Ch8: Carmelita and Sylvia
"Yuck! These rooftops are filthy!" Bentley groaned as I grabbed the first set of clue bottles as well as climb some ladders. "Well they are the only way to the key, since my scanners show its in a jewel case somewhere near Muggshot's fire hydrant penthouse." "You know... the way you said that just sounds SO wrong..." I smirked, trying to keep my anger and emotions in check.
Why was I getting upset again? Because I just found ANOTHER tracking device implanted on my tail. Out of all the tracking devices to hit my body, this one was the thirteenth overall and the eight one to be found on my tail. It was really getting under my skin, since I knew for a fact that Clockwerk was doing it to keep tabs on me nonstop.
After attacking the card throwing dog and sending him spiraling down the rooftops, I climbed the ladder and was met by the one I didn't really want to see at the moment. "Well well well, look who just walked into my cross hairs: Sylvia Martin." Carmelita frowned, aiming her shock pistol at me. "I'm not in the mood, Fox... I've got my own problems right now..." I frowned, just simply walking away and jumping over the roofs. "HEY! WAIT!" Carmelita yelled, jumping directly in front of me, something she didn't do when Sly was playable.
"Listen... I know about your little meeting with Clockwerk," she said in a serious tone, making my eyes grow wide. I sighed and shook my head. "If you think I'm in cahoots with a giant bird that somehow killed my family by travelling to a different world, I'm sorry..." I frowned, wondering if I should just run past her or not. Carmelita wasn't glaring at me right now, but rather she was giving me eyes of worry.
"Say what now?" she asked, slowly approaching me. I held up my paw and looked to the ground, my way of saying I didn't want to be consoled by a cop. "I wasn't a cat when I was born, you know?" I frowned, sitting down on the mattress next to the ladder that would continue the chase. "I used to have no fur at all, no tail at all, ears that were small and round, and a life that, though not great, was still okay... now because of this Fiendish Five nonsense, I keep on finding trackers on me from Clockwerk and he suddenly reveals that he killed my family?"
Carmelita sighed and just stood there, placing her gun in her holster as she sat down next to me. "I know all that... I've been keeping tabs on you just as much as Clockwerk has..." she frowned. Her words didn't make me feel better. "How would you know about me when this is only the second time I've met you?" I frowned, placing fingers to my temple. "Because... because Interpol brought you here..."
Those words shook me a bit. It... it wasn't Clockwerk that took me away from my world... it was... Interpol? The Interpol of this world? "But... why? And why give me the ability to learn any one of Sly's ancestor's moves?" I frowned, hoping she could have known that at least. "That... I didn't know..." she frowned. "So... you're still running with Sly?" I frowned and nodded, a tear running down my cheek.
I then felt a tiny pinch on my tail and checked it. I sighed, picked it off, and showed Carmelita. "Mind telling me if these belong to you or Clockwerk?" I frowned, hoping she had an idea. "Interpol doesn't keep track of criminals via trackers," she frowned.
"So... are you going to place me in cuffs now?" I frowned, slowly getting up and picking up the clue bottle nearby. "N-No..." she said. That one word shocked me. "Huh?" I asked, surprised. "My boss said that I need to let you roam free for now..." she sighed. "Said that your abilities would greatly hinder the most notorious of these criminals. My job? It's following both you and Sly. Though every fiber of my being wants to capture and place you behind bars, I know you are only doing this for good intentions... I also know about how you practically know everything that will happen... but it seems that isn't really working well since you've already had some close calls."
"Yeah, tell me about it," I frowned. "First I get spotted by Raleigh in his ship, then I actually survive a meeting with Clockwerk, and finally I manage to outmaneuver Muggshot's mafia mutts. Not to be a downer, but I feel this story's plot is starting to churn uncontrollably." Carmelita nodded, sighing in the process. "Yeah... just know that I will still chase Sly... but I'll let you off the hook... so long as you try to help the story out..." she said.
"Will I ever be able to go home?" I asked her. "Sorry... Interpol said it was a one way trip... I don't agree with it either." "Nice to know... well... I'm gonna help Sly recover his family treasure... I'll see you later I guess..." "Yeah... I'll see you."
It was less hectic than the game would have gotten when I made my way through the level, making it much easier to grab the bottles and get to the end. Of course, now it had guard dogs on the rooftops every now and then, but nothing I couldn't handle. The vault held the technique for speeding up time, which I used to effectively get to the end much quicker and get the key faster.
I met up with Sly once that was done and saw that we had all seven keys. "Hey, Sly!" I smirked, showing him my key and the fast moving technique. "Alright! I found Muggshot's blueprints and the decoy technique," he smiled. "Now that we've done that, how about we take on that overgrown mutt?" I gleamed, stoked up after chatting with Carmelita. Now I felt that I could take on the Fiendish Five with confidence.
"Wait... gotta get rid of this thing first," he sighed, picking tracking device number sixteen from my arm. MY ARM! "Thanks... but I'm getting really tired of this shit... this is number 17 you know?" Sly sighed and revealed the switch with the keys, which I quickly flipped, the large head revealing an elevator. "Let's go!" Sly said. "Right behind ya, partner!" I gallivanted behind him.