Ch.4 Boom, Boom, You're Blown Up

Carmelita paled when she heard that name. "Impossible." She thought.

As if he could read her mind, Sentrak spoke. "Oh come now Inspector, you don't really believe those stories do you? It's all a bunch of nonsense!" he assured her.

Despite being told this Carmelita was still in shock. Back when she was younger, her parents told her of a terrible prison located on an unknown island, protected by intimidating mountains, chock full of scorching deserts and surrounded by a rough (merciless) sea. But worst of all, was the first (and the last) warden of that dreary place. Though her parents assured her thatthe warden (and Owlcatraz itself) wasn't real, she still wasn't able to sleep for days after being told of it.

"What I'm proposing Inspector Fox, is a simple transfer." He removed a few papers from his coat. "Just sign here and Sly will be out of your hair and into a jailcell in Owlcatraz."

"No, Sentrak." She interrupted.

"Wh...Why?" Metzerstoff stuttered.

"Number one; I don't really trust you and number two; Owlcatraz doesn't exist!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, I beg to differ." Sentrak pointed at Carmelita's computer. "Please look me up in your online police directory." Carmelita did just that. To her amazement, not only was this shady figure in law enforcement, but he was also a high ranking prison warden in Interpol. "Is that enough proof for you Inspector?" he reached into another coat pocket. "And as for Owlcatraz..." he threw something to her. Carmelita caught it and examined it. She grimaced. It was a postcard...of Owlcatraz.

Carmelita examined the postcard. It showed a large prison, nothing out of the ordinary. It was nothing like the dark, gloomy place that she imagined. "As you can see Inspector, Owlcatraz is nothing more than a solid, secure prison. I'm sure it could prove more than effective to protect Mr. Cooper until his release." He explained.

Carmelita looked confused. "Protect him? Protect him from what?"

(Back in the alley...)

Bentley and Murray had managed to position themselves west of the police station. Using his hacking skills, Bentley was able to pinpoint where Sly was being held. They went around the station until reaching Sly's coordinates. Unfortunately, it appeared thatsomebody hadbeaten them to it. A short hyena in a policeman uniform was apparently guarding the window. Bentley was the first to notice. "Murray stop!" he whispered. The hippo tripped in his attempts to slow down. This would've attracted the guard's attention if Bentley hadn't dragged Murray around the nearby corner.

"What's the deal Bentley?" Murray demanded.

"There's a guard in front of Sly's window. Unless you miraculously decide to rough him up, we'll have to wait till he leaves." Bentley and Murray then looked around the corner at the guard. He stood still for a moment. Then he threw something in the window and casually walked away. Murray gulped, Bentley winced. Then they slowly walked to...

(in the meantime...)

"Ms. Fox..." Sentrak paused for a moment. "You of all people should know. That over the years the Cooper Gang has made quite a few enemies. So it's only reasonable that they could strike at any time, whenever they please and with all due respect to your department." He paused. "This is no place to keep the likes of Mr. Cooper safe."

Carmelita was quick to protest. "Mr. Metzerstoff, thank you for your concern. But this is one of the most secure locations in Paris. You shouldn't worry so much. It's not like someone with a grudge against Cooper will come in here and try to shoot him or hit him with a..."

"BOMB!" yelled an officer downstairs. A rather sizeable explosion accompanied the warning.

(Outside...)

Fortunately, Bentley and Murray managed to stay 2 steps away from the explosion. Afterwards, Murray ran towards the window of the now destroyed prison cell. "Sly! Sly are you there! Are you okay!" He shook the bars of the window (which hadamazingly stayed intact.) so hard, they were torn off. He then peered inside and started to cry. "Bentley!" he sobbed. "There's nothing left of Sly! He's been reduced to ashes!" Bentley thought that Murray was overreacting until he looked through the window. Indeed it looked as if there was nothing left of the master thief. Just a charred empty cell.

(Inside...)

As soon as she heard the explosion, Carmelita took her shock pistol with her as she ran downstairs, with Sentrak in tow. The damage wasn't that bad. Just a few overturned tables and a couple of dazed officers. According to one of them, the bomb was thrown from the window of holding cell 19. She was about to go there, but stopped when she saw a disturbing piece of paper on an overturned table. Sentrak looked over her shoulder and couldn't help but smirk.

(Exterior of holding cell 19)

Murray and Bentley were still outside contemplating the fate of Sly. Well, Bentley was contemplating, Murray was just crying uncontrollably. Despite being the smarter of the two, Bentley couldn't find any other solution other than that Sly had been blown to bits. That being said he had 2 choices. Either try to convince (albeit lie) Murray that Sly had survived somehow, or admit his friend was dead and cry his glasses off. He stuck with the latter. "You're right Murray! Sly's gone! Waahhhh!" Bentley sobbed. The 2 friends cried for a minute until...

"Uh, guys..." said a familiar voice. Murray and Bentley turned their heads to the cell only to stare at the face of Sly Cooper peaking out of a barred window...2 cells down.

(At the same time...)

Carmelita trembled with anger as she picked up the note. Though Sentrak seemed quite happy as he looked at it's contents. "Why isn't that lovely Inspector Fox?" he snickered. On the piece of (slightly singed) paper was a crude drawing of a raccoon with 'x' marks for eyes, and a skull and crossbones with the message; 'Death to Cooper!' in big bold letters. Sentrak headed towards the door. "My offer still stands. The papers are still in your office Ms. Fox. If you sign them, send them to the Le Stinky Tourist Hotel room 544. If you chose not to well...you know as they say." He looked at her before leaving. "History repeats itself." And with that he was gone.

(Oh you know where it is...)

Sly had survived the explosion without so much a scratch because he was in holding cell 21 at the time. "Sly you're not dead!" Murray shouted in joy.

"Yeah, Thanks for noticing." Sly coolly stated.

Bentley quickly wiped the tears from his eyes before speaking. "Sly, we're here to get you out. So step back and..."

"Sorry Bentley but I can't leave." Sly interrupted.

"WHAT! WHY NOT!" Bentley and Murray both demanded in shaky voices.

"Guys in case you haven't noticed, that explosion just put this police station on high alert. Trying to bust me out now would be like turning yourselves in. This isn't easy for me to say but, it looks like you have a better chance of getting me out of a high security prison at the moment. I'm sorry, see ya later." Murray and Bentley knew Sly was right. They knew what they had to do. With all the courage they could muster, they turned around and walked away from the master thief, hoping that the prison Sly would be sent would be easy to break into. Unfortunately...

(30 minutes later...)

Carmelita sighed as she looked at the papers Sentrak left behind. Signing them would guarantee that Sly would serve his sentence. But something just didn't feel right. What a strange coincidence that someone would try to bomb Cooper on the same night that Sentrak made his offer. "Besides, there was something strange about him." She thought. Part of her wanted to throw the papers in the trash, but the other knew Sentrak was right. If Owlcatraz really was the prison of legend, then no one could break in or out of it. With a heavy heart she signed the papers, put them in an envelope, scratched the address on, went outside and put it in the nearest mailbox.

To be continued...