Disclaimer: Hello once more fellow Sly Cooper fans and welcome to what I hope will be my first multi-chaptered Sly Cooper story, woot!
Sly: Yeah yeah big deal, lets get this show started I got thieving to do!
(Looks at him with a raised eyebrow) Are you saying that just because you want to steal things or because you want an excuse to see Carmelita?
Sly: (Grinning) A little of both actually.
(Sighing and shaking my head) Right...anyways on with the story! Oh and before I forget, I don't own Sly Cooper and Co, and a line of ### means a scene change!
Mask of Deceit
Prologue
It was a cold night in Paris, the local weather station had reported that the temperature would drop below zero during the night. Outside, the last few people on the streets hurried home to thier warm houses, desperate to get away from the winds. As they ran around a single figure watched from the second floor of a nearby building, a small smile on his face.
" Those poor bastards," he chuckled, watching as a male canine struggled against the fierce winds, " am I glad I'm in here!"
Giving one last look out the window, Jeff turned in his chair to stare at the nearby security consoles. Working the midnight shift here at the Louvre was rather boring, but still it at least kept him out of the cold. Sighing quietly, the old badger leaned back in his chair and proceeded to watch the terminals once more. His peace was broken however when a large crashing noise came from the adjoining room. Groaning, Jeff got up out of his chair and went to the door, opening it and looking in the room. What he saw made him shake his head in pity and a bit of disgust. There sprawled out on the floor was the newest recruit to the Louvre's night time watch, and sadly his working partner. Jeff stared down at the young canine as he untangled himself from the mess he had gotten himself stuck in.
" You know Charles," the badger began, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, " you keep this up and one night I might shoot you by mistake."
Charles, who had at the moment untying the packaging string from his legs, looked up at Jeff in shock.
" You wouldn't really do that, would you?" he asked in a timid voice earning an eye roll from his superior.
" Off course I wouldn't," the old badger snorted, now uncrossing his hands and standing up straight, " your not worth the waste of ammo."
Turning, Jeff walked back into the security room with a small grin on his face as he heard his partner sigh loudly in relief. Sure maybe he should be nice to the kid, but hey he left himself open for that one. With a light chuckle he settled himself into the chair once more as Charles walked through the door and sat down next to him. There was silence between the two for a few minutes, and then finally Jeff spoke up, startling Charles.
" So, enjoying your first night?" the badger asked, watching with amusement as Charles jumped a bit at his sudden question.
" Pardon?"
" Your first night, like it so far?"
" Well, I...I guess," Charles said, stuttering a bit, " though it's a bit..."
" Quiet?" Jeff offered, recieving a nod from his partner.
" Well yeah, that and it's boring as hell."
The old badger let out a deep laugh at that statement, earning himself a confused glance from the canine next to him.
" Well of course it's quiet and boring," Jeff began, motioning to the security moniters with his paw, " nothing ever happens in this place ever since the new security was installed, theives are probably scared of the place now!"
Jeff started to laugh again, earning a small snicker from Charles who glanced at the screens. His snicker stopped however, when something on one of the screens caught his eye. Jeff noticed his behavior and turned to face the screens as well.
" Charles, what's the matter, see something on the screens?"
" I think so," the canine muttered, squinting his eyes and pointing at a screen, " zoom in there."
Shrugging, the badger typed a few instructions into the console, immediatly bringing up the screen for the Egyptian exhibit. Pressing another set of keys, Jeff leaned back a bit and looked back at the screen.
" There, right there!"
Jeff looked at the canine who was frantically pointing to a set of windows on the screen. The badgers eyes widened when he finally saw what Charles was pointing at. One of the windows had a small circular hole cut into it and was open. Years of security work immediatly kicked into gear as Jeff sprang to his feet and ran over to the wall where the security alarm rested. Raising his hand he smashed it onto the button and waited for the alarm to sound. There was none. Confused, the badger pressed again and again, the alarm failing to go on with each hit of the button. It was then that Charles spoke up, the young canine having been forgotten in the badgers rush to press the alarm.
" The alarm must have been cut before the thief came in, he also got the telephone wires, I can't get a dial tone."
Jeff turned around and sure enough there was Charles holding the dead phone. The old badger let out a soft growl, whoever this thief was he was good, they'd have to be extra careful. Grabbing his hat, Jeff looked at Charles and moitioned his head towards the door.
" Come on, we have a guest to greet."
Nodding, Charles grabbed his hat and followed his superior out the door.
Charles followed the badger as he led them through the huge museum. The canine looked around every now and then when they entered a new room, keeping a sharp eye out for the thief. He felt pleased with himself, his first night on the job and he had already managed to point out a break in! So lost in his own thoughts however, Charles never even noticed that Jeff had stopped just outside the door leading to the Egyptian exhibit. Needless to say the result was him ramming into Jeff from behind and knocking them both into the room. Jeff managed to catch himself at the last moment, saving himself from a painful meeting with the floor. Charles sadly didn't have the same reaction and landed painfully on his side. Letting out a small groan, the canine looked up at the badger who was glaring at him.
" Watch where your going next time!"
" Ah...er...sorry?" Charles muttered, get a snort from Jeff. Sighing he touched his shoulder where he landed and winced. Jeff noticed this and shook his head at his reaction.
" Your own damn fault you know."
" Yeah yeah, I know already quit reminding me," the canine muttered getting a snicker from Jeff. Charles glared up at him upon hearing it.
" That wasn't funny you know!"
" Say's you," the badger said, before begining to laugh a bit. Charles was about to respond back when a sudden noise grabbed his attention. Apparantly Jeff heard it to because his laughter died down and soon stopped. Again the sound was heard, but this time Charles could make it out, it seemed that someone else was laughing as well.
" My my," came a voice, which echoed around the room, " never got a floor show on a heist before, great performance I must say."
The two night watchmen quickly pulled thier guns and began to look around the room, both trying to pinpoint where the laughter was coming from. Jeff growled low in his throat and Charles peered into each shadow he saw.
" Damn it, where the hell are you!"
Charles looked at the badger in shock from his words, he never thought head hear his partner say that! And apparantly the thief also found this amusing as well his laughter again floating through the room. Jeff's face turned red with anger and he let out a vicious snarl which made Charles jump a bit.
" We can do this the easy way or the hard way punk," the badger said in a quiet growl, " either way your going to get busted big time!"
The laughter again sounded through the room, but this time Charles noted it was different, almost evil like.
" I think I'll take...the hard way!"
Charles had barely any time to react as a figure lept out at him from the shadows, smashing him across the side of the face with a blunt object. Letting out a grunt Charles fell to the floor in pain as the figure now lept towards the stunned badger. The canine shook his head, trying to get back up to his feet while the sound of fighting echoed around him. Groggily he stood up and staggered a bit before turning around. His eyes widened at what he saw before him.
" Jeff!"
The intruder, who had manged to use the shadows for cover again had Jeff in a sort of headlock with a cane of some sorts. The badger was straining with all his might to push the cane away from his neck, which was slowly cutting off his air supply. Letting out a large yell Charles launched himself at the thief, attempting to assist his partner. However the thief, whoever he was, noticed this and at the last second spun himself around, his foot coming up along with the turn. Charles again had no time to react and recieved a harsh blow to the face which made him stagger backwards. The thief, still pulling the cane against the old badgers throat chuckled loudly.
" Well I had fun guys, but alas it's getting late and I must be going, time to end our meeting."
With a gleeful laugh, the thief pulled even harder, making Jeff begin to wheeze. Charles again attempted to rescue his partner and was now rushing forward again, this time watching the thief closely. He was not more than a foot away however when it happened. The thief, seeing Charles rushing once more pulled even harder on the cane and then suddenly jerked it upwards. The resulting crack that filled the room halted both Charles's rush and the badgers movements. No one moved or spoke for a full minute, and then finally the thief broke the silence.
" Next!"
With that single word, the thief let go with his cane, and Charles watched in horror as Jeff slumped to the floor. His eyes staring up lifelessly towards the ceiling. He was dead, the intruder had killed his partner! Grief began to form in the young canine's eyes, which then turned to shock and then finally anger. Letting out a fierce yell, Charles pulled his gun and took aim at the thief.
" You bastard!"
Three quick shots echoed in the empty museum, shattering the otherwise silence of the place. Back in the Egyptian room, Charles stood panting hard and watching the smoke rise from the muzzle of his gun. His breath came out deep and heavy as he stared at the thief's form in front of him.
No way, he thought, his breath still coming out fast, I hit him three times, he should be dead!
And then he watched in both surprise and fear as the thief in front of him fell forward. It was a cardboard cut out! The real thief must have put it up and snuck away when he had watched Jeff's body hit the ground! Jeff cursed the thief out loud and quickly made a beeline towards the body of his partner. He never got there however, for as he drew close he felt something swing out and smash into his leg. Letting out a startled yell Charles fell forward and slammed into the ground once more. Letting out a painful groan he tried to get up but was forcefully grabbed by the back of his head. And that's when he heard the chuckling of the thief.
" Ahh what makes you think I've forgotten about you? After all can't leave any witnesses."
Charles grew pale at this and let out a small whimper.
" Don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"
" Kill you?" the thief laughed, " oh no I'm not going to kill you, in fact we're going to play a game!"
The canine blinked as he heard the thief's words. A game? He was going to play a game with him after he just killed Jeff!?
" What the hell are you talking about?" he hissed as he felt the thief start to drag him towards one of the many displays.
" Why paper, rock, scissors of course!" the thief responded, confusing Charles even more.
" Paper, rock, scissors?" he repeated, " Are you insane?! You killed my partner, what makes you think I'll play games with you?!"
The thief stopped and laughed quietly before responding in a whisper.
" Oh I'm not giving you a choice at all I'm afraid, and here we are!"
Charles looked up from the floor to find himself face to face with one of the exhibits. It was an old piece of parchment that was found near the Nile rivier in a small cave, what did this have to do with the thief's so called "game"? The canine got his answer when in a loud voice the thief shouted out paper before smashing his face into the glass, causing it to shatter and cut him. Pain exploded from his face as he felt the shards cut into his skin, some falling out others staying in. He barely had time to howl in pain as the thief pulled his head back and spoke.
" Hmmm, one down, lets go!"
Again he was dragged to another exhibit, this time a fragment of stone from an old temple. Sure enough like the parchment, the thief yelled out rock before ramming his face into the glass once more. Again the glass shattered and cut him, this time leaving him with a large wound down his right cheek. Coughing, Charles felt the thief throw him onto the ground and then stand over him. Already weak from the beatings, the canine did not bother to turn around. If he had did, he would have seen the thief slowly pull a piece off the top of his cane, now making it a sharp point. With a loud chuckle, the thief brought up the cane above his head and looked down.
" And last but not least, my favorite part...scissors!"
And once more in the deserted museum, a loud cry echoed through the halls before finally fading away. Outside, the winds began to blow fiercely in the dark Parisian night.
It was early in the moring when the first guard showed up for work, and when he got no response from the guard station became worried. He quickly called the police on his cell phone and then drew his side arm. Taking out his keys, he unlocked the front door and stepped into the museum. He took only two steps inside when he smelt it, blood and lots of it. He followed the scent which led him straight to the Egyptian exhibits, the door was closed and the smell of blood grew stronger from within. Bracing himself, the guard opened the door and peered inside the dark room. It was at that moment the automatic lights kicked in and revealed the horror within. The guard prompty threw up at the sight and turned away running back to the entrence where the sounds of police sirens could be heard. And as he ran away, there between the two bodies of the watchmen was the calling card of the most wanted man in the world, Sly Cooper.
Well there you have it folks, the prologue to my hopefully first multi-chaptered Sly Cooper story!
Sly: Wait a second...I'm the bad guy?!
Well not really no, though everyone thinks you are...
Sly: That's obsured!
Hey it's only a story chill, anyways I hope you all liked the prologue, chapter one will be out hopefully by Thanksgiving, or the beginning of next week, I got another story I have to update first. And I also want to say I'm sorry If I've offended anyone with this, i'm simply just trying out a new writing style, please feel free though to tell me what you think ok? See you all next time!