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| Pieces of Heart | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 1 2010, 12:59 AM (613 Views) | |
| Peppermint Fizz | Feb 1 2010, 12:59 AM Post #1 |
Not always nice, but always honest
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*Note: I've never written Care Bear fanfiction and I haven't written fanfiction in general in about 10 years. However, I was writing some stories a while back about me and my Muffin but, due to recent events, those are too painful to work on right now. So I'm writing this instead. This story is part of a need to use my creativity, part of a way to spend my time now that I have more of it than I want, and part therapy. I'm really not particularly concerned with really technical things like whether I get a Bear's gender mixed up or anything, but there will be some parts to my story that relate to Care Bears canon (particularly the DiC series). I hope readers will find some enjoyment out of my story. Pieces of Heart: A Care Bears Story Prologue Far away in the atmosphere, beyond even the tops of the clouds covering the Earth, twinkling stars dotted the heavens in the pitch-black night. There were more stars than anyone on Earth could even begin to count. Many people believed that the stars were simply great balls of gas located billions of miles away. It was a good theory, if significantly less magical and more scientific than the truth. After all, the true story of stars would seem like a simple children's story, and that just wouldn't do for most people. Besides, people had their own lives to consider without thinking about the stars being alive, too. Little did they know the truth, that the "Star Buddies" in the sky--which is what they truly were--were part of the guiding force of every human being on Earth. All of those stars represented a person's soul, although a little Star Buddy generally only governed a small part of that. Many people on the Earth, those born with their "hearts in the right place" as some people would say, also had the help of a different celestial being in guiding their actions. These people had their very own Care Bear or Care Bear Cousin watching out for them in addition to a Star Buddy. Beyond that, occasionally people were guided specifically by the High Council, widely known as the "official" Care Bear Family. These very special Care Bears not only helped care for the people of Earth in their times of greatest need, but they helped to shape the abilities of the extended Care Bear Family as well. Given all of this information, it's easy to see that no one on Earth is ever really alone without help somewhere in the heavens. What isn't as easy to see is how important even the smallest part is to the people of Earth. That became very clear one dark winter night in January when one Star Buddy lost its shine. |
 "When you care enough about someone, you don't give up!"  
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| Peppermint Fizz | Feb 1 2010, 01:45 AM Post #2 |
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Not always nice, but always honest
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Chapter One: A Puzzling Situation It was only a couple of hours before midnight on January 24th when the High Council was awakened by pagers, cell phones and instant messages. All over Care-a-Lot and the Forest of Feelings, the highest-ranking Bears and Cousins received the same message from Tenderheart Bear. "High Council Alert! Please meet in the Hall of Hearts immediately!" Slowly, the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins of the Council shuffled out of their homes and proceeded toward the Hall of Hearts. During their walk, a few Bears noticed that the Caring Meter looked a little less full than it had before bedtime. Perhaps this was the reason for the meeting? The Council took their seats at the heart-shaped table. Tenderheart Bear was already standing in his place of honor at the top of the heart. Wish Bear stood just behind him, anxiously fiddling with her Star-o-Scope. "What's this all about?" asked Bedtime Bear, the most alert of the Council at this late hour. "If someone's had a really bad dream, I should be down there taking care of it." "It's not a dream, Bedtime Bear. I've called all of you here because Wish Bear has just seen something very strange down on Earth." Tenderheart motioned for Wish Bear to take his place. Wish Bear cleared her throat and held her Star-o-Scope close to her tummy. "I don't understand it and I don't know how we can help, but I just saw a terrible breakup and it really bothered me." "That's it?" huffed Grumpy Bear. "You called us all out of bed because of a breakup? Couples break up all the time and we don't get pulled out of bed for it. One of them probably did something to deserve it, anyway." "No, I don't think so, Grumpy Bear. At least, the guy who broke up the relationship said that wasn't so." "Well, I still don't see what the big deal is, then. If it's just a misunderstanding, we'll send Love-a-Lot down there to talk some sense into the guy and that's that." Love-a-Lot Bear nodded. "I don't have a problem with that. I can go down to Earth first thing in the morning." Wish Bear shook her head. "Normally that would be fine, except that I think this may even be beyond Love-a-Lot's ability. See...this has happened before, and it doesn't seem to be for any real reason. No one did anything or said anything wrong. The disturbance seems to be all inside the guy. He says that his "gut" is telling him that he needs to be alone without any love in his life, so he's leaving a girl who truly loves him. It's tearing them both apart, and yet he won't change his mind." The Hall of Hearts buzzed with whispers and mumbles. Some Bears and Cousins shook with invisible chills. "No love in his life?" asked Gentle Heart Lamb, holding herself to stop the chill than ran through her little body. "Why would anyone choose to live a life like that?" "Wouldn't that be terribly lonely?" asked Share Bear. "Life has no meaning with no one to share it with." "That poor girl," cried Cheer Bear. "I know how hard it can be to care about someone and feel like it doesn't do any good." Grumpy Bear huffed and turned away in his chair, scowling at Cheer. "Hmm," thought Bright Heart Raccoon, "I'm more concerned with the guy than the girl. Surely there must be something truly bothering him, enough to make him stop caring?" "But if he stops caring and hurts her through his actions, eventually she'll stop caring, too!" Funshine shouted. "And with all of that caring gone, what will that mean for Care-a-Lot?" True Heart Bear stood and gestured for everyone to calm down. "I know we are all very concerned about what this could mean for Care-a-Lot, and it does sound like a very scary situation, but there is a due process to how these situations are resolved. Wish Bear, do you have the information about the people involved? I need to consult our records before we go any further." "Yes, True Heart, I do." Wish Bear passed True Heart a card containing the names and locations of the guy and girl involved. As True Heart Bear checked the Care Bear Family Registry for a match, Love-a-Lot programmed the embattled couple's information into her LoveScanner, a small device that measured the presence and amount of love between two people. "How strange," Love-a-Lot commented. "There's certainly love between these two, and a significant amount according to the LoveScanner. Why would a breakup need to happen when this is present?" "I don't know, but it shouldn't be your problem," True Heart replied, pointing to a page in the Registry. "Both people involved have representatives within the Care Bear Family. The guy has a Care Bear Cousin assigned to him that should have taken care of this before it ever became an issue the first time, and there is no reason why this should have recurred. It appears to me that someone simply isn't doing their job." Tenderheart Bear sighed. "Then, what should we do?" "We must find this Cousin and bring him to the Hall of Hearts for questioning tomorrow. I want to find out why he is unable to effectively help his charge." True Heart took out her planner and wrote the Cousin's name into a time slot for the next day. "Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins: please return to the Hall of Hearts tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 p.m. We will be holding a trial." "A trial?" asked Tenderheart. "Yes. You and Brave Heart will go immediately to the Forest of Feelings to find the accused. Tomorrow afternoon will see the case of 'The People vs. Commitment Heart Tiger'." |
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"When you care enough about someone, you don't give up!"
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| ChaoticGoddessOfLuv | Feb 1 2010, 01:56 AM Post #3 |
No Heart's mistress
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I think this is a great story, and also a good outlet for dealing with your problem. Keep it up! |
"And the moral for today's story isss.. "People who live in glass houses should get dressed with the lights out!" -Yakko Warner, Animaniacs I   | |
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| Grumpy Bear | Feb 1 2010, 02:14 AM Post #4 |
I hate clouds!
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 That was amazing. Please keep writing. I can't wait to see what happens next.
LOL. You referenced my favorite episode! Thank you. Who created Commitment Heart Tiger? If you ever need help with a story you can just ask me. 
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"Not every lost soul is a lost cause." -Bizenghast series Number of Care Bear Quizes taken: 5 Results: 1) Environmental Grumpy Bear 2) Wish Bear 3) Good Luck Bear 4) Bedtime Bear 5) Tenderheart Bear "Being in a cartoon is so much fun." Apparently, Beastly is aware he is not real is and he just broke the 4th wall by stating he is in a cartoon. This quote comes from the Nelvana episode "Hearts at Sea".   <- This is my custom, Kawaii Bear. It's tummy symbol is Japanese for Japan. | |
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| Peppermint Fizz | Feb 1 2010, 03:02 AM Post #5 |
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Not always nice, but always honest
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Chapter Two: The Magic Key The ever-present heart-shaped table was missing from the Hall of Hearts Monday afternoon. Instead, the large room was set up like one of Earth's courtrooms. True Heart Bear sat perched high above the floor in the judge's chair. Long benches were set up facing the front of the room, and every seat was occupied by a member of the Care Bear Family. Off to the side sat a jury made up of peers of the accused: Grumpy Bear, Friend Bear, Do Your Best Bear, Perfect Panda, Daydream Bear, Smart Heart Bear, Swift Heart Rabbit, Gentle Heart Lamb, Brave Heart Lion, Good Luck Bear, Oopsy Bear and Grams Bear. The murmuring in the room stopped abruptly as Tenderheart Bear and Brave Heart Lion led a depressed-looking Care Bear Cousin into the Hall. His blue fur resembled a sky filled with storm clouds and his chocolate brown stripes pierced the gloomy blue like lightning. His whiskers drooped, his tail dragged, and his tummy symbol--a golden key with a heart-shaped loop--appeared to have lost all its luster. True Heart nodded to the two guards as they left Commitment Heart Tiger in the center of the room and took their seats. True Heart peered over the edge of her podium. "Commitment Heart Tiger, are you familiar with the events that transpired on the night of January 24th, 2010?" Commitment Heart continued to stare at the floor. "I am," he replied quietly. "You have been charged with neglect resulting in a significant amount of hurt between two Earth people. How do you plead?" The tiger mumbled something unintelligible. "I'm sorry, you'll have to speak up." Commitment Heart raised his head and wiped a tear from his furry cheek. "Not guilty," he replied, his voice cracking. True Heart nodded. "I see. In that case, we would like to ask you a few questions. First, since you are a relatively unknown member of the Care Bear Family, could you please tell the court about your background and how you came to be a guardian?" The blue and brown tiger nodded. "I don't remember my life as a cub, but I remember when I received my tummy symbol and became an official Care Bear Cousin. Brave Heart Lion and Proud Heart Cat found me in the Forest of Feelings not long after the evil spirit tore through the tree that I lived in." Secret Bear, the clerk, wrote down all of this information. She whispered to True Heart, "Estimated date of family status would be 1985, Judge." "They brought me here to the Hall of Hearts where I was given my tummy symbol and assigned mentors to help me learn how to be a guardian Care Bear Cousin, mentors that were specially selected due to strengths that my charge would possess." True Heart nodded. "Would Commitment Heart Tiger's mentors, if present, please rise and confirm this information?" Champ Bear, Loyal Heart Dog and Bright Heart Raccoon stood and nodded in the affirmative. "We trained Commitment Heart in his responsibilities and gave him extra help on Caring Missions for many years," Champ replied. "Thank you." True Heart nodded and the three mentors reclaimed their seats. "Your mentors say that they provided you with extra help for much longer than most guardians require. What is the reason for this?" "My charge was already a teenager by the time I became a Care Bear Cousin, so my abilities didn't help as much as they would have helped a child. Many Caring Missions required strength in numbers." "I see. Commitment Heart, would you say that your charge led a happy life up to this point?" Commitment Heart held his tail in his paws and pulled it anxiously. "To the outside world, yes...in his own mind, no. There were a lot of Caring Missions. My charge never had a problem with commitment. In fact, he committed to a lot of things because they were what people expected him to do. Not even I knew most of the time that anything was wrong. Eventually he just had enough of doing things for everyone else and wanted to make his own choices." "Would you say that the events of March 30th, 2009 and January 24th, 2010 were due to an inability to commitment?" Another tear rolled down Commitment Heart's cheek. "Yes." "Is commitment not your special skill?" "Yes...it is. I tried to help but it didn't work." True Heart Bear sighed. "Please tell the court what actions you took to resolve this situation." "The March 2009 incident took me completely by surprise. Plans were in place for the couple to live together and my charge put a stop to those plans just a month before the move date. He gave the exact same reason then; that he had a gut feeling that was bothering him. They got back together not long after that, he promised that would never happen again, and eventually they started planning the move again. My charge's girlfriend came up to visit him just last week and they had a wonderful time. While she was there, I placed a magic item in the apartment that I felt would solve everything." Loud whispering rumbled through the Hall behind him. "I put a magic key there. Once the key entered the girlfriend's possession, the magic would activate, keeping their union happy and content forever. She did ask what to do with the key while she was there and my charge said to just leave it there until it would be used for something better...the upcoming move." "Commitment Heart...did you not realize that even with an enchanted object, that would not have worked? The problem continues to arise before the move date, not on or after. Was anything said that caused a rift between the two?" "No." True Heart sighed. "You know as well as I do that a couple doesn't just break up for no reason. What precipitated these events? Was anyone with your charge that might have convinced him to do this?" Commitment Heart shook his head. "Quite the opposite. My charge was alone with nothing but his own thoughts. That's what he said caused it...that he had a lot of time to think." After a few more basic questions, True Heart Bear called an end to the explanation. As Tenderheart and Brave Heart took their places on either side of Commitment Heart, she called for the jury to render a verdict on the dejected Cousin. Was he responsible for the couple's pain, or was something else at work? |
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"When you care enough about someone, you don't give up!"
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| Grumpy Bear | Feb 1 2010, 03:17 AM Post #6 |
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I hate clouds!
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Wouldn't the use of that key be forbidden, because you are forcing them to do something against their own will? I really enjoyed this chapter, thank you. Thank you for describing Commitment Heart Tiger as well. Keep up the good work Oh, and thank you for updating so quickly. If you ever need help with a story you can just ask me. And, just one more thing:  It just coundn't be Commitment Heart Tiger's fault-It must be one of the villian's influences that had gone undetected by Commitment Hear, and that would explain the star burning out, and the guy's actions.
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"Not every lost soul is a lost cause." -Bizenghast series Number of Care Bear Quizes taken: 5 Results: 1) Environmental Grumpy Bear 2) Wish Bear 3) Good Luck Bear 4) Bedtime Bear 5) Tenderheart Bear "Being in a cartoon is so much fun." Apparently, Beastly is aware he is not real is and he just broke the 4th wall by stating he is in a cartoon. This quote comes from the Nelvana episode "Hearts at Sea". <- This is my custom, Kawaii Bear. It's tummy symbol is Japanese for Japan. | |
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| Peppermint Fizz | Feb 1 2010, 04:16 AM Post #7 |
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Not always nice, but always honest
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Chapter Three: The Verdict One by one, the twelve Care Bears and Cousins on the jury stood and gave their individual verdicts. Swift Heart Rabbit: You know, if I thought they were moving too fast, I'd say "no wonder!" But they were together for long enough to know if anything was wrong or not! It's a commitment issue, and Commitment Heart Tiger should have been the perfect Cousin for the job. Sorry, man, but you're guilty! Do Your Best Bear: Commitment Heart did his best. Sure, the timing with the key would never have worked but at least he tried! If his charge really believes he's done his best, too, then maybe the problem is that there isn't enough support. That's not the fault of Commitment or his charge so I say he's innocent. Smart Heart Bear: I think there was a lot of illogical thought going on here. The whole key idea was just poor planning, especially since Commitment had a previous experience to learn from. Not to mention, it's not a good idea to rely on enchanted objects to fix people's problems. Also, Commitment's charge must be a very smart person to have Bright Heart Raccoon as one of his guardian's mentors. There may have been a lot of thinking going on, but it doesn't seem like it was logical thought if his girlfriend didn't do anything wrong. This could have been avoided with just a little logic. I'm rendering a guilty verdict. Perfect Panda: Commitment Heart Tiger had a lot to try to do. His charge has really tried but he never follows through. Their love is as sweet as the very best dessert but even his girlfriend can't erase that many years of hurt. He wants things to be perfect, but a lot is left undone; it's the unfinished business that is telling him to run. His girlfriend's love won't get through and neither will our friend. It's not Commitment but his charge who must see this through to the end. Brave Heart Lion: Look, I know that big decisions are scary. Stress is stress, no matter what causes it, even when the change is good! I know Commitment's charge is capable of doing anything he sets his mind to, but life takes courage. That may not be Commitment Heart's specialty, but every member of the Care Bear Family knows that they can call on any one of us to help. I would have been down there in two shakes of a tail if I'd only been asked. Because of that, I say Commitment Heart is guilty. Oopsy Bear: I don't think Commitment Heart or his charge did anything bad, and "guilty" is such a bad word. Commitment Heart really tried, but he just made an oopsy. His charge wants to be happy, and he didn't want to hurt his girlfriend because he loves her, too. I know he hurt her really bad, but he just made an oopsy. I think that if he tries to make it right, his girlfriend should forgive him, and we should forgive Commitment Heart. He's innocent in my book. Gentle Heart Lamb: I really don't like seeing people get hurt like this. It wasn't fair to the girlfriend to be told that the relationship was over and not be able to talk about it with Commitment Heart's charge first. I also think that the magic key was avoiding the real issues. Commitment Heart should have found a way to calm the hurtful thoughts that his charge was having and remind him of all the good things in his life. Please don't think I'm being mean, but I do find Commitment Heart guilty. Good Luck Bear: Commitment Heart's charge has been down on his luck for so long that he doesn't want to believe it when his luck turns for the better. All the luck in the world won't make someone happy unless they choose to see how lucky they are. I know he's realized it many times before, but there is a real challenge in remembering how lucky you are when your own thoughts are working against you. If we don't let Commitment Heart go free, who's going to help this man conquer his inner demons? His girlfriend certainly can't. I put my full support behind Commitment Heart and I find him innocent. Friend Bear: Do you know what the common theme in a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship is? It's the word "friend". There certainly has to be love in a relationship to make it work, but most importantly, there needs to be a strong friendship. Friends help each other with their problems. They offer advice and support, and they also accept it. I don't understand why, but Commitment Heart's charge isn't accepting it. Commitment Heart hasn't exactly been the very best friend he can be to his charge, either. He's in a unique position to help his charge solve his problems, but he's relying too heavily on magic charms. You can't buy friends and you can't just wish everything better. This should have been handled differently. He's guilty. Grams Bear: I feel just terrible for everyone involved. I hate to see people suffer, especially when they love each other so much and want to be happy. However...lessons need to be learned. If Commitment Heart's charge is dealing with issues that are causing him unhappiness, then those issues will not go away just by ignoring them. If he feels like he would be hurting his girlfriend worse by staying with her while he's dealing with his own problems, then he's just trying to spare her further pain. I think Commitment Heart's greatest work is still to come. Commitment Heart needs to be there to help his charge sort out his life once and for all, to make a true commitment. I can't judge him on what has already been done. I believe he is still innocent. Daydream Bear: Anything is possible if you just believe. I disagree with Do Your Best Bear. I don't know if Commitment Heart's charge really has done his best. Negative thoughts are just thoughts. Sometimes they aren't even real thoughts, they're just there to make people hurt and doubt. This is all a thought problem. It's not hard to learn how to think positive, you just have to do it. Besides, the very first lesson that a Care Bear learns is how to help people share their feelings and see the good side of things. If Commitment Heart couldn't do that for his charge, then I have to wonder if he's even qualified to be a member of the Care Bear Family. Guilty. Grumpy Bear: You guys, it's really not that easy to just make yourself happy. When you've been hurt so many times before, it makes sense to be skeptical when things start to go right. I'm sorry it happened this way, but maybe Commitment Heart's charge really does just need to be alone until this storm passes. If his girlfriend really is meant to be with him, she won't give up on him no matter how grumpy he is. That'll get through someday, with or without Commitment Heart. Give him a break. Secret Bear tallied up the verdicts and passed them to True Heart Bear. She frowned. "It's a tie. Love-a-Lot Bear...as this is a case concerning two lovers and you are the expert on love, it will be your decision that breaks the stalemate. What do you say?" Love-a-Lot Bear took a deep breath. "I've always believed that love conquers all. I've watched these two many times and there is a lot of love there. There has been from the start. She loves him with all her heart. He loves her, too. There's only one thing that keeps my LoveScanner from maxing out: he doesn't love himself. That's a very serious problem. It's also a problem that Commitment Heart should have spotted a long time ago. When you are a guardian Care Bear, you don't see different people every day. Your relationship is with one special human, and you should know that human as well as they know themselves. Love and commitment aren't the same thing, but love needs commitment in order to grow. Commitment Heart's charge can't commit to his girlfriend if he can't commit to himself. All the love in the world won't help him if he won't let it in. Now there's been a lot of hurt. Things should never have been allowed to get this bad. Commitment Heart dropped the ball, and now he may be the only one who can make things right. I believe in him...but he is guilty. Commitment Heart Tiger dropped to his knees as tears streamed down his face. He had let his family down and he had failed his charge. "How can I help my charge learn to love himself when I feel guilty, too? Maybe I wasn't meant to be a Care Bear Cousin after all." |
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"When you care enough about someone, you don't give up!"
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| Peppermint Fizz | Feb 1 2010, 06:07 AM Post #8 |
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Not always nice, but always honest
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Thanks for the comments so far...I'm glad that my story is enjoyable. As for questions...1) I created Commitment Heart Tiger. I don't use other people's customs in my story, simply because I don't want to risk getting their personalities wrong. It feels safer to stick with canon characters and my own customs. 2) As seen in Chapter Three, the magic key was a very unpopular choice for a lot of the Care Bears on the jury because it was seen as an "easy out." It wouldn't have been fair to anyone had it worked, and no one supported it. 3) There is a villain lurking behind the scenes here, but you'll have to keep reading to find out who and how... Chapter Four: Probation The Hall of Hearts buzzed with whispers. Tenderheart Bear gently placed his paws on the devastated Commitment Heart and helped him to his feet. He gestured for Commitment Heart to face True Heart Bear. True Heart sighed and clasped her paws together. "Commitment Heart Tiger, you have been found guilty. Important opportunities were lost and the solution you attempted was ill-advised and would have been manipulative. That's not how we do things here. Care Bears are meant to be trusted to do the right thing. The presence of a tummy symbol is a badge of honor." Commitment Heart cowered. "Please don't take my symbol away!" "I won't...not at this time, anyway. Your charge needs you more than ever right now. Your consequences are as follows: You are on official probation. This means that your mentors are reinstated to accompany you on Caring Missions, and that you shall not take any actions without prior approval from at least one of them. You will work with them to help your charge find happiness. During your probation you will also remain here in Care-a-Lot. Is that understood." "Yes, True Heart, I understand." He wiped his tears away with his tail and breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. With that, this trial is concluded." The Bears and Cousins worked their way out of the Hall of Hearts and left to go about their days. Champ Bear, Loyal Heart Dog and Bright Heart Raccoon surrounded Commitment Heart where he stood. "What happened, sports fan?" Champ asked. "I never thought your charge would be unhappy or have a problem with commitment. He's one of the most committed athletes I've ever met!" "Yes, but it's not his commitment to sports that's ever been in question," Bright Heart corrected. "This was a problem with thinking. I should have been there to help you with that, but I never realized that very smart people can also have illogical thoughts." "I feel that I have also failed you," whimpered Loyal Heart. "I haven't taught you the most important things about loyalty and commitment. Loyalty should be earned, and if loyalty is misplaced, it can cause a lot of hurt. If I had taught you that many years ago, it might have helped." "It's okay, everyone," Commitment Heart sighed. "We've got a second chance. It isn't over unless my charge completely gives up on happiness and love." Champ grimaced. "Or until his true love decides she can't wait for him anymore." "Yeah...that too. Let's hope that Love-a-Lot's LoveScanner is right and that there's still plenty of love there. Now," Commitment Heart sat down at Secret Bear's post and began to brainstorm with her notepad, "we need to find out why this keeps happening. He's not like this all of the time, but when he is, there's no getting him out of it." Bright Heart's tail swished back and forth as he thought. "If his girlfriend didn't say anything to hurt him, and if she didn't do anything to hurt him, and if no one else said anything to him...then we have to figure out if there's some other sort of trigger. My guess is that it's something environmental." Commitment Heart nodded. "Yes, yes, that's got to be it! That's what we've got to do, we've got to go down to Earth and see if there's an environmental trigger!" The blue tiger jumped out of his seat and headed to the door. "Come on, time's a 'wasting!" Commitment Heart was halfway to the cloud car lot before he realized that no one was following him. He turned red with embarrassment and slowly walked back to the Hall of Hearts. Champ, Loyal and Bright were standing there with their arms crossed and knowing smirks on their furry faces. "You, uh, forgetting something, sports fan?" Commitment Heart laughed nervously. "Oh yeah...I mean...may we go down to Earth to see if there's an environmental trigger?" Loyal Heart barked with amusement. "Hmm. Yes, I suppose we could do that. Let's get this mission started...I have a feeling it could take a while to solve." |
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"When you care enough about someone, you don't give up!"
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| Peppermint Fizz | Feb 1 2010, 07:27 AM Post #9 |
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Not always nice, but always honest
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Chapter Five: Something in the Water It was something that no one ever talked about. Oh sure, there were people in the area that remembered it, but every place has their dark times that they'd like to sweep under the rug. Or, in the case of this community, swept into a bottomless pit. "All's well in Rainbow City," proclaimed the newspapers and the tourism board. Rainbow City promoted itself as an all-American Midwestern city where no one ever had a cloudy day and no one ever had to spend a night unhappy. And yes, it was a wonderful place, but the older generations--or what was left of them--remembered a very different time. "Drab City", they used to call it...a time when neighbor turned against neighbor, brother against sister, husband against wife, and people against their own minds. No one under the age of 25 remembered the hard times, but the memories still lingered somewhere deep in the collective consciousness of Rainbow City's populace. "Sometimes it's hard to be happy every day when you remember what life used to be like," said Charlie Monk, an employee at the mayor's office. "I remember seeing these streets covered in trash and grime, homeless people sitting all over the place because they simply didn't care enough to claim their own homes, and loving families acting as if they were strangers. Yes, I remember the rock and I remember it going into the "bottomless pit" and saving our hometown, but that life of uncaring really makes a man cynical. I don't believe that a problem like that can just disappear. If it's not Rainbow City's problem anymore, it's someone else's problem, whether it's in China or the next town over. If it's not destroyed, it could come back here one day. I think we should all stop pretending it never happened." Charlie and his family left the city the next day. Apparently he got fired from the mayor's office for being "a real downer". Maybe they should have listened to Charlie, though...because the rock did end up being someone else's problem. For a quarter of a century, the crystalline hunk of gloom remained lodged in the bottom of the local river. The water from that river provided for many of the cities and small towns to the north of Rainbow City, and with every sip of water, every bath taken and every summer swim, a little bit more of the rock's influence began to touch the people of those communities. Many people never even noticed the changes. Others did and worked to find a way to reverse the effects. Still, many others noticed and did nothing. They found that they just didn't care. |
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"When you care enough about someone, you don't give up!"
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| pattymouse | Feb 1 2010, 03:03 PM Post #10 |
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 great story
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| Peppermint Fizz | Feb 1 2010, 09:51 PM Post #11 |
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Not always nice, but always honest
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Chapter Six: Attack! The cloud car came to an abrupt stop on Earth, the front tires crunching upon impact with the icy snow. Champ Bear, Loyal Heart Dog, Bright Heart Raccoon and Commitment Heart Tiger jumped out of the car as it evaporated into the sky. Champ shivered. "Is this where your charge lives? Looks pretty...um...flat." "He must really enjoy being alone if he lives all the way out here," Loyal Heart agreed. Commitment Heart shook his head. "No, my coordinates were off a little bit. We're in a cornfield a few miles away from where he lives." "A few miles??" Bright Heart exclaimed. "Could you, perhaps, have told us that before we abandoned the Cloud Car?" "Well, no point in arguing about it now," Champ declared, hopping from foot to foot to stave off the cold. "If we've got to walk a few miles then we'd better start moving. It gets dark early this time of year." The four animals trotted over to the side of the road. Nothing but flat, snowy fields were visible and the road stretched to the horizon to the north and the south. Loyal Heart turned to Commitment Heart and asked, "Which way should we go?" Commitment Heart looked quickly to the south, then to the north. He pointed to the north and said, "That way! Let's go!" He began marching north confidently. Champ and Loyal Heart began to follow, but Bright Heart stayed rooted in place. The raccoon cleared his throat loudly. "Commitment Heart...are you sure?" "Of course I'm sure!" declared Commitment Heart, crossing his arms. "I could find my way around this place in my sleep!" "Okay, well...could you please take a look at the map just to be sure? Considering we have so far to go, I'd feel better about it." Bright Heart offered a neatly folded map to the tiger. Commitment Heart snatched the map out of Bright Heart's paw, crumpling it in the process. He opened up the map and pointed to the center of town. "See? That's where we're going, and we go that way!" Loyal Heart peered over Commitment Heart's shoulder. "But the area south of town looks too populated. Aren't we in this north part? Shouldn't we go south?" Commitment Heart clenched his paws into fists, tearing the sides of the map. He threw the map down in disgust. "I would have figured it out eventually!" His tail frizzed up as he stepped away from the group. "I don't need anyone's help. I can do this all by myself!" The three mentors exchanged concerned looks. "No, sports fan, you can't," Champ replied, trying hard to control the frustration in his voice. "That's why True Heart sent us with you. This is about making things right, not proving a point. Besides, if you run off by yourself, you'll break your probation, True Heart will take your tummy symbol away, and you won't be a member of the Care Bear Family anymore." "Maybe I don't want to be a Care Bear," Commitment Heart hissed. "I just mess everything up anyway, so maybe it's better if I just mess up my own life instead of dragging everyone else down with me! Maybe I just need to be alone!" "Please don't," Bright Heart implored. "Being a Care Bear takes a lot of skill, but I know you have it in you. The Care Bear Family needs you...and your charge needs you." Commitment Heart's scowl softened a little, but he still looked hurt. Bright Heart patted him on the back gently. "We could use your expertise." "Well...okay," Commitment Heart sighed. "I guess you guys couldn't do this without me, could you? I knew we should have gone south the whole time, anyway!" Champ rolled his eyes once Commitment Heart wasn't looking, earning a warning growl from Loyal Heart. The group walked for hours along the road, hard salt rocks crunching under their bare paws. As the sky turned a dark gray that evening, they came to a small forest. A few lights dotted the darkness, but it was difficult to see too far ahead. "This forest is really close to where we're going!" Commitment Heart exclaimed. "If we keep moving quickly, we'll be there by dark!" "Shouldn't we be careful?" asked Loyal Heart. "It's still pretty dark in there, even if we follow the road. What if we run into wild animals or traps?" "Hey, I know what I'm doing." Commitment Heart marched forward into the darkness of the forest. The mentors jogged up behind him. "Chill out, sports fan!" Champ yelled. "If we don't make it there tonight, we can just try again tomorrow! It's better than getting hurt by not being careful!" Commitment Heart didn't break his stride as he shot back, "I'm not worried about getting hurt. I can do this all by myself if I need to. I know what I'm doing, I'm smart enough not to walk into a trap, and I know for a fact that there are no wild animals in this--" His speech was cut off by someone tackling him in the stomach, pinning him to the road and knocking all the air out of him. Commitment Heart saw spots in his vision for a moment. When his sight cleared, he saw Champ, Loyal and Bright rooted to the spots where they stood. Slowly, he shifted his gaze to the weight on top of him. A bright red bear held a crossbow in her paws, the sharp arrowhead only millimeters from his heart-shaped nose. "If you intruders even think of going where I think you're going," the bear whispered angrily, "you can think again. No one gets past Warrior Heart Bear!" Edited by Peppermint Fizz, Feb 1 2010, 09:52 PM.
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"When you care enough about someone, you don't give up!"
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| Peppermint Fizz | Feb 2 2010, 12:47 AM Post #12 |
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Not always nice, but always honest
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Chapter Seven: The Bodyguard "A Care Bear with a crossbow?" Champ whispered to Bright Heart, trying to move as little as possible. "Isn't that against the rules??" "Oh yes," Bright Heart replied, moving only the corner of his mouth. "It is very much against the rules. It is so far against the rules as to be unjustifiable as acceptable conduct." Warrior Heart Bear held the crossbow steady, keeping the sharp point of her weapon a deep breath's distance away from piercing Commitment Heart. "No...sudden...moves," she warned. "I keep all of my arrows razor-sharp." Commitment Heart let out a single, nervous laugh. "Oh, I'm not moving. I wouldn't dream of moving, in fact...my mouth isn't even moving right now and it just looks like it is but I'm really talking through nothing but the sheer force of my mind--" "Be! Quiet!" Warrior Heart Bear narrowed her eyes at Commitment Heart and growled. "I am going to count to three. At that time I will slowly release you and you will back up slowly to where your friends are. You will tell me what your business is here and if I do not wish for you to proceed, you will turn around and go back the way you came from. Is that clear?" Commitment Heart gulped as the arrow barely brushed his nose. "C-Crystal." "One....two...three." Commitment Heart Tiger backed up straight into Champ Bear. "We--we have to get through this forest to get to my charge. We're on an urgent Caring Mission. Time is of the essence!" Warrior Heart Bear kept her crossbow aimed straight ahead. "By your 'charge', do you by any chance mean the man responsible for disrupting the Caring Meter and a really amazing relationship due to a nasty case of the woe-is-me's?" "Yes, that's him! I'm so glad you understand. Sorry to bother you, but if we could just get on by you..." "Ha!" Warrior Heart Bear took a step closer. "I know all about it, and I'd be doing you a favor to keep you away. There's no way he'll listen to you when he won't even listen to his girlfriend. And believe me, I know how hard she's tried to get through to him because she's MY charge. If being alone is going to snap him out of this ridiculous moping around stage once and for all, then I'll make sure he's alone because this has happened way too many times and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Warrior Heart Bear was so focused on repelling Commitment Heart and his mentors that she didn't notice three other furry bear faces peeking out of the foliage behind her. Love-a-Lot Bear, Share Bear and Harmony Bear gestured for the four males to remain quiet as they tiptoed up to Warrior Heart's back. "I'm afraid we can't leave," Loyal Heart replied. "This mission is very important and we have to see it through." "Well, too bad, because no one will be taking me down!" At that moment, Warrior Heart fell to the ground as the three female bears tackled her from behind. Share Bear and Harmony Bear held the angry Care Bear down as Love-a-Lot swiped the crossbow out of her hands. She created a large heart-shaped balloon through the Care Bear Stare, tied the crossbow to the balloon and sent the weapon flying into the air. "Enough is enough!" Love-a-Lot Bear admonished. "What's the matter with you, Warrior Heart? Don't you want Commitment Heart's charge to get better more than anyone?" "Commitment Heart's failed before," Warrior Heart muttered, her cheek still pressed into the icy gravel. "I won't let anyone mess things up again. If anyone is going to make things right, it's going to be me. They need me." "They need anyone who can help," Share Bear replied. Share and Harmony gently lifted Warrior Heart back up. "You don't need to do all of this alone." "Yes, I do," Warrior Heart disagreed. "My charge and I will save the day. Then, when Commitment Heart's charge remembers how much we helped and our caring fixed everything, he'll never let this happen again!" "Oh, is that what happened last year?" Commitment Heart Bear asked mockingly. "Yeah, I can see how well that worked for you. It worked so well that you'll get the chance to do it over and over and over again, every year, until the end of their lives!" "How dare you!" Warrior Heart screamed. She rushed forward in a crimson blur and tackled Commitment Heart. The two guardians fought like wild animals as the rest of the Care Bears stared in disbelief. The battle raged for what seemed like a full minute until a shrill whistle pierced the air. Champ Bear stood between the fighting guardians with a metal whistle in his mouth. His eyes shone with anger and his fur stood on end. He took the whistle and stashed it away in his backpack. Champ took a deep breath before shouting, "WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU PEOPLE?? CARE BEARS DO...NOT...MAIM!" The forest was deathly silent. Even Warrior Heart Bear looked subdued. Bright Heart Raccoon let out a deep breath. "I have not seen Champ Bear that angry since Mark McGwire admitted taking steroids." Warrior Heart Bear tried to remain angry, but found herself crying hot tears instead. "I'm sorry...I'm just so angry at this whole thing! I love them both, but I'm so angry at them for hurting me!" Commitment Heart Tiger smoothed out his tail. "Hurting you? Is that even possible?" The red bear nodded as tears hit her tummy symbol. It almost appeared as if the tears fell along the blade of the sword on her tummy. "I care for them both. I've given them all of my heart and soul, and now...they don't want my help. Now, I'm nothing! What's a warrior without a kingdom?" Warrior Heart turned to the bears behind her. "Are you guys going to tell True Heart what I did?" Harmony Bear shook her head. "Not if you promise not to wield any more deadly weapons. That includes your claws and paws." "We would like to help out," Love-a-Lot Bear offered. "It might not hurt for both of you to have the help of your mentors, considering..." She eyed the spot where the scuffle took place. "What do you say? Truce?" Warrior Heart Bear and Commitment Heart Tiger eyed each other warily. Finally, Warrior Heart extended her paw for a handshake. "Fine. We'll work together...but I'm not letting you mess this up." Commitment Heart shook her paw, gripping it tightly. "Bring it on." All of the mentors breathed a sigh of relief. "Now that that's settled," Bright Heart explained, "we were on our way to where Commitment Heart's charge lives to test for environmental concerns." "What kind of environmental concerns?" asked Warrior Heart. "I don't see Precious Heart Bear with you guys." "Maybe not specifically 'pollution'," Bright Heart continued, "but anything that might be causing people like Commitment Heart's charge to have gloomy thoughts for no reason." "Huh," Warrior Heart sniffed. "I never thought of that." "I'm afraid we've missed our chance for today," Loyal Heart observed. The sky was already pitch black. "I suggest we make camp and set out first thing tomorrow morning." That night, the Care Bears and Cousins huddled together in a small tent in the forest by the road to keep warm in the January chill. Meanwhile, far above the trees that sheltered them, a few more stars stopped twinkling. Edited by Peppermint Fizz, Feb 2 2010, 12:49 AM.
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"When you care enough about someone, you don't give up!"
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| Peppermint Fizz | Feb 2 2010, 03:25 AM Post #13 |
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Not always nice, but always honest
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Chapter Eight: A Chill in the Air Eight pairs of eyes watched as the car pulled out of its parking space that morning and proceeded out of the parking lot. A fuzzy head peeked over the tall mountain of shoveled snow to watch the road, making sure the car was out of sight. After about a minute, the tiger lookout climbed down to rejoin the other Care Bears and Cousins. "The coast is clear. Let's go!" The group of colorful fuzzballs made their way to the door of the apartment building, hoping that no one would see them and stop their mission. Commitment Heart Tiger opened the door as the group quietly rushed inside. They proceeded in a single file line up the stairs until they were all gathered outside Commitment Heart's charge's apartment. "Are you sure we should be doing this?" asked Loyal Heart Dog. "It just seems a little, well...invasive." "It's reconnaissance, a vital part of any mission," asserted Commitment Heart. "Besides, Dr. House does this on TV all the time." "Actually, he gets his underlings to do it," Love-a-Lot Bear corrected. "Probably because he knows he would be in a lot of trouble if he got caught." Everyone but Commitment Heart looked at her strangely. "What? I love that show! Chase and Cameron were so romantic..." "Now that we're here, how do we get in?" Harmony asked. "We can't just stand out here in the hall." Warrior Heart Bear cracked her knuckles and limbered up her arms. "Stand back. I'll take care of this. One...two..." She prepared to body slam the door, but Champ and Share held her back. Champ explained, "I know you want to help, Warrior Heart, but trust me...property damage will not help anyone." Love-a-Lot turned to Commitment Heart. "I don't suppose you reclaimed that magic key that you talked about, did you?" Commitment Heart shook his head. "No, but I have a really good memory for keys. I can make a new one that would open the door." His tummy glowed with a Cousin Call, producing a gold heart-shaped key identical to his symbol. The tiger inserted the key into the lock, easily opening the door. The Care Bears entered the apartment and looked around. Bright Heart Raccoon shivered and walked over to the windows. "Hmm...the windows aren't open..." "Why would they be?" asked Warrior Heart. "It's the dead of winter out there!" "It feels like the dead of winter in here, too," Bright Heart responded. "Can't you feel it?" "It is really cold in here," Champ agreed. He jumped nimbly onto the futon railing and leaned against the wall to read the thermostat. "That's weird. It says seventy degrees, but it feels more like seventy below!" "Is that a weird-enough environmental thing for you?" asked Warrior Heart. "Well, it sure is weird," confirmed Commitment Heart. "Let's keep looking around." The Care Bears toured the small apartment for about half an hour. Eventually, Share Bear picked up a piece of paper to look under it, and saw the drawing on the other side. "Hey, everyone! Take a look at this!" Everyone crowded around the drawing. "That's cute," commented Bright Heart, "but we really should finish up here." "Hang on a sec!" Warrior Heart pulled the drawing out of Share's paws and stared at it. "Oh...I forgot that she gave him this." "You know this drawing, Warrior Heart?" "Yeah, of course I do. My charge put a lot of time into this. She drew this and sent it to her boyfriend over the Internet for his birthday three years ago. It was the first gift they ever exchanged: a sketch of the two of them together. Of course, she had the original with her. I hadn't seen it in a while, but now I remember...she gave him the original this Christmas. She thought it would be a fitting gift since they would finally be physically together..." A tear dropped onto the page. "Oh, Warrior Heart," consoled Love-a-Lot Bear. "That's so sad." Commitment Heart examined the drawing. "Personally, I think it speaks volumes for their love that my charge even liked this. As if he didn't worry about their age difference enough, she turned his hair gray early!" Warrior Heart squinted at the drawing. "Wait...that's not right. She didn't color it gray, she colored it black." The tiger chuckled. "Yeah, nice try. At least she tried to even out the score...check out her roots!" He pointed to the girl's hair. The top of her head looked like a big drop of gray paint had fallen on top of it. "No, no, no." Warrior Heart shook her head furiously. "This isn't the drawing I remember!" She held it close to her face. "This gray is just unnatural. It even looks like it's slowly growing in size the longer I stare at it." Bright Heart Raccoon shivered. "That's creepy...it almost reminds me of Drab City." Harmony blinked. "Where's Drab City?" "You weren't with us yet when we went on that particular Caring Mission, but Drab City was a place where there was so little caring that even the color had all disappeared. We managed to save the city by tracing the source of dark energy to a large crystal--conveniently placed within shoving distance of a bottomless pit--and getting rid of it. The color and the caring reappeared in an instant once that crystal was gone. The gray that we saw in the people of Drab City looked just like the gray in this picture. Oddly enough, Drab City--er, Rainbow City isn't all that far away from here. It would make a short drive, actually. Isn't that a coincidence?" Loyal Heart Dog growled. "Maybe too much of a coincidence. Let's hold on to this drawing. It may be useful." Warrior Heart Bear clutched the drawing close to her tummy. "We can't take this! It's an important gift made with love!" Love-a-Lot Bear placed a paw on Warrior Heart's shoulder. "Unfortunately, because it is a gift filled with so much love, I don't think he will miss it." Bright Heart sighed. "Well...I think we have enough information for a good start. Let's get out of here and back to Care-a-Lot." The Care Bears were making their way back to the front door when Champ Bear noticed something shiny on a table. He tapped Commitment Heart on the back. "Hey, sports fan, is that the magic key?" Commitment Heart nodded. "Yeah, right where they left it. Lot of good that did." "Well, uh, do you think you could take that with you? The thought of magic objects like that kinda gives me the heebie-jeebies." "Oh....sure, yeah." Commitment Heart reached down to grab it. Immediately, his paw recoiled. "Owww!" Champ's eyes widened. "What happened, man?" Commitment Heart examined where his paw had made contact with the key. "It was so cold that it burned me! Look...it looks almost like I have frostbite on the tip of my paw!" Share Bear furrowed her eyebrows with concern. "I'm guessing that wasn't part of the magic?" Commitment Heart shook his head. Suddenly, Share Bear had a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "You didn't create that key yourself, did you?" "No," Commitment Heart replied. "All of my keys look like the one on my tummy. This just looks like a regular silver key." "Did someone give it to you?" "Yes, actually. It was a nice old man that suggested the idea to me. He seemed a little weird, especially since he looked like he'd been living outside in this kind of weather his whole life, but he seemed to know what he was talking about." Share shivered. "Yes...I'm quite sure that man knew exactly what he was doing." |
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"When you care enough about someone, you don't give up!"
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| Peppermint Fizz | Feb 2 2010, 05:59 AM Post #14 |
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Not always nice, but always honest
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Chapter Nine: Shake Things Up One year earlier... The door slammed shut with a loud bang. The lanky man had no problem with tracking snow all over the creaky wooden floor of his house. In fact, it seemed as if the man made it a point to track as much snow and ice through the house as possible. He tromped over to the thermostat and examined it. Fifteen degrees, it read. The man scowled and turned up the air conditioning. A pudgy man waddled down the staircase. "Welcome home, Boss! How was work today?" The tall man reclined into an ice-cold leather chair. "Another productive day, Frostbite. More homes being foreclosed, more homes losing their heat due to non-payment...I miss the scientific life, but it's so fulfilling to spread the bad news day after day. Can you believe we've been living here for twenty five years, Frostbite?" Frostbite surveyed the house with its darkness and bare walls. "Duhhh...only twenty five years, Professor Cold Heart?" Cold Heart ignored Frostbite's comment and continued with his reverie. "I remember when we first found this place. I never thought we'd find a place to hide from those ridiculous fuzzy-wuzzies. This place very nearly didn't work, either...too much happiness and productivity." "Until we came along, right, Boss?" "That's right, Frostbite." Cold Heart picked up his ice cold "Meanie Mug" from the end table by the chair. The ice water from that morning was still just as cold as it had ever been. "It was so easy to fix that little problem. A little zap of my 'unfeeling ray' in the hearts of the men in charge of automobile production, and this place started to crumble like a snowman in July. Pretty soon people were leaving in large numbers, most that stayed behind found a lot less reasons to care, and we got what we always wanted: peace, quiet, and cold." He lifted his Meanie Mug high. "Cheers, my tubby apprentice. To twenty-five more years of gloom and despair!" Professor Cold Heart cackled as he took a sip of ice water. "Uhhh, Boss? What will we do if people start moving up here instead of away?" "Don't be ridiculous, Frostbite. This entire state is going the way of the dinosaur thanks to us. There's nothing here that would bring anyone here from anywhere else, not if they're in their right mind." Frostbite pressed his nose against the window pane. "Duhhhh....what about love?" Cold Heart's face contorted into a sickened expression. "How repulsive! I certainly hope we don't have to worry about that! Why do you ask those things?" "Because there's a couple right there that's very much in love, and I don't think that girl is from here." "Let me see this." Cold Heart slammed his mug back down on the table, fished a set of binoculars out of the table drawer and spied out the window at the happy couple. "Ack! What's this? Those two are radiating so much...love and warm fuzzies that they're going to melt the ice!" Cold Heart opened the window and shouted across the road to them as if they were stray dogs. "Go on! Get out of here! Shoo! Scat!" "They're not doing nothin' wrong, Boss," Frostbite commented. "They're just over there being happy." "That IS something wrong, you nitwit!" Cold Heart slammed the window back down and bopped Frostbite on the head with the binoculars. "Happiness is a crime in this neighborhood!" "Oh." Frostbite frowned. "Are we witnesses to a crime scene, Boss? Should we call the Neighborhood Watch?" Cold Heart took a deep breath. "We ARE the neighborhood watch." He paced along the floor, making boards creak with every step. "The nerve of those two, to come into my neighborhood and spread their feelings of love and happiness! Well, I'll show them love and happiness!" "Really, Boss? That's awful sweet of you. Are we gonna give them a fruit basket?" "No! I'm putting a curse on them." Cold Heart stepped outside into his frozen front yard. He formed a snowball of loosely-packed snow. As he stared at it, it began to shimmer with a sickly green glow. "The moment one leaves the other's side after this snowball makes impact, the one it hits will forget that they were ever happy or could ever be happy. They'll dump the other poor sap and leave them miserable. The curse will only last until the end of winter, but that should be long enough. No one would be silly enough to keep caring that long." Cold Heart wound his arm like a pitcher and sent the snowball flying. It smacked right into the man's shoulder in the middle of a kiss. "Hey, what's your problem?" yelled the man. "Sorry," Cold Heart replied with a sinister smile. "I believed you were someone else. Please...carry on!" He turned on his heel and walked back into his bleak house. "And that, should be that." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Two weeks earlier... "Duhhh...Boss! Boss!" Cold Heart slapped his newspaper down and glared. "What is it, Frostbite? Can't you see I'm trying to enjoy a nice cold day?" Frostbite came running over to Cold Heart's bench at the airport terminal. For some reason, Cold Heart loved to see people waiting in the cold after an already challenging day. "Look! Over there, at Departures!" "Yes, I see, how fascinating. Some silly woman walked out of the wrong gate to wait for her ride. Amusing, but I was in the middle of reading this gripping story of pain and suffering--" "No, Boss, look!" A car pulled up to greet the woman. She happily greeted the man in the car and they kissed passionately and lovingly. "Duhhh, it's those criminals from last winter!" "Criminals?" Cold Heart narrowed his eyes, trying to see inside the car. "Criminals! Those two lovebirds are still together? I thought my snowball curse would take care of them for sure!" Frostbite watched the couple with a sappy smile. "I think they must be soulmates, Boss. Their love is too strong for that." "Too strong for that? Too strong for that?? I'll show them too strong!" Cold Heart folded up his newspaper and rushed to the bush that concealed his icy motorcycle. He hopped onto the cycle as Frostbite jumped into the sidecar. He peeled out of the bush in pursuit of the departing vehicle. "We'll have to keep a sharp eye on them this time, Frostbite. This time, we will succeed!" A while later, Cold Heart and Frostbite caught up with the car parked outside a large house. However, the happy couple was nowhere to be found. Someone else, however, was. A small blue tiger with brown stripes was sitting on top of the car, lost in daydreams. "It's worse than I thought," Cold Heart hissed. "One of those meddling Care Bears is here. I should have known they had something to do with this! How am I going to get another cursed object to them with that thing in our way?" Frostbite shook his head. "Duhhh, I don't think they'd take anything from you anyway. I'm sure they know all about stranger danger. They wouldn't trust you." "No." Cold Heart's eyes glittered with malevolence and a sneer crept onto his face. "But...they'll trust him." He walked over to the car. "Hello there? Little tiger?" The tiger looked up. "Who, me?" "Yes, you! What are you doing out here?" "Oh, um, my name's Commitment Heart Tiger. I'm a Care Bear Cousin. My charge is here with his girlfriend and it's my job to make sure he's safe and happy!" "How very...charming. Listen, you know Valentine's Day is coming up soon, right? A time to affirm your love? Has your charge ever done anything, well, unloving to his girlfriend?" A cloud crept over Commitment Heart. "Yeah...he dumped her last year right before the move date. Luckily, things got better and he swore he'd never do it again. They don't talk about it much." "Well, then, have I got something wonderful for you! I have the perfect gift for you to give them! It's a magic key, just like the one on your belly. A true sign of commitment if there ever was one!" Cold Heart held up a small, silver key. "When this key is given from one of them to the other, their commitment will be sealed permanently and they will never need to remember that terrible time again." "Really?" Commitment Heart's face lit up. "That's amazing! Only...they can't see me. I can't give it to them." "Well, how about this? Can you leave it in the apartment to be picked up on its own? That would work just the same." Commitment Heart thought about it. "Yeah, I think I could. This will really work?" Cold Heart sneered. "Oh yes, it will work very well." "I'll do it!" the tiger agreed. "They'll be so happy...I can hardly wait to see!" Later that week, Commitment Heart planted the key as agreed before. Cold Heart and Frostbite kept watch around the apartment until the time the couple left, but the key never activated. Cold Heart screamed with frustration. "I don't believe it! This can't be happening! I'll find a way to stop those two if it's the last thing I do!" |
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"When you care enough about someone, you don't give up!"
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| Peppermint Fizz | Feb 2 2010, 06:36 PM Post #15 |
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Not always nice, but always honest
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Chapter Nine (continued): One week earlier... The motorcycle shook as Cold Heart drove as fast as possible around the airport, knocking over signs, traffic cones, and a few pedestrians along the way. Frostbite's knuckles were white from gripping the edges of the sidecar. "S-Slow down, Boss! Someone could get hurt!" "That's the point, you nitwit! We have to stop these two from moving in together...if she moves up here with all of her love and caring, it could start a new trend. People who left could start coming back, people could suddenly decide they like the charm and mild summers and vacation here...I've worked too hard to run out the riffraff and I'm not going to let these two ruin it!" Cold Heart made a sharp left turn, nearly dumping Frostbite and his cargo out of the sidecar. "Maybe there's another way to make this work...oh, I know! You could spread a nasty rumor to the woman that her boyfriend is cheating on her with Auntie Freeze!" "That would never work. There's too much trust between them." Cold Heart spit out the word like a rotten piece of fruit. "Or, or maybe you could spread a rumor to the man that his girlfriend is cheating on him with me!" Frostbite grinned. Cold Heart shot a quick glance at his tubby, inept apprentice as he sped through a crosswalk, nearly flattening two women and a baby carriage. "Trust aside, Frostbite, they both have IQs well over 65. No, this is the only way. The snowball didn't work, the key didn't work...desperate times call for desperate measures." "But, er, Boss...this plan has been foiled before, you know." "I've made lots of modifications since then. More powerful, yet more subtle, and if those fuzzy-wuzzies ever figure out how to reverse the effects, it will be too late to reverse the damage." Cold Heart slammed on the breaks, sending the motorcycle and its occupants crashing into an icy snowbank. The professor jumped off of the seat and started running toward the building. "Hurry up and bring the weapon, Frostbite, and don't let it be seen!" Cold Heart and Frostbite ran inside and hid behind a row of chairs. Frostbite clumsily pulled what appeared to be a bulky bronze bazooka out of his parka. Cold Heart expertly shielded it from any curious eyes. He glared at the couple kissing in front of the security gates and adjusted his scope. "Look at the two of them, all that overflow of love for everyone to see...makes me sick!" Frostbite sidled up next to Cold Heart, trying to look through the scope. "Duhhh, which one are you gonna zap with the unfeeling ray, Boss?" "The woman, of course," Cold Heart replied. "That much caring is dangerous for us. Best to zap her now and send her away with no intention of ever coming up here again." "But I think she's kinda cute..." Cold Heart gritted his teeth. "Cute? Cute?? If her boyfriend ever heard you say that, he'd turn you into a beach ball and kick you all the way from here to the middle of Lake Superior!" Frostbite gulped. "Well...uh...I was just thinking that the man would be easier to get to, 'cause you've already attacked him once with that snowball...and besides, he promised he'd never hurt her again! If he promised, and then he does, it could take care of that icky trust problem!" "Hmm. You have a point. Or maybe, if I get the angle exactly right, I can send the unfeeling ray straight through both of them!" Cold Heart trained his sights on the couple. He was just about to pull the trigger when he was distracted by shouts and heavy footsteps farther down the terminal. "What's with all the ruckus?" he complained. "I don't know, Boss," answered Frostbite, watching the action. "Something about a sighting of suspicious activity." "Well then, let's make this quick. I'm already losing my window of opportunity here!" The couple had already stopped kissing and was beginning to pull apart with their final goodbyes. "One...two..." "Freeze!" "Not yet, that's after the count of three!" A tough man in uniform stepped in front of Cold Heart's sights with a gun of his own. "Drop your weapon, terrorist!" "I'm not a terrorist!" Cold Heart protested. "I'm just trying to rid this place of love and caring and replace it with despair!" "Duhh, that's what a terrorist is, Boss." Cold Heart shot Frostbite an icy glare. "I learned that on public television." Cold Heart tried to evade the security agents. "I'll be out of here shortly, but I can't lose this opportunity!" He finally found a small opening through which he could zap the man right in the back. Just as he pulled the trigger, two security agents tackled him, sending his shot straight up into the air instead. The freezing ray punched through the roof of the terminal and kept going up through the atmosphere. A wiry female agent clamped handcuffs on both Cold Heart and Frostbite. "You're coming with us!" Cold Heart screamed in frustration, not because he and his accomplice were arrested, but because their last chance at victory had failed. Little did Professor Cold Heart know that his plan succeeded better than he could have ever dreamed. Eventually that wide shot climbed high enough to zap the Star Buddy of the professor's target, abruptly cutting off the most basic feelings of happiness right at the source. Not even the Care Bears would notice one star going dark in the sky for a long, long time. |
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"When you care enough about someone, you don't give up!"
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