Hey, everyone, this is my first Rio fanfiction, and my longest ever fanfiction! I had originally intended for this to be like 3,000 words, but now, it is something like 10,500 words. I just couldn't stop writing. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the story! And please, tell me what I did right, or what I need to improve upon. There is always room for improvement!

Fight or Flight?

Rio de Janeiro was one of the most beautiful places in the world. The enormous diversity of the birds, the massive Christ the Redeemer statue sitting atop it's own little separate mountain, the clubs, everything about it was perfect.

However, the best part of Rio—aside from samba, of course—were the numerous beaches it contained. In every one of them, the sand was clean—the perfect temperature—the water was perfect, and the female birds flying around weren't too hard on the eyes.

At least that was what Nico thought. On that particular day, he and his best bud, Pedro, were walking through one of the numerous beaches Rio had to offer, enjoying the weather, and maybe trying to pick up a couple of chicks on the way. The weather was perfect for the beach and the chicks flocked everywhere, and being two of the most famous club-owners of all of the birds of Rio didn't hurt in the picking up of the chicks, either.

"Yo, Nico, look at all of the fine chicks hanging around this joint," Pedro said, surveying the vast beach, both of the friends weaving through the either relaxing or playing humans and birds alike, focusing mainly on the birds, mainly of the female type.

"I know, man," replied Nico as they walked through the sand, his bottle cap in wing, "it doesn't get much better than this. The weather, the girls, the sand, the girls, only in Rio. Man, its perfect."

"Why look, if it isn't little Tweety and the fat rooster."

"Was perfect," Nico groaned, mostly in aggravation that this perfect day was about to be ruined, and a little in fear of how it was going to be ruined.

Slowly turning around, the two friends faced the source of the voice; though they already knew very well where it had came from.

Before them stood three eagles, towering at least two, two and a half feet over Pedro and Nico. This fact alone was enough to intimidate smaller birds—including Nico and Pedro—substantially enough, though these eagles' reputation propelled that intimidation well into downright fear.

The smallest (though that wasn't saying much) eagle's name was Maximiliano. He was mostly white, except for his black wings, the black rings around his eyes and beak, and the black stripes on his tail. His long, sharp talons gleamed in the glaring sun, and though he was the smallest, he was still very intimidating to the canary and cardinal standing in front of him.

The middle-sized eagle was Carlos, even more intimidating than the last one. He had an ominous look to him, for he looked somewhat like a crow with his completely black feathers, save for a few white stripes on his tail. The tip of his beak was black, and so were the skinny, yet deadly looking talons on his feet, which disappeared into sharp, deadly looking points.

However, the most intimidating eagle out of this trio was, by far, Thiago. He towered over the other two eagles, and they were some of the biggest birds in Rio. His wings were completely black, and so was the black band that extended around his chest, reaching up to the base of his neck. His head was grey, with two, big, black beady eyes set on either side of his beak. His underside was completely white, save for a few black stripes on is legs. The most intimidating aspect of this eagle was his huge talons; his were the most fearsome than the others'; big, thick, black talons, half as long as Nico was tall. These massive talons formed a point so fine that it looked as if it could cut through anything—especially two little birds that got in his way.

So, confronted by these three massive eagles, you could guess how Nico and Pedro felt: terrified, horrified, any other synonym for scared. However, did they show this? Absolutely not. In a situation like this, the last thing they did was show their fear.

It was for this reason that, Pedro, forcing his voice not to waver, shot back, "Hey, who are you calling a 'fat rooster'?" The eagles called him a fat rooster since it was common knowledge that he wasn't the skinniest bird in Rio, and, apparently, they connected his red head with that of a rooster's.

"Yeah, and who are you calling 'Tweety'?" Nico also snapped, angrily slapping the bottle cap onto his head and adjusting it so that it wouldn't fall over his eyes.

Thiago looked around for a moment, as if looking for something. Then, staring into their souls with his piercing, black eyes, yet smiling almost pleasantly, said, "Well, it must be you, since I don't see any other worthless pipsqueaks or fat slobs around."

"Good one, Thiago!" Maximiliano piped up from his position next to Thiago. Though he was tough, Maximiliano always tried sucking up to the tougher Thiago, a bully sucking up to the head bully. He was obviously the Curly of this trio.

"Well," Nico countered, "thank God you have your little boyfriend their to back you up."

Thiago smiled eerily again. "Hey, that was almost funny." Part of the smile dropped. "Almost. Unfortunately, as much as I love this little 'back and forth,' we have business to attend to with you two." Again, he flashed an almost pleasant smile. "So… what are you doing here?"

Pedro glowered. "What do you mean 'what are we doing here.' We can go wherever we please! You don't own the beach, man!"

"Technically, no. However, as I recall about two weeks ago, you two were walking through this here beach, and started trouble with us."

"Hold it! Hold it!" Nico shouted angrily. "Who started trouble with who?"

"Anyways," Thiago snapped, obviously not too pleased at being cut off like that, "we told you two to high tail it off of this beach, and that we wouldn't have a problem if you two kept off. Now, unfortunately, we have a problem. But me, being a nice guy…"

"I'm so sure," Nico angrily muttered under his breath.

"…I will let you off with a warning this once. Leave. Now. And we can get on with our lives peacefully and separately… come on, guys! Very few people actually live to get this offer!"

"You can take your offer," Pedro shouted back, losing his cool, "and stick it where the sun don't shine!" He used his wings in a manner to further illustrate his point.

"Hey!" Carlos, who had until recently been quiet, snapped. "Thiago, I don't appreciate how these two chicks talk to us!" He gestured with his black wings towards the two smaller birds.

Carlos was what you could call the second in command of the trio. The one who still took orders from Thiago, but in return gave them to Maximiliano.

Nico rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Puppet."

One could almost see the heat lines radiating off of Carlos' face. "You little bastardo! What did you call me?"

"What, are you deaf and stupid? Man, you got your head so far up your boss' ass, I don't know where you end and he begins!"

During this confrontation, a small crowd had gathered around the five birds, leaving their relaxing time at the beach. No one messed with these three eagles, especially not some birds a quarter of their size. This last remark made by Nico actually drew some audible gasps.

Thiago did something that no one would have expected him to. He laughed. He threw his head back and laughed loudly, as if an incredibly funny joke had just been told. After a moment of laughing, he wiped the tears from his eyes, and smiled as if he still remembered the "joke". "Man, you guys are funny! Because I'm sure that you didn't mean what you just said. At least, for your sake, I hope you didn't."

Pedro smiled up at Thiago cheekily. "Yo, bird, did you hear any sarcasm?"

A few more gasps emerged from the visibly growing crowd circling around Nico, Pedro, and the eagles. All three of the eagles' beaks visibly clenched. Now, they were starting to get pissed off.

Both Nico and Pedro felt a pang of fear. When these birds got mad, they got violent. Reallyviolent. However, they were both fairly certain that these eagles wouldn't hurt them. And so, they kept their game faces, both smiling defiantly up at their tormentors, praying that they were right about the eagles not hurting them.

Oh, how Thiago wanted to pin that little cheeky yellow bastardo down and make him suffer. Slowly peel back the flesh over the left side of his chest. Chip away at the bone with his talons. Cut every artery and vein connected to his exposed heart one by one, and hold the disembodied heart in front of the canary's eyes. It was little fantasies about killing these two that kept him from actually doing it, though no one, not the crowd, nor even Nico or Pedro, would be too surprised if he actually did.

These eagles, especially Thiago, had a very nasty reputation around Rio. When someone crossed them, or got in their way, or agitated them, or in any way irritated them, they disappeared, like a sort of bird mafia. Just… gone. Well, most of the times, anyways. There was this one time when a bird had agitated them so much that they held him down, right there in public, and killed him, right in the eyes of everybody. How did they kill him? Use your imagination. They sure did. But the strange part was that the bird called out for help, pleaded even, yet no one even batted an eye, out of fear. Even the toughest birds in Rio feared these three birds. They were fast, their talons dangerous, their size incomparable, their fighting skills a natural talent.

So then, why did they not pounce on the two birds right then, make an example out of them? Why did they let them insult them like this? Would they put up a worthy fight? No. Were they, in any way, a threat in themselves to the eagles? Definitely not. Were they popular enough that every bird on the beach would interject? They were pretty famous among the birds of Rio, but not that famous. So, why did they not kill them?

One word: Rafael.

Yes, the nice, helping toucan was the reason they didn't slaughter the two birds right then and there. Was Rafael a good fighter? Not necessarily. However, fighting skills weren't the reason they were afraid of "Toucan Sam", as they mockingly called him behind his back. No, for when Rafael famously, and frequently, claimed that he "knows everybody," it was no lie or exaggeration. His friendships were many. His connections were legendary. There wasn't a single bird in Rio de Janeiro whose name, family, and friends he didn't know by heart.

And, unfortunately, he was among best friends with Nico and Pedro. If something "happened" to the canary or the cardinal, Rafael would strike back with a vengeance. Individually, no bird would stand against Thiago, Carlos, or Maximiliano alone, never mind together. However, Rafael would almost definitely find a way to rally these birds into kicking them out of Rio. Everyone knew and respected Rafael. Even this trio of eagles, who hated him, harbored some sort of respect for his connections and influence.

Yet, both parties knew that a move like this would inevitably cause a bloodbath among the birds. These three eagles also had connections with other eagles across Brazil, and even a few in Rio, and, though, for the most part, they didn't interfere in each others affairs, if forced to choose, the eagles would definitely fight with the eagle trio, and so, it would be the birds of Rio versus some of the worlds biggest eagles who were, coincidentally, some of the worlds best hunters.

It was this relationship that caused the three eagles and Rafael to constantly keep each other in check. The eagles don't mess with the King of Carnival, and he doesn't mess with them. Thiago knew it, Nico and Pedro knew it, Rafael knew it, and all of Rio knew it.

Now, however, Thiago was beginning to seriously think about breaking that arrangement. These birds frayed every nerve in his body. And what were the chances that Rafael would do nothing less than wage war and risk every bird in Rio's life for two, small, insignificant birds, anyways? Now that he thought of it, killing these small birds was looking better and better by the second.

However, he still wasn't particularly fond of testing Rafael. So, leaning down into Nico and Pedro's faces—it took every ounce of courage in Nico and Pedro not to back up—he, in a low, and almost friendly voice, said, "Um… hey guys, I don't think you know how this is supposed to work." The extreme level of agitation in his voice was evident. "I'm supposed to say 'Go away,' and you two are supposed to cower in fear and leave!"

"Hey, bird," Pedro defiantly exclaimed, shoving his beak closer to Thiago's, "who you say is supposed to leave?"

"Yeah," Nico continued. "How 'bout we meet in the middle and you go away!"

"That's it!" Thiago yelled loudly, making everyone in the crowd, and especially Nico and Pedro, who were on the receiving end of the yell, jump. Carlos and Maximiliano, one on either side of him, got ready for what they assumed was going to be the final kill. "I try to be nice, I try not to start anything. I give you a perfectly good opportunity to just leave, but you don't take it! Well, I've had it! Rafael or no Rafael, you're gonna—"

Nico and Pedro were so frightened—which they had, until recently, managed not to show—that they barely noticed Thiago suddenly cut off. At first, they thought he was staring silently at them, but soon realized that he was staring off at something behind them. Turning around, both Nico and Pedro were both more than ecstatic to see none other than Rafael, standing ten feet behind them. The toucan was locked in a stare with the eagles, his black wings folded over his white chest.

At first, it looked as though the three eagles would stare at Rafael forever. But, after what must have been a minute, Thiago seemed to lose all of his former courage, and said, without breaking his stare, "Come on guys, lets go." He looked down at the two birds. "I'll be back for you two when Rafael isn't here to save you. Count on that."

The eagles turned they backs to Nico, Pedro, and Rafael, stretched out their impressive wingspan, and launched themselves into the air, disappearing into the distance within seconds, the crowd that had gathered around them quickly dispersing.

Both Pedro and Nico let out a relieved sigh, as if they had been holding their breath for the entire confrontation. Smiling, they turned to thank Rafael, but suddenly dropped their smiles as Rafael's eyes pierced though them, his wings still folded over his chest. He must have had a lot of practice at this with his eighteen kids, since it was very effective on the two birds, even though they were grown.

"Um… h-hey Rafi…" Pedro stammered, clearly growing nervous.

"Heh heh… I guess… um… you look mad…" Nico always had something to say… unless it was to Rafael when he was mad. Rafael's angry stare could silence anyone and leave the unlucky bird without anything to say. Even the likes of Thiago fell victim to it.

"Mad?" Rafael said, as if he was having a pleasant conversation. "No, I'm not mad. No, no, no." His voice suddenly rose to a yell. "I'm completely furious! Oh meu Deus! Are you two insane? Do you want to die? Cause I can arrange that!"

"Rafi, Rafi," Pedro pleaded, "chill!"

"Chill? You two butt heads with the most dangerous, deranged, and feared eagles in all of Rio, who are, mind you, four times your size, and you want me to chill?"

"Rafael!" Nico tried to calm him down. "We had it un—"

"Under control? You had it under control? Cause from where I was standing, you were about to become eagle food!" Rafael took a deep, calming breath. "Look…" he said normally, "I'm sorry I yelled, but you two have to stop relying on your friendship with me to bail you two out with those guys. That will only work to an extent, if—and only if—you don't start trouble!"

"Hey, Rafi!" Pedro chimed in. "We didn't—"

"I know, I know. But, still. If those guys want you to leave a beach, take my advice, and leave the stupid beach! It's not worth dying over."

"But Rafi!" Nico protested. "It's not about the beach, man! It's principle. If we let them push us around now, they will never stop!"

"True," Rafael retorted, "but you will be alive." Another sigh. "Listen guys, I know you want to act all tough, but don't screw with those guys. Please."

Now it was Nico's turn to sigh. "Fine."

"Yeah," Pedro agreed, "I guess your right. I still don't feel cool 'bout it, though."

Rafael smiled, walked up to them both, and put a wing on each of their shoulders. "Thank you. Now I know—"

Whatever Rafael was going to say next was lost in his yelp as he looked up at the sun, which wasn't so up anymore; it was slowly sinking below the horizon. Fear of the worst kind was in his eyes.

"Ah! The sun's setting. I gotta go!"

Nico was worried. "What, Rafi? What's wrong?"

"I told Eva I would be back before sundown! Nononono. She's gonna kill me…"

Rafael could stare down three murderous lunatics without flinching, but when it came to his wife, Eva, he was, like his eighteen little kids, scared to death of her. And really, no one blamed him.

Nico and Pedro both shook their heads and chuckled. "'Kay, Rafi," Nico said, "See ya 'round."

Rafael didn't say goodbye, but instantly turned and launched himself into the air, like a rocket, zooming towards his hollow in the rainforest like the hounds of Hell were on his tail. However, he did call back something from afar: "Remember what I said!"

Again, Pedro shook his head. "Ah, Rafi. What would we do with out him, man?"

Nico smiled. "Probably crash and burn." He extended his wings, and gestured for Pedro to follow, lifting himself into the air. "Come on, man, I'm beat. Lets go home."

Pedro, too, lifted himself into the air, and they flew into the rainforest, a pair of yellow and black wings flying through the dimming sunlight of Rio de Janeiro.

The next night

Now that was how a party should go!

For as long as Nico could remember, there had never been a party like the one that had just ended. Sure, there were some pretty fun ones, but nothing even came close to comparing with this one!

The party had been in Nico and Pedro's club, which had became known as The Branch (they hadn't originally intended for that to be its name, but it had caught on). The music had been pumping and the company great. Nico had met many chicks at the party, just as Pedro had. Everyone had been there.

Even Blu and Jewel had been there. They had three little blue macaws now, which Blu and Jewel had left with Rafael's wife, Eva, and their children, in order to come.

The music had been loud, and everyone had been dancing, socializing, or both. The party had lasted well into the early hours of the morning, but now, at three-thirty A.M., it was time for everyone to go home.

As usual, Nico and Pedro were the last ones to leave; making sure nobody was left in the club, making sure they hadn't forgotten anything, that kind of stuff.

Pedro was completely beat, and ready to go back to their nice, comfy hollow in the forest and hit the hay. Nico, on the other hand, was not tired for some reason.

"You're tired?" Nico cried at Pedro, who had bags under his eyes due to lack of sleep. "C'mon! Let's do something! Go out! Scout the town! Pick up some chicks! Hang around! Play Checkers! Anything!"

"Nah, man," Pedro sleepily replied, eyes half closed. "I am completely beat. If I had to stay up, I'd collapse!"

Nico sighed. "Fine… you go back to the pad. I'm just gonna fly around for a bit. Look for something to do."

"Whatever man," came the tired reply. "Just be back before morning. I don't wanna wake up and be worried 'bout you."

Nico couldn't help but take a jab at Pedro: "Yes, mom. I'll be back before sunup."

The Red-Crested Cardinal smiled through his sleepy daze. "'Kay man, see ya later." And with that, he lazily flapped his wings, lifted himself into the sky, and drifted off in the direction of their hollow.

Nico, on the other hand, had tons of pent up energy. Usually, he was as tired as Pedro after these long nights, but this time, for some reason, he was wide awake, wound up and ready to go.

So, he flapped his wings and flew through the air, surveying the beautiful city of Rio passing by beneath him. Most people were asleep, the lights in the small houses off, their occupants sleeping peacefully. There were some lights still on, and there were a few birds straggling behind after a late night, but, for the most part, he was pretty much alone, flying the streets of Rio.

Sighing, he decided just to head back to the hollow, try and sleep a little, though he knew it would be hard. He wanted to do something!

Turning for home, he slowly started flying towards the rainforest, towards his and Pedro's home, flying extra slow, trying to make himself tired, or perhaps, making sure not miss an opportunity to actually find something interesting to do.

That's when something pushed sharply down on his back, and the next thing he knew, he was falling, his wings useless due to the weight pushing down on him.

Just before he hit the ground, the weight completely disappeared, and he was left to take on the force of the ground rushing up to hit him alone. Luckily for him, he had been flying relatively low, yet he still had the wind knocked out of him, and found himself in a groggy daze, gasping, trying to regain his breath. His chest and stomach, which he had landed on, were killing him, though he didn't think he broke anything. Still, it made it that much harder to breathe, and so he clutched his chest, trying to get the pain to stop.

Something surprised Nico by tugging on his foot, and he realized he was being dragged, the pain in his stomach and chest flaring up. To where, he had no idea. By whom? He couldn't see their faces, or anything really, for that matter. Everything was a big, fuzzy blob with no defining detail, which included the attacker dragging him by the foot. Though every nerve in his body told him to, he didn't attempt to free himself: he knew he was to weak, and didn't even attempt to move. He closed his eyes.

I should have gone back to the hollow, after all, Nico thought lazily as he felt the ground move roughly beneath his back.

Opening his eyes was painful, but he forced himself to anyways, to see if he could figure anything out now. Right then, the thing tugging at him suddenly let go, and stopped dragging him. Nico suddenly saw a dark shape move sharply into his beak, before a short explosion of pain followed, almost instantly followed by the darkness of unconsciousness.

Nico slowly opened his eyes, and instantly shut them again when a horrible pain shot up in his head. He clutched his head: he had the worst headache ever. He squeezed his eyes shut to try and ease the pain.

The second thing he noticed was the enormous pain in his beak and that something was dripping from his mouth and nostrils. The copper taste in his mouth told him that it was blood, and he assumed that what was dripping out of his nostrils was the same. He didn't want to move.

Groaning, he opened his eyes. Strangely, everything was a little more focused than it had been previously. After a moment, his eyes became somewhat more focused, and he could finally see where he was: a dark alleyway. He could see the towering buildings on either side of him, but that was all. The darkness and his grogginess prevented him from making out anymore detail.

Nico had absolutely no idea how long he had been out. But, seeing as the sun hadn't begun to rise yet, he assumed it hadn't been too long.

Then Nico noticed something else: his head felt cooler than usual. Reaching up, he touched his head—no bottle cap.

He growled. Beat him up, knock him out, drag him into an alleyway for God knows what, fine! But no one touched the cap!

Blinking a few more times, he managed to get a more defined look at everything, but everything was still kind of fuzzy around the edges.

Planting his wings against the ground, he began the slow and painful process of lifting himself to his feet, his knees almost buckling under his own weight. He placed both his wings against the side of the alley, steadying himself, waiting for when he would be able to walk without stumbling into everything in his path, and, eventually, fly.

Then, his leg gave out, and before he knew it, he was on the ground, lying on his back, which was already aching pretty badly after all he had been though in the last sixty seconds of his consciousness. It took him a few seconds to realize the pain in the leg that had given out, and he realized than that the leg hadn't given out. It had been kicked out from under him.

"Well, well, well, boys, look at poor little Tweety, here."

Damn! Nico thought. He knew that voice anywhere.

Slowly opening his eyes, which had since become increasingly focused, he saw Thiago, Carlos, and Maximiliano towering above him, the eagles' massive stature making him feel small and insignificant.

"Oh, did I do that?" Thiago continued, tauntingly. "I'm sorry. Please, stand up."

With a good amount of effort, Nico stood up again, this time not using the wall for support. He would retain as much dignity as possible, and wouldn't look weak in front of his assailants—although, he knew that that ship had sailed.

He had barely stood up when his leg was kicked out again, this time by Carlos, and he crumpled back down to the ground, the eagles' sadistic laughter following him down. He had definitely seen that coming. And now, his leg was starting to hurt.

Carlos crouched way down low, placing his face just centimeters from Nico's, and the black eagle half-whispered menacingly, "Now, do you think I'm a deaf and stupid puppet?"

Nico, sat up, holding his side, which had hit the ground, groaned, forced a smile, and half groaned out, "More than ever."

Carlos returned his smile, as if he found what Nico had just said amusing. He stood up to his towering full height, and delivered a staggering kick to Nico's side, the one that he was clutching.

Nico half gasped, half groaned in pain as he, once again, fell fully onto the ground of the dark alleyway, clutching his side even harder, his breathing becoming louder.

Carlos brought back his leg again for another kick, when Thiago stopped him at the last second. "That's enough, Carlos. Save your energy for the really good stuff."

Nico was scared. If Thiago didn't consider a staggering kick to the side "the really good stuff," Nico really didn't want to know what he considered good.

Looked like Rafael was right. Of course Rafael was right, Nico thought, angry, not with Rafael, but with himself. He's always right! He shouldn't have agitated the eagles so much. Now, it looked as if he was really about to get a first-hand taste of what the eagles really were capable of.

Suddenly, a white hot, slashing pain erupted in his side, the one he had fell on and had been brutally kicked in. Instinctively, he yelled out in considerable pain, and brought a wing to where the pain was, to put pressure on it. He felt his wing suddenly grow very wet and somewhat sticky, and realized that he was bleeding, pretty badly, from his side. One of the eagles had slashed him in the side with his talons, and when he looked up, he saw red on Thiago's talons.

"What, no smart comeback? No insults? Now where did all of that courage go? Not here, since Rafi isn't here to bail you out?" Thiago laughed. "We have decided that Rafael can do as he pleases, but I can almost guarantee you that he won't start a bloodbath by booting us out of Rio just for the likes of you."

They were right, Nico realized. Rafael wouldn't risk the lives of tens or hundreds just because Nico had fallen in wrong with these three eagles. As Rafi had told him once: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, as horrible as it may sound." And Nico felt mad, mad that Rafael wouldn't make these eagles pay, yet knew that tens or hundreds of birds shouldn't die because of his needs. Nico should have listened to Rafael.

Maximiliano snickered. "Look at you. Your weak. Small. Worthless. You claim you have friends. But where are they now? Huh?"

These eagles had a way of being able to make it seem like you really were a useless bird with nothing to live for, that you were weak. And that is exactly what they did to Nico. Towering over his bleeding form, telling him that he was too weak to fight back, that he was too small to do anything about it.

And Nico realized, it was true. We was small. Weak. He guessed he always knew it. He always knew that he was smaller than normal, and that he could never take these eagles on, even in his dreams. But, just the way Maximiliano said it really got to him, made him realize that they would have no problem killing him, no problem with any resistance. He was just too small. And no one was coming for him.

And then, Nico did something he never, ever did, not alone, nor—especially—around anybody else: he cried. He felt truly helpless. He realized that he would probably end up like all of the others who messed with Thiago and his bookies: dead. It wasn't this fact that disturbed him most, but the fact that he couldn't even try to do anything about it. Any resistance attempt, especially in his condition now, would be pathetic.

So, tears spilt uncontrollably from Nico's eyes as he realized how much more of a weakling he must look like now, cowering before these three eagles, crying his eyes out. This thought didn't help much, and neither did the thought that he would probably never see his friends again—or rather, they would never see him again. Pedro, Rafael, Blu, Jewel, even Luiz. They would never know exactly what happened to him, yet would know who was responsible, and that he was unable to prevent it.

"Aww, look at the poor baby cry," Carlos snarled, and then, not caring if anyone else outside of the group saw or cared, delivered another gut-wrenching kick, this time, to Nico's stomach, and laughed as Nico was thrown onto his back, holding his stomach and nearly vomiting.

"Boys," Thiago said darkly, looking down at the writhing Nico, tears still dripping from the canary's eyes, "lets get to it!"

Pedro groaned as he opened his eyes; sunlight flowed painfully into them. Groaning again, he rubbed his head as he sat up in his nest on his side of the hollow, which was located high in a relatively large tree in the middle of the rainforest.

Never again, thought Pedro through his booming headache. He always thought this after a big, late-night party, with his head throbbing and his limbs feeling like Jell-O. Did he ever listen to himself?

Nope.

For a moment, he shut his eyes against the intruding sunlight that made his headache all the worse. When he felt he could open his eyes without them feeling like they would burn out of their sockets, he did it slowly, adjusting to the light as he went along.

Once his eyes were completely open, he turned his head slowly, looking around the pretty spacious hollow. Tall ceiling, numerous collected objects lying scattered on the floor, a pile of leaves lay to one side, an empty nest, a—

Wait, what?

He sharply jerked his head (which he knew he would regret later) towards the empty nest, Nico's empty nest, and last night's events came flooding back to him: Nico going out for a fly after Pedro turned for home, promising to be back by sunup, Pedro telling him he would be worried if he didn't, and promptly being jabbed at for doing so.

It wasn't in Pedro's nature to be nervous, worried, or anxious. He was Pedro, one of the coolest and well-known birds Rio had to offer. Those emotions weren't in his résumé.

However, he now felt all three.

I told that friggin' bird to be back by sunup! Pedro thought. What if… grr, look at me, worrying like a mother hen.

Pedro had never worried about Nico like this before. But then again, Nico was never this late. He had known Nico for seven years, and so he could safely say he knew him better than anyone else. Nico had never once been later than a few minutes. So, it was reasonable for Pedro to get a little worried when Nico went out for a fly, alone, at three-thirty A.M., and is now no where to be found a good hour after sunrise.

Pedro tried to comfort himself: Chill, bird! You've been awake for a minute and already, your losing feathers. He probably just lost track of time.

Lost track of time? There is a pretty distinct difference between night and day! his subconscious answered back.

Ok… maybe he fell asleep somewhere, a-and… just didn't want to fly home and possibly crash…

Maybe. But then again… maybe not.

Pedro knew he had to calm down. He was going to give himself an aneurism. But what would he do? Nico was not here, and he had no idea where to start looking. He hadn't exactly given Pedro exact coordinates of where he was going.

But who says he's even in trouble?

Pedro's subconscious had a good point. Maybe he just decided to stay out longer. Or maybe he really did just decide to crash somewhere else for the night. After all, they weren't joined at the hip. They were big birds, and could make their own decisions.

Y-yeah, let's go with that. However, Pedro was still unsure. Fine! I'll go out for some grub, and if Nico ain't back by the time I get back…

What would he do?

Nico had stopped crying a long time ago. Maybe because he got over the fact that he was going to die. Or maybe he had run out of tears. Probably, it was because he was too tired to cry.

Four hours. That was about how long he had been beaten up, tortured, by those three eagles, from when he had woken up in the alley, to now, when the sun was starting to rise. Needless to say, staying up all night, added onto getting the crap beaten out of him by three massive eagles, made him exhausted, to say the least. He barely had energy to move anymore, partly from the exhaustion, partly from the numerous cuts, bruises, and other injuries that covered his body.

There was barely a place on his body that was yellow anymore. Most places were a light brownish-red color, from all of the blood staining his yellow feathers. Large slashes covered his entire body in groups of three, long, red lines from the three talons each eagle had on each foot. Most of them were still bleeding freely. His beak was completely splattered with dried blood, covered in a layer of fresh blood. He had received some pretty nasty kicks to the beak, blood flowing from it, pooling on the ground below him. He hoped it wasn't broken.

And, speaking of kicks, he had also received some really bad ones to his sides and stomach, and he would be surprised if he didn't, at least, have a few bruised ribs. He had even thrown up, shown by the puddle of it a few feet away. But, strangely, he didn't really remember it over the other inflicted injuries. Maybe because it was relatively insignificant, or because of the kick in the head, a wound he was still bleeding from.

Covered in blood and bruises, with a possibly broken beak and ribs, he was obviously in a considerable amount of pain, his stomach still hurting enormously, both from the kicks and the vomiting. Honestly, he would have cried some more, but crying would have taken up energy that he didn't possess.

And, whilst he was suffering in silent agony, surrounded by a puddle of blood, the three eagles were off to the side, admiring their bloody creation, laughing—especially Thiago, whose eyes shown with pure, twisted joy—not to say that Carlos' and Maximiliano's eyes didn't as well.

Nico's vision was blurry, and all he could hear was ringing. But still, he could hear the eagles stop their sadistic laughter, and could see them slowly making their way towards him, stopping once he was at their feet, crouching down so that their faces were just above his.

Thiago moved his beak, as he had many times that night, within centimeters of Nico's face; an intimidation tactic. Putting on that dreaded, pleasant-like smile, he whispered in that dreaded, kind-like voice, "This is what happens when you are mean to us. You have to realize, not even Rafael can save you. No one can. Now, you realize that, right now, I could easily kill you. Snap your neck, tear your heart out, tear off your head, cut open your stomach, any one of those, I could do. Easily. Quickly. And you know it."

Nico knew it. He knew that he was completely at Thiago's mercy.

"However," Thiago continued, "I will give you one more opportunity to escape that fate. While I'm not afraid of that toucan, still, I don't like to test him. He always seems to surprise everyone."

Nico was a little surprised. After he dragged Nico into an alley, kicked him, cut him, might have broken his beak and some ribs, Thiago was still afraid of Rafael, even though he said he wasn't.

"So, I won't kill you." Thiago smiled. "I can see by that perplexed look on your face that you are wondering why. Surely there is a reason besides Rafael why I am doing this. Well…"

Thiago leaned in even closer to Nico, their beaks nearly touching.

"I want to make an example out of you."

Nico managed to groan out through the intense pain, "E-e-exam-mple?"

"Yes, example. You are somewhat known around here for your unpunished defiance of me. Well, that is about to change. I will let you go. Someone will eventually find you here, and see the extent of the injuries you have. And, if they haven't pieced together who did it right then, they will once you start fearing me, and listening to me. Like everyone else. They will see that not even you can get away from me." His eyes suddenly turned cold. "I always win, Nico. Always. It's about time that you realize that."

Thiago stood up, full height, and brought a long, fearsome talon to Nico's neck. "And, if you haven't learned that little lesson"—he pressed the talon dangerously hard against Nico's neck—"I think you can piece together what will happen. Choose carefully."

With that, Thiago removed his talon, lifted his foot, and the last conscious image Nico had was Thiago's foot slamming into his face.

Nine-thirty. That was the time Pedro really started to panic. He had been waiting for Nico for what was going on two and a half hours, and still, no sign of the little canary. And his throbbing head from that neck jerk he did earlier didn't make the situation any better.

That's it! Pedro screamed in his head. I am going to find Nico if it is the last thing I do! I know something's wrong! Or at least something better be wrong! Cause if there ain't, there's gonna be! However, at this point, Pedro really didn't care if anything was wrong. He just wanted to be sure Nico was okay.

I know! I'll visit Rafi! If anyone can find Nico, it's Rafi. He knows everybody!

So, Pedro spread his wings, and, at full speed, darted towards the entrance of the hollow when, speak of the devil, Rafael suddenly appeared in the entrance. Needless to say, he was somewhat shocked to have Pedro darting towards him at full speed ahead.

"Rafi!" Pedro yelped, half in relief, half in shock.

Rafael barely had time to even register what Pedro had yelled before he was nearly knocked out of the hollow by the force of Pedro ramming, full force, into him. Pedro managed to stop just before they both went for a long fall from the hollow into the ground.

"Pedro!" Rafael said as he quickly walked away from the edge, which he had nearly gone over, dragging Pedro behind him. "What was that?"

Pedro laughed nervously, a little embarrassed. "Sorry, man. I was actually on my way to see ya."

"Like a bat out of Hell?" Rafael donned a parental, concerned look on his face. "Pedro, is something wrong?"

"It's about Nico—"

Rafael looked somewhat relieved. "He didn't come back last night, and you are worrying about what happened to him? Am I right?"

Pedro's eyes went wide. "What? How do you know?"

Rafael, with a slight smile, said the phrase that he was famous for: "Rafael knows everybody."

Pedro wasn't getting how this caused him to know that Nico was missing. "And…?"

Rafael's smile disappeared, replaced by a solemn look. "Well… another bird, by the name of Juan, found Nico in an old alleyway—"

Pedro's facial expression suddenly turned to a mixture of relief and anxiety, his eyes growing even wider than the last time. "What happened? Is he okay? How is he? Why was he in an alley? Who—"

"Hold on, bird!" Rafael pleaded, holding his wings up. "Take it easy! One question at a time!"

Pedro took a deep breath. "How's Nico doin'?"

Rafael sighed. "Don't worry, he'll live—"

Pedro suddenly took on a panicked look. "But what?" he asked worriedly. "What happened?"

"When he was found in the alley, he was pretty beat up. Cuts all over his body, blood everywhere, a head wound, bloody beak, and possibly other injuries."

"But don't worry!" Rafi added quickly, before Pedro could start another panic attack. "Chances are he'll be perfectly fine!" He instantly regretted saying that.

Pedro pounced on his mistake. "'Chances are'? What do you mean 'chances are'?"

Again, Rafael held up his wings. "Hey, hey, hey! Don't worry! I meant that he will be fine! Absolutely! It's just a figure of speech. But instead of discussing Nico, let's go visit him."

"Visit him? Where is he?"

"He's in that new 'Blu Bird Sanctuary'."

"That place Blu's human just recently built?"

"Ya. Don't worry. Her and the crazy bird guy—Linda and Tulio, I think their names are—know what they're doing. C'mon. Let's go."

Pedro wordlessly nodded, and the cardinal and the toucan silently flew out of the hollow towards the Sanctuary.

The light was blinding as Nico opened his eyes, and so he put up a wing in front of them to shield them from the light. Nico blinked to get rid of his eyes' sensitivity, and when he could painlessly open his eyes, he tried to sit up, but a pain in his chest and a nauseous feeling caused him to lie back down.

Looking around him, he noticed the bars encircling him and extending far over his head, the small bowl of water, the bowl of bird seed right next to that, the little bed of woodchips he was laying on. He was in a birdcage. The birdcage was placed on the counter of an almost completely white room—like the sterile environment of a hospital—with a single, open door and window, both on the far side of the room.

He looked down at his chest to see where the pain came from, and groaned in surprise when he saw bandages wrapped around his chest and legs, little splotches of blood that had soaked through showing all over.

What happened—?

Suddenly, he remembered: Thiago, Carlos, and Maximiliano, kicking and slashing, with himself cowering on the ground, to weak to move, clutching his chest and stomach.

Then, he remembered something else. He shot his wings up to his head and felt it feverishly. He felt the bandage that covered his head wound, and the flat feathers on his head.

But no bottle cap.

He sharply sat up, for which he was punished for with a sharp jab of pain in the ribs, and a flare up of his nausea. Instantly, he lay back down and clutched his chest and stomach with his wings, gritting his beak against the pain.

But more importantly, his bottle cap was gone. His most prized possession, for which he was known. It was his signature. He was the bird who wore a bottle cap. And he still remembered, to this day, how he had gotten it:

Seven years ago, Nico had been new to Rio. He had managed to hitch a ride on some cruise ship sailing from the Canary Islands to Rio de Janeiro. Why had he chosen to leave his birthplace for some city in South America thousands of miles away? He had lost his family back in the islands, and had been wandering around aimlessly when some bird, who was originally from Rio and was taking a vacation, had told him all about the magical city: the beaches, Carnival, samba. So, in short, he hopped aboard a ship that was Rio-bound, and before he knew it, he could see the massive statue of Jesus on the horizon.

However, his first experience of Rio was nothing like he had imagined. He had been there for less than eight hours when he had run into three nasty eagles on the beach—Thiago, Carlos, and Maximiliano, as he later found out. At first, they were just jerks, pushing him around, tripping him, that kind of stuff—because he was so small. But then, they got more violent. They slashed at Nico with their talons. Swiped at him with their wings. Pecked at him with their beaks. Before long, he was huddled in a little, bleeding ball, hoping they would just lose interest and leave.

Then Rafael showed up. As Nico later learned, he was on a leisurely fly when he just so happened to fly over Nico being attacked by those eagles. They had been acting up more than usual, lately, and so, fed up with their cruelty towards other animals, he flew down their, using his reputation to intimidate them. However, he wasn't alone. With him, was another bird, a red-crested cardinal. His name was Pedro. As Rafael gave the eagles Hell, Pedro had dragged the shaken Nico away and placed him in back of himself and Rafael. Eventually, Rafael got the eagles to high tail it out of there, and turned to ask Nico some questions.

The two eventually found out the canary's story of why he was here, that he had no place to go, and would probably sleep somewhere on the beach. For some reason—to this day, Nico still has no idea why—Pedro had offered Nico to stay with him for a night, and so, since he had no where else to go, Nico had accepted.

One night turned to two, two nights to four, four nights to eight, and so on. Nico and Pedro got along fantastically. And so, Pedro showed Nico the ropes of Rio. Took him to clubs, showed him the beaches, taught him how to pick up chicks. One night, while Nico was being "shown the ropes", the two started fooling around, and, eventually, Nico some how ended up in a pile of trash. When he emerged, a bottle cap with a green top, with four, curving, blue stripes on it sat on his head. Pedro had laughed, saying how Nico had found a hat. At the time, he hadn't known that Nico would actually like the bottle cap hat look. But he had, and he made it his signature style.

That was why his bottle cap was so special and prized to him. When Nico had no other friends in Rio, Pedro had basically taken him under his wing, and what had at first been a joke between the two became a part of Nico, because of Pedro's joke. The way Nico looked at it, Pedro had been the one who inspired the bottle cap look, and so, he was very protective of it, as weird as it may sound.

And this was also why he was so furious with himself for allowing it to be lost.

"Wow, man, you look like crap."

The voice broke Nico's concentration, and he turned to see Pedro standing outside of the bars of the cage, giving Nico a kind of "I told ya so" look.

Nico couldn't help but smile. "You'll never let me live this down, will you?" He carefully stood up, being careful of his aching… well, everywhere ached… leaning against the bars for support.

Pedro flashed Nico a knowing grin. "Nope. This is what happens when you don't listen to Pedro. No more staying out alone at three in the morning for you!"

They both laughed—hard. Not because they joke was that funny, but because it was a way to break the ice, to get rid of the semi-awkward atmosphere.

Eventually, they both stopped laughing, and Pedro's face grew serious quickly.

"In all seriousness, man, what happened? Who would have wanted to beat the crap out of you?"

Nico remembered what Thiago had said, what he wanted. He wanted Nico to tell everyone that he had done this to him, that not even Nico could escape Thiago. He couldn't tell Pedro that Thiago was responsible.

However, Pedro would eventually realize that Thiago was responsible, if he didn't already know. He would realize that Nico was acting meek and afraid around Thiago and his gang, and would piece together why. And Pedro was Nico's best friend. Nico truly felt that he could trust Pedro with anything. He needed to tell him.

So, Nico took in a deep breath, and said "Thiago."

As Nico had half expected, Pedro wasn't surprised. No big realization or gasp, but Pedro half-muttering, "Those eagles! I knew it! I swear, if it's the last thing I do…"

Nico automatically knew that Pedro intended to finish off that sentence with "…I'll kill them!" and so he interjected, "No Pedro! These birds will kill you!"

Suddenly, a puzzled look crossed Pedro's face. "Why didn't they kill you? These eagles don't usually stop at assault."

Nico averted Pedro's eyes. "Um… it must have been because they didn't want to push Rafi too far. You know how they're afraid of him."

It was the timid tone of Nico's voice that tipped Pedro off that either Nico was lying, or that it wasn't the whole truth.

"And what else?"

"What else, what?"

"Nico, man, I've known you for years. I can tell when you're lying, or not telling the whole deal. What's up?"

Nico, again, let out a hefty sigh, made eye contact with Pedro—Pedro could see the worry in Nico's eyes—and said, "Fine… they let me go… so that…" he let out another sigh. "…So that people would know how weak I really am. How defenseless I am when dealing with them… how pathetic I am…" However, Nico had no intention of telling Pedro about Thiago's death threat.

Pedro was shocked. Never in all of the years that he had known Nico had he seen Nico's self esteem so low, except for their first run in with the eagles. Over the years, Nico's self esteem had built up. Now, it seemed to be crumbling down.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, man!" Pedro stopped Nico before he could continue. "Pathetic? Defenseless? Weak? Yo, bird, you're not any of those things! You think so because three eagles, four times the size of both of us, gang up on you by surprise? Those odds are stacked against any bird!"

"I wasn't even able to fight back! Because I am so small!"

"It would be the same exact way for any bird against them." Pedro pressed his beak in between the bars of the cage. "Listen man, you are not pathetic, defenseless, or weak. You are a bird with epic skillz! You're one of the most popular birds in Rio! You can dance, sing, and pick up chicks like no other bird!"

Nico had to laugh at the last reason.

Pedro grew a little more serious. "And you have high self esteem! You are always confident about yourself! Don't let those three lunatics take that away from you."

Nico thought these points over, before grinning. "You're right—especially 'bout the chick part."

Pedro shot the grin back, before his eyes widened suddenly. "Oh! I almost forgot! Stay right here!" And without further explanation, he pulled back from the cage bars and flew out the door of the room frantically, the way an excited child does from his bedroom on Christmas morning.

Nico didn't know what Pedro was up to this time. The last time he was up to something, it took weeks for Nico's feathers to grow back. However, Nico had the feeling that, this time, he would be pleasantly surprised.

Pedro flew back into the room, all the while making sure not to reveal the concealed object he hid behind him. Once he was back on the counter next to the cage, he hid the mysterious object behind his back.

"Guess what it is!" Pedro exclaimed excitedly.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Do I have to?"

"Yes! Now guess!"

Nico sighed. "Um… a pony?"

"Close."

Nico looked puzzled. "What could be close to a pony that you could hide behind your back?"

"This!" And without further ado, Pedro revealed the object that he was hiding behind his back. And though it was nowhere close to a pony, Nico's eyes went wide at the sight of it.

It was Nico's beloved bottle cap.

Nico grinned wildly and laughed. "Thank God, I thought I lost you. Come to papa!" He shot his wings though the cage bars, snatched the bottle cap from Pedro's wings and placed it slanted on his head, patting it down with the satisfaction of having it back where it belonged. "Where did you ever find this thing?"

"The bird who found you K.O. in the alleyway also found your bottle cap at the alley's entrance. It was actually how he found ya to begin with. I knew that old thing would come in handy someday."

"Cool! Now I'll be able to go clubbing and samba…ing… with you! I don't know if I could have ever done it with out my cap!"

"Well, then, I got some good news for ya! You're gonna be samba-ing again in no time! I over heard the crazy bird guy with the glasses. He said all you have are some deep cuts, and a few stitches in your head, which should heal in no time. He also said something about mildly bruised ribs that should heal in a week or few, and that you'll have to take it kind of easy. But considering the beat down you got, I'm surprised that's all!"

"Yeah," Nico said, rubbing his aching, bandaged chest gently. "I'm glad that's all. And you bringing back my cap helps."

"Well," Pedro explained, "I wouldn't even know you were here if Rafi hadn't told me." Pedro turned and looked around. "Hey, where is Rafi, anyways? I followed him here. Where'd he vanish to?"

Nico shrugged. "I don't know, maybe he had something to do?"

"Oh! That reminds me. I have something else for you!" Again, Pedro was flying at light speed out of the room.

"How does that remind you—?"

Nico's throat clenched, eyes grew wide, wings hung by his side, and mouth fell open as Pedro dragged in the massive Reece's Peanut Butter Cup into the room. Though small to a human, it was half of Nico's size.

Pedro managed to lift the candy onto the counter and squeeze it through the bars of the birdcage.

Nico's mouth watered as he looked at the massive, peanut butter filled candy. He could already taste it. It was then when he realized exactly how starving he really was.

Pedro grinned. "Eat up."

A little bluebird was happily walking on the beach, eyes closed, a smile on his beak. Oh, how he loved the bright, warm sun. The bright blue sky. The perfectly heated sand. The sound of the waves. It was all so perfect!

"Hey, small fry! What are you doing on this beach?"

The little bird whipped around to see three towering forms over him: Thiago, Carlos, and Maximiliano, the three meanest eagles in all of Rio. He involuntarily began to tremble.

Carlos and Maximiliano glared down upon him with cold, dark eyes, looking as if they were ready to strike. Thiago, on the other hand, smiled almost pleasantly down on him. To tell the truth, it was worse than the glares.

"You didn't answer me." Thiago's almost pleasant voice matched the smile. "I thought that I kindly told you to—"

"Thiago!"

The eagle froze. He knew that voice. How he loathed that voice!

Rafael landed between the three eagles and the small bluebird. Turning his head to look softly at the bluebird, he said, "Go. They won't be troubling you anymore today."

The little bird, happy to comply, barely nodded at the toucan before zooming off in the opposite direction so fast, he could have left a smoke trail.

Rafael turned his look to the gang of eagles. This time, his look was a glare, the one he had practiced tirelessly on eighteen little toucans.

"Rafi," Thiago said "pleasantly", "you know our deal. You stay out of my affairs, I stay out of—"

The toucan's glare hardened. "I didn't come here to interfere in your 'affairs'! I came because you interfered in mine! I can't protect everyone, so I let you go on with being a jerk to the other birds, since I couldn't kick you out of the city without some major risks. I just asked that you didn't mess with my friends and family."

Thiago smiled. "Well, Rafi, everyone's your friend, since you do know everyone."

"You know what I mean!" Rafael snapped back. "My close friends! As I said, I can't protect everyone. And so, against my better judgment, I turned my back. But now… you've interfered in my life! I know you were the ones behind Nico's injuries! Don't try to deny it!"

"Rafi, Rafi, Rafi!" Thiago feigned a shocked look. "I never realized you were that selfish. Jumping ship with your loved ones, leaving all the others to bear the brunt. I'm shocked."

True, Rafael had his conscience nagging at him for protecting only his family and friends from these three ruthless bullies, and not all of Rio. But what else could he do? Trying to protect the whole city was an insane proposition. There would be too many at too much risk with these eagles on a rampage, if he did indeed try to kick them out of Rio de Janeiro. He would only attempt this is things got completely out of hand. And so, he did what any husband, father, and friend would do: protect those close to him.

That was what he was doing right now. "Don't play any games! The point is, you attacked my friend—"

"So?" Thiago sharply cut Rafael off. "Oh, please. Stop trying to act so tough! We both know that you could kick us out, even if it did cost lives. But, we both also know that you would never attempt that on the grounds of something so insignificant as us roughing up your little friend! No one would even follow you for that reason anyways. So stop acting as if they would!"

He was right. The charade was up. They both knew that Rafael would never start a mini-war in Rio just because Nico got hurt. The gain was far less than the loss. And, even though Rafael had great influence over the birds of Rio, if he was going to attempt something that serious, he would still need a good reason. No one would agree to Nico being one.

"This is my town, Rafael. Don't forget that."

Rafael glared at Thiago dead in the eyes. "Did you forget who you were talking to for a moment, amigo?" The word "amigo" was dripping with sarcasm. "You still better watch out. If I find just cause, I will have you three kicked out of this town so fast, your heads will spin, no matter how many friends you have." In all honesty, Rafael wasn't so sure how true this statement was. But still, he needed to make it sound like he completely meant it. "So, you three better watch your backs, watch every move you make. I'll be watching. Always."

And, on that note, Rafael turned, spread his wings, and launched himself into the air, disappearing into the horizon.

And, as he watched the toucan depart, Thiago muttered two words, venom dripping from his voice:

"We'll see."