Rio: Fear and Feathers in Las Vegas
Chapter 9: Viva Las Vegas
On the bus ride to Las Vegas, while Franko was talking to Arthur and Jez, Blu and Jewel were on one side, while Robyn and Pedro were on another side.
The young Macaw by the name of Blu looked at his injured wing, and he began to remember when it was first injured, back when Nigel had kidnapped them for a group of Mexican smugglers back in the Amazon.
With a deep sigh, he looked at Jewel, and said, "I hate not being able to fly..."
"Don't we all?" said Jewel, wrapping a wing around her mate. "Oh, Blu... it hurts me so muchto see you like this."
"I know, Jewel, I know," replied Blu. "Is this how my life is going to be now? Kidnapped by the "sca and wind up going to some far-off place? If I wanted to travel, I wouldn't have done it like this."
The beautiful bird smiled, and said, "Hey, you know what, Blu? Maybe, when we have some alone time... we could, er, resume our honeymoon."
"Resume it?" said Blu. "Huh... that sounds pretty good to me."
"That's the plan," smiled Jewel, who scooted closer to Blu, and began to give him a comforting kiss... but then, the passionate female accidentally grabbed Blu's injured wing, making him yelp in pain.
As Jewel went back a few feet, Blu groaned, and said, "Jewel, do you mind if you not kiss me like that until my wing heals?"
"What?" said Jewel. "Blu, I barely even pinched your wing... just relax."
She went closer to her mate, but Blu pushed her away. "No, no, no, no... you 'grabbed' my wing during your whole makeout session."
"Makeout session?" growled Jewel. "Is that what you think it was? I was just trying to relax you!"
"Relax?" Blu looked at her like she was crazy. "Jewel, ever since I saved your life, almost 50% of your kisses have been makeout sessions... with 30% being us...woohoo, and the other 20% has been whatever."
Jewel frowned, and said, "You can't make life basedon percents, Blu... and I can't believe that you think almost half a decade has been full of just love andwoohoo..." Bluraisedan eyebrow, and said, "What happenedalmost half-a-decade ago?"
Jewel frowned at her mate, and Blu said, "Oh, yeah, we mated... well, jeez, Jewel, don't be so sensitive, I just don't want you putting me in more pain."
"Sensitive?" Jewel's eyes began to fill up with anger. "You're one to talk, Tyler Blu Gunderson..."
"What's that supposedto mean?"
Jewel crossed her wings, and said, "Don't play dumb with me, cage boy... at least I don't freak out because a spider is on my back!"
"I thought you said it was just a leaf!" cried Blu in surprise.
"Well, I lied, okay?" cried Jewel. "There was a spider on your back."
Blu's mouth dropped, but then, he shook his head, and said, "Nope... no, no, no, no... look, Jewel, I am notgoingto get angry at you while I'm in this condition. So, please, just fly away for a while, and let my wing heal... until then, your hormones can wait."
"Oh, really?" said Jewel. "Well, here, let me help you with that..."
For some reason, she grabbed Blu's injured wing with her left foot, making his eyes pop like a bowling ball, and when she let go, she said, "I don't want to hear another peep from you until we get home, Mr. Sensitive!"
As Jewel flew away, Blu laid down on the floor, and as Arthur flew over, he asked, "Hey buddy, are youall right?"
With a groan, Blu said, "Yeah, Arthur... just dealing with women problems."
"Oh..." Arthur nodded his head. "Well, I didn't want to say this in front of her, Blu, but you've been kinda off your game lately."
Blu looked at his friend, and said, "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb, blue amigo," chuckled Arthur. "Your love life with Jewel has been like a hurricane... exciting at first, then ends in disaster... instead of woohoo, it's been hoowoo...to be clear, you flipped on status of relationship. Get what I'm saying, now?"
Blu covered his eyes with his wing, and said, "You know, Arthur, if I wasn't injured right now, I would throw you off this bus."
"I know, huh?" laughed Arthur. "That's why you're my best boy, Blu... no matter how much I annoy you, you take it like a man!"
"Yeah, well," said Blu. "Do you think that you could let me rest, please?"
"Rest?" The Macaw laughed again. "Blu, we're in Nevada! United States!...A place filled with money, cash, gold, casinoes, hotels, food, girls, drinks... and money! Plus, apparently, if you do shots at the top of a hotel around here, you end up in some crazy situations...some very undesirable... "
Blu looked at his friend, and said, "You said money twice... and both cash and gold count as money!"
"I know, huh?" said Arthur. "Money, money, money... oh, and I think I'm getting somewhere with your sister."
"Don't say that," said Blu with a groan. Arthur looked at him with a confused look.
"What do you want me to say? I haven't woohoo'd with her yet, and I don't even know if she likes me in the good way."
"Well, how am I supposed to know?" said Blu.
"You guys are related!" cried Arthur. "Shouldn't there be, like, a telepathic conversation or something?"
Blu groaned, and he thought, "Why me? Out of all the Macaws left in Rio, it had to be me..."
"...Because you're blue?" Arthur suggested, to which Blu frowned in response.
...
While Blu and Arthur were arguing, Pedro and Robyn were on the other side of the bus, with the hippity-hoppin' cardinal whistling a cute tune.
"Ooh, that sounds nice," smiled Robyn. "What song is that?"
"I don't know," shrugged Pedro. "All I know is that Nico sings it alot when we're travellin' somewhere... aw, I should have whistled it when me and Jewel were on that Mexican thief's ship."
Robyn asked, "Whatever happened to them?"
Pedro shrugged, and said, "Beats me, babe... last I heard, the mean one was serving time in the slammer while the nice one only got locked up for a few days, and now, he's doing community service until Carnivale begins."
"Well, that sounds okay..." said Robyn. "Speaking of Rio de Janeiro... do you know any songs in Portuguese?"
The cardinal asked, "How could I know any songs in that language?"
"Nico does," replied Robyn. "Flora told me that he sang her the English and Portuguese version of a song called Forever Darling."
"Really?" A smile appeared on the bird's face. "Huh... that's the only thing I didn't know about him."
Robyn smirked, and said, "Well.. isn't there any romantic thing you could do for me?"
Pedro then noticed that his wife was getting a little closer than usual, and he began to feel awkward. "Er... isn't being your husband enough, babe?"
Then, Robyn began to get angry. "No, that's enough! What, you think love is something to toss away?"
"Yeah!" cried Pedro. "I mean, no... I don't know! What do you want?"
"JUST SHUT UP!" cried Robyn, and she flew away to join Jewel, while Pedro turned to look at Blu, who had just finished teaching Arthur a lesson.
"Man, both of you guys are having off days..." Arthur remarked with a pondering look on his face.
"What's wrong with her?" asked Blu. "That's the second time you two fought... only now, thank goodness, she didn't hurt my wing."
"I dunno, man," shrugged Pedro. "Ever since the wedding, she's been eating a lot of the food that I get us for lunch, breakfast, and dinner... her body's getting a little, er, fluffy... and she's been acting like a cuckoo bird... like, one second, she's the babe I fell for in the Amazon, but then, she turns into that guy who talks a lot, and sounds like that skinny kid from that Super something movie."
"Michael Cera?" asked Franko, who suddenly came over to join the conversation. "Or are you talking 'bout Jesse Eisenberg?"
Pedro shook his head. "No, that's the guy who sounds like Blu..."
Blu rolled his eyes, and said, "I already told you, Franklin, I don't sound like any of those guys."
"Yeah!" said Pedro. "If anyone, he sounds like that guy who played Venom in that third Spidey movie..."
"Topher Grace?" said Franko. "Nah, bird... if Blu sounds like him, then you sound like that tech-voice-guy who sings with that group, and if you sound like will i am, then..."
"...you sound like Chris Rock!" Arthur finished with a smile towards Franko.
"And you sound like that dude from 'Chicago'!" Franko exclaimed back to the reporter-bird.
Blu slapped his forehead, and grumbled, "Franko, just get me to where we're going already! I just want to get back to Rio, find my kids, and have a NORMAL day of my life!"
"Détendez-vous, my blue buddy! After all, we're already close by." Franko answered with a smile as he pointed with a flourish to a small sign up ahead. In fact, Blu already noticed the strange appearance of palm trees appearing alongside the road.
"Did we suddenly head to South Beach?" Arthur asked with a confused expression, to which Franko chuckled and then laid back on a large radio antenna on the roof of the bus they were on.
"Man, you guys don't catch on, do ya?" Franko asked with a smile.
"What's there to catch, blue bird?" Pedro asked with an annoyed tone.
"Easy. Where else would ya go if you're in Nevada?" Franko answered, to which Arthur immeadiatley gave an answer to.
"Reno?"
Franko scowled at this suggestion, and then chuckled a bit.
"One day you'll understand why I can never go back to Reno...it involves cake, seltzer and some other stuff...but enough about me." Franko said with a smile.
"Alright...Just tell us where we're going, because quite frankly I'm starting to think you don't know where we're going!" Blu said with a somewhat-annoyed tone.
"Just relax! We're in paradise now, buddies! Specifically, Las Vegas!" Franko exclaimed, motioning his wings towards a quickly passing-by sign, which happened to be a huge white and yellow sign that read the iconinic 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada' on it.
"Aww yeah! I've wanted to go to Vegas all my life!" Pedro exclaimed with a grin. However, Jewel walked over with an annoyed expression her face and then stopped beside Blu, who glanced at his love hawk with a slightly-nervous face, seeingas she'd been yelling at him only a few minutes earlier.
"What's going on, now?" Jewel askedwitha sigh.
"Apparently we're in Las Vegas." Blu answered with a puzzled expression.
"C'mon Blu! You need to get excited! This is Las Vegas! Sin City! Bright-Light City!" Franko yelled with excitement in his voice.
"I'm excited!" Pedro exclaimed loudly, to which Robyn, who had just flown over, frowned at her now-rialed up mate.
"Then let's sing! I got that feeling now!" Franko yelled, to which he then flung himself toward the radio antenna of the bus and then with one wing propelled himselfinto a swingbackaround and then landed on top of Pedro andbeganto sing...surprisingly well.
Bright light city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire!
There's a whole lot of money that's ready to burn, so get those stakes up higher!
"Why is it that everyone sings now?" Jewel asked with an annoyed tone.
"I don't know, but this is actually kind of catchy." Blu stated with a smile as Franko spun to the edge of the front of the bus and then backflipped off the front of the bus. Before anyone could even wonder where he went, the blue jay rose back up, courtesy of a random group of cardinals and such that appeared from below him.
There's a thousand pretty birdies just a-waitin out there, and they're all livin' devil-may-care.
I'm just a devil with a lot of love to spare.
Viva Las Vegas!
Viva Las Vegas!
"So, do ya catch my drift now buddy?" Franko said as he flew back towards Blu and perched on top of his head.
"Yeah, but we really can't have a tour when we need to get back-" Blu was about to finish before Franko began making fun of the Spix macaw by making his claw imitated Blu's talking.
"C'mon man! You only got 24 hours a day to enjoy this place! Just relax and have an awesome time, that's my motto around here!" Franko said with a wide grin as he flung himself back to the front of the bus as if it was a main stage and then spun dramatically, somehow timing correctly as every light on the Strip on the hotels nearby blasted on, creating enough dramatic effect to make even Pedro admireit.
And How I Wish That There Were More Than twenty-four hours in the day!
But even if there were forty more, I wouldn't sleep a minute away.
Franko quickly stopped himself from his dancing, to which 2 small cardinals landed on both his sides of him, and then grabbed him by his wings and spun him around like a vortex.
Oh, there's blackjack and poker and a roulette wheel. A fortune won and lost on every deal. All you need's a strong heart and a nerve of steel.
Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas!
"So, you catchin' my drift a bit? You guys have gotta live yo lives a bit here. This is the most fun place on Earth!" Franko exclaimed as he walked towards the birds still in a daze because of the spinning.
"Yes...but can we please get back to Rio?" Blu saidwitha forced smile, trying to act nice over his impatience. Franko scowled at this repetition of Blu and Jewel's past statements and then snapped his claw, to whicha group of birds crowded around the blue jay, all with energetic expressions and voices.
"Alright everyone! My new buds in town are trying to get back to Rio, so let's get this party bus going towards Rio!" Franko exclaimed, to which everyone cheered and immeadiatley swooped down to where the driver's cab of the bus would be located.
"...What are they going to do to the driver?" Jewel asked suspiciously, knowing this likely would lead to something bad. Franko whipped his wing nonchalantly in a 'No Problem' fashion just before the bus suddenly drove a few inches off course as if ready to run off the road, but then regained it's original course. Franko smiled sheepishly at Jewel, who now had an angry expression on her face.
"C'mon! How about some more singin'?" Franko exclaimed as he then swooped back to the antenna and then perched himself on top with a huge group of his supposed friends then lifted him into the air above it, almost looking like a circus act of sorts. It almost looked choreographed, Blu thought to himself.
Viva las vegas with your neon flashin'!
And your one-armed bandits crashin'
All those hopes down the drain.
Viva las vegas turnin' day into nighttime, turnin' the night into daytime,
and if you see it once, you'll never come home again!
Right after Franko jumped back down from his groupies, Pedro immeadiatley flocked over to the blue jay with an absolutely hyped expression on.
"Yo man, where'd you learn to sing like that?" Pedro asked, to which Franko, instead of answeringhim immeadiatley, whipped him around like the two were dancing, flipped the cardinal above him and then caught Pedro with a flourish.
"You learn to dance too?" Pedro asked, ignoring the strange soreness now occuring inside of him.
"I learn everything from everywhereinthis city! You can't live in this place without knowing how dance your feathers off!" Franko exclaimed as he swung Pedro around until he finally let go, and the rapping cardinal slammed into Wally, who chuckled after getting knocked to the floor.
"Remind me to destroy everything related to a musical when we get back to Rio..." Jewel groaned to Robyn.
"Want to add that to the list of things to do along with paying Rafael back?" Robyn askedwitha smile.
"Make it so." Jewel answered with a straight expression as Franko continued to sing.
I'm gonna keep on the run, I'm gonna have me some fun, If it costs me my very last dime.
If I wind up broke, Then I'll always remember that I had a swingin' time.
I'm gonna give it everything i've got,
Lady luck please let the dice stay hot!
Let me shoot a seven with every shot...
Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas!
Viva Las Vegas! Viva Las Vegas!
Viva, viva...
"Can we PLEASE just get to Rio already?" Blu finally shouted, to which Franko stopped his finale and then scowled.
"Alright, alright...Here we go, ladies and gentlemen...Rio!" Franko exclaimed, backing out of the way to reveal a huge, lit-up sign that read in a spectacular-looking fashion 'RIO'. Blu simply stared in disbelief at the mix-up, while Jewel could only hold the same expression she had right as Blu sang "Say You, Say Me".
"Well...this sure is a mix-up..." Arthur said softly with a nervous expression, noticing the expression on Jewel's face starting to mold into a infuriated look.
"I'm going to kill him..." Jewel stated flatly and ominously.
"No you ain't!" Pedro assured, to which Jewel took a step toward a now-confused Franko.
"Yes I am..." Jewel responded, her voice now starting to steam into fury.
"Jewel..." Blu started, but he couldn't even speak another word, as Jewel quickly charged forward andtackledthe singingblue jay, who yelped in terror as the female Spix macaw attacked him.
"Ahh! Jewel, don't kill the guy helping us!" Blu yelped as he ran toward Jewel to get her off Franko, who was still screaming loudly.
"Don't let 'er get my face! That's the best part of me!"
Meanwhile, Jez, Arthur, Pedro, Wally and Robyn watched on the sidelines, all with tired and confused expressions.
"Guh...this has to happen only to us, doesn't it?" Robyn asked.
"Looks like it...Let's stop Jewel before she tears Franko apart..." Arthur suggested as he slowly walked forward to help Blu with his crazed mate.
"Boys will be boys, huh?" Jez asked, to which Robyn snickered in response.
"You don't know the half of it, sister..."
Author's Note: Okay, in the original, this is where the story ended. But either today or tomorrow, depending on the time, it shall be continued! And you have no idea what is coming up next! ;)
