A/N:

Dun, dun, dun...

Here it is!

I, along with a fellow Fanfiction writer named Count Doofus, have spent a very long time creating this collaboration story!

We have a feeling that it is going to break records, and we have been eagerly awaiting to see how our story is received!

We will be issuing updates every other day.

Please review, and flame if you must!

Without further ado, here it is!

Prologue: Ten years after the events of Rio, Blu and Jewel have had a most enriching life, not just with each other, but with their three grown children. As they, along with the entire sanctuary, gather to witness a spectacle from the heavens, they are soon intrigued by what arrives soon after. A large, smoking,half-melted mass has invaded the jungle, and the curiosity of the jungle fauna soon morphs into fear. As a horrid sickness strangles the jungle, the creatures who call it home must find away to cure it, and time is running out.

Chapter 1:Thunder In The Night

One cool, clear summer night in Rio de Janeiro, Tulio and his family were getting ready to turn in and get some sleep. They had been watching the news for over an hour, and nothing eventful had graced the large TV screen the whole time.

Fernando was all grown up, and he was on summer break from the local university that he had just begun to attend. Earlier this morning, he had dropped by to visit, albeit unexpectedly. He had spent the day catching up with his parents, and little Vanessa made him smile, like always. As such, it had been a very long day, and Fernando, feeling worn out, had already went to his room and shut the door.

Feeling just as tired, Linda felt compelled to do the same.

She lifted herself from the couch, and as Vanessa, her three year old daughter, ran in front of the TV, she snatched her up.

"I got you, Vanessa! What are you going to do?"

She squealed with laughter and wriggled about in her mother's grasp.

"Bedtime, Mama? We go sleep?"

"Yes, little one. It is bedtime for all of us."

Just as Linda made her way over to her bedroom, an excited yell from Tulio stopped her cold.

"Linda! Come quick! Look what's on the news!"

She trudged her way back to the living-room and glared at the screen. She easily caught and understood the Portuguese streaming from the speakers, and she needed no help from her husband.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes! This just came in, Linda! The meteor shower that they have been talking about all week will start in a few minutes! Let's go outside and watch!"

Linda shifted Vanessa over onto her left side, followed by an exhausted sigh.

"But, Tulio, I am tired, and Vanessa wants to sleep..."

"Come on, honey! We will only watch it for a little while. Then we can all go to bed. Eu prometo."

After he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, she decided to relent.

"Fine, dear. Let me go wake Fernando."

"I will be waiting on the porch!"

Tulio sauntered over to the front door and stepped outside, the door closing softly behind him.

Linda walked over to Fernando's room and yelled, "Fernando, wake up! Do you want to see a meteor shower?"

She heard a loud shuffle from behind the door, and a few seconds later, it flew open.

"Of course, mother! Let's go!" he replied in a strong, hearty tone.

He rushed over to join Tulio, and Linda followed meekly in his wake. Once they were all gathered on the porch, they scanned the heavens above for any sign of the fleeting streaks of light.

"Where are they, Tulio? How many will we see?"

Keeping his gaze focused towards the obsidian sky, he replied, "They should be popping out any minute now. The reporter said that the ZHR will be between 21,600 and 22,000 meteors. This will be a pretty light shower, but a beautiful one, nonetheless. Just like you, Linda."

She blushed heavily at his comment, and despite the flood of heat coursing through her, she managed to ask, "What is the ZHR?"

"The what? Oh, the ZHR? That is the zenithal hourly rate, honey. It is an estimate of how many meteors you can expect to see on a clear night in one hour. But, we will be seeing less than that, because the point were the meteors are coming from, the radiant, isn't at the zenith. I am not an astronomer, that is just what the reporter said! Lucky for us, we are far enough away from the city that light pollution isn't too much of a problem, so we can still see most of them."

Just then, a noticeable streak of light flashed across the sky, followed by another, and then by three more.

"Look, Tulio! It's starting! Let's watch..."

A steady stream of meteors trailed through the night, seeming to erupt from just above the horizon and shoot out in all directions.

"They're so fast! It's like they are gone as soon as they appear!"

"I know! You have to have a quick eye to catch them, Linda!"

Vanessa stretched her arms up to the sky and flexed her hands, as if she was trying to grab the tiny space rocks before they vaporized in the atmosphere.

"Mama, what those? They pretty. I want one!"

"Those are called meteors. They are too far away to catch, honey! Besides, they hardly ever make it down to Earth. They are usually too small. Just be quiet and watch."

As the family of four continued their observation, a point of light appeared far on the horizon, but unlike the rest, it refused to vanish. The flickering point of light continued to grow brighter, and a deep rumble began to echo across the jungle.

Linda soon grew nervous, and she squeezed in closer to her husband.

"Tulio, what is that noise? It sounds like...thunder. And it keeps getting louder!"

Tulio clenched his wife and his daughter, and another sound soon sent them into a panic. High pitched tsunami sirens began to blow all across the city, and the undulating wail struck terror into their hearts.

The rumble soon turned into a roar, and as it mixed with the sound of the screaming sirens, the resulting noise was like the bellow of a demon. All of a sudden, they felt an odd wave of heat wash over them, and they began to sweat profusely.

"Tulio! What's going on? I'm scared!"

As Linda began shouting at Tulio, her daughter began to cry and squirm in her grasp. Tulio suddenly realized what was happening amidst the the deafening din.

"Linda! We have to get inside! That meteor is coming towards the city! Hurry!"

He rushed his family inside, and after slamming the door, he cowered behind the living-room couch with the rest of them. The insidious heat soon filled the house, and the light from outside grew to blinding proportions.

The roar completely drowned out the urgent message on the TV, and as the house began to shake, the four humans all shut their eyes and prayed for the nightmare to end.

The meteor zoomed past their house and plunged into the jungle, scarring a path of destruction as it plowed through the soft ground. The sirens continued to blare, but the light and heat had faded away.

Tulio popped his eyes open and gazed at his trembling wife.

"I think...the meteor...hit somewhere in the sanctuary, Linda."

"I hope Blu and Jewel are okay! Nothing could have survived being in the path of that thing. We need to go check on them!"

"Okay, Linda! Go put Vanessa to bed. I am going to call the authorities! Fernando, you stay here and watch over your sister."

They all hesitantly rose up from behind the couch, and everyone except Tulio made for Linda's bedroom. He stopped briefly to shut the TV off before extracting his cellphone from his pocket. He quickly dialed the emergency hot-line, but it took him several minutes to even get through.

He informed the dispatcher that the meteor had landed in his sanctuary, and he didn't know if there was a fire or not. The dispatcher thanked him for the information, and reassured him that the firemen and policemen were on their way.

He stashed the phone back in his pocket and crept quietly into the room. Linda had already tucked their daughter in, and she quickly fell asleep due to her previous crying. Fernando was sitting on the edge of the bed, right next to her crib.

"Take care of her, Fernando. We will be back as soon as possible!" whispered Linda.

"Okay, mother. Just be careful!"

She nodded to him and made for the door after Tulio. They exited out the back of their house, and sure enough, a pillar of smoke was rising from deep in the jungle.

"Meu Deus! Is that smoke from a fire, or is that coming from the meteor?"

"That is a good question, Linda. We will have to wait until the policemen arrive, if we want to find out..."

A mere ten minutes later, Tulio heard the doorbell ring as he was waiting inside the house. He approached the door and determinedly opened it. A fire truck, along with two police cars, were parked on the winding dirt road that served as their driveway, their lights strobing continuously.

The policeman at the door shook Tulio's hand and asked, "Is everything okay, Sir?"

"Mostly, officer..."

"Lopez. Call me Lopez. This is my partner, officer Sandoval."

"Nice to meet you, officer Lopez and officer Sandoval. You can call me Tulio."

"You called to report the possible crash site, correct?"

"Yes. I can take you to it, if you want."

"Lead the way, Tulio."

"Right this way..."

Tulio led the two officers and the fireman back through the house and out onto the back porch. Linda joined them after a brief introduction, and they hesitantly made their way down the twisted path that led into the jungle. After nearly a half-hour trek through the undergrowth, the acrid smell of scorched plant matter filled the air, and the five humans knew that the meteor lay somewhere close by.

Officer Sandoval forced his way past a half-withered fern, and he motioned rapidly for the others to come over. They sidled up to him, and a mere fifteen feet ahead lay the culprit of the recent disaster, in a large smoking crater. The foliage had been flattened all around, but thankfully, no real blazes had sprung up.

"Well, well. Look what we have here. That is quite a stone, wouldn't you say, Lopez?"

"In all my years as a police officer, I never dreamed that I would see something like this..."

"Officer Lopez, officer Sandoval, we should get to smothering these tiny fires, before one of them actually gets going."

"Right away, Nestor..."

The three men tromped all over the crash site, smothering the fires underfoot before throwing piles of earth on top. Striking orange tape that read, in black lettering: Perigo! Não atravesse! was set up around the perimeter by the two policemen, and after they radioed the location of the crash to their HQ, they decided it was time to leave.

"It will take some time to figure out how to remove this meteor, but as soon as we find out anything, we will call you. Thank you for your cooperation, Tulio. Do you mind if we escort you back home?"

"No thanks, officer Sandoval. We can find our way back. Besides, we have to check on a pair of rare macaws that live here."

"Suit yourself. Have a good night, you two..."

The three men disappeared back into the undergrowth and vanished from sight.

"Come on, Linda. We need to find the clearing. They must be safe, because the clearing isn't anywhere near here. I just hope that they weren't out and about when it came in."

"Okay, Tulio. I trust you. Let's get moving then..."

Had they turned around after leaving the crash site, they would have noticed a strange black shadow oozing across the ground, withering any plant life that it came into contact with. As they trudged through the jungle, they had noticed an odd sensation inside them, as if something was trying to stain their souls. The twisted feeling slowly vanished as they walked on, only to be replaced by anxiety at what they might find in the clearing...

After a tiring search, the two humans had finally arrived at the border of the clearing. They concealed themselves amidst the leafy screen and kept their gaze focused for any sign of movement. After en exhausting twenty minute wait, they suddenly jerked up to see two azure birds glide above them and alight in the tree.

Linda breathed a huge sigh of relief, and she whispered, "Can we go talk to them, Tulio?"

"No, Linda. They need to get their rest. I bet that they got as much of a scare from the meteor as we did! Besides, they looked perfectly fine."

"Okay, Tulio. Can we come check on them tomorrow then?"

"Absolutely, Linda. Let's head on home. Our children are waiting..."

Back at their home, they encountered Fernando sitting next to his sleeping sister, and they quietly sent him off to bed. They climbed into their own, and despite the traumatic events of the past few hours, they fell into a peaceful sleep, knowing that the two Spix's Macaws were safe and sound...

Blu and Jewel were sitting in their hollow and chatting happily with their three grown children. They were now nearly equal in size to their parents, and they could finally talk to them at eye level. They had just finished a hearty supper of fresh dragon fruit, and Esperanza, Vicente, and Ricardo were just getting ready to leave for their own homes.

They paused at the edge of the hollow, and as they turned to face their parents, disheartened expressions appeared on their faces.

Ricardo began, "Bye, Mama. Bye, Papa."

His brother added, "We will miss you."

Esperanza concluded, "We love you so much!"

Blu went over to them and gave them each a stroke with his wing.

"I love you too, and so does your mother. We both will miss you just the same, but we will always be here whenever you need us. Go get some rest, and we wish you sweet dreams."

The three macaws departed from the tree and out into the jet-black night, the sound of their wing-beats slowly fading away.

"Such wonderful children we have, Jewel. But you, honey, are just as wonderful, in your own way."

"Is that so? Well, how about I prove it to you?"

She strutted seductively over to him and shoved him to the floor. As he reclined on his back, Jewel leaned down and proceeded to kiss him heavily. So involved were they in their make-out session that they did not hear the sound of their children rushing back towards the hollow.

As the three macaws alighted inside, they immediately turned away from the embarrassing scene in front of them.

Vicente exclaimed, "Mama! Papa! Please stop! You need to come outside! Quick!"

He and his brother and sister dashed outside and flew up to the crown of the tree.

"Mmmm. Should...we stop, Jewel? They sound...excited."

"I guess. We don't want to...keep them waiting."

The two love-drunk macaws staggered to their talons and made their way outside. After they joined their children on one of the top branches, Esperanza motioned for them to look out across the jungle, towards the sea. A celestial light show was on display above the horizon, and Blu immediately identified it.

"Look, Jewel! It's a meteor shower! I saw a few of these back in Minnesota. This one is just as beautiful as the rest. Is it okay if I say that it reminds me of you?"

Jewel blushed uncontrollably at her mate's comparison, and she couldn't help but lean over and give him a quick kiss.

"What is a 'meteor shower,' Papa?"

"It happens when space debris ends up getting caught by the pull of Earth's gravity. They fall into the atmosphere and burn up, and that is what creates the streaks of lights you see. Most are too small to make it to the ground, though, so there is nothing to worry about. I read a few books about them back at Linda's bookstore, but I am still not an expert. Also, humans have this rule that if you make a wish on a shooting star, it is supposed to come true. But you have to say it in your head, and not out loud."

One by one, the five macaws cast their wishes out into the night as the stars continued to fall.

Blu and Jewel wished for long and plentiful lives, and maybe a few more children in the future.

Their children wished instead for better timing on their part, so that they could avoid finding their parents in the process of "expressing themselves" in the future.

They re-opened their eyes and focused on the distant horizon once more, but as they did so, strange sight met their gaze. One of the streaks of light had fallen a short distance and then stopped, and it was growing brighter by the second.

A rumble soon resonated across the city, and the macaws could feel it in their chests. As Blu glanced around at the edges of the clearing, he could see many hundreds of birds gathered in the nearby treetops for the same purpose of watching the shower.

Blu then turned back to the distant ball of light, and suddenly, a loud wail began assaulting his ears.

"What is that sound, Blu? It's horrible!"

"I-I don't know, Jewel!"

His children scooted up against their mother, and she in turn drew herself up to her mate's side. The rumble had grown into a roar over the course of a few minutes, and the two sounds melted into one awful chorus. Just then, a wave of heat swept over the jungle, and the macaws felt like they were being baked in their feathers.

Esperanza, Vicente, and Ricardo began to tremble, and they each voiced their emotions in the form of words.

"I am scared, Papa!" shouted Ricardo.

"I'm so hot!" added Esperanza.

"Are we going to die?" questioned Vicente.

Blu hugged his mate tightly, unable to answer any of his children's questions. In his mind, he tried to piece together the many facets of the present situation. Eventually, they all fell into place, and they revealed to him one grim mental puzzle.

"Jewel! That meteor must have been big enough to make it through the atmosphere! I think it's heading for the city!"

"Oh no! What do we do, Blu? What if it hits the jungle? What if it hits us?"

"There is not much we can do, except hide! Get inside the tree, and quick!"

Their three children turned and flew down to the nest, and Jewel followed right after them. Blu paused to get one last look at the jungle all around, and the sky was filled with the squawks and screams of hundreds of scattering birds. He quickly dropped from the tree and glided swiftly into his home.

He ran over to the far corner and huddled up with his family. The heat permeated the hollow with ease, and the macaws closed their eyes tight, praying desperately for this nightmare to run its course. A blinding orange glow filled the air, and the meteor flew straight towards the sanctuary.

It passed the edge of the clearing and dropped to the ground, gouging its way hundreds of feet into the jungle. A loud, persistent cracking noise could be heard as the space rock tore through the trees like a bullet through a sea of wine glasses. As the light faded away, all that remained was the undulating howl from before.

"B-Blu? It is over? A-are we s-still alive?"

Blu opened his eyes just to make sure, and the familiar space of the hollow was revealed to him.

"I think so, Jewel. You can get up now..."

The five quivering macaws peeled themselves from the wall , and Jewel hesitantly made her way over to the exit. Blu quickly joined her, and they slowly peered out into the clearing. The screaming noise had faded, much to their relief, but they caught sight of a column of smoke rising from the jungle to the west of them.

"I think that is where the meteor hit. Can we go check it out, Blu?"

"I don't know, Jewel. I don't have a clue as to what that rock could do to us. The jungle might be burning near the crash site, too."

Ricardo squeezed his way in next to them and said, "I want to go see it, father. We don't have to stay for long. Just a quick look. Please?"

Blu merely sighed, and he knew that he couldn't deny such an innocent request. True, he was also incredibly curious himself, but he didn't let it show. It wasn't everyday that you could witness the entry of a meteor, and even more amazing, having it land in your own backyard.

"Fine. But just a short look, and then you and your siblings will have to go home. I don't even want to know how late it is..."

They all flew from the tree and banked to the left, heading directly for the scar that extended deep into the jungle. As they flew above, they were awed by the devastation that the space rock had caused. Trees lay splintered and burned on both sides of the gouge, and it looked as though they were disintegrating at an alarming rate.

Several flocks of birds had gathered down the length of the scar, and some were crying, apparently mourning the loss of their homes. Others were limping along with broken wings, and others had been burned and were missing feathers.

Sadly, a few had been crushed by the falling trees, and their battered bodies could be seen among the twisted branches. Others had borne burns too severe for life, and their blackened bodies were emanating streams of smoke.

As the five macaws reached the crash site and alighted in a still-standing tree, they were shocked by what they saw: The space rock had come to rest in a crater much larger than itself, and the trees all around it had been flattened in a circular pattern.

Large chunks of flaming rock littered the area, and several small fires were crackling here and there. The bulk of the meteor that remained was throwing up thick billows of smoke, and a powerful bubble of heat seemed to surround it.

"Look at it, Papa! It must have been huge when it first came in!"

"I know, Ricardo. No wonder it did so much damage. It would have taken more than trees to break it apart!"

"Can I go touch it, Mama?"

"Absolutely not, Esperanza! You can't even get close to it even if you wanted to! The smoke and heat would probably kill you. You will stay right here in this tree."

"Okay, Mama..."

Blu gazed around at the neighboring trees, and many other birds had gathered to inspect the culprit of the disaster. Blu then heard sirens spring to life off in the distance, and they were rapidly growing louder. He knew that they belonged to fire trucks and police cars that had come to investigate this very location.

"Jewel, we need to get out of here. The authorities are coming, and we need to head back home."

"Okay, Blu. I doubt if I will be able to get any sleep, though."

She peered past her mate and glared at her three children commandingly.

"You three need to fly home now. There is nothing more to see, and the humans are on their way. Try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Yes, mother."

"Okay, Mama."

"See you tomorrow."

The three birds lifted off from the branch and flew northwest out over the wreckage, in the direction of their homes.

"Come on, honey. Let's go home. It's getting late..."

The two macaws followed the gouge in the earth back to their home, and they quickly settled down together in their nest.

"I don't want to sleep, Blu. Eu só sei que eu vou ter pesadelos..."

He wrapped his left wing around her and pulled her close, giving her a reassuring kiss on her head.

"Do not be afraid, Jewel. Eu estou aqui com você. I will chase them away for you. Go ahead and sleep. Dream sweet dreams, my dear. Dream sweet dreams..."

As Blu whispered that phrase over and over and stroked the back of her neck with his wing, she relaxed into him and quickly drifted off. Blu soon found himself slipping away into unconsciousness as well, and he gladly welcomed its embrace. His wings fell to his sides and his eyes drew shut.

Blu dreamed that he had returned to the impact site, and he found himself gazing curiously at the ground beneath him. The grass and trees seemed to wither away, and as he continued watching, the area of death kept growing wider and wider, with the meteor at its center.

He felt a strange numbness creep into his body, and he lost his grip on the branch. He plummeted to the ground with a thud, and he was immobilized where he landed, right next to the hulking stone. A red glow was visible at the center of the meteor, and it was pulsing steadily.

The glow grew more and more defined, and Blu felt his blood begin to boil. As he lay there in limitless agony, yet unable to move, he wished for death to come and take him away. Blu gazed up helplessly at the inky sky above, and he felt his wings detach from his body with a gory bubbling sound.

His heart began to slow down, and his pupils soon brightened to match the color at the center of the stone that was now melting him.

What is going on! What is happening to me? Make it stop! Please, somebody kill me!

As his organs corroded out of existence, he knew that his death was inevitable. His heart shriveled up, and for a few brief seconds, Blu was a living creature without a heartbeat. A cloud of black smoke drifted over him, and his soul was whisked away to another realm. What was left of his body soon disintegrated, and all that was left of him was a pile of fetid ash encircling his blackened skeleton...

A/N:

Eu prometo.=I promise.

Meu Deus!=My God!

Perigo! Não atravesse!=Danger! Do not cross!

Eu só sei que eu vou ter pesadelos...=I just know that I'll have nightmares...

Eu estou aqui com você.=I'm here with you.

Count Doofus and I request your feedback! Please review!