Hey everyone,
We're going to continue to have fun with the birthday boy and all, but I am first going to cover a few other things. And one of this is indirectly sticking it to Barkley where it hurts, without him even realizing that that's what's happening. It does mean that I will have to break up my favorite duo for a bit, but I'd like to think that these characters have grown to really think their actions through and contemplate potential benefits and downsides.
You'll see,

Venquine1990

Chapter 08
A Quick Delay

23rd of June 2007
Urmila's Boutique
Carmelita's POV

There is one thing that was said in the last few minutes that really amuses me. I put my glass down and again turn around to park my leg on both sides of Sly's body. I wrap my arms around his neck and mutter: "Sly, did I just hear you wonder about why I'm still in your lap?" The Racoon shrugs and I giggle as I say: "Then I guess you didn't listen too closely to Bentley when he first started the explanation, Sly. I'm your birthday gift. What happened before they came in can, if you'd like, just continue. I sure won't disagree."
Sly strongly grabs my cheeks and buries his fingers in my fur as he asks: "You're not joking? You would seriously continue to be my birthday gift? Seriously continue to just let me lavish you and treat you with all that is in my heart." I try not to cry in desperation for this and yet nod nonetheless. Yet then Urmila says: "Unfortunately, that does need to be delayed for a short moment, Mon Cheri." We both turn to her and she says:

"I have been in the fashion business for many years, Mon Cheri. So I know how fickle fame can be and how easy a reputation can be ruined. Barkley, even for his own sick reasons, agreed to give our fine Carmelita a day off, as long as she is seen within my store today. We do not have to do this to do him a favor, but it would benefit us." My tears almost threaten to break free from my eyes as Sly pulls me protectively close and Bentley growls:
"No offense, Urmila, but please explain this madness of yours." The Cobra nods and she is clearly not offended whatsoever as she says: "The longer we can keep Barkley satisfied, the better we can keep him off of Carmelita's back. And, if he is off her back, she will have an easier time to relax and he will be less likely to suspect us. Therefore, the shock factor he will experience when we strike will be all the greater. Which he really deserves, in my honest opinion, non?"

Everyone around me clearly wants to disagree, yet they don't and just nod instead. I smile at them and then whisper in Sly's ear: "Your sister is a fashion designer, Sly. If I am seen in her store, I can be seen buying something new. Something to wear at your birthday bash. Just think of it that way, Ringtail." And the hold on my waist loosens slightly as Sly sends me a beaming smile. "Oui, oui, Ma Cherie. And it really wouldn't do if the public saw you in this.
It would just ruin the element of surprise you would want to create once you and your new team pull your first heist. So, as much as it pains me to say this, Ma Cherie, it would be best if you change into the outfit you came in here last night." Sly obviously doesn't like this either, though I doubt he currently likes much about Interpol. Another sign of this is that any mention of Interpol makes my Ringtail tense up shortly. Yet I smile at them both and say:
"That's okay. I changed out of my work outfit before coming here anyway. My uniform is still in my locker back at Headquarters. I'll just need either Michael or my folks to pick up my choker with my badge. I keep one of my favorite rings within the compartment that the badge hides within it. Otherwise, I really don't have anything of personal value in there, so I have no need to go back either. Especially not now that I have a new profession to work for."

I quickly give Sly another strong hug and shiver in delight as he rubs a circle across my back. I get off his lap and I run a hand down the fur on his face. "Okay, you guys can hold onto each other and cuddle all you like when Carmelita gets back. Sly, just think of it this way. If you let her go, you can use the time she's away to think of new ways to treat her. Surprise her the way she surprised you." Bentley suggests and Sly grins at the turtle.
"Good point, Bentley." But then he turns to the Guru and says: "Go see if you can take the form of one of the plants in Urmila's store. I want to be sure that Carmelita can do her little shopping trip undisturbed, okay? So if someone bothers her, use your powers and guide them away from her." The Guru acknowledges this and while I wonder what he could do to get this done, I leave the room with him and Urmila.

I quickly change back into my simple shirt and jeans and while I put on my old boots, Urmila tells me: "You know, Cherie, I think I know the perfect outfit for you to try on in my boutique. If you do, I think it will make your family very, very happy." Instantly I feel excited and say: "That sounds great, but I do need to be seen just browsing through the store for a few minutes. Let's say we make sure this whole thing takes about half an hour.
That should be enough time to please Barkley and anyone who wants to see me enjoy my anniversary and give Sly enough time to set up his potential plans for me." Urmila nods with a huge grin on her face and we head into the boutique. The store itself is just so incredible, lavish and yet simple in design that I find myself counting down the minutes, just to ensure that I don't lose track of time. I know Urmila has an outfit planned, but a few times I find myself spotting a garment that I just feel myself falling in love with regardless.

Then suddenly a diminutive voice asks: "Ehm excuse me, Miss Fox?" I turn around and spot a young, teenage zebra girl with bright pink stripes through her white and black mane hair standing behind me, a small notebook and pen in hand. "My name is Darcy. I'm a junior reporter for the Le Monde newspaper. I wish to – ehm – ask you some – ahem – questions?" Instantly her tone and faltering makes me know where these questions might be coming from.
I also notice a potted plant slowly shuffling closer and send it a quick look across her shoulder. I smile at the young girl and say: "I can already guess who told you to ask me these questions, so why don't you write this down?" The girl looks at me attentively and while I keep my focus on my word choice I also keep my tone kind and professional as I say:

I got to sit down with Inspector Fox and asked the first question that was recommended to me. However, the pride of the Spanish police officer had her keep mum, so I asked my second question with the same results. The third finally made her speak: "Listen kid, you write for a newspaper that is read by kids and elders alike. You really can't go around writing such mature stuff for a news source that is read by nine year olds. Keep your audience in mind and just ask the questions you think they'd want to ask."
I felt greatly inspired by this speech and apologized for the kind of questions I had asked her. Inspector Fox rolled her eyes and muttered: "I can only imagine who recommended those questions to you, kid." I decided not to tell her and instead asked if she would be so kind as to tell me her experiences since she took down Clock-La and what she knew of the fiend she had rescued all of Paris from. This was something that the Inspector was more than happy to tell me about."

The little Zebra girl instantly lights up and asks: "You'd really tell me about what happened between you and Clock-La?" I wink and say: "I have a total of – 27 minutes. I'll give you as much backstory as I can and will even let you take a picture of the outfit I am planning to purchase. But in return, you keep my advice in mind and don't ask me any questions. Agreed?" The girl nods her head so wildly her mane covers her face.
Her face turns red and she quickly brushes it back. But in that short minute, I notice that Guru has retaken his position. Then Urmila speaks up and says: "If you wish to hold an interview with the Inspector, follow me. I will ensure your comfort during the interview. There is no point standing around while we talk such a heavy topic now, is there?" Both of us nod and then Urmila makes me laugh as she says:
"Crystal, please move that potted plant over there. Its situation is just all wrong." And while I can tell by the look on Crystal's face that the hummingbird is onto us, she otherwise doesn't let it show and just follows us as Urmila leads us to the fashion runway. The two of us take two lush seats with plenty of cushions in them and thank the two before I turn to the young thing in front of me. The girl has a huge grin of excitement on her face and says:

"Before we begin, I just want to let you know that you've been my idol since I was 10 years old. I actually wanted to join Interpol myself, but when I went to check out the academy needed for that kind of career, I realized how much bloodshed and fighting your job actually contained. I – have a bit of a weak stomach, so I realized it just wouldn't work out. But then I remembered how often you were on the news and I saw my chance to still have my dream come true."
The girl is almost red in the face by the end, both thanks to the excitement she is experiencing and, I'm guessing, out of embarrassment for telling me so much about her. "Well, I'll be honest with you, Darcy. Kids and teens like you are one of the few reasons I decided on my career and why I still work for Interpol to this day. And just between us, before you came here, you saw the other side of Interpol, didn't you?" The girl's red face whitens and she nods. I lie a gentle hand on her knee and says: "Let's just pretend that side doesn't exist, for now."

The girl looks at me with a strong sense of relief and gratitude and I lean back as I talk. "Now, in order to talk about the event from two years ago, I actually need to go a little further back. Or better said, a lot further. Before Clock-La became the fiend that tried to attack Paris, they were actually two beings. The ancient monstrosity known as Clockwerk and the former Constable Neyla. And if you're wondering how they became one, I need to explain you Clockwerk's backstory."
The girl seems mesmerized by what I'm saying and I send her a quick look down at her notepad. Her white fur lights up again and I give her a minute to write my words down before I continue. "Just write down a few cue card notes. Should help you out later. Anyway, Clockwerk's origins actually lie within ancient Egyptian times. I don't know how, but he actually replaced his whole entire body for a mechanical one, one piece at a time.
He also made use of technology way beyond its time, even a hate chip that allowed him to keep living as long as the goal behind the chip wasn't met. And that goal was the end of the Cooper line. It really irks me, but even when I met the mechanical monstrosity at the Krak-Karov Volcano, he wouldn't explain what his deal with the Cooper line was, just that he wanted them erased. I can only assume that he himself forgot over the many centuries that he has lived.

Anyway, Cooper – Sly Cooper, that is – and I managed to beat Clockwerk's body down and Sly destroyed his main frame, shutting down the ancient bird. We thought we had seen the last of him and that the heat and magma within Krak-Karov volcano would finish the job, burning the metal down to nothing. But a few years later, we were proven wrong as the Clockwerk parts were being stalled in a museum in Cairo.
Cooper went to steal them. He obviously didn't want someone accidentally bringing the ancient beast back to live as Clockwerk and the Fiendish Five had been responsible for his own orphaned state, but he unfortunately got in a day late. The Klaww Gang had gotten the parts before he did and so he went on a chase to retrieve them – and I went on a chase to catch him. And just like with the Fiendish Five, he was always a step ahead of me, but always left me with a nice catch to arrest.

That is, until Constable Neyla backstabbed us both and got the two of us arrested, right as Cooper and Murray had taken out Rajan within his own hide out. Luckily enough, Bentley had managed to evade capture and he broke his friends out. They also unveiled the Contessa to be a member of the Klaww Gang and she had to run for it. She did, with me as her prisoner. Cooper saved me and made sure that the Contessa couldn't hypnotize me in order to make me take the fall for her.
I had been backstabbed by two people I had been working with and I was considered a criminal myself. Needless to say, those few weeks were hard on me and I became willing to do anything in order to restore my name. At first I tried that through catching the Cooper Gang, but that kept failing. Then, when all of the parts were in the hands of Neyla, who also unveiled herself as a hidden Klaww gang member and the leader of the Gang, Arpegio, Neyla did what she always did.

She backstabbed Arpeggio and took the Clockwerk form for herself, merging with its form the way Arpeggio had been planning the whole entire time. By this point I was willing to do anything to set things right and prove that no good feline that betrayal never went unpunished. I manned a chopper and had Cooper man the gun on top of it. Together, we shot Clock-La down. Only this time, we knew that just shutting down the system wouldn't cut it.
So Cooper went down to where his team, Bentley and Murray were waiting for him and the three of them retrieved the Hate Chip. In the process, Bentley, unfortunately, got badly injured and he's been cripple ever since. The fact that this happened also did an emotional number on Murray, who considers himself the bodyguard of the gang. Cooper handed me the Hate Chip and I got to say, it felt so cathartic to crush that little bit of metal under my boot.
And as I did, the metal that had kept Clockwerk alive for over two millennia finally started to dissipate. Time had finally caught up with the ancient menace." I grin and mutter: "Sometimes, I look back and think A police officer ended a mechanical and deadly curse that had been hunting and killing a line of Master Criminals. How ironic. Yet I don't regret it. Cooper had, by that point in time helped me gain my name and reputation so well, I always believed that I had finally been able to return the favor. Of course, I remained an Inspector, so I had to arrest him.

I'd like to think that, when I did so, it was more out of instinct. That I was just trying to get my life back the way I wanted it. I won't deny it, in the moment that I held my Shock Gun up to them, I didn't even care for the hurt and pain they must have gone through on their hunt for the Clockwerk parts. But Cooper did see that pain with his team and he proved himself a true leader. He and I made a deal; he'd be arrested and his friends would go free. When he offered that, I regained my senses and saw what he did. I had to accept."
The little zebra has again stopped writing and Urmila has taken the notepad and pen from her. I really want to giggle, but then she whispers: "Think of your time, Cherie." I give her a quick nod and continue. "I may have regained my senses, but I hadn't really realized how mentally or emotionally exhausted I was, not until Cooper and I were in the Chopper back to HQ. Because of this, I let my guard down, yet Cooper didn't – at first – take advantage of this.
He instead started a conversation with me and this lasted for almost two hours. We laughed and shared our interests; it was like a date, really. And I am well aware that some would shout my hide full over such a statement, but I'd like them to step into my shoes for the months before then and then tell me they wouldn't feel the same if they were suddenly laughing with someone the whole world thinks is handsome and charming. I dare them to contradict me."

I receive a massive nod of agreement from the excited little zebra teen and say: "And I am also well aware that most of Paris was upset with me over having to work on my anniversary last year. But the idea of anyone other than me going after Cooper – I have real trouble accepting that. Besides that, we were in Rome, so even though we were on a case, I still had a little sense of romance going on while working. Cooper even, somehow, managed to leave a rose on my bedside table every morning. Don't ask, I still don't know how."
All four of us giggle at this and I even see a few leafs of the tree rustle. "And what about today?" Darcy asks, but instead of an answer, I turn to Urmila with a questioning eye. The cobra turns to the girl and hisses: "This will not enter your report. I refuse to write it down, but we will answer your question." The girl gulps, but she nods in gratitude nonetheless. "I'm shopping for Sly's birthday. We decided to celebrate both on the same day."

Darcy looks at me startled for a moment, but then she makes me proud. "You saved my life, Madam Fox. In return I won't reveal that you are in Cooper's company. No one will hear it from me, not even your boss. No matter how much that mutt just creeps me out." I giggle at the way she mumbles at the end and say: "Yes, that badger really is horrid." Darcy tilts her head sideways and says: "Huh, I could have sworn he was some kind of dog. My bad."
I try not to grimace at this as that reminds me of another James Barkley that attempted to ruin my life long ago. Instead I turn to Urmila again and the cobra gives the zebra her notes back. Darcy thanks her and then requests: "I know you told me not to ask questions, but there is one topic that I – I personally – really wanted to address with you." Urmila and I share a look and I say: "Let me quickly get my outfit and then you can ask.
I am running out of time, after all. Sly only expects me to be gone for 30 minutes and I've been gone for 20 of those already." The zebra nods and Crystal comes over with an incredible outfit draped over her arm. A breathtaking red and orange dress with peplum at the waist, a black belt with a red and yellow sun buckle at the front, the skirt flaring out to the sides at the knees and with yellow heels with a red toe underneath.

Again, just like with Jessica in To Read and To View, look up Sunset Shimmer Dance Magic Dress to see the inspiration for this dress.

"Oh wow, that dress is amazing!" Darcy exclaims and I say: "I'll go put it on." And about four minutes later, I have put the dress and heels on, put my hair in a ponytail high on the back of my head and Darcy has taken a picture of me. The two of us smile and Darcy asks: "About my question. A lot of women know that Cooper is a criminal, but they consider him your modern day Robin Hood and dream of one day being his Maid Marian. What do you think about that?"
I want to giggle as it reminds me of the mental argument I had with myself just the other night, but then I say: "They'd be half right, half wrong. Yes, Sly's antics could remind one of Robin Hood, but to me – he's more like Aladdin. And just like Aladdin got Princess Jasmine to trust him, I know I can always trust Sly to have my back and help me with whatever troubles me, no matter how big like the Fiendish Five or Clock-La or how small like Octavio in Venice."

The zebra nods and then she makes me proud as she says: "I won't hold you up any longer, Princess. Go see your prince. You shouldn't keep him waiting for you. And don't worry, there's no way Jafar is getting that out of me." I burst out giggling at the little thing and then I see Urmila giving me a wink and a look. I nod back at her and say: "I'm going to tell you a little secret, Darcy. You are the last reporter I will ever speak to. But this won't be my last time in the news."
The zebra's eyes are wide with wonder and curiosity, but I put my finger on her lips and whisper: "Our little secret, okay?" The Zebra nods and then hugs me tightly around the waist as she says: "Thank you very much, Miss. Fox. You made my day, really." I happily hug her back and whisper: "So did you. Now run along, you have an article to write." The zebra nods and dashes off. And when she's out of sight, Guru transforms back, a huge grin of pride on his face.

That was a lot of fun,
Also, I'm not entirely sure if I mentioned where Carmelita was during her one year anniversary. If that's the case, please let me know and I will make sure to fix it. I did try to check my story by going back and rereading most of it, but I couldn't find any references or hints. Oh, and next chapter we're going to cover this half an hour again, but then in Sly's POV. I'm kind of going to repeat chapter 02 of the original version of this story.
Sorry, not sorry,

Venquine1990
PS. How many times do you guys think I almost wrote Draco instead of Darcy? Also, who recognizes the Darcy reference? Let me know.