"Seriously? Crying over a bug? You're an even bigger wuss than I thought. Man up for once, bro!"

Bruce's words rang through his head as Karl dashed through the Madagascar jungle, freezing cold rain lashing at him and mixing with the hot tears streaming down his face. He sobbed uncontrollably, vision blurring as he clutched Chauncey's broken, squashed body in his paws. Even though the genius could mentally prepare himself for almost anything, he clearly underestimated just how evil his brother was. The minute Bruce crushed Chauncey's exoskeleton and tore his head clean off, Karl felt like his heart had been completely torn from his chest. Bruce had so callously snuffed out the light that brought whatever little joy to his brother's miserable life in one fell swoop.

Karl was so blinded with grief he didn't even know where to go. It's almost as if his brain was on autopilot. Driven by pure instinct, he made a beeline towards the treehouse of his arch nemesis and amazingly made it up the ladders in spite of the salty sting of tears blurring his vision and the rain making the surfaces slicker than usual.

Eventually, the weeping fanaloka crept into King Julien's room as he usually had done. Shivering, the soaking wet civet curled up close to the slumbering lemur and sobbed quietly into his side. Julien's eyes snapped open and he bolted upright. Karl likewise got up only to fall back to his paws and knees. Even if Julien was his arch nemesis, he secretly quite liked cuddling with the lemur almost as much as Mort did.

Karl hung his head, tears rolling down his snout and dripping off the tip of his nose. Julien watched with disgust as Karl's tears stained his bedsheets, his nemesis sobbing like a lost child desperately wishing for security. The fanaloka didn't even care how pathetic he looked in Julien's presence, all he could think about was the fact that his closest friend in the entire world was dead and was never coming back.

With an irritated look, Julien yanked the blanket from under his tearful nemesis, "Don't you have any manners, Karl? Staining my sheets with your salty tears in the middle of the night? I swear, you just get creepier and creepier!"

"I'm sorry..." Karl sniffed weakly, looking at Julien with a hurt expression, "I was just looking for emotional support over the death of a friend..."

Julien raised an eyebrow. It was unlike Karl to apologize like this. Just what was the crafty fanaloka up to? He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Look Karl, you're disturbing my beauty sleep with your little saddy-sad emotions. It's late, I'm a king and I need to keep up appearances so just go and cry on someone else when they sleep. Give Mort a nice shower with your saddy-sad tears, he's been pretty stinky lately."

Karl huffed in annoyance. Mort likely didn't have to mental capacity to even grasp to concept of death. "Hmph! Fine then, you've only poured fuel on the fire of my hatred for you. So long, you heartless wretch. You'll be safe. For now, anyways."

Julien escorted Karl back out into the pouring rain and slammed the door to his treehouse with a loud thud. Karl's irritation melted away as he once again looked down at Chauncey's dismembered exoskeleton in his paw. Wiping the tears and rain from his eyes with his free paw, the fanaloka climbed his way down the tree only to slip and fall in the mud. Too defeated to get up, Karl just lay face-down in the mud as sobs quaked his aching body. He'd never felt so pitiful in his whole life. Eventually, he cried himself to sleep as the sky cried along with him.

It almost seemed like an eternity later when Karl's eyes snapped open and he scanned around a room. Was it all just a horrible nightmare? Suddenly, it dawned on him that the bed he was laying in was not his own. The sound of buzzing machinery filled at air as the confused fanaloka took in his surroundings. He was in a room full of scraps and machinery and almost immediately, he felt the absence of Chauncey's corpse in his paws. Springing up, Karl made a mad dash out of the bed and grabbed Timo by his shoulders, shaking the tenrec violently, "WHERE IS MY SWEET CHAUNCEY?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM!?" Karl demanded angrily.

"Calm down, Karl! Calm down! I just put him in a shoebox. I know just how much he means to you so I kept him preserved." Timo replied, pushing Karl away and handing him the box, "When I saw you lying out in the mud, I knew I just had to get you to shelter even if your not the most popular person in the area."

Karl swiftly grabbed the box and opened it. Inside was Chauncey's squished and decapitated body. His smile quickly faltered into a look of pure despair, "So it wasn't a nightmare...it it was all real...Chauncey is...d-d-dead..."

Karl threw his head back and let out an anguished scream, tears rolling down his face as he buried his face in his large paws. Timo frowned at the sight, "I'm so sorry for your loss, Karl. Is there anything I can get you? Glass of water? Maybe a blanket?"

"Can you bring him back?" Karl whimpered softly, eyes red from crying, "P-please?"

"Sorry, but I'm a scientist, not a necromancer." Timo shook his head. It took everything within the tenrec not to just hug Karl but he knew the villainous civet would just shove him away in anger as soon as he made contact, "I'm deeply sorry about your pet."

"Pet. Pet. PET?!" Karl lashed out, his tears evaporating into anger, "Chauncey was SO much more to me than JUST a pet! He was my ONLY FRIEND in this SICK, TWISTED WORLD! Do you have ANY idea what I've been through in my lifetime? NO, you DON'T! So don't even THINK about using a term as disposable as "pet". HE! WAS! MY! EVERYTHING!"

Karl was bawling hysterically at this point, clutching the makeshift cockroach coffin to his chest. Timo blinked back his own tears as he stared apologetically at the heartbroken villain, "Is there anything I can do?"

"Just leave me alone and let me mourn..." Karl replied hoarsely, nuzzling the shoebox. Sadly, the tenrec turned and walked away as the sounds of Karl's sobs haunted him. Choking back a sob of his own, Timo felt a tear running down his snout which he sadly dashed away with a knuckle. He couldn't help but feel sympathy for the villain.

The next day, all the lemurs gathered in the village as Karl prepared to bury his beloved cockroach. Masikura could sense a very different energy from Karl. It was as if every ounce of malice in his body had been replaced with pure, unleaded despair. Despite his bad reputation, the chameleon found herself praying for him. King Julien who was usually bad a reading the room likewise began to pick up on Karl's mood shift. He wanted to rub it in and mock Karl for losing Chauncey after all the times the fanaloka tried to kill him but it just felt wrong. Even if Karl was his nemesis, kicking him when he was this down wasn't a line that the lemur king would ever cross. Despite the somber atmosphere, the only one openly crying besides Karl himself was Ted who was just an emotional guy by default. To call it an extremely awkward funeral would be an understatement. It almost felt like a spectator sport for watching Karl cry more than anything.

Sniffling, Karl opened the lid of his shoebox and nuzzled the dismembered body of his only friend. A glistening tear rolled out of Karl's right eye, slid down his muzzle and perched upon his nose. The teardrop lingered on the rim of his nostril for a few seconds before landing on Chauncey's exoskeleton as he nuzzled it, "So this is it, old friend. One last cuddle before I bury you in the earth. I just want you to know that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me and I truly thank you from the bottom of my wicked, black heart."

Mort noticed Karl crying over Chauncey's corpse, "Oooh, are you trying to magically revive him with your tears?" The mouse lemur asked in his annoying, high-pitched voice.

Karl chuckled and wiped his eyes, "Of course not! I'm too smart to believe in something as stupid as magical healing tears. I was just nuzzling Chauncey one last time before laying him to rest."

Clover nudged Julien, "Psst. Julien, now that Karl's lost his only friend he must be 10 times as dangerous. You know what they say about a man with nothing to lose."

Karl's ears perked at Clover's comment and he let out a loud laugh, "Trying to cheer me up, are you Clover? Quite witty of you. Unfortunately, I have lost the will to plot any more schemes. Things just won't be the same without Chauncey so I'm retiring from villainy. Trying to hatch an evil plan with an empty heart just won't do. I need some time to do some rebuilding and possibly reflecting. I won't be much of a threat to Julien anymore so you don't have to worry."

Suddenly, flashes zoomed through King Julien's memory:

"You didn't see me but I was there the whole time."

"Julien, you must know by now that I did this for us. To prove we are the same. My parents never loved me. And I wanted... nay, needed! to prove to you that your parents never loved you either!"

A sudden wave of guilt punched Julien in the gut as tears flooded his eyes, "You...were abused? I...I mistreated you?"

"You're just NOW realizing this?" Karl rolled his eyes, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I wonder how many brain cells it took to get to THAT conclusion."

King Julien immediately ran up to Karl and latched on to his nemesis' ankles, "OH KARL, I AM SO SORRY! I...I HAD NO IDEA! IF ONLY I COULD ASK THE GODS FOR A MAGICAL TIME MACHINE, I WOULD TRAVEL ALL THE WAY BACK TO LEMUR SCHOOL AND GIVE YOU A BASKET OF APOLOGY MANGOES AND A HUUUUUUG!"

Julien was bawling heavily and messily at this point, a sight which made Karl cringe, "It's too late, Julien. I may not be out for your blood anymore but you've burned that bridge a long time ago. It's time for me to say goodbye and move on. It's for the best. I may be a man of backup plans but at some point, even I know when to throw in the towel."

Karl kicked Julien off of him and proceeded to start burying the shoebox casket. Ted wept openly on Clover's shoulder as Mort happily licked from the puddle of King Julien's tears on the ground. Most lemurs watched in awkward silence as Karl finished burying his only friend in the world. After the funeral, most everyone left with the exception of Karl and Maurice who remained at Chauncey's grave. Atop the dirt was a framed picture of Karl holding Chauncey in his paw and the glass protecting the picture had a few salty streaks running down it from Karl's tears landing on it. The aye aye approached the fanaloka and spoke up, "Never thought I'd be saying this but I really hope the best for you, Karl. Sorry for your loss."

Karl sadly shook his head, "Julien must feel so lucky to have a friend like you. He's truly more priveledged than I. I'm going to miss Chauncey deeply every day for the rest of my life. My world's in complete darkness without him."

Maurice's ears wilted as he looked down, "You were dealt a pretty bad hand in life. I'm sorry you had to go through all that. But there's one thing I'd like to ask you. Will you ever forgive King Julien?"

Karl looked away and snorted in annoyance, "Of course not. It's too little too late for forgiveness. My hatred for him runs too deep. Even if he wasn't responsible for Chauncey's death, I'd still celebrate if he keeled over dead. Even so, I want you to promise me something, Maurice."

"What's that?"

"Promise me that you'll protect Julien no matter what. Even if I'm not after his head anymore, I'm sure he's stepped on far too many toes to count." Karl replied, smiling wearily at Maurice, "You're a good guy, Maurice. I'd hate for you to experience what I went through by losing your best friend. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Julien deserves you more than I deserved Chauncey."

"You've one complicated guy, Karl." Maurice replied, patting the civet's back, "All right, I promise."

"Good. I'm used to hearing that." Karl nodded in agreement, "Some say my mind is like a labyrinth. Anyway, it's best that I skip town. You understand, correct? I'm not exactly mister popular in this neck of the woods."

"I hear you loud and clear." Maurice said as the two shook paws, "I'd be lying if I said you didn't make life more interesting here."

"Well then. In that case, I bid you adieu. I do so hate long goodbyes." Karl bowed politely before vanishing into the night.

"Uh...bye, Karl." Maurice awkwardly waved as the civet disappeared in the shadows. And that was the last time anybody ever saw Karl. Rumors circulated regarding what happened to Karl. Ted suggested he made it as a famous pop singer citing the fanaloka's smooth singing voice, Masikura thought he died of a broken heart from losing Chauncey, Horst thought he opened up a rival poo coffee business to compete with his brother, Timo thought that Karl became a millionaire from bit coin investing. Clover even thought that Karl went on to start his own cult of some sort. Darkest of all, Hector suggested that Karl ended his own life by hanging himself with a vine somewhere deep in the jungle. Whatever the case, Karl's fate was a mystery among the community and no one cared enough about him to seek out the truth.

About a year after Karl's disappearance, Julien found himself at Chauncey's grave. With a sad smile, he left a bouquet of flowers beside the picture of Karl and his beloved cockroach, "Thank you for being a friend to Karl, Chauncey. You were there for him when he needed you most, just like Maurice has always been there for me. I guess even bad guys need to be loved by somebody."

And with that, Julien turned tail and left the grave. Little did he know, a pair of distinct golden eyes were watching from the bushes, full of warm tears of joy. Karl's heart was slowly mending from the pain of losing the only living thing that treated him with kindness. The real question nobody was asking: Would Karl's heart ever truly fully mend? The end.