TUFF Cooper, Things of Thieves and Agents

by THEEVILDOER

(DISCONTINUED, BEING RE-WRITTEN) Sly Cooper and Kitty Katswell, along with Dudley Puppy, Carmelita Fox and their other friends will have to clear their names working together, but they don't like each other, so sparks are sure to fly. Somewhat OOC and AU. Hints of SlyxKitty, but mainly SlyxCarmelita and DudleyxKitty.

10. The Master Plan

Chapter 8.- The Master Plan.

Carmelita felt dazed and had a really bad headache, she could feel something, rather said someone against her back but she didn't know who.
Her head was throbbing, she could barely bear it but she managed to push herself up. She opened her eyes to glance her surroundings but her vision was blurry, she blinked a few times and her vision got clear. She realized she was on a dungeon, but she wasn't alone, Murray, Dudley, Mz Ruby, Dimitri, the Guru, Penelope, Scarlett, Herbert and Barton were there too.
- Hm, I can't believe I let them convince me to do this. - Carmelita murmured while she looked at the others.

(The next morning, at Cleo's house)

Cleo, Jing and Sly were having breakfast, as well as eating some seeds which Sly had said that would heal all their injuries in less than a few seconds.
- How is that possible? - Asked Cleo.
- Trust me, I've been through a lot of weird things, and I'm speaking from experience. - Sly said.
- If you say that these seeds will heal my injuries, then I believe you, Mr Cooper. - Jing said politely.
- You can forget about formalities, we're all friends, you can call me Sly.
- Ok, Sly.
- Now, we gotta pull off a heist to get our friends back, the good news is that I managed to get some help, the bad news is that I have no idea where's the Unnamed Criminal Association's hideout. - Sly explained.
- Penelope left her holographic tablet here. - Cleo said while she pulled out said object.
Jing and Sly looked at the frilled lizard with confusion, Cleo held out her hands defensively and said:
- Hey it's not what you think, I only took it because I wanted to give it back to Penelope but I didn't had the chance because of the fight with the UCA.
- Ok, we get it, don't worry. - Jing said while she took the holo-tablet. - Penelope told us that the tracking devices on us can't be blocked, right?
- Not with even with Forerunner technology. - Sly said.
- Good, I'll figure how to use this to track them. - The young panda said. - Sly, are the reinforcements coming?
- Yes, actually they won't meet us until the heist, I said I'll call them later to meet at the UCA's hideout. - Sly replied. - It's time to finish the Operation: Master Plan.

(Meanwhile at the UCA's hideout)

Everyone was reunited in the conference table, speaking about the interrogatory to the Cooper Gang.
- We should interrogate them to find where they stashed their loot. I'm sure they have at least a hundred millions. - Jack Rabbit said.
- We will do that, but I'm more interested on what they know about an organization known as the United Nations Space Command. - Said the hidden criminal.
- Why would you want to know about the UNSC? - Neyla asked. - For all I know, they're just a bunch of idiotic soldiers that are in an endless war against the insurrectionists.
- I didn't know the UN had a Space Command. - Dr Rabies said.
- I thought that UNSC was the acronym for United Nations Security Council. - Madame Catastrophe said. - And I thought there wasn't insurrectionists.
- The UNSC as I know it isn't suppossed to exist, at least not for five hundred years. - Bentley said.
- What are you talking about? - Tsao asked.
- Some years ago there were seven individuals who obtained enough power to merge seven different dimensions, one of them was five hundred years more advanced than us and the UNSC comes from that dimension. - Bentley explained.
- But if we wanted access you could give it to us, right? - Snaptrap asked.
- No, I only got access level 4, you'd need a level 8 access code if you wanted to get inside an armory.
- Now you're talking nonsense. - Said Madame Catastrophe.
- No, he isn't, I fought with the Pirates of the Black Sun in the Third Galactic Civil War. - Neyla said. - Cooper fought with the UNSC and something known as the "New Republic", they have technology you don't even imagine, if we get our hands on that kind of tech, there'll be no stopping us!
- Indeed, but I'm only interested in their DNA data base. - Said the hidden criminal. - Imagine the amount of posibilities with more than a million of alien races DNA!
- Man, you really need a new hobby. - Said Snaptrap.
- Shut it, Snaptrap. - Said McCullen. - What Neyla said about the technology got my own interest, now I want to know more of this UNSC.
- First things first, does anyone know if Cooper has gone to jail already? - Asked Bird Brain.
- Put on the news, I wanna watch Cooper's face when the cops put the cuffs on him. - Said Muggshot with a smirk.
Raliegh pulled out a control and pressed a button, making a screen appear from the ceiling. The screen was showing the news and to the criminal's luck, it was exactly the news they wanted to know about.
- ... In other news a firefight took place near the Eiffel tower, between an Unnamed Criminal Association and the criminal group known as the Cooper Gang. - Said the reporter in the screen. - Despite all the efforts of the Police, along with the new Chief of the Paris Headquarters of the Interpol and the new Chief of the Turbo Undercover Fighting Force, both criminal groups escaped and are on the run. It's worth mentioning that also Carmelita Montoya Fox, the Chief of the Interpol, and Dudley Puppy, the Chief of TUFF, are disappeared, it's still unknown if they went after the criminals or if they were kidnapped by them. That's all for the moment, we'll keep you informed when we get more clues to the whereabouts of criminal organizations and the Chiefs disappeared, now the time report with...
Everyone in the room growled in unison, they took out their blasters and weapons and destroyed the screen while shouting in anger.
- That stupid raccoon! He always manage to get away! - Kitty cursed.
- I knew this was going to happen. - Bentley said. - However, I know what his next move will be.
- It doesn't take a genius to find it out, Cooper, the panda and the frilled lizard are going to come to rescue their friends. - Jack Rabbit said.
- Yes, but now that will be their biggest mistake ever. - Rajan said.
The villains smirked and laughed wickedly, thinking that if Cooper went to the rescue, he'd be doomed.
Little did they know they were very wrong.

(Hours later)

Sly was entering some kind of warehouse through an air vent, he had a determined look on his face, he was going to rescue his friends and protect the world from all the dangerous technology inside the Cooper Vault.
- Ringtailed Pest in position, everyone else is ready? - Sly asked.
- Checked RP, begin the mission. - Several voices said over the comm.
Sly smirked and thought: "I knew this plan was gonna work perfectly."

(Meanwhile with the villains)

- Security Breach. Intruder in Level 2, all villains respond the attack and destroy Cooper once and for all. - Said Bentley over the speakers.
McCullen heard the alert, he smirked and told his comrades that were assembling a replica of the Iron Mutt suit, only this one was more deadly and had more weapons.
- Move faster! - McCullen snarled.
- Try doing this in a hurry, McCullen! - Replied Raliegh.

(Level 2)

Sly fell to the ground with silence thanks to the soul rubber, he looked around the room were he was and saw nothing but darkness.
Or at least that's what he thought.
The Contessa, Muggshot, the Chameleon, Jack Rabbit, Madame Catastrophe, Doctor Rabies, Snaptrap, Raliegh, Francisco, Ollie, Larry and Tsao turned the lights on and smirked at the raccoon.
- Well, Cooper, you really are lucky. - Muggshot said.
- But fortunately your luck and your life will end here. - Dr Rabies said.
- Please, you can't beat me. - Sly said while crossing his arms and smirking.
- They certainly showed they can not, but I have showed you that I can beat you anywhere and anytime. - McCullen said while popping out of nowhere.
Sly turned to smirk at McCullen but his smirk was short lived when he saw the impressive armor the doppelganger was wearing. Sly's mouth dropped agape and McCullen smirked at the other raccoon's reaction.
- Well Cooper, it seems this is your end. - McCullen said while raising a hand at Sly's face.
McCullen aimed some kind of repulsor ray to Sly's head, and thanks to the brightness of the charging beam, he didn't noticed that Sly had pressed a button in his watch and was smirking lightly.
The repulsor ray hit Sly directly and raised a lot of dust, but everyone could hear the villains, especially McCullen, laughing at Sly's demise.
If only did they know what had happened.

(Twenty five years ago)

Connor was between a rock and a hard place, both literally and figuratively, because he had found an assassin that was sent to kill him and his wife.
He had fought with all he got, but James McCullen was way better than him at combat.
James smirked, as always his prey had tried to escape, but its attempt only led it to the trap.
- Well, well, well, if it isn't Connor Cooper, the greatest Master Thief of all times. Too bad you're not much of a stand-alone fighter, you'll always be pathetic because you rely on others for your victory. - James said.
- I'm not ashamed to rely on my friends, they make me stronger and not weaker as you think, McCullen. - Connor shot back.
- If that's really true, then why am I winning?
- Because I got delayed with my pup, but don't worry, I'm here to prove you wrong, James. - David said while appearing behind James.
- Hello David. - James said with a smirk.
- You know him? - Connor asked the dog.
- Yeah, he's one of my former teammates, I was part of a special force of assassins, that's why when you, Ramiro and Alexander met me, I was fighting twenty thugs.
- We got a lot to talk about, my old friend. - Alexander said while jumping from a rooftop.
- Indeed. - Ramiro said while imitating him.
- Can you guys just shut up and give me a hand here? - Connor asked sarcastically.
- Oh please! Not even you, "Righteous Four" together can beat me, Cooper, and you know it. - James said.
- Why you say that? You know that I am just as good as you at combat. - David said.
- He says that because he's not alone either. - Said someone with a thick French accent.
- Indeed he's not. - Said another man.
- And now we'll finally get rid of you four. - Said a voice with a thick Mexican accent.
David, Ramiro, Alexander and Connor glance at the fire escape above them and saw that there were a skunk, a wolf and a rat, both smirking evilly at them.
- What the hell are you doing here, Rodentius Snaptrap?! - Yelled Alexander.
- My, my, Agent Katswell, someone's on a bad mood. - Rodentius replied.
- Julián Álvarez, you dirty no-good, stupid, pathetic and also ugly, narco. - Ramiro said.
- Hola, Inspector, usted siempre tan crédulo (Hello, Inspector, you're as foolish as ever). - Julián said.
- Jacques Le Paradox, you're just as pathetic as ever. - Connor said.
- Oh Cooper, you think I'm pathetic? - Le Paradox replied while he gestured someone to bring something. - Then what does that say about your little gang, your dear families, Cooper?
David, Alexander, Connor and Ramiro gasped when they saw that a few thugs had the people mentioned above gagged and tied. Marina, Diane, Camile, Peg, Dr M and McSweeny had tears in their eyes and were looking at the Righteous Four with desperation, while Dylan, Dudley, Katherine, Kitty, Kelly, Sly, Carlos, Camila, Carmelita and Cecilia were crying because they were really frightened.
The fear and dispair in the Righteous Four's faces was plain visible, they had somehow gone from being between a rock and a hard place to being with a sword stabbing their hearts.
- No... Please... - David said while tears were forming in his eyes.
- Just... Let them go... - Ramiro begged while some tears were running over his cheeks.
- Why should we? - Asked James.
- We'll do whatever you say... Just let them go. - Connor begged while he and his friends fell to their knees.
Snaptrap, Álvarez, Le Paradox and McCullen smirked, they were finally going to get rid of the worst pests they had ever faced.

(Present time)

The smoke was finally clearing out, now the villains would enjoy the view of Sly Cooper's beheaded corpse.
But something was wrong.
Instead of a dead raccoon, the villains saw some kind of armor with a sparkling energy shield, standing in the smoke cloud. Once they got a closer view, they noticed that Sly was inside the armor.
- Surprise, assholes! - Sly said while he took a weird looking rifle from his back.
Sly took an ammo clip from his belt, he inserted it in the rifle and he started shooting at McCullen, who raised a shield with his own armor.
To say that all the villains were angry was an understatement.
Still, McCullen was smirking, he had wanted something like this to happen when he could finally use the armor.
- You truly never cease to amaze me, Cooper. - McCullen said. - I am impressed you actually have an armor, where did you get it from?
- The United Nations Space Command, being a General there and have the UNSC Chief Director as your personal friend helps in that kind of situations. - Sly replied while his energy shields were recharging.
- But you commited a major mistake, your "soul runner" will not be able to help you if you are wearing that thing.
- It's soul rubber, and this thing is known as a MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor Mark IX. - Sly corrected. - And I wouldn't say that the rubber won't be able to help me.
- Why you think so?
- Look at my right wrist.
McCullen did what Sly had told him and his eyes went wide open when he noticed the green mass in the armor's forearm plate.
- Still, your armor can not beat mine. - McCullen stated.
- You're right, my armor is gonna crush yours, no only beat it. - Sly said.
McCullen snarled and lunged at Sly, who made a backflip and kicked the assassin in the chin, cracking McCullen's helmet.
Sly was about to smile, but the other villains started to shoot at him with their blasters. Though his energy shields could bare the damage pretty well, he knew that they weren't eternal so he ran like the wind, helped by the armor, and took cover behind some crates.
Sly reloaded his rifle and waited a few seconds, when he heard that the villains were reloading, he switched the rifle to stun and fired at the villains.
The Contessa, Muggshot, Jack Rabbit, Dr Rabies, Madame Catastrophe and Snaptrap were hit by Sly's shots and they fell to the ground unconscious. However, the Chameleon, Larry, Francisco, Ollie and Tsao took cover behind a few crates, evading Sly's stunning rounds.
And with our favorite assassin.
McCullen has been channeling a big part of his suit's energy to the central power source which was in his chest. Once enough energy was stored in it, he smirked deviously and jumped high in the air, then he pointed the power source at Sly and said:
- Say goodbye Cooper!
Sly turned and saw his doppelganger shooting a powerful energy beam at him, he bared his teeth and punched the ground, activating the Armor Lock ability. The beam destroyed a big part of the hideout, but the Armor Lock had saved not only Sly's life but his armor too.
Once the smoke cleared and the flash ended, McCullen gritted his teeth at the sight of Sly knelt with a fist in the ground with a flickering shield around him. Sly raised his head and smirked at his double.
- Did you miss me? - Sly said.
- Truly amazing, Cooper, but definitely pointless. - McCullen said. - You're not getting out of this place alive.
- That's what you think, one way or another, I'm getting out of here alive and with my friends. - Sly replied.
McCullen and Sly rushed to attack, this time hand to hand.
McCullen threw a punch but Sly evaded it and tried to kneed his doppelganger in the abdomen, but McCullen blocked it with his own knee. McCullen threw another punch, and this time he hit Sly in the chest, but his armor's breastplate was really hard and it damaged McCullen's glove, he even felt that he was more hurt than Sly by the punch. The assassin backed away holding his hand.
- What the hell is your armor made of? - McCullen asked while he hold his hand.
Sly tapped the breastplate a few times with his fist and said:
- Forcidium Z, the most resilient metal in the whole universe, it can withstand even plasma-laser shots and break the adamantium.
- Hmm, looks like this is going to be more interesting right now. - McCullen said while smirking.
- Why?
- Look behind you.
Sly turned and saw that Jack Rabbit, Neyla, Doctor Rabies, Madame Catastrophe, Le Paradox, and Rajan were wearing the same armor that McCullen had. Still, Sly looked at McCullen with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.
- The more power suit-clad idiots you bring; the more scrap metal I'm gonna make. - Sly said.
Sly ran at the villains and punched each, denting each villain's breastplates. Then Sly took his rifle again, he switched to killing mode and shot at his enemies. Unfortunately, the villains recovered fast and stood up just in time to raise their energy shields. The rifle's plasma-laser rounds hit energy shields, which the villains raised to protect themselves.
- It won't be that simple, Cooper. - Jack Rabbit said.
- Sure it won't, it'll be even easier. - Sly replied.
All the villains growled and pointed their hands at Sly, shooting him a series of powerful repulsor rays. Sly's shields took most of the damage, but given to the number of beams hitting them, they flickered a few seconds and died, then Sly was thrown hard against a few crates.
Sly groaned and rolled slowly away from the crates, he stood up groggily and glared at his opponents.
- Now I am angry! - Sly yelled.
Somehow, Sly's eyes flickered and showed a green color, as well as his hair turned golden a few moments before a shock of a thousand volts coursed through his body. Sly fell to his knees and his oponents seized his distraction to shoot him their uni-beams. Sly was thrown again, the alarm in his helmet to indicate that the shields were down was booming in his ears, his vision was blurry but still he stood up and took his rifle.
- My turn. - Sly said while he inserted a fresh clip in his MZ7PL.
The villains were about to shot their repulsor rays again, but Sly ran like there was no tomorrow and opened fire on the villains.
Only McCullen, Le Paradox, Rabbit and Neyla raised their shields in time to protect themselves, while the others where hit by the plasma-laser rounds fired from Sly's rifle. The suits weren't made to withstand plasma-laser tech, so immediately after the villains were hit by the shots, their armors started to melt, and fortunately given to Sly's good accuracy, they weren't hit by a missing shot.
Dr Rabies, Madame Catastrophe and Rajan watched as their armors were reduced to a pile of melted metal, just before Sly punched each, knocking them out.
Sly turned to glare at his other opponents and said:
- No more "Mister Nice Ringtail"!
And with that said, Sly lunged against his four opponents.
Jack Rabbit tried to punch him, but Sly crouched and headbutted him in the chest, driving the air out of his lungs immediately. Then he lifted Rabbit's body and back-slammed him on the ground hard. However, McCullen seized Sly's distraction and shot his uni-beam at Sly's back, sending him crashing against more crates. Then the evil raccoon activated some machine guns in his wrists and shot at Sly, he also activated a mini-misile launcher and shot one at the thief.
Sly was hit again, but fortunately the 4-inch thick breastplate withstood the damage with minimum injuries for him. But one could easily tell that the fight was starting to do a number in the armor. Sly stood up, he shaked his head and glared at McCullen again.
- I've only known a few persons that could actually do this to a MJOLNIR Mark IX, and they're dead because of me and some old friends. - Sly said.
- Well this time, the one that is going to die is you, Cooper. - Said McCullen.
- We outnumber you, and certainly we outmatch you. - Le Paradox said.
- We'll see about that.
Sly attacked Neyla and Le Paradox, whom tried to shot him with their repulsor rays, their missile launchers and their machine guns, only succeding in hitting the walls, the ground and the air. Sly took a plasma grenade from his belt, he activated it and threw it at Neyla, who couldn't move out of the way, so the grenade stuck to his suit, blowing it up when it exploded. Luckily for the tigress, Neyla was just stunned by the grenade.
Le Paradox tried to cut Sly with some kind of energy blade, which Sly blocked with a blue lightsaber which was hanging in his belt. Le Paradox tried to drive his blade in Sly's heart, but Sly blocked it and slashed Le Paradox's back and chest with his saber. Le Paradox's suit threw some sparks and it exploded, knocking its wearer out immediately.
Sly turned off his lightsaber and turned to see his doppelganger, who was smirking.
- Why are you smiling? - Asked Sly.
- You may have defeated my stupid teammates, but you will not defeat me. - McCullen said.
- Why do you think so?
- Because my suit can do this.
McCullen charged both his repulsor rays and his uni-beam, which hit Sly directly, denting his armor a bit. Sly crashed against a wall and he broke it down. Then our dear thief stood up weakly, since he had received a lot of damage from the last hits by McCullen, but still, he wasn't giving up yet.
- Now I'll show you what a real energy beam looks like! - Sly yelled while he raised his right hand and pointed his palm at McCullen.
The evil doppelganger chuckled and said:
- I am already aware of your other abilities, Cooper, and I know that you can not...
McCullen stopped short when he saw that a small blusih energy ball was growing in Sly's palm. His mouth dropped agape.
- KAMEHAMEHA! - Sly yelled while a bluish energy wave was fired from his hand.
McCullen shot his repulsor ray, both attacks collided midair and the two raccoons started struggling to push each other's attack.
McCullen's armor soon ran out of energy and Sly's Kamehameha hit him square in the chest.
McCullen rejoined and glared at his opponent, he grabbed his cracked helmet and threw it to the ground, then he wiped a trickle of blood coming from his mouth.
- Is that all?! - McCullen yelled.
- You're one tough badass, McCullen, but I'm going to beat you. - Sly said with a smirk, while he took off his own helmet.
- Though I am surprised you actually managed to break the anulator, I know you will be defeated.
- It's not destroyed, but my armor helps me do the chakra-ki gathering so I don't have to pay the consequences for using those attacks.
- Pretty smart, Cooper, but useless nonetheless.
Sly and McCullen lunged at each other again, they were punching, kneeing, kicking, biting and throwing energy blasts at each other. Sly shot another energy wave at McCullen, sending him flying but the villainous raccoon activated his boosters and stayed in the air. Then he shot many missiles at Sly, some of them impacted in the master thief. Sly fell face first into the ground, he stood up groggily and activated his armor's jetpack to be at the same level with McCullen.
- That armor of yours and the soul rubber got my attention, once I kill you, I will claim them! - McCullen said.
- The only thing you're gonna claim... - Sly said while he put bth his hands together at his right side. - Is a hospital room!
Sly threw another energy wave, which was countered by McCullen's uni-beam.
When both energy beams collided, they sent the two raccoons flying, crashing them against the last crates in the warehouse. However, Sly and McCullen quickly recovered and got back to the fight, McCullen using a blade created by his suit and Sly using his blue lightsaber. The two opponents clashed their blades time and time again, not giving an inch to the other in the slightest. Sly tried to slash McCullen's suit with his saber, but McCullen blocked it and bared his teeth at the thief.
- You certainly know how to use a sword, Cooper, I am impressed. - McCullen let out while he struggled with Sly.
- Thanks, but this is just the warm up. - Sly replied.
Sly smirked wider and attacked McCullen again. McCullen counterattacked and both were trying to destroy each other's power suit. Sly had the upper hand since his armor was made of a more resilient metal than McCullen's suit.
Both were throwing everything they could, energy waves, repulsor rays, uni-beams, plasma-laser shots, punches, etc.
In the end, McCullen's suit was too much damaged to keep with the fight. Sly's armor was also dented and damaged, in some parts it was showing its internal circuits. Both were panting and had troubles to keep themselves standing.
- You're really one tough cookie, McCullen. - Sly said while he panted.
- I can say the same about you, Cooper. - McCullen said while he smirked.
- However, this ends now. - Sly said while he smirked.
McCullen looked at Sly with confusion, he couldn't believe that Sly was so confident about his victory.
Sly put his hands at his side and started to focus all his energy in them. Once he created a medium energy ball he moved his hands in front of him and yelled:
- KAMEHAMEHA!
McCullen put his arms in front of him and tried to cover himself from Sly's attack but his armor couldn't defend him. McCullen ended up stunned and his armor was completely destroyed. Sly smirked and fell to his knees, then he pressed some buttons in his armor's forearm plate, a red light emanated from all the remaining lights in the armor and then it made a hissing sound, after it it separated from Sly's body and fell to the ground, disappearing in the very second every part touched the ground.
However, the fight was just starting.
Sly heard footsteps and felt that someone was looking at him, he raised his head and blinked a few times to clear his sight, then he saw that Bentley and Kitty were in front of him.
- Hello, Sly. - Kitty said with a devilish smirk.
- How are you doing? - Bentley asked with the same expression.
- I know why you're here. - Sly said while he struggled to stand up. - But if you think you can beat me just because I'm physically exhausted, you're really wrong.
Bentley and Kitty smirked wider and lunged against Sly, who flung the rubber at a beam in the ceiling and pulled himself up there. The traitors glared at the raccoon and bared their teeth while the former was smiling cunningly at them.
- What's the matter? I thought you thought you could beat me. - Sly mocked.
- Nice trick, but useless. - Kitty said while she and Bentley started flickering.
Sly's eyes went wide open and knew that Bentley and Kitty had fooled him with decoys. Unfortunately, it was already too late to avoid the plan of the two former members of the Cooper Gang.
Bentley and Kitty appeared behind our dear thief, the turtle aimed at him with his sleep darts and shot one at him. Sly sensed that he was in danger, however it was already too late to do something. A small dart hit him in the neck, then he felt how his muscles started to feel like jelly. Sly turned and lost all consciousness because Kitty kicked him in the head.

A few minutes later, Sly woke up in a room, he was tied and had all the UCA around him, looking at him with wide smirks.
- Look at the once great Sly Cooper! - Tsao mocked.
- Where's yer stupid luck now? - Muggshot said.
- This where your life ends, Cooper, with the people you destroyed. - Neyla said.
- This is for breaking my skull collection all those years ago. - Snaptrap said, earning glares from his partners. - What? Skulls aren't easy to get.
- Shut it, Snaptrap. - Jack Rabbit said.
- You are nothing without your friends, Cooper. - McCullen said with a wicked smirk.
- True, but that's why they always make me stronger, they always got my back and I got theirs. - Sly replied.
- If that's true, then why you and they are about to die? - Raliegh asked.
- Because it's part of a plan. - Sly smirked while he slipped his hands through the rope that was tying them.
Sly rapidly whistled and a green mass came into the room, bouncing everywhere and ocationally hitting a villain in the head. The mass ended up in Sly's right wrist and he got in battle stance.
- Now, who's first? I can take out all of you by myself. - Sly said.
- You're really brave Cooper, but that has to end, and I'll be the one to end it! - Kitty said while she entered the room.
Sly smiled defiantly and Kitty replied his gesture, then they both started to walk in circles, ready to pounce on the other on the moment one of them decided to attack.
Sly used his feral pounce and jumped over Kitty, pinning her down to the ground. However, the cat rolled and pinned Sly down, then she started throwing punches at his face, but all of them were blocked by Sly's arms. The raccoon pushed the cat and stood up again, he crouched to avoid a kick to his head and threw a punch at Kitty's ribs. Kitty felt that the air was driven out of her lungs, so she started gasping for air, but unfortunately Sly had seized the opportunity and he kicked her in the stomach, suffocating her even more. Kitty grabbed her stomach and couldn't evade a kick that went to her head. The tan cat fell to the ground almost unconscious, but she managed to push herself up again and glare at Sly after a few minutes.
- I told you Kitty, you can't beat me. - Sly said.
- That's what you think. - Kitty said while she showed Sly that she had a pink mass on her wrist.
Sly's eyes went wide open and he couldn't move because he was shocked, so Kitty turned the pink mass around her wrist into a wrecking ball and flung it at the thief, who was sent flying to crash against a wall hard.
Sly was stuck to the wall but when he tried to psuh himself away from the wall, he felt something was tying itself around Sly's ankle and was pulling him off the wall. Kitty pulled Sly off of the wall and slammed him face first in the ground.
Sly groaned and pushed himself up again, he turned to glare at Kitty, he wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth and said:
- Well, well, well, you have the other soul rubber. - Sly said with a smirk. - Tell me, did you stole it from under my nose or did Bentley gave it to you?
- I stole it from under your nose, who does that feels, Cooper? - Kitty replied with a smirk.
- Not as bad as this will, Kit.
Sly flung the green rubber at Kitty and whiplashed in the chest, then he grabbed her by the waist and slammed her against a wall. Kitty got up and flung the pink rubber at Sly, she grabbed him by the waist too and slammed him many times against the ground hard. Then Kitty threw Sly over some crates and smirked. The racoon got up groggily and glared at Kitty, then he spat some blood and grinned at Kitty in an evil way.
- Is that all you got? - Sly asked deviously.
Kitty roared and lunged at Sly again, this time with the rubber as a sword. Sly transformed his rubber in a replica of his cane, then he blocked Kitty's attack.
- You can't beat me, Cooper! - Kitty said.
- Yeah, let's find out if I can't! - Sly replied.
Sly and Kitty rushed at the attack again, using their long weapons. Sparks were flying everywhere, and this left the villains confused because they tought that the rubber couldn't generate electricity, and much less sparks. Kitty and Sly fought for over ten minutes without a rest, and thanks to their previous fight they were really tired. The cat and the raccoon separated and glared at each other while they panted for air.
- You... are... one... heck of a match... - Kitty said.
- But... this... ends... NOW! - Sly yelled.
Sly lunged at Kitty in a final attempt to knock her out, but Kitty was expecting that. The cat smirked and covered her fist with her soul rubber, then she evaded Sly's attack and punched him in the stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs.
Sly fell to the ground, Kitty kicked him in the face and walked away from the raccoon. She stood beside Bentley and the other criminals who were smirking at Sly's battered body.
- Ah finally, the great Sly Cooper is where he belongs, in the ground creeping like a pathetic insect. - Said the hidden criminal with a voice modulator.
- Why does your voice sounds so funny? - Asked Snaptrap.
- Shut it, Snaptrap! - Everyone else yelled.
- Now it's time for you to die. - McCullen said while he pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Sly's head. - Any last words, Cooper?
- Yeah, can I have a last wish? - Sly asked as a matter of fact.
McCullen chuckled and put his pistol back in its holster.
- What do you think you're doing?! Kill him now! - Dr Rabies demanded.
- No, he can't do anything else, he's helpless, his friends are locked up and the ones he considered his friends betrayed him, what could he possibly do against us? - McCullen replied.
- Indeed. - The hidden criminal said. - Let him have his last wish.
- Let's hurry this up, say it, what's your wish, Cooper? - Madame Catastrophe asked.
- I want to have a little chat with those backstabbing, cowardly, idiots. - Sly said while he pointed at Bentley and Kitty.
- Well, well, that is unexpected, but who cares, you can speak with them. - McCullen mocked.
Sly stood up wearily and smirked, he had that smirk he always had when he knew something was going his way.
- Kitty, Bentley, you can stop faking now. - Sly said with a cunning smirk.
-What are you talking about? - The hidden criminal asked.
Bentley, Kitty and Sly started laughing, it was a really happy, but somewhat evil, laughter.
- Phew, what a relief, I thought I'd go insane if I kept that act up anymore. - Kitty said with a warm smile.
- That's why you always have to keep your mind cool, Kitty. - Bentley said. - But you're right, it was quite tiring.
- WHAT?! - The villains yelled while they watched the scene.
Sly chuckled, he had fooled everyone with his plan.
- Did you really thought that we'd disband just like that? - Sly asked sarcastically with a smile.
- This was all part of the plan. - Bentley said. - Nice plan, Sly, by the way.
- Don't give me all the credit, this couldn't have worked if we weren't such a good actors.
- We may consider to work as actors if we can't get our jobs back. - Kitty let out.
- Indeed we should. - Bentley said.
- How the Hell could you do that?! - Jack Rabbit asked.
- Chill out pal, we're gonna tell you everything. - Sly said with a smirk.
- First off, when we were in the safehouse back in Paris, we were talking about a plan, which was just a cover. - Bentley explained.
- We knew that you guys had a bug in the room, so we used that to our advantage. - Kitty added.
- What you didn't notice with it was that the real way we were communicating with each other was with the photos on the table, we were writting on them and we were passing them to everyone so we all could know what the plan was. - Sly said.
- When you guys bursted into the hideout, we certainly weren't expecting that, but we had to do something fast. - Kitty said.
- Yeah, the whole thing with my cane loss and how I replaced it with the soul rubber was a lucky shot, though I did know that my old pal had left it there. - Sly said while he showed everyone the rubber.
- Anyhow, I took the hyper-cube after Sly let you guys took his cane, while he was chasing you. - Kitty said while she showed everyone the pink rubber. - Sly said that this is the green rubber's opposite, this one is quite cooperative and friendly.
- However, we not only did this plan for that, we had our own reasons to make Sly lose his cane, to make Carmelita hit Kitty like she did, for me to be yelled like that by Penelope, to make Murray give up his van, to make us fight between us like we did, and also to make the others agree to let you capture them. - Bentley said.
- You didn't do that, we did all that. - Neyla said, not wanting to hear anymore of the truth.
- (Laughs) Did you really think you'd win that easily? - Sly asked with an amused grin on his face.
- Of course you didn't win, we let you capture our friends, so we could get data on some things. - Kitty said with a smirk.
- Which things? - Snaptrap asked.
- First off, we wanted to know your full plan. - Sly said.
- Second, McCullen said that he had taken care of cleaning the TUFF building, but he never said where the agents were. - Kitty explained.
- Third, so we could find Keswick and free him. - Bentley said.
- And fourth, so we could know who's behind all this. - Sly said while he glared at the hidden criminal.
- Your plan may have worked, Cooper, but still you're outnumbered, and your friends are still locked up. - The hidden criminal said.
- Stop fooling around and show yourself... Doctor M. - Sly demanded.
And as Sly said his father's former friend, the evil mandrill got out of the shadows, looking even more mechanic than before, now half of his torso, both his arms and one of his eyes were robotic.
- So Doctor, how did you make it out of the Vault in one piece? - Sly asked with a smirk.
- Laugh all you want, Sly, you and your pathetic gang are finished. - Dr M said.
All the villains took our their blasters and pistols, and pointed them at the thieving trio. Sly, Bentley and Kitty just gave a full-hearted laugh and smirked.
- We don't think so. - The trio said.
- Hands up, criminals! - Someone yelled from the shadows.
The villains got startled, they thought that Sly had called the police so they started shooting at the shadows in the warehouse. However, they only saw how their shots bounced off a round shield.
- That won't work. - A woman said from the shadows.
- Who's there?! - All the villains yelled with some fear.
- Guys, c'mon you need to show yourselves, it's part of the plan. - Kitty said.
- I gotta hand it to you, Cooper. I never thought that this plan could work. - A black fox wearing a military uniform that came from the shadows said.
- Yeah, big bro, I never thought of you as a tactician. - Said a gray furred raccoon wearing a skin-tight white blouse and pants, black knee-high boots and ivory-colored gloves and with a cane that looked like Sly's.
- I always knew you were smart, Sly, no wonder why you chose Carmelita over Miss Katswell, and no offense towards you, Kitty. - A white vixen with black hair wearing a business suit said.
- Don't worry, Camila, I also think Sly made a good choice about it. - Kitty said as a matter of factly.
- That's one of the things I've always liked about you sis, you are always happy. - A tan cat like Kitty said.
- Well, you guys did it, I didn't think this could work, but you've proved me wrong. - Carmelita said while she appeared from the shadows.
Murray, the Guru, Dimitri, Cleo, Jing, Dudley, Herbert, Barton, Penelope, Mz. Ruby, a white dog a bit taller than Dudley, another vixen a tone clearer than Carmelita, a tan cat with some stripes on her face and the recently freed Keswick stepped out of the shadows on a catwalk while they had smirks in their faces.
- Nice job, little buddies. - Murray said.
- Yeah, you three made a cool plan, bros. - Dimitri said.
- I didn't think that Cooper could be this intelligent. - Mz Ruby said.
- Hey, my big bro is intelligent! - The female raccoon, called Alice, said.
- I thought I had already said that it's all because we're awesome actors. - Sly let out.
- You irritating pest! - Le Paradox yelled.
- Oh, looks like someone lost his cool. - Dudley's brother, Dylan, said while he crossed his arms and smirked.
- You will never get your cane back, Cooper, and none of you will stay alive after this! - Dr M yelled.
- Oh really? - Sly said. - Jing, do you have it?
- Yes, I found it near the cells. - Jing said while she pulled out Sly's cane from behind her.
The young panda threw the cane at Sly, McCullen tried to take it before, but the green soul rubber was faster than him.
- Thank you, rubber. - Sly said to the green mass in his wrist.
- Hey Cooper! What are we gonna do with the UCA now? - The black fox said.
- We'll let them escape. - Sly said.
- What?! - The Gang shouted in unison.
- You can't do that! - The tan striped cat said.
- Of course I can, and we'll do it just so we can rub our victory on the villains faces.
- Awesome! I like that, Sly! - Dudley said, earning glares from the others. - What? They had mocked of us many times, we deserve to celebrate our victory by rubbing it in their faces.
The villains were gritting their teeth and glaring at the Cooper Gang, they were saved by the bell again! The UCA members shot their blasters at Sly, who didn't notice until it was too late to evade the shots. However, a figure appeared out of nowhere and activated a bubble shield around Sly, saving the thief's life. Sly smirked when the smoke and dust cleared, the final member of his gang had arrived, a bit late but just in time to save him.
- You're late, Pat. - Sly said with a smirk.
Pat was a penguin, he smiled whole-heartedly at Sly and said:
- You know what they say, "Better late than never".
- Yes, but you almost arrived too late. - The black fox said.
- C'mon Carlos, you arrived just a few minutes ago, you can't judge anyone about being late. - Kitty's twin, Katherine, said.
- At least we're now together. - Penelope said.
- Yeah, tha-tha-thanks for rescuing me, guys. - Keswick said.
- No problem, pal. That's what friends are for. - Camila, the white vixen, said.
- Anyway, also thanks for breaking me out of jail. - The striped cat said.
- Family bonds are more important than grudges between sisters, Kelly. - Katherine said. - Besides, you were gonna be released from jail tomorrow.
- Well UCA, this is it. - Sly said while he put his hands together. - You can leave, but remember this, we're gonna stop you, no matter what.
- Still, you can't clean your names. - Muggshot said stupidly.
- We're working on it right now, Meat-Head. - Carmelita said with a smirk.
- What do you mean, Carmelita? You all were incriminated for the stealing of the weapon. - Neyla said.
- So you're saying you were the ones who incriminated us? - Kitty asked with a smirk.
- Yes, it was quite funny too, I had to dress as a soldier and then... - Snaptrap said.
- SHUT IT, SNAPTRAP! - All the other villains yelled.
- Thanks, Verminious. - Sly said while he put a recorder back in his leg pouch. - It was all I needed.
The villains glared daggers at the Gang, somehow they turned the tables and now had the upper hand. Cooper had showed his incredible luck once more, and this time he had really outsmarted all of them, they couldn't believe that the raccoon could have planned something like that.
- Well, what are you guys waiting for? - Dudley asked to the villains. - Leave before we change our minds about letting you go.
- We never agreed on that. - Carmelita said.
- Yeah, but what the heck. - Murray said. - We're not being overconfident, we have all the cards on our side now, they can't beat us.
- Murray is right, I'm sure we are going to win, one way or the other. - Jing said.
The villains were now growling and gritting their teeth, while the Cooper Gang laughed at them.
- (Growls) You are so goddamn dead, fellows. - McCullen said.
- I hate you, Cooper Gang. - Neyla said.
- You shall pay for this. - Tsao said.
- I shall plot my revenge! - Snaptrap said.
- This isn't over, Cooper, this is just the beginning. - Dr M said.
The villains started to walk out of the warehouse with a scowl on their faces.
However, they changed their expressions for a smirk. Doctor M pulled out a detonator from his pocket and turned to face Sly.
- You may have turned the tables, but I still have an ace up my sleeve. - Doctor M said while the villains entered their vehicles.
Sly got a bit confused, but once he saw the detonator in Dr M's hand, his eyes opened widely and he yelled:
- RUN!
The Cooper Gang got startled, they thought they had won and that the villains didn't have any tricks. But apparently they overlooked the detail of whenever they were overconfident, they always received a backfire.
Doctor M pressed the button on the detonator and the whole hideout started to blow up. Then Sly's father former friend entered the last vehicle and it sped off.
The ceiling started to crumble, the ground started to shake and the whole place started to fall apart. Kitty and Bentley got an idea, they could make a run for the TUFF Mobile and the Cooper Van.
- C'mon guys! Let's go to the vehicles! - Kitty yelled.
All the members in the catwalk jumped just in time to evade an explosion that could have killed them. They landed on the ground and started running after Kitty and Bentley.
- This wasn't part of the plan! - Pat, Scarlett, Cleo, Penelope and Bentley said.
- Would you shut up and keep running?! - Kitty, Carmelita, Alice, Kelly and Mz Ruby said.
- The vehicles are this way! C'mon! - Bentley said.
The Gang made it to the parking lot of the villains hideout, avoiding being crushed by the falling parts of the ceiling. They saw the TUFF Mobile and the Van and smiled, thinking that they were going to get out of there.
However, fate still seemed to be a bit against the Gang.
Just a few meters before the Gang members could reach the vehicles, both of them exploded in a million pieces, shattering Murray's heart, and sending the rest of the Gang flying.
The members crashed against a wall hard, but they knew they had to keep moving, so they stood up rapidly, evading every falling debris and grabbed the motionless Murray, dragging him out of the place.
Somehow, the Gang made it out, just before the whole place collapsed because of the damage the bombs had caused in the hideout.
Everyone was panting and coughing, they had breathed a lot of smoke, but fortunately they weren't going to need to go to a hospital.
Unfortunately you couldn't say the same about Murray.
He was still motionless, the look on his face displayed pure devastation. His beloved van had been blown up right before his eyes, and he was unable to avoid it. Murray fell to his knees and sobbed. The others had a look of empathy on their faces, they knew how much the van meant for him. Sly tried to pat him in the back but Murray shoved his hand rather aggresively, he stood up and yelled:
- THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!
Sly held out his hands defensively, he tried to say something to reply but no words came to his mind. Murray was about to punch Sly in the face, Sly saw it and closed his eyes, waiting for a punch that never came.
Jing had enough, she threw her arms around Murray and stopped him before he could even touch Sly. The latter opened his eyes slowly and saw that now Murray was crying over Jing's shoulder while the panda patted him in the back, letting a few tears run over her face as well.
- It's not his fault, Murray, this plan was idea of all of us, we are all blame of it. - Jing said calmly. - Everything is going to be alright, you just need to calm down.
Murray sobbed a bit more, until Jing did something unexpected. The young panda knew about this a long time, but since the first time she laid her eyes on him, she had developed a crush on Murray, which due to the closeness they had as Gang members, quickly made her fall in love with the silly but brave and friendly hippo. The Panda King's daughter threw her arms around Murray's neck, she stood on her toes to reach the hippo's face and pressed her lips against Murray's.
Everyone's mouth dropped agape, nobody could believe it, not even Murray. Jing broke the kiss just as suddenly as it had started and tried to go away, fearing that Murray or anyone else would yell at her, but a strong hand grabbed her forearm and stopped her. She turned to face Murray and sighed.
- I-I am truly sorry... I do-don't know what came over... - Jing stuttered before Murray silenced her with another kiss.
Jing was taken aback, but enjoyed the kiss nonetheless. Murray broke the kiss and looked directly into Jing's eyes.
- I feel the same way about you, Jing. - Murray said with a whole-heartedly smile. - Thanks for helping me.
- I was in debt with you, you helped me when the UCA injured him. - Jing replied.
- Awww! - Katherine said while she looked at Murray and Jing. - You two look so cute together!
- I gotta admit you two make a lovely couple, unlike Sly and Carmelita. - Carlos said while he glared at Sly.
- If you ever insult my brother, I'll make yo pay. - Alice threatened the fox.
- C'mon pals, we need to calm down. - Cleo said.
- Yeah, now we gotta find another hideout. - Scarlett added.
- I-I-I could help with that. - Keswick said while he pulled out a map. - I always carry a map of Europe in my pocket.
Everyone looked at the specie-less animal as if he was a weirdo, which he actually was.
- We could go to the old Bravo Base in the Swiss Alps. - Bentley said.
- No we can't, it was destroyed by the Storm Covenant. - Sly said.
- We should go to Kaine Island, that's the villains next target. - Alice said.
- But we need some vehicles to get there, unless you want to swim like a thousand miles. - Penelope said.
- Perhaps I can ask for a car to the PFP, there are some guys there that owe me a few favors. - Cecilia said.
- That could put you in risk, sis. - Carmelita said.
- Well, then let's go to my house, it's not that far if we came here walking. - Cleo suggested.
- It's our best choice. - Murray said.
- I'm with you. - Jing said while she hugged Murray.
- If you guys think it's a good idea, so be it. - Pat said.
- Ok guys, let's go, we got a lot to walk. - Barton said.
- Good thing I don't need to walk. - Herbert said from Barton's head.
All the others glared at the flea and kept walking back to Cleo's house, which was about twenty miles away from their current position.