The Wound before the Warrior

Story by StrangeBreed on SoFurry

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#1 of The Redemption of Ridgewood

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE READING:

The following is an crime drama series that takes place many many years before the current Ridgewood storyline, detailing the strange circumstances that led to way Ridgewood is now. This is a very different story and although there is a few odd sex scenes here and there, it is mostly drama and violence.

For those who don't like m/f, there are only a few paragraphs of sex here and there so I hope you still do read this. And a major WARNING, there is some real graphic violence and some really messed up, sad stuff in this story/series. It is all for good story reasons though and I do hope you give this one a try.

Jasper and Jessica were first introduced here: https://www.sofurry.com/view/618158

Jonestown created by LillyOpossum


A rather gruff looking grey fox sat up suddenly as he coughed into his paw, shaking the blood from it as it exited his muzzle. Fire and smoke surround him as he slowly got to his feet, barely able to stand as an ache shivered over his legs. He clutched his side to find a shard of something metallic stuck in it and with a roll of his eyes he yanked it out, yipping out as it sliced skin out with, blood squirting onto the dirt beneath him.

He moved over to the rabbit across from him, lying next to the scrapped rubble of what must have been a car. "Terry, Terry get up, we gotta go!" the grey fox said with another deep cough. The rabbit's head rolled to the side as his shoulder was shaken by the fox, revealing that the opposite side had been entirely shaved off. The fox grimaced as he looked at the carnage in front of him, sighing out a low "Shit!"

"Hey, are you alright?! My god!" a voice cried from behind him as a pedestrian ran up to him, shielding himself from the smoke with his shirt. "I called the police, an ambulance is on the way!"

"Perfect," the fox said as he smiled weakly to the newcomer, "Can you help my friend up?" The local nodded to him as he leaned down to hoist the rabbit up, facing the opposite direction as the fox pulled out a silenced pistol. With a single shot he severed the local's spine through his neck, the innocent bystander hitting the ground as the fox made a hobbled run for it.

...

"Witnesses?" a voice asked in a low growl as the injured fox sat strapped to a chair, his vision blurred as blood loss had begun to take over.

"N-none," he coughed out, blood staining the fur of his cheek, "One person saw us... I-I took care of it..."

"You're damn lucky you made it back here before it happened, who the hell sabotaged your truck?!" the anger laced in the voice was more frantic than vindictive.

"I-I don't know, but they have to live here, we checked the truck two stops before getting here" the fox said as he got dizzy, vomit spilling to the floor as he passed out.

"Fuck!" the voice rang out, its owner nodding over to a tiger, "Get him help, I can't lose two men in one night!" As his companion scrambled to help the grey fox, the leader of the group got to his feet, grabbing a cigarette from his shirt pocket as he thought aloud, "What kind of cleaner would live in a small place like Jonestown?!"

...

Across town, smoke billowed from the small home office, a gruff looking jaguar thumbing through papers as he spun a red sharpie playfully around in his other paw. He stopped as he hit the page containing a rather shady looking rabbit, the jaguar nodding as he uncapped the sharpie, covering the lapine's portrait with a red X.

Excerpt from the journal of Jasper Wilkins - May 5th 1985:

'It is rare that we ever stop in our lives to reflect on the evil around us, and as such it is far too often we find ourselves a victim of circumstance. I will never claim righteousness, nor do I expect my soul to be saved. What follows here are a record of my life, this year of 1985 and the steps I have made to wrong the evils that I have allowed for far too many years.

_ _

Tonight it all ends, tonight I take the first of many drastic steps. What I do, I do for sanity, for peace, for redemption. I do not expect anything in death but a sentence of damnation, but in life, in life I shall reap vengeance, for those too young to act, too hurt to be saved, too lost to be found.

_ _

I know I am part of the evil that plagues this town, I am part of the ever growing evil that plagues this country. But for the sake of all those young souls, those poor victims of this brutal, heartless syndicate. I give my life, my soul, my whole being to this purpose, tonight I redeem Jonestown, tonight I lay a curse.'

_ _

_ _

The Redemption of Ridgewood - Chapter One - The Wound before the Warrior

4 months earlier: January 7th 1985:

_ _

"I just don't see the fucking point of taking such a long route," the rabbit said in his usual gritty tone, "I get it its meth, but it's not like it's one of those slave busses, I've taken my usual route for years no, no fucking cops for mi-"

"I told you Terrance, this is not up for discussion!" the booming voice of a rather large panther hissed back, his left eye scarred with deep scratch wounds from years ago. "The cops are changing their patrols in that area and ever since 'El Nundos' was taken down, we take better precautions."

"Ok boss, but I don't see why I gotta take Flynn along with me... no offense man" the rabbit nodded to a nearby grey fox.

"None taken," the fox chuckled leaning over to whisper to the jaguar next to him, "How much you wanna bet he gets us lost?"

"You do what I say, because I'm the fucking boss!" the panther growled as he slammed the desk in front of him, "Now if there are no more objections, I have an assignment for you two tonight." As he spoke he raised a paw, pointing to the jaguar and tiger that both sat in the room. "'The Hugo Club' is in higher demand than it ever has been, been getting new customers by the day thanks to our... 'entertainment support'... now I need you two to take a truck to Columbus tonight, and drop the pay load off at 'Hugo', no questions, no other stops, no looking over your cargo, just give your goods, take your money and drive your asses back here, understood?"

"Yes sir!" the two feline's replied in unison.

"Now Jessica is gonna give you any information I left out ok? Then I want you out of here and on the road, the sooner I'm rid of that payload the better! Yes Terrance?" the panther added as he saw the rabbit's raised paw.

"When are we getting more cocaine?" the lapine asked.

The panther let out a grunt as he turned his chair, letting the group know they were dismissed, "When you finally wash the white off your fucking nose!"

...

Outside of the shady office was a smoke filled room, hustling and bustling with dozens of criminals. The organized crime business was alive and booming in Jonestown, West Virginia?, the enigmatic group Jasper worked for secretly running their operations through a cereal factory they owned. At the nearest desk sat a rather beautiful young wolf, her eyes scanning through dozens of code named reports on her computer monitor.

"You know you should really try dating sometime Jess," the jaguar jeered her on as he leaned on the counter, "Use your paws for something better than keyboards." He wiggled his paw as a stinging sensation coursed through it, the wolf having smacked his paw with a clipboard.

"Maps and instructions, you've been briefed, now get the hell out of here" the wolf was nearly emotionless as she so easily dealt with the jaguar's advances.

"I'm hurt Jess, and here I thought we could put an end to the war of cats and dogs."

The wolf couldn't help but snicker as she readied her reply, the tiger grabbing the jaguar by the collar as they left for their truck, "I like boys, not pussies, give me a knot over a barbed prick any day!"

...

"Ice queen wouldn't know what to do with a dick anyway!" the jaguar pouted as he slammed the door to his truck.

"Aww is widdle Jasper upset he didn't get his cwush to suck his dick?" the tiger teased the jaguar in a mocked cub voice.

"Shut up Chris, like you've ever had a lady's mouth on your cock before!" the jaguar spat back as he slid his firearm in the holster on his side.

"What are ya talking about?" the tiger exclaimed as the other feline drove the truck out of the facility, beginning the start of the night's journey, "I get mad pussy!"

"Yeah, you probably stole it from the fucking truck!" the two shared a laugh before growing quiet, the subject matter of the joke hitting home. "It's shit what they did to that poor swan..." Jasper said quietly.

"Yeah man, clipped her wings and just left her as a fuck toy, some days I wonder why the fuck I come back to this job."

"Chris, if you tried to leave, you'd get your wings clipped too, let's face it, we entered this menagerie of our own free will, but we're never flying out of here again."

...

Ember flickered on the end of Chris' cigarette as he lay his chin on his paw, smoke filling the cabin of the truck as he watched the rain patter on the windshield. "Jasper, can I ask you something?"

The jaguar grunted as he kept his eyes focused on the road, "What's up man?"

"I've been meaning to ask... what brought you here?" the tiger had a thoughtful look in his eyes as his pupils followed a specific line of liquid as it travelled down the windshield.

"Money." Jasper replied flatly.

"Well no shit Sherlock, but I mean, y'know, why this? You seem way too nice a guy to be selling slaves and dope."

The jaguar grinned as he merged into traffic, "I always thought the same about you... truthfully, my niece..."

"Your niece?" the tiger looked at the driver puzzled.

"She was sick, real sick... and we couldn't afford the bills, met this skunk one day at the hospital who would occasionally volunteer there for the cancer program... and he, well, he knew the boss, put me in contact with him."

"No shit!" Chris replied as he butted out his cigarette on the dashboard ash tray, "So you asked him for a job?"

"I asked him for a loan," the jaguar replied as his expression darkened, "She pulled through, just went to her birthday party last week, but paying my debt back cost me."

"You worked it off?"

The jaguar grabbed his own cigarette as traffic forced him to monetarily stop the truck, "Yep," he said simply as he lit the cigarette, inhaling the nicotine smoke, "...and by the time I had paid it off, I knew too many secretes, like it or not, this had become my life." Chris looked over the jaguar thoughtfully, an expression of 'Was it worth it?' painted over his face before he could even utter the words. "Yes," Jasper replied without needing the words, "Her life was worth every second of my own." The two remained silent as traffic remained at a standstill, Jasper finally speaking again, "How about you? What brought you into the crime business?"

Chris gulped as his cheeks seemed to flush red with embarrassment, his left paw reaching over to slowly pull up his right sleeve. All up his arm were patches of fur that didn't quite grow right anymore, his entire appendage lined with needle tip scars. "Shit..." Jasper exclaimed as he looked over his friend's arm, viewing the obvious signs of heroine abuse, "You couldn't pay anymore... so they made you work for it."

The tiger breathed heavily as he dropped his sleeve back down, pulling out another cigarette as he said with a sick chuckle, "Turns out all I needed was this life sentence to gather the strength to quit... now I sell the shit to poor fucks who look like the old me."

The traffic picked up just as soon as the Columbus sign came into view, Jasper driving on with an emotionless expression as he whispered under his breath, "I'm gonna get us out Chris, somehow, someday, I'm gonna steal our freedom back."

Chris laughed as he filled his lungs with tobacco, "Sorry Jasper, but I ain't your niece... I don't believe in fairy tales."

...

The taste of cloves tickled the cougar's tongue as he inhaled the cigarillo he held, the rain having stopped mere moments beforehand. He scratched the scar over his right eye as the weather caused it to tingle like always, his focus pointed to the traffic that drove past his club. His clientele was growing weary waiting for fresh meat and the means to get high, rations running dry lately with all the new traffic that had been making a sinful pilgrimage to the famous 'Hugo Club'.

His eyes lit up with unnatural brightness as the truck's high beams flooded the front entrance of the shady establishment, two honks followed by the cougar's nod, signaling the vehicle to meet his men around back.

...

Ice rattled around the glass of gin and tonic that Jasper held in his paw as he sat in the bar area of the club, having a few drinks before his partner took the wheel back to Jonestown. "How was the drive up?" the cougar asked the pair as he gulped down the beer pressed to his muzzle, "Hope the rain did fuck things up too much for ya?"

"No worse than the fucking snow," the jaguar laughed, "I consider this weird warm spell a blessing."

The cougar chuckled as he pulled something out of his pocket, pouring a small amount of white powder onto the table before cutting it into lines with a small razor blade. "You boys want some coke?"

The other two gulped as they looked a tad bit uncomfortable. "Nah we're cool," Jasper answered for the two of them, gripping Chris' paw under the table to stop it from shaking, knowing damn well even a lesser drug could send him spiraling back down into relapse, "The drinks are fine sir."

The cougar laughed a guttural, grim laugh, "Suit yourselves boys!" He pressed his finger against his right nostril as he pulled a straw from one of the used glasses on the table next to them, pressing it into the left as he snorted a single line away. "Wooo fuck yeah!" he roared as he smacked the table, spilling a few inches of the other feline's drinks onto the tabletop. "Damn this shit gets me going, hey Becky, get your ass over here!" he waved his paw over to a beautiful young mountain lion, who was working one of the stripper poles in the centre of the room.

Jasper and Chris looked to one another with faces laced with equal humour and anxiousness, as the sexy feline stepped over to the table, wearing nothing save for the nipple rings that glinted in the bar's low light. "Take a look at this spread!" the cougar growled as he reached over, spreading the girl's bright pink folds.

"Oh Mr. Hugo!" she moaned in feigned orgasm from his mere touch, letting the powerful crime lord treat her like nothing more than a piece of meat.

"If you guys don't wanna get high, the least you can do sample some of the club's 'company'" he looked over the two with calculating eyes as his fingers pressed against the mountain lion's warm sex.

Before they could answer the cougar smacked the female on the behind, and she stepped over to the other side, kneeling carefully onto the floor underneath the table. Chris' breath increased as he suddenly cleared his throat attempted to regain composure as he took another sip of his drink, the trio looking at each other as their small talk resumed.

Underneath the table, the mountain lion had unzipped the tiger's pants, slipping his hard cock out to stroke with her paw. She touched it gently, grazing her fingers over it before sliding it into her muzzle, sucking down as the flaring barbs and musky precum told the female just how much attention the cock in her mouth had been needing.

Jasper tried his best to ignore the activity occurring beside him, his left paw trembling on his lap as he fought back the urge to punch Mr. Hugo square in the jaw. Everyone in this business took great pride in preying on the weak, using constant temptation as a weapon to keep their employees on the wrong side of the law. "So," Mr. Hugo broke the sudden silence that had temporarily invaded their earlier small talk, "A man with no vices huh?"

"Oh I assure you I have them," Jasper replied as he gulped down the last bit of his gin and tonic, "Loose women just aren't one of them."

The term 'loose' connected to the darkest thoughts in the cougar's mind and he waved his finger in the jaguar's direction, "I know exactly what you mean Jasper, say have you ever got the chance to see the rest of my club, I mean really seen the rest of it?"

"Mmm good kitty!" the mountain lion moaned as she sucked and slurped, getting to her feet as the tiger had begun to pinch at her nipples. Jasper got to his own feet in disgust as both felines beside him stood up, Chris' pants falling the to the floor as he pushed his companion down, glasses flying off as she bent over the tabletop, the tiger lining his aching prick up with her folds before burying himself in, the female meowing out loud moans as he thrust hard into her.

"Interested in that tour?" the cougar laughed heartily as the table kept creaking and scraping along the club floor, Chris unable to hold back his frenzied lunges.

"Yeah, not like I wanna stay here and watch this shit!" As the pair left the main bar area, the music seemed to switch from its southern rock flair to synth and new wave, a very club like feel surrounding the thin dark hallways, no lighting save for the black lights overhead.

"Pick a door, any door!" Mr. Hugo spoke like a game show host as he stretched his arms out to show off all the unmarked doors.

Jasper had an air of impatience as his mind wandered to his urgency to get back on the road home, "What the hell, give me door number one."

"Number one? Boring!" Mr. Hugo laughed as he opened the door marked 'One', several moans and groans escaping as it opened, various thugs and criminals laying on a floor littered with mattresses as several beautiful women pleasured them. "Pick something a little more exciting!" the cougar chuckled as he shut the door behind him.

"Ok umm," Jasper looked around, "Four?"

"Four? Not your style methinks..." he commented as he stepped over and opened the door, bundles of motionless patrons laying in a heap as empty needles and burned spoons and other various materials lay in heaps on the nearby tables. "Drugs my friend, good old dr-ooo..." his voice trailed off as he looked over a rather pale looking wolf, his eyes rolled back in his head as he lay lifeless in a pool of his own vomit, "Pete, Peter come here..." a middle aged rat came jogging down the hall, "Clean this one up for me, pump his stomach and cause a fatal accident for him will ya?"

"You got it boss!" the rat said nonchalantly as he reached down, grabbing the corpse's sides as he began his clean up work.

Jasper had to use every inch of willpower he had as a sick anger filled his body, his vision grown hazy and dizzy as he had the urge, to scream, to run, to vomit. "D-door number eight" he stated with quiver in his voice as he desperately tried to get away from the scene in front of him.

The cougar's eyes lit up as that number was called, "Now we're talking!" He stepped over to slowly crack the door, "She's busy right now," he spoke tenderly as the sound of weak sobbing was heard, two males grunting and laughing as they spat various curses at their subject, "...but you can take a peak."

The jaguar swallowed nervously as he slowly peered in, his eyes widening, gut dropping and blood pumping, as an overwhelming mountain of fear and disgust grew to the heights of his stomach. Inside was the swan he had heard such rumours about, wingless and beaten, barely much life left in her as the two thugs over her put out constant cigarette butts on her feathers. "Shit Charlie, this cunt looks like she needs to cool off!" the one thug said to the other.

"You're right," he laughed as he dropped his pants to the floor, holding his dick out as he began to urinate over the burned body of the once beautiful female, "Bet that feels real nice huh turkey!"

"Not for me!" Jasper trembled as he shut the door himself, his mind reeling as he felt his stomach bubble, vomit shooting to his muzzle before he fought it back down into his stomach.

The cougar pat him on the back as he grabbed another one of his cloved cigarillos, "Fair enough Jasper my boy, tell ya what, I think I'm beginning to understand you, you like soft, delicate, innocent, so tell you what, why don't I leave you alone with room number twelve... last of its kind until we finish unloading your truck."

"Speaking of," a weasel interrupted, much to the dismay and anger of the cougar, "Uhh sorry sir," he added awkwardly as he set down two large canisters of gas, "Got this for your truck Mr. Wilkins sir, so as soon as you and Chris are done... cruising the club, you're all set to go."

"Thank you Rich, we'll share words later." He turned and gave Jasper the biggest smile he could muster as the weasel trotted shyly away. He held out a key marked '12' with a sharpie, "Careful... I hear sometimes she bites." Jasper said nothing as he looked away from the key, breathing in deeply as he calmed his nerves before snatching the key away, walking down the hall as the cougar let out a gritty laugh, "If you need me, I'll be down in number one, getting some pussy!"

Jasper made no response as the cougar disappeared into the forever moaning room, his paw trembling as it slid the key into the lock before him, unlocking yet another unknown horror. As the jaguar entered his face lost all colour, his eyes weak and his heart frail as he closed the door behind him kneeling to the floor as he began to sob. A young fennec no more than elven crouched naked, alone and afraid, her fur matted and stained, signs of sex and abuse covering her as her puffy, bruised eyes looked over at him in fear.

"N-no, not again, no more," she murmured, "I w-wanna go back to the orphanage, I won't tell I pr-promise, please, just make it stop!"

"I would never, oh god, oh-" Jasper turned as he fell to the corner, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the floor, "Who the fuck did this to you?"

The fennec pup shook her head as she teared up, "I don't know, how should I know? I've been here so long, I-I only see the men, I..."

"Don't speak, you don't have to," the jaguar's heart beat like a thundering drum as a fiery hate, destructive and boundless, his sickened body shaking as pure unbridled fury course through his veins. "D-don't leave, don't leave, si-sit in that corner for me ok, just oh god, god, why?!" he yelled as he punched the wall, his powerful paw leaving an indented crack in it, "I'm getting you out of her sweetheart, oh god sweetheart I'm sorry, j-just sit there, stay very quiet."

Back in room eight the swan's eyes had gone vacant as she fell unconscious, the pain and torment too much for her. "This is fucking boring!" one of the thugs said as he lit a cigarette, turning as he heard the door creak open.

"Evening guys mind if I have a turn?" Jasper spoke in mocked excitement as he looked over the scene.

"Be my guess bud," the second thug said as he lit his own cigarette, "She looks near dead though."

The jaguar chuckled as he pulled out his firearm, having just slid a silencer on it in the other room, "I know the feeling." Before the two could speak two shots were fired, both thugs hitting the floor just as the jaguar's paw began to shake in the air, his lips barely moving as he whispered "I'm sorry" before firing a third.

"Yeah, mmm god, good girl!" Mr. Hugo roared in the other room, a rather busty corgi swallowing down his hard cock. He let her continue her oral assault for a few moments longer before, gripping her hair holding her muzzle down as he emptied his load down her throat, "Hot damn bitch, you have a sweet mouth!"

The door opened just as soon as he had finished, Jasper peaking in with a smile, "Hey Mr. Hugo, wanna take a hit of E with me in room four? Could totally get my crazy on tonight with that fine lady you showed me."

The cougar boomed out in laughter as he pushed the corgi off of him, her lips quickly finding another partner's genitals just as soon as she was done with him, "See Jasper, I knew you were a sick fuck," he closed the door behind him as they stepped to the near lifeless room nearby, stepping in and closing the door for privacy as he added, "Crazy cub fucker huh? Who'da figured!"

Jasper nodded as he closed the door behind him, holding out his silenced pistol as he aimed for the cougar's leg, "I could say the same shit." It was so quick the cougar barely had time to react, both his legs blown out in the middle, causing him to fall the floor screaming.

"You dirty, fucking, cheating, bastard! You fucked up my god damn legs!" Mr. Hugo howled as he clutched the now useless appendages, the room around him too high to react or help.

Jasper ignored the crime lord's violent outbursts, as he reached for one of the two canisters of gasoline he had slid into room four beforehand. "These halls have no fire alarms, only your unloading zone and main bar, this is to cut assets in case of a fire so the cops don't see the shit you have hiding in here."

"What the fuck are you going on about?!" the cougar whimpered out as he clutched his legs, his blood pooling out on the floor.

"In other words 'Sir', by the time the authorities get here... no one will know what happened to you."

The cougar horked a blog of spit at the jaguar, the sticky mess of flem landing on his pant leg, "This is about money isn't you fucking faggot, don't you make enough?"

"No Mr. Hugo," Jasper said calmly as he dumped the contents of his canister around the edges of the room before meeting back with the cougar, pouring the good amount that was left over his body, "This is about redemption."

He reached down as the cougar began to crawl on the floor, desperately trying to paddle to the door with his arms. He slipped his paw into his shirt pocket, stealing the pack of cigarillos that he kept in there. He grabbed his own lighter from his pocket, igniting the end of the cloved cig. After a short inhale he nodded his head, looking at the cougar as he turned to give him one last scowl, "That is good Mr. Hugo, that is damn good."

Mr. Hugo hissed at Jasper as he stared wildly into the jaguar, his eyes like wildfire, "You think you're a fucking hero now?"

Jasper shook his head as he took one last puff of the cigarillo, "Not at all Mr. Hugo, I'm simply a tired old man trying to rid the world of on more asshole." With a final flick the burning cig came tumbling down to the floor, landing square on the feline's crotch, igniting him in flames. His screams were drowned out by all the club's music as the rest of the room was lit ablaze, Jasper bursting back into room twelve to grab the young fennec.

"Come with me little one," he said with an outstretched paw, let me take you away from all this!" The cub looked to the offered paw with fear and distrust, but eventually gave in, her desperate need for freedom giving away her last ounce of trust, to this strange man.

Chris was nearly asleep in his palm when his parent returned, the tiger getting to his feet when he saw Jasper emerge from the back of the club. "Took you long enough," he said with a groan, "At least I hurried up with my fun... what's with kid?"

"I'll explain later, we gotta Chris."

"...and why do you only have one tank of gas, Mr. Hugo usually gives us two."

Jasper grinned for the first time since leaving the table out front, "What can I say, money's been burning a hole in his pockets, but seriously Chris we gotta go."

"Ok just let me-"

"Chris! Get your ass to the fucking truck!"

The tiger raised his eyebrow in confusion as he was snapped at by his friend, his nose suddenly twitching as a strange aroma of something burning hit the air. "Jasper... what the fuck did you do?"

The jaguar finally snarled as he shifted his paw, his right arm holding the girl up while his gun was still gripped in the paw under her, "Move Chris, now!"

The tiger shook his head as grit his teeth, turning to head for the exit as he grumbled to himself, "I fucking hate this job!"