I meant to post this chapter earlier this week, but I got really caught up in my schoolwork. Also, I really hate bus duty. I can't get much work done in my classroom because of it! Anyway, there's only one chapter to go after this... I hope you enjoy this one :) Feedback is always welcome!
Chapter 13 Murky's Rainbow End
"Rainbow! Rainbow! Murky's near the bridge!" shouted Twink, sliding down the rainbow-colored fire fighter style pole.
Rainbow looked up from petting Puppy Brite and Kitty Brite, who were happy to see her. They had found her shortly after Twink had left, and instantly tried to tackle and lick her face. Rainbow had firmly told them no, and then explained the situation as best she could. The two acted like they had understood. "All right you two. Go hide in the Color Castle for now, okay? You don't want Murky and Lurky finding you too!"
Puppy Brite and Kitty Brite leapt from the bed and raced out the doorway to some other part of the Castle. Rainbow smoothed her dress over and looked at Twink. "Ready?" she asked.
Twink nodded. "Yup!"
"Remember to act sad when Murky enters. He's got to believe that I couldn't be brought back." Rainbow lay back in her bed, and closed her eyes as she pulled the blankets over her waist so that it'd hide the Color Belt she wore. She made sure that her hand was visible above the blankets so that Murky could still see his "gloom shadow". Rainbow felt nervous, hoping that Murky would easily fall for the trap they'd set. He'd fallen for it so far if him coming to the Color Castle meant anything. She heard the heavy cloth moving and then voices suddenly filled the room.
"…here, so you say?" asked Murky. He had brought both Stormy and Moonglo with him, marching them in front of him while he had his gloom gun pointed against Moonglo's backside. The ropes still bound their hands and bound them to each other. Lurky had been left outside to tend to Skydancer and the Grunge Buggy.
Stormy slowly lifted her head. "Yeah. We brought her here and put her in bed. The Color Belt wouldn't work though."
"I see," replied Murky as he moved to Rainbow's bedside. He inspected her face and hand, still covered in the gloom shadow.
"See? We weren't lying to you?" added Moonglo in a low voice.
Murky turned to address both Stormy and Moonglo, leaving his backside exposed to Rainbow. "Seems like you were right. I should reward such good slaves, shouldn't I?" He cackled to himself, laughing at his own private joke.
What Murky didn't realize was that behind him, Rainbow had slowly risen from her spot on the bed until she was in a standing position behind him. She winked at Stormy and Moonglo, who gave no sign of recognition. She took a deep breath, and lowered her finger to her Color Belt. "No, Murky Dismal, it's you that need to be rewarded!" she declared, her finger pressing against the star.
Off in the Pits, Starlite was searching for the switch to turn off the gloom cloud. He quickly found the box that Murky had been storing the liquid in, and examined it closely. "Hmm… I wonder if this switch will do the trick?" he asked himself softly. Quickly, he nosed it until it flipped and shut off. He could hear the Kids awakening from the effects of the gloom within moments.
"Let us out of here, Murky!" called Red Butler.
"You'll be sorry if you don't!" added Indigo.
"Rainbow will save us!" tacked on Tickled Pink.
Starlite trotted to the edge of the pit and peered down at the Color Kids. "Starlite!" they exclaimed in surprise and delight.
"Don't worry Kids. I'll get you out of there!" Starlite then noticed the lock that held the doors of the pit together. "After I figure out how to get rid of this lock…I wonder if I can break it…"
"Be careful, Starlite," called Lala Orange. "We don't know if those bars will hold you."
"I wonder if one of you Kids could slip through the bars…Murky made them pretty wide. If one of you could, then you could break the lock I bet!" declared Starlite.
"I'll do it," volunteered Indigo. "I've always wanted to see what it felt like to act out an adventure scene."
"Indigo…" warned Red Butler. "This isn't one of your books!"
"I can do it. I'm small enough to!"
"We all are, Indigo," reminded Shy Violet.
"Let's let her try. We'll get out faster if we stop arguing about it," spoke up Canary Yellow.
Indigo moved toward the edges of the pit and looked for foot and handholds. "I think I can get up some of the way, but I don't know about all of the way."
"I can lower my tail down for you if you can climb high enough," suggested Starlite.
"Is there any rope out there?" asked Patty O'Green.
"Let me look. That would make things easier." Starlite moved about the cavern, but couldn't see very well. He went to his dropped bag of star sprinkles and pulled out another. The light from the star sprinkle illuminated the cavern just brief enough for Starlite to find a pile of Murky's junk in a far off corner. This included the cage he had dropped the Color Kids from. Nosing around in the pile of random metal pieces, he found a small length of rope that was slightly frayed. "I've found some rope, but I don't know how long it will hold for."
Starlite lowered the rope through the bars as the Color Kids watched. It came down about half way. Starlite gave a muffled response, as he held the rope between his teeth. Indigo took that as her cue and began to climb up the side.
"Careful, Indigo," called Lala Orange.
"Keep going," added Buddy Blue.
While everyone else was paying attention to Indigo climbing, Red Butler was inspecting the walls of the pit that surrounded them. His tiny hands reached out, searching for a space, where there seemed to be more hand-holds than any other place. None of the other Kids had thought to inspect the entire Pit and he felt it was his duty to do so. His hands brushed over the stone, searching, hoping he'd find something. His hands brushed over something damp and soft. Red focused on the space in front of him as he felt the object. It was… yes! "Guys, I've found something!" he called.
"What is it?" asked Shy Violet.
"It's a rope! And it looks like we can use it to get out," replied Red Butler triumphantly as he tugged on it. It stayed firmly attached at the other end.
"Indigo! Did you hear that? You don't have to climb anymore!" called Lala Orange.
Indigo, who was already near the rope that Starlite held, shook her head. "I'm almost there."
"Come on, Kids. Let's get out of here!" called Buddy Blue.
"Yeah! Then we can go help Rainbow!" stated Patty O'Green.
"I'm sure she could use our help," added Canary Yellow.
"And then we can stop Murky in his tracks!" said Tickled Pink.
"I'll go first," volunteered Red Butler. He took hold of the rope, pulling on it to test its strength. Satisfied, he slowly began his climb up the rock, carefully watching for any footholds that he could use. In a few minutes, he'd reached the top of the pit where the bars rested. Red grabbed onto the nearest bar, letting the rope drop. He shimmied himself between the bars, pulling himself up through slowly. His upper body was through when he felt himself get stuck at his stomach. Come on… he thought to himself as he sucked in his stomach, giving himself a tiny bit more space to maneuver with. He knew that all the Color Kids were watching him from below and he couldn't fail. He wouldn't allow himself to.
Finally, Red Butler felt himself begin to slip through the bars and pulled himself up the rest of the way. A cheer erupted from the pit below. He looked down, unable to see his friends. "It's not bad," he called. "You have to hold your breath and suck in your stomach when you squeeze through the bars though." He looked across to the other side where Indigo was just pulling herself through.
"Phew! That was tough!" she said.
Starlite spit the rope from his mouth. "Not a very dignified thing for a horse to do!"
Indigo leapt onto the cavern floor and hugged Starlite. "Oh but it was! Such a noble thing for a horse to rescue a princess!"
"Wha?" asked Starlite, bewildered. Indigo simply kept hugging him.
Slowly, each Color Kid used the same rope as Red Butler had to make the climb out of the pit. First came Buddy Blue, then Patty O'Green, then Shy Violet, followed by Canary Yellow, who was followed by Tickled Pink and finally the last Kid up was Lala Orange. Each of them happily hugged Starlite, glad to be away from the gloom and doom of the pit they'd been kept in.
"Now, let's get back to the Color Castle and help Rainbow," shouted Red Butler.
"Yeah!" cried all the Color Kids in agreement.
"Don't worry Kids! Follow me! I remember the way out of these caves!" called Starlite. Red Butler, Patty O'Green, and Tickled Pink climbed onto his backside while the other Color Kids stayed close behind. Since it was so dark, they formed a chain. Buddy held onto the tip of Starlite's tail and then held hands with Lala Orange, who held hands with Canary Yellow, who held hands with Indigo, who held hands with Shy Violet.
Murky quickly jumped when he heard a voice he would have never expected to hear. "R-Rainbow Brite? But how?!" he cried as he turned to face her.
A ribbon of rainbow shot from Rainbow's Color Belt and wrapped itself around Murky, lifting him off the ground. "Put me down!" he cried.
"Gladly!" called Rainbow as the ribbon of color that bound Murky maneuvered its way through the doorway and to the outside of the Color Castle. There, it dropped Murky onto the ground, still keeping him bound in brightly color rainbow ball. Murky struggled to break free, pushing and kicking at his new prison, a bright speck of color in the grey land. The ball held tightly and Murky was left to sit and fume as he watched Rainbow walk from the Color Castle, with Stormy, Moonglo, and Twink following behind her.
"It was…just a joke?...hehe…" attempted Murky feebly.
"Jokes are supposed to be funny," began Twink.
"Jokes don't hurt someone," added Moonglo.
"Or take people as slaves," added Stormy.
Rainbow looked back at both of her friends and then looked at Murky. "You almost destroyed Rainbow Land, Murky Dismal, but you failed. Now you're going to watch as I put all the color back into Rainbow Land."
"I…no!" yelled Murky. "Not the colors! Lurky!"
The bumbling assistant was nowhere to be found and did not answer Murky's call. Murky frantically looked about, but only saw the Grunge Buggy parked near an orange sprite house. Skydancer was nowhere to be seen either.
"Oh yes, Murky. You deserve to see Rainbow Land at its best," replied Rainbow as she pressed a finger to her Color Belt. Murky could only watch as rainbow ribbons shot forth and engulfed the land, replacing greys and whites with brilliant shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and all the colors in between. Within a few minutes, Rainbow Land appeared brighter and more beautiful than it had been before, a tribute to the girl who had the honor of wearing the Color Belt.
"No, no, no! Not the colors!" pleaded Murky as he closed his eyes tightly.
Rainbow smiled at her work and the transformation in Rainbow Land. Then she fixed a cold look on Murky. "And now it's time to send you back to the Pits. You should know by now that you can't beat me, Murky. One way or another, the rainbow always wins." With that, she pressed her finger to her Color Belt again, and a ribbon of rainbow slide under the ball that held Murky, causing the ball to roll along the path.
"I'll get you for this, Rainbow Brite!" was Murky's echoing cry heard in the distance as he was carried off to the Pits.
"Hi Murky!" called Lurky, who was riding atop Skydancer's backside. He watched as Murky rolled on past him on the rainbow. Lurky had finally gotten his wish to ride one of the horseys. He didn't know that the only reason Skydancer had let him was so that he could easily get him back to the Pits. "I guess he didn't see me," mused Lurky. Skydancer pressed onward, coming upon the edge of the Pits. "Such a pretty horsey," commented Lurky as he petted Skydancer's mane. In response, Skydancer threw Lurky from his back, and Lurky flew toward the lair and where Murky had landed. "Bye bye horsey!" called Lurky as he waved, still falling from the sky. Skydancer merely turned and headed back to Rainbow Land, meeting up with Starlite and the Color Kids.
"Look! It's Skydancer!" called Tickled Pink.
"Let's follow him! Something must have happened!" replied Red Butler.
"I'll say," said Shy Violet. "Rainbow Land is bright and colorful again. It must be good!"
Rainbow, Twink, Stormy, and Moonglo watched as Murky flew off in the distance, soon disappearing. She turned toward the two girls. "Thanks. Without you two, Rainbow Land never would have been the same again."
"No problem," answered Stormy.
"We couldn't let Murky win," added Moonglo.
Rainbow looked as though she were going to say something else, but then she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. "Look! Starlite found the Color Kids!" she cried.
"Rainbow! Rainbow!" cried the Color Kids, crowding around her and showering her with hugs.
"I'm glad everyone's okay. Murky almost beat us there," stated Rainbow. "A celebration is in order, but first, we have lots of work to do. Murky's work must have spread to Earth. Let's get to work!" Behind the Color Castle, a brilliant rainbow shown across the land, the familiar comforting bit of light once again showing that as long as Rainbow Brite was around, good would always triumph over the evil that is Murky Dismal.
Murky Dismal's been defeated once again! Chapter 14 is the final tying up chapter so stay tuned!