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). And for this chapter: I don't own the Vulcan Neck Pinch.
(Onto the story!)
(Chapter Eight: Turning Point)
Bentley and Murray pulled up into the driveway of the orphanage. They shut their bright high beams off and blindly trekked forth into the lobby. If it wasn't for a light or two, the room would have been pitch black.
The brainy turtle walked up to the desk and looked up into the yellow eyes of Gertrude.
"Is Daniel Smith available at this moment?" Bentley asked after clearing his throat. Gertrude looked over both her shoulders and then whispered to Bentley.
"We know who Sly is now, no thanks to Madam," she whispered.
"WHAT?" Bentley and Murray exchanged nervous looks.
"Madam somehow found out about him and he was hanging out at the Cooper residence last time I checked." Before Gertrude could say anymore, Bentley and Murray bolted back out the door and sprinted to the van. They pulled out of the driveway as fast as possible and headed towards their next job: to find Sly...
(Back at the goose chase...)
Madam hung up the cell phone and turned it off. She had one paw out the window, aiming at the tires on the car ahead. She squinted, trying to making an accurate shot. Her hand shook as she pulled the trigger once more.
The car ahead of her swerved off onto the side of the road and crashed into the nearby railing. That was one more car that was out of Madam's way. Now there were just two more cars ahead ever since ten minutes ago, Sly and Carmelita had suddenly sped up.
Teresa kept her distance, so that she could try rounding them off in Paris. She had overheard where they were going, so it would be much easier for her to capture him. If she kept up, then she would be able to round Sly off and corner him.
"Until then, my Junior Cooper..."
Teresa carefully slipped the gun back into the car and shut up the window. Gazing ahead at the road, she looked forward to treating her son like her own treasure once more...
(In the other car...)
"I think she's slowing down, Sly! I don't see her anymore," Carmelita announced as she peered at her rear view mirror.
Madam's car was nowhere in sight. All the Interpol officer saw was a random passerby's car. Carmelita sighed in relief as she slowed down to a more comfortable speed. The blurs of cars passing by became bright lights that glared into both the thief and the officer's eyes.
"Say, Sly, do you know what Madam's last name is?" the Interpol officer randomly asked. She had to know if anyone else knew about Madam Cooper.
Sly thought for a moment. Now that he thought of it, it was awfully strange that Madam had never mentioned her last name. What was even stranger was that no one else had called her by her last name. It was peculiar indeed...
"No. I don't think anyone knows her last name. Everyone always called her 'Madam' or 'Madam Teresa', but never by her last name," Sly answered. He turned away from Carmelita and stared out the window.
Sly was zoning out into space, blue lights passing him by. The peculiar blue twinkle followed the every bend and turn of the railing, gently curving along with it. It shone rather brightly, considering it was rather late.
It drew Sly outside. He could just feel his heart pumping as he would sneak by and tip-toe past the fence. The breeze ruffled through his fur and his fist was tightly clenched. Deep breaths were nearby and cars zoomed by in a flash every once in a while. Sly was just about to reach towards one animal's pocket—
"It is rumored that raccoon master thieves can sense thieving opportunities that reveal themselves as an unexplainable blue aura."
Sly's ears perked up and snapped out of his trance as this quote popped into his head.
'Who said it again...Oh yeah, that Bentley...' the thief thought as his eyes drooped once more. 'Man what an exhausting week I've had!'
Sly glared into the darkness out the window, troubled and wondering what was going to happen next...
(Mysterious Call...)
Murray parked the van and left the high beams on as Bentley walked up the front steps of the Cooper residence's porch. There were no lights on in the house and the door was unlocked.
Curious, Bentley knocked on the front door and peeked in through the mail slot.
"Hello, Sly. Are you there? It's me, Bentley, and Murray's here too!" Bentley said as he waited for a least a quiet sigh. Minutes passed as no one came to the door.
"I don't think he's here, Bentley," Murray stated in a panicked tone. "What are we going to—" Suddenly, a ring cut off Murray from the rest of his statement. Bentley realized it was coming from inside the van and rushed over to the front seat. A phone attached to some radars rang loudly as the turtle answer it.
"You're one of Sly's friends, right?" an unfriendly, masculine voice answered on the other end. Coughing could be heard in the background along with screaming and yelling.
"Who is this?" the turtle demanded.
"Let's just say...I'm an acquaintance of Sly's."
"What would you want?" His voice wavered and his hand shook. Whatever this was about, it seemed very bleak. Then again, weren't most mysterious calls bleak?
"If you don't tell me and my gang where the Clockwerk parts are within seven hours at the Le Hospital in Paris, we'll kidnap your little 'master thief' friend, right from his waiting space there."
Before Bentley could protest, the line dropped dead. Bentley's eyes were enlarged under his glasses and his hand shook as he struggled to disconnect. He could not believe what he had just heard. Both of the possible decisions were bad. He couldn't possibly decide! There was only one thing the turtle could do now...
"Murray, let's head to that hospital. We need to find Sly. PRONTO!"
(In Paris...)
It was two hours later and Sly and Carmelita pulled up to the curb in front of the hospital. Madam had parked two corners away, unbeknownst to them. If Sly was to escape, Madam would be waiting in a dark corner, snatching him at the moment she saw him.
The thief was being very stubborn about going in, almost as if he were a child not wanting to go into the dentist. Carmelita was forced to pull Sly in by the paw as she stalked up to the secretary's desk and waited for service. The secretary (who just happened to be the same one from Carmelita's last visit) looked up with tired, droopy eyes. She had a mug of coffee sitting in front of her, which was nearly empty. The phone rang, but she didn't seem to care.
"Detective, it's you again!" the secretary greeted. Her voice went on in a drone, monotone oozing from each word.
"Oh, you're that one from earlier...say, is Dr. Luke Black around? I did a little—" Carmelita was cut off as Luke showed up in his uniform.
"Oh, it's Ms. Fox! Good to see you again," Luke greeted. His eyes switched towards Sly. "Mr. Cooper, looking well I see." Sly was about to make an outburst at how the doctor was the one who'd first gotten him into this mess with Madam and these Clockwerk parts, but he bit his lip and kept his frustration pent up.
"Things really aren't so good over there, doctor. Madam was chasing us on the way here for the first ten or so minutes," Carmelita explained as the doctor started leading the two of them into another area of the hospital.
"I figured she would...Sly, did you remember anything?" Mr. Black asked.
Sly gulped nervously. Of course he had remembered stuff, but now it was a matter of what to tell and what not to tell. Granted, he couldn't go ahead and tell the doctor that he had dreams about seeing his father die, nor could he say anything about what lay inside the journal within his very backpack. What was he to do? He hadn't really found out anything else that the doctor would be interested in anyway...
"Sly?"
"No. I didn't 'find out' anything," Sly quickly lied. Luke glanced at the backpack strapped on Sly's back for a moment.
"What's in there?" he asked, referring to the bag.
"Nothing you would care about," the raccoon sneered. He gripped the straps on his backpack much tighter.
"Sly, you can tell me and Carmelita. We're supporting you every step of the way," Luke replied as they stepped into an empty hospital bedroom.
'Speak for yourself,' Carmelita thought in annoyance.
Sly sat down right next to the window and just stared out it. His normally mischievous and vibrant brown eyes were now dull and lifeless. His paw hung limp while he was leaning against his other paw on the sill of the window. Carmelita couldn't believe it took her that long to notice that change in Sly...
"You don't look as okay as I thought. What happened to you back at the orphanage?" the doctor asked. Sly looked up at him with his hollow eyes.
"It's really nothing. I'm just tired," "Daniel" said, trying to make an excuse. Truth be told, everything had passed by too fast for him. He hadn't had time to take everything in that he had remembered or what he had found out. "Could you guys leave me alone for a bit? I think I need to lay down a bit..."
Sly could hear Luke and Carmelita walk towards the door. They had actually listened to him for once...
"I need to drop a call at the orphanage anyway..." Luke trailed off as his footsteps grew further away. Carmelita took one last suspicious look at Sly, and then she left the room, shutting the door behind her.
Sly was alone in the white torture that they called the hospital room. Cooper was pent up in here, being contained as if he were a rabid dog, ready to bite at any moment. He was cross and if anyone was to upset him, Sly would be ready to bite back.
After lingering at the window for a moment, the raccoon checked behind his shoulder, opened the small window and scanned the area. There was a wire nearby that led right to another rooftop. Sly could escape from this prison and recompose himself! And if Madam found him...he'd run.
The raccoon made his escape out the window and hopped onto the wire. It seemed like his ideas were going according to plan.
"SLY COOPER!"
Luke's voice bellowed from inside the room as Sly hopped onto the roof. The raccoon's head pounded as he started sprinting across the rooftops, the freedom filling up his stamina and the temptation of fighting against the breeze revealing itself. He slinked along, making graceful leaps in between gaps. Exhilaration flowed through his body, from head to toe.
Life's meaning seemed to return with each step. What Sly would give to be a real thief once more! He slumped down onto the roof below him, panting and releasing the anxieties he had previously had.
Suddenly, Sly felt a pang of a strange feeling he couldn't remember being attached to in a long time. A gentle smirk formed on his face as he poked his head around the corner. Something was coming back and Sly knew it.
"Sly, no matter what happens, don't forget who you are. You're a Cooper and you always shall be. Pure thievery will flow through your blood and honor will always be left behind you, with every step you take."
The sound of police sirens blasted by as Sly suddenly frowned. His head dropped as he stared down at the ground. Standing up, he knew what he had to do now.
Sly had to move on with his life. All of this stumbling around at the orphanage had been for nothing. He had hurt those around him. Cody. Gertrude. The children. Bentley and Murray...of course Sly couldn't forget...Carmelita.
Worst of all, Sly had attracted too much attention to himself with the whole fiasco when Madam had found out about him. If the others weren't going to be hurt, Sly would have to find Madam and work something out. The guilt deepened to the pit of his stomach and his thoughts were much too intertwined with the past. He had to move on.
Before Sly could even begin to run once more, a familiar voice piped up behind him.
"Sly! Down here!"
Sly smiled when he saw Bentley and Murray with the van at the bottom of the building. Bentley and Murray looked rather relieved as Sly climbed down and hopped onto the quiet street.
"Thank god you're safe, Sly. We thought Madam had kidnapped you or something!" Bentley exclaimed.
"We've been looking for you for the last two days," Murray explained. Sly slowly nodded. What the irony this was...
"I was looking for you too, and you know what? I'm in the mood to do a little stealing from Madam." Sly was smiling once more. The other two friends smiled back, recognizing that their pal really was returning to normal, day by day.
"You remember how to do...the Rail Walk?" Bentley asked, just to test Sly to make sure that he was ready.
"Let's see...isn't it jump near the blue auras and then land on a wire to gain your balance. Then you just walk across it," Sly said, trying to explain it as best as he could. The genius smiled even more and his face brightened up. This was definitely more like the Sly Cooper he knew.
"I see a bright future for you, buddy!" Murray chirped. Bentley nodded in agreement.
"This is like, a miracle! If you remembered that much, maybe you'll remember everything else. Oh, whatever that orphanage did to you, it's working miracles," Bentley added happily. "But enough patting you on the back, because if we want to get to Madam's hideout, we need to do some research...and I know just the place!"
Sly quickly followed Murray and Bentley as they went up to the other end of the van and sat down in their seats. The familiar scent of the van drew Sly in further as he climbed into the front seat next to Bentley.
"Buckle up, you guys. This is going to be a fast drive!" Murray warned.
Sly didn't heed the hippo's warning until the van suddenly jolted forward. Nearing smashing his snout on the dashboard, Sly immediately struggled to buckle up as quickly as possible. Just as he heard the click of the belt, the van lurched to a stop. Sly could hear Bentley snickering in the back behind the driver.
"What's so funny?" Sly demanded.
Bentley stopped snickering, pulled off his glasses and wiped his eyes off.
"Sorry, Sly, but it was just too funny when you almost fell over. Now, anyway, onto my usual explanations for the job!" Bentley announced as he cleared his throat. "Sly, I need you to go into Carmelita's office and nab some police files on the Bulls Eye Trio. That should hold information about the whereabouts of the gang Madam works for."
Before Bentley continued, he rummaged around in the back of the van and came back with an elegant, golden cane, a red pouch and a blue set of what appeared to be binoculars. The turtle handed these objects off to Sly. The raccoon's fingers were trembling as he strapped the pouch around his leg and felt the handle of the cane for the first time in a while.
"I modified your bino-cu-com, Sly," Bentley said, pointing to the blue binoculars. "Now we won't have to deal with those pesky microphones and I'll be able to keep a better watch on your surroundings."
"Thanks." Sly stuff the bino-cu-com into the red pouch and gripped the cane in his hand tightly. Somehow, it made him feel more complete.
"Sly, exit the van and I'll give you instructions from there!" Bentley ordered.
"Aye, aye, cap'n." Sly mock saluted as he stepped out the back into an alleyway. The city air filled his lungs as Bentley called in. Sly heard a muffled voice coming from his pouch and quickly pulled out the bino-cu-com.
"Okay, Sly, climb up on top of the building...Why don't we get this rendezvous started..."
(Time to snatch what's mine...)
Madam stayed perched in her position. She couldn't believe one as smart as Sly's turtle friend would fall for her trick. She was the one who had lured them near the raccoon in the first place. She was the one who had made them follow her towards Cooper-chan. She smirked as her objective came into view.
Teresa leapt down onto the roof and snatched Sly around the waist. Her son froze in her arms. His muscles were tense as Madam stroked his cheek gently; surprisingly glad to be reunited with her child.
"OH NO!" Bentley's muffled scream came from the pouch.
"Sly, how nice to see you again," Madam whispered. "I've missed you much." Madam pinched where Sly's shoulder met his neck.
"Sly, she's doing the Vulcan Neck Pinch! Try running!" The thief couldn't catch this because the sound was still muffled and even if he had heard it, Madam's grip was too tight. It was almost like a forced hug.
Suddenly, Sly blacked out, with his eyesight fading into perpetual darkness. His head hung limp as Madam dragged him across the rooftop.
"Don't let her get away with our target in question!"
The police sirens began to blare and blue lights flashed around Madam as she hung Sly over her back and walked as fast as she could. Whizzing bullets just barely missed Madam as she continued to go as fast as she could over the rooftop. The police were right on her tail, but she would get in the car of hers soon enough.
"Stop right there, Madam COOPER!" Carmelita dashed right in front of Teresa with her shock pistol loaded and ready to fire.
"Aw, how cute! It's Sly's little girlfriend." Carmelita gritted her teeth and kept her finger near the trigger. First Cooper and now Madam! Why did those two always seem to make comments like THAT!
"Don't toy with me. I—"
Before Carmelita knew it, Madam grabbed a smoke bomb out of Sly's red pouch and threw it. Within the misty chaos, Madam ran and hopped into her car. The gang member pushed Sly into the backseat and then buckled herself up quickly. The sound of alarms disappeared behind her as she quickly started driving away from the scene.
"That was too easy," Madam complained, driving at a leisurely pace.
"NOT SO FAST, MADAM!"
A muffled version of Murray's voice came from Sly's pouch. Teresa looked in her rearview mirror and saw the Cooper van chasing up behind her. She narrowed her eyes and pushed down on the gas pedal. This was getting much too annoying.
Murray pursued Madam, navigating his way through the twisted streets all the while keeping up with her speed. This charade was able to be maintained for the about five blocks until nearby guards began throwing mines on the ground. They obviously succeeded in helping Madam escape from the police, because Bentley lost all means of contact with Sly.
(Meeting in the hospital...)
Carmelita rode with Bentley and Murray back to the hospital in Paris. Everyone was unhappy with the fact Madam had actually succeeded in kidnapping Sly. All of them felt it right in their bones: failure. The crushing curse that blew them away and the nightmare they wished would be a lie...
But now there was only one thing they could do and that was go tell the doctor what happened and form a plan.
Carmelita and the other two thieves entered the room with frowns adorned on their faces. Carmelita's ears were down and her tail drooped as she tapped Luke on the shoulder (he had been sitting at a table in the cafeteria). When Luke looked up at the trio, he knew something was wrong. His ears went down the same way and his eyes were filled with worry.
After a long period of silence, Luke stood up and looked at the trio.
"It's a good thing I brought in some back up. For what we have to do, we're going to need it!" Luke pointed out. Suddenly, as if they were cued, Gertrude and Cody came in from the hallway with grim faces.
"So Sly's kidnapped?" Cody asked. The doctor nodded slowly, but then cocked an eyebrow.
"What are you two doing here? Why didn't you pick up when I called?" Luke demanded.
"We got this call from this unknown person threatening to kidnap Sly and they gave us the location we thought Sly was supposed to be at, so we drove here as fast as we could...looks like we came too late..." Cody trailed off. The doctor then turned back towards Carmelita, Bentley and Murray.
"Carmelita, you show Bentley and Murray here the way to the headquarters of Madam..." Luke went on to explain his plan, which included rather risqué ideas, like: "Cody, you, Carmelita and Murray will go in and disguise yourselves as guards, thus being able to sneak into Sly's room, wherever that may be. Carmelita, you flirt your way to getting the keys."
"Oh yeah, make it the girl who goes and gets the keys," Carmelita mumbled in disgust.
"Bentley, you and Gertrude stay back in the van. That should work so you two will always be able to drive incase something goes wrong. Everyone get it?"
Everyone else blinked at each other. It seemed almost as if Luke was a mastermind or something. Something was most indefinitely up. The way Luke was verbally panning out his plan was making him sound rather experienced. Keeping their connections to themselves, they just nodded.
"What are you guys waiting for? GO!"
With that, everyone left for the Cooper van. Now it was their turn to steal back their unique treasure...
(Ramblings of a High School Freshman...)
Hola, folks! I've been busy with high school lately, but I haven't forgotten about you folks! Smile And I've also been busy with Sly 2, so I've kind of been distracted Sly-wise too...But I'm finishing this ficcie, no matter what! I've already beaten Sly 2's storyline anyway.
Honestly, I don't think this chapter is that good. In fact, I think it's kind of boring...but I'll let you guys (and girls) be the judges of that!
Thanks for reading!
Shady
PS: Yes, the Vulcan Neck Pinch actually DOES work! I had a friend who tried it on her brother once and he said if she had held on any longer, he would've actually fainted.
PSS (after a much needed edit session): Hiya again, folks! In case you were actually interested, this version is a reposted version. I just felt the first version was so clunky and repetitive; I had to go back and edit it again. Thanks to randomferret and CooperPrincess for much needed critique on earlier chapters! (Seriously, I've gotten too pampered with compliments.)