Edwin P.O.V.
I stare directly into Kion's eyes. Knife in one hand. The other I am using to cover my gunshot wound.
"Kion…please…..there is no need for this…." I said as I maintained eye contact with him.
BANG
AAAGGGHHH!
I jolted back and screamed in pain as Kion shot my left shoulder. I slowly began to back away as he approached closer to me.
"Oh….there is ABSOLUTELY a need for this!" Kion said in a sinister tone.
That sinister smile of his soon morphed into an expression of pure anger and hatred.
"I need to RID THE WORLD OF BASTARDS LIKE YOU who mess around with other's lives!" Kion yelled angrily.
I tried to back up as fast as I could. Crawling backward with my arms and legs. Though it's now harder with my shoulder wound.
"First you steal my girlfriend! Then you and your mother steal my mother away from me and dad! Then you start turning many of my close friends and acquaintances against me and dad! And frankly, I've had enough of it!" Kion yelled angrily before pulling the trigger again.
BANG!
I screamed and jolted in pain again. This time he wounded my upper right leg.
I tried to pull my knife towards him, but he then stepped on my wrist.
His expression soon morphed back into the one with the macabre, almost demonic smile.
"I'll take care of that!" Kion said as he kicked my knife out of my hand.
He then kicked me in my abdomen, aggravating the gunshot wound I already had there.
He began to maniacally laugh.
"Oh….I'm going to have some fun with you…You're nothing but a mere pound of skin and bone! I'm not going to kill you immediately. I want to play with my prey before I finish it…." Kion said as he continued pointing the gun towards me. Inching closer to my body as I tried to back away.
"And frankly you deserve it….Ever since your ass arrived in the museum two years ago….YOU HAVE CAUSED NOTHING BUT TROUBLE! Stealing everything from me and my father…our significant others…..our reputations…..MOST OF OUR FRIENDS! You and the others are actively trying to destroy everything my dad and I have tried to build! And frankly…I'm getting tired of it! Any last words before I blow-" Kion is say- all the sudden.
BANG
Kion stopped mid-sentence and then quickly fell on his back.
Wait….I think I saw a small object enter Kion's chest followed by a little blood flow out as Kion fell.
I think he got shot.
As I slowly try to sit up….though the pain from my wounds is making that much more difficult, I can hear light gurgling.
Is Kion…choking on his own blood?
I heard the sound of footsteps approaching from behind me ... .they got closer and closer.
I turned around to the direction of where the footsteps were coming from.
I saw Beshte…with a serious yet uneasy expression on his face..with a gun in his hands…pointed to where Kion's body was lying.
Seconds after I saw Beshte…..I also quietly heard the sounds of Kion's gurgling becoming even quieter and eventually stopping.
"I'm sorry I had to do this to you Kion…..But I had to…..I wasn't going to let you kill my friend…And you were wrong….Edwin never stole us from you…..In a way, you pushed us away from you….With every abuse and poor decision you made over time….Though you were once my friend Kion…..but then you became a monster…." Beshte said as he approached Kion's body.
He soon bent down to check for a pulse of the body.
"He's gone…" Beshte quickly said before he began to approach me.
His face shifted to an expression of worry as he soon tried using his hands to try to stop the bleeding from the wounds on my leg and abdomen..and I continued to press on the wound on my shoulder
"Edwin!...Kion did this to you?! Come on man, you gotta stay with us! You're only thirty! Do not die on me!" Beshte said urgently to me.
"I'll do my best…..I don't want to die yet either….But I admit that….I think my eyes are getting a little blurry…and I'm getting tired….how much blood am I losing?" I said, trying my best to compose myself.
"No no no no no no….Edwin….Listen to me…You are not going to die on us! After getting some first aid and going to the hospital, you'll recover and soon you'll propose to Jasiri…though probably later than you initially planned….but you'll still do it! She needs you! Our friends need you! I need you! You're one of my best friends! Don't leave us!" Beshte said in a pleading, concerned tone.
Things are starting to get blurry and more opaque.
"MAKINI! I NEED SOME FIRST AID HERE! EDWIN HAS BEEN SHOT AND THERE'S STILL BLEEDING!" Beshte said, gesturing to Makini to come closer to us.
I think….things are starting to…fade into black
Third Person P.O.V:
Makini approaches Beshte with an injured Edwin, leaving Vuruga to continue treating and guarding an injured Muhimu.
Meanwhile, Vitani, Kiara and Kovu are running between two pillars near the main floor atrium to look for one of the exits. Vitani is leading the groups of three as Kiara and Kovu are still a little weak from their captivity.
"Okay guys, so one of the emergency exits is that way! So we can get out of the building, call for help, and potentially even get to the rental car to get sup-" Vitani was saying.
Then all the sudden….Tiifu runs in front of them pointing a handgun towards them.
"Where do you think you are going?" Tiifu said with a smirk on her face.
"Tiifu….you don't need to do this…..this is your last chance…you can either let us leave and perhaps-" Vitani said sternly.
BANG
"GET DOWN!" Vitani yelled toward Kiara and Kovu as she dodged a bullet.
Kiara and Kovu dropped down to the floor, putting their hands behind their heads.
Vitani soon ran towards Tiifu in an almost zig-zag direction, successfully dodging another bullet.
She then threw her flashlight at Tiifu, which was able to hit Tiifu in the face.
This pauses in the shooting allowed Vitani to tackle Tiifu to the ground, and the two began to fight.
Seeing this going on, Kiara and Kovu took this moment as an opportunity to hide. The closest place they could find was a railing that is attached to the staircase that connects the main floor to the lower floor.
Vitani and Tiifu are struggling with each other. Vitani was able to deliver a punch to Tiifu's chin while Tiifu was able to scratch Vitani's cheek with the claws on one of her hands.
Tiifu then kicked Vitani in the abdomen, which made Vitani fall off Tiifu.
Tiifu tried to restabilize herself and her hand's grip on the gun.
Then Vitani swung her leg and used it to knock Tiifu's balance. This caused Tiifu to fall and accidentally pull the trigger to her gun, causing it to misfire to the ceiling.
Vitani then took this opportunity to pin down Tiifu.
"This is for doing nothing or even helping Simba plan and execute the murders of our friends!" Vitani said angrily before she punched Tiifu in the chest.
"This is for helping cover up evidence and even helping plan the bombing attempt on Nala!" Vitani yelled before she slashed Tiifu's cheek with her claws.
"This is for taking my brother and his wife, someone who once called you one of her best friends, away from all of us for a week and forcing them into captivity!" Vitani said before punching Tiifu on the left side of her face.
"AND THIS IS FOR PARTAKING IN ABUSING AND MALNOURISHING THEM FOR CET WEEK-LONG CAPTIVITY!" Vitani yelled before punching Tiifu on the other side of her face.
Tiifu looks seemingly knocked out or incapacitated, thus Vitani took the opportunity to run towards Kiara and Kovu who are by the stair railings.
"Okay guys, I think I might have knocked Tiifu out. So this is our chance to get you guys out of the museum to get some help and-" Vitani said to Kiara and Kovu.
BANG
"AAGGGHH! Crap crap crap! I'm hit!" Vitani yelled as a sudden pain jetted in her right arm before she quickly turned around.
When he turned around, she, as well as Kiara and Kovu saw a bruised and cut Tiifu standing near them with her gun which was freshly used.
Vitani was now becoming more scared as she covered the wound to her arm with her other hand.
Kiara and Kovu felt their stomachs drop and looked at each other knowing that this could possibly be their last few minutes or hour alive.
"OKAY…I'M DONE PLAYING GAMES…..I'M DONE WITH THESE SCHOOLYARD STYLE FIGHTS! JUST DIE-" Tiifu angrily yelled.
BANG
"AAHHH! SHIT!" Tiifu screamed in pain and began clutching her arm, which actually also caused her to drop her gun.
We turned towards the source of the gunshot to find Anga and Yezekael with guns pointed towards Tiifu.
She turned around shocked as she covered the wound on her arm with her other hand. Anga and Yezekael began to slowly approach closer to Tiifu.
"Tiifu! It's over….put the gun down…and leave them alone!" Anga said.
"Drop the weapon where we can see it and put your hands up!" Yezekaek said.
Tiifu pointed her gun at them with her good hand, slowly starting to back up.
"No! The only thing that is getting dropped is your knees once the others are handled and soon you will bow down to your ne-Wo-AAGHHH!" Tiifu yelled before she suddenly fell backwards.
Unknown to Tiifu, as she was yelling and backing up, she backed right into the stairs connecting the main floor to the lower floor.
Tiifu tripped on the stairs when backing up and started tumbling down the marble stairs, hitting her head and other parts of her body on the way down.
There were even two or three cracks slightly audible until Tiifu reached the bottom of the stairs, unresponsive.
Vitani, Kiara, Kovu, Anga, and Yezekael looked down the stairs to see Tiifu's body lay at the bottom of the stairwell.
Jasiri P.O.V.
I have been running and hiding from the chaos after Edwin tackled Bunga, there were times I dodged bullets from Tiifu, Simba and Kion earlier as I ran.
For a few minutes, I have been hiding behind one of the glass display cases outside the Nature Walk exhibit, laying on the floor and calling 911. They said several people have already made calls regarding the chaos going on in the museum right now and ambulances and other emergency officials are heading to the museum right now.
As things seemed to dial down, I soon got up, carrying my knife, and started to approach where I saw Beshte and Makini. Kion is laying on the floor unresponsive and Beshe has-
No
No No No No No No No
I started sprinting towards them as soon as I saw Edwin wounded and bleeding…..and didn't seem conscious. Beshte and Makini seem to be doing their best to cover his wounds and stop the bleeding.
No….Not again….I cannot let this happen to me again…I was too late to save Janja back after the attack on my clan! I cannot lose Edwin the same way!
"EDWIN!" I yelled as I was running towards them.
All of the sudden…before I can reach Edwin, Makini, and Beshte…..I am being tackled by someone.
I could feel my knife slipping out of my hand. I am slammed hard into the ground.
From there, I see the figure that is pinning me down by putting their hands on my shoulders. It's Simba.
He no longer had the eyes of the respected king he was known for being in the Pride Lands…..Now I see the eyes of a killer. The eyes of a madman. The eyes of a narcissistic leader. The eyes of an actual monster.
"Now you and your other assholes really did it! YOU JUST COST ME A SON! MY SON! Who worked so hard to maintain order for all of us! Even though Tiifu and I will try for a new heir soon, first thing's first, guess I have to handle a little bit of business myself!" Simba yelled angrily.
But his face turned to an expression plastered with a sinister smile on his face.
He removed one of his hands from my shoulder and moved one of his hands to hold me down by my neck. Every time I struggled or tried to defend myself, he just pressed his head against my neck even harder.
He used his free hand to grab his gun and held it against my head.
"Your boy toy looks like he's not going to last much longer. Well at least you two won't be separated for long. Say goodbye bit-" Simba was saying before someone tackled him.
As I got up and regained my composure, I saw that the figure that tackled Simba….was Makuu.
"DON'T YOU EVEN DARE PUT YOUR FUCKING PAWS ON MY DAUGHTER!" Makuu yelled angrily as he pinned Simba down.
"I knew that it was a mistake to listen to Rafiki and let you in that savannah summit all those years ago. And look what happened, who was once a mighty crocodile is now a soft, cowardice pile of scales and skin." Simba said.
"Oh, this pile of scales and skin still has plenty of strength and will behind him. I may not be a leader of a float anymore, but at least I have tried and built an identity outside of my past. You have hurt, manipulated and for some, even killed, those you once claimed to have cherished. Just to try to reclaim a throne that no longer exists. Just to try to reclaim some kind of power and status that your delusional mind thinks you are entitled to, even over twenty years after the drought and fall of the Pride L-" Makuu said angrily until Simba was able to free one of his legs from Makuu's tackle and kicked Makuu in the stomach as he talked.
Makuu grunted as he fell off of Simba. I became concerned for him.
"Makuu!" I yelled in concern.
Simba walked towards Makuu before kicking him in the groin.
"Man….you really have lost it…" Simba calmly said.
"And now…" Simba said as he pulled out his gun and started walking towards me.
He eventually speed-walked approaching me with a gun pointed towards me.
"NOW SAY GOODBYE BITCH!" Simba eagerly yelled.
He pulled the trigger….only a clicking sound to be let out. No bullets.
Simba, looking visibly surprised, tried again and pulled ther trigger several more times. Nothing happened.
"Shit..." Simba said with a sigh, then putting the gun down on the floor
"Oh well…I guess I have to deal with you the old-fashioned way…." Simba said in a calm, sinister tone.
He soon raised his hands to unsheathe the claws on his hands and started to charge towards me, making a guttural roar as he did.
At the moment, I decided to unsheathe the claws in my own hands and try to dodge his attack. But I wasn't fast enough and he managed to tackle me to the floor.
I think I bruised myself on the floor, but that's not the priority right now. Simba attempted to bite my neck, but I quickly rolled away from him and managed to scratch his cheek with my claws. I saw that his cheek was starting to bleed after that.
This seemed to get him even more mad. He started giving me a death glare. I have to prepare to further defend myself.
I got up and quickly got in a stance to prepare to fight Simba off.
Simba and I began to charge at each other. Claws out and everything. I tackled him and I elbowed him in the chest, and I dodged every blow that he attempted.
I was focusing on holding him down, and I want to call out to someone for assistance. But then I felt a scratching on my arm and then a punch on my other arm. I turned towards Simba, and he punched me right in the nose. Which made me fall back, and I kicked him in the shin
Simba grunted in pain, and I managed to scratch him in the abdomen, which caused tears in the fabric of the shirt he was wearing. I then punched him in that location which caused him to fall back.
I just went to him to face him and look him in his eyes and tell him what was on my mind.
"Do you know exactly how betrayed I feel by everything you have done or learned that you have contributed to? Do you Simba?" I said sternly.
"First, I learned that your father was the one that essentially cut of resources to the Outlands, which catalyzing all the chaos that the Outlands have suffered, that led to that one group of hyenas being taken advantage of by Scar to help him in his plot, that led to so many problems that could have been avoided. And you continued to uphold your father's prejudiced policies when you became king of the Pride Lands…so this is for your contribution to the chaos and division that my clan and others in the Outlands struggled through…" I said before I slapped him in the face.
"This is for intentionally giving me and my clan less rations than you could have during the drought, that contributed to the chaos and deaths I've experienced during the drought...which caused many of my friends and family to die" I said before I slapped him on the other side of his face.
"This is for violating the trust of so many of us throughout the years…." I said before punching the left side of his face.
"This is for doing nothing when Kion was straight up abusing me when I dated him!.." I said before I punched him on the other side of his face.
"AND THIS IS FOR ABUSING, HURTING, AND EVEN KILLING INDIVIDUALS YOU ONCE CLAIMED TO CARE FOR OR HAVE CARED ABOUT YOU! ALL BECAUSE OF SOME PATHOLOGICAL NEED FOR POWER!" I yelled before I slashed him in the face the claws on my hand.
"Got anything to say?" I calmly asked.
Simba just looked at me with an expression of seething anger, not blinking a smidge, and his hands were starting to move a little.
"You're going to get it now….bitch.'' Simba said in a cold, angry tone.
He then just got up, rammed towards me, slashed me in the face with the claws on one of his hands, and rammed into me again. Pushing me down.
I am dodging blows from him while also giving him more slashes, punches, and even kicks to his body. I am doing my best to defend myself.
He managed to slash me on my right shoulder. But fortunately for me, this left me some room to punch him in the chest. This in turn, was able to get him off me and decided to roll myself away from Simba.
When I stopped rolling, I quickly looked around and two feet from me, I saw the knife I dropped the first time Simba tackled me.
I grabbed it as quickly as possible as I saw Simba starting to get up and look at me again. I tightened the grip on my knife.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST DO THIS TO ME?!" Simba yelled as he started to run towards me.
"BE PREPARED TO FACE JOIN THE REST OF YOUR FAMILY IN THE AFTERLIFE! AAGGHHH!" Simba yelled before roaring and running towards me with his claws out.
With limited time to act, I decided to take action. Simba is now less than two feet away from me.
I took my knife and thrusted it in Simba's chest.
"AAGGHHH! FUCK!" Simba yelled in pain after I stabbed him and took the knife out.
He scratched my arm with his claws.
He tried to attack me again, but then I took the knife, and I stabbed him in the throat.
I took the knife out of his neck and backed away from Simba, who soon dropped to his knees, clutching his neck to stop the bleeding from his wound.
He was beginning to choke on his own blood, which was also starting to flow out of his mouth.
As he covered his neck with one hand, he slowly raised his other hand towards me with an angry expression on his face as blood continued to flow and trickle out of his mouth.
He then slowly paused and suddenly dropped to the floor, face down.
I see that he was twitching briefly before his body then stood still, lying just feet away from me.
With Simba dealt with, I then looked towards the area where Beshte, Makini, and an injured Edwin are.
Despite the slashes, bruises and other minor wounds in my body, I felt that I was still in pretty good shape. So I ran towards them with urgency. Even jumping over Kion's dead body while doing so.
I got there and went on my knees to be closer to Edwin.
"How is he? Did Kion do this to him?And are you guys okay?" I said as I grabbed one of Edwin's hands.
"Makini and I are fine. But Kion shot Edwin three times, and I had to shoot Kion for him to stop hurting Edwin. He still has a pulse, I hear him breathing and still seems alive, but he has been bleeding a lot, and he is unconscious. Makini and I have been doing our best to stop the bleeding and treat the injuries." Beshte said.
"I'll help you with anything you need!" I said.
"You can help us apply pressure to one or more of his wounds that we bandaged." Makini said.
I decided to apply pressure to his wounds on his shoulder and abdomen.
I am worried. No. I am terrified.
Even when Simba is gone, there is the possibility that I can still lose Edwin.
But I won't let it happen to me again.
I don't even want to think about possibly losing Edwin the same way I did Janja.
Edwin's the person I'm going to spend the rest of my life with. The person who I am going to ask to marry. I already fantasize about our future together. All the experiences we are going to share together. Potentially even starting a family together. Growing old together.
I briefly checked his wrist for a pulse, and to my relief, he still has a pulse.
I can feel tears starting to form in my eyes.
"Please Edwin…don't leave me….all of us need you…I need you….it cannot end like this…..it already ended like this with Janja….that's not going to happen….you are going to pull through this…..you are a fighter Edwin….You never gave up when challenges and obstacles…and you're going to make it through this one as well…..You need to make it through….Don't leave me Edwin…Please don't leave us…." I said, trying to hold back the tears before they finally let out.
I began crying as I also looked around at everyone around me before turning my attention back to Edwin as all of us heard the sounds of sirens from emergency vehicles approaching the outside of the museum.