Shifting Dilemma
In No Hearts castle, Fauna and Blue had made it down to the lower levels; more importantly they were outside the potion room. Blue stood guard outside as Fauna snooped around. On his table were the vials where he had kept the DNA for the opposites. As she looked through the vials Blue came charging into the room, shifting into a cat as he did. "No Heart's coming." Together in cat form they hid under the table as the sorcerer came into the room.
No-Heart stomped into the room, "These opposites are almost useless! They can't even defeat those lousy care bears without help! And that one, Glum Heart, has even had her own ability turned on her, she's their captive now, what's worse she could be made into one of them!"
"Then maybe you'd like some additional help," Fauna's fur stood on end, she knew that female voice. No-Heart looked up to his window to see two Care Bears standing there, but not ones he was at all familiar with, one was wearing all black close fitting clothing, and one with black fur with what looked like cracked patterns all around it.
"More Care Bears!" No-Heart was practically flaming with rage, "I cannot stand this!"
"Before you blow your top," the male bear said as he and the female ninja bear jumped down, "Maybe you'd like to hear our offer of help."
"My name is Blade Star Bear, and this is my dear companion, Shatter Heart Bear," the female bear said, "And despite how we look, we're on your side. You see, we have a grudge against the Care Bears and we're a fan of your attempts, but hardly your success, so we were wondering if you'd like some help, we have experience against those Care Bears with special powers."
Fauna was growling as quietly as she could when she saw Shatter Heart and Blade Star come into the potion room. Blue was looking at her as if she had lost her mind. "Shhhh! Do you want them to hear you?"
Her amber eyes fixed on his, "They were in Wonderland!" Tail puffed up and twitching she used every ounce of restraint she had and continued to watch the exchange.
No Hearts eyes flashed red briefly, "If you are so knowledgeable about how to defeat them then why haven't you done so?"
Shatter Heart gritted his teeth, "We were taken by surprise and outnumbered by them last time! What's your excuse you who has been trying for so many years to defeat the Care Bears!"
Blade Star placed a hand in front of Shatter Heart to keep him still, "The reason is not important, we've been watching your latest attempt and quite frankly, we're impressed you weren't successful, but then again if those specially powered care bears weren't there, you might have won by now. We're here to offer our help to fix that little error with them."
No Heart thought on this and started to pace. "You bring up an excellent point. Very well. I will give you one chance to exterminate those extra thorny thorns in my side."
Shatter Heart started chuckling, "You give us a chance? HA! You act as though you're superior to us, if we wanted to take a shot at them we would have just done it, we didn't come here to get your permission to try and kill them."
"You came here to offer your services to me! Therefore in some way you are deferring to my expertise! No one knows those bears better then I!" He bellowed down at the two bears.
Suddenly he calmed, "Except...BEASTLY!"
Within a heart beat the brown furred idiot came tottering into the room, "You bellowed boss?"
"Yes. These two are offering their help to destroy the Care Bears. See you give them anything they require."
Beastly looked confused, "Boss? I don't get it. Why are you having Care Bears help to destroy Care Bears? Aren't you going to-"
No Heart slapped a hand over his mouth, "Enough Beastly! I don't pay you to think!"
"He could be useful," Blade Star acknowledged, "despite a crippling ability not to think, this ball of fur seems to know how to sneak around undetected." She approached Beastly and gave him a look that made him cower, "I'd like to know everything you've learned about the Care Bears, as we need to know some things about them to help us."
"And maybe, when you send out your next ill-conceived attempt to get rid of the Care Bears who remain, send one of us with you, we've managed to bring those super powered ones quite close to death before," Shatter Heart added.
Fauna snickered and flashed her eyes briefly, "Except for me." Blue paled and hoped they hadn't noticed. Fauna tended to be reckless, and he was really hoping this wasn't one of those times.
Thankfully, by some grace of a higher power, no one heard. Shatter Heart and Blade Star followed Beastly out, to get the info they needed and maybe some expert help. No-Heart lingered briefly before tossing a book he'd been carrying with him onto the table above Fauna and Blue and departing, still muttering darkly to himself.
Emerging from beneath the table, Fauna jumped to the top and scanned the book cover. "I bet this has the answers we need." Gaining her human form she opened the book and began to flip through the pages. "Blue stop being a pansy and get out here."
"I'm not being a pansy. One of us has to be on look out." He gained his human form even as he said it.
"I wonder if this spell book has an index."
Fauna looked over the table of contents in the front. "There's a section on clone spells, maybe that will help." Going to it she saw 7 different spells and groaned, "Remind me to get No Heart post it notes for Christmas."
Blue scoffed, "Yeah. That will solve all your problems." Both went rigid as they thought they heard footsteps. "We don't have time for this. Let's just take the book and go, we can look it over from a safe location."
"My thoughts exactly." Blue shifted into a golden eagle and gripped the book in his talons. Taking to the air he flew out the window with osprey Fauna close behind.
Hunter, in his own human form, had approached the room, hearing the light conversation between Fauna and Blue, but not recognizing the voices all too well. Upon entering he spotted the two birds flying away through the window.
"Well what's this, either some strange birds off a migration route, or maybe a shape shifter or two trying to flee with secret info, let's find out," he said, shifting into a hawk, Hunter flew after the other two birds.
Blue deposited the book on the ground before landing next to it and gaining his human form. Opening the book he began to look through the spells Fauna had found. "So what exactly are we looking for?"
She snatched the book away from him, "Either the spell No Heart used to create the Opposites or a counter spell to reverse the effects of crystallization."
He took the book back, "Well then let me look. You haven't spent the last couple months reading old historic archives like I have."
She held her hands up, "Oh a thousand pardons oh researcher extraordinaire." Because they were bickering they didn't notice Hunter land nearby. Hunter landed softly, shifting into a rhino, no point in being subtle; they would know he was here soon enough. He lowered his horned head and charged at Blue and Fauna.
Feeling the earth tremble they both looked up to see a rhino charging at them. "Move!" Blue tackled Fauna, taking them both out of the path of the beast.
Fauna snarled as she caught his scent, "It's Hunter." She shifted into a velociraptor. "How did you find us?"
Hunter turned, shifting into a raptor himself, "Oh please, anyone could follow your bickering from a mile away," he charged at Fauna.
Hissing she slashed at him with her deadly hind claws. He avoided but barely. "Big mistake following. It's two against one fake." Hunter just hissed back, and slashed back at her, trying to bite down on her neck with his jaw.
Blue watched from a few yards away as the two raptors fought. He had been prepared to shift and help Fauna, but as soon as the two began fighting he lost track of which one the real Fauna was.
Ducking away from Hunter's teeth she pivoted on her foot to whack him with her tail. Hunter was knocked back briefly, but got back up and snarled, jumping onto Fauna's back and slashing at her with his hind claws as he tried to bit down on her neck again. Screeching in pain she turned into an anklosaurus.
The spiked armor on her back caused him to leap off. "Any time now babe!" Blue shifted into a ram and charged at the raptor. Hunter had just enough time to shift into a gorilla and grabbed a hold of ram Blue's horns.
"Nice try!" he grunted as he managed to use Blue's momentum to hurl him over his head and behind him. Fauna swung her clubbed tail at Hunter with a bellow. Blue shook his head trying to clear away the stars.
"Yup just like Fauna." Turning into a lion he leapt onto Hunter's back digging his claws in. Fauna shifted into a lioness and bit down hard on his flailing arm. Hunter grimaced in pain but shifted into an elephant, his sudden size increase knocking them off. Hunter trumpeted and tried to step on Fauna, who was in front of him.
Turning into a sidewinder she flew away from the foot. "Blue get the book to the others, I can handle him." She shifted into an elephant as well, ramming her head against Hunter and trying to force him back.
Knowing he would hate himself for listening, and not knowing why he did so, Blue regained his eagle form and took off for Terra Hearts burrow.
"Ok, send him away, I'll still get him later!" Hunter said, pushing back as hard as he could against Fauna, trying to force her back.
"Not while I'm living. Do you really think a cheap imitation like you is going to beat me?" Locking her trunk around his she tried to wrench him sideways. Hunter, suddenly went slack and let himself get pulled sideways, pulling Fauna down with him before shifting into a tiger and jumping at her, clawing at her side.
Fauna shifted into a hyena and fastened her jaws around his neck, biting down hard. She heard his roar get choked off, 'Just a little harder and I'll crush his windpipe.'
Feeling the pain, Hunter suddenly shifted into a porcupine, right inside Fauna's mouth. Fauna was forced to spit him out and he landed, shifting back to his human form.
"Face it, mare, you're inferior, just surrender and come back to No-Heart with me!" he gloated.
Turning human so she could pull the quills out of her tongue she coughed and sputtered before facing him. "Why would you want me to come with you. No Heart doesn't need two shape shifters." She smirked superiorly at him, "If No Heart gets me he doesn't need you."
This gave Hunter pause, "Yeah right! All he needs you for is to find out where you live, he even told me that it was as pity that I didn't inherit all your memories!"
Fauna chalked a point up to herself on her mental score card. She now knew the reason behind No Heart creating an Opposite for her. "And what, you think I'm going to just follow you home so we can all have some milk and cookies while talking about the super secret location of my home? You really are a cheap copy."
"Cheap! I'm not cheap," Hunter seemed to be faltering, "If I'm so cheap then why haven't you been able to stop me yet. And at least I don't have a stupid tattoo on my forehead!"
Her eyes flicked to his forehead, it was blank. "It's not a tattoo." She got her symbol glowing, "It's my variation of a tummy symbol." She stared a bolt of energy at him which he fell to the ground to avoid, "Sucks you don't have one too. Wanna continue this discussion about how I can't beat you or have you had enough?"
Hunter did his best to stand up, "And why do you care so much, why not just finish me now then if you think I'm so worthless!" he asked, both angry that he was losing but also genuinely wondering that very question.
She gritted her teeth, "As much as I would love to destroy you, it is forbidden by our gods Day Break and Night Shade for any of their charges to kill one another. Because you are my clone, your are illegitimately a Pegasus and covered by that rule." Hunter grimaced and attempted to shift, but was in too much pain to do more than turns his arms into a pair of bat wings before collapsing.
Fauna scoffed, "Like I said. You'll never be as good as me." Gaining the form of a red tail hawk she flew away from Hunter's unconscious form.
Hunter awoke a few minutes later, his arms still bat wings. He stood up and muttered, "She's wrong, I'll prove her wrong and get her for No-Heart so I can stand at his side instead of that stupid book woman," he took off using his wing arms to fly back to no-heart's castle.