Sly Cooper: Family of Thieves

by Blackdrag-rose

Band: Contessa's Castle

Sly and the gang were quick to decide that the time for payback was now, before something happened to the Contessa and caused her to disappear, because there was one thing he was interested in recovering from her, regardless of whether or not she had a Clockwerk part in her possession. Carmelita was missing, the gang knew that the moment Bentley overheard their target speaking when he was looking for information on Sly and Murray, back at the prison, and the only place she could be is somewhere inside the Contessa's castle. Secretary Sen, who Bentley sent a message to so he could be aware of their movements, even confirmed that the Contessa had retreated to her castle, the well-fortified gothic nightmare that would make any lesser thief run in terror, while also informing them that Interpol had figured out that the Contessa had the Clockwerk Eyes in her possession. Sly knew those eyes well, as the Thievius Raccoonus described the eyes as stopping the ancient owl's opponents dead in their tracks, transfixed in their gaze, though it doesn't take a genius to figure out what an accomplished hypnotist could do with such powerful and dangerous artifacts.

The unfortunate news was that someone had spread the news of the Contessa's corruption throughout Interpol, where Secretary Sen assured them that he had no part in revealing that news to anyone, but at the same time they knew it had to be Neyla's doing, as she seemed to know more than she was revealing. Constable Neyla, being closest to the case since Carmelita was missing, was actually granted a cash allowance to hire an army of local mercenaries, no doubt on the orders of Director Barkley. That told them that they were walking into a full-scale war, between Neyla and the Contessa, but they all knew that they had to act now before things went from bad to worse. As such Bentley managed to find them a decent building that was large enough for them to use as their base of operations, though at the same time they had to be careful because Neyla had tanks patrolling the area around the bank and the part of the city that was right outside the Contessa's castle. Despite the fact that Gilda, Derpy, and Diz could easily find the clue bottles and the treasures in the area, they opted not to do that and simply bought some paragliders for the future.

Once they were ready Sly headed outside with Gilda and Derpy, letting Diz spend some time with Bentley and Murray while they did some research on the area, before the three of them jumped over to the building that was across from the bank and stopped when they reached the mission beacon that Bentley had left for them.

"Okay guys, here's the plan." Bentley said, to which their binocucoms stared at the castle that was in front of them while he spoke, though Sly noticed a tower that seemed important since it was all alone, "First, I need you to take some recon photos around the area, then you should make your way up to the Re-education Tower."

"Looks... pleasant enough." Sly commented, though at the same time that sounded like the place where the Contessa would lock up someone like Carmelita, and if that was true he hoped that he could find some way to get her out of there before the Contessa succeeded in hurting her more than she already has.

"Oh, and I know that you don't need to be told this, but stay clear of tanks." Bentley informed them, knowing that if it came to it both Gilda and Derpy could smash the tanks with their magic, something that even Diz could do, "You know, so you don't get blown up into little sticky pieces."

The first thing that they took a picture of was of the bank itself, where Bentley informed all three of them that Secretary Sen had been given information on Neyla's operation and that the bank was Neyla's headquarters, meaning that it might become one of their targets in the near future. From there they descended to a walkway that was near the water and found a boat patrolling the water, one that happened to belong to the Contessa from what Bentley said when they snapped a picture of it, while also determining that it might be a useful way to get across the gap without crossing over the bridge that was above them. After getting those two pictures the three of them used the boat to cross over into the Contessa's territory, where they made their way to the Contessa's tanks were patrolling and snapped a picture of them as well, to make sure they had a sense of their target's armory. At the same time Derpy took a picture of the blimp that their target had used to escape them back at the prison, just so Bentley had a picture of it in case he came up with a way for them to use the blimp against the Contessa.

When they had those four photos taken, and had a good idea of what they were up against, Bentley reminded them to take a look at the re-education tower, though to get up there they had to use some well placed walkways that were incorporated into the designs of the castle and some spider silk jump pads to reach the front door... only for them to discover that the front door of the tower was actually locked, which made sense if the Clockwerk Eyes were located inside the tower itself. Fortunately there happened to be an alternate route to reach the top of the tower, as there was a hook they could latch onto that was to the right of the door and a pipe that went all the way to the only window that was attached to the tower. The moment they reached the area around the window Sly carefully opened it up and they slipped inside the top of the structure, though after taking a few steps they came to a stop as they took in the situation that was playing out right in front of their eyes. As they suspected the Contessa was hiding away at the top of the tower, with the Clockwerk Eyes attached to some sort of machine, while she was being guarded by some vulture guards with pointed helmets for some reason... and capturing Sly's attention was Carmelita, who was strapped to a wooden table with the power of the Eyes being directed at her and her mind.

"Bentley, there's more than just the Clockwerk Eyes up here." Gilda quietly said, as she didn't want to make a lot of unnecessary noise at the moment, not when they wanted to survey the situation, get some pictures, and then come up with a game plan to get rescue Carmelita and get the Clockwerk Eyes.

"Why are you doing this?!" Carmelita asked, where Sly, Gilda, and Derpy noticed that someone had taken the effort to change her back into her thief attire, where the pack containing the rest of her stuff was on a nearby table, just out of her reach, "Neyla, she set me up, I'm an honest cop!"

"Honest?" Contessa asked, as if she found something funny about the word, while at the same time her guards seemed to glance at each other for a moment, as if they were thinking whatever she was thinking, though at the same time the trio noticed there was a hint of anger in her voice, "Carmelita Fox, the moment you came into contact with Sly Cooper, and didn't arrest him like you should have, you stopped being an 'honest cop'. You had this coming to you the moment you failed your job."

"Why are you doing this to me?" Carmelita asked again, showing that, despite the fact that the Clockwerk Eyes were being used on her, she still had control over her mind and was fighting off the hypnosis that the Contessa was throwing at her, but they knew it was only a matter of time until she cracked.

"Because, despite your corruption, you are honest and there are those at Interpol that still believe in you." Contessa replied, to which she focused on the panel that was in front of her, showing that she would answer the question while she worked on whatever she was working on, "You see, by assisting the Cooper Gang you learned too much about the Klaww Gang and its spice operation. It was only a matter of time before one of you found out that I was a secret member... so when Neyla gave me the chance to put all of you in custody I took it. Besides, the members of your gang that weren't captured raided my prison, I've been ousted as a member of the Klaww Gang, and I couldn't break anyone with the time given to me... so, at the very least, I'll focus my efforts on you."

"You're a disgrace to Interpol!" Carmelita shouted, showing her disgust that one of her fellow officers of the law could actually be persuaded to join a gang of criminals, true villains that were seeking some goal that no one was aware of at the moment, "I swear that the moment I'm free from these bindings I'll take you out and make sure you suffer for what you have done to me and the Cooper Gang."

"Whatever you say my dear." Contessa said, also revealing that she honestly didn't care for Carmelita at all, as if all she saw was a corrupt cop and nothing else, which caused Sly to growl for a moment, "I'm afraid that your life, let alone what you called your 'life's work', isn't going to last much longer. Once I integrate the Clockwerk Eyes into this device your 'life's work' will be whatever I tell you."

"I won't be brainwashed that easily." Carmelita stated, where she continued her struggle against the bindings on her wrists and ankles, indicating that she wasn't about to give up on freeing herself, though at the same time Sly was sure that he saw a lone tear run down the side of her face.

"Quite right, it won't be easy... or painless." Contessa replied, though that was when a light smile graced her face for a moment, as if the notion of inflicting such a torment on someone was part of the process that she enjoyed the most, "But I will reprogram your mind and you will take the fall for me at Interpol. Now, just lay back and relax, go to your happy place and stay there... forever."

"I don't think they've seen you guys yet." Bentley commented, speaking into their ears the moment the Contessa and Carmelita stopped talking, though he was also quiet enough so that his voice didn't echo in the area that the siblings were standing in, "Take a few photos and get out of there."

"No... we can't leave now." Sly stated, as his eyes were fixed on Carmelita, because he could only imagine the pain that the Contessa was inflicting upon her in an attempt to break her mind and transform her into someone that she wasn't, while robbing him of the person he loved with all his heart, "We have to help Carmelita, she's in trouble!"

"Sly, there's nothing you, Gilda, and Derpy can do right now!" Bentley stated, though he knew that it had been a mistake to send Sly into the re-education tower, since there was always the chance that Carmelita would be located there as well, "Get the recon photos and come back to the safe house... I swear, we'll find a way to help her."

Sly stood there as Gilda and Derpy took the photos of everything that seemed of importance to them, though he simply stared at Carmelita and hoped that whatever plan they came up with would allow them to act quickly, because he hated seeing her like this. From the photos they took the trio was able to learn that the computer terminal on their side of the metallic grate was hotwired into the tower's systems, and that Bentley stated that they had to find a way to switch it's power back online. Carmelita herself was being tied down to an Irontech 2-50, even though it looked like a wooden table with some metallic cuffs attached to it, while she was being watched over by the Shadow Guard, the Contessa's elite soldiers based on the information Secretary Sen sent them when Bentley informed him that they were going after the Contessa once more. The real surprise came from what the Clockwerk Eyes were attached to, an evil and indestructible machine called a Mind Shuffler, something that Mz. Ruby had briefly mentioned when she spoke of dark magic, which meant that she might know a way to destroy it... or at the very least the books that she gave them might hold the key they were looking for.

With the pictures taken, and they were sure that they had everything they needed, the sisters started to move out of the re-education tower so they could head back to the safe house, though Sly cast one last look at Carmelita, for now anyway, before following his sisters outside so they could begin the trek back to Bentley, Murray, and Diz.

---

Upon their return to the safe house Bentley informed them that the moment he learned that there was a Mind Shuffler involved in this operation, and knew how dangerous it was, he sent an email to Secretary Sen and asked if he knew a method to get rid of such a thing. Unfortunately the Secretary didn't have that sort of information, but Mz. Ruby, who he went to speak to once he learned what the Contessa had in her arsenal, revealed the exact specifics on how to properly destroy such a device, and it didn't require needing the ability to channel magic to do so. Mz. Ruby informed them, via an emergency video conference that the Secretary set up for them, that the only way to destroy a Mind Shuffler, after confirming that it was the machine in question when she was shown the picture, was with something called a Bad Mojo Bomb. The only way to create such a powerful bomb was to drain bad mojo from several runoffs, using a semi-magical device called a Bad Mojo Collector, where Mz. Ruby said that in a castle like the one the Contessa owned, with as old as it had to be, there had to be several crypts that contained the necessary energy for the task... along with the collector they needed to create the bomb in question.

Once they had the information they needed and thanked Mz. Ruby for helping them, where she said it was a pleasure since she missed working with them every week, the conference call was disconnected and Bentley explained the rest of the first stages of their plan; where Murray would kidnap the head of security for the castle, while at the same time Sly would use some long dead ghosts to freak out Neyla and force her to purchase some additional firepower.

The moment they understood what they needed to do Murray, accompanied by Diz, headed out of the safe house and started the journey into the castle, though they used the boat that Sly, Gilda, and Derpy had spotted so they could get to their destination without being spotted so quickly. While they did that they spotted both Gilda and Derpy take off from the safe house as well, as they were heading out to collect all the clue bottles and treasures while the skies were still clear, as part of Bentley's plan, if it worked, would bring in some planes that would dominate the sky for Neyla's forces. Fortunately the guards didn't catch them as they found a ramp that would take them up to the upper levels of the castle, before allowing them to jump over to the roof area that had the mission beacon attached to it, where they pulled out their binocucoms and let Bentley brief them on the mission.

"Murray, Diz, can either of you see the General from where your standing?" Bentley asked, as his math indicated that they should be standing someplace that gave them a good view of the person he needed to talk to, provided that he was out on patrol like he was supposed to be.

"Nope." Murray replied, though even as he said that he spotted an older bat guard walking up the same ramp they had walked up a few moments ago, making him wonder if they had been spotted when they walked up it, "Just an old man coming up the ramp."

"Don't let his appearance fool you." Bentley said, his tone indicating that many people who met this eye were fooled by his appearance, or at least that was what all the reports said, "That's General Clawfoot, and he's one the toughest old soldiers you'll ever see... not to mention head of castle security."

"He's the head of security?" Diz asked, to which she put down her binocucom and stared at the elderly guard, as she was curious as to why they needed the information that he had, but she guessed that Bentley would tell her and Murray that when they brought General Clawfoot back to the safe house, "Well, we'll just have to be careful when we beat up him, otherwise this operation will be a bust."

"Oh, don't worry about that. He's only afraid of two things: fire and water." Bentley replied, revealing another bit of information that Secretary Sen must have given him, which in turn helped them out in the long run, "Other than that, neither of you could hurt him even if you wanted to. He might even come in handy along the way... as a projectile."

"Wow, that is handy." Murray commented, as he had several thoughts about using guards as weapons like that, and had done so a few times in the past, but this was the first time he was being allowed to actually do something like this with such an important guard.

With the mission fresh in their minds both Murray and Diz headed over to where General Clawfoot was patrolling and approached him from behind, where Diz used her cane and pulled his feel out from under him, allowing Murray to swoop in and grab the general. The moment he was holding the general, and the two of them started moving back towards the safe house, General Clawfoot started to struggle and made some noise, causing the guards to come and investigate what was going on. Diz, fully prepared for this situation since this was the reason she came along with Murray, used her cane to knock out the guards when they came running, sometimes even going invisible and attacking them from behind to make it seem like the ghosts in the area didn't care for them or the rest of the Contessa's forces. Fortunately the guards weren't expecting someone like her to be there, as sometimes some of them stared at her as she faded in and out of reality with her invisibility power... before she knocked them out and left them to tell the Contessa why they had fallen asleep on the job and let their general get kidnapped, if she even heard about this event.

When they reached the front of the castle, where the bridge between the Contessa's territory and Neyla's territory was located, Diz knocked out the guards that were advancing on Murray and opened the way for him to move forward, to which the two of them quickly crossed the bridge, avoided the spotlights, and bypassed the tanks... where they made their way to the safe house, where Bentley was waiting for them with a feather in his hand.

"Well, well... General Clawfoot, we've got a lot to talk about." Bentley said, though at the same time Murray tossed the General at the floor and stunned him, allowing Bentley to do whatever he had planned to get the information he needed for them to move forward, "You wouldn't by chance know the security codes to the castle gates? Hmmm? Don't feel like talking huh? How about a little of this?"

It was in that moment that Bentley used the feather and started tickling the General in multiple places all over his body, causing an immediate reaction from the General, one that neither Murray or Diz were expecting when their friend started asking for information.

"Ha ha ha... drack! Ho ho, ha ha ha!" General Clawfoot laughed, revealing that his one weakness was being tickled, which was an extremely strange weakness when the duo thought about it, but that didn't stop Bentley from continuing his 'interrogation'.

"Talk you scoundrel!" Bentley stated, to which Murray and Diz sat down nearby and watched, as they were sure that he would tell them when he had the information he needed, while at the same time giving Sly and the others a chance to do their mission.

"Ha Ha, Oooo Ha ha Fwah! Ho-Ho-ooooooo!" General Clawfoot chuckled, to which Murray and Diz sighed, as they both predicted that it was going to be some time before Bentley got what he wanted from the General, so he could move out and start forging the Bad Mojo Bomb Mz. Ruby had told them about.

They were sure that Mz. Ruby wouldn't steer them wrong, not after she had assisted three of them learn how to use magic over a two year period, though they would see how effective the bomb actually was... once they had completed the other missions that Bentley had planned for them.

Comments

[badninja]

I hope they are able to save Carmelita in time. I don't think she is going to have an easy time coming up.