Maximum Security Prison, Exact Location Classified, Europe. 9:58am 26 July 2013
The blow struck to the guards by Sly's new cane knocks them out. Their lifeless bodies no longer have a grip on the world's best thief. He takes one of their uniforms to blend in with the other guards. Sly radios back to Bentley to inform him of the bad news.
"Bentley, they've taken Carmelita away, we need a plan." Sly explains quickly to Bentley.
"I'm afraid Sly you have to return to get a plan sorted out. You've faced enough for one week." Bentley replies. He would like to help out but he doesn't want to undertake such a dangerous mission.
"Just get me to Carmelita's cell." Sly replies back, anxious to get his girlfriend back.
"They're going to find the bodies, you have to move now." Bentley instructs. In the end he has to help Sly, Bentley can't control the raccoon he has been with for such a long time. But gets a little more worried as alarms ring out from the prison.
"The prisons in lockdown, you have to get out there now." Bentley urges Sly.
"Not without Carmelita." Sly insists.
"It's too risky, you have to abort." Bentley pleads.
"No prison has held me yet, I don't intend for it to start now." Sly retorts back. It's a true fact that is undisputable. Sly makes his way along the corridors, navigating using the binocucom until he comes across what is Carmelita's cell with 50 guards surrounding it. There is no way he could get past. But wait, he thinks to himself as he turns invisible. He slips pasts the horde of guards protecting their most valuable prisoner.
"I could take all of them down." Sly wonders out loud but quietly to Bentley. He wants get to Carmelita as fast as possible.
"You need to calm down a bit Sly, We're worried about you." Bentley says, concerned for Sly's welfare if he undertook such a feat.
"About what?"
"About your uh, your recent propensity to waste your enemies." Bentley explains.
"In English?" Sly asks
"You need to stop being so aggressive, it's only going to end up with you behind bars." Bentley replies. How convenient to say such a thing when cells are just centimetres away.
"Why don't you just be ready when I'm at the tower?" Sly replies back, anxious to get back to business.
"Okay, but you really need to calm down." Bentley warns again. Sly takes a deep breath, accepting Bentley's advice.
"Affirmative." Sly responds. The guards don't hear a thing; their chatter is loud enough to cover their conversation.
There are no guards in the corridors past this point as they have all gathered around the prisoner, until he reaches the command centre where he turns visible to recharge his focus. The door is locked, no way inside.
"Bentley, you're up." Sly instructs Bentley. Bentley gets his hacking tools out.
"Time a little hack attack." Bentley announces as he disposes of the electronic lock with ease. Sly slips inside and goes invisible.
"Their should be a big red button for the fire alarm, ring that and they will be forced to evacuate." Bentley instructs the ghost in the room. The guards don't see the thief prowling amongst them. They only hear the shrill tone of the alarm where they all leave their posts to get out of the building. Sly goes visible and joins them as they walk out to leave. They can't see a difference, the guards rotate so quickly that new ones crop up all the time.
"Just like in school." Sly says to himself, reminiscing of easier times. Once he gets near Carmelita's cell, he breaks off the pack and reaches the door. Another electronic lock.
"Bentley." Sly says into the radio. Bentley is already on it as the door opens automatically. Carmelita is in a ball in the corner of the cell, expecting another guard going to check her out. It brings back bad memories untouched in decades.
"Carm, you need to get out now." Sly tells her. This raises her spirits and snaps her out of her mood. She resumes her normal persona.
"Yeah, I didn't like being on the opposite side of the cell." She retorts back as she gets up.
"We must go now." Sly hurriedly tells her.
"You only exit is up an air vent." Bentley tells Sly while they make their way around the prison. Sly leads Carmelita to the air vent in question.
"In here." Sly says as he points to the grate that he removes. "It's the only way out." He says. Carmelita is up for anything to be out of here. Sly gets in first to show her how it's done. He scampers up the vertical air vent by bracing himself against its metallic walls and forcing himself up by pushing himself up with his legs. Carmelita follows him up, resisting the urge to look up towards Sly and into his more private areas. She struggles with the movements required to get up but she slowly gets out. Sly meanwhile has busted out the fan at the top to create an opening. He gets out and reaches down with his cane to help Carmelita up. He pulls as hard as he can to get her out until she tastes the freedom of the rooftop.
"The power line is the way out." Bentley instructs.
"Too easy, hold onto me Carm." He says as he turns to Carmelita. He half wants to do this so she has to hug him, but this is business and he concentrates as he nears the edge of the building. A single power line connects the building with the outside world. It's such an oversight on such a heavily secure building. It works to their advantage as they slide down and out of the prison. The officers are waiting at the assembly point on the opposite side of the building. But that's not the problem. Their getaway vehicle is not there.
"Where's the van Murray?" Sly asks into his earpiece, slightly disconcerted that the van is not there to get them out of there quickly.
"Can't you hear it?" Murray replies. They hear the sirens of the fire engines but no loud engine of the van. Sly sees something which both astonishes him and reminds him why they are such good friends.
"Is that?" Sly asks himself as he turns on the binocucom to get a closer look. He sees the van, but it's disguised as a fire engine, with sirens and all. They tail behind the convoy of actual fire trucks and vans. While the other fire crews respond to the false alarm, Murray drives up to where the couple are waiting. Murray winds down the window to show off his new paint job.
"Look Sly, I'm a fire engine." The hippo says. Sly feels joyous on the inside. Only this gang could think of something as outrageous yet insanely effective at the same time. It warms his heart to see such things go off so well with added panache. But feelings aside, they get into the van and Murray drives off at a normal pace until they are outside of their vision, where he stamps on the throttle and they accelerate away. The winding B roads of the countryside allow Murray to test his driving skills, the nitrogen filled tires squirm at every opportunity as he turns in for another hairpin or fast bend. It's just another racetrack for Murray, just on public roads. An endless street circuit. They return to the lab in no time. Any distance is quite close considering the speeds Murray drives at.
Bentley's Lab, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 11:46am 26 July 2013.
Carmelita had taken her unceremonious retrenchment hard. That was her livelihood. Being in law enforcement was her job. Just like being a thief is Sly's way of life. She needed time to relax and so she took a walk around the streets of Amsterdam in hope of some answers. But now the gang needed answers of their own. Penelope's location, her motives and her new found abilities where all a mystery to them. Sly goes through the Thievius Raccoonus to make sure that no one didn't steal anything. He's had to go after more times than he needs to and no one knows what she's been doing during their little detour. Sly has also done something, which, to him, is a big step. He has put his family cane away for Bentley to keep safely with the Thievius Raccoonus. He has had that cane since his father's death. He could think of no one better to look after it. In it's place his new carbon cane. He has grown a liking to it's lightness which helps him swing it faster and harder and lift things out of peoples pockets more subtly than before, giving him much more control. But Bentley interrupts this reminiscing.
"We have to go back." Bentley announces.
"I'm not seeing Le Paradox again." Sly immediately rebuts.
"He's the key, don't you see." Bentley explains.
"I guess." Sly utters.
"Here." Bentley says as he shows the prison guard outfit. "You might want to get comfortable in this."
"Are you sure about this?" Sly asks.
"I'll do it." Murray states. Eager to try out the uniform.
"Since your little escape, they need to hire more guards. Luckily for us, it's the perfect way inside." Bentley explains. Reluctantly, Sly agrees and tries on the guard uniform again.
"This outfit already make me look more innocent." Sly jokes.
"Okay, I made you an identity card for the prison, along with the prison guard outfit; it should get you through the checkpoints into and out of the prison. You need to get to Le Paradoxes cell and get the information from him. Your cane will fit perfectly with your disguise as a truncheon; it won't attract anyone's attention. Use these syringes to help him… let's say, tell you what you want." Bentley explains while he prepares the syringes with their liquid.
"It would have been easier if I had one of these before." Sly says.
"This serum has a unique chemical composition that involuntarily shakes his tail if he is lying." Bentley explains in excitement of his new creation.
"But what if he doesn't even say anything?" Sly asks. Le Paradox may be a bit of a talker but it's a weakness that Sly picks up.
"The compound is more effective than too much alcohol at a bar. No one will be able to control their words; he will speak before he thinks. Just don't get yourself pricked." Bentley warns.
"I'll try not to." Sly promises as he collects a handful of them, which he puts into his thigh pocket. The gang are ready to go, but one thing is missing. The vixen has not returned from her little walk outside. Sly is worried sick but knows that the show must go on. Focusing on the mission will help block the worry and anxiety that he feels. Dimitri doesn't get into the van either; he stays to protect the two valuable Cooper items. To do this, he turns up the volume and gets ready to boogie down. The gang can see him grooving as the van is raised to street level. The iguana has no self-consciousness, just does what he loves in front of everyone, regardless of their preferences.