Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Sly Cooper or any characters or any stuff associated with this game. All that belongs to Sucker Punch and Sony, after all, I am just a mere fangirl writing a fanfic! Note: I don't own ANY copyrighted content except the fictional characters I made up for this (namely, the villains and other nameless folks).
[I don't own "867-5309" either! That belongs to someone who is NOT ME!]
(Chapter Seven: Emergency!)
"Cody, get off him!" Gertrude was using all of her strength to pull the cat off.
"Not until I get some answers!" Cody's teeth were gritted. He kept his hold on Sly firm, digging even deeper with his claws. His tail flicked back and forth. Sly had tried wiggling out from his grip twice, but Cody had maintained the pressure.
"Cody—" Sly started. His face was scrunching up in pain. Cody's claws had penetrated the skin under the thief's ruffled gray fur.
"No excuses, Sly. I want an explanation and I want it now!" Cody abruptly cut the raccoon off. Ms. Deuducle was shaking with nervousness. There was nothing she could do.
"What am I supposed to tell you? I—I can't remember anything! It's déjà vu..." Sly snapped as he backed away from Cody. His light brown eyes stared at an angry Cody, whose eyes were so narrow, squinting as if he was still trying to familiarize himself with Sly.
"Something seems different," Ms. Deuducle pointed out before Cody could yell out another demand. She circled Sly, inspecting him from every angle she could. "Did you get a hair cut or something?"
Cody took Sly's hat off and revealed Sly's suave hair style. "Does that answer you question?" Cody asked. Sly rolled his eyes.
"No, no...There's still something wrong here... You CAN'T be Sly Cooper. You don't come off as a thief. THIEVES aren't supposed to be GOOD around KIDS! And you never showed any suspicious actions!" Ms. Deuducle paused for a moment. "SOMETHING IS WRONG!"
"Of COURSE something is wrong, Gertrude. We have a THIEF here! A THIEF who was not reported to the police! What the hell is this world coming to? The hospital just DIDN'T happen to notice they were treating a THIEF. I'M GOING TO SEND SLY TO THE STATION ASAP."
Cody froze as he realized what he had just yelled. His paws shook as it felt like he had lost all feeling. His fingers felt immobile as he slowly let go of Sly.
The pain in Sly's shoulders was immediately lightened. Sly saw Cody's eyes darting along the ground as the raccoon backed away. Brushing dust and street dirt off his sweater, Sly turned his back towards the two nursery workers, preparing to run.
"No...Sly, don't go..." Cody trailed off as he got off the ground. "I don't know what I was thinking or saying...I can't just go off and tell the police...From what I heard, you can't remember anything."
Sly kept his back turned towards the workers. Who could he trust now? Sly was going to leave soon anyway. Somehow, he was going to get back to the hospital in Paris!
"Go away...Please," Sly requested quietly. Sly waited to hear footsteps walking away, but to his horror, Cody and Gertrude remained standing.
"Isn't there anything we can do to help?" Gertrude asked.
"No. Nothing..." Sly ignored those who tried to help as he ran back into the Cooper residence and slammed the door shut.
Gertrude and Cody exchanged looks. They knew they couldn't try talking to Sly anymore at the moment. Not after what had happened in the last few minutes or so. Both of them had mixed up feelings now. Gertrude couldn't tell whether she should be mad at Sly for lying to her and everyone else or if she should feel pity for the raccoon because he had forgotten everything.
Cody, on the other hand, was still extremely upset, but somehow happy at the same time. He had found the cub whom he had been wondering about for the last twelve years. Sly had still lied to him though. There was no denying that.
"Let's get back to the orphanage, Cody. We have to get back there before Madam does!" Gertrude suggested.
"How will we beat her though?" Cody questioned.
"The shortcut, silly!" Cody looked dumbfounded for a moment until Gertrude sighed and began to explain. "There is a shortcut at Le Rose Street. Instead of going onto Clark Street, we go onto the Main Street and then there should be a pathway that leads right back to the orphanage. If we get going now, we might be able to beat Madam back with just enough time to spare!"
"And you know about this HOW?"
"Long story, but enough yapping. Let's go!"
Gertrude started sprinting back down the street where the two of them had first entered from. Cody stared in disbelief. Who knew Gertrude could be so...peppy? Cody looked back at the Cooper residence, frowned and then quickly caught up with Gertrude. He was not in the mood to be left behind...
(Le Police HQ...)
Carmelita was up in her office back in Paris. She had a large stack of papers in front of her, waiting to be inspected. She would have normally completed reading through them earlier, except her mind was distracted. The mental image of "Daniel Smith" refused to go away.
It was rather late. The vixen was about to start reading the first page when the phone suddenly rang. Carmelita's ears perked up and her eyes widened as she picked up the receiver.
"Hello? Who is this?" Carmelita asked.
"Oh, Inspector Fox, thank goodness it's you!" a deep voice on the other end of the line exclaimed. He sounded rather familiar...
"Doctor Luke Black? What are you doing now this late at night? Shouldn't you be on your break or something?"
"I'm usually supposed to be working right about now, but I was able to delay a few minutes. But that is not the point... I just received a call from my friend over at the orphanage, Cody Bryan, and he says Sly is having a few issues right now!"
"How did Cody find out about Sly?"
"I don't know, but whatever is going on, Cody has stated that the headmistress somehow found out Cooper's identity! She's been demanding Sly to tell her where the Clockwerk parts are, but you know as well as I do that Sly can't remember crap right now, even if it's about one of the fiends who killed his father. She hasn't done anything too rash, except from what I understand, she plans to spread the information of his identity around the orphanage. Unfortunately, it is rumored that she has made arrangements with a gang of some sort and we don't know if she would do anything like actually attempt to kidnap him."
"What do you expect ME to do? I'm up to my ears in papers right now!" For now, Carmelita was going to ignore the fact that Dr. Black actually knew who Clockwerk was.
"I need you to nab Cooper out of the situation and bring him back to the hospital. I know you normally wouldn't help a criminal, but I'm sure you can make an exception this once. Besides, if word about the location gets anywhere to any gangs, that could mean that no one would stand a chance if he were to be rebuilt!"
"Well...all right..." Carmelita couldn't take holding her surprise in anymore. "Black, where did you find out about Clockwerk? How do you know about him?" the vixen demanded. She could hear the doctor sigh.
"If you really must know, Sly Cooper's friends showed me the police file that contained what information you had on Sly himself, the so called Fiendish Five and Clockwerk. Now what are you waiting for? Sly is hiding at the Cooper residence in Lauderville."
Before Carmelita could protest, Luke hung up. She sighed in frustration as she hung up herself and stood up. Carmelita rubbed her eyes and took one glance at the clock before leaving the office...
(Wedded Couple...)
Sly locked the front door and took one peek out the window. Cody and Gertrude were out of sight. Relieved, Sly trotted his way back upstairs and walked into the blue room. He had left the backpack with all the evidence lying on the bed earlier when Madam had knocked on the front door.
Before the horrible encounter with his new nemesis, Sly had been looking in the blue room for evidence of any reason Sly's father could have been suidical. So far, Sly had not been able to locate a journal of any kind. All Sly had found was another photo in one of the desk drawers earlier, except this one had no cub in it.
It appeared to show Sly's father next to a female raccoon who had long, dark hair. The female, who Sly assumed was his mother, was in a very gorgeous looking white dress with her dark hair half-hidden under a veil. Next to her, Sly's father in a black tuxedo, having an arm around his wife and keeping her close. Both of them were beaming proudly, looking like their happiness could never end.
There was something about the female though...She looked awfully familiar...
Sly, who was about to turn the frame around earlier when he had been interrupted. Now was the moment of truth. Was this a good picture for reference? He was about to find out...
(Nostalgia in the office...)
Madam Teresa had snuck her way back up to the office, finding Ms. Deuducle was back at her usual place (meaning she had no idea the secretary had even been gone). She flicked on the lamp on her desk and sat back down in the large leather chair. For some reason, she didn't feel like trying to go to sleep tonight. Sly Cooper had reminded her of a special someone.
She unlocked one of the more private drawers in the desk and pulled out a photo. Teresa gazed into the black and white, pulling herself into nostalgia.
"Christopher..." Madam trailed off as she stroked where her most special memory in the picture was...
"Hello again, Teresa," Christopher greeted as he sat in a wooden chair next to her bed. "Are you feeling better?"
"MUCH better!" Teresa exclaimed happily. "How's she doing?"
"...Teresa, it's not a she."
"What? You mean..."Teresa gazed down at her lap, covered by the white sheets. She winced at the thought that entered her head.
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. He's the next one." Christopher smiled gently, but he didn't realize how depressed Teresa was. She didn't want this to happen to their first cub. In fact, she was getting sick of the lifestyle she had been dragged into. She had better things to do.
Teresa sighed. Those days were over. She was just a lonely woman now. Considering it all happened about 30 years ago, Madam had to move on with her life now. She would never forget those wonder years though. They were the happiest ones she had lived through.
She took one last look at the photo. The light from the lamp revealed Christopher smiling back at her.
The darkness took over the picture as Madam shoved it back into the desk drawer and locked it in a click.
(Salvador and his boss...)
"Salvador, what have you heard from Teresa?" the boss demanded. He was resting his hooves up on top of the table he was seated at. Salvador could not see eye to eye his boss, as the lighting in the room was very dim.
"She's spotted Cooper, sir!"
"That rat from the bank? What is he doing in Lauderville?" The boss pulled out a cigar and lit it, filling the room with the scent of smoke.
"Well, it has been reported that he has been missing for the few weeks!" Salvador winced as a puff of smoke disintegrated right in front of his beady eyes.
"I did hit him on the head pretty hard." The boss revealed his deep laugh. "But I guess that ringtail got what he deserved! That's what he gets when he messes with my schemes!"
"Aye, sir! You don't think we're going to have issues with Teresa and Cooper, right? I mean...you know."
"He can't remember thanks to what I did."
"What about the Clockwerk parts?" Salvador demanded. "There was a flaw in your plan B when you gave Cooper amnesia problems. Now he won't be able to tell us where the parts are and then that money you stole will be useless because we won't be able to use it to repair ANYTHING!" Salvador's tail flicked back and forth.
"You foolish warthog, there were others there with Clockwerk besides Cooper. There was a police officer, whom I believe is Detective Carmelita Fox, and the other two animals in Cooper's gang. We just have to lure them with Cooper. Poor defenseless COOPER!"
The boss broke off into a laugh, having his cigar fall onto the cement floor. Salvador quickly joined in. There was no way this plan was going to fail as far as they were concerned.
Suddenly, in the middle of the laughter, the phone on the wall rang loudly. The boss was cut off as he picked up the receiver and waited for a greeting.
"Salvador?" It was a feminine voice.
"Nope, this is the boss himself," the boss greeted back. "What's up, Teresa?"
"Are we moving in?"
"Yes. Where is he?"
(A moment of truth...)
Sly turned the photo around and looked on the back for any writing. Glancing at the brown cardboard that kept the picture inside the frame, Sly found nothing. Apparently, writing what the photo was depicting was not a tradition the Coopers had.
Sly was about to put the photo back in the drawer until he decided that he should keep it, just for evidence. The raccoon slipped it into his backpack and snapped the bag shut. He picked it up, gripping it tightly and got off the cold floor. After looking at that picture, something vague popped into his mind.
"She's gone, Sly."
The four year old cub was sitting on his father's knee in front of the fireplace. His mother had recently disappeared, but she had left a small slip of paper behind that passed off as a note.
"Daddy, why did Mommy go?"
"I don't know, Sly. Mommy didn't say why." Sly looked up at his father's face. His eyes were glistening.
Was he crying?
Sly shook his head. He should've known that was probably why. Now that he had come to a conclusion, Sly's business was finished. Looking out the window, the streetlights were still as bright as ever, making it safer for Sly to travel along the sidewalk. Taking a glance at the antique clock on the dresser, the raccoon noticed it was just past 10:30.
Much too late to be going out, especially with Madam bugging him.
Flopping onto the large bed, Sly's eyes closed as soon as his head hit the pillow...
(An hour later, Carmelita stops by...)
Carmelita parked her car against the sidewalk and gazed up at the Cooper residence. The streetlights were much dimmer, but there was still enough light for the vixen to find her way along the beaten pathway and the old porch steps.
Walking up to the front door, Carmelita knocked.
No one answered.
The detective tried twisting the doorknob, but it wouldn't turn all the way. Carmelita rummaged her pocket and pulled out a paperclip. She unraveled the bent metal and stuck it inside the keyhole at the front door. After a couple minutes of picking the lock, the doorknob was unlocked and Carmelita tiptoed inside.
Almost all of the lights leading up the stairs were flicked on. This made the detective assume that Cooper had snuck upstairs and hid. Hiding her excitement to see Cooper once more, Carmelita bit her lower lip and walked up the stairs, ever so quietly.
At the top of the stairs, Carmelita reached the upstairs hallway and saw that the only light switched on this floor was the one at the very end of the corridor. The vixen snuck up this way, getting closer towards the half-closed door.
Reaching the end, she peaked around the corner of the doorway. There he was. Sly was innocently in a deep coma of a sleep, his chest rising and falling with each breath he took.
'Snap out of it! Wake him up!' Carmelita's mind screamed. Her body refused to move and follow instructions, no matter how much her insides demanded it. She couldn't wake him up.
"DAD! NO! WAKE UP! WAKE UP NOW!"
Carmelita jumped as she realized Sly was sleep-talking...As if he didn't do enough talking during the day.
Sly suddenly sat up. His eyes were wide with fright...he had it again. He had that recurring nightmare again. Just like the night before...Carmelita ducked out of view and kept her ear in on the situation, listening closely.
"No...not again..." Carmelita could hear movement on the bed as Sly sat up.
Carmelita sniffed.
'Oh no... I think I'm gonna sneeze!' Carmelita kept a finger over her nose. Sly couldn't spot her yet!
"Dad..." Sly trailed off. He seemed to be stuck in perpetual thinking, never able to escape from his own thoughts.
"ACHOO!" Carmelita sneezed. Her eyes watered as she realized she had gotten dust up her snout.
"Who is that?" Sly demanded as he rushed towards the door and opened it. As soon as he saw Carmelita, his eyes narrowed and his ears went down in anger and annoyance.
"Hi, S—"
"What are YOU doing here, traitor?"
"Traitor? Since when I was I a traitor?" Carmelita looked like she was about to cry. What had she done to upset Sly like this? Why was she even about to cry? Didn't she hate this thief?
"You going off and telling the police about me too?"
"I never told anyone! What would make you think that?"
"Madam Teresa knows about me."
"Yeah, I heard that somewhere. Who blabbed?" Carmelita was silent for a moment as Sly glared her down. She gulped and blinked back frustrated tears. "I never told her, Sly!"
"She had an audio tape with your name all over it." Carmelita's eyes widened.
"I...I never even saw her...I must've been thinking aloud again!" Carmelita slapped her forehead. "She must've followed me and recorded what I was saying!" Carmelita groaned. "C'mon, Cooper, enough chit-chat. The reason I'm here is because I received a call from the doctor who took care of you. He heard about Madam Teresa from Cody and the doctor wants you to meet up with him at the hospital!"
"You can tell the doctor that I reject his invitation," Sly replied coolly as he backed away and slung the backpack he was still holding onto his shoulder.
"Sly, you're not safe anymore! No one knows what Madam would do at this point."
"I can run, you know. I'm not just some helpless shell. I might be a bit brain dead right now, but that doesn't mean I can't tell when something is screwed up!" Sly continued backing away, getting closer to the bay window. Carmelita was following his every step.
"No one wants you to get hurt!"
"Like I did when I was alone?"
"Sly, please listen to me! The doctor NEEDS to catch up with you. And if you go back to the hospital, maybe you'll see your friends again. Think about it. You'll just cause a ruckus around here if you stay!"
Sly thought about his choices for a moment. It was true that he would cause chaos if he stayed within the Cooper residence, but how could he trust Carmelita? Then there was the fact he was trying to escape from the Cooper residence to go to Paris and there was NO WAY he was walking all the way there.
"All right. I'll go."
Sly could always run later anyway.
Carmelita nodded and turned around, walking back down towards the stairs at the end of the hallway. Sly quickly followed and readjusted his backpack...
(Who is she?)
Madam Teresa spied from around the corner and saw Carmelita close her car door and pull away from the curb. She had her cell phone handy and she was conveniently in her car. She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes as she turned on the ignition.
"Subject is heading onto the highway," Madam pointed out into her phone.
"Follow them!" The boss's voice came from her phone ordering this. "And why don't you leave a call for the Inspector at code 867-5309? It's about time Sly found out."
Teresa pushed the gas pedal and followed the car ahead, keeping a steady pace. She quickly let go of the steering wheel with her left hand and used her free hand to dial a new number into her cell phone.
(In the car ahead...)
Carmelita's cell phone suddenly rang. Her teeth were gritted in annoyance as she rolled her eyes.
"Who would be calling right NOW?" Carmelita wondered aloud as she picked up her cell phone and pressed the reply button. "Hello?"
"Where is Sly Cooper?"
"WHAT? Um...nowhere."
"I know he's there with you, officer. I'm in the car behind you!" The voice didn't sound particularly friendly, or that of someone you would want to be with very often.
"NO! I CAN'T—" A bullet suddenly whizzed through Carmelita's front window and cracked the glass from the back of the car.
"Let me talk to my son! NOW!" Carmelita's eyes widened as the cell phone suddenly slipped out of her paw. "Hello? HELLO!" Carmelita suddenly sped up, trying to loose the stalker behind her.
"Carmelita, who's there?" Sly asked.
"I think it's Madam. Don't talk to her." Before Sly could grab the phone, Carmelita snatched it from the ground and shut it off. "Don't worry about it for now. Let's just concentrate on getting to the hospital."
(Shady's "MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" of the day!)
Hello! Don't you just love plot twists? [smirks] I think the plot twist from above has got to be the most interesting/plot tenser I have come up with. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever... [An hour later] Ever. Ever. [gets whacked by random reader] Okay, I'll shut up now!
Anyway, thanks for reading! Hope you folks enjoyed reading it as much as I liked writing it!
Shady