Zazu's shoulders were hung low, his wings sliding out across the ground. He had tears in his eyes upon finishing his rather disturbing tale. "It was the worst moment of my life," he said. "And I've never been able to forgive myself. I killed my own father. My own flesh and blood."

"Zazu…" Simba began. "It wasn't your fault. Someone – or something – caused your father to die. And, if you look at it, he was going to die anyway."

"I know," Zazu agreed, closing his eyes in shame. "But if I hadn't wished for King Ahadi not to kill him, then his death wouldn't be on my poor, pitiful conscience. It would have been someone else's fault."

"So just who do you think that person was?" Simba asked, a curious look on his face.

This certainly was a mystery. A really big mystery. But the problem was that Simba liked mysteries. There was a lot about his family history that he had no knowledge about. His parents were very secretive about things like that. However, one day, he knew that he would find out the answers.

Zazu shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know, young master," he replied honestly. "He just… appeared to me. As if he was some kind of demented guardian angel. That's what I first thought. I thought he had come to help me. To try and set things right. But, of course, I was wrong. I used to be very foolish when I was a child. I blame your father, Simba. He used to be quite like you – only a little more 'under control', so to speak. Still, at least he became a decent king – with a little help from myself."

"But I don't understand," said Simba, fiddling with his tuft – what he always did when thinking. "Just what did the guy want? What was he going to get from killing your dad? And why is he in all those strange visions I keep having?"

"Wait, you've seen this guy before?" Nala asked, quickly turning to Simba. "Why didn't you say so?"

"I didn't know until after Zazu told me the story," Simba replied. "So it's the same guy who talked to Ahadi. It's the same guy who killed Ahadi. And it's the same guy who killed your dad."

"If I ever saw that creature again, then I know what I'd do," Zazu began to confess. "I'd ask him to let me switch places with my father. So he would be alive and I would die instead. I just feel like I could have done something more to save him. If he could see me now, then I'd be a failure in his eyes."

"I'm sorry, Zazu," said Nala.

"I'm sorry, Zazu," said a cruel, mimicking voice from behind the two cubs.

Simba and Nala turned around slowly, recognising the voice instantly, even though it was cruel and mimicking. They recognised it very, very well – because it was a voice they had heard so many times.

It was Haiba.

But with a significant difference. He had a wide, unpleasant, cruel grin on his face. He had glowing red eyes. And he looked like… pure evil.

"Haiba?" Simba's eyes widened in horror. "What the heck's happened to your eyes? I think someone's been staring at the sun for too long. You've completely burnt them from the inside out!"

"Uh, Simba, I don't think he's been looking at the sun for too long," said Nala, cautiously taking a step forwards. "Haiba? Are you in there?"

"I would like to say yes," Haiba replied in his normal voice. But his eyes were still glowing red, giving him an air of scariness that sent a chill up the cubs' spines. "But unfortunately the answer is no."

"Who are you?" Simba demanded, staring hard at whatever had replaced Haiba and taken his form. "What have you done with Haiba?"

"I am Haiba," he replied. "Just… not in a very conventional sense, you know? I've possessed him. It's a common trick where I come from. Not one of those flashy, stupid Grand Lands tricks. I'm talking magic, here. Very powerful magic, to be exact."

Simba and Nala looked at each other, confused beyond belief. "Who are you?" Simba repeated, sounding very angry with this… thing that had taken over Haiba's body.

"Who am I?" he said, putting his forepaws to his chest. "That's actually a brilliant question. No, really, I appreciate your investigative nature. It's – what's the word I'm looking for? – clever, that's it. So, if you really want an answer, then I would direct you to my previous clues. Two words, to be precise: kufa inawadia."

Simba gasped upon hearing those two words. He remembered them clearly from a frightening incident that had occurred a while ago – on the night before he had even met Haiba. "I know those words," he realised. "That was before—"

"—You met me," the Haiba imposter finished. "Or… not me, if you get what I mean. Sorry, this stuff gets a little confusing sometimes. But hey, what can you do?"

"If you're so powerful, then show yourself," said Nala bravely. "Come on. Let's see what you really look like."

The Haiba imposter chuckled. "Oh, I've been planning on doing this for ages and ages," he said, a smile forming on his face. "You know, no one's ever seen what I actually look like. Not until today, that is. This is one of those special occasions. Sure, people have talked to me, but they've never actually seen me. Just the red eyes. That's all they need to see just to be scared."

Zazu started to shake with fear, finally realising just who this was. "Oh, no…" he said. "It's… it's… it's you!"

"That's right, baby!" the imposter exclaimed, before opening his mouth wide.

A thick, black mist began to explode from Haiba's mouth, causing a strange mix between the sound of hissing and vomiting. The red colour in Haiba's eyes slowly began to drain away, until they returned to their usual blue colour.

The black mist stopped firing out of Haiba's mouth, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Simba, Nala and Zazu looked on – both in horror and amazement – as the black mist began to form some kind of shape.

The mist hissed as it formed the shape of what appeared to be that of a lion. What the…? Simba exclaimed, his mouth wide open.

The mist – now in the perfect proportional shape of a lion – began to fade away, revealing grey fur. The greyest grey that anyone had ever seen. One look at it and you would feel instantly depressed.

The mist disappeared to reveal a sleek, black mane. The blackest black that anyone would ever witness. One look at it and you would feel like weeping for hours.

The mist finally dissipated, to reveal a face with crimson eyes, and sharp, menacing, vampire-like teeth. One look at them and you would feel like committing suicide.

Simba, Nala and Zazu were more horrified than they ever had been. This was the scariest sight they had ever seen in their lives. The mere sight of this… creature terrified them. Just who was he?

The lion threw his fore paws up in the air – attached to the ends of which were long, sharp, jagged claws – and grinned widely. "Hello, Pride Lands! Death is back!"