disobey my orders," the she-devil said angrily before stalking out of the exhibit.

"My goodness! Animal cruelty?" Reid stared, horrified like Brett at the scene before him. As Kopa lay down by the strange transparent material, holding his nose, he found he wasn't angry anymore."Evil" Simba had told him that he was a stupid prince, which had naturally inflamed him. When Kopa fought this "other" Simba, he noticed this Simba had no fighting technique to speak of. But now... all he wanted to do was go home and see his family.

Kopa looked up to see two humans looking at him, compassion in their eyes. They looked like they wanted to help him. Cautiously, Kopa put his paw on the strange glass that was blocking him from the two humans. "Watch out! He's gonna eat us." Brett said, jumping back.

"No, I think he wants our help," Reid looked strangely at the new lion.

"How are we gonna help him?" Brett asked in disbelief.

"We gotta get him outta here; no animal should be treated like that." Reid said firmly.

"Are you nuts? How are we gonna get him outta here, smarty pants?" Brett asked scornfully, earning him another slap from Reid.

"There aren't any security cameras around the exhibit, stupid! The only other place they would go is indoors, and the building is made of stone."

"What about those little holes in the wall?" Brett asked. Reid sighed before he took out the baseball bat, hefting it threatingly while glaring at Brett.

"Just follow me," Reid jumped onto the top of the fence, staying low to the top of the fence while Brett stood at ground level. The lions were now heading into an indoor containment unit right next to the display exhibit. Unfortunately, the lovely witch of a zookeeper was inside with them. Reid looked to the left on the pathway, and spotted a golf cart with a man eating lunch in the back. A light bulb turned on in Reid's head. Now, if only they could get the manout of his seat...

"Hey Brett! Go over there and knock his block off. We need his cart," Reid said, handing Brett the baseball bat as he pointed at the cart. Brett nodded mischeviously, and walked over to the man. He leaned casually against the side as he began to say, "Hey sir? Could you please show me where the-" Brett abruptly smashed the man across the head with theb at. The guy slumped to the ground limply; you could almost see the cartoon birds flying around his head.

"Great job Brett! Now my turn," Reid looked over the enclosure from his position on top of the fence... and saw the lion sitting all by himself in the outdoor enclosure. "Hey!" Reid whispered to the lion below him. The lion looked up at Reid. "Listen now; I aint gonna hurt ya." The lion almost smiled and jumped up in the air, claws extended. "Ow!" Reid yelled sharply; the t-shirt he was wearing tore as the lion knocked him to the other side of the fence with a thump. "Gosh darn it! Now how am I gonna get you outta here?" Reid said. Reid locked eyes with Brett, and a thought came to them both at the same time.

5 minutes later… Reid and Brett had managed to sneak who they didn't know was Kopa out of the zoo, and were now inside Reid's car. Reid planned to just let Kopa go; anywhere was better than that zoo. "You shouldn't of put me in the pit Reid! I could have died!" Brett and the lion were riding in the back with Reid driving.

"What are ya chewing on back there?" Reid asked hungrily.

"That dudes sandwich; It's ham and cheese! Want some?" Brett waved the sandwich in front of Reid's face.

"Agh, Brett! Your gonna make me crash!" Reid swerved right and left- just to find a telephone pole was right in front of him. BANG! Everything went black...

Three days of wandering later, Kopa was in a world that he had never seen before: above him strange lights were all aglow; and the area was teeming with humans. Kopa hid in the bushes on the outskirts of the strange rock road. Kopa looked up, amazed; it certainly was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was like the people had replaced the lights in the sky with lights created by themselves. Huge skyscrapers pierced the skyline, while hundreds upon hundreds of odors wafted to Kopa's sensitive nose.

But there was one smell that stood out to him... The smell of meat. Kopa looked down and heard his stomach rumble; he knew had to have whatever he was smelling. As Kopa walked through the night, he saw a sign that looked awfully familiar... KA KA Kansas City!

This was the place Strike had told him about! And what a beautiful place it was; this was indeed a strange but interesting place. Kopa heard his stomach rumble again. "Time to get a move on," Kopa smiled as he heard the Kansas City song by Fats Domino.

Meanwhile, in a local restaurant… "How could you do this to me Reid! Your Mother and I have to pay more for your car insurance because of your crash, and now the zoo is calling me about camera's catching you stealing a lion from the zoo! Why would you do such a thing?" Reid's father, Daniel, scolded his son.

"Reid, I told you there was cameras," Brett said, sipping his soda.

"I've had enough of your stupid comments!" Reid shook Brett furiously.

"Stop it, Reid!" Daniel smacked Reid across the cheek to shut him up. "Go to the back room and calm down son," Daniel instructed sternly. Reid stormed to the back room, right by the Gates BBQ sign. "Stupid brother... I oughtta..." Reid mumbled to himself. Suddenly, Reid looked over to the back door and saw the same lion he rescued at the zoo! "I must really be going crazy," Reid stood back, running straight into the oven. "It's 11:00pm, so its possible," Reid mumbled to himself, fumbling around, a little scared of the lion.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," Kopa said as he moved forward. You you you Reid was shaking violently. This lion had gotten bigger, and was now sporting the beginnings of a mane. "What happened?" the lion asked Reid.

"I-I-I," Reid was shaking with fear, eyes wide as saucers.

Daniel popped out of the double doors. "Reid, are you- Holy Crap!" Daniel screamed, running out of the room to grab a phone. "Yes, animal control? I need people here now! That lion missing at the zoo is right here! It's trying to eat my high-priced- I-I mean low-priced meat!" Daniel screamed into the phone.

"Nice meeting you, I hope to see you soon." the call ended with a click. Kopa ran out, more frightened than he'd ever been in his life. Reid had calmed down and looked outside to see, to his horror, police sirens! As Kopa ran for his life, a tranquilizer dark struck him on the flank, plunging his world into darkness again.

Back in the Pridelands, Kiara was growing well; today she was five months old. Every day she would play with Timon, Pumbaa or Dotty. However, Dotty was getting less interested as she was getting older, and was starting to be taught by her grandmothers on how to hunt since... well, since her mother had defected and her father was dead. And her lessons were sporadic; her grandmother, Paka Kailalli, had to constantly fill in for Sarabi on the hunt.

That night, Kiara and Simba went star-gazing as a fun father-daughter activity. "Aren't they beautiful, daddy?"

"They sure are." Simba said. His faceb ecame more solemn, and he turned towards his daughter. "Kiara, I think its time I share something to you that my father shared with me, and his father shared with him." "What is it?"

"Well, you see Kiara; your grandfather once told me that those stars are the great Kings and Queens of the past."

Kiara gasped in juvenile amazement. "Really? So Grandma is up there with Grandpa?"

"Yes; and I think that all good lions, such as your brother, Kopa, are most likely up there since they were good lions."

"Really? Wow..." Kiara rolled onto her side. "Wait; what about the bad lions?"

It was clear Simba really didn't want to answer that question. "Well, I think lions that have a... darkness in them, go somewhere else when they die... such as your great uncle, Scar. How come? Well, the bad lions have that darkness in them, and so don't deserve to be up their with the good lions."

Kiara looked up at her father with filial admiration. "Well, I think you're a good lion daddy." She said, nuzzling her father.

Simba chuckled. "Thanks sweetie. I just want to let you know that, after I die; I'll always be there for you up there in the stars to guide you... as Grandma and Grandpa are now."

"Daddy can we sleep out here tonight?" Kiara asked.

Simba smiled at his daughter. "Sure; anything for my little girl."

Chapter 5  A royal return and San Francisco

The next morning, Simba and Kiara arose to see Sweetie approaching from the southeast.

"Good morning, Your Majesty; and Princess Kiara." The blue bird landed and bowed deeply before Simba and Kiara. ''Good morning Mr. Sweetie what would like?'' Simba asked.

The bird shuffled a little anxiously before replying, "Well, sire; before sunrise on the southeastern border, I saw two lions approaching our border. One was a very light, cream-colored lion (almost white, I swear!) with a light brown mane and green eyes. The other was a sandy-tan, pregnant lioness with green eyes also. What should we do?" the concerned bird asked.

Simba perked