Authors notes: And we're back with Cooper and Sandiego folks, sorry for the delay been busy with work and other projects. But for now lets see how our two theives handle an art heist against the fashionista of the VILE underworld.
Sly Cooper (c) Sucker Punch Productions
Carmen Sandiego (2019) (c) Netflix
Cooper & Sandiego In:
The Duke of Vermeer Caper:
Sly's POV:
Upon returning the Ecuador eight escudos to Dr. Marquez the Carmen, Sly and their crew left the docks of Ecuador for their next caper. Soon the crew were on a red eye jet bound for Amsterdam. During the flight Carmen and Sly were on her laptop discussing things.
"During the flight to Amsterdam, Carmen gave me the goods on one of VILE's faculty members." On the computer Carmen shows Sly the information she had on one of VILE's faculty members. Namely the one behind VILE's latest caper.
"Countess Cleo, you might say she's an underworld celebrity. Who like Dimitri was equally at home at high society balls, and shady back alley crime.…"
The scene then flashes to a young Countess Cleo who is styling a fashionable dress on a runway of a prestigious fashion show. She walked down the runway.
"According to Carmen she started life as a runway model, but well…lets just say her career as a model didn't exactly work out. People just weren't quite ready for her questionable stylish appearance…."
She walked the walk on the runway floor only to suddenly stumble at the last minute earning questionable looks from the crowed. She then appears to be designing ideas for a new dress and then showing her accuracy in supervising the forging of conniving copies of paintings and other masterworks.
"….Eventually she left the runway business behind and went into fashion turning to a life of crime in forging priceless artefacts and valuables, eventually earning a seat among VILE's faculty teaching undercover espionage, and telling the difference between forgeries and the real deals…."
Later as night was falling the group arrived in Amsterdam on one of the canals on a speed boat. Carman and Sly looked on the edge of the boat and spied out the Rijksmuseum.
"And apparently she's running a string of art heists across Europe and her latest target was a painting in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam…"
Sly pulled out his cane and Carmen donned her red hat and coat as they stood ready. "…What Cleo has planned for these paintings is beyond me. Unfortunately for her, those plans are also bringing us."
Rijksmuseum: Amsterdam:
Night had fallen over the capital of the Netherlands, and in the famous Rijksmuseum all was silent. The security guard on duty had left his desk and went on his patrol of the museum. However unbeknownst to him shadowy figures pass by in the moonlight.
The guard walks through the gallery of paintings on display, then walks down to the left corridor of the gallery. What he didn't see was an individual dressed in black with platinum blonde hair. She was accompanied by a gentleman wearing a grey long coat which covered up his face, a black under jacket and top hat like attire. He also wore black pants and black shining shoes.
The two hurried across the room and then came across the painting they were looking for. The Woman in Blue reading a letter by Vermeer a famous platinum blonde figure carefully picked up the painting and slowly handed it to her sharply dressed accomplice who placed it in a case. The two then fled the scene.
"Freeze! Right there!"
Suddenly the screen froze, it was revealed to be security footage of the museum. This was being watched by Julia Argent and Chase Devineaux now agents of the mysterious organisation known as A.C.M.E. They have common interest in a certain scarlet super thief and her connection to a criminal syndicate.
"Now rewind." Chase said to his partner and she rewinded the footage back to when the mysterious figure was holding the painting. "Stop! Zoom in on their faces."
Julia had the footage give a close up of the individuals faces. The woman had platinum blonde hair and tanned skin with an eyepatch going across her left eye. Her accomplices face however couldn't be properly made out as it was hidden behind a neckerchief.
"That is not Carmen Sandiego?" Chase said in surprise seeing it wasn't the thief he was looking for. "And who is her accomplice it looks nothing like Sly Cooper?"
"She calls herself the Duchess." A voice said and it was the hologram of Chief standing next to Chase. "A.C.M.E. had no record of her existence, until late last night. When she and her accomplice known as the Duke sashayed out of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum packing a painting valued at over 30 million euro."
"30 million euro for that?" Chase questioned as Chief displayed the stolen painting in question.
""Woman in Blue Reading a Letter" is one of Johannes Vermeer's most important earlier works." Julia explained as she brought up a close up of the portrait to get a deeper look at the paintings brush strokes.
"See the hallmark of his style? The way he paints natural light makes his subject look so realistic."
Devineaux however wasn't that much interested in what his partner had to say. "Ms. Argent, need I remind you that you're the only one who cares about such dull facts?"
Chief however thought differently. "Excellent eye, Agent Argent. Attention to detail is the very cornerstone of A.C.M.E. surveillance." Julia smiled at that compliment.
"Uh, um, precisely why we should further analyse the particulars of this, uh, uh... hmm." He said trying to act professional clicking on the control keys only for the different camera angles to be shown instead of what he wanted to see.
"Swipe here." Julia said as she swiped her finger on the bar above the keyboard bringing up the close up of the Duke and Duchess.
"I highly suggest acquainting yourself with our CrimeNet technology, Agent Devineaux. You're not with Interpol anymore." Chief suggested to the former Interpol inspector. "Your first mission as agents of A.C.M.E. will be to recover that painting and ascertain whether or not this Duke and Duchess is working for VILE"
Chief hologram dissapeared back into the pen and Chase took another look at the security footage of the suspects. He looked with suspicious eyes.
"Or whether they are accomplices to Carmen Sandiego or perhaps even the mysterious Sly Cooper." Chase mused as he spied the two criminals wondering if these two were connected to the mysterious super thieves.
Meanwhile:
In a luxury hotel room somewhere in the wintery hills of the Swiss alps. Carmen and Sly now in causal attire sat on a couch admiring the Woman in Blue painting that was stolen by the Duke and Duchess, but how did it end up in their possession? The raccoon super thief was now wearing a black sweater shirt with brown jean pants and shoes.
"Blue isn't really my colour, but I have to admit... I've never stolen anything so luminous." Carmen said as she admired the painting.
"Yeah I gotta say, I've stolen a lot of paintings in my career but this one.. has to be the most beautiful yet." Sly agreed. "I may not know much about art but I know what I like."
"Enjoy it while you can, guys. You have a whole hour before you need to get back in character." Called a voice and it was Player on Carmens laptop screen in the hotel room.
"Right. Let's get the crew up to speed. Zack, Ivy!" Carmen called placing the painting down in the case.
Emerging from one of the bedroom doors on the right side of the room was Zack, now wearing an eye patch and grey long coat.
"Avast, me mateys! Argh!" He said imitating a Pirate. Sly just shook his head in amusement. The door near where Carmen and Sly were sitting then opened to reveal Ivy, who was now wearing a platinum blonde wig.
"Is this a good look for me?" She asked waving it around on her head.
"I think it suits you Ivy, really brings out your eyes." Sly said with a smirk and raised eyebrow.
Ivy had her own smirk as she took off the wig and tossed it on Sly's head. "Wow you must be a real hit with the ladies back where your from raccoon boy." she smirked.
"Haven't had any complaints." Sly shrugged innocently as he removed the wig from his head.
"Those aren't toys, people. They're our disguises." Carmen reminded with a dry look. "Now pay attention. Heres what we know…"
Player was typing at his computer looking at data he decrypted from the VILE Hard drive in his possession. It was detailing something to do with paintings.
"…Player's decryption of the V.I.L.E. hard drive revealed details of an intricate ongoing operation…" Carmen explained."V.I.L.E. operatives have been quietly stealing paintings by the artist Vermeer from museums all over the world and replacing the originals with amazingly accurate forgeries."
In a museum in the dead of night another of Vermeer's paintings Girl with Pearl earring, was slowly and quietly taken by Tigress and then Mime Bomb replaces it with a forged painting of said masterpiece. The two then slipped away.
"What?" Ivy said in surprise. "Why would they bother leaving fakes behind?"
"To ensure museum security never realise that the originals had been stolen to begin with." Sly explained. "In my experience when it comes to art counterfeits, they always know to replace the originals with fakes to avoid the spotlight from the police."
Zack took off the eyepatch and went over to the phone to order room service.
"Right, which would allow the entirety of Vermeer's collected works to slowly and steadily be amassed…." Carmen continued.
The stolen paintings were gathered together in a large gallery looking storage area. They were all under the care of one individual the fashionista of the VILE underworld.
"…by VILE mastermind Countess Cleo."
Zack had just finished ordering his food as he sat with his feet up on the table. "What's the big whoop about these paintings anyway? No cars, no clowns, no dogs playing poker?"
"Yeah, and she's reading. Snore." Ivy agreed as she looked at the painting and saw nothing interesting.
"Well when it comes to us thieves beauty comes in all forms not really caring about the significance of it." Sly pointed out.
"You aren't the only ones who thought that." Player explained. "But after some research, I began to see things in a different light."
He brought up on his computer screen all the facts and historical events and painters of the Netherlands.
"The Netherlands isn't only known for its tulips, windmills, and wooden shoes. It's famous for its painters from the Dutch Golden Age of the 1600s, Vermeer among them." Player explained.
"Wow the guy knows how to paint his models." Sly observed.
"But the ordinary people of his portraits weren't the stars of the show." Carmen said exchanging her facts. "That would be the mind-boggling way Vermeer captured natural light with his paintbrush. Only 34 confirmed paintings by the maestro exist. Not a whole lot for a major artist. That makes each one an extremely rare and valuable treasure."
"Ah so these paintings are pretty tough to come by, that makes them easy targets to thieves who want rare items not in their hall." Sly noticed.
"Bang on the money Sly." Player agreed. "Which is why we freaked when we learned there was only one last Vermeer left for Cleo to steal, from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands."
"So we had to act fast and got to it first and made our escape through one of Amsterdam's 165 canals, masquerading as the Duke and Duchess." Carmen explained.
The night the painting was stolen a lone boat sailed down one of Amsterdams canals within the city. On said boat was Zack and Ivy accompanied by the Duke and Duchess, but they discard their wigs, eyepatch and neckerchief and it was really Carmen and Sly in disguise.
"One of the traits of my ancestor Thaddeus Winslow Cooper III, the art of disguise, since we didn't want V.I.L.E to know we were onto them." Sly explained as he looked at the painting.
""Woman in Blue Reading a Letter" is our only shot at stealing back the other 33." Carmen explained.
"So once our dear Contessa finds out that someone has stolen the painting before her, she won't hesitate trying to buy it from us." Sly surmised.
"Exactly Sly, we need Cleo to take the bait so we can push for a direct face-to-face, in the hopes of figuring out where she's keeping the rest." Carmen added.
"And if she had any suspicion that she were dealing with the master super thief Carmen Sandiego or her new partner Sly Cooper, she'd never let you anywhere near her stolen prizes." Player said.
"Yep thats it in a nutshell kid." Sly confirmed.
"That's why, when Cleo's courier arrives to authenticate the painting, it'll be the Duke and Duchess who meets him at the door." Carmen explained placing her black hat and Sly's top hat on both their heads as they leaned back in the chair.
Suddenly came a knock on the hotel room door. Much to the surprise of everyone in the room."Uh prompt much?" Sly guessed.
"Whoa, that can't be him. He's an hour early." Player agreed.
"Yowza! Room service is wicked fast here." Zack said in amazement as he rocked up from his chair and over to the door to answer it.
"Wait!" "ZACK NO!" Carmen and Sly exclaimed as they ran from their seat to try and stop Zack from opening the door, "..Don't open that doo…"
It was too late Zack opened the door so, Ivy, Carmen and Sly acted quickly. Carmen hid in the drinks bar. Sly hid in the closet with Ivy. Player leaped from his desk and switched off the laptop monitor from his keyboard.
At the door was a haberdasher with gray hair, a black bowler hat, a navy blue trench coat over a blue sweater with a white shirt collar. He was inspecting his watch namely the timezone it was set in.
"Oh, still running on Moscow time." He realised then looked to see the red haired Boston boy standing in the door way "Hmm. Um... you're not a duchess."
"You're…not my sandwich." Zack said simply.
"Ahaha, I must have the wrong room. I…" Just then the haberdasher noticed the painting sitting in the room. "Oh... there she is."
He entered the room and went over and took a look at the painting. Luckily he didn't notice Sly's hand snatch up his cane from the floor and back into the closet.
" "The Woman in Blah"" he said as he looked it over. "I was to meet a duchess and a duke. You would be her…?"
"Duke?" Zack said. "Ah, yes. Ahem. I'm the Duke... ahah, of, uh, uh, uh... Vermeer! Vermeer. Yes. Haha." He tried in a more posh manner.
In the closet Sly just groaned a he slapped his face. "Is he for real?" Sly asked Ivy.
"Trust me I've asked myself that same question." Ivy agreed. "Oh and budge over!" She said struggling against his tail which was brushing her nose.
Outside the haberdasher looked with a confused face on his face, not even noticing Carmen poking her head up from the mini bar. "Thats a place?" He questioned.
"Um, yeah. I-In Boston. B-Boston. And you would be, mate?" Zack/the Duke asked.
"Dash Haber." He introduced. "Executive courier to Countess Cleo." Sly looked through the crack in the closet and just couldn't understand the names these VILE operatives give themselves.
A small green eye glass then appears from below his hat. In actual fact it was an electronic scanning device. It scanned the painting in its composition. The scan revealed it was authentic.
"I'll wire the funds immediately and take her off your hands." Dash said as he packed the painting in a case and is about to take his leave.
Carmen quickly signalled to Zack with a finger on her throat telling him not to let the V.I.L.E haberdasher leave. Zack got the message and hurried in front of Dash stopping him from leaving.
"Does, uh, this mean anything to you?" He said in a serious tone. Performing a similar gesture of the finger across the throat.
Dash looked intimidated thinking that he would cause him some harm unless he complied with his demands. Which was obviously handing over the goods in person.
"Heh. I'll inform the Countess." He said nervously. He opened a communication line to the countess herself through the eyeglass.
"Mr. Haber, report." She said immediately.
"The painting checks out. But I think the Duke would prefer to deal directly with you?" Dash whispered to her.
Whilst Dash spoke to the countess, he didn't notice Ivy quietly reach her hand out to snag the platinum blonde wig from the floor before anyone noticed. Luckily she was able to pull it in before he noticed.
"Duke? I promised a complete collection. If I don't have number 34 in my hands tomorrow night, I'll be laughingstock of the criminal underworld." The countess explained a little angry.
The communication line was closed and Dash turned his attention back to 'the Duke' and approached him. "The Countess wishes to invite you to a dinner party and auction."
"Great! Yeah, text me the address." Zack said.
Dash handed back the case with the painting inside to Zack before leaving out the door. With his back turned to him."Good. A car will pick you up tomorrow, 5pm sharp." He informed the duke "And no plus-ones, just the painting." He turned round and then left the hotel room.
Zack closed the door and turned round only for the platinum blonde wig hit him in the face. Compliments of his dear sister Ivy who had a rather angered look on her face.
"Is your brain made of Swiss cheese?!" She exclaimed and Zack just looked with a confused eyebrow not knowing the different cheeses. "Yes, the kind with the holes." Ivy said.
Carmen holding the laptop communicating with Player came over with Sly behind her."Okay now I'm confused the countess goes to the trouble of stealing the paintings only to sell them?" Sly wondered.
"Yeah why would Cleo auction the Vermeer's after going through so much trouble to complete the set?" Player asked also.
"The thrill of the hunt doesn't last long for her." Carmen explained. "And the combined value of the art could easily surpass one billion dollars."
"Whoa hello VILE slush fund." Ivy whistled in amazement.
"Ah sells them off to the highest bidder and that adds more funding to their capers. Smart." Sly said admittedly admiring their thinking.
"We'll only have a brief window to steal back all 34 while they're under one roof before they scatter to the winds." Carmen explained, then had an idea. "The good news is, we're invited to a party."
"And... the not so good?" Player asked.
Carmen and the others looked to Zack who was confused. "We only have 24 hours to transform Zack into a convincing duke."
"Why?" Zack asked.
"Cause if this Countess is as good at seeing fakes as Carmen says, she'll have you pegged as a spy in a second not giving us a chance to pull the heist." Sly explained.
"Right, we've got work to do." Carmen said.
Later Zack was standing in front of a mirror as Carmen schooled him in being a Duke 101.
"Cleo will expect a duke to speak in proper diction." She explained and stood in front of him. "Repeat after me: "Park the car in Aardvark Yard." She said in proper diction.
"Park the car in Aardvark Yard." Zack then repeated but not in the correct tone.
Carmen wasn't pleased so she grabbed his chin and moved his mouth. "Park the car in Aardvark Yard." She said.
Zack tried to repeat again. "Park the car in- hold on, hold on. I'm gonna get it."
Sly just sat and watched this teaching take place. "Oh boy this could take a while."
As the sunset evening drew in, they moved to the next step in becoming a duke. "Cleo will expect a gentleman to wear appropriate wardrobe."
She and Ivy were dressing Zack in a tuxedo as proper attire for a party."Aw no, not a monkey suit." Zack whined.
"Hey just be glad you don't have to ransack a guest house to find a tux to dress in for a party." Sly chuckled, remembering how he needed to find a tux to dress in for a dance to get to a certain set of mechanical wings.
Carmen just looked with a confused face as did Zack and Ivy. "Its a long story I'll tell you about it later."
"Anyway, it suits you, your way more monkey than man." Ivy joked as Zack tried to get into the pants and scratched his head as he did. Thus proving her point.
Later it was Sly's turn to teach Zack some elements of being a duke. The art of being charming to an upperclass woman. Something he picked up from the Thievious Raccoonus. The two stood with Carmen.
"Now as a duke you should also learn how to charm a high class lady like Cleo." Sly explained.
"What?! you never said I had to sweet talk her." Zack protested.
"Theres a difference between charm and sweet talking Zack. And according to my ancestor Thaddeus Winslow Cooper III, charm is a primary tool when it comes to deceiving someone during a heist." Sly explained.
He then went over to Carmen who volunteered to play the countess. "Now watch and learn." Sly said.
He then went into the character of a charming young gentlemen. "Good evening dear contessa." He said greeting her with a kiss on the hand.
"Charmed I'm sure." Carmen acted out.
"May I say you look loverly this evening my dear." Sly said with a charmed smile.
"Why thank you kind Duke you are quite the charmer." Carmen acted flowing a fan around.
Sly then turned to Zack who looked rather amazed. "Wow, you sure you don't want to trade places." He said simply.
Later Carmen took over going over the different table settings at the dinner table. Given that when theres a posh party there would also be carefully placed cutlery.
"Salad fork." She gestured to fork on the left.
"Okay." Zack picked up the same fork.
"Table fork." Carmen then gestured to the middle fork on the left.
"Got it." Zack picked up said fork a little bored.
"Dessert fork." Carmen gestured to the fork on the right.
"Yum, dessert!" He said excitedly.
"Fish Fork." She picked up the third fork on the left.
Zack just gagged up in disgust as he really wasn't prepared for that on the course menu.
"Yuck! F-F-Fish? Oh, come on! You never said I'd have to eat fish." He whined in disgust.
"Well don't knock it until you try it." Sly tried to assure.
"If they serve it, just keep telling yourself it tastes like chicken." Carmen assured also as she came over to his side of the table.
Soon they were in front of the laptop which displayed some facts about Vermeer and his work in paintings. This was for good reason.
"You need to learn enough talking points about art history to fit in." She explained.
"Oh come on why?" Zack whined.
"Because if Cleo thinks for even one moment you are not who you say you are, she'll feed you to her dogs." Carmen explained with a serious voice.
"Yeah and trust me being fed to the dogs isn't pretty especially if its Mugshot." Sly agreed.
"Just don't let her feed me any fish." Zack gulped.
As the hours passed by Zack tried to memorise all that was taught to him about being a duke. All the tricks, table settings and charm methods.
"Okay, okay, okay. Small fork, salad, dessert fork, cake. Small fork... " He placed the forks up and down again remembering the settings.
Another hour passed in the night. "Park the car in Aadvark Yard. Park the car in Aardvark…" Zack repeated the phrase over and over again trying to get the pronunciation right.
"Park the fork in Salad Yard. Park the fork in my… mouth." Zack just collapsed from tiredness and fell asleep on the floor.
The Following night:
The night of the dinner party and auction had arrived, and everyone got ready. Carmen and Sly were dressed in their respective thieves attire and Ivy stood with them as they waited for 'the Duke' to make his appearance.
"Zack you ready?" Carmen called.
As if on cue Zack stepped out of his room dressed in a black tuxedo with his hair combed back. He stood elegantly as he looked to his teammates.
"Ready to park the car in Aardvark Yard." Zack said in the proper diction and smiled charmingly.
Ivy was completely lost for words. "Dude, that's weird, right?"
"I'd say our work is done." Sly said impressed.
"Its showtime." Carmen said with a confident smirk.
Later a black limo pulls up to the hotel and stops. Zack exits the hotel with the painting in hand and looks with a stiff upper lip look. He was then greeted by The Cleaners VILES specialists in cleaning up messes.
From the cover of the trees Carmen, Sly and Ivy watched from a white van, with Ivy in the drivers seat, Carmen in the passengers seat and Sly sitting behind them. They watched as Zack approached the cleaners.
"Arms." Asked cleaner 1 as his colleague pulled out a scanning held up his arms in a T shape in compliance whilst the second cleaner scanned him for any bugs or communication devices.
The rest of the crew watched from the van."No tracker?' Ivy wondered.
"First thing they check for." Carmen said from her past experiences.
"These guys think of everything huh." Sly realised.
"Yep the Cleaners take the necessary precautions especially when security is concerned." Carmen explained.
"Ah hence the name I get it." Sly guessed.
The second cleaner completes his scan and walks over to his colleague. "Clean." He said.
His colleague then pulls out a sack. "We go." He then moves to place the bag over Zack's head much to his surprise.
Soon the limo was on route to the dinner party venue, driving through the riverside roads. They were unaware they were being followed by a certain white van. The crew kept a safe distance to avoid being seen.
"You're doing great, Ivy. Just keep a safe distance." Carmen assured as Ivy kept up the pace.
Just then Sly saw something in the rear view mirror on the van. "Carmen." He pointed getting her thief in red looked at the mirror on the van door and turned it round to reveal that they were also being followed. However it didn't look like it belonged to V.I.L.E.
"We have a tail." Carmen relayed.
"Would you look at that. A tail tailing a tail." Ivy joked.
The car tailing them was a black coloured Aston Martin, and the driver was none other than Chase Devineaux himself. He drove the vehicle confidently.
"This A.C.M.E. technology is more my speed." He said confidently, just then Julia called in from the hotel Carmen had left from.
"Agent Devineaux, the hotel guests registered under a fake name, but I was able to connect the payment source to the van rental." She explained. "You may very well be following the Duchess and the Duke."
"Or Carmen Sandiego and Sly Cooper." Chase then pointed out.
"I suppose that is possible." Julia surmised.
"Ohoho! Delighted to hear that you agree for once." Chase said rather cocky.
"But depriving the world of historic works of art does not seem to be Ms. Sandiego's or Mr. Cooper's M.O." Julia then pointed out.
Chase didn't want to hear anymore of his partners dull facts about boring things. "Bah! Just see what you can learn in the hotel suite. I am driving."
"But Agent Devin…" Julia tried to explain but Chase had closed the transmission before she could.
Carmen used her compact to zoom in on the drivers face and it was a face she and Sly recognised all too well. "Well well Chase Devineaux, another police officer hot on our tail." Sly smirked.
"Ah so you've met." Carmen guessed with a knowing smirk.
"Yep same night we met red." Sly explained. "So you know him too."
"An old admirer... in a new set of wheels." Carmen said as she zoomed out the compact camera to see his slick new ride.
"We better lose him otherwise he could blow ours and Zack's cover." Sly realised he looked forwards and noticed a sign post straight ahead.
"So whats say we see how badly he wants to follow us." Sly pointed Carmens attention to the sign and she instantly catches on.
"Hmm great minds think alike." Carmen said with a knowing smile. "Player, there's a bridge half a klick southeast of us. Can you hack into it?"
"I'm on it." Player relayed on the coms.
"Take this turn." She then said to Ivy.
Ivy turns the van down the road leading to the bridge crossing, and as predicted Chase follows close behind them.
From Players screen he could see the route that Carmen and crew were taking to lose their tail. He saw what they wanted him to do.
"Ah a drawbridge." He realised as he brought up the schematics of said drawbridge.
The bridge then started to split in half as both sides rose up into the air just as the van and its tail approached.
Carmen and Sly could see Chase was getting closer to them. "Straight ahead. Step on it." Carmen said.
Ivy just gulped nervously. "Really?"
"Yeah really, floor it sister!" Sly agreed.
With that the van picked up speed as they got closer to the draw bridge, but not fast enough. "Make the jump, Ivy. We can't let our tail blow Zack's cover."
"This is gonna be close." Sly agreed. Ivy looked a little nervous about this little stunt.
The Aston pulled along side the van and Chase could see it was picking up speed close to the rising draw bridge. "You jump, I jump." He said as he put his foot down on the accelerator peddle.
"Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh!" Ivy said as they got closer and closer to the draw bridge, but she got frightened "I can't!" She put her foot hard on the breaks and stopped just to the edge of the bridge ramp.
Chase however didn't stop and flew over the bridge to the other side in slow motion. "Nooooo!"
He landed on the other side but the car was dangling on the edge of the bridge. The car rocked side to side until finally it stopped. Chase looked in the mirror and could make out the sight of two familiar thieves in red and blue.
"You! Haha, I knew you two were behind…" However Chase learning back in his seat knocked the car off balance and it tumbled into the waters below.
"No, no, no, no, no... noooooo!" He cried as the car hit the water with a splash. This whole episode left Carmen, Sly and Ivy with the same frozen looks on their faces.
"Way to shake a tail." Carmen blinked.
"I'll say Murray would've jumped it but, this works too." Sly blinked also.
The car now lay on the ocean floor, but thankfully not flooded. Chase was safe inside the car, however though the car was water tight he was still frowning as he was stuck. He only had a fish for company.
Just then a communication from Julia called in. "Agent Devineaux, I've discovered something curious in the hotel roo…" She notices his surrounding environment "Are you... underwater?"
"Never mind that!" Chase dismissed. "I now know that Carmen Sandiego and Sly Cooper are not only behind these crimes, but working with the so-called Duchess and Duke!" He then said confidently.
In the hotel room that was registered to Carmen, Sly and the crew Julia was trying to relay her finds to her partner. She was using her phone.
"You saw them together?" She questioned.
"Uhhh…. the Duchess was clearly her driver and the Duke riding in back!" Chase tried.
"So she wasn't wearing her eyepatch, and he wasn't wearing his top hat?" Julia questioned with a raised eyebrow as she showed the eye patch and top hat to Chase who was all but taken aback, this pretty much shattered his claim.
"Well, uh... ugh. Why always so many questions?" Chase then said. "I have one for you. Where is the ejector button in this car!?"
"Look below the screen and swipe in the direction you wish to eject." Julia explained.
Chase looked at his car dashboard and looked below the screen. He noticed a square panel with an ejector seat button with arrows surrounding it.
"Hmm... ah!" He swiped on the upwards arrow and a beeping noise could be heard from the console.
On the surface Carmen and Sly looked down at the water below the bridge, for any sign of Chase surfacing from his waterlogged vehicle. Ivy sat in the van waiting to know what they would be doing.
"So... do we fish him out, or follow my bro?" Ivy asked.
"Wait for it…" Sly said and then seconds later. Chase rocketed out of the water in his carseat which soared into the air with him screaming his head he was high enough the parachute deployed and he glided gently down to the ground level.
"How'd you know that would happen?" Carmen asked.
"Eh put it down to experience." Sly said having seen this kind of thing happen before with thieves and a certain police woman who was always on his ringed tail.
The two then got back into the van with Ivy. "We're back on the Zack track." Carmen said and the three left the area and got back on the trail of their undercover teammate.
Far away: Swiss Chateau:
Meanwhile the black limo arrived at the gates to a Swiss chateau in the high mountain hills. The gates opened allowing the limo to enter. Soon Zack (The Duke) was inside waiting in the reception. Just then Dash Haber arrived.
"I present to you, Countess Cleo." Dash introduced and said countess appeared in the doorway wearing a blue dress, white gloves and a yellow neck cuff. "the Queen of Mean, the Empress of Distress, the Hostess…"
"Zip it!" Cleo said having heard enough of her haberdashers introductions.
She approached the Duke who all but greeted her charmingly. "Buona sera, mia bella contessa." He kissed her hand.
"The work of art." Cleo asked getting straight to the point.
"'Course!" Zack presented the open briefcase with the Woman in Blue painting inside it. "Quite luminous, wouldn't you say?" He asked.
"Wunderbar. Wire the funds." Cleo instructed Dash who went to transfer the funds from his computer.
Said funds were transferred. Totalling at 30,000,000 dollars, but to the account of a certain red hatted thief which were being overseen by Player.
"Funds received red." He confirmed. "V.I.L.E just fed a whole lot of orphans in your favourite charity."
"And we just fed security." Carmen meanwhile had just tossed a steak in the air to be caught by one of the countesses guard dogs. The other guard dogs had steaks in their mouths too. Ivy was rubbing the belly of one of the more friendlier ones. Sly could only look in bewilderment.
"Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You are! Yeah, you are!" Ivy cooed as the dog chirped happily.
"Whoa." Sly could only say in surprise.
"Bit weird seeing animals that don't walk and talk like humans huh?" Carmen guessed with a tilted eyebrow.
"Yeah a little, but next time I cross paths with Mugshot I now know just the weapon to disarm him." Sly then smirked.
Inside the chateau, Dash closed his laptop after transferring the funds and offered his arm to his employer "Shall we dine countess?" He offered.
"Aren't you forgetting something, Monsieur Haber?" The countess just handed her assistant the brief case with the painting. She then took Zack by the arm instead. He was a little nervous.
"My assistant... he thinks Vermeer's a neighbourhood in Boston." She chuckled as the two walked to the dining room.
"Ahaha. Imagine. His idea of art is probably a painting of dogs playing poker!" Zack joked whilst maintaining his Duke persona and edict.
The two shared a laugh as they went through the door and towards the dining room. Leaving Dash with a seething look on his face.
Never the less, he proceeded to take the painting down to the countess's secret vault to store the painting. He was mumbling to himself the whole time that his chance to impress his employer was all but shadowed by this pompous duke.
"Ugh. Duke, schmuke." He grumbled and moved to press a panel on the wall that revealed a keyboard with numbers on. He began to enter the code.
However little did he know he was being observed, one of the screws on the case glinted and it seemed there was a hidden camera inside it.
On the other end of that camera, Player watched as the V.I.L.E haberdasher typed in the code numbers. 9,6,7.
"What we seeing Player?" Sly asked on the coms.
"I'm seeing a disarm code." Player said then heard the sound of chinking glass from a bug he had placed on Zack. "And I'm hearing a speech come on."
In the dining room Cleo rose up from her chair and addressed her guests. Who minus Zack were all operatives of VILE from counter fitters, masters of poisons and other criminal offences.
"Vilest art enthusiasts, my deepest gratitude for attending this once-in-a-lifetime event." Cleo said to her guests. "The art auction will directly follow dinner. Allow me to at least fill your bellies before emptying your bank accounts."
The guests raised their glasses and cheered in agreement. "Here here." One said and then from the doors the Cleaners now dressed as butlers had trays in hand with the first course.
Meanwhile:
The door of the vault beeped and several locked doors opened revealing Dash Haber walking out and for them to close behind him. He then made his way up to the dining room to join the dinner party.
However once he was out of sight, Carmen, Sly and Ivy emerged from one of the door ways. Once Dash was gone. Sly hurried to the door with his cane in hand with Carmen. Whilst Ivy followed with a big trolly to carry the paintings out with.
Carmen opened the panel and typed in the disarm code whilst Sly kept watch. The door beeped and opened the multiple doors leading to the vault. The group entered the vault and before them lay all the stolen Vermeer paintings every single one of them. Sly couldn't help but whistle in admiration. This made one of Le Paradox's hideouts look like ancient ruins.
Carmen looked at the paintings then saw one that sported a red hat. "Now this one really speaks to me." She smiled "So, where are we at, Player?"
Player looked at his computer screen and saw a line of courses being served at the dinner party above. This would help them see how much time they would have.
"First course is on the table." Player relayed as a red 'X' appeared over the first course.
Back in the vault Ivy was now placing on her hands white gloves to avoid leaving finger prints. The trolly was full of blank frames, to replace the paintings.
"You need to be in and out with 34 paintings by the time bananas foster is served." Player meanwhile was taking a look at the stands the paintings were on and he didn't like what he saw.
"Easier said than done Player." Sly said. "Pressure triggers, man I wish Bentley was with us he could disarm them on site."
"Well thats why we have an old school method." Carmen said to her new partner as Ivy came up with the blank frame.
"We get one half-second for the swap, or this place goes into lockdown." Carmen explained to Ivy.
"Then comes the sirens and it's a VILE prison here we come." Sly added.
"Right Carm." Ivy nodded.
The two nodded and timing their actions carefully. Carmen grabbed the painting and Ivy placed the blank frame onto the stand. They all cringed waiting for the alarm to go off, they all breathed a sigh of relief that no sirens came.
"One down, 33 to go." Carmen said looking at all the other paintings.
"Lets split it I'll take this row you two take the other." He advised using his cane to pick up some blank frames and placed them under his arm.
"You sure you got this?" Ivy asked.
"Well one of my ancestors was a ninja and, it helps that we Coopers have quick hands." Sly said and the group set to work.
Back at the Dinner party, Zack was having problems of his own, he was trying to figure out which water glass belonged to him and not the guest sitting next to him.
"When the Countess asked me to replicate each of Vermeer's masterworks, I welcomed the challenge to capture their essence." The Counterfiter said.
Zack eventually picked up a water glass but all Dash could do was smirk at this prospect. "Well, it seems the challenge for Monsieur Duke here is remembering to drink from his own water glass."
Zacks pupils shrunk as he realised he had picked up the wrong glass of water. Earning rather questionable looks from the dinner guests and the countess.
"Sticky fingers. Uh, once a thief, always a thief, right?" Zack tried. There was silence but then the Countess spoke.
"Well aren't you naughty? We shall all have to watch our billfolds around this one." She said to which the other guests laughed at, much to Haber's disappointment.
Meanwhile:
Back at the vault Carmen and Ivy continued swapping out paintings from their row, and Sly did the same with his row. Using his training from his ancestor Rioichi Cooper he quickly swapped out the painting for a blank frame in a split second.
All the swapped paintings were placed into the trolly and then the blanks were taken out to be Carmen and Ivy swapped out another painting Player called in.
"Good news, Red. Main course was poached pheasant. Couldn't taste any more like chicken." Player reported from his room. "Zack's in the clear."
"And the bad news?" Carmen asked. The bad news came as Player looked along the course list, and saw there was only one course left.
"Dessert's about to be served." Player reported.
The group could see they weren't even halfway done yet and desert was already being served. "Oh boy and we're not even halfway done yet." Sly realised.
"We could really use more time." Carmen realised.
"More than that Carmen. We need a distraction." Sly realised also.
Meanwhile:
Back at the dinner party the cleaners emerged from the kitchen with trays and cups full of what appear to be caviar. The Cleaners handed out the Caviar to the guests and Zack looked excited in anticipation.
"Oh, yeah!" He said but he realised he was out of his Duke diction which brought a questionable look from the Countess. "Uh, what's for dessert?" He then asked charmingly.
"Baked Alaska. But first, a palate cleanser, dredged from the Russian sea just this morning." Cleo explained. "Fresh beluga caviar."
Zack just looked confused he didn't know what Caviar was. He looked and saw the other guests looked rather happy to receive this dish and wasted no time tucking in. However there was something that Zack was greatly worried about, the Countess said this was brought up from the sea. Which could only mean one thing.
"This, uh... this wouldn't be... f-f-fish?" He said rather nervous.
Player had just over heard this and knew they were in trouble. "Uh-oh."
"Of course not, you cheeky monkey." Cleo explained as a bowl of caviar was placed in front of Zack "It's fish eggs."
This only put a rather pale looking expression on his face as he gulped in fear. But Dash on the other hand could only look smug as he finally saw the Duke trip up.
"What's wrong, Duke? Not a fan?" Dash asked as he ate a spoon full of caviar with his mouth open, which was all but sickly to Zack.
Zack was about to throw up but he held it back as he looked at his meal. "I... in fact, love delicious, tiny, black non-chicken eggs that don't taste anything like chicken."
He stole himself as he slowly took a spoonful of caviar and moved it slowly to his mouth. Though this did bring a rather suspicious look to the Countess's face whilst Dash could only enjoy this.
"Funny, I never realized: "Duke" rhymes with "puke."" Dash chuckled as Zack nearly puked in fear and drops of sweat dripped from his looked at the Countess and pressed to eat the dish.
All the while he kept saying in his head what Sly told him. "Don't knock it until you try it, don't knock it until you try it!" He said in his head.
Dash could only smirk as he waited for the eventual throwing up that would occur from the Dukes mouth. Which would all but put the haberdasher in the Countess's good books and kicking the Duke to the curb. However just as Zack was about to put the fish eggs in his mouth the door slammed open. And it was revealed to be inspector Devineaux.
"Do not be alarmed! I am Inspector Devineaux, and I'm here to warn you there may be a criminal in your midst." Devineaux exclaimed.
The guests who were in fact criminals all but eyed the inspector. Who was completely unaware what he had just stepped into, whilst the Countess kept a mild expression.
"Is that so?" She said and whilst no one was looking Zack threw away his caviar leaving him with an empty bowl.
Meanwhile:
Back in the vault Carmen and Sly had just placed more of the paintings into the trolly. Just then Player called in with the latest news.
"Red, I think we just bought you some extra time." He relayed which all but brought an expression of relief to the two master thieves.
Back at the dinner party:
Meanwhile Chase walked round the dining room inspecting all the guests. Completely unaware he was in a room surrounded by operatives of a secret crime syndicate.
"A twisted mastermind has been stealing priceless works of art from museums across Europe." Devineaux explained. "She is a true menace."
"She?" The Countess said concerned he was referring to herself.
"Yes, indeed. She." Devineaux said under his breath.
The Cleaners were about to attack the inspector with a cutting axe and a rolling pin before he spoke. "Carmen Sandiego. And her mysterious new partner in crime. Sly Cooper."
The very mention of those names made Zack spit out his drink right into Haber's face. Much to his dismay. The Countess on the other hand couldn't believe what she had heard V.I.L.E's number one enemy and the mysterious Raccoon thief were now under her nose.
"Carmen Sandiego, Sly Cooper, here? Impossible." The Countess dismissed which signalled the Cleaners to lower their the countess secretly pressed a button located under the dining table ,which was where she was, sitting.
Meanwhile:
Back in the vault. Ivy, Carmen and Sly are about to swap out the last painting with the blank frame. Suddenly a green gas pumped into the room from the vents above. Sly saw the gas and knew what it was.
"Thats our cue to go ladies!" Sly signalled.
So the two quickly swapped out the last painting with a blank frame. The group emerged from the smoke now wearing gas masks on their faces. Carmen and Ivys were clad in red whilst Sly's was clad in blue. They hurried out of the vault with the Vermeer paintings in tow loaded in the trolly.
Back in the dining room:
"Not only might Carmen Sandiego and Sly Cooper be lurking somewhere on these premises, but I have reason to believe she is working with an accomplice" Chase explained as he came over to where Zack was sitting.
"…. who could be any one of you."
"There they go!" Zack pointed out. Then outside the window a figure clad in a red coat and hat sped out of the area on a snow mobile and a certain ringtail man in blue was on another snow mobile close behind.
"La Femme Rouge! and Blue Racconus!" Chase quickly hurried out of the room but not before turning back to the dinner party. "Return to your meals." He said before leaving.
The guests then turned to their hostess who looked with a scowl on her face realising she'd been duped. "Dessert's off."
Outside the chateau Devineaux had just made it to the car park and saw a couple of snow mobiles parked close by. He saw this as a means of pursuing his quarry.
"Haha! Two can dance that tango." Chase ran over and commandeered the snowmobile. Starting up the engine however had attracted the attention of two guard dogs on the premises.
Chase zoomed away on the snowmobile in pursuit of Sly and his accomplice, with the dogs close behind him. The figure jumps the over the fence as does Sly on their snow mobiles and Chase follows suit. Leaving the dogs barking and growling in frustration.
Back in the Chateau. Cleo arrived at the vault and as it opened she stepped into the room and looked in anger. All her stolen Vermeer paintings were gone and replaced with blank frames. However one frame sported the calling card of a certain scarlet super thief. She notices on the frame another calling card. That of a certain raccoon thief, she picked it up and opened it. Inside was a note saying.
Arrivederci dear countess. -S & CS.
The countess could only seethe at this development. The Cleaners then arrived on the scene.
"You've cooked. Now it's time to clean." She said to them Scrub the chateau." The Cleaners then left the vault and set to work 'cleaning house.'
Meanwhile: The Snowy Alps:
The case through the snowy forest of the Swiss alps continued. The figure in red and Sly were zooming down the hills with Chase Devineaux close behind them. They zoomed down a pair of mounded hills jumping them as they flew by.
"WHOA!" Chase cried as his snowmobile jumped the snowy hills.
They zoomed down a clear stretch through the surrounding trees. Soon Chase was able to catch up to sly and was right along side him.
"Hold it right there Raccoonus!" Chase exclaimed.
"Hey Devineaux, fancy seeing you here, taking a ski trip?" Sly asked smirking.
"So you are behind this pull over so I may arrest the two of you!" He exclaimed.
Sly just smirked as he looked to his partner up front who simply nodded signalling him. "Sorry Chase not tonight!"
Sly zoomed away as the two thieves split off in different directions. This left the former Interpol inspector with a choice, either pursue the raccoon thief or the scarlet thief. He decided there was only one choice to go for.
"Not tonight, you scarlet ski demon." He zoomed to the right after the escaping scarlet thief letting the raccoon get away.
The two cut and sped round the trees of the forest, Chase was side by side with the scarlet thief but she was slipping away. Chase was not about to let her escape again. He saw a snow covered rock that looked like a ramp. The scarlet figure zoomed past it but Chase sped up and jumped the ramp, leaping over the snowmobile and landed in front of it. He stopped and blocked the way.
This forced the scarlet figure to stop her snow mobile skidding to a halt. Chase managed to halt the incoming vehicle with his foot.
"Stop right there, Carmen Sandiego." Chase smirked knowing he had caught his prey.
However when the figure removed her hat, it wasn't Carmen. Rather it was Ivy who wore a wig in similar style to the scarlet thief's hair.
"Who?!" She said rather angry. Chase was all but taken aback as he tripped over his snow mobile. "You could have maimed me, you maniac!" Ivy said very angry.
"B…B..But… your red coat, and the Raccoon man!" Chase tried to explain.
"What about it?" Ivy asked. "Red brings out my eyes, and coats are warm!" She then said angry pushing Chase against a tree to then be covered in snow.
A distance away, a certain gentleman thief watched this whole thing through his Binocucom. He couldn't help but smirk and chuckle at this.
"Wow, remind me never to get on her bad side." Sly said he had to admit Ivy's acting did remind him of the reactions he would get from Carmelita after he escaped her.
Just then a call came in on the Binocucom, it was from Carmen. "Well Sly where're we at?" She asked.
"The decoy worked Carmen. Ivy's in the clear." Sly reported. "I'll head down and meet her at rondevu, and the paintings?"
"Great the Vermeer's are safe and secure we'll return them to the museums when we meet up." Carmen relayed.
"Hey Carm, before we do whats say I treat you and the crew to a morning of skiing in Verbier, best way to celebrate a job well done." Sly then offered.
"Hmm it's a date I will count the hours till then." Carmen cracked as she broke the communication line Sly could only smirk and shake his head as he had to admire his new partners humour.
Far away a lone van headed down the mountain pass loaded with a trolly of priceless paintings in tow. Carmen sat in the passenger seat with her hoodie casual attire whilst Zack, who she had just picked up from the chateau was driving.
"So Ivy's playing red herring?" Zack realised. "Huh. That's one fish I don't mind."
"You're not the only one who can nail a role, Duke." Carmen said with a smile as they left the VILE chateau far behind.
The Next day:
The following morning the chateau lay in ruins, after what looked like a fire or an explosion occurred. Nothing was left but a smoking pile of rubble. Amongst the wreckage a small drone was flying around, it took pictures of the destroyed chateau then relayed them to its place of origin.
At ACME'S secret headquarters the visuals from the destroyed chateau were relayed to them.
"Seems someone didn't want to leave any trace of this dinner party." Chief guessed as Chase looked at the visuals whilst Julia was on her laptop.
"So, you are saying I may have been standing in the very same room amongst operatives of VILE." Chase grimaced guessing he was standing among VILE without even realising it.
"The very organisation I've dedicated my life to proving exists? Yes, Agent Devineaux, that would be an accurate summary." Chief confirmed in a breath of disappointment.
Julia however saw a bright side to these events. "But we may have both been right about Carmen Sandiego and Sly Cooper."
She directed their attention to her computer screen. A news report was being played regarding the return of the Vermeer paintings to the galleries they were taken from.
"Needless to say, the mysterious return of 34 stolen Vermeers to institutions around the world has shocked the art community." The reporter said.
"Stealing historic works of art doesn't seem to be their M.O.," Julia surmised as she closed her laptop. "though they may have been working with the Duke and Duchess all along." She held up the eyepatch and scarf which could only make Chase groan.
"A harsh reminder that we live in a world where villains may not always look like villains. Nor heroes like heroes." Chief said looking forwards.
Meanwhile: Sydney, Australia:
It was a sunny summers day in Sydney Australia as the glorious opera house stood tall. A buss then pulled up to the opera house as its doors opened.
"All that we can be assured of is that VILE will continue to operate from the shadows."
One of the buss passengers disembarked. He was a young man dressed in blue with brown messed up hair and brown eyes. He had with him a blue duffle bag with all his belongings. He looked to the Sydney Opera house. Little did the world know who this person was, or who he was affiliated with, as Carmen and her Raccoon partner in crime will soon discover.
"So it is imperative that ACME view the world in shades of gray."
Authors notes: So Carmen, Sly and the gang have secured the paintings from a now very ticked off countess, but now a certain former classmate of the Scarlet Super thief has appeared in Sydney what could this mean?
Now this was a chapter I was keen to work on since it was a chance to put Sly's knowledge of his charm that he swings towards Carmelita to good use for this duke heist, not to mention knowledge from one of his ancestors in the Thievious Raccoonus. This was a reference to the Sly 3 bonus short Goodbye my sweet.
Now it's off to Australia for the crew, where a night at the Sydney opera house could lead to an even bigger caper of outback proportions. Lets hope Sly's experience of the outback is up to snuff.
Until then Where in the world is Cooper and Sandiego?!