Sly Cooper: Family of Thieves

by Blackdrag-rose


Honor: Interesting Development

Sly and Carmelita, after doing their own missions and waiting for the others to return with news of their success, spent their time relaxing and preparing for the semifinals, as while both Team Belgium and Team Iceland would be firing at each other, thanks to their sabotage, they would need to be careful when they took to the skies. Sly was surprised by the news that Clockwerk showed Muggshot his true terrifying form, something that the former gangster had seen a few times when they were part of the same team, but at the same time that had caused Muggshot to leave the hanger without attacking it himself, despite the fact that his hired thugs still came after them. Both he and Carmelita were surprised by the sudden fact that Penelope was willing to lend them a hand in defending their hanger, though what really caught their interest was her words, as they suggested that she might be the one to punish the traitorous guards, something that the Black Baron was known for doing... but, while it was clear that Gilda, Derpy, and Diz believed that there was more to their target than what they knew, Sly and Carmelita focused on what they would be doing soon and not on the champion.

Carmelita knew that, thanks to Bentley's plans, one team would be reduced to ten planes, since five of them were ruined by Murray last night when he was placing the viking helmet in the location Bentley told him to put it in, and that the other team still had all fifteen of their planes, something they were going to have to look out for. Her thoughts were interrupted when Bentley revealed that the hour was upon them, to which she and Sly headed out to the hanger as the rest of their gang followed them, to run a few more checks on the planes, only to find that they were in good condition and that there wasn't anything they needed to do at the moment. She and Sly, on the other hand, slipped back into their pilot uniforms and headed out with their planes, as while the coloration was the same, a requirement for the ACES Competition, there was one difference between the two, as Sly's had his logo on it and Carmelita's had her own personal Cooper Gang logo, the icon that she could use if she was looking for a mission that was assigned to her and her alone. Not a few seconds later they pulled the planes out of the hanger and moved them into the area of the launch ramp, as it was time for them to take to the skies and win the semi-finals, so they could focus on the Black Baron and whoever won the other side of the tournament.

"Stay sharp, you two!" Bentley told them, calling out to them while none of the other teams were around, as they had purposely waited for this point to let the others take to the skies first, so no one would know that they knew who their enemies were ahead of time, which would have revealed their hand in the sabotages, "Iceland and Belgium will be at each other's throats up there, but you're still outnumbered!"

"Relax Mom, this is going to be great!" Sly replied, to which he climbed into his plane and flew down the ramp in front of him, allowing him to take to the skies, before he spotted Carmelita doing the same thing in his rear view mirror, to which he smiled as they headed towards the arena that the Black Baron had set up ahead of time.

It didn't take the two of them long to reach the arena that they would be fighting in, but even as they moved into the area they found that both Team Iceland and Team Belgium appeared to be ready to tear into each other, a sign that their sabotages last night had worked out well, and they prepared their guns as they flew into the arena.

Eyes in the skies, peeps! a voice called out, one that they recognized as Dimitri's voice, though they mostly ignored the man as he got into the role that he had been cast into for the time being, giving him something to do while they fought their enemies in the skies, The semifinal round between Team Iceland, Team Cooper, and Team Belgium is now underway. The fangs are out! Dogfight action, great action! Arf-arf-arf!

Sly and Carmelita stayed near each other as they flew through the air, watching both Team Iceland and Team Belgium really tear into each other over what the gang had done last night, not that their enemies knew that piece of information, and found that, for the first few minutes of the fight, they didn't actually have to fire their guns just yet. Planes were falling apart left and right, a sign that the two teams were trying to get back at the other, and eventually some of them turned on both of the Cooper pilots, causing Sly and Carmelita to separate and start firing at the enemies that were around them so they could bring an end to the battle. Of course, like Bentley and the others expected, when someone tried to gun down Carmelita at one point Sly did a tricky maneuver and came to her aid, blowing the pilot that was chasing her out of the air and dropped him into the water, allowing them to continue their fight to be the last two standing. Carmelita also gunned down a pair of foes, one from Team Iceland and one from Team Belgium, that were beginning to chase after Sly, both to repay what he had done and to show that she wasn't to be underestimated, earning some cheers from the crowd as they watched the semifinals get closer and closer to the end point.

It wasn't long before it was only Sly, Carmelita, and one plane from both of the enemy teams left in the air at the moment, though at the same time, however, both Sly and Carmelita focused on their chosen targets, as Sly was following the Iceland plane while Carmelita chased the Belgium plane, before they were able to blow their enemies out of the air and smiled at each other as they started to depart from the area as Dimitri spoke up.

Tip-top outstanding! Dimitri called out, his own excitement being added to the people that had come to watch this part of the semifinals happen, though at the same time he knew that the other half of the semifinals would start soon and the people were waiting for that to happen, Team Cooper is going to le finals! Let the crowd say "Yay"!


When Sly and Carmelita returned to the hotel room that they were staying in, their safe house, they waited to hear the results of the other half of the semifinals, allowing the two of them some time to relax and calm their nerves if they needed some time to themselves. Eventually they discovered that their opponents in the finals were Team Muggshot and Team Black Baron, both of which were much better flyers than the teams they had just beaten, and Bentley revealed that the rules in the finals are a bit different than normal. It was then that they discovered that whoever took out the defending champ gets the title, revealing that their target would be the Black Baron, while at the same time their only real competition was Muggshot himself, and that they needed to remove him from the competition entirely. The plan was simple, as they were going to lure him out into the town square, where Judy was supposed to be hanging out, and have her take him out, borrowing the idea that Carmelita had come up with earlier, especially since he was still wanted by Interpol for his latest crimes. Bentley also revealed that the Baron won't be so easy to deal with, as he commanded an enormous team of fliers and has been known to bring in a squad of blimp gunships when things look grim, though the answer to the problem wasn't something they were expecting. Bentley's plan involved the local Lupus Gigantormus, the massive wolf they had seen earlier, which he was planning on drugging so the Guru would be able to ride it and take out some of the local guards, who he discovered also served as the Baron's pilots. The last thing they'd do, before the finals, was that Bentley was planning on hacking into the aircraft control tower, so they would be able to intercept any messages the Baron might send to his gunships if he was successful.

Once he was done revealing the plan of action to them, however, he told Sly and Carmelita that they were going to be out of the missions for now, to rest and relax until it was time for the finals to begin, save for the fact that he needed Carmelita to find Judy and make sure she found Muggshot. They all knew that if they were able to take out the Baron they'd be walking away with more than a trophy, as Penelope would be able to join the gang, and, after her stellar work defending the hangar last night, they all agreed that she was a prime recruit for the gang. As they came to that conclusion, and everyone started to get ready for their own individual missions, Carmelita headed outside and headed over to where Bentley wanted to meet her to discuss the plan to take out Muggshot, before he moved to the area that the giant wolf was located in.

"It's time we dealt with Muggshot!" Bentley stated, though at the same time he came to a stop behind Carmelita, who was currently looking out for Judy, since she was the only person that could get into a fight with Muggshot and get away with it, especially since they were trying to recruit Penelope for the Vault heist, "We can't risk him taking down the Baron before you or Sly in the finals."

"Not to mention that he deserves a little payback for what he tried to do to our aircraft hangar." Carmelita added, as the former member of the Fiendish Five had come to break their planes, only to be stopped by Clockwerk, something that was still strange and yet helpful at the same time.

"Since Muggshot's assault, the Baron has been keeping an eye on him." Bentley continued, knowing that time was of the essence for the gang, because the longer they took to get Muggshot behind bars, and decreased the number of pilots for the finals, the longer they ran the risk of being discovered, "We can't fight him out in the open, for risk of getting disqualified. Thankfully, Inspector Hops is out in the field looking for criminals as we speak."

"Muggshot is the same criminal he was when Sly beat him, only now he's wasting the opportunity that was given to him when he was released earlier," Carmelita said, as she had read that Muggshot had stolen some of the parts for his planes so he could compete, even though his skill proved that he wasn't a laughing matter, "Will all this in mind, and knowing why we want him out of the picture, Judy should be willing to assist us in arresting Muggshot again."

"Well, I'm going to head inside the hotel and see if I can't get Muggshot to come outside," Bentley replied, though as he turned to go he noticed that Carmelita seemed to be thinking about something, making him wonder if she had an idea about that as well.

"Just tell him I'm outside and he's sure to come running." Carmelita stated, as she remembered Muggshot telling her that one day he'd repay her for locking him up behind bars, even though she had been a cop at the time and his rage was directed at the Cooper Gang, and she knew that this might be what Bentley was looking for.

Bentley nodded and descended down to the ground below him, where he made his way over to the hotel building so he could find Muggshot and get him to come outside, though while he did that Carmelita sighed and dropped down on the other side of the building they had been standing on, where she found Judy standing there with her arms crossed.

"This is such an underhanded plan, and I never thought the Coopers would do something like it," Judy commented, as she wasn't too pleased by the information that had been brought to her attention, because Carmelita had contacted her the moment she knew that Bentley wanted to take out Muggshot, though she was abiding by the agreement that they had made with Secretary Sen, "and I never thought that you would agree to it."

"Hey, I'd actually prefer to take him out in the skies and let you cuff him later," Carmelita replied, as while she told Bentley that this was a good idea she still wanted to win the finals fairly, but since they were at the finals she also knew that keeping him in the game wasn't something they could accord to do at the moment, "besides, last I checked Interpol was still looking for Muggshot, for his latest crimes, and this is likely the best opportunity you'll get to bring him in and put him behind bars for a good portion of his life."

"And then you guys can beat the Black Baron and enlist Penelope's help in whatever you have planned," Judy said, as she remembered what Secretary Sen had told her when he learned that the Cooper Gang was coming to Holland, since they generally told him what they were doing in case they defeated a criminal like Octavio, "Seriously, what could you and Sly be planning that requires you to recruit even more members to your gang?"

"Judy, do you know what the Cooper Vault is?" Carmelita asked, as the first time she had heard of it was back when she and the gang were meeting her family, and she knew that Secretary Sen knew what it was since he assisted them in reaching Kaine Island for the first time, where they learned that the deed to the island had been stolen many years ago, no doubt thanks to Dr. M.

"No. I only know that it's your endgame." Judy replied, as she had been told that the Vault was the reason this was happening, but she still didn't understand anything about why they were still gathering members for their gang, especially with three magic users among their number, "Why, what's so special about it?"

"It's where Sly's family, his ancestors, have been leaving the lions share of their loot," Carmelita answered, knowing that Sly might have a problem with her telling Judy what was supposed to be inside the Vault, but since Secretary Sen had informed her of the Vault's existence she was entrusting the knowledge of what was inside it to her as well, "Right now someone is in possession of the island the Vault is on, with a stolen deed based on what we've found so far, and they've set up some fortifications that require us to recruit more experts into the team. That, Judy, is why we're here, trying to recruit the Black Baron's mechanic into the team, as she's good with those RC vehicles that Bentley can no longer use due to his current situation."

"Hey! Cop Hag!" a voice said, to which the duo peeked around the corner and found an irritated Muggshot standing in the middle of the area that Bentley designated as the area that they should fight in, though he looked ready for battle and wanted to smash something before the guards came to bother him, "Come on out so I can make you pay for you did to me back in Mesa City!"

"Sorry, but Carmelita can't come out to play today." Judy replied, to which she jumped up to the top of the single story building that was in front of her, allowing her to stare down at the criminal that was standing before her, "Muggshot, alias 'Two-Gun Tony', also known as 'Meat-Head' Muggshot. Seven foot three inches, three hundred and twenty-four pounds, and wanted in seven countries with seventeen outstanding warrants for your arrest. I may not have been the one to put you away, after your defeat in Mesa City, but Carmelita was my friend and she did give me some pointers when we were still learning how to be cops... so I think I can handle you."

Muggshot growled and pulled out his guns as he took aim at where Judy was standing, but as he did that, and started firing, Judy moved out of the way and whipped out her shock pistol, before taking aim at her target and loosed a charge into his chest, causing him to growl as he turned towards her. She knew that Muggshot was a sturdy individual, as it took multiple shots from a shock pistol before he fell to the ground in defeat, which meant that she had to dodge the bullets that were coming at her and fire when an opening revealed itself, to take care of the criminal before he did anything that would worsen the charges that she had said. Muggshot, already enraged at the moment, focused on her and nothing else in the area around them, only growing more annoyed as Judy dodged the bullets that were heading her way, though Judy was focused on bringing the criminal down, while at the same time noticing one of the Cooper Siblings, Derpy based on the fur color, standing off in the distance as she focused on something else.

Fortunately Judy was faster than what Muggshot believed her to be, since most people assumed different things when they noticed that she was shorter than everyone else, but that worked to her benefit as she fired a number of shots into her target's body, eventually bringing him down and allowing her to sigh... before she turned back towards Carmelita, who chose to come out now that Muggshot was knocked out, since he would have no idea that she was there to begin with.

"I'll call in the squad and have them detain Muggshot until the finals are over," Judy said, though Carmelita nodded her head in understanding, as she knew that her friend wanted to see what happened in the finals, especially since they were trying to defeat the Black Baron, "What about you? What are you going to do?"

"Make sure the planes are safe and ready for the finals," Carmelita replied, to which she smiled as she embraced her friend for a moment, as she was one of the few cops that she actually trusted these days, especially after what happened to her when the Klaww Gang was their target, before pulling back a few seconds later, "I'll see you around Judy. Have fun watching the finals and writing Muggshot up when you get around to it."

Judy nodded her head and watched as Carmelita departed from the area that they were in, though as she did that she noticed that her friend had a smile on her face as she headed towards the hanger that their planes were in, showing that she enjoyed her life, even if she might miss being a cop, and guessed that Sly Cooper had a good impact on her life... to which she sighed and focused on Muggshot, as she and her team would detain the dog and then she could focus on the finals, just to see who won the battle between the Coopers and the Black Baron.