Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

"A Rainbow Connection"

Chpt. 6

As Grey began to regain consciousness, he could hear voices nearby, but the pain in his head made it impossible for him to tell the distinctions between them as he listened.

"This one was unaffected, how is that possible?"

"I've seen him before in the Pits. He is unaffected there unlike others, maybe that makes him impervious to your powers too."

"No matter, he has no power of his own. He is harmless. We'll just leave him here for the time being."

"She doesn't have the belt either Murky."

"Where is it?"

"It's in my hidden pocket where you won't find it," Grey thought as he lay there.

"I didn't see Rainbow Brite in this group. She must be out there somewhere."

"She is no match for me, should she try to stop me. Even if Trueheart and Nobleheart help her, they will fall to my new power. Now, we must prepare before we go to Earth. Let's go."

Grey listened as the sound of footsteps disappeared and waited to be sure they were gone before he opened his eyes. He saw iron bars in front of him. "I'm in a cell," he thought to himself. He sat up and his head started throbbing in protest. He pulled the goggles off his head, which he had just pushed up when they entered the castle. The pain eased a little. The gear he had brought was scattered around the floor except for his spear that they had took. The diary was among the rest of his stuff and it didn't look like it had been opened. He reached for it, his head protesting even this movement, and placed it in his lap. He opened it and began reading, being careful not to move much until the pain subsided.

I met a girl by the name of Misty while on Earth today. I was shocked that she saw me as I was touching up the color. She acted as if it was no big deal; instead she started telling me how to do my job. I was annoyed at first at her gall, but as I did as she suggested I realized she had a knack at seeing and working with the hues. She continued to help me the rest of the day until dark and the people in that area said that it was the most beautiful sunset they had seen in a long time. I asked her how she became so good with color, she said her mother had taught her about it when she was little. When I asked if I could meet her mother she told me she had died a few years ago giving birth to her sister. I pushed no further and said farewell to her.

Grey flipped through the pages and saw that there were only a few entries left. Most were about Misty and reading these troubled Grey in a way he couldn't understand. For some reason he was feeling a sense of loss and remorse. The last entry he read many times. "This explains where he is."

The new Guardian of Color has been found and she has succeeded in defeating the Shadow. Likewise the Guardians of Feelings have defeated Dark Heart. With both of the greatest threats gone, I feel it may be safe to leave. I don't believe the underlings of them will ever find each other. The time I spent with Misty these last few years have made me realize just how lonely it is here. I am going to talk with the Overseers and ask them to let me go live on Earth. I am sure they can find a replacement for me if anything should arise. This will be my last entry if I am successful and I will leave this here to help the next caretaker with the job.

"I already figured out what that is and why." Grey closed the book. "But you were wrong my friend, there was no one there and the worlds have crossed. To make matters worse there is no one left to do anything about it. All the Guardians have been captured and neutralized."

"Don't be so sure," said a voice from outside the cell. Grey looked up and standing at the door was a multicolored bear. The picture on its belly was a rainbow colored heart with a star in the center.

"Not all of us have been captured." A small horse stepped up beside the bear. Its picture was similar to the bear's, but the heart and star were reversed. The horse created a heart-shaped key and opened the door. "My name is Nobleheart and this is Trueheart," he said.

"How did you know I was here?" asked Grey.

Trueheart and Nobleheart looked at each other and smiled. "We met some friends of yours," said Trueheart. Grox came bounding in, jumped on Grey and began licking his face.

"Easy boy, you're likely to drown me if you keep that up." Grox got off of him and looked back to the door. A silver-haired girl was standing just inside it.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," she said.

"Hey, you're Moonglow. Oh, excuse me, my name is Grey. How did you get here?"

"I met Trueheart and Nobleheart some time ago when I was working. They brought me here after I told them what happened to Rainbowland."
"How did you escape from it all," asked Grey.

"I was away from Rainbowland at the time. When I got back, I saw you, and whom I think must be Rainbow, at Murky's place."

"You saw us? Why didn't you let us know?"

"Why did you never say anything to us before?" Moonglow replied.

"You've seen me then. And here I thought no one had."

"We've found them," came a voice from the hallway. Moonglow stepped aside and a green bear with a kite symbol appeared in the doorway. "Trueheart, Nobleheart, we've found the others," he said.

"Thank you Do-Your-Best Bear," said Trueheart, "We will be right there." Grey started gathering his things and the others helped him. Trueheart picked up a white crystal, "Nobleheart, look at this," she said.

"Could it be? They are so rare and I've never seen one this pure before," he said.

"Where did you find this?" Trueheart asked Grey.

"That thing," said Grey, "I picked it up at this place, I think it's called the Haven. There was a whole bowl of them. The guy that used to live there was making arrows out of them. Why, what is it?"

"It's a caring crystal," said Trueheart. "Normal ones are many times more powerful than the Care Bear Stare, but this one is more pure than the ones I've seen. Guard it close, it might come in useful sometime." She placed it Grey's hand. He stared at it for a moment thinking about what Trueheart said about it. He picked up the color crystal that was sitting near him and examined them both.

"That's a color crystal isn't it?" asked Moonglow as she handed Grey some of his things.

"Yeah, it is. I bet these are why Dark Heart's power had no effect on me."

"Dark Heart!" said Trueheart and Nobleheart in unison.

"Yeah, he caught us completely off guard. He used some kind of fog attack on us. It knocked us out and drained the others of their color. I heard them talking that I was unaffected by it."

"We should have known that Dark Heart's evil wasn't completely destroyed when he admitted that he cared. If he's here then we have to be careful," said Nobleheart to Trueheart. He turned to Do-Your-Best Bear, "Inform the others to be on their guard."

"Okay," he said and left.

Grey put everything back where he had it and stood up. "I hope there is something we can do for Rainbow," he said. "It took the Care Bear Stare, I think you called it, and the power of the rainbow to destroy the Doom Gloom Rain Cloud and the rainbow alone couldn't break its spell. I don't think the Care Bear Stare will work much either."

"Well we won't know until we try," said Nobleheart.

"That's right," said Trueheart. "If you don't try something because you think you won't succeed, then you never will."

Grey followed the other three down a long hallway and around the corner. He wondered why he was set off from the others. He saw Do-Your-Best Bear waving from the other end and he was with six other bears that were looking in the cells and keeping a watch out for Dark Heart. As they drew closer he heard a sound that was very much like angry wild animals. The cells on this end were much larger than the one Grey had been in and in one of them they found the source of the growling and snarling.

"Oh my!" exclaimed Trueheart. Grey recognized Braveheart, Lots-A-Heart and Swiftheart, and figured the others were Tenderheart, Love-A-Lot, and Cheer Bear. They were all gray and had lost their symbols.

"Dark Heart was able to do this?" Trueheart asked.

Grey nodded, "It definitely looks like it. This is worse than what the Doom Gloom Rain Cloud had done."

"Over here," Moonglow called out, "It's Rainbow." The others gathered around her and peered into the cell. Rainbow sat in a corner with her legs pulled up and her head placed on her knees. Like the others she too was gray, but she was quiet and unmoving. Without thinking Grey pulled open the door, tearing the lock apart in the process. The others marveled at this for a moment then turned their attention back to Grey as he knelt down in front of Rainbow.

"Hey kid," he spoke softly, "Are you okay?" Rainbow lifted her head and stared at Grey. Grey saw that the blue eyes, which once held boundless joy, were now gray and filled with hate. Rainbow growled and punched Grey in the face. Grey was caught off guard and fell back. He quickly rolled backwards and got to his feet when Rainbow lunged at him. She stood up and began beating on Grey's chest with all her might. Grey wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms down by her side. She then began to kick and bite him as best she could. Grey turned them around so he was facing the others.

"Okay do your thing guys," he said to Trueheart and Nobleheart. Trueheart and Nobleheart readied themselves and used the Care Bear Stare on Rainbow. At first nothing happened, but Grey opened his hand revealing two crystals. A bright flash caused everyone to flinch, but when they could see again, they saw that Rainbow had regained her color. Her kicking and struggling slowed down and stopped. Grey loosened his grip, but kept his arms around her. Rainbow had her face buried in Grey's chest and muffled sounds of crying could be heard.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed.

"It's all right kid, there's no harm done." Grey stroked Rainbow's hair as she cried into his chest. "It's okay, I understand," he told her.

Moonglow walked up beside them and placed a hand on Rainbow's arm. "Rainbow?" Rainbow dried her tears and looked at her.

"Moonglow," she said and kneeled down to hug her friend. "I'm so glad to see you're okay."

"I'm glad to see you're okay too, Rainbow."

"So you're the Rainbow Brite I've been hearing about," said a voice from the hallway. All eyes turned to see Dark Heart standing down the hallway. "Funny though, I was told you were a little girl, but here you are almost an adult. Where's the color belt?"

"Leave her alone Dark Heart," said Nobleheart. Trueheart stepped up beside him to face Dark Heart.

"Ah, Trueheart and Nobleheart. Still true and noble after all these years, and I see you've found some new bears for the family. Let me guess your names. Tell me if I'm wrong now. Do-Your-Best Bear, Laugh-A-Lot Bear, Bashfulheart Bear," he said merrily as he pointed to each one in turn. "Daydream Bear, Surprise Bear, Best-Friend Bear, and lastly Smartheart Bear."

Grey eased the two girls out of the cell while Dark Heart was distracted and whispered something to them. He then knelt down behind Trueheart and Nobleheart and whispered something to them, while Rainbow and Moonglow told the others what he told them.

"Trying to make a plan?" Dark Heart said mockingly. "Don't think I have forgotten you Grey, I plan on finding out how it is that you are immune to my power."

Grey looked behind him at the others and nodded. Rainbow nodded back and they all took off running leaving Trueheart, Nobleheart and Grey alone with Dark Heart. "Leaving so soon," Dark Heart said to the others. "And I guess you three think you can stop me all by yourselves. Even with all of your precious cubs you couldn't defeat my other self. What makes you think you stand a chance now?"

Grey looked down at Trueheart and Nobleheart and they up at him, then they all turned back to Dark Heart. "We don't think we can beat you. Just slow you down a little," said Grey. "Now!"

"Care Bear Stare!"

"Care Cousin Call!"

Beams of white light filled with good feelings pelted Dark Heart who laughed at the attempt. Grey threw something at him and when it hit a bright flash erupted once again.

Dark Heart cried out, "That hurt. What was that thing?" No answer came from the spots before his eyes. "Where are you?" he yelled out in anger. The human form disappeared and the smoky form of Dark Heart began to fill every space of the cellblock and raced on down the hallway. Trueheart, Nobleheart and Grey had reached a door when they saw Dark Heart's form coming down the hallway. "I have you now," a voice boomed from the smoke.

Grey pushed Trueheart and Nobleheart out the door. "Go on, I'll try to hold him back." Trueheart started to protest, but Grey slammed the door shut and jammed it so they could not open it. With nothing they could do, they followed Grey's request and hoped that he would be able to get away.

Grey turned to face Dark Heart. "At least they will get away safely," he said to himself. "I am sure that Rainbow and the others will find a way to beat Dark Heart." He took a deep breath and charged into the swirling smoke that was Dark Heart. Evil laughter echoed from all around as Grey began to lose consciousness again.

Dark Heart, Murky, Lurky, and Mr. Beastly stood around a cell door looking in at Grey lying on the floor. "It looks like it worked this time, Oh Evil One," said Mr. Beastly.

"Yes it does," spoke Dark Heart, "In fact you could say Grey is now gray."

"We underestimated him once before and he released Rainbow Brite from your spell. I should have realized who she was back in the pits. Lurky, stay here and guard him, we want to make sure he isn't bluffing."

"Okay Murky," said the witless henchman.

"Good, let us go now." said Dark Heart. "No-Heart is sure to be ready now to increase my power. Then I will be able to create shadows of myself once again, each with my new power. Spreading misery across the Earth will then be a cinch." Dark Heart, Murky, and Mr. Beastly turned and left leaving Lurky behind to guard Grey. They had barely reach the other end of the hallway when they heard a primal scream.

"Murky, help!" yelled Lurky as he ran toward the others. They had turned in time to see the bars of the cell yanked out and the ceiling caving in on the cell. All except Lurky ran back to have a look at the damage. The bars were half buried under the rubble of the ceiling and half of the surrounding walls. Sticking out of the rubble was the tattered tail of the cloak Grey was wearing.

"He destroyed himself," gloated Dark Heart. "A fitting end for someone who has caused me great trouble."