Chapter Four: Labyrinth

Inside the van is a twitching blue foot that craves for some action. The rest of the gang stands in front of the open back doors of the van. It is late afternoon and Sly can't take only seeing Bentley, Murray, Isabella and Aaron in front of him.

Sitting with his arms crossed over his chest, the raccoon snarls. "Ugh! How long will we wait for those three?!"

"Patience Sly," Bentley sighs while rolling his eyes. "Mind you, one is coming from China, one is coming from the Atlantic Ocean, and the other... Hmm, I don't know about where he was at the time I contacted him yesterday. They all said they would be here today. Sure they are a little late but-"

Sly launches from the van. "But nothing! They all have one job, and so do we. They need to be here on time! Plus, we could've gotten to Vex's old lair by now and save my son! It's been how long since we waited for them?! One hour?! Going on two?!"

Everyone looks at Bentley, who is checking his watch. "Twenty-four minutes."

"Whatever!"

Sly storms away from the van with tight fists. "I'm not waiting any longer! I refuse to sit back and wait while my son is being raised by some maniac! You wouldn't know how that feels!"

He ignores their pleas to come back and to not do this. His mind of thought is stuck on one goal, and he will fight with all the willpower and energy he has to save Scott. Could Scott be in this place? Is it really that easy? If Scott is here, then so would Professor Vex. Flashbacks of his one on one fight with Vex months ago paint Sly's vision as he sprints. Sly snaps out of these flashbacks once he feels lighter; as if he was flying. His feet continue to move but it has nothing to run on. Though he feels like he's flying, everything inside him feels like they are falling.

That's where that weird feeling comes in.

Sly can already feel his bruises forming on his legs and arms once his body plummets to the hard ground. This place is fairly lit with torches, the ground and walls are twice as cold as it is outside, and he faces four paths in front of him. Each path seems to go their separate way and the walls that separate them connect the ceiling and ground together. The raccoon stumbles up, rubs ahead and looks down each empty hallway. "What is this?"

His voice easily bounces all of these walls, causing echoes that last. "Where am I?"

None of these hallways have anything threatening. Just standing here wastes too much time. Sly must take action.

The lost father dashes in the first hallway as he prepares himself for any upcoming conflict. He makes countless left turns, right turns, comes across intersected paths, runs into dead ends and scuttles straight down long hallways. "Is this a trap?"

Eventually, Sly stops to breathe. "Is this where they did their meetings? If so, did these guys know where to go? It seems so impossible!" At the spot Sly pulls out his binocucom to call Bentley, only to find out he has no signal to do so. "Damn!"

Sly turns around, trying to find his way back. With each step he regrets leaving the gang more and more. They would've followed him, right? Bentley and the gang should be looking for him right now. It seems almost hopeless to retrace his steps if he never cared to memorize or track his path down. Now he regrets being impetuous like this. This isn't like Sly. "Bentley! Murray! Isabella! Are you close?! HELLO! Anybody!" It seems that no one but himself is here.

Just then, Sly sees a light further down the hallway that is getting closer to him. Sly sighs in relief and walks to the light. "Thank goodness you guys came." The figure came closer that seemed as tall as Murray. "I tried contacting you guys but the binocucom couldn't make out a signal. Do you know how to get out of here?"

As Sly gets closer, he starts to slow down. He's not being answered and there is an unwelcome chill coming from the figure. Finally Sly can see who he's dealing with. The light guard in front of him smiles once Sly pulls out his cane.

The raccoon doesn't notice anyone behind him until another guard comes from behind and holds him down. His eyes look up to the pig in front of him as he tries to flee from the taut grasp. The light guard lets out a cough of laugher. "This is one of 'em."

A thick fist meets Sly's face and the lights from the torches and flashlight fade away instantly.

"So, he fell down here?" Isabella asks as she and the remainder of the gang looks down the hole.

"Yes," said Bentley. "This is where his last binocucom signal was detected. Plus, it doesn't take a genius to find that his footprints end here and assume that he fell down. Man, why did Sly do that?! This is out of his character; he is normally way more prudent about situations. He's not customarily that quarrelsome."

"Well, I mean he did lose his own son Bentley... You're not exactly the one to judge for acting a certain way after a tragedy occurs."

Murray cracks his knuckles and neck. "I volunteer to help Sly out there. It shouldn't take me lo-"

"Woah woah pal, I know this isn't just some hole. My computer also detected other technical devices below; large amounts. There seems to be a big energy source too. So I know this is something more than we think we are dealing with. Aaron, do you agree?"

All attention (except Isabella's) focuses on the badger that seems to be frowning at the sight of this hole. Then he fixes his glasses to the trees around him and the gang. "Yes. In fact, this was the exact area my father and his special crew held the meetings. I would observe from these trees every morning and afternoon. At night they would go in this hole. Yes, the meetings took place near this hole and on top of soil."

Aaron looks back at the hole. "Huh, now that I think about it, father made his other workers construct the inside. I don't know what for or what they made down there, but it seemed important. Perhaps it's a place they spoke privately or it's simply a place to sleep."

"Yes. This is definitely the place we need to be. It seems that Sly beat us to it." Bentley pulls out his night vision goggles and looks further down the hole. "There seems to be no ladder or anything, but it's not that steep to cause injuries. We can survive a little fall like this."

Isabella, Aaron and Murray watches the turtle quickly sink in with his wheelchair and shortly after they followed. They all look at him who is typing viciously in his laptop in front of these four pathways. "Aaron, have you ever been down here?"

"N-No, and I wouldn't dare. This hole was always surrounded by guards."

"Interesting... Well, it seems we are out of luck."

Isabella walks closer to the hallways. "Which one did Sly go in? And do these paths go separate ways or are they connected?"

Bentley didn't say a word as he checks his binocucom. No signal. Next, he uses his visual guidance system on his binocucom to detect Sly's DNA and footprints. Looking from the glowing red smudges on the ground, Sly used the very left path. But Isabella's questions do remain. Questions were always Bentley's best friends. That way it kept his brain busy from being negligent and causes him to analyze every problem. Sly is out there but whether he is in trouble or not, it may be hard to get out. The gang came here for a reason and that came with expecting any obstacles; whether it would be traps, guards, or in this case, a labyrinth.

When there is a problem for Bentley to solve, action is always the answer.

The genius of this group pulls out his RC car from his shell, sets it on the ground, and takes a jump drive from his shell to plug it in his wheelchair. As he types in his laptop, Aaron wonders how much stuff the turtle can carry in his shell.

"Okay gang," Bentley whispers, causing the rest to draw in closer. "Here's the plan. Since I cannot contact Sly we need to find him. According to my calculations, my radar is picking up other technical devices further down these hallways. I believe these hallways are bugged with cameras or motion detectors too. You three will go down separate hallways and when you do, I stress you all to be careful and stick to the walls. You can't contact me if something happens. This will be the quickest way to not only finding Sly but also discovering what may be in here. We can find some answers on Scott too."

Bentley fixes his glasses that are reflecting the light from his laptop as he types. "Sly took the first hallway. I can tell from his footprints my binocucom can detect. It just so happens my RC car camera can detect his footprints too. I will stay here and trace all of your paths using my GPS devices. That way I can collect all that data here and get an ideal map of this place. My RC car will go where Sly went. I ask of each of you to use the best of your stealth, avoid any guards if there are any, and look out for traps."

The jump drive opens in Bentley's hands and it drops three mini hair clips. He gives one to each to put in their hair while Murray attaches it to his belt. "So, what do I do again?"

Bentley sighs. "Go to the second hallway and tread with caution until you find something. Remember gang, I'll be here tracing your GPS signals, tracking down Sly, and finding ways to hack into this system for information. If I see you haven't moved in a while I can tell that you either found trouble or something interesting. Let's go!"

Aaron enters the hallway on the very right, Isabella enters the third one, Murray enters the second and Bentley warms up his thumbs before moving his RC car down the first hallway. In the first five minutes, Bentley was able to successfully stay on Sly's path. It took a while to take all these different turns. It is a maze after all; all the paths have either a dead end or are connected with one another. "Jeez, Sly takes wide steps. It looks like he ran this entire time. Hold on, it looks like his footprints stop here. Not only that..."

He slouches closer to the laptop screen to focus. "It looked like he turned around. And his footprints are closer, so he was walking. But it ends right here. How can that be? I don't see him anywhere. There aren't any ropes or hooks around here either for him to grab on..."

The RC car continues to move by turning right, only to stop it by almost crashing it to a light guard's foot. There are many of them patrolling the hallways here. "So this place is guarded. Could Sly be taken by one of them? Where did they take him? Who else is here? I need answers! Let's see how the others are doing. I hope they found something, since I can't do much here besides explore."

Bentley watches the blinking lights of each GPS with their color coded path. Isabella's purple dot and Aaron's white dot seem to be moving. So far they are doing well at drawing out the map. As for Murray, "It looks like Murray stopped. Either he is in trouble or he found something. Oh what am I talking about; of course Murray wouldn't be in trouble with his muscles! I'll go see what he found. All I can hope is for Sly to be okay... Where could he be?"

His eyes open to a bright environment. Both the hard floor and wall are pieced in white tiles. Animals like moles, groundhogs, and pigs stare at the computers to his left, guards the two entrances into this room, and others taking tea breaks in between the two entrances. This place looks similar to Bentley's main lab room with the big table in the center. The noise level is perfect but to Sly, there seems to be a train wailing next to him. All this light from the lightbulbs above him makes the optic nerve in his eyes crawl weakly in agony. But the worst of all, this splitting headache numbs the rest of his body. This penetrating anguish in his head is unbearable and cannot be ignored.

In attempt to grab his head, Sly noticed his arms can go so far. Sounds of chains clanking to the hard floor both irritated Sly even more and caught the guards' attention. Mild laughter towards the struggling raccoon only boils his blood. Who are these people, and how dare they do this to him? They are treating Sly as the laughing stock, especially the light guard from earlier.

"Y'woke sleepin' beauty?"

"No. I'm still sleeping. Can't you tell?"

The pig chuckles and grabs ahold of Sly's chin. Sly's eyes cut deep into the guard's face, but it has no effect. "Y'won't be jokin' fer long." The guard lightly smacks Sly's cheek and backs away. "I just got off the phone with the boss. He knew you n' yer friends would be stupid 'nuf to go to this place. Too bad 'tis just the abandoned meetin' area. It used to be his lair 'til you berks destroyed it. Boy, was 'e mad. He's havin' a van come by tomorrow mornin' and pick up yer barmy group. This place is master's facility with the less security and patrol, yet y'didn't survive five minutes in 'ere? How pitiful."

"Yeah? The only thing I know pitiful is how your boss makes a hissy fit over the dumbest things and tries to solve it by stealing people. He thinks that's ultimate thievery but really, its pure insanity. You call that your master? What does that make all of you?"

The guard's eyes burst in raging flames and before Sly can react, he immediately became pinned to the wall by his neck. The squeezing made Sly question how he is still alive. His neck can feel like it can snap any second. Sly's head no longer hurts, but feels like a balloon. Blood blows up in his eyes and his lungs crave for air to breathe. His back is slammed again against the hard wall but the pig's shaky hand lets him go. "N-No, master said to keep ya alive... But..."

Sly's face became moist from something spraying him. He has been spit on. Then kicked. But Sly doesn't care, the fact is that he'll be alive and he will be seeing Vex. When there's Vex, there's his son.

"But I don't wanna hear ya talk smack about our master." Sly's head hangs down and just then, laughter builds up again. "Oh, whaddya know. Looks like master send me a text message. It's audio too. It looks like he gave ya this as a gift. He figured it must be exhaustin' bein' chained to the wall fer hours. This should entertain ya. Y'should be thankful."

Sly doesn't pay attention to the guard. He refuses to look at these people; these crazy and brainwashed people. His headache is gone and he is finally awake.

"Hello Sly. Long time no talk. Listen, I would like to talk to you, father to father."

Something about Vex's voice seemed taunting. Sly knew Vex was taunting him.

"Forgive me but it's been a long time since I raised an infant. So I'd like to see if you'll help. Why? Because this adorable little raccoon has been crying aaallll day. Let me put little Scotty boy to the phone."

Sly carefully listens to the audio and he can hear footsteps. With every step Vex makes, the more the sound of screeching and sobbing crescendos. Sly's fists already start to clench inadvertently. Now the snivels are clear and loud enough to fill up the room. "Is he hungry? Thirsty? Hmm..."

Vex is toying with Sly. This is sick. What is he doing to his baby? What does he plan to do to Scott? Sly struggles against the chains hard enough to make the skin and fur of his wrists rub off. "I haven't fed him at all yet since I had him. I wonder what hunger like that feels like for a baby. Would you like to ask him? I've given him water this morning. He should be grateful. Have you not taught your son to be patient and appreciate everything he gets? It looks like our parenting styles are intolerably different. Or is that how little babies work?"

The older raccoon now huffs and growls. He wants that phone destroyed. He wants all of these men to feel what he feels. When he sees Vex, he's going to kill him. Every strand of fur vibrates in his skin. All his nerves are unstable, and the guards look at Sly's skirmishes. They know him showing his sharp teeth won't do anything to them while he's chained up. The guards find this more entertaining than Sly, obviously. "That son of a-"

"I wonder how long it takes a baby foxcoon to stop crying after being so hungry for so long. Don't worry; I'll feed him when that happens. I will teach my new son to never cry or be weak. That never gets them what they want. I will teach my new son to take action like I do. But for now, he must learn to obey me without this petty complaining. He'll get what he wants when he shuts up and accepts me."

So Vex is planning on keeping Scott forever and raising him as his own? Sly is too angry to do anything but try to break free from these chains and knock out everyone here. Hearing his son's crying; it's torturous. Sly gets nauseated by just hearing Vex's voice and imagining him with his son. This can't happen. Sly won't allow it. There is no such thing as giving up. Now he is waiting for the van to come. He can't bear to hear this anymore. "STOP THIS ALREADY!"

"Oh well. That's that. Maybe you'd like to know how long it takes a baby foxcoon to shut up after being hungry for so long. I'll let you listen for a while. How's that Scotty boy? Do you miss your daddy? After I kill him, you'll never know of him, and I'll raise you as my own. That means I could name you as my own too. I don't fancy the name Scott Cooper. Oh, what a great future you and I will have! Alliance of the Vex family and offspring of the so-called-amazing Cooper family. I'll make it worth it to you Scott. Enjoy Sly Cooper, while this lasts."

Sly is still forced to hear his son's crying. Eventually, Sly started to sit calmly and listen numbly. Hearing his son's pain makes Sly want to cry too. Carmelita would go insane if she heard this. "S-Scott... I'll be there soon. Mom will be there soon. Just please, survive..."

The guards around him do nothing but laugh at the raccoon. Sly's head is still hung below his shoulders but he turns his face to the left. He watches the cane that his father left him. That lonely cane stands against the far left entrance. This badger has messed with his family not once but twice. He deserves to rot.

As the crying continues, Sly shrinks in a fetal position while covering his ears. "When will the gang get here...?"

"Ugh, I hate mazes. They are so boring and annoying when you are actually in them." The young raccoon clings down the right side of the wall as her tail brushes against it. She has snuck by countless guards by now yet she continues to move at a leisurely pace. It's been almost ten minutes without crossing paths with another guard and all this lack of action urges Isabella to be reckless. Mazes only entertain her when they are on paper. But to be in one and try to find her brother; how tedious!

As she groans in absolute boredom, Isabella slides in the path on her right only to crash into a solid object; a warm, tense, and structured object.

Crap! A guard!

In an instant Isabella finds herself above the body while pushing her cane callously against the body's neck. It took a snap's time to recognize that tormented gaze with those familiar eyes. The body beneath her belongs to Aaron. Was this an act of paranoia, or just a reflex? The lighting in here isn't that vibrant, so it isn't Isabella's fault.

Or, that's what she thought.

"Oh," she huffs, removing her cane from Aaron's neck. "It's you."

Aaron smirks as he gets up, brushing off the dirt from his clothes. "That gave me quite the scare. There's no joke when they say the Coopers are fast."

"That and you are slow at reacting," Isabella replies while turning from him. "You don't deserve to work with the Cooper gang with delays like that."

"Well, I'm the best you lot have. I have information the gang needs."

Isabella sneers as she departs from the badger. "Unfortunately. Why don't you just write that information down for Bentley and leave us? That would be better than you throwing in some information and having us worry about you slacking and getting us caught. Haven't you done enough to us?"

A sigh leaves his mouth as he follows the raccoon. "I'd like to help stop my father at his doing so I can move on with my life and make up for what I've done. Being at side with the Cooper gang will get me to my goal."

Once he sees her stomp towards him his heart kicks his lungs. "Make up for what you've done?! I just got over what you have done! But now you go running back to us ten months later and just by seeing your face brings back everything you did! Do you know how infuriating that is? Ten months' worth of mental battle and it means nothing now!"

"I-Isabella-"

"Oh, so now you call me by my real name? Ha! I wonder if you knew the entire time yet you still called me 'Marta.' Screw you Aaron. How do I know if you are just a spy for your father like last time? What if you are leading us to your father's trap? How would I know, when my trust with you is obliterated?! It's completely gone!"

"Be quiet."

"Excuse me?! I will keep talking. An earful from me is barely what you deser-"

All of it was too fast. Isabella found herself silenced by his left hand and her back strapped to his chest with his right arm. The Cooper might be fast and agile but Aaron was strong. She struggles until she sees a flashlight shine fresh on their path; about to turn towards them. "I will answer all your questions one day," Aaron whispers in Isabella's ear. "But for now, I will say I'm sorry. I'm not giving up until I prove that to you. That's my goal."

Isabella was left there alone while immensely dazed in his words. What did that mean? And how did she lose herself like that? Isabella isn't normally hotheaded like that. When she looks back at what she said, it reminded her of Sly and Carmelita. Why did she let herself go like that? Is it because of this underground labyrinth? Perhaps the air down there is getting to her head. For some reason she felt relieved. Ranting like that did lift some of Isabella's rash feelings, but it did give her more questions. Finally reality kicks in her vision and she sees Aaron in the guard's light.

What the hell is he doing?!

He's communicating with the guard. Why isn't the guard attacking him?

"Well, you do look like his son. But he never mentioned us about him having a son. He would've told us."

So Aaron really wasn't joking about his father not saying a word about him; not even to his own workforces. Isabella can feel a little empathy for Aaron. He has a father that pretends his son isn't there. Does he know about Aaron helping the Cooper gang rescue her from his lair? Or was this the norm all of Aaron's life? There's a lot Isabella doesn't know about him.

Aaron paused before replying back to the light guard. "I was out of the country once the collapse of the lair happened. I survived it but I didn't think father did, so I left. I came back and I ended up here. I know this is his work, so he must be alive. He might not know I'm alive so he wouldn't talk to you about me. Can you please show me where he is?"

"Well, he's not here. Look kid, I want to believe you but before I even reveal his location to you I need to make sure you are his. Come with me, I'll take you to the main room so we can contact him and confirm this."

"Cheers."

As Aaron walks alongside the guard, he turns to give the dumbfounded raccoon a wink. Smart. Isabella couldn't help but smile back and eavesdrop.

Twenty-eight minutes.

This crying and screaming is still going on. It's been twenty-eight minutes. The first couple minutes of hearing it was torture to Sly, and twenty-eight minutes later the audio still hasn't lost its excruciating effect. When will this end? Sly mentally begs his son to stop just so Vex can feed his baby. At least his child is still alive, but that doesn't help Sly. He knows Vex is purposely making Scott suffer and "learn" the hard way.

Sly regrets eating the crepe, baguettes, and croissants from Paris the gang shared on the way to Britain. Now he knows his infant is starving. Sly couldn't bear eating when he knows his son isn't.

"Hey Dan, this one claims to be master's son. Has master ever talked to you about having a son? Anyone, did he tell you?"

As most of the room consists with shaking heads and the word "no," Sly looks up to see Aaron walking in with a pig. Aaron returns the glances; observing the poor state Sly is in. Not only is the raccoon chained to the wall, but he happens to be curled in his little area with the sounds of a screaming baby blasting next to him. That could only be Scott...

Nevertheless, Aaron keeps a relaxed face and looks away. Sly's scrutiny checks every detail of Aaron. The gang is here? That must mean Bentley has a plan. Is this the plan or did Aaron get caught? Perhaps... he might have betrayed the gang once again.

"It seems master never told us, Rupert. Remember what 'e told us? We aren't allowed to let intruders like this roam free, no matter how convincin' they might be."

"I know but look at him! He's a badger with the same looks and structure as his father; only... well... this one has no scars like master does. Can we at least contact master?"

"Master told me not ter call him unless ultimate emergency. I'll text him."

Dan retrieves his phone from Sly and grins at him. "Sorry rascal, guess you'll have ter listen to yer entertainment 'nother time." Once the pig starts texting, he makes one last glance at Rupert. "Keep an eye on the kid, would ya?"

Just as the pig sends the text the entire room dims to a pitch black. The computers and ceiling lights are off and even the torches become mysteriously distinguished. The only light in the room is coming from the light guard's smartphone glowing brightly against his face. Aaron and Sly, along with the guards with them look around.

The only silent ones in there are Sly and Aaron. Everyone else questions what happened, where things are, and how this blackout happened. Of course the two gang members would know that when stuff like this happens, it's most likely their doing. Once the computers shined blue with the Cooper icons, it confirmed Aaron's and Sly's observations.

"What in the bloody hell is this?!"

At this moment, the computers weren't the only light sources. The phone in the light guard's hands erupted into searing flames, causing high degree burns on his hands. The room smelled like bacon and everyone was stuck once again hearing screaming cries. Walls and floors vibrated maliciously as the pig jumped up and down in pain.

Once the screaming downgraded to moaning, a deep voice from the far right entrance sewed the lips of everyone in the room. "I've always loathed seeing beings in this society with their smartphones perpetually cemented to their hands."

Sly's sewed lips curved into a smirk.

*I've appreciated my reviews from this book and the books before. I still get new readers everyday and Sly Cooper 5 came out two years ago! I have so much love from you guys and your amazing reviews! I would like to reply to them publicly through my phone.

GoldenAlpha101, thank you! I appreciate all your reviews from my last two books too. I hope I make great chapters for you to enjoy. You deserve it. :3

Night Thief, I will keep going! I do it for people like you! :3 When I read your review I checked the other fanfic you mentioned. It's a really good fanfiction. It looks like someone already came up with kidnapping the child. Oops. But my story will turn out differently. I'll keep going if you keep reading ;) Thanks for telling me the chapter was great. Reading that is a real confidence booster.

Daggr, when I read your review I literally squealled. That literally made my year. I'm so glad you like my books so far and I shall continue to satisfy amazing people like you! I totally agree with your comment about Sanzaru. I remember playing Sly Cooper 4 and seeing the ending. I got so pissed that Sly was gone (thus I made fanfics to make myself feel better and prevent myself from throwing the controller at the TV). What made things worse is when they announced they are not working on Sly 5 and instead working on Sonic Boom. I'm glad I continued the series for you guys when Sanzaru didn't. Sly would still be lost in Ancient Egypt two years later in their hands. -_- I laughed when you said that I must not stop writing. Don't worry, I aim to finish every fanfiction I make and end it epically and/or happily. I, Nicole, will promise you that. (I never break promises) As long as you bear with me on waiting on these chapters, (I'll never have you wait more than a month. No way.) you will see this fanfiction finished. You have my word. Keep being amazing 3

Guest, I'll try my best! I used to make these fanfictions for myself at first but once amazing people like you told me they love my work, my fanfictions aim to please you guys. I love that you read and tell me you enjoy my books. It's not my fanfics are amazing, it's people like you that make it amazing. 3 Reading your review made my heart flutter in joy. :3 I hope my other Sly fanfics do the same for you. This is the third book in my series so it would be best you read the first two. That way nothing confuses you in this one. But whatever floats your boat! Thank you for the comment, it is such a mood booster! Keep being amazing!*