SQ: (Skids out on a large stage with Faye) So, so sorry. I had a small case of writer's block, I was swamped with homework, I was trying to get an early lead on several chapters, including my personal favorite part near the end, and there were a whole lot of other complications. And for those who keep asking, no I cannot update faster. I am human and I cannot spit out a chapter a day. Wish I could, then we would be done by now, however, I try to do Sly as a Cooper whenever there's time. Over a hundred reviews… No one has any idea how happy I am about that. :D …That doesn't even come close.
Faye: -.- We're going to be at the four-year anniversary of this thing before we get to Jean Bison…
Trinity: (Walks out on stage nonchalantly) Well, that's a possibility.
(Audience applauds loudly)
SQ: (Goes wide-eyed) Whoa! It's Trinity!
Faye: I thought-
SQ: Hold that thought until after the chapter. As a small note, some of the dialogue, like Rajan's first intercom announcement, have been slightly modified.
Disclaimer: …Do I really have to say it? (Speaks into megaphone) I do not own Sly Cooper or any related copyrights. (Turns off megaphone) Thank you.
Chapter 16: Dangers Get Real
Faye and Natasha with Josie in her arms dropped down into the entrance of the catacombs leading to Rajan's Spice Grinder, landing on a bouncy mushroom and springing onto the ground safely. Stone walls surrounded them with torches adorning the rocky surface. Ahead were two routes filled with moving and non-moving lasers that blocked their path on either side and a hatch in the wall was in between the halls with a torch on both sides. Directly below the shoot was a TNT barrel on the ground. Natasha held Josie protectively and gazed at all the lasers.
"Where are we?" she asked quietly. As if on cue, Rajan's voice came over the intercom,
"Attention guards, make sure all laser fences are operational to protect the spice grinder. The security boxes have been acting faulty as of late and they need to be in top condition!"
"My guess," Faye said, "Rajan's Spice Grinding Facility." Feeling it was safe to let the others know, she dialed Bentley at the safe house, "Bentley, we just found Rajan's Spice Grinding Facility. Natasha and I are going in to destroy it." Bentley replied,
"Are you sure that's where you are?"
"Positive," Faye said coolly. "Rajan just came over the intercom telling his guards to make sure the lasers were operational. Natasha and I will take it out and come back to the safe house."
"Hmm…" Bentley paused in thought before continuing, "Rajan won't come out of hiding while Spice is still being manufactured… If we destroy the grinder he'll be out of business and have no reason to stick around the temple!" Faye smiled,
"Which means we'll be able to get out of here faster and leave Inspector Fox to wrap things up when she eventually arrives like Clockwork."
'At least we would if Neyla wasn't going to interfere and Rajan comes out without Bentley having to destroy the dam.' Natasha giggled,
"He he. She always ends up coming to the scene of the crime after you guys leave. It said so in my step-dad's police reports," she stopped laughed and asked Bentley earnestly, "So can we do it?"
"Well…" there was a painfully long silence that seemed to be longer than it actually was before he spoke again, "…Okay then. Just don't get too audacious. You have no idea what might be down there. I expect to see you three back here. And be careful," Bentley stressed his last words to get his seriousness across. Faye smiled slightly as she responded,
"We'll try."
"Don't just try. Remember the nearest hospital is-" Faye recited with him,
"A hundred and six miles away." He stopped talking as Faye spoke, "I know. We'll do our best not to get hurt."
"Okay then. And if you find anything that seems useful, bring it back."
"Got it Turtle-nator," Faye joked as she ended the conversation, slightly chuckling to herself.
"How are we going to get through here, Faye?" Natasha asked quietly, standing in the middle of the hall.
"Take a look. Can you see it?" Faye said, wanting Natasha to figure it out for herself. Natasha looked at the security box, static across the screen. She walked over to the other set of lasers and again saw no way to get through. She turned to the TNT barrel then peered up at the security box. She faced Faye,
"How do I use this?"
"It's kinda – aw, heck – it's totally dangerous," Faye said as Natasha looked at the barrel again.
"Can you show me?" the panther asked. Faye's stomach lurched; one false move and either one of them would be dead. She wanted to retch, but managed to keep it down.
"What am I going to do, Yami?" Faye mentally freaked. "This isn't a game. I could get through this part without a scratch in the game, but now…"
"Relax. I'll help you. First, approach the barrel," Yami told her. Faye moved her stiffened legs towards the explosive barrel. Natasha took notice of Faye's somewhat inflexible limbs as she nervously looked inside the keg.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked. Faye looked at Natasha and smiled tensely,
"O-of course. It's the only way we can get through." Yami echoed,
"Okay. Now step inside. It will not start the countdown to explode until your body heat leaves the container." Faye gulped and did as Yami instructed, praying that the explosives would not go off. She took a moment and looked at Natasha,
"Go stand over by the mushroom. You don't want to be caught in the explosion." Natasha nodded and did as she was told and sauntered over to the toadstool. "And hold Josie tight; don't let her get away." The little panther held Josie close herself as Faye shut her eyes tight and sank into the barrel.
"You're doing great," Yami reverberated in Faye's mind. "Now, slip your hands under the barrel or find the handles and lift. Then move to where you want it to explode and let go of the handles." Faye found two handles near the bottom and gripped them, anxiety still coursing through her. She hoisted the barrel up and tiptoed to the security box, fearful of the TNT going off at any second. She sat the barrel near the security device, but did not let go of the handles. Yami spoke again,
"Now pay attention: it's very important you get this last step right. Without stopping, stand up and jump out of the barrel. Then keep running away from the red light around the barrel." But Faye was frozen. She was not sure whether or not to let go of the handles. Explosives surrounded her and she was slightly shaking at the thought that they might go off.
"Let go of the handles. I promise, all you have to do is stand, jump out, and get away from the red light. That's it," Yami said, trying to encourage Faye.
"Faye?" Natasha inquired with wonder. She peeked around the corner just before Faye said,
"Stay there, Natasha. Don't come any closer." Natasha backed away and crouched in a corner with Josie in her lap. Faye took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay." Faye leaped straight up and hit her head on the cavern ceiling.
"Ahh!" she yelped in pain as she fell down to the ground, back first. She groaned in pain when a red light flashed in her face and beeping reached her ears. Within the split second those two reached her senses, she knew that she was near the TNT barrel, especially when another half second later Natasha cried out,
"Faye!" Faye rolled out of the way as the beeping grew faster. The barrel exploded, scattering metal and rocks as smoke rose upwards and out the entrance Natasha and Faye had come in. Josie got startled and struggled to break free of Natasha's grip. Natasha held her as tightly as possible without hurting the kitten, but Josie sprung from her hold and ran through the clearing smoke. Faye groaned as she got to her feet, having only just made it out of the blast radius. Natasha ran over to her as Faye held her head.
"Faye, are you okay?" she asked. Faye coughed from the smoke as it fully cleared up and a visible path led to the second security box. Natasha gasped as she saw Josie's tail disappear just past the lasers. Faye shakily got to her feet and took several deep breaths to calm her nerves. Faye said in a somewhat shaky tone,
"I…I think-" Bentley's frantic, worried voice suddenly came over her earcom,
"Faye! Are you okay? There was an explosion from your end! What happened?" Faye pressed in her earcom's dial,
"Y-yeah. I had to use a TNT barrel…to get in farther. Uhh…" she held her head with her right hand, "I just hit my head on the ceiling. I'll be okay after everything stops moving."
"Maybe you should come back to the safe house, Faye," Bentley said, "I'll send Sly-"
"Please, no!" Faye blurted out, "I really want to do this." A sudden thought like a jolt hit her: she had not even stopped to think about Natasha's feelings or well being in the job. It had just been an outline clouded by the desires to stop the Klaww Gang and get a mission done early along with mixed feelings about stamping out Neyla and getting back home. Natasha pushed in the dial on her own earcom,
"And I want to help her," Faye gazed at her in slight bewilderment, "Besides, Josie ran off and I have to find her." Bentley sighed from his side of the conversation,
"Don't be so gallant in trying to get to Rajan's Spice Grinder. It may be a huge part of Rajan's spice operation, but we don't need to lose the two of you to bring it down."
"We understand, Bentley," said Faye, "This isn't a game. If we die, we're maggot food."
"Yech!" Natasha sounded, sticking out her tongue in disgust as the image went through her mind. Bentley radioed the two of them,
"My thoughts exactly. Now go on and destroy that Spice Grinder. We'll be waiting here at the safe house for you to return…in one piece." With that, the turtle ended the conversation, leaving Faye and Natasha to their mission.
"Shall we?" Faye asked as she headed back to get another TNT barrel.
"Let's," Natasha replied with a devious smile as she retreated to the corner she hid in before.
"Are you sure you can-" Yami was interrupted by Faye's thoughts,
"Whether I'm sure or not, I have to do this. Natasha's life won't be taken for my stupidity. Besides, this had to be done sooner or later." By the time Faye was done conversing with Yami, she was standing in front of another explosive keg that had been deposited earlier. She took a deep breath, let it out and climbed inside the barrel, shutting her eyes tight in fear.
"If you make it through this," said Yami, "I will show you whatever you want from the false reality." Faye silently gulped as a question formed in her mind, though she would have to wait until later to ask. Later when the Cooper Gang would be incarcerated and taken to Contessa's prison. Faye tiptoed to the moving barrier of three horizontal, red laser beams blocking her way to the second security panel. She waited till two slid to the left and one to the right before moving through their pathway and setting the barrel down where she needed it. Controlling her jumping prowess this time, Faye leaped out of the barrel and rolled away from the blast radius, tucking in her arms and legs with her cane pressing against the front of her lower legs to keep them near.
"Why in the world does this feel like déjà vu?" Faye thought to herself, trying for a moment to figure out why the position seems so familiar. The explosives detonated and the security box was consumed in the blast. Small loose pebbles from the walls fell to the ground as Faye uncurled herself and Natasha walked up.
"How're we going to get through that?" she asked, pointing to two consecutive laser obstacles. The first was a set of three lasers; one swept across the floor while the other two stood idly. The second was another set of moving horizontal lasers, this time easier to pass. Faye waited for the floor laser to reach the farthest end on her left before jumping into the space that it would swept through again. Just as it was coming back, she leaped forward, much like a cat, through the wall of lasers and landed, tumbling once and stopping on all fours. Faye turned back and saw Natasha biting her lower lip as she stared at the lasers.
"You can do it," Faye whispered just loud enough for the panther to hear. Natasha looked back up in fear. "Just imagine how you would get through them. The lasers are in a repeating pattern so just pick a moment and go." Natasha nervously gazed at the security lasers, as if trying to figure out when to advance. After a while of watching, she shook her head,
"I can't make it. …I'll just wait here for you." Faye's eyes searched the ground before she looked back up at Natasha and said,
"Okay. But if you hear a guard coming, get through the lasers quickly. We'll think of an escape strategy afterwards."
"Uh-huh," Natasha nodded as Faye turned down a hallway of three spotlights. Yami echoed,
"There are guns hidden in the spotlights. If you're caught in them, you'll be shot." Faye shrugged,
"Doesn't faze me. I used to pretend things like this when I was little. I can get through this no problem." Faye moved to the right side of the corridor and ran forward when a spotlight swept away from her. She dodged one after another, sprinting the entire way and making it to the end without a hitch. Faye smirked to herself and peered at the six jars on the ground. She raised her cane above her head and was about to smash them open when she stopped and stooped down to peer inside a large one. Inside were a few coins, which Faye pocketed before carrying on. She sighed and shook her head at the two, farther-than-necessary-apart triple laser obstacles bobbing up and down in rhythm.
"How come the bad guys never do the criss-cross laser thing? Or even invisible lasers?" Yami answered,
"It's so their own guards can maneuver through it easier. I know: it's ridiculous." Faye slapped her forehead and mentally sighed,
"I swear, I could make a better security system. And don't tell me monkeys made this thing."
"Actually, apes did." Faye rolled her eyes as she proceeded to the first 'barrier.'
"Figures." As soon as the lasers were above her head, Faye ducked and swiftly moved to the other side. "I know it was easy in the game, so…maybe I should appreciate the easiness right now. Especially on Arpeggio's blimp when we have to get three charges." Faye shuddered as the image of the barrel used in the job exploded, shrouding whoever was near it in a fiery blaze. "I really hope we don't blow it…" The next barricade was faster as Faye sprinted towards it, curling up into a ball at the last moment as the lasers rose and rolled under them. She stopped on all fours, got up, and brought out her binocucom. Bentley's image appeared on the left screen as Faye whispered,
"I'm in the Spice Grinder room," she zoomed in on the Grinder in the middle of the room, "I think I can blow it up, but I need a TNT barrel and the only ones are back at the entrance past some ground lasers."
"Hmm…" Bentley paused for a moment before speaking, "Start by getting a hold of that TNT down there." Faye peered her binocucom down below the Spice Grinder to where two rhino guards were patrolling near a TNT barrel. "There's probably a route from down there to your location without any floor lasers. And it's worth mentioning that guards won't be able to detect you if you stay still while in the TNT barrel."
"Hides me and it makes a good defense…as long as I'm not in it when it explodes."
"Right. Just place the explosive near the grinding wheel and it'll be blown to bits." Faye nodded before ending the conversation and placing her binocucom in her side pack. She crouched as she waited for the two rhino guards below, walking in opposite directions, to cross paths. As soon as they did, Faye jumped down without a sound and took long, careful steps towards the TNT barrel. As she did, she spotted a black ball of fur peak from behind it. Faye reached the keg and, upon discovery of Josie crouching beside it, smiled softly.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Natasha leaned against the wall where she had been left. She watched the lasers bob up and down and listened for footsteps to approach her from any direction. A resonating explosion caused her attention to be drawn past the laser obstacles. She gasped before noticing an orange figure beyond the smoke.
"Faye?" she whispered. Heavy footsteps advanced and Natasha backed up a few paces. A rhino guard was searching the area were a wall of security beams had been. After a few tense moments, he left, shaking his head and grunting to himself. Natasha gulped and peeked down the way, scarcely breathing. Moments passed when finally another set of footsteps came, though this time they were softer. From the bend in the cavern came a walking explosive with a familiar head on top.
"Faye!" she whispered. Faye smiled,
"Guess who?" Josie's head peeked out from the barrel and Natasha chuckled. "Get to the other corridor. I'm going to blow up the security box so you can get Josie." Natasha smiled and nodded, saying,
"Alright. Thanks, Faye." Faye picked the barrel up again and made her way down the passage with spotlights. She stopped and ducked into the barrel whenever a light was about to sweep over her and resumed sneaking when the light passed. She crept to the security box at the end of the hall and set the barrel near it. She let go of the inner handles, grabbed onto Josie, and leapt out of the keg, tumbling out of the blast radius. Within seconds, the explosives detonated and Josie dug her claws into Faye's arms. She winced in pain and quickly cleared the three laser beams, one sluggishly sweeping the floor while the others were dormant. Josie immediately jumped out of her grip and into Natasha's arms.
"Shh… It's okay, Josie. It's okay," Natasha said soothingly, trying to calm down her cat.
"I'm going back in," said Faye, "Stay here and hide if someone comes." With that, she crossed over the lasers again and made her way back to the second floor of the Spice Grinder room. She poked her head inside and looked around.
"Do you remember how you got through this part in the game?" Yami asked.
"Unfortunately, yes," Faye answered, wanting to thunk her skull against the wall for being so stupid. When she did not respond immediately, Yami inquired,
"What is it?" Faye mentally slapped herself,
"I have to knock out the guards to get the TNT barrel into the spice basin."
"So lure them away," Yami insisted, "You can imitate Rajan pretty well. All you have to do hack into the intercom and order them to leave." Faye pondered for a moment before a sly grin spread over her face.
"…Or accept a new employee… Any idea on how to access the intercom system?"
"You're lucky I was here for a spell," Yami said as Faye moved back down the corridor, "First, you'll need to find a wire leading to the intercom system. It's usual somewhere easily accessible in case maintenance is needed, but it's also hidden to prevent sabotage."
"Great. So where is it?" Faye put her hand on the wall, feeling for anything suspicious or out of place. Yami's voice resonated,
"I don't know," Faye groaned as Yami continued, "All I remember is something breaking in the background." Faye raised an eyebrow as she rounded the corner and spotted the pottery.
"Something like a jar, maybe?" She reached inside a large urn and felt around the bottom. She pulled out her hand in failure and dust, blowing on it and wiping it on her shirt.
"Nothing," she muttered. She reached out for another jar and stopped. After a moment, she pushed the earthenware crafts aside with her cane. The large one in particular refused to move an inch. Faye chuckled and grinned, teeth showing eerily, as she raised her cane and brought it down forcefully upon the pottery.
"That…made Neyla's smug face look nice," Yami commented. Faye, half-hearing Yami's remark, only murmured,
"Huh…" She looked down at a small box in the ground generating a small buzzing noise. A small cover was held in place by a few screws. Faye drew a claw from her right index finger and used the very end as a screwdriver to twist the screws one by one from their places. The claw was neither broke nor bent by the time she was finished. She then carefully lifted the plate and set it aside, peering inside the device. Faye chuckled and thought,
"This is starting to feel like a video game already."
/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Back at the safe house, the gang awaited around the table, listening for any messages that might come through. Sly intently watched the radio, Bentley typed away on his laptop with a headset over his head, and Murray stared out at the worsening storming outside. Sly shifted his gaze to Bentley and was about to speak when his brainy pal beat him to the punch,
"I'm still getting a signal, Sly. Don't worry," he looked up from his laptop, "Besides, I thought you said she was a natural born thief?" Sly leaned over the table with his left arm resting on it as he spoke,
"She has the potential, but she needs practice. I'm not even sure she's been thieving for that long." Bentley nodded, returning his gaze to his laptop for a moment,
"That's highly probable considering her actions." He looked back up at Sly who had lowered his head. A rare intensity burned in his eyes, as if he was trying to figure something out. "…That's not your main concern, is it?" Sly shook his head, not peering up,
"Something happened out there… Faye was scared but…I don't think it was from the guards…" Faye's frightful voice echoed through his mind.
"S-S-S-S-Sly? Would you…still be my friend…even if… Even if…"
Murray unexpectedly spoke up, turning around with his hands on his hips,
"Not to worry! 'The Murray' will instill bravery into our young friend so that nothing will ever make her quake in fear again!" He flexed his muscles and put on a confident face as Bentley and Sly looked up at him. Sly gave a slight smile in part to his friend's simple answer; the other in that it might be needed.
"Hmm…" Bentley pondered, "Perhaps I could teach her to hack… At least through simple levels of firewalls." Sly chimed in,
"And what harm could there be in teaching her a few Cooper family moves?"
"None," Bentley said, beaming. Static came over the radio preceding Natasha's voice,
"Bentley…? Anybody…?" Bentley pushed a key and said,
"What's the matter, Natasha?"
"I think we're almost done," she said, "Faye found something in the ground and-"
"Attention guards!" came a rough voice in the background, "I have sent over a new recruit to help protect the spice grinder! Any disputes and I will personally send you down the river!"
"Doesn't sound like Rajan," Sly commented. Natasha giggled from her end of the line,
"Faye imitates Rajan really good."
"Uh-oh!" Murray said, looking outside the safe house.
"What?" Sly asked, walking over to see what caught his eye.
Walking about the temple ruins was none other than Rajan. In his hand was a staff with half of the Clockwerk heart on it.
"That's not good," said Sly, "If he gets to the Spice Grinder room…" Bentley got up from his seat and peered outside as well. Upon spotting Rajan, his eyes bulged,
"We have to keep him away from Faye and Natasha's location," he looked at his partners in crime, "Sly, you go get Faye and Natasha, Murray, you stay here in case they come back," he grabbed his crossbow from the table and cocked it, "I'll keep Rajan distracted."
"Alright," Sly said as he grabbed his cane, "Let's go." Bentley quickly contacted Natasha as Sly left and Murray sat down,
"Whatever you do, don't leave without Faye. Contact my earcom when you're done."
"Um…okay…" Natasha said, puzzled why Bentley said what he did. With that, he ran out the door as fast as his little turtle legs could carry him.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Natasha shook her head as she watched Faye stand up and make her way into the room ahead.
"Faye, no!" she cried, whispering just low enough so the guards would not hear. Faye, however, was already praying her plan would work, though it depended on the intelligence of the rhinos she was coming upon. As she neared, she said in a slightly British female voice,
"Rajan sent me to take care of things 'ere. A bit fretful, don't you think?"
'That was awful.' The first rhino was about to advance on her when the one patrolling the basin of spice put his hand on the other's shoulder to stop him.
"Jarvis, do you really want to get on Rajan's bad side?" Jarvis growled,
"He must be really paranoid if he's sending a female to guard the spice grinder." He moved his light forward to get a good look at Faye, but she stepped back and said,
"I'm afraid I have a trifle liking for the darkness. I will keep watch over the entrance while you blokes patrol the basin. Is that clear?"
"Crystal!" said the second rhino. Jarvis merely muttered as he shook his head,
"Yeah, yeah…" Faye smiled as the two rhinos began patrolling the spice grinder in opposite directions. As soon as they turned away from her, she jumped down to the level below and hopped inside another TNT barrel. Once again, she waited for the guards to pass before tiptoeing towards the cavern of lasers.
"I can't believe that worked…" Yami echoed as Faye sneaked by the guards.
"I know. I mean, I know that they can be fooled by a moose head on a pink hippo, but that was just ridiculous," Faye thought as she waited for a rhino guard to pass before entering the subterranean passage. After a moment, she moved past the guard and into the passageway, making her way to the spotlights. She took a deep breath then moved on, taking care of each step she took. There was no need to rush and fail being so close to her mission's goal. She made sure to keep to one side of the corridor and stopped when necessary so the spotlight above her would not detect her. As Faye made it to the end, she heard Natasha say with excitement,
"Faye!" She set the barrel down and saw Natasha waving from the other side of the floor lasers. "Make sure to get me a picture of the spice grinder!" Faye nodded, concentrating more on not blowing up, and moved onward down the last corridor. She passed the lasers without much effort as far as strategy went; she was using more energy on carrying the barrel and tiptoeing than anything else.
As Faye came into the spice grinder room, everything went black. A flash of lightning brought her to her senses and rain fell upon her, though Faye was not paying much attention to it. What disturbed her more was that an ugly baboon was staring her right in the face with an evil grin. He wore a drenched white lab coat from what she could see from her point of view and there was a feeling of not being in the jungle anymore as there were no trees around them.
"Ah… A Homo sapien…" he said sinisterly, "You will make an interesting guinea pig." Lightning flashed in front Faye before the dimness of the spice grinder room came back to her eyesight. Still in the barrel, she held her head and closed her eyes tight.
"Who the heck was that?" she said to herself. Faye opened her eyes, "I've never seen him before…" She shuddered as the crazed primate's words and silently prayed that he was from the false reality. Taking a shaky deep breath and letting it out, Faye took out her binocucom and focused on the spice grinder. She took a snapshot and put her gadget back in her thigh pack, grasping the handles at the bottom and carrying on towards the basin in the middle of the room. She stopped on the wooden walkway leading to her destination and let go of the inner handles. She was shaken and unsureness started to take over her. Faye gripped her hands together and slowly took a deep breath to steady herself. She grabbed the inner handles one last time and, when the rhino guard had crossed paths in front of her, quickly sneaked over to the basin and set the TNT barrel down. Swiftly, Faye leaped out of the keg and somersaulted out onto the walkway just as the dynamite detonated, sending the rhinos flying off the sides and into the other two guards below. All four were knocked unconscious as Faye, in an adrenaline rush, sprinted back to where she left Natasha and Josie. As she did, Rajan's voice came over the intercom,
"What's going on down there? Looks like Spice production has fallen behind! Wait…it's completely stopped!" Natasha came jogging up with Josie in her arms. She smiled and said,
"You did it!"
"Yeah. Now let's run," Faye said shortly as she started running towards the floor lasers left from the explosion of a security box. "And good job getting past the lasers," she added, leaping over said lasers with Natasha right behind her. Though they stopped short upon seeing a familiar figure drop down from above and landing gracefully on the ground. Sly ambled over to Faye and Natasha and stopped in front of them.
"Are you guys…girls okay?" he asked, "Bentley sent me out to see if you needed help." Natasha shook her head vigorously,
"We did okay. Faye just blew up the Spice Grinder and it was all-" Natasha made several explosion noises before speaking again, "It was awesome!" Faye shook her head, figuring Natasha caught a glimpse of the explosion and imagined the rest, and smiled,
"I took a few bumps from the ceiling," she rubbed her head, "But we're okay."
"Alright," said Sly, "It looks like you had things under control. Let's get back to the safe house." Natasha and Faye walked behind Sly as he led the way out. He stopped after a few steps and said,
"You two go on ahead. There's something I need to do."
"Okay," Natasha and Faye said in unison as they walked over, and bounced on, the strange fungus. Sly pressed in the dial on his earcom and whispered,
"They did just fine Bentley. I told you she had potential." Bentley responded,
"That may be, but we had better keep an eye on both her and Natasha. Natasha's too young and inexperienced and it seems that this was indeed Faye's first time out on the field."
"You did well on your first field job. I mean, how many teenagers, nevertheless a human, get a job with TNT barrels and make it out without getting blasted?" Sly asked, using that Cooper charm of his. Bentley replied casually,
"Yes, well, as remarkable as it is that a supposedly extinct species is turning into the thief of tomorrow, she still has a lot to learn." Sly smirked a bit,
"Yeah, yeah. We'll stick to the plan and give them a push in the right direction."
"Just remember to stay clear of Rajan while you return to the safe house," Bentley warned, "I'll concentrate on getting the blueprints off of Rajan." Sly nodded as he responded,
"Got it. We'll meet you back at the safe house." Sly put up his binocucom and bounced on the mushroom with one thing in mind: Getting back to the safe house with Faye, Natasha, and Josie in one piece.
SQ: (Looks at file marked "U.N.D.A.") Oops! No one was supposed to see that. (Crumples up paper and stuffs it in pocket) Now, a few notes to get out of the way. I reposted edited versions of most, if not all, of the chapters for grammical mistakes and more. The old versions have been uploaded elsewhere to preserve them, so don't freak. Second, I try not to offend people when choosing and using guard names and if I have I am really sorry about that. The déjà vu feeling Faye got was because that was the way Sly rolled in the first game. I had a list of which Cooper ancestor made what move, but I have to look for it still. (grumbles) I have also been playing the new Zelda game and have been reminded of what stories and games are all about: the surprises. He heh. If you thought the whole Yami Faye thing was shocking, wait till you see what's in store for the next chapter. It'll knock your socks off and bound to drop jaws. Ahem. Well we might as well get on with what we were talking about before.
Faye: I don't get why you're here, Trinity. Weren't you-
Trinity: Looking up the script for the sequel? (Looks to audience) You heard me.
SQ: (Laughs) That's right! There's going to be a sequel to this fanfiction. I just have a little trouble on the title, but there's plenty of time before the finale for that. Heh heh. I wish I could tell more, but it would ruin the surprise. (Bursting with excitement; smiling)
Faye: The insane brain of SmashQueen works again.
SQ: Heh, heh. If I said everything I have in store, people would freak. And I'm not talking about the plot. Until next time…
SQ, Faye, and Trinity: May the light of the moon lead the way to the master thief!
SQ: And I've come from the future to put in another edit/note. Whoop-dee-doo. 'Teach Faye some family moves? Idiot!' Well, I never said they were going to be excellent ones. Maybe just brush up on the Rail Walk or pick-pocketing or something. Simple stuff, ya know? Now go on to the next chapter.