Chapter 4: Brother Clemson

Julien turns and looks at the lemur. "Uh...Who are you?"

Still crouched in a bowing position, "Clemson," he replies.

"I don't know any Clemsons...Where are you from?"

"King Julien, are you sure—" Masikura begins, but Julien swats at her and cuts her off.

"From off the island, your highness. From a foreign land called America." He lifts his head slightly to look him in the eyes.

Julien considers this, before shrugging and looking at Masikura. "Sounds good enough for me."

"But how did he get here?" The chameleon shakes her head.

Clemson watches them, thinking quickly. "I was washed off a boat in a crate. The waves swept me onto this very shore," he lies, figuring Mialy had already told the true story and warned them about himself. When I'm king, she will be the second to go, the irritating twit.

"That must have been a fantastic journey! You must stay and tell your story at the party tonight to celebrate Eva and her glorious present to us." The king nods, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to see my princess."

"Certainly, your royalness." He bows again. Okay, in that case Mialy may be the third on the kill list.

He stands up as Julien and Masikura walk away from him. He rubs his paws together with a smirk. "A party tonight? That's plenty of time...Plenty of time." He chuckles. "Now just to find a couple dunderheads and I'll be right on schedule.

"But wait!" he then exclaims to himself. "She might give me away at the festivities! I suppose I will have to give her some...encouragement." He grins, but his smirk quickly fades as he hears someone coming through the trees to his left. He jumps into the bushes and waits, listening.

"Alright, hang that there poster right here, Abner."

"Here, Becca?"

"No, right here! No one would ever see it over there. We want to spread LA-LA, not hide it!"

"Alright, Becca. S'pose you know best."

"Darn straight I do, Abner. It's what Banana Guy Mike would agree with."

"May he rest in peace."

"His memory will live on. I think this time it'll happen."

"You sure, Becca? I mean, now with him and that princess...Sounds kinda like the sky gods want him in power."

"Abner, please! Do you really want the monarchy to continue? Let Banana Guy Mike's legacy die?! They get married and have a little royal and it will just get harder! The revolution has got to be now or never!"

Clemson smirks to himself in the bushes, rubbing his paws together. He pokes his head from the bush. "Revolution you say?"

Becca and Abner stop what they're doing and look at him. "Uh...Yeah."

"Fantastic! I might have a proposition for you that would help us both!"

Abner leans over to Becca. "I'm not sure 'bout this, Beccie. We dunno anyth'n 'bout this here lemur fella."

Becca dismissively pats his head. "I'm listenin'."

"Well, you see, I too want the royals removed from power. I had thought of being king instead...But I would settle for being president of your newly established democracy. You could even be my Vice President and righthand man. What do you say?"

Becca considers this, glancing at Abner, and then nodding, holding out her paw to shake. "Welcome to the LA-LA movement, brother—your name again?"

"Clemson, but this would be best to keep on the down low, got it?"

"Ooh." Becca grins. "I get'cha. Don't worry, we'll keep our traps shut. Now, did you have a plan or someth'n for the king's downfall?"

Clemson motions for them to get closer. "I do, it'll happen tonight at the party...But first, I need you to a little recon for me..."

Maurice meets up with King Julien and Masikura on their way to Julien's hut. "Now hold on for a moment, your Majesty. The princess is still pretty freaked out. I'd give her a little longer to calm down with Dorothy before going in."

Julien frowns. "But Maurice, how could Dorothy possibly be more calming than me?"

"Well..." he starts, but then gives up shaking his head. "Just be calm and quiet, Julien. You have to think, she's never been in the wild. She thinks everything and everyone wants to harm her in someway. You don't want to accidentally scare her away."

He briefly considers this. "So you mean like...gentle wooing?"

"I guess...Very subtle gentle wooing, sir." He sighs. "Nothing like you did with Crimson."

"Snap!" Julien gasps. "I'm going to need flowers! Masikura, see what type she likes!"

Maurice facepalms. "Your majesty, she hasn't been in Madagascar long enough to know what flowers we even have to know what she would like!"

"Well surely she still has a favorite color, Momo!"

"Shh, shh, boys!" Masikura interjects. "You're getting too loud! You'll startle her! I will go in and see what I can find out. We don't want to scare away our new Sky Princess. She could be Frank's daughter for all we know!"

Maurice sighs, knowing it was useless to argue. "Fine, we'll stay out here for now."

King Julien nods in agreement and sits down on the edge of the porch without argument. Masikura nods and blips inside the hut.

Julien looks over at Maurice as he sits. "Hey Momo—" he then stops and shakes his head.

The aye-aye raises a brow. "Yes, Julien?"

Julien looks off at the trees. "Do you think she will eventually adjust? I-I mean...I don't want to keep the princess here if she's not going to be happy. I don't want her to be scared for the rest of her life."

Maurice smiles slightly to himself. "I'm sure she'll warm up to Madagascar in no time. We just need to be gentle with her and show her there's nothing to fear."

"But Momo, that's the problem. There are things to fear! Lots of the things! We're used to it and know Clover and the Ring Tail Guard will protect us...But like you said, she's not used to anything yet."

"I think she already trusts Clover. She spoke highly of her when I walked with her earlier."

King Julien nods and bites his bottom lip in thought. "Maybe...Maybe it would be better if we let her get used to Clover first before I get better acquainted with her."

Maurice looks surprised, but also a little proud. "That may be a wise decision, sir."

"There's one problem to that though, Maurice."

"And what would that be?"

"She's in my hut."

"Well...I'm sure Ted and Dorothy would allow her to stay with them."

Julien shakes his head. "No, no. I'll get a few things later and stay elsewhere for now. She's our special guest."

Maurice smiles and looks at the trees. "You can feel free to stay with me, sir."

"Thank you, Momo." He nods.

Maurice smiles a little more inwardly. "Anytime, your Majesty, anytime."