Kion stood up, every fibre of his body shaking at the sight before him. He knew he was looking at Scar, and yet it was not Scar. It was painfully obvious that this was no mere possession – rather, Scar appeared to have made peace with his father in the absolute worst way possible. Just as Kion has come to understand Scar upon seeing Simba's wounds, so too had Scar come to understand Ahadi. The two of them were one.

"What," said Jasiri, "the hell is going on?"

"Honestly, I really thought we had won," sighed Kion. "But I guess that was just more of me being a kid. Ushari might be gone, but the circle of life and death keeps going, on and on and on until someone finds a way to finally stop it."

"You," said Scar, inclining his head towards Kion. "Stay there – I will be using my new power to bind you and Simba together. You will then have to teach another to carry on the connection for you after you die, and so go on until eternity. If you fail me, I will know, for I shall also do the same."He turned his attention to the hyenas, who were still cowering behind their stone ramparts. "Now, as for you…"

"Scar." It was Janja's voice that spoke, but something was off: It had sounded too soft, too precise in its intonation. "There's no need to be rash," it continued. "We can talk this out, like reasonable people."

Jasiri jerked upright, but Kion stopped her before she could say anything. Something told him that this was a really bad time for them to be noticed.

"Shenzi."

The young male hyena stepped out from behind the stone ramparts, heedless of the golden light that still radiated from Scar like a coat of starlight. "My son is an idiot: We both know that. If you want to punish him, fine. But you can't hold him accountable for what he did under Ushari's control."

"I think you'll find, Shenzi, that I can do whatever I want."

She regarded him with half-lidded eyes, seemingly undaunted by the god-like creature in front of her. "True, that is how things are usually done in the Outlands. Brute force is about all these useless creatures understand. But you're not just any animal, are you? You're the king."

"The king," he repeated. "Yes, I did call myself that, once. Back when I was competing with my older brother out of jealousy and spite. Back when I sought out the hyenas in fear and desperation, and called them my only friends." The golden light flickered and flared anew, and all across the chamber motion seemed to stop: The lava ceased to bubble and pop, while motes of stone dust no longer drifted downward from the ceiling. They remained there, suspended in mid air as if they were just as afraid as Kion to draw their attention. "I acknowledged you when I had everything and you had nothing: Offered you a chance to be my equal at the risk of losing all that I had. When there was a drought, I gave you food and water. When I regained my power, I shared it with you. And you still betrayed me."

"I did. And you know exactly why I did it." Her eyes flickered in remembrance. "I was a cub born to be a leader, bitter at the failure of the rest of the world to be the way it ought to be, with a people that inspire nothing but disappointment. Manic and unpredictable, never thinking twice or taking anything seriously, refusing to consider what's truly important until it's almost too late." At last her eyes seemed to come into focus, her yellow meeting his green. "Face it Scar: The two of us are exactly the same."

"We are. And I find that I despise you." He roared at her, and the world sprang back into motion as Shenzi was hurled into the wall her own son had created. She tried to rise up, but the ground cracked and fell away beneath her, and in moments she was hanging from the edge of a chasm by her claws.

"Shenzi!" Jasiri tore away from Kion and ran towards her. "Hold – hold on!"

"My father was right about you hyenas." Scar watched in disgust as Jasiri helped Shenzi clamber back out of the abyss. "You are all the same… unthinking, giggling creatures: A mockery of life itself."

"Scar," Shenzi tried once more, though her voice was drained and her eyes were no longer defiant. "I get it if you want to hurt me. If you want to hurt me through him instead, that's fine too. I'll even do it myself, if you like." She closed her eyes. "Just, please, don't kill my boy."

Kion winced. Her use of that word did not seem to him like a good idea, in that moment.

"Kill your boy? Shenzi, I have no intention of killing anyone." Scar stepped closer, and the lava cooled and hardened as he approached, seeming to change to black glass beneath his paws. "Rather, I will do the same thing as I once did to your brother – or was that your mate? I never could tell the difference." Behind Shenzi, the ground rebuilt itself; a thousand stone fragments rearranging themselves to close the chasm as if nothing had ever happened. "I will shatter what tiny little minds your son and his companions possess, and then I will find the rest of your miserable species and do the same to them. I will bind you all together into a single spirit, and then at last you shall have the afterlife you always desired: You, as the undisputed ruler of all hyenas, surrounded by your friends and family for the rest of eternity, with naught to listen to but the sound of their laughter – forever."

Shenzi stumbled and fell backwards, landing on the ground which had not been there a second before. Yet even as she fell her frantic eyes never left Scar's, for although they were filled with terror they were no longer able to turn away.

"Enough," said Kion. "Granduncle, this is mad. You cannot destroy an entire species! Let alone… that."

"Oh?" Scar turned to regard him, though his expression was the same no matter who he looked at. "Why? Is there something special about destroying the very last of a species that makes it qualitatively different from what you do? You, whose very existence depends on feeding off the flesh of others, and whose sole role in life is to hunt and destroy any who would sneak across the border to do the same?"

"That's not the point," growled Kion. "If I hurt someone, it's because I have to, or because I made some kind of mistake. You're talking about hurting people for no reason at all!"

Scar tilted his head towards Simba, who was softly moaning in pain. "Not without reason."

Kion gritted his teeth. "Listen, granduncle, I get it. I feel the same way! But you can't blame a whole species for the actions of a few individuals."

"A few individuals? Is that what you think?" Scar's eyes flickered with a golden sheen. "Throughout the generations, hyenas have caused nothing but misery and strife. Why do you think the Kings of the Past never finished them off before? Do you imagine Ahadi was too soft for the task? No, the reason is that we require such conflict to exist: The herds allow us to hunt them because we promise protection in exchange, but if we actually were to destroy their predators then there would no longer be any need for us. That is the cycle of death and destruction that allows you to call yourself Prince."

"That, that's not…" Kion floundered. "Look, I don't know about Ahadi or the others, but the reason the Pridelanders call me Prince is because they love and respect my father, just as they loved and respected Mufasa. And I'm pretty sure they didn't do any kind of calculation – they just didn't kill the rest of the hyenas because it felt wrong to kill an enemy that had already surrendered!"

"Naïve. Just because they're not calculating doesn't mean there is no calculation. What do you think happened to Ushari's precious empire? Someone else came along that reduced it to rubble and crowned himself king – and that person might well have been the very first Lion King. Well then, if being born to a legacy of genocide can make you a Prince, I dare say my own actions shall make me King. We'll see who the Pridelanders love more once I've destroyed the ones who eat them."

Kion gritted his teeth. "So you're just gonna kill all of the predators, huh? Is that your big plan? So then, after you're done with the hyenas, it'll be the jackals, and then the cheetahs, and finally ourselves?" There was a deep hollowness inside of him, which he would have liked to call anger or indignation, except that he was not all that certain that Scar was wrong. Perhaps the world really would be better off without himself and those like him. "What about Jasiri? Are you going to kill my friends, too?"

"I could make an exception, for a select few individuals."

"And my family?" Jasiri stood between Scar and Shenzi with her hackles raised. "What about my sister, and her cubs? Do they get to be exceptions, too?"

He seemed to hesitate. "Perhaps. If they agreed not to breed and let themselves die off naturally…"

"I'm not going to let you destroy my entire species!"

"Hyena, you're defending the person who just murdered my adopted son right in front of me. I think I am being exceptionally reasonable considering the circumstances." Scar turned to face Kion, the golden light seeming to bore straight into his soul. "Now, I don't know how much longer your father has to live, so stand down while I bind the two of you together. We'll deal with the rest afterwards."

Kion gritted his teeth and braced himself. "I'm not doing a damn thing."

"You'd side with the very same hyenas who murdered your own father?"

"I'm siding with what's right," said Kion, "because doing what's wrong killed my father." The hyenas were slowly circling the golden lion: It was him, Jasiri, Shenzi and her giggling brother against Scar. An impossible, hopeless fight, but he would fight it anyway. "You're not well, Granduncle. Merging with Ahadi has infected you with his madness. Banish him, and I promise I'll listen to anything you say."

The golden lion shook his head. "That's why I called you Naïve, boy: I was always like this, right from the very start. But now, I no longer have any reason to pretend."

Scar roared, and Kion felt himself flying backwards, his skull blazing with agony even before his body smashed through the nearest pile of rubble. Every part of his being burned with the same pain that he had felt when he first looked upon Ahadi: That blazing headache that radiated sheer wrongness. But this time he would not be surprised if all of his bones had been shattered as well.

Distantly, through pained and blurry vision, he could see the battle taking place before him. Somehow, Shenzi was managing to make some kind of stand while the others did their best to keep Scar from finishing her off. Or at least, that's how he imagined it: All he could see was blurry shapes, dancing back and forth amongst the shadows and the flame…

"Kion? Are you alright?"

He tried to get up, but it took all his energy just to tilt his head. There was a blurred shape frantically flapping next to his head.

"Ono?" He blinked, trying to clear his vision. "Is that really you? Where's Fuli?"

"She's trying to sneak in closer to see if she can do something, somehow." Ono settled on the ground next to Kion, trying to hide his frail little body. "I was trying to get to you the whole time, but I didn't want to get spotted by Scar. Kion, what are we supposed to do? We can't fight against a living god!"

"We don't really have much of a choice," he sighed. His gaze wandered off, and he found himself staring at the brazier at the very top of Ushari's ziggurat, from which crimson fumes still wafted.

"The red fruit," he whispered. "Ono, if you can get me some of that fruit, I can use it to increase my power. Maybe use it to disrupt Scar's focus, somehow." Though even as he said that, he knew perfectly well that distracting Scar was an entirely different matter from distracting Ushari. He still remembered how effortless it had been for Scar to defeat him during their sparring sessions.

"Got it," said Ono. He hesitated a moment before taking flight, seeming to want to say something else but not quite managing to find the words. "I won't let you down, Kion."

"I know you won't. And Ono? If you see Fuli, tell her not to do anything brazenly idiotic."

"Will do." He took to the air and vanished almost instantly before Kion's pained and tired eyes.

After a few more seconds of lying there, Kion took a deep breath and tried to get up, but he instantly regretted the attempt. Every part of his body was agony. If he had not suffered any permanent damage, it would have to be a miracle. Resigning himself, he reached out with his mind and searched for those around him instead.

There was Scar, first of all, his spirit blazing so brightly that it eclipsed all others. After a moment Kion managed to distinguish Jasiri's presence as well, her spirit that much stronger now that she no longer hid behind that mocking laugh. Had it really been that short a while ago since they first met?

His father was still lying on the ground behind her. Still in pain.

Fighting beside her were Shenzi and Janja, their souls overlapping. The ones who did it.

And then there was Ono, his spirit as unsteady as his heartbeat, desperately trying to remain unnoticed as he soared to the very top of the ziggurat. His talons gripped the edge of the brazier, but he immediately recoiled as the fire scorched him. He reached in again, stabbing blindly at the smouldering fruit even as his wings smouldered from the heat, until at last he pierced it with his beak. He launched himself off the ziggurat, more falling than flying with his burnt wings as he headed straight towards Kion.

For one moment, Kion allowed himself a stab of hope. Then there was a flash of light and Ono tumbled out of the air and landed in a smoking heap in front of him. A moment later a figure emerged from the smoke and dust and placed a paw down on the red fruit, crushing it with distaste.

Kion did not need his eyes to know who had done it.

"Ono, was it? You were Zazu's spy inside the Lion Guard, as I recall. Zazu was a good friend and ally of mine, before his unfortunate demise. I could use someone to fill his position once I crown myself king."

"Apologies, Your Highness." Ono half rose, but he could do no more than cough up ash. He lifted his head in Scar's direction, a resigned expression in his eyes. "But I answer to my Captain, not the king."

"You answer poorly." Scar seized him by the tail and flung him aside, smashing his body against the nearest wall.

"Ono!" Kion tried to rise, but the pain in his chest was too much even for his rage to match. "You… if you were always like this, then I really was naïve!" He let his head fall back onto the stones, staring upwards as he breathed in pained gasps. "But that's just it, isn't it? You're still acting out of blind rage and pain, still hiding your real emotions like you always have. What's the point of it, granduncle? What's the point of being the most powerful being in the world if it changes absolutely nothing?"

"There is no point. There never was." Scar turned around and roared at the silhouettes behind him, causing the ground to rise up and rush at them like a tidal wave. "Aren't you going to attack me?"

"I would very much like to," Kion admitted. "But my chest really hurts."

"I'm sorry."

For a moment, Kion was not sure if he had heard him. "Sorry? You just slammed my friend into a wall!"

"He was not truly your friend. He betrayed you." A beam of light lashed out from Scar's golden aura, eliciting a strangled scream from somewhere in the smog. "All these spies, advisors and lickspittles… none of this would have happened if I had just relied on my own power like Zira always told me to. My best intentions caused more harm than my malice ever did." There was a blast of wind that blew smoke and ash in Kion's face, and the next moment Scar had his claws wrapped around the last of the mad hyenas' necks. "Everyone I ever tried to protect is dead or dying, but this? This I can do."

"Granduncle, don't."

There was a brief struggle, a few short spasms, and then the hyena fell limply to the ground. Another faint wisp began to circle around Scar's brow, and ever so softly Kion could hear the sound of giggling, echoing from the same place where Ushari's screams could also still be heard.

"I never should have left him."

Kion took a deep, ragged breath. "Granduncle, you know this is wrong. You're making the exact same mistake you've already made a hundred times before, and you're too smart not to realize you're just going to regret it all later. So why not just skip ahead and go right to the inevitable conclusion?"

"That would have been good advice, a long time ago. But my conclusion has already been reached."

Kion groaned, and slowly let his head drop back onto the stone rubble. As he did so, he noticed a shadow stalking alongside the shattered steps of the ziggurat, sneaking up behind Scar. Renewed panic set his heart racing once more despite his exhaustion, and he transmitted every last bit of it to the faint presence he felt there. Don't. Don't try it. It won't work.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and it took no effort at all to picture the cocky grin she flashed him in reply.

He opened his eyes, every part of him screaming out to do something before it was too late. "Hey granduncle," he said hoarsely, right as Scar was about to turn his head in Fuli's direction. "What Ushari said about you before – was that true? Could you really have chosen to be honourable, if that's what it took to save Simba's life?"

"Perhaps. I don't know."

"Then…" He swallowed. "Then, if that's the case… couldn't you choose a different conclusion? Could you at least try?" Behind Scar, Fuli flattened her ears and lowered her head, her tail swishing ever so softly from left to right as she prepared to pounce. "Could you do it… for him?"

For one second, Scar seemed to hesitate, his focus momentarily lost. It as then that Fuli leaped, a picture of perfect feline grace that seemed to be frozen in time despite her speed. Slowly, Scar turned his head, and her eyes met his for just one instant before her claws reached him. There was a scream and a flash of golden light, and then Fuli came rolling towards Kion, coming to a halt just in front of him. Her soft, yellow-and-black fur has been scorched from head to tail, and she smelled of smoke and burning hair.

"Fuli!" Kion crawled towards her, not even the searing pain in his chest and limbs managing to stop him this time. The smoke stung his eyes as he poured over her, and he blinked furiously to try and clear his vision so he could see the extent of her injuries.

"Well done." Kion lifted his head, and through blurred vision he saw that the golden light around Scar had faded to nothing. Black, matted hair hung down in front of the old lion's face, obscuring the fresh wound from which a steady stream of blood now trickled. "Attacking me in the back during a moment of weakness… you really are far more like me than your father ever was."

"I didn't," said Kion. "I wasn't trying to..."

Scar turned and walked into the smog, his golden light flaring up anew as he disappeared to where Shenzi and Jasiri were preparing to make their last stand. A few seconds later, the ground began to tremble and groan once more with the sound of their conflict.

"Fuli," he whispered. "What were you thinking?"

Slowly, ever so slowly, her lips twisted into a smile. Her paw opened up, revealing a smouldering crimson powder within.

"Hey Kion," she rasped. "What… what's my name?"

"Fuli," he said, closing his eyes. "Fuli the Foolhardy."

He breathed deeply from the smoke of the crimson fruit, and almost immediately he felt darkness take him. The last he remembered was falling asleep in Fuli's arms.