CHAPTER 6: The Master Plan Unfolds

In the future all will be happy
In the future all will sing with glee
In the future there will be much rejoicing
In the future all will bow to me
There never will be any problems
There never will be any choice
No dissent or discontent
There will only be one voice!

Bow to the COG!
BOW TO THE COG!
Hail to me!
Bow to the COG, Hail to me
Bow right now to the C.O.G.!
Kowtow to the COG!
BOW TO THE COG!
Praise to me!
Bow to the COG
Praise to me
On your knees if you please for the C.O.G.!

I've got plans in mind for you
Quit your job don't go to school
Break your bones to build my dream
You're a tiny gear in a big machine
I've got what you want
I know what you need
I've got ideas between my ears
That would make your brain bleed!

So
Bow to the COG!
BOW TO THE COG!
Hail to me!
Bow to the COG, Hail to me
Bow right now to the C.O.G.!
Kowtow to the COG!
BOW TO THE COG!
Praise to me!
Bow to the COG
Praise to me
On your knees if you please for the C.O.G.!

I will give you a higher purpose
I'll control your very soul
My will is yours, now do your chores
Or be beaten by a pole
How will your lives have any meaning
After I'm buried, dead and gone
I'll build an army of giant robots
My evil plans will carry on!

So bow to the COG!
BOW TO THE COG!
Hail to me!
Bow to the COG, Hail to me
Bow right now to the C.O.G.!
Kowtow to the COG!
BOW TO THE COG!
Praise to me!
Bow to the COG
Praise to me
On your knees if you please for the C.O.G.!

("Bow 2 Me", by the Consortium Of Genius)

"Of all the humiliations!" exclaimed Auntie Freeze. "I can't believe you made us hide in the sewers!"

"At least we won't be found here" retorted Professor Cold Heart. "What do you want me to do, anyway? The castle is inaccessible, and we need to lay low. I still don't understand how the Care Bears and Checkmate could even know about Whitehouse – it can't have set off their Caring Meter."

"But they'll never find us here!" said Frostbite, trying to shoo away a purple rat. Purple?

"I, however, did" came a cavernous voice, as the rat shape-shifted in front of them.

"No Heart!" the Professor seemed less than thrilled. "What are you doing here?"

In reply, No Heart waved his hand, casting a spell on the wall. An image appeared on it, as if it was a movie screen. The image was that of an office; in the office, a chair was located behind a large desk, and was facing away, preventing them from seeing who was sitting in it.

"Ah, Professor Cold Heart. We speak at last."

"Who are you?"

"You may not have heard of me, but I am known in the underworld as 'Control'. I happen to be one of this world's movers and shakers, though I often act in secrecy. As things are, I believe we could work together…"

"Last time I was approached like this, it was a front for Checkmate Warren's machinations. Why should I trust you?"

"No Heart can vouch for me. He and I have an astonishingly long shared history."

The mad scientist looked at the sorcerer. No Heart replied: "Control is the most treacherous creature to have walked the Earth, but he knows better than to betray me."

"Fine. You have my interest. Make it short" replied Cold Heart.

"Far from me to waste an associate's precious time. Now, tell me…What would it be worth to you to get back at Checkmate Warren?"

There was a moment of silence. Control went on: "Both of you have good reasons to hate that man. No Heart, he betrayed you, and stole your castle – probably the greatest humiliation you've endured in over a century. Professor Cold Heart, you too have lost your castle – in addition, you've been manipulated, exploited, and have seen two great plans ruined. It seems to me that in the last few months, Checkmate Warren has caused more harm to you than the entirety of the Care Bear Family ever has.

But what can you do about it? That mastermind appears to have covered every base. A flying fortress, armed with weaponry that makes the Pentagon green with envy, combined with a strategic brilliance that outshines that of Napoleon, Caesar and Sun Tzu…Deadly as you two may be, even you find yourself powerless before him.

I can change that. I can give you what you need – magical equipment for No Heart, a decent secret laboratory for Cold Heart, and of course my invaluable advice. Intelligent as Checkmate Warren may be…He may very well find himself out of his league against me."

"And what exactly do you stand to gain from it?" asked Cold Heart, skeptical.

"No Heart's debt. I have a deal with him – he reclaims his castle, then helps me later on with a matter of my own. So tell me…Do we have an agreement?"

"I'll think about it."

"Perfect. You can contact me the following way…"

After the conversation had ended and the image in the sewers faded, the chair in the office swiveled, revealing Control. He addressed a young man at the other end of the office:

"It seems to me like everything's working, Arnold."

"I'll take your word for it, sir. But…Is it really worth it, just to get a favor from your brother? For that matter, I'm surprised you didn't negotiate to get one from the prof, too."

"As usual, you fail to grasp the subtleties, Arnold. You have so much left to learn. Understand – I'm not doing this because I need No Heart's help. I'm doing this because I want Checkmate Warren out of the equation. He's proven more dangerous and capable than expected, and left unchecked, he might actually gain global power."

"In just a few months?"

"Years, actually – don't forget he's been planning for a while before the current mess. But even several years is too short a time to take over the world – he hasn't taken the time to put his fingers everywhere. He doesn't know about me – or rather, he's probably heard rumors concerning my existence, but hasn't had the time to make a serious study of the matter. That allows me to mess up his plans; unlike him, I've had many decades to prepare my reign – I'm not limited by the short human lifespan.

Checkmate's plan could have some limited success, and, for the sake of my own power, I cannot allow that. I need him taken down, and my two new pawns will prove useful in this endeavor. Since I was going to do it with them, I figured I might just as well squeeze what I can out of it, and thus got No Heart to agree to 'repay' me. That trick wouldn't have worked with Cold Heart – he's too smart not to realize I'm doing this because Warren is a threat to me.

For the last few months, the public has been watching a very impressive display of Warren's abilities; in their eyes, he has risen to the rank of an unstoppable evil force, a dark god who shall unleash an apocalypse upon them. Now it is my turn to kill the god, and reveal it to be a frail mortal."

In Care-a-Lot's Head Quarters, the Care Bear Family too was talking about Checkmate Warren.

"If you'll ask me, he's even creepier than all the other villains we've fought. At least their plans were simple enough for us to understand. But Checkmate Warren seems to always think dozens of steps ahead of everyone else."

"It is creepy." admitted Bright Heart. "He's not only a master inventor, but also a genius strategist. I found out that he's a chess grandmaster – that's the highest level beside world champion."

"Excuse me" pointed out Loyal Heart, "but what's the point of this discussion? There's not much we can do anyway. We promised not to interfere with his plans when he tells us, remember?"

"That's true", said True Heart, "but that doesn't mean there is no hope. Maybe we can do something before the part where he asks us not to interfere, or maybe we can turn him away from his path…"

"Unlikely" said Bright Heart. "Remember that it's "Mate in one" – there should be only one step left in his plan, and I'll bet that's when we won't be allowed to interfere."

"And I doubt we can make him change before it's too late" added Loyal Heart.

"Don't be so certain" replied Noble Heart. "Back then, would you have expected Dark Heart to change? There's hope for anyone."

"I'm not sure Warren's that evil, actually" said Wish. "I mean, he could have eliminated us easily. And he didn't have to give us the cure for the Freeze Germ, or save Hugs and Tugs. Are we even sure that he has bad intentions?"

"That's another problem" explained Tender Heart. "We don't know what he intends to do, really. He says he's aiming for world domination, but we're not sure why – and we have no clue how."

"Well, let's examine our information" prompted Bright Heart. "He's never been very clear on his motivations…He mentioned that he wasn't satisfied with the way the world was, and he said that sometimes, doing the right thing required doing something bad. We can make guesses from that…

As for his plan: So far, he has taken over No Heart's flying castle, which he uses as an HQ. He's stolen the electromagnetic controller. He has obtained the uncaring crystal. There was that weird device that absorbed the Stare we used against it. He's scammed Cold Heart out of his machines and blueprints. He's hacked most computers in the world. He's taken some caring crystals. He's made the world afraid of him. How can all these things be used to take over the Earth?"

"You're the scientist here. What do you think?"

"Well, the castle is easy: It's a mobile base of operation, and it's almost unreachable, so with those weapons he has there he doesn't have to worry about the authorities coming for him. The uncaring crystal…I don't know what he intends to do with it, but if its radiations could remove the colors and caring of a city, then I fear to imagine what he could do with it."

"He used it to make a shield against our Stare, remember?"

"Yes, a fragment, but I'm not sure that was the reason. I mean, he doesn't usually need that shield to defeat us, does he?

The device that absorbed our Stare…I don't have a clue as to its purpose. Cold Heart's machines were probably a bonus – if he didn't know all that much about them to begin with, then his plan can't have been based on them. The computer piracy gives him immense power and knowledge. As for the fear, he needs it to control the world…But how?"

"So we don't know what he's planning, and we don't know what to do", complained Brave Heart. The meeting didn't go much further than that.

"Aaand checkmate." Warren moved the tower on the screen. "This computer hasn't defeated me even once in the last three years – I've won more than a hundred times in a row. Considering how sophisticated this model is, I'd call that a good score.

But enough bragging. Beastly, are you done putting everything where I told you to?"

"Yes boss. But why didn't you want me in the lower room?"

"Because what I put there is the most vital element of my plan, and only professionals should be allowed near it. Which, I'm afraid, strikes you out. You've done your grunt work well enough as far as I'm concerned, but the technical work is mine to do.

Now, the time has finally come. Everything has fallen into place. Within 24 hours, I'll be Emperor of the Earth – and then we can finally get some changes moving. And let's start by moving this castle – our destination is the airspace of Rainbow City!"

Grams was busy dusting her room when Hugs and Tugs came in. "Grams! There's something wrong with the TV!"

"I'll take a look at it, darlings. In the meanwhile, why don't you play outside?"

"Um, Grams…We really think you should see it."

Intrigued, the old bear followed. When she saw what the matter was, she rushed outside, and called Bright Heart, who was passing by. After she showed him the problem, he called everyone else.

"What do you want to show us, Bright Heart? Does it have something to do with Checkmate Warren?"

"You bet it does! All the TV channels in the world have suddenly started broadcasting something they're not in control of – it's his doing. See for yourself:"

The image on the screen was far from comforting: No Heart's spooky castle, surrounded as always with dark clouds and lightning bolts – except that this time, it was floating half-a-mile above Rainbow City. A black and a white chess pawn were shown in the lower corners of the screen. At the top, it was written: "COUNTDOWN TO CHECKMATE: 1".

"Oh my stars. What is he doing now?"

As if to answer the question, a head-sized device fell from the castle. In mid-fall, it exploded; particles flew in all directions, and as they hit the surface, it became grey – and in one second, Rainbow City was transformed back into Drab City.

"No!" cried True Heart. "What does he think he's doing!"

Again, as if to answer the question, the image was suddenly replaced by that of Checkmate Warren, speaking from one of the rooms in No Heart's castle. Next to him was a device not so much unlike the one he had dropped a moment earlier – except that it was much, much bigger. Its main element seemed to be the crystal of uncaring.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, citizens and leaders of the world, good after-noon. As most of you may have heard, I am known as Checkmate Warren. This crystal which I have secured a few months ago" – he pointed to the one in the device – "has certain interesting properties. Its radiations, unless an electromagnetic shield stops them, remove both caring and colors. When overheated, the crystal explodes – sending particles which destroy the aforementioned caring and colors. What I have designed here is nothing less than a carelessness bomb, or C-bomb if you will. A moment ago, I used a very small one on Rainbow City, with complete success, turning off the feelings and emotions of its inhabitants like a switch; for all intent and purpose, they are soulless shells now" Images of the population flashed – they were as apathetic as in the times of Drab City. Maybe even more. "The crystal in the bomb next to me, however, is so big that when it explodes, it will affect the entire planet, unleashing an emotional holocaust!

This is a simple albeit large-scale takeover. I can use the C-bomb with no ill effects to myself, as this castle has a sufficient electromagnetic shield – some of you may recall how I took a state-of-the-art electromagnetic controller from the American military. If I push the button, every single inhabitant of this world will become a gray zombie like the inhabitants of Rainbow City – and that's exactly what will happen soon unless the world's governments accept me as their supreme ruler. Any attempt to attack me will result in my detonating the C-bomb. As I've previously demonstrated, I have weapons here that can protect me against any attack; I also control the world's computers, meaning I can turn your machines against you, including nuclear weaponry. All previous attempts to stop me, by heroes and villains alike, have always failed miserably. No-one can stop me this time – not all the world's armies combined, not John Bolt, not even the Care Bear Family – least of all the Care Bear Family, as I'm certain they know. I'm sure you'll know what to do – have a good day. Checkmate, world." And with a smirk, he turned away. The image slowly faded, replaced by a black-and-white checkerboard pattern background, on which it was written, in blood-red letters, "CHECKMATE".

"So that was his plan all along!" exclaimed Noble Heart. "It all fits together now…There must be some way to stop him!"

"But – we promised not to stop him" reminded him Loyal Heart.

"I…I don't know" replied Noble Heart, uncharacteristically unsure of himself.

"There is always a way" said True Heart. "We have to at least try to convince him to stop this madness!"

"I'm trying to get access to his computers" said Bright Heart. "He used a special Internet connection in order to transmit his message everywhere – I've found his address. I don't think I can hack through his security, but wait…I think I can establish videophone communication."

And indeed, after a very short while, a video-com was initialized – and Warren's face appeared on the monitor of Bright Heart's computer.

"Why, if it isn't my favorite family of saints. I don't suppose you're calling to congratulate me on the conclusion of my master plan, are you?"

"No we're not!" yelled Tender Heart, visibly shaken. "Are you insane, Warren? This – this is just pure evil!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. It's more of a 'the ends justify the means' situation."

"What does that mean?"

"Have you forgotten my debut? Before I began my criminal career, I was a network administrator. I've resigned years ago from that position at WebKnot, but I have always been a technician at heart. The one thing I cannot abide is a system not working right. If you fail to see what this has to do with our current situation, then, for crying out loud, just look at the world! It's led in such an incompetent manner, I don't know whether to laugh or to cry at the sight!"

"Hey, what was it you said once" interrupted Bright Heart – "about making things run efficiently?"

"Correct. Our world is being led by a bunch of imbeciles, many of whom happen to be corrupt to the bone. It's up to me to fix this mess – only I have the skill, the determination, and integrity to make it happen. Others wouldn't know how, would give up in the face of such a monumental task, or abuse the power for petty, selfish intents rather than the global picture."

"Hold it right there" interrupted True Heart. "Is that what it was all about? Taking over the world so that you could turn it into your idea of how it should be?"

"Absolutely. As you know, I've seen human stupidity (with a touch of intellectual dishonesty) ruin a city – and my teenage years with it. And it wasn't just Salvation Town – everywhere I have gone, people are too dim to think beyond the short-term, or understand the situation; they just don't bother to think. That, together with their inherent selfishness, leads to the sad state of the Earth – crime rages in our cities, wars destroy countries without benefiting either side in the end, our environment is being destroyed for the sake of short-term profit, entire populations starve when we already produce enough to feed everyone, chaotic disorganization renders daily life nightmarish, and our governments don't have the intelligence – and sometimes not the integrity, either – required to solve all these problems. I don't intend to let idiots ruin this planet any further – I'm taking charge."

"You remind me of an old enemy of ours, the wizard of Wonderland. He too thought that his world needed him to fix it, and tried to take over. But his plans were completely insane – his idea of what the world needed was completely out of touch with reality. What makes you think you'll be any better?"

"Had you paid better attention over the last few months, you'd have noticed that I never fail. With my genius, I'll fix this world – as someone should have done a long time ago!"

"By taking it over through force? By terrorizing populations? By stealing, cheating, and threatening? By creating the most horrible weapon in History? It doesn't really sound to me like you're on the right track" countered Noble Heart.

"The means justify the ends. The fear, terror, and other unsavory methods were necessary to obtain the power with which I can effect some needed changes. Tell me – have you ever heard of Louis Pasteur?"

"The father of modern medicine?" said Bright Heart. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Back in the days, he had an experimental vaccine to protect from rabies – a terrible, deadly illness. He had some dogs at the lab, and to test if his vaccine worked, he needed to inject both vaccinated and unvaccinated dogs with the virus. But Pasteur was a kind man, and couldn't bring himself to condemn some poor dogs to such a horrible fate. One day, while Pasteur was away from the lab, his assistant proceeded with the experiment. The vaccinated dogs were fine, the others got rabies – and afterwards, countless lives were saved thanks to the vaccine.

Or to give another example: Back in World War II, the Allies had broken the Nazis' secret codes, and could decipher their communications. One day, they deciphered orders for the German air force to bomb a British village. Churchill decided not to evacuate it – numerous civilians were killed in the bombing, many of which could have been saved otherwise. But Churchill knew that if they evacuated, the Axis would figure out that their secret code had been broken; then the Allies would have lost a vital edge in the war, and a far greater number of lives would have been lost.

Merely two examples among countless others: Sometimes, to do the right thing, you need to do something terrible. That is the basis of my actions."

"But your plan is insane!"

"Tough luck, then. I told you that, when the time would come, you'd have to stay out of my way. Well, this is it. Don't even try to stop me this time."

"But you're only going to cause more harm! Stop it while you still can!" Pleaded several members of the family.

"You want to convince me? Just come here. Maybe I'll deactivate the security system. Maybe. " And with that, he cut off the communication.

"We have to go there" said Noble Heart. "If there's a chance to stop this, then we must take it."

"I agree," said True Heart, "but considering whom we're dealing with, I think we'll need all the help we can get. Before we go to the cloud cars, I think Good Luck and I should take the Rainbow Rescue Beam and go down – to Paradise Valley."

Back in the castle, Beastly was following the unfolding of Checkmate Warren's master plan.

"Why do you want the bears to come here, boss?"

"I'll need them as backup. You see, while I need the bomb to threaten the world with, there are a few people who would actually want it to go off and turn our world into Drab Earth – Cold Heart and your former boss. They'll be here anytime soon – and while I think the security system I've installed will be enough to keep them at bay, I'd rather have a plan B. If they find a way to bypass security, the Care Bear Family might stop them.

Now, until those clowns get here, I need to supervise this "hostile takeover". Thankfully, the fear and anticipation I've been sowing over the last few months seem to be working – people have been half-expecting this conquest; every general and politician has at least considered the possibility that I might conquer the world. Thanks to the image of invincibility I've imprinted in their minds with all my cappers, they should surrender soon enough; a few nudges will complete the job."

"Right, boss. Should I do anything until then?"

"Well…See these printouts? Take them to my library and file them."

"Right away, boss!"

As Beastly proceeded with his task, he peeked at the printouts' headers. Apparently, they detailed Warren's plans for the world after he had taken it over: "INTERNATIONAL CRIME-WATCH FORCE", "NEW SPACE PROGRAM (related document: GLOBAL ENERGY MANAGEMENT)", "MAXIMUM-EFFICIENCY BUREAUCRACY", "PLANETARY TRANSPORTATION GRID", "WAR ON VIRUSES", "ZERO DEATH TOLL PEACKEEPING FORCE", "PROJECT PROMETHEUS: OPTIMIZED EDUCATION", "PARRALLEL ECONOMY: TOWARD ZERO UNEMPLOYMENT", "FOOD AND WATER DISTRIBUTION", "THE NEW INTERNET", "THE NANOTECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION"…

In Paradise Valley, the villagers were pleasantly surprised to see the Care Bears. Despite the valley's isolation, news of Checkmate Warren's ultimatum had reached them; they led True Heart and Good Luck to the pandas, who were overjoyed to meet them after all these years:

"It is so nice to see you again, good friends!"

"So it's true that you were frozen – you haven't changed!"

"Still talking in rhymes, I see" chuckled Good Luck. He then pointed out: "You don't seem to have aged that much, either. You don't look that older than most of us now. It's been about twenty years…Come to think of it, how fast do we age?"

"I don't really know," admitted True Heart, "but we have no time to talk about that. Perfect, Polite, I'm sorry to go straight to business like this, but we have an emergency. You've heard about Checkmate Warren?"

"Tales of the evil genius have reached our ears."

"One villager has a radio, so we know of your fears."

"Then you might have heard that all caring on Earth is in danger right now. Polite, Perfect, we'll need your help – the world is at stake here. We'll need you to come with us."

"But what of our valley? Without us it will freeze!"

"The blizzards will quickly replace the gentle breeze!"

"Which means we'll have to act quickly. You can leave the valley for a day or so, so come now! We have no time to lose!"

"Look at those monitors, Beastly. Our surveillance cameras are catching an interesting glimpse…"

And indeed, the uncalled visitors Warren was expecting were coming. Cold Heart and his crew were positioned on a big rectangular platform, which had a propeller like a helicopter's on each corner. They had a freeze machine mounted on it. No Heart and Shrieky were standing on a dark cloud, looking determined to get their castle back.

"The hour of my revenge has come!" shouted No Heart. But as he did, one of the electro-lasers on the side of the fortress swiveled in his direction, and shot a lightning bolt that only missed the sorcerer by twelve feet.

Immediately after, a sound came from the castle through loud speakers: "I've been expecting you failures. As you see, my defense system is still operational. I wouldn't recommend getting too close."

Visibly rattled, but trying to hide it, No Heart stopped his cloud's movement. A voice echoed from a speaker on Cold Heart's platform – Control's voice: "Really, No Heart…We've discussed this before. For once, you are not to charge without thinking. Your opponent has the upper hand; to win, we must rely on cunning…"

Inside the castle, Beastly was doing casual grunt work, and thinking.

"I guess working for Warren is still better than working for No Heart. He can be nasty, and he's very scary when he gets mad – which he does easily – but he doesn't make me do more work than I should have too. And he's never mean for no reason. I guess it's a good thing he's the new boss…"

Just then, a voice screamed in his head:

"Beastly! Answer immediately!"

"No Heart? Where are you?"

"I'm using a spell to speak to you from mind to mind. You're going to help me deactivate the defense system that fool Warren put in my castle!"

"Sorry, No Heart, but you're not my boss anymore. Too bad, eh?"

"You fool! Have you forgotten how I summoned you to serve me? With only one word, I can unsummon you, and then you'll be back to where you were before!"

Beastly stopped in his tracks, suddenly paralyzed with fear. "Don't do that! Not there! Anything but there! I'll do as you say! You're the boss!"

"Excellent. Then I want this defense system out of the way immediately!"

"But I can't do that! It's a huge system, and Warren will kill me before I'm half-done!"

"What of the shadows then?" asked another voice.

"Who…Who are you?"

"Why, your employer's smarter, more successful brother, of course."

"C…Control!"

"Myself. But to return to the matter at hand…There's the shadows. They're designed to be loyal to No Heart. They shouldn't be tolerating Checkmate Warren's presence. I assume he's disposed of them?"

"They made a fuss at first, but he studied them and the spell-books and found a way to destroy them."

"Unfortunate. Tell me, No Heart…I assume your thunder pit can make new ones pretty quickly?"

"If Beastly throws the right ingredients in, it can form dozens at once. I just don't have the resources to maintain more than that."

"Excellent. As soon as they're formed, the shadows will make short work of the defense system. Warren has probably installed an auxiliary one, which is where the decoys will come in handy…"

Meanwhile, in the control room, Warren was waiting for capitulations from the world's governments, and watching his enemies on the monitors at the same time.

"Surprising…I wasn't expecting those fools to be well-equipped. Ah, isn't it the Care Bear family in their cloud cars in the distance? And with the pandas no less! Not a moment too soon, too! Although I might not need their help after all…"

Just as he said that, shadows suddenly went flying throughout the castle. Before Warren could do anything, the defense system went offline – but instead of panicking, he just activated a function on his machines, put his finger on a button, closed his eyes, covered them with his left hand, then pressed the button. An incredibly bright flash of light went through the castle, and the shadows shrieked in pain and disappeared.

"Good thing I always have contingency plans."

He then took a quick look outside: As soon as the shadows had done the damage, No Heart had cast a spell, causing illusions looking exactly like the villains to appear. The villains and decoys all charged the castle at once; the defense system at its peak could have destroyed them all, but the auxiliary system, working alone, only managed to bring down some decoys before they reached the castle.

"Huh. These illusions were good enough to fool cameras, infrared, and ultrasound sensors. Impressive…I wouldn't have expected this level of intelligence coming from these guys. Unless…

I could turn the defense system back up, but it looks like No Heart's cloud and Cold Heart's platform have already landed on the castle. Oh well – the Care Bear family will help me defeat them. But I wonder as to the cause of the shadows' sudden appearance – my guess would be…Correct!" A video feed from a surveillance camera showed Beastly with the magical equipment near the thunder pit, covering his sore eyes.

"I'll have to check why he betrayed me…But first things first."

A few minutes later, coming from different directions, both heroes and villains were racing toward the bomb's room – and when everybody (including Beastly, who was still seeing spots) got in front of the door, Checkmate Warren was waiting for them.

"Well, well, well. It looks like everyone is present. But I'm afraid the plans remain the same – the bomb behind this door will be used for extortion purpose, no more, no less."

"You ruined my plans and used me for yours!" exclaimed Cold Heart. "It's my turn this time! I will make sure that this bomb explodes!"

"I wouldn't appreciate, and neither would our furry friends here. Who might use their stare anytime now…"

The fight broke out. No Heart sent purple lightning bolts, Cold Heart sent rays of frost, Shrieky used her magic mirror, Beastly clumsily tried to attack Swift Heart – and, still unable to see clearly, ran into a wall. The Care Bears and Care Bears Cousins all used their stare. Auntie Freeze turned invisible – which didn't really help, since the moment she did, Warren threw a net on her. Frostbite tried to charge Warren, but the mastermind just took some marbles (out of who-knows where), and threw them where Frostbite was about to step – causing the henchman to fall rather inelegantly (and not painlessly at all). Warren then progressed toward No Heart; the wizard began casting a spell, but, before he could finish, the mastermind grabbed his cowl and turned it by 180 degrees, blinding the sorcerer. He then punched him through the cowl, sending him staggering backward.

Seeing that they weren't exactly winning, Shrieky used her dreaded scream. Soon, almost all the villains, Care Bears, and Cousins were on their knees, holding their ears in pain – the only exceptions being Shrieky herself, No Heart (whom the scream had caused to transform into a giraffe, thus painfully banging his head against the ceiling), and Warren, who just gave one of his creepy grins, and turned his head so that Shrieky could see a small device in his ear. "An electronic filter. Blocks sounds like this."

Before the Care Bears and Cousins got up, No Heart used his amulet to transform into a rhino. "Enough of this game!" He then charged toward the door to the bomb's room. This led to a rather loud "Baong", an even more severe headache, and a small dent on the door.

"Just how imprudent did you think I was? I've had that door reinforced with steel."

"And surely you know how much easier to break steel is when it's frozen" replied Professor Cold Heart as he sent a ray of frost from his eyes to the door. This earned him a small brick to the head from Warren, but allowed No Heart in rhino mode to break through the door, and storm into the room – only to be hit by an electrical trap.

Warren raced inside the room, and was quickly followed by those who had been the closest – Cold Heart (with his own headache), Shrieky, then Swift Heart and Champ, then Frostbite. As they got in, they saw some machinery, the carelessness bomb in the middle of the room, and, standing on a tripod next to it, what looked like a machine ray-gun, with Warren manning it.

"I'd suggest for all of you to step back – this impulse gun can be as painful as a very strong blow. My plan is perfect."

"You can't threaten me in our castle!" screamed Shrieky, holding up her magic mirror and preparing to zap Warren – which she didn't have enough time to do, as an energy impulse hit her at full force, sending her several feet backwards.

Professor Cold Heart lunged toward the C-bomb, and Swift Heart and Champ were preparing their Stares to stop him – but then Frostbite threw himself at them, causing their Stare to hit the impulse gun instead of the Professor, which caused Warren's second shot to hit the wall instead of Cold Heart, increasing the entrance's size. As the Professor reached the bomb and started meddling with its mechanisms, he said: "Take it from experience – no plan is perfect."

Warren lunged toward the Professor, but then the bomb's mechanisms activated – and a thermometer connected to the crystal indicated '80°C', and kept going up.

"Are you insane?" yelled Warren. For the first time, he was showing signs of panic. "If the bomb goes off here, it won't just affect the world – the heat will kill us, too!" And with no further comment, he rushed to a nearby lever, and pulled it down.

The remaining villains and members of the Care Bears family were coming into the room, and the bomb's thermometer was indicating 200°C, when the floor under the bomb opened, and it fell down.

500°C.

The bomb was now nearly 200 feet below the castle.

1500°C.

The bomb was now 500 feet below the castle.

3000°C.

The bomb was halfway to the ground.

5000°C.

The thermometer exploded, and so did the bomb. At an incredible speed, particles flew in all directions. Some hit the castle's electromagnetic shield, and were deflected. But most hit the earth. Wherever they went, all became grey. The grey spread in all directions, covering immense distances in almost no time, quickly covering the continent, then spreading further, eventually reaching the antipodes.

That day, the Earth went grey.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: The opening song here is "Bow 2 Me" by The Consortium Of Genius (or C.O.G.), the 'rock band of mad scientists'. Seemed fitting enough.