"Clover!" Julien was overjoyed as he saw the hawk rider touch down, creating a huge dust cloud and cracks in the earth.
"Man, have I missed her dramatic entrances." Maurice was in tears and clutching his hands.
"I know, right? She's so cool." Julien did the same. It was hard to imagine that it had been seven months since they had last seen her.
The dust slowly cleared to reveal…. a hulking indri with a leaf eyepatch.
Maurice's face dropped in disappointment while Barty tilted his head in slight confusion.
"Odd? He doesn't exactly strike me as a "Clover"?"
"Your majesty." The Captain of the Mountain Lemurs bowed with the utmost respect. "I 'ave come with a message from Queen-"
"Clover, you've come home!" In a heartbeat, Julien had the black-and-white giant in a tearful embrace, much to the latter's discomfort. "You have no idea how much I have missed you!"
"Eh…King Julien?" Nigel awkwardly tried to explain. "I 'ave a message for you from Queen-"
"Look, I'm not crying, it's just spring allergies, kay." Julien insisted as he wiped his tears away.
"Um…your majesty?" a despondent Maurice said as he stepped closer. "I think-"
"Wait your turn, you Impatient Izzy!" the ringtail made a shooing gesture. "The king calls dibs on his ex-bodyguard."
"Your majesty." Maurice repeated, more firmly this time. "I don't know how to break it to ya, but…that's obviously not Clover. It's Nigel. The Captain of the Mountain Lemurs."
"What?" Julien let go. "Pffft….of course it is Clover, you nearsighted nincompoop. I mean…just look at her!"
He gestured at Nigel, making the latter more uncomfortable. Maurice noticed Julien's strained smile and twitching right eye.
"Um…is it customary in your kingdom for the envoy to literally represent their ruler?" Nigel asked Maurice, while Barty shrugged.
"Well, my son does have a penchant for enacting strange new laws."
"Professional to a fault, dramatic touchdown, silly but endearing British accent. This is totally Clover." Julien insisted but the longer he looked at the indri, his willful ignorance slowly cracked. He put his hand under his chin and walked around Nigel, examining him.
"Well…she is a bit…buffer, I suppose?" he admitted and playfully punched Nigel's massive shoulder. "Oh, Clover. You and your obsessive need to pump iron until your heart gives up. But I guess the queen can't be looking puny and fragile ruling a kingdom of towering muscle-heads."
Maurice drew a breath to speak but Barty cut him off.
"Now, I'm confident that you can handle this unwashed barbarian on your own, son." He said poshly, making Nigel scowl a bit, and gave Maurice the golf bag.
"Come along, Mark. Nice and steady now." He snapped his fingers repeatedly while a reluctant Maurice looked back at his king.
"But I…"
"Actually, Queen Clover requested that this be a private matter." Nigel explained.
"No problem, Mo-Mo. You go and be my dad's pack mule, cuz me and Clover have lots of catching up to do. We'll fill you in later." Julien said, sporting smile of utter denial.
Sighing sadly, Maurice followed Barty, not having the stomach to bear witness to the ugly sight that was due in a few seconds.
Now alone, Nigel cleared his throat, "As I was sayin', the Queen-"
"Oh, Clover! Words cannot express my joy at seeing you again!" Julien beamed. "We have so much to talk about! So much has happened since you left. Me and Karl are buds now. Mary Ann has become an upstanding member of lemur society. This group of humongous freaks washed up on our island from a faraway land called New York. And craziest of all, your old nemesis, Wigman I think, came back as a zombie but Masikura sent him on a one-way trip to-"
"Your majesty, it is my solemn duty to inform you that Queen Clover cannot attend your surprise birthday celebration that you're not supposed to know 'bout."
Julien's face twitched uncontrollably until reality finally broke him. "What?!" he blurted frantically. "But…but…she promised she would come? My invitation was very clear about how much more awesome this party would be-"
"Our queen sends her deepest apologies, she had every intention to come but for the last three weeks, she has been preoccupied wagin' war against invadin' mangabeys. Nasty lot those simians are. She's leadin' the charge and our troops simply cannot afford to 'ave the frontline general take an extended leave of absence." Nigel explained in a professional manner. "She is also, to put it mildly, very enthusiastic 'bout collectin' as many monkey skulls as possible as tokens of her glorious battle prowess."
Tears welled up in Julien's eyes as he deflated and babbled incoherently. This couldn't be for real. Clover was going to be a no-show?
"I…sure…I understand…" he tried to save face, not wanting to look like a whimpering crybaby in front of an ambassador for a neighboring kingdom (least of all one ruled by his other BFF), and tried to laugh it off. "That crazy minx and her unquenchable lust for battle? Classic Clover. Guess married life hasn't caused her to mellow out, huh?"
"Not even remotely." Nigel gave a curt nod. "But she wanted to make sure that you received your birthday gift."
He suddenly held up a gilded mace. "She hopes it is to your likin'. In Mountain Lemur culture, a golden mace is the most esteemed of gifts."
"Oh, of course it is…I…I love me some bling." a desponded Julien took it, and the moment it left Nigel's grip, it hit the ground like a boulder and took Julien with it.
"Ow…" the ringtail pried himself off the spiky mace and sighed while standing on his knees.
"Well, better be goin'. I'm needed on the battlefield. Happy birthday, King Julien." Nigel said before making a series of weird screeching noises and spreading his arms out before getting carried off by his hawk.
Now alone, Julien could do nothing but whimper pathetically, before scowling in anger.
"Guess there will be no toast for Clo-Clo…her loss!" He pulled out a long scroll containing a speech he meticulously wrote down and tore it up in anger.
"Mort! Come here this instant!" he demanded. "Your king is in need of something to kick in his rage!"
But nobody came, causing Julien to look around. "Mort? Where are you!"
Realizing that the little trash goblin wasn't coming, Julien slumped and whimpered again.
"Et Tu, Mort?"
"Buenos dias…..Buenas noches….." Horst mumbled between snores, his face planted on the table, letting it collect drool.
A tiny hand pulled his left eyelid up to make sure he was sound asleep and let go, making it snap shut.
Suffice to say, Keke didn't have much trouble tippy-toeing her way past him. She had no intention of letting these guys ground her. Looking over her shoulder one more time, she smirked and opened the door.
"Adiós…" she snickered and stepped out, free from obstructive authority at last. Though what she was aiming to accomplish with this stunt wasn't clear, since for disgruntled kids, rebelling without forward-thinking was their forte.
Slowly closing the door, she got on all fours and made a break for it, only to come to a screeching halt as she found herself under a shadow.
"And where do you think you're going?"
"Mr. Julien?!" the kinkajou blurted but soon noticed that the king didn't look angry. He looked slightly confused but mostly downcast.
Wiping his nose, Julien weakly asked, "I was hoping to speak with Mary Ann and Horst, are they home?"
Thinking fast, Keke put her hands behind her back and shuffled her foot, trying to look innocent. "Eh… si y no."
"Huh?"
"Horst is taking a siesta, and Mary Ann, she's not here. She's out hunting. Probably far away so she won't snatch a lemur by accident."
Looking back at the house, Julien could hear Horst's loud snoring. Yeesh, and he thought Timo needed to get his sinuses checked?
"Ah, I see…" Julien sniffed. "Good to know that she's taking the conditions of her citizenship seriously."
"Mr. Julien, were you crying?" Keke asked.
Julien tensed. "What? Course not. The king does not cry." He looked aside and wiped away another tear.
Keke wasn't convinced but also saw a chance to get away.
Julien cleared his throat. "Anyway, mind waking up Horst? This is kinda important-"
"No, no, it would be… rude to wake him up." Keke swiftly grabbed his hand and led him away. "You can talk with me."
"I guess that's fair…" Julien didn't argue, too upset to do so, as she pulled him away into the jungle.
"So, why are you so sad?"
"I am not sad!" Julien said petulantly. "Everyone knows that I'm a paragon of joy and frivolity. I recoil at the mere thought of being a sulky…sorrowful…sad sack…"
His voice trailed off, getting more garbled and incoherent as his eyes became watery as he slumped against a boulder and sat down.
"…well…okay, maybe I am just a tincy-wincy… iddy-biddy upset." He admitted while making the appropriate hand gesture.
Curious, Keke sat down next to him. "Why? You're the king? What do you have to be sad about?"
Julien cracked a feeble smile. "Well, yeah. Being the king is pretty freaking awesome. Everyone adores you, you get to wear this chic crown, you get all the juiciest mangos and best of all, you get to announce wild parties whenever you feel like it…." but his mirth faded as he recalled that it wasn't all dance parties and rainbows "…but… it also comes with a whole booty load of tedious responsibilities that kinda hamper the experience, but once you get the hang of it, you learn to roll with it."
"Oh, I know, responsibilities are the worst." Keke nodded wholeheartedly. "But then, why are you upset?"
"Oh, no biggie…" Julien looked aside. "It's just that….everyone I care about seems to go out of their way to be avoiding me….mom, dad, Clover…even that annoying little misshaped hangnail, Mort!" his demeanor changed from calm to frantic as he finished the sentence.
Keke blinked and Julien tried to collect himself. "Eh…as I was saying, just iddy-biddy inconveniences."
"Your madre y padre are ignoring you?" the kinkajou asked sadly, upon which Julien nodded.
"That's awesome!" she jumped up, much to his surprise. "Why would you be sad? It means you're free to do whatever you want."
"Huh?"
"I mean, grownups always try to ruin your fun. Mamá was always like, "Keke, no hagas esto", and "Keke, no hagas eso"…" she lamented. "And now Mary Ann and Horst are doing the same thing, just because I punched a stupid chico in the nose for making fun of me."
"You socked someone in the nose?" Julien asked, before bursting out with laughter. "Oh, man, that is so boss! Bet he won't talk smack to you ever again."
"I know." Keke smiled, happy to finally see someone agreeing with her. "But Mary Ann said it was wrong, just because that soplón's mamá and some vaca gorda complained about it, even though he started it!"
"And then she grounded me, and said I couldn't prank anyone or have any fun at all, that I had to be a perfect little ángel, even if others are being mean to me."
"Oh, tell me about it, some people can be such drags." Julien could relate. "Maurice and Karl are always breathing down my neck, telling me that my ideas are too reckless and could end in disaster. I mean sure, usually they are right, but that's no excuse to be such buzzkills all the time. Yeesh, some folk just can't let you live a little."
"I know, it's so annoying…" Keke sighed.
"Wait a sec?" Julien finally put two and two together. "You guys had an argument? Were you like…trying to sneak away?"
"What? No. I was…I just needed some space." Keke said. "I was so mad."
"Oh, that is completely different then." Any suspicions Julien had were quelled. "Well, on the upside, I guess this means that Horst and Mary Ann are doing a bang-up job taking care of you. From what I hear, being a restrictive stick-in-the-mud is the hallmark of a good parent."
"But they're not my parents." Keke pointed out. "My mamá is just away on her spy mission?"
Julien swallowed a lump and chuckled awkwardly. "Of course she is, I was meaning that they are your foster family. Y'know, like with an exchange student?"
Keke frowned with realization. Did this mean she would have to go to school here too?
"Either way, that tiresome Tammy will be eating her words, doubting that those two couldn't do it." Julien rubbed his hands with smug satisfaction.
Keke's eyes widened. "Tammy? That was the plump pelmaza who bothered us. What did she say?"
"Ah, I see you had the misfortune of meeting her. But it's nothing important." Julien waved his hand. "She and a bunch of other pesky lady lemurs came to me demanding that Horst and Mary Ann be on a week-long trial to show that they are competent guardians, otherwise you'll be taken away from them."
"What?" Keke was taken aback but Julien patted her head.
"But do not fret, it is obvious that Horst and Mary Ann will prove those naysayers wrong without a hitch, you have nothing to be concerned about."
"If you say so…" hearing it from the mouth of the king himself, Keke had little reason to doubt it.
"I know so. I'll tell you all about Tammy's stupid, surprised face when it's all over. It will probably be like this…" Julien said before puffing out his cheeks and going wall-eyed.
"Oh, no. Ah was such a dummy-dum fur doubtin' King Julien's genius." He said in a low, dopey voice while clutching his cheeks, causing Keke to split her sides and roll on the ground.
King Julien laughed too. "Man, I really love doing mocking impressions of people I don't like. Always makes me feel better."
"Why were you sad then?" Keke sat up. "Not having your parents bug you all the time sounds like great fun? Then you can do whatever you want?"
Hearing that, Julien's ears dropped and he leaned against the boulder again.
"Yeah, I guess it does have its perks….it's just…I dunno…they were just never around to kill my buzz? It was always Maurice who did that growing up."
"What do you mean?"
"They kinda went AWOL when I was about your age…leaving me in the care of my nasty old, fuddy-duddy uncle."
"An evil uncle? Oh, all reyes have one of those." Keke shrugged. "Did he try to kill you so he could take back the crown?"
"Did he ever? Too many times to count." Julien chuckled fondly. "But he chilled out after hooking up with his new jacked-up lady friend."
Keke gagged at the prospect of romance. "But why did your parents leave you? Are they also secret agents?"
"Not really, they left so they could live on a luxurious island condo. Mom and dad never told anyone where they went, so we all just assumed that they went to live on a nice farm with lots of room to run around and play, though some jerks kept whispering behind my back that they were devoured by the fossa, including my jerk-faced uncle but Maurice always assured me that it was a load of baloney."
"And why did they do that? This looks like a nice place to live?"
"I dunno." Julien shrugged. "I guess they didn't really want to be parents. When they finally came back during a mango shortage, I actually had to teach them how to be parents. It was pretty crazy."
Keke blinked. "That's why they left? They sound pretty awful to me."
"Nah, they're pretty cool." Julien insisted. "A little stuck-up and dismissive maybe, but that comes with being royalty."
"But you're not like that?"
"Eh…well, yeah." Julien smiled. "I never was one to follow boring ol' traditions, always been more of a rebel. A free spirit. Going my own way and all that jazz."
"So…it didn't bother you at all that they ditched you?"
"I…" Julien rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe I was a little broken up about it?"
He suddenly gained a faraway, shell-shocked look in his eyes. "And perhaps their absence has haunted me during every waking hour of my formative years, stunted my mental growth, and left me with a pathological need to be loved and adored by everyone in order to fill the empty void of not having parents…"
He snapped back to his usual happy-go-lucky self. "But….y'know? I harbor no hard feelings. Forgive and forget. KJ's all about the forgiveness. They are my parents after all?"
Keke didn't know what to say to that. It didn't sound right to hate your own parents, but their actions sure sounded like the exact opposite of what she expected a parent to do.
"I dunno? That still sounds pretty awful."
"Naaaah, it's not that bad. I've been through far worse. I've been comatose, blown up, chased by fossa, turned into a hideous monster, shanghaied by pirates, participated in a death match, lived in exile, led my peeps to victory during the War of the Beasts, put in the Iron Booty, been forced to carry the yellow demon fruit, you name it, I've done it. I, King Julien, have taken lots of punishment while retaining my kingly dignity." Julien bragged.
"Wow, you did all of that? That's so cool." Keke's mind was blown. He really was so much more fun than all those other adults. He was like a child stuck in a grownup's body?
"Yeah, I guess all my heroic accomplishments are pretty cool, I just don't like to brag." Julien said casually, ecstatic to be admired for his bravery and awesomeness, instead of being pitied when there was no reason for anyone to pity him. Because the king was never EVER pitiful.
"So, would you like to do something together?" Keke suggested. "Don't you like playing pranks?"
"I love playing pranks…" Julien said enthusiastically. "I may be the King of Madagascar, but I previously held the title of Prince of Pranks! I tried to update it to King of Pranks following my coronation but it didn't have the same ring to it."
"So, you think you still got it?" Keke smirked.
"Oh, a challenge I see? Well, I'll show you that I very much still go it." Julien readily accepted her challenge but then his brow furrowed. "Hold on a sec? Didn't Mary Ann say-"
"She doesn't have to know." Keke pointed out. "It's more fun when you break the rules but nobody finds out."
Julien grinned mischievously and whispered, "You sneaky little thing, that's ingenious."
But that nagging feeling in the back of his mind wouldn't go away. "Wait? Not to sound like a Maurice, but my brain is telling me that it would be most irresponsible of me to let you tag along without telling your guardians first? Wouldn't that put them in a bad light if-"
"But I'll be with you, si?" Keke replied. "There's nothing safer or more responsible than hanging out with the king?"
"Wow, you really are a genius." Julien was sold on her proposition. "If only Maurice could learn to be both sensible and fun at the same time."
"So, you're in?" Keke offered him his paw.
"I'm in." Julien shook it only to feel a sudden jolt and jerk back.
Keke giggled and showed him a joy buzzer attached to her paw.
Julien rolled his eyes. "Okay. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on…eh, let's just get going. I happen to know the perfect prank victim!"
Yes, I've named the Captain of the Mountain Lemurs Nigel, because that's just the most generic British name one can think of, and JB Blanc's voice for the guy just oozes Britishness, and only added to the oddly appropriate comparison with Clover, despite it just being Julien's denial talking.
And if you seriously thought Clover was going to show up, then you clearly aren't very savvy about "bait and switch" tropes. But more importantly, if a series has the plot point of one of the protagonist's closest friends being forced to leave, their absence needs to be felt by both the characters and the audience, which is why I held off featuring Clover in any of my stories.