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Chapter Text

THE SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
GAME OF CAT AND MOUSE

Seven years ago...

"Stop it right there, Cooper!" that was the sound of a voice, firm and determined, with hints a Hispanic accent. The owner of the voice aims a red and yellow shock pistol at the face of the Master Thief.

"That reminds me, you should still return the Fire Stone of India to its rightful owner." Carmelita said.

"I already did. That Fire Stone wasn't that greedy bastard's to own. He cheated it out of the previous owners." Sly retorted.

"He acquired it legally." Carmelita noted.

"That he acquired it legally didn't mean that he was completely honest in his methods." Sly said. "Shame though, in any other scenario I would have given it to you. The Ruby would go so well with the colour of your eyes." He continued in a charming, flirty tone.

"You know what is red as well and fits with the colour of my eyes? This new Shock pistol. Packs a paralyzing punch, designed to neutralize the likes of you without hurting you too badly." Carmelita said, grinning back. "And since you were foolish enough to come here and steal from me directly I get a chance to test it out."

"I am just borrowing this old file, nothing of value. I think you had it long enough. Knowing you, you'll have studied it in detail alraedy, and you should know why I am after it." Sly said as he tapped with the back of the hook on his cane on his backpack, where he had put away the file.

Carmelita's look turned to one of worry, and if you could believe it, sympathy. "I do. And I could understand why you would want to go after them. But they are no small time criminals. They are the top five criminals in the world. A whole different league. You could get yourself killed. So please stand down, come peacefully and let Interpol handle them."

"I don't doubt your capabilities, but I do doubt the rest of Interpol's. I have to do this...for my family. And I can't let anyone get in my way, not even a beauty like you. Sorry, Carm. But you can't dissuade me."

"I tried to be reasonable, Sly. But you leave me no choice." Carmelita said as her finger moved to the trigger. "Let's see you dodge this one."

"You know me, I'm all for a workout..." Sly said as he prepped himself for another chase. He was the only target she ever missed, and he liked to test that out every time they encountered one another.

Several months later...

"We may be on opposite sides of the law, Carmelita, but you are not my enemy. The real enemy is the giant homicidal robotic owl with the giant Death Ray. And he needs to be taken down." Sly assured her. "So...truce?" Sly held out his hand.

Carmelita sighed and shook his hand. "Truce. Until Clockwerk is dealt with. Then I'll try to take you in. But I'll give you a ten second head start, to be a good sport. I owe you that at least."

"Wouldn't want it any other way." Sly brought the hand he shook to his mouth to kiss it, but Carmelita pulled it away.

"Don't get cocky, buster!" Carmelita groaned.

It was then that a robotic falcon swooped down, grabbed Sly's cane and flew off. Carmelita shot the falcon, and the cane dropped on top of a giant power station. "No! That's my father's cane...It's all I have left of him."  

Carmelita saw the hurt in his eyes. He may be a thief but he was also one to have lost his parents at a young age. Her collar also held her mother's lucky charm and she would do anything to get it back if it was taken. "Go ahead and make a climb for it. I'll cover you from here."

"Thanks, Carmelita. I'll never forget this." Sly said. "We make a pretty good team if we aren't cop and robber." Sly then jumped towards some parts of the power station that were sticking out to climb upwards, Carmelita ready to look out for Clockwerk's mechanical minions and fire slugs, shooting them down as they came...

Two hours later...

Sly and Carmelita panted. The two had been shooting at the wicked Clockwerk and finally managed to damage it to the point where his auto-repair failed, his parts had sunk beneath the lava below. Sly now has managed to complete the Thievius Raccoonus. He looked at the book with certain pride. "It's over, it's finally over, Dad." He muttered to himself.

Carmelita regained her breath, turned towards Sly with her shock pistol and pulled out a few cuffs. "You know what we agreed upon. The truce is over...You are getting that ten second head start." she noted.

"Always the direct one, are you? I wouldn't want it any other way. Should we start counting now?" Sly asked.

Carmelita decided to humor him and start the countdown: "Ten...nine..." Sly stood there, raising his eyebrows, realizing the countdown had begun. Carmelita expected him to turn around and start running. But he kept standing there with a grin on his face. Is he playing around? "Seven...Six...five..." she continued but instead he moved closer to her, a grin on his face. "...four...three...two..." Was he insane? Even he couldn't dodge her shots at this close range. "One..."

"Zero!" Sly said softly as he kissed her on her lips. "Until next time, gorgeous!"

Carmelita blinked a few times before things registered. Did he just kiss her? And did she like it? Damn it, Carmelita, pull yourself together! The thief got into your head with his charm and wit and...selfless nature and...oh, confound it. When she finally snapped out of it, he was long gone. But she still felt that sensations on her lips. No, she can't be distracted. She'll capture him next time for sure...but she has gained a newfound respect for him. Maybe she could try to make a more honest person out of him. "See you next time, Ringtail."

Two years later.

"I should have expected you here, Cooper!" Carmelita Fox had Cooper in her crosshairs again. This time in the museum of Cairo, Egypt, alongside her new partner, Constable Neyla. "I'm sorry to bring you bad news. One, the parts are gone already, but I know it wasn't you. You would have left a calling card. Second, I'm taking you in."

"Time out! Someone already stole the parts? Who?" Sly asked, completely surprised.

"Oh no, not going to let you go after Clockwerk this time. I'm sorry Cooper. But I promise Interpol will deal with it this time." Carmelita assured him.

"What she said. Me and the Inspector will deal with the Klaww Gang." Constable Neyla said flatly.

"Neyla! You don't tell him that!" Carmelita growled. "I have seen rookie mistakes, but this one takes the cake. If I hadn't promised the Contessa to keep an eye on you, I'd never have..." she then noticed that Sly was sneaking off. "God damn it! This is your fault, Neyla!"

"Hey, I'm sorry if I interrupted your date with your boyfriend!" Neyla mocked.

"He is not my boyfriend!" Carmelita huffed.

"You got no boyfriend? Man, such a beautiful woman and never getting laid. That's sad." Neyla said with an impish smirk.

"I have no time for you, I have a thief to catch!" Carmelita growled as she ran after Sly. What does that arrogant little tigress think? Cooper her, boyfriend? Yeah right. What if he is handsome, charming and...Focus, Carmelita! Get your mind out of the gutter!

One month later...

Carmelita eyed the 'stranger' that was approaching her. Yeah, Cooper thought that such a simple disguise could fool her? That tuxedo could only do so much. And seeing him dance with Neyla...why was she so cross about that? What did she care if he danced with another girl? No, she was totally fine. Cooper is just trying something to distract her. Not this time. She'd turn the tables on him. She'd play along, act ignorant, catch him in the act, cuff him and then arrest the other guests at the party. Two birds with one stone. But she had to play it cool.

Sly was a good dancer though, enough to impress even her. Oh, so he tried to score a dance with her, knowing that she's picky about dance partners. Using Neyla to get close to her. Well, she promised him that dance, to set her own counter-plan into motion. "I believe I owed you a dance, Miss Fox. Sorry for the wait, I have mingled for a bit, and waited for the right moment. I hope you understand." Sly said as he gently reached out his hand.

"I do, and this is the perfect moment indeed." she responded with a smile. They waltzed across the dance floor. He was light on his feet. Guess you have to be if you have to run across ropes and land on small spires. It was actually quite pleasant to dance with him, relaxing. No Carmelita, focus! It's a trap. Unnwind later. Not that you get much chance to unwind. Carmelita was aware she was a bit of a workaholic. And she hasn't been able to have much fun as of late. She can enjoy it while she can before she's forced to arrest him. A few more minutes won't hurt. Yes, this is nice. Wait, how long was she dancing? Oh no, the wings were already gone. Damn it yet again, how could she have allowed herself to be distracted like that?

"Carmelita, there is a little something in your hair." Neyla said flatly.

Two months later...

How did she end up in these situations? That skank Neyla has framed her, and the very police force she once was part off was now chasing her like she was a criminal. It just wasn't fair. And the worst is Cooper had to bail her out. She was not happy. It was Cooper, the one thief she has been chasing for years. She could take him in at this very moment and clear her name. He must know that too. So why did he have to be his usual chivalrous self and save her yet again? "Why do you keep saving me? You're only making it harder for yourself in the future!"

"Maybe so. But it was the right thing to do. No one deserves to be punished for something they didn't do. And a police force with Captain Neyla at the head is not one I trust with your life." Sly pointed out.

"I just don't get you Cooper." Carmelita said. "You have the most reason out of anyone to get me out of the way but yet you clearly want me around."

"It's no fun without you." Sly said as he dropped her off a safe distance, away from the commotion. After the Clockwerk eyes were taken, the Contessa was arrested and Neyla promoted, he had his fair share of excitement for a while. "This is where we part. I promise, I'll find a way to clear your name without turning myself in. I don't want to give this up."

"I could arrest you right now, but I won't. It would not be...fair." Carmelita said. "But don't get cocky, next time we meet, I will capture you!"

"Love to see you try." Sly said with a grin that matches his namesake and left.

A few more months later...

Carmelita couldn't believe it. Everything was so wrong a while back, and now everything was right again. Neyla was revealed as a treacherous bitch whom has worked with the Klaww Gang all along and had taken control over the Clockwerk frame. Carmelita was delighted to help the Coopers take that traitor down and destroy the hate chip, which also ended Clockwerk for good. Cooper gave himself up to clear her name and allow his teammates to escape. She got her job back and a promotion to boot. Yup, life was looking good for her.

He was now sitting in front of her in the police chopper. He was cuffed, helpless and powerless. But he seems comfortable and content. She guessed with the killers of his parents down for good, he couldn't care less, his nightmares were over. She doesn't blame him. Despite being her target for years, she respected him greatly. "That was very noble of you. Giving yourself up, letting your friends escape...not many crooks would do that."

"They are not just my teammates, or my friends. They are my brothers." Sly answered. She could understand that. He spoke up again: "Congrats, by the way. I always knew it would end like this. But I wouldn't have it any other way. After all, you are the only cop I feel I could trust. You have many traits I admire. You're honourable, determined...willing to fight for what's right." Sly said.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere...But thanks anyhow. I admit that out of all the thieves I caught...you are the most unique. Many times you could have left me behind, and other thieves would have, but not you. I thought chivalry was dead but turns out it lives on within you. You're okay Sly...I consider personally overseeing your rehabilitation. Because I feel you deserve better." Carmelita noted.

"We've known each other for a long time...doing our little cops and robbers game. It feels odd to see it end...We had some good times together, though. Remember that time in Guatemala, where I left that arms dealer hang by his shorts for you to find?" Sly said.

"I think that was a bit immature...But I admit that was also really funny." Carmelita said as she giggled a bit. She felt she could relax since Cooper wasn't going anywhere.

"You are beautiful when you laugh. You should do it more often." Sly noted.

"Don't push it, bub!" Carmelita said. Though she found it was nice talking to Sly. They continued talking, not as a cop and a criminal, but just as two people. Comparing past adventures, talking about all kinds of things like art, music...it was almost like a first date. Carmelita never had time to date, and Cooper probably didn't because he was an infamous master thief. But he was pleasant to talk to. "...and then he said: 'That's not a cop, that's my wife!'" Carmelita couldn't believe she was telling jokes. And Sly found them funny.

"Heh, that's a good one. I haven't laughed like that in a while. Not much reason to laugh lately, if you know what I mean. It feels good." Sly said.

"Yeah, I haven't been able either. Laugh in a long time, I mean...Wait, time?" Carmelita realized something as she checked her watch. "We're talking for three hours, we should have reached the police office ages ago." She stood up to talk to the pilot. "Sir, I think you may be flying in circles..." she then noticed there was no pilot, just a bunch of stuff to rig the helicopter to fly in a circle. She turned around to see Sly has undone his cuffs and was using his Paraglider to hop out and escape. His friends have left him a parting gift. "I'LL FIND YOU COOPER!" she yelled out the window, but found her rage subsiding quickly. She turned around to see a spare parachute. She wouldn't be able to catch up to Sly anymore but she'd be able to get home. The chase was on again. Part of her felt relieved. She may never admit it to anyone, but she enjoyed the hunt too. "See you soon, Ringtail."

One year later...

Carmelita had come to the rescue. She was able to repay him for the times he risked his lifefor her. Sly was in the hands of a giant mutant, slowly being crushed to death. But she wouldn't have it. She had blasted the damn monster with her shock pistol so many times he got electric eel spliced in his already jacked up DNA. She was angry at the owner of this island. The nerve of that Dr. M guy, whom after what just happened dared to just talk to her like he did: "Officer, please arrest this thief! He is trespassing on my island."

"I will. Once Cooper is brought to the hospital and I have arrested you for attempted murder." Carmelita said with venom in her voice even those cobra-head mutants didn't have.

"It was self-defence, I protect what is mine!" Doctor M said.

"One: this island is a historical landmark, and you are vandalizing it, island owner or not. Second, whatever genetic experiments you did, they are clearly illegal. Third, that was no self-defence, you tried to outright murder him. Many people have claimed to have done things in self-defence, but you are the worst. You are coming with me!" Carmelita said.

"Such a stupid and short-sighted cop, not seeing what is right in front of her, where the real problem is. I can trust a fool like you as far as I can toss you. Though I can toss you really, really far." Doctor M said. His experiment had woken up from being shocked so much and he was still ready for another round. "Crush her, pulverize her, grind her into paste and toss her in the sea where no one will ever find her!" The experiment roared. But Carmelita was not done. She saw Sly was already being recovered by his friends, and they'd be looking out for his health. "I've repaid my debts..." she thought to herself, and set her Shock Pistol to the 'deadly force' setting. The creature would not be getting up this time.

Four hours later...

"I'll live...barely." Sly said. "Get out of here right now, this place is going to collapse!"

"Not without you!" She said as she put his arm over her shoulder and carried him out. "I'm not letting you go this time."

"I don't want you to let go...ever again." Sly noted. They had made it out barely as the Cooper vault would collapse onto itself.

Sly had left a calling card for his friends to find the rest of the treasure, as he allowed himself to be carried off by Carmelita in her boat. Parts of his body were bandaged up as she put a wet towel on his forehead. "That was close Sly. You have done several dumb things in trying to keep me safe, but this is definately the dumbest. Why do you even bother?"

"Isn't it obvious? Because I love you." Sly said. He had said it, flat-out, directly to her face. He has been penting it up for years. After seeing Bentley with Penelope, he knew what life was really about. And he almost died without having told her. He had to tell her now, before the moment was gone. Carmelita was shocked to hear it. "I always have. I enjoyed everything together. Not only the hunt but the moments we were fighting alongside each other, the times we were just...dancing and talking...and I have been a coward. I almost died without telling you...I know it's sudden, but I felt I would have died for real if I hadn't told you."

"Sly..." that's all Carmelita managed to bring out at that moment

"You probably wouldn't want anything to do with a thief like me. But I am tired. Tired of running. I have already achieved what I wanted in life, avenged my family, lifted a curse on my family line, got to behold the legacy of my ancestors...but nothing compares to being here with you. But after nearly losing all I cared about, I want to leave it all behind, put our differences aside. And see where life will take me." Sly continued.

"You have just given up everything? The riches from the vault, your life of thievery, your very heritage, just for me?" she asked. She could barely believe it.

"You are worth more to me then any of that. You probably won't believe me. Wouldn't blame you. But I still mean it when I say...you are the most wonderful woman in the world. You are brave, strong, fair, compassionate...how could I not love you? I am turning over a new leaf. That's what you wanted, right? To make a honest man out of me? I am happy to oblige."

Carmelita was normally a very reserved woman, always in control of herself. But she couldn't fight her emotions any longer. "I am happy, Sly. But not because I caught you. But because...I love you too. Before you came into my life, I saw the world as black and white. But you learned me a lot, and because of it, I have become a better cop...a better person. And you were always so selfless..." she grabbed his hand. "And now you are willing to give up everything behind for me..." she was crying her eyes out. "I thought I had lost you two times in the past twenty-four hours...and I don't want to let you go this time."

"Believe me, I'm not going anywhere." Sly said. Carmelita bend over and kissed Sly on the lips. The two had remained lip-locked for...they weren't sure, could have been minutes...hours...but they didn't care for that moment. They have gone through so much together and they needed this. When they finally broke apart, all Sly could let out, was: "Wow." he panted for a bit. "So, what is going to happen when we reach land?"

"You'll have to recover in the hospital. Then you'll probably be jailed and await trial. But I may think I can pull a few strings. You may have been a thief, but you also were a hero, you have stolen from the crooked and returned it to their rightful owners. You have saved countless lives...you even deposed a few small dictators among the way. Your skills and knowledge would be incredibly useful...I think I could get you on the police force." she noted.

"You mean at Interpol?" Sly asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You can still take criminals out, though there are a few more...regulations, but its from the other side of the law this time. And this way, we can be together. You're certainly someone I trust to watch my back." she answered.

"Constable Cooper. Doesn't sound too bad. If I get to be with you, then I can certainly get used to it. Besides, it's a lovely back to watch" Sly said. Carmelita rolled her eyes. "Who knew that it would someday end up like this? I only considered it a mere fantasy hours ago. Like a dream." Sly said.

"Then don't wake up, Slyvester Conner Cooper." she said as he kissed Sly's cheek. "But once you're healed and properly inducted in the force...I think we'd have a proper first date. That one time in the helicopter may have felt like one, but I can't count it I'm afraid."

"I would like that too. Though I wonder what your colleagues will think of this?" Sly wondered.

"I don't know, but for now, I don't give a damn!" She said as she leaned over and met his lips again.

"Two lovers, from two different worlds alltogether, yet they found each other. And they were happy. Carmelita had made true to her promise and was able to properly induce Sly into the police force. Despite some regulations he was very effective and he and Carmelita became an unstoppable team. But most important, they were soulmates. And no matter what the future brought, they'd go through it together..." it was read aloud by a mysterious person, whom was reading the story of the proud couple in his book.

Then, he violently snapped the book shut. "And I'm glad you achieved everything you wanted, Sly. Because now that you have everything, I can take it away from you. Enjoy the time you have left, Sly Cooper!" the owner of the voice said. He had a black uniform similar to Sly, even having a similar cane (though black and the hook being sharpened), a mask shaped like Sly's calling card with glowing red eyes, and looking more militaristic overall. This Dark Sly copy then jumped off into the night...

Chapter Text

THE NEW SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
BRAINS AND BRAWN

For Ulysses Puffin, inventor and part-time caretaker at his aunt's orphanage, it was an ordinary day. He he took his daily stroll through the park and decided to sit down and have a picnic. He had sat down on a blanket in the grass, ready to take a nice bite out of a cucumber sandwich, as he suddenly heard someone crying. Ulysses put the food down as he looked around. He went in the direction the crying came from and found a little turtle boy, holding a painful-looking bump on his head. “Hey there, little guy. Are you all right?” Ulysses asked.

“I lost my mommy and daddy and my brother and sister…I ran into a tree…” he cried as he rubbed the sour spot on his head.

“They must still be around here…where did you last see them?” Ulysses asked kindly.

“I don’t know. I can’t see very well. I couldn’t even see where I was coming from.” He cried, sounding a little bit ashamed.

“Oh dear…I think I better help you find them. In the mean time…I think I have a spare set of glasses, I'm not sure if they do much but it's better then nothing.” Ulysses said as he searched his pocket and pulled out glasses like the ones he was wearing. “They may not look pretty but if it works you at least won't run into things anymore.” He said as he put them on the kid’s face.

The turtle boy visibly blinked behind his glasses. “Whoa…I can see! I can see!” he said happily. “Thanks mister!”

“Now, what is your name,  little guy?” Ulysses asked.

“I’m Bentley.” The kid replied.

“I’m Ulysses. But my friends call me Uli. Now, let’s try to find your parents, I bet they must be still looking all over for you.” He said as he picked Bentley up and started to look around the park, his lunch all forgotten on the bench of the park. “Now, you know your parents’ names? You know what they do for a living?”

“Mommy and Daddy are Guy and La. And I have a sis named Peg and a brother named Gus.” Bentley said. “They all build stuff. I wanted to help build stuff too but because I couldn’t see I didn’t do a very good job.”

“I build stuff too. I am an inventor. Though your parents should have invested in a pair of glasses for you. But I’m sure once we find them we can tell them all about it.” Ulysses said.

“I hope we find them soon, I don’t want to be alone.” Bentley whimpered, sounding frightened.

But the police once again came up with nothing. Right now, he stood in front of his old friend, Inspector Montoya Fox. “I’m sorry, Mr. Puffin, but there haven’t been any more leads. I have tried, but there is so little to go by. I ran the names through the database, but it seems no such family exists. Either they are someone without a record or they are somehow erased from our database.” She told him.

“I don’t understand. How can they not exist? How can anyone leave their child behind? How can anyone let their son wander off when they know he can barely see and not give him glasses, why vanish right after their son is lost?” Ulysses started raising his voice, eventually standing up from his seat and nervously walking around in the room.

“Really? Oh Ms. Fox, you are an angel.” Ulysses said.

“hey, we're friends, right? Besides, I know you care for the boy as if he were your own.” Ms. Fox said. “Being a mother, I can only admire such devotion. He really means a lot to you, doesn't he?”

“He reminds me of myself at that age. Talented, gifted...though humble but certainly in need of some confidence. For someone so young he has so much potential. He may become a great inventor or engineer one day..." Ulysses shook his head. "But I can’t be selfish. Whatever happened to his family, he deserves to know what happened, or have some closure in the worst case.”

“I understand. That's why I made the promise in the first place. After my next assignment, I'll focus on this.” Montoya said. “Until then, keep an eye out for him, like you've been doing so far. Your aunt may run the orphanage, but she isn't the warmest person out there. Bentley needs a parental figure to look out for him.”

Bentley was not the only one whom had his own story. There is another story, which took place in a near-rundown garage of sorts. A young pink hippo boy was looking how his mother Hayley, was working on a van. She has been working on it for months. She had started building it from the ground up, and now it was finished. “Whoa mom, it looks great.” He said happily, looking at his mother’s handiwork.

“I guess it does. Can you believe it, Murray? Our very own van. We are going to do so much with it. My deliveries will become easier, and we can use it in the weekends for our trips. It was a lot of hard work, but that's how you get ahead in life. By working hard.” Hayley said.

“I am going to work hard too, mommy! When I grow up, I am going to make a van just like this one.” Murray said. "It will be fast and strong and everything."

“I’m sure you’ll be able to do it. Now, how about we take it for a test drive?” Hayley asked.

Before Murray could answer, someone kicked in the door. A loud slurring voice could be heard: “Stupid git. Who does he think he is, bossing me around…Hayley, what’s for dinner?” it was another hippo, but he was a more greyish in color, with bloodshot baggy eyes, a three day stubble, and the stench of cheap booze following him where he went.

“Humphrey? What are you doing home so early? I thought you had the night shift?” Hayley asked.

The grey hippo grabbed a liquor bottle and started to chug it down like lemonade. “The Chief, that little bitch-ass punk thought he could get away with insulting me to my face. He called me a lazy, old drunk! I am not! I showed him. They didn’t have to kick me out, though.” he growled.

“Darling…have you been drinking again? Please tell me you didn't hit him? You promised you wouldn’t be doing that anymore. You know that our future, and Murray’s, is at stake! We can't cut with my income alone!” She said, crying as she tried to appeal to his better nature.

“No one tells me what I should or shouldn’t do! I can do whatever the Hell I want! And I do not have a problem. I can stop whenever I want. But I just don’t want to. Now go and fix me some dinner.” He shouted in her face.

“Humphrey, please calm down. Murray is still here, you’re scaring him!” Hayley said as a crying Murray ran into her arms, Hayley holding him close and doing her best to comfort him.

“That little wuss needs to grow a backbone. Besides, it is not my fault. It is the Chief's fault, your fault, not mien... All I want is to be left alone. No one should be telling me what to do!” he said as he snatched some keys from her work table.

“No, those are the keys of the new van! It is brand new! And you’re in no state to drive!” Hayley said as she put Murray down and walked towards Humphrey to get him to stop. But he backhands her and knocks her to the ground.

“What did I just tell you? No one tells me what to do!” he said as he climbed into the van, sat down behind the wheel and started the engine.

“Mommy, you all right?” Murray asked frightened as he approached his mother, whom picked herself up and rubbed her cheek, which now sported an ugly bruise.

Humphrey, still drunk of his grey wrinkly ass, inteded to drive forward, out of the garage. But instead he put it in reverse, towards the direction of Murray and Hayley.

“Murray, look out!” Hayley pushed her son out of the way as the van slammed into her, and she was crushed between the wall and the vehicle. Humphrey then drove forward, out of the garage and straight into traffic. He was only on the road for ten seconds before he ran into a tree.

“Mommy!” Murray said as he ran toward his mother’s limp form. “Mommy…” he shook her. “Wake up…please wake up…” But she wouldn't wake up. Never again. “Mommy…” tears ran down the hippo’s cheek as he remained by her side, until the police came to investigate…They took Murray away as his parents’ bodies were both taken away, the young hippo kicking and screaming all the way.

_______________________________

A while later, he ended up at an orphanage. He felt so weak. He was unable to save his mom. He was unable to stop his dad. He was not able to do anything. Hippos were supposed to be big and strong…He was not. He was a disappointment. He had not talked to or interacted with any of the other kids at the orphanage. He just spent all day in his room, watching Mexican wrestling and boxing. He only came out to go to class, to the dinner room or the bathroom. As he returned from the bathroom one day, he could hear some panicked screaming from down the hallway. “Give those back!” Murray looked around the corner to see a turtle boy. A hyena kid was teasing the turtle, having taken his glasses and holding them above the turtle's head, barely out of reach. The turtle frantically jumped up and down, trying to get high enough to reach his glasses. “Please return my glasses, I need them.”

“You want them, come and get them, four-eyes.” The hyena bully mocked. Turtle boy continued to grab for them, but kept failing. “On your right! The other right. Oh wait, that’s my right too!” Bentley kept going for the glasses, only to miss them every time. During one of his attempts to grab them, he ran into a wall, and then started to cry as he was in pain. “Oh, the little baby turtle is crying now!” the Hyena bully said.

Murray couldn’t take it anymore. Whether he was truly strong or not, he couldn’t stand by as the turtle boy was picked on. “Hey, you! Why don’t you pick on someone your own size!” he shouted at the hyena boy.

He was much taller then him, but the hyena was not intimidated. “Stay out of this fatso, I’m just playing with four-eyes here! Who do you even think you are?”

“I am Murray…” Murray said meekly. “Er…THE Murray!” Murray struck a pose, with his hands to his hips, trying to look tough. “And I…er…you just better give his glasses back because I don’t play around!”

“Move aside, no one cares about you!” the hyena kid tried to shove Murray, but Murray’s girth made it impossible for the bully to move him even an inch. The hyena kid pushed harder, but Murray didn't budge.

Murray looked on, not looking amused. “Really?” he thought. He may not consider himself strong yet, but he found he had an advantage over the bully, his sheer size and girth. He then trusted his gut forwards, knocking the hyena boy on his butt as he then dropped the glasses. Murray picked them up. “You better start walking away. Because otherwise…” he lifted his gut, and with a boing-sound effect let it bounce a bit. “I’ll crush you with my mighty body.”

The bully only now started to realize how much smaller and weaker he was then Murray. “I’m going…” he said weakly as he unhanded the glasses, turned tail and ran. “I’m telling Ms. Puffin!” he whined.

Murray wouldn’t care. He picked up the turtle boy and gave his glasses back. “You okay, little buddy?” he asked.

The turtle boy adjusted his glasses and picked up his books and notes. “Er…hey. Thanks for sticking up for me. I hate being short and weak. Everyone is bigger and stronger than me.”  

Murray knew how that felt like. He hid his sadness under a smile and said to him: “No need to worry about that. If they want to pick on you again, they have to go through me. And there is  a lot of me to go through. I am Murray by the way.” He said as he shook Bentley’s hand.

“I’m Bentley. And thanks…you are the only one in this place orphanage whom was ever nice to me. Aside Uli, but he isn’t around all the time.” Bentley answered.

Murray took a look at the notes the turtle boy carried. They looked more like blueprints then anything else. “Whoa…Did you make those? Normally you see those scientists guys on tv draw these. You must be really smart to make them."

“Er…yeah, I like to think of myself as pretty smart. I like to build stuff. I want to be an inventor.” Bentley noted.

“That sounds great. I want to learn how to build stuff too. I want to build a van like my mom did…but I’m not smart enough.” Murray said, a little sadness creeping into his voice.

“I am smart, you are strong. We can help each other. You help me stay safe, I can learn you how to build. We are a  perfect team!” Bentley said.

“Really. Oh, thank you buddy!” he said as he lifted Bentley off the floor and hugged him. “Er…we are buddies, are we?”

“Yes…yes we are.” Bentley said awkwardly. “I never had friends before.”

“Me neither, but we both have now!” Murray said, happier then he ever  felt in a long time.

A few weeks later, Murray and Bentley have become inseparable. No one dared to pick on Bentley with Murray around and they could work together in peace. Bentley was working on his first complete invention, a remote control car, with Murray assisting him. It went well, and it put Bentley in a good mood.

He was in an even better mood as his favorite adult visited. “Hey, little guy! How are you?” Ulysses said happily as he greeted Bentley happily. “And whom is your new friend?”

“This is Murray, he has been keeping the bullies away, he’s real strong." Murray flexed his muscles to show. Bentley continued on: "Murray, this is Uli. He found me after I was lost. He also helped me become smarter.”

“Bentley already was smart, I just taught him stuff. Now, What you have there already looks really impressive. I didn’t build anything like that when I was your age.” Ulysses said.

“I am nearly done, and then we are going to test it. You want to see?” Bentley asked.

“I would like to. But first, a snack break?” Ulysses did a little magic trick he liked. He flicked his wrist and a bunch of cookies appeared in his hand. “I took them from my aunt, but be quiet!” He said as he made a hushing gesture; with one finger to his mouth. His aunt was selfishly hogging the cookies to herself. Not if he had anything to say about it.

“Cookies!” Murray said as he gladly accepted one of the cookies Ulysses gave him. “I really like this guy!” Murray said.

Ulysses chuckled. “I’m glad you finally made a friend, Bentley. Now, show me what you have cooked up, sport.”

“Well you see…All I have left to do is to…” Bentley said as he was going on a long rant about his invention. Murray listened closely even if he understood nothing of the technobabble.

Ulysses had enjoyed his time looking after Bentley. He was glad he was less lonely with Murray by his side. Uli, when not working on his own inventions, continued the investigation of Bentley’s parents. With Montoya’s disappearance he took it upon himself to finish it. He dialed away at a computer as he tracked down a lead. He was cracking a code he stumbled upon, green lines of data code flickering on the screen.

“I am getting close…so very close.” Ulysses said as he dialed so fast his fingers became a blur. “Gotcha!” he said as the codes vanished and files became visible. “Now, tell me what you know…” he said as he tried to access one of the files. But something went wrong with his computer as the screen started to flash. The screen became a blood red, as a large shadowy figure appeared on the screen with yellow glowing eyes. “What the…”

BOOM!

Ulysses' computer had exploded, and any lead he may have had, was lost. Not that it mattered, the explosion of the laptap also meant the end of Ulysses Puffin. The last people whom Bentley and Murray cared about, gone.

Ulysses’ funeral wasn't a big one. Aside from Ms. Puffin himself, he had no other family left. Bentley and Murray were the only other people aside Ms. Puffin, whom attended the funeral. And once again, they were left sad and alone in the world. As soon as it was over, they were dragged right back in the orphanage. Ms. Puffin only cared just enough to attend the funeral of her nephew, but nothing beyond that.

“It’s no fair! We couldn’t be there…I feel so weak.” Murray cried his eyes out.

“It doesn’t make sense, it just doesn't make sense!” Bentley stammered. He was used to knowing all the answers, but now he didn't have any at all. “What did we ever do that we deserve this?”

The two sighed and just continued shedding tears quietly. A few moments later, there was some knocking on the door. Ms. Puffin came in, another kid at her side. It was a raccoon boy with chocolate brown eyes, wearing an over-sized blue hat and carried a hooked cane too big for him. “Murray, Bentley…from now on, you’ll have to share your room with him. Just…try to make him feel at home and play nice.” She said, like she doesn’t know what to say. For the head of the orphanage she doesn't seem to know how to work with children. “So, bye now!” she said as she just left the three of them alone, not caring what would happen afterwards.

“I’m sorry to intrude. She doesn’t seem so nice.” The raccoon boy said. “I’m Sly…” he said. He then noticed the looks on the other two boys’ faces. “You two look sad. Is it because of me?”

“No…We just lost a good friend. We miss him a lot.” Murray replied.

“Really?” Sly asked curiously. “I…lost my parents a week ago, so I know what it’s like…Mom and Dad were attacked by bad people…they took our stuff…it's just not fair!”

“I lost my parents, I lost my brother and sister, I lost my friend…Why is the world so mean to us?” Bentley said.

"Mom..." was all Murray could mutter for now. 

“You know…my family knows the world is full of mean people. So my family took back from them what they take from others. When I grow up, I’m going to do that too.” He noted.

Murray and Bentley sound intrigued. It sounded fantastic. Taking back what was not rightfully taken. “I want to be strong when I grow up. Strong enough to not let anything like that happen again.” Murray said.

“And I want to be smart enough so I will not be taken by surprise again, I want to plan for everything.” Bentley added.

“Since we all want the same, we should be a team!” Sly noted.

“Yeah, a team. Us against the bad guys!” Murray liked the sound of that. “But how are we going to do that?”

“Together. You are smart!” Sly said as he pointed at Bentley. “You are strong.” He said as he pointed at Murray. “And I am quick!” he said as he climbed on top of the bunk bed quickly without the ladder, which was impressive. “I’m sure we can figure something out. So…friends?” Sly asked.

“Friends!” Bentley and Murray said. They had a good feeling about this kid, he clearly knew what their pain was like, what they felt and what they needed to hear. They had the feeling that this would be the start of a wonderful friendship…

Chapter Text

THE NEW SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
TIDE OF VENGEANCE

The Welsh Triangle…a series of islands and waters north of Wales which has gotten a bad rap due to the bad weather and many shipwrecks. It was all the work of a mad genius whom created a Storm Machine. He has been using it in his schemes of piracy. The strange blimp-like machines hovered high in the air above a sort of harbor platform which served as Raleigh’s base of operations…Up until now.

Explosions came from the Harbor-like headquarters that was right below the Storm Machine. Several walrus and squid workers were evacuating, as well as some people whom were kept prisoner and/or forced into slave labor. The latter were survivors the countless shipwrecks the Storm machine caused. But the sabotage sabotage performed on these operations, and the theft of the bigger treasures it held caused it to fall apart. Everyone got out safely, and would head in the direction of same safer waters, where the goons would be ambushed and arrested and the innocent people brought back home.

“Sly! That was not very stealthy or thief-like. Did you really have to do a number on the machinery like that? It could have literally blown up in your face!” Bentley said. Ever since they have started this mission in the Welsh Triangle Sly has been kind of reckless in his actions.

“It worked out didn’t it? And now I have all the Treasure Keys, I am going to go French Cuisine on Raleigh's ass!” Sly said. It still sounded like his wise cracking self, but there was something dark about it.

“Sly…you’re starting to worry me. And I don’t think that cannon is a good idea. Maybe if we can get one of the wrecked planes working…” Bentley suggested.

“No time, this is my one chance to get revenge.” Sly said.

“Revenge…Sly are you even hearing yourself speak? You are clearly not thinking straight. You are losing it, you cannot face Raleigh like that!” Bentley asked.

“Er…you’re breaking up…barely hear you.” Sly said as he made some crackling noises with his mouth.

“Sly, that’s the oldest trick in the book. Now, as a friend I worry for you and ask you politely to take a step back and calm down.” Bentley said.

“I told you what this was about from the start Bentley. This is something I got to do. I’m sorry.” Sly said as he turned his communicator off. He unlocked the cannon, stepped inside of the thing and actually shot himself out and right into the Storm Machine.

Sir Raleigh didn’t expect an entrance like that. “What the…”

“Remember me, you murderous bastard?” Sly said in a dark tone.

“So you’ve been throwing a monkey wrench into my operations…it had to be a Cooper, of course. Connor’s boy. Never thought that without your book you’d be stupid enough to come here. I guess I was mistaken in that regard. Well, now you're here, there is something you got to know…I HATE UNEXPECTED GUESTS!” Raleigh said.

“You should have expected this Raleigh. You think I’d let you get away with murdering my parents and stealing what is rightfully mine? You think THAT YOU WOULD NOT RECEIVE ANY RETRIBUTION FOR THAT?” Sly had raised his voice.

“Oh…I’m so sorry for not properly finishing the job all those years ago…” Raleigh said in a very fake regretful tone. “So allow me to make it up to you now, Cooper! I am going to crush you like the little bug that you are!” Sir Raleigh says as he bloats up to a massive size and jumps at Sly.

Sly dodges and whacks him with the cane, but it bounces off his bloated body. He then jumps up and pins Sly down under him. He then jumped up and intended to continuously bounce on Sly until he was dead, but Sly jumped aside and dodged. Raleigh stuck out his tongue to lash, but Sly jumped over it. Raleigh retracted his tongue and spat it out again, but to Sly, thanks to the Slow Motion jump was able to slow down time and dodge the tongue in mid-air.

He landed, and Raleigh deflated, unable to keep up his bloated form all the time. He performed a Dive Attack on Raleigh (first page he recovered) and knocked him back. As he moved in for another blow, Raleigh kicked Sly with his strong hind legs and Sly was sent flying across the room. Raleigh stuck out his tongue again, but this time Sly caught the tongue with his hands, pulled in Raleigh and whacked him with his cane several times. Raleigh inflated himself to make Sly bounce of him.

Raleigh had become incredibly annoyed. “Enough tomfoolery! I am ending this properly!” Raleigh jumped onto the throne in his room. Suddenly the throne started to transform into some kind of Mech armor around Raleigh. The Mech suit was very simplistic, a cube shape with stubby arms and legs, and a pair of generators on his back. They sparkled with electricity. “Let’s see how you fair when I weaponize the power of my Storm Machine!” Raleigh said. The generators on Raleigh’s back charged up and he fired a lightning bolt from them.

Sly barely managed to dodge it. Then, he tried to rush twoards Raleigh, as suddenly Raleigh’s robot stomped the floor and covered it in ice. Sly slipped and slid around on the ice uncontrollaby, in the direction of Raleigh. Once he was close enough, Raleigh backhanded him and sent him flyinghim across the room, into a wall. Sly tried to get up as Raleigh then charged a sunlight-fueled heat beam, which Sly dodged…but the tip of his tail was set on fire and he rolled onto the ice to put it out. Raleigh then planted the foot of his Mech on Sly’s body, pinning him down. “I admit, you fight well for an untrained Cooper. But this this is where the story ends!”

No! He had come this far already. Sly would not die here. But how would he go up against Raleigh’s mech? Sly looked around the room…Gold and treasure everywhere. Raleigh was a greedy bastard. And greed would be his undoing. Sly grabbed into his pocket and attached something to Raleigh. “What are you…” Raleigh said as suddenly coins and other gold plated stuff from all around the room flew at him with great speed. He flinched back when a bigger piece of treasure slammed into him, knocking him back and unfortunately, obscuring his vision. “Gah! What the dickens is going on?”

Sly managed to get from under Raleigh. “Karin Coopergiwa's Gold Magnet. Set it to maximum!” Sly explained. He then charged at Raleigh and whacked the mech suit with his cane several times. Raleigh tried striking back, but Sly was too fast. All that gold, magnetically attached to his Mech suit was weighing him down. Sly would systematically whack Raleigh any chance he got. “

Stand still, you little rat!”

“You are slipping up, Raleigh. You wouldn't hit the side of a barn, let alone me, even if you used your sunny heat beam.” Sly mocked.

“Oh yeah? Take a load of this!” Raleigh said as he fired more heat beams, but Sly dodged all the shots. Raleigh being slowed down by the magnetically attached treasure only worked to Sly's advantage. The ice that covered the floor earlier now had melted into puddles. Sly charged in, slid under the legs of Raleigh’s mech, before sweeping the legs from under it, and it fell down on the wet floor.

“Fire isn’t really your element? Maybe you should try lightning. But then again, that wouldn’t be able hit me either.. Not when they're coming from you.” Sly said.

“Oh, let's see about that, Fried Cooper!” Raleigh said as he called upon the lightning again…which was not a good idea since the entire floor was now covered in water from the molten ice. Sly just jumped on top of a statue in the room, while Raleigh was being electrocuted by his own attack. His arrogance and pride have caused his downfall. After his Mech short-circuited, it fell down, and Raleigh stumbled out dazed, singed in places and covered in sooth. 

The weakened Raleigh was now easily pinned down by Sly, whom now loomed over the Amphibian menacingly. Raleigh saw the hate in his eyes. And he was in no longer in any state to fight back against him. “It ends here Raleigh.” Sly growled. 

“Please…Have mercy. I’m sorry about your father...It was an idea from the others. I’ll give you anything you want; riches, power…I have connections. I’ll even tell you how to the rest of the…” Raleigh was kicked in the stomach by Sly. “Ugh!”

“You sicken me. You are a slimy, cowardly git whom rats out his friends when things are looking bad. Born into a life of wealth, with all the luxury you can dream off and you still resort to stealing from others? And now you grovel before me, the son of the man you helped kill in cold blood? You are pathetic. I am ending your feeble existence here!” Sly raised his cane. One well placed blow, and Raleigh would be no more. 

Raleigh whimpered and put his hands in front of him as he closed his eyes…and he looked so sad and pathetic. This was one of the infamous Fiendish Five? He had expected someone more frightening. But this guy, take his toys away and he is nothing. Sly found himself hesitating…Raleigh was one of his father’s murderers, and many others lost their lives to the storms he whipped up with his inventions…But would that make it right to kill him in return?

He then remembered what his father always said: “Sly, us Coopers are not ordinary thieves. We are not in this because we desire power or riches. We exist because we steal back what was unrightfully taken from innocent people whom cannot protect themselves from these crooks. We are the untold heroes, working outside of the law. We are Master Thieves, more then the average thief…because we are the better person.”

The better person…Killing Raleigh won’t bring his father back…and it would not make him the better person. Sly roared and slammed down his cane, but not into Raleigh’s face. He instead slammed it into the ground next to Raleigh's ugly mug. Raleigh was confused. Sly spoke up: “No! I am a Cooper. I am not a murderer. Us Coopers take out creeps like you to prevent them from doing harm to others. I won’t sink to your level. I thwarted your operations, I stole your treasures, I freed your slaves. Once I get back the last pages of the book, my work here is done.”

Sly moved towards a vault in the wall, and cracked it. He took the last of Raleigh's Thievius Raccoonus pages, and placed them back into the legendary Book's cover. “The police can have you now. Rot in jail, you filthy toad!”

“You’ve made a mistake. You should have finished me. I will eventually escape and I will finish the job, unlike you!” Raleigh said, feeling confident once again now he knew Sly wouldn’t kill him. He was too weak to move but he tried to make a jab at Sly anyhow.

“You couldn’t beat me when I didn’t have the book. You won’t be able to beat me now I have the pages you stole. Let it be your punishment, for you to always suffer humiliation at the hands of a Cooper. That you couldn't get rid of us. That you always will fear us, Raleigh.” Sly said.

“You won’t get far with that attitude, Cooper. I am just a pirate. But the others…Muggshot, Ruby, Panda King, freakin' Clockwerk…they are much worse than me. You won’t live to see the reassembly of your precious family book completed.” Raleigh coughed.

Sly moved over to him. “If they are all as overconfident as you were, then I'm not worried.” With that Sly kicked Raleigh in the face, knocking him out. Sly left in an escape pod, but Raleigh would be found hours later by the police, whom arrested him on the spot.

Back at the van, Bentley and Murray confronted Sly. “Well, you got a fifth of the book back. You made it out...But that doesn’t change the fact you struck out on your own, that you hung up on us! You were reckless! You nearly got yourself killed. This is not what we signed up for!” Bentley said.

“Yeah, Sly! I thought we were doing the right thing but then you got all...Freaky. And you cut us off, we couldn't see or hear you.” Murray added nervously and worried.

“I know. The mission should have been just taking back my birthright and stopping five criminal masterminds; But I made it a quest for vengeance. Which was against everything my family name stood for. I am ashamed that I let myself be consumed like that. And in the process I ditched you. I’m sorry guys. I would understand if you wouldn’t care to go on with me.” Sly said.

“No way, we’re not leaving you behind! You can’t continue on alone. You need our help. Besides, the Fiendish Five need to be brought down. Only…try to keep your mind clear in the future and don’t lose it again, okay?” Bentley asked.

“Yeah. We’re a team, we’re a family, we stick together. We just don’t want you to go psycho again.” Murray added.

Sly sighed. “Thanks guys. I am counting on you to keep me grounded next time I would stray. That’s why I need you, not just for your brains and brawn. I need your support. And I barely got out of there alive. So we should play it smarter on our next big heist”

“Now you’re making sense again.” Murray said as he patted Sly’s back. “But…where are we going next?”

“Judging from both the police and Raleigh's files…we can find the next member of the Fiendish Five in Mesa City, in Utah.” Bentley said.

“It has been a while since I’ve been back in the US…I wish I could have gone back under better circumstances. But we got a job to do.” Sly said. "Let's set course for overseas!" 

Chapter Text

THE SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
DOG DAY AFTERNOON

It has been a few weeks since Sly out Sir Raleigh, the first member of the Fiendish Five, one of the five people whom had a hand in his parents' deaths. He barely had refrained himself from killing Raleigh, because he decided to be the better man. Because his father wouldn't have wanted him to go down that path. But Raleigh was just the start. He expected the other four members to be stronger, and more vicious.

He was warned about Muggshot from Raleigh himself. That he was big enough to crush Sly like a bug, that he had tight security. And while that was true, Sly knew that there was no security that could keep a Cooper out, and that Muggshot may be strong but not invincible. So he had snuck in, disabled his gambling empire, illegal street races and underground fight clubs and left a trail of breadcrumbs for Carmelita Fox later. Now he would go on to face the top dog himself.

Honestly, he was no longer impressed when the big, purple bulldog opened his mouth: "What? My boys have been yapping about some big mysterious dude running around cracking skulls and, and this is it?! You're the monkey wrench in my operation? Some scrawny rat with a stick... wait a second... I've seen that stick before."

"Maybe when my father knocked your block off with it?" Sly suggested. Hopefully that would get the idiot to catch on, it would not be half as satisfying if the dolt didn't know why he would get his ass kicked. 

"Your father? Wow, you're a Cooper?" Muggshot asked surprised. Oh, so you can teach a dog new tricks. "You know, that Thingus Raccamagoocus had a lot of nice pictures, but way too many big words." Sly didn't know what made him angrier, the fact the idiot mispronounced the name of his family's greatest treasure, or the fact he couldn't understand the words inside. They were not that hard. Ergo, Muggshot is a meathead. 

But oh well, let's test the waters on how thick he really is. "So you don't mind just handing it over?"

"What are you kidding? You break into my place, steal my stuff and trash the joint, and you think I'd just hand youse the book over?" Muggshot shouted angrily. Ok, he wasn't that stupid. "I feel transgressed and violated. Let's rock!" Muggshot said as he pulled out a pair of guns and rushed at him. Well, let's see what this guy was made off. 

Apparently the guy was made of some really strong stuff. And the fact he was built like a gorilla made sure Sly couldn’t just whack him with his cane. Believe it, he tried that. The blow that had come next had left him wobbling, like he had hit a steel girder instead of a person. And that person had taken advantage of Sly being stunned by the knock-back to backhand him. Sly was flung across the room in a wall, and fell to the floor.

“Is this da way youse are going out, Cooper? Lying on your belly, at mah feet? Your dad stood tall and proud before he was offed. Youse are not half the man he was and whenever he hit me with that cane of his, I could actually feel it!” Muggshot taunted. He raised his two favorite guns at Sly.

But Sly refused to go down. He picked himself up, and used his Speed Up technique on himself, making him fast enough to dodge the gunfire that was aimed his way. He waited until Muggshot stopped (the guns would overheat or needed to be reloaded eventually). He then got in close and did a Knockout Dive. However, he bounced off again, but this time he landed on his feet and didn't wobble as much. But Muggshot has barely moved an inch. He then decides, to try and whack Sly with his guns, the raccoon being close enough for a physical beatdown. Sly jumped over Muggshot's hammy arm and whacked at Muggshot's face. However he only shook his head and smirked and then rushed at Sly, knocking him back with a headbutt.

"Didn'tcha learn it yet, Cooper? Ya can't hurt me. But I can hurt you! Real bad I might add." Muggshot taunted.

Sly had to give him that, he would not be able to hurt Muggshot with his cane. But there was something that Muggshot failed to take into account. A fight wasn't won through physical prowess alone. Crystal ornaments looked pretty and brought prestige, and mirrors to show the vain bulldog his ugly mug everywhere…but combined with the poor lighting, it was a bad combination. Sly grabbed the mirror at his side and turned it so that the light reflected on one of the crystal ornaments. Luckily his mask came with lenses to filter out bright lights  but Muggshot didn't have that luxury.

The bright light reflected of the crystal shone into his face as Muggshot yelled out. “Argh! My eyes. God damnit, if I ever mah hands on the idjot whom designed this place I'm going to grind him into a paste and serve it on a sandwich for lunch!” Sly wasn’t done as he took off his hat, and tossed it at Muggshot like a frisbee. It exploded right in front of Muggshot, knocking him back and destroying his guns. "My beautiful guns are destroyed!" 

Muggshot recomposed himself, lifted his huge arms and smashed the ground so hard, the crystals across the area all shattered into bits. “There, no more lightshows. Now I’m going to turn you into a Davy Crocket-hat!” Muggshot rushed at what he thought was Sly…only for when he punched into Sly, the image disappeared and he punched air. “What the…” He had fallen for one of the moves Sly learned from the Thievius Raccoonus pages he stole from one of Muggshot’s vaults: the Thief Replica. A solid hologram, an illusion, and of course the big lumbering brute fell for it.

Sly then swung in, Tarzan-style. The momentum added more power to the blow he would give Muggshot, knocking him off his feet...and the fact the floor was covered in crystal shards and Muggshot was only wearing a white, sleeveless undershirt, he roared in pain as those shards dug into his skin. But that wouldn't be the end of his suffering, as something big cast a shadow over Muggshot and it was growing bigger. Muggshot looked up to see his prized chandelier, which was the size of a mack truck, fall towards him. “Mommy…” Muggshot whimpered as the chandelier landed on top of him and pinned him to the ground; He was still alive, he was too bulky to die from that, but he couldn’t move a muscle. “Ugh…A big strong guy like me, beaten by a scrawny rat like you. It ain’t fair. I have trained all my life to becoming this big and strong, and all for nuthin’ in the end.” He whined.

“You know…After I see what a slimy worm Raleigh was, I expected you to be worse. But…I looked up your files. You were bullied, weren’t you? That’s why you trained so hard, you overcompensate by buffing yourself up like a beefcake. But despite what a git you are, I can’t help to feel a bit of sorry. My life at the orphanage…I know what it was like being bullied. But unlike you I made friends, I had someone to fall back upon, whom keep me on the right track. If you had someone like Bentley and Murray in your youth…things may have gone different.” Sly said.

Muggshot let out a puppy-like whimper. “You Coopers always had everythin’. While I got nuthin’. It ain’t fair.”

“It also wasn’t fair to take a father from his child. I may never forgive you for the part you played in his death, but seeing that underneath that big muscular man is a scared child…" Sly said. "You may have bigger muscles...but I still came out the stronger person between the two of us. I know it is not your forte, but try to think about that." Sly went towards Muggshot's priced shair and took the pages from the vault that was underneath it. "I’ll just take the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus and leave it at that. I don’t want to see your mug ever again. The police will handle you, and you are out of my life.” Sly said as he moved towards the vault.

“You better watch your step, Sly. Raleigh was a pirate, I am a crime boss…But Ruby is a scary woman. In all kinds of voodoo and hoo-doo. She wields power not from this woild. You are not prepared to deal with her.” Muggshot growled.

“Let’s just see about that.” Sly said as he now held the last of Muggshot’s stolen Thievius Racconus pages. “And my great-grand pappy Tenessee’s rail walk and rail slide will help me greatly.” Sly turned around and left. The Police would need a small army to contain and transport Muggshot, but he was certain he would be living far less luxurious, in a residence with bars on the window.

Sly thought back to what he said to Muggshot. It is true, he suffered bullying at the orphanage, and the caretaker did nothing to stop it. He could have turned out like Muggshot. He nearly did, if he had killed Raleigh he would go down the same slope that Muggshot has gone through. That's why he wasn't willing to use lethal force this time. In a way Muggshot is a twisted reflection of himself. A big, brutish idiotic reflection but a sort of reflection nonetheless.

It was odd. He had expected Muggshot to be a typical criminal, but there was more to it. It had made him think about himself more. He had promised his friends to not go as nuts as he did as with Raleigh, but having thought things through, and nearly ending up like Muggshot, he felt that the world looked far less black and white now. 

Chapter Text

Sly moved towards her, crouching down next to her. "You know, I expected a big voodoo mistress to be way creepier. But I see what you were doing. Your behavior, your taunts, your affinity for games…I understand. You were feared by others, never got anyone to play with excepts ghosts and ghouls. You were cheated out of your childhood. I know what that’s like…” Sly said.

“You really do.” Mz. Ruby said as she knew what he was talking about. “I am a coward. When our leader brought us together…I didn’t want to go as far as we did. But unlike your father, I never was brave. Your dad, amazing man…even when he was faced with death, he was defiant, he showed no fear…even in death he beat me. And I regret it to this day. I didn’t want to condemn another to a messed up childhood, like mine was. But those words mean nothing now, do they?”

“It won’t change a thing, no.” Sly said. He took back the last of Ruby’s Thievius Raccoonus pages. They contained the invisibility technique of his ancestor Slytunkhamen. “But I used to think all of you were monsters. I thought the people whom killed my parents would be the worst kind of people in the world. But some of you just seem like people whom made the wrong choices.”

“Most of us did. But not our leader. I suggest that you stop now. You probably will be able to handle the Panda King, but you won’t be able to handle him… He is a true demon. He is so feared, people don't dare to speak his name. I do not dare to speak his name and I'm the creepy voodoo priestess. So if you really value your life…Turn back. Whether you go to China or not, it doesn't matter. Do not go further then Panda King.” Mz. Ruby.

“I will not. I go all the way, or I won't do anything at all.” Sly said as he put away the loot in his backpack. "I get better as a thief with every heist, I get stronger with every foe I beat. By the time I reach him, I can handle him."

“You are brave, young Cooper. But do not get cocky. Dark magic is not the most fearsome force in the world.” Mz. Ruby said. After that, she lost consciousness, the battle being too much for her.

Sly sighed. Raleigh had disgusted him. Muggshot gave him mixed feelings, but Ruby…he pitied her. It was weird, three of the five people that he wanted to hunt down with a vengeance, and two of them were…relate-able.

“Are you feeling okay, Sly?” Bentley asked as they were in the van back to their home in Paris to plan their next move.

“I guess. But I am with so many questions. With Muggshot and Ruby, I expected more typical bad guys, like the ones you see in movies. But they were different. They did bad things, but I couldn’t call them cartoonishly evil. They had mean streaks but they were not without regrets. I just feel they lost their way. Am I going too soft?” Sly asked.

“You’re making it too difficult.” Murray said, from behind the wheel. “Anyone can do bad or good things right? It’s what choice you make. You chose to spare them, right?” Murray asked. “And they chose to do bad. And they can choose if they want to change from here on.”

“You are really having a moment, Murray…are you feeling well?” Sly asked.

“Hey, I am not as smart as Bentley but I’m not that kind of dumb. I pick up a few things as well. Speaking off picking up, are we going to stop by the McDonalds on the way? I’m getting quite hungry…I could eat like a dozen cheeseburgers! With extra pickles.”

“Now that is the Murray I know.” Sly said. “But Murray, in all seriousness. Don’t change. You have a good heart. I need you to remind me I’m supposed to have one too.”

“Anytime, bro!” Murray said, raising his thumb in the air.

“There are things we managed to learn from their files. But no matter what you know about the people, meeting them in person is quite different then what you learn from reading up on them;” Bentley said. “Science is easy, understanding people is hard.”

“Welcome to the real world. I guess we all have learned the world isn’t as black and white as we thought.” Sly said. “Though I doubt with the next person we face we will get another odd case. Panda King…I wonder what he has in store…”

Chapter Text

THE NEW SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
THE PANDA PRINCESS

Murray was excited. He didn't get to go out in the field a lot. Mostly he was driving the van. He only had come out during two operations: At Muggshot's and at Panda King's. Both times he obtained a few Treasure Keys. He had entered a race and an underground fighting ring at Muggshot's, and he was doing the same in the Panda King's stronghold. He had already obtained one key from beating the monkeys at racing. Now he was in the underground fighting ring to obtain another.

Murray's opponent, a big gorilla, was grabbed by Murray from behind, before being lifted over his head and suplexed into the ground. The gorilla was knocked out that very instant. "And Silverback is down!" the announcer, a small spidermonkey, said. "The newbie is a tough cookie, that's for sure! But will he crumble while fighting the next opponent? Meet the Hood!"

A new person stepped into the ring. She was slimmer then the gorilla, but had a bit of bulk on her. True to her name her face was obscured by a hood and kabuki mask she wore. For the rest she wore a traditional Kung-Fu outfit and bandages around her hands and feet, hiding her species. She took a polite bow, with her left hand outstretched over the other hand, which was curled into a fist.

"Er...I...er, the Murray does not hit girls." Murray said nervously.

The Hood thrusted out her hands forward so fast Murray couldn't even see and was tossed in an opposite wall. "I can see why." she muttered. She slowly stepped towards him. "Your chivalry is admirable but misplaced. I am a strong woman. It would be more disrespectful to me if you don't fight back."

"I can vouch for the 'strong' part." Murray said. He got up and dusted his arms. "All right. I guess I can cut a bit loose. So you...er...you better watch out...I am really strong too. Because...I'm the Murray." Murray had tried way too desperately to sound cool.

He rushed at her, but he was sloppy and she easily dodged his fist by stepping backwards. "You're still hesitating. To boot, you try too hard to be confident, but you only show yourself more vulnerable. You have the skills, but you need to cut the chains that bind you. You came to test your strength? Then do it, you will never know if you hold back." she said as she kept dodging, before grabbing one of his wrists, twist his arm behind his back, then kick his shin, forcing him on one knee.

She leaned in and whispered in his ear. "I know you work for the Cooper Clan. They are not my enemy. But if you want to reach the Panda King and stop him, you can't let yourself be the reason the team is imbalanced, held back. If you don't toughen up enough he'll be too busy watching your back to be a proper thief. You don't want to be weak, do you?" she asked.

"No...Not weak! Never again!" Murray said as he forced himself up, knocking the Hood back as he suddenly took on a different tone and shouted: "The Murray is like a demolition derby, crashes into everyone and wreck their shit!" He then rushed at her again, but didn't held back as he rapidly started throwing punches.

Hood still dodged carefully. But she wasn't given much time to try and counter. She backflipped and jumped up in the rafters before jumping down with a flying kick. Murray was knocked back. Hood than moved in but Murray got up faster then anticipated. He grabbed her in a bear hug, then jumped up, spinning around in the air before slamming down into the ground. The Hood stumbled up, ready for another pose. She was a much more experienced fighter and could take the punishment and probably would still win. But oddly enough... "I surrender." she said as she bowed.

The fighters around the ring were surprised. "But...we're not done." Murray said. He felt like he was just getting warmed up.

"We are. I didn't come here to win. I came here to give you a push in the right direction. To ignite a fire within you. And I succeeded. You didn't hesitate anymore, you showed confidence..." she snagged the Treasure Key and tossed it towards Murray, whom caught it. "You have a long way to go, but nothing that more training won't fix. You may handle these simple goons, but you'll fight stronger foes in the future. Show them the very same Murray you showed to me." Hood said. She then handed two other things to him. Both slips of paper.

"What are these?" Murray asked.

"One of these papers show how to translate that Russian dialect in the writings you saw on that one particular Thievius Raccoonus page." she said.

"And the other one?" Murray asked.

"That's my chat address." she said in a tone that sounded less serious and a bit more playful and flirty. Murray turned a bit red. "I thought I would like to hear more about your progress in the near future." she strolled away and Murray swore she deliberately started shaking her hips like that.

"Wait, what is your real name? And why are you helping us?" Murray asked.

"You'll learn soon enough. But only when you guys reach the Panda King." she said. She then walked out the door.

"Ok he's stepping up his game. Those fireballs are fast...But I can be really fast as well!" Sly muttered. He then used his slow down time in his surroundings, but at the same time used the Fast Time on himself so that he could move faster, a combination of two which made sure he was nothing but a blue blur to the Panda King. He could only keep this power up for a few seconds, but he got a few good hits in as a blur and got close enough in the meantime so Panda King couldn't aim his fireballs properly and he was forced to rely on close combat.

But in that regard Panda King was also stepping up, as he was rapidly launching a series of fiery punches and kicks which forces Sly on the defensive, dodging or blocking with his cane. Luckily, thanks to the Hood's translation guide, Sly had translated the last Thievius Raccoonus Page. And it included a Stun move. Sly slammed his cane into the ground, and there was a flashbang. Thanks to the filters in his mask's lenses he wasn't affected but Panda King was paralyzed. It was only a few seconds, but Sly took advantage of those seconds by whacking the Panda King a few times. He then struck the Panda King's legs, making him topple over. Sly then jumped up, and did a diving attack right into the Panda King's gut, knocking the wind out of him. The Panda King coughed. "Your skills with that cane is unparalleled...you win." he said sadly.

"Good." Sly said. "You know, from a guy calling himself 'king' I expected more. I heard about being snubbed badly, but you took it a bit too far, don't you think? All this because some rich bozos didn't want to buy your firecrackers."

"You think it is all about that?" Panda King sounded furious, though from the beating he received he couldn't get up. "I needed that money! I needed it for medicine. For my wife! I begged them to buy the fireworks, so I could buy what she needed, but they laughed at me! They didn't care for the life of a 'peasant woman'." Sly admit, that statement had taken him back. He didn't know about his wife...though he was not done ranting. "Do you know what it does to you, to lose a loved one due to the greed and cruelty of..." The Panda King's face mellowed as it dawned on him. "You do...I..."

Sly was looking at him with a look that mixed anger and pity. "You know what it is like to have someone taken from you...and yet you did nothing to change my father's fate. In your anger you became selfish and didn't realize others may have suffered like you did. You became what you hated most."

"I...I was a fool." For the first time in years, his anger cooled down. "I took a father from his child...a child no older then my own at the time."

"You have a child?" Sly asked, surprised. The Fiendish Five was full of surprises. This was the biggest surprise though, that one of them had enough humanity to actually fall in love and start a family.

"I have...a beautiful daughter. But I left her to be raised by my late wife's sister. I let myself to be consumed by revenge, causing me to distance myself from those I cared about. I was a terrible father. I only kept enough decency to not drag her with me in the world of crime." The Panda King was now visibly in tears, as the rage that consumed him for so long hadn't given him the time to properly grief. "What have I done?"

Sly didn't know what to say, or do. Mz. Ruby had shown regret. But the Panda King actually had become a blubbering mess in front of him. Few things across the months went according to what he had been expecting. It was then that another voice came from the other side of the room. "I'll take it from here."

Sly recognized the newcomer. "Hood?" 

"Yes, yes I am." she said as she undid the bandages around her limbs and removed her namesake hood and mask. She revealed herself to be a female Panda. "My real name is Jing King...and the Panda King, he is my father." she explained.

Sly's eyes went wide, and the Panda King stared at her with a mix of bewilderment and sadness. "Jing? Is it really you?" Panda King asked.

"It is me, father." she said as she walked up to him and crouched down near him. "And I have been helping the Cooper gang since they came here. I knew that Cooper would defeat you...and get you with both feet on the ground again. I...I wanted my father back."

"Jing...you may have succeeded in making me see the error of my ways, but the father you knew cannot come back. I have done horrible things. I helped kill a man. I buried villages in the snow...I was so consumed by my anger, revenge. How could you even look at me, let alone want me back?" Panda King said, half crying and half shouting.

"A part of me is disgusted of what you've had become, I won't deny. But another part, the little girl in me, still loves her father." Jing King grabbed her father's hand. "Please...father. Let us stop the foolishness here. Turn yourself in and promise to do better...to become a good man once more."

The Panda King looked his daughter in the eyes. He turned around to Sly, then back to Jing King. Sly made his face unreadable, as conflicting emotions went through him. Panda King was still one of his father's murderers...But he was also a father of Jing King, a girl whom has been helping them this whole time. But if he got a chance to get his father back, like Jing King had...he would also have taken it.

The Panda King sighed. "Sly...the pages of the Thievius raccoonus are hidden in the floor at the top of this temple. Take them, and whatever else you need, and then...go home. Do not persue Clockwerk. Keep yourself safe. Live up to the legacy you inherited but end your journey here."

"I am going after Clockwerk. I am not afraid of him. I can handle him." Sly said. "I am not ready to forgive you, but I am just going to leave you alone after this. As long as you do as your daughter says, get your act together and due something better with your life. But I want you out of mine." Sly said.

"Not to worry Cooper. I no longer wish to bring further grief to your family line. But be warned about Clockwerk: unlike me he has no regrets, no sense of remorse. He doesn't know anything else but hate. It is what has kept him going. He is not a person, he's a monster, a demon. He is not in it for glory, riches, or revenge. He just wants you dead. So I warn you again, do not go after him." Panda King said.

"I am not backing down. I have come this far. I wanted to make sure he would not harm anyone ever again. And I'll make sure of this. This started out as recovering my legacy, but it has become much more than that. People suffer because of the Fiendish Five's schemes. I am putting a stop to it." Sly said.

"You Coopers, you are a remarkable bunch." Panda King said.

"Cooper, I want to thank you for helping my father see the light. I owe you and your friends a lot." Jing said.

"We're even. You helped us get here. You don't owe me anything. Just make sure your father behaves." Sly said as he broke open the floor and took the pages.

"And say 'hi' to Murray from me. Tell him I'm first catching up with my dad and then we'll speak again soon." Jing King added.

Sly chuckled slightly. "I'm certain to tell him. I guess...until we meet again." Sly said as he jumped out of the temple, and grabbed his paraglider, gliding off in the distance. The police would soon be all over the temple, but Panda King would not resist arrest.

Sly however, was not done. There was still one Fiendish Five member to go after. Clockwerk. The one the world knew the least about, but had the most reason to fear. The number one criminal in the world. Odd thing was that the silhouette in his file, the only picture they had of him, also appeared in drawings and pictures of the Thievius Raccoonus...what did this mean?

"I'm not sure what is going on with Clockwerk, but it will be a matter of time before I find out." Sly said. He would not be deterred. He would go on until the very end.

Chapter Text

THE NEW SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
THE FROZEN HEART

Sly had finally come this far…He had entered the stronghold of the Fiendish Five's leader, the most dangerous and most elusive person in the world. The one whom gathered Sir Raleigh, Mz. Ruby, Muggshot and Panda King as a murderous mercenary force to kill his parents. He had to go through robotic falcons, rocky avalanches, lava slugs and a deadly gas chamber, but he made it. For this face-off, Sly had equipped himself with Carmelita's jetpack, which had a pair of powerful turrets on top of it as well.

The person…no, thing in front of him had the appearance of a robotic bird. It was clearly some sort of own, but it also seemed to have the most frightening aspects of other birds of prey. Its yellow optics glowed menacingly. While being robotic, in these optics you saw he was no mere machine, but that he was intelligent and merciless. “Sly Cooper…You’ve made it this far. You defeated my cohorts, you escaped my gas chamber and you destroyed my Death Ray. You Coopers always found a way to stop me.” His voice sounded distorted, unnatural, yet sophisticated, and it sounded frightening as hell.

“So the drawings and pictures in the Thievius Raccoonus. That was you! How old are you?” Sly asked.

Clockwerk responded; “Perfection has no age…I have been rivals with your Clan from the very start. They prided themselves as being 'honourable'. Those sentiments were a weakness and I discarded those to be utterly efficient. Yet I always fell behind to your ancestors. I refused to lose to such bleeding hearts. My hate became the prime ingredient in the Fountain of Youth, keeping me alive for millennia. And over time, I discarded the limitations of a mortal body for a machine of utter destruction. That way I would never be overshadowed again.”

“You have been causing all this misery, all this suffering, you have been killing my family and innocent people just because you were jealous?” Sly ask, disgust present in his voice.

“I was not jealous! Your family didn’t deserve the title of Master Thief. So by exceeding them I would prove myself the only one worthy. And I nearly had you and that meddling vixen, but your little reptilian friend managed to hack his way through…No one has ever done that, I would be impressed if I wasn’t this angry. Last person whom tried…Didn’t live to tell the tale. He didn’t even mean to, he just wanted to find another meddling cop vixen that got in my way. Wasn't be anything left of her to find anyway, so it was a fool's errand.” Clockwerk said.

Carmelita, whom has been listening in, froze. Things started to click. “Mom…” she muttered. Her mother went missing after a mission in Russia. That meant Clockwerk had killed her too.

And Bentley…he knew how close Ulysses was to Carmelita’s mom. The explosion. “Uli…He killed them. He killed them all!” Bentley’s voice shook, like he didn’t know how to process the similar sentiments of shock, anger and sadness.

“You! You killed all of them! They did nothing to you and you killed them! You are not a person, you are a monster, you’re insane!” Sly said, venomous rage dripping from his voice.

“Survival of the fittest. Back in my time it was a thing. People over the years have deluded themselves that there is anything else to life. They were obstacles, and for me to thrive I had to remove them.” Clockwerk said. He had no regret, no remorse in his voice, he rather spoke…fondly of it.

“Then there is one more thing I don’t get. If you hated my family so much, why did you let me live? You knew Connor Cooper had a son, right?” Sly asked.

“I wanted to prove something. That without your precious book, you Coopers are nothing!” Clockwerk said. “Even when you did take up the thieving mantle of your father, I had expected you to get killed by your foolishness.” Sly then chuckled slightly. “What is so funny?” Clockwerk asked. The sophisticated robotic tone was still there but there was some frustration.

“You are the real fool, Clockwerk. The Thievius Raccoonus didn’t create great thieves. Great thieves created the Thievius Raccoonus. The Cooper Clan’s power comes from conviction, skill, wits, honour, will and perseverance, the book is just a tool. You can take tools away, but we'd always could make another. I’m still a Cooper regardless of whether I have the book or not. But as for you, you take your tools away, the robot body, the army of monsters…and you are just a pitiful old bird.” Sly said.

“ENOUGH!” Clockwerk’s voice raised and anger was clear in his voice. “Enough idle prattle. I am going to finish you like I finished your father. Your bloodline will end and the only Master Thief will be Clockwerk!” The old metallic bird was done taunting and intimidating Sly and just wanted to rip him limb from limb. He shot at Sly, whom managed to fly out of the way of Clockwerk’s sharp claws and beak. He had quickly gone used to the jetpack. Sly then fired the cannons on the jetpack at him, but it didn’t even scratch him. “Pathetic!” Clockwerk charged into Sly, whom was sent spiralling through the sky.

Sly barely managed to regain control before he would have fallen into the lava, shooting back up, and firing at will. But again the bullets didn’t do anything. He did have to play it differently. Clockwerk gave Sly little time as he fired energy blasts from his eyes, Sly flying to avoid. Clockwerk on his heels. Sly remembered he was still in a volcano. He then did several aerial tricks, luring Clockwerk in. Being a bird, he may a master of the sky, but he was still arrogant. Sly avoided his energy blasts and switched up his strategy.

First, after taking a sharp turn he had Clockwerk crash through a stone pillar, but he charged through like it wasn’t even there. After that failed, Sly shot up, and then straight down, with Clockwerk after him. He pulled up at the last second before he touched the lava. Clockwerk due to his size, couldn’t pull up in time and plunged in. Sly thought he had won until Clockwerk emerged from the lava, red hot but still intact. “You fool! You thought I’d have set up shop in a volcano if I didn’t know I could survive here?”

Sly responded by pelting Clockwerk with bullets from the jetpack’s turrets. With Clockwerk still fresh from his lava bath, his armoured form was weakened and the bullets shredded through. “You’re not looking so hot now, are you?” Sly said with a confident smirk.

Clockwerk responded angrily: “You think this is a joke?”

“You are a joke. Thousands of years and you still couldn’t catch up to my family. And for what? Your pettiness? Just to stroke your ego? You used to haunt my nightmares. I was afraid of you as a kid. But no more! I have grown up and learned the boogeyman doesn't exist. You have no power over me!” Sly said, with determination in his eyes.

Clockwerk responded coldly: “I’ll renew your fear!” The bullet holes in Clockwerk’s armor started to close. “I have an autorepair system. Nothing you can do can keep me down. And I won’t fall for the same tricks again.”

It was then that an electric shot hit Clockwerk in the chest, making him stagger in the sky. Sly noticed part of the chest still sparked. He took a shot at it, and the weakened armour was blasted off. Sly turned around to see Carmelita, aiming her shock pistol at the old bird. “Let’s do this Cooper…For our parents!” she said with determination. Sly nodded in agreement.

“You…she-dog!” Clockwerk fired missiles in Carmelita’s direction, whom used her jumping abilities to jump out of the way, and landing on a different bit of rock wall. Clockwerk wanted to resume the barrage, as several other bullets struck him in the back. At the edge of the lava pool, the Cooper Van stood. Murray at the wheel, Bentley at the turrets.

“This one’s for Uli, you murderous mechanical monster!” Bentley said.

“Yeah, what he said!” Murray added.

Clockwerk was then struck by Sly’s bullets again, in the back on the same spot where Bentley had fired. “Argh! The only thing almost as annoying as you Coopers, are the little helpers whom are foolish enough to want to follow them in death!” The holes on Clockwerk’s chest and back started closing.

“Guys, fire at will, give him no time to recover!” Sly said. He opened fire at Clockwerk. Carmelita unleashed the rapid fire of her shock pistol while Bentley manned the turrets. Each of them separately couldn’t scratch him, but the three together tore through his armour, putting his healing factor to the test. Clockwerk was losing ground. He was blinded by rage. Sly’s proficiency with the Jetpack, Carmelita’s agility and Murray’s driving skills prevented him from catching them or hitting them. They were relentless in their onslaught of projectiles, knocking holes in his armour big enough that they could not heal fast enough.

“Sly, the turrets are overheating, I’m not sure if you can keep up the onslaught long enough to finish it.” Carmelita noted.

“Oh, I think I can still deliver the final blow.” Sly undid the straps of the jetpack, swung on top and rode it as a hoverboard. He then stabbed his cane at a vital part, then jumped off as the jetpack shot at Clockwerk like a big projectile, right at the hole in his chest, and it blew up in the robotic owl’s face.

His frame was torn apart, his head, half of the face blown off, landed next to the lava pool. But the eye was still sparking. “I will not die…I will never die…You didn’t achieve nothing. I will haunt you, Cooper, for the rest of your short miserable lives. I am the alpha, and the omega, I am Clockwerk. You will never be rid of me.”

“Sly, his auto-repair still works!” Bentley said. The parts of the frame, still floating on the surface of the lava, twitched and floated towards each other, trying to reassemble itself.

“It's over…it is finally over…I did it, Dad.” Sly dropped down on his knees, exhaustion catching up with him. Sly and Murray came out of the van to support him. “I want to thank you guys. Without you…without Bentley’s brains, without your heart, Murray…I wouldn’t have gotten past Paris.”

“Hey, what are friends for?” Bentley said.

“Not friends…brothers!” Sly assured them.

“Brothers!” Murray said, lifting Bentley and Sly in an arm, each and giving them a tight hug.

“Finally the demon of our childhoods is gone. My family, our friends, will no longer be plagued by him. The world is safe from his evil…from that monster.” Sly noted.

Carmelita caught up with them. But she walked slowly and hadn’t raised her shock gun. She gave a small approving smile. She had gained a newfound respect for them over the course of this journey. She would raise up her shock gun and give Sly that ten second head start that came after, but for now, she was as glad as Sly was that justice was served. For her mother…

Clockwerk was no more. The world would be at peace…at least for two years. Because two years later, it was not a phoenix but still a bird whom may rise from the ashes.

An archaeological dig at the Krackoroff-Volcano, a bear worker was chopping at some hardened magma. As the pieces of volcanic minerals broke off, a single optic was becoming visible from the crack he made. It sparked briefly as it started to glow with an eerie, yellow light.

Chapter Text

THE SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
GET A CLUE

Sly Cooper was holding a green, glass bottle with a rolled up piece of paper inside and a question mark engraved on it. He studied it carefully. "Bentley, what are these supposed to be? Raleigh's entire stronghold is littered with them."

"That is a clue bottle. Now, you see, the Fiendish Five have quickly risen to the top ranks in the criminal underworld after taking the Thievius Raccoonus. They became such power figures, they thought that no intruder or rival was a challenge anymore. So to make things interesting, and out of sheer arrogance, they have littered these clue bottles around each area with a vault to tease the intruders, to see if they can figure it out the codes of their vaults from these clues." Bentley said.

"Seriously, they just leave their treasures open like that? These are the guys whom are the worst of the worst?" Sly asked surprised.

"It may sound stupid, but the thing is, the clues cannot be deciphered unless one has all the clues in an area. This is a very complex logic puzzle. And they are all well hidden, some close to deadly hazards. Not many managed to get all the clues needed, even fewer have deciphered them, and even then, no one has gotten away alive with any of the vaults' content." Bentley said.

"Up until now..." Sly said as he threw the bottle to the ground, breaking it and getting the clue inside. "I'm going to take down everything those five monsters hold dear, include beating them at their own game. Bentley, I'm getting all the clues, you decipher them. We are going to rob them blind."

"It's risky enough to take on these guys, do you really have to be so thorough? I didn't think you'd reach the front gate in one piece." Bentley said nervously.

"I'm going to pass up a sarcastic remark about how touched I am about your faith in me, because I have scavenging to do." Sly said. He jumped up a tree, grabbed a rope and climbed to higher ground to get a view of the area which would allow him to overlook the area for more of those clue bottles. He would not back down from anything the Fiendish Five threw at him, no matter how hard or frustrating.

"Using the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus as prizes in an over-glorified treasure hunt? They are really going all this way to mock my ancestry. That does it, that frog's ass is grass!"  Sly said angrily as he had retrieved his first page.

TWO YEARS LATER...

Paris, somewhere close to the Black Chateau. Sly picked up a clue bottle on top of the peacock sign of the Black Chateau. He came across it by accident, while getting to higher ground to get a good look at the surroundings. "Bentley...I found a clue bottle. Just like the one the Fiendish Five used. I feel like I should be worried."

"From what I managed to dig up about the Klaww Gang...they took over as the top criminal organization in the world after the disbandment of the Fiendish Five. They try to prove themselves the top dogs by posing the same kind of clue bottle challenges to any intruder. Now, good news is that they don't cram clue bottles in every compound, there is only one vault per base of operatoin. Bad news is, the clues are fewer, further spread and harder to find." Bentley explained.

"I've managed to do this for the Fiendish Five's operations. I can do this too, and I have two years of extra experience under my belt. I'm up for the challenge. It is rubbing extra salt in the wound, extra punishment for foolishly toying around with those Clockwerk parts." Sly said with a namesake grin on his face. He would not find any blueprints or Thievius Raccoonus faces in the vaults, but he would gain a few blueprints for some new upgrades over the course of this journey.

ANOTHER YEAR LATER...

"Whoa, I can't believe that we're finally on a big scale adventure and the baddies are smart enough not to leave clue bottles behind. I'm impressed at the extra braincell." Sly noted as he didn't find any Clue Bottles in Venice.

"Well, Octavio is not part of a big gang, he runs his operations solo. Besides, according to contacts, Clue Bottles are out and Crime Bosses have a new tactic. They hide their vaults behind paintings; The combination is hidden in the painting itself, but it takes a trained eye to find them. So it is harder then a fetch quest. This may come to play in our missions later on, and it won't be just a bonus on the side." Bentley said.

"We got the world's greatest thief and sharpest mind on the team, we'll manage this. Besides, it's no longer about pulling the bad guys a new one. We want our friend Murray back. It doesn't matter if we have to stare at painting for hours or collect thousands of bottles, I am not backing down from any challenge, big or small!" Sly said.

"Me neither. There wasn't a clue I haven't managed to crack yet, and I'm not ending that streak. Get back to the safehouse, we got plenty of planning to do." Bentley said.

SEVERAL YEARS LATER...

In his own time, a few years have passed since he went legit and settled down with Carmelita. But is that still relevant when travelling through time? Because right now they were in the past in Feudal Japan. Sly found a Clue Bottle near Riochi's sushi shop. Sly sighed. "I don't think our new enemy is not just going after my ancestry, he is outright mocking me. Why else would he be leaving behind these, in the freakin' past!"

"Who ever this enemy is, he seems to know a lot about us. We got to be careful. Collect the clues anyhow. In his arrogance, he may have put more then just hints to vault combinations in those clues."

"He wants to challenge me? Well, I don't back down from a challenge. We'll show him that no matter what game he plays, we'll always win." Sly said as he crushed the bottle in his hand in anger. "No one messes with my family..."

Chapter Text

THE NEW SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
GREASY SWEET

Sly’s next big adventure had begun. Right now he was going after the members of the Klaww Gang , whom had stolen the Clockwerk parts and using them for their own selfish little schemes. The first one was Dimitri, whom in hindsight was probably the least harmful of the Klaww Gang. But nonetheless, every part of Clockwerk, even something as seemingly insignificant as the Tail Feathers, needed to be destroyed.

Sly was busy with one of the earlier missions, planting a bugged painting in Dimitri’s office. Quite the irony that a forger would get one of his own unique paintings swapped out for a forgery. But Sly ran into a little surprise on the way. He had to go through the kitchen of the Black Chateau, where the drinks and food were prepared. Sly hid inside the storage to avoid being seen by the cooks.

He looked to see several bags with a weird, red powder. Upon closer look it resembled some kind of spice, but not one he ever sees Murray using in cooking. He took a picture with his Binocucom of the labels. “Bentley, I don’t know why, but my instincts tell me that spice is bad news somehow.”

“I checked out the pictures. The label corresponds to the spice operation of Rajan, another Klaww Gang member. In the Underworld he is known as one of the greatest dealers in illegal spices. These spices in particular leave people open to suggestion.” Bentley explained.

“So Dimitri is basically slipping them a roofie?” Sly noted. “I thought he was a wacko, not…that he’d just drug all of his customers.”

“I don’t detect anything in the Chateau itself to trigger the hypnosis, but this still looks bad, because these kind of spices can remain in one’s system for quite a while. This nightclub needs to be shut down, and it is no longer for just the forgeries.” Bentley added.

“Then I better plant this bug soon, and then we tear the Night Club down, with our bare hands if we need to.” Sly said. These actions disgusted him. He would have a good word with Mr. Hiphop Iguana once they were able to confront him.

So, over the course of the night, they had wrecked Dimitri’s water tower and fountain, dropped a giant disco ball, disabled his security and pulled down the peacock sign at the front. That had created a pathway to the underground printing press room.

There Dimitri Lousteau, the master forger himself, came eye to eye with Sly. “Argh! Raccoonus Doodus, you are like, totally bumming my house up and bringing me down. Wasn’t it enough that you had to snatch the Venus de Whalo from under my nose, now you are tearing up my Chateau. So very uncool! Why can’t you let the birds and the bees be free, bro?” Dimitri said in his weird mangled English. Bentley over his intercom flinched as ifhis violation of the English language physically hurt him.

“That statue didn’t belong to you or Madame D’Oinkeau. Her family scammed the artist out of his work, and you could forget me letting a forger whom drugs his visitors get away with it!” Sly pointed out.

“Drug? Dude, I think you got some dust in your attic!” Dimitri said as he pointed at the side of his head. “Dimitri punishes people whom can’t get behind his greasy sweetness, but he wouldn’t sink that low. That would totally cramp my style.”

“Then explain those illegal spice you have in your kitchen!” Sly said, pointing his cane menacingly at Dimitri.

“Point that poor excuse for a pimp cane somewhere else. As to enlighten you, it was a gift from big cheese of India Rajan. He and his buddies funded my chateau, can do as I want, the wind can blow free and wherever and however it wants. Only condition is to use the Indian spice.” Dimitri said, shrugging.

Sly looked at Dimitri. He looked like an idiot, dressed like a total idiot, and talked like a total idiot. Sly could imagine he would be easily tricked. Sly rubbed the space in between his eyes, as he took a sigh. “Dimitri, I think your buddies are using you as a pawn in some kind of wicked scheme. Those spices are illegal; they leave people open for suggestion. They even gave you the Clockwerk part that is the least dangerous because they don’t take you seriously.”

“You are pulling my leg, bro. The Klaww Dudes are Dimitri’s pals. They wouldn’t stifle me, the Big Mr. Pimp Daddy, right? I think we are mixing a few things up.” Dimitri said.

Sly got annoyed at this guy’s tacky looks and behaviour. “Listen Dimitri, you have no idea what you’re playing with. It’ll bring more than your house down.”

“Listen bro, I can see you’re a tough cowboy. A man with taste, style, vision! A connoisseur of finer things. Like me! Look, I’m sure that two cats in a bag can work something out, yeah? We smoove, yeah? See the money? You like the money? You can take all you want!” Dimitri said.

Sly lost his patience with this idiot. “I don’t care for your money, I don’t care for your art, I don’t care for any of this. You hold one of the pieces of one of the most dangerous machines ever made, you are a clueless pawn in a drug operation, and I’m here to make sure that no more people get hurt, and if you open your eyes for even a few seconds instead of shoving your head up your own arse, then we can make a difference!”

“You’re lying! You’re just jealous of the big man! Have you no vision? Are you hearing what I beam to you? You think you have juice? Don’t show me you have a little mind when talking about such big things…You think you can swing the bat? Show your bling and let me shine you!”

Sly raised an eyebrow. “I have no idea what you just said. By the way, the suit sucks!” Sly said, pointing at Dimitri’s tacky outfit.

Dimitri let out a high pitched, scratchy scream of frustration and screamed: “Let’s dance!” Dimitri said as he charged at Sly. Sly stepped aside and whacked Dimitri with his cane on the back of his head. He readied his cane again, but Dimitri danced out of the way…Literally. He spun and lashed with his tail, as Sly leaned back to avoid it. Dimitri then yelled: “Shamon!” and then thrust his arms forward with a dance-like rhythm, with Sly blocking and dodging his blows. He swiped his cane, Dimitri dropping down on his back to dodge before leading into a breakdance with Sly being hit and knocked back with a spin kick.

Okay, Sly was initially taken back by Dimitri’s odd fighting style, but he was catching on to Dimitri's pattern. He jumped forward, but this time Sly dodged, put his foot forward and readier his cane, tripping Dimitri up. “Argh! You are breaking up the groove!” Dimitri said as he launched several arm and leg thrusts, but Sly was ready this time and the purple iguana couldn’t land a hit. Sly caught one of Dimitri’s arm, twirled his cane and delivered a thrust attack to send Dimitri flying across the room.

Dimitri got up, let out an ‘Eep’ and ran to the other side of the room to get some distance. He then held out his hand, and one of his rings, one with a dark purple gem in it, shot out an electric purple blast. Sly hid behind some vials of green printing ink. “Both fashionable and useful, I’m the King of Bling, baby!” Dimitri said. He started shooting all around the room, but after a few shots, Dimitri’s ring sparked and refused to fire. Apparently it overheated quickly.

As Dimitri desperately waited for the cool-down, Sly closed the space between him and Dimitri and whacked him in the face, before pulling the ring from his finger, and crushing it under his foot. Dimitri let out a comical girly scream as he ran for it, Sly going after him. Dimitri was desperate to get away from Sly and didn’t notice the puddle of spilled printing ink, and he slipped. He would have fallen off and into the printing press below and crushed, if Sly hadn’t used his cane to hook Dimitri back in time. Sly then lifted Dimitri over his head and then crammed him into a nearby barrel so he was stuck. “And stay there.”

“You…you saved me? But…you’re a killjoy! You are the antithesis whom is cramming my style.” Dimitri asked.

“I’m not the bad guy, that’s what I’ve been telling you!” Sly said as with one whack of his cane he wrecked the control of the printing press, and the machines stopped. “Printing fake money…that is very low, even for a common thief, it’s a lazy way out. And all this because no one likes your art? Listen real closely…If you do something, don’t do it to gain recognition, do it because you want to do it. There will always be people whom won’t like your art, but you should not stop. You get better, you do it because your heart tells you. Punishing others because of expression an opinion is not the way to go. And as a result, it allowed people worse then you to use you.”

“You have easy talking; You Cooper Raccoonus dudes are famous.” Dimitri said.

“I did what I do, my ancestors did what they did because they believed in what they did: and that was stealing from the biggest bad guys and protect the good people. I am not an expert, but is art not supposed to inspire, to express something? By being in it for fame and glory you will not get anywhere. The police will be here soon, and they will confirm that those spices are indeed illegal. I suggest you rethink your life.” Sly added.

“You…Crackerbox!” Dimitri said, fainting, the recent events being too much for him to handle.

“I hope he’ll learn in the future.” Sly said as he jumped on the press, pulled the Tail feathers out, and carried them off. Dimitri would be picked up by the police later and confronted with what he has been unknowingly aiding with. The spice would still be in the body of the customers for a while, but nothing has triggered it yet, so the Cooper gang decided to first cut off the spice shipments directly at the source with Rajan, while Carmelita and Interpol would search for a cure for these spice poisonings…

But Sly and his friends knew, that there was something bigger going on. The Fiendish Five were a group but they mostly did their own thing. But judging from the operations here, there is a bigger master plan going on, and they are planning to thwart it while also collecting the Clockwerk parts. This was something much bigger, and unlike last time it was no more collecting of Treasure Keys or blasting their way through to thwart these schemes. They had to plan things out better than ever, because the worst was yet to come…

Chapter Text

THE SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
TALES OF A TIGRESS

“Hold it right there, Cooper!” the voice of a female, pink-furred tigress said as she jumped in front of Sly Cooper as he was just running across the rooftops of Paris.

“Constable Neyla, another cop hot on my tail.” Sly quipped.

“Oh please, I led you here.” Neyla explained.

“I should have known. Any respectable law officer doesn’t let anything as big as the Klaww gang just 'slip'. Why tell me this?” Sly asked.

“I know what a menace those Clockwerk parts are, and I don’t like to see the Klaww Gang put them to use. Now, I want to offer an alliance, to make sure that they are out of the Klaww Gang’s hands and destroyed. I can’t trust Carmelita because she’s a stickler for the rules and the parts would end up in the museum again. Technicality about a bunch of archeologists claiming ownership on the principle of ‘finders, keepers’.” Neyla said.

“How do I know I can trust you?” Sly asked.

“You are not the only one whom had lost a family to Clockwerk, Cooper.” Neyla said sadly.

Sly’s eyes widened. “You too?” he asked.

“Clockwerk didn’t care whom got in his way, anyone whom ticks him off, ends up dead.” Neyla said. There was some sorrow and anger in her voice. “So I want to make sure Clockwerk stays dead. And the best chance to make that happen is with the help of a Cooper. Your family were the only ones whom could defeat him.”

Sly thought this true. If what she said was really true…then they are kindred spirits. “All right, say if I agree, what can you do for us?” Sly asked.

“I can give you a few clues to a few places of importance. Places I can’t search without a warrant, but that should be no problem for you.” Neyla noted. “I got a key to one of Dimitr’s back doors.”

“I don’t normally need keys.” Sly noted.

“Not for conventional locks, no. But the Klaww Gang are really secure.” Neyla tossed Sly the key, whom caught it in his hands. “If you don’t believe me, check it out for yourself. It’s not like anyone can get the drop on the likes of you. You’re basically a legend.”

“Don’t try to flatter me. I just put up with this because I want Clockwerk gone. And it is because of him you get the benefit of the doubt.” Sly said. “But I can use all the help I can get. If we need your help again, how do we stay in touch?”

“If you need me, I’ll know and I’ll find you. Trust me.” Neyla said as she leaped off the rooftop, walked on a rope not unlike Sly (though not as quickly) and leaped to another rooftop. For the time being, Sly decided to trust her…

A few weeks later, in India, at Rajan’s 'ancestral palace'. “Cooper…that must be the worst disguise ever.” Neyla pointed out. “Just a tux alone won’t cut it.”

“The Klaww Gang doesn’t know what I look like, and Carmelita can’t risk her little undercover operation for just me, not with all these other criminals in the room.” Sly pointed out.

“What’s your plan, Cooper?” Neyla asked.

“I need a distraction. Most of all for Carmelita. I need to convince her to have a little dance with me. Of course, she is picky about dance partners so I have to impress her.” Sly explained.

“So you want me to dance with you to earn Ironsides’ favour?” Neyla asked, raising an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t mind dancing with a handsome man, but how are you sure things won’t end in a shoot-out with Carmelita?”

“I know her. She wouldn’t resist a chance to get up and close for what she thinks is a scenario I won’t be able to get away from her.” Sly responded.

“You seem to know her well…what do you even see in her?” Neyla asked. “For your information, she tries to arrest you.”

“I think she makes my life all the more thrilling. Now, you care to help me with this dance?” Sly asked, reaching out his hand.

“Enchanté.” Neyla replied.

Eventually the plan had worked, and they had gotten out with the Clockwerk wings without being arrested by Carmelita. But Rajan and the rest of the Klaww Gang had escaped as well. And Rajan still has one part, the Clockwerk Heart. And one week later, the Cooper Clan had traveled deep into the heart of the jungle to try and retrieve it.

On one of his missions, Sly ran into Neyla again. “Good to see you again Neyla. You weren’t kidding when you said you’d find me when I need you.”

“What can I say? I am a good tracker. And I tracked a secret entrance that you may be interested in. To one of the halves of the Clockwerk heart. If I’m not mistaken you hadn’t found a way to get it.” She said.

“Indeed. And you know where it is?” Sly said.

“Indeed. I can show it. You see that mossy rock, at the corner of the temple next to the huge elephant head? There is a marking on the rocks. Press it and you can get in.” Neyla explained.

“Neyla…thank you, for everything.” Sly said.

“Sly…when this is over…when Clockwerk is gone for good…would you go to Bollywood with me…perhaps see a musical, or have some curry?” Neyla asked, acting nervously.

“Are you asking me for a date, Neyla?” Sly asked, with a raised eyebrow and a bit of an amused grin.

“Perhaps…” Neyla pulled her hood a bit more over her head.

“I must say that my heart belongs to another, as you know…” Sly said. Neyla looked a bit dejected. “But two good friends hanging out, should be fine as well.”

“Hanging out…Sure, I think I like that.” Neyla said with a smile. “I have to go now, before Ironsides and Interpol get suspicious…so see you, bye!” Neyla said as she bolted off.

Sly let out a chuckle. “Well, let’s get this job over with.” He felt that everything would go right. They have the wings, the tailfeathers, and they were really to recover one of the heart's pieces. They got an ally on the police force to make things easier. It seemed luck was on their side.

But later that night, tragedy struck and they were reminded of a much grimmer reality. Neyla had betrayed them. Not only were Sly and Murray left to the Contessa, alongside Rajan, but she also had framed Carmelita. “You dirty, lying, cheating…she-dog!” Carmelita shouted at her as she was being cuffed. “Why? What did you ever do to you?”

“Nothing personally. I just felt it was my duty to expose a secret member of the Cooper Gang.” Neyla said with a sadistic, sarcastic tone, an impish grin on her face, the façade of the sweet innocent girl gone.

“She is not part of our gang. Let her go, I’ll confess every crime!” Sly said, trying to appease to the Contessa.

“I cannot take the risk. Besides, I know you Coopers have a great loyalty towards your teammates, of course you’d lie to get them to safety. Commendable, but you’re all still criminals, and you all need to be rehabilitated!” the Contessa replied. She seemed just as dark as Neyla.

“Contessa…Please, let’s cut the crap in front of these. You and I go way back, just let me go, I’ll promise to get the spice operation up again in no time. We are friends right, Tess?” Rajan begged.

Contessa let out a cruel grin. “I have no idea what you are talking about. All I know is that you are up for a trip in my clinic. But you have been around spice your whole life, so my normal techniques won’t suffice. You require…a special session. And since you’re made of sturdier stuff you can take it just fine.”

“You treacherous bitch! I gave you the spice you needed…you’ll be nothing without me! You hear me? Without me, your operations are ruined!” Rajan said in anger, he tried rushing the Contessa but two of her vulture guards held him back. It didn’t help Rajan was still weak from his beating by Murray.

“I don’t know what you’re saying, but you’re clearly delusional. Even if you said was true, you are not the only spice lord in the world. Unfortunately, crime won’t stop with you. But I can take on the problem, one criminal at the time.”

“The Contessa is part of the Klaww Gang?” Murray asked. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out.

“Of course. The Klaww Gang knew I would go after them eventually, so they set things up to get me out of the picutre. Neyla is your lapdog, sent to have me take the fall for you. Criminal scum! And you thought it’s be funny to humiliate me by associating me with these thieves…no offense, Sly, Murray.” Carmelita said.

“None taken. I take offense to the fact I thought that someone actually shared our interest of destroying those Clockwerk parts. I bet you don’t even have a real history with Clockwerk.” Sly growled.

“My poor family, slayed by big old bad Clockwerk!” Neyla said, in a mocking tone and faking crying sounds. “You are a fool, Sly. Quite handsome, I got to admit, but a gullible and naive fool nontheless. No worries about those Clockwerk parts, they’ll be put to good use. My friend the Contessa will make sure you’ll not have to worry about a thing anymore. Your brain may turn mushy in the process, but the blissful ignorance may very well be worth it.” Neyla said.

“You are everything I hate: you’re dishonest, you use people and throw them away as toys…and through it all you have to act like a…gold digger, putting up a pretty face and convincing men to give you things.” Carmelita said.

“You are just mad that you’re not the only one whom can catch Sly’s eye…and don’t lie about this being about playing cops and robbers, I know what you truly want of him.” Neyla said, her voice, low, almost whispering, almost like the hissing of a snake. “But maybe I can convince the Contessa to turn him into a pretty boy toy I can take advantage off, while you rot away, seeing the work that generations of Foxes have built up being destroyed. A disgrace to your mother’s memory!”

Carmelita lost is as she roared, knocked off the bats and wolves restraining her and jumped at Neyla. She then used the chains on her cuffs to grab Neyla from behind and started to choke her. However, one of the large vultures whacked her on the back of her head, knocking her down and forcing her to let go of Neyla.

Neyla growled angrily at Carmelita. “She’s clearly a danger to herself and others…” she said, in an over-exaggerated sarcastic but creepy tone. “She needs to be put into isolation, with a muzzle, straightjacket, the whole works…where she can stay for a very long time…and rot!” Neyla shouted those last two words with venom in her voice.

“You won’t get away with this!” Sly said.

“When I get out from these cuffs I’ll break all of your bones and use the splinters as toothpicks!” Murray added. It took a dozen vultures to drag him off.

“Why do they always say that when it is clear we have won already?” Neyla sighed, rolling her eyes. “But at least all my least favorite people in the world are out of my hair, and I can finally do things my own way. Acting like a goody two shoes made me sick…”

“Wasn’t there also a turtle on their team?” Contessa wondered.

“That guy? He is too afraid to even leave the house, let alone that he’ll be able to make a change. Without his boyfriends he’ll probably die in the jungle before the week is over. Oh well, in war against crime, there tend to be casualties. It will be so easy to justify to our superiors.” Neyla said. With that, the criminals took off with our heroes…

Though Neyla had made a mistake in thinking that Bentley wouldn’t come through for his friends…and it would eventually lead to her downfall.

Chapter Text

SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
TALES OF THE TIGRESS, PART II

"Rajan, you have a visitor!" a guard at the Contessa's clinic said to the former spice lord. He was being dragged out and brought to a room with just a few chairs and a table. Now, normally there were no rooms reserved for visitors in the Contessa's clinic to 'prevent from outside forces interfering with rehabilitation'. But for an special occassion, they had improvised and cleared one of the spare rooms for it.

Though Rajan was not happy to see whom his visitor was. "Constable Neyla...you come here to gloat some more? You seem to be fond of taunting the Coopers and Miss Fox, so I guess I'm next. I hope you picked your next words wisely because theyll be your last. I intend to slash open your torso and spill your intestins across the floor for putting me here, and the Contessa's going to be next for betraying me."

"Though the gloating is a bonus, I'm here for something totally different." she said, her voice indicating seriousness, no taunting whatsoever. On the other hand, she was a really good actor. "Now...I'm not sure if you've noticed...we're both tigers. And both of us have a rare trait, only few tigers have. Purple stripes." She held up her arm to show her purple stripes, to emphasize.

"What is it you want? To make a club for purple striped tigers? Yeah, not hanging out with the little bitch whom put me behind bars." Rajan said sarcastically.

"Haven't figured it out?" Neyla said, rolling her eyes. "Let me give you another hint. You were not the only one growing up in poverty in the streets of India, and not the only one whom was forced to turn to crime for survival. I guess it rus in the family."

The gears in Rajan's head started turning as he studied Neyla. Some of her features reminded him of someone else. "You look like someone I used to know...I didn't know her by name. Not that it mattered, lots of people in the world of crime uses nicknames or aliases. But those eyes...very distinctive. A girl with a spice addiction whom was willing to do a lot for another batch of special plants. I was young and I had needs at the time..." It was then that the penny suddenly drops. "Your mother?"

"Indeed...Father." she said, that last word was full of venom.

"My daughter...well, that was unexpected." Rajan indeed looked like he was at a loss of words. "So...how is your mother? Haven't seen her since that night of passion." he asked. It was a stupid question perhaps, but he didn't know what else to say.

"After she found out she had...well, me, she tried turning over a new leaf. Though she still ended up in poverty, and she barely got by to keep us both fed. She tried really hard, but life was difficult, and she fell off the wagon. She went back to using spice. Like the kind you sell, but less refined. She went with a more second-hand dealer since she didn't dare to look you in the eyes again. Spices that make you feel good, but make you increasingly more violent. And guess whom that violence was turned to?" Neyla said. A mix of anger and sorrow was evident in her voice. "All love for me was gone and replaced by aggression. Soon the spice became too much for her, and she went berserk. The police were forced to take her down. And that left me alone, on the streets."

Rajan gulped nervously. Growing up on the streets was a harsh time. He himself only went into spice because it brought in good money, and because he never wanted to feel poor again. "But...you have it made now, right?" he said nervously. He wasn't very good at striking conversations, and the revelation shaking him up didn't help.

And because of that, he didn't realize his particular statement hitting a sensitive spot. "I have it made yes, but did you have any idea what I went through, to get there?" she barely refrained herself from shouting. "I had to work my way up. I had to manipulate, steal, seduce and sleep my way through just to survive. I discovered my talent for deception though...eventually I gathered enough for an education at a prestigious British boarding school, so I would make it big later in life. But my studies were expensive and I had to continue my little games in college. That's when an oppertunity struck and someone took me in as a protege. It's how I got in the Klaww Gang. Because the one whom took me in, one of my professors...was Arpeggio."

Rajan's lips curled inwards as he looked sheepish. "That sounds harsh."

"That doesn't even begin to describe it. I had to sacrifice my dignity, my childhood, my innocence. All just because everyone has been turning a blind eye. You, the people of India, eventually my mother...I learned to count on no one but myself, no one else is important because others don't think you're important. But on the other hand, right now I'm part of something bigger. And in the end when it comes together, i'll be on top of the world. So part of me is grateful at you for steering me into this direction. But that doesn't change the fact I'm still mad at you for your part in my suffering." Neyla said.

"What would you have wanted me to do? I didn't really love your mother, it was an act of pure lust and strictly business. An illegal spice lord wouldn't have made a good father and even if, you'd be a target because of it. Hate to break it to you, but this is still the best possible outcome for you." Rajan said.

"Sure... 'The best'." Neyla said, sarcastically, airquoting. "You are part of the problem. People as cruel, selfish, foolish...And I realize that I'm no better. But if I am going to be apart of a society where they prey upon each other, I am going to be on top of the foodchain. That is the only language this world understands."

"I guess you and I are really alike. In another lifetime I would have been proud to have called you my daughter." Rajan said. "But that is out of the question now, is it?"

"Obviously." Neyla replied dryly.

"So, you have gone through all this trouble...For what? What have you gained? As you know a father-daughter bond is impossible now, and there is little left you can do to make me suffer more then I already am." Rajan said.

"I wanted closure. I know of myself that I am a terrible person. I had to become one to survive. But something small in the back of my mind always nagged me. It wanted to know if there was someone I could find to genuinely care for. If I have hope left for this world. The only thing left to try was to find my father. And I'm dissapointed in him. But it has helped me. Now I know that the father I never knew is someone I can never trust and will never care, there is nothing holding me back now." Neyla said, her grin turning wicked. She had given up on the last bit of decency and  sanity she had left (and that's if she had any).

Rajan actually saw these changes in her eyes, and the look she gave him unsettled her. And he couldn't help but feel, this monster hiding under that beautiful girl, was partially of his own making. "What are you and Arpeggio planning?" he asked, as several realizations started dawning on him.

"That would be telling..." she taunted cruelly. "But you served your purpose. That's all you need to know." Neyla said as she got up. The Contessa and several of her strongest guards walked in. "He's all yours, Tess." she said before she left, not even glancing back.

The Contessa walked in, a sadistic grin on her face. "Nothing personal, Rajan, just maintaining my cover..."