The Throne of Flame: Chapter Twenty Seven
None other than Clemson and Parker jumped down from the top of the tree, landing on a branch just a few feet above from where the North Wind and Clover were situated. To say that the group who was already familiar with them was shocked would be an understatement. It took a moment of dim recognition for Skipper to realize exactly who he was dealing with.
He remembered Clemson, sure - had even made fun of him when the whole escapade with Julien's safety had begun, because the red lemur had been so insignificant of a threat that he could afford to joke at Clemson's expense. On the other hand, his accomplice did not share the same level of perceived harmlessnes. Memories of Parker's identity came flooding back to Skipper - his job as Dr. Blowhole's double agent, betraying them to get paid by the dolphin mastermind. It made perfect sense that he would be working for him again, but why was Clemson there?
"Happy to see me, Julien?" Clemson sneered, voice calm and ominous all at once. Like an explosion just waiting to happen.
Julien honestly seemed to debate this for a moment, before he merely shrugged. "Not in the particularlies. I don't know what you are being here for, Clemmyson. Honestly, I was forgetting that you even existed."
It was a front. Ever so gently, Skipper could feel Julien trembling against him in abject fear. Anyone who could jump down from a flaming branch and remain cynical would, of course, have a frightening aura. It had the desired effect, though; Clemson was clearly offended, and his expression darkened altogether. He stared at Julien with intense hatred for a moment, before he turned to the other penguins and grinned brightly - sickly sweet and entirely fake.
"Oh by the way, hi Kowalski, Rico, Private, and Skipper. You guys look great, did you know that? What, have you been losing weight? Maybe hitting the gym a little bit? You look just great. Wonderful, actually. Really, it's a good look for you. Did you get a hair-cut, Rico? Or, should I say, feathers? Yeah, feathers, that's what I meant. Well! You look stunning, truly truly stunning." The words slipped from his lips with such obviously feigned pleasantry that it made Skipper want to throw up in his beak.
"I'm sorry, but what is he doing here?" Kowalski's tone was dripping with disgust as he pointed to Parker.
The platypus made a point to obviously roll his eyes, but Clemson spoke up before he could, gesturing to Parker animatedly. "Parker here is another man on the job, so to speak - which I am, I'm speaking right now - I hired him, or rather, had him hired, to… Make sure the North Wind could finish the job." Another smirk.
"So this is the infamous Parker…" Classified huffed in an annoyed tone. He had been searching fruitlessly for the assassin only to discover that he had been on the island with them all along - it must have been a bummer to realize his agonizing searches had been in vain all along.
"Wow, he really is a platypus," Clover commented, clearly unimpressed. She didn't seem to take him seriously, not at all.
"Yes, I know! I was surprised too, when I first met him. Actually, surprise doesn't even really cover it, you know? You always hear about platypi but you never see them. It's like, whoa! There's a platypus, right there." Clemson went on and on, and it was really beginning to get on Skipper's nerves.
"Enough!" Skipper snapped, fed up.
"Yes," Julien agreed, and behind the two of them, his fingers latched onto Skipper's wing. "Do be telling us what you are here for. We do not have all the night, you know. I'm not sure if you are noticing, but there is a fire spreading like, literally right behind you."
Clemson looked absolutely outraged. "It was me, you idiot! I've been behind this whole thing! Me and Dr. Blowhole have… An agreement." The smile returned, and the way the last word rolled off his tongue was like poison.
"You?" Classified spoke up, obviously bewildered. "Who are you?"
"I'm the king! Or, I'm going to be the king, as soon as that stupid, useless, pathetic waste of space dies!" Clemson shouted, clearly furious at being so insignificant that no one knew of him. "The next king of the lemurs, me! King Clemson I!"
Julien examined his nails, not bothering to look at the red lemur. "Okay, sure buddy, but I'm guessing this means you are going to be ready for the Mozambique Jackal Embassy trying to infiltrate. You know, they are going to want to be taking over if I do not give my royal spot to someone who can handle the responsibilities."
Clemson's lips spread into an awful, wretched grin, his teeth glinting in the night. "Actually yes. I've arranged a little thing with the KWDF - that stands for the Kenyan Wild Dogs Faction, for those of you who aren't as informed - and we've reached a nice little agreement. Or, not little. Not at all, actually. It's quite momentous. They're going to protect us from the Mozambique Jackal Embassy in exchange for thirty percent of our lower-class offspring yearly. What they'll do with them, I don't know, but I'm thinking they'll use them for food or slavery. Maybe both!"
Julien kept up his brave face, but to Skipper, he was obviously seething. Everything Clemson had said clashed against his beliefs, and Clemson was only trying to rile him up. To see him tremble in fear, the sadistic freak. Classified, on the other hand, saw no reason to hide his issues with the situation.
"Why, that's ridiculous!" He retorted. "That'll start a war!"
Clemson waved away this objection with a snort. "Oh I know. Don't you think I know? Trust me, I know very very well what it'll do. I've planned - can I say that? Yes, I guess I can, since you all know. I've planned this, from top to bottom. You see, Julien ruined the lemur economy. Did you know that the Madagascar output from the lemur population is close to nothing right now? On a monetary scale, that is. Fruit is produced just fine, but hey, that's besides the point. What I'm saying is - aside from letting you know how awful Julien is, because he really is awful - in times of economic ruin, which is what the lemurs are experiencing right now, war is a good option."
"Don't be being silly," Julien responded, but there was a waver in his tone. "That is making no sense."
"Maybe not to a simpleton like you. War produces jobs, which is good for a circulation of money, which is needed for a good economy. It's a plan, a solid plan, a plan that'll work. We'll let the wild dogs do the fighting, and we'll provide them with provisions. Fruit, lemurs we don't need, maybe even some of our metals if it comes down to that, which it might. I mean, how else do you get an entire country out of a depression? Riddle me that, Julien." He finished his explanation with a hideous smirk, smug and very pleased with himself.
Julien had been wound up by this, and he finally turned to face Clemson with a face that expressed nothing but vehement detestation. Skipper could feel him shaking, clearly trying to hold back from executing his animosity towards Clemson in a violent manner. His facade was crumbling beneath the clear trivialization of everything he held dear, especially when presented in a way that was almost possible. Skipper, on the other hand, was not so charitable, nor was he so collected.
"You're a monster!" He hissed out in fury. "I'm all pro-war, but that's just plain stupid!"
"Stupid?!" Clemson shouted, before he forced out a laugh. "It's anything but stupid! Stupid is as far away as it gets! No no no, this - this war that's coming - this is the best thing that can possibly happen right now! Socialism? Equality? Don't make me laugh, hah! We need to progress, and we'll never get anywhere if we try to cater to everyone's needs. I'm going to make our society perfect! Julien's not man enough to do it, which is why I'm taking over!"
"Not if I can help it!" Clover objected, full of rage as she launched herself forward.
Skipper wished he'd had the time to tell her to stop, but he didn't - in a flash of light, Parker had his spur digging into her side, causing her to pass out. He stepped back, with a soft huff, as though somehow Clover were not a formidable foe - which was really a ridiculous notion on it's own. She was well trained in the same way that Skipper was, but how was she to know that Parker could knock her out with his spurs?
"Clover!" Julien gasped.
"And that's why you never doubt a platypus. Seriously, isn't this guy awesome? Really, really great. Worth every penny!" Clemson's voice was light, and he nudged Clover with his foot to be sure.
"As long as I get paid," Parker muttered.
"Oh, yes. Speaking of pay! Eva, Shortfuse, you two can still get yours if you use that nice little rocket launcher you have to take out Julien. Get the penguins, while you're at it. They're annoying." Clemson commanded with the same casualty one might use to order a cup of coffee.
Eva and Shortfuse sent him sober glares of dissuasion and made no move, clearly having been swayed from their previous scolding from Classified. Their husky boss growled in annoyance. He was undoubtedly angered that someone else had attempted to demand anything from his team, and he stepped forth with a look of irritation.
"I don't think so, Clemson. Your 'plan' won't be going into effect at all, because you're in the presence of the North Wind. And no one, no one breaks the wind."
Clemson was not amused. His expression showed only contempt; his patience had worn thin. "You wanna play that way, do you? Fine, we can both play that kind of game." He turned to Parker, barking out his next order. "Parker! You take care of the North Wind and the penguins. Julien… Julien is all mine."
Classified was not keen on allowing this, but before he could so much as move, Parker was leaping towards them. He only managed to narrowly dodge, and hopped down just in time to grab hold of Clover's unconscious body before evading the attacks. Kowalski, Private, and Rico all went after Parker at once, seeing that he was the more dangerous of the two, leaving Skipper and Julien in Clemson's line of sight.
Clemson smirked as he procured a gun from seemingly no where and aimed it at the two of them. Skipper had mere milliseconds to react, but he took advantage of just that, and immediately grabbed onto Julien. They got out of the way just in time for the bullet to crack and splinter into the branch where they'd stood. Skipper hopped onto a separate branch altogether, but Clemson only seemed to find this amusing.
He laughed once more, that same, horrendously evil laugh. "Oh, you can run all you want, Skipper! But nothing's going to save your precious king!"
Bullets seemed to rain down their path as Skipper tried to carry Julien while moving from branch to branch. Julien could not escape on his own, not with his ankle in the condition it was, and Clemson seemed entirely aware of this. He continued to laugh, now following behind them as he shot wildly. By that point they were separated completely from the others, now chased by the rising tyrant.
Around them, the fire grew, and Skipper was able to dimly register that the danger of being burnt had always been there. To be king of a nation meant to perpetually sit upon a throne of flame.
