(A/N: Sorry it's so short! OK, basically, the whole thing is based off the fifth part of Sly 3. It just sort of planted itself in my head and grew and grew until it turned into this! I'm working on the next chapter, so hang tough!)

Thieves of the Caribbean

Prologue: I Heard a Rumor

Blood Bath Bay, the Caribbean

9:24 PM

The Jade Mermaid had always been the number one source of income in Blood Bath Bay, and it would be for years to come. The town itself wasn't very large, but the profit it generated was enough to rival even that of Tortuga. There were always ships at anchor in the harbor, and the rock formations acting as a protective corral around the harbor insured that even if the Navy managed to track them down, they would have to come through a bottleneck and be forced to battle a fusillade of cannons. No tricky maneuvers, no stealth tactics, just a full on assault. To date, not a single person had blasted their way into Blood Bath Bay. No ship had even managed to make it past the Skull keep. Even now, the skeletons of dozens of warships, Navy and raider, were rotting at the bottom of the bay.

In fact, a popular source of gossip in the Jade Mermaid was comparing pirates and agreeing on who would be the most likely to be the first to storm the bay. And that was what was going on currently, all around the inside of the tavern.

Boomstick Luke plopped down at a table with his partners, Hellfire Russell and Pointer Wesley, slapping down the drinks he'd brought. For some reason, every pirate either had a nickname, a title, or an insult attached to them. Otherwise, they were referred to as "cabin boy scum" or some other similar degrading stereotypes. Hellfire was a giant of a man, a long eared dog who was famous for the cannon he carried on his shoulder in replacement of more convenient weapons. However, not all of his bulk was fat, as was proved by the ease with which he could swing said cannon like a club. Pointer was a tiny little thing, with pointy ears and a twitch in one eye that creeped people out. However, he was fast, too fast for anyone else to touch him, and was deadly proficient with the rapier he had in his belt. Boomstick, however, was right in the middle, neither tall nor short, neither fat nor skinny. Most of the time, he fought with two cutlasses, which often was enough, but other times he'd have to fall back on his scattergun. Hence, the nickname.

Boomstick leaned back in his chair before saying "Right, where were we again?"

Pointer piped up here with "Trying to think about which snot-nosed cabin boy what calls hisself a pirate would be able to get through the harbor without getting hisself blown to pieces."

Hellfire nodded before saying "I think you brought up someone, Boomstick. Who was 'e again? Capper? Copper?"

"Cooper," corrected Boomstick irritably. "Captain Sly Cooper."

"Oh yeah, I heard of 'im. I thought that Captain-Lieutenant blew 'im away last week. That's what I heard." Pointer was being his annoying little self once more, piping up with his two cent's worth to add to the detail.

Hellfire shook his head, saying "Ya mean Fox? Nah, if ya ask me, she'll never get 'im."

"And 'ow would you know, ya fat blubbering whale fart? I've gone up against 'er before. She sank the last ship I was on, totally murdered us. We even outnumbered 'er troops four to one, yet when the boarding crews came on board, we was slaughtered. Those that gave up were the smart ones. She killed every last resister on board, then blew the powder hold. I slipped off in time, a'course, but still…I'll never forget that."

Hellfire shook his head again and took a drink from his mug before saying "Still, I've heard this Cooper guy's untouchable. His ship, the Emerald Dragon, is the fastest there is on the water. His guns are in the shape of sharks, and it's like staring down a creature's gullet before they fire. He commands a crew of dingoes that are the toughest hard-hitting bastards you'll find on the seas. And finally, he's supposed to be a master with a sword. I've heard tell of some people who went up against him, and one second, he's standing there, the next, he's right behind you cutting ya in half."

"Rubbish!" said another pirate who'd been listening in. He pulled up a chair and said "I heard the reason he always wins is because he's got two really smart guys on board. They designed all his weapons, they know all the weak points on a ship, and, get this, they've made a smoke bomb of some sort. Blinds you like a grease fire, it does."

"Nah, you're wrong too!" said another pirate, who leaned against a pole while he spoke. "It's cause he's got this creature under his command, and there's this mystic-guy-thing on his ship that controls it. You ever heard of…Crusher?"

The name itself sent tingles down every pirates' spines. However, another man yelled out "Bullocks! I heard he's got some Chinese guy who knows how to use fireworks like bombs!"

"Are you kiddin' me? It's obvious his first mate, the strongest man on the seas, is his secret weapon!"

"No, it's cause he's got a diver who plants explosives on the hulls while the fighting's going on!"

"Don't be stupid, no one can dive that deep for that long! Anyways, it's cause he's got magic powers! He can turn invisible, I swear!"

Suddenly, the whole tavern was in an uproar, yelling out their theories about how Captain Cooper managed to achieve so many victories and escape so many times. Hellfire, Pointer, and Boomstick decided to get going before it all got physical.

Over in the corner, a single shadowy figure grinned to himself, taking a sip of his drink before setting it down on a wanted poster. Then without a warning, the figure simply disappeared. Vanished. The wanted poster on the table featured a scruffy raccoon with an eye patch over his right eye. Underneath were the words "Sly Cooper. Wanted Dead or Alive. Reward."