"Kisara Bombay..." The fox glared.
"Rai Vulpes..." The cat replied with a sly grin plastered upon her lips.
The fox's brows furrowed, reaching up to remove her mask as she revealed her striking emerald eyes, which were all but pleased. "What do you want, Kisara, and how did you find me?"
This ebony cat with stripes of electric blue going by the name of Kisara was dressed in a hot pink and black trimmed, sleeveless V-neck crop top with a high neck collar, the bottom pulled up to create an upside down V-shape; a pair of matching hot pink with black trim shorts; a black belt; a black choker with a hint of electric blue around her neck; and a pair of black high heeled, knee high boots trimmed with that same hot pink color. She chuckled whilst innocently twirling a lock of her black and electric blue tipped colored hair, trying to act like she hadn't done anything wrong. "What? I can't drop in to see my old bestie, Rai-Rai?" She asked coyly, batting her fierce amber eyes.
Rai, however, was not about to be fooled by this tricky kitty. "Cut the act and just answer the question. And don't call me that stupid nickname either, it's Rai."
Kisara rolled her eyes, dropping the lock of hair between her fingers as she placed her hand against her hip. "You know, Rai, you really are a hard one to find."
"That was the point, now how did you find me?" She emphasized.
"I tracked you down by following the little trail you left."
"Trail? I don't recall ever leaving a trail, especially for you to find. In fact, I made damn sure to clean up after myself to ensure that you wouldn't find me again."
"You missed one minor little detail, I'm afraid." Kisara smirked as she reached for her pocket. "This cute little card is what led me right to you."
Rai's eyes widened for a moment upon recognizing the rose shaped card held in between Kisara's fingers, only to narrow soon after while clutching her cane tightly in her hand. "Shit..." She cursed.
"I see you've managed to catch on, have you?" Kisara mused.
"Tch... Damn my horrible force of habit..." Rai cursed herself. "Well, I have no business with you, Kisara, not anymore, so leave me be."
"Oh, but I might have some information that you may find interesting."
Rai scoffed, turning to leave as she got ready to place her mask back onto her face. "Yeah, I seriously doubt that." She said, unconvinced, getting ready to take off.
"It involves the Klaww Gang~" Kisara sang.
Rai suddenly froze, glancing back at the smirking cat. "What was that now?"
"I said—"
"No, I heard you, don't say it again." Rai cut her off. "What about the Klaww Gang? I have no business with them either, just like I shouldn't with you." She folded her arms.
"Heh... Perhaps mentioning Clockwerk might get your attention then?"
Rai clenched her fist, whipping around to face the damn cat as she yanked her mask from her face. "This had better be good..."
Kisara chuckled, hopping down from the railing she was perched on as she approached the impatient fox, swinging her hips as she did so. "From the recent intel I've gathered, it seems as though the Klaww Gang might be trying to put the old bird back together."
"Okay, but why? What purpose would that serve them exactly?" Rai asked.
"Why else? How did Clockwerk survive so long throughout history?" Kisara inquired.
Rai paused. "His hatred, which fueled his immortality... No, don't tell me..."
Kisara snapped her fingers. "Bingo~"
"Then I've gotta stop them! Clockwerk can't be revived, no matter what..."
"Ahem... Don't you mean we need to stop them?" Kisara corrected.
Rai just frowned, folding her arms. "No. I meant what I said, Kisara. I'm going at this alone, without your help, because I'm not about to make that same mistake twice."
"Come on, it was just an accident!" The feline whined.
"What you pulled wasn't an accident, Kisara! You knew what you were doing just to get some sick satisfaction out of it! You're not about to stab me in the back again!" Rai snapped, only to abruptly turn away from her, letting out an annoyed huff. "Just stay out of my way, or this time, I'll be the one to put the knife in your back..." She hissed, turning away from the shifty black cat, but not before giving Kisara one last glance. "Also, that outfit of yours..."
Kisara smirked in interest. "Oh? You like it?"
Rai scoffed. "Actually, it makes you look like a two-dollar whore, though that almost seems fitting for someone such as yourself."
The cat frowned. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"You know exactly what it means, Kisara." Rai replied coldly. "Now then, I suggest that unless you wanna get hurt, it would be in your best interest to stay the hell out of my way." And with that, Rai took off into the night, leaving the ebony cat alone in the moonlight.
Kisara, however, smirked, almost laughing as Rai made her leave. "Oh, Rai-Rai, don't you know? Sooner or later, I always get what I want, and that includes you as well. Heh heh heh..."
Rai slid a window open, slipping into a small apartment. After closing the window, the fox let out an annoyed sigh, setting her cane down against the nearby wall. "Damn that Kisara..." She cursed. "And just when I thought I had finally escaped her clutches, but now I have another problem to deal with... God... I suppose the saying "ignorance is bliss" feels very true in my case... Just why would the Klaww Gang want to even revive Clockwerk in the first place, much less, want his scattered parts? What do they gain from doing that? Urgh..."
Rai bit the middle finger of her glove on her left hand, pulling it off before removing the other. She then slipped her jacket off and removed her boots before reaching up and taking the mask from her face. "I was just starting to enjoy my time here in Paris too, my quite life of thieving, but now..." Rai sighed heavily, gripping a chunk of her hair in frustration. "Damn her!"
Slam!
Rai slammed her fist into the wall, anger burning within her. "I thought I had escaped them... I thought that once I managed to escape, they couldn't hurt me anymore..." Rai lifted her mask, staring down at it with sorrowful eyes, only to sigh again, softly this time as she lowered her mask. "I even took up a new name and created this persona for myself... I changed everything about who I was, and for what? Just so I could run and hide for the rest of my life? What kind of life is that?" She asked herself. "But I was content with that, content with being on the run if I meant I wouldn't have to deal with them or Kisara ever again, and yet...I somehow find myself back where it all started – dealing with my parents' killers... What a cruel sense of irony..."
The fox sighed yet again, setting her mask down on the table. "This is seriously stressing me out... I came to Paris so that I could relax for a change, and now I have this damn problem to deal with... I just can't let them revive Clockwerk, not now... I have to stop them, for good, that way they can't taunt me anymore. I have to—"
Bang!
"Huh?" Rai's ear perked up at a low banging sound, turning toward the nearby window. "...What was that?"
Bang!
"Ugh...! There it is again... Just what is that?" She wondered.
Bang!
Rai let out an irritable sigh, tilting her head back in annoyance. "Are you kidding me right now?" She said with blatant irritation. "I seriously did not want to be dealing with this tonight... Ugh... I'd better go see what's going on, because it's going to irritate me otherwise." The fox groaned, quickly putting her thief outfit back on and placing the mask on her face as she grabbed her cane and slipped out of the window back into the night.
Rai dashed along the rooftops, until she came to an abrupt stop. She glanced down toward the ground only to see sparks coming from what she assumed to be some sort of security alarm. It had been brutally destroyed, nothing left but frayed wires and sparks now. "What the hell...? Who could've...?"
The fox suddenly turned her head when she heard soft, but quick footsteps coming toward her general direction. However, it was then Rai saw the one and only raccoon, the ringtail himself, Sly Cooper dashing past her. Curious, she decided to follow him, but made sure to keep her distance and stay out of sight as not to arouse and suspicion. When Sly finally stopped, he was near a boat, pulling out some sort of device to hold up to his eyes. It almost seemed like he was talking to someone, but at a distance, Rai couldn't really tell. When she saw him put the device away, he went up to the boat, which had some sort of bell on it, and then—
Ring!
The raccoon had used his cane to ring the bell, and moments later, a purple lizard dressed in an ugly green suit came out, Sly making sure to keep out of sight when he came out. Rai, however, raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Dimitri? What does this raccoon want with him? Something just doesn't seem right here..." She said under her breath.
When Sly began to follow after Dimitri, Rei followed after the raccoon, again, keeping her distance. She watched as Sly followed after Dimitri, but couldn't help but wonder what his intention was. Was he trying to catch him? If he was, why would he keep such a wide distance between them? That couldn't be it... Sly was looking for something, that much was clear, but what, and why? Rai didn't bother trying to figure out his intentions and merely continued railing the two of them, making sure not to lose them with the wide gap she was leaving as not to be discovered. Suddenly though, Dimitri stopped by a door, and Sly made sure to put out that device again, watching as the lizard was typing in a secret code. Once Dimitri had entered through the door, the raccoon put the device away and smirked.
"Too easy. That moron led me right to it, and I got the code I needed. Heh, this guy is so predictable." Sly chuckled.
"What is he planning on doing to that pump room Dimitri went into?" Rai muttered out loud.
"Hm?" Sly perked up, quickly glancing back.
Crap!
Rai gasped and ducked down, placing a hand over her mouth as not to make anymore noise and alert Sly of her presence. When he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, the raccoon merely shrugged. "Must be my imagination." He said nonchalantly. "Anyway, I'd better get this info back to Bentley so we can keep moving along with this plan. I can already tell that this is gonna be fun." Sly chuckled to himself before dashing off, Rai letting out a low sigh of relief once he was gone.
"That was too close... I need to be more careful..." She said to herself. "Hmm... I wonder though... What exactly does Cooper want with the Klaww Gang, and why? What business does he have with them?" Rai thought for a long moment. "I know I shouldn't snoop, buuuutttt..." A small smirk curled on her lips. "...I am a thief, and sticking my nose in places where it doesn't necessarily belong is all apart of my job description, so I guess it couldn't hurt. Besides, I already have to see what the Klaww Gang is up to anyway, so I can just add this to my checklist." The fox then dashed off.
Whatever the Klaww Gang has planned, it can't be good for anyone... I've got to get to the bottom of this, and fast, otherwise it might be too late... Rai thought to herself, though begrudgingly. And then there's the matter of Cooper... He shouldn't get involved with the Klaww Gang, because they're not ones you should mess around with unless you know what you're doing. I've just got a bad feeling about this...