Bentley stayed up all night adjusting his plans for getting into Dr. M's island. He went through mountains of paper and notepad's figuring out what else they would need. He eventually came to the conclusion that they'll need someone who can handle airborne security and he wasn't an expert in the area. An idea soon popped into his head of an old friend he used to talk to.
Penelope, a robotics engineer who specialized in anything and everything airborne, came into thought. Bentley has been talking to her for months now and met through their shared interest in engineering. He didn't hesitate to get back into contact with her and spark their interest together. Messages went back and forth between them and Bentley became invested into it once again. "She's amazing…" He quietly stated while typing away. A hand found its way to his shoulder, making him jump from the touch.
He turned his head and gasped when he saw Chaz standing behind him. Chaz gave a reassuring smile and patted his shoulder. "Bentley, you have to rest." Chaz calmly said. He simply ignored Chaz and turned back around to continue typing. Chaz questioned the dismissal and gazed over at the computer screen.
He began reading the replies and put on a cheek to cheek smile. "Oooh! I see, I see. Is she the one?" Chaz asked, making Bentley shoot upwards in embarrassment. He tried thinking of an excuse but couldn't muster one up. His face became flushed as he saw Chaz reading through their messages. "So-?" Chaz asked. "She's perfect! She's smart, talented, good with technology, smart, talented, beautiful, smart..." Bentley abruptly stated before drifting off.
Chaz smiled from his response and continued on. "Oh? Is she now?" Chaz raised his eyebrows as he continued to read the conversation. An idea soon came to his head after reading through more of the responses. "Wait… ask her to help us! She sounds like she knows a lot about this airborne technology stuff." Chaz said enthusiastically. "R-really? I didn't think of that…" Bentley responded back.
Messages continued back and forth and she eventually denied the invitation, stating she only works for the best. Chaz and Bentley sighed at the response and began to turn from the table. Right as their backs were to the table, a beep from the computer alarmed the two. A message from Penelope showed up on the screen stating that she may be up for a bit of a challenge. She's proposed that the team came and took the ACES competition to prove their worth. Bentley quickly accepted the deal and told the gang about his interaction.
They took another flight out to Holland and quickly got to work after learning of the ACES competition. Bentley and Murray reconstructed an airplane to use for the competition all while Chaz and Sly roamed the town stealing the necessities for their stay here. They also volunteered to take Guru around to historical sights while they explored.
Days passed and it was finally all together. Bentley called the group over to show them the messages between Penelope and him. They both exchanged final flirty messages to each other and ended with a photo of them. Chaz noticed that the photos didn't look so legit and laughed under his breath while whispering to Sly.
It was finally the start of their missions in Holland. Sly and Chaz gathered their gear and met up with Bentley in their planning room. Bentley didn't waste any time telling them their mission. "Do you think you two can scout the lobby area? I've received intel that Dimitri was an announcer for the games this year. Maybe he has more use for us." Bentley told the two. They both nodded back and put on their flight outfits they stole.
While they were putting on their outfits, Sly could make out Chaz staring at him. He smirked widely before raising an eyebrow. "Something caught your eye?" Sly asked. Chaz nodded then began slowly walking over to stand front of him. He put both his hands on his chest and looked up. "Looking good, Sly." Chaz said with a seductive voice. "Oh?" Sly kept his eyebrow raised while looking down to Chaz.
A moment of silence developed before Chaz began running his fingers lightly across Sly's jacket. "I don't know what to say…" Chaz paused before looking into Sly's eyes. "Besides that you still don't know how to dress properly. The jacket has to be buttoned up, the nametag straight, did you not iron your pants-" Sly rolled his eyes as Chaz lectured him on his look. "Other than that you did alright. You ready?" Sly zoned back into the conversation and nodded his head.
They made their way out of the hideout and to the club entrance right next door. Immediately upon entering into the hideout, they were presented with a welcome from the staff working. Classic music played through the building and the place had a very fancy aesthetic to it. Red carpets led the way to the dining area and were further decorated with pots with roses, chandeliers hanging from above, and low hanging ceiling fans.
Sly noticed Chaz singing along to the classic music playing. "Da, da, da da, da, da, da, daaa, da da." Chaz sang while shifting his heads to the side along with beat. They eventually reached the dining area and looked below while holding on to the railings. Their earpiece turned on to project a voice. "If we want to succeed in this year's ACES competition, we'll need to know who we're flying against." They continued to make their way downstairs to the area while listening to Bentley.
"Try to find Dimitri and grab some intel from him. It won't be easy, but it's a huge advantage. Good luck." Bentley ended the call. Chaz quickly spotted a familiar purple lizard standing behind a bar stand. Chaz tugged on your Sly's jacket to get his attention. "Over there, at the bar!" Chaz calls out, making Sly peak over. "Nice. Let's go have a word with him." Sly took the lead and Chaz followed. They reach the bar and both lean over casually.
Sly began to whisper over to get his attention. "Dimitri, funny seeing you here. Never pegged you as a fly boy." Sly said in a sarcastic tone. "Like a dance floor, they have many lights. I have many profiles, dig? Don't even try to understand the silky enigma of the Dimitri." Chaz groaned out at his toxic self confidence before turning his head. He gazed out into the open room and caught the gaze of a woman sitting in a booth. He awkwardly waved his hand over to her before listening back to the conversation behind him.
"Bentley said you might have a copy of the ACES flight line-up. Is that true?" Chaz asked while breaking eye contact and turning his head to Dimitri. "And why should I talk to some two-bit, rooty-poot, cracker-boxes, like you two?" Dimitri responded before taking a huff of his cigarette and blowing it towards him. "Question mark in bold. WHY?!" Dimitri continued.
Sly noticed Chaz fiddling with his staff on his side and took a gulp. "We both know you're going to talk. You wouldn't have bothered showing up if you didn't want to talk, so spill it." Sly immediately said. Dimitri put on a nervous look after Sly finished. "I know! But to talk is like sitting in an electric chair. The baron has eyes! Eyes and ears, ears and fists! Dimitri gets discovered and the jig is beached!" Dimitri grew visibly worried.
Sly had to calm him down to get any information from him. "Come on now, Dimitri. A man like you can deal with some guy named Baron. You've got the best fashion sense of anyone I know." Sly said in an attempt to calm down Dimitri. Dimitri put on a wide grin as he checked himself out. "Le-fashion? Style? You- you're right! If I can out dress him, I can certainly out smart him! All is told through clothes! Okay, I'll talk, if you agree to owe Dimitri... a favor...which I'll contact later with." Dimitri finished.
Sly's ears perked from his words. "A favor?" Sly asked. "This no small time favor like: "will you water my fish, or feed my plant?" No way bro, this old school mafia, blood-pact, old school movies, dig?" Dimitri responded back. Chaz grew concerned and looked at Sly. "Okay, Dimitri! Hook me up with the flight roster and we'll owe you one!" Sly agreed with Dimitri who kept his grin. "Done, the bargain, she is done!"
End of chapter 18