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Chapter 42: Shadow of a Dream

Soulful Heart Fox didn't think he could find an answer about how to use the Radiant Heart Crystal either through research or reaching out with his new psionic abilities, but it didn't stop him from trying. Everyone was trying to work out just how they might be able to use the catalyst that created them to defeat No-Heart, or if it even could.

It had only been two days since the Mercenaries' attacks but no one was resting easy. Love Heart's assessment that No-Heart was likely preparing for the final battle had everyone on edge.

Soulful Heart sighed and put away his book. He really didn't want to sleep but he was too tired to stay awake. His twin tails flicked behind him as he stumbled over to his bed, mentally preparing himself for the nightmares that awaited him.

Bedtime Bear took his job as night watchman very seriously, especially with the looming threat growing ever closer. Guidance Heart had offered to join him, it being easier for her to switch to being nocturnal for the time being with natural night vision and her ability to create her own light sources; she took the Forest of Feelings while Bedtime patrolled Care-a-Lot. Despite their attentiveness, the threat that approached them at night was no longer something they could anticipate, or even defend against.

OoOoO

Mental Heart had secluded himself inside the old Caring Castle. Far away from the rest of the Kingdom of Caring and sheltered enough to let him carry out his sinister plans. No-Heart had easily approved his plan to let him get his hands on the Spirit Book and now he was going to enjoy his new torment with a technique he had only just refined.

Mental Heart sat down and took a deep breath in as he reached out with his mind. A moment later, he felt himself float out of his own body, his astral projection moving out towards the Kingdom of Caring. He passed right by the Great Fox without giving it a second glance.

He stopped and hovered over Noble Heart and True Heart's house. "Might as well test it out on the founders." He grinned and dove into their home.

OoOoO

Noble Heart and True Heart lay together on a bank of clouds, watching their growing children play below them. Not just Kind Heart and Valiant Heart but all the cubs they had cared for ever since they came to the Kingdom of Caring.

_ _

There was a rumble and the sky turned red. True Heart shot up just in time to see the cloud collapse underneath the cubs! She tried to run to them but tripped and fell to her face, looking up just long enough to see them vanish into a pit of darkness. A cry from behind her made her turn to see Noble Heart being pulled away form her. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound issued forth.

"True Heart!" She felt herself shaken awake and staring up at Noble Heart who looked down at her with great concern. "You were screaming. Are you alright?"

True Heart didn't say anything, just reached up and pulled Noble Heart into a hug as she cried.

OoOoO

Mental Heart withdrew from the house with a sinister chuckle, "Not bad for a first run. Now let's see." He turned to the next closest building, Take Care's hospital. He grimaced, "A good stop, cut off my greatest threat and their greatest support." His astral body dove at full speed towards the hospital, only to smash right into an invisible barrier. He grunted and struggled but was unable to pus through. He focused his astral eyes and saw that a dome of psionic energy had sprung up around the hospital.

He tapped it and felt a zap up his astral body that caused him some degree of pain. "So you can protect your personal family, fine!" Mental Heart regained his composure, "You can't protect the rest of this kingdom while you're asleep." He turned and flew off towards Care-a-Lot.

OoOoO

"You lied to me.

_ _

Lied to me.

_ _

Lied to me!

Lied to me!

Lied to me!

Lied to me!

Love Heart's eyes shot open and he held still trying to calm his breathing. He didn't even register that Confidence Heart was practically thrashing around next to him as he pulled himself out of bed and noisily stomped to the bathroom to clean his face, trying to separate the nightmare from reality. It was so vivid and confusing, the voice said he was lying but about what? He couldn't remember any intentional deception he'd pulled, not in the last few years at least.

Love Heart returned to the bedroom to find Confidence awake and sitting up in bed. "Nightmare?" Love Heart sat down on her side of the bed.

"You too..." Confidence's voice sounded hollow. "Was it about... you lying to someone?"

Love Heart nodded, "I don't know who though, I just..." he shuddered.

"Mamma, Daddy, what's wrong?" Shimmeringstar stood in the doorway to their room.

"Just bad dreams," Confidence smiled at their son.

Shimmers approached the bed and hopped up on it, "Want me to stay with you."

Love Heart couldn't help but laugh at his son's enthusiasm, "Sure. It might help."

Shimmers grinned and immediately plopped himself in the middle of the bed, letting his parents embrace him so they could sleep easier. Love Heart lay awake for some time, staring at their sleeping son. Why did he feel so nervous about Shimmeringstar all of a sudden? His thoughts drifted to the Great Wishing Star and he resolved to go see it after breakfast the next day.

OoOoO

It was shortly after midnight when Mental Heart's astral projection returned to his body.

"A good first night's work. Tomorrow I'll step it up and make sure no one sleeps soundly."

OoOoO

Cautious Heart Cat didn't like rising early, but she had breakfast duty in the Hall of Heart's today. Take Care Bear had been exempt since she set up her medical practise so she could be at home and ready to just in case she was needed, which suited her just fine. Once Get Well came back from University and started working with their mother as a doctor, she was also exempted from meal duty at the Hall of Hearts. Indy had been an occasional cook, especially once his cooking skills improved, but once he and Take Care had gotten married he had asked not to be put on meal duty anymore, since he did almost all of the cooking for the family now, which was a huge help for Take Care since she didn't have to think about what and when she would eat anymore.

Cautious Heart, on the other hand, was still on the list because she had chosen to be a regular member of the Care Bear Family. Part of her wanted to argue, but she knew it was fair. Everyone else had their turn to cook meals and she had no reasonable excuse to avoid her responsibilities.

Thankfully the breakfast this morning had been prepared in advance so all Cautious Heart had to do was heat up everything and set it out for everyone to be served. She was slightly annoyed that Treat Heart hadn't showed up to help her until an hour had passed but Cautious Heart decided not to antagonise her as they served breakfast.

As Cautious Heart served breakfast, she noticed that it was unusually quiet. Though she only came for breakfast in the Hall when it was her turn to cook she knew it was always noisy in here, with everyone discussing the previous day's events and even sharing dreams they might have had the previous night. Today, the only consistent sound was the sound of cutlery scraping on plates and chewing. Cautious Heart felt a shiver travel down her spine which made her tail frizz out and her ears fold.

"Morning, Birthday. Everything alright?" She asked as she served Birthday Bear.

"Nightmare," was all Birthday said before he moved on. Cautious Heart watched him go for a moment then returned to serving. She asked a few more as they were served and each of them gave the same response, some nightmare that was clearly etched into their mind, even the Magi were mostly quiet. She smiled when Shimmers took his food and returned to his seat, he at least was still smiling and as animated as ever, either not having had a nightmare or at least one that didn't hit him as hard as it had his parents.

Once Cautious Heart finished the breakfast dishes she headed for home, the cloud of everyone's mood hanging over her head. Thankfully her mood was dispelled when she entered home and smelled breakfast cooking, waffles, bacon and eggs. As usual they had slept in later than everyone else.

Indy smiled and waved as Cautious entered, "Morning, Cautious. How was breakfast in the hall?"

"It was alright, dad," she smirked when she saw how calling Indy that made him feel proud, "Didn't get much."

"Well there's always enough here," Get Well said as she dug in.

While Cautious Heart was still hungry she ate more slowly than the rest of her family. Her mind drifting back to what she had seen in the Hall. It didn't take long for the others to pick up on her mood.

"What's wrong, Cautious?" Take Care asked.

Cautious took a bite of bacon and chewed for a minute before she swallowed then answered, "It's just... everyone was kinda down at breakfast today?"

"Down?" Get Well swallowed after she said the word, earning a mildly disapproving glance from her mother.

"Yeah, I mean they weren't talking very much." Cautious pushed the last piece of egg around on her plate, "They just kinda sat and ate. It was eerie." She ate the last piece of egg and continued, "I asked a few of them and they all said they had nightmares last night."

"Everyone?" Take Care asked.

"Not sure, I didn't ask everyone, but from how they were acting maybe..." she looked up, "Did any of you have nightmares last night?"

"Nothing I remember," Take Care said.

"Me either," Indy finished his food and started to gather up the breakfast dishes, "but I did have a headache in the middle of the night. I just took some aspirin for it."

"I dreamt I was Deadpool and that I had ordered too many burger and fries from a Five Guys restaurant." The other three stared at Get Well, "What? Is it that weird?"

"Yes, but dreams are weird," Take Care got up, "Let's get the day started."

Cautious Heart and Indy cleaned up the breakfast dishes. They worked in silence at first but eventually Cautious Heart asked, "Dad, do you think these nightmares are because of No-Heart?" She looked up at Indy to see him with a gentle smile on his face, "dad?"

"I just feel giddy every time you call me dad."

Cautious blushed slightly but smiled, "Yeah well..."

"But I don't know, he might be doing it to us directly but it might be because of what Love Heart said." Indy finished cleaning the last of the plates and handed it to Cautious Heart, "Everyone's on edge, waiting for No-Heart or Mental Heart or even Illyana to attack. It could just be nerves, not that I don't think they would try this."

"Alright. I'm going to head out for a bit, get some air, ok dad?"

Indy smiled, "OK, Cautious. Just be safe."

Once Cautious Heart left, Indy reflected on her words. Were the nightmares she'd heard about some sort of attack? If they were why didn't the four of them suffer anything like that? A thought occurred to him and he headed for Take Care's office once he had it formed.

Take Care looked up from her paperwork and smiled when she saw Indy enter, "Good morning, Indy."

"Morning, Take Care," Indy gave her a kiss. "Paperwork bothering you?"

"Just finishing up the reports from the mercenary attacks," Take Care signed her name on a document. "Another one finished. Something you want to talk about, Indy?"

Indy leaned up against the wall, "Yes actually. I think we should take breakfast in the Hall of Hearts tomorrow."

Take Care blinked, "What? Why?"

Indy's expression became more serious, "Something Cautious Heart and I talked about. I think it might be more than stress and worry. I just need to see it myself."

Take Care gave Indy a hard look. He had gotten used to her routines, working around them so she didn't have to think about food or even housework anymore; she sometimes felt like he gave her far more than she gave back to him so she felt inclined to agree. "Alright. Just make sure you get me and Get Well up or we'll sleep right through it."

"Sorry, I just think this will be important," Indy said.

He was about to leave when Take Care got up and took him in an embrace, "You're too good to me, Indy. Sorry if I make you put up with my work and routines so much." She briefly averted her eyes, but Indy just moved his head to stare back into them.

"Don't talk like that. I don't mind, it makes you who you are. Besides, I think I put you through more stress than I should when I go off on my missions. Don't tell me you weren't worried about me when I went with Sweet Heart and Meek Heart to fight those mercenaries."

"I was," Take Care admitted.

"See, it's not all take and no give," he gave her a soft kiss, "I worry you don't get enough sleep sometimes. I found you passed out at your desk a couple weeks ago so I just carried you to bed. I'd say don't worry, but I know you will so just don't think that you're being unfair to me."

Take Care smiled, "I'll try. Thank you, I love you, Indy."

"And I love you too, Take Care." They kissed.

"I'm going to go read, picked up the Redwall books again." Indy said.

"Alright. I should get ready just in case something happens, you never know." Take Care smiled at Indy as she sat back down and went back to filling out the injury reports for the Magi.

Indy did his best to put thoughts of the nightmares out of his mind as he picked up "Outcast of Redwall" and flipped to where he had left off. As long as nothing else happened today he would just take his time to relax.

OoOoO

Love Heart flew alone towards Big Star Point. Something was nagging at his mind that he couldn't let go. Why did that dream bother him so much and why was he worried about Shimmers all of a sudden? His memories around his son's birth were hazy... why was he thinking about that? The question was still on his mind as he landed at Big Star Point. He was about to call out for the Star when it suddenly appeared before him.

"We seem to be meeting all too often these days, Love Heart Bear. What troubles you?"

Love Heart was startled for a moment but he managed to speak, "I'm worried about my son, and for some reason I felt I needed to talk to you about it."

The star regarded him curiously for a moment before it spoke, "I can understand that. I feel nervous about what is to come soon too. I can assure you there is nothing you need to worry about regarding Shimmeringstar." It saw the worried look on Love Heart's face. "I promise, nothing will happen you have to worry about."

Love Heart wasn't convinced, but his worry seemed to be evaporating in the Star's presence. "Alright. I should head home then." He turned and flew back to Care-a-Lot.

The Great Wishing Star wasn't prone to being nervous but it had to sigh as Love Heart left. Patching the hole in his memory had been difficult but as long as everyone "remembered" that ShimmeringStar had been born to Love Heart and Confidence Heart instead of being a transformed human, the better.

OoOoO

"Regal! Regal!" Soulful Heart Fox all but beat down the door of Take Care's Hospital, only to be stopped by Get Well.

_ _

"Easy, Soulful, Regal Heart's fine. She's just resting now." Get Well released him, "you can go in, just don't rush or mom will have your ears off."

_ _

Soulful Heart nodded then stepped into the maternity ward. He smiled when he saw Regal Heart lying there, a red lion cub with a bushy tail tip in her hands. She smiled weakly, "Look Soulful, our daughter. She's beautiful."

_ _

Soulful Heart smiled and sat down next to the bed, stroking their daughter's head, "Yes, she is."

_ _

"I can't believe this is your ultimate nightmare."

Soulful Heart blinked as the world turned greyscale around him and froze. He stood up suddenly aware that he was dreaming as he searched for the unfamiliar voice. "Who's there!?" He demanded his tail suddenly spitting in two as his dream self changed to reflect his real world body.

"Let's see, why is a happy marriage with a wife and child such a nightmare for you? I can feel it tearing you up inside..."

Soulful Heart suddenly felt his head hurt, the powerful mind digging into his thoughts and memories. He tried to fight it off but the memories, and the painful thoughts that came with them flowed out.

"AHAHAHAHA! I see! You love her, you've loved Regal Heart almost as long as you've known her! You want to be with her, you want to marry her and have a family but you can't because of him!" An image of Stellar Heart Tiger appeared in front of Soulful. "You want to be mad, to be jealous, you want to hate him because he has what you covet!"

---

"Shut up! Shut up you piece of shit!" Soulful screamed into the darkness.

"You wish you could have met her first, been here first, then maybe you could have what he has. A loving wife, children, a family... oh but there's so much more!"

---

The image of Stellar Heart faded to be replaced with the nursery in the caring castle, and Soulful Heart saw an image from an old dream, himself as a cub being held by True Heart as he cried and she tried to soothe him.

"It's the 'red menace' isn't it?" Noble Heart chuckled as he came into view.

_ _

True Heart smiled, "Yes, he's a fussy one isn't he. Don't worry, Soulful Heart, we're here for you." She rocked the baby Soulful Heart in her arms until he calmed down.

"Stop it!" Soulful Heart held his head, "Stop showing me this!"

"But you always wanted this. No matter how much you deny it you wanted to have this. To be raised with them instead of being alone your entire life! You act aloof and distant because you're afraid to let them in, to see the real heartache at the center of your being! To see your dreams that can never be realized! To see the real you, buried beneath the cynicism and bitterness!"

---

"GET THE FUCK OUT!!!" Soulful's scream shattered the illusion around him and he woke up with a start. He lay in bed, panting and with a massive headache before he rolled over. He hated feeling like this, feeling so ungrateful for what he had and wishing it could have been different. He started to cry, thankful no one could see him as he tried to sleep again.

Mental Heart was reeling from being catapulted out of Soulful Heart's mind. His astral form spun in mid air for a moment before he managed to right himself. "I didn't think he could expel me from his mind, even as a minor psionic." Mental Heart shook his head, "Now let's see, who next?" He flew towards Care-a-Lot, reaching out with his mind to find other potential targets. He finally stopped by Love Heart and Confidence Heart's house and smirked. "Perhaps I should pay their son a visit in his dreams."

OoOoO

Shimmers' dreams were troubled, but he never remembered them on waking; it didn't usually matter to him. Tonight, however, something different happened. His dream faded around him as he felt something probing at his mind.

"Interesting, I couldn't find your worst nightmares but there's something else hidden inside..."

"Who's there?" Shimmers searched around the darkness, before a shape formed near him.

"Maybe I should draw it out. Let's see what kind of memory this is!"

Shimmers felt his head start to hurt and he lashed out into the darkness, "Stop it!" He shouted, the blast of sound striking something in the darkness.

"Your defenses are strong, but you can't resist. I'll pull it out of your head." The dark shape took on a humanoid form and tried to push its limb into Shimmers' head.

"You'll do no such thing."

The dark shape turned towards the new voice only to be blinded by a sudden shockwave of light. Its arm was torn away from Shimmers and he was blown back and out of Shimmers' dream.

Shimmers shook his head to clear it and turned, "Hello?" He swore he could see someone smiling but it faded before he could make any sense of it. Not knowing what else he could do, Shimmers sun back into his own foggy dreams.

For the second time that night, Mental Heart was forced out of someone else's dream and sent reeling. "What was that? How did he force me out? Was it even him?" He shook his head then regained his composure. "I'll deal with him some other day, for now let's see to the rest of the Care Bears." He turned to the next house to continue his night's work.

OoOoO

Indy immediately sensed something was wrong at breakfast the next day. The dour mood of every Care Bear, Cousin and Magi weighed down on his mind as he entered the Hall of Hearts. Take Care and Get Well couldn't help but notice too, everyone seemed down and depressed.

"It can't be a coincidence," Cautious Heart whispered as they went to get breakfast.

Noble Heart was serving today and he smiled when he saw Take Care approach. "Good morning, Take Care, we never see you in the morning."

"We just needed a change of pace," Get Well said, "And to see if what Cautious Heart said was true."

"About what? Oh..." Noble Heart seemed to notice for the first time just how quiet and subdued the cafeteria was. "Did everyone else have trouble sleeping too?"

"And Nightmares by the looks of it," Indy turned to scan the room, reaching out with his psionic senses. "I don't think it's natural."

Take Care looked back along with her husband, "It might just be nerves about what's going to happen soon, but it might be an attack."

Noble Heart nodded as he served the four, "I'll call a meeting when I'm finished with breakfast. Might as well have it in here."

"Alright," Take Care nodded as she, Indy, Get Well and Cautious Heart took their trays and headed for the table closest to the exit.

"It's definitely not natural," Indy said once they were seated. "I can feel something connecting... everyone here." He scanned the room until his eyes met Soulful Heart's briefly. "Soulful Heart feels it too and probably Tenderheart and Aqua."

Take Care just nodded, not sure what to say as they began to eat.

Once they were done, Indy offered to take their dishes back to the kitchen and took a path that passed right by Soulful Heart. He slowed to a stop next to the two-tailed red fox.

"It's an attack, isn't it?"

Soulful nodded, "Yeah. I heard the voice when it attacked me in my dreams last night."

"Can you tell where it's coming from?"

"No, sorry." Soulful didn't look up from his food. Indy said nothing more and continued towards the kitchen.

Indy volunteered to do all of the dishes for breakfast, using telekinesis to dry and deposit them in the cupboards and drawers where they belonged. As he cleaned he focused on the lingering psionic traces the attacks had left, finally sensing them leading out of the Hall of Hearts. He finished the last of the dishes in record time and turned to leave, bypassing the cafeteria to exit the hall directly.

As everyone was about to disperse from breakfast, Noble Heart spoke to Brave Heart about what Indy had told him and the lion gave a shout.

"Hold on! Before you go about your days we have something important to talk about." Brave Heart stood up. "How many of you had nightmares last night?"

Almost everyone in the cafeteria raised their hands, including Brave Heart himself. "I thought so. What about the night before last?" A few hands went down, but most of the family still had their hands up. "I thought so. I don't think this is just a coincidence, or nerves." Brave Heart looked at Love Heart, who breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed he felt it was his fault everyone might have been having nightmares. "I think it's safe to assume this is an attack from No-Heart."

"Or more likely, Mental Heart," Tenderheart spoke up. "He's a powerful psion and I can feel a... lingering energy on everyone here."

"Me too!" Aqua jumped up, "Like little strings dancing off everyone."

"It would make sense," Soulful Heart spoke up, "Though why he's tormenting us instead of trying to kill us is another question."

"Regardless, if there's anything we can do to stop this then we should." Love Heart stood up, "I'm going to talk to Fara and Peppy to see if they know any method of blocking these kind of attacks."

"Good idea, maybe Indy knows something too," Brave Heart looked towards the kitchen, "Once he finishes cleaning the dishes."

OoOoO

Indy strode away from the Hall of Hearts. Unbeknownst to Take Care, before he woke her up this morning he had stashed his special katana and longcoat in his tummy symbol. He pulled out his coat as he walked and donned it then pulled out his katana, conjured a scabbard and sheathed the weapon on his right. He followed the trail of psionic energy out across the blank field where The Great Fox was landed and towards the Caring Castle. Mental Heart was there he was certain. He narrowed his eyes. His own powers had passively protected Take Care, Get Well and Cautious Heart from Mental Heart's nighttime attacks and now he was going to do something about that twisted monster personally!

Mental Heart was roused from his slumber as he sensed Indy approaching.

"I guess it was naïve to think none of them would track me down." He stood up, "Very well then, let's see how he holds up."

Indy stopped right outside the caring castle and glared up at the top row of windows, left hand on his katana's hilt.

"MENTAL HEART! I KNOW YOU'RE UP THERE! GET! OUT! HERE!" Indy's yell had the desired effect.

"I'm not surprised you're the one who found me." Mental Heart levitated out of the window and landed in front of Independent Bear. "You've saved me the trouble of tracking you down."

Indy grit his teeth as his eyes blazed with anger, ready to draw his katana at a moment's notice, "I'll only tell you this once: leave my family alone!"

Mental Heart's face remained impassive, "I have. You protected them enough that I couldn't go near that hospital."

"Leave all of them alone!" Indy's body tensed, "Stop tormenting them now or I'll force you to stop!"

Mental Heart held his right hand forwards and formed a transparent orange sword of psionic energy, "Very well. I'll finish you off then I will have free reign over this place."

Indy let out a shout and charged, drawing his sword and slashing at Mental Heart in one swift stroked, only for Mental Heart to block the blow which created a huge explosion.

The shockwave from the explosion was felt all the way back to the Hall of Hearts!

Everyone jumped up and ran for the front door, getting outside just in time to see massive cloud billow up from the direction of the old caring castle.

"What the fuck is that?!" Love Heart couldn't hold back his swearing.

Take Care had a sinking suspicion and searched the crowd. Her fears were confirmed when she noticed that Indy was gone.

Aqua Bear, Tenderheart and Soulful felt the twinge in their minds from the psionic energy being released and Aqua was the first to speak.

"It's Independent Bear!"

"He must be fighting Mental Heart!" Love Heart said. "Let's go!" He took off with his own shout and every member of the Care Bear Family followed after him, other than Life Heart who stayed behind with the cubs. As they passed the Great Fox, every member of the Star Fox Team was seen joining in the procession, Fara and Peppy having felt the energy from the battle and needing to see what was happening.

Take Care was farther out in front than even she thought possible with worry, fear and anger lending her speed she didn't realize she had.

Indy sent Mental Heart crashing into the wall of the castle, actually managing to dent the wall with the force of his impact. Indy wasted no time and hurled a sphere of psionic energy right at Mental Heart, only for the purple haired man to throw up a barrier to deflect it.

"You're a lot stronger than I thought, very well." He shot his left hand into the pocket of his coat and whipped out something right at Indy in one motion.

Indy barely had time to dodge the projectiles that flew at him, needing to deflect one off the blade of his sword, which now glowed with white psionic energy. He gaped as he saw the projectiles on the clouds rise up in Mental Heart's psionic grip.

"Cards?!"

"Yes." Mental Heart stepped forwards and pulled the twelve cards to spin in a ring around him for a moment before they all launched out at Indy again.

Independent Bear was put on the defensive as he dodged and deflected the cards away from him, but was unable to stop them completely and got several shallow cuts across his body as he charged straight at Mental Heart, his sword glowing with psionic energy. He swung right for Mental Heart's neck, only for him to dodge backwards as the cards closed in from behind. Indy jumped backwards and the cards flew past him and surrounded Mental Heart as he formed a blade of psionic energy in each hand.

"I didn't realize you'd come so far or I would have snuffed you out sooner, before your visitor from the future helped you draw out your power."

Indy's narrowed eyes shot open, "What?!"

"I know that one bear from the Star Fox Team was from the future, I could sense it. I know we won and he was trying to change the past." An animalistic growl issued forth from Mental Heart's throat, "I promised myself I would not take Lord No-Heart's prize from him but I believe I will make an exception in your case, Independent Bear!" He charged, his cards following him.

Indy barely had time to deflect his blow, spinning around and striking back with his sword. Energy danced around Indy, deflecting and pushing the cards back as Indy and Mental Heart's swords clashed, reverberations of psionic energy sending out small shockwaves as they pushed each other back and fort. Indy gained a slight advantage and hurled Mental Heart through the wall of the caring castle. He stood still, panting as he watched where Mental Heart had been thrown.

"Haaaaa! I'm impressed." Mental Heart picked himself up and stepped over the ruined wall, "I'm going to finish this now!" The cards floating around his body began to build up energy as he focused energy into a new psionic sword.

There was a bright flash of lights and sounds and Mental Heart was suddenly struck by several blasts of energy: lightning, fire, wind, water, light, sound, even chunks of earth and energy gun blasts. The man was hurled sideways through another wall of the castle before he could react. Indy stood wide-eyed until he heard a shout

"Indy!" Indy turned towards Take Care's voice to see her standing a short distance away, "What's going on?! What were you thinking?!" Her voice carried a mixture of anger and fear.

Indy took a deep breath, "I'm protecting you, and everyone," he looked through the hole where Mental Heart had flown. "He was invading your dreams, but I guess you figured that out."

"That's right! Hehehehehehe!" Mental Heart's calm demeanor shattered for a moment as he stepped back outside, looking none the worse for wear, and stared at the assembled Care Bears and Star Fox team, focusing on the Magi who were all in battle-ready stances and weapons at the ready. "I didn't think this would get this far so soon," he focused on Anger Heart, "You should be dead, kitsune. You were my biggest mistake, one that I aim to correct."

Anger Heart's nine tails were all visible as he conjured his ghost fire onto his hand, "There's no mistake, but you're not getting out of here alive. You'll never harm another Care Bear again!"

Mental Heart's icy glare didn't break, "You can't possibly know the kind of pain your existence causes me."

"What kind of pain could they have caused you?" Fox McCloud still had his energy gun aimed at Mental Heart, who just stared back at him.

"We never harmed you but we will all make sure you never harm another!" True Heart linked arms with Noble Heart who nodded, then the two of them let out a shout.

"CARE BEARS COUNTDOWN!"

Every present member of the Care Bear Family joined in, even Independent Bear.

"FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE! CARE BEAR STARE!!!!!!!!"

Dozens of multicolored beams of light streaked across the clouds and converged on Mental Heart. The man just smirked as the beams hit him.

There was no cry of pain, gasp of relief or even a reaction from their target, but the Care Bear family poured on anyway, only stopping after a full minute. At first there was silence as everyone cleared the stars from their vision, then they stared in shock as Mental Heart stood there, in the same spot, unmoving and not even showing the slightest strain.

"Really, is that all you can do?" his voice carried a hint of pity.

"I didn't think his defenses could be that strong," Love Heart said.

"But they weren't," Indy whispered. He had seen Mental Heart just stand there and take the stares without flinching, not even trying to throw up some sort of defense, at least not that Indy could see or sense.

"I'm growing bored of this, and to think I was worried for a moment." He gave a merciless smirk, "Perhaps you should go get some rest, oh wait I suppose as long as I'm here you can't get a good night's sleep no matter what."

Shimmeringstar was bristling with anger, now that he recognized the voice that had invaded his dreams the previous night, "You hurt my momma and daddy!" Sonic waves and stare energy rippled across the young bear's body. Before anyone could stop him, he screamed, "GO AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" a blast of energy erupted from Shimmers and flew right at Mental Heart, who was unable to raise a defense in time. Everyone watched as the man's body shattered before their eyes, a massive cloud kicking up where he stood.

Everyone stood still, many watching where Mental Heart had been and others turning to look at the panting Shimmeringstar Bear, the aura of energy around his body cooling down as he stared where his enemy had been. "Take... that!" he grinned then looked at his parents for approval. Love Heart and Confidence couldn't help but smile for a moment, until they heard a voice.

"Impressive..." It sounded like Mental Heart but the voice was higher pitched than it had been a moment ago. Everyone turned as a figure stood up where Mental Heart had been shattered.

Everyone stared in shock as Mental Heart stood up, having lost a third of his height but still wearing the same clothes.

"Impossible..." Indy almost dropped his sword. "This has to be an illusion."

Mental Heart looked down at his hands, his purple furred hands, then down to the symbol on the front of his shirt: a heart with an open purple eye that radiated psychic waves outwards. Finally, he looked down at his protruding snout at the heart shaped stamp on his nose then towards the staring crowd of the Care Bear Family.

"Mental Heart, you're a Care Bear?!" True Heart's voice was little more than a gasp with shock.

"Eheheheheheheheheh..." Mental Heart's demeanor suddenly broke down and he threw back his head, laughing like a maniac! "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!" He turned his now maniacally grinning face towards the assembled crowd, "That's right, and my real name is Mental Heart Bear."