It had started as just a rumor in the realm of Paris's seedy underbelly, a private collector of valuable jewelry was placing one of of their most valuable pieces on display in a private gallery for just a few weeks. According to the gossip across Thief.net the item in question was a flawless diamond the size of a clenched fist, although the size of the fist in question was up for debate. Regardless this story soon reached the ears of the Cooper Gang of thieves, currently consisting of just the main three of Bentley, Murray, and of course Sly Cooper himself. The trio were coincidentally in France at the time, and so decided to check out the place to see if it was worth it.
As it happened the security during both the day and night was heavy, guards everywhere not just for the gem itself but also for the limited VIP's who were allowed to come and look at the displayed treasure. There was soon a bit of a debate in the gang of if it was worth trying to swipe or not, with Sly being all for it for the challenge, Bentley not being so sure it was worth the risk and Murray on the fence. In the end it came down to there being no other major jobs coming up soon for the trio, so they might as well take the opportunity. A week of observations and digging up the blueprints and schematics for the building later and at last a plan was made.
Seated in front of the large monitor displaying all of the relevant slides, Bentley began. “Alright Sly, Murray, here is what we are working with. The security during the day is far too attentive and active to even try making an approach, so our best time to strike is during the night.” A click as the slide advanced to pictures of the building the diamond was stored in advanced. “After running through the specs of the security system and guard rotations, I noticed a few key weaknesses. While the patrols outside of the building are fairly tight, I think we can find a few weakpoints or distract key people to make our way inside. There are no guards in the main gallery itself, so once we get in we only have to deal with the classic laser tripwires and security cameras, as well as a pressure sensor around the case overtop of the target.”
Here Murray was nodding along, while Sly couldn't help but quip “Nothing we haven't handled before, what's the catch?”
Bentley ruefully and bemusedly shook his head, continuing “You always do have a sixth sense for these complications. The sensor used for the case can be tricked by not fully removing the glass off of the pedestal, even leaving one edge on it would be enough to keep from tripping it if you were careful, and the security cameras can be hacked by yours truly to loop and be unable to see us. The problem is that this is a new building, and that has some complications.” The slide clicked to the blueprints of the building, in particular its room layout and ventilation. “All of the entrances are guarded extra securely, and our usual secondary infiltration points of the vents and sewers are not viable. The building was built with its vents too small to normally travel through, even for me, and the laser grid at shin height is a nearly solid wall save near the pedestal. Finally the security cameras are all hardwired into a single room in the building and then out of it, so I can't hack into any point but that one terminal. A normal approach is just not going to work.”
Murray was thoughtful for a few moments, before piping up “So, if a normal approach isn't going to work, does that mean we are going to need an ABNORMAL approach?” After he had said it the pink hippo looked a little embarrassed at having spoken up, thinking he might have just sounded not very smart. However his mood improved slightly when Bentley smiled and nodded to his interjection.
“That's exactly right Murray. The problem is that the paths into the building are too small for us, so we are going to fix that problem!” The turtle reached into a pocket on the side of his vest and pulled something out of it to place on the table in the middle of the three thieves, while clicking the slide forwards again. “I was actually inspired by going through my old gadgets looking for a solution when I remembered these, my Size Destabilizer ammo.”
The other two members of the Cooper Gang looked down at the dart on the table in interest and confusion, before returning their gazes to their friend to let him continue to explain. Bentley then did so, elaborating “The vents are so small that they don't have their own security measures installed, so it should be possible for me to rework my Size Destabilizer formula to be a little more long lasting, and then we can literally just walk into the building through the vents. I can still interface with the security system by going to the secure room, while you two enter the main hall. Both of you can fit underneath the laser arrays to reach the podium, and even at reduced size Murray should be strong enough to lift up one side of the glass case to expose the diamond. Sly goes in and grabs it, both of you carry it out across the floor to the ventilation shafts again, and we get out. Any questions?”
Technically there still were a few of them, small details to be gone over such as the routes to be taken, how long the effects would last and how they could grow back and such, but the overall framework was soon accepted by the entirety of the Cooper Gang. Now it was just time to put the plan into action.
-- -- --
In the end between Bentley needing extra time to get the modified shrinking formula just right and Sly making sure that the perimeter guards were moving in predictable and most importantly exploitable patterns the whole operation took longer than had been anticipated. In fact it was the very last night of the display of the diamond, which in a way worked to the Cooper Gangs favor, as the long period of time with no interruptions or problems had gotten the guards to relax even more. At last Sly guided his friends and fellow Gang members through the city streets avoiding all of the patrols, and brought them to the exterior vent that they would use to enter the building.
Giving each of the gang their doses of the modified formula, Bentley reminded them “Now the good news is that while I was not able to remove the time limit on this, the antidote works instantly and is safe and sound just down the street. Even if one of us can't get to it the formula will only last 24 hours, so worse come to worse we can hold out until then. Now lets do this.” With that said all three thieves dosed themselves, and the world expanded around them instantly as they were all reduced to around an Inch tall.
Walking into the vent and fully out of sight, Bentley continued to explain as the trio resumed their mission. “Now one thing that I was not able to test was the effects that the shrinking will have on our communications. We might have some interference once we get further away, so keep an eye out for that as we go along. Now when we reach the first intersection you two go left while I go right. Lets do this!”
A few minutes later everything was going according to plan, Bentley approaching the security room while Sly and Murray were nearly at the central room where the treasure was held. The turtle reached his destination first as was planned, but even if he was delayed slightly none of the cameras were pointed at the floor and so none could spot the other two thieves as they made their way towards the prize. Bentley arrived at the end of the vent, located high on the wall over the computer bank ready to start his climb down, only to hit a major snag.
The security room was supposed to be empty, the computer meant to just take in all of the camera feeds and then send them off to a secondary location. However instead the room was occupied, and by just about the worst possible person imaginable to the Cooper Gang member: Inspector Carmelita Fox!
The most adamant hunter of the Cooper Gang/person of interest to Sly was seated at the computer desk, intently looking over the feeds with no small amount of frustration. She was wearing her usual blue pants and shirt topped with a yellow jacket, her long blue hair streaming out behind her head. With a sigh the fox suddenly spoke, saying out loud “Ugh, last night and he still hasn't taken the bait. Darn that Cooper, I go to the trouble to set up this fake target for him that he shouldn't be able to resist, and he is a no show.”
This was highly alarming news to the thief, and he felt a thrill of panic overcome him. This whole thing was a sting operation targeting the gang, and they were falling right for it! Acting quickly Bentley tried to raise a warning for his friends about the trap, but the distance was too great. The communication channel only gave static as he feared, and before he could do anything else Carmelita reached over to one of the walls and turned a dial. Without warning the turtle was hit with a blast of cool air as the air conditioning was turned on and up, and he was blown clear out of the vent and towards the woman below.
The inspector gave an aggravated scratch of her hair and seemed to deflate slightly, not noticing a small green speck come from above to just barely miss her hand and plunge down into her blue locks. “Maybe our intelligence that he was in the country was wrong. Well no sense in continuing this farce, I might as well pull the plug.” Getting up Inspector Fox turned and began to walk out of the room, bringing with her Bentley hopelessly tangled up and lost deep in the forest of her slightly messy blue hair.
As this was happening Murray and Sly had made their way underneath the laser detection grid and had climbed up the side of the pedestal that the diamond was located on, and the hippo was preparing for his job. Bending over at the side of the glass wall Murray slipped his hands in underneath it, and with a grunt of exertion lifted the edge up and allowed Sly to slip inside, while he lifted it up higher to allow the gem to be moved underneath it as well. The raccoon thief then moved over to the side of the precious gem, about to start pushing it, when he paused. Something was wrong here, the diamond was right in front of him, and yet the luster was...wrong somehow. A second look with his eye for valuables confirmed it, this was NOT a diamond. “Murray, we got trouble. The diamond is-”
What Sly was about to say was cut short, as suddenly the lights to the room went on, and the laser grid deactivated. At the same time the door to the room opened up, and both Murray and Sly turned to look just to see Carmelita Fox walking in. This was bad, but the situation got worse as Murray was looking over his shoulder to see who was coming, only in his shock to turn too far and have his grip slip. On instinct he backed away from the now falling wall of glass, but this both left Sly trapped in the case and him falling back over the edge of the podium.
Carmelita had neither seen or heard the glass covering falling back into place, instead being more concerned with grumbling about how this operation had failed to produce results. Irritated the inspector walked right up to the edge of the podium, not noticing her boot landing on top of a pink lump laying semi-insensate on the floor. For his part Murray was both fortunate and unfortunate, as on the one hand he was more or less unharmed. The fall had been long but the robust hippo could take it, and had only been a little stunned by his landing. Even better despite currently being stepped on by the vulpine woman he was still not hurt. The misfortune was that the reason he was unharmed under her was because he was surrounded by a semi-solid pink mass. Simply put a little while before Carmelita had stepped in some chewing gum, and the pink hippo thief was currently stuck in it, not going anywhere anytime soon even when she did step off. He was now stuck to her foot as well after all.
Now the only free member of his gang, not that he knew it and for a given definition of “free” being under a glass case with Inspector Fox approaching, Sly had to think fast. The area under the square case was bare, and he had no time or strength to lift up the heavy glass to get out. His only recourse if he didn't want to be seen straight away was to hide under the only cover available, the false diamond itself. Trying to keep it between him and the officer Sly could only watch as Carmelita came to a stop right next to the podium and lifted the glass out of the way, but since she was looking at the platform he could not run. Then her hand, writ large due to the distortion of looking through the false diamond at it seemed to lunge towards him.
Carmelita Fox reached out and grasped the fake diamond that had been the bait for the trap, picking it up along with a little someone else before replacing the case. Slightly annoyed and upset the officer of the law began to look around the room, idly tossing the gem up and down in one hand into the air again and again. “What a waste of resources this ended up being, and all without so much of a glimpse of that blasted Ringtail.” If the fox had bothered to look at the gem she was tossing up and down in one hand, she might have spotted said ringtail alternately clinging to the fake diamond only to slip off and land in her waiting glove before the gem came down on top of him, and the process repeated.
Not realizing that she literally had Sly Cooper in the palm of her hand and in her grasp like she had often fantasied about, Inspector Fox let out one last sigh of defeat and halted tossing the diamond into the air. Catching it one last time the woman brought it up towards her chest, before placing it over her slightly exposed cleavage. “Well, if nothing else I suppose this could make a good paperweight.” With that said Carmelita pressed the false gem down into her chest to secure it since she didn't have room for it elsewhere in any of her pockets, and turned to walk out of the room.
Sly was having some VERY mixed feelings about his current predicament, unsure of if he actually liked this or not. On the one hand he was very close to Inspector Fox like he had on occasion thought about, and intimately at that, but the situation was not what he was expecting. Usually his thoughts were regarding candle-lit dinners and starry nights, not crushing walls on either side and a crystal skylight above sealing him in. Sly had only just gotten a grip back on the false diamond in time for Carmelita to store it away, and he had slipped off to land in her chest just before she had placed the diamond on top of him and pushed down, forcing him into her cleavage as well.
As he felt the world shake and bounce as Carmelita began to move, Sly Cooper had a few last thoughts. On the positive side, he was still in contact with the rest of his gang, and by the sounds of things while all of them were as equally trapped as he was at least they were all headed to the same place, and were in radio contact with each other. On the negative side all of them were trapped, and they only had 23 hours to get out of this situation and away from Carmelita before some REALLY awkward questions would be asked, that was if they didn't get found and captured before then, a much easier task than usual.
Not to mention that Bentley and Murray were NEVER going to let him live this down.
