THE SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
DOG DAY AFTERNOON
It has been a few weeks since Sly out Sir Raleigh, the first member of the Fiendish Five, one of the five people whom had a hand in his parents' deaths. He barely had refrained himself from killing Raleigh, because he decided to be the better man. Because his father wouldn't have wanted him to go down that path. But Raleigh was just the start. He expected the other four members to be stronger, and more vicious.
He was warned about Muggshot from Raleigh himself. That he was big enough to crush Sly like a bug, that he had tight security. And while that was true, Sly knew that there was no security that could keep a Cooper out, and that Muggshot may be strong but not invincible. So he had snuck in, disabled his gambling empire, illegal street races and underground fight clubs and left a trail of breadcrumbs for Carmelita Fox later. Now he would go on to face the top dog himself.
Honestly, he was no longer impressed when the big, purple bulldog opened his mouth: "What? My boys have been yapping about some big mysterious dude running around cracking skulls and, and this is it?! You're the monkey wrench in my operation? Some scrawny rat with a stick... wait a second... I've seen that stick before."
"Maybe when my father knocked your block off with it?" Sly suggested. Hopefully that would get the idiot to catch on, it would not be half as satisfying if the dolt didn't know why he would get his ass kicked.
"Your father? Wow, you're a Cooper?" Muggshot asked surprised. Oh, so you can teach a dog new tricks. "You know, that Thingus Raccamagoocus had a lot of nice pictures, but way too many big words." Sly didn't know what made him angrier, the fact the idiot mispronounced the name of his family's greatest treasure, or the fact he couldn't understand the words inside. They were not that hard. Ergo, Muggshot is a meathead.
But oh well, let's test the waters on how thick he really is. "So you don't mind just handing it over?"
"What are you kidding? You break into my place, steal my stuff and trash the joint, and you think I'd just hand youse the book over?" Muggshot shouted angrily. Ok, he wasn't that stupid. "I feel transgressed and violated. Let's rock!" Muggshot said as he pulled out a pair of guns and rushed at him. Well, let's see what this guy was made off.
Apparently the guy was made of some really strong stuff. And the fact he was built like a gorilla made sure Sly couldn't just whack him with his cane. Believe it, he tried that. The blow that had come next had left him wobbling, like he had hit a steel girder instead of a person. And that person had taken advantage of Sly being stunned by the knock-back to backhand him. Sly was flung across the room in a wall, and fell to the floor.
"Is this da way youse are going out, Cooper? Lying on your belly, at mah feet? Your dad stood tall and proud before he was offed. Youse are not half the man he was and whenever he hit me with that cane of his, I could actually feel it!" Muggshot taunted. He raised his two favorite guns at Sly.
But Sly refused to go down. He picked himself up, and used his Speed Up technique on himself, making him fast enough to dodge the gunfire that was aimed his way. He waited until Muggshot stopped (the guns would overheat or needed to be reloaded eventually). He then got in close and did a Knockout Dive. However, he bounced off again, but this time he landed on his feet and didn't wobble as much. But Muggshot has barely moved an inch. He then decides, to try and whack Sly with his guns, the raccoon being close enough for a physical beatdown. Sly jumped over Muggshot's hammy arm and whacked at Muggshot's face. However he only shook his head and smirked and then rushed at Sly, knocking him back with a headbutt.
"Didn'tcha learn it yet, Cooper? Ya can't hurt me. But I can hurt you! Real bad I might add." Muggshot taunted.
Sly had to give him that, he would not be able to hurt Muggshot with his cane. But there was something that Muggshot failed to take into account. A fight wasn't won through physical prowess alone. Crystal ornaments looked pretty and brought prestige, and mirrors to show the vain bulldog his ugly mug everywhere…but combined with the poor lighting, it was a bad combination. Sly grabbed the mirror at his side and turned it so that the light reflected on one of the crystal ornaments. Luckily his mask came with lenses to filter out bright lights but Muggshot didn't have that luxury.
The bright light reflected of the crystal shone into his face as Muggshot yelled out. "Argh! My eyes. God damnit, if I ever mah hands on the idjot whom designed this place I'm going to grind him into a paste and serve it on a sandwich for lunch!" Sly wasn't done as he took off his hat, and tossed it at Muggshot like a frisbee. It exploded right in front of Muggshot, knocking him back and destroying his guns. "My beautiful guns are destroyed!"
Muggshot recomposed himself, lifted his huge arms and smashed the ground so hard, the crystals across the area all shattered into bits. "There, no more lightshows. Now I'm going to turn you into a Davy Crocket-hat!" Muggshot rushed at what he thought was Sly…only for when he punched into Sly, the image disappeared and he punched air. "What the…" He had fallen for one of the moves Sly learned from the Thievius Raccoonus pages he stole from one of Muggshot's vaults: the Thief Replica. A solid hologram, an illusion, and of course the big lumbering brute fell for it.
Sly then swung in, Tarzan-style. The momentum added more power to the blow he would give Muggshot, knocking him off his feet...and the fact the floor was covered in crystal shards and Muggshot was only wearing a white, sleeveless undershirt, he roared in pain as those shards dug into his skin. But that wouldn't be the end of his suffering, as something big cast a shadow over Muggshot and it was growing bigger. Muggshot looked up to see his prized chandelier, which was the size of a mack truck, fall towards him. "Mommy…" Muggshot whimpered as the chandelier landed on top of him and pinned him to the ground; He was still alive, he was too bulky to die from that, but he couldn't move a muscle. "Ugh…A big strong guy like me, beaten by a scrawny rat like you. It ain't fair. I have trained all my life to becoming this big and strong, and all for nuthin' in the end." He whined.
"You know…After I see what a slimy worm Raleigh was, I expected you to be worse. But…I looked up your files. You were bullied, weren't you? That's why you trained so hard, you overcompensate by buffing yourself up like a beefcake. But despite what a git you are, I can't help to feel a bit of sorry. My life at the orphanage…I know what it was like being bullied. But unlike you I made friends, I had someone to fall back upon, whom keep me on the right track. If you had someone like Bentley and Murray in your youth…things may have gone different." Sly said.
Muggshot let out a puppy-like whimper. "You Coopers always had everythin'. While I got nuthin'. It ain't fair."
"It also wasn't fair to take a father from his child. I may never forgive you for the part you played in his death, but seeing that underneath that big muscular man is a scared child…" Sly said. "You may have bigger muscles...but I still came out the stronger person between the two of us. I know it is not your forte, but try to think about that." Sly went towards Muggshot's priced shair and took the pages from the vault that was underneath it. "I'll just take the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus and leave it at that. I don't want to see your mug ever again. The police will handle you, and you are out of my life." Sly said as he moved towards the vault.
"You better watch your step, Sly. Raleigh was a pirate, I am a crime boss…But Ruby is a scary woman. In all kinds of voodoo and hoo-doo. She wields power not from this woild. You are not prepared to deal with her." Muggshot growled.
"Let's just see about that." Sly said as he now held the last of Muggshot's stolen Thievius Racconus pages. "And my great-grand pappy Tenessee's rail walk and rail slide will help me greatly." Sly turned around and left. The Police would need a small army to contain and transport Muggshot, but he was certain he would be living far less luxurious, in a residence with bars on the window.
Sly thought back to what he said to Muggshot. It is true, he suffered bullying at the orphanage, and the caretaker did nothing to stop it. He could have turned out like Muggshot. He nearly did, if he had killed Raleigh he would go down the same slope that Muggshot has gone through. That's why he wasn't willing to use lethal force this time. In a way Muggshot is a twisted reflection of himself. A big, brutish idiotic reflection but a sort of reflection nonetheless.
It was odd. He had expected Muggshot to be a typical criminal, but there was more to it. It had made him think about himself more. He had promised his friends to not go as nuts as he did as with Raleigh, but having thought things through, and nearly ending up like Muggshot, he felt that the world looked far less black and white now.
ARTIST'S COMMENTS
In this entry, this is a slightly alternate take on how Sly deals withMuggshot. He has done some horrible things but he has a sad background, lonely youth, beingbullied. And Sly probably didn't have a happy childhood at the orphanage. And its good to have Sly question himself and others at certain times, so he becomes a better person.
Anyhow, hope you guys enjoy
