Chapter 11: In Search of Karly
~The seven Rainbooms wound their way through about ten minutes of dark, quiet hallways before they emerged quite unexpectedly into a vast well-lit balcony. Rainbow Dash blinked at the sudden light. Looking around her, she peered over the railing and in the distance, there appeared to be hundreds of party decorations, balloons and streamers. These minions were definitely busily working to make this party for Lightning a success. The girls began walking through it, keeping a sharp eye out for Karly, and bobby traps.~
"Where could Karly be?" Rainbow whispered beside Applejack.
"I don't know, Rainbow Dash. But we gotta keep lookin'." Applejack replied.
"Watch out for traps too, girls." Twilight warned. "Knowing a mastermind like Devil, he's bound to set traps for intruders."
"Don't worry, Twi! We'll be careful. Besides, I think it will be very easy to avoid them since they are completely obvious to see."
~Rainbow points up and everyone looks in that direction to see a cage hanging from the ceiling on a chain. Rainbow then pointed down to a tripwire hook and attached to a string that was linked to the cage.~
"And if we do get caught, we have these." She lifts up her geode around her neck.
"Hey, What about this?"
~Pinkie scoots in between Rainbow Dash and Applejack and grabs their arms while doing so. She points and pulls them over to a large computer against a wall with rainbow coloured question marks painted all over it., making it look fun, or luring. Twilight suspected that this computer had 'trap' written all over it. She and the rest approach it with wonder.~
"What is it?" Sunset asked.
"I'm not sure." Twilight responded, stoking her chin.
"Greetings, challengers." The computer suddenly spoke. "Welcome to the Devil quiz of the century. I take it you want a map to find a specific place on this blimp, correct?"
"Yes please!" Pinkie said.
"Ok then. Answer these questions and I'll give you the map of this here blimp. Once the question is answered and is correct, go through the door for the next one…"
Twilight raised a finger. "Umm, how many questions do we have to go through-"
"Question number 1: Who sings the song 'All about that Bass'?"
~The computer lights up and reveals 4 buttons and 4 options on its screen with singers' names written on them. The Mane 7 had four options they can choose from to answer the question. But they all looked completely dumbfounded at it.~
"What kind of question is that?!" Rainbow asked.
"Yeah?-I-I don't even know that song…" Sunset said.
"These must be questions from Lightning's world." Twilight guessed.
"But we don't have, Lightning, or Karly, or any of their other friends with us!" Fluttesrhy gasped.
"We will just have to guess…"
"We only have a 25% chance of getting it right. That worries me."
"What happens if we get it wrong?" Fluttershy asked in worry.
"I don't know."
"Neither do I. But I don't want to find out."
"What are the options we can choose from?" Applejack asked.
~Sunset, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Applejack took a look and perused an option each.~
"Taylor Swift?"
"Miley Cyrus?"
"Adele? Just Adele?"
"Or Meghan Trainor?"
Rarity began thinking about the question for a moment. "...Well, If I have to guess…I'll go with the fourth one." She then said, still feeling unsure.
~Applejack goes with her friend's choice and presses the button underneath the name 'Meghan Trainor'. The computer does sounds a nice little chime and opens a door next to it that leads to the next question.~
"Good guess, Rarity!" Applejack smiled in relief.
"Well, you know, I'm good at pop culture." Rarity flipped her hair.
"You're just lucky." Rainbow said smugly, crushing Rarity's moment. "Come on, let's hurry to the next question!"
~The Mane 7 go through the door into the next room but then the door closes behind them once all have entered in the next room. Fluttershy leapt when it shut and clung onto Rainbow's arm. Applejack went back and tested the door, but it was firmly shut.~
She grunted and struggled to get it open. "It locked us in." Applejack confirmed.
"I was right. This is a trap." Twilight worried.
~Applejack stared at the door and tried to punch and break through it, but it was layered with too much steel. So were the walls. Strength isn't going to help.~
"I don't think I can break through it, y'all. We're just gonna have to find another way out."
"And I'm thinking the only way to do that is to answer the questions this computer has to offer." Sunset sighed.
"Ok, shouldn't be that hard. We just need luck on our side." Rainbow breathed.
The computer in the room suddenly flashed. "Question number 2: In Minecraft, how many things can you eat in the game?" It asked in a robotic voice.
"This gonna take a while…" Pinkie groaned.
~Meanwhile, on the right side of the blimp, the Pixels were searching the grounds, yelling Karly's name, hoping she would respond. Lightning rubbed her neck and slowly looked around. She feels absolutely terrible that this happened to Karly, and blames herself for her capture. She tries to ignore it and just make it up to her by rescuing her. She watches the Pixels run around, and call for her.~
"Ok, come on Lightning, don't eat yourself up for this …"
Jace cupped around his mouth. "Karly! Karly!" He shouted.
"Karly!" Arianna called.
"If you're there, make a chicken noise!" Mirus yelled.
"Or… just give us a shout normally!" Fierra called while raising a brow at Mirus.
"Guys! Try not to shout so loud!" Lightning whispered. "It could attract unwanted attention. There are still 5 minions lurking around…We said this. Never not think that Devil would just leave his blimp undetected."
Mirus nodded suspiciously and smiled. "Right…"
~Mirus quietly tiptoed over to the next room, without looking at the sign bolted on the square pillar that read 'Bar. This Way.' and an arrow pointing in that direction. Lightning's eyes widen.~
"Mirus! Don't walk in there! I remember! Its leads to the-"
~Lightning softly pounces on Mirus to stop him from walking. He falls down and Lightning lands on top of him. They both look up and see four of the five minions sitting at the bar, drinking beer and laughing.~
"The bar. Hide!"
~Jace and Arianna quickly pull Lightning and Mirus off the ground and they all quickly fumble and cower behind the corner. The five Pixels poked their heads around the corner and eavesdropped on the minion's conversation. The four minions were swaying on their chairs, looking pretty sluggish. Their mouths were squiggly and covered with beer foam, indicating that they had been drinking. Alot. Minion 3 slapped his hand on Minion 2's shoulder and laughed with him.~
"Cheers and Beers, brothers!" Minion 1 yelled, as he raised the glasses in his hands, spilling them on the ground as well.
"Yeah! Cheers, mate!" Minion 2 nodded.
"Hey, hey, buddy. The E.Q.U.E.S.T.R.I.A Agents?...hic...Won't stand a chance against us, once our boss and other fellow brothers get them!" Minion 3 hiccuped.
"Yeah...They don't even realise that...that they're going to...attack them."
"Heeeyyy….hasn't anyone noticed that Portas had been awfully quiet lately? He's guarding the prisoner like a mouse." Minion 4 pointed, chugging his drink.
"Yeeeaaahhh...shouldn't we be worried...?" Minion 2 asked.
"Relax, boys...hic... He's just down the hall, right, left, left again and the 3rd cell to the right. He will give us a shout if anything happens." Minion 1 shrugged.
~The Pixels have heard enough. And frankly, they were shocked that that minion practically just served them the explicit directions to Karly on a golden platter. Lightning broke and silence and whispered into the others' ears.~
"Right, well, thank you for giving us the exact location of Karly. Let's go." She ordered.
~The Pixels sneak pass the minions and run down the hall around the bar.~
"Boy, I hope Karly's not injured." Jace sighed. "If she is, that Devil scum will pay for hurting her!" He clenched his fist and pounded it in his other hand.
Mirus pouted his lip. "Well, I'm gonna say we have two options of what we could find her like. Unconscious or dea-"
"Don't say it!" Lightning interrupted, not wanting to hear 'that' word.
"Geez, Mirus. What would you say a thing like that?!" Arianna asked in shock.
"I said COULD. Not will. Could. She could be perfectly fine and I could be wrong." Mirus shrugged.
"You have just said the word 'could' like a million times…" frowned Fierra.
"I COULDn't have agreed more, Fierra."
"Ok, now you are just being childish. Are you trying to get on my nerves?"
~Fierra was about to complain more but didn't because Jace stopped walking in front of her, causing her to bump into him. Why he stopped was because the Pixels have come across two pathways going left and right.~
"Ok…which way did he say to go? Left?" Lightning asked.
"Right." Arianna said.
~Lightning nodded to Aria and turns to walk down the left pathway.~
"She meant to go down the right pathway, Brightning." Fierra sighed, annoyed.
"My bad."
~Lightning spins and runs down the right pathway. They rest follow her by jogging along with her, but they all come to a halt again and see another choice of left or right to make. Lightning stoked her chin.~
"Which way now? Right?"
"Left." Arianna answered.
"Ok, So, we are making a left?"
"Right." Fierra nodded.
That did not narrow things down for Lightning. "Are we making a left or a right?!" She bellowed.
"Left! I meant right as in 'correct'!" Fierra answered back.
"Don't yell at me, Fierra! People make this mistake, ok?! You see it on vines…"
"That's just to make a joke…" Jace said.
"Well, you know what I mean."
~Lightning leads the way again and turns left. The Pixels unsurely follow her. After going left once more, the Pixels come across four prison cell doors. They guaranteed Karly was in one of them.~
"This must be the place." Lightning confirmed.
"The only question now left is: Which door is the third one?" Arianna asked. "It's either, this one or this one."
~Arianna pointed at the two holding cells in the middle of the cell doors on the outside.~
"Well, obviously, it's this one." Mirus said rather confidently, pointing at the left door.
"How do you know?" Lightning asked.
"I don't. Well, not unless I do this. Karly! Are you in there? Where's that chicken?!"
~Mirus screamed at the top of his lungs until four hands covered his mouth. The hands belonged to each of his Pixel buddies, who look at Mirus in shock.~
"For 5 minutes...Could you not scream your lungs out, FOR 5 MINUTES!" Fierra screamed.
"Uh, that goes for you too, Fierra." Lightning said bluntly. "It's bad enough that Mirus screams alot."
"Yeah, but-"
"Mirus? Fierra? Lightning? Is that you?" a voice asked shockingly.
"Karly?!" Jace exclaimed.
~Jace rushed to the middle left cell door to see where that recognisable, shy, soft voice was coming from. Karly ran at the door to clutch the bars but the chains thrust her back to the wall, but they did make the jingling noise that attracted the Pixels to the cell. They peeped through the barred window on the door to see the friend they were looking for in a bad condition.~
"Jace? Arianna? Pixels?"
"Karly!" The Pixels cheered.
~Jace smiled in relief and put his arm and hand through the bars. Karly tried to touch it, but the chains wouldn't allow her. Both Karly and Jace frowned until Lightning pushed her way through her buddies to look through the barred window.~
"Karly, you ok?" She asked her partner.
"Li-Lightning! I could ask you the same thing!"
"I'm-I'm fine! Great!"
"We caught the imposter, Karly!" Mirus explained. "It was Wendall, the daughter of Devil!"
"I-I know, Mirus, I figured it out when I was brought here." Karly laughed.
"You're not hurt, are you?" Jace asked in worry.
"No...I'm alright. My eyes just sting a little because I was crying…"
"Oh...Karly, I'm really sorry." Lightning frowned. "I should have tried to help, but I didn't, and I let down your guard and let Wendy overpower you and-"
"It's ok, Lightning, it wasn't your fault. What could you have done? You were restrained and I am not the strongest hammer in the shed. How did Wendy even take your place in the first place?"
"Long story…I'll tell everyone when we get back. But first, we need to get you out of here!" She turned to the Pixels. "Any ideas, anyone?"
Mirus stooped down and tested the door. It did not budge, of course. "Yep, that's locked up good."
"We need something to break down the door…" Arianna pointed.
"But what?"
~The Pixels try to think of a plan to break the door, then they all look at Jace, and smile. The smiling began to turn creepy real quickly though. Jace stepped back when he realised all eyes were on him.~
"Why are you all looking at me like that?" He nervously asked.
~Seconds later, The Pixels were holding Jace altogether below their chests and charging at the cell door, with Jace's head was heading straight for it first.~
"Not the face! Not the face! NOT THE FACE!"
~The Pixels began shouting and soon enough Jace's head became in contact with the door with a lot of force-*SMASH! The door busted open. Karly lifted up her leg and stood aside as her crazy friends crashed into the wall she was chained to. When the Pixels crashed, they stumbled and piled onto each other. Lightning and Jace stood up first.~
"Good job, Jace. Your skull is so thick, it can break through anything, including brick or steel!" Lightning exclaimed, patting Jace's back pretty hard.
~Jace didn't respond to Lightning because he was too busy walking in circles, dazed once again. All he could see was a bright light and circles.~
"Next time...we are...using...Mirus as the battering ram…" He then finally said, with his words being a little slurred like he was drunk.
"With pleasure. This noggin' could use a smacking." Mirus smiled, knocking on the top of his head.
~Lightning happily rolls her eyes and giggles at the boys, but doesn't waste time with her best friend. She went to Karly and firstly made sure if she was okay, which sure looked like it. Lightning then reaches into her jacket pocket and gets out a pocket knife. She went through various knives, lasers and other weird settings on it, until she found a safe cracker like tool and started unlocking the chains. She began fiddling inside the lock until she heard a clunk. The chains clip off Karly's wrists and fall to the floor.~
"There you go, Karly. You're free." Lightning smiled, putting the pocket knife back in her pocket.
"Thank you, Lightning, thank you." Karly breathed as she rubbed her wrists. "Those restraints were starting to chafe."
~They both give each other a warm hug. Jace, Arianna, Mirus and Fierra join in too soon after. They stayed huddled for a while but then they all had to dismantle because Lightning held out her arm with the wrist calm on it.~
"Ok. Now that you're with us. I better call the Rainbooms and let them know."
"They're here too?! Oh, I wonder where they are right now on this blimp of madness." Karly wondered.