The Courier Part 2
						By
				 Timelord216 a.k.a. Matthias Reign

Shadow is © shadowflame18’s Player
Matthias is © me
Khira is © Slykos’ player

*GASP!*

“Whoa! Easy kid. You’re still a little weak.” Matthias said.

Shadow looked around the room and saw various medical supplies and operating tables. Shi then jumped up and tackled Matthias to the ground.

“I’ll KILL you!” Shadow shouted.

Matthias flipped hir over and pinned hir arms to hir chest.

“For the love of god, didn’t we go through this!? Now look. I'm gonna let you go, and you had better play nice, or I'm gonna knock you out again. Only next time, you’ll wake up in restraints. Got me?” Matthias growled.

Shadow nodded slowly, and much to hir chagrin, shi wanted to hear what he had to say. But when she got her balance back, she punched the panda in the face.

“GAH! Shit that hurt. I suppose I deserve that.” Matthias said, spitting blood.

“You suppose!? I’ve got a good mind to kill you! Spill it and give me a good reason why I shouldn’t!” Shadow growled in reply.

“I told you. I can help you find the ones who set Britt up. He was your friends right?” Matthias said calmly.

I…fine. Start talking.” Shadow said.

“Walk with me.” Matthias said.

The pair of furs walked down a few ramps past some furs and humans alike. One room was a weapons locker. Another was a collection of beds. The final room was the room Shadow passed out in.

“Great. This place. What the hell was that you did when I couldn’t walk?” Shadow asked.

“Oh that? That was a Vortex Jump. In the tunnel where we met, there’s an alternate plane that runs parallel to a shift in space and time. We’ve dubbed it the Time Vortex, and We’ve harnessed that plane so that humans and furs can pass through it safely. It acts like a gun and we are the bullets.” Matthias explained.

“So it acts as faster than light transportation?” Shadow concluded. 

“Not necessarily.” a voice said. 

A blonde lemur walked up behind Shadow and sat down at a large terminal. 

“The time vortex does seem faster than light but that’s not the principle it uses. The vortex uses time dilations to send a person instantaneously through a gap in time. Say I wanted to send you to the district hub? At…11:01 at night. If we sent you through this, you would end up at the district hub at eleven.”

“Bullshit. A time machine? Time travel’s impossible.” Shadow said with a laugh.

“Not impossible, just not achieved yet. This discovery has made it possible, but only on a small scale. The Citadel’s power grid won’t allow travel any further back.” Matthias said.

“And just what is the Citadel?” Shadow said crossing her arms.

“You are standing in it Shadow. This place used to be a church before the recolonization of earth. I rebuilt it with my mate and my daughter and turned it into the new Courier headquarters. Pretty much every courier know of this place.” The panda said with pride.

“You still haven’t given me a reason to listen, let alone stay.” Shadow said.

“You want revenge for britt’s death. We can help you, since we have resources you don’t have. To begin with, Britt’s tag. Every tag has the courier’s recent contracts on it. If I may?” He said and held out his hand. “Don’t worry, you can keep the money. I promise you’ll get it back.”

Shadow reluctantly complied and dropped the tag in his hand. He gave the tag to Lily and she snapped it open and took out the chip inside. It glowed blue, making Lily smile.’

“Perfect. That means his most recent contract wasn’t erased when he died. One moment…” she said and was silent for a few minutes. “AHA! Got it. This says his last employer was…James Gerlock?! That’s the representative of halcyon Districts son!” Lily said, shocked.

“You sound surprised, oh daughter of mine. Monitor our comms from here. We’re gonna go pay a visit to young master Gerlock.” Matthias said. 

“I’m assuming I’m going?” Shadow said.

“You kidding?” Matthias said, cocking a purple .357 Magnum. “Of course I'm gonna take the herm who killed a regulator!”  

“Shit. My swords. I left them at the apartment. The regulators probly have them now.” Shadow said with a sad face.

“One sec. HEY RUDI!” Matthias called.

A raccoon cam running up and handed two swords to Matthias. Shadow’s swords.

“My friend I believe these are yours. We even?” Matthias said.

“Oh hell, why not? Yeah we’re even.” Shadow said, smiling.

With a handshake, they stepped into the Vortex room and were sent to their destination.

The Alley was quiet, then a small hole opened up in the wall. Shadow shot out first, then Matthias.

“GAH! Oh my head!” Shadow said. “What the hell happened?!”

“Grrrr…time travel without a stabilizer…ugh, I’ll never get used to it.” Matthias said with a grunt.

“So where is this Gerlock kid?” Shadow said.

“He hangs out at the local gay bar, “visions”. It’s the only public place he ever frequents. And even then he has to sneak away from his father. AH! Here we are.” He said. 

There was a long line around the corner of many different humans and furs. The word, “VISIONS” was in bright neon over the door. Loud rock music could be heard inside, and a human was arguing with the bouncer at the front door. Matthias walked right up to him and planted a kiss on his cheek and whispered something in his ear. The bouncer smiled and opened the door.

“What did you say to him?” Shadow said with a devilish grin.

“I promised him a night out this week. He’s a nice guy and if I go out with him once every week, I get in free. Come on then!” Matthias said. 

“I never figured you to be that way.” Shadow said as they walked inside.

“You never asked first of all. Lily’s birthparent was a herm like you.” Matthias said not looking at hir. “I prefer herms to just one gender. Best of both worlds in my opinion.”

Matthias stopped short just as they hit the balcony. 

“Don’t look, but he’s sitting at the corner table. If he sees you looking he’ll split.” Matthias warned. 

The place was jumping with dancers on the floor dancing to Paralyzed by Rock Kills Kid. Various bartenders in skimpy outfits were handing out drinks to kids that sneaked in. Some couples were hiding in dark corners and fornicating where no one would see. Then Shadow spotted the mark they were looking for. A brown rabbit with blue hair was kissing on a young human in the VIP section of the bar, across the way. 

“ Is That brown rabbit him?” Shi asked. Matthias nodded.

“You take right, I’ll go left. If he bolts, your swords can stun him with an electrical pulse. I had them outfitted while you were asleep.” Matthias said over the music.

“ Agreed. Oh, and if You mess with my swords again I’ll use them on you!!” Shadow yelled. 

“FINE!” Matthias shouted back. 

They parted ways and stepped onto the dance floor. Lily’s voice pinged in the comms in their ears. 

“Dad? I’ve received reports of regulators looking for James. If your gonna talk to him, you better do it quick.” Lily warned.

“Thanks kiddo. Send some scrambled relays and try to slow them down.” Matthias said. “Shadow? We’re running out of time. Move on him now.”

The pair of furs shot through across the floor to rush the brown rabbit. But at the noise of people getting shoved aside, James jumped up and pulled a gun on the human he was kissing. The human boy yelped, and shouted for help. 

“Let the boy go James! This will only end badly for you if you hurt him.” Matthias shouted, point his .357 at him.

“Drop the gun asshole!” Shadow shouted.

“NO! You’re here to take me back to my father. I’m NEVER Going back!” James shouted.

“James, listen we can help you but you have to trust us. Regulators are on their way here, looking for you. We can hide you, but you NEED to put the gun down.” Matthias said. 

“NO! You’ll kill me! Just like my father had Britt killed!” James said with tears falling.

“You…you knew Britt?!” Shadow said, taking a step closer.

“Shit! REGULATORS!” Matthias shouted.

The front door exploded and 4 regulators filed inside. 

“COURIERS, PREPARE TO BE ELIMINATED. JAMES GERLOCK, WE ARE TO TAKE YOU BACK TO YOUR FATHER.”

“Go to hell Regulators!” Matthias shouted. 

He then pulled out a small black fist sized capsule and busted it on the ground. Shadow, Matthias, James, and the human boy were pulled inside the blue vortex.. The vortex ended up back at the Citadel.

“GAHH! Ugh…LILY! Remind me to fix the vortex stabilizers.” Matthias grunted.

“Damn it! Did we just time travel again!?” Shadow said, swearing under her breath.

“Yeah. A little gizmo of mine. A Ballistic Vortex Manipulator.” Matthias said, looking at the burnt out capsule. 

“Has it been field tested? That little trip didn’t feel right.” Shadow asked, giving Matthias a dark look.

“Uh…heh. That WAS it’s first field test.” Matthias said, grinning,

“Oh you crazy prick! You could have got us KILLED!” Shadow said slapping Matthias.

“OW! Well it worked didn’t it?!” Matthias barked back.

James stirred, awakening from his unconsciousness. Looking around he panicked and grabbed Lily. 

“Anybody move, ill break her damn neck!” James shouted. 

“Where…where am I?” The human boy said, shaking.

“RUDI! Take this kid to the infirmary, then send him home. You know what to do.” Matthias said.

“Yes sir! It’s alright hon. No one’s gonna hurt you.” The young racoon said, and the two walked away.

“Shadow! We’ve got to get Lily away from him.” Matthias said quietly.

“I know your worried about her, but-”

“Not for her! For him! The last time Lily was backed in to a corner by someone, she tore them to pieces. We have to get him to let her go, or he’s a dead rabbit.” Matthias explained.

“I’ll do it! I’ll kill her, I swear I’ll kill her!” James yelled, tears still staining his face.

“JAMES! James? Listen to me very carefully. You may not believe me, but you are in even more danger than you were with the regulators. If my daughter feels threatened, she can and WILL tear you in half. I promise you, Shadow and I will talk alone. You can bring your gun, if it will make you feel better. Just let her go.” 

“I…alright.” He said and released Lily.

“Lily, do me a favor kiddo. Take your mind off of this and run our med scans. As we came through, I felt a power surge from the BVM. I want to make sure nothing bad happened.” Matthias said.

“OK Dad. Thanks for keeping me from flipping out again.” Lily said with a smile. 

“No problem kiddo.” Matthias said.

Matthias led Shadow and James to a small room with three seats. The room had an electronic lock on it, but it was deactivated at the moment. The walls on the inside of the room were black, the floor white. Matthias sat down and motioned for the other two to sit down. 
“Are…are you gonna kill me?” James said, shaking.

“That depends on you, James. We want to ask you a few questions, and your survival will depend on how you answer and if we believe you or not.” Matthias said grimly.

“Um…okay.” James said, obviously afraid. 

“First, off, how the hell did you know Britt? He was a Courier, and you are the son of a district Councilor. The two NEVER mix.” Shadow growled.

“I…Britt was…oh god…” James said, and started crying. “Please you have to understand! I never wanted anything to happen to him!”

“Just tell us how you know him.” Matthias said.

“Britt and I…we met when I was on my way to Visions. I found him in the alley behind the club. He was bleeding badly, and I wanted to help him. I bought an apartment on the floors above Visions and I took him there to heal. He was very strong for a human, and healed quickly.”

“Bullshit. You must have tracked him. You bureaucrats are all alike!” Shadow said loudly.

“NO! That’s not true. I am nothing like my father. To be honest, I always envied the couriers for their freedom. I asked Britt to teach me how to be free in return for saving him.” James said.

“A small asking price for saving someone’s life.” Matthias said.

“All my life I’ve been imprisoned in the Upper districts. That’s why I come down to the lowers. No rules. And Britt was the epitome of that. He was good to me, and I to him.” James said looking at the floor.

“Yet, you still haven’t told us how you knew Britt. Spill it, or your next word is gonna be “Ouch”.” Matthias said.

“I’m Getting to that. We met two years ago. About a year after I did my first courier job, and he finished teaching me how to move like a courier, things got…closer between he and I. I was coming home from a job in Isis District, and he was waiting for me.” James said with a smile.

“Wait…you two?!” Shadow said with shock..

“Yes. He and I fell in love that night. We did every job together, and we succeeded together. Now you know why I would never have hurt him.” James said. He hid his face in his hands and sighed.

“That explains why he stopped running jobs with me. Gods rest his soul.” Shadow mumbled.

“Damn. James, I’m sorry about his death.” Matthias said. 

“HA! Why would you be? You’ve never lost anyone you loved.” James chastised.

“That’s where you’re wrong. My mate was murdered, and it was my fault.” Matthias said with a growl.

Shadow looked at Matthias in shock at what he had said. He acted so strong and so smart, when in actuality, he was hurting. He hides his pain well, Shi thought, I’ll confront him later.

“I…had no idea. Forgive my Arrogance.” James said.

“Now, why did your father kill Britt?” Matthias said.

“For two reasons. One, he knew I was in love a courier and used that to his advantage. If the rumors I hear are true, one of the council was murdered, and by another council member. So my father’s action against the Couriers yesterday confirm my suspicion of him being the killer. I Hired him to track down the proof, and he found it for me. Two, he hate’s the fact that I’m homosexual, and makes me suffer every chance he gets. Killing Britt was the final Knife in my back. I’ve always hated the jerk, but now…I want revenge.!” James growled.

“Two final questions, and we’ll decide to kill you or not.” Matthias said softly.

“Ask them.” James said, looking the red panda dead in the eyes.

“Are you going to stand with us?” Matthias said.

James nodded slowly, never taking his eyes away Matthias’.

“Is there anything you are keeping from us?” Matthias said.

James shook his head, still not taking away his eyes.

“Great!” Matthias said cheerfully, “Talk to my main trainer, Rudi. Just call his name and tell him I said, give you the same training he showed me. And also tell him I said to make you new weapons and a running outfit. See you later!”

Matthias left the chamber with Shadow blinking in surprise then running after him. He was halfway down the corridor by the time Shadow caught up to him.

“HEY! Wait a damn minute! You’re just gonna let him waltz around this place? And what the hell are you talking about when you say your mate is dead because of you?” Shadow said.

“First of all, our security systems are the best in Kaitek City. If he sneezes, we will know. And second, my personal life is none of your damn business, wolfess.” He growled.

“Bullshit! You’ve kept things from me long enough! I know there are things you are not telling me.” Shadow yelled, “If you intend to gain my trust, and I know you do, then you better start being truthful really quick! If not, I’m bailing on this whole thing and taking care of britt’s killer myself.”

Matthias grabbed her and shoved her up against the wall. He got close to her face and snarled with rage.

“You want the truth!? FINE! Come by my quarters tonight. You’ll get the answers you want. Whether you want them or not.” Matthias said, “Lily will show you where they are.”

With that, the angered courier stormed off. Shadow’s adrenaline was on high. His strength was massive, even for someone as muscular as him. As shi looked at the wal where shi was pushed against, the concrete was cracked in places. There was no way he was that strong when she met him.
The truth of the matter was something had changed.

Matthias’ comm rang as he was walking down the firing range.

“Dad? Get up to med bay immediately. I ran the med scans of the BVM jump? You were right. Something happened. I’ve already called Shadow and James back here.” Lily said.

“On my way kiddo.” Matthias replied, then ran off to med deck.

“How did he get that strong…” Shadow thought to hirself.

With that, Shadow’s Comm rang.

“Yeah what?” Shadow said, a little frustrated.

“Shadow? It’s Lily. You better get up to the med deck. I ran the Bio scans taken as you, Dad and the others came through the vortex with the BVM, and something’s changed. You’re gonna wanna see this. James and Dad are on their way too.” Lily said.

“On my way.” Shadow said, shutting off hir comm.

With one last look at the wall, shi shot off for the med deck.

Lily was looking up back at forth at different bio scans as all James, Matthias, and Shadow met outside. 

“Ah. Hello you three. I’ve triple checked all three of your med scans and found something remarkable.” Lily said.

“So what did Mr. Use-without-field-testing do to us?” Shadow said, firing a look at Matthias.

“OY! It still worked.” Matthias said.

“ANYWAY!” James shouted. “What did you find?”

“Each of your individual DNA has been rewritten. New DNA has been added and you have each become something new. Instead of the standard double helix DNA structures? You’ve each got four.” Lily said with a smile.

“And how will this “little” change affect us?” Matthias said.

“Well Dad, I’ve run some calculations and we’ve found that Motor skills controlling strength, agility, and healing factors have been increased by 120%. There are other traits that have been affected, but as far as we can tell they have no other effects.” Lily explained. 

“The change must be taking effect, because you, you pushy male, almost put me through a damn wall.” Shadow said, growling at Matthias. 

“Dad, punch this section of wall for me.” Lily said, motioning to a small piece of the wall.

Matthias did so, and punched the wall hard. The 3 inch thick piece of wall splintered. Shadow backed up on instinct, along with lily and James. 

“Astonishing! But I don’t see how… AGH! Shadow your hands!” James yelled.

Shadows hands were on fire with deep black flames. Shi freaked at first, think shi was burning, but then realized there was no pain.

“Why doesn’t it hurt?!” Shadow exclaimed.

“Cool! It must be the Healing factor. Your seared nerve endings are repairing themselves too quickly for the fire to cause any pain!!! This must be a result of the mixed DNA!” Lily said, smiling and marveling.

On a whim, Shadow snapped her fingers toward a beaker. The glass melted in a pile of goo, as a result.

“SWEET!” Shadow shouted with joy.

“Whoa…” Matthias said, marveling at what Shadow just did. “For now, we’ll say all three of us have changed. Nightfall is coming and the grid needs to be shut down for recharge.”

“Okay Dad. You heard him guys! Time to call it a night.” Lily called to the workers.

“I’m gonna go get some shut-eye. It’s been a hell of a day.” James said then walked away.

The med deck was empty except for Shadow and Matthias who were looking at each other. 

“Can I have my answers now?” Shadow asked, crossing hir arms. 

“Go ahead.” Matthias said, relaxing on a nearby bed, with shadow doing the same.

“First, have I ever met you before?” Shi asked.” I remember seeing you briefly just before the Massacre that happened here.”

“Yes that was me, and no we haven’t met. I was contracted to turn this place into a fortress for the couriers by the previous leader. But their was a leak in the ranks and the regulators found us.” Matthias said.

“I was the one who blew the place to hell, along with the regulators in it.” Shadow said, looking away.

“You did what you had to do.” Matthias said, looking at hir. “No one can blame you for that.”

“How long did it take you to build this place after the massacre?” Shadow said.

“Truthfully? One year. We had experimental tech that we stole, and it made use of the vortex perfectly. I made the plans for it then sent the plans back one year to myself in a way only I would recognize, so my past self would know what to do. And he did, and this place was up and running that same day I sent the plans back.” 

“You screwed with time travel? That’s a dangerous thing.” Shadow said.

“And lo and behold, it worked.” Matthias said, gesturing to the entire med deck.

“Now about your mate and yourself…where are you from?” Shadow said softly. 

“A long time ago and far away. It may sound hard to believe, but we weren’t even from this time. We were from 100 years into the past.” Matthias said with a sigh.

“The year…2011? The year of the human changes?” Shadow said in disbelief.

“Ah yes. That year was exciting. Furred people popping up everywhere. The US trying to quarantine it. The peace talks. The creation of Kaitek, the technology boom. It was a good year for everybody. Khira and me especially.” Matthias laughed.

“That was hir name?” Shadow said. 

“Yeah. Shi was so damn beautiful. Headstrong, serious like you, and one hell of a fighter. And that stayed with hir when we were warped here. When we were still human.” Matthias said, staring at the ceiling. “We changed as we went through the vortex to this time. Shi ended up a lemur and I ended up the uptight ass you see laying here.”

“You used to be human!? Wow…” shadow said.

“Yeah. It’s been so long I don’t even remember our human names, but we got lost in our new lives.” Matthias said, smiling.

“How did…Khira die?” Shadow said, with a little hesitance in hir voice

Matthias turned away from hir, and the smile left his face.

“It was a year after the citadel was finished. Couriers were in and out of this place, like clockwork. Khira and I led this place together, taking the odd contract here and there. Lily was only 4, and I had just finished experimenting on the vortex stabilizers. Khira came in and said shi had been chased by a regulator, that knew hir name and about the citadel. I said there was no possible way one could, unless a courier smuggled in a locater. At the time our security wasn’t as tight as it is now. I didn’t catch it in time and shi took off to kill the regulator after we argued a bit.”

“Those couldn’t have been the last words you said to hir…” Shadow said shaking hir head.

“No, but I still regret them. I had put Lilly down for a nap when the alarms went going crazy. A regulator had broken through the defenses. I hid Lily in the panic room I built for her, and grabbed my gun and went after it. But it was holding Khira in its hands. She was bleeding from almost everywhere. The son of a bitch tortured hir to get the information it wanted.”

“Oh god…” shadow gasped. 

“I begged and pleaded to make it let hir go. It threw hir against the wall and I shot out it’s head sensor. Then it started firing blindly and a bullet hit Khira in the side. I jumped onto it, tossed in 4 EMP grenades and took Khira to cover. When they exploded, the regulator’s systems went into meltdown. It killed itself. Khira’s lost a lot of blood by the time I finally got hir to med deck. I gave hir replacement blood, but it wasn’t enough. The bullet tore through my love’s beautiful body, and I couldn’t fix hir…” 

Matthias was crying hard, so Shadow got up, sat next to him,  and put an arm around his shoulders.

“You couldn’t have saved hir. You tried.” Shadow said with hir own tears streaming down hir face.

“I didn’t listen to hir, and because of me being a stubborn know-it-all, she died. I held her it my arms and tried to make hir stay awake. I screamed my lungs out, trying to keep hir awake and with me, but I couldn’t save hir. I kept apologizing and saying I was sorry. The last words to leave hir body were, “I love you, and I forgive you.” 

“I’m so sorry, Matti.” Shadow said, breaking down and crying.

“I had to tell my 4 year old daughter that Mommy was never coming home. No father should ever have to go through that hell. No one should have to bury their mate. I was foolish, stupid, and stubborn, and I paid the damn price.” Matthias cried.

“Oh Matti…” Shadow sobbed.

“That was 20 years ago. The memory will always haunt me, which I suppose is a fitting punishment.” The panda said, drying his eyes. “I’m 40, and nothing but a bitter old man with a war to win. I intend to do so, so my daughter won’t have to worry anymore. I’m sick of hiding. When we are ready, I WILL have my vengeance against the bastards who killed my mate.”

“You are not alone anymore. You have a daughter who loves you, and many friends…including me.” Shadow said, smiling.

“Thank you Shadow. I’m going to need friends.” He said, hugging the wolf. “The next few months are going to be long.”

TO BE CONCLUDED!!!!!