Sly Cooper
And
The Shadow Thief
Chapter Eleven: The Battle
Last Time:
Max bust open the door then, and the pole clattered to the floor. He stepped into the room, an evil, twisted smile on his face, and a look in his eyes that made him look like a maniac.
"I hope you've enjoyed your life thus far, Sister Dear," Max said, holding his gun up, aiming at Merah. "It's gonna end soon!"
Merah exhaled deeply as Max loaded the gun he was holding, but she didn't move. She was trying to calm herself, to get herself focused. Her wits needed to be about her in this battle, and with a cloudy, panicky mind, that wouldn't happen.
"Say hi to Mom for me," Max said and he pulled the trigger, but at the exact same moment with lightning fast speed, Merah dove at him, whacking him in the arm with her cane and causing him to drop his gun. It went off when it hit the hard floor, and the loud bang echoed around the room. Max cursed loudly. Then he turned to face Merah, who was standing there, her arms limp at her sides. Her face was completely expressionless.
"Nice job," Max said after a while, a smile spreading over his features. "You were always better than me in the speed department."
"It's how I'm going to beat you," Merah said softly.
"Really, now?" Max asked. He lunged at her, but she moved away easily, and ran to the middle of the huge room. Max followed her and surprisingly managed to catch her arm, and when they both realized that he had a hold of her, he twisted it behind her back fast and hard, making her yell and drop her cane. He pinned her to the ground.
Up on the walkway, Sly was getting nervous, and when Max pinned Merah to the floor, still holding her arm behind her back, he moved to jump down and help her, but Nick grabbed his shoulder.
"No," He said firmly. "She can do this."
"She said so herself she isn't strong enough to beat him," Sly countered, moving to jump down again, but Nick grabbed his shoulder once more.
"She may not be strong," He said. "But she's sneaky. Look."
Sly looked, and he saw that Merah was reaching out with her free arm to grab her cane. Max wasn't paying attention to her other arm, so when she managed to grab it, she flipped it in her hand so she held it like a dagger, and she reached up behind her to smash Max on the head. He quickly let her go, and she jumped to her feet.
Her hat had been knocked off her head, and her hair was falling out of its pony-tail, but she didn't care. She was too focused on Max to care about anything right now. And speaking of Max…
"I'm gonna kill you!" Max yelled through clenched teeth, lunging at her. This startled Merah, and she wasn't quick enough to move out of the way before Max had his fingers around her neck. She dropped her cane again and tried desperately to pull Max's hands away from her neck so she could breathe. Max put his face right close to hers.
"I'm actually kind of glad you knocked my gun away," He whispered. "Now I get the satisfaction of killing you with my bare hands!"
"Get Merah once I know Max off of her," Zeke suddenly said to Sly. He looked over at Merah's father, who hadn't spoken a word since he started asking Sly questions at the base of that pole. But he didn't need telling twice. Zeke jumped down to the ground below, and just before Sly followed him, he looked at Carmelita and Nick.
"Stay here!" He ordered, and then he jumped. Carmelita snorted.
"What, does he think we're kids?" She asked aloud. Nick shrugged.
"It's a good idea we stay put, though," He said.
"Why?" Carmelita asked Nick with a smirk. "Are you scared?"
"No, I can just see Sly's reasoning." Nick said. "Wait until after Max is busted up before we go down and start to make arrests. Then it'll look like we weren't helping them."
Carmelita looked down to the scene below, and narrowed her eyes. "Look, there are four raccoon thieves down there, and we're not allowed to make arrests. Does ringtail really think that we won't slap the cuffs on them all after this is finished?"
"Will you?" Nick asked. Carmelita looked back at him, and said slowly, "I'll wait until their injuries are healed, because they are bound to be hurt."
Meanwhile, just after Zeke jumped off the walkway, he lunged and Max, and forced him off Merah, and now they were in a fast-paced hand-to-hand combat. Sly was immediately at Merah's side. She was gasping for air and she was shaking violently. Sly helped her to sit up.
"I'm fine," Merah wheezed, bringing a hand up to massage her neck. "Or… I will be at least."
"Come on," Sly said, pulling Merah to her feet and handing her cane to her. "Let's go help out your dad."
Max had managed to knock Zeke down to the ground, but Zeke was determined, and wasn't giving up.
"Give it arrest, old man," Max snapped. "I've won."
"Remember when I taught you not to be arrogant, Maxwell?" Zeke asked. Max gave him a confused look, and Zeke took this as his chance to give him a good punch in the face. "You obviously didn't pay very much attention.
Max cupped his jaw, and licked his lips. The metallic flavor of blood settled in his mouth, and he smiled. Then, he turned around, and went for the gun Merah had knocked out of his hands earlier. Zeke made a move to run at him and stop him, but Max pointed the gun and Merah again, who stopped dead in her tracks at having the gun being pointed her way. She had been running towards her father before.
"If you move, Dad," Max yelled, his eyes never leaving Merah. "I'll shoot her. And she'll die. Just like mom. Do you want that?"
Zeke stood still, and looked at Merah, who was being held protectively in Sly's arms. The look in Sly's eyes was one of determination, love, and strength, and Zeke realized for the first time how honorable Sly was.
"Max, stop it!" Merah yelled. "Threatening us won't get you anywhere! What good will come out of it?"
"My prissy little sister will be out of my way, that'd be pretty nice," Max replied darkly. Merah snorted.
"Prissy!" She yelled. "You –"
"Toodles, Merah," Max said pleasantly, and he loaded the gun quickly, and pulled the trigger. When Max had loaded the gun, Sly stepped in Merah's way, and just before he pulled the trigger, Zeke ran, and stepped in front of Sly, getting hit with the bullet in the shoulder.
"Damn!" Max roared at his father. "You just can't stay out of the way, can you!"
Merah was too shocked to move, and Sly was shaky. Zeke had just risked his life to save his. He really hadn't been expecting that.
"Are you alright?" Sly asked Zeke. Zeke exhaled deeply.
"I'll be fine," Zeke snapped. "The moment my maniac of a son is behind bars, I'll be happy."
"Won't we all?" Sly asked, helping Zeke to his feet. "Thank you."
Zeke shot Sly a glare. "I only did it for Merah."
Sly had smile. Now he knew where Merah had inherited the stubbornness. "Yes, sir."
Max kept on trying to shoot at them, but he was out of bullets. Swearing colorfully, he threw the gun down on the ground. Merah sprang into action again.
"Get Dad to a safe spot," She whispered to Sly. "And if you can, try and find the fireplaces."
Sly did as he was told, and helped Zeke get to his feet, and then together, Father and… was it right to say son-in-law when Sly and Merah weren't even married? Oh, well, Merah's father and Sly together tried to find the switch that would open the fireplaces. There were a bunch of them fireplaces along the walls around the room. Finally Sly found the button that opened them, and he pressed it. What he thought were the fireplaces actually weren't. The fireplaces were on the floor, and different parts of the floor slid back to reveal a burning pit. Flame shot up out of them dangerously. Sly looked at the button he had just pressed, and his heart sank. The button he had pressed was one that sort of… started to make the house burn down. What kind of maniac would have a button like that in their house!
Merah had gone after Max again. Was this foolish? Yes, it was. But this time, he didn't have a gun. And he was weakened. Max tired quickly, but Merah still had energy to spare, mostly from her adrenaline rush. Catching up to Max, who was running to try and find a new weapon, she cracked over the head with her cane. He stumbled, and then turned to throw a punch at her, which she dodged. He punched her again, this time with the other hand, and she caught his wrist. It was then she noticed something on his finger, and her eyes widened when she saw it.
It was her mother's ring!
"Were did you get this?" Merah asked darkly.
"I bought it," Max snapped.
"You don't deserve to have anything that belongs to her!" Merah yelled. "You killed her!"
"I never wanted to kill her!" Max yelled back at her. "I was trying to kill you."
"Why?" Merah demanded. "What did I ever do to you?"
"You knew how badly I wanted to become a thief," Max said softly. "I worked night and day to try and please Dad, and when you started your training, all my work flew out the window."
"I never thought you were so obsessed with being a thief," Merah said. "So you're blaming me for your failures?"
"With your quick progress and fast-learning, Dad didn't have time for me anything. It all just became Merah, Merah, and Merah." Max snapped. Then he smiled evilly. "It's really too bad… you look so much like Mom. If only you didn't have such an inflated head like Dad –"
Merah punched him in the jaw then, and when he pulled his hand out of her grasp, she managed to slip the ring off his finger. While he was cupping his jaw, Merah showed him the ring.
"This," She said. "Is our mother's wedding ring. Dad had it made for her when he proposed. This ring represents a love so powerful, not even death can break it. You don't deserve to wear this ring, Max. Because all you know it hate. I don't think Mom would have wanted someone who was so filled with hate to wear this ring."
Giving Max one final, cold glare, she pocketed the ring, and turned to walk away. Carmelita and Nick could deal with him now. She looked for Sly and her father through the masses of fire that kept being spit out by the fireplaces in the floor, and when she saw them, she headed towards them. But Max ran up to her then, and he was carrying a metal pole.
She heard him coming from behind, and she dodged out of his way before he could hit her with the long metal rod. But then he hit her from the side, something she hadn't been expecting. When she dodged she had side-stepped him to miss the first blow that would have come down on her head if she hadn't moved. But then he took the pole like a baseball player, and whacked her hard in the stomach quickly after. All the air left Merah, and she crumpled to the floor, gasping for air. She was dizzy, and she didn't know if she was going to live or die, but she suspected it was the latter.
Sly and Zeke had seen Max's foul play, and they rushed to help. Sly yelled at Carmelita and Nick to come down and help, and they did so without hesitation. Zeke went for Max like before, and Sly scooped Merah up into his arms.
"Take Merah and go!" Zeke yelled at Sly, fighting Max furiously for the pole.
"This place is going to crumble from the fire!" Sly yelled back at him, noting how the flames were already spreading.
"Just go!" Zeke snapped, and he used his foot to make Max slip to make it easier to pin him. Sly didn't know what to do. So, with Merah in his arms, we started to head for the exit.
"Dad…" Merah groaned, making Sly stop in his tracks. "I can't leave him… not after I just found him…"
"He'll be fine," Sly whispered to her, setting off again. He made his way through an emergency exit in the boiler room, and found himself near where the van was parked for their getaway. Sly went over to it, and kicked at the door. Bentley opened it for them, and Sly gently set Merah in the back on the floor.
"I'll be right back," Sly said, and dashed back to the house again. Carmelita, Nick, and Zeke were inside, still. Just as Sly was about to dive back into the flaming boiler room, however, Carmelita and Nick came out together, followed closely by Max who was clutching his face.
"Here," Nick said, tossing Sly both his and Merah's canes. "You dropped these."
"Thanks," Sly said sincerely. Then he rounded on Max, who was still holding the left side of his face. "What happened to your father?"
"He ran off," Max snapped. Carmelita being Carmelita, immediately slapped the handcuffs on his right wrist, forcing his left hand behind his back so she could cuff them together. Now everyone knew why he had been covering his face. The whole left side had been burnt horribly from the fire. Sly grimaced. It was really…. Disgusting.
"Maxwell Ringo," Carmelita said after she got over the shock of seeing his once handsome face horribly destroyed. "You are under arrest for theft, murder, attempted murder, and having a gun in your possession without a license. You have the right to remain silent. And all that otherjazz."
Sly had to smile. That Carmelita. He was still very fond of her, but fondness was all it would ever go to. He loved Merah. And besides, Carmelita and Nick seemed to have a lot of chemistry with each other. Then a thought came to him, and he turned back to the house.
"Merah's father is still in there…" He muttered in shock. Then, as if on cue, Zeke actually came running out of the door to the boiler room, something large and heavy-looking under his arm. Then there was a little mini fire-explosion that burst out through the door they had all exited out of. Nicholas pulled out his cell phone then, and called the firemen, and the paramedics. With the bullet lodged in Zeke's shoulder, and Merah injured, and Max with his horrid burns, the paramedics were needed.
"Merah, get back here!" Sly heard Penelope yell from the van, and he turned to see Merah slowly making her way weakly towards him. He ran towards her, and caught her just before her knees buckled and her legs refused to hold her up anymore. She looked really dazed.
"Merah?" Sly inquired softly. The sound of sirens suddenly filled the air, and he knew firemen, policemen, and paramedics were already on their way, maybe even there. Merah smiled at him when he said her name, and she gently reached up to touch his cheek.
"Are you alright?" Sly asked.
"I will be," Merah replied groggily. "My ribs hurt like hell, but I think I'm going to be okay."
The small smile that was on her lips before suddenly fell flat on the floor, and her blue eyes grew huge. A hand went instinctively to her stomach, and she uttered two simple words that made Sly understand completely her sudden horror.
"The baby…"
She had been hit in the stomach. Hard. With a metal pole. Not only could that have caused some serious damage to her inner organs, the baby could have been most-likely killed by that. He could see Merah was on the verge of tears, and he hugged her tenderly.
"It'll be okay," He crooned. But he really felt dread settle over him. Ever since Merah had told him she was pregnant, he had started to look forward towards the aspect of having a child. He saw Penelope, Bentley and Murray making their way towards them, and Penelope gave Sly sympathetic look. She knew what was going on.
"Sly, I think the paramedics should take a look at her," Bentley suggested.
"Yeah, she looks pretty beat up," Murray added.
"Yeah, good idea," Sly said, and he pulled away from Merah how had just rested there limply in his arms. "Come on, Merah, let's get you checked out…"
As Sly helped Merah to one of the ambulances that had shown up, and as he let one of the paramedics take her, he caught sight of her father having the bullet from his shoulder removed. Zeke looked at Sly, and gave him a cold look. Sly sighed. If Zeke hated him so much now just for being a Cooper, he'd hate him even more once he found out he had an unborn grandchild that would most likely stay unborn.
"Cooper?"
Sly turned, and saw Carmelita walking towards him. He stiffened. Was she going to arrest him?
"I don't have handcuffs on me right now," Carmelita said with an air of annoyance. "Max is occupying them at the moment. So you're off the hook for now. Besides, it doesn't feel right for me to arrest you when your girlfriend is injured, and you're obviously not at the top of your game."
"No, I'm definitely not at the top of my game…" Sly murmured. He sighed. "This has been so… crazy. I never thought Max would go to such lengths just to prove he had something to prove."
"How is Merah doing?" Carmelita asked.
"I… don't know," Sly finished lamely. "The paramedics just took her."
"I see," Carmelita replied softly. "I think she'll be okay after a while. She's strong."
Sly turned to look at the cop whom he had once felt something so strongly for. She was still beautiful, her confidence radiating off of her. She had many of the same qualities as Merah did. They were both hotheaded, stubborn, independent and strong, didn't always think things through.
"Carmelita, listen," Sly said after a while. "About… everything. I'm sorry. I'm ticked you off a lot these past few years."
"You have," Carmelita agreed. "But I'm willing to forgive that if you'll stop flirting with me."
Sly smiled. "And stop I shall. Besides, if I do any more flirting with anyone, Merah will have my neck. She's a lot like you in many ways."
"I can see that," Carmelita smiled.
"So… what's the deal with Max?" Sly asked.
"He'll get treatment for that nasty burn on his face," She said airily. "He'll stay at the hospital for a while, with policemen around to make sure he doesn't try to kill any of the nurses or sneak away. Then after than, he'll be going of to a tight-security prison and that should be the last we see of him. That prison is so tight, I doubt even you, Cooper, could bust him out."
"It's not like I would exactly want to bust him out, anyway." Sly said. "Thanks for your help. And Nick, too, tell him that for me. He saved our canes. And our necks."
"I'll tell him," Carmelita said, and she started to walk away to rejoin Nick, who was waiting by his car for her. Then she stopped and called back to him, "Hey, Cooper! Stay out of trouble."
"I always do, Miss Fox," Sly replied with a little salute. Penelope hurried over to him, then, from one of the paramedic trucks. He supposed she had been checking in on Merah.
"Well…" She said a little breathlessly. "This has been crazy, huh?"
"Beyond insane," Sly answered. "What's the scoop?"
"Merah's going to have to go to the hospital," Penelope replied. "I've already told Bentley and Murray, so we're all going to ride in the van. You can ride in the truck with Merah if you want. Zeke's going in one of the trucks, too, because of the injury in his shoulder."
"He's doing alright?"
Penelope nodded. Sly nodded, too.
"Good. By the way, did you ever happen to see him carrying something under his arm when he ran out of the building?"
"You'll have to ask him," Penelope replied, but there was a twinkle in her eye. "They're going back to the hospital now. If you want to ride with Merah, hurry up!"
At the hospital, much to his displeasure, Sly was forced to wait out in the lobby before he was allowed to go in and see Merah. Zeke needed physiotherapy on his shoulder from his injury, so he was in a room, too. It was late, and Penelope was trying not to fall asleep, but her head kept finding its way to Bentley's shoulder, and eventually, she was out like a light.
Murray was going on about how he would have loved to bash Max's face in, and Sly started to wonder why they didn't call Murray in the first place. Maybe Merah and Zeke both would have been saved trips to the hospital. But eventually, with help from the Guru, Murray fell asleep, too. So it was just Sly and Bentley left to talk.
Sly told Bentley everything that happened. Everything in Max's manor and even before. When he accidentally let it slip that he and Merah had gone a little farther than intended on the Eiffel Tower, Bentley nearly passed out. At first, all he did was rant on about not being careful, and then he started asking all these questions, like about use of protection, and whatnot. Eventually, Bentley asked flat out if Merah had been pregnant all this time, and when Sly answered, "Yes…" in a small voice, Bentley just gaped at him for what seemed like forever. Then he turned as red as an apple.
"I'm disturbed at you, Sly." Bentley said simply. "Very… disturbed."
Sly chuckled softly. "It'll happen to you one day, Bentley."
Bentley didn't want to talk about that certain topic, so after telling Sly boldly to drop it, he fell silent. That was the doctor's cue to walk in, and announce that Sly could go in a see Merah. He didn't hesitate; he was up on his feet and down that hallway faster than anyone would have thought.
Once at Merah's room, he knocked on the door, and a nurse answered it. She smiled when she saw him, and beckoned him in, and Sly slipped his way inside. Merah was laying in one of those hospital beds, but it was propped up, and she was wide awake. When she saw Sly, she tried to quickly scramble out of bed, but she winced with every move, and eventually, Sly got to her before she even had a chance to let her feet touch the floor.
"I'll leave you two alone," The nurse said, and Merah thanked her and waited until she was gone to embrace Sly tightly.
"I'm so glad to see you," She said, pulling away from him.
"I was so worried," Sly admitted. "What's the diagnosis?"
"Broken ribs," Merah said, sounding a little bit annoyed. "Well… cracked. Max got me in the stomach, mostly, so I have one nasty bruise. I'll have to stay here for a little bit."
The question Sly had to ask he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to. He took Merah's hands in his, and asked softly, "And… the baby?"
Merah looked down at the floor, and then looked back up at him, the tiniest hint of a smile on her face. "There was no baby."
"Wha-what?" Sly asked. "But… you… the test, and… you said –"
"I read it wrong." Merah replied simply. "I was panicking so much about the whole thought of what you would think and what we would do if I was pregnant that my mind wasn't clear, so I read the results in the reverse order. There was no baby."
Sly looked sad for a minute, and then he smiled, and gave Merah a kiss. "Too bad… I was kind of looking forward to the thought of kids."
"You were?" Merah asked, surprised. Sly nodded.
"Being called 'Daddy' would have been a nice change." He said. Merah smiled.
"We'll see…" She said slowly. Then she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot…"
He reached from under her pillow, and pulled a huge book out from beneath it. It wasn't just any old book, though; it was the Thievius Raccoonus. Sly gaped at it.
"How…?"
"After Dad knocked Max down into one of the fire pits, he went to look for it, and found it easily. He remembered I mentioned trying to help you get it back, so… he went and got it." Merah handed the heavy book to him. Then she added with a smile, "Surprise."
"Okay," Sly said, grinning at her. "I owe your dad so much now. This is… man!"
Merah laughed, and then she winced again, putting a hand to her ribs. "He says he wants to talk with you after you're done seeing me."
"He… he does?" Sly asked. "Am… I in trouble, or anything? Does he know about the Eiffel Tower incident?"
Merah shook her head. "No. I decided to keep that from him. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. And you're not in trouble. He just wants to talk."
"Okay," Sly said. Then he kissed her on the cheek. "I should let you get some sleep, then. We'll be up to visit tomorrow morning, okay?"
"Alright," Merah said as she climbed back into bed. Once she was settled, Sly leaned in to kiss her again, and after they had said their final goodnight for the evening, he left her alone to sleep. He informed a passing nurse that she was asleep, and asked were Zeke's room was. Turned out, he was right next door, and Sly made his way into his room to talk to him.
A/N: I'll tell you now, I SUCK at fight scenes. So if the fight scene wasn't up to what you expected, I'm still working on trying to get them better.
Anyway, hoped you like this chappie. Next one will be a cute and romantic one, alrighty? And you'll find out how Sly's conversation with Zeke went.
R&R!