Authors Notes: Chapter 3 of Cooper and Sandiego is up folks, decided to update early then the scheduled line up of the other stories. Now to clear up a matter brought up in the reviews. This story takes place after the events of the Sticky Rice Caper, since during the in-between Player decrypted some intel about switching artefacts in the Louvre with forged relics which then leads to Carmen meeting Sly. Which now brings us to the canon episodes in the Carmen Sandiego series.
Now lets begin.
Sly Cooper (c) Sucker Punch Productions
Carmen Sandiego 2019 (c) Netflix
Cooper & Sandiego in:
The Fishy Doubloon Caper:
Sly's life has changed in the last few days, he first arrived in a strange alternate dimension after his confrontation with La Paradox and now he's met a master thief named Carmen Sandiego who's just as skilled as him. Him and the crew had just arrived at the airport.
Slys POV
"Boy a lot has changed in the past few days, what started as being stranded in an alternate dimension, to riding with a new crew of thieves."
Sly is with Carmen at a cafe in Paris, during their conversation about their histories and about their confrontation with VILE.
"After talking to Carmen, the lady in red it turns out she was part of a secret crime syndicate, named VILE and steals back what they steal and returns them to where they belong. Quite the Robin Hood and so I offered my help and now I'm riding with her crew."
The crew was now on board a red eye flight leaving Paris France. Sly sat across from the Boston siblings as he explained his story to them.
"During the flight I got to know the crew more. Zack and his sister Ivy were quite the pair and when I told them of my story Zack instantly believed me turns out he knows a good story when he hears it. Ivy took a while but she warmed up to me heck she even called me the Carmen of my world."
Zack was completely entranced by Sly's story and just geeked out when he heard about his many capers and the fact he was from a parallel universe just like in the movies. Ivy had to snap him back to reality but she could sense there was something good about the gentleman thief.
"In someway these two reminded me a lot of Murray. Zack was the heart and great get away driver aspect and Ivy the muscle." Sly was sitting next to Carmen as Player explained the details of their next destination, sunny Ecuador.
"Then theres Player, the crews version of Bentley, and like Bentley he was the hacker and code breaker. Useful considering he was mining the hard drive Carmen stole from VILE to find out their schemes, and man they had more capers than the Fiendish Five and the Claw Gang put together."
Soon their plane touched down in Ecuador and upon arriving Ivy and Carmen dragged the disguised Raccoon to the shops.
"Our next destination was sunny Ecuador, but there wasn't any time for fun in the sun, as Ivy and Carmen took me clothes shopping. Given my wardrobe was limited to my thieves attire and trench coat."
Sly was given a number of clothes to try on and by some luck he found some clothes that resembled his normal thieves attire with a new jumper and gloves with a cap. Ivy then handed him some grey cargo pants. He was a little questionable about it but after Ivy gave him a certain look he went along with it. Carmen and Ivy also bought a few other clothes for him including a blue hoodie, jeans. and a black shirt, with dark blue vans sneakers.
"Luckily it wasn't hard to find something in my colour. Though Ivy insisted I wore pants, not sure why but after a… compelling argument I went along with it."
Soon the group was on a fishing boat heading out to sea. "Sight seeing would have to wait, as according to Player, VILE was on the trail of a lost shipwreck rumoured to be shipping gold doubloons. Not what I excepted for my first caper with Carmen, but thats what makes life so interesting."
End of POV
Poiters, France:
Night had fallen over France and in a multi story carpark Chase Devineaux and Julia Argent had just emerged from the elevator. The inspector was in a mood not surprising since he lost two thieves in one day.
"No witness to question. No thieving scoundrel in custody, and not one single red thread to pull." Chase grumbled "I pursued Carmen Sandiego all the way to Paris and back, then when she reemerges in Paris she and this new thief dressed like a Raccoon slipped through my fingers with nothing to show for my efforts."
He then looked to see his car, or what was left of it after he fell on the hood of it and wreaked it after chasing the scarlet thief all the way to Paris only to have it conk out.
"Eh, almost nothing." Chase mused as he ate a mint from the packet he had with him.
"I did a background search for any reference to this Sly Cooper, and nothing has turned up." Julia explained looking at her tablet "It is almost as if he came out of nowhere, much like Ms Sandiego."
"Yes thank you for voicing the obvious." Chase then said.
"But I recommend re-examining the penthouse Ms. Sandiego purportedly attempted to rob here in Poitiers." She then suggested. "And a reexamination of the crime scene of returned artefacts at the Louvre."
"Did rob Mrs Argent!" Devineaux pointed out "I watched our super thief spirit into the night with a stolen object stuffed in her black sack! Just as I saw this Sly Cooper spirit away no doubt with a stolen object!" He then dumped a load of mints into his mouth and chewed them like a horse.
"That many mints can't be good for an empty stomach." Julia noted.
"Good night Ms Argent." Chase dismissed as he went over to his wrecked car.
"Before I go, you may want to check your fuel…" "Now!" Chase interrupted Julia who just walked away without exchanging a word.
Chase stepped into his car and tried to start the engine, however after twisting the key twice it refused to looking at the gages on the dashboard it was for good reason he was in fact out of fuel. He growls in frustration as he hit the steering wheel.
He stepped out of his car and someone reappeared. "Ugh it seems you were right. I'm all out of…"
However when he turned to face the person he was talking to it wasn't Julia, but rather a woman dressed in a black suit. She held up a gun looking device which let out a puff of blue smoke blasting right in Chase's face. Quite coincidentally this was one of the agents that had been following Carmen Sandiego since her first trip to Paris.
"Gas?" Chase then felt drowsy and collapsed however a man dressed in a similar black suit stood behind him and caught him. Then he drags him away.
Julia was about to leave the parking garage but after a deep sigh she decided to go back to see the Inspector and see if he realised he was indeed out of fuel. However when she came back the car was still there but the police inspector himself was not.
"Inspector?" She called. "Where in the world did you go?"
Meanwhile on the other side of the world:
Ecuador the tropical island on the equator, and on its vast seas a flock of seagulls fly over fishing for food. Diving below into the vast ocean bed we find a certain thief in red clad in red coloured diving gear swimming along the seabed. She was accompanied by a certain raccoon thief who wore similar diving gear in blue.
"Hola, Red." Greeted Player on the coms. "How's sunny Ecuador?"
"Oh wet." Carmen replied.
"How's Sly holding up?" He then asked and said Raccoon was still getting used to swimming underwater even after a few quick lessons.
"Well he's a regular raccoon out of water." Carmen joked.
"I heard that!" Sly called. "I gotta say a deep dive isn't quite what I pictured for our first job together Carmen."
"Not into scuba diving?" She guessed with a raised eyebrow.
"Well I usually leave this kinda thing to Dimitri, he's the scuba expert, but eh I'm willing to try anything once." Sly explained.
In his room Player had locked onto the two thieves location off the coast of Ecuador. Carmen was marked by a red hat and Sly by his trademark logo.
"Don't worry Sly I'm sure you two will get to see more of South America after your swim." Player suggested. "Maybe even paddle further down to Buenos Aires, Argentina."
"Buenos Aires? Didn't you say that was your birth place Carmen?" Sly asked.
"Yeah but Not sure I'm ready to visit my birthplace. Not without any real clues to my past." Carmen said a little unsure, Sly could see this was a sensitive subject so he decided to switch to a new topic as they swam the seas.
"Okay... so Player whats the deal with this shipwreck we're looking for?" He asked.
Player brings up satellite coverage of the area. "The satellite images I intercepted show you're warm." The footage shows a red line on the globe. "Just keep an eye out for the equator. It's a giant red line."
"Very funny, Player." Sly pointed out "The equator's a giant imaginary red line."
"Bingo Sly." Carmen said sharing her facts. "An imaginary red line that divides our world into northern and southern hemispheres."
"Well, Ecuador sits right on the equator, and it looks like the South American country is known for two big exports: bananas and tuna." Player shared his facts.
"Heh I bet Murray would be wondering what a banana fish sandwich would taste like if he was here." Sly chuckled.
"Mmm yum." Carmen said sarcastically. "Bet you didn't know the catch of the day is always transported up the Andes Mountains to Quito, the second-highest capital city in the world." She shared her facts.
The diagram shows how high up Quito was in the Andes approximately 9350ft. "Whoa! That is way high up." Sly said amazed.
"I know my nose is bleeding just thinking about it." Player agreed. "But back down at sea level, the 19th century trading vessel you're looking for might have been transporting Spanish doubloons when it sunk."
"So we're on the hunt for sunken treasure?" Sly guessed. "Boy Dimitri would have a field day with this."
"Yep and a big enough haul of these gold coins could be worth millions today. Which means there's a decent chance the wreck is on V.I.L.E.'s radar." Player explained.
"Which places it on our radar, right?" Sly guessed to which Carmen nodded.
"With luck, we'll secure any valuable artefacts before V.I.L.E. can scavenge them." Carmen then said as they swam ever deeper looking for the wreck.
"Yeah but if these guys are as good as you say they could already be here and we may not even know it." Sly said but Carmen didn't seem worried.
"Which is why we have eyes above." Carmen said. "Are all hands on deck?" She asked Player.
"Surface crew is on high alert." Player notified.
On the Surface:
Up top on the waters surface Zack and Ivy disguised as fishermen/fisherwoman wearing yellow overalls and fishing hats. Were on look out for any sign of suspicious activity while Carmen and Sly were down below. Zack didn't look so good, he was looking sea sick and he wasn't exactly a big fan of fish.
"Fish oh ho ho why did it have to be fish!" Zack moaned. Then a yellow fined tuna jumps up in front of him which caused him to feel sick.
He vomited over the side of the ship. Ivy's attention meanwhile was on a lonely cargo ship that was in the area, a distance away from them. However something wasn't right.
"Motor off" She looked through her binoculars and saw there was no-one manning the ship "no one on board…"
"Creepy enough for you, Ivy?" Her brother asked when he came over.
"Creepy enough to want a closer look." She said.
Sea Level:
Far below, Sly and Carmen continued to swim through the rocky caverns and foggy mists of the sea, as a school of fishes swam by. Then out of the murky mists they eventually found what they were looking for.
"Player, we found it." Carmen smiled.
"Whoa what a sight." Sly gasped in amazement.
The two swim down to the ship and saw the holes in the decaying hull one looked big enough to slip through. Sly went up to the hole first and looked around in case a Shark should suddenly appear.
"Ladies first." Sly motioned as Carmen knew that was an all clear signal and so she slipped into the hole with Sly close behind her.
They entered the main cabin and Carmen just marvels at how preserved everything looked despite years of age and decay.
"Ha we're swimming through the past." Carmen marvelled as the two swam deeper into the ship.
"Any sign of treasure?" Player asked.
"Nope so far nothing that screams sunken treasure." Sly pointed out as he looked around.
"You kidding this room is full of treasure of historical significance." Carmen pointed out. "Remember Sly not all treasure is silver and gold."
Sly had to admit she did have a point after all it wouldn't be the first time he found/stole things that weren't gold. Like when he helped Dimitri recover his grandfathers diving gear or when he helped save the Panda Kings treasured daughter Jin King.
"But sadly theres nothing of the kind that would interest VILE." Carmen then said until Sly caught sight of something in the corner of the hull and pointed it out to Carmen who saw a small chest sitting there.
"You were saying?" Sly said with a knowing smirk.
The two approached the chest and saw it was padlocked. So Sly pulled out his cane from his back and broke open the chest. Inside it were a collection of things. Carmen pulled out an old compass, a treasure map which turned to dust underwater. But so far nothing that would interest VILE. However then they saw something glinting in the dust. Carmen brushed it away to reveal a golden doubloon. Carmen and Sly looked at each other with smiling faces knowing they found something.
Carmen handed it to Sly who held it in front of her helmet. "Player see what you can learn."
Carmen presses a device in her scuba helmet which was a camera. She took multiple photos of the coin from all sides as Sly moved it around. Suddenly they heard the sound of rumbling coming from somewhere close by.
"Whoa! What am I hearing?" Player asked.
The two looked around for any sign of the noise. "That doesn't sound like a normal sea quake." Sly said suspiciously.
Carmen looked around above and below shining the light from her helmet. However she could see nothing. Then suddenly the floor below them exploded catapulting them across the room Sly dropped the coin and Carmen quickly grabbed it.
They turned and saw a muscular individual emerging from the hole wearing black and green diving gear. However Carmen recognised the V logo on the helmet and the face that was in the visor of the helmet.
"You!" Carmen glared.
"You!" The diver said in surprise.
"You?" Sly added. The diver suddenly noticed the gold doubloon in the scarlets thieves hand and activated his jetpack.
He thrusted into Carmen knocking the coin out of her hand and he grabbed it. Sly swam in and leaped onto his back to try and reach for the coin. Only for the diver to grab his hand and fling him into a diver took the coin and used his jetpack to blast out of the ship as Sly regained his bearings in the sea and turned to Carmen.
"Who the heck was that?!" Sly asked.
"El Topo!" Carmen answered.
"One of those VILE guys you told me about?" Sly asked and Carmen nodded before activating her own jet pack and Sly followed suit and blasted after the VILE operative.
"Hold on didn't you say he had a partner?" He asked.
"Yep and if the human mole is down below." Carmen said as she and the raccoon thief gave chase to the coin. "his pal, the human goat, is sure to be above."
High Above:
She was right, Zack and Ivy approached the mysterious cargo ship with curiosity. Ivy looked through the binoculars for closer look. Suddenly she caught sight of someone on the bow of the ship and it seemed to be a rather tall individual with dark skin short hair and wore a dark purple suit. He leaped from the ship and landed onto Zack and Ivy's ship which spooked them.
Far Below:
Far below Carmen and Sly continued to pursue El Topo near the sea bed. Carmen catches up and grabs El Topo's ankle and pulls him back with her jet pack and the yank caused him to let go of the doubloon.
Sly jets ahead after it and is about to reach it until El Topo grabs his tail and pulls him backwards. Topo blasts forwards after the coin until Carmen rams him in the side and struggles against him only for Sly to grab onto him from behind. The three reach for the coin to try and grab it. However a certain yellow fined tuna beat them to it and swallowed it.
The fish swam into the deep waters leaving the three thieves completely surprised.
"Wow, that really just happened." Carmen said simply.
"Gotta admit I really didn't see that coming." Sly agreed.
The three looked at each other only for Carmen to push El Topo away as she and Sly renewed their pursuit of the thieving fish. El Topo then followed them close behind.
High Above:
Le Chèvre looked at the Boston siblings rather suspiciously. "Who are you? What are you doing out here?"
"We're, uh... fishermen." Zack answered nervously. Only to receive an elbow from his sister.
"Fisherwoman, hello!" She reminded.
"You do not sound or look like you're from around here?" Le Chèvre asked in a rather interrogating way.
"Well…uh…Boston Harbour was getting really crowded you see…." Ivy elbows her brother to make him shut up only for him to realise his mistake. "Oops."
However Le Chèvre just shrugged at that notion thinking they were just innocent fishermen folk.
Far below:
The fish that swallowed the doubloon kept swimming through the seas with the three thieves close behind it. El Topo had managed to catch up to Carmen and Sly. Carmen reaches out to try and grab the fish. However out of nowhere from below a fishing net caught the yellow fin in its grasp and as El Topo caught up they saw the net loaded onto a fishing boat above them.
"Come on, seriously?" Carmen exclaimed.
"Guess lightning can strike twice?" Sly exclaimed in agreement.
The boat reeled in the net and then started its engines and sailed away. Leaving the three thieves far behind. El Topo just pushed Carmen into Sly and swam after the ship.
Suddenly he saw his air helmet was filling with water. He turns round and sees the raccoon thief had in his hand an air hose that belonged to his suit. Sly had a raised eyebrow smirk on his face.
El Topo shouted in panic with muffling sounds and swam to the surface which gave Carmen an opening to follow the ship. She acted quickly and fired a tracking device onto the back of the ship which made a radar beeping sound upon two thieves then met up and gave each other knowing nods as they swam away.
High Above:
Le Chèvre was about to take his leave of Ivy and Zack's fishing boat before Ivy's radio sounded off.
"Wrap it up, surface crew. Carmen and Sly needs assist." Player sounded and Ivy quickly turned the radio off but it was too late the VILE operative had heard everything.
"That would not be Carmen Sandiego and this Sly Cooper would it?" Le Chèvre questioned rather threateningly with a harpoon hook in his hands.
"Carmen Sanfrancisco." "Carmen Sanjose." Ivy and Zack said at the same time in a panic.
"Sanjose? Sanfrancisco!" "Sanfrancisco! Sanjose!" the two said again at the same time.
"Ivy!" Zack exclaimed silently.
"What?" Ivy questioned.
Le Chèvre was about to use his hook to interrogate the two siblings when suddenly he heard a sound in the distance. "HELP!"
He looked over the side of the ship and in the distance saw his comrade El Topo on the surface practically drowning. "HELP!" He called.
Le Chevre acted quickly and pulled out a life preserver and was about to jump in after his comrade. Only for Zack and Ivy to push him overboard.
"Let's motor!" Zack suggested and so the two siblings hurried to the controls of their boat.
Players Room:
Player sees the tracker Carmen placed on the boat with the doubloon swallowing fish on board, from his computer monitor.
"I have a bead on your tracker." Player relayed.
The deep sea:
"Keep a close watch, Player. We need to can a tuna." Carmen said as she and Sly blasted through the sea to meet their rondevu.
The Docks:
Soon they were back on the docks, Carmen was talking to the fishermen on the boat that took the yellow fin that swallowed the coin. Whilst Sly now in casual attire and a blue hoodie with sun glasses waited with Zack and Ivy.
After talking to the fishermen Carmen left. "Gracias." She thanked.
She then went to meet with her crew who were waiting for her. "Well?" Sly asked.
"He says his catch is already on its way to Quito for auction and our coin-swallowing fish with it." Carmen explained.
"So we're back to square one." Sly said downhearted.
"For a fish out of water, old yellow-fin sure gets around." Ivy noted.
"Thats an understatement Ivy." Sly agreed. Just then Player called in.
"Red, I've looked up the image of the coin." Player called in. "It's a doubloon alright, but it isn't Spanish. It's called the Ecuador eight escudos."
"So it's an Ecuadorian doubloon?" Carmen voiced out loud, unaware that someone on the nearby ship had heard what she just said. But it wasn't a VILE operative.
"It looks here like most coin hobbyists know it as the "Moby Dick doubloon." Player explained.
"Moby Dick?" Sly wondered. "You mean that book about the white whale?"
Player looked at his visuals of the doubloon and some images of Moby Dick and Captain Ahab.
"Why would a coin be named after the famous whale?" Carmen wondered over the coms.
"Because it's the coin the Captain Ahab character nails to the mast of his ship as a reward to anyone who spots the white whale that keeps evading his capture." Player explained.
"This doubloon is starting to feel like a white whale of our own." Carmen sighed.
"Yeah slippery and hard to pin down." Sly agreed in a joke.
"I'm sorry, were you speaking of the Ecuador 8 escudos?" The two looked behind them and saw a dark haired tanned skinned woman wearing a grey cap, a violet shirt, cargo shorts and boots.
"You've heard of it?" Carmen asked.
"Dr. Pilar Marquez." She offered a handshake which Carmen took as did the disguised Raccoon thief "I am an archaeologist leading an excavation team to the shipwreck."
"A pleasure." Sly greeted.
"Well, if you happen to be looking for one, you won't find it down there. Not anymore." Carmen explained sheepishly.
To say the archaeologist was surprised was an understatement. "What? How do you know?"
She looked at the group as they looked at each other and began to grow suspicious of them, and their interest in the coin. "You're not... scavengers, are you?" She asked.
"What uh no we're uh…" Sly tried to come up with an excuse.
"Coin hobbyists." Carmen pointed out innocently.
"Amateur coin hobbyists." Sly added and the rest of the group smiled and nodded in response.
"Then you may not realise that the escudos was the first doubloon minted here in Ecuador, in the 1830s, shortly after we became our own nation." Dr Marquez explained. "Only a mere handful were ever made."
"Sounds very rare?" Sly wondered.
"Whoa! Must be worth millions!" Zack silently elbowed his sister.
"Heh. Despite its rarity, the escudos does not have high monetary value, though it is of tremendous cultural value."Marquez explained. "As a symbol of Ecuador's independence, it remains one of the strongest links we have to our past."
Carmen could see how important this coin really was not just to the Dr but also to Ecuador itself. Such an artefact should be placed in a museum. Sly began to see Carmens point on how not all treasure is silver and gold, given how the Thievius Raccoonus and his own cane were the strongest link to his past.
"I see." Sly understood.
"Oh well." Ivy shrugged in dismissal.
"Aw, the fish can keep it." Zack agreed.
"We'll find it for you." Carmen then said which was a surprise to the rest of the crew.
"We will?" They said as Zack and Ivy jumped onto the dock and caught up to Carmen and Sly who walked to the fishing boat.
"V.I.L.E. has no idea how much that coin is or isn't worth, which means we need to secure it before they figure out where it's headed." Carmen explained to the crew.
"If they haven't already." Sly realised as Carmen pulled her tracker off the back of the boat.
However little did they know another tracking device was on the boat as well far below the waters surface. It didn't belong to Carmen or Sly, so it could only belong to a certain organisation of thieves.
Elsewhere Unknown location:
In what looked like a bricked building Chase Devineaux stirs from his unconscious state, only to find himself handcuffed on a chair. He was watched by two agents in black suits and sunglasses.
"What is this?" Devineaux demanded. "You think these can hold me, an agent of Interpol? Haha!"
However the female agent reached into her suit jacket and was about to pull something out. Chase was worried it be something to torture him.
"No, no. No…" he panicked only for the agent to pull out a fountain pen with circular symbols on it.
"autographs, please." Chase said charmingly thinking the two agents wanted an autograph.
However the agent pushes the top of the pen then drops it to the ground, and it stands on its nib. Devineaux is completely bewildered what was going on. The answer came seconds later as the pen projected a hologram of a dark skinned woman wearing a grey suit with short hair.
"Inspector Chase Devineaux, thank you for joining us." She spoke. Chase was in complete bewilderment who was this person and how was she speaking to him.
"Holographic projection, the most secure method of communication. Plus the calls don't drop." She said.
"Who... who are you?" Chase demanded. "Why am I here?"
"You can call me Chief." She introduced and an agent pressed a button on a small remote relieving the Interpol agent of his handcuffs. He rubbed this wrists when they dropped.
"And you are here because I understand you have recently come into close contact with a certain elusive Carmen Sandiego." Chief explained. "And most recently a thief who dresses as a Raccoon."
"And I would very much like to get back to finding them, if you do not mind." Chase then said.
"Well, then you and I may be able to help each other." Chief explained to him.
"You also seek the Crimson Shadow and the Blue Raccoonus?" Chase guessed.
"We're seeking an army of shadows, whom we have reason to believe call themselves…. V.I.L.E." Chief explained with a squint.
Ecuador:
Le Chevre and El Topo had just arrived at the docks and retrieved their tracking device from the boat. The device then turned back into a simple circular device.
"If Carmen Sandiego and this so called Sly Cooper are after this doubloon, it must be worth a fortune." Le Chèvre realised as he was talking to Professor Maelstrom.
"How very delightful to hear, Le Chèvre, because Papa needs a new pair of cuff links." He said looking at his jacket cuffs.
"Of course, Professor Maelstrom. A vault filled with cuff links of every shape and colour." Le Chèvre understood only for El Topo to snatch the phone off his partner.
"And gold rings for every finger. A fancy limousine or a spectacular yacht." El Topo listed "No, wait. Your very own private golf course." Maelstrom just looked with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, I can chase away the gophers for you."
Le Chevre took back the phone and talked to the professor. "The point being, this golden trinket will enable you to buy anything your dark heart desires." He said.
"Buy?" Maelstrom questioned. "I don't think you understand. I intend to melt that doubloon into a pair of solid gold cuff links."
Le Chevre was rather surprised he just told his professor that they found a gold doubloon worth millions. Only to find out he intends to melt it down into something else.
"Melt? But it is worth a…" Le Chèvre tried but.
"I will be the first on the island. Countess Cleo will be so envious." Maelstrom admired his suit cuffs.
Meanwhile:
High up in the Andes mountains Carmen,Sly and crew are in a bus headed up to Quito at top speed to hopefully reach the yellow fin that swallowed the Moby Dick Doubloon before it was too late. Zack was at the wheel whilst Sly, Carmen and Ivy sat in the passenger seats.
"Pedal to the metal. If that yellowfin makes it to the auction floor, we could lose it for good." Carmen said.
"Word of caution, Red. The air's pretty thin above 9500 feet." Player warned. "If you don't take the time to acclimate, any one of you can get altitude sickness."
However something else was on Sly's mind about this whole caper, and about VILE's intentions for the coin. Carmen could see something was troubling him.
"Something on your mind?" She asked.
"Yeah, somethings been bugging me." Sly said. "What does VILE get out of taking the doubloon? I mean if what Dr Marquez said is true it's not that valuable in terms of money, and you say they rob from museums to fuel their interests right?" Sly asked to which Carmen nodded. "So what good is a cultural coin to them if it's not worth much?"
"VILE doesn't always need a reason for anything, it's like I told you in Paris, some of the Faculty have their own reasons for their capers." Carmen explained. "It could be to treat them like fashion items before selling them off to the highest bidder or have no interest in the items cultural value and have other plans for it."
"Like melting said item down and turning it into something else right?" Sly guessed.
"Yep." Carmen agreed.
"Makes sense after Clockwerk was blown to bits in our last duel the Klaww gang repurposed some of the parts for their own uses." Sly remembered from his own experience. "Be it for producing black market spice or for other nefarious reasons."
"Wow sounds like VILE to me." Carmen said. "But thats basically how they work."
"Well then we better make sure we find that coin first or someone be it VILE or otherwise might get a nasty chew out of that tuna." Sly said determined, Carmen nodded seeing that her new partner in crime was getting the idea.
France: Unknown Location:
"We believe that V.I.L.E. has masterminded most of the major crimes of the last few decades." Chief explained the situation of VILE to Devineux who listened as her hologram paced the room. "Everything from the manipulation of financial markets to the contamination of cheese."
"And you have not been able to stop them why?" Chase asked.
"Well try stopping something that you can't actually prove exists." Chief continued. "In nearly 20 years, only 6 suspected V. . operatives have ever been apprehended by any law enforcement agency. Each vanished before they could be questioned without a trace."
"No leads no threads no nothing?" Chase asked realigns maybe there was a connection to the 'victim' he had found on the train from Poitiers to Paris.
"Exactly!" Chief said pointing her holographic finger which went right through Chases head much to his surprise.
"Okay, stay still, because if I don't pull out slowly, you could wind up speaking backwards or tasting colour." Chief said and Chases eyes shrunk in horror.
"I'm joking!" Chief smiled as she pulled her finger out the Interpol inspector stood up and cleared her throat.
"And what does this V.I.L.E. have to do with Carmen Sandiego? Much less this Sly Cooper?" Chase asked then the thought hit him "Ha! She is the ringleader!" He gasped.
"A thief who publicly flaunts her crimes, the leader of a phantom criminal empire?" Chief questioned the theory.
"Eh good point." Chase realised.
"Despite the decade of amassing data via our highly advanced CrimeNet technology, V.I.L.E. has remained little more than rumour." Chief explained. "No faces, no names. Yet an international thief springs from nowhere and, based on her activities, seems to know more about them than we do."
"As regards this Sly Cooper, he's a man of mystery, up until the night he was seen at the Louvre museum in Paris there has been no record of him no history, no face, no alias, no nothing." Chief explained. "He's a ghost story, one that has our interest."
"Are you saying up until the night I saw him he never even existed?" Chase wondered. "But how?"
"An excellent question. We need to learn what she knows, and about her raccoon accomplice and that means providing you with the tools to find Carmen Sandiego and Sly Cooper." Chief then explained.
Ecuador: Quito: Fish Market:
After miles of driving up the mountain the crew soon arrive at the Fish Markets in Quito. Everyone was out and about on the market stalls doing business with the locals. The crew step out of the bus and Ivy takes in the fresh air.
"Ah! Smell that fresh mountain air." Ivy breathed.
Zack smelled the air around him and the aroma was one he really didn't like. "Oh, smells like, oh, P.U.! Fish!" He said gagging.
"Come on its not that bad, unless you get covered in it." Sly said.
"Its actually a good thing Zack since we happen to be looking for a fish mar..ah…" Suddenly Carmen started feeling a little lightheaded and was seeing double. Sly noticed she didn't look good.
"Carmen?" Sly asked out of concern then suddenly she was beginning to loose her balance.
"Carm?" Zack then asked in concern. Suddenly she collapsed to the ground but Sly quickly grabbed her before she hit the ground.
"Carmen!" Ivy said in shock and Carmen fell unconscious.
Sly looked at her and could see she wasn't well. "Player Carmen just collapsed." Sly called Player.
"She's likely suffering from altitude sickness you need to treat her quickly." Player advised.
"Hey how come your not feeling woozy Sly?" Zack asked.
"Your talking to a guy who's flown on a fortress in the skies above Paris, took a ride on a mechanical owl high in the sky and braved a crashing time blimp." Sly said realising he was used to the altitude through his own high altitude stunts.
"I'm used to it." He looked down on Carmen and saw she was getting worse. "Look we need to get Carmen some help." He then said.
"Perhaps I could help." The group turned to see someone behind them someone they didn't expect.
Poitiers France: Parking Garage:
Julia was still in the parking garage in Poitiers trying to reach her partner to find out where he is. Sadly all she got was voice mail.
"Chase Devineaux. Leave a brief message. If this is about the love seat, it is already sold." Said the voice mail before beeping.
"Inspector, it's me, Julia. I'm sorry to call again, but I would really like to know if you took the train home." Julia said leaving her message, then had a notion. "Or, if like our witness, you vanished into thin air."
Ecuador: Quito:
Inside a medical tent at the fish market, Carmen lay on a medical bed weak and sick with a fever. The altitude sickness had gotten to groaned as she woke up to find someone patting her head with a wash cloth.
"You." She said rather weak. She looks and sees Coach Brunt sitting with her but something wasn't right.
"Yes, it is me. You are fortunate that I found you when I did." She said in a rather different voice.
"As a baby. By the side of the road in Argentina. Oh, I always knew it was you." Carmen breathed a little weak. When she blinked her eyes it wasn't Brunt sitting with her and caring for her sickness, but it was actually Dr. Marquez with a respirator and air tank.
"Please, the air is very thin up here. You need oxygen." She said rather worried as she placed the respirator on Carmens face.
Outside the tent Sly kept watch he watched his new partner in crime in concern. He not only didn't want this new partnership to end before it began, but seeing Carmen like this reminded him of how Bentley was after beating Clockla when he lost the use of his legs. That was a memory he wouldn't forget anytime soon, and with that experience he learned never to leave a friend in need.
Poitiers France: Unknown location:
Chase was still chatting with Chief about the classified information she had just shared with him.
"Okay, let us pretend that I believe your conspiracy stories." Chase said rather skeptical. "Why would I bother helping you find Carmen Sandiego or Sly Cooper? I am already with Interpol."
"You don't have a choice, Inspector. Arrangements have been made with your former superiors." Chief informed. "You're not a gumshoe anymore."
The male agent stepped forward and handed Chase a white key card with the letters ACME on it. With one touch of his finger print his ID photo suddenly appeared on the card. He was surprised as he looked up to Chief.
"Welcome to A.C.M.E." Chief said.
Ecuador: Quito:
Carmen lies asleep taking in the vital oxygen from the respirator. Soon she woke up and shot straight up from her bed knocking off the respirator.
"Zack? Ivy?" She called. "Sly?"
"Right here." Sly said as he was sitting right next to her bed. "How're you feeling."
"Uhh a little woozy." Carmen said feeling her head.
Just then sitting next to Carmen was Dr Marquez. "Your colleague here has hardly left your side during your fever." She explained. "I also I encouraged your other colleagues to explore the fish market since they knew little about treating altitude sickness."
"Yeah and though I'm good with altitude, it's a good thing the doc found us when she did." Sly explained but Carmen just looked at the doctor with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, I followed you. Did you think I would trust a couple of possible scavenger with my coin?" Dr Marquez.
"Doctor, if I'm to have any hope of retrieving your doubloon, I really need to be…" Carmen got up to get her bag but she was still a little dizzy.
"Whoa easy red try not to stand." Sly insisted as he caught her. However she dropped her bag on the ground and her tools all fell out. In trying to help her stand Sly's cane slipped out from his hoodie as well.
One of Carmens tools landed at the archaeologists feet. She picked it up and looked at it. Sly could see they were busted.
"Are these the tools of two amateur coin hobbyists?" She questioned.
"You helped me." Carmen said taking back her equipment. "Please allow us to help you." She wasn't sure she could trust some suspected scavengers until Sly spoke up.
"Look if we were scavengers we would have the coin and be gone by now." Sly insisted. "Trust us we're here to help, let's just say some real scavengers are interested in that coin and not in a good way."
Marquez was still unsure, but based on what the disguised Raccoon had said to her she wondered if they were really telling the truth.
The Fish Market:
Meanwhile Zack and Ivy were searching the fish market for any signs of the doubloon swallowing fish. Whilst Carmen was being treated the Boston siblings were scanning the tuna carts with an X-ray feature on Ivy's phone to see if they could find the coin before it was sent to the auction. Or before any VILE operatives showed up to take the coin.
However Zack, not being a fan of fish couldn't stand the smell and could only complain.
"Aw, find that coin already, Sis! I can't breathe in here." He complained.
"If you don't put a sock in it, Zack Attack, I'm gonna put a fish in it for you." Ivy threatened. "The eyes, the head, the whole enchilada."
She moved the device over the tuna in front of her and they struck gold, quite literally. The X-Ray device showed the doubloon inside the yellow fins stomach. The device beeped with a green light.
"Wicked awesome! Lucky number 52." Ivy said happily.
In that moment the door opened and stepping inside was Carmen now dressed in her hat and coat, whilst Sly adorned his thieves attire of his blue and yellow elbow shirt with blue and yellow cuffed gloves, cap and a black mask. This time though he wore grey cargo pants with his red pouch on his left leg. His cane rested on his back.
"Well look what just waltzed in. Red snapper and Blue Tang." Ivy said with a smile as Zack walked over to the two thieves.
"Hey, don't be embarrassed, Carm. The smell of fish gets me woozy too." Zack said comforting.
"Yeah but I doubt you ever passed out from lack of oxygen whilst around the scent of fish Zack." Sly cracked.
"Eh true." Zack agreed.
"Tell me you found it." Carmen asked hopeful.
"Yup. We've been scanning the tuna carts on deck for the auction floor first to make sure it didn't get past us." Ivy said confidently, but she failed to notice the auction staff member wheeling said yellow fin away. "It's in that one over there."
"You mean the one they just wheeled through the doors just now?" Sly pointed.
Ivy turned round and saw that he was right the yellowfin was gone, and the doors flew back and fourth telling them it was on the auction floor gasped and Ivy looked with wide eyes, whilst Carmen and Sly looked with a not so surprised look on their faces.
The yellowfin had been placed next in line for the auction floor. The auctioneer was selling off the previous fish.
"300 once. 300 twice. Lot 51, sold to paddle number 7." The auctioneer announced slamming his gavel.
Carmen and Sly peek through the gap in the door and looked round the auction floor. Specifically for people who didn't belong. They looked up and saw a certain goat named operative hiding in the rafters.
"Le Chevre." Carmen sheathed through her teeth.
"Another of your former classmates?" Sly asked remembering her story to which she nodded. "Man first El Topo, Tigress and now this are all these guys named after animals?"
"No not really their codenames just suit their skills." Carmen explained.
"That guy really gets my goat!" Ivy then growled hearing his name again.
"He'd ID me in an instant, with or without the coat." Carmen realised. "And if Tigress reported on her little failure in Paris VILE will have no doubt warned them about you Sly."
"Meaning if I step out and try to reel it in with my cane they'd see me coming a mile away." Sly realised as well.
"You two need to reel it in." Carmen then said.
"How?" Zack wondered.
"Easy bid to win." Sly smirked.
On the action floor the staff member rolled said yellow fin onto the stage ready to be sold. "Lot number 52: yellowfin tuna, 97 pounds." The auctioneer announced.
Zack and Ivy were in the crowd ready to bid on the yellow fin, before VILE could get their hands on it.
"Thats our guppy." Ivy noted as Zack held a paddle that said 85 on it.
"Starting at 100 dollars. Do I hear 100 dollars?" The auctioneer began and saw a paddle go up. "100 dollars. Do I hear 150?"
Then suddenly out of nowhere the paddle Zack had was raised into the air. "150,000 dollars!" He called.
Everyone gasped in surprise, never before had anyone bid so much on one simple fish. Most of the people there looked in confusion that much for one piece of tuna? Le Chèvre hiding in the rafters was all but startled and looked with a raised eyebrow. Carmen just face palmed herself as did Sly, it was clear Zack took his advice a little too literally, that and he's clearly never been to an auction house before.
Regardless the auctioneer continued. "Uh, ahem... Sold!" He slammed his gavel.
Ivy just looked at her brother with a crooked eyebrow whilst Zack looked rather proud of himself. "What Sly said bid to win? I just won."
"Not how it works bro!" Ivy said as she grabbed her brother by the wrist and hurried to the auction stage.
However Le Chèvre had other ideas. "That is our tuna!" He realised before he reached for a radio to his comrade. "Now now now!" He alerted.
As the siblings hurried to the auction stage a sudden green flame emerged from the floor beneath the cart. Surprising the staff member as it cut a circle in the floor and just as Zack and Ivy arrived it fell through the floor tuna cart and all.
"We're, uh, not gonna pay for that." Ivy said sheepishly.
Sly and Carmen saw the cart disappear and wondered where it could have gone. The answer came seconds later. They heard a loud bang below one of the tuna carts. It was El Topo who was trying to come up from below it. He lowered the tile down and emerged from the tile in front of the cart and made his escape with the tuna in hand.
"Mole on the move!" Sly alerted Carmen and the two gave chase to the escaping operative.
El Topo jumped over a tuna cart and Sly soon followed suit and slid across the floor to trip steal the fish from El Topo using his cane. He was shocked when Sly stood back up again.
"Guess my cane is good as a fishing hook." Sly said as he looked at the fish only for El Topo to slam into the raccoon thief taking the fish as he slammed into the ground.
However Carmen wasn't going to let him escape that easily. She jumped a tuna cart and threw a tuna fish at El Topo which tied up his legs like a trip rope. He tripped to the ground and let go of the yellowfin which went flying into the thief in red jumps on his back and tries to grab the fish, only for a net to snag it. She lands on the ground and sees Le Chèvre in the rafters with said net fish in hand.
"Ha ha!" He gloated.
Carmen looked to see Sly climbing up to the rafters with his cane in hand. He looked to her and gave her a signal to keep him talking.
"That doubloon isn't worth what you think it is." Carmen said to Le Chèvre. "Stealing it would deprive Ecuador of a cultural treasure."
Carmen also readied her grapple gun in her coat sleeve as Sly moved into position in the rafters.
"Tell it to Professor Maelstrom." Le Chèvre called back.
"No thanks!" called a voice and in one quick motion Sly leaped from the rafter beam he was on over to Le Chèvre and used his cane to hook the netted yellow fin and land on the opposite end of the beam.
"Sacre blu!" Le Chèvre said in surprise getting a good look at the raccoon thief. "Tigress was right you are a raccoon man!"
"Oh she told you about me?" Sly said rather flattered. "I'm flattered. By the way the names Sly, Sly Cooper remember it well."
Le Chevre leaped over and tried to steal the netted fish back from Sly only for him to perform a jump over to the opposite rafters.
"Haven't you heard, raccoons beat goats in the agility department." Sly smirked.
Le Chevre ignored that comment. "We shall see who can out climb who!" He leaped over as did Sly in the opposite direction only for Sly to swing the netted tuna over to Carmen who fired her grapple hook and caught it and pulled it towards her.
Le Chevre was surprised only for Sly to give him a swat with his cane in the air knocking the goat named operative flat on the ground. However El Topo grabbed the tuna in hand and made for the exit only for Zack and Ivy to stand in his way.
"Time to whack a mole, Bro." Ivy said punching her fist in her hand whilst Zack held his paddle like a bat.
"We shall see who will be whacked!" El Topo said as he held the fish like a club in his hand and swung it at the Boston siblings who ducked out of the way to avoid it. However it did whack someone namely Le Chèvre. He recovered only to be hit in the back by the fishes head. The impact however caused the fish to spit out the doubloon it swallowed which went flying into the air.
El Topo hurried over to his downed comrade not even bothering about noticing the coin. Said coin flew into the air right into Carmens watched from the rafters and looked with an impressed smile.
"Whoa." Zack said in surprise.
"Catch of the day." Ivy agreed.
Le Chèvre was propped up on El Topos shoulder and he didn't feel well. Not surprising since he had a fish hit him in the back.
"Uhh.. I do not feel so well." Le Chèvre groaned rather sick.
"Uh, it is the altitude, Mi Amigo." El Topo simply said not wanting to admit he whacked him with the yellowfin in his possession. "But I have the coin in hand. Vamonos."
The two thieves made their escape through the back exit. However what they didn't know was that Carmen was holding the real prize in her hands. Sly jumped down from the rafters as she flipped the reclaimed doubloon in her hand.
"Boy I wish I could see the look on their faces, when they realise they just stole an empty fish." Sly smirked.
"Nice foot work on the rafters there Sly." Carmen said impressed.
"Yeah that goat guy maybe good but a Cooper is better." Sly said. "This thief's got more than a few tricks they don't have."
"Oh you're so teaching us that!" Zack said excitedly.
"Add it to the list." Carmen chuckled. "Now come on we have a doubloon to return."
Poitiers France:Parking garage:
Julia looked around the parking garage for any sign of her missing partner. Just then she catches sight of the mints the Inspector liked lying on the was surprised, but then noticed a trail of mints lying on the ground which lead to a door marked with an electrical symbol.
Unknown location:
Inside said room Devineaux was looking at the ID card given to him namely the lettering on it.
"A.C.M.E.: Agency to Classify and Monitor Evildoers. We gather data. We monitor criminals, covertly." Chief explained. "No one knows we exist. Not law enforcement, not V.I.L.E., not our own families." She continued as she looked at her new recruit. "We are the only entity more invisible than V.I.L.E. itself, and it's imperative that we keep it that way."
Suddenly they heard the creaking of metal and they turned round to see the door to the room crack open to see Julia peeking in.
"Inspector?" Julia said in surprise seeing the holographic woman, the two agents in black and her partner sitting in the room.
"I... have, uh, never seen her before in my life." Chase tried to cover up.
"Your partner's pretty sharp." Chief said rather impressed and could see they had yet another possible recruit for the secret agency. Julia just smiled knowing she had been noticed for her keen eye.
Ecuador:
Meanwhile Le Chèvre and El Topo were shaking the fish up and down hoping the coin would fall out to take back to Isle of VILE.
"Well where's the coin?" Le Chèvre questioned.
"I know it was this one mi amigo." He said as he put his mole clawed gloves into the fishes mouth looking for the coin. Then suddenly.
"Ah ha!" He said as he had grabbed something.
However when he pulled it out it wasn't the coin. It was a certain Raccoon calling card. However it was different it had a red hat hanging on its right ear.
"What?" Le Chèvre said in surprise.
"Aye curumba" El Topo guled in realisation. "Professor Maelstrom is not going to like this."
The Docks:
Meanwhile on the docks, the doubloon was back where it belonged in the hands of a certain archeologist. Carmen and Sly were now in casual attire, Sly had his hoodie up so Marquez couldn't see his raccoon features.
"Thank you, Carmen Sandiego and Sly Cooper. Someday, the world will know your names." Marquez thanked.
"Not a problem doc it's kinda what we do." Sly said humbly. But he had to admit this was the first time he returned something that was stolen, minus that antique watch he stole from Mugshot.
"Just happy to do our part for Ecuador." Carmen said humbly as she was about to leave.
"Interesting to hear, coming from an Argentinean." The doctor said, Carmen was rather taken aback how could she have guessed where she came from. Even Sly was more than surprised.
"During your fever, you mistook me for... someone close to you." Marquez explained.
"A link to my past. We went our separate ways." Carmen explained.
"Yeah so I see." Sly said remembering the story about how she thought a certain coach had found her in Argentina. "But you know, despite not knowing anything about your past Carmen, maybe a little visit to your birthplace might help jog some memories."
Carmen looked a little unsure. "Yeah I know it may not be easy, but if I had a chance to go back to where I was born I would take it even if I didn't know much." Sly said knowing he never considered going back to his childhood home after taking down the Fiendish Five.
"You know Sly you're right." Carmen realised with a warm smile "Maybe a visit home would do me some good."
Just then Player called in "I have breaking news, Red." He called on her earring com and Sly patched in as well.
In his room Player had brought up some intel on the VILE hard drive in his possession, something about artwork.
"That series of art thefts we've been tracking?" He explained. "It's way bigger than we thought. And I have reason to believe the next one on V.I.L.E.'s hit list is at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam."
Ecuador: The Docks:
Upon hearing that Carmen knew there was no time for sight seeing in Argentina. Sly could see that look in her eye as well, because he had that same look many times before on jobs.
"Buenos Aires will have to wait." She decided as she raised her hoodie over her head and walked to the boat.
"Well, Amsterdam it is then." Sly agreed as he put his sunglasses on his face and join Carmen on the boat with Zack and Ivy as they shot across the sea onto their next caper.
Slys POV
"I guess the mystery of Carmen's past isn't gonna be an easy path, but I guess I can understand why what could is finding out about the past if you ignore whats going on now. I can sympathise in a way, and I must admit returning things stolen from other things was a change, one I could start to get used to."
Sly looked at the open sea as the boat rode the waves and he looked to Carmen and her crew who were deep in their thoughts. However he was a little sad on the inside.
"But… I was a little sad since Carmelita would always show up at the last minute and try to arrest me and the gang. Maybe I miss home more than I thought. But I can't let that stop me, heres hoping my next caper with Team Carmen will be a little less…fishy."
Authors notes: Chapter 3 done so Sly has had his first meeting with Le Chevre and El Topo, and has been introduced to stealing from thieves only to return what was stolen and how knowledge is true treasure that should be shared with the world. It's gonna take him some getting used to. Now I didn't have Sly get altitude sickness because I figured after fighting on Arpeggio's flying fortress, fighting Clockla and on Le Paradox's time blimp he would be used to high altitude climates. But now who are these people in black that have a sudden interest in not only Carmen but Sly as well. Well onto the next caper where a dear countess's art heists will bring the attention of the two super thieves and may even be an opportunity to put some knowledge from Sly's ancestors to good use.
Until then where in the world are Cooper & Sandiego!