Sly Cooper: Family of Thieves

by Blackdrag-rose

Thievius: Prowling the Grounds

Sly, Gilda, and Derpy took turns latching onto the hook that was in front of them and rode it down to the small platform that had been built on top of a small rock formation, though once they were together they crossed over the floating barrels and bits of metal that were between them and the main ship. Directly across from the small platform rested a small boat, a rowboat to be exact, that was simply resting in the water and had a rope hanging above it, one that would allow the siblings to climb up onto the main deck of Raleigh's base of operations. Sly was the first to race across the floating pathway and started climbing the rope the instant he reached the rowboat, though as he reached the rowboat Gilda followed after him and jumped across the pathway as well, despite the fact that she could have flown to the deck of the main ship. As Sly reached the second rope, that would get him to the deck, and Gilda reached the top of the first rope Derpy followed after them and crossed over to the rowboat.

In a few minutes the three of them were standing on the main deck of the boat, to which they discovered that there were small trees scattered everywhere, in addition to more of the thorns they had encountered earlier when they made their way through the first part of Raleigh's hideout, and a fountain that had actual running water... though before any of them could move they heard an intercom start up, indicating that Raleigh was going to speak to his crew.

I say chaps, my heartiest congratulations to you all! The storm machine has sunk its fiftieth ship last night and the loot has already been unloaded. Raleigh said, to which the siblings looked at each other for a moment, as they had no idea that the storm machine had sunk that many ships, but they paid attention to the announcement before they started their recovery operation, Our operation is moving along splendidly, with the possible exception being the gross negligence displayed below decks! I demand the boilers stay at full pressure at all times! If you lazy, low-brow, technically incompetent pack of guttersnipes did your jobs right, we could have sunk a hundred ships by now! But of course, fifty boats is a fine, fine achievement. Carry on, my boys, carry on.

"Why that little..." Gilda said, though that was followed by her taking a deep breath as she calmed her nerves, as she couldn't believe what she and the others had heard, "So all he does is sink ships and salvage the 'loot', though the way he said that makes me think he's just as lazy as he was when he delved into crime the first time... I am going to enjoy breaking his machines, stealing all of his Treasure Keys, and taking back his pages of the Thievius Raccoonus... and maybe beat Raleigh up in the process."

"That's why we're here," Sly stated, as while he shared Gilda's opinion on Raleigh, he also had his own opinions on the frog that had help take out his father all those years ago, before he sighed and looked at his sisters, who turned their attention to him for a moment, "Well, since there are four objectives and three of us, I suggest that we split into teams of two, meaning that two of us head into the same area and whoever is left over goes into an area on their own. Then, when we regroup, we switch the paring up and take out the other two objectives that are left... unless the two of you would rather tackle them all together?"

"No, time is of the essence since Carmelita is on her way with her police buddies," Derpy spoke up, to which she glanced at the opening that a walking squid guard, carrying a flashlight, happened to be patrolling while the three of them were talking, "so, since they're on their way here, we should separate into three groups and tackle three of the four objectives on our own. That would leave the last area for whoever finished their area first, though we should meet up near the generator once we have collected our own Treasure Keys... and, if I'm being honest, I'd like to take that area."

Sly was a little surprised that Derpy was actually suggesting that they split up in such a manner, but at the same time he knew that she spoke the truth, since they had no idea when Carmelita was supposed to arrive with her police force, to which he sighed and simply nodded his head. Gilda thought about it for a moment and silently repeated the gesture, revealing that she was okay with the separation as well, to which Derpy gripped them in a hug for a few seconds before pulling away from them. The two siblings watched as their sister sneaked up the ramp that would take her to the large opening she had been staring at, bypassing the guard in the process, and headed inside, before they sighed and thought about the remaining three locations they had to go through. That was quickly followed by Gilda walking to the left of where they were standing and grinned as she looked at the marker that was near them, indicating that another key was located at the end of the area that she wanted to tackle.

Sly chuckled as Gilda wordlessly entered the area of the boat that she wanted to take out, as he had to hazard a guess that it was the engine room or something similar, to which he headed over to the tower that was near the generator and listened to Bentley explain the specifics of the device in front of him... while at the same time wishing his sisters luck in getting their Treasure Keys and acquiring the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus that Raleigh had hidden in those areas.

---

Gilda approached the strange shaped door that was in front of her and opened it, where she walked into a hallway that had a furnace door that needed to be closed, though her decision to whack it with her cane was more justified when she spotted a clue bottle resting on it. With that in hand she continued forward and knocked out the hammer wielding guard that was blocking her path, before jumping onto a metal walkway as she delved deeper into the area that she had chosen for herself and collected a second bottle. While she followed the path Gilda noticed that this room seemed important to Raleigh's operation in some manner, though she only stopped in her tracks, after taking out a torch guard, when she noticed that Bentley wanted to tell her something.

Gilda, you're in the engine room! Bentley said, though at the same time Gilda smiled as she cracked her knuckles, as this was the room that she had been hoping to find when she picked her own path to take, My analysis tells me that if you trace the spinning crankshaft all the way back to its source, you'll find Raleigh's treasure key and sabotage his machine while you're at it.

When Bentley terminated the connection Gilda continued moving forward, to which she knocked out the guards that were in front of her, crossed over the rising and lowering pistons, and walked around a circular shaft, which allowed her to access a rope that brought her to the top of the shaft. From there she had to walk around the top, collected the bottle that was hiding there, and moved over to the moving metallic shaft that would point her in the right direction, where she smashed two more bottles and a glass hatch before entering a small hallway. Fortunately the torch guard was completely ignoring the path she was coming from, as she was able to knock him out within seconds, before she reached the top of the hallway and found some furnace doors resting on the sides of the room and made a path of sorts to some pipes that rested on the other side of the room.

Gilda smiled as she caused the six bottles that rested on the six furnace doors to fall to the floor beneath her, before collecting the three that were hanging in the air and made sure to smash all of them, where she counted that she had already collected fourteen of them before making her way to the other hatch and continued forward.

It was then that she spotted that the next area she had to go through had spinning blades that seemed to have electricity racing along the edges, though as she observed the area she realized that, if she were to stop when the blades moved through the path in front of her and go when they weren't there, she'd waste precious time on nothing. She knew that Sly would have gone along with the flow, since he didn't have wings, but since she had been born with them it seemed like a shame to not use her wings to her advantage. As such as opened her wings and flapped them for a few moments, to be sure that they were ready to go, before picking herself off the walkway she was on and started following the path that she had to follow... before she reached the end of the path and entered the hallway that was in front of her, where she knocked the guard out and found herself in an identical room to the one that had all of the bottles earlier.

Despite the fact that this room had some alarm beams in place, much like they encountered back in Paris, Gilda managed to collect all the bottles in the area, including the one that rested on the pipes near the end, before knocking out the guard and turning off the alarm... to which she made sure Bentley had the pictures of the clues before she headed towards the exit.

That was when she smiled again, as the new area she had discovered was the actual room that she had been looking for, as all of the rotating pieces of machinery and the heat she was feeling made her realize that this was where the engine was located. She quickly knocked out the guards that were in front of her before she started to collect the bottles in the area, as two rested near the entrance and one rested on the left side of the room, though she sighed as she walked behind the large piece of machinery and found a vault taunting her. Based on what she knew, by the number of bottles she had recovered, that Bentley likely didn't have the code to her vault, but her mood improved slightly as she looked at the other side of the area she was in and spotted a miniature safe that, when she opened it after taking out the nearby guard, contained two bottles.

"I was not expecting that." Gilda said, though as she sent the new clues to Bentley she had something to tell him, as she was sure that Derpy and Sly would be able to use this information as well, if they hadn't found the safes in their own areas anyway, "Hey Bentley, can you tell the others to be on the lookout for small safes that our half our height? They contain two clue bottles and might help them figure out where the other clues are hidden."

"Of course." Bentley replied, though it sounded like he was busy, which made sense considering that the siblings were taking three areas on at the same time and were sending him the clues that they discovered.

Gilda paused as she glanced at the vault once more, as she was sore that she hadn't found all of them yet, before she returned to the other side of the machinery it was hiding behind and used a piston and a hook to reach the top of the large piece of machinery. It was then that her mood improved, as she spotted what had to be the final clue, which was confirmed by Bentley when he told her that he had the combination to the vault in her area, but before she opened it up she latched her cane onto the hook in front of her, causing the part she was hanging onto to surge forward and break several pipes in the process. As the engine stopped spinning, and revealed a path to the core, Gilda pulled her cane back and headed down to the vault, where Bentley told her that the code was 2-2-7 and she input it into the tumblers that were in front of her... where she smiled as she pulled out the page for Old Sally Cooper's Fast Getaway Raccoon Roll technique, to which she gently stored the page in her pack before leaving her family's calling card.

From there she flared her wings and returned to the entrance of the engine's core, where she slammed the furnace doors down and found the case that contained the Treasure Key, to which she collected her second prize and stashed it inside her pack as well... before sighing as she made her way back to the entrance of the area as she wondered if Sly and Derpy had the same luck that she had.

---

"Jackpot." Derpy said, as the moment she entered the area that she had chosen she discovered that both sides of the hallway contained pieces of treasure that had been stolen from the various ships that Raleigh had sunk, some of which could easily pay for all their current operations if they were to sell them off.

One of the things that Sly had taught her and Gilda over the years, in order for them to become master thieves in the future, was to recognize the value in the pieces that he and the others had provided for the sisters to learn the skills necessary for their profession. Fortunately all three of them came equipped with a secondary pack that they could stash treasure, actual treasure and not the Treasure Keys or the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus that they recovered, so Bentley could help sell off what they acquired. As such she carefully walked down the hallway and studied the various pieces that Raleigh had salvaged, not taking anything since the security for this section was still online, before she smiled as she found the alarm system and silenced it... to which she headed back to the entrance and walked down the path again, though this time around she carefully studied the pieces and removed the pieces that had the best value.

Along the way she recovered two clue bottles and found a third near the exit for the hallway, though when she finished gathering treasure her secondary pack was filled to the maximum without weighing her down, to which she focused on the area in front of her... after receiving a message from Bentley, revealing that smaller safes existed and that they held two clue bottles in them.

Fortunately for Derpy the area she chose had a large open area between the floor and the ceiling, to which she chuckled as she opened her wings and floated off the floor, where she explored the area in front of the hallway's exit and noticed that the vault for this area was close to the entrance of Raleigh's treasure trove. She actually found three clues hiding off to the left side of the statue filled area she was flying over and another three to the right side, all of which she collected, along with the two that were in the first safe she discovered. She then discovered four more bottles resting above where the safe was located before she bothered to move forward, where she had to knock out two guards before opening the two additional safes that were on the pathway in front of her. As she did that Derpy noticed that, if she had been a normal thief instead of thief that possessed a pair of wings, she would have to jump over the large lily pads that formed a path to the pipe, which would allow someone to climb up to the area above them.

For her, on the other hand, she simply opened her wings and took to the air once more, though she still followed the path and collected the bottle that was down there, before spotting the alarm that powered the searchlights on the upper area and turned it off... allowing her to collect the remaining clue bottles, only for her to discover that she had twenty-nine of them and Bentley hadn't told her the combination yet.

"Where could the last one be?" Derpy asked herself, though instead of taking the Treasure Key she started flying around the chamber she was in and did her best to discover where the final bottle was resting, which happened to be right behind the area where she found the first safe, "Oh, there you are!"

With the final bottle acquired, and the clue sent off to Bentley for analysis, Derpy flew back to the case that the Treasure Key was resting in and claimed the key for family, before she headed over to where the vault was located and landed near it. A few more seconds ticked by before Bentley informed her that he had the combination, to which he revealed that the code was 4-3-6 and she input it immediately, where she discovered the blueprints for Raleigh's entire operation, where Bentley explained that he could now show her and the others where breakable objects and clues were if they used their binocucoms in the future, at least in Raleigh's area anyway. With that recovered, and she was a little saddened that she didn't acquire a page of the Thievius Raccoonus on her own, she stashed the pages away and replaced it with the calling card like she was supposed to... before heading back towards the entrance, though she paused a few more times to pick a few more pieces up, just to be sure she recovered enough to make this worth it.

---

Sly found that the area of the boat that rested below the tower he had entered, after running on a wheel like it was an exercise machine of some sort, happened to be the power source of the storm machine, while at the same time he found that the main vault was resting near the entrance. He discovered a bottle resting on the top of a furnace and a safe that contained two more bottles off to his left, near the vault, which he collected before having to jump off the second furnace to get the clue that was hanging above it. From there he carefully knocked out the guard that was in front of him and closed the furnace doors that were blocking his path, while collecting two more bottles, before coming to another wheel that he would have to run on. Before he did anything he knocked out the guard that was near the wheel and collected the four bottles that he could see, to which he empowered the wheel and made sure it was going at full speed before latching onto one of the hooks... which took him over to the other side of the room that he was in.

When he reached the other side of the room he knocked out the guard that was standing there, collected a clue bottle, and climbed up the pipe that was in front of him, which allowed him to cross over the gears in front of him and gathered three more bottles that happened to be in his way... before he reached another passage that required him closing some furnace doors so he could reach the next room that this area had.

As he came out the other side of the passage Sly knocked out the two guards that were in front of him, as well as took a moment to collect the four bottles that he could see at the moment, before discovering that a third guard was in the area and was too engrossed in his work to notice that he was even there. Just to be sure that the guard didn't raise an alarm Sly took him out before opening the safe and collecting the bottles inside it, as well as the four bottles that were hiding near some large pieces of coal. Once he had the bottles he turned to the wheel that was in front of him and started running on it, where he had to occasionally jump off it since a searchlight moved on it every now and then, before he eventually caused a large coal boulder to smash through the glass near him, allowing him to access the pathway that would bring him to the Treasure Key. Along the way he collected the last six clues that this area had, or at least that was his hope, before he reached the case that the key was in, which he took with some eagerness before he made his way back to the entrance of this area.

When Sly returned to the vault Bentley informed him that the code was 5-7-9, though as he input the code, and carefully opened the vault, he smiled as he pulled out the page of the Thievius Raccoonus that contained Dev Cooperinda's Slow Motion Jump technique... to which he stashed it away inside his pack and left the calling card, before heading out of the area so he could join his siblings.

---

Gilda waited outside the entrance of the fourth objective, as she wanted to see if her siblings were going to join her for the final area, before she eventually sighed and decided to take care of it herself, because she was sure that there was something inside Derpy's area that was keeping her busy while Sly had some searching to do. When she entered the fourth area she found that there were stacks of books in front of her, meaning that this had to be a library of some kind, along with two clues to her immediate right. As she rounded the corner she spotted that the flooring changed from wood to having an area with a rug over it, though as she walked forward a few rats spotted her and ran forward, only for them to be killed by darts. Those darts had been fired from what she had originally thought had been world globes, which had a dart gun of some kind in the center of them, before they closed once more and assumed their innocent appearance... but, as she considered things, her wings twitched as she discovered something interesting.

Since the dart guns couldn't hit her while she was in the air above them, as that was what she was resting, she landed behind them and smashed them with her cane, before collecting the bottles they had been guarding, knocked out the guard in front of her, and rode the lift down to the area below her... revealing that the area she was walking through was a large library of some kind.

When the lift came to a stop she flapped her wings and flew over the next rugged area and smashed the globes, before she carefully knocked out the guard that was patrolling the area in front of her and collected the bottles from the safe on her right. As she flew around she found a bottle hanging in the air and claimed it, as well as a trio of them that rested on top of a bookcase, before she knocked out the guard and approached the area that had a pair of furnaces, which seemed out of place considering that this was a library. She found six bottles resting around the furnaces, where two happened to be inside a safe, before she flew over the rug and smashed the globes that were there, though Gilda followed that up by collecting three more bottles and rode the lift up to the area above her. As she reached the top she discovered where the vault was located, though instead of following the path by walking she opened her wings and flew along the path.

That involved her smashing the various globes, disabling the alarms, knocking out the lone guard, and collecting the remaining clue bottles that were in this area, as she realized that her binocucom how revealed the location of every clue bottle in an area. She knew that it had to be because either Derpy or Sly had found something that gave them the information, though she wasn't complaining as she collected the remaining clues and let Bentley make the calculations needed to crack the code. A few moments later he informed her that the code was 2-4-2, to which she input the code and unlocked the vault, where she discovered the page containing Chris Cooper's Dive Collection, which was an extension of the Dive technique they recovered earlier. With the page in hand, and the calling card put in place, she returned to where the Treasure Key was located and claimed what she was after, before heading towards the entrance so she could meet back up with her siblings.

---

Sly and Derpy smiled as Gilda emerged from the area that the fourth objective was in, revealing that she must have finished much faster than they had done, before she handed Sly the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus that she had recovered so far. She also noticed that Derpy's secondary pack was missing, where her sister swiftly informed them that she had flown back to the van so she could give Bentley her treasure filled pack, while also telling them of what she found inside the area she had picked. Sly chuckled as they pooled their five keys together and used three of them to unlock the generator, before the three of them smashed the machine and powered down the power tube, allowing them to access the other side of Raleigh's boat. They all knew that the way to the storm machine was located somewhere on the other side of the power tube, to which the three of them moved forward and prepared themselves for whatever else they needed to do to reach Raleigh.

Soon they would be aboard his storm machine and claim his section of the Thievius Raccoonus, and then they could plan out which of his cohorts they wanted to go after next... after they bypassed Carmelita's team and departed from the Isle of Wrath first.

Comments

[Midnight Moon]

Flying OP, plz don't nerf.