"Your lucky streak ends tonight, Cooper... this plan is escape-proof!" Inspector Carmelita was feeling very confident that tonight would be the night that she caught Sly Cooper. So what exactly made this time any different from the other numerous times she had thought the same and been proved wrong? It might be the fact that Interpol had set up a sting with a priceless gem as bait... and done it in a way that Cooper and his pals wouldn't have the slightest idea that they were walking into a trap. The gem was real, the security around the gem appeared to be exactly what it should be under normal circumstances, and the plans had been drawn up the old-fashioned way: without computers. "Do you really think he'll come, Inspector Fox?" This came from a young rookie, who promptly took a hint when several veterans looked at him like he had just asked whether the world was round. If that question had come from anybody BUT a rookie, Carmelita would have lost her temper. Even so, she didn't bother answering the question. Sly Cooper would come... but somebody else came instead.

The sound of what could only be the glass case around the gem being smashed was heard, and the officers manning the spotlights switched them on... but nobody was there, and the gem was already gone. "Pathetic... a common punk MIGHT have fallen for that... but not someone like myself. "Carmelita was shocked... whoever said that was definitely NOT Sly Cooper! It sounded so close to her as well... "Are you hard of hearing? I heard that you were naive... but this is ridiculous!" This time Carmelita spun around, as did several of the officers flanking her, quickly whipping out their weapons in readiness to fire... and having their weapons just as quickly destroyed. "Naive... and in need of being sent back to the academy for more training as well! I'm disappointed... I expected more of Interpol... and especially you, Ms. Montoya."

The speaker stepped out of the shadows; he was a young male fox, with what appeared to be a strange metallic object strapped to his right arm... but Carmelita quickly realized from its crescent-like shape and the gleam from its edges that it was a weapon... and as several of the officers attempted to take down the young fox, he demonstrated his skill with it, fortunately for the officers using the weapon's side rather than its edge upon them. "Like I said, in need of more training." The fox said this as he stepped over the bodies of the unconscious officers and closed the distance between himself and the Inspector to striking range. "Inspector Montoya, you are not only naive, but foolish as well. Your mentor surely taught you better than this..." "My mentor? Who would that be, punk?" "Inspector Barker. I believe he retired a while ago, didn't he? Well, he happens to have some unfinished business. Everybody has their secrets, Inspector... I have a idea of what one of yours may be..."

"Don't try to intimidate me..." Carmelita didn't know what was going on, but the more time she could buy, the better chance that this punk would be taken down. "So naive... you're just like my mother once was... which is one reason why I have a pretty good idea about that secret, one that you attempt to deny even to yourself." The fox made a gesture with his left hand, and a runic circle appeared below him. "Farewell, Inspector Montoya. Look to your mentor for answers... but you don"t know what to ask him, do you? Oh well... all in due time." A flash of light and the fox vanished without a trace. "That was weird... and creepy. Come on... get a hold of yourself, Carmelita! That punk was just trying to intimidate you!" Besides, Carmelita had bigger things to worry about... not only had her attempt to capture Sly Cooper failed, and the valuable gem that she was supposed to return safe and sound been stolen... but to top it all off, the thief who had stolen it wasn't Sly Cooper! Carmelita had no idea that what the young fox had said had not been an attempt to intimidate here... but rather a cryptic message, one that would start to make sense to her all too soon... once she investigated the badge that had been left behind by the fox.

"Am I doing the right thing... or am I making a mistake? No, the die has been cast and there is no turning back." The young fox looked at the gem that he had stolen... and threw it into the nearby bushes. "Besides... I already know what has already come to pass, and it mirrors the beginnings of what came to pass so many years ago..." The young fox made the same gesture he had made a short while before, and a runic circle appeared below him. "I just hope that I am correct... or all will have been for naught. "A moment later, the fox had vanished, leaving the forest clearing much the same as it had been before he arrived.