Kevin didn't think he'd ever get used to the sight of the Careless Ray Contraption. It was truly stunning how Professor Coldheart had managed to build all of this on his own.
"Alright. Here we are." They had arrived at the control panel. It was in the dead center of the room, right in the midst of the honeycomb of the machine's structure. "I know this looks intimidating, but it's really very simple once you get the hang of it. This button here turns it on and off." Coldheart pressed a big green button in the center of the control panel, and the machine hummed to life.
"Okay. Now it's on. Now we turn to these knobs over here. These adjust the position of the contraption. If you look on that monitor over there, it will tell you where it's aiming." The monitor showed a display of Kevin's hometown from the day before. Coldheart manipulated the knobs, and the map began to pan to the right. Eventually, the crosshairs in the center of the monitor landed on another town, and Coldheart let go of the knobs.
"Now that we've aimed it, we need to do two things. The Careless Ray Contraption works by draining the feelings from the area it's firing at. When this switch here is flipped, it will do just that." He flipped the switch, and the monitor switched to a video camera mode. Kevin could once again see a blue beam of energy fire out of the top of the castle spire. "If you need to adjust the monitor, you can flip between modes with these two keys here."
Kevin stared at the machine's panel. Coldheart was clearly delighted to teach Kevin all of these things about the Careless Ray Contraption. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen anyone else living in the expanse of Coldheart Castle. The Professor must have been quite lonely living in the middle of nowhere for so long.
"And when we flip this switch over here, the battery stops charging, and the contraption starts changing the weather. That's how it freezes over the area it's fired at!" Coldheart turned to Kevin. "Did all of that make sense to you?"
Kevin nodded. Just then, the picture on the monitor shifted. It showed Tenderheart and company making their way into the Land Without Feelings.
"What? What's this?! Little fuzzy-wuzzy critters with stamps on their bellies?! In my domain?!" Coldheart barked.
Kevin paled. Tenderheart was making his way into the Land Without Feelings? And he wasn't alone, either. Two other Care Bears and three Care Bear cousins could be seen trailing behind him. Tenderheart Bear... He must be trying to rescue me.
"Disgusting, isn't it?" Coldheart half-smirked. "Still, it would be terribly rude of me not to give them a proper welcome." He turned to Kevin. "I'm going out. You're in charge of operating the Careless Ray Contraption until I get back. I've already aimed it at where I want it to fire; just remember what I told you about the two switches. The one on the left charges it, and the one on the right fires the freeze beam."
Kevin didn't even get a chance to say goodbye as Coldheart left the room, slamming the door behind him. He couldn't stop thinking about Tenderheart Bear. He didn't want the Care Bear to get hurt. At the same time, though, Coldheart trusted him with this machine. The Professor had been far more of a father to him than any of his foster fathers. He didn't want to disappoint him. He flipped the right switch.
…
"Oh, no! Tenderheart! Did you see that?" Gentle Heart bleated.
Tenderheart Bear looked up. The blue beam from before was back. The Professor must have turned that accursed machine on again.
"Don't worry, Gentle Heart. Things look bad right now, but we'll unfreeze all their hearts once we get Kevin back."
Gentle Heart gulped. This place gave her the creeps. Tenderheart had used his belly badge to create a lantern to guide them, but it didn't help much. She could hardly see anything except row after row of pine trees. Every once in a while, a crow would squawk or thunder would rumble, startling her. Not to mention how unbearably cold it was. She shivered despite her thick coat of wool. In the Land Without Feelings, neither sunshine nor warmth held any domain.
All of a sudden, Tenderheart lost his footing. The entire team fell down a ravine leading straight into a raging river! They struggled and fought to stay afloat, but they all managed to get to shore safely.
There was just one problem. Tenderheart and Noble Heart had reached the shore at the same point. But in their struggle, they didn't see how far the others had gone down the river. So neither of them knew where the others were.
"Uh-oh. What should we do, Noble Heart?"
Noble Heart looked off in the distance towards Coldheart Castle. "Well, we all know where we're going. If we head in that same direction, we'll likely meet the others on the way. They know where to go."
That made sense to Tenderheart. He picked himself up and made his way upwards out of the ravine.
Even through the sea of trees, Coldheart Castle was impossible to miss. He just needed to follow the bright blue beam in the sky. The others had seen it too. They just needed to go to Coldheart Castle, and they would meet up there. Then, they would take on Coldheart and rescue Kevin.
That was the idea, anyway.