Rai's eyes fluttered open when she felt soft rumbling beneath her, meaning the van was moving, and warmth centered around her back. However, as Rai blinked her eyes, trying to wake herself up, she soon became rather confused when she felt warmth around her waist as well. Curious, she lifted the blankets covering her body and Rai's eyes narrowed when she saw her tank top had been pushed up, stopping just under her bust. Rai had then remembered that Sly was behind her and saw one of his arms draped around her waist, snuck up under her tight tank top. For a moment, Rai closed her eyes, exhaling through her nose in an attempt to keep herself calm. Once her eyes opened again, the fox grabbed Sly's arm and removed it from her waist, rolling her eyes when he only stirred a bit, but didn't wake up, rolling onto his other side.
"He's impossible to wake up, I'd assume?" She asked as she sat up.
"You would be assuming correctly." Bentley answered from the passenger seat. "Sly doesn't wake up unless he wants to, or at least, he doesn't get up, per sé."
Rai sighed. "Figures... I should've known better than to allow him to sleep next to me last night... Stupid raccoon..."
"I heard that, kitten..." A voice then spoke.
"You were supposed to, you dumb fox." Rai replied back to Sly's comment.
"Correction, you're the fox, I'm a raccoon..."
"It's called sarcasm, Sly..."
"Oh, I'm well aware of what sarcasm is, since that's about half of my vocabulary."
"Well, in that case, I suggest you don't try another stunt like what I woke up to again, otherwise I'm going to "sarcastically" elbow you in the ribs, again." Rai emphasized.
Sly merely chuckled, rolling onto his other side again as he quickly wrapped his arms around Rai's waist, placing his head right in her lap. Instantly, Rai's face lit up red, only to then glare as she thwacked him on the head. "Get the hell off of me." She demanded.
Sly smirked, and with his eyes still closed, snuggled further into her lap. "Nah, I'm good right here, thanks."
Rai's eyebrow twitched, taking her elbow as she rammed it into Sly's ribs this time. "Is it good now?" She asked sarcastically.
Sly just chuckled. "Worth it."
Rai just sighed irritably. "You know, I really hate you..."
"No, you don't." He replied.
The fox rolled her eyes, gazing down at Sly before letting out a sigh as she placed her hand on his head, ruffling his fur. "You irritate me..." She huffed.
"Then I've done my job." Sly snarked.
"Don't push your luck, raccoon, otherwise your kidney is gonna be next, then you'll get to have fun dealing with dialysis." She warned.
"It'll still be worth it to see your reaction."
Rai rolled her eyes once more. How do these guys put up with this raccoon every single day? I feel like I would've gone crazy a long time ago...
A couple of hours had passed before Sly had finally decided to actually get up for a change, allowing Rai to get up and move around as well, not that she could really move very much inside of a cramped van. As the gang drove, they were getting to know Rai a little more, though she wasn't really too keen on sharing much more on her past. Still though, the van ride wasn't at all boring as the gang was sharing some laughs with her, and for a moment, Rai almost felt at ease. However, their fun time didn't last very long before a siren was soon heard coming in from behind them. "Guys! We've got a big problem here!" Murray exclaimed from the front in a panic.
"What's the problem now?" Sly asked, sounding annoyed.
"Carmelita somehow managed to catch up to us and is coming up fast from behind!" Bentley exasperated.
"Ah, shit..." Both Sly and Rai facepalmed.
"Damn it, of all the times..." Rai said irritably as she yanked her tank top over her head, only to toss it in Sly's face. "No peeking from you." She pointed before proceeding to dress herself.
Sly just chuckled, reaching for the tank too over his face. "It's not like you can stop me."
"No, but I can gouge your eyes out." Rai replied as she was trying to wiggle into her tight jeans. "Christ, this is almost impossible to do in a damn van..." She huffed.
Sly chuckled again as he removed the tank top from his face. "I'll just turn around and let you finish." He pointed before turning away from the fox, who was half dressed by this point.
"Wise choice..."
After Rai somehow managed to get her pants on, she strapped on both her belt and her pouch before slipping into her boots. With that done, the fox grabbed her jacket and threw it on before her gloves followed shortly after. Once the fox was fully dressed, she grabbed both her mask and her cane, now ready for action. "Alright, I'm done. Now it's time to fix this mess." She said.
"Ya good now?" Sly asked, peering back to see Rai was now fully dressed, though couldn't help but give her a quick glaze over. "And I must say, not bad."
Rai rolled her eyes. "Save your jocular comments for when we don't have Ms. Trigger Happy Havoc on our ass." She said bluntly. "Now I'm going outside to go deal with her, so don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." And with that, Rai climbed out one of the windows and seated herself right on the side of the van.
Suddenly though, as if on cue, a certain orange fox leapt off of her police bike and onto the top of the van, Rai turning her gaze toward the officer with an almost annoyed expression. "Ms. Fox, always showing up at the most inconvenient of times, so I suppose this time is no different."
"Shut up, thief. What the hell are you doing with Cooper?" Carmelita hissed.
Rai sighed. "And they tell me I'm the touchy one..." She muttered. "Look, if I wanted to do something with your lover boy, I would, but fortunately for you, I'm frankly, uninterested."
The officer frowned. "Oh, and I'm just gonna believe a thief?"
Rai shrugged her shoulders a bit, almost uninterestedly. "You can believe whatever you want, Caremlita, but I've said my peace. I'm not interested in that raccoon, we just have a common threat, and I would like to deal with it as soon as possible. In short, Cooper is merely a means to an end."
"Bullshit." Carmelita hissed.
Rai rolled her eyes, getting to her feet as Caremlita aimed her pistol at the thief. "I'm sure you know of the Klaww Gang, yes?"
"What of it?"
"You want to stop them too, so, and I really can't believe I'm actually going to impose this, but why not, at the very least, help us put a stop to the Klaww Gang? And just as an added bonus, you can have all the credit." Rai suggested.
"Tch! Not a chance!" Carmelita refused. "The moment I actually agree to work with thieves is the day hell freezes over!"
The scarlet fox sighed. "Fine, have it your way, but just know that I tried, so what comes next is all on you."
"Bring it on then! I can't wait to put you behind bars!" The cop dared.
Rai then smirked, hitting the switch on her cane as it transformed into a set of two batons, spinning them in her hands. "Oh, with pleasure. Now hit me with your best shot, Carmy!"
Rai began to rush Carmelita, who began to fire off shots from her shock pistol, but the clever criminal quickly got down, sliding across the van roof as she tossed one of her batons. The officer gasped, using her arm to block the baton, but because it was made of metal, she grimaced a bit in pain as it bounced off. Rai quickly used this opportunity to strike Carmelita in the leg with her other baton before catching the one she had thrown. Carmelita exclaimed in pain, getting down on one knee before growling. Rai smirked, thinking she had this in the bag, until the officer immediately held up her shock pistol. The scarlet fox's eyes widened as a smirk appeared on Carmelita's face this time, pulling the trigger on her gun. Without thinking, Rai quickly leaned backwards, just narrowly avoiding the shot. When she got back up, Rai turned back to the cop, only to gasp when Carmelita backflipped, kicking her in the jaw. Rai stumbled onto her feet, gripping her jaw as she glared, the cocky officer smirking in triumph.
"Come on, Scarlet Rose, is that really all you've got? You've escaped me countless times, so what's so different now?" Carmelita taunted.
Rai just glared, spinning her batons in her hands again. "You wanna know what's different? The fact that I'm about to break your goddamn nose, you arrogant bitch."
"And you're about to have a little shock treatment therapy!" Carmelita said as she fired off her pistol again.
Rai managed to avoid her shots despite the close quarters, but that was also Carmelita's weakness as well. She loves to rely on her trusty shock pistol, which she would soon find out will be her undoing. "Just sit down and stop getting in my way!" Rai bellowed as she hit the switches on her batons, which transformed into a set of twin canes now. "I'll make sure you don't get in my way this time." She declared, getting down as the fox quickly used one of her mini canes to hook Carmelita's ankle, only to arbitrarily yank it out from under her, the officer hitting the roof of the van.
"Urgh! That hurt!" Carmelita whined.
"It was supposed to, but that's nothing compared to what I've got planned for you." Rai said in a daring tone.
The officer growled, scrambling to grab her shock pistol. However, upon doing so, she never got a chance to even aim the weapon, because just as Caremlita began to raised her gun, Rai used one of her canes to hook onto her wrist, only to use the cane to bend her wrist backwards. Carmelita cried out in pain, instantly dropping her shock pistol as she grabbed onto her arm with her other hand.
"Let go! That hurts, damn it!" Carmelita cried out.
Rai just glared, yanking the cop forward so that they were face to face, but as she did so, switched her other small cane into a dagger. "I warned you to stay out of my way, and even gave you the option to help us bring down a common enemy, but you're just so damn headstrong that there's no use in trying to get through to you. So instead, do me a favor," Rai quickly held up her blade right across Carmelita's neck, who visibly flinched, "stop getting in my goddamn way." She hissed.
As the two were sat there, a blade to Carmelita's neck and her wrist caught in between a cane, leaving her immobile, Rai couldn't help but notice that small glint in the officer's eyes. She could very faintly see that hint of fear flickering in Carmelita's golden brown eyes, and it almost made her smirk just at the sight alone. "You know, I quite like that glimmer of fear in your eyes, officer; it almost suits you..."
"Rai!" She suddenly heard someone call.
The fox glanced back, only to see Sly peering his head out the window as her eyes narrowed. "I'm busy, what do you want, Ringtail?"
"Come on, you've made your point, now let her go." He tried to reason. "Don't go killing her now."
Rai scoffed a bit. "If I wanted to kill her, I would've done it a long time ago." She replied, turning back to the cop. "No, I won't kill you, because I wouldn't be getting any sort of payment out of it. That, and you're just not worth my precious time. So instead, how's about you take that pretty little head of yours," Rai retracted her blade, only to use her cane, which was still attached to Carmelita's wrist, and force the cop onto her feet, who gasped in pain of course, "and get lost!" Rai finished as she yanked Carmelita forward, only to knee her in the stomach.
Carmelita gasped in pain again, quickly wrapping an arm around her throbbing gut, but didn't really have time to fully process what had happened as Rai spun around, only to send her foot right into Carmelita's side, sending her flying off the top of the van. "Wait, what are you—!?"
Splash!
Cough! Cough! Cough!
Carmelita sprang up from the river Rai had just kicked her into, coughing a bit from unexpectedly swallowing some water. However, soon after, Carmelita heard her shock pistol going off. When she turned to the source, all she saw was her police bike being blasted before crashing in a burst of flames. The officer stared in shock for a moment before glaring, only to shield her face from a sudden splash of water as her shock pistol was thrown into the river with her. When Carmelita opened her eyes again, she glared once more as the Cooper Gang van was speeding away with Rai still on top.
"Hope you have a nice swim, officer." Rai smarked, flipping her hair as she turned away, but paused for a moment, smirking. "Oh, and you can just call me Rai, by the way—Rai Vulpes." She said as the van sped away.
"Urgh! SCARLET ROSE!" Carmelita bellowed. "I'll find you, damn it! Don't think I won't!" She declared as the van sped off.
Once Rai reverted both her dagger and mini cane back to its original cane shape, the fox climbed back into the van through the window, where she was greeted with a smirk from the ringtail, Murray with his usual goofy grin, and Bentley with his face in his hands, groaning and mumbling things under his breath that she couldn't really understand. When Rai was seated inside of the van again, she removed her mask and set her cane aside before glancing over, only to see that smirk still plastered on Sly's face as she raised an eyebrow.
"What?" Rai asked.
"What was that about?"
"What was what about?" She questioned, as if she didn't know what he was talking about.
"Don't play innocent with me, you know exactly what." Sly replied in a snarky tone.
"Oh, you mean her?" Rai pointed. "That was nothing..." She then said. "I just wanted to show her where she stands, that's all."
"And where exactly does she stand in your case?" Sly quirked.
"You know, for a raccoon, you sure do ask a lot of questions." Rai tried to steer away from the subject.
The raccoon just rolled his eyes, still smirking. "Just answer the question."
Rai leaned back against the van wall, folding her arms and crossing her legs, gazing at Sly dead square in the eye. "She's nothing but a nuisance who's been getting in my way from the very beginning, and if she keeps it up, I might just have to take more drastic measures to keep her from annoying me any further."
"Rai..." Sly warned. "Don't try anything crazy with her, I'm serious."
She just waved him off. "Relax, I don't mean that I'll kill her, just make it so she leaves me alone, that's all." Rai said. "And I'll tell you like I told her: I don't have a reason to kill her, because it wouldn't really benefit me to do so anyway, so chill out; I won't go and kill your little girlfriend."
Sly rolled his eyes again. "She's not my girlfriend, you know."
Rai scoffed. "Yeah, okay, sure." She said, unconvinced.
"She's not." Sly emphasized. "I just like to tease Carmelita to see if can get a rise out of her, that's all, but she's not my girlfriend. Besides, she hates my guts anyway."
"Whatever you say, Ringtail, but until I'm proven otherwise, my opinion still stands." The fox replied, shrugging a bit. "Anyhow, aside from police antics, how much longer until we reach Monaco?" She asked, deciding to change the subject.
"About four more hours, give or take." Bentley answered.
"Hmph... Four more hours of sitting in this van? Oh well, I suppose it can't be helped..."
Suddenly, Sly got an idea as a smirk crawled up to his lips. While Rai wasn't paying attention, he grabbed one of her wrists and gave it a quick yank, the fox gasping as she was pulled into Sly, somehow ending up in his lap while facing sideways with one hand on her back and the other on her legs. She gazed up to see Sly smirking as she frowned. "So, is there something I can help you with?" The fox asked, seeming annoyed.
Sly pretended to ponder over her question. "Hmm... Nope, not at all."
"Then can you please explain why I'm in your lap?"
Sly shrugged. "'Cuz I just felt like it."
Rai just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, no." She said, getting up from his lap to sit across from the raccoon, folding her arms. "I think I'll just sit over here, thanks."
"Ah, come on, don't play hard to get." Sly teased.
The fox frowned. "I'm not "playing hard to get," there's just this thing called "personal boundaries" that you clearly have no concept of, Mr. Ladies Man."
"Oh, come on, it's not that bad." Sly chuckled.
"For you, because again, the concept of personal space doesn't seem to apply to you. At the very least, you could ask, you know, like a gentlemen." She emphasized.
"Alright, fine." Sly cleared his throat. "Would you care to sit with me, Rai, so you're a little less uncomfortable?"
She thought for a moment before leaning back against the van wall. "No, I'm good."
Sly scoffed, chuckling a bit. "Then why did you want me to ask?"
"For my amusement, and to see if you would actually do it."
"Well, I did, and you still said no."
"Because I'm perfectly content right here." Rai said, crossing her legs.
"Yeah, I can see that, but—"
"Don't try and argue with me, because you will lose." She cut him off.
Sly sighed, seating himself back on the other side of the van as he folded his arms over his chest this time. "And they tell me I'm insufferable to deal with..." He muttered.
"Because you are." Rai then said. "Now do me a favor and stay on your side of the van."
Sly chuckled. "No promises."
She flashed him a quick glare. "Don't push your luck..."
He chuckled once more. "Whatever you say, m'lady."
Rai just rolled her eyes. "Dumb raccoon..." She muttered.