Chapter Ten

The trap was set. Simba was right; he didn't like Tyber's plan. It was gutsy, bold – using himself as bait was a dangerous thing. If Tyber were killed, or this plan backfired, there would be repercussions. Everything they'd all been through would have been for nothing. Together, Simba, Nala and Zazu seeded information that Tyber was not getting along well with the royal family, and leaked that information to ensure it reached Jeff. To further enhance this story, Kovu, Kiara and Vitani staged a number of "incidents" over the course of a few weeks, and Kion pitched in by staging a few of his own. Rafiki intervened as a mediator in these incidents, but gradually let them get worse. The intent here, Tyber explained, was to mislead Jeff into thinking he'd be doing the Pridelands a favor by taking Tyber out. It worked; reports began coming in about a foreigner asking questions about Tyber, rather specific to where he typically went, how long he stayed, and when he went to and from Pride Rock. There were also questions asked regarding Tyber's current disposition toward the family, and whether or not Simba was considering exiling Tyber.

The humans were also involved in this, waiting for the opportunity to scoop Jeff up the second they got the chance. Tyber's previous records had all been expunged, owing to the explanation of the truth of Tyber's past, and he was granted amnesty for anything that might result from this operation. Tyber was also granted full sanction, if it came down to it, to summarily execute Jeff should he prove unwilling to surrender.

Of course, the thing that pissed Simba off the most was how, outside of the Military forces, his family, and trusted allies, he couldn't tell anyone about this operation. If Jeff was to believe it, the people would have to believe it. Lying to his subjects was something he never wanted to do, but in light of how he was unable to come up with a plan of his own that wasn't so risky, he had little choice other than to go with Tyber's plan; he knew Jeff best, and knew better than Simba or even Vitani how to fight him. It was when the foreigner disappeared for a week that Tyber decided to put the final phase of his plan in action. To allow for communication that Jeff couldn't track, Tyber replicated an external neural radio link and gave one to everyone in the family, to allow them to communicate with Tyber through their thoughts. "Borg tech," he called it. He also said he'd remove them when this operation was over. With the trap set, Tyber went about his usual activities, with Kovu, Kiara, Vitani and Kion following. Of course, they were cloaked, so Jeff couldn't see them.

This thing is starting to give me a headache, Tyber heard Simba's voice in his head.

If I were you, I'd be more concerned with whether or not your troops are well enough hidden from Jeff – if he so much as bumps into one of them, it could blow the whole operation, Tyber told him.

I know – we only get one shot at this, Simba said. I just hope it goes off the way you hope it will.

You and I both know, regardless of how this turns out, I need this, Tyber stated.

It's not just your fight anymore, Tyber – it's ourfight. And we will see it finished, Vitani interjected.

We're coming up on the AO – Tyber, curtain's rising, Kovu proclaimed. The designated area of operation – a peaceful neighborhood between the park where Vitani met Tyber and an industrial area – had been ordered indoors well before the usual time, to make it seem as though there would be no witnesses to what Tyber suspected Jeff would do – try to take him out with a sniper attack. Tyber played the part of being suspicious, asking no one in particular, "What the hell...? Where'd everyone go? Bingo?" He cautiously started into the neighborhood, looking around for Jeff, even though he could sense him, and therefore already knew he was in the AO.

Playing into it. He knew Jeff had him in his sights – it's just a matter of whether or not Jeff was prepared to try and kill Tyber a second time. He already had a considerable list of charges; Tyber felt that for a vicious criminal like him, adding a second attempted murder charge wouldn't at all be a stretch for him. But as Tyber moved further into the neighborhood, he got the distinct impression something was off. Jeff had Tyber in his sights, why was he hesitating? Did he have reason to suspect this was a trap? The answer would come sooner than Tyber had thought. Kovu spotted it first – Jeff ignited a blue Lightsaber and tried to drop on Tyber from the rooftop of one of the houses in one specific cul-de-sac as Tyber was passing by. "Tyber, look out!" Kovu shouted. But Tyber had sensed this move a split second before it happened, intercepting the blow before it could land, and using Force-assisted strength to throw Jeff a distance away, toward the center of the cul-de-sac. This was the signal; two full squads of Lionesses de-cloaked and had weapons pointed at Jeff. Even though this operation was in Tyber's hands, his next command came as a shock to Vitani, Kovu and Kiara: "Stay your weapons! He came for me..." Confused, but unwilling to disobey their Lord-Admiral, the Lionesses lowered their weapons. Tyber's next comment was directed at his lifelong nemesis: "You came a long way to commit murder, Jeff."

"And you came a long way to hide from your past," Jeff countered as he got to his feet, grabbing his lightsaber on his way up.

"Hiding? On the contrary," Tyber scoffed. "You fell neatly into our trap."

"Lie if you must, but recognize that the only person you are fooling is yourself," Jeff said. "I know of the incidents between you and the Royal Family; honestly, I'd be doing them a favor by taking you out of the equation."

"Once again, Jeff, you fail to see how wrong you are; the incidents were staged. Everything you think you know was fabricated by us to make you believe what you think you know," Kovu put in. "The intel, Tyber's daily activities, his supposed clashes with us – they were all lies. We beat you at your own game."

"Give it up, Jeff – you have nowhere to run," Kiara added. Jeff looked between the lionesses, Kiara, Kovu, Vitani, and finally stopped at Tyber.

"A master stroke," he finally said. "Now you have me caught like a bear in a trap. So, which way's the wind gonna blow?"

"There was only ever one way this was going to end, Jeff. One. Last. Fight," Tyber hissed, unclipping one of his lightsabers.

"So it begins," Jeff growled, holding his lightsaber at the ready.

"So it ends," Tyber agreed, activating his lightsaber with that snap-hiss. He began shouting, began to bathe in that blood-red aura, and then snarled, as he had once before, and went immediately on the attack. Jeff, in spite of not being a Force-user like Tyber, clearly had training in lightsaber dueling, and was able to keep pace with Tyber's erratic attacks. It was almost as if Jeff wanted Tyber to wear himself out before he went on the offensive. Even more curious, he seemed to barely move at all, whereas Tyber was jumping all over the place. There was something about this that seemed familiar to Vitani, but for the life of her, she could not place it. Seemingly helpless, Vitani searched her mind for answers as she watched Tyber's enraged assault on Jeff. He was using his typical combination of Ataru and Juyo, seeking to undo Jeff with his erratic and acrobatic attacks. Tyber kept this up, showing no signs of tiring. But at the same time, Jeff was not tiring either.

Then it hit Vitani – Tyber had spoken of this form before, during one of their conversations: "Soresu is... a defensive technique. But effective. One would use it if they wished not to be hit. Against blaster bolts, it provides excellent offense. In other situations, it merely delays the inevitable. I have found that, while effective against blasters and single opponents, it is not nearly fast enough for deflecting attacks from a squad of soldiers firing fully-automatic weapons, or attacks made from the rear." That's how she could help. But before she could, Jeff deflected one of Tyber's attacks and spin-kicked Tyber to the ground. "You only delay the inevitable, Tyber – you are beaten. It is useless to keep fighting."

"On the contrary," Tyber countered. "You underestimate us all."

Picking up on Tyber's suggestion, Vitani raised her weapon and opened fire on Jeff. Several lionesses took notice and did the same. The attacks splashed across Jeff's personal energy shield, but served Vitani's purpose of distracting Jeff, as he turned to counter the sudden attack, which allowed Tyber to kick himself up off the ground and summon his power, channeling it to a blast of yellow lightning – which struck Jeff in the back, fried his shield, and sent him flying. Several lions had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit by Jeff. Tyber leapt up in the air, and went on the attack again, this time drawing his second lightsaber and advancing on Jeff with attacks from Jar'Kai. Jeff, weary from being hit with automatic weapons and Tyber's Force Lightning, began to struggle – just a little – against Tyber's relentless assault. One blade, he could handle; but, Vitani saw, two blades was a bit much. Even weakened, however, Jeff was still holding his own. They locked blades at one point, where Jeff grunted, "So, what's the game here – two former-family members, locked in mortal combat till, say, the end of time?"

"You could surrender," Tyber chuckled. "But either way, you're going down!" Tyber broke the lock and landed a hit on Jeff's shoulder. Evidently aware of his sudden vulnerability, Jeff tried to make a break for it – only to find Vitani and the lionesses in his way, all pointing automatic weapons at him. As if that weren't enough, human SWAT members began arriving on-scene. "Face it, Jeff – you're finished. You fell into our trap, and you have nowhere to run," Tyber called out to him, calmly walking toward him. "Fight or flee, surrender or don't, you will answer for your crimes!" Tyber undid his cloak, letting it fall at his feet, as he extinguished his lightsabers, connected them, and them twirled it as he reactivated it as a lightsaber staff. Desperate, and still unwilling to surrender, Jeff launched an attack on Tyber, who became an impossible target to hit as he twirled the staff and used it as a shield against Jeff's attack, while counterattacking where he could. Still weakened from the earlier attack, and now losing his energy and patience rapidly, Jeff tried again and again to break through, only to have his attacks redirected and deflected. The final move came when Tyber broke the staff into two lightsabers again, put fourth a series of attacks that rendered Jeff immobile for a split second, and in that moment, Tyber swung his lightsabers in opposing directions toward each other, and tore Jeff's lightsaber out of his hand. He then kicked him between his legs, then sent another kick into him that sent him to the ground. Tyber was quick to pin Jeff to the ground and hold his lightsabers at Jeff's throat in a scissor formation. Nothing was said for a good fifteen seconds.

This is it, Vitani thought. The moment Tyber's been waiting for, the moment he's worked toward for many years. She knew, this was why Tyber put fourth this plan – something he had to do, to get it out of his system. He had to face Jeff one last time, defeat him once and for all, cleanse the pain from his mind. Now, he had Jeff right where he wanted him; one flick of his wrists, and a lifetime of pain and suffering would be ended. But there was another reason for this moment, Vitani realized, as Tyber spoke:

"How did you ever call yourself my father?"

"I was your father once... but no more," Jeff responded.

"Father was a title you never earned!" Tyber sneered. "You were nothing more than a liar and a tyrant! You are a total goddamn catastrophe!"

"So kill me!" Jeff spat back. "If it's vengeance you want, this is the time!"

"God knows I'd certainly like to – but there's one thing I wanted more than vengeance, and that's answers!" Tyber hissed. "You murdered my family trying to kill me off – and by god, if it kills me, I want to know why!"

Jeff hesitated, but nonetheless answered, "Police investigators were developing methods of extracting memories from victims of crimes, evidence that would be admissible in court. If the police got your memories of your clashes with me, they'd have arrested me on charges that were decades old... and I had a family to think of."

"Bullshit! You weren't thinking of your family when you killed mine! You only thought of yourself!" Tyber exclaimed. "But, your one mistake was believing I couldn't bring you down; you thought I was the uneducated, unintelligent child who never let go of his past, and therefore would be an easy target,"

"My mistake was that your family was never supposed to be there – it was supposed to have been just you," Jeff admitted. "I couldn't risk any of them identifying me, so I tried to take you all out. I thought the bomb I planted would be enough to make sure you all were silenced; clearly, I was mistaken. So it all falls now to what you want to do. I'm beaten either way – I have nothing to lose, so kill me. Demonstrate your superiority!"

"Don't listen to him, Tyber!" Vitani shouted to him. "He's trying to goad you! Trying to get you to give in!"

"Don't listen to her – she doesn't understand who you really are, and she never will," Jeff taunted.

"Shut it, Jeff!" Vitani snapped. "I'm the largest reason Tyber's fit in so well here! I'm the reason he survived your attempt to kill him!"

"There's no place you can go, no person you can talk to, that it won't catch up to you," Jeff told Tyber. "It's how every story ends. It's what you are, Tyber – a killer. You always will be." Tyber pressed in with his blades, breathing heavily and angrily, ready to sever Jeff's head. "Go ahead – go on! Go on! Do it! Do it!" But, contrary to what Vitani expected, Tyber hesitated, but eventually retracted his blades.

"No," he said calmly, looking to Vitani with his eyes shifting green briefly before looking back at Jeff. Moving his head to indicate Vitani, he continued, "She wouldn't want me to. They wouldn't want me to. My family wouldn't want me to. You don't deserve the nice things they'd put on your tombstone, and the last thing I need now is another lie. You're wrong about me – I'm no killer." He motioned for the SWAT members to come and cuff Jeff. "It was always going to be me that brought you down. But killing you... it was never going to be me that killed you. Goodbye, Jeff... may you meet your fate swiftly." Tyber's lightsabers switched off as he turned and walked away as Jeff was being dragged away. The day was won.

Justice was served.

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Not a word was said when Tyber walked into the foyer. Simba knew well what had transpired in that cul-de-sac, of how Tyber dueled Jeff. He knew Tyber had defeated Jeff, and how Jeff had been taken into custody by the humans. All that remained now was to comfort Tyber, at the end of nearly thirty years of pain and torment. For now, though, Simba left Tyber alone as he went for some coffee and sat down at the table. Vitani sat next to him, gently gripping his hand in hers. Occasionally, she'd hug him or lean on him. Kion, Kovu and Kiara arrived ten minutes later.

"Well?" Simba asked.

"It's done," Kion said.

"Jeff?" Simba queried.

"Taken into custody, charged with nine counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder, among other charges," Kovu reported.

Kiara scoffed. "He'll be lucky to avoid the death penalty for all that," she said.

"And Tyber?" Simba inquired.

"The human officer asked us to convey their apology on behalf of the United States, stating that, and I quote, 'In light of what has happened, both recently and in the past, the United States of America owes a debt of apology to him. The American Government believes in and encourages a profound moral ethic, and those responsible for allowing this tragedy to happen will be dealt with. Rest assured that Jeff will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that his crimes, both distant and recent, will not go unpunished'," Kovu explained.

"It is finished, then," Tyber spoke from the table, with a tone that nearly sounded solemn. "After nearly thirty years... it is done."

"Yes, Tyber," Nala assured him. "It's finally over."

"Why do you sound so sad?" Vitani asked. Tyber looked to her, his eyes still green.

"You, of all of us, know well what I've been through. Today was the greatest victory I've had in my life, but it came at a high cost," he said. "Do not mistake my tone for melancholy – I am absolutely overjoyed this war is over. But now... I find myself at a loss."

"How so?" Simba asked, sitting down at the table.

"For nearly thirty years, I've clashed with Jeff. Thirty years, I've fought him. Now that I've won... I don't know what to do. So many years of my life had been defined by my anger against him, my... pursuit of justice. Now... now, with Jeff no longer there to haunt my thoughts... I don't know what to do," Tyber explained. Vitani gently squeezed his hand.

"Perhaps now, you can find your own way, like the rest of us," she told him. "It think that's what your family would have wanted. Because that's what it means to be free."

"And, of course, I never forgot, Vitani... you were the catalyst that made all this possible," Tyber said, his voice beginning to shake. "None of this would have happened if you hadn't found me, that night. If you hadn't stayed at my side through it all. If you you hadn't been so calm and understanding, even when I was at my worst. You made this dream of justice a reality." He looked to the others. "You all did. I could never repay you for all you've done for me."

Simba shook his head. "You've no need to, Tyber. I've said it before – you're one of us. And in our family, we take care of our own."

"So I think it appropriate to finally tell you, Tyber... welcome home," Nala added.

Unbeknownst to even Tyber, looking through a camera that had briefly been hacked, yellow eyes watched this scene unfold. Jeff had failed. Soresu form had been a good start, but Jeff had been doomed from the start. He fell neatly into the Lord-Admiral's trap. The Sith had known Tyber had a penchant for those. Now... he had to step in, himself. The revolutionary royal. The Traitorous siblings. The haunted, wounded child rising from nothing. They all had to die, so the Sith would reign supreme.

Vitani. Tyber. Kovu. Kiara. All must die.