Cooper Gang Files is a series dedicated to Sly's expansive thieving career that has occurred up to this point; the cases we've never seen that helped create the reputation of Sly Cooper. To be set before, between, and after games in the mainline series, no timeframe is off limits, and relationships and events remain canonically consistent with the main entries.
This edition of Cooper Gang Files is set before the events of Sly 1.
PROLOGUE:
"Ok, listen up everyone! My sources tell me- MURRAY! Wake up, this is important!"
Jolting up: "I'M AWAKE BENTLEY!"
Bentley grips on to the laser pointer tighter in slight frustration. "Pay attention, Murray. We're only gonna have one shot at this."
"Aww Bentley, can't we open the back door? It's so hot in here."
"Murray, if you do that then you two won't be able to see the projection of my plan from the projector! Just hang tight Murray, this won't take long."
Murray responds with a sigh, "Ok Bentley..."
"Alright, now- "
"Murray, can't you turn on the van at least, get the AC running?"
"Well, it's about to run out of gas, so- "
"Gentlemen, please! The faster we finish this meeting, the faster we can get on the road and out of this heat!"
"Ok Bentley, deal. What's the plan?"
Murray and Sly were no strangers to Bentley's presentations. He's been giving them for as long as they've been "business" partners, he was good at presenting his plans concisely with no detail overlooked, and he had a knack for public speaking in general. Unfortunately, that didn't save his presentations from being dull sometimes. And they could run a little long. To Sly and Murray, this isn't too bad; they may doze off every so often, but they'd get the gist of it usually. What wasn't enjoyable or informative, however, was the heat wave hitting Paris on that given day making the van unbearably hot for any meeting of any sort. It didn't help they were still inside the cave they used to hide from authorities earlier, amplifying the heat significantly; even Sly was beginning to question whether shaving his fur was a feasible long-term solution to the summer heat.
To Sly and Murray, the van was a sauna fashioned into a torture chamber. For Bentley, it was a Wednesday afternoon.
"My sources tell me that despite the official police report, Dolly Llama is actually the one responsible for the recent robbery of the newly opened ancient history museum in Marseille, with the help of her goons. From what I gather, she's pretty tech savvy, and has a penchant for making thorough heists and getaways without leaving a trace."
"This doesn't sound very promising, Bentley."
"Ah-ha, that's why I only said pretty tech savvy, not enough for my own expertise! I've been able to track her location using Interpol backchannels and local CCTV, along with some educated estimates, to determine she's fled to London, England with her keep: an ancient Johinic civilization neckless and bracelet set. Legend has it those who were to wear the neckless and bracelet as a combination are granted fantastical magic capabilities. It's just a legend though, and I'm not convinced she, being the technological afficionado she is, isn't more interested in these powers than just selling to the highest bidder on the black market."
"Sounds like she would rather cash in on someone else's eagerness than find out if the legends are true herself."
"Right you are, Sly. And we're gonna take it off her hands before that can happen."
"Anything on Carmelita, Bentley?
"Nothing yet. I think we finally gave her the slip back in Amsterdam, and I haven't detected any movement from her on our position since then. We should be ok to proceed."
"Then what are we waiting for? LET'S HEAD TO LONDON BENTLEY!"
"Hold on Murray! We're not done yet!"
"Aww really?"
Bentley takes a second to skim through his slides again: "Oh wait, we are done actually."
"Then LET'S HEAD TO LONDON!"
"After we fill up on gas first."
"AFTER WE FILL UP ON GAS FIRST! Thanks Sly, I didn't want to push the van again."
"Anytime, bud."
Once adjourned, Murray and Sly climb over to the front of the van, Sly in the passenger side and Murray in the driver's seat. Murray turns the ignition to fire up the van, immediately turns the AC on to full blast, steps on the gas and blasts out of the cave, making for the nearest Paris gas station to THEN begin their trek to London.
BODY:
After filling up, the crew hit the road for the long trek to London. The Paris roads ended soon and made way for the beautiful European countryside, a view Sly could never get tired of. With the gang rotating DJs for the van, music was abundant throughout the drive; Murray played show tunes, Sly played Romantic period concertos, Bentley played Cannibal Corpse (he was given the least amount of time among the three). Further driving from the Paris heatwave eventually gave way to the general summer humidity of the season, a much welcome reprieve for the larger Murray. Sly knew that each minute passing meant the more likely Dolly Llama would be making her move, so he was grateful Murray never let up from very fast on the speedometer.
One ferry ride along the English channel later, assisted by Bentley's custom cloaking device making the Cooper van appear as a plumber's truck, and the gang was situated in their London hideout (Bentley had a flat on retainer there under the name Weston Steelhammer; it comes in handy sometimes according to him). About 5 hours of total travelling time, which Bentley determines is adequate timing. All the while not driving, Bentley was formulating potential plans of action based on maps he had been poring over. He still didn't have a specific location for where she was holed up, but it didn't hurt to be prepared, he rationalized.
. . .
Sly set off soon after to take some recon photos for Bentley based on her last known location, the endeavor proving fruitful. He managed to capture a photo of Dolly Llama herself walking with a convoy into a massive, Victorian styled mansion-like estate, at minimum heavily guarded at the front gate from what he could tell. Dolly was much taller than Sly was anticipating; her long neck spotted her a few inches. She was dressed in a yellow Victorian dress with matching silk elbow-length gloves, walking with closed hands in between her guard detail, three hefty huskies who were larger in width than length. Almost as if she's from a different time, Sly thought to himself.
After snapping a few more photos, he headed back to the hideout. While Murray took a break by double-fisting slices of cake, Bentley clicked away furiously at his computer, digging into every database possible for some dirt on Dolly Llama.
As Bentley was making some headway in his research, Sly returned with his recon photos, handing them off to Bentley to formulate a plan with. Not long afterwards, he called a meeting with the gang.
"Ok, here's the deal guys. We now know Dolly's location thanks to Sly's recon photos, and might I say is she hiding out in style. Heavily guarded at all 3 points of entrance- ", as Bentley quickly passes through slides showing the front gate, the back gate, and a side door leading into a service area all guarded with no less than 2 guards each, "we won't be getting in there through the traditional way."
"Just the way I like it, Bentley. Doors are so last year anyway."
"Couldn't agree more, Sly. Now, the mansion is four stories, and each floor has a set of laser guided cameras staring down each floor from the outside- ", which Bentley switches slides to for emphasis, "but I have located a blind spot in their fields of view. This crease in the building structure right here- ", Bentley switches slides to show a design quirk in the structure of the mansion, where a section of the foundation angles sharply at 90 degrees, with about 3 feet of length for each partial wall and out of view of the cameras, "should allow you to scale the outside relatively unseen, granted you can slip past the guards. When you arrive at the spot, climb up with these mechanical suction cups- ", Bentley presenting the devices to Sly, "which I've taken the liberty of enhancing by increasing the vacuuming properties for some extra suckage. I have reliable intel stating Dolly is somewhere on the fourth floor, so you're going all the way to the top, Sly."
"Duly noted, Bentley, shouldn't be a problem."
"Murray, you're gonna be on standby if Sly runs into any trouble with the guards. For the time being, park out in the van and stay alert for Sly on the Binocucom if things start getting dicey in there."
"No problem! Don't worry Sly, The Murray is running support for you!"
"Thanks, big guy."
"While you were taking care of recon in the field, I've been tapping my sources on the ThiefNet for clues as to who Dolly's selling partner, or partners, are and when the meeting will take place. So far nothing yet, but I'll keep looking into it. As for now, the actual operation is straightforward: get in, grab the neckless and the bracelets, get out, and we're gone by lunchtime. Gentlemen, you have your assignments, now let's get going!"
A scaled rooftop here, a traversed telephone line there, and two surprised guards who became acquainted with Sly's cane later, he's made it to the mansion; all in a day's work for the thieving veteran (the other three guards along the way never noticed the slippery raccoon). Looking up the side of the mansion, Sly pulls out his suction cups and begins climbing. One floor, two floors up, and right as he passes the third floor: "Hey Bentley, there's something weird up here."
"There shouldn't be anything there. What is it?"
He aims his Binocucom at the device. "Right at the fourth floor, it's some sort of metallic box, with a red beeping light on it. It's pretty small, though, maybe I can- "
"DON'T TOUCH IT SLY! DON'T EVEN MOVE!" Bentley screams in the Binocucom, almost causing Sly to lose his grip. "That looks like a beacon that serves as a failsafe for the security system. Can you search for the serial number?"
"Uhhhhh- "
"Zoom in under the box."
He complies. "Under the box just looks like a smudge to me, pal."
"Impressive…" Bentley mutters to no one in particular.
"Uh, Bentley?"
"Looks like this was custom made, or at the very least reprogrammed. Dolly must've tampered with the devices herself, she scratched off the serial number. She's a little craftier than I thought. Plus, there's usually more than one to these devices; that way if one gets destroyed, the others will trip the alarm system. It's also a motion sensor, it can detect when someone passes by it."
"That's not exactly ideal, Bentley. What're we supposed to do?"
"Well, these devices shipped with an oversight in functional capabilities. They are powered by a wireless internet connection, which at the time seemed smart because in theory they'll function without needing to charge, but that means they can all be taken out at once if the connection gets cut."
"So, we just need to kill the router."
"Crudely put but correct nonetheless."
"But if this is the only blind spot on the wall- "
"We'll need to find the generator that's supplying power to the entire mansion. This wasn't part of the plan unfortunately, but it seems this is necessary."
"I can do it, Bentley!" Murray interjects his excitement at getting into the thick of things.
"Hold on Murray! I'm not sure where the generator is currently. Also, we don't even know if the modifications Dolly has made will have changed their functionality in any way, cutting the power could be useless."
"It's worth a risk Bentley." Sly chimes in towards the generally risk-averse turtle. "Also, my arms are getting tired up here. Any way we can track down this generator like, soon?"
"Is that it over there, Bentley?" Murray asks as he zooms in on his Binocucom to a medium sized metallic structure not too far in the distance against the mansion wall. He had parked the van behind the mansion adjacent the back gate, and just off to the side of the back door was the structure in question.
"Uh, that could be it actually. But there's no way we can get to it without being spotted by the cameras!"
"Leave that to me, Bentley!"
On that note, Murray exits the van and begins surveying the scene. He's about 20 meters away from the back gate with a couple of guards posted on each end, but that doesn't concern the titan. Before he tackles them, he looks around: a trash can (not big enough), a fire hydrant (stuck to the ground), a dumpster- actually, that can help. Now, to continue looking. A car (too big and heavy), a streetlamp (too tall, also stuck to the ground), a food cart- perfect!
With the grace of a hippo in a china shop, Murray stomps the dumpster into his hands and launches it directly at the guards- CRASH! The dumpster incapacitates the guards instantly (jury's out on the amount of extensive physical damage and long-lasting effects he actually inflicted). A bit overkill? Perhaps. Effective? Unquestionably so. Quickly, Murray grabs the food cart and chucks it at the possible-generator from the gate- CRASH! Another perfect strike right on target.
"Bentley, the red light turned off." Sly reports.
"It worked! But it's likely the backup generator will kick in soon. Get in there Sly!"
"On it."
Sly makes haste up the wall, reaching the fourth floor in a matter of seconds, climbs onto the ledge from the spot he climbed from, checks the locks on the window, and slides it open where he sneaks inside. Murray, satisfied with his work, returns to his post inside the van and out of sight.
The backup hasn't kicked in yet, so Sly enters the fourth-floor window to a mostly dark and rather barren bedroom; luckily, nobody is in there now. He slides along the wall out of the light from the window to further make sure he's covered in complete darkness. Just then, he hears frantic orders flying from a female voice closeby. Muddled voices radiate from just outside the door, so Sly inches closer towards the door until the voices clear up.
"…imbecile! That abhorrent fox has found us surely, she has sabotaged the lighting system! I told you to reclaim the cellular jammer from the job site, they have certainly found it and traced it back as my handiwork!
"But boss, I did grab it, I swear!"
"Then GET THE LIGHTS BACK ON!"
"Right- "
"WAIT, DON'T!"
A beat passes.
"But boss- "
"The authorities must have this place surrounded by now. It's too dangerous to leave outside these walls."
"R-right boss- "
At this moment, the lights flare back on, including inside the bedroom Sly is in.
"Hmph, figures this cesspool has a delayed backup generator. Back to your post- NO WAIT! We've surely become compromised. Prep for beta protocol."
"Y-yes boss!" as scampered footsteps run off in the direction facing Sly from outside the room, as calm measured footsteps part the opposite direction.
"Bentley, did you get all that?"
"Just barely, I could only make out parts. Give me the gist, Sly."
"Looks like Carmelita is closing in on her position too. She could be anywhere in the city, and we might end up in her crosshairs too."
"Noted, I'll keep a lookout for her on my monitors here. Anything else?"
"I heard something about a "beta protocol" mentioned, but I have no clue what she meant by that."
"That means Plan B, she might be making a move soon. Based on data and an analysis of her previous patterns, if I had to take a guess, she must be- "
CRAAAASH!
A loud commotion, sounding like a car collision, pierces through their conversation from outside the window, causing Sly to take notice.
"Woah, what was that?" Sly asks himself through the Binocucom.
"GUYS," Murray calls out through the Binocucom frantically, "SHE'S GETTING AWAY!"
"What?! But how?!"
As Sly and Bentley discussed the meaning of "beta protocol", a vehicle fired out from the large side garage doors, housed just off the main mansion and blitzed through the back gate, passing directly in front of Murray's van, and had begun racing down the London streets at full throttle.
"There's no time, Bentley. Now, it's time for The Murray!"
Just as he proclaims his dominance, he revs up the van, throws the stick into gear, and dashes out from hiding to give chase.
"Sly, Murray is going after Dolly! You gotta get out of there and get back to the hideout."
"I hear you Bentley, but the cameras are definitely back on by now. I'll trip the alarm system if I go back out the windows."
"True. Looks like you'll have to escape the old-fashioned way."
"Out the front door?"
"I was gonna say back door, but that works too. You'll need to grab a guard's uniform to trick the cameras by the door. So do that and get out of there ASAP, I'm gonna try tracking Murray's movements with the RC chopper."
"Got it."
After the over-and-out, Sly quietly opens the door, surveys the hallway, and exits. A wide, brightly lit hallway with elegant floral wallpaper and perfectly cared for carpeting greets Sly. Interestingly, the hallway is also completely devoid of guards. Deciding to take advantage of their absence, Sly hurries his way down the hall right where he can turn the corner.
Peeking over the corner: a single guard with his back turned to Sly, on the far end of the hall. To the left of the guard is a staircase heading to the lower floors. Hmm, I have the element of surprise, faster reflexes, my cane…with time pressed against him, he decides to bum rush the guard with his naturally muted footsteps; he takes off in a line drive towards the guard, readies up his cane like a baseball bat, and just as he's about to connect on the swing, the guard turns around, revealing an energy rifle.
Sly sees the rifle, and the guard sees the intruder. "Woah!" they both say at each other, freezing in their tracks. A beat passes in a flash, right as the guard aims his weapon at Sly; Sly responds by crashing the hook of his cane on the guard's wrists, forcing his arms to the ground and incapacitating the guard's use of the rifle. With the aid of resulting momentum, he swings his cane back up: WHACK! He connects with the guard's face, reverberating throughout the hallway and knocking him out cold. That's quite the gun he has there, noting the energy rifle. After snapping a quick picture of the rifle, he nudes the guard of his uniform (respectfully letting him keep some dignity by leaving his underwear on), and rushes down the stairs.
Three flights of stairs later, the disguised Sly finds himself on the ground floor, only one more hallway removed from the foyer. The hallway, identical in appearance to the one on the fourth floor, was similarly devoid of guards, leaving Sly with an eerie sense of isolation about the mansion. Regardless, he scurries to the end of the hall, turns the corner and exits the doorway at the end.
Sly walks through to find the mansion's sizable and stunning foyer. Flawless marble floors, a large gold and platinum chandelier hanging high above the ground, full body oil paintings of various objects abstract in nature covering sections of the walls; this mansion sure walked the walk when it came to presentation and execution. Next to the door Sly walked through was a wide central staircase that led straight to the second floor, where Sly's door was seemingly tucked away into a nook off to the side. He finds himself in the center of the foyer, just mere meters away from the front door. Perfect, I'm outta here. Just as he begins a dash towards the front door-
"So it was YOU who intruded into my domain!
The posh voice slices through Sly's reflexes, freezing him like a child caught with candy after bedtime. Sly turns around to see Dolly Llama herself, staring him down from the top of the staircase. Again, Sly couldn't help noticing her height; a slight tinge of intimidation perhaps? He couldn't tell what he felt, only that he knew he was caught.
"Would you believe me if I told you I'm just going back to my post?"
"Not a chance, raccoon! I'm well aware of who you are, the "gentlemanly thief". You won't trick me that easily."
"My reputation precedes me, I guess. Can't say the same for you, because I have no idea who you were before coming to London."
"Hmph, such folly. Your mouth runs faster than you can pilfer from the likes of me."
"Geez, have you always talked like this?"
"But I have one question for you, Sly Cooper", she prefaces as she makes her way down the staircase, "where is the rest of the Cooper Gang? WAIT DON'T ANSWER! I'm sure the turtle is somewhere safe, that's fine. But how about the hippo? Perhaps he's, oh, I don't know, on a wild goose chase around London?"
Sly's ears perk up.
"Wait hang on, what?"
"Presumably, in a vehicle of some sort, chasing the one I'm also in?"
"Oh no. The car was a decoy."
"In a manner of speaking. But the manner of which I speak, could you possibly understand what I mean?" she quizzes him over her words, cackling like a mad llama while extending her arms as an invitation for a hug; rather than something inviting, she instead shows off her features, where Sly suddenly realizes she's wearing the neckless and bracelet. To make matters worse, the ancient artifacts begin to emanate a bright glow, with a particularly strong aura.
"Could you, Sly Cooper?" she asks again in between cackles.
Genuine worry begins to cloud over Sly. "Bentley, we've got a serious problem here. She's wearing the neckless and the bracelets. Even worse, they're starting to glow."
"Wait, she's wearing them Sly?! As in…this doesn't make any sense!"
"Did you know they could glow? Bentley?"
"Then…then that means- OH NO!"
First gear at standstill, second gear seconds later, and before long Murray's speeding down the London streets after the getaway vehicle in the Cooper van. Strangely adept at car chases, Murray's main obstacles were the other motorists whom Murray just couldn't understand why they needed to be in his way right that second.
Still in hot pursuit of the raging vehicle, Murray and his prey tear apart the streets they drive through. A left down a one way, a right at the next light, driving on the sidewalk narrowly missing the parked cars to the side of the road, the mayhem so far has included a bevy of terrified onlookers desperately diving out of the way for dear life when the vehicles storm their way.
"Move aside, citizens of London! The Murray always has the right of way!"
Driving down a sloped street, the driver peeks his gun outside the window (a pistol shaped futuristic looking firearm, straight out of a science fiction film), takes aim at the Cooper van and fires; a high-powered blast of green energy skims along the driver side part of the van, but Murray is unharmed.
"WOAH! Bright."
All the while the chase coursed along, a tiny RC chopper had been tracking the destruction from the sky, surveilling the damage from above until finally tracking down Murray and the getaway vehicle.
"Murray! I have eyes on you from my RC chopper!"
"Bentley! Good to hear from you bud. This chase has been AWESOME!"
"And massively destructive! You gotta catch up to them soon before any more of London gets destroyed."
"Doing my best here, Bentley!"
The car is making some distance from Murray now, about 100 meters ahead.
"They're taking the next left! Turn down this alley!"
"OUT OF THE WAY EVERYBODY!"
He turns sharply into the Bentley-recommended alley, where 3 pedestrians saw their lives flash before their eyes before wisely diving out of the way. Much further ahead, the getaway car had already taken its left turn, now barreling down the street while Murray stealthily (relatively speaking) tailed it in the alley.
The surprisingly deep alleyway pivots left, as does the van which has just enough room to take the turn, leading directly back into the street which-
SMAAAASH!
Solid steel collides permeating the London street, the getaway car having been T-boned by the Cooper van sending it flying halfway into the opposite sidewalk. The route they took coincidentally led them back to the bridge where the ferry passes through, which was lifted for the moment, effectively making the road a dead end from the canal.
"Murray! MURRAY! Are you ok?"
"Ugh, I'm okay." Murray reaffirms through the airbag. "But that was AWESOME! Dolly is out of commission Bentley! I think I hurt my neck too, but it was totally worth it."
He opens the door (with a little more force than usual since it was stuck) and wobbles out of the van.
"Alright Murray, let's grab the artifacts from Dolly and get out of here so Carmelita can clean up. She's sure to be on her way by now, no doubt someone has called the local police, or an ambulance, by now."
Murray complies. Walking towards the severely damaged car, the driver-side back door swings open, crumbling to the ground from the force of the posh heeled shoe.
Out from the backseat…a disoriented Dolly Llama emerges from the rubble.
"You…you MANIAC! You could've killed me! And I think you did kill my driver! Uh- " she looks at the driver side door, sees the driver squirming around in pain- "no, no he's not dead, he's fine. But ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?"
"Ms. Dolly Llama, you have something that we want. You can hand it over, or face the wrath of, The Murray."
"You petulant swine. You mean these?"
She presents the neckless she's wearing, along with the bracelets, which begin to glow a dim light. The neckless beams red dimly.
"Woah Bentley, Dolly's neckless is glowing. And so is the bracelet! It's shiny."
"Uh oh, this is not good. Maybe she never planned to sell to the highest bidder after all! Be careful Murray!"
From his hub, Bentley had been viewing Murray from his monitors the entire time, laser focused on the car chase through the RC chopper. Suddenly, another jolt from his earpiece.
"Bentley, we've got a serious problem here. She's wearing the neckless and the bracelets. Even worse, they're starting to glow."
"Wait, she's wearing them Sly?! As in…this doesn't make any sense!"
"Did you know they could glow? Bentley?"
The realization hits Bentley.
"Then…then that means- OH NO! It's the ancient Johinic magic, it's real! Guys, she has the power of duplication!"
"What?" Sly and Murray ask simultaneously and urgently.
"She's in two places at once! This is bad guys! You two need take her out before she does anything drastic! One of them has to be the real Dolly!"
Bentley was ultimately correct about the Johinic legend of magic being true, the power of duplication belonged to Dolly Llama. What he didn't know about was the green energy beams the bracelets produced that Dolly could use for offense. Precisely what she leaned on heavily while playing target practice with Sly. The slippery raccoon was adept at defense however and managed to make Dolly miss just about every shot she fired towards him. For Sly, evasion and patience were his best friends in his battle with Dolly, waiting for the right opening so he could turn her target practice into batting practice with his cane. Dolly also proved to be elusive, however; with most shots missing the target, the home run shot eluding Sly thus far.
Murray handled his situation without any of the grace or strategic movement as Sly, moving forward and forward toward Dolly until his fist could demonstrate the law of inertia on her face. She was just as elusive with the slower Murray as she was with Sly, giving Murray trouble landing any meaningful shots. Being forced to evade quicker and more often, though, meant she made liberal use of her duplication powers, summoning clones to hold Murray down to give herself openings for attacks. Luckily for Murray, he was a large hippo, which Dolly was in fact not; these efforts were more delaying the inevitable than creating meaningful defense for Dolly.
Murray's lugging haymakers finally connected with a Dolly clone, which dissolved almost instantaneously. Unfortunately, when one clone went down, another took its place immediately, leaving Murray surrounded by a herd of annoyingly posh yet well-dressed llamas.
Eventually: "Murray! The cops are closing in on your position. You need to get out of there!"
Out of breath yet still swinging wildly- "Working on it, buddy!"
"But…that's strange. I don't see Carmelita coming your way. Where could she be?"
"Bentley," Sly cuts in, similarly out of breath and hiding behind a pillar, temporarily out of Dolly's sight, "maybe we can drop an anonymous tip to Carmelita? That the one and only Sly Cooper has been spotted?"
"What?! Sly, that's crazy! You're aware she wants to wring your neck on the way to a prison cell, right?"
"That's true, but I can sure use all the help I can get. This is one tough llama to hit."
"Uh, but I…I suppose I can make a call to the Interpol anonymous hotline. Anonymously of course."
"Always anonymously, Bentley. Always."
Back to Murray: "OKAY, FUN TIME IS OVER FOR THE MURRAY!"
Murray, seemingly flipping a switch, becomes a tornado of flying fists and flailing arms, crashing into each clone Dolly generates. Soon, Murray is eliminating clones faster than Dolly can produce. Until finally-
"Goodness, what even are you?" an exhausted Dolly laments, all her clones defeated and gone, only leaving her as the single solitary Dolly left.
"Lady, this is what happens when you run into, THE MURRAY."
His swinging fist crashes into her, when:
poof.
Dolly disappears before his eyes, leaving behind only Murray and the sound of approaching sirens.
"Uhhhh, Bentley? I don't think that one was the real Dolly."
"Then Sly must be with the real one back at the mansion. Get back over there as quick as you can! The police are nearly there now!"
"On it, pal!"
When the police do arrive to the crash site, only the mangled remains of Dolly's escort vehicle can be found, with Murray having snuck out with the Cooper van back through the same alley he showed up in, narrowly avoiding attracting their tail.
"Always anonymously, Bentley. Always"
Sly goes over-and-out right as Dolly fires another beam into the pillar he's hiding behind, causing it to crumble from right above his head. He ducks away instinctively, diving to the left from the rubble.
Pillar to pillar is Sly's gameplan. She fires at one, hit or miss, and Sly runs to the next one to his left. One after the other, Dolly fires: no good. The last pillar at the corner of the foyer leaves Sly trapped. He readies his cane, awaiting the sound of the inevitable blast.
WHACK! and BZZZZT!
A perfectly timed swing and a rare connection from Sly's returning fire back at Dolly, stunning her.
"AGGGHHHH!"
Sly beelines towards the downed Dolly at full speed, readying his cane to take one last shot at Dolly. Just as he swings at full force, she produces a clone to play meat-shield to Sly's cane. Sly instead takes the head off Dolly's clone (metaphorically speaking of course, that would be gruesome and quite tragic otherwise), leaving the original Dolly unharmed.
"Woah. Not a bad move."
"You've yet to see anything, Cooper!" she proclaims, firing an energy blast that connects with Sly, sending him flying across the foyer.
"Oof! I felt that one." Sly says to himself from the ground. Stunned, he stays down while Dolly catches her breath and her footing underneath her.
"You and your precious "Cooper gang" aren't fit to by my taste tester, let alone capable of stealing from me!"
She readies up another charge, until-
"Boss!" a disembodied voice carries over a PA system from within the foyer.
"WHAT!? CAN'T YOU SEE I'M BUSY!?"
"Sorry boss, the cameras picked up someone trying to get in. They're trying to get in from the second floor! Some fox lady."
Sly, quietly to the sound of "fox lady": "Carmelita…right on time."
"UGH. Fine, I'll take care of it."
She conjures up another clone of herself. Sly takes notice that the clone's Johinic accessories aren't glowing nearly as brightly as the Dolly's doing the conjuring.
"YOU!" Dolly commands to the clone. "Find the good constable. She must be taken care of immediately."
With this, the clone races off up the stairs.
Oh no, Sly thinks to himself, looks like Carmelita is gonna have her own problem to deal with. Gotta think fast…
"Now, where were we?"
…Got it!
"Right, I was about to win."
"What?!"
On cue, Sly throws down a smoke bomb, the immediate vicinity becoming masked in smoke and shadows.
"AH! You little….irritation."
From outside the mansion, a pair of gloved hands scale the balcony that overlooks a corner window on the second floor. Crossing over the railing is Inspector Carmelita Fox, Interpol agent and perpetual thorn in the Cooper gang's side (yet usually a welcome sight for Sly). She sets her feet on the balcony and checks the windowed door.
"For internationally wanted criminals," she slides the door open, "a no-knock warrant becomes legitimized. Especially for annoying raccoons" she murmurs to herself before entering the bedroom.
She surveys the scene briefly, quickly finding nothing of note in the room; a drab and shabby bed, dim sunlight lighting, and no clues whatsoever to Sly.
"No sign of Cooper here. Where are you, ringtail?"
Carmelita heads to the doorway and exits.
Her shock pistol peeks outside the door first, covering her 6:00 so she doesn't get blindsided. A wise move, as the caught-off-guard guard is startled by Carmelita's presence. She blasts him with her shock pistol, the electric charge knocking him out. With that, Carmelita paces down the hallway, looking to turn the corner when she hears footsteps coming from around the bend. Proning against the wall, she waits for the footsteps to come closer.
Closer the footsteps come. And closer, and just at the last one, so close enough as to make her ringed ear twitch, she shoots out from behind the corner in her stance ready-aim stance:
"HOLD IT! Nobody mo- what?"
BZZZZT! "Ahhh!"
Carmelita was about to demand, when she was taken aback by the sight that stopped her dead in her tracks: Not one, not two, but three Dolly Llamas waiting for her, the one in the middle blasting her with an energy beam. The blast knocks her back a few feet to the ground, just before hitting the wall.
"What was wrong with the front door, Ms. Fox?"
"Ugh…Dolly Llama. I've been looking for you" Carmelita speaks to her from the ground, turning to face Dolly.
"And I was hoping I wouldn't have to see you, but alas, here you are. Once again being a MASSIVE NUISANCE! As you are won't to do." The clones approach her. "Now, I'm afraid you're coming with us."
Just as they approach, Carmelita pivots around on the ground and fires her shock pistol at the two Dollys on the ends, connecting with both and causing them both to disappear, before kicking the middle Dolly away from her, sending her flying back. Carmelita stands up and starts inching towards the downed Dolly, shock pistol aimed squarely at her.
"I received a tip that another criminal I've been chasing is here. You weren't the one, but you're coming with me as well. You're under arrest for the robbery of the Landeau Museum of History in Marseille."
"Typical. You can't even stay on task out in the field, Ms. Fox."
"That's Inspector Fox to you, criminal."
She pulls out her cuffs and begins leaning down to place them on Dolly's wrists.
"Just for your awareness, the one you were searching for, the raccoon- " at that, Carmelita's ears perk up, "is down in the foyer. You might still be able to catch him if you let me be right here."
"Save it! You're going to prison, and that's non-negotiable."
"Hmph! Such a pity."
Right as Carmelita grabs her wrist, Dolly disappears before Carmelita's very eyes.
"What?! Where did she go?"
With the duplicate Dolly gone, Carmelita is left alone in the hallway, with no guards, nobody to haul off to jail, and a pair of handcuffs with no one to fill them with.
"She's just…gone."
Carmelita checks behind her, back in front of her…and then back behind her just to double check, but she was truly alone in the hallway. Frustrated, she furrows her eyebrows. Until she remembers:
"Foyer, you say. Maybe I'll be able to make off with at least one crook today."
At this, she heads down the hall for the nearest staircase. But first, to find the nearest staircase…
"AH! You little…irritation."
The area surrounding Dolly and about 7/8s of the foyer becomes clouded in smoke by Sly's smoke bomb, covering Sly's movements.
"Come out of hiding you little creature!"
To aid her, Dolly produces three clones from within the smoke.
"Find Sly Cooper!" she orders the clones. Immediately, they begin surveying the scene, but all four Dollys are visually impaired by the smoke, so finding an internationally renowned thief and stealth master was going to be, at the very least, a little tricky.
One Dolly hovers close to a destroyed pillar, being mindful of the rubble as she walks around the mess. She's about to turn around when poof… gone in a flash.
Another Dolly has walked over to the central staircase. She attempts to use the dim glow of her bracelets to ease some of the smoke away, to no avail; the light is too dim to make any difference. "Hmph", she grumbles when poof… disappeared before she could make another sound.
The third Dolly is walking side by side with the fourth clone towards another corner of the foyer, defeating the entire purpose of creating clones and "splitting up" in the first place, really. One takes notice, quietly inquiring:
"We're NOT supposed to be looking together, you imbecile."
"Imbecile!? How DARE you, you are the one who refuses to leave my side!"
"Why aren't you looking over there?" pointing to the opposite direction.
"Why aren't you? Hmph, typical."
The argument becomes loud enough to the point that the final Dolly can overhear the bickering.
"You BOTH are supposed to be shutting up and looking!" she screams into the direction of the disembodied Dolly voices."
"And what are YOU doing about our friend here? You are the one who- " poof… both Dollys vanish before they could finish their collective retort, catching Final Dolly's attention."
"So, Cooper is closer to you than me… good."
She starts inching her way towards where the voices were last heard. By now, the smoke is finally starting to clear up, giving her some visual relief. But as she continues towards her last audial reference point, she doesn't notice the feathery footsteps trailing her every step. Step for step, motion for motion, until the figure shadowing Dolly strays from the pattern: they reach out their hands towards Dolly…closer, and closer, and ever so much closer, until-
"GOT YOU!" Dolly proclaims through the now clear smoke to find Sly standing upright, seemingly expecting to be caught by Dolly. She winds up a charge…nothing. No wind up, no charge, no aura of green energy waiting.
"What?"
"Looking for this?" Sly quizzes, swinging the neckless around his finger with a victorious smile sprawled across his face.
"Buh- wha- YOU!"
"Checkmate, Dolly" is Sly's final words before:
WHAAAACK!
…
KICK!
"HANDS UP, COOPER!"
Carmelita declares as she kindly convinces the door to the foyer open with her foot, waiting to find a thievius raccoon shaking in his boots at the sight of a shock pistol (Carmelita has a very specific scenario for Sly's arrest in mind, unfortunately). However, instead of the slippery raccoon, she finds something just as satisfying: another international criminal, hog-tied and mouth wrapped up on the ground in the foyer. Carmelita inspects the incapacitated Dolly Llama, finding Sly's calling card on top her.
"Hmph, trading one for another. You're not getting off that easy, ringtail. Next time, you're mine."
…
"SLY! OVER HERE!"
Sly dashes out the front door towards the just-arrived and still-damaged Cooper van, who obliges the yelling Murray by hopping in through the passenger window.
"Did you get the artifacts Sly?" Bentley calls into Sly over his earpiece
"Got em right here, Bentley" Sly answers Bentley, holding on to the neckless and bracelets. Their glow has stopped at this point; now they sit in Sly's hands like the priceless antiques they were always meant to be in the modern day and age.
"Excellent work, fellas! All in a day's work. Although I think we missed lunchtime. Sorry Murray."
"That's okay, Bentley. It just means dinner will be EVEN MORE POWERFUL than it usually is!"
"That's the spirit, pal. Pick me up from the hideout and let's get out of here."
EPILOGUE:
London is a nice vacation spot, but it's proven to be a bit of a headache for the trio, so they were glad to be on the road back home. With Murray behind the wheel of the damaged Cooper van (it was all cosmetic damage; nothing Murray couldn't fix up back at the hideout), they would be home before long.
Even better, Sly thought, was the heist turned out a success, albeit with some major detours along the way. In the Cooper gang's possession were the Johinic artifacts that have proven to be more dangerous than originally believed. Their magic was legit, making them very powerful, also veryvaluable. A great addition to the Cooper keep.
Meanwhile, on the car ride, Bentley had been researching more about Dolly and formulating hypotheses about her intentions.
"You guys say she was able to blast magic green bursts of energy at you?"
"Yeah, she even caught me once with one of her beams" Sly confirms.
"And based on the picture you took Sly, this seems to be similar to the weapon that also fired at Murray during his chase with the other Dolly."
"She missed me, but yeah it was a really bright green blast."
"Based on your observations, it seems Dolly never intended to sell the artifacts at all. Instead, I'd wager a guess she was seeking to harvest the Johinic energy within the artifacts to weaponize them. And it seems she found a way to unlock that possibility because she was already crafting weapons using that energy. I can only imagine her end goal was likely to use Johinic magic to further her own "art collecting" career."
"Gosh. Dolly Llama is no joke."
"No she is not, Sly. It's a good thing we were able to steal them off of her, no telling just how powerful she could've become with that ancient power at her disposal."
"Carmelita should have found the "gift" I left for her too. She had just been spotted by one of Dolly's goons while I was fighting her. No doubt Dolly's been arrested and booked by now."
"Sorry you didn't get a chance to see Carmelita, Sly. But you should know it's for the best we run in to her as little as possible! One wrong move and- "
"We're all sent to the big house yeah I know, don't worry Bentley I understand. Besides, there's always next time."
"If you insist. As for Dolly, she doesn't have the artifacts, and she's off the streets. But her weaponry is still out there. I fear this may not be the last we've seen of Dolly Llama. For now though, another job well done, fellas!" cheers Bentley.
"Now, about that dinner…" Murray inquires slightly more urgently than he meant to let on.
"We'll make a stop in Rochester, big guy."
"AWESOME!"
…
Thank you all for reading.