Hakuna Mufasa, It Means We're Furry! in Gamer's Gaming

The Road So Far…

The search continues for Riku and King Mickey, this time leading the trio to Halloween Town where they find Jack Skellington in the midst of Christmas preparations…wait, what? That’s right, Christmas. Jack found the door to Christmas Town, apparently some time back, and has been fascinated with bringing his own brand of Christmas to the children of the world. Jack decided that if he was going to take the place of Sandy Claws, then Sandy would need bodyguards to keep him safe. Sora volunteered himself, Donald, and Goofy for the job. The whole group ran off to Christmas Town to help out. Meanwhile, Maleficent herself had appeared in Halloween Town and enlisted the mischievous children, Lock, Shock, and Barrel, to help her destroy the cheerful goodness of Christmas Town. The group of heroes arrived in Christmas Town to find it under attack by the Heartless. They managed to make it to Santa’s Workshop where Santa was none too pleased to see Jack Skellington. However, the sound of something breaking from the workshop itself drew the attention of everybody where they found Maleficent and the children plotting. However, the interruption caused them all to make their escape. Frustrated by the change in plans, Maleficent was inspired by the children to bring back Oogie Boogie. Maleficent took Oogie to complete her destruction of Christmas Town while leaving a giant Heartless with the children to distract the heroes. Her plan worked beautifully as she managed to capture Santa Claus and convert his workshop into one giant death machine. However, it seemed that Oogie had plans of his own and, before she could turn Santa into a Heartless, she left Christmas Town in anger after Oogie nearly knocked her over. Left to his own devices, however, the game played out pretty much the same as the last time Oogie tried to take on Jack and the crew. Oogie got beaten, busted a stitch, and lost all the bugs that made him up, leaving him an empty and hollow potato sack on the floor. With Santa and Christmas safe, after Santa reminded Jack why they were so good at what they did individually, Sora and company finally took off once more. With the Pride Lands on the horizon, Sora directed the Gummi Ship instead to Atlantica as they now had the spell needed to help Flounder retrieve the statue from under the rock…

Now…

The trio arrived back in Atlantica and swam back to Flounder to help him with the statue. A short time later, they found Ariel staring dazedly at the surface of the ocean again. Sora called out to her and Goofy told her that they would like her to come with them. Sora said they had something to show her. The whole group swam back to Ariel’s Grotto and Ariel’s face lit up as she saw the statue. Donald figured it looked like some kind of prince. Ariel realize that the statue looked exactly like the man she had saved from drowning not that long ago. Sebastian just stood in the back and covered his head, expecting the worst. And then, for some reason, it was time for a song! Ariel sang “Part of Your World” as she swam around her grotto and wished to be part of the human world. Afterwards, Sora reminded Ariel that they were her friends and would do anything to help her. Sebastian told them to stay out of it. It wasn’t their place. Donald reminded him that he was going to tell King Triton about it. Sebastian covered his head again, cowering in fear, before swimming off. A short time later, he appeared in King Triton’s chambers. The king said that Sebastian was late and asked if something was wrong. He said it was nothing, so the king asked how the song for the musical was coming. Sebastian told him it was finished and celebrated all of the wonderful things found in the ocean. He said it would be his finest work. Triton asked if it would get Ariel’s mind off of the human world. Sebastian wanted to believe it would, but he couldn’t be sure. A stormy look crossed Triton’s face, causing Sebastian to assure him that it would work. The small crab slowly backed away and told Triton that he must rehearse, before swimming off as fast as his little claws would carry him. Meanwhile, Sora and company felt bad about Ariel’s melancholy and said that they needed to do something to help her. Goofy agreed. She couldn’t be in a happy musical like that. Donald suggested that he could sing her part instead. Sora said there was no chance of that happening. Donald asked why not. Goofy distracted them from their argument when he noticed that Sebastian was swimming towards them. Sora asked Sebastian what was going on. Sebastian said that he had composed the perfect song for the musical, but he thought it would be too complicated for them. Sora scoffed and wondered how hard it could really be. At least, he did until he saw the music. The dumbfounded look on the trio’s faces told the story. The trio decided they would need some time to build up their memory, as the next part required the Drive Gauge to be at 5 or more. With their adventures in Atlantica over for the time being, Sora and crew headed for the Pride Lands to see what was happening in this new world.

A young lion cub wandered through the middle of a canyon when, suddenly, the ground began to shake and quake. The cub looked to his right and saw an entire herd of wildebeasts streaming towards him at full speed! The cub took off running, but was soon overtaken by the animals. He managed to dodge a few and run up a stunted tree stump, but was soon knocked off into the air. As he flew, an adult lion ran towards him, leaping into the air and catching him in his mouth. Must be his dad. The lion climbed up the side of the canyon and placed his son on an outcropping before falling back into the stampede. The lion cub worried until he saw his dad leap up onto the rock face once again and start climbing. The cub began to make his way in the direction he was climbing, but as he looked back, he saw his dad falling, falling, all the way to the ground. The cub screamed…and woke up as an adult himself, waking from a horrible, all-too-true nightmare. His friends laid asleep a short ways away as he took a short walk to calm himself. In another part of the Pride Lands, Sora and company appeared, and once again, looked completely different. Sora was now in the form of a lion cub himself. Goofy donned his turtle get-up, but now a land turtle instead of a sea turtle. Donald had taken on the shape of a flying bird of the savannah. The trio marveled at their new forms…until they realized how creepy the place they had landed in was. The next thing they knew, they were surrounded by hyenas. Sora wondered if they were Heartless, but Goofy just got the feeling that they lived here. Donald said they were just passing through and wouldn’t be any trouble. One of the hyenas, though, said that they would love for the trio to stick around for lunch. Sora said that they didn’t bring anything to eat. Another hyena said that wouldn’t be a problem. Goofy told Sora that he thought that they might be the lunch. A third hyena just laughed like a crazy moron. The trio scattered, but didn’t have full control over their bodies quite yet, and ended up surrounded by the hyenas. Suddenly, a baleful roar sounded out from somewhere in the distance. The hyenas slumped. One of them said that Scar had the worst timing. The female one said to just let him roar. The first one said that they better just go see what he wanted. It sounded like Scar was grumpy enough already. With that, the entire pack of hyenas took off out of the area. Sora was just glad that was over as Donald and Goofy sighed their relief. Sora said that everything was harder on four legs. Donald said that Sora better start practicing and Goofy said that he had found a trick he could show Sora. A short time later, the group was ready to go and headed off out of the gorge. As they emerged into the next area, they found a female lioness being chased by some outrageous looking Heartless. Donald and Goofy wondered what they should do, but Sora ran in and stood in front of the lioness while staring down the Heartless. It was time to fight. Sora got a chance to try out his new fighting style and found a weakness in a Reaction Command called Rodeo that allowed him to ride one of the Heartless, then smash it face first into the ground with a follow up called Grand Cross. After the battle, Sora said that those were definitely Heartless. The lioness thanked them for saving her. Goofy said they were just glad she was okay. Sora asked if she had seen any other Heartless around here. She hadn’t realized that was what they were called. She wasn’t sure if there were any others as she usually didn’t hunt outside the Pride Lands. Sora asked if there was a guy named Riku there, or some bad guys in black hoods, or a really big bully named Pete. The lioness shook her head. The trio looked down, but Sora figured they might as well take a look anyway. They certainly couldn’t have ended up here by accident. The lioness told them to wait, the Pride Lands were dangerous. Scar and the hyenas had made things unbearable for everyone. There was no food left. Their prey had been driven off and they were about to starve. Sora said they could handle a little danger. She had just seen how they had dealt with those Heartless, hadn’t she? She had to admit they could handle themselves in a fight. Perhaps they were just what the kingdom needed. Maybe they could help them. Goofy wondered if that meant taking on Scar and all those hyenas. The lioness explained that Scar had taken over when their last king, Mufasa, had died. Sora caught up and realized that Scar was their king. They wanted them to take down their king? The lioness nodded. Sora told her to hold on a second and huddled with Donald and Goofy. Sora said that they couldn’t just go around knocking kings off of their thrones. Then again, if they saw how powerful that Sora was, maybe they would ask him to be the next king! Goofy went to warn him about meddling, but Sora said he would have to refuse, of course. Still, Sora wanted to see the Pride Lands, so it wouldn’t be so bad to lend them a paw, would it? Sora bounded off towards the lioness and Donald rolled his eyes. There he went again. The lioness bounded off as Sora told Donald and Goofy that she was going to go tell the other lionesses about them and said they were supposed to meet someplace called Pride Rock. Sora and company took off through the Elephant Graveyard and fought some Heartless along the way. Along with some familiar foes were the all new Aerial Knockers and Living Bones. The trio made their way out of the Elephant Graveyard and across the Savannah, finally reaching Pride Rock.

They arrived to find most of the lionesses napping… all except for Nala, the lioness they had met earlier, who guided a monkey with a beard out to meet them. The monkey studied the trio carefully and shook his head. He walked back to Nala and whispered something in her ear which made the lioness lower her head. Sora asked what was wrong. Nala explained that she had told the monkey, Rafiki, that the trio might be able to help them force Scar and the hyenas out of the Pride Lands, but he said it wouldn’t work. Nala explained that whoever saved the Pride Lands would be their next king and he needed to have the right qualities. Sora wondered what that meant. Goofy said that he thought Nala meant that Sora wasn’t cut out for the job. Sora sighed, but saw the truth in the words. Nala apologized that they had come all this way. Sora told her not to worry about it. Nala inched closer and told them that they better go before Scar found out that they were there. Just as Sora was about to leave Pride Rock, he found himself encircled by the hyenas, who were so happy that their snack was delivered to them. However, a roar came from above and the hyenas said that Scar, their king, had come out to observe. Scar stood on a rock high above and, standing next to him, an odd looking dog-lion? Wait a sec…it’s Pete! Scar jumped down from the rocks above and approached the group. Pete followed him hesitantly, sliding and hopping a few rocks down before falling the rest of the way. Sora asked what Pete was doing there. Pete mocked Sora, wondering why he was so worried about him. He said if he was Sora, he would be more worried about his friends. Sora turned and saw the hyenas closing in on Donald and Goofy. Scar turned back and told the lionesses to go do some hunting. Nala said that the herds had moved on. They couldn’t hunt in a land with no prey. Scar said if there was no prey, what did they call these three? Sora yelled that they weren’t prey. Scar seemed intrigued. Nice and fresh, they were. Pete turned away and told Scar that they were all his as he bounded off. Scar got into position to pounce at the trio, but Nala pounced first and knocked Scar to the ground. She turned and told Sora to make a run for it. Sora, Donald, and Goofy made their escape with the hyenas hot on their tails…literally, I suppose. Nala managed to catch up to them and told the trio to follow her. After making it back to the Savannah, Nala apologized again for getting them involved. Sora told her that it was no big deal. Donald agreed, saying that Sora wouldn’t be a good king anyway. Sora figured he had to give it a try, at least. Sora asked Nala if there was anybody else who could be king. Nala said that there was, but he had died as a cub. He was the son of their last king, Mufasa. Nala sighed and wondered what life would be like if only Simba were here. Sora perked up at the name. He knew Simba. Simba had helped them defeat the Heartless once before. He was just fine! Nala was thrilled at the news that Simba was fine, asking where he was. Sora admitted that he had no idea. Nala was still happy to learn that Simba was alive and well and asked Sora to tell her all about him…at least, after they had escaped from Scar. She suggested that they go through Wildebeest Valley. Scar wouldn’t follow them there.

Meanwhile, Simba was laying around and looking sad. Timon, one of his companions, asked why he was wearing such a long face. He needed to lighten up and live a little. Pumbaa, his other friend, asked what he was thining about. Timon figured that Simba was thinking about his past again. Simba grunted. Timon and Pumbaa reminded him of their philosophy of life: Hakuna Matata! Simba smiled and got up, but walked off on his own. Timon remembered how small Simba had been when they had rescued him. Simba walked over to an overlook and dropped down into the grass, knocking leaves up into the air. The trio, meanwhile, had arrived in Wildebeest Valley. It was a long way down into the valley, but Nala backed up and leaped across the large chasm and to an outcropping on the other side. Sora and company were really impressed, but frightened. Nala asked what was wrong. Sora said there was no way for them to make it to the other side. Nala smirked and figured that Rafiki had been right. Sora asked what she had said, but Nala said it wasn’t important. She would show them how to make the jump. She believed in them. A short while later, all three of the heroes had reached the other side of the chasm. The group made their way through the valley and progressed on.

Back at Pride Rock, a brisk wind brought flowers floating along and caught the attention of Rafiki. The wise mandrill caught a few of the petals and smelled them, excited at the possibility of something only he knew. Rafiki jumped down from his perch and into his little home area. He swirled some of the petals around and grunted excitedly. He jumped up from the position he had been sitting in and jumped over to a picture of a lion cub that he had painted on a nearby wall in a time that seemed so long ago. Still grunting and laughing excitedly, Rafiki dipped his digits in a reddish substance and raised his hand to the wall to draw a mane around the little cub. A cub that was a cub no longer. A cub that, until then, all but Nala thought was dead. A cub that had become a full grown lion. A lion that was Simba. In the Wildebeest Valley, Nala explained to the trio that when Simba’s father, Mufasa, had died, they had been told that Simba had died alongside him. Sora asked who had told them that. As if realizing that they had blindly allowed themselves to be fooled, Nala admitted that it was Scar that had told them. The group turned as Rafiki arrived and climbed up to an outcropping of rock, declaring that it was time! Nala knew that he meant it was time for Simba to take his rightful place as king and ruler of the Pride Lands. Nala took off at a sprint with the trio running to catch up. The trio made their way through the wastelands and into the jungle before coming out to an open area where they found Simba on log that spanned another chasm, surrounded by Heartless. Simba let out a might roar and the Heartless disappeared. Sora called out to him and Simba turned to find his old friend, albeit in a state he was not used to. Simba approached the trio cautiously until he saw their eyes and realized that it was truly them. Simba jumped and playfully knocked Sora over, nuzzling him and smiling. Simba asked what had happened to them, but was cut short by screams from Timon and Pumbaa, calling for Simba to help them. She was going to eat them! Simba said that something must have happened in the jungle and he had to go help his friends. Sora said that they would back him up.

Timon and Pumbaa found themselves cornered by a very hungry lion…a hungry female lion? Simba leaped and knocked the lioness down just before Sora could tell him to wait. It was Nala! The two lions continued fighting until Nala pinned Simba down, just like she used to as children. That was when Simba realized who she was and spoke her name. Nala backed away quickly, confused, until she realized that she had finally found Simba! The two lions circled each other affectionately as Timon and Pumbaa stared, confused themselves. Timon asked what was going on here. He and Pumbaa turned to see the trio staring at them, screaming and running to hide behind Simba’s legs. Simba told them not to worry, they were all friends of his. Timon wanted to be sure that meant that nobody was planning on eating them for lunch. Sora and Donald nodded. Pumbaa still wasn’t sure, hiding his head, and asking if that meant that nobody was going to eat him like a pig. Sora assured him that they wouldn’t…but he was a pig, right? Pumbaa said to call him Mr. Pig! Everybody got a good laugh at that. Simba asked if they all minded if he and Nala had a few minutes alone to talk. Nala told Simba that she needed him to come back to Pride Rock. She had thought that Sora might be able to help, but Simba was the only one who could save them from Scar. Simba said that he couldn’t go back. When Nala asked why, Simba told her their motto, Hakuna matata. It was something he had learned living with Timon and Pumbaa. Sometimes bad things happened and there wasn’t anything that anyone could do about it. Nala was shocked that Simba could turn his back on the lions so easily. Meanwhile, Timon and Pumbaa were teaching the trio about hakuna matata. As they walked along, swaying their heads to the words, Nala walked by and said that Simba was not the childhood friend that she remembered. Something about hakuna matata. The trio wanted to cheer Simba up, but Simba walked back into the jungle by himself. That night, Simba stood alone on an outcropping and said that he couldn’t go back. His father was dead, and it was all his fault. Going back wouldn’t change anything. A memory of his father from his childhood flooded into his mind. Mufasa told the young Simba to look at the stars. The great kings of the past looked down on them from those stars. So, whenever Simba felt alone, those kings would always be there to guide him. And so would he. Coming back to the present, Simba asked if his father was truly there in the sky. Suddenly, dark clouds came forth and took the form of the great Mufasa! Mufasa told Simba that he had forgotten who he was. It was time for him to take his place in the Circle of Life. Simba asked how he could go back. He wasn’t who he used to be. Mufasa told him to remember who he was. Mufasa and the clouds retreated and left nothing but a peaceful pre-dawn sky. Simba spoke over his shoulders that they could all come out now. The trio approached with Timon and Pumbaa. Simba said that he was going to face his past and he could use all of their help. As the sun rose up behind Simba, Timon realized for the first time that Simba really was a king. Agreeing to help Simba, Sora was rewarded with the Circle of Life keyblade. With Simba by their side once again, the group turned toward destiny and began the journey back to Pride Rock.

The group arrived back in the Savannah and Simba saw, for the first time, how depleted and desiccated his homelands had become under Scar’s rule. Timon wondered why they were going to fight Simba’s uncle for THIS. Simba said that they were because this was his home. As the lionesses slept and Scar surveyed his kingdom, he looked up and saw Simba standing on the rocks high above him! Simba leaped down and approached Scar to face him down. Scar seemed shocked that Simba was alive. Simba told his uncle that the kingdom didn’t belong to him. Nala had risen and backed Simba up. She said that Simba was the rightful king. Simba gave Scar a choice: step down or fight. Scar slunk backwards before starting up with his old guilt trip tricks. He wondered if this had to end in violence. After all, HE would hate to be responsible for the death of a family member (even though he was). Simba said that he had put the past behind him. Scar wondered if his faithful subjects had done the same. Nala asked Simba what Scar was talking about. Scar told Simba to tell them who was responsible for Mufasa’s death. Simba reluctantly admitted that he was (even though he wasn’t). Scar said that he admitted it and accused him of being a murderer as he backed Simba towards the edge of a rock outcropping. Scar said that if it hadn’t been for Simba, Mufasa would still be alive. Did Simba deny it? Simba said he didn’t, but that Mufasa’s death had been an accident (cough bullshit *cough). Scar said that Simba was in trouble again, but this time, daddy wasn’t here to save him and now, everybody knew why. Simba, unbeknownst to him, had backed all the way to the edge of the outcropping and took one step too many, slipping backwards and catching onto the rock only by his claws. Scar said that this looked awfully familiar. He felt like he had seen this before. Oh yes! He remembered. This was just the way that Mufasa had looked before he died. Scar lurched forward and dug his claws into Simba’s paws. He bent down closer to Simba and told him his own little secret: he had killed Mufasa! The events of Mufasa’s death shot through Simba’s mind and filled him with a long hidden rage. Simba leaped back up onto the rock and pinned Scar down. He called Scar a murderer and forced him to tell everybody the truth by choking Scar with his paw. Scar admitted that he had, in fact, killed Mufasa. Just then, the hyenas came out of a nearby cave and attacked Simba, allowing Scar to retreat. Sora told Simba to let them handle the hyenas while he went and got Scar. Sora leaped into the middle of the pack of hyenas while Timon, riding Pumbaa, charged right on into the pack, knocking them left and right. The rest of the hyenas chased them while Sora and company chased the pack into the king’s den. Sora, Donald, and Goofy fought off the hyenas inside while protecting Timon and Pumbaa, sending the sorry rejects packing. Sora asked Nala where Simba had went and she pointed to an exit higher up. Sora emerged onto the peak of Pride Rock to find Simba and Scar circling each other. Donald squawked out Simba’s name, but Sora raised a paw to quiet him. Sora told Donald that this was Simba’s fight. The two mighty lions traded blows, but Scar’s knocked Simba to his back. Scar leaped at Simba but Simba countered, putting his feet underneath Scar’s stomach and throwing him off the side of the rock to fall to his death far below. Sora was happy that Simba was okay, but Pete showed up to ruin the fun, as always, and said that their fight had just been a sneak preview. This wasn’t over by a long shot. Pete stared past them, causing the group to turn around to find Scar climbing back up to the rock! Pete said that anger and jealousy had turned the king of Pride Rock into a Heartless! Pete said that the kingdom would rise again, but this time as the Pride Lands of Darkness! Simba said that was what he thought. The now-Heartless Scar attacked with slashes of his claws and rushes that were powered by the darkness that had consumed him. Scar, however, was no match for the combined might of Simba and Sora and fell beneath the strength of their combined Limit attacks. Scar tried to press towards them in a final effort, but collapsed, defeated utterly by the power of the lions. Simba walked to his rightful place above Pride Rock and let out a mighty roar. The lionesses answered in kind and, in the distance, Simba saw the form of Mufasa once more, shining brightly upon him and guiding Sora to a new path that Sora opened with the Keyblade. Timon asked what was up with the light show. Sora said that they would have to say goodbye for a little while. Pumbaa said that he would go and tell Simba. Goofy said that Simba was probably very busy and just to tell him that they would be back soon. Timon remembered that Simba was a king now and figured he would be so busy that he would forget his two best buddies. Sora figured at least they still had hakuna matata, right? Pumbaa guessed so, but Timon wondered what he meant by “guess so”. What if Simba forgot to tell the carnivores who they were? One look at Pumbaa and he would be a pig roast. Donald said that was MISTER Pig Roast. Pumbaa said that was the same thing and he wasn’t sticking around to be anybody’s pork dinner. Pumbaa ran off, leaving Timon to chase him down. Sora said that nobody would ever forget their true buddies. For their efforts, Sora learned the Fire element magic, upgrading his Fire spell to a Fira spell.

Returning to the Gummi Ship, Sora was informed that new missions were now available in both Hollow Bastion and the Olympus Coliseum. He still had a trip back to Twilight Town to make, as well. With more options that Sora could keep track of, the Gummi Ship set off into the distance to guide the trio to their next adventure…