DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to Sly Cooper or the cannon characters, but I do own this story and OCs. Please support the original games.
Hello, everyone! This is NeoStarBreaker, or Neo for short, saying welcome to my first story! I had a hard time deciding what story to write first, but after I got back into playing some old Sly Cooper games, I got my thieving on and decided that my first story should be a Sly Cooper based one! However, this story is gonna contain a lot of OCs, and possibly some old cannon characters, and that's because this story is about the next master thief, which is Sly's son!
Vance Cooper is his name. I had a hard time figuring out the name, but for some reason, this one just sounded good to me, so I figured, why not? He's also the son of Carmelita Fox. Let's face it, guys... We kinda expect those two to end up together someday. XD
With that said, before I reveal anymore information, why don't we get started? Let's do that! Here it is, everyone...! The first installment of the adventure of a new up and coming master criminal! Part one of the prologue of... Vance Cooper, the Next Master Thief! Enjoy! :D
-Paris, France, Night Time-
It was a cold and beautiful night in Paris. There were some clouds in the night sky under the full moon, and everyone, whether on the streets, or in the buildings, were happily minding their own business. Well, maybe not all happy, especially the ones in the back alleyways. Either way, the night seemed calm and peaceful.
However, there was only one stranger on the move in a hurry. This strange shadowy figure was seen running across the rooftops, jumping from one to another and ran along the edges. The full moon showed that the figure was holding a strange hook-like can and had a bushy tail. When the figure made one big leap in the air to reach the next building, the appearance was made clear. The figure turned out to be an anthromorphic humanoid raccoon!
Although, unlike most raccoons, who're mainly a shade of grey, this one had a strange orange brown color instead, but retained the normal black linings around the tail. He was wearing a red shirt with a yellow collar, a small red hat on his head with a black line around its base, a yellow belt with a strange raccon logo buckle in bright red, black gloves with red lining around the wrists, a black backpack on his back, and all black shoes that covered the entire bottom half of his legs.
Upon landing on the other building, the raccon sprinted and used his strange cane to break some rooftop pipes in front of him before standing right on the corner ledge. What he was spying on with his light brown eyes with a black mask around them was a three story musuem that looked brand new in what appeared to be a new park for Paris. With a smirk, the raccoon got on one knee and took out a pair of red high-tech binoculars from his backpack and looked through them, catching close glimpses of the park and spotting guards around the museum. But while he did that, he heard a feminine voice coming through his binoculars.
"Vance... Do you read me Vance?" asked as the voice.
"Yeah, Nicole... I read you loud and clear." replied the raccoon named Vance.
"Oh thank goodness." the one called Nicole said in response, sounding relieved. "The communicator works perfectly then. Now we can communicate through your binocucom. Not only that, but I can also see whatever you're seeing through them, thanks to my new installed computer equipment in the van."
"That's really great to hear, Nicole, but I kinda need you to get to the point of helping me out here if you don't mind." Vance replied, trying not to sound pushy though.
"Fine, mister impatient!" Nicole exclaimed through the binocucom, sounding a bit annoyed. "Let me tell you what I'm seeing here."
-An Unknown Van, Paris, France, Night Time-
Somewhere not too far from where Vance was, hiding out nearby the eiffel tower, surrounded by bushes, a light blue van was seen with fiery markings near the front sides and had the same raccoon logo on Vance's belt on the sides and front bumper on it. Coming from inside the back of the van, Nicole's voice was heard.
Inside, it seemed rather clean in the back, despite having about six computer monitors installed on one of the walls, along with a desk and a keyboard. At the computers, sitting in a bolted down black leather chair, the kind that one can spin in, an anthromorphic humanoid mouse was seen looking through the monitors, which're showing the park and museum Vance was looking at through his binocucom.
She appeared to be a white fur mouse, a very clean one to be precise, and wore a light purple sweater with the same raccoon logo stitched on the back. She also had silver watch around her left wrist, a silver chained necklace with a red heart pendant around her neck, and had blue eyes. Her white fur around her head almost looked like she had short hair with bangs around her forehead, and she had a headset on her as well, which she was using to communicate to Vance.
"Okay, Vance, from what I'm seeing here, I gotta be honest with you..." she said as she shook her head. "It's next to impossible to get close to that museum by ground. There are guards spread out everywhere."
"Guess they really wanna keep the stuff inside safe." Vance replied, spotting guards for Nicole. "Can't blame them either. A new museum in a new park sounds like a good place for a thief to hit upon."
"You're not still seriously thinking about this, are you?" Nicole asked, sounding and looked a bit worried now.
"Of course I am." Vance replied. "This is my one chance to really make myself known to the world. Many people are expecting to see this great thousand year old ruby, which is suppose to be still intacted and shining. If I can steal that and leave my family's famous Cooper marking, then they'll all know who I am."
"You do realize that'll also bring us a lot of trouble in the future, right?" Nicole replied, still sounding worried about what Vance was gonna do.
"Nothing that we can't handle." Vance replied, sounding calm and confident about what the future'll bring. "Anyway, are you gonna help me out here or not?"
With a sigh of defeat, Nicole shook her head and got serious. "All right... If you're serious about this, then I'll do what I can." she replied, and though she couldn't see it, Vance smiled. "Now, like I said, it's too dangerous to go by ground. You're best bet here is to go in from above. The tall trees in the park should help you out with that. Make your way toward the museum, while I hack in to their security system."
"And don't forget about me, Vance!" shouted another voice in the van with Nicole, sounding male and was coming from the driver seat. "Once you get your hands on that ruby, send me the signal, and I'll pick you up at the rendezvous in the Cooper Van!"
"Roger that, Barron." Vance replied to the one called Barron, while Nicole shook her head and sighed once more.
"Whatever you do, Vance, just don't get caught." she stated. "The last thing I need is to be stuck with Barron without you."
"I heard that, Nicole!" Barron shouted in response to Nicole. "That was very mean, you know!?"
"Oh like you never said anything about me!" Nicole exclaimed back towards Barron with an annoyed expression. "Would you wanna be stuck alone with a girl like me!? The one who's also giving you a hard time!? That's what you said before, right?"
"...I don't know what you're talking about." Barron replied, sounding like he was defeated though, making Nicole smirk victoriously.
-Near the Museum, Paris, France, Night Time-
After hearing that small argument between Nicole and Barron, Vance smiled and shook his head as he put away his binocucon and stood up straight.
"Those two never change." he said as he gazed down at the back alleyway below and took a deep breath. "Okay... Here I go."
He took a few steps back before sprinting towards the corner ledge and jumped off, heading three stories down, but as he did, he flipped in the air and landed smoothly on top of a red car. When he did, he quickly jumped off and ran towards the wall of the next building, hiding in the shadows as he slowly made his way to the corner. Upon reaching the corner, he stuck his head out a bit and looked both aways across the street, seeing no people anywhere, meaning that it was clear.
Once he knew that, he quickly ran to the other side and rolled on the ground once he was close to the park fences. He hid under the little brick wall that the fence was on and slowly moved as a guard with a flashlight passed him on the other side. Vance took a moment to peak up and watched as the guard went further away from him, but he noticed the other guards not too far from him. When he did, he pondered on what was he gonna do next.
"Hmm... How am I gonna get inside the park first?" he asked himself as he looked around, but then noticed the park entrance, which was closed, ahead of him and spoted some odd red lights around the sides of the gate, which surprised him. "Huh...? It's those weird lights Uncle Bentley told me about. What did they mean again?"
He thought back on what his so called Uncle told him before realizing what those strange red lights meant. "Oh now I remember..." he said. "It's something that we Coopers can see when there's a thieving opportunity to be made. Something like that. Either way, I found my way in."
With a smirk, Vance made his way toward the sides of the park gate, and once he was in the clear, he used he jumped up and grabbed hold of one of the sides. He held his cane in his mouth as he made his way up, and when he did, he jumped off and managed to land on a thick tree branch nearby. When he did, he did exactly what Nicole instructed and jumped from one thick branch to another, using them to make his way to the museum without being seen.
"Worked like a charm." he said as he landed on one more thick branch, now near the museum as he pulled out his binocucom again and looked through them. "Okay, Nicole, I'm close to the museum. What next?"
"Well, fortunately for you I was able to hack into the museum's security system." Nicole stated through the binocucom. "It was no problem, and now I can see everything inside through the security cameras. With my hacking skills, I can hide you from them with ease."
"Great to hear." Vance replied with a smile. "Now do you see a way for me to get in undetected?"
"Yes." Nicole answered as Vance zoomed his binocucom on a nearby window. "There's a window on the second floor near your location, which has an electric lock on it. However, thanks to me hacking into the security system, I was able to unlock it for you."
"Thanks, Nicole." Vance thanked as he spoted some poles with hanging lights on metal ropes to hold them up and to light to area, noticing the same red lights from earlier on the metal wires. "And I think I just found a way for me to get to it."
"Ah... You gonna use a move from your Dad's book?" Nicole asked curiously.
"That's right." Vance replied. "The Rail Walk. Made by my outlaw of the west ancestor; Tennessee Kid Cooper. I love doing it."
"Well have at it, Vance." Nicole replied as Vance put his binocucom away.
Knowing what he was gonna do next, he jumped off the thick tree branch, flipped in the air like before, and landed perfectly along the metal wires above the security guards. With a smirk, Vance made his way across the metal wires until he was near the second floor window. Once he was close to it, Nicole, using her hacking skills, opened it up for him as he jumped up and went through it, heading into the museum.
-The Muesum, Paris, France, Night Time-
-SECOND FLOOR-
Upon entering the museum, Vance slowly made his way down the hallway he was in and came across an indoor balcony. Below it, there were flashlight guards patrolling the first floor entrance. Vance did notice that there was another metal rope attached from one balcony to the other across the way, but it was too thin to try his Rail Walk on like earlier.
"Hmm... This could be a problem." he said as he took out his binocucom again and looked through them, showing Nicole the guards on the first floor. "Nicole, I made it in, but now what? How am I gonna get across without being seen?"
"You're asking me that?" Nicole replied. "You're the thief here. I'm sure you'll figure something out. You're a Cooper, right?"
"True..." Vance replied as he looked around for a way to cross to the other indoor balcony, but then he noticed more red lights around the sharp points of the lights attached along the thin metal rope, and when he did, he smiled. "Hey... Looks like I did find a way, and a really good one too. You remember that other cool move I learned from my Dad's book?"
"How can I forget?" Nicole replied, sort of annoyed by the memory of the move Vance was talking about. "You went on about it for days after learning it. It was called the Ninja Spire Jump, right?"
"That's right." Vance answered. "Made by my japanese ancestor; Rioichi Cooper. My Dad told me that it's considered one of the Cooper Clan's greatest thieving moves of all time. So he says."
"Just do it before you go on about it again like you did back then." Nicole stated, still slightly annoyed.
"Okay... Okay... I'm on it." Vance replied as he put away his binocucom and stepped up on the ledge of the indoor balcony.
Then, when a jump and flip in the air, he landed safely upon the sharp tip of the first light. When he did, he did the same thing and landed on the second one. He continued this about two more times until he finally reached the other indoor balcony and smirked. "Peace of cake."
Once he was on the other side, he made his way down the hallway, though he spoted some of the security camers above him along the way, but thanks to Nicole, he wasn't worried about them. About a minute later, he reached an elevator and took out his binocucom again to show Nicole.
"So... I'm gonna assume the elevator isn't working tonight?" he asked.
"I'm afraid so, Vance, and there's nothing I can do about that." Nicole replied as Vance moved his binocucom toward a nearby window. "However, you should be able to make your way up to the third floor by going out that window and climbing up. With your climbing skills, that shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"
"Not a problem at all." Vance replied as he put his binocucom away and made his way to the window, which, thanks to Nicole, opened up for him.
He peaked outside and spoted a pole on his right, and when he did, he smiled as he stood on the ledge of the window and used his cane to grab hold of the pipe and pulled him towards it, grabbing it with his free hand once he was close to it. He held on tight so he wouldn't fall as he put his cane in his mouth and made his way up it, all the way to the third floor window, and thanks to Nicole, it opened up for him and he quickly latched off the pipe and jumped back inside the museum.
-THIRD FLOOR-
Once he was back inside, Vance looked down the hallway in front of him and noticed a flashlight guard with his back turned to him ahead. He was a bit hesitant to go down the hall, so he took out his binocucom again and zoomed in the guard.
"Okay, Nicole, I'm on the third floor, but I got a problem." he stated upon zooming out of the guard ahead. "There's a pig with a flashlight in front of me. Any ideas how I can get rid of him?"
"I'm afraid you're gonna have to knock him out, Vance." Nicole stated, which didn't sound all too good to Vance. "I know you're not a big fan of hurting those who haven't hurt anyone, but if you wanna get to that ruby on the other side of building, you gotta take out that guard. It's the only way, I think."
"Yeah... I guess you're right." Vance replied, taking a deep breath. "I know what to do."
After putting his binocucom away, he slowly made his towards the guard, approaching him quietly so he wouldn't turn around and spot him. Once Vance was close enough to him, he thrusted his cane upward and sent the guard up in the air by surprise, then he latched on to the belt of the guard's uniform, turned, and slammed him down hard on the floor.
The impact was enough to knock the guard out, making him see stars around his now goofy smile. Once the guard was knocked out, Vance spotted a janitors closet nearby, giving him an idea. He dragged the knocked out guard towards it and opened the door, stuffing him inside and quietly closed the door with a smile.
"Nighty night." he said closed the door before resuming heading down the hallway.
About a minute later, he reached another indoor balcony, but was wider than the one on the second floor. He looked down and spotted those same first floor guards and the other balcony he crossed earlier below. When he did, he looked around to see if there was any way for him to cross, or anything with red lights around it, but spotted nothing, making him worry as he took out his binocucom again to show Nicole.
"Um... Nicole... I got a bit of a problem here." he stated, showing the other wide indoor balcony on the other side, but nothing to help get to it. "I don't see anything for me to cross to get to the other side."
"Well that is a bit of a problem." Nicole replied, thinking of way for Vance to get across until she came up with something. "Oh...! I know... Why don't you..."
"Why don't you try out that new hook and chain customization to your cane, Vance!" Barron shouted through the binocucom for Vance to hear. "You always said you wanted to try it out, so why not now!?"
"Barron, you knew I was gonna say the same thing to him!" Nicole shouted to Barron. "You just had to go and say it first, didn't you!?"
"Hey, I'm just trying to help out in any other way here!" Barron replied to Nicole. "I'm almost out of potato chips, and I'm getting kinda bored just waiting here!"
"Good grief, Barron..." Nicole replied, rolling her eyes, while Vance tried not to laugh at them. "Anyway, Vance, try out that hook and chain you had me apply to your cane. Maybe that'll help you get across."
"Only one way to find out." Vance replied with a smile. "Thanks, Nicole. You too, Barron."
"Anytime, pal!" Barron shouted in welcome before Vance put his binocucom away.
Looking at his cane for a moment, he turned the hook part of it and it just came off, revealing that it's connected to a small chain that's inside the cane itself. With a smirk, Vance looked up and saw a pipe. When he did, he swung his hook and chain a few times before throwing it up at it, latching the hook on the pipe and he pulled on the chain to make sure it was tight on there.
Once it was secured, he took a few steps back before sprinting forward and jumped over the indoor balcony, heading down for a moment before the small chain was at it's length and he was swung across to the other side, landing his feet on the ledge of the other balcony. Upon landing, he squeezed the bottom of the can, making the hook suddenly detached off the pipe and the small chain brought it back all the way to Vance, which he immediately re-attached the hook to the cane and smiled.
"It worked perfectly." he stated as he made his way down the hallway on his left.
However, as he made his down the hall, he stopped and was surprised when he noticed some spotlights and lasers ahead in front of a door. By the looks of it, it was too tight for him to get through, so he took out his binocucom again to show Nicole.
"Nicole, I thought you said you hacked into the security system." he stated as he zoomed in on the lasers and spotlights. "What's going on here?"
"Sorry, Vance, but I wasn't able to get the entire security system under my control, but don't worry about this." Nicole replied as Vance looked at a nearby window that Nicole opened up for him. "I already found a way for you to cross into the room ahead. Go out onto the ledge of the window and do your little sneak across."
"Oh I see what you're saying." Vance replied, a smile returned to his face. "Thanks, Nicole."
"What would you do without me?" Nicole asked with a smirk as Vance put his binocucom away again and headed out the window.
Once outside, he saw more red lights along the small ledge of the third floor. Using his skills, he slowly did a stealth walk with his back against the building and made his way across, not wanting to look down though. After making it across, he was a bit surprised when the window suddenly opened up for him, but before thinking more about it, he went inside.
"That...was odd." he said, finding the window that oppened for him strange. "Did Nicole do that? She probably did."
Looking around the room, Vance spotted a vault ahead of him, which made him smile as he slowly walked towards it. "That's gotta be it." he said as he neared it and got on one knee, taking out a walkie-talkie from his backpack, turned it on, and talked through it. "Nicole, I'm at the vault. Did you find out the code to access it?"
"Of course..." Nicole replied through the walkie-talkie, seeing Vance at the vault through the security cameras. "It wasn't that hard to figure out once I accessed the museum's files. Try dialing in... seven-one-six-four-four-nine-eight-one-six."
"Wow... That's a long code." Vance replied as he used the code Nicole provided him, pressing the buttons on the vault in the order she told him.
Though, as he slowly entered the code, he stopped once he was halfway through to look over his shoulder, getting this strange feeling, but saw nothing. However, this only made him more suspicious that something seemed off in the room he was in, almost like he was being watched, and not just by Nicole through the security cameras. "Hey, Nicole... Was that you that opened that window to get in earlier?" he asked through the walkie-talkie.
"Um... No." Nicole replied, surprising Vance a little. "I was gonna, but it turned out that window was already unlocked. It must have been a technical difficulty in that electrical lock. Either way, get that ruby and get out of there fast, Vance."
"I'm on it." Vance replied as he continued pressing in the rest of the code to the vault. "Almost... There."
After pressing in the code, he stood up and stepped back to allow the vault to open up, but when it did, Vance's eyes widen in shock when he saw nothing was inside it. "Huh...? What the...? There's nothing?" he asked as he quickly spoke through the walkie-talkie again. "Hey, Nicole, I thought you said the ruby was suppose in the vault on the third floor. The vault's open, but there's no ruby. What gives?"
"What?" Nicole replied, surprised to hear that. "T-That's not right. It's suppose to be there. It says so on the museum's data files."
"Well I don't see anything." Vance stated, unaware that something came down from the ceiling near the door behind him.
"...Is this what you're looking for, mister Cooper?" said a strange deep male voice coming from behind Vance, surprising him as he turned around and was shocked when he saw an anthromorphic buzzard with dark brown feathers with white ones on his stomach and under his wings.
He also had a sharp yellow beak with black on the tip, and yellow feet with black sharp talons, which he used his right one to hold up a sparkling ruby the size of Vance's hand in it and smirked. His complexion revealed that he was middle aged, and he had dark grey eyes. Lastly, he had a pure black unzipped vest on with a black belt underneath with three sharp looking knives on both sides.
"The... The ruby!" Vance exclaimed in surprise when he saw it in the mysterious buzzard's talons.
-The Cooper Van, Paris, France, Night Time-
Back at the Cooper Van, Nicole was shocked when she saw the mysterious buzzard come down on camera in front of Vance. For some reason, the cameras never detected his presence anywhere, and when he showed himself, she almost fell out of her chair.
"W-What the...?" she said, still in shock by this. "Who is that!?"
"Who's what...!? Is something wrong with Vance!?" Barron asked from the driver seat, but decided to unbuckle his belt and make his way over to the back of the van to see what Nicole was seeing. "Let me see!"
As he made his way over the front seats, Barron revealed himself, showing that he was really a big anthromorphic bear with dark brown fur all over. He wore a black tank top underneath a dark grey unzipped short sleeved jacket with the same raccoon logo in red sown in on the back, and black combat boots with white laces on his feet. He also had a gold chain necklace around his neck, and a dark yellow wrist bands near his sharp black claw fingers.
When he got to the back of the van, he made his way over to Nicole's right side and his brown eyes widen in shock when he saw the strange buzzard in front of Vance on the monitor. "Oh my gosh...!" he exclaimed, taken a back a bit by this. "Who the heck is that with Vance!?"
"I don't know..." Nicole replied, shaking her head as she zoomed in on the mysterious buzzard, seeing his smirk closely. "But, I don't like that smirk he has. Nor do I like the look in his eyes."
Just by looking at this guy, Nicole and Barron were a little freaked out. They had no idea who this guy was, and Vance was alone with him. Whoever he was, something tells them that this heist just got a lot more complicated.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Well... This just got interesting. Who's that strange buzzard that appeared out of nowhere? What's gonna happen next now that Vance's plans to steal the ruby have been ruined? Stay tune to find out next time! ;D
I hope you guys liked the first part of the prologue. I was gonna add a little more to it before starting the second one, but I got a little close to my word count limit I made for myself, so I figured I'd save it for next time. Either way, things are gonna get more intense from here. Sorry if there wasn't much action here, but that'll come around in the second part, along with some revealing details of Vance's friends Nicole and Barron.
And here's a fun fact...! The cane that Vance uses is like the one Sly has, but this one has been customized to have the hook and chain to it. Every Cooper has to have something special on them, so since it was hard for me to beat the Laser Slide from Sly's father, this one sounded good to me. I wanna thank a friend of mine for giving me the idea for the cane. :)
One more fun fact... Vance, being a different colored raccoon and all, sees red lights instead of blue. I figured it sounded okay, since Bentley and Murray had lights in their respective colors in the other Sly Cooper games. XD
Now that I've got all that said and out of my system, stick around to find out what happens next time! Until then, I'll be seeing you all very soon. ;)