Calling Cards Chapter 7: The Path of Shadows

Story by Rathe on SoFurry

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#8 of Calling Cards


(WARNING) (This is M/M furry incest goodness. If your too young or not in your tastes then be warned. However, if you want a good story and some hot yiff, then come on in and watch your step. And comment, tell me what you think, and don't be shy.) Sam Tippin's heartbeat became in sync with the rhythm that Haden was tapping out on the snare and bass drum. The crowds in front of him, decked out in all sorts of regalia, were going rabid, waiting for their all time favorite band to perform. The fans were jumping up and down in unison, making the stadium look like one big wave which in turn made Sam a little dizzy. The brown wolf shook the feeling off as he glanced over to his backup singer. The scarlet scales gleamed in the stage light as the dragon nodded to Sam. She tapped her mike and the resounding echo signaled that it had been turned on and was good to go. After Corone, Sam's gaze flew to where the gray wolf and the raccoon stood sporting a dark green bass and an aqua blue Gibson, respectively. They both nodded and the brown lupine's gazed strolled over the cheering crowd, a small smile beginning to dawn on his muzzle. He took a slow deep breath and exhaled it into the mike, along with all the tension, anxiety and stress; this was the cue. The multi-pierced vulpine behind the drum-set started a pattern between his snare, rim and bass drum and Andy the raccoon and Shale the grey wolf started to paw the strings on their musical instruments. Their paws scurried over the taut strings like spiders on crack. The stage lights went to a mixture of red and blue and Sam and Corone sang. They sang like they had a thousand times before. The only difference was they now sang for ten thousand furs. The voice with which the lupine sang was not the same as the one he talked with. So much emotion, so much feeling erupted while he sang, and he was carried away by the melody that was trapped in his heart and he became lost in his music. In fact, the next moment he was aware of, he had just performed the final song and the Twilite junkies were screaming out for an encore. The brown wolf's throat burned from working out his voice and he could barely even speak. He and his band mates bowed and smiled unabashedly as they waved out to the riotous system that howled out in all manner of pitches, from preadolescent girls who were experiencing their first period to diehard junkies who bought all of the band's memorabilia, just to brag to their friends that they were the Twilite Breed's number one fan. Sam exited backstage, exhausted from another night's performance as his shoulders slumped and his posture sagged as he trudged towards the makeshift lounge that had been thrown together with carless thoughtfulness at the last second. The female dragon, Corone, walked offstage next, followed by the small vulpine, Haden, the grey wolf, Shale, and the muscular raccoon, Andy. They all collapsed down on an assortment of hand-me-down furniture as Sam tossed out cold soft drinks from a cooler in the corner of the lounge. As the leader of the band, he wanted to give an encouraging speech, but his voice was all but gone, so instead he gave a paws up sign and headed through his dressing room door, where he was then ambushed by a flying ball of burgundy fur. Sam's jade eyes connected with the silver pupils of his twin who pinned him to the floor a smile playing on both of their muzzles. The singer was hoping that his band didn't hear the ruckus from the other room. Brian Tippin, the burgundy wolf, was Sam's identical twin in almost every aspect. Except for the color of their eyes, they were carbon copies of one another. Brian gazed down into the jade pools of Sam's eyes, lost in the vast depths of his stunning visage until the brown wolf on the bottom cleared his throat with a voluminous sound. Brian snapped out of his trance with a shake of his head, but made no attempt to remove himself from atop his brother. Instead, Sam's arms stealthily snaked their way around his twin's back and as the two lupine paws locked together, Brian could feel himself being pulled close into Sam's body. Once again their eyes connected, but they were joined this time by two furry muzzles that pressed into each other with vigor and gusto. Sam's paws started to grip his brother's back through his shirt as he felt his wolfhood slip from his sheath and continue to expand. Brian's left paw went up to caress the side of Sam's muzzle as one red brown paw started to scritch this dark brown wolf's stomach. As his brother's maw seamlessly meshed into his own, Sam's senses were in a state of immense bliss. The lead singer of the Twilite Breed could smell the musk rising from his twin as their rigid poles were grinded together, still trapped in denim prisons pleading for release. As Brian's tongue probed its way into the other wolf's muzzle, the two ribbons of flesh flicked at each other, intertwining and caressing as both brothers blissfully moaned in harmony. Brian broke the kiss, but a strand of saliva still connected the brothers together and Sam's member pulsed in his jean. Brian looked down and grinned mischievously as he grabbed the trapped rod in his right paw, which spurred a loud yelp from Sam. As Brian lowered his muzzle to Sam's throat and started gently nipping along his neck, a knock came from the door. "Hey Sammy, you all right in there?" drifted the muted melodic voice of Corone, the scarlet dragon who sings back up. "Yeah, yeah," panted Sam, trying hard to stifle a moan as his brother continued nibbling his neck and fondling his rock hard meat sealed away inside that cursed prison known to many as blue jeans. "I'm...I'm fine. Just stubbed my toe..oohhhh." Brian had shifted his attention away from the neck and towards the singer's right ear, licking and nibbling all over, sending small sensational shivers soaring through Sam's spine. "Well, okay," Corone responded, "try not to take too long, the cars will be loaded in the next half hour and we'll need to leave in time to make our next stop." "Okay," Sam huffed as he seized the wolf that was on top of him and brought him into a vigorous kiss. "Hmmmm," Corone thought to herself, "Sounds like some brotherly bonding. Best not to interfere." And being a wise and decent sort of drake, she went about her business of getting the roadies to load up all of the equipment. She happened to not only be the back- up singer, but the band manager as well. The lights in the dimly lit lounge glinted off of her crimson scales as she motioned towards a male skunk, to load up the amps into one of several vehicles. The vigorous and aggressive kiss continued on, paws exploring and tongues meshing, coupled with the occasional growl of uncontrollable lust. Finally, some higher power saw it fit to rid the two of their outer clothes, leaving only one thin strip of fabric apiece, both already dampened with spots of delicious stickiness otherwise known as pre-cum. Brian, the twin on top showed his teeth as he let loose a wolf-like smile, his 10 inch soldier throbbing as he grinded it into his twin's similar likeness. "You did a good job today, Sammy," whispered the sexually charged lupine. "I believe some congratulations are in order." That's all that Brian said as he brought his muzzle over to the family sized tent that was fashioned from Sam's red and blue polk-a-dotted boxers. With a wink, Brian stuck out his tongue and dragged it across the trapped member, eliciting a moan of delight from his brother as he tasted the pre that had soaked through. Brian took a deep breath of his brother's musk before he nuzzled the imprisoned rod, lathering it up in lupine saliva and pleasuring his sibling. He guided the tapered crimson shaft through the folds of the lupine's fly and Sam writhed and moaned in ecstasy as his cock was being administered upon. The tangy earthy musk walloped Brian in the snout as he breathed the scent that could only be attributed to his brother's nether regions. Ever since they first started experimenting with each other, Brian could find that scent in only one place. Only one creature that the wolf ever went down on or fucked had that scent. The aggressive lupine licked his lips before sliding his tongue up and down the veined tower before him. Sam struggled to surpass the noise that was erupting from his throat and he barely managed to contain it to a dull whimper as his cock was being bathed by his sibling. The singer's legs were kicking up a storm and Brian had to maneuver around them so as not to get a footpaw in the face as he rewarded his brother for another awesome performance. Finally, unable to withstand the taste and scent that emanated from the spire of lupine flesh, Brian took the crimson 10 inch member fully into his muzzle and down his throat. As he started bobbing up and down upon the enormous wolf cock, his tongue swirled and flicked expertly, hitting all the pleasure spots on Sam's cock as he fondled his orbs still trapped in the cloth. It was one for the history books. Mt. Vesuvius erupted spraying its hot salty sweet magma down Brian's throat. Pump after unending pump of lupine seed kept splashing into the twin's throat and as he pulled the climaxing cock from his full maw more seed discharged on his face, coating his visage with white sticky lava, which Brian attempted to quickly lick up with his tongue. Unfortunately, as he did so, more wolf seed that he had yet to swallow leaked from the sides of his muzzle and dripped down his throat, staining even more fur with his twin's seed. "Woops," Brian said, grinning as even more unswallowed cum splashed out of his muzzle. By this time Sam's meat had finished erupting and quieted down, covered in excess dried seed. Sam looked up into the platinum pupils that shined with brotherly love and lust and seized the twin up into a muzzle lock, curling his tongue around a glob of cum and pulling it into his muzzle to taste the ambrosia. "Mmmmm," was Sam's reply as he savored his own cum, straight from the maw of his sibling. His throat still burned from the concert he had recently performed so his voice was a teensy tad hoarse as he pulled away from the kiss and rolled over, Brian now being the bottom wolf. He grabbed the still restrained cock of his brother, resulting in a gasp of surprise from Brian as Sam stripped both himself and his twin of their remaining apparel and the remaining wolf cock bobbed free in the air, a liberal dousing of precum already glistening against the scarlet spike of flesh. "Well, well now, I think it's time I returned the favor", the singer hoarsely chimed as he searched through his nearby jeans for one of the three things he always carried on him. The other two were his wallet and his cell phone, but the third item, which he now held in his paw drooped coldly down onto Brian's awaiting member. The clear sticky liquid put a shiver up the wolf's spine, and even more so when Sam's paw began to spread the wetness known as KY liberally across the cock. Moans and groans, whines and whimpers, escaped from Brian's muzzle up until the point that Sam positioned his tailhole over the glistening member and plummet down, spearing himself onto the point. After which, the only sounds for the next couple moments were a surprise gasp from Brian and a painful grunt from Sam. After a while, the pain dulled down to a gentle throbbing and Sam began to push himself up from his brother's cock, the feeling of his sibling's meat within him hardening his own member once more. He pushed back down and a duo of sensual moans escaped from the brothers as the two halves joined to become one furball of a whole. Brian reached out for the bottle of lube and spread it across Sam's spent cock, already recharged for round two. Sam quickened his pace, riding his twin's cock in a rhythm, like a cowboy rides a bucking bull. And as Sam bounced up and down upon the slickened colossus otherwise known as Brian's cock, Brian pawed off Sam in the same motion. Brian's swollen knot kept coming into contact with Sam's tail hole as the wolf vigorously rode his brother. Holding back the pressure was too much for the wolf on bottom and he yipped out "Sammy, I'm cumming, I'm cumming." Sam, hearing the warning slammed his ass home down on Brian's throbbing member, taking knot and all into his canal as his sibling discharged volley after volley of seed, like a geyser discharges water. With the feeling of being filled up and pawed off by his brother, Sam couldn't stand it anymore and he shot off a second climax that rivaled his first. The seed arched through the air, and Brian tilted back his head and opened wide, expertly catching the lupine's seed in his outstretched jaws. Both rode out their climaxes, Brian's seed continually pumping into his brother's ass, as his knot blocked the cum's only escape, and Sam's spunk face painting Brian once again as he gargled the bittersweet spooge that he caught in his mouth. After a few minutes, their climaxes died down, as did Brian's knot and Sam was able to pull off of him, lupine cum dripping out of his tailhole. Brian turned Sam onto his paws and knees and stuck his muzzle up to the lupines sore entrance, cleaning out all the lupine spunk still stuck inside. A moan escaped from Sam as his brother expertly rimmed him and cleaned him out at the same time. After the thorough cleaning, Sam turned around and fell atop of Brian breathing heavily as both lay on the floor, amongst scattered clothes, exhausted. Jade eyes poured into platinum eyes as Brian's muzzle once more connected with his brother's and they both tasted the mixture of their spunk. As they pulled apart, Brian whispered into his twin's twitching ear, "Oh yeah, Happy Birthday, Sammy." _____________________________________________________________________________ Elsewhere, in the deep dark crevices below the earth, another lupine being dowsed by a heated waterfall of satisfying liquid as he tried his best to wash away all the different flavors of dried seed that clung to his fur. The white wolf was tired, but that's what happens when you allow a raccoon, a jackal and a hyena to have their way with you. "I'm surprised that you have plumbing down here" the snow white lupine said to the brown raccoon who was rinsing himself off at a nearby showerhead. "Yeah, well the subterranean plumbing was one of the first comforts installed into the Underground," the raccoon replied, scrubbing scented suds into his fur. His muscles were visible through his short fur and as he scrubbed away the white wolf couldn't help but murr as he admired the thief clean himself. "Otherwise, it wouldn't have made a very nice den." Matthias, the white wolf, had to close his golden eyes as a jackal behind him spurted shampoo onto the top of his furry head, which in turn trickled to his eyes and started to irritate them with the burning fury of cleanliness. "Gahhhhhhhh, stop, stop. It burns" Matthias moaned as he wiped at his eyes with the back of his furry paws. Unfortunately, his paws were already soapy, so his actions only added to the pain. "Quit being such a baby," the jackal chided as he detached the showerhead from the wall and used it to clean the lupine's face free from soap. "A clean thief is a good thief. You don't want to reek when you are on a mission, do you? Some guards have a really good sense of smell, and a pungent stench will be a dead giveaway that something is amiss." Leon, the raccoon, chuckled as he tossed a hand towel over to Matthias who blindly caught it and dried his head as he stepped out of the path of the obnoxious showerhead. Once he could open his eyes without wincing he looked around and for the first time was able to get a good view of the room. The cavern that had been converted into the bathroom was larger than a high school gymnasium. White linoleum lined the floors and on one side four shower heads lined the wall, evenly spaced apart. On the far side of the cavern were five stalls, with toilets and three urinals. From the toilets, pipes ran up the walls and past the ceiling, to what Matthias guessed was a septic tank of some sort. However, it was what was in between the toilets and showers that caught the lupine's attention. A massive clothes rack filled up much of the space in between and contained every piece of clothing that could be thought of. From business suits, to fat suits to fur suits to bathing suits, the rack held them all up in cellophane wrapping. The lupine's jaw hurt a bit, when it plummeted to the floor. He pointed at the rack and the jackal slapped him on the back, with a sharp laugh. He reattached the shower head to the wall and beckoned Matthias over to gargantuan clothing cloister. As the lupine followed Shadow, the black furred and red eyed jackal, closer and closer until the clothing line up cast its shadow upon the awestruck wolf. Leon had sauntered up behind him and put a furry arm around the white lupine's shoulder as he explained. "Sometimes, in order to acquire certain valuable possessions, we are required to slip into a costume of sorts." "What Bandit means," Shadow elaborated, "is that a thief might have to use a disguise in order to complete objective. This is our disguise closet. Don't ask why it is stationed in the bathroom." At this his cold red eyes glanced over to the raccoon, who turned his gaze downcast and shuffled a footpaw across the floor. "We have a makeup station as well," the jackal continued. "Disguise is one of the arts you will master during your training with us. And speaking of which, come," the jackal beckoned. "The rest of your trials await. And then... your training truly begins. The jackal walked swiftly out of the bathroom through the cavern door and the white wolf meekly followed him through and down the subterranean passageway. As they walked, Matthias made note of where everything was located, trying to familiarize himself with the labyrinth of caverns that constituted the jackal's hideout, known as the Underground. After thirty seconds, Shadow shepherded Matthias into a room full of toys. And by toys, I mean technical gadgets that would send a science nerd into a state of ecstatic bliss. In the middle of the grotto that the furs had wandered into, Sudsy Malone, the blue furred hyena, stood stark naked, behind a table with a pair of goggles and palm pilot like device. "Come over here and take a look at these devices," Sudsy said rather excited, as though the foursome earlier had even fazed him. Matthias walked over to the metallic table, but was finding it difficult to concentrate on the pieces of equipment before him, what with the hyena's azure sheath and balls dangly not so far away. The wolf felt his sheath stirring once again, and with great effort managed to tear his eyes off of Sudsy's pride and glory and concentrate on what lay before him. An exuberant grin shaped the hyena's muzzle as he picked up the goggles and said with a yip of excitement, "Put these on." The wolf complied and as he slipped the goggles over his gleaming eyes the sight took him by surprise. For what he didn't notice without the red lensed goggles were all the red lasers that bounced across the room. He waved a white fur paw through one and was relieved when his paw remained intact. "What are these lasers?" "They are infrared" Sudsy said with an 'I'm smarter than you are' look gleaming in his sapphire eyes. "But I couldn't see them before I put the goggles on." The hyena smacked a paw against the table, glee radiating from his body as he replied, exactly. "These are true infrareds. The ones used on the obstacle course and the movies are mere imitations designed for special effects. Real infrared lasers can't be seen by the naked eye, so I designed a lens that could pick them up. These lenses are not electronic like what the military has for picking up heat waves. These goggles merely reflect the high ultraviolet radiation that emanates from infrared lasers and gives it a visible form." Matthias slipped off the goggles and the infrared lasers disappeared from sight. Sudsy continued. "These goggles will be useful when looking for infrared traps." "Traps?" Matthias asked. "You mean like trip alarms?" "Trip alarms are old school," Shadow said. "Security has gone up a measure or two and now tripping an infrared springs all sorts of nasty traps, from cages to pitfalls." "Pitfalls? Surely you can't be serious?" "You will just have to see for yourself." An audible gulp escaped from the lupines throat as those chilling red eyes burned into the wolf's mind. A clearing of the throat by a certain blue fur caught the attention of Matthias as the Sudsy indicated the other object. "This is a hacking device designed for alarm systems. Once it's plugged in to a security pad, electrical impulses will bring up the correct combination of digits and disable the system. But you have to be careful that you do not use this device on the Pamper Soft security system. It is far too advanced and any insertion of a foreign device will not only signal the alarm system, but will simultaneously spring every set trap in the place basically turning the facility into a lockdown, trapping you and any colleagues inside. Remember," the hyena's cerulean spheres gleamed with warning, "no on Pamper Soft. Repeat it." "No on Pamper Soft." "Good," Sudsy exclaimed, once again returning to his jovial self. "You'll get the full training of the equipment later on." "But before we continue with your training, there is an issue we must discuss. And that would be your codename. Leon has the name Bandit, Sudsy has the name Circuit and I have the name Shadow. A codename is to hide your real life identity, so that those who wish to hire you will not know who you really are in case they want to pay a visit and change the negotiations. Also it is to keep the police off our trails." "Wait," Matthias interrupted. "What's your real name?" A grim smile lit over the jackal's muzzle as his fiery cold red eyes pierced the wolf with a single gaze. "I have no real name." The jackal looked down to the ground to hide the water rimming his eyes. "At least not anymore." As Shadow looked up again he continued, "So, what's it going to be." Red and gold eyes connected, tears in both as Matthias responded, thinking back to the memories of his love. "I have the perfect codename. A fur I knew gave it to me. He said that it was the anagram of the word heart and as long as I had that name our hearts would always be connected. The name is Rathe." "Rathe, huh?" Shadow said, breaking the connection between their gazes. "Very well. On another note, most thieves have something that separates them from others of their profession. A calling card, if you will. If you want to gain recognition from potential clients you must find some sort of calling card to let the authorities know that it was you responsible for the thefts. A statement if you will." "A calling card?" the lupine repeated. "I'll think of something." "A calling card is very important," Shadow said, a bite dripping in his voice. "Don't just brush it off. A calling card is a representation of a thief's identity. It portrays their soul to the world without shedding light on who they actually are. Without a calling card, a thief is no more than a common criminal. It's the dividing line between the kind of vermin who were responsible for the deaths of your loved ones and you. It shows you still have a soul." Leon, in his birthday suit sauntered in, his bits and pieces swaying back and forth as he leaned on the door way. "I hate to interrupt but the next lesson is ready." The jackal stared hard at the 18 year old wolf before him. "Ready to begin the real training. For the next few months you will undergo rigorous training in order to shape you and get you ready for your final test." The lupine meekly nodded and shivered, now realizing that he was still naked along with the rest of the furs in the room. The jackal guided him out of the room and down the crystal lit hallway, onward towards his approaching destiny. And as the wolf walked the dimly lit passage, Matthias died and Rathe was born. "For you Daniel. And for Mom and Dad. I will become a thief. I will find those scum who murdered you. I will avenge you. This I swear, even if it kills me." _____________________________________________________________________________ "Oh father," the female squirrel cried out as she once again observed her father corpse, the sword wound cleaned up and the body dressed in Army dress, as the coffin it was in, was lowered slowly into the ground. All around the bereaved squirrel, a mass of military personal looked on with downcast eyes as their colleague and comrade was put to rest. "I swear, father," Rachel Denia, the squirrel kneeling down in front of the grave, "I swear I'll avenge you, even if it kills me." A German shepherd walked forward and offers out a paw as the coffin began to be consumed by layers of earth. Rachel meekly took the paw and was pulled up into the canine's embrace, where she broke down in a fresh onslaught of tears. The German Shepherd, James Welles, deputy director of the FBI and long time friend of Cajin Denia, held onto his dead friend's daughter as she grieved over her loss. It was not only the squirrel that was forlorn. All of the Black Ops were crestfallen when one of their comrades was murdered. The only other fur there that was not part of the military, was a snow leopard who stood in a black suit, with the identification of FBI, printed in big black bold upon his collar. He wasn't as sad as the rest of the ensemble, for he didn't know Cajin as well as the rest. Hell, he didn't know the old squirrel at all. He was there for moral support of Rachel, who his heart went out to. Even though she had verbally hurt him on the drive to D.C., but he understood what the squirrel was going through all too well. He had just lost his brother to murderous scum, which was the reason he joined up with the FBI. Welles had promised to hand over the case of the criminals he knew were responsible for Daniel, his brother's death. He also wanted to use his sources to track down Matthias as well. As his brother's mate, his heart went out to the lupine and he wanted to make sure that the criminals didn't come after him. Mark Harrison, looked over at the young squirrel crying her eyes out and he couldn't bear to watch anymore. He walked away and lit a cigarette, taking along drag as a drizzle of rain began to pour down on the ground, turning the earth into mud, and sealing Cajin Denia away from the public. After the funeral Rachel was left alone in a room in the safehouse that Mark had delivered her too. In an adjacent room, Welles and Mark talked business. "Here is the case file you wanted," the German Shepherd stated as he turned over a file full of documents to the snow leopard. "As you know, Gabriel Hawkins group has called themselves the Four Vices. They have monopolized the markets in drugs, sex slaves, contract killers and professional theft. One might say that the Four Vices are gunning to take over organized crime from King and Koontz." "Really? Huh," the snow leopard snorted, "it's not like either of those crime lords to let some other group to take over their turf." "Precisely. Which is why the FBI believes that the Vices have someone protecting them. Someone powerful enough to have the bosses scared shitless." "Who?" Mark asked, apprehension hinting in his voice. "We don't know much, only that he is known as the Master." "His name is master? Yeah, that's not conceited at all," said Mark, master of sarcasm. "Let's see here," the feline said flipping through the folder as he read aloud. "Gabriel Hawkins, otter. Has a scar over his left eye, has a penchant for smuggling and dealing hard hitting drugs to minors. "Ash "the flame" Peters, blue scaled dragon. Arrested for rape, statutory rape, pedophilia. Has the ability to breathe fire." "Norman Rogers, beagle. Quiet and unassuming, he takes delight in torture and suffering, uses dangerous compounds to sedate his targets." "Avery Michaels, jackal. Jet black fur and red eyes, it has been though he was responsible for numerous thefts, including the theft of St. Peters stole from the Vatican in Rome. He has never left behind any evidence except for a crimson rose, his calling card." The snow leopard looked up from his reading, "A crimson rose?" Mark asked confused. "All thieves have a calling card," Welles explained. "It's their trademark to let clients know about their pursuits. Usually the calling card is a reminder to the thief not to forget a past memory." "Do you know why he chose a flower?" "I knew Avery a long time ago, before he ever became a thief. In fact," the German Shepherd paused turning around to hide his glistening eyes, "we grew up together. He fell into the wrong kind of crowd, and became friends with Hawkins. They started out as small time vandals for some sort of political cause, but they kept doing worse and worse until they became known throughout the nation as the Four Vices. Avery," the German Shepherd turned around and walked over to a chair and sat down, facing the feline, "Avery never killed anyone who didn't deserve it. But one night, while looting through the house of a politician by the name of Kyle Glass, the Four Vices ran into his eight year old daughter, and without remorse, Gabriel Hawkins caught her and broke her neck. The rose is a symbol of the jackals guilt. Or so the sources say. I haven't heard from Avery since, but recently I heard that a black furred jackal has cut his ties with the Four Vices." "If he is partially responsible for Daniel and the Jenning's murder, he won't escape justice," the snow leopard said as his voice rose with disgust. Mark closed the file and stood up and put his paw out to the German Shepherd, who was lost in his memories of the past. Welles took the paw and shook and Agent Mark Harrison left the room, leaving the care of Rachel Denia and good paws. Speaking of Rachel Denia, she was currently engaged in a conversation with her deceased twin. "I want to Tommy. I have to avenge Father." "Sure," the male squirrel remarked glancing down at the heap of his sister, curled in the fetal position in the dimly lit room. "You have some training in Hashtin Saido. You are the second best in the class, right behind that wolf, what's his name. But if you're gonna track down criminals, you're gonna need to know more than a modern version of kung-fu." "Exactly, brother," that is why I'm going to get the Black Ops to train me." "Rachel, listen to yourself," Tommy Denia pleaded. "How can you bear this burden. How can you give you life to revenge. I don't want you to kill and neither would father." "I have nothing. Mommy died in childbirth. You were hit by the car. Father was killed by scum. I have no life; except in revenge. I will find out who they are. I will hunt them down. And I will make them pay, one by one." The door opened and in walked Welled who walked through the apparition of Tommy and bent down next to Rachel. "Rachel, are you all right?" the German Shepherd asked. "Mr. Welles, I want you to train me," Rachel said as she looked up with tear stained eyes. "Train you?" Welles asked, confused. "I want you to make me the perfect soldier." Recognition dawned in the canine's eyes as he saw the turning point of the young squirrel before him. A new door opened as another closed. Sure he lost his best friend, but he could recreate him in his daughter, if she could complete the proper training. He offered out a paw once more and said "Come, we have a lot of work to do." Rachel took the paw offered out to her and as she did so, she began reshape her destiny. _____________________________________________________________________________ After two and a half months of intense training, nonstop lectures and wild yiffing, the black-hooded figure stood in the sewers beneath a manhole that led up into Roosevelt Museum, the fifth famous museum in America. A white furred muzzle poked from the hood that hid the rest of the figures features as he made sure that he had all of his equipment on him. A black gloved paw took out a pair of red goggles from the many folds of the dark cloak that he wore. Placing them over his golden eyes, the shrouded figure made his way up the ladder and into the employee bathroom. It was 2:30 A.M, and the black figure crept stealthily through the darkness, carefully dodging and weaving through the lasers that his goggles picked up. A motion alerted his senses and he pressed himself up against a wall, his heart pounding as a shark guard passed by, not paying any attention to the dark figure hiding in the darkness. However, the thief didn't want to take any chances. Pulling out a firearm from a back holster, he used a silencer to down the guard and then continued to make his way towards his goal. Along said way, six more guards found themselves confronted with a dark figure they couldn't see and the floor found six more bodies collapsed upon it. The white muzzle smirked as he set his golden eyes upon his objective. The large glass container in the middle of the room held an Aztec idol, made out of gold, the last of its kind. The thief crept over to the alarm system, dodging various infrared lasers and plugged a small handheld device into the system. A few seconds later a couple of muted beeps occurred and the infrared lasers disappeared. The figure hurriedly took off the goggles and slipped them away, rushed to the glass housing the idle and started to lock-pick the lock. A couple of pins later and the figure was touching the idle. However, he noticed a circular crack on the bottom of the pedestal where the idol was seated. "A pressure switch?" the figure thought. He carefully took out a small piece of paper, the size of a business card and a bottle of adhesive. After applying the adhesive to the side of the card, the black cloaked figure slid the paper under the idol and lifted the prize up. The switch held in place, and the white muzzle grinned triumphantly. Hurriedly he made his way back the way he came and took care not to leave any clue as to how he entered the building. Once he was back in the sewers, idol in paw, he quickly made his way back to his subterranean hideout, the success of his first theft swirling in his mind. As he walked in the sewers, he let himself do a little jumping heel snap as celebration. __________________________________________________________________________ The next day saw a white wolf rushing down the streets of Baltimore, as he hurriedly buttoned up a dress shirt. Matthias was late for his first day at work, at Appetites Café. In fact the young wolf was such in a rush, he didn't notice in time when he collided with a pair of identical brown wolves. He flipped up to his feet with all the grace of a trapeze artist and rushed to the fallen twins. He offered out a paw to each one and they took it, climbing to their feet. "Sorry about that," Matthias said as he looked over the two. From what he could tell they were near identical twins, the only difference being that one of two had green eyes and the other had silver. Something about the green eyed wolf seems familiar to Matthias, but he couldn't put his paw on it. "I'm late for my first day at work. I'm really really sorry." The silver eyed wolf patted Matthias on the back and said, "No worries, neither my brother nor I was hurt." Matthias nodded to them both and began running again, leaving them to stare off after them. The green eyed wolf was speechless and mesmerized by the white blur. He stared off into the distance after the rapidly shrinking figure as he felt something burn within. "Hey Sammy," the silver eyed wolf said. "Earth to Sammy. You all right in there?" Sam snapped out of his daze and responded to his twin, "yeah, yeah, let's go." But he couldn't get the image of the white wolf out of his mind. Nor could he forget the look in his eyes. The look of despair and agony mixed with a hint of hatred followed by a garnish of surprise and just a morsel of something else that Sam couldn't quite place. As the twins walked off down the road in Baltimore, they had no idea that both of their destinies would be shaped by that white wolf. Fate's funny like that. _____________________________________________________________________________ Mark Harrison, wearing his newly tailored suit, walked into the Roosevelt Museum in Baltimore city. He had no leads on the Four Vices case and he had been stuck with a simple theft case. As he walked in the doors, the curator, a smarmy looking lemur, walked over to him and the snow leopard hurriedly introduced himself. "Agent Mark Harrison, FBI. I heard you had a burglary last night." "Yes sir, I'm glad the Bureau could respond so quickly. Everyone is in an uproar around here. The piece stolen was part of the main exhibit." "What exactly was stolen?" "The last remaining Aztec artifact. A golden idol of the Native American god, Kishnta. It was insured, but the board of directors are going crazy." "Was anyone killed?" the feline asked the ring-tailed monkey. "Thankfully no. However, seven of the guards were apparently shot with a tranquilizer gun." "Tranks?" the feline raised an eyebrow. "If a thief is going to resort to shooting guards, why settle on tranks? Hmmmm," muse Mark Harrison. "Apparently, we have ourselves a thief with a conscience. Did he leave any clued behind. A calling card perhaps?" "Well," the lemur said. "It's funny that you should mention that." The lemur motioned the feline over to a glass container with an evidence number over a small piece of paper. Mark took a pair of tweezers from his pocket and lifted up the card. On one side it read, "I walk the path of shadows." The feline flipped it over to read in small black bold on the center of the card, "Rathe: Professional thief.