The team gathered in Bentley and Penelope's hotel room the morning after they had returned from Phase One. They sat in a huddled position on the floor, random papers everywhere. The majority of these pages were from Bentley as he simulated the plan in his mind, taking notes on the outcomes and the method to avoid negative ones.
"Bentley... It will work..." Sly said, trying to break his friend from his trance.
"I know it'll work... It has to work... But there's something wrong. There's just something too easy about it..." The turtle said, returning to run more simulations.
"Bentley... The easiest plans are often the most successful." Penelope said. "Look at how safety measures that you've designated. You and I will be the only ones that Grimm sees. Sly and The Guru are our back-up and Murray's the get-away driver. You've prepared for this the best that you've could."
Bentley said nothing but motioned for Penelope to sit next to him. After seeing what he wanted her to see, she looked back at him with a wide-eye expression. "That's impossible... That... That reading is wrong..." She said, her breathing getting heavier.
Sly and Murray immediately noticed their friends' panicked expressions. "Guys, what's going on?" The hippo called out.
Neither of them was listening, "The measurements aren't wrong, Penelope... We discovered what these instruments are measuring in the first place."
"But... How can that be? A temporal ripple? An anomaly based on the disruption of time-space? You know that's only possible if there is a flaw in the space-time continuum. And that can't possibly happen!" Penelope stopped, for some reason confused and panicky.
"English, please?" Sly said, interrupting the two.
"Well... The problem has to do with Grimm Hund... There is a collection of temporal ripples being radiated from his physical construct." Bentley said.
"Simpler English, please?" Sly asked again.
Penelope took a deep breath and answered for Bentley. "Grimm Hund is strange... He's so strange that the universe itself apparently doesn't know exactly what to do with him."
"I still don't follow..." Sly sighed as The Guru placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You'll understand eventually Sly... I hope" Bentley said as the monitor on his chair blinked rapidly. This caught Penelope's attention as she kneeled down next to him to see. "What is it? Another hacking attempt?"
"No... More temporal activity... I have to see this for myself."
"Bentley? What are saying?" Penelope looked at him for an answer.
"We have to continue with Phase Two... I want everyone to get ready."
Sly, Murray, and The Guru left to gather their gear. Penelope nervously sat on her knees, watching Bentley gather the scattered pages on the floor as he mumbled to himself.
"I should tell him... It'll make sense, right? A disruption in the natural timeline can't be created without a functional time machine... He must have built a prototype and done something..."
"Hey... Bentley..." Penelope started to say, her voice was unusually quiet and shy.
"Penelope? I need you to focus for me, ok? Go get ready..."
"But... Bentley..."
"Penelope, I need your help real quick. Go to Sly's room and get the necklace for me. We'll need it."
"Bentley! You have to listen to me! It's about the time ma-" Her sentence was cut off as Bentley had put a hand over her mouth.
He looked through his thick eyeglasses into her tearing eyes that were hidden behind her own eyeglasses. "Penelope," he said, taking her hands into his. "I know..."
"You... know?"
"Yes... This has something to do with the time machine... That part was obvious... What I don't know is exactly how they are connected. Do you know?"
Penelope shook her head. "What do we do?"
"We haven't done anything, since the time machine hasn't been finished yet... The best thing that we can do is be ready for what caused such temporal disruption.
"Ok, Bentley." She said quietly.
He gave her a quick kiss. "Alright? Go get ready... I need your help."
She nodded in agreement before finding her disguise. She immediately changed into an orange jumpsuit with Bentley still in the room. She blushed when she saw him looking at her.
"Bentley? Are you okay?" she asked, seeing the blank expression on the turtle's face.
"Wha-? Yeah. I'm fine." He blushed and looked away nervously.
Penelope smiled and walked back to him. She pulled his chair back towards her, making Bentley looked up at her in surprise.
"Now... Let's get you dressed," she said with a wink.
###
Sly, Murray, and The Guru waited by the van for Bentley and Penelope. Murray was the only one dressed in uniform. Sly and The Guru were wearing clothes that they would normally wear on a mission. Sly was wearing his signature blue sweater with its golden trim. He wore dark gray shorts and a red pouch on his leg. His cane balanced in his crossed arms, Grimm's necklace dangled in his hand. The Guru wore his loincloth, feeling more comfortable in that than in other clothing. His staff and connected Moon Stone were by his side. Murray wore the only tasteless outfit, an orange t-shirt with LockerUp's Logo on the front and back, matching shorts and sneakers. He was already in the driver's seat of the van, eager to start it.
Bentley and Penelope came out of the hotel and travelled the short distance to the other team members. Sly immediately noticed that their outfits were different, as the only orange article of clothing was a t-shirt. They wore light-grey shorts.
Sly immediately pointed this out. Before he could speak, Bentley raised a hand and pointed to his shirt. Sewn into the fabric was the role that Bentley was pretending to be. According to his shirt, Bentley was the Chief Supervisor. Sly then turned to Penelope, who also showed the inscription on her shirt. She was Assistant Supervisor. Sly wasn't wearing one of the orange shirts, but Murray was. He and Sly were both Property Inspectors.
Bentley turned to the waiting members of the gang. "Alright... We'll do this in an orderly fashion. Sly, Guru, do you know your posts?"
"Yeah. Once you get the mutt distracted, I'll sneak around the back with the Guru." Sly said. "We'll be ready and waiting." The Guru nodded in agreement.
"Murray? Do you know what to do?" Bentley said, looking into the driver's side of the van.
"Nope." The hippo shyly smiled and leaned out of the window. "I'm gonna wing it like I always do."
Surprisingly, Bentley did not get angry. "Perfect. Improvising would make it harder for Grimm to counter-attack. Great plan, Murray!"
"Gee, thanks, Bentley." Murray said shyly, not expecting a compliment.
Bentley turned to Penelope, who was standing next to him. "Are you ready? We're going against something unknown."
She slowly nodded. "Yes, I'm ready. I'm confident that the necklace will lower Grimm Hund's stance. If we go into this peacefully, he might leave peacefully."
"Great. Then let's do this!" Murray said, reaching a fist out of the window.
"Count me in, pal!" Sly said, before placing his hand on Murray's.
The Guru worded his own reply before his hand joined the others.
Bentley placed his hand on theirs, motioning for Penelope to come closer. He took her hand and placed it on top of his. "We can do this..."
"I know we can." Penelope smiled as the team gathered into the truck.
Penelope sat in the passenger seat, while the Guru was waiting for Bentley to get in. Sly was also waiting for Bentley before he got inside.
Bentley stopped himself from getting into the van. "Wait... There's something I'm missing..."
"Missing?" Sly asked, tilting his head to the side. "Bentley would never forget something for a mission... Would he?"
"Yeah... Sly? Can you go back inside and find Evy, our room service clerk?"
"Evy? That's her name? What do you need her for?"
"Give her this. It's a tip for all the food that Murray ate." The turtle said, smirking at Sly. He handed Sly a folded piece of paper. The words: 'For the Fastest Evy' were inscribed in bold and were the only things that Sly can see on the paper. Seeing through the paper, Sly could see a $20 bill hidden in the fold.
"Twenty dollars? That's a generous tip, even for us." Sly said, also considering that their friend has a huge appetite.
"Well, she earned it. You know that. Just take care of it for me, okay? It's something nice that'll make you feel better as well."
Sly smiled. "Sure, Bentley." He then nodded to the others and left before saying that he'll be back. He approached the counter first, asking where he could find 'Evy'. The person at the counter must've been confused, because they gave Sly a card from a popular trading-card game.
"I saw a little boy playing with those cards earlier in the lobby. I think it's his..." The clerk said, giving Sly subtle directions to the boy's room.
Sly then showed them the note and the $20 bill, but the person at the counter doubted that the card was worth that much and sent Sly on his way.
###
Sly returned with nothing in his hands to the parked van.
Bentley was the first to question Sly's errand. "How'd it go, Sly?"
"I went to the counter and asked for 'Evy', but they gave me this." Sly said, pulling the card out of his red pouch.
Penelope sort of... freaked out at the sight of the card. "Is that what I think it is?! No... It's not... It's not worth much, Sly. You lucked out."
"I know. The guy at the counter said it wasn't worth much either..."
Bentley returned the conversation to the original subject. "What did you do with the money?"
Sly immediately raised his arms in defense. "I don't have it, I swear!" he joked, making the others laugh also. "But seriously, I gave the money to the real Evy. You were right. I do feel better."
"Excellent. Shall we get the plan going?" Bentley asked before leaping his chair into the back of the van. Sly and The Guru followed, not bothering to answer. Sly looked over the card before pocketing it, smiling and secretly blushing. Having shown an interest just seconds earlier, Sly was curious as to why she didn't make an offer for the card.
###
Later that afternoon, an orange van pulled up to an old house. Two figures could be seen getting out of the van, one of them in a wheelchair. The turtle in the wheelchair was assisted by the mouse that was by his side.
The front door of the old house opened as an elderly wolf stepped into the sunlight. His palms rested on the wooden cane. He started to walk towards the van, the cane tapping against the cracked concrete.
The wolf walked slowly and steadily, leaning on the cane for support. Seconds before the two groups were to meet; the wolf stopped and looked around. He didn't see anything besides the two that were walking up to him. His attention was brought back to the turtle and the mouse. The wolf took immediately notice that neither of them w wearing a name tag.
The turtle spoke first. "Good afternoon, Mr. Hund."
The mouse gave the wolf a friendly smile, receiving a confused smile in return.
The wolf replied. "Call me Grimm, and have we met, Sir?"
The turtle shook his head. "Not officially, Grimm. My name is Bentley."
The wolf turned to the mouse. "You haven't met me either... I'm Penelope," she said.
Grimm hummed in thought. "So... is this about my house?"
"Not exactly. Can we come inside?" Bentley asked.
"Sure. Would you two like some help?" Grimm said, turning back to his home.
"No, no. That's what I'm here for." Penelope smiled as she pushed Bentley towards the house.
Grimm nodded and walked back to his front porch. He watched as Bentley and Penelope worked together to bring him up the short flight of stairs and onto the porch. When they had succeeded, Grimm opened the door for them, letting Bentley enter first.
Grimm motioned for them to meet him in the living room, where the coffee table had a few random pages on it along with a cooling cup of tea.
"Would either of you like some? Coffee, perhaps?" he asked, receiving two head-shakes that meant no.
Grimm took his seat on one of the couches. Penelope sat on the far end of the couch that was directly across from Grimm. Bentley rolled up the table, sitting between them, but closer to Penelope's side. The three of them sat idly as Grimm drank. At one point, he cleared his throat and set the cup down, careful not to place it on the pages that were on the table.
"So... Exactly what is this all about?" He said, looking at the other two.
###
At that moment, Sly and The Guru had snuck over to the back door of Grimm's house. In order to sneak across, The Guru used his magic to change him and Sly into something inconspicuous once they stood still. Once they moved, Sly used an old technique to turn himself invisible. The Guru turned invisible also as he was on Sly's back.
They stood by the door, Sly listening to the conversation with his ear to the door.
"They're not doing anything... Just talking." Sly thought.
The Guru nodded, having read Sly's thoughts. He put a hand on the raccoon's back, silently suggesting that he should relax.
Sly sighed and nodded, relaxing his shoulders as he continued to listen.
###
"You're joking..." Grimm said without a smile on his face. "You're just going to hand it over? No tricks?"
Bentley shook his head. "Not hand it over, per se..." he pointed to the silver necklace on the table. "It's right there for you to pick it up."
Grimm slowly picked up the pendant by the necklace. "I haven't seen this in years... So many years..." Grimm slowly raised his hands, sliding the necklace over his neck, letting the silver metal clank softly against his chest. "I missed it so much..."
"Now, Grimm..." Bentley started, but a look from Grimm's blue eyes stopped him. Penelope, however, was in awe... His eyes looked duller when they first met... Now they were a vibrant midnight blue. What was going on?
"Bentley and Penelope, correct?" he asked, receiving two nods. "Hmm... Your uniforms... They're quite odd..."
"Odd? How?" Penelope asked, looking at their orange shirts.
Grimm did not answer. Instead, he searched the small pile of papers on the table for something.
"Odd... As if I had seen them before..."
"Well, you did meet Rob earlier..." Bentley joked.
Grimm did not acknowledge the joke as he abruptly stood and walked over to something covered by a bed sheet. Penelope was able to plug Bentley's nose before Grimm pulled the sheet off, revealing a bookcase.
"Bentley... Look..." Penelope said, letting go of his nose as the dust settled.
The wolf responded in the German expression after Bentley sneezed loudly in response to some of the dust.
"Danke." Bentley mumbles, his eyes watering.
Grimm turned back to the bookshelf, pulling out random books and pages before replacing them.
Bentley turned to Penelope. "Look at what? I see a dusty shelf and a German wolf." he whispers.
Grimm scoffs and replies without looking at them. "My name is not German... It never has been."
"A German-speaking wolf, then..." Bentley mumbled to himself. Penelope whispered back quieter and directly into his ear. "No, not that... The cane..." She was referring to the wooden cane that was leaning against the couch. Grimm was a few feet away, standing on two legs without it.
"That... that means... nothing." he stammered.
They both gasped in unison as Grimm balanced on one foot while he idly scratches the back of his leg with the other.
They both jumped when Grimm exclaimed happily. His voice had a deep and rich tone... Not dry and raspy like that of an elder... Not like he did a few minutes ago...
The answer was simple... Impossible, but simple... Grimm Hund was getting younger.
###
Sly waited at the door for a signal... For a shout... For a noise... "It's quiet in there... Too quiet... Something's wrong... We've gotta go now!" Sly said softly. He was stopped by The Guru, who slowly shook his head. "Not yet? Why not?"
The Guru softly voiced his reasoning.
"Not time yet? It's the perfect time..."
The Guru shook his head again, making Sly groan. "Fine..."
###
Grimm had found a folder of papers in the bookshelf. He opened it and examined the first item.
"Yes... That's it..." he said in soft tone, looking back at the two that were still sitting by the coffee table.
Grimm walked the few feet back to the couch effortlessly and sat back down, still holding the folder in his hand. When the old couch screeched in protest to the change in weight, the cane slid off the arm of the couch and fell nosily to the ground. That was a moment of eerie silence after that as both parties look at the inanimate object. They all stared at the wooden cane, expecting it to do something.
"He has to know now... Something's different... He knows it now, right?" Bentley thought. Grimm now had a body of someone in their youthful prime. He was more of a physical threat than before...
Grimm shrugged it off. "Piece of junk... I can walk a few feet without that old stick." He flashed Bentley and Penelope a grin. They responded with shy smiles.
Grimm cleared his throat, bringing all of them back to the subject at hand. "Now... Would you two mind answering a question before we continue?"
Both of them nodded slowly.
"Fantastic... My question to you is this: Who are you?" Grimm looked at them sincerely, his vibrant blue eyes staring directly at them.
"Pardon? We told you our names. I'm Bentley and this is Penelope." The turtle said, feeling a sense of dread.
The wolf growled slightly, a growl that revealed his very sharp canine teeth. "How can I be sure that you are trust-worthy?"
"We... gave you the necklace back. We mean no harm, honestly." Penelope said in her tiny mouse voice.
"Tell me your intentions then... Who do you work for? FBI? CIA?" Grimm paused for a minute, putting emphasis on his next guess. "Interpol?"
Bentley gulped and stammered. "Not... at all... We... work for LockerUp, remember? Our t-shirts-"
Bentley was cut off abruptly by an irritated wolf. "It's a lie! I know it. See for yourself." With that, Grimm slammed the folder down onto the table, making Bentley sneeze in response to the dust cloud that it created.
Grimm's friendliness was non-existent as he stared directly at them, not acknowledging Bentley's sneeze like he did before. The two of them cycled between looking at the folder, each other, and Grimm. "Open it," the wolf said, sounding more like an order than anything else.
###
Sly had been waiting for the opportune moment. Hearing Grimm's voice raise against his friends was the last straw.
"That's it, we gotta go now! They might need help!"
The Guru quickly nodded in agreement as he sensed the wolf's growing anger.
With that, Sly attempted to open the backdoor that was still locked. When he was unsuccessful, The Guru made an attempt. He used his telekinesis to turn the deadbolt to the unlocked position. However, the Guru concentrated with all of his effort to do so.
Sly looked over at the koala as the door was finally unlocked. "Getting rusty, old-timer?" Sly said, receiving a head-shake and the first half of an explanation.
The raccoon didn't bother to listen to the rest as he crept into the house. He and the Guru were hidden by a spell that again made them something inconspicuous until they moved.
They listened and waited, the Guru silently concentrating on calming the wolf down.
###
Bentley and Penelope looked through the file folder. Inside was Grimm's proof that they weren't telling the exact truth. There was a newspaper article about a recent company's disappearance from the public. Noise complaints from their alarm tests and sales returns on alarms that had been silenced simply by smashing them to pieces had driven the company to bankruptcy. That company was the very same company that the Cooper Gang used as their alias. Grimm knew that their cover-story was a lie. He wasn't happy about it either.
"So who do you work for? The only way that you would get my necklace back is if you had contact with Interpol. They handled my case and locked me up in prison."
"Mr. Hund... We don't work with any police force. We're actually fugitives ourselves. We just know an agent in Interpol. Inspector Carmelita-"
"-Carmelita Fox... I know her..." Grimm said silently, feeling his mind shift to a calmer state. "She recently set up an interview with me..."
"We may know someone else that you know. It's inspector Fox's supervisor, Inspector James Barkley."
"James... He was the one that came to me that night... The night that I escaped... It was such a long time since anyone had shown me kindness..." Grimm sat down on the couch, his tail drooping.
"And we're trying to show as much respect as Inspector Barkley did that day." Penelope had gotten up and sat next to the wolf before Bentley can stop her. She hesitated for a moment before rubbing his back softly.
"You are? But... It doesn't make any sense. If you're not with the police, and not with the security company, who are you with?"
"We're our own gang of thieves." Sly said, approaching the wolf before he could be stopped.
"A gang of thieves?" Grimm looked up at Sly, not showing any reaction other than a shy smile. "Why would you help an insignificant like me?"
"Do you know the tale of Robin Hood?" Sly asked, receiving a nod and a wider smile from the wolf. "We steal from those that commit crimes. It looked like you had something that was taken from you."
Grimm chuckled. "I'm guessing your real name isn't Rob, then? Would be kind of a cliché in itself, huh?"
"No, but it's close enough!" Sly laughed with the wolf. "It's Sly, Sly Cooper."
Sly spoke before he thought... It was too late to stop what was about to happen.
"C... Cooper?" Grimm stuttered as his blue eyes went wide. He quickly turned away as his body shook in spasms. Penelope removed her hand and slid away from the wolf.
Bentley was the next to speak. 'Mr. Hund? Are... you okay?"
The wolf looked up and glared at Bentley. His once-friendly blue eyes were now a soulless red. Bentley gasped as he saw the color. His eyes weren't bloodshot red... It didn't look like Grimm wore red contacts, no... They looked as if they glowed in that color.
The glowing-red eyes lacked the kindness and innocence that they did a few moments ago. Grimm's face looked menacing, but it also showed signs of struggle. He was fighting something that was trying to change him. Grimm began screaming and clutched at the loose robe that he wore. He desperately pulled at it, tearing it to shreds. As the team could now see, metal plates had begun to form on the surface of his chest, covering his vital organs. His arms and legs were showing this change, also covered in a metallic shell. The struggling wolf stood shakily, groaning in agonizing pain as his tail and back soon became armor-plated. He had his face buried in his palms, the sounds of pain slowly becoming silent as the metal spread like an infectious disease to his head. His ears, hairline, and neck were covered in a metal layer. The Cooper Gang stood as still and silent as Grimm did, watching him.
"Cooper... I know that name..." The voice that said this was metallic, echoing, and sounded nothing like the happy-go-lucky wolf that they knew. The voice itself, sounded eerily familiar.
Slowly, the wolf lowered his hands. One look could tell that even the palms of his hands were metallic now, but no one was looking at his hands to confirm that. The wolf's face was covered in a metallic contraption that had the ability to adjust and show facial expressions. Right now, Grimm was smiling. His lips parted slightly to reveal sharp, titanium teeth. His eyes were mostly black, with an eerie red glow for the iris.
"My master knew that name..." Grimm said in that cold, robotic voice. No one took any notice when he made a single step closer to them. "He hated that name for years..." Once the team had realized that Grimm was stepping towards them, they were stepping back. "... I now share that hatred... That jealousy..."
It was up until this point that the Cooper Gang had been silently watching. Sly was the first to break the silence.
"Bentley? Any ideas?" The raccoon said, not losing eye contact with Grimm.
"Um... Working on it..." Bentley said, time slowing for him as his intellect worked to devise a plan. His eyes rapidly shifted to various objects in the room, determining their usefulness. Bentley saw the bookcase first, turning that plan down as paper cuts and splinters would do nothing to a cybernetic wolf. The couches were next for consideration and quickly dismissed. Bentley was not about to start a pillow-fight. The last object was rather large and dangling for Bentley to see. It was an incredibly large chandelier that had been dangling over their heads. It used iron as the framework and was barely connected to the support beam that it dangled from.
"Gotta love those clichés..." Bentley thought, selecting the chandelier as the weapon.
Before he could speak, he was dragged backwards and brought back to reality. Penelope had pulled him away just in time to avoid a lunge from a seven-foot-tall, metal wolf. The lunge was not targeted for them, however. Sly was able to swiftly dodge a steel fist that would've performed an uppercut to his stomach. The metal fist caught in the hook of Sly's cane, allowing for a brief moment to push Grimm backwards a few feet.
The wolf regained his footing and took a step towards Sly, who rewarded him with a blow to the side of his face.
When they were far enough away, Penelope leaned down to scold Bentley, who was busy with something else.
On his hologram projector, Bentley had made a presentation of his plan for her to view. The plan was well-described, mentioning scientific jargon and random numbers that both Bentley and Penelope can understand.
"... With the applied force of at least 20,000 lbs. on this support beam, it should dislodge the chandelier from its housing. The weight of the chandelier would immobilize him." Bentley said, explaining it quickly.
"20,000 pounds? You can't set off a controlled explosion in this environment."
Bentley shook his head. "I was thinking about impact force."
"Can you two hurry up? I'm tired of whacking this tin can around!" Sly cried out, striking multiple blows on the wolf before he could counter them, sending the wolf sprawling into the coffee table when he was done. The table was no match for the change in weight, cracking and falling apart immediately.
Penelope nodded and pulled Bentley's wheelchair aside. "Impact force, I know what you mean. I have an idea."
"Like I said, hurry up!" Sly shouted again, seeing Grimm begin to move again.
###
Murray had started to walk to Grimm's home, intending to teach the old dog something about not attacking his friends.
Before he could barge into the door, his Binocucom had been activated; a panicking turtle was on the other end of the conversation.
"..."
There was too much static for Murray to understand what Bentley was saying. He was about to march double-time towards the house when the GPS unit on the van had turned on. This caught the hippo's attention and directed him to it. The GPS was telling him to turn around and drive to an area less than a quarter-mile away. The voice of the GPS was Penelope's. Murray didn't question it and drove to the location, where directions told him to turn around, but to also stay in this spot.
###
"Murray? Can you hear me? Murray?" The line cut off abruptly as Bentley had turned to Penelope. She was already busy with something, entering numbers into Bentley's holographic prompt.
Bentley watched the numbers, finding a pattern it them. "That's... incredible!" He said, amazed by what she was doing. She had accessed the GPS unit on the van and activated it, sending coordinates to a location that was far enough for Murray to accelerate to optimal velocity. "Sly, Plan B is in effect, get some cover!" He shouted, searching for a place to hide him and Penelope.
Sly turned and nodded, turning back to his opponent. The metal wolf was on all fours, crawling towards the couches. Sly smirked in amusement when the wolf reached for his cane and tried to stand.
Sly stepped closer, taunting Grimm. "What's the matter, old timer? Out of breath?"
Grimm glared with those red eyes, but smiled at the raccoon. "I was worried that you'd be dead before things got interesting..."
Sly continued the one-liner battle. "Interesting? It's boring trying fighting an elder. The metal skin just makes you crunch more."
Grimm was now standing on two feet, the cane by his side. "You underestimate me... Doing so will be your grave." As the wolf stood, the metal hand that gripped the cane snapped the wooden handle off and let the rest of it fall to the ground.
Sly grinned wildly. "Aww... The doggy broke his stick. So what now, buddy?"
Grimm growled in response, but showed another smile again. "Depends... Can you follow the birdy?" With that, Grimm tossed the cane piece up into the air, directing Sly's attention for a brief moment as he followed it as it fell back to earth. The wolf took this short opportunity to act, picking up and swinging the long, wooden pole at Sly. Sly couldn't react fast enough and was struck in the side, sending him sprawling to the side. Grimm continued with an uppercut-like-attack with the pole to Sly's chin, knocking him back even farther. Sly had enough time to confirm that nothing was broken, but he had been bruised for sure. When he looked up, Grimm was holding the cane as a spear, directing the splintered (and now sharp) end at Sly. Grimm made his next more, leaping from the back of the couch and directing the sharp end of the cane downwards.
###
Murray had been waiting as he revved the engine of the van. He was aimed directly for the living room of the house, the GPS told him precisely where to be. Murray was taken back at this moment to when he raced the Cooper Van multiple times for keys. Now, he had both hands gripped on the wheel, his foot teasing the gas pedal every-so-often. The van was in drive and Murray was ready. One foot revved the engine, while the other held the brake petal down. The GPS, however, was silent. Murray will get the green light when they are ready. He knew that the racers weren't the one's giving the signal. He never stopped his manipulations on the gas pedal. He always wanted to be ready.
###
Penelope gave the thumbs up to Bentley, who looked to see his friend, Sly, roll away in the nick of time to avoid a spear attack. The wood of the cane was newer and stronger than the wooden floor, allowing it to pierce and lodge itself into the older wood. Sly now had a moment to counter-attack, kicking at Grimm as hard as he can. The wolf staggered back, letting the pole stay as it was. When Grimm regained his footing, The Guru took this moment to attack, leaping onto the wolf's shoulders.
Grimm, however, was not as fond of piggy-back as much as The Guru's normal targets were. The small koala was trying his hardest to restrain Grimm's anger. Grimm was not stopping; he was determined to succeed with his mission.
The Guru had understood that his efforts were unsuccessful and quickly aborted, jumping off of the wolf and onto the couch.
Sly had taken this moment to charge, swinging with a downward slash with his cane. Grimm had enough time to crouch and retrieve his cane from the floor, blocking Sly's attack before it could connect.
The two of them were in a locked battle, using strength against strength. Sly might be lean and lightly-muscular, but there was no way that he could overpower a taller, stronger, metal wolf. Throughout their battle, Grimm forced Sly back so that he could transition into a kneeling position. Grimm then managed to stand, still locked with Sly and forcing him to take a step back.
"Farewell... Sly Cooper."
With that, Grimm kicked Sly hard in the stomach, sending him crashing into the large bookshelf behind him. Books and shelves collapsed onto the floor with Sly following suit amongst the debris. Sly simply lay there, appearing to be unconscious. Penelope ran to help, but Bentley pulled her back just in time. The bookshelf had been significantly damaged from Sly crashing into it. It fell forward for Bentley and Penelope to witness in horror. The bookshelf fell on top of Sly, covering him and the rest of the debris. Grimm smiled at the fallen piece of furniture, looking amused and content. He turned towards Bentley and Penelope, who were huddled together in the middle of the living area.
"Bentley... What do we do?"
###
The GPS in the van gave an alert, followed by directions as to his destination. Murray didn't think twice to read them. He knew exactly where he was headed. All he cared about was that the GPS had a green icon on it. This was Murray's green-light. He floored the gas pedal and released the break, sending a 2-ton machine towards the flimsy wooden house. It was only a matter of seconds...
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Those seconds dragged on for an incredible amount of time. Penelope held Bentley tightly by the waist as the turtle frantically hit keys on his chair. Grimm stepped closer, wooden 'spear' in hand. The Guru stepped out from behind Bentley's wheelchair, giving a last-minute disapproval of the plan.
"Hold on tight, you two, and don't let go!" Bentley shouted, his finger raised above one of the buttons. The Guru gripped the back of the chair, holding on as Penelope did the same by climbing into Bentley's lap and hugging him tightly. She mumbled something, but it went unheard as Grimm stood before them. He brought his cane up with two hands, pointing the jagged end downward at the trio. Grimm lunged and Bentley swiftly reversed, the cane embedding itself in the wood floor again. Bentley then rocketed forward, over Grimm and behind the couch where they all cowered behind it as a shield. The wolf looked utterly stunned and was about to pursue them when he could sense something large and more dangerous heading directly for him. Murray was driving the van as he was instructed to, crashing into the building and into a support beam. The initial impact knocked Grimm off of his feet. Murray backed the van out of the building before the chandelier snapped from its support and fell. Grimm had no time to react and could only watch the chandelier fall on top of him.
The building was silent for several minutes.
"Is everyone okay?"
Bentley rolled his chair from behind the couch, looking at the carnage as glass crunched under his wheels. There was a massive ball of bent iron in the center of the room, a gaping hole in the wall. Penelope was still clinging to Bentley, finally looking up at the mayhem.
"Did I get 'em?" Murray said, getting out of the van and walking to them.
"Looks like it... I think that did the trick." Bentley said, looking over the mess of metal.
Penelope remembered something and got off of Bentley, running to the fallen bookcase. "Sly's under here! He might be hurt!"
Murray walked over to the bookcase and lifted it effortlessly, revealing the still raccoon underneath.
"Is he...?" Penelope stuttered, fearing the worst.
The Guru trotted over and said nothing as he nudged Sly's body with his staff. The reaction that they got put everyone's mind at ease.
"No... Mommy... Five more minutes... I don't wanna go to school today..." Sly said, rolling over onto his side into a natural sleeping position, a grin appearing on his face.
Sly kept up the joke for a few seconds before 'waking up' and looking at his team, crawling out from under the bookcase so that Murray can set it down. He smiled and stood, proofing that he was unharmed.
"But... How... I... You..." Normally, Bentley would be the one stuttering at a time like this, but these words came from Penelope. Sly simply turned to Bentley and smiled, receiving a smile in return from the turtle.
Penelope scoffed and looked at the two grinning at each other. "You knew he would be okay, didn't you?"
"Just something that I almost forgot..." Bentley smirked, rolling over to Sly. "You found Evy, huh?" Bentley asked, earning a smile and a nod.
A few seconds of thinking it over left Penelope with a smirk on her face. "'Fastest Evy'... an acronym for 'safety vest'... You should've told me..."
"I only meant to take precaution... The fear had to be there so that Grimm would be convinced that Sly had been removed from the picture."
"So... we have a hole in the wall and a pile of rubble on the floor... What did I miss?" Murray asked, confused.
This made the rest of the gang chuckle. "Not much, Murray." Sly pulled off his sweater and allowed Bentley to examine the damage that the vest had absorbed.
"Good thing that you were wearing it... You took a few heavy blows to the torso."
"Yeah... Same here. Hey, can you unbuckle it for me? It's getting kind of uncomfortable wearing this thing."
"Sure. I need to repair it in case we need to ever use it again." Bentley unhooked the vest and allowed Sly to slip out of it. Sly sighed in relief before slipping his sweater over his light-gray t-shirt and smoothing it out.
The team heard groaning and shifting metal nearby. The metal artwork that was before them had made the noise and was starting to move.
"Hund? He's alive? But how? Brace yourselves, this fight may not be over..." Sly readied his stance, now regretting that he took off the vest.
"This fight... is over... And you... are the victor..." The rich and soft voice of a wolf that they once knew was heard. Bentley looked over to Murray and nodded, before Murray stepped over to clear the metal debris. Murray saw the wolf and pulled him out of the wreckage and up onto his feet. Grimm was falling in and out of consciousness and couldn't stand on his own.
There was something different... Grimm no longer had a metallic exoskeleton. The vibrant color of his fur as well as torn pieces of a black robe was all that could be seen about the wolf. His bushy tail dangled and twitched lightly as Murray held him by the collar.
"What are we gonna do with him?" Murray asked, staring at the wolf who struggled to keep his eyes open.
Sly reflexively turned his head to the sound of police sirens, his ears raised in alert.
"Bentley... An escape plan would be great about now."
Bentley did have an escape plan, and a plan of what to do with Grimm. It might have been a bad plan, but it was all that he had.
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