DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to Sly Cooper or the cannon characters, but I do own this story and OCs. Please support the original games.
Hey, everyone! It's me, Neo, saying welcome back! I bet some of you were wondering what was gonna happen next now that Vance has encountered a strange buzzard that has gotten the ruby before him. Whether you wanted to know or not, it doesn't matter now, doesn't it? ;)
Before I begin, I just wanna thank some of you for taking the time to view the first part of the prologue. It wasn't much, but it still makes me smile knowing there are some of you that checked out my work. Also, if some of you didn't know, there's a Sly Cooper movie coming out soon! I was a little late to know this, but oh well. Better late than never, right? I haven't learned about until just this month! Don't any of you say it... I was late to the party. XD
Okay, now that I've got all that said, let's get on with the second part of the prologue! What'll happen now that Vance faces against this strange buzzard? There's only one way to find out! Read on and enjoy, everyone! :D
-The Museum, Paris, France, Night Time-
-THIRD FLOOR-
After all that hard work to get to the vault, Vance Cooper gazed in shock at the strange buzzard, who held the thousand year old ruby in his talons and smirked and chuckled. The odd colored raccoon couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about this strange bird he didn't like just by the look in his eyes. Either way, the one thing he can't shake off his mind was... How'd he get to the ruby first?
"The ruby!" Vance exclaimed when he saw the ruby in the buzzard's talons.
"Isn't it marvelous?" the middle aged buzzard asked as he held the ruby up a bit higher, inspecting it closely. "Something so old, yet it still gives out such an amazing shine. Truly a sign that it's been well taken care of over the years. Quite breath taking, is it not?"
"Who are you!?" Vance asked, not really in the mood to admire the ruby that HE was suppose to steal as he pointed at the mysterious bird man. "And how did you get pass security before I did?"
"Well, mister Cooper, if you really want to know that much..." the buzzard replied as he turned his gaze from the ruby back at Vance. "My name is Pryce, and as to how I got in here... Well..."
With a wide smirk, the buzzard named Pryce extended his right wing for an arm out and pointed it at the window Vance came in through earlier. "I flew in through the window." he stated, which surprised Vance as he remembered that window just opening for him without Nicole opening it.
"I knew there was something odd about that window opening earlier." Vance stated as he looked back from the window to Pryce. "That was you who opened it. By the way, flying in here while I get in the hard way... You cheated."
"Well, to be fair, mister Cooper, we are thieves." Pryce replied as he smirked back at Vance.
"...Okay, I'll give you that one." Vance replied, knowing that a thief will do about anything to get they want, but then he got serious and pointed his cane at Pryce. "Either way, hand over that ruby before I knock off all your feathers, old man."
"Heheheh... That's some tough talk coming from an oddly colored raccoon like yourself." Pryce chuckled, finding Vance's tough guy act amusing. "I won't even ask how you're like that. Mainly because... I already know. Still, if you want this ruby so badly, then you're just gonna have to pry it out of my talons."
"That can be arranged." Vance stated in response as he suddenly dashed at Pryce and jumped in the air, brining his cane down on him for a quick strike. "Haaa!"
However, when he brought his cane down on Pryce, the middle aged buzzard brought both his wings together and actually caught Vance's attack just before it could touch his head. When he did, Vance was surprised by this as Pryce just chuckled again, finding this amusing. "Heheheh... Swining your little stick at me now?" he asked, looking up at Vance. "My my... You young thieves never learn. Don't you know, boy, that you should respect your elders!"
With little effort, Pryce pushed Vance back, but he managed to land back on his feet on the floor and quickly took a fighting stance with his cane held tight in his right hand. However, once Pryce had Vance off him, he spread out his long wings and flapped them, sending a gust of wind at Vance that was strong enough to make him grab the floor to not get blown away. While Vance did that, Pryce took this chance to run for and fly out the window, not letting the glass open up for him as he just smashed through it, which set off the museum alarm.
"Hahahaha...! See you around, Cooper!" Pryce shouted as he flapped his wings and flew above the park, while Vance, after enduring the suddeny gust of wind, ran over to the broken window and looked in shock at Pryce.
But, determined not to let the middle aged buzzard get away with beating him, Vance got serious and jumped out the window, ignoring the alarms and landed on top of the nearby park trees, using his Rail Walk move to run on the little branches and chase after Pryce. "Stop! Come back here!"
-Paris, France, Night Time-
Making his way out of the park, Vance landed on a nearby building and continued his chase after Pryce, who was soaring in the air, chuckling to himself. However, Vance was right on his tail below him, using his Rail Walk and Ninja Spire Jump to make it to the other buildings that were too far for him to jump to.
"Heheheh..." Pryce chuckled with a smirk, but then he looked down and noticed Vance was after him, but he only find this amusing. "Trying to catch me, are you? Don't bother, boy... You'll never catch me."
"We'll just see about that!" Vance exclaimed as he jumped up on a rooftop entrance and jumped higher and swung his cane at Pryce.
However, the buzzard noticed this and dodged it at the right moment and laughed as Vance landed on the next building rooftop, but he continued his pursuit. As he ran for another minute, Vance Railed Walk up to a taller building and when he did he jumped off and tried to hit Pryce, but again the buzzard dodged it no problem and laughed. Then, as Vance was falling, he detached the hook on his cane and tossed it to a nearby building pipe, it grabbing it and then he squeezed the bottom of his cane, making the small chain attached to the hook pull him until he was on the building rooftop.
"Nahahahahah...! Just give it up, Cooper!" Pryce exclaimed mockingly as he circled above Vance before flying off again. "Swinging your little stick around won't work! If that's all you got to offer, then I'll just take my leave!"
"Not so fast!" Vance exclaimed back as he jumped up to another rooftop entrance and jumped high in the air again, this time swinging his cane with the hook and small chain out and sent it towards Pryce. "You're not getting away that easily!"
As Pryce laughed to himself, he didn't expect the hook of Vance's cane to catch him by his foot, which surprised him as Vance pulled his cane back, making Pryce come back towards him. "Ah!" the buzzard shouted as Vance swung his cane around, which swung Pryce around, and the hook on his foot came off and Pryce was sent flying in another direction. "AAAAHH!"
Once Pryce was sent flying, Vance made haste and ran after him once more, heading in the same direction he sent the strange buzzard in.
Pryce kept screaming until he hit his back on a buildboard on a four story building, and when he did, the ruby he held in his talon fell off. Fortunately it didn't break when it hit the rooftop, but it did slide around until it was caught by some wires, stopping it from rolling around. Then, once Pryce landed on his feet, trying to shake off the pain, Vance jumped up out of nowhere and landed on the same building rooftop, glaring at the buzzard.
"G-Gah..." Pryce grunted as he stood up straight and glared back at Vance, but then smirked. "Well... I surely wasn't expecting that. I didn't think your cane was able to do that. Although, if it could, I'm gonna assume that's not the actual Cooper family cane, is it?"
"You're right about that." Vance replied as he held his cane in front of him. "This cane may look it, but it's not my family cane. It's specially made just for me. Although, I'm confused about something here. How do you know about my cane? More importantly, how do you knwo me and my family?"
"I've done my research." Pryce stated. "That's right... I know all about your little cane, and your little family, and if you want my opinion, you Cooper are quite the annoying bunch."
"I take it you have something against my family." Vance stated, crossing his arms.
"Not really, but I know how you Coopers are, and you irritate a lot of people." Pryce replied. "There are some that can't stand you Coopers, so... Perhaps this'll be a perfectly good opportunity."
"A perfectly good opportunity for what?" Vance asked, uncrossing his arms as Pryce smirk widen.
"What do you think, Cooper?" Pryce asked as he expanded his wings out, getting into a fighting stance. "If I take you out here, that'll be one less raccoon in the world. I'll be doing a lot of good thieves a favor, and others too. Besides, I'm curious if you Coopers are as good at fighting as you are at stealing."
"I see... All right then." Vance replied with a smirk of his own as he readied his cane and got into his own fighting stance. "Okay, old man, I accept your little challenge, but if I beat you, you gotta give me that ruby. Deal?"
"Of course, but do take note, Cooper..." Pryce replied. "I may be old, but I have plenty of experience in fighting. I'll warn you that you shouldn't take me lightly."
"I never said I was gonna." Vance replied as Pryce got serious and suddenly ran towards the oddly colored raccoon, spinning and swung his wings at him.
They came at Vance pretty quickly too as he moved back to avoid being hit. However, Vance found himself close to the edge of the rooftop and still Pryce came at him, swinging his wings. Thinking quickly, Vance rolled to the side at the right moment, dodging a strike from the buzzard while keeping right on the edge. Then, he came at Pryce and swung his cane horizontally at him, but Pryce flew up and narrowly avoided being touched.
With a menacingly chuckle, he flapped his wings and sent a strong gust of wind down at Vance, almost blowing the odd colored raccoon away, but he used his cane, grabbing a nearby pipe to hold on. However, Pryce swooped down and knocked Vance away with his wing, making him roll across the rooftop, but he managed to get up only to see the buzzard come at him again, but this time with his sharp talons. Quickly reacting, Vance moved back as Pryce threw his talons over and over at him, but Vance used his dodged and used his cane to intercept some of the strikes. Then, once Vance had an opening, he took a chance and swung his cane at Pryce, but the buzzard flew back just in time and avoided the hit, landing on the nearby rooftop entrance and smirked down at Vance, who glared back up at him.
"Heheheh... I'll admit, Cooper... You're quick on your feet." Pryce stated, finding their fight a bit amusing, and so did Vance a little as he smirked too.
"And you're much faster than look, old man." Vance replied, but then he looked confused again. "Though, there's something I can't get off my mind. Shouldn't a guy at your age be retired or something from the thieving business?"
"I'll be honest with you, mister Cooper... I've been in the thieving business for a long time, and I made more than enough money to retire." Pryce stated. "Although, I tried it, but I found it rather...boring. Besides, thieving is what I know best. Why would I give up on something that gives me so much joy?"
"I can understand that." Vance replied, giving Pryce a little respect for his age. "Though, there are reasons why someone at your age should retire. My Dad did when he married and had me and my little sister. He does say that he misses the old times, but he wouldn't miss out on raising us for anything."
"Respectable, but still foolish." Pryce replied with a tone of digust about the fact of having children. "Why would any great thief like your father give up such a great thing like this? Having kids was a mistake. Why have them when you can have everything? Why throw away all the riches in the world just for love? It makes me sick just thinking about it."
"You just love to hear yourself talk, don't you?" Vance replied, getting a bit angry after what Pryce said about his father.
"It's better than other things I have to listen to sometimes." Pryce stated in response, but then he got serious again. "But, I am a busy man, so perhaps I should wrap this up. Let's get back to business, shall we?"
Without saying another word, Vance ran and jumped up at Pryce, swining his cane again, but Pryce jumped up and dodged it, flying in the air again. When Vance landed back on the rooftop, Pryce came down at him with his sharp talons, but Vance was ready this time as he jumped to the side at the last second and sprang off the side of the rooftop entrance, sending himself towards Pryce and smacked him before he could pull up.
However, Pryce was able to regain balance as he growled in anger before descending down the building when Vance ran over to the edge, trying to find him. Then, Pryce came back up and flapped a gust of wind just when he passed him, blowing Vance back as the buzzard soared up high till he was out of sight for a moment, then came down fast, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Here I come, Cooper! HHHAAAAAAA!"
Just when Vance was blown back, he looked up and saw Pryce coming his way and quickled jumped out of the way in time as the buzzard made a quick turn and flew around the building, eyeing Vance and watched as the odd colored raccoon readied his cane for what was to come next.
"Take this, Cooper!" Pryce shouted as he came straight at Vance with his wings wide out to hit him no matter where he jumped.
However, Vance didn't jump away, but up instead, and at the right moment too, surprising Pryce as he turned up again, while Vance detached the hook on his cane and threw it out. Using his cane to swing it on the small chain, he sent it right towards Pryce in the opposite direction, and just when Pryce took his confused eyes off Vance, he looked ahead of him and saw the hook come right at him. "Uh oh..." he said as the hook knocked him right on the head, messing up his flight and made him crashe back on the building rooftop, rolling until he was near the edge, groaning a little in pain.
As Vance waited for Pryce to get back up, he retached the hook back on his cane and slowly approached the buzzard as he slowly got back up and shook his head, giving a glare at the odd colored raccoon, but then smirked and chuckled.
"Heheheheh... I gotta admit, you're pretty good with that cane, Cooper." Pryce commented as he turned his entire body towards Vance, who smirked.
"Why thank you." he thanked, showing off his cane a bit. "It's the perfect thing that fits me. You probably don't know this, but ever Cooper has something that's unique about them, mainly the moves they wrote in my Dad's book. Though I haven't developed one myself, I do have this specially made cane, and that's enough. My Dad has the original, but this one is mine and mine alone."
"I can understand that." Pryce replied. "One must always have something that represents their individuality, and I'm impressed that you actually knocked me out of the air like that. Very few have ever faced me and done that. You definitely live up to your Cooper name. Still, you haven't beaten me yet."
"I'm well aware of that." Vance replied as he got serious again. "Come on, old man!"
Upon saying those words, Vance charged right for Pryce as the buzzard prepared for another round with the odd colored raccoon. However, before Vance get any closer, a shot was fired somewhere nearby and explosion of electricty stopped him, blowing him back, but he managed to land on his feet, while Pryce was surprised by this, and so was Vance. They turned their heads towards a nearby seven story building and noticed a humanoid anthromorphic rabbit with a red and yellow colored pistol with a police badge logo on the sides of it that was just used to fire that electric shot.
"Freeze, criminals!" shouted the rabbit, sounding and lookined feminine too. She had light tanned skin with white around her mouth, a black tipped nose and black tips on the top of her rabbit ears and long blonde hair that reached halfway across her back. She wore a white tank top underneath a small short sleeved black police jacket with red lining on the sides, a black belt with a holster for her pistol, and long dark brown pants with black boots that had white laces to cover her feet. To top it all, she had scarlet red eyes. "Put your hands, and wings, up where I can see them!"
Seeing her though, Pryce growled in frustration. "Gah...! Interpol copper." he stated before calming down. "Guess that's my cue to skiddadle."
Without hesitation, Pryce located where the ruby was on the rooftop and quickly flew towards it, grabbing it with his talons and smirked towards Cooper before flying off again. "We'll finish this another time!" he exclaimed as he soared up into the air with Vance running towards him. "See ya around, Cooper! Hahahaha...!"
"Stop!" Vance shouted as he ran towards the edge of the rooftop, while the rabbit cop noticed Pryce leave and made a big leap, thanks to her rabbit jumping skills, and landed right on top of the buildboard Vance and Pryce fought on and fired her pistol at the buzzard, trying to shoot him down with electrical shots.
However, Pryce was too far and too evasive to be hit by any of them and laughed as he soared higher and higher into the night sky, fading away from Vance sight. The odd colored raccoon grit his teeth in frustration as he just stood there and watched Pryce escape with the ruby. After he was gone, he sighed and shook his head before gazing back at where he last saw Pryce with a serious expression again. "Pryce... Who is he?"
But before Vance could think anymore about Pryce, the rabbit cop jumped down and pointed her pistol at the odd colored raccoon, making him turn around and face her, seeing her serious and somewhat angry face.
"Hold it right there, Cooper." she commanded. "You're under arrest."
"Detective Scarlet Hop... Hey..." Vance greeted the rabbit cop, or in this case, Detective, named Scarlet with a smile and scratched his back with his cane. "Are you still mad at me for what happened back in Australia?"
"What do you think?" she asked back with a serious tone. "You still have to return the jewels you stole from the Nobaki tribe."
"Hey, to be fair, they weren't exactly the nices bunch." Vance stated. "In all honesty, they didn't really deserve those jewels."
"Doesn't matter." Scarlet replied. "You stole from them, as an officer of the law, it's my duty to make sure a criminal like you be thrown in jail for that sort of thing."
"Wow... You take your job very seriously, don't you?" Vance replied, trying to stay calm, but then noticed the pistol Scarlet held. "Say, isn't that a shock pistol?"
"Yes... You like it?" Scarlet asked with a small smirk grown on her face. "It's one of Interpol's finest weapons. A blast from this pistol carries enough voltage to shock criminals like you into submission. That said, you cen either come quietly, or I can just do what I told you what this thing can do."
"Come on... I didn't even steal anything." Vance stated as he pointed his cane towards where Pryce was last seen. "I was gonna steal that ruby from the new museum, but that buzzard got to it first. He's the one you should be after right now. Not me."
"I'll be putting that guy on file once I'm done here, but right now, you're the only criminal I see in front of me at the moment." Scarlet replied, holding her shock pistol up a little higher so its scope is right near her right eye. "Now I'll ask you this one more time... You gonna come quietly, or do I have to make you?
"Hmm... Tough question." Vance replied, scratching his chin with his cane. "How about... Neither."
Without hesitating, Vance ran towards the edge of the rooftop and jumped down to the next building, surprising Scarlet as she gave chase, firing her shock pistol. Fortunately, Vance moved fast enough to avoid being shot, but Scarlet was right on his tail.
A minute later, Vance was still running along the rooftops with Scarlet still giving chase, but she was on the other buildings across the street, firing at the odd colored raccoon. Using his Rail Walk and Ninja Spire Jump moves, Vance was able to avoid the shots quickly and kept moving, but thanks to Scarlet's high jumping skills for being a rabbit, jumping from one building to another was no problem for her.
Meanwhile, not too far from where they were, the Cooper Van was seen hurrying towards Vance's position, which was on the move. Barron was seen driving the Van with Nicole holding on to the front seats, trying to spot Vance. After a minute, Barron stopped the Van and spotted Vance on the rooftops ahead of them, running in a hurry with Scarlet still after him.
"There he is!" Barron exclaimed, but then noticed Scarlet was after him. "And it looks like Scarlet is chasing him again!"
"Seriously...!?" Nicole asked before letting out a loud sigh and shook her head at this. "Every time... She never gives up. Come on... Let's go help Vance out again."
"I'm way ahead of there, Nicole." Barron replied as he stepped on the gas hard and turned the wheel in the direction Vance and Scarlet went, hurrying to catch up with them before Scarlet corners Vance.
While his friends were on their way to him, Vance kept running as Scarlet continued firing one shot after another at him, becoming a little frustrated that none of her shots were making contact on the odd colored raccoon.
"Hold still, Cooper!" she exclaimed in anger. "You can't run from me forever!"
"You'd be surprised, Scarlet!" Vance shouted back, showing a smile on his face though, like he was enjoying this whole chase.
But when looked down, he spotted the Cooper Van and Nicole opened up the back doors to the Van and held on to the side while shouting up at Vance. "Vance...! Get in the Van...! Hurry!" she shouted, and doing what she said, Vance jumped off the building he ran across and did a move called a Rail Slide down some wet pipes into an alley and ran out into the streets.
Scarlet still gave chase, making her way down slowly while firing at Vance, while Vance ran onto the road and sprinted as fast as he could to get in the Cooper Van as Nicole reached her hand out to him. Then, thanks to Barron slowing the Van down enough, Vance was able to grab Nicole's hand and she pulled him inside.
"Phew... Thanks, Nicole." Vance thanked, giving a smile at his friend, who smiled up at him since she was about a foot shorter than him.
"No problem." she replied as they closed the doors to the back of Van as Barron increased speed, while Scarlet continued firing her pistol at them.
"Hold on tight, guys!" Barron exclaimed as he turned around a corner and punched the gas to make a fast getaway.
When Scarlet came around the corner, she grit her teeth in frustration as she watched the Cooper Van get away, being too fast for her to catch up with. "Darn you, Cooper." she said to herself, shaking her head. "One of these days you're gonna slip up, and when you do, I'll be there to put a nice fresh pair of cuffs on you."
-The Cooper Van, Paris, France, Night Time-
After escaping Scarlet, Barron sighed in relief before smiling at Vance through the mirror to look in the back. "That was quite the close call there again, buddy."
"It was, but thanks to your driving, we gave Scarlet the slip again." Vance stated with a smile.
"It was nothing." Barron replied, grinning as he returned his eyes to the road ahead of him.
"I still can't believe she's still after you." Nicole stated, sitting in her chair, shaking her head with a somewhat angered expression. "One of these days, she's gonna get what's coming to her. She's a real..."
"Whoa, Nicole... Language." Vance interuppted, stopping Nicole from saying something bad about Scarlet.
"You're right... Sorry." she apologized as she took a deep breath, then grew a worried look. "Though, that weird buzzard guy that showed up on camera earlier worries me. He wasn't even detected on the security monitors."
"Yeah..." Barron replied, a bit worried about that too. "Who was that bird guy anyway?"
Crossing his arms, Vance gave a serious look at his friends. "That guy calls himself Pryce." he answered as he turned his eyes up at the road ahead, thinking about all the things Pryce had told him during their fight. "And as to who is... That's what I'm gonna find out."
Vance Cooper
"Once again my friends and I managed to give good old Detective Scarlet Hop the slip. I gotta admit though, she's very presistant when it comes to me. I kinda like that about her. She makes things interesting. Though, that Pryce was very mysterious. I find it odd how he knew so much about me, but then again, he did say he did he research. Not to mention he's an old thief, so he probably would know a thing or two about my family. Speaking of my family... You probably already guessed this, but I'm from a well known family of thieves called the Cooper Clan."
"As far back as I can recall, my family was well known for having some of the most greatest thieves around. My father, Sly Cooper, was one of those great thieves. He taught me everything about our family history and all about his adventures with Uncle Murray and Uncle Bentley. Hearing their stories made me want to be, to me, what he was: a master thief. Of course, it wasn't easy at first when I was a kid, since my mother was once a police officer, so that was an argument that me and my little sister, Sarah Cooper, heard over and over again. Speaking of my little sister... I wonder how she's doing? Mom and Dad too for that matter. I'll have to call them later and find out."
"Though I inherited the Cooper Clan's greatest treasure: the Thievius Raccoonus, the book that details everything about our family thieving reputation and skills, becoming a master thief like my father was still tough thanks to my mother. Back when I was a kid, that dream seemed hopeless at first. That changed though when I met my friends Nicole and Barron. Those two have always stuck by me since we were ten and when I told them about my family's legacy, I'm not sure how to explain it, but it was like they were onboard with it all. Maybe it's because we were just kids at the time, so we didn't know better, but over the years, we tried our luck in thieving here and there. Back then, we did only little things here and there, but as we got older and grew in our skills and confidence, we were able to pull off much bigger jobs left and right. Ever since then, after graduating from High School, we stayed in the thieving business, and though my mother doesn't like it, she eventually approved after showing her all the evidence that I had the potential of being a great master thief, and it's all because of my friends."
"Nicole was always the genius of the group. She's a planner, a hacker, a strategist, a mistress of mathmatics, and actually quite the skilled marksman. Barron was the muscle of the group. Even when he was kid, he possessed above average strength for his young age and it's thanks to him our earlier work went smoothly, along with Nicole. I didn't have very many friends because of my odd color, but those two stuck by me and they turned out to be the only friends I needed. I wouldn't trade them for the world."
"Years after we came out of High School, and with my mother's approval, we set out for bigger thieving jobs around the world and we took the name my father and his friends back in their day: The Cooper Gang, or in this case, the New Cooper Gang. With our skills combined, like my father and his friends before us, we're aiming to be the best group of thieves around. And like my father before me, I'm gonna one day become the next master thief. Who knows... I might be even better than him. That's a big maybe."
"In all honesty, I don't know what's gonna happen in my future, but I know one thing's for sure... With my friends and family legacy by my side... It's gonna be fun."
Vance Cooper, the Next Master Thief
And so ends the second part of the prologue! I hope you all enjoyed it. To be honest, I was gonna get this up sooner, but I got really busy after finishing the first part, so I apologized if this one took a little time to get up. Either way, I managed to get this up. Although, just a forewarning, from here on out, now that the prologue is done, the real stuff begins, so updating may take a little longer, but I'll try my best to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. :)
Anyway, I see we have the good old fashion Sly Cooper cop and robber things going on here. Vance Cooper and Scarlet Hop are gonna be going at it from time to time, just like good old Sly Cooper and Carmelita Fox. What can I say...? It's not a Sly Cooper story without this sort of thing, am I right? XD
Okay, I truly don't have much to say anymore. So, I'm just gonna let you all go for now. Stay tune to find out what adventures'll happen soon. Trust me when I say that the real story is about to begin. Until next time, this is Neo saying farewell and lock your doors and windows at night, everyone. ;)
