A/N Hey guys, welcome to the remake of Sly Cooper: Journey Through History because let's face it, I had completely run out of ideas and couldn't get past the writer's block so I'm going to do something different this time.
Unlike the previous Sly Cooper story, where it had a human soul reincarnate into every single Cooper throughout history, this person actually became an immortal kitsune while he was traveling through the blue vortex and lived for centuries while helping every single member of the Cooper Clan, though I'm actually going to skip all of that and the story will start off in the modern era.
But, the OC Troy Wilson, had lost his memories the night Sly's parents were killed and he was found on the steps of a church shortly after before the priests there helped him recover until Troy became a drifter for the past ten years while becoming friend with an Interpol agent.
So, I know you guys are going to hate me for this but I'm pairing Troy with Sly, and let's be honest because things didn't go so good between Sly and Carmelita in the 4th game while let's also not forget that while Sly did lie to her about having amnesia, she wasn't exactly innocent either since she kept the lie going even though she figured out that he wasn't exactly being honest with her so I doubt they would've stayed in a happy relationship for long.
So yeah, that's my opinion on the whole thing and that's why it never would've worked out between them because of Sly being an international criminal and Carmelita being a cop so it's one major reason why I'm changing the pairing.
Well, enough of me rambling so without further ado, enjoy because I'm making some necessary changes that I think you'll agree with.
I was bored, there was no doubt about that and wondered why I had opened my big mouth a couple of weeks ago when I commented to Joel that I wanted to see what working at Interpol was like, and that's how I was loaned out to one of his fellow co-workers, Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox, for the first three weeks of summer.
Still, the upsides about this whole thing were that she was fairly nice and I got to spend three weeks of summer in Paris, which was quite appealing if I do say so myself and those were the only upsides since I was proficient in French and I enjoyed the scenery while Carmelita was nice as previously mentioned, only she took her job as an Interpol agent seriously and that meant she took any interest in it seriously as well.
So, I've been here for the past two weeks and spent most of that time in Carmelita's office reading file after file about the criminals she was currently pursuing so I think the whole point was to show that being an Interpol agent wasn't just about chasing after criminals, even though it was for Carmelita since that woman hasn't been in her office for more than an hour the entire time I had been here, but what she didn't know was that I loved reading and wasn't really interested in joining Interpol since I was just making conversation with Joel.
Still, it could've been worse but lacking a driver's license and being quite a few kilometers from Carmelita's apartment, I wasn't about to walk back since I realized that it was midnight and she still hasn't come back for six hours, despite saying that she was going to quickly check out a lead.
So, with that in mind, I stuffed my jacket into my backpack to make it a little more comfortable before propping it up on the arm of the couch and settled in for a nap, then I was startled awake four hours later by the sound of someone trying to break down Carmelita's door.
The shock of the noise sent me tumbling to the ground and I quickly sat up before staring at the door warily while my tails were twitching agitatedly, wondering if I really did hear that so I waited for a little bit and relaxed before climbing back onto the couch and just about convinced myself that it was just my imagination since no one would be stupid enough to break into Interpol's main HQ when I just about had a heart attack from the raccoon coming into the office through the window.
I stared at the male raccoon with a look of surprise on my face as I recognized him, the raccoon wearing a black mask, blue elbow-sleeved shirt with a yellow collar, red backpack, gray cargo pants with a belt that had a buckle in the shape of a black and white raccoon face, blue boots, blue gloves with yellow cuffs, and a blue cap as the raccoon looked very taken aback to see me here as his brown eyes had widened considerably when I reached for the file that was on top of a stack of books that balanced precariously and looked at the photo of the raccoon before looking back at the raccoon.
"Uh...Sly Cooper, I presume?" I asked hesitantly while the person in question was still gawking at me, then his eyes narrowed and his shoulders relaxed before a smirk appeared on his face.
"Well, you seem to have me at a disadvantage because you know my name but I don't know yours," Sly said and that's when I started looking unamused since I knew what he was doing.
"And it's going to stay that way so can I help you?" I questioned since I wasn't exactly scared of the guy because his file said that he was eighteen and he certainly looked it in person, not to mention that in all the heists he pulled, he hasn't killed anyone so he wasn't a murderer as Sly frowned slightly since it appeared he wasn't expecting the friendly approach to not work.
"I'd like that file you're holding," Sly requested and I looked down at it with an expression of confusion.
He wanted his file? He should know everything that was in it so the only thing I could think of as to why an international criminal would want his file is so that he could find out how much Interpol knew about him, not to mention that no criminal would break into the headquarters of an international law enforcement agency to steal a file they had on him unless it was for a reason.
"What the hell for?" I asked and Sly started openly scowling at me.
"I just need it," Sly told me irritably as he started looking a little agitated and I wasn't surprised since he was probably expecting to get in and get out quickly but since I was here and not cooperating, it was making things difficult for him but he should've looked around a bit more since he would've seen the paper shredder under the side table if he had so a mischievous look appeared in my eyes as I moved the file over and held it over the gaping maw of the machine.
"Don't you fucking dare," Sly warned through gritted teeth and I sent him a vulpine smirk.
"Or what?" I challenged him as my nine tails twitched to express my amusement at the fact that I had him backed up into a corner and I'm sure Carmelita would be impressed and a little envious that I was able to have the infamous Sly Cooper right where I wanted him as he was obviously thinking hard for a reason why I shouldn't destroy the file when he looked me over a second time and I could just hear the wheels turn in his brain.
"It's obvious you don't work for Interpol and you're just visiting since your accent says that you're American, so what do you think Inspector Fox will do if you shredded one of her most important files?" Sly questioned with a more confident smile as his eyes gazed at my backpack but his smile slowly went away when I chuckled.
"Nice try, but she could just print off another one so even if she couldn't, Inspector Fox already memorized it a while ago but if she hadn't, then I have since I've read this thing at least twice a day for the past two weeks and can recite it in my sleep.
So, to answer your question, she would probably give me a medal for preventing you from taking a classified police file," I pointed out with a cunning grin and since it looked like Sly seriously contemplated rushing me, I quickly stuck the file into the machine.
The shredder Carmelita had was one of those industrial ones that ate rainforests for breakfast so by the time Sly got to it, the only thing left was the paperclip while Sly looked pissed as he glared at me and I tried not to look too terribly pleased with myself but, to be fair, I didn't try particularly hard as Sly looked livid when his expression changed for a split second with his face going completely blank until he started showing a nasty smirk and loomed over me.
"You memorized the file?" Sly inquired and I realized what he was implying as my foxy grin went away and I started swearing up a storm for opening my big mouth.
Suddenly, Sly used the gold hook of his cane to yank me off the couch and I was thrown onto his shoulder as I let out a startled yelp, then he started moving over to the window while wrapping his arm around my back as I started struggling to get free.
"Put me down, you asshole!" I shouted in outrage as I wiggled around but Sly kept a firm grip on me to make sure I didn't escape.
"No, I don't think I will," Sly remarked while he climbed out of the window and onto a fire escape.
"Criminal!" a familiar voice shouted and I had never been so relieved to hear Carmelita's voice as I peered around Sly's back to see the female fox standing on a building to the left of Interpol's HQ, Carmelita having a beauty mark under her left eye and having dark blue hair tied up in a braid with an earring on the top of her left ear while her outfit consisted of a dark blue midriff-top that was zipped up, a choker with her Interpol badge hanging from it, light brown leather jacket, yellow gloves, form-fitting dark blue pants, and long dark brown combat boots with blue laces.
"You damn raccoon, I finally got you!" Carmelita yelled as she aimed her shock pistol at Sly.
"Ah, Carmelita, I haven't seen you since I gave you the slip in Bombay," Sly greeted while putting on a flirty tone in his voice and Carmelita was about to counter that when she finally noticed me slung across Sly's shoulder.
"Hey Inspector, a little help please?" I pleaded with a nervous smile, then Carmelita widened her eyes until she sent Sly a nasty scowl.
"Cooper, resorting to kidnapping now?! You have a lot of nerve pulling something like this, pendejo!" Carmelita exclaimed in outrage and Sly chuckled but I could feel him tensing slightly since Carmelita sounded pissed and rightfully so.
"Well, I wasn't exactly planning on it but he shredded something I needed and since he told me he memorized the file, I kinda need him at the moment so I'll be sure to let him go once I'm done with him," Sly replied before he suddenly sprinted down the fire escape.
"Get back here, Cooper!" Carmelita shouted as she started shooting, greatly alarming me since I would also be hit as well as the electric bolts just barely missed me and Sly when the male raccoon jumped down into the parking lot and started running while I was being jostled around.
"Dammit, I said put me down!" I yelled frantically as more electric bolts started causing police cars to explode.
Sly was too busy dodging the explosions to respond while I felt queasy from getting jostled around so much and also feeling a little terrified from seeing Carmelita blowing up cars just to stop Sly as I looked to see what appeared to be the back of a van parked at the exit when the back doors opened, then I found myself being thrown in and my side collided onto the floor while Sly dove in.
"Drive Murray, drive!" Sly exclaimed and I took advantage of the fact that I wasn't being carried anymore by attempting to throw myself out of the van just as it started moving.
Unfortunately, just when I threw open the back doors and started to jump out, I was grabbed by the back of my shirt and thrashed around to try and get Sly to let go until I was yanked back inside and thrown to the floor when I found myself being sat on by Sly just so I couldn't escape and I saw a turtle with glasses as he held his head and looked clearly panicked.
"Oh shit, this is really fucking bad," the turtle pointed out frantically, and I recognized him as the Cooper gang's technician and skilled hacker since his profile had been in the destroyed file.
"He is brand new information, Bentley!" Sly snarled while pinning my right wrist to the small of my back with one hand and trying to make sure I wouldn't bite his other hand since I attempted it more than once now.
"Get off, you bastard!" I growled while throwing my leg back and kicking Sly between the shoulder blades.
"Bentley, don't we have any rope?!" Sly exclaimed in frustration while also sounding a little pained from the hit.
"I don't fucking know because I wasn't planning on kidnapping anyone today, Sly!" Bentley retorted.
"You know, you guys really suck at this whole hostage-taking thing," I remarked while trying to figure out a way to contort my free arm so that I can start hitting the raccoon on top of me.
"Well, it's not like we've had a lot of practice," Sly growled, grabbing my left wrist and forcing it to join my right when I got too close to his leg and I twisted my head so that I could look up at him.
"You know what, you're a fucking asshole," I said irritably and Sly scoffed.
"You should see me on a bad day," Sly replied with a scowl and I started smirking.
"Huh, is this a good day?" I taunted and Sly glared back down at me for the remark when Bentley threw his hands up in frustration.
"Okay, can we please focus?!" Bentley yelled in exasperation, causing the hippo in the driver seat of the van to look nervous at all the fighting that was going on if his expression in the review mirror told me anything.
"Guys, please don't fight," the hippo begged, and I knew him as the Cooper gang's getaway driver since Sly's file had told me as such.
"It's fine Murray, just drive," Bently reassured before Sly sighed after that.
"Bentley, just tell me there was another way, one that wouldn't alert Interpol to what we wanted and cause them to make it even harder to get and tell me there's still a better way so that I will throw him out of the van," Sly pleaded tiredly and I glared up at him for that.
"Go ahead and try because I will take you down with me, prick," I threatened him but Sly ignored me as Bentley rubbed his face with his hand.
"I can't think of one, provided you can come up with a way to get him to tell us what we want to know," Bentley pointed out and I furrowed my eyes in confusion.
"I'm curious, what can you not know from your own file? Seriously, did you take a knock to the head or something?" I questioned and Bentley looked down at me.
"Hits to the head rarely cause amnesia like that since it's usually caused by psychological trauma and it rarely lasts more than a week or so anyway," Bentley chimed in and I noticed Sly rolling his eyes.
"Yes, thank you for the psychology lesson, Bentley," Sly said sarcastically before I cleared my throat to get his attention.
"Alright, seeing as you guys are trying to figure out a way to get the information out of me, you could try torture or threats but you don't seem the type and I would lie to you anyway," I spoke up before Sly narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah, and what will make you talk to us?" Sly asked suspiciously and I shrugged, as much as I could since I'm currently laying face down with my hands behind my back.
"Tell me what you want to know, why you want to know it, and we'll go from there," I replied and Sly made a face at that.
"You're seriously not scared at all, are you?" Sly questioned as he stared at me weirdly.
"I've read everything about you guys that Interpol knows so far and every report talks about how there are no casualties in every heist you all carried out so I know you guys don't kill people if you can help it.
Also, in the last twenty minutes, I destroyed the very thing you wanted to steal, kicked you in the back, and mouthed off more than once while I'm still in remarkably good health so this isn't exactly a typical hostage situation," I pointed out logically and Bentley looked thoughtful at that.
"You know, he does have a good point," Bentley said and Sly frowned at that.
"You should listen to your friend since he seems the most logical out of all of you," I reasoned but Sly still hesitated, which wasn't surprising since he probably didn't feel like telling me his reasons because I am a complete stranger that messed things up for him, so Sly looked at Bentley for help but the turtle simply shrugged until Sly sighed and turned his attention to me.
"You've read my file so you know what happened to my parents, which is why I need to find the people who killed them and before you get all up in arms about it, this isn't about vengeance since they took something and I need to get it back.
To do that, I need to know who they were," Sly told me quietly, then I hummed thoughtfully for a short time until I came to a decision.
"Alright, now get off me so that I can tell you what I know," I suggested, prompting Sly to let go of my wrists and he got off me.
I sat back on my knees and grimaced as I rolled my shoulders and the vertebrae in my back popped loudly while stretching my tails out to loosen them up, feeling a little surprised that I was able to convince them so that they wouldn't attempt to force the info out of me but my first impression of them had apparently been sound so I wasn't going to scrutinize it too much.
I had moved into a crossed-legged position and closed my eyes while recalling what I'd read in the file, hearing Bentley mutter to Sly that I was a kitsune with a tone of surprise in his voice and I didn't blame him for that since kitsunes were a rare species of foxes on this planet and that they are sometimes seen in cities and towns, but there wasn't a lot of them so it was mostly the odd one or two that are spotted at times.
Either way, I wasn't bluffing when I said that I memorized the file since I had a pretty good visual memory so I recalled what was in the file that had the profile of Sly's father Conner Cooper in it, where he and Sly's mother had been brutally murdered by a group known as the Fiendish Five and while it sounded like they stepped straight out of a children's game, that group wasn't something you wanted to mess with unless you had something substantial to gain, which Sly clearly did.
"The Fiendish Five...there are several people who are suspected to be part of that group but one person that Interpol has really confirmed is someone by the name of Sir Raleigh the Frog, who was originally born into quite the inheritance but apparently got bored, tried piracy, and found it pretty enjoyable.
He's skilled in engineering and was last sighted near the Isle O' Wrath, which is located in the middle of the Welsh Triangle," I explained before I opened my eyes and sat back to enjoy the slightly baffled looks on their faces before I went to drape myself over the back of the driver's seat.
"Well, that takes care of that so you can just drop me off anywhere in the next town," I addressed Murray, who looked back at me in the review mirror for a second to acknowledge my words before returning his attention to the highway we were on.
"That's not going to happen," Bentley piped up, prompting me to look over my shoulder to stare at him with a frown.
"And why the hell not?" I questioned while Bentley was giving me a slightly amused and slightly annoyed look.
"We might be criminals, but we're not stupid so you're coming with us since you could be lying about where to go, and even if you're not, you'll just go back to Interpol and tell them where we're headed," Bentley told me before I sent him an unamused look.
"Nice, way to be an asshole," I said dryly while Sly was smirking now.
"Want to change the info you gave us?" Sly chimed in and I scowled at him.
"No, I was being honest because Raleigh was sighted at the Isle O' Wrath shortly before the surrounding waters became exceedingly dangerous, causing the area to be known as the Welsh Triangle in reference to the Bermuda Triangle.
That was almost a decade ago so the information is old, but it's what was in the police report," I explained and felt a little irritated when Sly started looking a little more victorious.
"Alright, looks like we're going to Wales," Sly said while I was more than annoyed that I was stuck with these people against my will for the time being, then I started thinking about what to do next and came up with an idea that might bite me in the ass later.
"Well, if I'm going to be stuck with you guys, then I might as well pull my own weight," I said, taking Sly and Bentley off guard if their expressions told me anything.
"Wait, you want to help us?" Bentley asked dubiously and I shrugged.
"Why the hell not? I might as well be useful instead of complaining and mouthing off if you guys aren't going to let me go," I replied before Sly narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Hell no, I don't trust you to be helpful because you might sell us out to Interpol or run away the second you get the chance so you're staying in the van while I get back what's rightfully mine," Sly refused firmly when I sent him a dry look.
"Let me put it this way, if you don't let me help you, I'll go stir-crazy in here and trust me when I say that's the last thing you need to deal with at the moment," I pointed out and Bentley looked uncertain at that.
"I don't know about this so how can we be sure to trust you when you've caused us nothing but problems so far?" Bentley asked and I sighed in exasperation.
"Look, if it'll make you guys feel any better, you can always put a tracker on me or something like that if you really don't trust me that much," I proposed but the others still looked uncertain and suspicious.
"Even if we decide to let you help, what could you do that'll help get back what was stolen from me and my family? To be honest, you don't look like much," Sly said as he looked me over with an unimpressed look and I felt offended by that.
"If you're done being an ass, then I'll have you know that I'm plenty helpful because I'm skilled in hacking, multiple styles of martial arts, multiple languages, firearms, survival training, acrobatics, and I'm an expert in stealth so are you satisfied now?" I retorted irritably and the others looked taken aback by that
Sly and Bentley started whispering to each other, probably discussing what to do now that I'd told them what I can do and I know that they still didn't trust me but it was still annoying being treated like I couldn't take care of myself when I was pretty capable of it, though Sly and Bentley were finished with their private discussion and they turned to look at me.
"Okay, we've decided to let you help us but we still don't trust you yet, so I'll be putting a tracker on you and Sly will be keeping a close eye on you as well until you've proved that you're trustworthy enough to not sell us out to Interpol or run away," Bentley told me a little reluctantly and I nodded until I felt the urge to want to go to the bathroom as a certain pressure rose up in my bladder.
"That's fair, but could you have Murray pull over for a second? I kinda need to go," I admitted sheepishly and Sly scrunched his face up.
"Can't you, I don't know, hold it or something until we make it to the next town?" Sly questioned irritably.
"Not really, and unless you want me to piss myself, I'd suggest you have Murray pull over so that doesn't happen," I warned as I started feeling uncomfortable from the pressure in my bladder, then Sly let out an exasperated groan as he went over to the back of the driver's seat and started speaking to Murray.
"Finally, took your damn time, did you?" Sly snapped as I zipped up my fly, feeling better after peeing on the side of the road as I saw the beautiful French countryside all around me.
"Hey, at least I'm finished and I did warn you because could you imagine me pissing myself and having to deal with the smell during our trip to the Isle O' Wrath? Believe me, we'd all be miserable and that's something I wouldn't want anyone to experience," I pointed out and Sly sighed in annoyance.
"Yeah, yeah, just get back in the van since we need to get back on the road," Sly said impatiently while he was scowling, looking down the road like he was expecting Carmelita to appear over a distant hill with her shock pistol out before I started feeling irritated.
"Oh, get over it because I'm going already, princess," I countered with a roll of my eyes and Sly sent me a glare for my remark.
"You are the most antagonizing person I have ever met," Sly admitted and now I was the one to start scowling.
"Oh right, and I suppose you're Prince Charming, yeah? You're eighteen, right? Seriously, you have the patience of a six-year-old," I retorted and that's when Sly started looking pissed.
"Patience?! You want to talk about fucking patience?!" Sly hissed and then I looked livid.
"No, I want to talk about how much of an asshole you are because you kidnapped me and are now holding me against my will, so excuse me if I'm more than a little peeved at the moment!" I shouted as I started taking a couple of threatening steps towards the raccoon when Bentley got out of the van and quickly got in between us.
"Guys, enough! Let's just get back inside the van because all this arguing isn't helping!" Bentley yelled, ending the argument between me and Sly but we still sent each other nasty glares as we got back into the van and Murray continued driving.
The rest of the drive was long and tense as Sly and I avoided eye contact with each other and didn't say a word to one another, lest we get into another argument so I was fine with the silence since it'll take my mind off of it.
I would sometimes see Bentley working on his laptop and planning a route to the Isle O' Wrath while I would also see Sly polishing his cane or sometimes chat with Bentley about where to go, then I started getting bored and started reconsidering the silence but I didn't speak up at the thought of Sly and I getting into an argument and causing unneeded stress on everyone so I decided to take a nap and got some shut-eye after that.
I didn't know how long I was asleep, but I was awakened by something kicking me in the leg and I let out a grunt as I groggily looked up to see that it was Sly, who stared down at me with his arms crossed as he looked a little peeved for some reason.
"Hey, we're here so are you going to get up or not?" Sly questioned, and that's when I noticed the sound of raindrops hitting the roof of the van.
"God, you're impatient...just give me a second, okay?" I grumbled as I stretched all of my limbs and tails out while letting out a big yawn, then I stood up and wiped the sleep from my eyes until I was more awake and Sly suddenly handed me something that looked like a more advanced pair of binoculars while I was also given an earpiece.
"The hell is this thing?" I asked while staring at the gold-colored object in confusion before Sly rolled his eyes.
"Bentley figured that If you're coming out with me, then you should be better equipped so that's a binocucom, which is used for reconnaissance and for communicating with Bentley or me so don't lose it since Bentley worked on it for two hours and he also wanted you to have that earpiece so that he can stay in contact with you," Sly explained and I nodded before having another question on my mind.
"What about a weapon to defend myself if I were to get attacked?" I questioned and Sly shook his head.
"We didn't have time to make one for you, now let's get going because I don't want to waste any more time than we already have," Sly stated a little rudely before opening the back doors and I heard the sounds of a large storm happening now that the back doors were open.
I frowned at his attitude but let it go as I put the earpiece into my right ear and stuffed the yellow binocucom into one of my jacket pockets before following Sly outside, then I saw that it was raining heavily as there were bursts of lightning and thunder from time to time while I was forced to flip my hood over my vulpine head to cover it from the rain.
Sly gestured for me to stay next to him and he started quickly moving towards a cave that was up ahead while I was right next to him when I noticed a wooden sign that said 'keep out' on it, and I figured that Raleigh isn't the most welcoming type as Sly and I traveled through the cave until we came out the other side, where a large golden gate with Raleigh's face on it was up ahead while I also spotted a few walrus guards patrolling the area.
"Looks like Raleigh has a bit of an ego problem," I commented as I stared at the gate that had the frog's likeness on it and Sly scoffed before he took out his binocucom and used it to recon the area, prompting me to do the same and I was taken by surprise to see Bentley's face on a screen that was in the bottom left corner while my face was on the bottom right corner.
"Hey guys, I just spotted something that's going to complicate the mission so do either of you see that nasty-looking gate? It blocks the only route leading into Raleigh's hideout," Bentley informed us and Sly smirked confidently.
"No problem, we'll just climb past it," Sly said as I studied the area around us for a way past the gate.
"Okay, but remember, you two can only climb on certain objects like pipes and ropes," Bentley said just as I spotted a ladder up ahead.
"Speaking of climbing up things, there's a ladder right next to a light post that we can use to get right on top of it so we could just climb up and use it to get over the gate," I suggested, causing Sly to send me a look of surprise while Bentley looked thoughtful.
"Okay, sounds like a plan so just be careful, you two," Bentley replied until Sly and I put away our binocucoms when the male raccoon sent me a critical look.
"You seem to know what you're doing so have you done this before?" Sly inquired and I gave him a deadpan look.
"Uh, you can quite clearly see that the ladder will lead to a route past the gate so you need to stop being so damn suspicious of me, which will make it less stressful on everyone," I pointed out but Sly frowned.
"I don't have any reason to trust you since you've made things difficult for me and I don't know you, which is why I'm keeping a close eye on you," Sly stated and I felt irritated by his stubborn attitude but decided to drop it.
I sighed and gestured for him to go, then we hurried over to the ladder while making sure to avoid the guards, and once we got there, I noticed something on the ground and saw that it looked like a bottle but there appeared to be a piece of paper inside until I picked it up to get a closer look at it.
"Now this is very interesting, that bottle you just found seems to be some sort of clue," Bentley commented suddenly and that piqued my interest, as well as Sly's if his expression told me anything.
"A clue for what?" Sly wondered and I frowned thoughtfully.
"Maybe for some kind of vault so what if we used the clue to crack the code? We could use that code to crack open a safe that could be nearby," I pointed out and handed the clue bottle to the raccoon before Sly and I climbed up the ladder, but once we got to the top of the light post and jumped down to get over the giant gate, Bentley contacted us again so we took out our binocucoms to see what he had to say.
"Hold on guys, you see those searchlights? One careless step and you'll all be subjected to acute combustion," Bentley warned as I looked at the tower ahead of me and Sly, seeing the searchlights Bentley mentioned as there were thorns around the path ahead of us that'll make it very narrow for us and there was a walrus guard ahead.
"Are you done whining? Let's go," Sly said rudely, making me glare at him for being insensitive but he ignored it and I sighed.
"Don't worry Bentley, we'll be fine as long as we're careful and don't do anything stupid that'll get us killed," I reassured but Bentley didn't look convinced at that.
"I'm just trying to keep you both alive, so just be careful and we'll see you two back in the van," Bentley replied before cutting communications after that, then I continued glaring at Sly and he narrowed his eyes at me.
"What?" Sly questioned as I sent him a look of disapproval.
"Dude, he's just worried about our safety and I don't blame him since we're in a dangerous place filled with things that could kill us, so try to at least be a little nicer when speaking to him," I lectured and Sly made a face at that.
"Oh, don't you start lecturing me," Sly retorted and I sent him an irritated look while also trying to figure out a way to get past the searchlights.
"Kinda hard not to when you're acting like a complete dick most of the time," I replied as I noticed that the searchlights appeared to move in a certain pattern so all we had to do was make a run for it once we were given the chance.
Sly muttered something under his breath that almost sounded like he was really close to strangling me to shut me up, only I ignored it while pointing out the pattern of the searchlights to Sly when he noticed it and we got ready to move, then the searchlights moved away from the path and dashed by them when the guard up ahead spotted us.
"You, stop!" the guard shouted and started throwing gold stars at us, prompting me and Sly to dodge them when I had an idea and ran to the left.
"Hey asshole, come get me!" I taunted with a foxy grin while flipping him off to get him angry, which worked as the guard was fully focused on me with a scowl on his face and Sly stared at me like I was nuts until he appeared to realize what I was doing and went around the guard, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention and sent him spinning to the ground unconscious with a whack to the head with his cane.
"Uh, kinda risky but it worked at least," Sly said with a look of uncertainty until we moved on after that.
The two of us headed further into the island to get closer to Raleigh's hideout and we soon stopped over a small hill where I can see a sunken ship that was still standing and a giant mechanical blimp in the sky, then I noticed a swirl of clouds and rain on top of the blimp just as I felt my binocucom vibrate and took it out to look through it while Sly did the same with his.
"According to my amphibio-positioning system, that big blimp is where Raleigh is hiding out," Bentley informed us until I used the binocucom to zoom in and noticed something peculiar about the blimp.
"Hey guys, I think that blimp is more than just the frog's hideout since it looks more like a weather machine now that I've gotten a closer look at it with the binocucom," I pointed out thoughtfully.
"I think you're right, but why would Raleigh want bad weather at his own hideout 24/7?" Bentley wondered and I hummed at that until something occurred to me.
"Maybe to keep out intruders and to sink ships so that he can loot their cargo, which explains all the wrecked ships around the island," I said before Sly frowned.
"It doesn't matter what that blimp is used for because we're going in there to steal back what's mine, and if Raleigh gets in our way, it's on," Sly stated darkly and I felt uneasy at his tone so I wouldn't want to be Raleigh once Sly gets his hands on him as we cut communications with Bentley after that and moved on.
"So, what exactly are we stealing from Raleigh?" I asked as we continued forward and Sly sent me a look.
"Not that it's any of your business, but it's pages from my family's book that's been around for thousands of years," Sly replied and didn't elaborate further so I'm guessing that's all I'm getting out of him.
We kept moving while dealing with obstacles such as getting through waterfalls and fighting guards that either tried to brain us with large hammers, literally shot fire at us with welding torches, or ones that tried to crush us to death by belly-flopping but they didn't put up much of a fight since I knocked out a few with nasty hits to the face and Sly whacked any others with his cane, then we made it to a gate that was blocking the way.
"Shit, any bright ideas on how to get past this gate?" I inquired and Sly studied the gate with a frown, then he looked above us and perked up before tapping my shoulder to get my attention and pointed up.
"Oh, I can think of one," Sly said with a crafty grin and I looked up, seeing what appeared to be a gold hook of some kind and Sly held up his cane with a smirk.
"Well, I suppose that's one way to get over the gate," I remarked before Sly did a running start and jumped up to the hook, using his cane to swing until he launched himself to the top of the gate and turned to look at me.
"Here," Sly said and tossed me his cane, then I caught it and stared up at him with an expression of surprise.
"Are you sure?" I asked before Sly sent me a dry look.
"You want to get over this gate, right? Use my cane to get over the gate but don't scratch it, it's a family heirloom," Sly told me, then I frowned.
"You're putting an awful lot of trust in me since you said that you didn't trust me, not to mention that I could always run now that you no longer have your cane," I stated before Sly rolled his eyes.
"I can always catch you if you were to run and even if you somehow got away from me, there's no getting off the island and Bentley placed a tracker on you while you were sleeping to make sure we would track you down if you ran so if you're done wasting time, then jump over the gate already," Sly said with a look of annoyance.
I let out a tired sigh and also felt a little hungry so I couldn't wait to get some food in me once this was over with as I did a running start and jumped over to the hook, using the cane to latch onto the hook and swung forward as I felt a thrill while doing it until I launched myself over to the top of the gate and managed to land right next to Sly.
"Okay, that was fun so I think you'll want this back," I said as I held out the cane, then the raccoon took it and he jumped down into the next area until I followed after him.
I had noticed that we were getting closer to Raleigh's hideout but the only obstacles left were a bunch of waterfalls and a single guard we needed to deal with so we moved forward, getting past the waterfalls and knocking out the guard when I noticed a vault next to the pathway.
"Hey Sly, there's a vault so how about we use that clue we found to see if Bentley can crack the code for us," I offered and that prompted the raccoon to reach into his red backpack to take out the clue bottle until he pulled out the slip of paper that was inside and looked through it before contacting Bentley.
"Hey pal, what's the safe combo?" Sly asked as he placed his hand on one of the dials.
"Well, according to the clue you found, the code to this vault has to be 7-9-2," Bentley replied and Sly started turning the three dials, imputing the code and unlocking the vault as Sly opened the door when I saw what appeared to be a page of some kind and Sly took it out.
"Is that a page?" I asked and Sly nodded.
"Yeah, it's a page from my family's book, The Thievius Raccoonus," Sly said as he carefully tucked the page into his backpack.
"So, what does it say?" I inquired curiously before Sly huffed.
"Like I'm going to tell you," Sly stated while pulling out some kind of calling card from his glove and placing it in the vault.
With that said, we moved on and I saw what appeared to be a key locked in a case that was located in front of a locked gate that would no doubt lead to Raleigh's hideout as Sly smashed the case with his cane and took the key from it.
"Okay, either Raleigh is so arrogant that he believes no one is going to rob him or he's not all that bright because it just seems very irresponsible to place the key in front of the very gate it'll unlock, so it's like he's asking us to rob him blind," I pointed out in confusion.
"Well, you said that he might have an ego problem so he probably does think that no one will steal from him, something we're gonna prove wrong," Sly stated as he went over to the locked gate and used the key to unlock it, then we entered the cavern before us and I hoped that this would be over soon.
A/N Hey guys, you can see things start off rough between Sly and Troy but they won't be as hostile to each other later on, and to those of you who are new to the Sly Cooper series and wondering why Sly is acting like an asshole, this is back when he was arrogant, condescending, and rude when compared to his more mature and professional self in the later games.
Still, the romance parts won't happen until much later so you'll have to wait for a little bit but either way, let me know what you think and stay tuned.
