Sorry about the extended delay yet again...old Bronson's been a little lazy. This is mostly lead up, and sets up some events that are yet to come in the story. Do any of you speak German? I hope not, as it would kind of ruin it. Translate it if you want. Thanks for all the reviews and lets try and breach 112 before the next chapter.

Cheers: JJZ-109


CHAPTER 27. STEPPING DOWN

Simba walks peacefully through Priderock National Park, through the peaceful wilderness, through the paradise untouched by man. A six year old Kopa walked beside, him, holding his father's hand. Simba is young again, unscathed by the pressures of leading a country, and Kopa feels not a strain in the world. They were father and son. Simba sits down next to a glistening lake and Kopa sits down next to him.

"Look around you Kopa, what do you see?" Simba asked his son.

"I see nothing dad, just water and trees." Kopa said in a childish voice.

"Look harder...Everything you see here has been kept safe from the evil of mankind, and is natural beauty in itself." Simba says and puts an arm around his son.

"So nobody's been here before?" Kopa asked.

"No. It just means that finally, humans have not swept over the earth like a virus, and looks what beauty can become of the earth...if we just give it a chance." Simba said and flicked his head in the direction of the stunning lake.

"Why do you think all men are evil?" Kopa asked his father; wide eyed.

"Kopa, evil does not exist...It is only what you make of it. And this is what man kind has made of it." Simba said in a much deeper, darker tone and suddenly, Kopa felt the warm air around him turn bitterly cold. The amber sunlight faded away, and the sky turned a haunting grey color. Kopa jumped up in fright when the frighteningly loud sound of thunder broke out.

Kopa looked around him, and saw that his father had vanished. Suddenly, three masked thugs seemed to appear from thin air and encircled him, with switchblade knives bared. They hissed like snakes and chanted something haunting in a tongue Kopa couldn't understand:

"Böse ist nur das, was man daraus macht..."

"Böse ist nur das, was man daraus macht..."

"Böse ist nur das, was man daraus macht..."

Kopa tried to scream out, but no sound seemed to come out. It was like screaming into a pillow. He gasped and waited for the cruel, cold metal to tear through his flesh, but it never happened. Kopa opened his eyes and saw the knife plunge into the body of his father, and the wound didn't bleed red. The area where the knife should have come through at the other end glowed a blue light as the wound opened, and the light blinded Kopa temporarily. Suddenly, the memories of reality raced through Kopa's head. Simba had martyred himself for his family's sake yet again, ad once again, Kopa was powerless to stop it.

"NOOOO!" Kopa finally managed to scream, but it was all for nothing. His vision then returned to him, and standing in the brightness his father created, was another man. The blinding light behind him made it impossible to identify, all that was visible was the faint silhouette of him.

The man seemed to face him, and folded his arms as Kopa stopped screaming. Another voice broke out, again speaking in German.

"Um einen Feind zu vernichten, müssen Sie zuerst zerstören seine Hoffnung, dann seine Verbündeten, dann schließlich selber. Das Böse ist nur das, was Sie daraus machen.

Lang lebe Hyäne!"

Kopa couldn't understand what the man said, but knew it meant doom for him in some way. The man raised a pistol, which from the shape of the shadow looked like a Luger. He raised it at Kopa's head and squeezed the trigger...

BANG!

Kopa suddenly shaken awake, and opened his eyes groggily. When his vision came into focus, he saw the familiar face of EJ looking over him. He groaned at the terrible night, his back ached, he seemed to have developed a cold from the low temperatures, and the loss of Simba still haunted him. That dream had been so...real, and sad. He had never had a father as a child, and that was the first time he had ever seen himself with one. Why did Simba have to be taken from him? He tried his best not to think about it, but it pained him within.

"Hey Palladino, Air Force guys are inbound now. Queen Nala wants you on deck." EJ reported and Kopa nodded. EJ then left him and jogged up the concrete stairs and up onto the roof of the huge bunker.

Kopa took his time getting to his feet and thought. Who was the man in his dream? He had spoken in German, so was it that Heckler guy he had read about last night? No, he wasn't even sure if Friedrich Heckler was even still alive, which apparently he wasn't, and couldn't prove he had anything to do with HYENA. He couldn't believe the situation he was in, just a few weeks ago the Pridelands had been a superpower.

Now it had been brought to its knees...by the will of a single man.

Kopa tiredly walked up above ground, and saw the entire worn-looking marine platoon waiting next to a cloud of purple smoke; coming from a marker grenade they had tossed. They watched the skies anxiously, without even noticing their savior, Kopa. Kopa joined them and waited until a cry broke out behind them from EJ.

"QUEEN ON DECK! ATTENTION!" He screamed out and all the marines scrambled to get in line. Kopa joined them in line quickly, and stood in the most upright position he could. He now felt just a big a part of the Prideland military as anyone else. Nala marched past them and looked them over.

"As you were." She said calmly and the marines relaxed. They then resumed readying their equipment for transport, stacking all the ammo boxes and tying them, moving supplies into boxes and packing up.

The battered Nala collapsed onto a fold up chair and EJ took a seat next her. Nala sighed and put a hand on her long time friend's shoulder.

"Look at us. Untouchable one day and struggling for survival the next." Nala groaned and opened her purse, which had a family picture inside it. She ran a hand down Simba's image and felt tears start to sting her eyes. Her beloved husband, taken from her, and there looked like there was nothing she could do to make the bastards pay.

EJ nodded and pulled her hand off of the picture, and held it in his tightly. With the other hand he gently pulled her chin around so she faced him.

"I miss him too...He was a good guy, but does that mean we 'struggle'? No, personally I like to fight until I'm sure I'm dead. You are just as great a commander as he was, and you proved it before, so you should prove it again. And Simba is never dead; he will always live within us. He watched over us from the skies, he's in the battlefield with us, he's in our thoughts, and guess where else he is? In here..." EJ said, tapping Nala on the heart. Nala smiled at him warmly; through his rugged exterior she could see the good man and the hero that the Pridelands owed so much.

"I would fight too, but I'm getting too old to keep carrying on like this, and so are you. How old are you EJ? Forty-seven or something?" Nala pointed out.

"I'm forty-nine, but that's beside the point. There's hundreds of thousands of people in the country that are counting on us to do something, and we need to be there for them. Age isn't a factor for me; I will fight even if the city lies in ashes. What is a factor is that people need us, and I WILL fight." EJ said and looked at her with his one good eye and tried to raise the morale of his own leader.

"EJ, you can't give the Pridelands any more than what you've already given...but if is your choice to keep on going, then I won't stop you. I won't have the authority..." Nala said and EJ raised his eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm relieving myself of command...It is time, time for the next generation of Pridelanders to make their mark on history, whether that be in a good or bad way. I can no longer influence our fight, as my age and weakness will hold us back." She said deeply and EJ looked at her with wide-open eyes. His commander of many years, his friend and Queen had just admitted she was no longer fit for duty.

"Then who's in charge?" EJ asked desperately.

"The King." Nala said and stood up, before limping away from him, leaving EJ speechless. She was out of equation now, so where did that leave the rest of them?

EJ thought for a moment, who was the King? Technically the first in line was Kovu, and a few weeks ago he'd looked perfect material for a King. He was respectable, led by example and fairly smart. But all that had changed recently, he begun acting very weird, and strange things had happened. Last night, he had completely lost it. He was screaming in agony and anguish even though nothing was happening to him, mumbling dark things in his sleep (and nightmares), having visions and looked like he become completely insane. But Doctor Gonzo had said otherwise, he had managed to treat Kovu and now he was almost back to full health, but still highly depressed and a shadow of his former self. As a matter of fact EJ admired Dr. Gonzo, he had been right there to treat each and every one of his casualties single handedly, and now all of EJ's troops were ready for another fight.

Kovu would have to be his old self of they were to succeed, as it looked like there was no other replacement for Nala. He was the only one with enough military experience and knowledge to lead them. If they, and all the citizens of the Pridelands were to survive, then Kovu needed to be strong. He was their only hope.

"PALLADINO!" EJ shouted out and the worn Kopa trudged over to him.

"Yeah?"

"Bring Kovu up here." EJ commanded him, taking control of the situation.

"What for?" Kopa asked.

"He's assuming command, and apparently going to be crowned soon." EJ told him and Kopa raised an eyebrow. It should be him assuming command, as he was Simba's first son and the one that had managed to rescue them all from the clutches of HYENA.

"He's in bad shape...You sure that's a good idea?" Kopa asked him.

"Queen's final order...so I'm convinced it is. Nala's a wise lady you know." EJ told him.

"Okay then, I'll just go talk to him..." Kopa said, unsure.

Surely Nala would have chosen him right? He did save them all, and has been the backbone of their entire resistance operation. He had spear-headed the fight right from when the plutonium was stolen, so why wasn't he in charge over some psychotic ex-Outlander? Kopa tried not to bother himself thinking about it, as he knew jealously was the first path to evil and didn't want to end up like Scar. Nala was wise, so he felt certain that maybe there was something she saw in Kovu that she didn't see in him. At least he hoped.

Kovu was a good guy, but was he ready for a responsibility like that? He was in no physical condition for that, or mental. But maybe Kopa could change that; he had to. Somehow, he needed to convince Kovu to take the role, and help him when he got it. Most of all, he needed to believe in Kovu.

EJ watched Kopa go and sighed, EJ wasn't built to lead, he was built to be led and shoot.

"It was better when we just had the superior firepower!" EJ said to nobody in particular and got back to work.

A few minutes later

The first relief choppers were sighted; little black dots in the sky slowly gliding towards them. EJ's troops shot up flares, tossed smoke grenades and waved their arms frantically at the PRAF (Prideland Royal Air Force) helicopters approaching; all trying to signal them over. Sure enough, the pilots of the choppers noticed and started to descend down towards the group of worn marines on the ground.

"Super Six-Four, this is Captain Jones. Purple smoke marks our position, over." EJ said into the radio and the pilots responded.

"Roger that Cap'n, we have a visual and are closing now." The pilot responded and slapped his new friend; Agent Dion, a high-five. They were going to an air base, somewhere HYENA wouldn't dare come for the time being, and now they could sleep without worrying about HYENA knocking down their door.

Dust and sand were blown everywhere by the helicopter's rotors and everyone shielded their eyes. A new whooshing sound broke out, and they looked up to see the helicopters' escort; A pair of F-22 Raptors. The fighter planes zipped through the sky, waiting to prey on anything other than the people at the purple-smoke marked zone. Corporal Lorenzo watched them and admired their sleek design and speed. Got to get me one of them. She thought to herself, if anyone was qualified to pilot one of those, it was her.

Once the choppers touched down, everyone started frantically loading up all the supplies and ammunition. EJ had taken command of the troops temporarily, as there was no news from Kovu yet.

Meanwhile

Kopa heard the rotors beating upstairs and hurried to find Kovu, who he still had to deal with. He guessed he could wait until everyone was safe in the air force base before he broke the news to Kovu. He saw Dr. Von Gonzo waiting outside Kovu's door and he shook his head and Kopa, gesturing for him to leave Kovu alone. Kopa ignored the gesture and shrugged before entering.

He found Kovu sitting on a concrete bench, with his head in his hands. At least he's stable now. Kopa thought.


How was it? Don't forget to review! Important chapters coming, and final battle should be within the next ten.