Endings and Beginnings
Serious Heart Monkey watched the group as they continued to look for her fellow opposites in the castle. She had been assigned to watch their movements and report on them using the headset that connected her to Coward Heart Lion. "They're all back together again...Unfortunately Jynx and Bad Luck are going to be making our life harder." She waited for the she-lions response, eyes never leaving the large group below her.
"I s-see," Cowardly Heart had a stammer in her speech that she couldn't shake, "We need to m-make sure they don't g-get t-too f-f-far. Wh-what are they doing now?" she inquired.
The monkey opposite twitched her tail, "They know where you all are situated. Looks like we have lost the element of surprise." A small smirk spread across her mouth, "I sure am glad I'm not you right now."
"S-so what are y-you going t-to do?" Cowardly Heart asked.
"I'm going to continue to watch, and not lift a single finger unless it looks like you are winning."
"F-fine, but N-no-Heart won't like that," Cowardly Heart shut off her communicator.
Hate-a-Ton shook her head, "Well that's just great. We were sold out by two of our own and a third just jumped ship. No Heart is going to turn us into a carpet for his throne room."
"N-not if we f-finish them off," Cowardly said, "and we st-still have H-Hunter."
"How do you know he won't switch sides again if things aren't going his way?" He crossed his arms, foot tapping.
"Because, you are my kind, and I've given you information that I knew, though I'm sure No-Heart would have told you that Pegasis can be poisoned by gold," Hunter had appeared amidst them, "relax, I know which side I'm on."
"What do you want? Aren't you supposed to be guarding the throne room?" Hardheart questioned him as she shoved Coward Heart off. The lion opposite had bumped into her when she jumped in surprise at Hunter's sudden appearance.
"No-Heart asked me to make one final round before they got here, wants me to make sure you're all where you're supposed to be," Hunter said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to tell No-Heart and Spirit that everything is ready," Hunter said, turning around and leaving them.
They had reached the 2nd floor and were looking for the group waiting for them. Blue stopped suddenly, nose flaring as a familiar scent came towards him. "It's Fauna, she's down there." He started heading away from the group. "Hold on, you need backup." Noble Heart cut him off before he could move farther away.
Knowing he wouldn't be able to stop Blue for long, he quickly divided up the large group. "Champ, you Loyal Heart, Illusion Heart, Valiant Heart and Anger Heart come with us. Swift Heart, Defiant Heart, Terra Heart, Secret, Playful Heart, and Guidance Heart go save Grumpy and Funshine. That leaves Friend, Cheer, Bedtime, Take Care, Lotsa Heart, and Jolly Heart to go to the 4th floor and deal with Harmony and Wish."
Everyone nodded and they split up, Valiant Heart in the lead with Blue holding their living shields out in front of them. Before too long they heard the audible growls of a wolf and slowed down. Sure enough, there was Fauna and Brave Heart, still feral and instantly alert, ready to pounce or charge at the approaching group as soon as they got the chance. Valiant gritted his teeth, "This could be a problem," he said.
"Very much so, unless we can hit them with a stare or call right away we cannot do anything to risk harming them," Loyal Heart added.
Blue eyed the two feral beings, "I don't think us hurting them will be a problem." Fauna barked a warning at the group to stay away. Handing his captive to Noble Heart Blue gained the form of a wolf. "I'll take on Fauna, we need speed more then power with her."
"As for Brave Heart, leave him to me," Loyal Heart conjured a club in one hand and a chain in the other, "Everyone else, stay back and stare them when you have an opening," he added. Valiant Heart said nothing, waiting for the right moment to do something.
"We keep dem from escapin homme." Illusion and Champ crossed their arms to look imposing and to keep Fauna and Brave Heart from escaping past them. Hunter's absence went unnoticed. Blue pricked his ears forward and held his tail erect hoping the sign of dominance would cause Fauna to back down. She hesitated for only a moment before snapping viciously and charging him.
At that some time, Brave Heart gave a roar and pounced on Loyal Heart, who was forced to dodge aside and swing at him with the weighted chain he had conjured, hoping to snare him and keep him still, but missed and was forced to swing at Brave Heart's next attack with the club he was holding, but not hard enough that he might cripple him. This fight would no doubt prove taxing.
Seeing an opening, Valiant Heart charged past the four fighting and into the throne room. No one bothered to stop him. Inside he found No-Heart waiting for him, with Hunter and the Spirit standing to his right. Valiant snarled at them and said.
"So finally here now, you two have a lot to answer for, and you especially Hunter, I can't believe we trusted you!" he said, pointing his sword at Fauna's opposite. Hunter gave no reply.
Fauna was keeping low to the ground and snapping at Blue every chance she got. For the moment he was avoiding her teeth by the skin of his. As she snapped at his foreleg, he used the moment to jump on her back and pin her to the ground. Illusion Heart sent a stare at her, hoping to knock her back to her senses. However at the last moment she threw Blue off her back into the stare, which sent him flying.
Loyal Heart was having trouble with Brave Heart, who was faster than he expected. Loyal tried one last time to snare him with his chain, but missed and suddenly found himself pinned under Brave Heart, who snarled and moved in to finish off the dog. At that moment, Champ stared Brave Heart, knocking him off Loyal Heart and smacking him into the wall. A recovered but dazed Brave Heart muttered.
"What was that truck's number?"
Loyal Heart got to his feet, "At least he's back to normal," he said, before turning to face Fauna.
No Heart glared down at Valiant Heart, "I knew those Opposites wouldn't be able to finish you off." Spirit lifted a glowing hand to the cage where his family members were being kept, "I'd suggest you choose your move wisely, or someone else may suffer."
Valiant Heart lowered his sword, what else could he do. The Spirit smiled and said, "Hunter, do your duty."
"At once," Hunter smiled wickedly, his hand turning into a wolverine's clawed hand and he slashed hard, striking down the Spirit who fell to the ground, her hand no longer glowing and in severe pain.
Everyone present was shocked and the Spirit shouted, "What are you doing!"
"What I was planning from the start!" Hunter shifted into an arctic wolf and leapt on the Spirit, "How do you think I felt, seeing my older sister reduced to that feral state? I'll make you pay for that!" he said, viciously attacking the Spirit. Before No-Heart could attempt something, Valiant Heart was in his face.
"Sorry, I'm your problem now!" he said, slashing at him with his Zanpakuto.
Fauna's fur was all puffed out as Loyal Heart, Champ, Blue, and Illusion Heart advanced on her, they had boxed her back against the wall of the hallway and were getting ready to stare her once more.
"Just chill Fauna it'll be-agh!" She had leapt forward and bit Champ hard on the arm. He continued to yell as she began to drag him backwards. "Get her off!" Blue rammed her hard from the side and Illusion snatched Champs legs, pulling him away as soon as she let go. A loud yelp was heard from Blue as Fauna latched onto his ear, shaking it like a chew toy.
Noble Heart stumbled back while calling his magic to his hands. "You think I am going to let you win when I've come this far?" He shot red lightning at Valiant Heart, to keep him at bay.
Spirit continued to shriek as Hunter attacked her arms up to protect her face. Between her howls of pain she muttered a spell that fused her finger nails with acid. She then raked them down Hunters face, leaving 4 burns. "Get off me you filthy beast!"
Valiant deflected the lightning with his sword and raised it over his head, "I'll stop you regardless, Rensei Tokkan!" he swung down and released the familiar lightning drill at No-Heart.
Hunter grimaced and jumped back, wings sprouting from his wolf back allowing him to fly above the Spirit as he finished shifting into an eagle, the scratch marks remaining on his face, "You're the filthy one, you won't go back to your prison this time, I'll make sure of that!" He rose up and dove at Spirit, talons striking down at her arms in an effort to cripple her fighting ability.
Conjuring a yellow shield she used it to keep Hunter away from her arms. "As vallia bindero nium!" A golden ring of light wrapped around Hunter's body, pinning his wings in and causing him to fall to the floor. No Heart attacked the lightning drill aside and gripped his pendant with one hand while pointing at Valiant with the other. "Hold still you annoyance." He caused the stones under Valliant's feet to glow, holding the wolverine in place.
Outside, Noble Heart tossed the golden rope to Brave Heart, "Get this over Fauna and she'll hold still long enough for us to stare her."
Nodding he quickly turned the rope into a lasso, "Good thing I always wanted to be a cowboy huh Noble Heart? Remember when I-"
"Just toss the rope Brave Heart or Blue is going to loose his ear!" Loyal Heart yelled at him. Letting the rope fly it settled on Fauna's head, slipping around her neck as she released Blue's ear. With a whimper she lay quietly on the ground allowing Illusion and Champ to stare her. When she remained laying on the ground Blue frantically told them that they had to get the rope off her. Illusion snatched it quickly off and Blue trotted over to her as she got to her feet.
"You okay?"
She nodded but faltered and fell sideways into Blue, "Maybe not just yet. The gold needs to wear off."
Sounds of fighting came from the throne room. "Should we go in and help Valiant Heart?" Champ asked.
"Yes, let's go now," Loyal Heart said, conjuring a sword in his hand as they pushed the door open, just in time to see Valiant's legs get trapped and Hunter get captured by the golden ring. Hunter shifted into a mouse and scurried away form the ring before it closed around him again, before shifting into his arctic wolf form again and biting Spirit's leg. Valiant aimed his palm at the ground and called out:
"Hado 31, Shakkaho!" the blast hit the floor, blowing away the stones holding him down but knocking him back as well. Seeing the others he smiled and spoke as he stood up and retrieved his sword, "Welcome to the party then."
"Hope you saved some favors for us." Fauna growled. She and Blue joined Hunter, each biting onto Spirits legs, who desperately called to No Heart for help. He ignored her however, having bigger problems on his hands.
He saw the bound Jynx and Bad Luck Bear, "I gave your fair warning." Pointing at them he sent lightning their way and fried them to a crisp.
Loyal Heart shook his head, "You are a despicable monster," he raised his sword and swung at No-Heart, sending a wave of blue energy at No-Heart. Valiant added to that, firing his "Byakurai" white energy beam from one of his fingers at the evil wizard. Hunter backed off briefly and leapt at Spirit's face, jaws open wide.
Before No Heart got hit by the attacks he turned into a purple bat. "You may think you have won this time, but I took into account that you would come this far." He flew out of the small window in his throne room, "Now Beastly!"
Cackling Beastly threw a switch that covered the castle in purple magic. Landing next to his minion, he laughed maniacally, "They will be trapped in there forever! Nothing can break out of that force field."
"So what should we do now boss?" "Leave for a few days and work on my new castle. Then I can finally begin my assault on the world and rid it of love and caring at last!" Turning into a tornado, he whisked up a screaming Beastly and flew away, without so much as a second thought to the Spirit or remaining Opposites.
As the force field went up, Hunter's blows landed and finished off the Spirit, ending her magical reign forever. Hunter landed on the ground next to her lifeless body, panting form exhaustion and unable to speak.
Loyal Heart observed the magical barrier on the outside of the window, "It appears we are trapped in here, I hope the others are all right. At least my lady, True Heart, Grams, and Good Luck aren't trapped in here," Loyal Heart lamented.
Illusion was looking at the charred bodies of the two opposites that had been their shields. "Dis is not good, hommes. We not gonna last long cooped up like rats in here."
"That is true, but if all else fails I can use my full power to try and force the barrier open," Valiant said, placing his sword on his back, "for now is everyone all right?" he asked.
Blue was panting happily, wincing occasionally as Fauna licked the ear she had only been moments before trying to rip from his head. Champ grinned, "I'd say they're pretty okay." The bite wound on his arm had been bound by Noble Heart. "Loyal Heart, Hunter, you okay?"
"I am feeling well, all things considered," Loyal Heart replied.
"I'm good, I guess," Hunter was still in his arctic wolf form, his head bowed as much from shame as exhaustion. He looked up a bit guiltily at Fauna and Blue before looking away.
"Could someone let us out of here please?" Treat Heart called from the cage. She and the other captured family members were very eager to get out.
Seeing a chance to improve their opinion of him, Hunter shifted into a giraffe and carefully opened the door of the cage, offering to let them use his neck as a slide to get out.
Tender Heart went over to Brave Heart, "Glad to see you are acting normal again. Has anyone gone to make sure the others have been turned back also?"
"We were just about to." Fauna and Blue regained their human form and waited for Hunter as the others filed out of the throne room.
As soon a Love-a-Lot hit the ground, she dashed over to and hugged Valiant Heart, who hugged her back, "Thank goodness you're all right," Valiant Heart said.
"Same to you, I saw you fighting, you were good," Love-a-Lot said. Valiant smiled and kissed her.
Hunter regained his human form and joined Fauna and Blue; he averted his eyes and said, "Hey, good to see you're back to normal Fauna," he said.
She smirked at him, "I can say the same to you. I don't remember much from when I was, less then myself, but Blue filled me in on some of the finer details."
"Oh, what did he say?" Hunter asked.
"I told her how we thought you had betrayed us but it turned out you were just putting on a front." He told Hunter bluntly, arm securely around Fauna's waist.
"Imagine my disappointment when I couldn't do an 'I told you so' dance." Fauna added.
"Why couldn't you?" Hunter asked, "I didn't really have much of a choice at the time, I was surrounded by feral Care Bears and you, if I'd tried to run I would have been torn to shreds," Hunter said, "I still feel bad about it though."
"If it will make you feel better I will do the I told you so dance." She began to move her hands from side to side while saying "Told ya so." over and over. Stopping after a few rounds she faced Hunter, "But you came through in the end and that's all that matters." Turning to leave she seemed to remember one last thing, "Oh yeah," she tapped his chest with her finger, "if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will tear you to shreds."
Smiling she patted his cheek with her hand and walked from the room. Responding to the stunned look on Hunters face Blue sighed, "Yeah, I know. She's exhausting."
"Yeah, I noticed," Hunter said, "So I guess you've forgiven me for the time being, we should go get the others and figure a way out of this place." Blue motioned with his arm for Hunter to follow the others out of the throne room. There were already murmurs from the hall as some members of the other groups were returning. It took a while but eventually everyone had gathered together again, restored to their normal states but with some injuries inflicted by the opposites or the feral bears.
As headcount was taken, Noble Heart asked, "So, did any of the opposites live?"
"None," Snowy Heart reported, "Other than Hunter, Glum Heart, and the new white rabbit they were all destroyed, though no one saw Serious Heart, Playful's opposite."
"She probably slipped out as soon as she saw things were going badly." Playful Heart commented, looking ashamed, "That's exactly what I wouldn't do."
"But slipped out to where?" Bright Heart asked, "For all we know she could be trapped in here with the rest of us."
He shrugged, "That could be. But I think we should focus more on getting out and less on what my opposite may or may not be doing."
Brave Heart nodded, "I agree. Has anyone checked the other exits and made sure we are really sealed in?"
"Good Point, guess Snowy Heart, Swift Heart, and I should check them, cause we're the fastest," Valiant suggested, before using his flash step to do just that.
"Probably the best course of action," Snowy said, using his screen step to go off and check another exit.
"Back in a flash!" She saluted them with a roughly bandaged forepaw before taking off to search the lower levels.
After a few moments of waiting, all three returned, "The exits I checked are sealed by the field," Snowy Said.
"Same here. Proud Heart, True Heart, and Grams are thankfully outside the field," Valiant Heart added.
"Nothing down there but some seriously huge spiders." Sliding to a stop next to Grumpy she shuddered as he pulled cob webs off her ears.
Fauna crossed her arms, "Well that's great. How are we supposed to get out of here?"
"We could try a stare on the field," Bright Heart suggested, "Grams, True Heart, and Proud Heart could help from the outside."
"And if all else fails," Valiant Heart said, "No-Heart probably doesn't know how strong I can get, I could use my Bankai to try and force the field open, or just destroy it."
Blue cleared his throat, "Umm I may be new to all this but, don't you think No Heart would have figured you all would use your stare on the force field so he would have made sure it was resistant to that."
"He's has a point," Gentle Heart said.
"Well then, I guess brute force may be the only way," Valiant Heart said.
"Perhaps," Loyal Heart said, "If that fails we may be out of options."
"Did anyone ssssee if Proud Heart, Gramsssss, or True Heart could hear usss through the barrier?" Cozy Heart inquired the scouts. When they didn't respond she continued, "Maybe they sssaw what No Heart did and know how to reverssse it."
"Well then, let's go meet them and see," Bright Heart said. Valiant nodded and led them towards the exit where the three in question had been left.
Grams Bear was pacing in front of the barrier when the others arrived. "Oh thank goodness you're alright."
Noble Heart nodded, "We're fine for now, but if we can't get out of here, that won't matter much."
"Did you see how No-Heart created the barrier?" Bright Heart asked, "Do you know if you can reverse the process?"
"Well, we saw him cast a spell the fly off," Proud Heart said, "I couldn't make out what exactly he was saying, sorry."
"Well it's magic," Valiant Heart stated bluntly, "think I should just try to break it open?" he asked.
"Sure give it a go. We have no other ideas at the moment." Brave Heart told him.
"All right," Valiant Heart said, "stand back then," he began to concentrate as energy gathered around him, "BANKAI!" he shouted. The energy around him burst and Valiant was there in his Bankai form, "Akuma Dai Raitonigu, Alastor. All right, here goes," he said. He delivered a strong punch to the barrier, it didn't budge, "guess I'd better go all out, get back from the barrier!" he said, backing up and bit before charging and starting to spin like a drill "AKUMA RENSEI TOKKAN!" he slammed into the barrier, spinning and electrified, pushing against it and hoping this would work.
Fauna, Hunter, and Blue had felt the hair on their arms rise as the strange magic grew around Valiant Heart. All three of them remained at the back of the pack, wanting to stay as far from the energy as possible. As Valiant hit it with his final assault, Fauna saw a series of cracks spreading upward from the point of impact. She also felt the shield pulsing as it was being attacked. "Everyone hit the floor, it's gonna blow!" She herself dove, gaining the shape of a turtle and pulling herself into her shell.
Everyone hit the deck, Hunter changing into an Armadillo and curling up as the force field finally gave out. As the dust cleared they saw that the barrier had fallen apart, but there was more. As the barrier started to fall apart the castle started to shake.
"This place is coming down, let's move!" Anger Heart shouted.
Snatching up the turtle and armadillo on either side of him, Blue ran out the hole in the barrier. Swift Heart remained behind as long as she could to make sure all of her slower family members made it to the exit safely. Once outside, they all quickly conjured cloud cars and took off, heading to where the ruins of the Kingdom of Caring were.
Swift Heart shook her head as she looked down at the cracked buildings, "What a mess. It's going to take us weeks to fix all this."
As they landed, Bright tested the ground, "At least with all of us here it appears that the ground is completely stable."
"And it will take weeks to fix, but I guess we all have to pitch in then," Anger Heart said, his voice tinged with mild anger at this fact.
"Well first, we should repair my clinic, so we can get medical attention and rooms if needed," Take Care said.
Nearby, Hunter and Fauna had shifted back to their human forms. "So," Hunter said to Fauna, "Now what do we do?"
"We go home." Blue told him. "If I'm gone any longer Wind Rider is going to have me memorize stories from the archives again."
Fauna smiled and sighed happily, "Home sounds good. Tomorrow I'll probably come back to help rebuild things around here."
"Home," Hunter said, thinking. "So, can I still go with you two?" he asked.
"That was the plan. Fauna can help you make a nest and introduce you to the others in your herd," Blue said.
"Thanks," Hunter actually smiled, shifting back to Pegasus form, "lead the way I guess, I don't know how to get there."
Fauna shifted back as well, "Lets see if you can keep up." Whinnying she took to the air with Blue hot on her heels.
"Hey wait up!" Hunter took off after her, shouting to her, "As long as we have the trip, I want to talk about something with you two!"
She craned her neck around to look at him, "What's on your mind?"
Hunter caught up, "Well, it's my name. Hunter the opposite of Fauna, meaning animals, I'm not so sure I'd be well received, and to be honest I want to forget about the whole 'opposite' thing, sis, or should I just call you Fauna?"
Fauna felt a blush rise in her cheeks. Blue snickered, "Awww Fauna has a baby brother. Sooooo cute"
The blush vanished as he teased her. "Call me whatever you want. And I think that's a good idea to change your name. Did you have one in mind?"
"Well, that white wolf form I was in felt the most natural, guess it's cause you're a grey wolf, so I guess 'White Wolf' would be a good last name, but can either of you suggest a first name?" Hunter asked.
"Seems like white wolf is your cover shape, I'll explain that more later. As for a new name, I think it should represent this life change you've made." Blue told him. He looked to Fauna, "What do you think?"
Fauna was silent for a moment while she thought it over. "What about Renegade?"
"Renegade hmm, I like that thanks sis," The newly christened Renegade Whitewolf smiled, "So, you wanted to race sis, let's go for it!"
Flattening her ears to her skull she pulled ahead with a large flap of her wings. Blue watched the two going neck and neck and let a small smile slip out. He knew Hunter...er Renegade would help to heal a part of Fauna that he nor any of the others could. As Fauna's triumphant yell of: "Ha! Maybe next time pipsqueak." sounded from ahead, he knew they had reached the portal and flapped his wings to catch up.