She stood in darkness, listening to the voices that seemed to swirl around, now closer, now further away. It seemed a debate was taking place, and she was the subject of that debate!
"She has met her obligations," said a voice she thought was female.
"But not all of her challenges," said the other voice, which was male, harsh and menacing, "This last failure will count heavily against her."
"It is not finished."
"No, but there is only one ending possible."
"Do not be too quick to say that."
"Who are you?" she called into the dark.
"Her helpers have abandoned her. She is weak." said the male voice.
"No. She knows where her strength lies. She will find it again" said the female voice.
"It will not help her."
There was no reply.
"Show yourselves!" she shouted.
Utter silence, not even an echo. But she felt them studying her. Light grew until she realized she was standing on a grey, featureless plane illuminated by a pearly half-light. A feeling of being looked at came over her, and she turned around suddenly.
The King of Shadows stood before her, tall and menacing, wrapped in his black cloak, eyes gleaming in the darkened face. In his right hand he held the Sphere of Light, which she knew to be Lady Brite. "You cannot stop me!" he said, "You are alone!"
'It was true', she realized, 'where were the Color Kids? Why weren't they here to help?'
Horrified, she watched as he lifted his hand and crushed the Sphere. Brightly colored shards burst in all directions, winking out as they fell to the plain. When the last one went out, all was dark again, save the eyes boring into hers.
"I am triumphant!" he shouted. "The Darkness wins!"
She clapped her hands over her ears, but it didn't help. 'He is right, I am alone, I can't stop the darkness by myself. I'm weak.' Tears of despair crept out of the corners of her tightly closed eyes. An icy hand seemed to take hold of her heart, and squeeze.
"The Darkness wins!"
"The Darkness WINS!"
"THE DARKNESS..."
"...didn't damage her heart," said a different voice. It was still dark, but the new voice was female, familiar, and comforting. That last shouted word still rolled around in her head.
"That's good news," said another voice, also familiar, also comforting, and male.
She opened her eyes, and found Canary Yellow looking down at her. Canary gave her a dazzling smile, and she immediately felt the cold hand around her heart lose its grip. "Hi! Glad to see you awake!"
Buddy Blue came into her field of vision. "How do you feel?" he asked, voice full of concern.
"...hurt all over..." she mumbled.
"I'm not surprised. It's an effect of electricty; it tightens up all your muscles, and from what Doris tells us, you got quite a jolt."
"...uh huh..." she replied.
"You also have some kind of poison in your system. Was it from those burns?"
"...uh huh...green sticky burning..." she managed to say.
Canary turned and studied the medical readout. She pressed several keys. "There. You'll feel a lot better in a few minutes. But you are going to be sore for the next few days. Try to take it easy."
Rainbow closed her eyes. She knew what had happened. The Color Belt's computer would send out an emergency signal if she were injured, and the Kids would come running. But...why? They didn't want or need her any more. They had abandoned her...hadn't they? The cold hand gripped again.
At the sound of an opening door, she opened her eyes and looked towards it. The rest of the Color Kids came in, looking solemn. They surrounded her bed, looking down at her. Tears came to her eyes. The dream was a lie! They did want her!
"Why are you crying, Rainbow?" asked Lala, "Aren't you glad to see us?"
"Oh, yes!" she reached out, despite protesting muscles, and took Lala's hand. I thought you all didn't care about me any more! I thought I was alone."
The Kids looked at each other, horrified. "Never!" they all cried. "You are always our hope and light, Rainbow! You are our friend, and we will always follow you!" said Red, with murmurs of agreement from the others.
"Thank you, everyone! That makes me feel much better," she said, and it did. She looked around at the familiar faces, all full of concern and love for her. "Where's Violet?" she asked.
"Doris, where is Violet?" asked Canary.
"She is in the library," was the reply.
General groans all around.
"We'll never get her out of there," sighed Indigo.
"Doris, tell Violet to come to the infirmary, NOW!" said Canary.
"She's on her way," replied Doris.
A few seconds later, the door burst open, and in ran Violet, two books in each arm. She put them on a table, and ran over to Rainbow's bedside. "I'm sorry, Rainbow, I just got caught up in that fascinating library! I've found books I've looked for for years..."
"It's okay, Violet, I understand," said Rainbow, taking Violet's hand with her free one.
The pain, both inside and outside, eased off, so she sat up. She looked around again. "Where's...?"
"Oh," said Buddy, "Tickled Pink and Moonglow volunteered to stay home and run things. Stormy is on Earth. You remember that thunderstorm system she's been working on for weeks? She thinks the patterns are right so she can get them over those mountains, and into that desert."
Suddenly it dawned on Rainbow that they were all dressed in their work clothes, as she was, and now looked exactly as they were shown in the cartoon show! She laughed, just for the joy of it. They were having an adventure, like they hadn't had in many years.
As Canary helped her into her boots, she addressed them all. "I guess Doris had filled you all in on what happened. I want to know how long it's been."
"Four hours, thirteen minutes," said Doris.
"Okay, now we need to know where Sorrell's gone to. How can we find ou?t"
"I have several 'comet chaser' robots," said Doris, "They bring back chunks of ice to renew the air and water here. When Sorrell left, I had one follow him. When he stops somewhere, it will return."
"Good work, Doris!" "Yeah, great!" "Way to go!"
"Okay, that settles that for now. In the meantime, let's take care of the memorial, and get something to eat."
They set up an unused room as a memorial to Plock, and left the items Rainbow had brought with her for that purpose. That taken care of, they sat down and ate in a dining room Rainbow hadn't seen before. It was quite elegant, with a large wooden table and comfortable chairs. Tasteful paintings were on every wall. Lala and Red did the cooking, and everyone enjoyed the food. Buddy took a plate to Violet in the library.
As they waited for the robot's return, they explored the asteroid, choosing bedrooms for themselves, and making a few changes to reflect their own tastes. Rainbow was going over the records carefully, and Violet hadn't found anything else as dangerous as those books.
"Where did Plock find those books, Rainbow?" asked Violet.
"I don't know. I havn't found any reference to them in the records. I'm not surprised, though. Whoever took them off our homeworld would be in a lot of trouble if we knew who it was."
"A mystery for another day, I suppose. We will investigate later" said Violet.
"I will look forward to working with you on it," said Rainbow, and they smiled at each other.
"Mistress, we have an arrival," said Doris.
Rainbow looked up, suddenly feeling a chill. "Who?"
"They identify themselves as 'Krys and On-X'," said Doris, "They request permission to dock."
Rainbow jumped up, grinning. "Permission granted! Tell the others to meet me in the bay!"
A few minutes later, she ran to meet Krys as he dismounted from On-X. They hugged tightly.
"Are you okay?" asked Krys.
"I am now," she answered, "How did you know I was in trouble?"
He held up his right arm, "The Prism told me. I didn't know it was connected to your emergency system, but it makes sense."
Just then the others came in, and seeing him shouted and ran to greet him. He hadn't changed at all. He was also wearing his battle suit, the same one he wore when they first met, when the Princess tried to take over Spectra. After the reunion, they filled him in as he ate.
"...so we are just waiting to hear from the robot," said Patty.
"And I have just done so," said Doris, breaking in, "Sorrell went into the Coal Sack Nebula. The robot lost him after that, so returned here."
"Good hiding place," murmured Krys.
The others looked at him. "Do you know it?" asked Rainbow.
"The Coal Sack is an area thick with space dust, many light years across. No light seems to pass through it. Ships avoid it, since no one knows what's inside."
"I guess we know of ONE thing inside," said Patty.
"Let's get ready," said Rainbow.
Twenty minutes later, the Kids stood in the bay again, ready for whatever the trip would bring them.
"All of you be careful," said Doris.
"We will," they replied.
"On-X, take us to the Coal Sack Nebula," said Krys, climbing into the saddle.
"Mis-sion Ac-cept-ed," said On-X. There was a whine, and the pale blue flame of his hydrogen-powered rockets burst from his 'feet.
Rainbow touched the Belt, and a rainbow formed under the feet of the Kids. Air was pumped out of the bay, and the outer door opened into space. On-X flew out the door, with the others on the rainbow following them toward the Coal Sack, and a confrontation with Sorrell the Sorcerer.