Authors Note: I'm sorry to anyone who was watching this fic when it was originally published. I had some real life troubles mainly my pc bricking itself that kinda trashed a month of pre-written material and my will to write for a long time. Now that I'm back Im taking the time to re-write/edit the existing chapters before I draft up new ones.
City of Mars,New Mexico 11:00Pm
How in the hell have I come to be this desperate?
I was a shadow dressed in all black a drak pack settled across my shoulders I sprinted from rooftop to rooftop. I had just arrived at the roof across from my target. The Mars city natural history museum. The guard patrols memorized It would be exactly one minute and five seconds before the next one had eyes on the North West corner. Hurrying, I jumped onto the power-line balancing on it like a gymnast on a tightrope and made my way to the museum's skylight. Kneeling down to pick the lock and make my way insi-
"Well, well what have we here? Get up! Put your hands where I can see-em punk." The guard said. Looks like I missed a patrol. Really not the best start to a robbery…
I stood up slowly my back towards him, my hands in the air as he approached, "Look, Thi- This isn't what it looks like. I just-"
The idiot walked closer,"Yeah, Sure and I'm not about to beat the fur off of ya. Tell someone who gives a damn." ,by that point he was barely 3 feet away. I punched his gut before he could key the radio to report me. He barely made a sound before I took his taser from his other hand and zapped his forearm. A final blow to the neck laid him out cold. Quick, precise, and quiet just like mom taught us. Pocketing the taser I went back to work on the skylight.
I suppose before we go much further I should explain some things to you.
My name is Eric Shimeki. My mother was descended from Shimeki Kyuuta, a rather prominent member of the hidden ninja clans in the Edo period. From the age of 4 my sister and I were trained to be just like her. After she passed 3 years ago my sister left the city for medical school.
I picked the lock and made my way down from the roof. Dropping down onto the 3rd floor I landed in a crouch and hid behind a display case to avoid the next guard.
2 months ago my father was convicted for a murder he didn't commit. The sentence was life in prison without Parole. The trial was a formality, The Onyx Devils, our town's local gang, has complete control over the city government. The case against him was conjecture at best and hearsay at worst. Didn't stop the trial from being over in four hours.
Slipping behind the rabbit as she walked past I sneaked into the civil war exhibit and began working on the various locks to the display cases. The guards shoes on the tiles were near deafening in the silence. Meaningless chatter drifting back and forth between them as I worked.
Ever since then I've done everything I can to try and find the evidence to prove his innocence. Now though I have to realize I can't do this alone. There are people who can help me. The hard part is going to be getting their attention.
I switched out each piece of loot with a card in the shape of a caricature raccoon in blue and white.
I needed the help of the best thief in the world. Our family had ties long ago. It's time they were rebound.
The last item a civil war era revolver had an alarm attached to the stand, an alarm that I missed.
The museums screamed into life security system declaring my intrusion to the world. Dropping the revolver into my backpack I hurriedly got the last card into place and shut the case.
"Freeze!" "Stay where you are!" "On the ground!" ,A trio of guards shouted coming around the corner to the exhibit. They positioned themselves in the doorway brandishing batons and blocking the only exit to the Civil War exhibit.
"Can't I just pick one?" ,I said back. Reaching to my waist I went for a pack of smoke bombs and hurled them to the ground. Dashing past the disoriented guards, loot bag in hand, while they were Disoriented, I found myself in the open center-room just as another set of guards came up the stairs cutting off my escape. C'mon Eric think! Think! think!...There!
My heart pounding I shouldered my bag and sprinted for the balcony. I vaulted over the railing of the 3rd floor onto the dinosaur exhibits on the first floor. "Sorry rexy! Need somewhere to land!" I landed hard the bag like a hammer against my back, my ankle wrenched almost out of the socket before I could compensate for the fall. The whole skeleton started shaking and the ribs started falling. "No, no, no!" ,My leg screamed and my vision went spotty as I sprint-tumbled down the creatures spine. I was halfway down when the wires in the spine started to fail, Rexy swinging from side to side. I was about 3 feet off the ground when it threw me hard onto my side before completely collapsing. At least I wasn't under that!
I quickly stood even as my leg protested the movement. My bag was harder to lift now but I couldn't just leave it behind now. "Stop Thief!" ,Another guard ,an alligator this time, called from the second floor before letting off a pair of shots from an beat up nine mill. a flashlight in his other hand.
"Why do you have a gun!?" ,I said Taking off for the exit. I ran as fast as my bad leg could take me my vision hazy, blood pumping, is this how I go? Dust and dirt was flying, missed shots landing around me, as I ran. Another got the edges of my ear my hearing immediately lessened on my right side. It seemed like the exit was miles away across the marble floors but I couldn't stop now, not when I'm so close. Another bullet from the poorly-aimed shots hit my side and pain exploded from the wound as lead tore and maimed its way through my flesh and launched blood and fur out the other side. All I could think was that I should really have brought some kind of weapon. Yeah packing light was a great idea.
Reaching the door I hurled my weight into it and sprinted through the streets searching desperately for a good place to hide. Two blocks down I found a side alley. From the shadows I watched my pursuers run past, only now allowing myself time to catch my breath, slumping against the brick wall uncaring of the filth and muck until I slid to the ground. A cold feeling on my my tail had me glaring over to my left where it had landed in a puddle of filth beside me. Anything else want to go wrong? I moved my tail out of the puddle but it was already soaked right to the bone. Dammit..
Checking myself over for injuries I noticed a hole through my left side and a new hole in my right ear just below the tip. A sigh. Well I guess I don't have any choice but to be getting an earring now. Ellie would be laughing herself into tears over this if she were..No! Don't go there. She chose to leave you and dad. Just, forget about her. Lucky for me the trip back home was without incident, well other than the pain.
Having made it home I shut the door and hid my loot in a convenient closet behind the coats. I'll find a better spot later. Locking the door I took a look around the foyer about 10 feet square and rather plain, a set of stairs visible one room over going up and down. I knew that there would be about 5 rooms that could be bedrooms upstairs and a rather small laundry/storage area downstairs.
I Limped down the stairs my wounds reminding me loudly of what happened earlier tonight as I trudged into the dojo downstairs. It took a couple of tries in my state to get the catch for the hidden door to open.
The room was filled with highly polished wooden flooring that almost shined when you looked at it. The whole thing had been made in the style of ancient Japan. This side of the wall with the door shut you could almost believe you were in Japan in the Edo period. The lights were covered in paper lanterns with low power bulbs to mimic candles just to keep that feeling. Mom used to say it was to keep us close to our ancestors. The walls were covered in weapons of all sorts from the mighty meteor hammer to the humble kunai. Each and every weapon a work of art kept pristine and ready to use. Each and every one used to belong to someone on Mom's side of the family.
At the far end of the room was a mantle of sorts covered with figures from my ancestry, my mom front and center. She was a rather small fox, the one on the shrine was my favorite picture of her. She was happy and sitting in a park with Dad, laughing about some bawdy ballad he was strumming under a tree in the park. I took a moment to stare before I reached under it to get to the first aid kit we-I kept for more serious training incidents.
Removing my clothes to get to the wound in my side was a pain, the taser from earlier falling somewhere by the shrine in the process. Cleaning out my wounds with rubbing alcohol like an army of fire ants attacking the wound. Worse than that was stitching the hole in my side up tight. At least my ear wasn't bleeding so I could just cover it with some gauze until it scabbed up.
Taking a moment I glanced over the left corner where my sister's weapons a set of bladed tonfa gathered dust. On the stand to the right of them a Nodachi that had belonged to our mother lay untouched for the past four years. That at the very least was spotless. Next to them lied a set of shuriken and a Wakizashi worn from my own practice. I should have brought them.
That done I left the room sealing it closed once more before removing the dark cloth I'd been wearing and placing it in the washer to get rid of the blood. I'll need to patch that tomorrow or my fur will stand out.
"Just one quick shower and I'll let you sleep, okay brain. Oh great, I'm talking to myself now." ,I said as I carried myself up the 2 flights of stairs to the bedrooms. Seeing myself in the mirror I realized just how exhausted I was. My eyes their normal bright blue color made my fatigue quite obvious on their own. My usually dark red fur looked more of a rust color in places and the normally white tip of my tail was brown from whatever was in that puddle in the alley. Not to mention the new hole in my right ear just big enough for my smallest finger to fit through,well without the gauze over it anyway. At the very least that didn't look to have bled too much. Even the white on my chest leading up to my chin was changed into a dirty off-white.
The shower complete, I allowed myself the luxury of sleep, not even bothering to re-clothe myself, just crawling under the covers. Sleep took me before my head hit the pillow. I dreamt of raccoons and quit nights.
"Breaking News! It appears that the Cooper Gang has stolen everything in the Mars City Natural History Museum's Civil war exhibit. The robbery was quite thorough with the only remaining valuables being either too large for any one person to move or literally bolted to the walls and floors. In other news the head security guard has been fired and is currently being held for charges of carrying a concealed firearm without license and possession of an unlicensed firearm."
"Huh, guess he really wasn't supposed to have that gun."
"Our next segment will be an interview in France with the Interpol officer Carmelita Fox."
"Thats right Wanda. Some of you may know this fine officer as the lead inspector on The Cooper Case. Let's see what she has to say, on to you ,Louise."
The screen transitioned over to a rather slim weasel in a studio overlooking a waterway. A pair of foxes one in her mid twenties and a second about eight-teen year old in her shadow, both with the interpol badge on the jackets behind her and out of focus.
"Thank you, William I'm here with Ms. Fox to get her statement on how the Cooper gang could have pulled off this most recent heist."
The elder of the foxes cleared her throat before speaking with a heavy spanish accent, "The Cooper gang has proven to be a serious menace to society. Sly Cooper is a highly effective infiltrator capable of getting into places most wouldn't even think of reaching with minimal preparation." As she spoke an image of a Raccoon, the perfect picture of a devil may care attitude with a hidden dexterity for those who could see it evident in his frame. He was posed on the top of a streetlight waving at the camera, a stun round evidently having just missed him, his cane held loosely at his side.
"Their getaway driver Murray is a large hippopotamus his ability to evade pursuit once their van is moving is not to be underestimated." This time a picture of an oversized hippopotamus behind the wheel of a very… unique van. He was big but his frame spoke of muscles and training in some kind of brute force, a fistfight with this one would end badly.
"Finally we have Bentley, their brains. This Turtle has an ability to come up with the plans and routes that allow the other two to evade capture and detection in their tasks. When facing them you must have back-up plans for your backups in the event he finds a way around you. In short every member of this gang is highly capable of evading most law enforcement. Do not underestimate these criminals." The last picture showed a meek looking turtle with what looked like a crossbow loaded with darts instead of common spectacles hiding no doubt frantic eyes and a sort of safari style hat covering most of his head.
It's been four days since my attempt to gain the Cooper Gang's attention. Surely they must have heard about the robbery in their name. Though it is possible they haven't thought too much of it. Maybe it will take more to get their attention. I'll have to try another heist.
Donning a more casual outfit of Jeans and an old white t-shirt. I didn't want to stand out too much after all. Locking up the house I got in the junker of a Sedan my sister left behind and made my way into the upper-city.
After about a half-hours drive I found myself parking on the side of the road outside of an old music shop. The sign read Johnson's guitars and accessories and it was my dad's pride and joy. Currently his General Manager Chuck was watching over everything in his absence. I hope this arrangement doesn't last too much longer.
Walking in the door I couldn't help but lose myself a little in the soft jazz that was always playing through the store. Surrounded by drums and guitars, sheet-music meant to teach one to play the various instruments, and all the other items essential for any artist I moved around the customers to the front desk and from there to the back-room to talk to Chuck.
"Hey! How have ya been Eric. I haven't seen you around in a while." ,The large badger called out as soon as I turned the corner into the backroom. I found him over at the metal desk in the back corner of the room. His eyes were riveted to the desktop screen probably trying to finish his paperwork for the day. His age was apparent from the gray streaks through his fur and the slight wrinkles around his face. He had also been gaining weight steadily ever since the trial, where before he had a strong build his frame had become quite chubby with a pronounced beer gut recently.
"So how are things going with the store? Are things picking back up yet?",I asked settling myself into a chair across from the metal desk.
"Sales aren't looking too good. People heard about your dad's trial and they don't want to come here anymore. If we don't get a pickup on business soon we won't be able to keep the place open much longer. I hate to say this but we might want to think about closing down while we still have something left. Guess this is what happens when the owner kills a guy", He said blunt and straight to the point that was Chuck.
"He didn't kill that man. You know my dad, he isn't that kind of person. All the years we've known him. Has he ever done anything like that, gotten that angry, or... or lashed out like that? He isn't a murderer!" ,I said.
"Look , we've had this argument enough times over the past few months and it never leads us anywhere."
A sigh, "Yeah, you're right. Sorry. Can you stay open for now at least? How long will it be before we have to...to sell the store?"
"we have about three or four more weeks before we end up laying people off at this rate."
After that we shared a look there wasn't really going to be too much left for us to talk about. Shortly after that I was walking back to the car, It was a shame really that Chuck believed that dad actually committed that murder. Before all of this happened they had been best friends for well over twenty years.
Starting the car I began going through the errands for the day.
Two hours later dark had finally passed and I was pulling into the driveway. Gathering up grocery bags and mail I walked to the door. As I keyed the lock it was obvious that the door had already been unlocked. I'm sure I locked the house up before I left.
Setting the bags down I scanned my surroundings and dropped into a crouch. Someone's here. I exercised caution opening the door shutting it gently behind me lest I alert the intruder. Scanning the room I noticed that the door to the basement was wide open though the lights were all left off. Taking the stairs 2 at a time to avoid the steps that creaked I crept into the basement clinging close to the shadows. At the bottom of the stairs I heard the click of the dojo door sliding open.
"Okay, Bentley I'm in that secret room I found. Are you seeing this? Whoever these guys are they have a whole bunch of old weapons in some kinda dojo, looks like something straight out of an old kung-fu movie" ,The figure appeared to be talking to themselves giving me a good opportunity to move closer without being detected.
One weapon,looks like some kind of staff, seems to be right-handed. I stalked into the room my hands tense at my sides.
He noticed me at the last second before i swung rolling into a crouch .Running past him I grabbed my sword off the rack and unsheathed it in one motion before whirling to block the overhead swing of his weapon.
Our weapons clashed between us in a flickering display of steel and wood as we fought. The intruder jumped away from the fight with me trailing behind only to use his staff to flip me over him and into the wall, my sword falling from my hands.
Standing I took a defensive stance and ducked, rolled and swerved out of the reach of several swings. After several seconds of dodging and far too many close calls from my injured leg they left an opening. I threw my weight into him knocking him to the ground, his weapon tossed far from us in the struggle.
We both stood disarmed taking to our fists. He focused on hurting my injured leg and side before to long light punches and jabs causing far more pain than they should. I couldn't fight like this too long before a solid kick left me on the ground by our shrine. He recovered his weapon now visible as an odd cane of some sort with a hooked end. He raised it to knock me out cold.
Heart pounding I rolled from the first swing barely avoiding the golden tip. As I attempted to stand my hand found purchase on the taser from the night before. A plan in mind I grabbed the cane as it swung and leveraged my weight to press the buzzing end of the weapon into his stomach his whole body spasming from the shock. He convulsed for a couple of seconds before he finally fell. I dropped the weapon breathing heavily and lay there for a couple of minutes catching my breath before I stood to asses the room.
Okay one guy in blue on the ground, a Cane over there, my sword over there. Okay let's turn this guy over and see who broke into my hou-Shit.
I took a step back and nearly threw up, my heart beating like a drum and pulse accelerating. No, I did not just knock him out please dear god tell me I didn't do that!
Okay don't panic. I can fix this, right? Okay! First lets pick up the weapons and get them tucked away. Next let's move him upstairs and get him on the couch, maybe that will help.
After note: Think I wrote like a drunken illiterate bastard in his death throes, tell me with that button and the empty space at the bottom.
Conversely if you believe it was prose on par with the greats, you can tell me that too, just a few moments of your time is all It takes to stroke or smash your writer's ego at your pleasure!