Hey there guys! So we're finally into Prague! Whoohoo! I'm really excited for what's coming up during these next two levels.
Contessa walked down the long narrow hallway between the cells. Her red eyes roamed over the area, locking on prisoners as she passed. Over the years she'd had many criminals that had taken time to crack, but for the three months she'd actually had consistent access to Sly Cooper and Murray neither had broken. She paused in front of Sly's cell and looked at the disheveled raccoon.
Sly in turn glared at her. He'd gotten into a fight, again, and the fresh bruises were layered on over the ones from the previous fight's he'd gotten into. He ached and barely had the energy to stand, yet alone deal with another visit from the mad scientist warden. Contessa stared at him as if trying to determine the answers to the universe.
"Come to feed me more spice?" He asked, voice rough around the edges from hours of silence. She ignored him for several minutes. Cooper had a strong mind, and a will stronger than most. The Contessa liked challenges. They made her think, look at things from different angles, and yet this was once problem she'd yet to find a solution for. She'd figured out how she would circumvent Josephina's defenses, how she would break Carmelita, and even how to worm her way into Murray's mind, but everything she'd thought of for Cooper had failed.
She sighed and motioned for the guard following her to give Sly his dinner. "I'll see you for our next session, Mr. Cooper... I look forward to delving into your family memories."
"Great doc." He said. "We done now? Can I eat in peace?" Contessa grimaced and turned away from him. As she walked she mulled over every option she could think of. She paused at another cell, this one with a solid metal door. She opened the door with a scream of metal and grinned at the black fox inside. A muzzle had been placed around her mouth, and her orange eyes blazed with hatred at she locked eyes with Contessa. The fox was bound tightly in a straight jacket and a thick collar kept her from moving too far from the back wall.
"Ah, Ms. Vollan... How are we feeling today?" The guard stepped forward and removed the muzzle cautiously, leaping back as Hel glared at him.
"Oh Contessa, I'm fine." Hel grinned her long hair falling into her eyes as she tilted her head. "I'm quite comfortable." Contessa smirked
"A pity. Here I was hoping you'd decided to give up this silly notion of escaping and magic..." The fox chuckled.
"You use magic yourself... I've seen it. Just give me the crazy pills and my dinner... I'm not really in the mood for talking." Her tail flicked over the concrete floor and she glanced at the guard. "Come on sweetie, I won't bite you... this time."
The guard looked to the Contessa and she nodded for him to give her the medication and food. Hel chuckled again. The guards were her only source of entertainment in this place, and she enjoyed getting into their heads. She was used to people fearing her for her abilities, and by playing on those fears she'd managed to keep herself sane. Of course it would only be a matter of time before the Contessa found a way into her head, the witch had been trying to dig into her past and drag her memories out. Contessa returned to her rounds silently. She sighed and rubbed her temple with a claw. It was going to be a long night, she'd be up all night thinking about what she could do.
Driving to Prague took nearly three days. During that time Tris worked on gathering information on the prison and city so that by the time they arrived, she had a found a place to stay. An old abandoned building only a few blocks outside the prison.
"We set up and then we'll need to split up and start gathering intel..." Bentley said, fists clenched around the steering wheel. Tris nodded and looked back at Damian. The langar had temporarily joined them, his agility far above Bentley or Tris' own. "That goes for all of us. I'll set you up with a thief mask, and binocucom and give you a list of things we need before we can come up with a proper plan..." Damian nodded.
"Sounds good. Just let me know what I can do to help." He said.
"Thanks for coming along." Tris said softly.
"We can't let criminals like Neyla get away with false imprisonment. Besides, it's not like either of you is what you could call athletic. You'll need my help if you don't want to get caught." He smirked, sounding very sure of himself, cocky even. Tris bit back a snicker as Bentley rolled his eyes and pulled to a stop in the alleyway behind the building Tris had directed him to. In the six months it had taken them to find the correct location of his friends, Bentley had changed. He'd become more assertive, less timid and more determined as the days went by. Especially in the three days it'd taken to get to Prague. He double checked his crossbow and nodded as he climbed from the driver's seat and into the back.
He dug through a box and produced two plain binocucoms and two masks. "Here, you'll need these. They have cameras and video communication, but just in case," He passed them each an earpiece. "You'll need these." They nodded. "Let's go." Tris flicked her bangs from her eyes and adjusted her glasses.
"I'll look around the far side of the prison, see if I can't find a way inside that doesn't include getting arrested." Damian said.
"I'll take the village, see what's available." Tris said.
"And I'll take the Contessa's estate..." Bentley said with a nod. "Let's meet back here in an hour." They nodded and made their way from the van. Damian made his way up to the outer wall of the prison, walking around it in silence. He snapped several pictures as discretely as possible as he walked along. He paused as he found a wood covered hole and grinned before he pried it open and slid into the prison yard.
Tris quietly slid through town. It had been a while since she'd done any real fieldwork. She roamed through the village, snapping pictures of the lightning rods on many of the roofs, and several monitors that she recognized as security stations.
"The Contessa is on patrol. Repeat, the Contessa is on patrol." Bentley said over the airwaves. Damian pressed against the wall, as he heard the sound of the Contessa passing above him on the wall.
"I'm right beneath her, what should I do?" Damian asked sounding unsure.
"Get out of there..." Tris said.
"No, wait. She seems to be talking to herself... your Binocucom has a mic, if you can get close enough to her the mic will pick up anything she says." Bentley said. Damian swallowed hard and stared at the shadow of the spider woman. He could hear her muttering to herself as she passed overhead.
"I'm not sure I can do that..." He said barely even trying to keep the shaking out of his voice.
"We might be able to find out where she's keeping Sly and Murray."
"Or Josephina? We're here for her and my team too, remember?" Tris said rolling of her eyes.
"Right..." Bentley flushed and sighed. Damian hung his head, gathered his courage and slid up the stairs.
The Contessa seemed rather distracted as she talked to herself.
"The Klaww Gang is falling apart." She muttered. "Spice shipments have all but stopped..." She scoffed. "At least the Cooper Gang is under lock and key. Their lopsided morality flies in the face of man's inherent selfishness." She turned and continued to walk along the wall, oblivious to the follower she'd gained. "And that Sly Cooper, such a complex and rebellious mind. A month or two in the hole should break his spirit. Let him squat there, week after week... He's seen that the guards along the wall, all have motion detectors. There is no escape. Slowly the reality of his capture will set in, and I'll get to work in his mind. Then there is that fox... Hel... If it weren't for her magic I'd have crushed her mind by now. A few more days of medication should weaken her enough for me to break her will."
She smirked. "And of course there's those fools at Interpol. They keep sending me criminals and I keep making money! How come no one's thought of this before? Hypnotize criminals and force them to tell me where they've hidden their loot! I'm a genius! If only I had more spice to help me with the hypnosis..." She thought about what little spice she still had. Since Rajan was now sitting in a cell in India there was no one making spice for the Klaww Gang. "Especially with the Cooper Gang... I can only imagine the wealth that gang has accumulated, even with only five years under their belt, I'm sure that they've got plenty of loot just waiting for the taking... And Cooper's family line! I could retire!"
Damian grimaced at her giddy and greedy tone as she leapt away from the wall and began walking through the courtyard. "She's no health care professional! She's a monster!" Bentley cried. "She puts inmates into hypnosis so they'll tell her where they've stashed their loot!"
"I've seen some bad people but this dishonors both law enforcement and thieves at the same time. We need to put a stop to this!"
"I agree."
"Let's get back to the hideout and come up with a plan..."
The Hole was a very aptly named. It was quite literally a hole, with a metal cover and door. Like a tiny bunker. Sly had just enough room to stand and look out the small slot at the wall, and enough space to walk two steps backwards and two steps to either side of the slot, and he'd been in it for three days. He sat and scratched a mark in the dirt floor to mark the day's passing with a sigh.
"So, Mr. Cooper, are you ready to cooperate yet?" The Contessa's voice was muffled but distinctive even through the slot. He didn't answer, just glared at the wall in front of him. "Very well, stay there and rot until you are willing to talk with me."
Sly scoffed softly as he heard her leave. He was just glad it was dark in the hole. It was bright lights that made his head hurt, the darkness was like an old friend compared to some of the rooms inside the actual prison. He groaned out of boredom, and tapped his head on the wall behind him. The only thing he could do at this point was sleep.
"This is impossible. Without some kind of blueprint, we're never going to be able to find them." Tris said, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her palm. They sat around the small folding table Bentley had brought in from the van, staring at what little information they had.
"Well I'm not sure where those would be... The Contessa doesn't exactly carry them around..." Bentley said with a sigh. "She could have an office inside the prison or in her estate... We need time and we don't have that."
"She mentioned that there's motion detectors on the walls... We'll have to take those out before we do anything." Tris groaned and put her head on the table. They were, it seemed, back a square one, with more questions than when they'd arrived.
"My bombs aren't strong enough to deal with the walls themselves, so we'll need to come up with another option for getting into the yard."
"We'd need high grade explosives, which I no longer have any contacts for."
"What about the train?" Bentley and Tris jumped slightly and turned to look at Damian. He hadn't spoken in at least an hour, silently nodding as the two bantered.
"The train?"
"Sure. It's strong enough, self propelled by the electromagnetic railing..." He shrugged. "It might work as a projectile if you can figure out how to get it into the wall."
"Electromagnetic railing, self propelled so we don't have to worry about a driver..." Tris nodded. "It could work, we just have to get a train sche-"
"Already downloaded one on my phone..." He passed his phone over to them.
"That still doesn't help us get blueprints for the prison."
"No but if we can get those then we at least have a plan for getting through that wall..." Tris said. "What if we each took a place to search? Damian could go inside, request to see the warden... Bentley could take the Contessa's house, and I'll follow her around and buy you guys time to search both places..."
"That could work!" Bentley said, tapping his chin.
"Then let's get started. Like you said we need time and that's something we don't have a lot of." Tris stood and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder and nodding to Bentley. "You trust me?"
"You would have turned me in ages ago if you were going to. I trust you." He said with a nod.
They split up again, each taking up their positions. Tris found the Contessa patroling a few blocks from the prison. She took a deep breath and followed in silence, watching the spider walk slowly through the streets.
Bentley once again braved the path to the Contessa's estate. The gothic mansion itself wasn't so bad, but the tank that patrolled around it made him nervous. He bolted behind the tank and up to the door, adjusting his glasses as he looked over the lock. It was rather complex, and he had no doubt that there was an alarm system, but he was prepared for it. He quietly picked the lock and slipped inside. The house was dark, even with the light streaming in through the windows. All blacks and darkwoods and deep rich reds and purples. Bentley felt like he'd stepped into a funeral home.
He quietly began to search the house, yelping as he came face to face with a massive rottweiler. He scrambled back in panic, staring at the dog. When it didn't move he realized that it was in fact a taxidermied animal. He grimaced and calmed his racing heart with several deep breaths. "I will never understand that..." He muttered.
Damian followed the guard nervously as he was led through the halls of the prison. He was rather nervous. "Ms. Contessa is out on patrol but you can wait in her office until she returns." The guard said, looking down his beak at him as he opened the office door. "Don't touch anything."
Damian nodded and stepped inside. He looked around, noticing the camera in the corner with a small sigh. The door closed and he waited several minutes before sliding the chair under the door knob and swiftly disconnected the camera. He tore through both the computer files and the hard copies.
"I'm probably gonna have to get out of here in a hurry and hopefully not die but I've got half of a blue print." He said, glancing over at the door.
"Reconnect the camera, replace the chair and sit down, hide the print in your jacket before you do." Tris said softly.
"How did-"
"I was a spy Damian, it's typical procedure. Just do it and you'll get out of there just fine." Bentley frowned. He didn't know much about her but he hadn't expected that.
He rummaged through the Contessa's desk, frown deepening as he searched the drawers and files in it. He nodded as he pulled the second half of the blueprints from a folder. "I've got the second half. Let's get planning."
Damian had barely been able to keep up with the conversation since they'd returned to the hideout. Bentley and Trista threw ideas back and forth like rockets, dismantling each idea before it reached them.
"That wouldn't work either, the wall is structurally unstable but on a cliff, no way to get to it." Tris said, scribbling out another note as she pointed to the area she was talking about.
"Then what about this section here?" Bentley asked, circling another area on the transparent copy he'd made.
"It's near the hole... with the right trajectory we might be able to hit it with the train..." Tris tapped her chin. "It could work... but we still have to deal with the guards on the wall and their motion detectors." She grinned. "It'll take some coordinating but I think we can pull it off with a little polishing."
Damian nodded. "Sound's like we've got a plan." He said with a grin.
"I think so. Now for the fine details." Tris said with a nod as she scribbled out some quick rough math. "Thoughts on how we can deal with those guards?"
"RC chopper." Bentley said, snapping.
"Do you know how to fly one of those? Because I'm a hacker not an RC specialist..."
"I've done plenty of jobs requiring skill with RC vehicles." He said with a nod. "I can use it to take out the guards no problem."
"Then I'll hack the train. I'm positive I can get the trajectory right."
"Alright. Now we just need to make sure we get the timing right."
"Oh I also grabbed this..." Damian said, sliding a folder over to Bentley.
"A copy of the patrol routes and schedules for the prisoners... This will help us get the timing down." Bentley said. Damian grinned and sat back.
"No problem." He said.
So there we go. Hope you guys enjoyed it! I'll see you again soon for the next chapter in this dark and spooky level. Now if only this coincided with Halloween... oh well...