Chapter 6- Family Crisis
"… For you see, Ambroise was an apprentice of the owl's."
"He was a… what?" said the entire gang in unison.
"An apprentice. Ambroise has quite a back story to him, and rest assured I will explain it to the lot of you to the best of my ability," Luc glanced down at a small watch that he wore on his right thumb. "But time is of the essence, as I said. I understand you have a van that is capable of fitting 8, correct?"
Everybody in the room turned and looked at Murray, who responded promptly. "Yeah, she can hold 8, but it may be a bit cramped."
"Cramped or not, it should work perfectly," replied the bat.
"Why should it be important that the van holds 8? We only have 6 of us here," said Sly.
Luc didn't miss a beat in his reply. "Wonderful observation, Cooper. That leads me perfectly into the next bit of news that I have. I know that you may not trust me yet, seeing as how we have only known one another for approximately ten minutes, but you will have to take my word that I am not lying." Luc produced a small scrap of old looking paper, and presented it to the group in front of him. "This," he said, "is the map to a vault."
"Like a bank vault?" Asked Penelope.
"Not exactly. Now this is where you may be surprised, Sly." He pointed to the bottom of the paper, showing them the initials 'AC' written lightly in the corner. "These are the initials of Anette Cooper."
"Anette Cooper?" repeated Sly, furrowing his brow.
"Yes, a relative of yours that has been lost to the annals of time."
"So you are telling me that there is someone in my ancestry that didn't record their adventures in the Theivious Raccoonus?"
"That I am, and that is also what makes it interesting." He placed the map back into a small envelope, and placed it in a pouch that he wore along his waist. "This map was one of the pages of her own book, Sly. She was the second born, and therefore not recognized as a member of the thieving part of the Cooper Clan. As she was growing up, she realized that this wasn't as things should be, so she took her destiny into her own hands and began to thieve on her own. She followed the same sense of honor that the main body of the Cooper's had for the last thousand or so years, but did so on her own." He glanced back down at his watch. "Now, I'd love to tell you more, but we really must get a move on if we are going to enlist the aid of a rather important person. Monsieur Murray, would you be so kind as to lead us to the van? We need to get to the airport."
"We can't just get onboard a plane like nothing is happening, Luc," Said Sly. "We are fairly recognizable."
"But of course," Luc replied. "I have your falsified passports and your disguises in a briefcase near the entrance to this establishment."
"Where exactly are we off to?" asked an apprehensive Sly, still not completely sold on the authenticity of the bat.
"Liverpool, England."
Sly exchanged glances with his friends, and then looked back at the bat. "Look, we really have no reason to trust you-"
"Aye, but you don't have a reason not to trust me, either," Luc replied with a wink.
Sly sighed, giving in slightly. "Ok, we'll go, but you will be under close watch the entire drive out to the airport, and if anything happens on that plane, none of us will hesitate to defend ourselves," he said, making his intentions clear.
Clapping his hands together once, Luc began to make his way towards the exit of the old apartment building, beckoning for the rest to follow.
Murray led them all to a small garage that was attached to the main building. Pressing a button on a panel on the side of the addition, a series of mechanical creaks and groans issued from the large metal door as it slid up, revealing Murray's pride and joy; the team van.
Walking into the rather spacious interior of the garage, Murray grabbed the keys of off a hook on the far wall and unlocked the driver's side door. Struggling slightly to get his large body into the cabin, he seated himself with a long sigh and a smile. Patting the dashboard, he put the key into the ignition. Reaching down, he pulled a small latch that was underneath the steering wheel which released the lock to the 2 rear doors, opening them so that the rest of the gang could climb inside. Sly pulled himself into the back and offered a hand to Carmelita, but she brushed it away with a smile and hoisted herself up. Feigning hurt, Sly made his way forwards and seated himself, followed by Carmelita, then Penelope, and then lastly Luc. Bentley, who had seated himself opposite Murray, folded down his modified wheel chair and stowed it underneath the seat. Turning himself around to face the back of the van, he rested his arm on the headrest. "You guys all set back there?" he asked.
"Ready to go," said Sly, buckling himself in.
"Monsieur Murray, I have heard quite a few stories about the power of this van, and I was wondering if any of them were true," asked Luc, who had chosen a seat nearest the back of the van.
"You better believe it, mister! Prepare to be amazed!" replied a smiling Murray.
Pressing in the clutch, Murray turned the key. Over the last couple of months, Murray had done some heavy modifications to his beloved van; swapping out the engine, putting in racing parts wherever he could, and strengthening the overall structure of the van while still cutting down weight.
Murray grabbed the shifter and threw it into first. Stomping on the gas, he released the clutch and flew out of the garage, the spinning wheels of the van leaving a trail of white smoke in their wake. The twelve cylinder engine roared as they flew onto a dirt road that lead them back to the main road. Taking the first corner with a slide, the tires of the van shot gravel in all directions as Murray effortlessly guided the speeding van out of its drift. Stomping the clutch, Murray grabbed the shifter and threw it down into second gear in the blink of an eye, causing the van to pick up speed at an alarming pace.
Jostling around in the back thanks in part to the bumpy dirt road, Luc expressed his satisfaction. "Those stories I've heard are most certainly true!"
Sly was smiling largely, trying to keep himself from bumping out of his seat. "Ok Murray, you can slow down now. We are almost at the main road, and I think I speak for all of us when I say that this van certainly lives up to its reputation!"
Lessening the pressure on the accelerator, Murray lowered the van's speed to a comfortable 50 miles per hour and guided it onto the main road from the relatively short and windy dirt one that they were on, for Murray had taken the liberty of taking the long way that circled around the safehouse to show off his van. Cruising along with traffic, Luc began to continue where he had left off back at the apartments.
"Now I know you probably believe that the biggest news you will hear today was that of Annete's vault, but that is not the case."
Sly, who was sitting opposite of the bat, gave him a curious look. "What would you mean by that?" He said, readjusting himself in his seat.
"Well, Annete had a son, but she was not around to teach him her thieving ways and pass on a newly started tradition that she had started. Even though she 'defected', she was still guilt ridden for betraying her family, so she left her son on a doorstep of one of the shopkeeps when he was only a month old. Through careful tracking of the bloodline, Ambroise was able to determine that Anette's family line continues on for some time."
Penelope turned her head to look at him. "What do you mean by 'continues on for some time'?"
"To put it bluntly, Sly has a living relative."
The entire team, including Murray, turned to look at Luc. Laughing, the bat gave them all a wry smile. "I told you that there was bigger news."
Sly placed his hand on his chin, a look of deep thought on his face. He began to bounce his leg up and down. "Are you telling me that we are getting on this plane to go and meet one of my relatives?"
"Yes I am, Sly."
Sly sighed and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. "Well, some couple of days this has been," he said softly.
Luc glanced down at his watch again, noticeably relaxed this time. "We seem to be right on schedule, gentlemen. I have seats booked on a plane that will take us directly to Liverpool, I also thought ahead and made sure they had enough cargo space to take the van along with us."
"Radical!" Came Murrays Voice from the front of the van.
"Radical indeed," replied Luc.
Carmelita, who was seated next to Sly, patted him gently on the shoulder. "Are you ok?" she asked softly. A glimmer of light from the corner of Sly's eye caught hers, and she noticed that he was crying.
"Yeah," he replied softly, the background noise of the road muffling his voice slightly. "It's just that I have lived my entire life thinking that I was the only one of my family left, so this is a lot for me to take in."
"I understand," she said, patting him on the shoulder once more.
As they approached the airport, Luc began to act nervous; twitching his large ears back and forth and drumming his fingers on his leg. "Something doesn't feel right," he said to no one in particular.
Bentley turned in his chair. "What do you mean?"
"Well, this is certainly one way to ruin a day," he said. He unbuckled himself from his seat and stood up, checking to make sure that his pistol was attached firmly in its holster. Turning to face the back doors of the van, he pulled a latch that threw them open; filling the interior of the van with the sound of rushing wind. Standing at the exit, Luc tucked the ends of his wings in firmly to make sure that they didn't catch wind, and then reached up to grab the top of the now open door. Swinging himself out, he dangled momentarily from the swinging door above the ground that was speeding by, and then hoisted himself up on top of the van.
Sly and the rest of the gang were left speechless, giving each other surprised looks.
Without warning, Luc landed back on the platform inside the van. "Damn it I hate it when I'm right."
Immediately following his statement, a huge explosion came from the airport in front of them, filling the air with fire and smoke. A large shockwave struck the van, causing it to shake violently.
"What is going on!" yelled Sly.
"It seems that we are just a bit too late," came Luc's oddly calm reply. "It appears that Ambroise took it upon himself to send another Number out here. You must be of very high priority, Sly. He has never sent this many."
"Yeah well lucky me!"
Murray skidded the van past a pair of cement columns and into a parking lot that was enclosed by a chain link fence. Throwing it into park, he turned off the engine. A loud rush of wind came from above them, followed by another explosion.
Luc, still in a creepily calm way, expressed his thoughts to the gang as they hurriedly disembarked the van. "Appears to be the work of Five, if I'm not mistaken."
"Wonderful, more people that we don't know," said Sly in a sarcastic way. He ran towards the front of the van and undid the latch on the passenger side door. Lifting out Bentley's wheelchair, he opened it up and then allowed Bentley to slide into it. Buckling himself in, the turtle gave him a nod of thanks and then started to wheel himself to the back of the bus.
As soon as everyone was off, Luc whistled loudly over the sound of explosions, catching the attention of the gang. "Ok everybody, change of plans." He pulled his pistol out of its holster and then slightly pulled back the slide to check to chamber. "Cooper, go with Detective Fox and scout out ahead. Murray, Bentley, Penelope, you 3 are with me as we try and find an alternate means of getting to England."
Sly and Carmelita both looked at each other, and then took off at a sprint towards the burning airport.
Sly was panting by the time he and Carmelita reached the large glass entrance to the airport, which had been cracked in several places thanks to the explosions that were still going off at random intervals all around them. "This is shaping up to be a crazy week," he said, out of breath.
"No kidding, but let's cut the theatrics and make sure that nothing will interfere with whatever plans Luc has, ok?"
Sly opened the glass double doors, and then walked carefully inside, trying to remain calm. He twisted his cane around in his hands, staying ready for anything. The entire airport, save for the sound of fire and explosions was oddly quiet; no screaming, no people running around, nothing. He ran quickly to the welcome desk and crouched down, placing his back to it. Carmelita joined him shortly thereafter.
"It all seems odd, doesn't it," she said to him. "This place seems deserted; no bodies or anything."
Another explosion rocked the building, causing them both to jump.
"If there is no one around, then we don't have to worry about being sneaky. Follow me, we'll do a quick sweep of the place and then go out to the tarmac to meet up with the others," he said, rising into a standing position. He walked quickly over to the food court and took a glance inside, motioning for Carmelita to join him. She ran quickly over to join him.
"Wait here," he said as another explosion went off outside, likely destroying a plane. He grabbed a decorative column in the entrance of the food court and began to climb up it, clasping his cane in between his teeth. Reaching the top, he effortlessly pulled himself up onto an awning and walked along it, looking back and forth to get a check on his surroundings. Seeing nothing of interest, he started off at a run and took a leap off of the awning. Whipping out his cane, he caught a light fixture that hung overhead and used it to swing across to another awning. Spinning in mid air, he landed softly upon the tip of a pole that jutted out of the top of it. Looking over once the area once again, he did a summersault off of the awning and landed neatly on the ground. Walking quickly over to Carmelita, he dusted a bit of dust off of his shirt. "The place is absolutely deserted," he said. "Let's go out to the tarmac before this whole building comes down around us."
The two took off towards an exit on the far side of the room and reached it without trouble. Jumping in front of Carmelita, Sly opened the door for her and beckoned with his hand. Carmelita rolled her eyes, and they stepped out into the warm air.
The tarmac itself was in ruins; every single jet liner had been blown to pieces, and their charred remains littered the runway. The air was thick with smoke, but they were able to see Luc and the others next to a small plane that had survived the attack. Running over to it, they rejoined the other group.
"Take that man out of the cockpit and place him on the ground," Luc directed at Murray, who had a horrified look on his face.
Sly ran up to meet them. "What's going on here?" he asked, but then he saw what Luc was talking about. Inside the cockpit of the medium sized Cessna was a portly male ferret with a piece of shrapnel embedded in his chest; staining his pilot's coat red with blood.
"Move out of the way, then," Luc said, pushing Murray aside and grabbing the body in his arms as if it was just a random object. Kneeling down, he placed the body on the ground next to the plane. "Everything is fine, Cooper, we just weren't expecting this poor fellow to be inside."
Sly looked at the body, and then shuddered. Shaking his head, he gave the plane a once over from where he stood. "Are you sure this thing will be able to hold us all?" he asked. Luc didn't reply. "Luc, will this hold all of us?"
"It will take a bit of finesse to get her off of the runway, but she should manage just fine once she is airborne," he finally said. He walked over to the side hatch of the plane and threw it open.
Carmelita, perking up her ears, noticed that the explosions had stopped going off around the airport. "Why is it so quiet all of the sudden?" She asked.
Luc continued on with his task, but answered her. "Five was sent here not to kill us, but to make sure that we didn't get off the ground. He seems to have already left." Jumping inside the plane, he turned around to face the others. "Ok ladies and gentlemen, next stop is Liverpool, England."
A/N
And so the plot thickens, right? Sly has a living relative in England, but it appears that Ambroise doesn't want him to reach them. The next chapter could take a while to come out, so I hope this one is good enough to tide whoever is reading this over until I can get around to posting the next part. Oh, and Claire Cooper, thanks for making my week for me : )
-Jake