Hello, I am new to this site and writing and general. I thought it would be kind of cool to take a new perspective on a classic and I haven't seen this storyline anywhere so I thought I would give it a go. Please read and review.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Sly Cooper series. Only the plot is my idea.
It was Christmas Eve and Paris was lit up with festive cheer. The streets shone with string lights wrapped around streetlamps and caused the falling snowflakes to glimmer like diamonds. People walked quickly through this wonderland to join their families for Christmas dinner and other festivities, content with the presents they had brought their loved ones.
However, not all the Parisians were of the same festive intent this night, for crime never sleeps, no matter what time of year. With this thought firmly in mind, Inspector Carmelita Fox patrolled through the dark museum. As an apparent Christmas gift to the people, the museum curator had decided to open an exhibit on Christmas day, displaying common toys in 17th century France. Carmelita herself had been charmed by the toys, which had included stern looking tin soldiers, an ornately carved dollhouse, stately dolls dressed in fine dresses and outfits appealing to young girls with dreams of love and nobility and as a crowning jewel, a rare nutcracker doll.
This nutcracker was of particular value as the creator was so talented in his time that he was rumored to have magical capabilities. Whether or not this was true, this nutcracker was the only one of its kind to have been made by this toymaker. Carmelita had to admit, while admiring the doll, that it was a stately piece. Its military uniform was blue with yellow trim and a golden sword at its hip and it stared out at the world with an expression of utmost determination. She found herself imagining a certain raccoon thief wearing such an ensemble and expression and had to stop herself from laughing out loud. That ladrón was never serious, she thought to herself. The day he took things seriously would be the day she became a thief. Ha! The very idea of it…
Unknown to the good inspector, the object of her internal monologue was watching her patrol with a slight smirk that could be consider his trademark. Sly Cooper, the notorious master thief, had plans that also involved a certain nutcracker. It would serve as a wonderful Christmas gift for the gang, he mused, what with the amount of money it would bring on thief net. Or he could give it to the lovely Inspector Fox for Christmas, just so he could see her lovely face when she inevitably exploded with wrath. His musings were cut short as his binocucom rang. Putting it up to his face, he saw Bentley, genius extraordinaire, looking at him expectantly.
"Alright Sly, the nutcracker is on the 3rd floor next to the Medieval section-", Bentley started.
"So, I just gotta sneak in past Sir Galleth's wardrobe and grab the doll" noted Sly.
"Roughly speaking yes, but you also have to get past Carmelita" replied Bentley who was long used to Sly's frequent interruptions.
"Ah, the highlight of my holiday! I think she would love having a doll, huh Bentley? Maybe I can grab her one."
"Sly, NO. Just get the stupid nutcracker and get out." Said Bentley firmly.
"Aw, don't take away my fun! Besides this is the season of giving, it is a civic and moral duty to provide the good inspector with a thoughtful gift."
"Whatever, Sly, just get the doll." With that Bentley hung up, evidently annoyed with Sly's (in his opinion) misplaced enthusiasm.
Sly chuckled to himself. "Good old Bentley, always looking out for me and Murray. Well, that nutcracker isn't going to steal itself, I'd better head on." And with that, he vaulted off the roof of the building across the street from the museum, snagged a clothesline with his trusted cane and sprung up to the museum roof, where he slipped inside through an open window.
Once inside, Sly looked around the darkened interior. He noticed that the exhibit was guarded by a set of laser beams that would sound the alarm if tripped. This was not an issue for him, it could almost be considered routine. Thus, less than five minutes later, he had the nutcracker doll in hand and was making his way out of the building when-
"Freeze Ringtail!" cried a familiar Latina voice.
"My lovely senorita, what a wonderful holiday surprise" said Sly with his trademark smirk.
"The only lovely surprise here will be the sight of you spending your holidays behind bars" snarled Carmelita.
"Now, put the nutcracker down gently then put your hands where I can see them."
"Oh, you mean like this?" Sly showed her his free hand which held a smoke bomb that was quickly detonated. When the smoke cleared, the Cooper had vanished. She hurried up to the roof where she got a glimpse of a striped tail whisking around the corner of a chimney and took off in hot pursuit, firing her handy shock pistol at the thief's retreating back. After chasing him across four rooftops, they both came to a dead end.
"It's over Ringtail, you are under arrest and have the right to remain silent" Carmelita triumphantly, yet cautiously due to past experience, approached her target until she was only a few paces away. Before Sly could reply, the nutcracker doll he had hung onto suddenly opened its mouth and gold dust shot out of the opening, spraying both Sly and Carmelita. Sly, however was the first to recover, and quickly seized his opportunity to escape, rushing past Carmelita and expertly slipping something in her hair as he did. Carmelita finally stopped coughing and blinking and saw that Cooper was gone. She rushed to the edge of the roof to see Sly on top of his gang's van waving to her and shouting "Feliz Navidad Inspector!".
"I'LL GET YOU TU ESTUPIDO LADRÓN" Carmelita screamed at the retreating figures, sending off a few parting shots with her shock pistol in fury after them. As she went to run her hands through her hair in vexation, her hand met unexpected resistance. She brought her hand in front of her face to find that she had grabbed a sprig of mistletoe and a note saying, "I look forward to meeting you under a door with this gift. From your favorite thief" ending with the Cooper clan logo. With a muttered curse, she threw the mistletoe to the ground and stomped on it but kept the note so she could burn it later. With a sigh, she left the roof top and trudged back to be chewed out by her boss again then return to her apartment to spend Christmas Eve preparing for family that was to be visiting the next day.
Meanwhile, the Cooper gang made their way back to their hideout. "So Sly, I guess you didn't get a doll for Carmelita for Christmas" Bentley snickered.
"Hey, I was going to but then something weird happened" Sly said defensively.
"What, Carmelita actually managed to hit you with a shock blast for once?" snickered Murray, their strongman and getaway driver. "No" Sly snapped, "this doll shot gold dust at Carmelita and I".
"Strange" said Bentley, examining the doll. "I'll have to run some tests on it in the morning. Are you feeling alright, no signs of nausea or fatigue?" He said, worried that his friend may have been poisoned. "I feel fine Bentley." "Alright, let me know if anything changes", said Bentley, "Meanwhile, I am going to start examining the doll and see if we can get a good price for it on ThiefNet."
"OK, Bentley, how about you Murray?"
"Well, I was going to see if I can make some good eggnog then break my record for eating the most gingerbread cookies in an hour" said Murray enthusiastically.
Sly chuckled, "I guess I will leave you to it" he said as they pulled up to their hideout which was an old apartment near the Eiffel tower. He hopped out of the van and made his way up to his room, thinking of nothing except relaxing while reading excerpts out of his family's legendary tome, the Thievius Raccoonus (AN: sorry if I misspelled it) and wondering what Christmas surprises he could get the gang with the money the nutcracker would bring. As he changed out of his thieving attire, he suddenly got a weird sense that everything seemed a tad bigger than normal and his pajamas were a little loose on him. He shook the thought off and decided that the adrenaline of this heist was making him imagine things. With a small sigh, he got into bed to sleep off his exhaustion with one last thought as he quickly nodded off- what was that strange gold dust?
Little did he know, but he would find the answer upon awakening.