Shadow Heart: The Fall Of Mankind
Chapter 1: The Sickness Begins
In the quite confines of Capsule Corp., the only sounds heard were the gentle humming of a certain blue haired lady, and the monotonous drone of the morning news. Taking a sip of her early morning coffee, Bulma Briefs sat in an easy chair by the window, reading the comics in the Orange Star News while the reporter on TV carried on about the 9th annual Forest City Dog Competition.
Casting a slight glance at the TV, she sighed quitely. 'Another day, another mundane routine', she thought. Every morning it was the same thing; Get up, send her son Trunks off to Orange Star Middle School, take a shower, eat, watch the morning news, then its off to the labs of Capsule Corp., her fathers company, where Bulma was director of Research and Development. Once a week, she would attent the company meetings and give presentations of the newest and latest technology Capsule Corp. had to offer its consumers. When she wasen't in meetings, her time was spent supervising her department, giving press conferences, and answering the endless stream of questions, comments, and problems that seemed to forever plague her time.
Then after work, its come home and prepare dinner for her son and 'husband', the arrogant prince of the Saiyans, Vegeta. Then him and Trunks would dissappear to the gravity room, leaving her alone with her evening soap opreas. After which, she would change into her sleep wear, crawl into bed, and of course, be awakened at 4 in the morning by Vegeta as he drags himself into bed.
Finding her coffee cup empty, she got up from her chair and walked to the kitchens coffee machine to refill it. That done, she walked back to her chair and reclaimed her seat, distractedly slouching and only half paying attention to the reporter on TV.
"Gee.. life sure is boring compared to what it used to be", Bulma said aloud. That sentence left her with a smile on her face as she daydreamed back to more lively days. Days of her companionship with Goku as together they searched the world for the Dragon Balls, of her teenage relationship with Yamcha and their wild adventures, of the excitement she felt at the arrival of Raditz, of her adventures on Planet Namek, of her never-ending, constant verbal battles with--
KKAAAA-BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!
"VEGETA!" Bulma yelled aloud, finishing her own thoughts verbally. Another part of her early morning routine; the morning spar between Goku and Vegeta. This makes the 4,256th time she has asked them to hold it down on the energy blasts, only to have one or both of them blow up something else, usually a much-perferred part of the building. Sighing heavily, she opened the shutters and glanced out to see, sure enough, Vegeta and Goku, both in SSJ mode, tearing up both the landscape, and each other.
Bulma just sighed and sat back down in her chair. "What am I going to do with those two?", she asked aloud. Glancing back at the TV, she saw the reporter was now saying something about a freak accident at the construction site of the new West City 5-Star Hotel. From what Bulma could gather, they had been securing the beams for the structure when one of the beams simply gave way, sending the 3 workers on it falling 30 floors to their deaths. Bulma thought for a moment how hard their families must be taking it.
She thought about her family.. her mother and father, her barely teenage son Trunks, and yes, her stubborn and arrogant husband Vegeta. Almost sadly, she thought to herself what should would ever do if she lost either of them. Now far more mature than the bratty girl who ran the globe with Goku years ago, she found out a long time ago her husband and son took up far more of her life than she ever thought possible.
'Gee Bulma, you're talking like your a grandma and your not even 35 yet!', she scolded herself.
She shook her head and closed her eyes, leaning back in her chair and once again daydreaming about the days of old.
----
"For the last time Kakarot, your pathetic attempts to fool me will never work!" Vegeta cried as he dodged yet another of Gokus feints. The two blurred away, the air ringing heavy with blows hard enough to shatter steel. From the ground, to the air, and the ground again, the two Saiyans warred back and forth, neither giving or gaining ground. Finally, one of Gokus feints did pay off, and he smashed Vegetas face with his fist, sending the stunned prince smashing through a tree and into the ground.
Almost immediently, Vegeta was up and at Goku again, kicking and punching at every available opening. 'Hes gotten much faster', Goku mused to himself. The distraction cost him, as Vegeta imitated one of Gokus own personal feints, then rammed his knee into his stomach and then his laced fists on his back. Goku went down like a rock, crashing through the ground and burying himself with the dirt. Vegeta smirked, gaining confidence. He powered his Ki up and threw a barrage of blasts down into the hole, blowing up the small crater Goku left upon impact.
After the dust cleared, Goku was no where to be found. Immediently on his guard, Vegeta suddenly whirled around and fired, expecting Goku to be behind him. His blast sailed harmlessly into space, no target there for him to hit. "I could have sworn Kakarot was behind me", he snarled. "Actually, I am!", a voice said from behind him. His eyes bulged in shock, and he turned to see Goku, goofy grin plastered on his face, ram his fist into his nose. Still grinning, Goku explained, "I've been working on my speed too you know".
Then Goku promptly axe-kicked Vegeta, sending him crashing to the ground in nearly the same spot Goku had just been. After Vegeta impacted, Goku threw his hands to his side.
"Kaaa meeee Haaaaa Meee...HHAAAAA!" Goku screamed, firing the blue bolt of energy right at the downed Vegeta. Shaking his head, Vegeta looked up in time to see the Kame Hame Ha crash into him. "Damn you and your speed Kakarot", Vegeta muttered before the attack hit. The explosion was thunderous, rattling the scientists inside and throwing poor Bulma to the floor. From her spot on the floor, Bulma looked up and sighed, "I guess this means Goku wins again..".
---
"Ow! Woman, I do NOT need your help for the las--OW!", Vegeta grumbled. At the moment, Bulma was playing doctor, trying to bandage and disinfect Vegetas several injuries. Although Goku expressed many apologies for Vegetas injuries, he did not, however, apologize for the massive amount of food he was now eating from the refridgerator. "You could be a little more thankful you know. I could have just let Goku beat you to a worse pulp than he already did!", Bulma fumed. Vegeta growled slightly; defeating Goku was his highest priority in life, and any remark about Gokus victories over him were enough to get his blood boiling.
As she worked, Bulma faintly caught the tail end of another news report:
"--declined to say, but officials at River Town Memorial have confirmed at least 19 cases of the mysterious disease. The mysterious ailment seems to affect all ages, with no known cause. Details are sketchy at best, with the time between first symptoms and hospitalization being next to nothing", the woman on TV was announcing.
"Woman! If you must play nurse with me than hurry up and be quick about it!", Vegeta snapped. Bulma Shhh'ed at him, "Just a minute Your Higness, I'm trying to hear this", she said with a hint of sarcasm. Vegeta scoffed but stayed quiet.
"With symptoms resembling that of the flu; fever, body aches and pains, vomiting, and nausea, the strange and mysterious illness seems to come out of nowhere, reducing 100 of its victims from normal and healthy, to comatose in a matter of mere hours. Since the first reported case in Japan 5 days ago, no one thus far has woken from their sickness induced coma. Officials from the United States, France, Isreal, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, China, Russia, Germany, and Poland have confirmed they too are seeing cases of this strange ailment, appropriately dubbed by one Japanese official, 'The Coma Disease'", the woman continued.
Vegeta scoffed at the TV as Bulma finished up. "Weaklings.. A Saiyan warrior such as myself does not need fear such pitiful human germs", Vegeta said. Bulma yanked extra hard on his bandages, causing the Prince to yelp in pain.
"No, they just need to fear their powerful human wives", Bulma grinned, obviously enjoying this. Vegeta scowled at her but said nothing. Goku, having finally finished his 'snack', walked over to where Vegeta was sitting at the table. "So Vegeta, when can we spar again?", Goku asked, a bit of sauce still on his mouth. Vegeta shuddered, "Kakarot, at least hold enough dignity to clean yourself up a bit first before approaching the last surviving royal of your own race!".
Goku blinked, then wiped the sauce away with a grin. "Ah come on, Bulmas a great cook, I just can't help but indulge myself every now and then", Goku replied. Vegeta just shook his head and got up. "Come along Kakarot, a rematch is in order", Vegeta said. "Oh no you don't mister!", Bulma said, "You may think its ok to get beat up by Goku twice in the same hour, but I don't!".
Vegeta turned slightly red at this. "For your information woman, Kakarot did NOT beat me up! He used a deceitful technique to mask his own cowardice and attacked me without honor!", Vegeta ranted.
Knowing this would inevitably lead to another argument, Goku gave up on the sparring match and quietly slipped out the door, ignoring the loud shouting match that was now taking place. With his fingers to his forehead, he vanished back to his house in search of even more tasty snacks for his Saiyan appetite.
---
Unknown to the Z Fighters, they were not the only ones watching the current broadcast.
Far up in the clouds, a long way from Earth, in the Kingdom of Care-A-Lot, the Care Bears were seated at a heart shaped table in the Hall of Hearts, watching the same broadcast on a holographic projector Brightheart Raccoon built some time ago.
The Care Bears sat in silence with the Care Bear Cousins, watching the disturbing newscast through the projector. When it was over, the projector deactivated and the lights in the Hall came back on. For a long moment, nobody spoke.
"Any thoughts?", Tenderheart Bear asked. Again, silence. Tenderheart continued, "We defeated Nicholas, the Spirit Book, and Dark Heart, and we haven't heard a peep from Professor Cold Heart or No-Heart in years".
"Whatevers doing it Tenderheart, is an evil the Earth has never seen before!", a voice from the door said. Everyone looked up to see True Heart Bear and Noble Heart Horse, the founders of the Care Bear Family, standing at the door. "True Heart! Noble Heart! We thought you were on Earth!", Brave Heart Lion said. The two elders shook their head. "We went to Earth in the first place to check on Derek, Christy, John, and Dawn, but while we were there we learned from them some kind of strange sickness is going around. We thought it was just a bug, but then we learned what its doing to these poor people", Noble Heart said.
"Whatever it is, more and more people are falling ill from it. Even worse, there seems to be quite a few freak accidents on Earth," True Heart continued, "Some people were killed working on a hotel, and another man was killed after the electric lines he was working on reconnected themselves somehow".
The present Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins gasped. What could have gone wrong on Earth to cause such heartache in such a short amount of time? Suddenly a loud bell toll was heard from outside. True Heart looked out the window at the Caring Meter to see it had dropped from its usual spot of 10, to 9. "How bad is it?", Good Luck Bear asked. True Heart replied, "The Caring Meter has dropped to 9, but if we don't do something, 1 spot is going to be the least of our worries", she said, an omnious look on her face.
Tenderheart stood up and faced everyone else. "I suggest we send a couple of Care Bears to Earth, to visit that hospital and see for themselves how bad it really is. Once they are done, they'll report back to us and we can make plans from there", he suggested. True and Noble Heart agreed, and it was decided Wish and Share Bear would go to Earth, to the hospital in River Town. Then, they would come back to Care-A-Lot to tell the others what they learned.
With Wish and Share on their way to Earth, and the meeting dismissed, True Heart and Noble Heart walked along the clouds of Care-A-Lot alone, both discussing what could be happening down on Earth. "I don't know about this Noble, something tells me this isn't just another fluke", True Heart was saying. Noble Heart turned to her, "A new enemy"? he asked. True Heart didn't answer for a moment. "I don't know.. I just don't know. What I do know is, if it IS a new enemy thats doing all this, it may be more than even the whole Care Bear Family can handle..".
---
Horrified..
Thats the only word Wish and Share Bear knew to describe their reaction at River Town Memorial Hospital. From the second they walked in, they knew something was wrong. They parked their Cloud Car in the underground parking area and walked through the entrance, and immediently they could tell something was amiss. Doctors and nurses were running frantically everywhere, phones were ringing off the hook, and more and more people were filling up the waiting rooms.
Share Bear finally managed to get a nurses attention, and after asking how many cases she currently had, was shocked to discover out of the 186 people in the hospital, 150 of them were from the Coma Disease.
"Out of all these people only 36 are here for other reasons?", Wish Bear said, a hint of fear in her voice. With the doctors and nurses running here and there, the two Care Bears wandered into room after room, all of them with the same sad result; the victim lying in bed, eyes glossed over or closed, shallow breathing, low heartbeat. In desperation, Share and Wish tried a combined Care Bear Stare on one patient, with no response whatsoever.
"Maybe.. its only because there are just 2 of us", Share said hopefully. Wish nodded, but deep down, she was convinced it wouldn't have mattered if there were two hundred of them.
They kept walking, and by and by, heard crying coming from one of the rooms. They entered to see a young girl of about 8 holding onto the hand of another girl, perhaps 17 or 18. The two bears came up, holding the young girl in a reassuring hug. "What happened to her?", Wish asked. The girl sniffled and dryed her eyes.
"We were outside playing hide and seek, my sister and I were. It was my turn to hide, so I did, and after a while I couldn't hear her counting anymore. I came out of my hiding place and she was lying on the ground, shaking and cold. I was so scared, she wouldn't get up.. oh Becky you've got to get up!", the little girl sobbed, shaking her sisters hand.
Sighing sadly, the two bears left the poor girl alone and walked out of the room.
"I think we've seen enough. We should get back to Care-A-Lot and let True and Noble Heart know what we found. They'll know what to do", Share Bear said. Wish Bear agreed, and they were walking towards the elevators when a slight, but noticeable rumble was felt in the floor. The two bears looked at each other in surprise. "Wish Bear.. tell me thats the rumble of your tummy..", Share said with more than a hint of fear.
Wish just looked at Share and slowly shook her head no. The rumble was felt again, this time hard enough to attract the attention of the hospital staff. A feeling of dread crept over both Care Bears. "I think we should be getting back to Care-A-Lot Share Bear, right now", Wish said slowly. Ignoring the elevators, the two ran for the stairs, jumping them 2 and 3 at a time until they were at the basement. They burst out the door and made a mad dash for the Cloud Car.
No sooner than they were inside the car did the rumble turn into an outright roar. A few pebbles hit the ground and Wish Bear looked up, her eyes widening in fright.
The ceiling was collapsing..and Share Bear couldn't get the Cloud Car to start.
"Oh dear come ON!", Share yelled, trying desperately to start the Car. At last, the Car came to life and she stomped the petal. The Car roared forward just as the roof finally gave up the ghost and fell to Earth. The escape was so narrow part of the collapsing concrete smashed off a bit of the back of the Cloud Car. Wish Bear looked back, sorrow tearing at her heart. It was a sure bet most if not all of the sick people on the first floor died when the floor collapsed.
"Hurry up and get us home Share Bear...", Wish began, tears forming in her eyes. "Its going to take ALL the Care Bear Family this time.."
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Note: Not bad for pulling most of that from memory huh? The opening was re-written a lot to add greater detail and clarity. After writing the Prelude, I sat down and typed out an outline of the story and the major events that will take place. I added and changed as necessary, and I must say I am quite pleased with the results, and I think the readers will be also.
Now that the Care Bears have seen for themselves the havoc on Earth, what can be done about it, and what if the Family alone isn't enough?
Coming soon to Heart: The Fall of Mankind
Chapter 2: Two Worlds Collide