Beshte P.O.V.:
I am driving in my car, in my anthro hippo. I just recently picked up Makini, in her anthro mandrill form, who is in my passenger seat. We are heading to some hotel that Ono is staying at for some reason. But the text I received with him sounded urgent, and I want to see exactly what he found. Plus, he told me on a voicemail to bring a weapon of some kind, which was really concerning. He also told me to tell others, so I told several people with whom I typically discussed investigations of the recent deaths and disappearances.
Makini and I arrived at a parking lot, paid the fee, and walked to the hotel. We entered and began looking around the lobby until we saw Ono in the far corner of the lobby, seeming to intentionally keep a low profile. We began walking over to him.
"Hey Ono, you said you wanted to…" I said before Ono started shushing me.
"Can you lower your voice? I don't want to risk accidentally exposing myself just in case anyone in this hotel knows Simba or anyone else in his group. Knowing that I'm here. Come, let's go up to my room." Ono said quietly.
He got up and started walking us to the elevators before the doors closed.
As the elevator slowly moved upwards, Makini and I both noticed that Ono is much more anxious than usual. He is visibly shaking and he is looking around everywhere. When the elevator doors opened, he looked both ways before he exited with us. He led us down a hallway with olive green walls and beige carpets. We soon stopped at a door, Ono took out a keycard to unlock the door.
He opened the door and what we saw looked like a pretty standard hotel room. It had dull yellow walls, beige carpets, a brown wooden nightstand, a bed with white sheets and pillow cases. On the bed was Ono's backpack that he usually brings with him to work.
"Uh Ono?...Why are you still wearing your clothes from work?" Makini asked him.
"Because after I found what I found, I can't go back to my apartment…..not for a while…..They know where I live, and I know they will kill me if they find me. Especially after accidentally setting that alarm. I left with just the clothes on my back, the contents of my pockets, and the backpack of stuff and evidence I have on me." Ono said quickly in a nervous tone as he closed the blinds on this hotel window.
"Wait Ono…slow down, what do you mean that they will kill you?" I asked.
I then heard a text tone sound. It came from Makini's phone.
"Oh, Edwin and Jasiri said they were in the lobby." Makini said.
"You can bring them up. They'll be interested in this too. Just try to be as low profile as possible" Ono calmly said.
"Okay, got it." Makini said as she left the room.
"Okay Beshte, so I was working with an hour or two left of my shift, when Kion came and requested that I help clear old USBs and delete old files that we didn't need anymore. I was annoyed at first, but I was suspicious of why he wanted me to delete files. So I thought that I could take a look at the files to see why he wanted me to delete these files…especially when he told me not to bother even looking at them." Ono said.
"Old files….Wait, do you think…" I said in surprise, potentially knowing where this is going.
"Yeah, that's right…..I was thinking that it may potentially contain some kinda evidence or hints of the recent deaths that have occurred. And also, with the recent disappearance of Kiara and Kovu, I thought that it could give evidence towards those and…" Ono said before we heard knocking on the door.
"Ono, it's Makini and the others." Makini said as her voice sounded through the door.
Ono approached the door, looked through the peephole, just to confirm that it was her with Edwin and Jasiri.
Ono opened the door, Makini along with Jasiri, in her anthro hyena form, and Edwin walked in. And to my surprise, Kendall and Jamal also came in.
"Hey Ono, Beshte, we got here as fast as we could." Edwin said.
"Yeah, you said you found something big. Relating to both Kiara and Kovu's disappearance, and the deaths?" Jasiri said.
"Yeah, I actually found A BUNCH of big things to be exact." Ono said.
"Kendall? Jamal? What are you guys doing here?" I asked.
"Well, we were actually on a double date with Jasiri and Edwin when they both got texts talking about something Ono found potentially about Kiara and Kovu." Kendall replied.
"Yeah, and we also want to help out. Kiara and Kovu are our friends too, so we also want to know what you found." Jamal said.
"Okay, so let me start from the beginning…" Ono began to say before another text tone sounded from someone's phone.
This time it was my phone, I saw that it was a text from Vitani.
I'm at the hotel you said to go to
"Vitani's in the lobby, I can go down to bring her up." I said.
"Sure, I'll catch up with everyone on where we left off. But make it quick and quiet" Ono said.
"On it." I said before I left the room to bring up Vitani.
Third Person P.O.V.
After Beshte left the room, Ono began describing what he had said earlier to Beshte. How Ono was near the end of the shift when Kion added extra work to his shift involving deleting 'old' files and clearing 'old' USBs, but then thought it was suspicious and decided to look at the files to see if it has anything related to the deaths of Rafiki, Zazu, Timon, Gary, and Tom Hendricks.
Beshte P.O.V.:
I was with Vitani, in her anthro lioness form, in front of Ono's hotel room door and I began knocking on it.
"Ono, it's me and Vitani's with me." I said through the door.
He opened the door and the both of us entered.
"So you have something where my brother and sister-in-law could be?" Vitani said impatiently.
"Oh yes, did Beshte catch you up on anything on the way up?" Ono said.
"Yeah, he told me that Kion assigned you to delete files and flash drives that you suspected could be related to the death and disappearances." Vitani asked.
"Yes, so I went to the computer in the main surveillance room and found that Kion was still logged into his account. In fact, I saw that his email was also still logged in and I found some email subject lines that really made me suspicious.." Ono said as he opened his laptop.
"So I sent several of those emails to myself just to show you and look…..some of them involve sending negative references to employers Beshte applied for…pretty much sabotaging his chances with them…." He said.
Wait….what?!
W…Wh…Why?! Why the fuck would he do this to me? With the way he has been acting towards me recently, I would think he would want me out of the museum.
We all got a chance to read the emails, and I am just shocked at all the things Kion told these people about me. I just can't believe the extent of the flat out lies he mentioned.
I'm not sure how but something inside me just snapped.
"So Kion, has been lying to these employers about me?! THAT'S WHY I'M STILL STRUGGLING TO GET AN ACCOUNTING JOB?! WHY WOULD HE DO THIS TO ME?!" I said, yelling in anger.
Ono soon clicked on another email chain, and it looked like an email conversation between Kion, Bunga and Simba.
"I found this email chain that seems to hint at why they would do it" Ono said as he showed us the conversation.
The conversation consisted of them making their references to the employer either intentionally 'forced' and 'ambiguous', or even just making up reasons why not to hire me. Kion and Bunga emails mostly cited their reasons for doing this as 'teaching him a lesson for betraying us' for my involvement in the temporary committee of the Human-Hybrid Alliance and vocally disagreeing with them about Simba's inane plan. They also discussed trying to maintain some level of control in my life to 'not make the same mistake when Rani left the museum' because I 'know too much' about 'their pasts'. They also mention something about 'keeping' me because they have 'plans' for me 'later'. Wait….what plans do they have for me…
"Yeah, and according to some of these emails, Simba also took mild forms of revenge on others who oppose him by slashing department budgets, limiting vacation days, and stuff like that. So I think some of you were affected by these budget cuts. But another reason for cutting budgets was apparently materials and other stuff for their long-term plans. But that was not the only thing I found in these email chains, look at these…" Ono said as he moved to other email conversations.
We were all shocked that these other email chains between Simba, Kion, and Bunga, openly admitted to committing the murders of Rafiki, Zazu, Timon, Gary and the bombing. Some of the emails even include them occasionally about the deaths. Even revealing details that weren't mentioned in any of the news stories about the deaths. There were also discussions of purchasing weapons.
"Oh shit…..we hit the motherload of evidence. We have them admitting that they are responsible for the deaths!" Jasiri said.
"And they even had the gall and arrogance to joke about it?!" Makini said.
"And they are requesting weapons and ammunition….wait….. is this one for semi-automatic and automatic weapons?!" Kendall said.
"I know they're not for museum security because we don't use those for our regular museum shifts." I said.
"Wait? What is this one talking about 'feed the pigs in the storeroom'?" Vitani said with a concerned tone.
"And I actually found more than just these emails…." Ono said before he grabbed a bunch of USB flash drives from his backpack.
Kion wanted Ono to clear them and told him don't bother even looking at the files in them'.
The files Ono showed us were just….I'm not sure how to describe them.
They showed documents and receipt of weapons purchases, and then there were 'Goodbye Video' files with all our names on them.
"So Jasiri….you were right! Simba and associates made memorial videos for everyone. And even only the former Pride Landers….there's one with my name an other human employees in the museum!" Edwin said.
"So I guess he made them for anytime he decides to….'take care of someone'…when anyone becomes either too inconvenient or gets close to stopping his plans…" Jamal said.
"Or even if they manage to just piss him off…." Jasiri said.
And after that….that was when Ono showed us the surveillance videos.
He shows us the one where Simba and Rafiki get into a heated argument and…..Shit, Simba just pushed Rafiki down the stairs.
He then showed us the one where Kion was going into a men's restroom and exiting wearing all black and hiding a gun the night Zazu died.
Now his changes in mane….or hair color make more sense. Which also occurred after Timon and Gary were killed.
But then we got to the one where Kiara and Kovu went inside the museum …..
HOLD…UP…..WHAT?!
Did they get shot with…tranquilizer guns?
And Kovu was ambushed in the security office…..I was just in that office several hours ago.
We then just watched as Simba, Kion, Bunga, and Tiifu drag an unconscious Kiara and Kovu into some storeroom.
All of us were just…disturbed by what we saw….Many of us had expressions of shock and concern. I saw Vitani clench both her fists.
"So, they never left the museum…." Beshte said.
"So, all this time, they are being held in some random room?" Jamal said.
"After being ambushed and shot with tranquilizer guns?..." Jasiri added.
Soon Vitani walked over to Ono and grabbed both of his shoulders.
"Ono! Please tell me where this room in the museum is…..I NEED TO FIND THEM!" Vitani said with a noticeable tone that it is a combination of desperation and rage.
"I am getting there, Vitani…" Ono said before Vitani let go of his shoulders.
"So after placing the USBs in my bag, I saw a minimized Firefox window which was on a surveillance site. I assumed it was a back-up for an event if the museum's main surveillance system goes down. And I remembered one of the emails mentions something of Bunga forgetting a password, so I copied and pasted the username and password to the site's login page…." Ono said as he logged into this surveillance site.
"I never heard this site even being mentioned as a back-up system. Why is this the first time I am hearing this?" I asked.
"I was thinking the same thing. Kion and Bunga must have gotten an account with this site and company so that they could either cover stuff up….or even monitor stuff we don't know about. Thus…." Ono said as he scrolled down a list of room names on the site.
"Here…there is a page for a surveillance camera for Store Room 119 on the Main Floor…" Ono said.
"Wait, I don't recall ever hearing a surveillance camera in that room ... .actually to be honest, I didn't even know we had a Store Room 119…" I said.
"That's what I thought too, so I clicked on the link for the camera in that room and…" Ono said as he pressed on the link.
"This is live footage…" Ono said in a low voice in despair.
Our jaws dropped to the floor to see that it was live footage of Kiara and Kovu. In their anthro lion forms.
They were chained to a wall both by the arms and legs. They both had noticeable bruises, black eyes, and…..oh crap Kiara looks like she has dried blood around her nose…..Was she hit or something. And they look a little on the thinner side. They both were asleep…alive thankfully, I can see their chests breathing up and down.
We….We were just shocked to see our friends in this condition. A few of us let out audible gasps.
I was just standing there with my mouth agape with an expression of shock and urgency on my face.
I also saw that Makini also had the same expression, and I swear that she also seemed to look like she was beginning to be a little nauseous.
Edwin, Jamal, Jasiri, and Kendall stood there, all their eyes wide. Jamal and Kendall covered their own mouths with their hands. Edwin and Jasiri briefly did the same thing before they lowered their hands, after which I saw that they both had their mouths open in shock.
Ono had an expression of sadness, fear, and even a little guilt on his face.
Vitani, on the other hand, first had a similar expression of shock and concern as the others. But then it morphed into one of what looks like sadness, and soon turned into the one of pure rage.
She then went over to a nightstand near the bed, unplugged and grabbed a lamp that was on the nightstand.
"Thanks for the info Ono. Now I'm going to fucking kill those bastards and get Kiara and Kovu out! See ya!" Vitani said angrily as she began to approach the door.
"VITANI WAIT!" Edwin yelled as he began to approach her.
"I'm gonna kill them!" Vitani said.
"DON'T!" Jasiri yelled at the same time as she began to block her.
"I'm gonna KILL them!" Vitani said, trying to get Jasiri out of her way.
"Stop it Vitani!" Jamal said.
"I don't think that's going to help anyone, Vitani!" Kendall said.
"Vitani, I don't think you bashing Simba, Kion, and others' heads with a lamp is going to help anyone." I said.
Vitani stopped for a second to think.
"You're right…a lamp would not be enough!" Vitani said before approaching me.
"Beshte, do you have any security weapons and stuff I can borrow?...You know a gun, tasers, nightstick, pepper spray, handcuffs….any of that stuff? Cause that will do real damage to Simba and Kion!.." Vitani said.
"No Vitani! Don't give her any of that stuff Beshte!" Makini said.
"Beshte! Just give me a gun or something! All these problems can be solved!" Vitani yelled, putting her hands on my shoulder.
"No! I won't let you do it! You could either get arrested or even they can potentially kill you if you try. And potentially Kiara and Kovu could suffer from it too. We CANNOT afford to lose any more friends." I said, pleading to Vitani not to rush into anything.
"Vitani! Please….let's talk! We promise that we will get them out of there alive." Jasiri said, trying to calm Vitani down.
"Okay…..we can talk…..But at least I am TRYING to make a plan to save them!" Vitani said, saying the latter half of her sentence in a derisive tone looking towards Ono.
"I did try! After I transformed and gathered the evidence in my bag. The door is locked with both an ID scan and a large padlock. My ID didn't work, and I tried to figure out the combination three or four times, but it didn't work. I then got a text that said that Kion was returning to the museum because he forgot something. My surprise of this must have accidentally made me trigger an alarm to the door. I had NO choice but to run and get out, because I know no I am their next target. That's why I checked into this place, and I will be staying here indefinitely. They know my address so my apartment's not safe. Remember what happened to Timon and Gary? And I can't go back to work for a while because if any of them know where I am….I will be dead….they will kill me. All I have is this evidence, my laptop, the clothes on my back, and anything else in my bag and pockets.I really wished I could have tried more though." Ono said in a concerned,solemn tone of voice.
Vitani then took a breath and started to slowly approach Ono and put her hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay, Ono. You tried the best that you could. Sorry that I snapped at you like that, I should have been more considerate knowing the nature of what we are dealing with. I guess I got so caught up in the hurt, anger, and concern about seeing Kiara and Kovu in those conditions, that I just…something just…snapped in me. And Beshte, you're right, we can't afford to lose anyone else. How about we discuss an actual plan to save Kiara and Kovu?" Vitani said in a much calmer tone.
"Now we are talking! Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas?" Jasiri said.
"Do you think I should give this evidence to the police?" Ono said.
"I wouldn't do that yet. I think calling the police now would only escalate things, and we don't want that to happen. Or even worse, if Simba finds out someone would call the cops on him, this could potentially go in the direction of something bad as a murder-suicide situation." I said.
"Okay, good point. We won't go to the police immediately." Ono replied.
"So we need a plan to bust Kiara and Kovu out before we call the police on Simba and his associates. This will be an all hands on deck operation. We need to contact the others. Potentially even meet up to discuss our plan." Jasiri said.
"We would like to help too." Jamal said.
"Yeah, Kiara and Kovu are our friends too, and we have no issue in joining to help them in any capacity." Kendall said.
"So you can count us in!" Jamal said.
"Though of course we can't do the plan tonight because they would probably
We soon began discussing what we are going to do to save Kiara and Kovu.
Jasiri P.O.V.
It is the morning after Ono showed us the evidence and told us where Kiara and Kovu are being kept.
Now, everyone from the museum, hybrid and human, who is a member of the Human-Hybrid Alliance, along with Kendall and Jamal, will be meeting up to discuss the plan to get Kiara and Kovu out of their forced captivity.
We all decided to meet at one of the small conference rooms in Ono's hotel. Most were advised to either carpool, take public transportation, or rideshare to get there in order not to draw too much attention.
Along with Edwin and I, we all requested that everyone bring any form of weapon of some kind in their backpacks or handbags just in case something goes wrong. When people came to the conference room, most people brought weapons such as pepper spray, kitchen knives, pocket knives, and even tools such as hammers. There were even a few people who had tasers, baseball bats, fireplace pokers, and even one person brought a golf club.
Since he will be a major part of the mission, Beshte brought his handgun. He doesn't intend to use it unless it is absolutely necessary. And I think that Anga also brought a gun with her just in case Beshte needs back up.
Everyone is gathered in the conference room, which was full of black chairs, like the kind a company would use for catered events. Many of the chairs were facing the back wall as if they were for an audience. The room also had a projection screen for presentations, a table in front of the screen accompanied with the same type of chairs as the audience chairs, most likely for people doing the presentations. The room also had salmon-colored walls and no windows.
As everyone we invited came, Edwin, Beshte, Makini, Vitani, Ono and I were sitting at the front table, with Ono presenting the emails and evidence he found.
Like I was last night, many were particularly disturbed when we showed the video evidence. Including footage of Rafiki's death and the snippets of Kiara and Kovu being kept in that store room.
Ono also revealed some other disturbing details after he said he reviewed some of the footage from earlier parts of Kiara and Kovu's captivity.
After some time of formal discussion with the audience, we were able to finalize a plan of action.
"Okay, so the plan is that Ono, Jamal, Raoul, and Anahita, you four will be in Ono's room and figure a way to give any of our IDs clearance in that store room, potentially hack into Kion's email to find information regarding the combination of that lock, potentially hack the security cameras so Simba and Kion won't get any alerts, and archive any additional evidence you may find. And then a group of four will be conducting surveillance outside the hotel to make sure Ono's location hasn't been leaked and no one from Simba's inner circle will be done by Samuel, Fabian, Violetta, and Firuza. Then there will be a surveillance car in the area between the museum and the Shedd Aquarium, which will be occupied by Camille, Rani, Sylvester, and Nguyen. Another car will be stationed closer to the east side of the museum, which will be occupied by Kendall, Pete, Emma, and Aicha. Then stationed close to the north side of the museum will be Makuu, Anga, Vuruga, Fuli, and Yezekael, you guys will be our back up whenever things go bad during the operation and we need help…." I said as I also assigned other people different surveillance spots nearby, but not too close to the museum.
"Okay, now that we have surveillance covered, let us discuss the primary mission. So me, Edwin, Beshte, Makini, Ma Tembo, Bupu, Vitani, and Muhimu will be going to the museum two hours after closing time to the public. Our friends in night security are fully aware and will not interfere with our rescue mission, plus neither Kion or Bunga have any scheduled shifts tonight and Simba typically doesn't work on Saturdays. So anyways, me, Edwin, Beshte, Vitani and Makini will come to the museum with a minivan we rented, while Ma Tembo, Bupu, and Muhimu will arrive in Bupu's car. We will have our bags and supplies with us when we enter through one of the side entrances of the museum. So Ma Tembo, Muhimu and Bupu will predominantly act as lookouts from different ends of where we are, as well as additional support when needed. So after the lookouts will be looking down both directions in the hallway and one will be just outside the hallway just in case. That is when we approach the store room, Ono and the computer team would disable the alarm by then, so we do not need to worry about that. Since Raoul works in I.T., he will give all of us ID clearance for the store room's scanner. Until we get an idea of the combination for the padlock, we will do our best to open the lock, either with bolt cutters, trying to figure out the combination, or Edwin picking the lock….." I said before Fuli raised her hand.
"Yes Fuli?" I said.
"Wait?...Why is Edwin picking the lock?" Fuli asked curiously.
"Oh actually some of us have recently learned that Edwin actually knows how to pick locks surprisingly." I replied.
"Yeah, you know how some people have had that one or more friend that might have not been the best influence on them when they were younger? Well I had one, and that friend taught me how to pick locks. I've rarely used it, but there have been occasions I used it whenever I get locked out of either a door or locker on a few occasions. I think it will be useful for this mission." Edwin said.
"Okay, either way, once we get in the store room and check to make sure there are no traps in the room, we will free Kiara and Kovu from their chains either by Edwin picking the lock or using the bolt cutters we plan to bring. Soon after we plan to bring Kiara and Kovu out of the museum as fast as we can, get them into the minivan and drive them to a hospital to get them treatment, after which Ono will then turn in the evidence against Simba, Kion, Bunga, and others in their circle." I said.
"And if the worst case scenario happens, either we get caught, they end up being closer than we expected to us, or even one of us gets hurt or injured, call 911 immediately. And if 911 needs to be called, Ono, you can also turn in the evidence you have against them, because either we get hurt or not, those bastards need to face some kind of punishment for what they have done. At least some form of justice for their victims and those they left behind." Edwin said.
After a couple more minutes, all of us in the room came to an understanding, and discussed other details for our plan to be executed tonight.
Later that day, it was almost sunset and we know that the museum is closed to the public. Before we execute our plan, some of us went out to eat to have one last period of calm. So me and Edwin invited Beshte, Makini, Kendall, Jamal, Makuu, Vuruga, Ma Tembo, and Vitani to our apartment to have some takeout before we head out.
We were talking about the plan, life and other stuff. Soon after we all finished our food. Kendall, Jamal, Makuu, and Vuruga were leaving to go to their assigned posts. The rest of us wished them luck as they headed out, and they wished us the same.
Before he left, Makuu even gave me a hug that lasted for about six seconds.
"I'll see you later Jasiri. Just in case something happens or things turn south, I just want to let you know that I love you and that I am proud to have you as a daughter. Even though we are not related by blood and I became your legal guardian with Chausiku when first adjusting to the human world, you will always be my daughter and I am proud of the woman and hyena that you have become." Makuu said gently before he walked out.
"Thank you Makuu, I love you too." I replied.
After they left, the rest of us continued to go over the plan. It soon got dark outside and all of us except Edwin transformed into our anthropomorphic animal forms. We are all making sure that we have everything we need.
"Okay….pocket knife, two kitchen knives in my bag, first aid kit for Kovu, Kiara or anyone who gets hurt, flashlight and batteries, phone with full battery, crowbar, hammer, and pepper spray. Okay I think I'm all set. How about you guys?" I asked.
"I think so too. Pocket knife, kitchen knives, stuff for picking locks, hammer, screwdriver, phone, flashlight, first aid supplies, olive oil to potentially reduce friction if Kiara and Kovu have trouble getting out of their chains." Edwin replied.
"I have bolt cutters, a first aid kit, pepper spray, taser, water, kitchen knife, and some tools." Ma Tembo said going through a bag.
"Okay, baseball bat, pocket knife, kitchen knives, pepper spray, taser, first aid, tool kit, and flashlight. I also have a bag with blankets I brought from my place for Kiara and Kovu after we get them from their captivity." Vitani said as she gathered her bags.
"First aid kit, water, kitchen knives, pocket knife, pepper spray, flashlight, a frying pan, insect spray just in case the pepper spray doesn't work, and scissors." Makini said.
"I have a pocket knife, three sets of handcuffs, a taser, pepper spray, first aid kit, water, nightstick, flashlight, a saw just in case the bolt cutters don't work for the chains, and in the worst case scenario…..I have a gun…..BUT that is only for worst case scenario and I will only use it ONLY if it's absolutely necessary, which is probably not likely but better be safe than sorry." Beshte said as he was going through his stuff.
"Okay, since we are all ready, let's head out!" Vitani said.
"Yep, and I checked with everyone, and they are either heading to their assigned posts or already at their assigned posts. So this is a good time to head out." Edwin said.
"Oh and I got a text from Bupu and Muhimu, they are outside the building with Bupu's car to pick me up." Ma Tembo said.
"But first….we head out…..let's just wish each other the best of luck, and hope that the mission is successful and we free Kiara and Kovu. But just in case anything does happen, I just want to let you know that all of you are very important people in my life and I love that you are all a part of my life." I said.
"Awwww…..we love you too Jasiri!" Makini said.
We soon entered a group hug that lasted for eight seconds, and then after the hug dispersed, Edwin and I also had our own separate hug as a couple. I also saw Beshte and Makini do the same for each other.
We grabbed our bags and headed downstairs. As soon as we got to the first floor, we saw Bupu and Muhimu in Bupu's car by the front doors to the building
"Okay, I will see you when we get to the museum." Ma Tembo said before she exited the building to enter the car.
"See you Ma Tembo!" Edwin said, all of us waving in response.
The five of us soon got to the parking lot to go to the minivan that Edwin and I rented last night. We entered the van with me in the driver's seat, Edwin in the passenger seat, and the rest sitting in the back. Also in the back is an area where we added blankets, food, and water for when we rescue Kiara and Kovu.
After one last check, we begin driving off to the museum.
Third Person P.O.V.:
Ono, Jamal, Raoul, and Anahita are in Ono's hotel room, all on their laptops, spread out either on Ono's bed, two nearby chairs, and even the floor.
"Okay, so I am able to get into the server where Simba and Kion's email are located though I cannot seem to successfully get into the server responsible for the alarms and such. But I can start collecting evidence in Simba, Kion and the other's emails and museum Cloud files. Anyone else having any better luck with the security and alarms?" Raoul said.
"I am able to access the security cameras but not the alarms." Anahita said.
"I am able to get into the security mainframe, but I can't seem to hack my way through the alarms in the north end of the museum where the storeroom is. I also just gained access to the" Ono said.
"Wait, let me see if I can help you with that…" Jamal said before he and Ono started discussing how to potentially access the alarm for the storeroom.
Jamal eventually went to his computer and began to hack into the museum mainframe, typing away for two or three minutes.
"Okay, I'm in! And let me try a little something here…Okay, so this is for the alarms and security cameras in most areas of the museum. Oh wait, I think I found….yep, just found the alarm for the storeroom, let me just enter a set of codes here and…" Jamal said as he began to disable alarms in multiple areas of the museum on his computer.
"And done, the alarms to the storeroom and others have been disabled!" Jamal said.
"Wow Jamal! Thank you, this will make things much easier! I didn't know you were pretty good at hacking and coding." Ono enthusiastically said as he approached Jamal and his computer screen.
"No problem! My job involves coding and programming medical software, and I have years of experience coding, hacking, and programming since middle school. Though I have to admit, stuff regarding the storeroom was also hidden deep in this mainframe….They intentionally wanted to make it hard to find." Jamal replied.
"Okay, let's see if we could give someone in the group going into the museum ID clearance to the store room door." Ono said.
"Okay, I can log onto the site that is in charge of ID clearance." Raoul said.
Jasiri P.O.V.
We are on our way to the museum in the minivan we rented, with Ma Tembo, Bupu, and Muhimu following us in the car behind us.
"Hey, Jamal and Ono sent some texts. They were able to deactivate the alarm in the storeroom and other areas in the museum." Edwin said.
""I got it too and they said that they are currently working on getting us ID clearance to the storeroom." Vitani said.
"Great! That will make some things much easier for us." I said.
Soon all of us in both cars arrived at the museum. We stopped our cars in the parking lot and got out and grabbed our bags. We met up with the others when they got out of Buu's car.
"Okay guys ... .let's rescue our friends.." I calmly said, to which everyone responded with nods of agreement.
We soon approached the lower level entrance, all of us started taking out our weapons, which for most of us was pocket knives, pepper spray, and tasers in our pockets just in case something happens.
We took out our museum IDs to enter, entering the museum through the lower level. We try to walk as quickly as possible to the stairs that lead to the main floor. Though we would prefer to run, all of us, including our look outs Ma Tembo, Bupu, and Muhimu, want to check just to make sure neither Simba or any other members of his circle are here. So far, nothing of note, outside of two night security personnel passing by who know about our mission.
We walk up the stairs to the main floor. Based on the directions Ono and Anga described of the store room, we then head towards the bistro.
We walked past the bistro and went down an administrative hallway nearby. We then started to look at the room numbers to see if we could find the room Kiara and Kovu are being held in.
After two minutes of searching, we come upon a door with an ID scanner and a padlock on it. Let's check…..Store Room 119…..This is it.
"Guys! This is the room!" I said in a hushed tone of voice.
"Oh my goodness, yeah that's the room." Vitani said in response.
"Okay, and I just got another text from Ono, he said that Raoul gave all our IDs clearance for the room!" Beshte said.
"Great, now all we have to do is figure out this lock!" Edwin said as he started to approach the lock.
"Okay so once we have this lock figured out…." Makini said.
"...50" Edwin said quietly.
"One of us can just…" Makini said.
"...4" Edwin said quietly.
"Use one of our IDs to….." Makini said.
"...43" Edwin said quietly.
"Open the door and we can…" Makini said before Edwin interrupted.
"...9….Got it!" Edwin said following with the sound of the lock opening.
"Wait what?! You got it that fast!? How?!" Makini said, shocked as all of us.
None of us expected it to be that fast for Edwin to figure out the lock.
"Well, I know a trick to move around the dial which could actually help me figure out the combination of the lock." Edwin said as he moved the lock away from the door.
"Okay, so now that we got that out of the way…Makini, use your ID to open the door. Everyone get your weapons out just in case there are any traps or one of Simba's associates decide to come to the room." Beshte said as he began to take his gun out.
Everyone started taking their weapons out. Me and Edwin taking our pocket knives out, Vitani taking out a baseball bat, and Makini taking out a kitchen knife. I also saw that Ma Tembo, Muhimu and Bupu were also taking out weapons as they were assigned as lookouts in the hallway. They mostly held kitchen knives with Ma Tembo holding her taser.
"Okay…..so Makini you scan your ID and once the door unlocks, we go in. On the count of three Makini, you will use your ID to unlock the door and then we enter…" Beshte said before he took a breath.
"One…..Two…THREE" Beshte said. We are all alert.
Makini took her work ID and scanned it near the door. A clicking sound signaled that the door is now unlocked.
Beshte grabbed the door knob to open the door and barged in with weapon in hand. Me Edwin, Vitani, and Makini followed suit.
We entered the store room, looked around and saw Kiara and Kovu chained to the wall, they were surprised to see us! But we were also surprised to see how bruised, battered, their clothes looked wrinkled and worn out, and they even looked a little thinner. Honestly, you could smell that neither of them bathed in a week.
Along with relief to see them alive, part of me was also angry. How can a father allow and do this to their own daughter and son-in-law? Though I wasn't surprised with Kion being able to do this, I was still mad that he could harbor this level of cruelty to his own sister.
"Beshte, check that door over there! There could be someone over there!" I said.
"On it!" He said as I approached the door.
"Guys?! What are you guys doing here?!" Kiara said with a tone that is a mix of shock and hopefulness.
"We're here to bust you out! Ono found out and he immediately went to all of us with what he found alongside other evidence as well." Vitani said.
"There's no one in that room. All that's there is a bathroom." Beshte said coming back from the room.
"Yeah, pretty much Simba, Kion, Bunga, Tiifu, or Twiga took turns to periodically escort us to the bathroom and watch us use it, along with periodically feeding us. As you see, sometimes at least one of them beat us when we were acting 'too insubordinate'." Kovu replied.
"Shit…..when I see those bastards…..I'm going to…But first let's get you two out of here!" Vitani said.
"Right, let's get you guys out of these chains and cuffs. Edwin, take out your kit and supplies, for the locks and cuffs. And we'll all help you. So Edwin, you, me and Makini will work on getting Kiara out. Beshte, Vitani, and Ma Tembo will work on getting Kovu out." I said before I went to the door.
"Ma Tembo! We need your bolt cutters for these chains!" I yelled.
We soon got to work, with Edwin, Makini and I approaching Kiara, and the others approaching Kovu.
Ma Tembo soon came in with the bolt cutters and we gestured towards Kovu.
Edwin got some supplies out of his bag, which weirdly included a small box of paper clips. He got to work as fast as he could.
In only a minute, Edwin was able to pick the lock and free Kiara's left arm from her chain. I soon borrowed Beshte's saw to break the chain attached to Kiara's left leg. I was eventually able to break the chain and moved on to the chain on her right leg. In the meantime Edwin finished freeing her right arm and moved on to picking the lock to the cuff that was still attached to her left ankle.
I soon broke the chain and soon Edwin picked the lock to free Kiara from the last cuff.
Soon after that Kiara was free, and she was having a little trouble standing up while Makini was helping her.
"Hey Edwin, we were able to get Kovu out of the chains but can you help unlock the cuffs on his wrists and ankles. Could you help us unlock them?" Beshte asked.
"Sure, no problem." Edwin responded as he approached Kovu.
Soon, Makini and I began to hug Kiara for a moment.
"It's okay, you're going to be safe." I told her.
"Yes, we're going to get you out of here and potentially bring you guys to a doctor to make sure you guys are alright." Makini calmly told her.
"Thank you…." Kiara said quietly.
"Got it!" Edwin said, and we saw that he finished unlocking all the cuffs attached to Kovu.
"Wait, how did you unlock them that fast?" Kovu said in a surprised tone.
"An old friend of mine taught me." Edwin replied.
"I didn't know that Edwin." Kiara said.
Soon Vitani approached Kovu and gave him a tight hug.
"I'm sorry that I failed you two." Vitani gently said.
"You didn't fail us Vitani… You are helping us." Kovu gently said to Vitani with a small smile on his face.
Kovu then approached Kiara and they gave each other a tight embrace.
After giving them a minute of them embracing each other, Vitani also got a moment to hug Kiara for a little bit.
"Okay, no let's get out of here so that we can finally give justice to both you guys and our fallen friends." Makini said.
"Yeah, let's get out of here" I said before all of us exited the store room.
Third Person P.O.V:
Ono, Jamal, Raoul, and Anahita were still in Ono's hotel room and they were gathering as much evidence against Simba, Kion, and others in his circle.
"Okay, so I actually found a bunch of emails involving Simba purchasing weapons, some even appear for automatic weapons. Does he have automatic weapons in his apartment?" Anahita said.
"Hey guys, when I was giving everyone in the museum group clearance to the store room….that strangely Bupu also already had clearance to the room…..why do I kinda have a bad feeling about this?" Raoul said.
"Uh guys…I just found email communications between Simba and Bupu…..Hapana…Oh no….oh no…..oh no….THIS IS BAD!" Ono said in a deeply concerned tone.
"Wait Ono…Ono? What's wrong?! What did you find?! Jamal said as he approached Ono.
"I found a bunch of emails between Bupu and Simba, and it looks like Bupu is fully aware of Simba's plans and actions…..WAIT! Look at this email!" Ono said.
"Let me check it out. It says Hi Simba, Just overheard that Kiara and Kovu are planning to break into your, Kion and Bunga's offices and desks this Friday night. They plan to look for stuff to ruin your campaign and ruin your reputation. Either move your stuff or find a way to take care of the intruders." Jamal said, his eyebrows rising after reading the email and giving Ono an expression of deep concern and fear.
"Guys? I was looking through one of the flash drives, and I just stumbled upon a photo from some kind of campaign event for Simba running for mayor. And look, here's Bupu right next to Kion." Anahita said, showing her laptop screen to the others.
She showed a jpeg file which had an image of Simba, Kion, Bunga, Twiga, Tiifu, and Bupu all sitting at a table in formal attire. All were in their human forms.
"Wait….Wait…..Why would Bupu ever be on Simba's side in the slightest? Why would he enable Kiara and Kovu to be captured? It…it…it…..doesn't make ANY sense…Why?" Ono said.
"Uh…..we have bigger issues….look at this email exchange between Bupu and Simba that occurred just this morning. Simba replied to him Okay Bupu, thank you for informing of this, so the plan is to essentially let them succeed for a bit. Lighten security measures and alarm systems in the mainframe, let them succeed in getting Kiara and Kovu out. When they are out of the room, text me, and the plan is to surround them on the main floor and take care of them. We will leave NONE of them alive and then we'll clean up the mess later. They are ALL traitors, so show them no mercy. If it's been over an hour or an hour and a half and they still don't succeed, then just text us and we'll kill them wherever they are at the time. We'll then take care of Ono at the hotel afterwards. And any staff that will question their disappearances will either be fired, demoted, or will receive a pay cut depending on the level from each person. See you at the purge. Simba. P.S. Make sure you save Jasiri and the Mariani guy for Kion, he wants to be the one to finish them." Raoul said.
All…..their…..jaws….drop. Fear is pulsating through all of their veins. There is now an air of urgency among all four of them.
"WE HAVE TO CALL THEM! WE HAVE TO CALL EVERYONE! WE HAVE TO CALL 911! It's now the worst case scenario! After the calls, we are going to lock ourselves in the bathroom with everything." Ono yelled urgently.
Edwin P.O.V.
We are now heading out of the store room. All of us are speed walking down the hallway. Vitani and Makini are helping Kiara and Kovu walk who are still walking a little weakly after being in chains for over a week.
We are in the main plaza of the main floor when I heard my phone ring.
I took it out of my pocket and saw that Jamal was calling me, I pressed the green tab to answer the call.
"Hey Jamal, we have Kiara and Kovu. Still on the main floor of the museum to exit. What's up?" Edwin said.
"EDWIN! BUPU'S WITH SIMBA! YOU GUYS NEED TO LOSE HIM AND GET OUT THE MUSEUM!" Jamal yelled urgently.
"Wait wait wait…..WHAT?!" I said, surprised at what Jamal just said.
"We were doing more searching and found photos and email chains between Bupu, Simba, and others in his circle. HE was the one that told Simba about Kiara and Kovu's plan and got them captured!" Jamal said.
"Bupu did what?!" I said….Wait did I say that out loud?
"Bupu also told Simba and everyone else in his circle about our plan. Simba sent him a message saying that they wanted to give us a sense of false security before ambushing your guys. THEY ALL GOING TO KILL YOU! SIMBA AND EVERYONE IN HIS CIRCLE ARE IN THE MUSEUM! YOU GUYS NEED TO RUN! GET OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!" Jamal said.
Blood drained from my face. This is bad. We need to get out of here.
But before I can do anything….I see a gun pulled to my face.
"Put the phone down Edwin." Bupu said as he held the gun pointed to my face.