Chapter 23

The hotel room that Mayor Herod was staying in was absolutely trashed; the furniture was turned over, the bed was messed up, clothes were spilled everywhere, and the room smelt like drugs and hard alcohol. There were also several other animals in there, all drugged and drunken out of their minds. Apparently, he had one wild party last night! And now, seemingly unaffected by what had happened, Mayor Herod came out of his room, excited to meet the White Lion!

Herod was a peacock, with a blue head and neck, an orange colored beak, bloodshot grey eyes, and feathers of various bright colors. The clothing he wore at the moment was a hotel bathrobe, which was a light blue color. Before the White Lion arrived, he had been called and informed of the situation, so he was somewhat excited that he was going to meet the great and mighty White Lion.

"Where is he?" Herod asked, looking around at the black-armored soldiers in the room as they filed in. "Where is the White Lion?"

With a disgusted annoyance at Herod, a black-armored rhino brought the White Lion forth. A look of surprise came over Herod's face when he saw him; he wasn't exactly expecting this to be Jesus, the White Lion he had heard so much about.

Jesus was handcuffed, chained up, and wearing his white jacket over his prison clothes. His fur wasn't white anymore, but was now a dull grey, and his mane had been shaven off.

"This… is Jesus of Nazareth, the White Lion?" Herod asked, seemingly unimpressed.

"Yes sir." The black-armored rhino replied.

With a small grin, Herod approached the White Lion and asked in a mocking tone, "Is it true that you can give sight to the blind? Raise men from the dead?"

One drunken partygoer, a hippo, fell to the floor, and two others pretended to weep over him, which made most of the partygoers laugh. Some, such as a young male leopard, looked solemnly at the White Lion, as they felt sorry that he was the object of ridicule for Herod at the moment.

"Pray tell, where do you get this power?" Herod asked.

The White Lion didn't respond to the question, but looked at the ground.

"Are you the one whose birth was foretold?" Herod continued. "Are you a king?"

Again, the White Lion didn't give a response.

"Will you show me your power, chosen one?" Herod asked.

The White Lion remained quiet, to which Herod paused, trying to think out what to next. When he couldn't decide, he laughed mockingly.

"He's innocent." said Herod. "Stupid and foolish, but innocent; I see no reason for him to be sentenced. Get him out of my sight…"

The black armored soldiers obeyed, and they filed out of the room. The two remaining soldiers grabbed Jesus by the arms, and began leading him out of the room; they had received the answer they were looking for, and now what they needed to do was to report it back to Pilate.

…..

At the moment, Pilate was in his office, thinking about what Jesus had told him; how the White Lion told him about 'truth' and his 'kingdom'. However, his thoughts were interrupted by Wolfenstein, who appeared at his door and knocked.

"What is it, Wolfenstein?" Pilate asked.

"Herod's declared the White Lion innocent." Wolfenstein replied. "He's been brought back here."

Pilate sighed in relief, and put his head on his desk for a few seconds. He then got up and from the desk and said, "Well, let's go face the crowds, shall we?"

"Yeah, and here's hoping they let him go."

Pilate and Wolfenstein then left the office, and two of them went into the reception area. There, they got into the elevator, and pressed the button for the ground floor. The doors closed, they waited for a few seconds, and then the doors opened again. After getting out of the elevator, they went out of the building and onto the steps.

Once again, the wolf and the bear were in the same situation as they were before; Jesus was at the top of the steps with them, and several barricades were set up around the steps, as to prevent the mobs of animals from doing anything. Soldiers in black armor, all of different species, were standing guard with riot shields and batons, ready to attack anyone that dared defied their authority. Caiaphas, Annas, and the religious leaders were at the bottom of the stairs. At the sight of Pilate and Wolfenstein, the mob began 'booing' at them.

Pilate took a breath and said, "Mayor Herod has found no cause in the White Lion. Therefore, I declare him innocent."

The crowds became furious, all yelling threats and looking like they were going to attack. At the sight of this, Wolfenstein walked forth and roared, "Quiet!"

When that didn't work, Caiaphas got up on the steps, raised his arms, and the crowd began to quiet. Caiaphas then said, "Quiet, all of you. Do you people have no respect for the mayor of Zootropolis?"

The crowds chuckled at that comment. Caiaphas, sensing that his plan to declare Jesus innocent was not working, decided to try a different approach.

"As you people know, every year I release a prisoner back to you." Pilate spoke. "As it just so happens, we have a notorious murderer, and one of the leaders of the uprising that happened here some time ago. I present to you, Barabbas the hyena!"

As soon as he said that, Barabbas the hyena, Judas' friend who had started the uprising, was brought out of the building. He still wore his eye-patch over his eye, but he now wore orange prison clothing, same as the White Lion. And, just like the White Lion, he was hand-cuffed and chained up. Two black-armored jaguars were dragging him along like a wild animal, as he fought against them and try to bite at them. However, he calmed down once they brought him out in front of the crowd, who began yelling in anger at the sight of him.

"Now then…" said Pilate. "Whom shall I set free: Barabbas, who murdered your mates, cubs, and family members? Or Jesus, the White Lion, who has done nothing wrong?"

"He is not innocent!" Caiaphas announced. "He is a blasphemer, and has committed one of the greatest crimes ever known to us! Set Barabbas free!"

The crowd began yelling in agreement to that, and a shocked look crossed over Barabbas' face; despite all odds, and the horrors he committed against them, they wanted him to be free!

Wolfenstein looked over at Pilate with a rather disappointed look, which Pilate returned. Pilate then asked, "Are you absolutely sure about this? Do you really want me to release this hyena, who is a murderer?"

"Set Barabbas free!" The animals in the crowd began to yell.

Pilate sighed disappointedly, turned to Wolfenstein and said, "Release him…"

Wolfenstein nodded back, and turned to Barabbas. He and his men then took off the handcuffs, undid the chains, and set him free. Barabbas, now freed, started going down the steps. Before he went down and into the crowd, he turned and gave a long, apologetic look to the White Lion; Barabbas honestly believe that Jesus deserved to be freed, rather than him. But still, he was offered his freedom, and he was going to take it. Afterwards, he began walking through the crowd, who were jeering at him and making fun of him.

Jesus watched him go, and then saw Mary Magdalene, his mother Mary, Judy, Nick, and Finnick in the crowd; A friendly elephant had Nick, Finnick, and Judy on his shoulders so they could see better. They were watching Barabbas leave, shocked that the crowd had chosen him over the White Lion.

…..

"I can't believe they chose him over Jesus." Judy said sadly.

"I can't believe they shaved the White Lion's mane off." Nick added, also sounding sad. "It's one thing to have him treated like a criminal, but its another thing to take away his dignity like that."

"Indeed it is a sad thing." said the elephant, who's shoulders they were on. He was a large, grey-skinned elephant with green eyes, and he wore a white shirt and dark grey slacks.

"Thank you for letting us sit on your shoulders, Jethro…" said Finnick.

"Sure thing." said the elephant, who's name happened to be Jethro. "It's terrible what they're doing the lion; just terrible."

They all watched as Pilate asked what he should do with the White Lion, and the response from the crowd was the same as before: crucify him! They were all yelling it and shouting it, looking like they were about to do it themselves!

"No!" Pilate yelled, quieting the crowd. "I will have him flogged, but then I will set him free!"

The crowd wasn't too happy with that, and they began yelling, shouting, and cursing angrily. They didn't just want the White Lion flogged, they wanted him dead! They were out for blood, and they were going make sure they got it!

"Flogged?" Judy asked. "What does that mean?"

"It's a terrible thing." Jethro replied, his tone sounding sickened. "They're going to take him back to the police station, strip him naked, chain him to a post out in the yard, and whip the daylights out of him. Mostly, they use reeds to do it, but in worse case scenarios, they use other weapons, or worse… flagrums. It's… basically a whip with several leather thongs, and it has sharp pieces of… metal at the end. And… it tears the flesh off anything it comes in contact with…"

Judy gasped, and put a hand to her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes at the thought of that happening to Jesus. Mary Magdalene was also on the verge of tears, and Mary the mother of Jesus looked sickened. Nick and Finnick both looked frightened, as did Jethro. All of them watched in silent horror as the White Lion was taken from the steps, and loaded back into the armored truck.

…..

"Wolfenstein…" said Pilate, his tone quiet. "See that the punishment is severe, but don't kill the White Lion…"

"Yes sir…" Wolfenstein replied.

Wolfenstein then went down the steps, and got into the armored truck that the White Lion was loaded into. The truck began driving away slowly, and the crowds followed it, all yelling for the death of Jesus.

Jethro knelt down, and Judy, Nick, and Finnick got off his shoulders. After they did that, Jethro got back onto his feet.

"Should we go?" Jethro asked.

"Do we even want to, knowing what's going to happen?" Nick replied with his own question.

"Where are the disciples at?" Judy asked, looking around. "They should be here trying to help."

"They fled." Mary Magdalene replied sadly. "They saw some guards looking at them funny, and knew that they were in trouble. So… they ran; abandoned their teacher. They left him…"

Mary Magdalene began crying, and Mary the mother of Jesus put her arm around her to comfort her. Judy sighed and then, with a look of determination, began walking in the direction of the crowd.

"Carrots, where are you going?" Nick asked.

Judy turned back and said, "I'm not going to abandon Jesus; I'm sticking with him to the end."

After she said that, she continued walking. Nick followed, as did Finnick, Jethro, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Jesus. They weren't going to leave him alone to his fate; they would be there beside him when he faced it.

But would they be ready… to see what was going to follow? To see… the White Lion get absolutely destroyed?

Author's Notes: Oh boy... you all know what's coming next. To be honest with you, I'm dreading writing the next chapter. I think we all know what's going to happen to the White Lion, and it isn't going to be pretty. I hope you can bear with me on the next one, and let's hope that I don't make too gory.

R&R,

Heroboy005