Cooper's creed 3 The Assassin's vault

by Creativity is king

Clockwerk is finally gone and a year later Sly discovers his inheritance from his Assassin's ancestors is waiting for him to claim it, however he's not the only one looking to get his hands on it, to claim what his Assassin ancestors have left behind he must recruit new members to the Cooper family, join him and the others in this story of trust, family, loyalty and secrets

2. Chapter 2 An opera of fear

(A smokescreen is seen and a great, golden dragon flies out of it, breathing fire before it turns in a barrel roll formation then turns into a man made entirely of gold with one Perfect Sharingan eye, the other a Rinnegan eye and a third eye on his forehead)

Long live the KING

Welcome BACK my friends to "Cooper's creed 3 The Assassin's vault" this is the second chapter and the beginning of the "Sly 3 Honor among thieves" cannon where the group will try and bring Murray back to the family and take on the first villain in the story

But also, I will be introducing another adversary that the Cooper family will eventually have to deal with down the road, one who is connected to Sly, Neyla, Bentley and Murray's pasts

Now, with that that being said and out of the way

LET'S GET IT

Chapter 2 An opera of fear

(5 days later) (Hideout) (10:30 P.M)

The last five days the group had been gathering things that they needed for this mountain of a task to recruit new members and bring back an old one when they eventually would try to bring Murray back to the family, they prepared, gathered supplies and tech and even did their best to track down Murray and they were a day away from moving out and getting things started but while everyone else was asleep by this time, Sly wasn't, he stood in a pair of dark green sleeping pants in the Hazard room where he stood at a set up shooting gallery where tennis balls are being launched by a ball shooting machine and Sly was shooting arrow after arrow at said balls using a bunch of arrows that were spread out of a table in front of him, one after the other with masterful skill in archery, fluent movement every time he knocked an arrow and let them lose with barely if any hesitation to question if he would hit his mark, soon enough he pinned all fifty tennis balls to the wall with each arrow he shoots, hitting them spot on

"Can't sleep love" The voice of Neyla called as he turned to see his lover in a dark blue, solid contrast Lace Cami nightdress and over it was a white bathrobe and bedroom shoes

"I usually just count sheep but that's just me" Neyla said

"Just keeping in practice with what we're about to go through, I could use it" Sly said as Neyla saw his handy work on the wall

"Still as deadly with the bow as ever" Neyla said as she walked up her lover

"You can't sleep either" Sly asked Neyla

"Not without my handsome raccoon laying there beside me, no" Neyla answered, Sly smirked but she saw right through him, he had something on his mind

"Sly, talk to me, what's really going on in that mind of yours" Neyla said as she sat on the table in front of Sly crossing her left leg over her right leg

"Alright…I can't stop thinking about what happened a year ago, with Clockwerk and Bentley, I keep thinking that if I had noticed what was about to happen then Bentley would still have his legs and Murray, oh God Murray" Sly said

"Hey" Neyla said, gently taking hold of the raccoon's face with her hands

"None of us could have predicted what would happen, you shouldn't blame yourself like Murray does" Neyla said

"You know, three years ago, when I fought Clockwerk the first time, before I shot him apart…he said I would never be rid of him, that he would haunt me" Sly said

"I remember before we went after the Klaww gang, you had a nightmare about him killing us" Neyla said, remembering waking up to Sly screaming and the look in his eyes was something she would never forget…fear

"When we brought him down over Paris I TRULY thought that, that monster, that murderer, that LIVING nightmare was finally over and done with…but then Bentley…now every time I look at him I remember who made him like that…Clockwerk was right…I'll never be rid of him" Sly said

"But that's just it, love, what happened it's JUST a MEMORY…not reality, he's not here and were all here, we're not perfect but we're here, alive and I'm here for you when you need me" Neyla said, Sly then embraced Neyla and she did the same

"Thank you, Neyla, I needed that" Sly said

"Sly, you know that's what lovers are for, they lean on each other for strength and support and you can leave on me anytime" Neyla said before Sly looked Neyla straight in the eyes

"What did I EVER do to be with a lady as perfect as you" Sly asked

"Face it, tiger, you hit the jackpot with me" Neyla replied

"A Spiderman reference" Sly asked

"Your damn straight, now come on, the bed is cold without you there and ALL of us are gonna need rest for what we'll be going through" Neyla said as she pulled Sly along as she led

"Yeah, we will" Sly said

*I WILL make this right with both Bentley and Murray…I SWEAR it* Sly said in his mind, swearing to make up for Murray's guilt and Bentley's paralysis with the success of this heist

(Meanwhile, somewhere unknown)

In what looked like a huge training room a figure was fighting with these huge, elephant-like, muscle heads, these muscle heads were armed with brass knuckles, knives and even nun-chucks as they tried fighting the figure they were attacking, who they were attacking was a male white lion with pure white, lower back length hair and one green eye and one blue eye (Wearing an outfit like that of Sephiroth from "Final fantasy") he was wielding a 7 Ft 2 In long Nodachi-like Japanese sword blocking and striking back at the nine elephant men who were trying to take down the white lion but after "sparring" the white lion suddenly swept under the feet of the first of the elephants with his sword, severing his legs from his body, before blocking a punch from the second one with his left hand before the lion performed a right side flip taking the elephant down to the ground before the lions Karate chopping the elephant in the leg, breaking it, the third elephant tried to attack him but the lion hit the elephant in the face with the butt of his swords handle, stunning him before he uppercutted the elephant in the jaw, knocking him out, the fourth elephant charged in and managed to tackle and pin the lion to the ground with the elephant on top of him only for the lion to headlock the elephant in-between his legs, the elephant then stood up taking the lion up with him before the lion punching the elephant with his left hand then swiping it back to backhand the elephant before the lion threw his weight into doing a backflip and tossed the elephant into a wall head first, the lion then flipped back to his feet only for the fifth elephant to catch one of his foot but the lion side flips and kicks the elephant in the face knocking him out before he implants his sword into the ground before using it to lift himself off the ground and did a perfect split to kick the sixth an seventh guard at the same time, one with his left foot and the other with his right foot, knocking them out in a single blow, the eight guard tried attacking with a punch only for the lion to grab the punch and use his left fist and SLAMMED it into the elephant's gut, staggering him and making him bend over before the lion grabs the elephants head with both hands and use his right knee to strike the elephants knocking him out before the last elephant came charging in only for the lion to reach out with his right hand and his sword suddenly was pulled towards him using what looks like electromagnetism before the lion moved faster than the eye could track and slashed at the elephant who stopped in his track before someone else came into the room

"I see you have taken to my lessons VERY well…my apprentice" The figure said

"Thank you, master" The apprentice replied

"You left one standing though" The master said before the elephant left standing suddenly fell into two pieces…literally he was cut completely in half sideways from the waist, the master then looked at the elephant with his legs severed form his body and the one that went head first into the wall, he didn't see him breathing so he deduced that he was dead

"I didn't" The apprentice said

"While I am proud to see you take my lessons to heart, these guards don't grow on the trees you know" The master said

"Sorry master, I get intense during fights" The apprentice said before he flicked the blood off his sword before the blade itself retracted its length to be 2 Ft long before the apprentice sheathed it in a scabbard on the back of his belt

"That intensity will be put to BETTER usage now" The master said

"Do you have an assignment for me" The apprentice asked, the master then pulled out a photo to which he handed it to his apprentice, he looked over it before his eyes widened

"Is this…who I think it is, master" The apprentice asked

"It is indeed" The master answered

"How is this possible, I thought all of them were DEAD" The apprentice asked

"My…friends passed along some information that I believed that should be brought to your attention my boy…and here's the BEST part…I'm sending YOU to see what it is that they're up to" The master said

"Master, PLEASE tell me I get to take what's mine and make the one responsible for THIS PAY" The apprentice said as he took his right arm out of its sleeve to show he has a robotic right arm made of black metal and red colored metal

"Not yet, believe me I UNDERSTAND your eagerness against someone who has harmed you such as you, but contain your anger…for now" The master said as the apprentice put his arm back in the sleeve of his trench coat

"Yes master, do I have any other orders" The apprentice asked

"As a matter of FACT…there is ONE among them that has potential" The master said as he pulled out an I-Phone and another photo to which the apprentice took

"What's the phone for" The apprentice asked

"The one with potential has a personal account among the web, use it to see what he and the others are up to, now go" The master said before the apprentice bowed

"Thank you, master" The apprentice said before he ran off

*FINALLY…I'll take what's MINE* The apprentice said in his mind as he rushed to prepare himself for what his master set him out to do

(The next day) (Sly's P.O.V)

"Getting inside a world-class vault would take an army of world-class individuals, the team we have is good but to get past Dr. M's fortress and into the vault it's gonna take more than what we have and the first order of business was crystal clear, we needed Murray BACK…not only was I missing a lifelong friend but his brute strength helped us get out of more than our fair share of sticky situations in the past and if it wasn't for such strength we wouldn't have pulled off even HALF of our past jobs and heists, when Bentley was paralyzed in the whole Clockwerk affair Murray blamed himself for Bentley ending up in the wheelchair, eventually leaving the team, Bentley and Mario tried to tell him that it wasn't his fault but going out on his own was something he felt like he needed to do, he told Mario and Bentley that he wanted to find his spiritual center, he eventually ended up in the Australian outback where he studied a mystic art called "The dreamtime" from an aboriginal Guru, from all accounts things went pretty well and according to Bentley, this Guru would eventually send Murray on a walk-about to locations ALL over the globe to complete his training, by monitoring local news and social media networks, we discovered that Murray was in beautiful Venice, Italy but what he's doing there is a mystery…I just hope he stays clear of the local mob boss Don Octavio…according to the records that Bentley was able to get his hands on, this guy used to be a real celebrity in the neighborhood, everyone loved to hear him sing Opera and was said to be destined to be the next great Tenor…but as his career started to take off, musical tastes changed, suddenly it was all about rock and roll and nobody wanted to listen to Opera anymore…he managed to hold onto a few fans and it was these mobsters that took him into "The business" now he runs an ENTIRE mob gang in Venice, all armed to the teeth, it goes without saying that heading onto this guy's turf was dangerous…but if it gives us a chance to make things right with Murray and make this family whole again…it's worth it"

(End of P.O.V) (Venice, Italy)

As the team moved into an abandoned house which they quickly turned into their safehouse, setting up equipment and temporary sleeping arrangements

"AAH, beautiful Italy, what a sight" Cammy said, looking out of the hideouts window onto the city

"Yeah, it's beautiful on the outside but it's the underbelly that I'm more concerned about" Zak said

"I agree with Zak, where there is light there is shadows to be found as well" Helen said

"Is that some kind of Russian wisdom or something" Aria asked

"No…that is just a way to survive in harsh land" Helen answered, Bentley then approached Sly and Neyla with some information

"Okay you two, given Murray's criminal past, the most likely place to start would be the Venice police station" Bentley told the two

"Great idea if he isn't already captured, then the police would have info and more importantly leads on all the criminals in town" Neyla said

"Precisely, just watch your tails" Bentley said

"Are you sure you guys don't need us on this one" Cammy asked Neyla and Sly

"Yes, it would be safer to be in a group" Helen added

"Better for just two of us to start this off" Neyla answered

"Master" T'Challa was about to say, to voice his protest, wanting to get out in the field with Sly and Neyla

"Easy T'Challa, you'll get your chance, but we need information first then we can act, remember your teachings" Sly said as he put his mask and hood on

"Knowledge is power" T'Challa said

"You HAVE taught him well" Mario told his nephew

"Makes me proud, seat back and relax T'Challa" Sly replied

"Yes, master" T'Challa replied

"You to Zak" Sly told the hedgehog

"Alright" Zak replied

"Helen, Cammy, trust me after we get some info, action will be MUCH smoother" Neyla told her apprentices

"Alright" Cammy replied

"Understood" Helen said before the two lovers went out for their first assignment for the first time in the last year before Bentley contacted the two

"Alright you two, that massive dome marks the Venetian police station" Bentley said

"Cops around here must like to make an impression" Sly said

"I'm afraid that's a losing battle, Don Octavio runs the show in this neighborhood" Bentley said

"So instead of the cops patrolling the streets, it's the Don's men" Neyla asked

"Correct" Bentley replied before Sly saw his and Neyla's way inside

"Love, I just found our way inside" Sly said

"Perfect" Neyla said

"It would be that is if that dome wasn't covered in glazed tile, there's nothing for your hands or any of your gear to grab onto" Bentley said

"Bentley, Bentley, Bentley, you should know by now that for people like us, there's ALWAYS a way" Sly said before they hung up, Sly then lead while Neyla followed his movements, they both parkoured across some floating boats then Ninja spire jumped off some pointed, floating poles then Raccoon rail walked over multiple tight ropes

"I gotta say, love, it feels GREAT to be back in the field" Neyla said

"You can say that again, beautiful tigress" Sly said

"I just hope I'm keeping my figure, I mean it has been a year since we've done something like this" Neyla said

"Oh, you haven't" Sly said as he looked at Neyla's still voluptuous figure

"BELIEVE me" Sly said before he gave a wolf whistle

"Easy Casanova, eyes on the goal, not my thighs" Neyla said before both reaching the top of the police station dome

"Actually, I was looking more at this" Sly said before he slightly slapped Neyla's ass, making her yelp which she responded with a punch to his shoulder

"Down boy" Neyla told a chuckling Sly

"Great climbing you two, I got the blueprints for the ventilation system in front of me and can guide you both to the jail cells" Bentley called through the earpieces

"After you my lady" Sly said

"So, you can look at my ass again" Neyla asked

"Absolutely" Sly replied earning him a look from Neyla

"Alright, I'll go in first" Sly replied as he went in first followed by Neyla, after navigating through the vents the two got to the jail cell

(In the police station)

Sly and Neyla got in making sure no guards were around and they descended out of the air vent

"WHEW…those air vents could use some dusting" Neyla said as she dusted herself off and fixed her hair

"Yeah, they really should" Sly replied as she shook himself off of dust before the two saw a figure standing in one of the cells

"Hey, Murray…is that you" Sly called out in a whisper tone as he removed his mask

"MURRAY, that names a stain on my pants bro, WHUH" The figure said

"Bro…oh NO, don't tell me" Neyla said, remembering an old enemy from a year ago, the figure then walked into the light to show it to be Dimitri the lizard, the former member of the Klaw gang and the only one of them that was still alive

"COOPER, you gotta have some kahuna's the size of coconuts to come stocking around this neck of the woods" Dimitri said

"Dimitri, long time no punch, I see your still in jail" Sly said

"And you're still a fucking cracker-box" Dimitri replied

"At least I ain't in jail, smoke breath" Sly replied

"Are you two gonna stand here insulting each other all day" Neyla asked

"And who is THIS fine-looking kitty-cat lady" Dimitri asked

"Easy there, cold-blooded, she's MINE" Sly said, stepping in front of Neyla protecting her from Dimitri's eye

"Ain't that a bitch, I get the cozy up to muscle-heads in the slammer and you get to cuddle up next to a smoking hot piece of ass like HER for the last year" Dimitri said

"My advice, don't risk doing the crime if you can't either do the time or get away from Five-O, but she's right, let's skip the name calling and get to business" Sly said

"Looking for main man Murray, eh, SORRY but I rather see the BOTH OF YOU BUSTED BIG TIME…GUARD, POLITZIA" Dimitri shouted

"WAIT" Sly said making Dimitri look at him

"WHY SHOULD I" Dimitri asked

"Because if the cops get their hands on either of us, who's gonna break you out of prison" Sly asked

"WHAT" Neyla asked

"He obviously knows something, I can tell, which is why instead of revenge which will only land us in jail…I say we make a deal" Sly said

"A deal…what KIND of deal" Dimitri asked

"Your freedom for information of where we can find Murray" Sly answered

"Hmm…you MIGHT get this cell door open, but the cops would throw down and bust me on the way out and then I'LL GET'S THE DOUBEL SENTENCE, GRIEF" Dimitri said

"He's right, love it'll be tough getting him out of here" Neyla said, Sly thought of something

"How about we swipe a couple of police uniforms, once's were gussied up, we just walk out of here" Sly suggested

"You want to try squeezing all THIS lizard muscle into a cop suit, not a CHANCE" Dimitri said

"How about the air vent we came in through" Neyla asked

"Did you not HEAR me kitty-cat, I got a one-of-a-kind, sexy, BUFF body, trying to squeeze me through a vent is like trying to fit THIS…into a mouse hole" Dimitri said, Sly thought of something else

"Okay…how about this, me and Neyla get the cops attention then run for it, once they're all outside shooting at us, you can slip out of here no problem" Sly explained

"SLY" Neyla said

"NOW that's a plan I can get down with, Dimitri is FREE, and COOPER IS COOKED…which means the kitty here might be fair game, no" Dimitri asked Neyla before she suddenly reached and grabbed Dimitri's balls with her right hand, squeezing them PAINFULLY HARD, Dimitri was about to scream like a girl but Sly quickly covered his mouth to prevent him from attracting the guards attention

"ONE…if you EVER…so much as TOUCH me with sensual intents, I will take a knife and CUT your balls off and two" Neyla said before she removed her hands from Dimitri and whipped her hand on her pants leg

"Only Sly's hands can touch these" Neyla said as she slightly shook her boobs

"And THIS" Neyla added as she patted her ass

"GOT IT" Neyla asked

"Y-YES MA'AM" Dimitri answered in a high-pitch voice, still feeling like his balls were in an iron vice

"Look here lizard, you want out, we want Murray, we get you out, you tell us where he is, DEAL" Sly asked

"Why would I trust YOU, cracker-box, WHY" Dimitri asked

"Because sooner or later, they're gonna move you to general population in another prison and THEN one of the many, MANY men in said prison will make you their BITCH for the rest of your life, you want that to happen" Sly asked, Dimitri shuttered at the thought

"FUCK…NO" Dimitri answered

"Then we deal" Sly replied

"And what makes you think that I would trust the cracker-box that put my funky ass in this iron box in the first place" Dimitri asked

"You ever have someone so close to you that you would do ANYTHING for them" Sly asked, Dimitri paused, recalling some he WAS close to and nodded before he shook Sly's hand

"Key to cell is in head cop ladies' office" Dimitri said

*Lady…oh, don't tell me SHE'S HERE TO* Neyla said in her head

"Great, this other lock shouldn't be a problem to crack open by hand" Sly said

"Get me out of here and I'll find Murray, just keep on the down low and OUTTA SIGHT near them coppers bro, they're a BAD bunch of bunnies" Dimitri said

"Noted" Sly said with a node before he put his mask back on and sent off to get the key to Dimitri's cell, keeping low to the ground and out of sight and he saw two, familiar face's addressing a group of gorilla guards, it was Nick Wild and Carmelita Fox

*Of course, they would be here* Sly said in his mind with a smirk, according to them they have been investigating a case where the canals of Venice have been mysteriously filling with tar for the last couple of months and they aren't sure of the cause but the effect has been DEVESTATING the local wildlife and tourist trade, they believe Octavio himself is responsible but they didn't have any hard evidence linking him to the pollution, but Sly was on a mission, he got to Carmelita's office and took the cell key

"Neyla, I got the key" Sly called through his earpiece

"Alright, love head back here so we can free our cold-blooded friend here" Neyla said

"There's just one problem here" Sly said

"Isn't there always a problem" Neyla asked

"True enough but Nick and Carmelita are here" Sly answered

"Damn, well you better get back here fast" Neyla replied

"Right, if Dimitri's true to his word we'll be talking to Murray in no time" Sly replied before

"Alright boys, let's get back to business, now where was I" Carmelita said before the lights went out

"Damn it, there goes the light again" Nick said

"Hold tight boys, the powers on the frits again…it's calm down in a few minutes" Carmelita said

*Better be under a table when the lights come back on* Sly said in his mind before he quickly got under a table to avoid being detected, he had to do this several times to avoid the guards along with Nick and Carmelita, eventually he got back to Neyla and Dimitri

"Got it" Sly said before he unlocked the first lock on Dimitri's cell

"Can you REALLY crack this coconut" Dimitri asked Sly

"Sure, just takes a light touch" Sly replied before he got to working

"Good, let's see some SHINE bro, I swear you spring me, and I'll hook you up with big man Murray, DIG" Dimitri asked as Sly worked his magic before he got it unlocked after a few minutes

"And BINGO" Sly said as he opened the cell and Dimitri stepped out

"I'll do like I promised and distract the cops do you can make your escape" Sly told Dimitri

"And you BETTER keep your word, Dimitri" Neyla told Dimitri

"Don't worry no mind your pretty head, kitty cat" Dimitri said, Neyla growled like the tiger she was

"Hey, hey, just keeping it cool, anyway, straight-way I'll pass along the word for Murray to find you, meet at Rialto Bridge, BIG Italian landmark" Dimitri said

"Fine, guess it's time to put on a show" Sly said before he and Neyla walked near the exit to the base before Sly took out his collapsible bow then shooting at an apple that was in Carmelita's hand with a regular arrow and pinning it to the wall

"WHAT THE HELL" Carmelita shouted as she, Nick and the guards sprang to their feet, Sly then whistled making the group look at him and Neyla

"HELLO ASSORTED MEATHEADS…and fellow lady…anyone feel like some exercise" Neyla asked

"NEYLA" Nick said in shock

"Wait, if YOU'RE HERE then…SLY COOPER" Carmelita asked as she and Nick pointed shock pistols at the two

"The very same" Sly replied as he withdrew his bow and put it on the back of his belt

"GRAB'EM BOYS" Carmelita shouted as she and Nick gave chase

"AND…exit stage LEFT" Sly said before he and Neyla made a break for it, once all the guards were gone, Dimitri made his escape

(Outside)

Nick and Carmelita chased Sly and Neyla out of the building before Sly and Neyla got some distance between the two on a large boat not too far away in the canals

"You two have got some SERIOUS nerve showing your faces in MY squad room" Carmelita said

"I just thought we drop in and say hi to a couple of old friends of ours" Sly said

"Yeah, we haven't heard or seen hide nor hair of both of you for the last year, you don't call…you don't write…you don't even send a text message to say "Hey, how ya doing" or "Hey, it's been a year since we last spoke to each other, what'cha doing" but NOPE…NOTHING" Neyla added

"I didn't realize you had grown a bigger sense of humor" Nick said

"Comes with living with THIS handsome raccoon for the last three years, he rubs off on ya" Neyla answered

"Oh, I'm doing more than just rubbing and in…VERY specific places, not just her humor" Sly said in a sensual voice

"UGH, too much information, Cooper and if you really wanna catch up, why don't you two spend some time catching up with me and Nick in our interrogation cell" Carmelita said

"So straight forward…what happened to demure girl we used to know and enjoyed playing cat and mouse with" Sly asked

"She grew up and stopped taking grief from guys like you" Carmelita answered

"And what about you Nick, I thought we were cool" Sly asked Nick

"A lot can change in a year Sly, though you haven't been active in that time you're STILL wanted, in fact your bounty has gone up to five hundred thousand" Nick said

"Five hundred thousand…is that ALL…huh, I thought my hide would be at least TRIPLE that amount" Sly said

"I thought we were friends, Carmelita" Neyla said

"Friends stick together, not take off with a criminal and leave her PARTNER handcuffed to a railing OVER a volcano" Carmelita said

"You still mad about that" Sly asked

"YES" Carmelita answered

"That was THREE years ago" Neyla said

"I was stuck, handcuffed to that railing for FIVE…HOURS" Carmelita said

"You SERIOUSLY need to let that one go" Sly said

"Look Sly, I'll be straight, I don't see you as a bad guy, but you've still broken the law, so, make this easy on yourselves and surrender" Nick said

"Sorry, but we got plans in this big, beautiful city and I got plans with my tiger Goddess here, maybe catch a movie, a little dancing, a nice, romantic dinner, you know things that don't involve handcuffs…unless their used in a more…PLEASURABLE sort of way" Sly replied

"Oh, love don't tempt me" Neyla said

"REALLY" Nick asked before Sly quickly drew his bow and knocked an arrow faster than the eye could see before shooting it at the feet of the two cops which released a black smoke

"GAAAH" Nick shouted

"COOPER, NEYLA" Carmelita shouted as the two got out of the smoke only to see the lovers making a break for it

"GET AFTER EM" Nick shouted

"FREEZE" Carmelita shouted as the two cops started shooting the raccoon and tigress with their shock pistols as they started dodging and running along some more boats that were floating in the water, even Ninja spire landing and Raccoon rail walking on sharp points and ropes, to escape them, once they made it to the bridge Dimitri told them about, Murray suddenly appeared out of a manhole

"Greetings old, INSPECTOR FOX, NICK…man you guys are at it again" Murray said

"You have NO idea" Neyla said

"And on that note, might I suggest we do the Australian crawl" Sly replied

"The Australian crawl" Neyla asked

"DOWN UNDER" Sly replied before the three made a break for it down the manhole

"THAT'S RIGHT HIDE IN THE SEWERS LIKE THE RATS YOU ALL ARE" Carmelita shouted

"Their resourceful, you gotta give em that" Nick said

"That they ARE…I can't believe it, after a year of silence, Sly resurfaces…and we HADE HIM" Carmelita said

"Relax, Carm, we ain't licked yet…they're obviously here for a reason…and was that Murray, the one you caught back in Canada" Nick asked

"Missing his mask and gloves but yeah, that was him" Carmelita said

"Either they're here for him…OR" Nick was about to say

"Wait…you're saying that they might be after the guy that's polluting the city with tar" Carmelita asked

"It's a possibility, possibly even both" Nick said

"Then what do you suggest" Carmelita asked

"We keep on high alert for any member of the Cooper gang that might be stalking around and keep out ears out for any word of them messing around town, we might pick up some clues as to why they're here in Venice" Nick explained

"Sounds like a plan" Carmelita said

"Now all we gotta do is decide what we want for dinner tonight" Nick said, Carmelita smirked

"How about I cook" Nick asked

"YOU…cook" Carmelita asked

"I make one hell of a bowl of chicken and ranch noodles" Nick answered (Hey, my dad makes noodles like that from time to time and they are ALWAYS the best noodles I've ever eaten, I absolutely LOVE it when he makes em, try em for yourself, you might like em)

"MMM, sounds good to me, better than spending my hard-earned money with take-out" Carmelita said

(With Sly, Neyla and Murray)

Meanwhile a half a block away from the area where Nick and Carmelita were, a manhole opened before Sly's head popped out of the hole

"Well" Neyla asked

"Coast is clear" Sly answered before he, Neyla and Murray came out of the manhole

"Thanks for the quick escape, Murray, I owe you one…again" Sly said

"And though I PROBABLY smell like month-old, moldy cheese after running around the sewers…I do to" Neyla replied

"Of course, searchers we are all in need of peace" Murray said

"You're really whole hog on this Dreamtime stuff, aren't you" Sly asked Murray as he took off his mask and hood

"My mind is clear, like the woodland after a forest fire" Murray replied

"Listen Murray, we need you back in the family, that thing with Bentley it wasn't your fault" Sly said

"Yeah, he doesn't blame you for the wheelchair, in fact he's kind of getting a kick out of outfitting it with all sorts of gadgets" Neyla added

"Sorry you guys, I walk a different path, my Guru in his wisdom told me to lose myself and not return until the black water ran pure…so here I STAY" Murray said

"No offence to your master but…are you sure he didn't just tell you to get lost and not come back until you clean out the water filter" Sly asked

"COME ON I'M ON A REAL SPIRIT QUEST HERE" Murray said

"OKAY, OKAY, sorry just…tell us everything, we miss you brother" Sly said

"And I miss my favorite, pink hippo" Neyla added

"Well...it's a long and AWESOME story…but first, can I get a huge guys, I missed ya'll" Murray asked, Sly and Neyla smiled

"Brother, you ain't even gotta ask" Sly said

"COME HERE BIG GUY" Neyla added before the two embraced Murray, happy to see their friend again, after Murray told them what was up, they returned to the safehouse and laid it all down for the rest of the gang, but they decided to start working on the problem tomorrow, after getting something to eat for dinner, they went to sleep after a while they were gonna need it

(The next day)

After the group woke up and had breakfast, Bentley put together a slideshow which he then regaled with the rest of the team

(Bentley's slide show)

"Okay guys, according to what Sly and Neyla told us, Murray REFUSES to join back up with us until his commitment to his Guru is fulfilled which mean only one thing, we need to solve Venice's tar problem to, as Murray puts it "Make the black water run pure" thanks to Nick and Carmelita's fine detective work, we all know that Don Octavio is somehow connected to the tar problem itself and with us being non-law enforcements, we'll be able to handle the problem in a more…head-on fashion, first we'll need to break into Octavio's base of operation and under the permission of Sly and Neyla, they've allowed T'Challa, Zak, Helen and Cammy to aid me in infiltrating the Opera house, if he's hiding ANYTHING, we'll be sure to find it in there, meanwhile Jasmine, I need you to tail the Don himself and take some incriminating photos of him connected to the tar problem could be enough for the cops to put the guy in jail, meanwhile me and Aria will be monitoring local communication channels and see if we can get come useful intel"

(End of slide show)

After the slideshow, Zak, Helen, Cammy and T'Challa suited up and Cammy had something on her back looked like some kind of high-tech backpack

"What's that" T'Challa asked

"My little…project that I've been working on, I've even made it portable" Cammy answered

"You mean with the help of Bentley and Aria" Helen asked

"UH…yeah" Cammy answered

"Is it gonna be awesome" Zak asked Cammy

"If it works…YEAH" Cammy answered

"Sweet" Zak said

"Fair enough" T'Challa answered they were about to head out, but Bentley stopped T'Challa in his tracks

"Hold it, T'Challa" Bentley said

"Something wrong" T'Challa asked

"No, I just have something for you" Bentley said before he handed T'Challa a case

"What's this for" T'Challa asked

"I heard from Sly and Neyla that your rather fond of your throwing needles, so me and Aria have made you something, check THESE out" Bentley said before T'Challa opened the case showing his new toy (Think of the needle-shooting gauntlets used by one of the Hassanssin members from the movie "Prince of Persia the sands of time")

"OOOOOOOH" Zak and Cammy said at the same time

"WHEW" T'Challa muttered as he put them on his forearms

"I take it that means you approve" Aria asked

"VERY, thanks" T'Challa thanked the givers of his new weapons

"Then let's see if they can hold up against a real challenge" Helen said

"Yeah, let's ROLL" Zak added

"Be careful out there all of you, and remember what you've been taught" Neyla told her's and Sly's apprentices

"Yes ma'am" Helen answered

"RIGHT" Zak said

"We will" Cammy added

"We won't fail master, but um" T'Challa said

"What is it" Sly asked

"Not to be too judgmental but, can Bentley keep up in his wheelchair" T'Challa asked

"No offence taken, me and Aria have been modifying my wheelchair with a TON of top-of-the-line gear and technology, booster jets, Binocucom, dart launcher, built in computer and MORE, trust me" Bentley told T'Challa

"Well, if you say so" T'Challa replied before the four apprentices went out for their first ever assignment, after getting into position near the Opera house, they were contacted by Bentley via earpiece's

"This Opera house is Octavio's base of operation" Bentley said

"Looks nice enough from the outside but I bet inside is a different story" T'Challa said

"Funny, I was gonna say that myself" Zak said

"Yeah, bet there's more than a few goodies laying around inside" Cammy added

"What is plan, Bentley" Helen asked

"If you guys can get me inside to one of Octavio's computers, I should be able to hack his firewall and get the DIRT on his operations" Bentley explained

"Hope you got another way of getting inside because I doubt that they'll buy that were here to sell em something" Zak said

"I didn't realize you had Sly's sense of humor, anyway, there's a wooden hatch on the side of the Opera house which should provide us a safe means of entrance, head down there and we'll meet up in a few minutes" Bentley said before the apprentices moved out and headed for the hatch on the side of the Opera house where Bentley meet up with the four

"DRATS, IT'S LOCKED" Bentley said after seeing the lock on the hatch

"Step aside hero in a half-shell…let the skater king work his magic" Zak said as he pulled out a couple of lockpicks and started picking the lock

"You picked that up from Sly" Bentley asked

"NAH, I learned this before I meet him, I grew up on the streets of New York and I made money for food by doing…let's just say questionable things like stealing and breaking into places" Zak answered

"Oh, I'm sorry about that" Bentley said

"It wasn't as bad as it sounds, besides, I left New York in the rear view mirror months ago and…GOT YA" Zak said as he got the hatch open

"Bentley, do you mind if Helen, takes point" T'Challa asked

"Not at all" Bentley answered

"Ladies first then" T'Challa told Helen

"Right" Helen said as she armed herself with her sniper rifle and they entered the Opera house

(Inside the Opera house)

Once the five were inside, Cammy thought she unveil her toy, she then activated something on his watch-like device before something came out of her backpack and thus covered her body before forming what looked like a miniature mech (Think of 's pink mech from "Overwatch" but the Fusion cannon arms were replaced with four arms on each side of the mech hanging downward in a straight line that reached just below the knees, these arms are like Mistral's robotic arm from "Metal gear rising revengance") (Yeah, I know kind of silly-sounding but I think it sounds like a cool idea)

"WHOA" Bentley muttered

"I take it you like" Cammy asked from the cockpit

"Those Microbots that Aria gave to you were certainly put to good usage" Bentley said

"Micro-what" T'Challa asked

"Microbots, Aria has been BUSY the last year" Bentley answered (Microbots are tiny machine's that can construct anything that they are programed to construct, the device on Cammy's wrist connects her brain to the Microbots and she can command them with her thoughts to form this suit of her's including various things such as solid shapes and firearms, kind of like how the Microbots from the movie "Big hero 6" work)

"So exactly what can this…thing do" Helen asked before the Microbots in Cammy's mech formed what looked like firearms in each of its eight hands ( 's Light gun from "Overwatch")

"You ain't the ONLY gunslinger here" Cammy answered

"Well then by all means, cowgirl, let's saddle up and get this rodeo on the road" Zak said

"Alright then, Helen take point" Bentley said before the five moved on with Helen taking point and making sure that no trouble was around the corner, they had an easy time getting through the double button security doors that Octavio had, so far, no guards and therefore no trouble and surprisingly Cammy's mech was hardly making a sound as it walked, guess the Microbots were silencing the footsteps of the machine they created but this was only the beginning of their operation, soon enough the three reached a canal

"DRAT, I won't be able to make it to that next door, me and Aria made a number of modifications to my wheelchair but none that's gonna get me through this canal" Bentley said

"Even my jet boosters in my mech can't reach over there" Cammy said

"You prepare for all outcomes but when it comes to it, the one thing that you need you forget" T'Challa said

"You can say that again" Bentley said

"Hmm" T'Challa hummed as he looked around

"What is it" Helen asked T'Challa

"I think I see a way across" T'Challa said

"Can you make it to the other side" Bentley asked

"Master has been teaching me the Thieving techniques of the Cooper clan, I can make it and there seems to be enough boats to make a makeshift bridge for you guys to cross over" T'Challa said

"Alright, we'll wait for your signal" Bentley replied

"I won't be long" T'Challa said before he used the Ninja spire landing and Raccoon rail walk to make his way through multiple obstacles in the massive canal, leaping from one spike, rope and pipe to the next to get to the other side even slipping past several laser security measures, after getting there he pressed a button to which several boats moved together to make a makeshift bridge for the others to crossover to the other side and continue onward

"Thanks, T'Challa, allow me to return the favor with some WELL-PLACED explosions" Bentley said as he and the others made their way over to T'Challa, he then moved to the reinforced, glass door and then extended out an arm form his wheelchair which had a bomb ready, he then planted the bomb before moving back

"Okay, STAND BACK" Bentley said, after a few seconds the bomb went off, destroying the reinforced, glass door before they moved forward, after T'Challa skillfully got around some laser security measures and turned them off so the others could join him

"So far so good" Zak said

"Almost a little too easy" Helen said

"DON'T SAY THAT" Zak and Cammy said at once

"Why" Helen asked

"That's a golden rule, NEVER say "This is too easy" or "What could possibly go wrong" because almost after saying it then SHIT hits the fan" Zak said

"That is superstition" Helen said before the group came to a room where the way forward was blocked by a large, glass wall

"I'm guessing this isn't your normal type of glass" T'Challa asked

"You got that right, this is four-inch thick, bulletproof plexiglass, nothing we have on hand is even gonna put a SCRATCH on it" Cammy said

"She's right, not even my bombs would do the job" Bentley added before Zak looked around

"Bingo" Zak said

"What is it" T'Challa asked

"Check it, I bet I can crawl through that vent and see if I can find a way around it" Zak said

"Good thinking Zak" Bentley said before Zak made his way through the vent, eventually coming to a room with two guards in it

"HEY, STOP RIGHT THERE" One of the guards shouted before Zak took out a pair of Nun-chucks as the guards tried throwing sparklers at Zak (You know the Venice cat guards do with their throwing weapons) Zak then blocked them with his chucks before

"YAAAAAAAH" Zak yelled like Bruce Lee before he flailed his Nun-chucks and knocked the guards out with a single blow each before he pressed a nearby button and opened the way for the others

"This way" Zak said

"Thanks for the assist" T'Challa said

"Indeed, nice work" Bentley added

"Judging from the security measures we're encountering we MUST be getting closer" Cammy said

"Agreed" Helen said before Bentley set another bomb on the reinforced, glass door

"IT'S LIVE" Bentley said before the bomb went off and they continued forward, after getting past another double button door, the five eventually came to a large computer in an even bigger room

"WHEW, now this is old school tech here, this has GOTTA be it" Cammy said

"Is this what you were looking for Bentley" T'Challa asked

"Yes, it IS, it's a Worlizter seven hundred, I can splice into this EASY" Bentley said

"You sound like you're enjoying yourself besides being thick in enemy territory" Helen said

"Yeah, as long as you're having fun that's what matters" Cammy added with sarcasm in her voice

"Maybe, but that aside, as far as infiltration goes, this one went pretty well…despite a few tense moments" Bentley said

"It's not over yet, work those hacking skills I've heard about and let's get out of here before a patrol of guards comes by" T'Challa said

"Yeah, mean green, get the info and let's split this place" Zak added

"Oh, it'll be easy extracting the information we need out of THIS old dinosaur" Bentley said as he popped his fingers before started hacking into the computer, after a few minutes an alarm went off

"WH-WHAT, A DELAY SWITCH" Bentley said in shock

"Looks like this dinosaur still has some teeth in her" T'Challa said

"AGREED, I'LL HACK AS FAST AS I CAN, YOU GUYS WATCH MY BACK, THERE'S SURE TO BE GUARDS ON THE WAY" Bentley said

"At the ready guys" T'Challa said as he pulled out his Katana, Zak took out his Nun-chucks again, Helen holstered her sniper rifle on her back and pulled out a curved combat dagger and an IMI Desert eagle Mark XIX and Cammy's mech manifested Light guns in each hand

"You do your thing we got your back" Cammy told Bentley

"Let them COME" Helen said before guards started showing up, T'Challa more than EASILY took them out with his martial arts that Sly taught him, plus his training in Kenjutsu (Swordsmanship) and the lesser known Shinkido (Which is a mix of Japanese swordsmanship and martial arts), Zak held his own with his training in Capoeira which melded into his Nun-chuck fighting extremely well, Helen with her training in Sistema and C.Q.C (Both being Russian martial arts with Sistema focusing on pressure points and joints to disarm enemies and C.Q.C being a brutal mix of hand to hand and gunplay) and with Cammy's mech having increased strength and great firepower, the four took out more than thirty guards, Bentley got the information they needed

"YES…download complete, now we can find out exactly what the Don is up to, you four did GREAT work" Bentley said

"Good, now let's get out of here" T'Challa said

"Yeah, time to split like a banana" Zak added

"Don't have to tell ME twice" Bentley said before the five of them exited the Opera house and returned to the Safehouse

"Well, how did it go" Mario asked as Cammy's mech folded back into her backpack

"It was GREAT, I love being in the field" Cammy answered

"We had a few close calls, but we got it done…Sly, Neyla you two should be proud of these four, they did GREAT work" Bentley said

"That's my boys" Sly said as he patted T'Challa and Zak on the backs

"Well done, you two" Neyla told her students

"I am already ready to do it again" Helen said

"Yeah, I'm ready for MORE" Zak added

"We'll see" Neyla said before Jasmine was sent out for her job, when in position she was contacted by Aria

"Alright Jasmine, we've intercepted a message from one of Octavio's men, the Don himself is moving towards your position" Aria said

"And you need me to take incriminating photos of him" Jasmien asked

"Right you are, with them in hand we might be able to give enough evidence to the police and with some luck they'll prosecute him and put an end to this tar situation" Aria said

"My thoughts exactly, but" Jasmine said

"But, what" Aria asked

"Never thought we would be helping the cops" Jasmine said

"What's so strange about that" Aria asked

"Well, we ARE criminals running from the law, I thought we were supposed to stay away from them like the plague but here we are trying to help them take down this Don guy" Jasmine explained

"I think, Sly and Neyla would say it's helping Carmelita and Nick" Aria replied

"What difference is that" Jasmine asked, suddenly Neyla patched into the conversation

"While technically on opposite sides of the law, me and Sly still consider Nick and Carmelita our friends, besides they've helped us in the past before or did you forget that they helped us take down Clockwerk one and for all" Neyla asked

"Of course, I didn't, I'm just saying we should be more careful, a lot of people put their jobs above their loyalty to friends or family…me and Aria know that probably better than anyone else" Jasmine replied before the Don showed up

"HOLD UP, here he comes" Jasmine said before Octavio accessed a hidden pump and flooded a nearby fountain with tar

"UGH, THAT'S JUST NASTY" Jasmine said

"Get a picture before he finishes, THIS IS PERFECT" Aria said before Jasmine took out her binocucom and took a photo

"GREAT shot Jasmine, a couple more of these and the cops will bury him in the deepest darkest hole they can find and throw away the key" Aria said through the earpiece, Octavio then started moving

"He's on the move" Jasmine said

"Tail him, he might be heading for some more polluting and remember to stick to the rooftops to stay out of his line of sight" Aria replied

"Right" Jasmine answered before she followed the Don via the rooftops, the Don came to another hidden pump where it spewed out into a small birdbath where Jasmine got a shot of him

"That poor birdbath, guess it's more of a bird deathtrap now" Jasmine muttered

"He's on the move again, keep it up Jasmine, this is some GREAT work" Aria said through the earpiece, Jasmine continued to follow the Don making sure to avoid the guards and more importantly to keep out of the Don's direct line of sight, he eventually came to another hidden pump which was pumping tar from a waterwheel into the canal itself

"This guy is REALLY making me sick" Jasmine muttered

"IMAGINE, defiling a delightful waterwheel with DEADLY, STICKY TAR…sheer monstrous" Aria said before Jasmine got her photo

"Keep tailing him, Jasmine we wanna make sure all this horrible polluting is FULLY documented" Aria said

"Don't worry, I'm on it" Jasmine replied before she continued following the Don, eventually he came to another hidden pump but there didn't seem to be any tar being pumped anywhere

"Aria, he's using the pump, but I don't see any tar" Jasmine said int her earpiece

"Still…get a picture anyway" Aria replied before Jasmine got a photo

"He's doing something…but WHAT" Aria asked before Jasmine followed the pipe filled with tar and saw the horrible truth

"Oh NO" Jasmine muttered

"What is it" Aria asked

"Aria…you're NOT gonna like this" Jasmine said

"What IS IT" Aria asked again

"He's…he's filling an aquarium with this TAR" Jasmine answered, seeing the tar being poured into the aquarium

"I…I can't BELIEVE IT, all those pour, dead fish, as much as I hate to see what this BASTARD'S gonna do next, you better keep on his tail" Aria replied

"Now I REALLY wanna kick this guys ass" Jasmine muttered, determined to take Octavio down more than before, she followed him to a Ferris wheel to which he jumped into one of the carts, he then got on his cellphone

"Yeah, it's a me, get that engineer on the horn" Octavio said into his phone

"Jasmine, try and grab onto the cart Octavio is riding in, we should eavesdrop on his phone conversation, from the look on his face it seems important" Aria told Jasmine who then quickly grabbed onto and latched to the cart's underbelly and listened in on Octavio's conversation

"Listen Giovanni, this Ferris wheel was a GOOD IDEA, she's a PUMPING THE TAR FAST and nobody but NOBODY suspects a thing, still is it gonna be enough to get things ready for my Opera recital…BELLA, when people come to see me sing I wanna make a sure THEY KEEP A COMING, even if they don't feel like it…one way or the another, they'll be OPERA FANS AGAIN, HA, HA, HA, HA…okay, see ya soon" Octavio monologed without knowing that Aria heard EVERYTHING, after getting out of the cart he was in, he left

"Aria, did you get all that" Jasmine asked over the earpiece

"THAT BASTARD, he's twisted a time-honored amusement park ride into a TOOL for his schemes, we've GOTTA DO SOMETHING" Aria said

"I'm for it, sister, what do you suggest" Jasmine asked

"Is there a control box nearby" Aria asked, Jasmine looked around and saw it

"Yeah" Jasmine answered

"Get it open for me, I'm coming down there to do a little rewiring" Aria answered, Jasmine then pulled out a hair pin form her hair and used it to pick open the lock to the control box

"Chalk another one up for the ladies" Jasmine said, putting the hair pin back in her hair, after a few minutes Aria showed up and started working on the control box

"Look away if you must, you're about to witness the DARK side of electrical engineering…kill a bunch of innocent FISH will he" Aria said as she made the Ferris wheel spiral out of control, Jasmine then spotted a few guards heading their way

"Uh-oh, Aria hurry it up, we GOTTA GO" Jasmine said

"That should do it" Aria said before the two girls got out of there after a few minutes of spinning out of control, the Ferris wheel broke free and right before it crushed the guards they spotted the wheel coming and

"OOOOOOH SH" One of the guards was about to say before the wheel crushed all three guards under its weight

"OOOOOH" Both Aria and Jasmine groaned as they saw the three guards get crushed

"Yeah, carnival isn't gonna fix THAT" Jasmine said

"We did good work, with those photos there's a chance we can get that FIEND arrested earlier" Aria said

"You can say that again, the soon this is over the soon we can get Murray back" Jasmine said, meanwhile while Bentley was out on a small recon mission as he was tapping into the police stations communication box while looking into it, he came across a device that allowed the Don to monitor the police station's communication, he taped into it and found some information that Neyla NEEDED to hear

"Neyla, you copy" Bentley asked into he earpiece

"Ten-four, what's up Bentley" Neyla asked

"You better get to the police station dock RIGHT NOW, I've intercepted a message from the Don himself and he's hired the Blue viper gondola gang to KILL Carmelita and Nick" Bentley said

"The Blue viper's those guys are WAY PAST NASTY we've got to get to them before they get to Carm and Nick" Neyla replied

"They're heading out on their daily patrol the Vipers CAN'T be far behind them, meet me at the Police station's dock" Bentley said

"Right, just make you sure you got one of the police boats hotwired I'm on my way" Neyla said before hanging up and hauling ass to the police station where she saw Bentley in one of the police speed boats

"Let's see, cross the blue wire with the red wire and…SHAZAM" Bentley said before Neyla hopped in the boat, taking the handle of the motor and Bentley took the gunner at the head of the boat

"Just in time, there go the Vipers" Neyla said as they took off

"I'll shoot, Neyla you drive this thing" Bentley said before they took off after the viper's

(In the canals)

Neyla and Bentley traveled down the canals before they got in range of the viper's

"WE LOST THEM" Blue viper 1 said

"I thought YOU were supposed to be the tracker of this little group" Blue viper 2 told Blue viper 3

"SUE ME, I am not perfect…just handsome" Blue viper 3 replied before he noticed Neyla and Bentley coming up behind them

"EH, we've got tailers" Blue viper 3 told the other two viper's

"What are they fools or something" Blue viper 2 asked

"Doesn't matter, we can't have them following us, WASTE EM" Blue viper 1 shouted as they started shooting at Bentley and Neyla

"BENTLEY, SHOOT EM" Neyla shouted

"KEEP THE BOAT STEADY THEN" Bentley shouted back before the two engaged the Blue vipers in a high-speed chase through the Venice canal's, dodging obstacles and shooting out each Viper one by one as the Viper's tried to take Neyla and Bentley out, after taking out all three of them, Carmelita and Nick were safe from Octavio's attempt at assassination

"YES" Bentley shouted

"Nice shooting Bentley" Neyla said

(With Carmelita and Nick)

Nick was driving the patrol boat as Carmelita looked out for any trouble but nothing, completely unaware that they were nearly assassinated by the Blue vipers

"Another uneventful patrol" Carmelita said

"You sound like you wanna be in a hail of gunfire right about now" Nick said

"Don't get me wrong, the cities beautiful but…a bit too quiet for my taste" Carmelita said, Nick then stopped the boat before he walked up behind Carmelita

"It's not the city that's beautiful in my eyes" Nick said as he wrapped his arms around her torso pulling her towards him

"What are you doing…we're supposed to be professional about this" Carmelita said

"Well, we're not around any of the other officers or our boss and we're in one of the most romantic cities in the world, so" Nick said before he put his lips against Carmelita's and she pulled him in closer with her right hand (Yeah, Nick and Carmelita are a couple in this story, sorry to any Sly and Carmelita shippers who might be reading this but either take it with a grain of salt or complete hatred for the idea, it's my story and I like doing things my way) after a few minutes they separated from the tender kiss

"You really know how to charm a lady" Carmelita said

"We don't get to enjoy moments like this…enjoy them while you got em" Nick said

"Maybe, but I can't stop thinking about why Sly and Neyla are here in Venice" Carmelita said

"Let me ask you something, I know that your practically married to your work but, would it hurt just to take a day off sometime" Nick asked

"Well…I don't suppose it wouldn't" Carmelita said

"Then tell you what…when we put this Octavio away, why don't you and me spend some time together, a dinner, perhaps, movie, maybe" Nick asked

"You make it sound VERY tempting, I suppose we could" Carmelita answered

(With Neyla and Bentley)

Neyla brought the boat back to land and Bentley disembarked

"I hope you realize that by saving Nick and Carmelita, we're only making our operation here more difficult than it has to be" Bentley told Neyla

"Maybe but, we owed them for helping us get rid of Clockwerk once and for all, besides they're our friends" Neyla said

"With all due respect, friends DON'T try to lock you up in a jail cell" Bentley replied

"I know, it's complicated as hell…but still, you can't deny that they're HONNEST cops" Neyla said

"Hmm…agreed" Bentley said

"Look, you just get back to the safehouse and put that brain of yours to work with another plan, I'll stash this boat somewhere, we might need it later" Neyla said

"Good thinking" Bentley said before Neyla took off and Bentley headed back to the safehouse where the group decided to get back to work the next day, but unknown to Neyla she was being watched, it was the white lion apprentice who was watching Neyla via a hand-sized, flying mini-drone whose video feed was linked to a special mask that he was wearing (Like Whispers mask from Archie Sonic comics)

"Is she's around…then HE must not be far behind" The apprentice muttered to himself, meanwhile with the gang, after dinner they went to sleep

(The next day)

Day two of the Venice operation arrived and Bentley put together a slideshow while the others had breakfast, after words Bentley laid it down to them

(Slideshow)

"Alright, things are going smoothly, according to these decrypted files that me and Aria have been working on, Octavo is pumping TAR from underneath the foundations of the buildings here in Venice so he can SINK them into the canals on a whim, he plans to demonstrate this destructive ability of his to the people of Venice during his Opera recital on the first day of Carnival, to counteract this threat, me and Zak will have to destroy the balloons and signs advertising the recital, if no one shows up, he'll have NO reason to sink a building, next the blueprints to the main tar vacuums have been cleverly split into three parts and hidden in three, local coffee houses owned by Octavio, however this is the tricky part, there all under constant guard, Sly, you and Neyla will be in charge of getting these blueprints but Sly you'll need a disguise to get in also some BIG TIME Vincente goons have been called in by the Don himself as "insurance" for the recital, given their size, I think it would be a smart move to fool Carmelita and Nick's mercenary soldiers into taking them out FOR US, I'll lure one of them to the police station while Sly, you bait the cops into coming out to play and finally we'll have to convince Murray to taking to the field once again, if he's learned the Aboriginal ball for, it'll be JUST the thing for destroying the local tar revivors around town"

(End of Slideshow)

After Bentley laid it all down, Sly and once he was in position, he saw a flying Vincente goon flying in the distant

"Ah, I can see already found one of Octavio's Vincente goon's Bentley, you ready for the bait and switch" Sly asked through the earpiece

"YEAH, h-he's on my tail…too close for comfort, GOTTA MOVE" Bentley replied with huffing breath, Sly then moved into position in front of the door to the station

"Good thing neither Carm nor Nick will know it's me doing this" Sly said before he cleared his voice and knocking on the door

"HEY, ALL YOU FAKE COPS GO HOME, WE DON'T NEED NO STUPID COPS IN VINECE" Sly called with a fake, Italian accent before he and Bentley both split the scene with the help of a smoke bomb, after a few seconds, a gorilla mercenary came out and approached the air born thug

"I might not be a real cop, but I've got feelings pal…and you JUST HURT EM" The gorilla mercenary said

"You talkin to ME fruitcake, because I don't NEED a date" The Vincente goon replied

"EAT MISSILE PUNK" The gorilla mercenary called before he started attacking the Vincente goon, meanwhile Sly and Bentley watched from a nearby rooftop

"This is a GREAT plan Bentley, now we just seat back and watch the fireworks…though I wish we had some popcorn to enjoy the show with" Sly said

"Funny, and thank you, I pride myself on deviousness these days, with their ape guard under fire, there is a ninety THREE percent chance that Nick and Carmelita will show up and take out the ENTIRE Vincente goon gang" Bentley replied

"Devious is RIGHT" Sly replied, before long both Nick and Carmelita showed up

"Inspectors I'm glad your both here, this Vincente puke is giving me all I can handle" The gorilla mercenary said before Nick pulled out two shock pistols

"Stand your ground soldier, we've got your back" Nick said before he and Carmelita jumped into the battle against the Vincente goon, this started a turf war where Nick and Carmelita stood back-to-back and took on the ENTIRE Vincente gang, with the aid of their gorilla mercenaries and their skills with their shock pistols, they managed to defeat all twenty of the Vincente goons and unknowingly aided Sly and the gang in their operation to take down Octavio

"ALRIGHT" Nick shouted in victory

"And THAT'S…how it's done" Carmelita added

"All sectors have been stabilized, no further Vincente presence has been detected" The gorilla mercenary called through a walkie-talkie, Nick then answered

"GOOD WORK BOYS…for mercenaries, you all fought with honor and distinction, I'm VERY proud" Carmelita said into the walkie-talkie

"And people say you ain't got no soft side" Nick told his partner/lover

"Shut up or I'll cuff you and stuff ya" Carmelita replied

"Dukes of Hazzard…didn't think anyone remembered them" Nick said

"I grew up watching them, come on let's get back to work" Carmelita replied before they went back into H.Q, after that was done, Neyla was sent out to meet Sly at their next job, where Bentley contacted them

"Alright you lovebirds, listen up, Octavio keeps the blueprints to his main tar pumping station in three parts, each is cleverly hidden behind a wall painting in one of his three "legit" coffee houses" Bentley told the two

"You know, that ain't very subtle to have a full-time guard standing in front of a coffee house" Sly said

"No, it's not" Neyla agreed

"Since Neyla and Aria destroyed his Ferris wheel, Octavio has gone ALL OUT with security, in fact he's got all his men checking up on each other, if we want to get our hands on those blueprints, we can't raise ANY suspicion" Bentley said

"Which is why I need to use that disguise you designed for me" Sly said as he took out the disguise

"You got that right, when your spotted with the disguise on, the guard will ask for a password, I got em all in front of me, just repeat them as I tell them to you but be careful take too long or mess it up and he'll KNOW you're a fraud" Bentley said

"And once you take his place at guard duty, love, I'll move in and get the blueprints" Neyla said before Sly quickly changed into his disguise before hanging up with Bentley

"How do I look" Sly asked Neyla as she fixed up the finishing touches of the disguise

"Well, take away that stupid mask and you'd look handsome" Neyla replied

"I look that way even without a disguise" Sly said before he quickly kissed Neyla's cheek

"Be careful love" Neyla said

"Will do" Sly replied before he approached the guard

"HALT, what's Octavio's house password" The guard asked, Bentley then relayed the code to Sly in his earpiece

"Tenor, Soprano, Tenor, Soprano" Sly said in his Italian accent

"Okay, I guess you're the relief shift, thanks for coming early, I got BIG plans for tonight, A CARNIVALA, A GOOD TIMES, EH" The guard asked

"Especially when you spend it with a pretty lady under your arm, no" Sly asked

"You can a say THAT AGAIN and if I'm REAL lucky…maybe in the bed to, no" The guard asked

"Go get her tiger" Sly said before the guard walked off, once he was gone Neyla then approached the disguised Sly

"I can't BELIEVE that worked" Neyla said

"Why" Sly asked

"No offence, love but you have the WORST Italian accent I've EVER heard" Neyla replied, trying to hold her laughter back

"I did the best I could, it's not like I won a grammy award for best acting, now get inside and swipe those blueprints, I'll stand guard" Sly replied before he opened the door for Neyla to go in and he took his guard post

(Inside Coffee house 1)

Neyla entered the coffee house to see it had wall to wall lasers

"DAMN…first time I've seen a coffee house with laser security systems" Neyla muttered before she skillfully made her way to the painting on the farthest wall

"Alright, love I'm at the painting, what am I looking for" Neyla asked through the earpiece

"Octavio's really IS old school if he's using a painting safe, I read about them in the Thievius Raccoonus, the trick here is finding the combination to the vault INSIDE the artwork of the painting, could take some searching but it's sure to be there" Sly explained before Neyla started looking and eventually found the code which she punched into the vault behind the painting and got at the first set of blueprints

"One down" Neyla called through the earpiece

"Strong work, love, we're still clear out front" Sly called back before Neyla got out of there

(Back outside)

Neyla got out of the coffee house to see Sly still holding down the fort

"I'll meet you at the next coffee house love, once you take the guards place, I'll move in" Neyla said

"Second verse, same as the first" Sly replied before Neyla and he moved out to the next coffee shop where Sly approached the guard

"YOU THERE, vacuum room password" The guard said, Bentley then relayed the password to Sly

"Soprano, Soprano, Bass, Bass" Sly replied

"Sorry about that, UGH am I GLAD you're here, mama's making spaghetti tonight and I'm STARVING, I'm a gonna eat like three, NO FOUR plates full" The guard said enthusiastically

"From the way you talk about it, it must be a little slice of heaven, brother" Sly replied

"OH MAMA-MIA, I wanna be BURIED in her sauce" The guard replied before he walked off and Neyla joined Sly on the streets

"Any trouble, love" Neyla asked

"No but…he said he wanted to be buried in his mom's pasta sauce" Sly replied

"Yeah…that's, um…that's weird" Neyla said, she was strangely getting hungry just talking about it she shook it off before she headed inside and Sly stood guard

(In coffee house 2)

Neyla entered the coffee house before she saw it was littered with searchlight security

"REALLY, searchlights" Neyla muttered to herself before she skillfully made her way to the other side of the coffee house and started working on the painting safe

"You know, I just can't get it out of my head" Sly called through the earpiece

"What's that" Neyla asked

"The sauce the guard mentioned, I mean have you ever has pasta sauce THAT tasty" Sly asked

"I don't think so" Neyla replied, slowly growing hungrier just TALKING about the spaghetti sauce

"I don't mean to distract you or anything, but I just don't think I've ever had cooking THAT GOOD, well not since mom and dad passed away, I mean are we missing a whole MULTIVERSE of flavors here" Sly asked

"SLY, STOP YOUR MAKING ME HUNGRY" Neyla replied as she tried to focus but couldn't at the thought of food

"Oh, sorry" Sly replied before shutting up, Neyla eventually got her hands on the second blueprints

"Got em" Neyla said into the earpiece

"Alright, two out of three, almost there, love" Sly replied before Neyla left the coffee house

(Back outside)

Neyla left the second coffee house to meet up with Sly

"You know, maybe there's a good, Italian restaurant around here that you and I can enjoy ourselves at" Sly said

"Sly, you know I love you and all but ENOUGH WITH THE SAUCE, keep your focus, were on a clock here" Neyla said

"I was GONNA say AFTER we deal with our operation here" Sly said

"OH…well…yeah, that DOES sound good" Neyla said

"Yeah, I was thinking a romantic, candle-light dinner, romantic music as we little dancing" Sly asked

"OOOOOH, I like the sound of that, but before that we gotta get Murray back, so come on, last coffee house" Neyla said

"I love a woman who takes charge" Sly replied before they both moved to the final coffee house and Sly approached the guard (You know…the one everyone HATES to deal with)

"YOU THERE, what's the Carnival password" The guard asked, Bentley then relayed the password to Sly

"Tenor, Bass, Tenor, Tenor" Sly answered

"Sorry about that, yeah, you know the code…but that's m NICKNAME, there's only ONE Tony B. on the payroll and I'm FAMOUS in the family" The guard called Tony B. said

"Sorry, I'm new around here, just got called in from Roma" Sly replied

"They know me in Rome, I'm practically the mayor or organized crime in Rome…you're telling me you've NEVER heard my nickname" Tony B. asked, Sly thought of something fast

"Uh, my cell phone's a going off…I should take this call, could be the boss, you know" Sly asked

"Yeah…okay" Tony B. replied before Sly walked off

"Damn it, NOW what" Sly asked Neyla through the earpiece

"Talk to some of the other guards around and see if THEY know Tony's nickname" Neyla answered

"Good call, one of them HAS to know or we can't get in without raising an alarm" Sly replied before he found another guard

"HEY, YOU, give me the café password" The guard said, Bentley then gave Sly the password

"Bass, Bass, Bass, Soprano" Sly answered

"Yep, okay your legit" The guard replied

"Hey, you know Tony B's nickname" Sly asked the guard

"TONY B, that cannoli, he's a what's it called, an "ego maniac" I don't know nothin' about him don't WANNA know" The guard replied before walking away, Sly then tried another guard

"HALT, what's the Midnight password" The guard asked Sly, Bentley then sent him the password

"Alto, Bass, Alto, Alto" Sly answered

"Sorry about that, yup, that's the password, alright, sometimes I forget em, you know" The guard asked

"I know what'cha mean, hey you wouldn't happen to know what Tony B's nickname is, would you" Sly asked

"HA, HA, HA, HA, yeah that fathead likes to call himself Tony "THE KILLER" B. what an idiot" The guard said

"On that I couldn't agree MORE, he be a couple of clowns short of a circus" Sly replied before he walked off

"Nice work with the disguise, love, you're really fitting in with these mobsters…maybe you should switch teams, get an apartment with "the killer B" you know" Neyla asked

"That ain't even funny, love" Sly replied before he approached Tony again

"YOU THERE, Ferris wheel password, QUICKLY" Tony asked, Bentley then gave Sly the password

"Soprano, Alto, Alto, Soprano" Sly answered

"OH, it's YOU again, so bigshot, what's my NICKNAME" Tony B. asked

"COME ON, everyone's a heard a Tony "THE KILLER" B. you're the terror of every playground from here to Sicily" Sly replied

"Ha, ha, ha, real FUNNY, least I'm not on guard duty during Carnival…who's got the last laugh NOW tough guy, ha, ha, ME…that's who" Tony B. said before he walked away, Neyla then approached

"Hurry up and swipe the blueprints, if that guy comes back to talk, I'm gonna knock his ass OUT" Sly told Neyla

"I won't be long" Neyla replied before heading in and Sly stood guard

(In Coffee house 3)

Neyla entered the last coffee house and saw the place was protected with BOTH spotlight and laser security

"FOR REAL" Neyla grunted before she made her way over to the painting safe

"I gotta say Neyla, I'm impressed with you, you got real skill with this art decryption, it always takes me like…twenty minutes, but you, you're just flying through them" Sly told Neyla as she searched for the combination and eventually found it, she swiped the last blueprints

"GOT YA" Neyla said before an alarm sounded

"SHIT" Neyla muttered

"GET OUT OF THERE, IT MUST HAVE BEEN RIGGED TO AN ALARM" Sly called, Neyla then got the hell out of the coffee house

(Back outside)

Tony B. heard the alarm and came back running

"HEY, WHAT THE HELL IS'A GOING ON HERE" Tony B. asked Sly as he approached the raccoon

"Oh, I don't know I was just standing here, doing my guard duty and then all of the sudden" Sly said before he took a lightning quick SWING at Tony B. with his right fist whilst wearing his brass knuckles, Tony B. spun around in place, despite taking a hit in the jaw seeming unaffected

"MAMA…is it nighty-nighttime ALREADY" Tony B. asked in a dazed voice before he fell to the ground, the punch knocking both Tony B. out cold and even knocking out a couple of his teeth

"WOW, THAT FELT GOOD" Sly said to himself before he ditched his disguise as Neyla came out

"What happened to him" Neyla asked, pointing at the knocked out Tony

"I DID say that if he came back, I would knock his ass out, at any rate, we need to hide out in the safehouse, that alarm is attracting ALL KINDS of guards" Sly said

"Right, let's haul ass" Neyla replied before they made a break for it, taking out guards they encountered on the way back to the safehouse, once they got back they caught their breath

"WHEW" Sly huffed

"Nephew, Neyla, are you two okay" Mario asked the two

"Yeah, we're okay…but thank GOD for the safety of the safehouse" Neyla said

"Amen, love…AMEN" Sly added

"Well, you two rest up, I'm going out to find Murray" Bentley said before he suited up and headed out, after meeting at the bridge where Sly said he and Neyla meet him last, Murray appeared

"Sly said that you were looking for me" Murray asked

"We need your help to destroy some tar drums" Bentley said

"I'm DONE with all that, I've found a new path, it's full of…peacefulness" Murray replied

"COME ON, what happened to "THE MURRAY" the guy who would get into a fight with ten thugs wearing nothing but a towel, where is the guy who would always punch first and not even BOTHER to ask questions later, WHERE'S that guy, WHERE'S MY OLD FRIEND" Bentley asked with tears threatening to leave his eyes

"I…I'm sorry Bentley I…I tried to save you but…I just wasn't STRONG enough" Murray replied

"Get over it, Murray, I don't blame you and NEVER HAVE…the only thing that I feel bad about is losing my pal" Bentley replied

"Look, I WANT to help you, your one of my OLDEST friends it's just that I promised my Guru that I would stay here and "peacefully" meditate until the black water ran pure" Murray replied

"Well…what if you COULD help us peacefully, you wouldn't have to punch even a SINGLE person" Bentley asked

"I…I guess that would count…YEAH, YEAH, THAT WOULD WORK, kay Bentley I'M IN…keep it peaceful and I'll SMASH up anything you like" Murray replied

"Good, as a student of the Australian Dreamtime, I'm sure you've learned of the ball form" Bentley asked

Yeah, sure, like my FIRST WEEK" Murray answered

"Excellent, tuck into ball form and clog that vent pipe, the pressure build up should shoot you skyward, maintain your ball form and SMASH into he tar drums around town" Bentley told Murray

"AWESOME, yeah, sure, that's TOTALLY peaceful, I'm sure my Guru wouldn't mind" Murray replied before setting out to do as Bentley told him to do, using his Aboriginal ball form, he used the vent pipe to launch himself HIGH up into the air and then using his weight and velocity together came CRASHING down on the six tar drums that were around and like Bentley promised, he didn't have to punch a SINGLE guard, after he was done, he meet back up with Bentley

"Really, NICE work Murray, it's a pleasure to see you back in action" Bentley said

"Yeah, well…I haven't forgotten who my friends are, I'm just paying with a different deck" Murray replied before Bentley went back to the safehouse and then Zak went out for his job which was located near a firework stand, he then met up with Bentley

"Yo, mean green, nice set up here" Zak said

"I've taken over this Carnivale firework stand to help with the next phase of our operation, we need to take out the signs and balloon's advertising Octavio's big comeback Opera recital" Bentley said

"Which is good because hardly ANYONE is a fan of opera anymore" Zak said

"Now I've cobbled together a few explosives POWERFUL enough to destroy the anchors securing the balloons, unfortunately I'm a LITTLE short on fuses" Bentley said

"Good thing I've got a rocket-powered skateboard" Zak said

"A good thing, indeed, make sure to be quick, make sure you clear the bomb before" Bentley was about to say

"Yeah, I know, hedgehog parts everywhere, I'll be fast" Zak replied before Bentley handed the bomb to Zak and like Bentley said he only had about twenty seconds to get it there and place the explosive device, which he did thanks to his rocket-powered skateboard, he managed to get it on the anchor to the first advertising balloon and it blew off one of the anchors to the Don's advertisement balloons

"BOOM SHAKALAKA" Zak shouted

"EXCELLENT, one less ad polluting the Venetian skyward, head back to the firework stand, I've got another stick of TNT ready, and the wind is blowing in the right direction to continue our assault" Bentley said before Zak went back to the firework stand

"Hot DAMN that thing had some KICK to it" Zak said

"It was a child compared to THIS ferocious beast, so don't dilly-dally with it, it's got a longer fuse, but you've got FURTHER to go" Bentley said

"Ferocious BEAST" Zak asked before Bentley gave Zak the explosives

"RUN, ZAK, RUN, FEAR THE BEAST" Bentley said before he took off to the advertisement balloon next to the police station, he had about forty seconds this time and he made it with ten seconds to spare

"HA, HA, BEHOLD stage two, the balloon, carried by the wind will impact on the Octavio sign, the combustible gases in the balloon will ignite and…BAAAAM, Hindenburg part two" Bentley called over the earpiece, however the rope of the balloon was caught in the Octavio sign, and it didn't blow

"You GOTTA BE KIDDING ME" Zak said

"DRAT AND CURSES…the wind died the balloon's CAUGHT" Bentley said

"What do we do Bentley, I'm an expert skater, not climber" Zak said

"Hold position, I'm sending over T'Challa" Bentley replied, before long T'Challa showed up

"Someone call for my assistance" T'Challa asked

"Did we ever, Challa, we need that balloon gone, but it got caught on that ugly-ass mug of the Don" Zak answered, pointing up to the caught balloon on the sign

"No need to worry, I'll just climb up there and knock it lose" T'Challa replied before he started his climb to the top of the tower

"Alright and while you do that, I'll work on putting together some more explosives for the sign, such a SHAM really, I was looking forward to seeing that balloon burn, FACINATING chemical reaction" Bentley said

"Yeah, I was looking forward to that to" Zak replied as T'Challa used his cat-like agility and acrobatic prowess to get to the top of the sign before using his Katana to slice apart the advertisement sign, freeing the balloon which blew off in the wind

"GOT IT BENTLEY" T'Challa called into the earpiece before he quickly descended to ground level, joining Zak

"Thanks for the help" Zak told T'Challa

"Not a problem" T'Challa replied

"Great work, but I've got a new, ferocious beats on our hands, come on back to the stand Zak and, what…sorry, sir, we're currently closed, HEY, LET GO OF ME, ZAK GET BACK HERE, QUICK" Bentley shouted

"Bentley…BENTLEY" Zak called into the earpiece but didn't get an answer

"COME ON" T'Challa shouted as the two hauled tail back to the firework stand and to the shock of the two boys it was Octavio who has Bentley in his claws

"HELP" Bentley called as Octavio turned to look at T'Challa and Zak

"WHAT…I was expecting Sly Cooper, who are you two punks" Octavio asked

"Hey, who you calling punk grandpa, the name's Zak" Zak said as he pulled out his Nun-chucks and T'Challa his sword

"And I'm T'Challa and that's our FRIEND you got in your claws" T'Challa added

"Oh, what does it matter, my boy on the inside picked up those photos of me your gang tried to send to the cops, NICE TRY, but I own this town" Octavio said

"PUT Bentley down or I'll turn you into an ugly fur rug" T'Challa replied

"Not after I'm done CHUCKING this chump" Zak said

"OOOOH, that's the toughest talk you both GOT, back in my day, we had enforcers who would make others SHIT their pants just as soon as a look at em" Octavio said

"Trust me, the Cooper gang DON'T make empty threats" T'Challa said

"Oh, I know all about that crack, little gang of yours, you ain't NOTHING without this little guys brain, so I figure I'll just scoop him up real slow and use him to fertilize my tomato PLANTS" Octavio said

"I'm allergic to tomato's" Bentley said before Octavio tried to make a run for it

"GUYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYS" Bentley shouted as T'Challa and Zak gave chase

"HANG ON BIG BRAIN" Zak shouted

"WERE COMING" T'Challa shouted, surprisingly for an old man, Octavio was FAST even faster than Zak was on his rocket-powered skateboard, he also had these "little surprises" that the boys had to avoid, after a while Octavio came back to his Opera house

"You want this little SHRIMP…TAKE HIM" Octavio shouted as he threw Bentley, he fell out of his chair to which T'Challa and Zak caught him

"I won't forget this…you guys are DEAD" Octavio threatened before entering his bae of operations, T'Challa and Zak then put Bentley back in his chair

"He didn't hurt you did he" T'Challa asked

"No…the only thing that's hurt is my ego" Bentley said

"Give it some time big brain, that'll heal" Zak said

"Yeah, be lucky it wasn't that shell or head of yours that got hurt, back to the safehouse" T'Challa asked

"Yeah, it's time to put this FIEND out of commission" Bentley said before the three returned to the safehouse and like Neyla, the apprentice spied on Bentley

"Hmm, I see why master has an interest in this one" The apprentice said, meanwhile with the gang after they got dinner, as the day came to an end and Octavio's comeback recital happening tomorrow, they got some rest, they were gonna need it

(The next day)

The final day of the Venice operation was upon the Cooper gang and as the group had breakfast, Bentley laid down his plan that he made last night

(Slideshow)

"Okay, with Octavio's comeback opera recital just a few, short hours away, we're all set up for the main event, get ready for "Operation: Tar-Be-Gone" our objective, get Murray back on the team, Sly you'll start things off by using your disguise to gain access to the Opera house, once inside make your way down to the pump room to let me, Helen and T'Challa through the side entrance, once inside we'll bomb the main tar vacuum pumps and thanks to the blueprints stolen from Octavio's coffee houses we'll know EXACTLY where to bomb to cripple the machinery, once that's done then we'll go for Octavio's detonation switch, I'm sure you all agree without a shadow a doubt that we just can't leave a weapon THAT dangerous in the hands of such a madman, so Neyla given that your mom used to teach you how to sing when we were kids, I want you to distract the Don with an Opera duel, he's sure not to attack while your both on stage, meanwhile Sly you'll cut the lines to the chandelier hanging above the Don's head and DROP it on his head, I'll swipe the switch and then we'll find Murray, by the time we do the black water is SURE to run clear again, meaning that Murray will be free to come with us"

(End of slideshow)

"This is your first heist…you nervous" Sly asked his and Neyla's apprentices

"More on the lines of excited and ready for action master" T'Challa said

"I'm ready to get started" Cammy added

"Yeah, I'm cool boss man" Zak added

"I have been looking forward to this since we started" Helen added

"Just like they're teachers, no" Mario asked Sly making him chuckle

"Bentley, are you SURE you want ME to sing" Neyla asked

"I didn't know you sang" Jasmine told Neyla

"My mom wanted me to be in the church course…never got around to it" Neyla said

"Neyla, trust me, I know what I'm talking about, besides I thought you liked to sing" Bentley said

"I do, but only in the shower, I haven't sung for anyone in public before" Neyla said

"But there will be no one there, remember" Cammy asked

"Yeah, me and Bentley took care of the advertisement balloons, didn't we" Zak asked

"But the Don will be there, that's STILL someone" Neyla said

"I didn't know you had…stage fright" Helen said

"Love…think about it this way, this is for both the people of Venice and Murray" Sly told Neyla who paused before sighing

"Alright, I'll do it…but for MURRAY" Neyla said

"Fair enough, alright, everyone's got their roles, let's MOVE" Sly said before the team split up while Aria, Cammy, Zak and Mario stayed behind to pack things up ready to go, Sly then moved into position outside the Opera house and Bentley contacted him

"This is it, Sly, the Don is due to arrive for the Opera recital in just a few minutes" Bentley said

"You and Zak did a great job in taking out the advertisement, no one's shown up to listen, no audience means no demolition demonstration" Sly said

"True but to put Octavio's operation out of commission permanently, we'll need to destroy the main tar vacuum, use your disguise to gain entrance into the Opera house then head down to the pump room and let me and the others in through the side door" Bentley explained

"On the way" Sly replied before he donned his disguise and approached the guard guarding the Opera house entrance

"STOP, Ferris wheel password, QUICKLY" The guard said, Bentley then relayed the password to Sly

"Soprano, Alto, Alto, Soprano" Sly said

"Sorry about that, don't be long inside, the bosses Opera recital is about to start" The guard said before he let Sly inside the Opera house

(Inside the Opera house)

After Sly got in and got past the guards, he got down to the lower level only there was one problem

"DRAT, A DOUBLE BUTTON DOOR…I, I'll think of something, JUST GIVE ME TIME" Bentley said in Sly's earpiece, then from the door came Octavio himself

"HOLD IT…I don't recognize you, what's the secret Soprano password" Octavio asked, Bentley quickly gave Sly the password

"Tenor, Bass, Tenor, Tenor" Sly answered

"OKAY…pass along the word to the rest of the guards that under no circumstances that I am to be disturbed during my big COMEBACK RECITAL" Octavio told Sly, believing him to be one of his men

"Of course, sir, I'm certainly looking forward to the performance, once I'm done in the pump room, I'll be heading out to the stage, um…if it isn't too much trouble, would you help me with this double button security door" Sly asked

"But of course…for a fellow music lover it would be a pleasure" Octavio said before he helped Sly through the double button door

"Be quick in there, you don't wanna miss out" Octavio told Sly

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, sir" Sly replied before he entered the pump room, and he threw away his disguise as soon as the door closed

"Hopefully, I ain't gotta wear THAT thing again" Sly told himself before heading down into the pump room

"Sly, HEY SLY…over here" Bentley called out as he, Helen and T'Challa stood ready

"Welcome to the mad house" Sly said as he let them in

"Alright then, let's get down to brass task and work quickly while the recital is getting underway" Bentley said

"You ready with the bombs" Sly asked

"That I am but there's one thing as soon as we start bombing the tar pumps, guards are SURE to come running, you, Helen and T'Challa need to keep them off my back while I plant my bombs and destroy all six tar pumps after that they'll start to lose suction" Bentley explained

"Not a problem, they will not touch you while we are here" Helen said

"Trust me, you'll be safe with the three of us watching your shell" T'Challa told Bentley

"Alright, Bentley start planting the bombs we'll watch your back" Sly said as he armed himself with his Rapier and dagger while T'Challa did so with his sword and Helen with her combat dagger and Silver eagle, as soon as Bentley started bombing guards started showing up trying to stop the turtle from bombing the whole place but thanks to Bentley's three protectors he was kept safe and he managed to destroy all six of the tar pumps, the machine then started losing power

"Nice Bentley, is there still time to make to the recital" Sly asked as the four made a break for it

"We're right on schedule, if my calculations are right" Bentley started

"Which they seem to always be" T'Challa said

"RIGHT, Octavio should be about to perform an aria originally written as a duet…and THAT'S when we strike" Bentley explained as they exited the Opera house

(Outside with Neyla)

Sly, T'Challa, Helen and Bentley exited the Opera house and meet up with Neyla

"Bentley, are you sure Octavio will let Neyla on stage with him" Sly asked Bentley

"OF COURSE, he a musician, he'll be "overjoyed" to have a lyrical counterpoint" Bentley answered

"Just be ready to drop the chandelier when I lure him underneath love" Neyla told Sly

"Right, T'Challa, Helen, I want you two to go back to the safehouse and help the others with the escape plan, as soon as we get the demolition switch off the Don, I want to be gone out of here FAST" Sly told the two

"As you say" Helen said

"Right, master" T'Challa added before the two took off, Sly, Bentley and Neyla then went to the stage where the Don was

"Go get him Neyla" Sly told his love with a kiss on the cheek for luck, Neyla then approached the Don

"Wait a minute, I recognize you…you're the girlfriend of that RAT Sly COOPER, I must say for a pain in my ass, Cooper has GOOD taste in women" Octavio said

"Hold on I'm gonna BARF" Neyla said, feeling insulted

"I give you a compliment and you feel insulted instead" Octavio asked

"My handsome raccoon has more charm than a coward who lets his own men do his fighting for him" Neyla replied

"OH, looks and a sharp tongue I see, so, why are you here, you got a DEATH WISH or something" Octavio asked

"Well, I couldn't help but showing you up at what you love MOST…Opera singing" Neyla answered

"You're a vocalist, FINE, a duet is coming up, we'll sing a first and then I'll GUT YOU…after I teach you how to hold that tongue of yours GIRL, maybe keep you as my personal slave on a leash" Octavio said

"Not EVEN in your dreams you walking fossil, I'll sing you under the table" Neyla replied before taking her place next to Octavio on stage, they're singing duet started and Neyla actually had a beautiful singing voice to which Sly was mesmerized, in fact he almost forget that he was on a job, as they sang, Sly undid the ties to the chandelier while Octavio tried to muscle his way into the center of the stage which is what Sly, Neyla and Bentley wanted, after the singing was finished

"NOW SLY" Neyla shouted

"What" Octavio muttered before he looked up and saw the chandelier coming down on him after Sly cut the last cord, it seemed like money in the bag but

"NOOO" Octavio shouted, bracing for impact but the chandelier was shot out by a shock pistol

"Huh" Neyla and Sly said at the same time as they saw Nick and Carmelita on a nearby rooftop

"FREEZE IT RIGHT THERE" Nick shouted

"The lot of you are going to JAIL" Carmelita added

"DAMN IT CARM" Neyla muttered as one of Octavio's men came by in a boat to help him escape

"This recital…is-over" Octavio said as he tried to make a quick escape with it

"He's still got the demolition switch" Sly said, suddenly Bentley drove up in the police boat he and Neyla used earlier

"SLY, NEYLA GET IN" Bentley shouted as the two got in quickly as Nick and Carmelita tried shooting them

"They never, EVER FREEZE" Carmelita growled

"What, did you EXPECT THEM TO" Nick asked as Sly, Bentley and Neyla took off after the Don in his boat

"I need immediate pick up, criminals are heading East, all units converge" Carmelita called into her wrist communicator

"Roger" A gorilla mercenary called from the device

"Sorry Cooper, THIS time we've got you surrounded" Carmelita said

(With Sly, Bentley and Neyla)

"CAN'T THIS THING GO ANY FASTER" Bentley shouted as he gripped the front gun

"THE THINGS ALREADY PUTTING OUT MAX SPEED" Neyla shouted as she tried to go faster as she steered the boat

"SHOOT OUT THE DON'S ENGINE AND WE'LL HAVE HIM" Sly shouted before Bentley noticed

"THE CANAL IS FULL OF COPS, WE'RE IN BIG TROUBLE HERE" Bentley shouted

"WHAT ELSE IS NEW, JUST SHOOT" Sly shouted as Bentley started shooting at the Don's boat, then a helicopter came into view

"Attention criminals you are traveling at an unsafe and illegal speed, stop your engine's and prepare to be boarded, cooperate now and we'll go easy on you, RESIST and I'll PERSONALLY make sure none of you see sunlight for a year" Carmelita called from a megaphone

"We repeat, stop your engines or we WILL be forced to subdue you, we have been authorized to use lethal force is necessary" Nick added over the megaphone

"YOU HEAR THAT COOPER, LETHAL FORCE" Carmelita shouted over the megaphone

"WHO KNEW YOUR OLD PARTNER WAS SUCH A SWEET-TALKER, NEYLA" Sly told Neyla

"FUNNY" Neyla replied, Sly then took out his bow and shot an arrow at the police chopper, he missed Nick and Carmelita and hit the choppers ceiling behind them, the arrow then released choking gas, making the people onboard the chopper cough uncontrollably

"A CHOKE ARROW" Nick shouted through his coughing

"GET US OUT OF HERE PILOT" Carmelita shouted through her coughing as the chopper then took off out of sight

"DID YOU JUST" Neyla and Bentley were about to ask Sly at the same time

"ONE PROBLEM AT A TIME" Sly replied before Bentley continued to shoot at the Don's boat, he didn't make it easy for his pursuers what with tossing out bombs and electrical fence devices but eventually they got him

"YES" Bentley shouted

"HE'S OUT OF CONTROL, GET READY FOR A SUDDEN STOP" Sly called

(Back in front of the Opera house)

"NO, MORE TO THE LEFT YOU IDIOT, WE'RE GONNA CRASH" Octavio shouted at his henchman driving the boat but the two ended up crashing into the Opera recital stage which killed the henchman, but Octavio walked away, Bentley, Neyla and Sly caught up to them and they weren't alone, Murray watched things unfold from a nearby rooftop

"You've got nowhere to run, and your operation is in shambles, Octavio, hand over the demolition switch and we'll all try and ditch these cops" Sly said

"You've been chasing me for THIS LITTLE THING, fine big shot, it took me six months to prepare this thing…but, what the hell, I've got more where THIS THING CAME FROM" Octavio said

"DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT BOAT GO OUT OF CONTROL AND JUMP AND SMASH INTO THAT THING…DESTRUCTION…SOOOOO COOOOL" Murray shouted in his old persona

"You think that was COOL PUNK…well if you thought THAT was COOL, then get ready for the MAIN EVENT" Octavio said as he was about to push the button on the demolition switch

"NO" Neyla shouted, but then a bang was heard and the demolition switch was broken into pieces, the group looked to see T'Challa, Cammy, Helen and Zak had come, it was Helen who shot the switch

"GAAAAAAAH" Octavio grunted as he saw a hole in his hand that previously held the switch

"Nice shot Helen" Zak told his wolf friend

"You expect anything less" Helen asked

"Not at all" Zak answered

"What are you four doing here" Sly asked

"We heard trouble over the earpieces, thought we get down here and give you a hand" Cammy answered

"Sorry Don but you won't be sinking ANYTHING today or any other day" T'Challa said

"You should give it up, you're out numbered" Bentley said

"WHY YOU LITTLE BASTARD" Octavio shouted before he moved SUPER fast at Bentley

"WATCH OUT" Neyla shouted as she moved in front of Bentley and took the front of the kick Bentley would have been hit with, Neyla was knocked into Bentley who flew out of his chair, both skid on the ground as Octavio feinted back

"NEYLA/BENTLEY" Sly and Murray shouted at the same time

"DAMN that's fast" Cammy said

"DER'MO" Helen said "shit" in Russian

"Told you, for an old man, he can MOVE" T'Challa said

"Murray, you gotta help us, I've never seen anyone move so fast, Octavio maybe old but he's still GOT IT, let's take him together" Sly told Murray

"Yeah, come on big guy, give us a hand here" Zak said

"BUT…BUT I promised my GURU that I would renounce ALL violence…and the water is STILL black" Murray said

"It'll be clear any minute, TRUST me now, let's TAKE HIM" Sly said

"Your right to be scared hippo, your wheelchair friend shouldn't have been SO SMART" Octavio said

"Murray, PLEASE" Neyla pleaded

"HELP" Bentley moaned in pain, that TORE it for Murray, he felt the old rage boil up inside of him before he tore off his toothed necklace

THAT DOES IT…I'M GONNA FLOSS MY TEETH WITH YOUR SPINE" Murray shouted before the jumped down and PUNCHED Octavio right in the jaw, sending him flying back

"THE MURRAY RETURNS" Murray shouted

"NOW THAT'S THE MURRAY I REMEMBER" Sly said

"Shall we master" T'Challa asked

"Let's TAKE HIM" Sly replied before the six charged into battle with the Don, like they saw he was FAST and surprisingly he was holding his own against the six at first, but then Sly came up with a plan that would even the odds, he turned on the tar pumps which created a sticky trap so the group would be able to take on Octavio while he was slowed down by the tar pit, however the current tar pit ran out of tar

"GUYS, these valves are dry, I saw some more over by the cop station, let's go" Sly said as they took off for the fresh supply of tar

"Ha, ha, ha, without the tar, I will crush you ALL LIKE BUGS" Octavio shouted as he gave chase, once over at the police station, the playing field was once again leveled

"You may have more tar but I'm a not holding back no longer, LISTEN TO THE SONG OF YOUR DEATH" Octavio said with Opera drama

"The Murray knows no song but the TRIUMPHANT HORN SECTION OF HIS OWN TRIUMPH" Murray replied

"What he said" Zak said

"Stop talking the lot of you and DIE" Octavio replied before they started trading blows with each other again, Octavio stepped up his game and used some kind of sonic voice attack that shattered all the windows around them, using this and his natural speed he was certainly tricky to deal with but then the group started tag-teaming Octavio, starting with T'Challa ducking under a punch from Octavio and slashing at his torso with his sword before

"COMING THROUGH DUDE" Zak shouted as he came in on his skateboard before he whacked Octavio in the face with his Nun-chuck not only shattering his mask but also knocking out some teeth, Helen then moved in and performed a grappling move (Think of the grappling move Black widow does in "Iron man 2") before pinning him to the ground

"For NEYLA" Helen said as she stabbed him through the shoulder with her combat dagger pinning him to the spot

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" Octavio shouted before Helen moved off him only for Cammy to jump in

"MY TURN" Cammy shouted as she in her Microbot suit jumped up and landed on Octavio crunching him under the suits weight, he then managed to stand up and pull the combat dagger out of his shoulder before they decided to finish Octavio, Murray punched Octavio with a left cross to the face, T'Challa then came up and slightly jumped up hitting Octavio in the face with his right knee, Helen then used her sniper rifle like a club and swung at Octavio's face, hitting him before Cammy came in and used her Microbots to form battle gauntlets on her suits many arms (Think of Doomfist's gauntlets only smaller and not so heavy) she used them to whale on Octavio all OVER his body with a barrage of hits , staggering his back before Murray moved in and hit him in the gut before hitting him with a left uppercut, Zak then came in with both his Nun-Chuck's to hit Octavio in the face before Murray did a low blow and hit Octavio in the balls, stunning him

"NOBODY" Murray shouted before he put his hands together telling Sly he wanted to launch him which Sly picked up on

"MESSES WITH" Murray shouted as he launched Sly into the air above Octavio as he pulled out his Rapier and held it with both hands in a downward position

"THIS FAMILY" Sly shouted as he stabbed Octavio through a vital organ

(Scene slows down)

"You…YOU PUNK" Octavio said as he laid on his back, dying

"You shouldn't have FUCKED with this family of mine" Sly said as he pulled his Rapier from Octavio's chest

"AH…this time ain't like what it used to be" Octavio said

"You should have taken my deal when you had the chance, at least THEN you would have lived" Sly said

"And spend the rest of my life in shackles…HA, I would rather die doing what I love…singing" Octavio said

"Oh, you'll be singing alright…but you'll be singing in HELL" Sly said

"Venice will PERISH without me" Octavio said

"Don't flatter yourself Octavio, the people here will be safer without you" Sly replied

"They FORGOT me, abandoned me, even the people who were once my friends turned their backs on me, all for this STUPID rock and roll" Octavio said

"They didn't forget you, they just changed, people change overtime, you're the one who refuses to move on from the past" Sly said

"It was BETTER in the old days…they should have stayed that way" Octavio replied

"Everything changes with time, Octavio nothing stays the same and we have two options…either accept change and grow…or deny change and get left in the dust" Sly said

"But don't you ever WISH things could stay the same, even ONCE…be honest" Octavio asked, Sly thought about it, he did wish things could have stayed the same, he wished that his home wasn't burnt down and forgotten, he wished that Clockwerk NEVER came into the picture, he wished that Bentley didn't have to pay such a high price for getting rid of Clockwerk once and for all…most importantly he wished that he still had his parents with him

"Yeah, more often that I care to remember, but that's just NOT how this world works, I accepted that along fact a long time ago" Sly replied

"I wanted to immortalize myself as the GREATEST Opera singer who ever lived who brought it back from obscurity…yet, here I am…no more famous than I was when I was taken into the business…AAH, the irony of this world, no" Octavio asked

"Yeah, the world is full of irony" Sly said before Octavio drew his last breath and died, Sly then soaked his blood in an eagle feather

"I'll give you this Octavio…you know a little more about family than the other man and woman I've meet who were in your shoes…Requiescet in pace" Sly said before he took the sonic device that Octavio had on his collar thinking it might be useful in the future

(Scene speeds back up)

"That…WAS AWESOME" Zak said

"Yes, it felt good" Helen said

"That'll show em not to mess with the Cooper's, huh" Cammy asked

"THAT'S RIGHT, STEP IT IN, BIG TIME" Murray said

"Nice work guys, but we should grab Neyla and Bentley and haul ass out of here, we've got cops closing in" Sly said before they made their way back to Neyla and Bentley before they made their exit out of Venice before the cops and even worse, Nick and Carmelita showed up meanwhile the small drone that the apprentice was using caught the whole thing and returned to him before he held out his metal forearm and the drone folded inward into a circular device and licked with the arm on top of the forearm

"Recording complete" A robotic voice said

"Contact master" The apprentice said before the on-board computer system of his mask called up his master

"Ah, my boy how goes the hunt" The master asked

"Nothing interesting to bring to your attention…but I can't help but want to take action now my prize is SO CLOSE, I can taste it, master" The apprentice said

"Patience you shall have your chance when the time is right, now tell me about the one with potential" The master said

"He is every bit as intelligence as the information you sent me suggests that he is master, but I have noticed something from observing both him and this gang he's apart of" The apprentice said

"Which is" The master asked

"I can sometimes see doubt in his eyes…something is gnawing at him, but I can't tell what" The apprentice said

"Ha, ha, ha, oh this is DELICIOUS" The master said

"What should I do in the meantime" The apprentice asked

"Keep tailing them and bring any interesting information that they come across to my ear and trust me…something as delicious as what WE want can't be rushed, it should be savored" The master said

"Understood" The apprentice replied before hanging up, the apprentice then took out one of the two photo's his master handed him in the training room, it was the first one he was given

"Just you wait…soon…SOON" The apprentice said

(Sly's P.O.V)

"With the fighting over, we went back to scrapped Bentley and Neyla off the pavement, it was touch and go for a while, but we managed to slip out right under Carmelita and Nick's noses, if Octavio was still alive and breathing he would have gotten thirty years for attempting to sink the Italian landmarks, I guess they don't like it when you mess with them, who knew…when Murray came back to us, we threw a BIG celebration in his honor, we meet up back in Paris and threw him a HUGE feast, everything he loved, mash potatoes, mac and cheese, Barbecue ribs, chicken wings, pizza MAN IT WAS A FEAST, Murray reunited with his old friends and even meet T'Challa, Helen, Zak and Cammy, they seemed to take a liking to Murray, after the big guys had his fill of food and we caught up a little, we told him about the Assassin's vault and my inheritance from my mother and her ancestors, but not just that, we told him about the possibility of the experimental surgery that could help Bentley walk again, when we told him that he was ALL…IN, once he put on those gloves and that mask, it was clear to all of us, most of all him that THE MURRAY…HAD RETURNED, now with the muscle of our family back in action we've taken the first step into building up our army for the Assassin's vault job but we knew that we need more if we wanted to make sure that we were successful, Bentley and Aria would work on something and try and find a worthwhile recruit but in the meantime…I had to take my tigress out on a date"

(End of P.O.V)

And THAT will do it for this chapter, I hope that it turned out okay for you guys and PLEASE, do not judge me too harshly for the lemon at the end of the chapter

But with Murray back things are starting to pick up, next time we will be heading to the Australian outback to recruit the first, new member of the family

Until then my friends, keep safe out there and as ALWAYS…it has been a pleasure

NINJA VANISH TIME!

(Smokescreen exit)