Logan's team exited the portal created by Silver and found themselves in the middle of what looked like a rainforest. The heat was pretty intense and the surrounding wildlife alive. "What is this place? Where are we?" Staghart asked.
"Wait a minute, this place seems familiar," Silver remarked. "Where d'you take us, Logan?"
The young man chuckled a bit. "You're right to feel familiar here, Silver. We, indeed, came here a while ago. Just allow me to give you a little refresher." He walked over to a bush of large leaves and pulled all of them aside, revealing a gigantic city on the ocean side with a statue at the top of a mountain.
Silver quickly replaced everything in his mind. "We're in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!" he exclaimed.
"Brazil? I never got the chance to visit this country. You've been here before, Silver?" Staghart asked his boyfriend.
"Yeah. When Hex tried to take over the Magical World, we traveled here with the rest of my friends to rescue Donald Duck," Silver explained. "We teamed up with the local birds, the friends I made at the Enchanted Tiki Room, and even the Three Caballeros to defeat Hex's bots and free Donald from his stone spell." He placed his hands behind his head. "It's too bad we didn't get to stay longer; Rio is known for being one of the most romantic cities in the world. Whether it be its warm restaurants, long walks on the beach, or clubs where you can dance with your partner until dawn."
"You know... nothing's forbidding us from doing all of this once Princess Aurora is saved," Staghart informed with a grin, kissing his boyfriend on the cheek.
"Nothing would make me happier," Silver said, and returned the kiss. This caused Logan to let out a 'aww!' at the cuteness of the moment. "But why did you bring us here, Logan? You think the kidnapper is somewhere around the city?"
Logan pulled out the white feather from his pocket. "Believe me, it's not the kind of feather you will see any bird from the Magical World wearing. I just so happen to be REALLY familiar with the world of Rio - and I'd bet anything that a specific character is the owner of this feather." He suddenly perked his head in a direction. "Weird coincidence, I just sensed a strong concentration of darkness on the other end of the forest. I'd bet anything this is where we'll find our princess kidnapper."
"Then there's no time to lose! Lead the way!" Staghart said.
Logan was about to do just that, but barely did he walk around a tree that a flash of blue passed by him, a violent impact hitting him on the nose half a second later. He collapsed on his rear end, clutching his face in pain. "Cheese and crackers/sprinkles!" he exclaimed alongside the other one.
"Logan! You're alright?" Silver asked as he rushed at his friend's side. He then looked up to see who bumped into him, a blue bird getting tended to by two smaller birds, one red, the other yellow, who looked very familiar. "N-Nico? Pedro?"
"Oh my samba! It's Silver!" Nico exclaimed, flying straight into his human pal's arms alongside his best friend.
"It's been so long!" Pedro beamed whilst hugging Silver. "We haven't seen each other since, what, that time we had to free Donald Duck from his stone trick?"
"Yup, way too long, guys!" Silver agreed, happily hugging his two avian friends. Afterwards, he put a hand on Staghart's shoulder and brought him forward. "Guys, meet Staghart, my boyfriend."
"Nice to meet friends of Silver," the Gargoyle said with a smile.
The two small avians stared at the white creature with wide eyes. "... A-Are you an angel?" Nico innocently asked. "I don't think I've ever seen a creature looking more angel-like than you..."
"You mean that's what surprises you the most?" Pedro asked. "Who would've thought that our little Silver would fall in love with a creature of the same gender?"
Nico gave an odd and confused expression to his best friend. "... Dude, what are you talking about? Silver said many times during his time with us at the Tiki Room that he wanted to find a guy to fall in love with."
"Guy? He said 'guy'? I thought he said 'gal'. Oh, my bad," the cardinal shrugged and went to shake Staghart's hand. "Nice to meet you, Staghart, was it? Glad that our little Silver has found the love of his life!"
While all of this was going on, Logan recovered from the bump and stared at the blue bird, whom he quickly recognized. "Hey, you're Blu, right?"
"Huh... Yeah, that's me," the Spix's macaw confirmed, getting back on his feet as he rubbed his black beak. "You look familiar; have we met before?"
"Not officially, but I'm a huge fan of your movies. I must've seen the first one at least a hundred times," Logan explained with a smile. "You may not remember me, but we teamed up when Hex tried to conquer the Magical World. I was the snowy owl with Gabriel and the other Dream Defenders."
"Oh yeah! I replace you now!" Blu exclaimed. However, his smile quickly faded away. "Unfortunately, it's not exactly the right time to catch up with each other; we're in a hurry at the moment."
"Why? Is there a problem?" Silver asked.
"Jewel has gone missing this morning; we've asked all of our friends from the club to seek for her, but we can't find her anywhere!" Blu explained.
"And we've looked everywhere - the city, the fruit market, the beach, the forest, even the sewers! She's nowhere!" Pedro said in panic. "It's almost like she completely disappeared from the surface of Brazil!"
"Looks like we arrived at just the right time then," Logan said. "One of the Disney Princesses have recently disappeared as well, and I can feel a sinister presence not too far from here. Somehow, I got a feeling this is where we'll find both her and Jewel. Wanna follow us there?"
"Of course! What's that question?" Blu asked Logan with a glare. "If Jewel's there, then it's where I'll go, no question asked!" he declared, Nico and Pedro backing him up with nods.
A smile formed on Logan's face. "I wasn't expecting anything less from you, Blu. You've always shown a solid courage whenever people you care about are in harm's way." He turned toward Silver and Staghart. "You guys ready to go?" They both gave him a thumb's up. "Then let's go!"
Following the scent of darkness, Logan led his team across the rainforest, until they arrived at an open clearing. The source of all the darkness was standing in the middle of this zone. "Of course," Logan mumbled with a roll of his eyes. "Why am I not even surprised to see you, Nigel?"
The white cockatoo glared in the intruders' direction. Two figures were lying next to him, unconscious - one being a human, the other a blue bird. "Great, I was hoping I could get out of here before anybody could uncover my plan."
"What are you doing with Princess Aurora? Release her right now!" Silver ordered.
"And why did you capture Jewel too?" Blu asked. "I mean, it's not the first time you've tried to capture Jewel, I, or any of our friends, but you never went after a princess before. What are you up to?"
Nigel chuckled sinisterly. "Unfortunately, flightless bird, I'm kind of in a hurry, so I don't have time to explain my evil plans to you..." He slapped himself on the head. "Argh! Who am I kidding? I can't resist the temptation to make an evil speech! Here I go!" He took an evil stance with a smirk. "You guys remember the reason why I decided to turn evil and join Marcel's gang in the first place?"
"Wait, wait, I know! I saw the movie!" Silver exclaimed, with rubbing the sides of his head. "It's because you used to have a TV show, but got replaced by another parakeet who was prettier than you?"
"Exactly!" the cockatoo confirmed. "My blood boiled with rage at this injustice - how could they just replace me like this after I dedicated my heart and soul for them?! As if my misfortune couldn't get worst, I got into an accident that destroyed my body forever, destroying any chance I had at regaining my fame and glory! Ever since, I devoted myself to make every pretty and beautiful bird as ugly as me."
"Yeah, yeah, we know the story," Logan deadpanned with waving his hand. "What we want to know is why you decided to start capturing princesses."
"After your little passage in this world, I convinced your two friends, José and Panchito, to take me with them to Disney Castle under the pretense that I always wanted to see it with my two own eyes. In reality, I just wanted access to the royal library and seek a way to recover my beauty from before. After doing some research, I discovered interesting details about the element of darkness, notably a special ritual that can make me young and handsome again. However, in order for this ritual to work, I need to offer three Princesses of Heart to the darkness. This is why I went after the prettiest and easiest to catch."
"Princesses of Heart?" Blu asked with a puzzled expression. "What are you talking about? Jewel's not a princess!"
"Actually, Jewel is one of the main characters of a movie that is now under Disney's banner, and she's also the daughter of a clan leader from the Amazon. I guess that technically counts as being a princess," Logan explained.
"Getting into that castle was so easy; all I had to do was pretend to be a sick, injured bird. And then, when she least expects it, BANG! the Sleeping Beauty is out and into my clutches," Nigel kept telling his story. "I immediately knew who I wanted as my second sacrifice; it was the perfect occasion to kept my revenge for the humiliations you committed against me." He reached a wing to pat the head of the unconscious Jewel. "There's only one princess left for me to catch... and I already know my final target."
"Forget about this!" Silver exclaimed, glaring behind his sunglasses. "You're gonna release the princess and Jewel right now!"
"Otherwise, we'll get them back by force," Staghart warned.
Nigel chuckled and mockingly shook his wings. "Oooh, I'm so terrified! There's no possible way I could stand a chance against all of you by myself... Good thing I'm not alone." Darkness started emanating from Nigel's body as he rose one wing, spreading his power across the open area. Soon, Heartless appeared everywhere and surrounded the group. There were Shadows, Aerial Masters, Amber Operas, Blue Rhapsodies, Cannon Guns, Defenders, Fat Bandits, Swordsmen, and Toy Troopers. After summoning all of them, Nigel picked up his two princesses and opened a darkness portal. "Au Revoir, kids."
As the cockatoo disappeared in the darkness, Logan summoned his Owl Buster, just before his memory reminded him to take his Fenrir Keyblade instead. "Get ready to fight, guys!" Silver took out his Magic Paintbrush and used it to make a sword for Staghart to use. The battle started - unfortunately, Logan's team could not go all out as usual because they had to protect their three avian friends, who could not fight back.
"This sucks," Blu mumbled with a frown. "Jewel's life is at stake, and I can't do anything to help! If only I had a weapon or something, I could get her back..."
"Yeah, I'd help with those monsters too!" Pedro exclaimed, doing a few boxing moves, only to go back behind his friends after almost getting clawed by an Aerial Master. "If they weren't so scary... And so huge..."
Meanwhile, not too far from the confrontation, the anthropomorphic falcon from the previous chapter was making his way through the rainforest. "Not in the city, not at the fruit market, and not even at the samba club. Where the nut is he? Knowing him, he should be around, since Rio's one of his most favorite movies." His head perked up as he heard the sound of struggling thanks to his sharp hearing. "What's going on?"
He ran across the rainforest, following the source of the noise until he arrived at his destination. Pushing bushes out of the way, he saw the struggle going on between the young Dream Defenders and the legion of Heartless. More specifically, his gaze fell upon Logan, who was busy swinging his Fenrir Keyblade at Toy Troopers.
"Oh my gosh, it's him!" the falcon exclaimed, a smile forming on his beak. He stepped out of the bushes. "Hey, Logan-"
BOOM!
Logan turned his head to see a Fat Bandit that landed where the falcon stood. "Strange, I could've sworn someone called for me." The Fat Bandit charged at him, forcing Logan to parry as he could not damage the Heartless from the front.
Silver shot jets of paint at the surrounding Heartless, with Staghart covering his back by swinging his sword at all the enemies. The couple had a great teamwork. Soon, Logan was pushed back to their side by the numerous enemies. Seeing the situation was not going well, he turned to his co-Dream Defender.
"Hey, Silver! Now would be the perfect opportunity to use our Fire Lion Charge!" he called.
"Good idea!" Silver responded with a grin. Closing his eyes to think about what he wanted to paint, the young man brushed his Magic Paintbrush in the air to summon a lion made of fire (similar to Simba's summon in Kingdom Hearts 3) onto which he jumped alongside Logan. Following his command, the fire lion ran all around, his bounces creating waves of fire that burned at the enemies. Logan swung his Fenrir Keyblade at the aerial enemies to protect Silver and the fire lion throughout the charge. Then, after a while, the two Dream Defenders jumped into the air, Logan shooting a Fire spell whilst Silver used his paintbrush to send a jet of fire at their lion, creating a huge infernal explosion that destroyed every nearby Heartless.
"Well done, guys!" Staghart praised his friends, kissing Silver on the cheek. "What was this move?"
"It's a little trick Silver and I came up with when he visited me at the Mysterious Tower. Though I must admit, we kinda took inspiration from one of Sora's summons," Logan explained, rubbing the back of his head while Silver turned his Magic Paintbrush into a water gun to prevent the fire from spreading across the rainforest.
"Hope you have more tricks like this up your sleeves; there's more of them!" Nico exclaimed, pointing at even more Heartless appearing around the group.
Logan, Silver and Staghart did everything they could to fend off the Heartless and protect their three avian friends, but the waves just kept coming and coming. "Cheese and crackers!" Logan nervously thought, swinging his Keyblade while sweat dripped from his forehead. "At this rate, we're gonna run out of energy and won't be able to stop Nigel before it's too late!"
A Defender knocked Silver to the ground with its shield. Staghart attempted to go help his boyfriend, but was blocked by a swarm of Fat Bandits and Swordsmen. Before the Defender could harm him, Silver got saved by a shield that came flying out of nowhere and hit the Heartless right in the face, Captain America style. In addition, laser blasts hit many of the creatures, blasting them into oblivion.
"What the...?!" Logan mumbled before he and his friends turned towards the source of these attacks. Two figures were standing on a tree branch overlooking the open area.
"Looks like we got here in just the nick of time," one of them said. He was an anthropomorphic dog who looked like a younger version of Goofy. His attire consisted of a red zip-up hoodie and blue baggy pants, both of them having many pockets. He wore a yellow shirt underneath his hoodie alongside white skater gloves and large white shoes. A black belt was tied around his waist to keep his pants in place. A skateboard was tied to his back, and the shield that had been previously tossed came back flying to his forearm. It was sky-blue with golden trims and had the Mickey Mouse symbol over it.
The other one was also an anthropomorphic dog - a female, this time. Her pumpkin-orange hair was tied into a ponytail by a yellow band. She wore a green zip-up tactical army vest over a yellow crop top and military green cargo pants paired with combat boots. A black belt was tied around her waist to hold her cargo pants, whilst also being decorated with handgun holsters for the two laser pistols she was currently holding in her hands. She had a green headband wrapped around her forehead and yellow protection goggles resting around her neck. Her attire was completed by black fingerless gloves.
The male dog rolled down the tree with his skate, using his shield to knock many Heartless on the way, whilst the female jumped, performed amazing flips, blasted a few Heartless down, and then landed superhero style next to the group. It took him a moment, but Logan managed to recognize them both.
"I know you!" he said. "You're Max Goof and Pistol Pete! From the Goof Troop cartoon!"
"Looks like we're still popular," Pistol remarked with a chuckle as she placed her protection goggles on. Rising her two pistols, she shot laser blasts at the Heartless, defeating them with impressive accuracy. Max, meanwhile, started rolling around with his skateboard, smacking every Heartless on his way with his shield whilst also performing flips and other skateboard tricks.
Now motivated again, Logan, Silver and Staghart resumed fighting the invading monsters. They were no match for the group's combined strengths, and before long, all of them had been defeated, the waves ceasing to come.
"I think that was the last of them," Logan said, wiping some sweat from his forehead. "Thanks for the help, guys."
"Sure, no problem," Max assured with a smile, pulling his skateboard back on his back.
"But what are you guys doing here? How did you know we needed help?" Staghart interrogated the two dogs.
"Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck sent us," Pistol explained with pulling her pistols back in their holsters. "They said Princess Aurora had been kidnapped and that you guys could need back up to rescue her."
"They were right," Blu confirmed. "We found out the kidnapper's identity; it's Nigel, my nemesis. He kidnapped my mate as well."
"Tell me, since when do you guys know how to fight?" Logan asked. "I don't recall you fighting with a shield nor you ever using laser pistols, Max and Pistol."
"That's a long story," Max responded. "See, once Goof Troop ended with the two Goofy movies, our parents brought us to Disney Town so they could properly raise us. Since my father is the captain of Disney Castle's guards, I naturally had to train under him." He chuckled a bit. "Uncle Donald never stopped teasing me about it; most of the guards thought I'd never be as good as my dad. True to be told, I wasn't at ease with my shield at first, but it ended up becoming like a new limb for me. Of course, I decided to add my trusty skate into the mix to develop my very own style and stand out from my father."
"Really? Cool! I always wondered what you would look like in a Kingdom Hearts game, Max," Logan said with a smile. "What about you, Pistol?"
"You probably know it already, but my dad became a bad guy after we moved in," Pistol explained. "This left my mother to raise me and my brother by herself, though Goofy did kinda fill in the role of father figure. When he told us about his adventures with Sora and Donald, I became interested in joining Disney Castle's guard alongside Max. We did a lot of training together. With the teachings of guys like Hawkeye and Han Solo, I ended up becoming the best shooter of Disney Castle. Was pretty satisfying to shut down everybody who thought otherwise."
"Ever since we both graduated and became members of the guard, Pistol and I have taken on many missions on behalf of Disney Castle. Nothing can beat us," Max boasted, exchanging a bump-fist with his partner.
"Good for you, but can we get going now?" Blu asked, visibly in a hurry. "Nigel has disappeared in a dark hole with my mate - he could be anywhere!"
"Not exactly." Pistol reached into one of the many pockets of her tactical vest and pulled out a device. "With this little wonder, we can track remaining traces of portals, whether they're made of darkness or not. According to it, our kidnapper has headed to...," she widened her eyes, "... Spoonerville?!"
"Where's that?" Pedro confusingly asked.
"It's the hometown of Max and Pistol's families," Logan explained. "This is also the location of the Goof Troop show and movies. The question is: why would Nigel head there when he needs a Princess of Heart? There's none of them in Spoonerville that I know of." Logan's eyes suddenly widened as a realization hit him. "Unless he plans to... Oh, no!"
"What? What's wrong, Logan?" Staghart asked.
The young boy gave everybody a serious look. "We need to leave now! Silver?"
"On it!" Silver nodded and started painting a portal with his Magic Paintbrush.
Nico and Pedro poked at Logan's leg. "We're gonna stay here and return to the samba club to inform everybody on the situation. Besides, I think we would just get in your way with Nigel," the canary explained, his best friend nodding in agreement.
"That's a good idea. You should stay, too, and return to your kids, Blu," Logan said.
"Absolutely not!" the macaw strictly refused. "Rafael's already looking over the kids; I won't return without their mother!"
"Alright then, but try not to get too close to danger, okay?"
At the same moment, the anthropomorphic falcon finally recovered from getting squashed by the Fat Bandit. "Geez! I feel like I just got hit by a boulder..." He staggered a bit, but managed to regain his composure. Once it was done, he saw Logan and his friends entering a portal.
"Let's go; we must get to Spoonerville right now!" Logan hurriedly said before stepping in last.
"Logan, wait!" the falcon called, trying to run up to the portal, but it disappeared before it could reach it. He rubbed his eyes. "Man, at this rate I won't catch up to him before next year..."
Author's note: Nigel was the kidnapper! Congratulations to TheDragonSaver for correctly guessing it in the review section. Since Rio is one of my most favorite animated movies, I really wanted to write a story arc with Nigel as the villain. That's when I got the idea of him kidnapping princesses to regain the beauty he lost before the first movie - that would make sense, right?
Have you guys seen the Epcot live! show on Disney+, two days ago? IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! I almost shed a tear when listening to the chorus.
I don't know about you guys, but Max and Pistol are two characters I always thought would fit greatly in the KH universe. It's so easy to picture Max learning the art of fighting with a shield from his father - though with his skateboarding skills added to his style, as I didn't want him to be a simple copy-paste. As for Pistol, it was easy; she would fight with laser pistols... because her name's Pistol... got it?
Will our friends manage to stop Nigel? Who's the third Princess of Heart he plans to go after? Will the poor falcon ever manage to meet with Logan? Stay tuned to find out!
Next time: Logan's team confronts Nigel in Spoonerville.
