Yeah, new chapter of Life's Not A Fairytale! Now it's time for the plot to really start. Just wait until we get to China! ;D So, here we start at Venice, Italy, which is my second favorite level in Sly 3. Yeah for reunion! So yeah, sorry 'bout the wait. I know it's been a long while.

Chapter IV: Take Me to Wonderland

Getting past a world-class vault would take world-class thieves-a group of specialists, each member contributing their own particular talent. It was clear that you needed Murray back. Not only were you missing a friend-the first person to truly make you feel welcome here-and Sly and Bentley were missing a lifelong friend, but Murray's brute strength had gotten you out of more than a few scraps in the past.

After Bentley got injured during the whole Clockwerk thing, Murray blamed himself and eventually, he left the team. Sly and Bentley tried to talk to him, but going out on his own was something he needed to do. The three of you got word that he ended up in the Australian outback, where he studied a mystic art called The Dreamtime from a guru. Now where have you heard that before?

From all accounts, things went pretty well. His teacher even sent him on a walkabout to locations all over the globe to complete the training. Recent sightings report that Murray is in Venice, Italy. Looks like fun; you've always wanted to go to Venice-and hopefully, not fall in one of the canals. You can swim, but not as well as you used to with the whole mouse-body thing.

However, down in Venice, there's this mob boss Don Octavio. He's a really talented Opera singer, and supposedly, he was gonna be the next great tenner (whatever that means, not like you have any idea) but just when his career was taking off, musical taste changed. Suddenly, it was all about rock, and nobody wanted to listen to opera anymore. You can't say you blame anybody; Abigail loves opera, and you went to some shows together for some "mother-daughter" bonding. Now you see just how that was really pointless…but at least it made her happy.

But Octavio did hold onto a few fans, and it was those mobsters who took him into "the business".

You turn the corner around the canal; you guys need to make it to the safehouse first. It's like a little apartment, near the center of the city. You see these big dogs wearing bird masks patrolling the streets with flashlights. They must work for Octavio. You blink, staring at the streets. There aren't any people around. People must be scared of this guy.

You stay low, and off the rooftops-they're covered with goons too, cats and birds. Hey, look at that-the food chain. Bird, cat, dog.

You meet up with Sly and Bentley, and you duck into the house, just as a guard with a flashlight comes by. You smile, kicking your feet up. "You know, I've always wanted to go to Venice."

"Don't get too comfy," Bentley says, hooking up his laptop. "We need to start looking for Murray."

You nod, swinging yourself off. "Okay. Where to first?"

"The police department. Giving Murray's criminal history, it's logical to start there." You nod, but you can't help but be a bit doubtful. After all, Carmelita's always chasing Sly, not Murray. Hell, the only reason she would ever even bother with me is to get to Sly. "Even if he's not already in custody, the police should have records about all the crooks in Venice."

You nod. "Right." You grab your bow, and open the door.

"Be careful." Sly says, playing with his hat.

You smile. "Aren't I always?"

"Not really, no."

You just roll your eyes, and close the door behind you.

Being a rodent, you can squeeze through tighter spaces that Sly, and…you've just got a lot less to risk. You're not sure how much of a record you have, if you even have one at all. You head out to the little pier, the one next to the bridge. Bentley set up your holographic marker there. It's purple, and it looks kind of like Sly's, but more rounded. You use your binocucom.

"That massive dome marks the Venetian police station." Bentley says. The police station here is a white dome, with a little golden tower and a square building.

"Wow, the Italians are more flamboyant than the French." You remark. You've seen the police station in Paris. It's not as decorative.

"I'm afraid it's a losing battle. Don Octavio runs the show in this neighborhood. It's his 'security forces' patrolling the streets. Not the cops."

"Hm." You mutter. "Not sure if that makes this easier, or more difficult." You zoom in a little on the small tower on the top of the dome. That must be the ventilation. "Looks like I got my way inside."

"That dome is covered in glazed tile. There's no way to climb up there."

However, there is a rope attached. "Oh, don't worry about that, Bentley. There's always a way. One just has to look for it."

You hang up, and go to silence. You can't do the spire jump like Sly can, but you can do something he can't, and it's ended up being way more useful to than landing on small points.

You can swim.

You quietly slip in, climb up to the little gondola, and grab a hold of the rope. You shimmy across, mindful of your arrows, and head up to the entrance. "Nice climbing, partner. I got the blueprints to the ventilation shaft right here. I should be able to guide you to the jail cell." You gently lower yourself in, and you're thankful for your tiny size, otherwise you and your quiver wouldn't fit.

After listening to Bentley telling you to take lefts and rights and keeping going straight, you drop down. You see some shape in the corner of the cell. "Murray, big guy, is that you?"

"Murray…" A voice scratches at your ears. You see a puff of smoke. Oh no, that's not… "That name's a stain on my pants, babe." Ew. When Sly calls you babe, it's different. "Whuh?" He says as he turns around. He's still dressed in a tacky green snakeskin shirt, and even in jail, he smokes cigars. He crosses his arms over his chest. "Noukhayev! You've got some fuzzy dice to come 'round here."

"Dimitri," You say lowly. "Well, I still you're still in jail." They must've transferred him to Venice for some reason…French prison too full?

"And you still a ratty-tat tramp."

"And you still speak broken English. And I'm a dormouse," You shake your head slightly. "Not a rat. Anyway, how about we skip the name-calling and get down to business?"

"Looking for your main-man Murray, eh?"

"Sly's my main man."

He scoffs. "Sorry, but I'd rather see you get busted big time." Shit. "Guard!" He yells. "Politzia!"

"Wait," You say. "Let's make a deal. I bust you out of here, and you help me find Murray."

"You might get this cell door open," He scowls. "But the cops would throw down and bust me on the way out. And then I'll get the double sentence. Grief!" He cries.

You know he's right. Just a few feet from you, there's a room crawling with cops. You think you can hear Carmelita's voice. Well, it looks like Carmelita got another change in voice actors. "Well, how about this: I'll distract the cops, then run for it." You know Carmelita won't be able to resist shooting you. "Once I've got their attention, you can sneak out the front door no problem."

"Now that's a plan I can get behind! Dimitri is free, and Cerlie is cooked!" Wow, he actually knows your first name. "Key for cell is in head cop lady's office." He says.

"Alright." You say, nodding. You look at the combo lock. You've cracked those before. "This other lock shouldn't be a problem. I should be able to crack it by hand."

Dimitri points to the ground. "Get me out of here, and I'll find Murray, no sweat. Just keep on the down low and outta sight near them coppers, girl. They're a bad bunch of bunnies."

You nod, ducking under the table and slithering on the floor like a snake. From the light of the projector, you see it's definitely Carmelita. She's…doing something on Octavio? "Your attention, police. I thank you for your patience, but we're now ready for the presentation."

You crawl into the office so you can whisper to Bentley. "Bentley, are you hearing this?"

"Yeah, I'm hearing it."

Carmelita continues. "As we all know, the canals of Venice have been mysteriously filling with tar for the last month." You see images of pipes filling the water with black tar. "No one is sure of the cause, but the effects have been devastating to the local wildlife and touristy. Our sources believe that this man, Don Octavio, is potentially responsible for the disaster." So, Octavio's a lion. He wears a mask, sort of like The Phantom of the Opera. "Unfortunately, we've got no hard evidence linking him to the pollution." You scoff. "I've yet to receive a warrant to search his opera house mansion, so we're just going to have to do this the old-fashion way. Get out there, and keep your eyes open. I've hired you mercenaries over traditional cops because this is a dangerous assignment. The neighborhood is filled with the Octavio goons. It's a war out there. Get tough, or you won't last five minutes, you hear me? I'm paying for results. The city of Venice needs this situation resolved now." She takes a breath. "Okay, I know you boys like things redundant, so I'm going to give you the presentation again. This time, pay attention! You're not getting paid to nap. Just let me get my note guards back in order." You roll your eyes, and look around her office.

There's a little billboard of pictures of Sly. You let out a small groan. She has to bring her obsession with her everywhere she goes, doesn't she? You spy a little purple marker on her desk. You smile and leave a little message on one of the photos.

He's mine.

She'll know who it's from.

You see the key on a little table and swipe it. "Nice work." Bentley says. "Head back to Dimitri's cell and free him. If he's true to his word, we'll be talking to Murray in no time."

The lights flicker on, and you mutter a curse.

Carmelita looks at the notes on her podium. "Let's get back to business." Then the lights flicker, and shut off. "Hold tight, boys. The power's on the fritz again. It'll calm down in a few minutes."

"You'd better make sure you're under a desk when the lights come back on."

You nod, and crawl out. You head straight for another desk when the lights spark, and then switch on. "You look better in the dark, Petro." One of the men say. "Really, you are un ugly, ugly man."

The lights go off again, and you make a break for another table. One of the other guards groan. "On, off, on, off."

When the lights go off again, you bolt for Dimitri's cell. You use the key, and the first lock pops right off. Dimitri looks you at you skeptically. "Can you really crack this coconut?"

You smile. "Of course."

"Cool, cool. Let's see some shine, girl." Okay, did he seriously learn English from music videos? "I swear, you spring me, and I'll hook you up with that plump dog Murray, dig?"

"Got it." You fiddle with the lock; you need to feel for a vibration. That will tell you what the numbers are when you pass them. It takes a few minutes, but you get it open.

As he gets out of the cell you say, "I'll do like I promised, and distract the cops so you can get out of here."

"Solid! Don't worry no mind, straight way I'll pass for Murray to find you. Meet at Rialto Bridge, big Italian landmark."

You nod. "Alright. Guess it's showtime." You smile, and run out towards the center of the room. "Hello assorted meatheads! And crazy bitch. Anybody up for some exercise?"

Carmelita's ears press to the side of her skull, and she narrows her eyes. "Grab her, men!"

You flick your middle finger and bust out the back door. She pulls the trigger on her shock pistol and you stop. She growls at you. "You've got some nerve showing up in my squad room."

You smile. "Yeah, I wanted to see if you still had that obsession with my boyfriend. I don't like having competition."

She fires at you again, in either rage or jealousy or hurt-well, actually, probably all of the above-and you start running down the line, have to go in the water occasionally as even Carmelita isn't stupid enough to risk electrocuting what's left of the wildlife, until you come back onto land.

"Quit your running and let me slap the cuffs on you!" Carmelita shouts as she continues to fire at you.

Then, something pops out of the manhole, and…it's Murray! Well, he's got white body paint on him, and a clock and a tooth necklace. "Greetings, old-" His eyes bulge out of his skull when he almost gets hit with a shock bullet. "Inspector Fox!? Man, you're in it this time!"

"Hope that manhole works both ways!" You jump in, and he follows you.

Before you head too far down, you hear Carmelita yell, "That's right! Hide in the sewers like the rat you are!"

"I'm a mouse." You grumble as you and Murray head through the sewers and then pop up back to the surface through a manhole. You smile. "Good to see you pal. And thanks for the escape route. I owe you…again."

"Of course, searcher. We are all in need of peace." As…weird as that sounds, especially coming from Murray…you wouldn't mind some "inner peace."

You remember what Bentley and Sly told you. "You're really whole-hog on this Dreamtime stuff, huh?"

"My mind is clear, like the woodland after a forest fire." That's a terribly worded metaphor.

"Listen Murray," You begin. "We need you back on the team. That…" You sigh. "Thing with Bentley…it wasn't your fault. He doesn't blame you for the wheelchair, no one does."

"Sorry CC. I walk a different path. My Guru, in his wisdom, told me to lose myself, and not return until the black water ran pure." He explains. "Here, I stay."

You blink. "Okay, quit talking like Yoda. Besides, I don't see what you can do about the 'black water' unless you change the filter."

"Come on!" Murray shouts. "I'm on a real spirit quest here!"

"Sorry," You say quickly. "I'm sorry. So…tell me everything. I missed ya, pal." More than he could possibly imagine.

"Well, it's a long and awesome story…you got any gum?"

You laugh, and get a pack of bubblegum out of your pocket.

Honestly, I'm stunned by how many reviews this story has. It's only four chapters long now, but it's already got 15 reviews. And I haven't even updated in FOREVER. And you have Keyblades of Oblivion to thank for this update. She's the one who really wanted it.

See you next time!

~Mimi