Master of Thieves
Chapter 9: Rookie and the Thief
Terry came upon a faint footpath in the sand when he was at the edge of the encampment, then looked up and saw it leads into an area filled with ruins. Thinking that Sly might've set up a safehouse in that general direction, he followed the footpath up on the dune, excited to meet his distant cousin at last. As he crossed a couple of dunes, he took a swig from his canteen filled with filtered water, before he stopped in surprise when he saw the ruins were much larger than he thought. He then swallowed the mouthful of water and muttered under his breath "I'm sure Bentley would have a Field Day all for this expansive ruin alone… But sadly, I've got a prioritive task at hand."
Terry then stepped down the dune and went on some weathered stone flooring, which he suspects, due to the spacing on the damaged pillars, must likely be a courtyard or a similar space. He then noticed something on the sandstone wall ahead and went right over, to see Egyptian glyphs and symbols. He then noticed something conspicuous on the wall, what looks like dots and commas, as well as a faint dent on the wall. On a hunch, he took another look at the dots and commas and realised they were a sequence: [ *, **, *, ***, **]. He then grabbed his cane and tapped the wall once, then twice, then once, then three times and twice again. His hunch was correct, because the 'wall' was really a secret door leading into a room in the ruins.
He glanced over his shoulder, just in case someone's around, before he entered the room; he then saw, due to the lanterns seemingly recently lit and a wooden table with two chairs, that this room had been recently used. Terry then noticed a familiar book on the wooden table and took a closer look, before his eyes widened in the realisation that it was, indeed, the Thievius Raccoonus itself. Despite it not being thick compared to its present day self, there was no denying the Cooper Insignia on the front cover.
Terry then contacted Bentley and said "Bentley… I found the safehouse." Bentley then replied through the transceiver "You have? Is Sly there?" Terry noted with pursed lips "I… don't know. But I did found the recently made Thievius Raccoonus." There was a long pause, which Terry supposed Bentley was astonished to hear the news, before Terry said "Bentley, are you okay?" Carmelita then responded "Bentley's using his puffer; I guess you chancing upon the Thievius Raccoonus took his breath away… literally." Terry puts his free hand on his hip and noted "Yeah… I kinda figured that… I'd best find Sly now." Carmelita then responded "10-4, Terry. Just be careful." Terry nodded, before he left the safehouse; as he stepped on the weathered stone floor, he had a feeling something was wrong.
Slytunkhamen was perched just above the safehouse entrance, gripping his cane to attack Terry, when the latter's left ear twitched as a small portion of sand fell onto the stone flooring; Slytunkhamen then jumped towards Terry, who evaded out of the way, before he looked at Sly's Egyptian Ancestor, who slowly stood up and looked at him venomously. Slytunkhamen then said as he readied his cane "I don't need you to report to the Pharaoh… You're going down." Terry then replied, albeit nervously "Can we talk about this, please?" Slytunkhamen then shook his head before saying "The only talk you'll get is my cane in your scrawny arm." Terry blankly looked at Slytunkhamen, before saying "Uh oh."
Slytunkhamen swung his cane at Terry, who fluently dodged each swung, horizontally and vertically, before Slytunkhamen jumped and prepared to slam his cane onto Terry. Seeing no other option, he used Thieves Rush to evade the attack and stood behind the legendary Cooper, who was confused as to where the 'spy' was. Terry then cleared his throat, which Slytunkhamen turned around and is surprised to see him behind him by a few feet. Slytunkhamen then said, wearing an astonished expression "What was that you just did?" Terry rubbed the back of his head, before replying "Honestly, I was thinking the exact same thing when I first did that; heck I didn't even noticed I was moving like a blur when I used it."
Slytunkhamen nodded at him, before he took a closer look at him and said "Wait… you're not working with Pharaoh Ramses, are you?" Terry then replied "Nope… Although I saw him in his tent earlier, talking with his advisor." Slytunkhamen looked surprised, before he said "How? There's no way you can hear their discussion in the tent without being detected… well, maybe if you went invisible, you can." Terry then made a noise that sounds awkward, before he glanced up at Slytunkhamen and replied "Yeah… about that, when Ramses and his Advisor entered the tent, I… somehow turned invisible." Slytunkhamen looked surprised at Terry, before the latter continued "I'm aware it's really unbelievable, but I swear, I literally turned invisible; I even looked at my hands and was astonished they weren't visible to me."
Slytunkhamen then took a good look at Terry's face, before he nodded and replied "Alright then… You're no liar, that's for utmost certainty. Sorry for attacking you, by the way…" Terry waved his hand in dismissal and noted "I don't blame you for being cautious; it's generally a virtue to being a thief, after all." Slytunkhamen shrugged at Terry, before a thought came through his mind. He then asked Terry "Speaking of Pharaoh Ramses, when you were in the tent, did you happen to come across something that explains the Sentry Drones, as you and my descendant call it?" Terry's ears and head perked almost immediately at that question and replied questionably "Your descendant? You mean… Sly's nearby?" Slytunkhamen nodded uneasily at Terry, before asking "How do you know Sly, exactly?" Terry rubbed the back of his head while wearing a broad smile with his eyes closed and his teeth bared; he then replied "Oh… it's kind of a compromising deal. See, believe it or not I'm his—"
The sound of a cane being swung caused Terry to duck, with a follow-up swing from below prompting him to backflip over the attacker. When he landed behind the attacker, Terry looked up and saw, to his surprise, Sly wielding his father's cane as he looked hostile at Terry, unknowing they're somewhat related. Though considering he looks almost the same as Sly, the situation has gotten more complicated. Sly then said venomously to Terry "Who are you? Why are you here?" Terry puts up his hands and replied calmly "Easy, man… I don't mean you any harm." Sly pointed his cane towards Terry and noted "That's EXACTLY what a spy for the Pharaoh would say… you may not look the part, but you definitely have the skills for one." Terry then slowly stood up, his hands still in front of him, and replied "Look, man, I am NOT in league with that guy. I'm only here to help you and Slytunkhamen against Pharaoh Ramses, I swear."
Sly then raised his brow slightly and questioned "Before you betray us and leave us for dead?" Terry then blurted out in defence "No way! Why in the hell would I leave my distant cousin and his ancestors for dead?" Sly and Slytunkhamen widened their eyes in astonishment, as Terry realised he accidentally revealed his relation with Sly. Sly then asked, still astonished at the accidental revelation "Wait… you're my… distant… cousin?" Terry nodded at Sly uncomfortably, before the latter continued "From a good look of you, that actually explains a lot. But why are you here in Ancient Egypt, anyway?" Terry puts his hands in his pockets whilst looking down uncomfortably, wondering if Sly would believe him if he went back in time with the Time Warp Prototype made by Bentley; the serious look in Sly's face caused Terry to tell the truth to his distant cousin.
Terry then exhaled a sigh, before he replied to Sly truthfully "Bentley, Murray and Carmelita sought me out when I arrived in Paris, realising I'm related to you distantly. After some training, we heard you S.O.S. call from your Binocu-Com and I went back in time with a prototype, hand-held time travel device that I dubbed 'Time Warp'." Sly took a few moments to process Terry's explanation, before he said "Alright… Sorry for attacking you, by the way." Terry shrugged at Sly and replied "It happens. Experience-wise, I don't exactly put it against you for being suspicious." Sly made a small smile, before he, Terry and Slytunkhamen went into the Safehouse.
As Terry entered before Sly did, the latter asked "As far as the dub goes, isn't that from 'The Rocky Horror House Movie'?" Terry replied with an amused grin "Could you blame me? Whenever I hear the word 'time', I keep on thinking 'Time Warp'; it went up to the point that the song got stuck in my head for a week, but I'm not sick of it." Both Sly and Terry chortled at the little humorous, but true, tale Terry explained, before they went in the Safehouse as the door slid down behind them tight.