Maurice sank his claws into the solid, dusty dirt. He had dug a hole deep enough that only his tail stuck up out of the ground. Little by little, he yanked chunks of earth and shoved them behind him in a rather large pile of dirt. It was hard work since the dirt was so dry and hardened tightly together. Beside the hole stood an impatient King Julien, with his arms crossed and tapping his foot almost in a rhythm, waiting for Maurice to finish digging.

"I do not understand this one bit, Maurice," he began with annoyance in his voice. "How could it be taking you this long to dig up a simple box?"

"Maybe if I had a little help, it wouldn't take this long," he growled under his breath.

King Julien sighed, "Fine…" Then he turned his head to the tiny Mort who stood right beside him. He blinked as Mort innocently watched Maurice work with a smile. King Julien then darted his attention to the sky and yawned. Once he blinked several more times- WHAM!

Mort fell face flat into the bottom of the pit- Thump!

"There!" nodded the bossy lemur. "Now, there shall be no more excuses why this shouldn't be taking so long! Now hurry up you lazzies!"

Maurice groaned and continued back to work. Mort almost instantly leapt to his feet and joined Maurice in the dig. King Julien loomed over with his paws to his hips. The pile of dirt began to grow slightly and within several more minutes, Mort clawed at something hard. His eyes gleamed and awed at his discovery.

"Oo, oo!" he cried cheerfully. "I found it! I found it!"

King Julien's lips lifted to a satisfied grin, "Oh ho! That'd be it the spirit, Mort! Now hurry it up, give it to me!"

Almost immediately, Maurice and Mort hauled out a fairly large chest-like wooden box and set it before their king with a Thump! The tall lemur eagerly leapt over towards it and clasped his paws together, chuckling with excitement in his eyes.

"Maurice!" he snapped his fingers. "The royal super secret key!"

The heavy set lemur approached him and presented him a silver key- a simple silver key.

"Good. Now, open it."

Maurice sighed heavily as he rolled his eyes and bent over to the chest and stuck the key inside the key hole on the lock. He turned it and it clicked. Suddenly Julien nearly shoved Maurice to one side as he lifted the chest open. The three lemurs peered inside. Suddenly a cloud of dust poofed towards their faces and they coughed.

"Blech!" coughed King Julien. "It's so stuffy and dirty and… very dusty."

"We hardly opened this thing in decades," pointed out Maurice as he fanned flying dust away. "Just what are we looking for anyway?"

Without answering, King Julien dove in and began rummaging for whatever he could possibly be searching for. The other two approached their heads over the chest, trying to catch a clear view inside. After a minute, "Ah ha!" His tail bristled into the air and he retracted himself from the chest and pulled out what he was looking for.

"I never thought I'd find you ever again!" he nearly shrieked. "I knew the royal brain wouldn't let me down to hide my special crown in my secret box with all my other precious things buried underneath my big a bouncy house."

"You're welcome," grumbled Maurice as he approached the chest and looked inside the box while King Julien hugged his big and colorful special crown.

He scanned all the contents of the box and whistled.

"Look at all this," he said. "Boy do these take me back to Madagascar."

"Eh?" wondered King Julien when he noticed an oddly shaped silhouette right at the base of the crown. "Aw, now I see. I put my little gecko friend in charge of my distant kingdom in Madagascar. Hm? What'd be it his name again? Heh, oh well. My crown still looks pretty and fit to be worn by the royal me."

Maurice and Mort began poking inside the chest and uncovering old items and they reminisced of the old times they had before.

"Look at this, my old back scratcher," smiled Maurice as he began testing it on his own back. "Ahh… and it still comes in handy."

Then Mort pulled out a pilot's cap and wore it on his head. He giggled and clapped his hands with joy, having fun with his little dress up.

"Hm… now that I think of it," began King Julien as he replaced his usual crown with his special crown. "This crown does remind me of my early days, and my dreams for expanding my great kingdom to an imperial empire. And I've done a very pretty good job at it."

"I wonder what else is in here."

Maurice stuck himself back into the trunk and continued exploring the contents.

"I remember how I was thinking, 'Hey, here's a crazy-ish idea. Why don't I expand my rule to a foreign land?' And then I was all like, 'Why that sounds like an interesting plan. Yes, yes, that sounds very nice.' And then I was like, 'Really, that is crazy 'cause I was just thinking the same thing. No, really? Sure, why ever not? Ah, you have a clever mind, my friend…'"

Maurice hardly paid any attention to what his king had to say as he searched deeper. Suddenly his eyes fell on a strange paper rolled up and tied in a red ribbon of sort. He tore the ribbon and rolled up the piece of paper and studied what was written inside. Then he smiled when he realized what it was.

"Uh, your majesty, look!" he called to King Julien. "It's our first royal decree you wanted to pass in… your previous kingdom."

King Julien approached Maurice and snatched the paper and began studying the document. He mumbled to himself and turned the paper upright, then sideways, then upright again. However the royal document didn't contain any words, but simple sketches and drawings (since the lemurs hardly knew how to read and write). It had multiple drawings, such as a drawing of King Julien lounging and lemurs surrounded him waiting to take his orders, and another drawing of a foosa slashed in red, and a sketch of King Julien dancing along with a group of other lemurs. There was also a sketch of Mort with a red slash across his face.

"Ah, of course!" exclaimed King Julien. "Actually I rather like this decree. It looks very nice. Very nice." Then after a pause, "I shall decree that this decree be put to good use!"

Then King Julien tossed the decree back to Maurice who caught it in time before it fell to the ground.

"Really, your majesty?" asked Maurice.

"But of course, silly Maurice. I had forgotten why it was such a nice and wonderful… um… pictures of me."

"Maybe you've also forgotten how it also got you your girlfriend?"

King Julien's ears twitched, "Huh? What is it that you said, Maurice?"

"Well according to your decree, as long as you had a queen, you kept your crown."

King Julien turned around back at Maurice and scratched his chin, "And since when did I ever have a queen?"

"Never."

"Hm… okay now you lost me there. So how is it that I kept my crown if I never had a queen?"

"Beats me, but you managed to dodge that decree and keep your crown somehow. Er, perhaps because your previous girlfriend was considered a queen, if I recall. Even though you two were never married."

"Hm, interesting," King Julien showed the least bit of interest throughout the whole topic. "Well, now it's time for my royal grooming."

"Now hold on, your majesty." The large lemur scurried before King Julien, preventing him form going any further. "You passed this decree, so now you've got to find a queen so you can keep your crown."

King Julien thought it over, and then sighed. "Can't I just un-decree the whole decree now?"

"Sorry King Julien, but as of now until you find your queen," Then he pulled his crown of his head. King Julien gasped suddenly and his pupils shrank, even little Mort stopped his fun and gasped in shock. "You are unable to continue your rule."

King- er- Julien began to twitch and quiver as the pressure set on him. Now he understood how serious this meant to him. The full meaning of his tragic loss hit him like an eighteen ton truck.

"What?! How?! Why?! Why must I be tormented so?!" he cried as he fell to his knees and wretched. "My crown! My kingliness!"

Even as he removed his entitlement as king, Maurice couldn't help but feel sorry for him. After all, he himself was nothing- an advisor- without his king. On top of that it was pathetic sight to see him sobbing on the ground for his crown. Like a baby crying because his bottle was taken away.

"Well your ma- um," then he coughed trying to shake off the awkwardness. "You haven't lost your crown completely, just find a girlfriend and you can have your crown back. You still have a shot."

Julien's ears twitched as a glimmer of hope shone over him.

"That's it then!" he leapt to his feet. "All I have to do is find my lady." He chuckled and wore a seductive grin. "Oh, that's nice. How hard can that be? I am the handsomest lemur in all of the Central Park Zoo."

"Um, not to burst your bubble, but I think that's just the problem. There are no other lemurs here in this zoo. Or anywhere else within this area for the matter."

"Ugh!" Then after a while, Julien snapped his fingers. "Okay! My brilliant head, even though it is without… the royal crown…" he nearly choked at the words. "I have come with a brand new, crazy-ish idea."

"Do tell."

"What if, listen closely now, what if I find… a non-lemur? Ah ha! Yes, I thought of it! It's brilliant, isn't it?"

"Uh, huh." Maurice rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I know. Too stunned for the words, I know. Even I impress myself sometimes too. Oh, but the real question is, who would be my victim? Eh- I mean, my queen"

"That is the mystery."

The two put their paws to their chins and began to brainstorm who would make a proper bachelorette to the now former lemur king. Mort bounded over to them.

"Oh, please King Julien!" he squealed. "You have to think of something! I don't want you to go away!"

Then Mort began to sob as he hugged his king's legs tightly.

"And I want you to go away and STOP TOUCHING THE ROYAL FEET!!!"

He fiercely shook his leg and sent Mort flying away crashing into the ground just inches away from the wall.

"Hm… y'know I think I may have an idea," smiled Maurice.

"As do I. I say we set one of them, how you say, rat trappers, tonight and set it by-"

"Your new queen!"

"But why of course, Maurice! As I was saying, we put the rat trapper thingies where the ladies are, and then we see which one will come first."

"I don't think you can keep your crown for long with THAT plan."

"Ugh, fine! Must we be doing this the hard way? I want my crown back!"

"And you will, if maybe you can court with a certain someone."

"And who may that be?"

"Actually, I was thinking about that one otter, Marlene."

"The otter?"

"Well, yeah. Didn't you tell me about the one time she fell in love with you?"

"Hm…" Julien furrowed his brows and thought it over and muttered to himself. "What happened, what happened… I- oh yes! No wait… yes! Wait no… YES! Of course I remember! Blech, I cannot forget the horror from the grossness, and the snarling, and the crazy eyes… and the grossness!"

"Well she's cured from that, remember? Why don't you give her a shot?"

"Hm… well, she does look rather charming in her own, eh, special kinda way."

"Uh, huh," nodded Maurice.

"Hmm… I'll do it!"

Suddenly the tall lemur leapt up to the platform to where his throne sat.

"Watch! I will make the otter, hopelessly in love with me! How hard can that be? And then- I will continue to be the handsomest and royally king of the zoo!"

"That's the spirit!" cheered Maurice with a swish of his fist.

"Yay!" cheered Mort as he suddenly appeared beside Maurice.

"Yes! I shall wear my crown again!" Then after a brief pause. "Eh, actually, can I still wear the crown just for show? My head feels nude without it!"

Maurice sighed, "Oh, boy."