A/N: If you're confused about what's happening here you should read my story CB6 which is posted on this site and is canon to this story.
Chapter 31: Welcome to Meridiana
The previous night…
"This way, stay close," A man turned down an alley with a huge green red-eyed hulking brute behind him, "Those things might be nearby."
As if summoned by his words there was a whoosh overhead as two large figures dropped down at either end of the alley, two large anthro wolves, one yellow and one bright green.
"Nightwolves! Fixed idea stop them!" the man tried to run past the yellow wolf ahead but it dove on him and bit hard into his arm while the green once pounced on the fixed idea knocking it to the ground.
"Help me! AAAARRrrggggguuu!" the man cried out before his throat was torn out and green sustenance leaked onto the ground. The yellow wolf joined the battle with the fixed idea and moments later the hulking monster was on the ground also leaking out.
There was another rush of air as a brown bear in an open brown trench coat and glasses joined the two, "Thanks, Flash, Oopsy, but you don't have to keep doing this." The bear, CB6, waved his arms and drew the sustenance up from the ground and into his mouth.
The yellow wolf, Flash, shook his head, "No, I do. I want to make sure you're around as long as possible, mom, and Jose's goons aren't going away anytime soon." His breath misted the air as he spoke.
"And we need to make the city a safer place," Oopsy, the green wolf, nodded, "But it's getting late and I need some sleep."
CB6 finished drinking the sustenance, "Thank you, both of you. Don't be strangers though, I need to get back before Tarot Heart wakes up." CB6 gave both wolves a hug before he took off towards the roof and back to his home.
CB6 entered his apartment through the window and shut it behind him before his body shifted into a purple female bear as she disrobed, not bothering to redress as her body had nothing that needed to be concealed. Soul Heart, as she called herself in this form, checked in on a sleeping black bear in the apartment's only bed, smiling when she saw Tarot Heart Bear sleeping peacefully. Soul Heart didn't need to sleep so she slumped on the couch and turned on the television, trying to find something quiet to watch until morning.
Flash and Oopsy finished their patrol and headed back to their home: an abandoned live-in subway manager's office that still had power due to oversights in the city's organization. Flash Heart flung himself on the bed, shifting back into his natural form: a yellow anthro bear.
"Long night, whew!" Flash looked over at Oopsy as she walked to their small fridge, "How do you feel, Dizzy?"
"Hungry," she went to the fridge and pulled out a huge wrapped sandwich and all but tore into it.
Flash Heart watched with amusement, "Really wolfing it down, eh Dizzy?"
Oopsy finished and swallowed before she shifted back to her own form as a bright green bear. She smirked, "You're lucky I love you," she threw herself down next to Flash, "How 'bout you?"
"Tired, but relieved," Flash gave her a kiss, "feel any cravings tonight?"
"A little, but I got it under control." Oopsy hugged Flash, "The smell is strong."
"You'll make it through, I know you will," Flash nuzzled her.
"If you can handle being a bearwolf I can handle this." They kissed then fell asleep.
OoOoO
The next day Flash and Oopsy were at a small café with their friends: A red fox named Anger Heart, A two-toned blue raccoon named Guidance Heart, a brown lynx named Calm Heart and a dark blue bear named Melancholy. Oopsy was a bit ravenous, ordering twice as much as the others to their amusement.
Anger Heart's ears perked up as he heard a couple other customers talking, an anthro otter man and a human woman. "Did you hear the Nightwolves struck again last night?" the woman asked.
"Yeah, CB6's sidekicks," the otter drank from his coffee cup, "Haven't heard of any big monsters lately though, at least their keeping things calm."
Anger Heart rolled his eyes as they finished their meal and departed.
School was out and in the southern hemisphere that meant it was winter, but the city of Meridiana wasn't far south enough for it to snow; at the coldest it was more akin to autumn in North America. For anthros the mild drop in temperature barely affected their dress as most of them had enough fur to make up for the colder temperature.
Once they were out anyone's earshot, Anger Heart commented, "Sidekicks huh? I'd think people would call you his partners."
Flash sighed, "Better than being called pets."
"Don't worry about it, you're doing good out there," Calm Heart put a hand on Flash's shoulder.
Flash smiled weakly, "Thanks, Calm."
"And you're keeping us safe from Jose's messed up shit," Anger Heart added.
"Still hungry, Oopsy?" Melancholy Bear changed the subject.
Oopsy patted her stomach, "Nah, I'm full for now."
"The child will want more sooner than you think," Guidance peered at Oopsy's slightly swollen tummy.
"Then maybe I'll go hunt something," Oopsy patted her stomach, "Some days I just want to stay a wolf and live in the woods instead of job hunting."
"But you'd miss us," Calm Heart chuckled.
"Thanks for helping me get a job at the library," Guidance turned to Flash, "How's your job hunt going?"
"Got an interview next week for the grocery store," Flash said, "How 'bout you, Anger Heart? The café's hiring and you're the best cook I know."
"Yeah, but I'd probably just end up running the register," Anger Heart stuck his hands in his pockets, "And it'd be weird if I had to serve you guys, or Mr. Amato, or your mom."
"I'll help you," Guidance Heart gave Anger Heart a kiss on the cheek, "It won't take too long."
Anger Heart smiled and kissed her back, "Thanks."
"Hey!" the shout made the group of friends stop and turn as a sandy yellow fennec fox in a sweater waved, accompanied by a green bear, a blue dog and a black and white badger, "Over here!" Without waiting for them to respond the fennec sprinted towards them with the rest of the group on her tail.
Confidence Heart grinned as she came to a skidding halt in front of the friends, "Hi, I'm Confidence Heart Fennec!" she extended a hand towards them.
They all stared at Confidence until Melancholy responded, "We can see that," she carefully took Confidence's hand, "My name's Melancholy Bear."
Confidence shook her hand but gave an odd look, "Really? You already have a Care Bear name? I thought you'd have a name like Melony, my name was Cassandra Avalon but only my family calls me that now."
"Who are you exactly?" Flash folded his arms and gave the group a lopsided look, especially at the yellow stuffed lion thing on the green bear's shoulder.
"We're Care Bears from the Kingdom of Caring," Confidence pointed at the sky.
There was silence for a moment, then Guidance Heart Raccoon, Melancholy Bear and Anger Heart Fox burst out laughing and even Calm Heart couldn't help but giggle under her breath.
Flash Heart rolled his eyes and smirked, "Wow really?" then he joined in the laughter.
"Hey! Don't mock us!" Kero flew up from Love Heart's shoulder, "The Kingdom of Caring is real!"
Everyone but Oopsy jumped, Flash Heart stepped in front of Oopsy with his arm raised protectively.
Confidence sighed, "Smooth move Kero."
The whole time, Oopsy had been staring at Defiant Heart and finally she spoke as she stepped around Flash Heart, "Badger girl, what do you know about Von Reichter?"
It was the new arrival's turn to jump and Defiant glared back, "I'm not a girl and how do you know about him?"
"I can smell the sustenance on you, it's faint but I know he experimented on you like he did to me." Oopsy's statement put everyone on edge as Flash tensed up, ready to shift if needed.
There was no point in lying so Defiant folded his arms under his breasts as he spoke, "Guess I need a shower. Von Reichter kidnapped me and turned me into this badger thing, called me CB-Zero, so he could make others like me. I stayed out of his way so he forgot about me when he abandoned the place until these guys saved me." His explanation seemed to calm the six friends down as they took a moment to look Defiant up and down.
Anger Heart scratched his head, "So he changed your sex too? What's the point in that?"
Defiant Heart bristled and stomped right up into Anger Heart's face, "NO! I'm intersex, always have been! I just used to be human!"
Anger Heart didn't back down and their noses almost touched as he shouted back, "Don't get on my fucking case! How the hell was I supposed to know?!"
"Alright, that's enough," Calm Heart stepped between the two and gently pushed them apart, "Apologize and let's move on to more important thing."
Anger Heart sighed, "Sorry I assumed anything about your sex."
"Same, sorry about that," Oopsy breathed a sigh of relief, "Von Reichter experimented on me too."
"Sorry about the outburst, just getting used to all of this," Defiant turned to Oopsy, "What did he do to you?"
Oopsy twiddled her fingers, "He turned me into a bearwolf."
"What's a Bearwolf?" Confidence cocked her head to one side.
Guidance was the one who answered, "Like a werewolf but since that is derived from the word 'wer' which is an old English word that means 'man' we decided 'bearwolf' is more appropriate for both of them."
Flash raised a hand, "Yeah, Dizzy turned me a while ago too. Don't worry we're in control."
"He just gave me super strength," Defiant flexed one of his arms for a moment, "I'll show you some other time."
"I guess we should all introduce ourselves," Melancholy touched her chest, "You know my name is Melancholy Bear but these are Calm Heart Lynx, Anger Heart Fox, Guidance Heart Raccoon, Flash Heart Bear and Dizzy Bear but everyone calls her Oopsy Bear."
"Except me," Flash put an arm around Oopsy's shoulders.
"I'm Confidence Heart Fennec, the little yellow guy is Keroberos, or Kero for short. The Badger is Defiant Heart, the dog is Loyal Heart and this is my fiancé, Love Heart Bear," Confidence grinned and turned back to her friends only to see Love Heart and Loyal Heart were seemingly staring off into space, "Love Heart? What's wrong?"
"This place… it feels familiar…" Love Heart turned to Loyal Heart, who nodded.
"Yeah, something about that statue," Loyal Heart looked up at a roof in the general direction of where the giant angel statue had been.
"I need another look. Jump!" Love Heart tapped the book hanging at his side and the spirit leapt out and into his feet, where small wings appeared on each foot. At the same time Loyal Heart sprouted two large white wings from his back. The six local friends all stared, open-mouthed, as Love Heart jumped and Loyal Heart flew up to the top of the nearest building.
Oopsy turned to Confidence, "What did Von Reichter do to them?!"
Confidence grinned, "Nothing. That was magic!"
"I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it," Guidance Heart looked up at where the two had vanished over the roof, "What kind of magic?"
Keroberos was the one to answer, "Clow magic, or Heart magic now. Though Love Heart does unicorn magic because of his mother."
Guidance whipped her head down to Kero, "Unicorn!? You mean you know an actual unicorn?!" her voice going increasingly high pitched as she spoke.
Confidence stepped back, "Yes, Love Heart's mother is a unicorn named Life Heart so he's half Unicorn."
Guidance's five friends covered their ears and Anger Heart shuddered, "Oh no!"
While they had been talking, Love Heart and Loyal Heart stood on the roof and stared at the giant angel statue.
Love Heart ground his teeth and scratched his chin, "I know I've seen that statue before."
Loyal Heart nodded in agreement, "So long ago… I remember a storm, someone yelling about Dark Heart…" Loyal Heart snapped his fingers, "This is it! This the place we launched!"
"The Cloud Clipper!" Love Heart turned to Loyal Heart, "This is the port Dark Heart chased us from!"
A loud squeal form below caused both of them to spin around and jump down. Guidance Heart finished her 'squee' and was immediately in Love Heart's face. "YOUR MOM'S A UNICORN!"
Love Heart was forced to take a step back to prevent his nose from being caved in, "Yes."
"Like with a horn and magic and everything?!" Guidance was vibrating so hard everyone swore she'd tunnel through the concrete.
Love Heart nodded.
"Do you have a horn?"
"No, just this star on my forehead-" Love Heart pointed to his forehead and Guidance was up on her toes staring at the darker green eight-pointed star in the middle of Love Heart's forehead.
"Wow, can you do magic with it too?" Guidance stepped back to give the startled bear some breathing room.
"Yes, I can kinda just make things happen if it's not too dangerous or difficult." Love Heart sensed she wouldn't be satisfied until he demonstrated something. A piece of paper blowing past in a sudden gust of wind gave him a chance as he caught the paper, "Just something simple for now," he stuck the paper to the wall and magically adhered it in place, where it stuck even as another gust of wind blew past.
"Wow!" Guidance Heart seemed to literally have stars in her eyes.
"She really loves unicorns," Anger Heart put a hand across Guidance's shoulders.
"So I gathered," Love Heart finally relaxed, "but there's something else. This city-"
"Meridiana," Flash Heart interrupted.
Love Heart nodded, "Meridiana is where the Care Bear Family departed on the Cloud Clipper before we arrived at the Kingdom of Caring." He turned to the group of friends, "How many Care Bears and Cousins live down here?"
Calm Heart pointed to herself, "You mean people like us? We call ourselves Anthros and I think there's maybe two-hundred of us, give or take."
Loyal Heart was taken aback but just nodded, "Noble Heart once said there were supposed to be a lot more of us. I think Dark Heart attacked the port while we were still boarding and they were forced to launch with just us on board."
"One of the adults said we were supposed to be on some kind of 'great journey' long ago, but I never took it that seriously," Melancholy sniffed.
Oopsy's hand strayed to her tummy and she raised her other hand, "Are you here to bring us to the Kingdom of Caring?"
Love Heart snapped back to his senses, now reminded of his real mission, "No, we're here because I have a mission," Love Heart pulled the Heart Book up from his side to show them, "This is the Book of the Heart," he opened it to reveal the hollow inside where the Heart and Clow Cards rested, "And these are the Clow Cards, magic cards that I'm responsible for, like The Jump."
With its name spoken, Jump bounded out of Love Heat's feet and formed into its rabbit-shaped spirit form on Love Heart's shoulder. The group flinched backwards as the Jump waved, "Hi there!"
Love Heart stroked The Jump's head, "And that's just the beginning…"
OoOoO
Since school was out, Tarot Heart only got up to watch the morning cartoons that played while Soul Heart prepared breakfast. There was a knock at the door as she served Tarot's spot at the table.
"Coming." Soul Heart was not surprised to see a large muscular blonde-haired man there, "good morning, Lucas," they kissed.
"Morning, Soul Heart," Lucas stepped in once Soul Heart stepped aside, "I brought you some breakfast," he produced a small bag from his pocket which contained what looked like a neon green ice cube.
Soul Heart accepted the bag and carefully extracted the item, "Synthetic sustenance?"
"My latest attempt. Go on, try it," Lucas insisted.
Soul Heart popped the cube into her mouth and grimaced as she felt it dissolve, swallowing it with some difficulty, "Blech."
Lucas was surprised, "I thought you couldn't taste anything."
"Just sustenance, that's how we know it works for us," Soul Heart shook her head, "I can feel it, it works but it's a bitter taste of freedom."
"Want me to keep trying?" Lucas asked.
Soul Heart nodded, "Please. We're trying to stop Jose for good so I'll need it soon. Thank you," she gave him a kiss.
Tarot Heart watched the whole thing as he ate, "So you'll stay around?"
"As long as I can," Soul Heart walked over and gave Tarot Heart a kiss on the head.
"Ack! Mom!" Tarot Heart flinched away as he was getting to that age where parental affection was embarrassing even in private. Soul Heart and Lucas both laughed.
The pounding of feet on stairs stopped the conversation as Flash Heart almost burst through the door, "Mom! Lucas! Tarot! You gotta meet someone outside!"
Soul Heart jumped, "What's going on, Flash?!"
"Visitors from the Kingdom of Caring," he panted, "hurry downstairs!" he turned without waiting for them to respond and almost jumped down the flights of stairs.
"Wait for me!" Tarot Heart was up and after his older brother a moment later. Soul Heart and Lucas exchanged a look then ran after them.
Both groups waited outside the apartment's front door as Flash Heart all but came bursting out, followed shortly by a small black bear. "Meet my kid brother, Tarot Heart."
"Hi," Tarot waved as the newcomers.
A moment later a purple Care Bear and a muscular blonde man exited the building and Flash turned to them, "Mom, Lucas, this is Love Heart Bear, Confidence Heart Fennec, Loyal Heart Dog, Defiant Heart Badger, Keroberos and The Jump."
"I see," Soul Heart swept her gazed across them, pausing on Defiant Heart, "Did Von Reichter do anything to you?"
Defiant groaned, "Yeah. Is there a way to get rid of this sustenance smell?"
"You were around the stuff for who knows how long, you just need to clean up," Loyal Heart assured him.
"From what Flash told me, we have a lot to discuss," Love Heart looked around, "Maybe you could show us somewhere to talk about this, or somewhere to walk to while we talk?"
Soul Heart nodded, "Yes, let's clear the air over all this." She led them down the street walking alongside Love Heart as they exchanged all their stories.
Love Heart felt a sudden twinge in the back of his head before they could really get started. "I sense something, this way." Love Heart changed direction and headed towards the ocean.
Kero flew up to Love Heart's side, his face serious, "I feel it too."
Soul Heart sped up with the rest of the group, "What's going on? What do you feel?"
"It's the mission we're here for," Loyal Heart sped up too, "It'll be easier for us to show you when we get there but there's a lot to explain."
Anger Heart and Guidance shared a look, they were drawing a lot of attention at the rate they were moving but it couldn't be helped anymore.
They finally arrived at their destination, a large beach some distance away from the harbor docks. In summer it was often occupied by people on their holiday break but at the moment it was mostly empty, save for a few people who wanted to try and enjoy a cold beach now that school was out.
"It's here, she's trying to draw us out," Love Heart said.
"Should we step in?" Flash whispered to Soul Heart.
Soul Heart watched Love Heart, then looked up to Lucas and back to Flash, then shook her head, "Not yet. I'd still rather not show my secret to everyone right now."
Confidence grinned as she overheard them, "Trust me. No one's gonna forget this."
Love Heart held up the key from around his neck and held it up.
"Key of the Heart
With Powers Burning Bright
Reveal the Staff
And Shine Your Light
Release!"
Everyone stared as the key floated up and grew into the staff which Love Heart grabbed out of the air.
"Was that real?" Soul Heart was taken aback.
"It's very real, just like that," Love Heart pointed to a spot where the sand on the beach was moving on its own. "Everyone, get off the beach!"
There was some hesitation until the beach sunk into a sand whirlpool which made everyone start running in a panic.
"What do we do now?!" Anger Heart turned to the newcomers.
Loyal Heart held an arm out even though it wouldn't stop anyone, "Just watch Love Heart work."
Love Heart pulled a card out of the book and was about to throw it up when the sand whirlpool extended under his feet. "Whoa!" He barely held on to the staff and card.
"I gotcha!" Confidence was at his back in an instant, grabbing his vest and pulling him back even as the sand whirlpool extended farther.
"Hold on!" Kero flew towards them, his wings enveloping him a changing to his true form. He dove under Confidence and pulled her up as she pulled Love Heart free before they could be swallowed by the sand.
Love Heart wasted no time and threw his card up as he recited the spell.
"Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall
Ancient forces heed my call!
Earthy Card, discard your former might
And draw new power from my light
Heart Card!"
The staff's wings extended and the heart in the ring at the end spun as the Earthy Card transformed and the Earthy Spirit emerged.
Love Heart pointed at the sand whirlpool, "Earthy! Absorb and contain that sand whirlpool!"
"At once," The Earthy dove into the sand below. At first the sand tried to fight back but it didn't take much for The Earthy to absorb the force animating it and the beach to return mostly to normal.
Love Heart saw the sand rising up as The Earthy pulled it free and he was set back down on the ground, "Clow Card! I command you to return to your power confined! Clow Card!" The sand flowed into the shape of a card at the staff's tip which glowed then flew into Love Heart's hand. He only had a moment to see the name 'The Sand' on the bottom before the card dissolved into ash. Love Heart sighed sadly, "I couldn't save it, I could feel its pain but I couldn't save it."
"You did what you could," Keroberos landed next to Love Heart and let Confidence off his back, "Su Yung is driving them to use the last of their power to cause trouble without regard to their life."
Confidence gave Love Heart a kiss on his cheek, "It's alright."
"Thank you," Love Heart recalled The Earthy and replaced it in the book.
A loud cheer jolted them back to reality as they were mobbed by onlookers, human and anthro alike.
"That was cool!" A young yellow wolf looked up at the pair, wagging her tail.
"Are you a superhero?" a teenage human boy stared at the heart staff.
"Do you know the nightwolves?" an orange bear boy asked.
"And CB6?" a young girl asked.
"Wow, what are you?" another girl asked, stroking Keroberos' mane.
Anger Heart pulled Love Heart and Confidence back from the gathering crowd, "Fun as this is, I think you should give them some space."
"Whoa!" several people gasped as Kero shifted back to his small form and was forced to fly up to avoid being grabbed.
Guidance Heart stepped forwards, "Maybe we should organize some sort of meet and greet for everyone to ask questions and for them to get to know people."
"We could do that in the park in a few days," Melancholy suggested.
Calm Heart whispered to Love Heart and Confidence Heart, "We'll handle this, you should get going before you get swarmed.
Confidence nodded then grabbed Love Heart and pulled him back towards their group while the four friends did their best to corral the situation.
"Looks like we have a lot to discuss," Soul Heart sighed, "Come back to my apartment so we can talk in private."
"Yes, please," Defiant turned away from the crowd, not wanting to draw attention.
OoOoO
Though it was still light out, Eriol, Ruby and Spinel in their true forms stood on a nearby rooftop, magically obfuscated from everyone's sight. All three watched the group from a distance though Eriol cast his gaze around the rest of the city.
"I never expected Su Yung to be drawn to such a populated place," Eriol commented.
"I'm more surprised that so many of their kind have escaped their notice for so long," Spinel looked down at another couple walking past the building they stood on.
"Birthday told me something once," Ruby folded her arms, "The reason they took so long to find Confidence Heart is that their caring meter system is designed to ignore others of their kind when scanning the world for their caring missions, to avoid sending multiple Care Bears to help with just one child, unless the situation gets severe."
"And with so many of their kind here, this city would be a massive blind spot in their system," Eriol nodded, "For now we'll find an abandoned building to wait for developments. I sense a darkness here unrelated to Su Yung. We may have to step in."
OoOoO
After buying take out and everyone piling into the apartment, everyone started sharing their stories: the Clow Cards, Love Heart's mission, Von Reichter, Soul Heart being CB6, the card captures, card transformations, following Su Yung, CB6's final confrontation at the observatory where Von Reichter was killed and how his son Jose was now running things through the city's underworld.
Soul Heart was clearing the empty boxes and dumping them in the garbage, "And you're sure this Su Yung is here?"
Love Heart pulled out The Glow and held it up, "The Glow lead us here," he held up the card and spoke, "Glow, illuminate the way forward." Flash Heart, Tarot Heart and Lucas jumped when the glowing blue orbs emerged and formed a ring over the card which spun and then began pulsing in and out, "That means wherever I need to be is here."
"So magic is real, I mean," Lucas looked over at Tarot Heart who was just staring at the cards in fascination, "with all I've seen it shouldn't surprise me." He was debating if he should talk about Tarot Heart's abilities, but thankfully Tarot saved him the trouble.
"I can do stuff like that too, I mean not big stuff but I can see the future, a bit," Tarot Heart mumbled the last two words.
"You're psychic?" Loyal Heart waited for Tarot Heart to respond, which he did with a nod, "We have a friend back home who's psychic too… well more of a big brother since he helped raise a bunch of us."
"Really?" Tarot Heart perked up, his eyes going wide.
"Yeah, but he can't see the future, just predict someone's actions and use telekinesis and power up his sword," Love Heart nodded, "He's sort of the sheriff and I'm his deputy."
"Can you look into our future?" Confidence Heart leaned forwards, hand on her belly.
"I can try," Tarot Heart sounded nervous and fidgeted until Lucas placed a comforting hand gently on his shoulder.
"You don't have to, Tarot," Lucas said.
Tarot shook his head, "No, I want to do this." He carefully took out a deck of tarot cards and shuffled them before he delt them onto the table.
Love Heart watched, intrigued by the images on the cards as Tarot flipped them over, though he didn't know what they meant.
Tarot Heart looked concerned as he stared at the cards in a trance, "New life here in the city… Two great forces come together to cause destruction… A sacrifice will be needed… and darkness and light…" he shook his head and looked scared, "that's all." He started putting the cards away.
Soul Heart put her hands on Tarot's shoulders and squeezed to try and ease the tension he was feeling, "Two great forces, Jose and Su Yung maybe?"
Love Heart also looked worried, "If they work together things could get bad. What about new life?"
"Maybe us, or them," Confidence touched her belly then saw Oopsy do the same when she thought no one was looking and smirked.
"And sacrifice?" Loyal Heart looked around the room. Defiant Heart put an arm about Loyal Heart and pulled him close, a gesture the dog returned and leaned up against him.
"We'll worry about that another time," Flash Heart stood up, "for now we need to find a place for you guys to sleep."
Defiant Heart raised a hand, "We could just camp outside of town."
"No way!" Oopsy jumped some of her teeth getting sharper points, "Jose would grab you and I'm not letting that happen to anyone if I can help it!"
Flash Heart was at her side in a moment and patted Oopsy's shoulder, which calmed her down, "You two can stay with us as long as you don't mind sleeping on the floor."
"We'll manage," Confidence pointed to the backpacks they had deposited by the door on the way in.
"What about us?" Defiant asked.
"You can stay here," Soul Heart offered, "Don't worry about being a bother, Lucas and I have been talking about moving in together for a while now." If she could blush then she would have as she felt Lucas take her hand, "Tarot Heart will come with us too."
"I bought a little bed for you too, Tarot," Lucas added, "My place has enough space. You excited."
"A little," Tarot Heart's mind was clearly still on his reading from earlier but no one pressed him.
"Thanks, that's very generous of you," Loyal Heart said.
"Well let's get moving then," Confidence clapped her hands together, "I wanna see where we'll be sleeping tonight."
"What about you Kero?" Love Heart turned to the guardian beast.
"I'll see where you're heading and then give you some privacy," the guardian beast set down the spoon he'd been using to eat ice cream.
"Let's get going then," Soul Heart turned to the bedroom, "I just need to gather up our clothes, you can help yourself to the food here."
It wasn't long before Loyal Heart Dog and Defiant Heart Badger were left alone in the apartment, both sitting on the couch.
"So… want to watch some TV?" Loyal Heart shuffled awkwardly.
"OK, not sure what's even on here," Defiant fumbled for the remote and turned on the TV.
Neither of them spoke for a while as they watched whatever random show was on the screen. It wasn't till the first commercial break that Defiant leaned up against Loyal Heart, "Do you think we're moving too fast?"
Loyal Heart put an arm around Defiant's back, "Maybe a little, but we're both a little starved for affection. I carried a torch for Love Heart for a long time, but he's hetero so that didn't work out. He knows now and it did feel kinda awkward for a while but we've worked through it."
"I see," Defiant looked down, "Am I even man enough for you?"
"You are if you say you are," Loyal turned his whole body towards Defiant, "Just because you have breasts and an extra hole doesn't make you less of a man. I think you're very brave to defend what you are."
Defiant blushed and turned fully to face Loyal Heart, "Thank you," he leaned in and kissed Loyal and was surprised when Loyal hugged him and kissed back. Defiant hugged him closer, their chests pressed together which made him flinch slightly at the sensation. "I might need a bra."
"Maybe we can buy one for you tomorrow," Loyal suggested.
OoOoO
Love Heart and Confidence were a bit surprised to see that Flash and Oopsy lived in a subway manager's office. "Kinda cramped in here."
"It's big enough," Oopsy wandered over to the fridge and pulled out a couple drink cans that she passed to their guests before she grabbed two for herself and Flash Heart.
Confidence watched Oopsy drinking and waited to speak after she swallowed, "So how far along are you."
Oopsy almost spluttered, stopping herself as she turned to Confidence, "What?!"
"I'm pregnant too, maybe a month at most," Confidence patted her middle, "I saw how you reacted when Tarot Heart said there was 'new life' here in the city."
Oopsy sighed, no point in hiding it, "A month, maybe two, haven't seen a doctor yet but I know. Other than you our friends from earlier know."
"I've asked her not to go out on patrol with me, but I can't convince her," Flash sighed as he sat down on the bed, "No telling what'll happen if a Fixed Idea gets a hit in on her."
Love Heart nodded grimly, "Those hulking things, yeah that's what grabbed me way back when Cold Heart extracted my DNA to make CB10."
Confidence saw Oopsy's concerned expression and poked her tummy, "It's in here now, Love Heart magically implanted that fetus in with the baby we already had."
Love Heart touched Confidence's tummy as well, "I think I managed to purge the sustenance from it and get the process started so it'll be a normal Care Bear like us."
"I see," Oopsy nodded, still feeling wary, "settle down and we can watch some stuff, then later we'll do that meet and greet once the others get it set up."
Love Heart and Confidence rolled out their sleeping bag as Flash flipped through the channels on their TV.
Flash glanced over as Love Heart pulled out his Heartphone, "What's that thing?" he pointed at the device.
"My heartphone, like a smartphone but for Care Bears," Love Heart held it up for Flash to see.
"So… it's like a cell phone?" Flash saw the flabbergasted looks on Love Heart and Confidence's faces so he continued, "There's barely like 100 cell phones in this city, most TV is antenna and the internet here sucks. I've heard a few people who came here say this place is a couple decades behind the rest of the world."
"Huh, that explains a lot," Confidence checked her Heartphone, "good thing ours are hooked into the Caring Meter network. I guess this is another earth-shattering revelation we need to tell everyone back home."
Love Heart groaned and leaned back on his arm, "How many is that now?"
Confidence burst out laughing.
OoOoO
Jose was fuming as he sat behind the desk in his office while the thin grey-skinned techno finished his report.
"So there's more of those animal people, and they can use magic?!" Jose growled.
The techno nodded, "Yes, I saw one suck up your sand monster from the beach."
Jose jumped up on his desk and grabbed the techno by his collar, "I didn't make a sand monster! So that means there's someone else on my territory! Find them and drag them here so I can make an example of them!"
"That won't be necessary." The female voice seemed to come from nowhere and Jose let go of the Techno, who stumbled back.
"Who's there?!" Jose demanded, shaking his fist at the ceiling, "Show yourself!"
In response a ghostly woman floated through the ceiling: a young Chinese woman with her hair elaborately done up and wearing a flowing robe with a long blue scarf wound around her shoulders and down. "I am Su Yung."
While the Techno stepped back from shock, Jose just glared up at her, "This is my territory, I'm not giving anything to some ghost from China!"
"I'm not here to take territory," Su Yung's voice remained oddly calm, "I am here to seek revenge on the animal people. One of them has the power of one who betrayed me and I will have my revenge on him."
Jose calmed slightly but glared skeptically up at Su Yung and folded his arms, "What does this have to do with me?"
"I have become more lucid as his deal weakens, so I offer my power if you will aid me in my revenge," Su Yung replied.
Jose smirked, "Well now, that's something I can work with." He jabbed a thumb towards himself, "Su Yung, from now on you work for me."