Chapter 19 – Thief’s defensive stand.  
Thief was waiting as the Silver Lining squad came up. 
	“Good, you guys are here.” Thief walked over to the group.
	“Yeah, no help with you angering Void Heart after your mission yesterday. But you did figure he’d want to fight you.” Grumpy mumbled as he took out Gentle’s badge and handed it to Thief. “Here, she took a shine to you.” 
	“Thanks, Grumpy. Despite your sour attitude, you really do care for others.” Thief smiled as he walked over to Gentle. She looked up from the game she was playing with Wonderheart.
	“Oh, hello Thief! Oh…That’s…My badge!” Gentle stood up and gently took it from Thief. As she held it close her color returned and she smiled as she hugged Thief who returned it to her. Wonderheart joining in suddenly.
	"Bear hug!” The trio giggled as Swift hugged Gentle and Thief suddenly.
	“Hehe, got my kitty and my little sis all nice and colorful again.” The three smiled as Grumpy let out a soft sigh next to Mend.
	“I’m getting soft. I’m supposed to be the grumpy one and I’ve gotten soft.”
	“Well, it just means you care about them, Grumpy. Nothing bad about that, even after last night.” Mend smiled at Grumpy who gave them a small smile before returning to his stoic face with a grunt.
	“Yeah, well we just have to wait for Void to be ready.”
	“Um…That’s an issue. Guys…He didn’t put a barrier up.” Everyone in the Care Control tower walked over.
	“You’re right, Wish. Thief, I think it’s fight time.” Tenderheart bit his thumb as Thief nodded to Share.
	“Well, you can’t go in bare pawed, Tenderheart. Here, knives.” Tenderheart looked at Share before taking the knives. He spun them a bit before sheathing them.
	“Thanks. Now…Togetherness, Love-a-Lot, Laugh-a-Lot and…Where’s Loyal?”
	“Soon as he got his badge, he rushed off to find Proud. That’s a loyal boyfriend for sure.” Cheer sighed as she sat next to True who stroked her head like when Cheer was a cub. 
	“Well, we’re not going to make progress here. True, Watchful, Wish, we’ll get your badges back soon.”
	“You said it, Brave Heart. True, I’ll be as careful as possible. Mend you got the others coming?”
	“Yeah Thief, I got them called and they’re all finding the relay points. Please, don’t get in over your head ok?” Mend took Thief’s paws, as the two friends locked eyes they relayed a promise as their paws gave a high-five to one another. Thief, Brave, and Tenderheart said their goodbyes as they headed down. Wonderheart went over and sat on Bedtime’s lap, worried for her uncle. 

As Tenderheart drove, his paws were shaking.
	“…I’m worried. What if Void Heart holds all three badges captive until we end him? We want to try and save him so…”
	“Leave it to me, Tender. I’ve lived half my life using words to escape the law when I had to. I learned to use my tongue to get what I needed to survive. Mend was the only one who I didn’t need to use my words to break their walls down.” Thief put his paw on Tenderheart’s shoulder. “I promised them, we’d get them back. Believe in us, Tenderheart.”
	“We’re a team, we’ll be brave and save our family.”
	“You two are right. We’re nearing the arena.” Tenderheart took a deep breath as he parked, he stepped out as he took a deep breath to calm himself. Brave spun his spear as he got ready.
	“You’re arrived! I hope you don’t mind the void creatures chasing you, cat.” Thief saw tons of void creatures eyeing him and smirked.
	“Sure, bring it. Tenderheart, Brave, Deal with the behemoths. Remember to avoid them when they move, they’re big and clumsy.”
	“Together, on three.”
	“One. Two. Three, strike!” Thief rushed at the void creatures, using his agility to dodge and slash. Tenderheart and Brave Heart rushed at the behemoths, dodging them and striking at their legs to weaken them. Thief saw Void had many floors leading up to him. Thief smirked; this was going to be his advantage. He kept going up and fighting. 
Meanwhile, Tenderheart and Brave were easily putting the behemoths in their place. Before long, Tenderheart grabbed Wish’s badge and got teleported out, rolling on his back from the sudden teleport.
	“Gah…Well that’ll be sore in the morning. Um Wish, I retrieved your belly badge.” Tenderheart soon saw Brave Heart get teleported, landing face first.
	“Oooh….Watchful, I got yours…Ugh…”
	“You ok, Brave?”
	“Yeah, just my pride hurts. What about Thief?”
Tenderheart looked up and saw Thief easily moving, reaching the final floor.
	“You’ve arrived. Make your decision, fight me now for the badge. Or exchange the badge for your life.”
	“Whoa, a bit extreme. Look, why don’t you give me the badge so I can put it to the side, away from our fight.”
	“Ha! I am no fool! The stairs you could use to run down are blocked off and the arena has a barrier making it impossible to escape.”
	“Well, can I get one last look at it, before I give myself up?”
Tenderheart and Brave looked up, shocked before Mend sounded in their ears.
	“Don’t you two, Thief and I discussed this plan. He signaled me earlier. Get in the Cloud Car, Brave be ready to catch.” Both Brave and Tenderheart were confused, but they put their badges in the backseats as Tenderheart got ready to go. 
	“Hmpf, have your look cat.” Void handed Thief True’s badge. Thief smirked and turned and threw it.
	“Brave, catch!”
	“No!” Void tried to rush out, but Thief used the grappling hook and pulled back, keeping Void away as Brave got the badge.
	“Heh, you wanted to fight right?! Well, it’s time to fight! BRAVE HEART, TENDERHEART, GET GOING. BRING EVERYONE BACK!” Thief felt the grappling hook’s rope snap as Void Heart stared him down, lowering the platforms into a big single layer on the ground level. Thief saw the two drive off, Brave flashing him a concerned look before Thief smirked and Brave gave a strong look of resolve and nodded. Void rushed at Thief as Thief rushed, their battle of claws and tail clashing against knives and agility. Thief wasn’t going to waste this chance to weaken Void Heart. He promised Mend he’d weaken Void Heart, so the stare could keep him trapped.

	“GRUMPY, GET THE CLOUDSEEKER READY! Everyone else, get into any free Cloud Cars!” Tenderheart’s worried voice sounded over the radio, but a familiar voice sounded back.
	“Cálmate amigo, we’re here.” 
	“Amigo Bear?”
	“Sí, and everyone else.” Tenderheart heard the other voices and smiled.
	“Alright, True, Wish, Watchful be ready we got your badges. As soon as we arrive we need EVERYONE ready to go. Thief’s fighting his hardest.” 
	“Copy, Tenderheart. We’re heading to the garage now. Let’s all do our best!” Do-Your-Best smiled as everyone headed downstairs, a good chunk of the bears rushing around to gather everyone at the tower. This was about to be the final match with Void Heart.