Later that afternoon, there was panic across Bird Island. Every bird in the village saw the destruction of Eagle Mountain that morning. Red and the heist team tried to reassure everyone they'd take care of it, but the villagers were still nervous. Some even considering evacuating the island.

“Red, are we gonna be okay?" someone asked.

“Alright, guys!" she announced. “Do not worry! We got this! Red, here, has got your back! And your front, and your sides!"

“And my floof?" Jay asked, pointing to his head feathers.

“Yeah, even your cute, little floof," Red replied.

Everyone began to calm down, but Matilda, a chicken who was Red's former mentor, was still worried.

“So, are you one hundred percent sure we shouldn't evacuate?" she asked.

“No!" Pinky scoffed. “Red's gonna take care of us, right, Red?"

“Yes!" Red replied, happy to hear Pinky's words. “Everyone, please, just stay calm."

“Hey, y'all!" Alex announced. “We're gonna be okay! Red's here!"

“We love you, Red!" a hatchling shouted.

“Aw, thank you! Your support means the world to me," Red said to the crowd, and joined her crew on the dock. “Okay, Leonard, so where's our ride?"

Suddenly, a tiny, yellow submarine popped up out of the water. Everyone looked at it in surprise.

“Aww, it's so cute!" Bomb gushed as Silver took notes.

“Wow!" Red said sarcastically. “Okay. And how are we all supposed to fit in..."

“Oh, I think we'll manage," Leonard replied with a smug grin, and clicked on a remote.

Turns out, the tiny submarine was just the top of a gigantic submarine. It was so big, it blocked all the sun's rays on the beach! All of the birds stared in shock and awe. Chuck had to pull Silver's head away from her notepad to show her, and she was just as impressed.

“Oh, my God!" the mime screamed.

A pig climbed out of the hatch and announced, “All aboard!"

While the rest of the team boarded the sub, Courtney carried all their luggage.

“Anyone, uh, wanna grab their own bag, or anything?" she asked, struggling with the weight.

Once everyone else got in, Red took one last look at her fellow birds, who held up a sign that read, “R U SURE WE SHOULDN'T EVACUATE?"

“Don't screw this up, Red!" Pinky shouted. Red noticed a raft full of piggies holding up an even less supporting sign, and with worse grammer.

“if wee all DIE, eetz kinda your fawlt!"

Red began to feel less confident. What if she couldn't save them? Knowing she couldn't think that way, she took a deep breath and whispered to herself, “I got this."

Feeling better, Red closed the hatch on the sub. The birds and pigs watched their only hope submerge into the water, and head off to Eagle Island.

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

Red refused to admit that she still had no idea what to do once they got to Eagle Island, but it was hard to think of an actual plan when the troublesome twosome, Chuck and Silver, wouldn't stop singing opera in her ears.

There's something wrong with these two, Red thought to herself. Things got weirder when Bomb decided to join in. Chuck and Silver were left in tears, but Red just groaned in annoyance.

Suddenly, they heard Leonard imitating a trumpet as he and Courtney entered the room from behind a curtain.

“Ladies and gentlemen!" he bellowed. “I'd like to introduce you to our master of gadgetry..."

“Garry!" they cheered in unison, revealing a disheveled hipster pig with orange glasses standing behind them. While the birds cheered with excitement, he stared at them, unimpressed.

“This is it?" he asked Leonard, causing them to stop. “This is the ‘amazing team' I've been working around the clock for?"

Leonard chuckled nervously. “Working with what we got."

“Well, that's disappointing," Garry replied, walking away slowly. “This is the part where you get up and follow me!"

So, the birds, pigs and Mighty Eagle followed Garry out of the room and into what seemed to be a massive laboratory full of piggies building and testing machinery. Red looked around in amazement, and Leonard felt a little proud of himself for a moment.

“Welcome to my Piggy Gadget Lab!" Garry announced as he gave the team a tour. “Everywhere you look, you'll see inventions being tested by my team of guinea pigs!"

Suddenly, a pig accidentally activated what seemed to be a flame thrower. Frightened, Red subconsciously wrapped her wing around Leonard's hoof. Once they noticed they were holding hands, they let go and looked away nervously.

“All of the gadgets have been designed specifically with your current mission in mind," Garry continued, stopping at a briefcase. He opened it, revealing a spray can. “The first being InvisiSpray! Need to go undetected in plain sight? InvisiSpray does exactly that."

To demonstrate, Garry grabbed a nearby pig and sprayed him with the InvisiSpray. Aside from his goggles, he disappeared in a heartbeat!

“Wow, I'm invisible!"

“Whoa!" the heist team exclaimed.

“‘Whoa,' indeed," Garry said with pride.

“That's amazing!" Silver praised.

“How long does the invisibility last for?" Red asked curiously.

Garry turned to her and answered, “Forever."

“Wait, what?!" the invisible pig exclaimed, and pulled out his phone. “Tina? We're not going to be able to see each other tonight."

Red wasn't pleased. “And what does the next gadget do? Like, bury us alive?"

“What?! That would be ridiculous!" Garry laughed. He then whispered to three pigs with shovels, “Ixnay on the shovels!"

The pigs with shovels walked away sadly.

“And moving right along..." Garry was about to show everyone the next gadget, but noticed Chuck and Bomb lathering their feathers up with a gooey, green substance. “What are you guys doing?!"

“This is so fun!" Chuck said happily.

“So squishy! What is this stuff?" Bomb asked.

“Oh! Well, that is a special type of flame retardant we call Pig Snot," Garry answered, causing them to freeze in place.

“Why do you call it...?" Red was about to ask, but then decided, “You know what? Never mind."

Chuck and Bomb were both grossed out, but Bomb couldn't help sneaking a taste of the Pig Snot from the tip of his finger. The others watched in disgust. Silver had to cover her beak to keep herself from puking.

“Yeah! Lick it!" Courtney said, not as grossed out as the others.

Garry decided to show them something else. “Now everyone prepare yourselves, 'cause this next one is really something special."

Garry led the team to a silver disk-like object resting on its own pedestal, underneath its own spotlight.

“Whoa! So shiny!" Bomb said in awe.

“Yes, my friend," Garry said, holding up the object. “Bold yet sleek. Simple while complex. This device can detect an eagle anywhere within a one-hundred-foot radius!"

Colorful lights flashed for a brief moment. Garry was obviously proud of this one.

This better be worth it, Red thought before asking, “Well, how does it work?

“Simply push this button, and it does the rest," he answered, pushing the button on top of the device. It began to open up slowly, and everyone was excited until...

“There's an eagle nearby! There's an eagle nearby! There's an eagle nearby!" The device shouted in a high pitched voice. Red smacked herself in the face.

“Why yes! Clearly, there is!" Garry shouted and pointed at Mighty Eagle, who kiddingly surrendered. “This clever little thing will no doubt prove to be a crucial tool during your mission!"

“Wonderful! That's amazing!" Red shouted sarcastically. “Can you turn it off now?!"

“Actually, it'll turn itself off..." The device stopped. “... one hour after it doesn't detect anymore eagles."

“What?!" Red exclaimed. Furiously, she grabbed the device from Garry and prepared to slam it against the wall.

Luckily, Silver snatched it from Red, opened it up, and unscrewed part of it off. The device shut down as she closed it back up. “There."

“Oh, uh, thank you," Red said gratefully, and took the gadget from her. “Okay, guys, these gadgets are terri-"

“Hey, Red! Can we chat for a sec?" Silver interrupted, pulling Red aside before she could answer. “I can tell you're used to running the show, and that's totally great and all. But maybe since we're all a team here, a team that you put together, maybe you could try to be more... supportive. The results might surprise you. Huh?"

“Fine, fine," Red conceded.

Silver held up her wing tip. “Sisters?"

Red shook her head and walked back up to Garry, who wasn't happy with her at all.

“Garry! Woo! Unbelievable!" she said, her voice full of sarcasm. “Really, really good stuff. You know, I'm sure I can figure out a plan to uh, you know, to use all this, this awesomeness that you've, uh... Bomb!"

Before Red could finish, she saw Bomb swimming in a giant tank of Pig Snot, eating as much of it as he could.

“Hi, Red!" he mumbled.

Red decided to pull him out of there. As she headed off, Garry glared at her.

“I really hate that woman," he grumbled.

Courtney snickered. “That's funny, because Leonard loves her."

“COURTNEY!"

We were all thinking it, Courtney just spoke for us.

Next chapter is gonna be something I'll write on my own. Let me just say it'll be emotional.

Until next time. 🌈