to himself, Boy, I guess they wear more clothes than I thought!  Oh, well, let's see what's next on this list.  He reached into one of his vest pockets, and pulled out the folded piece of paper.  He found a pen inside of the drawers of his desk, crossed off the first item, and then looked to the next.

· 2.) Bright Heart Raccoon—Equipment

When Defender Bear located the next house, he noticed that it was larger than his house, and for that matter, most of the other houses.  When he entered the door, he realized why: half of the structure looked like a workshop.  Phoenix saw shelves full of mechanical contraptions, some with wires twisting from all sides, others with gears, chains, and sprockets, and some simply burnt to a crisp.  Tables also held gizmos and gadgets, along with sketches and blueprints.  Light bulbs with conical shades hung low from the ceiling, illuminating only areas that had significance.  At one end of the room, Phoenix saw brief, intermittent flashes of white light.  As he moved closer towards it, he heard a faint buzzing with some crackling noise, and then, he came up on a fairly large machine. It was shiny, and had tires, but its purpose escaped him.  The sounds and lights were coming from a purple raccoon in khaki-colored overalls, wearing a face shield and bent over as he used an arc welder to attach a metal plate to the side of the machine.

"Excuse me," Defender said, raising his index finger into the air slightly to get the inventor's attention.  The shielded face looked towards him, and then the raccoon flipped the switch on the welder to turn it off, and then raised the shield to show a friendly countenance underneath.  "Oh, hi there, Defender Bear," he said.  "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thank you," replied Phoenix.  "I hate to bother you, but I've got this list of things to get done, and your name happened to be next."

"Oh, that's no problem!  If you'll just follow me, I've got some things to give you."

"Heh-heh. Great," Defender Bear said, half-enthused.  Am I going to be buried alive under stuff again, he thought to himself.

Bright Heart walked to a metal locker and opened the doors.  First, he handed Phoenix a small, heart-shaped device.  "This is your Caring Beeper," he explained, "And, this is your cell phone.  The numbers for each of them are on the back.  By the way, do you know how to use these things?"

"Well, I've heard of them from the phoenix…" He was a little embarrassed by the question.  "But, hey, they don't seem too complex.  I'm sure I'll figure them out in no time!"

"Okay.  That should be all you need.  If you see anything you'd like in here, let me know."  The white bear was about to say something, until a small, black object on one of the tables caught his eye.  He approached it for a closer look.

"Wow, I know what this is. It's a laptop computer!"

The raccoon giggled.  "Yep.  Would you like to have it?"

Phoenix turned around and faced Bright Heart.  "Really?  You mean it?"

"Sure, go ahead.  I already have one, so you can take this one.  I've just upgraded it, so it should run really well.  Plus, there's cable Internet access in everyone's house, so I'll just give you some cables, and you'll be ready to go!"

"Gee, thanks a lot, Bright Heart.  Now, can I ask one more question?"

"Sure, what is it?"

Defender Bear looked towards the creation the raccoon had been working on.  "What's that supposed to be?"

"Oh, that?  That's going to be a vehicle that can move in any kind of terrain," Bright Heart proudly boasted.  "Where no ordinary car could go, this baby will be able to power through, all with room for four!"

"Gosh, it seems so, so…heavy."

"It has to be tough enough if it goes through rocky roads, or snow storms," said Bright Heart.  "Say, Defender Bear, while you're still here, can you help me out?  They say you can use magic, like, right?  I was wondering if you could help me weld this sheet of metal onto the vehicle."

Defender Bear looked at the shiny, paper-sized sheet metal, and decided, "Okay, I can give it a shot."  As they walked back towards the truck-like invention, Defender lifted up his left hand, and soon, the entire glove was surrounded by fire.  After staring at it for a few seconds, he said, "Hmmm, this is probably too much for this sheet."  He lifted up his index finger, and concentrated on it.  The fire on the hand diminished everywhere else except for the finger, which now had a small, but powerful flame, just like a torch.  He looked behind him, and asked Bright Heart, "Should I have some protective eyewear, also?"

"I'm sure I have a set around here," the inventor said, looking around.  "Here.  Try these on," as he handed the magic-user a set of goggles with dark lenses.  Defender used his right hand to secure them over his eyes, and when he was ready, Bright Heart handed him the piece of steel.  Defender held it to the body of the vehicle, and by following the edge of the metal with his lit finger, being sure to cover the space thoroughly, fused the sheet to the body.  When he finished, he blew the flame on his finger out, and lifted his goggles to view his work.

"I think that looks good.  What do you think?"

Bright Heart examined the side closely.  "Hey, you did that pretty well!  Thanks for your help, Defender Bear."

"You're welcome.  Well, I think I better finish this list here.  I guess I'll see you around," said Phoenix as he started to walk out.

"Okay, bye-bye!"  Bright Heart replied, giving his vehicle a look over.  "Hmmm, I think it's ready for a test-drive soon."

· 3.) Brave Heart Lion—Training Information

With this being the second to last task to complete on his list, Defender Bear was eager to get this item done.  After dropping off his new tools, he set out to find the leader of the Care Bear Cousins.  Once he found the correct house, he knocked on the door loudly.  But, after a minute or so of waiting, no one answered.  He was about to turn around to leave, until he had heard a "ROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!" from the back of the house.  Defender walked around, and sure enough, there was Brave Heart, practicing his roars while standing under a tree.  When he noticed that the lion was facing away from the house, Defender Bear suddenly had a very sneaky idea.  He crept up silently behind Brave Heart, and just as the lion finished taking in a deep breath, Defender Bear let out a magically altered scream—the yells of several different birds calling in unison.

Needless to say, Brave Heart was intensely shocked by the unexpected racket, which caused him to let out a "Yaaaaaaaaaah!!!" as he shot up into the air, grabbing a tree limb on his way up, and wrapping himself around it like his life depended on it.  On the ground, the guilty party giggled once, then bust out into full laughter, dropping to the ground and clutching his sides while rolling around.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Brave Heart complained, clearly not sharing in the bear's enjoyment.  He relaxed his legs, dangling only by his arms, and then let go of the branch completely. Landing on his feet, his hands on his waist, and a prominent scowl on his face, the lion stood over Defender Bear, who was still lying on the ground.

"I…I'm sorry, Brave Heart," the bear managed to say while panting from all the laughter.  "It was just that…Well, you seemed to have your guard down, and…It was such an open opportunity…"

"Then, I take it you've overcome your shyness," he asked sarcastically.

Defender got up off the ground.  "It appears so.  Yes, I think I'm fitting in just fine.  Now, I know I came here for a real reason…Oh, right!  I came here about this list," he said, showing the paper to Brave Heart.  "All right," he replied.  "I'll just give you a quick talk about Care Bear training.  We have it Monday through Friday, from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M., at the Hall of Hearts.  I'll give you more information about it tomorrow.  Don't be late.  And," he added with a hard stare, "I'll expect you to behave during those times."

"Don't worry.  I promise I won't sneak up on you anymore," Defender said sincerely.  "Well, thank you very much.  Good-bye, Brave Heart."

The lion waved as the white bear departed.  He tried to continue working on his roar, but he found himself constantly looking over his shoulder.  He finally said aloud, "Oh, forget it," and retreated to his house.

"Well, it looks like I've only got one more stop, and I'm all set," Phoenix said to himself as he walked down the street.  A short distance ahead, some other Care Bears called out to him.  "Hey!  Defender Bear!  Over here!" yelled a yellow-haired bear wearing a red varsity jacket and matching headband.  Phoenix walked over to the group.  "Hello.  You…you're Champ Bear, right?"

"You got it, sports fan!  Let me introduce you to some of the other Care Bears.  This is Cheer Bear, this is Harmony Bear, and that's Proud Heart Cat."  They each waved at the newcomer.  "So, what do you think of Care-a-Lot so far?"

"I think it's a nice place.  I think I'm fitting in just fine, and…"

"Hey!  Look out!!!" yelled Champ, and he and the others started running away.  Defender Bear wasn't sure what startled them, until he turned around.  He saw the large, hulking vehicle that Bright Heart had been working on earlier barreling towards him.  The raccoon was in the driver's seat, and when he saw someone standing in the way, he stuck his head outside the window, and shouted, "Get out of the way!  I can't stop this thing!"

Defender knew he had to run, but for some reason, he couldn't get himself to move out of the way.  With only a few hundred meters between him and the out-of-control invention, he began to panic.

All he could do was say aloud, "This is going to sting, isn't it?"

WHAM!!!

The sheer momentum of the vehicle was not only enough to strike Defender, but keep him pressed against the body's front.  Inside, Bright Heart was working desperately to stop the runaway ride, until the situation worsened.  "Uh-oh, now I've lost control of it!" he yelled out.  Now, there was an armored vehicle racing through town, fishtailing all over the road.  They were coming up on an area that seemed to be undergoing heavy landscaping.  When Bright Heart noticed a deep ditch in the ground, he instinctively opened the door, and leapt out to avoid the hazard.  He rolled a couple of times on the ground, stopping facing towards the trench, and watched in anguish as his creation fell into the ditch, rolled over, flipped once, and finally came to rest on its side as it was being shrouded by the clouds of dust it kicked up.  Champ Bear, Harmony Bear, Cheer Bear, and Proud Heart Cat all ran towards the scene to help out the victims.  Champ ran to Bright Heart, "Bright Heart!  Little Buddy!  Are you okay?  Come on, Bright Heart!"

Bright Heart moaned, and started to get up.  "I…I think I'm alright."

Harmony Bear looked around.  "Where's Defender Bear?"

"Look!  Over here!"  Cheer Bear pointed to the east, and about 40 feet away, they saw him, sitting on the ground next to the side of a building, slumped over forward.  The force of the impact had thrust him off the vehicle and he was thrown against the side of the building.  There were some spots and streaks of blood on the wall above the victim's body, presumably from where he had initially hit the wall.  When the Care Bears reached Defender Bear, they raised up his upper body, and they saw where the blood came from—Defender had a long gash below his right ear, and the seeping blood was causing part of his face to turn vermillion.

"Quick!  We've got to get him to Take Care!" Champ Bear exclaimed.

As they started to move him away from the wall, the group heard a low groan.

"Uhhhhh…"

"Defender Bear?  Defender Bear!"  Cheer called to him.  "You're alive!"

"Huh…Yeah, I'm alive, but I've got a really bad headache."  He put his right hand on head, and then quickly took it off and looked at it, noticing it was now tinged with red.  Then, he noticed the remains of the armored car in the distance.  "Oh, yeah, I think I remember why now."

"Defender Bear, we've got to get you to Take Care Bear," Bright Heart pleaded with him.

He winced for a second, then replied, "Hang on; I think I can fix it."

"What, the vehicle?" The raccoon asked.  Even he knew that wasn't as important as Defender's condition.

Defender Bear shook his head slightly.  "No."  He put his hand back over the wound, and closed his left eye. (He already had his right eye shut to keep the blood out.)  Then, a green light started to glow from underneath his hand, and then died out.  He took his hand off his head, looked up, and asked, "Does anybody have any water?"

Everyone seemed puzzled by the request, but Bright Heart answered, "I think I had a water canister in the vehicle.  I'll go check to see if it's still intact."  Proud Heart followed him, while Champ and Harmony stayed behind with the victim.  The two cousins quickly ran back, carrying the undamaged canister.  They opened it up, and started pouring the water out.  Defender Bear put his right hand out, and splashed water on his face to start cleaning away the blood.  As he did, to everyone's amazement, they noticed that the cut had healed.  Once he felt he'd gotten all the red off, he tried to stand up.  However, he wasn't able do it on his own, so the others helped him rise to his feet.  "Wow, how did you do that?" Harmony asked.

"Magic," the white bear simply replied.

"Either way, we should still get you to Take Care's office, just to make sure there's nothing more serious," Cheer offered.

"His name was the last one on my list, so I was headed there anyway.  I should be able to get there on my own.  I'm okay."  Unfortunately, he only managed two shaky steps before he stumbled and fell down on his back.

"Um…I'm not okay," Phoenix realized.

Champ posed the question again.  "Sports fan, why don't you let us help you get to Take Care Bear?"

"Okay, okay, I give.  Just one question—is everyone dancing around me really fast?"

They looked at each other.  "No," Harmony responded.

"Oh, so then it is just me."

The other Care Bears snickered, then picked up Defender Bear, and helped him along the short distance to Care-a-Lot's resident doctor.

· 4.) Take Care Bear—Medical Examination

Defender Bear was now sitting on a bench, with his clothes beside him, in the examination room of Take Care Bear, a tan colored Care Bear with a smiling apple on his chest, and wearing a white doctor's coat.  After performing several simple tests on the newcomer, the doctor was reviewing the notes on his clipboard.  The silence was starting to make the patient uneasy, still dizzy from the earlier incident.  Take Care Bear was the first to talk, as he looked up from his clipboard.  "Now, you said that you had been in an accident earlier, correct?"

"Yes, that's right," Defender replied.

"But, the others who witnessed it said that you healed your own wounds.  How did you do that?"

"Well, I put my hand over the cut on my head, and then the cut was gone.  Magic."

"Hmmm…" He put one hand on his chin and the other on his waist as he looked at Defender Bear for a moment.  He walked up to the white bear and asked, "May I see where your cut was?"

"Ow!" Defender Bear let out and jerked back as Take Care touched his forehead.  "Oh, I'm sorry," Take Care apologized, "Seems to be quite sore still."

"Yeah.  This was my first time actually healing my own injury, so I'm guessing it wasn't perfect.  I have a really bad headache, and my vision is still kinda' shaky."

"Well, as I'm checking the results from the tests, it seems that everything else about you is normal…or, at least, is similar to other Care Bears.  Other than your body temperature running a degree or two higher than others, you check out all right.

"But, if you don't mind, may I make a request?" Take Care Bear asked.

"Yes.  What is it?"

"Now, how can I put this the right way?" The doctor sat down on the bench next to Defender.  "Your magic is a special talent that you have, and how you use that is entirely up to you.  But, I think this accident might have revealed something—you were able to restore yourself somewhat, but it wasn't perfect.  And, the fact that you tried to simply walk away from this dangerous event could have complicated your health even more.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't use your magic to heal yourself, or someone else.  But, I just want you to think that maybe...you shouldn't rely on it for everything.  You're still new at this, and I feel it is better that you remember that you have friends who will want to help you, and you shouldn't turn them down.

Defender Bear looked down at the white tile floor, and exhaled an apologetic "Hmmmmm."

"Besides," Take Care winked at him and chortled, "I can't have you taking over my job."

While still looking down, Defender replied in a monotone, "Only on one condition, Take Care Bear."

Take Care turned his head slightly.  "Oh?  What's that?"

Now Defender was the one to look up and smile.  "You wouldn't mind if I simply called you, 'Doc', would you?"

The doctor was speechless for a second, and then couldn't help but laugh.  "All right," he finally was able to answer, "That sounds like a fair agreement."  He offered his hand to seal the deal.

Defender took it, and shook firmly.  "Thanks, Doc.  So, what can you do about my headache?"

"Well, considering how you seem to be healing at an accelerated pace, I think if you just rest for the remainder of today, you should be fine tomorrow," He picked up a small bottle from one of his shelves, and handed it to his patient.  "But, you can take some of these to help with the pain.  And, don't be afraid to see me again, in case you feel worse."

"Okay, I will do that.  Thank you, Doc."

"Have a nice day, Defender Bear!" Take Care said, standing by and holding his clipboard between his crossed arms.

As Defender Bear stepped out of the exam room pulling his gloves back on his hands, he noticed Champ Bear and Bright Heart Raccoon sitting down in the small waiting room.  "Hi, you guys," he said to them.

Bright Heart stood up.  "Defender Bear!  How are you feeling?"

"My head's still kind of tender, and I've still got a headache, but Doc says I should be better by tomorrow."

"Hey," the raccoon continued, "I'm sorry again about that accident.  I…"  Defender raised his right hand to signal him to stop explaining.  "I know you didn't mean for that happen.  Besides, you're okay, and I'll recover, so I think we can just leave this all behind us, alright?"

"Oh.  Okay."

"Say, Defender, what are you going to do now?" asked Champ.

"I think I'm just going to head back to my house, and take it easy for today," he said.

"Would you like some help back?"

The white bear looked behind him at Take Care's office, and then looked at Champ again.  "Yes, I'd like that very much."  So, they all walked back to his house.  Once the other two walked off, Defender Bear closed the door behind him.  Looking at his bed, he suddenly felt tired.  He threw off all the clothes he had been given earlier, laid down, and drifted off.

A couple of hours later, Defender woke up, feeling better.  As he looked around, he remembered he had something to do.  He went to open the door, and found someone had just arrived at his doorstep.

"Oh, hi there, Wish Bear," he said, a little startled.  She was just as surprised, and almost dropped a box she had in her hands.

"Oh!  Hello, Phoenix, I…I…just thought you might be hungry, so I brought you something for dinner.  I heard about the accident earlier, so I wanted to see how you were doing.  Say, were you planning on heading out somewhere just now?"

Defender Bear put his hands up to stop her.  "Whoa, whoa, one question at a time, if you don't mind," he chuckled.  "Let's see now, I just took a nap, so I am feeling better from before.  And, yes, I was about to leave just now."

"Sorry about that," Wish apologized.  "So, where are you going, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Back to my old home, the cave, to pick up my book."

"Right, you mentioned something about a spell book earlier, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did, but I never thought of it as a 'spell book' before, but I guess that's what it is."

"Well, how were you going to get there?"

"By the same way I got here—flying.  But," Defender paused for a minute.  "Doc…er, I mean, Take Care, said that I should take it easy for today."

"Oh, I could give you a ride over there in my cloud car," Wish Bear offered.

"Really?" he asked, delighted by the help.

"Sure, I'd be happy to help.  After all, that's what Care Bears do.  Besides," she handed the box to Defender.  "It'll give you a chance to eat dinner."

"Oh yeah, I guess I hadn't noticed I was hungry until now," he replied, rubbing his neck with his right hand.  With that, Wish Bear used her tummy symbol to create a cloud car.  She sat down in it, and motioned for Defender Bear to come in.  As he buckled himself in, he looked at his own tummy symbol, and thought to himself, These things can do this?  I wonder when they'll teach me how to make my symbol do that.  As he opened the box with his lunch, Wish said, "It's only a tuna sandwich, French fries, and apple juice, but I hope you'll like it."  To which Defender replied, "That's okay, I'll eat anything right now," as he took a bite of the sandwich.

That was a "guy" response, Wish thought to herself.

Defender Bear pointed the way to the mountain that he had called home for so long.  They parked the car at the summit, and Defender was the first to get out and he ran inside.  He seemed eager to be back.  A few seconds later, he came back out, and said, "Come on inside."

What Wish Bear saw was a modestly sized cave, with light gray walls, and a clear pool in the middle, fed by a babbling brook.  On one of the walls, a section was highly polished that it made for a mirror.  Stalactites and stalagmites dotted the cavern, and the echoes from the water and the bears' movements were remarkably clear.  "This is where you were raised, Phoenix…I mean, Defender Bear," Wish said, correcting herself.

"Yup, home sweet home.  I know it may not seem like much, but, even now, it still feels…safe," said the white bear.  "Oh, and, uh, it doesn't bother me if you still call me 'Phoenix'.  After all, it isn't like I've abandoned my past."

"Since we're on the subject, how did you get the name, 'Phoenix Audubon'?"

"Actually," Phoenix started, "there's a fairly simple explanation to that.  Since I was raised by a phoenix, that's where my first name comes from.  As for my surname, there was a human being who also had the name 'Audubon', who was famous for his study of birds.  In a sense, he had a special relationship with birds, and I had one of my own."

She nodded in acknowledgement.  Phoenix walked over to the side of the small indoor lake, and waved Wish over.  They both bent down to look at the clean bottom of the pond through the equally pristine water.  Phoenix playfully splashed a little water in Wish's face, and laughed.  She responded with a crafty smile, and with both hands, shoved Phoenix into the water.  As she laughed, she offered her hand to pull him out.  He replied, "Thank you," and with a smirk of his own, he grabbed firmly onto her hand, and pulled her in.  Wish let out a quick yelp, and once she came up, gave Phoenix an annoyed stare.  They both floated there for about a minute, until they both burst out in laughter.  This time, they each got out of the pool of their power, and began to shake off the moisture from their fur.

"That was refreshing," Phoenix said with a quiet laugh.  "Seriously, it's time I got what I came for."  So, he walked to the pile of rocks that hid his prized (and his only, save his clothes) possession, and began to move some of the stones out of the way, until he uncovered the book of spells.  He held it out in front of him to show his companion.  "Well, here it is," he told her with satisfaction.

"Wow, that's a pretty big book," Wish Bear said.  "It must be a lot of spells in there."

"I suppose, but I've never actually taken the time to read it thoroughly," Defender Bear admitted. "Almost all of the magic I know I discovered innately.  But, anyway, this is all I needed here, so let's head back."  Phoenix followed Wish Bear back outside, but he stopped right at the threshold for a couple of minutes, bowing his head slightly.  He turned to look at his home cave one more time, and then got back into the car, and both bears headed back to Care-a-Lot.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It was the middle of the night in Care-a-Lot, and most the Care Bear Family was asleep, save for one—Bedtime Bear.  It was his duty to be on guard for any dangers to either Care-a-Lot or Earth during the night, and to alert the rest of the Care Bear Family should a crisis arise.  (Coincidentally, he was often found sleeping during the day, so this task fit him perfectly.)  He was making his usual rounds through town, carrying a lantern to light the way.  It was a fairly warm night, with a little wind to sway tree leaves and bushes.  Going down one of the roads, he noticed a Care Bear wearing a nightcap and gown, sitting still out on their doorstep, with their elbows resting on their knees, hands cradling the head, which held a gaze straight out in front.  Bedtime walked over and stopped in front of them, when he realized who it was.  "Hi, you must be Defender Bear!  You're the new Care Bear, right?"

"Yes, that's me," was the apathetic answer.

The blue bear continued, "We've never met.  Allow me to introduce myself.  I'm Bedtime Bear.  Say, isn't it nice out tonight?"

"Uh-huh," Defender Bear sighed.

Bedtime Bear sat down next to him on the doorstep.  "What's wrong?  Can't you sleep?"

Defender folded his arms in his lap, and looked at his visitor.  "No, not really.  I'm feeling a little restless, I guess."

"Restless?  About what?" Bedtime inquired.

"About tomorrow.  It'll be my first day of training to be a real Care Bear, and I, well…" he halted briefly.  "…I'm really worried that I'll mess this up, or something.  I don't want to disappoint anyone."

"Hmm, it sounds like you might have a problem there," Bedtime concluded, putting his hand under his chin to exaggerate his pensive expression.  "Let me ask you a favor."

"What is it?"

"Lift up your nightgown," Bedtime directed.

"Huh?" Defender replied, puzzled by the request.

"I want to see your tummy symbol."

"But, it's already on my nightgown," the white bear tried to contend timidly.

"Please," Bedtime pressed him, a look of concern on his face.  Defender sighed, then stood up, and reached down to the bottom of his pajamas, and lifted the gown up to his neck, revealing his marked chest.

"Ah, so you do have a tummy symbol!" Bedtime said contentedly.

Defender let his nightgown fall back down.  "Well, yeah, I do," he answered, unsure of the significance.

"Don't you see?  Since you have a tummy symbol like the rest of the Care Bears, that makes you a real Care Bear.  That symbol is a sign of our trust that you will uphold the beliefs of, and fulfill the duties of the Care Bear Family.  Just think of this training as guidance on how to do all of that.  I'm sure you'll do just fine.  Besides, if you do have problems, we're all here to help you through them."

Defender looked down at his chest, then right into Bedtime's eyes.  "Wow, I never thought of it like that before."

"Well, I better get back to patrol, and you should get to bed.  Here, let me help you out."  Bedtime took a few steps back, and then used his stare on Defender Bear.  "You'll fall asleep now in about a minute or so.  Good night, Defender Bear, and good luck tomorrow!"

As he walked off, Defender Bear waved and said, "Goodnight, Bedtime Bear!  And, thanks!"  With that, he went inside and slipped into bed.  Soon after, he yawned, and closed his eyes, and finally drifted to sleep.

In fact, Defender Bear would do well during his training.  Even his instructor, Brave Heart Lion, still a bit skeptical at the newcomer's abilities, was impressed at how quickly he learned--Care Bear Family history, using his tummy symbol properly, driving a cloudmobile, and various other subjects.  In just under a month, Brave Heart had decided that Defender was ready for his first caring mission. Grumpy Bear was chosen to accompany Defender Bear to see how he would take care of the problem and provide advice.  For his first mission, the novice brought his spell book with him, but decided to leave his clothes in the trunk, so as not to appear too different from his veteran escort.

On the drive there, Grumpy asked Defender, "Are you nervous?"

"A little", he replied, twiddling his fingers in his lap a bit.

"Don't worry; this mission shouldn't be too difficult.  All we have to do is help a little boy named Frank who's being picked on by a bully."  Defender nodded, and soon, they landed at an elementary school field during recess time.  Sure enough, they witnessed a small, brown-haired boy backing away from a taller, stouter boy.

"Come on, Dean, why do you have to keep taking my snack money?" pleaded Frank, the little boy.

"Hey, big boys need more food than shrimps like you," the bully jeered.

Frank continued to step backward from his tormentor, until he felt a wall behind him.  He desperately looked for an avenue of escape while Dean slowly advanced.

With a greedy smile on his face, the bully taunted victoriously, "Nowhere to run, shrimp, so you might as well just hand the money over!"

There seemed to be no hope for young Frank, until they both heard someone yell out, "Hey there!"

They both turned around to find two small bears running towards them.  They ran past the bully, stopped in front of the little boy, and faced the aggressor.  Grumpy turned his head towards Frank and asked him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay.  You're Care Bears, aren't you?"

"That's right, Frank.  Defender Bear and I have come here to help you with your bully problem."

"Listen, Dean," Defender Bear said to the boy who towered over him, "it's not right for you to be picking on Frank like this.  You shouldn't be stealing from him."

"Care Bears don't scare me," the bully taunted as he took a step forward.  "I'm big enough to take you both on."

Grumpy tried to pacify the young boy.  "No one's looking for a fight here.  I'm sure we can talk this thing out."

"How about we let my fist do the talking?" Dean threatened.  He made a fist with his left hand, raised it up, and was about to lunge it forward, until he felt something holding his arm back.  He looked to his side, and saw Defender Bear floating beside him, holding the bully's wrist with both hands.  "Hey, what's the big idea?" he complained.

The white bear spoke with an unusually unsympathetic tone of voice.  "I insist that you not resort to violence."

"I told you I'm not afraid of you.  What are you going to do?"

With those words, Defender Bear grasped the bully with both hands by his shirt collar, and lifted him about a foot off the ground.  "What am I going to do?  Oh, I'll show you what I can do!"

"Defender Bear!"

Grumpy Bear yelled at his partner to stop him from doing something he'd probably regret later.   Defender Bear stopped turned to look at Grumpy, and upon seeing his disapproving gaze, slowly moved his eyes back towards the former aggressor, who was now shaking from fear.  Defender laughed nervously as he gently put Dean back down on the ground, and then floated backwards until he touched down next to Frank.

 "Er…" Grumpy did his best to complete the mission.  "Do you see now what we were talking about, Dean?  If you felt scared just now, think about how Frank over here feels.  You shouldn't bully people around like that."

"Gee, I'm really sorry about before, shr…I mean, Frank," Dean said.

"Dean, I've got enough money to buy snacks for both of us, if you'd like something," Frank offered with a smile.

"Really, Frank?  You'd do that for me?"

"Sure, Dean.  Maybe we can be friends."

"Yeah, I'd like that a lot," the big boy said, and he and Frank started to walk away.  Frank turned to Grumpy and Defender, and waved to them.  "Thanks for everything, Care Bears!  Goodbye!"  The bears waved back until the kids had left sight, when Defender sighed and dropped his head in shame.

"I'm sorry, Grumpy Bear.  I totally blew that mission."

"Well, I will tell you right now that I was shocked by what you did," Grumpy lectured. "However, we did succeed in showing the bully that he was wrong for picking on that boy, so we did complete our caring mission.  Don't worry, Defender Bear, you'll have another chance to do things right on your next mission."  He patted the beginner on his back to console him.

As they got back into their cloudmobile, their radio signal turned on.  "Care-a-Lot to Care-82.  Care-a-Lot to Care-82.  Come in, Grumpy and Defender."

Grumpy grabbed the microphone and pressed the trigger.  "Care-82 here.  This is Grumpy.  Go ahead, Care-a-Lot."

It was Cheer Bear who had contacted the.  "Grumpy, we need you two to get to Rainbow City as soon as possible.  We've discovered a serious problem there."

"Rainbow City?  Do you mean that 'the gray' has returned?"

"I'm afraid so, Grumpy."

"Defender and I are on our way over there.  Care-82 out."  With that, the two bears fastened themselves in, Grumpy entered coordinates into the cloud car's computer console, and they sped off into the sky towards their next objective.

About a half an hour later, Defender and Grumpy came over a medium-sized city, full of majestic trees and buildings of all different colors.  However, at the far edge of town, they noticed an open field where the grass and tree were all in shades of gray.  They saw a crowd standing a few meters away from the field, and they landed next to them.  True Heart Bear, Noble Heart Horse, Tenderheart Bear, Brave Heart Lion, Bright Heart Raccoon, and Funshine Bear were talking with an old man and a young woman.  When Grumpy and Defender arrived, True Heart came over to inform them of the situation.  "I'm glad you made it, you two.  As you can see, 'the gray' that we dealt with before is starting to come back."

The old man continued to beg for help.  "Please, Care Bears.  As mayor Rainbow City, I urge you to stop this gray.  None of us want our town to become 'Drab City'.  There has to be something you can do!"

"How come all of us are standing over here?" asked Defender Bear.

"You weren't here when we first faced this, so I'll fill you in," Bright Heart said.  "A few years ago, some Care Bears and Cousins crash-landed into this city by fierce winds.  What they discovered was a town that was nothing but gray.  It turned out that a large 'meteorite' had fallen in this nearby field was giving off strange radiation that had not only taken all the colors out the buildings and citizens, but the people had also lost their caring, and became rude and apathetic.  The Care Bears tried to help the city, but they eventually succumbed to the radiation, as well.  Fortunately, a search party managed to find them, and we were able to push the 'meteorite' into a deep pit, which caused all the colors and emotions to return.

"We did a little research on a sample of the 'meteorite', and it turned out it was actually an artificial crystal created by Professor Coldheart.  Unfortunately, what we've discovered now is that the crystal is starting to decay, which is causing is to release incredibly intense levels of that radiation, which is now penetrating through the ground and out of the pit.

"It's threatening to spread into the city.  Unfortunately, none of us can go into the gray area.  The emissions are too strong that, by my calculations, we'll lose our caring, and in effect, our ability to do anything in approximately 10 minutes."

Defender Bear heard Tenderheart speaking to the young woman.  "There must be something you Care Bears can do," asked the girl.  "We're working hard on a plan, Jill," Tenderheart assured her.  "I promise we won't let this happen again."

Defender Bear thought to himself, There's got to be something someone can do.  He looked to the cloud car, and suddenly got an idea.  He opened the trunk, and pulled out his spell book.  He started flipping through the pages for something that would help in this situation.  He found a spell that could prove useful, and started studying it intently.  Once he did, he pulled his clothes out and put them on.  He walked over to True Heart and Noble Heart and said, "Excuse me, but I think I can go through there."

The two leaders looked at him with a puzzled expression.  "What do you mean, Defender Bear?"

"I can go into the field, and I can use my magic to not only protect, but stop the radiation."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Noble Heart.

"Well, no.  I only just found some spells in my book just now, but I feel confident about taking this risk," he replied.

"What do you think about this, True Heart?"  Noble Heart looked at his partner, and they both turned their backs to Phoenix to discuss this proposal amongst themselves.  They turned back around, and True Heart informed him of their decision.

"If you're sure you want to do this, then we'll give your idea a try.  But we're going to have Bright Heart track your progress in there, in case something goes wrong."

"Thank you," Phoenix replied.  He was ready to redeem himself after bungling his first caring mission.  Bright Heart Raccoon was standing next to a cloud van that housed several monitors and consoles in its rear.  "Hi, Defender Bear, what's up?" he asked.

"Hi, Bright Heart," the white bear said as he approached him, "I'm getting ready to explore the field, and True Heart and Noble Heart decided that you should keep track of me while I'm out there."

"Wow, you're really going in there?  Well, be careful in there.  Here, take these things with you.  This is a modified Geiger counter, attuned to the crystal's radiation.  And, this hard hat has a light and a video camera so we can see what you see, especially when you try to enter the pit.  You've got your cell phone with you, right?"  Defender nodded.  "Good.  Use the two-way function to stay in contact with us here.  Now, lift up your arms."

"What?  Why?"

The raccoon presented the bear with a black strap.  "I'm going to put this band around your chest, over your heart, so we can observe your vital statistics."

"Oh, well, okay," Phoenix said, as he extended his arms out to either side of him.  Once they ran a final check to ensure all the instruments were reading properly, Phoenix walked towards the field, stopping a few paces from it.  He made sweeping motions with his arms, and then held them out to either side of him.  His hands glowed green for a few seconds, but then faded as a transparent sphere formed around him.  He took a deep breath, and stepped onto the field.  He didn't feel any different.  His cell phone beeped.  "This is Bright Heart.  Come in, Defender Bear."  Defender unclipped it from his shorts.  "Defender Bear here.  I'm okay so far.  Need to know where I'm going, over."

"Your vitals are holding steady, and we've got a clear signal so far.  The pit is about 100 meters southwest from you, behind a hill."

"Copy that," Defender acknowledged.

He walked steadily towards the hill in the distance.  Once he walked to the top, he saw a large, deep hole in the ground.  He got on the radio.  "Guys, I'm in sight of the pit.  I can feel the emissions all around me, but I'm not turning gray, or anything.  The Geiger counter's needle is almost off the scale.  Do you copy?"

"We read you, Defender.  Your pulse is up, but it's not significant.  The video feed has some static, but the radio is still clear."

"Copy that.  I'm going in."

"Be careful," he heard Noble Heart say in the background.  In the van, Noble Heart, True Heart, Bright Heart, and Tenderheart watched on one of the monitors as the light on Defender's hard hat clicked on and walked towards the pit.  "That's 100 feet down to the bottom.  Be careful down there," Noble Heart warned.

As Defender began to descend into the hollow, the picture began to fill up with static, until they couldn't see anything.  The Geiger counter's needle was off the scale, and the monitor with the vital statistics only reported "ERROR."  Bright Heart tried to contact the bear on the radio.  "Defender Bear, come in.  We've lost visual.  Come in, Defender Bear!"

The only response was static.

"What happened, Bright Heart?"  Tenderheart asked anxiously.

"The radiation must be causing so much interference that it's blocking out all the signals," he hurriedly replied while he turned knobs and flipped switches on the console.  "Come in, Defender Bear!" The raccoon yelled in vain at the radio microphone.  For 10 minutes, everyone in the van was silently fixated on the screens, waiting with hope, until…

"….read…"

Bright Heart thought he heard the bear say something, so he yanked the radio and stood up.  "Is that you, Defender Bear?"

"…it's…der Bear....okay."

"Say again?"

"…is Defender Bear.  Everything is okay."  Everyone saw the Geiger counter begin to drop; Defender's vitals came back up as normal, and the static on the camera screen faded away to reveal Defender Bear standing at the bottom of the pit next to the crystal.  The giant rock, however, was surrounded by what appeared to be a box of iridescent glass, its colors shifting every moment or so.

"Look everyone!" Jill exclaimed outside of the van.  "The gray is going away!"  The Care Bears ran out to see that, indeed, the gray was retreating back to the hole.  "He did it!  Defender Bear did it!"  Everyone shouted and hugged and danced.

"Um, guys?" Defender Bear asked, still underground.  He took off his hard hat and looked straight into the camera, "What are we going to do with this crystal?  Shall I destroy it?"

"No, no, don't do that!  That rock is unstable already.  If we break it, it might release so much radiation over a wide radius that it might permanently remove the feelings from a lot of people!"

"But, Bright Heart, I don't think it's safe that we just leave it in that pit," Noble Heart said.  He took the microphone from the raccoon, "Defender Bear, do you think you can lift the boulder out of the pit?"  There was radio silence for about a minute, until he got the reply, "I don't think it'll be easy, but I can give it a try."  From the camera, they watched Phoenix jump on top of the barrier enclosing the crystal, and then they heard grunts as Defender Bear tried to focus his magic.  Suddenly, the picture began to shake, and (since the bear was looking up) they saw the light at the top of the pit slowly enlarge and intensify.  Eventually, they saw the city and the nearby hill, and at that point, everyone left the van and ran across the field to meet Defender Bear.  They found him still on top of the encasement, breathing heavily and perspiring.

"Are you okay, Defender Bear?" True Heart inquired concerned.

"I'm fine, I'm okay," the bear responded.  "Is the city okay?"

"Yeah, everything's back to normal," Grumpy Bear chimed.  "You did it, Defender Bear!"  Phoenix smiled after one last sigh, and finally jumped down.  True Heart asked Defender, "You're sure this force field will block all the radiation?"

"Yes.  According to my spell book, this field will stay up until I take it down myself."

"Then," True Heart decided, "We're going to take this crystal back with us to Care-a-Lot.  Bright Heart, we'd like to keep it in your workshop, so that you and Grumpy can find a way to safely dispose of it."  With that, the two leaders assembled everyone in a line, and they stared at the crystal, so that it began to float on a large white cloud.  Bright Heart hooked the freight to the back of the cloud van, and the other Care Bears got into their respective cloud cars, and were ready to leave Rainbow City.  The mayor came by and personally shook everyone's hands.  "Thank you so much for your help, Care Bears!  Rainbow City will get to keep its colors, and everyone can be happy again!  Bless you all!"

"You're welcome, Mayor," Tenderheart responded.  "Keep caring!"  The mayor and Jill waved as they watched the cloudmobiles rise up into the sky and off into the distance.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Unbeknownst to them, someone else was watching the Care Bears in Rainbow City.  Standing over the large bubbling cauldron in his atelier, located in one of the towers of his ominous castle, the evil wizard, No Heart, was mulling over the accomplishments of his sworn adversaries.  He was in an unexpectedly good mood, considering the success of the Care Bears.

"Well, well, well," the sorcerer said aloud, seemingly speaking to his cauldron, "it would seem that those wretched bears have actually provided me with some useful information.  Supposedly, Professor Coldheart's uncaring crystal had been lost years ago; not even the bumbling fool knew what happened to it.  And yet, now those repulsive bears have it in their possession!  And, what do they plan to with it?  They want to destroy it!"  He banged his fist on the rim of the bubbling kettle in anger.  But immediately, his tone became calm and collected.  "However, I think I can put that crystal to better use.  Yes, I believe it's time I brought out my favorite spell again," he remarked, adding a cackle at the end.  He walked to one of many wide, towering bookcases, and pulled a small, silver, ornately decorated box down from one of the shelves.  He opened it to reveal the fur-lined interior that housed a scroll.  He turned his head and bellowed throughout his castle, "Beastly!!!"  Seconds later, No Heart's hairy helper skidded to a halt at the doorway to the unhallowed hall.

"You rang, Boss?" he asked innocently.

"Beastly, I need to you collect the ingredients for this spell," No Heart barked out.  "And, I'd better not hear about any more confrontations with lousy cats!"

Beastly took the scroll from No Heart's hand and skimmed over the list.  "Say, No Heart, isn't this the spell for…"

"Yes, yes," the wizard replied apathetically, "now leave."

"I'll be back in a flash, No Heart." Beastly ran out, chuckling with glee.  No Heart sighed, "I very much doubt that.  Fortunately, it gives me time to work on another spell.

"It seems that the crystal of uncaring has been well protected, and that I shall need to enlist some help to bring it under my possession…"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Once the crisis on Earth had been take care of, it seemed that the atmosphere in Care-a-Lot had, for the most part, returned to normal.  Everyone had returned to their own business.

"Excuse me, Bright Heart," True Heart asked the raccoon.  "Have you seen Defender Bear?"

Bright Heart shook his head.  "No, I haven't seen him since we got back."

Funshine Bear was passing by, and heard the conversation.  "Actually, you guys," she added, "I think I saw Defender go into the Hall of Hearts."

"The Hall of Hearts?" True Heart turned to Funshine.  "What could he be looking for in there?"

Funshine merely shrugged.  They all decided to walk over there and try to find him.  When they entered the foyer, they found it empty, so they walked downs the halls for any sign of the white bear.  As they passed by a broom closet, Funshine stopped walking.  "What is it?" Bright Heart inquired once he noticed she had fallen behind.

"I think I hear someone…it kinda' sounds like they're shouting or something," she explained.

"From the closet?"

True Heart grabbed the doorknob, slowly turned it, and pulled the door open.  What they found was no broom closet.  Instead, they found an indoor court the size of a small gymnasium.  In the middle of this "gym", they found Defender Bear, holding a polished metal staff, making striking motions with it against straw dummies.  He was only wearing his vest and shorts, and was yelling with each attack toward the mannequins.  As the others saw him spin, pivot, and leap, they were in awe of what they were witnessing.  True Heart finally broke the silence.

"Defender Bear!"

The concentration of the white bear, who was in mid-swing, was broken by that shout.  He tripped over his own foot and fell forward on his face, the staff bouncing out of his hand.  He rolled over, sat up, and rubbed his head.  "Ohhh…Oh, hey guys," he called out when he discovered the origin of the yell.

"Defender Bear, what are you doing?" True Heart asked, half-demandingly.

"What are you talking about?"
            "Why are you hitting those figures with that staff?"

"This?" he said, lifting it up slightly.  "I'm just practicing, that's all.  I mean, they're only made of straw."

Funshine noticed something hanging on the wall, and went to get a closer look.  "Hey, you've got a sword, too?"

"Whoa, be careful with that!"  Defender dashed toward Funshine, taking hold of the sheathed sword from her.

True Heart interjected again.  "Defender, I can't understand why you'd have these, or why you'd be training to use them.  Don't tell me you're intending to use these for a caring mission."

"No, I mean, I don't think so, that is…" the white bear paused for a moment.  "I can't really explain it, but, when I'm swinging the staff…or the sword…it just feels natural, like I'm supposed to be doing this."  Everyone was still trying to make sense of the situation when they joined by another interested party.

"Hey, what's going on over here?"

"Wow, what is this place?"

True Heart, Bright Heart, Funshine, and Defender all turned around, to find Hugs Bear and Tugs Bear peering in from the doorway to the former broom closet.

"Hugs!  Tugs!" Bright Heart said to the teenage twins.  "What are you two doing here?"

"We wanted to see what all the commotion was," Hugs said.

"Wow, Defender Bear!  Is that a real sword?" Tugs exclaimed as he got close to Defender's hand.  Defender Bear replied, "As real as it can get without having forged it myself."

"Can I see?" Tugs excitedly asked.

"Now, Tugs, I don't know if…" True Heart started to say, but Defender cut her short.  "I suppose there's no harm in looking."  He pulled the blade out of the sheath, and held it so it caught the light from the room.  It was a fairly small, simple sword, with a silver hilt big enough for two hands.  "Wow, that's so cool," the light blue bear cried out.  "I wanna' hold it!"
            "NO!" Both True Heart and Defender responded at the same time, and they looked at each other when they realized that.  "True Heart," Phoenix began, "you can see why I converted this closet for my practice—so no one else had to see this.  I swear I'm not going to wield either of these senselessly."

The elder thought about it for a moment, and then she sighed in compromise.  "All right, just keep it low-key, please."

"Thank you, True Heart.  I promise I will," he said holding his hands together.  "Besides, I'm just about done here anyway.  Let's get out of here," Defender suggested to the others.  He grabbed his staff, gloves, cloak, and a towel (which he used to wipe his face), and followed everyone else back into the Hall of Hearts.  As True Heart went to close the door, she was surprised to find that the gym was once again a broom closet.  "How did you…?" she started to ask, but Defender only turned his head and winked at her.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It was a moonless sky this night.  Even with the street lamps on either side of the roads, Bedtime Bear was relieved he had brought his flashlight with him out on his watch, in lieu of a lantern.  There was an unusually cold, brisk wind that made him shiver a couple of times, even with the jacket and ski cap he was wearing.  Nevertheless, Bedtime continued to make his rounds through Care-a-Lot.  Unfortunately, watchful as he was, he would fail to notice something slinking through the darkness.  Something was in Care-a-Lot—something evil…

Defender Bear had trouble falling asleep again earlier this evening, but had finally drifted off some time ago.  As he slept, the unseen trespasser was closing in on his house.  It first moved across his window, blacking out the dim light coming from outside.  Once it reached the door, it dove for the bottom and pushed itself through the crack between the door and the floor.  Inside, the intruder regained its shape—a shadow, a minion of No Heart.  But, this one was different from all the others.  Instead of having yellow, cat-like eyes, this specter had narrow, bright red eyes.  As it noiselessly moved towards the bed where the white bear lay, the shadow opened its mouth and revealed large, sharp shadow teeth, seemingly intent on devouring its unaware victim.  Instead, it dove into Defender Bear's chest and disappeared from sight.  Almost instantly, the bear began to thrash around in bed, and broke into a sweat, as the phantom began to carry out the task ordered by its wicked master.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Phoenix Audubon found himself running through a black surrounding.  He wasn't wearing any clothes, and had no idea where he was.  He stopped and looked around, but all he could see was nothing but black all around.

"Hello?" he called out.  "Is anyone here?  Where am I?"  There was no response.   However, he thought he saw something shine out of the corner of his eye.  He turned around and found a plethora of red lights racing upward from all around.  Upon further examination, the lights were, in reality, pairs of red eyes.  To his astonishment, the black background began to take shape around these eyes, until it was now a multitude of ascending shadows, like the ones he had seen the Care Bears combat earlier.  He seemed ready to fight them all off, but the number of shadows began to taper, until they had all flown off, and revealed to Phoenix where he was.  He found himself under a purple sky with a pale crescent moon and only a few visible stars.  The bear was standing on a yellow ground, which was as smooth as concrete, but felt like dirt beneath his feet.  There were a few trees, but they were black and bare, their branches gnarled and twisting out in random directions.  A black iron fence with posts tipped with arrowheads seemed to indicate a path despite some sections being broken or mangled.

"What is this place?" Phoenix almost shouted.  Again, no one answered him.  He began to walk, following the dilapidated fence, looked all around for some clue so as to make sense of his situation.  When he looked down on the ground, he spotted the shadows of several people moving across the ground out in front of him.

Phoenix Audubon was being pursued.

Without even looking behind him, he started to run, even though he had no idea where he was going.   When he felt like he had put enough distance between his stalkers, he turned around, and was mortified by what he discovered.

He was being chased by what appeared to be approximately 10 of the Care Bears and Cousins, though there was one prominent difference: instead of their usual assortment of colors, the Tenderheart Bear, Brave Heart Lion, Grumpy Bear, and others all had black fur, except for the white on their chests, which now surrounded black duplicates of the originals' tummy symbols, and, instead of their usual happy faces, they all had grimaces as they now slowly surrounded their victim. 

"What's going on?  What are you guys doing?  It's me, Defender Bear!" he pleaded to the others, but he did not receive any reply as the continued to advance towards him.  Phoenix looked to the ground, and found his sword lying there.  He instinctively picked it up, and raised it over his shoulder at the false Tenderheart, who was now the closest to him.  "Stay back, Tenderheart, or whoever you are!  I'm not afraid to use this," Phoenix threateningly ordered, but his adversary showed no sign of stopping, his arms reaching out to grab the white bear.  But, he would never lay a hand on him, as Phoenix made one giant swing across and cut the figure of Tenderheart into two.

Phoenix had regretted his move the second he completed it, until he was horrified by what happened next.  The expression on Tenderheart's face did not change at all when the blade passed through his chest.  Instead, the figure exploded into a puff of wispy, black smoke.  As the other phonies came close, Phoenix slashed at them as well, and they, too, were reduced to black vapor.  Phoenix held his breath as he sprinted through the black "cloud" to escape.  He looked back, and watched in disbelief as the smoke reformed itself back in Care Bear look-alikes.  "Oh, man!  This can't be good!" Phoenix remarked as he continued to run.  He quickly came upon a beach that sat it front of a purple ocean.  A raft made of logs bound together by ropes was lying on the sand.  Giving only a second to ponder his options, Phoenix pushed the raft into the water and climbed on.  As the black Care Bears stepped into the water to reach the raft, Phoenix, adrenaline coursing through his veins, flung his sword at the group, returning Brave Heart Lion and a couple of others to a nebulous form.

Once he managed to calm himself down from all the excitement, Phoenix realized two things:  first, the ocean's current was unusually swift; and second, he didn't know where he was going.  A few minutes later, though, he spotted a large island, and paddled the raft with his arms towards land.  In contrast to the surroundings he left behind, this island had thick, green foliage that blocked much of the interior from view.  A few black palm trees dotted the beach where the white bear landed.  He took a couple of steps towards the jungle, and then he heard the leaves rustle.  People stepped out from the forest.  It was not natives, but more monochrome Care Bears and Cousins, this time led by Bright Heart Raccoon and Share Bear.  Phoenix growled in frustration, and took off into the jungle.  He ran over roots and sticks, pushing branches out of his way in hopes of eluding the others.  He found his way out of the forest, but skidded to a stop when all that was there was a cliff.  And, standing on the edge of that cliff, looking at Phoenix with a grim look on his face, was a black-colored Bedtime Bear.  The false Bedtime began to walk down from the cliff towards Phoenix, who slowly stepped backwards.

"Bedtime, it's me, Defender Bear!  Please, stop!  Don't do this!" Phoenix's cries fell on deaf as Bedtime continued to advance.   When he came only a few steps from Phoenix, the white bear threw his hands out in front of him, and cried out, "Stop!!!"  When he did, a fiery blast shot out from his hands, and struck the aggressor, who was reduced to black mist.  This time, however, the black smoke flew towards Phoenix and surrounded him.  When the figure of Bedtime Bear reappeared, it grabbed Phoenix's arms and put him in a full nelson hold.  Phoenix tried to kick at his captor's legs, but it did not stop Bedtime as he forced the white bear back to the edge of the cliff.  That was when Phoenix saw a black shadow rise from below the cliff up towards them.  It hovered there for a few seconds, staring with its red eyes, before flying into Phoenix's chest.  As soon as it did, Bedtime released his hold, and stood by and Phoenix doubled over on the ground, coughing in great heaves.  He felt sharp pains all over his body.  He tried to scream, but the shadow inside of him seemed to be choking him.  In desperation, Phoenix summoned all the energy he had left in him, and shouted at the top of his lungs that forced the foreign phantom inside him to be expelled out of his body.

Weakened by both the shadow and that last bit of magic, Phoenix was on his hands and knees, coughing and panting heavily.  He looked up at purple sky, and saw the shadow that had invaded him still floating up there, watching him.  All of a sudden, more shadows appeared and gathered near the first one.  There were too many of them for the poor bear to count.  As the specters began to draw closer, he could only gather the strength to feebly utter one more thing:

"No…"

The huge gathering of shadows plunged themselves into the hapless host, actually lifting him off the ground.  Once the last one had entered, Phoenix dropped back to the ground, gagged once or twice, and then finally collapsed.  His tummy symbol and white fur slowly faded to black.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Though there was quite a commotion in Defender Bear's dreams, back in Care-a-Lot, he was actually resting in his bed very still and silently on his back.  Next to the bed, a cloud of purple smoke appeared from out of nowhere.  It swirled around itself, as it became taller and taller.  Once it towered over the room, the cloud faded away, and revealed a second intruder that had come to Defender's house—the evil wizard himself, No Heart.

"Ah, it would seem that my first spell did its work," he said, laughing under his breath.  "Now, Care Bear, I command you to rise out of this bed!"

Defender Bear, his eyes still closed, slowly pulled the sheets off of him, and stood up in front of No Heart, oblivious to the danger so near to him due to the shadow still inside of him.

"Let this be a lesson to you for being such a nuisance," the sorcerer scoffed.  "Now, I order you to tell me where you put the Crystal of Uncaring!"  The mesmerized bear slowly lifted his arm, and pointed outside the window to Bright Heart's workshop.  "Very good, little bear," No Heart praised sardonically.  "Now, we can't have anyone discover my little 'visit'.  You will come with me!"  With that, he waved his arm in the air, causing the purple smoke to reappear and envelop both of them.  They disappeared from the house and reappeared in the raccoon's workshop, right in front of the crystal, still shielded by the shining box.

"Now, Care Bear!" No Heart barked out.  "I command you to remove the force field from this crystal!"

Defender Bear's hands began to glow orange.  He slowly brought them together in front of his face, and then quickly separated them by extending his arms straight out to each side.  When he did, the glow from the barrier began to dim, and in a small shower of sparkles, the box faded out.  No Heart laughed with content, until he noticed his "assistant" was beginning to look ill.  His whole body was trembling from the sudden exposure to the crystal's radiation, and even his face had a struggling scowl on it.

"Aw, the little magic user can't tolerate all this power?" the evil wizard feigned concern.  "I don't need you making a scene here and becoming evidence, so, back you go!"  With another wave of his arm, a purple cloud surrounded Defender Bear and returned him to his bed.  When the fog dissipated, all that was left was the shadow that had invaded the bear's consciousness.  "And now, with this, I can complete the next phase of my plan!  Come, shadow!  This crystal and I have much work to do!"  He once again called for the purple fog, and once it cleared No Heart, his shadow, and the crystal had all vanished.

And, no one in Care-a-Lot had any idea of what had happened, or what was to come…

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The next morning, Defender Bear woke up with no recollection of the night before, no remains from any of the events, save a severe headache.  He stumbled into his bathroom, took a couple of the aspirin that Take Care had given him earlier, and splashed some water on his face.  "Gee, you'd think that living on a mountaintop all my life, I'd be used to high altitudes by now," he said to his reflection.  He took off his nightcap and gown, and tossed them on his bed.  He put on his outfit, and stepped outside to the bright, crisp morning.  Defender noticed a crowd had formed around Bright Heart Raccoon's workshop, so he walked over there to see what the commotion was.  Once he made his made way past all the others, he saw True Heart Bear, Noble Heart Horse, Tenderheart Bear, and Brave Heart Lion standing in the corner of the shop where the crystal had been the day before.  "Hey, everybody.  What happened to the crystal we put in here?" he asked.

"Actually, Defender Bear," Noble Heart retorted, "we've been waiting to ask you the same question."

"What do you mean, Noble Heart?  I just woke up, and I just got here."

This time, True Heart posed the question.  "Defender Bear, you said you were the only who could remove the barrier from the crystal, right?"

"Yes, but…wait, are you saying that I did this?"

Brave Heart explained, "We spoke with Bright Heart and Bedtime Bear, and neither of them observed anything out of the ordinary last night."

"That doesn't answer my question, Brave Heart," the white bear spoke defensively.

"We don't know where the crystal is, or who took it," Tenderheart said, trying to mediate the situation.  "I think we should just be more aware now, in case it has fallen into the wrong hands."

"I was afraid this would happen."

Everyone inside or near the workshop turned towards the origin of the dissenting opinion.  Walking towards the leaders was Share Bear, (seemingly) the only one Care Bear who did not approve of Defender Bear or his methods.

"What do you mean, Share Bear?" asked True Heart.

"Don't you see?  This would never have happened if Defender Bear hadn't used his magic.  He said that no one else could break his 'force field', and what do we do?  We blindly put all our faith in it!  And now, we all paid the price for such naïveté.  We don't where that crystal is now, or who even moved it.  I knew it was foolish to trust him so easily."

"Listen, Share Bear," the white bear stomped up right to his accuser's face, so close their muzzles were only centimeters apart.  "I told you, I didn't do it.  How dare you put the blame on me like that!  You don't have any proof, so you shouldn't be pointing fingers like that!"

"That's enough, you two!" Brave Heart put a hand on each bear's chest and pushed them apart.  "Your squabbling isn't getting us anywhere right now.  What we need to…" At that moment, however, the deep ringing sound of a bell interrupted the lion.

Someone in the crowd yelled out, "It's the Caring Meter!"  The Care Bears and Cousins ran towards the Hall of Hearts, where outside stood the Caring Meter, which measured the amount of peace and love on Earth.  They discovered that the needle had dropped 5 points, which made everyone start talking nervously amongst themselves.  Meanwhile, True Heart, Noble Heart, Tenderheart, Brave Heart, Bright Heart, Defender and Good Luck Bear went inside the Hall of Hearts and into the Command Room.  Bright Heart sat down in front of the expansive computer system, put on a headset, and displayed a map of Earth on a wide screen on the wall.  "If you'll just give me a minute, guys, I can pinpoint where the source of this disturbance is coming from," he said as he began typing commands into the console.  Within a few minutes, a red dot began to blink on the map.  "According to my calculations, the distress is coming from…Paradise Valley!"  Defender Bear looked at where the point was.  "Isn't that in the Himalayas?" he asked.  "Doesn't seem like a place to find paradise."

"We'll explain it to you on the way over there, but we have to hurry!"  Good Luck Bear took Defender's arm and he rushed out of the Hall of Hearts.  They ran into the nearest cloud car they found, and almost left, except Wish Bear and Swift Heart Rabbit flagged them down before they were airborne, and so they all rode together, and Tenderheart Bear, Grumpy Bear, Bright Heart Raccoon, and True Heart Bear rode in another car towards their snowy destination.

On the ride there, Good Luck told Defender the story of Perfect and Polite Panda.  "You see, Defender Bear, Perfect and Polite were somewhat like you—as babies, they were originally part of the Care Bear Family.  One day, however, they were lost during a confrontation with No Heart.  They ended up in a valley in the Himalayas that was covered in snow.  They both managed to survive on their own because of something special:  the love the twin brother and sister had for each other melted the snow in the entire valley, and turned it into to a tropical paradise.

"Over time, people began to move into the valley.  They lived there happily, but they had no idea how this land survived being surrounded by such a harsh climate.  The pandas were too shy to show themselves to the humans, so they never revealed themselves.  Ultimately, the twins became very lonely.  This unpredictably registered on our Caring Meter, and we found the pandas, and invited them to Care-a-Lot, where we confirmed that they were meant to be Care Bears.  We gave them tummy symbols and trained them just like you, buddy.  Unfortunately, Perfect and Polite didn't seem to fit in with the rest of us very well."

"I seem to understand how they felt," Defender bluntly commented.

"There was also another side effect no one realized—while the pandas were with us, the valley was no longer protected from the cold, and the people living there were stranded in it.  We returned to try to help, and that was when we all found what had kept the valley safe as they did.  Perfect and Polite decided to stay in the valley, but this time, they got to know the residents, so they wouldn't feel alone.  Plus, we still keep in touch with each other."

"You forgot something there, Good Luck," Swift Heart giggled.  "Someone's got on a crush on Polite."

"Swift Heart!" Good Luck yelled behind him and blushed brightly.

"I think that's nice, Good Luck," Defender remarked.

"Thanks, Defender," the green bear turned serious.  "But, that just makes me all the more worried.  We need to find out what's going on in Paradise Valley, and the sooner, the better!"  They accelerated the cloud car, and within 20 minutes, they arrived at the tall mountain range.  "Good Luck to Bright Heart," he said through the radio.  "We can't see the valley.  You'll have to lead us to it."

"You got it, guys.  I have the coordinates, so just follow me."

Bright Heart's car passed in front, and soon they landed in a flat land surrounded by tall, snowy peaks.  The Care Bears found themselves in the middle of a strong snowstorm.  They saw palm trees covered in snow, and leaning heavily from high winds.  They found the village in the middle of the vale, and found the inhabitants huddled within their homes.  True Heart went around and asking if they knew where the pandas were, but none of them had any idea.

"What are we going to do, True Heart?"  Good Luck asked worriedly.  "We have to help these people, not to mention find Perfect and Polite."

"I understand your concern, Good Luck, but what can we do?  We can't evacuate them all, and we don't have anywhere to relocate them."  At that point, the wind speed picked up considerably, almost knocking over a few of the bears.  With his cloak whipping wildly around, Phoenix yelled out to the others, "I have an idea, but first, I want to know if you trust me about it!"  He wasn't ready to jeopardize his credibility any further, so he wanted to be sure before he tried anything.  Once again, it seemed that the situation called for a speedy resolution.  True Heart shouted back, "All right, Defender!  Whatever you've got, let's have it!"

Defender Bear put his hand on his hood to keep it over his head.  His cloak was the only thing that kept him visible against the white surroundings.  "All right, I need one person each to head out to the exact north, south, east, and west ends of the valley!  When you get there, I need you to find a large stick, and plant it in the ground at the exact point!  The rest of you, follow me to the center of the village!"  So, Defender, Wish, Good Luck, and Grumpy trudged through the snow and against the blinding winds towards the middle of the village (and the middle of the valley itself).  The others watched as Phoenix traced a large circle in the snow with his finger, and then scribed foreign runes all around the inside edge of the circle.

On his radio, the four volunteers called in their condition.

"This is True Heart.  The north marker is set."

"Tenderheart to Defender, I have set the south rod in place."

"Swift Heart Rabbit, calling to report that the east point is ready."

"This is Bright Heart.  West end is all set!"

"All right, everybody!  Stand by, I'm going to work!"  With that, he reached behind his back, and pulled out a small, silver rod.  It glowed white for a second, and then extended until it was his full-size staff.  He muttered some words to the staff, and now it was illuminated a bright orange, able to be seen through the blinding snowstorm.  He stepped into the center of the circle, raised the staff over his head, and then drove one end into the ground.  The other bears watched as the orange light seemed to pass from the staff to the drawing on the ground, and then burst out in the four directions.  The ones at the edges of Paradise Valley watched in amazement as a trail of light raced towards their respective poles, and illuminated each one of them.  Then, the light shot upwards, all of them meeting up in the sky, forming an orange outline of a pyramid.  The winds within this pyramid began to calm down, and then faded.  Though it was still quite cold outside, it became less harsh as the moments went by.  Defender Bear, who had still been holding onto his staff, suddenly fell to his knees.  True Heart and the others had just returned, and rushed to the white bear.

"Are you all right?" Wish Bear asked, helping the white bear to his feet.

"Yes, I'll be all right.  That last spell just took a lot out of me.  Unfortunately, this barrier is only temporary.  If the pandas are what keep this valley safe, we have to find them."  The villagers, realizing the storm had died, began to come out of their homes.  Good Luck quickly began to pepper them with the question, "Has anyone seen Perfect and Polite?"

"Sorry, little bear," one man responded, "but we haven't seen them since this morning.  Then, something really weird happened—there was this really strange rain."

"What do you mean, 'strange'?"

"Well, it only rained in part of the valley, on the other side of the river.  It was short, but it was very loud.  After about an hour, the whole valley got really cold, and the snow started to fall, and, well, you all know the rest.  Before I forget, we want to thank you all for saving our village."

"You're welcome," Defender Bear bowed his head slightly.  "However, this protection is not permanent.  I don't it will last much more than one day. Be prepared to take shelter, in case the pandas don't return."

"That's really strange for a rainstorm to only affect such a small area," Bright Heart thought aloud.  "I think we'd better go investigate the other side of the river."  The river itself had actually frozen in some sections, but Tenderheart decided to play it safe and stared a rainbow bridge across.  They had only taken a few steps into the foliage when they noticed that the plants here appeared withered and sick.  Not only flowers, but the trees, as well.  Even with the snow melting all around them, the ground was heavily cracked, with only a few yellow tufts of dry grass scattered around.  They found a hut, presumed to be that of Perfect and Polite Panda, but no one was inside.

"This place looks like it suffered a drought, but the river isn't too far from here.  What could have caused this?" wondered Grumpy.

"Hey, guys," Defender said softly, "Something's been here."

"You mean the pandas?" asked Swift Heart.

The white bear shook his head.  "No, I sense something else…something bad."

Tenderheart inquired, "You think it was that storm?"

"Even with all the harsh winds and cold temperatures, the snow couldn't have been enough to kill plants this quickly," Bright Heart figured.  They all walked back to the village, and informed the people of their findings.

Grumpy asked, "Does anyone know which way that 'strange cloud' went?"  A little boy pointed eastward.  "Thank you very much, little boy," the blue bear smiled.

Good Luck started to get impatient.  "We have to find that cloud!  Polite and Perfect might be in danger!"  He once again yanked Defender by his arm, and everyone got back into the cloudmobiles.

"Please be careful, everyone," the white bear called out to the natives.  "We'll bring back the pandas—I promise!"  The villagers looked up as the two cars rose up into the air and watched them disappear into the snowstorm outside as they left the invisible safety of Defender's pyramid, in pursuit of the curious cloud.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

            After about an hour or so of unsuccessful searching for the mysterious rain cloud, the two groups decided that they should return to Care-a-Lot and come up with more ideas.  Back in the Control Room of the Hall of Hearts, the other seven waited as Bright Heart was watching the map screen while he was scanning the earth for any kind of disturbance that matched what they had seen in Paradise Valley.  However, nothing appeared on the radar, and everyone remained very quiet, until something startled them all.

            They saw and heard the door burst open as Loyal Heart Dog and Funshine Bear ran in with troubled countenances.  "Everyone, come outside, quick!  There's a huge rainstorm coming towards Care-a-Lot!"  Everyone in the Command Room looked at each other for a second, then rushed outside, and headed towards the edge of Care-a-Lot, where the entire family had gathered to witness a giant, ominous cloud barreling towards all of them at an abnormally fast pace.  There was one more characteristic that made the Care Bears question if it was a natural phenomenon:  The entire cloud mass was purple.  And, as it continued to draw near, between thunderclaps, they managed to make out someone laughing.  Laughing a wicked cackle.

            "It's No Heart!" some Care Bears yelled out.  From atop the towering, sprawling cloud, the evil wizard revealed himself.  "I'm sure you Care Bears remember my Cloud of Uncaring, yes?  As you can see, I've brought it back.  Ah, but this time, there's something different, I've added something extra to my spell," he declared, pointing a long, skinny finger at his enemies.  "And now, I shall give you a taste of my latest triumph!"
            "We've stopped your cloud before, No Heart" Noble Heart answered back.  "And, we'll do it again!  Care Bears!  Care Bear Cousins!  Prepare to stare!"  With that, everyone lined themselves up into several rows as the swirling storm cloud advanced.

            "Countdown!  Five!  Four!  Three!  Two!  One!  Care Bears, stare!"

            Every Care Bear and Cousin tummy symbol lit up and released their stare to overcome the approaching threat.  To their astonished dismay, their stares never reached the cloud; they only came within 50 feet of it before being stopped by some kind of invisible barricade.  Try as they might, none of them could get any closer.

            Defender Bear, who was staring with the rest of them, suddenly stopped and clutched his head, his face reflecting great pain.  Wish Bear, standing next to him, asked while still assailing the cloud, "What's wrong?"

            His response would serve to confirm the fear in each and every member of the Care Bear Family.  With his eyes closed shut, he threw his head up and cried out at the top of his lungs:

"IT'S A TRAP!!!  EVERYONE TAKE SHELTER!"

            What happens next is something that few of the Care Bears shall forget.  Upon hearing the warning, everyone began to scramble away from the threatening storm cloud that was now positioned above most of the land below.  Some made it to the Hall of Hearts.  Some dove into the nearest building.

            Some were not as fortunate.

            Following one last mighty flash of lightning, a torrent of rain poured out from above.  The rain itself seemed no different than any natural rain, but any unlucky fleeing bear or cousin soaked in it had their color, and in effect, their caring, washed out of them in a matter of seconds.  Some of the victims fell to the ground, some were frozen in mid-stride; some of them had a look of fear in their eyes, others apathy.  The rest of the family could only watch in horror as the rain continued to fall on their fallen friends.

            Up above, No Heart could not help but laugh at his triumph.  "You see, Care Bears?  What I had done to the panda twins earlier I have repeated on you.  The end is near, fur balls!  I have some of you now, and soon, you will all share their fate!  But, for now, I shall take my prizes back to my castle.  I'm sure they'll have company waiting for them!"

            With that, the huge cloud descended on Care-a-Lot, shrouding it in a purple darkness.  The remaining Care Bears and Cousins could only watch from indoors, not wanting to risk losing themselves.  Minutes passed, and the heavy fog finally began to fade away.  When it finally lifted, everyone outside had disappeared with it.

            The sun began to shine again on Care-a-Lot.  But, the only things that received it, were silence, and sorrow…

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Author's Notes

Project Date:  December 2, 2002--January 8, 2003

(Original Project Started:  July 13, 2002)

The Care Bears and Care Bears Cousins are the property of American Greetings Corp, Nelvana Ltd, and Those Characters From Cleveland, Inc.  No relationship with any of the aforementioned companies is implied by this work.

The story is the original idea of the author and is not intended to represent any real event.  Furthermore, the uses of the characters are not meant to represent any real person, explicitly or implied.  Any use of the story, in whole or in part, must not be completed without the prior consent of the author.