Before this new chapter, I'd like to say a few things:
1. I got to see the first episodes of MLP Season 9, and already I'm loving it enough to want more!
2. Whatever you see the characters do in this chapter, remember that you do not try them at home!
3. I'm aware of how annoyed you guys may be with how long it takes for me to continue this and the others, and I'm sorry. But, if I keep up with the "Once A Week" plan, then there'll hopefully be no reason to worry.
So, I hope you guys enjoy this next installment. The continuing chapter where Blu and Jewel try to get the vine off. Hope you like it, and the other "foreign" detail I added to this Rio story.
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX: ON THE WAY PART 4
In the present, it was still the beginning of July, and everyone was where they needed to be. Blu, Jewel, Eva, Rafael, Mikka, Leo were together in the aviary hospital of Rio de Janeiro, and so were their human compadres: Tulio, Dr. Monteiro, Andrea, Bell, Nicole, and Lizzie. All twelve friends were inside the building together, and six of them were successfully cleaned Blu and Jewel.
Hours later, after taking care of the two blue birds, they just relaxed since it nearly late at night. They were also trying to relax because for so long, no matter how hard they tried, the vine on the blue pair's legs could not get torn, snapped, or slashed in half. The humans were all in the waiting room, not chatting very much but just trying not to get so stressed.
Bell was in her chair, sighing loudly. She aloud, "Hmm. I just don't get it. What kind of vine is there in the world that is so thick that it can't be ripped apart. I mean, it can't really this hard, can it?"
Tulio replied, "Sorry, Bell. But I'm afraid it is. We've been trying for hours and nothing seems to work."
Dr. Monteiro, "The only thing we haven't tried is using a match or something to burn the vine. However, we don't want to scare Blu and Jewel with fire. So that option is off the table."
Andrea, "I agree."
Lizzie, "Well, there still has to be something. Maybe we just need more help your employees."
Tulio, "I wish we could but most of them took a day off today. Right now, I think the best we can do is just be patient and hopefully a solution will come to us."
Every girl in the room showed a compromising face, knowing that he was right, and hearing him being firm and calm like that made Andrea's cheeks feel red. Her heart was starting beat awfully fast before making a tight grip on her seat.
As for the birds, they were all in another room, and actually were chatting amongst themselves.
"Are you starting to see better, Jewel?" Mikka asked Jewel.
"I think so. Tulio's dad helped me out with a medicine, and so far it's bringing some of my sight back. Everything doesn't too look blurry anymore. I think I am able to fly again like this but I'm still seeing gray."
Blu placed a wing his girlfriend and said, "Well, it's better than nothing. Either way, it'll still come back and you'll be happy to see everything in beautiful colors again."
"Thanks, Blu."
"You're welcome. After that though, I think the only thing we do have to worry about is this still." He and Jewel looked closely at their vine, which still looked like it didn't have a cut on it.
Eva spoke, "Oh. Well, maybe it's not that bad."
Jewel, "Eva, what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about how maybe this is a good thing. You two already live in the same nest together, so perhaps you can try to make it work."
Rafael, "I think she has a point, mi amigos. You two have already been an item for so long that this vine might actually be an upgrade, or something. You can use it bond more, become closer."
Blu, "Hmm. I don't know, guys. I mean that sounds good, but…"
Jewel, "Blu and I won't want to be physically stuck like this forever."
"Maybe. But still, you can try making the best of it, can't you? Plus, who says it's even forever?" Rafi finally said.
Hearing the statement of their friends made the blue pair blush and feel like they were probably right. As the vine was still stuck to their legs, they thought the least they could was make the best of it. Looking at each other's eyes made them think so even more. Blu and Jewel just blushed again and smiled, and Mikka and Leo were able to notice.
So, Leo spoke up, "Guys, maybe to get your mind off of this stupid vine, we all got out for an evening fli-?" Before he finished his sentence, he was suddenly cut off by a large sound.
"What was that?" Rafi asked.
Eva, "It sounded like broken glass."
Jewel, "Let's check it out."
She hovered and carried Blu, then flew to the source of the sound. Rafael and Eva followed them, and so did Mikka and Leo (but by talon) just to keep the kids safe. They made it to another room where it was dark, and everyone could see broken glass on one corner.
They walked closer into the room, and Leo whispered, "What on earth?" Then suddenly, then another sound went off, and it was from the windows.
"Get down!" Leo told the kids, and they did. Everyone huddled together and protected themselves from the falling glass.
Jewel asked, "Was that a brick I just saw?"
Mikka, "I think so. Kids, whatever you do, don't move." She noticed there being broken glass on the ground, and she gently walked through the pathway of shards. She used her good wing to brush the shards away. Then when she made it to the door, she said, "Okay, you guys can walk through, but be careful."
"Okay!" Said the four kids, and Leo was right behind them as they all pressed forward. Once they left the room, another brick flew through the window.
Rafael said, "Where are those things coming from?"
"I think I can find out. Kids, stay here." Leo said when he noticed a chair, tall enough to touch another window that was in the room there were currently in. Leo climbed up the chair and through the window, he saw three human kids outside. They were all throwing toilet paper at the building, and one of them was holding a bucket full of bricks. "What the heck?!" Leo suddenly felt angry.
"What do you see?" Mikka asked.
"A-A group of human kids. I don't know why, but they're trashing the building!"
"What?" Blu and Jewel said in unison. Rafael was even more shocked since he knew the hospital longer than his friends did. "I-Isn't there anything we can do about it, guys?" He asked everyone. Leo looked at the whole scene and it was disturbing. They were laughing, wearing flashy biker clothes, and looked like they did have bad intentions. So he responded, "Rafael, I don't know think there's anything we…wait, I see something else."
"What? What is it?"
"I see…someone else outside."
What Leo saw was another kid coming towards the others. But unlike them, he appeared to be wearing a black hood and jacket, with huge headphones stuck inside. Leo couldn't see his face, but he could hear some music from the outside. It almost sounded like…instrumental music from a movie.
"He looks like he's with them, but…not. I can hear music coming from him, and the other kids seem to notice. Guys, come on up here!"
He told them to look before they all joined him. From where they stood, the gang noticed the scene outside. One of the kids looked like he was yelling at the black hooded character. But he didn't respond. So, one of the other kids threw a brick at him.
The birds gasped and Eva yelled, "Is that guy crazy?" They expected the brick to hit the guy. But instead…he caught it. The hooded character caught the brick and then crushed it with just one hand. That action shocked the birds and kids.
The three juvenile delinquents became scared and attempted to run, but at a split second, the hooded kid moved like bullet pushed each of the kids against a wall. He hit them hard enough to become weak very quickly. The birds were just amazed by how he moved at them.
"Whoa." Said Blu. "Who is that guy?"
"I have no clue." Said Mikka.
Eva, "Maybe we should move before he notices-(gasp)"
The birds suddenly saw a flash of light and then another group of kids. It was Tulio and Andrea. He seemed to have been yelling at the intruders. The three kids stood up and ran while the hooded guy stood his ground. Then vanished with a black streak.
"Oh my." Leo said. "Guys, I think we should head to the other room, right now." Everyone listened to headed to where Dr. Monteiro was. And as he noticed them running towards him, the kids came back in. "Hey, are you kids okay? What happened?" He said.
Tulio, "We saw these four kids at the otherside of the building. They were smashing the windows and teepeeing the walls."
Suddenly Andrea spoke up, "Actually three of them were doing that. The one with the black hood was trying to stop them."
"Excuse me? How do you know that? Neither of us noticed them until I turned the flashlight. And we saw them all together"
"Uh-uh, I was able to see it. Through my eyes it wasn't that dark."
"Well…if you say so, Andrea."
Once Tulio continued explaining the situation, Blu and Jewel looked up at Andrea, and both of them felt like she and the other girls were hiding something.
Thirty minutes later, Dr. M and Tulio spent their time cleaning up the broken glass and stayed on look out from the bird-watch tower. Just to make sure the sabotage gang wouldn't come back and hurt the patients. So the girls were together in the waiting room with the birds.
After the two doctors were gone, they knew the coast was clear and talked.
"Phew. I think that was a close one." Nicole said.
Bell, "Tell me about it. I don't know if I even would've been fast enough to get away from Tulio. I mean, do you know how much trouble Garrett would get into if Tulio saw his face?"
Lizzie, "I hear ya, friend. But on the bright side, at least he didn't and right now he's probably safe back at the hotel."
Nicole, "I hope so. Garrett has it bad enough back in New York as Vigilante, but-"
"Um, girls?" Andrea spoke up. "Sorry to interrupt, but I think our feathery friends have some questions."
"Huh?" They all said.
Andrea pointed to Blu and Jewel, who were standing in the middle coffee table, holding a small note that said, What are you guys talking about, and what are you hiding?
Bell, "Whoa. Can he actually understand what we're-?" Before she finished, Blu wrote down another note, and it said, Yes we can understand what we're saying!
Blu's face looked pretty firm and Bell's made her look like she was amazed.
"Wow."
Andrea said to her, "Like I said, they are smart birds." Then faced Blu. "Sweetie, I can tell that you want answers to what happened. But one thing I can assure you and your friends is, you'll be okay. What happened earlier was taken care of, and-" Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
Nicole stood up from her seat and looked through the door window to see a familiar face. "It's Garrett." She said.
"Let him in." Andrea requested, and it surprised Blu and Jewel to hear the news. Once Nicole did open the door, and Garrett walked in, wearing the same jacket as the hooded character did earlier.
He said, "Hey guys, are you alright? Nobody's hurt?"
Bell, "No, bro. We're okay, but what about you? You almost caught, and what about those other guys?"
"I'm fine. Still immune to bricks and bullets as always. And don't worry about those jerks, I sent them off to jail. They'll be in chains soon enough. Speaking of chains," Garrett looked at his two new, blue friends. "are you guys doing okay? I'm hoping those twits weren't disturbing you and the other birds."
Blu and Jewel shook their heads, reassuring their friend.
"Good. Now, since I'm here and the two doctors are gone, I think I have a solution for our friends here, guys."
"You do?" Andrea and Lizzie asked.
"Yep." Garrett took the headphone out from his jacket and placed them on himself. Then he said to the birds, "Okay, guys. As of right now, I'm going to be the one to break your vine. So, I need you to hold still for me, alright?"
Blu and Jewel became confused, as well as the rest of their gang. But the girls didn't. They looked like he knew what he was talking about. So they agreed to stand still and let Garrett approach them. As he did, he just put a good grip on the vine, and by turning on his music player, he was able to focus and pull on the vine. It took a moment, making the birds think it wouldn't work until…SNAP! Garrett ripped the vine apart with his bare hands like it was nothing.
"Alright, Six!" Lizzie chanted, and so did the rest of the girls. The blue macaws and their friends just became shocked with amazement. Rafael, Eva, Mikka, and Leo climbed onto the coffee table and looked at it.
"H-How did he do that?" Leo asked.
Rafi, "Tulio and Dr. M tried that and used many other tools but nothing worked."
Blu stuttered, "I-I'll b-be honest, guys. I-I don't know what to t-tell ya."
Bell asked, "Hang on a second, Six. How come you never tried this morning, or yesterday?"
"Because back then I didn't have my headphones and music player with me. You know my powers can't work without these things."
"Powers?" The birds squawked, but the humans didn't notice.
"Plus, it never really crossed my mind until now." Garrett said.
"Oh." Bell responded.
Nicole asked Garrett, "Is that what made you come here?"
"No, no. I came here because tonight, after Rebecca and I went on another date, we were heading back to the hotel from a restaurant before I noticed these three kids. I figured they were up to no good, so I followed them before they made it here. They said to each other that they wanted to wreck this place because they hated birds and didn't think they needed a hospital."
"That's cruel!" Andrea said.
"I know, so I made my move on those jerks when I needed to. And after they ran when you and Tulio came, I used my speed to catch them and deliver them to the city's police station."
"Did anybody else see you?" Nicole asked.
"Nope. I'm too careful like that, and if anybody ever did see me, I'm fast enough to get away."
"When you have your music playing. But what if you one dy discover that that won't be enough?"
"Excuse me?"
Nicole sighed. "Garrett, please sit down."
Garrett listened to his friend, and as all the girls sat down with him, they looked like they wanted to confess something personal.
"What's wrong?"
Andrea spoke first, "Look, Garrett, for so long, so long, we know you've been very good as a hero. Ever since you discovered your powers, you protected families, stopped criminals, even put Rolly's old gang down for good. But…"
Bell, "We've also known that things have been too intense for you lately."
Lizzie, "Yeah. Too many cops are still looking for you back at home. They still blame you for that bomb that went off at Time Square. The mayor has been feeling too suspicious about every teacher at school, including Nicole and Ginger, and we think it's not going to be long before bad guys discover that your powers come from music."
Nicole, "Which is why we think maybe…you should retire from being a superhero."
"What?" Garrett was shocked to hear them say that from his friends. He knew that they were only looking after his safety, but at the same time he felt kind of hurt. "Retire? Hang on, you guys don't honestly think I'm putting myself and you guys in that much trouble, do you?"
No one but Nicole answered. "No, not us. But definitely you. Garrett, you've proven to be very strong, brave, and humble. But regardless of what power you have, you are not invincible. Which is why we're scared of the idea that one day you will caught and be arrested."
Hearing her sound rational like that made Garrett unable to make a counter argument. Nicole had some good points, and retiring could be a good plan since Garrett has been doing the work for a while.
But it quickly slipped his mind when he noticed the birds and smiled. He said, "Um…maybe it's something to consider but…at the moment, I think what we all can do is just enjoy the rest of our vacation and be glad that we finally helped these guys out." He pat Blu and Jewel's heads very gently, and it made everyone in the room smile too. Especially Andrea.
Then Garrett remembered something else important.
"Oh. There's one other thing, guys. Earlier today, when I visited Blu and Jewel in the room, I saw something very interesting. I-"
"Uh, Six, you might wanna hold that thought. Tulio and his dad are coming back!" Lizzie said when she looked out the front window. The girls gasped and Garrett put his hood and headphones on again before super-speeding out of the room. When the birds saw, they froze in amazement once again. Then the front door opened as the girls tried to act casual.
"Hello, girls." Said Dr. Monteiro.
Tulio asked, "Is everything alright?"
Andrea, "Oh, um, definitely. Everything's great. In fact, we want to show you guys something."
She picked up her blue friends and showed the doctors their surprise. And the two were surprised.
Dr. M, "Y-You cut the vine?"
"We kinda did. Uh, one of us was able to hold it tight and rip it. After all the things you tried, I guess it finally got loosed."
"Oh, well, thank you, girls."
Bell, "No problem."
"It was nothing. We're just glad that our feathery friends are safe now. By the way, would you at all be willing to drop me and my students off back at the hotel?" Nicole asked Dr. M, who didn't seem to mind.
"Just be sure to pick up your things and I'll take you back." He said.
"Thank you."
"Will we still be able to see Blu and Jewel before you set them free?" Andrea asked.
"Well, I can't make any promises but we'll give you the chance to when we can."
"Thank you, doctor." She shook his excitedly, to her embarrassment, and blushed as she made a slow wave goodbye to Tulio.
Then when they all picked up their things, the girls let Dr. Monteiro drive them back to the hotel, while letting Tulio stay to watch over the birds. "So, I take it you were all liking that group?" He asked Blu and Jewel, who made a simple nod.
Tulio appeared to be happy, and seemed to like Andrea most of all, but the birds just felt amazed at what they saw. Not only the blue pair, but Mikka, Leo, Eva, and Rafael. They all looked at each other, thinking that they just witnessed…the actions of a superhero, and wondered what would come next for them.
One hour later, they were in the artifical jungle together, and each pair was sleeping in a nest. Except for Blu and Jewel. They were standing on one of the (fake) tree branches and staring at the window outside.
"Man…Blu, you don't honestly think Garrett could be an actual superhero, do you?" Jewel asked her boyfriend.
"I'm not sure, Jewel. There are a lot of people in the world that are special. But an actual superhero? A vigilante? I see these sort of things in comic books. But after seeing how Garrett took out those guys was extraordinary."
"No argument here."
"Well, whether he is one or not, I don't think it's worth dwelling on. Even though this group of kids are our friends, I think anything they do is not our business."
"Perhaps. I guess you're right. Oh, speaking of which, Blu. Did you at all consider what Eva and Rafi said? About how we could've made the best of things while we still had the vine on us?"
"Oh. Um…actually, I almost did. To be honest, the idea of it did sound rather nice. We do already live in the same nest, so having to become this close would've been more sentimental."
"You really think so?"
"Yeah. Even though both of us will still want some space every now and again, I still love you very much. Nothing will ever change that."
"Oh, Blu. Thanks for saying that. And thanks again for looking after me in my condition. I don't know what I'd ever do without you."
"You're welcome."
Both birds shared a loving hug and a quick kiss before going to their own nest to sleep.
Okay. You guys are probably thinking this new trait here is a bit weird. Let's just say that the movie Glass and Unbreakable have inspired me a bit. The thing about Garrett is that he is pretty much like David Dunn, and his friends are the gang that know of his hero work. He's physically durable, and becomes super strong, fast, and athletic when he listens to music. Hence the headphones
He also has another special power. However, this story won't focus on him and his work. Like I said, that's a story for another time. So don't worry.
Also, about this group, you can already tell who they are based on (which is property of Hasbro), including Nicole and her sister Ginger. In this story, the two are about five years older than the rest of the girls, and are their teachers (not principles).
Now, for anything else to mention…
1. Keep in mind that this still takes place in 1996, and I was very young in the 90's. So, I don't know how common headphones were back then.
2. I just know there's going to be a moment where someone will make a joke saying, "Don't have Andrea and Tulio fall in love. We want Linda x Tulio!"
3. After this comes MLDP, and the final chapter to "Blu and Jewel: Best Parents Ever", which'll include a surprising twist…and an idea for another surprise I have in mind that you guys may like.
4. Rio is Blue Sky property, the girls are based on MLP characters which is Hasbro property, and Unbreakable is Universal/Buena Vista Property.
4. How would you feel if you had the power to see someone's alternate life from another universe?
So, after this, I just wanna say I hope you guys enjoy the rest of the month and more of what's coming. Because…in 13 days…everyone's going to be in the "Endgame."
(Waving goodbye)