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Chapter 6: You Can't Go Home Again

No-Heart whirled through the open window in his magical laboratory and landed, reassuming his natural form, his robes and skin scorched from his encounter with the Care Bear Magi. His eyes glowed bright red as he slammed his fists down on his worktable, "That blasted Pegasus! All those years, all that work ruined by a child!" He swept his arm across the table sending beakers tumbling off onto the floor, most staying intact despite hitting the stone floor. "I will destroy them before they can join the rest of the Care Bears, I only need something to replenish my strength so I can hunt them down while they are still weak." He strode over to his bookshelf and began searching through the volumes, hoping to stumble across a solution. His hand stopped on an ancient-looking book bound in what looked like green leather. "What is this?" he pulled the book out and looked at the strange round face on the cover.

An explosion blew down the door to the lab causing No-Heart to drop the book and turn around.

"You used me!" the Care Golem stepped through the ruins of the door. A ball of water hovered in front of its wing while numerous ice shards were gathered around its hand.

"You survived?" For the first time in ages No-Heart was struck dumb, but only for an instant. His eyes narrowed and he pointed out the door. "Go an finish the job you started!"

"No." The golem stepped forwards.

"What?!" No-Heart shouted, "You will obey me! Go and destroy the Care Bears from that island!"

"No!" The golem shouted and hurled its ice shards towards No-Heart, piercing through his cloak. No-Heart roared and retaliated with bolts of purple lightning, striking the golem head-on. The golem staggered under the blow and retaliated with a stream of water, blowing him backwards and soaking the bookshelf behind him.

No-Heart stood up and sputtered. "You will pay for your defiance!" he shouted. A torrent of wind erupted from his hand as he picked the golem up and smashed it into a one of the tables covered in magical compounds. Various liquids clung to the golem's skin, fur and feathers as it stood up and gave a raspy cry as it retaliated with a barrage of ice shards that pierced No-Heart's cloak. No-Heart growled and fired off a barrage of lightning at the golem, igniting some of the magical reagents stuck to its fur.

The golem began coughing and its form started to waver and sputter. It stood up and started to gather energy between its raised hands, a ball of elemental energy forming over its head. No-Heart shot a blast of lightning at the orb which exploded and sent out a massive cloud of smoke. No-Heart coughed and waved his hand, kicking up a wind to clear the air. The golem was gone.

"One more failed experiment disposed of," No-Heart stood up. "Now where was that strange book?"

OoOoO

The explosion sent the golem flying for a loop before it crashed onto a large table, scattering the beakers and vials on top to the floor, shattering them and leaving the table scorched. It shook its head, trying to get its bearings. It was definitely in No-Heart's lab but something was different. Its wing tip came to rest on a book and it sat up, turning the book over on its wing to read the title "Fleshwarping". It blinked then looked down at a large sack, slipping off the table to get a look inside. It was full of body parts.

The sounds of No-Heart approaching galvanized the golem into action and it grabbed both the book and the sack then created a burst of wind to fly it up to a window high on the wall. It unlatched the window and dropped down to the clouds that supported the castle.

"Bring it back!" the sound of No-Heart's voice behind it made it dive into cloud cover, whipping up the air to pull clouds over its body to hide itself from No-Heart's sight. The golem held its breath as the tornado swept around. It watched No-Heart for almost five minutes before it heard a squealy voice from a nearby window.

"Boss! It's awake!"

The tornado seemed to huff and flew through the window. The golem let its breath go then hefted the bag of remains over its shoulder and let the solid dark clouds drift down towards earth, carried on the wind.

It took well over an hour to descend to the ground, into an expanse of grasslands. Several animals watched the golem touch down, carrying the sack of remains and the book in its hand and wing. The smell from the sack repelled some of the animals away, other approached only to be scared away by a blast of air from the golem.

"I need, a new body," the golem said aloud, looking at the book, "Underground." It swept its wing at the ground, slicing a chunk out of the earth. It walked down, pushing more earth aside until it was a couple meters underground. It sealed the wall behind it, created a few air holes overhead, then created a dozen tiny flames to illuminate the cavern. A block of earth rose in front of the golem which it set the book and sack on top of. "Now, to work," it said, opening the book and skimming the table of content then reaching into the sack and pulling out a limb.

OoOoO

No-Heart was scouring his lab, searching for the mysterious book when a female voice interrupted him.

"No-Heart! We've come to destroy you!"

No-Heart rounded on the entrance to his lab, and saw a purple care bear in a black bodysuit and cloak with half-a-dozen other care bears he did not recognize: a yellow male bear with blue eyes and long hair wearing a black long coat, a white shirt and black pants; an unclothed pink female bear with blue eyes and a heart-shaped forest on her tummy; an unclothed blue male otter with blue eyes and a crashing wave on his tummy; an orange male wolverine with silver fur highlights, mustard yellow eyes who was wearing a black two-tailed coat, a silver shirt and green pants; a brown female lynx with green eyes wearing a long and loose sleeved green shirt and brown pants; and a white male fox with blue eyes wearing a brown shirt and pants both with stitching up the sides, soft shoes, tassels hanging off the arms and carrying a short bow loosely in his left hand.

"What is the meaning of this, Care Bears! Who are you?!" No-Heart demanded as he mustered up his strength to blast them away.

"I'm not surprised you don't recognize me," the purple bear snarled at No-Heart. "Flash Heart Bear, if you would be so kind?"

"Of course." The yellow bear, Flash Heart, snapped his left fingers and the air rippled around the purple bear, its image distorting until...

"WHAT?!" No-Heart was staring at the very same care golem he had destroyed not a moment ago.

"Remember me now?" the golem asked as the image faded back to the purple bear. "Those reagents, combined with your magic, hurled me back through time to the very day you first created me. I took the chance and stole the book and materials you used and with them I made myself a new body, one that wasn't a freak of nature wracked by constant pain!" She raised both her hands, a black orb forming on the left and a sphere of solid ice forming over the right.

As she did this, the six behind her all readied for battle: Flash Heart created a sword out of light in his left hand, the pink bear conjured an aura of petals around her body, orbs of water forms around the otter's hands, the wolverine threw off his coat and a glow from beneath his shirt conjure a two-handed axe in his right hand, a mace appeared in the lynx's hand and the fox drew back his bow, an arrow made of frost forming as he drew.

"I've come back here, now that my former self is gone and I won't destroy my own past," the golem said.

"So you have. But you are still a failure. One that I intend to correct!" No-Heart let off a blast of lightning at the golem, only for it to hurl the ice orb forwards where it grew into a wall of ice that blocked the lightning bolts and shattered in the process.

The golem's face was a mask of fury as the barrier shattered and it shouted. "My name is Soul Heart Bear, and I'm going to kill you!" Soul Heart hurled the black orb towards No-Heart, the air and space surrounding the orb appearing to be sucked into it as it flew before it struck No-Heart dead on, sending him flying backwards and into the wall.

No-Heart's eyes blazed as he stood, "You will not defeat me! I am No-Heart."

"You're also alone." No-Heart turned to see that Flash Heart Bear had appeared behind him. He struck at No-Heart with his light sword barely missing as No-Heart jumped backwards. A beam of light to shoot from Flash Heart's right fingertip and pierce through his chest. No-Heart retaliated with a bolt of lightning, only to be struck from behind by a small tsunami that bowled him over. The otter charged towards No-Heart, his hands spread and claws facing towards the wizard.

"Got you!" he shouted, striking at No-Heart, only to miss as the wizard rolled aside and fired a blast of lightning, striking the otter point blank. The otter cried out as he was blasted backwards and skidded across a pile of soggy books.

"Marine Heart!" No-Heart barely had time to register the high-pitched cry before a torrent of vines plowed through him, shooting him across the floor as the pink bear thrust her hands towards him. No-Heart recovered and turned into a rhino, charging towards her. The bear barely managed to roll out of the way then ran over to Marine Heart Otter's side.

"Are you OK?" she asked, carefully lifting up his head.

"I'll live," Marine Heart looked over her shoulder. "Flora! Behind you!" he shouted as No-Heart rounded on them and charged right at them.

A loud growl sounded overhead as the wolverine jumped over and skidded to a halt between the charging rhino and the pair on the ground. He swung his axe at the rhino's head, striking the horns and managing to push it to a halt. He gritted his teeth as he turned the axe sideways, sending No-Heart charging through one of the laboratory walls.

Marine Heart sat up and smiled at the panting wolverine, "Thanks for the save, Passion Heart."

"No problem," Passion Heart grinned over his shoulder at the two.

"Be thankful later, we can't let him get away," the arctic fox landed nearby and fired off a frosty arrow where No-Heart had burst through the wall. A moment later he was rewarded with the sound of No-Heart crying out in pain.

"OK, Snowy Heart, just a moment," Marine Heart stumbled to is feet.

"Let me see." Soul Heart was at Marine Heart's side, checking the scorch mark on his chest. Soul Heart shook her head, "You need to go."

"What?! But I came all this way to-" Marine Heart's protest was cut off by Soul Heart's hand on his mouth.

"I don't want to lose you, get out of here and rest. We'll be back when we finish the job."

Marine Heart sighed and stood up, "If you insist. Give him hell."

A cry from Passion Heart in the next room drew their attention. "Sounds like Passion Heart already is." The Lynx stepped over the rubble in the direction of the sounds.

Snowy Heart nodded then jumped towards the sound, followed by Calm Heart and Flash Heart, the latter jumping over their heads and charging forwards.

"Be safe," Flora Bear gave Marine Heart a quick kiss before she followed the group after No-Heart. Soul Heart stayed a moment longer, making sure Marine Heart headed towards the entrance before she charged into the fray again.

No-Heart had assumed the form of a large dragon and had Passion Heart under one of his front legs, the wolverine's axe pressed in-between two of his claws. Flash Heart leapt up over No-Heart and sliced into his side with his light sword. No-Heart roared and swatted Flash Heart away with his other hand. Flash Heart reeled and skidded to a stop across the floor on his back. Flash Heart pulled himself to his feet and fired off three yellow lasers from his right index finger, piercing through the scaly hide of No-Heart's dragon form.

"Annoying pest!" No-Heart turned his head and took a deep breath as flames appeared inside his mouth.

No-Heart's distraction caused him to let up the pressure in the leg trying to crush Passion Heart. The wolverine roared, a field of darkness springing up around him as he twisted his axe sideways and swung with the blade still in-between his claws. No-Heart stumbled as his foot was forced off the ground and flung sideways, dragged by a wave of darkness that clung to his claw until it smashed into a wall and No-Heart fell to the ground with a roar. Passion Heart leapt at No-Heart, ready to bring his axe down on his neck only to be swatted to the ground by No-Heart's tail, his axe flying from his grip and vanishing in a puff of dust when it hit the wall.

No-Heart changed back to his true form and stood over where Passion Heart lay and raised a hand over him. "No one humiliates me!" An arrow of cold energy struck him, coating his back in ice. He rounded on Snowy Heart, still holding his bow outstretched, just in time for a solid chunk of stone to strike him square in the face. Calm Heart took a deep breath and hung her mace from her belt, she raised both hands in front of her this time and stared intently as several shards of metal formed. With a yowl she sent the shards flying at No-Heart, piercing through his robes and forcing him to retreat.

Snowy Heart ran over to Passion Heart and knelt down. "Please, tell me you're alive."

"Ha, like that could kill me," Passion Heart tried to sit up but winced as his left leg lay motionless below him.

"It looks broken," Snowy Heart said. "I'll stay here and splint it then get you out of here. Can you manage," he looked over at Calm Heart.

The lynx smiled, "We'll be fine."

"Damnit," Passion Heart swore as Calm Heart and Flash Heart took off after No-Heart. A moment later, Flora darted by until Snowy called to her.

"Flora, can you give me some wood to splint this?" he asked.

Flora stopped and stared at the wolverine, then smirked, "I'd say break a leg but it looks like you already did." She flicked her wrist and created two pieces of wood for Snowy to use.

"Ha ha," Passion laughed bitterly as Flora ran after Calm and Flash Heart.

Snowy had Passion Heart up on his good foot, letting the wolverine use him for support as they walked back the way they had come in. Soul Heart flew past and gave an approving nod to the two before flying back into the fray.

No-Heart had shifted again, taking the form of a five-headed hydra. Each of his heads lashed at the ground, venom dripping from his fangs. One of the heads nearly striking Flora Bear before she raised her hands and thick tree branches erupted from the floor, catching No-Heart's mouth before he could strike and holding his head in place.

"He's getting weaker." Soul Heart landed next to Flora as she drew a dozen vines from the floor and tried to wrap them around the necks she hadn't stopped with the branches.

"How can you tell?" Flora asked, panting as she only managed to snare two of the remaining four heads, pulling them to the ground and pinning the hydra in place.

"Trust me and keep it up!" Soul Heart took off to join Flash Heart who stood on a high window ledge as he fired off a barrage of lasers at No-Heart's unprotect back. Another head hurtled upwards to try and snap Flash Heart up in his jaws only for Soul Heart to strike it with a long blade of ice that sent it reeling. A shower of metal shards, fired by Calm Heart, pierced into the last undamaged head which made it roar in pain. Calm Heart took up her mace in both hands and charge forwards, smashing it into one of No-Heart's feet.

No-Heart was forced to shift back to his natural form and he turned to face Calm Heart, who swung her mace at his chest. No-Heart stumbled from the impact then hurled a ball of purple lightning at Calm Heart, blasting her backwards into Flora Bear and knocking the wind out of both of them.

Soul Heart landed between the two of them and No-Heart. "Run! I'll finish this!" she shouted, a massive sandstorm barrier springing up in front of her and blocking further lightning blasts from No-Heart.

"We can still fight," Flora protested as she tried to lift the unconscious Calm Heart off her.

"I don't want you to die, now go!" Soul Heart shouted as she condensed the sandstorm barrier into a twister full of sand that she hurled at No-Heart, striking him dead on as he turned into a tornado to flee.

Flora sighed as she pulled herself out from under Calm Heart then hoisted Calm Heart onto her shoulders, using some vines to keep her attached, then trudged out towards the door.

Flash Heart vanished from his perch on the window and reappeared next to Soul Heart. "Want me to stick around, mom?" he asked.

"I don't want you to get hurt but I won't force you," Soul Heart replied, watching as No-Heart landed and changed back into his true form.

Flash Heart smirked and formed a ball of light in his left hand. "I'd at least like to show him an aurora."

Soul Heart cracked a smile and laughed for a moment. "If you insist." A collection of ice crystals formed in her right hand.

As No-Heart turned to face the two, Soul Heart and Flash Heart fired off a blast of cold and light that merged into a stream of luminescent green and purple light waves that plowed into No-Heart and forced him to his knees. As soon as the stream cut off No-Heart fired off a bolt of lightning at Flash Heart, striking him the chest.

Flash Heart stumbled and held his chest but stayed standing. "Ouch," he grimaced and kept his eyes on the still staggered No-Heart, whose robe was full of tears.

"You should go. I can finish this." Soul Heart sidestepped so she was in-between No-Heart and Flash Heart and glanced over her shoulder at the bear.

"If you say so. I'll be waiting outside, mom." Flash Heart vanished, teleporting out of the room.

Soul Heart turned to face No-Heart, eyes furrowed and teeth bared. "Now it's just you and me, like it was 20 years ago."

"I will not suffer your insolence, golem!" No-Heart panted as he unleashed a torrent of lightning at Soul Heart. She raised her hands and formed a barrier of shimmering energy, deflecting the blasts in every direction, perforating the walls in the room. Soul Heart formed a large ball of darkness in both hands and hurled it at No-Heart, enveloping him and forcing him to the ground.

The castle shook as Soul Heart exhaled then removed her bodysuit, undoing a well camouflaged zipper in the front. Soul Heart had no tummy symbol or anything to identify her as male or female and her purple body was covered in stiches and scars. "I worked for weeks, cutting, sewing, amputating and warping, I was driven only by my hatred for you, for every minute I spent under your control as a mindless thrall, for every lash you gave me while you turned me into a weapon!" She growled as she pulled her suit back on and zipped up, "It was pain beyond imagining but I had to, I had to do it so I wouldn't just be your cut-up freak!" Soul Heart smiled, "And then I found something else, others like the Care Bears you wanted me to destroy. They were lost, hurt or lonely so I took them in. At first it was just a way to spite you, to help the beings you wanted me to destroy. Then I decided to train them so I could use them to destroy you." Soul Heart closed her eyes, leaned back and smiled, "But I grew to care about them, so much that I almost decided not to go through with this today," She opened her eyes and stared No-Heart down, "But then I remembered everything you put me through and now!" she flared up as ice and darkness formed in her hands, "Now you die!" She brought her hands together, forming a ball of blackened ice that hurtled towards No-Heart.

Still pinned by the ball of heavy gravity, No-Heart was unable to muster a defense as the black ice struck him and he felt his blood go numb as it overwhelmed him. When it was over, No-Heart was still there, on his hands and knees and glaring daggers at his assailant. "Mercy," he begged.

"No," Soul Heart approached, forming more darkness and ice in her hands, "You will pay for every pain you inflicted on me, every lash, every moment of torture I suffered and you will die!" She stopped right in front of No-Heart and raised her hands, forming the sphere of black ice over her head. "And then I will find the Care Bear who saved me, who gave me a real soul and I will beg for his forgiveness for destroying his home!" Soul Heart screamed and hurled the ball down on No-Heart, the force of the blast imploding in on itself then exploding, knocking Soul Heart away from No-Heart with his cries of pain still in her ears. No-Heart watched as the cold froze over his skin and he began to disintegrate. He shouted curses and spells, anything to save himself but it wasn't enough and he was consumed by the ball of intense darkness and cold.

Soul Heart stood up panting and looked at the crater where No-Heart had once stood. She smiled. No-Heart was gone. Soul Heart dusted herself off then stumbled on her feet as the castle shook and some loose masonry tumbled off the walls towards her. "Don't want to keep them waiting." Soul Heart turned and trudged through the debris towards the entrance.

As she passed through the magic lab, Soul Heart stumbled over a strange green book, accidentally opening the cover. She paid it no mind until a female voice came from the book. "Perfect." Soul Heart turned just in time to see a green light rush towards her.

OoOoO

Flash Heart looked up towards the castle as it shook again, "we really did a number on this place, this it'll stay standing?"

"We could always knock it over before we leave," Passion Heart suggested.

"Hush and let me work," Flora's hands glowed pale green as she carefully ran them over Passion Heart's broken leg. After a minute she stood up, "Can you move it?" she asked.

Passion Heart winced but managed to move his formerly broken leg, "I'm good, thanks Flora."

"Don't overexert yourself, you still need to rest," Flora said as she swiped her forehead.

"Lovely work as always," Marine Heart otter gave Flora a quick kiss and she flushed slightly.

"Soul Heart's been in there too long," Snowy Heart said. He held the still unconscious Calm Heart over her shoulder. "One of us should go in and look for her."

Flash Heart held out an arm, as if to stop someone who might be trying to walk past him, "No. Mom said she could handle it so we'll let her." His ears perked up and he smiled, "See, here she comes."

Soul Heart stumbled out of the castle, a book held under her right arm and her left arm dangling at her side. Flash Heart rushed forwards, trying to help her stand up straight. "Mom, are you OK?"

"I'm fine!" Soul Heart snapped, pushing his arm away. She gritted her teeth and relaxed for a moment, "Just very tired and sore. Let's go home."

Flash Heart watched her nervously, then nodded, "Alright, let's go."

"Is No-Heart dead?" Passion Heart asked.

"Of course!" Soul Heart snapped again, making the others who were still awake jump slightly, "I'm sure of it, it's just, ugg," Soul Heart held her head, "I need to rest, let's go." Soul Heart held out a hand and encased them all in a dark sphere that floated over and down, away from No-Heart's castle.

OoOoO

Sweet Heart Pegasus stirred, stretched her arms and wings and yawned as she rolled over on an unfamiliar bed. She looked around and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "Where huh?" she mumbled.

"Looks who's finally awake," Love Heart Bear was sitting on a chair nearby, a book in hand entitled The Secret Garden. "Rise and shine."

"Big brother, where are we?" Sweet Heart sat up and shook her head to clear the cobwebs from her thoughts.

"Miranda's house," Love Heart stuck a bookmark in his page and closed the book, "you've been asleep since our fight with No-Heart."

"No-Heart?" Sweet Heart struggled to remember, and then it all came rushing back: The golem destroying her home, No-Heart trying to kill them, her flying off to confront him and then anger taking over her senses as she blasted him with all the elemental power and magic she could. Sweet Heart folded her wings around herself and hugged her arms, "What did I do?"

Love Heart stood up and walked over to the bed, taking a seat next to his sister. "Mom said it's because we're half-unicorn that your emotions overwhelmed you and you went a little berserk so you started pouring everything you had into him. You really let him have it," Love Heart grinned, then frowned as he watched Sweet Heart curl up into herself.

"It wasn't a dream, I was just so mad I couldn't think and I... I was so scary." Sweet Heart's eyes trembled as she began to cry.

"Hey hey, don't cry," Love Heart put an arm around Sweet Heart and felt her tremble, "You saved our lives, sis, don't be ashamed."

Sweet Heart said nothing, just rocking back and forth where she sat. Love Heart gave her a worried look, then hugged her, "Don't worry, I'm here for you and so are mom and dad, they're just busy with Miranda right now."

"But what if I do that again? I don't want to do anything like that ever again," Sweet Heart shook her head.

Love Heart smiled, "You won't I don't think anything else could make you that mad." He lightly tapped her chin with his knuckles, "Give me a smile, show me the little sister who always brightens up my day."

Sweet Heart did her best to smile and uncurled her wings, folding them up on her back as she let her legs dangle over the edge of the bed. "I'll try. So what do we do now?" she asked.

"Well," Love Heart scratched his chin, "We wait for mom and dad to get back then we're going on a trip."

"A trip? Where?" Sweet Heart asked.

"To find the rest of the care bears," Love Heart pumped his fist, "Mom and dad think if we go to a big city we could run into them and they can take us to our new home."

"Really? Where is our new home?" Sweet Heart was bouncing in place.

Love Heart hummed and thought hard about the question, crossing his eyes as he tried to think. Sweet Heart giggled as his funny expression, falling backwards onto the bed. Love Heart smirked and lay back next to her, "Who knows, but we're going there and then we can do what we were always supposed to do: defend the Care Bear Family form evil."

Sweet Heart's giggling stopped and her face fell, "Like No-Heart?" she whispered.

Love Heart nodded, "Yeah, but hey it won't be that bad. We'll have tons of friends to help us out and after what we did I don't think No-Heart's gonna be back for seconds anytime soon." Love Heart sat up and slid off the bed onto the floor, "Com'on, we still have time to look around town before we have to go."

Sweet Heart nodded and smiled, sliding off the bed, "OK!"