Chapter 19: A Failure/An Enraged Eruption Of Emotions


It had been one week since that awful speech that Judy had made. Ever since then, the wolf had barely acknowledged her presence. He wouldn't meet her eyes, and whenever Judy tried to speak with him, the wolf would simply ignore her and pretend as if he had heard nothing. Bogo had Alex on patrol ever since that speech, sympathizing with the white wolf and his predicament.

Things had continued to escalate and worsen since Judy had put forth her misguided theories. That damn rabbit had no right whatsoever to speculate in front of the press. After the press conference the savage incidents became more and more frequent. Yesterday Alex personally had to neutralize a red fox who had succumbed to the primal reversion. It pained him immensely to tranquilize the vulpine, and couldn't bring himself to put a muzzle on the fox. He kept seeing Nick in that fox.

Alex wasn't sure how much longer he could go on like this. It tore his heart to witness the city descending into chaos around him and not able to do a single damn thing about it. As he drove to work that morning, he stopped as a rabbit kit high up in a tree caught his eye. Analyzing the situation, the wolf noted that the lagomorph was extremely high up in the tree. If they fell, they would sustain serious injuries.

Parking his car on the sidewalk, Alex stepped out and walked up to the tree. He could see the young rabbit's nose twitching in fear, and she began to shiver as Alex approached her. "Kid, you gotta come down from there. Those branches won't support your weight." The canine calmly called out.

The kit smelled like a female, and she shook her head no rapidly. "G-go away! I don't want to be eaten!" She whimpered. Alex facepalmed. "I'm not going to eat you. I'd never do that. I'm just concerned. If you fall, you could get hurt really badly." Alex soothingly said, attempting to reassure the young girl.

The bunny hesitated before shaking her head again. "I'm scared… I can't climb down." She sniffled. In response, Alex spread his arms out. "If you can't climb down, then jump. I'll catch you." Alex promised. Unfortunately, this gesture seemed to only frighten her further, causing her to climb further up the tree and step out on a weak limb.

A sickening SNAP was heard as the branch cracked under her weight and she started plummeting to the ground, falling towards Alex. The wolf held his arms out to catch her, but she was flailing around wildly and her swinging leg connected with the wolf's muzzle. No bones were broken, but it caused Alex to move his arms and fail to catch her.

A nauseating crunch was heard as the kit landed on the ground. She must have broken a bone. "My baby!" An older female voice screamed. Another rabbit, presumably this kit's mother, ran up to Alex. The next thing Alex knew, he went blind, experiencing a burning sensation in his eyes and snout which caused the wolf to scream in pain.

"You monster! You tried to hurt my child! You're lucky I have to focus on taking her to the hospital, or else I'd give you a world of pain!" The mother rabbit roared at him before her voice receded. Once Alex's vision had cleared up, he went back to his car and kicked it into gear, angrily driving to the ZPD.

Parking in his spot, the wolf hopped out of his police car and stormed into the ZPD, going to the assignment room. "Alex? Where have you been? What happened?" Chief Bogo asked, concerned about the pained and irritated expression on Alex's face. Alex scanned the room. Everyone was looking at him with worry in their eyes, but there was something else in Judy's face. It was fear.

That look of fear Judy was giving him caused something in Alex to snap. "I… AM NOT… A MONSTER!" Alex screamed, his voice coming out hoarse, raw, and pained. The dosage of pepper spray in his face had caused his sinuses to flare up and coat his throat with mucus. Everyone was dead silent, unsure of what to make of this situation.

"W-why… Why are the herbivores afraid of me now? I haven't done anything ever to hurt them as a cop. T-there was a bunny kit this morning on the drive here who was stuck up high in a tree… I tried to save her, but she was so afraid she kicked me in the muzzle as she was falling… and she broke something. I don't know what, but she looked like she got hurt pretty badly… the mother thought I was the one who hurt her and hosed me down with pepper spray…" Alex whimpered, tears in his eyes as he explained why he was late.

Judy gasped and slid off of the chair she was standing on. "Alex, I'm so sorry…" The bunny cop apologized. Those words made his vision go red. "IT'S TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE!" Alex snarled at her, causing her to jump back in fright. For a moment, Alex could envision the rabbit who attacked him in her place. "That little speech you made RUINED EVERYTHING! It's not your job to speculate and provide scientific theories, ESPECIALLY in front of cameras and microphones that are broadcasting live to every news network in the city! Do you even know what the ramifications were of what you said?!" Alex shouted at her, beginning to unleash the boiling anger he had kept inside of him.

Judy could say nothing as she was seemingly frozen in place. "I've seen it first paw on patrol. Predators are getting kicked out of their apartments, being denied service at restaurants and other locations. All because of YOU, they're treating carnivores like monsters! Well, wanna know what I think about that!?" Alex yelled, pointing a claw at her.

Judy opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't manage to utter a single word. "I think that animals like YOU are the real monsters, Judy! You claim to be defenseless and call carnivores monsters, savage beasts. But we have lives, we have feelings! We love, we hate, we are just like herbivores. We're no different. But your speech has destroyed the balance, driven fear into the heart of the city. Now animals are afraid of me just because I'm a wolf. Because I'm a predator. Even though I haven't eaten meat in eighteen years, they fear that I'll go crazy and eat them alive. Because they fear me, I can't do my job to serve and protect this city! You ruined EVERYTHING! Congratulations, Hopps! You became a hero… and you destroyed Zootopia! I can't believe that I ever loved you!" Alex roared at her, before tearing his ZPD vest off and tossing his badge at her.

"There's no point in me working on the ZPD if all I'm going to get for trying to help animals is just getting hurt in return. I'm leaving." Alex growled before storming out of the building.