Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of the characters
A/N: Hello everyone, here is the chapter with the first half to The Predator Awakes episode as promised. Now just for a heads up, there will be a slight change; the jobs will remain the same, only Neyla will assisting Sly with his assignments.
Reviews and comments will be appreciated
Chapter 8: The Predator Awakes Pt. 1
'With Neyla's insight and knowledge of the Klaww Gang, we now knew the location of where Rajan had ran off to after eluding capture; a long forgotten temple in the heart of the Indian jungle, which Neyla claims, has never been discovered had been transformed into the thriving center of Rajan's spice manufacturing and trading operation'. Sly stated in his head as he remembered how his tigress had provided the location of the temple and offered to lead them deep through the jungle, as she had been there before and knew the way, which proved to be essential for the raccoon and his friend.
'Due to the jungle, being too thick and heavily brushed to drive through, forced us to travel on foot.' The raccoon had thought back, when Murray had found a suitable clearing to leave the van and with Sly's help, the two of them had covered it with large sized branches they cut off from nearby trees and fern bushes. Neyla had led them through, taking point with Murray and Bentley right behind her and armed with machetes to hack away the jungle canopy blocking their view. Sly had taken up the rear, making sure they weren't followed or jumped by any of Rajan's men patrolling around.
'We hit a couple of setbacks...But we managed to continue on forward... (Sigh) I really wish Murray had listened when Neyla warned him and Bentley to 'watch their step'.' Sly had thought back to the really awkward and embarrassing moment that happened not to long ago...how Murray had accidentally stepped in a pool of quicksand and how he, Bentley and Neyla had struggled to pull him out...while also being slowly pulled in due to the hippo's weight!
'While taking a short break from the long trek through the jungle, Neyla had informed us that the Wings weren't the only Clockwerk part that the ill-tempered tiger had under his possession...he had also taken the Clockwerk Heart. Due to the Heart, being so ancient and tireless, Rajan had discovered a way to use it as a pump to increase his spice manufacturing tenfold.' Sly could only imagine the insane grin Rajan had on his face, while clenching the beating robotic organ that kept his family's ancient enemy alive for centuries in his paw.
'I hope he isn't counting on keeping the Heart much longer...because tonight, it's coming home with me.' The raccoon said in his mind, with a strong look of determination of putting an end to the deranged spice dealer's plans for good.
After finally reaching the temple, Sly and his team had immediately set up a safe house in the mouth of a huge stone tiger head that gave them a complete bird's eye view of the surrounding area of the temple.
"Sly, I've already set up an RV point by that truck near the river. Once you reach it, I will contact you with further instructions via Binocucom." Bentley said as he and Murray were setting up the slide projector for the presentations later on.
"Alright, I'm heading outside." The raccoon said, but not before he felt Neyla reaching for his free hand and they shared a silent look, which confused the turtle and hippo.
"You want to come with Neyla?" Sly asked, as if he understood what it was his girlfriend was silently asking him through the gesture.
"I do know the lay of the area better than you and your friends Sly. Plus...it would be better if I was with you out in the field, than cooped up here with nothing to do." The tigress answered, while nodding to his question.
"Alright with me beautiful, but stay close." The raccoon replied, not finding any room for argument against his tigress's logic and wish to help him out in the field. Plus, Sly also couldn't pass up the opportunity to work alongside his new girlfriend, whom was part of their team, even though it was still unofficial.
"Sly, are you crazy? If you take Neyla out there with you, Rajan's men will no doubtingly attempt to capture and deliver her to him!" Bentley, shouted, not thinking that letting Neyla assist them with field operations was a wise choice!
"That's not going to happen Bentley. I'll have her stick close to me the entire time and there's no way I'll ever let those thugs lay a finger on her." Sly, countered to calm his overreacting friend down and showing he would never let his tigress be captured by Rajan or the rest of the Klaww Gang.
Both the tigress and raccoon had stepped out of their hideout and jumped down, landing softly and silently on the roof of a sturdy stone building. They had proceeded towards the designated RV point, while climbing up and running along the vines to avoid being spotted by the guards patrolling the area. After reaching the RV point, Sly had gotten out his binocucom and contacted Bentley.
"You and Neyla need to sneak inside the Temple and take some recon photos so I can assess the situation. But be careful, if either of you get hurt, the closest hospital is 106 miles from here." Bentley instructed and reminded both Sly and Neyla to avoid any serious injuries, as they didn't have the equipment to tend to lethal or fatal wounds.
"Trust us Bentley, after what we went through with Murray earlier...we have no intention of going through something like that." Sly replied back, as the memory of the hippo stepping and sinking in that quicksand was still fresh on their minds.
"According to the data that I downloaded off the flash drive Neyla provided us and my map of the area, there should be a hidden passage that leads into the temple, behind that waterfall." The turtle stated as he was going over the data he transferred off the drive on his laptop.
"That's nice work Bentley. I'll take a secret passage over the front door any day." The raccoon stated, as he and his tigress had spotted a pipe sealed shut from behind the waterfall.
"Ready to get going handsome?" Neyla asked, showing she was ready to get their first field job together underway.
"Ready when you are beautiful tigress." Sly answered back and his answer earned him a tender kiss from his tigress, which he happily complied with.
They had sprinted across the curved path that lead right behind the waterfall, but not before swiftly dealing with a wild cobra that had popped up from the bushes with a swift and strong blow from Neyla's whip. Sly had silently crept up behind a goat guard that had no doubtingly been assigned to protect the secret passage. Before taking out the goat, the raccoon had silently snaked his cane in his back pocket and pulled out a silver pen. Sly had then took out the goat swift uppercut from his cane, which sent the guard upward in the air and slammed him downwards hard onto his back, knocking him unconscious.
"Sly, why did you pickpocket that guard instead of just knocking him out?" Neyla asked, curious to why her boyfriend had bothered to pickpocket that guard instead of just dealing with him right away.
"Sometimes the guards always carry something valuable that's worth stealing. Bentley can sell whatever items I take off the guards online via Thiefnet on his laptop and we use the money to purchase gadgets that we can use against the guards while out in the field." Sly explained to his tigress, as to why he had pickpocket the guard.
"Plus...it's also a habit that's passed on through the Cooper Clan line." The raccoon added, with a hint of humor and the tigress couldn't help but giggle at his statement.
Sly and Neyla had proceeded with their job assignment; jumping over the last gap and reaching the locked down hatch. The raccoon had pulled down the lever on their side and it caused a small portion to open. Sly had gone in first, with Neyla right behind them and they sprinted down the dark dim lit hatch, entering the interior of the Temple. Sly had contacted Bentley once again after getting out his binocucom.
"Bingo, you and Neyla found the spice growing facility. Now, from what I of photosynthesis all the expensive equipment should be found at the top of this room..." The turtle stated as he congratulated Sly and Neyla had made their way in the Temple.
"That access tube should get you both up there." Bentley advised while he and the raccoon had glanced up to a ladder that was visible from the inside of the tube.
"Alright, we'll head for the top." Sly stated as Neyla followed his glance upwards towards the tube.
The raccoon and tigress had swiftly and silently eliminated the baboon guards in their way, knocking them into the water below and glanced away as the guards drowned, knowing how to swim. They had crossed the wooden plank bridge and spotted a single rhino guard patrolling around the scaffolding, Sly had knocked the guard out with his stealth slam, knocking the rhino in the air and slamming him down onto the wooden structure hard. He and Neyla had jumped in two separate buckets filled with water, being operated a pulley system to dump the water on the soil.
Both Sly and Neyla were relieved the other rhino guard standing on top of another scaffolding, didn't notice them as they had secretly rode up the pulley system and jumped out of their own bucket after reaching the top of the room. They had crossed a second wooden bridge, dealing a cobra that popped out of a jar that was in their way. The raccoon and tigress had used their own Ninja Spire jump and rail slide techniques to slide along and jump between the vines. After reaching the access tube, both Sly and Neyla had climbed up the ladder separately and entered a room with a window that gave them the perfect vantage point of main area of the Temple that served as the center of Rajan's spice operation. Speaking of Rajan, he was conveniently walking around with half of the Heart tied to the top of his staff.
Sly had taken out his binocucom and switched to the spy cam function and began taking photos of the four main objects of interest; the crane controls, entrance, Rajan and the Clockwerk Heart.
"Hmm, that crane is keeping half of the Heart suspended." Bentley stated, as the controls to the crane were locked down with two padlocks.
"There's the entrance to this area...only I have no idea how to get in from the Temple's exterior!" The turtle stated, after the raccoon had taken a photo of the entrance.
"Look's like half of the Heart is being used in supererogate the spice plants." Bentley stated, as the Heart was emitting some kind of red gas and being suspended in the center of the room.
"Check it out! Rajan is carrying half of the Clockwerk Heart on that stick!" The turtle stated, with a hint of surprise in his voice that the spice dealer was keeping half of the Heart on his person as a precaution!
"Okay Sly, you and Neyla come on back to the safe house. We'll really need to think about this one." Bentley ordered, as he, Sly and Neyla knew without a doubt that attempting to steal the Heart would be more complicated than the Wings.
After making and fighting their way back to the safe house, Sly had given the recon photos to Bentley and the turtle had set up a slide show presentation.
"The Clockwerk Heart is under heavy security. Heck, even Rajan is carrying half of it at all times!" Bentley started off, showing the photos of half the Heart being under heavy guard and Rajan's half on the tip of his staff.
"To get at the two halves, I'm going to need obtain more information. Sly will plant a bug in Rajan's office while I will lift the spice operation blue prints off the spice lord while he makes his rounds." The turtle explained the jobs they will need to carry out, while showing a photo of the inside of the tiger's main office and photos of the spice dealer personally patrolling the temple grounds.
"Unfortunately, while we're collecting intelligence on him, he'll be collecting data on us with an elephant driven satellite array. We need to take it out, or he'll intercept all our communications!" Bentley revealed a photo of the said satellite array, being practically close near their hideout! That was the end of the slide show.
"Oh, my gosh!" The turtle gasped as he realized a possibility far too late!
"What is it Bentley?" Murray asked as he, Sly and Neyla were alarmed by their friend's sudden outburst!
"Rajan might've been listening when Sly and I were talking over the binocucoms before and after he and Neyla sneaked in the Temple!" Bentley answered and revealed, to what caused him to be worried! Sly, Neyla and Murray had froze in shock as well, as they dreaded that revelation!
"If he was listening, than that means he knows you're with us Neyla." Sly said, as he and his tigress looked at each other, concerned about what Rajan would do if he ever got his hands on her.
"This doesn't change anything though. We still have a job to do." The tigress said, showing she wasn't that afraid or intimidated of the spice dealer.
"That's my girl." The raccoon stated and smiling proudly, since he and Neyla were a perfect match, as they didn't scare that easily and determined to see their job through.
Sly and Neyla had exited the safe house and headed towards the first RV point that was on the roof of a neighboring building near their hideout. After using a large size mushroom to land on the roof and dealing with the Ibex guard, Sly had taken out his binocucom after glancing towards the satellite array.
"That's the elephant driven satellite array Rajan is using to monitor our communications. If it isn't destroyed, he'll be able to listen in to everything we say, even now." Bentley stated, as he, Sly and Neyla had witnessed the elephant used to keep the array operational.
"That's pretty grim. Do you have any ideas on how to shut it down?" The raccoon asked, since he knew their operation was in peril if Rajan could hear everything they said while communicating over the binocucoms.
"Sly, there might be a way for us to disable that satellite." Neyla informed her raccoon boyfriend and she had his attention, along with Bentley as he could hear her over the binocucom.
"What do you have in mind Neyla?" Sly asked, as he was curious to what his tigress girlfriend's plan to shut the satellite array down was.
"'I have no doubt that Bentley is already aware that the local spice plants native here in India have been classified as an illegal substance." Neyla explained her plan and the turtle nodded as he indeed read up about the local flora found in the Indian jungle.
"Neyla's right Sly, the local spice plants have been banned illegal and for good reason; eat too much and you'll go into a fit of uncontrolled rage." Bentley replied, while explaining how dangerous the spice that Rajan grows and distributes was.
"We'd better keep that stuff away from Murray..." Sly stated, showing he'd hate to see that happen to Murray if he unknowingly or accidentally ate food covered in that dangerous substance.
"Oh, wait, wait, I see where you and Neyla are going with this. We collect and put some spice plants in the elephant's feed bag. He chows down, gets crazy and then Presto! The satellite's in pieces." The raccoon stated as he understood the plan to destroy the satellite.
"That's a crude interpretation of the plan, but accurate. The trick is harvesting the spice plants. You and Neyla will have to do some serious climbing, as they only grow high up in the jungle canopy." The turtle stated amused by his friend's version of understanding the plan, while explaining that the spice plants can only be found in the tallest trees of the jungle.
"We'll have to split up in order to collect the spice plants Sly." Neyla stated, as she knew it was the quickest way of collecting the necessary plants they'd need to feed the elephant.
"If any of those guards capture you Neyla..." Sly stated, not wanting to risk the chance of his tigress being captured by Rajan's men, but was cut off by his girlfriend.
"They won't. I promise Sly, I'll be careful. I can handle my own." His tigress said, assuring her raccoon lover that she'd be alright. They shared a soft kiss, sealing the promise.
"Alright Neyla, let's get to climbing. You take three and I'll take three." Sly said as they agreed with the plan, searching three trees to find enough spice plants.
Neyla had climbed and searched the trees near the hideout, even finding one on the top of their hideout. Sly had climbed and searched the trees on the other end of the Temple grounds. He had skillfully avoided being spotted by the elephant sentries and guards, but had to fight after spotted once or twice. The raccoon had even made the time to pickpocket several items off multiple guards; five bronze combs, eight silver pens and six golden rings. He had also found the necessary clues Bentley would need to learn the code into Rajan's second vault. After searching every tree, Sly and his tigress could only find six spice plants, which they figured was sufficient enough to place in the elephant's feeding bag. The raccoon and his girlfriend had made their back near the safe house.
"Sayonara, satellite array." Sly said as he and Neyla had placed the spice in the elephant's feeling nag and gotten out of the way, so the pachyderm wouldn't attack them after eating.
When the elephant had stopped for a quick break and ate a small amount and that's when the show was about to start. The pachyderm's eyes changed from blue to red, as it felt a bizarre sensation coursing. It had pulled its restraints from the array, rendering it useless to Rajan. Both Sly and Neyla watched amused as the elephant had sprinted as fast as it could while going on a rampage.
Sly and Neyla had climbed their way up a towering vine covered stone column, where a single Ibex guard was standing look out. After a swift and powerful strike from Neyla's whip, the guard had been rendered out cold. The raccoon had then contacted Bentley through his binocucom.
"Sly, the insect in that pool is a rare Indian water bug. If you and Neyla can sneak it into Rajan's office, it's wings will transmit a local sound wave at a frequency I can monitor." Bentley explained the plan and genetic feature of the unique and rare bug, resting in the small pool of water on the column Sly and Neyla had climbed up.
"So, let me and Neyla see if we've got this straight. You want us to bug Rajan's office...with an actual bug?" Sly asked, as he and Neyla shared a baffled expression to what they were supposed to do.
"It is an elegant plan, I agree. But's there's a catch that you both should know; that water bug can only survive in stagnant pools. If kept out of water for too long, it'll become unhappy and draw the attention of local guards." The turtle admitted to what a strange method he had planned to monitor Rajan's conversations.
"Hmm...there are a couple of pools along the way to Rajan's office. A short swim along the way should keep our little friend quiet." Sly stated as he and Neyla had noticed other pools through the Temple grounds.
"There is another option we can use to deliver this bug into Rajan's office Ringtail." Neyla pointed out as she and her raccoon could climb and use the vines to their advantage.
"You read my mind beautiful." Sly stated while flirting with his tigress before placing the water bug over his back.
He and Neyla had stuck to their plan by using the vines to smuggle the bug into the ill-tempered tiger's office. Although their cargo had became agitated from being out of water for too long and started making a loud chirping like cry to attract guards, none of Rajan's men could hear it as they were out of range. After nearing the entrance to the spice dealer's office, Sly had placed the water bug in a nearby pool to simmer it down. Once the bug had calmed down, the raccoon had placed the bug over his back again. Sly and Neyla had jumped and climbed up the ledge and entered Rajan's office. After avoiding the floor lasers, the raccoon had placed the bug in a pool of water near Rajan's desk.
"Excellent! I've ready tuned into the bug's wing vibrations! I'm a genius!" Bentley declared in joy as he was already listening in like he had predicted!
Before leaving to head back to the safe house, Sly had walked over to the safe in the room and bent down to input the combination.
"It's a good thing that I'm fluent in Sanskrit or this code would have been impossible. Try...3-8-6." Bentley stated while going over all the clues that Sly had found.
Sly had punched in the numbers that Bentley had advised and opened the vault door. Inside the vault was a new gadget that the raccoon could use; the Voltage Strike move and left his family clan calling card in place. He and Neyla exited Rajan's office and fought their way back to the safe house. After stepping inside, Bentley was already prepped and ready for his job assignment. After reaching his RV point near the locked gate blocking the front entrance to the Temple and contacted Sly.
"As I expected, Rajan is out on his daily tour of the operation. My sources claim he always carried three blueprints on him, when read together reveal everything about his spice operation." Bentley stated as he and Sly had spotted the tiger stepping out of another secret entrance to the Temple.
"Too bad he doesn't have that half of the Clockwerk Heart we saw during the recon. You could just pump him full of sleep darts and we could get outta." Sly stated, showing he was disappointed that Rajan had removed the half from his staff, but also expected as much since the tiger wasn't making the same mistake with the Wings.
"Unfortunately, my sleep darts aren't powerful enough to affect Rajan." The turtle countered, revealing that the sedatives in his darts weren't strong enough to put the spice dealer to sleep.
"What? How are you going to get at this blueprints?" The raccoon asked, shocked after hearing his friend state that his darts would have no effect on the tiger!
"Rajan has an insatiable appetite for Indian watermelons, which if eaten whole, will force even him to nod for a little while. While he's asleep, I'll creep in lift the blueprints." Bentley explained as he had found alternative method to putting the spice dealer to sleep.
"That's a smart plan and all, but how are you going to lure him over to the watermelons?" Sly asked curious to how Bentley planned to lure the tiger to the melons.
"I've equipped my sleep darts with a sonic disrupter...the strange sounds they emit should be enough to lead the ever curious Rajan from place to place." The turtle stated while explaining the plan to get at the blueprints while using his newly upgraded sleep darts before getting straight to work.
Bentley was in a perfect position and range to fire his darts and lure Rajan to the first watermelon, which was up the stone staircase near the tiger. The only problem was that the sound the made didn't just attract Rajan, but it also lured whatever guards nearby and had them running to investigate. After luring Rajan to the first melon and watching him eat it whole, Bentley had pump whatever guards that were in his way to sleep while reaching Rajan. After lifting the first set, the turtle had immediately fled as the ill-tempered tiger had slowly woken up from his nap.
After finding another suitable hiding spot, Bentley had lured Rajan to a second watermelon near a rust covered and broken down truck. After eating the watermelon whole, the tiger had once again drifted off to sleep and Bentley had carefully sneaked in and lifted the 2nd set of blueprints off Rajan. He had fled while the tiger had started to wake up and found a new hiding spot up a tree. The turtle had lured Rajan to a third and final watermelon, which he had eaten whole and drifted off to sleep once again. Bentley had approached the sleeping spice dealer and lifted off the 3rd and final set off him.
"Wha...What?...The blueprints! They have been stolen?!" Rajan asked after waking up and realizing that his blueprints had gone missing and fled!
After making his back to the safe house, Bentley stepped inside and saw Sly, Neyla and Murray waiting for him behind the table.
"That was great field work out there Bentley! Great job getting those blueprints!" Sly congratulated their friend and tech support for doing incredible work out on the field.
"Thanks Sly, you and Neyla did alright out there too. Now that we have these blueprints, we'll have full understanding of the schematics to the Temple. We should rest up for tonight. We'll have more field jobs to carry out tomorrow." Bentley advised as they needed to be ready for more jobs before they get to the Clockwerk Heart.
The whole team agreed, as the walk through the jungle and assignments they had just complete wore them out. Sly and Neyla had gone to sleep in their own quarters, along with Bentley and Murray as they needed to prepared for their assignments tomorrow.
A/N: Here is the ending for the first half to The Predator Awakes episode guys. I'm sorry that it took me so long to finishing and publishing it. My uncle Peter died two weeks ago from a seizure and the funeral was last weekend. I've been struggling to get by and handling it. The second half will be on the next upcoming chapter.
