Chapter Three
"Come on Dan! Let's split! I would face him if it was just him, but with that ragtag gang of his behind him, we don't have a chance." Scott said, to his straggling companion. Dan might be a muscle man upstairs, but downstairs it's a whole different story.
"I can't feel my legs! We have to have lost them by now!" Dan screamed, heaving with effort. Scott looks behind Dan to find Sly chasing after them on the rooftops and the rest on the streets below. He looks forward again and finds a huge jump in front of them, but a few. He then opens the book and flips through the pages until he reaches something saying, "Ninja spire jump"
"When thou come across a large casem, jump and pivot and thou shall land on tall, stalagmites as light as feather of hawk," he read aloud. "So I guess I jump and pivot. Dan! Knock down that chimney to get across, I'm for to try something." He said. Dan then charges ahead and rams into the chimney, unstabilizing it and it tips over. Dan then runs across.
"I hope this works." Scott said. He then jumps up and pivots while in the air and lands delicately on a high fence post.
"Well I'll be damned. Who would have thought it would actually work?" He asked himself. He then looks behind him to find Cooper and his gang closing in and quickly hops onto the other posts and gets to the other side and starts running with Dan.
"Whoa! Where did that come from?" Dan asked.
"This Thievius Raccoonous is turning out to be a real page turner." Scott said, looking at the book. A firework then whizzes past his head and burns part of his ear. He exclaims in pain and grabs his sizzling ear. Dan then stops and glares at the Panda King.
"Hey! Nobody hurts my buddy! Prepare to fill my wrath," he screamed. He then hops down and charges the Panda King.
"Dan, no!" Scott said, as his enraged friend charged the group. The Panda King lifted his massive paw and cast it aflame and-
Wham!
Dan is thrown through the wall of a building, revealing a cheetah holding a phone. "I'll call you back, Dave. I have to call Interpol." She then hangs up and starts to dial Interpol's number. Dan then gets up and charges the Panda King, sending him through a wall. An elderly dog is shown eating soup and seems to pay no heed to the fallen wall or Panda King.
"Dan! Get your butt up here now!" Scott yelled, barely fending off Cooper. Cooper swings his cane and hits Dan on the side of his face. Scott falls off the roof and grabs the gutter with both hands, dangling by a thread.
"Look Scott, just hand over the book. You know what I'm capable of with this cane in my hand." Sly said, tossing his cane up and down. Scott then tries to scramble up, but loses his footing and starts to dangle with one hand gripping the gutter.
"Oh yeah," he asked. He then uses his foot and knocks Cooper off his feet, causing him to fall backwards. His cane was sent high into the air and descend straight towards Scott. He then grabs it and uses it to hoist himself up. "What about when the cane's in my hand?" He asked. Sly then gets up and tries to land a punch, but Scott deflects it with the cane. He then uses it and trips Cooper again.
"Come on. Your making this almost too easy." Scott mocked. His left ear then flicks and he ducks just in time to avoid a helicopter... Bentley's helicopter. The copter then deploys a grapple hook and swipes the cane from Scott's hand and into Sly's.
"Thanks Bentley. Now what was that about making this too easy?" Sly asked. Him and Scott then began to duke it out again. Down below, Dan was fighting off the Panda King and Murray.
"Cower in the presence of the great Panda King, worm!" The Panda king roared. He then gets an uppercut to the head by none other than Dan's horn and sent sprawling into the nearest wall.
"Dude, just...shut...up! Seriously, how do you people stand this guy?" He screamed. He's then smacked into a wall by none other than "The Murrary".
"Now you will fill the wrath of The Murray!" He screamed. Him and Dan then start to charge each other. But right when they were going to crash, the blast from a lightning pistol comes out of nowhere and nearly fries them both.
"Where did that come from?" Murray asked. Another comes and almost hits Dan in the head. Then a barrage of ammo comes barreling at the both of them, forcing them both to retreat. Dan then hops on a cart and gets back on the rooftop to reveal none other than Carmelita.
"Oh nuts. I thought it was Inspector Ava." Scott said, appearing on the scene.
"It's nice to see you too, Scott. How about you just return what you stole and turn you and your ragtag gang into Interpol?" Carmelita asked, pointing at him.
"Us, ragtag? The trash is down there in the streets. Plus we haven't stolen anything... yet." Scott said.
"Oh really? Then why were running around the rooftops?" She asked, a hand on her hip.
"Trying to escape Cooper and his group of jokers. He's a little steamed because he thinks we stole something from because we're are his biggest rivals in thieving so why not think it was us?" Scott said.
"Sly's here? Where is he, is he hurt?" Carmelita asked, her voice stricken with worry.
"He's down there. But you might want to get a shovel to scrape him off the pavement." Scott said. Carmelita pushes past both of them. They then take off on the rooftops after she charged past.
"Nice distraction Scott. But do you think you could phone in Stew for some much needed assistance?" Dan asked. Scott then presses the button on his earpiece and hears a bit of static before a reply comes.
Where are you guys? Bentley has found me and I can't hold him off for long! Get over here!
"Hold on Stew! We're on our way!" Scott said.
"I was wondering where Bentley got to. I just thought he was somewhere with his wheel stuck in a pothole or something." Dan said. They then get to their hideout. It was an old abandoned water tower. It was rusted on the outside, but on the inside it's actually pretty high tech. But now it was riddled with holes of all sizes and looked liked it would topple over with just a gust of wind.
"Whoa. Who knew those two could do so much damage," Scott said. He then heads towards a leg of the tower and kicks it, which caused a ladder to fall down. But as he tries to climb, the rope is cut by a green dart.
"Ah Wheelie! We were wondering where you got to." He said. A green turtle in a wheelchair comes into view.
"Oh nice one, fur face. Why don't you hold still, like a good dog," Bentley said. His wheelchair then deploys a dart launcher. "And take your medicine." He said. He then starts to fire tranquilizers at them. Scott then runs towards a fallen piece of the tower and runs behind it. Dan then quickly follows.
"Stew, do you read us? Stew?" Scott screamed. A loud blast of static, which caused Scott's ears to ring comes before a reply is heard. But it was weak and feeble.
Guys, is that you? I'm stuck under a pile of rubble... inside the hideout. Help...me The line then goes dead.
"Dan, we've got to get inside before Stew breathes his last breath. He's trapped under a piece of rubble inside." Dan tilts his head to find Bentley wheeling there way, but his dart launcher was put away.
"Scott, time for the ole' horn throw." Dan said, standing up. Scott then backs up some before charging at him. He hops on Dan's horn and with all of his might, he flings Scott towards the hideout and through one of the holes.
Inside the tower
Scott makes it through the hole, but doesn't land with much grace.
"Gotta work on those landings." He said. He then gets up and looks at the current state of the hideout. Their computer was totaled, which meant all of their defenses were shot.
"Damn it! If Cooper shows up, we won't be able to use the defenses now," Scott said, looking at the fried computer screen. "Stew? Can you hear me?" He screamed.
Scott?
"Stew!" He said, running towards his fallen comrade. The poor swallow's beak was red from the blood dripping out of his mouth. From his torso down, he was trapped under a pile of rubble. His wings were intact and in one of them was a first-aid kit.
"Hold on Stew! Hold on!" Scott said, grabbing the first-aid kit. He then uses a stray piece of metal and uses it to move enough rubble to get Stew out.
"Can you feel your legs? Are you becoming Bentley?" Scott asked. Stew glares at him.
"No, I am not handicapped. Most of the rocks made a sort of dome over my legs, so they only hurt extremely when I move them." Stew said, as Scott wrapped his legs. Scott then puts one of the wings over his shoulders and helps him towards a hole big enough for them to go through. But as they were prepared to jump out, a firework comes through and almost sizzles Scott's other ear.
"Damn! I was hoping Cooper wouldn't show his ugly mug, but that can't even go right." Scott said. They both then hear a loud horn go off from down below. They look down to see Dan in there team car. It was a Jaguar with black paint coloring and white leather seating.
"Hold on Scott! I'm about to try something!" Stew said. He then pushes both of them out of the hole and opens his wings wide with Scott holding onto his neck. They both land into the car and Dan takes off.
"I knew you could fly Stew! I knew-Stew?" Scott stopped his proud rant when he sees Stew gazing at nothing.
"Don't make me do it again." Stew wept. Scott sighs and puts his hands behind his head. But one thing was on his mind when he heard police sirens in the distance...
Where would they go?
R&R!