Chapter 10, Part 1: The Tragedy Revealed
Nanashi managed to make it back to the garage, and traced his steps toward Carnaval, finding Blu riding the Edible Arrangements basket on Luiz's head, Rafael, Nico, and Pedro in hot pursuit. All of them were tense, if the expressions on their face were any indication.
Nanashi landed on the ground, stopping the five in their tracks. "Blu, you're coming with me. We're taking the fight to them."
"Damn right we are." Nanashi could hear the determination in Blu's voice, and smirked. They were going to make it through this.
"Wait, what about us? Not one of us can fly as fast as you can, Nanashi."
"I threw a little bit of my fame around and got a ride. He should be here around… now." Just as Nanashi finished speaking, a beat-up pickup truck stopped in front of them after skidding out of an alley. "James, thanks for this. Now remember what I said. Make absolutely sure you get my friends here to Carnaval. I've already set my chess pieces, and I'll be damned if I lose any before the battle starts. I will come out of this war the victor."
James, a blue-haired man who looked like he belonged in the United States, a Stetson hanging diagonally off of his head and a piece of corn crop hanging off the corner of his mouth, nodded. 'You got it, Nanashi. Just make sure you're careful. It'd be a real shame to lose the only white raven in the world."
Nanashi laughed despite himself. "Oh, no need to worry about me. I have no intention of dying tonight."
Rafael walked up to Nanashi as the others got in the passenger's seat of James's truck. "Thank you for this. You'd better take care of yourself, my student."
"Oh, don't worry, Master. I fully intend on dishing out some pain, and taking none of it. You guys need to find the float Jewel will be on once you get there. I've given James a match so he can light his truck on fire. This truck is quite disposable, and nowhere near his most valuable possession, so when you find Jewel's float, find him and he'll light it on fire. That's the signal for the true game to start."
Rafael nodded as Nico and Pedro bumped wings with Nanashi. The three birds and Luiz quickly got in the truck, and James drove away, giving the gas everything it had.
Nanashi picked Blu up gently by his body and took off into the sky. "Look, Blu, I'm really sorry for leaving you behind like that. After everything I've tried to do for you, only to see it crumble away so quickly… I couldn't bring myself to face you."
Blu shook his head. "You're fine, Big Bro. I know you didn't mean anything by it, and you needed a little time. Besides, you shouldn't be the one apologizing. I'm the one who screwed up. I should've kept my big mouth shut, but I ruined my friendship with Jewel."
Nanashi sighed. "So what are you going to do about it?"
"I realized I screwed up, but I'm not going to let it end like this. We're going to rescue Jewel, and I'm going to apologize to her for leaving like I did. I only hope she accepts my apology."
Nanashi nodded. "In that case, better start applying what I taught you, because I'm breaking out all my speed!"
Blu nodded and prepared himself. "Right, you're good to go!"
"Good. We're making a stop at the comms center on the top of the mountain. I have a message to deliver."
"Move out! Get in contact with the other divisions and the vigilantes across the city! We're not about to let a smuggling operation happen right under our noses! And we won't let our reputation be trampled on when we could have done something!" The police chief slammed his hand on the podium to emphasize his point. "Who's with me?!"
The entire police crew shouted in affirmation, motivated to finally recover the reputation they'd lost with the jungle smuggling operation of 1996.
At the stadium, multiple roadblocks had been partially set up, ready to be moved into place once the parade floats entered center stage.
The police chief of southern Rio radioed into his walkie. "Alright, Division 2, you are go for pincer maneuver. Be on the lookout for the target, Juan Hernandez. He will be either somewhere in the crowd or driving one of the parade floats as the festival begins."
"What the hell is going on?! Has all of Rio sniffed our bullshit?!" Juan raged in the parade float, listening to the crazed movement on the police scanner, as his lackeys ran around, sorting all the birds and making sure the cages wouldn't fall as they moved.
Jewel shuffled her feet, trying to hear the commotion going on in the front of the float, but she wasn't able to pick up on anything beyond the fact that Juan seemed very angry. Suddenly, she had to shrink back in her cage as Nigel landed in front of the birds. "Alright, who tipped off the police about us? If someone doesn't start speaking in the next five seconds, I'm going to start snapping necks."
In the front of the float, Juan whipped out his phone, and prepared to make six key calls that would turn the tables in his favor. "If they want to set up for a firefight, we're going to give them one."
Nanashi got into the communications center, Blu hot on his heels. He quickly talked with the manager of the system and explained the nature of the visit, and the man quickly allowed Nanashi access to the central comm system. The man ran inside after him, flipping the necessary switches and signaling the other technicians in order to get the system up and running.
Once he finished, the "ON AIR" light kicked on and he gave Nanashi a thumbs-up.
Linda was in the middle of driving a massive, intricate float made, ironically, in the very likeness of the blue Spix's macaw she was trying to help save. A hundred of the roughest fighters in Rio stood on the various platforms of the float behind and .
As she got ready to turn to the end part of the Carnaval parade stadium, a voice kicked on the loudspeakers… one she recognized. Her eyes widened as every loudspeaker in the stadium blared to life, projecting Nanashi's voice throughout the stadium. "My name is Nanashi. Some of you may know me as the talking bird, others may know me as the inter-species translator.
"But I'm sure very few of you have heard the story of how I came to find myself in Rio, and the hardships I have had to face. So allow me to begin this tale with the story of the tragic day in 1996 that gave me purpose."
"I am the last and only of my species, a white raven not seen in hundreds of years on this planet. I do not know how I came to be, but I found myself in the care of the last flock of blue macaws this world will likely ever see."
Three kids looked up from the video game they'd managed to get their hands on, two boys and a girl. All were about teen age, and were fascinated by the thought of a talking bird.
"These macaws, while quite defensive and wary of humankind and its past actions, were more than willing to accept me. I was raised under the care of the leader of the flock, a brave bird named Eduardo. He already had another son, a four-year-old named Roberto. For three years, Roberto and I formed a special bond, stronger even than blood. Along the way, I met many other special birds, including a spirited bird named Jewel."
"I will admit, I was quite stubborn in those days, but I recognized the bond Roberto and I shared, and Jewel fit into that puzzle like she had been sent straight to us. Over those three years, we trained, played, searched the sights, and dreamed together, of a brighter future where no one would have to fight for their right to survive. They believed in me, and I them, that together, we could forge a new world."
Tulio took off the hat he was wearing to conceal his face, and placed it over his chest, listening to Nanashi's words in rapt amazement. There was a certain steel to them that had never been there before, and as he listened, he swear he could feel Nanashi's voice change. The various members of the police department he stood in were also listening intently.
"One day, I heard great news from my brother Roberto: our father was due to receive another child. His name was going to be Jason. Roberto, Jewel and I threw a party for the entire flock to celebrate our younger brother and give him a proper avian welcome, and the other birds from around the jungle came to attend as well. The first day of Carnaval had just begun, and Jason was due to hatch the next morning."
Inside an old, abandoned shop, a samurai sharpened his sword as he listened to Nanashi's speech. He was well aware of what was about to happen: the tragic disaster that would rip Nanashi away from his family. Thousands of stories just like it had been personally experienced by almost every samurai around the world, and every story that was shared always ended the same: bloodshed.
"Three days later, the Carnaval party started. The jungle was the most alive it had ever been, celebrating the annual tradition of cracking Brazil nuts at the start of Carnaval, but it had that added importance of awakening the avian instinct in a new bird that truly allowed the entire jungle to pour their hearts and souls into their song, waiting for the birds to make that leap of faith and come out of it with the same freedom that all birds wish for."
A large, bald man listened in rapt attention as he strapped on his bulletproof vest and strapped his pistols to his belt. This Nanashi had already made several appearances in the city, from what he'd heard from his buddies at the police station he used to be police chief at, and he had received the news to start preparing for, in short, war.
"But unfortunately, that day was cut tragically short. The heartsong, as they are called, had just concluded, when a band of smugglers and loggers struck the jungle my family and I called home. Right as Jason was about to take that jump himself, too. They were merciless, cutting down or outright burning as many trees as they could to get the wood and other resources, and capturing all of the birds they could to sell for profit, uncaring for the lives they'd just ruined. Many were captured that day, most were killed. Almost no one made it out of that jungle a free bird."
Henderson, an undercover operative of the FBI, narrowed his eyes. Of course, he has to be talking about the Wildfire of 1996. That left a stain on not just Rio, but all of Brazil's reputation, one they've been trying their hardest to recover since.
"I was also captured. Back then, no one in the world had known of the significance of my capture because I'd never spoken to any being that wasn't a bird, but that was soon to change. Over the next month, our smugglers ferried us across the Western Hemisphere. Every stop we made, from Mexico City to La Paz to Los Angeles to Juneau and Montreal and everywhere in between, money exchanged hands and birds were carried away, but never me. I dreaded the day it would finally happen, that I would cease to be considered a living being and parted with like just another object."
"But throughout all of it, I had to protect my little brother. That day, Jason had fallen right out of my family's nest, and his instincts were suppressed due to his fear. Right before I was captured, I managed to make it to him, intent on protecting him and raising him myself in lieu of all the friends I'd lost. I did everything I had to to keep him safe, at the expense of my own physical and mental health. When someone tried to take him, I'd claw out their eyes or try to bite off a finger, and they'd always run away in the end, but I slowly became less and less able to protect him."
Rafael couldn't believe what he was hearing. Nanashi had been forced to go through torture to ensure Blu was kept safe?! He practically growled, and a primal switch that had gone dormant ten years ago was flipped. The kind and supportive, easygoing toucan was swept away, and in its place flew a winged destroyer who had become feared for his absolute mastery over the avian form of Brazilian jujitsu, who gave no mercy and took no prisoners. He would see blood drawn this night, and no force this side of the planet would stop him.
"Whether you call it a stroke of pure luck or a rescue from the heavens themselves, one day, we were rescued. We had just been carted away, the last birds to be removed from the plane, but the truck we were put in, en route to its destination, the United States and Canada border, hit some kind of bump, and the latch disengaged on the cargo hold, and the box Jason and I had been uncaringly stuffed into was flung out into the chilly snow and atmosphere of a small, quaint town called Moose Lake, in the state of Minnesota. That day, we were saved from a freezing death by a very special human by the name of Linda Gunderson. She was only a kid at the time, but she made a promise she would take care of us and make sure we'd be able to return to our home one day."
Blu's eyes widened in shock. He didn't remember that happening at all. Then again, he was only two months old at that point, so how could he? Tears escaped his clenched eyes. I don't believe it… All this time… Linda wanted us to come back to Rio…?
"Over the next fifteen years, Linda took care of us, raising us as well as any mother could. In return, we gave her support, encouragement, and a friend to stand by in difficult times. One day, out of the blue, a strange man by the name of Doctor Tulio Monteiro came to the door of the bookstore the three of us called home. He dropped the bombshell that he had traveled all the way from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, effectively on the other side of the planet, for us. He told us of a female blue macaw who had survived the jungle tragedy and had been brought to his aviary, and he arranged to have the three of us flown down here to meet this blue macaw, Linda and I hoping that Jason and I would finally be able to return to our homeland, like she'd promised so long ago."
Luiz growled as he ran down the streets of Rio toward the parade stadium, James, Nico and Pedro hot on his heels. This was their home the entire time and they were forced away by those smugglers?! And now more want to ruin their lives again by taking away the only family they have?! I ain't gonna let 'em!
"So we flew down, hoping to start a new life here in Rio de Janeiro. But we weren't allowed to have any of that happiness: right after we met this female, she and Jason were kidnapped by another smuggler who had his sights set on profit and had shed his heart in favor of greed. Barely six hours after we landed in Rio, our happiness and our chance at a new life was stolen again. I refused to roll over and let them. The power outage that has only recently been resolved is my fault; I ran the bird who masterminded the kidnapping straight into Rio's main transformer at a hundred thirty kilometers an hour. Then and there, I told myself, swore, that if one more person tried to ruin my little brother's happiness, I would kill them."
In this moment, the divide that had plagued Rio de Janeiro for four hundred years became a massive rift that left no gray area. On one side were the customers of various areas and the visitors to the fair city, along with those who had eventually decided Rio would be their permanent home; those who only cared about the attraction to the city and not for its history.
On the other side were the martial artist clans who had defended Rio de Janeiro in the days where people in South America breathed martial arts. Honorable and valiant, they had vowed after the Brazilian Revolutionary War to protect Rio from all threats, both without and within, and they took blood oaths that sealed that pact in stone forever.
Guns and swords, knives and staves, and all manner of other weapons were taken up by both sides as they prepared for the foretold night where Rio's future would be forged in fire.
"And now, those same smugglers have taken my surrogate sister, Jewel, hostage, intent on selling her off to the highest bidder! I will not stand for it! I will see justice served! But most importantly, I. Will. Protect! I don't care if I have to forfeit my own life, but I will see those smugglers, and anyone else who sides with them, with the dark parts of existence who would see the world burn for their own benefit, who'd laugh with joy as the fabric of all life comes apart at the seams, die tonight! WHO'S WITH ME?!"
Half of Rio shouted their assent, and chose their side, in that very moment. Families were torn apart forever as people made the hardest choice of their lives: side with virtue, with the talking bird who had seen and faced it all and lived to tell the tale, to share it with the world in the hope that things could be set back on the right path, or side with vice, with the overseers that sought to forever silence that insulting voice that mocked the centuries of lying, cheating, stealing, and blackness that defined their lives and had made their success possible.
Nanashi finished his speech and used a wing to signal the crew to shut off the comms system, flying out of the booth and landing next to Blu. "Let's go save your future, little brother."
Suddenly, everything around the two birds came to a grinding halt, as if time itself had been stopped. The world around them faded away, into total blackness, and Nanashi's eyes widened when he received the memories of an encounter that should have been, by all accounts, impossible.
The Eternal One approached, his flowing, elegant robes trailing behind him as he stopped in front of Nanashi, whose body rose until it was eye-level with the immensely powerful being's form. "Welcome back to the realm, hero named Nanashi. You have passed the trials allotted before you, and so you are now given a choice: remain as you are in this world, or receive your memories, your body if you wish it, and a physical or spiritual quality of your choosing from your past life. We are in no rush, as this is a realm outside the concepts of space and time, and thus, you are not affected."
Nanashi thought for what seemed like both years and seconds, unable to tell the time in this formless dimension as he fought with himself over the hardest choice he'd ever have to make.
Eventually, he looked to Blu for support, and the macaw nodded, showing solidarity in whatever Nanashi chose.
Nanashi turned back to the Eternal One and made his request. "I wish to have my memories and body granted back to me."
The Eternal One snapped his long fingers, and an orb under his robes shone with the intensity of the Sun.
Nan… Shisui blinked as he moved his arms and fingers around, getting used to being back in his actual body again. He moved his legs to make sure they were actually there, checked his shinobi equipment and pulled out his sword to check for any changes, then turned back to the Eternal One. "I wish the quality restored to be my exact chakra network, the one I was born with and that I developed in my past life."
The Eternal One nodded his head and snapped his fingers a second time, and Shisui felt the power of being a shinobi come back to him, and he breathed in air he never thought he'd get the chance to enjoy again. Before the dimension faded back into the real world, though, the Eternal One spoke. "You should be aware of a key change to your physical attributes that was not present upon your death: your eyes have been used by others of kinship or those possessing aggressor DNA, and as a result, your ocular prowess has evolved from what your old world calls Mangekyo Sharingan to Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Eternal Mangekyo, as defined in your old world's legends, offers enhanced versions of the abilities you already wield without the crippling side effect of losing your sight as you continue to use the abilities. Wield your new power wisely, young champion. Now go back into your new world, and continue on your righteous quest."
The Eternal One and the dimension he brought with him faded away, leaving Shisui and Blu standing in the same hallway they'd been in, and after a moment, time resumed its normal pace.
"You… you've died before, Big Bro?" Blu was understandably horrified.
"Blu, listen to me." Shisui kneeled down next to Blu and raised him up with his finger so the two were eye-level. "Right now, your future, my surrogate sister, is out there, trapped and unable to escape, being treated like an object while we stand here inquiring about what to do next. We have to rescue her. Her life and your future depend on it. I can tell you about my past life once we're all safe and sound, but until then, it's time for battle. I promise I'll answer whatever you ask me once we're out of this, but for now, let's go save Jewel, alright?"
Blu nodded. "Yeah. Let's go save Jewel."
Five minutes later, Shisui stood at the head of a force of seventy thousand Protectors – those who had chosen to fight to bring about a brighter future – facing into the head end of the stadium's parade entrance, where an almost equally-sized force of Conquerors stood at the head of the parade float that no doubt held the many birds that Juan and his band of lackeys had captured.
All was dead silent, the entire city now poised to attack. No hesitation could be afforded, no mercy awarded, and no prisoners taken. The future of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would be decided now.
"PROTECTORS, CHARGE!"
This chapter is going to be so large that I have to split it into two. So not much to put here. Part 2 will go up before midnight tomorrow, so enjoy that once I do upload.
Bit of a disclaimer for those who haven't already realized: the Rio side of this story just swerved heavily into AU territory and will stay there the rest of this arc.