Hey guys! Oi, am I glad to be uploading this chapter. I'm back in school for the semester and let me tell you, it's kicking my butt. Take a semester of electives, they said, it'll be fun, they said...

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Finally getting into the actual game, yay!


"So, this big heist is to get back your family's treasure?" I asked as the slideshow clicked off.

"Yup," Sly said, running his hands over his cane, "We're going to need an army of world class thieves. It won't be easy, b-"

"But for your family legacy, it's worth it." Bentley cut him off, hovering over a table of blueprints. "And the first step to building that army is getting Murray back."

"Yup, to Venice!" I punched my fist in the air. When I noticed the odd looks Sly and Bentley were giving me, I smiled sheepishly, "Would you think less of me if I told you I wanted to ride in a gondola and eat gelato?"

Sly shook his head, "Normal girls living in Paris would freak out about the Eiffel tower. She's more excited about going to Italy and eating ice cream."

I scowled, "Gelato is not ice cream."

"Alright you two," Bentley said, glancing at his computer. "We're not leaving for a while yet. Sly, why don't you take Kaia downstairs and have her do a round in the Hazard Room? I'll meet you in the control room in a bit."

"Sure."

"What on earth made Murray decide to study Dreamtime in the first place?" I asked as I hurriedly tried to keep up with Sly as he led me downstairs.

"He said something about 'finding his spiritual center' when he left, but we'll hopefully get a chance to ask him soon." He said, pushing open the door once we reached the ground floor.

I followed him into the empty, echoing warehouse. After the briefing, he'd had me change into some of the clothes I'd gotten. Now barefoot, wearing a white tank top and a pair of light grey drawstring yoga pants, I looked around the single room before giving Sly an odd look, "It's empty."

"For now," He said pitching his voice ominously. When I leveled a flat stare at him, he gestured to some colored levers on the wall, "Pull one of the white ones."

Not really worried, I strode over, selected the leftmost white lever (there were two) and pulled.

I jumped and yelped when a large, wooden platform dropped from the ceiling and halted only about ten feet overhead.

Once Sly was done laughing, he leapt up to the platform and stared down at me. There was something malevolent about his expression that made me want to run.

"The Hazard Room is designed to train you to perform your job better in the field. It pushes you to your limits and since you're a newbie," He gave a grin that showed far too many teeth, "You get a spotter."

I swallowed, "I'm guessing that would be you?"

He puffed his chest out, "Well, since you're asking so nicely-"

I bolted for the door.


Sly and Bentley were brutal trainers. Good guys. Good friends. Good thieves. But the second you set them training someone, they became monsters.

"I ache in places I didn't know it was possible to ache," I whined as the plane started to descend. Sly and I had trained all night long so we'd sleep during the flight and be on a fairly late schedule in Italy. Granted, it wasn't like we were expecting to have to do much other than talk to Murray, but everything was much easier to do at night, especially finding a socially awkward hippo with criminal tendencies. As long as we steered clear of the local mob boss while we were in town, everything should be fine.

"Come on, you're fine." Sly laughed, giving me a light shove so I'd stop leaning on him. "It wasn't that bad."

I gave him a flat glare. "You are a bad person and should feel bad about it."

He rolled his eyes at me, even as we touched down. "You can be such a drama queen."

I stuck my tongue out at him and gathered up my carryon.

Bentley had gone ahead earlier in the day to set up the Venetian Safehouse. Sly and I each had a slip of paper with the address and were to split up and take different routes to get there. Neither of us had more than our single bag, so we bypassed the baggage claim entirely. I went first. Sly said I could use the head start.

And suddenly it became a race.


Bentley almost jumped out of his wheelchair when Kaia flung the door to the Safehouse open and stood panting in the doorway.

"Haha… made it first."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Jinx."

Bentley winced when the backpack made contact with Sly's stomach and the raccoon slid, wheezing, to the floor. "That sounded like it hurt."

"Do you have bricks in there?" Sly coughed out.

The hybrid reached one coal-colored arm into her bag and pulled out a leather-bound book.

"I'm going to burn that thing."

"Do it and die."

"Ahem," Brown and lime eyes flicked up at the turtle when he cleared his throat, "As entertaining as this domestic abuse is, shall we get started?"

"Right." Sly's recovery was instantaneous as he stood, ushered Kaia inside, and stepped out into the street, pulling the door shut behind him.


"Bentley, you are my new favorite person for picking a Safehouse just across the street from gelato shop." I said, peering out the window.

"Just coincidence, I assure you," He said, though he looked pretty pleased with himself. "Oh, here." He held out a white binocucom, "This is yours." I snatched it out of his hands instantly and he turned to the binocucom station, "You can practice using it while Sly's looking for Murray. Speaking of which," he turned on the mic, "Given Murray's criminal past, it seems logical to start our search at the local police station. If he's not already in custody, the cops are sure to have leads on all the crooks in Venice."

I managed to get my binocucom to turn on just as Sly reached his job start waypoint. He pointed his camera at a massive domed building a few blocks away and zoomed in.

"That massive dome marks the Venetian police station." Bentley supplied.

"Cops around here certainly like to make an impression."

"It's a losing battle I'm afraid. Don Octavio runs the show in this town. Those are his 'security forces' patrolling the streets, not the cops."

"Noted. Hmm…" Sly's binocucom zoomed in some more, to a small fixture on top of the dome, "Looks like I found my way inside."

"That dome is covered in glazed tile, there's no way you can climb up there!"

"Come on, pal." The camera traced a rope to across a canal, "There's always a way."

"Why is it that there's always that one convenient rope or pole that lets you get in to places? You'd think the security team would have spotted it…" I muttered.


"Oh, not that guy!" I groaned, seeing the purple salamander in the jail cell where we'd hoped to find Murray. "I can only ever understand every third word he says."

"That's because you don't speak bad slang. It's a good thing." Sly said, after cutting a deal to get Dimitri out of jail in exchange for information on Murray's whereabouts.

"Sly, you're going to have to be careful getting that key." Bentley broke in. "Carmelita's office is on the other side of the briefing room, which is full of mercenaries."

"Okay, two questions." I asked, thumbing the mute on the binocucom and addressing only Bentley, "Firstly, why is Carmelita always everywhere we go?"

"We've been pretty quiet for the last year, she probably got reassigned here and it's all coincidental. Listen to the briefing; she's going on about tar being dumped into public waterways. She's probably here as the Interpol interest in that problem."

"Why Interpol?"

"Venice is one of the biggest tourist cities in Europe. The odds that it could be a foreigner or a terrorist group are just as good if not better than the odds of it being an Italian. What was your second question?"

I gestured to the clock, "Who the heck holds a briefing at five in the morning?"

"…" To that, Bentley could only shrug.


I bounced up and down in my chair while Bentley readied the slideshow.

"What are you so excited about?" Sly asked as he examined a singed spot on his tail where one of Carmelita's shock pistol bolts had gotten a little too close.

"Gelato!" I said, "There's a gelateria just across the street. As soon as it opens, I'm all over that!"

"Not so fast, Kaia." Bentley was quick to crush my hopes and dreams, turning on the projector, "Murray refuses to rejoin the gang until his obligation to his guru is fulfilled. Like it or not, we're going to have to deal with Venice's tar problems in order to, as Murray puts it 'make the black water run pure'."

"How does this prevent me from eating gelato?"

"Octavio's 'security forces' are all over the place. It's just not safe to draw any attention to ourselves before we strike, especially since we know that he is somehow involved, thanks to Inspector Fox's fine detective work. As non-law operatives, however, we'll be able to take a more head-on approach than the police are allowed."

"Okay, let's do this! Get those security forces off of the streets! For justice! … and so Murray can join the team. Also that."

"First, we break into Octavio's opera house. If he's hiding anything, we'll find it. We should also keep a close eye on the Don. Some photographic evidence connecting him to the tar might be enough to get the old mobster put away. Meanwhile, I'll monitor local information frequencies. With some luck, we might be able to pick up some quality intel."


Bentley headed out first to check on some intel he'd picked up, leaving Sly and I fighting over the last piece of pizza.

"You coop me up in here in Italy, forbid me from eating any legit Italian pizza or gelato, instead we order takeout; the least you can do is let me have the last slice of pizza!"

"Hey, I'm the thief, I'm the one that goes out and puts my life on the line in order to take down the corrupt underground world, I deserve it!"

Then the binocucom station beeped. Sly and I exchanged looks.

"You get it."

"Hey, no, you're the senior field member, you get it."

"…"

"…"

"No need to worry guys, I got it." Bentley drawled from the speakers. "But seriously, the two of you need to get out here; my sources tell me that Octavio has hired the Blue Viper Gondola Gang to take out Carmelita."

"There are gondola gangs?"

"The Blue Vipers? Those guys are nasty! We've got to get to them before they get to her."

"She's off on her daily patrol; those thugs can't be far behind."

"On our way, just be sure to have one of those police boats hotwired by the time we get there." With that, Sly grabbed me by the wrist and nearly pulled my arm out of its socket, dragging me down the stairs and out the door.

When we arrived at the docks, Bentley met us, "It's all ready to go guys. I'd help you out, but my wheelchair brakes aren't that hardcore, I'd be sliding all over the boat. Trust me, that's the next upgrade I'll work on."

"This is not what I meant when I said I wanted to ride a gondola," I grumbled, climbing in and pulling Ahanu's goggles up and over my eyes.

"You shoot, I'll drive."


"Good shooting, guys. Err… Kaia, are you okay?"

"Sly drives like a maniac... must have Dramamine." I stumbled onto the pavement gratefully.

Bentley steadied me and turned to Sly, "You do realize that by saving Carmelita, we've just made our job in Venice that much harder?"

"Yeah, but what's the fun of stealing if there's nobody to chase you? Besides, she's helped us out in the past."

"And you've got a thing for her."

"… and I've got a thing for her. Look, I'm going to go stash this police boat, it could come in handy. You two stay out of trouble."

"Nah, I'm going to go barf on a guard's shoes just to see what colors his face will turn if I do."

If the glare Sly gave me had a physical form, it would probably have a Russian accent and carry a baseball bat.


Smugly munching on the last slice of pizza, I looked over Bentley's shoulder as Sly tailed Octavio.

"So, there are just random valves that dispense tar scattered throughout Venice?" I asked, "That seems like a critical design flaw."

Bentley let out a longsuffering sigh, "Once again, your oversimplification of the facts makes me die a little inside."

"… Yay?"

Not too long after, Bentley was about to head out to do something about the Ferris Wheel pumping the tar throughout Venice. I was all hyped up to go with him, but he shot that idea down almost instantaneously.

"Why not?"

"We need someone to keep an eye on the Safehouse." He answered, strapping on his chest armor. When I leveled a flat stare at him, he shrugged, "Okay, you're not trained enough yet for an impromptu mission."

I grumbled until he left the Safehouse, at which time I changed into my gear and grabbed my dinky old iPod nano and a dry erase marker.


"'The dark side of electrical engineering'?" Sly quoted with a chuckle, "You can be so melodramatic sometimes."

"Please, there's not a melodramatic bone in my body." Bentley pretended not to know what his friend was talking about as they approached the Safehouse door.

"Sure there is," Sly quipped as his friend opened up the Safehouse, "Your skull."

"Hardy-har… what the-?"

Sly frowned and peered around his friend to look into the Safehouse. He immediately had to choke back a laugh.

"Wow, she really did a number on this place." He strode into the Safehouse first, picking a slimy pink thing off the top of one of Bentley's monitors, "Where did she even get silly string?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to kill her." Bentley seethed, eyeing the angry face drawn on the binocucom station and praying it was dry erase and not sharpie.

His raccoon friend chuckled and opened the door farther in to the building, "Hey, Jinx!" When no yell decrying the name regaled his ears, he frowned, "You here?"

"She's probably stir crazy," Bentley said, sounding less angry and more amused as he found the drawings of angry water towers that now decorated his workspace. "I wouldn't be surprised if she got out to stretch her legs."

Sly's frown deepened, "What about Octavio's security forces?"

"It's nearly six, the joggers are going to hit the streets any second if they haven't already, she won't even garner a passing glance. All of which I'm sure she thought of before she left." Seeing his friend's agitated expression, Bentley sighed, "But you might want to go check up on her anyway."

Sly was out the door almost instantaneously. Bentley shook his head at his friend's enthusiasm. He understood that Kaia wasn't a professional and that worried the raccoon, but she wasn't an idiot either and would likely be at least a bit irritated when she discovered he set off after her.


I'd never truly experienced the freedom of a rooftop run, excursions on Sly's back in Prague aside, and found I was surprised at how much I was enjoying myself.

The thin climber's shoes I wore let me feel every crack and niche in the walls and roofs I scaled while still protecting me from any protruding nails or splinters. The sport tank top was a slate grey that blended in with practically everything and the yoga pants of a similar shade, held up by a tightly knotted drawstring, kept me warm in the pre-dawn chill that came off the canals while simultaneously keeping me from overheating in the warmth of exertion.

I had several reasons for my excursion. First, cabin fever. Second, I wanted to try out the clothes I'd be wearing in any jobs I pulled. Third, I wanted to get the lay of the land for however long we'd be here. Fourth, I wanted to practice the little training I'd managed to get before being hustled off to Venice.

Currently, the only thing I really could do easily was climb. I had a rudimentary knowledge of running on wires and the Ninja Spire jump, but that was it. I was practicing the running on wires bit on this particular run as I was better at it, but I preferred to wait to practice the Spire jump until my 'spotter' was present.

I stopped to catch my breath at a small courtyard a few streets from the police station. It boasted only a flower bed, the odd bench, and a simple fountain, but it was quiet and just off the river.

I sat down on the low stone fence and worked to catch my breath, berating myself for not thinking to bring water.

"Think fast."

I just barely managed to snap my head and hand up fast enough to catch the water bottle that had been chucked at me. I blinked stupidly at it for a second, then tilted my head to see the person who'd thrown it.

Standing there, holding his own half-empty water bottle, was a cougar. He was tall, moderately muscled, and dressed for running. He had an amused, half-impressed expression and nodded when our eyes met, his right on the joint of green and blue, "Nice catch." His voice had the barest hint of an accent I couldn't place.

I blinked in surprise and replied automatically, "Nice throw." His lips quirked and he came to sit next to me. To satisfy my paranoia, I ran a nail between the screw-top of the bottle and the ring that connected it to the neck. Seeing that they were still attached, I gave in to my thirst and, muttering some expression of thanks, opened it up and partook of the cool water within.

We sat in silence for a few moments before he gave me a sidelong glance, "I'm impressed, most people your age won't be awake for another eight hours still, let alone out getting exercise." This comment wasn't really that weird, considering he looked to be at least in his late twenties, probably ten years my senior.

I waved my hand dismissively, "Usually I'm one of them. You can blame this on jet lag, coupled with my usual insomnia." As an afterthought, I lifted the half-empty bottle in my hand, "Hence the fact that I forgot to bring my own water. Thanks."

He stood with a nod and a thin smile, "No problem. See you around." He was off again and out of sight in moments.

I was left pondering this strange encounter for less than a minute before Sly materialized. I blinked stupidly at him for a second, then rolled my eyes, "You realize that I'm capable of not getting myself shot, right?"

He shrugged, wearing his most innocent expression, "Hey can you blame me for wondering? Need I list all the injuries you've gathered in the short time we've known each other? The head trauma alone will take most of the morning."

I grimaced and gestured to the recently-vacated the spot next to me, silently conceding the point. He came over and sat. Staring at the fountain, I missed the way his eyes narrowed when he asked, "Hey, where'd you get the water?"

I blinked again, my cognitive abilities slowed by the exercise, apparently. I lifted the plastic bottle. "Some guy gave it to me when he saw I didn't have any. Don't worry," I cut him off when he opened his mouth, "I checked to make sure it hadn't been opened before I drank any of it. I learned that the hard way," I gave him a pointed look. "It tasted fine anyway. Besides," I wiggled the bottle at eye-level, "Who'd wanna poison me?"

He shook his head, "Didn't your dad ever teach you not to take things from strangers?"

"Nah, he was too busy teaching me to break kneecaps." I stood before he could ask whether I was serious or not. "Race you back, streets only!" And I took off.


"Come on, you should have known you couldn't beat me," Sly teased, leaning against the Safehouse as I ran up, out of breath.

"Yeah, but I was hoping the head start and limitations would help me at least a bit." I grumbled between pants, heading up the stairs after Sly opened up the door for me with no lack of flair. At the top, I bit back a snicker at the sight of my handiwork.

"Yes, yes, very funny," Bentley said, eyes never leaving the screen of his laptop, which he'd cleaned off easily, though for some reason saw fit to leave the silly string and the angry water towers. "We'll see if you think the same next time we head into the Hazard Room."

The laugh that had been building in the back of my throat dissipated into a heartfelt groan.

"Alright, ready to go, Sly?" Bentley pulled back from the desk, wheeling towards the door.

"Wait a sec, you guys aren't leaving me here alone again?"

"Kaia," Sly's expression was understanding and placating. "We're going to infiltrate Octavio's opera house. Taking you in there would be like tossing you into a pit lined with bubble wrap and sleeping lions and telling you to step lightly. We'll be taking you along soon enough; you just have to learn some more first."

I grumbled, but acknowledged the sense in his statement by turning back to the table of blueprints sullenly, "Fine, but I won't be held responsible for the state of this place when you get back."

"You're welcome to come along via the binocucom station," called Bentley from the foot of the stairs as he and Sly headed out.


I did watch via the binocucom station, but only after taking a shower to cool off and get rid of that lingering feel of drying sweat.

"Okay, guys, I'm here." I said, pulling on my headset.

"Welcome to the party, Jinx."

"Seriously, Sly? I know you know my name, you used it not an hour ago."

"Did I? Must have been a slip of the tongue."

I twitched violently, but took a look at what I saw via Bentley's binocucom camera. It was hardwired into his wheelchair and always on when he left the Safehouse. Sly's binocucom was tucked away in his leg pouch.

"Are you on a dock?"

"I am." Bentley answered, "Sly's making a bridge."

Even before he'd finished his sentence boxes and the odd boat drifted into a path to a door on the next wall, where Sly had evidently dispatched a guard moments before.

"Thanks for the assist, pal." Bentley said, jumping across the boxes, "Perhaps I can return the favor with a few well-placed explosives."

I barely had to time to realize the bomb had been placed and whip the headset away from my ears before the explosive went off. That certainly would have banished the clouds of drowsiness that had begun to gather in my skull.

I placed it back on just in time to watch Sly's tail disappear into a ventilation duct. "Why the halt, Bentley?"

"Four inch thick Plexiglas." He showed me, "Sly's looking for a way to get the doors open."

"And I think I just found it."

Through the fog of three layers of Plexiglas, Bentley and I watched as Sly fought the guard and cleared the way for Bentley, who used the universal skeleton key of C4 to open up the next door.

Sly headed down the next flight of stairs first. I heard several thuds and held my breath until he called Bentley down as well.

"Are you alright, Sly?"

"Fine, but you may get to practice your first aid skills soon; those cats have a mean high kick." Through Bentley's binocucom, I saw the raccoon rubbing his jaw.

"You okay, pal?"

"Fine, let's just get this door open."

They did and Bentley nearly had a fit of glee over the old computer in the center of what appeared to be a conference room.

"Just as long as you're enjoying yourself, that's the important thing."

"Aside from a few tense moments, that break-in seemed to go pretty well."

I couldn't not chip in at the sound of that. "You're in the heart of the mob's home base. No time to get comfortable."

"Jinx is right, this isn't over yet. Get the info we need and let's get out of here."

"Oh, it'll be a snap extracting the details on Octavio's operation from this old dinosaur."

And it was, right up until the alarm went off.

"Jinx, I blame you for that." Sly grumbled as the guards started to pour into the room.


Alrighty, that's a wrap! I'm off to catch a couple of hours of sleep before my hour-long commute at 6AM, what fun! Hope you enjoyed and let me know what you thought!