Chapter 13: A Dance With Death

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Sly Cooper belongs to Sucker Punch.

Last chapter was not my best work, I'll gladly admit. But hey, we get to see the heist begin now. Let's see just how badly it gets derailed, shall we?

—

"Alright, List. You're up."

With a grin on his face, the raccoon approached the good Inspector, just as the tune that was playing ended. He knew what was on next, and it was going to be perfect for what he needed to do.

"Miss Marais?"

The tigress turned, looking pleasantly surprised. "I was wondering if you had already left. I haven't seen you." she remarked, a smile on her face.

"I wouldn't dare leave without telling you." he replied, smiling in return. "I believe you offered to share a dance?"

"I seem to recall."

"Well, the next song would be perfect for that. Shall we?"

"If you think you can keep up, then yes." Alayna grinned, hooking her arm around the disguised thief's. He followed her out to the dance floor with a smile and a hint of fear; this was the most dangerous part of the plan for him, but it was going to be fun.

As the music started, they settled into a starting stance, both taking a breath…

—

"Music's started. Rick, head for the vault, but be quiet - one or two guards may still be here, and we don't want to bring them back to check out what's making a racket."

"Got it!"

As the bear hurried off, Abby grinned, patting her pocket. "Let's get this neutralizer up there…" she murmured, before rushing off towards the stairs.

—

Forward. Forward. Forward, slow. Right. Left, slow.

"You seem rather comfortable with this." List remarked, a tinge of curiosity to his voice. The two of them turned, the lead drawing an arc along the ground with a sweep of the leg.

"We should put on a show, no?" she asked, grinning.

"Straight into the close embrace? Seems a bit forward." he replied, though he knew that their shared stance was integral to the stability of the dance.

"Are you complaining?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Not in the least."

"Then be quiet and dance."

"As you wish."

As she turned in time with him, he grinned. While their movements thus far had been basic and deliberate, they had drawn a crowd with sheer elegance. It was a slow tune that was playing in the background, but it wouldn't last forever - and neither would this truce. He could already see that she was beginning to consider who he might be, and had an odd feeling about that.

Oh well. Best to enjoy it while it lasts.

—

"Man, he's good." Abby remarked, looking down at the dance going on below. "Better get to work, though."

With that, she turned to look at the metal tank. "Now… Let's get the ugly bit going behind the scenes here. How do I decouple you without setting you off…?"

Pulling out a wrench, she began to fiddle with the tank. She then stopped, considered, and pulled out a bit of the neutralizing agent. "Better safe than sorry." she mumbled, quickly consuming it, before continuing to fiddle with the tank.

"Rick, how's that vault coming along?" she asked into her comm, keeping her attention on the tank of deadly toxins.

"Good enough. I've almost got it open. I didn't see a single guard."

"That's good to hear. I've found the gas tanks, but they're not easy to open. Looks like kind of a shoddy hookup to the vents, though, so I should be able to get it open. Problem is, I have no idea where the plug is in this thing."

"Plug?"

"Whatever they're using to keep the gas from flooding the vents. If it's close enough to the vent, then if I smash the connection I'm just letting the gas loose early."

"When'll the bad guy set that gas off anyways?"

"Unless I've missed my guess - and don't tell List this - when the party comes to a close, just before anyone leaves. The night's almost over, and I think he's holding off because he's watching the distraction just like everyone else."

"Wait, so you have to finish up there before List and the Inspector finish their dance?"

"Or everyone dies, yes."

"That's… That's pretty heavy."

"Indeed. But I think I've almost got it up here…"

—

"That's enough of the basic stuff, wouldn't you say?"

"You know, I could swear we have met before. And yes."

"I could never forget a woman like you." List grinned, as he loosened his grip just enough for her to fall halfway to the ground, catching her handily. A short pause followed, the raccoon giving a sly grin, before Alayna swung herself back up, and the dance began anew.

The thief knew all too well that the good Inspector wouldn't be fooled much longer, but hopefully the dance would distract her just as well as it did everyone else.

Well, knowing his teammates, they were almost done by now…

—

"Wow. This jury-rig is deceptively complex." Abby mumbled, her eyes widening. She had finally cracked open the first layer to find a complicated tangle of tubes and bolts.

"Okay, stay calm. It only looks complicated. It looks like… Yeah. Each bolt must correspond to a lock inside these tubes… Hm…"

A few seconds later, she began to feed the neutralizing agent through the output tube, grinning. It was took her a minute to finish opening the locks, making sure to close them back up as the chemical flowed through.

When she was finished, she shook the tank to thoroughly mix up the chemicals inside. "Aaaaand, neutralized. I should-"

She recoiled as the tube blew up halfway down its length, exposing one of the locks inside. After carefully regathering herself, she examined it.

"Weird… I guess there must've been some of the neutralized gas in there. It's explosive…?" she wondered, before a devious smile crossed her face.

—

As the dance continued, growing steadily more elaborate as lead and follow each attempted to push the other further and further, List grinned again.

"You're more familiar with this dance than you've let on?" he inquired, quickly spinning his dance partner into a double-time three-step, back to the precise center of the dance floor.

"As are you. You did not attempt anything nearly so complicated with your last partner." she replied, using the momentum to spin again, into a split-second dip.

"I've always been fairly nimble." he commented in return, pulling her back to her feet with a sly grin.

"So that's how I recognized you."

His blood ran cold as she gave him an amused grin.

"What precisely are you doing here, Voleur?"

"I swear I can explain." he started, dropping the fake accent, but she shushed him with a finger pressed against his lip.

"I told you to be quiet and dance, didn't I? I'll arrest you on the way out. Before that, though, I am enjoying this. Don't ruin the moment." the tigress told him, resting her foot on his as they stopped for a moment, both looking up at the chandelier above.

List shut up immediately, surprised by how mellow the Inspector was acting. Still, he couldn't keep quiet for long. As the two of them stepped forwards again, bringing their gaze back down, he spoke.

"How did you know? I thought I was doing pretty well." he asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

"It all fit together when you smiled. The same cocky smile you gave me every time we spoke… It's very easy to remember. It all made sense very quickly after that." she explained.

"And why haven't you stopped the dance yet?"

"Two reasons. First, you must have a reason to have approached me here. Second, you're the only person here I would agree to dance with, and isn't that a depressing thought. Every single person here is under investigation."

"Or an Interpol agent in disguise."

"Or that."

"Well, I'm quite flattered. It's rare to find a woman so dedicated to her job, yet who can put her professional opinion aside for a moment to enjoy a simple dance."

"Flattery won't save you from the painful end of my shock pistol, Voleur, and this is anything but a simple dance. Until the music ends, though, you're safe. When it ends… I've found everything I need to put everyone here in jail. End the night on a high note, no?"

"Was worth a shot. To be honest, I'm quite enjoying this distraction."

"Distraction. You're distracting our host?"

"And all the guards. If you haven't noticed, we're being watched… By everyone."

"Wonderful. I'll have to track down your friends as well."

"Might want to hold off until Abby disables the poison gas."

"The what?"

—

"Music's almost done, I don't have much time…" Abby growled, helping to get Rick loaded up. There was a lot of stuff here - valuable materials, rare components. It was all fairly lightweight, though.

"Did the plan change?" the bear asked, looking over at the jackal as he hefted a bag of loot.

"A little. I've decided to provide a small distraction to help List slip out." Abby grinned. "I'll catch up with you. Get going!"

"Got it! I'll pull the van around to pick you up!"

With that, the bear took off, moving with surprising speed despite his being loaded down with treasure. Grinning, Abby took off as well, headed for the upstairs area.

"Shame I wasn't able to put together a fuse for you. But you'll do nicely…" she grinned, stopping at the top of the stairs. She had a clear line of sight to the tank, now located on the balcony. The jackal pulled out her BB, loaded it with the proper ammo, flipped it to 'sniper' mode, and took aim…

"…For giving my friend cover on his way out."

As the music ended, she let a few seconds pass, then squeezed the trigger, sending an incendiary round hurtling towards the tank of volatile gas…

—

The dance continued as the music neared its end, having become quite thoroughly elaborate at this point.

"It's been fun, Voleur. Maybe I'll visit you in your cell." Alayna remarked, to a grin from List.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Inspector."

The music concluded with one final, elegant flourish - the follow spun into the lead's arms, lifted up ever so slightly as she moved just one step backwards, so that it looked for all the world like the tigress was sitting on the thief's lap. As the music concluded, both dancers took a moment to collect themselves, both surprised by just how intimate their ending stance had become, before List felt something pressing against his stomach.

"Uh-oh."

"Alright, boys. Everyone here is under arrest. If you'll look at the doorway, you'll find a large number of officers here to take you into custody." she announced, having finally pulled her shock pistol. The Interpol agents acted quickly, as their nocturnal host stared at his hand, seemingly struck dumb by whatever was going on over there. Handcuffs flashed as the stunned partygoers offered little resistance, but List just grinned.

"I'd say I was in trouble, but…" he grinned, just before a loud explosion sounded above, causing Alayna to recoil just a little. Acting quickly, he threw her into the air, then pulled something out of his pocket and threw it onto the ground in one swift motion.

As the agile tigress landed, she found herself standing in a cloud of smoke, cursing loudly as List snuck towards the door with the help of his Shadow Power.

Both were stopped by the shriek of the bat who had started the party.

"How?! HOW?! HOW ARE YOU ALL ALIVE?! YOU POLICE DOGS SHOULD BE DEAD! FINE! I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF!" the old bat shrieked, before whipping something onto himself. In mere moments he was wearing a full-body cloak and a mask straight out of the Black Death.

"DIE DIE DIE!"

This scream was accompanied by others as he began to fling around vials of an unidentifiable liquid, sending people screaming out of the room as these vials burst on impact. And when I say burst, I of course mean violently explode.

"Putain de merde. Officers, evacuate with the prisoners! I'll round this one up." the Inspector ordered, as List reappeared behind a column. She spun her pistol around in one hand, then pointed it at the old bat.

"'Plague Doctor', you are under arrest." she told him, before pulling the trigger.

—

A little short, but I think it was good. I wanted it not to be a total ripoff of the dance in Sly 2, so… Y'know.

Anyways, I've gotta get to work on the fight scene! Might take a little while, but I'm looking forwards to it.

List's cover has been blown, as has the Plague Doctor's scheme. But with the bat throwing around explosives, will anyone get out alive? Tune in next time for Chapter 14: Twice Shocked!

Review if you've a comment, fave if you'd like to, follow if you're up for it.

KeyFire, wishing I had a better title for next chapter. See you all then!