Ch22: Jungle Kooky

After a VERY long and dangerous trek through the jungles of India, we managed to find the location of Rajan's secret spice temple. It was definitely much... larger than I imagined it to be. The temple was indeed one of (if not THE) biggest I'd seen in person. "Okay you two, we need to get some reconnaissance photos of Rajan's spice temple from the inside of the temple," Bentley said to me and Sly as we made our way to the drainage tube. "But be careful. If you get hurt the nearest hospital is a hundred and six miles from here."

"Noted Bentley," I said, seriousness in my voice as we crawled into the drain pipe that would lead into the temple's bottom portion. "You sure sound confident all of a sudden," Sly said to me as we neared the spice plant. "You can't do a job right without confidence," I smirked. "Okay guys. You need to get to the upper levels of the spice growing facility. Why not try that access tube up behind you?" Bentley suggested, pointing the way to the tube I already knew was there.

"Instead of going through all these guards, how about we take a jump tour?" I asked Sly with a sinister smirk. I didn't give him time to react as I grabbed his shirt collar and jumped all the way over to the tube, Sly dusting himself off afterwards. "Could you give me a more appropriate warning?" he asked in a frustrated voice. "Hey, don't hate the player, hate the game," I grinned. "You go on ahead and take the photos... I'm gonna do my OWN recon work..."

Before he could respond, I turned myself invisible and hopped up to the upper levels without a sound. Once I did so, I knew that not even Sly could see me... unless he figured out how to use the heat senses in his Binocucom that I added during the two year break. "My spice production is running smoothly..." said Rajan as he walked around carrying HALF of the Clockwerk heart on his staff. A deadly weapon if ever there was any.

'Time to see if my practices at night have worked..." I frowned, pressing a hidden button on the eyes. 'If I could just look at Rajan eye-to-eye without him noticing me...' That was when I slowly moved into position, moving in front of Rajan and looking in his eyes, backing up as I tried to look in his gaze. I didn't expect to be able to connect my mind into his, but it worked. 'Rajan...' I thought to him, his gaze looking around as if trying to determine what said that to him.

'Rajan... this is your conscience...' I said ominously, Rajan looking a tad bit confused. 'You won't be able to run forever, bub... a certain gang has arrived here and is ready to attack your temple.' Rajan growled as I said this. I knew I was taking a HUGE risk doing this, but I knew if I could say these next words firmly, he'd take the bait. 'You need to be on your toes, Rajan... that cat that works for Dimitri is with them... she's in your office even as we speak!'

That was what made Rajan very angry! He growled angrily and ran out of the spice plant, which I know confused Sly. Once he was out of sight, I moved over to the guards, pick-pocketed their keys, and let down the winch for the heart, which Sly gasped at when he saw the effects it had on the facility, not only destroying the guards, but also frying the spice plants that were being irrigated by it not ten seconds ago.

I then revealed myself, which Sly gasped at again. "Hah! The big bad kitty cat fell for it! Haha!" I giggled, nabbing the heart without ANY effort at all. "H-How the hell... what just happened, Sylvia?" Sly exclaimed, suddenly demanding an explanation. I frowned and reached into my pocket, revealing the eyes as I pulled them out. "Sorry for not telling you guys earlier," I frowned, placing them back in my pocket. "But I actually stole these the day before the Klaww gang hit the station... and before you ask how I knew beforehand, it's only because I heard about it on the streets."

"But... why not tell us beforehand?! And... wait a minute... did you use those to make Rajan leave?" Sly asked me. "Because... I needed to see if the eyes affected me... but then I realized during the heist in India that they give you super senses as well as the ability to merge minds temporarily." "You know that could be potentially dangerous, don't you?" Sly asked. "Do you think I'm unaware of the risk/reward factor?" I asked back, growing annoyed a bit. "Besides, I'd rather use an evil artifact for good rather than ev-"

Before I could finish, I felt the eyes' power grow again. This time, however, it felt different... it felt... evil. I pulled them out of my pocket and almost doubled over in pain when I actually looked at the right eye. Both eyes were glowing an evil red and it felt like they were eating into my soul. I didn't expect anything good to happen but... I felt something in the eyes. Something that... enticed me. I quickly regained my senses, however, and hit them across the earth, turning off the eerie red light.

I panted heavily and felt seriously drained from the experience, collapsing on the ground as Sly somehow ran over to me. "Now do you think it's a bad idea?" he asked me. I smiled wearily, knowing exactly where I went off. "Heh... I forgot to hit the secret button again... that's why..." I sighed. "Let's get you back to the Safehouse... You need to rest up." "Y-Yeah... okay..."