It was the dead of night in the Pride Lands. Most of its inhabiting creatures were fast asleep, and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of the crickets chirping. The grass was shifting slightly from the faint breeze in the cool night air —or maybe it was just the sound of two villains up to no good.
"'We don't need to be in the Pride Lands,' he says. 'We'll remain a moderately safe distance away,' he says," mocked the Interceptor, as he and Shocked trudged through a field thick with long grass. "Could you be any more mistaken?"
"Shut up," Shocker growled. "How am I supposed to introduce the plant into the waterhole without being here? My powers are plentiful—but they can't transport objects from one location to another."
"Shame," said the Interceptor. "That would have actually been useful."
"Don't start with me," said Shocker, glancing at the funny pink plant that was slung over his back. He was sure that it had to be one of the most deadly poisons ever known to animals. After all, that was why it looked so pretty, right? A disguise for unwary passers-by. A clever trick. Truly this was the work of genius. "Once the water supply is infected, we can sit back and watch the destruction as it unfolds."
"How do you even know what it does?" the Interceptor asked, still looking rather doubtful that this girly-looking plant was the deadly killer that Shocker had made it out to be. If he was honest, it looked more like the kind of plant that would induce pleasure rather than pain. Maybe Shocker was wrong…
"It'll be something interesting, I can assure you that," Shocker replied over his shoulder. He grinned at the beautiful plant, unfazed by its rather feminine appearance. "This is going to be the end to all of our problems. Simba, Nala and Haiba will be dead by the end of tomorrow. Poisoned by the power of this insidious plant."
The Interceptor rolled his eyes. You can't b e serious, he thought. 'Insidious plant'? Yeah, right. If that plant is dangerous, then I'll rip off my incredib ly manly fur. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Well, I don't," Shocker retorted. "For once, let me get on with things. Or do I have to replace you with Froggy?"
"No," the Interceptor mumbled quietly.
"I'm sorry?" asked Shocker, meaning for him to speak louder.
"I said no!" the Interceptor yelled.
Shocker smiled, pleased. "Thank you," he said, before focusing on what lay ahead of him.
The two had ended up at the top of a tall hill, which overlooked the waterhole. The full moon hung in the sky, giving the water a sparkly effect. If Shocker had a heart, then he would have found it very moving. "What an ugly place."
"How exactly do you get them to drink a plant?" the Interceptor questioned, shooting him a confused look. "That doesn't make sense to me."
"We just extract the deadly liquid inside," Shocker responded, making his way carefully down the hill and over to the edge of the waterhole. "And then we can empty it into the waterhole, thus contaminating everything." He let out an evil little chuckle.
The Interceptor shrugged. "Whatever," he said, before following Shocker. "Just cut that thing open so we can get out of here. That pride isn't going to be too happy if they catch up snooping around in the middle of the night."
Shocker didn't say anything. He yanked the plant from over his shoulder, holding it above the water. "You stupid cubs won't stop me this time," he muttered, before staring at the plant, as if he could see right through it.
With a swift motion of his claw, he cut off one of the plant's stems. A wide, malevolent grin spread across his face as a glittering pink liquid seeped out, pouring into the waterhole. It looked incredibly attractive, yet all Shocker could focus on was the supposed 'destruction' it would cause.
Within a few seconds, the liquid had disappeared as if it were never there. Shocker smiled.
"All done," he said, before shoving the plant into the Interceptor's chest. "Now get rid of this. We can't have anyone discovering the evidence, now, can we?"
"Me?" exclaimed the Interceptor. "How come I have to do it?"
"Because I'm the one that contaminated the waterhole," Shocker retorted, poking a claw into his chest. "Now do it— before I turn you into dust."
Shocker wandered off, leaving a frustrated Interceptor all on his own. "'Now do it—b efore I turn you into dust,'" he mimicked angrily. "What a creep."
"You know, Haiba, I'm growing increasingly concerned that you're just a magnet for trouble," Simba sighed, as he lay on the hard ground.
"Like I said before—it wasn't my fault," Haiba told him. "This is all just a big misunderstanding."
Simba and Haiba were lying right at the bottom of an incredibly large pit, which they had fallen through on their way back to Pride Rock. It had been covered up by several leaves, meaning that they had failed to notice it earlier. They'd been stuck down there ever since. "What is there to misunderstand?"
"Uh… well… nothing, I guess," Haiba shrugged, staring at the incredibly boring surroundings. "We're just having a bad day."
"Yeah—first we almost end up getting sucked up by a waterfall," Simba said, "and now we've been stuck in a massive pit for the whole day."
"I don't even know who would spend all that time to dig this out," Haiba said in bemusement, climbing to his paws. "What purpose could it possibly serve?"
"An annoying purpose," retorted Simba. "Probably some trap from Shocker or the Interceptor—maybe even Froggy. So we end up trapped down here for ever and starve to death. We might even have to eat each other to survive."
"Don't be ridiculous," Haiba said, before turning to the walls of the pit. "With a little bit of skill, I'm sure we can climb out."
He dug his claws into the dirt, and began to hoist himself upwards. Simba watched with amazement. "Is today just a survival exercise for you or something? I'm beginning to think that you're the one who dug the pit out in the first place!"
Haiba turned a very nervous shade of pink. "Uh… what makes you think I would do something like that?"
Simba narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Wait a minute… you did dig this pit out, didn't you?"
"Now, now, Simba, it was only for your own good," Haiba responded.
"I'll show you your own good!" Simba said angrily, grabbing him from the pit wall and shoving him up against it. "The whole day we've been stuck here! The. Whole. Day."
"I just wanted to show you how resourceful I can be," he said worriedly, afraid of Simba pounding him into nothingness.
"After all, it wasn't like you were planning on doing anything else, was it?"
"And you made us go through that whole business with the waterfall!" Simba ranted. "How could you?"
"Oh, come on—I had it all under control," Haiba assured him as if it were nothing.
"'All under control'?" screamed Simba. "Wait until you see the control I have strangling your neck!" He panted loudly with rage.
Haiba just stared at him, wide-eyed. "You're an angry little cub, aren't you?"
Simba gritted his teeth, growling at the top of his voice.
Haiba frowned. "Wrong thing to say."