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Chapter 33: Experimenting with Disaster

Soul Heart landed in front of her house and dismissed Shatter Heart and Blade Star before entering. A paper wrapped package clutched in her hands. "Finally. I didn't think I would find them so easily." She grinned as she set the package on the table next to her bed. "I didn't think forcing control of this body would be so hard. In the morning we will resolve the conflict with all due haste." Soul Heart lay down and closed her eyes.

Ten minutes later her eyes opened and she sat up. She took a deep breath and picked up the package and then left her house.

Tarot Heart was shaken awake and he swatted at the hand that shook him. "Go'way, wanna sleep," he mumbled under his breath.

"Tarot Heart, son, please. It's your mother."

Soul Heart's soft voice caused Tarot Heart's eyes to shoot open and he sat bolt upright. He stared in the gentle eyes he thought he would never see again as Soul Heart stood over his small bed in the house he shared with Flash Heart. He threw his arms around Soul Heart and she hugged back.

"Mom!" His voice sounded so young, younger than he should have been.

Soul Heart patter his back then carefully broke the hug and put a finger to her lips. "Shhh, be quiet Tarot. I have something very important for you."

Tarot Heart nodded as Soul Heart fumbled with the package she held in her hand. "There's a bad voice inside me, Tarot Heart, a voice that's been forcing me to do bad things to you and your family and now," she held up the package, "It wants to use this to hurt more people," she pressed the package into Tarot Heart's hands, "I've kept it from hurting you until now but soon I won't be able to, do you understand?"

Tarot Heart stared at the packaged, but he nodded despite himself.

Soul Heart smiled, "Good. Now listen carefully. I need you to go and hide somewhere, anywhere away from us. If the voice finds you it will hurt you, maybe even kill you, so you can't tell anyone where you're going." She pressed a small purple crystal into his hands, "Just think of somewhere to hide and break that crystal and you'll be safe."

"But mom, where will I go? What will I do on my own?" Tarot Heart was starting to cry.

Soul Heart bent down and gave Tarot Heart a big hug. Salty tears leaked from her eyes as she spoke, "I'm sorry but I don't know. Just stay safe and we'll come and find you when this is all over." She pulled back and looked into Tarot Heart's eyes, "I promise. Now please go before the bad voice wakes up!"

Tarot Heart tried to speak, but choked on his words and was forced only to nod as he put the package into his tummy symbol and held the crystal in his hands. He squeezed, the crystal cracked and in an instant he had vanished.

Soul Heart took a deep breath then hurried back to her home. At least her youngest charge would be safe.

OoOoO

Funshine Bear didn't like to sleep in. No matter how late he stayed up he wanted to rise with the sun, so he kept the curtains for the window over his bed open. The light shining in woke him and he squinted at green form lying with her arms around him. He smiled, then kissed Crafty Heart Coyote on the forehead and lay back. The smell eventually became too much to bear and Funshine slid away from her.

Crafty opened her eyes and grinned as she got a full view of Funshine's butt, "Good morning."

"Didn't think you were up yet. Don't mind me, I'm just going to shower," Funshine said as he headed for the door.

Crafty snickered and got up, "Mind if I join you then."

Funshine smiled back over his shoulder at her, "Not at all."

Crafty was forced to press up against Funshine as they stepped into his shower.

"Sorry it's a bit cramped," Funshine turned on the shower heads.

"Nah, it's good," Crafty pressed her breasts against Funshine's back, "I like this."

Funshine grabbed the shampoo and turned around, a sunny grin on his face, "Me too."

Crafty gave him a coy look, "You just like being squished by my tits."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing with me," Crafty gave him a kiss on the nose, "but clean now and have fun later."

OoOoO

Life Heart and Sage Heart sat on the couch across from Noble Heart and True Heart on the loveseat in the founders living room.

"So, you said that we're hidden from the human world? How?" Life Heart asked, hand rested on her baby bump.

Noble Heart nodded, "It's a protection the Great Wishing Star gave us. There's a magical barrier around the Kingdom of Caring and anyone who doesn't know how to get through it will just pass through without hurting us, moreover they can't even see through it without help."

"So how do we get through it? We were never told how to get to the Kingdom of Caring," Sage Heart put his arm around Life Heart.

True Heart had to think for a moment and scratched her chin, "I never really thought about it, we sort of just... know."

"That's something we should look in to, just to make sure none of us get stranded outside," Sage Heart said.

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation and True Heart called out, "Who is it?"

"It's Funshine. I heard Life Heart was here. Can I talk to her, please?"

"Please come in," True Heart called back.

There was a moment's hesitation before Funshine opened the front door and stepped in. Life Heart patted the couch next to her, "You can sit down."

Funshine cleared his throat into his hand then spoke, "Actually, I need to talk to you alone. Can you come to my place after this, please?" True Heart and Noble Heart were surprised to see the boisterous bear so nervous as he shuffled his feet.

Sage Heart helped Life Heart to stand and she nodded to Funshine, "If you help me over there I can come now."

Funshine's eyes lit up, "Really?! I mean thanks, that's cool." He offered a hand to the unicorn who waved goodbye over her shoulder.

"We'll talk more at lunch," Noble Heart said.

The walk back to Funshine's house was uneventful and Life Heart didn't really need support, but she accepted his enthusiastic help. The outside of Funshine's house had a small skate park with a half-pipe and a few grinding rails inside a small chain-link fence. Funshine brought Life Heart in the front door and helped her into a chair in his living room.

Life Heart took a moment to look around, Funshine's living space was oddly sparse indoors, she supposed most of his efforts went into the outside.

Funshine paced for a moment, muttering to himself, before Life Heart snapped him out of it.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

Funshine turned to her and took a deep breath, "This is hard to say, I mean I know what I want to say but now that I'm here." He exhaled long and softly.

"Don't worry, I'll listen to what you have to say," Life Heart smiled at him.

Her smiled reassured and emboldened Fushine, he puffed up his chest then blurted out, "Canyoupleaseturnmeintoagirl!"

Life Heart stared, then blinked, "Pardon?"

Funshine took another deep breath and spoke again, slow enough to get his message across, "Can you please turn me into a girl?"

An uncomfortable silence reigned in the room. It took Life Heart a couple minutes to ask a one-word question, "Why?"

Funshine sighed and dropped down onto his couch, "It's hard to explain but I just don't know if I'm...right."

"What?" Life Heart was still not sure how to process what he was saying so Funshine continued.

"I just don't feel like I was born in the right gender, or something. I mean...It's hard to put into words but this body just doesn't feel right some days but... I don't know." Funshine buried his face in his hands, "I just...I need to know what it feels like, ya know?"

"Well...Do you like... girly things?" Life Heart asked hesitantly.

Funshine raised his head, "Not that, I mean what is 'girly' anyway? Cheer and Love-a-Lot are into fashion, Swift Heart is into sports, and Confidence told me she's into things on both sides of the boy/girl stuff, at least as far as humans see it." He sat back, "It wasn't like this when we were kids, I was just the cool guy who liked to skateboard and brighten up everyone's day but when we all started to grow up." He put his hands over his chest for a moment, "I saw how we were changing and I just started to feel uncomfortable in my own fur and skin, that I wasn't growing how I wanted to grow. I mean sure I was happy that I was getting stronger and could do better tricks and riskier stuff without getting hurt, but at the same time I wasn't sure if I felt right about the stuff I couldn't control." He buried his face into his hands again, "I just need to know."

Life Heart was deep in thought about what he said. Most of it didn't make sense to her but she was recalling something. She smiled, "I think I have something that can help you."

Funshine looked up, "Really?"

Life Heart nodded and giggled, "A few centuries ago I decided to play a prank on a young noble and his bride to be because of some things I saw him doing, so I turned him into a woman for a day and his lady into a man. It caused quite a stir and when it wore off everyone wrote it off as a bad dream, or that someone had angered a spirit. They were sort of right. It took me a while to figure out the spell but I created it and I Can do it again," She smiled happily, "That's one of the few memories I hold on to from before I met Sage Heart."

Funshine grinned and shot to his feet, pumping his fists in the air, "Alright! Can you do it now?"

"Just a moment." Life Heart close her eyes, "I think I can remember it. There, now hold still." Her horn lit up as she focused her magic into it then it flowed out and over Funshine. His whole body tingled for a moment and then, it was over.

Funshine examined his...her body: narrower shoulder, wider hips, decent bust and...he reached up to his head, long hair? "This is," she stopped, a bit surprised at her higher voice, "not what I thought it would be."

Life Heart stood up slowly, "I made the spell for a specific target, I never bothered to make it personalized or adaptive. It should last a whole day. How does it feel?"

"Weird, but kinda right," Funshine prodded her chest then took a step forwards, stumbling a bit, "gotta get used to this new balance. I got it!" she snapped her fingers then tried to jog to the closet next to the front door, almost stumbling again. Funshine pulled out her skateboard and safety pads, "Haven't worn these in a while," she strapped on the safety pads over her knees and elbows, wincing slightly when she tightened the elastic straps.

Life Heart watched Funshine adjust her helmet on her head and pull out her skateboard. "I hope you enjoy yourself."

"I will, thank you!" Funshine stepped outside and held the door for Life Heart then headed into her skate park.

Swift Heart was out for a morning jog when her sensitive ears caught the sound of a distinctly high-pitched shout, followed by a thud and a faint feminine "ow..."

She slid to a stop at Funshine's house in time to see a very feminine looking Funshine Bear get up from her spill, "Still working on the balance."

"Funshine?" Swift Heart stared at her as she stood up.

Funshine grinned as she leaned on her fence, "Hey Swift Heart, how's it going."

"You're a girl, or a woman..." she gave Funshine the once over, "Nope girl. Why are you a girl? How are you a girl?"

"Life Heart did this," Funshine turned in place, "What do you think?"

"It's...different," Swift Heart leaned on the fence.

"Yeah, but the hair's getting in the way," Funshine took off her helmet and pulled the hair up under it before she pulled it on again.

"Kinda bland if you ask me," Swift Heart said.

"Life Heart said it was from an old prank she pulled. What?" She turned to look at Swift Heart's confused expression.

"Why did you get turned into a girl?" Swift Heart's voice had lost its usual playfulness.

Funshine sighed as she switched into a serious discussion mode, "Because I didn't feel right in my own body, I think it's called 'gender dysphoria' so I asked Life Heart to change me so I could feel what it's like." She saw Swift Heart's expression, "OK, seriously what?"

"I'm sorry this is just... this is just weird OK. You've always been a guy and seeing you like this...I don't know." Swift Heart turned away and started to stretch. "That and I had something like that once."

"What?" Funshine leaned over the fence to watch her stretch.

Swift Heart stood up, "When we were teenagers I felt odd in my own body too, for a while at least. I mean seeing all the other girls into things like fashion and dolls and music and cooking, I felt like I was getting into the wrong things for a girl, especially sports." She turned to face Funshine, "I got over it when I went to see a tomboy girl on Earth to help her with the same kinda issues, Noble Heart even told me he sent me on that mission on purpose."

"Swift Heart, I was never into the 'wrong things' for a guy," Funshine pointed over her shoulder to the skate park in her yard, "This is still me, this is still what I'm into."

Swift Heart turned and leaned her back up against the fence, "I just don't know, Funshine. Is this going to be permanent?"

Funshine shrugged, "I dunno, maybe if Life Heart can do it. For now, I'm just being a girl for the day. I'm more worried about what everyone else will think."

"I'm still not sure how I think, I gotta go." Swift Heart stood up and took off.

"Swift Heart, wait!" Funshine shouted after her, but she was alone. Funshine sighed and turned back to the skate park, then back to the house. Suddenly, she didn't feel like exercising.

OoOoO

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Soul Heart smashed her fist into the wall of her cabin, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"I sent Tarot Heart away with the tool you intended to use where you can't hurt him."

"WHERE IS HE! TELL ME!"

"I don't know, that way you can't know."

"THEN I HAVE ALLOWED THIS TO GO ON TOO LONG. YOUR FAMILY WILL SUFFER AND DIE AT MY HANDS AS I USE THEM TO DESTROY THE CARE BEARS!" Soul Heart grit her teeth and grabbed her own forehead then spoke one last time.

"Are you there?.... Good, now to continue."

Soul Heart emerged from her home and scanned the island. She spotted Passion Heart Wolverine and grinned, "Passion Heart! Can you come here please?" she beckoned to him.

Passion Heart was wary but he approached Soul Heart, "Yeah, did you need something?"

"Not at the moment, but I think you need something." Soul Heart's voice became almost silky as she spoke, "You remember your fight with the fennec, Confidence Heart?"

Passion Heart's eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth, "I remember."

Soul Heart smirked, "Good, then come in and I can show you something that will help you fight them." She motioned for Passion Heart to follow her into her house. Against his better judgement, Passion followed her.

OoOoO

Funshine just lay on her couch and watched TV until supper time. Her stomach growling was the only thing that got her up and out of the house as she played with her hair, "Gotta ask for shorter hair if I do this for real," she mumbled as she trudged towards the Hall of Hearts.

Funshine felt like she wanted to disappear as she walked up to the buffet table. She could feel everyone staring at her as she got her food and then went to sit in the far back corner. No one approached her to talk and she barely touched her food. She only snapped out of things when Noble Heart tapped a spoon on a glass to get everyone's attention.

Noble Heart set the glass down once everyone quieted down, "Thank you. Now then I know this is unusual but as long as everyone's here, Grams, True Heart and I have a story to tell: the true origin of the Care Bear Family."

Everyone turned to give the founders their full attention as True Heart spoke up. "I know we've told you how we all came to be here, but there was more before that. We always meant to tell you when you were older but it just sort of...slipped our minds until Sage Heart and Life Heart asked us today, so we decided it was time to tell all of you." She looked to Grams, who nodded then stood up.

"I can remember everything so I will tell the story and because we have newcomers who were never part of this I won't spare any details or information." Grams cleared her throat, "You all know about paradise valley, Perfect and Polite's home on Earth? That used to be our home, the home of our entire race. You see before the Kingdom of Caring our kind lived on Earth but we weren't the Care Bear Family. Back then we were known as the Heartbound.

"I don't know how our kind came to be but we lived alongside humans in a rather agrarian existence. We didn't know anything about the outside world and none of us had chest symbols or the powers we have right now but that didn't matter to any of us. I was getting on in years but my husband and I looked after cubs as sort of babysitters so their parents could go out and work," she smiled down at True Heart and put a hand on her shoulder, "They knew I was good at raising kids thanks to True Heart."

True Heart giggled like an infant, "Mom!"

Grams laughed too, "Sorry, True, but I can't resist." She removed her hand from True Heart and sighed, "But it ended one day. A young boy went to part of our valley that was forbidden. None of us knew why, maybe he was rebellious, maybe he was lonely but it didn't matter: that boy returned as Dark Heart and he," she drew in a shuddering breath, "started destroying everything and killing everyone." She reached up to wipe tears from her eyes, "We acted as fast as we could, gathering up any children we could find and taking them to a secret cove we had that led to the ocean with a wooden sailing ship. We got all of you onboard and then..." Grams sat down, now visibly crying, "My husband, Flint, went back to look for more survivors and the cave...collapsed after he left. We had no choice but to run with you onboard and Dark Heart chasing us."

True Heart put a hand on her mother's shoulder, she was also on the verge of tears at the memory, "It's alright, mom, they know the rest of the story."

Noble Heart nodded and did his best to dry his eyes, "They do, we came here at the behest of the Great Wishing Star and started the Care Bear Family. Before you ask, our names were much as they are now, after all Perfect and Polite are their actual names." He turned to Grams, "Grams is the only real exception, that was just a nickname Hugs and Tugs gave her."

Grams nodded, "My birth name is Rose, but I haven't gone by that name in years."

Everyone sat in silence, some tears flowing and everyone thinking about what had been said, until Guidance Heart stood up. "Excuse me, but you said you were all born like this, as you are now right?"

Noble Heart still had the best composure amongst the founders so he answered, "Yes, we were all born as Heartbound."

Guidance Heart touched her chest, "We weren't." Everyone turned to listen to her as what she said dawned on them. "Other than Love Heart and Sweet Heart, all of us Care Bear Magi were born as normal animals and changed into this, except Defiant and Crafty but even they used to be humans. So what are we?"

Noble Heart and True Heart exchanged looks, stunned for a response. True Heart fumbled her words, "I...don't know."

OoOoO

Love Heart and Confidence Heart stood in front of Take Care as she looked over the medical files on her computer. She hummed slightly as she opened another file. "Well here it is, there are some differences I just never thought much about it before." She looked up at the two Magi.

"Well, what is it?" Confidence Heart leaned on the desk.

"Take a look," Take Care slid aside to let Love Heart and Confidence see her information. "Compared to normal Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins, Care Bear Magi have dense muscular and bone structures, you can survive much harsher injuries than we could but their brains aren't as...sophisticated."

"Are you calling me stupid?" Confidence Heart glared at Take Care.

Take Care held up her hands defensively, "No, but our brains can absorb and learn things much faster than humans, you're about on the same level as a human. Just for example: I managed to finish a medical school degree in 8 years, including my residency, while for most humans it takes a minimum of 12 to 16 years to get licensed. But that's not all," she carefully edged the two away and changed the display to show two new documents, "I remembered something odd about Hugs and Tugs. You see when they were cubs just brought up from our old homeland, they were as helpless as human children at that age were. They needed Noble Heart, True Heart and Grams to look after and protect them, but Hugs and Tugs... Even when they were toddlers still in diapers they were up and active and helping us to defeat No-Heart and doing acrobatic tricks that shouldn't have been possible at their age. I didn't think much of it at the time, until I compared them to yours and Sweet Heart's records, Love Heart."

"What about it?" Love Heart gave her a curious look.

"All four of you seem to have the advantages of both species, stronger minds and sturdier bodies both beyond that of humans. The only thing the four of you have in common is that you were born to Care Bears after we were given our special powers." She paused for a moment to think, "Maybe this is really why No-Heart cursed us. Not just because he was afraid of there being more of us but because future generations would be stronger than the first."

"Maybe..." Love Heart mused.

Confidence Heart sighed and rolled her eyes, "Great, so I'm inferior now?"

Love Heart turned to her and gave her a kiss, "Not the way I see it."

Confidence smiled, "Thanks. But why were we created like this in the first place?" she looked down at her hands.

"You mean why were the Magi made from animals and humans instead of born as Care Bears?" Take Care shrugged, "The only one who would know that is the Great Wishing Star but the only time we get to talk to him directly is when we round up the star or heart buddies to take them to big star point."

"You mean those freaky looking stars and hearts with faces we see flying around?" Confidence shuddered, "What's with those things?"

"They were creatures created to help look after us when we were younger, but as we grew up and learned more they became more... irrelevant except when we take them to the Great Wishing Star." Take Care said. "they both live here and help reinforce the magic that shields us from the outside and make the clouds solid so we can live up here but every couple years we have to take them to Big Star Point so the Great Wishing Star can replenish their energies and keep our land alive."

Love Heart nodded, "Next time that happens I'm going with them. I need to ask that star about us."

"That's probably the best way to find out," Take Care nodded.

"Well, we're heading out then." Confidence Heart turned to leave along with Love Heart.

"Just a moment. Love Heart, can I speak to you alone?" Take Care said.

Love Heart stopped, "OK."

"I'll wait outside," Confidence Heart stepped out.

Love Heart turned around to see Take Care giving him an odd look. "Is there something wrong with me, doctor?"

Take Care shook her head, "Not at all, I just wanted to ask you something." A blush came to her pink cheeks, "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Love Heart started, "What? I mean why?"

Take Care took a deep breath, "Love Heart, I haven't had a meaningful relationship with anyone in my life and I wanted to give it a try."

"Wait, you mean up here in this 'free love' world you've never had any sort of relationship?" Love Heart was taken aback.

Take Care sighed, "I'm not quite the same as the rest of them. They were all cubs when we came up here but I was a young child, about 7 or 8. I had to help look after the cubs and when I was old enough I left for medical school. I was, and still am, their big sister so I can't see them as anything other than a family I helped raise. It would be awkward at the very best." She smiled up at Love Heart, "Then your group came up here and I thought that I could have a chance. So I decided to ask you."

A bit less confused, Love Heart asked again, "Why me?"

Take Care sat back, "Honestly? Anger Heart's seems committed to be monogamous with Guidance Heart, the same with Sage Heart and Life Heart, Defiant Heart's gay, I can never get more than a word in with Independent Bear and I don't like girls that way. You were the best choice. So, would you like to go on a date with me?"

Love Heart scratched the back of his head, "Maybe, I mean I'm flattered and after Harmony made a pass at me and taught me some piano I guess I'm warming up to this idea, but I need to think about it."

"That's fine, just don't take too long." Take Care turned back to her computer as Love Heart made a hasty exit.

Confidence Heart was leaning up against the wall of Take Care's home/hospital, "She asked you out." It was a statement, not a quiestion

Love Heart nodded, "Yeah. Still not sure though."

They walked together, Confidence with her hands behind her head, "She sounded kinda desperate. I think you should go out with her."

"Really?" Love Heart cocked an eyebrow to her.

Confidence stopped and lowered her arms, "Yeah, I mean why not? You're a bit nervous and I wasn't sure but why should we worry." She smiled, "I still love you, no matter what."

"I love you too," Love Heart gave her a kiss, "I'll accept tomorrow, let's just make tonight for us OK?"

Confidence smiled and hugged him, "Deal."

OoOoO

Passion Heart was worried when he was strapped down to some sort of table in Soul Heart's house as she worked with a spell book and several piles of herbs on a large table. Finally, Soul Heart began to cast a spell into a mixture she had created. A few sparks of white light and strange words later, Soul Heart came up with a small green orb of energy, no larger than a crab-apple.

"There, done although a bit smaller than I would have liked." Soul Heart turned to Passion Heart, who was still strapped onto her operating table.

"What the hell is that thing?" Passion gripped his restraints as Soul Heart approached him.

"Just the key to our victory, I believe," Soul Heart stepped up and held the orb to his chest, "This is going to hurt." She pushed the orb into Passion Heart's chest, right over his chest symbol.

Passion Heart screamed in pain and pulled at his restraints as the orb sunk halfway into his chest. Soul Heart strained to keep pushing the orb into his chest, until she saw the restraints splintering under his strength and she pulled it out. "Rejected. Not surprising." She turned back to her workbench, "But we have plenty of time to perfect it."

OoOoO

The following day, Defiant Heart Badger stood with his arms folded as he stared at the cloud car in front of him. "So what are we doing out here again?"

Loyal Heart Dog walked up to the cloud car and stepped into the passenger's seat, "We're going to test to see if you can get back through the barrier. I'm going along just to be safe. You did pass your driver's test, Anger Heart?"

The fox nodded and walked around to the driver's side, "I did, still a bit shaky thought."

"That's fine, Defiant Heart you can get in now." Loyal Heart motioned to the back seat. Defiant Heart groaned but got in the back and buckled in.

"Don't worry, they'll be monitoring us from the Hall of Hearts and the Star-o-scope just in case," Loyal Heart said.

Anger Heart started the car, "Alright, here goes."

Love Heart, Confidence Heart and Guidance Heart stood by, watching everything unfold.

The ride down to Earth was a bit bumpy as Anger Heart adjusted to the descent. There was no conversation except for Loyal Heart navigating them towards an area of wilderness.

Defiant Heart was the first to step out of the car once they landed, "OK, now what?"

Loyal Heart unbuckled and stood up, "Now you two head back to the Kingdom of Caring to see if you can get in without my help."

"And what, you just stand there?" Anger Heart turned to look at Loyal Heart without getting out of the cloud car.

"Yes," Loyal Heart nodded, "And I'll come up to help you if you can't get through the barrier. Get in," he motioned for Defiant to get in the seat. Defiant Heart sighed and got in. Anger Heart revved up the engine and they took off. Loyal Heart watched them go until they were just a spec amongst the other clouds.

A growl from nearby brought Loyal Heart's attention back to Earth and he turned around. He saw an orange and silver Care Wolverine standing behind him wearing only a pair of black pants. The wolverine had a vicious look in his eyes and his mouth hung open showing off his razor sharp teeth.

Loyal Heart was instantly on guard. "Who are you?"

"Your death!" The wolverine launched forwards, mouth open and claws outstretched.

OoOoO

The ride back up was smoother and passed in silence, until they got to the barrier.

Anger Heart shuddered, "Do you feel that?"

Defiant Heart dropped his dour expression and looked forwards, "Yeah and I think I know." Both breathed deep and suddenly Care-a-Lot came into view. "I think that was it."

"Yeah, HELLO!" Anger Heart shouted to the landing pad, where Love Heart Bear, Confidence Heart Fennec and Guidance Heart Raccoon stood waiting.

As soon as Anger Heart got out of the car, Guidance Heart ran to him and gave him a big hug and kiss.

Love Heart smirked, "I guess the mission was a success. Better call Loyal Heart and get him back home."

Before they could do anything, Wish Bear came running up to the landing pad. "You have to go back! Loyal Heart's in danger!"

"In danger, from what?" Love Heart tensed up as he waited for the reply.

"A Care Wolverine, like us! He's trying to kill him!" Wish was starting to hyperventilate.

Confidence Heart's eyes narrowed, "Passion Heart." Without warning she turned and ran to the edge of the clouds with Love Heart right alongside her. They both jumped off the edge and began to fly down towards Earth.

"Did you finally learn to fly!?" Love Heart shouted over the wind rushing past them.

"Haven't got the hang of it yet, but I can land safely!" Confidence shouted back.

OoOoO

Loyal Heart was bleeding from several deep scratches along his arms and chest, having just barely been able to keep ahead of Passion Heart's lethal strikes. But he was starting to tire and the blood loss was making him feel faint. When he stumbled and fell to his back he thought it was the end as the wolverine readied for a killing pounce, jaws open as if ready to feed.

"HIYYAAAAA!" Confidence Heart's shout was accompanied by her right foot slamming into Passion Heart's face at near terminal velocity which sent him flying. Confidence winced visibly as the air bubble that had slowed her down dissipated and Love Heart landed next to her.

"Are you alright," Love Heart helped her to stand.

Confidence Heart was shaky on her right leg but managed to stand, "Hurts like hell but I'll be fine. Loyal Heart!" She turned to the dog who was barely conscious.

"Hurts, all over," he muttered.

"Just stay awake, we'll get Take Care down here to..." Love Heart's word faded as a still very much conscious Passion Heart Wolverine stood up from where he landed, eyes murderously focused on him and Confidence Heart.

Confidence Heart dropped into a fighting stance, "He was that strong before, what the hell happened?"

"Doesn't matter," Love Heart conjured his swords into his hands. "We just have to hold him off till Take Care gets here."

Passion Heart charged at them, Love Heart braced his swords and caught his claw attacks, but the swords didn't go through him like he expected, just stopping on Passion's hands as he snapped his jaw forwards to try and bite Love Heart.

"Get off him!" Confidence Heart charged in and punched Passion Heart hard in the side of his head, but barely managed to make him budge. Passion Heart grabbed Love Heart's swords and swung him sideways into Confidence Heart, knocking her to the ground.

Confidence cried out in pain as she hit the solid ground, "My leg!" she shouted.

Love Heart tried to get up off her but was pinned by Passion Heart's claws that pierced into his chest.

"YAAAH!" A blast of fire momentarily enveloped Passion Heart and he released his claws from Love Heart as Anger Heart and Defiant Heart landed their cloud car next to him.

Passion Heart's fur was barely singed as he turned on the two newcomers. Love Heart only had a moment to shout, "RUN!" before the wolverine charged them.

Defiant Heart already had his conjured spear in hand and stabbed it into the charging wolverine, only for the tip to shgatter as it struck his chest and Passion Heart swatted him aside. Anger Heart tried to shoot fire at him again but the wolverine just bowled through it and bit into Anger Heart's arm. The fox cried out in pain as he instinctively tried to pull his hand free and he felt a "pop" in his left shoulder as it went limp.

"Lightning Spear!" A bright bolt of lightning shot into Passion Heart's back and he let go of Anger Heart's arm and turned on Love Heart.

Love Heart had discarded his swords and he shot his arms forwards, shooting lightning into Passion Heart. The wolverine winced as the lightning struck him but pushed forwards. Love Heart conjured his swords again and began to swing to counter the blows from the wolverine's clawed hands.

Confidence Heart tried to stand, but couldn't move her right leg. She watched as Love Heart dueled Passion Heart across the wilderness clearing. Love Heart's swords were actually starting to draw blood as the fight wore on, but the wolverine wasn't even slowing down.

Their attention was drawn by the sound of the cloud ambulance, Take Care's personal emergency vehicle, as it landed nearby. Guidance Heart had been drafted as a temporary nurse and she and Take Care managed to load the four injured Care Animals into the back, all on stretchers and told not to move.

Love Heart was starting to slow down but he saw Guidance Heart waiting for him and he shouted, "Run! I'll hold him!" He took a claw swipe to his right leg but countered with slash from his sword, cutting deep into the wolverine's left arm. Guidance Heart didn't want to leave him but climbed into the back as the ambulance took off.

Love Heart blocked another blow, his arms aching from the repeated strikes. Passion Heart's nightmarish strength was finally beginning to overwhelm him as one of his swords cracked, then Love Heart felt something snap in his right forearm. Love Heart cried out in pain and jumped up to avoid another blow from the wolverine's claws. Passion Heart scanned around furiously for Love Heart then looked up to see him hovering overhead, holding what was now his broken right arm.

Love Heart's brief reprieve ended when Passion Heart shot his right arm upwards and a field of dark energy enveloped him. Love Heart felt the pull of intense gravity dragging him back to earth and coupled with the pain he wasn't able to conjure up a bolt of lightning, so he fell back on a desperate measure as he remembered something Tenderheart had showed him as he focused his feelings into his chest and his chest symbol began to glow.

"Care Bears, countdown! 4! 3! 2! 1! Care Bear Stare!" A bright beam of white energy fired off at Passion Heart. Immediately the beam of gravity stopped as Passion Heart roared out in pain, swiping at the beam as if trying to force it away until his finally collapsed on his back. Love Heart didn't wait around to see what would happen and flew upwards, back to the Kingdom of Caring.

Passion Heart lay still for a moment before a small orb of pale green energy floated up and out of his chest before dissipating into mist. A moment later Soul Heart appeared and shook her head, "More successful but it only made you a raging beast. I need to amplify your strength and let you actually use the weapons and magic that you can. Next time I expect one of their corpses to be lying here." She grabbed his arm and they both teleported away.

OoOoO

Love Heart didn't know how he managed to concentrate hard enough to return to the Kingdom of Caring with all the pain he felt and he collapsed on the first bank of clouds that he reached.

When he finally regained consciousness he was in an injury ward at Take Care's hospital and a cast was over his right forearm. Take Care stood over him and smiled, "Welcome back, Love Heart."

"Good to be back." Love Heart used his left arm to push himself into a sitting position, "How is everyone?"

"Alive and breathing but all hurt: you have a broken forearm, Confidence Heart's right leg is broken, Defiant Heart had a few broken ribs, Anger Heart's left arm was dislocated and his hand nearly bitten off, and Loyal Heart lost a lot of blood but I got him a transfusion from my supply so he'll recover."

"You keep a blood supply?" Love Heart cocked an eyebrow.

Take Care nodded, "I do. I don't know if human blood will work properly with ours so I keep a supply of everyone's blood on hand just to be safe, which reminds me I need to get some donations from all of you when you have time, but that can wait." She looked up at Love Heart with concern, "Will you be alright?"

"I'll recover, but I need to talk to everyone about what happened. We have a serious problem." Love Heart looked down at the blue cast on his right forearm, "Guess this is a bad time to accept your offer of a date."

Take Care smiled, "Not at all, but we can talk about that later. If you have something to tell everyone then go to it." She gave him a kiss on the cheek as he stood up.

Love Heart blushed slightly, "Thank you."