Chapter 34- final showdown against Vecna
Blu's vision melted out of the blackness of brief unconsciousness, starting from a mess of indistinguishable shapes and coming into focus. Eventually, the indistinguishable objects formed into recognisable shapes which Blu identified as branches and leaves. The brown-eyed Spix macaw; still stunned and dazed from the crash, then wearily rise to his feet. However, as he did that, shooting pain shot through his brow just above his right eye. Blu put a wing to the area, rubbed it a little and pulled his wing away from it to check it. To his horror, he saw red drops on the blue feathers. From the crash which briefly knocked him out, Blu had sustained a gash to the brow above his right eye and though it was small, it required medical attention. The gash sent a few drops of blood running down Blu's right eye and partly blinded him but thankfully, his eyes didn't suffer any damage, and neither did his wings to his UTMNOST relief. However, Blu resumed his attention on rounding up the other seven who had also been dragged into the crash by Vecna and his corvid cronies, also rescue his two daughters and son, especially as thunder rumbled in the sky above the treetops.
"Zephyr!" he cried, "Jewel, Aurora... Rafael, guys, are you ALRIGHT!?"
"Blu! Blu, down here!" came a familiar raspy voice of an old bird below the Spix macaw. Immediately, Blu peered down and saw Rafael and Jewel, both of them dazed, battered and bruised from the crash but alright to Blu's relief though Rafael held his bandaged leg in pain. Then Sirius, Milo and Charon appeared in another branch to the adjacent tree, also battered and bruised with Milo bearing two cuts on his chest and tummy. Finally, Zephyr and Aurora appeared in another adjacent tree but then Blu noticed something VERY wrong about Zephyr: he was clutching his right wing with his left and his face was twisted in UTMOST agony.
"ZEPHYR!" cried Blu and with that he, Rafael, Jewel, Sirius, Milo and Charon rushed over to him and Aurora. Both Aurora and Zephyr were covered in bruises and were dazed like the other six and Aurora's pigtail feathers were tattered and dishevelled, the result of the crash ruffling them up, but Zephyr appeared in worse shape. The other six surrounded the pair.
"Let us see your wing, Zephyr," Rafael said. Zephyr reluctantly removed his left wing from his right and showed the other six his injured wing, his face contorted from agony. The arm part of his wing was kinked, like a broken branch. The moment the six including Charon saw this; they deduced Zephyr's injury and were in horror.
"Oh, your wing's broken, Zephyr," said Sirius, "That is VERY serious."
"It's a wonder the rest of us didn't suffer that same injury when Vecna and his group took us through the crash," Charon squeaked. Then Blu formed a frown on his face albeit a little painfully from the short gash on his right brow, fluttered down through the rest of the canopy to the forest floor and began to look for the three still-missing members.
"We need to find Blu and Jewel's two daughters and son, mates," said Milo, "And then get back to Orion and the others outside before it rains..." he then followed Blu to the forest floor with Rafael, Jewel, Aurora and Charon. Sirius picked up the now-grounded Zephyr and carried him down.
"We're gonna have to carry you back once this is all over, Zeph," said Sirius as he helped the injured brother of Brisa down, "You cannot fly with a broken wing."
"That swan rat and his cronies certainly did plan a spectacular crash, I can tell ya," Zephyr spoke through a pain-gritted beak slightly sarcastically. His left wing clutched his broken right once again as Sirius lowered him to the forest floor.
"Where are those FEATHERED RATS Vecna and those corvids?" Jewel's voice came, the tone laced with acidic anger, "If they have done ANYTHING to OUR KIDS..." as she spoke, Blu turned and saw the sky and cityscape through the gap in the foliage. Immediately, he flew over to it and began to look down the cliff, wondering if Vecna had escaped down the precipice. While he did that, Sirius took Zephyr to a safe spot under some ferns while Rafael, Aurora and Milo began to look around the clutter of the undergrowth and call out for Carla, Bia and Tiago's names.
"I sure hope Blu and Jewel's chicks are alright," Zephyr continued to speak in a pained voice, "The bars of their cage will have protected them from the deliberate crash..."
"No bird or bat in the right mind would EVER risk such an injurious crash like how our foes did," said Sirius, "But I believe they may have done it in a last-ditch effort to shake us off..." as he spoke, he flinched as a thunderclap sounded in the sky overhead. Lightning also flashed and lit up the gaps between the above canopy. The male glaucous macaw shot a look in Blu's direction and saw that the skies were now smothered with a dark grey blanket.
"Oh, great," Sirius grumbled, "The storm's finally come."
"We'd better find Blu and Jewel's chicks, rejoin Orion and the others outside and head back to the airport with everyone else and SOON!" came Rafael's voice, "The clouds are about to release their rain!"
Sirius and Zephyr continued to look on before finally deciding to help, Zephyr making the decision despite his injury. After all, Jewel was one of his closest friends and the only surviving friend he had besides Orion, his sister Brisa, Celeste and now Samara now that she had reformed. He LOATHED the thought of Jewel suffering heartbreak over the loss of her chicks and wanted to make sure that all three of them were found safe and sound. However, the three chicks were indeed unharmed though a bit stunned from the crash and they were still kept in the clutches of the foes that had initiated the purposeful crash.
Blu continued looking over the cliff edge for any flash of ragged white or black when behind him, a hulking white form slowly emerged from out of the brush alongside some black forms. The white ragged form and his black feathered cronies were also covered in cuts and bruises from the crash. Among the battered ravens and crows were Dooku, Sombra and Noire, the latter holding a certain container holding three certain individuals Blu and the others were looking for. The ravens kept the beaks of Carla, Bia and Tiago, who were stunned and bruised from the crash as well but had indeed been protected by the cage's bars, roof and floor, clamped shut with their wings to prevent them from screaming at their father Blu as Vecna slowly approached the brown-eyed Spix macaw from behind, his large wing raising and becoming poised to attack him. Above, the grey clouds rumbled with thunder and flashed with lightning and from them, the first drops of rain fell. Blu felt few of the first drops hit his beak and body but he ignored them and continued to look for Vecna, completely unaware that the evil swan was right behind him with his crow and raven cronies holding his kids hostage in their cage, writhing in the grip of some of the ravens, muffles escaping from their covered beaks as they tried to scream. They tried to cry to their father that Vecna was about to hit him but could not. However, Charon was going to do it for them. When the young raven went to check on Blu, he flinched when he saw the barbaric swan right behind him, his wing ready to whack the Spix macaw.
"Blu," called he, "LOOK OUT, BEHIND YOOOUUU!"
Blu heard Charon's warning and turned round just in time to face the massive swan whose height was roughly three times his own. Vecna then swung his wing at Blu and swiped him into a fall from the cliff face as the rain increased. Blu immediately pulled himself out of the fall with his wings and flapped back to the precipice but Vecna appeared and got ready to lash at him with his beak, a MASSIVE hiss exploding from his beak but Charon leaped from the branch above Vecna and onto the swan's back. Dooku and the other ravens and crows looked on in UTMOST outrage and horror.
"CHAROOON!" screamed the fat lead raven as lightning flashed in the sky, especially as Charon proceeded to clamp his beak onto Vecna's right wing as hard as he could. Pain ripped through Vecna's right wing from Charon's bite and made the swan release a pained cry. With him distracted, Blu flew in, seized a nearby vine and flew at the swan. Then Jewel, Aurora and Rafael appeared and also seized some vines. After this, the four began to zoom around Vecna to entangle him in the green tendrils, Charon jumping off of him to prevent being caught. After this, the young raven turned his attention to the cage held by his now-former allies and rushed for them. Some of the ravens and crows tried to fly at Blu, Jewel, Rafael and Aurora as they continued to entangle Vecna but they were immediately stopped by Sirius and Milo and they began to fight them to prevent them from interfering with Blu and the other three's process of binding the swan. Charon dove at the cage holding Blu and Jewel's chicks but a fat raven suddenly appeared in front of him and blocked his way. The chubby raven's eyes blazed brown fire as they fixed on the young raven.
"This has GONE FAR ENOUGH, CHARON!" Dooku bellowed and with that, he prepared to pounce onto Charon to viciously attack him. However, before he could do that, a stick appeared behind Dooku and struck him HARD in the left side, knocking away from Charon. Zephyr had come to the rescue and had used a stick to whack Dooku away with his good wing. His injured right wing hung limply down his side. Some of the other ravens then lunged for him but Zephyr struck them down with his stick as well. Then Zephyr went over to Dooku, a look of UTMOST thunder on his face. However, he turned to Charon and commanded, "You RESCUE BLU AND JEWEL'S CHICKS NOOOOW!"
Charon obeyed without a second's hesitation and darted for the cage holding Carla, Bia and Tiago while Zephyr went over to Dooku. As Zephyr raked his claws over Dooku's side to inflict the raven with a set of claw marks, Charon seized the cage lock and undid it. Then he swung open the cage and commanded the chicks to fly out while at the same time warding off some of his former comrades.
Dooku then looked on as he struggled against Zephyr, the FURIOUS macaw beating him with his stick.
"NOOO!" the lead raven cried as Charon then seized Carla, Bia and Tiago when they wouldn't move and pulled them out of the cage. Then Dooku, rage exploding within him, released a cry and tried to slash his talons across Zephyr's face, aiming for his eyes to blind him but Zephyr ducked and made his foe miss. Then the Spix macaw whirled round and fled. After this, Dooku rushed for Carla, Bia and Tiago, bashing Charon out of the way when the young raven tried to shield Blu and Jewel's chicks. However, Zephyr appeared, seized Charon and tackled him into bolting. At this moment, Rafael, Blu, Jewel and Aurora finished tying up Vecna in the vines as much as possible, so much that the swan struggled in his binds. After this, the four bolted; Sirius and Milo in tow. However, what happened next would ignite IMMENSE wrath in Blu and Jewel.
Dooku bolted after Blu and Jewel's chicks and, as lightning flashed in the sky and lit up the scene in a terrifying light, seized one of them Carla, by the tail feathers. The little chick and eldest of Blu and Jewel's clutch of three squeaked in terror as Dooku yanked her back. After this, Dooku clamped his beak onto her left leg and inflicted a bite on it, making her scream in agony. Blu and Jewel saw this and rushed over to their oldest daughter and chick with Charon and Aurora. Aurora tackled into Dooku and made him release Carla while her parents seized her and checked on her. To their UTMOST horror and rage, they saw that Dooku's bite had left Carla with a wound on her tiny left leg, a bit of blood dripping from the injury. That did it; the sight of the injury sent a crack of lightning flashing within the parents. As literal lightning flashed in the sky, both Blu and Jewel turned and faced Dooku, their eyes blazing brown and cyan fires respectively. Dooku saw the ENRAGED parents but rather than flash a look of remorse, the fat raven instead released a remorseless and sadistic snigger. BIG mistake.
"I would have killed an' possibly eaten that chick if I had the chance, you two blue macaw slugs," crooned the raven. However, that made Blu and Jewel inhale deeply and then release a MIGHTY roar at Dooku, lightning flashing at the same time as their screams. Dooku, immediately seized with IMMENSE terror from the ENRAGED parents, whirled round and tried to flee but Blu surged in and seized his tail feathers in his big beak. Then while Zephyr, Sirius, Milo, Aurora, Rafael and Charon rushed to get Carla, Bia and Tiago to safety and to the HORROR of the on-looking ravens and crows including Sombra and Noire, Blu slammed Dooku by the tail feathers HARD onto the rocky floor three times and then spun him around and flung him into a nearby tree trunk. Dooku crashed there HARD and slid to the foot of the tree. Then as lightning flashed, Jewel flew in and she pounced onto Dooku and began to brutally unleash her wrath upon the raven, starting with MASSIVE scream and a terrifying glare right into his face, Dooku creeping away, UTTERLY terrified. Perhaps for the first time in his life, Dooku was EXTREMELY scared of a macaw and he tried to get away but Jewel pounced onto him and began to rake her claws over his plumage, a lightning-flash squawk of PURE WRATH exploding from her beak.
Jewel was an EXTREMELY aggressive macaw and was FIERCELY protective of her family, especially her chicks; herself before she paired up with Blu and had Carla, Bia and Tiago with him. Like Samara, she would react violently to insults and threats and will react violently with her temper and when she did, all bets were practically off and the offender almost ALWAYS got badly hurt and blood was often drawn. She VERY nearly entered that territory with Blu when he offended her when they first met but when Jewel saw how terrified he was when she was about to inflict the first set of NASTY claw marks on him, she decided to take mercy on him but she had SEVERELY warned him that if he EVER disrespected her EVER again like that again, she WILL deliberately lose control and it would 'get UTTERLY nasty' next time and Blu had learned it VERY well. Also, when she and Samara were young back in the Amazon, she had once threatened to brutally claw the then-nasty Samara if she EVER threatened her or her friends again. Nowadays, Jewel was more forgiving towards her friends, especially Blu and was now friends with the now-reformed Samara but REAL offenders like poachers' pets and remorseless offenders; she would NOT hesitate to be violent with. One time she had clawed one of Mauro's underlings in the face when he insulted her and since then the marmoset gang had avoided the Spix macaw family, but they paled in comparison to poachers' pets which Jewel, much like many other animals including the human-raised like Alabaster and Poppy and also Aurora, Milo, Sirius and Ahsoka and of course her own mate Blu, DESPISED with an UTMOST passion and vitriol.
Jewel continued violently and savagely attacking Dooku, her claw swipes carving more and more tiger stripes into the crow's plumage and shearing out black feathers. Agonised crow cries exploded from the fat raven as he tried in vain to escape the savage wrath of the mother macaw and her barrage of claw swipes. One of Jewel's EXTREMELY savage claw slashes struck Dooku over the face and a set of NASTY claw marks were carved. Dooku clasped his wings over his injury, screeching in agony but Jewel continued her relentless attack. The crows and ravens watched on and quivered, too afraid to intervene and help their leader as Jewel continued to attack him. She was SO furious with the raven for hurting Carla like that, she wanted to multiply the agony he inflicted on her daughter many times over. Then Dooku finally snapped. In his arrogance, hubris and overconfidence and not wanting to be overpowered by a 'measly blue macaw,' Dooku, despite the numerous claw marks inflicted on him by Jewel, immediately jumped up and gave Jewel a claw swipe to the face as she went to hit him with another claw slash, hitting her in the right cheek and knocking her back. Dooku saw this and attempted to ram his sharp beak into Jewel's chest to inflict a NASTY injury but Jewel dodged.
"Take THAT, ya BLUE MACAW MAGGOT!" snarled Dooku and with that, he leaped upon Jewel and was about to rake his own claws into her cerulean plumage but a blue blur rushed in and tackled him, off of her. Dooku was flung into a tree once again and when he looked up, he found himself on the receiving end of a thunderous brown-eyed glare from a FURIOUS male Spix macaw, Jewel's mate. Dooku smirked as a FURIOUS Blu closed in on him.
"Wassup, ostrich boy?" crooned the raven remorselessly and despite his EXTREMELY painful claw marks Jewel had inflicted on him, "Was I about to pierce ya lovely mate's lung with my beak?"
Blu, at this insult, released a MASSIVE snarl, lashed at Dooku and clamped his MASSIVE beak onto his wing. Then he unleashed EVERY OUNCE of his jaw strength onto Dooku's wing. A MASSIVE and piercing shrill exploded from the sadistic raven's beak as Blu's beak crushed his wing. Then Blu released Dooku's wing and clamped his beak onto his other wing and fractured it too, causing Dooku a GREAT deal of more agony. Dooku, now with both of his wings utterly broken then shot one last final look of PURE terror at the furious and merciless male Spix macaw.
"Take THAT, CORVID WORM!" he bellowed, "HOW DARE YA HURT MY DAUGHTER AND ATTACK MY MATE!? I HOPE SOME PREDATOR COMES ALONG AN' MAKES A MEAL OUTA YA!" lightning flashed as he finished this wrathful sentence. Then he turned to Jewel, nodded and both the parents of Carla, Bia and Tiago left after the others, leaving Dooku to suffer the agony of his injuries and broken wings. His raven and crow grunts, seeing that he was now no longer useful, then abandoned him and chased after Blu and the others. With both of his wings badly broken, Dooku stood little chance of surviving.
Vecna continued writhing in his vine binds, his temper at being outwitted, especially by his most detested birds, the parrot, flaring once again within him but this time, it rose to a whole new level. Blu, Jewel, Rafael, Zephyr, Aurora, Sirius, Milo and Charon, finally with a rescued Carla, Bia and Tiago in their clutches, ran or flew for their lives through the jungle as the rains in the sky had increased to a downpour. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked. Milo carried the injured Zephyr while Charon carried Carla, Bia and Tiago, the former with her bitten leg wrapped in a leaf. Carla will receive proper treatment for her leg once all this was over. Because Charon had helped to free Blu and the others from their cage, he was trusted by Blu and Jewel to look after their chicks and he carried them in his claws for they were too young to fly at high speed, especially in an escape in a life-or-death situation which required speed such as this one. And unlike Sunspot and Katrina who could not run at the speed of an adult Dalmatian or calico cat respectively, Charon was an unusually fast flyer for his age as a teenaged raven and so could keep up with the adult macaws. Behind the eight plus the three chicks, Dooku's remaining crows and ravens, with Noire taking over as leader now that Dooku was useless thanks to Blu and Jewel, pursued them. Vecna's temper then flared but in a FAR greater intensity than EVER before and this was when the TRUE beast within him was unleashed. As his bestial, rabid side flared full throttle, it provided the swan with enough strength to break free of the binds Aurora, Blu, Jewel and Rafael had entangled him in; a MASSIVE rip launched into the stormy air as his binds were severed, overpowered by his immense strength. Once he was free, he pursued Blu and the others through the jungle. Vecna was now out for blood OUTRIGHT. SICK and TIRED of being outsmarted and humiliated all the time, the swan now bent towards bloodlust and he was eager to kill Blu and company at ANY cost.
Blu, Rafael, Jewel, Zephyr, Aurora, Sirius, Milo and Charon who had Carla, Bia and Tiago then arrived at another cliff edge as lightning flashed in the sky. Then Rafael waved to the hovering group which included Brisa, Samara, Celeste, Orion, Ahsoka, Alabaster and Poppy who had taken shelter in some nearby trees from the rain to prevent getting soaked and they flew over to the group. As they did that, Dooku's minions exploded from the trees and tried to attack them but Erik and the other helpers countered by flying at them and engaged them in battle. While this happened, Samara commanded that the chicks be handed to the group.
"Give Carla, Bia and Tiago to us, QUICK!" she shouted. Charon immediately did so and handed Carla to the female glaucous macaw while Erik's group continued to fight the remaining ravens and crows. Behind the group, Vecna continued his relentless pursuit and as he did that, his appearance underwent a hideous transformation. His feathers became more and more ragged with his scars becoming brighter and brighter. His head feathers became more and more dishevelled and withered and his orange beak began to froth and foam as though he had a rabies infection. His blue eye then transformed from a pale blue to a demonic red, the sclera becoming more and more bloodshot and the pupil dilating to the point that it filled almost the entire space of the eye as pure and psychotic insanity of the worst kind, the feral thirst for blood and his TRUE bestial nature took over. Lightning flashed as Vecna's appearance continued to change, all self-control also fragmenting and breaking away to reveal the TRUE beast Vecna was. Vecna had finally gone full-on bestial saturated with PURE bloodlust. Anything that stood in his way now would be brutally mauled and would NOT stand a chance now. Vecna, now a bestial, bloodlust-saturated swan possessed by PURE insanity, continued his chase of Blu and the others.
Carla was taken to the safety of a nearby shelter provided by a thick cover of branches where a trusted blue-and-gold macaw friend waited by Samara. Bia was handed to Brisa's group by Charon and she was taken by Celeste and carried to the shelter with Carla and the blue-and-gold macaw. Finally, Tiago was handed to the group and Alabaster took hold of him and also took him to the macaw and his sisters. As soon as all three of Blu and Jewel's chicks were taken to safety, Rafael and Milo lifted the injured Zephyr to the group, knowing that Vecna will appear any time soon now and not wanting to be out in the rain for too long. Celeste and Alabaster returned and were about to take Zephyr when suddenly, a bestial white form crisscrossed with vivid scars and a huge black, dilated eye exploded from the brush and lunged at the group with a MASSIVE rabid screech exploding from his beak. Rafael was knocked off the cliff but Alabaster and Poppy seized him. However, to the three's UTMOST horror, they saw that the main eleven, Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Brisa, Aurora, Milo, Celeste, Sirius, Samara, Orion and Ahoska, and also Charon were dragged down by the MASSIVE and feral swan, Vecna clutching them in his HUGE, ragged wings like a deadly embrace. Carla, Bia and Tiago screamed for their parents but their blue-and-gold macaw babysitter prevented them from leaving the shelter and commanded them to stay put for their safety. Vecna and his twelve nemeses continued tumbling down the cliff face as rain continued to pour until finally, the ten birds and two bats and Vecna entered freefall as the cliff slope ended. Milo seized the injured Zephyr and carried him away while Blu, Jewel and Charon were seized by Vecna. However, the group crashed onto a small flat protrusion of rock at the foot of the precipice. Mysteriously, Vecna disappeared and all 12 ended up landing onto the flat platform together. Blu and Sirius found themselves gazing down another huge precipice and immediately stood up.
"Is everybody alright?" Blu called to the others. In response, Milo, Celeste, Samara, Jewel, Aurora, Zephyr with his injured wing, Brisa, Orion, Ahsoka and Charon all appeared to their gladness.
"Blu, GUYS!" Rafael shouted as he hovered in the air with Alabaster and Poppy, "OVER HERE!"
Nearby, Erik's group continued to brutally fight the remaining ravens and crows to drive them away. Blu and the others then smiled and were about to fly to Rafael and the cockatoos but before they could take another step towards them, a rabid snarl exploded behind them and a pair of HUGE ragged white wings crisscrossed with scars appeared and swung around all 12 of them, scooping them all up. However, the 12 fought out of now-feral and bloodlust-saturated Vecna's wings and fled. However, Vecna darted in their way and spread his HUGE wings to block their way. Blu and the others whirled round and fled back the way they came.
"THERE'S NO ESCAPE THIS TIME, MAGGOTS!" snarled the rabid swan, his voice sounding like a demonic creature and his eye pure black from his pupil dilated from pure insanity and the sclera blood-red. Then with a snarl, he pursued the macaws, the raven and the flying foxes, appearing in front of them again. Then as lightning flashed in the sky, Blu's group got ready for their final showdown with Vecna; Orion stood in front of Ahsoka while Blu got in front of Jewel. Zephyr got in front of Brisa and Aurora despite his broken right wing and Milo got in front of Celeste. Sirius got in front of Samara and the EXTREMELY frightened Charon. Then after a few moments of faceoff and with lightning flashing and cracking the sky, Vecna lunged, his salivating beak wide open in an attempt to bite and seize one of his nemeses. However, the group parted, sending the wrathful swan's beak slamming into the rock surface. The VICIOUS swan spat out some rock dust and glared maniacally at his nemeses as they regrouped, a demonic snarl escaping his beak. He then spread his HUGE wings and began to throw wing swipes at them, hitting Blu first and sending him flying. Jewel lashed at Vecna but the swan swatted her away with another wing swipe. Then the evil swan lashed at Jewel's tail and clamped his rabid beak onto the feathers. Jewel released frightened screams as Vecna then proceeded to shake her back and forth like a dog thrashing its prey. Immediately, Sirius and Samara darted in and tackled into Vecna to get him to release Jewel. Jewel was thrown over the cliff but she immediately pulled herself out of the fall and returned to the platform. Vecna then turned his wrath on the glaucous macaws and swiped them with his wings too. He lashed at Samara's leg and clamped his beak EXTREMELY HARD onto her left leg. AGONISED screeches exploded from the female glaucous macaw's beak as every OUNCE of strength was channelled into Vecna's beak and clamped hard enough to inflict a fracture on the macaw's leg. Sirius surged in and raked his claws over the swan's face to get him to release Samara, inflicting the first set of claw marks on Vecna. Samara then limped away, clearly too frightened to fight the rabid swan and not wanting to risk her life. Though she was aggressive like Jewel, nowadays at times, she knew better. She immediately got airborne and flew to Rafael, Alabaster and Poppy who helped her to the safety of the nearby shelter where the blue-and-gold macaw babysitter looked after Carla, Bia and Tiago. Next, Vecna lunged at Zephyr, Aurora and Brisa, intent on seizing and brutally mauling them but the three Spix macaws dodged, sending Vecna's beak ramming once again into the rocky surface. Then Vecna, UTTERLY furious, whirled round and saw Zephyr near the edge of the precipice. Immediately the swan lunged for him and knocked him off the cliff with a powerful wing swipe to the HORROR of the others.
"ZEPHYYYYYR!" cried Brisa and Aurora together. Rafael, Alabaster and Poppy flew in and saw Zephyr plummet towards the forest below, screaming and his left wing flapping in vain to pull him out of the fall. Immediately, the hyacinth macaw from the helper group as they continued to fend off the remaining ravens and crows broke away from the battle cloud and dove after Zephyr. The massive navy blue macaw caught the injured Spix macaw before he could go crashing through the canopy again and carried him to the safety of the shelter where Samara, the blue-and-gold macaw and Blu and Jewel's chicks were.
Vecna then lunged at Brisa and Aurora and managed to clamp his beak onto Aurora's left pigtail. Then he pulled with ALL his might, causing Aurora EXCRUCIATING agony.
"AURORA!" cried Brisa and with that, she lashed at Vecna to claw him to get him to release Aurora but Vecna's big wing flung out and knocked Brisa over the cliff edge like her brother. However, Brisa pulled herself out of the fall. Then with a sickening rip, Vecna yanked out a beak-ful of maya blue feathers from Aurora's pigtail, reducing it to nothing more than a mere tatter with one or two feathers. Aurora, in agony and humiliation from the loss of her pigtail, took off for the safety of the shelter, fearing for her life as Vecna spat out her pigtail feathers in disgust. Then he lunged at Milo, Celeste, Orion and Ahsoka and attacked them. He seized Celeste by the tail and tore out a lot of the flight feathers from it, causing the female Lear's macaw SHEER agony and reducing her tail to a mere stump. Immediately, Milo rushed in, seized Celeste and carried her to safety, one or two feathers drifting gently behind her tattered and reduced tail as Vecna spat the rest of them out. Then Vecna lunged for Ahsoka, clearly ENRAGED that she could now fly. However, before he could lash at her and clamp his beak onto one of her wings, Orion jumped in and took the hit. Vecna immediately clamped his beak onto Orion's left wing and squeezed HARD, breaking it and making the flying fox scream in agony.
"ORIOOOON!" cried Ahsoka in horror as Vecna then released the flying fox and looked on in bloodthirsty sadism as Orion clutched his fractured left wing with his other.
"Oh, no, NOT ORION AS WELL!" cried Rafael.
"Oooh dear," Vecna mockingly crooned, "Looks like the male has become a useless, worthless, flightless flyin' fox," and with that, he launched into a demonic laughter in mockery of Orion's agony as lightning flashed in the sky. Ahsoka shot the cackling barbaric swan a glare of PURE VITRIOL. Immediately, she launched herself at the rabid swan and landed on his back.
"I'm gonna BITE YA REAL GOOD FOR THAT, you BLOODTHIRSTY ZOMBIE!" she snarled and with that, she began to plunge her fangs into Vecna's plumage. The swan flashed from demonic cackling to agonised screeching as the ginger bat began to unleash her wrath upon him. While she did that, Poppy quickly seized the injured Orion and carried him to the shelter as well. Vecna continued to writhe and thrash as Ahsoka continued biting and clawing him like a rabid dog, screeching exploding from his beak. Then the ginger bat ended up on his scarred face and began to try and maul it but Vecna began to thrash his head this way and that like a rabid snake to dislodge the bat from his face but Ahsoka hung on.
"AHSOKA!" cried Alabaster and Rafael together.
"HANG OOON!" cried Blu and Jewel as they watched the ginger bat cling for dear life onto the swan's face. Vecna then flung his head one way and managed to throw Ahsoka off his face and over the edge of the precipice but the ginger bat pulled herself out of the fall with her new flying ability and returned to the swan for another attempt at attacking him. Vecna immediately seized Ahsoka by the left leg with his beak and launched himself off the precipice. Rafael, Alabaster, Poppy, Blu, Jewel and the others looked on as Vecna hovered in the air and flung Ahsoka back and forth once again before throwing her at the cliff face. Ahsoka crashed there and slid to a small rocky outcrop protruding from the cliff face, puffing and panting from the adrenaline rush of the fight. Then as she dropped into flight to fly to safety, Vecna lashed at her to bite her but Ahsoka, in self-defence, lashed at his face and swiped her foot claws over his brow, inflicting a set of NASTY claw marks and a bigger set inflicted on him by Sirius. While the rabid Vecna screeched in agony, Ahsoka retreated. Vecna returned to the rocky platform and glared at the final two macaws, Blu and Jewel as they prepared to battle him. The Spix macaw couple was UTTERLY furious at the swan for making off with their children with the intent on killing them. Then Charon appeared and hovered near Rafael, Alabaster and Poppy having flown off to the shelter to help the blue-and-gold macaw to look after the three Spix macaw chicks and the casualties. Vecna glared daggers at the wrathful couple, his beak salivating and dripping threads of saliva, his right eye completely black and the pupil almost consuming its space and his face bearing a set of claw marks inflicted on him by Sirius and Ahsoka. Lightning flashed as the three then faced off. Then after facing off, the three lunged at each other and clashed in midair. Blu and Jewel braced as HARD as they could against the MASSIVE swan. Charon then flew in to help and he added his strength to the Spix macaw couple to Vecna's UTMOST rage. Then Rafael joined in to help. Vecna continued to push against the Spix macaw couple, the young raven and the toco toucan until finally, he overpowered them and pushed the four back. Rafael and Charon fell of the cliff face but pulled themselves out of the fall so only Blu and Jewel remained. Then Vecna walked towards them and seized Jewel by the tail feathers once again. He threw the female Spix macaw around like a ragdoll, sending her crashing into the cliff face. Jewel flopped onto the rocky platform only to be seized by Vecna and thrown again. Vecna repeated this another few times, seizing Jewel either by the tail or wing flight feathers and brutally throwing her about into the cliff face, over the edge where she pulled herself out of the fall and slamming her into the cliff face. Blu saw this and lunged at the swan but the swan whirled round and seized him by the neck and began to throw him around as well. Jewel struggled to her feet, bruises marking her body from being tossed around brutally by the swan and her left eye had developed a black rim. She staggered away as Vecna continued literally throwing Blu about, the Spix macaw releasing agonised cries as he was thrown against the cliff face and against the floor.
"Blu," cried Rafael, "Fight back! FIGHT... BAAAACK!"
Charon went to help the dazed Jewel to her feet. Blu, however was too caught up in the chaos of Vecna throwing him around. After another while of this and with lightning crashing in the sky and lighting up the scene, Vecna threw Blu onto the rocky platform and pounced onto him, flattening the Spix macaw under his MASSIVE body. Then Vecna opened his beak and clamped it onto Blu's neck in a fatal grip. When Jewel saw this, she screamed Blu's name, Charon looking on in UTMOST horror while Rafael cried at Blu to not let the swan overpower him. Nearby, Erik and the other macaw helpers finally managed to drive away the ravens and the crows and make them beat a hasty retreat. Blu's wings flew to Vecna's head as he continued to clamp his neck HARD such that he could not draw in an ounce of air. The Spix macaw's beak was agape and his eyes had shrunken to dots as Vecna continued to suffocate him. Blu was completely rigid and his vision began to blur as unconsciousness threatened to set in, his oxygen-starved brain struggling to function. Then his ears picked up cries of his name as Rafael and Jewel and the others shouted it, their voices sounding echoed as though he were in a large room.
"Blu!"
"Blu!
"BLU, GET YASELF TOGETHER!"
As this happened, Blu's mind began to go through a series of flashbacks, starting when he was smuggled out of Rio. His meeting of Linda as a chick and his adventures with her growing up... meeting Jewel... his first dance with Jewel at Nico and Pedro's club... his and Jewel's first kiss and his learning to fly... and the hatching of Carla, Bia and Tiago. Then a memory of himself and Jewel during a romantic night out together played, ending with Jewel telling him that she loved him. As this flashback ended, Blu's rigid eyes oozed tears and that memory reignited strength and vigour and the desire to survive for his family's sake within him. He then channelled his newfound strength into his feet and shakily rose their claws to Vecna's belly. Then before Vecna could realise what was happening, the male Spix macaw, rage surging through him, released a MASSIVE, piercing scream as lightning flashed and with that, he powerfully raked his claws into Vecna's belly, inflicting a set of NASTY and PAINFUL claw marks. A PAINED screech exploded from Vecna's beak and he released Blu from his chokehold and pinning and jumped into the air. Blu immediately rose to his feet and drew in some lungfuls of air, Jewel, Rafael and Charon rushing in with some macaw helpers and Sirius. Vecna then glared daggers at his nemesis, claw marks now marking his belly and got prepared to attack again. However, Blu and Jewel got together and launched themselves at the savage swan. Then as lightning flashed in the sky once again, the Spix macaw couple began unleashing their VOLCANIC wrath on the swan by raking their claws through his already-ragged plumage and biting him. Vecna writhed in agony and tried to dislodge the wrathful couple from him but they continued their relentless attack on him, both allowing their wrath to take them over and scoring their claws into his plumage and shredding white feathers from it. Then Jewel appeared before his face and began to brutally claw it like crazy while Blu went for his wings and body. More and more claw marks were torn open in Vecna's ragged plumage while more white feathers flew and within moments, the wrathful Spix macaws exploded into a full-on clawing spree on the swan, both becoming blue blurs with MASSIVE screeches of rage exploding form their beaks. Vecna writhed in agony and tried to shake off the FURIOUS Spix macaws but they continued their relentless attack and at one point, Blu seized the swan's neck and began to brutally throttle him to the point of nearly snapping his neck. After this, Jewel released a MASSIVE screech into Vecna's ear to stun him. Then Blu seized Vecna's right wing and clamped his beak EXTREMELY hard onto it to the point of breaking it, inflicting the swan with MASSIVE agony and disabling his flight. After this, Blu resumed clawing the swan with his mate.
As Blu and Jewel continued their violent wrath on Vecna with Jewel also biting Vecna's left foot to injure it, those that took shelter flew in and joined Rafael, Charon and the other helpers. The blue-and-gold macaw kept Carla, Bia and Tiago a good distance from the violent sight, them looking away while Milo carried Zephyr, his right wing broken; Sirius flying with Samara (her left leg broken), Brisa and Aurora helping Celeste to fly due to her torn tail; Alabaster carrying Orion whose left wing was broken and Ahsoka hovering nearby. The group looked on without a hint of sympathy of Vecna as he continued to receive his comeuppance for almost killing Carla, Bia and Tiago and injuring so many other victims, especially parrots. Then after finishing dealing with Vecna, Blu and Jewel left and glared volcanically at the now battered, bruised and brutally clawed swan, his plumage torn and tattered, his scars damaged and countless fresh claw marks crisscrossing his plumage. His left leg was injured and his right wing was broken. As Vecna glared at his hovering nemeses despite the agony of his wounds, Blu and Jewel glared ANGRILY at him.
"IT'S WHAT YA GET FOR KIDNAPPIN' THE CHICKS OF A COUPLE AN' THREATENIN' TO KILL 'EM, FEATHERED SNAKE!" Blu bellowed, "AN' ALSO THREATENIN' OUR FRIENDS!"
With him, Sirius and the others also glared angrily and without sympathy at the horrifically clawed swan who looked like he had been dragged through a thorn bush, his beak still salivating and his eye still with its pupil dilated from BITTER insanity and bloodlust. Blu wrathfully continued.
"HERE'S where it ENDS, VECNA!" the Spix macaw father yelled, "LEAVE AN' NEVER COME BACK!"
"AND if ya EVER SHOW YA UGLY FACE AGAIN, BEAST, WE WILL KILL YA!" put in Jewel. Rafael, Sirius, Samara, Zephyr, Brisa, Aurora, Orion, Ahsoka, Celeste, Milo, Alabaster, Poppy, Erik and the others also yelled at the swan to leave and to never return, Charon also looking on without any hint of sympathy. Vecna glared at the group.
"NEVEEEER!" the swan retorted murderously, "I VOW I WILL KILL ALL PARROTS AN'WILL NEVER STOP UNTIL ALL OUR DEAD AN' THE FIRST VICTIMS I WILL KILL ARE YOU LOT!"
Blu was about to launch himself at the swan to attack him again when suddenly, he felt a change in the atmosphere. He knew what was imminent for he had seen images of people with their hair standing on end before a phenomenon struck on the internet while he was under Linda's care. Some of the macaws' head feathers and Ahsoka and Orion's head hair also stood on end and fluffed out.
"CLEAR THE AREA, QUICK!" Blu screamed at the group and immediately, they flew off to a safe distance from the rocky platform. Erik and Samara seized Carla, Bia and Tiago and darted off after the others. Vecna watched on, wondering why they had bolted but then what happened next went by in a literal flash. A HUGE electrical bolt exploded from the sky and surged at Vecna and the rocky platform. The swan released a MASSIVE scream as the lightning bolt coursed through his body and struck the platform he stood on, shattering it. Then when the bolt vanished, the shattered platform collapsed under Vecna and crumbled to the forest below. However, the SAVAGE swan wasn't done with Blu and the others yet. Vecna, his plumage completely blackened and singed from the bolt, launched himself at the group, his wings outstretched but because Blu had fractured his right wing, he could not stay airborne for long. However, he had launched himself far enough to lash at Blu's group one final time, aiming for the main Spix macaw like a snake launching its attack.
"Blu, look OUT," cried Charon and he tackled the Spix macaw out of the way, allowing Vecna to clamp his beak HARD onto his right leg. Then to the HORROR of the group, Charon was dragged down by the savage swan as he plummeted, disappearing into the mist and trees below. At the same time, the rains lifted and the storm clouds began to disperse. Blu and Sirius then dove down after Charon and Vecna, not wanting to just abandon the young raven to his fate after all he had done for the group. They commanded for the others to take shelter until the storm eased despite their protests.