Chapter 19: Gouhin's Evaluation! The Panda's Past! Escape from the Black Market!


Alex sat on the ground, unable to move due to the paralysis serum Gouhin had injected into him. "I swear to God, you bastard, if you hurt a single strand of fur on Legosi I'll take you to jail!" Alex threatened. Gouhin sighed.

"Be quiet and don't cuss so much, or I'll wash your mouth out with soap," Gouhin told the white wolf. Gouhin then turned to face Legosi. "How are you feeling? Probably horrible, I'd assume," Gouhin stated. Legosi whimpered, fearful for his and Alex's well-being. Gouhin checked the chains of the muzzle, making sure that Alex hadn't tampered with it.

"Sorry about the muzzle, but the only way to truly restrict a canine's movements is to put a muzzle over their snouts," Gouhin apologized. The gray wolf struggled to move, his body still recovering its strength. "Judging from the scratches you have on your back, you must be an extremely violent wolf," Gouhin said as he grabbed Legosi by the collar. Alex had to snicker. "What's so funny?!" Gouhin growled.

"Legosi's the least violent wolf I've ever met. He got those scratches when he got in an argument with Bill," Alex told Gouhin.

Gouhin frowned before grabbing a stethoscope and placing it on Legosi's chest. "Don't move! I'm checking your heartbeat!" Gouhin explained. After a few minutes of listening, Gouhin stroked his chin fur thoughtfully.

"You've got nerves of steel, kid. Even now, your heart rate is normal. You're an expert at hiding your fear. All right, I'm going to take off your muzzle. Don't do something that will make me regret this," Gouhin said. Legosi nodded, and Gouhin unshackled the muzzle from Legosi.

Almost immediately, Legosi started asking questions. "I didn't do anything! What is this place!?" Legosi blurted out. Unconsciously, the wolf's fangs came out, and Gouhin punched the wolf in the face.

"You cannot bear your fangs at me! I am the watchman of this black market," Gouhin scolded.

One of Alex's digits twitched, which was a good sign. That meant the paralysis agent was beginning to wear off. "HEY! He didn't mean to bear his fangs at you!" Alex protested. Gouhin glared at Alex, and he fell silent.

"I can't let potential criminals out in the streets. Carnivores that suffer a panic attack and pass out in this place are almost guaranteed to prey upon herbivores," Gouhin explained. He then pushed his face into Legosi's muzzle. "You'd better do as I say if you want to go back home," Gouhin commanded. The panda swiveled his head to look at Alex, and the wolf knew from that glare that Alex would have to go through the same examination if he were to get out of here.

Gouhin left the room for a second. "I swear I've seen this panda before," Alex muttered.

"You have? Where?" Legosi asked curiously. Before Alex had time to think on where he could have seen Gouhin in the past, the bear came back with a chair and a camera. He set the chair up and had the camera in front of him.

"Now, I'm going to ask you a series of questions. You do NOT have the right to remain silent. Now, what's your name?" Gouhin asked.

"Legosi…" the gray wolf replied.

"When was the first time you ate a herbivore?" Gouhin demanded. Legosi hesitated for a second. "...I never ate one…" Legosi replied.

"Ah! So you tried to eat one and stopped at the last second! In other words, you've managed to maintain your masquerade!" Gouhin declared. Alex didn't like the way this was going, but kept silent as he felt movement return to his knees.

"B-but I plan on telling her the truth one day…" Legosi responded.

"HER?! So you tried to eat this girl, and then got intimate with her soon after!? Wow!" Gouhin gasped. There was a dark, malicious glint in the panda bear's eyes as he studied Legosi with renewed interest and curiosity. "This is extremely interesting! What do you feel when you communicate with her? Do you talk to her while imagining how she'd taste? Do you spend every day plotting to eat her at the same time?!" Gouhin interrogated.

Alex had seen enough at this point, and spoke up. "He never tasted her. A panic attack would be natural for animals with hearts like Legosi's! And Legosi's relationship with Haru is special. You wanna know why? Because he imprinted on her!" Alex shouted.

Gouhin blinked and then burst into laughter. "Are you out of your goddamn mind? Imprinting was almost exterminated after the Stone Age, when predators stopped going savage! I know this for a fact, I'm an expert in predatorial psychology!" Gouhin cackled.

"Imprinting can still occur if the mind regresses back to that primal mindset!" Alex argued.

"That's impossible! How could several hundred years of predatorial psychological evolution be erased like that?!" Gouhin countered.

"It is possible when you're dealing with midnicampum holicithias ! I know because I've imprinted on a prey myself!" Alex replied.

Gouhin sneered at the white wolf. "Oh yeah? And who exactly are you?! What gives you the right to counter several decades of research just because you're in love with a prey animal?!" Gouhin snarled.

Alex took a deep breath before getting back on his feet and assuming a fighting stance. "I'm Officer Alex Moon! The predator's pride of the Zootopia Police Department! I was shot with the Night Howler serum by Mayor Bellwether when Judy, Nick, and I were trying to bring the evidence to the ZPD. I pushed Nick out of the way and took that bullet for him. If I hadn't imprinted on Judy, I would have ripped her to shreds," Alex announced.

Gouhin pondered this for a few moments. "You're a cop? I had my suspicions ever since that night howler incident, but now I'm sure," Legosi said. Gouhin's eyes lit up all of a sudden. "Hey, now I remember! I thought you seemed familiar, but now I finally recall where we've bumped into each other! You were one of the few animals who attended my seminar for the ZPD cadets! Damn, you've grown up! It's been what, six years!?" Gouhin whistled.

Alex's eyes widened as he finally figured out where he had met Gouhin previously. "Wait, you're that Gouhin? The Gouhin who's an expert in predatorial psychology? The one who wrote "A Paper On The Mental Processes of Predatorial Psychology"?, Alex asked.

"Indeed! You're familiar with my work then?" Gouhin responded, his chest puffing up with pride.

"Not just familiar! I used that essay as a base for my final paper during the ZPD training!" Alex answered.

Gouhin nodded happily, before his expression soured. "Back to the matter at paw here. You're absolutely sure that this gray wolf here imprinted? How did that even happen?" Gouhin inquired.

Alex recounted how he and Legosi had found a Night Flower howler on the Cherryton academy grounds, how Legosi fell victim to the effects of the flower and went into a savage state. He explained to Gouhin that Legosi ran off and when Alex had found him again, the gray wolf was hugging Haru tightly yet not making a single attempt to consciously hurt the white dwarf rabbit. Gouhin was stroking his chin fur rapidly in excitement.

"This is amazing! I absolutely MUST research this more!" Gouhin marveled, before turning to face Legosi. "You! Do you have any recollection of the time when you were under the effects of the Night Howler?" Gouhin demanded.

Legosi blushed before responding. "Somewhat… I remember being drawn towards Haru. Her smell was overpowering. I was blindly following my instincts, ready to devour her. Then she came into my view, and…" Legosi started to reveal his memories of while he was savage, but trailed off.

"And what?!" Gouhin pressured.

"It's really hard to describe… but when my eyes set on her, it was like the whole universe… shifted. Like she was the new center of the universe, and I'd do anything for her. All thoughts of hurting her vanished," Legosi described. Gouhin stroked his beard, and furiously scribbled down on a piece of paper before looking up at Legosi with a softer tone in his eyes, but still threatening.

"Come back here in about a week, Legosi. As you explore your relationship with this bunny, you'll come back here and describe everything. There are certain warning signs that will show up if your relationship turns into meat lust. For now, go back to your academy dorm; it's getting pretty late and I imagine your friends at school must be pretty worried. But keep your relationship with her under wraps," Gouhin instructed. Legosi nodded in understanding. The two wolves were heading to the door when Gouhin stopped them.

"Oh, one more thing! Legosi, read this before our next checkup," Gouhin interrupted. He handed a dirty rabbit magazine to Legosi. Alex snatched it away from the bear.

"I can't believe you're giving him such an awful thing! And you know that minors can't have that!" Alex hissed.

"But I need to know if he truly loves this rabbit girl-" Gouhin protested, before Alex crumpled the magazine in his paw. The wolf had to admit that he was interested in the magazine, but he had Judy in his life, and that was enough for him. He didn't need some porn mag to be happy with his life.

"Everyone has access to the internet at Cherryton, and although I'm sure that some of the students look at it, and some cops are willing to let it slide, I'm not going to let you corrupt Legosi's innocence. Besides, imprinters usually are only attracted to their imprintees, not other members of the same species," Alex snarled. Gouhin sighed.

"Fine, go," the doctor sighed. They were almost out the door when Alex turned his head around to look at Gouhin.

"I'll be seeing you again soon too, Gouhin. We have unfinished business to discuss," Alex told the panda bear.

Gouhin smiled darkly. "Is that a threat?" Gouhin chuckled.

Alex showed a malicious smile back at him. "Only if you're uncooperative," Alex answered. The white wolf and Legosi walked out of the clinic and into the night.


The next morning, Alex and Legosi go to see Haru. Both are surprised to see a familiar deer inside Haru's little shed. How will Alex deal with the revelation of the affair between Haru and Louis? Then, we have a change of pace! Hijinks ensue as Legosi and Haru go around Cherryton and run into Lem, the Cherryton cop, in the city's metro! Will they be able to avoid getting arrested?

Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of BEASTARS: The Divergent Variable!

Chapter 20: Legosi Explores His Relationship! The Skills Of The Cop Named Lem!