"Here's the situation." Carmelita said, laying out a map of the Police Headquarters. "While it's been a few weeks since we last saw Cooper, we have reason to believe that he's returned here and has plans to hit the Headquarters tonight. What he plans to do or take here? I don't know. But to be safe, I do have some precautions to take into effect." She looked up to a group of larger officers consisting of rhinos and hippos. "Bruce, you take your squad, and relocate everything in the evidence rooms. Lock them up in armored vans, and keep them under tight guard. I will have squad two keep close tabs on the evidence rooms in case that was what Sly is indeed targeting. If he breaks into an empty evidence room, we'll have him cornered with nowhere to go."
Judy listened closely to the instructions as Carmelita laid out her plans. She'd never heard of Sly, and had no idea how to approach the situation. She had no idea what Sly could be after, or what was exactly at stake here. But she continued as Carmelita glanced over to an Ox, and his group. "Squad three, you will report directly to all prison levels, and guard them heavily. Keep close tabs on each cell, both inside and out. I don't think we have any friends of Sly's gang, but if he's trying to break someone out, he won't find it easy."
The Ox grunted and said, "No one will leave our sights, ma'am."
Carmelita nodded and said, "I'm sure no one will." She then turned her attention on the rest of the officers in the room, including Nick and Judy. "The rest of us have the job of guarding the outside of our headquarters. If Sly is indeed going to strike at us tonight, we're not going to be caught with our pants down. I want officers anchored on each block around HQ. But look inconspicuous. I do not want to scare off Sly. If we can trap him, this might be our best attempt to capture him yet. ANd I won't let it slide past."
"We have any idea what he might be after at all?" Judy asked.
Carmelita shook her head. "Which is why I'm taking all precautions. All valuable information is being locked up, prisoners guarded, and anything worth stealing from evidence, under lock and key." She took a breath in before standing upright. "I've also taken the liberty of installing the latest defenses in cyber-security. The newly installed firewalls should prevent any attempts from Sly or his gang to obtain any useful information wirelessly. I think this covers everything for the most part. All that's needed now is to assign you your positions."
Nick smiled at Judy as Carmelita began assigning positions to each and every officer in sight. "Day one, and we might just see some action. How that for something to write home about?"
"Officer Wilde, are you paying attention?" Carmelita asked.
Nick straightened out as did Judy, the smile still on his face. "You have my undivided attention, Inspector."
"Glad to hear." She said, "I hope to see your skills in action. Officer Hopps, Officer Wilde, you will cover the southwest side of HQ. Report any and all suspicious activity to me straight away. If all goes well, you might assist in the capture of one of the world's most wanted criminals."
"Back in time for lunch." Nick said with a small smile.
Carmelita slid a few weapons across the table. "Stun guns, latest make, you are authorized to use them to apprehend Sly. But he's wanted alive. Deadly force is a no go. Do I make myself clear?"
Judy took one of the stun guns and held it, before putting it in her holster. "Ma'am, we've yet to be in any case that involves such drastic measures. I can assure you, we won't disappoint you."
Carmelita didn't return Judy's small nervous smile, but did say, "I'll hold you to it. Dismissed."
"Well this is lovely." Nick said sipping some coffee as they leaned against their newly assigned police vehicle. "Standing on an empty street, in the middle of the night, little to nothing going on, an ocean away from home. You know, I had more fun the last time I was in Paris."
Nick said.
Judy gave him a look as she sipped her own coffee, and said, "You've been to Paris before?"
"While back, Carrots." Nick said, and without looking, he said, "And before you ask, yes, I was a good boy."
"I wasn't going to say anything." Judy said.
"Don't lie to me, Carrots, you're not good at it." Nick said sipping his coffee giving one of his playful smiles in the process.
Judy was about to say something, but just kinda sighed and sipped her coffee. Yeah, she would admit, that she'd not exactly been part of a stakeout quite like this. Just waiting for the criminal in question to come to them. Heck, it wasn't exactly guaranteed that the criminal in question would show up at all. Everything seemed fine to Judy. The one or two pedestrian that would come along didn't match the description, and they didn't pay off like they were involved with anything suspicious.
Nick yawned and sipped his coffee again, before licking his lips and saying, "I gotta hand it to Paris though, they do make some good coffee, and it doesn't matter how much you drink because I don't think they'll ever run out of it..."
Judy wasn't listening to her partner's ramble about coffee because something had caught her attention. She looked around, but couldn't see anything. But...she could have swore that she heard something. Her acute hearing had helped her out in more ways than one in her career as a police officer, in ways that Nick didn't even begin to understand. In fact there were times he was maybe a little jealous he couldn't hear as well as she could. What was she picking up aside from Nick's rambling? She couldn't make it looked to Nick, and whispered, "Nick! Shh..."
Nick kept rambling. "...and if their coffee doesn't get to you, their cheese can be-"
"Nick!" She said a bit sternly.
Nick looked down at her, "What? Am I really bothering you that much, Carrots?"
"I hear something!" She said a bit annoyed, and perked her ears up to try and pick up whatever sound she thought she had heard before. ...she couldn't hear a thing...wait. Not so far away, she heard what appeared to be gravel tumbling on the ground. She looked in that direction, and saw a small cloud of dust falling slowly in the street light. She looked up. Nothing. And she could no longer hear anything.
Nick leaned down slowly, trying to spot whatever it was that she was looking for. "What do you hear Carrots?" He whispered.
"I thought I heard small footsteps...coming from up there," she beckoned, "But they stopped."
"Huh...odd, because I could have swore I just saw what looked like a gray tail up there."
Judy turned and looked to Nick. She had forgotten completely about his sight at night. "Nick!" She said with a big smile, "Oh I love that you're my partner! Can you see anything else?'
Nick gave a small smile and continued to scope the rooftop. "Nothing really...wait...yeah...someone's up there. Most definitely."
That was when Judy heard a faint whisper from the rooftop. And a very hushed voice. "Yeah! I-I read you...loud and...very loud."
That voice! Who was he talking to? Was this their criminal?
"Get over it Bentley, you're safe in the van. I'm the their here! I've got to steal that file from Inspector Carmelita Fox!"
That sealed the deal. Sly Cooper was on the scene. "It's him." Judy said quietly. Nick immediately grabbed the radio, put on one of his playful sly smiles and said. "Unit Seven, to Big Fox, come in, Suspect Zero is on the premises. Please confirm."
Carmelita's voice came in annoyed. "Officer Nick, take this seriously, or you won't have the kindest report given to your Chief back home."
Judy grabbed the radio from Nick, "Inspector, he's here. No joke."
"What do you see, Officer Hopps?" Carmelita asked.
"I have confirmed him in contact with the suspect, Bentley. My partner spotted him on the roof seconds ago."
"You heard him? Carmelita asked with a bit of an impressed tone. "Not bad, Officer. What can you report?"
"Not much, only that he's after some sort of file."
Carmelita's voice spoke away from the radio. She was with a surveillance team. She had all eyes on nearly every security camera in the building. "Get the ventilation shaft camera on monitor five right now." She then spoke back on the radio. "Judy, move your unit to the west side near the fire escape." She then made a small broadcast. "This is Inspector Fox, all units move to the west face, get ready for any possible contact."
Nick smiled at his Partner. "Why to go with the hearing, clever bunny."
Judy immediately got in the car with Nick, and said, "I just hope that whatever Sly's after is under protection."
"Relax Carrots, the Inspector said she had everything under lock and key. This their is gonna be might disappointed he came here."
Judy broadcast all radio transmissions on the police radio, and listened in as Nick positioned his car alongside a blockade that was starting to form on the west side. The voices were coming through the radio.
"Reposition the camera a few degrees...there he is. Target confirmed, Sly Cooper is in the ventilation."
Inspector's voice chuckled a bit through the radio. "Nice try, Ringtail. You won't get by my upgraded security systems."
However a moment later, a voice said in an alarmed tone, "Ma'am, security grids are coming offline!"
"What?"
"I don't know how...wait...I'm locked out! I can't re-establish a connection...someone's hacked into the system!'
"You told me that our cyber-security was up to date!" Carmelita said annoyed.
"It was!" The other voice called out.
Nick heard everything and said, "Sounds like things are getting ugly."
Carmelita's voice sighed through the radio, and said, "Do what you can to re-establish our security systems. I'm going in!"
"She's going in?" Judy asked.
Just as she said that, Nick got out of the car and looked up. He's heading out of the office window up above..."
As he said that, who would appear, but Carmelita herself. "Criminal!" She shouted, and dropped onto a nearby balcony, her stun gun aimed right at the raccoon in the shadows. A spotlight lit up the area from below, revealing the block of police vehicles down below. Sly Cooper, the raccoon looked down, and just gave it all a smirk as if he'd seen it a hundred times before. Judy studied the figure. He wore a black mask over his eyes, and a navy blue cap. That same color was on a slim and light jacket he wore, which was tucked into some gray trousers. In his hands, he held a single yellow office folder, and what appeared to be a large cane, with a metal tipped C at the very end of it.
He took one look at Carmelita and smiled. If she saw the smile, she didn't return it or seem to care. "You foolish raccoon..." Carmelita said. "You've been caught red-handed."
"Ahh, Carmelita." Sly said with a suave voice. "Haven't seen you since I gave you the slip in Bombay."
"Which reminds me," Carmelita said, going straight to the point. "You need to return the Firestone of India to its rightful owners."
Sly just rested his large cane on his shoulders, and didn't stop smiling. "Aww, and I was gonna give it to you as a little token of my...hey...you know, that bazooka really brings out the color of your eyes. Very fetching."
Judy frowned at this whole thing. Yeah, it was clear that these two were well acquainted with each other, Sly even seemed to enjoy toying with her, or flirting in a playful way. In ways that reminded her of Nick. She wasn't sure exactly how she felt about that, but she kept her eyes on Sly.
"You think?" Carmelita asked, still taking no hint of amusement at Sly's cheeky comments. "This pistol packs a paralyzing punch. You oughta try it. Might snap you out of your crime spree."
"And give up our little rendezvous?" Sly asked, crossing his arms.
"Plenty of time for that once you're safely behind bars." Carmelita retorted.
Sly smiled and said, "Love to stick around and chat...but I just dropped by to pick up this case file. I think you've had it long enough."
With that, Sly dropped down a level of the fire escape, and Carmelita shouted through the radio, "All units! Apprehend Sly at all costs!"
The police down in the blockade immediately sprung to action. Some began to run up the staircase, while others grabbed some stun guns, took aim, and began to fire at a target that was now running in the shadows. No one hit their target. Judy looked, trying to find any sign of the Raccoon, but only Nick seemed to have any success, firing a few shots, but missing. "Dang, that guy is fast!" He said under his breath.
Judy was taken by surprise when suddenly their car was backed into, taking them both by surprise. This was a fine time for someone to crash into their car. Judy looked behind her, before she realized the two back doors opened to briefly reveal a green turtle siting in front of a wall of computer monitors, and a hippo at the wheel of the van. However before she could jump in, the raccoon jumped from car to car, knocking an officer or two out with that large cane, before jumping into the back of the van, shouting, "Let's get out of here, Murray!"
"The Murray is on it!" The hippo shouted and as the doors slammed, the van drove away at full speed.
Judy growled, but Nick was already in their damaged patrol car. "Carrots, you coming? Still drives."
Judy wouldn't be able to open the now smashed door of the car, so she clambered over the hood of the car, before jumping through the window that Nick had rolled down ahead of time. Already, a few police cars were off in hot pursuit of the van that just moments ago had crashed the scene. Judy sat herself down, and quickly clicked her seatbelt, and without waiting for a word, Nick slammed on the gas pedal, and after a small turning maneuver, they were speeding down the streets along with the other police cars as Carmelita's voice came in on the radio. "All units in pursuit, remember that the Cooper Gang is to be taken unharmed. Keep on him!"
Nick was in his serious mode, but even in that mode, Judy saw him put on a playful smile, and say playfully, though not in a radio, "Time to take down some criminals...unit seven style."
Three minutes of pursuit passed, and after a moment, there was a crash. Behind all the cars, Nick and Judy couldn't see what happened, but after a moment, they got a glimpse of the Cooper van, and saw the back doors open, and Sly and Bentley working on something, before dropping something into the street. Nick saw them drop it, and said, "Hold onto you fur, Carrots!" And gave a sharp turn, narrowly avoiding another oncoming car, and landing themselves right behind the Cooper van. The other two cars that were chasing, we're not so fortunate as the small orb that was dropped sparked, and both cars in pursuit shorted out before slowing to a halt.
Judy frowned as she looked behind them, realizing they were now the only car on the tail of the van. "Looks like they somehow managed to disable those cars!" She called to Nick.
"If I had to guess, looked like a small EMP device. Don't know how they managed to make something like that, but we'll stay on these guys, Carrots!"
However the Cooper gang had different plans, and after a small salute to the two officers in pursuit was seen by Sly, the van dropped something from underneath them, before the two doors shut. No one had seen what dropped though, and so Nick and Judy kept up the speed.
"Stay on them, Nick!" Judy said as she drew her stun gun, ready to use it if necessary. However after a moment, there were four loud popping noises and Nick temporarily had to regain control of the car.
Judy looked to him with a confused look. "What was that?"
Nick was struggling to control the vehicle now, and with eyes wide, he simply said, "Don't ask me, I didn't do anything!"
Shortly afterward there came a strong smell of burning rubber, and Judy looked out the window. Sly had managed to somehow puncture all four tires of their car. Judy looked ahead as the van drew further and further away, before Nick sighed and brought the car to a halt. For a moment they just sat there, before Nick said, "So who's gonna be the bearer of bad news?"
Judy took a breath in, and grabbed the radio. "This is unit seven, requesting a tow truck...we have four flats. Suspects no longer in sight."
There was silence, before Carmelita's calm voice simply said, "Understood. Hang tight, Unit Seven, we have a lot of officers to pick up. We'll get to you soon."
Nick raised his eyebrows a bit and said, "That's it? The Cooper Gang gets away and there's no scolding? You're taking this rather well, Inspector."
"We're sorry." Judy said, "They got us by surprise."
Carmelita's voice simply said, "You get used to it, officers. We'll grab you soon. We have a lot to go over to figure out what their next move will be."
Judy sighed and sat back in her seat. Well, at least Carmelita seemed to be a bit more on the understanding side, and maybe not as stern as Bogo back home. But she couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. They had come close to getting this Sly Cooper. And Sly? He just toyed with them until the very end. She sighed, suddenly wanting her coffee, and said, "You know...I may just be very happy when this is all over. Just...who is this Cooper?"
"I don't know." Nick said, before giving her a playful smile. "But I like him."
Judy just growled and tugged her ears over her eyes. "I just knew you were going to say that."
Hope you all enjoyed chapter three, while I'm here, I might as well clear up a few questions in the reviews and messages that have been asked of me regarding this story. Firstly, yes, I'm aware that in Zootopia, only mammals were anthropomorphic, which would make characters like Bentley rather...questionable. Well...for the sake of believability, I'm just gonna say I'm lamp shading it. Just kinda bending the rules there. One of my friends also motioned to the fact that combining fictional places like Zootopia with real world locations like Paris might seem a bit strange, but again...I'm just bending the rules for the sake of writing a fun story. I think those were the two major problems that were asked of me. But if you have any other questions, feel free to ask! Hope you're all enjoying the story. I'm doing my best to keep each character within their personalities and whatnot. Hope I'm doing well enough there. See you guys in Chapter 4!
