This is an idea I had when thinking about Rio: The Movie. What if there was a squad of US Army soldiers tailing everyone's favourite Macaws as they have their adventure? Enjoy what came out!


This story will be told from the POVs of two of the soldiers, Lt. Chris Taylor, Alpha Company commander, and Pvt. Mario Boletto, the new recruit. The two other soldiers are Cpl. Lee Soto and Sgt. Will Kirby. Any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, fictitious or real is purely coincidental.


Taylor's POV

Right now, the squad was standing to attention as I inspected them. They were cold, and were getting a bit restless.

"Come on, LT. Do we have to do this?" Boletto asked.

"Of course we do! Army soldiers are to be ready for conflict in any terrain." I sternly replied.

"I understand, but why did you have to drag us to a place called Moose Lake in Minnesota?" He questioned.

"Well, consider yourself fortunate that I didn't drag your butts all the way to Antarctica!" They quickly stopped their complaining. "Peace and quiet." I muttered to myself.


Boletto's POV

I looked around. We were in the main street of the town. The snow was blinding. We were lucky that the sun wasn't as bright as in a desert. We were also lucky that, as Taylor, our commander, pointed out, we weren't shipped to Antarctica.

"Hey, new guy." A voice to the right of me whispered. "What's your name?"

"Boletto." I replied.

"Italian, huh?" He said. "I'm Kirby."

"That's right. I originally came from Italy." I looked over to my other side. There, Soto stood tall and proud. Ever since I had joined Alpha Company of the 214th Battalion, 57th Regiment, I had been in awe of Soto. The way he was strong and silent, the way he snuck up, the way he took out targets efficiently, I hoped to learn a lot from him.


Taylor's POV

I knew the cold had pushed my men hard, and I looked for a solution. It was the fact that I looked after my men that had earned me their respect. They would do anything for me, and I took care not to put my soldiers into suicidal situations. It's how we survived Iraq and Afghanistan. Quickly, I suggested my idea to the others.

"Hey, how about we go for a rest somewhere and warm up?" I said.

"Fine by me." Kirby answered, obviously desperate to get out of the cold.

"This looks like a good place." I pointed out a book store.

"Except that it's shut." Soto remarked. "Oh, wait a minute." He walked up to the window, and motioned for us to follow. "You will not believe this."

As soon as I peered through the window, I couldn't believe my eyes. This Blue Macaw was sliding down the stairs, with a woman with glasses, brown hair and a red shirt in tow. They made toast, with the macaw demonstrating his incredible acrobatics as they went. I guessed that this is why the store was named Blue Macaw Books. What struck me though, was not the incredible teamwork of this pair, but the fact that not once did this bird take flight.


Boletto's POV

I watched with the same awe as Taylor. I admit that I did giggle a bit when the bird was force fed the medicine and he gagged.

"Spix's Macaw. Real rare species." I muttered. I had lived a bit in Sao Paulo before moving to the USA, so I knew about a few Brazilian birds. I noticed that the bird had swung over to the door. He had swapped the closed sign for open. Then he returned to the counter, where the woman, who I had deduced was his owner, was waiting. The bird stepped on the keyboard. Then, there was something that intrigued me. The woman bunched up her fist, like a boxer. The bird did the same with his talon. Then fist and talon came together, in a sort of fist pump. They waited for a bit, then pretended that an explosion had occurred as they pulled fist and talon apart. They had a bit of a smile at each other, but noticed something in the window. Obviously, it didn't take much to notice four Army soldiers in full combat gear staring through the window, their eyes like saucers and their mouths open like caves.


Taylor's POV

I had noticed the woman's reaction too. She got up and opened the door.

"Oh, please come in," She took a moment to read my name on the uniform, "Taylor. You guys look like you've been stranded in the cold."

"We have." Kirby replied.

"So you guys are US Army?" She asked.

"That is correct ma'am." I said.

"Please, call me Linda."

"Oh, Linda. Right." I gave a sigh, and mentally kicked myself, but retained my jubilant appearance. "Yes, we're US Army. You don't have to salute. Thank you for letting us in." I motioned for the guys to come in. "We saw your little show in the window there. That is one talented macaw you have there."

"Yeah. He's called Blu. Found him in a box at the side of the street 15 years ago. We've become best friends ever since. We went everywhere together. Birthday parties, spelling bees, even my High School Prom!"

I walked over to Blu and shook his wing with my hand. "Hi there, buddy. You're looking good." Turning around to Linda, I asked her, "But why didn't he fly back there?"

"He never really learned how to." She answered. "But then again, he never really had to fly. As you said you can see, he's a master at getting around the store."

"Oh, OK. Hey, has anyone seen Kirby?" Soto shook his head, while Boletto shrugged his shoulders.

"Mmm, mmm." Kirby suddenly said from the other end of the store. "This is some of the finest hot chocolate I have ever tasted! You guys have got to try this!"


Boletto's POV

"OK then." I said, before getting to work on my M249 machine gun.

"Ah yes, the hot chocolate." Linda remarked. "Blu's favourite. It's the thing that keeps us warm when the snowmen get frostbite. I make sure that it has the perfect hot chocolate to marshmallow ratio especially for Blu. He loves it." As if on cue, Blu was drinking his hot chocolate. He looked like he was enjoying it. I walked over to Blu and took a seat next to the table that he was on. I had swapped my M249 for Kirby's M16A4 rifle, and got Kirby to check it. I sat down next to the bird.

"Hi there. Nice hot chocolate?" The bird nodded in confirmation. "Want a cookie?" I held up two cookies. Blu took one of the cookies, and was just about to enjoy it when...

BLAM! Two snowballs hit the window. The suddenness of the hits caused me to jump, and as I raised the M16A4, what I saw surprised me. There, outside, on the bench, were two Canada Geese. I looked over to Soto, and mouthed the words, "Can you believe this?" Soto nodded. I returned to looking at the macaw, who appeared to be having a little argument with the geese. I chomped at the cookie, before being shocked for the second time in one minute.


Taylor's POV

Suddenly, I looked over to the bench outside. Dropping my M4A1 Carbine, I walked over to the door and peered outside. There was a man who was slipping and sliding, and he crashed into the bench, causing two geese to take flight. Linda opened the door.

"Cheese and sprinkles. Are you alright?" Boletto and Soto both wondered what the first three words meant. "It's a Minnesota thing." Linda explained before turning back to the fallen man.

"Yes, I'm alright. Tell Mr. Army there to call off the medics, it's just a little fall." The man answered. He had a Brazilian accent to him.

"You hear that, Kirby?" I called over. "No need to call in a MEDEVAC."

"Oh, so you're saying that I should call in an airstrike on myself?" I gave a predatory glare at Kirby. "Never mind."

"What's your name?" Linda asked. The man handed her a calling card.

"Dr. Tulio Montero, Doctor of Ornithology."

"Orniwhat?" Kirby asked.

"Why don't you pick up one of the books in here, genius?" Soto answered. "Ornithology means the study of birds."

"That's right." Tulio turned to face Linda.

"So what brings you here?" She asked. "We have plenty of books."

"That's not why I'm here." He answered. "Your macaw is a very special bird."

"Blu? Of course he's special. Because he's my Blu." She petted Blu a bit.

"Indeed. Blu is the last male of his kind!"

"So you mean... He's the last male Spix's Macaw on Earth?" That was Boletto.

"Yes. And recently, we found a female for him to mate with." Tulio continued.

"Oh, that's great! Bring her here and we'll..." Linda said.

"No. I'm sorry, but you've got to come with us."

"Where?"

"All the way to Rio De Janeiro!"

"BRAZIL!" Linda, Boletto, Soto and Kirby all incredulously shouted. Tulio nodded in confirmation.

"Don't panic." Tulio said. "It's all been arranged."

"But will my Blu be OK?" A concerned Linda asked. "He can't fly."

"But of course he can fly!" Tulio insisted. "He's a perfect example of his species. He's got all the specializations. Besides." He picked up Blu and hurled him across the room. "Their natural instincts always take over." Blu feebly flapped his wings, before dropping straight down to the ground. Boletto tried to save Blu with a goalie save, but epically failed. "Well, nearly always." Tulio said with a sheepish grin.

"You alright, little buddy?" Boletto asked the macaw.

"Now, thank you for coming here, and throwing my bird across the room, but I think it's time to go." Linda said while pushing Tulio towards the door. "Me and Blu have never left the states."

"But please. The Spix's Macaw is a critically endangered species! This could be our last chance! If we don't get the last two on Earth together, the Spix's Macaw could be gone forever!" Tulio pleaded.

It took Linda half a second to make up her mind. "Goodbye." She said with a bit of an angry face. I reminded myself not to annoy her. Ever. She slammed the door. Just as she turned around, the letter flap opened.

"Will you think about it?" Tulio begged. "Please?" He posted his calling card through the flap. Everyone was just silent. Boletto was looking at the card, Soto at Tulio's retreating form, and Kirby at Linda's face. I was staring at Blu. I realised at that moment, that Blu was really a special bird. I realised that, at this moment, I was gazing upon among the last of the species. The macaw was looking back at me with a bit of a sad and a bit of a confused face.

I thought about what could cause this dramatic decline in numbers. There was two main causes. One was deforestation. Humans were taking away the forests that these macaws lived in. Two was the illegal pet trade. Humans were birdnapping these macaws and selling them off as pets. This cause in particular stuck in my mind. I thought about it. This bird was likely captured, and probably fell off the truck. He was abandoned, in a box, until Linda found him and raised him as a pet and best friend. I got up and took off my helmet. I had a pale look on my face. I realised that the main cause of the decline of the Spix's Macaw was us. We were taking away the forests. We were capturing them and offering them as pets. We were driving this species to the cliff edge of total extinction. It was our fault. I realised this and muttered one word.

"Bastards..."


So how'd I do? Yes, I admit that I changed some bits of the story, like Linda and Blu's interaction with the soldiers, and I missed out others such as Tulio's attempt at 'communication' with Blu. But hey, I tried my best to keep to the original storyline of the movie. Also, I did the original bits from the story ENTIRELY from memory. Pretty impressive, especially as I usually have a useless memory. Now, I'd like your feedback on this story, so please press the review button, and the next chapter will come soon! Until next time, enjoy!