A Cooper's Tale Chapter 8
Sunset Snakeyes Part 2
Compromised
Nobody was guarding the main entrance. That was convenient, yet peculiar.
Surely, they would have doubled security after Jizargo presented himself to Muggshot as herself. They had more than enough time to react. But Sly couldn't afford to waste any more precious time on second guesses.
"Bentley, ready to work your magic on this dump?" she asked quickly, approaching the doors to the lobby.
"Just say the word and it's lights out in the whole place."
"Sounds pretty quiet in there… wonder if the timing is right… But there's no turning back now. I'm going on in."
Overhead, the hallway ceiling lights flickered and died. Voices raised in the lobby. Sly brushed through the doors, paying no mind to the large brutes all running around. She leaped up and used the Ninja Spire Jump to travel from one dead lamp to the next, which were all suspended from the ceiling by a chain. None of the man in the room could see her in the thick darkness.
Bentley whispered, though he didn't necessarily have to. "The elevator wont work while the power's out – I've even disconnected the emergency power source from the system. I'll bet you can still pry those doors open and climb up the shaft manually. Those guys are making a lot of ruckus, so they most likely wont hear you, but I would still be—"
"Way ahead of you." Sly jabbed her cane through the crack between the doors and forced the doors apart. She slipped in and they shut tight behind her, ensconcing her in a thicker and colder black than before.
Sly whipped out her flashlight and the beam scanned the hollow shaft. "Thankfully, the elevator's not stopped on this floor. But it doesn't look too bad… I can still climb it alright. What floor is Muggshot's suite on again?"
"The fourth floor."
"Great…"
"We can always find a safer way up there, Sly."
This IS the safest way. What floor did the elevator stop on?"
"Well, it seems to have stopped between the fourth and fifth floor, but Sly, I still don't-"
"See? I can still make it to his suite from here." With that, Sly held her cane in her mouth and took hold of the many wires embedded in the shaft walls. She began her climb, finding footholds and narrow slants to aid her. "Typical of Muggshot to set himself way above everyone else." Sly said through her teeth as she worked her way passed the second floor.
She was about to say something else when she missed a foothold and fell back. She held on tight to the slant above her ad dangled a bit before finding spots to place her feet again. "Ack!"
"What happened?!"
"Nothing. I'm fine…" she looked down. "…better than what I might have been... Ouch… I think I may have pulled a muscle in my arm though…" She began shaking her arm thoroughly when lights flickered above her and sparks trickled down. The walls began to tremble. "What's that? B-Bentley, turn the power off…!"
"It IS off…!"
"Then why is the elevator moving?!" Sly was hearing the screeching of metal and barely saw the monstrous shadow of the elevator coming down towards her at a breakneck speed. "Bently?!"
"Sly! Get outta there! Get out!"
The stunned raccoon only nodded a little, her limbs feeling frozen in place by a gripping fear. Helpless, she shut her eyes tight and waited for the impact.
Bentley's chest tightened when he heard the elevator screech by, then a deafening crash, then static. "Sly? SLY?! Can you hear me?! A-Are you there?!"
Nothing…
He fought to control his breathing as he listened for something - anything. Restless, he pushes away from the counter and paced a bit, shaking his head in disbelief. She had to be okay. She just had to, somehow. Thousands of thoughts raced through his panicked mind. He told her they should have found another way in. He TOLD her. She should have listened. Then again, it was his idea in the first place… why did he let her do it? He's the one who should have seen it coming. He should have known better. But now it was too late. He whimpered and massaged his forehead, bottom lip quivering.
Then, as the static reluctantly calmed, a stiff sigh came through, so quiet and frail that Bentley hardly heard it. At that, he lunged for the microphone, gripping the stem in one hand and choking the cord with the other. "Sly?! Is that you?! Are you okay?!"
The line went dead for so long that Bentley nearly lost hope again. Soon enough, the voice returned stronger.
"I…I-I'm okay…" Sly stammered, almost whispering. "I…I m-moved out o-of the w-w-way.. b-barely missed me…"
Bentley slowly settled back into his seat, relieved. But he couldn't relax completely; Sly didn't sound at all too well. "You don't sound okay…" He answered softly. "You sure you're alright…?"
Sly didn't answer at first. Shivering from head to toe in total darkness, she sat curled tightly inside a narrow indent in the shaft wall, wires worming in and out. They felt like motionless snakes against her clammy body. The Cooper Cane was clutched to her chest so tightly that she knew it was going to leave a bruise across her sternum. Finally collecting her wits, Sly forced herself to relax ad took a moment to check for injuries. There was none and she sighed again.
"Sly…?"
"I'm sorry I kept you in suspense, mon frère… I just got scared…"
"Damn it, Sly!" Bentley was exasperated. "I KNEW it was too dangerous! I knew it was a terrible idea! I shouldn't have made you go through with it! I-"
Hearing the agony in her friend's voice made Sly shiver again. "Please don't shout… I-I'm still trying to recover here…"
"Sorry… Uh… H-How's you're arm…?"
"I think I can move on now… A-At least we don't have to worry about that elevator anymore." She paused for a moment before adding, "Bentley, don't worry, okay? I'm fine."
"I know, Sly… I know… Just get through that place, get to Muggshot, and get out as fast as you can. Those guys must have found the mess by now."
Sly nodded and crawled out of the indent, reaching up with her cane onto a small space on the wall to hook it to. She glanced down when she heard a couple henchmen asking each other what the hell happened. Some were getting others to come see.
Carmelita Fox strode up to Chief Barkley's office and entered without knocking. "Sir. I think you should look at this." She placed a sheet of paper on his desk.
Barkley set his work aside and adjusted his glasses, holding the paper at a significant distance from his face. "A warrant for… Muggshot in Mesa City." He read it slowly for clarity. "Why, a warrant all the way from the United States!"
Carmelita nodded. "That's right. I'm requesting permission to fly out there and proceed with the warrant."
He glanced at the officer inquisitively. "Can't the MCPD handle that one?"
"There isn't a police department in Mesa City – at least not anymore. Besides, they're all too afraid to oppose him and they seem to admire our international reputation."
"Who called them about this… surrender?"
She shrugged, her curls bobbing up and down with her shoulders. "It was an anonymous call. They couldn't trace the location the call was made, but it definitely wasn't from the brute himself. I say something's going on over there. So, do I have permission to go?"
"No. We need you here. If Cooper shows up around Paris again—"
"Cooper hasn't been seen since the night before the banquet, sir. I think he's had enough for a while. Besides, capturing Muggshot would land us another step closer to discovering the leader of his little group. Raleigh's not telling Scotland Yard anything except that he's somewhere in Russia, but we already knew that." She laid her hand on the desk enthusiastically. "Come on, I know I can get this guy."
"Are you sure that Muggshot will be easier to handle than Cooper?"
"Muggshot is nothing like Cooper, sir. Cooper's got skill and some brains on him; all Muggshot has is some muscle. Cooper's the ONLY criminal in my league."
The chief finally sighed and handed the warrant back to her. "Fine. If anything happens over there – and I mean anything—"
"I understand, sir. I'll bring some of my fellow officers with me." She turned sharply and left. An employee with a clipboard brushed by her as they passed and into Barkley's office.
"Chief, the American Ambassador is on the line."
"The Ambassador? What does he want?"
"W-Well sir, he wants to know just how Sly Cooper made it past us and into America…"
Barkley stood up quickly. "What?! He's in the States?! For how long? How did we not know about this sooner?!"
"Sir, since his last major heist in India, we didn't think he's travel out of Europe for some time… Not as soon as this."
The chief swore under his breath. "What the hell's he doing there…?"
"Not only that, I'm afraid. People have reported in seeing the team driving across the country during the past few days. Rumor has it that they're on their way to… M-Mesa City, Utah."
He cursed again. "Carmelita needs to know this right away. Catch her on her way out!"
Murray set the gold trophy on the counter beside Bentley's computer, smiling widely. "I can't believe those guys actually has a solid gold trophy…"
"Especially with someone as greedy as Muggshot looming over them." Bentley commented. He was still seated at the counter, busily tapping away at his desktop. "While you were gone, Sly and I had quite a close shave…"
Murray nodded. "Yah. I heard it all over the radio. Scared the crap outta me. I wanted to say something but I couldn't with those Tire Chaser dudes around me. They might have thought I was a Muggshot spy if I did and who knows what could have happened…"
"I'd hate to break up your conversation here, guys, but we've gotta move on"
The two looked at the monitor. "Right, Sly." Bentley adjusted the microphone. "You made it to the right floor?"
Sly huffed and pulled herself onto the ledge with a groan. Light slipped in through the crack from behind the closed elevator doors. "Problem. Lights are on again."
Bentley blinked and his fingers flew over the keyboard. Murray swept through the back door to get something to eat from the van.
"That's weird." Bentley mused. "I guess they re-hacked the security system? Luckily, I'm still in. Just a minute, buddy."
"By the way, this elevator shaft doesn't appear to make it up to the penthouse. I'm only on the third floor. Can you check to see if there's another way up there from this floor?"
"Do birds have wings? As a matter of fact, there's another elevator shaft just to the right and across the hall from the one you're in. The floor's empty, from the looks of these security cameras. They'll shut off along with the lights, so don't worry. Think you'll need Murray to help you tackle Muggshot? He's a big guy, after all…"
"It'd be good to have him on the side to call in just in case things get nasty. Go ahead and find a way to get him up here quick. But it might turn out that I'll have to fly solo on this one."
"If you say so…"
Soon after, the lights behind the door disappeared. Carefully, she pressed her fingers through the crack and pulled the two doors apart. As silently as possible, she slipped in through. "I'm in…" Once both feet were planted on the snug salmon carpet, she crouched onto her hams and crept. Placing one steady foot after the other. She closed her eyes and listened. Nothing. The Cooper Cane firmly gripped in one hand out beside her, ready for anything. Stop. She closed her eyes to focus. Ah, a noise! Immediately, Sly responded by pressing her back against the wall, quieting her breathing to almost nothing. There was a slight shuffle. She listened harder. Yes, she could hear someone else's breathing. He was sneaking up on her just around the corner. He was close.
Sly nudged her cap further down her forehead with her cane and set her jaw. Bentley didn't dare say anything, but she knew he could feel it too. The raccoon slunk closer and closer to the corner, mentally sifting through the many wrestling tactics she knew.
He was closing in. Her eyes widened a bit with anticipation when she spotted a shadow come out from the corner. She flattened more against the wall and swung out her cane his way, pointing it at his darkened face as a warning. The figure stopped. She stared him down with fierce eyes.
"Easy…" the figure soothed gently. "C'est moi."
Sly instantly relaxed and lowered her cane. "I could have hit you just then…" She whispered back. "What are you doing here? I thought you were captured."
Jizargo flashed a cocky grin. "Again with the questions. I told you, I have my ways."
"Of course." They both stood up. "Let's go, Muggshot should be—"
"I know. Follow me. The elevator is this way." He motioned for her to follow him as he turned the corner. When she hesitated, he turned to look at her. "Come." He repeated.
Finally, Sly followed.
They both looked on at the elaborate elevator doors ahead of them with revulsion and confusion. The doorway was in the shape of Muggshot's ugly face, the doors serving as his closed mouth.
Sly tried to open them manually, but they wouldn't budge. "No good…!" she groaned, her voice echoing ever so slightly around the room.
Jizargo looked behind them, then casually took out a blue cloth and a bottle of what Sly assumed was ale. She looked back at the doors.
"Bentley. We'll need you to turn the power back on again to get these doors open. We could probably take the elevator up to the penthouse as well."
Jizargo poured some of the liquid onto the cloth, his tail swishing back and forth slowly.
"Sure thing. But remember, Muggshot's going to be tough to beat. Jizargo will put the odds more in your favor, but it would be best to come up with some sort of strategy… you know, while you have the time."
The lights above them flickered on. Jizargo stepped toward sly slowly and carefully.
"I have a plan." Sly was saying, "I've been thinking this over since we got here. I know exactly how to tackle this guy."
Bentley started to say something, but she didn't hear it. Something damp along with a strong odor clasped over her mouth and nose. Her head was jerked away from the doors . She stumbled back into Jizargo, who suddenly had her in his grip like a python. She didn't have time to hold her breath as the chloroform started to make her dizzy.
"Sly? Sly, are you there?"
Her limbs went numb and she couldn't speak. What was Jizargo doing?!
The Cooper Cane clattered to the floor with a soft cling.
