It's the start of another Sly Cooper fan fiction and I feel that it would be good to know thy enemy…..
The SYNDICATEA mysterious group lead by an unknown figure, this gang is the largest, most reputable, most international group that the Cooper gang has ever faced. Each member represents a different continent and not only do they each run their own criminal operations, they have also managed to have become somewhat prominent public figures in their own fields and therefore hide their more 'questionable' activities, making it nearly impossible for them to be discovered by Interpol.
The membership is so secretive that even the members themselves do not know the identities of their other associates, making it harder for Interpol to bring the group down if one of its membership is discovered.
Only the leader of the group, who refers to himself as SPECTRE, knows the identities of his gang members, and he provides extremely handsome monetary rewards for his followers' loyalty, obedience and discretion.
Australia- "Outback" Jack McGillin
A monitor lizard, self-proclaimed champion for nature, proprietor of the Outback Nature Zoo and host of "Out Back with Jack" a mildly popular nature and animal show. McGillin grew up in the shadow of his father, a well-known wildlife trader and founder of the Nature Zoo. When zoos started captive breeding programs and stopped getting their animals from the wild, the elder McGillin became very involved in captive breeding in his own zoo and became an acclaimed naturalist and conservationist. Jack followed in his father's footsteps and took control of the zoo after the old man passed away, though he enjoyed the thrill of capturing and transporting wild animals and felt his dad went soft when he stopped his days in wildlife trading. McGillin is one of the few individuals still involved in the wild animal trade for private collections and the occasional zoo (though mainly the less reputable ones). Though his dad was highly respected by zoo directors, conservationists and wildlife biologists, Jack has somewhat of a shady reputation and is not fully believed when he states that he loves wildlife and that his goal is to protect and teach children about wildlife during his shows. There have been rumors of his illegal poaching and collection of rare and endangered species since many times after he leaves a location after taping his show, there are reports of missing animals or items such as ivory, eggs or feathers. Though his passion rests in capturing and smuggling rare wildlife, McGillin found out that he could use the fact that his television crew goes all over the world to tape to become a transporter for various 'questionable' (illegal) items that certain individuals with underworld connections may want to move across borders without the knowledge of the proper authorities. This Crocodile Dundee/Steve Irwin wannabe dresses in khaki pants, khaki vest and hat and has made a name for himself in public and criminal circles for his globe hopping exploits teaching children about the wonders of wildlife (and plundering those wonders for himself in addition to smuggling illegal goods for others).
---Jack McGillin, the wildlife expert and chief importer/exporter for the Syndicate---
North America- Dr. Gerald Vultura
An elderly California Condor man, professor of mechanical engineering at the New York Institute of Technology, and head of Vultura Industries, a small technology and robotics company located near the Hudson River in Manhattan. Vultura has been with this Manhattan Institute for almost thirty years and is one of its most distinguished professors. He has many features a man of his age, species and career would possibly have, being a large balding man who dresses like an elderly professor would, with dark slacks, a pressed light colored buttoned-down shirt, a tweed jacket with leather patches on the elbows and a wine colored vest that looks like it is stressed in its job of holding in his belly. Like many professors of his stature, he is somewhat arrogant, though he is also extremely proud of the fact that he is a California Condor and takes great offence when he is mistaken for what he would call a more 'common' species. Besides his impressive technology and robotics research work, Vulutra has been a source of hands on experience for students in many of the engineering fields by providing numerous internships and even full time jobs. The Institute is very grateful to have had this resource for its students and has awarded Dr. Vultura for his work with the undergraduate and graduate students numerous times. In reality, it is actually Vultura who benefits the most: though he is just a mechanical engineer, he was able to develop highly advanced remote controlled and robotic technology through the work and ideas of his numerous 'interns' over the years. Vultura benefits even more because the students sign over rights to their work (many times unknowingly) when they agree to work for him (and even if they do not, Vultura has developed extremely sophisticated surveillance technology and can steal their work without their permission). About ten to fifteen years into his work at the Institute, Vulutra realized the profitability of manufacturing and selling weapons-grade armor and technology- lasers, body armor, portable rocket launchers and the like, and started working on making these items for those unscrupulous individuals who so desired them. Vultura Industries still works on their legitimate projects- bomb squad robots, small remote controlled robots and the like, but his main money comes from his 'special projects' that he tends to work on himself: he discovered it was a messy business getting rid of students or employees who accidentally found out too much, but he manages to continue his profitable and illegal robotics business while maintaining his Ivy-League reputation.
---Gerald Vultura, the oldest member and technical genius of the Syndicate---
Africa- Commander Reginald Mutatu
A gorilla, ex-Olympian pugilist (boxer) from the African nation of the Congo, he is considered a national hero since he has earned the only Olympic medals for the country (two gold in boxing). Based on this popularity, Mutatu decided to run for public office and besides the large outpour of support from the public, he was an intimidating candidate and virtually ran unopposed, easily winning his government seat. It was here that he discovered the disdainful (though lucrative) business of illegal gem mining that plagued the country. Mutatu began to aggressively rally against the illegal mining operations, but not because of the moral and environmental issues that he stressed to the public during this campaign. No he intended to muscle out the competition so he could come in and secretly take over the entire industry after he left office. He had made enough contacts (as well as numerous threats and blackmail attempts) with numerous former and current government officials as well as gem miners, that he was able to fulfill his goal: he left office as a well respected former government official and started as the head of the largest and only gem mining operation in the Congo. Mutatu declared himself commander of all gem mining in the Congo and as such, he dresses as a military official would, in khaki/green military pants, combat boots, green military jacket and hat (think of what Castro would wear) and he's even adorned his uniform with some medals. He usually dons his commander outfit as he lords over the mining operation, though he regularly puts on his old boxing trunks and relives his days as an Olympian by sparing with some of his men (usually those who have angered him the day before, since the 'sparing match' is usually one sided and the opponents end up in the infirmary) in a boxing ring he had installed in his compound. Mutatu runs a very tight operation and holds a strong rein on his men, who in turn keep a watchful eye on the local peoples who are basically slaves in Mutatu's gem operation. Due to his government contacts, Mutatu is able to smuggle the gems out of the country with little scrutiny. Any inspectors who are moral (and brave) enough to try to thwart the Commander's efforts are either manhandled by Mutatu's men or demoted from their position by the politicians he has paid off for their cooperation. Yes, with the fame, public respect, government officials on his payroll, general terror that he instills in those that dare to oppose him and more money than he knows what to do with, Reginald Mutatu is leading the life of a real commander in chief.
---Reginald Mutatu, muscle and chief gem producer and financer of the Syndicate---
Europe- Thor and Loki Rasmussen
Twin Norwegian wolf death metal rockers with muscular bodies, long black hair and a penchant for head-banging metal music: both play lead guitar in their world famous band, the Dark Clergy, and they both tend to wear spandex pants that accentuate their tight behinds, with colored wife-beater shirts that show off their ripped abs and arms. Though popular with extreme metal heads, the Dark Clergy have somewhat of a bad reputation for having extremely dark and disturbing stage shows that tend to border on the occult. They have an army of loyal fans who would do anything for the band (the twins are planning on using that devotion to their advantage). They are the top heavy metal band in the world but are not content with the fact that country music stars, pop divas, rap artists and (worst of all) boy bands have passed them in popularity on the music charts, though they hope that their newest album and their latest rock concert which is free to their fans and will be held at their ancestral castle home (it adds to the band's hardcore image) will help to change minds worldwide (literally). Albeit they are slow on the uptake (probably the dumbest members of the Syndicate). The Rasmussen family has a long, dark, infamous connection with the black arts and these two are no exception to the family 'occupation'. Convinced of their greatness due to their family history, Norse god names and abilities to totally thrash out on guitars, the Rasmussens believe that it will only be a matter of time before they rule as the heavy metal rock gods they truly are.
---Thor and Loki Rasmussen, the heavy metal rockers and black magic experts for the Syndicate---
South America- "Miss Brazil" Calista Monteiro
This Brazilian beauty is one of the most beautiful ocelot women in Sao Paulo if not in all of Brazil. This six foot tall, statuesque beauty with her long raven colored hair and emerald green eyes won the title of Miss Brazil and was almost guaranteed to be the next Miss Universe, when she decided to withdraw from the pageant after her father, Benedito Monteiro, passed away due to illness and take over her father's well-known foundation as well as the lesser known 'family business'. Benedito Monteiro was not a stupid man, so he was not blinded by machismo when he decided to teach his only child, Calista, the ways of his 'business', for Monteiro was head of one of the most powerful Brazilian crime families, which ran the majority of the South American illegal spice industry. Calista was as cunning and ruthless as her father, if not more so, which gave Benedito confidence that his daughter would be the best to run his organization. Benedito's enemies on the other hand, thought nothing of Calista and felt that the Monteiro family would be easily crushed the day Benedito died and his beauty queen daughter took over. In fact, they regretted that assumption when some of the more powerful crime bosses made a play for the Monteiro empire and only wound up missing, their bodies being found weeks later in the Brazilian rain forest. Benedito was not against his daughter's life as a pageant queen: he knew that it would bring her reputability that would make it easier for her to hide their family's true enterprise and he felt that the pageant world would help her cultivate the 'kill or be killed' mentality that it takes to run a top crime family or win Miss Brazil. He was proud of her when he found out about the unfortunate 'accidents' that happened to some of Calista's more eager competitors during her days in the pageant world. Since she took over as head of the Monteiro Foundation, Calista has launched her 'Menina Bonita' (beautiful girl) clothing line which provides her with more money and adds to her reputation (who would suspect a former Miss Brazil and clothing designer of being a mafia donna?). Her sparkling reputation is also due to her running of the Monteiro Foundation, which gives scholarships to underprivileged girls. The irony behind this is that similar girls who would receive these monetary gifts work with their entire families in Calista Monteiro's jungle compound, where numerous indigenous and poor Brazilians work in both her spice and clothing mills. Calista has set up a sizable and lucrative empire and she's well feared in crime circles for her ferocity and callousness. One would consider her less of a Miss Congeniality and more of a Miss Lethality.
---Calista Monteiro, the style and fashion maven and spice producer of the Syndicate---
Asia- Kiyo Yakamuchi
He is the most well known and unassuming member of the Syndicate, being the owner and CEO of the Yakamuchi Corporation, which manufactures home electronics and electronic circuitry, but is best know for being the makers of the world famous Yakuchi video game/ toy/ cartoon line (Yakuchi is a battle game where trainers raise and fight mystical creatures). Yakamuchi is headquartered in Tokyo, and his corporate building is one of the largest structures in Tokyo and is playfully nicknamed the 'impenetrable fortress' by local tour guides due to its imposing size (though there is more truth in that name than believed). The fact that he is the creator of Yakuchi, that the thin tanuki (raccoon dog) dresses in a plain, nondescript black suit and dark glasses and that he has a very respectful, congenial and jovial personality to his business associates and the public makes it seem highly unlikely that Kiyo Yakamuchi is the largest weapons dealer in the north Pacific as well as the leader of a large, well trained martial arts army. Kiyo's grandfather was a leader of one of the larger dojos in Tokyo and his grandson naturally became one of his pupils. Kiyo did not realize the benefit of being able to defend himself until his hobby of tinkering with electronic devices and circuitry turned into a prosperous business when he designed his first video gaming unit. The electronics market was very competitive in Tokyo and larger rivals tried to squash this upstart themselves through hiring others to 'take care of their problems'. His martial arts became useful when dealing with these hired thugs and when his competitors realized that he meant business, he was left alone. Yakamuchi did not rest on this accomplishment and realized that if his competitors could not take the head of his blossoming company, then they might decide to take out the body. Kiyo had decided to start training his employees in the martial arts so that they could also handle any threats that his competitors could possibly throw their way. Eventually it became company policy to have everyone who worked for Kiyo to be proficient in some type of martial arts. It was also policy for the employees not to let anyone know, since surprise would be a great asset. Having his own private army of martial artists came in handy not just for dealing with his competitors, who eventually gave up trying to muscle him out and decided to make better products, but in dealing with the Yakuza, who tried to get protection money for the safety of his company. Kiyo handled this threat well: not only was his staff trained to defend themselves, but he decided to beat the mafia at its own game and started secretly dealing in the sale of weapons and explosives. This was a two pronged attack: not only did it offer more defense for the now fledgling corporation, but he was now a viable competitor to the Yakuza's illegal sale of weaponry. This bright yet unassuming tanuki enjoyed not only ruling the legitimate business of Japanese electronics, but the illegal weapons market as well. Though quiet and quite personable in public, Yakamuchi is one of the most deadly and valuable members of the Syndicate.
---Kiyo Yakamuchi, the martial arts warrior and weapons/explosive specialist for the Syndicate---
SPECTRE- Mysterious Leader of the Syndicate
Description and whereabouts are currently unknown, since he wouldn't be a 'mysterious leader' otherwise.
With the villains in place, it's time to start the next chapter in the Sly Cooper saga- Some Things Never Change!