AN: I just love Scar's final words to Kion in the show before the young leader of the Guard defeats his nemesis. What does it mean that 'the Roar is a curse'? What does Scar have in mind when he sings 'Sisi ni sawa means "We're the same" though you're made of flesh and I'm made of flame, at the end of the day we all are fire and flame'?
The show had so much wasted potential. Perhaps, if they ever continued it, these things could be expanded upon. What if there was more to Kion's sickness? What if his happy end at the Tree of Life wasn't as happy as it appeared? I wrote this story to explore these questions.
Now, let us see what the aftermath of Kion's 'pardon' will be.
TMNTTLK lover – redeemed? Perhaps. Alive? Well, you'll just have to read this chapter!
T3ddyBearL0ve –I think you should feel bad for all of them, actually.
Guest – a third party, you say? Hmm… But why, in that case, would Kion lie about what really happened at the Tree of Life?
Willian – ah. So my goal has been achieved. And yes, I do like the perspective of a redemption ark for the baddies. But will it happen here? Read on, if you dare.
Jzak98 – we got nuts. Told you.
Pierre Cloutier – why thank you. Worry not, the truth shall be revealed in this following chapter. I hope you're not disappointed.
Hvedrungsson - oh worry not, answers are coming. All the answers, actually. As for Vitani... well, you can try telling her that, if you want.
Chapter 14 – Scar Tissue
-... at the end of the day we all are fire and flame... - Scar's voice echoed among the stone walls eerily.
The bright, burning glow of the molten lake of lava at the bottom of the crater was nearly hypnotizing. The liquid fire waved and bubbled, sizzling with poisonous fumes, casting sparks like sprinkles of burning dust. It's heat was unbearable, its hunger- ravenous.
Still standing at the shattered edge of the basalt shelf which stretched over the crater, Kovu could not take his frantic eyes off the inferno of magma below. Moments ago, right in front of him, he was still looking at the face of Kion. But now, even the voice of the treacherous Nightprider had reverberated within the volcano and died down, leaving behind it nothing but silence.
Finally, after so long a struggle, the lion felt a sense of satisfaction.
Lifting his head slowly, he encountered the look of the spirit of his stepfather. His fiery eyes pierced him through, burning brighter than ever.
-Is he… gone? – Kovu asked, seeking confirmation for what was already obvious. No animal, even Kion, could have survived that fall.
Answering, Scar merely smiled. But his initial grin was swiftly accompanied by an unnerving chuckle which grew stronger and stronger with time. The fiery spirit kicked his head back in a fit of unrestricted, savage laughter, which not only once again caused the walls of the crater to tremble, but, being completely wild and crazed, even caused Kovu's heart to stir with a suspicion that Scar was now mocking the whole world, including him.
HAHAHAHAAA…!
The ghost would have undoubtedly lost his breath, if only he had any breath left in him. Kovu's expression turned sour. Something was wrong.
Finishing his tirade of insane derision, the spirit fixed his gaze at the lion standing before him once more. When the chortling ceased and his voice could again be heard, Kovu addressed his stepfather in confusion.
-You laugh? Kion is dead. I thought… Didn't you say that you wanted to… help him? Save him from corruption?
Scar snorted once more, and then finally controlled himself.
-Oh Kovu, my dear, dear child – his voice spoke with disgusting smoothness. – We have helped Kion indeed! We have saved him! Don't you understand? He will never again be able to do anything wrong!
Somehow, Kovu did not share the ghost's mirth.
-I thought you'd be a bit less glad that he had to die… - the lion looked away, remembering in embarrassment that he too, not very long ago, had breathed with the lust for his brother-in-law's blood.
Scar's face exploded with another flash of fire, after which he came closer to speak to Kovu more directly.
-Ah! Well, allow me to explain myself. Pardon me if my exterior does not fully show my remorse. I am dearly sorry for Kion, however.
Something in his voice, something about the tone of it or the emotions Scar exhibited, was very strange. Kovu noticed that it made him shiver. All of a sunned, the inside of the volcano didn't seem warm and luminescent anymore, but dark, eerie, and unwelcoming.
Scar's eyes were blazing, thin slits within a pool of darkness, and guile poured out of them. What he was about to confess to his stepson, finally revealing the awful truth… was beyond imagining.
-It pains me deeply that my brother's grandson had to die. For you see Kovu, Kion may have been the best lion this kingdom had ever seen.
-What...? - Kovu mumbled in total confusion.
-Yes, that is true. Kion had always been pure at heart, completely innocent. I dare say he was even better than his father. That was the only real reason why he had to die. You see, there was just no other way... as Simba's posterity had to be eradicated.
Kovu shook after hearing these words. Suddenly, the volcano was no more. It was only him, dirty and with a broken leg, sitting in front of an old and emaciated Scar. Two flawed lions, and a terrible secret which had bound them both to a darkest of fates.
-Innocent? – the king of the Pridelands found himself at a loss of words. – But… what you showed me… the visions…
-All a mirage – Scar said calmly, extending his paw. A bright flame lit up on top of it, in which Kovu saw the small image of Kion, dancing merrily as if he was still alive and well. The devious ghost then placed his paw back on the ground, and the vision was gone. – Will you ever forgive me, my son? I had not been completely honest with you, true. But it was all for your own good, Kovu.
-What about… Simba? The skull in the gorge? – the dark lion now felt as sheer terror began to slowly lock its cold fingers around his heart. He remembered the voice he heard there. The voice of Nuka, his brother, which he had disregarded.
Seeing his anguish, Scar sighed delicately.
-Alas, Simba died months ago, of completely natural causes. He had suffered a stroke, collapsed in the gorge, and the vultures picked his bones clean within hours. I know this because they told me. Of course, they wouldn't have informed the pride of having eaten their own king…
Kovu's weak knees shook under him, and he collapsed to the floor. He felt the weight of Scar's words crushing him, yet the spirit just kept on speaking.
-Don't look so shocked, my son. Mufasa I have slain, though he never touched me with a single claw. What do you think my retaliation would be to Simba, who killed me? I could not harm him directly, so I decided to wipe out his entire bloodline from the face of the earth. And now, my task is complete. Thanks to you.
A pathetic yelp issued from Kovu's mouth. Sobbing, he lifted his eyes at Scar, who sat there passively.
-But… what about Kiara?
-Your mate is lying on Pride Rock, dead – the dark specter informed him frigidly. – I specifically ordered my serpent servants not to spare the venom this time. Fortunately, they obeyed my command faithfully.
The puzzle was now coming together to form an image of horror and deceit, too horrible to comprehend. His despair almost depriving him of his senses, Kovu remembered that it was him who prevented Kion from giving his mate medicine from the Tree of Life. It was him who led Kiara to the place where the snake had bitten her.
He had been responsible for the death of both his unborn cubs and his mate. Kion was right all along. It wasn't him who was the traitor. It was Kovu.
Anguish black as pitch fogged the dark lion's mind. He had been manipulated all his life. And all his life, he allowed himself to be manipulated. First by Zira, then by Scar. He only had himself to blame.
-Poor Imara, I wish she'd not have gotten involved in this – the spirit continued unraveling his tale, as if speaking to himself, unaware that he was driving the thorn of agony deeper and deeper into his stepson's heart. – Kion never laid a finger on her, you know. It was her who became infatuated with the ruddy king of the Night Pride. Kion remained faithful to his queen till the very end. I imagine all the inhabitants of the Tree of Life shall now weep dearly over his loss. Yet, if it weren't for Imara's betrayal, you'd have a hard time rallying your sister to our side. So it all worked out in the end, I guess.
Kovu was barely able to hear him anymore. Raising his tearful eyes at the terrible specter, all he saw was a dark blur.
-You've promised me that, if I listened to you, there would be no more death… - yelped the lion, no longer even able to feel anger.
-Yes. I did. And now that all of Simba's descendants are dead, there is no more need for the shedding of blood. Now, finally, my promise to you can be fulfilled. Now you assume the throne of the Pridelands as the kingdom's rightful ruler, my son and heir, to rule the land in peace and prosperity.
Kovu did not know if Scar was mocking him or speaking sincerely. All he knew was that he was sitting before an evil so great that he wasn't even able to comprehend it. There was only one question he still had for the demon-lion whom he faced.
-Why? – he asked, his face wet with tears, his chest shaking in spasms of weeping over a tragedy too heavy to bear. – Why did you do this, Scar?! My life... the lives of so many others… shattered! Who could ever want to be so cruel?
The spirit fixed his fiery eyes at him once more, and smiled.
-Why? Don't you know? There is but one reason for all of this. Revenge.
Having uttered the word as if it caused him pure delight, Scar then continued-
-I've already told you, my son! Revenge is a blazing fire, as violent as hell itself, and even hell cannot quench its thirst for blood.
Despite the insanity of this madman's ravings, Kovu realized something. It was that Scar had also lied about something else. He had not become evil when the serpent bit him. No, that poisonous curse could be removed, as it had indeed happened in the case of Kion. The one once called Askari had been corrupt from the very beginning, by his own volition, and the scar on his face had only made things worse. He truly was the natural-born killer everyone in the Pridelands told gruesome stories about. A pure, irredeemable evil.
Kovu realized something else, as well. He had, willingly or not, followed Scar's plan in its entirety, effectively becoming a puppet in his stepfather's hands. He felt the crushing weight of guilt, a guilt he knew he'd never be able to free himself, but he also had enough reason left in him to realize that Scar's fault was much, much greater.
The spirit needed to be punished. And, right now, there was only one way in which this could happen. Nothing else mattered anymore.
Gathering the last bits of strength and will, with tremendous effort and with paralyzing pain, Kovu lifted himself up from the ground. His sight became clearer now- once more he saw Scar's spirit in the midst of the blazing crater. Forcing himself to speak, he limped forward, closer and closer to the fire.
-You've killed Nala… You've killed Kion… You've murdered my mate and my cubs. And now, you've also killed me.
Scar observed him with an ever-present smirk.
-Yes, I've killed them. But their lives did not matter to me, unlike yours. No, my son. You will live, and take my place as king.
But Kovu no longer listened to him. Continuing to walk, he stood at the very edge of the crater, exactly in the same place from which Kion had fallen. It was all his own fault. Kovu now only longed for the sweet embrace of the flames in which, perhaps, he would find relief from his agony. A final act of defiance.
The lion looked down into the blazing abyss. But the fire was not the only thing he saw.
There, hidden in a crevice among the rocks, there sat a cobra with half its tail bitten off. Before Kovu was able to react, with a dreadful hiss, the serpent attacked.
A piercing pain paralyzed Kovu's face as he felt the cobra's venomous teeth ripping through his skin in the same place where Zira had once injured him in a fit of anger. Roaring madly, he tried to throw it off, but that only caused the snake to tear deeper cuts into the flesh around his eye. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the reptile loosened its jaws by itself, detaching from Kovu's face and falling to the ground.
Seeing that its target was now completely incapacitated, the serpent looked up at Scar.
-Did I do well, massster?
-Yes, Elkanah – came the response. – Now leave me with my son.
Kovu himself did not see the ones who spoke anymore. He was simply unable. Along with the venom, pain entered his body, and spread further and further with each faint heartbeat. The lion heard himself scream.
At first, he wished he had simply jumped into the lava, ending it all. But then, when the pain sobered him up and he once again remembered all that had happened that day, he became ardently angry. His fury grew along with the pain, taking as its target everyone involved in what was now his downfall. He hated Scar for having deceived him. He hated Zira for doing the same to Vitani. Finally, he hated himself. His own foolishness and blindness. The way he had allowed his emotions to speak louder than his heart and mind.
Groaning, he writhed on the volcanic floor, his agony almost unbearable. It was hard to estimate how long it lasted. But eventually, after what could have been either a few minutes or a whole year, the pain subsided. And along with it, his wrath.
He was beginning to understand. To realize the logic behind Scar's reasoning. After all, Simba had been responsible for his death… For Zira's exile… And now that Simba was dead, justice had to be carried out in another way. The wretch's filthy offspring had to suffer for the faults of their father, even if they themselves were without blame.
Kovu agreed with it now. Truly, Kion and Kiara's sacrifice was a tragic, yet necessary one.
Looking down on his hand-picked heir, Scar observed his transformation. It was like the crowning of all his work. His ultimate triumph.
-Sisi ni sawa – Kovu heard the spirit whisper in his ear. – Now, my son, we are one.
The lion opened his eyes. Though one of them was disfigured by a fresh scar, streaming with blood and venom, he felt much better. Looking up at the one who had once been scarred just like him, Kovu smiled.
-Yes - he said with a newfound strength in his voice. - Sisi ni sawa. We are one.
Then, bowing his head, he uttered-
-Thank you… father.
He was grateful to Scar. After all, it was because of him that he became the one and undisputed king of the Pridelands, fulfilling his destiny as Scar's heir.
Though his leg still hurt him, he walked out of the volcano confidently. At the entrance, he was rejoined by Vitani. His sister was covered in blood and eager to know if the deed was done.
When the siblings assured one another that both of the traitors were dead, with smiles on their faces, they directed their steps back toward Pride Rock. Scar and Zira were right, all along, and the children were happy that they had listened to their parents. Now, with the power of the Roar on their side and no enemies to fear, they could rule the land undisturbed by anyone.
There was only one thought that bothered Kovu as he was making his way back to his domain at Vitani's side. It was that, upon arriving there, he would be alone. Kiara, his queen, was dead, and he was now left with no mate and no descendants.
But he didn't allow that thought to ruin his inner peace for long. After all, there were always the other lionesses. There were still three of Vitani's guardians who had remained faithful. Perhaps he could take one of them as his mate, just as Zira had once promised him? Perhaps he could take them all?
Pondering that, Kovu remembered a song he had once heard in the jungle. And just as then, the words of that song seemed to him very appropriate at the present moment. Humming it in his mind, he went on, his head bobbing to the rhythm of the imaginary music.
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad. I got sunshine in a bag. I'm useless, but not for long. The future is coming on.
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad. I got sunshine in a bag. I'm useless, but not for long. The future is coming on.
It's coming on.
It's coming on.
It's coming on…
The thick smoke of the volcano covered up the light of the stars that night.
THE END
AN: Please don't hate me.
I like redemption stories. I like to expose the dim spark of good in characters usually considered 'evil'. This, however, is not such a story. It's the exact opposite. A tale of corruption, if you will, and I almost feel bad after writing it.
Yeah, I did make Scar the baddie, which is super cliché. But it's Scar, man. He's the best of Disney villains, who kills 7 animals during the period of just one song he sings to Kion in the Lion Guard! On Disney Junior! He not just killed his brother, he also convinced his little nephew that his father's death was his fault, and then he sent out hyenas to tear him apart anyway! It's obvious he would seek revenge on Simba for killing him. He is vengeance. He delights in torturing others, maintaining a disguise of friendliness. And he loves to manipulate, to get into people's minds.
Kovu gets caught in Scar's trap fairly easily. This is why his despair almost pushes him to suicide. He did resist at first, but his reasoning was, shall we say, flawed. His anger and suspicion begins to grow, until he develops a prejudice against Kion. He's not just jealous of him, but the fake visions Scar shows to Kovu make him believe that he's indeed doing the right thing. Still, Kovu does the exact opposite to what he promised the Pridelanders in his coronation speech, eventually becoming that what he thinks Kion is- a heartless cynic. And Vitani fell into the same exact trap which she'd warned Kovu about before Scar allowed her to speak to Zira. This means that the 'three Scars' in the penultimate chapter are not the three lions who have a scar on their face, as the cover picture might indicate, but those who have undergone the same corruption- namely, Scar, Kovu, and Vitani.
In this story, we see the transformation of the siblings until they become the exact thing they tried to fight before- their parents. As Kovu becomes a second Scar, Elkanah's venom sealing his fate, Vitani becomes just like their mother, with the exception that she is indeed far more powerful, as she possesses the power of the Roar and remains the leader of what's left of the Lion Guard. How is that possible? Well, Vitani doesn't know that she's killing innocents with the use of the Roar. The hyenas did attack her, after all, and I doubt the Old Kings would punish Vitani for doing something she didn't know was wrong. Imara is spared by the Old Kings… yet not for long. Though she was merely guilty of having an obsession with Kion, Scar twists that into a lie that the two were lovers, which solidifies Imara's treason in the eyes of Vitani and Kovu even more.
So yes, it was all Scar's plan. It was him who employed the snake who poisoned Nala and Kiara (and Rafiki, as well). It was him who made Kovu prevent Kion from healing Kiara, thus causing her to miscarry. The only thing he isn't guilty of, is Simba's death. But no one is guilty of that, especially not Kion. In this story, Kion was completely innocent from the very beginning.
This is the big reveal. Actually, this story can be considered a continuation of one of my previous ones, titled 'A Happy Day in Hell'. Now, Scar and Zira are probably laughing their heads off, too.
I hope you had fun reading and that you're not too disappointed with the conclusion, cause oh boy, I certainly had a ball following your reactions and speculations. I mean, bruh. How did anyone not see this coming? The first thing Scar did was to lie to Kovu about his identity! Dead giveaway! And since then, he just continued lying. Now the Pridelands are ruled by what is essentially a reincarnation of Scar and Zira. Good luck to those who wanted Kion as their king.
Thank you for your time, my friends! Please, don't listen to ghost telling you to kill people. That's not gonna end well, about 100% of the time. Evil has triumphed, all good is punished. Long live the king. Were you wishing for a happy ending? You can still read my other stuff. Now, go listen to 'Clint Eastwood' by Gorillaz. Ciao!