Just as it had been arranged, Crimson went to her sister's house early in the following day. Although her heart wasn't much at all into the road that lay ahead, she did find solace – a thin, yet bright ray of hope – in the knowledge that it would all be well worth it in the end. All she had to do was put on a happy face and make it through to the end of these three days, after which her every desire would be realized... The thought was so tantalizing – she already couldn't wait for Saturday night to come so she could just forget about everyone and everything regarding that accursed pageant, and focus instead on making up for lost time at the club with her new VIP status.
Furthermore, as was typical of her warped sense of altruism, Crimson didn't feel one single shred of remorse for forcing Clover and the others' hands like she had done. After all, helping people wasn't something she'd ever do willingly unless she could directly profit off it, and it didn't matter to her either that the person she was pretty much extorting this time around was her sister; all she cared about was her own end goal. Not the feelings of another, or the morality of her actions – those were for people who actually gave a darn about ethics, a group which she most definitely did not belong to.
Now she was knocking on the door of the hut, wondering what kind of mood her twin could be in about all this.
"Clo-Clo, you there? Open up, it's me."
Nothing. Impatient, she began to tap her feet, and then yelled loudly, "C'mon, I ain't got all day! Are ya even there? Clo-Clo!"
"...Coming!" a voice finally rang back.
When Clover opened the door a minute later, Crimson saw that she was wearing a small bluish towel around her shoulders, and sweat beads were dotting her forehead. Neither twin looked very excited to see the other.
"Dammit, sis, can't ya just wait for one second? I heard you the first time!" the orange one exclaimed, sounding slightly irked.
"Uh-huh." Crimson shrugged before pointing at the towel. "Say, what you been up to? Ya look like you've run a marathon."
"Ah, y'know, just part of my routine morning workout," she explained as she wiped it across her sweaty fur, "Gotta maintain a fit shape at all times to properly do my job; all the riff-raff out there ain't just gonna clean itself magically!"
Crimson wrinkled her nose. "Yes, of course... Because who would want anything bad to happen – especially to our beloved king..."
Now it was Clover's turn to frown. Tossing the towel onto a chair, she cracked her neck noisily, as if meant to intimidate. "Anyhoo, since we both know exactly what we're here for, let's just get to it: competition stuff – how, when and where?" she asked brusquely.
"Patience, Clo-Clo, patience; first we have to wait for your buddies! Don't worry, I already took the liberty to send them on their way; they should be here soon."
Suddenly, without even bothering to ask for permission, Crimson waltzed past Clover and made herself right at home, throwing herself onto the couch, splaying her body along its length and scouring the room with a disapproving look. "...Oh my, just how long has it been since I've been here? This place is an even bigger dump than I remember it! You really could use some refurbishments 'round here, girl." Then she casually reached for the baobab coffee table and picked up the first trinket she saw: a small decorative houseplant. "Ugh, like this – Dendrobium orchids are just so out of fashion nowadays... Why don't ya get a periwinkle instead? They smell amazing, are hella prettier, and go with everything, not to mention quite hip with boys too..."
Clover walked over and snatched the flower from her hands before placing it back where it was. "Well, sadly for you, no one's asked for your opinion on my home decor, so don't bother wasting your breath," she hissed, before all of a sudden leaning down towards those blue eyes with anger on her green ones. "...Oh... and on a different note – now that we're alone I think it's time I gave ya a little heads-up, just so we understand each other: you might think you're the boss of me now, Crimson, what with this whole 'game plan' thing of yours and the holier-than-thou attitude, but you ain't. This collab we're doing is a two-way street, so if ya want me and the guys to play along and give ya what you're asking for, you better start proving you actually deserve it! Am I making myself clear?"
Crimson's only reaction to this was a nonchalant sneer. "Awww, Clo-Clo, why so touchy? If there's something nagging ya, y'know you can tell me; I might be able to help."
"Really now? Hm, alright then..." She looked somewhere and then back. "...I'd just like to know what the hell your problem is."
Crimson lazily raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"Don't 'huh' me, y'know full well what I mean."
"Um, not really. Either you start talking in full sentences, or you've lost me."
Uttering a low sigh, Clover closed her eyes. A moment later she opened them again, and spoke in a slow, hissy tone, "...Why is it that every time you pretend to be the slightest bit nice to me, it's only so you can gain something out of it? Here I come to ya – your own flesh and blood – asking for a simple favor just this one time, and you still couldn't care less 'bout what happens to me! I could win, I could lose, or I could dye my damn fur lime green with pink polka dots – you'd never even bat an eye! Unbelievable. Just unbelievable."
The red twin wriggled uncomfortably on the cushions, eyes averted to the floor. "Oh please, don't give me any of that sentimental crap now, Clo-Clo; we both know you didn't hit me up for this 'cause you wanted to hang out with me for a couple days!"
"Well... no, but d'you wanna know what the difference is? Unlike you, I can swallow my pride; I can stop thinking about just myself for a while and step in for people who may need me – case in point, you! Like all the times I've had to bail ya outta some moronic jam of your own making, even when I didn't have to or I'd end up in a bad spot myself because of it; how I did it without ever asking for anything in return! Wanna know why? 'Cause we are family, and that's what family does!" She jabbed a condemning finger at her. "If that word meant anything to you at all, you'd be doing the same for me now!"
This accusation spurred Crimson to shoot up from the couch at once and rise to Clover's now-flaming gaze. "This is a conversation you really don't wanna pursue. It's not gonna end well for either of us."
Clover challenged with a guttural growl. "...Is that a threat?"
"No. Just a 'heads-up' of my own. I suggest you take it."
Right then, the king's bodyguard felt her breathing speed up, and her fists clench and quiver uncontrollably with insurmountable rage. She was very nearly on the verge of losing her temper – and in fact she would have... had the sound of knocking on wood not come to the door that they forgot had been left open.
Both women looked back. King Julien was standing there staring at them, not seemingly daring to utter a word. Clover's anger vanished. She just prayed he hadn't heard anything...
"...Uhhh, what's up, girls?" He waved, smiling feebly. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything; I thought I'd heard... voices of some kind. Is everything okay?"
No, nothing's okay! Clover wanted to say, but she smiled back instead. "Yeah, everything's perfectly fine, Your Majesty! Crimson and I were just talking about... my orchids." She leveled a discreet glare at her, and before she could ask where Maurice and Mort were, both lemurs timely stepped into view carrying Julien's heavy red boombox, which they then laid on the ground.
"Ah, guys... are we having a party or something? Why's the BB here?" she asked them.
"Duh, 'cause we're gonna need it for your training; I'm the one who told them to bring it along!" stated Crimson as she sauntered for the door, herself acting as if nothing had happened, "How else am I gonna teach ya to put on a good show for those blokes at the club?"
That sent a cold pang of worry running through Clover, making her chest tighten unpleasantly.
"S – sure, yeah." She gulped to get rid of the feeling. "So... are we going somewhere too?"
"That's right, sis, we're going out on a little trip 'cross the woods! Unless, of course, you're cool with drawing in a big ol' crowd of unknowns here once the music starts playing..."
She nodded. "I see... Well, best get going then."
After joining the others outside, she shut the door behind her.
"Maurice, Mort, you know what to do!" Julien exclaimed then, clapping his hands at the two shorter lemurs. Maurice sighed as he lifted the large boombox with what little help Mort could give, whereupon the pair clumsily and unevenly lumbered off. Technically, His Majesty himself should be helping them with this too (like Crimson had told him), but as was the norm for him, the slacker king had refused to bear his share of the weight.
"Oh man, I just don't get paid enough for this...!" his advisor groaned wearily as he watched him stroll ahead.
"But you don't get paid at all," said Mort.
"That's precisely my point...!"
"Ah Mo-Mo, the satisfaction of helping your bestie is its own reward! Besides, you know you love it, ha ha!"
Now that none of them were looking, Clover and Crimson shared yet another bitter glare. Although both were grateful that the escalating situation back there had been defused on time, now they had to really, seriously, call into question the viability of their new forced partnership... and frankly, Clover's expectations about its success were lower than ever. She was quickly coming to the realization that Crimson was acting... strange, even more so than usual. And it wasn't just because of her general dislike of helping others.
Perhaps, she even dared to think, she could be secretly feeling... jealous? The concept didn't sound in the least crazy – countless times in the past had both sisters accused each other of such feelings – and now, with Clover having taken Crimson's place in the pageant and thus potentially stealing from her the victory and consequential acclaim she felt so entitled to... the evidence was honestly becoming hard to ignore.
However, if she was indeed feeling this way, Clover couldn't tell anymore, for there was that radiant grin again.
"Fancy a walk, sister-girl?" Crimson chuckled, hands raised towards the trees in an inviting gesture.
"Right behind ya. In the meantime, you just mind the attitude and keep that phony smile up for me, alright? We could almost pass off as real family that way."
Her twin's eyes widened, and she threw her arms up. "Whoa! Alrighty, guv'nor, bite my head off while you're at it!"
No answer. Clover just looked down, faintly shook her head, and then left to help Mort and Maurice with the boombox.
"Yep! This place oughta do it!"
Glancing around, Crimson ordered the crew to stop. At long last, after more than an hour of hiking across the jungle under a sweltering midday sun, they had found an ideal spot where they'd be sure no one would disturb them while they rehearsed. It was a relatively small glade situated far away from all trace of civilization – pure, untouched wilderness was encircling them from all sides now, with no other lemurs or animals to be seen or heard from anywhere. Out here, where privacy and tranquility reigned over everything else, they'd be free to do as they pleased for as long as they wanted.
"Phew! Man, had I known you were gonna bring us all the way out to the middle of frigging nowhere, I would've brought my backpack and camping supplies too! My feet are just killing me!" Julien moaned as he collapsed upon a fallen log to rest his tired legs.
Maurice and Mort set the boombox down a few feet away and then fell beside him, both looking ready to faint from the exertion.
"That's easy for you to say... Your Majesty," the aye-aye panted, fanning himself with his hand, "You aren't... the one who's had to lug that... box around for who knows how many... miles in this heat!"
Heaving collectively, they watched as Clover jogged by like this had been a mere walk in the park for her. "Bah, you guys whine too much! Ain't nothing better than a good run to kick the day off healthily and get your blood pumping, I always say; how can ya not love it?" she said to them before slowing down to get a quick lay of the land and breathe in the clean, fresh morning air. Exercising always boosted her spirit in such a way that a smile had returned to her face as well.
Crimson, meanwhile, crossed her arms and leaned back against the boombox, rolling her eyes to herself.
"Okay, you lot, quit your yapping and listen up!" she called out then to the other lemurs, "We've got a long day ahead of us, so let's get down to business on the double!" She rapped her knuckle on the boombox's cassette deck. "Ju-Ju, what tape did ya load into this thing? It better be something good; remember this'll be our submission later on!"
"Oh, it is better than good!" he declared with a thumbs-up, "I've chosen it super carefully from my newest 'best-of' mixtape – gets the rock 'n roll going like nothing else!"
"So what now, Crimson? What do I have to do?" Clover asked her.
"Just sit with them for the time being," she replied, pointing away.
Once everyone was in place and she was sure she had their undivided attention, Crimson smirked at the males. "Alright, you three, here's the drill – from this point on you're entrusted with a nice little role that I'm fairly certain won't be too hard for ya to fill: right from there, you're going to act as judges yourselves! Sounds fun, huh?"
"What?" they all shouted out together, and Clover, too, appeared shocked by this.
"Yeah, why not? It's simple logic; the panel of judges for the pageant consists exclusively of boys, so it's only natural that we 'recreated' that atmosphere for some extra realism! And don't give me those faces, chaps; it was you who insisted on coming along, so this is how you'll make yourselves useful – by giving my sister some neat, honest-to-Frank feedback like the actual committee would!" She then slid over and slapped her roughly on the back. "Now watch and learn, Clo-Clo, I'm gonna show ya how a real ace does it."
With those words, Crimson returned to the boombox and, after she'd adjusted the volume accordingly, pressed the "PLAY" button to test out Julien's tape. The device's powerful loudspeakers blasted into life straight away with a series of deep, uproarious bass notes strung through a rippling synth line, soon filling the entire glade as though a party had broken out. Crimson started bobbing her head along to the beat, a joyful grin spanning her face from ear to ear.
"Mmm, yeah, babe, looks like we've got ourselves a winner!"
"Heh, you think this is dope? Wait till you hear the remixes Horst makes back at Club Xanadu – that next-level stuff would melt your face clean off!" laughed Julien.
"Oh, I will hear 'em, schmoopie-bear," his ex-fiancée sensuously purred at him, "Ya bet your sweet crown I will..."
Crimson let the whole song play uninterrupted till the very end, and all through its runtime, she listened diligently, getting to familiarize herself with every note, every melody, every pattern, and every arrangement, so she could then design an appropriate routine around them for Clover. This was quite easy for her, actually – she was so used to listening and dancing to this type of music that her brain did it almost mechanically, like a well-oiled machine toiling at full power. About ten minutes and one single replay was all she needed to paint the picture on her mind down to the last detail.
Then, she pressed the rewind button again, and stepped over into the center of the glade, completely straightening her posture and perching both hands on her hips as she looked at Clover. The moment she opened her mouth, the song returned to underline her every word.
"Okay, sis, the class is on – all eyes on me now! Today we're tackling phase one of the pageant, which is purely a test of physicality, as we all know! That means they're gonna have ya go out on-stage and put on a short 'exhibition' for everybody so the judges can evaluate you based on your level of... attractiveness. Everything ya do in there counts – how you look, how you smile, how you walk – hell, even the way you blink your eyes if you're aiming for the highest score! But that's not all – you'll also have to be absolutely sure of your body, yourself and what you're doing. In other words: be fearless, girl! Show everybody you own that stage! Now, I know that all this is pretty much foreign stuff to ya, but with me as your guide – and provided ya can keep up – it should be a cakewalk!"
Clover kept her eyes glued to Crimson, taking note of everything she was saying, much like a student listening to their school teacher. However, while she did so, that same worry from earlier started to creep back into her heart once more. She was already feeling tense about doing this in front of her own sister and best friends – how could she perform for a multitude of mostly strangers without completely losing it?
"Lesson number one: always – and I mean always – smile!" the other twin continued, "Full-on grin with all your teeth; yeah, let the masses see those pretty pearlies!" She demonstrated by doing this herself. "This is of vital importance; you must keep that smile up no matter what, even if for example ya become nauseous and feel like throwing up all over the place! A beaming look shows ya have confidence and helps to sell your overall look!"
Clover gulped nervously. "Well, that sounds simple enough..."
"Don't flatter yourself, sister-girl, that's just the appetizer. Now comes the main course... Just like your lips, your chin's gotta be all the way up at all times, like this!" Flinging her head upwards, she threw at the group one of those enchanting, seductive grins that had long since become her trademark. "See? Even a toddler could do it! Now you smile at everybody present, both crowd and judges, though you should keep your sights mostly on the crowd. Then, with your sunny smile and your chin up high and all that... you start moving." Like so, Crimson began to sashay around the area in a wide circle, oscillating her hips and tail from side to side to the rhythm, never once taking her unabashed gaze off her small audience. "Lesson two: while you're showing off, take short light steps, always be conscious of where you are to avoid nasty surprises, and don't forget to use your tail either! Show every side of your body and dress like I'm doing – front, back, left, right – all of it! Never be afraid to flaunt those curves Frank gave ya, ya catch me?"
Clover had by now hidden her blushed face in her hands, eyeing the scene through the gaps between her fingers.
"Oh... my... gods. Do I seriously have to...? Are ya kidding me?"
"Nope, sorry! That's how the beauty biz goes – or d'you think they're just gonna hand out that trophy to the first chick who comes along for free?"
"Of course not, but that's just so, ehm... s – suggestive...!"
Crimson daintily winked at her. "Ain't nothing you haven't seen before, sis."
Afterwards, she ground her stride to a standstill and, snapping her fingers, she explained, "Look out now – beat drop's coming – which makes for a perfect chance to impress your viewers with something, let's say, spicier! What you're gonna do is put your right foot out so you're ready... and then... this! Watch!"
The music kept building and building and building up to its ultimate crescendo – then everything went quiet for a moment, before suddenly exploding back out into a rip-roaring sonic assault of synths, keyboards, and funky syncopated basslines. Right in tandem with this, Crimson performed a swift clockwise spin so that her back now faced the other lemurs, and then struck a pose – left hand on her nape, right one down on her hip, and head thrown all the way to the right. She also coiled her tail around her legs whilst raising slightly the right knee, giving the skilled woman such a graceful, delicate, and sinuous contour that it drew a gasp from everybody.
"Nice view, hey?" she exclaimed, looking back. "Like a marble sculpture – and I'm only just barely spruced up!"
Julien, Maurice and Mort expressed their thorough agreement by widening their eyes and vigorously nodding to each other.
"Oh yeah! We should almost be glad you're out of the real thing, 'cause there'd be no way anyone could beat that! I mean... damn!" said the king.
Clover lightly kicked him on the shin. "King Julien...!"
"What? She told us to be honest!"
As she undid her pose, Crimson started peering into their eyes with an odd look on her face; an expression lost somewhere between a grin and a frown. Although part of her found itself wanting to gloat over their compliments as a means to stroke her own bottomless ego, another one held her back from doing so, as just brought on by Julien's offhanded observation. He just had to go and remind her of that again... How she wouldn't be up there under the glow of a thousand neon spotlights, giving a victory speech to an applauding crowd as envious women kingdom-wide sang her praises and journalists wrote of her smashing success – and worst of all, how it would be Clover the one taking all such glory for herself! The same Clover, who in her eyes didn't deserve even a single crumb of it...
Yet however disheartening the thought was, Crimson strained to push it to the back of her mind. Such distractions would only be a liability now.
"Alright then, Clo-Clo, it's showtime!" she shouted then, lips contorted maliciously. "I hope you paid close attention, because now you're gonna repeat everything I just did, including that last lil' number!"
The royal bodyguard looked up at her like she hadn't heard quite right. "M – m – me?"
"Mm-hmm. Get off your butt and come here; I'm curious to see how badly ya can mess this up."
But Clover made no effort to go. She only sat there fidgeting and staring off into space, until Maurice laid a soothing hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked her, worried. "...Listen, if you're not ready, there's nothing wrong with admitting so; you know we won't hold it against you."
Mort and Julien nodded at her in confirmation of this. However, Clover just shook her head with determination, and then said, "No. I ain't no quitter – I can do it! Yeah, you'll see." Then she stood up and went to join Crimson by the boombox, but not before pointing a dagger-like finger at her friends. "If any of you guys tell a soul about this, I swear I'll kill you. Agonizingly slow," she warned them as well as her sister, eyes twinkling ominously. "Now let's just get this out of the way before I have a change of heart."
"Go for it, sister-girl; show us what ya can do!" Crimson smirked as she began rewinding the tape, and then cupped her hands over her mouth to shout at the boys, "You fellas, remember to do what I told ya – watch her and tell her what's what when she's done! Don't even think of holding back with the criticism!"
"Will do – I mean, won't!" Mort gave her a thumbs-up before muttering to Julien and Maurice, "Boy, this is about to get weird, isn't it?"
"What, Clover prancing and monkeying around like some fashion magazine model, with us as her personal board of judges?" His king shook his head in lucid irony. "Nah, don't see how."
"Whichever the case, don't forget to be respectful about it going forward, even if she totally drops the ball. I don't want to make this any more awkward for her than it has to," Maurice told them gently but firmly; then with his serious look segueing into a smile, he clapped. "Yeah, let's go, Clover! You've got this!"
He saw her return a little nod of acknowledgment, just before Crimson nudged her in the arm to let her know the music was ready. The blue-eyed twin's pointer finger was now poised right over the button, and her face brimmed with expectancy.
"Ready, sis?"
Sighing, Clover dragged herself over onto the middle of the glade. She closed her eyes.
C'mon, Clover, it's just a little... flashy walking and whatnot in front of your mates and sis; nothing TOO bad! she deliberated, Nobody else will ever see it, so woman up and stop getting so worked up about it!
She was pretty nervous about this – drowning in stress, one could say – but she believed in herself. There was nothing to fear after all; she was in a safe space where outside judgment had no foothold, an obscured bubble made of trees and leaves and foliage that no one but the select few already there could enter. And, in regards to those present, was the fact that she knew how much she could count on King Julien, Maurice and Mort's critique never being mean, cold or disparaging, which at least did add an aspect of lightheartedness that she wouldn't otherwise get with somebody else. On the flipside though, she also expected Crimson to start poking fun at her at the smallest misstep like she so loved to do, but even that was nothing she couldn't handle.
With her thoughts orderly gathered in her head, she nodded again at her sister.
"Hit it."
"My pleasure..."
Crimson reactivated the music, eyeing Clover intently as she went on to mimic her initial stance – both hands on her hips, her posture fully upright, a wide glowing smile, and her chin held as high as it would go. Yet even with all these elements combining pretty effectively to form a courageous veneer, the slight, almost unnatural quaver in her voice still managed to slip through the cracks.
"I – is this okay... everybody...?"
"Yep, that's a good place to start!" answered Crimson. "Congrats, ya got the easiest part down – but can you follow it up with something truly eye-catching?"
She tilted her head down, studying herself over. "I guess we're 'bout to find out..."
"Tee-hee, that we are! Hold up, I'll tell ya when to get going!" She raised a fist and held it there for the next few seconds, before bringing it down with a sweeping motion. "Aaand... action, baby!"
At once, Clover began to march to the beat; first forward, then to her right. However (much to the surprise of no one), she wasn't doing it quite like Crimson had shown her – her form was decent at best, but her movements were stiff, sluggish, and very clearly bogged down by insecurity. She also tried to sustain her smile, but it only became a meager half-grimace in the end. All in all, the only thing she was doing was uphold her sister's belief that she should've just stayed back at home.
"My, my, what a sick joke..." she cooed wryly as she stared Clover down, scrutinizing her from head to toe with contemptuous eyes. In one swift bound, she hauled herself atop the boombox and sat there, yelling, "C'mon, sister-girl, is that all you really got? Seriously? D'you even want to win this or not?"
"I've just started, Crimson!" the bodyguard called back as she took a left turn, "Gimme some time to get the hang of it!"
She rolled her eyes. "Watch the rock."
"Hm? What ro-
Out of the blue, Clover's right foot struck something hard and rugged, sending her reeling forward and crashing to the ground with a stunned grunt. She looked back to find a stone about the size of a fist that was just slightly jutting out of the grass, which in her moment of distraction, had gone by unseen.
An amused Crimson covered her mouth, giggling. "That one."
"Why you...!" Clover was back on her feet in less than an instant – red-faced and trembling all over from shame, she ripped the offending rock off its foundation and furiously hurled it at the sky, never to be seen again. Then, she cut her twin a glare. "And what are you laughing at?!"
Crimson bent down towards her. "Ah, you're not doing what I told ya, Clo-Clo! Remember lesson two: you must always watch your step and know where you're standing – which means 'keep your bleeding eyes open!' If you can't even strut for one minute straight without screwing something up, who's ever going to think you're the sexiest gal in the kingdom, hey?"
"Well, sorry if I'm not exactly up to your level of excellence, dear Miss Perfect!" she barked while dusting her arms and legs off. "How 'bout we pulled you out of your comfort zone for a change; make ya try out half the things I do on the regular and see how long you last! I bet it wouldn't be so funny then!"
"Ugh, whatever, just give it another go. We're gonna be here all day anyway at this rate..."
As she repositioned herself at the starting point, the crowned lemur perked her head at the sound of clapping. It was her king cheering, "Don't worry about it, Clo-Clo; rookie's mistake, happens to everyone! You're doing a bang-up job!"
She shook her head. "Nah, be true, Your Majesty, that was pitiful! I really do need to listen to Crimson and pull my head outta the clouds."
"Oh... Okay, well... You'll do better next time, you'll see!"
So Clover tried again, only this time, she made sure to be more in tune with her surroundings, concentrating on each and every wary step she took, not letting anything distract her. The end result was an improvement in her condition, though not a very remarkable one – everyone could see that her shyness was still hindering her heavily.
"Is this b – be – better?" she queried the judges, her voice no less shakier than before.
Mort scratched his neck. "Er, yeah, more or less! But, uhhh... could you make it so that it looks like you're not being held at gunpoint or something? I wouldn't be sold on giving you a high score as is if this were my real job!"
"The lil' freak said it, Clo-Clo – smile like you mean it, dammit!" Crimson snarled at her, causing her to flinch.
"Argh, this is ridiculous! I – I can't-
"Can't what? Smile for a crowd? Well, huge congrats again, buttercup – you just earned yourself last place on the podium!"
"That's not helping!"
Crimson gave a groan of tedium at this and smacked her forehead; then she slithered her tail down to the box's controls and hit the fast-forward button with it. "Listen, let's just forget about that part for now! Stay where you are and don't move – the beat drop's popping up right about here, so I wanna see how ya handle that. Stick your right foot out, spin, then pose like I did, yadda-yadda-yadda. Think you can at least give us this one?"
Unsure, Clover took to her friends for support, and she inevitably had to smile when she saw all three of them still cheering for her with heartwarming devotion. That (for what it was worth), would inspire her to try, tough as it may.
However, it soon became clear that just trying wasn't enough. Surprisingly, she did manage to copy Crimson's stunt to near perfection due to her exceptional agility and flexibility, but when it came to holding it for the next few moments, her lack of confidence proved to be too much once again – as a result, she wavered and faltered, before completely dropping the stance.
Crimson didn't take it well.
"No, no, no, NO! What the blazes are ya doing?! You nearly had it, why'd you stop?!" she began to heatedly berate Clover as she paused the song and leaped off the boombox, "Gods, how did I ever end up with someone this clumsy as my sister?! This ain't rocket science, for crying out loud, it's just simple walking – five minutes of it and you're done!"
Maurice frowned, instantly jumping in her defense, "Hey, knock it off already, Crimson; even you can't deny that was a very good attempt!"
"Yeah, man, it was way better than it had any right to be for her first crack at it! Why all the rudeness?" reiterated Julien.
But his bodyguard's wicked twin wouldn't deign to look them in the eye, much less give them an answer. Truth be told, she was trying to control her increasingly growing frustrations regarding Clover's ineptitude with something that should've normally been so easy and straightforward, but there was only so much of it she could take...
Had it been her doing this, she could've trounced the competition with her eyes closed! Of that, she had no doubt. But watching Clover now, how she was acting with such maladroit like they didn't know it from her... It made Crimson wish she could just give her poor sister a wake-up call in the form of a big slap to the face; to tell her to pull herself together and get the job done like a true beauty queen should, or stop wasting everyone's time. However, she obviously didn't dare – pressuring the crew too much and thus risk jeopardizing her bargain with them was the very last thing on her mind right now.
Instead she only sighed, adopting a lighter tone of voice as she spoke, "Look, y'all know I want this to work out more than any of ya – but you, Clo-Clo, aren't making my job any easier by being so bloody anxious all the time!"
"I told ya I'm trying, okay? I am! But... it ain't easy doing this, even for the four of you. Bloody hell, I'm just such a useless nervous wreck!" the good twin lamented, a downcast scowl on her face, "And I can't even begin to imagine how things will go in the actual event, when I can't even get it right in rehearsals..."
"But why? What is there to be afraid of? It's not like you're required to do something that bizarre or outta the ordinary!"
"We've been through this – I'm shy about it!" Clover suddenly confessed then. "You're used to being the center of attention everywhere you go, Crimson, but guess what? I'm not! I don't do big crowds, even less when they're judging me!" Now her voice was but a beaten whisper. "I just can't get it out of my head, y'know, this – this... inescapable dread of me being up there all alone with all those people... That I'll somehow not know what to do and they will... laugh at me."
"That is not going to happen," Julien interfered with the most encouraging tone he could muster as he went up and took her by both shoulders, forcing her to lift her gaze to him. "And you won't be alone either, Clo-Clo; you never will be. We'll all be right there from start to finish watching over you, like your very own squad of guardian angels – well, minus the mystical heavenly bits, of course!" He laughed and patted her left shoulder. "And hey, if push does come to shove, you know there's always an easy way out... Just let me know and we'll be back to sipping piña coladas at the Big X faster than you can say 'queen!'"
His comment brought the tiniest of smiles to the crowned lemur's face.
"Ugh, for the love of...!" Crimson whimpered, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Fine, this is clearly going nowhere – what we need is a new strategy. Just gimme a minute..." She then turned away and started thinking of other ways they could go about this, nodding to herself once she finally came up with something. "What if we did it together? Like, me and you here at the same time, like a duet of sorts: I do all the heavy lifting, you just follow my lead. Will having a 'partner' at least make it a little less lonesome for ya, scaredy-cat?"
Unnecessary insult aside, Clover mulled over this. "Well, if that's what it takes... yeah, I think that could work."
"Hey, babysitting you wasn't in my plans for today either, yet here I am," Crimson said as she took her sister by the wrist and whisked her back to the boombox. While they waited for the music to rewind for what seemed like the umpteenth time already, she went on, "Now obviously, do bear in mind that this is just for practice; once the real party kicks off, you're on your own. Ain't nobody gonna be holding your hand or come to your rescue if ya end up blowing it, so... you better start building up some guts fast. For both our sakes."
Clover shot her a sudden glare. "...Huh, looks like I'm not the only one who's scared of something after all..."
"And you'd be correct on that, sister-girl – I would call your technique 'off-putting', to say the least... but 'scary' does sum it up pretty well too," she retorted snidely.
Just then, the cassette's spools stopped spinning, indicating it was ready. Crimson instructed Clover to stay close and reproduce all her movements as accurately as possible – since everything was to be in real time now, she'd need to give it her all to not miss any steps, though that shouldn't be much of a challenge for a sharp fast learner such as herself. She took a deep breath and braced herself with a very brief warm-up – under no circumstance would she fail this time.
No more fooling around. No more mishaps. No more fear. C'mon, soldier, you're stronger than that! You ARE going to do this, and you ARE going to show them all!
