Scar still cannot believe that all that happened in one day. Or should he say in one night.

First, Simba, who was supposed to have been dead for years, shows up before him. Then,

minutes later, he's desperately hanging on the cliff for his life, totally in Scar's mercy. Just

like Mufasa years ago. Scar could laugh of the irony!

The black maned lion burrows his claws into Simba's front paws. As opposed to Mufasa,

Simba did not roar of pain. He's obviously too scared to even let out a cry!

-'Should I tell him that it was me who killed Mufasa?' Scar wonders in his head in a fraction

of a second.

No! Let's not take any chances. This brat has already lived way more that he should have.

First, he survived the trap at the elephants' graveyard. Then, he survived the stampede

trap that killed his father. Next, the hyenas, those inefficient henchmen, failed to finish

him off after the stampede, when nobody was protecting him anymore. Hell, he even

survived in the deadly desert he resorted to after leaving Prideland. If Scar postpones

this even for a second, this brat might get a chance to make one more miraculous comeback

from the jaws of death. He shall not risk it. (Scar thought all the above in the fraction of a

second, because he didn't think all that word for word, but just the meaning). Alas, he shoves

his nephew off the cliff!

-'SIMBA' Nala screams, for the second time today.

Simba falls to his death. Scar turns around.

-'Justice is served' he declares in an official tone, pretending to be sad. 'Mufasa's murderer has

been punished'.

All the lionesses are still staring in shock. Everybody in the pride is too shocked to react. Everybody

except Nala. She is even more devastated than Sarabi! Don't get Sarabi wrong, she adored Simba

too, she is his mother for goodness sake. But, to her, up to a few minutes ago, Simba was dead

anyway. That scene felt more like a ghost coming back from the dead for a while, then returning to

the otherworld. But, for Nala, it was different. She spent many moments with Simba lately. Tender

moments. They became a couple in that jungle, they performed the mating proccess. There is even

a chance that she's carrying his child right now. So, Simba's death had a much greater impact on her

than on any other lioness, even his mother.

That's why Nala is the only one who is not too shocked to react. She growls. She shows her teeth to

Scar.

-'YOU MURDERER' she yells and, with a lion roar, charges at him.

Catching him off guard, she bites his hairy head. Scar quickly pulls himself together and counterattacks.

The lionesses are just watching, still too shocked to react, while the king and the young lioness are

grappling and trading blows and bites. Eventually, Nala overpowers Scar. It was only natural that he

wouldn't be able to fight back in the end. Nala is younger, her fighting skills are much more honed

than those of a lazy male lion who has been sitting on his butt for years and, on the top of the above,

her rage has multiplied her strength.

Seeing their boss is in trouble, the hyenas decide to interfrere and attack Nala all together. Even her is

no match for a whole pack of those parasitic creatures. Alas, she gets outnumbered. When it is made

clear that she does not wish to fight anymore, the hyenas let her step back. Her mother, Sarafina, starts

licking the wounds of her daughter, who is crying, not because of the physical pain, but because of

desperation.

-'The gathering is dismissed' Scar announces with a provokingly calm expression.

However, now that the initial shock has somewhat subsided, a lionness realizes something:

-'Wait a minute. You did not explain to us how Simba killed Mufasa. How could a cub take out one of the

strongest male lions?'

The other lionesses stare at Scar, seeing the point of their companion who just spoke. The king looks

surprised for a moment. Soon, though, he recollects himself and says:

-'The details don't matter. Simba confessed his crime and that was enough. Now, as I said, THE

GATHERING IS DISMISSED. IT'S A ROYAL ORDER'.

After that, nobody dares talking back to the king, so everybody return to their rest places.


Among the flames caused by the thunder that struck, Timon, Pumbaa and Rafiki are staring at

Simba's corpse in disbelief.

-'No, this can't be true. This is our little boy. He can't be dead' Timon says in tears.

Pumbaa, who's also in denial, pokes Simba with his tusks and nose:

-'Come on, Simba, wake up. I found an anthill. Let's go have a feast like the good old days'.

Rafiki, who's more collected than them, just negatively shakes his head and sighs.

-'Why, Simba?' he says in his head. 'You had got over your guilt. Why did you let that demonic

feline play games with your mind? Why did you let him have it his way with you?'

-'Hey, monkey' Timon interrupts his thoughts while wiping a tear. 'Wanna come with us to

the jungle?'

-'Sure, why not?' Rafiki shrugs.

-'I'm coming too' a female voice is heard.

It's Nala.

-'Huh? You're gonna leave your pride?' Pumbaa asks.

-'I hate prides and their stupid laws' Nala bitterly says. 'The lifestyle at organized societies

took from me everything I held dear. Simba was right. Living in the jungle with no rules is

much better. If only I hadn't tried to convince him to come back to this place. He'd now be

alive...'

After a moment of silence, during which Nala hugs the corpse of her lover, the group of four

animals walks away.


One more gloomy day begins at the wasteland the once prosperous kingdom has turned

into. Scar wakes up. Not that he got much sleep. His hunger and thirst did not let him.

The water puddles formed by the rain that fell soon after Simba's death and some rodents

he finds every now and then are what keeps him alive barely. He cannot recall when his

last proper meal was.

Scar looks at the makeshift cage Zazu is imprisoned in (the thoracic bones of some animal).

The annoying bird is asleep right now. It seems that even that whiny creature needs some

sleep from time to time. The only reason Scar has kept him alive so far is because, if he eats

that bird, there will be nobody left to talk to. He and Zazu are the last two living things left

at Prideland!

It's been a while since Simba, that bastard nephew of his that had been refusing to die for so

long, finally rid him of his presence. A few days after Simba's death, the lionesses decided that

they had had enough and they did not intend to stay at this wasteland to starve to death. Alas,

they made it clear to the king:

-'We're leaving with or without you'.

Scar did not ponder it even for a second. There was no way he was going to leave the land.

Doing so would be like admitting that he was an incompetent ruler, that his father had been

right to belittle him, to always prefer that bastard Mufasa over him. He preferred death to

ever admitting that, even in his own head!

Not even the hyenas supported him this time! They decided to follow the lionesses instead.

Scar was kinda hurt. Those grey, parasitic creatures may be goofy and inefficient, but at least

they had seemed to be loyal all those years. The king had never expected there would come a

day when the hyenas would also turn their backs to him, though he has to admit that, if that had

ever been to his best interest, he would have also betrayed them without a second thought.

The naked king (figuratively naked, though animals are also literally naked all the time) exits the

cave. He gazes at the wasteland. How did his life turn out so badly? When he was still a cub, he would

have never imagined, even at his worst nightmares, that he would end up isolated in a ghost kingdom.

Is it really his fault? Is it his fault that he was born weak (well, weak by lions' standards)? No, it

definitely wasn't. Then why did his father always treat him as if he was the one responsible for that?

Scar spent that bitch called life always seeing someone else enjoying all the good stuff while he was left

with nothing but his misery. Mufasa was the one born with exceptional physical strength, Mufasa was the

one who would become the king, Mufasa was the one who would get the right to mate with the pride's

lionesses while he would remain a virgin, Mufasa this, Mufasa that, everything was always about Mufasa!

The same went for Simba. He was born destined to have everything without ever lifting a paw, just because

he was the king's first son. Can one really blame Scar for hating the guts of those two?

Scar believed that taking the throne would solve his problems, but it didn't. Lionesses still thought little of him,

he could see it in their eyes. Even if he could now mate with any of them, it was only because he was the

king, the only male left in the pride, not because the females were really into him. That's why he never got in

the mood to perform that deed, so he never got any offsprings (spare me the Lion King 2 retcons and

inconsistencies).

Back to the present, Scar looks at the sky. He could swear that, for a moment, he saw at the firmament the

faces of his father, his brother and his nephew. Obviously a game of his mind, maybe a side effect of hunger.

It can't have been real, right? Those three, the three demons that ruined his life, are all dead. Even though

Scar was the weakest, he managed to outlive them all thanks to his wits.

That last thought makes the black maned lion smile. Heh. Come to think of it, he did prove that he's better

than them. He is alive and they are not. They are dead. The source of his misery is dead. The bastards that

were so unfair to him are dead. What reason does he have to keep torturing himself? What reason does he

have to insist on claiming this worthless excuse for a kingdom? He defeated those who made him feel

worthless all his life, he is a king in essence, he does not need a crown as well.

Scar laughs heartily. For the first time since he was a very little cub. He finally feels free! He returns to the

cave. Zazu wakes up. When he sees his master laughing like that, he freaks out.

-'Has he gone insane?' the bird says in his head.

Scar shows his teeth and growls, making Zazu tremble.

-'I knew it, I knew he would eat me someday' he thinks.

With a roar, the lion hits the cage with his paw, thus smashing it into pieces. Zazu has accepted his fate. But,

then, to his surprise... Scar laughs heartily again.

-'We're going' he says.

-'Huh? We're going where, sir?' Zazu asks in surprise.

-'Anywhere' Scar shrugs. 'Now that I'm finally free of my mind's prison, I don't care where I am. You don't even

have to follow me. You're free to fly away if you want'.

Zazu ponder it for a while. He's got so used to serving someone. It would feel weird if he was left alone after

so many years.

-'No need, sir. I shall follow' he says with a bow.

-'Then hop on my back and we're leaving' Scar laughs.

Zazu laughs as well (he has to admit that hearty laugh of his master is contagious) and flaps his wings,

ending up on the lion's back. Then, the two last remaining creatures at Prideland leave, never to return.

Who knows what adventures the future holds for them? Scar no longer fears anything. Life is an adventure

and, just like every other villain, he is the hero of his own story.