Lupin the Third vs. Sly Cooper: Chapter 1

It was a dark, yet beautiful night in the city of Paris. Lights from buildings shone throughout the quite streets and the Eiffel Tower towered over all in the city. However, on this night, a shadowy figure ran from rooftop to rooftop with ease before making a massive leap for another building ahead. The moon shone down on the figure to reveal that the figure was wearing a blue elbow-sleeved shirt, a blue cap, a black mask, blue boots and held a hook-shaped cane. He also had a bushy tail with rings on it and appeared to have a grey fur colour. The figure turned out to be none other than the infamous raccoon thief himself, Sly Cooper. Sly landed on the rooftop before walking to the other side and looking down to see a museum which was closed for the night. He then crouched down and got out a pair of binoculars from his red backpack to observe the museum. Whilst he did that, he heard a male voice coming from the binoculars.

“Sly… Can you read me?” asked the voice.

“Yes Bentley, read you loud and clear” said Sly.

Not too far away, hiding in an alleyway near the museum, there was a light blue van with fire-like markings near the front sides and had a raccoon symbol on the front and sides of the van, the symbol of the Cooper Gang. Inside the van, a turtle with a headset on, sitting in a wheelchair in front of several computer monitors at the back of the van, showing several areas of the museum like the car park and the locations of the security guards. In the driver’s seat, a pink hippo was waiting patiently whilst the turtle worked at the monitors.

“Okay Sly, from what I see, it seems that it is unlikely you’d be able to get into the museum by foot, so you’ll need to find another way in” said the turtle.

“No kidding Bentley, they’ve really cracked up security tonight” said Sly whilst looking through the binoculars at several security guards positioned at different parts of the museum.

“It’s a bit strange don’t you think?” said Bentley.

“How so?” asked Sly.

“Well, the museum’s security seems to be much tighter recently” Bentley replied. “Yesterday, the security was like when we usually rob from museums, but tonight it appears that there are more guards patrolling than usual. Do you think that they suspect that we’re planning on stealing that ruby?”

“Well, it wouldn’t surprise me” said Sly. “We are world famous criminals after all, so of course they would expect someone like us to try and steal a ruby that’s over a hundred years old. I wonder if Carmelita is there as well…”

Sly stopped for a moment, a tint of sadness spread on his face as he thought back to when he last saw the vixen known as Inspector Carmelita Fox. It had been months since he last saw her, but it wasn’t a very pleasant moment.

“Sly, you still there?” asked Bentley, bringing Sly back to reality.

“Huh? Oh sorry Bentley” said Sly.

“You alright Sly?” asked Bentley, with a concerned tone in his voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine” replied Sly. “So how do you think I can get in Bentley?”

“Well, you could climb across those wires which will get you to the museum without being seen by the guards, as long as you don’t get shocked that is” said Bentley.

“Hey, it’s me remember?” replied Sly, with a cocky smirk on his face.

“Yeah, I know” said Bentley. “Once you get near, I’ll hack the museum’s security system, that means you’ll be able to get”.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road” said Sly before jumping on a nearby electrical wire and tightrope walking towards the museum.

In the Cooper Van, Bentley began to get ready to hack the security system. Then, the hippo in the driver’s seat turned around to the turtle.

“You think he still misses her?” asked the hippo.

Bentley stopped typing for a moment.

“It wouldn’t surprise me Murray” replied the turtle. “He hasn’t seen her in god knows how many months and who knows if she ever wants to see him again”.

“It’s a shame really” said Murray. “They were a great couple”.

“Let’s just get back to the job Murray” said Bentley, getting back to typing.

When Sly finally got to the museum, he waited until Bentley finished hacking the security system allowing him to enter the building.

“Okay Sly, I’ve managed to hack their system, you can get in now” said Bentley over the headset.

“Good job Bentley” Sly replied.

The raccoon opened the previously locked window with ease, without making a sound. Once inside, Sly slowly made his way down the hallway, passing many artefacts on the way. He then turned a corner and saw a sign next to an entrance saying.

‘Dei Pulchritudinis’

“I’m nearly there Bentley, soon the ruby will be ours” said Sly through his ear speaker.

“That’s good news Sly, quickly get it before any security guards show up” replied Bentley.

“What does Dei Pul…. Pul….” Murray asked, struggling with the pronunciation.

“Dei Pulchritudinis” Sly cut in. “It means God’s Beauty in Latin”

“Since when did you learn Latin?” asked Bentley.

“Oh, I’ve always made sure to be prepared” replied Sly.

The thief then entered the entrance to the expedition, passing information boards about the ‘Dei Pulchritudinis’. Sly then entered a huge room with a glass display in the middle. He knew that this was where the ruby was and the raccoon slowly made his way towards the display. When he finally got closer, Sly looked to see the hundred year old ruby he and his gang were going to steal from the museum. However, when he looked at the display, expecting to see the ruby, Sly was shocked to discover something very peculiar.

“Uh, Bentley?”

“Yes Sly?”

“You did say that this was where the ruby was right?” asked Sly.

“Yes” Bentley replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I’m at the display and there’s no ruby!” Sly exclaimed. The raccoon was right; the ruby was nowhere to be seen. All there was, was an empty glass display.

“What!” cried Murray.

“B-But that’s impossible!” exclaimed Bentley. “I made sure… there’s no way… it…it should be there!”

“Well it isn’t Bentley!” Sly stated. “But now we need to know what happened to it”

“Well either the museum moved it, or someone got here before you Sly” said Bentley.

Sly was stunned. Someone else had managed to get into the museum and steal the ‘Dei Pulchritudinis’ before he did?

“Well if someone has stolen it before I got here, then why hasn’t the security been alerted yet?” asked Sly.

“That’s what I don’t understand either Sly” Bentley replied. “The security hasn’t been hacked before I touched it and the guards haven’t been alerted yet”

“Then whoever got here managed to bypass the security and steal the ruby before I even got here” said Sly. He was now feeling frustrated, he couldn’t believe that someone had managed to steal the ruby before he did. How could this have happened?

Then, Sly heard something behind him and quickly turned around to see what it was. What he saw was an old looking wolf with a grey moustache. He was wearing what seemed to be a janitor’s suit and a cap. He just looked straight at Sly. The raccoon just froze as the wolf just stared him down.

“Hey there young man, I’m sorry but the museum is closed at this hour” the old wolf just said. Sly just looked at the wolf and thought to himself.

“Is this guy senile?” The old wolf didn’t seem to notice that the ruby was missing.

“If you want I can show you the way out” the wolf kindly offered.

“Uh, yeah sure” Sly replied. “You see I kinda fell asleep here and now I’m locked in here”

Sly didn’t like the thought of lying to an elder, but he didn’t want the old canine alerting the security guards. The old wolf just chuckled.

“It’s alright sonny, it happens to me sometimes as well” said the wolf.

Just before the wolf turned around, Sly quickly said.

“Uh, how about you lead me to the roof if you don’t mind?” Sly asked.

The old wolf just turned around and smiled.

“Sure young man”

He then led Sly to the roof of the museum. Whilst following the old wolf, Sly wondered to himself.

“How come this guy is totally okay with leading me up to the roof?”

“Is it a trap?”

But Sly just shrugged it off, thinking that the old wolf was just senile. He didn’t even notice that the ruby was gone. Sly then started to feel sorry for the old geezer. When they got to the rooftop, the old wolf just smiled at Sly.

“Well, here we are” said the wolf.

“Hey thanks sir” said Sly. “Well, now I’ll be off, thanks for your help”

“No problem” said the wolf.

Then suddenly, the door to the roof slammed open and a group of security guards cornered the two, raising their guns.

“FREEZE!” yelled a dog security guard.

“Oh geez” Sly said to himself.

“What’s wrong Sly?” asked Bentley over the headset.

“Looks like security have found me” Sly replied. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it out”

The security guards pointed their guns straight at Sly.

“Wait, is that Sly Cooper?” asked one of the security guards.

“In the flesh boys” Sly replied with a cocky smile on his face.

“Alright Cooper!” growled the dog security guard. “We know you’ve got the ruby, hand it over now!”

Sly just put his hands up before saying.

“Sorry fellas, but someone got it before I did”

“Don’t give us that crap thief!” shouted the dog.

“I’m serious guys, I don’t have it” said Sly, trying to convince the security guards that he didn’t have the ruby.

“I’m warning you Cooper!” the dog growled. “Hand over the damn ruby now!”

“Wait a minute…” then said another security guard, a cat. “We weren’t told that Cooper would try and steal the ruby, we were told about some other guy”

“Other guy?” Sly thought to himself. “Could they be talking about the one who stole the ruby?”

Then, Sly heard chuckling behind him. He turned around and saw the old wolf standing on the edge of the roof. The security guards looked up as well.

“He’s right guys” the wolf said. However, this time the wolf’s voice sounded much younger than before, but also with a little bit playfulness in it.

“He’s not the culprit you’re looking for, that would be me!” Then suddenly, the wolf then ripped his janitor suit off to reveal him wearing a red jacket, white khaki trousers, a yellow tie, a dark blue shirt and brown shoes. He flung his cap and moustache off to reveal he had plastered black hair with sideburns which nearly went down to his chin. His ears poked out of his ears. From his age, the wolf appeared to be in his early or mid-thirties with fur coloured brown and light brown on his muzzle. His body was somewhat skinny and he was taller than Sly by about two inches. His tail swirled back and forth and he had a confident smile on his face. He then pulled something out of his pocket, only to reveal that it was the ‘Dei Pulchritudinis’ in his hand. Sly was dumbfounded, not just because that the old wolf turned out to be someone in disguise, but by that he was the one who stole the ruby before he did.

“Is… is that who I think it is?” asked one of the security guards.

“Sorry boys, can't stay for long!” said the wolf. Just then, the wolf brought out what appeared to be a smoke bomb. He then threw it at the security guards which blew up in front of them. Smoke spread across the roof, the guards were coughing and were struggling to see through the smoke. Sly just looked at the commotion before turning back to see the wolf preparing to jump off the roof of the museum.

“Hold on a second!” shouted Sly. Once he said that, the wolf turned around to face the raccoon. He had a curious look on his face.

“Yep?” the wolf just casually asked. This annoyed Sly slightly.

“Sorry buddy, but I’m the one who’s supposed to be stealing that ruby, not you!”

“Huh. Someone seems jealous” the wolf said once again casually.

“Just who the hell are you?” Sly demanded.

The wolf just smiled back, that same confident smile as before. For some reason, that smile made Sly a bit irritated.

“Guess you’ve never heard of me, eh?”

“No, so who are you?”

The wolf just chuckled again before saying.

“The name’s Lupin. Lupin the Third” the wolf known as Lupin the Third said before jumping off the roof. Sly looked over the edge to see that Lupin was fine and was using a grappling hook from what seemed to be his belt to lower himself down. Sly just looked down in awe.

“So this guy uses gadgets too” he thought to himself.

“Sly, what’s going on!” asked Bentley, the turtle was confused about the commotion that was going on at the museum. Murray on the over hand was ready to drive the van to Sly’s location.

“Hey Bentley, I think I may have found who stole the ruby” said Sly.

“What, really?” replied Bentley.

“Yeah and he’s getting away!” Sly exclaimed.

He then saw Lupin jump down to the street below and run towards a nearby alleyway. Sly immediately jumped down of the rooftop and used his cane to catch a wire. He then stood on the wire and tightrope walked his way towards the alleyway where Lupin went to. Just then, a car sped out of the alleyway before turning to its left and stopping. From what Sly could see, it was a yellow Fiat 500 that looked like it was from the 1970’s. Sly then looked again to see that Lupin was inside the car at the wheel, but he wasn’t alone in the car. Sly then saw that next to Lupin was a rabbit with light brown coloured fur and was wearing a black suit, a white shirt, a black tie and a black broad-brimmed black-banded fedora, with two rabbit ears poking out of it. He also had thick black hair which went down to his collar and seemed unevenly cut, as well as a chin curtain beard which seemed about an inch long and was also uneven like his hair. At the back seat, there was also a cheetah with light yellow fur and was wearing what seemed to be wearing a hakama and had long black hair that went down to his neck. Sly also noticed that he seemed to be carrying a long wooden pole or something like that. For some reason, he felt that it must have been a katana. Then all three of them in the car looked up at Sly and Lupin gave him that same smile as before. Sly just stared back; he still couldn’t believe that this wolf and his gang managed to successfully steal the ‘Dei Pulchritudinis’ before he even got to the museum as well as trick Sly himself into think he was nothing more than a senile old janitor. Sly had to admit, this Lupin guy was great at disguising himself and he even tricked the raccoon himself. Then Lupin put his hand up to wave at Sly before speeding off into the night, with the ruby in his clutches. Sly just starred off at the direction of where the car sped off. He then felt something inside that he’s never felt before when on a heist, he felt defeated, outsmarted and weaker.

“Sly, you still there?” asked Bentley, bringing Sly back to reality.

“I… I’m fine Bentley” Sly replied.

“Well, what’s going on?”

“The guy got away, with the ruby as well”

“Seriously!” cried Bentley. “Well, do you have any idea about who he is?”

Sly then thought back to when the wolf told him his name before making his escape.

“Well, he did say that his name was… Lupin… Lupin the Third”

At that moment, Sly thought to himself, he didn’t know why, but he thought that this wouldn’t be the last time he’d see the wolf who called himself Lupin the Third.