CHAPTER 7: The World at Stake
The past, a minute earlier:
"Every imaginable precaution has been taken," said the NSA director. "All planes are grounded, all nuclear installations have been shut off, the president, vice-president, congress and more have been sent to NORAD, and FLUUTE was asked to send their new electromagnetic controller there. Unfortunately, Checkmate's electro-lasers destroyed the controller as it was brought outside FLUUTE."
"Of course" said John Bolt sternly. Then, without a word of warning, he slapped his superior on the back of his head.
"Ow! Have you gone nuts?"
"Silence! Now listen to me, you moronic coward!
You knew damn well Checkmate Warren was the greatest threat to national security we had. Forget spies and terrorists; this man is the ultimate evil genius. I knew, you knew, we all knew he had to be stopped at all cost – but you were too scared to go against him! Too frightened by his cheap tricks, his theatrics, his grandiloquent schemes, his stupid gadgets! He knew you were all cowards – that's the reason he was overdoing it all! He figured that as long as you were scared of him, you'd ignore the threat instead of confronting it head-on!"
"Mr Bolt, that's hardly the moment…"
"Don't say another word! If you had had the right courage, you'd have devoted our resources to stopping him as soon as he went global! We could have beaten him before he got too powerful to stop. And if I had been more courageous, I'd have kept going after him even after you had forbidden it!"
"John…"
"But we acted cowardly. Now he's holding the world in his palm. We have ourselves to blame. Especially you."
The NSA director said nothing.
"I think our best strategy now is to wait for an opening," continued Bolt. "If he thinks his takeover has succeeded, maybe he'll lower his vigilance for a short moment…If I can infiltrate his castle somehow and defeat him there, then…"
Bolt didn't get to finish
Grey.
Somewhere else, a young gadgeteer was talking with a friend on the phone.
"Hey Christie!"
"Paul! I haven't heard from you in two weeks!"
"Been busy…But, with what's going on and all, I figured I'd call on family and friends. How are you and the rest of the guys holding up?"
"Fine, I guess…David and the twins are really nervous, and, honestly, so am I. But I trust the Care Bears will save us."
"That's what Lumpy said, too. I wish I was that optimistic…But they've never been able to defeat Checkmate Warren before. How is this any different?"
"I don't know…But, Paul, they saved me from death itself. I guess I trust them enough to…"
Christie was suddenly interrupted.
Grey.
At a small church, dozens were praying in the face of the crisis. The pastor was helping as he could, when he noticed a blonde young man he knew.
"Nicholas! Glad to see you."
"I figured you'd need volunteers with something or another right now."
"Indeed. It's not everyday you get a taste of the Apocalypse. You're too young to remember, but I was about your age during the Cuban Missiles Crisis…"
"I guess. So, anything I can help with?"
"Sure, I'll show you a few things. And pray that the crisis passes."
"Pray and act, sir."
"Why yes…Um, I hope you're not referring to those horrible books you've been studying against all my recommendations."
"Look, I've told you it's not demonic or anything. Magic isn't evil in itself – and believe me, I've seen what evil magic is like. I was trying to figure a spell to protect us from the C-bomb, but it's a bit over my head, so I cam here to clear my mind."
The conversation was interrupted.
Grey.
Inside a huge skyscraper, Control was discussing with his assistant:
"Hm. That didn't go as I'd hoped."
"Why, sir? What happened?" asked Arnold. "And…Why are you glowing?"
Before Control could answer, something washed over the area.
Grey.
"To answer your question, Arnold" Control smirked, "it's a personal, magical shield that protected me from the effects of the C-bomb you've just experienced."
Arnold, grey and apathetic, didn't respond.
"Understand, I have less to lose than mankind…You've lost your feelings, your emotions, your caring. I have had none of these for a very long time. But you've also lost your drive and determination…These I am less than eager to part with. I may be a monster, but I don't intend to become a zombie…"
The present:
Floating above an endless grey, No Heart's castle was as menacing as ever – but somewhat more crowded.
For a moment, in the bomb's room, nobody moved. Then, Checkmate Warren lunged toward some machinery, and activated a mechanism while shouting: "If I don't win, nobody does! I have activated a self-destruction system – in three minutes, this castle will explode!"
The statement took a moment to register, but when it did, reactions were uniform:
"To the heli-platform!" yelled Cold Heart and ran away, followed by Frostbite and the recently-untangled auntie Freeze.
"Goodbye – forever!" yelled No Heart, who then transformed into an eagle and dove through the opening in the floor.
"To the dark cloud!" yelled Shrieky and Beastly simultaneously.
"To the cloud cars!" yelled True Heart, Noble Heart, Tender Heart and Brave Heart, followed by the rest of the family.
"Not so fast, Care Bears!" yelled Warren, who took position at the impulse gun again and proceeded to knock down several members of the family. While the villains ran away, the Care Bears and Cousins fought against Warren, matching their Stare against the impulses.
After a while, Warren unexpectedly turned off the impulse gun, and turned toward the family: "Now that this is taken care off…"
"But…" tried to understand Bright Heart, "the self-destruction mechanism!"
"There is no self-destruction mechanism. I made that up on the spot to make the rest of them go away. Now, to the control room! If I can restart the defense system, they'll be unable to gain entrance."
Warren, followed by the still-confused members of the Care Bear Family, raced to the control room. There, he quickly made a few adjustments to the computers, which soon emitted: "Defense system online."
"Good." Warren calmed down a bit. "The 'villainous freaks' are now all outside the castle, and can't get too near. We can do a damage assessment."
Warren then activated certain programs and applications. Soon, satellite images of the Earth appeared on-screen – completely grey. Not a hint of color.
"This is…This looks so sad!" wept Treat Heart.
The images were then replaced by the video feeds from security cameras, which showed what was happening in the cities themselves. Not only was everything grey, but the worst part was the people: They were completely apathetic, like the people of Drab City before the Care Bears had saved it the first time. No-one was moving. It was as if the world was dead.
"Oh dear" whispered True Heart, "have we failed – by this much?"
"When I build something, it always does what it's supposed to" Warren mumbled to himself, repeating in shock what he had once said smugly. "No. No!" he held his head. "The purpose of the C-bomb was not to be detonated – only used as a threat! I wanted to fix the world, not destroy it!"
"Well, technically, you haven't" pointed out Bright Heart. "Although it isn't better by much…"
"To live like this, with no feelings or emotions or anything – that's not so different from being dead!" replied Warren. "And in their current state, they are all doomed to physical death too…I don't think people even care about eating now. If they hadn't somehow gotten Beastly to bring back the shadows – if your Stare hadn't hit the impulse gun…" He then tried to calm down, and said – probably to himself: "Well, it's not like I don't know how to fix this – I don't know how to fix this! – Yes I do! The serum – Is barely enough for Rainbow City! I'll need several thousand times more for the world! – Don't panic, stay calm – Arghhh!"
Warren then covered his head with his hands, and said: "I need to think and to be alone. Everybody go out."
In a room next to the control room, the Care Bears and Cousins were trying to sort out the situation.
"I'm still not sure I understand everything" admitted Brave Heart. "If Warren built the bomb, how come he's that upset?"
"Because he didn't want to destroy all the feelings in the world" Bright Heart calmly explained. "He just built the bomb so that he could threaten to use it. He thought that if he could force everyone to do as he said, he would be able to solve the world's problems. And instead, because of the other villains' interference, there's a larger problem than ever before!"
"Now I get it. But does that mean he's not a bad guy after all?"
"Nobody's completely bad" replied True Heart. "As I see it, Warren intended to do good – he thought he knew how to do it better than anyone else. He just went at it the wrong way. Now, we must see how to repair the damage."
"That'll be impossible without Warren's help" commented Bright Heart. "We never really got to understand how the crystal of uncaring worked."
"Then let's see what he can do" replied Noble Heart. "He has some responsibility in what happened; hopefully he'll try to amend for it."
When they came back to the control room, they found him playing chess against a computer. Tender Heart was the first to address him:
"Warren, we'll need your help to remove the grey. You must do something."
"What do I care?" grumbled Warren. "Why should I give a damn? Pretty much every time I get to know people, I want to beat them with a steel bar after thirty seconds. So why am I even trying to improve their condition? They can all go to Venus as far as I'm concerned."
The Care Bears and Cousins looked at him worriedly. He didn't look good. "He seems in a worse shape than I thought" confided True Heart.
"It's even worse than that - " Bright Heart told her – "I think he's losing the game to the computer."
"Okay, listen up" Grumpy told the mastermind, "You built this bomb, it's your duty to fix this mess!"
"You're wasting your time. I don't care. Or haven't you been paying attention since our first meeting? I lie, cheat, steal, kidnap, sabotage, terrorize, and hold the world for ransom. What do I need to do, wear a shirt that says "evil"? Maybe Helen Narbon can give me one." The computer made its move, and said "Checkmate. Game Over."
True Heart insisted: "Warren, you may have tricked us several times, but give us some credit…We're not that stupid. We know you're not really like this, and so do you."
"I concur" said Bright Heart. "You could have disposed of us at any point. You could have killed John Bolt in front of the cameras. You could have let Hugs and Tugs get crushed. But you didn't do any of these things. You even let No Heart live, and I'm sure you knew he'd keep bothering you!"
"I…had a rule" explained Warren. "No killing, under any circumstance. I figured that as long as I imposed some moral limitation on myself, I wouldn't completely lose it to my dark side…"
"Doesn't sound like pure evil to me" replied Noble Heart. "Now be honest, Warren…You don't want this blight. You certainly don't want to be responsible for the end of the world. Lying to yourself never set anything right, and I'm sure you know it – even if, right now, it's more tempting than ever before."
Warren looked like he was on the brink of crying. "My plan was supposed to be perfect! It was just…A sequence of bad luck…Everything that could go wrong did…"
"Pretending you don't care won't help" told him True Heart. "But you can still repair the damage done…Right?"
"I…I…It isn't simple." Warren was starting to regain his composure. "None of this is part of my original plan. I can't promise anything."
"But you can always try!" replied Champ. "And if we do our best, we can always succeed!"
"I'm afraid I've outgrown such preschool logic" said Warren. "However…" he stopped for a moment, then went on: "If resourcefulness and determination are power…Then I am omnipotent." He already seemed better – or at least, not desperate.
"You mentioned earlier a serum to cure Rainbow City" said Bright Heart.
"Well, I had to use a small C-bomb on Rainbow City in order to prove to the world that my ultimatum was more than just empty threats. But I intended to restore colors and feelings to the town after I had taken over. So I designed this serum" he showed the video feed of the security camera in one of the rooms, where a few liters of a strange liquid were stored.
"I took some DNA samples from you back when I first captured you, so that by studying them, I could get a partial understanding of how your powers worked. And I concluded that I could make a serum against the uncaring – with your Stare."
"Oh! Is that what the device under your helicopter was for?"
"Exactly. It absorbed your Stare, and used it to make the serum – plenty enough for Rainbow City."
"Then can't we just make more, for the rest of the world?" enquired Share.
"Do the math, bear. Even if you could make additional serum, you'd need years to make enough for the entire world. Besides, it wouldn't work – one person's caring can only cure so many people. We would need an entire city of Care Bears to make enough serum."
"What about caring crystals?"
"No. I made tests before I went ahead with the C-bomb. I even tested out caring crystals – that's what I needed them for. They won't do the trick. Maybe I could use Artifact X – no. Too risky, and it wouldn't be of any help."
"Artifact X?"
"Never mind – I'm trying to find something to restore the feelings of the world at large, but so far, nothing."
"In the meanwhile, we can at least fix Rainbow City" commented Bright Heart. "Hey, wouldn't it be possible to use their caring?"
"I fear it's impossible. The Care Bear Stare is the only way one's caring can have a substantial effect on the physical world. Wait a second…" Warren's eyes suddenly lit up. "I may have an idea. But it won't be easy."
"As long as there's a hope, we'll try it! What is your idea?"
"Well, as I said, I've studied your DNA in order to understand your powers a little bit more. I discovered your tummy symbol isn't just an organ in the normal biological sense – it's a fascinating object with certain magical and quantum properties unlike anything else I know. And I think it should be possible – but complicated – to transfer a tummy symbol (together with the ability to do a Stare) to someone else. So we could just transfer your tummy symbols to the people of Rainbow City!"
"Uh…But won't that just mean there'll be thirty-and-something of them who'll be able to do the stare? That won't be much better than what we have right now."
"I'm fairly sure it would be possible to 'dilute' the symbol during the transfer, so that the entire population has them. Now, that'll only give them very unstable symbols, but that's actually a good thing – it means the symbol will break down after a short use, and will then go back to its natural place: your bellies! Supposing, of course, that they're not destroyed in the process…"
"Brilliant!" exclaimed Bright Heart. "We'll use the serum on them, transfer to them our ability to Stare, and ask them to produce enough serum to cure the world!"
"But as I said, it won't be easy. First, I don't have a transfer machine in handy – only the general working principle in mind. I'll…I'll need your help to build it quickly, Bright Heart."
That was when the pandas interrupted:
"Have you forgotten our valley? We must return with haste!"
"Or else everything will go to waste!"
"One more reason to act fast. Now, the second problem is the six villains waiting for us outside – if we try to pull off this plan, they'll do everything they can to stop us. And considering how delicate the whole operation is, they'll most likely succeed."
"But isn't your defense system preventing them from getting close?"
"They won't need to get close. They could just mess with Rainbow City while it has the Stare…And while my defense system is impenetrable from close range, I think they can defend themselves at this distance."
"Then what should we do?"
"As they say, the best defense is a good offence. While you will be dealing with Rainbow City, I'll distract those six."
"What, with your gadgets?"
"Those toys? Please. The gallery of tricks I used against John Bolt was designed to impress the crowd and cement my image of invincibility – if I had been aiming for efficiency, a regular gun could have outdone it all. I do, however, have a genuine war machine I could use against them – the corridors here are too small to maneuver it, which is why I didn't use it earlier, but it's perfect for this job."
"Then we have a workable plan!" exclaimed Noble Heart. "Let's start immediately – the world is at the stake!"
"I concur. Bright Heart, let's get to work on this machine…"
Everything inside the skyscraper was colorless – all but Control, who, turning his back to Arnold, was looking outside.
"The whole world…Impressive. I'll concede this much to the chess player…He's good with technology.
I'd ask you for your opinion, Arnold…But, after the blast hit you, there isn't much chance left you'd answer, is there? Why, right now, I bet I could take you or anyone else, then roast you alive – and you wouldn't care.
Unfortunate. This world, and everything within it, is mine to rule. I am king, and my kingdom lays wasted. I had thought that, under the combined assault of my associates and the Care Bears, the C-bomb would be destroyed – but the defenders of feelings weren't even trying to stop Warren, just my brother and the mad scientist. An unexpected twist. I suppose Warren has somehow ensured their neutrality.
Well, what is a ruler with nothing to rule? I will have to see that the world is restored to its earlier state. Or perhaps the Wishing Star's creations and the mastermind can handle that by themselves…"
That night, many Care Bears and Cousins had trouble sleeping – those who even tried, anyway. Bedtime Bear was constantly watching over the security video feeds, making sure the six villains weren't trying anything. He was thankful that it was too dark to see how grey the Earth below them was – it would have been extremely depressing. Meanwhile, Warren and Bright Heart were still working on the transfer machine – it was a good thing Warren was a coffee addict, and that Bright Heart sometimes worked late on his inventions.
"Honestly, you keep amazing me" said the raccoon. "In all these years, I never had even a shadow of a theory to explain our powers…You're relatively new, and you already seem to understand this better than I do. And this transfer machine we're designing? A normal genius, like me, would need years to design it. You're doing it overnight. How can you do that?"
"It's both a matter of innate potential and intensive training. An Olympic athlete once said that, in his opinion, millions of people could beat him if they really put themselves to it. But people rarely develop their potential to its limits. I, on the other hand, have been doing just that for most of my life. I've always tried to take on new challenges, learn to see patterns that eluded others. I was born a genius, but trained myself to be an efficient thinker. Now I'd like to ask you a question."
"Shoot."
"How do you do it? How can you stay so…humble? You may not be in my intellectual league, but your intelligence puts you on a level few humans match – and doubtlessly above anyone else in your family. And yet, you display no arrogance."
Bright Heart seemed surprised by the question. He thought about it for a while, then said: "Well, what's to be arrogant about? I know what I can do, and I know what I can't. I'd be arrogant if I thought I was better than I really was.
Sure, I'm smarter than the others. So? They're my family. I love them the way they are, and each one of them has qualities I do not. Why should I be arrogant?"
"Ah, of course. One genius grew up in a family that valued him for his obedience to their faith, and rejected him for his independence; he learned to value that which put him above others, and became arrogant. One genius grew up in a family that valued him for himself; he learned to value that which bound them together, and became compassionate. Simple enough, really."
"I'm sorry for everything you went through."
"I appreciate your support, but let us focus on the task at hand. I think we should try this simulation…"
Finally, around 10 A.M., the machine was finished. Checkmate Warren and the Care Bear Family went over the strategy one more time:
"Press on this button to release the serum on the city. Then, all of you must direct your Stare at the transfer machine, and it will give your symbols to the population. Use this microphone to address them – I rigged it to connect it to loudspeakers all over the world, for when I had important announcements to make. Just tell them how to use their Stare, and to aim it at the device under the castle – that'll produce enough serum, which will go to the big cauldron. Then, all the energy from all the machines in this castle will be transferred to the cauldron – the serum will explode, and be ejected upward in a stream of particles; these particles will reach the ionosphere, then be carried by the Earth's magnetic field to every point on the planet's surface.
In the meanwhile, I'll be fighting the 'Sinister Six' – with this!" he then revealed his invention – a robotic exoskeleton.
"Wow. Is that…"
"A battle suit. A prototype. I believed, and still do, that it's the future of warfare: The strength of the machine is fantastic, but it lacks the intelligence and dexterity of the human; this design allows a human to wield the machine's might, taking the best of both worlds. I could stop a tank or two with it…I just hope I'll be able to stop them."
"Then everything's ready?" asked Tender Heart.
"Almost. See this safe? It contains Artifact X. I'll need you to keep it safe for me. Please don't ask me what it is. Otherwise, everything's ready."
"Good luck out there, Warren."
"Don't screw up", replied the mastermind.
Outside, at a safety distance from the castle, No Heart's dark cloud and Cold Heart's heli-platform were in stationary flight.
"The Care Bear Family are now the only creatures in the world who still have feelings" said No Heart. "Once we destroy them, our victory will be complete!"
"I'm still trying to figure out a way past the defense system" replied Cold Heart. "Maybe with a sonic weapon…"
Their plotting was cut off when suddenly, serum was dispersed from the castle over Rainbow City (well, Drab City). Before the villains could understand what was happening, all the colors came back to the town.
"Nooo! They're ruining it! We must stop them!" shouted No Heart – but he was cut off by Cold Heart's remark: "Hey, what's that flying in our direction?"
His question was soon answered: Warren, in his robotic battle suit, looked like a futuristic knight…With the jet-packs on his back, he could fly toward the villains at high speed…And when he used impulse guns on his suit's arm to shoot in their direction, he didn't leave much room for doubt as to his intentions. A fierce fight soon began.
In the meanwhile, the people down there were realizing that they now had their feelings again…And before they could make heads or tails of the situation, the familiar voice of Tender Heart came through the loud speakers (it was also heard in pretty much every place, but was aimed only at the population of Rainbow City):
"This is Tender Heart of the Care Bears speaking to the people of Rainbow City! We have just returned your feelings to you, but we'll need your help to return the feelings of the rest of the world. In a short moment, we'll transfer our tummy symbols to you. Don't be scared."
"Wait a second there" asked the mayor, after clutching his often-used loud speaker, "what about Checkmate Warren? And why is he fighting those villains?"
"There is no time to explain in details. Let's just say that Warren is trying to repair the damage. Now please, we'll need you to work with us, and we'll need you to do it now."
Warren's suit was holding out against the rays of frost and the lightning bolts, but he knew it would break down sooner or later. A quick impulse shot the magical mirror out of Shrieky's hand – but the protective heating unit finally died out, and Cold Heart was able to freeze his impulse gun with the freeze machine. In response, Warren got a metallic cable out of some part of his suit, and threw it at one of the propellers of Cold Heart's platform. The propeller immediately caught the cable and tangled up, immobilizing itself – which caused the platform to start tipping over.
As the Care Bears and Cousins all Stared into the transfer machine, their tummy symbols disappeared. It felt odd to be without them – but it felt even odder for the people in the town below to suddenly have symbols on their bellies (and showing on their cloths) that matched their personalities!
"Each one of you now has his own symbol. We will need help from all of you – only you can now return colors and caring to the world. Can you see the device below the castle? If you use your Stare on it, it will allow us to make a serum to restore caring, just like the one we just used on you.
I know you've never done this before, but it isn't too hard: Just focus on how much you care, and how much you want to restore caring to the world – then try to send your love toward the device. It'll come naturally."
Realizing his spells weren't breaking through the suit's armor fast enough, No Heart decided to use his amulet instead. He transformed into a powerful winged monstrosity, and flew toward Warren. The two clashed in mid-air while Cold Heart and his acolytes were desperately trying not to fall off their platform. As No Heart immediately discovered, the battle suit increased Warren's strength – not to the point where he was as strong as the sorcerer's present form, but still to the point where he could put up a decent fight – and he surprised No Heart by removing his amulet, and throwing it away. No Heart, needing the amulet for his magic, tried to disengage from the fight to go after it, but Warren took advantage of that to catch him in a headlock and strangle him.
Beastly, however, had in the meanwhile left the dark cloud and mounted his flying machine. He managed to catch the amulet, and throw it back to No Heart – then ram into Warren. Warren responded by kicking Beastly and his machine out of the way, but still fell with No Heart almost all the way down to the ground.
Slowly but surely, the people of Rainbow City began using their stare. Thousands of rays of light lit up and beamed toward the device, soon becoming tens of thousands. For a short unforgettable moment, there was a gigantic cone of light between Rainbow City and the castle – and in no time, the huge cauldron filled up with serum. Which was when a huge surge of energy from all of Checkmate Warren's machinery hit the cauldron. The serum sort of blew up – it flew miles and miles into the skies, and stared falling back to Earth. The radius of several miles surrounding the city quickly regained its colors, and the grey kept regressing at an incredible speed – perhaps not as fast as it had come, but more than fast enough. And as the tens of thousands of Stares ceased, the tummy symbols of the population faded, and returned to the Care Bear Family.
Black.
John Bolt and his superior were both startled at first when their feelings returned. John was the first to react: "Get satellite feeds. Presto."
Brown.
Christie, awakened from her apathy, stared at the device in her hand.
"Crud. This is going to be one expensive phone bill."
Yellow.
"Pastor? Pastor? Are you okay?"
"I…think so, Nicholas."
White.
Control seemed amused. "Ah, Arnold. Welcome back to the land of the feeling."
"Wha…What happened? I mean, I remember everything, but why is everything back to normal?"
"Because, as usual, my brother has failed. As he always will. In the end, the true prize always comes to me."
On the ground not too far from the city, Warren and No Heart were still fighting.
"No! The uncaring is disappearing! You've ruined it all!"
"What were you expecting, you pathetic wannabe villain? That I'd let you use my invention to ruin this world even further?"
"Enough! You shall die for this!" And with that threat, No Heart changed form again – he looked now like some kind of Grizzly-sized lobster. With one of his huge pinchers, he tore off the battle suit's right arm (thankfully Warren's arm didn't come off with it). He then proceeded to squeeze the suit with both his pinchers in an attempt to crush Warren – but the mastermind simply slid out of the suit, getting away just before No Heart crushed it, causing the suit to explode in the sorcerer's hands (err, pinchers).
While Cold Heart's platform was hitting the ground (at a speed that wasn't enough to kill its occupants, but nevertheless too fast for their well-being), as Beastly's machine, damaged by Warren's kick, crashed into the ground, as Shrieky on the dark cloud approached the ground trying to grab her magic mirror (which had been shattered beyond recognition), No Heart, a bit dizzy from the shock, faced Checkmate Warren.
"I am evil. I am hate. I am No Heart. And I will crush you!"
"Charmed. I am strategy. I am cleverness. I am Checkmate Warren. And even if I was blind, deaf, crippled, and with my arm tied behind my back, you still wouldn't be a threat to me, you incompetent fool. I have more clever tricks up my sleeves than you'd be able to count. I can, and do, beat all odds regularly. And I won't even have to fight you, anyway – look who's coming this way!"
And indeed, the Care Bears and Cousins were coming on their cloud cars, their tummy symbols already glowing. No Heart knew very well that he was in no shape to fight them – but he also realized that right now, there was no-one in his castle. He transformed into an eagle, grabbed Shrieky and Beastly, and flew up to his old lair – not noticing (yet) the smoke starting to come out of some parts of it.
The icy trio didn't stay for another fight either. They could hear Control's voice in their heads: "An unfortunate turn of events, my friends, but all is not lost – I had a back-up plan. See that black car over there? Get inside, it will drive you to safety." As they followed the instructions, the car's driver began speeding away, taking them far from Rainbow City.
"Well, at least we got our revenge on Checkmate Warren" said Cold Heart. He then addressed the driver: "Now, keep going in this direction. We'll get off at…"
"Why the hurry to leave, Professor?" came Control's voice. This time, it was coming from a phone in the car. "Just let the man drive you to the destination I indicated. I believe you won't be disappointed."
"For crying out loud, who are you!" the Professor seemed increasingly annoyed.
"I'll explain it all as soon as you reach my HQ…Which, incidentally, will also house your new laboratory, Professor. Believe me, this is going to be a fruitful collaboration…"
The Care Bear Family landed near their unlikely ally.
Take Care was the first to speak to him: "Are you alright?"
"Fine, I guess. No Heart's problems aren't over, it would seem." Warren looked up. Some of the bears and cousins did the same – and saw frightening amounts of smoke coming out of No Heart's castle.
"What's going on there?"
"When all the energy from my machines surged to overheat the serum, it pretty much destroyed the machines. They're burning." He looked down at the remains of his battle suit. "This machine is ruined, too." He sighed sadly. "Oh well. I still have many inventions in my house…And financial resources…But it looks like I'm back to square one."
"Square one? What do you mean?" asked Tender Heart.
"What I wanted was to make the world a better place – I failed. Big time. I'm not used to it.
I guess that, in a way, the mentality of Salvation Town hadn't completely left me – I was still looking for a quick way to fix everything in the world. Since the Perfect Book didn't work, I thought maybe I could fix everything – if I was in charge. My plans had virtually always succeeded…But I took too big a risk with the C-bomb. And it nearly destroyed everything that was worthwhile. The sheer arrogance I displayed…It amazes me that I could be simultaneously so clever and so stupid.
All along, I've been telling myself that the ends justified the means, and that it was okay if I hurt some people on my way, as long as in the end, I fixed the world. But…I never was really evil. A jerk, perhaps, but not evil. I was just comfortable maintaining the illusion of absolute villainy because it kept people afraid enough of me to let me get my way – and allowed me to do everything 'right'. I thought that if I was in control of everything, I'd be able to run it all smoothly…But if my master plan could backfire so badly, then how can I know that the world would have been better off under my rule? And what gave me the right to take control of people's destiny so completely?"
He looked sadly up to the Care Bears family: "I…I apologize for putting you through all of this. I don't know what else to say…"
True Heart interrupted him: "Warren, you saved the world! I know, you're thinking how the threat wouldn't have been there in the first place without your actions. That's true, and I won't deny it. But you have nevertheless gone to a lot of trouble, and even risked your life for the noblest of goals.
You have good reasons to be upset with yourself. But you mustn't let that ruin your life. I believe I can speak for the entire family when I say this: You're forgiven. We'll remember you as a good man, not as a villain." Several members of the family concurred.
Warren gave them a sad smile. "I doubt the rest of the world will be as forgiving as you people, but…I appreciate the support. I really do."
About then a crowd, led by the mayor, came from Rainbow City. The mayor addressed the family: "Excuse me, but…The last day has been highly confusing for us. Could you please explain the recent events?"
"Here's the lab" said the man who had led Cold Heart and his crew from Rainbow City. He had just taken them through a secret passage, leading to a hidden room inside a huge building. The Professor looked around.
"Hm. State-of-the art material. It will do. But who owns it?"
"I believe that would be me." The cold villains looked and saw a handsome man, dressed in what had to be an extremely expensive suit. He gave them a million-dollar smile, then extended his hand to shake Cold Heart's. "Clifford Quentin, billionaire playboy and your new employer. Glad to have you here."
"Wait a minute," said Cold Heart, still trying to make heads or tails of the situation. "Your voice…"
Before his eyes, the playboy changed form. Suddenly, he was a green-skinned humanoid dressed in a purple robe, looking a bit like No Heart. He was still smiling – but this time, it was a predatory smile.
"Of course, Clifford Quentin is but one among hundreds of identities. In private, just call me Control."
"You…You're somehow related to No Heart."
"Perceptive. But understand, Professor…No Heart is the one who attracts attention. I'm the one who gets results."
Three weeks later, in a Care-a-Lot that looked like no time-freeze had ever taken place, the Care Bear Family was getting a visit from Checkmate Warren.
"…so for a while, I thought I'd have to spend the rest of my life hiding. But with your recommendations, and the videos from what happened in the castle, they finally pardoned me. It doesn't mean that anybody out there trusts me, of course – and I can't blame them – but at least I'm not in jail, or on the run."
"About that…Where did you get the videos? All the machines in No Heart's castle burned."
"Yes, but there was a satellite connection to my home computer system. If there's anything I learned from my days as a computer technician, it's to always keep backups of everything; all the data got copied there, including the videos from the surveillance cameras. So they know how I helped you fix the damage."
"You know, the last few months have been rather hectic…We wake up from temporal suspension, and then we suddenly have to face the greatest threat to the world we've ever seen. You don't waste any time, do you?"
"At least some good came from it" noted Warren. "As you may have noticed, people too often don't value something until they've lost it. It would appear that losing their feelings for nearly a day has made some people in the world realize just how important their feelings are. Especially in Rainbow City. By the way…From what I've seen, the damage to Paradise Valley wasn't too horrible…"
"It's okay" answered Love-a-Lot. "After Perfect and Polite came back, it all quickly came back to normal. And Good Luck even stayed there for a few days." The pink bear got a dreamy look in her eyes.
"Good. Then I haven't caused any irreversible damage."
"It sounds like you're still feeling guilty over what happened."
"Of course. I can't just pretend it never did. But I can hope to make amends."
"We should introduce you to a friend of ours, Dark…I mean, David Hall. He knows a thing or two about this kind of situation."
"I'll gladly meet him. By the way, where is Bright Heart? I wanted to show him some ideas…I think some of them could be useful for his own inventions."
"You'll find him easily when we'll all have our reunion in two hours at the Hall of Hearts."
"Fine. I'll have my own announcement to make…"
At the NSA, John Bolt was fuming.
"A full pardon. He threatens the world with a weapon of mass lobotomy, and gets a full pardon. I knew we lived in a crazy world, but this is a new record."
"He had the support of Care-A-Lot, John" said Terri. "They don't have political power, but people listen to them."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better? We had him. He had lost his HQ, lost his weapons – he was at his weakest! And. We. Let. Him. Go."
"Calm down, John. He promised to reveal his secrets and let go of computers worldwide…"
"Not enough. My mistake earlier was not to go at him all the time. I won't make that mistake again – this time around, I'll be watching him like a hawk. Next time he threatens the world, it'll be over my dead body."
The entire Care Bear family (except the pandas, of course) and Warren were listening to Noble Heart's speech:
"During several years, we have been frozen in time. Although No Heart, Cold Heart and their associates were also frozen, and couldn't hurt the world during that time, the world situation has nevertheless gone downhill. It is not desperate, thankfully. And while it may have taken us some time, and we have had to face some tough challenges, I can now proudly say that the situation of the Care Bears and Care Bears Cousins has gone back to normal!"
True Heart then spoke: "And I would like to congratulate our newest friend, Checkmate Warren, for learning from his mistakes, and for proving that, all in all, he's a good person, no mater what his business card says."
Warren looked like he suddenly remembered something important, then said: "Uh…You still have the business card I gave you when we first met?"
"I guess so." replied Tender Heart. "It's probably somewhere around here. Why do you ask?"
"Ummm…I'll explain later. Anyway, I wanted to make a small announcement:
As you all know, my previous actions have caused quite some havoc. I allowed my good intentions to be twisted by my arrogance…and by the fact that I'm a control freak. Had I been thinking rationally rather than with my pride and desire to control everything and have my way, I could have seen how bad a solution world conquest was. Nevertheless, I still hope I can do something for the Earth. Which is why I wanted to tell you this: I, Checkmate Warren, vow to find a way to make the world a better place without hurting innocents. That's all."
"A noble vow" replied True Heart. "Knowing you, I'm certain you'll succeed."
"Heh. I might have an idea already…"
NEXT: FEARSTORM!
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, that's it for the first "season". Of all the original stories, I believe this is the one that'll get modified the most…One of the reasons it got so much longer was that I wanted to show more of Checkmate Warren being an archvillain. With his intellect and drive, he can make for a formidable foe…
The reference to Helen Narbon was in relation to "Narbonic", a webcomic about mad scientists by Shaenon K. Garrity (www dot narbonic dot com).
