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A/N: The following stories from other authors take place between the last chapter and this one: From Mariel/ContraryHeartLiger: Chance, I Wanna Be Like You!, and What They Don't Know.

Chapter 3: Hurricane

Two and a half years had passed since Alex and Germaine came to live in the Kingdom of Caring. They still didn't consider themselves full members of the Care Bear Family despite the insistence of everyone around them, but even so they adapted. Some questioned their decision to keep living together and even sharing the same bed but no one tried to force them apart. Even though Alex could cook, and had taught Germaine, they still went to eat in the Hall of Hearts every now and then if only to socialize.

Alex sat in his seat and stared vacantly into his bowl of sausage-lentil soup.

"Alex, are you alright?" Germaine came to sit down across from Alex. She had started to develop in her adolescence, growing a bit taller and filling out so she needed some of her clothes to be adjusted by Grams Bear.

Alex hadn't changed much though his voice had cracked and he had grown a few inches to be almost eye level with the other Care Bears. Alex looked up at Germaine with a horrified expression then pointed, without looking, to the table where Regal Heart Lioness and Stellar Heart Tiger sat with their children. Germaine turned to look and blanched somewhat.

Shortly after Alex and Germaine had arrived in the Kingdom of Caring, Regal and Stellar had a son named Chance Heart Liger, a cream and orange striped liger with a loose shaggy mane and a pair of yellow dice with heart shaped dots for a tummy symbol. Both Chance and his twin older sisters, Contrary Heart Liger and Hopeful Heart Liger, had grown up... right past Alex and Germaine.

Alex and Germaine still looked like teenagers, at 14 years old, but Connie and Hope were now adults, only a little over three and a half years old but physically adults, as for Chance he was only two and a half but his physical age still surpassed the two newcomers, being about 15 years old. Needless to say this made both Alex and Germaine feel even more like outcasts. Chance had teased them about this once, and their lack of tummy symbols, which had caused Alex to snap and attack him, then the situation quickly devolved into a fist fight until Brave Heart and Defender Bear had pulled them apart. They had been reprimanded for the incident, Alex by Noble Heart and Chance by his parents, but since then Chance had tried to be friendlier to Alex, though the fox mostly ignored his attempts and Germaine was too hurt to want to talk to him.

Germaine took her seat, feeling the same pit in her stomach that she knew Alex felt.

"It's not fair!" Alex grit his teeth then picked up his bowl and drank the soup, ignoring his spoon.

"I know... but all we can do is wait." Germaine tried her best to smile at him, "you turning out to be quite the handsome todd, Alex."

Alex blushed as he set the bowl down but smiled, "Thank you, and you're still beautiful." Both of them giggled, their spirits lifted somewhat.

"Hey Alex! Hey Germaine! Just jammin'? Can I join in?" Harmony Bear was standing at the side of their table. She was a dark purple Care Bear whose tummy symbol was a smiling flower with five large petals each a different color.

"Huh? Oh yeah you can eat here," Alex said. Germaine just nodded.

Harmony took her seat next to Alex. "Feelin' bummed because of the Ligers again?"

Alex nodded, looking at the family in his peripheral vision.

"Don't worry about it," Harmony patted his shoulder, "I remember when little brother Love Heart was still a baby. Nothing's wrong with you, you're just different and I know you can do so many awesome things. Speaking of which," Harmony paused to take a spoonful of soup and gulp it down, "You two still comin' to practise today?"

"Of course! I want to try that singing that song from Bubblegum Crisis today, 'Tonight a Hurricane," Germaine because very animated at the though of music practise.

About a year ago, when Alex and Germaine finally noticed how fast the Liger siblings were aging, Harmony had offered to give them music lessons to help take their minds off it as they still couldn't go on caring missions safely. Turned out that both Alex and Germaine were gifted musicians and natural singers (Alex was a Tenor after his voice cracked and Germaine was a Soprano, Harmony was an Alto); it wasn't long before the three of them recruited Brave Heart Lion to be in a small band together. They hadn't performed for the family yet but the few who had listened to their practise sessions kept encouraging them to do so. Germaine had finally worked up the nerve to suggest they try some songs from anime, even thought neither she nor Alex could fully understand what they were singing at times. This one song was an exception as it had been translated to English.

"Sure thing, I'll just grab Brave Heart when we're done here. You'll do great, I know it. Harmony reassure them before going back to her lunch.

"Hey Brave Heart! We're headin' to practise, are you coming!?" Alex shouted as he stood up from his seat, empty bowl in hand.

"Of course. You couldn't keep me away!" Brave Heart shouted back. He paused when he heard snickering coming from his nieces and nephew, "And just what is so funny?"

"I just don't see you playing music, or singing *snerk*" Connie was doing her best to hold in her laugher. Chance didn't even both trying anymore and burst out laughing.

Regal was doing her best to try and look innocent but Brave Heart noticed. "Regal, what did you show them?"

Regal cleared her throat then grinned somewhat guiltily, "I might have shown them that old video of you singing about the peanut butter balls."

Brave Heart groaned and put a hand over his face, "It's bad enough they made me dress up in a peanut costume and sing that stupid recipe song, why did they have to give us a copy to keep embarrassing me?"

Several years ago the Care Bear Family had worked with a few different animation companies to create television series based on their real life adventures. It had been low quality and exaggerated but it had helped their exposure to the world at large. Plush toys and greeting cards based on them had also been created. In the later episodes they had been asked to create some educational content for one of the shows and the results had been... less than favorable.

Brave Heart all but stormed off, muttering about cartoons losing ideas as they went on.

Chance watched him go, a silly grin plastered on his face, "I bet he hasn't got any better. Wanna go see him play?"

"Sure, let's grab Tugs and Hugs too," Connie stood up and called out for the twin bears to join them. Hope was a bit hesitant but the prospect of seeing her uncle try and play music even got her interested and the five of them left as a group.

"Be nice to your uncle! Oo!" Regal's hand shot to her pregnant tummy. "Stel! He kicked!" Stellar Heart smiled as he came around to feel their fourth child kicking inside her tummy.

OoOoO

"So thought of a name for our little band yet?" Brave Heart was tuning an electric guitar, testing each of the strings.

Germaine shook her head as she testing the bass guitar in her lap.

"No stress, G, let it come naturally. This is just for fun," Harmony took the bass guitar from Guidance, "Are you sure you want to sing today?"

Germaine looked back at Alex, as he was testing the drum set, then back at Harmony, "Yes, I want to sing something that means a lot to me and doesn't," Germaine's face turned beet red, "have such strong lyrics."

"How was I supposed to know how dirty 'Just Communication' really was?" Alex muttered.

Harmony humphed, "Oh please, we've heard so much worse in unsubtle hip-hop songs."

Brave Heart chuckled, "Com'on now, let's just have some fun. I want to hear Germaine sing."

There was a knock at Harmony's front door, "Hey Uncle Brave Heart! Can we watch you play?!" Chance's voice called into the house.

Brave Heart tensed slightly but took a deep breath. Harmony put a hand on Brave Heart's shoulder and gave him a reassuring look before she headed for the front door. Outside she found most of the second generation outside: Contrary Heart Liger, Hopeful Heart Liger, Chance Heart Liger, Hugs Bear and Tugs Bear all smiling innocently. Harmony glanced briefly back at Brave Heart then turned back to the ground on her doorstep.

"Sorry, but Germaine's trying to sing today and I don't want to make her nervous," Harmony said.

Germaine's spoke up, "No, it's fine. I need to practice performing in front of a group."

Harmony sighed and stepped aside to let the in. She gave an apologetic glance to Brave Heart as she walked back to their little practise stage, "Sorry I tried," she whispered.

Brave Heart pumped his fists, "It's fine, I'll just have to show them the real musician in this lion!"

"Umm, Brave Heart, you said that out loud," Germaine said.

Brave Heart had even struck a pose, right index finger pointed to the sky which caused the younger generation to burst into laughter. Thoroughly humiliated, Brave Heart lifted the electric guitar's strap over his shoulders as Germaine moved to the microphone stand in the middle.

"Yeah, go on, uncle, show us the 'real musician'," Connie shouted.

"If ya'll insist," Brave Heart played a scale up and down the guitar at high speed. The five just stared as him as he grinned, "So much better than a stupid peanut butter ball song. Ya ready Germaine?"

Germaine looked back at Alex then nodded. Alex counted off the starting beat with his sticks and the song began. As Germaine sang, her nerves evaporated and she threw herself into her performance, cradling the microphone as she continued.

(Song: Tonight a Hurricane, English version. Germaine sings, Harmony and Alex give backup in []. Try listening over the next scene if you want, just a suggestion)

OoOoO

Wish Bear approached the star-o-scope and peered through it, humming to herself as she scanned the earth below, searching for any potential problems. It wasn't necessary but she still enjoyed doing this while waiting for an actual emergency.

"Oh my stars!" There was a dark cloud emerging from a forest and ahead of it, four... Care Bears! She zoomed in. Yes, they were Care Bears: a green one, a yellow one, a silver one and one the color of sand and they were in danger. She looked up and thanked the Great Wishing Star when she saw Defender Bear and Truth Bear conversing nearby.

"Phoenix! Truth! I need your help!" Wish Bear waved frantically to them, catching their attention. Both bears dashed over to Wish, as she held the star-o-scope in place for them to look through. Defender only needed an instant to see what was going on and he let Truth peer through as well.

"What is that thing?" Truth asked.

"No idea, but those four need our help." Defender turned to Wish, "Wish, can you get Take Care to bring her ambulance down there, we're going to need her."

Wish nodded, "Yes."

"Thank you," they shared quick kiss before bolting in opposite directions, with Truth Bear hot on Defender's heels.

"What about a cloud car?" Truth shouted.

"Too slow, we're going to fly!" as he reached the edge of the clouds, Defender Bear dove off the edge and flew straight down. Truth didn't question it and when he was over the edge he forced himself to fly faster to keep up with Defender Bear.

[did you know] On the stormy highway [did you dream] You were spinning in the lonely night [did you lie] Elusive dreams, memories of yesterday. [did you know] Visualising illusions [did you dream] Was my way of life [did you lie] The howling wind strips them all away [no, no, no, my heart].

"Are we just going to keep running!?" The yellow bear was panting as he tried to keep pace with the other three, visibly struggling to keep running.

"No choice... Too tired to fight!" The green bear called over his shoulder

The sandy one, a fennec fox, was running full tilt, then she stopped and whirled around to face the darkness coming after them. She grit her teeth as her tummy symbol, a blue ribbon with a heart shaped button, glowed and metal guards appeared on her forearms and shins.

The green bear saw her stop and skidded to a halt while turning, "Confidence Heart! Don't!"

"NO! I'm sick of running! I'm going to face him here and end this!"

The silver bear slowed to stop as the yellow bear tripped and nearly fell over, managing to stay standing as he turned to face the dark mist that followed them.

Big city standing here we're Heart to heart Children lost, seeking love out in the dark Big city still surviving Day by day Will you ever ease the pain Tears won't take away? [Tears won't take away]

From inside the dark mist a human emerged. He wore nothing but a loose shirt, pants and a cloak with shoulder pads, all different shades of grey. His long stringy hair was also grey as was his complexion. The mist flowed from his body and began condensing into tentacles. He gave the four of them a slasher smile, "At last. I've caught you!"

"DUSK HEART!" a blast of wind propelled Confidence Heart into a charge.

Tonight a hurricane Feel the hurricane Spending this lonely night loving you [loving you] Tonight a hurricane Touch me hurricane Show me your love with your touch. Burning touch.

The mist pulled into him, allowing Dusk Heart to lash out at Confidence with tentacles as she charged. Confidence managed to deflect the first two lashes off her arm guards, only to have a third slice her across the middle, staining her fur red with blood as she was knocked back.

"CONFIDENCE NO!" The green bear had enough and lightning danced across his arms which he thrust forwards, sending a blue tangle of lightning bolts crashing into Dusk Heart, blowing him away from where the fennec lay. His tummy symbol, a large heart with three small pink hearts inside and surrounded by twelve smaller pink hearts, lit up as a longsword appeared in each of his hands. Lightning danced across the blades as he charged towards the still disoriented Dusk Heart.

[did you know] I could never share the pain [did you dream] Burning in your heart [did you lie] If you keep saying everything is all right [did you know] No more streets in the pouring rain [did you dream] Keeping us apart [did you lie] Tell me how to help you through the night [sing sing sing my heart]

"Damnit, Love Heart, Confidence, why now?" the silver bear drew a katana into his left hand from a sheath he held in his right hand.

"We can't run now, Indy!" The yellow bear had regained his footing and raised his right hand, index and middle fingers extended towards Dusk Heart. As Dusk Heart recovered a bright yellow laser fired from the yellow bear's fingers and struck him in the chest, making a small scorch mark as Love Heart slashed at Dusk Heart with his swords.

"You too Flash Heart?" Indy sighed, "Guess we're going to die here."

Dusk Heart's skin wasn't even phased by Love Heart's electrified swords and he slammed a mass of darkness into him that pushed him back, right as Flash Heart darted in, a sword of solid yellow light held in his hands. The light cut halfway through the mass of shadow and scored a hit on Dusk Heart, but the mass of shadow reformed and knocked Flash Heart into the air and he came down, cracking his head on a rock in the field.

Big city standing here we're Heart to heart Children lost, seeking love out in the dark Big city still surviving Day by day Will you ever ease the pain Tears won't take away? [I want your love]

Love Heart had regained his bearings in time to see Flash Heart hit the rock and Dusk Heart bearing down on him, his darkness forming sharp-tipped tentacle that was ready to stab Flash Heart.

"RAAAGH!" Love Heart sent out a barrage of lightning bolts from his hands that fragmented the tentacles. Indy charged forwards and sliced at Dusk Heart, barely avoiding being skewered as another tentacle swung at him.

Love Heart ran over to where Confidence Heart lay unconscious, her blood starting to leak onto the grass. He knelt down, hoping he could do something, then was stuck through the back by a black tentacle.

Tonight a hurricane Feel the hurricane Spending this lonely night loving you [loving you] Tonight a hurricane Touch me hurricane Show me your love with your touch. Burning touch.

"Don't get distracted," Dusk Heart said, he pulled the tentacle out and let Love Heart fall to the ground. Indy was stunned at seeing Love Heart struck down. Dusk Heart took advantage of his distraction and forced a mass of darkness onto Indy, covering his body as he tried to suffocate Indy by forcing his darkness into his throat. "At long last, you all die!"

There was a flash of fire and light as a streak cut through the mass of darkness. It melted off Indy who fell to his knees, coughing as he tried to regain his breath.

"What?!" Dusk Heart turned to see the new arrival, a white Care Bear with a shield for his tummy symbol and holding a medieval longsword in his hands. "YOU!" he lashed out only to be struck from behind by a second newcomer.

Big city standing here we're Heart to heart Children lost, seeking love out in the dark Big city still surviving Day by day Will you ever ease the pain Tears won't take away? [I want your love]

Truth Bear held his guandao, a Chinese polearm with a heavy blade on one end, in both hands and jumped back as Dusk Heart turned his attention to him. "And you! You will not leave alive this time!"

"What? WHOA!" Truth Bear was on his toes, creating a magical shield around himself to block Dusk Heart's attacks.

"Are you OK?" Defender Bear was helping Indy to stand.

Indy coughed, some black sludge coming out of mouth and dissolving on the ground, "No! Help them! I'll be fine." he pointed to where the others lay before reaching out to retrieve his katana and scabbard.

Seeing the urgency in Indy's eyes, Phoenix ran over to Confidence and Love Heart. He was horrified at the injuries, especially on Confidence Heart. They wouldn't survive without immediate treatment. Phoenix checked one last time to make sure that Dusk Heart was still focused on Truth Bear, then turned back to Confidence Heart and placed his hands on her sliced open stomach. His hands glowed white as the blood flow stopped and the wound closed, at least enough to make sure she wouldn't bleed until Take Care got there. He turned his attention to Love Heart next, thankfully the hole in his chest hadn't killed him instantly so he used his magic to seal the hole as it was starting to bleed.

Tonight a hurricane Feel the hurricane Spending this lonely night loving you [loving you] Tonight a hurricane Touch me hurricane Show me your love with your touch.

"I never thought I'd see you two again, but I will have my vengeance and your energy!" Dusk Heart's voice had become more hissy and growly as he spoke.

"What are you talking about who are you?!" Truth Bear demanded. His shield shattered and he had to dive sideways to avoid being crushed by a mass of darkness.

A siren sounded overhead as the cloud ambulance descended towards the battlefield. Dusk Heart noticed and let out a roar then sent several tentacles of darkness towards the ambulance, only for both Defender Bear and Truth Bear to fly up and deflect the appendages away from the ambulance. Phoenix's eyes blazed in anger at Dusk Heart and he shot out his right hand, a beam of white energy blasting down at him and engulfing Dusk Heart. Truth Bear yanked back on Defender Bear, snapping him out of his rage and ending the beam, leaving Dusk Heart stunned on the ground. Truth pointed to where the ambulance hand landed, next to Indy.

Take Care jumped out of the ambulance and threw open the back doors. She was about to speak when someone grabbed her foot. She nearly kicked out until she saw Indy on the ground, still hacking out black goo from his lungs. He looked up pleadingly at her, like a scared child. "Please help them!" He pointed a shaky hand towards his three fallen friends.

"I will, once you get in," Take Care hefted Indy and forced him to get into the ambulance. He heaved then let out the last of the black good from his mouth and collapsed into the ambulance's back, unconscious but still clutching his sheathed katana.

Tonight a hurricane _Feel the hurricane Spending this lonely night loving you [loving you] Tonight a hurricane Touch me hurricane Show me your love with your touch. Burning touch.

_

Take Care turned only to find that Defender and Truth had created stretchers with their tummy symbols and were wheeling the bear and the fennec towards the ambulance. Flash Heart was stumbling around, barely able to stay upright so Take Care ran over to him and did her best to keep him stable as they made it to the ambulance.

As soon as everyone was inside, Take Care climbed in, locked the door behind her and ran up to the driver's seat. "Keep them stable, that monster looks like it's recovering."

Dusk Heart was indeed recovering from Defender's assault and was looking ready to charge at the ambulance. Take Care muttered a quick apology as she took off with a sudden upward swerve she would never have considered with patients in the back, which forced Defender and Truth to keep the stretchers form rolling out the back. Dusk Heart's charge missed the ambulance as it flew overhead then he turned and roared "NO! I WILL NOT BE DENIED!" His cloak transformed into a pair of black wings and he took to the sky after the ambulance.

Defender spotted the winged human pursuing them through the ambulance's rear window. "No, he's flying! Now what?"

"We can't let him reach the Kingdom of Caring. I can hold him back while you get away," Truth was heading to the back when Defender stopped him.

"No don't! There has to be-" the click of the latch on the back cut him off as they saw Flash Heart had stumbled to the back. Defender was forced to create a shield to stop the other three patients from flying out the back as the door opened and the pressure dropped, Flash Heart held on to a safety bar at the left side of the back, somehow managing to avoid being sucked outside.

"What's going on?!" Take Care shouted over the roar of the wind.

Flash Heart, through the pain of his concussion, managed to focus on the approaching Dusk Heart as he held on for dear life and light gathered in his right hand.

Burning touch.

Dusk Heart lunged and was about to latch onto the ambulance when Flash Heart roared, shut his eyes and fired off a blast of intense white light right in Dusk Heart's face, Dusk Heart cried out as his wings dissolved and his hands flew to his eyes, and then he fell to earth.

BURNING TOUCH!

_ _

Germaine was flustered and red in the face as she finished. Connie, Hope, Chance, Hugs and Tugs were amazed, especially since Brave Heart had played his guitar so flawlessly, and all five of them applauded the performance.

"Great job, G, you sang that perfectly," Harmony made a circle with her right thumb and forefinger.

"Thank you," Germaine smiled.

"OK, uncle, I admit it: you can play music," Connie said. "But can you sing?"

Brave Heart sighed as he lifted the guitar off his shoulders, "No. That off key singing from the video was really me." This made Chance start laughing again.

Alex stood up from the drum and put a hand on Germaine's shoulder, "Do you want to stop for the day?"

Germaine nodded, "Yes."

The sound of the cloud ambulance's siren reached them as soon as the front door was opened. Hugs and Tugs shared a concerned look before they bolted towards Take Care's clinic, followed by Connie, Hope and Chance.

Germaine took Alex's hand, "We should go and see what's happening."

Alex grimaced slightly, "I don't want to see, what if it's... gory?"

Germaine shuddered, "I... just want to make sure everyone's alright."

Alex sighed, "Alright, I'll go with you." Germaine smiled then pulled him along as they raced to catch up to the second generation.

OoOoO

Truth Bear had darted forwards to grab Flash Heart before he fell out of the ambulance and used his magic to shut the door behind them as he set a half-conscious Flash Heart on a free stretcher. Indy was still passed out against the wall.

With Dusk Heart gone the rest of the flight went smoothly, or at least as smoothly as it could get when Take Care was rushing to save four patients who could be in critical condition. "Defender! Did you use any magic to heal them before I got there?" Take Care called to the back.

"Just on the green bear and the rabbit, they were bleeding heavily so I had to do something." Defender checked over the patients again.

"That's fine, but if they were bleeding heavily they might have internal organ damage so I'm going to have to operate on them." Take Care was relieved as she saw her clinic come into view and slowed down to come in for a soft landing.

Truth Bear appeared in the front of the ambulance as they came to a halt. "Take Care, the green bear's tummy symbol is glowing!"

"What?!" Take Care undid her seatbelt and looked into the back of the ambulance. The green bear's tummy symbol was glowing a faint red, and getting brighter by the moment. "We'll have to deal with that later. Help me get them inside." She hopped out the side of the ambulance's cab as Defender opened the door from inside then pushed Confidence Heart's stretcher out of the ambulance.

Get Well Bear, now three and a quarter years old (about 19 in human years), had heard the approaching siren and had the emergency doors open for Take Care as she came in. "What can I do, mom?" were the first words out of her mouth as Take Care wheeled past with Confidence Heart on a stretcher.

"Make sure the other three make it in here then help me keep them alive," Take Care said as she pushed the stretcher into the operating room.

Defender came next, pushing Love Heart on the next stretcher, followed by Truth Bear carrying an unconscious Indy on his shoulders. He saw Get Well and gestured back over his shoulder with his head. "There's one more, he's still conscious but can't stay upright."

"Got it!" Get Well darted over to where Flash Heart was struggling to stand and helped prop him upright. "Lean on me, I'll get you inside."

By the time Get Well got into the emergency room, Take Care had already changed into a surgical gown and mask. She had already heard what Defender and Truth had to say about the fight. "Get Well, give him to Defender and get prepped to help me," Take Care had taken on a commanding attitude, harsh but necessary for an emergency. She turned back to Defender and Truth, "The yellow one sounds like he might have a concussion, lie him down in a regular exam room and give him a painkiller but just let him rest and keep him from exerting himself. Do the same for the silver one and let me know if he starts having any violent reactions. Get Well," Take Care turned to se her daughter had already pulled on a surgical robe and mask, "Do exactly as I tell you. The green bear is stable for now but the fennec has some critical organ damage I have to repair or she won't make it."

"Yes."

OoOoO

While Care Bears physically aged and developed six times faster than humans, their maturity wasn't accelerated much and as a result Hugs, Tugs, Connie, Hope and especially Chance still had a tendency to act like children despite their apparent ages. They came bursting into Take Care's waiting room lobby to try and find out what was going on, only to be stopped by Wish Bear.

"What's going on?" Tugs demanded.

Wish Bear raised a finger to her lips and pointed to the red light over the entrance to Take Care's operating room. "Quiet, Take Care is operating," she whispered. Despite their eagerness all five immediately quieted down. Despite any outward appearances all of them respected Take Care and if she was operating even they knew not to disrupt what was going on.

A moment later, Alex and Germaine entered the lobby, having slowed down behind to let the other five go on. "Is everyone alright?" Germaine asked.

Wish directed all of them to take seats as she did her best to explain what had happened. "I saw four Care Bears I didn't know running from a dark mist creature so I got Phoenix and Shade to go and help them. Then I went to tell Take Care and she asked me to make sure Get Well was here and to keep an eye out for anyone who came here until she got back. When they got back they had the four Care Bears, well three Care Bears and one cousin, and they were all badly hurt. Defender and Truth have two of them resting in an exam room and Take Care and Get Well are operating on the other two. I don't know the rest yet."

"Hey hold on! You can't get up yet!" Defender Bear's shouts drew their attention to the door to the exam room as the silver bear came stumbling out with Defender trying to reach him. Normally Defender wouldn't have had any trouble at least getting a hand on the silver bear but after what he'd been through Defender was wary about accidentally hurting him. The silver bear still held the sheathed katana in his right hand as he cast his gaze around the waiting room, seemingly ignoring the presence of the others. They even got a good look at his tummy symbol: a small red heart surrounded by a ring of ten small yellow stars at a distance.

The silver bear finally seemed to find what he was looking for and dropped his weapon as he reached the water cooler, grabbing one of the plastic water glasses set next to it, filling it then draining it in a single gulp. Seven more times he did this until he slumped into a chair next to the cooler and let out a sigh, "Finally, so thirsty."

Everyone stared at him for a moment before Connie spoke up, "Who are you?"

"Hmm?" the silver bear only now seemed to notice that he wasn't alone. "Oh hello." He turned his eyes away from the others, "My name is... Independent Bear, or Indy for short. Who are all of you?"

Chance waved his arm over his head, "I'm Chance Heart Liger."

"I'm Hugs."

"And I'm Tugs."

"Contrary Heart Liger, but call me Connie."

"Hopeful Heart Liger"

"I'm Wish Bear." Wish Bear was standing next to Defender with her arm around his waist while his arm lay behind her shoulders.

"My name is Phoenix Audubon, or Defender Bear if you want. The black bear is Truth Bear," He motioned towards the room he and Independent Bear had come from. "If you don't mind me asking, what was happening back on Earth?"

Indy stared into his glass and swirled the small amount of water in the bottom of the glass. "We were being chased by that being named Dusk Heart." Indy drank the last of the water then set the plastic glass aside, "he used to be our brother, until four years ago when something happened," Indy clutched his arms and shuddered, "something dark attached itself to his soul and body then..." Indy's gaze became a thousand-yard stare and his hands shot up to the side of his head.

"Indy, Indy!" He blinked and saw Hopeful Heart Liger had touched his shoulder to get him to calm down.

He shook his head to clear it and then continued, "Ever since then we've been on the run, until today when Confidence Heart decided to turn and fight instead of running and hiding like we had been."

Hope stood up and stepped back, "Who's Confidence Heart?"

"The fennec fox." Indy said.

Connie scratched her head, "What's a fennec fox?"

"It's a small breed of fox native to the Sahara Desert with exceptional hearing because of their abnormally large ears." Everyone turned to look at Germaine, who had just rattled off the information. She grinned sheepishly and everyone turned back to Indy.

"Oh yeah, I honestly thought she was some kind of rabbit," Phoenix chuckled. "Who are the other two?"

"The yellow bear is Flash Heart Bear and the green one is Love Heart Bear."

Wish Bear suddenly gasped and darted forwards out of Defender's embrace. She grabbed both of Indy's shoulders and looked his straight in the eye. "Did you say Love Heart Bear? What's his tummy symbol? Hurry tell me!"

Indy went wide-eyed at the sudden action from the teal bear but he rattled off as best he could, "A large red heart with three smaller pink hearts inside of it and a dozen smaller Heart surrounding it!"

"Oh my stars!" Wish Bear released Indy and stumbled back, hand on her forehead, and almost fell backwards before Defender caught her.

The Liger siblings turned to each other while Defender blew some frosty air over Wish to help snap her back to her senses. "Who's Love Heart Bear?" Chance asked. His sisters shrugged.

"That name sounds familiar, I think True Heart mentioned him once," Alex scratched his chin.

"I think so too, when we first got here," Germaine said, "But I don't remember what she said."

Wish shook her head and stood up, "Thank you Phoenix," she gave him a quick kiss then turned back to the assembled group. "I supposed I should explain this to all of you. Back when the Care Bear Family was first formed there were two other members with us: another founder named Sage Heart Bear and his son Love Heart Bear."

"Hold a sec," Connie raised a hand, "When you say '_his_son' do you mean his actual biological son or adopted like the rest of you were?"

"Actual biological son. Love Heart was the first second generation Care Bear, even before you two, Hugs and Tugs," Wish looked over at the twins who were agape at this.

Tugs shook his head and stomped his foot, "Why didn't anyone tell us about them before? Even mom, dad and Grams haven't told us about this."

"I thought we did, but I suppose you two forgot. To be honest, it's because we don't think about it much and no one ever really asked," Wish sighed then smiled, "Anyway, after our first year in the Kingdom of Caring we noticed that Love Heart was different from the rest of us. While we all aged into adults in the space of one year, Love Heart was still a baby, or at least he was only a year old." Wish giggled, "we all called him 'Little Brother Love Heart' back then."

"What happened?" Defender asked.

"We just, forgot... This was before any of you, or your parents, joined" Wish said the last part directly to the Liger siblings, "But there was a time when we all forgot about each other: the care bears and cousins forgot the other existed and we all forgot about our founders. True Heart and Noble Heart told us that No-Heart kidnapped Love Heart and they all went to rescue him. We think No-Heart tried to use Love Heart to break us apart and only succeeded in erasing our memories. After that, Sage Heart and Love Heart just disappeared and we never knew what happened to them... until today." Wish Bear wiped some tears from her now closed eyes as she smiled.

Wish's eyes snapped open, "On my stars! I have to tell them!" she dashed over to the phone behind Take Care's desk and rapidly dialed True and Noble Heart's home phone number. "Hello? Noble Heart! Is True Heart there too? Good... you have to come to Take Care's right away. It's Love Heart, he's come home. Yes I'm sure! How long? OK see you soon."

Defender Bear walked over to Wish and placed his hands on her shoulders, she was absolutely giddy with this news. "I hope this doesn't get you down but Love Heart was seriously hurt. I don't know how long he'll be here."

Wish turned around to look Defender in the eyes, "That's fine, I'm just happy he was alive all this time."

At that moment, Get Well stepped out of the operating room still wearing her surgical garb. "Defender, get some surgery gear on. Mom needs to see you right now!"

OoOoO

In the operating room Confidence Heart was out on the operating table, the spot around her tummy symbol shaved and stitched up and an IV bag going into her arm (her tummy symbol was still there, as tummy symbols were both fur patterns and on the skin). Defender Bear entered wearing the same surgical gear as Take Care and Get Well, though Take Care's had some blood on it from her last operation.

"What's going on, Doc?" Defender looked from Confidence Heart to Take Care, "Are they going to be alright?"

"The fennec will live, I had to stitch up part of her stomach but if you hadn't healed her she wouldn't have survived long enough for me to save her; she'll be fine as long as she rests for a few weeks. As for the bear," Take Care walked over to Love Heart. Love Heart had a respirator down his throat in addition to the IV bag in his arm and a heart monitor hooked up to him, among other devices to monitor his vital signs. "The thing that pierced his back almost severed his spinal column. It's a miracle he's still alive but I suppose I have your healing to thank for that as well. I can operate to save his life but he will be paralysed from the neck down, with limited mobility in his arms, if I do. His tummy symbol hasn't stop glowing either." Indeed, Love Heart's tummy symbol was still glowing a constant deep red. Take Care took a deep breath before she continued. "I know I made you promise not to rely on your magic to heal everything but this is a unique situation. Defender please use your magic to try and repair his spine."

Defender blinked then looked down at Love Heart, a small hole still visible in the middle of his chest. "I'll do it, but I can't promise this will work."

Take Care turned to Defender, "You've come back from the dead before and you saved us all from the cloud of uncaring. You can do this."

"Alright." Defender Bear smiled behind his surgical mask then stepped over to Love Heart. He took a deep breath then placed his hands over Love Heart's chest. Take Care moved to monitor Love Heart's vitals as a white glow emanated from Defender's hands.

Phoenix wasn't used to healing something so complicated. Sealing wounds was simple, that kind of healing was practically instinct at this point, mending bones was more complicated but doable, as their bodies did that on their own given enough time, but repairing a spinal column? Even Take Care couldn't do much more than keep it from becoming lethal. Defender was starting to feel faint as he worked his magic but he could practically feel the column and bone re-growing.

As Defender forced himself to keep going he finally felt Love Heart's spinal column and spine repaired. He stumbled back a bit only to be caught by Get Well, who helped him stay on his feet.

Take Care checked the vitals and sighed in relief, "Looks good. His vitals are normal but he'll still need to rest for a few weeks. Thank you, Phoenix."

"You're welcome." Defender smiled again as Get Well helped him out of the operating theater.

OoOoO

A purple tornado descended towards the Earth and No-Heart emerged at the site of the battle. He swept his gaze over the battlefield, trying to find something of interest, until he saw the black shape falling from the sky.

"What is that?" No-Heart followed the object with his eye as it fell down and down until it crashed in the nearby forest. "Perhaps something I can use." No-Heart transformed into a jaguar and began stalking towards where the object landed.

OoOoO

Darkness, that was all Dusk Heart could see since the bright flash of light sent him spiralling back to Earth. Branches broke off as Dusk Heart struck them until the sudden *whump* when his hit the ground. Though Dusk Heart felt little pain from the impact he was disoriented and had to feel around for his surroundings.

"And what have we here?" The voice drew Dusk Heart's attention. No-Heart stalked towards the fallen Dusk Heart and reassumed his true form.

"Who's there?!" Dusk Heart cast his gaze about, still only seeing darkness, then his hand shot to his face, "My eyes!" he only now felt the searing pain in his eyes that accompanied the darkness he was seeing.

"You can't see? A pity, I might have had use for you were you not crippled." No-Heart glared and raised his hand, lightning crackling from his amulet.

Dusk Heart grit his teeth then roared out as he extended the darkness from around his body and reaching No-Heart. "Found you! Wait... No-Heart!" he stepped towards No-Heart as the wizard backed away from him.

"You know me?" No-Heart stepped back as the darkness receded and Dusk Heart did his best to stand.

"I'm not surprised you don't recognize me, but we made a deal once, one you were only too eager to accept." Dusk Heart gave a malicious grin.

"A deal?" No-Heart's eyes narrowed. "The shadow dragon! You tried to consume me!" No-Heart bellowed and transformed into a tiger to pounce on Dusk Heart, who was knocked down by the force of the blow.

"Big mistake, I can feel you," Dusk Heart wrapped the both of them in his darkness and pulled No-Heart away from himself. "A pity I can't harvest your energy in this form, or this being would collapse."

No-Heart changed back to his true form and pulled himself away from the darkness, "How are you still alive?! That white bear destroyed you!"

Dusk Heart stood up, "Almost. My body burned from the intense light of his power and my void was destroyed, but I managed to escape, barely, and fled down the ground. I had so little energy left, just enough to keep myself alive and I needed a new host, any would do. Then I found a young man, or an old child if you will. He was angry about something, I don't remember what, but I offered him a chance to take his revenge as long as he helped me. He was irrational, angry and foolish but fortunately for me also impulsive and he accepted, and that was his end. I took this body for my own and turned his anger on his own family, a family I discovered had more beings like the same one that nearly destroyed me and so I've hunted them, seeking out any others of his kind to exact my revenge for being trapped in this form, and to take the energy of any with great potential, such as the four I was hunting."

"Trapped?" No-Heart could almost feel some sick sense of self-satisfaction at the being's predicament, "With all that power you are trapped in a human's body?"

"He had a small spark of magical energy, nothing like yourself or the creatures you call 'Care Bears' but it was enough. I used what I had to make this body nearly indestructible and a vessel for the power I had, but it is a small speck compared to the energy I amassed over the aeons of existence I had beyond this world, then I took the name 'Dusk Heart' on a whim. His weak will made things easy and his body is now the anchor I need to maintain my existence, but unfortunately I cannot heal it. One of the bears took my sight as I attempted to pursue them, including the one who destroyed my void."

"I see," No-Heart watched Dusk Heart for a moment. "Though I refuse to trust you, perhaps I can offer you a deal and I may grant you a favor, and return your eyesight if you accept."

"And why would I trust you?" Dusk Heart's darkness extended until it could nearly reach No-Heart, tracking him.

No-Heart was practically revelling in the reversal of positions between the two of them, "Because this time you are the one in need and I the one with power. As to our deal, there are still Care Bears left on earth, I have never been able to track them down as they always know me and escape before I can reach them. But they do not know you and you could find and kill them. Absorb their power, kill them, make them empty husks I don't care just make sure they are out of my way and I will give you back your eyes."

Dusk Heart narrowed his white, sightless eyes, "Very well. But why not simply take me to their home where I could destroy them now?"

"Because I do not trust you to bring you with me where you might take my energy as your own. Besides, this time I am on the side of power of the bargaining table. You either accept or I leave you here to wander aimlessly with no chance of regaining what was taken from you." No-Heart knew he had won.

"Then I agree. Do you know where I should begin?" Dusk Heart asked.

"Seek a forest with great energy coming from it, that is your ultimate goal. Destroy those within and you shall have your eyes."

OoOoO

End Note: For those who read this you may note that the version of Harmony I described bears more resemblance to the one found in "Welcome to Care-a-Lot" instead of the original from "Care Bears 2 A New Generation" this is intentional. Let's face it, the old Harmony was barely characterized and had maybe 2 lines of dialogue in the movie and none in the shows while the one in Welcome to Care-a-Lot is actually a character, a saucy diva and a dedicated musician, plus even as I used to rail against the tummy symbol change the smiling multicolored flower is at least more distinct that three hearts. If you don't like a modern version of Harmony Bear in a setting that's clearly more Dic/Nelvana then I'm sorry but she's staying as I showed her here.