The animal kept his figure standing straight with dignity, facing the wall opposite to the door leading inside the office. Despite knowing of the visit he was about to receive, the old canine couldn't prevent himself from falling deep in his thoughts. So much happened at once at the very moment, so much that he had to keep under his watch and calculate carefully...

Then, the door abruptly opened. Under normal circumstances, he would be annoyed at his visitor for not knocking first... but given who his guest was, he didn't expect that much civility. Not minding the loud steps hitting the stone floor, he kept his composure straight and formed a little grin in the corners of his lips. "Greetings, my old friend." Despite talking barely louder than a whisper, his voice was loud enough to be heard throughout the whole room.

"I never really considered you a friend, Count. You're more like a client than anything else." The second animal's voice was a lot more distinguishable, not as strong, but just as serious.

A chuckle managed to slip through the canine's lips as he walked to the side, picking up a beautiful jug containing red wine, and proceeding to fill up two pre-set cups on his desk. "As for me, I never saw you as different from me, you know. We have a lot more in common than you believe."

"I beg to differ. You were born in a noble, rich family and got to be trained by the greatest "heroes" of the Animal Kingdom while my family were commoners and my training came from a bunch of animals despised by society." Not wanting to be too rude, the gigantic animal went to sit down in the chair facing his host's desk. Quite a difficult thing with his size.

The canine offered one of the two cups of wine that the guest took in his big three-fingered hand, the two of them sharing a toast. "This is one of the finest from my caves," he explained, swirling the red liquid in his cup. "It belonged to my father - and my father's father before coming into my possession. It can practically be classified as a relic."

"You're something of a relic yourself, Count," the giant remarked, earning a chuckle from the animal sitting before him. "By now, I'm sure you must have lived countless battles and created hundreds of bloody slaughters."

"Even though my reputation could lead to believe otherwise, I don't enjoy bloodbaths. I am no fan of such... barbaric activities like torture or raping. These kinds of things are more keen to pirates and mercenaries. No offense."

"None taken. These are part of the job." The giant slipped more wine in his mouth.

The canine did the same, never breaking eye contact with his guest, and then tilted his head to the side with an interested expression. "Tell me, how many people have you killed since the day you became a mercenary?"

"I couldn't tell; it has been such a long time that I've lost the count."

"How many women and children did you kill then?"

The giant couldn't help but frown a bit at this question. "I don't kill women and children; only warriors and scumbags who deserve to die."

"Pretty honorable words for someone who has the reputation of being a savage beast capable of killing with no remorse."

Letting a few seconds of silence slip by, during which the canine took another sip of his wine, the giant decided to gulp his whole cup in one go before slamming it back on the desk - not hard enough to break it, but with just enough strength to make a noise that echoed through the room. "I strongly doubt that you've taken the time to meet me just to talk about old wine and my ways of life. What do you want from me, Count?"

The count did not flinch under the giant's reaction, keeping eye contact and pulling his still half-full cup down in a much gentle manner. "Very well, then. I will cut straight to the chase. I have another contract for you."

"What is it? Did one of your former allies decided to turn on you again to run a crime syndicate and blow things up?"

"Not exactly. This time, the target happens to be one of my former friends who will play a huge part in my upcoming plans. You might have heard of him. His name is Nightfly."

As soon as this name escaped the canine's lips, the guest's eyes widened and his head perked up. The count could tell beyond the shadow of a doubt that he managed to catch his interest. Many seconds passed by before he opened his mouth to talk again. "Nightfly? The King of the Night? One of the strongest members of the Sacred Order?"

"Himself." The count watched with satisfaction as the stare of someone deeply in his thoughts appeared on his guest's face. It was only a matter of time before he would get what he wanted. "In the case you accept this contract, I am willing to offer you another reward of a million coins for your success."

"... That won't be necessary." The giant looked up with the glow of a decided mind in his eyes. "I still have a good part of the first reward you gave me. Just the opportunity is enough of a reward for me."

"Very well." Reaching his paw forward, the canine shook the mercenary's hand that was three times bigger, officializing the deal.


Groans escaped Tanya's beak as she pulled at her enormous bag with both wings. While macaws like her were known for being strong enough to carry fruits in their talons, pulling at entire bags containing tens of fruits was an entirely different topic. Good thing her many years of training as a goalkeeper came into handy. After pulling her item across the forest floor for a while, she could see the funny smiling beak of her friend coming into view.

"There, that's all I could carry on my own," she announced, finally coming to a stop so that she could remove her headband and wipe the sweat from her forehead.

"Cool! Now, all we have to do is to get all of these back to my restaurant. That should be enough apples for the next month. Let's go." The little puffin grabbed his own bag filled with delicious red fruits before heading back toward the city, the hyacinth macaw following suit. "I want to thank you for accepting to help me, Tanya."

"No problem, little dude," she assured with a smile. The football captain couldn't help but notice that the little puffin was carrying a bag just as big as hers despite it being three times bigger than him. No doubt in her mind it was because he refused to let his small size drag him down.

"I would've made Hernandez come with me, had he not fell sick. And I don't like the idea of leaving my restaurant without supervision, that's why I refused to let Rosita come," Lazaro explained.

"It's always a joy to help my buddies when they're in need!" Tanya declared with a grin. "Say, what were you thinking of doing with all these apples?"

"There's a few recipes I would like to try. Plus, I'm kinda in the mood to make apple pies right now."

"Really? Hey, do you think you could make some for the members of my team? They worked a lot in recent times; I feel like they deserve a little treat. Plus, I've got an old friend that moved in with us recently, and I'm sure he would like to eat one too."

"Sure, that's the least I can do for your help," the little puffin replied, giving his friend a smile above his shoulder.

"Thanks, dude!"


Nightfly peacefully sat on top of Chris the Redeemer's head, the spot from where he could overlook all the city of Rio de Janeiro. Even though he discovered it only recently, this became his favorite spot in the whole city to search for calm and serenity. Not too long ago, he wouldn't have allowed himself the luxury of coming here and leaving his student alone, but with all the progress he did in recent times, he trusted Blu to defend himself and his girlfriend from monsters.

Yet, his mind was anything but at peace. Closing his eyes and feeling the wind brushing against his feathers wasn't helping no matter how hard he tried. The magician took a lot of time to think about it and came to the conclusion that he fell into a trap.

"It's too late now," he mumbled to himself, giving up trying to meditate and staring at the distant floor down below. "Even if I try to explain everything, no one is gonna believe me. It's only a matter of time and I must do what I can during this time..."

While sad at the fate awaiting him, the Cerulean Macaw was mostly worried about all the friends he made in this world. Blu, Jewel, Isaiah, Dominic, Rafael, Nico, Pedro, Eva, Luiz, Apollo, Alex, Amelia, Lazaro, Tanya... They were surely going to miss him. But all of them were strong... especially Blu. If monsters kept coming at them, they would be able to protect their home without him...

Pushing a loud sigh, the hooded macaw stood back up on his talons and adjusted his cape. "I better get going and teach a few more tricks to Blu..." Opening his wings, he left the statue and headed toward the forest.


Noon time rolled around, the sun vertically shining its lights on the wonderful landscape that was Rio de Janeiro. During this time, both humans and animals liked to slack off, eat a good snack, and then rest off by the Copacabana Beach while enjoying the warm temperature and cool sea breeze.

Not for a certain female Spix's though. Jewel decided to leave her nest early in the morning in order to find a secret spot where she could train with Beauty and see what they could do together. She had been doing it for the last few days. Blu didn't know about it as she wanted to keep her new trick secret and surprise Blu with it the next time monsters would show up. A giggle escaped her beak at the thought of the face he would do.

Arriving at her tree, Jewel stepped inside and was a bit surprised to see her boyfriend still fast asleep in their nest, his wings comfortably wrapped around his body. However, she quickly remembered how much he trained with his sword and shield last night, and it made more sense by now. Still, the idea of spending an entire noon alone was rather sad to her, so she walked over to the sleeping figure of her boyfriend and poked at his side.

"Wake uuup, Blu! It's late in the mooorning!" she blew in his ear.

Blu rustled and started rolling around in the nest, a smile forming on his beak. "You're so... beautiful... I never want... to leave you... again..."

Jewel placed a wing on her beak as a giggle escaped. Her boyfriend was no doubt having a pleasant dream about her. How cute! Deciding to let him enjoy it a bit more before waking him up, she leaned her head forward and poked at his stomach with her beak.

"You are so... warm and... comforting..."

Heat rushed to her cheeks as anticipation kept climbing up. She couldn't wait to hear him saying her name! Leaning forward, she gave yet another peck, this time to his cheek.

"I never want to leave you again... my lovely... cup of hot chocolate..."

Jewel's excitation dropped even faster than it rose. Her eye started twitching with her face turning red - and not because of a blush! Embarrassment taking over, she delivered a strong kick into Blu's side, almost sending him flying away like a soccer ball and knocking him out of the nest. Naturally, such a strong hit pulled him out of his slumber.

"Ouch! What the cheese and sprinkles?!" Blu clutched his aching side while trying to rub the blurriness out of his eyes. Once his view was adjusted, he stumbled to his feet, trying to understand what just happened. One second, he was cuddling a nice, warm cup of hot chocolate, the next, he found himself hurt and out of his nest. His attention quickly moved on to the annoyed presence of his girlfriend. "Did you just kicked me, Jewel?!"

"I've got an even bigger question: were you dreaming about a cup of hot chocolate instead of me?!" the female Spix's demanded, pointing an accusing wingtip at her boyfriend. "We've been together for almost two months now, and you still enjoy your human food's company more than me?!"

"What? No, no, no!" Blu quickly denied, rising his wings in defense. "That was just a dream, Jewel! I was tired after training last night, and... I like to get a nice cup of hot chocolate alongside some cookies after training. You know that, right?"

Jewel was about to argue again... but then cooled off and let out a sigh. "Sorry, Blu. I shouldn't have yelled at you like this. It's just that you seemed so calm and happy in your dream and I would've wanted to be that source of joy."

"Hey, you're already the biggest source of joy I have in the real world," Blu assured, wrapping a wing around his girlfriend and kissing her cheek. He briefly stared into her gorgeous turquoise eyes before lowering his gaze and noticing a detail. "Huh, Jewel? What's that thing wrapped around your neck?"

This question caused Jewel's eyes to widen in shock. Crap! She completely forgot to hide her Summoning Collar given to her by Nightfly as she always did before waking Blu up! But she didn't want to spoil the surprise right now! "Hum... I... found it somewhere on the jungle floor and decided to pull it because I thought it looked pretty. Do you think I look good with it?" she asked, giving a fake smile and taking a pose.

"Oh? Well, sure, it does look pretty good with your cute face," Blu admitted, giving a kiss to his girlfriend's cheek. "But you shouldn't just pick up stuff you find on the ground, you know. It could be dangerous and containing a lot of bacteria."

Jewel just let out a little giggle at her boyfriend's overprotectiveness and kissed him on the beak. With that out of the way, an idea came up to her mind and a little seductive grin formed on her face. "You know, Blu, there's something I always wanted to try."

"Really? What is it?" Blu asked, a bit confused by his girlfriend's sudden change of mood.

Giving him the most seductive grin she could, Jewel wrapped her wings around her mate's neck and brought her face closer to his, seeing his cheeks going from blue to red. True to be told, Jewel had been feeling rather... unusual in the last few days. While she barely got into the whole romantic thing with Blu, it was a special season for birds of the Amazon like her. Mating season, to be more precise.

Unfortunately, before she could make any further move, a flapping noise interrupted her. Surely enough, Nightfly appeared in the entrance of the hollow. "Greetings, Blu, Jewel. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" he asked upon seeing the way Jewel's wings were holding her mate while their faces were so close.

"Huh... No, nothing at all," Jewel assured, quickly pulling her wings back to her side and taking one step back from her boyfriend. "We were just talking, that's all."

"Right...," Nightfly mumbled, rising one eyebrow.

"What are you doing here, Nightfly? Is something wrong?" Blu asked, wondering why his mentor decided to come see him.

"There is something we need to talk about, Blu. It concerns your training." He turned toward Jewel. "It won't take long; we'll be back in little time."

Jewel gave a nod of approval and gave one more kiss to her boyfriend's cheek before allowing him to follow his teacher, the two of them taking off from the branch outside. Once they were out of sight, she looked down at her neck and touched her Summoning Collar with her wing.

"Looks like I get a little more time to train with you, Beauty."


The two blue macaws flapped their wings as they made their way through the huge trees of the rainforest, the student following in his mentor's trail. During the travel, Blu couldn't help but give a thoughtful stare at Nightfly. Usually, the hooded macaw was always collected and flew both with grace and precision. Yet, at the moment, he seemed to be... unbalanced, kinda like Blu when he flew for the first time. It seemed like something bothered him... but what?

About ten minutes after leaving the hollow, they came out into an open area of the forest where there was no tree or animal around. As Blu had expected, it was at this moment that Nightfly decided to start his ascent toward the ground. If he really wanted their upcoming conversation to remain private, this was the perfect place to make sure nobody would eavesdrop on them.

Nightfly's back was still facing Blu even after this last one landed. When this lasted for many seconds, the younger avian decided to ask: "So... What did you want to tell me, Nightfly?"

The hooded macaw remained silent for about three more seconds before sighing and finally turning to face his student. "Blu, you remember when I first arrived here, in Rio?"

"How could I? I almost got murdered by a Ghoul," Blu responded in amusement. However, it quickly disappeared upon seeing the serious look on his mentor's face.

"What I'm trying to say, Blu, is that... you've made a lot of progress. Back to that night, you didn't know how to defend yourself and all you could do was run from danger. Which brings me to my point..." He marked another little pause. "Blu, your training with me is almost over."

The younger macaw blinked his hazel eyes multiple times at this announcement. His training was almost over? Sure, he did a lot of progress recently, there was no doubt about it... but was he really ready to protect Rio from monsters like Ghouls and Hollow Faces on his own? Maybe Nightfly was taking into consideration the fact that Blu would get back up from guys like Tanya or Lazaro who could also fight and help him against potential threats. There was also Dominic and Isaiah too.

"Okay, but what does it mean for you?" Blu asked. "What are you gonna do once my training will be done?"

"I'm afraid I will have to go back to my home world. I have a lot of friends back there, and I'm sure they must all be worried about me, you know."

Saying that this news pulled a thorn into Blu's heart would an understanding. Sure, he knew that Nightfly would have to leave one day because he wasn't from their world and said many times he had a duty as a protector where he came from. But... after spending so much time together, Nightfly had come to be a part of Blu's routine, a face he was used to seeing every day. "I understand... But will I ever get the chance to see you again?" he inquired.

At this question, Nightfly's gaze lowered to the ground. His beak opened and closed many times, as if the words were caught in his throat and couldn't come out. Eventually, he looked back at his student and seemed ready to talk... when his eyes suddenly widened. It almost seemed like he saw a ghost.

"..Nightfly? What's wrong-" Blu started asking, only to interrupt himself when he felt it too. A presence was detected by his magic sense. However, instead of feeling like a snack was coiling up around his neck, he had the impression of having two heavy weights on his shoulders trying to pin him down. Where did that came from? Was it another monster?

"So you finally realized I was here, have you?" Upon hearing this voice, Blu shot his head up... and widened his eyes in the exact same way as Nightfly.

As much as his mind refused to take that sight in, there was an actual shark standing on a tree branch very far from the ground. A shark with two legs and two arms. To say that this aquatic creature was a mountain of muscles would be an understanding: he looked like those athletes who worked out all their lives just to appear on a magazine cover. His body was as blue as the sea with the exception of his underbelly (that looked as solid as a brick wall!) and lower face. Just like Nightfly, he was wearing clothes. But instead of a hoodie, red shorts that seemed more fit for someone going to swim and fingerless gloves for his human hands that were just as red. His feet were also covered by solid-looking red boots and a dorsal fin proudly stood on the back of his head.

However, the strangest thing with this guy was no doubt the sword tied to his back. Its blade had to be at least three times the width of Blu's sword, if not more. The material that constituted it was alien to Blu: it looked like it was made of bronze... but it wasn't bronze at all. And even from such a distance, he could feel an energy emanating from this sword... An evil energy.

"Who's that guy?" Blu asked Nightfly. Only upon turning his head did he realize that his mentor was staring at the intruder with a look even more shocking than his.

"R-Red Sword?!" Nightfly quietly exclaimed.

"In the flesh and bones," the shark responded with a big grin that revealed a terrifying set of sharp fangs.

The sweat that strolled down the back of Nightfly's head visibly indicated the shock and worry he experienced at the moment. This was a rather odd sight to Blu as his mentor never looked so shocked and nervous before - not even when they encountered the Hollow Face. "What are you doing here?! And how can you still be in your normal form?! You should be turned into a creature that can't live outside of water!"

"Yeah, I know. But what can I say? Puros Alchemy can do wonders to one's body," the shark named Red Sword responded, giving a little shrug with his giant shoulders.

"D-Did you just say Puros Alchemy?!" the hooded macaw asked, his expression looking even more shocked than before.

While the two were having their little conversation, Blu couldn't help but stare at Nightfly and Red Sword alternately. Normal form? Puros Alchemy? What were they talking about? And how could a shark look like... this? Did Nightfly know him? What the cheese and sprinkles was going on?!

"Don't mess around: the Puros have all but disappeared a long time ago!" Nightfly declared. "How could you possibly know anything about Puros Alchemy?!"

Instead of responding, the shark stopped grinning and instead carefully reached his huge hand over his shoulder to grab the handle of his sword. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I didn't come here to chat..." Once the weapon was out of its scabbard, he proceeded to pull it back in a way that made it look like he would throw a javelin. "I've come here... to fight!"

In one second, Nightfly's eyes widened as far as they could go. "DODGE, BLU! QUICK!" As Red Sword launched his arm forward, the two avians barely had time to jump in opposite directions before the ground shook violently and a jet of dirt flew up in the air.

"Oh my coconut!" Blu exclaimed as the sudden move mixed with the intense impact caused him to lose his balance and end up on his rear end. His mind tried to proceed what just happened when the answers came to him as soon as he looked up. The giant sword that was in that shark's possession just a few seconds ago was now firmly planted into the middle of the open area, a lot of cracks formed all around it on the ground. D-Did he just tossed it like this?!

Before the young macaw could try to get an answer, Red Sword suddenly landed right next to his sword with a loud crash, making Blu realize he actually jumped all the way from that tree branch, and pulled a hand on the handle of his weapon. The ruby-red blade reflected the rays of the sun, making it look like it was actually shooting jets of blood!

"The hunt has started. You better be prepared if you want to survive!" the shark declared, pulling his weapon out of the ground with a mere pull and rested it against his shoulder.

Nightfly, who jumped in the other side of where the enemy was currently standing, quickly pulled his two black swords out of their scabbards on his back, swinging them and taking his fighting stance. "Blu! Get ready to fight, quick!"

He didn't have to ask it twice. Getting back up, Blu reached for his sword over his shoulder and held it with both wings in front of him, spreading his legs to get into his fighting stance. He got ready to try and search for an opening in his opponent's defense as his mentor taught him to... But, for some reason, Red Sword didn't get into a fighting stance like the two birds. Instead, he just gave a serious look in Nightfly's direction.

"... Nightfly, the King of the Night. I heard a lot about you," he said. "You're apparently one of the best warriors the Order of the Sacred Sword has to offer. If so is the case, then don't hold back against me... Cause neither will I," he declared, pulling his sword up and pointing its tip toward the hooded macaw.

During this little villain speech, Blu's eye twitched a bit. He knew how strong Nightfly was, but this guy really underestimated him enough to turn his back to him? Frowning in annoyance, Blu decided to make him regret his decision and charged forward. Once close enough, the young macaw jumped with his sword over his head, ready to deliver an aerial swing. However, just before his sword could connect, Red Sword swiftly turned around and planted his boot into Blu's stomach, knocking him back a good distance away, and making him roll on the floor. The poor avian coughed while clutching his hurt torso.

"Attacking someone in the back? Do you know how many times we tried to pull this off on me, kid?" Red Sword asked with an unimpressed scoff.

Managing to fight through the pain, Blu got back to his feet and assumed his stance once again. "Don't get too confident, dude! Nightfly and I defeated many monsters you wouldn't even believe exist! You won't be different from any of them!"

"He's not of the same category, Blu!" Upon hearing this statement, Blu looked over the shark's shoulder and to his mentor's serious expression. "This man has nothing to do with all the enemies you have seen before; he's not a monster, but a mercenary. One of the best mercenaries that can be hired in my world. Forget everything you went through so far..." Nightfly narrowed his eyes. "This time, we're up against the Animal Kingdom's TRUE strength..."

The wizard decided to make the next move by charging at Red Sword. Unlike Blu, he acted a lot faster, performing a spinning motion for his attack that the shark countered with his gigantic sword. The impact of both blades caused sparks to fly up in the air. Not taking one second off, Nightfly pressed on his attack, swinging his two black swords over and over again. Yet, in spite of his speed and smaller size, he wasn't able to pierce through Red Sword's defense. Yet, one would swear that such a mass of muscles wouldn't be able to move quick.

Eventually, it was time for the shark to get on the offense. Due to its blade covering a lot of space, it was hard for the Cerulean Macaw to avoid the swings of the sword. Sure, his smaller size did help, but it also left him with very little room to counter-attack. Deciding it was time to switch tactics, Nightfly decided to jump back before he could get wounded and swung his two swords for a familiar technique. The slices of air!

The invisible attacks dashed faster than arrows at Red Sword who rose his weapon to counter them. While it did make him stumble a bit, it didn't cause the slightest bit of damage. "Is that the strongest attack you have in your arsenal, Nightfly? I'm a bit disappointed," he commented.

"Strength and power aren't everything in a battle, Red Sword. Only Purros and idiots believe that," the hooded macaw commented after landing back on the ground.

"This is where you're wrong, King of the Night. In a battle, only the strongest gets to live while the weak dies!"

With heavy steps that caused the ground to tremble, Red Sword charged at his opponent, his greatsword raised above his head. Blu had expected Nightfly to swiftly move out of the way at the last second and then hit from a dead angle, as was fit for his combat style. However, he did the exact opposite: he raised his two swords and crossed them into an X to catch Red Sword's blade as it was brought down upon him. While the heavy impact no doubt costed him a lot of energy and even made his knees bend down, Nightfly managed to stop the blade just before it could touch his shoulder.

As Blu nursed his still hurting torso, he couldn't help but ask himself why his teacher would resort to such a dangerous parry move when he could have easily avoided the attack with his speed. Then, as he struggled to pull his enemy back, Blu saw him doing a gesture with his talon. It seemed like he was designing Red Sword with it for some reason... ?

Then, the young macaw understood what his teacher was trying to do and immediately took action. Opening his wings, he took off in the air and started diving toward the unsuspecting shark. While holding his sword in his talons, Blu made sure to pick up as much speed as he could before planting the sharp tip of his weapon directly into the shark's back. A growl of pain escaped Red Sword's mouth. Did Blu manage to actually land a deadly blow?

It seemed to be the case as one of his two hands let go of his greatsword and went limp. Blu probably managed to hit an important part of his spine and damaged his capacity to control his limbs. Unfortunately, before he could start celebrating his victory, the same hand in question clutched into a fist and went flying up into Nightfly's chin for a powerful uppercut. Blu could've sworn he heard the sound of bones snapping just before his teacher went flying up like a rocket.

"NIGHTFLY!" Blu exclaimed as he saw his master disappearing behind some bushes far in the distance. His survival instincts kicking in, he quickly pulled his sword out of his enemy and jumped back before this last one could injure him with his greatsword.

Turning around, Red Sword casually brushed the same hand he used to punch Nightfly over the spot where he got stabbed and brought it to his face, covered in blood. "... That was a weak attack. Did you really think you would kill me with this?"

Blu's heart skipped a beat as he suddenly took realization of something and slapped a wing over his head. How could he forget?! Sharks were known for having solid armor skin that could reach to 5-6 inches and be strong enough to resist a bullet shot! How could he hope to pierce through such a wall with his little wings that had started working out for barely a few months?

"Listen, kid, I don't know who you are, but it's clear that you're no exceptional combatant," Red Sword commented, once again resting his greatsword on his shoulder. "I've been tasked by a client to kill Nightfly and nobody else. So I'm gonna give you the mercy I rarely give to those crossing my path and allow you to get the hell out of here while you can."

Blu narrowed his eyes into a disgusted glare at this offer. "Running away and letting you kill my mentor? And what else? You want me to get you all the fruits in Rio while we're at it?"

Red Sword slightly tilted his head to the side at this sarcastic response, rising one eyebrow. "You're quite a strange bird, kid. Usually, after seeing what I'm capable of, all my enemies prefer running away and saving their lives."

"Not for me!"

"You really want to keep fighting me even if your chances of survival are low?"

"I know perfectly what's at stake and that I can die in this fight... But if I just run away and let someone close to me get killed while knowing I could've done something about it... I'd never forgive myself!" Blu challengingly rose his sword once again, giving the most determined glare he could. "So bring it on! I'll show you what I'm capable of!"

Red Sword stared at the blue bird for a moment before giving him a smirk. "You have guts, I'll give you that, kid. If only more peasants of the Animal Kingdom could be like this instead of always begging for their lives." He pointed his greatsword at his opponent once more. "Alright then, let's finish this!"

Blu braced himself as the shark charged at him. Even if he wasn't getting out of this alive, he would give his best! However, during the charge, he took notice of a glowing lime-green light shining on his sword's surface. It grew bigger and bigger. The young macaw turned his head just in time to see a green fireball coming out of nowhere and hitting Red Sword, halting his charge.

"What the hell?!" the shark exclaimed, groaning as a terrible burning mark now covered his right bicep. "Where did that came from?!"

"Right here!"

Blu turned his head in the direction the fireball came from... and widened his eyes. Seeing a human-shaped shark carrying a gigantic sword was one surprising thing... but seeing Jewel standing with an air of confidence next to a pink and purple dragon was something completely different!

"Need some backup, Blu?" she asked with a grin.

Author's note: Blu and Nightfly started their battle against Red Sword. While they are overpowered by the stronger warrior, can we hope to see the situation change with the arrival of Jewel and Beauty?

I have to be perfectly honest with you, guys: this is gonna be the most intense fight in this whole story so far - forget about Blu's fights against Ghouls, werewolves of the Hollow Face: this is gonna be a REAL battle of survival.

Before moving on, I'd like to take a moment and give a thought to Blue Sky Studio, the studio that brought us Rio alongside other memorable movies such as Ice age and The Peanuts Movie. Disney decided to close it down because with the pandemic, they weren't making enough money to run down another film studio. RIP, we're all gonna miss you, and thanks for giving us so many pieces of cinematic wonders :,(

Next: It's Jewel's time to shine as she and Beauty joins Blu and Nightfly in the fight against the fierce Red Sword...