Chapter 1: In Need of a Miracle

Six Months Ago, 19th January 2015, 20:05 pm…

The sounds of swords clashing again and again rang through Kiara's ears as she watched an all too familiar scene…

That of her best friend Code Red duelling to the death against Crossfire, his mortal enemy.

Crossfire easily held the upper hand by virtue of his weapon; a vicious double-ended scythe which Crossfire took great pleasure in using to his advantage.

Code Red merely appeared as if he were just hanging on, parrying most of Crossfire's attacks, but being forced to duck or avoid others.

Crossfire gave Code Red an annoyed look and attacked immediately, spinning his scythe and slashing at Code Red with a sweeping attack, using the reach of his scythe to obtain distance between himself and Code Red.

Relief surged through Kiara as she watched Code Red parry that before slashing at Crossfire's lower abdomen, only for that to be parried prior to Crossfire lashing out with an attempt at a knee strike.

Rolling out of the way, Code Red parried a slash meant to cut him in two and blocked another that would have left a large hole in his head. Pushing the scythe down, Code Red raised his sword to behead Crossfire, but was thwarted as Crossfire smashed in in the face with a left hook. Staggering back, Code Red managed to block another attack, this time meant to behead him, only to realise that was a feint, narrowly blocking the other blow, also meant to behead him.

Kiara watched almost helplessly as Crossfire put all of his strength behind that one end of his scythe, almost rendering Code Red's sword useless.

Looking behind him, blue eyes looking directly at Kiara, Code Red yelled one word: "RUN!"

Kiara obeyed immediately, turning away and rushing towards her only source of safety; the rest of her family, who were stood near a narrow pass that led them to their home at Pride Rock.

But then the sickening noises of a blade meeting metal drew her attention, and she looked back, only to see Code Red being slashed across the chest at immensely different angles before being spun around and impaled.

Tears blurred her sight as Code Red fell to his knees before his head exploded from a shot via Crossfire's Riot Cannon.

"Kiara! We need to leave now!" Her father shouted, beckoning over to her.

Kiara wasted little time, rushing towards her family. Just then, Crossfire appeared.

"Bad move." Crossfire snarled before raising his Riot Cannon and firing.

Present day, Pride Rock, 4th July 2015, 7:00 am

Kiara awoke with a small but loud cry of panic, eyes wide with terror as she looked around with a fervour only she could manage.

To be honest, she half expected to hear a voice behind her asking:

"You alright?"

But no such thing came. And again, reality hit Kiara. And it hit with the force of a stampede of Wildebeest travelling at high speed: Code Red was dead. And she was alone.

She fought them as hard as she could, but even now, she could not hold back the fountain of tears that came. Long heaving sobs escaped the princess of Pride Rock as she continued to mourn the loss of her best friend, even six months after his death.

She'd never see the familiar visage of Code Red, striding along with a swagger only he was capable of. She wouldn't ever be able to hear him crack a joke that'd have her in peals of laughter and see her father groan in embarrassment. Nor would she ever be able to sit next to him and watch the sun rise, as had been their morning routine.

Deciding she didn't want to disturb the rest of the pride, Kiara rose to her feet and trudged outside and onto the main plateau of Pride Rock.

Every waking hour was no different for her these days. It was always the same, remembering that day six months ago, the same feeling of helplessness she had felt at the sight of Code Red being slashed across the chest again and again before being impaled.

It hadn't helped that Code Red had made one last move to try and protect them. It only served to hasten his demise, as Crossfire simply shot him and tossed him into the river below.

That image of Code Red's lifeless body falling into the raging river below was almost burned into Kiara's mind, forever etched there; despite Kiara wishing she could forget it.

But she could not, and so it would be for the rest of her days.

A gentle breeze brushed against her, and Kiara sighed. In another age, she would have taken a deep breath, appreciating the breeze, and simply took in the dawn of a brand new day. But all she felt now was a bitter taste in her mouth. It would usually be about now that Code Red would have emerged, walked over, and sat down next to her.

She half expected the heavy footsteps that heralded his presence to come, but they did not. All that greeted her was silence, along with the gentle sound of a slight wind blowing through the air. Kiara liked to think that was Code Red trying to comfort her, wherever he was now. Sighing, Kiara started making her way to the top of Pride Rock. Hopefully, she could collect her thoughts better.

At the top of Pride Rock, some-time later…

"Kiara?"

Kiara nearly flinched at the voice, before turning to see her father stood there, eyeing her with a concerned look on her face.

The past six months had not been good to Simba. Stress was visible all over his face, and his face was gaunt. Dark circles were visible beneath his eyes, the result of a severe lack of sleep.

Walking over, Simba said: "Kiara, you know I don't like you up here. There's always the possibility of a Decepticon taking a shot at you from well… anywhere around us, really."

Kiara scowled. "Like I needed reminding of them." She growled, venom in her tone.

In the six months since Code Red's death and the withdrawal of the Autobots, the Decepticons had essentially surrounded the Pride Lands on all sides, threatening to swarm in and conquer them. It was merely a matter of when the Decepticons were going to do so, and they were being extremely covert about their plans as well.

Simba's tone became instantly sympathetic. "Oh. I'm sorry, Kiara. I didn't mean to remind you of what you've lost. What we've both lost."

Kiara choked back a sob as she said: "I miss him, Daddy. I miss him so much."

Coming closer, Simba pulled Kiara closer, holding her like he did when she was a cub, despite Kiara now being a young adult. "I know you do, Kiara. We all miss him." Looking around, Simba said: "Either way, I'll leave you to collect your thoughts. Zazu should be here soon with the Morning Report." With that, Simba took his leave, leaving Kiara alone once again.

Kiara watched her father leave before looking up at the sky. Despite them no longer being visible, Kiara knew the stars were up there. Somewhere. And with them were the Great Kings of the Past. At least, that's what Kiara hoped was the case. "Grandfather…" She whispered. "Great-Grandfather… anyone. We need a miracle now, more than ever." Looking down, Kiara started the trek down from Pride Rock, many thoughts weighing on her mind.

I'M BACK!

Hello and welcome to my third book in my Transformers and the Lion King series: Ultima Victoria.

Now, I was going to upload this yesterday, on the 1st of June. But, as fate would have it, I'm currently switching Internet providers, and as such, I have no Internet in my house. So, here I am, uploading this in a café in the centre of my hometown. Not that that's a bad thing.

Either way, I hope you all enjoy this fanfiction as much as you've enjoyed the previous two. If you do, leave a review in the apropos section, and like and follow this fanfiction so that you can be notified when I next update this fanfiction.

With that said, I shall see you next week with the next chapter.

T-Rock14