INTERLUDE: FEARSTORM

There were many dangers to being a Care Bear. Despite – or rather, because – of the help they often gave to humans everywhere, they had over the years made many dangerous enemies. More than once, they had been attacked in Care-A-Lot itself. Many more perils were to come – but that evening, in Gram's cottage, reigned an atmosphere of safety and coziness, with the older bear telling stories to the cubs while pastry was slowly baking in the kitchen.

"…And so, Rikk and his friends from the Science Fiction Club saved the world from the evil Mister Mist. The club would go on to have many more adventures…But that is a story for next time."

"That was a great story Grams" said Hugs.

"Yeah," said Tugs, "but…why did Rikk accept Mist's offer? He knew he was evil."

"Because he didn't know how else to protect the people he cared about" answered Grams. "Just like we made a deal with Checkmate Warren when he was still evil because we had no other way of protecting you. Rikk and his friends were doing what they could to protect the world, just as we do."

"But Grams," said Hugs, thinking – "aren't bad guys also part of the world? No Heart, and Beastly, and Cold Heart…"

"They are, my darling. It's a big world, and it has everything in it – good people, not-so-good people, and bad people. We help whoever we can, but that doesn't mean we don't need to be careful around some of the bad people…"

Inside his skyscraper office, Control was greeted by his secretary, Ms Smith.

"Good morning Mr. Quentin. You have a meeting scheduled with the board of Empire Online at 3:00pm for your acquisition of their company, and the policemen's ball is this evening at 7:00pm."

"Ah, yes. I took advantage of yesterday's golfing to convince Timberton it wasn't worth his while to make a large donation to the police. He was the last one the list; with such low donations this year, mine will seem generous in comparison."

"Yes, sir. How much do you intend to donate to this charity this year?"

"Same amount as last year. And it's not charity, Ms Smith. It's bribery in broad daylight – it is important that I keep most of the police in my pocket.

I trust you can handle everything else today?"

"Yes, Mr. Quentin."

"Good. Then call Arnold. I need to speak with him in private."

A minute later, the young man was inside the office, while Ms Smith was off to keep everything running smoothly.

"You called, boss?"

"Yes, for two reasons. The first is that I'm meeting with Carlo Lucianni at noon."

"Isn't he cappo di tutti cappi?"

"Yes. The leader of this town's Mafia. I don't want him recognizing you from the time you infiltrated them, so, make yourself scarce."

"Yes sir. But why worry? Aren't you in a position of power here?"

"You misunderstand. I'm not meeting him as Control, world's most powerful arch-villain, but as Clifford Quentin, billionaire businessman and media golden boy. I need him to believe he's in a position of power. I intend to make him some business offers concerning how to run some new casinos in town, and he needs to believe he's in control."

"Do you expect any problem?"

"Not really. I know how his mind works, I've studied him a bit, and I've prepared this meeting well. Even the music was chosen appropriately – it's the music he chose to play on his wedding."

For a moment, Control said nothing…Then he snickered.

"Heh. You know, I used to love music, back in the days. Nowadays, it has lost all meaning for me. I don't have any feelings for it to arouse – I only ever put music on when I need it to influence others."

"Sir, what was the other reason you wanted to meet me?"

"I believe you can guess that by yourself, Arnold."

The young man winced. "I failed. I couldn't convince Mr. Ci to give me the Gemskull."

"I suspected as much. Ci isn't just anybody. Well, I guess we'll have to rely on the heavy artillery."

"You'll handle him yourself?"

"Not that heavy. You know what I am capable of, Arnold. My involvement would be overkill, and it is better reserved for truly vital things. No, we will compromise here."

Control paused dramatically, then said: "Call Fearstorm."

Author's notes: And so begins the first all-original story in the Extended Edition. "Fearstorm" is meant as an interlude between longer stories. Also, judging from the number of hits so far, it looks to me like some readers are only reading the new chapters. I recommend reading the old ones – they, too, have been revised.

The story Grams was telling here was one of the stories from T Campbell's "Fans", a fantastic webcomic on Graphic Smash (www dot graphicsmash dot com). Though she must have made some modifications before the story was fit for little children…