Rise of the Zealots
Experiment of The Evil Genius
Chapter 26: an old friend
Hello ladies and gentlemen, Rico here with chapter 26. I don't have anything to say for this author's note, other than to enjoy the chapter.
Jewel slowly moved towards the unconscious hawk and removed the disruptor from his head to wake him back up in reality. She shook him a few times to wake him up. "Rico. Rico, wake up. Rico."
While Jewel was trying to wake him up, her mind was in a complete loop as to how he was here. Rico had died a long time ago and unless this was that other Rico from an alternative timeline, this had to be a trick. He did not appear to be older than they last saw him, meaning that this could not be the Rico from the alternative timeline. No, this had to be the Rico she knew all of her life.
After shaking him a few more times, Rico's eyes began to open. Jewel raised a huge smile across her beak and helped him stand. Who knows how long he had been locked up like that? Without saying anything, the two looked towards each other with Jewel smiling while Rico's face remained expressionless for now.
He was back. Jewel's close friend who she considered a brother for many years had returned to her. Words could not describe how happy she was right now to see him. How he was hear after she personally watched his body buried was a compete mystery which she intended to find out soon. For now, she cherished every moment to be with him again.
"Rico...It's you." Jewel whispered and slowly moved forward to hug frim. Slowly, she moved her wings around his back and embraced him a hug. "It's you. I've missed you."
Slowly, Rico extended his wings and returned the hug, holding her close. The two birds remained in a close embrace for a while until the door to the room and opened in and in came Blu. He rushed over towards his loved one, but stopped when he saw that she was hugging someone. At first, appeared confused, but when he got a clear view of whom she was hugging, his expression softened.
"Rico..." Blu muttered in a shocked tone.
At that moment, Rico leaned back from the hug and got himself free from Jewel's grip as Blu approached them. He couldn't do that to them after they were so happy to see him. He had a secret kept within him they needed to know, but at the same time, he was afraid to say it. Unfortunately, it had to be done.
"No." Rico shook his head and stepped away from them. "No, I can't. This isn't right!"
Jewel raised an eyebrow in confusion, dropping her happy expression as Blu stood beside her. "What are you talking about?"
Rico sighed and inhaled a deep breath, preparing himself for his next words that may shock his friends forever. He muttered his next words in a low tone. "I'm not Rico..."
Blu thought he heard correctly that Rico had just admitted he was not himself, but he made certain nevertheless. "What?"
"I'm not Rico!" Rico yelled and threw his wing in the air in anger, startling the blue macaws. "Alright! I'm not Rico, I'm a clone!"
Blu and Jewel turned towards one another in confusion before turning back towards the hawk. What did he mean? A clone? How could he be a clone when no such technology existed to clone birds, let alone humans? Jewel was secretly hoping this was just another one of Rico's many jokes, but unfortunately, she knew different. If this was a joke, he would not be acting this serious.
"A clone?" Blu queried and crossed his wings together. "I don't understand. How can you be a clone?"
Rico was expecting this question and as much as he wanted to explain everything to them, now was not the time. Not here, anyway. "Look, I know if I were you, I'd want to know what's going on and I'll be willing to explain everything as soon as we get out of here, okay? I'm pretty sure Steiner and his people aren't willing to let us leave so easily."
"Don't worry about them." Blu assured as he beckoned for them to follow him. "We took care of them, but now we have to get them to the prison before they recover. I also have problems of my own to deal with and now that you're back...Well, I could use your help."
Rico nodded in agreement and allowed Blu to lead the way back. Doc, who was locked in a cage, watched as they walked past him and exited the room. They were now back into the room where Blu and Jewel had been held prisoners, but now Carley, Axel and Big were locked inside the same cage (to which Big looked somewhat discomforted in. Steiner was standing in the center of the room after he had just recovered, but his one eye widened in fear when he saw familiar macaws and a hawk.
"Steiner." Blu groaned and prepared to lock him in the cage with the others, but that was until Rico placed his wing in front of him.
Rico, angered that he had been locked here for so long, marched towards Steiner who backed away in fear.
Steiner attempted to calm him down while continuing to back away. "Now Rico, there is no need for-"
"Just stop talking." Rico growled and raised his wing, delivering a powerful uppercut against Steiner that launched him across the other side of the room.
He hit the cage with a sickening thud before sliding down and slipping off into an unconscious state. Rico cracked his neck and calmly leaned up against a wall with his wings crossed. It felt relieving to make Steiner for keeping him locked away in a false world like that, despite being a clone of course.
"You guys go on ahead and get the military." Rico suggested, nodding his head calmly towards the exit of exit of the underground base. "I'll keep watch of these guys."
While they had only just been reunited, Blu and Jewel felt it was best if they went to go and find Lenny while Rico remained here to keep watch over them. Without saying a word, they nodded and proceeded to fly up to the hatch and with a good push; it opened, shining in the light from the sun outside.
The blue macaws exited the hideout and never felt so good to breathe in that fresh air and to feel the warmth of the sun once again. They made haste to get to the prison as soon as possible because if Steiner's words were true, than that means the danger was not over yet. The one who had hired him in the first place could possibly be the fourth and final villain.
It took quite some time to get to the prison and then back to the hideout, but the good thing that came out of all this is that Steiner and his team was now locked away deep within the prison wells where they would remain for a long time. While there, Blu had attempted to convince Lenny and his people that there was more trouble and while they wanted to help, they could not do anything without evidence.
Looks like Blu was going to have to wait a little longer than he anticipated. The second they were allowed to leave the prison, Blu and Jewel with Rico's clone flew through the jungle and set course for their home. This way, they could be in private and find out how this clone of Rico's existed.
"I think before we get down to business, you should get your friends." Rico suggested. It was quite clear by his tone that he believed himself to be a clone and nothing more.
"Rico they're your friends too." Jewel reminded, but her words did not appear to change the hawk's opinion on himself.
Rico shrugged off what she had said. "Look, please, just get them. They all deserve to know the truth."
Since there was no point in arguing, Blu nodded in agreement. "We'll go and get Rafael, Eva, Nico and Pedro."
Jewel, however, decided to go with Rico. "I'll go with Rico, Blu. We'll meet at the underground hideout."
Blu nodded in response and without another words, he flew away into one direction while Jewel and Rico proceeded to fly towards the other. It might take Blu some time to gather the others since he had to go to Rafael's home, then Nico and Pedro's, and then back to his own. That and there was a chance his friends were not at their homes at this moment.
Fortunately for Blu, all of his friends were home. While Rafael and Eva had questioned as to why they had to follow him, Nico and Pedro did not question his orders. It was fortunate they had survived their encounter with Steiner and his team; otherwise it could have got a lot worse. With his friends, Blu escorted them back to his home where he escorted them to his underground hideout.
When they arrived, Blu landed beside the hatch and knocked the right amount of times as a secret knock before it was opened by Jewel. He jumped inside with Rafael, Eva, their children, Nico and Pedro following closely.
"We're all here now." Blu announced as he took a seat by his children who shared a hug with their father after hearing about his kidnapping by Steiner from their mother.
Nico rubbed his eyes in shock when he saw the black hawk standing in the front of the room. "Rico?"
"No." Rico shook his head with his wings crossed. "Before all of you get excited, know that I am not the real Rico."
His words only left the others highly confused with puzzled faces.
Rico sighed and looked down towards his talons for a moment, knowing that this was going to take a while. He looked towards them again as he began to think back to his past. "I owe you all an explanation. Very well. As you may know, Nexus had resurrected the real Rico to have him as his slave and do his bidding, but as a precaution, Nexus had used his powers to clone the real Rico in case something happened to him. While the real Rico existed, I was brought to Steiner who at the time was working for Nexus for a short while. They placed those weird devices around me to keep in me stasis and away from the real world. I was only to be used when Nexus either needed a replacement or decided he no longer had use for me and the real Rico. If I remember correctly from Blu, Nexus was killed and Steiner was confused as to what to do with me. They decided to keep me as a sign of good faith towards the new leaders of the World of Darkness in case they needed another minion. That's pretty much it. I'm a clone of the real Rico, nothing more, nothing less."
The others turned towards one another and began to discuss this quietly. This explained how this clone of Rico came to be here, but the most important thing to remember was what was going to happen to him? How could they just accept that he was a clone when every time they looked at him, they would see nothing but their old friend? They had to discuss this later; right now they had a problem.
"Thank you for that, Rico." Blu thanked and expressed his gratitude. He stood up and caught everyone's attention while Rico went to go and sit back down. "Everyone, I know we're all confused as to what's going on with Rico, but we have more important matters to be dealing with right now. There is still one more dangerous villain out there-at least I think so. I do believe that it's that same person Steiner had referred to when I interrogated him. If this new bad guy as an army, then we need to be prepared."
Pedro raised his wing as if he was asking for permission to speak. "How do we do that? You know those military ain't going to help us without proof!"
"You're right, Pedro." Blu agreed with a nod. "While we can't get the military's help right now, we should seek help from somewhere else. I might be able to call in on some old friends for help. I'll have to think about it. While I am prepared, I'm also exhausted and I need to sleep for the night. You all may go now."
Since that was the best plan Blu could think of for now, the others turned around and began to climb through the hatch one by one until only the blue macaws and the hawk remained. They all turned towards Rico, waiting for his response.
"Well I guess I'll be going now." Rico told them and began to escort himself out.
"Where will you go?" Blu inquired before he left. While he was glad to see him, he could use his help around here.
"You're welcome to stay with us." Jewel offered. She had only just been reunited with Rico and clone or not, she did not want him to leave them again.
"Thanks but no thanks." Rico declined and approached the ladders. "I've been trapped in those fake worlds for far too long and frankly, my head feels crazy. I just...I just need to be alone for a while to think things over. Don't worry about me and when that trouble of yours comes, I'll be back and fight beside you no matter what. Until then, goodbye."
With his farewells said, Rico exited the hatch and took off into the sky where the sun was beginning to set. Blu had begun to follow him at first, but stopped when he decided it was best to let him go to think things over. Before joining his family back inside the hatch, he turned towards the inside of his home where a note as pinned to his wall. He landed inside and ripped the note off, reading its contents.
Congratulations on defeating Steiner. Only one more to go.
Blu frowned in response and crushed up the note in his talon. This confirmed that Steiner was in fact one of the villains, but now he had no time to think about the final villain. He needed some rest after what he and Jewel had been through. He flew back down inside of the hideout, remembering to lock the hatch behind him to avoid anyone trying to sneak in here.
As a couple of hours went by, it was time for the family of blue macaws to get some rest for a while. After putting the kids to bed in their own room, Blu and Jewel proceeded into their own bedroom where they got into a sleeping position in their nest. Jewel was lying on her side with Blu behind her while he had his wings around her.
It had been a long day and all they wanted was some rest.
"What a day." Jewel sighed and cuddled herself closer to Blu. As she closed her eyes, she continued to speak. "Blu..."
"Hmm?" Blu hummed while he was trying to keep awake to hear what she had to say.
"When...When we jumped in that false dream...So many things was going around my mind." Jewel confessed with an expression half sad yet half fear. "I was scared and I didn't know what was going to happen next. I thought...I thought there was a chance we weren't going to survive."
Blu sighed in response as he understood what she was feeling. "Jewel, I understand what you're going through. I felt the same too and to be honest, I...I had doubts in my own plan. I admit it was a stupid plan, but-"
"But it saved us?" Jewel finished for him. "Blu, your plan got us out of there. If it were just be in that false world, there wasn't a chance I wouldn't escape. Without you...I'm lost."
Blu smiled in response and leaned forward to plan a kiss on the back of her head. "Get some rest, Jewel. It's been a long day. We're almost though this. I promise, all this is going to be over soon and we'll get back to how things have been during these past six months."
"Goodnight Blu." Jewel whispered and almost immediately drifted off to sleep.
"Goodnight Jewel." Blu whispered and cuddled himself a little closer to her. In seconds, he drifted off to sleep with his mate in his wings.
As the night took over the sky and went darkness across the jungle of Rio, not everyone appeared to be sleeping. In the middle of the area not too far from where Blu's hideout was, two figures wearing brown cloaks had emerged from the shadows and as they double-checked no-one was around the area, they began to sneak forward.
"Are you sure this is the place?" the second figure who was a female whispered.
"This is it, alright." the first figure who was a male voice assured. "This is the blue macaw's home, no doubt. Do you have the note?"
The female figure took out the scrolled-up note from under her cloak and passed it to him.
The male figure held the note close and quietly flew towards Blu and Jewel's home, careful not to wake anyone up. As he reached the top of the tree and at the entrance/exit of the hollow, he was surprised to see no-one was here. While he was confused, he placed the scrolled-up nest in the center of their nest before quickly departing to avoid being spotted.
"I have placed the note in their home. No-one is there at the moment, but I am certain someone will be soon." the male assured, but they had to make haste to leave quickly before they were spotted. "We should leave before we attract unnecessary attention."
Together, the two cloaked figures took flight into the sky and set course back to their home. Now that they had left the note where it needed to be, their work here was done. What their intentions were was a mystery, but they hoped that Blu got their message.
He was their last hope.
And that brings us to the end of chapter 26, ladies and gentlemen. A lot has occurred in this chapter. Rico has returned, except that it isn't Rico but a clone created by Nexus long ago, Steiner and his people are defeated, two hidden figures have approached Blu's home, and now one more villain remains.