Hey. Long time no see. I've decided to get back to writing fanfiction after years of not being active. This whole pandemic gave me time to write and I hope you'll all enjoy my first story in a while. Please don't give me hate. It's my first story in a while, so please go easy on me. Hope you'll enjoy.
My name is Nolan Perez. I'm just your average 23 year old out of college with a degree in Linguistics. Throughout my life I've done many things to keep myself ahead in life. I am currently living alone in a two bedroom apartment and I've always been having a hard time finding a job right now. After hours of doing job applications, I went to the living room to play some video games. I turned on my PS5, grabbed my controller and sat down on my chair. I felt a little nostalgia and used PS Now to play the Sly Cooper Collection.
"Alright, time for a little trip to memory lane." I said to myself as I got a little excited of playing a game that I grew up playing.
I was playing the first game, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus. I forgot how much I played these games as a kid. But I was kinda bummed that there wasn't a fifth game after the last one. I just wished they would continue the story. As I was playing the prologue of the first game where Sly beaks into Interpol to steal his file to find the Fiendish Five, something weird happened. There was a blackout.
"God damn it." I was pissed off when the power was out.
I got up out of my chair and went to find the circuit breaker so I could switch the power back on. As I was figuring out to turn the power back on, something weird happened. My TV showed off a weird glow. It was kind of hypnotic and was giving off a static feel. I got in closer to the TV and it started to feel like a force was pushing me to the TV. "What the hell? No no no no no no." I was fighting the force that was pushing me. My life flashed before my eyes and it felt like I was gonna get killed by my TV. I was being sucked through the TV as I held on to the frames from the TV to resist but I lost control of my grip.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Paris, France
Sly and the Cooper Gang were setting out for a plan to steal Sly's file to find the locations of the Fiendish Five to steal back the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus. Bentley set out plans, blueprints, and lists of possible outcomes of the operation. Bentley was highly prepared of anything that can go wrong. Murray was just listening to the plan as he was eating jelly beans in a paper bag. As for Sly, he was looking at the plans while hold his cane that was leaning back to his shoulder.
"Okay guys. Here's the plan. Sly, you will do the field work to break into Interpol and steal the file. I will be on look out and communications to guide you through the building while Murray will be waiting for you in the Van to meet at our rendezvous point. Once we get the file, we can set out a plan to steal back the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus from the Fiendish Five. Let's just hope everything will be according to plan. We'll head out in four hundred hours tomorrow." Bentley explained everything to the gang.
"Sounds like a plan, pal." Sly grinned as he waited for years to find any clue of the people who took everything from him.
"Alright! Let's eat." Murray still had a bag of jelly beans but that doesn't stop him from keep on eating.
The gang cleaned out all the blueprints, photos, and plans out of the table. As they were cleaning up, they all heard a noise. It was a scream after it made a thud noise.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" I kept screaming as I landed on a bush that luckily broke my fall. I was in pain as I slowly got up, trying to push my back into place with my hands pushing my back.
"Fuck. That hurt." I moaned in pain.
Sly and the gang went outside to figure out where that scream came from. Sly got his cane ready in his fighting stance. Bentley and Murray were behind Sly. This was before the turtle and hippo were use to be field players. As I got up, the three got a good look at me and they were all shocked and confused. "Stop. Who and what are you?" Sly questioned me while he pointed his cane at me.
I looked at the walking, talking raccoon with a cane and I started to freak out a bit, "Where am I? And why are there animals that could stand and talk? What's going on?"
The raccoon, turtle, and hippo looked at each other and thought that maybe I wasn't a cop or something. They all thought that I was actually lost. Sly worried, "Are you okay? You seem lost."
"Yeah, I am lost. This isn't where I live. This isn't even my world." I came to realize that this was Earth but not he Earth I know.
"What do you mean 'your world'?" Bentley questioned.
"I mean this not my world. My world doesn't have walking, talking animals. The only ones that can talk are humans, not animals." I panicking like crazy. I was losing breathe and I started to believe that I was hallucinating.
"Whoa whoa whoa. Calm down. Breathe." Sly was trying to calm me down when I outburst with fear. He came up to me and placed his hand behind my back to comfort me as I tried to calm down.
I took a while to take deep breathes and I was able to collect my thoughts and calm down. After I was able to be under control, I started to realize where I am. I was in the video game that I was playing. I was in the world of Sly Cooper. I couldn't believe it as I looked around and find out that I was in Paris. I've always wanted to visit France, but not in a way that I expected.
"You said that you're from another world, correct?" Bentley questioned as he pulled out a magnifying glass and started using it to examine me.
"Yeah. I'm from a world where there's humans. Not with walking animals." I explained.
"Humans?" Sly gave a confused look.
"That's what I am." I answered.
"We've never heard of a human. What are humans anyway?" Sly questioned.
"Well, um, to put it in prospective... humans are basically mammals that are closely related to primates. Just less hairy and have nonanimal features." I answered with a scientific explanation that is basically true in my world.
"So a monkey." Sly guessed.
"Hey! I'm not a monkey. That is highly offensive where I'm from." I growled at Sly for calling me a monkey. Sly had his hands up as the "My bad" look to keep it cool with me when I yelled at him.
"So where are you originally from, umm...?" Bentley questioned as he tried to get me to introduce myself.
"Nolan. The name's Nolan and I'm from Long Beach, California." I said.
"Oh so you're American." Sly pointed out.
"Yeah, but as you can see." I turned around in a full circle to show my point. "I'm not from here."
At a moment, I just snapped, "Look! I just don't know where I am? I don't know if I'll ever get back home to see my family and friends. What if I never get back home. I would have to start a life here, but what will other people of this world think of me. I'm the only human in this world. Oh my god! I'm the only human. I'm all alone. I have no one. I'm alone. I got no job, no family, no friends, nothing. I have nothing. I'm the only human in this world. Oh my god!" I was started balling.
"Hey hey hey. Calm down. Everything is going to be fine." Sly went up to me to comfort me by having his arm around my shoulder. He then said, "Look. You maybe different, but you're not alone. We'll help you adjust to life here. We may not find a way to bring you back to your world, but we'll help you."
"Um Sly. A word." Bentley shifted his head at a different direction to grab Sly's attention. The three gathered in a huddle and leaving me out of it. Bentley said to Sly, "We can't just bring in anyone to the hideout. What if he's a cop in disguise?, Sly? Then this whole operation is blown over."
"Relax, Bentley." Sly took a quick look at me. "I don't think he's a cop. If he was a cop, he wouldn't find us that easily. He fell from the sky."
"He doesn't seem like a bad guy." Murray suggested after took a peek at me.
"I guess your right. But what can he do for us? We can't just accept anyone to join the gang. Does he have any skills that can be useful?" Bentley questioned as he looked at me as well.
"You know I'm at a hearing distance of what your saying, right?" I shouted as they were like five feet away from me.
The three broke out the huddle and turned to my direction. Bentley asked me, "Before we let you in our gang, I like to ask a few questions to see if you fit the part."
"Okay then. Ask away." I replied.
"First. What are your qualifications?" Bentley asked me as he pulled out a notepad and pencil.
"Well, I graduated college recently with a degree in Linguistics with a minor of several languages I am fluent with. I can drive, cook, clean, and I'm well organized. I'm also a black belt in karate, taekwondo, and judo when I was in high school, so I know how to defend myself. I can play a couple instruments such as guitar, piano, bass, drums, and can sing a little as well. Finally, I can act a little. I took a couple classes back in college." I explained every detail about myself of what I can do for them.
"Astonishing. You are a jack of all trades. Secondly, are you will to help us do jobs to help steal back what Sly lost?" Bentley asked seriously.
"I am willing to help any way I can. You guys just accepted me as your own. That makes us friends, so if there's a friend in need then I'm there to help." I answered in a serious tone in voice.
"Last question. This job will be dangerous, probably life threating. Are you up for the task of anything in your way?"
"Yes. I am." I answered.
Bentley closed his notepad and placed his pencil in his pocket in a nerdy way and said, "That's all I need. You're in."
"I am?" I didn't think it was that easy.
"Alright. The gang has a new member." Murray ran up to me and hugged me with excitement.
"T-Thanks man. C-Can you let me go? I can't breathe." Murray was so strong that I can barley breathe when he was hugging. What would expect from a hippo though.
Murray let me go and apologized, "Oops. Sorry."
"It's alright." I was breathing heavily after a hippo hugged me. Never thought that would happen in my life.
Sly came up to me and said, "Welcome to the Cooper Gang, Nolan." Sly smiled at me as I smiled back at him. This is the beginning of a new friendship. But inside of me is telling me to not mention anything about that in my world they are video game characters. Something tells me that it will freak them out, so I kept it to myself. This is a start of a new life for me. I've got new friends that can look after me, a new home, and a job as a thief. Even though this means I could be a criminal in this world, it doesn't mean I can't do good for others who need help. I just hope that things can go well for me in this world.
Time Skip: The Next Day at 4:20 am
Sly and I were running in the rooftops in Paris. I was following Sly as we both jumped building to building, we walked through ledges of buildings, and as we ran Sly whacked a chimney over with his cane. We both landed on top of a giant neon sign that said "Le Police" on it and jumped on top of the building of Interpol. They gave clothes for me when we do heists. I was wearing a dark shirt with a leather jacket, flat front strait-fit pants, and black boots. I wanted to wear something that would make me look like a bad ass. I was also wearing a black eye mask like Sly's to cover my identity.
Sly and I both brought out our binocucoms and to think that it actually works as a video call. Bentley shouted, "Sly! Nolan! Come in! Do you read me?"
"Jesus, Bentley. Don't need to shout so loud." it felt like a megaphone was shouted into my ear.
"We read you, Bentley. Loud and... very loud." Sly confirmed.
"Sorry. I'm a little nervous. Trying to break in police headquarters does that." Bentley said in a worried tone.
"Get over it, Bentley. You're safe in the van. We're the thieves here. We got to steal that file from Inspector Carmelita Fox." Sly exclaimed to have Bentley take it easy with the worrying.
When I heard Carmelita's name, I had the feel of being nervous because Carmelita was like a childhood crush when I was really young. I've always loved playing as her in Sly 3 and Thieves in Time. If I had to put it in words, she was really "foxy" to me when I was a kid. Bentley then said, "Well count on me to be your eyes and ears, guys. Got their security system totally scoped. To get inside, you're gonna have to go through that air vent."
"Got it, Bentley. We'll be there in no time." I grinned.
"And don't forget, you got me at the wheel, guys. All you got to do is grab the file and get back to the van. We'll do the rest." Murray pointed out.
"Just keep that engine running, Murray. We'll be down in no time." Sly said.
We both cut our communications and we went for a break for it to the air vent. We hopped down and headed to a small water tower that was on top of the building. We slide down on the other side of the water tower and hopped on giant TV antennas and got to the air vent. Sly smashed the air vent door with his cane. We both crawled through the air vent and once we got through, there was a little trouble on the way.
"Whoa." I shouted as I blocked Sly with my arm to stop him from falling over.
"Laser security, huh? Any ideas?" Sly questioned.
There were yellow I looked down and there were a lot of them on the way down. The y were all crossing at every angle, but there were openings at certain areas where we can just jump on and land safely on the platforms. I looked at Sly and said, "Follow my lead."
I jumped to my right and jumped the opposite direction and back to the other directions downward to make it to the bottom without a scratch. Sly did the exact thing I did and made it down safely as well. Sly looked at me all surprised, "How did you know how to do that?"
I looked at him and I couldn't tell him that I learned it from him just by playing the game. I had to lie to him, "I just had a hunch on where to go."
"A hunch, huh?" Sly gave me a look with one of his eyebrows raised up.
"Anyway, Bentley said that Inspector Fox's office should be behind a red door." I reminded Sly. We went down the hallways and we managed to find Carmelita's office so easily. I went to turn the nob, but it was locked. "Great. Locked." I complained as I turned to my right and noticed that there was a window open. We both looked at each other and thought of the same idea. We went through the open window and started walking on the ledge of the building. Carmelita's office window was open, so we had an opportunity to get to the vault.
"Bentley, we're in." Sly confirmed while holding on to his communication piece in his ear.
I went to the safe as Bentley started giving us instructions, "Way to go, you two. This is where Inspector Carmelita Fox stashes all her important files. I hacked into the police security mainframe and discovered this vaults combo. Try-"
"Got it." I got the combination right. It was 9-3-7. I played Sly Cooper so much growing up that I memorize every vault in the entire game. Sly looked shocked on how opened the safe so fast. I can hear the shock in Bentley's voice through my ear piece, "Wha- How? How did you know the code?"
"Uhh... Just a hunch, I guess." I shouldn't have gotten the code so quickly. I was just so eager to open the safe that I forgot that I put my secret about living in a video game world at risk.
"A hunch? But that's mathematically impossible. There is no way that was a 'hunch'." Bentley freaked out on how I got the code before he even said it.
"Guys, stop arguing. We got the file. We'll meet you in the van and we can get out of here." Sly acted as a leader at that moment. That's why I always admired his character when I was younger. He always acted as the one who can guide others. I passed the file to Sly while he placed is calling card on the vault. We head out a to the fire escape window and we both heard a voice.
"Criminal!"
It was Carmelita Fox. She was on top of another building that was faced in our direction. "You foolish raccoon. I caught you red-handed."
"Ah, Carmelita. I haven't seen you since I gave you the slip in Bombay." Sly flirted Carmelita while resting his cane on his shoulder.
Carmelita looked at me and pointed, "I see you have a friend and he's... what are you?"
"Uhh... a hairless monkey." I answered as Sly looked and laughed at me for yelling at him when he called me a monkey.
Carmelita looked confused when she looked at me. She probably didn't believe me on what I said that I was. She shook her head to focus on the issue, "Anyway, the both of you are going to jail for you crime of breaking and entering. I'll let you see my new shock pistol."
"No thanks. We'll be on our way." I said as Sly and I ran down the fire escape.
Carmelita was shooting balls of electricity at us with the shock pistol. Even though this was kinda scary, but it was cool at the same time. There were a lot of parked police cars in front of us and the Cooper van was in our direction. I had to run on top of the car rooftops to get to the van quicker. We were hauling ass to get away from Carmelita. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" I was panicking while trying to avoid balls of lighting.
The van back doors were open. Sly and I hopped in as I yelled, "Go go go!" Murray punched the gas as we made our escape.
"You can't escape me raccoon!" Carmelita shouted as she lost sight of us.
In the van, we all made it safe after the escape from Carmelita's grasp. Sly pulled out his file out of his red backpack and opened. We all looked at the file as a sign of success after my first mission. I was in the back with Bentley, Sly was in the front and Murray at the wheel. "We did it, guys. We finally got the file which will lead us to the Fiendish Five. I've waited for this moment for years. And now, it will finally happen. I'll finally steal back the Thievius Raccoonus." Sly grinned as he had a moment of clarity.
"This is just the first step, pal. We'll all help out whatever we can to steal back what's stolen from you. I'm with you every step of the way, Sly. Always." I smiled at Sly as I owe him my life for letting me join the gang. Who knows how I'll be if I never met these guys. I probably wouldn't survive in this world on my own. We made it back to the safe house to plan our next move. I already knew that we were going to head to Whales first to face Sir Raleigh the Frog. I'll be ready to face whatever and whoever gets in our way.
