The following chapter contains heavy violence, gore, and death. Those of a nervous disposition may want to skip this chapter.

You have been warned!

Daylight spread across the Pridelands, though it was practically impossible to tell. The once clear skies and lush grasslands had been replaced with thunderous clouds and desolate soil.

The surviving members of Jasiri and Madoa's clan trudged through the dead land, escorted by their lioness captors. They reached the base of Pride Rock when the roars of lionesses nested high above them echoed across the land, joined by the full-blown laughter of another hyena clan and the howls of a jackal pack.

It had been a long agonising journey, especially for Madoa. The slice across her throat had continued to bleed, slightly throbbing with agony occasionally. She gritted her teeth, focussing on what was ahead. Feeling the shaking, terrified presence of her two cubs, her maternal instincts kicked in, eliminating all forms of pain.

Jasiri and Janja followed closely behind her, snuggling up to one another as they walked. The clan were led up to Pride rock where the path narrowed, forcing them to walk in twos. The higher they marched, the stuffier the air became. Despite this, they continued until they could feel the indescribable levels of heat burning through their fur.

As they reached the summit, the path opened up. The once proud monument of Pride Rock was littered with lionesses, all scruffy and unregal. They arose from their resting position as they saw Vitani, who continued to lead her captors. Her slender, sleek body shifting through the boiling air with true and utter predatory perfection.

At the edge of the protruding overlook nestled three figures, two male lions of adolescent age and an adult lioness. They stared directly forwards, watching as Vitani led the lionesses and her captive hyenas towards them. She couldn't help but smile, especially seeing her close sibling up and active.

As she approached, however, she saw something was off about him. His once small, quite cute tuft of dark brown mane had been consumed in the slight shimmer of greenish flames. His left piercing emerald green eye was scarred, the gloomy demonic green seeping from his iris into the seemingly spectral wound.

She knew what this meant but still couldn't help but feel her heartbreak. Her brother, the one that she had cared about for so long. The only member of her family that actually showed her any affection and love, was being consumed, twisted by the demonic monster she called her stepfather.

As she approached, Vitani spotted Zira, who sat next to the possessed Kovu. The matriarch stared directly at her victorious daughter. For the first time, she seemed... happy, proud even. Vitani could feel the strange, indescribable feeling of ... acceptance? It felt so alien to her. Her body shuddered in its embrace. Sitting before them, Vitani forced Madoa, Jasiri and Janja to the front, before Scar and his closest lieutenants.

"Well, well, well!" The possessed Kovu chuckled. His voice, once youthful and semi-majestic, had been tainted by Scar, deepening and becoming much more dominant, demonic even in its tone. "At last, the great Jasiri and Madoa, in the flesh!" His devilish grin caused the hyena sister's spinal furs to stand on its end. "Oh how long I've waited for this moment." As Scar spoke, Janja turned away, too ashamed to even dare look at his old master.

"Ahh, and Janja too!" The demonic lion's presence shot to the male hyena who, upon hearing his name, focussed his attention upwards. "It's so nice to see you again, my loyal friend." Janja felt an uncontrollable urge to bow in the presence of the possessed lion, his back seemingly shifting downwards, like it was under Scar's control. He felt his paws give way to the consuming power, moving towards the lion god. "Come! Join us once more!"

"Janja!" Jasiri cried, she could feel the salty emotion rich liquid ooze from the side of her eyes as her mate, the one she held so dear to her heart, walked up and sat beside their enemy. She turned, noticing his eyes, now burning with a greenish flame. She could feel her heart shatter into a thousand one pieces. The warmth of her love, no more.

With a single blink, Janja's eyes returned to normal, though they flickered around, seemingly confused and lost. He took a look at Jasiri, who's muzzle had scrunched up as she cried. He felt his heart rip out of his chest. He tried to rise to his paws, only to feel Kovu's greenly glowing fur brush up to him.

"Now, onto the matters at hand." Kovu arose to his paws, striding in between the hyenas and lions before him. Scar's possession of his body changed him, his stroll was more majestic regal than before and his mane and fur had a slight slimmer of greenish energy surrounding it. His green eyes also had a sinister glow to them, like his soul was being devoured deep inside. These eyes turned to Jasiri and Madoa as he nearly pounced at them. "You will fight and serve me, fully!" He grinned at the two hyena sisters, his foul, rotten, reeking breath choking their poor muzzles as he spoke. Looking sternly at the demonically possessed lion, Madoa stood forward, to the rather worried surprise of her sister.

"Madoa?" Jasiri tried to stop her sister, placing her paw on her shoulder, but it wasn't enough. The older, matriarch hyena, still agonised by the pain of her wounds, left her younger sister and her cubs behind, taking a step before Scar.

"We won't!" The words seemed so simple but caused an uproar among the lionesses and hyenas surrounding her. Jasiri, who had only just wiped away her tears, froze, staring ahead at her sister as Wema and Tumu huddled into her chest. Scar, nestled deep within the physical confines of Kovu's body, seemed surprised, raising the young adolescent lion's eyebrows slightly as the hyena held her ground.

"We will not fight for someone who destroys everything in his path or consumes all in his lust for power!" Madoa continued, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she spoke. " After everything you've done, all the pain you've brought! Do you really think we'll just... obey!"

"Madoa?!" Jasiri cried, seeing Scar's aggressive, offended look spreading across Kovu's muzzle. His eyes illuminated green with rage, ready to strike.

"NO! You can't remember Jasiri, what it was like under his rule!" Madoa growled out, tears now gushing down her cheeks. "The pain, the horrors, the deaths! We can't let it happen! Not again!" Jasiri, the lionesses and hyenas were speechless, just staring at the matriarchal hyena as she stood, trembling in rage at the god-like lion before her. Kovu, consumed by Scar's hatred, stepped forward, standing within inches of Madoa. She stared up, her ears folded down as he grinned down at her.

"Oh and I fully concur with all of that, my dear." A slight hint of sarcasm grazed through his voice as his fiery green eyes rolled around in their fleshy, fur coated cage. He stood tall above her, overshadowing the hyena as he put his paw around her shoulder, leading her away from her clan, towards the edge of Pride Rock, overlooking the barren and desolate land that was once the Pridelands.

Whispering deeply, Scar chuckled. "But then again, there's one thing that unites us, me and your kind." From where she stood, Jasiri couldn't hear what Scar and Madoa were talking about, but could see Kovu's claws unsheathe from behind Madoa's head.

"Mado- '' Before she could finish screaming her sister's name, Scar forced Kovu's claw to the indent already formed in Madoa's neck, with his foul rotten breath nestled to her ear. He roared one word.

"BETRAYAL!" With a single, relentless flick, he dug his claw into Madoa's already cut-throat, digging deeper and deeper as the matriarchal hyena growled out in pain. She fell to the ground, neck exposed as blood poured from her wound. Looking up, she saw the surprisingly white teeth of her attacker, facing before her, before digging into her neck, ripping it apart.

"MADOA!" Jasiri cried, hearing her sister's agonising screams of pain. She tried to force her way through the lionesses, which moved to block the hyenas' advancing . Tumu and Wema shook beside her, seeing the entire thing, as the male lion threw their mother a few feet, towards the hyena crowds.

As her body landed, the lionesses let Jasiri and the cubs through, whilst keeping the rest of the clan firmly in order. Jana froze hearing the roaring laughter of Zira beside him. He wanted to move, to try and save Madoa, or to even comfort Jasiri and the cubs but he knew it was too late. Besides, Zira could easily kill him there and then.

"Madoa?" Jasiri rushed to her sister's side. Madoa was bleeding heavily, her throat had become a fountain for her blood pouring out in vast quantities. As she lay there, strangely enough, the sun started to rise upon the Pridelands, though at first it was nearly impossible to tell. It was only when a single beam of light flashed onto the matriarch's face that she recognised it. She could feel its warmth as her body became colder and colder.

"Mum!" Her two cubs nuzzled her body, their tears staining her fur as they wept. She couldn't feel them, her body slowly shutting down, losing its grasp on this plane as she lay. By now, Jasiri had placed her paw on her sister's throat hoping to stop the blood flow slightly.

"PLEASE! Don't leave me!" She wept, feeling her sister's pulse weaken. With one final, heartbreaking look, Madoa looked up at her sister, rubbing her paw across her cheek as a tear formed on her own. "I'm... I..." Her watery, brown eyes closed as the single beam of light that gleamed over the matriarch's face dimed, consumed by the corrupted thunder flashes that coated the skies above them.

Jasiri let go of her sister's throat, collapsing on her body as she wept, tears gushing out of her eyes as the cub huddled up. She didn't care about her sister's blood coating her fur. She didn't care for anything anymore.

From out of nowhere, a roar of demonic, prideful awe boomed behind Jasiri and the cubs. Turning around, she saw Kovu, still trapped in Scar's control, laughing. A burning feeling pumped through her veins, as she pictured the lion's own throat ripped out her claws embedded in it like that of prey. She couldn't help but think of the innocent, cute lion cub she had met just a year prior, the one who wanted peace, friendship, now consumed by the demonic, destructive mind of Scar. Still, her anger lay deep within, just waiting to be unleashed.

He stood closer, lowering his head to the tearful hyena and her young nephew and niece, still caressing their mother's deceased body, hoping she would wake up from her eternal rest. "So, what do you say, Jasiri?"

That was the limit. Striking forwards, Jasiri lashed out, nearly clawing at Kovu's face. "I'LL KILL YOU!" Deep within the young lion's body, Scar forced his husk of a slave to grin before ushering a single, almighty roar, flinging the attacking Jasiri a few feet away. The hyena landed in the presence of Vitani, who had sprinted to assist her brother. Upon hearing Jasiri's cries of violence, the lioness held her down, as the young hyena tried to fight back, eagerly trying to avenge her sister's death.

"Mbwajike!" She tried to attack Vitani only to be picked up by the lioness. With an aggressive growl mumbling through her occupied muzzle, the young huntress slammed the hyena into the ground, knocking her out instantly. Kovu, still consumed by Scar's influence, approached the now unconscious Jasiri and her captor, the two hyena cubs left their mother's side rushing back to the hyena clan, who called their names as they wept the loss of their leaders.

Zira wandered over to her offspring, grinning wildly as she approached Kovu, snuggling up to his impressive, muscular body. She could feel Scar's soul etched into him, her love, her life, her soul. If only she was stronger. She could have had him, been his vessel. But her son was good enough.

"Take them away!" Scar's booming, commanding voice echoed from Kovu's muzzle. The lionesses surrounding the hyenas started to corral them, leading them back down Pride Rock as they listened to Scar's commands. Scar forced Kovu to nod at his sister who continued to hold Jasiri's unconscious body in her mouth. "Get her out of my sight!" Vitani bowed, before strolling off with Jasiri dangling from her mouth, the hyena's scruff being soaked in the lioness' saliva as she followed her sisters-in-pride down Pride Rock.

As They left, Zira wandered up to Madoa's body, laughing over the hyena's corpse. She quickly grabbed hold of her ripped-out throat, flinging the body out over Pride rock, sending it flying to the bottom of the monument with a soft, squidgy thud. She grinned at her son, a look of incredible proudness spreading across her muzzle as she walked back over to Janja who had sulked down to the ground.

As she walked off to the male hyena, Zira conversed with him, before seemingly wandering off, leading the male hyena down Pride Rock and out to the Pridelands. Kovu, still possessed by Scar, looked out at the Pridelands. As he did, he felt Sar start to let go of his body, escaping his fleshy form and into the sky. An aura of fire seeped into the bleak, thunderous air as Kovu's now innocent body fell to the ground. As he fell to his chest, he saw the blood staining his paws, felt it on his muzzle. A small, weak strain of tears rolled down his cheek as he looked over the edge to see the splattered remains of the hyena matriarch beneath him.

"What have I done?!"