A miracle that looked like it would never happen. A week had passed since Brian had stormed off, and while Earth Dancer had been returned to her stall, the Earth boy had not been seen since. Rainbow Brite looked around the area. When Brian once again did not appear she frowned.
"I don't understand…this is the 7th day Brian hasn't shown up. I hope nothing bad has happened." Red Butler turned to look at her briefly with a few apples in his hand. "Well considering Brian's luck I wouldn't be surprised…"
He then noticed everyone glaring at him. "Well its true isn't it?" The Red color kid defended. "Every time Brian comes to Rainbowland he almost always ends up being attacked by Murky."
He stopped briefly to feed an apple to Earth Dancer and then to Starlight before continuing. "Remember when he wanted to stand watch?" Canary Yellow and Indigo giggled a bit in remembrance.
Rainbow frowned at them. "I don't think Brian would do this on purpose." She insisted. Starlight finished the rest of his apple before he strode forward importantly. "Rainbow's right. There has to be some kind of reason why Brian hasn't been coming." Starlight added.
"There is a reason kids." Startled everyone turned around and saw Russell Adams approaching. The stable owner paused and looked at them strangely. "Did that horse just talk?" The kids nodded their heads and the white horse with the Rainbow mane snorted at him indignantly. "I'll have you know that I am no ordinary horse!"
Russell just stared at them with a look of calm acceptance. "Okay then." He then started to walk away when the girl in the indigo outfit stopped him. "Wait! Mr. Russell sir…what happened to Brian?" Indigo spoke up. Russell looked down at the child and then at her friends. After a moment he sighed.
"Well…Randall struck again and got Brian in a whole lot of trouble." The boy in red immediately took charge of the situation. "What happened?" he demanded.
Russell thought for a moment. "I really don't know…you would need to ask Brian." He said. He took a few steps and then turned back to look at the group. "Later kids." That said Mr. Adams left.
After a few minutes of silence Rainbow Brite spoke up. "I knew there was something wrong." But what can we do? Canary added. Rainbow thought for a moment. "Well first we need someone to talk to Brian."
Rainbow looks pointedly at Red Butler. Finally he sighed. "Alright I'll do it." With that Red touched the star symbol on his belt sending out a beam of red and rode it out of sight.
Rainbow then turned back to the others. "While Red Butler is talking to Brian, the rest of us will stay here in case Randall decides to come back." She notices the remaining color kids and Starlight looking at her strangely. "What?"
"Are you sure it was a good idea to let Red check on Brian?" Canary Yellow questioned. Rainbow smiled. "I know they don't really see eye to eye Canary, but deep down I believe they are friends."
"If you say so Rainbow." Indigo said doubtfully.
For a moment Red Butler smiled to himself when he noticed that the cars that were normally in the driveway at Brian's house were gone. Hopefully it meant that meant Brian was elsewhere. But after closer inspection he noticed that several of the windows to the house were open and the smell of chocolate was in the air.
He sighed to himself. "Better get this over with." Red thought. Red Butler touched his belt again and sent his beam downward. A moment after he touched the ground the beam disappeared.
After looking carefully around, Red crept to the door and softly turned the handle. He was momentarily surprised when it swung open easily. After once more making sure no one was watching he stepped inside.
The hallway he had stepped into was done in various shades of Brown. Red had been momentarily tempted to add some red to the surroundings, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. First things first. The sooner he found the stubborn Earth Boy...the sooner he could leave.
Surprisingly it wasn't that hard. He turned a corner and found himself in the kitchen. Brian was there sitting at a table with several books and scattered papers in front of him. He held a pen in his good hand and had a bored look on his face.
After a minute or so he sighed disgustedly to himself and slammed the book shut. Brian turned his head to look at the kitchen clock and immediately noticed the Red Color kid staring at him. "Red Butler? What are you doing here? Brian questioned his eyes full of surprise.
"You weren't at the stables, so I decided to check up on you." Brian looked at him in disbelief and got up. Red watched him walk over to the far side of the kitchen. "So what happened?" Red Butler prodded.
"I'm suspended." Brian said huffily. He roughly opened several of the kitchen drawers with his good hand and then ruffled through them before slamming them closed again. He backtracked a moment and pulled out some measuring cups before slamming the door shut once more.
"Someone threw a baseball through the principal's window at school and I was blamed." Brian went back over to the book filled table and shoved the books out of the way, many landing with a crash on the floor. Ignoring them he placed the measuring cups on the counter before heading towards the kitchen cabinets. "Until this mess is straightened out, I can't leave the house!" He said angrily.
Red Butler was stunned. He had known Brian for a long time and never had he seen Brian this angry before. Even when they were fighting in the boat, or had their occasional clashes, there was always a joking or competitive tone to their anger. Here there was none. Brian was very upset. Red opened his mouth to say something when a loud beep sounds.
Brian walks over to the oven and opens the door to the stove. He grabs an oven mitt, before proceeding to remove a few pans each containing a layer of chocolate cake. He then puts them on top of the stove to cool.
That simple act seemed to have a calming effect. Brian let out a huge sigh before turning to face the other boy who was still staring at him. "I'm sorry Red." Brian sighed again. "I've been under a lot of pressure lately."
"So I've noticed." Red said dryly. He walked over to the stove and pointed at the cake layers.
"Did you make those Brian?" Brian nodded. "It's my mom's birthday." A weak smile appeared on his face. "Just because I'm grounded doesn't mean I can't still make her something."
Wisely Red continued. "I didn't know you liked to bake." Brian nodded offhandedly. "I do sometimes. Mostly I just make pancakes and cakes and stuff."
Red Butler looked at him oddly. "Pancakes? What's that?" Brian looked stunned for a moment before he laughed. "You're definitely from another planet Red!"
The Red Color kid didn't share in the Earth Boy's amusement. "And what is that supposed to mean?" He challenged. Brian tried to hide his amusement. "Nothing." He walked over to the fridge. "Maybe I'll make them for you guys sometime."
Brian removes a bowl of brown icing from the fridge, places it on the table and then goes to the freezer and removes two more cake layers. Red once again looked at him oddly.
Brian noticed his look and decided to clarify. "Rule number one. When you make "anything" involving chocolate…always make two." Red Butler smiled back.
"No wonder your last name is Brown." Red joked as followed Brian to the table. When Brian didn't respond he tried again. "Brian?" To his confusion Brian seemed a bit dazed. "I was always told …never to reveal the rest of my name." Brian placed the cake on a plate and started frosting it. "Only 3 people know it. I wonder how Russell knew…." The earth boy muttered to himself offhandedly.
Red Butler frowned to himself, before he changed the subject. "I'm sure it's not that important." Red remarked nonchalantly. Almost immediately the other boy snapped out of his daze. "I'm sure you're right Red." Brian quickly agreed.
For the next few minutes, both boys worked on the cake. While Brian smoothed the frosting out, Red Butler carefully wrote "Happy Birthday!" on the top and added a few stars around the sides. "How's that?"
Brian put down his spatula and blinked for a moment. The contrast of Red and Brown icing was a bit unusual. Brian looked thoughtful for a minute, before he went to the freezer once more. He came back with his hands full of walnuts. Gently Brian pressed a walnut between each of the stars. As he inspected the cake once more he smiled.
"There!" he said brightly. With Red Butler's help the cake was put inside the refrigerator. The moment it was put inside, the clock in the kitchen chimed. Both kids stared at the clock in surprise. After a moment Red spoke up.
"I've got to go now Brian." Brian nodded. "I understand. I still have a lot of work to do myself." "Oh and thanks for cheering me up." He added. Red Butler nodded. "See you later Brian."
As Red Butler left the house and activated his belt, there was a sudden strong breeze. Without warning, a piece of paper blew out of the windows…and right into his face.
Annoyed Red grabbed the paper and noticed a few red x's dotted the paper and at the very top was a percentage. As he studied the paper however, his eyes widened. Once again he activated his belt and rode off back to the stables.