Chapter 2: Hector and Liza

Disclaimer: I own notzing!

Giga and I phoned Hector and he told us to meet him at the bridge connecting the two sections of the park together. When we got there, we were a little…surprised.

He was dressed in a large, large, LARGE overcoat that hid everything except his thick, scaly crocodile tail.

"Hey, Ricky. Giga. That you two?" he said in a slightly raspy voice.

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, it's us. Mind telling me why you're dressed as the Count?"

"It's a long story. Liza was in one of her moods and…"

Giga broke into a smile. "She threw you out again?"

"Yep." He looked around nervously.

"What are you looking around for?" Giga asked warily.

"Well, I was checking to see if Liza's still mad at me, but since I haven't been shot at yet, I guess it's safe to take off the coat."

With a swish, Hector took off the coat. Hector was a large, burly crocodile with inquisitive, violet eyes. A big, gold ring was around his right wrist and his tail swished around as if he was on standby. Hector has a little bad luck with his girlfriend Liza, a hawk with eyes that could kill just as well as her talons. She always threatens toslash him if he ticks her off too much, but everyone knows that she'd take him back.

By force, if necessary.

"Hector!" came a bone-chilling female voice.

"Speak of the devil." Me and Giga said in unison.

The sky was blocked out momentarily when a hawk-shaped figure swooped down and slammed into Hector. "Oh, dear god, no!" The two rolled across the ground for a bit before they smashed into a fountain.

We rushed over to them, worried more for Hector's safety. Liza was a hawk with brown plumage and eyes, a gold ring on her left middle finger and a red shawl on her head. Her high-heeled boots clicked as she got up and brushed herself off. "I finally found you!" she squealed, her voice carrying a slight Dutch accent. "Oh, Hector, I'm so sorry for kicking you out!"

Angrily, Hector rubbed his head. "And?"

"And I'm sorry for throwing the fine china at your head." she replied sheepishly.

"And?"

"……And I'm sorry for setting your bed on fire."

Giga widened his eyes that one.

"And!" Okay, what else could there have been?

"And I'm sorry for taking out that hit on you."

"Okay, can I interject for a sec? Um…what the HELL?" hollered Giga.

"She thought I was cheating on her." grumbled the irate reptile. "She saw me helping this woman at he mall and next thing I know I'm being targeted for being a…well, why don't you tell them, Liza, dear?"

Liza shuffled her feet embarrassedly. All she did was mumble. "Didn't quite catch that, sweetie." He said, mockingly holding a hand to his ear.

"A…two-timing, cheating, manipulating pair of shoes."

Giga and I burst into laughter. "Sweet ever-loving nectar!" screamed the butterfly. "Hector, I don't know what you see in her!"

Liza scowled and was just about to rework a new thorax into Giga's frame but Hector stopped her just in time. "So what did you guys want to talk about?"

"Well," I started out, regaining my composure. "We just wanted to know how you felt about going into a life of crime. Pop finally trusted me to carry on the legacy and I can't do it alone." Hector rubbed his chin, giving it some deep thought. "Well, what am I gonna do?"

"You're the Recovery Team! The muscle and the getaway driver. What do you think?"

"……Okay. Guess I've got nothing else to do. It's not gonna be just the three of us, huh?"

"Nope! I already know who we can get for our Demoman. Or in this case, Demowoman. Giga, can you access Thiefnet?"

Giga scoffed. "Please, of course. What kind of tech specialist do you think I am?"

"Okay, good. I think I know who we can get. Let's head back to my house and we'll—"

"Hey!" came an indignant voice. "What about me?" We turned around to see Liza, hands on her hips. "You don't expect me to let you go off with Hector BY HIMSELF, do you?"

"Hon, for the last time, I WON'T CHEAT ON YOU!" he yelled, attracting a lot of stares.

Liza smiled warmly and wrapped her arms around him. "Of course not, honey. 'Cause I know if you do, I'll claw out your throat and let you choke on your own blood."

Silence.

"Okay." I said, backing up. "How 'bout you come with us, Liza? We could use a…a…" I motioned toward Giga. "Help me out here, man!"

"Well, I am a hawk. I could be your eye in the sky."

"Fine, I'll take that." I said, shifting my eyes. "C'mon, let's get going before we're fined for disturbing the peace…in more ways than one."

"BE CAREFUL WITH THAT!" I screamed. Liza immediately shrieked and dropped the Thievius Racoonus. I rushed forward and caught it in my hands before it hit the ground. "Don't DO that, Liza1" "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" she said apologetically. I sighed and cracked open the book, turning it to a blank page. "Alright, everyone! Write your stories and sign your names."

The trio looked at me, then back at the book. Then me again, then the book once more. It was Hector who broke the awkwardness. "Are you sure? I mean, shouldn't Coopers only write in it?"

"Not true." I said, waving away their uncertainty. "Uncle Bentley wrote in it and he wasn't a Cooper. He was like a brother to Pop."

"In that case, butterflies first!"

Giga's POV

It was time for the world to fear the new Cooper Gang. This is your techy genius, Giga, speaking, and I'm gonna show the world my thieving intellect forty times over! Count on it! Since everyone left in their skills, I've got a few of my own, in the form of gadgets!

Rai Darts: Darts made from my own secret integrated wiring technique. Anyone hit with these is stunned for 8 seconds

RC Haxing: I use a remote-controlled hacker to infiltrate technology from up to 1.8 miles away

The road to great thieving success is gonna be long and paved with gold, that's for sure! I'm looking forward to pulling off some big jobs with Rick, Liza and Hector. Look out world! Here comes the new Cooper Gang!

Giga

Hector's POV

It's me, the muscle of the Gang, Hector. I never really thought Ricky of all people would want me to help him carry on the Cooper greatness. Honestly I'm flattered and touched at the same time. I'm hoping that I'll get to see a mess of cool stuff on the way. That and that Liza won't kill me for 'cheating' on her. Here's to a new band of thieves!

Hector

Liza's POV

Hiya! Your aerial specialist, Liza is right behind Hector and the rest of the gang, and I'm rarin' to go! We're gonna pull off some big jobs and live like kings! …And queen. Long live the cooper Gang!

Liza

Ricky's POV

I smiled as I closed the book. "Alright guys…and girl. We need to find someone to be the person for our Artillery."

"Who?" quizzed Liza, eyes shining with interest.

Giga smiled and folded his hands. "Trust me when I say this: she's an expert."

Looks like the new Cooper Gang's getting bigger and bigger! But why are Giga and Ricky being so secretive about their Demowoman? Is she really as revered and talented as the butterfly's making her out to be? Get your 3-D glasses ready for the next chapter of Sly 4: Generation NEOS!