A/N :D I think this chapter is my most intense so read on, my friends!
Chapter 8- Face-to-Face
"I'm telling you, that's all I know!" Sly shouted angrily at Inspector Barkley. He was being debriefed for the millionth time and they still wouldn't let up!
"Did they-"
"NO! They didn't say anything, where they were going, plans, nothing!" Sly continued exasperatedly. Barkley sighed.
"You sure?" he persisted.
"Yes I'm sure!" Barkley studied him very carefully before nodding.
"Go get some rest, okay?" he said before getting up and leaving. Sly sighed and followed him out. He couldn't blame them for not trusting him. But that rest sounded like a good idea. His head was killing him…
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
The newly-named and painted Cooper Van drove past the peaceful country.
"I still don't get why I had to hit Sly so hard," Murray started again. Bentley was getting irritated from the same conversation over and over again.
"To make it believable, Murray," Bentley sighed.
After their little planning session, Murray had reluctantly knocked Sly out cold. They later dumped him somewhere the police would have to find him. Sly would then stage that he had just gotten in the van to try to find out more about their plans, but they had been smarter and knocked him out.
"Okay Murray, enough detouring, the heat probably died down by now. Let's head back to our place and get ready," Penelope ordered.
"Aye, aye captain!" Murray said jokingly and sped back to London.
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
The Man had gotten the tip on the Kingston Chemicals incident. It seemed like their sort of thing, and considering the sonic power converter was the only thing stolen, he was sure it was them. They needed that baby to power up the machine. His phone rang.
"Yes?" he answered.
"We've got a lead. Witnesses say they saw the van sped out and traveled north-bound. Only Fox and Calligan were found after the fight. Cooper must've gone with them," Dimitri reported.
"That's all?" The Man asked angrily.
"Well yes, sir, this news is hard to come by. But uhhh… I've sent men to look for them… wait a minute." The line was silent for some time. Alexandrov's voice came back sounding excited. "Sir! Our Interpol man just reported that Cooper was found beaten up and dumped at the side of a road!"
"Thank you," The Man answered and hung up. Cooper was quite the sneaky devil. But was that it? His friends had dropped by to warn him… and that was all? They were planning something. He dug around his cabinet for the right USB chip. The Man picked a little packet that said "HIGH SECURITY SHIELDS" and then picked out "WATERWALL X-6" He connected these little suckers onto his laptop and began hacking into Interpol. The USB data helped greatly. The shields could protect him from almost anything Interpol could throw at him and the waterwall helped greatly to keep the firewalls at bay. It was funny how he could pretty much crash Interpol if given enough time and data. But that wasn't what he was looking for. Actually, he didn't know what he was looking for.
After a couple of hours of hacking he found something interesting. Interpol cruise. He almost laughed. Looked like they were taking a top-secret break. That was probably their best chance. He called Alexandrov.
"I want us on the maiden voyage of the Great Mary tomorrow. You got it? Make sure to make room for about thirty men. We're going to get Cooper," he said casually into the phone. Dimitri answered with a quick "yes sir" and hung up. They would find a way. They always found a way.
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Bentley was busy mixing away with some chemicals or other, and Penelope was hacking and looking at what seemed like boat charts. This sucked. Murray had nothing to do but sit around and watch TV. If he asked what he could help with, Bentley and Penelope would say "get ready for tomorrow". What did that mean? Do push-ups? Sit-ups? He felt useless so he went out for a quick walk.
The crisp London air was great. The sky twinkled with some barely visible stars. Murray dashed through some tress and ended up at the park. He enjoyed playing on the swings for a while but that made him feel more utterly useless. Then it came. The shrill terrified scream of a woman.
Murray ran toward the noise but someone had beat him to it. Murray ducked behind some bushes and saw a man walking into an alley.
"Now, you let that young woman go, you hooligans!" he shouted. Murray heard laughter in the alley as the man was pulled into the alley. Murray had seen enough. He jumped right in. Some common enough thugs were there, along with the scared woman and weak man.
"Who the hell are you?" one thug asked.
"Come here tubby," another laughed, shaking around a knife, "let's give you a nice little weight-loss operation." The others found this hilarious.
"Laugh all you want evil-doer! But the Murray is gonna pound you a new one!" he cried triumphantly. They all bum-rushed him but he simply jumped up and landed behind them. He obviously had more battle expertise than they did. He used a trash can lid to smash one guy over the head, and a trash can to dunk a guy in. He continued with a wild flurry of punches that landed each time.
"That was easier than I thought!" Murray laughed. The woman and man thanked him graciously but he stayed in the shadows. "No problem, my good Londoners! Remember to stay away from dark alleys!" Murray then jumped behind some bushes and ran as fast as he could for some more cover. He hid behind a tree and heard the man say,
"Where'd he go?" Murray smiled. He supposed this was how Sly made his sudden exits.
Back at home, Bentley asked if Murray really wanted to help out with something. Murray grinned and responded,
"I already did my workout!"
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
"Nothing?" she asked yet again. Boy, she's even worse than Barkley! Sly was now being interrogated by his lovely Carmelita. But he knew why she was so worried. That perhaps the gang's reappearance had triggered some memory. After all, he did have "amnesia".
"Nope. But I figured since they kept calling me they knew me. From my past," he said as convincingly as he could. "I only left you there to find out more stuff about who they were… who I was." Carmelita looked down in shame. He wondered if she would tell him the truth so he tested it. "Who were they, Carm?" He saw her turn away and… wipe away some tears?
"Just some common criminals, Sly. You busted them many times and I guess they're back for revenge." Common criminals. She could've at least said master thieves! Sly nodded slowly. Hey lay down again and Carmelita walked to the window. She stayed there for the longest time. What's she thinking? Sly actually didn't care. She was lying to him. How could this relationship work if they didn't tell the truth to each other? How could it work if they didn't lie? He pushed the thoughts out of his head. The most important thing was to get this guy… whoever he was.
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
The Man looked at the boat. It was a beautiful vessel.
"Oh, welcome Mr. Gout! Please, follow me," said a little nervous boy. The Man was Mr. Zeke Gout, senator from Russia. At least for however long this would take. Dimitri would follow close behind as a high-class English fop. Their men were mostly engineers or lucky citizens that got in to the boat. The captain and a choice few others knew this was an Interpol cruise. It looked like just normal people. Clever authorities. Now to find Cooper.
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Bentley looked at the cigarette boat. It would do.
"I'll take it," he said to the scruffy bearded man selling the thing. "Mr. Edmund Scoresy" and his associates got in. As soon as Bentley had the boat running and out on the water, Penelope and Murray began unpacking. All the chemicals Bentley had been mixing the previous day were either explosives or gasses. Penelope took out some metal parts and began putting the grappling hook together. Murray flexed. They were ready.
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Sly walked along the bow of the ship with Carmelita. It was a beautiful ship. The Great Mary was huge. Not Titanic huge but it was big. The inside was very elegant too. Sly and Carmelita had great accommodations, even better than some of the other agents'. It was great, yet he still felt a rift from the day previous. This wasn't a real relationship. It was built on lies. All of it. And if the truth were discovered, the relationship would be over.
He looked at Carmelita. He thought she could feel it too. The gap between them. The one that could only be sealed with truth. Truth that could destroy everything else they were standing on. She really was beautiful though. Especially in that dress. They were, high-class citizens after all. Sly liked his tux too but he secretly couldn't wait to get back into his blue outfit. His mask…
"Are you okay?" Carmelita asked. He looked at her. She had a stern expression on her face.
"Yeah," he responded simply.
The ship's horn blew him right back to Earth. They were leaving the dock. He was ready.
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
"Located him, sir," called Dimitri in The Man's earpiece.
"Excellent," he answered. "Mobilize the men. Have them ready to strike as soon as we're off the dock."
"Yes sir," grunted Dimitri. "The helicopter is en route." The Man directed his attention to the PA. The captain was saying something about some slight difficulties. A great big wolf came up behind him.
"You are?" Bane asked coldly.
"Mr. Zeke Gout, good sir. And you…?" he responded calmly.
"Mr. Bane Calligan." The Man looked at him closely.
"Everything's going fine, I hope?" he asked, gesturing at the PA.
"Everything is perfectly fine." The Man nodded and sipped his wine.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," The Man said politely. Bane nodded curtly. He walked away. He'd heard Bane was quite clever, but still lethal. He hopefully wouldn't be a problem. His earpiece crackled to life.
"Sir, we're ready."
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
The maiden voyage of the Great Mary couldn't have been going better. Everyone was enjoying themselves. Sly was dancing with Carmelita under the stars. It was night time, and the inky black water gently lapped under the boat. Inside, everyone was laughing and having a good time. And watching. Outside on the black water were some British people enjoying a ride on the cigarette boat. But they were all waiting. Waiting for the time to strike. Finally the moment came.
The Man had been steering clear of most people when possible, but definitely had been staying away from Sly Cooper. Dimitri was watching him. Finally Barkley announced that it was time for the masquerade. The Man slipped on his owl mask and walked out elegantly onto the bow of the ship. Cooper and Fox already had their masks on.
"Move in," The Man whispered into his mouthpiece. A helicopter appeared from the dark clouds and slowly descended above the boat. Sly suddenly took Carmelita's hand and they walked into the ship.
"Damn it," he heard Dimitri sigh.
"Don't worry. Just have the boys 'escort' Mr. Cooper back outside," said The Man.
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Bentley rode the black cigarette boat right up next to the ship. They were hard to spot and in the last couple of hours Bentley had made it radar-proof.
"Come here Pen," Bentley asked. She scooted right next to him and took over the wheel. It was hard to keep the boat under control with the giant Great Mary right beside them but they had to be close for this to work. Bentley turned to Murray.
"Okay buddy, plan's the same. Drop in, jump out. Got it? No head-smashing unless absolutely necessary." Murray nodded.
"I'll take the boat around to starboard okay guys?" Penelope said.
"Alright," Bentley responded. He took the large grappling gun out and aimed. The shot wasn't really very loud, so Bentley felt more confident about their plan. The hook hit the top of the boat and sank into the metal with its little built-in laser. "Okay, go now!" Bentley hissed at Murray. Murray fastened the little apparatus to his belt and pressed a button. It shot him right up to the top at breakneck speed. Some agents only had time to gasp as they saw some pink blur shoot past their noses. But they were half-drunk so they just laughed about it. Bentley snapped the rockets onto his wheelchair.
"See you later, hon," Bentley said to Penelope and he rocketed off. The rockets he had attached to his wheelchair were boosters, things that he could use for a short amount of time to get to high places. He landed on the top, where Murray was struggling to unclip himself from the grapple. Bentley did it for him.
"You ready pal?" he asked.
"Oh yeah! I'm pumped!" he responded.
"Then let's do this."
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Sly had his simple half-mask while Carmelita looked like an exquisitely beautiful flower with her mask. They were dancing joyously, but Sly's heart was heavy for he knew he would have to leave soon.
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
The Man saw his boys walk toward Cooper, looking very much like other dancers around him. Slowly and carefully, they pushed him toward the exit. Sly started making a scene. Damn.
"Tell our guys to back off," he ordered Dimitri. "They're making too big a fuss."
"Yes sir," Dimitri responded. The men eventually left Sly alone.
"Listen Dimitri, I know that they're planning something. I just don't know what. This is our only change to take Cooper. Is the helicopter in place?" he asked.
"Yes sir, we are all prepped," he answered. The Man sighed. It was the only choice.
"Take him by force. Make it fast."
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Bentley hooked Murray up again and planted the many bottle of explosives.
"Here we go," he said through gritted teeth. He gasses were inside the vents already. He pushed the button and the gasses were released instantly.
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Sly saw some more men walk up to him.
"What now?" he asked irritably. One man punched him in the face and they quickly grabbed him. "What the…?" Sly twisted out of their grip and pulled out his electros. The other agents pulled out theirs too. Suddenly, a bunch of engineers flooded out of one door and attacked the agents. One of the men stuck a needle in Sly but he shot him and pulled out the needle. A relaxing agent. What's going on here? He had no time to think as another man grabbed him. Carmelita made quick work of him. Suddenly one man just tripped and fell. Sly himself felt woozy. Guess they got more of that stuff in me than I thought… Sly felt himself falling to sleep when he remembered Bentley. He slipped on an oxygen mask he had in his pocket. The plan! He had forgotten all about it because of whoever these guys were. Suddenly the roof exploded. Some small bits of debris fell here and there but no one was hurt.
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
What the devil? He was losing his chance! The Man wouldn't take failure. He jumped at Sly and brandished some silver C shaped weapons…
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
"Go now!" Bentley shouted over the explosion. Murray jumped right in and Bentley followed. They both landed right behind Sly. Everything was going fine.
"Nobody move or I kill him!" Murray shouted as he held a fake knife to Sly's throat. Everyone stood still. Wait a minute. Something was up. There had already been a fight?
"AAARGH!!" One man jumped out of the pale-faced people and landed in front of Sly. He had an owl mask on but behind it Bentley could see those same red eyes… Sly blocked one of the man's hits. He had some sort of smaller silver canes… very similar to Sly's cane. Murray punched the man back into the audience and then pulled back his fist again.
"Not too hard, not too hard!" Sly whispered as Murray's fist came down on Sly's face, knocking him out.
"We're out of here! Thank you for being such a great audience!" Bentley called as Murray was pulled back up by the grappling hook, Sly in his arms. Bentley used the last bit of juice his boosters had to get back to the top.
Instantly, the agents were running about, trying to get to the top. The engineers ran too, as fast as they could. But Carmelita simply used her giant leap to get up to the roof.
"HOLD IT, SLIME!" she shouted at Bentley and Murray. Then, whispered she continued, "I'm not letting you take him." She had tears in her eyes. Bentley looked down in shame.
"I'm sorry Ms. Fox but we need him," he answered sadly.
"I need him too!" she replied, fully sobbing now. She raised her gun and fired off some shots. Bentley and Murray jumped right off the boat, over the side.
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
The Man fought off two agents with his canes. They were easy. He quickly climbed up a pillar and jumped neatly through the hole in the roof. Captain Fox was there, sobbing here eyes out. He figured she might be useful… Bane jumped up in front of her and growled at The Man. He pulled back and ran.
"Are you okay?" Bane asked Carmelita. She said nothing.
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Penelope felt them land in the boat, nearly flipping it.
"Whoa boys!" she exclaimed.
"We need to get out of here Pen!" Bentley shouted over the racket. She nodded and sped off on their sleek little cigarette boat. It was a clean getaway… right?
A/N Hope you liked it! I feel the parts with Sly and Carmelita are the most emotional pieces I've ever written, since I'm not that good with romance. Thank you for reading and REVIEW!! (next chapter up soon hopefully)