Chapter 10

Bentley was busy drawing out the blueprints for a future invention when a knock came from the other side of the door. "It's open." The turtle replied, as he slightly turned his head to look over his shoulder and at the door. When the door opened the glasses wearing turtle saw Aerith walk into the room and close the door behind her while he added, "Oh hello Aerith, is there anything I can do for you?"

He saw an unsure expression on the young woman's face as she replied, "Bentley I hope I'm not interrupting your process with anything. But I was wondering if it's not too much trouble perhaps you could fill me in on what exactly happened to you that led you to use a wheelchair."

Upon hearing this the turtle turned away from the blueprint so that he was facing the brunette before he explained, "Well alright, if you really want to know happened then I'll tell you." He waited a few seconds before he went on with, "You see Sly, Murray, and I had just defeated Clock-la after a fierce battle. However, knowing that the parts could repair themselves with a part that was called, The Hate Chip I took it upon myself to go up and climb into the jaws of the metal beast to retrieve the item. Unfortunately bad timing came into play because when I had grabbed the chip the jaws clamped onto my legs and fell apart."

The anthro turtle would have kept going, but he decided to stop when he saw a shocked look was on the green eyed human's face as she responded with, "Oh my, that's terrible. It's a miracle you survived such an event."

"Well, I don't know if I'd call it a miracle because as you saw when we first met I had to use a wheelchair." Bentley replied, as he rubbed the back of his neck. He lowered his head towards the ground slightly while he went on with, "But even though I suffered physically, Murray suffered the worst from that event. He became depressed and blamed himself for what had happened to me."

Once he brought his gaze back up to the healer he saw her head was tilted to the right in slight confusion and asked, "Um, wait who may I ask is Murray? I know Sly had said that his group had a few members, but he never went into great detail about either one of you."

"Well, knowing Sly he probably figured it would be better if you met each of us in person instead of him explaining who we were." Bentley suggested, as he turned back to his blueprint.

"Oh so will I ever meet Murray?" The young woman asked, before the turtle heard her walk up to the table and stood in front it next to him.

Upon hearing her question the used to be crippled anthro smiled at her while he told her, "Actually I got a message from him while you and Sly were out and about telling me he was planning on stopping by to see how Sly and I have been doing." After he had said this he placed a hand underneath his chin while he continued with, "In fact if my calculations are correct he should be here right about…now."

And as if on cue the two heard a voice as it shouted, "The Murray has returned!"

ooooooo

Sly's left ear twitched when he heard the sound of the hippo's voice as he thought, "Hmm, I wonder how Murray will react to seeing Bentley walking again." He let out a light chuckle and added, "This should be fun." The raccoon got up out the chair he was sitting in and walked into the main room of the hidout. And once he had done this he ended with, "Hey Murray, how've you been buddy?"

The pink hippo grinned with pride while he stated, "I've been great Sly. I'm actually training to be a race car driver using the van. It's super cool with fast pace turns and explosions abound. It's awesome!"

"Hey that's great Murray, I just hope you'll be able to find the time to help with a heist in we need you." The hazel eyed thief responded with, as he walked up to a nearby wall and leaned up against it.

"Well, of course I'd help you guys! Besides no one can replace The Murray when it comes to kicking butt and taking names!" Murray proclaimed, while he gave the raccoon a thumbs up.

"Yeah, you're right about that Murray. You're always the guy Bentley and I count on when it comes to mayhem." The thief replied, while he gave his friend a thumps up in return. He then remembered about Aerith and how she had not met the hippo yet which caused the anthro to give off a smug smile while he added, "By the way Murray there's someone here I want you to meet." He then walked up to the nearby door and knocked on it before he ended with, "Hey Aerith, why don't you come out here I've got another friend I want to you meet. Oh and make sure Bentley comes out with you too."

The hazel eyed anthro raccoon could tell that his friend was going to ask who Aerith was. But before he could the door opened revealing the young human woman as she said, "You wanted to see me Sly?" Once the thief saw the brunette look in the direction of Murray she added, "Ah, you must be another of Sly's friends correct?"

"Yep that's right I'm Murray, the brawn of the group. The go to guy, the bringer of destruction, the-" The pink hippo claimed, as his voice increased in volume before he was stopped by the raccoon who cut him off with, "I think she gets the idea Murray."

"Oh sorry about that sometimes I get a little carried away with talking about my own awesomeness." Murray stated, before he saw Bentley actually walk into the room. Seeing this caused him to gasp in utter disbelief as he continued, "Bentley, you can walk?! I-I uh, w-what happened to you?!"

"To be frank Murray nothing really "happened to me", Aerith just used her staff to heal my legs." The turtle replied, at the still shock faced hippo.

For a few minutes the entire group stood in silence and stared at Murray waiting to find out how he would react to Bentley's legs being healed. Sly became a bit nervous when he saw the large hippo walk up to the brunette as he said, "You know I've got one thing to say to you ma'am." He then wrapped his arms around Aerith and lifted her into the air in a hug while he added, "Oh thank you, thank you so much! Now the final pieces of guilt can finally disappear and never bother me again!"

"I-It was no trouble. B-But I'm glad you're now guilt free." The young woman responded, while she tried to not let the tight hug from the hippo bother her.

Taking notice of how uncomfortable the young woman was starting to become Sly interjected with, "Okay Murray, I think you might want to put Aerith down before she has any more trouble breathing."

"Oh! Sorry Aerith, I guess I got a little carried away there." The hippo said, as he let go of the young woman and set her down on the ground.

"No, it's alright Murray. But like I've told both Sly and Bentley before it was no trouble at all." Aerith replied, as she smiled kindly.

The raccoon looked from the corner of his eyes and saw Bentley was deep in thought as he asked, "Hey Bentley, is something bothering you?"

He watched the turtle shake his head from side to side while he answered back with, "No nothing's really bothering me Sly. I was just wondering if Aerith's staff could use any other type of magic besides healing."

"Actually my staff can use three element based spells which are fire, ice, and lighting." The brunette explained, as she started to turn to go retrieve her staff.

Sly grinned smugly while he told her, "Well while you go get your staff the three of us will get The Hazard Room ready for you."

"The What Room?" The green eyed young woman asked, as she stopped walking and turned to look at the three anthros.

"The Hazard Room is the name we gave are training rom." The turtle explained, before he repositioned his glasses.

"Um, so where will I need to go to get to this Hazard Room?" Aerith questioned, as she tilted her slightly to the side.

The gray and black furred raccoon just let out a light chuckle while he reassured her with, "Hey don't worry Aerith, I'll be waiting here while you go get your staff. Once that's done then I'd be more then happy to take you to The Hazard Room."