Shadow Heart: The fall of mankind
Chapter 4: Say Goodbye to Care-A-Lot
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"NOOOOOO!!!" the white Care Bear screamed. True Heart awoke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Gasping for air, she looked around the room she was in. It was a guest room in the Capsule Corp building. Breathing a sigh of relief, she laid back down, resting her sweat-soaked head on the pillow. 'What a horrible nightmare' she mused to herself. She had had a dream about the Care Bear family being trapped in a room with Shadow Heart shooting at them like fish in a barrel. She glanced over at the other Care Bears and Cousins in the room. All were fast asleep, none even slightly stirred by her outcry. She did a mental count, '1,2,3,4,5,6,7, myself, oh no! Theres two missing!' she thought in fright. She bolted upright in bed, then remembered Cheer and Funshine were sleeping in a different room. 'Stop it True Heart! Your scaring yourself silly!' she mentally scolded herself. She glanced at the clock on the wall, noting the time was half past four.

"Got to get back to Care-A-Lot tomorrow and call that conference" she said softly to herself. The only light in the room, a small nightlight in the corner, gave off just enough light to dimly see the other Care Bears. True Heart sighed, 'They look so tired and worn. They've put everything they had into it and even with the help of the others, couldn't do it. They must be heartbroken'. It was easy to see how they would be. Not only had their Stare failed to drive off Shadow Heart but they were unable to even stir the two who had fallen due to the Coma Disease. Just that past night, they had all learned Shadow Heart was the cause for all the violence and death thats been happening lately, not to mention the Coma Disease which had just claimed a new victim, Krillen. True Heart curled up into a fetal position, feeling the tears start to form at her eyes again. "Oh Great Wishing Star, help us please!" she pleaded in a whisper. It wasen't long before True Heart, like Cheer and Funshine, cried herself to sleep.

* * * * *

Trunks and Goten stumbled sleepily into the kitchen, rubbing their eyes to help wake them up. They found Bulma in the kitchen, cooking breakfest while listening to the radio. The newscaster was reading a breaking news story. "And this just in from the Japan National Radio Network, a subway bound for the west section of Gingertown has derailed, killing all 97 passangers onboard, including the operator and conductor. The Public Safety of Gingertown say they are positively stumped as to the cause of the derailment. Sources tell us at about 7:46 a.m. this morning a creaking noise was heard from the subway just seconds before it derailed, flipped over on its side and smashed into the concrete barriers at over 135 miles per hour. Police say that the accident does not appear to be the result of foul play. In other news, Mayor Hitani gave his speech to town hall today on his new tax reform law, which would--" Bulma flipped the radio off before the man could finish. She sat in a chair next to the frying pan, her blue hair frazzled and frayed in so many directions Goku wouldn't believe it.

"97 people....all dead...for what?...why?..Did Shadow Heart do this too?..Did he make the subway derail and kill all those innocent people?.." she murmured softly to herself. She was suddenly snapped back to reality by the smell of something burning. "Um, mom, your burning the sausage" Trunks pointed out. Bulma jerked her head to the side. Sure enough, the sausage was black as Vegetas hair. With a sigh, she turned the frying pan over and dumped its contents into the garbage. Managing a small smile, she said, "Well, we'll just have to order delivery for breakfest!" Trunks and Goten cheered and lept for joy. Delivery usually meant the best restaurant in town, The Frying Dragon, would be called. Bulma roused the others, Care Bears included, to ask what they wanted for breakfest. After assembling the long list, she called and placed the order. "Your total is 2,314 Zeni Mrs. Briefs" the cashier on the phone stated. Bulma thanked her and hung up. She headed down the hall to the infirmary, knowing she would find Goku and Android 18 there.

And she was right. Goku was sitting in a chair asleep on one side of Chi Chi, Eighteen was also in a chair, asleep at Krillens side. She smiled in spite of the circumstances. The love her friend displayed in times of need far surpassed his moments of stupidity (and there were plenty of them. Like the time Goku ate laundry detergent because Vegeta told him it was a miracle, 100,000 calorie a swallow powder. Vegeta had laughed at Goku for nearly a week, but Goku, with his kind heart, laughed it off as a mere joke by a friend). She watched both Goku and Eighteen, amazed at how stock still they could sit while sleeping. Even though Eighteen was an android and had could not be tired out physically, she had likely mentally worn herself out and her body just shut down in self-defense. She debated waking the two for a while, then decided it was for the best that they were woken up and had something to eat. She walked over to rouse Goku first. The instand her hand touched his should though, he grabbed her arm violently and put his palm an inch from her face, blue energy exploding to life on it.

"Goku!! Goku its me! Its just Bulma!" she yelled panicked. Goku blinked for a second then the battle look left his eyes. He slumped back down, putting his head in his hands. "I'm sorry Bulma. I was having a nightmare and thought that you were Shadow Heart" he explained shakingly. Bulma touched her face. It was still warm from the proximity of the energy ball. "Its ok Goku, you've been really stressed lately" she said, slipping an arm around her best friend. Goku sighed, looking into Chi Chis soft, pale face. It was like staring at a glass doll. "Bulma, sometimes I wonder if them dying wouldn't be more humane. At least then they are not stuck inbetween" he lamented. Bulma hugged him tighter and said, "At least now they are still alive, thats a start. We will find a way to fix this, I'm sure of it!" She tried to sound confident, but her voice shook a bit. Goku nodded and smiled, trying to get back to his old self. He could hear his son in the next room playing with Goten. This made him smile even wider. 'Little guy still hasen't lost his spirit. I'm so proud of you Goten' Goku thought proudly to himself.

The two heard a snort from the other side of the room. They looked up to see #18 yawning and stretching, apparently having just woken up. She stood and stretched, then strolled out of the room, bidding a good morning to Bulma and Goku as she left. Bulma looked back at her and smiled, even under all this shes still holding up. She remembered when Eighteen and her brother Seventeen were re-activated on Earth and how terrified the Z Fighters were of them. Ironic that the device she made to destroy Eighteen would bring her and her future husband together. After Krillen smashed the de-activation remote, Eighteen held a special place for him. Before long, the two were dating, with talk of marriage. 'Now it looks like that may be a while' Bulma thought. "Come on Goku, lets go" Bulma prodded. Goku agreed, standing with a yawn. Together, the two best friends walked out of the infirmary room.

What they saw was by no means pretty. Vegeta was in the middle of an argument with Friend Bear, who looked a bit too razzled to argue much longer.. "What the HELL is all this?!" Vegeta raged, pointing at the room he and Bulma shared. Apparently Friend Bear thought the room was too dull, seeing as how the walls were a plain white. So using her tummy symbol, she had created flowered borders around the top and bottom of the walls. "Its only flowers Mr. Vegeta" Friend Bear said innocently. "Look at me bear, look me in the eyes when I say this" Vegeta fumed. Friend Bear surprisingly stood on a chair so she was even with Vegetas eyes. 'I'll be damned, she reminds me of Goku' Bulma thought. "The Prince of Saiyans does NOT like flowers do you understand!? I have to sleep in that room and I do NOT want puny flowers clouding my Saiyan vision!" Vegeta raged. Noble Heart and True Heart exchanged glances, wondering if they should put Vegeta to sleep for a while. They didn't need to, Bulma stepped in.

She took one look at the room and declared, "Vegeta, I think she did a GREAT job with the room. In fact, if you don't think so, theres a couch in the living room, plenty of chairs in the guest room, and a futon in the storage room. Your welcome to any of them." Vegeta looked like someone had just punched him in the gut with a tank barrel. "Woman! Your taking the side of a stuffed animal over your mate?!" He asked. Bulma nodded. "I, as well as everyone else, am under enough stress Vegeta. What Friend did was thoughtful and selfless. She took HER time to try and brighten OUR days. In fact, I think you owe her an apology, now." Bulma said, putting emphasis on the 'Now' part. Vegeta just stared as though Bulma suggested he let Goku play tea party with him. With a sigh of defeat, he walked past Friend Bear, muttering a barely audible 'Sorry' as he left. The second the door closed, Goku collapsed on the floor with laughter. "Oh man Bulma! You tamed Vegeta! Not thats one I never expected!" he howled.

Bulma smirked a bit, then looked down at Friend Bear. "I'm sorry I made Mr. Vegeta angry Bulma, if you'd like I can remove the flowers." Friend Bear said. Bulma smiled, a real smile this time. "No Friend, leave them. They look nice like that and besides I need some joy in my life now anyway!" she said. At that moment, the doorbell rang. Goku answered it on the first ring. It was the delivery man from the Frying Dragon. "Ok I got 15 orders of ramen with pork, 2 dozen egg rolls, 5 bowls of meso soup, 25 cartons of fried rice and 17 fortune cookies, totaling 2, 314 Zeni please" the delivery man said. As Bulma counted out the money, she silently wondered whos idea the fortune cookies were.

After the man had left, everyone, human, saiyan, and Care Bear alike, sat down in the dining room reserved for meetings to eat. The mood had lightened considerably. Even Eighteen was laughing and joking around. Everyone was there, Goku, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Bulma, all the Care Bears and Cousins, even Vegeta, who had blown off some steam, was eating with the group. Later, to everyones surprise, Piccolo showed up, saying he wanted to see how Goku was taking the loss of his wife. Piccolo was stunned when he heard about Krillens mishap. Him and Krillen had their differences, but Piccolo considered that all in the past. "So, this Shadow Heart guy shows up, trashes Vegeta and Goku, and then turns Krillen comatose?" Piccolo asked, sipping his water. Piccolo, like all Nameks, never ate, just drank water. "Thats about the size of it" came Gokus reply. Or rather, that was what he was trying to say. With a mouthful of food it was more like, "yhafs abo thu ize uf it".

The dinner went on very enjoyably, with everyone (except Piccolo and Vegeta) laughing like old times. Even the Care Bears were treated as though they were old friends. Only one slight mishap occured. That was when Good Luck Bear told a joke so funny Goku spit out all the fried rice he had in his mouth laughing so hard. Unfortunately for him, it landed all on Vegeta. Vegeta growled like a rabid wolf about to charge his prey, but by some miracle managed to hold his anger in check. "I'll let that slide Kakarott since it difficult times around here, but don't let it happen again!" Vegeta warned. Goku laughed with the others and shot Vegeta a thumbs-up signal. Vegeta growled one last time then let it go, trying in at least a small way to have something that resembled peace.

The dinner lasted a good two hours. Although the troubles of the last day were far from forgotten, they were looked upon with a different light now. The Care Bears, despite being unable to break them free, had given those affected with the loss a sense of hope. Hope that somehow the Care Bears and Care Cousins could find a way, a miracle if you must call it, to free the trio, and the world, from the clutches of the Coma Disease. Just knowing that as soon as the Care Bears were home the conference was to be called gave the Z Fighters hope. Even Vegeta, deny it as he might, secretly hoped they could succeed where Earths forces had failed. Of course, he'd have rather died than admit this.

After the dinner was over, the Care Bears and Cousins, accompanied by Gohan, Goku, Goten, Trunks, and Bulma exited the building for the cloud cars. After much hugging and many tearful goodbyes, the Care Bears climbed into their cloud cars and drove off for Care-A-Lot. As they watched them go, Goku turned to Bulma with a smile of sheer innocense and said, "Don't worry Bulma, it will all be ok. I promise". Bulma turned to him and smiled brightly, "Yes Goku, your right. It WILL all be ok". The Care Bears gave one last wave at the Z Fighters, which they returned with enthusiasm. Vegeta, declineing to actually walk outside, had simply stood in the doorway watching them go. He sighed and managed a little smirk. 'Blasted bears. Dropped a rainbow in my yard, defiled my room, and turned my kids into blubbering idiots' he thought to himself. Then he sighed deeply, 'But they have given my mate hope, and for that, I thank them, although I'll never tell THEM that of course' he thought smugly to himself. Bulma looked behind her, seeing Vegeta watching from the safety of the door. She smiled a bit, "Well, I guess I could go fix the gravity chamber for him. He DID take them being here alright I suppose." That said, she departed for the Chamber to undo the damage the amateur electrician Saiyan inflicted.

* * * * *

"Well gang, we'll just have to call that meeting once we get back and then, after we have a plan of action, we can set out to stop Shadow Heart for good!" Noble Heart declared to the passangers in his cloud car. The others in his car, True Heart, Tender Heart, Brave Heart and now Funshine Bear, cheered in agreement. Up ahead they could see the other cloud car, holding the rest of the Care Bears that had came to Earth. Cheer Bear turned around in her seat and waved at them. They all waved back, eager and enthusiastic about finding a solution to the problems on Earth. In the other car, Cheer and Friend were having a discussion about their stay at Capsule Corp, both concluding that it was a most enjoyable time. "Except for Mr. Vegeta, he wasen't very nice at all" Good Luck Bear said. Secret nodded in agreement and did a hilarious impersonation of Vegetas smirking and scowling. The car howled with laugher, leaving those in the other car to wonder what was so funny.

"You think the Z Fighters on Earth can defeat the shadow True Heart?" Brave Heart asked. True Heart looked back at the lion for a second, returning her eyes to driving. "I hope so Brave Heart. I really do hope they can, but I fear this enemy may be too great for them. I know they are powerful and help protect the Earth, but I just don't know enough about this monster to say for sure one way or another." True Heart replied. She sighed, thinking to herself, 'So much is riding on this, I just hope its enough.' The group in the first car, the one with True and Noble Heart that is, went into deep discussion on what to address at the meeting. The 5 decided that it was a must to mention the failed healing attempt as well as the failed attack to give the Care Bears a better idea of what they were dealing with.

*Bannng!!* A large heart shaped signal exploded into the sky, bathing both cars in bright red light. Everyone jumped in their seats a little. "Grrr! I told those two cubs not to be shooting off stare signals as fireworks!" Tender Heart said. *Bannng!!* Another star signal went off. Something somewhere in the back of True Hearts mind clicked a certain way. She looked at the exploding red hearts, struggling to remember a faint memory from her past...a memory about that certain stare signal...about it being used...as a...

"DANGER SIGNAL!!" True Heart practically screamed as the look of realization and horror dawned on her. "Huh?!" Noble Heart, Funshine, Tender Heart and Brave Heart said at the same time. "Thats the danger signal! Somethings wrong in Care-A-Lot!!" True Heart yelled frantically. "True Heart step on it!" Tender Heart yelled. Didn't need to tell her twice. A second later all the passangers were thrown back as the car lurched forward, rocketing towards Care-A-Lot. As they passed the second car, Funshine yelled to Bright Heart who was driving, "Care-A-Lots in trouble, come on!". Within seconds the other cloud car picked up speed, accelerating towards Care-A-Lot. By now, in addition to the danger signal, stray Care Bear Stare beams could be seen careening off the side of the clouds. "Oh I hope were not too late.." True Heart prayed as she held on and pressed the car even harder.

* * * * *

"Ahhhhhhhhh!!'' came Share Bears yell as the cloud she was hiding behind exploded in a burst of red light. All around her, Care Bears and Care Bear cousins ran for cover. The playground in Care-A-Lot was a smoldering pile of burnt metal, the rainbow slides had chunks missing out of them, and even as Share watched, one of the houses burst into flames and then exploded. Fire and destruction were everywhere, and in the middle of it was the man in black armor with silver hair and red eyes.

Shadow Heart...

In a desperate attempt, Birthday Bear, Take Care Bear, Daydream Bear, Grumpy Bear, Champ Bear, Wish Bear, and Bedtime Bear assembled in a lineup and bravely faced their shadowy intruder. "Care Bears, Stare!" Champ Bear called. The bright beams of love and light hit their target dead on and exploded into a show of rainbow-colored light. The light from impact was blinding, and the hum of caring power was clearly audible, as was something else. His laugh. Shadow Heart was standing there LAUGHING as the Care Bears Stare collided with his body. He suddenly stopped laughing, his eyes shining a brighter red. He raised his hands, red energy crackling on them. Without warning, he fired not at the Care Bears, but into their beams themselves. The red lightning snaked its way through the beams, colliding into the ones firing them. All 7 Care Bears dropped to the ground in pain as the lightning coursed through their bodies.

"Hahahahaha!!" Shadow Heart bellowed. "Now, you will all bow to me!" He declared. To punctuate his point, he fired a lightning strike at a nearby Care Bear house, vaporizing it into dust. "Thats what you think Shadow Heart!" a voice said behind him. Shadow Heart turned, a smile crossing his face when he saw True and Noble Heart glaring at him, the other 8 Care Bears standing beside their guardians. "The others are back!" Swift Heart shouted from his place behind a cloud. The others all scrambled to get behind the returning 10 Care Bears, taking their place beside them. Shadow Heart did nothing but stand there, his arrogant smirk on his face. Noble Heart walked away from True Heart, standing his ground a few feet from her. He whistled and the Care Bear Cousins took their place beside him. Bright Heart Raccoon, Swift Heart Rabbit, Cozy Heart Penguin, Playful Heart Monkey, Loyal Heart Dog, Brave Heart Lion, Proud Heart Cat, Gentle Heart Lamb, Treat Heart Pig, and Lots-Of-Heart Elephant stood beside their guardian while on True Hearts side, Tender Heart, Cheer, Funshine, Wish, Good Luck, Champ, Daydream, Take Care, Birthday, Wish, Bedtime, Friend, Secret, Share, Birthday, Harmony, Grumpy Bear, Surprise, and Love-A-Lot Bear took their places beside True Heart. The only 3 not fighting were Grams Bear and the two cubs, Hugs and Tugs. She had taken them safely away from Shadow Heart once the destruction started.

"We will not sumbit to your uncaring. We will defeat you!" True Heart yelled to the smirking shadow. "We will defeat you, to give the Earth a bright dawn once again and rid the planet of your evil trickery!" Noble Heart declared. "Care Bears!" True Heart yelled. "Care Bear Cousins!" rang out Noble Heart. "Stare!" "Call!" they commanded.

As one, the line of Care Bears and the line of Care Bear Cousins fired their Stares and Calls at Shadow Heart. The result was enough to blind even one of Earths Z Fighers. The rainbow-colored stares and the blue-colored calls hit Shadow Heart with a blinding flash and a deafening hum of power. From the other end of the beams, a yell of pain could be heard. "Its working, keep it up!" True Heart yelled. The family poured on the love and caring, each of them praying that this nightmare would end here. The screams from Shadow Heart got louder and finally a deafening explosion occured, followed by a cloud of dark gray smoke dissapating away. The Care Bear and Cousins beams faded away, but they stood at the ready. A minute passed, then two, then three..nothing. The smoke had fully dissapated and there was still no sign of Shadow Heart. After another minute of tension, True Heart and Noble Heart looked at each other, breaking into a wide smile.

Seeing this, all the Care Bears and Cousins lept for joy and cheered. They had did it! They finally defeated the being who caused the Earth so much trouble. Amid the joy and laughter, True Heart ran to ready the Cloud Ship so they could go back and inform the Briefs family of Shadow Hearts defeat. Once she had it all set to go, she went back to the others, who had still not stopped celebrating and leaping for joy. The cubs were overjoyed that they had beaten the "mean old shadow man" who had destroyed so much of their home. True Heart looked around at the destruction that had been caused. "We are strong, and we will rebuild.." she said with determination in her voice.

* * * * *

In only a couple of short hours, True Heart, Noble Heart, Cheer, Friend, Tender Heart, Brave Heart, and Funshine Bear were standing on the deck of the Cloud Ship, ready to bid goodbye for a time so they could go inform their friends on Earth of Shadow Hearts defeat. Everyone waved and cheered them on as they prepared to go. "Ok Noble Heart, ready?" True Heart asked. He shook his head yes and his paw had just touched the lever to withdraw the anchor when suddenly they heard the caring meter go off, repeatedly. With a gasp, True and Noble Heart ran down to the meter, followed by the Care Bears and Cousins. What they saw next horrified them. The meter had indeed gone off wildly. When Dark Heart set it off, it merely spun rapidly in clock-wise circles. At the moment, it was slowly turning counterclock-wise, chiming each time it passed a caring mark. To make it worse, the meter was changing color from a soft red to a jet black before their eyes.

"Oh my stars...it can't be!!" True Heart yelled. Even as they watched horrified, there at the base of the meter, a black smoke was rising slowly like a tornado in reverse. It rose until it formed the all-too familiar shape of Shadow Heart, then it solidified into his image. He stood there for a second, a smile of pure evil on his face. He raised one red-glowing hand and pointed it at the Care Bears. They gasped and stepped back, True and Noble Heart shielding them in front. Shadow Heart smiled at them, the red lightning energy that crackled on his hand glowing brighter. Sparks of electricity began to leap from his hand in random directions. He kept it trained on the Care Bear Family and uttered only one word, "Boom".

Abruptly, he jerked his hand in the direction of the caring meter and fired. The Care Bears could only watch in horror as the lightning bolt erupted from his hand and struck the caring meter, exploding it to bits upon impact. With a cry, the family hit the deck as pieces of the meter flew everywhere. Shadow Heart laughed insanely and turned his attention to the rest of the Care Bears houses. "Boom!" he cried, loosing his lightning strikes. The strikes destroyed and obliterated everything they touched, which included every last house. "Boom!" he cried again louder, loosing more lightning strikes. These destroyed the cloud car garage, the Care Bears entire castle, the rest of the rainbow slides, and what playground equipment wasen't wrecked initially. He turned his sights to the Hall of Hearts, smirking in a way that Vegeta could never have dreamed of. "Boom..." he whispered. Noble Heart raised his head in time to see the energy bolts explode on his hand. "Please, no!!" he called. Too late.

The bolts fired, blowing the Hall of Hearts to bits. A massive explosion occured which rocked the remains of Care-A-Lot. "Tender Heart, get everyone on the ship and head back to Capsule Corp NOW!" Noble Heart commanded. Tender Heart hesitated, but a quick burst from True Hearts tummy symbol shocked him just enough to get the point across. While True and Noble Heart distracted Shadow Heart with random tummy symbol bursts, Tender Heart managed to get the rest of the Care Bear family safely on board the ship. True Heart glanced behind her, seeing them safely on the ship. "Come on Noble Heart we're getting out of here!" she cried. The two ran like mad for the departing ship and made a desperate dive for it. They made it, but by only the fur of their paws. Share Bear watched with tears in her eyes, as did many of their others, as the last of their castle collapsed into ruins. "Care-A-Lot is gone...." Harmony Bear said in a voice barely above a whisper. "And so are you..." a demonic voice rang out.

Without warning, Shadow Heart appeared directly behind her and placed a hand on her back. Before Harmony could even blink, Shadow Heart fired one of his monsterous lightning bolts directly through her back and out her stomach. The bolt exited her stomach and blasted a hole through the bottom of the Cloud Ship. Harmony Bear let out a cry of pain and collapsed to the deck of the ship. With an evil laugh, he vanished. The Care Bears gasped and crowded around their fallen family member. True Heart kneeled down, cradling Harmony Bear in her paws. She looked up at her guardian weakly. "T-tr-rue Hea-a-rt.......H-help-p me.." she whispered in a voice barely audible. True Heart was close to panic by now, but she did her best to remain calm. "Its ok Harmony, we're almost there, just hang on a little longer." she pleaded.

Cheer Bear wiped her tears away, looking down at Harmony's wound. The lightning bolt had blasted a 2 inch hole straight through her back and out of her stomach, missing her tummy symbol by a mere half-inch. Blood seeped from the wound, which Tender Heart was trying to bandage by producing small hearts and applying them over the wound. Harmony cried and sobbed in pain and agony with True and Noble Heart doing their best not to lose it and break down also. After what seemed like an eternity, Capsule Corp came into view once more. Directing Tender Heart to full-speed ahead it, they did their best to keep Harmony calm. To True Hearts horror, she saw Harmony Bears tummy symbol begin to fade in and out of view slightly. 'Oh Great Wishing Star no, shes dying!' she thought in horror. She held Harmonys paw, praying she could hold on just a bit longer.

After seemingly endless minutes, the Cloud Ship was low enough to the ground to be anchored. Tender Heart dropped anchor and ran ahead to Capsule Corp to inform the others of the situation. True Heart picked up Harmony and, stepping on a rainbow bridge Cheer created, walked as quickly as possibly off the ship and towards the building. Bulma, having been alerted by Tender Heart, met her at the door. They brought Harmony into the infirmary and Goku gave her a senzu bean. The bean began its magic and within a few seconds, the wound had completely healed, bringing shouts and tears of joy from those watching. After a few moments, Harmony sat up in the bed. Her physical wounds were healed, but she was still scared and shaking from the attack. Brave Heart filled the others in on what happened. The report brought an angry glare from Goku. "How dare he?! Since I've known you guys, all you have done is show love and kindness and that coward attacks one of you. And in the back no less!" Goku fumed.

True Heart and Noble Heart walked up to Bulma, their heads hanging, both in sadness and in embarassment. "Ms. Bulma, I'm sorry to ask this, but do we have permission, if theres room of course, to move the Care Bear Family here until we can find another place? I know its imposing and we're really sorry, but..our..our home.." True Heart began before breaking down into tears. Bulma put a hand on True Hearts shoulder and pulled her close. "Say no more True Heart, we know about your home being destroyed by Shadow Heart. Your welcome here as long as you want to. Trust me, if there isn't room we'll MAKE room for you!" Bulma said with a smile. Goku smiled at his friend, knowing Bulma would move out of her own house if need be to make room for them. As Tender Heart led the whole Care Bear Family inside, Goten and Trunks went through Capsule Corp, trying to decide where the best place to house 31 Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins was at, but they couldn't think of anything. After reporting this to Bulma, she just smiled and said, "Oh I think I got somewhere in mind."

It had only been a couple of short hours, but Bulma was glad to have them back.....

~~~With Care-A-Lot in ruins, the Care Bear family seeks refuge in the safety of Capsule Corp. But the questions that have plagued the minds of the Care Bears the most is, how did Shadow Heart know where to find them? What is the secret to his Ki-like powers? Why did he attack Harmony Bear without warning nor reason? And what is the game plan now that Capsule Corp houses Goku's family in addition to 31 extra occupants? And what of Vegeta? Now that the Gravity Chamber is fixed and hes training in it, what will he think when he comes out and finds ALL of those bears here? To find out, you'll have to read the next chapter in the Shadow Heart Saga, "The shadows of Shadow Heart". ~~~~

Authors Note: I am aware the Care Bears I listed above in the battle of Care-A-Lot may not be all the Care Bears or Cousins. I am listing only those I can recall from memory. Plus if memory serves me correct, there are less than 35 Care Bears and Cousins anyway, so I can't be TOO far off.