Sly Cooper: Family of Thieves

by Blackdrag-rose

Band: Half of a Heart

The moment Derpy was sitting in the hideout once more, and Gilda stayed behind with her so she could use Bentley's computer to provide information to the others, Sly and Carmelita headed out for the slightly unstable looking structure that Bentley had pointed out to them all when he was making his earlier presentation. At the same time Bentley, Murray, and Diz headed in the opposite direction, so they could hunt down Rajan while he was making his rounds, as he was sure to be carrying the blueprints of his entire operation with him. Gilda didn't mind sitting out for a while, as she had some fun back when they were going after the Clockwerk Wings, and this gave her a chance to relax a little before the others returned with news of their success. She was sure that the two groups would be able to pull off the missions that Bentley had set for them, so they could better understand what they were up against this time around, before they started to dismantle the entire operation, knock out Rajan, and take off with the Heart before the authorities arrived.

As such Sly and Carmelita noticed that there were actually two paths they could take to reach their destination, one involved climbing up the area near the now destroyed satellite array and the other was climbing up to the top of a tall tree and using a vine to cross to the top of the structure. Since some of the guards were now investigating the lightning strike that Derpy used a few minutes ago, meaning Rajan had heard it and noticed the array was offline, they immediately decided not to take the path beneath where the beacon was located. Instead Sly grabbed onto a vine and climbed up to the top of the rock wall that was in front of him, moving so Carmelita had more than enough room to join him, before they took turns climbing up to the top of the tall tree. From there they both jumped onto the vine that was in front of them and carefully made their way over to the top of the structure, where Carmelita knocked out the guard that was up there before they reached the point that Bentley wanted them to stand at... and stare at the small pool that happened to have the same bug from Bentley's slide resting inside it.

The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, as they were surprised to find that a bug was even up here, to which they sighed and pulled out their binocucoms, because Bentley likely had some additional information to give them before he let them begin the mission.

"Sly, Carmelita, the insect in that pool is a rare Indian water bug." Bentley informed them, though based on the sounds around him Sly could tell that he was somewhere else in the ruins, which made sense considering that his group was going after Rajan at that moment, "If the two of you can carry it into Rajan's office its wings will transmit local sound waves at a frequency I can monitor."

"Let me get this straight." Carmelita said, as she had seen and heard some crazy things during her time hunting down the Coopers, and even more so once she started assisting them in this manner, but this sounded like one of the more strange things for Bentley to come up with, "We're going to bug Rajan's office... with an actual bug?"

"It is an elegant plan, I agree." Bentley replied, as if he was proud of himself for thinking of such a thing, though Sly and Carmelita glanced at each other before focusing on Bentley again, as they were just going to let him have his way so they could get on with their mission, "Now there's something the two of you need to know before you start moving, that water bug can only survive in stagnant pools... if kept out of water too long it'll become unhappy and likely draw the attention of local guards."

"Well, it looks like there are a few pools along the way to Rajan's office." Sly commented, as he had taken in how the first pool looked and found another one that was some distance from where they were standing, and then a third one even further away, no doubt creating a trail right to the entrance of their destination, "A short swim every now and then should keep our little friend quiet."

Once they knew what they were doing, and both of them had put away their binocucoms, Sly picked up the water bug and started moving, to which the two of them jumped down to the area of the structure were the knocked out guard was resting, carefully descended to the area behind the guards that were looking into the ruined satellite array, and then climbed up the side of the building across from the structure so he could put the bug in the pond that was up there. While he did that Carmelita surprised the guard that was patrolling the area in front of the building Sly was standing on and knocked him out, before spotting the next pool. The moment Sly felt that the water bug was ready to be moved he picked it up and jumped down to where Carmelita was standing, to which they crossed over the vine that was in front of them, jumped down behind a rhino guard, and headed to the left at the top of the small wooden bridge that the guard had been protecting. From there it was a simple matter to bring the water bug to the next pond, though Carmelita did smack the snake that emerged from one of the bushes, keeping both her and Sly safe while they spent a few seconds waiting for the water bug to calm down.

A few moments later Carmelita let Sly move up the vines that were in front of him while she grabbed the water bug this time around, before she followed after him as he carefully cleared a path towards the next pond that happened to be sitting near a ruined tower of some kind. After letting the water bug swim in that pond for a few moments the duo headed down the path that was in front of them, passing by the truck that Bentley, Murray, and Diz seemed to be sitting on while they waited for this particular mission to be over so Bentley could focus on his task, before they reached the pond that rested near a large stone archway. From there they headed into the actual ruins that was near Rajan's office and climbed the steps that were in front of them, to which Sly knocked out the guard that was in their way while Carmelita set the water bug down for another quick swim. She then moved forward and sought out the next pond, which she discovered was in an area that had two rhino guards patrolling it, to which she smiled as she stealthily took them both out, allowing Sly to carry the water bug up here without any incidents. The moment the water bug was ready Sly found a spot on the wall behind them where he could sneak his way over to a balcony, which both he and Carmelita did without delay, before they used a large mushroom as a jump spot to reach the top of the path above them... which brought them to the final pond and the entrance of Rajan's office, an entrance that they entered without delay.

The moment they were through the entrance they found a nice looking office, with a table or two with a number of spices and some throw pillows resting in front of the windows, before they walked over to the desk and let the water bug down inside the pond that was near it, where the bug floated for a few seconds.

"Excellent! I've already tuned into the bug's wing vibrations!" Bentley declared, though while they were happy at the mission being completed, as it meant they could grab the vault and leave, both Sly and Carmelita heard the sound of Diz and Murray being happy as well, "I'm a genius!"

Sly chuckled as he approached the vault, but as he did so he decided to try something, as he stepped to the side and let Carmelita stare at it, because while he knew that she could adapt to the Cooper techniques like he and the others could, and he had seen that with his own eyes, there was one thing that would be a problem for her. Carmelita, however, seemed to understand what he was doing and stared at the vault for a few seconds, clearly weighing her options at the moment, before she sighed and stepped forward. Sly then watched as Bentley gave them the combination, which was 3-8-6, and watched as Carmelita actually entered the code into the vault, where she opened it and revealed some blueprints on adding something to weapons to release an electric discharge. With that in hand the two of them left the Cooper Gang calling card in it's rightful place, knowing that Rajan wouldn't be back here for some time since Bentley was going to be hunting him down for the blueprints, before they departed from the office and started to make their way back towards the hideout... using a path that wouldn't put them in Bentley's way.

"I can't believe I actually did that," Carmelita commented, as she honestly couldn't believe that she had opened the vault in such a manner and took the blueprints that had been inside it, but she also knew that if she really wanted to be part of the gang, if such a thing were to ever happen, she'd have to get used to the feeling.

"Carmelita, there's nothing for you to be ashamed of," Sly said, to which he stopped her and rested a hand on her shoulder, so he could look her in the eyes and let her know that he was there for her, if she wanted to talk about what was bothering her, "Rajan was likely going to sell that to someone and get a lot of people hurt in the process, so it's better we take it and use it against those that would harm innocent people... or not use it at all, if that's your preference. It's better for everyone, regardless of how you look at it."

Carmelita hadn't thought of it like that, and she wasn't sure that Rajan was into selling weapons or weapon alterations like this, but she didn't say anything as they headed back to the hideout, giving her time to think about what it meant to actually be a member of the Cooper Gang... and, more importantly, what it meant to be a Cooper Thief like Sly.

---

Bentley waited until he found the frequency of the water bug on his radar once more, gave the duo the combination and heard the vault being opened, and waited until he saw Sly and Carmelita heading back towards the hideout before he, Murray, and Diz jumped off the truck they were on top of. The reason he had asked Murray and Diz to come along was because of something that was going to happen when he started hunting for Rajan, because he was going to need their assistance during this mission and he knew that Murray would have been disappointed to miss an opportunity to beat some of the guards up. The instant they touched the ground Bentley headed up the pathway that Sly and Carmelita had used to reach Rajan's office, as the path to their mission and the path to his mission was the same one, which meant he was able to reach his destination without having to engage anyone. Once he reached the area he had selected for himself, and raised his binocucom to look around the area, Murray and Diz stood guard over him as he worked, as they knew that he would move soon enough for the real reason they were out here.

He stood there for a few moments, watching the door that Sly and Carmelita had passed by as he waited to see if he was right in his earlier suspicions, though when the door handle moved he focused his mind as Rajan walked out and closed the door behind him.

"As I expected, Rajan is out for his daily tour of the operation." Bentley commented, to which Murray and Diz hid themselves, in the off chance that their target looked up at the walkway that they were standing on, which would ruin the mission before it even started, "I have a reliable source that claims Rajan always carries three blueprints on him, which when read together, tell you everything about his spice operation."

"It's too bad he's not carrying the section of the Clockwerk Heart Sly and Carmelita saw during their recon." Diz said, as he noticed that the wooden staff Rajan carried was missing the half of the metallic pump that had been the ancient owl's Heart, "You could just pump him full of sleep darts and we could all go home."

"Unfortunately, my sleep darts aren't powerful enough to affect Rajan." Bentley stated, as he had done some thinking and research before they came here, because he had thought about trying that as well, but quickly came to the conclusion that his darts weren't going to work.

"What?" Murray asked, his voice sounding surprised, not that Bentley could blame him for thinking that way, since he could see Diz was a little shocked as well, but Bentley was also happy to see that Murray wasn't shouting his words this time around, "Then how are we supposed going to get at him?"

"I found out something interesting while I was doing my research," Bentley said, to which he beckoned for Murray and Diz to use their binocucoms, where he seized control of them when they did and zeroed in on a watermelon that was resting nearby, "Rajan has an insatiable appetite for Indian watermelons, which, if eaten whole, will force even him to nod off for a while. Once he's asleep, I'll creep in and lift the blueprints."

"How are we going to lure him over to the various watermelons that rest around the ruins?" Diz asked, as he was curious as to how they were going to force Rajan to explore the ruins and eat the watermelons until Bentley had all of the blueprints that the tiger was carrying.

"I've equipped my sleep darts with a sonic disrupter," Bentley explained, referring to something he had done before they had come into the jungle, just in the off chance that such a thing was necessary to get some additional information on the spice operation, "the strange sounds they make should be enough to lead the ever curious Rajan from place to place."

Murray and Diz glanced at each other and shrugged their shoulders, as they didn't do the research and knew that Bentley likely had everything figured out, to which they put their binocucoms away and watched as Bentley fired the first dart at a wall that was near Rajan. At first they thought nothing was going to happen, but then Rajan, hearing the noise of the dart hitting the wall, started to move up the stairs as he followed the sound, to which the duo grinned as Bentley fired a second one. At that point the three of them watched as Rajan moved up to a watermelon and feasted on it, where he went to sleep, exactly like Bentley said he would, before the trio moved in and dropped down to where Rajan was curled up around his staff. Murray and Diz quickly removed the curious guards that were in the area, hauling them away to a place where Rajan wouldn't find them until later, where he could punish them for sleeping on the job, before they stood at a safe distance while Bentley lifted the first blueprints from Rajan's pocket... where he ran away before the effects of the watermelons wore off.

A few seconds later Rajan snapped out of his slumber and continued walking again, as if nothing had happened, though that only prompted Bentley to locate the next watermelon so he could repeat the process and get the second blueprint from their target. The fortunate part about having to find the next watermelon was that it was right next to the truck they had been standing on, to which Bentley picked another good vantage point and carefully led Rajan over to the watermelon's location, where the tiger devoured it and fell asleep again. As Bentley moved in to grab the blueprints Murray and Diz repeated their task and knocked out the guards that were in the area, allowing him to get what they came for and retreat the moment the second one was in his hands. Rajan, upon waking, seemed to know that something was going on, but that didn't stop him from following the sounds that Bentley's darts were making, especially as he led the way to a building with a watermill... where Rajan put himself to sleep upon devouring the third watermelon, allowing the trio to swoop in and repeat the motions until Bentley had what he came for.

With the third and final blueprint acquired, giving them the full scope of Rajan's operations, the trio moved to a safe spot and watched as Rajan freaked out when he realized that the blueprints had been stolen from his person, to which he fled to the safety of his temple... leaving Bentley to hope that he hadn't just scared their target into hiding or something.

---

After spending a few minutes pouring over the blueprints, and listening to whatever was said inside Rajan's office, Bentley quickly came to the conclusion that his theft of the blueprints, combined with the destruction of the satellite array, had driven Rajan into hiding. Fortunately for the rest of the gang he already had an idea on how to force the tiger out of hiding and drive him out into the open, though one of the things that he had planned was the destruction of the spice grinder, putting the hurt on his operation. Bentley also considered the destruction of the nearby dam to try and flood Rajan out, though he also asked that Murray acquire one of the rubies from the temple, as he planned on trading that stone for some extra firepower that might be able to get their target out in the open. Bentley confirmed that the plan was to make Rajan angry and then drive him to collect the Clockwerk Heart, bringing all of it to them, allowing them to take him out before Interpol showed up to arrest him.

Despite the fact that Sly said that he could take on the spice grinder all by himself, and he felt that he could when he noticed that the blueprints showed there were only a few guards down there, Carmelita insisted on going with him, to watch his back, and Gilda came along for the journey as well, mostly because she hadn't done much so far. Fortunately the entrance to the area that the spice grinder was located in was near the truck that Bentley had stood on earlier, only it required a little bit of sneaking around a corner so they could open the door and drop down into the area below them. When they reached the floor and stood up, however, the three of them noticed that there were some laser fences blocking their path, but at the same time they knew that such a thing had never stopped one of them in the past, which meant they only needed to find the way to get ride of them.

"According to Rajan's blueprints the three of you are near the Spice Grinding Facility," Bentley stated, speaking into their ears at the moment, as none of them were interested in lifting their binocucoms for a few seconds before they put them away, "however, as you all know, the passage is blocked by those laser fences."

"It looks like they're using TNT to create these catacombs... maybe we can 'borrow' some to destroy the fences." Gilda commented, looking at the side of the tunnel they were in, as there happened to be a TNT barrel dispenser near them, which was another poor design decision in her mind, "Do we just move the barrel over and let it explode, or is there some sort of method we're supposed to use?"

"Oh, it's actually quite simple." Bentley said, knowing that none of the gang had the opportunity to work with this type of explosive before, despite the fact that he had some knowledge of what they needed to do, "You just need one of you to jump into the barrel, walk it over to whatever your targeting, and then jump out and get clear of the blast radius. But do be careful around floor lasers, as the TNT barrels won't work on them."

Sly, being the closest to the dispenser, jumped into the first barrel that was in the area they were in, to which he carefully walked it over to where the laser fence was located and jumped out the moment he reached it, before running to where Carmelita and Gilda were standing. A few seconds later the three of them watched as the barrel detonated and took out the fence, allowing them to move forward once more, where they discovered that the next obstacle was a moving laser wall that only had three points. Another thing they discovered was that the dispenser had a limit as to how many barrels it could spit out at a time, as it seemed to be just the one, though Carmelita made sure that Sly was safe since he was being the stubborn one at the moment. Sly was able to move the barrel into the second fence and destroy it, though that was when they spotted the floor lasers that would prevent the dispenser from being any use to them, so they headed down the tunnel on their right and avoided the spotlights that were moving from wall to wall... before they made a left turn at the end of the tunnel and turned towards their left, where they ducked under the horizontal moving lasers and found their target.

It wasn't hard to locate the spice grinder, since it was the only circular device that was grinding the spice at the moment, but at the same time they discovered that there were two guards watching over the grinder and at least two more on the level below them, where the next dispenser was located.

Sly and Carmelita nodded as they jumped down into the area below them and immediately knocked out the guards that were down there, leaving Gilda to knock out the two rhino guards that were around the spice grinder and move them so they weren't hurt when the explosive barrel went off. Once the coast was clear Sly jumped into the TNT barrel and moved it to the laser fence that was blocking the way out of this area, where he jumped out of it and tore the fence apart, opening the way back to the tunnel they had been in moments ago. Carmelita surprised him by being the one to grab the barrel next, as she carefully walked over to where he was standing and went by him, to which he carefully followed after her and watched as she made her way through the spotlight infested hallway, passed under the horizontal lasers, and walked around the wooden walkway that brought her to the spice grinder. Fortunately Carmelita timed it right, as the moment she got the TNT barrel to the grinder the wheel was nearly upon it, where she jumped out and leapt over to where Sly and Gilda were standing... before the grinder was destroyed by the barrel's explosion, causing a message from Rajan to sound out throughout the area, where they discovered that the production of spice had been stopped.

With the mission complete the three of them retraced their steps towards the entrance, headed back outside, and started the walk towards the hideout, though as they did that Carmelita spotted the familiar movement of Neyla off in the distance, where she tapped on Sly's shoulder for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Sly asked, because while he knew there were guards around the area, and some of them were going to be annoyed when they heard the spice grinder had been destroyed, he had no idea what Carmelita had seen or what she might have heard.

"Neyla." Carmelita replied, keeping her voice low, as she didn't know if Neyla had placed listening devices nearby or something else, but she didn't want to give the constable any information to use against her, even though she was still in good graces with Secretary Sen, "She's here."

Sly nodded and had Gilda head back to the hideout, as he had the feeling that this might be like what happened in Paris and he wanted the others to know that he and Carmelita would be a little late getting back, and that they might want to move on with the missions while they were dealing with Neyla. Once Gilda was underway Sly and Carmelita headed over to where she had seen Neyla's movements, which ended up in an area by a few trees and a rather large mushroom, where Neyla dropped down behind them and caused them to turn around.

"Cooper, we meet again." Neyla said, though at the same time she stared at Carmelita, who hoped that the constable believed Sly's story that she was 'Kate Cooper' and not a cop in disguise, "And I see that you brought your new protege along for the journey again."

"Like I said back in Paris, she's learning how to be a Cooper Thief," Sly replied, knowing that it was at least half true at the very least, as he was only teaching Carmelita the techniques she needed to know so she could keep up with him, unless she already knew them ahead of time, before he focused on Neyla, "but we should focus on the matter at hand. I'm surprised you managed to get here so quickly, without the rest of your detail or your commanding officers."

"Please, the Contessa and I are more than enough to bring in anyone," Neyla stated, revealing to the duo that she felt that she was better than a large majority of the people that worked for Interpol, especially Carmelita herself if Sly was reading her words right, "Besides, I haven't seen Old Ironsides since we busted half of Rajan's guards at his ball, as she just up and disappeared the moment I started the paperwork, just like what happened when we busted Dimitri a few weeks ago. You know, Director Barkley was rather upset when he heard that, because he's actually getting tired of Carmelita acting like she owns the place and skipping some of her work every time we bring someone in, all because she's got a powerful ally in one of the Secretaries."

Sly knew who Director Barkley was, as that was Carmelita's mentor when he had been attempting to rob an opera house because the stage manager was one of his targets, though in the end he actually helped Carmelita, who Barkley was screaming and shouting at because she couldn't catch him, by finding the stage manager, tied him up, and delivered him right to the group with the Diva Diamond he was attempting to steal. That was the event that signaled the start of their relationship, as after that night Carmelita made it her mission to hunt down Sly, his family, and his gang so she could put them all behind bars, or at least that had been her plan at the time. He could only imagine how many times Barkley had shouted at Carmelita over the years, for her failure to stop him and his gang, and he already knew the lengths she'd go through to prove that she was a valued member of the law, to earn the respect of those around her. Hearing that Barkley was upset, more than he usually was when he dealt with Carmelita, was actually a really bad sign, as one false move and he could fire her in an instant... which would shatter Carmelita's world if such a thing came to pass, as she was still a cop at heart and he knew that he might not be able to change that part of her.

He could feel Carmelita tense up for a moment, as she was thinking the same thing that he was thinking, to which he decided to see what was going on with Neyla before something told her that Carmelita was standing beside him, as he didn't want them to fight it out.

"Neyla, as much as we like to converse with you, can we get to the matter at hand?" Sly asked, causing Neyla to turn towards him for a moment, as she happened to be staring at Carmelita when they were thinking about Barkley, "What are you doing out here?"

"I've learned of a secret entrance leading to half of the Clockwerk Heart." Neyla stated, to which a light smile appeared on her face as she noticed the look that appeared in Sly's eyes, and potentially the same look that also graced Carmelita's eyes as well, "Legally I can't enter the premises without a warrant, but now a pair of thieves like you two..."

"A pair of thieves like us can go wherever they please." Sly replied, as he remembered what Neyla had said back in Paris, though at the same time both he and Carmelita prepared themselves for a run through the ruins, as that was what had to be coming next.

"Don't fall behind while I lead you to the entrance." Neyla said, to which she turned her back to the duo, indicating that she was getting ready to leave the area, before she glanced back at them for a few seconds, "This place is thick with guards and standing still could be lethal."

Sly and Carmelita followed after Neyla as she led the way through the ruins, killing or crippling the guards that she came across, while at the same time surprising Sly by the fact that she was able to use the Rail Walk technique on the vines that they had to walk across. That worried him, as he could understand some of the cops, like Carmelita and Neyla, knowing his family's techniques, but when someone like Neyla showed a mastery over them, something that someone like Carmelita should have thanks to the years studying him, it made him wonder if there was more to Neyla than what they knew. Despite that fact he and Carmelita carefully followed after Neyla as they moved through the ruins, passing over the obstacles that were in their way and jumping over the pond that was in front of the area that the ruby Bentley wanted the gang to grab was located in... before eventually coming to a stop at part of the ruins, where both of them noticed that part of the rock wall was different colored than the rock around it, just like Rajan's office entrance was.

Neyla jerked her head towards the door she had brought them to, where they nodded their heads to acknowledge what she was showing them, before she disappeared as quickly as she had appeared earlier, to which Sly and Carmelita pushed the stone button and headed into the tunnel that was in front of them... where they came out in the very area they had been taking pictures of earlier, with part of the Clockwerk Heart hanging in the air, where they had last seen it.

"Well, Neyla was right about the entrance," Carmelita commented, though while she hated to admit that Neyla was right, especially since she had discovered that Neyla actually didn't like her at all, based on what she had near a few minutes ago and two weeks ago in Paris, "and the control panel appears to be locked down tight... but that's never stopped you and the others before."

"Agreed." Sly said, though at the same time he spotted a glint of a key in the pocket of one of the guards, which made him grin as he realized what they were going to have to do to get the half of the Heart that was in front of them, "Here's another lesson for a Cooper Thief, how to pick a pocket... and I'm sure that the guards won't mind if we 'borrow' their keys for a few minutes."

Fortunately the rhino guard that was actually moving proved to be the perfect target for Sly, as he and Carmelita moved to an area that would allow the guard to walk by without noticing them, before he emerged from his hiding spot and approached the guard. Carmelita watched as Sly used the head of his cane and pulled out the coins that were tucked away in his back pocket, collecting them before they even touched the ground, before he gave one final tug on the pocket, where the key came free and he grabbed it. Carmelita had to admit that she was impressed by Sly's skills, something that she had constantly thought about over the years she had chased him, before he beckoned her to follow him over the various grow beds for Rajan's spice, where she did so and found them standing near the back of the second guard. It wasn't hard for her to guess what Sly wanted her to do, as she had seen him do it and knew what he had said a few seconds ago... though she mentally sighed as she snuck up on the guard, braced herself for what she was about to do, and used one of her miniature canes to yank out the coins that were in the guard's pocket.

A few tense seconds later, however, the second key came out of her target's pocket and she grabbed it before it could hit the ground and alert the guards to their presence, to which she and Sly approached the control panel and inserted the keys into their locks... before they pulled the switch and let the half of the Heart drop to the ground, where a miniature shockwave knocked the guards onto their backs and put them in an unconscious state for now.

"Looks like spice won't be growing around here anytime soon." Carmelita commented, though even as she spoke Sly picked up the half of the Heart that was in front of them with a smile on his face, to which she smiled as well, because this put them one step closer to stopping Rajan and his cohorts.

With half of the Clockwerk Heart in hand the two of them left the area of Rajan's operation that they were in and made their way back to the hideout to give the others the good news, and then they could focus on the final missions they needed to complete before they shut Rajan down for good... and then they could begin the hunt for the next Clockwerk part and the Klaww Gang member that stole it.

Comments

[Kamen rider yokai]

well looks like sly is catching on to neyla and hope he brings it up to the others at the hideout before they face rajin. and no offense but i think neyla knows it’s carmeletia. knowing that laura croft expy she would memorize carmelita’s scent and recognize it. she did after all say she knew gilda was there by that after all.

[Blackdrag-rose]

9004685 You'll have to wait and see what happens in the next chapter... cause it's going to be slightly different than the canon events that happened in the games.