"Pace"

"Chapter 4: Confrontation"

It was a small blade, only about the size of a pocket knife, but wickedly curved. Pace saw it coming steadily nearer, but he didn't know what it was or he might have begun to wail. The knife did not stab the helpless bundle that lay on the altar, but sawed through a lock of his mane as a bony hand held the hair taut. The cub gave a whimper of protest before he falling silent, watching his captor with a look of resignation that no baby's face should wear. There was no hope now. Mommy and Daddy weren't coming, or they would have helped him by now. No Heart turned away from the baby, taking no pains to make sure he didn't roll off the altar, and dropped the curl of orange-and-brown striped hair into the cauldron.

"It begins..." murmured No Heart, neither noticing nor caring that Pace had begun to wail his despair to the stone ceiling.

Connie and Hope were waiting for their father near the entrance of No Heart's castle, still very human, and becoming very fidgety. Connie especially. She paced back and forth, she gnawed on her fingernails, she rubbed the back of her neck. A new feeling, one she hadn't felt a few minutes earlier, was beginning to form in her chest. It was an almost empty feeling, a sort of despair that sucked all good feelings out of her. It was, above all, a sense of foreboding. And the longer she felt it, the more certain she became that she wasn't just creeping herself out. Muttering something very unladylike, she turned and strode decisively away from the area in which they were supposed to stay.

"But Dad said..." Hope protested as Connie started forward.

"He won't get here in time." panted Connie as she broke into a jog. "If we wait for him, it'll be too late!"

"Well, wait for me, will ya!" Hope ran after her. In the space of a few minutes, the two of them had managed to get themselves thoroughly lost. They slowed down, panting, and continued to walk rapidly into the gloom. "You've been here before, Connie..." said Hope.

"I was a cub." Connie snorted. "I was too busy bawling my eyes out to notice my surroundings. I didn't exactly feel like checking out the scenery, and No Heart might have changed things around since then anyway."

"Oh..." said Hope lamely.

"C'mon, let's pick up the pace so we can pick up Pace and get out of here." said Connie, beginning to run once more.

Hope rolled her eyes, and fell into step beside her. "You said a mouthful..."

"When don't I?" Connie replied, flipping her bangs out of her face. "Darn hair...Now I know what Chance was talking about when he said long hair is a pain in the bu-aaah!" she shrieked as she tripped over a small, huddled form that was only about a third their height, if that.

Hope, who was fortunate enough to have stopped in time, shot out her hand as quick as thinking and picked Beastly up by the scruff of his neck.

"Owowow!" complained Beastly, "Don't you think I'm a little big to be carried this way? Lemme go!"

"Oooh!" Connie growled, the sound losing nothing coming out of her human mouth. She stood up, ignoring her smirking sister as she brushed off her newly-scraped knees. "Actually, you're just the right size...for a serious butt-kicking! Hold him still, Sis...I wanna see the look on his face when I..."

"Now, now," Hope smiled with deceptive sweetness. "No need to be so rude, Connie. Maybe he'll help us, if we ask nicely."

"I don't even know who you are!" wailed Beastly, twisting and clawing at Hope's hand. "You're choking me!"

Hope let go of his neck, and caught him by the armpits before he could hit the floor. "Better?"

"Yeah, tha...Wait a minute!" he gave his head a shake, "Who are you two?"

Hope looked hurt. "Why, Beastly, I'm surprised at you. How could you forget me? We had so much fun up in that tree."

"Yeah," said Connie, "And what about that time you snatched me out of the playroom when Sis here was having her bath?"

Beastly looked at Connie. Then he looked at Hope. Then Connie. Then Hope. Then he scrunched up his face and yelled, "No Heart! Heeeeeeeeelp! Mmph..."

Connie reached out and covered his mouth, saying through clenched teeth, "If you so much as think about biting me, you'll regret it."

Beastly nodded once, breathing rapidly through his nose, his yellow eyes as round as dinner plates. Hope, well aware that the minutes were ticking rapidly by, turned Beastly a little so that he could see her face. In a way, she pitied him; she knew what it was like to be in his position. On the other hand, during those times it was usually Beastly who had put her in that position in the first place. Sympathy only went so far.

"Let me put it this way, Beastly. We're not here to hurt you, and as long as you cooperate you'll come out of this okay. This is what you're going to do. You are going to take us to our brother, and you are going to help us save him. If you don't, or if we fail and he d...dies..." she faltered a little, then pressed on, "...we will be very unhappy, to say nothing about how our parents will react. Trust me, you don't want them coming after you, not for something like this. If you help us, and if we're successful, you can go on your way. We won't tell No Heart, he'll never know. All you have to do is lead us to where he's keeping Pace. What do you say?"

Beastly made a muffled sound, and Connie took the hint and removed her hand. Drawing a hoarse gasp, Beastly said, "You...won't tell him I helped you?"

"Cross our hearts, we won't. Connie?" she looked at her sister. Connie sighed, but crossed her heart with her finger. Hope nodded, and looked Beastly in the eye again. "I'm putting you down now. If you try to run, we'll catch you. And then we won't be so nice."

Beastly gulped, but nodded as she set him on his feet once more. He played fitfully with the end of his red scarf, and started forward at a walk. "This way..." he mumbled.

Connie looked at her sister as they followed the defeated Beastly, and said, "That was easier than I thought. Say, Beastly, what does No Heart want with us anyway? What's he want with Pace?"

"Dunno..." said Beastly, "He's been trying to figure you cubs out since he learned you were born."

Connie and Hope exchanged a look, and nodded. He had just confirmed something they'd suspected for years. Beastly continued, "He won't kill him, you know. You could just let him..."

"Bite your tongue." Connie said grimly, resisting the urge to hit him while his back was turned. Two humans against one...whatever he was...was hardly a fair fight. If Connie possessed a tail at the moment, it would have been lashing in annoyance.

Hope whispered, "If he plans on keeping Pace alive, that almost makes it worse...It means he has plans for him."

"Of course he does, doofus." said Connie, "He said as much to our faces when he took him." Hope winced, and Connie sighed, "I'm sorry..."

"Promise me you won't tell No Heart..." said Beastly again, casting pleading eyes over his shoulder.

"We already did promise." said Connie, and for some strange reason she was moved to sympathy...though not by much. "I gotta ask you something, Beastly."

The creature shrugged his shoulders as he walked on. "Shoot."

"I've seen how No Heart treats you. He treats you like dirt. Why do you continue to work for the guy if he's such a tyrant?" she asked.

Beastly didn't answer for a long moment, and when he did they almost forgot to be angry with him for his association with No Heart. "Got nowhere else to go...Don't you think I would have packed my bags and left if I thought I could?"

The sisters exchanged a regretful look, but the next thing he said broke them out of their growing mood of guilt. "Besides, from what I heard, I have it a lot better than that stupid fox did."

Connie fisted her hands to keep herself from throttling him. "Don't you ever call him stupid. Ever!"

The creature held up his clawed hands in surrender, and as he did so the sound of a crying baby reached their ears. Though he didn't need to say it, Beastly told them, "Through that doorway. Good luck getting your brother back...No Heart'll light you two up like a couple of Christmas trees! Hyukyukyukyukyuk!" When he turned and ran off into the labyrinth of hallways, the twins didn't attempt to follow him. He had done his part, and it was more important that they get their brother back. It dawned on them that even if they did manage to get Pace from No Heart, they'd never be able to find their way out again. The best they could hope for was to stall him long enough for their father to show up. And, though they didn't have very high hopes about it, maybe the potion would wear off.

The twins crept along the walls on opposite sides of the hall from each other, and peeked around the doorjambs. No Heart was in a very large room that, had it been outside, would have been about the size of a courtyard. This was his cauldron room, very near the thunder pit, and the floor was a minefield of stray boulders and fallen columns. They could clearly see their brother, lying on an altar at the far end of the room (it seemed to be miles away!), and No Heart stood nearby, hunched over his cauldron.

Connie curled her lip, and hiss-whispered, "I hope the sorry so-and-so passes out from breathing too many cauldron fumes..."

"Hush!" Hope hissed back. They watched, still as statues, wondering what to do. Hope looked at Connie and gave a wide shrug as if to say she was flat out of ideas. Connie made sure No Heart wasn't looking, and tip-toed over to her sister's side of the hall.

"Okay, here's what we'll do." whispered Connie, "We'll use the rocks and columns for cover, splitting up and heading in different directions. When we're close enough, we'll confuse him by taking turns getting his attention."

"Getting his attention like how?" whispered Hope.

"Calling to him, insulting him, whatever you can think of. When one of us gets close enough to grab Pace, we'll run for it." she said.

Hope looked dubious. "Will it work? Seems pretty dangerous to me..."

Connie glared. "If you think you can do better, now's the time!" When Hope sighed and shook her head, Connie motioned for them to go in. They slipped into the room, unnoticed by No Heart, and headed in opposite directions from each other. Now that they were in the torch light, they could see No Heart making motions over the cauldron with a knife. Unseen, and unknowing that each of them did so at the same time, the twins bared their teeth in silent snarls.

Connie was close enough for her footsteps to be heard, so she hunkered down behind a huge fallen column and swallowed hard. This was it. She cupped her hands around her mouth, and called out in a loud, taunting voice, "Hey, pig-face, got a riddle for you! What's the ugliest thing you've ever seen, huh?"

"What!" No Heart whipped around, nearly getting his sleeve in the potion.

Hope, from the other side of the room, crowed, "If you don't know the answer, look in the mirror!"

"How much is one?" yelled Connie, "What's the matter, can't figure it out? Ya walnut-brained ape!"

No Heart had zeroed in on her location. "I'll give you ape!" And so-saying, he transformed into a giant purple gorilla.

Hope, seeing that No Heart would catch Connie, yelled out, "What do you have after smoking a huge cigar? Give up? A big butt!"

No Heart turned to face Hope now, and Connie ran to a different location while his back was turned. No Heart turned back to deal with Connie, but she wasn't there. "When I get my hands on you..."

"Can't zap me!" called Hope, standing up so that he could see her, "Can't zap me! Nyaa-nyaa, nyaa-nyaa-nyaa! C'mon, here's your target!" she turned around and gave her rump a few light pats before No Heart snapped out of it and came after her with a bellow. Hope went wide-eyed. No Heart, in the form of an ape and running on all fours, was fast. "Whoa!"

Connie threw a rock at him, and it hit him directly above the ear.

"Rrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaagghhhhhh, I hate you Care Bears!"

Connie danced tauntingly on the balls of her feet, repeating in a parrot-like voice, "I hate you Care Bears, I hate you Care Bears, I hate you...Pbbbbbbbbbt!"

There ensued a mad chase around the cauldron room, and it became apparent that No Heart was catching on to their little scheme. Whenever one of them began to get near Pace, he would cut them off. And it was too late to think of another plan. There was nothing for them to do but continue to stall for time. Round and round they led him, spurring him on with insults when he began to lag, anything to keep him away from their brother. The good news was that it was working. The bad news? They were getting tired. As humans they had longer legs, but they also weighed more, so it balanced out. They didn't really have an advantage. If anything, they were at a disadvantage without their tummy symbols and powers.

"Heeeeeeeeey!" Connie yelled in between panting breaths, "Peanut-braaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiin! Come ooooooooon!"

No Heart finally stopped chasing them, and returned to his human (or human-like) form. His transformation powers had run out, but he was far from helpless. He looked at Connie, and pointed his finger at her. She didn't try to run; she was too exhausted, and he had her wedged into a corner. Sighting along his finger, he said almost lovingly, "Die."

Lightning flashed. Connie acted in desperation, trying instinctively to use her tummy symbol even though she knew it was impossible. Hope cried out in despair. And at the very last millisecond, Connie was able to Call a huge full-length mirror between herself and the lightning bolt. The bolt bounced off, hitting No Heart squarely in the chest. The sorcerer didn't even have time to cry out; he fell over backwards, and lay very still. Connie opened her eyes, and looked over at Hope. She found herself embracing a tearful, furry liger. Looking down at herself, she found that she was in her own body once more. A smile crossed her features before she remembered their reason for coming in the first place.

"Pace!" they cried in unison, running towards the altar. And there he was, sucking his fist and cooing pleasantly to himself. Raising tired eyes, he looked up at them as if to say 'Well? Are we going home or not?'. Hope picked him up, and held him close. "Oh, Pacie..."

"Bluk..." he burped, spitting up on her shoulder.

"What..." came a familiar voice from the doorway, "happened here?"

"Dad..." Connie looked uncommonly like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck. "I know you told us to stay put, but..."

Stellar took in the scene; No Heart unconscious, his two daughters who were no longer humans...And best of all, his son Pace, safe and unharmed.

"Aw, dag, man, you're not humans anymore!" lamented Chance, clutching his antique camera. "I wanted a picture of that."

Connie and Hope reached them, and Stellar only took a moment to hug them before shooing them out, saying, "No telling how long he'll be out. We gotta move."

Almost the end, but not quite...