SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
TALES OF THE TIGRESS, PART II

"Rajan, you have a visitor!" a guard at the Contessa's clinic said to the former spice lord. He was being dragged out and brought to a room with just a few chairs and a table. Now, normally there were no rooms reserved for visitors in the Contessa's clinic to 'prevent from outside forces interfering with rehabilitation'. But for an special occassion, they had improvised and cleared one of the spare rooms for it.

Though Rajan was not happy to see whom his visitor was. "Constable Neyla...you come here to gloat some more? You seem to be fond of taunting the Coopers and Miss Fox, so I guess I'm next. I hope you picked your next words wisely because theyll be your last. I intend to slash open your torso and spill your intestins across the floor for putting me here, and the Contessa's going to be next for betraying me."

"Though the gloating is a bonus, I'm here for something totally different." she said, her voice indicating seriousness, no taunting whatsoever. On the other hand, she was a really good actor. "Now...I'm not sure if you've noticed...we're both tigers. And both of us have a rare trait, only few tigers have. Purple stripes." She held up her arm to show her purple stripes, to emphasize.

"What is it you want? To make a club for purple striped tigers? Yeah, not hanging out with the little bitch whom put me behind bars." Rajan said sarcastically.

"Haven't figured it out?" Neyla said, rolling her eyes. "Let me give you another hint. You were not the only one growing up in poverty in the streets of India, and not the only one whom was forced to turn to crime for survival. I guess it rus in the family."

The gears in Rajan's head started turning as he studied Neyla. Some of her features reminded him of someone else. "You look like someone I used to know...I didn't know her by name. Not that it mattered, lots of people in the world of crime uses nicknames or aliases. But those eyes...very distinctive. A girl with a spice addiction whom was willing to do a lot for another batch of special plants. I was young and I had needs at the time..." It was then that the penny suddenly drops. "Your mother?"

"Indeed...Father." she said, that last word was full of venom.

"My daughter...well, that was unexpected." Rajan indeed looked like he was at a loss of words. "So...how is your mother? Haven't seen her since that night of passion." he asked. It was a stupid question perhaps, but he didn't know what else to say.

"After she found out she had...well, me, she tried turning over a new leaf. Though she still ended up in poverty, and she barely got by to keep us both fed. She tried really hard, but life was difficult, and she fell off the wagon. She went back to using spice. Like the kind you sell, but less refined. She went with a more second-hand dealer since she didn't dare to look you in the eyes again. Spices that make you feel good, but make you increasingly more violent. And guess whom that violence was turned to?" Neyla said. A mix of anger and sorrow was evident in her voice. "All love for me was gone and replaced by aggression. Soon the spice became too much for her, and she went berserk. The police were forced to take her down. And that left me alone, on the streets."

Rajan gulped nervously. Growing up on the streets was a harsh time. He himself only went into spice because it brought in good money, and because he never wanted to feel poor again. "But...you have it made now, right?" he said nervously. He wasn't very good at striking conversations, and the revelation shaking him up didn't help.

And because of that, he didn't realize his particular statement hitting a sensitive spot. "I have it made yes, but did you have any idea what I went through, to get there?" she barely refrained herself from shouting. "I had to work my way up. I had to manipulate, steal, seduce and sleep my way through just to survive. I discovered my talent for deception though...eventually I gathered enough for an education at a prestigious British boarding school, so I would make it big later in life. But my studies were expensive and I had to continue my little games in college. That's when an oppertunity struck and someone took me in as a protege. It's how I got in the Klaww Gang. Because the one whom took me in, one of my professors...was Arpeggio."

Rajan's lips curled inwards as he looked sheepish. "That sounds harsh."

"That doesn't even begin to describe it. I had to sacrifice my dignity, my childhood, my innocence. All just because everyone has been turning a blind eye. You, the people of India, eventually my mother...I learned to count on no one but myself, no one else is important because others don't think you're important. But on the other hand, right now I'm part of something bigger. And in the end when it comes together, i'll be on top of the world. So part of me is grateful at you for steering me into this direction. But that doesn't change the fact I'm still mad at you for your part in my suffering." Neyla said.

"What would you have wanted me to do? I didn't really love your mother, it was an act of pure lust and strictly business. An illegal spice lord wouldn't have made a good father and even if, you'd be a target because of it. Hate to break it to you, but this is still the best possible outcome for you." Rajan said.

"Sure... 'The best'." Neyla said, sarcastically, airquoting. "You are part of the problem. People as cruel, selfish, foolish...And I realize that I'm no better. But if I am going to be apart of a society where they prey upon each other, I am going to be on top of the foodchain. That is the only language this world understands."

"I guess you and I are really alike. In another lifetime I would have been proud to have called you my daughter." Rajan said. "But that is out of the question now, is it?"

"Obviously." Neyla replied dryly.

"So, you have gone through all this trouble...For what? What have you gained? As you know a father-daughter bond is impossible now, and there is little left you can do to make me suffer more then I already am." Rajan said.

"I wanted closure. I know of myself that I am a terrible person. I had to become one to survive. But something small in the back of my mind always nagged me. It wanted to know if there was someone I could find to genuinely care for. If I have hope left for this world. The only thing left to try was to find my father. And I'm dissapointed in him. But it has helped me. Now I know that the father I never knew is someone I can never trust and will never care, there is nothing holding me back now." Neyla said, her grin turning wicked. She had given up on the last bit of decency and sanity she had left (and that's if she had any).

Rajan actually saw these changes in her eyes, and the look she gave him unsettled her. And he couldn't help but feel, this monster hiding under that beautiful girl, was partially of his own making. "What are you and Arpeggio planning?" he asked, as several realizations started dawning on him.

"That would be telling..." she taunted cruelly. "But you served your purpose. That's all you need to know." Neyla said as she got up. The Contessa and several of her strongest guards walked in. "He's all yours, Tess." she said before she left, not even glancing back.

The Contessa walked in, a sadistic grin on her face. "Nothing personal, Rajan, just maintaining my cover..."