Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the length of it and for the wait. Been very busy with college and had writer's block.

I have to give credit to Omega97. He was the one who suggested I write what I ended up writing for the last third of the chapter. I really have to. Thank you so much my friend!

Hope it pleases you readers!

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly Cooper.

Now, let's dive in!

Joining the Gang

Once Silvia finished telling Bentley and Murray what had happened in the mansion, silence filled the air for several minutes.

"That's preposterous!" Bentley cried out loud, causing Gavin to wake up with a start. "It just isn't logical!"

Gavin rubbed his eyes as he heard Silvia say, "As strange as it may sound Bentley, it's the truth."

"What are you guys all talking about?" He asked as he sat up, causing Bentley to jump with fright as they turned their attention to him.

"Sorry for waking you Gavin," Silvia said as she frowned at Bentley for a few seconds.

"It's okay," He said. "I got a nap in earlier today." He then tilted his head to the side as he looked at them. "So, what were you talking about?" He repeated.

"I was just telling Bentley and Murray here about our fight with Irving, and they don't believe me," She replied.

He looked at them and asked, "What part about it don't you believe?"

Bentley adjusted his glasses, and then answered, saying, "The part where you supposedly summoned a large vine and controlled it to catch and then throw a rock at Irving."

Gavin folded his hands together as he leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands. "I can understand your disbelief. It sounds improbable," He said, causing Bentley to nod.

"Exactly!" He replied.

"But it did happen," Gavin added, causing Bentley's jaw to drop.

"WHAAAT?!" He cried out with shock. "You can't be serious!"

"I'm dead serious," He replied flatly.

Bentley crossed his arms and arched a nonexistent eyebrow at him. "Give me some evidence, and then I might believe you," He told him, causing him to silently sigh in frustration, while Silvia just mentally groaned.

"Gavin, you don't have to do that right now," She said to him, catching his attention. "You can do it later."

He shook his head. "It'd be better to just get it over with Silvia," He replied, before turning back to Bentley. "Alright. I'll give you some evidence." 'But how do I use my power?' He thought as he looked down at his hands. 'Do I need a plant to be in the room? Or can I create one out of thin air? Or what? What do I do?'

'I can help with that,' A familiar voice said in his head, causing his eyes to ever so slightly widen.

'Kami?!' He thought as he looked around the room, only to see that everything was frozen in place. 'Is that you?'

'It is,' Kami replied. 'I am here to help you with your first power.'

'First power? I have more powers?!' He asked her as he stopped looking around the room.

'You do,' She replied. 'But they will appear over time.'

'What are they? And will you be helping me with those as well?'

'You will learn when each one appears. And I will help you with some of them,' Kami said, causing him to mentally sigh.

'Aw man!'

'Now, for your first power,' Kami began. 'It is, as you discovered, a power with plants. In order to use this power, all you have to do is think of what plant you want, or what you want the plant to do. You can create plants that can do specific things, and you can make existing plants change with a thought or gesture. That is what you can do with this power in general. There is more to this power, but you will have to figure out what else it can do on your own. However, this power and others will drain you of energy, so you will have to train yourself so you will not pass out after using the powers.' Her voice then began to become distant. 'Goodbye for now Gavin Woodring.' Her voice then went silent, telling him that she was gone.

'Thank you Kami,' He said with a smile on his face as he noticed that everything around him was returning to normal. 'And goodbye.' He then looked back down at his hands, and took a deep breath. "Well, here I go," He said aloud. He held out one hand, and imagined a ruby red rose appearing in it.

They watched as before their very eyes his hand turned green, and a small area on his palm began to swell. The swollen area began to stretch upwards, thinning out as it grew. It continued to grow upwards for a few more seconds until it was about 6 inches tall and a half inch wide. The tip began to swell up like a balloon as the stalk stopped growing. Several small sharp points appeared in scattered areas on the stalk, soon becoming thorns that were a quarter inch long.

The swollen tip grew to the size of a golf ball, before it began to silently split open from the top down. As the split grew larger, the two halves formed by the split began falling away from each other, revealing that it had a ruby red interior. The red interior quickly swelled up, soon covering the halves completely before several splits appeared on various parts of it. The splits deepened and widened as the red parts became petals. Soon, the red interior had become the head of a rose, and stopped growing, before the area where the stem was attached to his palm began to shrink.

It continued to shrink for several seconds, getting smaller and smaller while his hand began to return to its normal color. Eventually, the stem disconnected from his palm right as his hand returned to its normal coloration. Gavin, who was panting heavily from having created the rose, shakily grabbed the rose before it fell to the floor, and held it out to Bentley, who was looking at him with a dropped jaw and wide eyes.

"Is this *pant* enough *pant* proof for *pant* ya?" He asked as Bentley gingerly took the rose from him before he leaned back against the seat, feeling drained from using his power.

Bentley just stared at the rose in his hand, his mind trying to make sense of the shocking thing he had just witnessed.

Murray was looking at Gavin with extremely wide eyes, childlike awe on his face.

Silvia, who had seen what Gavin had done in the fight against Porksworth, was merely a bit surprised, and looked at her friends with a grin.

"See? What'd I tell ya," She stated as she leaned back in the passenger seat of the van.

There was silence in the van for several seconds, before Bentley spoke. "Wow," He said as he held the rose up and examined it, his scientific mind having processed what he had seen. "He made a rose grow out of his hand! That is incredible!" He then turned to his computer and began typing on it, saying, "Now, since it looks like a rose, let's see if it has the DNA of one."

Gavin watched as Bentley pushed a key on his computer, which caused one of the walls to split in two and fold up, revealing a hidden compartment containing several pieces of technology. Bentley reached over and picked up a device that had a large screen on it and a couple test tubes sticking out in front of the screen, one of them filled with a dark blue liquid. He then pulled out the empty test tube, and placed the rose inside it, before sticking the test tube back into the device.

Bentley tapped on the screen a few times, pressing some buttons, before the blue liquid went into the tube holding the rose. There was a suction sound, before there was silence for a few seconds. Bentley looked at the screen, and tapped on the results, enlarging them for him to read.

"Hmmm, based on the results of the DNA scanner, this rose has all the genetic characteristics of a normal everyday rose," Bentley said as he set the scanner down, removing the test tube holding the rose from the device as he did so and closing the wall back up.

"Ooookaaay," Gavin replied with a somewhat confused look. "Why did you want to know if it had the DNA of a rose? Isn't it amazing enough that I made a plant grow out of my hand?"

"While indeed it was incredible that you made an object that looked like a rose grow out of you, I thought it was just that. But now I know that you actually grew a plant out of you! That has never been documented before on any living creature in the history of the world!" Bentley exclaimed with an excited look on his face.

"Ohhhhh," Gavin said, understanding why Bentley had tested the rose. He then let out a loud yawn. "I think I need to sleep. It wasn't easy to sleep in the enclosure back on the island," He stated, before leaning the chair back and pulling the blanket over him. He then closed his eyes, and quickly fell asleep.

The gang watched him sleep for several seconds, before Silvia and Murray decided to sleep as well. Bentley bid them all goodnight, and then returned to his computer, typing away into the night.

A few days later…

After his nap, Gavin had made a request to the Cooper Gang that they help him get back to the labs, and much to Bentley's dismay, Silvia had agreed, saying that it was the least they could do since he had helped her beat Porksworth. Now the Cooper van was parked in an alley a couple blocks away from Dobson Research Facility.

One of the side doors opened, allowing Gavin to step out and stretch before turning to the Cooper Gang inside. "Thanks again for doing this," He said to the three of them with a grateful smile. "I know you didn't have to."

"It's our pleasure." Silvia replied, returning the smile as she looked to the rest of her gang. "Isn't that right guys?"

"It sure was!" Murray said cheerfully, although he was a bit sad to see Gavin go.

"While I would prefer to have not come to a place where we could possibly be seen and captured, I must admit I will miss you Gavin," Bentley said to him with a small smile. "It has been a pleasure to learn more about humans from you."

"It's been a pleasure telling you about them as well Bentley," Gavin replied, before he turned to leave. "Well, goodbye guys." He then left, and started making his way towards the research facility.

"Goodbye Gavin!" The three of them said as they waved at him. Silvia then stepped out of the van, confusing Murray and Bentley.

"Um, what are you doing Silvia?" Bentley asked her.

She looked at him with a reassuring smile. "I'm just gonna make sure he gets to the facility safely Bentley," She replied. Bentley opened his mouth to respond, but she held a hand up, stopping him. "And I'll be in the shadows, watching him with my binocucom. Don't worry." She then jumped onto the van and then onto the roof of a nearby building, before heading after Gavin, keeping to the shadows as she did so.

Bentley and Murray sat there for several seconds, silence filling the van before Bentley sighed and made his way over to his computer. "Knowing you Silvia, I don't think I'll ever stop worrying," He said as he started typing on his computer, activating his link to her binocucom.

A few minutes later…

Gavin had just reached the front doors to the research facility, and stopped, his hand on the door handle. He took in a deep breath, before letting it out. "Well, here goes nothing," He muttered, before he pulled the door open and walked inside.

The lobby of the facility was rather large, with several comfy chairs and sofas set around a fireplace, while a large desk sat in the middle, with two doors on either side of it. Behind the desk was a young female Hedgehog with black spines, cream fur, grey eyes, and wearing a secretary outfit with a nametag on it that read "Samantha." She was typing away at a computer in front of her as he approached her.

She didn't even look up as he came to a stop in front of the desk. "Here's the sign in sheet," She said as she pulled out a clipboard and set it down in front of him without pausing in her work, her eyes glued to the screen.

Gavin looked down at the clipboard for a few seconds before looking back at the woman. "Um, I don't work here," He began as he pushed the clipboard back towards her. "In fact, I was a resident of this facility until a few weeks ago."

That caught her attention.

Samantha stopped typing, and slowly turned her head up to look at him. Her eyes widened comically upon seeing him, and her mouth dropped open, while her body began to tremble.

"Um, yeah," Gavin continued, not wanting to scare her. "Can you, um, tell me how to get to Doctor James' office?"

The girl continued to tremble and stare at him for several seconds, before she managed to gather enough courage to speak. "G-g-go th-th-through the door o-on the l-l-l-left, and head d-d-down the hall. H-h-his office w-w-will be on the l-l-l-left," She said while stuttering, before then whispering, "Please don't eat me."

Gavin sighed. "I'm not going to eat you," He replied, before he made his way over to the door she had mentioned. "Thanks for the directions though." He then went through the door, leaving Samantha behind.

Gavin found himself in a large, long hallway, with white ceiling tiles, soft yellow florescent lights, tan carpet, tan walls, and multiple doors with signs next to them. As he made his way down the hall, looking at each door on the left as he went, he noticed that several of the walls had fresh paint on them, as if they had been repaired. 'Hmm. I wonder if they had to paint the walls cause of Irving's men,' He thought, before he saw a door with a sign on it and next to it that read "Doctor James Marmorstein."

'Wow,' He thought upon seeing James' last name. '"Marmorstein?" What an interesting last name.' The lights were on in the office, and he could hear some people talking inside. Pressing his ear against the door, he tried to listen in. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but he could tell one of the people speaking was Doctor James. He couldn't figure out who the other person was though. All he could tell was that it was a female.

Gavin straightened himself back up, inhaled and exhaled, and then muttered to himself, "Well here goes nothing." He then knocked on the door. The talking quickly ceased, before he heard Doctor James call out, "Who is it?"

Gavin grinned. "Someone you've been looking for Doctor James," He said, before he heard a loud gasp as well as an excited exclamation from inside the door. He then heard two chairs get pushed back before someone ran over to the door and flung it open.

Doctor James stood in the doorway, a shocked look on his face as he stared at Gavin. "Gavin?!" He exclaimed.

"Hey Doctor James," Gavin replied with a smile. "Can I come in?"

"Why of course!" James quickly said, stepping to the side to allow him to enter. As Gavin entered the office, he looked around, examining it. The office was somewhat large, with a large bookshelf on one side with several scientific books and articles as well as a couple ancient artifacts on it. A large desk took up most of the room, with a computer sitting on it, along with typical office supplies and a small potted budding plant. A large comfy chair was set directly behind it, while two normal chairs were in front of it.

Standing next to one of the chairs was Carmelita Fox, a surprised look on her face as well.

'Aaah. So she was the one talking with James,' Gavin thought as he made his way over to a chair and sat down, before waving a hand at her. "Hello Inspector Fox. Good to see you," He said, prompting her to sit down as well, while Doctor James shut the door and went behind his desk, sitting down in his comfy chair.

"It's good to see you as well Gavin," Carmelita responded, a grateful tone in her voice.

"I am very glad to see you are safe Gavin," Doctor James said, causing Gavin to look at the scientist. He had a relieved look on his face. "After INTERPOL did their raid on Irving Porksworth's estate and couldn't find you, I feared the worst." He then gained an inquisitive look. "How in the world did you escape the island?"

"I am very curious to know the answer to that question as well," Carmelita said, looking at Gavin.

Gavin inwardly grinned. This was a question he had been preparing to answer, with help from Silvia and her gang. "Well, when the power grid went offline on the island, I got out as quietly and quickly as I could. I then made my way through the jungle away from the mansion, and eventually came upon a dock. I then stole a boat that was there and got away from the island," He explained to them.

"Hmm. Alright," Carmelita said, buying what he had said. She decided to overlook his theft, since he only did it to escape captivity from an evil pig. She subconsciously clenched her fists as the memory of Irving Porksworth crossed her mind. When they had taken him into custody, he had immediately demanded that they release him, for he claimed that he had done nothing wrong. All the paperwork they found in his estate office said otherwise, and he was now serving a 50-year prison sentence for kidnapping, robbery, and black-market dealings, as well as having stolen property.

"But how did you get here?" Doctor James asked him. Gavin's inward grin grew larger. He had anticipated that question as well.

"Well, I rode on some freight trains to get back to Paris, and then I wandered through the city and came across a city map stand for tourists that had a few maps left. Using that, I was able to find my way to the labs," He stated, before pulling out a city map Bentley had given him to corroborate his story and setting it on the desk.

"Ah, I see," James replied with a nod, as did Carmelita.

"So, um, what's going to happen to me now that I'm back?" Gavin asked.

"Oh, you'll be put in a much more secure room for starters," Doctor James said. "The room will also have more amenities than the last one."

"Oh, alright," Gavin replied, not really wanting to be put in a more secure room, but after what had happened a few weeks before, he understood why they were going to do so.

Silence then filled the room for several seconds, each person not quite sure what to say next.

"Hey um, Doctor James?" Gavin asked, breaking the silence. "Could we get some privacy? I need to talk with Carmelita about something."

Carmelita and Doctor James looked at him with confusion.

"What do you need to talk with her for?" James asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's about a private matter Doctor James," Gavin replied seriously. "It's something that I've been meaning to tell her for a little while now."

James looked at Carmelita. "Is this alright with you Inspector Fox?" He asked her.

She nodded. "It is perfectly alright Doctor James," She replied.

"Well then," James said, getting up from his chair. "I'll leave you two alone. Just knock on the door when you're done."

"Thank you, Doctor James," Gavin said as the weasel made his way to the door. "Hopefully we won't be too long."

"You're most welcome Gavin," Doctor James replied, before he stepped out the door and shut it behind him, though he left it cracked open a tiny bit to listen in.

It was just the two of them in the room now, with Carmelita staring at Gavin as he looked down at the floor.

"So, uh, you were wondering how I got here, right?" Gavin began, breaking the silence.

Carmelita looked at him with confusion. "What?" She asked him.

"Before I got kidnapped, you'd asked me how I got here, and I said that I couldn't answer it yet at the time, remember?" He said as he looked at her, prompting her to think back to then.

"Oh yeah, I remember now," She replied, before she looked over at him. "You don't have to answer that now though. We can do it another time."

"No, no, it's fine," He said as he let out yet another sigh. "I did some thinking while traveling back here, and I think-no, I know you deserve an answer after going through all the trouble of finding me."

"Alright," She replied, before pulling out her tape recorder. "Go ahead," She continued, pressing the record button.

Gavin inhaled, and then let out a deep breath. "Well, here I go," He said, before he began to tell his tale. "Back on my world, life was relatively good. I had a loving mom and dad, and three little sisters to help with. We lived in a nice house, my mom worked at hospital lab, my dad worked as a mechanic, and I worked several odd jobs."

"That sounds nice," Carmelita replied, prompting him to smile.

"Yeah, it was," He said, before his smile disappeared as it was replaced by a saddened look. "Until that one day."

"What happened?" Carmelita asked him, causing him to sigh.

"It was the end of a long day of working, and I went to the bank to deposit my paycheck. It was calm and quiet, until three robbers wearing demon masks and carrying guns came storming in and took everyone hostage! I hid in the restroom, but when one came in to check for anyone they might have missed, I jumped him and knocked him out, before tying him up and taking his gun. I snuck out and went after one of the robbers, but was discovered before I could get close enough to incapacitate him. So, I shot him. But he shot me as well," Gavin said sadly, looking down while moving a hand over to the center of his chest as the memory of what happened went through his mind. "Right here."

Carmelita gasped in surprise, a look of horror on her face as Gavin continued speaking. "I then passed out before I was brought to the hospital, where I awoke to the sight of my family in the room." He then smiled as he spoke the next part. "They told me I was being called a hero, for the police had learned that once the men had robbed the bank, they were going to kill all hostages. I was so happy to have been able to save lives. I thought that I would be able to leave the hospital with my family, and continue my everyday life." His face then dropped as he said, "But it was not to be."

Carmelita stayed silent, completely invested in the story he was telling her.

"I began coughing up blood, and prompted my parents to get the doctor. However, there was no need. The doctor came right as they went to get him. After telling him what was going on, he informed my family and I that I was going to-to…," Gavin trailed off, before inhaling and exhaling once more, letting out a big sigh. "I was going to die."

Carmelita gasped, putting a hand to her mouth in horror. 'He was going to die?!' She thought in alarm. 'How?!'

As if he could hear her thoughts, he said, "The doctor informed us that the bullet had punctured one of my lungs and then nicked my aorta. They couldn't stop the bleeding."

Carmelita could feel tears forming in her eyes, and tried to rub them away, but they just kept coming as she listened to him.

"After they told me I only had a few hours to live, me and my family mourned over the news for what seemed like hours. We then spent the rest of my time talking about the various things we had done and what we had all gone through as a family. Once we had finished talking, the doctor returned to inform us that it was time. And indeed it was, for I could feel that my strength had gone away significantly," He stated, tears forming in his eyes. "The last thing I said before I died was, "'Goodbye mom and dad. Goodbye sisters. I love you.' Right as I fell asleep and fell into the embrace of death, I heard my family say, 'We love you too Gavin!'"

Carmelita let the tears flow upon hearing this. She didn't know what it was like to lose their family, but she could tell it hurt Gavin a lot.

Gavin sniffed, and rubbed away the tears as he continued. "After I died I woke up in a dark void, nothing else in sight. Then, a blinding light appeared before me, and it spoke to me," He said, prompting Carmelita to raise an eyebrow in surprise. "it introduced itself to me as 'Kami,' and she was giving me a second chance at life." He looked up at her. "But not in my original world. The last thing I remember before waking up here is being sent into a portal."

Carmelita's eyes had widened at this point. 'That explains why we've never seen a being like him before,' She thought as she looked at him, tears streaming down her face. 'He's not from here.'

The tears in his eyes began to flow faster as the memories of what happened to him kept on going through his mind. "I-I have nightmares every once in a while, about what happened back then," He confessed. "It just hurts so much to remember them, and to know that while I am alive, they all think I am dead. And I won't be able to see them again." At this point he broke down, and began to bawl into his hands.

Carmelita watched him cry for a few seconds, her heart aching as she stopped the recording. She then slowly reached out and put a hand on his back to comfort him. Upon feeling her hand on his back, he looked up at her, and saw her offer him a comforting smile.

After a few minutes, he was able to get his emotions in check, and sat back up, rubbing his eyes as he said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," She replied. "Do you need me to get you anything?"

He shook his head. "No, I think I'll be fine," He said, before turning to the door. "Doctor James, you can come back in," He said as he knocked on the door, signaling him that they were done. Doctor James came back in after a few seconds, but he was not alone. A male mongoose wearing a black shirt with a white lab coat, black pants, and black shoes came in with him, an intrigued look on his face. He had grey brindled fur, black eyes, and had a nametag on his coat that read "Professor Killian Killbrew."

"Inspector, Gavin, I would like you to meet a fellow colleague of mine," Doctor James said, gesturing to the mongoose. "Professor Killian, this is Inspector Carmelita Fox and Gavin, the creature that was kidnapped a few weeks ago."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Professor Killian said with a smooth voice and a smile.

"Same," Gavin replied with a calm tone.

"Doctor James, what can you tell me about this creature?" Killian asked, turning to him as he spoke.

"Oh, many things my friend!" Doctor James replied happily, before launching into an informative lecture about what he had learned from Gavin.

As the professors talked with each other, Gavin turned his attention to the potted plant, interested in it. He reached out to touch the budding plant and thought, 'I wonder what color flower this bud will become. I wish it would grow more and…Oh fuck.' The professors and Carmelita gasped as they watched his hand turn green, while the bud began to glow green and swell, before it developed into a beautiful white flower. His hand then returned to normal, and he leaned back in his chair, feeling a bit drained of energy. The professors and Carmelita stared at the flower, before turning to him, incredulous looks on their faces.

'Shit! I let them see my power!' He cursed in his head as they stared at him.

"What was that?" Professor Killian Killbrew asked with curiosity.

"Um, what was what?" He replied, trying to play dumb.

"Gavin," Doctor James said in a 'you-know-what-i-mean' tone.

"Oh alright!" Gavin said with a sigh. "It's a power of mine. I discovered it while I was trapped on the island."

Carmelita then realized something. "You're the one that knocked out Irving!" She exclaimed, pointing at him with a finger.

He nodded. "Yeah. Mr. Piggy didn't want to lose his special creature, and tried to knock me out. So, I knocked him out instead," He stated, remembering the fight he and Silvia had with the boar.

As Carmelita and Doctor James processed what they had just witnessed and learned, Professor Killian had an evil look on his face, before it quickly disappeared as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs and a roll of tape. He then quickly went over to Gavin, put his arms behind his back, and slapped the handcuffs on him before he knew what was happening, and then tapped his mouth shut, much to everyone else's shock and surprise.

"Professor Killian, what are you doing?!" Carmelita cried, reaching for her holster as she spoke.

"My civic duty," Killian replied matter-of-factly.

"Your 'civic duty?'" Doctor James repeated, confusion on his face. "What do you mean?"

"Inspector Fox and fellow colleague," Professor Killian calmly began. "This creature could be a danger to society, and therefore must be kept securely. Who knows, maybe we could replicate this power and weaponize it!"

"Professor Killian, that is a horrid notion!" Doctor James replied in horror.

"It is not horrid!" Killian snapped back. "To keep the world at peace, we need better weapons and better armies, and this creature could be the answer to it!"

"But there are other ways to do that!" Carmelita stated angrily.

"Yes, there are," Killian agreed. "But they take too long. This creature could speed the process up immensely!"

"But I am in charge of studying the human Professor Killian!" Doctor James protested, causing Killian to chuckle.

"Oh, I'm afraid that has changed," He said, pulling out a folded document from his coat and handing it to him. "This document here has been signed by the director of this research facility, putting me in charge of the creature. As you can see, it is legitimate."

"But-but-but!" Doctor James stammered upon reading the document, while Killian smiled.

"Now, I will be taking the creature with me," Killian stated to them, before pulling a panicking Gavin along by his arm out the office, leaving a fuming Carmelita and horrified Doctor James behind.

"Carmelita! Doctor James! Someone! Anyone! Help!" Gavin cried out in fear, not sure where he was going. Unfortunately, the tape around his mouth muffled his cries, so the few people that were in the building couldn't hear his cries for help.

The mongoose led him down the hallway and through a set of doors to a flight of stairs. He was then led up them to the second floor, where they entered another hallway. They went down the hallway till Professor Killian stopped at a door with his name on it, and opened the door, before shoving Gavin inside.

Gavin looked around at the office he was in while Professor Killian shut the door behind him. It looked somewhat similar to Doctor James' office, except it was larger, had a couple of filing cabinets, a doorway leading out to a balcony, and a doorway directly opposite from where he was standing.

Gavin heard the sound of a lock being activated, and turned to see Professor Killian had locked the door, and was now looking at him with an evil expression on his face.

"I must thank you creature for having appeared," Killian began, taking him by the shoulder and forcing him towards the door opposite from him. "Now I can finally become one of the richest people in the world!" He noticed that Gavin had a confused and frightened look on his face, and elaborated. "I deal with the black market; which INTERPOL doesn't know I do. Once I unlock all your secrets, I'll sell them on the black market for a huge profit!" Gavin could have sworn he saw dollar signs in his eyes as the mongoose opened the doorway, revealing a well-lit hallway with a couple doors on the right side.

"But I know you won't give up your secrets easily. Just like all of my past test subjects," He continued, gesturing with one hand to the first door they passed. Gavin looked through the clear glass in the door, and felt his blood run cold at what he saw.

The room he looked into looked like an operating room, but with several torture instruments scattered around. And there was dried blood on several of the instruments.

"Here is where you will be permanently staying," The mongoose continued as they came to the next door, which appeared to be made of solid metal with a couple of locks and a barred window. He pulled the door open, before shoving Gavin into it and slamming the door shut. He then hit a light switch, turning on some lights in the room.

Gavin stumbled, and managed to catch himself before he fell. He looked around at the room he was in, and saw that it was quite bare, with only a bed, padding on the walls, and a tile floor.

"I hope you enjoy your stay," Professor Killian began with a smile. "For tomorrow we begin with the tests!" He let out an evil laugh as he locked the door, flipping the light switch and plunging the room into darkness, the only source of light being the barred window in the door. He then left, the sound of his laugh echoing throughout the room and hallway.

Gavin just stared at the door for several seconds, before he began to cry. He made his way over to a corner of the room where he could see the door, and sat down, bawling into his legs.

'This is it,' Gavin thought sadly as he cried. 'My life is over. I'm never going to be able to have a family, or explore the world. I'm just going to be another one of this madman's test subjects.'

An hour later…

As he sat there in the corner of the room, his head down while he had a sad expression on his face, he perked up his head upon hearing what sounded like an exclamation of some sort followed by a scuffle happening down the hallway. He listened as the scuffle continued for a few minutes, before there was silence.

'What is going on?' He thought, before he heard a door open, followed by the sound of footsteps. 'Who's coming? Is it that crazy mongoose?!' He thought in fear, shutting his eyes. 'Oh, I hope it's not him!'

The footsteps got closer and closer, till they stopped. There was silence for a couple of seconds, before a familiar voice he thought he would never hear again quietly said, "Gavin."

His eyes snapped open as he quickly looked at the door, and he felt happiness well up inside him as he quickly stood up and ran over to the door. "Silvia!" Gavin yelled out happily, his voice muffled by the tape on his mouth.

The raccoon thief held up a pair of keys with a smile. "I'm here to get you out," She said, before she inserted the keys into the lock and unlocked the door.

As soon as she opened the door, Gavin bolted out the room, nearly ramming into her. "Whoa! Calm yourself. Let me get those handcuffs off you," She said, prompting him to turn around so she could easily access the cuffs.

Once she unlocked the cuffs and let them drop to the floor, he pulled the tape off his mouth, turned around, and wrapped his arms around her, making her freeze in place. "Oh thank you!" He whispered, tears of happiness streaming down his face. "Thank you so much!"

Silvia smiled upon hearing that, and hugged him back, saying, "It's not a problem Gavin. I'm just glad you're alright."

After a few more seconds of hugging, they let go, and Gavin then began rubbing his wrists, the handcuffs having been rather tight on them. "But how did you know I was in trouble?" He asked her.

"I was just starting to head back to the van after seeing you enter the building when I saw Professor Killian heading towards it," She began. "I got a weird feeling when I saw him, so I asked Bentley to look him up, much to his annoyance. It hadn't even been 3 minutes when he frantically tells me that the guy deals in the black market, specifically with body parts." She then put a hand on his shoulder. "I knew then that I had to go in and get you."

"Well, thanks for doing that Silvia," Gavin replied, a grateful look on his face.

"Again, it's not a problem," She repeated, before she turned her attention to the room he had been locked in. "Now, let me just leave my calling card, and the we'll be on our way."

He watched as Silvia pulled out a card shaped like a cartoon raccoon head colored dark blue on the top of the head and ears and pale blue on the eyes and the rest of the card from her backpack, and set it on the floor of the room, before leading him down the hallway towards the office.

As they left the hallway that led to the room he had been locked in, Gavin saw that Professor Killian was tied up to a chair and unconscious with his mouth taped up, while several items were scattered around him. He was positioned right in front of his desk, while a large stack of documents was set on the floor in front of him, and the chair was tied to the desk. Several large bruises covered his face.

Gavin's jaw dropped as he saw what Silvia had done to Professor Killian. Silvia, noticing his reaction, said, "He got what he deserved. Now let's go! We don't have much time!" She then continued leading him through the office to the balcony. She tossed the keys she had used back towards Killian, and then let go of his hand, before jumping over to the next balcony. She turned to him and said, "Follow me!"

"W-well, alright," Gavin replied, before he climbed onto the railing. He took in a deep breath and let it out, before he jumped over to the balcony she was on.

Upon making it and grabbing the railing to keep his balance, he heard Silvia say, "Good job! Now, we have a few more to go till we get to the roof." He then watched as she jumped from balcony to balcony on the same floor, before landing on the roof of a nearby building.

He sighed, before he began to jump from balcony to balcony. By the time he got to the last balcony, he was quite worn out and panting. He looked at the distance between him and Silvia, who was waiting on the roof, and let out a sigh, before he then leaped forward.

As he leaped, his sore muscles crying out as he did so, he realized that he was going to miss the roof, and quickly thrust his arms forward, trying to grab onto anything to prevent himself from falling to the ground below. He felt a gloved hand grab one of his hands, and prevent him from falling as he missed the roof, hitting the side of the building with an "OOF!"

He gasped as the breath was knocked out of his lungs, and looked up, seeing that Silvia had grabbed his hand. "Come on! You can do it!" She said as she helped pull him up onto the roof. She then pat him on the back as he caught his breath. "That was pretty good! Now let's get back to the van!" She continued, gesturing for him to follow.

"Y-yeah, let's do that," Gavin replied, before he began to follow her across the rooftops to the alley the van was parked in.

"Thank you for saving me again," Gavin said as they reached the alley and climbed down the fire escape to the van.

"It was nothing," Silvia replied as the side door to the van opened and they hopped inside. Once inside, she looked to Murray. "Alright Murray. Let's go!"

"You got it Silvia!" Murray said before stepping on the gas. The van rocketed out of the alley and down the road, leaving the research facility behind.

As Gavin and Silvia both sat down, Bentley said, "Are you alright Gavin?"

"I think I'll be okay," He replied, still a bit shaken up from what had happened just a few hours earlier.

"Well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," Bentley said, causing him to nod in response.

Silvia then cleared her throat, catching his attention. "Gavin, there's something I want to tell you," She said.

"What is it?" Gavin asked, his curiosity peeked.

"Well, I talked with Bentley and Murray as we planned on getting you out, and we've decided to invite you to join our gang," Silvia replied, causing Gavin's eyes to widen.

"R-r-really?" He asked, looking at each of them to see if it was a joke. But the looks on their faces told him that it wasn't.

"So? What do you say?" Silvia asked him.

"W-well, I have nowhere else to go, and you saved me from a future of torture by a potential madman," Gavin began. "So, I'd be an idiot to say no."

Silvia grinned. "Great!" She said, before holding a hand out to him. "Welcome to the gang."

Well, this was a good chapter!

Had fun writing it!

Can't wait to write the next one, where things really pick up with the first game!

Have a poll out for this story! And will be putting out some more polls to follow, so stay alert!

I am currently in two dilemmas with one of my future stories. I made a couple of polls for them, and they will be up after the current poll for this story is closed. The universe is 101 Dalmatian Street, and the first dilemma is how I should make the characters look? By characters I mean the animals. The poll will explain it. The next dilemma is who should be in the harem, for the story has a harem in it. Again, the polls for this dilemma will explain it.

One more thing before I go.

I want to give you guys an update.

Basically, I probably won't be very active on this site or other sites starting May of this year due to not being able to use my computer for writing as much as I used to. I don't know when I will be back, but know this, I shall return!

I just wanted to let you guys know what was going on.

Thank you all for reading my stories, and I hope to continue writing wonderful stories for a long time.

This is PuzzleMaster1998 signing off!