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Chapter 4 - Struggle and Acceptance

"What the hell just happened?" Alex said in a daze, gazing at the sword that was born from his soul. The blessing of the primal spirit gave him the power to fight in this world. With this sword he could fight for survival instead of run in fear. There was just one problem: the opponent was a large, monstrous Grudge who had transformed into the object that had caused its death.

"I saw a rabbit and now I have this spear... I guess this isn't the craziest thing that's happened today. Nick, I'm counting on you. Let's just pretend this, whatever it is, is another criminal who is targeting our wolf friend here. Alright, stop this right now! You are under arrest!" Judy said while gripping her spear. The stun gun and tranquilizer gun she carried were useless. This was the only thing she could rely on to live and fulfill her duty to protect the citizens of Zootopia.

"Hahaha...I guess we have no choice. This is the craziest day of my life, I swear..." Nick said while gripping his bow. He had no arrows, so he curiously pulled the bow string back to see what would happen. An arrow of light seemed to form as he pulled the string. The fox always felt he had a good eye when it came to hitting things at long distance, but luckily the target was so large it would be hard to miss.

"Soul Weapons!?" the Grudge cried out, fearing something it thought was dangerous to its well being. "No matter. You will die all the same!" Whatever mysterious force held the Grudge back was gone and it continued its advance.

Alex dodged left and Nick dodged right while Judy jumped into the air. For some reason she could jump higher than she could normally. She could feel the ancestral power of her species giving her enhanced capabilities. With this, she was able to completely evade the deer grudge's attack and was now in a great position to strike back. Gripping the carrot spear with both paws, she let gravity take over and struck the back of the demonic car. The monster cried out in pain as it took the hit, unable to avoid it due to its size.

After Judy struck the Grudge, Nick fired one of his arrows, aiming for the monster's tires. A direct hit to the wheel caused the Grudge to not be able to move with it. Nick proceeded to keep firing at the wheels, but he noticed that with each shot he fired he felt more and more drained. He probably shouldn't fire too many shots or risk being left vulnerable. All of the arrows hit their mark, causing the deer monster to be stuck in place.

Alex was left frozen in place. He felt bad that he dragged these two nice animals into this fantasy realm of insanity. He had to do something, even if he was an untrained civilian. Closing his eyes, he left out another howl, feeling the spiritual energy of ancient wolves fill his being. As if signaling to attack his prey, the howl resonated and filled him with confidence and determination. He pictured how a sword wielding hero would handle this in one of his video games and took an improvised sword stance. His foe looked weak as he charged at the monster, slashing it rapidly and wildly. Deep down he did not wish to hurt the spirit of the deceased turned evil, but that the spirit would let go of its hatred. Jumping into the air and holding his sword aloft, he gave one final strike which finished off the grudge.

Judy got her spear out of the monster and managed to land back on the ground next to Alex as the Grudge shook and cried out in pain. Red mist was pouring out of its body, as if all of its anger and hatred was purged from him during the fight. The Grudge's domain they were in started to fade. The blood coming from the image of the car accident disappeared, and the scenery returned to what was considered normal for this world. The grudge had vanished and had left behind the spirit of a male deer standing on all fours as they once did in ancient times. It tried to look proud and majestic, but instead it just looked sorrowful. Its spirit glowed a soft white as he looked upon the ones who purified him.

"I'm...I'm me again...' said the deer's spirit. "All I could think about was revenge, revenge for my death. How I mourned not to be able to see my wife and daughter anymore. I became so angry that I turned into that thing...Day by day my rage grew, and I became powerful enough to be able to reach out into the world and attack that wolf, even though I knew it wasn't the same one. I was just blinded by hatred...I can't believe I almost killed innocent animals...I am truly sorry."

Alex looked sad listening to the deer's story. Everything was starting to come together. The mystery of his attacker this morning had been solved, but there was no one to arrest, no one to blame. "I...I forgive you...I can't begin to imagine how it must have felt. To know that you died wrongfully due to the fault of others...to know that you will never see your family or anyone you loved."

"Thank you for forgiving me... I only wish I could see them one last time... then I feel like I can move on." the deer said in lament.

Suddenly a vision appeared before everyone. It was a scene of what was currently occurring in reality. It was as if the spirit world and reality being connected. A female deer in a light blue dress and light-colored fur was standing with a bouquet of flowers near the point of the accident that occurred. "It's been a while since I've been to see you honey... it's been a year since that day... the day that I would never see you again. It turns out there was a manufacturer error in the car that wolf was driving, a problem with the steering wheel and brakes that caused him to swerve and crash into you. That wolf felt so guilty, he sent us money to help until I got myself a job. Now I'm able to support the family that we created and built together." She laid the flowers down on the ground as she tried to hold back her tears.

She continued to speak aloud, thinking that somewhere her late husband could hear her words. "Oh Richard... it's been so hard this past year without you, yet we were able to survive. Your daughter is five years old now. She has her father's intelligence, and I'm sure she will grow up to become great like you were. Also, this was a surprise that I never got to tell you about: on the day you left for work that day...I found out that I was pregnant... I was going to surprise you when you got home, but you never came back..."

She couldn't hold back and started sobbing while reaching into her wallet and grabbing a picture they took on their wedding day. "You have a son now... he looks so much like his father. Here you can see a picture of him and your daughter." The woman placed a copy of the picture she was holding on the ground next to the flowers. She then took out a picture of her son and daughter and placed it next to her wedding picture. They looked so happy, as if this sadness had already passed. "I'll never forget you, Richard...I will look after everyone and keep our children happy so... that one day...when I get to see you again... I will be able to tell you that they were able to grow up strong like their father!" The woman broke down and started sobbing on the ground. It was the middle of the night. No one was around her, so she was able to cry without being disturbed.

The deer spirit, Richard, started to cry as well. Seeing a vision of his wife, he started to remember his own life, his name, his wonderful wife and daughter, and now he got to see a picture of his son that he would never get to meet in person. "Diane...thank you...I love you so much... You will take good care of the children...I just know it! Please keep them safe for me. I'll make sure to watch you from afar." The deer spirit walked over to his wife and placed his head on her shoulder. The two parallel worlds in that one brief moment were able to connect. His wife Diane felt warmness on her neck and it comforted her troubled soul. They stood there for a moment and soon Richard backed away. "Goodbye Diane... and thank you my love." The spirit of the deer looked back at the wolf, bunny, and fox that freed him from his hate and thanked them once more. He turned back to his wife and started to fade away, having finally found peace and come to terms with his death. As he faded away, a brilliant life shone around the area that soon faded and disappeared into a thousand sparks of light. The vision of Diane soon faded as well as she wiped her tears and left the site of her husband's death.

Alex was sobbing like a child, as was Judy. Nick was trying his best to keep his cool but tears escaped from his eyes and landed on his police uniform. The fox turned away so that the others wouldn't see him lose his cool. They were at a loss for words of what just happened. It could have been considered a miracle that the spirit was able to find peace and move on. They took comfort in that it was because of their actions that he was able to stop seeing the world with so much hate.

Alex wiped the tears and noticed something strange in the distance near the site of the accident. It was a circular portal that glowed in a blue light. He walked up to it and examined it. He stuck his head through it on a trusting whim. On the other side he could see the lit up Zootopia streets, its sky, and its buildings. Thankfully, no one was around, so it was a perfect place to jump back to their own world. He even saw the sight of the deer's accident near the bus stop. Flowers lay next to the area, further cementing that everything that just took place was real. Pulling his head back out, he turned to Nick and Judy. "Hey, I think this looks like the way home. I see our Zootopia!"

Nick and Judy looked overjoyed as they hurried to Alex's side. Judy stopped for a bit before completely heading over, taking one last glance at where the deer vanished. She mouthed the words goodbye before headed back. The trio soon returned back to Zootopia, the one they knew and loved. There was so much to be discussed. So much had happened in this one day, but for now they were happy just to be back in their reality. Taking a moment to breathe in the fresh and cool night air, Alex couldn't help but feel good to be back.

As they returned to reality, a figure stood on top of a nearby building in the spirit world, unknown to anyone. The figure had witnessed their fight and the events that occurred afterwards. "Hmm... three more are able to enter this place, and they received a primal spirit's blessing... I'll have to observe them a bit more, but they may become a problem," the figure said as he vanished into the darkness of night.

Meanwhile, in an unseen realm, the primal spirits that helped Alex, Nick, and Judy were having a discussion. The wolf spoke, "I'm surprised you two wanted to help out. You wanted to remain neutral in all of this. What changed your mind?"

The rabbit responded saying "The others' actions cannot be ignored anymore, and we cannot directly interfere. Luckily, your chosen brought along suitable candidates."

The fox smirked and replied, "Yes, agreed. We were fortunate enough that the three of us now have players on the chess board. Now things will get very interesting from now on."

The wolf looked off into the distance. "We can only trust in them now. Hopefully we made the right choice."