Hey again! Another chapter coming up. Prior to that, I'm going to respond to guest reviews.
Fanfiction guy: While it may seem like the plot is a little crazy, it will be streamlined very soon. I just wanted to add a little depth to The Three Amigos, and at the same time start an underlying plot. You'll see what I mean later. Oh, and thanks for the other ideas. I'll see what I can do. To some extent most of what you said I already had planned anyway.
"Ok, so here's what you gotta do. See that air vent?" The shadowy figure pointed a wingtip towards a heavily neglected side of the aviary, where a rusting air vent could be seen.
"Just take something hard and break those old bolts. After that, it'll be a cinch to knock off the vent. You follow?" The bird asked.
"Yes, I think we get it. But then how do we find where their room is?" Rafael requested.
"Oh, that's easy." He said while rubbing his wings together.
"The vent right there leads you directly above the breeding room. They should be inside that cage. Once you're over the room, just find a way to dislodge the vent cap. Those things are usually easy to open from the inside." He finished.
"Great! Thanks amigo!" Rafael thanked.
"Come on Pedro, let's go." He said while releasing his grip on Pedro's beak and began flying towards the aviary.
"Hmp, fine. This better w-" Pedro was left dumfounded as he turned towards the mysterious bird, but found that he had vanished.
"Ok, that's a little scary. Hehe, RafiiiiI!" Pedro shouted in fear as he darted towards Rafael.
"What is it now Pedro?" Rafael asked, slightly irritated by Pedro.
"T-that bird just disappeared like all ninja like! I-I should know." Predro explained.
"You are NOT a ninja Pedro. Anyway, he probably decided to fly away somewhere. Why are you worrying so much?" Rafael replied.
Pedro took a deep breath and sighed.
"I just wish Nico was here." The red cardinal said, saddened by his friend's absence.
"You and me both Pedro. Now come on, let's go find our friends." Rafael said with determination as he picked up a rock in his talons, and prepared to break open the air vent.
From a nearby tree, the dark figure was watching Rafael and Pedro follow his advice. He folded his wings together as he leaned on the bark of the tree. He soon formed an evil grin which wrapped around his face like a stream of smoke, indulging and intoxicating him.
"Heh, thanks for doing my job for me. Idiots."
Back inside the aviary, Jewel had just finished recounting her dream to Blu.
"…when I looked up I saw that YOU were standing over me." Jewel said, still a little sad. However, she was feeling lot better now that she had someone to talk to.
"Then what happened?" Blu inquired, captivated by Jewel's strange dream.
"Then I woke up, and saw you were standing outside the tree. Wait, why were you awake?" Jewel then redirected the question to Blu.
"Oh yeah, that." Blu said while rubbing his neck.
"I'm on Minnesota time, remember?" Blu lied. He hated to keep anything from Jewel, but they were talking about her, and shifting the subject would be selfish of him. Besides, he really didn't want to let Jewel know anyway. What would she think of him? A bird being afraid of living in his natural habitat. The truth was he had started to worry about the future. Blu was scared about living in the wild once Jewel's wing was fully healed. He knew he couldn't just leave Rio and go back to Moose Lake. He also knew that Jewel was a very free spirited bird, and it wouldn't be fair to keep her locked up in a bookstore all day. This meant if Blu wanted to be with Jewel, which he desired more than anything in the world, he had to *gulp* live in the wild. The thought sent a strong feeling of inquietude throughout Blu's physical and mental being.
"Sorry, I forgot." Jewel responded, breaking Blu's concentration.
"So what do you think of my dream?" She asked.
"Oh, well I'm not entirely sure. Did anything like that happen to you as a child?" Blu queried.
Jewel's eyes widened. She had not thought about her childhood in years. She probably just pushed it to the back of her mind because she couldn't handle thinking about it alone. But now it was right in front of her. And this time she had someone who was kind and understanding enough to actually help her though it.
"Well, actually I-"
"Ouch! Watch where your steppin' man! That really hurt!"
"Sorry amigo, it's a little dark in this thing."
Blu and Jewel looked up at the air vent, where the sound was emanating from, and recognized the voices.
Suddenly a creaking sound was heard, and a portion of the air vent attached to the ceiling gave way. Along with the vent, came two birds.
"Rafael? Pedro?" Blu and Jewel said simultaneously, shocked that their two friends had found them.
"Blu! Jewel!" Pedro and Rafael exclaimed as they ran towards the two lovebirds.
"Omph!" Blu groaned as the two birds engulfed him and Jewel in a warm hug.
"Blu buddy! We thought you were dead, bird! Don't ever to that to us again!" Pedro jubilantly shouted.
"What happened to you guys? And Jewel! Why is your wing wrapped in those white streamers?" Rafael asked before releasing his grip on the two birds.
"Well after you guys left us…" when Jewel said this she gave The Toucan and Cardinal an evil eye "…me and Blu were going to figure out a way to escape. We didn't have too much time to think because Nigel came in and pinned Blu down."
"Oh meu caramba! Then what happened?" Rafael inquired.
"Yeah…*Gasp* did you die!?" Pedro, now quite worried, asked.
Rafael turned to Pedro and gave him a "you moron" look.
"What?" Pedro asked, completely unaware.
"Please continue Jewel." Rafael said.
"Well, I tried to attack Nigel but he flung me into the side of the plane and a crate fell on my wing." Jewel said while looking down at her damaged wing.
"Thanks to Blu's quick reflexes and fast thinking, he shot Nigel out of the plane with a fire extinguisher and killed that stupid cockatoo with a propeller." Jewel said as she dreamily looked at Blu.
Blu just stood there and slightly blushed. No one could see it due to his feathers.
"Why don't you finish the story Blu?" Jewel insisted.
"O-ok, sure. *achem* So, after Nigel was gone the plane started falling out of the sky, I soon heard Jewel screaming. She had started sliding off the ledge of the plane's ramp!"
"What!? Man this story is poppin'!" Pedro exclaimed.
"Um, yeah. Anyway I wasn't fast enough, and she fell." Blu shuttered just remembering that moment.
"Seeing her falling like that, I-I I then realized how much I truly cared for her. Even though I couldn't fly, and had a better chance of survival staying on the plane, I couldn't imagine spending the rest of my life without her. Even if it was only a few minutes. So, I jumped off the plane."
"Really!? YOU did that?" Rafael was completely in shock that, for once in his life, Blu actually listened to his heart, not his mind.
"Yeah, I did. After that I caught up to Jewel and held her in my wings. She thought I was crazy." Blu said while chuckling a little.
"At that moment, I confessed my feelings for her. By that time, all I wanted was to die with her in my wings. But then something I never expected happened. Jewel kissed me."
"Awwwwww." Rafael and Pedro chorused.
"Then you died, right?" Pedro added.
"Um, no. Actually I started feeling a strange sensation in my chest. All of the blood in my body felt like it ran into my wings. They then spread open by themselves, and the next thing I knew I was flying with Jewel in my talons." Blu said, somewhat proud of himself.
"Bobo here thinks he's all that because he can fly now." Jewel said while playfully nudging Blu with her wing.
"That's great Blu! You finally found the rhythm in your heart!" Rafael said while placing a wingtip to his heart.
Blu responded by chuckling a little.
"After that, we found Linda and Tulio and went to the aviary to have my wing fixed." Jewel concluded.
There was a moment of silence.
"Wow, some adventure you guys had eh?" Rafael said, breaking the silence.
"Wait! We gotta break you out of here amigos! Come on, let's go!" Rafael exclaimed as he realized that they had been delayed. The Toucan and Canary began running towards the air vent, but to their surprise, no one was following them.
"Hey, aren't you guys coming?" Pedro asked, puzzled that his friends weren't in a hurry to escape.
"Um, guys. We really don't want to leave." Blu answered.
"For now, anyway." Jewel added, much to the discomfort of Blu.
"B-But why? Aren't those doctors doing crazy experiments on you? Like Zombies, but with birds! *gasp* Zombirds! Or, or Birdies. No, wait that wouldn't work. Yeah, I like Zombirds better." Predro questioned.
Everyone's eyes grew large as they stared at Pedro, scared by his "unique" ways of thinking.
"Uh, no. Tulio was actually the one who fixed my wing." Jewel said, still a little confused by where Pedro even came up with such a ridiculous idea.
"Why would you think they were torturing us?" Blu added.
"Because of me." A voice rang out from behind them.
Everyone redirected their attention to see a yellow canary, standing on the floor of the artificial jungle.
"Nico?" Everyone said in unison.
"Listen guys, I haven't been fully honest with any of you." He said while slowly walking over to the four birds.
"Not even you Pedro." Nico admitted while looking down at his talons.
"But buddy, we tell each other everything!" Pedro said, a little shocked that his friend was keeping secrets from him.
"Pedro, Rafi, you guys know I'm afraid of doctors. But what I told you guys to explain why was… IT WAS A LIE! I didn't really stay up all night watching Hospital Horror Stories." Nico suddenly stated sobbing, using both of his wings to cover his eyes.
Pedro walked up to Nico and put a wing around him.
"Its ok man, do you want to talk about it?" Pedro asked, now concerned for his brother-friend.
"*sniff* I-I don't know if I can. I can't bear to relive that day." Nico responded as he looked off in the distance.
"Nico, I know it's hard. Trust me I know. But I was talking with Blu just a moment ago about something similar, and I felt a lot better once I told him. Please Nico, we're all here for you." Jewel insisted.
The canary looked up at the warm expressions of his friends.
"O-ok, just remember I didn't mean for any of it to happen! It just, did…"
Everyone stared intently at the small canary, as he prepared to tell his closest friends about his dark and traumatizing past.
Another chapter done! For all of you are getting tired of this little diversion, don't worry. The next chapter will be the conclusion to the whole Nico subplot. There will be more bonding between Blu and Jewel, and Linda/Tulio will be reintroduced. Also, check out my profile as I will be updating it with chapter names and target release dates. Oh, and what do YOU think a Zombie Bird would be called? Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments. Remember to review, and thanks for reading!