Author's Disclaimer: Remember, what ain't mine, ain't mine.
Rainbow Brite And I
Chapter 3: Murky's Final Attempt – Plan Z
How Not To Be Seen. Sounds like the name of a Monty Python sketch. But it's actually a book that I purchased a couple of months later. Why? Because I was thinking of pulling up roots and moving to Rainbow Land. The only thing I really had going for me on Earth was my job. And I was falling in love with Rainbow Brite. I didn't want the whole Earth knowing…some corrupt politician, some megalomaniac heartless CEO, some crazed Ayatollah, some overzealous general or perhaps Jerry Falwell…they'd all want Rainbow Land for their twisted ends. So it's best nobody knows. I wouldn't want my small family even knowing, and thus ending up in the midst of a conspiracy that not even Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum could ever have dreamt of.
I was walking with Rainbow one day, near the waterfall, and I decided to ask a Really Big Question.
"Rainbow," I began, "I have something important to ask you."
"Yes Derrick?" she replied.
"My sweet, I have to ask you…" I hesitated as I reached to take out a ring. Suddenly something whistled through the air and exploded nearby. A large cloud of dark gas erupted, and the area around it became paler in color. "WHAT'S THAT?"
"Oh no, MURKY!" exclaimed Rainbow. Just then another thing, it looked like an artillery shell, landed next to a Sprite house in the distance. "We have to get everyone!" She and I dashed into the Color Castle, and we approached a console in one corner of the "factory" section. She opened a panel and took out a key from her dress, and turned it to the right. Loud airhorns and bells sounded.
"So this is your air-raid siren?" I commented. She didn't get that. Soon everyone was gathered in the Color Refinery room (the one with the many consoles around a rainbow cylinder), and Rainbow Brite told what happened.
"The same thing happened in the Blue Zone!" said Buddy Blue, "That thing got in the way of the finish line!"
"It hit the cherry trees at the south end of the Pink Prairie, now they've lost their colors!"
The purple Sprite, IQ, began chitter-chattering, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"What did he say?" I ask.
"Well," Began Twink, "He's saying that Murky is using some kind of long range cannon!" IQ chittered some more. "And that it's not even coming from Murky's normal castle. There's a large cloud somewhere else in the Pits!" More chittering. Twink was now simul-translating him. "We might have a rough location. It's a left-turn off the main road in the Pits to get there, but there's too much cloud. By tracing the trajectory of the artillery shells we got a good idea. We couldn't triangulate, but we quadrilateralized pentagonally. Worse more, there seems to be some kind of distortion field!"
"This isn't good!" I said. "They've gone too far!" Everyone nodded in agreement. "He wants to take Rainbow Land. Let's pay him back!"
"How?" sugggested Indigo, "While many a heart can quickly decide the path of revenge, the cultured mind will hesitate, that is to state, it will certainly wait…it's from a play I'm writing!"
"We invade, and we colorize the Pits. This madness will end now!"
IQ and Twink began their talking. "I think there must be a cloud generator somewhere in the original castle, but it never could be found!"
"Great idea!" said Spark, Canary's sprite, once again with the translation of Twink, "Even the Pits deserves joy!"
Everyone was in agreement.
Later that day we all headed towards the Pits. Everyone was carrying massive quantities of Star Sprinkles. Until the generator was dealt with, if there was any generator, cowboying our way in with all color-belts a blazin' would be futile. So the way to work our way in was gradually. WE started by "colorizing" a few trees at the border, and worked our way along the road. Then Tickled Pink and Patty O'Green were hit by a shell. They lost their color and had a vacant expression. Thankfully a few Star Sprinkles cured them. But we didn't have infinite sprinkles. I led the charge to the original castle. The only thing to worry about was the shells. No goons, no security system, no dogs. Some super-villain? A super idiot more likely.
He didn't even lock his front door. We were all becoming depressed by now, as would be expected, but we pressed on. We split up, madly off in all directions. Canary yelled from downstairs, so we went to see her. There was an enormous machine set up, and on it was written the words "Gloom-o-Matic." It had an enormous pipe leading to the castle's exterior, and it consisted of several large tanks, as well as an electrical dynamo of some sort. Some meter on it beeped, and the machine came to life. A fountain appeared, one made out of gloom-water. Rainbow told me about this, and how he once made a weapon of it to "murk" the Color Kids and kidnap them. A series of electrodes descended, and came to life. The arcing electricity was creating both ozone, and clouds from the water.
"It seems that the meter is, uh, some kind of regulator!" commented Violet, examining the machine. She looked around, hoping to find a switch. It was in a position that had the word "ON" highlighted. She tried pushing it up. It was too heavy for her. So I helped. It eventually flipped, and that "On" disappeared. The other position was marked…ON!
Sadly, the place was too "greyed" for Rainbow's Color-Belt to work. I noticed there was a grate on the floor. Perfect. I found a crowbar in the corner, and began hacking at pipes in the machine. I laughed as the vile liquid began pouring out. Eventually the fountain died down. An alarm sounded. Pieces of pipe had fallen onto the floor. The Color Kids helped themselves to bludgeoning implements, and we became a modern-day set of Luddites.
Soon the Gloom-o-Matic was a pile of scrap. WE got up to leave. No sooner did we start leaving then a shell crashed through the room and began bathing the room in gas.
"DROP TO THE GROUND AND CRAWL!" I barked. In this confined area, the cloud wasn't only depressing, it was also downright dangerous. We crawled up the stairs, and eventually we were able to breathe again.
"I'm glad he's a bad shot!" laughed Buddy Blue.
As we exited the castle, we noticed the clouds were beginning to dissipate.
"Murky's not going to like this!" laughed Rainbow.
So we made our way over to the new castle. All we had was a rough map. It was useless since we had a big question mark where we had to go. There was a maze of narrow roads, some of them lined with rotting trees.
Eventually we arrived at the place. It resembled a gothic castle, but with a large version of Murky's face at the entrance. The walls and face were a dark drab grey, like everything else around here.
"Rainbow Brat and the Color Clods!" greeted Murky through a PA system, "Come on in, stay awhile! STAY FOREVER!" A disturbed laughing followed that. IQ, the Sprite genius, tried his best to pick the front locks. There wasn't any need, Murky wanted us coming in.
"This has to be a trap!" I suggested. Everyone shuddered at that. "But he can't trap us. He always fails!" That reassured everyone.
We entered, and the interior was worse. Dark grey curtains and grey carpets. We came to a door and a staircase. I opened the door, just to find it was a closet with a tube installed. As I rushed to close the door the tube sprayed Gloom-liquid at me. I felt lethargic, and all my thoughts were turning terrible. I saw faint flashbacks of the murder, and I started hearing Nirvana music, and I started to sing to it. "I'm so happy, 'cause today I found my friends, they're in my…" I then switched songs, "Heart-shaped box, for a week…I'm not the only one, I'm not the only one…"
"SNAP OUT OF IT!" screamed Rainbow, as she snapped her fingers in front of me, or so she later told me (I was really messed up by that gloom, must have had depressants mixed in, I guess you'd call it "Kurt in a Kan!") Finally it left me…but I felt like I'd been run over by a train while being eaten by snakes.
We went up the stairs, not wanting to try any more doors.
"Thank you for DROPPING IN!" barked Murky over the loudspeakers, and the staircase suddenly opened beneath us, swallowing us up. We landed in a dark dungeon, Rainbow Brite landed directly on top of me. Everyone else was all in a pile. "Now none of you shall stop me, Murkland shall be born!"
I tried punching and kicking at the only door, a heavy metal thing. No use. However, there was a window on the side.
"It's hopeless!" said Canary Yellow.
"C'est terrible!" commented Lala Orange.
"I'm too depressed!" said Red Buttler.
"Oh untimely capture!" paraphrased Indigo.
"I'll never laugh again!" cried Tickled Pink.
"We could just sit here…or we could try getting out!" I suggested.
"But HOW?" asked Twink.
"Think about it. What one thing that Murky has is his greatest weakness?" Everyone scratched their heads. "Lurky! Murky still depends on him for so much, and Lurky's not the sharpest knife in the drawer!"
"So what does that mean?" asked Pink.
"We'll just lure Lurky over here, and trick him into getting us out!"
"How?"
"By singing!" Everyone gasped. "We'll make enough noise to get Lurky down here. Now let's start singing…uh…Rainbow, you chose the song!"
She started singing something about color…if most songs where I'm from were about love, up here, it was color.
"QUIET, PRISONERS, I can't hear myself think!" We paid no attention. "This is your last chance, SHUT UP!" We still ignored them. "OK, you asked for it, LURKY, GO DOWN THERE AND SHUT THEM UP!"
A few moments later was saw Lurky arrive. We stopped singing. His footsteps were heavy, and the hallway echoed with his clumsy steps.
"Uh, Murky says he don't like your singing!"
"Lurky, there's something wrong in here, one of the walls is full of cracks!" I told him.
"I have to see this, that's wrong!" Lurky then opened the door, using a switch nearby. "I'll check…no, I have to check on the engines, or else Murky will get mad!"
"We'll do that, you check the cracks, ok?"
"Sure thing!" We all left the cell, and then I closed the door. We rushed up a spiral staircase, noticing rats everywhere.
"Do you hear something?" asked Orange.
"I think so!" I replied. I heard a low hum.
"FOLLOW THAT NOISE!" Rainbow and I ended up saying in unison. We laughed at that as we continued through a corridor. Now noises were louder, and I heard a diesel engine. I also heard off-key singing.
"When we're alone, no chaperone, let's make things GREY!" he started singing, before changing, "Every time it rains it rains, gloom-bombs from heaven!" He then shifted musical gears again. "Shades of GREY, it's all that I need!"
I then saw him. The kook in the helmet himself, who'd keep aiming the cannons…it turned out there were at least five of them…and he loaded the shells into each one, before going to a targeting console.
We agreed that the Sprites would tackle the generator, the color kids would try to disrupt anything else in here, and Rainbow and I would taken on Murky. We made our move.
"WHAT? How did you…" he began, dumbfounded.
"You should have installed surveillance cameras, you twit!' I explained.
"But…but…" He then turned to an air-powered microphone. "LURKY, STOP THEM! STOP THESE INTRUDERS!"
"It won't work!" warned Rainbow Brite, "He's trapped!"
"But how could he…"
"His cars are running without a locomotive!" I stated. "I'd think you would have found a replacement for that bungler by now! And you're about to get another nasty surprise!"
"CAN IT, I'll have you yet, I have this!" He pulled out a gloom gun. "One move and I pull the trigger!"
"There's something worse coming your way!" warned Rainbow.
"And why should I be afraid? There's too much gloom-cloud, not enough color, not enough light, your belt is USELESS here!" Just then sunlight filtered in through a window. "Ignore that light, more clouds will cover it!"
"Look outside, bozo!" I chided at him.
"I'll do so, but…WHAT?" HE noticed it was very bright. "How can this be, my generator…"
"Is history!" I filled in. "You thought you had us fooled? We happen to have a couple of certified geniuses, they knew where your shells were coming from. From now on, if you want to see dark clouds, ask Stormy, and please do it nicely!"
"That's it!" He prepared to fire. Rainbow beat him to it, and the gun was whipped out of his hand by a rainbow. The entire room was colorized. All the machinery was smashed around. A loud cheering filled the room. He walked backwards on the now cream-colored floor. He pressed a few buttons and opened a secret door, where he had a spaceship waiting. He climbed into it and started it, and the door closed.
"I'll be leaving here, I don't even know where to go…Argentina would be nice, but it's too COLORFUL!" he yelled. Then an alarm came to life. "Oh, enjoy my present to you guys, have a blast!"
"AUXILLARY GENERATORS ONLINE!" announced a voice. "SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE HAS BEEN INITIATED!" I then heard a roar and it turned out Lurky had also gotten away. We had to hurry out. I've seen enough "self-destruct sequences" to know what would happen. It was a mad rush to escape. Obviously Murky had never heard of fire escapes, nor that bylaw that stated that doors had to open outwards. I wish I had one of those portable bullhorns. We did emergency drills at VIA, so I knew how to properly evacuate a train if need be. But trains were not set up like mazes.
"Follow me!" I yelled!" And all of the sudden I had the longest "tail" of Sprites and Color Kids following me.
"TWO MINUTES REMAINING!" warned the voice. WE hurried. I tried a door. No, a dead-end. I had to signal everyone back, and then everyone forward. We finally arrived at a familiar passageway. "ONE MINUTE REMAINING!" We reached there, when metal doors slammed in front of us. "Thirty Seconds Remaining, Normal Exits have been closed!"
"There has to be an over-ride somewhere!" shouted Shy, overcoming her usual shyness. I wasn't surprised, it's easier to be un-shy when you're in a castle that's about to explode. I found a console next to the door. Shy did some fooling around. Eventually the doors beeped and flew open.
"TEN!" said the voice. We hurried out, we seemed to all be out by the time it said "FIVE!" but I looked back behind. Rainbow Brite was there, but she tripped over.
"GO!" she yelled, "Don't worry about me!" She threw me her Color Belt.
"TWO! ONE!" Then some silence. "ZERO! SELF-DESTRUCT COMMENCING…HAVE A NICE DAY!" A low rumble was heard, followed by a loud BANG!" And Rainbow was thrown forward. Pieces of the castle fell apart, and several explosions ripped through it. An impressive display of smoke and rubble marked the place that once had the proud castle. And Rainbow was lying unconscious. I checked for breathing. Thankfully it was still there. But now my heart was beating quickly. More quickly than the clickety-clacking noise I heard when I was working on the trains between London and Windsor. I picked her up with both my arms, carrying her in a "fireman's carry" position. She was lighter than I thought she'd be. She was still a little heavy, but I didn't mind the load. I knew I'd be aching all over the next day because of it, but I didn't mind. I noticed everything seemed more colorful. Starlite had arrived when things got better, and Buddy Blue and Red Butler helped me load Rainbow onto Starlite. Then we began the walk towards the Color-Castle.
Once there, we helped her into her bed. It was a large bed, rainbow colored pillows and blankets, and a four-posted canopy above it. A pair of sprites, Dr. Cheer and Dr. Robert, started examining her.
"Nothing wrong with her, just unconscious and worn out!" explained the ever-helpful Twink. The sun was setting. Since I wasn't needed for some time, I decided to spend the night, in another room of the castle.
It was late that night, when I was about to get undressed to go to sleep, that I heard a knock on the door. "Come in!"
The door opened. Through it stepped Rainbow Brite, wearing just a pair of rainbow socks and a purple and white nightgown. She came in and hugged me tightly. "Thank you for saving me there!" she said. "And thank you for stopping Murky. It's over. There's no longer the Pits, we now have the Eastern Colordillera. And I need to thank you1" She then kissed me on the lips. I got up and closed the door. I got a large VIA-Rail duffel bag from next to my bed, opening a side pocket. "It's something I wanted to ask you!" I got out something I had tightly clasped in my hands. I opened my hands in front of her, revealing a ring. I got down onto one knee. "My dearest Rainbow…will you marry me?"
She became silent, and then she blushed for a moment. An enormous smile erupted on her face. She hugged me.
"Yes….yes, I'd like that very much! I want you with me!" She then kissed me. She walked over to my bed and sat down on it, and pointed me to sit next to her. "Are you sure? I mean, you'll be leaving your home, and…"
"Don't worry!" I reassured her, "There's not much left down here. My future is up here. With the girl I love!" I hugged her.
"And there's one other thing. I had a dream, a dream about something bad and scary that I haven't had for a long, long, long time! I didn't tell anyone this, but I'll tell you!"
"What is it?"
"It's about my past…before I came to Rainbow Land. It's something I don't tell many people about. I try to keep it to myself. I was hoping I'd forget about it. But I haven't. Vague memories of…my mother…I'm not sure exactly what she looked like…and someone being told to 'bring me to safety.' I also remember running off a…train, like those things in the pictures. I was told to 'go find the color,' and even that 'they' wanted me. It's scary! And something may have happened…to my mother!"
"AWWW!" I hugged her tightly.
"Thanks for hearing me out!"
"You're welcome, my sweet!"
We talked a little more, and then we went into our separate beds. But I knew that I'd soon be lying right next to Rainbow Brite, in marriage.
To Be Continued…
Shoutouts: Everybody and their mother!
Author's Notes: Ok, chapter 3 Is finally up. Some of you may be upset that Murky is gone, but a new badguy will appear later. And what happened to Lurky? That too wil be revealed. Ditto for Rainbow/Wisp's past.
~Ra'akone