---

"The Meeting"

---

Unknown location

Somewhere near the Kingdom of Caring lay a dark place, hidden deep within purple-colored clouds. Inside of these clouds, there floated a huge black castle. Purple-colored lightning and roaring thunder constantly clapped together above this monstrosity.

Inside of this castle contained a resident: someone with dark magic powers, who loathed the Care Bear Family and their ever-constant mission to uphold all that is good on Earth. This someone was the ruthless evil wizard, No Heart.

No Heart was in the thunder pit section of his castle, standing near and looking at his bubbling cauldron. He wore a red gemstone amulet around his neck and a purple hooded robe, which covered his face in darkness except for his two crimson red eyes.

"My my, what is this? It seems that the Care Bears have a new friend. Two new friends, actually. A blue hedgehog and a black and white cat with oddly long ears..."

The cauldron bubbled to show only Sonic.

"Hmm, this one looks especially interesting, after hearing that conversation about symbols with that rabbit. Indeed, with that round belly of his and with a symbol, he could become one of them: a family member. Or something like that... Hmm, I've only just 'tuned in,' so let's just see what their little meeting is about."

---

Care-a-Lot, outside the Hall of Hearts

"Ah, we've been expecting you, Sonic."

Sonic, Klonoa, and Swift Heart arrived at the Hall of Hearts' entrance. Standing ahead of them were the elders Noble Heart Horse and True Heart Bear. The purple horse had a multicolored star symbol within a multicolored heart, and the light cream bear's was the opposite: a heart within a star.

"Noble Heart Horse and True Heart Bear... The elders. Nice to meet you both." said Sonic.

"Nice to meet you, too, Sonic." said True Heart. "And yes, we're the founders of the family."

"Cool."

"You've been the subject of discussion for everyone ever since you and Klonoa arrived here." said Noble Heart. "Quite a rarity, I must say."

"I know. Talking about me...and that creep Evil."

"Well, that's going to be discussed about in the meeting. Hearing of Evil's current prescence after all these years certainly shocked everyone and us here." said the bear.

"So come on in, Sonic. Everyone's already inside, so let's get this going." the horse said.

The elders turned and went inside, with Sonic and the others following.

---

Hall of Hearts

Inside this huge building lay a huge table in the half-shape of a heart: the meeting table. This was where the Care Bear Family conducted their meetings in order to discuss the latest happenings.

After being greeted by all of the family members, and taking note that he no longer has any clothes on, Sonic now sat at the top of the heart table, in the middle. To his left and right were the elders. Klonoa, however, just stood near the entrance door, leaning back on it. He really didn't feel like sitting alongside them.

A few more minutes of chatter occured, then...

"Alright, everyone, simmer down. The Conference is about to begin." said Noble Heart, loudly.

They all quieted down. True Heart cleared her throat.

"Okay... As we all know by now, what started as a caring mission to a school in Emerald City quickly turned into something very serious. Something of high magnitude that we haven't encountered in such a long time. As it soon turns out, our old enemy, Evil the Hedgehog, has returned onto our lives again. Some of you may find this shocking, but its true. We thought he had disappeared for good, but it turns out he was hiding all along.

"According to Klonoa here," she continued.  "Evil had returned to Emerald City about three years ago. Instead of using his power of uncaring like he always does, he simply proceeded to destroy the city himself, with his own hands... Before I go on here, I would like to elaborate on something. I see that most of you are wondering why we didn't know of his prescence during these past three years...why the Caring Radar didn't pinpoint us to him. Well, while we were away, after discussing it, we figured out why. Noble Heart?"

"Right. Well...everyone, the reason why it didn't show us to Emerald City is because...well, there was already someone there. There was already someone that made sure that the feelings, the safety, and the well-being of the people there, were kept safe from bad guys like Evil. There was already a protector of the peace there... That was why it never marked the city as a problem."

"Yes...and the one there that was protecting it...was the world-famous hero himself. And he's sitting here with us. Right now. Let's clap it together, for Sonic the Hedgehog."

With that, they all did. Some cheered for him.

"Aw... Heh heh." Sonic blushed.

After the clapping died down, True Heart continued.

"Now then, moving on... Yes, according to Klonoa, Evil tried to destroy the city...but he was stopped by Sonic. However, Evil just wouldn't give up. Just like when we were dealing with him, his hatred for Sonic grew, and tried many different things to destroy Sonic. But he failed every time. Thus, this archrivalry, as Klonoa puts it, went on for the past three years..."

"Wow...for that long?" asked Brave Heart.

"What a persistent guy he is..." said Proud Heart Cat. She had a red heart within a pink star on her white belly.

Soon, the crowd chattered up in light of the revelation. Then Noble Heart signaled them to calm down.

"Well, it was obvious that this archrivalry wouldn't last forever...but not on the good side of things for us, though...as we learned today." the horse said.

"Yes." said True Heart. "Earlier today, after Swift Heart and Bright Heart finished their caring mission, they were quickly attacked by some sort of dark creatures. They fended the creatures off, but were forced to stay in the school because the creatures were increasing in numbers. And, well, I believe we all know the rest."

They all nodded.

"Well, then, I think its time for Sonic to explain what exactly happened to him that made him end up badly injured." said Noble Heart. "It's all on you, Sonic."

"Okay."

Sonic stood up from his seat and looked at everyone.

"Here goes."

He then proceeded to explain everything to them. He first told them of his Super form, and it was this that gave him a big advantage over Evil every time. He then went on to explain that Evil was now Shadow Klonoa, and how the dark cat drained him of his Chaos energy, which meant no more Super form for him. With it gone, Shadow Klonoa proceeded to injure him badly, and that was how he ended up like that.

"That's how it all happened..." Sonic sighed. "Now without my power, I'm unable to beat him and reverse all that he had done to the city. Ugh..."

"It's okay, Sonic... At least you're up here with us instead of down there." said Tenderheart.

"I know..."

"Hmm, you said you got your power from the Chaos Emeralds." said Grumpy, who had a symbol of a blue cloud that rained down hearts from it. "Well, why not just get it from them again?"

"He could get it again, Grumpy." said Swift Heart. "But then, that no-good Shadow Klonoa could just outright drain him of it again."

"Oh... Right."

"Hmm, he could just drain it again, huh? Well...does anybody have an idea on how we can stop that from happening again? We gotta help him, you know." said Tenderheart.

"Tenderheart's right." said True Heart. "As the Care Bear Family, we are committed to helping those in need. And Sonic here is no exception. Besides, it seems that Shadow Klonoa has gotten stronger to the point where we wouldn't make a difference to him anymore... Now Sonic is the only one who can truly stand up against him...and thus, we need to help."

"Truer words couldn't have been spoken." said Noble Heart. "And I agree!"

"Hmm... Let's all try and think of something, then." said Brave Heart.

For a few seconds, they all did...but no one came up with anything...

"Drat. I'm stumped. Nothing's coming up." said Grumpy.

"Me too..." said Cheer, who had a symbol of a rainbow on her.

"Any ideas, Lotsa Heart?" asked Proud Heart.

"Nope." replied the pink elephant with a pink heart-marked weight symbol on him.

The only one that appeared to have an idea was Swift Heart...and she had it long before everyone had begun to think. She looked at everyone.

"Um, guys..." she said. "I have an idea..."

Everyone looked at her.

"What is it, Swift Heart?" asked Noble Heart.

"Well...first of all...have any of you noticed something about Sonic? Now that he's no longer wearing anything? Take a look at him."

They all did so.

"See his little belly there? His peach-colored belly? Well...doesn't it remind you of something?"

They all looked at his peach center and thought for a bit.

"Hmm, I think I know what you're talking about, Swift Heart!" said Playful Heart Monkey, who had a heart-shaped balloon with party favors in it as his symbol.

"I think I know, too..." said Proud Heart. "Swift Heart, are you saying that his belly looks like as if...a symbol could be put on it?"

"Yep. More like it needs one!"

Everyone was suddenly surprised at this.

"You're right, Swift Heart. It DOES look like its fit for a symbol." said Brave Heart.

"Mm-hmm." nodded Swift Heart. "Well, second of all...we already know that our symbols protect the caring energy within us, right? What if we could get one on him to protect his Chaos energy? It'll solve his problem for good, so he'll never have to worry about anyone trying to steal his energy again."

"Ohh.... I see." said Tenderheart. "Hmm, now that you mention it...I think that's a really great idea, Swift Heart!"

"Yeah... I think that's a great idea, too!" exclaimed Brave Heart. "What do you say, Noble Heart? True Heart?"

At this, the elders looked at each other. "Hmm..."

"Hm...besides..." Sonic said. "I deserve a symbol of my own anyway."

"You do?" asked Loyal Heart.

"Yeah."

He looked down at his own belly.

"As I've said to many of you earlier...I care about the people of Earth...just like you guys... Whenever they need help, I come for them. Whenever bad guys attack for their own goals, I try to stop them... I just don't want anything to happen to the peace of the world. I just want the people to always cling onto hope...no matter what happens. And plus, I even help those who need to express their feelings. Their emotions... That's why I deserve one...and besides, I really like the things that you guys can do with your symbols. They can become useful for me if I had those abilities..."

"He's right. So its only natural for him to get one." said Swift Heart. "Besides...isn't this the only solution we have for him?"

The elders looked at each other again.

"Well...we could let him get a symbol of his own..." said the bear.

"...but then, he would have to become one of us. A family member." said the horse.

"Oh, yeah, that's right..." said Tenderheart.

Soon, the crowd chattered up again, speaking to each other about the possible addition to the family.

Swift Heart looked at them.

"Ahem, not neccessarily..." she said loudly.

"Huh?" They all looked at her.

"What do you mean, Swift Heart?" asked Noble Heart.

"Just because he's getting a symbol doesn't mean he has to become one of us. There's something I want to point out, everyone. While there's families in this world...there's also friends. Friends that support the families. After all, it's a common phrase that people use: 'family and friends together.' So...who says he has to be a family member in order to get one? And also, don't forget that he has a city to look after. He can't call this place his new home..."

"Oh... You're absolutely right, Swift Heart." said the light-cream bear.

"Uh huh! So instead of that, I got a better idea. Why not just make him a friend of the family instead? A Care Bear Friend?"

"A Care Bear...Friend... Hmm...... Well, what do you think, Noble Heart?"

"Hmm... I think it sounds...like a great idea, True Heart! What she said was true and right. And...like she said, it IS the only solution we have for Sonic."

Noble Heart looked at everyone. "What do you all say? Yay, or Nay?"

"Yay!" they all shouted.

"So it shall be! Caring history in the making!" He stood up. "We are going to let Sonic become a Care Bear Friend, the first of a kind, which'll help him strike back against Shadow Klonoa, once and for all! This is a rare moment we're having right now, but we're proud to embrace it!"

"Yes. You said it, Noble Heart!" exclaimed True Heart.

They all cheered for it.

Sonic grinned and chuckled. "Great."

"Alright, let's do this. Sonic, go and get the Chaos Emeralds. Bring them here at once." said Noble Heart.

"Hm, I will. Though...I don't know if I can get rid of the Heartless that are guarding my home..."

"You can, Sonic. Since you got your true speed back..." said Swift Heart. "Besides...you don't know until you try, right?"

"...right. Thanks, Swift Heart."

Just then, Klonoa, who was watching the meeting the whole time, walked up to Sonic. He went up to his left. Sonic looked at him.

"Hey. Don't forget. You still got me, Sonic. So what do you say we do this together?"

Sonic smiled.

"Yeah. Let's."

---

2:00 p.m. Shadow Klonoa's mansion

The ruthless dark cat was in his mansion, sitting in his lab in front of his supercomputer, wearing nothing and leaning back on his chair. The big screen above him showed the Emerald metropolis in a heap of smoke. He had a satisfied look.

The entire city was now nothing but a slave festival. Thanks to him, all of its citizens were enslaved by the Heartless. Should a citizen refuse to do their bidding or somehow escape, the dark creatures would make that person lose his or heart...and become a Heartless.

"Ahhh... No more Sonic." said Shadow Klo. "No more heroism to deal with anymore. The world is finally mine. All mine... Hmhmhmmm..."

He sat up straight.

"Time to check up on important things."

He reached for the keyboard and pressed a key. The big screen switched to a view inside of the City Hall, where it showed a young girl dressed in red sitting at her desk. She had a sad look on her face.

"Mayor still there... Check."

He pressed it again. This time, it showed a view of the bridge connecting the residential and entertainment districts together. Large Bodies and Defenders, big, muscular Heartless in purple armor wielding shields with alive, dog-like faces on them, were all over the bridge.

"Eastern bridge guards still there... Check."

He pressed it once again. This time, it showed Sonic's house.

"House guards still.....what?! They're gone?!"

Indeed, they weren't there. Suddenly feeling a sense of fear, he quickly pressed some keys. It quickly switched to a view of Klonoa's room. To much of Shadow Klo's shock and dismay, the Chaos Emeralds were gone...and he quickly knew why.

"Grrr... Soniiic!!"

He pounded the panel with his right fist. Hard.

"So you're still alive, huh?! Very well! I'll just have to be on high alert, then...! Oh, don't you worry, Sonic! Since you're using them, I'll just steal your precious Chaos energy again when we meet...and I'll make sure I'll kill you this time, so that you won't ever get in my way again!! Grrr..."

"I'm afraid its a lot more complicated than it seems, Shadow Klonoa."

"Huh?"

He noticed someone behind him. He stood up and turned around, seeing someone there.

"Who are you?"

---

"Wishing Upon the Chaos Star"

---

Care-a-Lot

Sonic and Klonoa entered through the doors of the Hall of Hearts, along with Tenderheart, who just took them to Emerald City and back. The hedgehog carried a brown backpack with him.

All of the family members were still there, awaiting Sonic's return.

"Did you get them?" asked Noble Heart.

"Yeah." said Sonic. "They're in here."

He took it off and unzipped it, revealing the shining colored Emeralds.

"So these are the Chaos Emeralds... They're beautiful, Sonic." said True Heart.

"Yep. They are."

"Alright, then. Go to the other side of the table, in the center, please. And place them on the ground." said the horse.

"Okay. Stay here, Klonoa."

Klonoa nodded. Sonic walked over to the other side and stopped at the center of the half-heart. He kneeled down, then picked and placed the Emeralds on the floor. He then stood up.

"Wow... Shiny..." said Proud Heart.

"Yep. They're beautiful." said Brave Heart.

"Okay, then. This is going to be a pretty big moment for us, as it marks Sonic as our first Care Bear Friend. Or in short, a Care Friend." said True Heart. "Tenderheart, you know what to do."

The brown bear went to Sonic and the Emeralds. He stopped there, looking at the gems.

"Alright," said Sonic. "I don't know how my symbol is going to be created, but...can you try to absorb the Emeralds' energy somehow?"

"I can try, Sonic."

"Okay. Go ahead, then."

"Alrighty. One symbol coming up!"

Tenderheart strut himself forward. His heart symbol glowed bright white, and soon a duplicate of the symbol appeared out of it. The white glow died down, then it glowed light red.

The duplicated heart symbol floated down, as Tenderheart controlled it, to the Emeralds. The heart then glowed brightly...and soon, the Emeralds glowed brightly as well. The heart slowly started to spin around, and afterwards, little sparkles of energy all emitted upwards to it from the Emeralds.

Everyone was in awe at this. Soon, the heart's color changed into a swirling rainbow color. The sparkles of energy stopped emitting, and the Emeralds stopped glowing. The now rainbow-colored heart rose upwards to the height of Sonic's face.

Tenderheart's symbol stopped glowing. "There. I tried my best in absorbing them. Now it's all onto you, Sonic."

"Right..."

Sonic walked up to the heart. He looked at it for a few seconds...then raised his right hand up to it, with it floating above his gloved palm.

'Man...is this gonna be a big change in my life...' he thought. 'Getting a symbol on me, which will change the way I look...forever.'

He smiled. 'But... I guess it's a part of life. An open book...where it's filled with endless possiblities that you may never expect...and I guess this is a good example right here... Hmm...very well. I'll move on and accept this, for I need it...'

He closed his eyes and held the heart with both hands to the sides of it.

'Shadow Klonoa...for all the things you've done in the past, for what you've done to the city and me...your days are over. Prepare for a massive comeback!'

With that, Sonic slowly pulled the heart in and brought it to his peach belly. Touching it...the heart slowly sank into it...

Immediately afterwards, Sonic's belly suddenly glowed entirely white, brightly as well. After a few seconds, he slowly began to hover above the ground. His hands moved away from him, and he lifted his head upwards.

Feeling the surge of Chaos energy within him, along with another type of energy also within him, which felt very warm to him, he soon emitted energy winds from himself, making everyone's fur move with it.

"Whoa, what's happening to him?" asked Grumpy.

Klonoa walked up next to the elders, looking at Sonic. He smiled.

"He's transforming, that's what."

As his quills suddenly spike upwards, after a few seconds, he exploded in a fiery yellow blaze. His fur was now yellow. A blazing aura surrounded him

This surprised everyone, catching everyone off-guard except for Klonoa.

After a few seconds, Sonic floated down to the ground, with his surrounding aura disappearing, no longer emitting energy winds. Everyone looked at him in awe.

"Wow..." said Proud Heart.

"So this is his Super form... Talk about being changed from blue to yellow." said Swift Heart.

Sonic soon opened his eyes. His eye irises were now red. He looked at his hands and smiled.

"Hm... The Chaos energy is inside of me again... Super Sonic is back." Sonic said, his voice now calm and deep. "...huh?"

He felt the warm energy stir in him, making him look at his belly. It was still glowing brightly, but it soon died down...and he saw his new symbol on him.

"A...star? A star...symbol?"

Indeed it was. A yellow star symbol, with its five points near the edges of his peach belly. He smiled at it.

Tenderheart, in front of him, saw his new star symbol.

"Well, you got it." he said. "Now show everyone it."

Sonic nodded. He looked at everyone around him, then turned around slowly to face the elders, showing everyone.

They all let out "Ooh's" and "Aah's," glancing at it.

"A star... Awesome!" said Swift Heart.

The elders looked at it, smiling.

"There we have it, folks. Our new Care Friend." announced True Heart.

Soon, they all cheered happily at him. It was truly a special moment for all of them.

"Thank you." said Sonic, calmly.

After they all calmed, Noble Heart spoke up. "Now then, since Sonic has his new star symbol on him now, I wonder if we should give him a name like us."

"Well...since he's just a friend to us, I'd say that's up to him if he wants." said True Heart. "What do you say, Sonic?"

"Hmm..."

Sonic looked at everyone again.

"Sure. I'd like to. And I've already got one as well."

"Really? What shall it be, then?" asked Noble Heart.

"Hm... Call me..."

He looked down at his star symbol, smiling.

"Sonic Star Hedgehog."

---

End of ch.3

Next: "Light v.s. Dark"