Kion's Tale Ch. 19

Zira glared at the group of Lionesses that had reported to her. What they told her made her blood boil inside the oven that was her enraged body. She growled as she stepped closer to the Lead Lioness. "The Monkeys.... escaped?!"

"Y-yes they did..." The Lead looked down at her paws, scared of her leader's anger. "There was a Dragon an-"

"I do not care about a simple LIZARD!" Zira smacked the Lioness with her paw. "I trusted you with a simple task, and all I'm hearing are excuses!"

"That's right, you coward!" Kovu growled as he struggled to free himself. He had been stuck in the tree for some time, and he did not need to see the sergeants fearful face.

But he did not expect to hear the tone of voice that belonged to his mother.

"And as for you, Kovu..." Zira furrowed her brow as she stepped towards her golden child pathetically stuck in a tree. "I expected such failure from them, but from you? You IDIOT! How could you let this happen?! Those Mandrills are the only thing that keeps that coward, Simba, out of our way. And now they're gone?" She growled lowly as she glared coldly at the brown cub. "Perhaps Scar made the wrong choice in you."

"What?!" Kovu's face fell entirely. "N-no! I'll find them, I'll bring them back! I'll even get the ones who took them, trust me, Mother!"

Zira scowled up at her adopted son. For most of the years since her pride had been banished from the Pridelands, she had heralded Kovu as the successor of her mighty Mate. Now, she felt herself to be mistaken. Still, that would not stop her from giving him another chance.

She swiped her claws right above her sons head, cutting the trunk and making him fall to the ground. she leaned down to eye level with him. "One chance. Them or you." She whispered threateningly into his ear before swiftly turning her head to her other cubs. "You two, go with him. And make sure you don't mess up again. Move!" She barked at them both, causing all three of them to scramble over the rocks and in the direction their prisoners escaped.

The Lioness watched them leave before turning around and looking down at the Mark of evil. "It will not be long, Scar. The Lion Guard is on their way, and they will not know what hit them...."

--

Simba rushed through the desolate Outlands with the adult Mandrills at his side. Their objective; The LIon Guard and their children.

As he followed Simba along with his mate, Fikiri had noticed something in the night sky above them. He observed it with concerned eyes. "I don't like the looks of those clouds up there, your Majesty."

"It may be rain." Simba glanced at the male Mandrill. "A blessing in disguise, I'd say."

"In my years of traveling before coming to the Pridelands, I've learned the many formations of clouds." Fikiri explained to the king. "Yes, your Majesty, it is raining, up in the clouds. But here on the ground, it's too hard to contract any rain signals."

"So, what're you saying?" Kitendo asked her mate.

"I'm saying that has to be-"

Before he could go on anymore, a crash of light flashed before them, nearly blinding them. The flames immediately rose from where it had struck before them.

"Dry Lightning!" Fikiri cried as he stepped back, staring at the fire rising. Kitendo joined her mate by standing by him as Simba looked up at it, clearly realizing something was imminent. He watched as the flames climbed higher and higher, crackling in the hot, dry air.

And Laughing.

Wait, what?

Soon, the answer to this made itself clear.

The flames burst alive like a ray of sunlight, blowing smoke and flames everywhere. At the center of the phenomenon, a Lion's head floated above them. This apparition was abnormally large, laughing his head off in a wicked and haunting sort of manner, echoing through the Outlands. There were no words that could describe how the Mandrills felt as they saw the demon.

"Is...." Kitendo stammered as she stared up at the ghost. "Is that...."

"No..." Fikiri began to shake his head frantically, beginning to panic. "No, no way! This cannot be happening! That can NOT be-"

"Scar."

Simba had unintentionally managed to interrupt his allies frightened stuttering. He glared up at the ghost that floated before them, mustering up enough courage to stand up to the spirit.

"Why hello, Simba." Scar said to the living lion in a mockingly sweet tone. "Long time no see, am I right? Well, here I am." He gave a cold, hearty laugh. "Surprise!"

"Why are you here?" Simba asked him seriously.

"What?" Scar once again acted all innocent. "Can a King not just take the time to see his favorite nephew?" His tone then changed to a voice that of a murderous maniac, looking at the three mortals below him. "I'm only here to give you a warning: We have the young Mandrill and her brothers in our custody. And if you do not want to watch them perish, you will walk away from all of this and never return."

Simba narrowed his eyes bravely at his deceased uncle. "No. Not this time. You should never have come back, Scar. This time, you will not see me run from your gazing standpoint." He stepped even closer, so close, he wouldn't been scorched by the flickering embers. "I will stop you."

The ghost simply could not take his Nephew's threat seriously, viewing himself in unlimited power. He shook his head slowly as he grinned, giving a chuckle. "Simba, Simba, you don't get it, do you?" His smile disappeared as he glowered down at the king of the Pridelands. "War is coming to the Pridelands. And it will come sooner than you think....." With all of that being said, in a blast of light, Scar dissolved into the roaring flames until there was noting left but a mark in the singed dirt. It was an eye with a large scar over it.

But did Simba's unfazed expression fail? Absolutely not. He glared down at the Mark of evil and swiped it away with his paw. "Goodbye, Uncle."

Suddenly, the flames from the Dry Lightning blast were backed up by something unusual. Another blast of Dry Lightning struck a few feet away from the one that the apparition had emerged from, bringing more fires into the area. The another bolt struck the ground. Then another. And another. And another. It was most unusual for Dry Lightning to strike so frequently but Simba was not scared.

He turned to the Mandrills, who could barely move because of what they saw. "Fikiri! Kitendo! Stay close to me!" He had gotten their attention, prompting them to follow him.

No matter what they saw, they had to save Makini, Rogo, and Ugo.

Whatever it took.

--

The Lion Guard followed the Leopard to the entrance to a large, gaping pathway that cut through the gorge of the Outlands. Mostly silent during the trip, the group of animals briefly put aside their angered thoughts of their leader and remembered their gratefulness to their Leopard friend.

"Thank you, Badili." Kion nodded gently to the skinny Leopard. "You didn't have to do this, you know."

"Ah, it's no problem, Kion." Badili waved his paw. "You guys helped me twice. I wasn't about to let that pass uneven. We're all friends here, even in the circle of life."

Beshte flapped his ears. "You mean that, Badili?"

"Would I lie to you, Beshte?"

The animals then said their goodbyes and started down to the trail that led into the gorge, returning to glaring down the Lion cub.

Never had Kion felt so conflicted. Why did he have to say that to Jasiri? Telling here she was nothing to him and bashing her like that. He felt so angry when she bashed the first blow on the subject at the hearing. He cared not about whatever the Lion Guard may be thinking of him right now. Right now, he was more focused on the worrying question that plagued his mind.

Was he becoming Scar?

A noise brought him back to earth, Something was moving, echoing through the gorge. He looked around to see what the source was. Scanning the area, he saw nothing out pf the ordinary. Stalagmites, shadows, his friends glaring at him. That last one made him turn his eyes back forward. But then he shot right back at his friends, seeing the rock falling down towards Fuli. He leapt into action and knocked her out of the way.

The Cheetah pushed Kion off of her, angrily annoyed. "Kion, what are you doing?"

"Saving you." Kion answered. "You're welcome."

Soon enough, more rocks fell towards them, causing them to scatter out of their direction. The falling rocks seemed to be falling one at a time. It was strange.

"Ono, see what's going on!" Kion ordered the Egret.

"Affirmative!" Ono gave a salute and flew up in a huff. Before he got to the top of the cliffside, however, something fell past him. A spotted, cream colored blur, with a little bit of blue and white. He looked down to see the friendly Leopard falling to the ground, being pecked by a Vulture.

The same vulture that attacked them when they first arrived in the Backlands that day.

Badili stood up after he fell from the cliff. Around him, the Lion Guard stood surprised and worried, looking at the two animals. Kion stepped forward, lowering his eyebrows at the carrion bird. "Why did you just attack-"

"Badili!"

The Hyena that was known as Nabii was running towards them, huffing at how far she had just run. The Lion Guard braced themselves for what they thought would be a short lived attack. "Lion Guard, get away from this Leopard!" She commanded them as she stopped in the middle of them.

"What do you want?" Bunga put his hands on his hips and glared at the Hyena.

"Didn't you heard me, Honey Badger?" Nabii rolled her eyes. She then turned her attention to Badili, stepping towards him with fangs bared and growling cold murder, backing him up to the side of the gorge. "You... you... I can't even utter the words of what I feel for you here, out of fear I'd be as horrid as you are!"

"N-n-nabii!" Badili stuttered as he nervously tried to speak. "W-what're y-"

"Save it for the King!" Nabii barked at him before turning to the Lion Guard. "Your 'friend' here is deceiving you all. He's leading you all into a trap!"

"She's not wrong!" Chewa stood up. "We saw it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Fuli got in Nabii's way. "Deceiving us? Badili wouldn't do that! And why should we trust you?"

"Is there any other choice you got?" Chewa asked, joining Nabii in cornering Badili. "Tell them, Badili."

Badili's eyes darted from the Lion Guard to the Hyena and the Vulture.

"TELL THEM!"

The paw that belonged to Nabii swiped Badili across the face, hitting him hard. Now, there are some things in this world that take more than time to reveal the things that lay beneath their outer layer. As Badili raised his head, his inner workings had been revealed. His scared expression was now gine.

In it's place, an evil smirk.

The Lion Guard seemed confused at the change of face for their Spotted friend. Kion was the first to question it. "Badili... no.... it can't be true..."

"Oh..." Badili tilted his head as he closed his eyes and grinned. "It can, actually."

Now that his plot had been revealed, the Leopard pounced onto his former pridelands friend. "Oh Kion, so trusting. That's why this was so disappointingly easy."

"Why Badili?" Fuli glared at the traitor. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because, you fast-footed fool, this is the only way Scar will keep me out of the Baclands' destruction. He'll let me live, provided I turn you all over to the Outlanders. Simple as that." Badili growled at the Cheetah before looked down at the struggling Lion. "Now, Zira should be here shortly to claim her prize."

Nabii, Chewa, and the rest of the guard was about to rush over to tackle Badili off of Kion, but it seemed Kion had it under control. He shoved Badili off of him and headbutted him in the other direction. "How could you, Badili? We helped you once, you said we were your f-"

Badili clenched his eyes shut in an irritable manner. "Oh, come on now. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's LAST MINUTE HEROICS!" He pounced over Kion and onto Beshte's back, sinking his teeth into his hard skin. The Hippo yelled in pain as Badili's teeth were stained red. Ono began to peck at the Leopards head as he tried to get him off of his friends back. Bunga assisted the Egret by tackling Badili and holding him in a headlock.

"Ah what a soiree."

The sinister female voice echoed through the gorge, along with some cackling. Soon enough, the smirking face of Zira came around the corner, allied by her pride of Outsiders, the Jackals, and the Crocs.

"Well done, Badili. Well done."