The sun rose over the island and for our unlucky monarch, morning couldn't have come sooner. When you were lost in the middle of nowhere, you had few options for a resting place, and in such situations, being comfortable while staying remotely safe from hungry predators rarely went hand in hand, as Julien learned the hard way.
His eyelids were heavy but the sun rays and the growing chorus of birds made him stir awake. He had feared that he wouldn't last the night without his comfy pillows, sleep mask, or mandatory before-bed cup of Golden Julien, but by some miracle, he did. He would have to thank the Sky Gods later for being so merciful.
"So much hurtin'…" Julien mumbled under his breath, his bones creaking like Hector's as he tried to sit up, only to realize that he was wedged between two branches.
"Ughh…I had a hunch that goin' to bed without a bed would be horribly uncomfortable but this feels like I was sleepin' on a thorn bush…"
Adjusting his bloodshot eyes, the camera zoomed out to reveal that Julien had been sleeping on top of a spiny octopus tree. "Oh, that explains a lot…" he sighed while pulling himself up.
"Ow…ow…ow…" Julien was bent over like a folding chair, cumbersomely walking along the branch with his feet right behind his hands, both at the mercy of the endless thorns, before his back made a sickening crunch as the ringtail had to forcefully snap himself back into shape.
Hissing in agonizing pain, he started pulling some thorns out of his back. "It looked a lot less prickly in the dark."
A figure suddenly appeared in front of him, making him jolt and yelp, nearly losing his balance.
"Buenos días, Mr. Julien. I got you desayuno." It was Keke, hanging by her prehensile tail and holding a banana which she tossed to him. "I already had mine."
"Keke…" he mumbled, still groggy and shook his head. "Please tell me that whole deal with the eagle was a nightmarish bad dream and I passed out here after partying too hard and having too much papaya punch."
"Nope." Keke shook her head, much to his dismay.
"Can't we be pretending that's the case for a moment?" Julien begged. "Just to boost the kingly morale."
"Wow, sleeping on this thorn tree really did a number on you." Keke noted, making Julien hang his head and exhale dejectedly before realizing what he was holding.
"What is this?" he felt his stomach twisting. As if this morning wasn't horrid enough?
"Desayuno. You know, breakfast." Keke jumped down. "I figured you were hungry."
Julien pursed his lips. Had this been Maurice or anyone else, they would have been on the receiving end of a royal earful, but he decided to cut the kid some slack. She literally came here yesterday, or… well…the night before that.
"Um…the gesture is very considerate of you, but I told you. I despise the yellow demon fruit."
Keke's ears dropped. "Oh, sorry…"
"It's okay." The groggy Julien dropped it and stretched his arms. "Sleeping on prickly thorns killed my appetite anyways. Plus…I guess kinda deserve it."
"What do you mean?"
Julien rubbed the back of his neck. "Well…it occurred to me last night that this "going missing for the whole night" business might be a major black mark on Mary Ann and Horst's trial to prove themselves as capable guardians."
A look of unease crossed Keke's features. She forgot about that, she had mainly been concerned with not getting grounded again or something, but this was a lot more serious.
She recalled Mary Ann and Horst telling her something about being judged a lot more harshly than the average citizen due to being different? Keke started to think that her reckless, spur-of-the-moment act of rebellion might have major consequences for both her and them.
"Yeah, I must issue a royal apology for that…" Julien said sheepishly. "In hindsight, it may not have been the smartest choice to let you assist me in my ingenious pranking spree, given the circumstances. This might shock you, but I sometimes have a bad habit of…not thinking things through."
Keke didn't look remotely surprised. Him writing "KJ" on Hector was her first big clue that not all the lights were upstairs in the king's noggin.
Groaning, she plopped on her butt next to him. "It's not all your fault, I did some lousy things too...I did kinda manipulate you."
"You what?" Julien was taken aback.
A small smirk appeared on Keke's face. "Yeah, I guess I did. I had a feeling you're no…" she waved her paw "…how do you say… genio? And spending the day with you makes me think I was right."
"Of course I'm not, silly." Julien laughed. "Being a genie would be pretty dope though; being able to poof things into existence with your mind and grant wishes, mostly to myself. But alas, the Sky Gods wouldn't even bless King Julien XIII with such awesomeness."
"Exactly." Keke humored him "So I strung you along."
"Wait? You mean…you were using me?"
Keke gave a weak chuckle. "Sí …I saw that you were sad and needed an amigo, so I used you to get away from Mary Ann and Horst, and protect me if I got caught by them, since you're the king and all."
"Why…" Julien didn't know what to say until he burst out laughing "…Keke, you keep surprising me with the depths of your underhanded sneakiness. Kudos, kudos for knowing how to play ball."
"Gracias." Keke nodded. "Speaking of that? Tell me, is this cute enough?"
"Huh?"
Keke looked at him with big, soulful eyes, clutching her paws and trying to look as small and adorable as possible.
"I'm soooo sorry for everything." She said in a cloyingly sweet tone, immediately entrancing Julien.
"I just wanted to have some fun, I promise, I'll never do it again." She continued while crossing her fingers behind her back. "Will you forgive me? Por favor?"
"Awww! Of course I will!" Julien was on the verge of tears. "What soulless monster could stay mad at such adorability? All is forgiven!"
"Yes!" Keke pumped her fist. "So you think it will work on Mary Ann?"
"Mary Who?" the mush-brained Julien cooed, making Keke snap her fingers in front of his face.
"Oh, oh, Mary Ann." Julien finally came to his sense. "Of course, it will. Everyone knows cuteness is a woman's weakness. I'm sure she won't be mad at you for making her think you ended up in an eagle's gizzard."
Keke cringed at the thought. Mary Ann seemed to like her, despite their disagreements. She felt kind of bad for making the fossa think she might be dead all night.
"…but…but she'll be okay when she sees I'm alive, right?" she asked gingerly.
"Oh, yeah…" Julien assured her. "Maurice thought I was dead numerous times and then gave me a tearful embrace every time I made my triumphant return. Looks like I'm gonna be getting another one."
Keke felt some relief, until Julien added "…though I'm not sure the others will be so forgiving. They might be a little harder to convince? But do not concern yourself. They'll let bygones be bygones once I throw another awesome party, or build a new waterslide…whatever works."
That didn't quite ease Keke's concerns. She started considering some things the ringtail had told her, which she was initially more than happy to ignore. "You said something about taking me away if I can't be with Mary Ann and Horst…where would that be?"
As she said that, Julien's eyes widened. Oh, crap…he really didn't think things through when he let her be his pranking protégé.
His lips stretched back into an awkward grin. "Yeah….should that happen, I believe the only place you could be going is…a creepy orphanage run by some crazy old pangolin lady."
"What!" Keke jolted back in fright, having heard plenty of horror stories about orphanages.
She stood up, angry. "Why should I go to an orphanage, I'm not an orphan! My mamá just isn't here right now!"
Julien swallowed a lump, the gravity of his screw-up fully resonating with him.
"Yeah…" he nervously lifted his finger. "…but the thing is…you're still a…what is the technobabbly term? A minnow?"
"What?" Keke made a face.
"You know, a kid. A child, a pup, a youngling. Kids aren't allowed to run around without adult supervision, that's how it is. Even I, the king, can't change that without public outcry. You either have someone looking out for your…or, the orphanage."
"Uggghhhh!" Keke seethed on the spot, loathing those busybody lemurs ladies more than ever. "Then what are we standing around for? We have to get back home inmediatamente!"
"Oh, I couldn't agree more." Julien stood up. "But there's just a small problem."
"What's that?"
Julien hung his head in shame. "I have no clue where we're supposed to be going. Every tree or bush or vine in this jungle, they all look the same to me."
Keke looked saddened, and Julien, feeling even more guilty, faced away from her.
"I'm sorry… I made you think there was no safer place to be than in the king's presence, and then I got you into this mess."
Frustrated, he banged on his head. "Oh, why did I always tune out Clover when she tried to teach me survival skills, like finding your berries…or was it bearings?"
Hearing that, Keke got an idea. "Don't you know something….some landmark that's close to your kingdom?"
She spread her arms out for emphasis. "Something grande that nobody could miss?"
"Something grand?" Julien scratched his head before snorting. "Well, I'm pretty grand but I'm here with you, so I won't be of no use."
Keke scowled in annoyance. "No! I mean something big….very big, that you can see from far away!"
"Something very big?" A lightbulb went over Julien's head. "YES!"
Overjoyed, he picked up Keke and held her at eye level. "I know something that is very large in scale! The humongo-mongous ship the New York Giants parked on my beach, it's out of fuel and not moving anywhere!"
"Ow. Ow. Ow." Julien whimpered as the two climbed up the highest branch on the octopus tree and held their hands above their eyes.
"I see it!" Keke pointed ahead and Julien saw a small but distinctly ship-shaped object in the distance, lying on the beach and as stationary as always, with a dark blue horizon behind it.
"Hell yeah!" Julien pumped his fist. "I knew drilling a hole in the freaks' fuel tank was the right choice!"
"What now?" Keke looked at him.
Though flustered for a second, Julien got over it quickly and climbed down. "Never mind. A dark, shameful lemur secret. I'll explain later." He said quickly.
Keke smiled and followed him down the tree. "I know how to keep dirty secrets."
Touching down with Keke, Julien felt his confidence skyrocketing.
"The king's coming back, baby! We can add this as another one of my thrilling adventures." He told the kinkajou as they started heading home. "One where I survived a run-in with the dreaded terror from above-"
Julien halted as he touched noses with a familiar foe.
"King Julien think he will survive? How amusing." Bone-Fossa said smarmily, accompanied by a dozen of his subjects that emerged from the shadows.
"Bonehead Fossa?!" Julien blurted and jumped back, while the rest of the fossa giggled manically.
"Villanos?" Keke realized as they were surrounded. She figured the one with the bird skull crown and deep voice was the head honcho.
"Thrax right! He found King Julien." the eye-patch-wearing fossa told his boss eagerly, only to be pushed aside.
"King Julien, we meet again." Bone-Fossa circled the trembling ringtail, chuckling softly.
"I waited for this moment a long time! No Clover, no Alex, no Karl and big plasma gun, no one here to save you this time." The fossa ruler gloated. "At long last, fossa will triumph."
Desperately trying to think of a way out, Julien's eyes fell on the discarded banana conveniently lying right in front of him, and his hand moved towards the top of his naked, crownless head, giving him an idea.
"King Julien…?" he said as he grabbed the banana and held it close to him, trying not to blow chunks.
Adopting a bad southern drawl, Julien stated, "Ah'm fraid yall got it mighty wrong…partner. Ah'm not King Julien…ah'm…ehh…Banana Guy Steve! Yes…see!" he pointed at his head. "No crown on dis here head."
Bone-Fossa looked at him oddly, as did Keke. "Ellos no pueden ser tan tontos?", the kinkajou thought.
"An' unlike mah awesome-tacular, ultra-handsome and unfathomably charismatic ruler, ah loves me some banana…" Julien knew he had to make this convincing. So (with much reservation) he peeled the fruit, bit off its top and tried swallowing it, visibly nauseated but managing to gulp it down, making the other fossa gasp.
"Mmmmm…that's some good banana there…" he said less-than-convincingly.
"He right…" Thrax dropped his ears in shame. "Everyone know King Julien hate bananas. Thrax very sorry for red herring…"
Keke tried not to snicker. Guess she was wrong.
"Yeah, no hard feelings, buckaroo!" Julien chuckled and grabbed Keke's hand. "We'll jus' be on our way…"
Looking at him, Bone-Fossa started laughing. A long, deep, and malevolent laugh.
Sweating, Julien chuckled awkwardly, hoping the villain was laughing with him.
"Yeah, what a humorous lil' misunder-"
"RAWR!" the ringtail squeaked as Bone-Fossa stomped the ground with his front paw.
"Silence, lemur scum!" the latter barked. "Do you take me for big fool!"
Julien's teeth chattered as Bone-Fossa leaned towards him and looked him dead in the eye, fangs barred.
"I've learned object permanence a lot time ago."
"Object what?" Julien didn't follow before being seized around his head and hoisted up.
"Behold, fellow fossa!" Bone-Fossa's voice boomed as he stood up and presented the captured ringtail to his subjects. "Today the day we restore natural balance in Madagascar!"
Only Thrax seemed to be focused, as the rest stared blankly, sniffed their comrade's butt, or were mesmerized by insects flying by them.
"Fossa ruled island for millennia, and lemurs lived in fear of fossa!" Bone-Fossa clenched his free fist before lifting Julien higher. "Until King Julien's mad machinations disrupted everything!"
"Oh, c'mon! You mean I ate that demon fruit for nothing?" Julien cried while struggling to free himself.
"But today, your illustrious ruler shall restore balance!" Bone-Fossa grinned wildly. "By slaying King Julien."
"Slay?" the ringtail said in a high-pitched voice.
"But that not King Julien?" Manny raised a finger. "He have no crown?"
"And he love bananas?" Another fossa chimed in, making Bone-Fossa facepalm.
"Idiots!" he snapped. "You ruining my moment of glory!"
Hissing in annoyance, he calmed down. "Never mind! Point is-"
"Wait, wait, let's not do anything hasty!" Julien begged. "Look, I've recently been on a roll making peace with all my enemies that didn't meet an untimely end. I'm sure you're just misguided or needing a friend, or a muscular mistress to keep your lust for power in check."
Bone-Fossa roared with laughter. "No, no, and especially no. Only fool like Mary Ann would forfeit power for love."
He popped out a claw and placed it under Julien's throat, making the ringtail whimper.
"…today King Julien's reign of terror come to an end, and lemur kingdom will be ours to devour-YOW!"
Julien was dropped and he saw Keke sinking her teeth into Bone-Fossa's heel. The kinkajou jumped back as the fossa ruler swiped at her with his claws.
"Leave him alone, you mangy matón!" Keke shook her fist.
"Insolent brat!" Bone-Fossa swiped at her again but she ran between his legs, only to get caught by the tail.
"Got her!" Thrax exclaimed as he lifted her off the ground.
"Lemme go!" Keke yelled and tried to punch him, but her tiny arms couldn't even reach the fossa's snout.
Bone-Fossa cackled before turning to Julien, who was surrounded by the other fossa.
"How nice, King Julien brought appetizer to celebrate his execution."
"Hold on!" Julien raised his hand. "You wouldn't be so mean as to eat a defenseless, adorable little kid, right?"
"I'm not defenseless!" Keke yelled petulantly while plucking one of Thrax's whiskers.
"No…" Bone-Fossa humored Julien, giving the ring-tailed dunce hope for a second.
"She just a snack. Thrax?" he turned to his second-in-command. "You may have your reward for job well done."
"Yummy!" Thrax dangled Keke over his gaping jaws, when he was pounced from behind.
Keke fell to the ground, while Julien and Bone-Fossa's eyes widened as they saw Mary Ann baring her teeth and pinning Thrax down.
"Leave her alone!" she growled.
"Mary Ann…" Bone-Fossa snarled and narrowed his eyes.
"Bone-Fossa." She returned the favor before shifting her gaze towards Keke, who waved nervously and scurried behind Julien, who, on the other hand, was overjoyed.
"Mary Ann! I've never been more happy to see a fossa!" he cheered.
Getting over his surprise, Bone-Fossa roared with laughter once more. "This is better than I expected. Today we will end King Julien and the traitor!"
Jumping off the stunned Thrax, Mary Ann faced her old rival, her gaze nervously shifting between him and Keke, while the pack slowly surrounded her, growling, drooling and cackling.
"You and your cronies would be wise hit the road." She tried to keep her composure. "You're not harming King Julien, or…that random child I've never seen before."
"Hey!" an indignant Keke spoke up. "I made one mistake and now you're acting like you don't know me!"
Bone-Fossa turned to the girl in confusion, while a mortified Mary Ann frantically made shushing gestures.
"You know Mary Ann?"
Julien put his hand over Keke's mouth and said, "Of course she knows who Mary Ann is. Who doesn't? It's hard not to notice the token fossa in my kingdom."
Raising an eyebrow, Bone-Fossa studied the child. She didn't quite look like a normal lemur and a bit like….did Mary Ann and her lemur husband break a few laws of nature? The thought made Bone-Fossa shudder inwardly. The woman was even more twisted than he initially thought.
"But more importantly…" Julien walked up to Bone-Fossa brashly and poked him in the nose "…you should heed Mary Ann's warning and run away with your tail tucked between your legs, like you always do. Less the royal cavalry arrives and shows you who's boss."
Keeping his smug smirk, he turned to Mary Ann. "I assume Mr. Alex is leading the charge and is eager to kick some fossa booty."
His comment made the other fossa tremble, but Bone-Fossa himself didn't look so convinced.
His gaze shifted toward Mary Ann. "You're bluffing."
"I most certainly am not." Mary Ann huffed. "You're just a sitting duck now."
We see the scene from a 4× telescopic sight as Mary Ann cleared her throat.
"I said…you're a sitting duck." She repeated, while Bone-Fossa, the target, looked around, and Keke noticed the sniper and quickly pulled the oblivious Julien back.
"Finally…" Karl monologued to himself while lying on his belly atop a rock beneath some palmettos and wielding his trusty plasma gun "…my big day has come!"
And so he fired… but the blast missed Bone-Fossa by several feet, only making him jump in fright as the blast cut through a large tree and it fell over, squashing half of the fossa pack underneath it, with only their limbs sticking out and falling limp.
"Curses!?" Trying to save face from his botched assassination attempt, Karl stood up and revealed himself. Fortunately, he always had a backup plan.
"I meant to do that!" he announced and jumped down, pointing his gun at Bone-Fossa.
"Back away from the king." He said dangerously. "You know full well what this beauty is capable of."
"Karl, you're here too!" Julien smiled. "But…um…where is the rest of the cavalry? Especially Mr. Alex?"
Mary Ann bit her lip. "They'll be here any seco-"
"Pfffttt…you have no need for that prancing feline, or anyone else." Karl said haughtily. "Me and my plasma gun shall handle this minor dilemma."
"Wait?" Julien's face dropped. "You're not saying the two of you are the only-"
"I said…back off, fossa filth." Karl cocked his gun at Bone-Fossa, making him and the remaining five fossa step back. "Retreat, while I'm still in a merciful mood."
"Eh…yeah, yeah…" Julien played along. "You better run before Karl pulls the trigger."
"What are you doing?" Keke spoke up. "Just shoot those culos!"
His façade of confidence waning, Karl shushed her. "Eh…no, we're the good guys here, little one. It's customary to show the enemy mercy if you can."
"That's stupid! They tried to kill us, so kill them now!" Keke pointed at the fossa, who flinched.
"Stupid brat…" Karl grumbled under his breath and glanced at Julien, urging him to act.
Julien pulled Keke back and hissed, "Keke…will ya please stop talking."
"Just stay behind me and follow my lead." Karl whispered to the ringtail as Mary Ann joined them.
"What's your plan now?" she whispered with a hint of annoyance, noticing that Bone-Fossa was starting to see through their bluff.
"Take seven steps back and then four to the right." Karl explained, and Mary Ann and Julien obeyed, the latter still carrying the confused Keke and then started stepping away from the others.
"I meant your other right." Karl told him irritably, earning an embarrassed smile in return as Julien scooted back toward them.
The fanaloka then offered a broad smirk to the enemy. "Well, Bone-Fossa, it seems our conflict has not reached its conclusion…not yet, at least."
"He out of ammo!" Bone-Fossa roared. "Fossa! ATTACK!"
Julien and Mary Ann panicked as the remaining pack charged at them, only for the foursome to be flung high into the sky, courtesy of a hidden spring trap, leaving the fossa dumbfounded.
Bone-Fossa clenched his teeth and roared in anger.
Flying through the air, Mary Ann clutched Keke to her chest protectively, while the jubilant Julien looked down at Karl, who folded his arms with unbridled pride.
"Karl, how did you ever know one of your spring traps was there?"
"I've perfectly memorized the location of every single one I've planted in the jungle over the years." The fanaloka shrugged nonchalantly. "It's no difficult feat for someone with my-"
The four smashed into the wide trunk of a baobab tree, getting flattened like pancakes before popping back into shape and falling down into a heap on the nearest branch.
Rolling away from the rest and shaking his head, a dizzy Karl added. "Though the landing is always a bit problematic."
"No kiddin'…" Julien rubbed his head before coming to his senses and staring intensely at Karl.
"Wait a sec? What you said back there….don't tell me you and Mary Ann are the only ones who came to save us? Please tell me you were just showboating!"
"I meant what I said." Karl replied like it was no big deal. "Mary Ann's more of an assistant though, I was the one who valiantly led the search to rescue you, all night I-"
"Are you cray-cray, man!" Julien shook him. "When I was crying for help to you and Mary Ann, I wasn't literally meaning just the two of you!"
"No need to be alarmed, King Julien." Karl calmly pushed his arms down. "I've planned everything in advance to bring you back home safely."
His self-assured smirk faltered a bit. "Though admittedly, a large part of that plan hinged on assassinating Bone-Fossa and ending the main threat to our kingdom. But you needn't worry, I know how to improvise and think on my feet."
Julien's right eye twitched, before looking over his shoulder and seeing Mary Ann holding Keke.
"Uh-oh, busted." The ringtail cringed.
Keke wilted under the fossa's gaze. "Um…I can explain-"
"Oh, Keke, I'm glad you're alright!" Mary Ann suddenly pulled her into a bone-crushing embrace, nearly popping her eyes out. "I was so worried!"
"So…you're not mad?" Keke asked hopefully.
Looking calm, Mary Ann pulled back and said, "Oh, I am mad."
"Just what in Frank's name were you thinking!" she screamed lividly, making the kinkajou cower again.
"I..I…" Keke gave her giant puppy dog eyes and clutched her paws. "I'm sooo sorry. I promise, I will never-"
"Don't try the cute shtick on me, young lady!" Mary Ann snapped at her. "It won't work!"
"Maldición…" Keke grumbled to herself.
"Hey…don't be too harsh on her, Mary Ann…" Julien raised his hands. "We were just having a little fun and things kind of…got out of control. I didn't know bottle caps attracted-"
"You!" Mary Ann suddenly glowered at him and put Keke down before storming towards Julien.
"And what were you thinking, King Julien!" she growled and made the ringtail back away, almost falling off the branch.
Looking down, Julien gulped before turning back to face the enraged fossa, who snarled and unsheathed her claws. Acting fast, Karl got between them.
"Now, now, Mary Ann, let's not do anything we will reg-" he was easily shoved away, almost falling off.
"You put me and Horst on trial to have custody of that poor homeless girl…" the fossa pointed at Keke "…and not only did you NOT tell us about it but you whisked her away to cause havoc like a freaking delinquent?!"
"Well…" Julien chuckled fearfully "…that sounds really awful and inconsiderate of me when you put it like that?"
Growling, Mary Ann had half a mind to tear him to shreds, when Keke got between them.
"Wait, wait! It's not his fault." she waved her paws before deflating. "The pranking spree wasn't his idea, it was mine."
"What?"
"Sí, I goaded him to do it. Mr. Julien didn't think it was a good idea, because of the trial and all, but I convinced him otherwise."
"And you still went along with it?" Mary Ann asked incredulously.
Keke shuffled her foot. "I didn't think an eagle would snatch us?"
Mary Ann blinked before scowling, "And how did you get past Horst?"
"Eh…he fell asleep while trying to learn my language for "better communication"?" Keke shrugged sheepishly. "Do I get points for honesty?"
"Horst…" Mary Ann seethed. Why did that dunderhead always have to take things so literally?
Looking between the fossa and Karl, Julien tried to regain control of the situation.
"Excuse me, but I believe the king has reasons to be enraged over poorly thought-out plans too…" he stood his ground and put his hands on his hips "…would you two care to explain why there is no search party besides the two of ya?"
Mary Ann turned pale while Karl smiled contently. "Quite simple, King Julien. Mary Ann convinced me that any more assistants would be redundant, and this was a golden opportunity to show everyone how capable I am at offering my services to you, including bailing you out of your own mishaps."
Julien raised an eyebrow and turned to the fossa. "Wait? Did you get Karl to form a two-man search party so nobody would learn about Keke getting caught by the eagle?"
"No…I…" Mary Ann shrank.
"I knew it!" Julien pointed an accusatory finger at her. "Shame on you, Mary Ann! How dare you exploit Karl's insecurities and desperate need for self-validation in order to cover up your substandard parenting."
"I beg your pardon?" Karl was taken aback. "I have no insecurities."
"Substandard?" Mary Ann scowled and got all up in the ringtail's face. "You're the one who put me on this trial. Why? Because you were scared of a bunch nosy housewives spreading bad word of mouth about you?"
"Hey, I'm the king in case you've forgotten?" Julien pointed at himself. "I have to maintain a certain image, you should be thankful I let you stay in my kingdom in the first-"
Keke suddenly whistled with both hands, gaining the adults' attention.
"Can't we point fingers later?" the irate kinkajou asked. "We gotta get back home before that Bonehead Fossa and his pack get to us."
"Hmmm…the child is right, King Julien." Karl concurred. "That fiend doesn't give up easily, and he has a death wish on both you and Mary Ann."
Julien grew nervous. "He won't rest until he sends both of us on a one-way trip to Frankri-La."
"Both of you?" an intrigued Keke looked at Mary Ann. "What did you do to piss him off so much? And what did mean with you forfeiting power for-"
"Nothing!" Mary Ann flushed in embarrassment. "That…that's not important right now."
"You're correct, our priority should be to get out of here." Putting his paw above his eyes, Karl saw the cargo ship in the distance, closer than earlier, and then glanced down and pointed. "There!"
The others looked and saw a river flowing not far away.
"The river?" Mary Ann asked.
"Precisely. As I told you, I've memorized this terrain quite well." Karl said in a braggy tone. "That river flows into the ocean, and it's mouth is at the Cove of Wonders."
"Yes! Now you're talking, Karl." Julien grinned.
"All in a day's work, your majesty." Karl replied not-so-humbly, making Mary Ann roll her eyes.
"Yes, Karl. Your guile and resourcefulness are unchallenged…" she indulged him "…though not your aim."
"So can you use that now to guide us back home safe and sound?" She continued.
"Yes, yes." Julien shook Karl's arm and pointed at his head. "The sooner my kingly head does not have to go around in public naked, the better."
"Hmmm…all we need now is a means of transport, a raft or-"
Suddenly, they heard an ear-piercing shriek and were engulfed by a large shadow.
"Gladys!" Julien cried as they saw the crowned eagle flying toward them, her form blocking the sun.
"Ay, pucha…" Keke knew who the target was.