"You're getting married!?"
That night, the elder Julien and Zora came to the throne room wishing to speak with King Julien, who reluctantly agreed to hear them out. And so with Dr. S leering through the windshield from the plane's nose while Clover stood at the king's side with a stern scowl, the couple shared their joyous news, though without their earlier enthusiasm considering their company. All of whom the pair rendered stunned into speechlessness, with King Julien being gobsmacked most of all, his mouth agape after his incredulous exclamation as he stared wide eyed back and forth between the newly betrothed, his gaze landing on his uncle as his elder bashfully told him, in a not too friendly but not that gruff manner,
"Yeah. Figured with all you've done for us and since you are family, you deserve to know first." The elder Julien then paused for a pensive second before resuming. "And that brings me to something that we wanna ask ya. How would you feel about...maybe...attending our wedding?"
"Ma-me!?" Julien stuttered.
"And your 'bodyguard' of course." The elder Julien said with a sneer aimed up at Dr. S, who was too stunned for a reply before the groom-to-be then turned his contemptuous scowl to Clover. "Or two of you want." To which Clover too was taken aback, then swiftly returned his scornful gaze with her own, her claws clenching her crossed arms as she did.
"Wait, hold up! You're inviting me and Dr. S and Clover to your wedding!?" King Julien continued in his incredulous inquiry.
"Figured we should at least give you the opinion." Zora told him modestly.
"Zora, Uncle, I..." Words escaped King Julien as he looked back and forth between her and his uncle, with a swirl of emotions buzzing about his brain as he asked them, "...Can I...think about it?"
Now it was the couple's turn to be taken aback, neither having expected that answer, both staring at the younger Julien for a stunned second before turning to each other.
"Uh, sure. You've got time to decide. We haven't picked a date yet." Zora said, stunned and a bit awkward, looking from the lemur king to her betrothed, who simply added in kind,
"Y-yeah, what she said."
With that said and done, King Julien bid the pair goodnight and as soon as they both touched the ground below, so did Dr. S make his opinion known.
"Tell me you're not seriously considering it!?" Was his critical inquiry for King Julien, who snapped defensively,
"I don't know! Mmmaybe!? I don't know!"
"Do you want to go!?"
"I...no..." Julien's reply ended in a meek manner.
"Then why go!?"
"Cause…cause maybe I feel sorry for them, okay!?" Julien snapped louder then before. "If we don't go, who else will!?"
"If we do go, we could all be killed!" Dr. S's scathing retort smacked the scowl off Julien's face, to be replaced by a stunned stare as his piqued protector went on to say, "Did you consider that!? That maybe this 'wedding' could be a trap!? That your uncle and Zora are planning to take you, me and Clover out all at once!? Well, did ya!?", his words like scalding ash as his blazing eyes bore down upon Julien, who wilted under the harsh bark bathed in smoldering spotlight, bowing and saying in barely above an abashed whisper,
"No..."
"That's enough, Dr. S!" Clover barked sternly, coming to stand before the snake doctor to better aim her jungle glare up at him. "You've made your point!"
"Yes, I get it, you're right! It's too dangerous! I'll tell Zora and my uncle we're not going!" Julien insisted in earnest shame and started heading out of the plane but stopped in his tracks when Clover grabbed his arm and demanded that he,
"Don't!"
"What!?" Both her companions exclaimed incredulously, followed by Dr. S demanding to know from his predecessor,
"Why not!?"
"Believe me, Dr. S, I'm all with you on this being a trap but Zora and Uncle King Julien will surely figure out we're onto them if his majesty turns down their invitation now and even if that they don't, the next trap they lay may still not be as obvious!" Clover argued with critical conviction, then paused for a pensive moment before continuing. "And farther more, this may not be the end game of their plot at all but just another step in gaining his majesty's trust! To farther solidify their image of a sweet and loving couple starting a new life together that will whittle his guard down all the more!", side eyeing her friend by the end, to which he turned his face away in uneasiness.
"So-so what are you saying?" Dr. S asked, dreading the answer that he knew was coming and was proven right when Clover said solemnly in reply,
"I'm saying that I think King Julien should accept his invitation."
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After discussing the matter among themselves for a short while longer, the trio then headed to the hospital and it wasn't long into disclosing this latest development with Maurice, Mort and Rob before there were resounding protests within the operating room, including a gravely concerned comment courtesy of Mort arguing,
"It's a trap!"
"We know! That's why we're going!" Clover critically argued back.
"What!? Wh-why would you do that!?" Maurice demanded to know.
"Cause if it's not this trap, it'll just be another one down the line that might not be as obvious!" Clover continued with conviction, to which Rob's scathing retort to that was,
"But you would still be endangering yourself and Dr. S and Julien here and now!"
"Julien's in danger every second those fuckers stay here! At least this way, we have a chance of seeing it coming!" Clover responded in kind.
"If it comes at all!" Julien blurted out, to which all heads turned to him.
"Oh great, here we go!" Mort declared, making a show of rolling his head and eyes in exasperation.
"No! I mean that Zora and my uncle may not be planning to kill anybody that day! I mean...Clover thinks that maybe they're getting married to make themselves look good! To farther trick me into believing that they're a sweet and-and loving and innocent couple that I can trust! So I'll feel safer and-and not be as careful around them and maybe soon, even be alone with them cause it would be way easier to stab me in the back if there's nobody around to watch my back!" Julien argued in earnest, making his own frustration known.
"Yes, that too! What better way to milk their love redeems charade for it's worth!?" Clover added likewise.
"I don't...I don't believe this!" Maurice said and placed a paw on his forehead wearily..
"Dr. S, don't tell me you're going along with this!?" Rob anxiously asked of the snake doctor, hoping for some resistance from his friend but to his grave disappointment, Dr. S's long body wilted as he timidly told him,
"Nurse Phantom, Clover...she does have a point..."
To which Rob's eyes widened for a shocked second before narrowing into a scalding glare. "Are you kidding me!?" He snapped, causing Dr. S to wilt ever still from his harsh bark but even so, the serpent refused to back down in trying to aid his predecessor's point.
And so the quarreling carried on until finally, the more resistant half of the room conceded to the other on the condition that they too would attend the wedding and with reservations on their parts, Julien and his bodyguards accepted Maurice and Rob into the entourage. As for Mort on the other hand...
"What!? Why not!?" Mort demanded to know as he frantically looked from animal to another, to which Julien said to him desperately,
"Mort, please understand…!"
"I don't understand! Why does the pervert get to stay by your side in your time of need but I can't!?" Mort snapped, with the insult being especially bitter, to which Rob snapped back,
"At least this pervert won't tear his uncle's throat out if he so much as breathes on Julien!"
"I hate to say it but he's right, Mort! You can't keep your cool when it comes to his majesty and we can't afford that!" Clover pointed out critically.
"Oh but you can afford to have mister 'I'm going to kill King Julien cause he wouldn't throw away his life and abandon all his real friends to be with only me'!?"
"Rob's not like that anymore, you psychotic gremlin and I don't have to be afraid of him killing my uncle for no reason!" Julien snapped, his amber eyes aflame as they glared down upon Mort, who was at first stunned and stung by the sudden ire. He then swiftly met his king's scalding scowl with his own as he shrieked,
"No reason? No reason to get rid of that waste of air that the world would be better off without!?"
"No, it wouldn't! Life is precious! All of it! And that includes my uncle's!" Was Julien's scathing retort but even with his scorching spotlight continuing to bore down upon his person, Mort's own refused to flicker.
"Life is precious!? You think he's ever thought that!? For one second!? What am I saying!? Of course you do cause you're so sure that he's sooo nice now! That he's kind and gentle and is such a wonderful boyfriend and is gonna be father of the year and isn't the same psychopath playing you like a fiddle again!" Was Mort's own raging retort, with sincere shrieking blended with bitterly biting sarcasm.
To which a sharp pang pulsed through Julien's heart, then one of his eyes started to twitch and his body trembled all the more as he shrieked back, "How many times do I say it!? I! Think! It's! Possible my uncle has changed! What part of that do you not understand!? No, really, what part of that is so confusing!? Please, tell me so I can hammer it into your thick skull!"
"I'm not the one whose confused, you are! Because of that pervert poisoning your mind!"
"Oh no! No! You are not going there!"
"Yes, I am!"
"No, you're not!" Dr. S exclaimed in exasperation before Julien could and swift as lightning, swept Mort off his feet and wrapped him up tight within his coils. To which the mouse lemur let out a startled yelp, then demanded he,
"Let go of me!", as he squirmed furiously against the serpent's steady grip.
"No can do! You're coming with me on patrol!" Dr. S told him, then looked to everyone else. "And to the rest of you, I say goodnight!" And with that, threw open the door and slithered out with a screeching Mort in tow.
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.
.
"Perhaps we should try to catch your uncle before he goes to work? Talk to him and Zora at the same time? No, no, that might be too soon! Make you sound too eager! Wait until after the bastard gets off work? Oh what if that's too late and makes his majesty seem too hesitant? Talk to the jackass while he's working? Get that done while keeping tabs on him at the same time? Hmm, maybe...oh gods, no! Not if he's with...does anyone remember if he's working for Hector today or tomorrow?" Clover put her frantic fretting on pause to ask of King Julien, Maurice and Rob.
After Dr. S and Mort had left the building, there was a lull in wedding deliberation among everyone remaining until bright and early the next morning. At which time discussion on the subject resumed, with Julien, Maurice and Rob sitting on the waiting room coach as Clover anxiously listed off their opinions. Shadow meanwhile had shown up in the night and sat in the corner watching her as well until Clover ceased her perturbed trekking, to which the hawk hopped over and gently nuzzled her head against her lemur friend's side.
"Shadow, please, not now!" Clover begged and pushed her away, receiving a sad coo from her feathered friend in response while the men looked to each other, then back to Clover in concern.
"No but I can find out. I'll be right back." Rob said solemnly, got off the coach and headed through the door leading into the rest of the building.
Shadow then lightly bumped her head against Clover's shoulder and with an irritated groan, the uneased lemur looked to her. That's when Clover saw that she had bowed her head so that their eyes were level, so that she could look right into her avian companion's sad eyes, with dawn's light catching their tender glow.
"Shadow..." Clover said in gentle sadness. Shadow then tenderly rubbed her head against the croak of Clover's neck, her eyes closed as she hummed soft coos for her friend. "Shadow..." Clover tenderly repeated, rested her paw on the bird's neck and began to lightly scratch beneath her dark gray feathers. To which Shadow gladly leaned into her touch while letting out a soft sigh, coaxing a small warm smile onto Clover's lips, both their hearts feeling just a bit lighter.
Tender warmth sparked within Maurice and Julien's own hearts as they watched the pair, soft smiles coming out onto their lips as well.
And then just like that, the sound of a door opening nearby brought the moment to an end and all turned to see Rob walking into the room holding a standard sized wall calendar with his thumb keeping it slightly open on that month.
"Yep, it's Hector's day, alright." The nurse told everyone, with unease considering that it was no secret that the elder lemur still held still deep resentment towards both king and queen. Though both of the latter parties agreed that it would be far better to face him then a loved one of someone whose life they had a hand in ending.
But anyone could voice their opinion on the matter, the front doors suddenly swung open and all turned to see Dr. S poking his head through them, looking this way and that. "Oh good, you guys are up." He said with relief upon seeing everyone and slide the rest of his long body inside, carrying into the room an unconscious Mort lying limp within his coils.
"I see he's still knocked out." Maurice said and looked at Mort in uncomfortable concern.
"Yep! Out like a light! He he!" Dr. S said with glee, though Maurice was unamused.
For after his dramatic exit the previous night, Dr. S had soon returned to the hospital with a still screaming Mort thrashing within his iron grip, begging Rob to bring out the hospital's sedatives. From there, Mort had been given enough of the narcotic to render him unconscious for the remainder of the evening, though taking into account his ever so bizarre and unpredictable biology, Dr. S had taken the resting lemur for the remainder of his patrol just in case he woke up sooner.
"Thank Frank for sedatives, am I right?" Dr. S enthusiastically said to everyone.
"Yeah..." Rob said a bit awkward like, with an uneased edge lacing his tone.
Which everyone else picked up on right away, bringing about a brief uncomfortable silence that was swiftly sliced through by Dr. S asking the slightly awkward but also genuinely concerned question of, "So, uh, what are we going to do about Mort when he wakes up?", as he looked down upon said sleeping lemur.
"Oh, um...that's a good question." Clover said, surprise turning to unnerved realization. She then picked back up her perturbed pacing while saying in frantic frustration, "Agh, he's going be so pissed and we all know that he's just going to keep getting more pissed and stop at nothing til he gets what he wants and we are not giving him that and...and dammit, we have to keep him away from King Julien or he could ruin the whole plan!"
"But how!? You know how freaky protective the little freak is of me! As long as there's even the eensiest chance that I'm in danger, I don't care where you take him or how tight you make his locks! He'll find his way back to me and reattach himself like the overgrown leech he is!" Julien argued in kind.
"Don't you think I know that!?" Clover stopped and snapped at her friend, taking him aback. This was followed by a brief uncomfortable silence that ended with Clover letting out a vexed sigh and saying to Julien likewise, "We have to convince him somehow that he'll be of more help to you elsewhere! At least until after the wedding!"
"Help how and where?" Was Maurice's critical question, spoken in a more concerned manner then harsh, to which Clover let out a weary sigh and said in kind,
"That's the million mango question!"
Then suddenly, a possible answer came to Clover and with pensive caution, she shared it with everyone else. "Maybe...Mort could be of help in my kingdom."
"Your kingdom? Doing what?" Dr. S asked critically.
"I don't know, help me deal with Campion's sheep!? Frank knows I can use all the help I can get with them!" Clover snapped at the serpent, taking him aback.
"You'd think he'd go for that?" Julien asked with cautious optimism.
"Or if it would do any good if he did?" Maurice inquired with concerned skepticism.
"I don't know but I doubt he can do more damage then what's already been done and really, the important thing is that if he's there, then you lot could worry less about him and more on the task at hand! Getting King Julien through this wedding in one piece!" Clover said to all with critical conviction.
"Hmm, that is true." Dr. S solemnly agreed.
To which Maurice let out a weary sigh and conceded likewise, "I guess it's worth a shot!"
"Alright then! In that case, Mort and I better leave as soon as possible! In the meantime, let's catch Zora and your uncle before they leave for work!" Clover said firmly, promptly grabbing Julien's arm and yanking him off the coach, with him struggling to keep pace as she dragged him across the room and out the door. Where from there, they were soon standing before the front door to Julien's home, finding the newly betrothed both there and quite surprised by the pair's sudden appearance.
"Nephew, Clover, what are you two doing here? And at this hour? Did Hector send you? Did he tell you I'm late cause I swear, I'm not supposed to be at his house for another hour! It says so clear as day on my schedule!" The elder Julien said to them, curt confusion turning to snappish defense, then started to turn away from the doorway to retrieve said schedule but stopped when Clover snapped,
"We're not here to discuss your schedule! We're here about your wedding!"
To which the elder Julien responded with a simple, "Oh.", both stunned and a bit embarrassed. Then, turned back to face his visitors, cleared his throat and asked awkwardly, "So, uh, you guys...made a decision yet?"
"We have and the answer is yes, I will attend your wedding. With Clover and Dr. S there too of course!" King Julien told the couple in awkwardly anxious fashion, complete with a matching smile.
"Really!?" Zora said, pleasantly shocked, as both she and her lover stared at the younger Julien and Clover in kind.
"Yes, really, but there is one thing." King Julien said while holding up a forefinger. "You got room for two more guests?" Topping off the question by then holding up his middle finger along with the index.
"More guests?" His elder asked, confused, and both betrothed looked to each other likewise.
"Yes, Maurice and Nurse Phantom wish to accompany his majesty as well. That an alright arrangement with you two?" Clover said with a sneer, the prickly edge of her words letting all know that she was in no mood for objections.
To which the couple briefly met her scowl with their own matching pair before then looking back to each other in a more civil manner, with the elder Julien courteously asking his bride to be, "What do ya think, hon? I'm good with it if you are."
"Yeah, it's alright with me." Zora agreed likewise.
"Great! If that's all, then see ya guys later!" King Julien said excitedly and turned away from the doorway.
"Wait!" Zora ordered, to which the younger Julien stopped and looked over his shoulder in surprise. "There's something I need to ask Clover." She solemnly said, looking from the lemur king to Clover.
"Me?" Clover said, confused.
"Yes. When you get back to the mountain lemurs, would you tell Minerva and her friends that they're invited to the wedding too?"
"Wait, you mean the lady who kinda agrees with Clover about you and my uncle but wants to treat both of you more like Sage does but in a lot less...Sagey way and really hates Sage and has her own group of peoples listening to her?" Julien said in surprise, faintly recalling the timid lemur from two weeks prior along with stronger recollection of Clover's venting about her in letters, then in person ever since and the snippets he had heard of Xixi's interview with her three days prior.
"Oh yeah, that's Minerva alright! So, you want to invite that self righteous chuffer too, huh!?" Was Clover's critical comment.
"Yes cause she and her friends are the only ones in your kingdom who aren't being jackasses to me and my Julien!" Was Zora's ratty retort, with her groom to be nodding in kind while giving Clover his own critical glare.
To which Clover let out a contemptuous tsst and told the couple likewise, "Of course! Fine, I'll tell her! I'm sure she'll be honored!" Which continued to earn her scolding scowls from the piqued pair.
"So, uh, we done for reals this time?" King Julien grabbed Clover's shoulders and anxiously asked, giving the couple a matching smile.
"We are." Zora snarled and with that, the elder Julien slammed shut the door.
With that unpleasant business taken care of, King Julien and Clover headed back for the hospital where upon arrival, they found all of their anxious allies still there with Dr. S holding a now very awake and very angry Mort, who greeted the approaching pair with a smoldering glare as the others gave them concerned stares.
"We told him about the plan." Maurice said uneasily, to which Clover pleaded with Mort,
"Mort, please, try to understand…!"
"Save it! I know where I'm not wanted! Go ahead, take me away!" Mort snapped, then snarled with teeth and bitterness bared and Clover knew that there was no use in arguing any farther. And so, the two of them soon took off atop of Shadow for Clover's kingdom, leaving their uneased allies behind.
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Later that day, King Julien, Maurice and Rob set off to see the king's uncle at work. As the trio was nearing Hector's home, Maurice's ears picked up a faint sound that soon enough, Rob started to hear too and not long after that, made itself known to Julien as well. Growing ever louder for all three men as they approached their destination, ever clearer until all could make out an all too familiar voice grousing the words,
"I hate the dirt! I hate the dirt! This sucks ass and gods, my back hurts!"
The elder Julien was chanting his bitter mantra from within a hole dug to the side of Hector's front lawn. Next to it was a wooden sign that read CAUTION DEEP HOLE painted in bold red letters with the top of a ladder poking out of said hole on it's other side next to a decently sized mound of dirt. And indeed, the hole itself looked wide enough for King Julien to bellyflop his way down it and when the king along with his companions got to it's edge, it seemed deep enough for two of his majesty to stand on top of each other, with his elder grumbling away as he dug it ever deeper.
"Uncle?" King Julien called down to him in confusion, startling the elder lemur, who swiftly stopped shoveling and looked up while still tightly gripping his tool, surprise then turning to irritation. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm working!" Was the elder lemur's curt answer.
"Yes, I can see that but what's the hole for?" Was King Julien's snippity response, to which his elder leaned on his shovel and gave his piqued answer.
"If you must know, it's for me to dig until my slave driver for today tells me to stop so then I can fill back up! All so I have a shit day!"
"Yep!"
The sudden sound of Hector's gruff voice made the young trio yelp in unison as they swiftly turned towards it. In doing so, one of King Julien's feet slipped on the hole's lip and another startled sound escaped from the king's as he started to fall backwards into it's gaping mouth. His friends swiftly grabbed each arm but ended up being dragged down by their companion in the process and all screamed as they made the brisk trip down into the earth, landing at the hole's bottom with Rob and Maurice on top of King Julien.
Upon seeing their positions, Rob was struck by a bolt of panic and let out yet another yelp as he scrambled to get off of King Julien as quickly as he could, frantically scooting backwards away from his friend until his back hit the wall of earth surrounding them. Meanwhile, Maurice picked himself up at a less panic stricken pace, then King Julien sat up as well as both moaned in protest of their sore bones. Then, all three men heard the other Julien's cruel cackle and turned to see the elder lemur bellowing it out gleefully, with his head thrown back as he pointed at their persons.
"It's not funny!" Rob snapped at him.
"You're right, it's not funny...it's hilarious!" The elder Julien replied, solemnly at first before switching back to wicked merriment, which continued to earn him scolding scowls from his juniors.
King Julien then directed his at Hector, whose head was poking over the hole's edge, and snapped up at him, "What the heck, Hector!? You trying to give us heart attacks!?"
"I'm trying to find out why you ding dongs are on my lawn distracting my servant?!" Was Hector's snappy response.
"We're here to check up on how Uncle King Julien is doing at his job, that's why!" Was Maurice's vexed answer. "So can you please give us your assessment of how he's doing?"
To which Hector sighed and said begrudgingly, "Fine."
And so, the young trio climbed out of the hole and followed Hector to his front porch. Where the three friends sat on the edge of it's platform while their elder rested in his rocking chair, swaying back and forth as he asked them curtly,
"So what exactly is it you idiots wanna know?"
"Is my uncle doing what you're telling him to do? Is he giving you any trouble? Stuff like that." King Julien prompted, to which Hector shrugged his shoulders and said,
"He's doing what he's told. Could do with a little less whining as he's doing it!", nonchalance turning to annoyance, raising his voice and narrowing his eyes at the hole.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know that I was supposed to be singing about sunshine and lollipops as I'm breaking my back! My bad!" The elder Julien retorted with bitterly blatant sarcasm. To which Hector gave him a closed lipped growl before turning back to King Julien, going on to grouse,
"Can't cook for jack shit neither!"
"I told you that I can't cook for jack shit but did you care? No!" The elder Julien said in kind, to which Hector turned and snapped back at him,
"How fucking hard is it to make oatmeal!?"
"Pretty fucking hard when you don't know how to work a stove, ya dumbass!"
"You're the dumbass!" Hector then turned to the other three men. "You should see what he did!"
And with that, the elder lemur got up, went inside his home and promptly came back out holding a coconut bowl in both paws. The young trio gathered around and saw that it was filled to the brim with what looked like black stone, that combined with the faint burnt smell wafting from it made it seem more probable that it had come from a volcano rather then a kitchen.
"This is oatmeal?" King Julien said incredulously and poked the mock lava rock, feeling a faint warmth still radiating from the stone solid mass.
"Yep. Not that anyone can eat it now." Hector continued to complain, to which the elder Julien was quick to critically point out,
"Hello! Pampered royal whose never had to cook a day in his life here! Which again, just so we're clear, I did remind ya!"
"Hmm, he does have a point. We royals don't tend to be good cooks." King Julien concurred, though in a less harsh manner.
"Well, your uncle doesn't have that excuse anymore, now does he? Someone outta teach the stupid bastard! Even just the bare basics would make him more useful!" Was Hector's critical retort.
"Oh, so are you gonna teach me?" The elder Julien said with a sneer.
"No cause I got better things to do then trying to teach your dumb ass!"
"Like watching me dig a hole?"
"It's making you miserable, ain't it? Worth every second to me." Hector said with a smug smirk, to which he received a growl, a huff and the resumed sound of shoveling in return. Then, his smirk was replaced with a scowl and he turned back to the younger Julien to irritably ask him, "Anything else you wanna know?"
This gave King Julien pause. For there was another question that he wished to ask of his elder. Problem was, he wasn't so sure that he should. So he remained silent for a pensive moment, with Hector wearing an impatient scowl while his friend's expressions were of confused concern. Though Maurice had a good idea of what Julien's inquiry might be and was proven right when his friend hesitantly said to Hector,
"Have you heard anything from...that is to say, have you talked to...anybody that my uncle has already worked for?"
A sharp gasp escaped Rob's lips, which he then promptly shut tight and kept them that way as he and Maurice looked from Julien to Hector, who had been taken aback by the king's question as well. The elder lemur then furrowed his brow and critically inquired,
"You mean the wedding victim's families?"
"...Yes. Nobody's come to me or-or Maurice or Dr. S with complaints but I didn't know if maybe you had heard something..." King Julien said sheepishly, growing ever more ashamed as he wilted under the scrutinizing spotlight cast by his elder. After some long silent seconds, Hector told Julien nonchalant like (though the judgement in his gaze remained as he spoke),
"...I've talked with a few. Seems it's been bout the same for all of us. The jackass doing as he's told, working and whining away." Hector then paused, his scowl deepening, and he asked with an irritated edge, "Anything else you wanna know?"
"N-no, I think that's about it. If everything's cool here then...yeah, yeah we're done." King Julien said timidly, stood up and walked off the porch with his friends following his lead. He then stopped and looked back to Hector, who was now leaning against a post with his arms crossed as he met Julien's gaze through narrowed eyes.
"If my uncle does give you trouble, e-even just a skosh, don't hesitate to come to me o-or Dr. S, okay?" Julien anxiously asked with gentle concern.
"Fine." Hector scoffed while rolling his eyes.
"I mean it!" Julien insisted with conviction as he started to walk backwards away from his elder.
"Yeah yeah." Hector grumbled and Julien kept stepping back as he debated whether or not he should say anymore when suddenly, one of his feet dropped down into open air. He yelped as he then felt gravity starting to drag the rest of him down and though his friends rushed to grab him, this time Julien's paws slipped past their grasps and the lemur king found himself falling down into the hole once more.
After landing flat on his back and being momentarily dazed, King Julien sat up with a groan. It was then that he heard a gleeful guffaw and looked up to see his uncle howling it while holding his shovel. To which a lightning bolt of memory struck King Julien, flashing images of his elder laughing away while welding crimson stained clubs.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"
King Julien let out a panic-stricken shriek that brought his uncle's cruel cackling to a screeching halt, startling the elder lemur into stunned silence, giving his nephew a wide eyed stare while firmly grasping his tool. While King Julien continued to scream as he scrambled to get away from his elder, frantically scooting backwards until his back hit the wall of earth surrounding them, bringing his horrified cry to a halt, though not his hammering heart.
"What the fuck!?" Was the elder Julien's vexed question but before his nephew could slow his rapid breathing enough to answer, Maurice's anxious voice called down,
"King Julien!"
To which both Juliens looked up to see Maurice, Rob and Hector all looking down at them from around the hole's rim, all wearing anxious expressions.
"Julie, are you hurt?" Was Rob's concerned question.
"Can you stand?" Was Maurice's.
"I..." King Julien pulled himself up by leaning against the wall, then stood on his own and took a small step forward. "Y-yeah, yeah, I can." He reassured everyone, trying hard to keep his anxiety composed as he did, as he tried to avoid looking over at his uncle. Who was still quite puzzled by his nephew's demeanor until he looked down at the shovel in his paws and that's when he was struck by memories of himself holding similar blunt objects splattered with scarlet red while belting out heinous howls. To which the elder Julien then became sheepish and stared at his nephew likewise as the younger Julien walked past him, going backwards so as to keep his eyes on his elder as he did.
"So, uh, see you sometime, uncle." King Julien said with awkward unease as he reached out a paw behind his back and stoked the air until it touched the ladder. To which the lemur king then swiftly turned around, stepped onto said ladder and climbed it back up into open air.
"Your majesty, are you okay?" Maurice asked with gentle concern as King Julien exited the hole.
"Yeah, I'm fine, really. Just a little shook up, that's all." King Julien told him and the others, for even Hector seemed concerned. "Thanks for the four one one, man. See ya around." Julien told the elder lemur and promptly walked away with his friends on his heels.