Chapter One: The Blue Crusaders

Author's Note: I am planning to make this the best Rio story (in terms of originality and plot) that has been written so far. In order to do so, I need your help. Please type some thoughts and concern about my story so I can improve upon that specific area. So R&R and I'll be updating once a week or so.

Prologue

Rio de Janeiro in the summer. Not the best condition for Blu as the sweltering heat started to peel his skin. He needed something to cool him off. An air conditioner? No. The jungle isn't Linda's house.

A nice shelter from a tree? Blu looked around and he could see the pathetic patch of shadows that the trees have to offer. Well, at least he knows that the jungle have its pros and cons.

In exchange for being free, there was no way of protecting Blu from mother nature. The natural cause and effect of life in the jungle. If you are free, then nobody can harm you nor help you. Being liberated in the jungle would have been a fair trade if nature wasn't so cruel though.

The torridness heat sharply rose upward and ,just as he was ready to melt, Blu could hear a faint waterfall. He could hear the cool water softly splashing against each other in a rhythmic beat. The noise clinked distantly away from Blu but he can still distinctly hear it.

Each droplet had its own personal timing with a small difference of a nano second before another water dropped and splashed. Perfect.

It sounded so pleasant to Blu's hearing. Perhaps he could take a quick dip and be back before his family even notice. After all, Jewel and their children, Cloey, Matheus, and Davi, are with Nico and Pedro. God knows what those duos are up to. Sambaing their tail feathers off, most likely.

But if they are, then this gives Blu an ample amount of time to quickly escape to the waterfall. The plan does sound both assuring and tempting to Blu, but is it worth his family's frustration?

Blu thought about it carefully since this was literally a life-and-death situation. Life? Blu survives the heatwave and lives to see tomorrow. Death? How quickly can Jewel strangle him again? The choice was so obvious. Either way, Blu isn't going to survive after today so he might as well make it last.

He stretched his wings to avoid any muscle cramp and prepared to fly, but waited. This was his last chance to turn back. Blu can suddenly feel his skin peeling again from the lack of proper hydration. Clearly he's going to the waterfall ,of course, but he needs an excuse.

Rafael somehow popped into his mind as Blu remembered him mentoring, "And that is the choice I made with this...not with this."

Well Blu's "this" is telling him that he is going to die from a third degree burn. Blu's other "this" told him to cool off right now!

Okay, so Blu puts the blame on Rafael for telling him that. He doesn't like the idea one bit, but Blu is sure that Rafael would last longer.

Blu flew around the jungle as he followed the waterfall's sound. Trees whizzing past his vision and thick, hot air blowing against his face. It was a pleasure to fly when the condition is just right. Not too warm, but just cool enough to feel the breeze and to see the beautiful landscape that is below you. But ,today, was far from perfect.

The waterfall was nearby. Blu could smell the unsullied mist drifting off behind an overhead of banana leaves. Some of the tiny globule of water settled on Blu's beak as he brushed away the coarse leaves. As he got closer, the sound amplified and the misty smell heightened. Blu never felt so blissed in his life, except the time when Jewel showed her love by kissing him and Blu suddenly built the willpower to fly. Yeah Blu thought. That was the best time of my life.

Then, a fresh lake sat in front of him as he shoved the last layer of banana leaf. The watery dews that were resting on the leaf jumped downward, and the ground was sprinkled and darkened by the water.

"Wow," was all Blu said, gawking at the sparkling reflection of himself as he looked into the lake. For once he forgot about the weather. The immense beauty of nature can have that effect on anyone, including the animals that live in it.

Blu snapped out of this brief trauma. He doesn't have much time.

"Just get in and out" Blu said to himself. "In N' Out like a fast food restaurant."

Oh how he loves those commercials. Back in Minnesota, Blu would sometime amuse himself by watching the sports channel where most of the silly commercials happen.

Blu edged along the rocky rim of the waterfall's base, lake, and leaped inward with his perfect belly-flop position for maximum body coverage. The depth of the lake is approximately five foot deep, but to Blu, he felt like he was being dragged toward the bottom of the Pacific Ocean as he continuously sank downward.

This was impossible. He should have floated upward but he was sinking like an anchor. Or more specifically, something was pulling him downward. Almost like an invisible tractor beam from Star War.

Great, think about sci-fi movies. That's really going to save your life.

Blu couldn't yell for help, risking a lung full of water. He was left to the mercy of the lake. That's if, there was any mercy to be shown.

Suddenly he could feel a tremble. The water started to feel electrified as white bolts of energy crackled around Blu.

Soon a hole was sliced in the fabric of space. Blu's vision started to dim from the lack of oxygen and he was about to pass out until everything suddenly stopped.

The water seceded to reveal a coiled stretch of clustered stars.

?

Traveling through space and time could be easily described as the worst road trip ever. Blu glided through a nonstop universe of landscapes, planets, stars, and space itself. None of this made sense to him but he tried to enjoy the scenery before tragedy will strike.

Blu tried to breathe but he couldn't. There is no oxygen in space of course. Luckily, traveling through time also means that time doesn't exist. So if time doesn't exist, then oxygen is not required.

It's not that complicated but a lecture isn't the appropriate time right now.

Though his lungs didn't seem to mind this because it hadn't shriveled up like prunes. So far this is a good sign since he isn't dead yet.

Blu's feather suddenly felt feverishly hot, then suddenly being battered by bitter cold. His surroundings also changed as Blu was suddenly flying over Egypt's desert, then above Mar's surface as he smelled the dusty red landscape. Finally, he was back home.

However, his definition of home is about to be tested.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Time traveling was like a slot machine. There's a small chance that you would still be in your same dimension, there is slim chance that you would see your own side of the century, and there is a diminutive likelihood that you would even survive. All together, it is like trying to win the lottery against every living creature on Earth.

Blu was shot upward as he gushes out of the waterfall. The world spun around him like a carousel on steroids as he was tossed in mid air. It was hard to tell whether he was upright or not. The noxious rush of time traveling left Blu absent minded and his vision was somewhat crossed.

He fell down and landed on his precious face with a handful of dirt being shoved up into his nostril. Looking at the bright side, the pain he is experiencing right now means that he is still alive.

Blu bitterly stood back up, giving his nose a quick blow and a ball of muck shot out. He quickly examined himself to see if any bones were broken in the process. He doesn't want any painful surprises when he flies. Actually, he doesn't like surprises at all.

Like the time when Jewel threw a surprise birthday party for him. A party in Rio is much different than America as Pedro and Nico decided to set the mood by exploding a couple of fireworks in front of Blu's face. The macaw didn't take it very well after suffering from a heart attack.

Blu turned his wings to see if they still work. He might have tweaked a couple of muscle but nothing too serious. His claws are functioning properly with a few grasp and release test. Everything seems to work alright except for his left eye, which he hadn't notice earlier, but was aching quite badly.

Beside his eye, something else seems abnormal. Blu could see it clearly.

The jungle of Rio-younger than usual.

Then Blu could hear a faint flapping that emitted around him. The flapping was ever so quiet, almost like if someone is trying to stalk him. Blu has seen enough movies to know that there are going to be some problems.

Blu had some options to spare.

He could either run and hide, but he was never good at hide-and-seek because he would always choose the most obvious of hiding places. He could choose to stand his ground and wait for his stalker to reveal themselves, but he might get jumped unexpectedly. Or he could jump back into the water and see what happens next.

Blu felt more comfortable with the last option and was about to jump into the water again before he was knocked downward, and ultimately pinned onto the rocky surface by a claw. Blu could see the razors that are sticking at the end of his attacker's talon. The razors were to be used if Blu managed to escape but he found this impossible as he saw no way out of the fixed grip.

Blu's assailant wasted no time and immediately interrogated the sixteen-year old macaw.

"O que você está fazendo aqui? Quem é você?"

It sounded like Jewel, the voice was as daring as her, it was definitely a girl...

"Eu não vou perguntar de novo. O que você está fazendo aqui forasteiro? Resposta ou vou rasgar sua garganta."

The words were spoken in fluent Portugese but Blu had a hard time translating it into English. Spending a year in Brazil isn't enough for a mere bird to learn every word that exist in the popular Brazilian language.

He only caught "I am not going to ask... What are you doing... Answer or I'll rip your throat..."

Well that is really nice to know. Standing on someone's throat doesn't necessarily mean they can answer back if they can't even utter a word.

The grip on Blu's throat tightened and ,right before Blu was nearly strangled to death, a small bomb went off. It sounded like broken porcelain as it shattered upon impact and a yellowish cloud of sulfur blew around them.

His attacker drew one whiff of the rancid gas before she suddenly let go him and pinched her nose to protect herself from the nasty odor. Her eyes started to turn rash red as water poured from both of her eyes while she gagged uncontrollably.

Somehow, this doesn't seem to affect Blu much. The sulfur was certainly unpleasant but Blu didn't expect someone to react like that.

An unexpected wing clamped around Blu's shoulder and he was suddenly dragged out of the putrid cloud. Blu could hear his attacker thrashing about as she flared her anger by throwing insults at him.

Surprisingly, she knows English too as she screamed, "Come back here you cowards! I swear by my own word that I will hunt all of you down! The Blue Crusaders will fall!"

But Blu was long gone before she can fully regain her sense and visibility.

Crusader's Den

Blu was puffing his chest from his poor cardio as he rested against the solid palm tree. He hasn't ran for a year and the skill of flying has greatly diminished his running endurance. Blu needs to get a treadmill when he returns back home. If he ever returns home.

The bird that rescued him breathed at a normal rate, and he stood at the top of a fallen log. Blu couldn't see his face but his feather's color matched Blu's own. Another spix macaw?

He was checking to see if anyone was following them, and apparently he was satisfied when he flew down to the ground.

Blu could finally see his front appearance. The bird was wearing a leather strapping of shoulder guard, a golden brown vest hung onto his body, a holster containing three finely sharpened needle was slung around his back, razors were hanging on each of his pointed talon, and most surprisingly of all, he was a spix macaw just like Blu.

"Are you all right mi amigo?" he asked with his voice being layered with a thick accent of Portugese. Blu was confused, but yes, he was alright and he nodded his head in return.

"Uh, those are some cool razors you got there," Blu complimented. He reached out with his wings. "I'm Blu."

The other spix macaw grabbed hold of it and shook. "They call me Acteon."

Acteon's face started to cave inward to show his concern about something. "Are you alright?" Blu asked. He could see Acteon considering something as he tried to reflect upon a thought. "Yes. You don't have a pair of razors, bomb set or needle set, or the insignia, yet you are a spix macaw."

This doesn't ring a bell at all. Obviously none of this matches any feature of the spix macaws. Blu was puzzled. "I kind of lost you on the 'razor' part."

Acteon only shook his head and started to rumage through the weapons chest. He plucked two sets of pointed razors ,wrapped in oilskin, and carefully handed it to Blu. "These shall protect you for now. We will get you some bombs and needles later on."

The greasly pack of razors were still in Acteon's claw. Blu didn't accept it. "I'm more of a fruititarian, thank you."

Acteon blanched a bit and slowly pulled the razors back. Good, Blu is not a killer at all. "But... this is the only way of defense... you-"

Blu interrupted in mid-sentence. "Look, I'm really thankful that you saved my life. So thank you. But I really have to get back to Jewel so I'll just-"

A body fell onto his back with their frosty metal pressing against Blu's feather. He could hear a low, coarse voice droning, "Blue Crusader scum." Acteon drew his razors outward. The sharp edge of the razor's blade looked like it could cut through the toughest obsidian, but the heavy weight that is squishing Blu makes the armor looks impenetrable.

Blu wheezed, "I don't think razors are going to help us."

Acteon looked really eager with a flick of a grin. "Razors? Where have you been the whole time? It's time you step into the 16th century my friend. Bombs are where I bet my safety on."

Blu nearly keeled over. Both from the rib crushing mass of the attacker and from the surprising comment. The 16th century. When the first flush toilet was invented. Glorious.

The weight shifted away from Blu as the attacker stepped off of him. After all of this is over, Blu is going to need one heck of a decent massage to cure his back pain. The oversized, armored bird charged at Acteon, abandoning all attempts of wits and cuns by using brute force alone. Acteon threw two bombs ,both of which struck the colossal bird, but the pixie-size explosions were only good for celebrating the fourth of July, as they had no effect.

Acteon dodged to one side but his lower thigh clipped the blunt end of the bird's armor. He did a quick 180 spin before he gruntingly struck the dirt ground. The bird turned around to finish him off, and after that, to finish Blu too. Both of the birds were doomed.