Meeting Grandpa was wonderfully fun, especially since he was so happy about Mom and Dad. He was all too happy to spoil me, and an extension to the family was always welcome.
Mom being able to connect with her family over all of this got Dad thinking about his own family. To his surprise, Grandpa and Uncle Scrooge were able to inform him of a few of his Dad's old friends...specifically, his old Gang. One he was able to get in contact with immediately was McSweeney...who was actually in jail...
With a little pull from Carmelita and approval from Megraw, it was easy enough for Sly to arrange a meeting with his Dad's old partner from the 'law-abiding' side of the 'bars'...though it wasn't actually bars that McSweeney was behind. The overweight pink walrus was locked behind a reinforced Plexiglas wall with ventilation holes at the top, tested to be virtually indestructible. "McSweeney?" Sly asked carefully as he approached.
"Call me Jim," the elderly thief replied immediately as he reached into the folds of his flesh, extracting an old Cooper Gang Calling Card before slipping it back into hiding. "Yer Conner's boy, aren't you?"
"I am," Sly confirmed. "You knew my father?"
"Quite well, quite well," Jim responded readily. "We were old friends, went on many heists together. I was his muscleman, you know. Did the heavy lifting when it was called for, and was the power behind many escapes."
"...Murray..." Sly murmured thoughtfully as his mind went to his missing friend.
"So you have someone like that in your own gang?" Jim asked curiously. "Good, good...I suppose you have someone who handles all the tech, too?"
"Bentley," Sly confirmed. "The three of us have been close friends since we were kids. But..." He glanced away, not wanting to think or talk about it.
"So you've got a good relationship, then," Jim confirmed. "That's good. Value it. But keep an eye out for a mandrill by the name of Dr. M. He was our tech, and our parting with him was not on good terms. Somethin' about the division of loot, tradition, and the Vault when Conner quit thieving because his wife was pregnant."
Sly was surprised that the reason his Dad stopped thieving was because of him, but another detail caught his mind. "The Vault?" he asked insistently.
"Yeah," Jim confirmed, fishing around in his pockets and pulling out an old map. "The Cooper Vault. Yer family's been hiding all its loot there for generations, each one adding the lion's share of their heists to it to leave for future generations. Only a Cooper can open it." He stared at the map for a time. "When he retired, your Dad left this with me. Told me to keep it safe, and make sure it never fell into the wrong hands." He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I'm big and tough, never really fit with polite society, and couldn't really cut it as a thief on my own...so I figured the best way to keep it safe was to get myself arrested and thrown in jail for a long time." Shifting it back into his pocket, he leaned back and stretched. "Got a rep in here that makes other inmates - and guards - leave me alone, get three squares a day, exercise yard to stay in shape, the sheets are clean, and I get free cable! Seems a pretty sweet deal for me."
"You got yourself thrown in jail...to protect the map Dad gave you?" Sly asked in surprise.
Jim shrugged again. "Only place I ever really felt I belonged was in the Gang. When it broke up, I didn't really have a place of my own. Sides, long as he knew where to find me, figured I'd see Conner again when he needed to give you the map. You look a lot like him, actually." He blinked, looking around. "Say, how come he ain't here?"
Sly winced. "Dad...he's dead. Mom too..."
Jim blinked owlishly. "Oh...oh wow. I'm sorry. He...he was a good friend to me, a good person. And yer Mom was real lovely. Sorry fer your loss."
Sly sank back into a chair. "...they were avenged," he offered softly.
Jim's face briefly hardened, and he then turned away. "Oh...are you okay now?"
"...yeah," Sly spoke up after a time. "I have my friends. And I've got Carmelita and Coco..."
"Who are they?" Jim asked curiously.
"My girlfriend, and our daughter," Sly explained warmly, a wide smile on his face.
Jim managed a smile in response. "...here." He pushed the map through the ventilation grill. "Pretty sure Conner left it with me to give to you."
Sly caught the map with a smile. "Thanks, Jim. I'm going to go take a look. I've got things to add to the Vault myself...and I want to look at my family's legacy."
"Not alone I hope!"
Sly jerked as he heard that voice. "Bentley?" Turning, he found the turtle grinning at him, a mechanized wheelchair whirring as it carried him over. "Bentley, I've missed you! Where have you been?" Running forward, he pulled his old friend into a hug that was warmly returned.
"Medicine didn't give me positive results for treatment, so I turned to machines," Bentley explained. "Once I had this chair built to do everything for me that I could do when I could walk, I came to find you. Of course, it would have been easier if you hadn't moved around so much. Seriously, what are you doing in Duckberg?"
Sly chuckled softly as Jim watched on with a soft smile. "Bentley, have I got a story for you..."
My first thoughts were about how no one properly searched this guy before tossing him in.
My next thoughts were about what else he could possibly have stored in there. He's like Foo Dog.
My next thoughts were about how he can't have taken a shower in the past god-knows-how-long since he has been keeping a piece of paper in his flaps...
Frightening thoughts, those.
another one out of the park master of crossovers
Thinking back on it, I wonder why they didn't portray Conner's gang more in Sly 3. It would have been fun to play as them in a level.
Oooohooo, we're getting into epic territory now! Sly 3!
This'll be fun as hell.
I swear this chapter was wheeling in the feels with Jim and Bentley.
Jim's always gonna be in the fold.
Let's hope the next challenges the gang face doesn't suddenly Vault in difficulty.
I'm just wondering when Sly and Carmelita will get married and if that'll happen before the 3rd or 4th game
It feels weird knowing how this is going to end considering I've played sly 3...
I think McSweeney was a traitor as well, but not until some time after Sly 4. He used the whole Cooper Vault fiasco to do something. However, I admit that this is rumor and nothing more, as I've yet to see a canon reason for his betrayal. Besides, I doubt you'd let that go without doing something about it.
I wonder what Coco would think of McSweeney?
Wait...The map was in an Italian museum... How did it end up back with McSweeney? Unless the map he has is a map to that map... A mapception...
Jim "say, how are they?"
sly "... there dead, Jim."
I wonder when they'll run into Murray again. Let's hope he found his center while he was away.
8051947 that sounds like something a cooper would do
8051869
Uh...nowhere in game 3 or 4 is there anything to imply McSweeney betrayed any Cooper.
8051981
I that was an amusing game groaner
8052270 Like I said, rumor. I fully admit it may just be some weird thing floating around the internet I stumbled across. I was never able to take the time to confirm it, so I thought I'd throw it up and see if you knew anything about it.
If nothing else, it's an idea you could play with. Or not.
now here comes the game that got me thinking of this story. will ya hear me out?
8052440
Hear you out? About what?
8052449
about inclouding new members for the gang. because I have a few ideas on who.
8052474
Ah.
I already have plans regarding recruitment, but I'll hear you out.
8052489
well I don't know if you have counted or not but I think both mugshot & ms ruby would make great permamint members for the gang along with panda king & demetree. I was also thinking that bison guy as well. sorry but I can't remember his name of the top of my head.
8052499
I've taken those things into account regarding recruitment.
8052518
really? then what about the nice mouse girl? I think she would be a nice peramint member along with the others. excepet maybe the guru in alstrlea.
8052521
I have plans, and taken all these things into account.
8052525
then what about the 5th game? because I don't see the mouse girl being a back staber. if she had a evil sis then maybe I see on why she's missing.
I almost feel sorry for Dr. M... espeically if he ends up in jail with McSweeney. I would love to see him do something like eat a whole bunch of burritos and hot box the stupid mandril. Can't get in trouble for that.
8053654 You sir are pure evil. I love it.
8053943 He can also 'slip' 'stumble' and have other similar 'accidents' that lets him elbow the stupid monkey. Or just sit on him, "Oops, I didn't see him back there!"
8052530 That threw me for a loop as well, although I can't wait to see her sword duel.
8052525 By the way, I don't mean to sound needy, but since you added Scrooge, you think that maybe a certain Mallard of Mystery could make an appearance? Or at the very least Launchpad, seriously, why didn't you add him?
8056380 Ohhh man, now i'm picturing a past event of a cooper saving DW's tailfeathers and him having to decide what to do next.
I'm surprised the Beagle Boys haven't tried anything.
Sly Tales! Woo Hoo!
8071715 file:///C:/Users/user/Desktop/075bf1edf5a6484476da0ee0fbc92b0b_mildly-annoyed-dog-annoyed-meme_625-416.jpeg
Onto to Sly 3.