RIGHT AND LAW

Job 2: Master Cop Climb

Carmelita and Sly leave the safe-house and make their way to a tumble-down pile of volcanic rocks. It's a short run from the wall, about midway between the towers the two of them are supposed to hit. Carmelita keeps finding herself reaching for the mask in her pocket, pinching it between two fingers, but she doesn't put it on. She's a cop; this is what she's supposed to be doing and how she's supposed to be doing it, under the circumstances.

And Sly, mask off, badge in place, in the standard Working Interpol Officer's uniform, is just as he's supposed to be, too. A cop. Or a thief in cop's clothing, but it hardly matters if he's catching criminals.

Carmelita tries not to think about what that makes her.

"Is everyone in position?" asks Bentley, and Carmelita's hand goes to her ear. Without their masks, she and Sly have to wear earpieces.

"You know The Murray is!" Murray says.

"Carmelita and I are set to go up that wall." Cop's uniform or no, Sly has his cane in one hand and a wall-hook in the other.

" They won't even know we're here," Carmelita promises.

"How about..." Bentley's voice catches. "Penelope?"

"Once you give me the signal, I'll use my—er, your—RC chopper to set off an alert and get all the guards over here," she says.

"We'll let you know if she goes off-plan," Carmelita promises. Well, let him know and then arrest the little mouse, sedate her, and figure out another way. A better way. One that doesn't involve using unreliable crooks.

Carmelita tunes out the conversation as Bentley goes over the plan again, only noticing as Sly says, "We live for this stuff."

She sighs. "We do, don't we." So that's how she's most like a thief.

"Yep," Sly says, but then he glances at her and frowns. He puts a hand on her shoulder. "It's what makes you such an awesome cop. Thieves can hide, but you find them. Thieves can run, but you chase them. And sooner or later, they will mess up." He grins. "After all, you caught me, Inspector."

Carmelita smiles, but she keeps her eyes on the skies, as the chopper flies around and the alarms start blaring. Sly murmurs something to Bentley, his hand to his ear, but she ignores it, watching the guards.

"It looks like all the guards are at the hole in the wall now," Carmelita says. "We'll make our way over and to the other towers. Move it , Ringtail!" Carmelita's on her feet and moving at a run before she's even finished.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Sly matches her pace for pace, reaching the wall the same moment she does.

But Carmelita gets over it first, with her high jump, and heads right at a run. The tower waiting for her there was last seen on a beach in the 1600's. She's never been up it. Never been in it. But that doesn't matter right now; there are twin spirals going around the tower's sides, overlapping in places and making her have to use her jumping skills repeatedly to get from one to the other. Bentley had to use his jetpack to get up, but all she needs is legs and skill.

And energy, but knowing a cop's behind all this is giving her enough anger for days.

Carmelita's panting by the time she's reached the halfway point, though. Too much, too fast. And the double spirals are... well, they haven't ended, not exactly, but they're no longer solid. Getting to the next one requires her to back up and get a running start and every ounce of her skill, and even then, only the toes of her boots touch the ground and she pitches forward to her knees.

Carmelita gets to her feet, brushes them off, and looks around.

She couldn't make the next jump if she rode a firework across that gap. It's far, far too wide. And there's no convenient little ledge to edge along, So that's out. Although, there is an odd pattern to the bricks in the wall. Almost like a target...

On an impulse, Carmelita shoots it, and a small platform pops out, accompanied by a loud, steady clicking noise. If it were much smaller, it'd need a Ninja Spire Landing to stick to; as it is, she'll have to make the jump exactly. But it'll let her get from the spot she's at to a higher point on the tower. Carmelita stares at it, calculating, as the clicking stops with an oven-timer DING! and the platform retracts back into the wall.

So that's how it's gonna be, then.

Carmelita shoots the target again and makes that jump, and the next one, before the tiny platform has time to retract back into the wall. But there are more targets embedded in the walls ahead. Moving ones, even. Sometimes, when she shoots a target, two or three platforms pop out; other times, she has to shoot the next target while standing on a tiny timed platform. And the platforms stay where the targets are... so if the targets move, so do the platforms.

Carmelita's moved beyond frustration and is actively cussing out the inventor of this tower by the time she reaches the top, complete with promises to lock him up and make sure he doesn't see the sun for a year. Five years. TEN. But at least she's at the top.

With solid, unmoving ground (thank you!) all the way around it, and eight windows.

Carmelita circles the tower; none of the windows are open. She circles it a second time, slower, testing each window. None open. Only one thing to do, then; she shoots one of the windows, wincing at the clatter of glass, and goes in that way.

No one's in sight. There's a staircase, but that's empty, and no sound coming from it. A noise like a fan eating potato chips seems to come from the central pillar. She puts her hand to her ear to hold her earpiece and microphone steady. "The top is clear of criminal interference."

"Man, that was tiring," says Murray. "I'm here guys!"

"That was fun," Sly says, and his voice has a grin in it. "I haven't gotten to climb like that in ages . Hey, Carm, think we can ask to keep this tower?"

Carmelita glares at the center column of her own. "No."

Bentley chimes in at last. "It looks like, to deactivate the force field, we have to press the red button at the same time. On Three."

"One," says Sly at the same time Bentley does. Carmelita hurries over to the center pillar and examines it.

"Two," Murray joins in. There! That's the button. Carmelita reaches out, lets her hand hover over it.

"Three!" shouts Carmelita along with them, and slams her hand down.

JOB COMPLETE

The fan stops. Outside the windows, the purple force field flickers from existence. Carmelita grins, and hoists herself out the broken window to begin the climb back down.