It was a quiet night in Paris as two figures cloaked in shadows ran across the rooftops before arriving in front of the police district.
"Sly, come in! Do you read me?! SLLLLLLY!"
"Yeah. I read you. Loud and... very loud." Sly winced.
"I could hear you from here..." another voice cut in.
"Sorry, I'm a little nervous. Trying to break into Police Headquarters does that."
"Get over it, Bentley. You're safe in the van. I'm the thief here. I've got to steal that file from Inspector Carmelita Fox." Sly said.
"Hey, I'm helping!" Izuku pouted.
"Of which I still have mixed feelings but appreciate," Sly said, patting the boy on the head, making him giggle.
Sly's points rang true; even before he, Bentley, and Murray decided to do this job, Izuku had developed a knack of getting himself in trouble. Being only 6, this was to be expected, but the kid also had a knack for learning tricks quickly and picking up on little things Bentley overlooked.
"Well count on me to be your eyes and ears, you guys. Got their security system totally scoped. To get inside, you're both gonna have to go through that air vent."
Sly and Izuku looked towards the air vent in question and nodded their heads.
"Alright, we're going in!"
"And don't forget you've got me at the wheel, you guys! All you guys gotta do is grab the file and get back to the van! We'll do the rest!"Murray chimed in.
"Just keep that engine running, Murray. We'll be down in no time." Sly smiled as he motioned Izuku to follow him. "Come on little buddy."
The father-son duo moved stealthily across and to the air vent, crawling through and into the police station, narrowly dodging the security lasers before breaking the alarm system and sneaking through the hallways to find the room they were looking for.
"Nice job. You're in. Inspector Carmelita Fox's office is behind the red door."Bentley said.
Izuku moved to open the door but the knob wouldn't budge no matter how much he turned it in his little hands.
"It won't budge!"
He then decided to try something Murray had taught him: He blew on his palms, rubbed them together, shook out his wrists, took a deep breath, and pulled again, before racing back and trying to smash through the door.
All he got was shaking and vibrations
"I-i-i-i-it w-w-wo-wo-woooooo-won't b-bu-bu-budge!" He managed before Sly put a hand on his head to stop the shaking.
"That door must be super-reinforced. Maybe there's a way to get around it."
Sly looked out the open window and smirked as he picked up Izuku gently and had him cling to his back as he went outside and clung to the scaffolding before scootching across to the other open window, leading into the office.
"Way to go, Sly. This is where Inspector Carmelita Fox stashes all her important files. I hacked into the police security mainframe and discovered this vault's combo. Try dialing in 9-3-7."
"Ooh! Can I try?" Izuku asked excitedly as Sly chuckled, ruffling the little boy's hair.
"Knock yourself out, kiddo."
Izuku dialed in the numbers and allowed Sly to whack the vault wheel with his cane, causing it to open up and reveal the files.
"Nice job, you got it!"Murray cheered."If you come down through the fire escape and head through the parking lot, we'll be waiting in the getaway van."
"Let's go, little buddy," Sly said as he and Izuku prepared to leave only for a voice to stop them.
"CRIMINAL!"
Looking towards one of the nearby buildings, they saw none other than Inspector Carmelita Fox herself perched on the rooftop.
"You foolish raccoon! I've caught you red-handed!"
"Ah, the lovely Carmelita Fox. We haven't seen you since we gave you the slip in Bombay." Sly said with a flirtatious smirk.
"Which reminds me; you need to return the Fire Stone of India to its rightful owners."
"Aw, and I was going to give it to you as a little token of my-" Sly started before grinning. "You know, that bazooka really brings out the color of your eyes."
"Actually, it's a shock pistol." Izuku corrected, still hanging from Sly's back before waving at Carmelita. "Hi, Ms. Fox!"
Carmelita noticed the little human boy and smiled before narrowing her eyes at Sly.
"YOU BROUGHT HIM WITH YOU?!"
"Uh...He followed me?" Sly weakly replied as Izuku just continued to wave at Carmalita, not seeing his dad in trouble.
"And you didn't have Murray or Bentley keep an eye on him?!" She snapped.
From in the van, Murray and Bentley grimaced, then recalling the few times they HAD tried to keep Izuku under wraps. The less said about those, the better….But if one must know details; the Cooper Gang was NEVER going back to Alberta or Morocco ever again.
"Trust me, I wish he'd stay with the rest of my gang where it's safe but he just keeps tagging along." Sly playfully shrugged. "And besides, he's the one you'll need to talk to about the Fire Stone, not me."
Izuku sheepishly chuckled as Carmalita sighed and massaged her eyebrows. Now she KNEW that case was done: In recent years, if the Coopers did not keep what they took, they often returned the stolen item to ancestral owners or the closest remaining descendant of said owner.
"Izuku? Conjeto? Would you tell me where the Fire Stone of India is, por favor?"
"Oh, I gave it to the natives who were the original owners," Izuku said with a bright smile, proving Carmelita's worry. "Took me a whole night on Bentley's computer to find them…and another day to get over the anger of colonization…But I found them and sent it back to them."
Carmelita sighed, a tired smile on her face. She could already see the mountains of paperwork and PR trouble once she reported this; when Izuku heard 'rightful owner', he proved he took after Bentley by researching until he found 100% someone did own something. It was something the Fox Beastkin both adored and wished the boy would grow out of.
"You know, Izuku's got better eyes than you, Cooper, especially in regards to my pistol." Carmelita said. "It packs a paralyzing punch, you outta try it. Might break you out of your crime spree."
She was hoping for that last part: Yes, Sly was a thief and needed to pay for what he did, but she was not blind to the fact he only stole from other criminals and was raising Izuku quite well considering his lack of resources. She often wondered what he'd be like if he put that kind of skill and talent into doing full-time good….
"Anyway, love to stick around and chat, but I just dropped by to pick up this case file. I think you've had it long enough." Sly smirked, showing the file in question.
"Bye, Ms. Fox!" Izuku waved again as he clung to Sly's back as they made their escape into the getaway van. Ordinarily, Carmelita would've used her pistol to try and stop them, but with Izuku in the fray, she wouldn't dare take the shot.
Hence, why the two got to the Cooper Van so quickly.
"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME, RACCOON!" Carmelita snapped, shaking her fist.
COOPER
*Sly's POV*
Once again, my gang and I had given Inspector Carmelita Fox the slip. I was surprised to see how well she took it. Izuku felt a little bad, but Murray and Bentley praising him for such a good job made him forget that.
Finally, the secret police file I'd been searching for all these years. With this, I could avenge my family and regain possession of our most valued treasure.
It all began when I was just a kid, bouncing on my father's knee. You see, I come from a long line of master thieves, who kept all their secrets of sneaking and stealing in an ancient book: the Thievius Raccoonus. Anyone who read it learned to be especially sneaky, which is why we specialize in stealing from criminals. After all, there's no honor, no challenge, no fun stealing from ordinary people. You rip off a master criminal, and you know you're a master thief.
Well, on the night I was supposed to inherit the book, five visitors came unannounced to our door. My father fought to protect us, but the gang of villains known as the Fiendish Five overpowered him and ransacked our house until they found... the Thievius Raccoonus! Our family's manual of thieving greatness fell into their filthy hands. They tore the book into five pieces and split it up, each villain disappearing to the farthest corners of the world to commit dastardly crimes.
Broke and alone, I was dumped at the town orphanage. There, I met two guys who became my lifelong buddies and trusted crew. Bentley, techno-genius and strategist supreme, and Murray, part-time driver, and full-time burden. And that was all before we got Izuku, our little mascot.
Together, we pledged to track down the Fiendish Five, avenge my father, and steal back the Thievius Raccoonus. I knew I was about to face the toughest test of my life. On this mission, I would either become a master thief like my ancestors before me or fail and allow my family name to bite the dust...
Knightmare Lord A/N:
A rather short chapter but we're mostly doing this by Episode, sort of. The Sly 1 chapters will probably be shorter since we're not using game mechanics here but still keeping to the whimsical cartoony nature of the series.