It's Not Fair
A/N: I'm on a one shot rampage. This story centers mostly around our favorite turtle and his new found anger towards his best friend. This takes place during Sly 3 at Blood Bath Bay. It's a bit of a different take on the whole situation than in the game. Well, enjoy!
Sly Cooper and other related material belong to Sucker Punch
"Everyone settled in?"
The voice came from The Cooper Gang's resident Brains of the Operation, Bentley as he looked around to his other teammates. Murray and Sly were watching the door to their new home for the next couple of days while the others surveyed their surroundings. Panda King found a rather large chair where he made himself comfortable and started meditating, followed closely by the Guru. Penelope sat on a beat up old couch tinkering with her RC car and Dimitri spun around the room looking for some form of musical technology.
"What up with this crib! There's no beat-down-box for my greasy sweet moves to shine like a star caught in a ring of fire! Uncool!"
"They're Pirates Dimitri. I doubt they even know what a beat box is, and keep it down." Sly warned him.
"Bah! Peg leg dudes can't see nor feel the queasy yet blissful enigma of music like number one main man Dimitri!" The lounge lizard exclaimed, making over-exaggerated motions with his hands.
Bentley ignored the former club owner's ranting as his attention was more focused on his intellectual equal sitting just a few feet away from him. The reptile felt heat rise to his other wise cold cheeks whenever he looked at the young mouse. The moment he saw her, he felt his heart beat faster than any mission had done to him before. Someone with a near IQ to his and gorgeous. She was a hacker's dream come true.
"Gadzooks, she's beautiful! She's like a 1240 x 750 flat screened monitor, complete with a wireless mouse and 9000 gigabytes of RAM."
It was hard for Bentley to meet girls. REALLY hard. The turtle was often shy and didn't have a lot in the looks department. In fact, it seemed whatever he didn't have, Sly did.
Penelope looked up from her work and saw Bentley staring at her. She gave him a friendly smile. Bentley quickly turned around and cleared his throat.
"Uh...Ahem...Alright guys, here's the scoop." He said making sure everyone had his attention.
"We are now in the heart of Blood Bath Bay. You'll never find a more retched hide of scum and villainy." Bentley added, unable to resist the classic line he's always wanted to say. The others didn't get it but Sly and Penelope rolled their eyes.
"Uh...anyways, We've got to be extra careful here. These Pirates are murderous cutthroats, who will shoot first and won't even have the common sense of asking questions later. If they catch you, then you can kiss your butt goodbye. Every mission has to be done in a precise, organized and most of all, QUIET order. Now, Blood Bath Bay not only serves as a haven for these sea dogs but as a shield as well. This island is off limits to any sort of law enforcement. How it remains that way is a mystery to even me but what I'm trying to say is that we won't be able to manipulate Carmelita into doing us any favors this time. Or have you try to put the moves on her." He finished, giving Sly a stern look.
The Master Thief put up his hands in surrender saying, "What can I say. Not my fault if I can steal the hearts of women I meet."
"Yeah..." Penelope mumbled, looking at Sly with a dreamy look on her face. Bentley felt anger and jealousy build up inside him but pushed it back down as he continued with his instructions.
"In order for me to come up with a plan, I'm going to need Sly to take some pictures of the area and some of the locals. I also need several satellite antenna's set up around the perimeter for weather reports and Thiefnet access on my laptop."
"No problem with the pictures pal, but I'm afraid I'm going to need some help on the whole satellite thing." Sly said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Bentley was about volunteer his assistance when suddenly a female voice rang out with words that tore at his heart.
"I'd love to help you Sly!" Penelope shouted a little too enthusiastic.
"Sure Penelope. If it's ok with Bentley that is." Sly directed to the wheel chaired bound turtle. Bentley, feeling something stir inside him. Something he never thought would be directed towards one of his best pals.
Hate.
"Yeah, go ahead." He answered, trying to hide the malice in his voice. Penelope nearly jumped for joy as she and Sly exited the safe house. Bentley was gripping onto his armrests so hard that his knuckles were white underneath his gloves.
The Guru suddenly broke his concentration on meditating and looked at Bentley. He muttered something in his language to the Panda King. The large panda simply nodded.
"Indeed he does." He said to no one in particular. Murray overheard the comment and joined the two, not even noticing Bentley hadn't even left his spot. Dimitri was too busy admiring himself in a mirror to care.
"What's up guys?" The rotund hippo asked.
"The one you call Bentley, is giving off an aura of negativity. His mind is clouded by hate, much like mine once was." The Panda King stated. The Guru simply grunted in response to his meditating partner.
Murray just had a confused look on his face. "What? Bentley and hate? That just doesn't mix. That's like peanut butter and toast without...peanut butter!"
Bentley couldn't even hear what the others were saying he was so angry. This feeling of such deep pain and rage was foreign to the genius. It scared him. But he could not help what he was feeling right now.
"Hey little buddy, what's the matter?" Murray asked, hoping to get a response out of his life long friend. Nothing.
"What if I do my Nikolai Volkoff impression? That always cheers you up!" Before Murray could continue, Bentley gave him a look that would even strike fear into the heart of "The Murray".
"I need to be alone Murray. I don't want anyone disturbing me." He ordered, wheeling himself to the back door, a ramp leading to the roof of the safe house. Slamming the door behind him, he tore off his helmet and threw it to the ground. He didn't care if any Pirates heard him right now. He would welcome someone to vent his frustrations out on.
"It's not fair! Everywhere we go, Sly has to get all the attention. Why, if it wasn't for me Sly probably wouldn't even be known as the World's Best Thief. He's gotten me into situations where I've nearly died and do I get any recognition for the heists? No! It's always Sly Cooper. If it wasn't for him I'd probably still be walk..."
Bentley didn't finish his thought. He knew it wasn't Sly's fault for the accident involving Clock-La. He supposed that feeling always arose in him because of the fact he and Murray put their necks on the line for him so he could claim back The Theivious Raccoonus and dozen of other reasons. Bentley knew that Sly was great full for what they do for him but sometimes he felt like this whole thing wasn't his problem. The turtle also was not a fan of putting together a hard and tedious working plan then watching the thief walk off with any women he meets during a mission.
He had no shame in admitting that he was jealous of the raccoon. Bentley wish he had Sly's charm and acrobat abilities. He wished that women would just throw themselves at him. He wished he had Sly's fit and athletic body but the reality is, he didn't. He was short, stubby broken turtle who had thick nerdy glasses and had so many allergies that it was a wonder he survived this long.
Bentley hated thinking like this, especially about one of his best pals. Instead he tried thinking about the good times the had over the years. It seemed to help.
The anger that was fired up inside him had died down a little and he was quickly calming down. Feeling a little better, he looked at the horizon and saw that the sun was already setting. It was odd that Sly and Penelope were not back yet. Pulling out his Binoc-u-com, he scanned the town. After a brief scan, he spotted the two on a rooftop. It looked like they were talking. Curiosity got the best of Bentley as he zoomed in and he tuned into the audio chip in Sly's Binoc-u-com.
"Good job with those satellites Penelope. You almost as smart as Bentley." Sly said, leaning on his cane.
"Anything for you Sly." The mouse replied in a more than friendly voice. Bentley felt that jealous feeling starting to rise within him again.
"Say Sly...do you...have a girlfriend?" Penelope asked, twirling a bang of her hair in her finger. Sly raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Uh...I wouldn't say an official one but there is..." Sly didn't get to finish as that was all Penelope needed to hear. She leapt into Sly's chest, wrapping her arms around him and planting a long, passionate kiss on his lips.
Bentley turned off his Binoc-u-com. He had seen enough. The anger inside him had reached new heights.
"Of all the things he has...he had to take away the only thing I've ever really wanted..." Bentley mumbled through clenched teeth. But unknown to Bentley, that was not the end of Penelope and Sly's encounter.
Sly gripped her by the shoulders and pushed her away. After taking a moment to think, he looked her in the eyes and said, "That was...generous of you Penelope... but I can't do what you want."
Penelope's face seem to drop, clearly being disappointed. "But...what's wrong with me?" She asked.
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. It's just, you're a little young for me and...I kind of have a thing for a certain Inspector." The raccoon confessed. Penelope still looked disappointed but replied, "I...I understand."
Cooper smiled at the mouse, telling her, "Don't worry Penelope. You'll find someone who you can relate too way better than me and you will realize that choosing me would have been a huge mistake."
Penelope managed a smile and nodded. "Good. Now, let's get back. I'm sure Bentley's having a heart attack cause were so late." Sly stated and both headed back to the safe house. Upon entering, they saw that everyone, except Dimitri who was admiring his "bling", was looking rather uneasy.
"Sly!" Murray shouted upon seeing him, "You got to do something! Bentley is seriously messed up right now! He's like, all angry and stuff!"
"Easy big guy. Where is he?" Sly asked putting his cane down near the door. Murray pointed to the roof.
"The turtle's aura has increased several folds. Be cautious with your friend Cooper." Panda King advised as Sly passed him. He didn't really understand what he meant but nodded and headed up to the roof.
Opening the door, Sly saw Bentley, sitting still in his wheel chair, watching the sun go down. Carefully, Sly crept closer to his friend. Something felt very wrong to Sly. As if this was a trap or that Bentley was going to do something crazy. He didn't move as Sly came right up behind him.
"Hey pal, what's up?" Sly asked, trying to sound upbeat. At first Bentley did not respond. Then he slowly turned around, staring hard at Sly behind his thick glasses.
"I don't know Sly. Why don't you tell me?" He said, his voice dripping with venom. Now Sly was really worried.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't give me that bullshit Sly."
Cooper was shocked. Never had he heard Bentley swear. Ever. He figured that Bentley was above such language. Something was really wrong.
"I have no idea what your talking about Bentley."
"Sure Cooper. Sure." Bentley replied sarcastically. Sly wasn't liking the sound of Bentley's tone nor his attitude.
"Bentley, your acting like a bit of a dick here." He stated, putting his hands on his hips.
"Screw you Sly!" Bentley suddenly shouted, pointing a gloved finger to the raccoon's chest. Sly was taken back. This was not the Bentley he knew. "What the hell is a matter with you? Your not making any sense!" Sly shouted back.
"You have to have everything, don't you! Everything that someone wants, you take it!"
Sly couldn't figure out what was wrong with his old friend. There obviously had to be something that Sly did to make him angry, but what?
Then it hit him. Penelope. Why didn't he see it before! Bentley's been smitten with her since seeing that picture on the internet. How could he not have seen Penelope's crush earlier? But Bentley knew the feelings Sly had for Carmelita so how could he think he wanted Penelope?
"Look Bent, if this is about Penelope..."
"Shut up! I'm not finished!" Bentley fumed.
"You've been doing this to me my entire life. First there was Cindy in the orphanage, who would rather play seesaw with you just because you shared your lunch with her. And it took me weeks to get the nerve to talk to her but you just happen to come along a ruin that! Then there was Rebecca in High School. Who you asked to the prom and you KNEW I was going to ask her. Danielle, Kathy, Jessica and now Penelope!"
Sly was about to interrupt but Bentley continued,
"Oh and then there's Carmelita! Another conquest for you because she's got tight jeans and a large chest! Christ Sly, how many women do you need to screw to feel like a man! You wanna know what I think about her? I think she's a complete bitch!"
That hit a nerve with Sly. He clenched his hands into fists, trying to repress the anger that was threatening to get out.
"I can see your upset Bentley and I know we can talk about this but leave the woman I love out of this." He spoke slowly, through clenched teeth. Bentley snorted in response.
"Get real Sly! She's a freakin cop! There's no way on heaven or earth that she'll EVER love you!"
"Hey! Listen Bentley!" Sly shouted, losing all control over his temper. "You can't blame me for everything gone wrong in your love life. Yeah, I've had morethan my fair share of one night stands and girlfriends but I never did it to feel like a man. Now I'm sorry if Penelope decided me over you but what did you ever do to let her know you were interested? And for your information, she tried putting the moves on me out there but I told her that there was someone out there waiting for her. So stop bitching to me and go get her!"
"I never had a chance to tell her how I felt because she was all over you!"
"Listen to yourself! It's not my fault she wanted me! I wasn't even interested!"
"So now she's not good enough? Because she's not chasing you across the world with a gun like that Interpol tramp? You're a real player, you know that Sly?"
"Bentley, I swear to God..." Sly mumbled, his body shaking from rage. But Bentley did not stop.
"Oh I'm sorry Sly, does that hurt you?" He spat. Pressing a button on his wheel chair, the bionic wheels stretched to height where he was eye to eye with Sly.
"That's what she is Sly! Nothing more but a gutter snipe, ice hearted witch!" He shouted right into the thief's handsome face.
"Stop it Bentley!" Sly yelled back. If Bentley kept talking, then Sly was going to do something he was going to regret.
"Or what? You going to get me with one of your legendary thief moves? The ones you would never had learned if it wasn't for me and Murray? Go ahead Sly, because right now I say the hell with you and the rest of your no good, criminal bloodline!"
That was it.
Bentley had crossed the line. If there were three things Sly Cooper did not tolerate, it was hurting his friends, talking ill or threatening the woman he loved and most of all, saying anything that even sounded close to an insult to his family ancestors. These were more rules to Sly than anything else.
Losing all control, Sly landed a punch on the left side of Bentley's face.
The turtle spilled over and fell out of his wheel chair, his glasses skitting across the rooftop. The world was still after that. Sly stood dumbfound after what he just did. He just hit his best pal, turning his back on one of his rules. Bentley stirred, lifting himself up a bit using his arms. Sly could hear him sniffling and patting the ground looking for his glasses. He was crying. Bentley never really considered himself tough but it was embarassing to cry in front of Sly. It was just that he was finally letting go of all the pain and frustration he had kept bottled up.
Sly felt like he wanted to vomit. He wanted to throw himself off the roof and head dive right into the concrete. Slowly and silently, Sly picked up the glasses and kneeled beside Bentley, gently handing him the specks. He could see the tears running down the turtles face, causing Sly to feel some of his own starting to form but forced it down. Seeing Bentley like this made him feel like he had just lost his father all over again.
The two just sat there in silence, Sly's hand on Bentley's shell. After what seemed like forever, Sly finally spoke.
"I...I'm so sorry Bentley. I don't know what came over me...you're my best pal...please forgive me."
Wiping away his tears, Bentley answered, "No Sly...I deserved that. I shouldn't of said that about your family or Carmelita. I didn't mean it. I should be asking you for forgiveness."
"It's ok. I know you were just speaking out of anger. But...why didn't you ever tell me about these things?" The ring tailed bandit asked. "I don't know. I guess I didn't want to you to know I was jealous." Bentley replied.
"Jealous of me? Please, how could anyone with your brains be jealous of me? If anything, it's the opposite way around." Sly said. Bentley gave him a surprised look.
"What do you mean?"
"I wish I could rewire an entire mainframe under constant pressure of attacks or come up with devious and genius plans in less than a day or program an ASCII code. Hell, I can't even spell ASCII." Sly explained, a small smirk on his muzzle.
Bentley chuckled as Sly helped him back into his wheel chair, but not before Cooper pulled him into a hug. "You and Murray are my brothers Bent. I would have never made it this far without you two. I can never thank you guys enough." He said.
Bentley hugged his friend back, feeling like a complete an utter jerk. None of Bentley's previous messes were Sly's fault. He was lucky enough to have a friend like Sly.
"But there is something I need to apologize for. I'm sorry about...Rebecca." Sly said uneasy. "I knew that you liked her but I couldn't help myself. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't have much fun at the prom. I felt like a complete ass for what I did to you."
Bentley patted his friend on the shoulder, "Already forgotten about it."
"In fact, let's just forget this whole thing even happened and say we got into a fight with like, twenty Pirates!" He said, referring to his bruised cheek.
Sly let out a laugh. It was a refreshing moment after such an ugly incident. The two thieves were pals once more, their friendship even stronger.
"I think I smell Murray cooking dinner. I'm famished so let's grab some grub. After that I can show Penelope the wonders of the hacking universe." Bentley added with a bit of mischief in his nasly voice. Sly chuckled, patting his friend on the shell.
"Anything you say...Wizard."
A/N: Woot! That was longer than I intended. Any who, hope all enjoyed it. I might rewrite this story cause I'm not sure how good it is, but I'll see what you guys think. No flames please! Till next time!