Wish Bear was awoken early the next morning by a loud, deep bong.

She met the other Care Bears in front of the Caring Meter. They all stared in shock. Literally overnight, it had dropped to 64%! Before she had gone to bed that night, it had been at full capacity. What had happened?!

A glance through the star-o-scope at her usual position gave Wish Bear her answer. Stores all over the world had been ransacked. All that was left were a few stragglers fighting over their Christmas-present quarry like starving dogs.

Wish Bear turned her view to the surrounding neighborhood of one of these stores. Almost no one was on the streets, either. Whatever had destroyed those stores had come like a thief in the night. It had disappeared as soon as the sun had come up.

She scratched her head. This was very mysterious. It couldn't have just happened on its own. Goodness knew they had enough to deal with every other year when Black Friday came around, but it was never this bad. Never on this scale. It was almost like...

Wish Bear's stomach dropped as she got a hunch. She was almost certain she knew who had caused this. Glancing around the town, she noticed that all the houses were covered in this strange blue frost. A frost that reminded her of a certain mad scientist that had been a thorn in her and her friends' sides since they'd met him. With a snap, she put the star-o-scope back in its case and made a dash to the Hall of Hearts.

...

"Professor Coldheart's at it again? Why am I not surprised?" Grumpy Bear quipped. Of all the Care Bears and Cousins, he was probably the most used to Coldheart's antics by now.

"Well, I don't know for sure, but that's what it seems like to me," Wish Bear answered.

"Well, who else could it be?!" Grumpy snapped. "At this point, strange ice and people becoming uncaring are just code for 'the old blue man with behavior problems is at it again!'"

"Grumpy!" Tenderheart scolded.

"Wait," Love-A-Lot interrupted. "I wonder why Coldheart's doing this? Maybe he has some kind of grudge against Christmas?"

Affirming nods went around the round table. Coldheart did say he had a bad childhood. Maybe that had something to do with it?

Grumpy wasn't convinced. "Does it really matter? We just need to reverse the spell on the people down on Earth, that's all."

All of a sudden, an unexpected voice piped up. "Grams read me and Tugs a Christmas story last night. It was about an old man kinda like Coldheart who saw three ghosts and changed his ways." Hugs Bear offered.

"Tell us more," Tenderheart prompted Hugs to continue.

"Yeah. I think... they showed him what his childhood was like... and how things would be if he didn't change."

Tenderheart knew what Hugs was talking about. It was a well-known story both in Care-A-Lot and on Earth. An idea began to form in his mind. He spoke up. "Hold on. Hugs, thank you for your input. I think I've got a plan."

The others listened intently as Tenderheart explained what they were going to do.

"You really think pulling 'A Christmas Carol' on Coldheart would convince him to change his ways?" Wish Bear asked.

"It worked well enough for Ebenezer Scrooge, didn't it?" Love-A-Lot answered.

Grumpy snorted and rolled his eyes. Looks like we're doing this again, he mused to himself.

It wasn't the first time the Care Bears pulled something like this. Throughout the season, they would often meet greedy, uncaring people who didn't truly appreciate the spirit of the season. And sometimes, they would have to resort to... drastic measures to turn their hearts. But Coldheart didn't really seem like he would be all that receptive to that approach. Or any, for that matter. It would take the Care Bears the rest of their lives to melt the ice inside the man's heart.

He cleared his throat. "You sure about this? I don't think it'll work."

"Well, do you have any other ideas, Grumpy?" Brave Heart almost snapped.

"Yeah, actually. We could just turn the world's people back and freeze Coldheart in one of his own ice blocks until summer-"

"Enough!" Tenderheart barked, leaping out of his seat. "Grumpy, I'd have half a mind to speak to you in private later! That is not how we do things in the Care Bear Family!" He panted as the other Care Bears and Cousins stared at him, shocked at his sudden outburst. His breathing slowed as he composed himself. He sat back down. "Alright... so, since we don't have any other good ideas, would anyone else like to volunteer? Anyone with an idea besides getting violent?"

No one spoke up. Nods went around the table.

"No... I think your idea is the best, Tenderheart," Gentle Heart lamb bleated.

"Me too," Loyal Heart seconded.

Tenderheart sighed. "Alright then, I guess it's settled. Meet me outside the Hall of Hearts in ten minutes." He stood up once more. "Meeting adjourned."

As Tenderheart made his way outside, the rest of the Care Bears followed him. All except Grumpy, who remained seated even as the door slammed shut behind Gentle Heart, the last one out.

He rolled his eyes. There was no way this was gonna work.