The Throne of Flame: Chapter Twenty Nine

For a short frame of time, there was only darkness and silence. He was within an endless void, but maybe only darkness within his line of vision. He couldn't tell, not until his senses returned and he began to recognize that he was not dead at all. No, he was still very much alive.

Skipper opened his eyes, realizing belatedly that he'd shut them. He wasn't falling - around him, he could still hear the sound of fire crackling and roaring, all consuming and just begging to reach him. But he was safe, somehow. It took him an extra moment to register what had happened.

When Clemson had dropped him, Julien had leapt forth and caught him. He was now hanging onto Skipper with one arm, the other straining to hold the two of them up on a very precariously thin branch just below the homicidal red lemur above. Julien's fingers tightened around his side and he sent Skipper an expression of solemnity.

He hadn't prevented his death, but he'd stalled it, and Skipper realized that this was the most true of sacrifices. The will to die with someone, only to give them a moment longer to live. He wished that there was a way to express his gratitude, but when Julien pulled him just a bit closer, he realized that nothing was needed to be said. Julien knew. He'd always known.

Though Clemson looked surprised, he seemed more amused than anything else. He hopped down so that he was just inches away, his smile only widening as though he'd just seen the funniest thing in the entire world. He bent down, slow cackles slipping from between his teeth as his eyes raked over the two of them in their vulnerability. He was holding back his laughter if only to force out a few words at their expense, chuckling between every breath.

"Oh no, don't tell me! This is too rich! This is the best moment of my life, really, it truly is. There has never been anything more perfect than this! I can't believe it! I'm so glad I'm here to witness this. I'm the luckiest lemur alive!" The rest of his humored words melded into maniacal laughter as he practically hollered in hilarity.

Skipper and Julien exchanged an expression of knowing horror, before both of their eyes were once again trained on the power hungry man above. They were at Clemson's whim, and he was only keeping them alive long enough to toy with them, to amuse himself with their helplessness.

What was more was that he'd become so lost in his own laughter that he only caused their anticipation of death to grow, and he was surely aware of such. He drew out his laughter both because he found the circumstances (and his own inside-joke) funny, and because he knew it only agitated their fear further.

Simultaneously, Dr. Blowhole's henchmen lobsters had swarmed the grounds of Madagascar. They were battling Kowalski, Private, and Corporal mercilessly, hundreds against just three - and Corporal was on the verge of fainting, still just hanging onto a thread of consciousness from Parker's poison.

Classified was fighting Blowhole himself. Though the husky had the advantage of land, Blowhole had the upperhand that was his weaponry. He utilized his technology to a heinous extent, and Classified internally lamented at the lack of his own tools. Dr. Blowhole had lazers from each side of his segway, which were aimed and locked onto Classified. He dodged them effectively, but it left the two of them at an essential stalemate.

Neither could attack if neither could reach the other. It was the same game of keep-away that he'd been playing with Parker, and it aggravated Classified to no end. He wanted to get this over with, whatever this battle was, so that he could ensure the safety of King Julien himself. What was more was that it still didn't quite add up to him.

Why would notorious penguin enemy Dr. Blowhole have any interest in the assassination of King Julien? Furthermore, if he'd hired assassins to do the job for him, why show up himself? Why bother? A growl bubbled up from Classified's chest as a laser darkened the grass beside him and he launched forward, getting closer to the dangerous dolphin foe.

"Why are you doing this?!" He snarled, rolling out of the way just in time for another laser to miss.

"The lemur economy is a fickle thing," came the canned, most definitely rehearsed response. "It needs a new king in order to thrive. Julien can not be that king."

That didn't tell him anything, and Classified's brow only furrowed as his patience wore thin. "No, why are you doing this?"

Dr. Blowhole paused, his flipper just above the trigger to shoot another laser as his expression grew slightly distant and contemplative. He had clearly never been asked this, not personally. Classified seized the opportunity and bolted forth, managing to knock the sea-mammal off of his segway and onto the ground. They rolled for a moment or so until Classified ended up on top, and he held Blowhole down.

"Tell me!" He bellowed out.

Blowhole's eyes were glassy, and a smile enveloped his face. It was so sweet, so momentarily innocent that it almost made Classified forget that the man he was fighting was danger incarnate with evil intentions at every turn. His next words only came as a further surprise.

"Because I'm in love with the new king."

With those words said, his expression of adoration crumbled into malice once more and he lurched forth to sink his teeth into Classified's shoulder, drawing blood. Classified yelped out in agony, his eyes snapping open. So that was how they were going to play. A sound of sheer anger rose from his throat and he dug his claws into Blowhole's soft flesh, tearing through it and giving way for blood to rise to the surface of his skin. The two of them rolled once more, struggling and fighting with tooth and claw and nothing more.

The flames overlapped their battle of force, leaving Kowalski and Private to handle the lobsters when Corporal collapsed. They were growing exhausted fast, but kept on fighting, knowing that if they didn't, they could very well be allowing Julien and Skipper to expire.

Clemson's laughter died down into short breaths of mirth as he heaved out a sigh of elongated delight. He rested his foot delicately over Julien's straining fingers, not enough to damage his hold but enough to show them that he could, and would, at any given moment.

"I've never been more glad about being wrong in my entire life," he surmised with a hum. "It seems the royal highness, illustrious King Julien XIII, self proclaimed lord of the lemurs is capable of love afterall." Clemson spat out the lengthy title with such ingrained detestation that it caused both Skipper and Julien to jump, only a reminder that he held their lives in the palm of his hand.

"You don't know anything about me," Julien whispered, but his objections against Clemson's previous assumptions fell on deaf ears.

"He does love you Skipper, isn't that great? Isn't that just dandy?! Oh, I'm so glad to see this day! I was worried he'd never find someone to fall in love with, you know. He loves to break hearts, it was one of the first things I noticed and really liked about him, before I found out that he was a socialist idiot, that is. I used to think it was so cool, you know? To just manipulate people like that! And let me tell you, I've put it into practice, and it works like a charm. Really, it does." He beamed off into the distance at his own accomplishments with yet another guffaw.

Skipper was horrified by Clemson's romanticization of that sort of negative behavior, but it made sense. Julien had manipulated others before, and Skipper could assume that he himself had originally been a target. Still, he was convinced that Julien's feelings were, by that point in time, mutual. He found himself unable to blame Julien, not that he would ever want to.

"You remember Dr. Blowhole, don't you? Of course you do. You're the one who saved him when his eye got burnt out! The two of you are arch-enemies now, not that I really understand how that happened. Oh, but another great fact of life. Well, you might not have known this, but he's very easy to seduce. Hah! Of course you wouldn't have known that. But I do, because I did it! I made that stupid idealist fall for me, and he lets me do anything I want. Which, by the way, is just superb! He's loaded, did you know that? Of course you did. Billions of dollars, as long as I kiss him on the cheek!" He sneered, and suddenly his attention was redirected at Julien. "If there's anything you were good at when it came to being king, that was it."

Julien had nothing to say, his eyes only darkening in unrestrained hatred towards Clemson. He was insulted, but there was no way to deflect the truth of Clemson's statements. Julien had manipulated others through means of seduction in the past. Granted, he'd never meant to be a role model to anyone, especially not someone as unstable as Clemson.

"You don't know anything about being king," Julien suddenly spoke up, his voice low and dangerous in a way that carried above the fire despite being so quiet. "Your foolishness and corrupted ways will make you a terrible leader."

Any expression of glee that Clemson had held previously dropped instantaneously and transitioned directly into unamused irritation. "I'm perfect for being the head of the monarchy. You're the one who doesn't know anything about being king! Your socialist ideas are destroying our culture, our history! We've gone for years of tradition with monarchy, and we're still here! All you're doing is making it harder for our country to survive!"

"You have not seen the things that I have! The monstrosities of pain and suffering that you have never been witnessing!" Julien outright yelled, furious as he bared his teeth, curling his claws into the wood. "The world is changing and if you weren't so damned ignorant then you too would be understanding! Our culture is built upon misery, and you do not understand a thing about this world or how it is working!"

"You're the one who is an ignorant fool!" Clemson shouted back. "I've had it with you and your stupid ideas about progression!"

His rage boiled back down to a deathly simper, and he reached down to pry the extravagant crown from Julien's head. He placed it atop his own skull with a wicked grin. Julien stared up at him with unbridled odium, showing no weakness despite the situation.

"I'm the king now," Clemson whispered, tone vile.

That said, he lifted his foot up, ready to bring it back down so that he could stop on Julien's fingers. Julien and Skipper held each other tightly and closed their eyes, knowing that this would probably be it for the two of them.

A shriek of anger tore through the night from the distance. Julien and Skipper opened their eyes just in time to see Maurice leap through the flames and tackle Clemson. The red lemur was so taken off guard that he had no time to react when Maurice took him by the throat, wringing it tightly as he slammed him down against the branch.

"No one hurts my king!" Maurice screamed, the volume so intense that it echoed over the sound of the fire.

He snapped Clemson's neck.

The action was so sudden, so unexpected, that even the grotesque crack and the life fading from Clemson's eyes didn't signify death right away. Skipper openly gaped, and both he and Julien were utterly dumbfounded, even when Maurice pulled them back up onto the branch so that they were no longer dangling above endless flames.

Maurice was sobbing then, holding Julien close in his arms as he wept into his shoulder. Julien took an extra moment to recover from the shock of what had just occurred, before tears began to well up in his own eyes and he returned the embrace. The flickering of the flames almost seemed to distance themselves as Maurice apologized, again and again, for his behavior, his actions, his hostility, his lapse of judgement.

Once the two of them managed to gather themselves, Skipper led them down to the safety of ground. There, they found hundreds of lobsters, unconscious or dead on the ground. Private was collapsed in a heap atop Corporal, Clover, Rico, Shortfuse and Eva, all of which were thankfully only fainted from exertion or Parker's spurs. Kowalski and Classified greeted them grimly, satisfied by their safety though exhausted beyond all comprehension. Beside them, Dr. Blowhole was apprehended, expressing nothing but agitated horror when he saw that Clemson had not succeeded.

Julien only told the dolphin that he never had a chance.