Lyrics

As Simba and his titanic army of human girls and animals slowly approached Pride Rock, he got the feeling that he had bitten off more than he could chew. They had all made it across the plains without being detected by the hyenas. He knew that hyenas could probably smell them out, but he must have gotten lucky. Not too long, and they had made it near the bottom of Pride Rock. But when they reached the actual bottom of Pride Rock, their luck had run out. More hyenas were guarding the place, alert and looking rather well-fed. The hyenas back in his day had been rather thin and angry. Here, though, they looked healthier and relaxed. Simba motioned for everyone to get behind a rock, and they all watched as the hyenas showed no signs of moving from their posts. "Hyenas everywhere. I hate hyenas," Timon griped, and Ma and Uncle Max agreed. Where they had come from, their colony had always been invaded by hyenas. The elephant shrew gulped. "We're dead. We're so dead." "Looking back, I kinda wasted my time on grooming," added the galago nervously. "Hey, it might not be so bad, guys," Pumbaa tried reassuring the other animals. "Maybe it'll be a quick death. You know, just not a lot of chewing." Timon shuddered; that thought did not help at all. He sidled up to Simba and whispered, "So what's your plan for getting past all those slobbering guards?" "Live bait," Simba whispered back. "Great idea," said Timon with a grin. But then he caught on to the plan and added indignantly, "Hey!" "Come on, Timon," Simba snapped. "One or two of you need to create a diversion!" Timon scoffed. "What do you want me to do anyway? Dress in drag and do the hula?" "That's a good idea, Simba," said Pumbaa. "Those guys can never resist fresh meat. Now, all we have to do is find something big and plump and juicy, maybe a gnu..." He was met by many pairs of eyes turning their gaze to him. "...why's everyone looking at me?" "Because it's you," Timon said, patting Pumbaa on the shoulder. "Well...nice knowing you, buddy." Pumbaa glared back indignantly. "Hey, if I'm gonna be bait, then you'll have to be bait with me." "You just had to play that card, didn't you?" Timon grumbled, but he went with Pumbaa anyway. Once Timon was on Pumbaa's back, Pumbaa stood up straight and trotted out into the clearing where the hyenas were. That was the plan: Timon and Pumbaa would march out to where the hyenas were and distract them, to make them chase them and clear the way. At first, they did so by tiptoeing, Pumbaa whistling something Timon once called "Tiptoeing Through The Tulips". Suddenly, Timon grabbed a stick and started banging it hard on a nearby rock. "Are ya achin' for some bacon?!" he called out, as loudly as he could. "Wanna dine on some tasty swine?! Step right up, step right up, and stand in line! Whoooo's hungry?!" "Y-Yeah!" Pumbaa added nervously. Iris sneezed by accident as she did with the vultures. Iris called out. "We are the two juicy sidekicks! W-W-Wanna eat me?" Immediately, the hyenas perked up, staring at these two animals and one woman in amazement. As long as they had been in the Pride Lands, their prey had always fled before them. Now here were two animals - one an appetizer and the other a meal fit for an army - deliberately stepping out to face them. "Ma chère, monsieurs and mademoiselles," Timon announced in a foreign accent, smiling as he climbed up to perch on Pumbaa's head, "it is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you today. And now we invite you to relax and pull up a seat, as we proudly present...your dinner." The hyenas began to slobber. Once he got their undivided attention, Timon started to sing while Pumbaa prepared to flee. "Be...our...guests, be our guests, put our service to the TAAAAAAH!!!" But they screamed as the hyenas lunged at them. As fast as the wind could carry them, Timon and Pumbaa fled in the opposite direction of Pride Rock, taking as much of the hyenas with them as they could. Ma and Uncle Max watched them go with horror at the thought of them being caught, but Daabi and Bhati reassured them that they were fast on their feet. Once Timon and Pumbaa led the hyenas away, Simba, Nala, Bunga, and the jungle animals crept ever closer to Pride Rock. Zazu perched on Simba's back, shuffling close to his mane so that he was hidden from view. "Nala, you find my mother and rally the lionesses," Simba instructed her. "Bunga, you go with her and tell them that you're a friend. I'm gonna go look for Scar." "Got it," Bunga replied, and he and Nala ran off. "Bhat abou' us, Bimba?" Daabi asked. "Yeah, what can we do?" Bhati added in her thoughts as well. "We want to help." "All of you go with Nala and Bunga. Nala will tell the other lionesses that you're friends of mine. As long as you're friends of mine, no one here will eat you." The animals nodded and ran off, and before Zazu could take off, Simba asked, "Hey, do you know where Scar is?" "At this time of day, he should be at the edge of Pride Rock," Zazu informed him. "If you'd like, I can escort you there, young master, almost like old times. But I must stay out of sight." For the first time ever, Simba was now happy to have Zazu following him. He nodded to the hornbill, and they went off together. Iris joined the girls and then the girls stayed in the rock. While they searched for Scar, Zazu filled him in on what had happened, including Scar trying to force Sarabi to be his mate. Because Nala had left for help, Scar punished the lionesses for it. From now on, he had said, they were forbidden from eating from any carcasses again. Their meat would have to come in scraps. The lionesses had suffered because of this, and Zazu even mentioned that a cub had died from malnutrition. Hearing all this made Simba's fur bristle. Scar literally had no care for anyone except himself...and maybe the hyenas, if their being well-fed was anything. His uncle was taking things way too far. The land in the Pride Lands was dying, and the pride was suffering, but he was paying no attention. "SARABI!" Simba looked up in a time when he heard his uncle's roar. By instinct, Zazu gulped and hid in a hole in a nearby tree. As for Simba, he peered around a rock, hidden from the eyes of Scar and his hyenas, as he saw a saddening sight. As Zazu had said, Scar was standing at the edge of Pride Rock with Zira at his side, glaring down at the crowd of hyenas gathering at the bottom. Going through the crowd below was his own mother. The former queen of the Pridelands looked way too skinny for comfort, every rib showing through her dull tawny coat. She was walking through the huge crowd of hyenas, who were swarming around her. They even had the nerve to snap at her paws as she walked! "Where's our food?!" one hyena sneered. "Yeah, we're hungry!" another hyena snarled. Yet Sarabi walked on, giving the hyenas a cold glare as she walked by them. For being in despair, she seemed determined to not let the hyenas bother her. Zira gave Scar a simpering smile and muttered something to him before taking her to leave, heading for the cave in Pride Rock. Simba felt shame well up inside him when he saw his mother approach Scar. Had his running away caused Sarabi to become a slave? Every muscle in his body screamed to jump down there and fight as many hyenas as he could to save his mother. But he couldn't yet. "Sarabi," Scar crooned, his eyes and tone full of malice. "Seeing you starve is breaking my heart. You cannot live on scraps forever. All you have to do, to let you and the others eat, is to be my queen." Zazu had mentioned that Scar had tried to seduce Sarabi, and now that Simba saw this, he knew that the majordomo was right. Scar was forcing his mother to be his queen. The lioness shook her head wearily. "It's over, Scar. Can't you see that?" The simpering smile Scar had on his muzzle was replaced with a frown. He stalked forward until he was nose-to-nose with Sarabi. "You're suffering for what?" he asked with a jeer. "Don't tell me: you still long for a life that you will never live again. You still pine after a lion you used to love..." "Still love," Sarabi snapped back. "Don't you get it?" Scar growled. "Here I am, trying to make you see what a true king is like, and you are throwing it away!" Sarabi looked away, not meeting his gaze. This act just seemed to irritate Scar even more. "Forget that then. Let's get down to business. Where is your hunting party so that the hyenas can eat?" Scar demanded, starting to pace around the lioness. "They're not doing their job! If they don't hunt, they don't eat." "Scar, there is no food. The herds have moved on," said Sarabi calmly in spite of facing Scar. "No!" snapped Scar. "You're just not looking hard enough!" Sarabi did not even sigh at his attitude. She calmly went on, "It's over. There is nothing left. We have only one choice. We must leave Pride Rock." "We're not going anywhere!" hissed Scar, whirling around on her. "Then you have sentenced us all to death!" Sarabi snapped, her patience finally running out. Scar sniffed. "Then so be it!" he said, turning his back on her. Sarabi let out a snarl. Scar was willing to let the kingdom die slowly if it meant holding on to his arrogance; it was clearer than before that he was nothing more than a petty tyrant. "You can't do that!" she hissed. "I'm the king, I can do whatever I want!" Scar bit back, sounding a lot like a spoiled cub. "I make the rules, so you have to do as I say!" Simba winced at the attitude. He had had the same attitude when he was a cub, though it was because he had not understood the full idea of being king. But Scar was a fully-grown lion wielding his power around like a cub pouncing on an insect. Was this what I would've become? Simba thought in horror. "If you were half the king Mufasa was - " Sarabi began furiously. "I'm ten times the king Mufasa was!" Scar roared furiously. "And I will prove it with my claws!" Then with another roar, he suddenly swiped his paw at Sarabi, knocking her to the ground. But as soon as Sarabi hit the ground, she quickly rolled onto her paws, glaring hatefully at Scar. Simba - who had nearly gotten up from the spot in anger at this - hung back, waiting to see what his mother would do next. "Scar, a true king's strength is his compassion," Sarabi began, anger smoldering in her eyes like burning embers. "He does not let his kingdom fall, nor does he neglect it. When his kingdom suffers, a true king does everything he can to set things right and to help those in need, to make his kingdom great again, and to restore it to what it once stood for. In the years that you have been king, Scar," she pressed on, rage now simmering in her voice, "you have done none of that. Mufasa has shown himself to be that king, much more the king than you wish you could be!" Scar snarled with a hint of a whine. "Mufasa, Mufasa, I'm sick to death of hearing about him! I told you never to mention that name!" "I will say the name whenever," Sarabi snarled back. "You are nothing compared to Mufasa, and you never will be!" It was too late to back out now. Scar roared again and lunged at Sarabi, who met him with her own claws and teeth. The pride watched in shock as their queen and Scar bit and scratched each other viciously. In spite of her fighting prowess, however, Sarabi had gotten weak from hunger and thirst, tiring out quickly. With a sneer, Scar reached out and smacked her with his paw again, knocking her down completely this time. That did it for Simba. Watching his mother take that kind of abuse was more than enough to bear. He jumped out on top of a rock before them and let out a monstrous roar, lightning flashing behind him. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" he bellowed. "M-Mufasa?" Scar was rasping in shock and fear as he noticed the rage on Simba's face. Simba climbed down, and the older male started backing away with horror. "N-no! No! You're dead! How is it possible? Tell me! Are you a ghost or a demon? Have you come to finish me off, brother? Have mercy! Forgive me!" Simba ignored him, but as he passed him, he thought, Scar, what's happened to you? He ran over to his mother, looking up at Zazu, who had flown from the tree to one of the rocks out of the hyenas' reach and now gazed at Sarabi with concern. So he gave the bird a small nod before turning back to Sarabi, and he gave her a gentle nudge. While he waited for Sarabi to stir, Simba looked up to glare at Scar. He had hoped to talk with his uncle as peacefully as they could. But after having seen him mistreat his mother like that, that was not going to happen anytime soon. Finally, Sarabi opened her eyes and looked up. "M-Mufasa?" she asked, confused. Simba shook his head, realizing that she was mistaking him for his father. "No, Mom. It's me." "S-Simba? You're alive?" his mother murmured, shock and joy on her face. "How can that be?" "It doesn't matter," Simba replied, nuzzling her. "I'm home." He was happy to be with her again, to be the son he hadn't been in years. So happy that he did not notice a certain lion watching from a distance. "You're not Mufasa...Simba?" The young lion looked up. Scar was watching with astonishment before a sly smile spread across his muzzle. "Simba! What a surprise to see you! Alive," he added with a snarl, turning his head. The hyenas, whom he had been glaring at, gulped and ducked. Kamari and Azizi seemed to be arguing about something with Shenzi, though she shut them up with a snap of her jaws. Simba glared at Scar, anger burning in his heart. While Sarabi and the lionesses were emaciated and starving, Scar looked more well-fed and rested. He stalked towards his uncle, snarling, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip you apart." "I can give you plenty of reasons," Scar chuckled nervously, backing up from his furious nephew. "Simba, my dear nephew, you must understand! The pressures of ruling a kingdom - " " - are no longer yours," Simba interrupted. "Step down, Scar." His uncle was up against the rock wall now as he cowered. "Oh, I would if I could, but...you see them?" Growling noises made Simba look up. The large pack of hyenas was perched on rock ledges, saliva dripping from their mouths and teeth glittering in the dark. Nala had told him about the hyena army, and he had seen Shenzi and her posse from the elephant graveyard. But with that many hyenas, he grew worried. "They think I'm king," Scar finished with a smarmy smile. "Well, we don't!" Both lions turned to see Nala and Bunga helping pick Sarabi off of the ground. "Simba is the rightful king," Nala added with a glare as some more lionesses rallied beside them. "If you want to get him, you have to get through us. Are you with me, lions?" Most of the lionesses in the pride roar, agreeing with Nala. Timon and Pumbaa were there as well, along with all of the animals that had come with them from the jungle. Iris, Serena, Valerie, Kyururu, and Dawn arrived to join them. Zazu finally flew down, ignoring an angry growl from Scar, until he was right in front of Sarabi. He was fussing over the queen like a mother bird caring for her hatchlings, while Sarabi reassured him that she was fine. As for the lionesses, their eyes were shining with hope when they saw Simba for the first time in years. "The choice is yours, Scar," Simba growled, turning back to Scar. "Either stand down or fight." But Scar suddenly smiled widely, though it looked rather sinister. "Must this all end in violence?" he asked, playing the politician. "I'd really hate to bring about the death of a family member, to feel the shame of knowing that I took a loved one's life. Wouldn't you agree, Simba?" "That's not going to work, Scar," snapped Simba as he stood his ground. "I've put it behind me." "And what about your loyal subjects?" Scar asked, looking around at the lionesses. "Have they put it behind them? Do they even know what you've done?" "Simba, what's he talking about?" Nala asked. At this, Simba bit back a groan. He should have told her about what really happened at the gorge, and how Scar would turn the past against him. But he had been afraid to see any uncertainty in her eyes, and she was showing that now. Scar's smile grew wider as he circled around Simba. "Ah, so you haven't told them your little secret. Well, Simba," he went on, his voice getting louder, "now's your chance to tell them! Tell them who's responsible for Mufasa's death!" The crowd fell silent, the lionesses having their eyes on Simba. They were full of shock, unable to form the words they wanted to say. Simba felt like a heavy load was dropped onto his back. There was no need to hide the truth anymore. "I am," he said, lifting his head up. "I caused Mufasa's death." Everyone gasped, from the lionesses to his friends. Then Sarabi stepped forward, her eyes and face full of sadness. "It's not true," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "Tell me it's not true!" Simba lowered his gaze, unable to witness the misery in his mother's eyes. "It's true." "You see?!" Scar suddenly roared before Sarabi could say something else. "He admits it! Murderer!" "No, it was an accident!" Simba pleaded, looking around at the lionesses. "I'm sorry!" "If it weren't for you, Mufasa would still be alive!" snarled Scar, circling around him. "It's your fault he's dead! Do you deny it?" "No," replied Simba, his voice ringing out louder than the thunder above them. "Then you're guilty!" Scar screamed. "No, I'm not a murderer!" Simba shouted back. He could feel his heart pounding faster than it had in a long time, and the lionesses' horrified looks burned hotter than a fire. "It was an accident! A terrible accident!" Sarabi stepped forward, facing her king. "Scar, we should let him explain," she tried to reason. "He was only a cub when it happened - " Scar ignored her and turned to the other lionesses, who still looked too shocked to say anything. "So we should believe a son who takes the life of his king, a son who murders his father? A boy who abandons his mother?" Without an answer, he stalked toward Simba and swiped his claws across his face. "No," Simba stammered, the blood dripping down his face. He couldn't fight back, not when he was in the sight of the shocked faces of the lionesses. "No, I'm - " "You're what?" sneered Scar, swiping his claws at him again and again. "A king? Go on, say it! ARE YOU THE KING? SAY IT!" As Scar kept up his attack, Simba kept seeing images of that horrible day, seeing Mufasa falling to his death in the stampede. It made him feel like a cub again, a helpless little cub, unable to do anything to save his father. And he was feeling it now, unable to prevent Scar from attacking him any further. Finally, he hung his head, eyes full of tears. "I-I'm nothing," he mewled, his voice hoarse with grief and shame. "Then bow to your king!" Scar sneered. He had stopped his attack, but he was now backing Simba up near the edge of Pride Rock. "Looks like you're in trouble again, Simba. But this time, Daddy isn't here to save you. And now, everyone knows why!" Having backed up against the ledge, Simba had no idea how far he was pushed. But he got a taste of it when he felt his back paws slip down, and he clung onto the rock with his claws. He heard Nala shout "SIMBA!" just as lightning flashed above them. This time, however, the lightning struck the underbrush below Pride Rock. It had been dry for a very long time, vulnerable if lit on fire. And lo and behold, the dry grass and undergrowth were set aflame, and the fire started to spread around Pride Rock. Scar loomed over Simba and smirked, his scar looking more pronounced than ever in the light of the fire. "Now this looks familiar. Where have I seen this before? Hmm...let me think," he said mockingly. Simba didn't know what to say. He struggled to sink his claws deeper into the rock, to avoid falling into the fire. "Oh yes," Scar said jeeringly, "now I remember. This is just the way your father looked before he died. I looked down and saw the fear in his eyes." He sank his claws into Simba's paws, which made Simba roar in pain and leaned in towards his ear. "And now here's my little secret." And he muttered three words that completely shook Simba to the core. "I killed Mufasa."