Yeah, I know it took awhile. I'm terrible at dramatic endings. Hope everyone likes it!
Chapter Six: No Heart's Secret
When the Cousins arrived back in Care-a-Lot, it looked like an absolute wreck. Houses burned, bridges crumbled, and debris was scattered everywhere.
"It looks like a tornado came through here!" Said Patient Heart.
"Yes, of the large, purple variety." Growled Loyal. "No Heart must be seeking revenge for the black eye you gave him earlier."
"Well, he's gonna get a lot more than that once we find everybody. By the way, where is everybody?"
Loyal looked down the empty streets. "No Heart must have them. You and I must rescue them!"
"Now hold on there, Floppy." Patient yelled out, prompting Loyal to stop in his tracks. "Old No Heart's gonna be waiting for us. Lucky for us, I know what he wants more than the others."
"What's that?"
"Me."
Miles away, ear-splitting claps of thunder mixed with the maniacal laughter of a triumphant dark wizard. No Heart's spirit floated between the cages holding the vast majority of the Care Bear Family. "Do you vile creatures have any idea how long I've waited for this?"
If looks could kill, the thirty pairs of eyes glaring at him would have dropped him instantly. "Don't be so arrogant!" Said a voice from a cage in the corner. "Loyal Heart will get us out of here!"
"Oh? And what about your new cousin? The wolf?"
"Um…yeah, her too!"
Back in his throne room, No Heart laughed softly. "Oh, I think not, Care Bears. I know you sent her away after she attacked me. I know you crushed her feelings. To be honest, I didn't think you had it in you! She would be stubborn and foolish to come here after the reception you gave her!"
"I guess it's a good thing I'm just so darn stubborn, isn't it?"
No Heart spun around towards the window. There she was, silhouetted against the lightning outside. As she jumped from the window and landed on the stone floor, the thunder boomed, making her already intimidating entrance seem a hundred times more so. She walked slowly toward the sorcerer, those narrowed deep blue eyes never leaving his. She spoke softly, in the same eerily calm, patient voice that seemed more unnerving at this moment than any amount of yelling or screaming could have seemed. "Let them go, No Heart. Now."
Sprinting down the dark hallways of the castle, Loyal Heart raced toward the room he was sure the others were in. I've got to find the others soon. He thought. Before Patient Heart goes feral again! Flinging open door after door, he soon found the large makeshift dungeon, complete with several caged care bears arranged neatly in the corner. Thirty pairs of eyes went from a look of panic and despair to relief and happiness. "Loyal Heart!" The room cheered.
"No time for salutations and gratitude, I'm afraid." Interrupted Loyal Heart as he unlocked each cage door. "We've got to get back to Lady Patient!"
Tenderheart Bear was dusting himself off when he heard the feared name. "You brought Patient Heart here? You saw what she did to No Heart! What's to say she won't do that to--?"
Loyal Heart was in his face before he could finish his sentence. Through gritted teeth, he spoke as calmly and mannered as he could manage. "In case you weren't watching, Tenderheart, No Heart was about to obliterate dear Funshine, Friend, Secret and Treat Heart when Patient Heart intervened. She didn't even know how to use her stare—a lesson you were supposed to schedule, were you not? She showed true bravery and loyalty to you bears and cousins, and was rewarded with fear and mistrust. What does that say about you? And to top it all off, not only has she forgiven you, she's upstairs right now, facing No Heart alone in an attempt to give me time to rescue you. What does that say about her!"
The downcast eyes and mumbled words of agreement proved the effectiveness of Loyal Heart's guilt trip. Satisfied of the response, he turned toward the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, a certain family member may need my help."
"Wait!" Loyal Heart stopped and looked over his shoulder. Tenderheart and the others stood right behind him. "Loyal Heart's right, guys. Come on, we have a cousin to save!"
No Heart glared at Patient Heart, pure hatred filling his very soul almost to overflowing. "The last of the white wolves, right here in my very throne room." He snarled the words as a rabid dog would have, making the otherwise normal greeting seem threatening just by tone of voice. "You've saved me the trouble of leaving the castle to kill you."
"Was it not enough to destroy my first family?" Her normally steady voice finally began to waver as she spoke. "You find it necessary to destroy this one too?"
No Heart chuckled softly. "Loosing our patience already, are we? You certainly aren't living up to your name, Patient Heart."
"I've already told you what would happen if you hurt my family again. Even my patience has limits."
"Yes, now that I see the one thing that triggers a response in you, I'll have to hurt them more often!"
She couldn't hold it in any longer. All the emotions she was keeping down—love, fear, rage—were released in a primal roar that shook the very room itself. "You'll do no such thing!" she yelled at the wizard. She charged at him, teeth bared and eyes narrowed, a wild animal determined to protect her family.
"A beast like you should be kept in its cage!" A sweep of his hand, and an iron cage materialized all around Patient Heart. She skidded to a halt inches before crashing into the bars.
"Let me out of here!" She demanded. "We need to finish this!"
"It's already finished my dear." He walked around the cage, bringing his face to just outside Patient Heart's reach. He stopped at the side he began on and turned his back on her. "Do you know why I had your family destroyed in the first place?"
"'Cause you're a disgusting sociopath who doesn't deserve the air he's breathing?"
"Such an attitude." He said dryly. "It's not often I hear that from a Care Bear. No wolf, I didn't destroy them simply for the sake of destroying them. This time, I actually had a motive—revenge."
"What are you talking about? We never did anything to you."
"Oh, I beg to differ." With that, No Heart pulled down his hood.
Patient Heart gasped in horror. No Heart's face was a pale mass of red scars, barely recognizable as a face at all. The skin on his face was inhuman; off white and the texture of wet clothing. It wrinkled slightly as he spoke.
"I was only a small child when a white wolf attacked me." There was no sadness, no mourning in his voice. Only a violent anger that put a slight hiss into his voice. "The doctors methods were primitive at the time. He was able to save my life, but my face was beyond repair.
I have to admit, I was one of the more handsome boys at my school, at least before that day. Afterward, no one in the entire town could stand to look at me. It was then that I decided that if they couldn't care enough to see me as a person, then I wouldn't care for them at all. It was that day that I became No Heart. All of this—my attacks on the Care Bears, the suffering and uncaring I create all over the world—I have you and your kind to blame."
Patient Heart stifled a smirk. "As saddened as I am by the loss of your rugged good looks No Heart, I can't take the blame for an another animal, who was probably defending itself at the time."
"It doesn't matter if you accept fault or not. I am the jury here." He raised a hand to Patient Heart. "And I pass judgement now." The energy ball shot from his hand, landing in front of the wolf and shrouding her behind a wall of purple light. When the light faded, Patient Heart lay on the floor, motionless. Replacing his hood, he removed the cage and picked up the wolf. "I believe I've already found the perfect punishment for you, wolf."
"Here it is!" Loyal Heart stood at the huge gray door, waiting for his fellow Care Bears to catch up. "Help me get this open!" With several grunts and squeals, the gray door slowly creaked open—to reveal a maniacally laughing No Heart. He held Patient Heart's lifeless body in one hand, shaking her as his laughter shook him. Sensing their presence, he turned, still laughing to himself. "Ah, the Care Bears." He chuckled. "Come to pay your last respects, have you?"
A collective gasp rose up from the group. "What have you done to her?" Loyal Heart demanded.
No Heart pointed a finger at the scorched cobblestones and laughed out loud. "Is it not obvious?"
"You…you abomination…" Loyal Heart growled. He took a step toward the wizard, but the others grabbed him, holding him back. He strained against them. "Please," he begged them. "I have to help her!"
"If you're hoping to revive her, dog, I don't believe there's much hope. I made sure of that."
Loyal Heart pulled harder than ever. He glared into No Heart's glowing red eyes, and felt emotions that a Care Bear should not feel-fury, anguish…and vengeance. Finally pulling himself away, he braced himself. "Countdown!" He yelled, not bothering to see if the others lined up.
"Loyal, I don't know if you're okay for—"
"Countdown!" He repeated, in a voice that no one dared protest. "Four, three, two, one…"
"Blast!" An eruption of light exploded from Patient Heart's tummy symbol, sending No Heart clear across the room. Patient Heart landed on the stone floor with a soft thump. Shocked, the family's tummy symbols stopped, and jaws dropped open in perfect unison.
"Patient Heart!" Loyal Heart exclaimed. What had only seconds before been overwhelming anger was instantly changed to overwhelming relief and happiness.
No Heart sat propped up against the wall, refusing to believe what had just hit him. "But you were…I watched it myself!"
Patient Heart slowly got to her feet, a bright supernatural glow fading from her body. "Yeah No Heart, like I'm gonna stand there and let you attack me. I may go feral sometimes, but I have yet to go stupid. I figured if I played dead, it would give me time for that blast to power up. By the way, thanks for the calling lesson, Floppy. I guess I got a little unique with my attack, though."
"You're, um, welcome, Lady Patient." Loyal Heart still couldn't believe that Patient Heart was alive.
Patient Heart turned back to No Heart. "It's funny what people won't notice when they're in a hurry. So worried about revenge for your precious face that you didn't even notice I was glowing. Maybe you'd better look harder the next time you're sure you've destroyed one of us."
"You miserable, loathsome creature." No Heart snarled. He raised his arm, a swirling purple mist surrounding it and a glowing purple ball of energy forming in his hand. How dare you speak down to me—"
"Call!" The combined strength of thirty stares and calls struck the wizard square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and leaving him in a crumpled' unconscious heap on the floor. Patient Heart spun around. Loyal Heart stood at the front of the Care Bear Family, magic still floating away from his tummy symbol in tiny points of light. His expression was intense, his focus remaining firmly attached to No Heart, ready for any surprise resurrection.
His expression softened however, when Patient Heart ran up and trapped him in a hug that threatened to take the air out of him, too. Snapping back into reality, he returned the embrace. "I'm so glad you're alright!"
Tenderheart Bear stepped up as an family of blushing faces looked down at the ground. "We want to apologize for the way we treated you, Patient Heart. You've always been one of us. We just didn't realize it until just now."
"Already forgiven." Patient Heart replied happily, hugging Tenderheart until he too was gasping. "That's my job after all, right?"