THE SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
BRAINS AND BRAWN

It was an ordinary day for Ulysses Puffin, as he took his daily stroll through the park and decided to sit down and have a nice lunch in the beauty of nature. The blue bird wanted to bring a sandwich to his mouth as he heard some crying. Ulysses put down the sandwich as he looked around. He went in the direction of the crying and found a little turtle boy, holding a painful-looking bump on his head. "Hey there, little fella. What's the matter?" Ulysses asked.

"I lost my mommy and daddy and my brother and sister…I ran into a tree…" he cried as he rubbed the sour spot on his head.

"They must still be around here…where did you last see them?" Ulysses asked kindly.

"I don't know. I can't see very well. I couldn't even see where I was coming from." He cried, sounding a little bit ashamed.

"Oh dear…I think I better help you find them. In the mean while…I think I have a spare set of glasses…" Ulysses said as he searched his pocket and pulled out glasses like the ones he was wearing. "They may not look pretty but at least you won't bump into anything else." He said as he put them on Bentley's face.

The turtle boy visibly blinked behind his glasses. "Whoa…I can see! I can see!" he said happily. "Thanks mister!"

"Now, what is your name, little fella?" Ulysses asked.

"I'm Bentley." The kid replied.

"I'm Ulysses. But my friends call me Uli. Now, let's try to find your parents, I bet they must be looking all over for you." He said as he picked Bentley up and started to look around the park, his lunch all forgotten on the bench of the park. "Now, you know your parents' names? You know what they do for a living?"

"Mommy and Daddy are Guy and La. And I have a sis named Peg and a brother named Gus." Bentley said. "They all build stuff. I wanted to help build stuff too but because I couldn't see I didn't do a very good job."

"I build stuff too. I am an inventor. Though your parents should have invested in a pair of glasses for you. But I'm sure once we find them they all have learned their lesson." Ulysses said.

"I hope we find them, I don't want to be alone." Bentley said frightened.

"You won't be, until we find them I'll keep you company, all right?" Ulysses said. Though no matter how hard he had searched, he could never find them. Eventually he was forced to turn to his aunt, whom ran an orphanage, to shelter him until something came up. But nothing came up.

Ulysses had made a promise to Bentley to keep looking though. But the police once again came up with nothing. Right now, he stood in front of Inspector Montoya Fox. "I'm sorry, Mr. Puffin, but there haven't been any more leads. I have tried, but there is so little to go by. Even with a lack of a last name, I ran those names through the database and there is no family. So either the kid is confused or they are simply erased from the database." The fox cop said.

"I don't understand. How can anyone vanish? How can anyone leave their child behind? How can anyone let their son wander of when they know he can barely see and not give him glasses, why vanish right after their son is lost?" Ulysses started raising his voice, eventually standing up from his seat and wander around.

"I'm sorry. I did all I could. My superiors are taking me off the case. They think there is nothing left we can do. They want me to fry bigger fish. Though admittingly, the ones I'm send after are dangerous and need to be dealt with. But I promise once I have dealt with this case, I will deal with it in my own time." She promised him.

"Really? Oh Ms. Fox, you are an angel." Ulysses said.

"I notice you care a lot for the boy." Ms. Fox said. "As a mother, I can admire the devotion for the well-being of a child."

"He reminds me of myself at that age. He's really gifted and brilliant. For someone so young he already has the makings of a real inventor. But I can't be selfish. Whatever happened to his family, he deserves to know what happened, have some closure."

"I understand. But I promise, once I come back from Russia, I will help you." Miss Fox said. "Until then, keep an eye out for him. Your aunt is somewhat apathic in her approach, and he needs a parental figure to look out for him."

"Believe me, I will. Thanks again, Montoya. I owe you a lot." Ulysses said. Ulysses would be sad to learn later on, that Montoya would have never came back from her mission at the Krack-Karoff volcano in Russia and the lead would end up dead again.

But Bentley was not the only one whom had his own tale. We cut somewhere else, in a garage of sorts. A young pink hippo boy was looking how his mother, another pink hippo named Hayley, was working on a van. She has been working on it for months. But right now it was finished and she had done everything from building it from the ground up, to giving it a nice coat of paint. "Whoa mom, it looks great." He said happily, looking at his mother's handiwork.

"I guess it is. Can you believe it? Our very own van. We are going to do so much with it. My deliveries will become easier, and we can use it in the weekends for our trips. It was a lot of hard work, but one can do so much in live by working hard." Hayley said.

"I am going to work hard too, mommy! When I grow up, I am going to make a van just like this one." Murray said.

"I'm sure you'll be able to pull it off. But we first are going to need a test drive." She noted.

At that point, someone kicked in the door, from it a slurred voice shouting: "Stupid git. Who does he think he is, bossing me around…Hayley, what's for dinner?" it was another hippo, but he was a more greyish in color, with bloodshot baggy eyes and he looked badly shaven, not to mention he reeked badly.

"Humphrey? What are you doing home so early? I thought you had the night shift?" Hayley asked.

The grey hippo grabbed a liquor bottle and started to chug it down like lemonade. "The boss, the little punk thought he could get away with insulting me to my face. He called me a lazy, old drunk! I am not! I showed him. They didn't have to kick me out." he growled.

"Darling…you have been drinking again. You promised you wouldn't be doing that anymore. You know that our future, and Murray's, is at stake! My wager alone will no longer cut it!" She said, crying as she tried to appeal to his better nature.

"No one tells me what I should or shouldn't do! I can do whatever the heck I want! And I do not have a problem. I can stop whenever I want. But I just don't want to. Now go and fix me some dinner." He shouted in her face.

"Humphrey, calm down, Murray is still here, you're scaring him!" Hayley said as a crying Murray ran into her arms, she holding him tight to comfort him.

"The little kid needs to grow a backbone. Besides, I'm not at fault here. Nothing is. All I want is to be left alone. No one telling me what to do!" he said as he snatched some keys from her work table.

"Hey, those are of the van! He's brand new! You're in no state to drive!" Hayley said as she put Murray down and wanted to approach Humphrey, but he backhands her and knocks her to the ground.

"What did I just say? No one tells me what to do! I do whatever the heck I want!" he said as he went behind the wheel and turned on the engine.

"Mommy, you all right?" Murray asked frightened as he approached his mother, whom managed to get back up after being hit so hard.

Humphrey, still drunk of his grey wrinkly plot, wanted to drive forward, but instead put it in reverse, in the direction of Murray and Hayley;

"Murray, look out!" Hayley pushed her son aside as the van slammed into her, and she was pushed into the wall hard, being pinned between it and the van. Humphrey then drove forward again, right through the gate of the garage and into the incoming traffic. He was only in for ten seconds before he ran into a tree.

"Mommy!" Murray said as he approached his mother's limp form. "Mommy…" he shook her. "Wake up…please wake up…" her form remained limp. "Mommy…" tears ran down the hippo's cheek as he remained by her side, until the police came to investigate…They took Murray away as his parents' bodies were both taken away, the young hippo kicking and screaming…

A while later, he ended up at the orphanage as well. He felt so weak. He was unable to save his mom. He was unable to stop his dad. He was not able to do anything. Hippos were supposed to be big and strong…so much for that. He had not interacted with any of the other kids at the orphanage, just sitting in his room watching some wrestling and boxing, nothing more. He was currently strolling through the hallway after being bored as he heard something. "Give that back!" Murray looked around the corner to see a turtle boy. A hyena kid was holding his glasses out of his reach. "I need those to see."

"You want them, come and get them four-eyes." He mocked. "On your right! Other right. Oh wait, that's my right too!" Bentley was grabbing in the air, never being able to take them back as he couldn't see. During one of his attempts he ran into a wall as he tried to get them back. He started to cry as he held his head. "Oh, the little baby turtle is crying now!" the bully said.

Murray couldn't take it anymore. Strong or not, he couldn't sit around as the turtle boy was picked on. "Hey, you! Why don't you go and pick on someone your own size!" he said as he approached the hyena boy.

He was much taller then him, but the hyena was not intimidated. "Stay out of this fatso, I'm just playing with the turtle boy! Who do you think you are anyhow?"

"I am Murray…" Murray said meekly. "Er…THE Murray!" Murray struck a pose, with his hands to his hips, trying to look tough. "And I…er…you just better give his glasses back because I don't play around!"

"Move aside, no one cares about you!" the hyena kid tried to shove Murray, but Murray's girth made it impossible for the bully to move him even an inch. The hyena kid pushed harder, but Murray barely budged.

Murray looked on, unamused. "Really?" he thought. He may not consider himself strong yet, but he found he had an advantage over the bully. He then thrusted his gut forwards, knocking the hyena boy on his butt as he then dropped the glasses. Murray picked them up. "You better start walking away. Because otherwise…" he lifted his gut, and with a boing-sound effect let it bounce a bit. "I'll crush you with my mighty body."

The bully only now started to realize how much smaller and weaker he was then Murray. "I'm going…" he said weakly as he turned tail and ran. "I'm telling Ms. Puffin!" he shouted.

Murray wouldn't care. He picked up the turtle boy and gave his glasses back. "You okay, little buddy?" he asked.

The turtle boy adjusted his glasses and picked up his books and notes. "Er…yeah. Thanks for sticking up for me. I hate being short and weak. Everyone is bigger and stronger than me."

Murray knew how that felt like. He hid his sadness under a smile and said to him: "No need to worry about that. If they want to pick on you again, they have to through me. And there is a lot of me to go through. I am Murray by the way." He said as he shook Bentley's hand.

"I'm Bentley. And thanks…you are the only one whom is nice to me in the orphanage. Aside Uli, but he isn't around all the time." Bentley answered.

Murray took a look at the notes the turtle boy carried. They looked more like blueprints then anything else. "Whoa…those look very difficult. I cannot draw anything this difficult. They are those plan thingies you see smart people draw up on tv when they want to build something."

"Er…yeah, everyone says I'm pretty smart. I am going to build something. I want to be an inventor." Bentley noted.

"That sounds great. I want to learn how to build stuff too. I want to build a van like my mom did…but I'm not smart enough yet." Murray said sadly.

"I am smart, you are strong. We can help each other. You help me stay safe, I can learn you to build. We are a perfect team!" Bentley said.

"Really. Oh, thank you buddy!" he said as he lifted Bentley off the floor and hugged him. "Er…we are buddies, are we?"

"Yes…yes we are." Bentley said awkwardly. "I never had friends before."

"Me neither, but we have now!" Murray said happily.

A few weeks later, Murray and Bentley have become inseparable. No one dared to pick on Bentley with Murray around and they could work on piece. Bentley was working on his first invention, a remote control car. He was working on it with Murray assisting him as he was being visited.

"Hey, little fella! How are you?" Ulysses said happily as he greeted the one whom he considers something of a son. "And whom is your new friend?"

"This is Murray, he has been keeping the bullies away, he's real strong. Murray, this is Uli. He found me after I was lost. He helped me become smart." Bentley replied.

"Bentley already was smart, I just taught him stuff. Now, that already looks really impressive. I didn't build anything like that at your age." Ulysses said.

"I am nearly done, and then we are going to test it. You want to see?" Bentley asked.

"I would like to. But first, a snack break?" Ulysses did a little magic trick he liked. He flicked his wrist and a bunch of cookies appeared in his hand. "I took them from my aunt, but be quiet!" He said as he made a hushing gesture with his hands. His aunt was selfishly hogging the cookies to herself. Not if he had anything to say about it.

"Cookies!" Murray said as he gladly accepted one of the cookies Ulysses gave him. "I really like this guy!" Murray said.

Ulysses chuckled. "I'm glad you finally made a friend Bentley. Now, show me what you did get done already."

"Well you see…All I have left to do is to…" Bentley said as he was going on a rant about his invention. Murray listened closely even if he understood nothing of the technobabble.

Ulysses had enjoyed his time looking after Bentley. He was glad he was less lonely with Murray by his side. He himself, when not working on his own inventions, continued the investigation of Bentley's parents. With Montoya's disappearance he took it upon himself. He dialed away at a computer as he tracked down a lead. He was cracking a code he stumbled upon, green lines of data code flickering on the screen.

"I am getting close…so very close." Ulysses said as he dialed so fast his fingers became a blur. "Gotcha!" he said as the codes vanished and files became visible. "Now, tell me what you know…" he said as he tried to access one of the files. But something went wrong with his computer as the screen started to flash red and a dark image came across its screen. "What the…"

BOOM!

Ulysses apartment had been leveled in the explosion of his computer, and any lead he may have had lost again once more…alongside Ulysses himself. Everyone whom Bentley and Murray cared about were now gone…

Ulysses' funeral was not very crowded. Aside Ms. Puffin himself he had no other family, and only Bentley and Murray were the other ones whom had attended it and they were once again sad to be left alone in the world. As soon as it was over, they were dragged right back in the orphanage. Ms. Puffin couldn't seem to only care enough to attend the funeral, but cared little beyond that.

"It's no fair! We couldn't be there…I feel so weak." Murray cried his eyes out.

"It doesn't make sense, it does not make sense!" Bentley stammered. He was used to knowing the answers, but he has no answers to it. "What did we do that we deserve this?"

The two sighed and just continued shedding tears quietly. It was then that there was knocked on the door of their room. Ms. Puffin came in, another kid at her side. It was a raccoon boy with chocolate brown eyes, and he wore an oversized blue hat and carried a cane too big for him. "Murray, Bentley…from now on, you'll have to share your room with him. He has lost his father recently. Just…try to make him feel home and play nice." She said, like she doesn't know what to say. Oddly enough since as the head of the orphanage she should know how to work with children. "So, bye now!" she said as she just left the three of them alone, not caring afterwards.

"I'm sorry to intrude. She doesn't seem so nice." The raccoon boy said. "I'm Sly…" he said. He then noticed the looks on the other two boys' faces. "You seem sad. Is it because of me?"

"No…We just lost a good friend. We miss him a lot." Murray replied.

"Really?" Sly asked curiously. "I…lost my father a week ago. I know what it's like…he was attacked by mean people…they took our stuff…it is not fair!"

"I lost my parents, I lost my siblings, I lost my friend…Why is the world so mean to us?" Bentley said.

"You know…my family knows the world is full of mean people. So my family took back from them what they take from others. When I grow up, I'm going to do that too." He noted.

Murray and Bentley sound intrigued. It sounded fantastic. Taking back what was unrightfully taken. "I want to be strong when I grow up. Strong enough to not let anything like that happen again." Murray said.

"And I want to be smart enough to figure out the world and not let it outsmart me." Bentley added.

"Then we all want the same. We should be a team!" Sly noted.

"Yeah, a team. Us against the meanies!" Murray liked the sound of that. "But how are we going to do that?"

"Together. You are smart!" Sly said as he pointed at Bentley. "You are strong." He said as he pointed at Murray. "And I am quick!" he said as he climbed on top of the bunk bed quickly without the ladder, which was impressive. "I'm sure we can figure something out. So…friends?" Sly asked.

"Friends!" Bentley and Murray said. They had a good feeling about this kid, he clearly knew what the pain was they felt and what the needed to hear. They had the feeling that this would be the start of a great friendship…

ARTIST'S COMMENTS

My next entry in the Sly Cooper chronicles series. A backstory for Bentley and Murray, we don't anything about them from before the orphanage. I thought on elaborating.

For Bentley's part of the story, I just went by something that was in the official strategy guide; It wasn't much, but I tried to work with it: "As a young turtle living with his family in the swamp he called home, Bentley wandered away from his siblings due to his nearsightedness. A relative of Mrs. Puffin found him and delivered him to the Happy Camper Orphanage."

So that's why I came up with Ulysses Puffin and unlike Mrs. Puffin he isn't snobbish and rude. A good example for Bentley and Murray. ALso I brielfy mentioned Bentley's family, and their names put together are a pun. Guy-La-Peg-Gus. Galapagos. Like the Galapagos turtle. We never knew what happened to them, so I hope I get the chance to explore that later on.

And Murray's backstory...well it will explain his attachment to his van. Because it reminded him of his mother. And losing that van was like losing his mother all over again in this continuity.

Montoya fox is Carmelita's mother, and whom she got her second name from.

Some ideas came from my reboot, but others have to make sure the reboot list needs to be updated later on.

Anyhow, hope you enjoy!