Chapter 9 – The Battle
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"Now, Kiara, tomorrow your mother and I are going to the jungle oasis." Simba said to Kiara, "We'll be gone for about a week. You're sure that you and Kovu will be alright?"
"Oh, Daddy!" Kiara replied, "You worry too much."
"Everything will be fine." Kovu added, "We'll see to that."
Just then, Nala entered the lion's den.
"Simba!" she said, "I'm glad you're back. We have to get to the oasis now!"
"Why? What's the hurry?"
"While you were gone, Zazu came by with a message from Timon. He says that a hyena has found their oasis!"
"What?!"
"And it's worse. That hyena killed Timon's uncle and has threatened to come back with reinforcements!"
Simba, Kovu, and Kiara were shocked.
"Well then we've got no time to waste!" said Simba, "Kovu, I hope you don't mind being in charge for one extra day."
"I understand." Kovu said with a nod, "Good luck, both of you."
Kiara walked up to her parents and Nala gave Kiara a nuzzle.
"Bye, Mom." Kiara said.
Then Simba did the same.
"Bye, Dad."
"We'll be back in a week." Simba told her, "Take care, sweetheart."
Simba and Nala then ran out of the lion's den and made their way towards the jungle oasis as fast as they could.
"I hope they get there in time." Kiara said to Kovu.
Kovu nuzzled Kiara to comfort her, and said, "Me too."
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Pumbaa trotted through the jungle with Timon standing on Pumbaa's head. Timon was facing a group of the meerkats; who were jogging a short distance behind them.
"They ain't gonna get us. Not today!" Timon shouted to the meerkats.
"They ain't gonna get us. Not today!" the meerkats shouted back.
"For what they've done, they're gonna pay!"
"For what they've done, they're gonna pay!"
Pumbaa looked up, then stopped and said, "Timon, look!"
"Not now, Pumbaa." Timon said, turning around, "And why'd you stop?"
Timon then noticed Zazu coming in for a landing in front of them. He quickly turned back to face the meerkats and said, "Company-"
Suddenly, the meerkats in the front row bumped into Pumbaa. Then the second row bumped into the front row, the third row bumped into the second row, and so on. Timon stumbled backwards and tried to keep his balance on Pumbaa's snout, but he soon fell off and landed on Zazu.
"…halt."
"Sorry." said Pumbaa.
"I don't suppose you'd mind getting OFF me, would you?" Zazu asked Timon.
"No, not at all." Timon replied.
Timon and the other meerkats got up and started dusting themselves off.
"Obviously, you're still not used to being a leader yet, are you?"
"Hey, I'm doing my best! Now whattaya want?"
"King Simba sends his apologies for the delay, but he says that he and Queen Nala will try to make it here as soon as they can. In addition to that, I thought you should know that I spotted the hyenas on my way here. It looks like they'll be arriving any minute now."
"How many of them are there?"
"By my count, there were four."
"Well, that doesn't sound too bad." said Pumbaa.
"Yeah, but we better hope they don't spread the word about this place." Timon said, "Thanks for the info, Zazu."
"Just doing my duty." Zazu replied, "Anything else you'd like me to report to the king?"
"Nope, can't think of anything."
"Very well. Ta-Ta. Oh, and good luck against the hyenas. You'll certainly need it."
With that, Zazu flew off.
"Battle stations, everyone!" Timon ordered, "Move out!"
Everyone scrambled to their positions and ducked out of sight.
"Timon, there!" Pumbaa said, pointing.
Timon looked and saw the hyenas approaching.
"Alright, here's the plan." he told Pumbaa, "I'm gonna try to stall them. Hopefully, I can buy enough time for Simba and Nala to get here. If not, then I'll make a break for the hole. Tell the others to stay hidden and not to come out until we move on to phase 2."
"Got it, Timon."
Pumbaa trotted off. Timon then spit on his hands and rubbed them together.
"Eww! Why'd I do that?"
After wiping his hands on the grass, he walked over to the hyenas.
"Look at this place!" Bob said excitedly, "It's even better than I pictured it!"
"Yeah. And soon it'll be ours." Lakota replied, "And whatever meerkats we don't devour will be our new slaves."
"Speaking of which, here comes one right now." Akili said, pointing a paw in Timon's direction.
Lakota looked and saw Timon walking up to them.
"Well, if it isn't the so-called Great Timon." said Lakota.
"The very same. So, you've heard of me?"
"Yeah. The little meerkat punk who killed my brother, Dakota!"
"Ah, you must mean the hyena that I sent falling to his death. I thought your ugly face resembled someone else I knew. And just who might you be, besides my Uncle Max's killer?"
"Oh yeah." Lakota chuckled, "I don't believe we've been introduced. I'm Lakota. This is Akili, Brutus, and Bob."
"Hi. Nice to meet you." said Bob, "Say, nice place you got here. Very beauti-"
Lakota picked up a rock with his paw and threw it at Bob, hitting him in the head.
"Shutting up."
"Now that we're all acquainted," Lakota continued, "let's do lunch."
"Well, I hope you ordered your meal to go." Timon said, "Cause here it goes!"
Timon then ran off as fast as he could.
"After him!" Lakota ordered.
'Feet, don't fail me now!' Timon thought.
Lakota and the other hyenas chased after Timon as he ran towards the first trap.
"Now, Ma!" Timon shouted.
Nina, who was standing in a nearby tree branch, lowered a vine above the trap hole. Timon jumped towards the vine and grabbed onto it. Then Nina pulled the vine upwards as hard as she could. The hyenas looked up as Timon started climbing. Then Lakota glanced at the ground in front of them.
"Wait!" he shouted, "Stop!"
The hyenas all screeched to a halt. Brutus however, was too late and fell right into the trap.
"Looks like only one of them fell for it." said Nina.
"Well, it's a start." Timon said, "Alright, let's move on to phase 2."
"Phase 2!" Nina shouted to the other meerkats.
As the hyenas tried to help Brutus out of the hole, a voice shouted, "Yoo-hoo! Over here!"
The hyenas looked and saw a group of meerkats a few yards away. Putting their thumbs in their ears and sticking out their tongues, the meerkats wiggled their fingers and blew raspberries at the hyenas. Then they turned around, bent over, and waved their tails in the air, and called out "Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah!" Then they ran off.
"Let's split up." said Lakota.
"Good idea." Akili replied.
"Yeah, we can do more damage that way." added Bob.
Each of them went in a different direction, pursuing the meerkats that taunted them.
"Uhh… guys?" called Brutus, "What about me? Guys?"
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"You sure this is gonna work?" Flinchy nervously asked Stumpy.
"Look, it's real simple." Stumpy replied, "Just go out there and get that hyena's attention. Then lure him over here and we'll do the rest."
"But I…"
"Do it!"
"Alright, alright. I'm going."
Flinchy came out of the bushes and walked up to Bob; who was looking and sniffing around for the meerkats he'd been chasing.
"I know you're here somewhere."
Flinchy then cleared his throat and said, "H-Here I am. C-Come and get me!"
Just as Bob turned his head and noticed him, Flinchy ran off as fast as he could.
"Hey, no fair!" Bob said, giving chase, "Wait up!"
As soon as Flinchy and Bob were in range, Stumpy emerged from his hiding place, holding a vine with a rock tied to each end. He spun it around and then threw it at Bob. The vine wrapped itself around Bob's legs and he fell to the ground, unable to move.
"Whoa, that got him!" a meerkat said with excitement, "Good assistance, Flinchy."
Flinchy stopped to catch his breath, then turned around and looked at Bob.
"Wow!" he said to himself, "That really worked!"
As Bob struggled to free himself, he soon found himself surrounded by meerkats; who were all wielding big sticks. Nervously, he looked around and smiled at them. The meerkats just glared at him for a brief moment, then they attacked.
"Ow! Ooh! Ack! Ow!" Bob cried, "Cut it out, will ya? Ow! Ooh!"
---
"Missed me again!" Swifty taunted Akili, "Can't touch me! Too slow!"
Akili repeatedly lunged at Swifty; who kept moving out of the way with his incredible speed. Swifty kept that up until he suddenly 'accidentally' tripped and fell onto the ground.
"Ow!" he cried, "Oh, help me! I've fallen and I can't get up!"
"Aww, poor baby." Akili said, nearly out of breath, "Don't worry, I'll be happy to help you. Help you get to my stomach!"
Akili took one last lunge at Swifty; who then hastily got up and jumped out of the way. Then before Akili knew it, she was pulled in the air by a snare trap.
"Just kidding!" said Swifty.
Seconds later, Akili noticed Sherri and Gus come towards her with a small group of other young meerkats. As they got in position, Swifty handed each pup a stick, while Sherri tied a leaf around each pup's eyes.
"Okay, kids," Sherri said, "Get ready, set, go!"
The pups began hitting Akili like a piñata.
"Ow! Ooh! Hey!" she cried, "Stop it! Ow! You little brats! Ow!"
---
With his leadership stick clutched in his teeth, Timon climbed down to the bottom of the tree, where Pumbaa was waiting.
"How we doing so far, Pumbaa?" he asked, after taking the stick out of his mouth.
"Well, there's good news and bad news." Pumbaa told him, "The good news is: Brutus is stuck in the hole, Bob has been successfully restrained by Stumpy, and Akili has fallen for our snare trap."
"That's good to hear." Timon replied with a grin, "What about Lakota?"
"Yeah… that's the bad news. He seems to be avoiding most of our traps and we've lost sight of him."
"I see. Well, is Zina safe?"
"Uhh… I don't know. I was hoping she was with you."
"I thought you were protecting her."
Realizing that he and Pumbaa had once lost Kiara that way, Timon slapped his forehead and thought, 'Jeez, I'm such an idiot!'
"You do realize this isn't a good time for us to start another fight." Pumbaa replied.
"Yeah, I know." Timon said glumly, "It's my fault anyway."
"Aw, don't worry, Timon. She's gotta be alive."
"Yeah, you're right. That Lakota'll never get her."
Pumbaa suddenly looked behind Timon and gasped.
"That stupid hyena." Timon continued, "He couldn't catch a cold in a blizzard."
"Uhh, Timon…"
"He's probably just as dumb as his brother was."
"Timon…"
"In fact, I'll bet he's so dumb… he's behind me, isn't he?"
Pumbaa nodded. Timon turned around and sure enough, there was Lakota, standing just three feet away from him. And to Timon's horror, Lakota was holding Zina by the tail in his teeth.
"Perhaps I'm not as dumb as Dakota was?" Lakota said through his clenched teeth.
"Help me!" Zina cried.
The other meerkats stopped what they were doing and looked. They all gasped when they noticed Zina dangling from Lakota's jaws.
"Should we use my secret weapon?" Pumbaa whispered to Timon.
Timon nodded in response. Pumbaa then turned around while Timon hastily climbed onto his back. Setting his stick down, he grabbed Pumbaa's tail and cocked it like a shotgun.
"Alright, Lakota," he said, pointing it at him, "just put the girl down and I won't have to use this."
"So you really care about this girl, huh?" Lakota said, "Tell ya what, punk. I'll make you a deal. You let my friends go, I'll let her live and we'll leave. You have my promise."
'He didn't say they wouldn't come back.' Timon thought, 'Even so, I trust this jerk about as far as I can throw him. But I can't lose Zina like I lost Pop and Uncle Max.'
Timon then remembered the words that his father told him. 'Give your life for her if it should come to that.' Thinking about those words, he looked at his stick and back at Lakota. Then he had an idea.
"Well?" Lakota asked impatiently, "Is it a deal or not?"
"How 'bout I make you a different deal? You let her go, and I'll take her place."
All the other meerkats and Pumbaa gasped.
"Timon, you can't be serious!" said Pumbaa.
"I am serious. I'm willing to die for the one I love. Besides, that's the reason you came here, right? To get revenge on me for killing your brother. Well, now here's your chance."
Lakota chuckled and said, "All right. Deal."
Akili; having overheard their conversation, was shocked. She couldn't believe that he was just going to leave them there, just so he could avenge his brother.
"One condition though." Timon added, "She and I get to share one last kiss first."
"Well, seeing as how it'll be your last… okay."
Timon let go of Pumbaa's tail, picked up his stick, and jumped off Pumbaa's back. Then Lakota put Zina down and she ran up to Timon. Timon and Zina threw their arms around each other and kissed. As they pulled away, Zina just looked up at Timon with tears in her eyes, not knowing what to say.
"Trust me." Timon whispered to her, "I know what I'm doing."
He then winked at her and walked towards Lakota.
"Now put that stick down slowly." Lakota ordered.
Timon nodded and started to put his stick down. Then he quickly brought it back up and said, "You forgot to say 'please!'"
He then threw the stick as hard as he could, right into Lakota's eye. Lakota screamed in pain and rubbed his eye. Timon quickly picked up Zina, ran up to Pumbaa, and put Zina on his snout.
"Run, Pumbaa!" he shouted, "Get her out of here, now!"
Pumbaa nodded and ran off. Timon then looked around for a weapon and found a big stick just a few feet away. But just as he started running towards it, Lakota suddenly snapped his jaws at Timon and grabbed onto his right foot.
"YEOWWWW!" Timon screamed.
"Timmy!" Nina shouted.
"Timon!" shouted Pumbaa and Zina.
"You ain't goin' nowhere, pal!" Lakota said, "Except to my stomach!"
Suddenly, everyone heard a loud roar. Lakota turned around. Then he dropped Timon and screamed as a male lion pounced on him, pinned him to the ground, and delivered a fatal bite to his neck. In less than a second, Lakota was dead. Timon; who was now rubbing his foot in pain, wiggled his toes a bit and was relieved to find out that he still had them all. Then he looked up at his savior.
"Simba! Nala!" he cried with excitement.
"It's Simba and Nala!" Pumbaa shouted.
The meerkats cheered wildly.
"Long time, no see, Timon." said Nala.
"Sorry we took so long." added Simba, "Was that the hyena that killed Max?"
"Yep, that was him all right." Timon responded, "Say, what kept you guys anyway?"
"Oh, a bunch of things came up that only I could take care of. And only after doing those things was I able to get your message from Zazu. It's not always easy being king, you know."
Pumbaa ran up to Simba and Nala, with Nina and Zina riding on his back. When he stopped, Nina and Zina jumped off.
"Welcome back, Simba." said Pumbaa, "Good to see you again. And you too, Nala."
"Likewise, Pumbaa." Simba replied, "I'm glad you and Timon are both still in one piece."
As Timon continued rubbing his aching foot, Nina ran up to him.
"Timmy! Are you okay? Here, let me see it."
Nina held Timon's foot and began surveying it.
"Well, you still got all your toes. That's good. And you don't seem to be bleeding anywhere. Does this hurt?"
Timon pulled his foot away and said, "Ma, stop fussing already! I'm fine."
He then stood up, pretending not to feel any pain. Shortly afterwards, he noticed Zina walking up to him.
"Zina!"
Timon limped as fast as he could towards her, and they shared another loving embrace.
"Oh, Timon!" Zina cried, "I'm so glad you made it!"
"I'm real sorry, Zina." Timon replied, "I should never have left you out of my sight."
"Forget about it. You saved my life again, and that's all that matters."
"So I see you've made a new friend, Timon." said Simba.
"Oh yeah." Timon said, pulling away, "You haven't met Simba and Nala yet. Simba, Nala, meet Zina. Zina, King Simba and Queen Nala."
Zina bowed to them.
"I'm very honored to meet you." she said.
"Pleased to meet you too. Excuse me for a moment."
Simba then roared again.
"All right, the rest of you hyenas, listen up!" he shouted, "I hereby order you to leave this place and never return again! If any harm comes to either the meerkats or the warthog in this colony, I will personally hunt you all down and kill you. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Sire!" Akili shouted back.
"Yes, Sire!" Brutus shouted.
"Yes, of course, your majesty!" Bob shouted, "We would never ever…"
A meerkat hit him in the head with his stick.
"Shutting up."
The meerkats untied Akili and Bob; who then ran to the hole in the ground, where Brutus was. With a bit of effort, they were able to pull him out of the hole.
"You heard his majesty!" Timon said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder, "Move it! Get lost! Be gone!"
"Yes, sir." the hyenas all said together.
As Timon watched the hyenas leave, all the other meerkats in the colony came up behind him. When Timon turned around, they all bowed.
"Oh, right. Sorry." Timon said, bowing to Simba and Nala.
Simba and Nala grinned, then looked back at the other meerkats and chuckled.
"Timon, you might want to turn around." said Nala, "I don't think they're done yet."
"Huh?"
Timon turned around and saw something he never thought he'd see before. All the other meerkats were saluting him. Pumbaa, Nina, and Zina soon followed.
"Timon, you truly are the greatest meerkat we've ever known." Swifty said.
"If you hadn't convinced us to defend ourselves, we'd all be back to our old lifestyle of digging tunnels by now." added Sherri.
"I'm so sorry I ever doubted you." said Flinchy, "I don't know what I was thinking."
"We're proud to call you our leader." said Stumpy.
Timon didn't know what to say. Up until then, he never thought he'd be a very good leader. Now he was being hailed as the best one they'd ever had. Finally, he was able to say, "At ease."
The others lowered their arms to their sides and relaxed.
"Well, what're we all just standing around for?" Timon said, "A victory just isn't a victory without a victory celebration, right? But first… Zina, I'd like to ask you something."
Timon knelt in front of her and held her hand.
"Zina, my love, will you be my mate?" he asked.
This time Timon wasn't embarrassed to ask that question, despite everyone watching.
Zina smiled and answered, "I thought you'd never ask."
Everyone cheered as Timon's and Zina's lips came in contact once again. Nina sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye.
"My baby's all grown up!" she said.
She then burst into tears on Pumbaa's shoulder. Pumbaa grinned and patted her back.
---
"I say we kill Simba and then…"
"I say you shut up, Brutus." Akili interrupted.
"But we're not gonna let him get away with killing Lakota, are we?"
"First of all, if we do kill Simba, the rest of his pride will be breathing down our necks. And in case you didn't hear, they're now twice as big as they were after Scar's defeat. Secondly, let's face it. Lakota was a jerk, just like his brother."
Brutus thought about it.
"You know, you're right." he said.
"Yeah, I never did like Lakota slapping me in the face." Bob replied, "And Dakota was always hogging the chow."
"Speaking of chow, I never really did like the taste of meerkats." Brutus said, "How 'bout you, Akili?"
"To tell you the truth, I'd rather go for something with more meat on its bones."
"Yeah, and something that's easier to catch." added Bob.
"Then it's decided." said Akili, "From now on, we give up meerkats and stick to bigger and slower animals."
"Agreed." Bob and Brutus said together.
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To be concluded