Paris, France, 4:20 a.m.
A clear night sky looms over the Eiffel Tower in the city of love. Most would say that is loving another person but it also means another type of love. The love of risk taking and the thrill of pulling off intense heists.
Amidst the night skies, two figures run across the darkened rooftops, hopping from one roof to the next. One with a tail leads the way as another follows closely behind. They approach one with a chimney and one pulls out a golden cane and swipes it, crashing it.
The first jumps in the air and the other does the same right behind him, eventually landing on a ledge. They shimmy along it until the first figure shows up in the light.
A raccoon with a blue hat, shirt, gloves and shoes with a red backpack on. The other soon creeps out into the light moving a bit slower. The other man is a brown-haired owl with golden yellow eyes. On his head is a red fedora with a black stripe and slicked back hair. He wears a red trench coat, to hide his gains, a black turtle neck, brown cargo pants, black gloves and red and black shoes.
The raccoon takes a peak and then hops on a neon lit sign that reads 'Le Police' and then hops to a nearby water tower located close to the edge of the roof. The owl does the same but as he lands on the water tower, he begins to lean back and lose his balance. Before he can fall off the roof, the raccoon grabs his arm and pulls him back, causing the owl to fall to a kneeling position.
"Woah," the owl says with a British accent. "That was too close. Thanks Sly."
"Anytime Mal," Sly says with a smile. "Other than the near miss, it looks like you're moving better than before."
"Yeah," Mal says standing back up and looking at his partner. "You make it look so smooth, like you were born and made to do this. I wish I moved like you."
"Well you just started a few years ago. I've been doing this since I was a kid so I've had a bit of a head start," Sly then pats Mal's shoulder reassuringly. "Just keep running with me and you'll be a master thief in no time."
"Thanks."
"Sly and Mal come in," a nasally voice said over the twos' comms. Making them pull out a pair of devices called binocucoms, one for each of them. "Slyyy, Maaal! Do you read me?"
"I read you," Sly responds back. "Loud and very loud."
"Same here Bentley," Mal says. "You ok? You seem really worried tonight?"
"Sorry," Bentley says. "I'm a little nervous. Breaking into police headquarters does that."
"Get over it Bentley you're safe in the van," Sly says back taking Mal aback a bit with his tone. "We're the thieves here. I have to steal that file from Inspector Carmelita Fox."
"Well count on me to be your eyes and ears buddy. I've got the place totally scoped. To get inside you'll need to go through that air vent." Bentley said as the two look at a nearby vent past another water tower.
"Ok Bentley," Mal said. "Sounds simple enough."
"And don't forget you got me behind the wheel guys," another voice says over the comms. "All you have to do is grab the file and get back to the van. We'll do the rest."
"Just keep that engine running Murray," Sly says. "We'll be back in no time." He and Mal put their binocucoms away.
"Don't be so hard on Bentley," Mal said to Sly. "He's just worried about us. This can go wrong in any number of different ways."
"I know but you know how important this file is to me. This will help us track down the Fiendish Five and reclaim the pieces of the Thievius Raccoonous and to get back at those that killed my parents."
"I'm with you all the way but don't let revenge and hate cloud your judgment. Remember we're putting our necks on the line too."
"Ok I hear you. Now if you don't mind, we need to get a move on."
"After you," Mal said letting Sly take the lead once again.
The two run along a rap leading up to the second water tower and shimmy along the ledge. When Mal finishes, he shoots Sly a confused look.
"What?" The raccoon asks.
"Nothing," Mal said back "Just, did you happen to see any weird red orbs along that ledge."
"Yeah but mine were blue. I think Bentley said something before about master thieves being able to do some incredible things at spots marked with those things."
"Huh, weird. Is that a good sign for me?"
"Yeah, looks like you're getting better already. Anyways, let's get a move on." Sly said and waves to continue. The two hop along some obstacles before they reach the air vent. A vent that has a weak entrance.
"You think a police station would have better vents."
"I know, seems like the budget doesn't cover good old heating and air conditioning. You want to do the honors?"
"Gladly." Mal says as he pulls out a pair of metal tonfas and bashes the vent panel to pieces in one strike. The two run through the large shaft until they reach a metal balcony. The thieves take a look down. Lasers sprouting in all kinds of directions with platforms scattered in between that grant some measure of protection from the lasers. Mal looks on surprised as Sly stands unfazed. "Guess we know where that budget went. How does this not faze you?"
"This is nothing," Sly said then proceeded to hop over the railing. Mal runs over to check over the railing to see his friend at the bottom, perfectly fine and having tripped no alarms. "See I told you."
"You make it look so easy. How do you suppose I'm going to get down there?"
"Stick to those platforms, you'll be able to dodge the lasers more easily. You can also try to do what I just did but I wouldn't recommend it for you. It's up to you though."
Mal thinks on it a second. He then leaps from platform to platform, barely dodging the lasers, until he too finally lands on the floor. Sly then whacks a siren nearby which disables the laser, much to Mal's surprise.
"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Mal asks annoyed.
"You're not gonna get better if things remain easy for you," Sly said. "We're going to be dealing with some heavy hitters so we need to be prepared for the toughest obstacles."
"Yeah you're right, let's go." The two approach a door and open it, revealing a hallway with doors leading to different offices. "Looks no one's around, just like the intel said."
"Well done you two," Bentley says over the comms. "Everything looks good from here. According to my research, Inspector Fox's office is behind the red door."
"Got it pal," Sly replies as the thieving duo walk the dark and quiet headquarters of Interpol. They hang a left before the stop at a point where the office goes either left or right. Sly continues down the path before stopping. The raccoon turns around and sees his partner looking at a green door with the silhouette of a lizard's head.
"Huh I wonder what's behind the door of dear old Inspector Caleb Walker," Mal says aloud. "What must he have on me, Malcolm Crawford?"
"I'm curious myself as to how he's more interested in you than me." Sly said.
"Must not want to get on Carmelita's bad side for busting you first. Girl has quite the temper."
"She really looks lovely when she's angry. Alright we're getting distracted and I don't want to linger more than we have to so lets get what we came for." Sly said as Mal nods, leaving the inside of the office a mystery to them. They then continue until they finally arrive at the office, marked with a red door and red Fox silhouette. Mal tries to open the door.
"Damn it's locked," Mal said frustrated. "Of course I didn't bring any lock picks."
"Well good thing for us that they left some windows open," Sly said as he stands on a balcony as Mal looks up.
"You can't be serious."
"Seems they are. Lucky us." Sly said as Mal joins him on the balcony. The duo see another one that leads straight to the Inspector's office. Shimmering along the narrow ledge connecting the two balconies, the thieves finally arrive in the office. It has photos of past crime scenes, a map of the world and a desk loaded with paperwork. But the ultimate prize lies near the fire escape exit. "There's the vault!" The raccoon points out.
"In the flesh, or metal."
"Alright, keep a lookout as I try to open it." Sly says as Mal nods and keeps a close eye on the door with his tonfas drawn.
"Way to go guys," Bentley says congratulating the two. "This is where Inspector Carmelita Fox stores all her important files. I've hacked into the police's security mainframe and found this vault code. Try dialing in 9-3-7." Sly enters in each number and sure enough, a clicking sound echoes through the office. The raccoon jumps and hits the wheel knob with his cane which promptly opens the vault, revealing Inspector Fox's file on both Cooper and the Fiendish Five. He grabs the file to which Mal turns around to take a look at it in Sly's hands.
"Nice," Murray says over the comms," you got it!Now if you head down the fire escape and go through the parking lot, we'll be waiting in the van."
"Got it Murray," Sly said before pulling out his calling card, a caricature of a raccoon in a blue mask, and placing it in the vault.
"Anything else we should grab?" Mal asks.
"No but did you want to grab anything else? You don't always have to follow my lead you know."
"Not really and I know. Just trying to learn from the best."
"You don't always have to try and emulate others you know. Now come on lets go." Sly said as the two move to the fire escape. When on it, they have a clear view of the parking lot with the van, sporting the Cooper gang logo on the back doors.
"There's the van like Murray said," Mal said pointing at the van. "Looks like this is gonna be an easy getaway."
"Criminals!" A Spanish sounding voice shouts. The two look up and see a fox with black hair leap out onto a nearby sign across the street. She sports an orange color jacket with a police badge in plain view with blue jeans and brown boots.
"And I spoke too soon."
"You foolish raccoon and owl. I've caught you two red-handed."
"Ah Carmelita," Sly said resting his cane on his shoulder. "We haven't seen you since we gave you the slip in Bombay."
"Ooh," Mal said, "fun job if I recall."
"Which reminds me, you need to return the Fire Stone of India to its rightful owner."
"Who are you to say who the true rightful owner of something is?"
"The one with a badge and shock pistol."
"Hey that thing really brings out the color in your eyes. Very fetching." Sly said.
"You think? This pistol packs a paralyzing punch you ought to try it. It might snap you out of your crime spree."
"And end our little rendezvous?"
"Plenty of time for that once the two of you are safely behind bars."
"Now you can't just attack us with that beautiful piece of machinery," Mal said, "we haven't tried attacking you. Just saying we have rights too you-" Blam! Carmelita shoots her pistol at the fire escape, hitting the shoddy equipment.
"We are breaking and entering," Sly said. "Run!"
The two begin dashing down the fire escape. Blam! Another pistol shot breaks the wooden ramp just as they get off it, they continue to dodge fire along the way until they land on the concrete of the parking lot.
"The van's straight ahead," Sly said to Mal who showed signs of getting tired, "come on!"
The owl follows the raccoon. Blam! Another blaster shot hits a nearby police cruiser, blowing it to pieces.
"Ok!" Mal said to himself. "Definitely don't get hit by that." One last wooden barrier stands between the two. Sly leaps over it and hops safely in the van. Mal does the same and makes a desperate dive into the van as he narrowly avoids a shot from Carmelita.
"Drive Murr drive!" Sly tells the hippo as he promptly takes off, the van speeding through the Parisian streets away from Carmelita and Police Headquarters.
"You cannot escape me criminals!" Carmelita shouts out as the van disappears from her sight, waving a fist in the air in frustration as Sly Cooper, once again, slipped right through her fingers.
"Do I have any singed hair?" Mal asks aloud to no one in particular while checking himself out in the back of the van. Sly meanwhile laughs at having escaped.
"I don't know but nothing quite beats," Sly said, now sitting in the passenger's seat, as he pulls out the police file, "a job well done."
"Nicely done you two," Bentley says, with his glasses and red bow tie, congratulating the two. "I was worried there at the end but you guys always manage to pull through.
"Hey you two deserve credit as well," Mal said.
"You two do most of the work," Murr said while still paying attention to the road. "I'm happy just staying in the van and driving. I'll leave the extreme stuff to you guys."
"Regardless we couldn't have done what we did tonight if we didn't work together," Sly said. "We're a team and family. Now because of this, we're a step closer to getting my inheritance back."
"So we're really going after the Fiendish Five now," Mal said.
"That is the plan yes," Bentley said.
"Getting nervous?" Sly asked.
"I am honestly," Mal said. "We've been talking about going after these guys since we were kids. It's just so surreal."
"It is. But enough nostalgia for now, we'll rest for the rest of the night and go through these files later. I think we all earned ourselves a nice celebration." Sly said as the gang continues until the reach a train car on the outskirts of Paris. A quiet place that's the perfect hideout for a band of thieves.
Inside the guys sit at a table in the small refuge with drinks on the table.
"Cheers!" The four bang glasses and promptly take drinks.
"Man we have come a long way since the cookie heist back at the orphanage." Mal said.
"Man that was over ten years ago," Bentley said. "I didn't think we could do it but we managed to get it just in time."
"I've never had cookies quite like those," Murray said. "That combination of chocolate chips and sugar." The gang collectively laugh at this.
"Good times guy," Sly said, "tomorrow we rest and study up on who we're hitting first of the Fiendish Five. But for now, we celebrate a successful a heist yet again."
"And here's to many more." Mal said raising a glass to that. The four continue to talk for a bit until Mal gets up and grabs an older, musty, book near his bed, located in a corner of the train car, as well as a pack of cigarettes. "I'm going outside for some air and for a smoke."
"You know smoking is bad for you Mal," Bentley said.
"I know." Mal said.
"Well don't let us stop you but try not to smoke too much," Sly said. "It'll affect your stamina."
Mal nods and heads out on their makeshift deck and has a seat on a chair, lighting up a cigarette with his lighter. He puts it in his mouth, blows a quick puff, and opens the book, beginning to write in it with his pen.
So the day is here, the day we finally start to go after the Fiendish Five, the group that killed Sly's parents and took the Thievius Raccoonous from him. I feel the invisible chains that have haunted me since I ran away from home that night have started to tighten.
The thing is I know all five of them. Well four of them I know a little bit so they likely won't remember me. But the leader I know more than even the police know. A man with such a deep hatred for the Coopers that I possibly can't fathom what birthed those feelings to begin with.
Feelings he wanted me to have, but couldn't because I couldn't since I myself never even met. If Sly ever finds out the truth, especially since I was the one supposed to kill Conner Cooper, I don't know what will happen. Will he hate me forever or remain friends with his main partner in crime for the past decade?
This man, who I feel watching me, watching us, even now is not only the leader of the Fiendish Five but also my father, Clockwerk.
FYI Malcolm, Sly, Bentley and Murray are all 21 in this fic. So they are of the legal age to drink.