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Chapter 5: Evil Gathers

Clifford Quentin, a middle aged man with grey hair in a business suit, sat at the desk in his office at the top of his headquarters. He groused over the reports coming in on his monitor. "The FBI are getting harder to placate, too many investigations and almost no time to cover it up," he switched on the intercom next to his computer, "Dr. Fright, how is the research progressing."

"Slow but steady. We're still having trouble with the cooling systems but once we solve that problem everything will be ready."

Clifford growled but replied, "You'd better not fail me. Or I will do worse to you than my brother every did."

"Sounds like you're in far over your head."

"I'm not in over my head, I just need time to...!" his gaze shot up to the man dressed in black who stood at the entrance to his office. "Who are you?! How did you get in here?! What happened to my security?!"

Mental Heart smirked, "My name is Mental Heart, Control, criminal underworld mastermind," Mental Heart pulled a business card out of his longcoat, "I should be surprised that you give these cards to your associates but I've come to understand that pride and vanity are your family's faults. As for your guards, they're indisposed."

Clifford, or Control, was out from behind his desk and ran past Mental Heart and out of his office doors. He found his two guards, wearing bullet-proof vests, helmets with face obscuring bulletproof glass covers, and carrying assault rifles, just standing still, as though nothing had happened.

He grabbed one by the shoulder and shook him, "What were you thinking! Letting him-" he didn't get any farther as the guard toppled over. He stared then cast a spell to check the guard's life signs, "Dead?"

"They saw through my obfuscation," Mental Heart pushed the other guard over, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that No-Heart's brother has adapted magic into technology like this, Quenos."

The man rounded on Mental Heart, "He sent you!"

"He did,=." Mental Heart re-entered the main office, "We know you're having trouble keeping the FBI off your back; it seems that one of the children the Care Bears helped back in the 80s grew up to lead the department and is incorruptible, and crafty." He turned to Quenos, who had just re-entered his office, "I think it's time you gave up these childish pursuits and joined us, both of you. I know you have Dr. Fright here and about your research." He smirked, "You've been having trouble with the cooling systems for your project. We just so happen to have recruited Professor Cold Heart. If anyone can solve your cooling problem, it's him."

Quenos was about to respond but paused upon hearing Mental Heart's last line. After a moment's contemplation he went to his desk and turned on the intercom, "Dr. Fright, gather up all of our research and meet me in my office." He didn't even listen to the reply as he turned to Mental Heart, "I hope you don't expect me to bring my entire office with me."

"Oh don't worry," Mental Heart gave a sinister grin, "We have something far more impressive than your laboratory where we're going." A moment later a bookcase opened nearby and Dr. Fright stepped out from inside a secret elevator, a pair of portable hard drives in one arm and a single button remote in the other. He started at the appearance of Mental Heart until Quenos spoke.

"It's time we left for a new place. Come doctor, things are going to change." Quenos and Dr. Fright followed Mental Heart out of his office.

OoOoO

"There you are." It was the early evening as Noble Heart walked up alongside True Heart where she stood atop a small hill near their home that overlooked the Kingdom of Caring, "What are you doing up here?"

True Heart fiddled with the radiant heart crystal where it hung around her neck. "Looking at our home and everything around us. It's so beautiful, and fragile..." She felt her eyes tear up and wiped away the moisture as it gathered.

Noble Heart put his arms around her from behind, "I know, and I'm worried to0, especially after what Futureheart told us. But I know we can win this, no matter what." He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

True Heart just nodded and continued to stare for a moment. Then the turned around inside Noble Heart's arms, "Noble Heart, let's have another child."

Noble Heart blinked, "Really?"

True Heart carefully took his arms from her around her and clasped them, "Yes! I know it's probably empty nest syndrome but I want to have another child, and raise them ourselves. We never got to raise Hugs and Tugs and they don't need us to lead anyone anymore. I want to be a real mother, like Life Heart, Contrary Heart and mom are."

She didn't need to plead, Noble Heart kissed her, "All you had to do was ask, I've been feeling the same way for a while now."

"Oh Noble," True Heart let go of his hands and traced a finger down his chest, "You could have asked. Thank you," She kissed him again.

Noble Heart drew her in for a hug, "So want to get started on that now?"

True Heart giggled, "Oh my, eager are we?"

"It was your idea," he kissed her again.

"I know. Yes," she kissed him back, then Noble Heart pulled her into a tight hug, a bit too forcefully and they lost their footing, fell to the ground and rolled down the hill towards their house still locked together in an embrace. They came to a stop at the foot of the hill with True Heart leaning over top of him, the crystal dangling over him from her neck and glowing softly.

"I love you, Noble Heart," she leaned down and kissed him forcefully. Noble Heart pulled her closer and deeper into their embrace.

OoOoO

Like his name in the criminal underworld, Quenos liked to be in control of his situations. It was very disquieting and nerve-wracking for him to be zipping along under Mental Heart's powers with no knowledge of where he was going and the speed of their flight blurring the landscape too much to see outside their transport bubble. Dr. Fright for his part was at least calmer, then again it was hard to tell as the vampiric-looking man looked to be constantly on the verge of sadistic glee when his life wasn't threatened.

Everything went dark as they sped into a mountain and seemed to pass right through the solid rock, though Quenos swore he could hear the sound of the rocks sliding open and closed as they did so.

"Welcome to your new home." Mental Heart said as the bubble came down. They were in a massive cavern with two prominent features: A large section covered in ice with laboratory equipment scattered around, and a massive space vehicle taking up almost half the cavern on the opposing side, with a front in the crude blocky shape of a monkey's face.

Quenos couldn't help but stare at Andross' starship, "Where did that come from?"

"Why it belongs to me." The monkey emperor strode across, wearing long robes that obscured everything except his arms and feet, "I was wondering when our newest ally would arrive. Ahh!" He turned to Dr. Fright, "And you've brought another psionic with you, I'm surprised this planet can even produce psions."

"I am no psionic, I am Doctor Fright, Master of Fear!" he protested.

"It would explain how you rig a one button controller to all the functions of your lab, you merely think about it then press the button," Quenos looked down to the little man, then back up to Mental Heart who was striding over to a blank wall in the cavern, then over to the icy part of the cavern where he only just now noticed Professor Cold Heart hard at work."

Quenos' attention was diverted to Andross again as he spoke, "I believe you are working on a project that could turn the tide to our favor, I hope to learn more about it."

Quenos stiffened up, "I will reveal only what I need to. For now, I need to see where my older brother is keeping himself."

"Then you won't have to wait any longer." The voice came from Mental Heart as he stood in front of the huge blank cavern wall. He held up his hands as the wall parted open, slowly grinding to the sides to reveal the room beyond. Mental Heart dropped to one knee with his head bowed and proclaimed: "Greetings, Lord No-Heart, I have brought the last members of our soon to be empire."

No-Heart sat on a throne of grey crystal with lines of magical energy connecting him to it like surgical tubes. The wizard's robes were worn out and frayed and his body looked frail but his eyes burned red with the same ferocity always had from within the darkness of his hood.

There was silence at first, until Quenos let out a contemptable laugh, "So this is what my elder brother has been reduced to. Sitting on a throne clinging to life with a slave to bring you more allies." He held up a hand, "It would be child's play for me to grak!" he suddenly felt a pressure in his throat and started to suffocate.

Mental Heart didn't have to turn around but sent the message right into their minds as he stood up. 'If any of you think to harm Lord No-Heart then I will end your life in an instant.'

No-Heart watched his younger brother suffering and spoke with a strong voice that belied his frail state, "Mental Heart is not my slave, he is my willing servant and by far the most competent one I have ever seen serving any of us. He came to me at my lowest point brought me to this new home where I might recover and adapt to my strength." He exerted great force to stand up as a dark cloud surrounded him and pointed one bony green finger at Quenos, "I struggle daily to control the shadow dragon's power within me and I have no doubt that I will win! While you sat and played childish games with the underworld of human society I have tasted power like you can not believe, and this throne of uncaring crystal will ensure that I harness it to my own will. I believe he's learned his lesson, Mental Heart."

"Of course." And Quenos was suddenly able to breathe again.

No-Heart sat back down on his crystal throne, "It has come time to rid ourselves of those nuisances called the Care Bear Family and their new allies, the Star Fox Team. But we cannot go about this without sense or preparation. Mental Heart will be my eyes and ears and my hands as well until I can take final action but until then we need to cause as much misery for our enemies as we can before they find and move against us."

Andross and Cold Heart watched as Dr. Fright and Quenos plugged in the hard drives and transferred the data to Cold Heart's computers.

"So what is it you've been working on?" Andross asked.

Quenos gave an smug grin, "Nanomachines."

OoOoO

True Heart burst through the front door of their home with a huge grin on her face and her fur disheveled. She plopped down on the couch as Noble Heart walked in, his mane a complete mess.

"I feel so alive!" True Heart stretched her arms upwards then rested them on the back of the couch and grinned towards her husband.

Noble Heart chuckled and sat down next to True Heart, "Where do you get that energy?"

"From you," True Heart gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then the crystal started to glow again.

Both looked down at where it hung on the end of True Heart's necklace and Noble Heart touched it. The glow stopped but the once faded crystal looked slightly more vibrant than it had.

"I thought the power had gone away years ago," Noble Heart said.

True Heart giggled, "It must be reacting to our love," She snuggled up close to Noble Heart. "I feel ten years younger after that."

"So do I, come to think of it," Noble Heart leaned his head sideways so it rested on top of True Heart's, "Take Care said we're literally as old as we feel."

True Heart giggled again, "Well I definitely feel it." She rolled over until she was on top of Noble Heart, hands to either side of his shoulders pressing into the couch cushions, "How about you."

Noble Heart smiled and wrapped his hands around her, gently pulling her in close, "I feel it too." He gave her a deep kiss.

OoOoO

Andross was looking over the schematics for the nanomachines on one of the computers at Cold Heart's lab. "This is a fascinating technology and the applications are staggering. So what is the problem?" he turned to Quenos.

"Heat. The constant movement of so many tiny limbs generates a massive amount of heat that would melt them down into a pile of slag from the movement in mere moments." Quenos said. "Unfortunately the cooling technology needed to keep them from overheating would require them to be confined to a single location, limiting their usefulness."

"And that's where I come in, being the expert on cooling systems. It will take time to miniaturize them," Cold Heart was already working on blueprints for such a device with Dr. Fright assisting him."

"With the machines on my ship we could produce them much more quickly, or even use them to accelerate the manufacture of other materials." Andross grinned.

Mental Heart kept his distance and watched the four scientists at work.

'they're working far better together than I expected.' Mental Heart spoke to No-Heart telepathically.

'Of course.' No-Heart watched them with anticipation, 'though I trust them only as far as their hatred for the Care Bears, and Star Fox, endures. Hate is a powerful unifier that will bring us victory.'

'Nevertheless, I will keep my mind's eye on them.'

OoOoO

Noble Heart and True Heart lay together on the couch, snuggled up in each other's arms, sweaty but not tired. True Heart sighed and lay her head on Noble Heart's chest. "Thank you, Noble Heart."

"Of course," Noble Heart kissed her.

They lay in silence for a minute before True Heart spoke, "Noble Heart, what can we do about this?"

"You mean what Futureheart told us?" Noble Heart turned his face to her.

True Heart nodded, "I mean, shouldn't we be doing more. The five of us started this family over thirty years ago, and I'm so proud of them but..." she ran her hand down Noble Heart's chest, "I feel so helpless here. We're all but retired now and I feel like all I can do is watch as things unravel."

"They can do it, True Heart," Noble Heart kissed her forehead.

"I know they can, and I'm proud of them, but I want to do more than just sit on the sidelines and watch." True Heart pushed herself up and off Noble Heart, only just realizing how dark it was. The window was open and only showed the night sky with no lights on. "I didn't realize it was so late."

Noble Heart sat up and scooped up True Heart in his arms, "Well then, if it's night then off to bed."

True Heart gasped then wrapped her arms around Noble Heart's neck and giggled, "Oh my! I thought I was eager."

Noble Heart kissed her then carried her towards their bedroom, "What can I say, you were right about feeling younger, I even feel stronger."

"You've always been strong, Noble Heart, always," True Heart held on even as he lay her down on their bed. True Heart's grip was too strong and she easily pulled him down on top of him.

"And you said I'm eager," Noble Heart chuckled as he brushed True Heart's disheveled hair aside.

True Heart smiled, "I told you, I want us to have another child." She pulled him into another kiss.

OoOoO

True Heart wasn't the only one feeling the motherly urge in the Kingdom of Caring. Perhaps it was the bad future she had heard of but Cheer was feeling the urge as well. This was evident as she slipped into the shower right as Champ started. They emerged some time later, clean but both giggling and in each other's arms.

"What's gotten into you, Cheer? You were practically depressed yesterday." Champ said.

"Well you did for starters," Cheer smirked, "And honestly I think it's time we had a family, Champ."

"Really? You want to have a kid?" Champ sounded surprised.

"Yeah I mean... we never did in the future so now I think we should." She gave him a kiss, "do you not want to?"

"Yeah, I mean I did but I wasn't sure if you did and it's going to be your responsibility to carry the kid so..." Champ trailed off.

Cheer looked annoyed, "You could have asked, the worse I could have done is say no." She smiled, "but the answer is yes now. Ready for round two?"

Champ grinned and hugged her close, "I'm gonna make this the most romantic day you've ever had."

Cheer giggled, "I accept your challenge, Champion."

OoOoO

Bright Heart had a bad habit of staying up far too late working on new projects, especially when he had a sudden brainstorm he couldn't let go of until he'd at least written down everything he needed to know when he picked it up the next day. This frequency had diminished after he and Gentle Heart were married but now he was pulling an even longer one than usual, working in his lab alongside Grumpy Bear and Slippy, building the nanite healing chamber from the schematics they'd extracted from their future selves' letters. Take Care had been there earlier to verify some of the workings of the machine but now left it entirely up to the three while she went to get some much-needed sleep.

"Bright Heart, are you coming to bed?" Gentle Heart entered the workshop and looked at the nearly complete machine, "It looks good."

Bright Heart smiled, "Thanks, we're nearly done here." He looked up at Grumpy to see him rolling his eyes while Slippy didn't even look up. "But I think I can get away now."

"Oh sure, leave the hard work to us," Grumpy grumbled, "Not like I don't have a wife and kids to get home to."

"Did someone call my name, dad?" Tinker Bear had arrived at the lab's outside door, travel mug of coffee in hand. "Mom was worried about you."

Gentle Heart giggled, "Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks your working late."

"I can take over, I slept till noon today and I studied all the stuff Uncle Bright Heart gave me," Tinker pulled Grumpy to his feet, "Now get home and I'll get it finished."

"She's definitely your daughter, Grumpy," Bright Heart chuckled, "Are you gonna turn in, Slippy?"

Slippy waved a wrench, nearly catching Tinker on the chin, "Nah, I'm used to pulling long nights and Amanda is all the way back in Lylat."

Tinker took a long drink from the travel mug, "Right, well let's get this thing finished."

Grumpy left in a hurry while Bright Heart put an arm around Gentle Heart's waist as they left through the living room.

"Sorry I got so wrapped up in this new project," Bright Heart sounded sheepish.

Gentle Heart giggled, "It's fine and I understand. I'm no scientist but I know all this advanced technology from the future and from another star, it's like all your Christmases have come at once. If I knew as much as you did I would be there right alongside you, and probably missing a few lumps of wool once it gets stained with grease."

Bright Heart gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you, I mean if this works then we can perform medical procedures that would be impossible, but we'll still need trained doctors to program it and the power it needs will make it inefficient for anything except regenerative or complete reconstructive surgery like what future Confidence Heart had to get done, or..." Bright Heart paused, "Sorry, you're being really romantic and I'm ruining the mood."

"No," Gentle Heart gave him a kiss on the cheek, "you're not. I love hearing about this, but I would like your attention on me." She carefully guided turned Bright Heart's head to face her, "Let's go to bed then and let my wool keep you warm." Bright Heart kissed her then yawned which made Gentle Heart giggle, then they headed for bed.

OoOoO

Tinker Bear had fallen asleep in one of Bright Heart's work chairs, snoring with the empty travel mug on the floor by her foot. Slippy stayed awake long enough to greet Take Care, Love Heart, Fox McCloud and Futureheart before he slumped off back to the Great Fox for some sleep.

"Should I get Bright Heart?" Love Heart asked.

"No need, I'm awake," Bright Heart looked dishevelled and smelled a bit but he managed to shake Tinker awake.

"Huh, what?" Tinker grumbled as her eyes opened.

"Tink, you're done, you can go home now," Bright Heart whispered.

"OK, thanks Uncle Bright," Tinker slumped off out the door, yawning hugely as she did so.

"She must be tired if she's walking," Futureheart commented then turned to Bright Heart, "So is it finished?"

"Almost. I just need the physiological data from Star Fox and the Care Bear Family and it should be good to go." Bright Heart was at the control panel typing in the startup sequence, then turned to face the group.

"Here, you go," Fox handed Bright Heart something akin to a USB drive with a round port to Bright Heart, which he plugged into the port on the console.

Take Care set a small portable hard drive on the nearby workbench, "This isn't going to replace me, I hope."

Bright Heart shook his head, "No, it's too power intensive and it can't work without being programmed by a skilled doctor. It's mostly useful for regenerative healing processes, supposedly we can reconstruct limbs and repair damaged internal and external organs that would otherwise be irreparable," He smiled at Take Care as he plugged in the hard drive, "I promise you'll still have all the work you can get, plus I don't think this will be FDA approved on Earth anytime soon."

"That a relief," Take Care wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not, but decided to let it slide.

Futureheart watched the data being transferred into the chamber's memory then put a hand on the still closed lid, "It looks just like the one you built in the future. Will it be ready soon?"

"Just a couple more minutes, why?" Bright Heart turned to Futureheart, who had just removed his Star Fox flight jacket.

"I need to go in there, I want you to program this machine to reconstruct me to look like a Lylatian," Futureheart continued to undress.

"Whoa! Hold it! What are you talking about?" Fox was right up in Futureheart's face.

Futureheart didn't speak until he had undressed. Seeing his tummy symbol made the three Care Bears feel a bit awkward, as he was future Tenderheart and had the same tummy symbol.

"The UN session to talk about the arrival of the Star Fox team is at the end of the week. Now you can get them to believe in aliens but time travel is a bit more farfetched not to mention how odd it's going to be to have two Tenderheart's running around." He carefully edged Bright Heart away from the controls, "If I look more like a Lylatian we can pass me off as another member of Star Fox."

Love Heart folded his arms, "Confidence showed me her letter, I've seen what that chamber can do to you. Are you sure about this?"

"Positive." Futureheart stepped aside to let Bright Heart see his work. He and Take Care talked quietly for a moment before Take Care spoke up.

"This is dangerous, Tenderheart. Are you sure?"

Futureheart nodded, "I am."

Take Care shared a look with Bright Heart, then nodded, "Alright, but I'm checking on you every day until you come out."

A moment later, Futureheart lay in the chamber as it closed over him and the IV and catheter were attached. The darkness around him slowly gave way to sleep.

OoOoO

Even if things were moving forwards, No-Heart couldn't help but find things boring from where he say, all but imprisoned on his throne of uncaring crystals. A chance for some taunting arrived when Quenos broke away from the project.

"Tell me, brother, how is Shrieky?"

Quenos' face turned sour, if that were even possible, "That daughter of mine is too impatient to learn any sense. I tried for years to teach her the guile and skill she would need to join my family business but instead, after you disappeared, she went to live in your castle and play at being the new overlord of uncaring, and she's never been able to even scratch the Care Bears."

"It's a sick joke, even for me. She and Beastly are miserable disappointments," No-Heart cast his gaze on Mental Heart where he stood at his usual guard, "I have a more useful servant now."

"Is there something you require, Lord No-Heart?" Mental Heart turned to face him.

"Yes, I think you should check up on those two failures and see if they can provide anything useful. And see if the thunder pit is still intact. If you can, bring some of its essence to me."

"As you command," Mental Heart bowed, then turned and was gone in an instant.

'Don't get any ideas, Quenos, if I sense you are interfering with Lord No-Heart's health, I will return and deal with you in an instant.'