Chapter 9: Beat Down
"History abhors a paradox." – Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
The cops come looking for Judy, but it just isn't this Judy and Nick pays the price.
1925
"Nice night!" a male voice spoke from behind him and Nick turned to face another red fox in a tuxedo. Honest John slipped a cigarette onto a thin fashionable tortoiseshell holder and frowned as he fumbled around for his lighter. "You got a lighter or some matches Nick?"
"Nope, I never smoked much," the other fox answered with a smirk. "It gives you cancer, you know?"
"Smoking does not such thing", Honest John chuckled as he walked past the ticket booth and out onto the street. "When done right, it shows you are classy and sophisticated."
"Sophistication when you're young," Nick replied as he yawned, trying not to show his teeth. "But you'll sound like a raspy frog in your old age, or even worse, just like Fatts!"
Honest John laughed and smiled back at his companion. Suddenly he glanced down the avenue when he heard some yelling, his ears drooped and his tail bristled as he looked down the boulevard. "SHIT! IT'S A RAID!"
Nick stepped out to join him and saw a group of police officers heading toward the building. The cops were being led by an angry looking hippo in a dark green suit and black bowler hat. Honest John shot inside the cabaret as Nick turned to face the police. "Well gentalmammals, how may I help you tonight?" he asked, trying to keep from panicking. The hippo didn't answer, but grabbed his arms and shoved him into the hoofs of a pair of cops behind him
"Get all the red foxes!" the detective bellowed as he charged into the room. "Find that rabbit!"
Up on the stage, Josephine screamed and quickly tried to cover her nakedness with the fans as the small army of police poured into the room, John's warning had come too late.
"Everyone but the foxes and rabbits get out of here!" the hippo commanded, sending the mostly prey mammal audience scrambling towards the doors. Picking up a glass, he sniffed the red punch and and asked, "What do we have here? Smells like moonshine, so it looks like I'm going to have to shut this place down!"
"Yoz can't do dat!" a commanding voice called out from the back of the building and Nicked looked up to see Amos standing with his arms crossed.
The hippo turned towards the much smaller grey fox and snorted, "I can do what I damn well want to do, BOY!"
The fox didn't flinch as he stared up at the larger detective and actually gave the hippo a grin. "Someone's on the telephone for yoz bozz," Amos lazily replied, trying not to snicker as he pointed at the old fashioned phone mounted on the wall of the backroom.
The hippo leaned over and picked up the receiver and spoke to whoever was at the other end of the line, his face darkened in anger before he slammed the receiver down. Turning towards the cops, be bellowed out, "Did you find the rabbit?"
"No sir," a uniformed warthog answered. "There are no rabbits around here. Don't bunnies and foxes hate each other?"
"Which one of you pelts is called Nick?" the detective said as he walked in front of the lined up foxes. "Come on BOYS, I don't want to make it hard on all of you."
Nick stepped forward and looked at the ground. He was seething in anger at the lack of professionalism that the police were showing. There would be no possible way that a police officer could act this way in the future because the city…no Chief Bogo, wouldn't stand for it. "I'm Nick," he flatly stated.
The detective stood over the red fox and glared down at him. "Where's the dame, the bunny?"
"Gone," Nick answered with a shrug. He didn't even see the hippo's hoof as he was slapped across the muzzle and the powerful blow sent him sprawling across the floor.
"Wrong answer pelt!" the detective bellowed out in anger. "Make him talk boys, but keep him alive. This fair is the mayor's pride and joy, so no one dies even if he's a just a damn fox." The hippo didn't flinch as he walked towards the backroom and even gave an evil looking grin at the sound of the fox's yipping as the blackjacks struck. "He'll talk!"
Nick did talk, but he just didn't say anything that the cops wanted to hear. The fox kept sarcastically talking to the point where they finally began to beat him just to shut him up, but he never betrayed Judy and they left him a bloody mess on the blood soaked tiles before they finally gave up.
"Don't move Big Boy," he vaguely heard Josephine say, but he couldn't see her because his eyes were swollen shut. "Oh gods! Someone get Doc!"
"Nick!" a voice called out in the haze and he felt a familiar paw touching his face. He tried to smile at the bunny before he passed out.
"Well he'll live," a bear in an opened collared white dress shirt growled as he leaned over the bandaged fox. "You do have to admire their skill because they didn't break one single bone while they were beating him down."
"Dinn't even chip none of his pearly white fangs either!" he heard Amos exclaim. "Last time they beat me, they up and busted out my two front ones and that's why I got these gold caps. Although the ladies say it gives me some charm."
"About the only thing charming about you fox," he heard Honest John snicker from across the room.
"They can't come walking in here and start beating someone for information!" Judy spoke out in anger. He could hear her foot rapidly tapping the floor in agitation. "There are laws to protect citizens from such…such illegal tactics!"
"Whoa thar little lady," Amos replied. "The rules don't apply to us preds, like they do you. Ain't a flatfoot would lay a paw on yoz, but us foxes…well it ain't the same. They can do wot they damn well please and ain't no respectable folk are going to raise a paw or hoof in protest."
"That still doesn't make it legal or right!" the rabbit snapped back. Her anger was evident not only from the tone of her voice, but the way she stood.
"It's like this all over," Honest John injected, while giving her a sad smile as he held up his left paw. She could tell that two of his digits were slightly crooked. "Cops broke my paw in Fillydelphia a few years ago. The damn bull said I was being sarcastic."
"You were dear!" Mabel laughed. "At least he didn't break your leg, remember what that dirt bag sheriff did to Sammy Bojangles Brown down on the Gold Coast, they laid that poor guy up for months. You can't work as a dancer if your leg is all busted up."
"Why don't you fight back and protest?" Judy huffed out in frustration over what she was hearing. "You have your rights!"
"Because I don't want to be another dashingly handsome fox hanging by his neck from a tree that is down some backwoods dirt road," Honest John sarcastically replied to the murmurs of agreement from the others in the room. "For every one of us…there are at least ten of you!"
Judy's ears drooped because she knew exactly what John meant by them and her, she knew that prey animals always outnumbered predators and that only the law protected the minority for the whims and abuse of the larger prey mobs. Deep in her heart, she was somewhat ashamed that it was her and Nick who brought down the city's first predator mayor, Leo Lionheart. "Sorry John," she muttered. "It's just so unfair. I would have tuned myself in if you and Mabel hadn't hauled me out of the back of the building."
"Unfair it is my dear," Mabel sighed as she brought another pillow over to Nick on the cot. "But life moves on and the best we can do is live and love. John and I weren't gonna let you get nabbed by the coppers, it's just not our way."
"But I didn't do anything wrong!" the rabbit protested. "They hurt Nick because of me!"
"C…Carrots!" Nick weakly called out as he tried to sit up, his head was still spinning from the concussion he had suffered.
"Lay back down boy," the kindly bear told him as he put a large paw on the fox's chest and pushed him back down. "Where are those cold compresses?"
"Sorry, it took time to get over to the ice rink and borrow some ice," Josephine replied as she looked down at Nick with concern. "They didn't hurt you too bad, did they Big Boy?"
"I've had worse beatings before," Nick lied. "I was in the boxing ring once with a rhino and he cleaned my clock the first time we sparred."
"Let Doc do his thing!" Amos called out. "We gotta to get back to work, the cops have set us back a purdy penny for the night. That means we all are gonna have to get more folks in here ta see de show. Girls we gonna need you ta do yoz burlesque routine, all da way down to the da fur." The vixens let out a disappointed moan, but didn't object much more. "Honest John, yoz get the boys out dar and let the right folk we got naked vixens and booze, let's fill da joint. Da bozz ain't gonna be happy if we don't make the take."
The portly grey fox watched everyone scramble out of the room and then looked over at Judy. "So da flatfoot waz look'n for a bunny wid a fox, so wad yoz do?"
"I didn't do anything," Judy protested as she took Nick's paw and held it. "We didn't do anything that the police would come after us for."
"You did heist the goat's wallet," Nick whispered.
"Picken a pocket wadn't bring that many coppers out after yoz," Amos grunted. "Musta bin supten else, come on fess up yoz two, what'ch hidden?"
"Tell him Fluff," Nick sighed and winched as the bear put a cloth with ice on his forehead.
"Fine Slick," she sighed as stood up to face the other fox. "We are from the future and somehow we got pulled back in time from the year two thousand and eighteen. I think we are supposed to keep the owner of this broken watch from being killed."
The fox gaffed in laughter at her remarks, "Sure little Missy, dat's rich, now whots the truth?"
"That is the truth…" the rabbit began to protest.
"Okay, the truth is that we are wanted for trying to rob a rich old geezer's place," Nick cut her off, with a chuckle as he lied. "We were desperate for some cash and screwed up."
"Dats more like it," the grey fox sighed. "Wad ya take?"
"Nothing, we almost got caught," the red fox continued. "Robbing you city folk's places isn't like the hick joints back home."
"So I reckon yoz mark put a buzz in da chief's ear and he sent his rowsters after yoz?" the grey fox replied as he went over to the cash box. "Dey won't be back har tonight, but dey might up an send a snoop to watch de joint. Come sunrise, yoz two need to hightail it outta here." He held up a few coins and tossed them to the rabbit. "Thar's yoz wages for de night, ain't much but I reckon but it'll get you a meal or two."
"I'll get our stuff packed Slick," Judy tenderly said to the red fox on the cot. "You just rest." She followed the grey fox and the bear out, leaving Nick alone in the darkened room.
The door creaked open and he winched as he turned his head to see who was entering the room, his eyes widened when he realized that it was Josephine and she was almost stark naked. "Well at least I know that the bunny hasn't taken all the tod out of you Big Boy," she whispered as she knelt next to the cot. "Look, we all know what's going on with you two and we understand. You are not the first fox to fall in love with another species, but you need to let her know."
"I…" Nick began to protest, but the vixen's kiss cut him off.
"Look Nick, tomorrow you two need to go over to Happy Town," she added as her paw stroked his forehead. "It's out of the city cop's jurisdiction and Catpone's control. Go see Patch at the Cottonmouth Club, he's with the Snapper's Gang and they control that town. Just let him know that I sent you, he owes me."
"Remember what I told you about going overseas," he whispered before she leaned over and kissed him again.
"Yeah, I'm booking out of here next week," she replied with a smile. "I'm sick of the way they treat us over here, so I've made arrangements overseas with the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées for a new act. I'm going there with a friend, a cheetah named Chiquita. You're welcome to tag along, even with the bunny."
"Thanks, but I'm almost old enough to be your father! You're only nineteen or twenty years old, right?" he chuckled.
"Tsk, I like older guys!" she giggled as she stood up. He admired her body as she turned to leave, giving him one last seductive wag of her tail before closing the door.
"And there goes a living legend," he sighed to himself before he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Across the fairground, another Judy held a handsome buck's paw as the two rabbits strolled towards the theater. She was unaware of the calamity that she had caused Nick and the other Judy.
Chiquita was the name of Josephine Baker's pet cheetah, which sometimes accompanied her on stage.
Honest John's comments parrot his society's popular belief that smoking was both healthy and sophisticated. The link between smoking and cancer was first established in 1928 by Schönherr from Chemnitz, who drew attention to the high rates of smoking among lung cancer patients. This was followed in 1935 when Fritz Lickint published a paper based on his earlier 1929 research which linked smoking to cancer. It wasn't until long after the next war that creditable research continued, leading the UK Doctor's Study in 1954 and then the US Surgeon General's Report in 1964, along with the subsequent lawsuits against "Big Tobacco" that followed.
Nick underwent the "Third Degree", or interrogation by physical force (torture), as it became called by the time of the 1931 Wickersham Commission's study on police brutality in the USA.
