King Leonardo and Odie stood in the King's bedroom, both in attire much less classy than usual. King Leonardo wore a floral, red button up shirt and cargo pants. He looked rather like a father. Odie had on a white shirt and black khakis, with a leather jacket and a bit of mascara as well. He, meanwhile, looked quite a bit like Leonardo's delinquent son.

Leonardo had given his crown to Paige Postmaster for safe keeping. Paige was the King's second closest friend and servant, after Odie, of course.

"Are you sure this is the best idea, sire?" Odie asked. He still didn't trust Biggie Rat or Itchy Lion, not for the life of him.

Leonardo flattened his lapel and straightened out a pesky button. "Why, of course, true-blue Odie Cologne! Biggie is right, it has been a while since I've been with my people!"

Odie sat on the King's large bed, lost in thought. Sure, he and his sisters had played with Leonardo, Itchy and Biggie as children. But Biggie wasn't a good kid. His father was a convicted murderer, and Biggie himself had gotten caught in juvie and detention more times than Odie could remember. What was he planning, getting Leonardo out of the castle?

"I'm thinking we go to Udu Park," Leonardo said, breaking Odie from his thought.

Odie forced himself to stand beside his king. "Why there, sire?"

Leonardo beamed. "I want to see if I'm too big to fit in the swings."

Odie smiled, though didn't let the negative thoughts leave his mind quite yet. "It's been twenty years since you've been there. I wouldn't be surprised."

Leonardo smiled tightly and batted a hand at Odie. The soldier expertly ducked the blow. The two laughed.

King Leonardo (or, Just Leonardo, rather. He had insisted Odie not refer to his status in public. Odie didn't believe there was a person in Bongo Congo who didn't know what their King's name was, but Odie wasn't one to deny direct orders.) had insisted that he and Odie walk to Udu Park. It wasn't that far from Bongo Congo's Capital, after all, and Leonardo was quite the experienced walker.

Leonardo didn't stand out very much in Bongo Congo. Most of the population were lions. Odie did. Skunks weren't a very common sight in Bongo Congo, and they were much more abundant in Koko Loco.

Of course, there was only one well-known skunk in Bongo Congo. That would be the very plump, purple-eyed assistant to the King, Odie O. Cologne. He hadn't thought of doing anything to change his appearance, and regardless of what he called his King, the two were recognized.

Leonardo swung on the swings in the park. He closed his eyes and giggled wistfully, going higher and higher. Eventually, though, he scraped his heels against the hot sand underfoot.

"Are you alright, sire?" Odie asked. He was leaning on a metal pole nearby with a cigarette in his mouth.

"Don't call me sire," Leonardo snapped.

"Sorry, sir."

Leonardo blew a raspberry. "I don't need to be watched over all the time, okay?"

"I just don't want anyone to try and hurt you," Odie replied.

Leonardo waved one arm around him. "I'm surrounded by children, Odie! How much harm could they do?"

Odie chuckled and took his cigarette into his fingers. "I had an older sister, Leonardo, you'd be surprised how much sheer fury is in a child," he put his cigarette back into its proper place, "It must be released on the largest person available."

Leonardo rolled his eyes. "You could at least try and have fun yourself, you know." The lion pointed to a metal duck on a spring. "Go ride on one of those. And put that out! There's children here!"

Leonardo leaned forward in his seat and batted at Odie's face. Odie backed away and nodded, resisting his soldier's instinct to grab his King's wrist and throw him over his shoulder. The skunk did not disobey orders. He stomped his cigarette out under one of his spats, and mounted the duck like someone would a horse.

He was too tall for it, which were not words Odie ever figured he'd think. He was also immensely confused about how this thing worked.

Odie didn't have to wonder for long, however. A mixture of high-pitched and raspy laughter met his ears. He whirled around and found himself staring deep into the woods a few yards away. He stepped off the duck and padded closer to the forest. That sounded oddly like his sisters. The laughter came again, louder this time, so Odie knew he was in the right spot.

"...Carlotta?" he called quietly, "Nosi?"

Usually Odie was a smarter man. Laughter at a playground? To be expected. But these laughs were too adult to come from children; and too much like his siblings to come from an adult.

Next came high-pitched, heavily-accented Mandarin. It went too fast for Odie to decode. Odie furrowed his brows. Charlie Marten, the police chief, was the only person in Bongo Congo who spoke Mandarin. Odie supposed a murder could've happened in the woods- but then he remembered Charlie didn't speak his native tongue during his hours.

Odie scraped past a blackberry bush. A scream that sounded just like Carlotta met his ears. With that, Odie dashed off through the woods. Giggles and Mandarin and screams of all three voices came at him from all directions. Odie was starting to worry one of them had gotten caught in a bear trap.

He froze in a clearing, looking around frantically. A shine caught his eye. Odie faced the source.

A record.

A record, in the middle of Udu Forest. Either ghosts were real, or Odie was falling straight into a prank. And ghosts weren't real.

Odie fell to his knees in front of the record player and pulled the arm away. Clearly this was targeting him specifically. His sisters and Charlie Marten were the people closest to Odie, along with King Leonardo. But he knew where Leonardo was. He had no clue about the rest of them.

Odie stood back up and placed a hand to his chin. Why, and, quite frankly, who would want to place such a specific trap for him? Immediately his mind's eye saw Biggie Rat.

"I should have known…" he stated, pounding a fist into the opposite hand.

Another laugh met his ears. It wasn't Carlotta, Nosi or Charlie's. It wasn't Biggie's sneery chuckle either. It was deep, throaty, and it seemed to bounce off the trees and encase Odie in an auditory fence.

Before the skunk could put the pieces together of what was happening, a net scooped him up from the ground. Leaves crinkled around him as well, and Odie let out a groan of frustration for not noticing such an obvious trap.

"A valet," the voice echoed around him. Odie spotted a pair of blood-red eyes from behind the shadowy trees.

"TREASON!" Odie managed to scream out, grabbing the rope netting and starting to unsheathe his dagger.

"Now, now," the deep voice echoed.

Odie fell to the ground with a grunt. The net was pulled into the darkness, and Odie couldn't see anything except those red eyes and white fangs. Two cold hands grabbed his ears and pulled his head through one of the squares. Odie sputtered, hardly able to breathe in this new arrangement.

"Let's not make things difficult."

A sudden mist rolled in over Odie. Choking and swearing, Odie's eyes were met with a pure, lonely blackness without even the eyes and teeth of the stranger.

Sunset fell across the park. Leonardo had gotten himself involved in a number of rousing children's games. Red rover, tag, Tackle Eachother To The Ground Don't Hold Back, ampe, nyama-nyama-nyama and other such excitement. Most of all, Leonardo was rather pleased that Odie seemed to have taken his leave as well. Udu Park emptied out and now and mostly held older children and teenagers. Leonardo scouted all around for Odie, but never could find the skunk himself.

A small bud of orange caught Leo's attention.

It was a flattened cigarette blowing in the breeze. Leo wasn't sure what it was, but something in his stomach told him that it was Odie's. Or, maybe, he was just hungry and he hoped Odie would appear soon so he could go home. The cigarette caught itself in a blackberry bush. Leo padded after and gently picked up the stick between his claws.

"I thought you knew better than to litter, Odie," Leo grumbled to himself, tossing the cigarette into a nearby garbage can. The sky turned a deep purple with twilight and Leonardo felt a twinge of fear go up his spine. He didn't like the dark. Odie knew that. Confound it, where was he?

Leonardo crossed his arms and stomped his feet for a few moments. Maybe Odie had run into town to use a restroom. After his visit, maybe Odie just returned to the castle. Leo scoffed and padded away down the path toward the capitol, though his hackles stood on end. Odie knew the way back home, the king told himself. Though he wasn't sure which scared him more: the impending darkness, or the fact that Odie wasn't by his side.

A passing breeze shook the leaves of a tall and bushy marula tree. Unbeknownst to the King, a tan-furred lion and dark gray rat sat waiting in the branches holding a bucket of white paint and a water spray gun. The two devious villains waited, silently, until the exact right moment to pounce. Itchy almost felt as if he was stalking a zebra.

Leo shuttered as another breeze blew through his mane. He crossed his arms a bit tighter.

SPLASH

Leonardo froze as a freezing cold substance covered his body. His eyes felt heavy and his entire body felt wet and covered in some sort of substance. Leo uncrossed his arms and tried to wipe away what was covering his eyes. It worked, just barely, but Leo could still make out that his beautiful golden fur was now covered in white!

"CONFOUND IT!" he screamed, "What has happened to me? Who's done this?!" He looked around desperately into the tree above him.

A stream of water splashed into his eye. Leo let out a scream and stumbled back. Confused and disoriented, Leonardo fell to the ground on his stomach. Suddenly, his eyes stung greatly and he couldn't breathe. Leonardo sat up with a gasp.

He opened one sore eye and looked beneath himself. His hands found themselves on the edges of a sandy puddle. Confusion waved over Leo. It hadn't rained since last Wet Season! He was being set up, he had to be.

Leonardo growled and sat back on his knees. He slapped the chilling cold water with all his might. For a moment, the sand scattered and the lion could look at himself. His mane was all slicked down; all of his fur was white; and the white of his eyes were a pinkish-red. The only part of the King that remained as usual was his bright blue eyes. Leonardo stood up and sniffled. Soon he would be home and he could take a nice, hot, long bath.

From the branches of the tree, Biggie and Itchy snickered. The twosome leaped down, out of sight from the King, their plans played out perfectly.

Leonardo sorrowfully continued on the slow journey home. He had no companion to chat about the day's activities with, and he dare not look at the blackening sky for the fear that would overcome him. Leonardo was solely left to count how many steps he was taking. Soon enough, the castle and town it sat upon came into view. The King could see two of his finest knights standing at attention at the drawbridge.

"Hi," Leonardo greeted the guards somberly, "I'd like to take a huge nap, please."

"And who might you be?" asked the guard on the left, Knight Dingo.

Leonardo furrowed his brows in confusion. He swallowed back the vile fury on the back of his tongue. "Why I'm your King, Leonardo Lion! Who else would I be?"

"Sorry, sir," said Knight Dingo, "You look nothing like King Leonardo. To allow guests in the castle, we must ask the King, and he is not in the castle at current."

"Confound it!" Leonardo exclaimed, "I am King Leonardo and I can prove it-!"

Leonardo reached for his head. His fingers clawed desperately through his crusty white mane. He stared at his empty hand blankly. Ah, yes. He had left his crown with Paige Postmaster.

"We don't have time for your games, peasant," the guard on the right, Knight Kodjo, stated. With that, both of the knights raised their spears, ready to fight. Before the King could get angry about being called a peasant, the guards poked their spears in his direction. Leonardo let out a deafening scream and rushed in the opposite direction. He didn't look back to see if the guards had followed, and he didn't stop until he had reached the cobblestone of Bongo Square.

Leonardo panted and grabbed his crusty knees. Oh, where was Odie when he needed him? The guards would've believed Odie! And even if they didn't, the only white skunk in Bongo Congo was Odie's father! Surely that counted for something, Leonardo told himself. And if it didn't count enough, Odie's father was the husband of the former Royal Advisor and Royal Perfumer. Ohh, that would be the ticket.

Leo glanced around the near empty, nearly pitch-black town square. He should look for Odie, he determined. He rubbed his fingers together. A few chips of paint fell from his fur and to the ground. The King glanced around nervously in the dark. His teeth started to chatter in fear.

Maybe he should wait in a store until sunrise.

A hard, cold grit met Odie's skin. The skunk didn't have any time to take in the situation he was in before a blinding white light met his vision. He groaned and squinted, covering his eyes with a hand. He tried to see anything.

Odie could make out many steel bars in front of him. He could vaguely see the shape of a dog with tufted ears. There, in front of him sat the pointed, glowing teeth and red eyes of his captor. Odie glanced around his cell. He could make out a short stool and a tall, hard dresser.

His captor smiled wider. "An excellent addition to my people collection," was all he said before shutting the red curtains.

Odie rose up on unsteady feet. A wave of anxiety overcame him, but Odie tried to not let it get the better of him. He was sure he could get out of this situation. He immediately thought to check the dresser. Each door creaked slowly open, but none of them held anything but dust and loose screws.

"Damn it," Odie whispered to himself. His claws were too dull to screw or unscrew anything. As the thought of screwing things crossed Odie's mind, he remembered his dagger. Quickly, Odie swiped his hands around his hips. He reached a lump. Aha!

Odie pulled the dagger from his waist and held it tightly in his hands. He couldn't see very well in this cell, and he didn't want to risk dropping it, stepping on it, and seriously injuring himself.

The skunk was sure he could find a way out of this. He sat on the stool in the corner of the room to think. It didn't take Odie very long to come up with a plan. The skunk crossed his legs and jabbed his knife an inch or two into the bottom hem of his jeans. He did the same on both sides, and cut both into ribbons along the hems.

Odie knew how dungeon doors worked. A lock was on one of the two sides. Odie tied the first khaki ribbon on the left side of the door. He struck his dagger right under the fabric. Quickly, it took light, and Odie could see just a bit further.

He didn't see a lock on that side of the door, though. Odie cursed lightly and repeated the process on the other side.

"There you are," he whispered. Odie switched the hand his dagger was in and grunted as he slipped his hand through the metal bars. He tried his best to pick the lock with his knife while not nearing the fire. Odie knew he was running out of time, though. Both his fires were spreading, and soon they would catch the curtains on fire too.

Just as the terrifying thoughts crossed Odie's mind, he heard a click. Odie pulled his wrist, now slick with sweat from the growing fire, through the bars. He lifted the top part of the lock, slid and twisted it through its partner, and let it fall to the ground. Breathing deeply, Odie flung open the cell door and leaped through the red curtains, now ablaze.

The light of the hallway was extremely bright, though Odie could just make out several more sets of curtains. All of them had nameplates under, but Odie figured he didn't have time to investigate.

"STOP HIM!" Odie heard the voice of his captor boom. Odie's rough pads held fast against the slick tile as he ran through the long, long hallway. He glanced behind him briefly, and could see his captor clearly.

He was a gray-skinned dog with big, tufted ears, he wore a big maroon coat, and his sharp fingers moved in a strange way. A blue spark suddenly appeared between his fingers. Odie ducked as it flew above him. He pushed himself to run a bit faster.

The skunk tried to ignore the tiredness in his limbs as he ran through the seemingly endless hallway, and he swallowed back the need to pant. The black door to the outside was in sight! No use stopping now.

Odie raised his arms like a shield and pushed open the black-bar door with all his might. He tripped and rolled down the hill the mansion stood on. He panted, and rested with his arms extended when he reached the bottom.

He never thought Bongo Congo's crunchy grass could feel so nice. After a few moments, Odie got back on his guard, however. He raised up and looked at the enormous brown, wooden mansion behind him. There were no windows for the inhabitants to look outside. Odie could've sworn the home wasn't there yesterday.

Odie sighed, regained his composure, and slid down to the dirt road a few more feet down. He stood up on the path and dusted himself off. He remembered his King, and knew he must be wondering where he was.

"Ohh, I hope those two varmints Biggie Rat and Itchy Lion haven't gotten a hold of him," Odie stated as he started to make his way to the biggest building on the skyline.

The skunk tried to make his way to the castle as quickly as he could, preparing to apologize to his King and explain what had happened to him. He soon spotted the two spear-baring knights who stood in front of the castle wall's entrance.

"Greetings Kodjo! Dingo!" Odie called as he stepped up to the two guards of the castle.

"Hello, Odie," Knight Kodjo replied. "You haven't seen the King lately, have you?"

Odie blinked in surprise. "He must've come back to the castle by now, right?"

Both of the knights glanced at eachother, then back to Odie. "The only person we've seen since put out here is some albino lion," answered Dingo. The lioness beside her nodded.

"He sort of sounded like the King," added Kodjo, "But it was under your orders, Sir Cologne, that we can only let in guests approved by the King. And, well, the King wasn't here."

Terrible thoughts of murder and Biggie Rat crossed Odie's mind. "Send out Knights Civet, Cub and Hyena. And tell Knight Liger to guard Paige Postmaster."

"Yes, sir," replied both the guards in unison, saluting Odie. Odie saluted back and padded away.

"If I were King Leonardo, where would I go?" Odie questioned. He looked out into the township of Bongo Square. A few store lights still remained on. Recalling that his King was scared of the dark, the prices fell together in Odie's head. He quickly made his way down the slope and into the cobblestone town square.

Odie gazed into every open shop's large windows on the search for any golden-furred regal-looking signs of life, though every creature caught his eye. The skunk was looking so intensely into the shops that he didn't think to look ahead of himself. The side of Odie's face met the hard breast of some innocent person.

"Ah!" Odie exclaimed, face flushing as he backed up. "My dearest apologizes-"

"Odie?" sniffled the person in front of him.

In the fluorescent lighting of the nearest store, Odie saw that a white lion clad in white clothing stood in front of him. Along his arms, face and clothing, though, Odie could make out pieces of red and gold. Namely, two gold streaks rested under the person's red and puffy eyes.

"Yes," the skunk answered, "I am Sir Odie Cologne, at your service."

"Ohh, Odie!" exclaimed the white lion, pulling Odie into a deep hug. The lion sputtered off events recounting just how horrible the night had been and how he was so scared without Odie; more he spoke, the clearer it became that this strange white lion was indeed King Leonardo!

"King!" Odie exclaimed as Leonardo rattled on. "King, King, King! Sire!" He pulled himself from Leonardo's grasp and looked him up and down once more. "I- wh- how…"

"I don't…" Leonardo sniffled in reply, "Tonight's just been so much- it all happened so quickly- I-"

Odie rubbed his hand against Leonardo's arms. What seemed to be chips of paint flaked off steadily.

"Why, I!" Odie exclaimed, "It seems you are covered in paint, sire!"

"But who would do such a thing to me?" Leonardo asked.

Odie knew just who. "Come now, sire, we must return to the castle and get all this paint off of you."

"But my knights wouldn't let me in last time!" Leonardo objected.

"They'll let you in with me," Odie answered.

Odie was correct. After entering the castle though, the duo's ears were met with a blood-curdling scream.

"That sounded like Paige!" Leonardo exclaimed. Odie nodded. The two immediately rushed outside the throne room and to the lioness' room. As Odie shoved open the door with his shoulder, Leonardo covered his hands in shock.

"I SHOULD'VE KNOWN!" Odie exclaimed, rushing in.

Paige was tied up tightly to one of her bedposts. In the room stood Itchy and Biggie. Biggie had his ear to a safe, and Itchy pulled tighter on Paige's restraints, causing her to groan and squeal. Both of them froze in their tracks as the King and Odie discovered their master plan.

"Uh-oh," Biggie stated. He glanced around frantically for a way out. One way was a window that was definitely too high from the ground, and the other was the door, blocked by King Leonardo.

Odie brandished his dagger and rushed at Itchy and Paige. He slashed at Itchy's chest, but the scarred lion jumped out of the way just in time and stood in front of his husband protectively. Odie quickly cut Paige free of her restraints and the two soldiers faced the villains. Their eyes were wide as they lunged forward.

Leonardo couldn't see anything through his tear-blurred eyes. He was already torn up enough from his excursion beforehand, but now, seeing his brother and brother-in-law trying to steal his crown! It was all so much.

Leonardo clutched his mane tightly, flattened his ears, and shut his eyes tight. The fight was so much, too much. How dare Itchy do this to him. How dare he.

"ENOUGH!" Leonardo suddenly exclaimed, and the fighting froze.

Odie held Biggie by his collar and held his dagger to his throat. Paige's last move was to toss Itchy to the ground with a snarl. The tan lion landed on his back with a grunt. He took a deep breath and rose to his elbows, looking up at Leonardo, still surprised as ever. The safe the two had tried to break into was long forgotten.

"Y-you…" Leonardo said softly. "You… You used to be my brother!"

"L-Leo, listen-" Itchy tried to say.

"ENOUGH! GUARDS!"

Four of King Leonardo's knights appeared by his side, saluting, just a few moments later.

"Ar-arrest these traitors!" Leonardo demanded. The knights obeyed, grabbing Itchy and Biggie by their wrists.

"You haven't seen the rest of us, Kingsy!" Biggie exclaimed as he was ushered away. Itchy didn't speak. He merely gave Leonardo one last glance before hanging his head. The kingly lion crossed his arms and sighed deeply.

"You're stressed, sire." Odie commented as the two traitors were taken out of earshot. "I will run a bath for you this instant."

"I still have your crown, sire," Paige added. She picked the safe up from the ground and unlocked it, revealing the King's gold and bejeweled crown from the rather plain insides.

"Thank you. Both of you," The King replied sadly. He put his crown back on his head, though still had a sad demeanor.

"Well," Odie stated, "I think we can safely say that those two traitors will have no pride after this excursion."

Paige snorted, rolled her eyes and smiled faintly. King Leonardo had no reaction, however.

"I'd quite like to bathe now, Odie," was all he said.

Odie flushed and padded by him. "Um, yes, of course, sire…"

Leonardo followed without a word. He wasn't sure what to think of the day, but he knew one thing for sure: he would never trust Biggie Rat and Itchy Brother again.