A chilly breeze wafted throughout Care-A-Lot. Winter had arrived. And with it came many things. Where there was once rain, snow blanketed the side of the clouds that made up the Care Bears' ethereal home. But there was something else they were looking forward to even more.
"Happy Holidays, Wish Bear!"
Wish Bear looked up from her star-o-scope and turned to the source of the voice. Behind her, she saw the two cubs, Hugs and Tugs Bear, hurriedly sledding away. She smiled and turned back to her work. The most wonderful time of the year had arrived. Those Bears and Cousins who weren't down on Earth on caring missions had busied themselves decking the entire town in red and green tinsel. The lands of Care-A-Lot and the Forest of Feelings had been completely transformed into true winter wonderlands.
Wish Bear turned her gaze up to the horizon. The sun slowly set, painting the once blue sky a bright red. She sighed in relief. Finally, the day was over. Soon, it would be time for Bedtime Bear to take his shift watching over the people of Earth. She put the star-o-scope away and made her way back to the Hall of Hearts.
She was met with the sight of an enormous pine tree sitting in the center of the great round table where her fellow Bears and Cousins were discussing some of the various goings-on in their caring missions. Here, too, they had gone all out on the decorating. Wish Bear didn't even know how many strands of twinkle lights Tenderheart Bear and Brave Heart Lion had used to decorate that tree. Or the rest of the room, for that matter. They had strung those lights around everything; the table, the chairs, the walls, everything. If their intention was to make sure no shadows ever made contact with the inside of the Hall of Hearts, they had certainly accomplished that much.
Finally, Wish Bear made her way to the storage closet. She placed the case containing the star-o-scope inside.
"Heya, Wish. Ya clocking out?"
Wish Bear turned around. Standing behind her was a certain Loyal Heart Dog. The cerulean-furred canine was about to strike out for home, too.
"Yeah... I don't know if I'm gonna get any sleep, though. Not with all the lights."
Loyal Heart chuckled. "I tried to tell Brave Heart it was too much. He didn't wanna hear it. At least we always know where the Hall of Hearts is."
Wish Bear giggled. "I guess so."
Loyal Heart turned to the door. "Come on. I'll walk out with you."
Wish Bear couldn't argue with that. The two of them took one last look around Care-A-Lot before heading to their homes.
...
Meanwhile, in the land to the far north of the Forest of Feelings, a place known as the Land Without Feelings, someone else was also thinking about the holiday season.
Professor Coldheart smiled to himself. He would never admit it to his fellow supervillains, but he actually didn't hate Christmas. In fact, he loved it. It was one of the few times during his childhood when people actually felt compelled to treat him like a human being, despite his blue skin and monstrous features. Out of all the badness of his past, Christmas stood out to him as an exception to the rule.
But there was something else about the holiday he loved even more. And that something was called Black Friday. On this day, the true face of humanity showed itself. The second those doors opened, a stampede would break through them. People would trample over one another, practically fighting each other to the death. And for what exactly? The newest i-Whatever? Some toy that would only last about a month before it broke? And yet those fuzzy-wuzzy Care Bears still insisted that humankind's nature was basically good! What a joke!
Coldheart sighed and leaned back in his chair. Not even thoughts of the fuzzy-wuzzies could get him down. Yes, he had to agree; Christmastime was the most wonderful, awful time of the year.
He flipped on his computer monitor, idly scanning through footage collected from the numerous bugs he'd hid around the world. Looked like things were all set to begin. Crowds had already begun to gather around department stores. Just a few more minutes, and he could put his plan into action.
"Oh! Frostbite! You've come just in time to see me ruin Christmas!" Coldheart noticed his assistant emerging through the doorway behind him.
Frostbite stared blankly at him. "How exactly are you gonna do that, boss?"
Coldheart turned back to the monitor. "In just a few moments, I'll make an announcement to the entire world that's going to flip everything upside down! Those fuzzy-wuzzies won't even see it coming!"
"Dad, what's going on in here?" Vanilla Coldheart had heard their conversation and come in.
"Oh, it's wonderful, Nillie Bean!" Coldheart crowed. "You're just in time to see my master plan come to fruition!" He pressed a button on the console. The machine powered up, lights flashing many colors and several beeps and buzzes coming from the intricate machinery. Finally, the machine fell silent, only a single red light lit up on the console.
Coldheart pulled out a microphone hiding behind the monitor and tapped it a couple of times. "Is this thing on?"
He could see the crowds looking around in confusion through the screen. They had heard his voice coming through the hacked store speakers. Okay. Good. It was working.
He leaned in and spoke. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have an important announcement. Due to the voluminous turnout of this year's Black Friday sale, we are pleased to announce that it has been extended. This year, Black Friday will last two weeks, starting today!"
Coldheart could hear collective gasps coming through his speakers. "That's not all! Every single day of the sale, the first 100 people inside will receive a 99% discount on everything store-wide!"
If his previous announcement didn't get them riled, this one sure did. An uproar could be heard through the speakers as the crowds began to riot. A small smile spread across Vanilla's face, while Frostbite remained stoic.
"Ah, I see, Father! A very clever plan indeed!" she cackled as she understood what he was getting at.
"Thank you, my dearest Vanilla! Now those fuzzy-wuzzies will have no choice but to admit the truth!" Coldheart chuckled to himself. This was going to be the best Christmas ever.
