Stealing Hearts- Part 2 (Patreon)

Sly's now Carmelita's biggest target, and just keeps getting bigger! Will he still manage to give her the slip? Enjoy, folks, and as always, thanks for your support!

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Carmelita was ready to skin a raccoon for a new hat. The fact that she fell for it again, that she had been taken in by Sly's charms and fooled by him again was just too much. Granted, he wasn't the same raccoon she had known… now, he was an absolute titan. The raccoon was packed with muscle upon muscle, and based upon their- for lack of a better word- date last night, all those bulging muscles belied an even greater strength and, luckily for Carmelita, vigor. It had taken her ten minutes to find a way out of the handcuffs Sly had left her in, chained to the hotel bed where they had, to put it lightly, tested the limits of Sly's new vigor. But now she was dressed, armed, and charging out of the hotel room. She would find Sly, she would get some answers, and she would get a second date- Carmelita stopped, shaking her head. No. She would bring him to justice… after the second date.

Thankfully, Sly's trail hadn't gone cold. He had left her a note, written on a notepad from the Iron Will Gym. Knowing Sly, Carmelita was willing to bet fifty to fifty odds that he did it deliberately, to give her a sporting chance- and she was more than willing to take that chance. Finding the address was simple, and soon, she was racing through the city streets to get to the gym as quickly as possible. Leaping out of her car as she rushed into the parking lot of the gym, she took a moment to scope the place out. It appeared to be a standard gym, if catering to bodybuilders and a more hardcore audience. Located on the third floor of a converted warehouse, there were plenty of exposed brick and iron girders, giving the gym a heavy, industrial look, and most of the clientele lumbering inside carrying no mean amounts of muscle. Keeping a low profile and any weapons or gear stowed, Carmelita slipped inside. She had a quick word with the owner and flashed her badge, and as she stepped out on to the workout floor, she spotted Sly instantly.

The gym was spacious, with plenty of floor-length mirrors, heavy workout machines, and crowded rows of weights and barbells. Most of the gym's patrons were distracted from their own workout as Sly was putting on a bit of a show- and, to Carmelita's shock and secret delight, he was even bigger than last night. How it happened, she didn't know- but he was like a walking tank, now. His steel-grey fur covered a body of monumental proportions and indomitable might, so sturdy looking it was if the raccoon was made of living stone. His biceps alone were as big as melons, his anvil-like triceps rippling and surging with each pump. Sly's titanic, bulging pecs were only outdone by the sheer wing span of his lats, the mirrors providing a glimpse of the sheer tectonic plates of muscle making up his back. He was lifting up a weight bench, with three gymgoers piled on, like it was nothing, flashing his audience a winning smile before his pecs surged up over his chin with each pump. He wore a blue muscle shirt that was practically painted on over the swells of his pecs and densely packed, brick-like abs. A pair of red posers hugged his thick hips, leaving his earth-shaking thighs, wide as kegs, bare.

Carmelita stared daggers at Sly, though he didn't seem to notice her as she slinked closer. Her hands wrapped tight around a special pair of handcuffs- ever since Interpol had to drag in the juggernaut that was Muggshot, the agency had developed handcuffs made of titanium for the particularly huge and strong. While the crowd cheered, she inched closer, certain that she was in a blindspot between Sly's heaving lats and mountainous shoulders eating up his bull-like neck. As he lowered his arm, Carmelita struck, slapping the handcuffs around Sly's wrist.

"Sly Cooper- as an agent of Interpol, I am placing you under arrest for dozens of counts of grand larceny, burglary, and evading arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law," she recited in a clipped tone. Sly, for his part, did seem genuinely surprised, shifting suddenly to see over his own bulk as he let down the three gym patrons he had used for his demonstration.

"Well… crap," he said.

The gym was cleared out in short order- Carmelita's car was too small for Sly now, an so she had to call for a van to haul him away. While they waited, Carmelita paced, trying not to look at Sly, afraid her eyes would be drawn into his immense chest. Even sitting on the floor and hunched over, his chest was at eye level with Carmelita, those pecs pumped and flexed as his arms were bound behind his immense back.

"So… I thought last night was fun," Sly finally said, daring a smirk.

The fox turned on him, jabbing a finger against his chest. "Fun? You just appear out of nowhere after missing for a year, you're as big as a house, last night you- we- gah!" Carmelita threw up her hands out of frustration, and then let them drop. "I think I at least deserve some answers."

Sly's smirk slipped away, and he nodded. "Alright, yeah, that's fair. What do you want to know?"

"What happened to you? Where did all this come from?" She demanded, gesturing to his huge physique.

"Well… remember all the time travel we did? I got lost in the time stream. First, Ancient Egypt. Slytunkhamun brought me in, of course, but I had to try and get back. I got Bentley's communicator working, but it was random at best- I jumped in to try and fight my way home, only to end up in the Ice Age. Thankfully, Bob- remember him, big guy, caveman? Found me and took me in. I started working out to survive, but eh, I knew I'd go crazy staying there. Do you know how boring it is to be a thief, living in a time period before anything worth stealing was invented?"

Carmelita folded her arms. "My heart breaks for you," she said flatly.

"Thanks, sweetheart. Anyways, I make another jump and end up in the 15th century, Scotland. Good news, I met another ancestor, Slaigh MacCooper. He was a bandit king, made loads of trouble for the English." He grinned. "Good times. Bentley's communicator did break, though- I thought I'd be stuck there forever, but Slaigh… he was good company. First of all, he's huge. Strongest Cooper ever. He's the one that really taught me how big muscles could help with thieving. He put me through a hell of routine, but hey," Sly bounced his pecs, waggling his eyebrows at Carmelita. "The results are worth it, eh?"

The fox rolled her eyes. "Sly, don't start flirting with me, now."

He shrugged his swollen shoulders. "Your loss, just trying to have some fun while we still can. I took to Slaigh's training like a duck to water- I dunno, it was an interesting challenge. I guess Cooper genes are really good for building muscle, who knew? I just got stronger and bigger the more I stayed… and all the while, Slaigh managed to figure out how to fix the Communicator. Master blacksmith, go figure."

"And that's how you got home?"

"Eh, one more stop- Charlie Cooper, Circus Strongman in 1911. He gave me a few tips on how to wow the crowds, keep their eyes on a flexed bicep while my other hand is snatching their wallet- stuff like that."

"Charming," Carmelita replied, her tone dry as a desert.

"Then I got back, about a month ago. I re-established myself, and let Bentley and Murray know I was alright."

"But not me?"

Sly gave Carmelita a knowing look. "So we could've skipped the foreplay and get right to this?"

The fox turned away. "God, you're impossible… so, what was the plan, anyways? You don't think you can sneak around like you used to like this, do you?"

"Oh no, to be sure, a lot of my old strategies will have to be revised. But there are some benefits to being this big."

"Like what?"

Sly smirked again. "Well… besides the awesome strength, this bod, and everything else you enjoyed so much last night, this huge back of mine makes it easy to hide hands that, sure, can bend steel- but they're still very nimble. Again, like you learned last night." His ears perked up- police sirens were sounding off in the distance, and getting closer. "And that is my cue. Sorry, Carmelita. If you want that second date… I'll be sure you know how to find me." He winked at her and leapt to his feet, the force in his pillar-like legs shaking the floor. He tossed the handcuffs in Carmelita's face, and the fox gasped- he had picked the lock, and then bent the titanium cuffs into pretzels.

Barreling towards the window, Sly coiled his powerful legs and leapt, shattering glass, steel, and brick without a scratch as he hurtled outside and on to the rooftop of a nearby building. Carmelita rushed to the destroyed window, watching the hulking thief charge away.

"This isn't over, Sly," she muttered, throwing down the twisted handcuffs. "You're a lot harder to miss, now… and if you've got this new bodybuilding bug… well." She folded her arms, and dared a smirk of her own. "I'll be keeping an eye out to see just how big you'll get."