Disclaimer: I don't own any Sly Cooper characters; they belong to Sucker Punch Productions/Sanzaru games. I don't own any characters…all original characters belong to 'Dragonmaster789'.
Claimer: I own nothing…I simply wrote the story the way I was told.
Well here's chapter 3! On another note, I am thinking of new story ideas that I want to work on after I completely finish both this for 'Dragonmaster789' and my Sir Galleth story, so I've started a poll on my profile page. So along with reading and leaving feedback for this, please help out my poll so I can start figuring out plots for my future stories, thanks!
Chapter 3: A Cat and a Viper
I glanced around the city of Paris, only half listening to Bentley as he rambled on and on and on about our next caper. Along with Murray behind us, we were heading to the local coffee house for a cup of hot steaming caffeine before we set out for our next job. I walked with my paws in my pockets, kicking at rocks on the ground and running my fingers over the note in my pocket. After the mysterious theft of the Mermaid Diamond, my mind had been trying to figure out who had stolen it…and I think I had my man…or maybe I should say woman. I was convinced that the woman I danced with that night, the same woman who gave me the note in my pocket, was the thief. I was also sure of who the identity of the woman was, someone who had unmistakable features and a unique personality; Nagisa Furukawa.
"You got that, Sly?" Bentley's voice snapped me from my thoughts, bringing me back to what we were doing.
"Of course, heard every word you said." I chuckled, knowing that I hadn't heard a word since we left the hideout. Bentley rolled his eyes with his own laugh as we finished walking to our destination, the coffee shop on the other side of the city. As we entered the small building, we noticed the infamous Inspector Carmelita Fox sitting at one of the booths near the back, her nose buried in paperwork and her attention turned to her latest case. Realizing that getting in a confrontation with the Interpol officer wasn't the best thing to do in a small, family owned coffee shop, so we decided that staying low was probably going to be the best idea. The three of us sat at a booth behind a group of rather loud teenagers, keeping out of sight from the Inspector. I sat next to Bentley, Murray sitting across from us, and picked up a menu, looking through it while Bentley went over our plans…again.
"Bentley," I glanced to the turtle next to me, "you've gone over these plans a thousand times…I think we've got it down. Besides, this race will be a piece of cake." Being thieves, we were always looking for ways to steal priceless items and earn a pretty penny from them. So, once we heard that the Cats Rubs and the Snake's Sapphire were the grand prizes to the winner of the annual race here in Paris, and then we simply couldn't pass it up. With Murray, his van, and his racing skills, there would be no way that we could loose this race. Bentley tried to respond, but was overpowered by the teenagers behind us.
"Dude!" one of the boys remarked to his friends, "You can't win this race! The Viper is competing! She's never lost a race! She's too fast!" the other boys at the table howled out laughs at their friends put down.
"Nah!" another retorted, "I can take her! With the alterations I've given to my car, I can smoke all of the competition!"
"Yeah, but you drive like your grandmother!" another round of laughter came from the table, making a rather loud commotion. Our waitress came to our table, briefly turning to the table of teenagers, barking at them for the teens to quiet down a little. The woman shook her head, muttering a phrase to the teens under her breath before returning her attention to our table. I felt my ears perk, automatically realizing who our waitress was. My dance partner from the other night stood at the table, a pad in her paws and an apron tied around her waist. Nagi's uniquely colored purple hair was pulled on top of her head in a sloppy bun, some of it dangling to her face.
"Your orders?" she asked, placing a pen to the pad and waited for our responses. Both Bentley and Murray asked for a simple cup of coffee and Nagi wrote them down quickly before turning to me. She recognized me instantly, but kept her composure and mentioned nothing of our dance the other night.
"Surprise me." I said to the jet black fox, who, like Bentley and Murray, was slightly taken back by my response.
"Surprise you?" she repeated with a raised eyebrow. I nodded, handing her my menu before flashing her a smile, "Alright," she said with a confused look before walking towards the counter, starting our orders.
"Did you hear that guys?" Murray excited voice came after the waitress was gone, "The Viper is competing! She's one of the best racers I've heard of!"
"Really?" I asked after shifting in my seat, "What does she look like?" Murray shifted as well, barely able to contain his excitement.
"That's the thing, no one knows! That's what makes her so mysterious. She always races on her motorcycle, zooming out of the starting gate and winning each race with a breeze. Then, after she's collected her prize, she disappears. And after that she's not seen or heard from until the next race. I don't know if I can win it if she's competing."
"Don't worry Big Guy; I'm sure you'll smoke her right out of the starting gate. We'll be the ones walking away with those prizes, not The Viper." I chuckled at my large friend, confidant that he could win no problem.
"Did you just say that you'll be racing The Viper in the race later today?" Nagi returned to our table with our drinks on her tray, a curious look on her face.
"Yeah," I said glancing up to the waitress, "you know anything about her?" she scoffed, placing one of the drinks on the table.
"Only that she's the best racer in the history of racing. No offence, but you don't stand a chance against her." She placed a second drink on the table, a proud look on her face.
"Well I think that we have just a good of chance as anyone, especially this Viper." She raised an eyebrow and slid my drink to me from across the table.
"Have you ever actually seen her race?" I shook my head, sipping at my coffee, "Then if you have, then you would know you can't win against her. She's too good." She smirked, turning from our table with her tray in her arms. I shook my head at the fox, knowing that she knew who I was and seemed to be in the mood for bantering.
"You know her?" Murray asked as he pointed to the fox, who had made her way back behind the counter and was wiping it down with a towel. I stayed silent, simply shaking my head in the process. I wasn't planning on telling them that I knew that the fox was Nagi…I figured I'd have my fun with her first. With her attitude, I figured that she'd be at that race later today…and I'd be sure to meet here there.