Rai ran through the snow, making her way to the cabin so she could steal the train blueprints. When she finally reached the cabin, she quickly snuck inside, but her eyes widened a bit when she saw it filled with moose guards and their annoying flashlights. Rai growled lowly, but noticed the bannisters above and quickly snuck over to the far corner, climbing up onto the thin piece of wood. Suddenly though, as she crept along, an intercom screeched, the fox instantly halting.
"Attention all cabins: There's some fellers runnin' around stealin' my blueprints. If y'all see these rats, make sure ya don't miss."
"Urgh...!" Rai gasped softly.
That didn't take long for him to catch on... And here I thought Bison was nothing shy of moron at best. Heh... Oh well, no sense in whining about it. Just get the job done and get out of here. Rai told herself.
She then quietly stepped onto the fireplace mantle, sliding the rolled-up piece of paper out of the bass' mouth before climbing back onto the bannister again, quickly making her leave before she could be caught. "There... That was simple enough..." She said aloud. "I should go give this to Bentley before someone catches me." The fox then dashed off through the snow.
Too bad I'm dressed in all black, otherwise I could blend in easier with the snow, but I prefer the shadows anyway, so I guess it's a fair trade. Rai noted. Hmm... I wonder if the princess of bad luck is here too? I wouldn't be surprised if she was honestly... And I can almost guarantee Carmelita will show up sooner or later, I just hope she doesn't get in my way, otherwise things could get ugly.
Rai sighed softly as she entered the Safe House. "Bentley, I have your blueprints."
"Rai! Thank goodness you're here! It's awful! Something terrible has happened!" He said in a panic.
"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, Bentley, what happened?" Rai tried to settle the panicking turtle.
"It's Murray! He went out to go get a snack and got caught, by Inspector Fox!"
"Carmelita? She's here too? And so soon?" Rai questioned, slightly annoyed. "I mean, I figured she'd catch up to us eventually, but not this soon."
"Sly hasn't come back yet and I'm worried he might've ran into Carmelita too..."
"Okay, just calm down for a second, we'll fix this. I'll go out and see if I can find Sly, then we'll deal with Carmelita."
"Alright, just...don't you get caught too – I don't wanna be alone again..."
"And you won't be. Just stay here and I'll take care of this." She said before exiting the Safe House, quickly trying to call Sly through her earpiece. "Come on, Sly, pick up..." Rai prayed out loud.
"Sly here."
"Sly, where are you?" Rai quickly asked, not wasting a single moment.
"Uh, heading back to the Safe House with the rest of the blueprints, why?"
"It'll have to wait, we have a situation."
"Okay, what kind of situation?"
"The bad kind – Carmelita's here and she caught Murray while he was out looking for a snack."
"What!? Damn... I didn't think she would catch up to us this quickly. Do we at least know where he is?"
"No, and, I thought you might enjoy this, but either one or both of us should follow Carmelita to see where she's stashed Murray since she's bound to check up on him sooner or later."
"Alright. Let's both tail her, and once we find Murray, well...let's cross that bridge when we get there."
"Fine. Meet me by the train track nearest to the Safe House."
"Got it. On my way now." He then disconnected, Rai sighing irritably.
"You know, if she didn't make thieving more interesting, I would've gotten rid of her a long time ago... She's just lucky I don't hate her guts like I do Kisara..." Rai involuntarily clenched her fist. "I just...wish things were different, but now that'll never happen. Now, all I want is to see her dead..." She said under her breath.
"Sooo...what conversation did I just walk into?"
"Wha?" Rai turned to see Sly right in front of her. "When did you get here, and what all did you hear?"
"Just now, and something about Kisara."
"Right... Just…ignore that..." Rai brushed it off. "Anyhow, we should go find Carmelita before she checks up on Murray."
"Then let's get going." Sly agreed, but still couldn't shake what he heard Rai muttering about Kisara. For now though, he brushed it aside so they could focus on the task at hand.
The two searched the area, scouring for the cop. However, just as Sly was about to round a corner, he quickly pressed his back against the wall, pushing Rai back as well. "What?"
"She's right there..." He said, peering around the corner as the orange fox scanned the area, obviously searching for either Sly or Rai, or both. "Clearly she's looking for us..."
"Gee, I hadn't noticed..." Rai said sarcastically.
Sly rolled his eyes. "Just come on..." He said, pulling the fox along as they climbed up to a building.
They watched as Carmelita passed by, an annoyed look on her face since all she was finding was petty guards getting in her way. She walked past the building and was nearing their Safe House, both felines tensing as they followed her. However, Carmelita wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed as she walked right past the building - she clearly only cared about finding the gang themselves. The cop rounded a corner, the two thieves following after her. They climbed up on the train tack suspended above the ground so Carmelita wouldn't see them, but little did they realize the train was making its rounds, and was heading straight for them. The loud horn caught their attention, both glancing back as their eyes widened. Just as the train was about to hit them, both leaped backwards in opposite directions. Sly landed in the frosty snow, tumbling a bit, until he looked up to see where Rai was heading. She was going to land in the icy waters that she failed to notice before, Sly gasping as he pounced to his feet.
"Rai! The water!"
"Ugh!?" She glanced back to see the water she was heading for and gasped, quickly reaching into her pouch. The fox then pulled out her grappling hook, firing it off as it hooked onto the tracks above. Without hesitation, Rai retracted the hook to reel herself in before detaching it, only to head straight for Sly. With eyes wide, they slammed into one another, crashing down into the white blanket of snow as they tumbled to a stop. They both groaned, pushing themselves to sit up while rubbing their heads.
"Ouch..." Rai moaned in pain. "Sorry about that, Sly..." She apologized.
"Good thing you had your grappling hook or you would've landed in the water..." He sighed.
"Yeah... Guess it came in handy this time..."
"At least you're not hurt, but let's go find Carmelita; she couldn't have gotten far."
"Right." She nodded as they got up and ran after their target, giving a low sigh of relief when they found her.
"Looks like she still hasn't checked up on Murray yet, so we're in the clear." Sly noted.
"Maybe not yet, but check it out: It looks like she heading for that box near the train's tunnel."
"It'll bet anything that's where she put Murray."
The two climbed up onto a pole, running along the wires to follow Carmelita, who stopped at the large box. Murray was in fact kept inside this cage-like cell, though considering his size, he looked pretty cramped in there. "Hey, criminal, you doin' alright in there? I know it's tight, but you won't get shocked if you hold still." Carmelita called.
Tch... That's encouraging... Rai rolled her eyes.
"I'm okay, and thanks for that bag of jelly beans, I was starving." Murray replied.
"Once I catch the rest of your gang, we'll get outta here that way I can show everyone that Constable Neyla set me up!" She said in a bitter tone.
"Don't you mean "Captain Neyla"? I hear her and Kisara got promoted."
"Whatever!" She scoffed "I'm an honest cop, and she's nothing but a backstabbing liar. I'll prove my innocence and Neyla what for soon enough, and I could care less about that damn feline. Vulpes can have her since they seem to have some kinda history anyway." Carmelita then said. "Look, I'm gonna go look for your pals, so don't move."
"Well, it's not like I can anyway..." Murray muttered to himself as the cop walked off to go on her search for the others, who leapt down from the wires once she was gone.
"Hey, Murray, how ya doin'?" Rai asked.
He shrugged. "Kinda cramped in here..."
"Well, we're here to bust you out." Said Sly.
"Fat chance! This thing is triple padlocked and Inspector Fox is carrying all the keys."
"Come on, pal, you know I'm a master at this sort of thing."
"Forget it, Sly. If you manage to get one of the keys, you'd better run for it. Carmelita's sure to feel you pickpocketing her and come runnin' after you."
"Exactly. If she tries to chase me, then so be it, but one way or another, I'll get those keys. Just hang tight for a bit." Sly then realized what he had just said. "Okay, poor choice of words..."
"Do you want me to go or just stay here?" The fox asked.
"Why don't you stay here and keep Murray company, I'm gonna enjoy messing with her."
"Whatever, do you." She waved him off.
Sly dashed through the snow, searching for Inspector Fox. I can't tell if Rai's jealous of Carmelita or just doesn't care. Maybe a little bit of both...? Sometimes I wish I could a read on her... He noted as he went on his search.
It didn't take very long, his lips curving into a smirk as he snuck up behind her, reaching into her back pocket as he snatched one of the keys. However, Carmelita didn't like that too much as she whipped around to see the one and only Sly Cooper. "I felt that, thief!"
"I'm sure you did, gorgeous." He smirked.
"Oh please, spare me the heart breaker crap." She scoffed. "And where's your little "girlfriend"?"
"Keepin' my pal company."
"Ugh...! You mean you followed me!?"
"Course I did; he's my brother after all." Sly's smirk grew a bit. "However, as much as I'd love to stay and chat, I'm afraid I've gotta run. Stay beautiful, Ms. Fox!" The raccoon gave a wink as he clicked his tongue before dashing off through the snow.
"COOPER!" She bellowed, chasing after the laughing ringtail, soon losing him in the white blanket as she growled. "I'll find you, don't think I won't!"
"And that's just what I'm counting on." He chuckled as he went after her again.
It didn't take long to snatch the second key from her back pocket, the cop quickly chasing after him again. However, being a thief, Sly knew how to use his surroundings to his upmost advantage, losing the inspector yet again. "Yeah, that's right, run like the coward you are!"
He just rolled his eyes. "It's not being a coward, it's called being a thief, Ms. Fox."
Sly leapt out from his hiding spot and went to find Carmelita again, easily swiping the third and final key to Murray's cage. Of course though, the fiery fox felt him take her key and gasped, the raccoon giving a wink as he took off. "Ugh! My keys! Get back here, Ringtail!"
"You'll have to catch me first, sweetheart!" He laughed.
Carmelita ended up losing the raccoon yet again and growled. "Why run? Why not face me like a real man?" She growled.
"Because that's where all the fun is, that, and it gives me great pleasure getting on your nerves, Inspector." Sly held the keys up, smirking at his handy work. "Better get these back over to Murray so I can bust him out."
Meanwhile, Rai was still waiting patiently with Murray for Sly's return. "Don't worry, he'll be back soon." The fox reassured him.
"I know, I'm just worried about what Inspector Fox will do if she catches him."
"She won't, trust me. Sly has been running from her for quite a while, or at least from what I've heard, and as far as I can tell, Inspector Fox couldn't catch her shock pistol if it wasn't always in her hand." Rai gave a chuckle.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Murray laughed along with the vixen, until he glanced over and noticed something in the distance. "Uh-oh..."
"Hmm? Hey, what's up, Murray?"
"It's Inspector Fox! She's heading this way!"
"What!? Shit!" Rai turned to see the cop heading towards the hippo and growled. "Alright, I've got a plan, so just sit tight while I go and distract her."
"Okay, but how are you gonna do that?"
"You just leave that to me, 'kay?" Rai gave a grin and a wink before dashing off, climbing up a light post and perching on the wire above just as Carmelita approached Murray's cage.
"So, I heard Vulpes was here. That true?" Carmelita asked.
"Yeah, but she took off, probably to go look for you or Sly." He quickly lied.
"That right? Well then, how about I just wait here for those thieves to show back up?"
"Why wait when I'm right here?" Rai called as she leapt down into the snow, Carmelita instantly holding up her shock pistol.
"What? Did your little "boyfriend" get lost?" The ginger fox snarked.
"No, it's not that, but I heard you were looking for me, so I thought why not give you the pleasure of showing myself to you of my own accord rather then you trying to hunt me down?"
"Sounds good to me. This just means once I catch you, Cooper will come right to me."
"Don't hold your breath, sweetheart. I'll always find a way to outrun you, even if I have to bait you myself to come after me. But no, you go right ahead and roll that dice."
"Is that what you think? Then hold still while I put you down like the dog you are?"
"Sorry, but playing target practice just isn't my thing. Also, I couldn't help but overhear you talking about me, and a little info for you: My name isn't actually Rai Vulpes." Rai informed her.
"Then why'd you tell me that was your name?" Carmelita glared.
"It's a long story that I don't feel like sharing, so instead, what I will say is I had my reasons for lying about my name. However, from now on, you can refer to me as Rai Vermilion instead."
Carmelita paused. "Vermilion? Hang on... That name sounds strangely familiar to me..."
"That's probably because there was an incident about it, how Samantha and Nathaniel Vermilion were murdered thirteen years ago, by the Klaww Gang." Rai emphasized, though there was a sense of bitterness in her voice.
"And how would you know that?" The officer frowned.
"Because they were my parents, smart one. They tried to kill me too, you know." The thief then said. "However, my offer from before is officially off the table, and because you'd rather be a so-called "hero," I'll just continue to play the villain in this story. So then, Inspector, if you want me so badly, then you'll just have to come and get me!" Rai hissed before she turned tail and made a run for it.
Carmelita gasped, only to then growl. "Get back here and face me, you coward!" She exclaimed, chasing after the other vixen.
Not too long after Carmelita went chasing after Rai though, Sly showed up with the keys. "Hey, Murray. Miss me?"
"Glad to see you're okay, Sly."
"Of course I am. You think I'd let Carmelita catch me that easily?"
"Yeah, I know..."
"Speaking of which, where's Rai at? I thought I left her with you?"
"Inspector Fox showed up waiting for you, so Rai went and distracted her."
"Damn... Alright, then after I let you out, I'll go find her." He noted, quickly unlocking the cage as Murray waddled out. "There ya go, big guy. Free at last."
"Thanks, pal. I was starting to get a charlie-horse standing in that box."
"No problem, now you go ahead and get back to the hideout while I deal with those two foxy ladies."
"Alright. See ya back at the Safe House." Murray then ran off, Sly quickly going in the other direction to find Rai.
Man, this cop never gives up... Hopefully Sly managed to get Murray out so I can finally get her off my tail.
Suddenly though, just as Rai thought about this, she glanced up, only to find the raccoon perched on the railroad tracks above. He gave her the "okay" sign with his classic wink, the fox returning it with a nod. She hastily reached into her pouch and pulled out a small red sphere, smirking as she yanked put the pin and threw the red ball on the ground. The ball exploded on impact, crimson smoke clouding around the cop, who started coughing, swatting her hand to try and clear the air around her. Rai used this opportunity to quickly hide herself in a nearby tunnel over a set of tracks, panting heavily. Once the smoke around Carmelita had finally cleared, Rai was nowhere in sight, causing her to growl as she stomped her foot in the snow.
"Damn you, Rose! You thieves and your cheap tricks! I'll find you sooner or later, so don't think you can hide from me forever!" She bellowed, walking off to see if she could find them again.
The scarlet fox then peered out of the tunnel to see Carmelita leaving, as angry as she was, giving a sigh of relief. "Finally, she's gone..."
"You look tired. Did our favorite little inspector wear you out?" A voice called.
Rai quickly glanced up only to see Sly hanging upside down over the tunnel she had hidden in, holding his hat on his head while the fox gave an unimpressed look. "I'm used to running long distances for extensive periods of time, but running away from that cop while she's shooting at you for as long as I did, well, it can get a bit tiring. But aside from running away from annoying cops, did you manage to free Murray?"
"Course I did. He should be back at the Safe House by now."
"Good, then let's head back ourselves before she finds us again."
"Agreed." The two then headed back for the Safe House.