DISCLAIMER: I do not own the right to Sly Cooper, the Sly Cooper Franchise belongs to Sony Computer Entertainment America and Sucker Punch Productions.


Chapter 2: Into the Storm

(Raleigh's Shipyard)

As Sly and Tai climbed on Raleigh's Ship, they looked around the area to find the coast was clear for the moment. But there would be plenty of guard detail around the area for them to knock out. It was at that moment, the speakers began letting out a high pitch noise. "I say chaps, my heartiest congratulations to you all! The storm machine has sunk its fiftieth ship last night, and the loot has already been unloaded. Our operation is moving along splendidly, with the possible exception being the grounds negligence displayed below decks. And, I demand the boilers stay at full pressure at all times! If you lazy, low-brow, technically incompetent pack of guttersnipes did your jobs right, we'd have sunk 100 ships by now! But of course, fifty boats is a fine, fine achievement. Carryon, my boys, carry on." Raleigh made his announcement to his crew.

Tai listened to the entire announcement as he narrowed his eyes. "Someone doesn't seem to appreciate his crew's hard work." He said with much disdain in his voice.

"Well, at least we're not part of it." Sly commented as he patted his shoulder. "Be careful in there when you try to reach the treasure key. And if you find a vault in there, get what you can and I'll be waiting to retrieve it." He told him as Tai nodded and went for the other objective while Sly went to his. He proceeded into the mission as he came across a hallway that had dozens of furnaces that would turn him into a pure barbeque raccoon if he got too close.

"Better close those furnace doors. Take your cane and slam them shut before you fry to a crisp." Bentley suggested as Sly nodded and rushed towards the door and jumped over it as he used his cane to slam it shut. A walrus guard with a mallet noticed as he yelled and went to crush him, Sly evaded it as he slammed the end of his cane against his stomach and smacked him hard in the face. The Walrus guard let out a grunt as he went to hit him again, Sly immediately blocked his attack as he snared his neck and slammed his face to the wall, knocking him out as he groaned in pain. Sly smirked as he proceeded into what appeared to be the engine room. "Eureka! We're in the engine room! My analysis tells me that if you trace the spinning crankshaft all the way back to its source, you'll find Raleigh's treasure key and sabotage his machine while you're at it." Bentley informed him

"Won't be easy, pal. Even with a bunch of guards blocking the way." Sly replied as he leapt to the platform and made his way to find the treasure key. He leapt from the platform to a pump as it lifted him to the next platform where a guard with a welding torch waited. He attempted to burn Sly alive, but he avoided the flames and struck him in the head to knock him out as the guard let out a grunt and fell to the ground as Sly made his way across as he took out a third guard that tried to get in his way.

He reached a pillar and shimmied around it as he moved carefully and to not fall into the water. He reached a rope that allowed him to climb up to the next level of the pillar so he could shimmy around to the other side that led to a platform and the spinning crankshaft that Bentley mentioned. He ran across it and smashed his way through a tube lid that opened a new passage. He went inside and looked around carefully as he moved through it carefully. But his presence was noticed when another guard spotted him and he went to stop Sly before he could proceed, Sly quickly leapt over his attack as he kicked him in the face. He watched the guard fall off the ledge and land through two furnaces and slam to the ground. Seeing the furnace doors pop back up instantly gave Sly the idea that they would provide him a necessary lift as he smirked and backed away. "Okay Tai, you got fancy Kung Fu and Ninja magic. But I got an environment of resources." He said to himself as he ran forward and leapt to the furnace doors and bounced off of them as he made his way down to the lower levels.

Once he reached the next level, Sly smashed through another opening and found what looked like the worst way to die in his life. Spinning electric blades. Raleigh may be bad with vault security, but his security system was top notch. Sly let out an exhale, knowing this was not going to go well if he made the wrong move. "Sly, is everything okay on your end?" Tai contacted him.

"Yeah, nothing says electric death traps better than what I'm looking at right now." Sly replied sarcastically.

"How fast are they rotating?" Tai asked him.

"About the speed of a rotating propeller." Sly answered.

"You should be okay, just watch the blades carefully and pick your moment to get through them. Trust me, I've been through something like this during my training with Master Si Fu." Tai informed him.

"Let me guess, the Mantis Master?" Sly asked.

"The best teacher I ever could've had. Now get moving befor-" Tai soon went silent as it got Sly worried.

"Tai? Tai!" He tried to call him, but no response came. "Aww man. Tai you better be alright." He commented.


(Gallery)

Tai took cover in the gallery as gunshots were coming at him, he exhaled as he recognized the glock that was being used. "You didn't waste any time getting here, Agent Bast!" He called out to her as he heard a couple more shots and shielded himself.

She shot a few more as she smirked at where she stood. "Didn't think you'd let your guard down, Liang. The Cooper Gang making you soft on me?" She asked him.

"No, I'm just biding my time. After all, women like you are often hard to impress." He told her as he looked around the pillar to see where she was.

She chuckled as she twirled her glock and held it up. "You know Tai, I knew you'd come after Raleigh first. But if you really wanted to bust him, you should have joined law enforcement." She told him.

"And be run around by cops who are either good or crooked? Like Director Barkley?" He asked her.

"What are you talking about?" She asked him.

"Think about it, Aisha. Why else would he assign you to be Carmelita's partner? It's so you can report to him on her movements and what she does outside the office. I know his type. He's the kind of man who would take pride in his reputation." Tai explained.

Though Aisha couldn't deny it, she knew her position as Carmelita's partner would have holes in it. Could she even trust Barkley with what she would have to report? She shook her head and narrowed her eyes. "Sorry Tai, but as much as I like you. I still need to bring you in." She told him.

Tai let out a sigh as he touched his earpiece. "Sly, can you hear me?" He contacted him.

"Tai, what happened?" He asked him.

"I'm pinned down in the Gallery. Agent Aisha Bast arrived a lot faster than Carmelita has." He informed him. "Goes to show how serious this cat is." He commented.

"Do you have the treasure key?" Sly asked.

"Sadly no. It's between her melons." He informed his partner.

"Welp, good luck to you my friend. Cause you might have a fun time with her." Sly commented as Tai growled in frustration, knowing he was getting under his skin till Aisha pointed her glock next to his head.

She smirked at him as she held him at point blank range. "Last chance to surrender Liang." She told him as she kept the gun close to him. "Also, you shouldn't have distracted yourself with Cooper. It leaves you wide open." She told him.

Tai felt the gun pressing against his head as he noticed that her finger wasn't on the trigger. But his attention was later aimed towards her bosom as he saw the treasure key between her breasts. He had to keep her distracted as he looked at her. "You know Aisha, a respectable agent such as yourself shouldn't make a habit of flirting with criminals like me. It would be bad for your reputation." He told her.

"Ohhh? Concerned about my job? That's sweet." She said as she leaned close to his face. "But why would a criminal even care?" She asked him.

Tai felt her breath against his fur as it started to stand up, for he was feeling nervous. More than usual. "B-Because unlike most criminals like Raleigh and the rest of the F-Fiendish Five… I don't blindly kill my enemies. But look at Raleigh's work, haven't you seen all the shipwrecks? How many people could have died in those wrecks?" He asked her as his tail secretlysnaked its way up to her chest.

Aisha closed her eyes at the fact that he wasn't wrong about Raleigh's wrong doings, but that didn't excuse Tai's situation. "Believe me Tai. A part of me wants to let you go, but the other part of me is telling me to follow my orders." She told him.

A sigh came out of Tai as he smirked and looked at her. "Then I hope you don't mind if I borrow this?" He showed that his tail had the treasure key as Aisha's eyes widened and he knocked her pistol out of her hand. The pistol fell into the water as Tai kicked Aisha away and ran off with the key.

She growled angrily as she turned to where he went. "TAI!" She yelled as she chased after him. Tai ran for the archway as he was close to reaching it, but one angry yell from Aisha caught his attention as he looked up and saw her descending towards him as she was about to pounce on him. He dodged her attempt as she extended her claws and lashed at him, he avoided her strikes as he avoided pulling out his hook swords. He blocked her attacks as he redirected each strike she threw at him.

He eventually caught her next strikes and held her by her wrists. "For a cop, you sure fight like a warrior." He told her as he avoided her kicks only to get kicked against the shin as he cried out from it.

"Three year martial arts champion, remember?" She reminded him as she swung high kicks towards him. Tai ducked from them as he saw her go for a slide kick that forced him to leap back from it and whip out his rope kunai and throw it at her. She dodge it as she smirked at him. "Nice try." She told him, but once she saw a smirk over his face, her eyes widened as Tai tugged on the rope as it pulled the kunai a different direction and flew towards her.

She panicked as she narrowly dodged it, but Tai swung the rope kunai as Aisha avoided each strike that came at her. Seeing that she was distracted, he smirked and swung it towards her as the rope caught her and wrapped around her arms and chest as well as her legs that made her yelp and fall down to the ground. Tai smirked as he walked over to her. "Three year martial arts champion you may be. But I was trained by the greatest Kung Fu masters in China." He told her as he kneeled down. "You have great skills, no doubt about it. But when you're against me? You're in over your head." He told her.

She struggled as she turned to look at him. "So what do you plan to do? Leave me here till the guards find me?" She asked him.

He looked at her as he saw how beautiful she was. But she was still dangerous when captured and when trying to attack him, he sighed as he grabbed her and helped her stand up as he untied her legs. "You don't know me that well." He told her as he pulled her to follow him. "Sly, I got the key, and we're gonna have company." He told him.

"Did you get the vault open?" Sly asked him.

"I did. It's the blueprints of Raleigh's entire operation. I sent the schematic to Bentley for analysis. He'll even wire the info directly into our binocucoms. It'll show us the locations of other vaults. How are you doing in the engine room?" He asked him.


(Engine Room)

"Ohhhh, just trying to avoid getting electrocuted." He informed him as he was climbing on a pipe while trying to avoid the whirling electric blades. "Believe me, you're lucky you didn't take this room." He told him.

"I probably am. Minus getting shot at by Aisha." Tai replied.

"Congratulations though. Now you have your own cop chasing after you." Sly said as he let out a chuckle.

"I was only doing my job, and he was lucky to be a gentleman to not leave me tied up in the Gallery." Aisha said to him as she chuckled.

Sly was amazed to hear her voice for the first time. "Wow, so that's what she sounds like." He commented.

"Just focus on getting the treasure key! We'll meet you outside!" Tai yelled through the earpiece.

Sly winced from it as he exhaled and leapt down from the pipe to a safe area away from the electric blades. He leapt to a hanging lifesaver and hooked onto it as he swung from it and leapt to a safe area. He made his way through a tunnel as he found another guard ahead and avoided his mallet as he used a fast attack dive to strike him down as the guard let out a grunt from how hard it was and collapsed as he held his stomach, groaning in pain as Sly made his way to another furnace area. But unlike the one he encountered before, this one had a laser grid. "Oh boy, just when Raleigh couldn't make things worse for me." He commented as he leapt towards the furnace doors and bounced off them to jump higher over the laser security system.

He carefully avoided them to prevent the alarm from going off, he had to pull this stunt two more times to keep the alarm from going off. Once he was in the clear, he found another guard below him as he found it as a perfect opportunity to pull a sneak attack. He leapt down as he raised his cane and struck the guard in the back of the head, knocking him out as he fell to the ground. He smirked as he made his way further into the engine room. What he saw next was a room filled with superheated magma that made the room would affect his movements.

He pulled out his binocucom to search the room, Lady Luck would definitely be on his side at this point for he found the vault behind a giant gear. He smiled as he put the binocucom away and carefully made his way across the rotating gear to avoid falling into the magma. He took out a couple guards that were in the way as he made his way to the vault. "Okay Bentley, I'm at the vault. Got the combo?" He asked him.

"Yep. I can't believe I pieced this one together. Try 2-2-7." Bentley gave him the combo for the vault as Sly put it in the right order and pulled the lever to open the door. Once opened, Sly reached in and pulled out a page from the Thievius Raccoonus. "Interesting! Old Sally Cooper's Fast Getaway Raccoon Roll! Stories claim she could move faster rolling than anyone else could on the run." Bentley informed Sly as the Cooper Thief put the page in his backpage and slipped his calling card into the vault.

"Now to get the treasure key and get out of here." Sly commented as he made his way to the top of the machinery around him. He used the machine as a makeshift elevator as he latched his can onto a lifesaver above him and swung to the top of the platform. He noticed that his only path to the treasure key was spinning too fast for him to get into. "Tai, I have a situation here. The passage to the treasure key is spinning too fast for me to get into." He informed him.

"Bentley sent me the schematic of the engine room. There should be a hook above you, connected to a crane system. Do you see it?" He asked him.

Sly looked up to see it as he saw the direction the crane was headed. "I see where you're going with it. If I use the crane to slide over to the doorway, it should stop and allow me to go through." He theorized.

"You two just come up with some crazy ideas." Aisha said through Tai's earpiece.

Sly shook his head when he heard her. "She's certainly got a lot to say, doesn't she?" He asked him.

"Believe me, I'm trying to block her out." Tai responded.

"But he's failing~!" Aisha playfully sang.

Sly ignored it as he looked to the crane. "I'll see you guys soon." He told them as he hung up and leapt to the hook and latched his cane to it. He used his momentum to get the crane moving. Turns out it was easier than he expected for it was super loose, it moved through the pipes as it knocked them out as the crane smashed into the rotating gear and forced it to stop. He jumped down from the hook and saw the passage was filled with furnaces, he exhaled knowing it would be super hot in there as he used his cane to close them all.

Once he made it through, he found himself in the middle of the chamber that held the treasure key. He smiled as he crossed over a platform and jumped over a gap that had the electric blades rotating around below him. "Time to take you out of this place." He commented as he smashed the case open and grabbed the key as he put it in his backpack. "Okay Tai, I'm on my way out. Just make sure Agent Bast is secured till I get there." He told him.

"Easier said than done." Tai replied as Sly smirked and made his way out of the engine room.


(Raleigh's Shipyard)

Back at the shipyard, Tai was waiting beside Aisha as she was sitting on the rim of a fountain in the plaza. "What is your reason for helping Cooper with this endeavor?" She asked him.

"My reasons are my own, so hush please." Tai told her.

But rather than listen to him, Aisha decided to have her fun with him. "Why is it so important for you to follow him on this journey?" She asked.

"It is a family matter, now shush." Tai said to her as he tried to keep calm.

Aisha meanwhile was getting warmer as she smirked at him. "Do you think he'll be back soon?" She asked him.

Sighing in annoyance, Tai turned towards her to answer her questions. "The reason I'm helping Sly is because we share a common enemy. I follow him because he and I are brothers of different worlds. And he should be back in three, two, one." He counted down and saw the engine room door open as Sly stepped out.

"Wow, she really doesn't know when to keep quiet, does she?" He asked as he walked over.

"Not in the slightest." Tai replied as he tossed Sly his treasure key, he caught it as he put it in his backpack. "Sly, meet Aisha Bast. My own cop that's chasing me, who for once isn't Carmelita." He said as he crossed his arms.

"I must say, it's nice to meet Carmelita's partner. But I'm surprised you came here by yourself." Sly admitted to her.

"I was sent ahead of time to try and catch you two. So I followed Tai into the Gallery, because he would be the most challenging." She explained.

"And look where that got you." Tai pointed out as he looked towards Sly. "Sly, we have two more treasure keys in this area. That tower leads to the power source of the Storm Machine. There's an entire furnace down there, and the other leads to the library. I'll take the library, you take the furnace." He suggested.

"What about her?" Sly gestured towards Aisha as she looked between them. "I mean we can't just leave her alone. She'd rat us out in an instant." He told him.

"She'll be coming with me. Better for me to keep an eye on her." Tai told him.

Aisha smirked as she made like a cat and plopped onto the ground. "Oops, I've fallen. Guess you cut off a bit of blood flow." She told him.

But Tai wasn't buying it as he walked to her and picked her up. "You're fine." He told her as he walked off with her. "Cause any more trouble, and you will lose blood flow." He warned her as he walked with her, while Sly smirked as he made his way to get to the furnace.


(The Furnace)

Sly made his way down as he made it into the furnace and looked around. "Tai wasn't kidding about this place being a furnace." He commented.

"Sure didn't. Temperature's reading way off the charts in here. This definitely must be the power source for the storm machine like Tai suggested. Not to mention the safe is close by, but it will take me time to find the code for it. Get the treasure key first, then make your way back to the vault." Bentley suggested as Sly nodded as he made his way through the hall. But before he could move past a furnace, he saw the doors open as fires spewed towards him that made him panic and jump back before the flames could touch him.

He panted heavily from how hot the flames were and saw the tip of his tail burning. He grabbed it and tried to put the fire out to keep his fur from burning. He exhaled as he looked up towards the ceiling. "Next time, I'll pick the objective Tai." He said as he saw the furnace close and he quickly ran past it before it opened again. A guard noticed him as he yelled in an attempt to crush him, only to get knocked in the knee as he let out a grunt as Sly smacked him a few times in the face.

The guard felt it as he groaned and fell down to the ground as Sly leapt over him and ran to a passage filled with furnace doors. He quickly closed them to keep himself from getting burned again as he looked to see an entire room around him. It was definitely the power source for the storm machine, otherwise Raleigh would have relied on an alternative power source. A guard with a welding torch was working on fixing a wheel and finished as he lifted his protective mask. "That oughta do it." He said while he was unaware of Sly's presence, the raccoon snuck up on him and swung his cane as it landed right against his groin. The guard cried out in pain as he collapsed and held his dingleberries, possibly what was left of them as Sly jumped onto the wheel and forced it to rotate, making the hooks along the chain move. He leapt quickly as he caught one of the hooks and held on as it brought him to another platform. He jumped down and looked around, seeing the passage was above the conveyor.

He turned to a pipe that coiled around a stable furnace and grabbed onto it as he climbed up to get a higher advantage point. Once at the top, Sly made his way across a platform and leapt on top of the conveyor to reach the other level which was a furnace filled passage. He closed them up so he could move to the next room, only to find two guards waiting as one went to smash him with his mallet. Sly quickly dodged it as one with a welding torch blew fire towards him.

He dodged it as the fire mostly burnt the guard's partner as he screamed from it. Sly took the chance to strike the welder in his stomach and bash his can against skull to knock him out. Once both guards had been subdued, he worked his way to the next room where a third welder was waiting. "Be careful here Sly. The only way to go further is to bring that huge fireball to you. But that wheel is constantly guarded by a searchlight." Bentley informed him.

"Yeah, I'll try to be careful. Just wish I had a kunai or a shuriken from Tai. That way I can disable the alarm system from here. But… it's gonna have to be the hard way." He commented as he jumped onto the wheel and started pushing it as the fireball on the giant conveyor belt started moving towards them. It was then he noticed the light getting close as he quickly leapt up and landed on top of the machine as the light shined on the wheel he was on. He waited for the light to move away, and once it did, he hopped down and pushed the wheel as fast as he could to get the fireball closer. He moved as quickly as he could till the light started coming back towards him.

He quickly got off the wheel as the fireball crashed against the glass frame and destroyed it, giving Sly a path across the conveyor belts. He ran inside and made his way to the treasure key while trying to avoid the searchlights. Once he reached the alarm system, he quickly smashed it to power down the security in the furnace. He smiled as he looked towards the key and smashed the glass case open and took the key. "Nice work, Sly. Now I managed to crack the code to the vault. Get to it and I'll relay the code to you." Bentley told him.

"On my way, buddy." Sly replied as he made his way back to get to the vault. That even meant having to go back through the furnaces that he went through before. Once he was finished with that ordeal, he approached the vault as he dusted himself off of singed fur and soot. "Okay Bentley… I'm here at the vault, give me the code." He told him.

"Like the last few codes, I'm unbeatable! No code can stand before me! It is none other than 5-7-9." Bentley gave him the code for the vault as Sly put it in to unlock the vault. He pulled the lever down as the door opened to reveal another page. "Outstanding! Another page from the Thievius Raccoonus! This one features Dev Cooperinda's Slow Motion Jumps. He used this to get by all kinds of airborne threats. Much like the guards with the throwing stars." He explained as Sly put the page in his backpack while stashing his calling card into the vault.

"Alright, time to check in on Tai." Sly suggested as he contacted him. "Tai, how's it coming with you and our sweet little officer?" He asked him.

"Some rats got pegged by boobytraps. Raleigh didn't want anyone going through his archives, Aisha of course is trying to get away." Tai informed him.

Sly let out a chuckle as he made his way out. "She's that much of a handful huh?" He asked him.


(Library)

"More than you can imagine. I've had my share of persistent women, but she's taking the number one spot from Tanya." Tai informed him as Aisha stuck her tongue out at him.

"Should have let me keep an eye on her." Sly recommended, even though he was too little too late to even suggest it.

"Sorry Sly, but you have a habit of letting Carmelita distract you. Aisha would have been twice more distracting." Tai told him as he looked at her, seeing she was mocking him. "Did you get the page from the vault?" He asked him.

"I did, it's Dev Cooperinda's Slow Motion Jump technique. I'll explain later, any luck on your end?" Sly asked him.

"Nothing yet." Aisha answered for Tai as her face was up against his.

Tai scowled and pushed her away. "We've had a few snags along the way, the boobytraps were more dangerous than we thought. So we had to use a barrel as a shield. Bentley seemed to think it was unsanitary." He informed him.

"That's Bentley for ya. Also, I get to choose the next objective." Sly informed him.

"Whatever you say, Sly." Tai hung up and looked towards Aisha. "Are you gonna cooperate, or am I gonna tie you up somewhere?" He asked her.

"Aww, you wouldn't do that to little ol' me, would you?" She asked him as she swayed her hips a bit.

Tai let out an exhale and quickly lost all anger. "Look… Sly and I may be criminals. But we also find a way to help law enforcement. You may find that hard to believe, but it's the truth." He told her as he untied her as his rope kunai fell to her feet. She was surprised by it as she stepped back as Tai brought the kunai back to him as he put it away. "If you want to take me in, go ahead. But I will not rest till Raleigh is behind bars first." He told her as he walked across the chandeliers.

Seeing him go, Aisha looked around the library as she placed her hands on her hips. "I have to admit, for someone who wrecks ships, he knows how to keep his library clean." She commented.

"Gentlemen type criminals are like that. But he might have disposed of a book or two while living here." Tai pointed out as he examined a shelf, finding that a book was missing. "Whatever Raleigh got rid of, must have not been to his liking." He suggested.

"Are you a secret bookworm or something?" Aisha asked him with a smirk.

Tai let out a chuckle as he looked towards her. "Nah, that's more like Bentley. Though I do like to read, I would prefer something with mystery." He told her.

This certainly piqued Aisha's interest in him as she walked over to him. "You're a whole mystery yourself. A tiger who was trained by the greatest Kung Fu masters in China, yet you chose to use those skills for ninjutsu. I find it pretty curious." She told him as she got behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her breasts against his back as he blushed from it. "What's your secret?" She asked him.

Feeling her tease him this way, Tai was red to the point he could barely tolerate it. He sighed as he closed his eyes and got out of her arms and looked at her. "After I mastered the techniques I learned in China, I journeyed to Japan. Learning that more tigers ventured there to get away from China. It was there I learned from Master Kuai. he taught me how to be a noble warrior, to not let anger consume me." He explained as Aisha looked at him curiously. "Ever since I lost my parents… I've felt this anger, this rage inside me. I wanted to find the one who gave me this." He gestured to the scar over his right eye.

Aisha looked at it as she walked up to him and reached up to it, but Tai caught her wrist to stop her. She was surprised but looked at him. "Calm down… I just want to look." She told him as he looked at her, soon releasing her wrist as he closed his eyes. Aisha see's it and softly exhales as she reaches up to his face and touches where the scar was. She could feel the pain and the anger that made it. "I've seen my fair share of injuries, but this…" She gently caressed it as Tai could feel how gentle she was with it. "This tells the tale of revenge. The anger you've suppressed for all these years." She said as she leaned up to him and kissed his cheek where the scar was.

Tai's face turned red when he snapped his eyes open and he backed away from her. "Hey! That was not called for! I didn't need that!" He exclaimed.

But Aisha giggled at him as she held her arms behind her back as she saw how embarrassed he was from her kissing him. "Can't run away now, I marked my territory. So you're all mine, baby." She said as she stuck her tongue out.

Tai gave her a look knowing he fell for the biggest trick in his life. "Aisha, you have issues." He told her.

"Born in India, but raised in America. So I'm like a rebellious teen." Aisha told him as she stepped back. "Also, I think you missed this." She told him as she pushed a shelf as it slid across the floor and revealed the vault behind it.

Tai was surprised that he didn't even realize that as he scowled at her. "If you weren't a woman, I would smack you upside the head." He told her as he walked over to it. "Bentley, got the vault here. Think you can give me the code?" He asked him.

"With the help of a straight edge and compass the answer was simple. Dial in 2-4-2." He told him as Tai nodded his head and dialed in the code for the vault. Once it was dialed in, Tai pulled the lever as the door to the vault opened to reveal what's inside. "Interesting, Sly might like this. Chris Cooper's Dive Collection technique. This move is an extension of the Dive Move he already knows. It is made for fast breaking, and fast collecting action." Bentley informed him as Tai put the page somewhere safe and left Sly's calling card.

"All that's left now is the key." Tai stated as he stood up. "But then there's you, Aisha." He said as he turned towards her, seeing she had a secondary pistol on hand that he wasn't aware of. "Are we really going to have this dance again?" He asked her.

"Orders are orders. And I suggest you do as I say." She advised him as she aimed her pistol at him. "I don't want to do this, but you will force my hand." She warned him.

Tai looked at her but noticed her hand shaking, he knew she didn't have it in her to take a life. He looked her in her eyes as he was calm about the situation. "Then go ahead… shoot me." He told her as he walked towards her.

Aisha couldn't believe what he was doing, she stood her ground as she tried to stop herself from shaking. "Tai, don't be stupid, I will shoot you!" She warned him as she saw him get closer. She became more nervous as she tried to hold her hands steady, but she couldn't. She closed her eyes hoping he would stop. But to her surprise, he touched her hands as she opened her eyes and saw it. His touch was gentle as he helped her calm down by lowering the gun.

"Hesitation will get you killed. You're still a good fighter, but to take a life is not in your nature." He told her as he walked past her as he dashed past two boobytraps and sliced them to pieces. Aisha saw it as she was amazed by his skill, he stood up and put his hook swords away and opened the case that held the treasure key and took it. He turned to her, seeing she was still stunned. "You can follow if you want… or you can stay and report to Carmelita. It's your choice." He told her as he walked away with the key. Aisha watched him go, she looked down to her pistol as she wondered about her life choices in career. She shook her head trying to brush off these feelings and put her pistol away as she followed after him.


(Raleigh's Shipyard)

Back at the Shipyard, Tai and Aisha leapt down from the rooftop as they found Sly waiting by the power generator as he held up his arms. "What took you guys?" He asked them.

"We had to handle a little debate." Tai explained as he tossed him his key. "The boobytraps Raleigh left were effective though." He commented.

"The rats weren't so lucky." Aisha informed him as she walked up to the generator. "To think this was used as a tool for wrong doing. It could have powered a city for a whole year." She said as she crossed her arms. "But now, it has to go." She declared.

Sly nodded and looked at Tai. "I guess she's working with us now?" He asked him.

"Not what I had in mind, but it is what it is. Now please, the keys?" He asked for them as Sly pulled out three of them and used them to unlock the cage around the generator. Once it lowered, Tai took his hook swords and sliced the generator as it fell apart and the electric current in the power tube disappeared.

"That did it. See you two on the other side." Sly told them as he entered the tube and proceeded through it.

Tai watched him go and looked towards Aisha and stepped back and gestured to the tube. "Ladies first." He said to her with a small smile.

"What a gentleman." She replied with a smirk and headed into the tube as he followed.

Sly waited for them on the other side as Tai and Aisha stepped through to see what was on the other side."Cue Bentley in three, two, one." He counted down as he whipped out his binocucom and saw him on screen.

"Astonishing! All my calculations led me to believe you guys would fail to knock out that generator!" Bentley exclaimed in the earpieces.

"Never was good at math." Sly admitted as Tai elbowed him.

"Well, here's a real test for you… I've found a way up to Raleigh's hideout, but unfortunately, it is doomed to failure." Bentley informed him.

"You're not gonna tell us that we have to shoot ourselves out of that cannon, are you?" Tai asked him as Aisha looked at them shocked.

"I'm afraid that's the only way." Bentley regretted even mentioning it.

"Now you're talking!" Sly said with confidence.

"You're really scaring me, man." Bentley replied. "Anyway, to get inside that thing, you have to steal all 7 of Raleigh's treasure keys." He told them.

"So what are we waiting for? You show us those holographic markers, and we'll swipe whatever it takes to get shot out of that cannon." Tai told him.

"And steal back my family's Thievius Raccoonus." Sly declared as he put his binocucom away. "Since we agreed that I would choose the next objective, I'm going the low road while you two take the highroad." He told them.

"Oh, right, you get the easy gig while we get the tough stuff." Aisha commented as she flipped her hair. "That's either very noble, or very childish." She stated.

Meanwhile Sly was starting to fume as he turned towards Tai. "Tai, is there any chance you can get her to shut up?" He asked him.

"I tried." Tai replied and held up his arm showing bite marks. "But she bites." He told him as Aisha grinned.

She eventually approached Sly and poked her finger against his chest. "Let's also get one thing straight, Cooper. This partnership is only temporary. I still have a job to do, and Raleigh is a bigger threat to ships and their crew and passengers. So don't think that I won't arrest you when this is over." She warned him as she walked off.

Sly watched her go as he was stunned by her demeanor and looked towards Tai, who shrugged his shoulders as Sly let out an exhale. "I'm not the only one who knows how to pick them." He commented as Tai followed after Aisha, who just subdued a squid flashlight guard.

Tai walked up to her as he touched her shoulder. "You sure you want to go down this path? It won't get easier." He advised her.

"I appreciate the concern, but I'll decide what is right." She told him as she headed inside. Tai smiled a bit as he looked out and saw Sly getting into the minisub and diving down into the water. He turned to the doorway and followed Aisha into the building.


(Gunboat Graveyard)

As they entered the facility, they found it was an entire graveyard of ships and planes. Never before had they seen so many, much to Aisha's anger as she narrowed her eyes. "One of the good things about my job is that I'm going to enjoy pummeling Raleigh for all the lives he's taken in these wrecks." She declared.

It was then that the speakers let out a high pitch sound to catch their attention. "Speak of the devil." Tai commented as he and Aisha proceeded into the graveyard.

"Ahoy, dock hands! Capital job unloading that cargo last night. You're the crown jewel of my operation. Do me the service of proving your work yet again by protecting the treasure key i have stored down there. It appears there's a prowler on the premises. And if any of you let him get his hands on that key, I'll personally flog the lot of you for an entire fortnight!" He warned them as he hung up.

"And I thought Director Barkley and Carmelita were harsh." Aisha commented.

"He has no idea that there are two thieves and one cop." Tai told her as they proceeded into the graveyard. A guard with throwing stars noticed them and threw one at them. Aisha took her pistol and shot the star out of the air as Tai threw his rope kunai and snared him by his neck as he pulled him down hard and slammed his head against the ground.

Aisha walked over to him as she pulled out a taser and stunned the guard to keep him knocked out. "I'm almost surprised I didn't use this on you." She told Tai as she looked at him.

"If you do, I will get even." He told her as he jumped amongst the broken debris that floated into the water till he and Aisha reached what remained of a pirate ship that was here long before any other ship. Aisha looked around and looked up to the plain above them as searchlights moved over it.

"Raleigh sure went all out on the security here." She commented as she whipped out her pistol and aimed at where the alarm system was, she shot it as the bullet punched through it and forced the lights to shut off. "That should keep security off our backs." She commented as she grabbed onto the rope ladder and started climbing up to the crows nest.

Tai climbed after her as he looked at her curiously. "I've been needing to ask, but why did you become a cop?" He asked her.

She thought about it for a moment as she climbed down into the crows nest and grabbed a rope that led up to the plane. "Well, my mom was a cop while my dad was an industrial worker. He died on the job, and my mom is still running her own office in the states." She told him.

"Director Bast… heh, that has a pretty nice ring to it." Tai commented.

"Well you're the first, but most of everyone in the precinct wasn't so fond of her for how strict she was." Aisha told him as she climbed up the rope to reach the plane. "It hasn't been easy for mom ever since dad died. But I know she means well." She said as she reached the wing of the plane and jumped onto it.

Tai saw it as he backed up in the crows nest and crouched down as he leapt to the mast and bounced off it as he landed beside her. "Believe me, when it comes to strict teachers, I had one who had a daughter who was just like you." He told her.

Surprised to hear it, Aisha gave him a look as she crossed her arms. "She didn't mark you before I could, did she?" She asked him.

"Whoa, hold on! It wasn't like that. It was during my training with the Leopard Master in China where I learned the ways of his kind. His daughter Lotus was chosen to test my skills. That's all it was." He assured her.

"That better have only been a test. Otherwise you will answer to me, buster." She warned him as she walked off. Let exhaled, knowing that she was serious as he followed her. They approached a glass container that was filled with water as Aisha looked inside to see what was inside. Till out of nowhere, a floating eyeball swam up to her that caused her to shriek and back away.

Tai saw it as he let out a chuckle and touched her shoulder. "Relax, it's just an eye." He told her as he examined it. "That… has the body of a jellyfish." He said as he was starting to get grossed out.

"I hate this place already, let's just get around this thing and get out of here with that treasure key." Aisha told him as she started shimmying around the container. Tai never imagined she would be this squeamish, but he let out a small chuckle and followed her as the eye creature kept watching them.

Once they made it to a stable platform, They carefully made their way across as they looked around the area and spotted a guard ahead of them, while two flashlight guards were down below near a submarine. "Even Captain Nemo would've had trouble with these guys." Tai commented.

"But it's not impossible to subdue them. You can take the guard that's up here, while I take down the ones down below." Aisha told him as she grabbed a rope and swung down. Tai would have stopped her, but she was already way ahead of him as he sighed knowing she would be a handful if they were in a relationship. He looked towards the guard with the throwing stars and narrowed his eyes as he pulled out his hook swords and twirled them as he started walking towards him.

The guard noticed it as he narrowed his eyes as he and Tai stood their ground against each other. Keeping steady grips over their weapons, they waited for who would strike first. Tai narrowed his eyes as he gripped his hook swords tightly while the guard chucked a throwing star at him. He sliced through it as he dashed towards the guard who threw a few more throwing stars at him. Tai sliced through each of them as he leapt over the guard and snagged him by his jacket with his blades. The guard's eyes widened as Tai pulled him over and threw him down to the water, causing a big splash as the flashlight guards checked over the side of the submarine to see what it was.

But unaware to their knowledge, Aisha snuck up on them as she tased one of the guards and threw a high kick against the other across his face. Meanwhile the guard Tai took down resurfaced as Aisha saw he was about to sound the alarm. She grabbed a pipe and threw it as it hit him against his head, knocking him out as he floated in the water. "Shhh." She shushed him as she saw Tai land near her. "Nice work with him." She told him.

"I was sure he was out cold from the impact." He replied.

Aisha smirked as she playfully nudged him. "You weren't too bad… for a criminal." She told him as she walked ahead while stroking her tail under his chin. He rolled his eyes from it, knowing she will never stop flirting with him. They made their way across a trail of debris to get to a half sunken ship, where another guard was waiting for them as they reached the ship. The guard yelled as he went to belly flop on top of them.

Tai quickly used one of his hook swords to snag Aisha by her collar and pulled her back as the fat walrus slammed on the ground and bounced back up. He chuckled as he stood firm. "Neither of you are getting that treasure key. Not while I'm guarding it!" He declared, but Tai smirked as he pulled out his other hook sword and twirled them both in his hands. He slashed at the guard with quick precision, so fast it would feel like a millisecond. Before anyone knew it, the guard's clothes fell apart as he was down to wearing nothing but underwear with hearts on them.

He yelped as he covered himself, while Tai put his hook swords away and smirked. "Now beat it." He told him as the guard ran off and jumped into the water.

Aisha couldn't help but laugh from watching how embarrassed the guard was, even in front of her. Sometimes for most men, it's never a good look. "Ohh my god, his mama must be so proud of him." She commented while trying to hold in her laughter.

"With underwear like that, I can only imagine." Tai replied to her as he noticed the vault up ahead and leapt to it. Once he landed next to it, he walked up and kneeled to it. "Alright Bentley, hit me with the code." He told him.

"This one was cake. Input 7-1-9." Bentley gave him the code as Tai put it in and pulled the lever. The door opened up and revealed the next page they needed for Sly's book. "Oh sly is gonna be so lucky! This page features Karin Coopergiwa's Coin Magnet technique. All she had to do was stand near money, or anyone carrying it, and it would magically jump into her purse. From now on, you and Sly will automatically collect any nearby coins." Bentley informed him.

"Great, me walking around collecting chump change. Lovely." He commented as he put the page away.

"Hey, sometimes money is money." Aisha told him as she twirled the treasure key around her finger. Tai saw it as he gave her a look and held out his hand, gesturing to her to hand over the key. She smiled and tossed it to him as he caught it. She eventually leapt down and looked at the tiger ninja. "You know, I've been thinking. There could be another way we can spend more time together. Like maybe working together? Opposite sides of the law joining forces?" She suggested.

"As appealing as that sounds. I don't think Carmelita would like the idea." Tai replied.

"Sure, but would it really hurt for two sides of the law to try and work together?" She asked him while wrapping her arms around his neck.

He could once again feel her leg rubbing against him, not that he minded. But the thought of law enforcement and criminals working together? That is a lot to process, even on both sides of the law. "Well, we do seem to work well together, but an idea such as this needs to be approved. So talking to Carmelita will have to be your top priority." He told her.

"That's true, but when the time is right." Aisha told him.

Tai nodded as he tried to hide some pain that he was feeling. "Also, you're standing on my tail. Off, off, off, off!" He pleaded as Aisha gasped and pulled away from him.

She panicked as she saw Tai fixing his tail. "Sorry, sorry. It was an accident." She told him.

"No, I should have paid attention. Therefore, I'm the one at fault." He assured her as he exhaled and fixed the fur on his tail. "Now that I have the key, Sly should be finished with his section. Then it's onto Raleigh." He narrowed down the scenario.

"My unit is probably getting close to arriving, Carmelita will likely want a full report of what has transpired by now." Aisha informed him.

"Tell her what you can, but leave our little… expedition a secret until then." Tai advised her as he took her hand and gently caressed it. "I promise, we'll find a way to convince her about our partnership." He told her as he pulled up her hand and kissed it. She blushed from it as he smiled at her and walked off with the key, till he noticed something and smirked reaching back. "One more thing Aisha." He pulled off the new tracker she planted on him and held it up. "That trick worked on me once, I'm not falling for it again." He told her as he tossed it to her and walked off.

She caught it and watched him go as she held it in her hand and smirked. "It was worth a shot." She said as she touched her hand where he kissed it, feeling her heart skip a beat as she looked at him. She soon smiled as she fixed her hair a bit and looked out, seeing siren lights in the distance. "I better hurry." She told herself as she ran off.


(Raleigh's Shipyard)

Back at the Shipyard, Tai walked to the cannon to wait for Sly as he looked out seeing siren lights. "Just in time." He commented as he contacted Sly. "Sly, cops just arrived. Are you almost done with your objective?" He asked only to see Sly land next to him.

"Just finished, and those crabs were intense." He told him as he held up his key. "Got my key though." He told him as he noticed Aisha wasn't with them. "Hey, where's Aisha?" He asked him.

"She had to leave to report to Carmelita. She's going to leave our little partnership a secret, she even suggested a fulltime partnership between the Cooper Gang and her and Carmelita." He informed him of what Aisha offered.

"Huh, a partnership between opposite sides of the law. I can see that working." Sly said with a smile. "After all, I always wanted to work alongside Carmelita." He admitted.

"Yet you can't work up the guts to ask her out." Tai said with a smirk, earning a smack from his partner as he chuckled.

"Not funny, wise guy." Sly told him as he took the key from him and put each key in the locks that held the cannon locked up. "So, are you ready to face Raleigh?" He asked him.

"Ready when you are. Also, you're the one getting fired out of that thing. I'll grab onto your cane when you get launched out." Tai told him as he leapt onto the barrel of the cannon while Sly leapt inside. Tai felt the cannon rotating and aimed the turret towards the Storm Machine.

The cannon launched Sly out of the barrel as he grabbed onto Tai's hook sword with his cane and carried him towards the Storm Machine. The two went barrelling towards the window and broke through the glass as they landed on a floating platform that was surrounded by a few others with a tower in the middle. Ahead of them was none other than Raleigh, sitting on his throne like a king as he quickly noticed the duo standing before him. "How delightful. We have guests. The only thing is… I HATE UNEXPECTED GUESTS!" He exclaimed.

Sly knew that he and Tai managed to get him well steamed up as he pointed his cane at him. "Listen Raleigh. Wipe out my family and steal what's mine, you better expect company." He told him with much hatred towards him.

"Ohhhhhh, I'm ever so sorry." He said with a hint of sarcasm. "How sloppy of me not to finish the job. Obviously we should have snuffed you out as well. But Mz Ruby and the Panda King got squeamish." He informed them.

"Nice to know there are lines even most of your allies won't cross." Tai said to him while keeping his eyes narrowed at him.

"Indeed. Our benefactor even told us about you, Tai Liang. Your family being well renowned as the greatest martial artists that ever lived, it's no wonder he feared you the most." Raleigh replied to him while Tai growled at him. "Well, it won't matter for much longer. So, without further ado. Let me make amends by, what… BLOATING TO GARGANTUAN SIZE, AND SQUASHING YOU BOTH LIKE THE INSIGNIFICANT BUGS THAT YOU ARE!" He exclaimed.

"Bring it on." Sly said to him as he and Tai prepared for combat. Raleigh glared at them as his tongue reached out and caught a bee and pulled it into his mouth, causing him to bloat up and grow into a bigger frog. He was even able to hop from his throne and bounce off a floating platform and land on the tower till he leapt towards them and went to crush them.

The duo avoided it as Sly took his cane and swung it at him, only to feel it bounce off of Raleigh's belly as the oversized frog let out a chuckle. "Your little cane won't be able to hurt me, Cooper!" He told him as he hopped into the air and attempted to crush him, Sly rolled away from him as he landed while Tai charged towards him as he leapt over him and landed on top of his hat, infuriating the bloated frog as he struggled. "You blasted feline! Get off of me!" He exclaimed.

"Whatever you say, Raleigh." He replied as he flipped forward while forcing Raleigh to fall back as he was forced to exhale, or in a more disgusting term, burp out the gasses that helped him bloat up. Raleigh panicked as Sly charged at him and swung his can, smacking him over the face as Raleigh yelped from it and fell into the water. The frog however managed to jump up to the tower as he landed at the top.

"AGH! You miserable little rodent! I'm going to enjoy crushing you where you stand!" He exclaimed as he pressed a button, making the other platforms sink below the water's surface. "Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide! Time to die!" He exclaimed as he shot his tongue and snatched a bee and ate it, causing him to bloat up and jump towards them to crush them.

They avoided his massive bulk as Raleigh went to crush Sly with his massive belly, causing the Raccoon to roll away from him as Tai charged towards him and kicked at his belly a few times to try and get him to belch. But Raleigh chuckled from it as he went to smack him with his tongue, Tai flipped over it as he landed a roundhouse kick against his face and punched him a few times while Sly leapt above him and struck his cane against his hat. This caused it to vibrate and shake over Raleigh's head as he shook uncontrollably from it.

Tai took the chance to thrust a hard kick against his torso, forcing him to expel the gasses in his belly as Raleigh shrank back to his natural size while Tai unleashed a barrage of strikes against him and flipped backwards as he landed a strong kick against his jaw. He managed to knock a few gold teeth out in the process as Raleigh yelped from it and fell into the water. He swam for the tower and jumped up to it and checked his teeth. "YOU MISERABLE JUNGLE CAT! YOU KNOCKED OUT MY GOLD TEETH!" He exclaimed.

"I'd like to think I made an improvement, given how crooked they looked." Tai commented as he and Sly fistbumped each other. But Raleigh fumed with anger as the platforms raised back up and he shot his tongue catching another bee as he ate it and bloated up. He leapt at them and landed on the platform, but as he landed the lights started flashing that made Tai's eyes widen. "Sly, move!" He yelled as he leapt to the other platform and Sly went the other way as Raleigh chased after Tai.

"Get back here tiger boy!" He exclaimed as he landed on the platform as the other sank behind him, he chased after Tai as he caused each platform he landed on to submerge. Tai kept his distance knowing that all that bouncing will force Raleigh to expel the gasses in the process. He had to keep it up for as long as possible, but also needed to avoid falling into the water in the process. Once Raleigh landed on the next platform, he immediately shrunk as Sly charged towards him and snagged his leg with his cane and pulled him up.

While Tai charged over and kicked him a few times in the face and knocked him into the air as Sly pulled him down hard and threw him out into the water. Though he had lost a few more teeth and got a few broken bones in the process, Raleigh refused to stay down as he swam to the tower and leapt to it. "Still got some fight left in you? You should consider giving up before we knock out your last remaining teeth." Tai advised him.

"A noble sentiment, but this is MY DOMAIN! AND YOUR WORDS MEAN LITTLE TO ME!" Raleigh exclaimed as he shot his tongue out and caught another bee as he ate it and bloated up. "I am the captain of this ship, and if anyone is going down with it, IT'S YOU!" He yelled as he leapt towards them and landed on the platform, causing the two heroes to lose their balance as Raleigh shot out his tongue and spun around to try and smack them off of the platform. They avoided his attacks to avoid getting knocked into the water.

Tai had just about enough of this frog as he used his rope kunai to snare it on the next swing and pierce it to the platform as Raleigh gagged from it and tried to pull his tongue back. But the rope was so tight around his tongue, he couldn't get it loose as he shrunk down to his natural size. Sly walked over to him as he held up his cane. "I was only a little kid when you attacked my father with the other members of the Fiendish Five. But now I'm old enough to do this!" He yelled as he smacked him around with his cane a few times as he held the cane back and swung it in a golf-like motion and smacked it against his jaw, knocking his remaining teeth out as Raleigh screamed from it.

Tai released his rope from around his tongue and wiped it off to clean the saliva off as Raleigh fell into the water. He groaned as he reached up to the platform and climbed up as he was wheezing from the pain he was feeling. "BLAST IT ALL! You've beaten me!" He cried out as he was panting harshly and looked at them. "Well, gloat all you want, you two. Neither of you are a match for Muggshot, my villainous cohort in Utah. You will see, Mesa City is so well-guarded, a snake couldn't slither in without setting off alarms!" He warned them only to get knocked out by Tai as he gave him a good kick to the head.

"Like we're worried about that." He told him and looked towards Sly. "Now, let's see what section he has of the Thievius Raccoonus." He told him as Sly nodded and walked to the vault, once unlocking it, Sly found an interesting discovery as he looked at the pages. Knowing that he and Tai would like the particular ancestor within it.

"Raleigh's section of the Thievius Raccoonus held detailed instructions on how to perform my ancestor Rioichi Cooper's Ninja Spire Jump, a technique he developed while sneaking into the thickly fortified castles of Feudal Japan.

Finding a way off Raleigh's boat got a little tricky with the untimely arrival of Inspector Fox., who, failing to find me, busted Raleigh and his crew. Aisha even had to lie to her partner about failing to catch me and Tai in the process of her pursuit. But Carmelita knew that there will always be a next time for every encounter. Sadly however, Aisha hesitated about mentioning the partnership she made for Tai. Who knows how Carmelita would've reacted?

With the storm machine out of commission, boats found their way back onto the ocean, and the mystery of the Welsh Triangle faded from memory. My gang and I loped around England for a while, enjoying the pleasant weather, and then headed back home, excited for a new safehouse, and for our next heist."


(Paris, France - Trainyard)

After returning to Paris a few days later, the Cooper Gang was within the old trainyard looking at their new safehouse. Murray walked to their new home and forced the garage door open as they looked around inside. "WOW! Look at this place guys! It's bigger than our last safehouse!" He exclaimed.

"It is much roomier, but just look at all the cobwebs!" Bentley exclaimed as he rubbed his finger across the dust on a table and rubbed it between his fingers. "Who even suggested this place anyway?" He asked.

"A… reliable source." Tai informed him.

Suddenly a throat clearing was heard as Everyone turned around to find Aisha standing in the doorway. "And that source was me." She informed them as Murray shrieked and backed away. "Relax big guy, I'm not here to arrest you." She told him.

"If you're not, then why come here?" Sly asked her.

"I wanted to see how you guys liked your new place of stay. Afterall, what kind of an inside source would I be if I didn't suggest a partnership?" She asked them.

"An excellent point, Miss Bast. But why?" Bentley asked her.

Aisha walked towards a table and sat on top of it. "Let's just say Barkley is really gunning it for you guys this time. Ever since Raleigh was busted, he took out all his frustrations towards me and Carmelita for not catching you guys." She informed them.

"It's not our fault the police arrive a few minutes late." Tai told her.

"That's what Carmelita and I tried to tell him, but he's one windbag that really knows how to push it. Gives me a good reason to dig up some dirt on him to find out how he became Director in the first place." She suggested.

"We appreciate the help, but have you talked to Carmelita about our little… partnership…?" Sly asked her.

"Unfortunately, no. Knowing her, she'd pop a blood vessel rather than team up with you guys." Aisha replied.

"That's understandable. But if you give her a reason as to why we should work alongside each other, it would make her change her mind. Well… in theory that is." Bentley suggested.

Aisha let out a sigh as she crossed her legs together, earning the attention of Sly and Tai as they stared at them for how silky smooth they are. "Easier said than done, Bentley. But I'll need time to come up with a good explanation before I can tell her." She told him as she smiled and looked towards Tai, which he and Sly looked away trying to hide the fact they were staring at her legs. "But it would be interesting to get to work with you guys. Even as a Behavioral Analyst." She told them.

"Well it'll be nice to have you on board with us. Part-time anyway." Sly told her.

"Likewise. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this place. You guys did good busting Raleigh, and you might prove yourselves again by busting the rest of the Fiendish Five." She told them and looked towards Tai with a grin. "If you're not too busy, maybe we can head out to town and have a little bit of dinner? The Royale? My treat." She offered as Sly and Bentley slowly turned towards Tai with devious smirks.

Tai noticed it as he sighed but let out a chuckle. "I'll think about it. But, business before pleasure." He told her as he pulled out an earpiece communicator for her. "You'll need this if we are going to keep in contact." He told her.

She smiled as she took the earpiece and put it in her ear. "Interesting way of accepting a date." She said as she teased him with her tail. "I'll contact you during your next heist. Have fun tiger." She told him as she swayed her hips on her way out.

Tai watched her go as he smirked, while earning scowls from Sly and Bentley. "And here we thought Sly had a strange taste in women." Bentley commented.

"But can we trust her?" Murray asked them.

"Don't worry. Aisha, like Carmelita, is an honest cop. But she needs to watch herself inside the office. Because there are dirty cops that are working for a higher power." Tai told them.

Sly nodded his head in agreement as he walked up to him. "I hope she's as honest as you make her out to be. 'Cause she's going to be a real keeper." He told him as he snickered and ran off as Tai tried to smack him.

He chased after him to hurt him as Bentley let out a sigh while rubbing his eyes. "Well, we might as well get this place cleaned up. Gotta make it good for our time here." He said to Murray.

"I'll get the broom." He replied as he walked to the van to get it.

Aisha could hear the commotion from outside, she smiled as she looked out to the night sky. "Ohh, this is going to be fun." She said with a sultry tone and walked out of the trainyard to head back to the police station, waiting for when they prepare for the next heist.


(Author Notes: Hey guys, Leonidas1994 here. Here is the next chapter of my Sly Cooper: Code of Thieves story. Believe me, I want to make it interesting, and try to at least make it different from the game. But it's harder than it looks. Anyways, I thought a partnership between the Cooper Gang and Interpol would be interesting, especially when she has a crush on Tai. And yeah, I wanted the fight between the Sly, Tai and Raleigh to be freaking brutal. Because someone needs to knock his golden teeth out of his mouth, make him lose his golden grin. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.)


Voice Choices For my OC's

John DiMaggio (T'ia Fu Wrath of the Tiger) - Tai Liang

AJ Michalka (She Ra and the Princesses of Power) - Aisha Bast