It was rare that Sarafina ever feared the King or Queen. In fact, it was extremely rare. The only time she could ever think of fearing King Mufasa had been when she first came into the kingdom with Nala. It was such a long time ago that she forgot how intimidating he could be.
She wouldn't forget anymore.
There he was, stood direct centre underneath the den entrance. Stuck in the same posture. The sort of posture that a lunatic affects when staring down its victim.
King Mufasa looked like a lunatic right now. And his eyes were black.
That was what Sarafina was terrified by. Those eyes. She could feel them burning right through her body. Into her soul. It didn't take her long to figure out that she had been right all along.
Mufasa—and Sarabi, for that matter—weren't who they once were.
This had confirmed it. She'd had her suspicions for quite some time now. After all, it seemed that with each passing day they lost more and more of their personalities. Like their life was being drained away with each passing second. To have that happen to someone was a chilling idea.
Sarafina couldn't help it. She stared back at Mufasa. He wasn't doing anything. Just staring at her. It seemed as if he were trying to destroy her just by using the power of sight. But surely that wasn't possible. It just sounded silly.
But then a lot of strange things happened in the Pride Lands. Sarafina had noticed that right from the beginning. Ever since she arrived. Weird things happened here. Terrible things. And yet, she still couldn't figure out what it meant.
Maybe the answers were about to reveal themselves.
"Who are you?" Sarafina spoke. It was clear that this was no longer Mufasa she was speaking with. She had no idea who—or what—he had become. "And… what do you want?"
Mufasa's eyes seemed to turn an even deeper, darker shade of black. "We want," he spoke, in a distorted voice, "your ground."
Sarafina's eyes narrowed with curiosity. She tried to hide her fear. Whatever was inside him, it was surely a monster.
"What do you mean?"
"We want," he—or it—said, "your life."
"What does that mean?" Sarafina questioned, increasing the volume of her voice. She had to be brave. She couldn't allow it to know that she was scared. If it found out, then she was surely—
"You… are… afraid," said the voice, as if searching for the right words. "Terrified. Frightened. Scared. Fearful. Anxious. Troub led. Petrified. Not b rave."
Sarafina's resolve dropped. It knew. But… how could it know? It would have to be able to see into her thoughts. It would have to be able to read her mind. But that just wasn't possible! It wasn't!
"I can see… through you," 'Mufasa' said. "Everything that you… think. Or have thought. You cannot… hide. To do so is to… seal… your… fate."
He's going to kill you, Sarafina realised, as a chill swept through her bones. She instantly thought of Nala. Her daughter. Her only cub. What would she do without her mother? She would have no family. No relation at all. How would she cope?
You have to kill him. The thought suddenly shot into her head. It was the instinct for survival, she supposed. She didn't want to die. Not yet. Despite all the tragedy that he befallen her in her life. She didn't think anyone wanted to die. Not really.
"Yeah…" Sarafina muttered, silently unsheathing her claws. "Fate…" Right in the throat, she thought. She'd hunted with the pride for long enough. She knew exactly how to kill another animal. It was simple. Easy. She could bite his throat out and kill him in a matter of seconds.
"You will all… expire," it told her. "You… will… perish."
Sarafina let out an almighty roar—the loudest she could possibly perform—and lashed out at the thing which had taken over Mufasa. She tackled him to the ground, opening her jaw wide and biting down on his throat. She tore away at his flesh, desperate to kill whatever was inside. She couldn't allow it to live. It would kill her. Not just that—it would kill everyone.
Mufasa—or the thing inside him—retaliated, batting her away with a paw in one simple movement.
Sarafina gasped as she slid and bounced across the ground, rolling out of the den and landing hard on her stomach.
But how—? It was strength on a level she'd never seen before. As if he had the strength of ten—maybe twenty—lions!
Bleeding profusely from the neck, the thing inside Mufasa glared at her with intense anger. "Die," it snarled. "Die—die— die—die—die—die—die…"
Run. One word. That was all it took for Sarafina to leap to her paws and run away, before that thing had a chance to react.
She didn't look back. She couldn't bear to. Whatever this was, it was something that she couldn't kill. No one could.
As she disappeared into wherever—she didn't know where she was going—the thing inside King Mufasa watched her, unmoving.
"You will not live," it said. "No one will…"
Sarabi joined her mate by his side. "She escaped?"
"Just the one," said Mufasa.
"And the rest?" asked Sarabi.
"They have… expired," Mufasa replied. "The pride is… extinct."
They smiled at each other, looking over the edge of Pride Rock and staring down at their kingdom.
There were bodies littered all over it.
"Okay, so we put her here," Shocker said, dumping Tama on the ground. She was still unconscious. "Then when she wakes up, I take over her mind using my powers."
"You can do that with electricity?" questioned the Interceptor, arching an eyebrow.
"I can do anything," Shocker replied. "And if I were you, then I'd stop complaining about—"
The Interceptor watched with confusion as Shocker's face fell in an expression that he had never seen before. Fear.
"What are you staring at?" he asked, confused.
Shocker didn't say anything. He merely raised a claw, pointing at something behind the Interceptor.
The Interceptor whipped round, and his reaction was more or less the same as Shocker's.
There were bodies littering the ground. Dead, rotting carcasses. Of zebras, wildebeests, and lionesses.
Lionesses. The lionesses of the Pride Lands. Covered in blood. In bits and pieces. Legs missing. Eyes gouged out. Organs torn away.
"What's going on?" the Interceptor demanded, looking back at Shocker, visibly horrified. "Huh?"
"I… I don't know," Shocker replied, looking haunted, for once in his life. "I didn't see them before. It's like someone's… destroyed the whole pride. They've killed everything. Everyone."
"How?" the Interceptor asked, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. He'd seen death before—but this was on a scale that he couldn't dream of. This was just overkill. Too much for the most evil of lions to handle.
"Something's very wrong here," Shocker said. "I can feel it."
"Yeah, well, thanks for that," the Interceptor mumbled. "Like I couldn't tell before. Who the hell killed everyone?"
"How would I know?" Shocker shrugged. "I've never seen anything like it before. Even I wouldn't do something like this."
"Yeah—'cause you couldn't," said the Interceptor. "Now, let's get out of here—before the killer decides we're not worth keeping alive either."
"For once, I think I'll agree with you," said Shocker, before slowly walking away, checking to make sure that no one was watching from nearby.
Mufasa sniffed the air. "I sense more lives," he said. "They will have to b e removed also."
"Everyone," Sarabi agreed. "Anyone and everyone. There can b e no more entities corrupting our operation. This has to b e… perfect."
"Indeed," said Mufasa. "Any potential threats will b e exterminated into a b loody mess."
They both looked at each other, and let out a horrible, gurgling laugh that could chill the blood of the most fearsome lions.