RIGHT AND LAW

Job 4: Master Brawn Tower

Murray and Bentley make their way around the outside of the wall together, taking turns with who goes first darting between spotlights and judging when they need to hide. The patched spot is on the far side of the compound, so it takes a while. There aren't any guards for Murray to smackdown when they get there, so he just waits and watches, ready and alert, as Bentley waits for a gap between spotlights to set up his bombs.

When Bentley's done, he goes back to Murray and pulls out his binoc-u-com. "Is everyone in position?"

"You know The Murray is!" Murray says, pounding a fist into the other hand.

"Carmelita and I are set to go up that wall," Sly says, his voice echoing a little in the binoc-u-com.

"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 adds.

Bentley keeps going through check after check, going over the plan again like always, but Murray tunes him out while still looking like he's listening; it's a skill he perfected. When Penelope's RC chopper flies overhead, he waves at it, and Penelope does a fast circle over the two of them in acknowledgement before continuing on, guards pounding along the wall after her. Only seconds later, Bentley blows up the wall.

The two of them run through the gap to the sound of sirens. "See you later, Murray," Bentley says, wheeling to the right.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Murray runs left, not because he remembers which way to go, but knows he doesn't go with Bentley. He's almost sad there aren't any guards around; he's so tense that cracking some skulls would be nice and relaxing. But he reaches the base of the tower and jumps onto the first platform.

"I'm at the tower," says Bentley in his ear.

"And so is The Murray," Murray says. Then pauses and adds, "Different tower, I mean."

"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!"

"You don't have to tell me twice."

Murray ignores the others; they'll be fine. He has some smashing to do.

The tower he needs to climb is the one Mizz Ruby was using. A number of platforms, too high to jump between, are supported by poles holding them to the tower and support beams holding them up. The beams are strong, solid wood, but they are nothing before The Murray . And when he breaks the bottom support beam, the platform above it swivels, one side going up and the other lowering to land on the ground platform Murray's standing on, creating a perfect ramp.

Breaking pillars is Murray's ticket up. Sometimes there's just one pillar. Sometimes there are two or three, scattered around in different spots, and Murray has to figure out which to break when so the platform falls right. Sometimes there are two or three together but if he breaks them all, the whole thing'll come down. I mean, sure, the ones he shouldn't break are bright red and covered in caution tape, but The Murray is used to ignoring that.

And then he gets halfway up, to the landing they used to get inside originally. Now, he can't go inside this time. And there's no easy way to continue up; there's a gap between his platform and the next one, and now it's connected to the walls instead of down where he can reach. But there are various... decorative... items around. Things like, oh, barrels of salt. And robot parts. You know.

Throwing things is fun. Carrying things around and throwing them is fun. Jumping and stomping and—oh hey, you're gonna have to THUNDERFLOPthis platform to continue, yeah, it's all fun. It's not much fun for me to write, there are only so many ways for me to describe Murray breaking stuff, but it is super fun to do, and Murray's at the top of the tower in a flash.

Being Murray, he doesn't even check for open windows or guards before he breaks a window and jumps in (which is a pity; he missed out on a master thief mask). The area is filled with the faint sucking noise of a vacuum; the staircase they used when they came for Mizz Ruby is closed off, without a visible light.

Murray wipes sweat off his brow and looks at all the things on the pillar. There's a big red button near the center of it. He's just started over when Carmelita says, "The top is clear of criminal interference."

Oh, right, he was supposed to check in when he got to the top. "Man, that was tiring," says Murray. "I'm here guys!"

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

"No."

Bentley chimes in 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. Murray hurries to the pillar.

"Two," Murray joins in.

"Three!" shouts Carmelita along with them, and Murray punches the button.

JOB COMPLETE

The sucking sound stops. Light appears on the staircase; feet start pounding up it. Murray makes his way out the window again before they can catch him.