Chapter 11- A Little Rusty
Sly couldn't believe it. After getting over the shock of Dimitri's torture, and then turning off the tape altogether, Sly really started thinking. They were going to go to where they were holding Dimitri, and save him. And then it really hit Sly what they were going to do. Now, the unseen wolf had said that they would meet there and have a trade. Obviously, it was a trap. So they were going for some classic break-and-rescue.
He couldn't wait. The thrills of having Bentley explain their missions and then going in. Sneaking around, taking out the guards, stealing the plans. It would be great. It was impossible that there would be any disruptions. Just impossible.
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"Ladies and gentlemen," Bane started coolly. "I have with me a tape and the agreement of two very distinguished gentlemen that point to Mr. Cooper being a criminal." He stood before the jury, addressing each and every one of them with a cold look.
"Those are some very serious accusations," said the Honorary Judge Mavis sternly. "Do you wish to continue?"
"I do," he replied curtly and moved to the television. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Exhibit One." He slid a disc (that he had locked in a metal case) into the DVD and pushed play.
The screen flickered to life and showed the security cameras from the Interpol cruise. It showed the scene on the cruise where they were attacked by the masked men. The jury clearly saw a large explosion and two men drop down and hold Sly Cooper hostage. A little bit of an attack occurred from one of the masked men, But Cooper and the hippo pushed him right back. Bane had edited the tape to zoom in on Cooper. The hippo was going to give him a good smack when, clear to the jury, and everyone else present, Sly said something before getting knocked out.
"I have two graduates of Yardley and Barker, top of their class, highly intelligent, and Interpol has called on their services before. Sir Lewis Cheam and Mr. Charles Mont." Two snobby looking men in expensive Italian suits walked forward. Sir Lewis, the gopher, spoke first.
"We have spent gruelling hours turned days studying this video, we assure you," he said dramatically.
"Frame-by-frame, slow-motion, zoom, everything, my dear distinguished people of the jury," and as an afterthought, "Judge Mavis." Mont (a ferret) was just as snobbish as his colleague. Now it was back to Cheam.
"In our professional opinion, the very same that Interpol has counted on before to convict criminals, we believe that Mr. Sly Cooper, the defendant, was pleading with the hippo to not hit him too hard." A slight pause for… dramatic effect perhaps?
"'Not too hard, not too hard' to be exact," continued Mont. The jury was actually gaping. One of them thought he saw Calligan smirking slightly.
"Slightest bit of a smirk, really," said Cheam.
"Yes, yes definitely. Why would Mr. Cooper be smirking to the man that was attacking him?" The two men were playing tennis with Sly Cooper's fate. And the jury was eating it all up.
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"There it is," said Bentley. The gang was standing on a small ridge of plant and stone, binocucoms withdrawn. They were all looking at a dark fort standing on top of a hill. It looked well guarded and hard to reach. Little flashlight beams moved to and fro; laser sights for guard's snipers were zooming all around the place.
"Looks fun enough," Sly muttered.
Getting to Brazil was easy. Bentley had drawn them up some quick fake ID's, they had gone to see a guy to get them fool-proof, got some quick disguises, some stories, backgrounds, and were on their way. From the Brasilia airport, they travelled by hired jeep to Paraná River and travelled by boat to Sao Paulo. It took a little longer than simply flying, but it helped them appear in more places, confuse the cops.
And now Sly stood there looking at the fort where Dimitri was being held hostage.
"Okay guys, first thing's first," started Bentley shakily. He was remembering the days when this came naturally to him. Now he had to think about it a lot more to get the words out. "We need a safe house. Safe place to fall back on." They looked at him. He gulped and continued. "Penelope, I need you to do some reconnaissance with the chopper. Sly, continue to observe the guards, look for ways to intercept. And Murray, study the area, look for a way to get the Cooper Van out safely and quickly." They smiled.
"Nice! Now that's what I'm talking about Bentley!" Sly patted him on the shell.
"Right on it boss!" Penelope smiled and gave Bentley a quick kiss before unpacking her RC things.
"Sure thing, buddy!" Murray replied before starting to trudge away.
"Remember guys, keep in touch! Don't turn off your binocucoms!" Bentley called to the gang.
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Penelope put on the large goggles she used to see whatever the chopper was seeing. Steering it through the thick jungle was a little bit difficult at first, but she grew accustomed to the branches and vines. After clearing the treetops she faced yet another hardship. Birds from the area were apparently very stupid and kept swooping down to try to catch the chopper. This didn't' hurt the chopper much, but it was a nuisance and kept knocking her into the trees. Plus the stupid birds were hurting their little feet on the blades.
Penelope had enough and decided to start discharging little electric shocks whenever a bird would attack. She had installed this little system just in case the chopper was ever in the wrong hands. And no matter how stupid the birds were, they understood that the little buzzing thing hurt, and hurt=bad. She continued towards the fort.
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Murray trudged through the thick bushes and creepy-crawlers. After a while the vines exasperated him and he pulled them right down if he were to come across one. Now, normally Murray hated these kinds of jobs. But today was his first heist in about a year! Boy was he excited to be working with the gang again. He would be more excited when he got to crush some people but this would definitely do for now.
He circled the fort in about half an hour. It wasn't very big but the vegetation didn't help his trek. Finally he got a little closer. Some ruins jutted out of the ground like the jaws of some long-dead creature. There were a couple of guards here hoisting heavy machine guns. How he longed to pounce! But he didn't, and turned back slowly. After another twenty minutes of searching he found a nice little path. I looked deliberate, but this road had been made long ago, for the weeds were growing knee-high. He did some quick "calculations". The path looked wide enough for the Cooper Van to fit through. It would take some tricky handling but Murray was confident in his skills.
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Sly had found a giant tree on top of a ridge that was even closer to the fort. There had been men around, but Sly snuck around them and scurried up the tree quickly. He studied them carefully, using his criminal and Interpol knowledge combined.
The men were all sturdy, strong looking men at around their 30's. They carried a standard AK-47 except for the occasional heavy machine gun that was manufactured who knows where. Possible hunting knife held in their boot sheath and a pistol at their hip. Standard enough Kevlar vests hung sloppily over their muscled physiques.
Well, this was certainly going to be interesting.
The Interpol knowledge helped greatly of course but the thief in him kept checking which one would probably have some nice stash with them. That one, probably, that one, heck no, that one, for sure. He made a little mental checklist without knowing it. It's in my blood, he figured.
Sly began to study the men he could see inside the fort. The fort itself looked like a small castle, complete with battlements. There was one sentry at each tower with a sniper. About six men patrolled the whole perimeter of the fort, swinging their flashlights around, gun strapped to their back. The lights in the fort were on and Sly could sometimes see a shadow walk past the windows.
He decided it was time to move. Sly climbed even higher and slid down a mossy trunk. Jumping through the thick vines and running on a thin branch right over a guard's head felt right. This was the true Sly Cooper. He was a thief. Not an officer of Interpol. He stuck to the shadows, remaining unnoticed. He was simply that. A thief.
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"Okay guys, scratch the safe house," Bentley reported to his team through their binocucoms. "This place here is pretty cozy." Bentley had decided to move around a little himself. After manoeuvring through the thick trees, he found a little pit. There seemed to be a breeze emanating from the very ground.
He set up his laptop on a stump and opened the group's binocucoms.
"Okay guys, how goes it?" he asked.
"There seems to be a small crack on the south side of the fort but… I think Sly might be able to squeeze through," reported Penelope.
"There's a path perfect for the van leading out of the main doors!" Murray chipped in.
"The guards look tough, but they're just well armed. They don't know how to hold the guns. They're not pros. Probably some mercenaries," finished Sly.
"Perfect, guys. Okay, Penelope, send me your images. Head on back guys, we've got some planning to do!"
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"Carl Burns. Joe Cleveland. Muggshot," Bane stated matter-of-factly, accentuating Muggshot's name. "The list continues. I am, once again, just proving that if Interpol has fully relied on Cheam and Monty's decision before, why not do it again? I mean, we did send Burns to jail for life with no evidence whatsoever except for their word!
A slight mutter passed through the jury. Judge Mavis looked terrible.
No one could possibly imagine what was going through her head at that moment.
"Cooper's record. A successful criminal, well trained in hand-to-hand combat, and always has those "electros" of his clipped on his belt. Cooper's had training in tae-kwon-do, kung-fu, and jujutsu. We mustn't for get whatever behind-the-alley moves he knew from his criminal days."
"Cooper's most recent victory, in the Museum of London, may raise some eyebrows over his helplessness in the cruise. Boom weighs in at 270lb. Cooper defeated him with absolutely no backup. How is it that he could not have pummelled the hippo into a little pulp?"
"Out of line!" cried Mavis.
"My apologies. But everyone here sees my point. Cooper wanted to be kidnapped. He planned it with his little thief friends that night at Kingston Chemicals. Sly Cooper left Captain Carmelita Fox and I gasping for breath from some gas the turtle made to drive off with his friends. His little excuse was less than satisfactory."
"Distinguished people of the jury; Judge Mavis. Sly Cooper is guilty."
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The gang moved in on the fort.
Bane's men suited up to begin the search for a guilty Cooper.
Carmelita slapped her badge on Barkley's desk and walked out of the office. She had a fire so intense in her eyes that everyone backed off.
And, even Judge Mavis swallowed the last of her pills before a crazy smile broke her face in two.
The hunt for the Cooper Gang had begun.
A/N Well, I hope you liked it! I'll try to start on the next chapter tomorrow. Much thanks to GregsLabrat for the review! Hopefully I'll be getting some more!