"Ah, I love the night!" Tama exclaimed, grinning evilly. "The uncertainty, the mystery… the horrifying evil!" She let out an evil laugh, causing Tojo to narrow his eyes from behind her.

"Now I'm confused," he said, scratching his head. "Did we come all the way out to this cave just so you could say a few evil things?"

Tama and Tojo were in the deserted Outlands, standing outside the opening to a cave. Tojo didn't particularly know why they were there, but he figured that it was for some kind of evil purpose.

With Tama, that's what it was always like. She was always doing something evil – which was strange because Tojo knew that she really was a good person on the inside. She just didn't believe it. Not anymore.

Tama had recently told Tojo the story of how she became the evil person she was. It was because of an incident in which her father had relentlessly beat her until she was unconscious. Tama had been scarred by the incident, but she didn't ever reveal it. Not until she told Tojo. Tama had become evil because she didn't ever want to go through anything like that ever again. She wasn't ever going to be good again. She promised herself that. It was a promise she was going to stick to.

"Tojo, we've come here for a very special purpose," Tama informed him. "A very evil purpose."

"Now how did I figure that one out?" Tojo remarked, rolling his eyes. Tama could be really predictable sometimes. A lot of the time, actually. "And just what is this real purpose, Tama?"

"Well, Tojo, I'll tell you. According to stories spread around by resourceful animals of the Pride Lands, this is the cave where you'll find a magical genie who can make all your dreams come true," Tama explained, smiling.

Tojo's face fell. "A magical genie? Just who are these 'resourceful animals of the Pride Lands'?" he asked, doubting that there was a smidgen of truth to this outlandish assumption. Tama's dragged me all the way out here just to hunt for a genie that doesn't even exist? Tojo thought. Come on, I have b etter things to do with my life than follow her around all the time! Wait… I don't, actually. Yeah, b ut you get the point.

"Um…" Tama looked rather nervous after Tojo asked who her 'resourceful animals' were. "Well, it was a few cubs by the water hole, but I'm sure they're telling the truth! Why would they make it up?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because they want to trick you so you'll fall down some deep, dark pit and never be seen again?" Tojo guessed, grinning at her.

"Don't be stupid, Tojo! They happen to be very useful people. I might consider giving them Sundays off when I become the Queen around here. Once I've married Simba, of course." Tama took a few steps towards the cave opening, and looked it over. "Everything seems in order. Let's go inside."

"What?" Tojo exclaimed, his eyes widening. "We are not going in there!" he declared defiantly, pointing to the cave opening with a claw.

"Why not?" she asked in a teasing tone, getting closer to Tojo. "Is little Tojo scared of the dark cave?" she teased, pinching his cheek.

"No. I'm just being…" Tojo's eyes darted left and right. "Cautious. Who knows what could be down there? There could be monsters and creatures and all sorts of things that you can't even imagine!"

"Relax, Tojo. All that's down there is a magical genie, and I'll use my three wishes to get everything I've ever wanted!" Tama laughed evilly, her voice echoing into the night.

"What exactly are these three wishes?" Tojo asked, narrowing his eyes at her. If he knew Tama, then her wishes would be very evil and greedy ones.

"Well, first I'd wish for Simba to fall madly in love with me, then I'd wish for Nala to go throw herself off a cliff, and then I'd wish for… something that I can't exactly think of right now. Maybe I'll let you have the last wish."

"Genies can't kill people, Tama," Tojo informed her.

Tama turned around to face Tojo, an evil grin on her face and a sinister glint in her eyes. "You'd be surprised what you can live through."

Tojo gulped nervously. "Just make sure I'm not part of one of your wishes, then."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it, Tojo. You deserve a reward after all you've done for me," she told Tojo, prompting him to look rather surprised.

"What, really?" he said, quite stunned. "I thought you were against giving me any sort of reward."

"Tojo, stop thinking back to the past," she said, shaking her head. "That's all behind us now. We're equals – partners, if you will. We split everything right down the middle – sixty-forty."

Tojo narrowed his eyes in response. "Sixty-forty isn't—"

"Now, we need to get inside this cave," Tama interrupted, taking a few careful steps into the cave. She was still visible in the pale moonlight, which provided the only illumination in the night. She turned around to look at Tojo, who was rooted firmly to his original spot. "Are you coming?"

"Nope," Tojo replied, shaking his head. "I refuse to go into any kind of scary, dark cave."

"Oh, so you are scared of the cave," Tama teased, a tight smile on his face. "Fair enough, then. I'll just leave you out here all on your own, while I go in all by myself."

"Okay," Tojo agreed, smiling at her. "You go right ahead and find your genie." Tama turned around and took a few steps more into the cave. "It'd be a shame if you got eaten by some hungry hyenas without me to help you, wouldn't it?"

"There aren't any hyenas in the Outlands anymore, Tama," Tojo told her, still fixed to his spot. "I'm not moving. Nothing out here is going to try and kill me."

Tama gritted her teeth. "You'd be surprised what you can live through," she muttered. She turned back to Tojo, grinning.

"Okay! See you in a while!" Tama waved goodbye and continued into the cave, where she was quickly swallowed up by the darkness.

Tojo waved back. "Bye," he said quietly, looking around the Outlands, suddenly feeling rather lonely. He strode over to a large rock and hopped on top of it, resting his head on his paws as he lay down on his stomach. "Well… this is fun," he said, suddenly regretting that he hadn't gone with Tama into the cave.

Oh, well, I'm sure it won't b e long until she gets b ack, he thought hopefully. She'll only b e gone an hour or so. He sighed. So all I can do is… wait… here… alone…

Tojo listened to the crickets chirping in the night, and it wasn't long before his eyes slowly shut, and he fell asleep, snoring lightly.


"It sure is dark around here," Tama said to herself, as she walked deeper and deeper into the cave, wondering just how long the cave went on for. Surely her magical treasure couldn't be too far away! She wanted that genie! She wanted to make all of her dreams come true! She wanted that power!

Tama was taken by surprise when her face got caught in something sticky. "Hey!" she exclaimed, pulling at whatever she had got caught in.

It was just come cobwebs, which she quickly brushed aside. "Stupid spiders! Don't they know some people come exploring down here so they can take control of a mighty kingdom?"

Tama took a few more steps forward, when she heard a loud high-pitched shriek, which echoed throughout the cave.

She stopped dead, looking around in the blackness to see if she could make out where the sound had come from.

Staring ahead, Tama could make out a thin beam of light shining down in the distance, illuminating a small part of the cave.

Tama lightly ran towards the beam of light, wondering if the shriek had come from there. Just what the heck is making that racket? Tama asked angrily. I'm trying to do evil deeds around here!

Stopping just a few feet before the beam of light, Tama looked upwards to see how this small part of the cave was being illuminated. There was a tiny little hole in the cave ceiling, and the moonlight had shone down on it, creating the small beam of light.

Tama heard the shriek again, only this time it was much, much louder. What the…? she exclaimed, looking past the beam of light to see just where this shriek was emanating from.

Looking up at a part of the cave ceiling, Tama could make out a small figure hanging upside down from it. Taking a step closer, Tama gasped when she realised what the figure was.

It was a bat. A black bat, hanging upside down from the cave ceiling. Tama could feel her heart pounding in her chest, which was surprising to her because she always told herself that she feared nothing, considering she was an evil mastermind.

The bat shrieked again, even louder this time. Tama jumped back in fright, fearing that the creature was about to lunge at her.

Even though she didn't really want to, Tama couldn't help but take a few more steps closer to the bat. It was as if it was calling to her. Almost hypnotically…

Tama was so close to the bat that she was directly underneath it, staring up at the thing with curiosity. One b at? she thought. You'd think there'd b e hundreds of them in a cave like this. I wonder why there's just—

Suddenly, the bat dropped down with a high-pitched shriek, landing on Tama's head. She screamed and fell to the ground, landing hard on her side. She cried out in pain, as the bat shrieked again.

Before Tama had any time to recover, the bat lunged at her neck and bit down hard into it with its fangs. Tama opened her mouth to cry out, but she couldn't make a noise. Her voice became all choked up as the bat's fangs dug deep into her neck.

The bat released its fangs from Tama's neck, and with one final cry it fell to the ground, instantly dead.

Putting a paw to her neck, Tama could feel a tiny wound. She held her paw up in front of her face and could see blood, and a good bit of it, too.

And then… Tama began to feel different. She cried out as a sudden pain in her neck struck her, causing her to collapse to the ground again. The pain began to intensify by the second, until it became so bad that Tama couldn't even move.

Tama then stood right up, and screamed at the top of her voice as she felt something beginning to change in her mouth. Her mouth opened as wide as it possible could, and two long, sharp fangs began to slide out, glinting in the moonlight. She continued to scream as her eyes turned from their usual orange to a crimson red.

Then, the screaming suddenly stopped, and Tama collapsed to the ground, gasping heavily.

Seconds passed before the gasping ceased, and Tama slowly rose up, grinning evilly, baring her new fangs, her crimson eyes shining with pure evil. As she grinned, she could only think of one thing.

Blood, she thought. I need b lood.