"The Vixen"
Author: Robert Brown
Disclaimer: This story uses characters created and copyrighted by Sucker
Punch, Inc. (except where noted, in which case they were created
and copyrighted by me or by another and I have permission to use
them). The author hereby gives permission for this story to be
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changes to the story are made without my express written(not
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considered a violation of copyright law.
Chapter 9: Alone at Last
Their canes slammed together with tremendous force; their eyes locked,
neither one giving an inch. "Where is Carmelita?" Sly demanded, testing his
strength against hers. "This is supposed to be about you and me, right? Well
you got me here so let her go!"
The Vixen smirked and shoved Sly away casually having a clear strength
advantage over the slender raccoon. "Oh please Ringtail," she scoffed, "I'm
not stupid. If I tell you where she is, you'll take off, not even caring
about me anymore. A lady doesn't like to feel rejected, so I hope you can
understand why I wouldn't want to divulge such information.
"Besides," she continued, "as long as I have Carmelita in my power you
won't try anything sneaky. Everyone knows that the best way to trap Sly
Cooper is to threaten Carmelita. Clockwerk knew it, Arpeggio knew it, even
Neyla knew it. I just have to wonder why. What is it about her?"
"None of your business," Sly growled, taking a wild swing at the Vixen
who nimbly backflipped away. He stood there with his eyes narrowed, twirling
his cane in one hand. "And if you ask me, you're no lady."
She offered him a hurt expression which melted into a playful grin.
"But it is my business," the Vixen protested, jumping in with a kick that
made Sly dive to the side. She pivoted around to face him again, and twirled
her cane, mimicking his action from just a moment ago. "Don't you know by
now? Everything about you is my business."
Sly let a snarl curl his lips but kept his cool. She was trying to get
him off balance, trying to create a weakness to exploit. But even as he
realized that she struck, aiming a spin kick at his head. Sly rolled under
the gracefully extended leg, bringing his cane up in an uppercut. The Vixen
jumped up and landed on the hook of his cane. She blew him a quick kiss then
launched herself up to the railing that circled the room.
Sly vaulted up to the railing and quickly Rail Walked his way toward the
devious Vixen. She nodded her head, accepting his challenge, and Rail Walked
right back at him. They struck at each other against; the clash of their
metal hooks creating a barrage of white-hot sparks. But once again, the
Vixen's strength advantage was clear as she pulled Sly from the railing and
threw him down to the ground.
He winced as his back impacted the concrete, the breath rushing from his
body in a pained sigh. His vision swam for a second, but he was still able to
recognize what the Vixen was doing. She leapt from the railing with a perfect
somersault and dove down at him, thrusting her cane out in front of her. It
spun about in her paw as she descended, one of the first moves Sly had ever
learned from the Thievius Raccoonus.
Sly reached up to block the blow with his own cane, stopping her
momentum cold and supporting her weight for a precious few seconds. He
brought up his feet to kick her away and kipped up all in the same move,
landing in a half-crouch but staying like that for only a second.
The Vixen landed on her feet and spun around to face Sly. But Sly was
already upon her, rolling into her legs while electricity crackled all around
him. She cried out in pain as the electricity coursed up her legs and through
her body, throwing her back into the wall. She sat up and roughly tilted her
head to the side, cracking the joints in her neck. "Nicely done Cooper," she
growled, reaching up to adjust her mask which had fallen slightly askew. "But
what's good for me is just as good for you."
She dove forward into a Electric Roll herself, but Sly was ready for it
and just jumped over her. At least, that was the plan. But the Vixen had
only rolled forward a little before standing back up. Sly watched in horror
as she tapped her cane against the ground, lighting up her hook with the same
electricity. He desperately called on his Thief Reflexes to give himself more
time to figure out what to do, but the Vixen had the same idea, using the same
technique to keep her speed in sync with Sly's.
Sly braced himself as best he could, covering his face with his arms and
bringing his legs up to protect his body. But that wasn't the Vixen's target,
and he didn't realize it until it was too late. She swung her cane up in an
arc that brought the hook into contact with the tender flesh right under the
base of his tail. Sly yelped as the electricity made him feel like he was
being spanked, repeatedly, before he was driven into the wall himself. "Why
you little...." he growled in reply to her laughter.
"Little?" she asked incredulously. "Do I really look like I'm little
in any way?" she added, spinning around to give him yet another good view of
curvaceous body.
Sly felt his temper slipping so he decided to reverse the situation. "I
guess not," he said as seriously as he could, waiting a few seconds before
taking on, "especially around your waist."
Time seemed to freeze as his words worked their way through her brain.
Her eyes widened and her jaw tightened. The fur on her tail bristled and her
ears laid back flat against her mask. "WHAT??!" she screeched, baring her
teeth and looking angrier than he had ever seen her. "ARE YOU CALLING ME
FAT?" And when he shrugged as if saying, "Well, yeah," she roared loud
enough to make the walls shake.
Sly got what he wanted: the Vixen was in a blind rage. But he had
underestimated her capacity for anger. She roared and attacked him wildly,
each swing of her cane or foot aimed to decapitate him. Each blow by itself
was easy to avoid, but considering the fact that she was striking at him at a
rate of more than once a second, he was hard pressed to keep his head attached
to his shoulders.
But as usually happens with a crazed fighter, she eventually left an
opening. Sly ducked one of her more vicious swings only to hear it clang off
the wall. He saw the shock reverberate up her arms and she stepped back,
stunned for just one second. He lunged forward, burying his cane into her
midsection and pushing her away.
The Vixen tumbled backwards, tail over head, until she landed hard
against the wall. She picked herself up shakily and prepared to attack again
until she felt something under her hand. The look of anger left her face so
suddenly that Sly was surprised by the change. "Hey Ringtail," she said, a
sensuous smile spreading across her lips as her fingers curled around a hidden
lever. "We seem to be well-matched in our skills, equals if you will. So why
don't we raise the ante a little?"
Sly ran toward her as she talked, trying to stop her from pulling the
lever. But she had already tripped the switch and easily avoided his charge.
It took Sly only a half second to decide to follow her, but that slight delay
saved his life. Pointy metallic poles shot straight up out of the floor as
long, curved spikes curled out from the walls. "This is one notch?" he
asked, tapping his cane against one of the spikes and finding it solid.
The Vixen grinned down at him from where she balanced atop of one of the
higher spikes. "What are you waiting for Cooper?" she asked, jumping toward
one of the nearby spikes and twirling around in mid-air to land on it safely
with a Rioichi Cooper Ninja Spire Jump. "You're not scared, are you?"
"You know better," Sly stated calmly, not rising to the bait. He used
his cane as a pole vault, leaping atop a spike and striking out at her as he
landed.
She turned his strike aside with her own cane and jumped away, hopping
lightly from spike to spike until she was on the other side of the room.
"Now that you're up here, I think we should make things a little more
interesting," she said, tapping her cane against a section of ceiling colored
differently from the rest.
Before Sly could ask what she meant by that, the spike he was standing
on suddenly retracted, forcing him to jump awkwardly to one nearby. He nearly
misjudged the landing but salvaged it at the last minute. He had no time to
relax, no matter how much he wanted to, as the rest of the spikes retracted
and extended with a random pattern, making him stay constantly in motion. It
was all he could do to stay off the floor.
The Vixen had no such trouble, however, somehow knowing which spikes
would move and when. She jumped around for a bit, teasing an attack now and
again, trying to get him to focus more and more on her than on his footwork.
It worked, but not quite how she had intended.
With Sly's attention increasingly on her, he decided to go on the
attack. He waited for her next jump, leaving the spike dancing to his feet
and his instincts. When the expected jump happened, Sly hooked his cane
around the spike she intended to land on. He couldn't budge it much, but it
was enough to disrupt her timing.
"Whoa!" she said windmilling her arms to try and catch her balance.
Sly brought his cane up to try and hook her foot, but she fell back before he
could.
She grabbed hold of the nearest spike, wincing as the tip pierced her
glove but fell just shy of drawing blood. She swung her body around it and
planted her feet against it, springing away to land atop another spike. "You
almost had me there Cooper," she allowed with a mocking bow. "But almost
doesn't count, as you're about to find out."
Her meaning registered an instant too late. Sly tried to jump to
another spike, but the one he was crouching on had already started to lower.
Off balance, he tried to gather himself for another jump but had to bring up
his cane instead as the Vixen attacked.
The Vixen swung her cane up in an arc, hooking his and ripping it from
his grasp before sending it flying toward one of the walls. Sly made a
desperate grab for it but suffered a roundhouse kick to his ribs that launched
him toward the opposite wall.
Sly's body screamed in pain as he slid to the ground. It was so hard to
stay conscious, much less even think about moving. Dark spots swam in his
vision as he fought to stay awake, calling up every ounce of willpower he
could muster. But even that wouldn't have been enough if the Vixen had not
started laughing at him, causing anger and adrenaline to pump their way
through his veins.
"This was too easy," she crowed, striking a different part of the
ceiling to make all the spikes retract. "I thought you were supposed to be
the best Cooper?" she taunted, riding the spike she waited on all the way to
the ground.
Sly refused to even dignify her question with an answer, choosing
instead to turn his face away so he didn't have to watch her approach. The
Vixen thought he was hiding his face in shame so she continued to berate him
as she walked toward him, her smile getting wider and wider as she got closer
and closer. "You should never have underestimated me," she said, nudging him
with the toe of her boot.
Quicker than she could see, Sly grabbed hold of her foot and pulled.
But once again, the Vixen anticipated this move and easily flipped backward to
land safely on her feet. What she did not expect, however, was the uppercut
that Sly landed on her chin, staggering her back. "What the hell was--" she
began until the breath was forced from her body by a one-two punch to the
solar plexus followed by a short hook to the ribs.
She fell back, desperately trying to cover up from Sly's attack. In all
the years she had watched Sly, through all his trials and tribulations, he had
never resorted to hand-to-hand fighting. She was no slouch at it herself, but
he had taken her completely by surprise. The best she could do was cover up
and hope he made a mistake.
But Sly gave no quarter, pursuing her while striking methodically at
every point she left unprotected. Gasps and moans of pain left her lips, and
he was sure he had felt one of her ribs give under his assault. It made him
sick to his stomach to know that he was inflicting this damage on a woman,
but he would do whatever it took to save Carmelita.
The Vixen shoved at Sly with her cane, trying to push him away, blinded
by fear and pain. Sly calmly ducked under the attempted push and grasped her
cane with both hands. One quick turn was all it took to pull the cane from
her hands and sweep her legs out with the hook, sending her sprawling to the
floor. "It's over!" Sly declared, resting the platinum hook against the
white fur of her throat. "You've lost! Now where is Carmelita!"
"It's not over!" the Vixen snarled defiantly. She pulled a remote
control from her pocket and pressed the button. The sound of metal grinding
against metal filled their ears as a hidden hallway revealed itself. Sly
risked turning to look and gasped. Carmelita sat limply in the room at the
end of the hallway, manacled to the rigid metal frame of a well-built chair.
Blood covered the right side of her face and muzzle, and she jerked and
twitched feebly though she was unconscious. But more importantly, the room
was slowly filling with green gas that looked just like what Clockwerk had
tried to kill them with in the Krakarov Volcano.
Sly's heart pounded in his chest at the sight of Carmelita looking so
vulnerable. She was such a strong woman that seeing her like this made his
heart break. He was so transfixed by what he saw that he failed to notice the
Vixen pushing another button on the remote she held, one that caused the
hallway to begin closing in on itself, the ceiling slowly moving down toward
the floor. "You've got a choice Cooper," she said, drawing his attention back
to her. "Either deal with me or save her; you can't do both. Which is it
going to be Ringtail?"
Sly grabbed her by her throat and pulled her face to his. "It's not
even a question," he said in a chilling voice made even more so because of the
calm way he said it. He shoved her down hard, making the back of her head
smack against the floor, and ran to the shrinking hallway, veering aside
briefly to snatch his cane from where it lay on the floor.
As he ducked into the hallway, it was already nearly too small to stand
upright in. He wedged both canes against the walls to stop the ceiling's
descent. It worked, but the canes were already started to bend. He couldn't
run in this small space, but he had more than enough room for a Raccoon Roll.
The ceiling slammed down the rest of the way just as he cleared the
hallway, missing his head by less than an inch. He wanted to say something to
Carmelita to assure himself that she was all right, but he had to hold his
breath against the gas that was filling the sealed chamber at an even more
rapid rate. He ran to her instead, reaching his hand out to nudge her
shoulder to try and rouse her.
But his hand passed through her shoulder, causing "Carmelita" to flicker
like a poor quality recording before fading out entirely. "What?" he
exclaimed in surprise, forgetting he was supposed to be holding his breath.
"You really are a fool!"
Sly spun around at hearing the Vixen's voice, looking for her. With his
back to the chair he didn't see the manacles snake out at him like they were
living things, attached to the chair by steel cables. Before he could react,
the manacles clamped down on his wrists and ankles and pulled him back into
the chair. His already aching body was too weak to even make the attempt to
break free; all he could do was sit there as the gas level slowly rose, taking
as few breaths as possible.
An ever so slight creaking made him look up. The Vixen stood on a
platform high above him, leaning casually over a railing and smirking at him,
both of their canes in her grasp. It annoyed him to no end that she already
seemed to have recovered from the pummelling he'd handed out. This was
further evidenced by how she easily leapt over the railing and landed lightly
in front of him. "I finally have you where I've always wanted you Cooper,"
she purred seductively.
Sly smirked back at her. The slight hitch in her voice told him that
she wasn't as uninjured as she was pretending to be. Small consolation, but
if that was the last thing he would know then he would be smiling all the way
to his grave.
That's when it occurred to him that unlike him, she didn't seem at all
concerned by the gas filling the chamber. "So what? We're going to die here
together?" he asked in a bored voice. "A tragic yet romantic scene for sure.
That's what you've been leading up to all this time? Or is it because you
know you can't have me you don't want anyone else to?"
The Vixen laughed throatily, her husky voice setting fire to his senses
over the objections of his mind. "Have you been reading too many bad romance
novels?" she asked, her indigo lips quirked slightly to the side. "I never
took you for the type really."
She sashayed over to one of the gas jets and breathed in a deep lungful
of the green fumes. "It's wonderful what colored dry ice can make someone
think," she said, her exhalation even tinged green.
"Dry ice?" Sly couldn't believe it. Even here at the end, she had
pulled one final trick on him.
"I've fooled you again Cooper," she gloated, deactivating the gas jets.
"Only this one is the most satisfying of them all."
A sudden surge of anger made Sly throw himself against his restraints,
trying to break free despite the pain that wracked his body. "Where is
Carmelita?" he howled.
"Calm yourself Ringtail," she ordered softly, a frown now marring her
beauty. "Your precious Carmelita is alive and well. In this very building
in fact. But if you ever want to see her again," she continued, her manner
and demeanor now completely serious, "you're going to have to answer me a
question."
"What do you want to know?" he asked guardedly.
The Vixen started pacing back and forth, but her natural grace made it
look almost like she was dancing among the remaining vapors. "I don't
understand you Cooper," she said after a moment. "Here I am, doing
everything I can to get your attention, and yet it mostly goes for naught.
I've proved myself to be your equal, at least. I've helped you, hunted you,
and been hunted by you. We've kissed, and almost kissed at least twice, yet
you lose all focus on me whenever she shows up," she spat the last three words
as if the were the foulest tasting substance in the world.
"Well what do you expect?" he returned hotly. "I've known you for how
long? And yes I am attracted to you, and yes you are my equal," he admitted
even though it pained him to do so, "but so what? The most I could have with
you is a fling. Carmelita is more than just that to me."
The Vixen didn't seem upset by his words, looking instead like she had
expected them. "So what is then about her Cooper?" she asked, crouching down
to be eye-level with him with only the barest of winces. "What is it about
her that draws you so much to her? That is what I want to know."
When Sly showed no interest in answering, the Vixen spoke again. "I'll
make you a deal. Give me one good reason, just one, why she is so important
to you and I'll let you both go. No strings attached, you'll never see me
again."
"How can I trust you now after all the tricks you pulled?" Sly asked
wearily.
"What have you got to lose?"
"What reason could I possibly give?" he returned bitterly. "There's
nothing I could say that would satisfy you."
"How about trying the truth?" she asked earnestly. "Not just to me,
but to yourself. I want you to tell me your single most important reason
why Carmelita is so important to you."
Sly could feel her eyes boring into his despite the mask she wore.
Something inside him snapped, something that had been hiding itself from even
his knowledge. "You want the truth?" he inquired gently, his demeanor
relaxed and collected as he looked up at her. "Fine, here's the truth. I
love her. I love Carmelita Montoya Fox!"
He felt strangely lighter after shouting that, as if a weight had been
lifted from his heart. "I love her," he repeated in a soft whisper, absorbing
the truth in them.
"That's all I wanted to hear," the Vixen said, standing up and starting
to walk away.
"You said you'd let us go!" Sly yelled, tugging against his binds.
She turned back toward him. "So I did," she said, laying the canes she
held on the ground. "And I didn't lie. But before I let you go, you deserve
to learn one thing about me. Since you told me your biggest secret, I shall
tell you mine: my identity."
Sly's eyes widened in shock as she slipped her gloved thumbs under her
mask and started to lift it up and off. In just a second he would see the
features behind it for the first time and know the woman who had done all
this to him. The mask inched up slowly until she pulled it free, finally
revealing herself to be....
TO BE CONCLUDED (
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