Hello again! There were amazing revelations in the last episode, where Lisa was captured and imprisoned with Niall, who is actually Noble Heart Horse of the Care Bear Cousins. What will happen now that Tiara and Niall are united again? Will Lisa recognize her true past? Will our heroes be able to escape the clutches of the evil wizard No Heart? Find out in Care Bears Z Episode 06: Battle at Lake Erie!

~Z~

"Look!" Terrence pointed to the heart as its colors faded again. "We're getting closer."

"I hope it's not too far away," Tiara said. "We'll have to get home before anyone misses us." She looked at the teen boy and frowned. She knew how worried he felt. Even though he wasn't near fully grown, she could understand from how he'd reacted at first that he really loved this girl…this Lisa.

The cloud car had proven to be extremely helpful – and speedy. The duo had covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time; only about an hour and a half had passed since they'd set out. However, even as they quickly neared their destination, night had fallen over the east coast of America. Terrence carefully leaned over the side of the car and looked down. Through the darkness, he could just barely see the shimmering of water up ahead.

"Wow, are we near a lake? Wait… that must be Lake Erie. We got here so fast!"

"Um…Terrence?" Tiara's eyes were glued to something in front of them. The boy looked up. He shank back into his seat with a nervous gulp.

A huge, dark mass hovered several yards above the lake. Upon getting closer, Tiara and Terrence could see that it was actually a giant castle. Dark clouds swirled around its base; they seemed to be its foundation. Gothic spires rose into the night, blocking the light of the stars. No light seemed to shine through the windows carved in the stone.

"It's No Heart's castle," Tiara said softly. Both she and Terrence looked up at the heart, but the little beacon simply flickered before disappearing completely. "So he did kidnap her…"

"How do we get in?" Terrence peered up at the looming structure. "Shadows are probably crawling everywhere."

"Maybe we could sneak in through one of those windows." Tiara pointed to a window higher up on the castle. Terrence nodded, so the young woman flew the car up to said opening. Carefully, Terrence gripped the cold stone ledge of the window and peeked through. He could see no sign of shadows, so he cautiously pushed himself upward. He managed to get his upper half into the room, and then slowly pulled himself through. Turning around, he caught Tiara's hand as she climbed after him. Outside, the cloud car dissipated.

"Well, we'll just have to make another one to get out of here," Tiara said. Dusting herself off, she looked around the room they were in. "It looks like an old chamber. No Heart will have probably put Lisa into a dungeon somewhere."

"So, maybe we should check the basement," Terrence tiptoed toward the door. He slowly pushed it open, wincing as the old hinges creaked loudly. Looking out into the hall and seeing no danger, he stepped out into the darkness. Tiara followed him closely. "It looks like the coast is clear. Which way do we go?"

"How about with us?"

Both caring guardians whipped around at the high-pitched voice. Shrieky stood there, an annoyed look on her face, and her magic mirror in her hand. Beastly stood behind her, once again in the form of a little brown furball. He cowered as Shrieky kicked him to the side.

"You were supposed to be on patrol, furball!" she scowled at the creature. Beastly laughed nervously.

"Well, we've got 'em now, so I still did my job…"

"Shut up!" Shrieky yelled. Then she turned back to Tiara and Terrence. "Where are you two going?" Both of the Care Bears stopped in their tracks; they had been walking quickly down the hall, trying to take advantage of the villains' arguing. Shrieky held her magic mirror up, smirking at the nervous looks on their faces.

"Magic Mirror within my hand
Summon the shadows by my command!"

"RUN!" Terrence shouted as eerie howls filled the castle. "Find the dungeon! I'll hold them off."

Tiara shot a worried glance at Terrence, but as he began to engage the writhing dark masses, she gritted her teeth and rushed down the corridor. She felt the small breezes as the shadows swiped at her, nearly catching her arms. She ran nearly as fast as that first night, though this time her fear was not what drove her. She was determined, and though she didn't approve of Terrence fighting the evil things by himself, she knew that it would be better if she freed Lisa. After all, she had been thinking about this girl for a while. From what Terrence had told her during their drive here, Lisa had many familiar qualities of one certain Care Bear she knew. If she was right – and she was fairly certain that she was – Lisa could very well be awakened tonight. She could help them defeat the shadows and escape.

Then a sudden thought sent a jolt of realization through her.

Tiara nearly stopped running. Her eyes went wide, and her heart pounded even faster. How had she not realized it before? It was so obvious now…

"Ah!" a cold, sharp pain knocked her to the side. Grunting in pain, she looked up into the red eyes of the shadows. Scowling, she grabbed her pen. It was warm in her hand, and her tummy symbol glowed.

"Take this, you shadows!"She pointed the top of the pen at them. The tummy symbol spun around, glowing even brighter. A beam of light shot from it, piercing one of the shadows head on. It screeched in pain, and its comrades hissed and retreated. The unlucky shadow disintegrated into coils of dark smoke.

Standing up, Tiara clutched her side. There was no blood, thankfully, but there would certainly be a bruise later. Clutching the pen in her other hand, Tiara ignored the pain and continued running through the castle. She carefully navigated the dark halls, avoiding anything that moved. Finally, she came to an old wooden door. She pushed it open with all her might, and coughed as the musky smell of an underground chamber rose up the old stone stairs. Gathering her nerves, she rushed down them, going as quickly as she could without any light. She jumped the last few steps, landing nimbly on the stone floor. She froze as she took in the sight before her. She could see the girl to her right, of course, but her eyes were glued to the creature in the left cell, who stared back with just as much shock.

"T-Tiara?"

Her eyes brimmed with tears at the familiar voice. She gingerly walked toward him. He pressed as close as he could to the bars, gripping her hand as she slipped it through.

"Niall…you're safe," Tiara fought her emotions down. Bursting into tears wouldn't help anything. Taking a shaky breath, she stepped back and looked to the other person with them. "And…you must be Lisa."

"Y-Yes," Lisa stuttered. "And you're Tiara Hart?"

"Yes," the woman said with a small smile. "Now, let's get both of you out of here."

Suddenly, a large BOOM sounded from above their heads.

"W-w-what was that!?" Lisa screamed. Tiara's face regained its worry.

"Terrence is fighting upstairs…oops," she realized what she'd just said.

"What? Terrence?" Lisa perked up again. Niall looked at his wife in surprise.

"Terrence? Mrs. Lawson's son?"

"Yes, he's actually Tenderheart," Tiara said. "But explanations can wait. We have to get out so we can-

Another deafening BOOM sounded, though this time it was followed by the sound of cracking stone and dust raining down from the ceiling. Tiara ducked away just before a large chunk of stone fell where she had been standing. Dust flew up in a humungous plume, obscuring the vision of everyone present. When it finally cleared and they all stopped coughing, they were met with a large pile of rubble and a gaping hole where the ceiling had been.

"Ack! I told you this would happen if we kept shooting the floor!" Beastly's head popped out of the rubble. Shrieky's head came out next to his. She scowled at him before hitting his head with the back of her mirror.

"Shut up, you idiot! I should zap you into next week!"

"Ugh…" Terrence had fallen just short of the rubble, and was lying spread-eagled on the hard stone floor.

"Terrence!?" Lisa rushed to the cell's bars. "Oh my gosh…Terrence! Terrence, get up! Are you okay?"

"L-Lisa?" he lifted his head shakily. Upon seeing her worried face, he stumbled to his feet. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Terrence, you're bleeding!" Lisa felt tears spring into her eyes as she took in the various cuts and scrapes on her dear friend. "You need to get-

"Whoah!" Terrence jumped back as a beam of lightning shot toward him. It hit the ground harmlessly. Shrieky growled in frustration.

"Beastly, GET HIIIM!"

"Y-yes, Shrieky!" the little monster said. He began to change form again, and within seconds he was a humanoid. Grinning evilly, he charged at the group of heroes with amazing speed. Tiara just barely dodged him, and instead he rammed headfirst into Niall's cell. The bars bended, but only a little bit. "Ow…" Shaking his head, Beastly jumped again at the guardians of caring. Terrence and Tiara dodged him by millimeters each time, though their strength was wearing thin while Beastly's seemed to increase.

Niall was pounding at the bars of his cell, trying to break them in any way possible. A fierce fire seemed to glow in his deep navy eyes. He eyed Shrieky and Beastly angrily as they zapped and charged his friends…his family. He gritted his teeth, and struck the bars harder with every blow.

"Get…away…from…them!" his words were accentuated by every strike against the bars. He finally stopped and took a couple steps back.

"As Noble Heart Horse of the Care Bear Family, I refuse to let others be harmed on my account!" he shouted. "You won't get away with this!"

Unbeknownst to him, light was beginning to shine from his body, growing brighter and brighter until it became blinding. Even Tiara, Terrence, Beastly and Shrieky stopped fighting to look at what was happening. When the light finally diminished, the half-human, half-horse creature was no longer there. Instead was a handsome young man with shoulder-length indigo hair streaked with green. He wore a dark blue waistcoat over a white long-sleeve shirt that was adorned with a star inside a multicolored heart. He also had navy blue pants and black dress shoes. A purple ballpoint pen had been dropped into the mauve glove now covering his hand. Wielding it, he sent a blast of light at the bars. The hard iron exploded and flew in each direction, though miraculously not hitting anyone. With a loud cry, he joined the fray. Shrieky threw lightning everywhere, and Beastly continued to charge, slash, and even try to bite the guardians of caring, who sent Stares right back at them both. Lisa could do nothing but watch in horror from her cell, gripping the bars so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She wanted to help them all so much…but what could she do?

"ENOUGH!"

The booming voice sent tremors through every object in the room. Beastly and Shrieky stopped their assault, and even the three guardians went still. The sudden silence lasted only a second as thunder began to ring through the castle's stone walls. Upon looking up, everyone could see the source of the voice as he descended through the hole in the ceiling. No Heart landed silently on the stone floor, his dark red eyes glowing with malice.

"Ah, just as I suspected," he said, eyeing the Care Bear family. "The first of you are here. You walked right into my trap."

"Let Lisa go, No Heart!" Terrence shouted. "She has nothing to do with this!"

"Oh, doesn't she?" Terrence could visualize the smirk on the wizard's face. "I believe you know as well as I do that she is one of your kind, Tenderheart Bear."

"…" Terrence balled his fists, but said nothing. He had been hoping to convince No Heart that Lisa really was just a normal girl, but even he had figured out the truth. His talk with Tiara had made him realize just how familiar Lisa seemed to be when he actually described her. Of course, they had known each other for ages, but this familiarity seemed to extend beyond their toddler years. He glanced at her, their eyes meeting for a brief moment. His eyes quickly went back to No Heart, but hers stayed trained on him.

So it was true. It must be, if Terrence thought so. Lisa's mind was reeling with millions of busy thoughts. If she truly was Love-a-Lot, why hadn't she changed like Niall had? More importantly, how could she help these people, these friends, defeat these other horrible creatures? She had known Tiara for only minutes, Niall for no longer than a couple hours, and yet she felt connected to them. She knew they were in trouble. They needed help, her help. But what could she do? Her mind went back to Terrence. He was already hurt. The thought that made it worse was that he was fighting for her. He'd come all this way to save her. He had even disregarded his own health for her sake. A tear slipped down her face. Wasn't there anything she could do?

"I see you have worn yourselves out already," No Heart continued. "You've only made it easier for me to destroy you, and once I'm done with you, I'll get the others. Then finally no-one will be there to stop me from ridding this world of all the wretched love and caring you protect."

"No you won't, No Heart!" Noble Heart said. "We won't fall to you."

"Bah!" the wizard shot a beam of red at the man, who jumped away and shot a Stare back at him. No Heart moved his hand, creating a shield that deflected the beam away. "You've grown even more obnoxious. You will be defeated today, I assure you. And look at your wife!" Tiara glared at him, but she was also gripping her injured side. Her outfit was also messy, and her hair seemed duller. "See how weak she is. She's in this state because of the worthless love you share. You idiotic Care Bears fail to see the truth: this insufferable feeling will only be your downfall!"

"You liar!"

Every head turned to Lisa. Her head was bowed, but her hands shook as she gripped the bars. Terrence's heart dropped at the sight of tears falling from her chin.

"Love is never your downfall," she said. "It's something much stronger. It's powerful, more powerful than anything!" her head shot up. There was a fierce glare in her eyes. "It overcomes anything! And it'll overcome you, No Heart!"

Lisa's body radiated with warmth and light. No Heart's eyes glittered with rage.

"I've heard enough out of you! Know your place, brat!" the wizard moved his hand. Before anyone could do anything, a beam of red lightning burst toward the cell.

"NO!" Terrence screamed in horror as the bars of the cage flew out. Tears of rage blurred his vision. He blindly shot a caring beam at the evil wizard who blocked it with another shield. He was joined by Noble Heart. Shrieky and Beastly finally moved to help their boss, and began to attack once more. Tiara could barely fight back in her state, so she merely dodged every attack thrown at her. Looking back to the ruined cell, her eyes widened.

"Look!"

A figure jumped through the cloud of smoke and dust. Lisa was unharmed, but she had transformed. Her hair was kept from her face by a heart hair clip, and instead of her normal clothes, she was now clad in a pink and white puff-sleeve shirt with two overlapping hearts on the front, a magenta schoolgirl miniskirt, knee-high white socks, rose-colored schoolgirl platform shoes, and pink gloves that came to her forearms. She held a pink pen with the same two hearts in one hand. Lisa landed next to Terrence, a determined look in her eye.

"We won't lose to you, No Heart!" she said.

"I am the protector of love for all people,
guardian of one of the greatest aspects of caring!
With the power of everlasting love,
I am Love-a-Lot Bear!"

"It's time to end this!" Niall said. He and True Heart joined the two teens. No Heart glared at them with such ferocity that Shrieky and Beastly shrank back.

"Care Bears Countdown!" Niall shouted. "Five, four, three…"

No Heart's eyes flashed as the guardians of caring began to glow brightly. He prepared a beam of red energy in his hands.

"Two, one…STARE!"

"NO!" No Heart met their beam of light with his dark energy. The conflicting lights struggled against each other, though the caring beam was slowly overpowering him. "NOO!"

A deafening explosion threw both parties back. No Heart bowled into his two charges, and the Care Bears fell into a heap. They slowly got up, trembling as the castle shuddered and quaked.

"What's going on!?" Lisa said as she struggled to stay on her feet.

"The castle's foundation is weakening with the lack of No Heart's power," Tiara said. "We have to get out of here!"

"This way!" Terrence said. "Hurry!"

The guardians of caring rushed up the crumbling stairs. In the hallways they dodged bits of rock and stone as the ceilings crumbled. The winding corridors seemed to last forever, until they finally came to an open window. Terrence clicked his pen frantically until a cloud car was produced. They piled in, and this time Niall sped them away into the night.

"Oh, man," Terrence sighed, leaning back into his seat. "That was close."

"Terrence, you're still hurt," Lisa fussed. She gently placed a hand on his cheek. "What happened up there?"

"Well, I managed to drive the shadows away," he said. Then I had to dodge Shrieky's magic mirror and Beastly's claws. He's gotten a lot stronger," Terrence grimaced at the memory of the monster's fast movements. "Anyway, Shrieky kept trying to zap me, and I just kept jumping around. I didn't notice I had jumped in a circle. The floor was weakened by the lightning, and our weight made it fall in."

"…Why didn't you tell me?" Lisa frowned and looked down at her lap. "Is this why you were so quiet today?"

"Yeah…I didn't want to worry you." Terrence frowned at the sight of tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Lisa. Please don't cry."

"It's not that," she sniffled. "I'm just glad you're okay…" she leaned her head on his shoulder. A blush spread across Terrence's face. His heart fluttered with happiness and relief, and he looked out at the stars.

In the front passenger seat, Tiara was silent. Her eyes kept flitting from Niall to the starry sky around them. Niall glanced at her every few seconds, but did nothing to break the awkward-but-understanding silence. The rest of the flight was uneventful, and soon Terrence and Lisa were in front of the Clarke home. After waving goodbye to both adults, the two teens stood quietly in front of the house.

"It looks like the police were here," Lisa said. "I hope my mom and dad didn't worry too much. Oh, gosh, my dad…" the girl put a hand over her face. "He's going to go crazy. Oh, Terrence, do you know how we can change back?"

"Just click the pen." Terrence demonstrated, and with a flash he was back to wearing a solid color shirt and jeans. Lisa clicked hers and was once again wearing her white shirt, light pink skirt and school shoes. She smiled shyly at Terrence, who coughed and looked up at the moon.

"I should probably go," he said. "My dad should be home by now…"

"Terrence?"

"Yeah-!" he was suddenly wrapped in a hug. Lisa hugged him tightly for a moment before releasing him and giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you."

Terrence's mouth opened, but no sound came out. Lisa giggled at what was surely his bright red face. She turned and rushed up the driveway. Terrence gulped before turning around and quickly striding down the streets to his part of the neighborhood. When he reached his house, his euphoria deflated at the sight of an empty driveway. He unlocked the door and rushed to the answering machine. Once again, it was flashing red. He listened to the message; his father was once again staying late, but promised to be home at around 10:00. Terrence looked at the digital clock. It was almost 11. With a sigh, he trudged to his room and flopped onto the bed.

~Z~

"Home sweet home," Niall said as he and Tiara finally reached their house. He parked the cloud car on the front lawn, and the thing promptly disappeared once they had both gotten out. He barely managed to take a step toward the door before Tiara threw her arms around him.

"I m-missed you so much!" she sobbed. Niall hugged her back, pressing her close as her tears soaked into his shoulder. "I was s-so worried…"

"I missed you, too," he said softly. "I couldn't stop thinking about you. I'm sorry, Tia, I'm so sorry…" he kissed her forehead. She hugged him tighter, as if she were afraid to let him go again.

The couple made their way into the house. Neither really wanted to speak of what had happened just an hour ago, and no words could really describe the relief they felt to be together again. As they changed back to their human forms and climbed into bed, Tiara gazed deep into his eyes, and he into hers, exchanging the words they couldn't quite say. Finally, Niall spoke in a gentle whisper.

"I promise, Tiara," he started. "I won't leave you again…I don't think I could stand it."

"I was scared without you there," she admitted. "But…it was more for you than for me." A small yawn escaped her lips. "I really missed you, Niall…"

His lips met hers gently. She smiled and snuggled into him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I missed you, too, Tia…" she smiled wider at the use of her nickname. "I missed you, too…"

~Z~

Hooray for fluff! :D

Sorry it's later than usual. Much studying was done this week, and allergies plus a cold equals me feeling like BLEH, but I said Monday and by gum I shall mean Monday! *determined pose*

Huzzah for fluffy shipping! Did I do good? I don't do this usually…

No fun two cents this time, sorry. See you next week!