It occurs to me that this is probably going to be the shortest story I've ever written (excluding my oneshot obviously). There's only so much you can do with this premise before it goes stale and it's time to start wrapping things up. Still a few more chapters to go after this though.

Chapter 8: Recon

The next morning was tense for everyone. Sly didn't trust Le Paradox, Le Paradox didn't trust Sly, and Neema had no idea how to keep them from going at each other's throats. No one spoke a word as they set out once more, but there was plenty that wanted to be said. The fennec fox could barely stand the silence. It felt like any second someone was going to explode and the two would be fighting to the death again.

So it was extremely fortunate for everyone involved that they found the Sisterhood's hideout only twenty minutes in.

They didn't realize that this was what it was at first. They only saw a massive canyon stretching across the desert in front of them, which would have impeded their progress significantly if this weren't their destination. Le Paradox started to complain when Sly bluntly told him to shut up. It was the first thing either of them had said to each other that day and not a sign that their relationship was improving.

But Sly's remark wasn't purely mean-spirited. "Look," he whispered, pointing off into the canyon. From around the bend came a pair of camels, each bearing a sand cat rider. The trio immediately backed away from the edge and commanded their own camels to stay put. They would do nothing for them now except draw unwanted attention. Crawling along the sand, they edged back towards the cliff again and peered over cautiously. The sand cats were still there, though they had veered off the path through the canyon and now stood facing the cliff-side away from them.

"What's going on?" Neema asked. "Why are they just staring at a wall?" They kept watching as one of the felines reached out and pushed in a seemingly ordinary rock. A few seconds later, there was a thunderous rumble and the stone wall moved upwards, creating an opening that the sand cats and their rides quickly passed through. The opening closed behind them and the canyon returned to its natural state as if nothing had happened.

"A secret entrance. Clever." Sly smirked. "Lucky we happened to be around to see that."

"I would hardly call this lucky," Le Paradox scowled. "All we know now is how to get into their hideout. We still have no idea what the inside looks like."

Sly's expression did not change. "Then I guess we better find out."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

Sly held up his binocucom triumphantly. "The same way I usually do: sneak in, take a few photos, sneak out."

"Photos?" Neema asked, unfamiliar with the term.

They ignored her. "So either you get us the insight we need, or you get yourself caught and perish? Sounds like a win-win to me." Le Paradox grinned, and Sly's face dropped instantly. He had just noticed a huge flaw in his plan: it involved leaving Le Paradox alone with Neema.

What could he possibly do? he tried to reassure himself, but his imagination was quick to provide a whole list of answers.

- Manipulate Neema into siding with him. Again.

- Take Neema hostage and force him to give up the time machine.

- Turn him and Neema over to the Sisterhood to bargain for the time machine.

- Outright kill her just to spite him.

He stopped himself there before he could get any more creative. "You're coming with me."

"What?" Le Paradox hissed. "Make me."

He was roughly kicked in the back, sending him tumbling over the side of the cliff and stopping right at bottom. He groaned.

Sly looked on in surprise as Neema drew a sandaled foot back. "Just to be clear, I'm not taking sides here, but I agree that he should go with you. Just please, try to get along."

"I'll try," Sly said simply, knowing already that he couldn't make that promise. He opened a small compartment on his binocucom and withdrew a small microphone that he handed it to Neema. "You keep a lookout for us. Let us know if anything else happens out here."

"Woah," the fennec fox gasped, looking at the device in awe. "What is this thing? Some kind of magical artifact?"

"Sure, let's go with that," Sly answered, figuring that would be easier than trying to explain the technology to her. "Just be careful."

"You too," she smiled. Sly gave her a smile in return and slid down the cliffside.

He reached the bottom just as Le Paradox got back up, brushing dust off himself bitterly. He said nothing as Sly walked by, just grunted and followed after him.

The first obstacle was the secret entrance itself. Obviously, the two of them were not sanctioned Sisterhood members so getting in without being noticed would prove a little difficult. But only a little. Luckily for them, the mechanism was not equipped with any kind of peephole for those inside to see who was coming in. They probably just assumed that anyone with knowledge of the entrance was a member. That worked in their favor, as there were a pair of guards standing directly inside.

Naturally, the guards were stunned to see the two thieves at their doorstep. They were even more stunned when they both attacked, striking simultaneously with their respective weapons. They each took a blow to the skull and collapsed to the ground with no resistance. The felines were dragged into the corner and sat upright, so they looked more lazy than unconscious. "It's not much, but it will have to do," Sly said as soon as they finished pushing the wall back into place. "Now let's take a look around."

There was more to see than they expected. The tunnel they entered through was small and cramped, but it quickly opened up into a much larger chamber. The hideout had been cleverly hidden within the walls of this canyon and they had plenty of room to work with. The whole place was made up of a series of wooden walkways and ladders that extended all the way to the top. These walkways led to several smaller cave openings that led on into other chambers. It wasn't just the hideout that was larger than expected either. They could see what looked like dozens of sand cats making their way around the place.

"So now what, smart guy?" Le Paradox asked smugly, apparently forgetting that he wanted the time machine too.

Sly remained silent as he pulled out the binocucom and took a photo of the chamber. Whatever plan he was going to come up with, this information would help immensely. "Let's go," he ordered Le Paradox. "Stay close."

Not waiting for him to object, Sly left the tunnel and hid himself again behind one of the walkway structures. Le Paradox hastily followed, his cowardice overriding his pride. The bickering stopped here, as their thieving instincts kicked in and told them that silence was key. The duo slowly made their way up the walkways, ducking out of sight of the sand cat guards when necessary. Eventually reaching the top of the structure, they peeked out once more.

"Do you see that?" Sly whispered to his begrudging partner, tilting his head towards one of the cave entrances. They watched as a sand cat carried a small golden chalice into the cave, then walked out empty-handed a few moments later. "That must be where they keep their treasure hoard."

"So that's where we'll find the time machine," Le Paradox smiled.

They adjusted their position again so they could get a better look inside the cave. They couldn't tell for sure if it was the Sisterhood's treasure hoard, but the locked metal door was a good sign. "Looks like this won't be too easy," Sly quickly drew his binocucom again and snapped a picture of the door.

"So now what?"

"Now we get the heck out of here and come up with a plan."

They began their climb back to the bottom when suddenly there was a loud crackling from the binocucom. Thankfully, no one heard it but the two of them as Sly paused to pull the device back up again. "Hey! Slytunkhamen, are you there?!"

Sly winced. "Yes Neema, I can hear you. You don't have to be so loud."

"Well how am I supposed to know how this crazy thing works?" she asked indignantly. "Anyway, there's more sand cats headed your way. They're coming through the entrance now."

On cue, they heard the low rumbling of the stone doorway and saw another group of felines enter the main chamber. They recognized the one at the front instantly. It was Isis, the bandit leader.

"Do you see them?"

Sly gave a low growl. He had a real bone to pick with this one. "Yeah. I see them."

They made it back to ground level and slowly snuck around Isis and her followers. The sand cats hadn't even bothered to close the entrance this time, too busy arguing with the newly-awoken door guards about why they were caught sleeping on the job. The outside was in plain sight, but as Le Paradox was about to bolt for it, he saw Sly pause for a moment. "What are you doing?!" he whispered harshly.

"It might be a good idea to get a picture of her too, just in case." Sly hurriedly snapped a picture of Isis from behind as she continued to threaten the guards.

"Great, now hurry up before you get us killed."

But it was not Sly that almost got them killed a moment later, it was Le Paradox. As they entered the tunnel that would lead them to freedom, a stray breeze came in from outside. The breeze wasn't strong enough to slow them down, but it was just strong enough to blow the skunk's "unique" aroma in the direction of the sand cats. Sly had so adjusted to the smell by now that he didn't even notice it anymore, but the cats noticed it just fine.

Sly flinched as he heard them let out loud cries of disgust. "Ugh! What is that?!" Isis screamed, whirling around to face the tunnel.

There was nothing there.

Isis looked around for a few moments in confusion, but eventually gave up. "Must be some spoiled food stock or something," she muttered as she turned back to the guards. "Get that sorted out. Consider it your punishment."

"Y-Yes, boss!"

A few seconds after everyone left, Sly lowered himself from the ceiling of the tunnel. Good thing his cane was strong enough to hold up him and Le Paradox, who was clinging to his back in terror. "And you wonder why your family wasn't as successful as mine."

Le Paradox practically threw himself off of his hated rival and tried to look as dignified as possible. "Well, that's only because you Coopers-"

He realized he was talking to himself and turned around just in time to see Sly poke his head in from outside. "Hey, hurry up already."

If it weren't for their mutual goal, Le Paradox would have killed him just for that.