Chapter 25:

Jewel was not the only macaw who was having a restless evening. Blu stared out from the confinements of his steel cage. His wings gripped the metal bars as he studied his surroundings. He sat deep underground. Hidden within what he could only assume would have been an old abandoned subway tunnel somewhere beneath the city of Rio de Janeiro. The old emergency lights flickered, revealing the green translucent moss which grew upon the cement walls each time the room went dark. Water dripped down the far wall just opposite of his position, soaking the machinery and breakers which powered the lighting. It flickered and sparked every couple of minutes as the water fell across the electrical wiring, what remained after that formed a stagnant puddle at his feet. At first Blu had been reluctant to drink it, but after convincing himself that no one was going to bring him any food or water, he drank greedily from the puddle trying hard not to think about the foul taste or the harmful effects it might have on his body. After drinking his fill, Blu forced himself to sit quietly, ignoring the strange odor which clung to the almost stagnant air. "It's probably some kind of mold," he told himself, covering his beak and nostrils with his wing. "These guys must have never heard about the health code…"

Blu let out a heartfelt sigh. Despite his current situation, he could not help but think of Jewel and his family. They must have noticed him gone by now. He recalled the corpse of the military macaw, his heart sank lower into his chest, had they actually succeeded in tricking everyone into believing that he had been killed n a surprise attack? Were they even safe? Or were they captured too? He lowered his head, shedding a single tear. "I miss you so much, Jewel." He said letting his voice grow shaky. "I hope you are safe at home. Protect the kids for me okay…? I don't know if I will ever be able to see them again." Blu tightened his grip around the metal bars, his eyes shut tight as he imagined his kids as full grown adults. Would they even remember him? Would Jewel move on with her life? Would she continue to love him if that was the case? Or would he simply be her past? He shook his head, freeing himself from any of his dark tormenting thoughts. "She will be a good mother, even if I die down here." He told himself. "She's my jewel… I have the upmost faith in her. Like Linda would say, she is the cheese to my sprinkles." Blu yawned and lowered himself uncomfortably to the metal grated floor of the cage. He closed his eyes and let himself drift off. In his dreams, Blu had returned to his comfortable hollowed tree. He knew at first he had not really cared for it, but he kept quiet to keep Jewel happy. Stepping quietly with both of his talons, he eyed his mate and a forced smile. "Good morning, Jewel." He said.

"Bom Dia, como voce esta?" Jewel replied.

Blu stood silent as he translated the Brazilian Portuguese phrase Jewel had spoken to him. His smile deepened as he discovered the meaning of what she said which was, good morning how are you? "Tuto Bom," he said.

Jewel rolled her eyes, sighing as she shook her head. "You were always so bad at speaking our native language, but I don't mind, you never learned to speak it properly." Jewel leaned her beak inwards and pulled him into a passionate kiss. After breaking free, she smiled and whispered in his ear. "Come home to me. We need you… I need you."

Blu frowned. His eyes narrowed and glazed over as he grew more serious than he had ever been in his life. "I can't come home. I don't even know how much longer I can survive. I am in serious danger."

Jewel nodded, wrapping her wings around him. She continued to whisper in his ear. "Help is coming, I promise. Don't give Nigel the satisfaction of breaking down here. You're so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. Remember what I said to you, it will help you when you wake up."

Blu awakened with a start as he heard the bars of his cage rattle. Standing outside, safe out of harms way was a grotesquely scarred, ugly, and sadistic looking monkey. His muzzle twisted into a vicious grin, barring his razor sharp, pointed and bloodstained fangs which had yellowed from their age. "Well… well… well… if it isn't the little prisoner." The monkey cackled, holding up a paw to reveal another mark, this one the shape of a monkeys head. "I've waited a long time to lay my eyes upon you. What a disappointment. You couldn't even put up a decent fight against a pack of Margays."

"Margays?" Blu questioned arching a curious eye. "Are those the cat like creatures that brought me here?"

The Monkey chuckled and lurched forward striking the cage with a single paw. As Blu stumbled backwards the Monkey pointed a single curved claw towards him. "Learn your place, bird. I am the one asking the questions and you are the one giving the answers, I am in no mood for your backtalk. Do you understand?"

Blu rolled his eyes, "Fine, go ahead and ask them."

"Why haven't you broken under Nigel's cruelty? With your history I would have broken in a second. It's not like he is ever going to let you get out of here. Face it, once he gets what he wants, you are a goner. You will never see your friends and family again and it serves you right, if you ask me."

"Bon dia tuto bem?" Blu smiled.

The monkey leapt forward slamming his body against the bars of the cage. Blu fell back as the force of the impact shook the cage. "You aren't a stupid bird are you? You just enjoy playing silly little games. Well you're in for a bit of luck. If Nigel can't break you then I will. You better enjoy your little cage because you'll be down here for the rest of your miserable life. You'll never see your kids or your precious wife ever again."

Blu gripped the bars of his cage and stared un-intimidated by the monkey's threat. "Ha! Shows what you know. All of the survival guides say that if I wait here, help will come. All the story books I have ever read always said that the bad guys never win."

"Well I guess that all depends on who you consider to be the bad guys, bird." The monkey laughed raising his marked arm once more. It glowed bright with the same purple light as Nigel's and Amber's wing. He smile widened. "I certainly know that it isn't me, I have my reasons for doing this."

Blu's eyes softened as he thought about what he just heard. "Amber once said the same thing," he explained, "What are your reasons? What has Nigel or anyone else promised you?"

"None of your business, bird." The monkey snorted, his tail flicking through the air.

"Whoever it was, you can't trust them." Blu warned, "They'll only betray you, Amber received a death curse from simply having the mark on her wing. You need to get rid of it while you still can or it'll only destroy you."

The monkey's expression changed for a brief moment. The chink in his armor had been revealed.

"You know don't you?" Blu continued, "Why do you think I'm here? Nigel has been blinded by revenge, the same as Amber towards Jewel. Those marks, they play on the darkest part of your brain, they brainwash you into thinking about revenge. However in the end, mark or no mark, Nigel cares about no one except himself and his own goals."

The monkey's eyes shifted around the room as he thought about it for a moment.

"Can't you see… by keeping me locked down here, he isn't just ruining my life, but the life of my family too? My three little hatchlings who will grow up without a father. They're completely innocent in any of this, they've never hurt anyone. Then there is my wife, who will never have a shoulder to cry on during her hours of need."

"I have got more important problems to deal with." The monkey snarled, "I'm sorry that you're here but that is the way things are. You need to just accept it and be quiet about it. As for my mark, you have no idea what you're talking about so I'd shut up about it if I were you."

Blu watched the monkey exit the small chamber. His head hung low as if conflicted by Blu's warning. "I'm sure in the end you'll do the right thing." Blu frowned, "But for now, that won't help me. I have got to figure out a way to escape."

#

Deep down in the subway tunnels, the same monkey who had confronted Blu searched the dim tunnels until he eventually found Nigel nestled upon a makeshift thrown made out of bricks. He chomped nosily devouring a large chunk of meat. His beak crunched as he sprayed chunks of meat through the air. The monkey's eyes burned viciously as he grabbed the cockatoo's throat and pulled him upright from where he sat. "I want what you promised me and I want it now!" he demanded. "I helped you get the macaw. I lived up to my end of the bargain. Now you owe me!"

Nigel swept a talon under the monkey's feel, kicking the monkey's feet out from underneath him. The monkey groaned as he landed with thunderous force upon his back. Nigel slammed a single talon down on his neck, his eyes burned with a vengeful fury. "I owe you nothing! Not until I get my brand new coat of feathers. Are we clear on that subject, Jose?"

The monkey –named Jose- jumped to his paws. His eyes glazed over with pure hatred for the white cockatoo. "You have already lied to me. You said all I had to do was get the Macaw, perhaps the bird was right and you hold no loyalty to anyone other than yourself. Keep your false promises and empty threats. I'm gone and you had better not try to stop me."

Nigel's eyes widened as he put two and two together, he snapped his beak clamping down on the monkey's tail. "The bird was right?" he queried, "Were you speaking to the macaw behind my back?"

"What if I did?" Jose growled, "It's not like I set him free or something, I simply wanted to torment him."

"It matters you foolish monkey," Nigel shouted, "Can't you see he was playing head games?"

"Oh yeah?" Jose arched a curious eye, "And how do I know that you aren't the one who is playing the head games, huh?"

Nigel cackled and rolled his eyes. "If I was playing head, do you think I would bring a legion of margays here? They're the smartest cats in all of Brazil."

The monkey raised a claw for a second wanting to speak but found himself remaining silent. Lowering his head and feeling more than a little foolish, he had to admit the cockatoo did make some sense. "Fine, you win this round," Jose frowned, "But if I stick around, you still owe me."

"I'll pay you double if you shut your mouth and use that brain of yours to figure out how to be loyal for a change."

Jose nodded his grotesque head and rubbed his injured tail. It throbbed as he studied the damage, surprised to find that there was none to be seen. "You didn't have to bite my tail," he groaned, "You could have found another way to stop me."

"Yes," Nigel agreed, folding his wings together. "But I thought it would have been more effective to show you that I'm not fooling around." The villainous cockatoo watched the monkey leave the room with his tail in paw. With a evil glare and his temper rising, he grabbed the nearest creature to him, the female margay leader. "I don't trust him," he growled, "Go keep your eye on the prisoner, and make sure that he does not escape."

#

Blu plucked a feather from his wing and held it firmly within his beak. He had quite the experience with lock picking and was certain his feather could break the restraining bolt. Placing the feather within one of his talons, he reached for the lock and quietly inserted the thin strip into the padlock. "With any luck, it'll just be a standard key bolt with no extra gimmicks, granted it would be nice if it was an ordinary turn and slide bolt but beggars can't be choosers." Blu groaned as he studied his work, moving his talon to twist the feather accordingly. "Please, please, please work." He begged, in the matter of a few minutes his efforts were rewarded, listening to the sound of the lock clicking free. The blue macaw watched the padlock crumble to the ground in two separate pieces. "Yes!" Blu smiled, "Now I have just got to find my way out of here and I'll be on my way home."

Running as fast as his body could muster, Blu spread his wings and jumped. His body landed with a thud against the old remnants of railroad tracks. "Why can't I fly?" he asked aloud, spitting out the dirt that landed in his mouth. He peered back, remembering the injury from the margay's claws… an injury he had completely forgotten about. Then it hit him, they hadn't done it to avoid him from escaping capture, they did it so once they had him where they wanted him, he couldn't run. "They pierced my wing and broke the bone," Blu reminded himself, wincing as the large bump which he could only guess was an internally broken bone hit the ground. He rolled his eyes, groaning as he struggled back to his talons. "What else can go wrong?"

"HEY!" a voice called out from behind him. "What are you doing out of your cage!"

Blu froze and peered back to see a hungry margay working his way towards him. "Cheese and sprinkles!" Blu shouted, breaking into a desperate sprint for his life. He ignored the stabbing pain of steel as he ran along the railway system. The sound of paw steps echoing in his ears kept him moving, ducking from tunnel to tunnel as fast as he possibly could. Finding a crevice, Blu felt a paw grab him and pull him into the darkness.

"Shhhhh keep quiet," the voice warned, "The margays are good at tracking scents, but they're limited here in the subway and they're eyes don't focus well in the darkness. They won't be able to find us for a few minutes at least."

Blu spun around to see the familiar face of the monkey he had seen just a short time ago. The monkey held a paw over the macaw's beak to stop him from speaking. He waited till a group of margays passed and then released his grip. "You should be safe here, for now, but Nigel will learn of your escape and then tear this place apart."

Blu panted, struggling to catch his breath. He eyed the monkey suspiciously. "Why are you helping me?"

"I don't really know," the monkey admitted, "I guess I don't just trust any creature other than myself, I certainly don't trust that Nigel character and since getting your feathers is his top priority, I thought this would be a perfect time to mess with his plans."

"So what do I do?" Blu asked, "How can I get out of here?"

The monkey thought about it for a short moment and eyed the tunnels leading to the west and south. "If I were escaping I would take the south tunnel, it leads to the sewer system just below the city. If we act fast, we might be able to get there before the margays block the tunnels to prevent your escape."

"The sewer," Blu repeated, "I don't think so, I would need disinfectant for a year."

The monkey chuckled quietly and shoved the macaw forward. "Don't think about it, some things are better if you forget what you are doing."

"Name one thing like that." Blu pouted, creeping forward along the tunnel.

"Well… crawling through the sewers comes to mind."

The sound of several fast moving creatures echoed from down the passageways. Jose lowered his head, urging the macaw forward. "You must go, it won't be long before they find you."

Blu swallowed a large lump in his throat. He knew the monkey was right, the tunnels were soon going to be blocked off and if he kept being picky about things he would never make it back home to Jewel or his children. "Okay," he said, "Let's pop this thing open like a soda can."