Chapter 8

Operation: Fire in the Sky

Somewhere in China

This snow was unbearable to get through. There must've been fifty snowstorms before I arrived since most of the houses were covered in them from top to bottom. Some of the houses' doors were even sometimes covered up a quarter ways. This was definitely something I couldn't get used to in a lifetime. Anyways, where is that little van of my dear friends. It's going to be a lot tougher to find them in all of this snow what with their van being a light blue. Meanwhile, I can see up in the distance fireworks going off in the more building populated part of the town. Obviously this was the work of the Panda King. I hope that Cooper could take on what almost crushed me back in Mesa City.

In my ear, I could hear static as it appeared that Kip was trying to contact me. "Master…there…repeat…are you…there?"

"I'm here Kip, you need to slow your speech though since your breaking up very badly."

"Master…Cooper Van…near you….can't….keep connecti-….od luck." At that point her voice completely went to static as I began to survey the landscape.

Alas, I saw it. Off in the distance was a light blue rectangular looking thing in the snow with yellow, flame patterns. "Bingo…" I tried my best to sneak up to the van, even though all I could was scrunch, scrunch, scrunch, scrunch. Eventually making it up to what seemed to be the back doors of the van, I leaned my ear in to see if anything was going on.

"Sly please be careful, Panda King is very, very dangerous!" Someone spoke in a nasally tone as in response was a more static one as if he was being listened to on a screen. "Look Bentley, I know I can do this. I already took down three of them. Another one is a cinch by now."

"Just be ready to book it back here before Carmelita comes by. I'll have the van ready." A more rougher voice said in concern. Uh oh…th-this is the worst time for a…a… "Achoo!" Not even a second passed as I was then pulled in by a giant, pink hand and was thrown in the middle of the van.

"Hey, who are you?!" I looked up to see a small turtle sitting in a chair ahead of me. Behind of him was a screen that was off. "Hehe, sorry, but I'm not obligated nor in the mood to tell you who I am."

"Murray, tear his limbs off."

"And suddenly I'm now in the mood. The name's Dylan Asmadus."

"Dylan Asmadus? You're the one that Interpol is on the man-hunt for along with Sly and us." The turtle, who I heard was called Bentley, looked at me with a skeptical glare.

"Yeah, so I have no reason to tell the cops about you. They'll just throw me back in the slammer after my escape from them if I rat on you guys." The hippo, who Bentley called Murray, looked at Bentley with a worried look. "Murray, put him down." Murray dropped me back as I fixed my jacket up. "What do you want to know from us Dylan?" Bentley poked at me.

"The Fiendish Five…out of all of the dangerous gangs to go up against, why them? I know it's not only revenge for Connor Cooper, but there is something else since every time I arrived at the scene of Sly's victories, something was taken from each member." Bentley rubbed his eyes under his glasses after listening to my question, "Why should we tell you?"

"Because I deserve to know what happened to my closest friend, Connor Cooper." Bentley looked at the screen as if waiting for Sly to come up, asking for some assistance.

"Listen…as long as I can remember, Sly would always tell me and Murray the story of his father's death. On the night where Sly's father was going to give Sly the knowledge of his thieving ancestry, five unwelcomed guests arrived."

"The Fiendish Five…"

"Exactly. There, Connor tried everything he can to stop them, but was killed and the Fiendish Five were able to find it…"

"I-It?..."

"Sly's family heritage, the book that holds every knowledge of every Cooper known, The Thievius Raccoonus." I felt a shiver down my spine just hearing the name of it. Wow, a book that has the entire history of a thieving lineage….No wonder Sly was so upset. I mean, of course his father was killed, I was pissed about that too, but your ENTIRE history of thieving knowledge passed down by your ancestors as well? Man, that could put anyone in a mood of vengeance…

After the little memory lane trip for Bentley, a knock on the back of the van could be heard as Murray opened it up to an enthusiastic looking Sly…He reminded me of his father when he was young. That enthusiasm soon left when he saw me. "Bentley, who's the new guy?" He asked. In his hand I could notice there were pages gripped onto. So those are some of the stolen pages from the Thievius Raccoonus. "No need to worry Sly, he claims to be an ally and a friend of your father."

"A friend of my father?"

"Dylan Asmadus. I used to be…well, I'm still known as the "Leech of the World". I gave info to your father and his group when he was starting out."

"Dylan…I remember you! My father used to tell me stories about you!"

"Hehe, he must've talked about my good looks and witty charm."

"More like your conniving nature and cheapskate behavior." My eyes narrowed and jaw dropped at Sly's comment. "Anywho…seems like I was able to get the info and closure I needed for this. Now I just gotta find a way to get Interpol off my rear and ensure my true freedom." Just a second later, a massive, red blinking, warning sign was coming from Bentley's computer screen. "Bentley what's going on?!" Sly and Murray ran over to the screen as I popped in from the side. The screen went dark as two yellow eyes appeared. "Sly…Cooper…Your time, and your family's time are numbered."

"Clockwerk!" Sly yelled. Clockwerk?! The leader of the Fiendish Five?! Wh-What does he want?!

"Not just your lives, but also your dear hometown and world. In just a few days my Doomsday Laser will be complete and everything you know and love will disappear." Well…guess I just found my leverage against Interpol. "Oh no. Bentley, can you trace it?!"

"Is lightning a plasma conduit?" Sly and Murray stared at Bentley, "Yes…Yes it is." Bentley began some keyboard crunching, "Got him! Krack-Karov Volcano over in Russia!" And with that, I'm out before even the thief noticed I was gone.