Chapter 7: Havoc and Chaos
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At Capsule Corp, things were a faster blur than Swift Heart..
Immediently after Goku arrived, him, Gohan, and Champ warned the others of what had just happened and the entire group instantly turned paranoid with fear over a possible attack by Dark Heart, or even worse, Shadow Heart.
Except for Vegeta, who had only laughed when he was told the news. "A human, a TEENAGE human, is suppose to scare me?" he had scowled when warned of a possible attack. Despite the warnings from the Care Bear Family, Vegeta remained cocky as ever that no one had anything to fear while he was around. As strong and powerful as Vegeta was, no one, Goku included, had 100% confidence in the Prince that he could simply beat around Dark Heart that easily.
Noble and True Heart had insisted the Care Bears travel in groups of 5 to all caring calls, and try to be out as short as possible. They both hated it, feeling like they were cheating the people of Earth, but they had no choice. With two villains now on the loose, they couldn't afford to lose even ONE member of the family. They figured that by keeping them out for as little as possible, they would decrease their chances of an encounter, and even if they DID encounter Dark Heart or Shadow Heart, 5 would have a much better chance than their usual 2 or 3.
Shadow Heart and Dark Heart aside, they still had other problems. Bright Heart and Bulma had finally gotten the hand held Caring Meter to work, but it still had a few bugs in it (like switching off the TV at odd times). Plus, sometimes it would chime and after an investigation, they would find nothing wrong. And other times they would become aware of situations that required them that the meter didn't warn them of. All in all though, it was mostly effective, and it was being a great help to them.
"So Tender Heart, what if they meter drops to 0?" Asked Goten right before they took off on one of their trips. "You see Goten, this Caring Meter shows the level of caring on Earth, if it drops to zero, that means that nobody on Earth cares anymore" Tender Heart explained.
"It also means Care-A-Lot goes ka-plooey!" Cozy Heart Penguin said. A snort from behind them made them turn. "Care-A-Lot ALREADY went ka-plooey" sulked Grumpy Bear.
Tender Heart shot Grumpy a look and turned back to Goten. "But we won't let that happen Goten, we care too much to let it drop that far" Tender Heart re-assured him.
With Tender Heart, Cozy Heart and Grumpy Bear (who had been 'volunteered' by Tender Heart) gone on a caring mission, the other Care Bears were in one of the meeting rooms with Goku, Bulma, #18, Trunks, and even Vegeta present. The Care Bears and Z Fighters sat at a large round table normally reserved for company executives, poring over a map of the world that had little red push-pins placed on it, in the locations of cases where the Coma Disease has turned up. Right now, Japan, Canada, Mexico, The United States, France, United Kingdom, Austraila, Germany, Spain, Greece, and Ireland had red push-pins on it.
"Oh dear, its not just here in this country, its everywhere!" Birthday Bear said sadly. The others nodded their heads in dismay, for it seemed like the disease was spreading like wildfire. They had added 3 countries to their list of infected cases in the last 72 hours, and at this rate the entire world would be infected with it. The Care Bears and the Z Fighters were trying to grasp the scope of the situation, and come up with ANYTHING that would stop Shadow Heart, and now Dark Heart, although they haden't seen any trace of him yet.
"Ok, we were able to hurt Dark Heart last time with a Care Bear Stare, so this time should be the same. Oh dear True Heart, as much as I hate to admit it, we're going to have to fight Dark Heart..er.., Michael all over again" Noble Heart said with his head low. The others nodded, all of them saddened by the fact that their enemy, then friend, was now an enemy again.
"Alright, so we figured out how to deal with Dark Heart, what about Shadow Heart?" Proud Heart Cat asked. To everyones surprise, Vegeta jumped up and slammed his hands down on the table so hard it left a long crack all the way down it. "WHY are we just sitting here! We should be out looking for those bakas!" Vegeta bellowed. Goku tensed, ready to pounce on him if he got out of control. It was clear Vegeta was still highly pissed over being beat up by Shadow Heart twice in a row.
"Vegeta take it easy! We're going to look for him I promise. Please, this is just what they want, for us to fight among ourselves!" Noble Heart said, trying to soothe the enraged Saiyan. Vegeta growled at Noble Heart and for a brief moment, the thought flashed through Bulmas mind he might just attack him. But Vegeta sat back in his seat, still fuming over the incident. Gentle Heart Lamb, who was sitting beside Vegeta, tried to pat his hand in assurance but Vegeta just yanked it away, glaring at the green little lamb.
"Ok guys, so any suggestions aside from hunting them down?" Gohan asked. The group debated back and forth for nearly an hour on the subject. At about twenty till 12, True Heart leaned over, whispering to Noble Heart that she was going to go check on Love-A-Lot. She excused herself from the group, slid her chair back under the table, and left the room for the Capsule Corp Infirmary.
So lost in thought was True Heart that she walked right past the Infirmary and had to backtrack 4 doors before she found it. She quietly opened the door and slipped inside, trying her best not to disturb Love-A-Lot. She had been out for almost 8 hours, and True Heart was sure she still needed some rest. She tip-toed over to the bed where she had been lain. Love-A-Lot looked to be in the grip of a nightmare. She was slowly tossing and turning, first one way then the next, moaning something in her sleep.
True Heart stood and watched her for a long moment before taking a seat on the stool next to her bed. True Heart sighed, watching Love-A-Lot suffer in her sleep. It seemed like almost yesterday, her and Noble Heart barely escaped Dark Heart and were on their way to the Great Wishing Star, who had officially made them Care Bears. She and Noble Heart had watched the cubs grow up before their eyes, maturing into the full-fledged Care Bears they were now.
But that didn't make it any easier..
True Heart sighed and stood to leave. She had taken only one step when suddenly Love-A-Lot bolted upright in bed.
"Oh my gosh, the children! I gotta help the children!!" she screamed, trying frantically to get out of bed. 'Oh no! Shes still in the grip of a nightmare!' True Heart realized. She grabbed Love-A-Lots shoulders and tried frantically to hold her down. "No Shadow Heart let me GOOO!!!" Love-A-Lot yelled at the top of her lungs to her imaginary foe. No matter how hard True Heart shook or held Love-A-Lot down, she just couldn't wake up from her nightmare.
With no choice left, True Heart held her still long enough to fire a short burst of energy from her symbol. The Stare was weak, but powerful enough to shock Love-A-Lot out of sleep. She stopped struggling suddenly and froze, her facial features still stuck in the look of horror she wore in her nightmare.
"Oh True Heart! The children! We got to.." she began before True Heart cut her off.
"Love-A-Lot, the children are safe. It was a bad dream, thats all, just a dream" she said reassuringly, stroking the fur on Love-A-Lots head. She sat there stunned for a few seconds, then latched onto True Hearts arm and began sobbing. True Heart put her other arm around her neck and pulled her closer, ready to start crying herself.
From down the hall, loud footsteps could be heard. In seconds, Goku and Noble Heart were in the room. "What happened?! Is everything ok?" Goku asked. True Heart, still holding the crying Love-A-Lot, nodded to them.
"Is she going to be ok True Heart?" Noble asked. True Heart nodded again and Noble Heart left the room, motioning Goku to follow him.
True Heart pulled Love-A-Lot up to face her. She was still crying, but not nearly as hard or loud. "Love-A-Lot, you know me and Noble Heart have loved you since the first time we laid eyes on you, back when you were just a cub, and the Great Wishing Star charged us with watching over and protecting the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins. We won't let anything happen to you, I promise. You just have to have faith, in us, in the Family, and in yourself, ok?" she asked.
Love-A-Lot wiped a stream of tears off her face and nodded with a weak smile. True Heart in turn smiled, but it was forced. She tucked Love-A-Lot back in and left the Infirmary. She went down the hallway and out the side door that lead to the side lawn of Capsule Corp.
The full moon was high in the sky, casting an almost majestic aura about the facility. In the distance, she could see the moonlight reflecting off the roof of the Gravity Chamber. She sat on the steps outside the door and sighed, lying her head in her hands.
'Oh dear..what are we going to do now?' she thought to herself. The Care Bear family had been through so much this last couple of weeks, she didn't know HOW they were going to manage with not only their former enemy, but a whole new one, one even their Care Bear Stare couldn't touch.
True Heart closed her eyes and remembered. She remembered the day Dark Heart trapped her and Noble on the seas, and how the rainbow slide had saved them and brought them to the Great Wishing Star.
She remembered the first time she used her tummy symbol. It wasen't anything special, she just made a bridge from the ship to land with it, but the first time it happened involuntarily. After that, she had complete control of it. She used it several times, for little things such as amusing the cubs or creating a cloud car. But she had only used it against one person, Dark Heart.
For some reason, her mind slipped to Vegeta, the man with flame-style hair and a short temper. "What has happened to that man that makes him so cold on the outside?" True Heart wondered aloud. She had been living at Capsule Corp for only about a week, but she had seen enough of Vegeta to know what truely was in his heart; love.
'But he'd likely never admit it' True Heart confessed. Vegeta, like many humans, was hard as nails on the outside, but soft on the inside.
The problem wouldn't be that he was hard on the outside only..
It would be that he was soft on the inside only...
'Maybe..just maybe..after all this is done with, he'll have learned to share his feelings a little better' True Heart thought hopefully.
She stopped herself, thinking for a second about Vegeta acting all sensitive and caring. She couldn't help but giggle vocally with this thought.
"Oh well..wishful thinking" she said to herself with a smile..
******
Four days had past. There had been no sign of Dark Heart whatsoever, and only 5 more cases of Coma Disease, but all were in Japan. Still, True and Noble Heart were still scared to let the Care Bears venture far. The problem that was arising was, more and more caring calls were coming from moderately far locations, and it was dangerous for the Family to travel such long distances.
So another meeting was held to determine how to solve this problem. Once again around the conference room table, True and Noble Heart, Tender Heart, Funshine, the now recovered Love-A-Lot, Bright Heart, Champ, Cheer, Good Luck, Brave Heart, Cozy Heart and Grumpy Bear joined Bulma, Goten, Trunks, Goku, Gohan, #18, and Videl (who had been given such a shock when she arrived at Capsule Corp by surprise to ask Gohan for homework help that Gohan went ahead and introduced her to the ENTIRE family, and their reason for being here) in figuring out a way to help those in far locations.
Suggestions ran like wildfire, from building super-fast cloud cars (Goten and Trunks) to developing Ki power to use Instant Transmission (Videl).
After about an hour of batting the issue back and forth, Grumpy Bears face lit up like Bright Hearts light bulb. "I got it!" he exclaimed.
"Really? Whats your idea Grumpy?" Cozy Heart asked.
"We build a second Rainbow Rescue Beam!" Grumpy said with triumph in his voice. At the puzzled looks from the Z Fighters, Tender Heart explained that the Rainbow Rescue Beam was used to transport Care Bears either to or from any location in a matter of seconds, by entering the cooridinates on the computers screen.
"Isn't it like the Rainbow Rescue Slide?" #18 asked.
"Sorta, but the Slide only sent a rainbow slide to get on and off of, and was much slower. This actually transports you in seconds to anywhere on the planet, so long as you have the location set", Grumpy Bear answered.
And then they came to the next problem: How to actually BUILD the Beam.
"When we used it back on Care-A-Lot, we had the console and a focus crystal, maybe it wasen't destroyed!" Good Luck said.
"Great thinking Good Luck! Tender Heart, take Grumpy, Good Luck, and Bright Heart with you, go back to whats left of Care-A-Lot, get the crystal, plus the blueprint and parts to rebuild the machine" Noble Heart said.
True Heart looked over at Goku, "Would you mind going along, just in case?" she asked. She had expected Goku to say yes, but wasen't at all prepared for his reaction.
"Woo Hoo! I'm going to Care-A-Lot!" Goku said jumping up and down like a little kid. Bulma groaned, plopping her head in her hands. 'Like a big kid..' she thought with a slight grin.
"Well comeon then, lets go!" Tender Heart commanded. Without wasteing a second, Tender Heart, Grumpy, Good Luck, Bright Heart, and Goku ran from the conference room, down the halls, and out the front door. After they dissappeared from the room, True Heart looked over at Bulma. "Does he always get this excited?" She inquired.
Bulma sighed, "You don't know the half of it True Heart.."
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"Woww! This things really neat!" Goku exclaimed. 10 minutes ago he had been climbing about the Cloud Clipper, now he was high above the Earth, heading for the fluffy softness of Care-A-Lot, or what remained of it.
With Tender Heart at the wheel, it took no time at all for the Care Bears and Goku to reach what was left of Care-A-Lot. Even though the Care Bears had more witness most of its destruction, they still were unprepared for what they saw.
Care-A-Lot looked as though someone dropped an A-Bomb on it. The rainbow slides were broken and shattered in countless pieces, leaving no more than 7 feet of slide intact at a time. The cloud cottages were all destroyed and broken, leaving only piles of rubble where once beautiful houses stood. The various buildings around Care-A-Lot were lying in pieces, their remains no longer smoldering.
The Rainbow River had dried up, leaving only brightly colored specks of dirt where the sparkling river once flowed. The swings and slides on the playground were now blackened and charred. The Care Bears castle was a heap of jumbled mess, with only half of one of its once majestic towers remaining.
The Care Bears found the Hall of Hearts after much searching. But it was in no better condition. The rainbow walkway up to it had large hunks missing out of it, the doors were smashed and burned down and the roof and half its walls had collapsed on it. Just staring at their once beautiful home almost made the Care Bears break down.
"Comeon everyone, lets get the crystal and prints and get out of here", Bright Heart said.
They walked inside the ruins of the Hall of Heart, stepping over hunks of the building as they went. The heart shaped table was broken in several places, and the double doors behind the table were hanging by their hinges. Led by Tender Heart, the group pushed the doors opened and the Care Bears all gasped.
It was still there! By a miracle the focus crystal was broken free from the transporters base, but it was still in perfect condition. The computer console, though damaged, was still flickering with life. "Wow, so this is what you guys used to send Care Bears to anywhere on Earth?" Goku asked amazed.
Bright Heart nodded, "Yep, this is it. Ok guys, lets get the crystal, the prints, and the tools to repair it and get out of here!". In minutes, the focus crystal, console blueprints, and Grumpys toolkit were collected and the group departed the ruined Hall of Hearts.
As they were walking outside, Grumpy tripped over something and fall face first in the clouds. Despite the sorrowful surroundings, the others couldn't help but laugh. Grumpy pulled himself out of the clouds and turned to grab the rock he tripped over.
Then stopped when he realized it wasen't a rock at all, it was Wish Bears Staroscope!
"Oh wow, I thought she lost this for sure!" Good Luck exclaimed. Goku looked down at the star shaped telescope. "Can I try it?" he asked. Good Luck handed it to Goku, who lifted it to his eyes. "Hey! This thing can see really far away!" Goku said with glee.
"Thats right Goku, its how we kept watch on the people of Earth", Tender Heart answered. Goku walked to the edge of the clouds, still peeping through Wish's Staroscope.
"Hey cool theres Master Roshis island! And theres Gohans High School! And theres a really big red balloon over there near North City!" Goku said.
'Big red balloon? A parade maybe?' Tender Heart thought to himself. If there was going to be a parade, he would have likely known it, because Cheer and Funshine love going to the circus and parades, in Care-A-Lot AND on Earth.
"Goku, let me see that balloon for a second please", Tender Heart asked. Goku surrendered the Staroscope and Tender Heart looked in the direction Goku was talking about. He saw North City all right, he saw the parks, the high skyscrapers, he saw its hospitals, the police station, kids running down the sidewalk, the big red balloon.
Then his blood ran cold..
"Goku...thats not a red balloon.." Tender Heart said, his voice trembling.
Receiving puzzled looks from the other bears, Tender Heart held out the Staroscope in a trembling hand. Grumpy took it and after a few seconds of focusing, one could swear the color drained right out of his face.
"Its Dark Heart!" Tender Heart and Grumpy yelled at the same time.
"Goku, we have to get back to Earth fast!" Tender Heart yelled to him. In a flash, Goku had scooped up the Bears and their bag containing the crystal and the prints. "Ok guys, hold on to the bag and the scope because here we go!" Goku said, putting two fingers to his forehead.
"Hey wait a second, we forgot the Cloud Clipper!" Good Luck yelled as they all vanished.
******
It should have surprised Vegeta to see Goku instantly materialize in front of his TV holding 4 Care Bears, a bag, and an odd looking telescope, but these days, it didn't surprise Vegeta, it just annoyed him.
"Dammit Kakarott, must you interrupt any bit of pleasure I have these days?" Vegeta yelled at Goku.
"Vegeta, turn it to the news fast!" Goku commanded, setting the Bears down. Normally Vegeta would have retorted, but seeing the urgency in Gokus demeanor, he thought it best to, just this once, listen.
"I repeat, North City is under attack! All citizens are urged to follow Class 1 emergency procedures immediently! Stay indoors, do not go outside, the police are mobilizing at this time. I say again, all citizens are urged to follow Class 1 emergency procedures." the TV newscaster was announcing.
The camera cut to an overhead shot. In the live video, the Care Bears could plainly make out the red cloud that Dark Heart so often took. At the moment, it was firing its paralyzing red lightning at all within range and laughing the same cold laugh they often heard in their nightmares.
"Its Dark Heart!" all four of the Care Bears exclaimed in unison. Vegeta looked at the screen, "THAT is what your Care Bear Family was so scared of? He just looks like a lot of hot gas!" Vegeta declared. "No Vegeta, its more than that. They wouldn't be so afraid of him unless he had a really horrible power" Goku said grimly as he turned to go round the others.
Goku started to turn the TV off when suddenly the announcer got a 'Just-In' bulletin from someone.
"Oh my God! Folks this is a nation wide emergency alert going out across Japan. I'm receiving reports that River Town is also under attack. We go now to a live video feed from our Infox-4 Satellite." The Newscaster announced.
The screen flicked then switched to an aeriel shot of a man in black armor with flowing silver hair. The man was standing in the middle of River Town, which now had several buildings either collapsed or on fire. As the Z Fighters watched in horror, Shadow Heart raised his hand at one of the buildings nearest to him, and in a flash of evil lightning, the building imploded, burying itself and all its inhabitants under tons of concrete and steel. Watching this, Gokus anger continued to grow and build. Finally it became to much for him, as he watched innocent people die in two different cities. With a loud scream, Goku's battle aura erupted, flushing out the color in his hair until it shone with a bright glowing gold.
The commotion caused by Goku's Super Saiyan transformation attracted the others and in seconds, Bulma, #18, True Heart, Friend, Secret, and Gohan burst into the room.
"Goku whats wrong?!" Bulma asked in a panic-stricken voice. Vegeta said nothing, he just pointed at the TV. Not even he could believe the devestation that was being caused by their seemingly invincible foe and their brand new one.
"Oh..my..stars.." Friend said with a gasp. As they watched the carnage unfold before their eyes, True Heart looked at the Care Bears and Cousins gathered before her with a look of determination in her eyes. Tender Heart had seen that look before, only once, when Dark Heart invaded their home under the guise of a "Caring Meter Reader", and the look had a simple message to it:
Somebody was about to pay dearly.
"Care Bears and Cousins! The Earth, AND Care-A-Lot, has been wronged by Shadow Heart. He has stolen the souls of thousands of people on Earth, he has destroyed Care-A-Lot, and even now, he kills innocent and caring people, all in the name of evil. Worse yet, Michael is our enemy now once more, all because of him." True Heart said, her voice shaking with a mixture of determination and anger.
"So what do you do now True Heart?" Grumpy asked.
True Heart glanced at the TV, where the screens had been replaced with twin aerial photos, one showing North City, the other River Town.
"Get the rest of the family together Tender Heart. Tell half of them to assemble with Noble Heart, the other half with me. We're going to stop them both once and for all!" True Heart said.
Without question, the Care Bears and Cousins in the room took off like greased lightning to follow Tender Heart as he carried out True Hears orders. True Heart looked at the Z Fighters assembled in the room for a long moment before speaking. "Goku, I know its a terrible thing I ask, but please gather all your friends who are willing to fight, and split them into two different teams, one comes with me, the other with Noble Heart. I know its horrible I have to ask this, but.." she began before Vegeta broke her off.
"Save it Care Bear! I've been wanting to get my hands on him for a long time, your just making it easier for me. I really should thank you, but its not the time for worthless sentiments right now." Vegeta said with an evil smirk.
Goku sighed, "No thanks needed True Heart, we're glad to help" Goku said. True Heart smiled brightly at them, despite the pain she felt inside.
"Alright then, lets show those two the power of caring!" She declared.
In seconds, the room was empty as the Z Fighters rushed to assemble into the teams which would decide the fate of the Earth, none of them knowing just how much hung in the balance.
Far away on a platform high in the sky, Dende, the guardian of Earth, watched not only the destruction of the cities, but the Care Bears and Z Fighters assemble for battle.
"They can do it, I just know they
can!" he said. Though his voice had the melodies of confidence in it, his
heart was singing a quite different tune...
********
With Shadow Heart and Dark Heart wrecking havoc on two different cities at the same time, the Z Fighters and Care Bears both have their hands full. King Kai had said the only way to defeat Shadow Heart was a full-blown assault by ALL Care Bears and Cousins and ALL the Z Fighters, but did he count on battling two of them at once?
If you want to know what happens, you have to wait for Chapter 8: "The endless song of battle", coming soon.