Master of Thieves

Chapter 3: Brawling in the Club

At 7pm, in the Isolation Cells beneath Interpol HQ, various inmates leered venomously at the passing guards, wishing they could get out and make a riot. In one of the isolation cells, a large, massively armed bulldog named Muggshot let out a low, deadly growl ever since he was jailed by Inspector Fox and the Cooper Gang. He kept thinking of breaking out and going after Sly Cooper personally, when a slip of paper came through the crack underneath the reinforced steel door. Brow raised, Muggshot unfolded the slip of paper and it said 'Dimitri's Nightclub; Possible Cooper's there. Exit when you heard the Fire Drill go off. An Ally~'

Muggshot felt such anger coursing through him, he broke off his bindings and snorted like a rhino ticked off; when the Fire Drill came on, he broke the door off like it was nothing and charged through the guards up to the ground level. He then smashed through the brick wall and rampaged through Paris, with one goal in mind: Take down Sly Cooper. As he set off, Inspector Barkley sent a call to the one officer that singlehandedly took down Muggshot: Carmelita.

Meanwhile, at the venue outside Dimitri's Nightclub, Terry and Pearl were anxious to get in: Terry wore a white long-sleeved shirt underneath a brown sleeveless vest, black jeans, black ankle sock and a pair of shiny black moccasins; Pearl wore white/yellow two tone dress underneath a white singlet, black leggings, purple ankle socks and a pair of shiny black heels. Terry was rubbing his arm nervously, as he's never been to a nightclub before, when Pearl took his hand and held it softly; Terry then looked up at Pearl's genuine expression and felt more at ease, when the bouncer said "Next!"

Terry made a nervous gulp, before he and Pearl approached the bouncer; the bouncer then checked down the list while assessing the couple, before saying "I don't recognize either of ya; ye newcomers or locals?" Terry then replied after making a difficult swallow "Uh, I'm new here, yeah… and so is my girlfriend here. We were just hoping to have a good time here in the club… provided there's space inside." The Bouncer took a piercing stare into Terry's eyes, before he replied "One moment, I've got to ask the boss… *presses finger on earpiece* Sir, we've got a couple of young'uns here, wanting to come inside."

Terry made a sweat drop, nervous that he and Pearl won't be accepted inside, when the Bouncer replied "Understood, sir. *turns attention to Terry* Right, you two are good to come in. 'ave a nice time, you lovebirds." Terry and Pearl made a smile at the Bodyguard, before they entered the nightclub's lobby. Pearl then made a soft chortle and asked "Girlfriend? Are you serious?" Terry then rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, before replying "Sorry… I was kinda freaking out." Pearl then made a sly smile, before saying "It's okay… I was kinda nervous of not being let in the club, anyway."

Terry felt partly relieved, but still feels bad for unintentionally playing with Pearl's feelings. Pearl clasped Terry's paw, bringing him out of his thoughts; he then looked up at Pearl's face and saw her looking at him endearingly. Terry then let out an awkward smile, which Pearl smiled sweetly at him with her eyes closed, before saying "C'mon, let's head onto the floor." Terry then nodded at Pearl, before they proceeded into the main room, welcomed by loud music and youthful dancers; they then glanced at each other, before they went on the dance floor.

Elsewhere, Carmelita, Bentley and Murray are strolling near the Eiffel Tower for the 6th time in the Cooper Van, looking for Terry; Carmelita then checked the time on her Binocucom and saw it was 15 to 8pm. Carmelita then asked yet again "Still no luck, you two?" Murray shook his head as Bentley clucked his tongue negatively, before Carmelita tilted her head back and groaned in irritation. Murray then noted "Unless we hear something about him in the next hour, I don't think we can—"Murray was interrupted by a call from Carmelita's Binocucom, which the dial tone was the Main Theme from Infamous: Second Son.

She then answered and said "Inspector Fox here. What seems to be the trouble?" Bentley mouthed to Murray "She can't be serious with that dial-tone…" Murray made a shrug with his eyes closed, when Carmelita suddenly said in surprise "He's WHAT?! Where's he going?" Bentley looked at Murray, who looked at him back in concern, when Carmelita said after ending the call "Get to Dimitri's Nightclub! GO!"

Back at the Nightclub, Terry and Pearl were at the bar counter as the song 'Turn Down for What' by DJ Snake and Lil Jon plays in the DJ Booth, talking about their families. Although it was rather loud, they both know how to read lip, so Terry said "See, my family has a dislike for criminal activities and they'd rather not get mixed up in that, especially from the Cooper Clan. Just a few days ago, I found out my family are actually descendants from Thaddeus' Cooper's time; though he didn't knew about it, since it was on a heist."

Pearl nodded, before she replied "Well, MY family and I don't get along well. My Parents came from a long line of Ranch Hands and wanted me to continue the family tradition. *scoff* Yeah, not really interesting, so I left them in the middle of the night and maintained work as a Waitress here in Paris ever since." Terry widened his eyes and nodded, before he turned his head and mouthed "Wow…"

The P.A. overhead then ringed before Dimitri's Voice rang through the speaker "Check mic, Check mic… Solid. All you party-goers on the dance floor: Keep on partying like there's no tomorrow. Just remember: No one can outdance moi! Okay, Peace out." Terry raised his brow in puzzlement and asked Pearl "Outdance him in what? Dance Dance Revolution?" Pearl bawled out laughing hard at Terry's question, holding onto the bar counter firmly so she wouldn't fall out of her stool, before she calmed down a minute later. They then heard the song 'Switch' by Will Smith come on, which Pearl pulled Terry onto the dance floor, much to his pleasure.

They then danced underneath the disco ball, with Pearl looking over her shoulder, wearing a broad smile as Terry was dancing along with her. A twirling dancer then bumped into Pearl and the latter landed on Terry, who caught her in her hips; they looked at each other blankly for a moment, before they made a light chuckle. They then got lost in each other's eyes and leaned in a little, as Terry was thinking "Wait… We're not… I mean, we're seriously…" Pearl slowly pursed her lips with her eyes closed, as Terry lowered his upper eyelids and slowly pursed his lips, thinking "I… I suppose… I suppose I can go with it…" They were barely a centimetre from contact, when the building suddenly shook.

Pearl suddenly widened her eyes and asked fearfully "What was that?" Terry shrugged at her, when the building shook more violently; Terry's ears twitched and he looked upwards, seeing the Disco Ball was shaking from the violent impact. A few moments of quiet followed after that, when Pearl said "Is… is it gone?" A second later, the double doors flung off their hinges, with one impacting the pillar connected to the overhead Disco Ball. Everyone screamed in panic and fled from the Nightclub, save for Terry and Pearl, who were frozen in panic as they saw a massive bulldog in an orange prison jumpsuit, growling venomously at the couple.

Pearl was in a fit of fear, when Terry told her "Pearl, hide." Seeing no other alternative, Pearl left the room, leaving Terry alone with Muggshot; Muggshot bared his teeth and said "Protecting yer little lady friend, huh? Well, it matters not, because all I'm interested in is whacking you, Cooper." Terry made a puzzled expression, before he realised "Oh… You're mistaken, man. I'm not Cooper—" Muggshot then intervened with a violent snarl "Don't play dumb with me, ya scrawny raccoon! I want payback from last time you took me down! Prepare to be pummelled!" Terry then had a moment to think before he said "Uh oh…"

Terry then dodged a swung fist from Muggshot as Dimitri said through the P.A. "Listen, little raccoonus doodus, I've called for help. Just evade that jockhead's attacks until they arrive!" Muggshot then yelled as Terry dodged a downward punch "After I've finished Cooper, you're next, ya lizard!" After dodging more punches, Terry landed in front of the pillar holding the Disco Ball in place; Muggshot, figuring his punches aren't working, charged at Terry with his left arm in front. Seeing that the Pillar is holding the disco ball in place, Terry jumped towards it and boosted backwards just moments before Muggshot got to him. Muggshot then hit the pillar, leaving a bent mark on it as the rope knot holding the disco ball up slipped off a little.

Muggshot then rubbed his arm, before he turned and leered venomously at Terry; he them smashed the ground, getting the rope knot to slip off more, before bellowing "Time to die, Cooper!" At that moment, Carmelita Fox burst through the skylight, alongside Bentley and Murray, before she said "Muggshot, put your hands up and freeze!" Muggshot ignored Carmelita and charged towards Terry; the rope knot then fully slipped off, getting the Disco Ball to fall right on top of Muggshot's head.

Muggshot then jumped around, holding his head as he bawled in pain; Terry then blankly looked at Muggshot, before he turned to Carmelita, Bentley and Murray and said "I really thought that would knock him out cold." Camrelita then replied "Muggshot's rather thick-headed, so dropping so much as an Anvil wouldn't knock him out. Smart idea, though…" Terry shrugged at Carmelita, when they heard 2 guns clicking; They then slowly turned their heads to Muggshot and saw him dual wielding revolver pistols with a nasty grin on his face. As Muggshot aimed and squeezed the revolvers at him, Terry rushed to the side, evading round after round until Muggshot ran out of ammunition.

Terry then skidded to a halt, looking up at Muggshot's astonished face, who then said "How did ye do that?! You were… You were… you were a blur!" Terry raised his brow, before Muggshot threw his guns away and charged at Terry; Terry then suddenly envisioned a familiar Raccoon doing a flip kick at a straw dummy. Seeing that it might stun him, Terry did a flip kick at Muggshot, before, as if he'd been meaning to do this, gripped Muggshot's collar and slammed him to the floor, dazing him. Terry can't believe on what he had just did, when he turned to Carmelita, Bentley and Murray and saw pure astonishment in their eyes.

After a few moments of quiet astonishment, Murray then finally spoke "Holy Cow! How'd you run like a blur?" Terry was still confused by that, before he replied "Ran like a Blur? I just ran to evade the bullets, but didn't realise how fast I was going." They heard someone clearing their throat, when they turned their heads to see Dimitri and a shaking Pearl, who's relieved that Terry's alright. Dimitri then said to Terry, holding a remote "You might want to see this, bit player…" Dimitri played a recording on the overhead plasma screen of Terry confronting Muggshot; when the part where Muggshot shot at Terry, the latter was surprised that he evaded the rounds in a faint, light blue blur.

Terry then said when the recording ends "I… I didn't know I can do that…" Bentley then remarked "Well, I have yet to see Sly do a manoeuvre like that." A light flicked in Terry's mind when Bentley said Sly's name and asked "Wait, YOU know Sly?" Bentley wheeled his chair around and replied "Ever since we met at the orphanage, as well as Murray here." Carmelita then asked Terry suspiciously "How do you know Sly, anyway? I'll admit to some curiosity." Terry made a deep breath, before he replied after exhaling "Because… I'm… I'm a distant cousin."