Sly 5: A Thief's Legacy
By: Phoenix Ride
Ch.1: Thoughts of a Turtle
My name is Bentley, Bentley Wiseturtle, and over the past few years I have been a thief, working alongside my best friends Sly and Murray. Together we faced and conquered many foes, found many treasures, and overcome many obstacles that stood in our path. But all those good times seem long gone now, now that one of our group is missing.
I have tried my best to find Sly over the years, but he still was nowhere to be found. Sly was the leader of our little group, me and Murray met him way back at the orphanage. Bonding after a cookie heist, the three of us had become an inseparable team.
With Murray's brawn and my brains, we've helped Sly through many scrapes in order to ensure the Cooper Legacy. I still remember our first huge job as a gang, stealing back the Thievous Racoonus from the Fiendish Five.
It wasn't an easy struggle, especially when we first encountered Clockwerk. Sly would have nearly died in that gas chamber if I didn't hack the system in time. Seeing my friend about to die off was enough to get me motivated at being more battle ready for the field.
I studied hard and gained some new weapons and gear so I would be prepared for anything outside. It was time to stop hiding in the van, and become an asset to the team.
Of course Sly had to joke around during my first field mission, but he joked about everything so I let it slide. Well that first mission was a bust, and we ended up chasing after the Klaww Gang to steal back the Clockwerk parts so that Clockwerk would have no chance of being revived.
For a while, we also thought we had a police ally on our side, until Neyla showed her true colors when busting Rajan. From my position on the turret, I could only watch helplessly as Sly and Murray were dragged away in chains.
Being separated for the first time since childhood didn't feel good at all, and the feeling got worse when I knew that I was the only one who could save them. It was time for the coward Bentley to go away, and the brave Bentley come out.
Breaking Sly and Murray out of the Contessa's prison wasn't easy, but the success, and the reward of driving the van, was enough to fill my confidence and give me the courage to handle tougher missions. I even faced Jean Bison and lived to tell about it!
However, my new found confidence shattered for a bit when we discovered that all the Clockwerk parts we had gathered were now in the wings of Arpeggio. With his mechanical mind, it wasn't long until the Clockwerk frame was restored, and Neyla became Clock-La.
Clock-La, one villain I take no joy in remembering. In order to ensure her defeat, I had to remove the Hate Chip, and in the process my legs were lost. Since then I had to adjust to being bound in a wheelchair.
I was in despair, but not as much as Murray. He blamed himself for my accident, and the gang split up for a second time. Me and Sly still stuck around as friends, and I worked on improving my weakness. There was no way this turtle was going to stay handi-capped! I would make myself stronger! My plans better! Bentley Wiseturtle was going to be right along Sly as great thieves.
When the Cooper Vault job popped up my brains were really put to the test. Dr. M had built his fortress well, and even with my additional knowledge, it wasn't powerful enough to break inside. We needed to gather up a team of experts and add them to our gang. Soon the Guru, Penelope, Panda King, and Dimitri were all proud members of the Cooper Gang.
It was kind of ironic that two of our former enemies rose up to join our ranks, and Sly was a bit iffy with the Panda King, but things worked out well. I even managed to get a girlfriend out of the adventure, Penelope. Of course, grabbing her attention wasn't easy, especially when she kept eyeing Sly.
For the first time, I found myself resenting the friendship I shared with the raccoon, and started thinking over how many times my plans had been used to help solve his problems. Without them Sly would have had no clue how to act otherwise.
I even started to get jealous of how he was still able to run and jump while I could only wheel. My mind was clouding over with dark thoughts, and everything came to a head when we reached Dr. M's hideout.
If hadn't been for Murray, there was no telling how I would have reacted when Dr. M offered me a spot at his side. Apparently the same dark thoughts I'd been having have haunted him once, only I didn't turn crazy evil and start wiping out my friends.
I did feel kind of sorry when Dr. M died, even though he was clearly mad, it was clear that we somehow shared a kinship, Genius is a hard load to burden, and bearing its weight can sometimes lead you down in flames.
Sly never did return after the Cooper Vault job, and it was only a few months after the gang split up that I found out why. Carmelita, the Interpol agent that seemed to always be on our tail, and Sly's not so secret crush were finally together under the deception of amnesia.
When I saw that wink from Sly, I knew the message was clear. The Cooper Legacy was in my hands now, and he trusted me to guide it.
Since then, I had been guiding it, and with the help of Penelope we reinforced the Cooper Vault, and started to develop high-tech technology that would even make most businesses quake with jealously. The time machine was my personal pet project. Not only was I interested in cracking the temporal code, but I also wanted to know the futures about me, Sly, and Murray.
Unfortunately, my plans to see the future were put on hold when one night, Penelope vanished without a trace. I couldn't find her anywhere, and things only got worse when I discovered words from the Thievous Raccoonus started disappearing off the page. Something big was going on, and I had to get the gang back together to figure out just what it is.
The battle against Le Paradox and his goons was successful as well as disappointing, minorly by the fact that Penelope had betrayed my trust to help in the skunk's plans, and majorly from the loss of Sly during the final fight. There was no telling where he was now, and as the days passed into months, the worry slowly started to kill our hope.
I wish I could find out where, or even when Sly was, but even genius can't solve everything. Only time would tell when Sly would return, and I was really beginning to hate that phrase.
Deciding to take a break from the lab, I wheeled myself out onto the streets and just began to roll around. Even though Paris seemed full of action, to me it looked empty and alone. Having your brotherhood torn apart can do that to a guy.
I found myself going to the museum for some reason, over-looking the ancient artifacts gifted to us from different eras. Ironically, it was the same museum Le Paradox had invested in before his stolen antique scam was uncovered.
In the Japanese section, I eyed the same dagger that had started the whole time travel adventure with Sly and Murray, and my thoughts instantly flashed back to meeting the ancestors and that final fight on the blimp.
Sly's ancestors were a very big help when facing Le Paradox, even cranky-pants Salim, who was glad to finally enjoy his retirement in peace. It was fun meeting some of the different heirs to the Cooper line, and if things had gone a bit differently maybe we would have had a chance to meet some more.
Thinking about Sly's lineage also got me thinking about my own. Since I was left at the orphanage as an egg, I never got to meet my real parents, or learn anything about our family history. I only adopted the name Wiseturtle after the director of the orphanage, Mrs. Puffin, kept telling how wise I am.
Wondering about my own legacy, I rolled into the Egyptian exhibit where a tour group was listening to guide explain some of the artifacts. He spouted out a lot interesting facts, but my mind only paid half-attention to what he was saying. My eyes had already caught the sight of something else in the room.
It was an artifact, but for some reason I felt this was different from the rest. It almost seemed to be calling to me, and I wheeled myself over for a better look. My eyes scanned it up and down.
It was a golden bow, carefully carved into the fierce shape of a cobra. The cobra's eyes were adorned with gleaming red rubies, and the string flew out its jaw to the tail. A sudden voice soon directed my gaze away from the treasure.
"Ah you like that one huh?" said a tall, grey and black wolf. His green eyes held a philosophical gleam. " It's one of the newest treasures added to our collection, unfortunately obtained from that liar Le Paradox's stolen stash. When I became the new director I became quite charmed to keep this piece in the museum. Luckily, Cairo said I could keep it. I never seen a more fabulous Egyptian bow,"
"Me neither" I said " I wonder who it belonged to,"
"Funny you should mention that" said the wolf " there is quiet a legend behind this bow, said to be owned by a wicked sorcerer named Kasim. He was quite adept in using magic, and the Pharaohs relied heavily on his input. However, when his wickedry was finally discovered it was to late to act. Egypt fell into decline until Slytukamen took the throne in 1300 BCE."
"Kasim" I thought interestingly "Slytukamen? That was one Sly's ancestors! The very first one we knew of, since Bob, that started the trade of stealing from other thieves,"
Slytukamen shared quite a history in the Thievous Raccoonus. He was the one who first developed the plans for the Cooper Vault, and mastered using his invisibility technique to steal treasures from corrupt people who roamed the desert.
He managed to make quite a name for himself, but we all knew how the story ended. Somewhere along the line, Clockwerk came and started hunting him and his descendants down. The curse would have continued on had we not put a stop to it long ago. But I was confused about this Kasim.
All of research into the Thievous Raccoonus, and not once did I see Kasim's name mentioned in the history of Slytukamen. Though it is possible since the book wasn't actually written until Thaddeus Winslow Cooper decided to document the Cooper legacy.
I wanted to know more about this Kasim, and how he was somehow connected to Sly's past. At the same time, I'll try to dig through my own past. It will be a fun way not to worry for a while.
Don't worry Sly, I still promise to keep up my search. I will find you, no matter when or where you are.