Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Kingdom Hearts, Sonic the Hedgehog series, Pokemon, Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Power Rangers and others from the owners that belonged to them. I was inspired them and their great works.


Chapter 20 - To the Pride Lands

(Stardash Ship – Lounge Deck)

The fourth Star Spirit known as Mamar got freed from the card before stretching her limbs. Her color is shiny yellow, and she wore her pink ribbon bow on her head.

Taiyo and his friends are relieved to see Mamar.

"There you go." Luigi spoked, placing his hands on his hip.

"Oh goodness, it feels comfortable in here." Mamar replied.

"How do you feel, Mamar?" Mario asked.

"It's so great treatment in the card but I am generous for my freedom." Mamar answered.

Eldstar, Kalmar, and Klevar are circling around Mamar before cheering to her.

"Good to have you back." Klevar said.

"It's been so long to see each other." Kalmar replied.

"Far too long, indeed. There are three others out there." Eldstar told them.

"Once we gather them together, we'll make them wish to cure Dylan and turned him back to normal the way he was." Taiyo said.

"That's right, Taiyo. We have something for you when four of us together." Eldstar explained.

"What is it?" Taiyo asked.

The four Star Spirits are gathered around Taiyo before their bodies are glowing brightly.

"What is going on?" Votus asked, shielding his eyes.

Taiyo was engulfed in the pillar of light before diminished completely and sensed that he had learned the new spell called Quake.

"I got the Quake spell!" Taiyo shouted.

"Really?!" Yoshi gasped.

"So that means he can go to another level of strongest spell?" Yoshi asked.

"Not much yet, Taiyo still focused on the magic, but he will learn another powerful spell in another time." Klever answered.

"Oh, right. It takes time longer." Yoshi said.

"That's it, then?" Taiyo asked.

"But we are not finished talking, there's another ability for you was Shapeshifting." Mamar said.

"Shapeshifting?" Luigi asked.

"If many worlds were different if there are animals or other creatures, he can able to transform into his normal human form." Eldstar said.

"Oh, my Celestia!" Utopia exclaimed.

"You mean I can do that?" Taiyo asked.

"Certainly, if you want it, give it a try." Eldstar nodded.

"Thanks to all of you." Taiyo replied.

Then they hear the beeping noise coming from the cockpit as Taiyo and his companions went into it.

(Stardash Ship)

Mario pressed on the control to put up the monitor to show Sora, Donald, and Goofy which they are the animals. Sora is the teenage lion cub; Donald is the bird and Goofy is the African spurred tortoise.

"Hey, Taiyo!" Sora shouted, waving his paw at him.

"Mario, Luigi!" Donald said.

"Howdy fellas!" Goofy replied.

"What happened to you guys? You blended in as the animals?" Utopia asked.

"We just did. We are in the Pride Lands." Sora said.

"The Pride Lands?" Yoshi asked.

"Yeah, we already saved the world." Donald murmured.

"And how did you managed to get through the control center? Didn't you have the device that can speak through it?" Mario asked.

"About that, Tails has given us the communicator so we can talk through you not after you left from Mobius. He advises us not to let others see it when we were in different worlds." Sora replied.

"So what happened out there?" Taiyo asked.

"Well, we defeat the bad lion after I dumped him over the edge of the Pride Rock." Sora smiled.

"How did you do that?" Luigi asked in near shock.

"I was fast learning; it was a bit easy." Sora answered smugly.

"So what do you want to tell us?" Votus asked.

"Just come over here, there is something we wanna tell you." Goofy said before the screen turned off itself.

"Alright, we'll go to the Pride Lands." Mario said.

(Ocean Between)

Stardash Ship drifting through the cosmic until it approached the world of the Pride Lands.

(Stardash Ship)

"There it is, let's move out." Taiyo said.

(Pride Lands – Savannah)

Taiyo, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Geno, Utopia, and Votus arrived in the Pride Lands, teleporting into the Savannah. It has the dried-up ground, withered trees, and no grasses only the cracks.

Taiyo has transformed into the adolescent Lion and Mario and Luigi have only worn their yellow and green catsuits. While Taiyo, Mario, and Luigi were changed into African animals, Yoshi, Geno, Utopia, and Votus remained unchanged.

Taiyo's Lion Form made him slightly taller than Sora. His eyes were hazel brown and his sclera was dark yellow. His fur was bright orange, though his toes, underbelly, and the fur around his mouth are very light grey. His mane was resemblance like his normal hairstyle, and it was the same black color. He has a turf of black fur on the tip of his tail and he has three whiskers on either side of his nose. His silver armlet still wore on his right forearm and his navy scarf and Star Necklace were still around his neck.

"Whoa! I am a lion." Taiyo replied, looking at his new body.

Mario and Luigi are looking at each other in their catsuits.

"Why are we wearing these fancy catsuits? It embarrassed." Luigi scorned at his green catsuit.

"Don't worry about it, that's how we blended in." Mario protested.

"Are you kidding? I don't think the words 'blended in' weren't supposed to be a suspicious situation!" Luigi ranted.

"Cool off, Luigi. Just get used to it." Mario murmured as Luigi scoffed.

"Unlike us, we remained ourselves as normal." Geno replied.

"Hm, didn't change me at all. I'm a monkey." Votus said.

Utopia looked around to see the whole Savannah was completely dried.

"Why is this place looks deserted? Where is everyone?" Utopia asked.

"No clues. No signs of the other animals." Yoshi shrugged.

Votus turned towards to the Pride Rock. "Let's go over there. I am sure about Sora and his gang was already over there."

With said that, Taiyo and others ran forward to the Pride Rock. Taiyo, Mario, and Luigi were running on all fours, quicken their wild agilities and right behind Yoshi, Votus, Geno, and Utopia.

"They are running too fast." Utopia said, shook his head.

"Better keep up with them." Yoshi said as he dashed up to the others.

"Hey, don't run like that!" Votus yelled.

Geno grabbed the golden yellow monkey before flew to the air with his boosters and followed Taiyo, Mario, and Luigi while Utopia is catching up with them.

(Pride Lands – Pride Rock)

Taiyo and others have arrived in the Pride Rock as Sora, Donald, and Goofy moved towards them.

"Taiyo." Sora said.

"What is happening here?" Taiyo asked.

"After defeating Scar on top of the Pride Rock, we saw some new kinds of Heartless roaming from the Outlands. We did take them out, but they are a lot stronger." Sora replied.

"And we got been kicked in the butts." Donald added.

"These Heartless aren't the ones we never have seen them before. They are so different than the others." Goofy stated.

"Speaking of the others, I am glad Sora called his friends."

Taiyo and his companions turned to the voice that's belonged to the male adult lion named Simba along with lioness Nala, Timon the meerkat, Pumbaa the warthog, Rafiki the mandrill, Zazu the hornbill and the two meerkats named Ma and Uncle Max.

Simba is the son of Mufasa and Sarabi, the successor to become the King of the Pride Lands. He bears a great resemblance to his father, Mufasa, the only significant difference between the two being that Mufasa's mane is longer, thicker, and darker. Simba has yellow-orange fur covering most of his body, except for his belly, paws, and mouth, which are peach-colored. His mane is rust-colored and parts on the right side of the top of his head. He has a tuft of fur the same color as his mane on the tip of his tail. Simba's eyes are orange and his sclera is yellow. His ears are partially visible poking through his mane, and he has eight dark whiskers: four on either side of his upper lip.

Nala is a childhood friend and later became Simba's wife and Queen of the Pride Lands. She has light tan fur; her underbelly is cream the same as her eyeshades and has an average built which she is not stocky nor lanky. Her eyes are light blue, and her sclera was yellow, and the tail turf is brown.

Timon and Pumbaa are caretakers and friends of Simba.

Timon has a light tan fur over most of his body, save for the front, which has white fur. The tips of his toes, his fingers, half of his tail, and his large nose are all brown. The ridges of his ears and his "eyebrows" are dark red, and his eyes are brown. He also has light brown rings around his eyes. Timon's ears point downward and he has an unexplained, short, spiky head of orange "hair" on the top of his head. His back sports several horizontal, grey stripes. Timon's forearms are unnaturally thin, particularly when compared to the size of his hands. The fur on his chest and elbows is ruffled.

Pumbaa is a warthog with brownish-red fur and dark red cloven hooves. His belly is brown, and his eyes are black as well as his sclera was yellow. True to his species, He sports two large, ivory tusks jutting out of either side of his mouth. The tips of these tusks curve upwards sharply. He has a large, flat snout which is pink at the front; under it is a big mouth with a rather huge pink tongue. His ears are set just behind each of his eyes. He has a very large mouth and a pink tongue. Finally, he sports a tuft of shaggy brown hair on the tip of his tail and on the top of his head, the latter creating a mohawk-like mane.

Rafiki is the shaman of the Pride Lands. His fur is mostly grey, except for the fur on his forearms and lower legs, which is dark grey, and his belly, which is light grey. He also has a wild "mane" of long, shaggy, white fur on the back of his head and his chin, creating a beard of sorts. Rafiki has tan skin and eight small, sharp teeth, four on his upper jaw and four on his lower jaw. He sports the distinctive mandrill facial features, including the upper half of his face is a light shade of blue, blue rings around his yellow eyes and a very large nose. He also has a blue posterior. Rafiki always carries a bakora stick made out of a long, bent tree branch with what appear to be two orange fruit tied to one end.

Zazu is Mufasa's majordomo and later severed as new majordomo to Simba. He has blue feathers, white belly, undertail, underwings, and eyes with black pupils, aqua eyelids, both orange feet and red bill with yellow trimming on both sides around his nostrils, indigo feather tips with white linings beneath them, thick black eyebrows, both indigo trimming on his head and feather on the back of it.

Ma is Timon caring mother who's from the meerkat colony with her son Timon and Uncle Max. She is short, plump meerkat but much lighter tan with her light green eyes and red hair.

Uncle Max is the leader of the Meerkat Colony and Timon's uncle. He has scruffy cropped gray fur on his head and fur that has presumably dulled tan from old age. He has dark circles around his eyes, darker gray stripes on his body, lighter underbelly and palms, large beady eyes, round brown nose, brown fingers and toes, five brown horizontal markings down his back, brown ears and bushy eyebrows. He is overall slender, although having a slightly pudgy tummy.

"Who are you all?" Mario asked.

"We should give you the introductions in order." Donald replied.

Sora gestured to the animals.

"This is Simba, the King of the Pride Lands." Sora said.

"It's a pleasure to see you." Simba murmured.

"I'm Nala, Queen of the Pride Lands. Simba and I were friends, but we are now couples." Nala stated.

"Name's Timon." Timon smirked before he gestured his family. "This is Ma and Uncle Max."

"Nice to meet you." Ma said politely.

"How are you doing?" Uncle Max asked.

"Wait, that older meerkat named Max?" Yoshi confused.

"Yeah, I thought my son has the same name from him." Goofy replied.

"Well, we talked later to change these two meerkats' names." Yoshi said.

"Call me Pumbaa." Pumbaa chuckled.

"I am Rafiki, Shaman, and Royal Mjuzi." Rafiki gestured himself.

Simba walked towards Taiyo and his group.

"You must be Taiyo. Sora, Donald, and Goofy told me all about you and your friends. Your companions came from the other worlds." Simba said.

"Allowed me to introduce to them. This is the Mario Brothers and Yoshi from the Mushroom Kingdom along with Geno, and Utopia and Votus are lived from Equestria." Taiyo stated.

"This is getting weird in here." Timon whispered back to Pumbaa who nodded.

"Then how did you know Sora?" Mario asked.

"I met Sora in person when the Fairy Godmother revives me as the spirit to join alongside him and his friends. It takes a lot of time to know each other. He may be a human but any friend of Sora is a friend of mine, don't worry. Though I see those two little humans dressed in some sort of cat costumes." Simba replied before turning to Mario and Luigi who were inspecting by Uncle Max and nervously backed away from them.

"What's with him?" Votus asked.

"He always so paranoid when things are happening to him." Ma sighed.

Zazu then questioned Simba. "Are you sure you can trust them?"

"As he said, any friend with the King of the Pride Lands is the friend of his." Utopia replied.

"Oh, right." Zazu said with sarcasm tone.

"So what sort of new Heartless messed around the Pride Lands?" Taiyo asked.

"We are not sure. We don't have the clues." Sora said.

Rafiki noticed something on Votus' back and walked to him. "What is that shield on your back?"

"It's made of adamantium." Votus answered.

Rafiki gasped lightly in surprise before he took it and examined the shield.

"Rafiki, is something wrong?" Simba asked.

"This is beyond than I ever have seen it." Rafiki said before he spoked the group. "All of you, come to the King's Den. Follow me."

Everyone followed the mandrill shaman into the King's Den.

(Pride Rock – King's Den)

Rafiki showed them to the oldest paintings of the humans, black panther beings and the adamantium.

"What are these paintings?" Nala asked.

"These are the oldest paintings from past history. Long ago, when Mufasa was a young cub, he saw the comets fell out from the night sky and touched down on the earth. He discovered the group that resemblance to the humans and wore their African clothing. Mufasa brought them to his parents as the warrior's king made peace with the lions including his father and the other animals. Then they showed the gifts to them, the adamantiums, rarest metal substance in the world. They changed their human forms into the panthers, and they called the Black Pantherians." Rafiki said.

Zazu looked closer to the painting of the African humans and caught a bit of surprise. "Oh."

"What's the Black Pantherians?" Taiyo asked.

"We never heard them before." Sora replied.

"They are aliens?" Mario asked.

"That's right. These Black Pantherians were lived in another world called the Wakanda." Rafiki stated.

"Wakanda? I think I heard it hidden somewhere in the Multiverse and no one would ever find it." Geno said.

Simba walked towards them, taking over Rafiki. "That's exactly right. My father told me that they are the Messengers of Nature and cares about the animals including us. He and his parents were agreeing with them as friends. The Black Pantherians then have hidden somewhere out of the Pride Lands where no one can't search for them forever."

"Wow, sounds a lot weirder." Pumbaa whispered to Timon.

"Yep, definitely." Timon said with a bit of a frantic tone.

"This is getting interesting." Ma admitted.

Votus was a bit shock when he looked closer to the illustrations of the adamantiums before he turned to his shield and looked back up at the same painting.

"I never knew it all along. It's amazing." Votus said.

Then he suddenly hit by Rafiki's bakora stick in the head. "Ow!"

"You see, that's why you realized a little too late." Rafiki chuckled.

"Was he always like that?" Utopia asked with Simba.

"He hits me in the head when he told me my past can hurt. I can either run from it or learn from it." Simba explained which made Rafiki chuckled in response.

"He learned my lessons!" Rafiki laughed.

"I had the Swahili names for you two to change your names." Geno told Ma and Uncle Max.

"And what will you call us?" Ma asked.

"How do you like Kujali and Mjeshi?" Geno asked.

Ma and Uncle Max seemed like the names of Mjeshi and Kujali.

"Hm. Not bad. Mjeshi sounds like military, I go by that name." Uncle Max now named himself as Mjeshi.

"Kujali means caring. That why I loved my son." Ma named herself as Kujali.

"Anyways, could you explain what happened to you back before?" Yoshi asked.

"Alright, I can explain everything you want to know." Simba said.

Simba started explaining about he was born to the heir of the King of the Pride Lands, he and his love childhood friend went into the Elephant Graveyard where they encountered the hyenas, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed before his father Mufasa saved them but he was completely upset about that Simba was disobeying his rules for not going out beyond the boundaries until the king warmed up with him and told him that the Great Kings of the Past on the night sky were guiding him in his goals. He also told that Scar was the one who killed Mufasa to take over his throne and ruled over the Pride Lands so he and his two friends, Timon and Pumbaa are going back to fight Scar with a help of Sora, Donald, and Goofy. But not to mention that Timon and Pumbaa are getting rid of hyenas by helping Ma and Uncle Max to make the tunnels for them and sending the Hyena Clan to the bottom of Pride Rock.

"That explained a lot." Luigi admitted.

"Yeah, we are the heroes now!" Timon pumped his fist.

"You two did a great job back there." Goofy replied.

"Wait, are you and Pumbaa getting rid of hyenas?" Taiyo asked.

"That's right, we looked so cool!" Pumbaa said.

"Well, I couldn't have done without them. I should be thankful." Simba smiled in anticipation.

"Especially you tried to make the desperate move by proposing Shenzi." Utopia smirked.

Zazu is taken aback in disgust. "Eww. That's revolting!"

Pumbaa still had the same reaction when Timon proposed to the hyena leader as his jaw dropped.

Kujali and Mjeshi turned to Timon who grinned nervously.

"Is that true, Timmy?" Kujali asked.

"Yes, I just buy you some time to make the tunnels which I nearly ran out of options." Timon replied.

Simba chuckled amusedly and leaned to him before ruffling on Timon's head. "Ohh. You are the sly meerkat."

"Hey. If it wasn't for us, you will lose." Timon argued.

"Better not tell anyone about this. It's driving them crazy." Yoshi said.

"There is no way you can't do that." Zazu replied.

"Not to mention your wife is pretty." Donald whispered to Simba who blushed a bit as Nala giggled at his expression.

"Oh, don't encourage it." Simba protested.

"Reminds me of Kairi." Sora replied.

"Kairi?" Nala asked.

Sora was blushed before he stated. "She is my friend."

"Did you really miss your girlfriend?" Taiyo teased.

"What? She's not my girlfriend but yes!" Sora retorted.

Donald and Goofy laughed at him even Timon and Pumbaa except for Zazu who shook his head with an amused smile.

Votus walked up to everyone and quieten them down.

"Okay, okay. Enough for the chitchat. We had an important mission." Votus said.

"What's the mission?" Simba asked.

"To find the fifth Star Spirit." Mario said.

"That's sounds interesting. Why?" Timon asked.

"I will use the other Star Spirits to make a wish when we had all of them." Taiyo answered.

"In that case." Rafiki replied as he rubbed his chin. "You need to find the adamantiums first, and then you will find the Star Spirit. They are must be in the Outlands."

"Are you sure?" Taiyo asked.

"Positive." Rafiki nodded.

Sora looked over to the other painting as he gasped at them.

"What's wrong?" Goofy asked.

Sora walked to the painting that showed the reptilian creatures with two long forelimbs, long prehensile serpentine tails, and the skeletal appearances of their torsos and heads.

"It those things, they are the same ones we have encountered." Sora said.

"What do you call them?" Utopia asked.

Rafiki walked with the somber expression.

"They are the remnants of the past evil lions when influenced by the Heartless, these dark creatures are aggressive, cunning, and intelligent. From the Wakanda, they called them Mashetanis but in the Pride Lands, we could call them the Skullcrawlers." Rafiki explained.

Mjeshi panicked at the sound of the name before he cornered Pumbaa who also got scared.

"Skullcrawlers? I see." Sora said.

"Did you know where they are heading to?" Yoshi asked.

"I think they are heading to the Outlands." Sora deduced.

"But why are they over there?" Donald asked.

"I guess they harvested over there as a nest to spawn themselves." Geno said.

"Then we go over there to stop them." Taiyo replied. "Who's with me?"

"I'll go with you." Sora said.

"Us too!" Goofy added,

"Mm-hm." Donald nodded.

"I will be volunteered to join your team, Taiyo." Simba replied.

"Good." Taiyo stated.

"It's time to go to the Outlands." Mario said.

(Pride Lands - Pride Rock)

Before Taiyo, Sora, and their companions left, Simba told Timon and Pumbaa.

"You two have to stay here until I get back." Simba replied.

"Be safe, Simba." Timon said.

"Don't worry about him. We looked after each other." Taiyo replied.

"All of you take the extra caution. The Skullcrawlers were dangerous beasts; they will use their intelligence to beat you." Rafiki warned.

"Thanks, Rafiki." Sora said.

Nala cuddled against Simba gently. "Please be safe, Simba."

"I will." Simba nodded.

"Come on, better get going." Mario replied.

"I don't like to keep waiting." Donald added.

"So am I." Yoshi stated.

Taiyo, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Geno, Votus, Utopia and Simba are leaving from the Pride Rock.

(Pride Lands – Savannah)

The group was walked on the Savannah, traveling to the Outlands.

"Do you know where the Outlands is?" Taiyo asked.

"Rafiki told me that there was an entrance to the Outlands, which would be the Broken Rock." Simba answered.

"Do you think some hyenas are still lived in Elephant Graveyard?" Sora asked.

"Hope so. With Scar gone, they will not cause any more trouble." Simba said.

"Yeah, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed were out of luck." Goofy added.

"Those morons aren't the only ones who turned their backs to Scar." Votus replied.

"I say they have free will." Utopia said.

"Indeed." Geno stated.

Further away from the group, Wario and Waluigi are watching them. They are still in their human forms but wore their black and white cat costumes with spotted yellow and purple marks.

"Those guys are heading out to the Outlands, looking for the treasure." Wario grinned.

"Yeah, we'll be rich once we take them all down." Waluigi chuckled.

Wario Brothers are going after them as the Hyena Trio popped out their heads from the large rock see two guys, near the entryway of Elephant Graveyard.

The Hyena Trio all have a similar basic appearance. They all seem to be rather mangy, with mostly grey fur over their bodies, save for their bellies and paws, which are tan and black, respectively. They all have hunched backs and dark purple speckles on their backs, as well as rings of the same color around their eyes. They have short, black tails and a crest of long, black hair lining their spines. All three have large, dark brown ears and noses, as well as yellow eyes and sharp, slightly yellowed teeth.

Shenzi sports five long, dark brown "bangs" on the top of her head and the patches around her eyes are shaped to resemble heavily applied eyeshadow. She seems to have a larger upper lip than her two companions, and her eyes are usually half-shut. She also lacks the dark grey 'stubble' mark that the males possess.

Banzai's most distinguishing feature is his unusually heavy, dark brown eyebrows. He has two very short strands of dark brown hair on top of his head. The fur on Banzai's chin is slightly longer than either Shenzi's or Ed's, making him appear as if he has a short beard.

In sharp contrast to Shenzi, Ed's eyes are always wide open and rarely focus on anything. His mouth is also frequently seen hanging open with his tongue lolling. Ed has three strands of dark brown hair on the top of his head and the two chips missing on each of his ears (bottom and top). His mane is also slightly mangier than the other two.

"Look what we have seen." Shenzi smirked.

"A two kitties chased after the foods. This would be our lunch." Banzai replied.

Ed laughed while nodding to them and clapped himself.

"Time to take a bait before find out what are those freaks up to." Shenzi giggled.

Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed are following the Wario Brothers.


Author Notes: Taiyo and others were halfway to get the three Spirit Stars until Sora, Donald and Goofy have communicated on the ship, giving by Tails soon the group left from Mobius and asked them to come over to the Pride Lands. On their arrival, Taiyo, Mario and Luigi were changed into the animal forms (including the two plumbers were dressed in the yellow and green catsuits) and except for Geno, Yoshi, Votus and Utopia. Their next mission is about to begin in the Outlands. Don't forget to review after reading this!