DISCLAIMER: Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs is copyright to Sony Pictures Animation. This story, Rudy, Ann-Marie, and Danny (MY Danny, NOT Yellow Dragon's) are copyright to Cody The Maverick, although Rudy himself was inspired by, but is not an exact copy of, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, who is copyright to Robert L. May.

Rudy the Red-Beaked RatBird

Prologue

His heart beated faster. Flint Lockwood ran through the gray tinted forest, his Spray-on Shoes thumping the ground with every passing step. He was running to the swamp on the far side of town, the one where he moved a majority of his creepy creations, the ratbirds. As a combo between a lab rat and a scarlet maccaw, everyone in the town thought they were just creepy, but Flint thought they would amount to something special someday. And because of this, he went every Tuesday morning to feed the the flock, in case they couldn't fend for themselves. As he reached the swamp, a loud "CA-CAW" met his ears. The were screaching because another ratbird had successfuly given birth. Flint's heart lept with joy, new ratbirds were always special.

"So, who's the new member of the family?"

"CA-CA-CA!"

Flint, being the creator of these strange creations, was the only one who could speak their language, and he understood them well. They led him to a branch in a low-lying tree, where a mother ratbird was nuzzling her lone newborn. As Flint looked over the nest, he saw the new baby, eyes closed, and fur super fluffy. But then, as the little guy lifted his head, everyone noticed it. His beak. It. Was. RED!!!!! Every other beak on a ratbird was yellow, with just a hint of light pink from the rat skin. But this one was totaly RED, and it even seemed to GLOW! The other ratbirds gathered 'round and gasped at this funny sight.

"CAW-CAW?" said the mother ratbird.

"What's wrong?" Flint replied in a quiet voice, "His beak is red and it glows! But i guess it's not much to worry about. Maybe just the result of a genetic mutation, but it was nobody's fault. He'll learn to live with it, don't worry."

Then Flint gave the ratbirds their much needed food (sardines again...) and left to work on more inventions. He told the ratbirds that soon, he would try to solve this town's sardine problem by trying to turn water into food. The ratbirds didn't care much about that, what they did care about was the beak on this new little ratbird, whom his mother had decided to name Rudy. But little did Rudy, or any of the ratbirds, know that they would play a BIG part in Flint's "water-into-food" story. But Rudy would play the biggest part of all, for that beak of his might do big things someday.

It might even save his master's life.