Woo, 'nother chapter!

I don't own 'The Penguins of Madagascar'... I'm going to stop saying this from now on.

The four male Penguins were shocked silent for a moment. Rico's face scowled, his scar contorting with his frown. Private looked absolutely horrified, "Tha-that's not true, is it Rico?" He asked nervously.

Rico shook his head, "Nu-uh!"

"Liar! I risked my life to save you and you thanked me by running away!" Megan yelled, getting beak to beak with Rico.

The tension in the room was rising fast, threatening to break. Pure hate radiated from Megan while rage did the same with Rico. They looked as if they were going to kill the other at any moment. Before that could happen Skipper butted in, putting his flippers between them and pulling them apart. "That's enough you two!" He turned to the female, "Why don't you explain what happened?" It would be easier to get the story from her, since Rico was just a little hard to understand.

"Gladly." She said before sitting back down.

*Insert cheesy flashback effects here*

The Antarctic landscape was bare, nothing but flat snow covered land as far as the eye could see. The sky was a bleak gray, the temperature was a usual bitter cold for the time of year. Two young Penguins walked along, one following after the other.

"Rico! Please wait!" The female called out.

The male stopped with a huff and turned back to look angrily at the other. "Get back to the flock, you know it's not safe out here!" She pleaded after she caught up with him. Rico shook his head no and remained silent. "I know you're tired of the others making fun of you but that's no reason to run off!" He rolled his eyes. What was the big deal? There was nothing out here but snow.

"Come on Rico, let's go back. We can collect rocks to throw at them." She smiled as she reached for his flipper. He pulled away from her and tried walking away again. Megan grabbed a hold of him. "Stop being so childish Rico!"

That's when he lost his temper, it happened so fast he can't remember exactly what he did. But Megan was laying on the ground, rubbing her cheek and looking at him with wide-scared eyes. Apparently in a fit of angry he hit her. Rico quickly moved over to her trying to apologize. But she ignored his gargled words as she got back on her feet. She seemed calm as she spoke. "Fine. If you want to get yourself killed, that's fine by me." Without another word she turned away and began walking back to the safety of the flock.

Rico considered doing the same but after what just happened he really didn't want to return. So he continued to walk with no destination in mind. Sometime later the wind started to pick up and the sky was getting dark, signaling a storm was coming. The wind got so intense that it almost knocked Rico off his feet. He looked around quickly in search of shelter. Luckily enough there was a small cave in sight and he trekked his way over.

Once inside he looked about the frozen cave, mesmerized by the ice formations and the reflections his body cast on them. Rico walked deeper into the cave until he heard a deep chuckle behind him. He whipped around to find there was a large seal between himself and the exit. It looked down at him hungrily. "Well, this certainly is a surprise! I come in here to take a little nap and wake up to find dinner has come to me! Delightful." It said in a heavy voice. Rico backed away until he came to rest against an icy stalagmite on the floor of the cave. He had no form of escape.

Licking his chops the seal inched closer before lunging itself at the Penguin. But the attack was cut short, one of its sharp upper fangs gouged into Rico's left cheek. Rico recoiled in pain, clutching at his face and feeling warm liquid leak between his flippers. For a moment the rest of the world seemed to melt away as a throbbing pain ran across his face. But that sensation didn't last long. As his hearing came back it was filled with a deep roaring sound. Rico looked up to the sight of the seal rearing back trying to throw another Penguin off the back of its head. It was Megan! She peaking at the seals head harshly with her beak.

He seemed to forget his injury as he watched the scene unfold. The seals outburst was so loud it shook the whole cave, hanging icicle threatening to fall. At that moment Megan's grip finally gave and she flew up into the air. She hit the roof with force and came down toward the seals waiting jaws. But she wasn't the only thing that came down, her impact into the cave caused the ice to shatter and large chunks of the cave came crashing down. It buried both of them.

Rico seemed stunned for several moments. When he came to his senses he rushed over to where Megan had been. He moved large blocks of ice away until he uncovered the seals head. Blood was everywhere, coming out the top of its head and mouth. That's where Rico saw Megan, half inside its mouth. He cautiously opened the mouth, unsure if it was still alive, and pulled her out. Three long-deep cuts marred her back. She was losing a lot of blood. Carefully Rico turned her over and checked to see if she was still breathing.

Slowly her eyes opened. The normal bright green seemed glazed over but she still managed to focus on Rico. "See, I told you it was dangerous out here." She said weakly as she reached a shaky flipper toward his damaged face, but fell unconscious before making contact.

*End Flashback*

"I woke up, ALONE, next to a dead seal. Rico was nowhere to be found. I had to drag myself back to the flock. I almost died because he was a coward and a traitor!" Anger and hurt filled her. "You left me to die. Why?" She asked sadly.

Rico shook his head no and managed to ground out the words, "Not true!"

Just so you know, the flashback contains more than the story Megan told the other Penguins. (Clearly, because Megan wouldn't know what was going on while she wasn't there)

Also, it's my theory that Rico was born with some kind of defect that makes it difficult for him to talk. As far as I know the Movies and Cartoon haven't explain this. Am I correct?