This is my first fanfiction hope you guys enjoy it!

Rico's IQ

3rd person pov

Prologue:

The sun set over the harbor in the big apple as the great city's lights came on one by one. The day's perpetual sounds continued on into the night with the traffic and the noise of the people echoing throughout the streets. Deep in the heart of the city, weaving in and out of the shadows in the alleys and backstreets a lone figure emerged from the darkness. Looking both ways so as to not be spotted by the humans, the penguin slide quietly across the deserted alleyway and hide behind a brick wall. He knew time was of the essence, but nonetheless, he had to remain in stealth mode, one false move and the humans would catch him and ship him back to the zoo and his doom.

He looked around the corner from his position, and quickly leapt back as a human came around it, very nearly stepping on him. He darted back behind a trash can as the man paused and looked around warily. Finally he rolled his eyes and continued walking. "That was close," He thought as he moved out of the shadows. Suddenly, a small noise alerted him from behind. He stiffened and whipped around in fighting stance. Scanning the area slowly, looking in all the dark patches that covered the alley, he pricked his ears for any noise that might hint that he was not alone. After a few minutes he lowered his flippers and continued his journey across the city.

Making sure the coast was clear, he slid quickly to the other alley and stuck to the shadows against the wall. Moving through all the back ways would take longer to get him to where he intended to go, but he couldn't afford to take any risks, not anymore. He thought he heard footsteps and quickly turned, but found no one there. "Focus man," he told himself, "there's no way he could have tracked you this far…..Could he?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw something move in the shadows. Jumping back, he looked around, just then a small rat scurried across the alley. He sighed, he was just being paranoid. He shook his head to clear his thoughts he couldn't let his imagination get the better of him now.

Swiftly, he climbed a lamppost and looked around. He definitely was on the right track, Lexington was straight ahead. He leapt down from the post and looked around, he had to get across, but how? Normally he would have asked for options from Kowalski, but he was on his own. He felt a pang at his heart remembering his fateful lieutenant. "Stop," he told himself "Now isn't the time for a pity party."

He looked around at the people passing by. A large man with a beard, No, a woman carrying a briefcase, No, a man pushing a stroller, "Tempting," he thought, "but he could spot me before we got across." Just then a woman walked by with a large handbag, "Bingo," he thought, "looks like we have a winner." He dashed forward and landed safely inside the handbag as the woman crossed. As she passed by a fence he jumped out and slide underneath it. The woman stopped and looked down at her handbag. "That's strange," she thought, "I could have sworn this was heavier." She shrugged and walked on.

The penguin peered out from under the fence. "Almost there," he thought, "just a few more blocks." He weaved and slide through the darkened corners of the streets, and then he saw it. Grand Central Station loomed in front of him. He heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of it. Carefully, he made his way over to the entrance and looked in. An overwhelming sadness washed over him as he remembered the time he and his team had escaped from the zoo and made their way here, hoping to get to Antarctica, but in the end the cops had shown up and tranquilized them all and they ended up on a ship headed for Kenya. However, they did eventually get to Antarctica. "Antarctica," he said to himself as he shook his head in disgust "nothing but a block of ice."

He slid quietly through the station without being spotted and made his way to the train yard. He looked around at all the trains. "Hmmmm," he said to himself he pointed his flipper at a random train. "Eenie," he pointed again "meanie," another point "mineie." "Moe," his flipper came to rest on a Metroliner already starting to pull away.

Suddenly, he had the strangest feeling that he was being watched. On instinct, he looked around and caught a glimpse of a penguin shaped figure sliding back into the darkest of the shadows covering the train opposite him. At that moment he felt his heart stop and his blood turn to ice in his veins. "That can't be him," he thought, willing it to just be his eyes playing tricks on him. Just as he began to turn back he saw the shadow move and slip nearer to him. He stood frozen for a moment then took off at a run which quickly turned into a belly slide as he launched himself over a pile of wood left to rot.

Dodging and weaving between the trains, he slid as fast as he could to catch the Metroliner that was already picking up speed and leaving the station. He felt raw fear creeping up on him as he propelled himself faster to catch the train knowing all too well who the shadowy figure really was and what would happen if he allowed it to reach him. He pulled even with the train, but it was going too fast and he was barely able to keep up with the last car.

He looked to the shadows and saw the figure sliding along them, but he was quite a distance away and didn't seem to be in any hurry to catch up. Suddenly, he realized what was happening. The figure had no intentions of trying to stop him, the train was gaining speed and he would quickly lose it. It was going to corner him so there would be no escape, if he lost this train he would be trapped, trapped with him.

That thought gave him the burst of energy he needed and with a rush of adrenaline he shot forward off some planks and flew into the air. For a few seconds, he hung there, then plunged back down to earth. His side connected hard with the side of the train and the air was knocked out of his lungs as he scrabbled for a handhold. The wood was slick and it didn't help at all to have flippers. He was losing his grip and sliding off, he grabbed desperately at the wood until his flipper caught in a hole. Using the last of his strength, he hauled himself up over the side and flopped onto his back with a sigh of relief. For a moment, he laid there and let the cool night air wash over him. Then, with a grunt he pulled himself to his feet and waddled over to the door pulling shut. Then, he collapsed in an exhausted heap against it in the darkness and closed his eyes settling into the warm slumber that now engulfed him.

He raced away as fast as he could with Private on his heels. He knew that their attacker wouldn't be too far behind. When they reached the park they decided to stop, hiding behind a bush Skipper looked back the way they had come and sighed in relief when he saw no one. "I think we lost him," said Skipper looking back toward the Private, and was shocked to see a look a pure terror on the boy's face. "Skippa look out!" He yelled as he flung himself at his leader and Skipper whammed into the ground. Then he heard Private's wail of pain. "PRIVATE!" He yelled. He shot straight up, looking around desperately for the young penguin, then relaxed, realizing that he was on the train. He leaned back, still breathing heavily and closed his eyes as the menacing words of his former teammate echoed in his head. "You can run Skipper, but you can't hide, one way or another I'll find you and when I do there won't be anyone there to save you next time."

He opened his eyes and got to his feet. He winced feeling the soreness of his chest where he had smacked into the side of the car. Standing stiffly, he tried to get his bearings, but it was pitch black and he couldn't see a thing. Then, he remembered something, feeling around him, he looked for the object, but his flippers slid over the floor without any luck. He felt a small sense of panic rising thinking he had lost it when he had collided with the train, but then his flipper wrapped around the smooth tube and with a sigh he found what he was looking for.

With a small crack the car filled with light as the glow stick shimmered in the darkness. It had been the only thing he was able to grab before he left. Using it like a torch he looked around the car, there wasn't much in there only a few huge crates and some debris left by hobos who rode the rails. He saw something flash in the light and looking more closely he realized what it was. He waddled over to the tape recorder and looked inside, it had a roll of tape ready to go. He smiled to himself and sat down beside it.

"Skipper's log, 2200 hours." "Due to recent events I have had to leave the zoo, and probably Manhattan, forever." He paused to gather his thoughts before continuing. "I now have a new enemy, far smarter and more dangerous than Blowhole could ever wish to be." "Kowalski and Private are gone and Rico," he hesitated, "Rico is gone too, but not like the others he is gone into the darkness of his own mind." "I think he followed me to the station but I managed to make the train before he could catch me." He stopped. He wasn't quite sure how to continue.

He sat up, turned the tape recorder off, and eased himself against a wall watching the shadows dance across the inside of the train as the glow stick rocked back and forth. For a while, he stayed lost in his thoughts about the past week and desperately tried to figure out how things could have gotten so out of hand in so little time. He looked back over to the tape recorder, maybe if he told the story aloud he would be able to sort things out more clearly in his head, and find some kind of defense against the enemy that was once his brother in arms. He sat up slowly, pressed the record button, took a deep breath, and began. "All our troubles began with one failed mission…"