Chapter 4: Shocking!
Rio had been turned into a ghost town due to the mass of waterlogged clouds rooted above the city. The beaches were closed, the markets were abandoned, and not a single civilian vehicle patrolled the streets.
It was early afternoon, but the dense mass of stormy gray sheets made it seem like it was closer to sunset. Visibility was reasonable, but would most certainly become deplorable once the hanging tempests decided to dump their load.
Even the high-spirited jungle was oppressed, the fauna sheltering in their burrows and hollows, their senses forewarning them of the foul weather that loomed. Distant thunder resounded every so often, like floating cannons in the sky, but the lightning responsible was invisible for the moment.
Two birds, however, dared to be outside in order to gather the food they needed for a last minute dinner. The two stunning blue macaws were perched on a mid-level branch in a mango tree, hastily scanning the fruit to find the ripest ones for picking.
Seeing none within wing-reach, the male bounded to a nearby bough and continued his evaluation. His luck improved, as he spotted a choice orange and yellow oval suspended above his skull.
"Jewel, I found one for me!" he called.
"Okay! I'm still looking!"
He outstretched his wings and jumped into the air, trapping the fruit between his navy fans. His weight put too much strain on the stem, and it split into with a sharp snap.
He transferred it to his right foot and peeked around the right side of the trunk for his mate. Not seeing her, he bounced to the next branch on the right side, and then to the one after that.
His cranium whacked against something, causing him to nearly plummet from his perch.
"Ow! That hurt!" he cawed.
"You're telling me!" Jewel retorted, rubbing her forehead with one wing.
"Mmm. Anyways, you got your mango, honey?"
She held it up pointedly.
"Yeah. We need to get home before the rain hits."
"Indeed. Come on!"
Blu departed and battled his way out of the leafy tree, aiming steeply upwards. Once he breached the canopy, he saw the same endless swath of green stretching away from him in every direction. Nonetheless, he would be able to plot a path home due to his honed sensibilities and brilliant mind.
He paused and waited for his mate to catch up, and then he peered downwards to study the foliage.
"Which way, Blu?"
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking…"
Okay, that cannonball tree there is familiar. It's… a half mile south of the hollow. Oh, and that banana tree is about a quarter mile east of the hollow. Alright, I got it!
He pointed his beak in a northwesterly direction and beat his wings heartily. Jewel's own wing-flaps filtered into his ears, meaning that she was following him, and closely.
"How far, Blu? The rain could come any second!"
A drawn-out groaning crept in from the west, increasing the plausibility of her prediction.
"Um… about four minutes maximum. But we gotta fly hard and fast!"
He pushed himself to go even faster, the chilled air whistling past him. Jewel obeyed and increased her velocity, trailing less than a foot behind her mate's tail.
Thunder boomed from the north a minute later, sounding much closer than before.
After blocking out the persistent, earthquake-like din, the macaws dived to further boost their speed. They then rose back up after skimming the canopy, beating their wings madly to try and outrace Mother Nature herself.
A second crack of thunder resounded, and then a third, which rattled their hollow bones and startled them in the air.
"Yahhh! Hurry, Blu! It's getting close!"
"I know, I know! I'm going as fast as my biology allows! I'm not a jet!"
A minute after the thunderclap, a jagged bolt of energy arced from the clouds to the ground to the east, a blinding flash in the clear air. Before the ensuing roar even rolled to their position, liquid began to pour from the heavens.
The droplets were fat and sticky, full of salt from the ocean water that had evaporated to give them life. They fell slowly, but their impact on the macaws' exposed plumage was noticeable.
"Yep! I knew it! We're screwed now, Blu! This is all your fault!"
"How is this my fault?" he fired back.
"You're the one who wanted to leave our home, all because your stomach wouldn't shut up. Now look at the mess we're in!"
"When a male's gotta eat, a male's gotta eat!"
"Ugh! Whatever! Just get us home!"
"That's what I'm doing!"
Blu called up his instincts to guide him, as his vision was blurred like a car windshield. He blinked rapidly to clear away the moisture and the salt, but it helped little.
Another flash of lightning struck the land to his left, casting a ghostly white light across the area.
They were on the right track, as far as he knew, and over a minute of flying time away from their sheltered abode. As the rain dripped from his back and ran down his legs, he tightened his grip on the mango to prevent it from slipping from his grasp.
"How much further, Blu? This stuff is ruining my feathers! And I can barely see you!"
"Not much! We're nearly there" he yelled.
His senses were battered by another lightning/thunder combo, and once he recovered, he pushed himself up to prepare for another treacherous dive. He flew on for thirty seconds at that elevated altitude, hoping that Jewel was still following him.
"Hey, Jewel, you there?" he squawked, drowning out a peal of stormy audio.
"Yeah! Why are we flying so high?"
"This dive should be the last! And then home will be within visual range!"
He inhaled a copious amount of oxygen – laced with the acrid stench of ozone – and then braced himself.
However, a faint buzzing in his ears stopped him short.
He slowed down as the noise seeped into his body, which began tingling all over. His thoughts turned morbid as he imagined what might be happening, and the consequences that they would suffer if it did happen.
"Blu, why am I feeling all funny? What's going on?"
"Down, Jewel! Go down! Quick!"
Two seconds after his reply poured from his beak, the brightest flash either macaw had ever seen blinded them.
And then, the lightning struck.
It shot down from a dip in the clouds above and targeted the closest targets it could find: the foolish macaws.
It penetrated Blu in the middle of his back, the millions of volts coursing through his system and wreaking havoc. A split second afterwards, it skipped over to Jewel nailed her in her throat, frying her as well.
The innocent mangoes in their talons were also victims of the bolt's fury. The spongy interior, full of water, was vaporized into steam, and the fruit exploded into thousands of tiny flecks.
Within one brief second, it was all over.
Their partially de-feathered, smoking bodies careened towards the ground like meteors. Neither macaw twitched or spoke. Their hearts had ceased to beat, and their brains had been short-circuited.
They were dead, in every sense of the word.
But to the unending cyclone of fluid, light and sound, they were simply two unfortunate beings that had crossed its line of fire, and been murdered without a care.
They chopped through the canopy shortly after their termination, slamming into the soggy ground with grotesque force. A pair of splashes was heard as they landed in a large pool of mud, each bouncing and rolling to an awkward stop.
It was obvious that their skeletons had fared no better than their organs.
Both of the male's wings were fractured and askew, while the female ended up with a broken neck. No blood emerged from the corpses, for they had both died clean deaths.
As the rain washed the mud off of their battered forms – which were both laying belly up – something on their foreheads began to flicker.
As time passed and the deluge continued, an otherworldly metamorphosis was occurring inside their destroyed bodies. The marks emblazoned between their eyes glowed a brilliant blue, driving the changes that would eventually resurrect the vanquished birds.
Electricity was channeled from that mark to Blu's broken wings via his nerves, and the bones began to shift and realign, slowly but surely. The ends unified with extreme precision, and a final spurt of energy sealed them together like new. Jewel's neck vertebrae were healed in the exact same manner.
Once the skeletal improvements were completed, the contained lightning inside Blu and Jewel moved on to complete other tasks. The blood sloshing around in their blood vessels and organs was boiled off, the invisible vapor exiting their bodies via their half-open beaks.
All their other organs shriveled up, save for their hearts, brains, eyes, tongues, and reproductive structures. Their hearts tripled in size and were supercharged with energy, miniature lightning flowing into them for twenty minutes straight.
Their blood vessels were then galvanized into flexible wires of metal, perfect conduits for the limitless power stored in their hearts to feed their surviving organs.
The high voltage rivers then shocked their skin, causing replacement feathers to sprout and patch up the bare spots flawlessly.
To cap off the Change, their brains received a careful jolt of electricity, restoring their functional capability.
On the outside, their normal-looking bodies twitched momentarily, and then fell still again. Five minutes later, as another ferocious bolt of lightning split the rain-free sky, two pairs of eyes slid open.
The male perked up first and somewhat lifted his head, scanning the environment slowly.
When he caught side of his mate laying there, her eyes open and blinking every so often, he struggled to his feet.
"Ugh… where am I? What the… what happened to me?"
He felt along his entire body with his wings, checking for any signs of damage.
"Well, I seem fine. I need to check on Jewel…"
He strode over to her and helped her to her feet.
"Jewel, are you... alright?"
"Yeah. But I can't remember much. My brain feels funny. I… what the?"
She hopped closer to him and seemed to stare at something above his beak.
"What? What do you see?" he asked impatiently.
"Blu, you have a funny thing on your forehead. It looks like… a lightning bolt. And it's… it's glowing!"
Dumbfounded, he asked, "Are you sure? How is that even possible?"
"Heck if I know," she replied, shrugging.
"Hey, you have one too!" he exclaimed, as he saw a shape between her eyes flicker and begin to shine.
"You're joking!"
"No, Jewel, I'm not. Honest!"
"Ummm… okay, that makes a lot of sense. Does it have something to do with the fact that I can't recall why we're here?"
"That's a good question, honey."
Jewel spun quickly around, and then faced her mate.
"Do you know where we are? Or where our home is, if we have one at all?"
"No, I don't. I'm pretty sure we have a home, though. I mean, why wouldn't we? Let me think real quick."
Blu squinted in deep concentration, until a small spark went off in his brain. He gave a small jump, and his hazel eyes twinkled like miniature stars.
"What's the matter, Blu?"
"Our home is this way!" he chimed, pointing his right wing to the northwest.
"Are you sure?"
"Yep! Follow me!"
He threw himself in the air and rocketed away, a blur of color that was almost too fast to trace. She streaked after him rapidly, imitating every course change he implemented.
He made a beeline for a certain cannonball tree in the midst of a group of others, and landed gently inside. Jewel landed moments later as he walked further in, and he turned to face her.
"Do you think we'll ever figure out why these bolts are painted on our skin?"
"No, not really, Jewel. I simply don't know what could cause it. My knowledge-packed brain is of no use to me now."
"Hmmm… that's a real bummer, you know."
"Eh," Blu said, shrugging. "It's not worth losing sleep over."
Confused, Jewel replied, "But Blu, we're not sleeping. What do you mean?"
He rolled his eyes and said, "I'm saying that we should just forget about it."
"Oh. Okay then. So, what should…"
Her voice trailed off as she picked up a hurried flapping noise from outside.
"Blu, someone's coming. Do you hear that?"
"Yeah. I don't know who it could be, though."
Their muscles tensed briefly, and then relaxed rapidly as two aquamarine birds skidded into the hollow. It was Blu and Jewel's six year old children, Samuel and Amelia.
Judging by the messiness of their plumage, they had been flying very fast prior to their arrival.
"How are you… Mom and Dad?" Samuel asked, panting.
"Okay, I guess, son," Blu answered.
"As soon as the storm ended… we came straight over… hey… what are those… things on your foreheads?" their daughter queried.
"Oh, these? Umm, your mother and I aren't exactly sure. We went out for food this morning, tried to fly home, and then we woke up on the ground. That's when we saw these lightning bolts. They've been glowing ever since."
"Wow. This morning sure has been exciting for you two, huh?"
"Definitely, Amelia," Blu replied.
"Can I touch yours, Mom?"
"Sure, Samuel, go ahead. Just be careful."
"Okay," he replied, and walked up to her.
The hollow fell silent as he reached his wing out for the mark. Something happened the instant his primaries graced the bolt.
There was an audible zapping sound and a flash of light, and Samuel jerked his wing away.
"Ow!" he yelled, shaking his appendage heartily. "It shocked me!"
Taken aback, Jewel asked, "Wait, what? How?"
"You tell me! You're the one with the glowing tattoo!" he retorted.
Jewel looked at Blu, and he shrugged impishly.
"What would happen if I tried it out on you?"
"That's a good question, honey. Do it, and we'll see."
Jewel ambled over to her mate and tapped his forehead with her wing. The same sound and light from before occurred, but with double intensity. Both Blu and Jewel stung each other, but they reacted differently than Samuel had.
"Hey, that tickled!" Blu exclaimed.
"Same for me!" Jewel replied.
"Do it again!" he ordered.
This time, jewel touched his stomach, and he jumped into the air.
"Ooh! That felt amazing!"
Blu grinned and tapped Jewel's wing, and she squawked and giggled.
"Take this, Blu!" Zap!
"Your turn!" Zap!
"Oh, it's on, mister!" Zap!
With that, Blu slapped his wings on Jewel and did not let go.
"Blu… s-stop! That t-tickles! Stop! St-"
There was a blinding flash, and Jewel flew away from Blu. She hit the wall with a dull thud, and lay in a heap.
"Oh my gosh! Jewel, are you alright?"
Blu ran over to her speedily, but refrained from touching her. As he studied her, she threw open her eyes and knocked him off his feet with her wing.
"Surprise!" she yelled as he hit the floor.
She paid him back with a prolonged dose of electricity, leaving him squirming on the floor.
"Oh please… Jewel… no more… I can't breathe!"
"Serves you, right, handsome. I got you good!"
"Do me! Do me!" Amelia pleaded.
"Yeah, me too, just try not to hurt me," her brother added.
"Alright, just calm down. Stand in front of me."
The siblings complied, and Jewel aimed for each with one of her wings. There was a single forceful zap, and both macaws leapt back from Jewel, their faces twisted with glee.
"Yah!"
"Woohoo!"
Blu got back to his feet and came up beside his mate, careful not to brush her wing.
"Do you know what this means, honey?"
"What?"
"We can turn this into a pranking mechanism and go shock our friends!"
Her eyes widened at the thought, the same expressions mirrored on her children's faces.
"That's a great idea, Blu! Who should we strike first?"
Blu thought for a moment, then replied slyly, "Nico and Pedro, that's who."
"Can we come too and watch, Dad?" Samuel asked in anticipation.
"Sure, son. The more, the merrier. Now come on, we've got some pranking to do!"
"Yeah, let's go!" Amelia cheered.
Blu took point and left the hollow first, followed by his mate. Their children flew side by side in their mother's wake.
"I can't wait to see the looks on their faces!"
"Neither can I, Jewel. It's gonna be so rich and rewarding!"
Blu divine the location of the party-birds' hollow and led them there in under five minutes. They landed unseen above the entrance and collected themselves, then dropped down softly.
"Hey, look who it is!" Nico announced, jumping from his nest.
"It's the lovebirds, and they brought their whole family too!"
"What's crackin', Blu and Jewel?"
"Not much, Pedro. We just stopped by to say hi."
"Yo, what's with those glowy things on yo heads?" Nico asked, bouncing closer to the adult macaws.
"That's not important right, now, Nico," Jewel replied haughtily. "What is important is that you two give us the proper greetings."
Jewel thrust her left wing out pointedly.
"Oh, a wing-shake? You got it, girl!"
Blu extended his right and said, "You too, Pedro."
All four macaws resisted the urge to crack up as Nico went to grab Jewel's wing, and Pedro went for Blu's.
The two younger macaws deeper into the hollow, planting themselves on their father's left side. There was a clipped silence, and then the wings made contact.
"Aiyyyeeee!" Nico hollered.
"Wahhhh!" Pedro cawed.
The two birds flung themselves against the opposite wall, rubbing their wings to chase away the numbness.
"You guys got some sort of lightnin' powers or somethin'? That hurt!" Pedro whined.
By this time, all four macaws were rolling around on the floor in various stages of laughter.
"Oh man oh man, we nailed you both!" Jewel squealed.
"If only… I had a Polaroid!" Blu squawked.
The two younger macaws pounded the floor with their wings, no words issuing from their beaks.
The party duo bounded up to the pranksters and crossed their wings, glaring nastily at the inconsiderate lovebirds.
"Yo, that wasn't funny at all," Pedro complained.
"Yeah, what's the deal?" his buddy questioned.
"Yes… yes it was…" Blu stuttered, standing up.
Jewel stood as well and wiped a few jubilant tears from her eyes.
"Well that's all… we wanted to do to you. We're gonna head out… and pay a visit to the toucans," she said.
"Good! I hope those chicks take you down and rough you up," Pedro said harshly.
"Now get outta here, before you sting us again!" Nico put in.
Blu cocked his head and asked, "What? Like this?"
He gave Nico a high-voltage slap, sending him to the floor.
"CUT IT OUT!"
"Come on kids, let's go. We're done here," Jewel ordered merrily.
The cackling Blu jetted off and took the lead, the rest of his family trailing him.
They eventually arrived at Rafael and Eva's home, but the adult toucans were nowhere to be seen. All eighteen chicks were huddled in one black mass, some napping, others chatting.
"Hey, it's Uncle Blu and Aunt Jewel! Our friends are here too!" one of the chicks said.
The sleeping toucans began to rouse as the others waddled closer to the Spix's Macaws.
Blu asked kindly, "How are you all doing?"
His mate asked, "Where are your parents?"
One female chick piped up and replied, "We're all good. Our parents are out bathing and gathering food. They might not be back for a while."
Jewel said, "I see. Thank you."
"No problem, Aunt Jewel."
"Hey, what is that glowy thing on your head, Uncle Blu?"
"I have no idea, buddy. Me and Jewel got them earlier this morning, and we don't know how."
"Okay," replied the little male, not wanting to push the issue.
Them not being able to prank Rafael and Eva wasn't bad at all, considering that they had eighteen victims right in front of them.
"So, why are you two here? Can we play with your kids?" a male chick asked.
"I'm sorry, but not today. We're going to be… busy, and they have to come with us."
All the chicks muttered a collective "Awww…"
"Hey, don't be sad, little one. Your Uncle and I have a surprise for you."
"Surprise? I don't see any surprises. What gives, Aunt Jewel?" queried a confused female.
"We'll show you and your siblings. Just hold on."
Blu motioned Jewel over and whispered his plan in her ear. She gave a devilish smile and nodded to him, then faced the chicks.
"All of you scoot in close, now. That way, all of you will get the surprise at the same time."
The chicks did so, scrunching together in front of the adult macaws. When they were all packed nice and tight, Blu laced his right wing with Jewel's.
"Kids, step behind us, please," said Jewel.
When Samuel and Amelia had hidden behind their parents, Blu and Jewel tapped one of the outermost chicks on each side of the pile with their free wings. The air crackled as electricity surged through every tiny body, causing the chicks to jump like a group of fish out of water.
Some of them began laughing, while others began crying.
The macaw family was once again robbed of their breath, their chests heaving with laughter.
"I'm gonna… tell Mama and Papa… on you!" wailed a male.
"No way! That was fun!" proclaimed another male.
"You can… tell them or not. It doesn't matter!" shouted Blu.
"Eighteen in a row, Mom! That's a record… you'll never be able to beat!"
"I know, Samuel. Talk about amazing!"
Blu stood and helped Jewel up, facing the crying, giggling ball of toucans.
"Well, that's all, little toucans. We'll see you later!" said Jewel.
She bolted from the hollow first, Blu and the others racing to catch up.
"How about see you never!" a cluster of sniffling toucans taunted as they fled.
In the air, Jewel drifted closer to Blu and said, "I think we've become the best pranksters in all of Rio!"
"You might be right, honey. We'll have to start shocking all the birds we pass by in the coming days."
"I'd love that, handsome," she replied.
"Who are you going to shock next, Mom and Dad. You've nailed off of your friends."
Blu craned his head back and narrowed his eyes.
"Not all of them, Amelia."
"Who are you talking about, then?"
"All the humans in the Blu Bird Sanctuary building… starting with Linda."
Thus, the insidious team of birds banked and made a beeline for the structure, navigating the dense jungle with relative ease.
They filed in through one of the retractable windows, and Blu used his writing skills to get the ornithologists to find his caretaker. Linda came out of one of the lab rooms and approached the macaws, who were sitting on a linoleum counter.
After vocal greetings were exchanged, she asked him about the marks on their skulls. Both he and Jewel replied with a shrug and a squawk.
Blu then indicated his wish to write something, and so she procured a notepad and a pencil from her pocket.
She handed it to him, watching intently as he scribbled.
He then held the pad out to her, and she took it.
Covering the front page were the words: "Would you please shake my wing?"
Moral: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and damn good at playing practical jokes!
