Rio: Love at first Fight

Not Exactly Love Birds

Blu was shoved into a large room full of fake shrubbery and trees. His feathers were forced into an afro on the top of his head, the handiwork of Tulio. He stood stone still just inside the hatch, frozen with fear after what he noticed Jewel did to a human's face. Blu turned and banged on the door. "Help! Help!" he cried. "Let me out of here!"

Then he saw his own reflection, the afro catching his attention. He immediately reverted his feathers back to normal, then let out a cry for Linda.

"Maybe I should..." Linda began.

"No, no. Give it a chance."

Every light in the forested room switched on, one by one, shining light at every angle. There seemed to be no way out of this mess; Blu walked forward, slowly. "Hello?" Blu called, walking on a branch over a fake pond, nearly tripping.

What was that? A figure rushed by overhead...

"Uh, I come in peace," he attempted.

A large shadow fell over Blu; some figure blocked out the light. He turned to look, and his eyes instantly changed from fear to amazement.

"Whoa! She's beautiful," Blu thought. "What were they talking about? She's like an angel. An angel... that's getting... real... CLOSE!"

Blu and Jewel tumbled a bit, landing with Blu under the full weight of her, her talons gripped tight around his throat. She asked him who he was and where he came from, but in Portuguese, a language still foreign to Blu. He uttered a series of noises, the best he could do to get her to loosen the grip. "Que?"

"You're standing on my throat," Blu wheezed.

"Oh, you're an American?" Jewel wondered.

"Thanks. I need my throat for talking, so thank you."

"You look like me..." Jewel seemed bewildered that she was indeed standing in front of another of her kind.

"Hi, I'm Blu." He extended his talons for a handshake; she ignored and began looking around the room like a spy. "You know, like the cheese? With the mold on it. Smells really bad... Ok, that was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid." He pounded his head after realizing how he just explained his name.

"All right, come on. We don't have much time." Jewel grabbed Blu and looked directly into his eyes, making him nervous. Then she bolted away, still holding onto Blu.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." BONK! Blu hit his head on a low lying branch as Jewel flew away. Pegs on the side of the same tree provided a way for him to climb after her.

Jewel flew right up to Blu. "Are you ready?"

Blu, clueless to her true intentions, said, "Oh, uh, ok." He recalled the advice given him earlier... "Confidence, crazy love hawk." He pumped out his chest, narrowed his eyes, walked over to her whilst swaying his tail, and attempted to kiss... awkwardly.

She was disgusted by the move. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Uh... what you wanted me to... but, just for arguments sake, what... what are YOU doing?"

"I'm trying to escape..." she pushed aside some leaves and revealed a beat up air vent.

"Oh, yeah. Right. That's where I was going... with... that thing I just did."

"Wait." Jewel finally figured it out. "Did you... actually think we were going to KISS? WE JUST MET!"

Linda and Tulio, watching through their cameras, saw Jewel back Blu into a corner. "I think they need a little help," Tulio suggested.

"I know how my feathers look, but I am not that kind of bird," Blu explained. Then, in the worst timing possible, a mirrored ball landed right next to Blu and a Lionel Richie song began to play. "Ok, I had NOTHING to do with that. But, I do have to say, that's a pretty good song."

Jewel stared in unbelief. How could he be so attached to those HUMANS?! She must've been thinking.

After watching him start to dance and sing along to the song, Jewel had had enough. She went on a full assault, knocking both him and herself to the floor. They struggled against each other, landing in a not-so-intended position. Jewel took Blu down and continued the fight.

Thinking that the song made a difference, Linda commented, "That was fast."

"Lionel Richie. Works every time," Tulio said. "We should probably give them some privacy."

---------------

They started to leave the building when Linda grew worried. "I'm not so sure I should leave Blu here alone..."

"Oh, no. Don't worry. Sylvio will keep an eye on them all night."

His guard, Sylvio, stood straight as if he were a statue. Then he surprised them both by pinning a fly to the wall with a pencil, quicker than the blink of an eye.

"Besides, he's got Jewel," Tulio assured.

---------------

Caught on camera, Jewel was still on an unrelenting assault on Blu. He ducked and he hid, but he could not escape... he looked into the camera and begged for help; Jewel pinned him down.