Chapter 33- epic chase above the city of Rio
"Come on, you lot," Blu commanded and with that, he and the others hurried over to Rafael's group and they regrouped. Some of the birds and primates rushed by and headed for Katrina and Sunspot to check on the injured Dalmatian in the distance.
"Blu, Jewel, th' rest of ya, you go after dat swan an' rescue dose chicks while we help everyone else deal wi' dese pesky poachers' pets," said Nico and with that he, Pedro, Luiz, Eva, the 25 toucan kids (who felt INCREDIBLY guilty in losing Carla, Bia and Tiago to Dooku's group but the ravens and crows were sly after all) left to plunge back into the battlefield. Rafael (with his bandaged leg), Alabaster and Poppy came in with some more macaws among them a hyacinth macaw and some green-winged and blue-and-gold macaws, the latter who were some of Gabriel's friends.
"Let's go!" Blu commanded but before they could take to the skies, Charon came in, wanting to join the group. Like Sunspot and Katrina, he had been driven to the edge by the whole poaching business and the group's immense cruelty to the animal victims and he wanted to help. Blu then reluctantly let the young raven onto the team. Ahsoka also insisted she come.
"But you still can't fly, Ahsoka," said Jewel.
"It might be too dangerous," said Sirius, Samara nodding in agreement.
"Look, even if I cannot fly, I'm STILL a part of your group," Ahsoka said insistently, "Plus I do NOT want Blu and Jewel's chicks to suffer the same fate as my parents: death at the clutches of the poachers' pets' birds so please LET ME COME!"
Blu and the others exchanged looks and eventually, they relented. A male green-winged macaw named Erik then stepped forward and offered to carry Ahsoka which she gladly allowed. Then once the group took to the air with Celeste lifting Orion and then dropping him to allow him to catch the air with his membranous hand-wings, the group took off after Vecna and his group of ravens and crows to rescue Carla, Bia and Tiago. As they did that, Eva, the 25 toucan kids, Nico, Pedro and Luiz continued to help the rest of the prisoners battle the rest of the poachers' pets, Eva and the toucan kids viciously attacking Brutus and Lysandre and overwhelming them.
In the skies above Rio, Vecna continued to fly with Dooku and his raven and crow underlings, the caged Carla, Bia and Tiago in their clutches. In the distance above the Atlantic Ocean, a massive black cloud loomed, the storm almost here. Flashes of lightning flared in the cloud's belly and thunder growled as though the cloud had a huge, hungry stomach. It was though the sky was preparing to set the stage for an upcoming showdown between Vecna and Blu's groups. As the group of poachers' birds flew along, Sombra and two other ravens carrying Blu and Jewel's chicks in their cage, Noire gazed at the encroaching storm.
"We'd better start seeking shelter sooner or later, Vecna and Dooku," said the raven warily, "That storm's really close now."
Vecna, however, was too consumed with the plan on killing Carla, Bia and Tiago to even listen and ignored her while Dooku, who was just as bloodthirsty as Vecna, remained focus on the evil plan. Noire gave up trying to warn Vecna and Dooku and flew along. As the ravens, crows and swans continued their flight high above the city of Rio, Carla, Bia and Tiago gathered the courage to hurl insults at the wicked birds. They spat caustic insults and any NASTY word they could think of, some of them so vile that their parents would SEVERELY tell them off and punish them if they heard them say these words in their presence even though they knew them to be bad.
"Just WAIT, you FLYIN' PIGS," snarled Carla, "Mom, Dad an' Mr Zephyr, Miss Brisa, Miss Aurora, Mr Sirius, Miss Samara, Mr Milo, Miss Celeste, Mr Orion and Miss Ahsoka are SMARTER than you are."
"Especially YOU... FATTY of the Cygnus genus!" Bia yelled at Vecna.
"Mom an' Dad an' company are NOT afraid of a bunch of UGLY, SMELLY, VILE, DISGUSTIN' VULTURES like the LOT OF YA!" Tiago finished and with that, he lashed at Sombra's talons clutching one of the bars and clamped his tiny beak as HARD as he could into one of the toes. Sombra let loose a pained caw and lost grip on the bars. However, she immediately returned her talon to the cage to prevent dropping it. Vecna wanted the cage to be taken somewhere where he can enact his wicked and murderous revenge. The swan then turned to the three chicks with his evil, icy eye as cruel and as callous as the White Witch from the Narnia books as they continued to vomit caustic insults at him, Dooku and the other ravens and crows. As the swan did that, he and the corvids failed to notice a cloud of colour fly up to them.
"Look, you lil' brats, will you do us a favour, sit down and like good lil' chicks, shut the (bleep) UUUUUUUP!" Vecna screamed the final word in a high-pitched scream and opened his beak as wide as a snake's agape mouth, frightening Carla, Bia and Tiago into screaming and huddling together and vaporising any courage they had in an instant.
"Yes, or there will be DIRE consequences at our CLUTCHES," put in Dooku, frightening the chicks all the more, the other ravens and crows looking on with agreeing glares. Satisfied that the blue trio will obey; Vecna and the crows and ravens resumed their flight when suddenly, Noire happened to turn in a certain direction and when she saw a colourful group hover nearby, she winced and drew in a sharp gasp. Vecna, Dooku, Sombra and the other ravens and crows followed her gaze and also flinched when they saw the colourful group, Blu and the others; glare at them with looks as thunderous as the encroaching storm. Blu hovered with Jewel, Zephyr, Brisa and Aurora and Celeste, Milo, Sirius, Samara and Orion hovered together. Near them were Rafael, Poppy, Alabaster and some macaw friends, Erik carrying Ahsoka and to Dooku and the other ravens and crows, and Vecna's UTMOST rage, Charon as well. Carla, Bia and Tiago smiled ecstatically at the presence of the rescue group lead by their parents.
"Hand over our two daughters and son to us, Vecna, NOW," Blu demanded.
"Or face DIRE consequences," put in Jewel. She was itching to score her claws into Vecna's plumage but wanted to be merciful right now.
"This is your LAST CHANCE," added Rafael. The others looked on in agreement. However, Vecna, Dooku and the other crows and ravens remained defiant, the determination to carry out their revenge plan boiling within them like an overheated pot of boiling oil over a fire.
"You want these three lil' BRATS BACK, parrot DUNG BEETLES!?" Vecna tauntingly and scornfully retorted, "Then COME AN' GET 'EM!" and with that he, together with the crows and ravens with the caged Carla, Bia and Tiago in their clutches, rocketed away. Blu saw them leave.
"AFTER 'EM, EVERYONE!" Linda's former macaw companion yelled and with that, the colourful group charged off after Vecna and his group, beginning a furious chase in the skies above Rio.
As the storm continued to encroach with its thunderous growls and flashing lightning from its underbelly, Blu's group pursued Vecna's group. They flew down towards the skyscrapers of Rio and weaved in and out of them like fish among coral. Next, they headed for the Christ the Redeemer statue and circled it twice. Vecna shot a glare at the chasers and lead the ravens and crows with the caged chicks in the direction of Sugarloaf Mountain and its cable car, Blu and the others in hot pursuit. The ravens and crows flapped like mad to keep to the fast flight, some of them struggling with fatigue encroaching into their flight muscles, especially Sombra and the other two ravens carrying the cage containing Carla, Bia and Tiago but Vecna still urged them on. However, Blu and company continued their chase and as they flew under the cable car, Blu's group began to close in on Vecna's. However, Dooku immediately sent some of his free-flying minions in a counterattack strike on Blu's group to slow them down. Blu saw the incoming black forms.
"Look OOOUUUUT!" he called to the others and immediately, the group got prepared for battle. Second later, Dooku's minions clashed violently with Blu's group and an aerial battle began. Sirius clawed a crow over the face while Samara savaged another, a raven. Blu and Jewel fought another raven while Celeste, Milo, Zephyr, Brisa and Aurora attacked more ravens and crows. Rafael swung his big orange and black beak around and walloped more ravens and crows into a clumsy flight. Alabaster, Poppy, Orion and the additional blue-and-gold, hyacinth and green-winged helpers also drove off more of the corvids though one of the ravens managed to rake its claws over Poppy's chest and open a set of claw marks. However, the valiant Major Mitchell's cockatoo continued her attack on the raven and struck it back with a claw swipe to the face. While all this happened, some of the helpers, among them Erik the green-winged macaw who carried Ahsoka, flew at Vecna and the remaining crows and ravens. Immediately, Dooku sent more ravens and crows to attack them. During the second barrage, one of the ravens, Noire, surged towards Eric and Ahsoka and immediately ploughed into the green-winged macaw, making him lose his grip on Ahsoka's wings. During this process, Ahsoka's mind entered into flashback; as Noire surged towards Erik, her mind flashed to a white form. This form was hulking like Vecna but it had a very short neck. Its beak was black and hooked unlike Vecna's flat orange and black beak which was shaped like a round-edged wedge and on the top of the white form was a crest like that of Alabaster.
Blu and the others continued to fight off the raven and crow cronies when they heard the sounds of screams from one of them. Immediately, they turned their gazes earthward and when they saw a plummeting ginger bat with black wings, alarm tore through them.
"AHSOKAAAAAAA!" cried some of them and immediately, some of the macaw helpers and also Orion broke away from the battle cloud and dove after Ahsoka as she continued to plummet toward earth. As Ahsoka hurtled through space, her mind entered into another flashback sequence, this time her witnessing of how her parents died.
"Quickly, Lily, get Ginger outa here NOW..." Alberto managed to yell to Lily before his cries ended in cries of agony as his opponent inflicted a fatal claw slash to the neck. Lily heard her beloved mate's screams and flew on, a precious bundle clutched to her breast. As she flew on, lightning flashed in the sky and rain poured, much of it splashing against the fleeing flying fox and her wings. Lily knew that if she didn't find shelter, her wings and fur would become too soaked for her to fly at the speed she was flying at. Like tree-dwelling birds, bats weren't built for flying for long in the rain and the weight of a soaked pelage and membranous wings dragged a bat down. soon enough, Lily will become too exhausted from soaking wet fur and wings to get Ginger to safety, especially since her pursuer and her mate's killer was right behind her, hot on her tail. Lily flinched as a sadistic, maniacal voice sounded behind her.
"Get back 'ere, you winged RAT! There's NOWEHRE for you an' ya lil' baby t' fly now. You're gonna be caged whether you like it or NOT!"
Lily, desperate and puffing and panting and flapping her wings like mad, flashed a look at her pursuer behind her and continued her frantic flight, desperately scouring the trees for some form of effective cover to stall the pursuer. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked at the air again and rain continued to beat the flying fox mother and her baby. Eventually and puffing and panting, Lily spotted a tree, its branches crisscrossed into a mesh with some vines. Immediately, the flying fox rocketed through it, folding her wings to avoid the vines entangling them. Bats had better aerial agility and manoeuvrability than birds due to the anatomy of their wings. Unlike the feathered wings which birds had, bats' wings were made from a large webbed hand, a living structure rather than a lifeless structure such as feathers. This allowed bats to sense the flow of air over their wings and adjust their wings' shape and tautness accordingly. And Lily used this advantage against her pursuer as she dove into the mesh. Frustrated screeches and squawks exploded from her pursuer outside as Lily, her fur and wings soaked from the rain, then landed on a branch and began to calm her frightened pup. Rivulets of tears ran from her eyes and down her cheeks as her heart began to break over the loss of her mate Alberto. She planned on taking Ginger to some macaw friends for her safety as during the evacuation of the flying foxes' tree when the ravens and crows, together with a cockatoo and a swan, brutally raided it to catch them for the owners, she and Alberto got separated during the chaos and one of the white birds had pursued them into the stormy jungle. Alberto had sacrificed himself to save his mate and daughter. Lily, however knew she did not have long left herself and if she didn't get Ginger to safety, she too will be captured by the poachers and/or worse, killed. Tearfully, she whispered to her daughter while outside the mesh of vines and branches, the furious pursuer hacked and slashed his way through the net, determined to get to the bats.
"Ginger, you are loved... by your clan... by everyone around here including our macaw friends...Momma loves you... so does Dadda... please be safe... and strong..." Lily then cradled her precious pup in her wings as she continued to shed tears. Ginger cooed at her mother's calming words and gazed with her cyan eyes at her. However, the sweet mother-daughter moment was immediately shattered by a dreary, dull, mock-ennui-flooded voice.
"What a lovely mother an' daughter moment."
Immediately, Lily placed Ginger back onto her breast and shot the pursuer a glare. The pursuer, a ragged white parrot with a yellow crest, his face laced with mockery and scorn, stood there and gazed mockingly at the heartbroken mother cradling her pup. He had managed to claw his way through the net and had come to 'admire' the moment.
"Now that you've had your parent-baby moment, it is time to come wi' me to be caged," the parrot said. Lily, her grief flashing to brief rage lashed at the parrot and raked her claws right over his face, lightning flashing in the sky the moment she did it. Squawks of agony exploded from the parrot as he covered his face with his wings. With the parrot distracted, Lily launched into another frantic flight through the pouring rain, Ginger clutched to her breast. Out of options and desperate to get her precious pup to the safety of some macaw neighbours she knew, the mother bat flew faster than she had EVER flown before. Behind her, ENRAGED screeches exploded and the pursuer began his relentless pursuit of her again.
"GET BACK 'ERE YA RAT!" he shouted but Lily flew on, desperately searching for any familiar trees that were the homes to some macaws. However, the parrot flew in and attempted to attack her but the flying fox dodged. The parrot struck a second time and a third time but Lily darted both those times as well. The parrot swooped in and attacked the fourth time and this time, he successfully had his talons connect with Lily, striking her and making her drop Ginger. Ginger plummeted through space, her wings flailing and flapping in a vain attempt to pull her out of the fall. Because she was still young, her wings were too small to allow her to fly. Above her, a brutal fight occurred between her mother and the parrot until the parrot overpowered Lily and finally struck her dead with a brutal and fatal claw slash. Screams of agony exploded from Lily as she was struck dead.
Back to the present, Ahsoka continued falling through face, her wings flapping and flailing and her eyes sending rivulets of tears streaming down her cheeks, many of the tears flying from her cheeks from the rush of air. She tearfully cried for her mother and released a heartbroken wail. Above the plummeting Ahsoka, the macaw helpers continued swooping after her but then Orion broke out of his flight and plummeted after Ahsoka, entering freefall just like her. Screams of determination to save the only other Amazon flying fox in existence besides him from certain death, the male flapped his wings to accelerate himself towards Ahsoka and as soon as he was near her, he seized her in an embrace and hung on tightly.
"NO, ORION!" cried Ahsoka tearfully, "Leave me! SAVE YOURSELF! YOU KNOW I'M A BURDEN TO YOU WITH MY FLIGHTLESSNESS!"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT, AHSOKA!" Orion retorted, "Despite our argument earlier, I am NOT gonna LET YA GO! IF YOU GO, SO WILL I! After all, we're CHAINED-TOGETHER BATS and ALWAYS WILL BE EVEN IF FACE TO FACE with the EAGLE OF DEATH!"
Ahsoka looked on in stun at Orion's courage, UTTERLY speechless but then Orion sealed it by pulling her into a passionate kiss to back up the statement, further stunning her for a moment but she returned it. Then after Orion broke the kiss, something happened within Ahsoka. The female Amazon flying fox's black membranous hand-wings slowly spread out and Orion, upon seeing this, released her and told the macaw helpers to leave her to their reluctance. Then Ahsoka's eyes burst open.
Back in the air, Blu and the others continued fighting off the ravens and crows. Some of the macaw helpers and also Sirius and Samara managed to fight past the minions. After they had done that, they rushed for the ravens holding Carla, Bia and Tiago in their cage but Sombra and the other two fought back with Sombra wing-striking Sirius in the face and biting Samara's leg when she pounced onto the raven near her. Vecna released a MASSIVE hiss and lashed his neck and head like a snake at the glaucous macaws, forcing them to dodge. Vecna's bite attack when straight for Sombra and he bit her in the chest, making Sombra release a cry of pain before Vecna, realising he had hit the wrong target, withdraw his head. However, he did not apologise to the raven for accidentally hitting her. As the macaws, Rafael, Alabaster and Poppy, and Charon continued fighting against the raven and crow minions, a ginger and black blur rocketed up nearby. Blu and the others looked on in amazement as Orion and the macaw helpers that swooped down after Ahsoka to rescue her appeared. Ahsoka then did a barrel roll and flapped her wings, completely independent of the need to be carried by a bird now, her face sparkling in jubilation at her achievement. She was flying on her own for the first time, and the VERY first time in her ENTIRE life.
"AHSOKA!" cried Blu, "You're FLYING!"
The others also released cheers while the ravens and crows looked on in scorn.
"Yes!" Ahsoka cried as she continued to fly around, "I'm flying! I REALLY AM FLYING! YOU were RIGHT ALL ALONG! WE BATS ARE FLYING MAMMALS!"
Blu's group released another short cheer before resuming their attention on the main task: rescuing Carla, Bia and Tiago from Vecna and his corvid cronies. The celebration at Ahsoka's achievement will have to wait. Then Ahsoka, after her brief celebration of flying for the first time, turned her volcanic glare at the corvids carrying Blu and Jewel's chicks and launched herself at them.
"Ahsoka, NO!" cried Orion but Ahsoka ignored him and continued hurtling towards Sombra and the other two ravens holding the cage, the ravens looking on in STUN at the flying fox now able to fly. Then as soon as she was close, Ahsoka tackled HARD into Sombra and knocked her away from the cage. However, as she gripped her toes onto the cage to pull it away from the other two ravens, those two ravens fought back, prompting Orion, Zephyr and Brisa and also Erik who had carried her but had accidentally dropped her when Noire attacked him, to fly in and attack them to prevent them from injuring Ahsoka. They did NOT want Ahsoka getting hurt, especially now that she was able to fly and certainly NOT on her first flight. As these four attacked the two ravens holding Blu and Jewel's chicks' cage, those chicks cowering in fright at the fight, Vecna looked on. He had seen Orion and Ahsoka's freefall kiss and had been UTTERLY repulsed by it. To him, their kiss was as scummy as his most DETESTED birds on the planet, the parrot. Then he commanded the crows and ravens to abort their counterattack on Blu's group and to continue the escape. The crows and ravens obeyed, halted their attack on Blu's group and bolted after the swan, Dooku flying at Orion, Ahsoka, Zephyr, Erik and Brisa and tackling them away from the two ravens carrying Carla, Bia and Tiago and their cage. Sombra also flew in and retook hold of the cage and began to help her comrades to carry the cage away. However, Blu and the others, now with Ahsoka flying on their own, sped off after them. They were NOT going to let Vecna and the crow and raven cronies get away with Blu and Jewel's chicks THAT easily and they will NOT give up until the three chicks were rescued. The chase resumed but this time, Blu and company closed in on Vecna and his group of corvids. The distraction resulting from Orion and Ahsoka's freefall kiss and Ahsoka learning to fly for the first time in her life had stalled them. Then as soon as they were close, Blu, Rafael, Jewel, Zephyr, Brisa, Aurora, Sirius, Samara, Milo and Celeste, together with Charon, leaped upon Vecna and began to attack him, making the swan enter into a clumsy flight and screech with wrath. While the macaws, toucan and young reformed and defected raven unleashed their fury on the savage, psychotic swan, Orion, Ahsoka, Alabaster and Poppy began to close in on Sombra and the other two ravens carrying Blu and Jewel's caged chicks in a second attempt at nabbing them from the ravens' clutches. However, Vecna and the ravens and crows immediately changed their flight path and began a rapid descent towards earth to the alarm of Blu's group but they continued their attack nonetheless. Carla, Bia and Tiago released screams at what was hurtling towards them and the groups. Vecna also glared downwards as Blu and Zephyr pulled on his head feathers and released screams. Alabaster and Poppy also looked down and saw what was coming as well as the macaw helpers attempted their attack on Vecna and the other crows and ravens, Erik going for Dooku.
"Guys, ABORT!" cried the sulphur-crested cockatoo and with that he, Poppy and Orion darted from the ravens holding Blu and Jewel's chicks. Brisa, Samara and Celeste also jumped off of Vecna and the macaw helpers including Erik also darted from the ravens and crows. Samara seized Ahsoka from Sombra and her two comrades, seconds before Vecna's group crashed into the treetops and the canopy of a jungle below. Blu, Rafael, Jewel, Zephyr, Aurora, Sirius, Milo and Charon didn't react in time and were dragged into the crash by Vecna and the corvids. A MASSIVE explosion of leaves been torn from branches and a series of impacts erupted from the crash site as Vecna and his group, together with the unfortunate eight and also Blu and Jewel's chicks in their cage, were swallowed by the greenery to the HORROR of the others including those that had managed to escape. Vecna and his cronies had deliberately and purposely plummeted into the canopy of the jungle and crashed in a last-ditch effort in shaking off Blu and company. Brisa, Samara, Celeste, Orion, the now-flying Ahsoka, Alabaster, Poppy and the macaw helpers hovered above the crash site and looked on in UTMOST horror, worry and astonishment as thunder from the now-near storm rattled the air. Lightning flashed in the underside of the big storm cloud and sooner or later, a downpour will begin. Ahsoka then began to weep and release gasping sobs while Poppy trembled violently, thoughts for the unfortunate eight and the chicks' wellbeing boiling within her mind. The cockatoo's crests were raised from the horror and the whole ordeal of Vecna and his cronies' deliberate crash. In the trail of damaged and broken branches caused by Vecna and his cronies' purposeful crash through the canopy, feathers of various colours: blue from Blu's plumage, navy blue from Milo, light blue from Aurora and Jewel, azure from Sirius, and black from Rafeal and the corvids including Charon, and ragged white from Vecna, lay strewn over the impacted branches.