(A/N) I'm not gonna spend too long rambling.
Copyright: All Sly characters (except those I make up) don't belong to me. The belong to sucker punch and whoever else owns them. If you want to use any of the characters I do make up (Such as Jonathan, Pebblepelt, Jeromie and others) I don't mind, but I would at least like it if my name was mentioned or I at least got a message telling me you used them. I'm not going to freak out or anything, but it's just a courtesy to me
It's not to hard to find the file of someone who's been nothing but a mystery for months then seen only once since then. Sly did get a good enough look at the guy to be able to accurately identify him and put him on file. The thief's name: Pebblepelt. The Alaskan white bear was the runt of his litter starting out, but for some reason hit a growth spurt and just kept growing. Now one of the biggest and strongest of his kind he started seeing that he could pound his way through anything. But I guess he decided not to just pound and just sneak somehow and crush his enemies from behind. Whatever the case he's got to be stopped and I'm going to do it before anyone else gets a chance. I put together a small team of lower ranking cops. I'm going to need all the help I can get. First there's Jeromie, a sloth who's basically no good in the field, but unmatched behind a keyboard. He's been working in Interpool for a long time now and my mom doesn't mind him. But dad, he says that even the brains should be able to function in the field. Then Hercules, a rhino well named. The blue skinned beast is a monster. I've seen him crack sidewalks with his fists. No joke. The guy's not a part of Interpool exactly. He's a mercenary, but he's got loyalty to his friends and thankfully I'm one of them. Carmelita says she's worked with mercenaries in the past, says they fight with pride and honor. I've got a feeling she likes him more than Jer. Together we'll manage to catch this bear. Jeromie's idea was to put a trap that Pebblepelt couldn't possibly overlook. We found the perfect one. With permission from the United States we are borrowing a necklace from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History called the Juno's Furry. If he's right we'll catch this bear without a problem.
"Everything set?" Jeromie whispered over the communicator. He was far away where he could monitor everything without being in any real danger. The entire team knew that if he were to join up with them he wouldn't stand a chance. They'd rather have him be unseen than have to spend all day trying to save him. He had all he needed: access to cameras around them, communicators on a secure line to keep him linked, and one heck of a computer that was practically untouchable in the 'hacking arts' as he calls it.
"Yeah, I'm in position. From where I can see not too many people are on guard. There's three of us aside from me." Hercules had set us up, got us some buddies of his to leave their leader, Lieutentant Gronk, for a while. Apparently the old gorilla let them off easy, said Inspector Fox was the best cop he served. Expected the same from her kin he guessed.
"And Hercules?"
"Ready." The rhino's deep voice sounded. "All's clear outside."
"Alright. From this point on I want a notice every five minutes from both of you. I need to know what's happening."
"You have access to the cameras right?" Connor pointed out, "What would you need us for?"
"Just in case. I don't need this bear pulling any . . . Wait a second."
"What? What's happened?"
"I'm picking up a hacker code. Someone's trying to get into the security system."
"Can you destroy it?"
"Do you even need to ask?"
"I suppose not." A few moments of silence passed before Connor spoke up again, an idea flaring up in his mind, "Let it get through."
"And why would I do that?" the computer wizard said with a touch of frustration in his voice. How good was this guy that he could almost outsmart Jeromie?
"If Pebblepelt can't get in he'll just leave. We want him here. Let him in."
"Ok then, if you say so." Seconds of silence past. One of the mercenary guards shifted his blaster. "Alright he's in and I've lost visual. Like I said, keep me informed."
"Will do." Connor nodded. "Ready men?" the guard nodded. "Good." Let this bear just try to get past me. Too many long moments passed. Was things like this supposed to be this quiet on things like this? He had plenty of stake outs, none of them this quiet. It was almost strange . . . He didn't like it. Every sound echoed in his mind, like he thought the bear was coming out of every shadow, hiding in every corner. He shouldn't be thinking things like this. It's a bear. It's not like the thing's graceful and silent. He would notice a seven foot tall, five hundred seventy-two pound bear lumbering around no matter how hard he tried to hide.
He looked back to the Juno's Furry. It was a beautiful necklace, made almost entirely out of pure diamonds. Each perfectly carved gemstone was shaded with red, orange, and yellow. He remembered that this bear was white, wouldn't match his fur at all. The way the colors blended together was perfect beauty, one he doubted he had ever seen before. Even if he didn't want to think it, it matched his mother's pelt flawlessly. Part of him imagined the beautiful gems around her neck, sparkling like stars. "What my dad wouldn't give" He ended up muttering out loud without realizing it. He couldn't imagine how a bear would use it, but he might like to sell it for the massive fortune it was worth.
"Status?" Jeromie called through his ear snapping him out of his thoughts.
"All's good here." He said confidently, his fingers touching the communicator in his ear to help him hear better, " How about you Herc?" there was no response, nothing but silence "Hercules?" he tried again. Could he be fighting with Pebblepelt right now? He couldn't imagine that while still being this quiet. "Come in."
"Yeah," Both cops sighed with relief at the sound of his deep voice. But a fear still lingered as they realized he was panting as if he had been running, "I'm uh . . . bleah . . . I'm still here."
"What's happened?" Jeromie asked,
"The guards who were with me . . . they've disappeared."
"Pebble got to them." Connor concluded quickly, his own body growing tense, ready for the fight ahead.
"If he did I didn't see him."
"How can you not see a huge bear?"
"He's a sneaky devil or something. He should be headed your way. Make sure to watch your back Connor."
"Will do." Everything grew tense from anticipation. How could a bear pick off mercenaries one by one without being seen?
"Amazing!" Jeromie exclaimed, "Not only was he a challenge for my technological defenses, but he's bested Hercules's bulk as well. How do you think he'll stand against you?"
"You forget my father was a master thief." He said with confidence, his ears still pricked for every sound. "When I was little he taught me and my sis a few of his tricks. This guy's not getting past me." His grip on his pistol tightened.
"Officer Cooper." The mercenary closest to him tapped his shoulder. "The Juno's Furry is gone."
"What?" Astonished he looked back and saw that they were, as he said, gone. But luck was with him when he heard the whisper come from above.
"Damn," the bear hissed hissed.
"He's in the roof" With a growl he jumped to the low rafters charging after him. The bear was fast for his size, running on all fours like a dog. He didn't lumber or shuffle down the narrow passageway. This couldn't have been Pebblepelt himself, but some other thief friend of his. But in the darkness all Connor could see was a grey pelt and his white tipped tail.
"Guys," He called. He must have a communicator, "I've been spotted."
"So you've got friends now don't you?" Connor teased as his enemy turned a corner. Curse this lighting. If it was only a bit brighter he could identify the criminal. With that he could at least say he dug up some information.
The thief squeezed its body unaturaly through a hole in the floor, coming out on the outside of the building where Hercules had been patrolling before. This had to be the criminal who picked off Herc's friends one at a time and this rat hole in the roof, barely even big enough for him to fit through, had to be his point of entry.
When Connor emerged all was still. He could hear the wind and the speechless crickets echoing through the night during their nightly choir concert. But the thief had gone. "Why don't you stand and fight!" he called into the night, frustrated that he had lost his prey again.
"You asked for it."A deep voice roared as a massive paw slammed into his middle, knocking the wind out of him and pinning him to the ground. This time Pebblepelt really had shown himself. He was as big as his record made him seem. The giant was over seven feet tall and covered with thick white fur. His bright blue eyes bore into Connor's as he growled. "Now you're gonna get it."
"Herc, could use some help here." Connor said, struggling to breathe as Pebblepelt clawed the ground with a back paw.
"I'm coming. Hold your ground until I get there."
"Go on, call your fake cops, you won't beat me." He snarled.
"Stubborn little pup aren't you?" Connor groaned under his weight.
"I am not little!" Pebblepelt roared and forced his paw into his gut harder. Oxygen slowly began to leave his body. But at least he had pushed a button. Maybe he could use it to distract him from the Juno's Furry. He could still get this.
"Boulderheart!" Someone called, a girl's voice (his mate perhaps?) and he looked towards it. The caller was hidden behind a corner of the building. Stupid rat, too ashamed or too scared to show itself "Don't let it hurt you. Come on, let's go. Jonathan's waiting for us."
"Right," Pebblepelt said with a sigh, "we need to go. You get out, I'll follow." His blue eyes went back to Connor, staring right into his and not moving. He stayed that way until he heard Hercules burst into the room. Then he dropped his captured fox and fled leaving him to cough and sputter as air flooded his lungs.
"Connor, are you alright." Hercules asked leaning over the fallen officer. "You look pretty bad."
"Go after him. He's getting away."
"You're in bad shape."
"Go,"
"I'm not leaving you behind."
"Have to be so stubborn don't you?"
"You got it."
"Fine. Jeromie, did you hear all that?"
"Bits and pieces, yeah." The sloth answered. "It would have been nice if I could've seen it."
"Any idea who this Jonathan person is?"
I can figure it out. After we take care of you we'll look into it."
"Great."
"Can you tell if anything's broken?"
"Nope. Everything seems fine except my chest is a little sore. Nothing I can't handle."
"According to you there's nothing you can't handle."
"Just find out who this Jonathan is."
That didn't go as planned. Not only did I not catch the old bear, I lost the Juno's Furry at the same time. I don't want to imagine what my mom's gonna say. The gang and I don't have any time to just sit around and think. We have to go after Pebblepelt and Jonathan. And that one who called him off when he had me, who was that and why did they do it? Letting me go could have cost them their freedom. Maybe this is a different kind of criminal. Is there such thing as nobility, or even honor , in crime?
(A/N) wow, these really are short reads. Ah well, after my least one Mr. 8K words an entry, this is kinda what I was hoping for. I don't like saying it really, but I'm having to do this thing where I don't update until I get at least one review. The last chapter I don't mind because it wasn't very long or anything, but really, it's not that hard to do.
