Chapter 29: A Dance During Intermission! The Darkness Connecting Alex And Sheila!
It had been three days since Alex and Legosi had agreed to work together to discover the identity of the killer. Not much progress had been made since then. But that was about to change. Alex was about to make a move to get closer to one of the four remaining suspects. The wolf still couldn't entirely believe everything that had led up to this point.
Alex was a member of the Zootopia Police Department who had been assigned to go undercover in Cherryton as a student so he could investigate the town's back alley meat market and document the criminal dealings going on there as well as bring members of the lion yakuza gang, the Shishigumi, to justice. But a week into the investigation, an unexpected change of events had occurred.
One of the students at Cherryton Academy, an alpaca named Tem, was slaughtered and devoured by an unknown predator. Alex shifted his priorities from arresting the Shishigumi and investigating the black market to finding the murderer.
After gathering information from several of the students, Alex found out that many animals suspected the gray wolf Legosi to be the killer. The gray wolf was shy and somewhat introverted, and his large size and silent demeanor made many animals feel uneasy around him.
The wolf cop followed Legosi around for a little while, and witnessed him giving the Angora goat Els a love letter from Tem. Apparently, the alpaca had a crush on Els, and Legosi wanted to fulfill one of the goat's unresolved desires. As Alex watched the two of them interact, he noted that Legosi did not show a single sign of guilt. This led Alex to believe that Legosi was innocent.
The very next day, Alex stood up for a young white dwarf rabbit who was being bullied, and learned her name was Haru. Then Alex joined the drama club, and was forced to reveal his secret to the leader of the club, a red deer named Louis, or risk having his cover blown. Louis gave him guard duty, telling Alex to come back to the school at night to keep watch over them and keep him and another actor from getting out of trouble.
After Alex pushed Haru out of the way of a falling mattress that would likely have killed the poor bunny, he suffered a moderate injury and wound up meeting his old police partner Lem, who had transferred from the Zootopia police department to Cherryton.
Alex brought Lem up to speed on why he was in Cherryton, and Lem agreed to keep his true identity a secret from the rest of his squad. Alex then went to do his guard duty and met Legosi, getting himself properly acquainted with the gray wolf. Their conversation didn't last long, though.
Legosi brushed up against a Night Howler flower and went savage, nearly attacking Haru. Somehow, though, the wolf managed to imprint on Haru, saving her life and creating a very unique relationship. Alex gave Legosi the antidote, and they parted ways for the evening.
The next day, Alex broke up a fight between two students, and earned praise from Louis. Louis had injured his leg, so Alex gave the deer some painkillers that would last until the drama club's performance of Adler. Alex made a promise to Louis that he would do everything in his power to help the red deer become the next Beastar.
Haru discovered Alex's secret after the wolf pulled his taser out on her in an attempt to keep the bunny from sleeping with him. Later in the day, Alex discovered that the drama club recruited animals with dark secrets. For example, the fourteen-year-old Sheila the cheetah had previously been a dominatrix at a female carnivore club.
Time flew by at that point until the evening of the first performance of Adler. Everything went smoothly… until the curtains fell down and the performance ended. Louis collapsed and fell unconscious, being moved to the school infirmary.
That evening, Alex encountered a demonic presence that had taken control of Bill the tiger, who was another member of the drama club. With help from Els, Alex was able to exorcise the demon and remove it from Bill's body, although the visions that the demon had shown Bill would leave scars on his psyche for years to come.
As Alex and Els kept Bill company in the school infirmary, they received news that Ellen, the zebra actress who played the female lead in Adler, had suffered a severe allergic reaction.
This meant that three members of the drama club were now unavailable to perform in the second and final performance. In a last gambit, Louis named Legosi to replace his role, Alex to replace Bill's role, and Haru would replace Ellen's role. This was a bold and desperate move on Louis's part, as Haru was not officially a member of the drama club.
Everything worked out in the end, though, and the performance went splendidly. Legosi became a viable contender for the position of the school's next Beastar; his performance as the main character was that good.
The next few days passed without incident, but things took a turn for the worse when Legosi found himself on the wrong side of town. Being the hero that he was, Alex rushed off to save the gray wolf, but ended up getting captured by the "doctor" of the black market, Gouhin the panda. After the doctor evaluated Legosi and discovered that the gray wolf had imprinted on Haru, the panda decided to have Alex keep an eye on Legosi for research purposes.
Gouhin wanted to figure out the psychological secrets of imprinting and how it impacted the mind of a predator animal. But imprinting cases were exceedingly rare, and the panda wasn't about to let this opportunity pass him by.
Gouhin made Alex give Legosi and Haru biometric watches that would track their vitals and emotions as well as their coordinates. In exchange for planting the watches on the couple, Gouhin would psychologically profile all of the predator members of the drama club in order to narrow the suspect list of who could have possibly killed Tem.
The biometric watches would end up saving Haru's life. The morning after Alex gave the watches to the two animals, Haru was kidnapped by the Shishigumi. Alex had to work together with Louis and Legosi to rescue Haru before she was eaten. Alex gave them full body gear they charged into the mansion to save her.
At first, when confronted by the chief lion, Haru was ready to die and prepared herself to be eaten. But then, something happened. Something within her changed. She no longer was afraid of being eaten. Instead, the white dwarf rabbit was consumed by the overwhelming desire to live.
She took a knife and stabbed the chief lion in the stomach, before Legosi came in and rescued her. This type of event is referred to as a "Trigger Point" where a prey animal becomes so afraid in a life or death situation that their fear is abandoned and replaced by the desire to keep living.
Meanwhile Alex and Louis chased after the chief lion, and Alex took two bullets to the leg. Louis unloaded several rounds of ammunition into the Shishigumi leader's body, killing him. Alex would not leave Louis behind, and was prepared to make his final stand protecting Louis. The red deer, however, wouldn't allow Alex to do so. With all of his might, Louis pushed the wolf off of the balcony and Alex landed on the ground, before being taken away by Gouhin for medical treatment.
After Alex rested and recuperated at a hotel with Legosi and Haru, he dropped them back off at Cherryton Academy and regrouped with Lem. The two of them returned to the Shishigumi manor, ready to fight off the miniature army of lions and save Louis, or avenge him if the deer had been killed.
Instead, to their shock and surprise, the lions of the Shishigumi had named Louis as their new leader. Alex was unable to persuade Louis to abandon this path of crime, and left the house with nothing gained.
That evening, under the light of the moon at the town's meteor festival celebration, Alex reunited with Legosi, Haru, and his lover, Judy Hopps. Judy agreed to train Haru to defend herself, and saw potential in the white dwarf rabbit. Haru began to wonder if she should become a cop like Judy.
As for Legosi and Alex, the white wolf officer showed Legosi Gouhin's psychological profiles. The list of suspects had been narrowed down to four: Sheila the cheetah, Aoba the eagle, Bill the tiger, and Riz the bear. Only a medium to large size predator could have killed and devoured Tem the way that his remains were found. The two wolves agreed to work together to bring Tem's killer to justice.
Which brought him back to the present. Alex was hanging out with the dancer's group of the drama club. His reason for doing so was to investigate Sheila. Although the wolf didn't believe that the cheetah was the killer, the profile was a 65% match, which was worth investigation. Right now, he was hanging out with the dance members of the drama club, and was about to make his move.
Alex watched Sheila the cheetah dance and jump around. The wolf had to admit that Sheila was fast, and moved with grace. Something about her positive attitude also reminded him of his old friend Benjamin Clawhauser, the chubby cheetah receptionist that worked the front desk of the Zootopia police department. Though Clawhauser wasn't always fat like that. When Alex had joined the force, Clawhauser was super skinny and slender, ready to serve.
But after a few years on the force, and consuming a high amount of donuts, Clawhauser had become a chubby cheetah who was more fat than muscle. Clawhauser was nowhere near as fast as he used to be, but he used his extra weight to his advantage. Clawhauser could take quite a few bullets and punches, even saving Alex's life once or twice.
Time to stop reminiscing and actually make a move. The wolf stood up and paused the music that was playing from Sheila's computer. "You do well dancing solo, Sheila. But let's see how you dance when you have a partner," Alex challenged.
Sheila batted her eyelashes at the white wolf. "Sure thing!" Sheila replied. Alex took her paws in his, and the two of them began dancing.
"You know, it's nice to actually dance with someone my height for once," Alex remarked as the two of them twirled and stepped around the stage. Sheila chuckled. "
What do you mean by that?" the cheetah sniggered.
"Well, my girlfriend's a bunny. So when we dance together, it's kind of awkward," Alex answered.
Sheila chuckled. "You're quite strange, Alex… what's your last name again?" Sheila said.
"Moon. Alex Moon. Though my last name isn't actually Moon. I made that name up when I was living on the streets of Zootopia," Alex answered. "You're from Zootopia?" Sheila asked. Alex nodded. "Yes, I am. Why do you ask?" Alex wondered.
"My dad knows an Alex. From what he's told me, you remind me a lot of him, though he couldn't possibly be you," Sheila said.
"Really? How so?" Alex questioned. The wolf was starting to become nervous, and his eyes scanned the room for anyone else that might be listening in. Thankfully, Els and the other girls were engrossed in their phones.
"Well, he's tall, noble, and brave. The mysterious type. And he's got a good moral compass. My dad took a bullet for him once," Sheila explained.
"You keep mentioning this dad of yours. What's his name?" Alex inquired.
Sheila hesitated for a moment before responding. "Benjamin Clawhauser. He's a member of the Zootopia Police Department," she told him.
Alex was shocked to hear about this. Clawhauser had a daughter? The cheetah cop had never mentioned this before, and the two officers were extremely close with each other. Yet Benji never bothered to tell Alex about his daughter. "Why are you at Cherryton if your dad is in Zootopia?" Alex asked.
The music stopped, and Sheila sat down on the nearby bench. "It's a long story," Sheila sighed.
Alex took a seat on the bench next to her. He put a paw on her shoulder comfortingly. "My ears are always open for long stories," Alex replied. Sheila
took a deep breath before telling Alex the tragic event that would ruin her life. "So when I was ten, Dad arrested a really notorious criminal, this serial killer named RakTizon Wolfgang. But he escaped from jail the following evening, and..," Sheila trailed off.
Alex was horrified. He was actually the biological son of Logan Wolfgang, who was RakTizon's father. This made RakTizon his older biological brother. It was a cosmic miracle that Alex was even born, and he didn't have a single strand of hybrid DNA in him. But Alex had abandoned the Wolfgang family when he was five years old, running away from the group of murderers.
It was his deepest regret that he and the ZPD hadn't brought RakTizon to justice. They had escaped the borders of Zootopia and set up a base in a small town that was a moderate distance away from Zootopia, and their criminal activities and debauchery was still continuing to this day.
"I remember it like it was yesterday. Me and Mom were sitting at the dinner table, and we were eating a nice fish filet. Then, that… m-monster… broke into our house. He was pretty angry that Dad had caught him, and he… He aimed the gun at me, and mom pushed me out of the way. He grabbed her by the tail, and… he tore her stomach and organs out. Ate some of her liver, right in front of my eight-year-old eyes. Then he broke the window and exited the house, though I know that he would have killed me if he didn't think the cops were on their way. Dad got back less than five minutes later, but it was already too late. She was dead," Sheila sadly said.
A few tears rolled down her face, and she wiped her face off with a handkerchief. The cheetah sobbed, reliving all those painful memories. "After that night… things were never the same. Dad blamed himself for Mom's death, saying that he never should have gone after that asshole because it put me and Mom at risk. He drowned his sorrows by stuffing himself with as much food as he could buy. Dad sent me away to Cherryton to live with my aunt and uncle, not wanting me to see what he would become," Sheila finished the story.
"I'm really sorry for your loss, Sheila. But… how's your relationship with your dad now?" Alex asked.
Sheila smiled. "Thankfully, we managed to reconnect a few years later. We call each other every two weeks or so. When I graduate from here… I might go back to Zootopia to live with him," Sheila wistfully said.
"He'd like that," Alex immediately responded.
Sheila nodded. "I think he would like that too," Sheila agreed.
Alex stood up. He now knew in his heart that Sheila couldn't be Tem's killer. No animal could bring themself to eat meat after witnessing what RakTizon could do up close and personal. "Sheila… I need to get going now. Thank you for telling me all of this," Alex told her. He now felt a deep connection with the female cheetah. Perhaps, one day, after Tem's killer was brought to justice and he didn't need to maintain his cover, Alex would tell Sheila about his ties to the Wolfgang family.
After hearing Sheila's dark backstory, Alex goes back to Room 701 to take a break. Then, Legosi asks Alex for some help! Something's wrong with Jack?
Be here for the next thought-provoking chapter of BEASTARS: Converging Destinies!
Chapter 30: A Debate Of The Soul! Can Dogs Truly Feel Sad?
