Haiba was violently thrown at Simba's paws, landing on the ground hard. "Hey, watch the fur!" he shouted at the lioness who had just dragged him out of the den. "And to think I was having a good day, too!"

He looked up to see Simba staring down at him, a curious look on his face. "Haiba?" he said, looking surprised. "You're looking awfully… un-hypnotised," he said. "I must say this is a cause for concern."

"Simba, what is going on?" Haiba asked, feeling more confused than the time when he'd had to eat a frog. His mother had said something like 'it would keep his energy levels up,' or something like that. "Everyone around here is suddenly saying that you're the King. Has the whole pride gone crazy or something?"

"Oh, I'm afraid not, Haiba," Simba replied, as he lay on his back, casually inspecting his claws. "Things have changed," he told him. "I am now the new King. I'm moving the Pride Lands in a new direction. My direction," he said with an evil chuckle.

"But… I d-don't u-understand," Haiba sputtered, staring at Simba with wide eyes. "You?" he exclaimed, pointing to Simba with a claw. "The King? How? This makes no sense…" he said, shaking his head.

"You may find it very confusing," Simba agreed. "But most of my other subjects have taken to it very well. They are ever so obedient, after all. They do whatever I ask them to. And hey…" He shrugged. "I'm not complaining."

Haiba noticed the spirals all of the lionesses had in their eyes, and instantly became suspicious. "You've done something to them," he concluded, staring at Simba. "Haven't you?"

"It's not what I've done to them," Simba replied, pointing to himself. "It's what my new friend has done to them. He's shared his greatness with everyone here," he said, as if speaking about someone he dearly loved. "He is such a kind, caring friend."

"Okay." Haiba had a worried look on his face. "I'm officially freaked out now. What the heck are you talking about?" he yelled, trying to knock some sense into Simba. "You're just talking complete nonsense! A 'new friend'? What kind of a friend makes lionesses think you're the King?"

Simba smiled, reached behind his back, and pulled out the shiny diamond, which seemed to sparkle even more now.

"This is my new friend," he said, holding it up for Haiba to see.

"Pretty, pretty, shiny, shiny…" the lionesses said at the sight of it, their smiles growing wider.

Haiba stared down at the diamond, and then frowned. "That's your new friend?" he said, pointing to it. "An Uchoyo Diamond?"

Simba looked surprised. "Huh?" he exclaimed, looking at Haiba and then at the diamond. This didn't make any sense.

Why wasn't Haiba under his control right now? This wasn't supposed to happen! "But… But why aren't you hypnotised?" he asked, confused.

Haiba chuckled in response. "You expect me to be hypnotised by an Uchoyo Diamond?" he exclaimed, before shaking his head. "I don't think so, Simba. I used to see these things all the time back at the Grand Lands."

Simba shielded the diamond from view, an offended look on his face. "No!" he cried. "The Shiny Thing is special! Only the important ones can gaze upon it…" he said, stroking it softly.

"They're actually a valuable food source," Haiba explained. "You can't exactly swallow it, what with it being so hard and all, but take one lick and you get a nice, salty taste. It never wears off, so essentially you'd never go hungry. You used to be able to find them at the bottom of deep caves, but my mother banned anyone from eating them because of the effect they had on people. Take one look and you become mesmerised. Of course, because as I explained to you, my mind is a little messed up, so their hypnotic effect doesn't work on me. I can't believe you're getting so passionate about a stupid thing like that!"

Simba hissed angrily at him. "No one insults the Shiny Thing!" he declared. He felt so strongly about his precious diamond that he wouldn't have anyone speaking bad things about it. It needed a gentle touch. It needed care and affection. It needed love.

"Simba, you're crazy!" Haiba exclaimed. "You've hypnotised the whole pride! You've got to destroy it – now!" he ordered, pointing to the diamond. "Before you lose your mind!"

Simba gasped loudly, his eyes widening in horror. "Destroy it?" he yelled. "How dare you? No one will speak of the Shiny Thing like that in my presence! Anyone who does so will be severely punished!"

"You can't be serious," said Haiba, shaking his head in disbelief. "Am I dreaming? I hope I am, because this has to be one of the most stupidest things I've ever witnessed! Next to that incident with the elephant and the pig, but I won't go into details right now."

"Shall we destroy him, master?" Nala offered, taking a step forward. "We'll make sure he won't cause any more trouble. Any more trouble…"

"You'll be in loads of trouble when your Dad finds out about this!" Haiba told Simba.

"Already taken care of," Simba replied. "I ran into him on my way to Pride Rock. I'm afraid to say that he's all tied up at the moment."

Deep in the middle of the jungle, King Mufasa had been tied to a tree, his fore paws fixed together with vines. This takes me back to the night when Sarabi and I… Well, let's just say it resulted in Simba's birth.

"So what are you going to do to me?" Haiba asked Simba. "Break my legs, one at a time? Twist my head slowly until it comes off? Pull my brain out through my nose?"

"I'm not a monster," Simba replied. "I'm just going to have you thrown out of my kingdom. You are no longer welcome."

"I kind figured that," he said, frowning.

Simba gestured with his paw to the lionesses. "Get rid of him," he instructed. "And make sure he never comes back."

Two lionesses grabbed Haiba, and started dragging him away from Simba by his forepaws. "You're making a mistake, Simba! You don't know what you're dealing with! If they stay hypnotised for too long then they'll be like that for ever!"

"I've heard enough," Simba said, not listening to Haiba any more. "All I care about is my new kingdom, and the wellbeing of my…" He held up the diamond, his eyes growing wide. "Shiny Thing."

"Pretty, pretty, shiny, shiny…" all of the lionesses said, becoming even more entranced.

Simba grinned evilly. "Stuck like this for ever?" he said. "I like the sound of that…"