"Ouch!" Rai flinched as Sly was trying to clean all the blood away from her wounds.
"I know it hurts, but I've gotta clean all this blood off before I can rewrap it." He reasoned.
"I know, but I can still say that it hurts..." Rai replied, allowing Sly to continue cleaning her wounds.
When all the blood had been cleaned away, Sly could clearly see three pretty good scratch marks on Rai's arm, leading into her shoulder. They didn't seem deep enough to require stitches, but they also seemed pretty severe in their own right. Sly could clearly see the deep lacerations marring Rai's arm, and knowing who was the cause of those scratches only made his blood begin to boil just at the thought alone. "Here, can you use this?" Rai then asked, handing Sly a tube of some sort.
"What's this?" He asked, taking the tube from Rai.
"It's a special cream I formulated to help speed up the healing process, I just...forgot to put it on when we got back to the Safe House because I didn't really want you to find out about what had happened when I was with Rajan." Rai explained.
Sly just gave a nod, popping the top as he squeezed some of the white cream into his fingers before beginning to gently apply it to Rai's wounds. They immediately began to feel better, as the cooling effect from the cream aided in easing any pain, followed by a slight numbing sensation. With the cream applied to Rai's wounds, Sly grabbed a few large gauze pads and placed them on top of the scratch marks before wrapping a bandage around the pads to keep them in place. This was basically so the gauze would soak up the blood rather than the bandaging, not that Rai was complaining. After Sly had cut and tied off the bandaging, he stood up, closing the first aid kit.
"Well, from what I saw, your wounds weren't deep enough to require stitches, but I did place a few gauze pads under the bandaging so it could help soak up any more blood on the off chance they decide to bleed again."
Rai nodded, shrugging her jacket back on. "Thanks, Sly."
"Don't mention it, but if anything, you should go get some rest to give your arm a break." He suggested.
"Yeah, I think I need to lay down for a little bit... And you? What are you gonna be doing?"
"The guys and I can handle the remaining jobs here so you can get some rest, so don't worry about us. If anything, one of us will come wake you if need be."
Rai nodded. "Alright, well, you know where to find me."
Sly smirked. "Of course, now get some rest and I'll be back later, 'kay?" He said, giving Rai a quick peck against her temple, just as he had done before.
She gave another nod before Sly exited the room, closing the door behind himself. Once the raccoon was gone though, Rai let out a sigh, slipping her jacket off as she draped it over a nearby chair. The fox then decided to just change out of her thief outfit for a little while, throwing her tank top and a pair of shorts on before she crawled into bed, exhaling through her nose as she pulled the covers onto her body.
Soon enough, I won't have to deal with Rajan anymore... He won't be able to taunt me in my nightmares once he's finally out of the picture. Once the Klaww Gang is taken care of, I'll make sure Kisara is next on list of nuisances to go; I can't have her causing me anymore trouble than she already has... Rai thought determinedly before rolling onto her side as she let her eyes flutter closed, deciding to get some well-deserved rest for the time being.
After Bentley had blown the dam to help flood the temple, Murray went to open the elephant's mouth so Sly could get in and finish the job with the Cherry Bomb 500 they were promised in exchange for a large red ruby. However, before Sly could climb into the barrel, he heard a low 'thud' on the truck right behind him as he turned, lifting his gaze to see none other than Rai herself. She was crouched down on one knee upon landing, her arm propped against her other knee as she peered down over the truck down at Sly.
"So, are you planning on carrying that or are you actually getting inside of that thing?" She asked.
"I'm getting inside of it and using it as a disguise when I pass by the guards."
"Okay, sure, but, and hear me out on this, wouldn't it be easier to just simply carry the barrel instead? Just a thought."
"Yes, but I'd rather not get blown up if I were to get spotted, because this also poses as the perfect disguise as well, just so long as I don't move."
Rai merely shrugged. "Alright, fair enough."
"Shouldn't you be at the rendezvous point though?" Sly then asked.
"I should, but currently, I'm here, so you do the math..." She replied, almost in a snarky tone.
Sly rolled his eyes. "And you tell me to do my job? Well, look who's calling the kettle black now."
Rai sighed, rolling her eyes on response. "Yeah, yeah, whatever..." She then put her mask on before getting back onto her feet. "In any case, I guess I'll be seeing you soon, Ringtail." And with that, the fox took off.
Once the scarlet fox was gone, Sly hopped into the barrel and made his way to the elephant's mouth, avoiding guards as he went. It took a while, but when he finally reached the spot he was supposed to leave the bomb, he quickly leapt out of said barrel and ran with the pink hippo before it exploded, water flooding the temple. Rai hopped down to stand next to Sly and Murray just as Rajan ran out of hiding to see his spice temple being completely flooded, and he wasn't too pleased about it either.
"Black clouds and thunder bolts! My spice temple...RUINED! I will no longer hide while you villains destroy my hard won empire! This place is mine...here I am king! Come, face me, Cooper! With Clockwerk's black heart, I will show you true power! You are nothing! Come, face the mighty Rajan, lord of these hills!" Rajan roared.
"More like king of the kittens..." Rai said aloud. "How I can't wait for the moment you get put away for good..."
Rajan growled. "Well, well, if it isn't the harpy witch herself, the Scarlet Rose, and working with the Cooper Gang, just as I had suspected."
Rai frowned, her eyes narrowing. "And what's it to you?"
"I never did get a chance to finish our time together before everything went dark. How is that wound treating you, my rose?" Rajan asked, almost in a sarcastic tone
The fox glared, gripping onto her arm. "You'll be lucky I don't neuter you myself once I get my hands on you..." She hissed.
"Man, when we try to piss someone off, we really do the job." Sly then spoke up, chuckling a bit.
"Yes, you do seem to have quite the talent for that." Neyla said, dropping in.
"Constable Neyla, slumming it with the thieves again?" Sly cracked a smirk. "Have you come to see the show?"
"But of course." She chuckled. "However, aside from thieving antics, that man also needs to be stopped; he's an illegal spice trader and should be brought to justice."
"Help me get the Clockwerk Heart and the bust is all yours." Sly said.
Neyla then made a leap, hopping along the pointed wooden stakes up to Rajan. Sly quickly followed behind her as Rai merely stayed behind, until a certain someone decided to show up out of the blue. "Well, well, what do we have here? It looks as though you've pissed off the tiger, and did a damn good job at it too."
"The hell do you want, Kisara?" Rai asked in a very bitter tone.
"I came to see your handy work, what else?"
The fox rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure that's what you came here for..."
"It is." Kisara replied nonchalantly.
Rai just sent her a glance that said she knew Kisara was lying, who merely shrugged. "What? You don't believe me?"
"No, I don't, and I've got good reason not to either."
"Come on, Rai-Rai—"
"Oh, please, call me that again, I dare you, and the next thing you'll see is me ripping your tongue out through your nose. You're already on thin ice with me, Kisara, so I suggest that you don't crack what's left."
"Nice metaphor." Kisara chuckled.
"Shut up..." Rai hissed. "Your voice irritates me almost as much as Carmelita's." The fox said, however, things between Sly and Neyla were about to turn for the worse just as the two had reached Rajan.
"Neyla, NOW!" Sly shouted.
"Sorry." She shrugged.
"What are you doing?"
Boom!
Rai suddenly gasped, her eyes widening. "SLY!" She exclaimed just as he was struck by lightning, quickly leaping down as she ran over to the fallen raccoon, but before Rai could even get close Sly, an electric fence was activated, preventing her from reaching him. "Urgh!? What the—!?"
"This is it? This is the Cooper Gang I have been hiding in fear from these past few weeks? This is all I have to fight?" Rajan boasted.
Suddenly, the tiger leapt down from his perch as Rai gasped, quickly whipping around while as Rajan began to trudge over to her, menacingly. Rai began to slowly back away, her knees shaking violently, but as she was backing up, the fox ended up tripping on one of the large lily pads and fell to the ground. She gasped when she fell into the shallow water, hastily trying to continue scooting away. But her feeble attempts to escape were all in vain as Rajan reached down and grabbed the fox by a large chunk of her hair, causing her to yelp in pain.
"You just keeping returning to give me so much grief, Scarlet Rose. Maybe I should simply put you out of your misery myself." He hissed, Rai frantically trying to free herself from his grasp.
"G-get off!" She gasped.
Rajan growled, only to roughly grip onto Rai's recently injured arm. "Gaaahhh!" She cried out in pain, trying to shove his hand away. "Let go! That hurts!"
The tiger wasn't listening though as he tightened his grip on Rai's arms, causing her to cry out in pain again. "Aaaahhhh!" Rai exclaimed.
"You insolent little viper... I'll finally be rid of you once and for all..." Rajan hissed.
"LET HER GO!" Murray roared as he was next to leap down, causing the ground to shake upon his landing. "'The Murray' will renew your fear once more!"
Rajan merely chuckled as he threw Rai to the ground, the fox yelping again before pushing herself up, quickly gripping onto her throbbing arm. "Who's 'The Murray'? All I see is a fat, pathetic weakling!"
"I may be big and not as smart as the others, but one thing I'm not is WEAK!" Murray said before giving Rajan an uppercut to the chin, causing him to fall backwards.
Rai on the other hand, after she had managed to regain herself, she quickly whipped around to see Sly still unconscious from his crash landing. She pounced to her feet and ran over to the electric fence, but as soon as Rai barely touched the fence, she was shocked, and not just a little either. Rai cried in pain as she immediately drew her hand back, however, the fox knew she had to get Sly somehow and the only way was through that fence. Rai crouched down right in front of where Sly was, the electrical fence the only thing standing between her and the unconscious raccoon. She slowly extended her hand, carefully slipping her arm in through the gap of the fence as her fingertips lightly touched Sly's shoulder, trying to push against him.
"Sly? Hey, come on, you've gotta get up!" Rai urged, continuing to nudge his shoulder. "Sly, come on, you have to wake up!" She persisted.
Suddenly, Sly flinched. "Uuuggg..." He groaned.
"Sly?" Rai questioned, drawing her hand back.
Slowly, Sly pushed himself to sit up, gripping onto his head for a moment. "Ah, damn, that stung..."
"Are you alright?" Rai asked worriedly. "You're not hurt too bad, are you?"
"I mean, other than the fact I was struck by lightning and thrown off a rock, I'm just peachy..." Sly replied, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "However, I honestly should be asking you the same question."
"I'm fine, Sly, really." Rai brushed it off.
"That blood on your arm tells me otherwise." Sly pointed out.
"Wait, what?"
"You're bleeding, Rai." Sly stated.
Rai quickly glanced down, her eyes widening a bit when she saw blood trailing down her arm into her fur. "Damn it...!" She cursed.
"Take your jacket off." Sly directed.
"What?" Rai asked, confused.
"I said take your jacket off." Sly repeated. "Do it now."
Rai hastily removed her jacket, but upon doing so, the bandages around her arm were completely soaked through with blood, the fox gasping. She quickly glanced back for a moment, ensuring that Murray was still dealing with Rajan so she would have time to do what came next. After making sure that she was in the clear, Rai quickly reached into her pouch, pulling out some bandaging and gauze. She hastily ripped away the bloodstained bandages around her arm to reveal her bloody cuts, but quickly placed a large gauze pad on the wounds before sloppily wrapping the bandaging around it. Once her arm was, for the most part, covered with bandaging, Rai tore off the excess and tied the ends, pulling it taut with her teeth, which caused her to grimace in pain.
"Mmph...!" Rai cringed as she pulled on the bandaging with her teeth, dropping it from her mouth moments later. "Well, it's not perfect, but it should hold, for now at least..." She shrugged her jacket back on before turning back to Sly. "Now, I've gotta figure out how to get you out of there."
"Forget about me, you need to get out of here, Rai." Sly urged.
"I'm not leaving without you, Sly!" Rai quickly refused.
"If things go south, you've gotta get out of here, Rai! Just forget about me and go!"
"I said no!" Rai shouted. "I'm not leaving you, Sly, and that's final!"
"Could you just not be selfish for five minutes, Rai!?" Sly began to shout.
"I'm not being selfish, I'm trying to save you, idiot! What's so wrong about that!? I won't lose anymore people in my life I care about, and that includes you too!" Rai snapped, only to then huff irritably. "Look, we don't have time to be arguing about this right now. Come on, Sly, for once, just please...let me do something good..."
Sly stared at Rai for a moment before sighing, only to chuckle softly. "Man, and they tell me I'm the thick-headed one..."
Rai began to chuckle a bit. "Great minds think alike, I suppose."
However, before Rai had any time to actually come up with a way to even get to Sly, Rajan had been knocked down for the count, Murray snatching up the heart from his staff once he was down. "Victory belongs to 'The Murray'!" He roared. "Sly's gonna want this part of the Clockwerk heart safe and sound..." He said to himself before stowing it away.
"Happy day!" Neyla said sarcastically, arms crossed.
"And joy for you!" Kisara called, also sarcastically with a hand on her hip.
Murray turned around. "Wha? Neyla? Neyla! Throw down a ladder! Sly and Rai are hurt real bad!" He called, but she honestly couldn't care enough to really listen to Murray's pleas.
"Here they are, Contessa, the Cooper Gang, Rajan, and the Scarlet Rose all incapacitated." Neyla then gestured just as the black widow spider had approached them.
"It's almost funny how easy it was to catch them." Kisara chimed in.
It was there that Rai began to understand, causing her to grit her teeth together as she clenched her cane until he trembled in her grasp. Kisara...! So I was right not to trust you!
"Excellent police work, Constable Neyla, Inspector Kisara. Not even Inspector Fox has been able to catch the Cooper Gang or the Scarlet Rose, and yet you've managed to capture all three of them in just a few short weeks."
"Indeed. Oh, and I should also mention that Carmelita was dancing with Sly Cooper on the night the Clockwerk Wings were stolen with the Scarlet Rose's assistance." Neyla said, holding up a photo of Carmelita dancing with Sly, Rai also appearing in the background of the picture.
"And I do believe Carmelita was in on the theft of the Clockwerk Wings the whole time." Kisara added as Carmelita growled.
"Liar! Prove it!" She shouted.
"Here is a photo of Carmelita dancing with Sly Cooper on the night the wings were stolen." Neyla said, handing the Contessa the photograph.
"But I didn't know I was dancing with Cooper!" Carmelita tried to defend herself.
"Oh, and let's not forget this one of Scarlet Rose trying to seduce Rajan on that very same night. And just a couple of days ago, she was with Rajan yet again in that very same outfit, slipping into his office." Kisara chimed in, holding up a pair of photos of the fox in the belly dancer's outfit.
"Urgh!?" Rai gasped, her eyes narrowing.
I knew I shouldn't have said anything! The fox began to curse herself. If she knew this whole time, why did she ask what happened when she was showing me to the Clockwerk Heart? Rai just clenched her fist, gritting her teeth together. Who am I kidding, this is Kisara I'm dealing with, who somehow knows everything that goes on, no matter what the situation... Damn her, damn her to hell!
"It's like I said, I didn't know Cooper was my dance partner, so your evidence isn't even credible, Neyla!" Carmelita spoke up again
"Inspector Fox, take your arrest gracefully." The Contessa said. "Guards, take them away, all of them!" She ordered.
"I'll get you, Neyla! Don't think I won't!" Carmelita hissed as her arms were pinned behind her back before being dragged off.
Just as the electric fence was cut off, Sly and Rai stood up, but suddenly, both Murray and the ringtail were tackled to the ground, Rai gasping. Sly and Murray struggled in feeble attempts to escape the guards, but to no avail. For a moment, it almost felt as of the whole world was crashing down on top of Rai. It was then though, after returning to reality, she clutched onto the handle of her cane, quickly switching it into a set of daggers. Her hands trembled as she gripped the hilts, and when she was surrounded, the guards came at her. Just as the guards tried to apprehend Rai, she dashed off, slicing and slashing as crimson spilled all in the shallow water at her feet, staining it red. Rai became relentless as blood splattered everywhere, but in her rage, didn't see Kisara appear behind her as she was abruptly kicked in the back and pinned to the ground, her blades clattering to the ground. Once Rai was down, Kisara had whipped out a set of cuffs, clamping them around Rai's wrists. With her hands bound, the feline grabbed Rai's fallen blades and reattached then, switching them back into a cane shape. After strapping the cane to the fox's belt, Kisara yanked her onto her feet as she began to struggle violently.
"I suggest you be a good little girl and cooperate, otherwise this could get messy." Kisara warned.
Rai growled. "Kisara...! I knew you would turn on me, just like you always do! I knew you couldn't be trusted, and now look at where it's gotten me!" She barked. "Just you wait, when I get my hands on you, you'll wish you were dead by the time I'm done with you, you lying whore!"
Kisara chuckled. "Sure, whatever you say, Rai, but first, you'll have to escape the Contessa's prison, and really, what are the odds of that happening, huh, sweetheart?" She mused. "Now come on, move it." Kisara rushed, pulling Rai along as she continued to struggle.
Damn her! I knew better! I knew better than to trust Kisara, yet I still didn't see this coming! Damn it! Rai cursed herself. I swear, when I get my hands on her, she'll regret ever crossing me...
"I...I-I can't believe it... That double crossing, cockney...LIAR!" Bentley shouted, still in disbelief that all of his friends were captured in one sitting. "They used us! Kisara and Neyla used us just for their own personal gain!" Bentley exclaimed. "I'd better get out of here fast and figure out a way to bust everyone out before they come after me..." He said before taking off to go find the van as Sly, Murray, Carmelita, and Rai were all being taken away...