Chapter 21:

Nigel cackled to himself as he stood menacingly on his large heavy talons. His sharp claws prodded from the asphalt. Without a word he spread his wings and turned to the small group of monkeys and margays behind him. Each one of them had their eyes focused upon the old aviary and though not a word was spoken between any of them, the cockatoo could tell that they were all thinking the same thing. Folding his wings flat against each other as a wicked smile passed his beak, he peered down at the new mark upon his wing. The bright purple tattoo resembling a drop of blood started to glow the closer he got to the building. Raising a talon to his beak he toyed with a small chunk of meat caught in his beak. He moaned for a moment as he finally freed it and it slipped down his throat. Before long he addressed the assembly of creatures. "Welcome boys," he began, "This is where it all began. This is the spot where I was supposed to capture the two blue macaws and make my fortune." Nigel bowed his head and lifted his wing dramatically. "My plan was flawless except for my inability to see just how smart the male was. I underestimated him, you however must not. This time if you follow my orders and we play smart, revenge will be mine."

Nigel's eyes glistened as he watched the crowd of creatures shuffle for a moment. A large hideous monkey dressed in a thick yellow robe stepped forward. He peered down at his own mark which resembled a monkey's head. The mark also glowed bright as he hid his paw behind his sleeve, though Nigel still could tell he pointed a single curved claw in his direction. His fangs prodded from his mouth, damp saliva drifted down the his dry cracked lips which sprayed through the air as he spoke with complete disgust towards the cockatoo. "Oh yeah," he asked, shifting his hood further down his face. "And just why should I listen to you? You just said that you had a chance to get the job done and you blew it. "Why should I listen to a loser who could not get the job done right the first time?"

Nigel's eyes hardened as he glared at the impudent monkey. Even though they were comrades on the same side, and they both served the same master, he still hated to be questioned by someone naturally weaker than he was. Slamming his talon down upon the ground, he charged forward striking his beak straight through the chest of the nearest creature. The monkey did not even have a chance to respond before he bled out, falling to the ground like a rock. Nigel's smile widened as he removed a strand of the monkey's intestine from his beak. He eyed the yellow robed monkey. "Good point," he sighed, "Yeah, I must admit that you do make a good point. However this is my counter argument. I am in charge, you follow my orders or you end up like him." Nigel pointed a wing down to the slain creature. The monkey's blood stained his talons. "Now, does anyone else want to speak out or have any complaints? Please, let them speak now or forever your peace because I do not want to feel like I'm cheating you." There was a slight shuffle amongst the monkeys. Nigel's smile widened. "I didn't think so, now let's get moving."

"Hold on there," The monkey in yellow protested, raising a pointed claw towards the cockatoo once more. His eyes glistened in open defiance. "I am all for getting this Macaw and following the grand plan of our society, especially after what has been done to Amber, but I expect to be well compensated. I want what was promised to me and you had better live up to your end of our agreement, if you don't then I will not take another step forward and neither will any of my monkeys. Isn't that right, boys?"

The Marmosets who were present nodded their heads in complete agreement though their eyes widened in horror at the sight of the monstrous white cockatoo. Nigel clicked his beak together, his dark bloodshot eyes focused solely upon the monkey. "Refresh my memory, what exactly did I promise you?"

The Monkey dressed in yellow spit with disgust. "You said that I would get a chance to teach the bird some manners for hurting one of our members. You also said that I would get some nice shiny trinkets and all the fresh fruit I could eat, plus you would assist me in my revenge against King Mauro. I'm sick and tired of waiting, I want half of this stuff in advance or you get no help."

"Is that so?" Nigel cackled to himself, swatting the monkey's claw with his wing. His eyes burned bright. "The deal is still perfectly valid and I will live up to my end of it but only if you follow my orders without question. If you choose to continue standing in my way and questioning my judgment than you get nothing! This is all a game my little friend… the revenge game… and every move must be exact and precise otherwise you will be just as dead as our little friend, Amber."

"Really?" The monkey arched a suspicious eye towards his commanding officer. His mark glowed brighter as his suspicion began to simmer beneath the surface. "I don't care so much about the trinkets but I won't let my brothers starve. Tourist season is over and the King keeps all he food for himself and his high council. I will fight you to the death to keep them safe if I have too, especially if it means getting what we need to survive. You better pray it doesn't come to that Nigel."

Nigel clicked his beak, not shaken by the threat. He simply eyed the monkey with an amused look. "Charming, you would like to play hero. It is a pity you are nothing more than a villain… a common thief… that mark on your arm is proof enough of that. Might I suggest that you do as I say and get back in line with the rest of your misguided group? Keep it up, and I'll just slaughter you all right now." The monkey frowned and backed himself back into the crowd. Nigel forced what could only be described as a twisted smile. He laughed and continued on with his rant. "Congratulations, Jose. You certainly do have a bit of sense about you. Not much, but for a monkey you are above average. Certainly better than the King who I hired a few years ago during my original encounter with the Macaws."

There was a slight shuffle amongst the crowd. Jose snorted with disgust. "Can we please just get on with this?"

Nigel spread his wings and laughed insanely, clicking his beak together between sharp intakes of breath. "Very well, here is the plan. I am going to send in a spy to check and see what is happening in there. If that creature sees the Blue Macaws then report back immediately. Once we are inside, we will capture the male and take him back into the subway system unharmed, if the female interferes do not even touch here. She is an important part of making my revenge complete."

The Monkey in yellow cocked his head to one side. His muzzle curled as he thought about what he had just heard. "But I thought we were only after the male Macaw?" he questioned.

"Think about it for a moment Monkey Brain. The Macaws love each other, when we separate them, we will crush their spirits, their hopes and their dreams. Last time I targeted the wrong Macaw and took the female prisoner when she is the one who is far more sentimental and emotionally fragile. Let's see how well she handles losing the love of her life. Then I will strike and I will have a brand new coat of feathers. Blu will know my pain in more ways than one when I rip everything from him, first his wife and children, then his feathers one by one. No matter what happens there is no defeat for me and I will be beautiful once again."

The group of monkey's laughed amongst themselves. "That wife of his will probably suffer the rest of her life. Isn't that right, Nigel?"

Nigel nodded his scarred head. His tongue prodded from his mouth. "Exactly, and when she suffers, her lover boy will suffer as well. The poor pathetic Romeo will beg and plead to return to his Juliet…" his eyes glistened as his smile widened, "and that is when I will strike!" Nigel folded a wing over his heart and let another wicked smile pass his beak. "Ah, young love... what a powerful and yet extremely stupid thing. I hope they enjoy it now, because it will be their undoing."

#

Basked between the specks of sunlight which shined through the forest canopy a lone Margay crept silently through the jungle. With her eyes open, she sniffed the air. The scent of Macaws still lingered heavily upon the breeze, a scent in which she gladly followed. Her bright green eyes glistened as damp saliva dripped hungrily down her dry cracked lips. "Where are you?" she chuckled to herself. "I can't wait to find you and teach you tasty morsels a lesson you will never forget." Stopping dead in her tracks, her hairs bristled and stood on end. The damp saliva drifted heavier as she caught scent of a much stronger scent. Her eyes widened with surprise as she lifted her head straight upwards. "The scent is coming from right above me," she hissed, "But where exactly are you…?"

"Fly like a bird, Jewel," a voice echoed from the treetops. Studying the trees for a few moments, she caught glimpse of five Blue Macaws as they flew past. The Margay chuckled to herself as she climbed the tree hoping for a better look and stopped upon a small branch just below a hollowed out cavern. Wasting no time she climbed into the entryway and plucked a small blue feather from the nest. An evil crueler smile blanketed her face as she realized the truth of what she had found. "I must be standing within their home," she grinned. "If that is the case, where exactly are they going?" Her voice trailed off as the realization sank into her mind. She shifted her attention back towards the direction of where the Spix Macaws had traveled. "They're heading back towards the city… I'm sure Nigel would be interested in knowing this information, but I better have some insurance first or I'm as good as dead if I'm wrong."

#

Blu led the way, flying off towards the city of Rio. Once they had crossed the threshold, he, Jewel and their three hatchlings landed down on the warm pavement streets. Blu eyed the wonderment before him. Sugar loaf mountain rose off into the distance towering above the many different skyscrapers lining the streets. The cable cars rose slowly into the sky along the long rope like wires which kept the metal box suspended into the air. Down upon the ground, a large grey sidewalk sat on both sides of the road with a black line creating a wavy motion along the cement. The bright sun glistened upon the warm sand, creating an almost pleasant atmosphere. However despite Rio being less busy than it was during the days of Carnival, the city itself still looked the same. The smell of freshly chopped fruit still littered the streets and the sound of haggling echoed from both sides of the road. Blu peered around for a brief moment before finally speaking his thoughts aloud. "Wow, I can't believe we're back." Blu grinned sheepishly as he eyed Jewel who stood beside him in awe.

"Certainly brings back a lot of memories doesn't it?" Jewel teased nudging him with her wing.

"Oh most definitely, who could forget everything that we have been through? The Samba Club, the crazy samba loving birds like Nico and Pedro trying to fix us up, the trolley cart at sunset, even the chase with Nigel, although I do have to say the best part of the whole experience was meeting you."

"Yeah and that almost didn't happen," Jewel reminded him. "As many good experiences we have had together, we still had some pretty bad ones," Jewel pointed to the peak of the mountain. "Do you remember our brush with death and how we fell a few hundred feet to the beach below? Or how about the argument outside of Luiz's garage? What would have happened had you not come to help me against Nigel?"

"No," Blu turned away, trying hard to avoid the awkward memories.

"Oh Blu, of course you do," Jewel nudged him. "You even said you hated samba."

At the very words, the three hatchlings hovered in place. "Dad hates samba?" Buster cocked his head to the side, shaking his wing in an accusing fashion. Kinski followed suit, sticking his tongue out of his mouth as he tried to comprehend the sheer stupidity of the statement. Rose hovered by her mother eyeing the three boys as the two younger kids collided with their father, tackling him to the ground. Blu raised a wing as he tried to issue for help from his wife. Rose shook her head and turned to her mother. "Are boys always this stupid?" she asked.

Buster and Kinski forced Blu's wing down to the ground so he couldn't escape. Jewel went bright red in the face as she formed a completely innocent smile. "Sadly, yes, unfortunately there is not much you can do about that. It's better to just ignore them and chop it up to boys being boys. Believe me, Honey. It will bring you some much needed peace and save you from a really serious headache."

Rose eyed the boys once more and cringed. "Do you have a plan B?"

Once the moment had passed and Buster and Kinski moved onto the next thing that had captured their interest, Jewel fluttered to Blu's side, her argument continued as she slyly forced a smile and nudged her husband playfully. "So, do you remember that argument, Blu?"

Blu ruffled his feathers for a moment. "No, I really don't. I prefer to remember the good moments like loving you and making you fall in love with me, you know that sort of stuff. Because when all is said and done, no matter how many arguments we have or what we argue about, I am just really thankful to have you in my life and I don't even know how I got so lucky. I was a simple bird living a simple life in Minnesota, next thing I know, I'm here and my life has never been the same."

Jewel's innocent smile widened as she eyed Blu with her peripheral vision. "Are you getting soft on me, Pet?" she teased, "Though I must admit, you do know what a girl wants to hear, thank you."

Blu toyed with his wings for a moment before responding. "There is no need to thank me, Jewel, I should really be the one thanking you. You're an angel remember?"

"Yeah," Jewel grinned, "I'm the angel who stomped upon your throat the moment we met."

"Don't remind me," Blu sighed, "I still have the scars from your talons."

Jewel and Blu peered at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing. The three kids stared at them awkwardly for a moment.

"Did we miss a joke?" Buster asked.

"I honestly couldn't tell you," Rose shrugged.

Kinski shrugged his shoulders, sticking the tongue out of his mouth as he became lost in the moment. He laughed silently, copying his parents exactly.

"Hey homies what's poppin?"

Blu and Jewel jumped with fright at the newcomer's voice. Turning around as quickly as possible, both macaws stood face to face with Nico and Pedro. Both birds held huge smiles on their faces and looked like they had not aged a day in the past three years. "Hey guys," Blu smiled, "What brings you here? Isn't Carnaval over for the year?"

Nico hovered in the air shifting in the wind as he passed both Blu and Jewel for a quick inspection. "The question is not what we're doing here, bird. The question is what are you doing here?" Pedro squawked as he landed on his two talons.

"So what are you doing here, homies? We thought you was dead."

Blu shifted his feet a little uncomfortably, he hadn't seen his friends since the fight with Amber and Roger. He really did not know how to bring up the conversation revolving around his family. "Well we brought the kids over to see Rafael and Luiz." Blu explained.

Nico and Pedro looked at each other for a moment than continued the interrogation. "Children…?" Nico echoed uncertain on if he had heard the macaw correctly or not.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, hold up, rewind." Pedro spun around, placing his wing around Blu. "The last time we saw you two, you were in the jungle fighting two evil birds, are you telling me that you two actually succeeded in having kids?"

Blu shifted his feet a little uneasily, he had never been overly good at expressing his own personal matters. He eyed Jewel with a nervous expression and nodded. "Yeah, I don't see how you could forget, you were there when they were testing her. You even taught me how to say I love you in Portuguese."

"Do you know where Rafael and Luiz are?" Jewel intervened stepping in between her husband and the pair of birds she considered friends, "We really don't have time to just sit around and chat, not with the responsibility of running a family."

Nico nodded his little yellow head and tipped his bottle cap hat with respect. "Of course we know where he is little lady. We just saw him not too long ago, he went to Luiz's garage, why didn't you try there first?"

Jewel rolled her eyes. "Probably because it was Blu who came up with this plan."

Blu toyed with his wings, lowering his head and avoiding all the eyes which turned to focus on him. He made a stupid mistake that was quite obvious. "Well, perhaps we should head there." he admitted, accepting defeat.

#

"We have found him!" A voice called out to Nigel. The cockatoo turned his head and smiled at the large female margay.

"Excellent, where is he?" Nigel asked.

"I've sent some margays to capture him, he is right here in Rio. They're tracking him down and I can guarantee that you will have him captured by sundown."

Nigel snapped his beak shut, his eyes burned furiously. "Very good, I'm heading into the subway system bring him to me, as for covering your tracks, you know what to do."