I never was much for fancy parties or other large events when it didn't had something to do with taking down criminals... criminal... a word that doesn't really have much meaning anymore. Everybody who is still alive is more interested in attempting to pick up what remains of their old lives from the rubble that is all that remains of the world that we knew before that fateful day. However, that day I was ordered to attend the event where the old eccentric was going to show off that box. Yes... THAT box... the same one.

"Captain Montoya, despite the fact that both Sly Cooper and that other thief (nobody knew what the name of the latter was) are behind bars, Interpol must insure that at best there are no further attempts to steal that box, and at worst that if there are any more attempts that they do not succeed." "I understand, sir. However, why do I have to be involved? With all due respect, I don't believe it would be possible for ANYBODY to succeed in any such attempt." "You have your orders, Captain. Are you refusing...? "Absolutely not! Orders are orders, and I will follow them." "Very good. Dismissed!"

As I walked back to my office, I started to think about several things. The first was that while it felt good to have put Cooper behind bars, he had gotten away with quite a few crimes because he and his pals had broken up. The next was about that mysterious male fox; he had no criminal record ANYWHERE prior to his stealing the box, no apparent motive for doing so, and yet he had broken my shock pistol and knocked out half the officers accompanying me at the time... not to mention giving me a few bruises that had taken a week to heal completely. As I entered my office, the third thing I thought about was that things were going to be a lot more boring now that Cooper was behind bars. I quickly consoled myself with the fact that there would be other criminals to take down, other cases to investigate... and unfortunately new annoyances to deal with. "The orders I have unfortunately fall under the last category," I thought to myself. If I had only known how wrong I was... but what good would that have done. I would only understand those words I heard from the young fox as I arrested him: "I've failed... everybody... if that box is opened, it'll be the end... and those who have stopped me here and now will wish they had not... if they survive." I took that as a threat and wrote it up in the arrest report... I would be lying if I said that it didn't disturb me that I did that; there was a threat being implied in those words, but FOR me rather than AT me.

As I had suspected in the first place, there appeared to be no reason why I should have come to the event in the first place. The crowd of people present would have made it impossible for anybody to steal the box and escape successfully. Still, I kept a lookout for any trouble...for a while. I then got bored, and started to notice other things... things that still haunt me. I heard the loud cry of a baby, and thought that it would be much better for that baby to be at home in its crib than out here at this event that it couldn't even begin to comprehend yet. I noticed a young dog proposing to his girlfriend, and she accepted. An old tiger nearby had his cane knocked out of his hand when the fox next to him accidentally bumped into it, and the tiger fell down. I quickly headed over to help him up, and the fox who had knocked the cane out of the old tiger's hand was clearly apologetic. "Are you hurt? Do I need to call the paramedics?" "No, no... I'll be fine... just help me up and give me my cane." I helped the old tiger up and the other fox picked up his cane and gave it to the tiger. "Thank you... both of you... may fate protect you both from ill fortune for this!" I thanked the old tiger for his kind words and returned to my post. I don't know if that old tiger possessed any power to influence fate (something which I never would have believed possible at the time), but perhaps he did... and then again maybe he didn't. As far as I know, he didn't survive what happened that day, and neither did the other fox who helped him.

It was ten minutes later when the eccentric got up to speak, holding the box in his hands. i was relieved since I knew that after he finished speaking, I could get back to the REAL police work. I didn't play much attention to him, until he mentioned that he was going to open the box and see what was in it. THAT sparked my interest... whatever was in there was probably going to drive a lot of people nuts... figuratively speaking. The officer next to me said: "I bet half the archaeologists in the world just dropped dead of fright in the moment before he mentioned the box was completely sealed!" It was only funny until the box was opened... if that officer had still been alive afterwards, he probably would have ended up shooting himself despite the fact that just like everybody else present (myself included) had no idea that if that had actually been all that happened, it would have been a lot less of a tragedy than what DID happen.

"What... what's thi... AGHHHH!" That's the last thing I remember hearing... the puzzlement of the old eccentric changing about 2 seconds later into a bloodchilling scream... the contents of the box hit too quickly for me to comprehend anything else. When I regained consciousness, I was dazed for a few moments, and then tried to comprehend what had just occurred. "Something... something was in that box... what WAS it?" I said this to myself, and decided to contact HQ to report what had happened... but I stopped when I realized something... I was alone. "Where... where is everybody!" I started to look around... "WHERE IS EVERYTHING?" The buildings, the podium, civilians and fellow officers... gone. The Eiffel Tower... gone. In a panic I tried to contact HQ... "HELLO! HELLO!" Then I realized that I wasn't even getting static on my radio... and I lost consciousness again, this time out of shock. It didn't help that in the moment before I lost consciousness, I realized the sky was now blood red.