A Jinx to the Past: Reloaded

One morning, Rani had visited the Pridelands again, and was playing to catch her friends. However, she couldn’t control her ninja strength, and by getting too excited, she accidentally hurt Kion and the others a little.

“Rani, stop!” Kion said.

“Oh, sorry! Kion, are you ok?” Rani asked.

“Don’t worry, I’m alright.” Kion said. “We all are. Right, guys?”

“Never been better!” Fuli said, sarcastically.

“This is one tough girl!” Bunga said.

“Hapana! For a moment I thought I was a prey bird, not a bird of prey!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ono!” Rani said. “I would never be capable of eating one of my friends.”

“You are quite strong, Rani, almost just like me.” Beshte said. “But you need to control that strength, or you will hurt us.”

“You know, Rani, I had the same problem as you once.” Kion said. “I was so young. I couldn’t control my lion strength while playing with my friends.”

“And what happened next?” Rani asked.

“We lived an adventure! In an attempt to make me and Kiara act like good behaved children, mom and dad asked Rafiki for a spell, and they were accidentally transformed back into cubs! We had to babysit them, sing them a lullaby, and protect them from hyenas until Rafiki found a cure and brought them back to normal. Finally, I promised to never play rough with my friends again.”

“That’s awesome! I wish I could do that too, but most of the time I spend it fighting and training to defend the Tree of Life. I barely have time to play, so I’m not used to it.”

“I have an idea. Why don’t we ask Rafiki for a spell to make you play nice? Don’t worry, we’ll ask him not to weaken your fighting skills and energy.”

“For you and my friends, Kion, whatever.”

So they headed to Pride Rock to ask him for help, but instead of him, Makini was there.

“Makini? Where is Rafiki?” Rani asked.

“Oh, he went out to search some ingredients, so he left me in charge while he’s gone! Isn’t that exciting?”

“Yeah...” Kion said. “Well, we wanted to ask him for a spell to make Rani not to play rough with us, but conserve her fighting skills. Perhaps we should wait for Rafiki to return and…”

“No, no. Let me help you! I insist!” Makini said. “After all, I wanted Rafiki to teach me some magic as well!”

“Well… ok.” Kion said.

“Great!” Makini said. “I’m gonna try it.”

Then she mixed weird ingredients and started reciting these words:

Bakora Staff, with both of your gourds

Heed Makini’s magic words

Rani must stop playing wild

Give her the playfulness of a CHILD!

“Um, Makini… I think you shouldn’t have used that word!” Rani said.

“Rani, look out!”

A magic blast emerged from the magic pot, but before it could strike Rani, Simba and Nala walked out of nowhere, flirting with each other, and stood between Rani, Kion and the blast!

“Dad, mom, NO!” Kion shouted.

When the magic mist faded away… Simba and Nala were cubs once again! And forgot about their sons!

“Hey, who are they?”

“More friends to play with?”

“Hevi kavisa! It’s another…!” Kion said.

“Jinx to the Past!” Rani said.

Meanwhile, Ono, Fuli, Bunga and Beshte were having a blast at the Lion Guard’s Lair, playing at the pool.

“Poa!” Beshte said. “I must admit pool games are way better than playing catch or any other rough game.”

“You bet, Big B!” Bunga said. “I’d rather play in this pool every day!”

“Too bad Jasiri is not here to have fun, too.” Fuli said.

“Anga lenga!” A familiar voice was heard.

“Anga?” Ono said.

“Yep, that’s me!” she said, entering the cave. “And guess who was invited by courtesy of mine for some playtime with the Lion Guard? A very special friend of Kion…”

“Rani?” Bunga asked.

“No!”

“Rani is already with us, Bunga.” Ono said.

“She’s everyone’s favorite…” Anga continued.

“Tiifu?”

“No! She’s the best hyena we know.”

“It’s Jasiri, Bunga.” Fuli said.

“Oh, right! Jasiri! Well, very close.”

“Common knowledge, really.” Ono said.

Jasiri entered the cave.

“Poa! Kion will have such a surprise when he arrives.” Beshte said.

“I already had a surprise!” Kion said, at the entrance.

“What’s the kerbubble, Kion?”

“Come to Pride Rock and you’ll find out!” Rani said.

When they all entered Pride Rock, Kion’s friends couldn’t believe their eyes.

“Hapana!” Ono said.

“It’s impossible!” Beshte said.

“You mean unbungalievable!” Bunga said.

“Here we go again!” Fuli said.

“How could this happen? Anga asked.

“It was an accident!”  Makini said. “I was trying to do a spell to make Rani play nicer with you, but I used the world child in my magic words, since I couldn’t think of another rhyme. Then Simba and Nala just walked in, distracted, and got turned back into kids! I didn’t mean to do it!”

“It’s ok, Makini.” Kion said. “We’ll just have to wait until Rafiki arrives to ask him for another cure.”

“By the way, we’ll tell him to never use these childish spells no more.” Rani said.

“And in the meantime, who’ll take care of them?” Jasiri asked, sarcastically.

“I know what you’re thinking, Jasiri!” Fuli said.

“She’s right, Fuli.” Kion said. “We have no other option than childsitting them again.”

“I think I can handle this perfectly.”

“I know you can, Big B.” Beshte said. “In fact we all do, since we’ve already done this before.”

“All right, it’s time to end this déjà vu.” Ono said.

5 minutes later, the cubs were already playing, running and pouncing on each other, causing a headache for Kion and company. The toys they had brought for them weren’t even enough to tire them out!

Then, Kovu and Kiara arrived to Pride Rock.

“Sis!” Kion said.

“Hey, little bro!” Kiara said.

“Kiara, now you won’t believe your eyes.”

“Let me guess: King Simba and Queen Nala got turned into cubs again.” Kovu said.

“How did you know?” Jasiri asked.

“I thought this ambience looked pretty familiar.”

“Wow, and I thought I was the only one who could decipher things with my telepathy.” Rani said.

“Do you remember what we did last time to calm our parents down?” Kiara asked his brother.

“Oh, right! We sang them a lullaby!”

“Fine! My vocal chords were waiting to sing a song with my friends!” Jasiri asked.

“This time, I’m with you, guys.” Rani said.

“Me too.” Anga said.

“And all your friends.” Bunga said.

They all headed to were the cubs were playing. Fortunately, they were starting to get tired. Then Makini began to play music to Kion’s shout of:

“LION GUARD… let’s jingle.”

Kion and his friends sang another soothing but very upbeat lullaby for the cubs to calm down. One thing was sure, they indeed had fun doing it!

Just as expected, Simba and Nala once again fell asleep. Kion said:

“We made it, everyone.” Kion said. “But let’s make sure we don’t fall asleep this time!”

The Lion Guard and their friends decided to stay awake and watch over the cubs. However, suddenly, Hodari and Kinyonga burst in, running as fast as they could.

“Kion, Lion Guard, we’ve got bad news!” Kinyonga said.

“What’s going on?” Kion asked.

“It’s Kenge! He’s still alive!” Hodari said. “He has been attacking small animals in the Pridelands lately!”

“But that’s not all! I’ve heard he joined forces with Ushari and Sumu the Scorpion!” Kinyonga said. “So we came here as soon as possible for your help!”

“Don’t worry, you two.” Kion said. “We will get them.”

“Meanwhile, why won’t you stay here to be safe and by the way, take care of King Simba and Queen Nala?” Jasiri asked.

“I’ve heard you are practicing for when you have your own family.” Rani said.

“What? How did they…?” Hodari said.

“Let’s just say it’s the day Rafiki’s spell went wrong all over again.” Bunga said. “But this time, it was Makini’s spell.”

“Oh, ok.” Hodari said.

“Well, Kion, we’ll do our best to take care of Simba and Nala.” Kinyonga said.

“Fine, we’re counting on you.” Kion said. “Let’s go everyone. Til’ the Pridelands end…”

“Lion Guard defend!”

“I’ll stay here and wait for Rafiki to arrive to ask him for a cure.” Makini said.

Kion and his friends ran to stop the venomous trio.

“Ok, guys. Remember what we did last time? I think we can do it again, but instead of using it to find my parents, we can use it to find Kenge, Ushari and Sumu!”

“Understood!” Fuli said.

“Just tell us what to do, Kion!” Beshte said.

“Ono, Anga, see if you can find them from the air. Jasiri, Fuli, Kiara and Kovu, sniff with me. Bunga, up to the trees. Beshte, behind the rocks…”

“Or… maybe I can just use my telepathy to see where they are.”

“Um… Good point, Rani. Do it!”

Rani took a deep breath and concentrated. With her ninja telepathy, she soon found the location of the Venomous Trio.

“They’re at the hyraxes’ home!” Rani said.

“These bullies… Why do they always have to pick on the hyraxes?” Jasiri said.

“Because they’re small and easy to catch. Common knowledge, really.” Ono said.

“Jasiri, Rani, Come with me.” Kion said. “We’re gonna give them a fair fight. The rest of you, I’ll call you when we need help.”

Kion, Rani and Jasiri, the Thrilling Trio, ran to face their enemies.

Back at Pride Rock, Hodari and Kinyonga were trying to take care of Simba and Nala, but the cubs saw them like toys, and began to play with them.

“I want the green one!” Young Simba said.

“Give me the blue one!” Young Nala said.

“Wait, the green one is now blue! No, wait now it’s red!”

“HODARI! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!” Kinyonga yelled, enraged.

“Hold on! I’m pretty sure the Lion Guard will arrive at any moment.”

But then, Young Nala said:

“I’m bored. Let’s go outside!”

“I agree. Come on!” Simba said.

“What? Wait, no!” Hodari said.

“Get back here!” Kinyonga said.

But the cubs didn’t listen to them. They tried to grab their tails, but they just got dragged by the cubs as they began to run. They arrived to a lake, where Simba and Nala decided to swim.

“Well, at least they’re having fun, and there seems to be no danger at sight.” Hodari said.

“Honey, look!” Kinyonga said.

Kiburi’s Float was heading to the same lake!

“Oh, no! The crocodiles are gonna eat them! Help!”

Luckily, Kovu, Kiara, and the rest of Kion’s friends were not too far from there. So they could hear Hodari and Kinyonga.

“Kiara, do you hear that?” Kovu said.

“Yes, it’s Hodari! Sounds like he and Kinyonga need help!” Kiara answered. “Ono, Anga, go see what’s happening.”

“Affirmative.”

“Anga lenga!”

Both flew toward where the lake was, and using their keen sight, they saw the lizard couple, and young Simba and Nala swimming in the lake… with the crocodiles approaching them!

“Hapana! We must go tell Kiara and Kovu!”

Both flew back to their friends.

“We saw Kinyonga and Hodari.” Anga said. “The cubs are swimming in a lake, but Kiburi’s Float are approaching to that place!”

“Just like my brother would say, Hevi Kavisa!” Kiara said. “Quick, we must save them. Follow me!”

Kiara, Kovu and their friends went to save their parents. Meanwhile, Tamka and Nduli had already spotted the cubs.

“Hey, you see that?”

“Yes… two little lion cubs waiting for us in the water.”

“But… don’t you think they look a bit familiar?”

“Um… no. Let’s just eat them.”

“What are you two babbling about, chumps?” Kiburi asked. “What? Impossible. Are these two cubs Simba and Nala?”

“Nah, there is no way they can go back to being kids… or is it?” Tamka said.

“Well, then it should be easier to get them!” Kiburi said.

“Not if we are here!” Beshte said. “Twende Kiboko!”

He charged onto the crocs, sending them aside. Ono pecked other crocodiles, while Anga attacked them with her claws. Bunga jumped on Kiburi’s face, yelling:

“Zuka Zama!”

“Get out of my sight, honey badger! Literally!”

Jumping on some crocodiles’ backs, Kovu and Kiara reached Kiburi, and Kovu grabbed him and threw him away.

“Just like when we were kids.” Kovu said.

“It IS a Jinx to the Past, after all!” Kiara said.

“Now it’s your chance, Big B! Take the cubs away!” Bunga said.

Beshte swam toward the cubs and said:

“Get on, little ones! It’s time to ride the Beshte Boat!”

“Beshte Boat! Yay!” they said at the same time.

Defeated, Kiburi’s Float had no other choice than to retreat back to the Outlands.

Once Beshte took them to safety, Fuli apologized:

“Well done, Beshte. Sorry if I didn’t help, but, you know I and water don’t get very well.”

“It’s ok.” Beshte said.

“We’re also sorry, Beshte!” Hodari said.

“We’re just too small to take care of big cubs!” Kinyonga said.

“Yeah, I understand.”

“I wonder how Kion, Rani and Jasiri are doing with Ushari, Kenge and Sumu.” Fuli said.

Meawhile, the Thrilling Trio had successfully defeated the Venomous Trio. Rani freely used her ninja skills and Tree of Life energy, Jasiri used her agile hyena fighting style, and to deliver the final blow, Kion send them flying back to the Outlands with the Roar of the Elders.

After everyone was reunited, they went back to Pride Rock, safe and sound. There, they found out Rafiki had already returned, and he was scolding Makini for trying to use shaman sorcery without his permission. With the ingredients he had brought, Rafiki prepared a cure for Simba and Nala, and once again, they got back to normal.

“Wh-What happened?”

“Why is everyone here?”

“Let’s just say… it was another Jinx to the Past.” Bunga said.

“Your majesty.” Rani said. “From now on, I won’t play these rough games, since they do not fit a member of the Night Pride. Now, I will play a fun, inoffensive game my friends taught me: Splashed ya!”

“We, too, must promise something.” Nala said. “Not to distract ourselves flirting with each other and not look around us and where we step. Right, Simba?”

“You’re right, Nala.” Simba said. “Kovu, you have my eternal gratitude for helping us once again. I knew I made a good choice by letting you stay in the Pridelands.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, it looks like it’s another happy ending, isn’t it?” Hodari said.

“It sure is, honey.” Kinyonga said.

“We also learned a good lesson. If we’re going to have children, let’s make sure they’re our size or smaller.”

“Hodari…”

“What is it?”

“I have something I should have told you before…”

“Really? What?”

“…I’m pregnant.”

“WHAT THE-“

THE END