Love and Hate

Champion

Kion's forces arrive at Pride Rock. A massive army surrounds it. 

"Stop," Kion commands. His troops slow to a halt. He peers down at the massive rock. 

"That's not Simba's army," he mutters to himself. Vita nods. 

"I know who that is," ventures one of the hyena commanders. 

Kion and Vita turn to her. "Who is it?" Vita asks. 

"That's the Messiah. He claims to be a better king than Simba or Mufasa. He's been demanding Simba to step down, or a revolution of the people will bring. It appears one of those happened." 

"Oh," says Kion. "So, would he be an ally or a foe?" 

"Well," muses the hyena. "It depends. On the one hand, he could really use some help because Queen Dhahabu might see this as a chance to attack. But on the other, he disliked any monarch that wasn't him, so he might try to fight us." 

Kion nods. "I'll ask him. If he wants a fight, I'll declare a duel. If I win, his force surrenders and joins ours. If he wins, we attack." 

His advisors nod. 

Kion turns back to the army. 

"Soldiers, me, Vita, and Scar are going down to propose a partnership. If things go badly," he says, directing towards the hyena commanders, "I want you to intervene immediately." 

They salute. 

"Long live King Kion!" The army cheers. "Long live Queen Vita!" 

They wave to the crowd, before walking down the hill to Pride Rock. When they reach the bottom, they stop. 

The Messiah comes out to greet them. "Hello, King Kion. I've heard that you want my new kingdom." 

"That is correct, Messiah,"  replies Kion. "I have a challenge for you: you and I fight to the death. If I win, your side leaves the Pridelands and goes to the Outlands. If you win, we go back to the Outlands." 

"I accept your proposal," announces the Messiah. "Everyone get back." 

Everybody takes a large step back, and a circle is made for Kion and the Messiah. 

They circle each other in the clearing. "So, you killed my father?" asks Kion. 

The Messiah darkly chuckles. "I wanted to, but he slipped away. That coward." 

Kion smiles. "Seems like Simba." He practically spits the name. 

"So, we gonna fight?" The Messiah asks. 

"I don't see why not," Kion shrugs. He charges. 

The Messiah roars, and blocks his swipe. He ducks and jabs at Kion's underbelly, but Kion leaps backwards. "Oh, ho, you are good."  

The Messiah growls. Then he charges, and swipes at Kion's muzzle. His claws graze the nose and draw blood. 

Kion stumbles backward, then snarls and tackles the Messiah. 

The two continue clawing at each other, then Kion bites down hard on the Messiah's throat. 

The Messiah screams, a raw, feral noise. Then he goes limp as Kion feasts for a couple seconds before coming up. His face is covered in blood. 

"Murderer!" A zebra on the Messiah's side shouts. "You never said it would be a death match!" 

Kion stares at them in disbelief. "Actually, I did. We're you not listening?" 

"He did," Vita says, stepping up beside him. "Do we have a problem?" 

"You bet we do," growls one of the wolves. "You murdered our leader. Time to pay. Attack!" 

The wolves howl, and lead the charge. Kion roars, and some fall back and falter but the rest keep going. Kion and the wolf leader meet in a flurry of teeth and claws. Meanwhile, the hyenas charge down the hill to help them. 

Vita is fighting some wolves when she sees Scar go down under seven lions. "Kion, help Scar!" she yells. 

"Sorry Vita, I'm a little busy right now!" Kion shouts back. 

Vita groans. "Why do I have to save Scar's lousy ass?" She charges at the lions, but then stops as she sees Scar talking to them. 

"It's my fault, it was the jackals', they're the real enemy!" 

Vita growls, and backs away. The lions shake their heads at the shit coming from Scar, and lunge and shove him off the cliff. Some of Vita's jackals, who also heard the lions' and Scar's conversation, run after him. 

Scar blinks groggily at the bottom, everything out of focus. But he sees seven jackals walk-in towards him. "Ah, my friends. Help me up." 

"Friends?" One of the jackals laughs darkly. "I thought he said we were the enemies." 

Scar's eyes widen in terror. Another chimes in. "Yeah, that's what I heard. Bwa?" 

Bwa licks his lips as he advances on Scar, darkly laughing maniacally. 

"No, no, you don't understand! No, I, no, no!" The jackals ignore Scar's pleas and jump on him, tearing flesh and bone. Scar's screams are lost to the rest of the chaos of the battle. Vita surveys the gruesome carnage from above. 

Then she hears a loud yell from behind. She turns around to find one of the wolf commanders charging at her, yelling a war cry. She screams in terror and braces herself for the impact.

Kion hears Vita and turns to see her about to killed. "No!" He yells, and races toward. At the last moment, he lunges forward, in front of Vita as the wolf bears down on her. 

Vita waits for the impact, but it never comes. She opens her eyes, and sees Kion limp in his puddle of blood in front of her. 

"Noooo!" She wails. "Wake up, Kion, wake up! Goddamnit! Kion, please wake up! Please! I need you." But Kion doesn't respond. All around her, the world goes silent as they win, until the jackals see Kion's body. They howl in pain and sadness. 

"We won, Vita," her mom walks over and slumps down next to her. "We won." 

"Yes," Vita says, tears falling down her face. "But at what cost?" 

(AN: *SOMBER MUSIC PLAYS* HEY, GUYS. I WAS FEELING DEPRESSED SO I DECIDED TO KILL OFF KION. I AM SORRY TO EVERYONE WHO WANTED HIM TO RULE, BUT I HAVE BETTER PLANS. KEEP READING AND VOTING! COMMENT AND FOLLOW AS WELL. THANKS, AND @AnimalRights10 OUT.)