Hullo! Chaptah two! Sorry I didn't get this out earlier but I was too busy fangirling over the Hunger Games. It was flap flippin tastic! I just don't like who played Gale though. And Katniss was too tall... Anyways, yeah, enjoy chapter two!

Sly Cooper: Band of Animals

Chapter 2

"Nnn… Ow…" I let out a painful groan as I woke up. My body started to ached all over and my head was killing me. I went to put my hand on my head when I saw it was covered dark brown fur with lighter coloured pads. I froze and stared. Moving my other hand next to the first one, I saw the same result.

OK, this definitely isn't normal, I thought a bit stupidly. Pulling my gaze away from my hands, I looked around at my surroundings. I was sitting on a pale yellow couch with a thin blanket haphazardly draped over me. The room I was in had a door to my right and there were three very large windows placed one after another. In the middle of the room sat a circular dining table with three chairs and a pink table cloth. Over to the side of it was a wooden crate with a laptop on it. There were a variety of potted plants shoved into one corner and there were several junk food wrappers scattered around the place. It wasn't the neatest of places but it reminded me of the HQ.

"The HQ!" I slapped my forehead, remembering how the rain had drenched the whole room. "Maaan, that's going to be a pain in the arse to clean up!"

Swinging my feet over the edge of the couch, I stood up with my head and vision swimming. I clenched my eyes closed and shook my head to try and clear it. My eyes widened when they opened and spotted an anthropomorphic weasel looking thing staring at my through the window. I squeak and backed up, tripping over the low back of the couch and smashing into a potted plant. Greeeaat…

"Whoa!" A pink hippo and derpy looking turtle came rushing into the room and spotted me lying, dazed, on the floor. They stared at me as I shook the damp soil from my hair which to my relief was still hazel with red streaks.

"Are you OK?" asked the hippo. I scratched my head and looked up at them, very confused. Wait a minute, was that Murray?

"Uh, I guess…"

"You worried us for a bit, little guy!" the hippo said, pulling me up.

"Murray's right," So it is Murray! "We saw a gang of those dirty lookout rats gathering around you."

"Yeah! And Sly and I went and knocked them all out. When we brought you back to the hideout Bentley said you were pretty badly injured and you might need to go to the hospital or something!" exclaimed Murray, using over exaggerated hand gestures for emphasis.

"Well, I'm OK. I mean, my whole body aches but I don't feel drastically ill or anything." I explained, rubbing my arm which was covered in brown fur as well. Now that I think about it, that weasel creature in the window was probably my reflection…

"That's a relief!" said Murray, smiling. I looked at him and a toothy grin appeared on my face. Seeing him made me think of Clout. "So, what's your name?"

"Me? I'm Nifty." I said.

"That's an interesting name." Bentley said.

"I think it's pretty cool!" said Murray.

"Thanks, but it's not my real name." I explained.

"So what is your real name?" Bentley asked.

I think my ear twitched at that question. I wasn't sure but I know I felt something. "I really don't have a problem with my actual name but I'd rather you call me Nifty."

"We're perfectly fine with that." said Murray.

"So, where's Sly?" I asked, maybe a bit too eagerly. Bentley, who had gone to his laptop, looked up at me in surprise.

"Do you know him?" he asked.

"Er… well only through newspaper articles and stuff." I said thinking quickly. "Y-you guys are pretty famous. I mean, well, I don't know… yeah."

Murray and Bentley exchanged odd glances before they both shrugged and went back to doing what they were doing. I sat down on the couch and sat there awkwardly before Bentley decided to answer my question.

"Sly is out tailing Dimitri." he said.

"You mean the nightclub owner?" I asked, looking up from my tail. I was glad neither Bentley nor Murray saw me inspecting it. It'd just make things even more awkward than they already were.

"Yes, we're pulling a heist to get the Clockwerk Tail Feathers. We found out that one of the doors beside the main canal leads to the water pump room." Bentley explained.

I felt a chill run down my spine. I knew how much of a menace Clockwerk was from that first game. Oh yeah, I'm in the second game right now. I scratched my head. It seemed so real though. The tip of my tail twitched in irritation as I started to over think thing and that was a never good thing for me. My head started to hurt whenever I did that.

"Do you guys need any help?" I asked, tugging at my ear. Bentley turned around and gave me a weird look when he saw me pulling my ear. I laughed nervously and put my hands in the pockets of my hoodie.

"You want to help us?" he asked incredulously.

"Well I have nothing better to do," I shrugged. "Plus I think you guys are really cool. I mean, you've avoided the police all this time! And you make it look so easy!"

"Come one, Bentley! I think it'd be cool to have a new team member, especially one who's such a big fan of ours!" Murray said, ruffling my head. He and I looked at the turtle with the same pleading look.

"We'll have to see what Sly says, but I'm OK with her addition." I beamed and Murray and I high-fived. This was going to be so cool! Hanging out with my favourite video game characters of all time! I couldn't wait until Sly got back.

oooOOOooo

"Good job tailing him, Sly. He had no idea you were watching while he typed in the secret code." I listened intently as Bentley talked to Sly while he typed away at his laptop. "… Wait a minute, looks like that door leads to the nightclub's aqua pump! Hmm… this might be useful for the heist."

"How does an aqua pump help us?" I asked, jumping up to sit on the table.

Bentley adjusted his glasses and gave me a sly smirk. "This is where you need to start thinking outside the box."

I raised my eyebrow. Murray came up beside me and said, "Trust him; he knows what he's doing."

"Who does?" We all turned to see Sly Cooper standing at the door. A wide grin spread across my face in an instant. I hopped off the table and ran up to Sly with my hand out.

"Sly Cooper! It's an honor!" I exclaimed. All three of the Cooper gang members gave me a weird look. Sly chuckled and took my hand and shook it.

"I see you're awake and doing well." he said.

I nodded. "Mhmm!"

"Murray, I need you to head over to the aqua pump room. I'll fill you in on your mission when you get there." said Bentley. I rolled my eye; he's just like Tech, always wanting to get down to business.

"Roger! 'The Murray' is on the job!" I watched in mild amusement as Murray left the hideout to do his job at the aqua pump.

"So, Nifty, you want to join the Cooper Gang do you?" I blinked in surprise and looked at Sly.

"How do you…?"

"Bentley left the mic on his laptop on, so I heard the whole conversation." he said, sitting down in one of the chairs and putting his feet up on the table. I sat in the chair beside him with my chin resting on the back of it.

"I would be honored to be a member of the Cooper Gang. You guys are my heroes!" I said excitedly.

"I don't see why not," I felt my ears twitch in excitement. "But," Aw. "We need to see what you're capable of."

"Like an assessment?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Precisely." answered Bentley, joining our conversation.

"So what are some of your talents?" Sly asked, flicking a piece of dirt from his cane.

I tapped the chair in thought. I was not sure if they would find my drawing skills so impressive. "Well… I can make a mean steak and cheese sandwich…"

The two exchanged glances before Sly asked, "Anything else?"

"I'm a good pick-pocket," At this, the racoon blinked in interest. "I mean, I'm not a wizard at it or anything, but I was able to slip this girl's twenty bucks from her back pocket of a pair of skinny jeans."

"Are you strong?"

"I'm no Murray," I said. "But I'm agile and one of the top students in my gym class."

"How about your technological skills?" asked Bentley.

"Um… I'm really good at playing video games and I know how to hack a computer and… stuff." I said, remembering the time Tech taught me how to hack into the school's computers to change my two week detention to one day.

"She sounds promising." Sly said, standing up and walking over to a fridge I had not notice until now.

"Nifty will be useful in speeding up some of the missions." commented Bentley.

"So when's my test?" I asked, anxious to get moving.

Bentley turned back to his laptop. "Once Murray gets back from destroying that aqua pump I should have most of the plan figured out. Then I'll send you out with Sly for your assessment."

I straightened up and rested my arms on the back of the chair. "I'll be ready!"

So. How did you like it? Don't worry, they'll be a lot more action than this. There's a lot of dialog in this chapter and I'm not sure I like it but whatever. Please review and leave your feedback! Thankies!