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Chapter 44: Twilight

Indy couldn't sleep. He had tried to talk things over with Take Care but eventually let her drift off, knowing she needed her rest. Indy smiled as he watched her sleep, then gave her a kiss on the cheek and slid out of bed.

He sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, flipping idly through channels to find something to take his mind off things, but nothing appealed to him. He sighed and shut off the TV and turned to try and find a book, but his gaze kept wandering back to the empty spot where the Spirit Book had been. Finally went back to the bedroom, grabbed his sword from where it hung on the wall and headed outside.

He practised with his sword for what felt like hours, trying to at least exhaust himself enough that he would fall asleep when he got back to bed.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

Indy turned to see Cautious Heart on the back step. He smiled, "Thinking too much to sleep." He sheathed his sword and walked over to her. "What about you?"

"I've always been more of a night person, probably because I'm a cat," she said.

"Make sense. I'm just trying to wear myself down before I go back to bed. How are you doing?" Indy asked.

"I'm worried, about Mental Heart and what he said."

"Me too," Indy hugged her. "Thank you."

Cautious was stunned for a moment, then hugged back, "For what?"

"Calling me dad," Indy let her go, "I'm going to try and sleep again."

Cautious let Indy go and smiled as he headed inside. Well she was up now, might as well find something to read.

OoOoO

True Heart and Noble Heart were also having trouble sleeping and now stood at the entrance to Kind Heart and Valiant Heat's room. True Heart leaned her head up against Noble Heart's shoulder, "So small and precious..."

"Worried." Noble Heart leaned up against her.

"You too?" True Heart fiddled with the Radiant Heart Crystal around her neck, "I can't get it out of my mind... the person who chose to do all those terrible things is a Care Bear... like us..."

Noble Heart carefully guided her away from the door and shut it softly, "I know, I can hardly believe it. True Heart, what are we going to do?"

"I wish I knew," she hugged Noble Heart tightly, "I want to reach out to him but... after all of this I don't see how I could..." she started to sob as Noble Heart lead her out of the nursery, "All those lost Care Bears and innocent people! Why would anyone kill so many?!"

"I don't know," Noble Heart was tearing up as well as they made their way to their bedroom, "I'm here for you True." He sniffed. True Heart burned her face in his shoulder and sobbed fitfully as they flopped onto their bed; Noble Heart joined in her tears shortly thereafter until they finally fell asleep.

OoOoO

Purple and Green flashes of light illuminated the cavern as No-Heart worked on his spell over a small cauldron. Mental Heart kept his distance and watched his lord at work. Everyone else was on Andross' flagship to make sure it was ready as soon as No-Heart finished, which left the cavern much quieter than it had ever been.

Mental Heart sat down against a stone wall and watched No-Heart work his spell for a time before his eyes began to droop. For the first time in a long while he felt like sleeping...

Quenos stepped down from inside Andross' ship and looked over to where Mental sat, sleeping. He narrowed his eyes and approached the purple Care Bear, muttering a spell under his breath, the spell crackling along his hand. His eyes flashed dangerously as he reached the bear. Now he would take his revenge on this Care Bear for sabotaging his masterpiece prank!

He had the spell mere centimeters from Mental Heart's head when a blast of lightning sent him sprawling and scorched. No-Heart had turned around, lightning crackling in his hand, as he faced his brother from a distance.

"If you would dare harm my greatest subordinate instead of doing what is needed, then your usefulness to me is at an end, Quenos!" No-Heart said.

Quenos struggled to get up, glaring at No-Heart, "If it weren't for me, we would have died millennia ago!"

"Yes, millennia. Millennia that had passed and given me time to get to this point. The epic never mentions you and so you shall fade into the shadows you cultivated for yourself, Control." Magical energy was building up in No-Heart's hand, "I find it ironic that you named yourself after the one thing you never really had." No-Heart spoke his next words in a strange language as strange symbols in a circular glyph that flew at Quenos. He gave a howl of pain as the death curse struck him as his body writhed in place for a time until it lay still and crumbled to dust.

No-Heart gave no second glance to the pile of dust as he looked to Mental Heart, "Much as I hate to say it, you should rest. I will need you at full strength when the final battle comes, Mental Heart Bear. And I promise you that you will not be held back any more!" He returned to the cauldron, "Spirit, the next ingredient!"

"Yes, Lord No-Heart," the spirit spoke in a monotone then returned to reading out the directions.

It wasn't too much later when a lizard in a flight suit ran out of the flagship and towards No-Heart. He saluted and spoke, "Lord No-Heart."

No-Heart paused his work, "What is it?"

"Andross says we can launch at any time." The lizard stood stiffly, afraid to move lest he incur the wizard's wrath.

"Perfect! Launch immediately!" No-Heart didn't turn the lizard.

"Yes, my lord!" The lizard turned and ran back to the flagship.

No-Heart added the last ingredient to the cauldron, which began to flash with eerie black light, "And now, the end begins!" No-Heart began the final words of the spell as colored glyphs rose up around him.

OoOoO

Even as anxiety reigned over the Kingdom of Caring, the Care Bear Family was trying to go about something of a normal routine even as they prepared for No-Heart's plan. None of them could have predicted what was about to happen...

A loud thrumming sounded in the air, once, twice, then three times before a huge mote of light gathered. Every Care Bear, Cousin, Magi and Star Fox team member ran out side as the light formed into the image of the Great Wishing Star.

The Star Fox Team were transfixed, staring at the entity for the first time as thoughts raced through their minds. The Care Bear Family could only stand and stare as the star spoke, it's voice strained.

"Care Bear Family! Help me!" as it spoke strange purple and green glyphs appeared around it and began to spin around it. Cracks appeared across its surface as its face twisted into immeasurable pain, "No-Heart is-!" it tried to speak more but the cracks spread across it's entire body and the Great Wishing Star exploded!

Everyone stared at the sky above the Kingdom of Caring where the star had once been, and then every Care Bear felt a painful tingle in the stomachs. They all looked down as their tummy symbols faded away to nothing.

Silence reigned for a moment before True Heart spoke, clasping the Radiant Heart Crystal in both hands, "Oh my stars!" Panic started to spread, several Care Bears scratching at their stomachs as if they could pull the symbol out again, some of the children running around and shouting in fear while others hugged their parents and parents hugged each other.

Fox ran over to Love Heart and grabbed him as he was trying to console a crying Miracle Heart. "Love Heart! What was that?! What just happened?!"

Love Heart looked down at his daughter, who had buried her face in his side, then up to Fox, "That was the Great Wishing Star, the entity that helped create us... and you from what I recall. Now... it's gone..."

"Gone?" Fox looked down and saw Love Heart's hand resting where his tummy symbol used to be. "What does that mean? Why did your stomach badge vanish?"

"I think... without the Great Wishing Star, our Care Bear abilities are gone." Love Heart squeezed his stomach, "I feel empty, like something I never realized I would miss is gone..."

Fox was about to say something else, when his communicator went off and ROB's voice spoke up.

"ATTENTION. CAPITAL SHIP IDENTIFIED. CONFIGURATION MATCHES THAT OF OWNED BY ANDROSS."

"What?!" Fox pulled out his communicator, "He's here now?!"

"AFFIRMATIVE."

Fox turned and ran back towards the Great Fox, the others already heading up the ramp. "Prepare to launch, we're taking the fight to Andross!"

"Why would he show up now, unless he wants us to go into battle?" Peppy asked as they headed for their fighters.

"One way or another we have to fight him, and we're sitting ducks if we just stay here instead of meeting him." Fox paused and turned from his fighter to the Mk V that Futureheart had flown in on. "Either way a battle's going to happen now and I'd rather meet Andross in flight then wait for him to find us." Fox walked over to the Mk V, "Wish I'd gotten more chances to test this thing." He opened the hatch and climbed in, speaking into his communicator, "ROB, takeoff and fly us towards Andross' capital ship immediately."

"AFFIRMATIVE."

Falco had stopped next to his Arwing to argue with Katt about her staying on the ship as they headed for battle. Eventually he convinced her to take Kalico in Fox's Arwing back to Care-a-Lot and wait for them.

On the ground, Love Heart watched the Great Fox taking off, "Looks like that time's here, Futureheart." He looked down at Mira, who had finally stopped crying, then over to where Confidence was doing her best to keep it together with Shimmers. It was time to act like the leader he was.

Love Heart's unicorn star lit up and he shouted, "EVERYONE! LISTEN UP!" His magically amplified voice made everyone jump and caused several of the cubs to start crying. Love Heart continued, "EVERYONE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE HALL OF HEARTS! WE WILL DISCUSS THINGS THERE. MOVE!" Everyone began swarming there, some ducking back home to retrieve their children and care kits they might need, and suddenly realizing just how hard it was to carry things without the tummy symbols to store objects.

OoOoO

Mental Heart jolted awake as he felt the tingling pull on his stomach and looked down in time to see his tummy symbol fade away. He touched his bare white stomach then looked up to where No-Heart stood facing him.

"It is done!" the wizard declared. "The Great Wishing Star is no more! And I see the results already."

Mental Heart stood up, rubbing the spot where his symbol used to be, "I feel... a great weight lifted off me. I feel..." he gave a sinister grin, "Free!"

"Good. Now rest," No-Heart turned back to his cauldron, "I need you at peak strength for the final battle. I have one final spell to cast."

Mental Heart wandered over to where he usually slept, giggling like a naughty child, "Next time, Care Bears, nothing will stop me from killing all of you!"

OoOoO

Love Heart stood in the monitor room with Bright Heart and Soulful Heart watching the progress of the Great Fox towards where Andross' flagship had emerged.

"The Himalayas," Bright Heart said, "They must have hollowed out one of the mountains to hide in there."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were capable of doing that," Soulful Heart idly scratched where his tummy symbol used to be.

"Keep an eye on them," Love Heart looked over his shoulder at the door. While the panic had persisted for a time, Gentle Heart had managed to take the lead in calming everyone down, though the cubs cried a fair bit longer. Love Heart looked down at his now bare white tummy. Ever since his symbol had vanished it had felt like a lead weight in his gut, not physical weight just that he didn't feel as... light or warms as he once did. Maybe that's why the cubs had started crying, the feeling of warmth had just vanished and it upset them. He sighed and turned to rejoin everyone in the cafeteria.

Anger Heart and Guidance Heart were preparing a meal for the family, nothing special but something to help them feel a bit better. Now Love Heart had the unenviable task of taking charge despite the dark cloud that hung over them.

Love Heart took a deep breath and asked the most obvious question, "Alright, everyone, how do you all feel?"

"Cold."

"Empty."

"Like part of me is just... gone."

Almost all the replies were some variant of this, or quiet mumbling while tracing or rubbing where their tummy symbol had been not even an hour ago. The toddler cubs were restless each complaining that they felt colder on the inside and starting to cry, which forced their parents to give them near constant attention.

"Actually, I just feel the way I did before you gave me my tummy symbol." Melancholy Bear had raised her hand. She seemed to shrink slightly as everyone turned to look at her but she continued, "I just feel how I was on earth, I mean... it wasn't that long ago for me."

"Yeah, I feel the same way," Thorough Heart Weasel said. "I think you all feel worse because you lost something you've had for years but we just got it. It's like losing your hearing or eyesight, or something like that."

Teacher Bear nodded, "That makes sense." She put a hand to her forehead, "But I admit I feel... fainter than I have in a while."

"Mom? What's wrong?" Grateful Heart looked to see that Teacher Bear was breathing heavily.

"I just... I feel... weak..." Her words were labored.

Take Care took the initiative and was at her table in a moment, feeling her forehead, "No fever, but you might be suffering more adverse effects from this."

"Yes. Take Care, get her to the hospital and examine her, and yourself and Indy," Love Heart nodded towards where Indy sat, "We need to know exactly how the loss of the Great Wishing Star is affecting us."

Indy was at Take Care's sides almost immediately, helping Teacher Bear to stand both with his shoulder and some psionics to give her a lift so she wouldn't have to walk on her own.

Love Heart spoke out as he saw the Mulcaheys about to follow her. "Everyone else please stay here. We can't be running around randomly while the attack is underway. I need everyone test some things with me." He held up his hand and a moment later a field of lightning sparked up in his palm. "My unicorn magic works, and my kinetics. Magi see if you can use your magic any better or worse than before?"

Miracle Heart was the first to try, also creating a burst of lightning in her hand, "Feels the same as always." Several more tests carried around the room, Confidence Heart even floating up a meter or so to see how it worked.

"My magic works as well as it always has," Defender Bear extinguished the fireball in his hands.

"That's a relief," Love Heart sighed, "I can't conjure any swords but I'll make do otherwise. Now for everyone else, Swift Heart Rabbit."

"Huh?" Swift Heart looked up from where she had been staring at her stomach, as many of the Care Bears were still doing.

"Go outside and run around the hall, tell me if you're just as fast as before." Love Heart pointed to the exit.

"Alright." Swift Heart got to her feet, did a couple warm up stretches then took off with a whoosh of air.

Grumpy blinked then smoothed down his fur that had been blown away by his wife's sudden burst, "She sure hasn't slowed down."

Trickster gave a weak smile, "That's mom for you." No sooner had he finished his sentence than his mother returned, stopping dead in front of them and heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do that anymore."

"Seems like we haven't lost our talents, or our personalities," Love Heart heaved a sigh of relief.

"What? You thought just because our tummy symbols were gone that we'd stop being who we are, or doing what we're able to do?" Anger Heart emerged from the kitchen with 11 plates of sandwiches, one in each hand and one held by each of his nine tails that he skillfully laid across the buffet table before pulling them back into one. He held up a finger and ignited a small white fireball, "I can still cook and make ghost fire."

"Exactly," Guidance Heart put an arm around her husband and gave him a kiss, "Our tummy symbols give us power and represent who we are, but they don't force us to be anything nor do we end up losing our talents without them."

"Got that right!" Swift Heart had suddenly appeared at the table and grabbed six sandwiches that she began wolfing down, "PBJ," she said through a full mouth before swallowing, "I'm still the fastest."

"Oh yeah!" Zippy was at her side grabbing his own food in an instant. Despite the dark cloud that hung over them, some levity returned to the Care Bear Family as they ate.

OoOoO

Andross' flagship was impossible to miss with it's giant monkey face as it hovered over the Himalayas. Andross' face was the picture wicked glee as he saw the Great Fox approaching. "This is it! Launch everything and don't stop! Prepare main batteries to open fire!"

Fox saw the tiny specks launch from the flag ship and did one last check of the fighter's systems. "All Arwings, launch!" He shot forwards, almost too fast to control as the Mk V hit the skies, the rest of his team following right behind him.

"There's thousands of them!" Peppy called.

"How did they make them so fast?" Slippy asked.

"Doesn't matter, take them down!" Falco accelerated forwards.

"Stay sharp!" Fox blasted forwards and began firing at the incoming ships, simple arrow shaped ships that went down with only one or two shots from the Arwings' plasma lasers.

"Why aren't they shooting at us?" Fara fired into the swarm of arrow ships, blowing them up as soon as they came into weapon's range.

"Don't know, we just have to get close enough to shoot down the flagship!" Fox fired off him beam gun which ripped through an entire line of fighters, fading before it reached the flagship.

"What the!" Falco dove to avoid colliding with one of the arrow ships. "They're not even stopping to hit us?!" An explosion behind them caused Fox to glance back, seeing the explosion on the Great Fox.

"They're missiles!" Fox shouted.

"He's gunning for the Great Fox!" Fara spun around, shooting down some of the missiles, even as more flew past her and struck the Great Fox.

Andross laughed as more of his missiles flew past the approaching Arwings to bombard the Great Fox. "Yes! Keep going! Destroy the Great Fox!" He spread his arms out as his message was sent through the minds of his crew.

Cold Heart and Illyana stood behind Andross as he pontificated, more missiles flying past the Arwings and exploding against the Great Fox. Neither spoke but they were both impressed and intimidated by Andross' obviously glee as he conducted the defeat of his long-time enemies.

The Star Fox team fought bravely, but there were just too many missiles. Dozens struck the Great Fox breaking through the ship's shields, even as its forward canons blasted apart some that made it past the Arwings, and peppering the hull with explosions.

Peppy saw the writing on the wall as more and more missiles struck the ship's hull, blasting off one of the wings. "Fox, the ship's going down!"

Fox wanted to protest, but he couldn't even as his teammate's protests and arguments started to ring in his ears he called the ship. "ROB, status report!"

"CRITICAL DAMAGE TO SHIELDS. WEAPONS OFFLINE. ENGINES FAILING."

"Can you transfer your data off the ship."

"NEGATIVE ......" static began to interrupt ROB's voice, "COMPUT... D..AGED... COM...CA..NS FAI...NG."

Fox gripped the controls as he gave an order. "All Arwings! Retreat to Care-a-Lot!"

"What?!" Falco shouted.

"We can't abandon the Fox!" Slippy protested.

"No, he's right." Fara said, "We need to leave now." Despite protests, the Arwings accelerated and flew past the Fox, even as it fell towards the ground.

Fox sent out one last transmission, "ROB, thank you for everything. We'll miss you."

"AFFIRMATIVE." The transmission stabilized for one moment, "IT HAS BEEN AN HONOR TO SERVE YOU." Then it cut off. Over his shoulder, through the 360-degree camera, Fox watched the Great Fox fall from the sky, missiles tearing off the engines and the wings before it struck the ground. Missiles continued to pepper the remains until the Great Fox exploded. Fox had to fight back a tear as his base and his home for years was destroyed.

"Yes!" Andross stood up practically doing a dance of glee as the missile barrage stopped.

"Why aren't you destroying them?" Illyana pointed her cigarette at the retreating ships.

"Yes, destroy them or they will be back!" Cold Heart raised his voice.

"No need to," Andross turned around in his chair as he waved of their concerns. "Missiles can barely hit them and I can't chase them down without putting this ship at risk from them or wasting more of our limited supplies, especially if they have weapons from the future." He grinned evilly, "And without the Great Fox they can't repair, rearm or even refuel their ships nor can they return to the Lylat system. They're stranded here and we have the ultimate advantage. Now excuse me, I need to make the announcement to the world." He turned back to face the front of the ship as he concentrated his psionic powers into the ship.

OoOoO

Love Heart had watched the battle unfold from far away on the Hall of Heart's monitors, so he knew what to expect. The brief relief they had felt evaporated as the Arwings landed back in the Kingdom of Caring, now without their main ship. But there was no time for consoling or grief as Andross' giant head suddenly appeared in the sky everywhere in the world. His psionic powers sending the message in whatever language the listeners were able to understand.

"ATTENTION PEOPLE OF PLANET EARTH! I AM ADMIRAL ANDROSS OF THE SOON TO BE RULERS OF THE GALAXY! THE STAR FOX TEAM THAT WAS SENT TO APPREHEND ME HAS BEEN DEFEATED AND WE NOW HOLD SUPREME POWER OVER YOUR PLANET! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO NEGOTIATE OR RETALIATE, THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO!

"WE NOW CLAIM SUPREME RULERSHIP OF THIS ENTIRE PLANET!"