Zootopia Plot Bunny Buffet

Pronk Must Die

Pronk Must Die (Dark Comedy/Drama) (standalone)

Bucky knew that if he was going to murder Pronk, now was the time to do it, since the rabbit cop next door was out of town visiting Rabbitland or Bunnyhole or wherever it was she was from. He glanced at the metal baseball bat next to his nightstand before he looked across the room at his brother bundled up in a pile of blankets on his bed. He hefted the bat and crept towards Pronk.

Bucky moved slowly to avoid the squeaky floorboard in the middle of the room and stood over his brother's still form. He was thankful the oryx was completely hidden by the blankets, otherwise Bucky didn't think he could do it. The kudu scrunched up his face, his body tensing as he raised the bat, ready to strike.

But before he did, he noticed the picture on the nightstand next to Pronk's bed and paused. Bucky relaxed and lowered the bat before he picked up the photo for a closer look at their family portrait.

The young kudu pulled at his tie. He felt uncomfortable wearing nice clothes, but Bucky wanted to humor his new family. Now that his adoption was finalized, his mother and father said that they absolutely must have a new family portrait made, so his parents bundled Bucky and his brother Pronk into the car and headed down to Grazers Portrait Studio.

Family, mother, father, parents, brother... these words felt strange, things that had never referred to anyone associated with him before, at least as far back as he could remember. It was nice, standing with them while they got their picture taken. Sadly, it was the first and last time Bucky felt like he really was a part of their family. While the little kudu was now a member of their oryx family herd, in the end, he always felt like an afterthought. His parents always made a big deal about Pronk's birthday, but barely seemed to remember his. They went out of their way to make every holiday special for Pronk, while Bucky just hovered along the periphery.

Things only got worse when they told Bucky he had a degenerative bone disease, and amazingly Pronk was a match for the marrow transplant they would need to save his life. Even though Bucky was the sick one, his parents told him that after Pronk donated the marrow, he had complications and that was why Pronk had to spend a few weeks recovering in the hospital while Bucky got to go home the next day. Whenever anything bad happened to Pronk, it seemed like his parents always blamed Bucky somehow. The kudu remembered after the operation was the first time he had wished Pronk would die.

Except now Bucky knew that everything he had been told by his parents was a lie. If he'd known the truth sooner, he very well might have killed Pronk long ago. Rage filled him again, as he remembered the letter his dad's lawyer had given him that morning:

Dearest Bucky,

I'm so sorry I never had the courage to tell you face to face, but I feel now that Mother and I are gone, you have the right to know the truth. I'm your biological father, Bucky.

Your biological mom's name was Anne. Neither of our families could handle the idea of us being together, since we were different species. You look so much like her, Bucky.

I lost touch with Anne before you were born, and I was sorry to find out you had to go into foster care at such a young age after she passed away. I wanted to adopt you, but I just couldn't talk Mother into it initially.

However, when we found out that your brother Pronk would need a bone marrow transplant, suddenly she was more receptive to the idea of adopting you. I'm ashamed to say I knew what her real motives were, but I was simply happy that you'd be in my life again.

It's because of you that Pronk is alive, and I'm sorry for lying to both of you for all these years.

Love,

Dad

Bucky put the picture back on the nightstand and raised the bat again, his body shaking with anger. He couldn't understand how they did this to him, and then lied about it. Was this supposed to be how families behaved? And then on top of it all, his brother had treated him like crap for as long as he could remember.

Bucky swung the bat just as Pronk opened the door and entered the apartment. The oryx gave Bucky a puzzled look before he said, "Why are you whaling on my bed, bro?" Bucky dropped the bat and stripped back the covers to reveal a pile of clothes under the blankets. Pronk continued as he went to pull a soda from the mini fridge. "I hid my laundry so you wouldn't bitch about it, since I didn't feel like putting it away."

After a few moments of confusion, Bucky got his temper under control. Pronk looked at him askance as Bucky said, "Do you remember being in the hospital as a kid?"

"What? Of course. I was there saving your sorry butt, remember?"

He didn't know. Bucky shook, his voice an angry snarl as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled letter. He held it out to Pronk and said, "Read this." The oryx looked at him suspiciously before he reached out to grab the letter.

Pronk had to read it three times, repeatedly looking up at Bucky with an incredulous look on his face as he tried to process what the letter said. Finally, he spoke. "I don't believe it... this can't be true." Bucky folded his arms and thought about how best to verbally lash out at Pronk, but he wasn't prepared for what his brother said next. "I... I'm so sorry."

Pronk looked at his feet as he continued. "When I was a kid, before you were adopted... I heard Mom and Dad talking. I thought they said they were adopting you because they thought... that I was going to die. I... I didn't understand." He looked at Bucky. "That's why I hated you. I thought you were replacing me because I was sick all the time." The oryx paused for several moments before he smiled at Bucky and spoke again. "They really did a number on us, didn't they?" He reached out and touched Bucky's shoulder. "Let me make it up to you."

For Bucky's next birthday, Pronk hired a bunch of mammals to follow them around all day and pretend like Bucky was famous. And after that, they went on the first of several cruises as they bummed around the world. They were eight months into their three month vacation when Pronk came down with a serious case of food poisoning.

Two months later, Bucky sat next to Pronk's bed in the hospital. "Your luck sucks, man. Only you could go to the hospital after eating a cruise ship salad and end up with a bad case of coma. What did the doc say caused it? Listeria?" Bucky shook his head. "It sounds like mouthwash."

Bucky sighed and continued. "The lawyer gave me the letter you wrote, in case... well, in case this happened. Thanks for dumping all this crap on me, bro. I've spent the last few weeks agonizing over what I should do. Why didn't you at least talk to me about this? Doesn't our fucked up family ever talk, with actual spoken words? I'm tired of all these one-sided letters."

Bucky stared at his brother's motionless face for several minutes, the soft woosh-click of the respirator the only sound in the room. Finally the kudu let out a long sigh. "Thanks, Pronk. I really mean that, and not in a sarcastic way. This past year was the best one of my life, and it's all because of you."

Bucky pressed the buzzer to summon the doctor. "Well bro, this is it. I'm here to bail you out one last time." He waited until the doctor, a koala, arrived.

Bucky steeled himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he spoke. "Ok, I'm ready." Bucky looked up at the doctor with tear filled eyes as he picked up a pen, his body trembling as he signed the form to discontinue Pronk's life support.

When he was done, Bucky wept when the heart monitor flatlined and the doctor noted the time and solemnly announced that Pronk was dead.