//------------------------------//
// Time Out: The Ninja Way 
// Story: Dressed to Steal 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

When we arrived in ancient Japan, we knew we were looking for Rioichi Cooper, one of the biggest names in the Thievius Raccoonus.  Not only was he an expert ninja, but also the inventor of sushi.  He would certainly be interesting to meet.  I just hope he wouldn't hold it against me that I couldn't stomach his creation.

Rioichi was supposed to be in his sushi restaurant that doubled as his base of operations as a ninja, but the shop was closed up tight.  On top of that, the 'happy town' was a grimly patrolled base, and Rioichi himself locked up tight in a new 'high security' prison.  Like we'd thought, someone here was playing games with time, and we needed to step in and fix it.  The first thing we had to do was free Rioichi.

As usual, the first step was getting some photos(1).





Sly and Coco made their way up to and across the rooftops of the small Japanese village, the sloping roofs providing plenty of places to run along and leap from, almost as though they had been designed with Cooper family techniques in mind.  Considering the village had become a grand place to live because of Rioichi's sushi restaurant and imitation was common in architecture, it was entirely possible it was.

As they moved, they went over the list of things Bentley had told them they needed pictures of.  "I'll take the restaurant and the guard armor," Coco suggested.  "You're still out of practice, and I'm better at hiding in plain sight anyway.  The other places you'll have an easy time snapping pictures from a distance."

"Fair enough," Sly allowed.  "Just be careful."

"That's what I was about to say," Coco complained playfully as they split up.

While Sly moved around the city to take pictures, Coco went straight into the climbing vines at the sides of the river bridges to make her way towards the restaurant.  It didn't take her long to get there, snapping a picture of the tall dark building, and the boar samurai standing guard in front of it.  On her way back, she hesitated as she spotted a sign for the local Geisha House.  Noticing her stare, Deik-Beck turned to her.  "Coco want geisha?" Deik-Beck suggested impishly.

"Since when did ancient Japan have neon signs?" Coco asked curiously, holding up her camera to snap a photo.  It wasn't on the list, but she was fairly certain Bentley would want a picture of something so odd.

As she lowered her camera, a tall tiger stepped out of the house looking disgruntled.  The black gi decorated with gold insignia and swords strapped to his back made him look like a powerful local...but the Cuban cigar he was smoking told Coco he was anything but.  Not only that, she recognized him from Carmelita's files.  "What is El Jefe doing here?" she asked darkly.  El Jefe was a mercenary general who'd overthrown several small countries, and high up on Interpol's wanted list.

Putting her camera away, she raced to rejoin Sly and the others at the hideout.





Uncle Bentley concluded from the photos that our only way into the prison to get Rioichi out was through the front gate, and that meant being disguised as Samurai guards.  That meant we had to get a suit of armor for Dad, and I needed to try and sneak in while invisible behind him and hope that didn't trip anything.  Dad managed it by filching pieces from the various boar samurai scattered around the town...then bringing them back to me to reshape them to fit him.  The last thing we wanted was for Dad to get busted due to an ill-fitting uniform.  It would be just our luck if El Jefe was in charge and had read the Overlord List...

While I was at it, I even made him a shield based on what I'd seen, slipping some mechanisms into it.  It just might prove useful.  I also made sure the armor would completely protect Dad from fire, just in case.  Dad thankfully didn't have any trouble getting past the guard at the gate.  I just wish he hadn't used Muggshot's name when he did so.  I was afraid that would come back and bite us...





Coco carefully followed along behind Sly as he marched through the halls of the prison, following the most guarded path in search of Rioichi while using the samurai armor disguise to avoid the guard's notice.  Coco turned away from the sight of a few prisoners bound to mechanized tables, refusing to allow her mind to speculate the purpose.  They didn't have time to free everyone.  They needed to find Rioichi.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before they spotted Rioichi.  The brown furred, blue garbed raccoon was in a cage suspended over a pit of water.  "Rioichi!" Sly called out.  "Are you okay?"

Rioichi rolled his eyes.  "You guards all make very poor jokes," he chided, his voice rough and gravelly.  Coco couldn't help but think it sounded like one of her favorite cartoon characters, an old rat that had taught turtles ninjutsu.

"C'mon!" Sly pleaded.  "I'm not one of those bozos!"

Seeing what he planned, Coco spoke up.  "Dad!  Keep your armor on so no one suspects anything.  I'll see about getting him free."

Rioichi's eyes widened.  "Who is there?  I hear voice, but see no one."

"My daughter," Sly explained.  "She's around here..."  He glanced around, trying to spot her, but seeing nothing.  "Somewhere.  She's really good at that."

"Ah, I see!" Rioichi declared eagerly.  "Fellow ninja!  And a kunoichi of such skill is your offspring?  I am impressed.  Tell me, by chance is she yet betrothed?"

Sly and Coco both choked at that.  "She's only 13!" Sly finally managed to say.

"And you haven't betrothed her yet?" Rioichi gasped in shock.  "You are a very irresponsible father!  Do you care nothing for her reputation and virtue?  You won't be able to get a good match for her if you wait too much longer, and then where will she be?"

"...wow, things are different than back home," Coco marveled, doing her best not to laugh.

Rioichi turned to the sound of her voice.  "Fair maiden of shadows, if your face and body are even pale shadows of your voice and skills, then you are truly the jewel of your father's house.  I myself am still in the prime of my life, and with your father's permission would gladly woo you should you be of the wild persuasion as some kunoichi are, refusing the strict regulations of society on your behavior."

"This is so wrong on so many levels..." Sly groaned with a shudder.

"You are right, this is not the time," Rioichi agreed.  "If you wish to release me, you must ascend to the Dragon Bridge."

"Or I could just slide down this chain," Coco spoke up from near the roof of the cavern.  A quick slide down, and she was at the cage itself.  "Now to get the cage open without alerting anyone."  Positioning herself atop the cage, she dropped her invisibility as she took aim with her needles.  With one throw, all caught the guards on the dragon bridge in the necks, sending them slumping into unconsciousness.

"The jewel of your house is as beautiful as she is skilled," Rioichi marveled in pleasure as Coco picked the cage lock.  "But how did you reach the chain without ascending the bridge?"

"I climbed up the wall," Coco explained.  "Strong earth magic, stone walls...it was really easy.  I'm Coco Cooper, by the way."

Rioichi paused.  "...I have been flirting with my many generations removed granddaughter, haven't I?" he concluded awkwardly.  "No wonder your father was distressed."

Coco giggled wickedly.  "Not only that, in our time girls are free to find their own relationships, and I'm of the age to start dating.  Dad's really freaked out by that."

"What manner of maid did he wed to sire you?" Rioichi asked curiously as they began the climb up, with Sly heading out the front gate again.

"It's a long story," Coco replied warmly.  "We'll tell you about it if we have time when we meet back with the others."








(1) While the clue bottle safes return in this game, the four treasures either have no use in story format or cause problems with overall plot, and as such will be ignored.