Dressed to Steal

by Tatsurou


Gathering: Take 22

It didn't take long for Sly and Coco to make their way through the field of lasers as they slid along the beams. Carmelita lagged behind, forced to rely on carefully controlled bursts from her jetpack to conserve enough lift energy to make her way through, barely managing to find a few landing points where she could slowly recharge. This meant that Sly and Coco reached the center of the Vault long before Carmelita did.

The center of the vault wasn't a place of wealth, however. It was a display of old vehicles constructed by the various Cooper ancestors, used in their heists. This was a hall of memorabilia. "This is...overwhelming..." Sly murmured as he stared around, his eyes going to an ancient airplane. "How did Thadius make a flying machine in the eighteen hundreds?"

"Very well, it seems," Coco marveled as she got a better angle. "Looks like it still works!"

"Oh, it's absolutely operational, I'm certain," a deep, gravelly voice declared, calling their attention.

Dr. M was a bright purple mandrill with large hands, a red face, and on odd helmet that hooked into a spider like carrier mecha that he'd ridden in on, with a well protected power core rising up from the top as the legs spread around him to lift him off the ground. The light of madness was in his eyes as he glowered down at the pair through his glasses. The legs moved as he approached the pair.

"Dr. M," Sly greeted coldly as he approached. "So glad you could make it. I know you were looking forward to seeing all this."

"Looking forward to all this..." Dr. M confirmed. "And your death!" He braced his machine, but paused as he noticed Coco's expression. "What?" he demanded irritably. "Is there something on my face?"

"...I'm just wondering what the M stands for," Coco responded playfully. "Mojo, by any chance?"

Dr. M let out an angry snarl as the spider-like metal legs lifted him up higher. "I am going to crush you!" he roared out.

"And the crushing shall be the most terrible crushing that has ever been crushed, for this is the crushing you most assuredly will bring upon me?" Coco teased wickedly.

The metal legs minced and stomped in response to Dr. M's fury. "Do you think this is a game, that you can get away with such taunts?"

Coco tapped her chin, her eyes glancing to how Sly had used her actions to slip around behind Dr. M. "Upon reflection," she mused idly, "this is most definitely not a game. But I do know what it is."

"Oh?" Dr. M hissed, his eyes narrowed in nearly inarticulate fury. "And just what is it, then?"

"A distraction," she replied brightly as she rolled to the side.

Before Dr. M could react, Sly had used the mirror he'd placed in the hook of his cane to reflect one of the laser beams around the outside of the chamber's central platform to sweep up Dr. M's back and across the machine, managing to damage the power core enough to cause a few errors. Dr. M roared in pain, spinning to face Sly. "So you stab me in the back, just like your father!" he roared out angrily.

"There's another way I'm like my father," Sly pointed out calmly. "I never fight alone."

The mandrill's eyes widened in realization, and he spun around just in time to get a face full of 200 year old flying machine, the engine roaring as he was driven into the side of the chamber. "What do you know?" Coco asked as she hopped out before impact, landing lightly on her hooves. "It does still work." She glanced at the dust cloud from the crash. "Or...did?"

An inarticulate roar of rage heralded Dr. M using his mech to lift the flying machine off of him and throw it to the side. "WHY?" he roared at the top of his lungs. "Why are you so determined? Why are you able to best me so easily? Why does that pony fight as well as you?"

"For the same reason my Dad broke up his Gang," Sly stated firmly. "For my family." He moved to stand beside Coco, both posing with their canes.

Dr. M's eyes narrowed. "Is that so...?" he murmured as he saw Carmelita entering the chamber. "If that is your strength..." A massive energy discharge focused in his mech's power core before launching straight at Carmelita, who lacked the energy in her jetpack to dodge.

"Carmelita!" Sly yelled out, lunging forward. The blast slammed into him, sending him flying at an angle due to his own momentum to slam into another wall. He dropped from there onto a rocky shelf, his cane clattering to the side as he slumped, seemingly lifeless.

"Daddy!" Coco screamed out in despair.

Dr. M started to laugh. "Your strength seems like a weakness, Sly-"

"Shut up!" Carmelita snarled, yanking out her stun blaster and charging towards the mandrill.

Dr. M laughed as he raised up on his mecha's legs. "You think you can-"

Carmelita grabbed hold of an odd extrusion on her gun and yanked, pulling an electric sword out and slashing the legs off the mandrill's mecha before plunging the sword into the power core, which began to spark like crazy.

"What have you done?" Dr. M yelled in fear. "The core's barely stable as is! It's going to explode!"

Carmelita seized him by his lab coat. "You're the genius," she snarled angrily. "You'll figure it out!" With that, she tossed him off the edge of the platform and into the seemingly bottomless pit below.

"Mom!" Coco called out from her place beside Sly's limp form. "Come quick! I think he's still breathing!"

Carmelita quickly leapt up to the shelf, staring down as Sly slowly stirred. As she saw his eyes open, she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're okay," she murmured in relief. "How are you feeling?"

"Ugh...my head hurts..." Sly murmured softly, sitting up to rub the back of his head.

"That's not good," Carmelita murmured worriedly. "Bentley said your head's still banged up from fighting Dr. M's first monster, and another hit to the head..." She leaned in close to check Sly's eyes.

Sly stared back at her, a confused expression on his face. "Who's...Bentley?" he asked carefully. "And...Dr. M? And who are you?"

Carmelita's eyes widened. "Sly...if this is some kind of scheme, it's not-"

"Sly?" Sly asked worriedly. "Is...is that my name?"

Coco shivered, tears forming in her eyes.

Deep below the mountain, an explosion was heard.

"We can talk about this later," Carmelita stated firmly, marshaling her emotions as she helped Sly to his feet. "This whole place is about to fall apart..."