Disclaimer: I do not own All Hail King Julien or any of its characters. But I do own Emily, Patch, Weasel, Lilian, and Elizabeth, and the fossa with names.
A smirk on his face, Karl started clapping. Julien just stared at him, dumbfounded. When did he come into all this? Was he working with the fossa? Julien still didn't understand what Karl had against him, but he did know that the fanaloka didn't like him for some reason.
"Oh, Julien, Julien-Oh!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Excuse me. I meant King Julien. Except you're not a king anymore."
He snapped his fingers and Julien felt tiny legs going up his spine. He shivered and turned to see the hissing cockroach on his shoulder. Screaming, he tried knocking it off, but the little creature was faster. It jumped in the air to avoid Julien's swinging hands and the next thing the ringtail knew it had his crown. It hopped off him and hurried over to Karl, climbing on his shoulder. Instead of freaking out like Julien did, Karl patted the purring roach.
"Thank you, Chauncey." Karl took the crown from the little creature. "Now Julien," he said, turning back to the stunned lemur. "Do you now see what I'm hoping to accomplish?"
"No," Julien admitted.
Karl blinked at him, then smiled. "Oh, I see what's going on here. You know how much I love bragging about my schemes. You're too kind, Julien. Too kind."
He snapped his fingers again and suddenly fossa stalked out of the bushes, circling Julien and cutting off any route to freedom. Gulping, Julien turned back to Karl.
"W-What are you going to do to me?" the king stammered, shaking uncontrollably.
"I'm not going to kill you if that's what you're thinking. Not yet at least," Karl told him, spinning Julien's crown on his finger. "But our game of who's superior is finally over- and guess what, I win!" He laughed menacingly.
Frantically, Julien glanced around. How was he supposed to get out of this one?
Leaving the trees behind them, Patch, Clover, Maurice, and Sage tracked their way through fossa territory. They were careful not to make a sound. When they would spot a fossa in the distance stalking, they'd make for the nearest bush and hide there until the coast was clear.
"I can't believe all this is happening," Maurice finally broke the silence. "I thought after we took our kingdom back from the mountain lemurs, we wouldn't have anything else to worry about." He finished with a deep sigh.
Clover glanced at him. "But with the fossa, we should always be wary," she reminded him.
"She's right," Sage chipped in from where he stood beside Patch, who listened to their conversation guilty. "My brother was just looking for power," the mountain lemur continued," but the fossa are predators. They hunt lemurs, which is what we are."
"For once Sage is talking sense," Clover said. "But this time the fossa aren't looking for a snack. They are up to something, and we are the only lemurs left to find out what that something is." Determination burned in her eyes, and Sage and Maurice agreed with her.
Patch couldn't take it anymore. He sighed and murmured," Guys." They turned to him. "You're right; the fossa are up to something."
Maurice stopped walking and so did everyone else. "How do you know that?" the aye-aye responded.
Not answering his question, Patch said," They want lemur slaves, and they have a special plan for my brother." He frowned, picturing the fanaloka who came to Mac one day. The memory of their discussion echoed in his head now.
"You have a special one among you," the stranger named Karl had declared, pointing toward Patch who at the time had no idea what he meant.
Mac had looked impatient. "What are you rambling about, cousin? You've never seen a lemur living among fossa before?"
"No," Karl answered. "Which is why he's special. That and… something else." He turned to Patch for a moment before looking back at Mac. "Can we take this conversation somewhere private?"
Mac hesitated, then nodded and beckoned Karl to follow him. Patch had stayed behind, but when Mac had came back was the first time he had announced his plan so Patch knew Karl had to be behind it. Mac never told anyone what he had in store for King Julien, only that he was not to be harmed and he was to be taken away as soon as they achieved their plan.
Patch was snapped back to the present by Clover, who shook him. "What are they going to do to the king?" she demanded.
"I-I don't know," Patch stammered, stepping back.
"How do you know they want us as slaves?" Maurice asked him.
Patch swallowed nervously. "Well… you see…" He was interrupted by growling and suddenly five fossa stalked from behind rocks, circling the lemurs and snarling at them.
Maurice gasped and stumbled away from the snapping jaws of a fossa, bumping into Patch. Patch glanced around, recognizing the five fossa from his time spent with them. They were the strongest but not the brightest of the pack. Perhaps they could confuse them long enough to escape.
He was about to whisper his plan to the others when the patrol launched at them, and Patch prepared himself for flesh ripping teeth to tear at his fur. But instead he found himself being lifted up by his scruff. He blinked opened his eyes to see his friends also being carried by the fossa. Two of them had to restrain Sage, who didn't even try to fight back. Clover on the other hand was wiggling in the jaws of a fossa, grunting in anger.
So much for my plan, Patch thought as the fossa started climbing down the rocks with the lemurs. Once back in the pack's camp, they were let go, but there was nowhere to run. Fossa were everywhere. Patch glanced around, frowning. Where was his brother?
"I was in my lair one day," Karl explained while Julien stood there and listened. "I was thinking to myself 'How do I beat Julien?'. Then it came to me. I realized that I don't need to kill you in order to destroy you."
Julien blinked. "You don't?"
Karl shook his head. "No. As I was thinking, I realized that the worst possible thing I can do to you is take away your kingdom, which I have successfully done. I finally won!" He laughed again, and his hissing cockroach let out a noise that sounded like laughter. The fossa named Mac appeared beside Karl, and even he started laughing.
The ringtail king thought quickly. "You can have me," he blurted out. "Just let everyone else go. Please. They've done nothing to you." He took a deep breath before letting it out. "I rather lose my kingdom, than my friends."
"That's surprisingly noble of you, Julien," the fanaloka said. "But that isn't how this is going to go. You're not negotiating your way out of this."
Julien bit hard on his bottom lip, the taste of blood filling his mouth. What was Karl going to do to him now that he took everything he cared about? And he wasn't talking about his kingdom. Will he ever see his friends again?
"Let's go," Karl said, knocking Julien out of his thoughts, and fossa started pushing him forward, following Karl and Mac, and Julien had no choice but to walk on.
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