SEASON 1 : CHESS MENACE
Jimmy looked at the ground, sad. His mother had suggested that he go play with his friends, but, after the way he had chickened out at the lake, he didn't dare face them. So he was spending his afternoon alone in the garden.
"If you're sad being alone, you could go find your friends, or make new ones" said a voice beside him. Startled, he turned, only to see the oddest sight of his young life: What appeared to be a miniature, smiling bear with a white tummy and a cartoon heart on it.
"Who – who are you?"
"My name is Tender Heart. I'm a Care Bear. We help people. And you looked lonely. Don't you have friends?"
"I…I do, but…I can't see them."
"Why not?"
"Yesterday, we all went to the lake, and there was this place you could jump into the water from pretty high. Everybody jumped, but, when I got there…I was too scared. Now they all know I'm a coward."
"Don't say that. There's nothing wrong with what you did, and I'm sure they won't stop being your friends over something so small."
"But I'm still a coward."
"I'm sure that's not true."
"Yes it is! I'm scared of plenty of stuff!"
"Everybody's scared of plenty of things. Even brave people and heroes. Like my friend Brave Heart would tell you, courage means doing what you have to even when you're scared. Actually being scared is perfectly normal."
Tender Heart kept talking with Jimmy, and actually managed to help, but his caring mission was interrupted when Jimmy's mother came into the garden:
"Jimmy, do you know where the…" she began asking something, when she noticed the tiny bear, and froze.
"Oh, mom, this is Tender Heart. Tender Heart, this is my mom. Mom? Are you okay?"
The woman recomposed herself, then said: "Are you – a Care Bear?"
"Yes, I am."
"Wow…I still remember hearing about you when I was younger. I've never met you myself, but I had heard stories…Didn't you save the world several times?"
"I guess we did," said Tender Heart, blushing.
"But – I haven't heard anything about you for years."
"We…Weren't around."
" 'Weren't around' "?
"It's complicated…We had some big fight with villains, and ended up frozen in time. We only got unstuck recently."
"Oh, I see." She suddenly looked worried. "Wait…Does that mean that the…villains…are back too?"
"I'm afraid so" admitted Tender Heart.
A good distance above ground-level was the castle of the infamous No Heart. Like Care-A-Lot, it floated on some form of pseudo-clouds…Except that these were dark, electrically-charged clouds, which only helped contribute to the sinister atmosphere of the castle.
People didn't like to talk about No Heart much, but he was nevertheless well-known: A terribly powerful wielder of magic, the green-skinned, purple-cowl-wearing blackguard had appeared at various spots at various times of the 20th century, always frightening all with his terrible power and unexplained hate for all life. He had kept getting more dangerous, until he became a true global threat in the 1980s; thankfully, the heroic Care Bear Family had always managed to foil his attempts at eliminating love and caring world-wide.
Right now, No Heart was thinking in his throne room. Beside him was his young niece, Shrieky. Beastly, panting from exhaustion, came into the room.
"I'm…done, No Heart. I've finally finished cleaning up the castle! I didn't even know a place could gather so much dust with the years!"
"To think we've lost so much time!" grumped Shrieky. "It's all that stupid Cold Heart's fault! Why did you make an alliance with him in the first place, uncle No Heart?"
The sorcerer said nothing at first, then replied: "I've been trying to eliminate the Care Bears for years. Nothing has worked. No matter what I do, those wretched do-gooders always end up winning! There must be a way to defeat them…But I've tried everything I could think of, everything I could do. So has that insufferable human scholar.
If I cannot destroy them, perhaps someone else can! There are many villains in the world, and only a few have fought against the Care Bears family. Myself, Cold Heart, Dr. Fright, Sour Sam…We have all failed. But surely at least one villain would know what to do! I'll hire the help of someone who will be able to crush them once and for all!"
"So we're going to rally evil-doers from all over the world?" asked Shrieky.
"We shall pass a message among villains that I am hiring help to defeat the Care Bear family. At least one of those who'll answer will be fit for the job!"
And so, a few hours later, No Heart had cast a spell. Dozens of shadows – No Heart's eerie servants – left the castle, on a quest assigned to them by their hateful master.
"Those shadows will scour the world, looking for villains, and relaying my message" said No Heart. "We'll wait here for potential allies to show up."
"Those things will find every bad guy in the world?" asked Beastly, impressed.
"Only those that interest me. They won't bother with those the Care Bears have already defeated…And there's one villain I will call without using any shadow."
"You mean…" said Shrieky.
"Yes. Him."
With that said, he went to a mirror. The reflection was troubled, and then replaced by the image of a very handsome, well-dressed man, in what appeared to be a luxurious office. He smiled at No Heart.
"Ah, brother. I see you've finally decided to call."
"I have no time to waste on pleasantries, Control" said No Heart, annoyed.
"Why not? You've wasted nearly two decades" mocked his brother. "Oh, and hello to you, daughter."
"Hello, father," said Shrieky, unsure of what to say.
"Enough!" said No Heart. "Why didn't you do anything while we were frozen in time!"
"Why should I have? The end result is the same. What have those years changed? But if you'll excuse me…Shrieky, this is a conversation between me and your uncle."
"Yes, father" said the girl, leaving.
"Now, No Heart," explained Control, "I'm surprised that you'd expect me to help you. After all, neither you nor I have retained the ability to care about our fellow man. I mean nothing to you, and believe me, I return the sentiment. We may be occasional allies, but we're by no means friends. As a matter of fact, the time-freeze was convenient for me – chaotic destroyers such as you and Professor Cold Heart are such troublemakers for people like me, who aim at controlling the world rather than devastating it."
"What about Shrieky? You sent her here to learn magic. If she's useful to you, why didn't you retrieve her?"
"She'll make a good henchwoman one day, but there's hardly a rush. I can wait. And like I said, your time-freeze was convenient. Have you got any idea how much progress I've made, brother? My power is immeasurable!"
"Your power is pathetic" scoffed No Heart. "I have no more to say to you."
At no point had No Heart noticed the tiny listening device hidden near one of the windows. Unbeknownst to him, the device had transferred some of his words to a remote location. At that location, someone was formulating schemes:
"Fascinating. Recruiting among villains, No Heart? This gives me a brilliant idea…I thought your return was a hindrance for my plans, but I might be able to kill several birds with one stone…Of course, I'll need to take care of your shadows on my way, but that should hardly be a problem. Soon enough…I'll initiate the countdown to checkmate!"
In a secure location, two men were talking:
"Did the information check out?"
"That it did, John – that's one less threat to national security for us to worry about. As usual, you did a fantastic job."
"Thank you, sir."
"Not irreproachable, though."
"Was there a problem?"
"As a matter of fact…Could you take less risks?"
"I only took those I considered necessary, sir."
"John, you jumped out of a plane with no parachute, had a shootout with multiple opponents on top of a moving train, and fought off a shark bare-handed."
"And you'll notice that I did each of these with a clear idea of how to survive. I only did what it took to achieve the objectives" John smiled. He then went on:
"Tell me – is there any urgent assignment that requires my attention?"
"Nothing special…Why?"
"Because there's a specific case I want to deal with."
"That could be arranged. Which case?"
John waited a moment, then said: "I want to go after the criminal mastermind codenamed Checkmate Warren."
His superior looked taken aback.
"That's…Not exactly the kind of assignments we're supposed to deal with, John."
"Why not? We're the NSA, sir – the acronym stands for National Security Agency. Checkmate Warren is quite definitely a threat to this security."
"John, our job is handle enemy spies, rival secret agencies, terrorists, and, occasionally, weapon and drug dealers. Not super-villains. You don't see us sending agents after No Heart, are you?"
"No, sir, and I believe that's a mistake. But focusing on the task at hand…Sir, I've risked my life many times in this job. I've done a lot for this country. And I'm glad I did. I'm not asking for huge rewards – doing my duty is all the reward I need. The only thing I ask for is that you let me go after this particular threat."
"Sigh…Fine. I'll let you go after this bozo, but I retain the right to call you for other, more urgent assignments if you're required. Tell me…Do you think this guy will give you trouble?"
"I've never met Checkmate Warren himself, but I've tangentially come across some of his plans. He's ruthless, devious, competent, and fantastically intelligent – but I believe I can stop him. I am, after all, Bolt – John Bolt. World's greatest superspy" he said, with a grin."
"Can't deny that," replied his superior.
