The Lion King - The Bonds of Trust

Chapter 22

Chapter 22: The Truth Comes Out & Battle Of Pride Rock

Dumbfounded at the sight of his grown nephew and the human he lived to despise, Scar asked,

"Simba? Shani?"

Realizing that they were truly standing before him, Scar said getting back into his true form as he briefly glared at Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed,

"Simba! Shani! I'm a little surprised to see you both... Alive!"

Knowing that they didn't do what Scar told them to do all of those years ago and nervous of the repercussions, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed quietly slinked back into the shadows.

Shani said bluntly as she pulled out her dagger, "I told you we'd be back, Scar."

With a look of anger, Simba said while he and Shani started lurking towards the dark lion as Sarabi looked on with some pride,

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip you apart."

Scar tried to explain apologetically as he backed into a wall, "Oh, Simba, you must understand. The pressures of ruling a kingdom..."

Simba interrupted as he demanded his uncle, "... Are no longer yours. Step down, Scar."

Shani demanded as she pointed her dagger at the dark lion, "And let my people enter into the kingdom."

Scar stammered for a second as he said, "Oh, oh, Yes... I would, heh! Naturally, heh... However, there is one little problem. You see them?"

With the dark lion pointing upwards, Simba and Shani both looked up to see the horde of hyenas standing on the rocks above them as Scar said bearing a nervous grin,

"They think I'M king."

Suddenly, they heard Nala say as she stood alongside the rest of the lionesses while two of them helped Sarabi off of the ground,

"Well, we don't! Simba is the rightful king."

Coming towards them in unison, Tamur said as he emerged with the human tribe, holding a giant walking stick,

"And Shani is the rightful leader of the human tribe!"

Looking on in shock to see the lionesses and the human tribe standing alongside each other, Scar couldn't hide his anger and disgust. After being rid of the one species he despised for so long, the dark lion couldn't even fathom the thought of them returning to the Pridelands or even stand the fact that Shani had succeeded in leading them back to the Pridelands.

Unable to contain all of his anger, Scar quietly said while letting his guard down,

"Humans!"

Simba said, giving his uncle an ultimatum, "The choice is yours, Scar! Either step down or fight!"

Shani added with a glare, "Either way, your reign of terror is over!"

Knowing that he couldn't beat his nephew physically, he decided to fight him and the African woman mentally as Scar went on to say,

"Oh, must it all end in violence? I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a family member. Wouldn't you agree, Simba?"

Knowing what the dark lion was trying to do, Shani replied, "That's not gonna work, Scar. Simba already knows the truth."

Simba added, "Besides, we've put it behind us."

Scar asked as he came towards the lionesses, "Eh, but what about your faithful subjects? Have they put it behind them?"

Nala asked in confusion, "Simba? Shani? What is he talking about?"

Delighted, Scar goes on to say as he pressures the two to admit to what happened to Mufasa all of those years ago,

"Ahh, so you haven't told them your little secret. Well, you two, now's your chance to tell them. Tell them who is responsible for Mufasa's death!"

Hearing the name of their former king, all of the lionesses turn their attention to both Simba and Shani. As the African Woman prepared to speak, Simba suddenly stepped forward and said sorrowfully,

"I am."

Sarabi and Nala looked to the lion in shock. Even Shani stood there in shock, shaking her head at what she had just heard. Even after explaining to Simba that Mufasa's death wasn't truly his fault, the lion still believed that is was.

Coming towards the two, Sarabi asked with grief written all over her face,

"It's not true. Tell me it's not true."

Regretfully, Simba replied, "It's true."

Feeling the need to explain to the former queen what truly happened, Shani began to say,

"Sarabi, I can explain--"

But Scar immediately cut her off and snapped as lightning crashed behind his head,

"You see! He admits it! Murderer!"

Simba shook his head and said, "No! It was an accident!"

Scar said as he began to circle around Simba and Shani, accusing them, "If it weren't for you, Mufasa would still be alive! It's your fault that he's dead! Do you deny it?"

Simba also answered, "No."

Scar asked turning his attention to the Africa woman, "Shani, you were a bystander in all of this! You saw what happened! You were there too were you not?"

Shani began to say, "Yes I was, but--"

Scar interrupted her as he shouted, "Then... You're both... Guilty!"

Simba shook his head and said, "No! I'm not a murderer!"

Angered that Scar continued to lie and put the blame on her and Simba for Mufasa's death, Shani snapped as she pointed her dagger at the dark lion,

"You're a liar, Scar!"

Scar turned his attention toward the African woman and asked, accusing her while also turning to everyone else,

"Oh? Well, you are just as guilty weren't you, Shani? Not only for my brother's death... But the death of your own parents! Weren't you the one that wandered away from the village? You caught the eye of the rogue lion, drawing him into human village, destroying your village and killing your parents on sight! You see! This is why we cannot let these humans into the Pridelands! All they'll do is cause destruction and create an imbalance in the Circle of Life! They will be the very death of the Savannah!"

Shani snapped back at him, "YOU SHUT UP! The human species did not cause this, Scar! You did! You and the vicious hyenas you call friends caused the Pridelands to wither and decay into what it is now! All because of your very selfish need for power! And don't you dare try to pin what happened to my mother and father on me! Yes, I was spotted! But that is not what killed my parents! AND YOU KNOW IT!!"

Scar said as he and the hyenas began lurking towards Simba and Shani, causing them to back away as the African woman kept her dagger pointed at the dark lion,

"Oh, Simba and Shani... You're both in trouble again. But this time, you parents aren't here to save you. And now EVERYONE... KNOWS... WHY!!!"

Backing up towards the ledge, Simba and Shani yelped as they both slipped over the edge! Clinging to the ledge for dear life as Nala shouted with worry,

"Simba!"

Tamur shouted in a panic, "SHANI!"

Suddenly, lightning struck below the two! Causing a fire to ignitiate all over Pride Rock!

Watching as Shani fearfully clang to Simba while the lion desperately hung onto the edge with his forepaws, Scar went on to say,

"Now this looks familiar...Hmm. where have I seen this before? Let me think. Hmm... Hmm. Oh yes! I remember, Simba. This is just how your father looked before he died. And Shani, that same look of terror in your eyes... I saw in the eyes of your father and mother."

Just as he once did to his brother, Scar slammed his claws onto Simba's and said as he callously whispered into the ears of both his nephew and the African woman,

"And here's my little secret: I killed Mufasa, Jaffe, and Topanga."

With their minds flashing back to the traumatic moments of their parent's deaths, their voices blended with their younger selves. Taking a giant leap, Simba lunged both himself and Shani off of the ledge and onto Scar, pinning the dark lion down on his back they both snap in a rage,

"NOOOOOOOOO!... MURDERER!!!"

The humans and lionesses gasped in shock as a shaken Scar said nervously,

"No, Simba. Please."

Simba demanded angrily, "Tell them the truth!"

Scar asked as he tried to change the subject, "Truth? But truth is in the eye of the behold-!"

The dark lion was suddenly cut off and choked as Shani held her dagger up to his neck, snapping at him in a rage,

"You tell them the truth or I'll kill you myself!"

Scar said venomously as the African woman continued to choke him, "Alright! Alright!... I did it."

Simba responded to him with a glare, "So they can hear you."

Grudgingly, Scar shouted as he finally confessed, "I killed Mufasa, Jaffe, and Topanga!"

Enraged that Scar was truly the one responsible for the deaths of the former king and tribal leaders, Nala began to charge towards Scar as the hyenas began to attack both Simba and Shani. Following Nala's example, the rest of the lionesses joined the fight as Tamur led the humans into battle, shouting through a battle cry,

"HOOOOO!"

As the hyenas began to close in on both Simba and Shani, Nala and Tamur suddenly came in! With the lioness taking a swipe at one of them while the African man took a few swings at the hyenas with his walking stick, knocking them off of his true love.

Timon and Pumbaa soon joined in, as they both shouted through a battle cry,

"Heeeyyyy-yaaaaah!"

Timon exclaimed as both he and Pumbaa made their way through the crowd, with some of the hyenas starting to fly everywhere,

"'Scuse me! Pardon me! Comin' through! Hot stuff! Whoo!"

With Pumbaa kicking away an oncoming hyena, the warthog and the meerkat took charge and split up in two different directions. Meanwhile, Simba and Shani continued to fight off the hyenas as two jumped down from a ledge above them and onto the two! Biting into the lion's neck as the African woman did her best to block the hyena with her spear.

Suddenly, Rafiki wacked the two hyenas off of both Simba and Shani as he let out a battle cry! Joining the fray, the old mandrill battled the hyenas in a Kung Fu style, taking various hyenas out one by one.

While both the lions and humans joined together to fight off the hyena clan, a frightened Timon began running from Shenzi and Banzai as the male hyena attempted to take a bite at him. Chasing the meerkat into a cave, he soon came across an imprisoned Zazu as the hornbill shouted frantically,

"Let me out! Let me out!"

Timon shouted frantically as he took refuge in Zazu's cage, "Let me in! Let me in!"

As the two hyenas began to close in on them, Timon and Zazu briefly held each other close as the meerkat fearfully pleaded,

"Please don't eat me!"

Before the two could be eaten, Pumbaa suddenly appeared at the entrance of the cave as he snapped with a glare,

"Drop 'em!"

Turning their attention to the warthog, Banzai asked with a raised brow,

"Hey, who's the pig?"

Pumbaa challenged, "Are you talking to me?"

Timon said to both Shenzi and Zazu, "Uh oh! They called him a pig."

Pumbaa challenged again, "Are you talking to me?!"

Timon warned, "Shouldn't 'a done that."

Pumbaa challenged once more, "ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?!?"

Timon rolled his eyes as he said with regret, "Now they're in for it."

Pumbaa finally shouted, "THEY CALL ME... MIIISTER PIG! AAAAAHHH..."

Letting out a battle cry of his own, the offended warthog charged at the group, attacking the hyenas!

Walking by the cave, Ed observed as he watched both Shenzi and Banzai being attacked by Timon, Pumbaa, and Zazu.

Zazu shouted, "Take that! You stupid..."

Banzai shouted in pain, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Timon shouted, "Take that! And that!

Pumbaa shouted, "Take that! And that! You yellow belly..."

Soon enough, both Shenzi and Banzai ran out of the cave, colliding into Ed as they all ran far away from the cave as Timon, Pumbaa, and Zazu emerged. Empowered by their victory over the three hyenas, all three of them began chanting,

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!"

As the battle at Pride Rock continued on.

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Hey guys! Here's another update! Things are about to get even more intense in the next chapter, so stay tuned! ;)