[3rd POV]
(Documentary : Episode 4)
[Name : Dr. Marcus E. Veldt
Role : Comparative Anatomist, Big Cat Specialist]
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After the documentary had shown Leo's new pride and their dynamic, it did not cut back to Hana but instead to a lab. The camera focused on Marcus, grinning slightly towards the audience.
"Now that we are done with the lion's behaviour and pride dynamic things, let's head into something more exciting. Let's head into the action part of this episode," he said.
"Unlike what the beginning of the documentary would make you believe, with Leo showing kindness to his new pride and cubs, he could also be just as cruel and brutal. Leo is not a saint by any means, but his good side and bad side are like two sides of the same coin," he said.
"Being a king is more than just ruling a pride or a kingdom. For a lion, being a king means fighting and defending your kingdom and pride almost every single day," he said.
"Unfortunately, we would not be able to show every fight Leo had during the past months. The numbers are so high that it could go on a 12-season run if we showed everything. But let me bring out the most interesting and unique conflicts Leo had been in," he said.
"Let's begin with his first challenger. Turn back the time to one month after Leo's takeover, that was when the first challengers came," he said, and the scene finally changed.
The whole documentary turned into a different thing completely. It was no longer about philosophy, research or discovery. It went full action mode, with different camerawork and a rumble beat in the background.
Cut to the challengers, two rogues that came too close to Leo's pride, even though he had just patrolled. His scent was still in the area, and his roar, the mountains still had its echoes.
But these lions were in their prime, not knowing fear, too arrogant for their own good. The camera focused on the roll of their shoulders, the size of their paws and the fangs they had when they yawned or released growls.
And when they came upon a tree that was marked by Leo that very same morning, they did the unthinkable and marked the place with their scent. They also left claw marks on the trees so that when Leo came back, he would see the naked threat.
All of this was seen by Grim from above. He made his way back to Leo immediately to inform him about these intruders.
"One thing we learned through our days with him is that Leo did not take too kindly to intruders. He has such an immense ego that the mere act of challenging him was taken as an insult. Maybe it was if you look at this from his point of view. These ordinary lions, how could they think so lowly of him that they ever stood a chance?" Dr Marcus's voice could be heard over the screen.
"What you are seeing now is two rogues that had crossed that line. They are challenging Leo by marking their scents over his and leaving claw marks as a threat," he explained.
"They were probably hoping that the king would see them the next day and come after them, but little did they know, Leo has eyes in the sky. The vultures, they work for him and inform him immediately when they see intruders. It's like birds warning other animals when they see a predator," he said, "Right after they were done with the deed, the king was aware of them."
"And he released a roar."
The scene cut to Leo instantly. His eyes squinted with unbridled rage as he roared into the sky. His pride had retreated behind him at this point but he did not go far. He could not be bothered to go towards the challengers, instead he let them come to him.
His roar was a signal, a command.
The scene cut back to the two lions who heard Leo's roar from a distance. It was a naked challenge which they could not let lie down.
They replied to his roar and swiftly made their way towards him.
"The rogues made their way to the king almost immediately. But by the time they reached Leo, the sky was covered with vultures. That was a subtle tell of the fate that awaited them," he said.
The scene quickly showed when the two parties stood against each other. On one side was Leo and on the other were the two lions.
"At this point, Leo had already surpassed the 300-kilogram mark. He had around a 100-kilogram advantage against the challengers. But since there was only one of him and two of them, that seemed to give them fragile confidence," he said.
The footage showed the scene and you could feel the tension in the air.
"The challengers strike first," Marcus said, and then the fight began.
The two lions began sprinting towards the king who also replied in kind.
One of them was faster than the other so he reached the king first.
But something unexpected happened. The challenger lunged forward a little too early so he was vulnerable to an attack. Leo did not miss that chance. With a mighty swing of his paw, he flatlined the lion with one blow.
The mane shook violently with the blow, his own momentum and Leo's power crashed and produced enough force to knock him out immediately. His face also had a tear from the claws and by the time he landed on the ground, he crashed. He was limp, more dead than alive.
The king basically ended that lion with one blow.
"Now let us take a deeper look at that exchange," Marcus said and then the footage rewound before playing again in slow motion.
"If you look carefully, it was not that the challenger made a mistake but that Leo outsmarted him. Lions do not have a clear mind coming into battle, they are more driven by instinct than their own consciousness," he said.
"Notice how Leo took a small pause right when both lions entered his range. Before this, he was running at full speed but right before the lunge, he took one small pause in his step. That was the thing that made the enemy jump too early and calculate his aim way off. His body instinctively acted with the prediction that Leo would continue his speed, never expecting him to stop right when they were about to clash," he said.
The video showed everything in full and with that explanation, the audience saw that vital moment. How one pause could drastically shift the nature of the battle.
"Intelligence wins. Leo took out one of the lions with one blow," he said.
The footage rewound and played again. This time it was fast. With a loud thud which sounded like cars crashing, Leo took the lion mid-air with one swing.
The fight continued.
The other lion did not have time to notice the dire state his brother was in. He charged at Leo and slammed into him.
Leo no longer had the momentum since he stopped his charge halfway so he was forced to bear the brunt of that tackle. And he did so in kind.
But Leo only took a single step back from that full-on battle. There was a loud clash of flesh and bone. The lion attacked immediately, biting down at Leo's shoulder and wrapping his arms around Leo's neck.
His claws dug into Leo's skin and then with no warning whatsoever, the lion began thrashing violently like he was trying to tear away at the king. It was raw brutality.
"But after showing a great deal of intelligence and taking out one lion with one swing, Leo proceeded to do the stupidest thing and barely fought back when the other came," he said.
The video rewound and showed the lion charging at Leo at full speed before slamming his entire weight, momentum and power on the beast.
"A 220-kilogram lion charging and slamming into you like that is not to be underestimated. With a quick math, we could calculate that the force generated from that is 19 kJ. That is nearly six times more powerful than an NFL linebacker tackle and it's comparable to a small car crashing into you," he said.
The footage transitioned smoothly to both comparisons before focusing back on the lion crashing into Leo.
"And Leo took a single step back from that," he said, highlighting how impressive that feat was.
"Leo has thick muscles in his limbs due to his lack of tail. He also had a very broad chest and he lowered his already low centre of gravity further to brace for the impact. That is the reason why he could tank the blow with absolute ease," he said.
The documentary briefly showed old footage that showed Leo's anatomy up to this point. The muscles were painted red and they were thick everywhere.
"But after that came the real damage," Marcus said.
The scene replayed again how the lion bit down on Leo's shoulder and began thrashing around violently. His paws were also digging into Leo's neck, giving him the perfect leverage.
"With a bite force of around 4000 Newtons, the lion's jaw is made to kill. He clamped down as perfectly as he wanted on Leo's shoulder, completely uninterrupted and without resistance so he could really dig his canines in there," he said.
The scene shifted to a short montage of lions biting into the necks of their prey or biting them in the vital areas. It showed the jaw crushing muscle and bone alike. It was what nature designed them for, to kill.
"To make matters worse, the lion began thrashing his head back and forth violently," he said.
The documentary cut to a CGI display of the lions. It focused on the challenger in general and broke down its body. It was similar to Leo's body but much smaller and lower in red muscle.
"A full-grown male lion weighs between 200-250 kilograms. And more than 60% of that mass is pure muscle, most of which are fast-twitch muscles designed for bursts of strength. The neck muscles, specifically the lion's trapezius, sternomastoid, and splenius are enormous, anchoring from skull to shoulders. Their job? To stabilize the head during a fight or in this case to whip it with controlled fury when biting," Marcus said.
The muscles in question were highlighted every time he named them. This gave a simple understanding of the anatomy of lions to the viewers.
"On the shoulder, the latissimus dorsi and pectoralis major connect the forelegs to the torso like cables on a crane. When a lion pins prey these muscles act as hydraulic pistons. And the forearms and paws could produce downward force of up to nearly two times their body weight. They pull when the curved keratin knives sink into flesh. Imagine forearm muscles thicker than a human thigh trying to tear you apart," he said.
The documentary then showed a CGI animation of what it would look like if a lion attacked a human in such a violent manner. The answer was the human being torn apart like he was made of cardboard.
"Humans wouldn't last three seconds against such violence," he said.
There was a short pause as the information sank into everyone's mind. When a doctor breaks down the immense power held by lions, it really put things into perspective how much more powerful they are. The power they held within themselves was in a completely different league.
"But now look at Leo," he said and the scene changed back to the battle after that short breakdown.
After hyping the lion so much and describing the immense power, the audience were left dumbfounded by what they witnessed.
"He stood there, unfazed," Marcus said over the footage.
Leo was just standing there, he was really just standing there while the challenger tried his best to tear him apart. But no matter what he did, it was like trying to tear at a mountain.
"He wanted the challengee to despair first, such was the consequences of a hurt ego, "
The king simply looked invincible.
Leo bore the onslaught for a few seconds before finally deciding to make a move. He bent his head and took a hefty chunk at the lion's back.
He moved his shoulder upwards, making the lion get off his front limbs and then Leo lifted the lion while driving his shoulder towards the lion.
The result? Leo ragdolled his opponent and slammed him on the ground.
And then all hell broke loose as Leo began his assault. It was similar to what the lion did before but multiple times more brutal. If what they saw before was scary, this was outright terrifying.
"Now whatever I said about lions, double that in the case of Leo," Marcus said.
The lion screamed. The audience did not know lions could scream until that moment. The lion flailed his arms around wildly, trying to slice Leo with his claws, aiming for the eye maybe. But Leo just snapped at the paws and bit the fingers off with one brutal chomp.
The lion who was knocked down stood back up. He charged at Leo and slammed into him. He too tried with all his might to damage Leo but the beast shrugged it off and continued to maul the other lion until there was no more sound.
And then....
The remaining lion ran.
But Leo was faster.
Leo caught up to the lion in a show of sheer acceleration. The scene reminded them of earlier episodes where they talked in detail about Leo's anatomy and the difference his tailless body made in adaptation. One of those traits was his immense burst of speed and strength.
Leo crashed on the back of the lion, pinning him down. The end was a bite at the back of the skull.
"Leo's bite force is thought to be the strongest among the felines. Remember, you are witnessing a lion that trains, even his jaw by dragging prey and munching at bones. The sheer amount of meat he eats and chews also worked to increase his bite force," he said.
"His fangs penetrated the skull and punctured the wound. That was the end for the lion. But Leo didn't stop until he crushed the skull completely," Marcus said.
The scene finally came to a calm stop, the beat of music fading away too.
In the wake of the battle, there were two lion corpses and a slightly injured Leo.
"They are not challengers because there was never a challenge. What we witnessed were two lions that headed towards their death."
"It wasn't even close."
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