In the next few dozen minutes, Simba went to the treehouse to look for help from Tarzan, because he did not want to let the amazing opportunity for a dating spot he found earlier merely be let go unfought, and wanted to set the date up there, and he didn't want to take anything less than that.
"I heard that you ended up getting covered in mud from some songbirds today." Tarzan said to Simba, chuckling as the cub made his way to him. The king of the apes was sitting on a chair underneath the canopy and eating various fruit served to him in a dish by Jane: these included bananas, mangoes and coconut husk. When Simba heard this whimsical remark, he just rolled his eyes in bitter rememberance of the humiliating scene that happened earlier today.
"Oh, you can laugh about it..." Simba said, heaving a sulking sigh as he sat next to Tarzan.
"Well, what happened?" Tarzan asked him, after finishing a mouthful of fruit and moving his chair closer to the yellow cub.
"I found this really cool place in the jungle to play in, and this grumpy rhino came in and ran me off!" Simba explained. This immediately prevented Tarzan from having another mouthful of fruit, as his relaxation immediately turned to shock, because what happened to Simba was no laughing matter. Tarzan suspected certain specimens immediately, but one of them was in the middle of his memory judging Simba's irritability: the loutish, murderous Buto.
"Did he have a notch on his left ear?" Tarzan asked, remembering this feature in the ungulate rather well.
"Uh, I dunno.." Simba stammered, because he failed to recognize it in him. Still, he knew only one thing: that his temper was extremely volatile and that he was very dangerous: "But he was really angry and loud-mouthed. I'm glad I got out of there okay.."
"Buto..." Tarzan said to himself, remembering the rhinoceros, and the cool place that Simba was talking about. It was once home to a tribe of chimpanzees, but they were ousted by Buto, who unrightfully claimed the land for himself and was known to have insane fits of aggression. With Tarzan's help, Buto was banished, but unbeknownst to the ape king, he has returned once more, and succeeded after leaving the jungle for a while: "I thought I drove him out of there with the chimps."
"Chimps?" Simba asked confusedly, never having heard of these creatures before.
"They are great apes, like the gorillas. But they don't have big bumps on their heads and are a lot smaller. They're really smart, and can use tools, like I can." Tarzan explained, and then moved on to mentioning why they were important to the tale of Buto: "Is that cool place some kind of pond?"
"Yeah." Simba replied, then went on to describe what it was like: "It's beautiful. There's lilly pads and flowers, and lots of birds, and-"
"I know, I know.." Tarzan interrupted with a chuckle, moving on to get to the heart of the matter: "The chimpanzees used to live there, but Buto ran them off at one point. I helped them banish him, but it looks like he's not willing to let it go... He's a terrible animal. Only looks after himself and what pleases him. I was in a similar situation like you, and I almost got killed... He has no tolerance or respect for anyone, and isn't to be trusted." A short pause would ensue, as both the man and the lion cub were looking over the horizon, and then a thought crossed the ape king's mind: why would Simba look for such a place anyway?
"Though I gotta wonder... Why were you looking for a place like that?" Tarzan asked, looking down at Simba from his chair, until the young lion himself jumped onto Tarzan's chest to explain.
"Well, I wanted to find a nice place to take Sukari out to.." Simba answered, looking sheepishly at Tarzan, because he was quiet about it until now. He could see a grin appearing on the man's face, and his right eyebrow raising up, as he got the hang of the reason he was doing it.
"So, you actually like her now?" the man asked, to which the golden cub nodded, before he continued with his explanation.
"You said it takes more than looking at the surface to know something about someone, and you're right. Sukari and I've been spending some time together, and I've really gotten to know what kind of trouble she's going through. I even helped her get back on her feet with the other cubs, and they all like her now. And I do too. She's pretty, she's caring, funny, smart and a whole lot more fun than everybody thought. Still, I wouldn't call us a couple quite yet, and I think that date can make it happen perfectly." Simba said, with a frank smile on his maw, giving off a slight tinge of eagerness, if not nervousness for what he felt and what he wished to happen.
As much as Tarzan was bitter of Buto, he was fond of Simba, and therefore, he wanted to help him out get this date in the place of his choosing, and to try and banish Buto once and for all, because he was one of the most despised animals in the jungle, with very good reason. He also believed that he could do it with several of his troop members, to at least bid Simba enough time to spend enough quality time with Sukari before Buto should return, if he should return at all. He was glad that Simba listened to what he said about understanding emotions and getting over heartbreak, and he was on a good way to make it so that he finally gets his first love in the most beautiful way.
"Simba, I'm glad you finally figured it out." Tarzan said, as he placed his hand on the youngling's nape, and thus proceeded to announce that he was indeed going to help him out in freeing the pond for the date, noticing that Simba was disheartened by the fact that he might not be able to get his date after all: "I think I can pull some things together for you to take Sukari to that pond..." he winked, as the young cat smiled. He then went to got up, and noticing that movement, Simba slipped off himself: "Come on, let's go find the guys."
A few moments later...
"I said, forget it, Tarzan! I did this once, and I still regret it. Catch ya later!" Terk's screaming was heard, as she was passing through the underbrush beneath the treehouse, refusing to help Simba in this because of the humiliation she had to endure on one occasion in the past: distracting Kerchak from Tarzan as he led Jane and her father to the gorilla troop. So, she did not want to have any part in this. Stubborn and difficult, Terk was not easy to sway, but Tarzan still attempted to persuade her into going for it regardless.
"Oh, come on, Terk! The boy wants to ask the girl out, and-" Tarzan went to say, before he was bluntly interrupted by Terk.
"He needs rhino bait? I'd rather stay alive, thanks." the tomboyish female gorilla responded, going on to mind her own business, until she stopped dead in her tracks after she saw Simba himself stepping up in front of her, with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Please..." Simba said, grinning his teeth widely, trying to make the most irresistible facial expression possible, knowing that Terk might cave while looking upon him with such a desperate glare. The tubby ape kept moving her mouth as if she was aiming to say something, and keeping her eyes shut tightly, showed that she was thinking of changing her mind about the whole situation. Eventually, she caved: "Okay, okay, I'll do it.. But only if somebody else joins in too."
"That was our thinking." Tarzan added, and then noticed two male gorillas dilly-dallying outside as well. They were both of short stature, but one was shorter and thinner than the other. The king of the apes called out to them: "Flynt! Mungo! Come over here for a second!"
The two males made no delays as they came over to the trio with a rather quick pace.
"What'll it be, Tarzan?" Flynt, the smaller one of the two, proceeded to ask out of curiosity.
"I need you guys to help Terk here distract Buto, while Simba has his first date." Tarzan explained.
"That old blowhard?" Mungo asked excitedly, knowing enough about Buto to dislike him by quite a degree. He then cheerfully accepted the offer: "Count me in!"
"Me too!" Flynt added, scratching his itching left arm pit with his right hand.
Terk felt a strong desire to urge them to do their best on this assignment, as she usually felt annoyed by their rather odd and frequent practical jokes: "Now guys, remember that thing about toning it down with the pranks? Forget it. Go nuts here. This bully deserves everything you throw at him."
"Simba, you'd better go invite Sukari out while you can. We'll need four hours to work everything out and distract Buto." Tarzan said to Simba, who was listening intently, until now. However, the cub quickly nodded at the man's words and headed to cross the bridge to get to the Hotan den, to invite Sukari outside, because midday was passing, and the night would fall upon the jungle in a matter of hours, and the master plan had to be put together and executed very soon.
"Okay, guys." Tarzan said, gathering the three in a closed circle, turning talk into whispering as he first addressed Flynt and Mungo: "For the pranks, try to use anything you can find out there. Fruits, rocks, vegetables, whatever. Just make sure that Buto doesn't get to the pond." As the two males nodded to Tarzan's explanation, the man's attention turned to Terk: "And Terk, you won't have to put that dress on for this, just make sure that Buto stays on you. On no account should you allow him to get too close to the pond, or he'll attack the cubs."
"Can we use bees?" Flynt suggested, with a somewhat naughty snicker, but this earned an elbow nudge from Terk, who countered:
"Flynt, you're talking about a rhino. Bees and mosquitoes can't do anything to his skin. It's too thick."
It wouldn't be long before Timon and Pumbaa, who were scowering the nearby logs for more insects and larvae, managed to hear the whispering that came from nearby. Timon was the first to pick up on these sounds, as Pumbaa was busy gorging on a large source of grubs. The meerkat then jumped on the warthog's bristly mane and yanked his ears to get his attention.
"Uh? What is it?" Pumbaa said, as he stopped chewing, so that he could hear the muffled talking clearly, which immediately aroused his curiosity. Looking up, he asked Timon: "Well, what are they on about?"
"Come on, let's go see." Timon suggested quietly, as the hog started to totter over to the gorillas, and Tarzan who stood with them. Timon announced their arrival to the scene by asking a question: "What's going on here?"
"Uh, Timon, Pumbaa, come over here." Tarzan motioned them to join the apes. After exchanging glances, the carefree duo made their way to the circle to get some knowledge of what was going on between them. Tarzan then addressed them: "I need you two to create a distraction from Buto the rhino, because he wants to take a girl on a date at the chimp pond, but it seems that he's back there again, so you shouldn't let him catch the cubs there. Can you help him?"
"Well, I don't see why we wouldn't, Timon." Pumbaa said to the now pensive meerkat, who was rather alarmed to know that he and his friend were going to be placed in mortal danger. The brown-striped meerkat said: "That hornhead's gonna thwack us! What help can we be to put him off?"
"What if Tantor was on our side?" Pumbaa said with a wide smile on his face, thinking it's a wise idea: even if things were to go awry, the only animal large enough to protect the group from an angry rhinoceros was an elephant.
"What?! He's gonna see him before he-" he cut himself short, before he realized this was in fact an intelligent idea, and, by his very nature, he was tempted to take credit for it: "Hey... What if Tantor could help? Ha! He'd give that old windbag a clobbering he'll never forget, even if the plan does go down the drain. Who's the brains in this outfit?"
"Uh-no! That's enough, Timon! This was my idea." Pumbaa commented, finally seeing through Timon's behavior, because it was far from the first time that Timon claimed Pumbaa's clever ideas as his own, only this time Pumbaa didn't let it slip, and stood his ground to defend his identity.
"Eh, whatever." Timon said, ignoring his friend by waving his right hand aside, a bit to the hog's displeasure: Pumbaa knew that Timon refused to admit when he was wrong and he rolled along with it throughout their friendship. Then, the meerkat went on to ask who else was providing a distraction: "So, who else is in the distraction team?"
"Terk is." Tarzan replied: "Flynt and Mungo will play pranks and booby traps on him while you lure him away from the pond."
Timon then lay a finger on his chin and thought about what he could do to help in this cause. His first and only idea thus far was to use dance and song to lure the rhino on by hearing rather than sight, because rhinos have keener ears than noses, and therefore, Buto would be unable to resist the call. However, Timon had a rather unique idea to do this: he would dress into a special outfit and do a type of war chant song to lure out the enemy. The small bug-eater spoke up at last: "How about Terk, Pumbaa and I dress in drag and do the Hula?"
"The what?" Terk asked, confusedly and mistrustfully.
Some hours later, during sunset...
"I'll never forget doing this..." Terk said, with a very angry expression on her face, while looking around the oasis that Buto unjustly calls home, hoping to distract the rhinoceros from Simba. She was wearing a drag made of palm leaves, with a wreath of flowers on her head, and around her neck, as well as two coconuts on her breast.
"That's the spirit, Terk. Now, we have to see if that beady-eyed screwball's gonna hear us right..." Timon said, also spying around, wondering how loud they'll have to be to attract the big grey lout. He was dressed in a similar outfit, minus the coconut bra.
"I dunno, but that drag looks really good on you, Terk." Pumbaa added, trying to lighten the girl's mood.
"Well, it's better than that old dress, for one." Terk replied, with a smile: "Feels a bit more natural, you know?"
In a short while, Timon coughed, and in a matter of seconds, started to dance and sing: "Hula! He has an appeal that drives everyone nuts!"
Terk jumped in as well: "Buto's his name, and he thinks terror's his game!"
"He's brawn over brains, but he ain't got the guts!" Timon filled in.
"To come and play our game, because he's just too lame!" Terk continued.
Pumbaa also jumped in as soon as Terk finished: "Yup, yup, yup!"
Timon sang from highly: "Faaaaaaaar from snugly!"
Pumbaa came in once more: "Yup, yup, yup!"
Terk continued Timon's lines of attack: "Faaaaaaat and ugly!"
Pumbaa filled in for the last time: "Yup, yup!"
In unison, the meerkat and the gorilla finished the song: "It surely sucks to be Buto-oh!" they finished...
Not before long, a loud, aggressive grunt was heard from the foliage, coupled with the low thuds that sounded in a galloping gait, which was a clear sign that Buto was very close by, and that he was about to strike any time. The three jolted, as they screamed in panic, and the great horned behemoth crashed through the foliage, hot on their trail. As the three ran, they saw a fairly thin vine lying down on the jungle floor. Knowing that this was the first trap in Flynt and Mungo's course, Terk and Pumbaa, who carried Timon on his back, jumped over it, and Timon then threw one of the same poison fruits he used against the baboons some few months ago towards Buto's face just before he reached the trip vine. As it smashed against the ungulate's nostrils, the animal started coughing and tripping, and the two hidden gorillas tightened the vine, and the rhino tripped on it, skidding forward and eventually ramming head-first into a large rock ahead of him.
"You crazy lil' fools 're gonna wish you hadn't been born, ya hear!" the thick-skinned lout yelled, before he started getting pelted with various fruit, coming from the trees.
"Aw, don't go bananas, mr. Rhino!" Flynt's voice was heard as he managed to successfully stick a banana or two into his large nostrils, hanging from a tree branch which he managed to climb due to his gracile build and short stature.
"Get some nuts!" Mungo said, as he hurled some fairly large coconuts toward his face, some of which ended up sticking onto his front horn, while the others came in throwing mangoes, which also ended up on the horn. The rhinoceros, flushing red with rage, with his head trembling, his teeth clenched and gritting, could smell Terk and Pumbaa once more, heading opposite of him, as fruit juice poured over his brow. The grey brute darted towards them, boiling with anger, wishing to end the misery that these characters got themselves into, in his eyes. Much to his dismay, what happened before was not even the beginning of what Buto was going to face: his side-facing, poor eyes couldn't make out the next trap: it was a small log strapped with vines, with a coconut jabbed into its trunk, acting as a sort of battering ram, which struck him vigorously in the snout. Not long afterwards, the rhinoceros shook his head from the pain, not noticing the banana skins laid out on the floor by Flynt and Mungo, as they were in the trees, eating some more. Helplessly, the rhino skidded forward and into a large, deep mud bog. By the time he stopped, his entire face was submerged, and only the tip of the front horn was sticking out. As he rose out of the gloop, he thrashed his head around vigorously to shake it off, and then began a fairly long crawl out, to try and teach the attackers a lesson they would never forget: "Now, you come back here! I ain't done nothin' to deserve this kinda torture! It's not my fault you're all invadin'! You think you're causin' me pain! You're gonna know pain when I get to ya! Ya hear!"
And so, the jibber-jabber, as well as the chase, went on and on...
Flynt and Mungo are from the Disney Tarzan film: they first appear when Terk gives Tarzan the elephant hair dare, and therefore, they are at the very least film canon. Enjoy!
