Chapter Nine
Energy snapped around them for an instant and then they were . . . well, it was hard to say. A misty place. Ravage tried to ignore his sensors, which were screaming that the fog-covered floor wasn't really there.
At least they were all back to normal again. Ravage turned his head from side to side to work out a crick, then paused to examine the pink pony, rainbow-haired horse, tiny human, and weird yellow marsupial beside him. Well, normal was a relative term, after all.
"What was that place?" Rainbow Brite said.
"What is this place?" Shady wondered.
"We just came out of this energy thing," Potato Chip piped up, "so maybe we should go through one of those energy things." Everyone stared in the direction she was pointing; dozens of energy pools crackled around them in all colors: red, purple, blue, pink, white . . . even black.
"Which one should we go through?" Wish Bear asked. "I wish there were some indication."
Everyone waited. Nothing happened.
"Well, it was worth a try," the green bear shrugged.
"Mrowr!" Ravage put in.
The smaller sized group stared at the many colored whirling portals, seemingly hovering in empty space before them.
Potato Chip popped out of her ball like form and stepped toward a green one. She sniffed it apprehensively and reached out with a paw.
"No!" Rainbow Brite shouted. "You don't know what it could do."
"Couldn't do anything worse," Shady muttered. "I KNEW I shouldn't have gone with the search party."
Tenderheart Bear stood posed in thought. He stared directly at a violet swirling portal with a paw on his chin and his brows furrowed. "I wish I knew what was going on around here," Wish Bear chattered to her brethren. "It seems as though Barbie just doesn't care about us or anyone else in that room." Tenderheart nodded.
"What we need to do is find away to get the rest of the Care Bears and Cousins to her, without anyone getting hurt." He said in response. "We need to get back to Care-A-Lot. All of us together should be able to defeat her."
"There's a problem with that," The magnificent horse known as Starlite told them. "You are here, we don't know where here is and we don't know how to get away from here."
Test a portal, Ravage thought. Beings without processors really were as dumb as rocks.
Potato Chip reached into the portal and immediately drew it back as she felt something wet. Her furry fingers were covered with some species of moist slime. The popple wailed, "Oh, my digits!!!!" Then she began to flail her arm, shaking the matter from her hand.
"Eeeeewww..." Shady and Rainbow said in unison.
Unnoticed was a large green paw that reached out of a glowing round gate behind them, with the face and head of a large cat following.
