Things are about to take a dark turn...
Several long minutes had passed, and Julien was still wrestling with that rebellious stain Xixi had created on his once-pristine floor. This was taking longer than he had thought.
"Dammit Xixi, I love parties like the next guy, but your thing is on a whole 'nother level," he voiced out loud to himself. As he wiped his forehead (he wasn't used to working this much), he suddenly heard a noise outside... a faint rustle of leaves, as if something was moving around the trees nearby. He stopped mopping and lifted his head. The sound of a few twigs snapping rang in his ears.
"...Maurice? Clover? Is that you?"
No answer.
He stood in place for a while, listening, but hearing nothing else. So he shrugged and went back to the task at hand, not catching the soft, almost inaudible footsteps on the snow approaching his door. Seconds later, a powerful bang cut through the silence as the door was kicked open. The king spun around on his heels, and he rubbed his eyes like they were betraying him.
"What the?!" he dropped his mop in shock at the sight before him. "What are you doing here this late? You guys just missed the party!"
At his doorway stood the two rebels who hadn't attended the feast: Abner and Becca. Both of them held their arms behind their backs as they hid something. They had patiently waited for hours, and now was the moment they had been waiting for; the perfect time to strike.
"Oh, we ain't 'ere to party, King Julien..." Becca said with intense malice. A grisly, toothy grin dominated her features as her tangerine eyes bored into the king's as if they could kill.
"That's right, we're 'ere to teach ya how to fly!" Abner stated as he revealed what he was hiding: a mango.
Julien dropped his startled stance and smiled relaxedly as he eyed the harmless fruit. He held back a nervous chuckle. "Oh, then that actually sounds really cool, for a sec I thought you were – wait, what are you doing?!"
The king barely had time to scream for help as the wicked couple at once pounced on him, hastily tied his arms and legs with rope, and shoved the mango into his mouth to gag him. Then he was hoisted up and carried out of the house and into the balcony.
"Like takin' candy from a lil' baby!" Abner remarked with satisfaction before asking his partner, "Okay hun, what now? This was yer plan after all." Both were holding down the struggling royal as best they could, and their eyes flew all around to ensure nobody was present to witness their heinous act before proceeding any further.
Once they made sure the coast was clear, Becca spoke hurriedly, "Phase two: the tyrant's pals've gone to the Cove o' Wonders – we gotta hurry and get there before them! Quick, Abner!"
"A'ight, hun. In the name of LALA!" her partner shouted loudly, only to be met with a sharp "shhh!"
Julien mumbled something in protest, but he was ignored.
Then, the pair jumped onto one of the nearby trees, where they proceeded to make their way down to the ground and off towards the cove. King Julien kicked and fought to break free of their grasp with all his strength every step of the way, but it was to no avail. Those ropes around his wrists and ankles were fastened tightly and wouldn't be coming off anytime soon. He tried to shout for help through his gag, but no one heard him either. He was at the rebels' complete mercy and the dark fate that awaited him.
It took Abner and Becca several minutes to reach the Cove of Wonders. It definitely had been greatly useful to them that the king had ordered his subjects to retire home earlier tonight, as it meant that not a soul was around to see them. The frigid, lit-up jungle felt strangely quiet.
They had managed to outrun their victim's friends - as they were completely unaware of what was happening, they had no reason to hurry up like they did. The criminals mused it would take them at least a couple more minutes to arrive. As they hurriedly made their way through the dark, moonless landscape with their prize in tow, the sight of the dim shape of Timo's home presented itself to the trio. However, this time there was something else standing beside it.
Becca lifted an arm to point at the object, ignoring Julien's complaints. "Look, that must be that flyin' sleigh thingy! We made it!"
"Great, 'cause all this runnin' in the snow ain't good for my feet! I can barely feel 'em!" Abner muttered with a mild shiver.
Indeed, as they came closer, they found a large object concealed under a cruddy, worn-out mantle. After removing it, their eyes fell upon a spacious red machine shaped like a sleigh with enough room for four people, which sported a wide, empty compartment at the back. It was made of slightly rusted bolted-together metal panels painted a dark red, and featured two rocket engines on the rear. It wasn't exactly the best-looking, biggest, or the most advanced thing Timo had built, but it was an impressive feat nonetheless, as the scientist had put it together in a matter of hours with the very last of his scarce resources.
Not wasting any more time than was necessary to gape at the machine, the two lemurs tossed King Julien inside and climbed in after him.
"Okay, now we hafta turn this thing on! Look som'where for a big red button or somethin'!" Becca mumbled as the two switched all their focus to the control panel. It held many buttons, dials and gauges, the purpose of which escaped the dull-witted couple. A lever at its center was the most prominent piece, so Abner tried pulling on it. Nothing happened – it simply creaked as it moved, then reset itself to its default position. They were wasting precious time, and the king's friends would be here any second now.
Seeing that they weren't paying him no mind anymore, King Julien took the chance to try to escape. Using one of the seats as support, he managed to bring himself up without making a noise. Wobbling, he began to slowly, very slowly, hop his way towards the railing on unstable feet – when Abner decided to look back.
"Hey, where d'ya think yer goin'?" he called him out as he wrapped his arms around the escapee and shoved him back down onto the cushioned seats. "Ya ain't goin' nowhere, buddy!" then he stammered, "Well... actually ya are, but what I mean to say is – yer goin' down, as in... straight down to the ground when we get this thing up. Yeah."
This statement sent a shiver down the king's spine. With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, he begged in his mind for his friends to show up and save him from his predicament.
Suddenly, the entire sleigh gave a jolt as its boosters thunderously exploded to life. The tarnished dashboard lit up with many little lights, while two long flames blasted out from the thrusters and flickered with a burning rattle, thawing away the snow behind them. The sleigh was ready for take-off.
"Yes! I got it!" Becca exclaimed proudly, raising her arms in the air with victory.
Abner was scouting the area as he complimented her, "Finally! Nice one, hun! Now it's just a matter o' – oh dear!" he abruptly yelled out as he spotted four distant shadowy silhouettes running towards them in the dark of night. His face instantly filled with fear, and he snapped his head towards his partner. "It's KJ's buddies comin' at us! What do we do?!"
At the mention of this, Julien stirred himself up and looked over, his expression becoming hopeful as he glimpsed at the familiar-looking shapes coming closer and closer. One of them in particular, a lean and slender one, was sprinting ahead at top speed like a charging bull. He desperately mumbled something at the top of his lungs, only for his body to fall back as Abner harshly shoved him down again.
Becca had to hold back a curse as the frantic cries of the king's friends began reaching her ears. "Dammit! We're busted!" She stomped her foot in frustration. Their plan was looking like it was doomed to fail in the end, and all of this would be for nothing. However, she then remembered the lever Abner had tried a minute earlier. It hadn't worked, but now that the sleigh was on... This was their only chance left if they wanted their plan to succeed, so her hands flew at it and pulled on it once more.
To her luck and evil delight, the sleigh responded this time, and it lurched forward just as Clover burst out from the dark and leaped at the vehicle with a chilling battle cry. The two criminals gasped in fright as the sleigh promptly slid away, the king's bodyguard barely missing them as she belly-flopped to the ground. She was lucky enough to avoid getting burned by the double flames of the machine. As Maurice, Mort and Timo appeared, they were all helpless to watch as the sleigh bolted away from them and lifted off the snowy path and into the night sky. For one second, they caught a glimpse of the look of dread streaked across their king's eyes before it left.
"NOOOO!" Clover screamed full of wrath as she smashed her fists on the uncovered rocky ground with such force it cracked."DAMN THEM! They got King Julien!" she turned to her peers, "Abner and Becca got him! I should've known! That must've been the reason why they didn't show up to the feast! Those snakes must've been planning this all along!"
Maurice then looked over at their tenrec friend, panic gripping his heart. Everything was happening so fast, so out of the blue, that he was in a state of pure shock. His best friend had just been kidnapped right under their noses, and they hadn't even known about it till just a few moments ago, when the noise of the sleigh's engines as they entered the cove had alerted them to it.
"T – Ti – Timo," he struggled to say, "where's the Larry-Bot?! We could use it to fly up there and rescue him!" he suggested hurriedly, pointing a finger at the sky.
However, Timo's expression changed into a mix of awkwardness and anxiety, and he rubbed his nape and snorted. "Uh, about that, haven't I told you that I had to put that mech out of commission and use its thrusters for the sleigh?"
"WHAT?!" the three lemurs' rage echoed all throughout the cove.
"I'm sorry, I didn't have enough parts for the engines so I – I had to make some compromises! I did tell you about that!" he babbled as he backed away out of fear when he saw Clover's eye twitch. "I never thought we'd need it again!"
Mort was at an instant at the inventor's throat. "Think of something, you useless nerd, or I won't hold myself responsible! The feet are in danger! You gotta do something!" he bellowed in his shrill voice as he grabbed Timo by the chest fur and shook him with all the might his tiny hands could gather – the mere possibility of losing King Julien clouding his unstable mind and filling him with desperation. He didn't care if he was being overly rude to the tenrec.
"I'm – I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do! They're too far gone for us to reach! And now we're going to lose him!" Timo shouted in despair as Mort let him go and he dropped to his knees in defeat. "It's all over! Oveeeer-
He felt the sharp and sudden sting of a hard slap across his face as he was yanked up by strong hands. "Hell no it's not! We're not gonna lose him! Not on my watch!" Clover's voice boomed with sheer will. "Pull yourselves together, soldiers! Man up, wipe your snotty noses and get right on it – we're saving King Julien, whether you lot think we can or not!"
"She's right!" Maurice reasserted her words resolutely. "We can't just sit here and watch, we have to do something! We can't – no, we won't let King Julien down!"
Timo nodded nervously, rubbing his cheek as it flared a deep red, and wiped his long muzzle. "True, true! Sorry for the breakdown there. Anyway, we should be able to pursue them if we go now! They can't have gone too far!"
With newfound resolve, the four animals raced off in the direction the runaway sleigh had gone. The chances of saving the kidnapped king were certainly slim, but they sure as hell wouldn't be giving up just yet.
"Dammit Abner, can'tcha make this thing go any higher?" Becca fussed as she watchfully stood over King Julien to ensure he didn't try anything again. They weren't flying as high as they had hoped, and were traveling just a few meters above the tree canopy. Not ideal for their plan.
"Well sorry, but I ain't seein' ya drivin' this thing! It's harder than it looks!" Abner messed with all the buttons and switches that dotted the rusted control panel. He just couldn't figure out how to make the sleigh go any higher. "Maybe this one?" he randomly pressed a button that turned on an antique radio, and an old song began blaring through the night.
-Watch out, you better not cry
You better not pout, I'm tellin' you why
Santa Claus is comin' to to-
The tan lemur turned the music off. "Ooops. Nope, not that one."
Becca forced the king's head down when he tried to stand up. "Well, hurry it up 'cause our plan won't work from this 'ere height, we gotta be higher up! Although I do gotta say, hun, that tune you was playin' over there was soundin' mighty fine!"
Abner searched for the button again, but couldn't find it now for some reason. "Sure it was, but I can't seem to find the music thingy no more!" he said while scratching his head. His memory wasn't exactly the brightest around.
King Julien then, after much effort, somehow managed to spit out the mango gagging his mouth. He glared at his captors with disgust-filled eyes and spoke for the first time in a scathing tone, "Just what the hell is wrong with you guys?! I kindly invite you to my house for Christmas and you still try to kill me?! Aaah! I mean, just – aaah! I'm telling you, you're gonna pay for this! When I get off this-
Becca tried looking for the fallen fruit, but Julien had spat it overboard. So she resorted to covering his mouth with her hand, muffling his words. "Argh, shut it! Ya won't be yappin' soon enuff..." she said in a threatening tone that told the royal they meant business, now more than any other time before. She then veered her head back at her fumbling partner and took her hand off. "Abner, what 'ere on earth's takin' ya so long?! C'mon, move it!"
Julien took this fleeting moment of distraction to lean his head over the railing. "HELP! Somebody help me! I'm being kidnapped by two crazy peasants who want to kill me! HEEELP!" he screamed as loud as his voice would allow him.
Karl was leisurely walking home. Deep in thought, he mulled over the night's events that were still fresh in his mind. Oh, what a beautiful night, he thought to himself as he looked up at the glowing trees around him. He exhaled happily and closed his eyes as he walked, letting his face be showered in all the colors of the rainbow. The icy snow under his feet didn't bother him in the slightest, as the warm thoughts in his mind were more than enough to alleviate the frosting cold.
"Yes, Chauncey. I agree that was the best night I've ever experienced," he conversed with his little friend. "We became friends with Julien and his people, settled our long-standing feud, enjoyed a marvelous event filled with cheer and laughter - and best of all, shared all that amicable company, right as if we were one of them." When the cockroach chirped something in return, he opened his eyes and nodded. "Indeed, my dear. Indeed... How I wish we'll be able to repeat it soon."
The lights eventually faded; a sign that the fanaloka had left the lemurs' kingdom and was now nearing his territory. He was making his way through a cluster of ferns, when suddenly, he caught a distant noise piercing through the quietness of the night – something that sounded like a loud, rattling whir. And it was drawing near. Karl stopped moving and lingered in place, his acute ears perking up to catch the direction the sound was coming from.
"What could that be?" he asked his friend, his eyes darting all over the starry night sky as the noise kept increasing in strength, till the point where he knew its exact position. It was coming from above him.
Suddenly, the whirring grew to an overwhelming volume as a large red flying machine crossed right over the white palm trees he stood under, so close that they shook as it passed by. The flames of its thrusters cast a fierce orange glow onto the dark surroundings for a moment, before fading away along with the noise as the object disappeared. And although Karl found all of this very odd, the machine itself wasn't what caught his attention: just scarcely rising above the ruckus of the two engines, he had heard something else...
"HEEELP!"
That cry for help, he immediately recognized. It was a cry he had heard countless times before as a direct result of his countless evil schemes in the past. His eyes flew open as he stumbled back a step and his ears fell. "Oh no..." he shot a dumbstruck look at his companion, then took off and bolted towards his lair as fast as his legs could carry him.
"Oh, I swear to Frank I'm gonna mince them! With my bare hands!" Clover screamed and shook a fist at the heavens full of fury. She and the others had been frantically chasing after the soaring sleigh that held their captive king for a good while now – and most of them were getting tired. To make matters worse, this faraway part of the jungle was so thick with plants and overgrowth, it wasn't making things any easier for the foursome to keep their pace. In addition, they couldn't even see the sleigh from down here as the bushy trees blocked the view, but the uproar of its rocket engines at the least gave them something to follow.
"Come on guys, we gotta go faster! Don't give up!" Maurice yelled at the others, almost tripping as he ran. At this point, he was straining himself to keep up.
Then, they came out into a small clearing and finally got a clear view of the sky – and spotted with deep horror the faraway sleigh's form flying off higher into the clouds. Unfortunately, it seemed Abner had finally figured how to lift it higher.
"Oh no, no, no, no! They're leaving! Now we're truly never catching them!" the aye-aye shouted as hysteria raced through every fiber of his being. But as much as he wished to, he could run no more; he felt his legs give up under him, and he had to stop to catch his breath. The others followed suit, panting from the effort. Clover was the only one who still had all her energy on her; she wanted to keep running after it, but deep down she knew it was useless. They'd never be catching up to that sleigh like this.
"Ahhhh, what do we do – what do we do?!" Timo clutched his head in his hands and bounced on his feet as he panicked. His scientific mind was racing, but he was too stressed to come up with anything useful. He was out of resources and ideas, and even if he did cobble up something in a jiff like he always did, they'd still be too late to reach the runaway sleigh and save the king.
Mort cried as he dropped to the snow, "I can't believe I'm gonna lose him! I can't! Why couldn't it have been meeee?!"
It all seemed hopeless. The sleigh was gone for good, and with it, any chance of saving King Julien. That is, until another rumbling of engines came fast towards them from somewhere.
As if to answer the four animals' plea, an object burst through the foliage directly in front of them. They had to cover their eyes as the area was siwftly immersed in the bright glow of a spinning disco ball. Right above it stood a velvet-padded chair, and sitting on it was...
"Karl?!" the four shouted out at the unexpected sight of the fanaloka. It surprised them to no end to see him again, but now wasn't the time to question his reasoning, or how he had found them.
"Quickly, we haven't a second to waste!" Karl shouted at them. "My chair is almost out of fuel; we must be hasty if we are to save your king!"
In his hurry, the fanaloka hadn't had time to refuel his flying chair before coming here. Constantly using it as a means of transport had almost fully depleted its fuel tanks. It only had enough for a few minutes of flight at most, which meant they had to go now, or the chance to save Julien would slip away forever for sure. Karl beckoned the female of the group to come over, "Clover, come with me, you're the only one capable of rescuing him! I'll carry you to him!"
He didn't need to tell her twice. "On it!" she heeded him, and looked at her friends as she took her hat off and handed it to them. "You three stick around and keep your eyes up, we might need ground support! Leave this to the professionals." Then she rushed to the fanaloka. She hopped onto the chair's left armrest and grabbed onto its backrest, then flashed a friendly grin at her old enemy. "Alright Karl, time to show those fools what happens when someone messes with our king!"
"My thoughts exactly," Karl reaffirmed the bodyguard's words with a grin of his own. His hand hovered over the controls. "Ready?"
The lemur nodded sharply, then stated, "As I'll ever be. Nobody's gonna ruin our Christmas!"
"Then let's go rescue King Julien," he stated resolutely before pressing a number of buttons on the armrest, and the chair promptly lifted off with a powerful blast and rocketed up into the night sky in a noisy show of smoke and light. Maurice, Mort and Timo shielded themselves as leaves and snow which turned into water flew everywhere. When they looked up, the pair were but a shiny dot that sped away among the stars.
"Good luck, guys... Bring the feet back to me safely..." Mort pleaded weakly. Maurice and Timo planted their hands on his back in a display of support, the former smiling with newfound hope.
"They don't need luck. While Clover still draws breath, nothing will happen to King Julien," the aye-aye asserted confidently, which made the small lemur smile a little.
"I hope you're right..."