Just outside of Lyon.
"Murray, it's up to you now." Bentley shouts to the driver as they turn off the motorway and enter the outer suburbs of Lyon.
"Okay, you ready for the plan like we explained." Bentley communicates over the radio.
"I'm ready." Joey says, ready to get going and follow Murray through these narrow streets. The pace with Murray keeps on going through such tight streets and past the historic buildings, frightened people stand back from the road and hugs the walls as the van drives past with the hypercar following close behind, their engines bellowing out a song of horsepower and internal combustion all over the city. The entourage of police cars following them have been called off by the director himself, they would never be able to keep up with them in these narrow streets. Murray is still frantically driving towards his given destination. He imagines the timers and speed in his head, like he is trying to beat his personal best or even the world record lap time. He didn't exactly do that on the racetrack but it works for him, it just enriches him further into the zone. He spots the bridge to take them further into the centre of the city. A roadblock has been placed there, Bentley was expecting this, bridges over the river would be the obvious choke points. But not roadblocks like this. A row of skips crudely filled with concrete to weigh them down over the bridge. If Murray deployed the ram it would shoot the van backwards instead of the obstructing object. Murray applies the brakes as the van squirms under the force. Joey applies his brake and stops in a shorter distance than the van. Murray does a handbrake turn to turn back around and head for an alternate route.
"Bentley I need directions now." Murray shouts, knowing that the primary route has been compromised.
"Go straight and veer right at the roundabout." Bentley commands, he also speaks into the walkie-talkie to give Joey the instructions as well.
"How far right?" Murray shouts, there are many different exits off this roundabout.
"Over there." Bentley says, pointing in the right direction. They race along the roads, the police cars trail behind in the distance, unable to match these two performance machines for pace with two expert drivers at the wheel. This road leads straight to the Peripherique, the ring road around Lyon or indeed any other major French city. This one goes right under the river in a tunnel that leads them right to the other side of the city, right near the Interpol building. They rush, single file onto the exit ramp and negotiate around the traffic.
"They're falling right into the trap." The Director notes, watching their progress from a camera mounted on a police helicopter above. He sees their hasty entrance into the underground.
"Underground teams prepare to move in." The Director commands via a walkie-talkie.
Meanwhile, Joey is having a blast of a time in the tunnel, putting the window down so he can hear the full roar of the engine being reverberated against the tunnels circular concrete exterior. This sensation is only brief as they briefly exit into the sunlight and back into the darkness, still speeding along, setting off every camera that they pass. Just as they enter into this tunnel, a whole line of squad cars enters off the slipway behind them with sirens blazing. She realises what they are doing.
"They're going to trap us inside." She says to Joey who is unchanged at this revelation.
"No sweat, Bentley would have thought this through and I'm sure someone of his mental capacity would have foreseen such tactics and figured out a way to beat them." Joey replies, calm and content in the blind faith of Bentley's plan.
They continue driving along the motorway with the police cars holding their own but not gaining ground either. Carmelita becomes increasingly concerned about her instincts being right and radios to Bentley.
"Are you sure we're not being trapped inside?" She asks.
"No, no, no. I've figured it all out." Bentley replies back. In reality, he hasn't got it all figured out. He frantically types in his computer and curses at the poor reception underneath the ground. The maps that he has show only one thing. That if they have blocked in the other side they will be going straight into a cul de sac.
"I'll handle this Bentley." She says as she winds down the window. "Tell Murray to slow down and let them catch up."
Reluctantly, Murray obeys and the police cars pull up along side with guns drawn to shoot out the tires. In the dimly lit tunnel, the pulses of electricity from the shock pistol illuminate this yellowy-orange glow to a white and blue light show as the shots ring out, destroying the engines of the cars, rendering them useless. The cars skid to a stop.
"Turn around Murray." She shouts, Murray pulls a very tight handbrake turn in the two-lane tunnel. Murray figures he knows what to do next. Joey tries to turn the hypercar around but it's dimensions make for a difficult turn. He does a 180 degree turn and floors it towards the stationary police cars, the smoke spewing from the tires. The officers have gotten out of their cars and take cover behind with guns drawn. They try to shoot at the engine but that's being reinforced so no damage is done. The Murray ploughs through one of the oncoming lanes, shooting the police cars further down the lane. The traffic is backing up due to this disruption, It's going to be a snails pace at best out of the tunnel, the traffic moves over to the one side as the gang tries to exit out. Joey worries intensely, not wanting to scrape or scratch his new ride.
Seeing all of this is the Director, who is looking via the tunnels security cameras. He is in his favourite place, right beside Sly. He still gets reception underground from the Wi-Fi antenna in these underground rooms. He shows the vision on the tablet to Sly who is still trying to fake his drugged asleep state.
"Just look at this right now, if this won't wake you up then nothing will. Not even if I stab you in the chest, that's how convinced I am of this vision right here of your gang being trapped inside a tunnel." He pauses, waiting for a reaction. "Nope, I thought you cared deeply about your friends. You have been with them since the age of 8 if I am correct, the Happy Campers Orphanage if I remember correctly. Now if you would like to watch your friends demise then I suggest you wake up and maybe we can try to sort something out. Sly is still motionless, every once of energy is being funnelled into keeping his heart rate steady and low.
"If you insist." He says while picking up the walkie-talkie. "Make sure you have the instruments ready. Enough for 6 I think."
"You see, if you truly cared for your friends then you could just work something out like men at the negotiating table. I can be reasonable if you are willing to do the same. But if you don't say anything or are hostile to my demands then you will have to hear the pains of your friends one by one until you crack open like a can of worms. Is that clear?" There is still no motion from Sly.
"Well, see you in about 10 minutes." The Director concludes, the door thunks and shuts, Sly is torn between getting up and biding his time further. He decides that this is no longer the time to be passive and rest, now is the time to dig his gang out of complete ruin. For the first time, his eyes open and see the world that he is in. He shifts his head from side to side and looks at the steel door; the only light is illuminated above him, leaving the rest of the room dark and eerie. His eyes are blinded by the light above and so turns away until his eyes further acclimatise. He sees the leather straps and the zip ties that hold him down. Suddenly, the doors begin to open again, he though he still has another 9 minutes.
"Let go of me you twerp!" Penelope shouts as the director holds her off the ground single handedly. Behind him are two assistants with another bed with straps like Sly's. The bed is turned to face Sly and Penelope is forced down and tied down with the straps. She squirms around in the grip of the two assistants who hold her down while the Director personally ties her down nice and tight.
"Tilt her up." The Director commands. A button on the bottom of the bed lift the bed to face Sly, she is at a 60 degree angle with the ground, a footrest at the bottom prevents her falling down.
"Sly, Don't keep on trying to fake it, it's the most horrible thing to see someone fail to pull it off. Just open your eyes."
Sly does open his eyes.
"Ah finally, he has awoken from his deep slumber." The Director says with sarcastic panache and pomp. From the security tape he knows when Sly has been actually awake.
"You know your not so good friend Penelope, it probably the only thing between me and you, that pink mouse. The only connection to you, is about to be cut. Very slowly I may add, and very painfully. If you do not want such a thing to happen then all you have to do are two things for. One, you will spend the rest of your life in prison where nothing can be stolen. This prison will not be escapable as it will be a cell in the ground just for you and your gang. Secondly, you go on television, and renounce your thieving ways while tell all other thieves to stop as well. Just make sure you add a nice fat and juicy paragraph about how I was so brave in capturing you. Got it?" The director continues.
"You did all this just to lock me up? Just to stop thieving all together? You have lost your mind because I'm not what you seek; I'm not going to solve your problems. Going after me is the biggest mistake you could ever hope to make and I'll make sure you know that!" Sly retorts angrily. He is pissed at the Director who just waves it off.
"Yes, yes, continue with your empty rhetoric, keep flapping you jaw and see how far that it gets you." He says as he walks over to Penelope. "Would you like to convince him otherwise?"
"Nope." Penelope simply says without any fear of what may be coming.
"Suit yourself, you're the one with the impending torture coming."