Ch54: The Arabian Caper

After Carmelita and the others made it back to the Safehouse, we loaded the van with Penelope in my lap as we all traveled back to Ancient Arabia at the year 1001 AD. Once we managed to get there, Sly and the others immediately wanted a run down of what was to come, so I happily obliged. "This timeline is the home of Salim Al Kupar, the one said to have the stealth of Forty Thieves. But in this timeline, he's in an elderly age and his gang of 40 Thieves have been reduced to himself and three other members due to retirement," I explained.

"So where are they?" Sly asked me. "Salim Al Kupar should be on a boat in the harbor area and the other three thieves are being held hostage by Miss Decibel, the same elephant that hypnotized Penelope," I continued, placing the girl on a makeshift bed of straw from nearby. "And these three thieves are being hypnotized to make fake documents for Le Paradox. These documents are a key part in his plan as, if they are completed and returned to the present, they'll give him a royal status so powerful that he'll rule the world! We need to find those documents ASAP, free the thieves, find Salim, and take this fight to Le Paradox himself!"

"Got it! But... where could these documents be?" Bentley asked. "With Miss Decibel..." said a weary Penelope on the straw bed. "She has them in her office... that she almost never leaves... it'll be tough to get in and out." "Penelope..." Sly sighed as he looked at the fallen mouse. She was still drained from the hypnosis but, with enough time and rest, she'd be back up and at 'em for sure.

"I'm going to go and find Miss Decibel with Opal by my side," I said to the team. "Sly, Carmelita, and El Jefe will be in charge of finding Salim and Bentley and Murray will stay and watch over Penelope. Okay?" "You can count on us, Sylvia," Bentley smiled as everyone else nodded. It was almost as if I'd become a secondary leader to these guys... and I was starting to like it!

"Okay then... so where does this overweight elephant do her business anyways?" Neyla asked as we traversed the Arabian rooftops. Opal was right behind me, holding on with every leap. "She lives in that temple there," I said as I pointed over to the giant palace that circled the whole of the area. "We need to bust in and find those damn documents! If Le Paradox gets them to the present, nothing can be able to stop him!" "Alright! Let us lay down the smack on this hag on an elephant!" Opal smiled as we jumped another rooftop and landed on the balcony that would lead to her office.

Upon opening the door without a sound (And by picking it with my claws), we soon found ourselves in a giant library of sorts that was playing classical music that was made by what appeared to be Moonlight Sonata. It was then that we heard some trumpet noises from an upper area nearby and I turned us both invisible. We turned a corner and we were both so relieved to see that the trumpet noises were just Ms Decibel snoring. She was friggin asleep!

"Well that explains the Moonlight Sonata," I whispered to Opal. "Yeah... let's find those things already..." Opal frowned with a whisper of her own. Not wanting to wake Ms Decibel from her sleep, I looked at her in the face and Neyla used her own form of hypnosis on her. Now she wouldn't wake up for at least an hour longer and nothing would be able to bump the elephant awake at all. "Nice one, Neyla," I smirked at the robotic eye. "Heh... at least I'm using it for good now," she smiled back.

"Hey, I think I found something," Opal said as she motioned me over to what seemed like a desk in the middle of the room. I looked on the table and I saw what it read on the cover. "'My Boyfriend's Fake Documents to Rule the World?' That's kind of sad isn't it?" Opal frowned at the cover. "Yeah, but at least we found what we were looking for," I smiled mischievously. "Now to just make a few adjustments to the pages with this laser and..." Neyla smirked as she burned the pages right out of the book and left the other ones in there blank. "Now let's do a little bit of artistry, hm?" I smiled deviously as I readied an ink pen she had on the table.

"Oh you are so naughty, Sylvia!" Opal giggled as I began to draw a bunch of demeaning pictures of Le Paradox inside of the book. The first was of him standing under an umbrella with a piano ready to fall on his head. The second was of him getting eaten by a dinosaur. The third was of him getting struck by lightning. I included one of him tripping on a banana peel, one of him getting burned to bits by a dragon, and one of him getting squashed by Ms. Decibel's butt. Sure they were subpar drawings, but they were funny nonetheless. "Heh. I think our business is done here," I smiled as I closed the book and gave a signal for us to exit.

But that wasn't how it really went. The moment that Opal had exited the building, the door to the outside shut closed with what seemed to be a reinforced steel door! "SHIT!" I exclaimed loudly, knowing that Ms Decibel wouldn't be able to wake up for another five minutes. "Zis is so... how you say... perfect!" laughed a French-accented person that I knew was responsible for this.

"Le Paradox, I presume?" I frowned as I turned around and both Neyla and I looked at the skunk in his green suit, ridiculous ascot, and gigantic tail. He was also very smelly from my position, but not to the point where I'd faint. "You've done well to make it zis far, Sylvia Martin, the infamous 'Mystery Bandit'. But now you will get a front row seat to ze finale of a lifetime! And you're little boyfriend Cooper will never be ze wiser!"

"Heh... you really are stupid then, Mr. Stinky," I frowned, mocking him even though I was trapped in a room with no air vents for his stinky ass. "What did you just say to me?" Le Paradox asked in a reserved fashion, though I could see his eyes burning with frustration already. "I've known of your plans since the beginning, and I happen to have a little bit of help on my side... help that I freed from your fat friend's hypnotism."

"WHAT DID SHE JUST CALL ME?!" exclaimed Ms Decibel from her bed as she jumped into action and immediately gagged from the smell. "Guk... what's that... putrid odor?!" she half gagged half puked. "That is your stinky ass boyfriend, Pepe Lepew," I smiled, Le Paradox's eyes twitching at my nickname I gave him. I started to cough, however, as the entire room was now filled with his stench and I was losing oxygen fast. "Either way, you've already failed!" Le Paradox exclaimed.

He then ran up the stairs and got the book that held his documents, the singed parts already dusted off by Opal for good measure. He smiled at the book and began to stroke the cover. "In zis book features documents that depict moi in ancient royalty," he began to brag. "Made in these times, therefore proven as true in ze present, I shall use these documents to become ze most powerful man in ze world!"

When he finished his little monologue, Ms. Decibel ended up fainting right afterwards. "Such a weak stomach on her, huh?" I smiled as I stepped on the elephant's nose and pulled the trumpet out with what little ounce of energy I still had in my body. Once I did so, I threw it out of the way and collapsed right there on the ground. "Either way... you're still... screwed..." I groaned as I finally fainted from the overwhelming stench.