Three months had passed since White joined the rainbow friends.
She was honestly surprised that Red was still looking to bring in customers in spite of the play place's current state.
Apparently her assignment for the newest wing of the building was to play with and chaperone the children that come in to play. Make sure they're playing nicely and not bullying each other or doing anything naughty. If they were she'd send them to the time-out corner, a random corner in the room surrounded by a tall fence, for 10-20 minutes.
Though most importantly, in her case, when the place was closed but someone intrudes anyway, she had to provide a temporary hide out for them as well as keep tabs on the whereabouts of her friends for them, apart from Purple since her clairvoyant abilities aren't quite strong enough to see into the ventilation and Red, the clever but cowardly fellow, managed to create a device to keep her from spying on him while he was in the lab.
Her ivory tower provided sanctuary from Blue and Green since they were too big to climb inside but the same couldn't be said for Orange. Once a meal has been missed he'll stop at nothing to find his prey. Poor White sadly had witnessed such instances in her tower on occasions, powerless to do any more to assist. She wasn't used to this new lifestyle yet, much like the others she held onto hope of returning to human form.
It was like any other day at the play place. Red was, as usual, in the lab conducting yet another convoluted experiment.
A large, crystal-like, object glowed and gave a low hum as Red stood behind a control panel.
"Just a little more charge and it'll finally be complete." He said to himself,
But as he cranked up the frequency the crystal suddenly began to vibrate, shining a blinding light as cracks shown on it's surface.
"No, no!" Red panicked as he ducked behind the panel. Before he knew it the crystal split in half, many pieces scattered across the lab, one small piece falling into the vent.
Meanwhile in the ventilation, Purple prowled about before coming upon a small, glimmering object.
"Huh? What's this?" He thought, picking up the crystal like object. It made him think of herkimer diamond, like the ones he'd stolen once at a local jewelry store when he was human. Not as valuable as regular diamond but nice enough.
Green was quivering in his boots as he stood outside the entrance to White's wing, Blue and Orange egging him on.
"I don't know guys…" he said timidly.
"C'mon Green!" Said Blue, "Just go up to her and tell her how you feel!"
Ever since Green told his friends about how he knew White when they were human as well as his feelings for her the others were persistent on helping their friend get together with her.
"Yeah I'm sure she'll understand." Said Orange.
"But… what if she's still mad at me for nearly killing her that one time?" Pointed out Green. "What if she's afraid of me?"
"That was months ago," remarked Blue, an idea forming in his head. "But you know what you could do is give her a gift, something that will show her how special she is to you."
"But what can I give her?"
Suddenly out from the ventilation emerged Purple, who overheard their conversation.
"Hey guys!" He said.
"Purple!" Said Blue, "We're trying to find a gift that Green can give to White. Any ideas?"
"Well I found this when patrolling earlier," purple heals out the sparkly, gem-like, stone he found, "girls like shiny things right?"
Blue gazed at the object. "Purple, I think you've just given me a great idea!"
After a moment Blue and his friends gathered some wiring, using it to tightly bind the gem into a makeshift ring.
"Alright Green," said Blue, handing Green the ring, "Just go up to her, give her this ring, and tell her how you feel!"
Green, a reddish pigmentation dusted over his green face, felt even more nervous somehow as he was aware that a man offering a woman a ring is usually grounds for matrimony.
"G-guys seriously," he stutted. "I'm not s-sure if I can."
"You'll be fine Green!" Stated Blue.
"Yeah just go for it!" Supported Orange.
Green gulped, butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He approached the ivory tower, his friends watching from afar.
"Um… White?" He called out, "are you in there?"
"Huh?" White's voice called back before her head peaked out from the top entrance. "What's up Green?"
"C-can you come down? I… have something to tell you." Green nearly forgot about the ring. "Oh…and…uh…I…wanted to give you something!" Sweat started to bead on his temple.
"Oh? Sure!" Said White, almost excited.
She slid down the tower's slide to meet with Green. Tapping him from behind to acknowledge him of her presence, nearly making the blind rainbow friend jump before he turned.
"Oh there you are." He said, hands shaking.
"You said you have something to tell me?" White asked.
"Y-yes!" Green straightened up, presenting the makeshift ring with the mysterious stone. "Wh-White…there's something… t-that's been on my mind for a while now…"
White's three eyes fixed themselves on the ring, momentarily mesmerized by it's glimmer as Green continued to prattle on.
"It's…n-not…easy for me to say but…"
Just as he was about to say what he wanted to say, the stone on the ring suddenly glowed. Before anyone knew it a beam of light flashed itself at white. A tingling sensation overcame her as her body glowed, illuminating the wing.
The other Rainbow Friends watched the spectacle from their hiding spot, Green however didn't seem to notice, still searching for the right words to say as the light died out.
"White…I…I really wanted to say that I-" before Green could say anything he heard multiple voices in front of him.
Everyone stared in awe at what used to be their friend White now stood six multi colored versions of her, each a different color of the rainbow.
"Whoa! What just happened?" Said Orange, surprised.
"Wow!" Said the Yellow White, enthusiastically. "This is so exciting! Isn't it exciting!"
"Shut up! Shut up!" Yelled Red White, irritably. "How can you be so annoying!"
"C-can you not raise your voice like that?" Asked timid Green white, hiding herself behind the tower.
"Aw don't be such a wuss!" Said gutsy Orange White. Spinning on the roundabout with depressed Blue White just sitting there as they spun. "C'mon! Life's too short to be hiding in the shadows!"
"That's what you think." Said Blue White. "Life's just a vast, empty, void of pain and sorrow."
Everyone stared in shock as all the Whites started to run amok in the playground. "This is so weird." Stated Purple.
Suddenly Red entered the wing, drawn in by the racket. "What's going on here?" He said before standing frozen in shock at the sight.
It was then his eyes fell upon the ring Green was holding. "Where did you find that prism piece!" He approached Green to snatch the crystal out if his hand.
"Red," said Blue, "Do you know what's happening?"
Red looked over the multicolored sextet of Whites getting an idea of the situation. "I think I might know, come with me." He then turned to Orange. "Orange, you stay here and keep all the Whites in one area. Don't let any of them out of your sight."
"What?" Complained Orange, "why do I get the hard job?"
The others left the area, out of earshot, leaving the little dinosaur with the clones.
"Hey Orange~" said a velvety voice. "Has anyone ever told you how cute you were?"
Orange turned to see the Violet White who gazed at him and fluttered her eyes flirtatiously at him. "You know, if you're feeling hungry, feel free to take a bite out of me any time." She winked at Orange as she approached him with swaying hips.
Orange backed away nervously, sweat beading at his temple yet she continued to move closer. "Umm…" he said, face turning red. "Y-you're not…exactly my type, heh…" He backed into a wall.
"Aw why so shy little dino?" Asked V. White, running a seductive fingertip over his chest. "Tell you what. How about we skip the entree and go straight to dessert?"
"Uh…dessert?"
Before Orange knew it, V. White tackled him to the ground with ferocious kisses.
Red took the others to his lab, showing them the damaged remains of the crystal-like object.
"You see I've been concocting an experiment on light dispersion. Since color is light bouncing off an object into the eyes." Red brought out a white board with a picture of light through a prism and splitting into colors as well as what looked to be a picture of Blue connected by strings like a puppet. "My plan was to use the refraction of the light particles that each of your colors are made from to enhance your strength and capabilities. Hence why I had this prism made, as soon as it was complete all it needed was a quick charge. However it appears that my efforts caused the prism to overload and split in half." He then held up the handmade ring decorated with the prism shard. "Where did you lot even find this piece?"
"I found it in the vents." Said Purple.
"We wanted to make it into a ring for Green to give to White," added Blue, "We don't know what happened but it started glowing and next thing we knew there were six different colored Whites."
"Interesting," Red scratched his chin, "it seems that even small pieces still have some charge left in them. Though I hadn't calculated that this would be the outcome."
"But we all came in contact with it," pointed out Green, "why was only White affected?"
"Probably because colored light doesn't split through a prism like white light can. And by the looks of it, each of the copies seemed to have taken on individual personalities."
"So how do we get her back?" Asked Blue.
Red thought for a moment, "I have a theory," he said, "if we could get the prism repaired and bring all the Whites in here to make contact with it. Perhaps it'll have them merge together back into one."
"Seems simple enough." Commented Purple.
"We better go check on Orange." Said Green.
"Right," agreed Red, "Green and Purple you two check on Orange. Blue I'll need you to stay and help me get the prism fixed."
Purple and Green walked back to White's wing. Being met with silence.
"Orange?" Purple called in concern, "Is everything okay?"
He and Green peered into the wing to find Orange passed out in a corner and the multiple whites nowhere to be found. The two rushed over to their friend's side.
"Orange! What happened?" Said purple.
"Where are all the Whites!" Said a worried Green.
Orange dizzily staggered to his little feet with a groan, his face covered with violet kiss marks. "Ugh…I don't wanna talk about it." He said.
"We gotta find them!" Stated Green, "Otherwise we'll never get White back!"
"We'll have to split up," suggested Purple.
"And…there!" Said Red, placing the final piece of the prism back. It wasn't in the best condition but Red was confident that it should be enough help with their
current situation. "Now we just need to get all the White clones in here."
A sudden smashing sound alerted him and Blue. They turned to see R. White angrily smashing the lab equipment with a crowbar while O. White juggled the glass beakers.
"My lab!" Exclaimed Red.
"Hey stop that!" Yelled Blue grabbing one end of the crowbar and making to pull it out of R. White's hold.
"Let go!" She said, trying take the crow bar back.
"Put those down!" Red yelled at O. White, who caught all but one of the beakers, causing it to smash on the floor.
"Oopsie." She said, unapologetically shrugging her shoulders.
"Give me those!" He snatched the remaining ones from her grip.
"Red! It's because of you I'm a freak now!" R. White shouted, losing her tug of war grip on the crowbar. "It's only fair that I get back at you!"
"I've had my misgivings! But right now we need to have this problem settled!"
While they argued, O. White went over to the panel by the prism. "What do these do!" She said briskly, pressing buttons and switches which caused the prism to undergo bizarre effects, putting it in danger of breaking again.
"STOP!" Red shouted, running over to stop her. Grabbing her wrists to keep her from flipping any more dials. "If that prism breaks again we'll never get you back to normal!"
"Ugh! Lemme go!" She struggled.
Blue restrained R. White with both arms as she wriggled and fought in his grasp.
"Lemme go you big lug!" She snapped.
"Blue, throw them into the prism!" Called Red.
With every strength that he could muster, Blue threw R. White at the prism where she was absorbed. Red fought with O. White as best he could before shoving her into the prism as well.
Both gave a sigh of relief. Before hearing another voice.
"Ooh, look at you mister tall, strong, and blue." It was V. White who stood seductively at the doorframe, winking at Blue who looked unsettled, before striding in.
"Guys!" Called Purple's voice, his frame appearing at the door. "Have you see-" he was cut off when he saw V. White closing in on Blue, eyes fluttering.
"Oh…"
"Purple what's the meaning of this!" Said Red.
"I thought Orange was watching them!" Said Blue, trying to push V. White away from him.
"He's lost sight of them," answered Purple, "now they're all on the loose!"
"We gotta find them!" Blue shoved V. White in Red's direction. "Red, take care of this one would ya? I'll be back."
"Wait guys!" Red tried to call them back but they were out of earshot. He sighed.
"Red," said V. White, turning her sights on him, "You know, I've always liked a man in uniform.~"
Red got nervous at first but shook off the feeling."L-let's not waste time here," he said, "if you could just get into contact with the prism-"
But V. White wasn't listening, she advanced on him, backing him onto a lab table. "A scientist huh? You can experiment on me anytime." She placed two caressing hands over his chest.
"Oh my." Gulped Red.
"Whadda you say we practice some…chemistry?" V. White closed her face in on Red.
"Well…" he thought, "I suppose the prism can wait for a few minutes.~" he wrapped his arms around her waist, closing the minimal space between them. V. White letting out a giggle.
At Orange's territory, Y. White was happily busy painting cutesy designs on the walls and decorating the area with ribbons and flowers.
"La lala lala~" she sang.
Orange arrived on the scene, horrified by what had become of his space.
"Gah! What have you done!" He shouted.
"I thought this place seemed a little drab," said Y. White, "so I redecorated! Doesn't it look spiffy?"
"You ruined my space! It's gonna take forever to scrape all this off!"
"Oh, sounds like someone needs a visit from Dr. Ticklepants!"
"Ah! No thanks!"
"Ah c'mon! Tickles for my dino-buddy!"
"No get away!"
Y. White chased Orange around, who was already traumatized by his encounter with V. White, making to engage in a tickle fight with him, when Purple suddenly appeared and grabbed her. Ensnaring her in his elastic arms.
"Gotcha!" He said triumphantly, holding her at eye level.
"Aw, does Purple need tickles too?" She offered.
"Uh no," he refused, an idea coming to mind. "But I bet Red could use some! Why don't we head on over to his lab?"
"Okay!"
"Wonder if Blue's having any similar issues." Said Orange.
Blue explored the log ride, finding B. White moping slumped in one of the logs.
"Ah there you are!" He greeted, but she didn't look up at him. "C'mon let's get you to Red's lab."
"Why do we even exist? We live, we suffer, we die. What's even the point? Our bodies are just made to crumble to dust, poof, blown away bit by bit never to recover."
"Yeesh," Blue cringed, picking her up in his arms. "Sure hope the real White isn't this emo."
"The world's just a ball of dirt and metal drifting endlessly in a black empty void of woe and it's parasitic inhabitants do nothing but take and…"
Blue reluctantly carried her off while she continued to ramble on.
Purple and Orange entered Red's lab with Y. White, who was giggling and wriggling happily in Purple's grasp.
"Gah, stop squirming will you!" Purple said, "Hey Red we found one of the-" he was suddenly cut off when he and Orange were met with the sound of chuckling and loud kissing. Finding Red and V. White's legs lying obscured from behind a nearby desk.
"Uh…Red?" Said Orange.
Red and V. White heard him and rose from behind the desk, V. White had been lying face down on top of Red whose face was covered with violet kiss marks, his tie undone, and his lab coat lowered from his shoulders.
"Huh-? Oh! Uh…!" Red sputtered in shock when he saw the other two before quickly pushing V. White into the prism.
"Call me!" She cried out to Red before getting absorbed.
"There we go! Let's move on shall we!" Red got back up, embarrassed, fixing up his clothes and wiping the kiss marks off his face with a cloth from his pocket.
"Hi Red!" Greeted Y. White after being set down."Purple tells me you're in need of immediate tickles and Dr. Ticklepants is here to provide!" She rushes over to the scientist, arms outstretched.
"Wha-no!" Red tried to push her away but was immediately pounced upon as yellow fingers attacked him viciously with endless tickling, forcing a laugh out of him. Purple and Orange watched with 'better him than us' looks.
Blue arrived on the scene holding B. White at arm's length, as though in disgust.
"Red, I found the blue one," he announced, "Now can you get her away from me? I don't think I can handle any more of her ranting." He placed B. White on the floor.
Y. White turned from her attack on Red to see her blue clone.
"Uh-oh, another sulky-sue in need of prescription tickling! Dr. Ticklepants away!" She abandoned Red and rushed over to B. White, making exaggerated ambulance sounds before proceeding to tickle her.
"Tickletickletickletickletickle!"
But B. White didn't respond, as though she couldn't feel the tickles. "No amount of tickling can brighten this dreary day. Or this lifetime." She moped.
Purple and Blue then picked them up and threw them into the prism to get absorbed.
"Excellent," said Red, "Now there's only one more before White can be recovered."
Green searched high and low, feeling and listening for any sign of the White clones.
"White, where are you?" He said worriedly. "Please be okay."
A sudden whimpering sound reached his ears, coming from the ventilation. Normally Green would leave the vents to Purple but the girl of his dreams was in trouble and he had to do whatever he could to help her.
He found the mouth of the vent and opened it to crawl inside, following the whimpering sounds to their source. He found the center of the ventilation system where a terrified G. White sat cowering with her knees to her chest.
"White?" Said Green, "is that you?"
He reached out a hand to her but when G. White looked up at him she gave a startled scream, "No stay away!" Before slinking away from him.
"Wait!" Called out Green. "It's okay I won't hurt you!"
"How can I trust you? You tried to eat me once!"
Green's heart sank at her words. "I… I know," he said, "But you see, I lost my sight long ago and I didn't recognize you. I would never do anything to hurt you. You've meant the world to me ever since high school."
G. White turned back to him upon hearing that. "H-high school?" She asked.
"Yes," said Green, "Don't you remember? We were great friends, you used to defend me from anyone who bullied me for my hight. We've hung out together all the time. Bianca…"
G. White's mind raced, looking back on her high school years. That tall boy in green, someone who was near and dear to her. She then summed up the courage to look into the googly eyes of the tall, green creature, even if they weren't his real eyes and he couldn't look back, somehow judging by the sincerity in them she could tell he wasn't lying.
"But… how?" She said.
"It's a long story," answered Green, "I'll explain on the way-"
"Wait… if what you say is true…then… why did you stop talking to me?"
"What?"
"That one time…after you started a fight with those guys…you stopped hanging out with me…and-and went to a different college after we graduated…"
Flashback
Human Green had been caught starting a fight with two other boys, the look on his nearest and dearest friend's face fresh in his mind as he was escorted to the front office by the school administrator.
He thought for sure Bianca hated him after what she had just witnessed, hence why he didn't look back once.
Young Bianca watched in deep concern as her friend was taken away, her eyes falling on the tiled floor, finding a rose that appeared to have been stepped on. She bent forward to pick it up, very few petals hanging on, a tag hung from it reading, "To: Bianca From:-" her friend's name hidden by her thumb.
She looked back up in deep concern for him as he disappeared in the crowd.
End flashback
"I was so sad when I heard you we're going to a different college from mine." G. White continued. "I wanted so badly to speak to you but I never saw you again. I thought you hated me somehow."
Green felt so conflicted. "I thought you hated me" he said. "and were afraid of me after what had happened that day. I mean, I promised you that I wouldn't let my rage get the better of me and yet… I attacked those jerks, I even drew blood. I was afraid that I might somehow end up hurting you after that. I just wanted to protect you from the monster I was becoming."
G. White looked up at Green, slowly approaching him.
"I…I forgave you long ago," she said, "I knew it wasn't your fault. I mean… I was a little scared around the time but…all my life I've always known…there are monsters out there that are far worse than you."
Green held back his tears, turning his back to G. White to hide as he wiped them away.
"Green?"
The blind rainbow friend regained his composure and took a deep breath to keep his voice from breaking before turning back to her. "L-let's head down to Red's lab okay?" He said.
"Is it safe?" Asked G. White timidly.
"Trust me," assured Green, holding out a hand. "I'll be right there for you."
Hesitantly, G. White took Green's hand. Together they left the vents without a fuss.
Red and the other Rainbow Friends waited patiently for Green to retrieve the last of White's clones.
"You think something bad happened?" Asked Blue.
"Green may be blind, but we've seen him get out of worse." Pointed out Purple.
Suddenly Green appeared at the doorway, G. White hiding shyly behind him.
"We're back guys," he said.
"Excellent," said Red, "now bring her over to the prism."
G. White held onto Green's waist tightly, her skin blending into his own, making her look like a large lump on his side, hiding her face in fright.
"It's okay," Green said to her in a gentle voice. "I promise nothing scary will happen."
"W-will it hurt?" She looked up at him, fretfully.
"Don't worry," he reassured, "I'm right beside you."
He guided her over to the prism, holding her hand the entire time. She gazed upon the glowing sheen of the prism, taking one last look up at Green who gave a comforting smile, then she took one hand and bravely placed it on the prism's surface, getting absorbed inside.
Red hurried to the control panel. "Alright now if I could just reduce the frequency of charge." He calculated. The prism shone, swirls of color warping inside, expanding, shrinking, and mixing.
Everyone watched the spectacle in a mix of worry and amazement.
The prism suddenly started shaking as the colors inside combined into a shimmering white glow. Then in a large beam of light a figure emerged.
The light faded and White herself stood there in one piece, opening her three eyes to meet everyone's gaze.
"It worked!" Announced Purple.
"White! You're back!" Said Blue happily.
"And how." Said White.
Red suddenly interjected. "Um… White, you wouldn't happen to remember any-" But before he could finish his sentence White suddenly slapped him in disgust.
"Yes," he sighed in disappointment, holding a hand to his stinging cheek. "I figured."
"White." Said Green, "L-listen, about earlier-"
"Green," it was White's turn to interject, "I've been through a lot today. I'm gonna need some time to process everything before I can speak to you again. Nothing personal."
Like that, she left the lab, everybody watching after her.
Green held a concerned expression as he heard the door shut.