FSE

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Chapter 2

Get Well was exhausted. She'd never had to test every single member of the Care Bear family in one day, even if it was just a blood test. Unfortunately, it confirmed her fear and she called Love Heart into the hospital's lab.

Love Heart folded his arms, "Get Well, are you going to tell what's wrong now?"

"Yes, take a look," Get Well slid aside and motioned for Love Heart to look into the microscope. "This is the blood sample I took from you."

Love Heart peered into the lens then almost winced back, "What the hell! Nanites?"

Get Well nodded, "Yes, they're in almost everyone's blood stream."

"So it's a virus?" Love Heart turned away from the microscope.

"It's more than that. You can't see them easily but there's a virus working in conjunction with the nanites." Get Well took the sample and stored it away.

"What do we do? What about the people on earth?" panic was rising in Love Heart's voice.

"For now we need to cancel all caring missions so no one succumbs while out in the field." Get Well breathed a sigh of relief as she continued, "Thankfully, humans aren't at risk. It only affects Care Bears, Cousins and Magi, even the sample Redemption took from Passion Heart, which means the rest of them might be infected already." She took out another sample and put it under the microscope, "I tested Beastly too just to be sure." She motioned for Love Heart to check again.

Love Heart only had to check for a moment, "Nothing?"

"Not anymore at least," Get Well doubled checked, "There were a few earlier but I saw one break down and dissolve and the virus just died off. These nanites are feeding off the emotional energy all Care Bears possess and can replicate themselves but they rely on the virus to extract the energy to power them as they have no way to store energy for their task otherwise. I did the most thorough check on Grumpy and they're attacking our agapes, or in simpler terms our Caring Glands. Grumpy's the most severe case and it's why he's become so apathetic." Get Well sighed, "As corny as it is to say, our emotions sustain us."

"So this virus is killing us?" Love Heart's expression became grim, "What can we do to stop it?"

"Right now I don't know. I need to look into this more and I'll need Bright Heart's help." Get Well took a deep breath, "I don't know if it's going to kill us directly, but based on how Grumpy is reacting it's more likely we'll suffer death by apathy, once we no longer care enough to eat, drink or do anything. From what I can see the virus is not only fueling the nanites but protecting them from out immune systems. They reproduce and replicate slowly, which is why it took so long for Grumpy to be affected but the more of them there are the faster they can reproduce and affect everyone else."

"So Grumpy is 'patient zero' then?" Love Heart waited until Get Well nodded then folded his arms and looked down, "Makes sense. It would either be him or Melancholy, we wouldn't notice they were feeling unusually bad until it was too late. Wait," he turned back to Get Well, "You said almost everyone has been attacked. Other than Beastly who's safe?"

Get Well double checked the notes she took, "Mom and dad's last test before they left showed they were clean. I don't know if dad protected them without realising it or they were just isolated enough to get away before they were infected. Other than Grumpy everyone else was infected very recently."

Love Heart nodded, "So they might be our last hope if you can't stop this? Anyone else?"

"Yes, Miracle Heart Kitsune, Shimmering Star Bear, Valiant Heart Horse and Kind Heart Bear. The four of them don't have any trace of the virus or nanites in their systems. I had to check a couple times to be sure but they're clean." Get Well shook her head, "I've been trying to find out why but as far as I can tell there's no real correlation. I thought maybe because they were naturally born Care Bears but every other child born here is still infected. I thought at least being part unicorn was why Mira and Shimmers are safe but you, Life Heart and the twins aren't protected either."

"Keep working on it, you and Bright Heart will think of something." Love Heart sighed, "in the meantime we have other problems: these Shadow Magi probably aren't going to go away; they're going to give Tenderheart a headache at the UN if they attack humans again and now I have to tell everyone what you just told me."

Love Heart was about to leave when he paused and turned back, "Do you know who might have done this?"

Get Well looked at Love Heart, "Maybe, do you?"

Love Heart nodded, "Yes. There's only one of the villains unaccounted for after our last battle, especially since Illyana's company is falling apart without her: Cold Heart."

Get Well shivered, "Cold Heart... I'd better get started on fixing this." She pulled out her heartphone to call Bright Heart over as Love Heart departed.

OoOoO

Everyone sat stunned as Love Heart finished reiterating the information, except that he suspected that Cold Heart was behind it. Playful Heart Monkey stood up, hand raised, "So what do we do?"

"For now just try to stay calm and keep busy. If you start feeling apathetic or lethargic let someone know and try not to let it affect your life. As for jobs," Love Heart turned his attention outwards, "Caring missions are cancelled until this is resolved. I don't want anyone being stuck on earth because they can't bring themselves to return home. Humans aren't vulnerable to the virus."

Melancholy Bear raised her hand, "But how can we be sure?"

Brave Heart took over, "Because, before this meeting I checked reports from where we had caring missions in the last week, and every place Grumpy's been for at least a month. There's been no reports of anything out of the ordinary, mass apathy or exhaustion."

"That and most diseases don't jump species so easily," Bright Heart added, "If I understand it, this disease was designed to target us specifically but we'll keep an eye on the news just in case."

"There's more to worry about," Tenderheart stood up, "After the Shadow Magi's attack we've been having a lot of questions coming in. John told me that so far the media circus is under control and, at least for now, social media is split on the attack. I'm afraid of what might happen to our reputation if this happens again."

Love Heart nodded, "Until we find out more about them," he looked over at Redemptionheart and Aqua Bear who were both grinning maliciously, "We need to be ready both to stop their attacks and quell any unrest people might feel about us. I'd like to think everything we've done will buy us some leeway with public opinion, but what I've seen on social media tells me otherwise."

As the meeting dispersed, Love Heart pulled his children as well as Noble Heart, True Heart and their youngest children aside. "I don't know if Get Well told you this but I'm going tell you anyway: you four children as the only Care Bears who aren't infected. We don't know why yet but... it might fall to you four to handle things if it gets out of control."

"So we're safe?" Shimmers asked.

"Sounds like it." Mira averted her eyes from her father, "So I might have to be in charge?"

"Don't worry, you'll be able to do it," Shimmers smiled at his sister.

"I think I know what's protecting us," Kind Heart fiddled with her amulet.

Valiant Heart looked at his bracelet, "I'm thinking the same thing. These crystals chunks are from the Radiant Heart Crystal. Even if it was destroyed it still created us so maybe they're protecting us."

"Only plausible idea I've heard so far," Love Heart said.

"But what about me and Shimmers?" Mira asked, "What's protecting us?"

"I don't know, but as far as we know it's nothing genetic unless you two have some strange mutation," he saw the looks of worry on their faces and hastily added, "But you two are perfectly healthy so for now we're just waiting. Waiting for answers and hopefully some solutions."

"We'll think of one, don't worry," Noble Heart assured them.

True Heart was hesitant to agree with the statement so she added, "We left the Care Bear Family in good hands with you four. We'll do our best to show that you've earned it."

"Thank you," Love Heart looked at the kids, "I need to talk to Tenderheart and Brave Heart for a few minutes, about who's behind this."

"Who is it, daddy?" Shimmers looked up at his father.

"It's Cold Heart."

Love Heart left them before they could ask questions, meeting Brave Heart and Tenderheart in the leaders' private meeting room.

"How does it look Tenderheart?" Brave Heart asked as Love Heart walked in.

"Stable, for now. Love Heart?" Tenderheart turned to the magi leader as he sat down.

"Cold Heart's behind this."

Brave Heart gave his friend an odd look then sighed, "I figured as much. Are you sure though?"

Love Heart nodded, "He's the only one left unaccounted for right now. We didn't find much left after the Chinese government let us go through their lair, just Control's body and a bunch of junk."

"And we never got enough proof to put Illyana away so she would have gone back to running Purity Corp if she were still alive," Brave Heart looked over some notes, "That company's going to fall apart any day now."

"If that's the case then we need to go to Cold Heart's castle to stop him, maybe get some sort of solution to this out of him before it's too late." Love Heart said. "I can put a team together to go search immediately."

"Good call, get on that while we handle the rest," Brave Heart said.

OoOoO

Passion Heart Wolverine woke up in a dark room. His first instinct was to try and get up but he found his arms and legs strapped to some sort of metal table shaped like a star and splayed out spread-eagled, his arms, legs and head each strapped to a arm of the table. He did his best to twist his head and struggle against the restraints but found them unmoving.

"What the hell! Where am I? What the fuck am I doing strapped to a fucking table?!" Passion's shouts echoed off the sides of the chamber.

"Now, now, watch the language," A voice giggled from the darkness as Redemptionheart Bear emerged from the darkness twirling a long eagle feather between her fingers, "I dug up my old toys for this special occasion."

"I didn't even know you kept these but they'll make this more fun." Aqua Bear chuckled as he emerged alongside her with another eagle feather in his hand.

Passion Heart's demeanor faded from rage to disbelief and boredom, "So you're going to torture me... with feathers... I'm not allergic to eagles, I have one as a close friend so go ahead and try and when you fail I'll show you real torture."

Redemption and Aqua turned their heads to each other and grinned then started giggling.

"Oh he doesn't know." Aqua turned to Passion.

"We'll show him the joys of tickle torture," Redemption giggled as they approached Passion Heart.

The wolverine remained unconvinced until he felt the feathers in his armpits. "Hehey, stohop that!" He started to chuckle.

"Oh so the feathers do work," Aqua smiled as he started tickling harder.

"Good, don't worry we'll get you to talk, even if you don't we're going to have so much fun!" Redemption started tickling Passion Heart's side with her fingers. Neither bear wanted to go near the wolverine's face, they saw his sharp teeth and didn't want to risk him biting down on them if he got a moment's rest.

Passion Heart tried his best to hold in his laughter but it was a losing battle. It only took a few minutes before he started laughing uproariously.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA STOHOHOHOP IHIHIHIHIHIT!" Passion Heart begged. He couldn't hear his captors teasing him over his own laughter even as his muscles tensed and slackened under the pressure.

OoOoO

Valiant Heart knew where the secret tickle torture dungeon was. He and Kind Heart had followed Aqua there once when he had sneakily dragged ShimmeringStar off for a day while his parents were on an extended mission. They hadn't tried to free him but had heard the results of that event and watched as Aqua snuck him back out to and his parents' house before they were any the wiser.

"He's in there," Valiant said.

"Yeah. How long will he last?" Kind Heart asked.

"No idea," Valiant turned to his twin sister, "So what do you think about these 'Shadow Magi', sis?"

Kind Heart had to take a deep breath as she thoughts, "I think they need our help."

"They need to be taken out!" Mira's voice came form nowhere which made the siblings spin around, trying to find her.

"Miracle Heart? Where are you?" Valiant's head whipped around as he tried to spot her.

"You can't see me?" Mira sounded incredulous.

"No, but we can hear you." Kind Heart walked to look around a tree, "Where are you?" She turned back to Valiant and shook her head to indicate she hadn't found her.

"Right here!" Mira suddenly faded into view, starting transparent and rapidly becoming solid before she pumped her fist in the air, "I did it!" her shout made the twins recoil from her momentarily

"What the?" Valiant calmed down, "you were invisible?"

Kind Heart put a hand over her chest until her breathing calmed down, "How long have you been able to do that?"

"Since now." Mira gave a grin as her six tails wagged in enthusiasm. "Grandma Life Heart's been teaching me about Kitsune magic. We're masters of illusion and shapeshifting."

"And you tested that by following us here?" Valiant folded his arms and eyed her suspiciously.

"If I could trick you two, who found Aqua's secret hideout, I knew it would work." Mira said triumphantly.

The question of Valiant Heart and the Shadow Magi temporarily forgotten, Kind Heart had to ask, "Can you do anything else?"

"I'm working on illusory duplicates to distracts enemies, but I can make foxfire." Mira held up her hands a two purple flames flickered into existence.

Valiant Heart tensed, "Careful with those!"

"Relax, it's not real flames," Mira floated one of the purple fires over to Valiant and the other to Kind Heart, who didn't feel any heat from it. "Foxfire is an illusion, like a will-o-wisp or a swamp gas. It's harmless but a good lamp if you forgot a flashlight."

Valiant Heart carefully touched the flame, and felt nothing, then sighed in relief. "That's a relief."

The two flames winked out of existence as Mira relaxed, "Alright so what's this about helping the Shadow Magi, Kind Heart?"

Kind Heart turned to Mira, "I think they need our help. From what I heard they seem like they're lost or hurt, why else would they lash out like this?"

Mira folded her arms and glared at Kind Heart, "You mean by attacking humans and us? Yeah sounds like they really want to hug it out."

"You don't know them!" Kind Heart countered, taking a firmer stance, "Someone could be steering them wrong or they could have had a good reason to attack that waterpark."

"What makes you think they have any reason?" Mira shuddered slightly but didn't back down. "They could just be more failed clones No-Heart made and set loose but forgot about."

"From what I heard they attacked that place to free the Orca," Kind Heart dug out her heartphone and showed Mira the page she had been looking at, "That sea park has a bad history with their large marine life. From what I've learned that killer whale is one of about a dozen that were caught, put on shows and died in captivity. Why else would that otter go out of his way to free him?"

"They still attacked during a show and put everyone's lives in danger and attacked us!"

Mira and Kind had been slowly closing the gap between them as they argued and their noses were mere centimeters apart when Valiant Heart stepped in and gently pushed them away. "Enough, both of you! You're supposed to be friends." He looked to his sister then to Mira before he took his hands off them. "You both have a point here: their attack was unprovoked, dangerous and if they were serious about wanting to help the marine life they could easily cast a negative light on other environmentalists and us. But!" he held up a finger to stop Mira from saying anything, "If this place does things as cruel as you say-"

"It does!" Kind Heart interjected.

"Then would explain what they did. Also it's too much of a coincidence for this to happen right when we're being hit by Cold Heart's virus. This attack could be meant to split our focus or prevent us from making a cure so there's likely someone pushing them into doing more outrageous and attention-getting actions. Not to mention the bad press it gives all Care Bears will make things harder for us, splitting out attention even more." Valiant Heart folded his arms, "This whole thing's a mess and... Mira?" He turned to see that Miracle Heart had just calmed down but completely reversed her mood.

Mira's ears twitched, "I can hear Passion Heart laughing, his voice," she shuddered and grabbed the sides of her head, "And now I can hear another voice in my head."

Kind Heart was in front of Mira in an instant, holding her shoulders, "What do you mean? Do you recognize it?"

"No!" Mira shook her head and screwed her eyes shut, "But ever since I blacked out at the water park I feel something in the back of my mind and it gets louder when I hear his voice. I don't want it to take over but I can't resist it."

"Did you tell your parent about this?" Valiant asked.

Mira shook her head, "No, you're the only ones I've told. I'm scared and I don't want it to come out again!"

"Hurting them isn't the right way to solve that," Kind Heart turned Mira around to lead her away from the hidden chamber, "But you should tell your parents about this. Where are they?"

"They went to explore Cold Heart's old castle," Mira was calming down as she got further away from Passion Heart's muffled laughter, "they took Shimmers too."

"Then let's go see your grandparents," Valiant had caught up to the two.

Mira nodded and let the twins lead her on.

OoOoO

Marine Heart was agitated and hungry, so he decided to go fishing. Of course being an otter meant that instead of sitting on a port or beach and tossing a line into the water, waiting for some curious fish to bite down, he dove in and swam down, snatching fish with his bare hands and devouring them on the spot. It not only let him fill his belly but take out his frustrations on something he was going to eat anyway.

Marine grinned when he saw a small cluster of clams and dove for them, snatching them up and grabbing a flat rock before he surfaced. Floating on his back he smashed the clams open one-by-one and ate them with relish. He felt oddly calm as he floated on the surface and stared up at the sky. The Care Bear Family would have Passion Heart imprisoned up there so why was he already calmed down? He thought he'd have to eat himself sick to get over this but now...

Marine sighed then rolled over to swim back to the shore where he found Flora seated on the sand. "Already full?" she asked as Marine walked up out of the water.

"Full enough." Marine Heart looked around, "Where's everyone else?"

"Getting food or relaxing." Flora leaned back as Marine sat next to her, "What are we going to do?"

"Depends, is Broken Heart around?" Marine turned to face her.

"She took off to do... something." Flora turned to Marine and nuzzled him, "Give us some time together."

Flora lay back as Marine cuddled up with her, "As long as you're here, I'll survive." He nuzzled her back. An eagle's piercing cry cut across the air, signaling Torrid Heart catching something to eat.

"How long has it been now?" Flora asked.

"I think... thirteen years..." Marine Heart felt Flora hold him closer, "I wish Soul Heart was still here..."

"We all do." The voice came from Critter Heart Hyena as she sat down nearby, wiping her mouth as she did so. She punched the ground, "Urrrg! What the hell are we supposed to do?"

Marine sighed as he held Flora close, "I don't know..."

OoOoO

Love Heart Bear landed at the entrance to Cold Heart's castle and shuddered as Anger Heart landed next to him while Confidence Heart landed a cloud car behind them with Shimmers in the passenger seat.

Shimmers shivered slightly as he stepped out only for Confidence to touch his shoulder and extend a small field around him to keep out the cold. "It's too quiet here," Confidence whispered.

"OK that's creepy," Anger Heart folded his arms. "What exactly are we supposed to find here?"

"Anything we missed last time we were here, or some clue to where Cold Heart has gone." Love Heart took a deep breath, "Everyone, split up but shout if you find anything."

"Right," Anger Heart said.

"No problem," Confidence gave a thumb's up.

"Got it, dad!" Shimmers beamed as they split up the search the ice castle.

A small lens near the entrance watched the four split up. Cold Heart watch through his monitoring station then coughed violently for a moment before he spoke. "Broken Heart, we have guests. Make sure they have a satisfying visit."

"Don't worry, it'll be a scream, ehahahahahahahahaha!"

Anger Heart was right: it was too quiet inside the castle. Love Heart wished at least Frostbite had been running around instead of the eerie wind that blew throughout the place. Even carrying his own temperate atmosphere around he couldn't help but shiver.

"Ehahahahahahaha!" The cackling noise made Love Heart freeze, hands going to the swords he had strapped to his back.

"Who's there? Come out Cold Heart!" Electricity started to dance around Love Heart's body.

The sounded too close for comfort, "Cold Heart isn't here but I will introduce you to an old friend, Ehahahahahahahahahaha!"

"That laugh," Love Heart drew his swords, "Shrieky?!"

"Maybe once," A humanoid figure began to materialize in front of her.

Love Heart was ready to fight until the figure became fully visible. Love Heart's hands shook until he dropped his swords, which clashed once on the ground before they disintegrated.

"No! No no no no no no no!" Love Heart stepped away from the creature.

It grinned evilly, "Oh yes!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!"

"Love Heart!" Confidence's ears stood up as she dashed towards the noise.

"Dad!" Shimmers stumbled and slipped a bit before he charged off towards his father's voice.

"What the fuck?!" Anger Heart burst into flames, his fur turning white and nine tails splitting apart. He didn't bother navigating around the castle's corridors, instead literally melting straight through the walls as he made a beeline right for Love Heart's scream.

All three of them arrived to a scene of terror: Love Heart impaled through the chest by a beam of light. His attacker had a sinister grin on their face and the beam of light extended from their left hand.

It looked at them and laughed, "Ehahahahahaha! What's wrong?" the light beam vanished, letting Love Heart collapse to the floor, "See a familiar face or two?"

It was a Care Bear, or at least it looked like one. Most of its fur was yellow except for the right half of its face, right arm and upper right torso which were purple and had been visibly stitched to the rest of the body. It had a tummy symbol, or most of one, three quarters of a heart with a flash of light in the middle and one quarter of a heart with an eye in the middle and waves rippling outwards.

"F-Flash Heart?" for once in her life, Confidence Heart was riveted to the spot, all the color drained from her face.

"Well, part of him," the bear raised its left arm, "Cold Heart found his body after Dusk Heart killed him, of course part of him was too damaged to use so-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Anger Heart growled as his tails flared out, "I don't give a shit who you are but you need to burn now!" his shout brought with it a massive blast of ghost fire that exploded outwards, passing over Love Heart, Confidence and Shimmers harmlessly but flash-melting all that was left of Cold Heart's castle into vapor and ash.

He stood there panting on the now clear plateau, then gaped at the unharmed frankenbear in front of them, who was surrounded by a round psionic shield.

"-so it was patched up with the last piece of Mental Heart the professor could find." It lowered its purple right arm from where it had been maintaining the shield, "And to give me a new chance at life once my arm was ruined. I used to be Shrieky but now you can call me Broken Heart Bear! Ehahahahahahaha!"

"I'll call you ashes you, gack!" Anger Heart suddenly felt an invisible hand choking him as Broken Heart reached out towards him.

"A bit cliché, but I might as well be the Darth Vader to Cold Heart's Emperor," Broken Heart grinned, "Except I don't need a lightsaber!" She shot out a beam of light from her left hand that pierced Anger Heart through the stomach.

Shimmers has been watching the display, too scared to move. But something welled up inside him as he began to white out at the gruesome display in front of him. Confidence Heart was about to act when a loud growl issued forth from her son and he suddenly charged forwards.

"STOP USING MY BODY!"

Shimmer's shout sent a massive shockwave of sund at Broken Heart, which made her stumble backwards. Before she knew it, Shimmers had grabbed the yellow left half of her face with his right hand as acid secreted from it, burning her as he shouted in a voice that wasn't his own.

"I won't let you use my power to hurt and kill my family!"

"AAAAAUGH! GET OFF!" Broken Heart forced Shimmers off her with a burst of psionic energy. Shimmers made a three-point landing, his right hand outstretched as he conjured a double-bladed sword then pounced on Broken Heart, who didn't even have any time to clean the acid off her face before Shimmers was on her.

Shimmers struck Broken Heart over and over, each blow of his whirling sword creating a sonic shockwave that blasted her back punctuated by his unnatural shouting. "THAT'S! NOT YOUR! BODY! LET! IT! GO!"

Confidence Heart dropped down to check the fallen Magi. She didn't need long to make up her mind.

"Get us out of here!" Confidence all but screamed into her phone, "Emergency teleport straight to the hospital, get Guidance and Defender there for immediate magical healing!"

Broken Heart had finally regained her footing, cuts running all over her body as she formed a light sword and psionic sword in her left and right hands to block and strike out at the raging ShimmeringStar Bear.

"This is my body now! I don't care who you are but I'll crush you right here!" She deflected Shimmers' next attack then grabbed him with her mind and threw him across the floor. She hovered and charged through the air as Shimmers jumped to his feet, only for the psi-sword to slice his sword in half and was about to stab the light sword into him as a rainbow beam of light reached down and teleported the four of them away, leaving Broken Heart's sword to stab into the ground.

Broken Heart growled, as she dispersed her weapons, "They won't get away again!"

Confidence, Love Heart, Anger Heart and Shimmeringstar appeared in the hospital's waiting room. Shimmers managed to get to his feet right as Defender, Guidance and Redemption arrived and Get Well emerged from the operating theater.

"Hurry, get Anger Heart and Love Heart to the OR!" Get Well took commander, "Defender, Guidance, stop the bleeding and assess their internal damage. Redemption, get scrubbed and be ready to assist."

Shimmeringstar's angry expression persisted for a moment, then he suddenly relaxed and stared around, his expression turning fearful as he saw what was happening around him.

"Momma, what happened?" Shimmers whimpered, then suddenly collapsed to the ground, shivering and sobbing.

OoOoO

Author's Note: I came up with this story concept back in 2018 while I was trying to post chapters once a week and one of the reasons I haven't been making progress is because of the 2020s Covid Pandemic. Anyone who makes any comments about comparing this to the pandemic will have their comments removed and warned and any further comments on the topic will have them permanently banned from my content. No jokes I'm sick of hearing about this and it might make me never want to write again.