Chapter 36- catching the toucan 'clan' at Pedra de Gavea
Somewhere else on the Blu Bird Sanctuary, Blu and Andromeda with her bat-bird Rouge were flying through the dark forest to a specific location of the reserve: the Pedra de Gavea cave where Basil (not to be confused with the son of Ash and Titania who also has this name) and his colony of Linda's golden orange bats lived. With the trio were Mercury, Sapphire, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa, Roberto and Augustus who had been allocated to this group by Jupiter, especially since Blu and some of the others including Brisa knew where the cave was. As the group flew through the jungle, Augustus examined the dark surroundings that were partially lit by silvery shafts of moonlight from the half-moon that illuminated the leaves and other exposed surfaces, but only when the moon was not eclipsed by the individual puffs of clouds in the sky. The sounds of cricket chirrups flooded the air, dancing stars from fireflies buzzed gently close to the ground and other movements indicating the presence of other night time animals flashed by in the branches. However, Augustus's mind was on the Linda's golden orange bat colony.
"I'm surprised that there is another species of Brazilian bats alive in this country," he said to Blu, "I thought that we Brazilian flying foxes were the only bat species in Brazil."
"Oh, no, the Linda's bats disprove that claim, Augustus," said Blu with a slight smile, "We found them while we were searching for that legendary liquid said to grow back hair or feathers and their discovery was what saved the Blu Bird Sanctuary from being lost."
"How small are they?" asked Augustus.
"About half your size when fully grown," said Mercury as he flew alongside Sapphire, "They're quite small."
"You'll see how small they are compared to you when we meet them," said Pluto. Augustus flashed an intrigued smile, one of the rare smiles he had managed since Sandalwood and the other kids' capture by the poachers the other day and continued flying on. As the group continued, Lapis Lazuli said, "Fernando's group will be arriving at the Pedra de Gavea Cave with their bird catching equipment any moment now. Hopefully we'll arrive roughly at the same time as them as well."
"And then we'll set to helping those humans catch as many of those toucans chicks that had settled in the trees outside the cave's mouth the moment they set to the task," said Brisa to which Roberto flashed a surprised glance.
"So these toucan kids are definitely everywhere?" he asked.
"Many of Rafael and Eva's grownup offspring have been having one clutch after another," muttered Brisa, before she threw on a frown, "You've heard from Bia about how the population has grown over the past few years, Beto."
Roberto just shrugged and flew on. Moments later, the Pedra de Gavea Mountain melted into view and at the foot of the mountain, the cave where Basil the bat's colony lived.
"Here we are," said Blu and with that, he slowed the group down as the members put on wary looks, "Let's be careful around here. Those pesky toucan kids and their parents that have settled here could be anywhere, especially in the nooks and crannies of those leaves and branches of the surrounding trees."
Andromeda and Rouge, Mercury, Sapphire, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa, Roberto and Augustus did so and began to scan the environment carefully. From the trees, dozens of curious pairs of eyes gazed at the group of colourful feathers and drabber brown fur or reddish pterosaur hair and black and reddish membranous wings as they slowly moved through the jungle towards the mouth of the Linda's golden orange bat colony's cave. Most of the eyes belonged to a variety of nocturnal animals but a few of the eye pairs were laced with malice as they glared at Blu's group, for they belonged to a certain bird that had settled in this part of the sanctuary. Hisses escaping the outline of the large beaks below them, the owners of the eyes darted from their hiding places. As Blu's group continued advancing towards the cave mouth, with Andromeda flashing intrigued glances at it for she was reminded of the mouth of the Cave of Colours and Sparkles, the treasure cave that was dangerously guarded by a massive flock of enormous predatory bat-birds that nested around the site leading to the mouth in her and her Amazonian clan's former homeland the Jurassic Jungle in Guyana. However, rustling leaf sounds pulled the archaeobird's attention from the cave mouth to her surroundings. Behind Andromeda and Rouge, Augustus and the macaws continued to scan the leaves and trees, watching for any suspicious movements. Though they didn't know where the toucan clan of some of Rafael and Eva's many, many, many offspring and grandkids lived exactly, they knew that this clan had settled on this site and could be lurking anywhere. Then Roberto saw a flash of light through the jungle as well as the sounds of an artificial moving object. At this, the handsome Spix macaw gazed through the clutter of leaves and branches and saw a four-wheeled object, a truck loaded with a number of figures drive through a road.
"I think that's the human group tasked with catching the toucans coming this way," he told the others.
"Right, thanks for letting us know," said Blu. Then Mercury and Sapphire fluttered up.
"That'll be Fernando and his group with their equipment," said Mercury.
"We'll follow those humans to the cave and then alert and guide them to the toucan clan's living space as soon as you find them," said Sapphire and with that, the two Lear's macaws fluttered away in the direction of the truck.
"Alright, you be careful," called Pluto as the pair left. As Mercury and Sapphire disappeared into the dark, moonlit clutter of the jungle, Blu, Andromeda, Augustus and Rouge advanced further towards the mouth of the Pedra de Gavea cave, alert looks on their faces as they continued to scan the environment. Andromeda had something packed by her side, something that none of the macaws or Augustus had yet seen but she was about to put it to use in a moment. Suddenly, the sounds of shaking leaves reached the group's ears and pulled their attention to the leaf cluster that shuddered but their eyes did not see anything. Behind the four, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa and Roberto, whose blue eyes were inflating with fear and his crest was spiking out, continued to examine the area.
"G-g-guys, I'm b-b-beginning to g-g-g-get s-s-s-scared…" stammered Roberto as nervousness continued to boil.
"Now this is no time to let fear set in," snapped Brisa rather impatiently, "I know how nerve-wracking you're finding it but we've got to do this job for the sake of Basil and his colony."
"Yes, absolutely," said Lapis Lazuli in agreement. Pluto also shot the timid Roberto an agreeing glare, prompting Roberto to continue examining the environment, fearful blue eyes bulging out of their sockets. Pluto then felt a flash of sympathy.
"I'm wondering if this is an effect left behind by his traumatic experience of getting caught by poachers as a chick after those flying foxes slayed his family," he whispered to Lapis Lazuli, but he flinched when his mate shot him a glare. Pluto uttered a word of apology before the glaucous couple resumed their scanning of the dark, moonlit trees decorated by a few dancing firefly stars. Ahead of Pluto, Brisa and their mates, Blu, Rouge, Andromeda and Augustus continued advancing towards the Pedra de Gavea cave's mouth. The artificial light, which was from the headlights of the truck, had pulled up through the trees, signalling to the group that Fernando's group was about to disembark from the truck and prepare to search for the toucans. At the same time, Augustus saw the movement of a small shadowy figure emerge from the cave mouth and into the moonlit jungle air. At first he thought it was a bird but then he saw that the creature's wings were shaped like his own wings, indicating a bat.
"I think some of those little bats of that colony are about to start their nightly activities, Blu," the flying fox whispered. Blu followed Augustus's gaze and saw another small bat flit out of the cave and into the air. At this, the brown-eyed Spix macaw threw on a frown.
"Yep, they are," he said, "Well spotted Augustus."
"So they're the golden orange bats of your human friend?" asked Andromeda as she watched another tiny bat flit out of the cave in awe, "They're tiny."
"They don't belong to Linda like a piece of property would," said Blu, "Their species is named after her."
"I see," said Andromeda.
"Interesting," said Augustus.
"There are quite a number of species named after humans who are experts in animal subjects," said Blu, "Our species, the blue Spix macaw, is named after a human with the last name Spix, while Mercury and Sapphire's species is named after another animal studier whose last name was Lear."
Andromeda and Augustus made small smiles of intrigue. However, those smiles were soon stripped from their faces when the trio heard a whooshing sound. At this, the Spix macaw, archaeobird and flying fox, as well as Andromeda's bat-bird mount, all flinched and a split second later, the group found themselves confronted by a small group of little birds. All of these birds resembled Rafael, Eva, Tom and Diantha and their eyes were laced with mischief as they bore into Blu, Andromeda, Augustus and Rouge. Some of the Rafael lookalikes' talons bore sticks.
"Intruder alert!" shouted one of the toucan chicks, before aiming the tip of its stick at the trio and Rouge, "YOU are under… arrest!"
At this, Blu and Augustus threw on flabbergasted looks but then Andromeda took action. With a scowl on her face, the archaeobird on her bat-bird mount bravely advanced towards the small flock of toucan kids, brandishing some sort of disc shape in her wing claws.
"Oh, YEAH!?" she retorted, much to the shock of the toucans and also Blu and Augustus, and soon, Roberto, Brisa, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli and before anyone could stop her, Andromeda thrusted her wing claws holding the disc and launched said disc at the toucans. "Try arrestin' THIS!"
Then before the toucan kids could react, the disc, which was actually a double disc bound together, flew in a flash from Andromeda's wing claws, straight at them. The disc was attached to some sort of string and was spinning as the string unwound, the end of the string held in Andromeda's wing claws and as Blu and Augustus watched on in utter shock, the toucan kids, flooded by panic from the surprise attack from the archaeobird, tried to flee but were caught by the string of the double disc which subsequently spun around them like a ball on a string Blu had seen was called a swing-ball. As the double disc swung around the toucan chicks, its string wrapped around them, adding one loop per swing and soon, the toucan kids were bound tightly into a bundle. Then seconds later, the subdued and tightly tied toucan kids were flung onto a nearby branch where Andromeda and Rouge speedily rushed over to them and finished the binding job by tying the other end of the string to the double disc to ensure that the toucan kids didn't escape. Blu, Augustus, Brisa, Roberto, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's faces then morphed into awed and amazed looks.
"What was that thing you just used?" asked Blu. Andromeda flashed him a smug look.
"Doble Disco en una Cuerda," said the archaeobird as she tightened the string binding the toucan kids only last time by pulling on the double disc which Blu saw was made from two flat, round pebbles bound together and the string being some very tough plant fibres which had been wrapped around a central material Andromeda had used to bind the pebbles together into the double disc, "Spanish for 'Double Disc on a String'… an invention inspired directly from a human made object of a similar design. I saw some humans swing one of these around a pole such that its string wrapped around it so I figured it could entrap some mischievous toucan kids."
"How very clever," said Roberto with an admiring smile.
"You've based that on the yoyo?" asked Blu. Andromeda flashed him a confused look.
"Yoyo?" she repeated.
"It's a human trick device that has two discs bound together with thread wound in the middle," explained Pluto, "My former owner Blake who lives across the Atlantic Ocean, used to play with one until he lost interest. You throw the yoyo down and it spins and then when you tug on the string, it winds back up onto the string and returns to the user's hand."
Then Lapis Lazuli smiled at the others, "You know? There certainly seems to be no end to archaeobird talent and ingenuity, is there?"
"Yeah, I'm starting to feel a little jealous," said Blu with a titter and those titters rolled through the others. However, this humour faded to seriousness as Blu turned his attention to the bound toucan kids who glared bitterly at their captors, "Anyway, time to take this lot to the humans through there," he nodded to the artificial lights through the tree branches.
"Just WAIT till our parents HEAR about this!" snarled one of the kids who struggled in the tight plant material string with his comrades.
"Yeah, they're gonna go MAD!" put in another, a female. Without sympathy, Pluto glared at the speakers and their comrades as the other toucans protested the same thing.
"I'm afraid you're going nowhere, except to our human friends, you bunch of little troublemakers," said the glaucous macaw flatly, "Hopefully it'll teach you a very BIG lesson about respect!"
"And your parents about having so many kids," put in Lapis Lazuli, "There are hundreds and hundreds of other toucans scattered throughout the sanctuary already and they're causing the other residents no end of trouble in terms of living space, food and mischief."
"Yes," said Blu in agreement, before his gaze turned to the others, "Let's get 'em to the humans, now."
Then before the captured toucan kids could protest again, they were lifted into the air by three Spix macaws and Lapis Lazuli and carried in the direction of the artificial light. As they did that, Andromeda, Rouge, Augustus and Pluto continued to the Pedra de Gavea cave.
"We'll check on the Linda's bat colony while you take those troublemakers to be caged," said Pluto as the four left. Blu nodded and with that, the group split up. Blu, Roberto, Brisa and Lapis Lazuli continued carrying the toucan kids as they started to throw an enormous tantrum and screech for their parents.
As Augustus, Pluto, Andromeda and Rouge closed in on the cave which was beginning to disgorge several more small bats by now, one of the little bats happened to turn its gaze in the direction of some forms as they approached the cave. At this, the little winged mammal slowed to a hover as it blinked and gazed at one of the forms, a turquoise macaw with a grey head and yellow around his eyes and by his lower beak, before recognition took hold. At this, the bat darted back into the cave.
"Toby, Toby, Velma!" it shouted in a squeaky voice, "We've got visitors!"
Pluto, Andromeda and Rouge, and Augustus touched down onto the foliage near the mouth of the cave and stood near the rim of the mouth leading to Linda's orange bat colony's home. Pluto, who had heard the bat shout for the colony leaders, said to Augustus, Andromeda and Rouge, "Wait here," before entering the cave to ask for the leaders. As the glaucous macaw disappeared into the cave, the remaining three began to examine the surrounding area. The mountain was massive and extended high into the patchily cloudy sky for tens of metres, and opposite the cave mouth, a dense sea of vegetation consisting of trees, shrubs and ferns stretched from the mountain. Augustus then gazed at the small bats as they continued flitting out of the cave and in to the vegetation.
"So those are the Linda's orange bats?" he said with intrigue, "They certainly are small."
The bats were indeed small in comparison to the larger Augustus. Most of the little bats had orange fur but some also had a hint of brown and auburn as well. The majority of the bats' eyes were orange but some also had amber and yellow eyes, but these shades of yellow and orange weren't the unsettling and fear-inducing amber and orange glares of the predatory bird of every winged and arboreal (tree dwelling) jungle creature's worst nightmares, the harpy eagle. The size of as fully grown Linda's golden orange bat was only half of that of Augustus and the average spans of their wings, which were dark grey to black in colour, were only probably about a third of Augustus's wingspan which was about a metre and a half when fully opened. Around the flying fox, Andromeda and Rouge, moving stars, indicating fireflies, decorated the moonlit night jungle, and Rouge playfully chased one before flinching as another little bat flew past her. Andromeda then gazed at two streams of artificial light as they moved this way and that and deduced that they must be the humans. The light was coming from things Blu had noted to Andromeda and Augustus were called flashlights, or torches to the macaws that grew up in the UK.
"The humans look just about prepared to carry out their task," said Andromeda to Augustus. Augustus then heard some human voices emanate from the flashlight holders. At this, the flying fox cocked his ears to listen.
"Well done, Blu, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa and Brisa's mate," said one, "You've managed to capture some of the toucan chicks."
"Let's get these birds caged and placed in the back of the truck," said another. Andromeda smiled as she heard the humans give praise to Blu, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa and Roberto. "I was actually the one who caught them," she said. Squawks were heard from the four macaws as they explained that their 'four-winged friend', referring to Andromeda was the one who had helped capture those kids. As Andromeda and Augustus continued listening to the humans talk to Blu and the other three, the sounds of wing flaps, some from a pair of feathered wings and the rest from three pairs of small membranous wings one third of Augustus's wingspan, reached the pair's ears. The flying fox and archaeobird turned to see Pluto touch down with three of the small orange bats onto the foliage and walk over to them.
"Andromeda, Augustus, this is Toby and Velma, the leaders of this cave's bat colony and also Basil's parents," said Pluto, before gesturing to the younger bat next to the pair, "And this is Basil with his stick friend Jeffery."
At this, Augustus and Andromeda reached out their membranous wing and wing claws respectively and shook the wings of Toby and Velma, both orange coloured bats with grey wings. Tobu had yellow eyes while Velma's eyes were orange. Basil also had orange eyes and the muzzles of all three bats were yellow, a characteristic of this bat species. Clasped in his wings was a stick which he had called his friend 'Jeffery'.
Basil had indeed grown over the past few years. When he first met Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago for the first time, he had only been a baby bat but now, he was a full grown adult. He still kept a hold of his beloved stick, however, and when his eyes landed on Andromeda's and the much larger Augustus, his yellow muzzle widened into an intrigued smile.
"Well, it's nice to meet you two," said Toby as he shook wings with Augustus, "We've never actually seen bats that are twice our size and have faces like a domestic dog."
"Oh, it's a feature of our species, the flying fox," said Augustus, "Humans say that we flying foxes have faces resembling a doglike animal called a fox."
Velma gazed at Andromeda and commented on her unusual features, "And we've never heard of a bird species with feathered legs and a long tail."
Andromeda smiled and gazed at her feathered legs. "Our legs are actually like a second pair of wings," she said, "We're called archaeobirds, thought by humans to be survivors when those strange, mammoth animals they call dinosaurs but we call giant lizards walked the earth."
Basil then gazed at Rouge who waited near the rim of the cave mouth. "And what sort of bat is that?" he asked. Andromeda gazed at Rouge.
"Oh, that's a bat-bird or as humans calls her kind, pterodactyl," she said, "They look like bats, don't they, but they have beaks and their wing membranes are supported by only one long finger. They're also reptiles, not mammals."
"Reptiles!?" repeated Toby incredulously. Basil walked over to Rouge and examined the unusual creature's wings. Velma also examined Rouge. "That creature doesn't look like it has scales."
"Yeah, its body's covered with hair like us," said Toby.
"Those 'hairs' are actually called 'pycnofibers' or 'pterodactyl hair'," said Pluto but then he decided to change the subject, "Anyway, enough introduction on the archaeobird and the pterosaur or bat-bird, let's talk about how you orange bats are doing."
"As well as what trouble those toucans that have settled in this part of Rio sanctuary are causing you," said Andromeda. At this, outraged and frustrated looks were thrown onto Toby and Velma's faces, and Basil emitted an angry hiss. Toby turned round and walked a few steps.
"Oh, don't mention that group of big nosed birdbrains," he muttered, before turning back to face Andromeda, Augustus and Pluto, "That lot keeps interfering with our foraging tasks and nightly outings, especially the chicks."
"Ever since around two or three couples of those toucans have settled here," put in Velma, "The number of kids they had had exploded over the past few months and soon, those trees," she nodded to some of the plants, "Have become infested with those pesky toucan chicks."
"They cause us no end of trouble," said Basil as he held his Jeffery stick, "They keep interfering with our foraging trips, making a racket during the daytime and keeping our pups awake, and," his face hardened, "Once, those kids pelted the entrance to our cave with fruit and shouted abuse at us."
Andromeda, Augustus and Pluto all flinched as though they had been stung by a swarm of bees as horror tore through them.
"You're joking!" said Pluto but the three orange bats shook their heads.
"No, we're not," said Toby, "And when I and some other bats went to complain to the parents of those numerous chicks, they denied their kids' bad behaviour and told us to back off and not interfere with their lives."
"Because those toucan kids keep interfering with our hunt for insects and other small flying prey," said Velma, "The number of successful catches has been badly affected. Some nights, most bats come back to the roost without a single successfully caught meal, some of them mothers with pups, by the time dawn comes round."
Andromeda and Augustus gazed at Pluto.
"That sounds very serious," murmured Augustus, shock and disbelief lacing his face.
"Yes, it is," muttered Toby angrily, "Honestly, those pesky birdbrains with big beaks are causing hunger for some of the families in our colony. Mothers can't suckle their young without sufficient meals and weaned pups are complaining constantly of hunger due to insufficient numbers of successful meals caught."
"We've even searched for prey further away from our cave, hoping to forage in peace," added Velma, "But those toucan kids keep following us and causing us trouble, wherever we go. Some of the foragers are even too scared to come out of the cave because of those troublemakers."
Pluto, Andromeda and Augustus continued standing there, speechless as their brains absorbed this information. Then after a minute or so, Pluto broke the silence, an assuring look coming on his face.
"Well, some of our human friends have arrived to help deal with the problem," said the glaucous macaw with a nod to the group of humans through the moonlit night air, "They've come with the necessary equipment to help catch some of the toucan chicks as possible."
"But if they're gonna catch those four or five dozen chicks roaming about the trees;" protested Velma, "Shouldn't they target the three pairs of adults that have moved here as well? After all, they're the ones producing all the chicks."
Pluto flashed Basil's mother a look and was about to reply when suddenly, commotion erupted not too far away from the cave's mouth. At this, the three little orange bats, the glaucous macaw, flying fox and archaeobird all snapped their gazes into the night air hanging over the trees and to their horror, they saw what looked like a mid-air fight breaking out. Shouts of frustration and mischievous laughter also flooded the air and the group saw several of the bats trying to out-fly something. Some of the bats also looked like they were covering their faces with their wings as little bullets flew from their chasers at their bodies, bouncing off their heads, wings and backs like seeds. Pluto narrowed his eyes. 'They are seeds', he thought. Some other bats were frantically trying to dodge some other missiles that were emitting mischievous cackles, like the cackles of crows. Basil, Velma and Toby also frowned.
"That's what we're talking about," said Toby with a nod to the chaos, "It's been going on for months. Those interfering big-nosed nuisances keep causing us havoc as you can see up there."
Pluto rubbed his beak with a talon, opened his wings and lofted into flight.
"Where are you going?" asked Basil as he clutched his stick 'Jeffery'.
"I'm gonna see if I can lure those toucan chick troublemakers to our human friends," shouted Pluto as he left, "You need to stay in your cave for the time being. Andromeda and Augustus will look after you."
At this, Basil, Velma and Toby gazed at Augustus and Andromeda who ushered the trio back into the cave. Then a thought hit Andromeda as she gazed back at the little bats trying to out-fly the pesky toucan chicks who kept chasing them and pelting them with seeds, laughing all the way.
"Wait, if those bats are struggling to find food for the colony and their families because of those ruffians," she said, "We might need to lend a wing in feeding them."
"But Andromeda, I'm a flying fox… a fruit bat and you're an archaeobird who can only glide without your bat-bird mount Rouge," protested Augustus, disbelief at Andromeda's suggestion, "These little bats must have the ability to hunt and catch flying insects in mid-air, something we flying foxes do not, if ever, do. How are we gonna catch such agile aerial critters?"
Andromeda, at this, gazed at the flying fox, a plan formulating in her head.
While Andromeda and Augustus were tasked in looking after the other orange bats in the cave, the bats that had taken to the air were under serious peril. Terror and frustration flooded their orange to yellow eyes and they were frantically trying to flee the chasers, which were indeed some of the toucan chicks, the offspring of the three couples of adult toucans who were three of Rafael and Eva's grown-up offspring and their mates who had moved to this part of the sanctuary, continued to try and tackle them or pelt them with seeds fired from hollow sticks, mischievous glares lacing their faces and their large beaks emitting naughty laughter.
"This is NUTS!" shouted one of the orange bats, a female, as she dodged a toucan missile, "We can't go on living with these PESKY FEATHERED HOODLUMS."
Another bat nearby nodded another toucan missile while two more covered their faces with their feet protectively as seed bullets flew from two more toucans armed with the peashooter-like twigs, the seeds bouncing off the two bats' faces as they struck their targets. Another bat nearby, with prey in its legs and feet for it had managed to successfully pluck a moth out of the air using high pitched sounds that rebounded from its target back to its ears (called 'echolocation' by humans and also the birds who were ecology experts, such as Blu, Bia and Ganymede), was flying like mad to escape another toucan kid who chased it, giggling immaturely when suddenly… BAM! One of the feathered comets zoomed in and purposely rammed into the bat's side, making it drop its prey. The bat, alarmed, stole glances this way and that until its eyes landed on the falling moth. Alarmed, the bat swooped down to retrieve its precious prey but another toucan comet flew in and snatched it up in its beak, much to the bat's outrage.
"Hey, that's my prey, THIEF!" bellowed the bat but the toucan chick that had eaten the moth only flashed the bat a mischievous look before flying away, much to the bat's fury. While all this was going on, some more feathered forms entered the chaos, but they were larger and had smaller, curved beaks, typical of parrots. Pluto, together with Mercury, Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa, Roberto and Blu all flew in, horrified at the chaos.
"Ganymede, Eragon and Luna weren't kidding about this," murmured Blu in utter disbelief.
"Look how much trouble those toucan chicks are causing the bats," said Mercury. Roberto and Brisa were forced to dodge a bat as it zoomed past with a cackling toucan chick in hot pursuit.
"Those chicks are honestly like those poachers' crows," snarled Brisa disgustedly, making Roberto shoot her a terrified look. He hated the mentioning of poachers. Brisa, at this, shot Roberto an apologetic look. Then Blu threw on a determined face. He was determined to help these poor bats deal with this problem.
"Never mind about how naughty the toucan chicks are," hissed the brown-eyed Spix macaw, "We've got work to do. Are you all ready for this?"
"Yes!" said all the other six macaws in unison.
"Then let's fly and herd those toucan kids to our human friends down there!" shouted Blu and with that, the seven macaws all scattered and threw themselves into the inferno.
Mercury glared at a small group of five toucan chicks as they harassed several bats, two of them being mothers with pups clasped to their breasts and charged in at them, an enraged screech exploding from his beak. The Lear's macaw's squawk alerted the toucan chicks and their victims and when they saw a navy blue and teal comet rocket towards them, the bats darted away but the toucan chicks were transfixed with utter shock until finally, the urge to flee took hold.
"SCATTEEER!" shouted one of them and with that, the flock dispersed, much to Mercury's surprise. This was not what he had in mind. However, with an outraged glare on his face, he glared at the toucan chicks as they swerved round and rocketed towards him.
"You're NOT gonna get away with this, you troublemakers!" shouted the Lear's macaw but no sooner than the word 'troublemaker' had left his beak when suddenly, he felt small, hard bullets bounce off his face and body. Two of the toucan chicks, both armed with peashooter sticks, were firing seeds at the Lear's macaw, their comrades laughing.
"Take THIS you MONSTER!" cackled one of them and with that, she accelerated towards Mercury and charged into the Lear's macaw's side, momentarily stunning him and sending him into a clumsy flutter. As he regained control of his flight, Brisa flew in.
"You alright, Mercury?" asked she. Mercury grasped the side where he had been hit with a talon but he was willing to go on.
"I'm fine," he said, "Help me herd those chicks to the humans please."
Brisa was about to reply when suddenly, she saw a small group of big orange and black beaked rockets dive down on them from above, the word, "DIVE-BOOOOOMB!" exploding from their beaks. At this, the Spix macaw tackled into Mercury and knocked him away moments before the toucan chicks plummeted past, narrowly missing Brisa. Brisa shot the toucan chicks an enraged glare.
"We should have had Andromeda help us out with her yoyo thingy, I think," she muttered.
"Yeah, it was an excellent ide… look OUT!" shouted Mercury as his horrified eyes saw the feathered, orange and black beaked comets swerve upward and charge towards them again. The Spix and Lear's macaws, seeing no choice, accelerated from a hover to a charge in a fraction of a second as the comets flew towards them, the intent on pouncing onto the two and harassing them clearly fuelling the toucan chicks. Unintentionally, Mercury and Brisa rocketed in the direction of Fernando and company waiting on the ground, the toucan chicks in hot pursuit. Around them, Roberto, Blu, Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli and Pluto were struggling to lure the other toucan chicks away from the little bats.
"Just HOW MANY are THERE!?" shouted Pluto as he tried shaking a toucan chick that had grabbed onto his wing feathers off his wing.
"I don't know but their parents sure have been breeding like rabbits… OOOOW!" shouted Blu as some feathers were torn from his tail. At this, the blue macaw flashed a glare at the toucan chick as it rocketed away with a beak-ful of blue feathers, giggles escaping its beak. Blu felt hot rage burn through him.
"Some of those chicks are honestly no DIFFERENT from some of their parents!" he muttered. Roberto screeched as one of the toucan chicks pulled on his head feathers while two other toucan chicks rode Sapphire and Pluto like a horse, the little bats looking on in utter horror and confusion. Some more toucan chicks were rapidly circling Lapis Lazuli so fast that she eventually became dizzy and began to fly unevenly. The female glaucous macaw was then struck hard in the stomach by one of the toucan kids, mischief lacing its face.
"Lapis Lazuli!" shouted Blu when he saw this. Lapis Lazuli then fluttered clumsily onto a branch and grasped her stomach, the toucan chicks laughing at her from the air. Blu came in and landed beside her. Lapis Lazuli's face was twisted into a pained look and her wing was clasped onto her stomach.
"You might want a rest," said Blu but Lapis Lazuli was determined to continue.
"I'm fine, just a little hurt," said she but Blu was unconvinced and began to convince her to rest.
While the chaos continued in the air, Mercury and Brisa continued diving towards the humans with their toucan chick pursuers in hot pursuit. One of the chicks fired more seeds at the two, forcing them to screw their eyes shut. However, the two macaws heard one of the humans speak.
"Here they come, team, aim your net guns," said a man. At this, Mercury opened one eye and saw Fernando and the other humans with him as they lifted some barrel-like tubes in the artificial light such that their mouths were pointing directly at the macaws. Mercury saw what the humans were going to do, especially as bangs were heard and spiderweb-like things were thrown out of the mouths.
"Look OUT!" he shouted and with that, he charged into Brisa to knock her away. The toucan chicks flashed a confused glance at the two macaws but before they knew it, they were entangled by meshes of thread of manmade origin and wrapped into a tight ball. The toucan chicks, at this, screamed in utter horror as they then found themselves plummeting towards earth but then they felt something catch them. It was a pair of human hands.
"Got SOME!" shouted the catcher, which was Fernando and the toucan chicks, horror gripping them, looked through the threading and saw the triumphant look on the young man's face. Then the next thing these little troublemakers knew they were placed into a box made of silvery bars and slabs. The toucan chicks screeched and squawked as their cage was padlocked shut by one of the handlers. From the air, Mercury and Sapphire saw this, and that was then an idea took hold of Mercury like a positive grip.
"I've got it," he said and with that, he rocketed back in to the air to tell the other macaws.
"Got what?" asked Brisa as she followed. As soon as the two were in the air, Mercury called the attention of Roberto, Blu, Pluto and Sapphire as they continued struggling with the toucan kids, the little bats continuously watching on.
"I've got an idea!" he shouted and with that, he began to demonstrate to the group by flying towards a group of toucan chicks harassing three of the bats and began to provoke the chicks into following him. Blu looked on as Mercury then called to the bats to follow him and together, the Lear's macaw and the three orange bats dived towards the humans with the toucan kids in hot pursuit. Blu, at this, felt understanding wash over him, especially as the mischievous toucan chicks began to overcome the struggles of their targets.
"Follow Mercury!" he called to Roberto, Sapphire and Pluto. At this, the trio gazed at each other confused but as the toucan chicks became more reckless, especially as one managed to rip out one of Roberto's leaf-like head feathers, causing him pain, they did as Blu said. Brisa also passed on the idea to the orange bats and told them to fly down towards the humans, which they did. Soon, the macaws and orange bats were diving down towards the humans, a large flock of toucan chicks in hot pursuit. Some of the chased covered their heads with their feet as seeds flew from some of the chicks armed with hollow sticks. Then as soon as the group neared the humans, their net guns ready and aiming at their targets behind them, Mercury shouted, "NOOOW!" and with that, the macaws and the bats all swerved away, leaving the toucan chicks exposed to the net guns. Several bangs were heard and before the toucan chicks could react, they were ensnared by the netting as well and were knocked out of the air like a rock. Horrified and frightened screeches escaped their beaks as the toucan chicks were then caught and subsequently loaded into cages by their captors. The seven macaws and the orange bats repeated this trick another two times (with Lapis Lazuli joining in after recovering from the tackle to the stomach) with more toucan chicks and as soon as the third group was captured and caged, Blu, Roberto, Brisa, Sapphire, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Mercury and the bats all touched down on the ground nearby, watching as Fernando and his group loaded the caged toucan chicks into the truck.
"Good idea, my macaw friends," said one of the bats, "We never thought of luring those troublemakers to the humans."
"Heh, it was Mercury's idea," said Sapphire, a smile at her mate, "He's the one who should be thanked most."
"Absolutely," said Brisa.
"Look how many toucan chicks there are," breathed Mercury in immense shock as he examined the number of the young big nosed birds in the cages, "There must be well over fifty of them at least."
"More like almost a hundred," said another bat, a female, "Those three toucan couples certainly have been breeding like nobody's business."
"Is it any wonder you Linda's orange bats have been having such problems," said Lapis Lazuli. Just then the sounds of flapping membranous wings, larger ones, reached the group's ears. At this, the group looked up and saw Augustus fly towards them through the moonlit jungle. As the flying fox touched down, Blu asked him.
"How are the other bats doing in the cave, Augustus, including the leaders Toby, Velma and their son Basil?" he asked.
"They're fine," said Augustus, "But Andromeda has decided to stay with the colony for some time and help them search for areas in the jungle where the bats' prey is abundant as well as protect them from potential crow intrusions."
As he stated this, Andromeda turned up on her bat-bird Rouge, her yoyo-like weapon returned to her from the humans the moment her toucan kid catch had been caged.
"That's absolutely right," said the archaeobird as her mount touched down and she dismounted, "I'm going to help the orange bat colony start anew and make up for what they have lost because of that bunch of toucan kid troublemakers."
"But what if Spyro and Marella and their daughter Bambi need you?" asked Pluto in protest. At this, Blu stepped in.
"They'll be looked after by the rest of us for the time being," said the Spix macaw, "But we'll keep Andromeda informed on their wellbeing and provide updates of our progress."
"Thank you, it's much appreciated," said Andromeda with a smile. Then one of the orange bats stepped forward. He, along with the other adult bats his species, only reached the height of Andromeda's chest for Andromeda was only the size of a Spix macaw or perhaps slightly taller but shorter than Augustus.
"We're thankful for your help, Mrs Archaeobird," said the bat gratefully, "We could do with a little wing here after all the trouble…"
"Please, call me Andromeda," said Andromeda with a smile. The bat smiled at this as titters rolled through Blu's group but that brief moment of happiness was shattered when the sounds of screeches tore the quiet of the night air apart. At this, the macaws, flying fox, archaeobird and the smaller bats all stiffened. The group of humans did the same, the sounds of distressed toucan chicks still emanating from the truck trailer.
"What's that?" asked Augustus, his eyes inflated with alarm and his ears pricked. Andromeda, Rouge and the little orange bats also flashed confused glances this way and that, as did Roberto and Brisa. Blu, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Mercury and Sapphire, however, threw on serious glares.
"The enormous problem we talked about while discussing the tasks," said Blu in a low, serious voice, "Do you guys remember what we said about how the parents of the toucan kids are going to react upon seeing their offspring get caught and caged?"
At this, Augustus and Andromeda shot Blu a realisation look while the orange bats looked on confused. Seeing that there was no time to explain why, Blu glared at Andromeda and said, "You'd better get your yoyo weapon and your ingenious combat skills ready, now."
Andromeda, at this, rushed over to Rouge and remounted her. Then with a short, squeaky command, the archaeobird ordered Rouge to take off. Mercury, Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli and Pluto followed. Turning to Augustus, Blu said, "You take those bats back to their cave and report to Toby and Velma of the success of our human friends' mission in catching those toucan kids and stay with them until we've dealt with the final problem," Blu snapped his gaze into the night air as he heard several more screeches. It was definitely the screeches of some adult toucans, and they were laced with wrath. Sensing that the adult toucan attack was imminent, Blu jumped straight to the end.
"Take those bats back to their cave IMMEDIATELY!" he commanded and before Augustus could speak, Blu was off, a lush blue blur. After being left with the command, Augustus commanded the small bats to return to the cave.
"To your cave, NOW!" ordered the flying fox. The orange bats, confused looks on their faces, exchanged glances until they finally went along with the orders. Augustus took off after the little bats and hurried for the safety of the cave where the other orange bats including Velma, Toby and Basil were waiting.
Back with Fernando's group, Fernando and company were also alerted by the extremely wrathful screeches and had frozen in alertness as they were packing up and ready to return to Tulio's Aviary, the caged toucan chicks in tow. The humans' heads shot wary glances this way and that as they tried to locate the sources of the screeches. However, those sources were heading straight for them right out of the darkness, the distressed cries of so many toucan chicks having reached their ears. Six larger toucans, three of which had Eva's red tinted cream face masks and bellies and brown eyes like Rafael but were ablaze with fury launched themselves right out of the trees and swooped down upon Fernando's group. Then before the group of humans knew it, two of them, a man and a woman, felt aerial cat claws slash over their faces as something shot past their faces, screeching loudly. At this, chaos erupted among Fernando's group as the two struck humans were thrown into a chaotic stumble, their hands covering their slashed faces and screams of pain exploding from their beaks. Fernando flashed the two a horrified glance.
"Claudia, Jose!" he shouted to the pair but before he could rush over to the said man and woman as they covered their scratched faces, something feathery tackled into Fernando's back and knocked him down onto his front, much to his shock. However, that tackle had knocked him clear of more aerial cat like claws of another furious adult toucan, whose talons slashed the air where Fernando's head and eyes had been moments before. Fernando, confused, scrambled to his feet with the help of some of the other humans and also Lapis Lazuli, the one who had tackled Fernando from behind and knocked him down to save him from receiving a nasty scratch over the face. As he scrambled back onto his feet, he shouted, "Get the NET GUNS!"
Without hesitation, three of the humans dived into the back of the truck and seized a net gun each but a black comet with an orange and black beak zoomed in and, with its large beak, seized one of them, a lady, by the ponytail and yanked hard, tugging the woman back and away from the truck. The woman screamed and began to wave her hands at the toucan to dislodge the bird but the bird continued its relentless assault on her. Then bangs of net guns exploded into the air as the other two humans who had managed seized a net gun each fired nets at the enraged adult toucans as they zoomed around the humans, the parental instinct to save their many, many offspring held in cages at the back of the truck having taken control. The adult toucans, enraged screeches exploding from their beaks, dodged the flying nets and swooped down on the humans, their barb-like talon claws poised to attack. From the cave's mouth, Augustus, along with Basil, Velma and Toby and some of the other orange bats, watched in utter horror as humans attempted to net the adult toucans. One of the toucans swooped down at another lady named Denise, a lady whom Fernando was dating and had joined the task of catching the toucans plaguing the jungle outside the Pedra de Gavea cave, its claws poised to slash her face. Denise, at this, screamed and covered her face with her arms but before the toucan could rake its claws over the skin of her arms, a BAM was heard. When Denise did not feel claws rake over her arms, she slowly lowered them and looked up to see that her attacker had been tackled away. The other humans including Fernando also looked up to see the toucan then begin to unleash its fury on its tackler, Brisa as they viciously locked talons and began to savagely struggle and wrestle with each other in the air, enraged screeches exploding from their beaks.
Nearby, another toucan swooped down on another human as he helped the two humans that had been scratched over the faces, Claudia and Jose, into the truck, its talons aiming for the back of his neck but before the toucan could inflict an injury on that spot, a pair of discs attached to a string appeared out of nowhere and struck it square in the beak. The toucan, stunned, then entered a wild tailspin as Andromeda appeared on her bat-bird Rouge and withdrew her yoyo weapon. However, Andromeda commanded Rouge to swoop down at the toucan and before the toucan could crash-land in the back of the truck, Rouge seized the toucan's tail and slowed its descent. Moments later, a pair of hands appeared and seized the toucan and before the toucan knew it, it was hastily placed into a cage. Then another adult toucan was placed in a cage with it for Roberto and Blu had helped to catch that one and bring it to the human. Then after a few more minutes of chaos, the other four furious toucans were caught and caged but not before several more injuries were inflicted. Pluto had pounced onto another toucan as it tore out Denise's hair and was scratched across the torso before that toucan was seized and caged; Andromeda had accidentally hit another human in the face with her yoyo while trying to take down another toucan and Mercury and Sapphire had received small scratches to the face and side respectively by the other three toucans before they were shot down with nets and caged. Then after the chaos had subsided, relieved sighs could be breathed. The humans all hi-fived each other while Roberto, Brisa, Andromeda, Blu, Mercury, Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli and Pluto did the same, congratulating each other on a job well done.
"Good job, team," said Blu as he did a fist bump with Roberto and Mercury who, despite the sharp pain from the scratch to the cheek which wept a bit of blood, was glad that the job was done.
"That was pretty rough," said Sapphire with a relieved gasp. She gazed at the scratch on her left side which also wept a bit of blood and breathed a sigh.
"Okay, Augustus and the orange bats can come out of the cave now," said Blu. At this, Andromeda jumped onto her bat-bird's back and took off in the direction of the cave but Augustus had already emerged from the cave with some other small bats, among them Toby and Velma.
"We saw that you've managed to catch those six adult toucans with your human friends," said Toby the moment the archaeobird and her bat-bird flew up to them.
"Yes," said Andromeda, her gaze on the humans as they prepared for their trip back to Tulio's Aviary, "Anyway, those humans look like they're going back with their catches so if you want to join them Augustus, I suggest you do so now."
At this, Augustus prepared to fly to the truck but not before saying goodbye to Toby, Velma, Basil and the accompanying bats.
"Well, it sure is nice to meet you but I'm afraid it has to be cut short, regrettably," said the flying fox as he shook feet with Toby.
"It's okay, but thanks for your help in dealing with the toucan problem," said Toby as he broke the shake with Augustus, "Hopefully that little toucan clan will be dealt with."
"We hope that they will be sent to other sanctuaries away from here," said Velma firmly.
"Well, that's still pending at the moment," said Andromeda. She then heard the sound of a truck engine starting, sending alert flashing through her. "Oh, Augustus, the humans are about to start their journey back to base. You'd better join them now."
Augustus, at this, darted off in the direction of the truck but Andromeda and Rouge stayed put.
"You sure you aren't coming back with us?" called Augustus as Blu met him to take him to the truck.
"I'm sure," said Andromeda, "I'm going to help this colony of bats forage for the food they've missed, anyway."
"We'll see you guys some other time," called Basil.
"It sure is nice to see you lot again after such a long time, and thanks for helping us deal with the toucan problem," said Toby.
"And we hope that the toucan overpopulation in other parts of the sanctuary will be dealt with too," added Velma.
"We'll do our best," called Blu, "We have our human friends by our side anyway. Anyway, we're off and we'll see you again soon. Andromeda there will look after you for some time and protect you from any poachers' crows that may have entered this area as well."
At this, Basil, he, Velma, Toby and the other bats waved to Blu, Roberto, Mercury, Sapphire, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli and also Augustus as they and the human group including Fernando prepared to drive back to Tulio's Aviary. However, some of the humans had opted to return to the Pedra de Gavea and set up camp so that they could keep an eye on the orange bats for the coming few days and monitor their recovery from the competition with the toucan clan that had settled here which had now been removed. Then moments later, the truck had disappeared down the road in a cloud of dust, melting away into the dark jungle night lit by the silvery shafts of moonlight. After they had gone, Basil flashed Andromeda a confused look as she, Rouge and the little orange bats returned to the cave.
"Poachers' crows?" said he.
"I'll explain about those troublesome birds when we return to your cave," said Andromeda. At this, Basil tipped his head to one side in curiously and then followed his parents and the other bats back to the cave.