Chapter 26: Alex and Lem's Last Stand!
Alex shot up out of bed. He looked at his watch and saw that it was eight in the morning. He knew that he had to get Legosi and Haru back to school. Alex went into their room and saw that they were all snuggled up together, with Haru's head buried in Legosi's stomach. "Wakey wakey, sleepyheads!" Alex shouted.
Legosi yelped as he jolted upright and tossed Haru off of him. Haru also leapt to her feet. "What's going on?!" Legosi asked worriedly.
"I gotta get you two back to school," Alex told them. Legosi's eyes widened.
"SHIT! Jack and the others must be worried sick!" Legosi cried out.
"Come on, you two!" Alex urged. They started running through the halls and out the hotel door.
"Shouldn't we pay?" Legosi asked.
"I paid last night, don't worry about it!" Alex said. They hopped in the car, and Legosi let Haru take the shotgun seat as the car came to life and sped off towards Cherryton Academy.
Alex and Legosi dropped Haru off back at her dorm before heading back to dorm 701. If it weren't for Legosi and the fact that Alex needed to stock up on supplies, the white wolf would have gone straight to the Cherryton police office. "LEGOSI!" Jack wailed happily, relieved to see that his friend was okay. The golden retriever wagged his tail wildly as he tackled the gray wolf.
"Alex! Where have you and Legosi been?" Collot asked worriedly.
"Saving lives. Now, excuse me. I need to get in my room," Alex growled. He pushed Collot aside as he opened the door to his room. Closing the door, he rummaged through his bag and brought out another handgun that had not yet been fired, as well as another stink bomb that Blossom had made for him. He put them back in his belt, and then retrieved several small pellets.
These pellets contained highly pressurized gas, and the pellets would explode upon being thrown against the ground. They were often used by magicians for their magic shows, as well as big-time criminals when they pulled off their heists. His adoptive mother had added a special twist to these smoke bombs, though. They would explode into gas that was all six colors of the rainbow, which proved even more distracting.
After making sure that he had all of his supplies, Alex put everything in his belt and started to head out. He'd put his ZPD vest back on when he got in the car. "Wait, Alex! Where are you going?" Legosi then called out.
"I have an errand to run," Alex curtly told him.
"Hey, Alex! Can me and Durham sleep in your room if you're not back by tonight?" Miguno the hyena asked.
"Go to that hotel that I slept at last night, lover boy," Alex snarled. He stormed out of the room, and Miguno and Durham kissed and went into the white wolf's room.
Alex started speeding through the deserted streets of Cherryton and parked in front of the Cherryton police office. He leapt out of the car and barreled through the doors. Several animals were there, sipping their morning coffees. "Alex? What are you doing here?" Lem asked. He knew that something was wrong the moment that he saw his old friend. Alex was visibly distressed and upset.
"You guys have to help! The Shishigumi have one of my friends captive!" Alex yelled.
"So?" one of the cops nonchalantly asked.
"So?! SO ?! YOU GUYS ARE COPS! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT THESE INNOCENT ANIMALS!" Alex howled in fury. Lem also was shocked by the apathy some of these officers were showing.
"We don't have any real power in the back alley market," another cop said.
"No power, my ass! Anything is possible if you have the strength and conviction to support it!" Alex growled.
"I'm sorry, Alex, but we're not able to help," the chief of the police department, Chief Denka, replied.
"You guys need to get your dicks out of your asses! Lem, you'll work with me, right?" Alex then asked.
The dingo nodded his head determinedly. "Of course, Alex. I'm always willing to work with you," Lem answered.
Lem started to head out, but Chief Denka called out. "Lem, if you do this, and fail… then I can't guarantee your future on the squad," Chief Denka told him.
"Chief, I can't sit by idly and let this chaos continue. It's about time I do something about it," Lem replied. He left along with Alex and got in his car.
As they drove to the Black Market, Lem looked out the window. "Do you have a plan?" Lem asked Alex.
"I always have a plan, Lem. You know that," Alex growled, gritting his teeth. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Lem spoke again.
"What is it?" Lem wondered.
"Simple. We go in there, take one of em hostage, demand that they tell us where Louis is. If they've eaten him, we blow off their heads. If Louis is still alive, we make them give him to us and then we leave the place," Alex explained.
"Except Agata, right?" Lem asked nervously.
"Yeah, your boyfriend will be left alive and the two of you can live happily ever after," Alex sighed. They arrived at the black market, and Lem and Alex changed into their police gear. Alex turned the safety off on his gun and set his taser to the maximum setting, "elephant".
This level of voltage could stop the hearts of smaller prey animals like rabbits and sheep, but on a fully grown adult lion, it would knock them unconscious for a few hours. "You ready to make a difference, Lem?" Alex confidently asked. Lem was touched by that phrase. It was the phrase that Alex had said to him every day when they were partners on the ZPD.
Those were happier, simpler times, when Lem hadn't realized he was gay and lived in Zootopia. His life had only gotten more complicated after moving to Cherryton and falling in love with Agata.
With Chief Denka breathing down his neck, it had been almost impossible for Lem to make progress on his relationship with Agata. The chief had constantly been trying to convince Lem that his relationship with Agata was simply the Congo lion trying to manipulate him. But Lem knew in his heart of hearts that the connection he had with Agata was something super special. And Lem's gut told him that Agata felt the same way about him.
Several times, Lem had tried to persuade Agata to leave the Shishigumi and start a life together with him. Agata couldn't, though; the Shishigumi had taken him in when he was a teenager. Agata's family life and upbringing wasn't very heartwarming or fond- the black feline had grown up in a household where his mother oppressed him and his father and verbally abused him on almost a daily basis.
He rebelled against his parents by joining the Shishigumi, who had felt pity for the poor young Agata. Agata felt like the Shishigumi were his real family, more so than his mother and father had ever treated him like one. Dolph was like a big brother to Agata, and Ibuki was like the ideal father he had always dreamed of having.
Lem hoped that this recent string of events would help Agata finally break away from the Shishigumi and begin a new phase of his life. "Let's save Louis," Lem determinedly said. "FOR LOUIS!" Alex howled. The two cops charged into the black market, guns in their paws.
Sprinting through the corridors of the back alley market, they earned many fearful and curious looks from the animals that they passed by. Rarely ever did the animals of the black market see cops dressed in uniform, and this caused them to wonder what sort of situation would warrant police breaking the agreement they had to not interfere in the black market's affairs.
They quickly arrived at the Shishigumi manor, which oddly enough had no guards posted outside or in the windows. Alex had expected security to be tightened around the mansion after yesterday's events, but not a single guard was present. Alex and Lem huddled around the front door.
The white wolf counted down "3, 2, 1" using his paws, and when he hit zero Alex kicked down the door. Both of them rushed down the hallway, following their senses to where the most lions were together in one place.
They ended up in a dining room, with a fancy long table and several plates. Several lions were already sitting down. Alex lunged for the nearest one, putting the gun to his forehead. Many lions gasped, shocked that the wolf who had kicked their asses yesterday was back again.
"IF YOU FUCKERS DON'T TELL ME WHERE LOUIS IS THEN I KILL YOUR FRIEND! AND YOU ALL DIE IF YOU'VE ALREADY BEEN EATEN!" Alex snarled. The conviction in Alex's eyes and the angry tone in the wolf's voice told the Shishigumi that this cop was dead serious.
"H-hey! Please remove that gun from my forehead! Your friend is fine!" the lion squealed. Alex looked up and saw Agata approaching, with Louis in front. The deer looked like he was better than ever, wearing a dapper cape and coat that was very flashy and probably cost a fortune. Alex's eyes widened. He thought for sure that Louis was dead!
"L-Louis?!" The wolf breathed, tears welling in his eyes.
Lem rushed forward towards Agata. "Aggie-kinz!" Lem happily cried out.
"LEMMIE!" Agata cheered. The two embraced each other, with Lem burying his head in Agata's mane.
Louis pulled a chair out from the table and motioned for Alex to sit down. "Nice to see you, Alex. Come take a seat. We have much to discuss," Louis ordered.
As Agata and Lem embrace each other and have a merry old time together, Alex desperately tries to convince Louis not to go down this dark path. After failing to persuade the young deer, they go in the back of the mansion and Louis reveals something to Alex...! The climax continues next time, on BEASTARS: The Divergent Variable!
Chapter 27: A Business Proposition! One Last Song!
