Story 3: The Painful Games (Style: Humor, Family)
Chapter 4: Misfortunate Conclusion
A/N: Thanks guys for being patience with me. "After 9 years of development, hopefully, it was worth the wait." I'll let you guys guess that quote. Aside from that, here is the epic conclusion to The Painful Games/ Box of Misfortune!
Recovering from the box's punishing tricks, the group continue to bicker among themselves on how to finish the game. After countless stalemates and arguing, Jewel shouted to the top of her lungs, fed up of the constant yelling and gibberish within her peers. The sudden outburst silenced everyone's beaks as Jewel regains her composure for her answer.
"Blu gave me the call and I have a decision!" Jewel announced, all ears on board for her decision to break the tiebreaker. "I'm not being biased, but I'm going with ending this game like my kids wanted, with the 3 punishments."
To the Rio residents displeasure, they had no choice but to agree to Jewel's choice. The Macaw family seemed pleased as they are willingly to endure three quick pains of punishment then to stay in their current state, mostly for bee stung Bia and featherless Tiago. With everyone nodding, Blu commences what the board game calls: "Magical Mac's Final Stand." After pressing down the box of the game board, the device fizzled and a voice bellowed out from within the box, startling the players as the voice of Magical Mac echoes from the vile contraption.
"My goodness my friends, you have made quite a decision. But be warn, you must endure if you want to succeed in conquering this game. Prepare yourself for the 3 Punishments!"
Just like that, the box started to shake violently once more, the group backing away from its quakes and shaking. A massive sign started to emerge from the tiny box, the imposing object showing a skull and crossbones logo imprinted within its borders. Everyone felt very nervous when a sign of that kind of imagery foreshadows certain pain. The sign revealed a small piece of parchment attached on, the group assuming it's the punishment of the 3. Blu carefully takes the note and started reading:
"Bold mortals, as you accept these last and final 3 punishments, take heed and good luck. You will be punished with all 3 at once, but the reward of surviving this game will be outstandingly gratifying. First, after taking a good look of you fine folk, you've lost the ability to fly. Try as you might, you won't get much success. Second, your current stature will be shrunk down to the size of an insect. Don't worry, you'll grow back, maybe *sniff* maybe. And third, survive a full 3 minutes with Gobbles, an angry and hungry Rat that will be hounding you to the ends of the earth. Do make this enjoyable for me when you try to stay alive. And with that, good luck!- Magical Mac"
"Tell me if my ears were deceiving me, but is this Mac fellow trying to kill us!?" Rafael cried.
"And that's why we shouldn't have played this game from the start." Blu retorted, setting down the note and preparing for the punishment. The box from the game board started to hiss, something the group wouldn't expect to hear, then again, wouldn't expect any form of life coming out from the cursed box. As the box lit up, a blinding flash enveloped the group, the birds shielding their eyes as the flash continued.
Once the light subsided, the group adjusted their vision to any changes that occurred. For a start, the group of birds noticed the Macaw's hollow being much MUCH bigger than before, but after taking consideration to the dreaded warning before, it sunk in as the birds find themselves at a miniscule size.
"So this is how the world feels down here." Tiago noted, somewhat intrigued of being in stature of an insect.
"I don't know about you guys, but you think we're thinking a little over our heads?" Blu asked.
"With our current size dear, there's plenty to think." Jewel replied. Her ears perked instantly when a low growl was heard behind the group. The birds turned slowly, and there stood before them a massive, brown rat. It's fur was in disarray and the eyes glowed a piercing red, vivid in hunger and rage.
"And I think our time to run starts now."
The three minutes started, and the birds fled for their lives as the rat went with a hot pursuit for it's satisfaction of hunger. To the group's displeasure, the inability to fly stayed true as they ran and scrambled to avoid the jaws of the larger animal. Quite a scene it was for Blu and his friends, running around with an hungry rat howling for his meal to stop moving. One minute has elapsed, but felt like several hours passed for the birds. Unfortunately for them, fatigue was a cruel enemy as they hid to catch a breath. Hiding behind a large rock positioned in the hollow, the birds hoped to wait out their time as the rat sniffed and searched for the group.
"Is it gone Mom?" Carla asked, noticing Jewel keeping a lookout for Gobbles the Rat.
"No dear, not at all." Jewel replied as she warily watches the rat stalking back and forth in search for it's meal. "If we lay low here, we should be fine."
The group prayed and waited for the minutes to pass, but it seemed like forever as each second clicked by. Another minute has passed, and one more to go, filling hope for the birds. Their hope was soon crushed when Gobbles come springing on top of the rock where they hid, crying out horrid screeches that filled the birds with mortal terror. The birds quickly dispersed, but Blu wasn't spared unfortunately. The rat lunged and tried to devour Blu, luckily for the Macaw, he dove just in time for the rat to snag onto his lower body and legs. In a flash, the 8 other birds grabbed hold onto Blu, a huge tug of war ensued between the birds and the large rat. The rat slowly started to gain the upper hand as he started consuming Blu closer, his body up to his head and wings remaining. The struggled continued, the birds shouting loudly from the exerted force they mustered to save Blu. Despite all their combined effort, Gobbles "gobbled" Blu up to the birds' horror. The rat begin to stalk closer to the others, but he soon felt an odd sensation within his stomach. A blinding light flashed once again, forcing the remaining birds to shield their eyes. As the light disappeared, the birds regained their ability to fly and regular size. Tiago and Bia were greatly relieved as they were restored to their normal selves before taking part in the game. Gobbles was no where to be seen, and same goes for Blu.
"W-w-where's Blu!?" Jewel cried as the group frantically searched for the missing Macaw.
"He's here Jewel." a voice replied from behind. Blu stood there, the cursed box in his wings and his body exhausted from the ordeal. His family quickly flew over and embraced him, Blu returning it with a great hug, glad his family is safe and the game was finally over.
"Thank the heavens its over." Rafael signed in relief. "Remind to stay away from dumpsters fellas."
"Definitely noted Ralfy." Nico and Pedro replied.
"So, what should we do with this thing?" Blu asked as he held the small box of great proportions of misery.
"Get rid of it of course. I don't wait to go through that torture again!" Jewel urged Blu. The Macaw nodded and took off with the box in his talons, knowing a place to put this thing away for good from ever harming anyone. He stopped by the Amazon river near his home, and releases Magical Mac's box into the murky waters, the box vanishing away and out of his life for good.
After the events from the Box of Misfortune, Rafael and the duo of Nico and Pedro bid farewell and returned home to Rio. Since then, Blu and his family went on their normal lives, enjoying each other's company and the rest of their kind. Things were looking up for the family, until one faithful day, it was time to celebrate Blu and Jewel's anniversary. The occasion was quite a big deal for not only Blu and Jewel, but for the entire tribe. Eduardo and a handful of Blue Macaws wanted to organize a grand festive party, but the couple prefer it simple. As requested, the Macaws broke out into their favorite song of "Beautiful Creatures" with their faces painted as tradition. The festivities was enjoyable for all the Macaws, singing and laughing to the peace that resides in their forest.
Further in the party, Blu and Jewel were bestowed vast amounts of gifts from the tribe. The couple were very thankful and even more pleased to see Eduardo accepting Blu more than ever, almost like a brother than a son. It was all cheers for the group, and even more when Aunt Mimi brought out her gifts for not only the couple, but for their kids as well. Mimi brought the kids assortments of shining rocks she stumbled upon their her strolls around the jungle. The kids gratefully accepted them and showed it off to the tribe, everyone in awe of the beauty the stones shined. Mimi then turn her focus on the couple, and handed them a hand carved box. To break the surprise, Blu and Jewel opened the box, and found nothing but a piece of paper. Mimi was confused when she claims that she put her gift inside the box. Blu made sure if he or Jewel didn't overlook any detail as he looked inside again. The box was covered in what appears to be algae, so his first instinct was to rub off the accumulating plants. His heart dropped and skin shuttered when he recognizes the carvings on the side, the same exact design like Mac's Box of Misfortune he tossed away weeks ago.
"What's wrong Blu?" Jewel asked, concerned on why Blu was shuttering behind his painted mask. He glances up slowly, and reveals the box to Jewel, her reaction the same as Blu.
"Here we go again..."
A/N: And we finally finish this story! Thanks guys for the suggestions and support for the LS series. I hope you continue to support and suggest ideas for the future for the series and hope to hear from you soon!
Other news, I'm currently working on my main series, Power of the Gods. I'm still iffy on the title, but if I wanted to change it, what should it be? I wanted to call it Rio: End of an Era, but that's a thought. If you have suggestions, post on this story or on Power of the Gods. With that said, take care and stay awesome!- Poshil
Characters excluding Magical Mac and Gobbles belong to Blue Sky Studios