Down to Earth

Or, if you're in a humorous mood, "No Heart and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day".

Hey, guess what's an actual story now! Woo hoo!!

This is kind of related to Onward to Care-A-Lot(my other, upcoming Care Bears story) as in it also has Apathy and Self Loathing in it, but I'm not really sure how these two stories are related regardless.

Anyway, here we go!

## Chapter 1

No Heart was falling.

He was falling out of the sky, and he had no idea why.

Just a minute ago, he was storming around his, Apathy's, and Self Loathing's lair that was way up in the stormy clouds, and he was doing just fine angrily pacing up there!

...Well, he *was*in a bit of pain- okay, *a lot-*from what he assumed to be The Care Bear Stare he took a bit ago, but it didn't explain why he was falling now! The Care Bear Stare doesn't make you not able to stand on clouds when you previously could!!

And he wasn't able to turn into a eagle or some kind of flying animal through his vial either! Why!? Why wasn't his stupid vial working!??

"Grab my hand!" Self Loathing, who was flying towards but couldn't get all the way *to*No Heart, called out to him urgently, holding out her translucent, ghost-like hand.

No Heart reached out and tried to grab it, but to the shock of her, him, and Apathy(who was flying towards No Heart as well), his hand went through hers.

"What!?" No Heart exclaimed.

"How!?" Self Loathing exclaimed at nearly the same time.

"Interesting," Apathy said, calm as always. He looked at No Heart. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but we need to get you to solid ground."

"...That's not funny, Apathy!" No Heart exclaimed. "I am *not*going down to Earth! What if I run into some lovey dovey children!? Yuck!!"

The ground was getting closer to the three of them now. Apathy could see a city below No Heart.

"You want to-" No Heart heard Apathy start to say, but he went silent despite still moving his mouth for some reason.

"But how are we-" No Heart heard Self Loathing start to say, but then she did the same thing as Apathy was doing.

What!?

""You want to" what!?" He yelled. ""But how are we" what!? Why are you two whispering!? I can't hear a word you're saying- OW!!"

All of a sudden, No Heart's hands started hurting, and he saw, to his horror, that they were turning a pale peach color.

Apathy and Self Loathing saw the change and something else, too, and their eyes widened.

"Do you think-"

"I don't know," Apathy admitted, cutting Self Loathing off. "All I know is-"

Apathy went silent again, but was still moving his mouth.

"STOP WHISPERING-"

No Heart cut himself off when he saw Apathy and Self Loathing disappear right in front of his eyes.

"Apathy? Self Loathing?" No Heart said, looking around wildly. "Ugh! I told you to stop whispering, not disappear- huh!?"

No Heart suddenly felt something grab him by his arms and slow his fall, guiding him towards the ground.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!" No Heart screamed, desperately trying to get out of the thing's grasp. "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!? I AM NO HEART, EMBODIMENT OF HATRED AND MASTER SHAPESHIFTER!! I *WILL NOT*LET YOU MANHANDLE YOU LIKE THIS, AND I- *I-"*

While still in the air, No Heart suddenly felt like he'd hit a brick wall regardless, and rapidly started to lose consciousness.

The last thing he saw was Self Loathing and Apathy flickering back into view, each holding both of his arms and looking at him with panic and concern on their faces.

And then, everything went dark.

## Chapter 2

When No Heart came to, he felt pain all over his body and saw that he was lying on hard, segmented ground that was also gray for some reason.

Was this what the humans called a "sidewalk"? Because if that was the case, he didn't like it at all. Its hardness only seemed to accentuate his pain.

"What happened-"

"You floated down here like a freaky wizard and then fell flat on your face, that's what happened," Someone said, interrupting No Heart.

No Heart looked around wildly to see who interrupted him, his eyes eventually landing on a human girl who looked to be 12. She had her brown hair in a messy ponytail, and was looking at No Heart with a mix of suspicion and wariness. She was also sitting on a large green box with a lid.

"How DARE you interrupt me!!" No Heart yelled, noticing that his voice didn't have an echo anymore. He got up and started to stand, not liking the fact that the girl was looking down at him. "Do you know who I am!?"

"An orphanage worker?" The girl said sarcastically. "Someone who works in a carnival? Some guy who just has strange fashion sense? Tell me when I get it."

"Some guy?" No Heart said. "Some guy!? I am No Heart, the embodiment of hatred and master shapeshifter! You should be *afraid*of me, not *cracking jokes*about me!!"

"No Heart, huh?" The girl said. "Ooh, I'm so scared! I'm shaking in my non-existent boots! Why's your name No Heart, anyway? You're clearly human, so *of course*you have a heart!"

"Stupid girl!" No Heart exclaimed. "*You're*human, not me! I'm an embodiment of hatred! Does that sound human *at all*to you??"

"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England," The girl deadpanned, then facepalmed for a bit. She scanned the area after doing so and saw pieces of glass next to the box. "Look, if you're not going to believe me that you're human, then maybe seeing your reflection will change your mind."

"Ha!" No Heart laughed as the girl jumped off the box and picked up a large piece, holding it up to No Heart's face. "Showing me my reflection would only-"

No Heart cut himself off in surprise when he looked at the piece, because the person reflected in the piece was not No Heart, but rather a man with black facial hair, short black hair, and black bushy eyebrows. He looked to be in his late 20s, and he had pale skin and reddish-brown eyes. He also seemed to be wearing purple and red robes with a hood that was down at the moment.

"Who dares to mock me-"

No Heart cut himself off again when he saw that the man was saying the same thing he was saying. Deciding to try something out, he made his hand go up in front of his face, and was shocked to discover that he and the man basically had the same hand.

"HOW-" No Heart began, then cut himself off again as he tried to find a way to properly vocalize his surprise. "How did this happen!?"

"How did what happen?" The girl asked.

"This!" No Heart exclaimed, gesturing to his whole self. "How did I turn into a human!? I wasn't one before-"

Then it hit him.

"The Care Bears did this, didn't they!?" No Heart exclaimed. "I'm not too sure *why,*but I'm sure that their Stare is why I'm human now! That's why I felt so strange before falling out of the sky! I promise, when I get my hands on them-"

"Well, you're not going to turn back and get your revenge on The Care Bears by just standing here, are you?" The girl said. "Why don't you get out of this alleyway and try to find something that can turn you back outside of here?"

No Heart paused.

"That's...a good idea, actually," He said, not really knowing how a human could have a moment where they *didn't*attract his ire. "Alright. I'll do that."

*"Good,"*The girl thought as she watched No Heart walk out of the alleyway. *"That's one less insane person to worry about."*

The girl probably wouldn't have worried about No Heart again, in fact, when she saw him going into the street out of the corner of her eye just as she was turning away from him. Her eyes wide, she whipped her head around just in time to see a car about to run No Heart over.

"NO HEART!!" The girl cried, bolting to No Heart and pulling him out of the street after grabbing one of his hands just as the car was about to run him over.

She then pulled him back into the alleyway, and the two took a moment to catch their breath, with No Heart not even knowing that he had to breathe until now.

Speaking of things No Heart didn't know he had until now, he suddenly realized that something in his chest was pounding. When he put one of his hands over his chest, he discovered that it was a heart.

Wait.

He had a heart now!?

"What was that," The girl said flatly, interrupting No Heart's train of thought. "I thought you were insane, not stupid! Do you seriously not know that going out into the road could get you killed!?"

"Hey, I didn't know that that rectangular box on wheels would try to kill me!!" No Heart tried to retort. "We don't have *anything*like that *or*whatever a road is in the Cloudscape! The closest we have to that rectangular box on wheels is The Care Bears' Cloud Car- wait. That rectangular box on wheels is a car!?"

"Yes, you idiot!" The girl yelled. "And duh! *Of course*it would try to kill you! Cars on the road are not known for stopping when some moron walks out into the road without warning!"

"*I am NOT a moron*or *an idiot!!"*No Heart screamed. "I just didn't know! Besides, you seem awfully invested in my life for a person who keeps constantly insulting me!!"

"I'm not invested in your life!" The girl said. "I just didn't want your death on my conscious, that's all!"

"It sure seems like you're invested to me!" No Heart said, his throat hurting a bit now. "I don't know why, but I-"

It then hit No Heart that the girl actually *cared*about him, something that only Apathy and Self Loathing did. Something about that made him feel something funny in his chest, but he didn't know what.

"...Thank you," He said to the girl, his "thank you" sounding a bit odd and strained due to how little he had said that word before now. "For...saving me. I don't know why you did, but without you, I probably would've been dead right now, what with how flimsy this new body is."

"...You're welcome?" The girl said, a bit caught off guard by No Heart's sudden sincerity. "Just don't walk into the street like that again, alright? I might not save you that time if you do."

"Alright," No Heart said absentmindedly, his mind already drifting to the subject of how to return to his natural form. "Say, is there anyone who can do magic here?"

"No, but there's a few magic shops around the area," The girl said. "It's not something you'd be interested in, though. There's just- hey! Where are you going!?"

No Heart had begun to walk away when he heard the word "magic shops", and was now muttering to himself about how those magic shops had better have what he needed, or else he would destroy them himself once he got back to normal!

As for the girl, she thought about leaving No Heart to his own devices again, but decided against it when she immediately remembered the last time he'd been left to his own devices and started sprinting to catch up to him.

"Hey, No Heart!" She exclaimed. "Wait up!"

## Interlude #1

Meanwhile, Apathy and Self Loathing were back up in the Cloudscape, trying to concoct a plan in order to reverse the effects of The Care Bear Stare on No Heart and get revenge on The Care Bears afterward.

They were confused and horrified more than anything, however.

"How could this have happened!?" Self Loathing exclaimed, pacing around one of the rooms of her, Apathy, and No Heart's castle. "The Care Bear Stare has never done *this*before!!"

"I don't know, but we'd better find out soon," Apathy said, sitting down in a chair, looking at records of The Care Bear Stare, and looking uncharacteristically worried. "If we don't, No Heart might not be able to become the embodiment of hatred ever again."

"The balance," Self Loathing said, immediately understanding Apathy's words. "Have you found anything about The Care Bear Stare causing any sort of transformation yet?"

"Not yet," Apathy said, sighing. "But, rest assured, I will eventually."

## Chapter 3

Back to No Heart and the girl, the two of them were walking down the street, with the girl showing No Heart where to go and No Heart strangely tolerating her.

Not *liking* her, of course, but still tolerating her nonetheless.

Which was weird, since the only people- well, *spirits*- he'd tolerated before were Apathy and Self Loathing, and that was because they cared about him and the three of them had been plotting to rid the world of love and kindness for many centuries.

While the girl *did* care about him, she wasn't Self Loathing and Apathy, and, more importantly, she was a *human child,* someone who should, in No Heart's mind, anyway, be purer and more inclined to love and be kind than any human adult would.

The thought of any human child besides the girl he just met still caused No Heart to recoil in disgust, to be honest.

This girl, however, surprisingly wasn't the lovey dovey type, and genuinely seemed to want to help No Heart, even though she probably didn't believe him about his former self or The Care Bears. She *had* called him insane, after all, something which No Heart was *still* angry about.

Overall, though, No Heart could tolerate the girl. Tolerance would not stop him from ridding her of her love and kindness when he could, though.

He then started to notice people around him looking at him strangely as they passed by him. It wasn't a look of fear or respect, like what he was used to, but rather it looked like everyone was silently judging him for wearing what he currently had on, which made No Heart feel angry at them and strangely self-conscious.

It was because of this self-consciousness that No Heart decided to pull his hood over his head, which cast slight shadows over his eyes, but you could still see his face and eyes anyway.

"No Heart?" The girl said, snapping No Heart out of his thoughts.

"What is it?" He asked, looking down at the girl.

"We're here," The girl said, pointing to two strange glass doors that were in front of the store.

No Heart did a double take, then narrowed his eyes at the glass doors.

How was anyone supposed to go through doors like those without a knob to turn or magic to use?

"Well?" The girl said, causing No Heart to look at her again. "Are you going in or not?"

"*Of course* I'm going in!" No Heart exclaimed. He started to walk to the doors, then stopped after he realized he had no idea what he was doing.

"Um..." No Heart said, hating that he was going to ask the girl for help but looking at her and doing it anyway. "How do you open those doors?"

The girl then rolled her eyes and looked annoyed before walking past No Heart. No Heart was about to say something about this when he saw the doors *opening on their own* in order to let the girl in.

"How-"

"Have you ever heard of automatic doors?" The girl said, rolling her eyes at No Heart's dropped jaw and widened eyes. "Or sensors? Or *anything* technological?? Ugh, of course you didn't! For all I know, you lived in the Stone Age before ending up here!"

"I *did not-"*

No Heart interrupted himself when the doors closed in front of the girl, much to No Heart's surprise.

"Wait!" He said, running to the doors. "I need to get in-"

No Heart then almost tripped over himself as the doors opened again, but managed not to and ran into the store, almost running over the girl in the process.

"Hey!" The girl exclaimed, getting out of the way just in time. "Watch it!"

"*You* watch it!" No Heart exclaimed, then stopped in his tracks when he saw the contents of the store.

The store was a small one, with the cashier on the opposite end of where the girl and No Heart were. There was still a lot of things in there to behold, however.

Books, CDs, and board games about magic and mythical creatures lined the shelves on one side, while display cases on the ground and in wooden cabinets showed off various toys and magic tools on the other. There were also some chairs and tables near the books, CDs, and board games.

The cashier himself was busy reading a book while idly listening to some music on his headphones, having already noticed that No Heart and the girl had come in but not really doing anything about it.