Rio: Fear and Feathers in Las Vegas
Chapter 14 - The Battle Is On
Author's Note - The best chapter ever in this story... oh, and don't worry, once this story is finished, it'll definitely tie in to the actual upcoming sequel to "Rio"
"Wait a second, Blu," cried Jewel, chasing after her husband.
Once he stopped by the fountain, exhausted because of his injured wing, Jewel said, "How can Nigel be here in Vegas?"
Pausing to catch his breath, Blu said, "Okay, it's POSSIBLE that Nigel might be here. And I think that Mr. Lopez is the guy who sent those cronies to kidnap us back at Niagra Falls."
But as they went to hurry back to the club, they had no idea on what was about to happen next...
[Downtown Vegas- A dark alley]
"How hard could it be to find two bloody Macaws?" Nigel cried, frustrated. "This infernal city is nothing but a useless and-"
Before he could continue his rant, he heard the footsteps of Oscar, the raccoon, who had a big wrapped bag in his paws.
"I found them, boss," said Oscar. "Two blue Macaws, a male and female."
Nigel grinned like a Cheshire cat, and watched with evil excitement as the raccoon opened up the burlap bag, but when the birds tumbled out, he frowned, and said, "What are you two doing here?"
"I was gonna ask you the same thing, puffy," replied Arthur, while Jez just watched with amusement.
The cockatoo growled, and brought the middle-aged bird up to his scarred face. "I'm not here to play games, little pest. Tell me where Blu and Jewel are hiding."
"Buddy, please, I'm used to interrogation," laughed Arthur. "There ain't nothing you can do to me that I can't handle."
Nigel frowned, and tossed him back at Blu's sister. "Well, it doesn't matter now. They'll come to me once they start looking for you two."
As the macaw flew up in the air, while Oscar kept his eyes on them, Arthur sighed, and said, "I sure hope Blu and Jewel are doing better than we are right now."
Meanwhile, back in Rio de Janeiro, Linda and Tulio were about to leave on another expedition to help injured animals, until they were stopped by Hector, their "government" friend.
"Guys, you're not going to believe this!" Hector exclaimed. "But we need to go back to the Amazon!"
"Back?" Linda said. "There? What for?"
Hector looked a little nervous as he said, "Because some forest caretakers found remains of hatched eggs and old nests that once belonged to a tribe of blue Macaws."
The young couple couldn't believe their ears. "More Macaws? So Blu isn't the only one?"
Hector shook his head. "It's a possible option, Linda, but we need to leave ASAP because I also heard that Sal Lopez got released from prison, and he knows about the discovery, also."
Linda and Tulio looked at each other, and nodded in agreement, but as they helped Hector get on board, they didn't notice Bobby watching from a lamp post.
"Oh my gosh, I got to tell the others!"
[Nevada International Airport]
"YOU lost them?"
Sal Lopez, the infamous Brazilian bird poacher, was talking to the pilot of the plane that had been carrying Blu and the others.
At least until they'd somehow disappeared before landing.
"Unbelievable!" Sal shouted. "Huh? A cockatoo? Wait, what video footage are.. oh... thank you very much."
Hanging up the phone, the former prisoner grinned, and headed to the taxi cab area.
It was time to go to Vegas.
[Halfway point to Las Vegas]
"Oh my gosh, it's so hot," sighed Victor, wiping off some sweat with his feathers. "How are you- WHAT?!"
To his surprise and anger, Victor watched as Carlos was being taken by his father's parakeet friend.
"Long time, no see, Godfather," said Nico. "Thanks for returning my lil nephew here."
"How in the heck did you catch up to us?" Victor growled.
All of a sudden, he found himself being smacked and scratched, and pushed back a few feet.
"Nice one, babe," said Nico. "You too, Ralfy!"
The toucan smiled after seeing Carlos safe and unharmed, then said, "Okay, come on, we got to go somewhere safe to get away from the crows."
"Pedal to the metal, baby!" Nico yelled, and with Carlos now holding onto Rafael, they and Flora flew as fast as possible.
A few feet behind, Victor collapsed to the ground, and got up to see that half of his birds were either knocked out or scratched up badly.
Thinking fast, the tall and menacing crow turned to his remaining henchmen. "All right. Johnny? You help everyone here get better, then go to Vegas so that you can help when the fight starts."
His cousin gave him a wing salute, and before going up in the air, Vic said to his remaining cronies, "I don't want ANYONE harming Blu's friends or family. Just bring Blu to me... ALIVE... AND then, I'll have my revenge... LET'S FLY!"
The multiple crows flew up in the air, and took off to chase after Nico, Flora, and Rafael.
[Rio Hotel - Rooftop of Building]
"They were what?!"
"It's not entirely our fault!" Frankie held his wings to his face,"Everything happened so fast!"
Blu couldn't believe it. Now he knew that Nigel was definitely at Vegas, but wherever he was, Arthur and Jez were his hostages.
"Yeah, and I couldn't even talk to the bird who got up on stage about Rio!" Pedro exclaimed, with Robyn rolling her eyes.
"Not important at the moment, Pedro," said Blu. "Arthur and my sister are somewhere in Vegas, held captive by Nigel and some new raccoon henchman, and I ain't going home without them."
"Er, not to disappoint you and ruin your epic speech," replied Wally. "But there's got to be almost a million buildings composed of hotels and casinos! This might not be as easy as it was for us to find you and Jewel in Niagra Falls. And why did you say some Lopez guy is the reason we were in cages in the first place?"
Blu explained, "Because he must have learned about Jez being there. Us getting captured was just a bonus."
"Well, what happens when he comes here, too?" Pedro asked, a little concerned. "Last time you got caught by him, you almost went to the place up above the skies. Remember?"
Obviously, Blu didn't remember much, but Jewel and Pedro did.
[Flashback]
Lopez and Nigel brought Jewel and Pedro down in the boat's lower quarters, and placed them in a locked cage. "Now, behave, you two… or else you'll join your friend in Heaven."
As he went back up, Nigel stayed behind, and looked at Jewel, saying, "Aw, don't be sad… if you ask nicely, I could quickly make you be reunited with Blu in the next life."
Pedro looked at the depressed Jewel, and to Nigel, he said, "Hey, that's a little too far… and I can't believe you killed him! What kind of bird are you?"
"The kind that can make a cardinal rotisserie before you can say Carnivale," growled Nigel, and he flew away.
After he was gone, Pedro put a wing around the sad Jewel, and said, "He's alive, Jewel… I know he's alive."
Blu looked at his wing, and then, he said, "I learn from my mistakes. But they're family... yes, even Arthur... and we all need to stick together."
"Awww, how touching. And so disgusting."
All of the birds turned around to see Nigel, along with Oscar, and a tied-up Arthur and Jez.
"Well, we found them," said Wally. "Can we go home now?"
"Not quite," said Nigel. "I have some unfinished business to settle with you, Blu."
The young Macaw asked, "How did you even find us?"
Jewel looked at Arthur, who said, "Hey, I am NOT a blabber mouth, okay? Blame those stupid pigeons who thought Blu sounded like the Facebook guy."
Nigel grinned, and said, "Yes, useless birds actually proving to be of some use to me. Now then, Blu, prepare to die."
As the cockatoo moved towards Blu, Jewel stood in front of him.
"You're gonna have to go through me first, buddy."
Nigel frowned, and was about to pounce on Jewel when, suddenly, they heard a dark and menacing noise from a crow.
Looking up at a nearby electricity post, they saw Victor, who looked a lot more scary at night.
"Evening, Blu, Nigel, ladies," said the Mafia crow. "Remember me?"
"Who is he?" Robyn asked.
"Victor," explained Blu. "Or Vinny. Vito? One of those names... he's the reason Carlos can't speak much."
"Ah, yes," laughed Victor. "Do tell them about that night, my friend..."
Blu was about to speak when Nigel groaned, "Vito, this is going to be a really long flashback. Must we tell it?"
"I don't care what you think, screwball," growled the crow. "This story has gone unfinished long enough, and I'm SICK OF IT!"
Pedro looked at Robyn with confusion, but she just shrugged her feathers.
[Flashback]
"Such a sad thing a broken heart is..."
"Well, at least I got something out of this..." Nigel said with a sly grin as he ran his claw across the cage bars in front of Jewel.
"Looks like you and your 'friends' get along real well, huh?" Jewel said with an emotionless expression, to which Nigel rolled his eyes in anger.
"Oh pretty bird...It's a little strategy that my family came up with called 'resourcing'. You play the right cards, make a few friends, and then dump them off once your deed is done. You can't make friends without making enemies...You should know that by now." Nigel said with his cackly laugh. The cockatoo's attention suddenly shifted to the egg beside Jewel.
"How sweet. Going to have a little Spix Junior?...Such a shame his useless, flightless papa won't be there for him..." Nigel said with a devilish grin, this comment suddenly enraging Jewel, who angrily swiped at Nigel and managed to claw his face. Nigel staggered back, groaning in pain from the giant scar he just received, but then he suddenly began to laugh madly.
"You know, you really shouldn't have done that..." Nigel said with an evil chuckle. The cockatoo then quickly rushed forward and plowed into the cage, sending the cage, along with Jewel and the egg, smashing into the wall behind them. Before Jewel could regroup, Nigel quickly opened the cage and swiped the giant egg out and shut the cage once more.
"Don't you dare hurt my Carlos!" Jewel yelled angrily, running to the front of the cage and attempting to grab Nigel so she could strangle him to death, but to no avail.
"You know, it'd be a shame if the next little Spix were to turn into egg yolk..." Nigel said with a grin, placing one foot on top of the egg. Jewel stopped for only a second to realize what Nigel was doing...
"Nigel, you let my baby go!" Jewel sqwuaked angrily, trying to break open the cage so she could destroy this cockatoo once and for all. Nigel was about ready to stomp on the egg and kill the poor thing inside, when a yell from across the warehouse suddenly caught his attention.
"Blue macaw at 5 o' clock!"
Nigel was about to yell at the owl who had shouted from across the warehouse, when he suddenly realized that the crow didn't kill Blu after all...Perhaps this would be fun, Nigel thought to himself. Nigel flew over quickly to the balcony that the owl was perched on with a set of binoculars, when he finally spotted a small blue bird running toward the warehouse. Nigel smiled slyly, knowing in his mind this was Blu coming to save his damsal in distress.
Outside the warehouse, Vinny and his cronies saw the nefarious cockatoo above their heads, who ordered, "Ok, you screwballs, the other birds are yours... but the cerulean bird is mine!"
"Doesn't that mean blue?" asked Johnny, and Vinny rolled his eyes. With an evil laugh, Nigel led his henchman toward the group of pathetic birds, and the first thing he grabbed was the Spix Macaw.
"Now, then," growled Nigel, with a grin across his face. "How should I begin my revenge on you, my Blu friend?" The Macaw gasped, "That would be an excellent but scary question... if I were Blu."
"WHAT?" Nigel took a closer look at his prey, and saw that he hadn't gotten his nemesis, but a much older looking macaw. "If you are not Blu, then where is he?"
...
In the warehouse, Jewel was getting sad and scared, not wanting to believe that Blu was gone. "Oh, Blu..." sobbed Jewel. "I wish I could just hold you one more time."
"YOU CAN HOLD ME!" All of a sudden, Jewel jumped in fear, screaming, but then, she saw Blu in front of the cage.
"Am I late?" joked Blu.
"Several minutes ago wouldn't have been bad so much," replied Jewel, and the two mates smirked.
Back outside, Arthur had succesfully evaded Nigel, who was unable to find him again.
"Man, I thought I was old! You can't even spot a blue bird that's right in front of you!" Arthur taunted from behind a tree about 10 feet from where Nigel was searching. Nigel growled in anger at the constant taunting that Arthur was delivering.
Also, Vinny was fighting Rafael, Nico was against Johnny, and Pedro, along with Bobby and Wally, was fighting his other cronies.
"Vin,what in the hell do we do?" Jonny asked as he crawled into a corner, trying to stay out of the fighting, seeing as he was being beat to a pulp by Nico and Pedro. Vinny wasn't having much luck at all against Rafael, and was already torn apart because of the toucan's surprising fighting ability.
"...We'll run like men, Jonny...We run like...MEN-" Vinny was cut off when Wally suddenly grabbed hs leg and hurled him across the room. It was clear that these birds didn't the appreciate the mafia messing with their friends, Jonny thought to himself as he was quickly grabbed by Bobby as well.
After being unable to locate Arthur, Nigel had a crazy look in his eye, and he shouted, "THAT'S IT!" Lightning flashed, and everyone looked up at the almost-insane cockatoo. "I want Blu in my grasp right now!" Nico punched and kicked Johnny, and cried, "You'll have to go through his friends first!" Nigel laughed with a nefarious grin, and said, "Fair deal... why don't I start with you?"
...
Back in the abandoned warehouse, Blu was almost done with trying to open the cage's lock. "How much longer, Blu?" asked Jewel. The tech-savvy bird, who was sticking a chicken bone the size of a needle in the lock, answered, "Almost... done...!"
Meanwhile, Arthur (in his hiding spot) saw all his friends and the Mafia birds being attacked by Nigel, who looked like he had become a bird-version of Hannibal Lecter, but then, his fear increased when Nigel growled, "I bet I know where that bird is..."
"I got it!" exclaimed Blu, and when the lock clicked, he took it off, opening the cage. "All right, my love, now we can..." Before he could finish, Jewel gave him a warm hug, and then, when she let go, Blu couldn't help saying, "Is that all the princess can give to her prince?" Jewel giggled, and she was about to move her beak closer to his, but then, Nigel came right in, and grabbed Blu in his talons, pinning him against the wall.
"Oh, h-hey, Nigel," said Blu. "You look good...how is Mauro?"
"That monkey left Rio to get lost in paradise," replied Nigel. "As for you, I plan to kill you before you can even say..."
"Surf's up, bird-brain!" Arthur glided to the rescue, using all of his strength to knock Nigel away. After Blu fell to the ground, he groaned, but then, Arthur grabbed him, and shook his best pal like mad.
"BLU! Come on, man, don't go into the light! I need you, Jewel needs you..." Just then, a lightbulb went on inside his head. "Hey, wait a sec... I know how to do this!"
So, like a blanket, Arthur spun Blu around and around until the dizzy Macaw cried, "ARTHUR! STOP BEFORE YOU GIVE ME DYSLEXIA!" The reporter-bird released Blu, who shook his head and replied, "But thanks for saving me."
"Well, technically, my buddy," said Arthur. "You and I are even, but you're welcome."
"Aw, isn't that sweet?" Blu and Arthur turned to see Nigel, who had Jewel in one claw, while Carlos was in the other. "I hate sweet..."
"Nigel," began Blu. "Let go of my family."
The cockatoo laughed. "I have a better idea for you, Blu. What if a vicious bird like me got angry, and... killed everyone?"
Turning to Jewel, Nigel cackled, "So, let us begin with the girl and egg that started it all, shall we?" With a laugh, Nigel flew out the window, yelling, "Come along, Blu, I don't want you to miss this ending!"
Arthur glanced at Blu with an absolutely horrifed expression and then sqwuaked loudly in terror.
"Bob-O! Wally! We got a damsal in distress!" Arthur yelled out, quickly running to the window after the cockatoo.
"W-what?" Bobby asked in a daze, raising his head from a hole in the wooden-panelled wall that he was thrown into by Nigel.
...
Vinny slowly opened his eyes after he heard the other male macaw yell out something to the pigeon only a few feet away from the crows, but was able to catch a glimpse of Nigel flying out of the window, however. His eyes narrowed in sheer anger. Nigel had not only made him look like a fool...but also caused all this pain to his family. He slowly got up, many of his feathers shearing off as he lifted his aching body up, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to make that cockatoo pay for what he had done...
"That's it! Nigel, you're a dead bird!" Vinny yelled as he quickly dashed towards the window, his red eyes bleeding anger.
...
Arthur swung up to the roof of the warehouse, quickly searching for any sign of Nigel. Arthur looked to the other side of the roof, and instantly spotted Nigel, who was levitating slowly over the side of the roof, the egg containing Carlos in one claw and Jewel in the other.
"You insane cockatoo, let them go!" Arthur exclaimed angrily as he slowly made his way over to the cockatoo, when Nigel grinned and then loosened his grip on both of his occupants.
"Temper temper little Artie..." Nigel laughed. "We wouldn't want two little blue macaws to turn into road pizza, would we?"
"Arthur...I think it's time for you to shut up now..." Jewel said quietly. Arthur quickly tried to think of something to do, when Blu quickly joined him on the roof.
"Nigel! Let go of my family!" Blu exclaimed, more determination in his voice this time. Nigel slowly chuckled at the same words used as last time.
"I suppose you expect me to release them? Well-" Nigel was suddenly stopped when a black figure smashed into him from behind him. It turned out to be Vinny, who was back to wreak his revenge on the cockatoo.
"You're going to pay for what you've done you psychopath!" Vito screamed, clawing at Nigel and knocking him back down to the roof, who dropped both Jewel and the egg to the roof softly.
"Jewel!" Blu cried out as he bolted towards his mate in joy, without noticing that the scuffle between Nigel and Vinny was causing the egg to start shaking towards the edge of the roof...
When Blu caught up to Jewel, he backed his claws against the edge of the roof, stopping them from going any further. He looked at her, and asked, "Is this a habit of yours, Blu? Fallin' off stuff?" She chuckled, and said, "Only when you're around to catch me..."
"HEY!" The two Macaws looked at Arthur, who dodged the fighting antagonists. "AM I INTERRUPTING?"
Blu saw his egg about to fall down, and he cried, "NO!" He quickly chased after it, but then, Nigel grabbed him by the throat, knocked Vinny away, and ran up to the warehouse's flag pole.
"BLU!" yelled Jewel, and went after them, while across the roof, Arthur ran after the egg... On the pole, in the villian's clutches, Blu cried, "LET ME GO, YOU CRAZY BIRD!"
Nigel cackled, and exclaimed, "I may be vicious and malicious, Blu, but NEVER crazy. OW!" They looked down to see Jewel, who had thrown a sharp stick at him, yelling, "Nigel! I won't let you take him!"
The cockatoo cried, "We're getting to the end of our story now, pretty birds!"
On the roof, Vinny got up, and when he saw Jewel and Blu with Nigel, the mafia leader had a sudden change of heart...
Back at the flag, Blu wheezed as Nigel laughed, yelling, "How is this? And they all lived HAPPILY EVER AFTER!"
"And they all lived happily ever after...well, at least I did!" The nefarious bird laughed victoriously, but then, everyone turned their heads to see Vinny, who shouted, "I've been waiting forever to do this!"
Coming straight for Nigel, the crow tackled him, and the force made Nigel release Blu. Jewel ran over to her mate, and asked, "Are you all right?"
Blu turned to see Nigel and Vinny fly into a garbage truck, and replied, "I'm fine... Why did he save me, though?" Before Jewel could answer, Arthur came over, looking exhausted...and holding the still-unhatched Carlos.
"Blu... Jewel... I hope your next kids hatch faster than Junior here."
Blu, surprised, said, "You saved him?" Arthur nodded, and replied, "What are friends for? Just make sure that your kids are hatched cause I am NOT in my prime."
Blu and Jewel laughed, and to Blu and Arthur's surprise, the young and pretty Macaw hugged the reporter-bird, saying, "Thank you... so much, Arthur." Arthur blushed, and said, "Aw, it was... you're welcome, Jewel. By the way, what happened to Nigel and Vinny?"
Blu shrugged, and answered, "Well, they ended up going to the Dump, but I don't know what will happen after that... but I DO know that I want to get home!"
Before anyone could move, the egg that sat next to them began to vibrate violently. The three Spix macaws quickly shifted their attention to the egg and all had looks of worry on. All of the sudden, the egg quickly split open, and out slowly crawled a small pink thing. While it took a bit for Blu and Jewel to realize it, Arthur's eyes lit up in wonder. Arthur bent his head down and stared at his little nephew with an amazed smile.
"Oh my gosh...Jewel, that's your little Carlos!" Arthur whispered with a smile wide across his face. Blu could only share the same amazed expression. He had never seen such a miracle of life occur in front of his eyes before...And most beautiful of all was that this bundle of joy was there's to raise and love.
Blu looked to his mate Jewel, who was completely speechless, however her eyes could tell it all. Jewel's eyes had lit up in complete joy and amazement. Blu and Jewel both shared loving smiles and then looked down at their son, who was currently poking his head out of the egg in complete confusion. This new world, the sounds...Everything was new to the small Spix that had arrived.
"Blu...I'm an uncle," Arthur said, his smile growing wider at every word. "I'm a uncle!"
As the reporter-bird celebrated, both Blu and Jewel bent down to see their new chick, who was currently still weak and unaware of anything that was going on. However, the beauty had stayed in the situation. Both Blu and Jewel could only look at each knowingly, fully aware that their lives would be changed forever. However, seeing this great child they now had, they both knew that perhaps they knew more then they ever had before...And maybe, they were prepared to be parents all this time.
Once the story was over, Vinny suddenly moved his wing from behind his back, and everyone saw that Carlos was in his grasp.
"No!" Blu and Jewel yelled at the same time.
"Oh, ho, ho, he's not the only one," grinned Vinny.
Stepping out of the shadows appeared Vinny's fellow crows, who had Nico, Flora, Rafael, Ruby, and Sergio in their clutches.
Blu looked up at Vinny, saying, "What do you have against me, Vinny?"
"Me? Nothing!" The crow explained, and he flew down to deliver Carlos to his parents. "Just needed to get your help somehow in finding Nigel. Boys?"
His cronies released the birds from their grasp, with Ruby and Sergio (and now Carlos) going over to Blu and Jewel...
Up until Nigel, furious with his plan about to be ruined, yelled, "NO! I WILL NOT BE LOSING TO A BLUE MACAW ANYMORE!"
Picking up Oscar, Nigel swung him at Vinny, who fell off the post, and all landed on the other crows.
Then, before the Macaw family could be reunited, Nigel flew towards Carlos, grabbing him in his claws, and flew off into the bright lights of the Vegas strip. "Anyone else follow me besides Jewel or you, Blu, I'm dropping him!"
"No!" Running as fast as he could, Blu ran in the direction that Nigel had gone in, but then, he felt himself get picked up, and saw that Jewel was holding onto him.
The two Macaws looked at each other, nodded their heads, and flew after Nigel, with Blu saying, "This is the last straw!"
"Fine by me, Blu! I think it's time for this story to end!"
With an evil laugh, Nigel took off, while Jewel and Blu went faster as they tried to catch up to the rugged and scarred cockatoo.