Last time on Care Bears Z, True Heart discovered the first member of her family, Tenderheart Bear (AKA Terrence Lawson), while helping him defend his human mother – among other cancer patients – from the evil Shrieky and Beastly. However, many questions are still unanswered as the two Care Bears continue to search for the rest of the Caring Guardians. Will Tiara and Terrence be able to reunite their family and stop No Heart's uncaring plans? Read on to find out in Care Bears Z Episode 4: Snatching and Suspicion!

~Z~

Tuesdays were usually a good day for Terrence. The school week was still new, there weren't any meetings for the SGA, and he got to see Lisa in Geometry. However, today he just couldn't concentrate on triangles and their mid-segments. His mind kept going back to the events of not only the night before, but of the morning as well.

He had miraculously woken up on time today, despite the events of the night and the revelation that he was indeed part of the Care Bear family. He had even felt fully rested, and completely able to get through the morning without a single yawn. However, his little sister Wendy had been inclined to express her chagrin over the disappearance of the teddy bear they'd found yesterday. Terrence had been able to come up with a story to sate her, and though it had been vague and Wendy wasn't a gullible child, it wasn't a lie. He had simply said that the bear, named True Heart, was indeed alive and had left in search of her family. Of course, he didn't tell Wendy about the previous night's events, for after seeing what the Care Bear family was up against he was concerned for her safety. Wendy had been skeptical at first, but being a child with a keen sense of wonder, she was willing to accept his story.

The second thing on his mind was the fact that, upon waking up, Terrence had realized that his father was not home. Mr. Lawson, being the secretary for the mayor of Carenburg, often had to leave for work early, though usually late enough to greet Terrence and Wendy as they entered the kitchen. However, there was no trace of the man, and this caused worry to bloom deep in Terrence's heart. It wasn't until he'd seen the blinking red light on the answering machine that the worry went away. His father had called at around 9:00, after Terrence had left with True Heart.

"Terrence? You must be asleep by now…" the message had started off. "You work yourself so hard…anyway, I'm calling to tell you that there was an emergency meeting at the office, and I won't be home 'till late or maybe not until tomorrow. The boss really has me in a pinch, filing all of these documents on the new laws…" there was a slight pause. "Well, I hope you understand, son. Take care of Wendy, and don't overwork yourself like your old man, okay?" Then there was a little chuckle, though there was a bit of sadness behind it. Terrence heard that sadness like a siren. It lodged itself in his throat and made his eyes water, but he swallowed it quickly as he heard Wendy get up.

Terrence tried to refrain himself from thinking about his dad too much. Mr. Lawson really was a hard working man, but there were times when even he became frazzled. Terrence knew that his dad often put on a brave face, usually when they all visited Mrs. Lawson in the hospital. Terrence supposed he had inherited that face; he seemed to wear it himself nowadays. Shaking his head, Terrence let his mind wander to the final, most pressing matter on his mind: the Care Bear Family.

He now knew of his old life, that of Tenderheart Bear. He remembered Care-A-Lot, he remembered the Forest of Feelings, and he remembered No Heart, Shrieky, and Beastly. Most importantly, he remembered every other member of his family, every Care Bear and Care Bear Cousin. His dreams had been filled with memories as he recalled more and more. There were only a couple foggy patches by the time he'd gotten to school. Try as he might, he just couldn't remember exactly how they had all gotten to Earth, or just how they had all managed to become human. He also wondered about his human life. Was he now able to be considered a human? Was he ever really "Terrence"? He also wondered about True Heart. She had been in normal form when he'd found her. She had changed back when they'd fought Beastly and Shrieky…but why? True Heart had also said something about the Great Wishing Star…what did he have to do with all this?

"Terrence!" a soft voice called him back from his musing. He turned to see the concerned face of Lisa. Her eyes, as blue and emotional as always, studied him carefully.

"You're spacing out a lot today. Are you okay?" she asked. Terrence swallowed, ridding the sudden dry feeling from his mouth before answering.

"I'm fine, Lisa."

"Good, so you can help me with this!" Lisa pointed to a problem in her book. Terrence glanced at the page and nodded. He decided that all those issues could wait until after school. After all, a test was coming up on Friday and they both needed to review.

~Z~

Lake Erie was a truly beautiful place in the spring. Trees, flowers, and animals emerged to greet the fair weather after waiting out winter's chill. However, there was one particular spot just inside the Pennsylvanian side of the Ohio-Pennsylvania border and just beside the lake, where not a single animal trod. There was complete silence; not even a breeze rippled the glassy surface of the lake here. The animals and wind seemed to actually avoid this place for some reason. Any normal human might see it as strange, but simply shrug and walk away. Then again, any normal human wouldn't be able to see the writhing mass of dark clouds as they swirled and thundered above this deserted spot. The clouds actually cloaked something even more ominous: a gothic, stone castle crawling with shadows.

"So…you've found them then?" a deep, menacing voice echoed through the dank room. Dim candlelight flickered about the walls, making the speaker's figure all the more menacing.

"Y-yes, No Heart," Beastly said with a nervous smile. He stood just behind the evil magician, peeking around him into the castle's pit. He was no longer in his human form, and now resembled nothing more than a little brown furball with skinny arms, a snaggletooth, and an aviator hat. "They're in Carenburg, just outside of Philadelphia…"

"Yes…" as No Heart peered into the eerily glowing water of his cauldron, his form finally became visible. He wore a long mauve robe lined with crimson. A cowl with a bent point hid most of his face, save for his bushy green eyebrows and blood red eyes. "Then everything should work according to my design…unless of course, YOU don't screw it up, Beastly!" his shout caused his minion to tumble backwards into the wall. Beastly gulped and looked up at his master.

"O-of course not, N-No Heart," he stammered. "Everything will w-work out according to y-your p-p-plans."

"They'd better," the wizard growled. "Now, go! Shrieky will not go with you this time, so you had better succeed."

"Y-y-yes, No Heart!" Beastly shot to his feet and bolted out the door. As he exited the castle, his form began to elongate. His body grew taller and slimmer, his face rounder. His fur receded and his limbs became less bony. By the time he hopped onto his bike-helicopter, he was in the form of a humanoid young man. With a raspy laugh, Beastly lifted off and pedaled toward Carenburg. Back at the castle, No Heart left his cauldron and teleported into the dungeons of his lair. Though no-one saw it, one could have sworn that a dark smile had crept onto his face when Shrieky ran up to him, magic mirror in hand and delivered her report.

"He still won't talk, Uncle No Heart," she said. "I've tried yelling, and threatening, and zapping, and he still won't tell me!"

"Let me see him." the uncaring wizard strode silently to the barred cell in the wall. Within the cell was a young man, though he appeared to have animal qualities. His ears were long and slightly pointed, and a tail showed just above his pants. He fixed the villain with an angry glare.

"I told you already, No Heart, I don't know where the rest of them are!" Niall said. "Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!"

"Too bad," No Heart said, his eyes glinting sadistically. "Well, we don't need your help anyway. We've found some of them, and as we speak Beastly is setting a trap to lure them here."

"Why tell me, then?" the humanoid scowled. "Just so you can brag?"

"I might as well, since you will be dead soon enough,"

Niall, of course, could not see the smile behind No Heart's cowl, but he could feel it, and he shuddered in spite of himself.

~Z~

Terrence had been available to pick up Wendy from school today, but she had already made plans to go to the park with Hannah and Trent. Therefore, Terrence had been invited to walk the city with Benjamin. Something, however, made the boy decline. Terrence wasn't quite sure why, but a nagging feeling of uneasiness had settled at the pit of his stomach. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He walked home a little faster than usual. The worried feeling inside him grew when he didn't see his father's car in the driveway. Terrence went inside, strode into the kitchen, and picked up the phone.

"…Hello?"

"Mrs. Hart, it's me, Terrence."

"Oh, hi, Terrence. Are you alright? You sound upset."

"Can…can I come over? I need to talk to you."

"Sure thing."

"Thanks." Terrence hung up the phone. He reached into his pocket and gripped the pen he'd received the previous night. He could feel the heart shape on top emanate warmth into the palm of his hand. With a deep breath, Terrence rushed out the door and through the neighborhood until he reached the street on which Tiara lived. Knocking on the cream-colored door urgently, he called her name. The door swung open, revealing Tiara in a flowing tan shirt and light blue jeans.

"My, you do look frazzled," the woman said. "Is something wrong, Terrence?" she led him into the house. They both sat down in the living room. The TV was on, but the volume was low. Terrence sighed deeply.

"I don't know. For some reason, I just feel…unsettled. It's as if something bad is going to happen, but I don't know what."

"You feel it too, then?" Tiara frowned. "All day I've been feeling a nagging sort of uneasiness. It's like I know something is wrong, that something is that shouldn't be…of course, it didn't help that I got in trouble at work. I don't know what I'm going to do; it was hard enough making an excuse as to where I've been. I also had to tell Niall's boss about…you know. It was hard to make it sound like he wasn't kidnapped." she put her elbows on her knees and rested her head in her palms. "It would be nice to have the law on our side, Terrence, but I just don't think the police would handle No Heart very well…"

"…" Terrence glanced at the TV. He did a double-take, and his eyes widened as he pitched forward in his chair. "True Heart, can you turn up the volume?"

Tiara hardly noticed the use of her Care Bear name as she grabbed the remote and pushed the volume button.

"…that she was taken from her own yard just an hour ago. Mrs. Clarke, her mother, reported hearing her daughter scream as well as loud crashes from outside. Police are now investigating the scene for any clue as to what exactly occurred, and who abducted Lisa Clarke."

Terrence felt his body go limp. His heartbeat seemed to slow down, and the rest of the report drifted away, along with True Heart's questions. All he could focus on was the picture of Lisa on the screen, and the reporter's words resounding through his head. Kidnapped…

"What do we do?" Tiara asked nervously. "Terrence? Terrence, snap out of it!"

"We've got to find her!" Terrence jumped from his seat. Tiara got up as well. She turned off the TV and instinctively grabbed her pen from the coffee table.

"Wait," she said. "How will we find her? I think we both know who kidnapped her, but where could they be?"

"…" Terrence looked at his own pen. With only a second's hesitation, he twisted the top. Bright, warm sparks sprang from it, covering his body. Within moments he was standing in the same outfit from last night. He held the pen out in front of him.

"Seek out evil, tummy symbol," he said. "Lead us to Lisa."

The heart on top of the pen spun around, causing another heart to form around it. This heart floated up and around in a wide circle before lying flat, the point of the shape pointing northwest. Nodding at Tiara, who had used her own pen and was now in her own battle outfit, the two Caring Guardians rushed into the street. No-one seemed to be out, even though it was only early evening. Terrence kept his eyes on the heart as it led them to No Heart, and to Lisa.

~Z~

Sorry to cut it here, but I didn't want to make the chapter too long. What will happen now that the trap has been set? Will Terrence and Tiara rescue Lisa in time? Why are these questions making it sound like a soap opera? I'll try harder on the outro next time…

FUN TWO CENTS OF THE DAY: None this week! I'll think of something next time. :p

~Smiley :)