Party In Ipanema, Baby!

WARNING: this is a grimdark story, which involves torture, gore and ultimately, death. Read at your own discretion. If you decide to read on anyway and feel like hunting me down with torches and pitchforks afterward, know that I warned you and you did it to yourself.

I'll even give you the option to skip it. You'll know it when you see it.

For extended author's notes and all-round discussion about this story, please visit the "Party in Ipanema, Baby – Discussion" topic in the "Rio de Janeiro, Brazil" forum.

Finally, we're here! At long last, everything I hoped for is at hand! I'm going to have the best time of my life here, and my sister will be there for me every step of the way!

Kelso lighted down on a branch, its mothering tree overlooking the vast city of Rio de Janeiro below. His sister, Shelly, landed next to him right as he did, and they contently looked at each other, if not proud of their feat. It took them three harrowing weeks of flying straight from Richmond, Virginia in the United States to the metropolitan city in the southeast region of Brazil. It was exhausting, even life-threatening at times due to stray cats and trigger-happy hunters and farmers, but it was all worth it: their destination was now in front of them.

That takes care of part two! Let's see if part three will be any easier. It might take some work, but at least it won't kill us.

Thinking the latter with a smirk, Kelso took off again with his sister in his wake. They had to look for a suitable place to spend the night, for the sun had already started its daily routine of secreting itself beyond the horizon. The pure hue of the golden rays bathing the jungle of Rio made both of them nearly inconspicuous. Though their plumage consisted of all the colors of the rainbow, orange was spread the most over their bodies as the dominant color. Their plumage blended in with the surroundings so eerily well, they almost turned invisible to the untrained eye. Kelso and Shelly were Camelot Macaws, a second generation hybrid between a Scarlet and a Catalina Macaw. The latter, in turn, was a first generation hybrid between a Scarlet and a Blue-and-Gold Macaw. As with every other bird that sported such a blended gene makeup, the siblings were bred, born and raised in closed confinement.

Kelso couldn't come to terms that his destiny was to be clipped and owned as a companion, especially after when his special talent came to light. Whenever he heard music playing in the breeding grounds, the beats took control over him, causing him to dance and sing like no other bird could. This quickly earned him the reputation of prime party-bird.

Back at the breeding grounds, the humans had placed a few televisions near the birds, tuned to channels like Animal Planet, Discovery Channel and National Geographic, as an experiment to boost their intelligence, and thus allow for potential buyers to purchase them more quickly.

It was during one such session Kelso learned about Rio de Janeiro. The television he was looking at was tuned to National Geographic, and the scheduled program gave an extensive look into the bustling history of the incredible city. And of course, no history about Rio de Janeiro would be complete without touching the subject of Carnival, supposedly the biggest party in the world.

Kelso was watching in awe as soon as he laid his eyes on everything Carnival had to offer. The brilliant costumes, the dazzling floats, the enthralling music; at that moment, he realized that's where he belonged. After all, what better place to put his talents to the test than there?

It took Kelso some effort to convince Shelly to come with him, but she, too, didn't feel much for spending the rest of her life being gawked at by a human with too much money, or at least she said she didn't. There was on major problem they had to overcome: they were stuck on the wrong side of the cage.

Many fruitless attempts of escaping ensued. The humans grew so frustrated with Kelso's continuous efforts to break loose, they locked him in a separate, solitary cage, away from the other birds. Shelly tried a different approach: she pretended to completely trust in the humans, so that they would allow her to roam freely in the building. That was a method Kelso refused to adapt, simply because of his disgust for humans. Not that it would work anyway, given his attempt at cage-breaking.

On one scalding summer day, one of the breeders left the windows open, which was Kelso's ticket to freedom. Feigning fainting due to heat exposure, the humans removed him from his cage, but as soon as the person who was holding him dropped its guard, Kelso made his move and bit down the hand holding him with all his might.

The human yelped in pain as it released Kelso and used its other hand to cover the wound the colorful bird had inflicted. Before anyone realized what just happened, Kelso had already made clean his escape. To make matters worse, Shelly just shot right past the baffled humans as they were looking out the window, watching as how Kelso's form turned into a dot, and was swallowed by the sky.

Concluding part one of the plan, part two had begun: the journey to Rio. Learning what they could from the local avian wildlife, they set out to the south, and after four weeks of asking directions and evading creatures with ill intentions, including humans, part two came to a close, and thus beginning part three: rising to the top.

As they were flying through the foliage, packets of fruit caught Shelly's eye, and she suddenly realized they hadn't eaten all day. Being so close to their destination this very day, they didn't want to waste any time, and only bothered with food to go.

"Hey Kelso, wait up!"

"What is it, sis?" he asked, as he stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to face his sibling.

"I know you're excited and all, and so am I. But don't you think we ought to grab something to eat now? We had our last decent meal yesterday, and I'm hungry!"

Kelso didn't want to admit it, but his stomach hasn't stopped grumbling ever since they resumed their trip. Now, with the mention of food, it grumbled louder than ever, giving Shelly an unmistakably strong point.

"You know, call it a hunch, but I think I might be hungry too."

"Right. Come on, mister funny-feathers. Looks like something edible over there."

Heading over to the fruit and each finding a suitable branch to land on that allowed for easy picking, they trudged over and firmly plucked a piece of alien-looking fruit from the tree. Not sure what they were looking at, Kelso examined it closely. It was yellow with a tinge of green, and had five ridges running down its sides. He sniffed it, and detected a sweet odor emanating from it.

"Huh. I've never seen anything like it. We sure never had something like this in that dreaded prison! I wonder if it tastes as good as it smells..."

"Yeah... it does smell sweet, doesn't it?"

After turning it around for another round of inspection, a voice resonated from behind Kelso, almost making him drop the fruit in surprise.

"Hey, you two. Are you gonna eat that or what? Didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with your food?"

While Shelly moved her head to see what was behind Kelso, he turned to see a Blue-and-Yellow Macaw sitting behind him, politely waiting his turn to grab some fruit from the same packet the Camelot Macaws were harvesting from.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kelso said. "We've just never seen anything like this before. Can you tell us if it's any good?"

"You... you've never seen a starfruit before? Wow, you guys are missing out – it's the best thing ever! Go ahead and take a bite, you'll love it."

Throwing the so-called starfruit another glance, Kelso complied and took a measured bite out of it. He quickly realized this macaw was telling no lies – it felt like there was a party in his beak to which everyone was invited.

"Oh, wow. You're not kidding, this is delicious! I could get used to this."

Seeing her brother revel in the deliciousness of his meal, she followed his example, and quickly shared his opinion.

"Don't you know it, it's my favorite. Abiu fruit is a close second," the macaw said as he plucked a starfruit for his own needs.

"Abiu, you say? Never heard of that either."

The macaw donned a puzzled look. "You two aren't from around here, are you? Actually, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a macaw with your kind of plumage."

"Right you are! My name's Kelso, and this is my sister, Shelly. We're known as Camelot Macaws. We just arrived here today from the United States, escaping from human confinement to make it big here. Well, at least I am, she's here for support."

"Support?" Shelly said. "More like, no way in hell are you going to leave me behind to be a human's plaything."

In truth, Shelly was actually looking forward to be a human's companion for years to come. Then again, if she did get sold or Kelso left for Rio without her, she would be separated from her brother if not forever, and she loved him too much for that. That's why she followed him, but for now, he didn't need to know that just yet.

"Aha, big plans ahead, huh? Well, good luck with that. Name's Natanael, by the way, but everyone just calls me Nate. Nice to meet both of you. Care to tell me what you mean with 'making it big?'"

"Sure. I have a knack for being the life of the party, so I'm here to put my skills to the test. Do you know of any sort of clubs around here where I can do just that?"

Nate thought for a moment before replying. It almost seemed like he was a bit hesitant to do so. "I do. You've probably seen that huge statue of a human with its arms spread out?"

Kelso nodded. Shelly had hopped over from her branch to Kelso's after finishing her starfruit, and sat next to him so she could follow the conversation better.

"That's the Christ the Redeemer statue, or Cristo Redentor to the local humans. It's some kind of religious figure to them. Anyway, at the base of the mountain it's standing on, is a small entrance to a cave. That's the location of the hottest club in town, the 'Caverna,' which is Portuguese for 'cavern.' It only opens after sundown, when there's no humans nearby, visiting that statue. Just follow the stream of birds, and you should find it without any effort."

"Great, thanks! Do you know who's in charge of the party scene there?"

"That I do too," Nate said, again a bit hesitant. "That would be Nico and Pedro, a canary and red-crested cardinal, respectively. They don't own the club, but they are the current kings of Carnival, after the previous one, Rafael the toucan, started a family."

"Awesome! So those two are the ones I'll be challenging, then."

"Eh... If you're as good as you say you are, I'd be careful around them."

This puzzled Kelso. "Huh? What do you mean? A canary and a cardinal can't be that much of a threat, right?"

"Well..." Nate looked around, scanning the environment before leaning in between the siblings and lowering his voice. "Nico and Pedro are the best at what they do, but every once in a while, they get beaten. Then a month later, at the next challenge, they come back in full force, and the bird who's beaten them before then loses rigorously, and disappears shortly after. As if they vanished from the face of the earth."

Shelly didn't like what she heard just now, and already started to regret coming here. Kelso however gave a light chuckle. "Come on, nobody just disappears into thin air like that. I'll bet they just couldn't cope with the defeat, and skipped town in shame."

Nate blinked, and forced a smile. "Heh, yeah, that's probably it. Still, you never know, right? If I were you, I'd watch my tail feathers around them, nonetheless."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Kelso said wrapping his wing around his sister, the latter giving a half-hearted smile. "Listen, it's been great talking, but today's journey has left us pretty beat. Poor Shelly here seems to have lost her tongue from all this flying!" Shelly shot him an annoyed look, which he tried to ignore just to spite her. "We'll probably check out that club tomorrow after a rejuvenating night's rest. Can I ask you to point us in the direction of a vacant hollow you might know of?"

"Hmmm... it just so happens a family I knew moved out, to live in the jungles north of São Paulo, so their place opened up. It's on the other side of Rio, though. Think you can still manage that kind of trip?"

"We will, in a minute," Shelly said quickly, taking her brother's wing off of her while still giving him a rather annoyed, yet playful glance. "Gotta grab another piece of fruit first to strengthen up... right, Kel?

"Uh... sure."

Kelso and Shelly sat in one of the multiple trees surrounding Corcovado mountain. It was an hour after sunset, and the humans visiting the never-moving holy figure above had dispersed not long after. Since the club would be opening soon, Kelso waited patiently for avian party-goers to make their way to the club, where his destiny was sure to unfold, with Shelly there to back him up.

They didn't have to wait long. Seeing several birds – some in groups, others on their own – heading in pretty much the same direction, the Camelot Macaws lifted off in pursuit. And just like Nate said the day before, they were led to a wide crack, several feet up in the stony wall on the north-eastern side of the mountain, through which birds of all sorts made their way in. The crack was partially obscured by the jungle's natural growth, rendering it fully undetectable to any oblivious humans that happened to pass by underneath.

As Kelso and Shelly made their way over, the musical beats emanating from the entrance were clearly audible. Joining the throng of birds entering the club, the siblings moved in among them.

The giant, naturally formed cave was decorated with tarps and flags of all sorts, silently indicating all were welcome. A large, empty patch of ground, which was slowly filling up with energized birds, served as a dance floor while surrounding stone slabs jutting out from the walls and floor were used as smaller podiums, where some of the more confident birds showed off their moves. A larger slab to the right appeared to serve as the main podium for special events. Since it was empty, Kelso figured nothing was going on tonight.

"Kelso... Just... look at this place. It's amazing!"

"Isn't it? I'm so happy, I think I could faint from sheer excitement!"

"Yeah, let's not. I'd be so embarrassed if I had to haul your feathered butt out of here."

Bumping his sister slightly, Kelso looked around some more, and noticed the illumination in the cave.

"Wow. All those spotlights, and those speakers... I wonder how they get the electricity into this place?"

"Beats me. But frankly, do we even want to find out?

"I suppose not."

Shelly noticed a wooden structure in the back of the cave, which reminded her of something in particular.

"Hey, look over there. Does that look like a bar to you?"

"Seems that way. You thirsty?"

"Thirsty? I'm parched! Come on."

Shelly started making her way to the bar, Kelso in her wake. After crossing the dance floor, they weaved between several large stumps of thick branches surrounded by smaller stumps, which served as the equivalent of a table surrounded by chairs. Quite a few were already occupied, so they were careful not to step on any tail feathers.

"Let's see, what do they serve?" Shelly asked coming up to the counter, and searched for a chart with a selection of drinks.

"Seems to me they only serve water here," Kelso said matter-of-factly after a quick examination.

"They-aww! I was in the mood for something stronger..."

"Maybe it's for the best. Wouldn't want to make a bad impression on our first night clubbing, don't you think?"

"Perhaps... but if I wanted water, I'd go outside to find a lake. This is a club, after all."

The bartender, a dashing Military Macaw behind the counter picked up on their conversation, despite the amount of decibels filling the venue.

"If I may interject, we do have some slightly stronger stuff, but we only break that out once a month."

"Really? What's that?" Shelly queried.

"Nothing too fancy, just some alco-pops."

"And you only break it out once a month, you said?"

"Yep, during Challenge Night. And since you don't seem to know about Challenge Night, I assume you're new to the Caverna?"

"Actually," Kelso said, "we're new to Rio entirely."

"Ah, that explains why I haven't seen your species around here before. You both look very stunning... especially you, gorgeous."

His last comment directed at Shelly, she turned away giggling. Kelso spoke up in an attempt to change the subject.

"SO!" he shouted, making sure the bartender heard him. "Any chance Nico and Pedro are around?"

"Uh..." the bartender said, adjusting his focus from Shelly back to Kelso. "No, they, uh, aren't. So you've heard about them already, huh? No, they only make their appearance on Challenge Night. Oh yeah, you still don't know what that is, huh?"

The Camelot Macaws shook their heads.

"Challenge Night is the first Wednesday of every month, when Nico and Pedro take on anyone who thinks they are better than them. They've been beaten a few times, but they always come back on top. So if you two plan to take them on, you better come prepared."

"Oh, not me. Kelso's the one with the moves," Shelly said.

"Really? Well..." he leaned forward on the counter, "I'll bet you're an amazing dancer," he flirted further, which caused Shelly to giggle once again.

"Okay, this is been very informative, but we have to go... over... there, now," Kelso interjected again, pointing at nowhere in particular while grabbing Shelly by her right wing. "Thanks for the info, bye now!" He dragged Shelly out of audible range of the bartender before either of them could say anything else.

"Geez, Kel. Rude much? I was totally hitting it off with that guy!"

"Shelly, he's a bartender. He sees pretty girls like you all the time. I wouldn't be surprised if he were talking to another one like that within five minutes. Now come on, let's find a seat, and see what kind of competition I have to deal with..."

As disgruntled Shelly was with her brother right now, hearing him call her 'pretty' still brought a smile to her face.

Kelso claimed a few seats for him and his sister in the seating area of the bar, providing him with a decent enough view on the dance floor. Macaws, parrots, toucans, owls, hummingbirds... a plethora of all kinds of avian creatures were moving about, but none of them really stood out. A waiter brought them some water to drink while Kelso kept his eye on the floor for a few more minutes. Try as he might, as far as he could see, no bird in the cave was pulling off anything worthwhile in his eyes.

Well then, this should be easy... "Shell, I'm going to hit the floor. Root for me, okay?"

"'Kay. Be careful not to step on anyone's tail, you hear?"

Mentally dismissing his sister's remark, he looked for a vacant slab, climbed atop it and started dancing to the beat. He started off slow, as not to burn up all his energy at once. A few birds already looked his way, for they never saw a bird of his kind before, rather than checking his moves. After a few minutes, he picked up the pace and increased his efforts, which caused a few more birds looking at him.

As he lost himself in the rhythm, his audience grew. Those not looking yet were quickly being informed by their friends to do so. Eventually, some of the spotlights shifted his way, which caused his splendid plumage to bloom in all directions. It was a mesmerizing sight to see, and it didn't take long then before he became the center of attention, which was exactly what he hoped for. He had to keep his pace in mind, though. If he wanted to succeed Nico and Pedro, he needed to keep a few tricks up his proverbial sleeve to outshine them.

Every once in a while, Kelso needed to take a break from dancing, for even he lacked unending stamina. Jumping down from the slab to mingle with the crowd, several birds took this opportunity to ask him questions, like his name, where he hailed from, and so on. Kelso gladly obliged answering them, for it could spread word of him all the faster.

Occasionally, he'd turn to look in the direction of his sister sitting at the table. She was smiling at him, content with the fact her brother is getting exactly what he's aiming for: fame.

A pang of guilt struck Kelso in the gut. Here he was, the new bird in town rapidly gaining in popularity, while his only sister just sat there. So, after he was done talking with his new 'fans,' he went back to her and sat down.

"Done already?" she asked. "I figured you'd be up there far longer."

"Oh, I could, but I started to feel bad when I saw you sitting here all alone. So, that's all for me tonight."

"Oh Kel, that's so sweet. Thank you!"

"Don't mention it. I was getting pretty tired anyway, and these clubbers have taken notice of me, to say the least. That's good enough for now."

Over the hours, the club slightly grew more and more devoid of party-goers while Kelso sat with his sister. Occasionally, a few birds who were about to leave came up to him, saying what a great dancer he was and how he should take on Nico and Pedro when the time comes. Compliments like this only boosted Kelso's confidence, while it also upped Shelly pride for her brother. Eventually, the club came to the point of closing for the night. Kelso looked rather satisfied.

Man, I'm so popular already, and I wasn't even giving it my all. Too bad Nico and Pedro didn't see any of it. I bet they would've been so jealous! Oh well, guess I'll have to wait until Challenge Night comes around... whenever that is.

As if he was speaking out loud, when he turned into the direction of the bar to call the bartender from earlier over, the Military Macaw was already heading their way and stopped at their table.

"Hey, can I bother you for a sec?" the bartender asked.

"Actually, I was just about to call you over. What's up?"

"I was just going to say that you're an amazing dancer. Your sister is right, you've got quite the moves. In fact, I think you'll be a big challenge for Nico and Pedro come Challenge Night."

"Ah, that's why I wanted to talk to you. When is the next Challenge Night, anyway?"

"That would be four days from now. If you want to, I can give you some pointers to perfect those moves you busted out earlier."

"Uh... No offense intended, really, but what do you know about dancing? You serve drinks."

The bartender didn't seem to take offense, but Shelly did so in his place, and kicked Kelso against his leg. "Ouch!"

"Oh, I know a lot more than you think. I didn't acquire this place by serving drinks alone, you know."

Now both Camelot Macaws looked up surprised.

"You... this club is yours?" Shelly asked, to which the bartender-slash-club owner extended his wing.

"Donato. Pleasure to meet you both." Not releasing Shelly's wing, he brought it up to his beak instead, and gave it a gentle peck. "Especially you..."

"Shelly," she said as she looked away in slight embarrassment again, after which Donato released her wing and moved on to Kelso.

"Kelso's the name. Um, sorry about that earlier statement. I didn't mean to be rude."

"Nah, that's okay. As long as anyone doesn't start a ruckus, it's all good. So, will you be back for Challenge Night?"

"Will I? Most definitely! I can't wait to take on Nico and Pedro. Their number is up, just you wait."

"Alright, confidence, good. That's what the Brazilian ladies respond to... At least, that's what Nico keeps telling me." Looking back at Shelly, he added to his sentence, "And not just the Brazilian ones, apparently."

"Right!" Kelso spoke up, to divert Donato's attention from his sister again. Desperately trying to find a topic of conversation just for that, he thought back of their earlier conversation.

"Uh... so you said earlier Nico and Pedro have been beaten before, right?"

"Oh, yeah. Once, sometimes twice, very rarely three times a year, there's another bird that outshines them. But the victor doesn't last long: the following month, Nico and Pedro come back in full force. They'll do anything to reclaim their title... performance-wise, of course."

"And, I've also heard a rumor about the birds they beat disappearing shortly after. Any truth to that?"

Donato's eyes widened a little. "Uh... I've heard of that too, but I'm not sure what to think of that. Most birds believe they just leave town, too embarrassed to face the music, so to speak. Others..." He gulped. "Others believe that Nico and Pedro have... you know... 'taken care' of them, somehow. But I don't buy that theory at all. Nico and Pedro are some of the nicest, caring, and charismatic birds I've ever met in my life." He turned to Shelly once again.

"That is, they will be until I get to know you better..."

"I'd like that," Shelly said. But before she could say anything else, Kelso got up and grabbed her by the wing.

"Whoa, look at the time. We really should be getting some sleep. Thanks for a great time, Donato. We'll be back for Challenge Night. See ya!"

"Uh, okay," Donato said as Kelso pulled his sister towards the exit, despite her struggling. "Enjoy your time in Rio!"

"We will!" Shelly called back, just before she vanished from Donato's sight.

As the siblings were flying to their new home, with Shelly as annoyed with her brother as she could get, Kelso reminded himself of Nate's warning from the day before. That was the second bird telling him a rumor of victorious, then defeated challengers disappearing. At least, he hoped it to be a rumor, but what if there was any truth to it anyway?

He shrugged off the thought. I didn't come all this way to be scared off by a rumor. Come Wednesday, I'll see for myself how good this canary and cardinal really are. If today was any indication, I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Kelso and Shelly spent the next few days living life as any other macaw would. Resting, eating at specific intervals, and drinking in the sights of the city which they now called home. As the sun was beginning to hide behind the earth once more, Kelso sat atop the left hand of the Cristo Redentor statue, waiting for the club below to open up.

Tonight's the night! Nico and Pedro will be present, and I'm bent on giving them the what for. Ooh, why won't time go any faster! I'm so eager to get started, I think I might explode!

Going over his dance moves for the umpteenth time, he didn't notice another presence nearby.

"Hey, Kelso! What's shaking?"

Kelso turned, and saw a familiar face. "Oh, hey Nate. Well, all of me, to be honest. I'm so excited, because tonight's the night when Nico and Pedro are going to eat my dust, and relinquish their title over to me. I'm sure of it!"

"Hehe, sounds like you're pretty sure of yourself. Don't get me wrong, I wish you all the luck you can get. Nico and Pedro have been kings all this time for a reason, you know. They won't give up their spot so easily."

"So I've heard. I've met the club owner, Donato, who said pretty much the same thing. I've been practicing my tail feathers off, perfecting all the moves I had in store for tonight. Care to come and watch?"

"Oh, I wouldn't miss it for the world. Looking at the position of the sun, seems like the club won't open for another hour or so, though. So tell me, what else did you do in the meantime? Also, where's your sister?"

"Oh, she'll be coming soon. She wanted to spend some time at the beach, but she'll be here before long."

Kelso and Nate conversed idly, helping to pass the time. Before they knew it, the sky was filled with lavender, meaning the sun was completely out of sight, and the club was minutes from opening.

Until Shelly arrived, they weren't aware in the slightest of the club allowing guests to enter for the night.

"Kelso, what are you still doing here? The club has... Oh, hi there, Nate!"

"Hey there, Shelly. What's up?"

"I'm looking for my brother," she said, after which she turned to her sibling. "Kelso, the club has opened already! I figured you'd be among the first to enter, so I was waiting at the entrance, but you didn't show. I almost thought something happened."

"No need to worry, sis. Nate and I just lost track of time." Kelso sighed, getting his bearings. "Tonight's the night, everyone. Let's go and let all of Rio know there's a new king in town!"

The three birds glided down towards the entrance and plowed their way inside. Just like the last time Kelso and Shelly were here, the club was already buzzing with activity, despite it opening up a few minutes ago. The main reason for that was because Nico and Pedro would be showing, but Kelso liked to believe word of him spread around and these clubbers were here to see him.

After an hour of normal clubbing, the volume of the music lowered to half its previous strength as a spotlight shone down upon the main podium. From behind a tarp that apparently blocked off another, smaller cave, Donato appeared, and started to address the crowd.

"Good evening, one and all! It's great to see you all again in such great numbers. Just like all of you, I look forward to this moment every month. For every first Wednesday night is... Challenge Night!"

The crowd cheered in all kinds of hoots, caws and chirps. Donato continued talking when the cheering simmered down.

"That's right. This is the time when those who think they have what it takes to prove their mettle against the current title-keepers. Y'all know who I'm talking about. Ladies and gentlebirds, give it up for the dynamic duo, the unbreakable buddies, the Kings of Carnival... Nico and Pedro!"

As the crowd cheered louder than before, a different tune started playing. Kelso immediately recognized the song.

What the... Coldplay? 'Life in Technicolor?' That's an... unusual opener. And these are supposed to be the #1 party rockers? Oh well, let's see just how good people claim them to be...

After about forty seconds into the song, just as the drums kicked in, the famed canary and cardinal emerged from behind the same tarp Donato did. Passing by in between them, Donato lowered his wings for Nico and Pedro to slap in a low-five. Donato removed himself from view by hiding behind the tarp was once again, dealing with club business, as Nico and Pedro greeted the crowd, getting their groove on at the same time. About thirty seconds of shaking and dancing later, Nico erupted into song first:

There's a wild wind blowing, down the corner of my street

Every night there the headlights are glowing

Pedro effortlessly took over:

There's a cold war coming, on the radio I heard

Baby, it's a violent world

Now, they joined voices as the music perked up:

Oh, love, don't let me go

Won't you take me where the streetlights glow

I can hear it coming, I could hear the sirens sound

Now my feet won't touch the ground

As the music decreased in intensity, Pedro enticed the crowd.

"Come on, y'all can do better than that! Where them love-hawks at? Lemme hear y'all!"

The crowd gave another cheer, just up to the point where the vocals resumed. Pedro went first this time:

Time came a-creeping, oh time's a loaded gun

Every road is a ray of light

Cue to Nico:

It goes on, time only can lead you on

Still it's such a beautiful night

They repeated the chorus in unison, altering the line "I could hear the sirens sound" into "Like a serenade of sound." The music kept its intensity this time, and now it was Nico who enticed the crowd into singing the next part.

"Come on people, all together now!"

Every single bird in the room chanted along with the "Oh-oh" part. Even Kelso and Shelly sang along as loud as they could, invigorated by the moment. Now, Nico and Pedro took turns singing a single line, and concluded the song together:

Gravity, release me

And don't ever hold me down

Now my feet won't touch the ground

The crowd cheered once again as the music died down. Pedro addressed his friend.

"Hey Nico, I don't think there's anyone out there."

"Hang on, lemme check." The canary turned toward the audience. "Is there anybody out there?"

Once more, the crowd erupted into cheering, almost to a deafening volume.

"Looks like you're wrong, bro."

"Aight, aight, my bad. Good evening y'all, and welcome once again to another Challenge Night! Let's get right on it. Is there any bird out there who think they've got what it takes to roll with us?"

Several wings rose in the air. However, Shelly noticed Kelso's wings staying firmly folded.

"Kelso? What's the matter? You're not getting cold feet, are you?"

"Nah, sis. I'm just waiting it out. I wanna see what exactly these two have in store."

"Good idea," Nate said. "I've seen them do a lot of things, but they always come up with something new. Waiting it out is a good call."

"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us, buddy," Pedro said, counting the many wings filling the air.

"Hey, relax baby. Let's just go down the line, and get this thing started! Let's see now... Yes, you there, with the wing and the thing and the bling. Get on up here, and show us what you got!"

The Burrowing Owl Nico was calling out to gladly obliged and clambered onto the stage. After announcing his name and selecting a song of his choice, the single bird and the duo took turns in showing off their moves and putting their syrinxes to work. The owl put on the best performance he could muster, but unfortunately for him, when the song ended, he didn't have what it took to move the crowd as well as Nico and Pedro could, despite his best efforts.

"Now now, dude, don't feel down. You gave it your best shot. Just keep practicing, because I can see a lot of potential in you," Pedro consoled him. "Give it up for Escavador, y'all!"

After the crowd gave the owl an uplifting cheer as he joined the crowd, it's was Pedro's turn to pick the next contestant. But just like the owl, one after the other was outdone by the canary and the cardinal. Some of the contestants who hadn't been picked yet left their wings down after a new challenger was requested, for they realized they couldn't compete.

"Alright, next one! Come on now, don't be shy. We're getting worn out, so now's your chance! Anyone?" Pedro called out.

Noticing no wings going up, Kelso decided his time had come, and raised his multicolored wing. Being the only wing in the air, it was quickly picked up by the party duo.

"Aha, there we go," Nico shouted. "You there, with the plentiful colors. Get yo'self up here!"

"Well, this is it, guys," Kelso said to Shelly and Nate. "Wish me luck!"

"Go get 'em, champ," Nate said.

"Break a leg!" Shelly encouraged.

Many of the party-goers still remembered Kelso from last time. Some of them cheered him on, while others started murmuring amongst themselves. Pretty much all of them agreed that if anyone had the ability to put a serious dent in Nico and Pedro's stature, it would be him.

Pedro was the first to greet him after Kelso made it to the stage. "Well well, aren't you every color all at once. What, did you hit a rainbow or something? Nah, just playin'. Go on, bub. What's your name, and where ya from?"

"Hi Pedro, hi Nico. My name's Kelso, and I'm from the States."

"Hear that, birds? From the States! Doesn't that remind you of another famous bird y'all know?"

Kelso was left in the dark as the crowd cheered once again, as all of them remembering the Spix's Macaw known as Blu. It mattered little to him, though.

"Yup, I guess it does, Pedro. Too bad we only got to see him perform that one time."

Even though Kelso still didn't have a clue as to who they were talking about, he couldn't help but feel impressed... and a bit scared at once. If everyone remembered this performer from a single appearance, it means he must've been very good.

But if he never showed up again since then... What happened to him? Could it mean the rumors I've heard have some truth to them? Well, no time to dwell on that. I've spent weeks trying to escape and getting here, just for this moment. No way I'm turning back now!

"So, Kelso, what did you have in mind for us, bro?" Kelso was pulled from his train of thought by Nico's question, and provided an answer.

"Whatever you feel like. In fact, you've been giving your best tonight, so how about you bring out the big guns?"

"Ah, wanna spice things up, huh? Cool, cool, we gotcha. 'Ey DJ, turn it up!"

As soon as the words left Nico's beak, another song sprang to life, the bass reverberating throughout the cave. As soon as the beat kicked in and the music sprang to life, Nico and Pedro kicked things off by pulling off a complicated routine. At least, complicated for the average performer; something Kelso was not. He flawlessly mimicked the duo's moves, and even turned it up a notch, giving them a run for their money. The crowd was cheering in Kelso's favor.

"Heyhey, this bird got moves!" Pedro commented. "Try this one on for size..."

Next, Nico and Pedro showcased a move only the intermediate dancer could perform; anyone less than that surely would've fallen flat on his or her face. It still didn't impress Kelso, as he took their move, dusted it off and did it better than the party twins could imagine, further enticing the crowd.

Shelly, in all her excitement, had wrapped her wings around Nate while jumping up and down, cheering for her brother. His weird look, plus the awkward realization of what she just did, made her quickly release him.

Nico and Pedro were getting uneasy, and huddled together.

"Dawg, this isn't good. We're losing this."

"I know, bro. What do you think we should do?"

"Only one thing we can do, man... Da Bomb."

"Da- You can't be serious! We haven't done it right a single time yet!"

"What choice do we have, bird? This 'rainbow-flash' guy here is kicking our feathered butts. If we don't do this, and get it right, it's exit stage right for us."

While Nico tried to think Pedro's plan over, the music kept going, and was getting dangerously close to its conclusion. The crowd kept their gaze on the duo, cheering while waiting for them to break out a bunch of moves that would send Kelso home crying. Kelso himself just tapped his claws and bobbed his head to the rhythm blasting from the speakers. Ultimately, Nico gave in.

"A'ight, we'll do it. I hope this works..."

"Me too, pal."

They jumped right into it. Swinging their wings and talons from left to right, up and down, back and forth, while keeping in sync with each other and the music, it seemed like their luck was make a turn for the better. Until their finale came up.

Pedro pretended to slap Nico, making the canary spin around and end up with his back turned to Pedro. The cardinal then proceeded to grab Nico's tail feathers, and gave them a make-believe yank. This was the cue for Nico to perform a back flip. However, Nico, still dizzy from spinning around, miscalculated his jump, and landed flat on his back before his claws were able to make contact with the ground first. He got the air knocked right out of his lungs, leaving him gasping for air, so the option of playing it off as an intended move was out of the question.

As Pedro came rushing to his friend's aid, the music kept going. Kelso wasn't sure if he was to continue, or stop and see if Nico was alright. Before he could make a decision, the tarp covering the area behind the stage made way for a certain Military Macaw to appear.

"Hold the phone, hold your horses, hold whatever you feel like holding! We have a new King of Carnival!" Donato exclaimed.

Before Kelso was well aware of what just happened, Donato seized his left wing and held it up in the air.

"Give it up for Kelso!"

The whole club erupted in cheers, a smile as wide as a smile appearing on Kelso's face. Shelly clambered her way onto the stage, throwing herself around her brother. Nico and Pedro, the former back on his talons and increasingly recovering his breath, also came up the Camelot Macaw and congratulated him.

"Well bird, you won, fair and square. Gotta hand it to ya, you've shown us a thing or two," Pedro said.

"For sure," Nico wheezed. "Don't mean *cough* we're out of the picture, though. *cough* Not to rain on your parade, but we always make our *cough* comeback."

"Thanks, guys, that's really big of you. As for that comeback: I'll be glad to accept your challenge next month."

"Oh, don'tcha worry, we'll be there. You got us now, but we'll bust our butts to take that spot back. You can bet your rainbow feathers on that."

"Yeah, I've heard you did that. So I'll do my best to prevent that from happening," Kelso said with a wink.

"Well, we're gonna skedaddle. Gotta practice! You really know your stuff, Kel, and we gotta pop some new moves."

"You do that, fellas. I'll be waiting for you, and I'll be ready!"

And as Nico and Pedro said their goodbyes to the crowd and filed out of the club, Kelso and Shelly mingled in the crowd until closing time, taking in all the praise and congratulations wherever they went.

Word spread fast about the new King of Carnival. Everywhere he went, the victorious Camelot Macaw was quickly recognized, the coloration of his plumage being the prime reason. Kelso made an appearance at least two times a week at the club where he reaped his new-found glory, making each performance just that little bit better than the previous.

Shelly accompanied him every time, but each time she did, it was with declining enthusiasm. She loved her brother dearly, but due to the constant praise and female attention he was receiving, he payed her less and her less attention.

One particular night, three weeks after Kelso emerged victorious, he intended to visit the club once again. Birds happening to pass by their hollow turned their heads in its direction, hearing the shouts coming from within.

"I said I don't want to come, and that's final!"

"But why not?" Kelso shouted. "You always have a great time, and now all of a sudden, you're done?"

"I'm not done! I'll always be there for you, Kelso, but you drag me down to that damn club time and time again, and every time we go, you pay less attention to me and more to your 'fans' who push me out the way just so they can hang around you. The only time you care to pull me by your side is when Donato comes over to talk to me. I'm not supposed to bow to your every whim. Enough is enough! I'm going somewhere on my own tonight, and that's that!"

Kelso was seething. All this time, his sister had been there for him. They escaped together, faces lethal perils together while making their way to the Brazilian metropolis, and by winning the most prestigious title available in this community in seemingly no time at all, he secured a carefree life for the both of them, convinced that Nico and Pedro would never be able to take it back. And even if they did, he was sure to try his damnedest to reverse that. Her support was, and always will be, invaluable.

And now, she behaved like this. Ungrateful. Invalidating. After everything that had happened, she was turning his back on him. And it infuriated him.

"Fine! Be that way. I'm just trying to protect you and make our lives better, but apparently that's not good enough for you. So go ahead. Go out and have fun. Don't come crying to me when your pulling your feathers while growing a heap of bastard eggs."

Shelly's eyes widened, taken aback by his words. She never heard her brother talk to anyone like this, let alone her. She slowly started backing off in the direction of the hollow's entrance.

"What happened to you?" she said in a hushed, worried tone. "This isn't you. This is not my big brother. All this fame has gone to your head, Kelso. You have to snap out of it." She came to the rim of the entrance. "You're scaring me."

"To my head, huh? Just because I'm good at something? Don't worry, dear sis, I'm still the same. It's YOU that's changed. You're just jealous how I'm famous and you're not!" Kelso's head snapped up, a lightbulb in his head flicking on, and started to slowly advance on her. "Oh... I get it. That's what you want, isn't it? You're so sick of being in my shadow, you want me to feel guilty so I'd quit. Well no dice, missy! I saw straight through your little scheme. Nice try!"

Shelly's eyes started to tear up, gazing as best as she could at the paranoid monster her brother had become. She turned, flapped her wings, and took to the sky to get as far away from him as possible. She didn't know where she was going or wanted to go, as long as it wasn't here. As small tears worked their way out of her eyes, only to begin their one-way voyage to the earth below, she heard his voice calling after her, giving her more incentive to get away.

"And don't you dare come back here until you've redeemed yourself!"

Shelly landed in the first tree she could find, as soon as she felt comfortable enough putting sufficient distance between her and her now former home. She sobbed as she tried to look at the city below, illuminated by millions of lights coming from the buildings and shining down the streets. She never really wanted to come here in the first place. Her brother was the only reason for her to do so, and now he had spat her out because she wanted to live her own life.

She contemplated of heading back to the States, but quickly decided against it. They barely survived coming down here together; to perform the trip alone, was a sure way to get herself killed. Plus, despite the way he had just treated her, he was still her brother. Abandoning her only sibling wouldn't sit well with her, to say the least.

She wondered if Kelso was thinking the same right now. He had never treated her like this, and she hoped it was a simple burst of rage getting the best of him. Still, best to give him some distance for now. She'd probably have to give him some time to settle down, and gauge his reaction upon her return.

"Shelly? Is that you?"

Slightly jumping at the sound of a voice from behind her, she turned to see Donato landing on the same branch she was sitting on. He immediately noticed her predicament.

"Hey, what's wrong? Everything okay?"

"I'm fine," she lied, gulping down the last few sobs lingering in her system. "What are you doing here? What about your club?"

"I'm taking the night off for a change. But, Shelly, you're not fine. It's far too obvious something is bothering you. Come on, you can tell me..."

Composing herself with a final sniff, she turned back to gaze into the darkened sky above.

"Kelso and I just had a big fight. He wanted to come down to your club again, with me in his wake. But I didn't feel like it, wanted to do something else. And when I told him that, he just snapped. Said I wasn't being supportive anymore, and even went so far as to think I wanted him to give up his position. I've never seen him so angry, I just ran." She let her head droop, and closed her eyes. "He also said I shouldn't come back. Not until I 'redeemed' myself."

"Wow... that's... heavy," Donato said. "I honestly had no idea Kelso was capable of such a thing."

"Neither did I. I was afraid he'd actually hurt me, but he was so furious, I didn't stick around to find out." She lifted her head to make eye contact with Donato. "I don't know what to do."

Donato was lost in thought for a few seconds before replying.

"You know... And don't get me wrong, I don't want to come off imposing. But if you want to, you could stay with me. My place is big enough. As for Kelso... I could have a word with him."

This suggestion was enough to get Shelly perked up.

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Of course! I don't see why not. You guys are my friends, after all, and I don't want to see you two arguing."

"Oh, thank y-" Shelly cut herself off as she was hurling herself at Donato to embrace him, but stopped herself before she could. "Wait. What's the catch?"

"No catch, honestly!"

She leered at him.

"Okay, fine. I was kind of hoping to, uh... get to know you better. I tried to do so every time you were at the club, but Kelso pulled you away each time before I could."

"Yeah, that's the only time he could be bothered to look my way..." Shelly muttered under her breath, and proceeded in a normal tone. "So... you mean like a date?"

Donato uncomfortably shifted around a bit. "Yeah..."

Shelly just inched closer, grabbing his wings with her own. "I'd love to."

Donato's face lit up like the lights in a Christmas tree being turned on. "Really? Uh, I mean, great! Uh, when would you like to go?"

"Well... I'm not doing anything tonight," she said bluntly.

"Hey there, Kelso! Man, what's with the long face? And where's Shelly?"

A disgruntled Kelso landed on a branch, mothering a tree sitting relatively close to the club's entrance. This was the normal spot for Kelso, Shelly and Nate to meet each other before heading in. Looking forward to tonight, Nate didn't bother to put two and two together, and his cheery disposition was quelled rather quickly after Kelso opened his beak.

"DON'T say that name. She and I aren't quite best of friends right now..."

Nate scowled. "Huh? What happened then?"

"I'd rather not talk about it tonight. Let's just say she wasn't as supportive as I thought she was."

"Oh, uh, okay. Still think you'll be able to have fun, though?"

"Hah, sure. In fact, without her around, I don't need to worry about her chatting things with that Donato character. One carefree evening, coming up!"

The following hours were the same as always the instant the duo of friends made their way inside. Kelso appears, heads turn his way, and he instantly gets bombarded with praise, cheers and not least of all, female attention.

As soon as he climbed on stage, he clamored the attention of every bird present, as usual. All of them rushed up as close to the stage as they could get, just to admire him.

All birds... but one.

His eyes fell on a single macaw staying firmly seated at one of the tables, not even bothering to look his way. From afar, he could tell it was a female and wore light blue plumage, but he needed to get closer to discern any distinct features or details.

In his mind, he huffed at her. He could understand the waiters and other employees not joining the buzz, but who was this macaw to stay put, possibly even ignoring him?

Haphazardly finishing up his act, he got down from the stage, and made his way over to Nate.

"Nice job, man! I love how you just keep blowing everyone away."

"Yeah, everyone except her," Kelso replied irksomely. Nate followed the direction of Kelso's wing, which was pointing at the solitary macaw, and narrowed his eyes to peer at her.

"Hey, I think I know that girl. She was there when Nico and Pedro's previous favorite spot got sacked by a bunch of monkeys. She was chained to another bird, one that looked like a guy-version of her, and the monkeys were there to get them. Dunno why, though. Anyway, things quickly turned more hairy than the monkeys, and a massive fight broke out which left the club in pieces afterwards. That's when Nico and Pedro relocated here."

"Uh huh. So what does that have to do with her?" Kelso asked impatiently, not looking for a history lesson.

"I'm just saying. Anyway, that's the last I've seen of them since. Seeing her here on her own, I guess things didn't work out between her and the other guy." A certain thought crossed Nate's mind. "Hey, maybe she's single. Why don't you talk to her and see if you've got a shot?"

"Why bother? She's not paying attention to me, so she's not worth my time." He turned around to look at a group of females behind him, who started giggling as he did. "I got plenty of chicks to choose from."

Nate gave him a slight nudge. "Ah, but that's the challenge, isn't it? Sure, you've got plenty of choice. But where's the fun in that? Just one look from you and they melt like butter in an oven. Nah, wouldn't it be a lot more worthwhile if your target was hard-to-get?"

Kelso weighed his options. She did look rather dashing – from afar, at least. And he, of all birds, was always up for a challenge.

"Alright, you're on. Watch and learn..." Accepting Nate's challenge, he strode over to the solitary ocean-tinted macaw.

The closer he got, the more features he was able to discern. She was indeed beautiful, her sleek form covered in feathers the color of a summer sky. Her eyes reminded Kelso so vividly of the ocean, he might actually drown if he stared in them for too long.

Kelso shook his head slightly to clear his mind. He wasn't there to admire her, but to give her a piece of his mind.

"Hey, excuse me, lady-"

"Not interested, go away," she deadpanned him, still not bothering to look his way.

"Huh?"

She finally turned to look at him. "I said: not interested, go away," she repeated, her tone sharp and downcast.

Kelso switched to defensive mode. "Hey, simmer down, querida. I'm not here to hit on you, so don't flatter yourself," he lied. The female macaw instantly jumped up from her seat, her eyes flaring with anger. "Who are you to tell me what to do? Are you the local jerk or something?" As fast as that fire ignited, it extinguished, and she reclaimed her seat.

She shook her head and sighed. "Ugh... sorry. Life hasn't been easy for me this week, and the last thing I need is some random male taking a swing at me. No offense."

"None taken... I suppose. I was just on stage, and noticed you sitting here all by yourself. It kinda stood out, seeing as everyone always tries to get as close to me as possible, and with good reason," he boasted.

"Oh? What makes you so special then? Apart from your feathers."

Kelso motioned at the empty chair directly across from her, silently asking if he could sit down, to which she nodded.

Doing so, he continued: "Well, I don't know if you've heard, but my name is Kelso. Almost a month ago, I came from the United States to Rio to take over the title of King of Carnival, and that's what I did."

The female macaw looked up at him. "Oh, so you're the one who shoved aside Nico and Pedro?"

"Well, if you put it that way, then yes! You know them?"

"Yeah. We've been good friends for a few years now," she replied. "My name is Jewel."

"Nice to meet you," he said smoothly.

"Same here. So, you're from the States, huh? My mate is from there as well."

"Oh... you have a mate?" Kelso asked, disappointed. Jewel raised a brow at him, wondering whether or not he was here to hit on her after all.

Nonetheless, she added, "Yeah. He's outside right now."

Since his chances at hooking up with her were ruined, he maintained his mask of compassion. "So, uh, what brings you to this club anyway? You don't look like you're having much fun."

"I'm spending time here to try and ease the pain of my daughter's anniversary. It's today."

Before a confused Kelso could ask her to clarify, a navy macaw approached from the right side of the club. The depressed-looking male took a seat next to Jewel and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

Jewel caught Kelso eyeing him and cleared her throat. "Kelso, this is Blu, my mate. Blu, this is Kelso. He's the new King of Carnaval."

"Hey," Blu greeted rather flatly. "Congratulations for the win. I used to be the King, but I stopped dancing after Isabella..." He blinked and let his sentence trail off.

Noting his apprehension, Kelso asked, "Um, who's Isabella?" He faced Jewel specifically and added, "What were you saying about her anniversary?"

Blu raised his head, and gave Kelso a pained stare. "Isabella was our daughter. She was, because she… she died today, five years ago."

Kelso's eyes widened. "Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you want to talk about it? I'm a great listener."

Tears formed in both macaws' eyes. "No. I'd rather not," Jewel replied sullenly.

"Alright then. So, why are you two here? Seeing you all glum in the middle of a crazy club is kind of… odd."

"That may be true, but it helps lift our spirits slightly," Blu said dejectedly. "She loved visiting this place herself, and even though she's gone, coming here and seeing others so enthusiastic proves that life is still worth living."

Kelso nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"She was… something else. A daughter we could be proud of," Blu mumbled.

Growing rather eager to change the subject, Kelso formed a question in his beak. Before he was able to spout it, however, an excited shout streamed into his ears from behind.

"Hey, Kel! What's up?" He turned around in his seat, seeing Nate hopping in his direction. The two-tone macaw plunked down on his right and gave him a friendly slap on the back.

"What do you want?" Jewel asked harshly. Nate turned to her and gave her an ugly stare, one that made Kelso uneasy.

"To talk to my friend here without interruptions. Is that too much to ask?"

"Yes. Because every time I see you, I remember who was responsible for getting Isabella killed." "You are eternally not welcome in our presence, so get lost," Blu said darkly.

"Hey, I've been apologizing for five straight years, alright? What else do you want me to do?"

Blu cut in and growled, "How about you fly in front of a truck, and have your buddies brush it off as an 'accident?' "

Kelso eyed Nate exasperatedly, shocked that the gentle macaw was the reason for Blu and Jewel's sorrow.

"Why, Nate?"

"You know what, if all everyone's going to do is play the blame game, then I'm outta here." The angered macaw faced his friend and asked, "You wanna chat somewhere else?"

Kelso put on a sheepish expression. "I kind of want to get to know them better. Can we talk later?"

Nate grumbled, but said, "Fine. But don't skip out on me." With that, Nate left his chair and walked away, losing himself in the crowd.

Kelso met the cold gazes of the macaw couple, but they softened noticeably.

"Wow, that was… unexpected. I'm not one to attract trouble, but-"

"No, don't beat yourself up. We never told you the details," Blu said sternly.

"So... how do you know Nate? I'm guessing you don't get along."

"We weren't the best of friends from the start, but we cut him off completely when we found out what happened to her," Jewel said. "Even though he claims high and low it wasn't on purpose, we are certain he led Isabella to her death. There've been enough witnesses who saw what happened, and all of them said the same thing. It's his fault. Period."

"Right," Blu continued. "No matter what he says, we'll never forgive him. I'd watch my tail if I were you. He's a liar, and he's bad news."

"Well..." Kelso turned to the crowd. Nate was nowhere in sight, having been consumed by the throng of birds populating the dancefloor – or maybe not even in the club, for all he knew. "Nate's been good to me so far. I couldn't honestly see him as a threat." He turned his head back to the couple. "But yeah, I can understand why you wouldn't trust him with anyone else." "Maybe, but you'll never understand how much grief he's caused us, and for how long. A part of us died when she died, and that's something that will never heal," Blu said demurely. Jewel stared at the tabletop, her wordless anguish speaking silent volumes about her heartbreak. Nate was silent for a short while, preventing himself from uttering another response.

He got up from his seat. "Listen, it's been nice talking, but I think I'll leave you alone. You've obviously got other issues on your mind right now, and I'm not really helping. For what it's worth: have a nice evening."

"See you around, Kelso," Blu mumbled, while Jewel merely nodded, and proceeded to rest her head against Blu's chest. Blu comfortingly wrapped his wing around her, and rested his cheek on top of her head, memories of their daughter consuming their train of thought once again. "Blu, I miss her so much. I would do anything… to bring her back," Jewel said, sniffling. "So would I, Jewel. If only I could exchange Nate's soul for hers…" "If that was possible, I'd kill him in a heartbeat…" Jewel replied, sniffling again.

Kelso wasn't sure what to do, or even think, next. As he mingled with the crowd, looking for Nate, he was often halted by a few other clubbers, seizing the opportunity to try and talk to him, if only for a moment. Trying not to be too abrupt with his fans, he obliged them, but cut the conversations short in order to resume the search for his friend.

Ultimately, Kelso spotted Nate coming back in from the entrance. It seemed that he had left the club, but came back in. Looking out, Kelso could see the vague shape of a bird flying away.

"Hey Nate, I've been looking all over for you. Who was that?"

"That? Uh, nobody you know. Just an old friend of mine. Anyways, what did you want me for?"

Reverting his sight from the oddly familiar bird heading away from the club back to his buddy, he said: "I'm calling it a night for now. That talk with those two macaws in there got me thinking, and-"

"Oh no, dude," Nate deadpanned him, the tone in his voice betraying irritation. "Let me guess. They told you I'm responsible for the death of their girl, right? And you believe them, right? Well, screw you too! I'm not gonna stand here and listen to that shit any longer. Have a good night, 'Your Highness.' "

"No, wait!" Kelso shouted as Nate turned and took off. "I was gonna say-"

"Whatever!" Nate called back as he flew away.

Kelso looked at his friend, dumbfounded, as he put more and more distance in between them.

"I wanted to fix things with Shelly..."

"There you are! What took you so long?"

"Sorry, Donato. A lot of things on my mind."

Kelso's first Challenge Night as reigning King of Carnival was tonight. In light of recent events, he'd been preoccupied with other pressing matters: chasing away his sister, and looking for Nate to work things out after their little fight. Yet he found neither of them, and he slept uneasy for the past few nights, thinking of things to say should he ever encounter both of them.

"Well, you gotta let them go for a while. Challenge Night is going to begin soon, and you'll need to focus if you want to keep your title."

"Yeah, I know that. Hey, have you seen Shelly? I've been wanting to talk to her for a while... say I'm sorry."

"Oh. Yeah, I've seen her, she's staying at my place ever since... well, since you kicked her out."

Kelso glared at the club owner, and narrowed his eyes.

"Don't worry, I haven't done anything to her, or with her, if that's why you're putting on that face. In fact, I've been wanting to talk to you about her. But since you just said you wanted to apologize, I guess I won't have to."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I promised Shelly I'd have a word with you about the situation you two were in. But apparently, you've already worked it out for yourself."

"Yeah. I met a couple of macaws in here a few nights ago. They were here to celebrate the anniversary of their daughter's death, who was a regular here. Talking to them made me realize how feeble life is, and frankly, how stupid I acted to her."

Donato smiled. "She'll be glad to hear that. Tell you what. In a few moments, I'll announce Challenge Night, and once you start doing your thing, I'll head home and fetch Shelly, so you can talk after the competition is over. That okay?"

Kelso smiled lightly. Things finally started to take a turn for the better, it seemed.

"Yeah. Looking forward to that." He turned his head sideways, and lowered his volume, talking more to himself rather that anyone else. "Now if only could fix things with Nate..."

He turned his head back. "Donato?"

"'Sup?"

"Thank you. For taking care of Shelly, that is. I'm sorry I had my doubts about you."

"Don't worry about it, man. We all make mistakes. Anyway, you better get ready soon. I'll start the compo in a few minutes."

"Sure thing!" Kelso said as he made his way to the bar, intending to get himself a drink. Since it was that one time of the month where the stronger stuff was brought out, even though it was still weak, he'd never gotten a taste of it before, so he figured he might as well give it a go.

Big was his surprise when he spotted a familiar Blue-and-Gold Macaw sitting at the bar.

"Nate?"

The macaw turned around. "Kelso?"

"Listen, man. Before you say anything, I just want to you to know I don't blame you for the death of that girl. I wasn't there, so don't know what happened exactly, but from the sound of it, it seemed like an accident, which wasn't your fault. Also, when you took off, I was going to say to you that I wanted to apologize to Shelly. I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea..."

Nate waved his wing in front of him, signaling for Kelso to stop.

"Kelso, if anyone needs to apologize, it's me. I jumped to conclusions way beforehand, and I was completely out of line. Because of the way Blu and Jewel were treating me, even though I apologized time and time again, I was pissed and wasn't thinking straight. And I kinda jumped your tail back then. I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Kelso beamed. Not only did he patch things up with Donato, and was about to do the same with his sister, now the fractured relationship with his best friend was as good as mended.

"Of course, man. You needn't even ask. No hard feelings whatsoever." He curled up his right wing and held it out. Nate mimicked his action, bumping their wings together.

"Man, you don't know how relieved I am to hear that. Here, have a drink on me, and put this nasty business behind us. Sound good?"

"Sure thing, dude."

Nate pushed the filled glass in front of him towards the Camelot Macaw, which the latter eyed quizzically. It wasn't water; this drink had an odd coloration to it.

"Is this one of those whatchamacallits?"

"Alco-pops, yeah. This is the supposed stronger stuff which they bring out only on Challenge Night. Go ahead, it's pretty good. But not too much, you still got to perform!"

Glancing behind him after hearing an uproar in the audience, Kelso noticed Donato emerging from the tarp draped at the back of the stage, mere seconds away from starting Challenge Night. Rapidly, Kelso grabbed the glass and gulped it down in one swig, quickly regretting that action. His face contracted as the alcohol, weak as it was, burned through his throat, since it was the very first time he tasted anything like it. Still, it wasn't all that bad. No way would this affect his performance in the slightest.

"... your King of Carnival, Kelso!"

Kelso quickly turned to Nate as the crowd roared. "Thanks for the drink, man. Wish me luck!"

"Break a leg!" Nate slapped him on the back, after which Kelso made his way through the crowd, and climbed up the stage. He was much too far away to hear Nate add, "... with any luck, you will."

Just Nico and Pedro did one month before, Kelso addressed the crowd and took on several challengers, each of them figuratively knocked off stage easily by Kelso's expertise. Until it looked like there were no challengers left that were willing to take him on.

Not really a bad thing, really. I'm starting to feel a little woozy. Must be that drink getting to me... or maybe I'm just getting tired...

Just as Kelso figured there were no more challengers left, two tiny wings shot up, barely noticeable in the crowd that consisted mostly out of macaws and owls. It didn't take him long to figure out the owners of those wings.

"Look at that, it's Nico and Pedro! Come on up, fellas. Round of applause, everybody! Show them some support!"

But not too much, Kelso thought as the canary and cardinal clambered onto stage, the crowd cheering loudly as they did. Perhaps a little bit too loud, because it actually hurt Kelso's ears. He brushed it off as another sign of fatigue, even though it never occurred before, but thought nothing of it.

"Well, well. Back for more, fellas?"

"You betcha," Pedro said, "and we even got a deal for you, home-bird."

"Really?" Kelso inquired. "And what kind of deal would that be?" He shook his head, feeling the increasing wooziness creep up on him. It did little to dissipate any of it, though.

"Yeah, a big bad bet." Nico added, and elaborated next. "If you win this one, Challenge Night is history. We arranged with Donato that we'd be working here for free as background dancers, if that's the case."

Kelso smirked. This is rich. Background dancers, and me as King of Carnival, forever? That's a no-brainer.

"But if you lose..." Pedro continued, "you have to leave town forever." The crowd oohed.

Kelso's beak dropped open lightly. Now he wasn't so sure about the 'no-brainer' part. If he didn't take this bet, he might lose some face for chickening out. Even more so if he lost, unlikely as that would seem, but at least he'd still get the chance to challenge them back in that case.

However, the idea of Nico and Pedro spending the last of their dancing days in his shadow was very appealing, demeaning in a way. Plus, if he won, he'd never have to worry about losing his title again, until he would have to pass it on once he got too old to perform.

The winning outcomes outweighed the losing ones in his mind. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

"Alright, you're on."

A large part of the crowd cheered, while the smaller part threw around murmurs and worried glances. This happened before every time Nico and Pedro re-challenged their adversary, and now it looked like history was about to repeat itself once again. Not that they didn't have faith in Kelso's ability, but still.

Unbeknownst to him, Shelly had just entered the club, followed by Donato. Both of them quickly joined the throng of birds gazing at the events going on on stage. Noticing the worried looks on some of the faces, she asked a random audience member what was going on, whom brought her up to speed. Shelly was part of the worried crowd.

"Haha, bird's got guts! I can't wait to see 'em!" Nico said, winking at Kelso. It made the Camelot Macaw a little uneasy. And this damn queasiness isn't helping one damn bit! What have I gotten myself into...

Shrugging it off as best as he could, he turned to the DJ booth. Perhaps a little too fast, because even though he knew perfectly where it was due to the time he'd spend in the club, he completely overshot it. Signaling to the Scarlet Macaw behind the controls, music started playing, which took Kelso a good few seconds to identify as LMFAO's 'Party Rock Anthem'.

Hah, shuffling, great! Not even this wooziness can... whoa...

His head felt light for a second. Even the music got muted out for the same amount of time before his senses restored themselves. Slapping himself lightly, he fought away the weariness, focused fully on the task at hand, and jumped right into it.

Place claws forward. Slide back. Place other claws forward. Slide those back. Repeat.

Why was this so easy? So monotone? So... boring? Kelso couldn't figure it out. Worse, he felt incapable of doing anything other than the same move over, and over, and over... and over.

Whereas Nico and Pedro took those moves, and added in knees, separate directional swings, and even their wings – no, their whole bodies into the mix.

The reaction of the crowd confirmed Kelso's suspicions of what was happening. He was losing. Hard.

A loud bass pound. Every day I'm shuffling.

The song was over.

Kelso lost.

While Nico and Pedro relished in their restored stature as Kings of Carnival, Kelso clambered down the stage in disbelief. His world was shattered, his dreams broken into a billion pieces, like a piece of fine porcelain dropped from the top of a skyscraper. The crowd made way for him as he apathetically moved towards the bar. He reached the rim of the crowd of clubbers, only to find a particular macaw not budging out of his way: his sister, tears filling her eyes.

"Oh, Kelso..."

Kelso looked up at his sister, and then quickly turned away with eyes closed, his own eyes watering up as well. Shelly dashed forward, and forcefully wrapped her wings around her brother. To her relief, she felt him doing the same to her, slightly sobbing as he did.

"Shelly... I'm sorry..." he croaked.

"It's alright. We'll... we'll figure something out..."

Kelso lifted his head to look at her properly, despair across his face. The emotions raining over him in torrents even blocked out his queasiness for the time being.

"No, Shelly... it's over for me. I'm... I'm out of the picture, forever." He drew in breath. "And I can't ask you to leave town as well. I heard how Donato took you in, and looked after you, after I... well... snapped. And only now I can tell he's got your best interests at heart. I can't take that away from you. I love you too much for that."

"Kelso..."

"No, Shelly. I'll be leaving Rio de Janeiro forever. That was the bet. A stupid bet to take, in hindsight, but nothing I can fix now. I'm sorry. I... I..."

Kelso started feeling weak again, and slumped a little in his sister's wings.

"Kelso!" she exclaimed. "What's wrong? Quick, sit down!"

Out of nowhere, Donato came up behind Kelso, and assisted Shelly with supporting her brother.

"Easy now, Kelso," he said, "that's it. Nice and slow. Here, sit down. Let me get you some water. No more liquor for you tonight."

As soon as Kelso plunked down on a stool, Donato released him, and moved towards the bar. He quickly returned with a glass filled to the brim with water, which was oddly enough fizzling.

"What's that?" Shelly inquired.

"I added some human aspirin in there. Don't worry, I only gave it a few scratches, so there's not too much in there. Here, Kel, this'll make you feel better, I promise."

Shaking, Kelso seized the glass, and brought it to his beak, spilling some as he did. Tilting his head back to gulp down the water, he lost his balance and threatened to fall backwards, if not for Shelly and Donato's reflexes, and supported his back before he did.

Human aspirin tasted foul, but it seemingly did the job. He was still feeling weak, but recovered enough to compose himself.

"Ugh... my head. Why am I feeling this way? I don't recall eating or drinking anything wrong... Except..."

Straining to lift his head, he looked around to see if he could spot Nate. It might very well have been his first taste of alcohol that messed him up, but even then, the Blue-and-Gold Macaw might have some answers for him. From the looks of it though, Nate was nowhere to be seen, and Kelso grew suspicious. No way a real friend would ditch another in time of need.

"Where's Nate?" he asked. "I think he might have spiked my drink, so I would lose."

"Nate? Kelso, really. He's your best friend. Why would he do such a thing for you? Maybe he just went outside to get some fresh air. Speaking of which, that's something you should be getting too. Come on, let's go home." Shelly's tone grew sadder. "Let's spend one more night together... before you're going away."

"Yeah… let's," Kelso replied.

"Are you strong enough to fly?" Donato asked. "If you want, I'll support you."

"Much appreciated, Donato. Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Come on, let's get you up..."

After waddling their way to the entrance, the cool night air struck Kelso in the face, ruffling him awake and restoring his senses enough to regain the ability to fly. There still was some interference between his brain and his appendages though, causing Donato to quickly grab him from above in order to steady his flight, whenever he needed it.

After taking twice as long to reach the hollow that Kelso and Shelly called home – at least, this one last time – Donato helped making sure Kelso was safe and sound inside the hollow proper before he took his leave.

Glancing around the hollow for the last time, Kelso made his way over to the corner of the hollow, where two decent-sized cups stood, filled to the brim with crystal clear water, one for each macaw. Taking the cup in his claws, Kelso lifted it up to his beak, and downed it all in one go.

His diminished senses didn't register it right away, but this water tasted different than usual. Smacking his beak, he tried to recall where he tasted this before. In the meantime, Shelly proceeded to wholly drink her cup as well, figuring she'd bother refilling it first thing in the morning.

Kelso's eyes shot open as he suddenly identified the taste from the water, now churning in his stomach.

Oh no... "Shelly, wait, don't drink that!"

He turned to Shelly as he let out his warning, but it was too late. His sister had just set the cup down, emptied to the very last drop.

Immediately, the feelings of wooziness returned full force. Despite the flavor from before, Kelso now recognized the taste in the water they just drank as the same one he drank at the club, only this time, it was far stronger than before. Shelly couldn't even finish her sentence when she voiced her concern.

"Why not? There's nothing wrong with... whoa... huh... Kelso? I feel… I…"

Shelly passed out on the spot as she fell backwards, wings splayed out and beak agape.

Kelso rushed over, but the foul whatever-it-was caused him to trip and land inches away from his sister. The sight of her reclined on the floor was the last thing he saw as his world turned to black as well...

Peeking into the hollow from the outside, a macaw's voice was audible, oblivious to the knocked-out Camelot Macaws.

"Good, they're both out. Time to grab them and gather the rest."

========================================
And so it begins. To skip this part, press CTRL + F, and type "skipgoreplease".
========================================

Kelso strained to open his eyes. They may have well stayed shut, for there was nothing but utter darkness all around him.

Ugh... What happened? He asked himself, his consciousness slowly recovering. He could hear the faint sound of a waterfall cascading somewhere, the noise of the falling water reverberating throughout the alien room he found himself in. The more his audible senses recovered, so did his nervous system: every waking second, he felt his head throb ever so slightly harder. He lifted his wing to rub against it... only to find it impossible to move.

Jerking his head to his right wing, he saw that it was firmly strapped against an upwards reclined metal table, just like his left wing. Trying to lift his head and feet, he discovered those limbs were in the same predicament as his wings.

"Wh-what's going on here?" his voice croaked. "Let me out of here! Hello? Anyone there?"

"Oh good, you're up."

A tiny match was lit a ways in front of him, and was brought to the top of a candle, doing little to illuminate the room, yet enough to see it stood on, to bird standards, a long table. The match danced around to other corners sides of the room, igniting more candles as it did, and ran out of wood to burn up just after reaching the last one. The room was still far from being fully illuminated, but enough to discern its contents.

Kelso found himself in a cave, sunlight barely making it past the entrance, far from his point of view. Directly to his left was a smaller table, which was covered with a white, smudged cloth, while a few feet in front of him, a wooden table, on which the first-lit candle stood, was set up as if there was a banquet going on: nuts and fruits in bowls, plates, glasses, even dip for flavoring. It would've been a soothing sight to behold if he wasn't strapped in against the metal slab he found himself on, and if the table itself wasn't surrounded by five eerie, ominous creatures clad in black robes. From under the hood of each, a macaw's beak was protruding, giving away at least that much.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen, wouldn't you say, Kelso?" the same voice from before spoke up. The owner of the voice, a creature far shorter than the table's occupants, walked in front of him. Since he wasn't dressed in any kind of clothing other than a green bottle cap on his head serving as a hat, Kelso had no trouble identifying the bird in front of him.

"Nico? What's going on here? Please let me out of this thing, I'm seriously getting freaked out here!"

"Sorry bro, no can do," Nico said with an unsettling smirk on his face. "It's time for dinner, and you're courteously invited to attend... plus one guest." He motioned to his left.

Looking to his right, Kelso saw Pedro standing there, smiling, and extended his wings as if he was saying "Tadaa!" Kelso then saw another metal slab like he one he was strapped in, only this one held his sister, who was still out cold.

Kelso's eyes went wide, and started to flail around as much as he could.

"Shelly! Wake up! Damn you two, what's the big fucking idea? This shit isn't funny!"

"Who said we were trying to make you laugh, bird?" Pedro asked with a straight face.

"And such foul language, too," Nico added. "Tsk tsk tsk... I might just have to cut out your tongue if you don't chill."

Kelso blinked at this statement. "Cut my... dude, that's messed up. Seriously."

"Oh, you don't know half of it." Smirking, Nico turned around to face the occupants of the table. "So... who's hungry?"

The Camelot Macaw saw one of the wings of each bird rise into the air, yet none of them touched any of the subsistence sitting in front of them.

"Wait... I don't get it," Kelso said. "Why aren't they touching the food on the table?"

"Oh, you silly little thing. Those are the in-betweens," Nico chuckled.

"In-betweens? In between what?"

Nico moved to Kelso's left, and pulled the tarp from the tiny table there, to reveal the items underneath.

"Why, you and Shelly, of course. Pieces of you, to be precise."

Kelso's beak dropped open dumbfoundedly as Nico's words assaulted his ears. He let his gaze drop at the contents of the tiny table, and distressed even more.

Only the table lay an array of surgical tools, pincers, nail clippers and other doodads he wasn't even sure what their purpose served. But whatever they were used for, it couldn't be good, and the way Nico casually picked up the pincers, he just knew they were about to be used... on him.

"Let's get started with some appetizers. Pedro, give us a claw, would you?"

"Aight, you got it."

Pedro came over and positioned himself at Kelso's right claws, seizing the leg they were attached to to hold it steady. Despite him vigorously flailing his toes around, Nico managed to grip a nail in between the pincers.

"Stop it! You're crazy! Whatever's gotten into you, you gotta- YAAARGH!"

Kelso shrieked in pain as Nico poured all his might into pulling at the nail, which, after some effort, disconnected itself from its host.

"Phew! One down, seven to go. Kelso, mind holding still? It's gonna be far easier for the both of us that way."

"YOU'RE CRAZY! LET ME GO!"

"... I'll take that as a 'no.' Suit yourself, brah," to which Nico went on to pull out a second nail.

The screaming reverberating throughout the cave stirred Shelly from her forced slumber. Upon hearing the bloodcurling screams, she snapped to attention and cast her sight upon Nico, assisted by Pedro, pulling out a third toenail from a macaw she knew very well.

"Kelso? HEY! Nico, Pedro, stop that at once! What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Both the canary and the cardinal turned their heads her way, the table's occupants barely glancing her way. They were too anxious for their meal to be served.

"Oh look Nico, Sleeping Beauty is up," the cardinal commented. His wings were already slightly stained with a few drops of Kelso's blood.

"Indeed she is. Evening, Shelly! You slept in. Just sit tight, we'll get to you soon."

Nico maneuvered himself to reach the final toenail on Kelso's right leg.

"Nico, why are you doing this to him? You're hurting him!" Shelly pleaded.

"What – hnng – gave it – hnng – away?" Nico asked, the final nail coming out a second after finishing his sentence, resulting in another scream from its former owner. "Phew! Halfway there. Just a moment longer everyone, we're getting there."

Needing to avert her eyes from the horror playing out in front of her, Shelly looked over in the direction Nico was looking at. There she saw the table and its occupants, and even though she quickly put two and two together, she didn't want to believe it.

"Nico, Pedro, please don't tell me you're doing what I think you're doing..."

"It probably is," Pedro said dead-serious, "but to assure your pretty little feathers, dinner is being served. If only it would cooperate, it would be so much faster..."

Biting down his tongue to hold back further screaming and whimpering, Kelso looked over at Shelly with tears in his eyes, knowing fully well that this was about to be their last day on Earth. He just had to clear his conscious before that time came around.

"Shelly... I'm sorry for the way I treated you before. You were right all along, I let it all go to my head. If only I had listened to you in the first place, then we wouldn't be- YAAAAAAARGH!"

Kelso's apology was cut short, as a new pain sent shivers, starting from his right leg, up his spine, all the way to his crown. Daring to glace down, he saw Pedro standing there, smirking, holding the nail clippers with blood streaked across it. Glancing further down, he lifted his leg as far as he could to notice one of his toes missing.

"Aw, ain't that sweet. Poor wittle Kelso is sorry for being a prick." Reclining the table back so Kelso laid in a straight horizontal line, Pedro came up to his face, appearing far more menacing than anything Kelso had ever seen.

"You oughta thought of that before you even came here, bub. What do you think happened to all the other guys that took our spot, huh? Should've listened to the rumors," to which he gently poked Kelso in the eye with the nail clippers. The macaw was just in time to close his eyelid, so no actual harm was done... yet. Pedro reclined the table back up to its previous position.

"We'll get to that eye soon enough. For now, though, our guests are craving their appetizers. So make it easy on yo'self, and don't make us repeat ourselves."

Pedro moved into position to snap off another one of Kelso nailless toes, while Nico got to work pulling the toenails on his other leg. Getting rather used to the pain now, Kelso held his tongue as hard as he could, screaming in his mind every time another part of his claws got mutilated. Tears born from pain and anguish were forming in his eyes, and streaked down his face, rolling into his spectrum-rich plumage.

Pushing through the pain, Kelso thought of Pedro's earlier statement. He did hear from Nate, and later from Donato, that other birds who took Nico and Pedro's title were never heard from again after the duo took their spot back.

"I-I thought..."

"Hmm?" the cardinal and canary both hummed, looking up at their victim.

"I-I thought the other birds who beat you just left town... Like I was supposed to..."

The duo gave a hearty chuckle, and Nico spoke. "Nope! That was just a trick so nobody would wonder why they disappeared. They all went through the same problem you're having right now. Didn't listen to reason, either."

Snapping off the final toe on Kelso's right leg, leaving behind only a bloody stump, Pedro moved to the left leg – its toes now nail-free – and continued talking.

"You see, Kel, we've got an arrangement with these birds here. They spread the word around something bad happens to the birds who show potential of taking our spot, such as yourself."

Pedro paused to snap off another toe. "Most of them usually listen and back off. Stubborn fools like you, however, take us on anyway, and some even win. So when next Challenge Night comes around, we make them an offer they can't refuse... Just like you couldn't."

Another toe. "We had to do some special planning for you, though. We had to find a way to spike your drink, so you'd goof up while defending the title. But..." Another toe.

That fight with Nate you had wasn't a coincidence. It was all an excuse for him having to apologize to you later, by means of sharing a drink. And guess what?"

Still biting through the pain as his final toe came off, Kelso got to thinking. So that's what that odd taste in first his drink was, besides the alcohol. And Nate just conveniently showed up and offered him that drink just as he was about to perform...

A startling realization hit him in the head as soon as he figured it out, and identified at least one of the macaws sitting at the table.

"Nate? Are you sitting there?"

"Finally! I thought he'd never figure it out," one of the cloak figures said.

One occupant of the table rose up and walked towards the unfortunate macaw. Surpringly, a second joined the first. One of them headed for Kelso, while the other made its way to Shelly.

"Didn't I tell you taking on Nico and Pedro was a bad idea?" The first macaw said, removing his hood and exposing the head of a Blue-and-Yellow Macaw underneath.

"Nate..."

"Remember the first time we met, when I told you not to play with your food? Well, I think I'll make an exception for myself this time..."

Leaning down, Nate picked up one of Kelso's dismembered toes, which had landed in a bowl placed directly underneath him. He dipped it in the small pool of blood that was forming in the same bowl from his bleeding legs, and tauntingly waved it from left to right in front of Kelso's face. He tapped the toe against his beak, saying "friend." as he did, which left a smudge of blood in its wake.

Kelso looked on in horror as his toe disappeared into Nate's beak, and happily started munching on it, careful not to swallow the bone.

"You know how they say everything tastes like chicken?" he asked, spitting out the bone on the ground and gulping down the flesh. "Not so much. Tastes more like turkey to me."

Meanwhile, the other macaw that stood up from the table and walked up to Shelly, removed his hood as well to reveal the head of a Military Macaw. Shelly's eyes instantly teared up when she recognized its owner.

"Why so glum, Shelly? Aren't you happy you'll get to be with your brother forever after tonight?"

"But... I wanted to be together forever... with you..." Shelly replied between sobs.

"Oh, my dearest. I'm afraid my heart already belongs to another." Donato turned around towards the table. "Isn't that right, love?" One of the birds seated at the table nodded. It then craned its head around and removed its hood. A Military Macaw's face emerged, her features refined enough to compete with Shelly's. Donato's mate's amber eyes speared Shelly with a domineering gaze.

"You... have a mate? But... what about all the things we did? I thought..."

"All a charade, I'm afraid. My dear mate was keeping an eye on me all the time, to make sure I didn't step out of line. She didn't need to worry, though, because she's my one and true love. After all... we share a common interest we want nobody else outside this room to know about."

Her eyes teared up further. "But... why did you help Kelso when he was close to fainting? Help him get home?"

"Convenience," he said matter-of-factly. "Dragging a passed-out macaw out of a club is far more likely to attract unwanted attention. Otherwise, Nate's efforts to drug the water in your hollow would've gone to waste."

Shelly's despair quickly warped around into anger, and spat in Donato's face, to which he barely flinched.

"Ohoho, nicely done," he taunted as he rubbed the saliva away with his sleeve. "It won't do you any good, though." He returned to his spot at the table next to his mate, not before turning to Nico and Pedro once out of Shelly's earshot and muttering: "Dibs on her heart."

Now the party duo advanced on Shelly, pincers and clippers at the ready. The macaw panicked as they did, and curled up her talons in an effort to preserve them. It worked, at least for a while: Nico couldn't reach her nails, and Pedro's clippers weren't big enough to wrap around the entire fist, or squeeze in between her claws.

"No! Please, no! Stay away!"

"Look, sista," Pedro said, "no matter how much you wail, it's gonna happen. You're not getting out of here alive, simple as that. So might as well give up now."

"NO! Forget it! I'm not gonna sit here and just let you tear me apart!"

"I'm afraid you don't have much choice, girl," Nico said. "But fine, if you wanna do this the hard way... Pedro?"

"On it, bro."

Still curling up her claws as firmly as she could, thwarting the duo's attempt to mutilate her toes, she clenched her eyes shut, not wanting to see what they had in store for her. Her eyes shot open again nonetheless as Pedro wrapped the clippers around her upper leg, seemingly intent to cut it off as a whole, and started pressing down.

Screaming in agony, Shelly uncurled her toes, and Nico quickly seized this opportunity to clasp one of her nail in his pincers. Pedro released his clippers, since they now had Shelly right where they wanted her.

Repeating the process where necessary, it didn't take too long for Shelly's state of affairs to copy her brother's. Both of them now had two stumps at the end of their legs where their toes used to be... And this was just the beginning.

Scooping up the two sets of toes in a small, empty bowl, minus the one Nate already disposed of, Nico and Pedro placed the bowl on the table, providing each macaw with at least three toes to munch on. Which they happily did, much to the continuing disgust of the macaws to which the toes once belonged to.

"Hey, Shelly," Nate said. "Just so you know: you taste great."

"Fuck... y-you..." Shelly replied between sobs.

"Uh-oh, potty mouth," Nico said. "How about we prepare the next course of tonight's dinner, bro?"

"I'll get the water."

Kelso and Shelly just looked at each other in bewilderment. "Water? What do you need water for?" the male macaw asked.

"You'll find out soon enough, bird." Pedro said as he picked up a small bucket, and stepped out of his line of sight towards the entrance. Moments later, he returned with the bucket filled to the brim with crystal clear water. Kelso figured he filled it up by holding it under the waterfall that cascaded just outside the cave's entrance.

Mortified, Shelly saw that Nico had grabbed one of the candles, and moved towards Kelso with it.

"Hey!" she shouted., catching Kelso's attention in the process. "What are you going to do with that?"

Nico just glanced her way. "Our tableguests like their wings well done."

Using a small pile of stabilized rocks as a stepladder, Pedro climbed up to Kelso's left, and poured the contents of the bucket down the side of his face, soaking his shoulder and most of the left side of his body down to his skin, then scampered away to refill the bucket. Nico had moved the bowl underneath the ill-fated macaw out the way, so the blood in it wouldn't get diluted.

"Don't worry, Kel," the canary said as he brought the candle dangerously close to the tip of Kelso's left wing. "This will only hurt a lot."

The flame made contact with the wing.

At first, Kelso hardly felt a thing, the flame doing nothing but slowly singeing his feathers. But as it expanded and fed on more feathers, so did the heat and intensity increase, while the distance to the appendage from where the feathers sprouted decreased.

As soon as Nico's intentions became clear, Kelso's eyes just kept widening further and further as his wing got ignited and the all-consuming element of nature kept expanding. The flames licked his skin hidden underneath the dissolving feathers, and Kelso screamed out in agony, the likes he never knew even existed. He wanted to flap his wing around in an effort to extinguish it so badly, but the stubborn strap holding it in place sternly prevented that.

Kelso felt like his limb was being stabbed by thousand knives at a time, the flesh being roasted as the cave filled with the stench of burning skin. The cannibal macaws just eagerly watched in glee, as their next treat was nearly ready to be consumed.

The water earlier poured over Kelso prevented the fire to spread across the rest of his body, as it now had all but consumed the entire wing. Pedro had climbed up on the rocks behind him, and poured the refilled bucket over the dying flame, leaving a scorched, featherless appendage behind.

Kelso was panting, straining to bite through the pain to the best of his abilities. It was, in a way, amazing that his body was able to take so much punishment. But he just knew it was about to suffer though much more. For Pedro had climbed down, picked up a razor-sharp surgical scalpel, and climbed up again. He placed the scalpel at the joint connecting the wing to Kelso's body, and pressed down, cutting through the semi-cooked flesh.

Some stubborn nerves still active renewed Kelso's rollercoaster of agony, causing him to groan loudly. He'd be damned if he was going to give the onlookers the satisfaction of hearing him emit any further wails of torment.

He glanced over at Shelly as Pedro kept sawing, going around the bone as he contacted it. She had closed her eyes and turned her head away, tears falling freely from her eyes. She couldn't stand seeing this happen to anyone, let alone her brother. All of their squabbles seemed so petty now when staring in the face of death, and she would gladly take it all back if it meant for them to stay alive. But they both knew that these were their final moments.

Kelso was too caught up in concern for his sister, he hadn't noticed Pedro climbing down and back up once again, and had switched the scalpel for something else.

"Sorry, bro." He said, and brought the object down on the last thing that connected Kelso's wing to his body.

Kelso couldn't help himself this time, and screamed his lungs out as Pedro crudely tried to shatter the bone with a sizable rock. It took around half a dozen hits, but the bone finally gave in and the wing disconnected, falling straight into Nico's stretched-out wings. Using the same scalpel to cut the flesh of the appendage, he first used it scrub off some burnt patches of skin, brought it to the table, and divided the wing into equal portions to serve every guest. The resulting portions were fairly small, and so the attention of the party duo was quickly directed to Kelso's other wing.

A grueling half an hour later, both Camelot Macaws had suffered through the same ordeal. Both of them now had stumps at the end of their legs where their claws used to be, and pieces of bone sticking out of their shoulders, remnants of what used to be their wings. Shelly had actually passed out after Pedro started battering on her second wing when trying to dislodge it.

The cannibal macaws all had a fair share of cooked wing, but their stomachs were far from being full. While they enjoyed bit of fruit in expectation of the next 'course', Nico and Pedro turned to the doomed macaws once more.

"Aight Kelly, we'll give you a break for a moment. We'll have a chat with Shelso now, so she can spill her guts first." Nico said.

"But... what could she possibly... have to confess... you to?" Kelso asked, breathing heavily. The torment his body had gone through so far was starting to take its toll.

Pedro facepalmed. "Oh for the love of- are you serious? Jeez Kelso, you're dumber than a sack of rocks," he said as he grabbed the scalpel again, and made his way over to Shelly. "We want her to literally spill her guts."

Kelso looked on in horror – what else could he do – as Pedro planted the scalpel right under the strap that held her neck in place, sunk it into her flesh, and glided it down to the base of where her tailfeathers sprouted. Each piercing a fishing hook on either side of the skin, Nico and Pedro pulled opposite ways, revealing Shelly's innards for the world to behold.

Kelso looked away. He couldn't stand seeing his sister like this, with her body sliced open.

I guess I should take comfort in knowing she's out cold. I couldn't imagine what she'd do if she were-

A bloodcurling scream interrupted his train of thought.

Well, shit.

Indeed, Shelly had woken up – the cool air tickling at her innards, combined with their putrid stench assaulting her nostrils enough to jar her from her pain-induced slumber. She just kept screaming and screaming as she looked down at her intestines, until Pedro had had enough of it.

Grabbing the scalpel again, he stabbed it through Shelly's lungs and punctured her heart, effectively cutting off the bloodstream to her entire body. The life-sustaining liquid just cascaded down her exposed innards, and ended up in the bowl underneath, not a single drop going to waste.

Both Kelso and Shelly were taken aback by Pedro's swift course of action, but the female Camelot Macaw couldn't contemplate on it for long, as she could feel her strength quickly leaving her. Everyone in the room knew she was mere seconds away from passing on, Kelso being the only one who cared. Using her last scraps of willpower, she lifted her head and addressed her brother one last time.

"Kelso... I... I'm sorry..." she croaked.

Her head drooped down, never to rise on its own again.

Kelso's eyes started to water up again. This time not due to the physical pain brought onto him, but because his sister – his beautiful, loving, caring sister, who would do anything for him even though he treated her like dirt in her last days, despite his apology – was gone. Forever.

"Shelly... I'm sorry too..." he whispered, and looked away again as Nico and Pedro started to cut and slice away at her innards.

As promised, Donato was served Shelly's heart, which he divided in half to share it with his mate. Nate was slurping up some of her bowels as if they were strands of spaghetti. The others, whom Kelso still didn't know who they were and frankly didn't care to find out, were being served her stomach, kidneys, liver and lungs, and other body parts he couldn't recognize off the bat.

He dared to glance at what's left of his sister, and was appalled to see Nico cutting out one of her eyes, which was already dangling outside of its socket. After severing the nerve, causing the eye to land in the bowl filled with her blood below with a sickening splash, he went to work on the other eye, which caused Kelso to look away again, and spoke up.

"I hope you all choke on my sister. And if you don't, I hope you choke on me instead!"

The table's occupants glanced his way, and chuckled among themselves.

"You're all monsters," Kelso continued, "Monsters! How did you even get started eating macaws, anyway? It's repulsive beyond belief!"

They stopped laughing. "Funny you should mention that," Nate said as he got up, and walked over to Kelso. "You see, I used to think the same."

"You know why Blu and Jewel don't like me? That's because a few years ago, I was hanging out with some friends in one of the busier streets of Rio. Among them was Isabella, Blu and Jewel's only daughter, and the last hope of their species to survive. Anyway, we were playing a game that day. We would fly across the busy street near ground level between the cars as they raced past. It was dangerous, sure, but thrilling. What's life without a little emotional rush now and then?

"I just had my turn, and a car brushed against my tailfeathers, sending me out of control as I landed on the other side of the street. I was fine, though. A little roughed up, but fine. After that, it was Isabella's turn. I flew back to the other side and urged her to give it a try. She told me she was only going to do it once, and I agreed to her offer. I assured her she'd be fine, and I enticed her to do it. So she did... but it didn't end well for her.

"I don't know how it happened, but I guess she must have miscalculated big-time. Because she got swept up by a semi, which slowed her way down. She wasn't on the other side of the street yet. She tried to fly away, pleading for us to help, but it was too late.

"When she hit the windshield of the truck coming from the opposite direction, she got ripped open. Blood and pieces of meat went flying all over the place. One small chunk of skin flew straight into my beak a few seconds after she died. Before I knew what happened, I gulped down that piece of meat without thinking. At first, I was horrified as soon as it registered what I did, but it tasted surprisingly... good. None of my other friends noticed it and I didn't let it show, of course, but I kinda liked it, and wouldn't have minded another piece.

"Since that day, I was on the lookout for more roadkill, and dragged the corpse out of sight when nobody was watching. Once safe, I nibbled on whatever scraps that still looked edible. That went fine, until I got busted one day.

"I had just dragged another victim around the corner of a building and started eating, when I heard a bird landing behind me. I was mortified: my secret was out, and it wouldn't be long before all of Rio would know it. But instead, I he asked: 'Got enough for two?' I turned around, and saw Donato standing there. Turns out, he used to do the same thing as me: look out for roadkill, secure it and chow down whatever looked safe enough to eat.

"We did that together for a while, but after almost being spotted a few times, we quickly came to realize we needed a safer place. That's when we went scouting, found this place, and we brought the corpses here. This went on for a few months, finding other birds with the same interest in the meantime, but finding roadkill became a challenge in order to provide for us all. Until Donato came up with an idea.

"His club was the hottest place in town ever since Nico and Pedro's previous favorite club got shredded. They got fed up with other birds taking their spot, having to bust their asses to take their title back, and wished any challengers would just go away forever. Donato even overheard them once, saying what they would do to a victor if they could get their claws on him. Let me tell you: those two may look harmless, but when they get in the right mood, they can get rather... ruthless.

"So our little group here talked things over, and we made them a deal. They would keep taking on challengers, and if one of them won, we'd find out if they have any weaknesses, and relay that info to Nico and Pedro. Then, they would train themselves in that field, badger the opponent into leaving town if they win, and then proceed to leave him in the dust. They'd then buy him a complimentary drink, which is actually spiked with a sleeping drug, provided by yours truly. Once they wake up... well, I think you knows what happens then.

"It was a little different for you, since your sister was involved. It took some careful planning, even with some unforeseen situations like your fight, and you talking to Blu and Jewel and wanting to make things right with Shelly. But in the end, it all worked out... for us.

"Then a second advantage of this place made itself clear, when dealing with your... predecessors. You've probably heard the waterfall outside? Not only is this cave completely hidden away from view, the waterfall also drowns out the screams the victims make. It's the perfect... torture chamber, if you will."

"But... why Shelly? She didn't had anything to do with this..."

"No, but we figured it was in our best interests. She'd probably be worried sick looking for you, since you were 'supposed' to leave town, and she might have followed you. She'd spend forever trying to find you, which might even have killed her as she did. So in a way, we did her a favor." He faked a sigh. "You know, all this talking won't fill my belly. Shelly did a nice job, but now it's time to proceed."

Nate glanced at Nico and Pedro, and nodded at them, after which he made his way back to the table. The duo themselves made their way over to Kelso, scalpel and fish hooks in tow.

Pedro placed the scalpel at the same place he did with Shelly: right underneath the strap across his neck, that held him firmly in place. Sinking it slightly into the skin, which made Kelso wince, Pedro glided the surgical tool down as if it was a hot knife cutting through butter, and stopped at the base of his tailfeathers. Having his skin pulled away to opposite sides, Kelso held back as much as he could, the cold air brushing against his exposed intestines as if acid was sprayed over him, without the dissolving side-effects.

Kelso knew he just entered the last minutes, if not seconds, of his life. But instead of the murdering party duo slicing his aorta right away like they did to Shelly, they began cutting into his body's lower area first. Biting through the pain once more, the occasional yelp forcing its way from his beak, he felt the cold blade sink into his lower innards, not always removing them as a whole as it did, and moving upwards as they vanished.

He felt his strength waning, his ability to stay awake sapped greatly from the incredible amounts of bloodloss. He looked up to see Nico holding his heart in his wings, and Pedro, grinning widely, sinking the blade into his barely beating pumping vessel.

With his last strand of life force, he managed to speak his last words: "God... damn y-you... a... ll..."

His head slumped forward, the very last remnants of life escaping him.

The cannibal macaws relished in the final treats Kelso had to offer them, and finished the dinner in delight as they all happily shared a final drink: the blood from both Camelot Macaws that was caught in the bowls underneath them, scooped up in bird-sized glasses.

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skipgoreplease – you have skipped the gore scene. In a nutshell: Kelso and Shelly are dead, eaten by five cannibal macaws (two of which were Nate and Donato), and Nico and Pedro were the ones slicing them to pieces.
=======================================

A few months passed on, Nico and Pedro continuing to live their lives as Kings of Carnival. Whenever a Challenge Night came around, they would still take on challengers as it was the only curse the title bared, but none of them were good enough to knock them off their throne.

That was, until the latest Challenge Night. A Lear's Macaw blew them away, pretty much the same way Kelso did, and they were seething as they waited impatiently in their own hollow.

A rap sounded.

"Guys, it's me, Nate. I found out Estefan's weak point, and didn't even need any booze this time. He sucks at breakdancing."

The party duo smirked. "Thanks, bub. Consider your next meal served..."

=======================================
Heads up: more gore up ahead.
=======================================

Flashback:

A group of macaws were standing on the sidewalk across the bayside road from Ipanema Beach, chatting happily. The humans who strutted by either gawked and took pictures, or handed them scraps of food. The roaring of the cars and the foul-smelling blasts of air they left behind were disconcerting, but most of the macaws were from the city, and had grown accustomed to them.

The Spix's Macaw known as Isabella, however, was mildly put off by the offensive atmosphere. She had left her parents earlier to explore, and had ran across her Blue and Gold Macaw friend in the process. He had invited her to play a game in which they would dash from one side of the street to the other, dodging the cars as they did so. Isabella had been highly reluctant to engage in such a perilous mode of excitement, but she ultimately gave in.

A Military Macaw and A Hyacinth Macaw had already made it to the other side and back without a hitch, and now it was Nate's turn.

He faced the beautiful Isabella and said, "Watch how I do it, okay? Leave at the right time and use some smart wing-work, and you'll pull through."

"Alright, Nate. But I'm going to prove I can only once. After that, I'll just watch everyone else," she replied sternly.

"Fair enough," he said, and spread his wings.

He peered down the street to his left, and then to his right, carefully studying the pattern of vehicles. He spied a narrow gap in the bunch of vehicles approaching from his left, and tensed his muscles. Right when the head taxi shot by, he hopped once and flung himself forwards.

"Go, Nate, go!"

"Show us how to dodge them cars!"

He kept his eyes open and his mind focused as he navigated the gap. He flapped his wings hard to surge out of the way of a car, and then bounced up and over a taller truck.

He had made it halfway across when he felt a blast of wind catch his tailfeathers. He squawked in alarm and pulled his wings in as he was sent spinning. He feared he was going to die as he smacked a hard surface, but he realized he wasn't moving anymore, and that the surface was hot. He peeled his eyes open and saw the gritty sidewalk beneath him.

He shot to his feet and cawed in sheer ecstasy, having cheated death without suffering so much as a scratch. He used that burst of internal accomplishment to jet back to his starting spot. His friends were all quaking with dread as he touched down, but enveloped him in a collective hug seconds later.

"I thought you were done for!" said the Blue and Gold Macaw.

"I saw you go spinnin', and I was just about to start cryin'!" squawked the Military Macaw.

He wiped his chest against his wing showily and replied, "I may get taken down, but I will never get taken out!" A small round of cheer erupted, and then the macaws gave Nate his personal space back. He faced Isabella and poked her chest with his wing.

"Your turn, pretty girl. Show us you can run with the boys!"

"You're on, Nate!" she replied, both flattered and confident.

She bounced to the very edge of the sidewalk and threw open her healthy navy wings. She looked in both directions twice, sucked in a full breath, and took off. Her unmistakable form vanished amongst the vehicles, the apprehension rising in all the birds who had watched her take off. A few seconds later, they saw her waving at them from in front of a restaurant. Though they knew she could not hear them, they squawked and hollered words of praise and encouragement.

"Way to go, Izzie! You da woman!"

"You're halfway done! Get your pretty feathers back over here!" They briefly saw her rise a short ways into the air, and then saw her again as a semi barreled past.

That was when chaos struck.

She had flown forwards too soon after the eighteen-wheeler moved out of her way. Its turbulent wake dragged her along for a few feet, slowing her down in the process. She floundered in the air, beating her wings to try and get moving again. They could have sworn they heard her cry out for help, but they were powerless to do so. She wasn't going fast enough when she reached the middle of the street, and a large truck bore down on her without even changing lanes. She froze as the truck aimed for her, momentarily paralyzed as she stared her doom in the face.

And then, the tragedy of tragedies unfolded.

She slammed into the angled windshield while facing forwards, shattering the un-tempered glass. The recoil and randomly swirling air tossed her away at an angle, right for the side of the street she was determined to land on. Her body dropped, and then smashed against the extreme right side of a car's windshield. She hit the scalding concrete belly-up over a dozen feet away from Nate and his crew. They were crushed by dread as the people near her shrieked and fled in the other direction.

"Oh no… Isabella!" Nate screamed.

He was just about to run after his thrill-seeking posse when something soft and warm flew into his beak. He gulped it down out of sheer shock, reveling in the flavor.

Mmm… that was pretty good! But where did it come from? Could it be… No. No way. Forget about that. I gotta check on Isabella!

He shoved his mental confusion aside and bounded over to his dear friend. He pushed past his buddies, who reacted more like statues than actual living beings. He collapsed internally as he laid eyes upon her mutilated form, surrounded by a pool of blood.

She had been ripped open from the base of her neck to her tail, her skin studded with shards of glass. Every single one of her organs was visible, from her unmoving lungs to her exposed intestines. Her wings lay unfolded awkwardly at her sides, broken and askew. Her eyes were fully open, her pupils dilated, laden with the immeasurable agony she must have felt as she was hit. She simply stared tragically at the clear blue sky above, showing not a single sign that meant she was conscious, or even alive.

He knew right then and there that she was dead, the victim of an adrenaline-generating sport gone wrong

"Isabella… no! No!" the Scarlet Macaw repeated over and over.

"We're done for! She's dead! What are we gonna say to her parents? They're gonna murder us!" the Scarlet Macaw screeched.

"What are we gonna do, Nate? How are we gonna deal with this?" the Military Macaw hollered, shaking him ceaselessly.

"I… I don't know! They're gonna say it was my fault! They already don't like me, but that's beside the point. Isabella's dead! Gone forever!"

"But we gotta tell 'em! Right now!" He pushed his friend tellingly away.

"But I can't! Just… give me some time to think!"

Nate turned away and looked at the cars in the street, now at a standstill due to the horrid events that had transpired.

Did I… taste her? Swallow a piece of her skin? That makes me sick… but then why did I… enjoy it? Am I that messed up, or have I just discovered a type of food I never thought of trying before?

As the other macaws continued to moan and bawl, Nate gazed at them, and then at Isabella's corpse.

I'm so sorry… please forgive me… for all this. But… I suppose I have to thank you… for expanding my food-related desires.

The deeply disturbed, contemplating macaw turned back to his emotionally destroyed companions and said, "Guys… I think this is the end for us. We have to go tell her parents… the heartbreaking news…"

But it is merely the beginning for me… a macaw with a craving for flesh… bird flesh…