"Okay, Sly, I need you to go out and get those radio tags we talked about earlier so that we can set up an array around Jean Bison's house." Bentley told the raccoon.
"Don't get mauled by the bears." Rae said jokingly, flashing a smirk, as she had done before.
"You know, you've been rather snarky recently." Sly quirked.
"Yeah, and?"
"It's just...that's not really your style."
"What can I say? You're rubbing off on me." She smirked with a small gesture before resting her cheek on her fist.
"That right?"
"I guess so."
"Okay, okay, you two can do this later. Sly, you really need to go, we're running out of time." Bentley quickly intervened.
"Alright, alright, chill out, I'm going." He said, making his leave so he wouldn't get chewed out anymore than he already had.
When Sly had exited the Safe House into the cold winter of Canada, he made his way toward his mission. Just as he was nearing a cave, however, his binocucom went off, taking it out to see Rae was contacting him, which made the raccoon smirk. "Oh? So you're filling me in on my mission?"
"Don't get any ideas. Bentley wanted to work on some more plans and I offered to take his place, nothing more."
"Heh... Nice hot and cold attitude you've got there, Vixen."
"I don't even wanna know what you're implying..." She huffed. "In any case, the wild bears in the area seemed to have been tagged with radio tracking devices--"
"Why exactly?" Sly interrupted.
"I don't know, nor do I want to either, now stop interrupting me." The fox huffed again, Sly chuckling.
"Okay, fine." He grinned slyly. "Continue, m'lady."
She sighed, deciding not to argue as she continued. "Anyway, if you can snag enough of those tracking devices, we should be able to set up a receiver array around Bison's house. And before you get any ideas, by "we," I mean "you.""
"Well, I'm always up for buggin' someone's home."
"Before you can do that though, you'll have to crawl into that nearby bear cave to get those devices."
"I'm on it." He sent her a wink before disconnecting.
The raccoon stuffed his binocucom away before heading down to the cave, crawling in through the small opening past the rocks in the way. Once into the cave, however, his binocucom went off again, excited to speak with his beautiful fox. "Okay, so the radio transmitters have been, for whatever reason, tagged inside the bears' mouths. You'll have to sneak up to them and grab the devices while they're yawning."
"Sounds "safe"."
"Just please, be careful..."
"I'm a thief, honey, it's what I do."
"Oh, and stay clear of the thin, crackly ice; walking on it is sure to wake those bears, and I don't even wanna think about what they'll do if you wake them up."
"I'll keep that in mind." The two then disconnected.
After putting his binocucom away, Sly began his mission. He leaped over a small section of ice, being careful not to step on it before approaching the first bear. He stood there for a long moment, until the bear started yawning, quickly reaching in and grabbing the transmitter. The raccoon grinned proudly, but he still had five more to go, stuffing the first in his pouch. The second was rather simple, hopping over a small section of ice and over to the next bear as he grabbed that device. The third was a little bit easier since there wasn't much ice around this bear, grabbing this transmitter without a problem. The next one, however, was a bit trickier. Sly hopped onto the small points of some stalagmites to bypass the ice, but this bear was facing away from him. Well, this is just ducky... It was then Sly noticed a sheet of ice on the wall above, smirking a bit. He quickly changed his cane into two smaller ones before making his way up the ice, trying to be as careful as possible. When he reached the end of the ice, the raccoon leapt down, grabbing this transmitter once the bear yawned and adding it to the rest. He then made his way back up the ice. However, just as he hopped down, his foot slipped in a small puddle of melted ice, and he started falling backwards with no way of stopping himself. Suddenly though, he felt something, or someone, grab onto his shirt collar. Taken aback, the ringtail glanced over only to see his lovely fox had saved the day.
"You clumsy oaf..." She scolded, pulling him back up as Sly gave a soft sigh in relief.
"Am I glad you're here... Thanks for that, Rae."
"I couldn't trust that you wouldn't screw this up, especially since you're not really the subtle type sometimes..."
"I'm a thief, subtle is kinda my job."
"That didn't look subtle to me."
"I slipped, sue me."
Rae just rolled her eyes, but flashed a smirk. "You may be a giant idiot and a teasing jerk, but at least your my raccoon."
"And there's the hot and cold attitude again."
"I have a tendacy to do that, sue me." She retaliated.
"I can't, because, honey, you're priceless." He winked, the fox smirking again.
"Heh... Alright, fine, I'll take that." She replied. "But in any case, how far did you get before almost screwing yourself over?"
"Four."
"So two more then?"
"As far as I know."
"Then why don't you stand there and look pretty while I show you how it's done."
"Well then by all means, be my guest." The raccoon gestured sarcastically, but smirked regardless.
Rae tossed her hair off her shoulder as she turned, easily passing the scattered sections of ice. Once the bear gave a yawn, she reached in and grabbed the transmitter, tossing it over to Sly. "One down, one to go." She said, approaching another ice wall.
Rae switched her cane into two smaller ones before beginning her ascent on the ice wall, Sly following after as the observer. He watched as the fox climbed across the ice wall, gracefully landing once on the other side as she sent him a smirk. When the final bear gave a big yawn, she easily snatched the transmitter up, tossing it in her hand with the other placed on her hip.
"And that, Ringtail, is how it's done. Take notes." She winked this time, Sly sarcastically clapping his hands.
"Nicely done, now toss it over."
"Hmm... How about no."
"I'm sorry, but what was that now?" Sly questioned.
"You heard me, I said "no." Instead, why don't you bring your sweet ass over here and take it from me."
"I thought I was supposed to just stand here, and I quote, "look pretty"?"
"Yeah, and now I want you to come over here and take this thing from me. I'm sure someone of your athletic ability can manage that, right?"
"Alright, fine, but you asked for it." Sly said before climbing along the ice wall.
However, just as he landed, ready to take the transmitter from Rae, she moved away, perching on the point of a small stalagmite before latching her cane onto the nearby wall hook, flinging herself onto the other hook suspended above the cave. She then swung herself, detaching her cane as she flipped onto flat ground, giving another smirk.
"Now you're just playing hard to get." Sly places a hand on his hip, but still held his sly grin.
"Am I now? Then why don't you get over her and teach me a lesson?"
"Oh, I very well intend to." He said before following after the fox.
When he landed on the other side of the ice, he walked up to the fox until they were face to face. She held her hand out, the final transmitter in her palm. Sly reached for the device, until he instead, grabbed her wrist, yanking the fox forward as their chests collided, both still holding their smirks. "You're one special fox, Vixen."
"Oh, I'm aware."
"And you're all mine..." He then purred into her ear, giving it a small nip.
Rae flinched slightly, but gave a purr in response. "And that's why I love you, Sly Cooper." The fox then pulled away, handing him the transmitter. "Now then, if you'll excuse me, I'll be heading back for the Safe House now."
"Aww, you're leaving already?" Sly teased.
"If you wanna be with me that badly, then don't take too long to finish this job. You know where to find me, so until then, I'll be on my way." The fox then crawled out of the cave.
Once Rae was gone, Sly gave a small chuckle. "That girl... Just how hard have I fallen for her?" He wondered out loud before he too exited the cave.
"Before I forget, there are certain waypoints you need to place the transmitters at, but they're marked in your binocucom, just letting you know." Sly heard on his ear.
"Noted. I'll make sure to remember that."
"Then I'll see you back at the Safe House, Cooper."
"Right back at ya, Vixen." He replied, but heard a chuckle in response this time before being disconnected.
Sly took each transmitter and went around the area, placing them where he was supposed to. It was then he noticed the bear, and even though it didn't seem like it could see very well, he made sure to try and avoid it, just in case he got too close and it did see him. It didn't take too much longer to place all the remaining transmitters around the area. Once the final one was placed, he heard a familiar voice in ear, but not the one he was hoping for.
"Nice work, Sly. The array is up and running."
"What, no sly fox to give me the praise?" He smirked.
"She's in the shower, so no, I had to do it."
"Then in that case, I'll be heading back now."
"You do that..." Bentley then disconnected.
The raccoon smirked at the twisted ideas that popped in his head as he quickly raced back to the Safe House, for obvious reasons. When he entered the hideout, he noticed Bentley preparing another slide show and Murray sitting on the couch, but no Rae, though he had an idea he knew where she was. "Rae's in her room if you're looking for her, but I suggest you wait until she comes out herself."
"Now what kind of man would I be if I left my precious fox all alone?" He quirked, Bentley rolling his eyes.
"It's your funeral..."
The snarky raccoon approached Rae's room, quietly opening the door, but that didn't mean she didn't hear him. "Ever heard of knocking?"
"Of course I have."
"Then you should try doing it sometime." She said while searching for her thief outfit, or at least the one she used while they were in the cold.
Rae had just gotten out of the shower, wearing nothing but a towel around her body and the other wrapped her hair. Sly approached the fox, but she turned to him before he could do anything. "Nice try, Ringtail, but I'm not gonna make this so easy for you."
"Aww, but why not?" He pretended to pout.
"Because easy just isn't your style, and I think it's my turn to tease you for a change." She then grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind herself. Sly then reached for the door handle, until her voice sounded from behind. "Don't even think about it."
He chuckled. "Alright, fine, have it your way."
"I very well intend to."
"Well, to be fair, it's not like there's anything I haven't already seen."
"You never saw me without any clothes at all, so there is still some things you haven't seen yet, which is why I'll let your imagination run wild with that."
"Not that you leave any for me to begin with."
"You're missing the point..."
"Oh no, I got it." He smirked, which Rae could tell from his snarky tone.
"Uh-huh..."
____________________________________
"After reading through the log chopping guide, it's become painfully clear to me that in order to win in the Lumberjack Games, we'll have to cheat." Bentley informed everyone once they were gathered around for his slideshow.
Sly smirked. "I like this idea already." He then felt Rae swat his arm, giving a laugh when she muttered "smartass" jokingly.
Bentley rolled his eyes, as he usually did at Sly's comments. "Anyway, I've constructed a plan that hinges around us acquiring an eagle's egg, which is more difficult than you'd think. First, Murray needs to lure a bear into taking out the local oil mains. Once destroyed, the pressurized oil should ignite and create updrafts, which Rae will then use to paraglider over to the eagle's nest, grab an egg, and then head back to the Safe House." He explained. "Thanks to Murray's undercover work in the RC Combat Club, we've learned that the Northern Lights Battery is hidden in a silo nearby. The battery needs some serious modification if we're gonna hide inside it to sneak into Arpeggio's blimp. First, we'll short the battery with grapple lines on local boats, then we'll all break into the lighthouse and sever the power supply to the battery that way it won't recharge. Given my electro-engineering background, this plan has a 97% chance of success, pretty good, huh?"
Everyone just raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, d-don't give me that look! This'll work, I just know it!"
"Not saying we're doubting you, Bentley, but that picture of me getting electrocuted doesn't exactly help your case." Sly retorted.
"I only put that in there for emphasise."
"Mm-hmm... Okay, Bentley, whatever you say." Sly joked, Rae elbowing him this time, but still flashed a small grin, muttering a "shut up" this time.
"Let's just get to work..."
____________________________________
Murray head out for his mission, but just as he was nearing the old bear, his binocucom was going off, Sly trying to contact him. "If we're gonna get an eagle egg, you'll first have to destroy all the local oil mains."
"It looks pretty sturdy... 'The Murray' is strong, but his fists can't punch through metal."
"No problem." Sly waved it off. "See that old bear down there? His name is Grizzle Face; the guards ignore him because he's blind and practically nerve dead, except for his sense of smell. If that old guy smells fish, there's no stopping him. Use Grizzle Face to take out the oil mains."
"But I don't smell like fish, do I? How can I lure him around?"
"Bentley's taken up a post along the river. He'll keep tossing bombs in the river and the fish should get blown sky high. Plenty should land near your position."
"So, let me see I got this: You want me to throw a fish at the oil mains so that old Grizzle Face will knock 'em apart?"
"That's the idea." He replied. "You might even try throwing fish at the guards; might improve their odor." The raccoon chuckled before disconnecting.
Murray stuffed his binocucom away before glancing up, first at the oil main then the bear. It was then an explosion went off behind him, a fish landing right next to him. The hippo gave a small shrug before picking the fish up and throwing it as hard as he could at the first oil main. A second later, Grizzle Face was at the steel contraption, tearing it apart with ease, but it's not the first time a bear has had to rip things up for the gang.
"Nice. That's one oil main down. Now, lead Grizzle Face to the next one." Sly said in his ear.
Murray went on his way, heading for the next one, another fish landing right beside him as he picked it up and threw it at the machine. Not even minutes later did the old bear show up and rip this one to pieces. The pink hippo continued do this for the remaining two, Grizzle Face tearing them apart one by one until there were no more left. Murray then gave a proud grin now that his mission was complete.
"Solid work, Murray. Now that the oil lines are exposed, Rae's all set up for a paragliding job off the lighthouse." Bentley said through the earpiece.
"It was nothing before 'The Murray'." He grinned happily.