Fragments of a Broken Timeline [Book 3]

Ch.36 All Rolled Up!

A\N: Small note that the beginning of this chapter, something will be referenced from the rewrite of "Black Rose." I can't remember exactly what chapter, but it was during the third episode of Sly 2.

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"Okay, so thanks to our bug in Miss Decibel's office, we now have all the information we need." Bentley said as he began to presentation. "It appears she's been producing counterfeit documents for Le Paradox, creating a false family history that will make him an esteemed member of royalty in the present day. I've managed to inspect some of the documentation, and believe me, if we allow him to get away with this, his wealth and power will make him untouchable! I believe he is planning for this to be his last and greatest caper. The key to stopping him begins with us getting through that security door in the lamp shop Sly took a photo off at the very beginning of all this. I haven't been able to discover what's behind it, but we know that's where Decibel will deliver the papers to Le Paradox. However, since we don't want to announce our presence, we need a diversion for the guards. So, I've taken the liberty of fashioning a couple of outfits for Carmelita, Malik, and Rae for you to use them and lure the guards away from their posts by, uh...performing a belly dance."

"Absolutely not!" All the girls, including Sly all exclaimed.

The three foxes then turned to Sly, all raising an eyebrow. "Wait, hold up... You too?" Rae asked.

"Are we all actually on the same page for once?" Carmelita chimed in. "I don't know how I feel about this..."

"Come on, Rae, you know how I feel about this." Sly then said. "As much as I would like to enjoy seeing you in a belly dancer outfit again, I don't think I'm over what happened back when we still had to deal with Rajan." He explained, his hand brushing up against Rae's arm, though her faint scars were hidden by both her fur and her jacket. "I mean, that bastard is the reason why your arm got scarred..."

"Wait, what?" Carmelita asked, confused.

Rae sighed, slipping her jacket off her shoulders as she turned toward Carmelita, brushing some of her fur up to reveal her faint, leftover scars from Rajan's claws. "When we had to go bug Rajan's office back in that hidden Indian jungle temple where we were all captured by the Contessa, I dressed up as that belly dancer you had run into when you had been searching for us. After I had managed to bug Rajan's office though, he told me that he had figured out who I was before he...tried to kill me." Rae tensed up slightly. "Before I really had time to escape, he managed to slice my arm open with his claws, along with the cloth I had been wearing over my face, further revealing who I was, since he had seen my face once already. I tried to contact Sly for help, but when Rajan tackled me to the ground, my earpiece had cut out. Luckily though, I was narrowly saved just before Rajan could do any more harm to me. However, I didn't get away unscathed, and now I've got these faint scars from when I was attacked a little over a year ago."

Carmelita, with wide eyes, gasped a bit. "Oh my God...! I knew Rajan was awful, but that...that's just horrible!"

Rae lowered her hand as she fixed her jacket, shrugging it back onto her shoulders as she tugged on the collar a bit. "And that was only scratching the surface. Rajan was much more horrible than just that alone, but that is one conversation I don't feel like sharing. However, the point here is that I don't want to wear another belly dancer outfit, because it will only remind me of that hell I faced a year ago."

"Yes, and I do understand your reasoning, Rae, but this will, in fact, be different than what you went through with Rajan. At least this time, there will be no--ahem...physical contact." Bentley reasoned as he pulled out the outfits he had made.