Tama gulped as she found herself on the edge of a cliff several miles high. Grinning darkly, Nala approached her.

"Just where do you think you're going to run this time? Maybe if you jump off the cliff, you can worm yourself back to Scar in the underworld."

Tama growled and extended her claws, prepared for a final battle. "I did what I thought was right for me and my family. The strong survive, the weak are killed. It's the law of the jungle, and no fancy speech about the "Circle of Life" can change that!"

"You betrayed me. You even betrayed... the lion you mated with! The King you swore to obey when you became a member of the Pride Lands." Nala spat. The other lioness laughed.

"Kopa will be King." She said defiantly. "And my kind of lions will rule over Africa. They will unite under him and a new age will begin. A pity I won't be there to see it. Go on! Do your worst."

Nala slowly walked closer, careful not to let Tama trick her and push her over the edge. Having trained countless hours together with her, even as cubs, she knew Tama's style of fighting better than anyone. They began to circle one another, waiting to pounce.

Far below in the bushes, a hyena sat and observed the action. In his left paw was a polished wooden staff with a golden cobra on top. The cobra's eyes were made of ruby... the same color as the eyes of its current owner.

With the power of the staff enhancing Janja's vision, he could perceive the magical aura surrounding Tama, as well as identify the curse Ushari had cast upon her all those years ago during Simba's exile. "Whaddaya know." Janja said to himself. "Their souls are connected. So if Nala so much as scratches her, the King feels it too! I think I can get some entertainment outta this..." He sat down to watch them fight, eagerly waiting for the Queen to snap Tama's neck and inadvertently plunge the Pride Lands into another dark war.


Mzingo nodded in approval as Simba wiped his claws off of Vijana's blood on the grass, and approached his Highness. "Well, that takes care of that matter. I've told the lionesses to introduce the new group to our rules and regulations and so forth, and the rest of the Kupatana Guard is on patrol. Zazu is a bit worn out, so I suppose I'll be your majordomo for the rest of the day."

"I see." Simba said with a wry smile. "Well, I have several important tasks for you then, Mzingo. First and foremost, keep an eye on Kiara and make sure she stays out of any... troubling incidents that may or may not happen. The Pride Lands are not as safe as they used to be, as we both know. Secondly, I want you to track down Kopa, he's- GNNGH!" Simba barely avoided roaring out loud when a pair of battle scratches were torn into his flesh by invisible claws.

Mzingo jumped back. "What in the name of Ahadi?! Your majesty?!"

Another invisible enemy clubbed Simba's head, causing blood to drip down from his left temple. "It's Tama! Nala must've got to her. You have to find them, convince them to stop battling! My life depends on it."

"Affirmative!" The vulture saluted and flew off into the air. He didn't have Ono's eyes, but recognising the Queen, even from this distance, was not particularly difficult. Interestingly enough, however, besides her and Tama, he also spotted a third lioness not far from them, wandering in the jungle. This gave him an idea.

Mzingo tried to swoop down towards her to tell her what to do, but felt an otherworldly force take control over his wings and lead him away, towards and over the cliff Nala and Tama were fighting on. Looking down, he saw Janja, wielding Ushari's staff and forcing him to land. "Ohhhh no." He muttered. "Those dolts! They forgot the staff. Oh wait, so did I. How embarrassing."

Janja laughed out loud as Mzingo flopped down into a pool of mud in front of him. "Well, will you look who it is! The King's new major dodo! Flew into a cloud or something?"

"A shame that staff can't give you a sharper wit. You just had to, didn't you? Even when we nearly caused the downfall of the animal kingdom, you're still thinking with your stomach!" He scolded.

Janja smiled. "Let me tell ya something a wise old hyena told me: your tummy's always gonna be bigger than your brain!"

"Oh yes, Banzai, great philosopher that he was." Mzingo rolled his eyes. "Well, I hope you're satisfied. Because when Simba dies, it really will be war and I can't imagine the lions will show you much mercy."

"Mercy?" Janja cackled. "What do I need their mercy for? With this staff, I own the Pride Lands! I'll have Queen Kiara kissing my paws before the day is done! And Jasiri too. Nobody takes my clan away from me! And you, birdbrain, can have all my leftovers if you join me. It'll be just like old days... except we'll be the ones in charge."

Mzingo glanced upwards and noticed Kula approaching Nala and Tama. "You really think your pretty staff will put a dent in the Circle of Life? Even Scar couldn't hold it for long. No... I'm part of the Kupatana Guard. I will defend the peace."


Tama crashed onto a pile of sharp pebbles and grunted in pain. The Queen was better prepared for a battle than she'd anticipated, with plenty of cheap tricks she'd never even shared with her. She was bleeding pretty badly.

"Give it up!" Nala shouted. She wasn't a vengeful person by nature and had gotten the anger out of her system. "This is useless. I'll take you back to Pride Rock, Rafiki will fix you up. And then you can go, for good."

Tama spat. "Kill me."

Nala shook her head.

"Kill me!" She shrieked and as a last resort, tried to move towards the cliff, knowing that Kopa's main chance to be King was for Simba to die, now.

"STOP!" A third voice halted both Tama and Nala. It was a younger huntress, Kula. She bowed before Nala. "Your Majesty, I was sent by King Simba. He requests you show mercy to Tama, she is required for something."

Nala smirked. "I can do that. Whether I'll show mercy to him is another thing altogether."


Author's Note: OMG, I finally saw Rise of Scar and I'm sooooooo excited! Is Makini adorable or what? I already love her more than Rafiki, that old sod. And that dark Roar, hell yea, I'm back to being a full Lion King fanboy.

*Sonicbronyuniversez - I was having a really fruitful day. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

*Zootopiafan - Oh, they got the chance to lion with each other all right. Not a legit curse, just a "I am SO coming back to screw you over". No intentional homage to Revenge(though I love that movie), what made you think so?

*LunarWolf0 - I'm actually planning to recap things next chapter, but can you tell me what part confuses you?

*Guest - The updates come when they come. No set schedule with my kind of life.

*Kingdedede bobo - Kati's fate will be revealed soon.

*Juria - The Final Arc.