We'd finally come to the chilly and vast feilds of Scotland, the final emblem piece being hidden here. Of course we still have problems as our previous visit to Iceland left us on the wanted list of my old enemy Raleigh. He managed to make himself a leader at last due to the defeat of Raltio and has renamed the group the Raleigh gang. Of course there are only three official members left, the second being Gasilja. It was Gasilja who brought Raleigh to scotland, meaning that he's certainly determined to help his master. He now wants to take the castle of glanmoore while Raliegh takes the emblem piece. We have to act now if we're going to get that last piece. None of these help us feel better seeing as Bently was the first one to point out the surfacing of an ancient creature scaring the locals...the loch ness monster...
SLY AND THE GANG IN
CONSPIRACY OF THE CLAN (laddie!)
"..It has come to my attention that there is a traitor in our midst," said Bently gravely, his head slightly tilting forwards. "Obviously i'm worried. And I know for a fact that it's been going on. My first sign was back in Egypt. The oil feild should have been detected, there was no way I should have missed that. Sombody either didn't tell me or covered it up for themselves. Next was thinking back to New York... but other things were cropping up in my mind. The failure to fully defeat Gasilja in Iceland came to my attention when Shelia decided to do it herself. This means tHat one of us didn't do our job to its fullest extent. Either they own up now, or at least remember what it's like when we're a good team...a family...well, just keep your heads above water and check for any activity. And please, this is important..as in deadly." Sly considered everything his small green friend had just said. He admitted that, yes, a lot of thier recent plans hadn't worked the way they should have. He went over the various events in his head. New york had gone pretty much to plan. Why would Bently be using that as an example,unless he knew the exact moment that somebody wanted to slip up. Which could only mean that Bently knew exactly who it was. Dimitri stepped up to Bently to just affirm that it wasn't him, and Bently nodded and waved him away. Sly knew that Dimitri would be the first to protest, mainly because he was the most likely suspect. He was ,after all, a little grudging against the gang.
"Well i'm sure we can safely say that the saboteur must be a little respectful," explained Penelope, "We haven't had any unsucessful missions. If I didn't know any better, i'd say he was too scared to betray the team."
"Agreed." Bently set up the cue cards and sat back thoughtfully, glancing at the gang. As they stood looking glum, the guru made a solemn sentence in Dakshi. "You're absolutely right," said Bently, pouring himself a drink, "This is a sad day for the clan. I can only hope that those who know or are indeed the saboteur can still bring themselves to co-operate as a team from now on. Now I think it's time we had a little catch up on the true history of the villainous Raleigh..." Sly knew the story, and went on to check the library in the building behind the safehouse. Inside was a reading room where men in dinner jackets read silently. Sly quickly changed into his tuxedo and sat amid a rabble of unchecked books. Each book had been looked over meticulously, and he could tell that each had been opened extremely recently. He noticed that another book had joined the pile while he wasn't looking, and he turned to see the one who had added the book. It was none other than Reptil, who, also in disguise, was feverishly turning the pages of a selected book. Placing it on the pile without even glancing at Sly, he picked up yet another book and kept up with the searching. In anger, Reptil picked up a nearby book and placed a large scratch on the cover. He then sat in a small corner reading the now marked book. Sly grabbed the pile and headed off into another section before Reptil noticed. He pulled up an armchair, placed the books next to him, and began to check the tiltes. They were as follows:
A once and future king
Tales of Farrow Manor
The amber spyglass
Halibut: how to cook it
Edgar Allen Poe: a study
Cats and thier hobbies
Landmarks
Around the world in 80 days
Ice Man cometh
Natural wildlife
Sly noticed that each had a scratch, but Reptil must have been searching for some sort of book in particular. Sly could see nothing relating the books until he stacked them on top of each other neatly. Each of the first letters lined up spelt AT THE CLAIN. He knew what the Clain was, and he knew where it was, a pub on the other side of town. It then occurred to him that Reptil must have been looking for a particular message. He must have been given a list of books, checked each, and must have been looking for a physical note or clue. If only he had just looked at the list, thought Sly, if he indeed had one. writing the message down, Sly crept out of the libary while everyone was engrossed in a book, changed into his 'working' clothes and lept out onto the street. The first thing he had to do was make sure that the gang were all safe, and he would make his way over to the Clain. As he did so, he realised that he had no idea what time he should be there or if the rendevouz even knew what Reptil looked like. He shimmied up a drainpipe, and headed off back inside the labrary, this time through the upper window. He ran across the bookshelves un-noticed, and brought out the com-link.
"Bently, I'ts Sly. I've just found Reptil, and he's been checking out a tip he's been given as a coded message. He was given a list of books and...well, to cut a long story short, let's just say I cracked the code and he's still in the dark as to what's goin' on. But I need some more info. Could it be any use to us?" He waited as he heard Bently bring out some sheets of paper and file through them.
"As a matter of fact, Sly, that library I see you've entered is owned by Raleigh. Many of those books you may recognise from his old hideout. Anyway, Reptil will probably be contacting his guy now to see if he can crack the code. Get Me of his phone wavelength and It'll be so easy to impersonate the contact." Sly made an affirming grunt and tapped in the wavelength. Sure enough, Reptil picked up the mobile and moved to a corner of the room. Sly listned in though the com-link.
"Hello," Reptil awnsered, with a certain firmness to his voice. It was Bentlys turn to put on a mock voice.
"Uhh...good evening my friend. Now, you know what time we're uh, meeting?"
"Of course, the fist note said eight. But the rest of the notes led me here. Are you trying to get your hands out of our arms deal?" Sly noticed that Bently had given a silent shock to himself. So that's what the RALTIO had been dealing in. Bently made a negative grunt. "Then... why hasn't any shipment of mechanical parts come in?" Sly was now doubly intrigued. Raltios aim had been true to the RALTIO membership requirements so far...why was this deal not connecting? Sly kept listning.
"I'm afraid I cannot tell you where to go..you'll just have to get there." Reptil hung up angrily and kept going over a small note. Nothing clicked, which Sly found strange to happen to an obviously intelligent person. He headed off to the Clain just as the clock struck seven, changing quickly into his tux.
The Clain full of scottish dogs, each with firey red beards and kilts. They were watching a football match in one corner, and a solitary figure sat with a drink in the back. He was a weasel, with a beret and a white shirt, followed by a kilt which didn't cover his knees. The sight of the smartly dressed racoon seemed odd to him, but he knew that his must be the rendevouz. He stood up and held out his hand, and Sly readily acknowledged.
"I'm arthur...arthur Weasal. Pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise. I hear this is a pleasent little town."
"Aye" agreed
arthur, "I've spent many a moonlit night out here. Now down to
business. After our bosses failure many years ago on the welsh
triangle, it's obvious that he needs you to get some extra
protection. The police have tightened things up out here and we was
wandering if you'd tigten up security with a team down at the castle.
In the meantime I need you to tighten up security and machinery
around the town. Get some of your boys to do some public speaking and
the like. Here's the blueprints...and don't you dare let them fall
into the wrong hands."
"Don't worry," grinned Sly,
knowingly, and quickly slipped them into his pocket.
'Right,' barked Bently, the information and blueprints readily clenched in his fist,'It looks like a few things have come to light. Raliegh needs a team down at the castle to decorate his stately home and tighten up security. Shelias already pinpointed all of the security points around the castle, and all of the rooms that need rennovating. This is going to be one of the funnest missions we've ever had...you see, we can plant bugs and detonators wherever we want while we're decorating, and we don't need to worry about security, because this time, we ARE security! However, Raleigh must never see Sly-he knows him too well to ever mistake him for a decorator. What you can do ,Sly, is take out any guards or help us with our jobs that we can't do because we can't leave the castle. Our jobs are so far as follows in order to find out more about Ralieghs fears of the loch ness monster and an apparent auction in which he wishes to buy something of infinite value...The emblem piece itself! I want team A, Murray, Panda King and Guru, to hypnotise the groundskeeper and get him to open a special valve. Trust me, it's all part of the plan. I want team B, Shelia, Harold and Penelope, to get through the houses security cellar and unlock that one unaccessable area. Raleigh wants personal possession of that one. Now, let's get into character-if Raleigh gets so much as an incling that we may be phonies, we're history!'
Raleigh tapped his foot impatiently. He'd been waiting on the doorstep of the Castle mansion for over ten minutes and there'd been no sign of any workers. Gasilja loaded the last of his things onto the longship and jumped in. Raleigh hopped over and handed a note.
"Well, my friend, it appears that you will not be here to witness the rennovations of the Mansion. How will I know of your return?" Gasilja checked his axe and inserted it into the holster on his back.
"Ah, I'll be back, you betcha. just make sure the...creature doesn't come-a-calling while I make my journey. How will you use the ocean while i'm-a gone?"
"My boy, I was an
accomplished and upperclass pirate you know. This is nothing new to
me. My pirate ship as it were is parked behind the castle. I'd better
be going now-I can see a van approaching. Good Luck...and let Reptil
know of your journey!"
"I will, you betcha!" said
Gasilja, and he sailed off as fast as the secret motor in the bottom
of the hull would take him. The cooper van, albeit disguised, rolled
up and parked in the centre of the courtyard. Raleigh hopped over and
began tapping his watch.
"I believe that I asked you to be early...and you give me a tardy start! No matter, I will not let us start on the wrong foot, welcome to my 'home'. Ahem,uh...shall we head inside and have a short tour?" As Raleigh bowed and led them inside, Sly gazed from his binnoccucom. Next to him was Bently, who gave him a quick sign to ask if everything was alright. Sly looked up and nodded, snapping the com shut. Bently scratched his chin.
"Well, this is certainly going well. But the large ominous shadow that keeps appearing under the lake is an obvious worry. I know Raleigh has some kind of control over it...and let's face it, we've faced our fair share of mythology many times!"
"Yeah," said Sly, looking to one side, "listen...what if our saboteur tries to botch this mission. You know who it is, so...talk." Bently hung his head and rubbed his nose.
"I'm afraid it's...Murray." Sly gasped and tried to awnser, but Bently held up his hand, "I know, I know, you're afraid he's turned. I'll tell you why Murrays doing it...you see, when Murray saw you again, he was so happy to think that we could be a team. But the minute he found out exactly what was going on he...well...worried. He didn't want the gang to split up just because the job was done. So he believes phsycologically that by stopping the team from winning, he ultimately has to keep delaying us. But the big lug can't bring himself to do it. He loves us too much. So I asked a couple of the guys together and confirmed who would leave after the job was done. Harold, Dimitri, Shelia and Panda king will stay in touch, but none want to stay. Penelope and Guru will stay on. And maybe, if you can, we can sort out this business with Carmelita. I'm sure she'd understand eventually." Bently placed a hand on his old friends shoulder,"But we've got to get back to the job now. Soon we'll need to get you to do some surveying. You clear with that?"
"Yeah," nodded Sly, and he went back to watching over the gang.
Team A headed to the balcony, constantly checking for Raleigh or one of his butlers. As soon as the coast was clear, Panda king hoisted guru and planted him inside his canon. Murray was busy talking to Bently about the plan.
"Don't worry," assured the Hippo, " We got it. Guru will be shot out of the canon in an extremely awsome style, then Panda king'll use the rockets to direct the dude to the valve, cause guru won't be able to see so well thanks to the groundskeepers totally lame maze garden. Then, when the valve at the end of the garden is open, me and Sly'll slip in, and kaboom!" As Murray yelled this, Guru flew out of the canon as Panda King clapped his hands in delight. "Bently, part one of phase one is over. Now for the cool part...not that, uhh, that last part wasn't cool..." Murray scratched his head and quickly hung up. He worried that everything he said would be noticed now. After all, he was the saboteur...and he knew that bently knew. What was he supposed to do? But these questions would have to be awnsered later. Right now he had to focus his attention on the amount of destruction going on outside. The noise was minimal thanks to penelopes noise inducer, and eventually Guru made his way to the true point of the valve...the greenhouse. Murray got into ball form and lept down, jumping into the valve just as Sly had arrived. Murray headed over to a lever and began to pull on it, but was interrupted by a small tap on his shoulder.
"Okay pal, all you have to do here is open that lever so I can get over those lasers. We've got time to kill...talk. I'm worried about you." Murray turned away and let go.
"Ya'know what it was like for me when I was in the Contessas cell all those years ago? It wasn't nice. I may have actually lost my freakin nerve. I never wanted us to be apart again, so...well, you know."
"But why did you leave then after Bently forgave you? I know you had to find yourself, but..."
"I wasn't thinking right, I had to go. The guru taught me that you guys are my greatest life, and then you left me. I think..." Sly was already across the treasure room, grabbing the emblem blueprints and skidding back. Murray just shook his head and headed outside with Sly. As they looked up, they noticed that both the guru and Panda King had dissappeared. Sly gave a quick goodbye to murray, and, still a little mystified, hopped over the hedge. Murray decided that his master and King must have just gone inside with the others.
Team B were in the cellar, checking out the security code. Shelia looked in her mythology book to see if there was anything about the monster, and at the same time she checked out the many widescreen monitors around her. It seemed odd to her that they showed only the lake, and all from different angles. The room was certainly no security station. Penelope adjusted the final two wires and forze as the beams flickered out. Harold sped through the vast network and hid under the table of the now unblocked area. Penelope and Shelia hid behind one of the portraits as Raleigh hopped down. He muttered something about faulty wiring and quickly fixed the wires. He switched on a small controller, and Shelia and Penelope craned thier necks to watch the many screens. To thier horror, they watched as a huge shadow appeared in one of the screens. It had glowing red eyes, and made a horrible sound every time it moved. Raleigh headed out again, not noticing Harold who was now crawling out from the table in the rooms center. He looked around to see if he could catch a glimpse of the girls, and sure enough, Shelia and Penelope crawled out. Penelope brought out her R.C car and handed it to Shelia.
"Look," she said sharply, "The truth is that I know you havent really been given much to do through our adventure, and it's no secret to me that you're leaving. Now that harold has opened the hatch, I think I'd prefer the navigator of the crew to handle this one. I know I've been a bit resented towards you but..." She suddenly found Shelia giving her an immense and appreciative hug, before she set to work like a child with its new toy. The R.C made its way through the many tunnels before ending up in a room not marked on the tracker. Penelope, controlling this, punched in the hack code, and, surley enough, she got a new readup of a secret room. It was Raleighs ultimate control room, according to the code...why would any room be called... "It's a setup!" she cried, "Someone must have told him what we were going to do...but how..." then she looked above her as a huge hand grabbed her entire face...
Sly was extremely confused. He, Dimitri and Bently had been left at the house with absolutely no clue as to what had happened to them. Bently checked his watch repeatedly, and threw down his papers.
"This is no good, Sly! We need to get to the auction before Raleigh begins the bidding. Can I trust you to wait here, without any interruptions?"
"You go on," yawned Sly, " I just have to watch out for Gasilja and the rest of the gang turning up, right?"
"Right," nodded Bently, and he and Dimitri headed out. Sly tried to piece together once more why the Cooper emblem had been scattered in the way it had. Obviously this had happened some while ago-his cousin had only surfaced when he was pronounced dead. Had the Raltio gang been searching for it that long? And Sly had the feeling that, being an object that would grant the abilities of my many ancestors who used magic, would immortality really be one of the powers on offer? If not, why would Raltio have wanted it? Raleigh certainly had no means of taking it...in fact, there didn't really seem to be much of a connection between the villains he had met in the Raltio gang before. For the KLAWW gang it was simple-trading spice. They needed several members to do that. But what WAS the goal of the RALTIO? Sly grabbed a paper and pencil and drew out several sketches of the possible conclusion. First was Raleigh, who was a scientist and genetic enhancer. Raltio would have wanted him for his genius, he supposed. Gasilja was a viking who earned his wealth through plunder...Sly thought back to what he had been told:The Raltio is the richest crime ring. Only the rich may join it and earn its rewards of even more money. True, but using his current evidence, this only applied to a few of the members. He remembered how close Reptil had been to Raltio. Perhaps he was originally his adviser...maybe he asked some members to join or to be looked into. But what was THAT connection? Sly scratched his head in thought and continued to think more carefully.
Bently kept his cool. The auction was going to be a tough one, something he had acknowledged the minute he saw Raleigh and a rather shifty bunch of gardners sit in the fist row. Dimitri sat in a far corner, just in case Bentlys bids did not go down well or look slightly suspicious.
"Item number forty two," yelled the auctioneer, "Is an odd fractured piece of wood that many reports claim to be valuble and a legacy of a rich family. How many do I hear for it?" The auctioneer noted Raleighs gesture and yelled "£300 to the frog," Followed by the raising of Bentlys hand. But the auction just seemed to lose itself. The crowd, not bidding, watchedin awe as the frog, lizard and tutrtle gave a heated round of bids. But just as the bid came to £10 000 pounds, Ralirgh announced a further "£20 000!". Bently turned to Dimitri but only recieved a shrug and a shake of the head. The auctioneer was just about to bang his gavel when...
"£100 000 000!!!" The shocked audience turned to see an incredibly slow slug burst through the door [well, 'burst through' in the loosest sense of the word, and slide towards the stall. He placed a huge couple of bags of english notes on the floor beside the auctioneer, and was handed the piece. Bently looked hurt, but Raleigh looked absolutely furious. Dimitri headed back over to bently.
"Guess we got another heist to pull of at that old slugs shack, hey bro?"
"Indeed. It seems that Raleigh is already trying to aquire it. Look!" He pointed as Raleigh and a huge, robed and hooded figure headed towards the snail, who kept trying to catch a glimpse of the oncoming figures hidden face. The figure grabbed the snail and held it close to its face.
"My master wishes to know why you have decided to purchase this item, which, in any case, would be of no use to you." The figure gave a grunt, and Bently detected familiarity in its voice. The snail was quivering.
"I...er...thought that, well, anything as popular as what I had heard must be worth spending money on..." The snail was blasted across the room by the figures own hand, steam slowly rising off of it as the entire gathering stared. Raleigh grabbed both the money and the piece, and rushed outside before anybody could even think. Bently pointed to the door and grabbed Dimitris arm, reving up his wheelcair. A few moments later, and they'd gone through the doors, as the onlooker began to help up the snail.
Sly was frustrated at the fact that he couldn't for the life of him understand what the connection was. Was he being TOO complex? Or too simple? He scratched his head, and looked up to notice Gasilja riding in on his small motor powered longboat. He must have finished his errand for Raleigh a little earlier than usual. Sly ducked and noticed Raleigh and a large, hooded figure running towards the water, followed by Bently and Dimitri. Dimitri, losing himself in the moment, ripped off his clothes and activated his gear from underneath, diving straight into the icy water. Raleigh grew angry, but rather than heading for Gasilja, headed for a small door that rounded round the castle just as the lake did. He lept down and followed Raleigh, unoticed. Gasilja held out a fist towards the two thieves approaching as he lept out of the boat. "Ah! So turtle brains and the loser come to face ME, you betcha! I let you get away in Iceland, but now I make you into yak milk pudding! Especially you," He pointed to Dimitri who was now submersed from the water on the bank, shivering, "You with your terrible accent and dress sense..." Dimitri grew angry, and saw red. He rolled up his sleeves.
"That's IT BRO! You can put down my francais rap-talk, you can dissa my mama for all you care doggy boy, but nobody pits up my funky style-free, NOBODY!" Bently noticed how...humbled Gasilja looked, especially after seeing a rather scary flash in the eyes of the already unhinged Dimitri. But still wanting a challenge, he raised his axe, and ripped his shirt, readying himself to go into beserk mode. He quickly kneeled, made a prayer to Odin, and began the battle. Bently, knowing that there was no way Dimitri would successfully win this, kept himself behind the bull at all times, trying to warn Dimitri everytime he charged. The fight hadn't gone on for too long when a huge pirated ship entered the water from the very entrance where Raleigh had escaped, with Sly already on deck.
Minutes earlier, Sly had followed Raleigh and the figure to a huge moat at the back of the castle, and was not suprised to see such a ship at the back. He knew that Raleigh had been a pirate from thier first encouter, and that his first love had always been piracy. Sly waited for Raleigh to board the ship before secretly entering the cabin, making his way to the deck entrance. He overheard Raleigh talking to the figure. "If we strike it lucky, old friend, Reptil will be here within a couple of minutes. We pin the blame on the 'decorators' who you kidnapped for me, and we sail home! Before we continue though, I want to thank you for discovering the Cooper gangs involvement in this affair. I was unfortunately uninformed of any of this...I must believe you, on the other hand were not, eh..."
"That's enough!" Sly raced onto the deck, quickly glancing at the open lake, "Raleigh, I suppose I should have known there'd be some 'mastermind' behind all this. And who's your friend?" Raleigh gave a sly smile, folding his arms and tutting.
"Cooper, Cooper, you still don't get it, do you. You still don't get why it's ironic that I'm here. As a FAVOUR, of all things. But maybe it would be better to explain things here and now- this 'friend' of my eloquent company here is indeed an old friend...and one of yours two. Meet the new and improved...PANDA KING!" The figure removed his robes to, of couse, reveal the Panda King...at least, something very simillar. Gone was the waistcoat that held the ammunition, and red fur was now the new look of the King. Raleigh was clearly readying a speech on how he did it. "The Panda King was hanging around the balcony, you may recall. Suprised that my own colleague who I slew your parents with is here, helping the Cooper gang no less, that I noticed his furrowed brow. The twitch in his fingers. He was literally itching to be evil again. It was childs play to use his mind against him. After having my guards kidnap both him and the guru friend of yours, I then altered his brainwaves, hypnotising his 'Yin' if you will, and releasing his 'yang'. After that...the final product brought the entire gang to me, except for your tiresome friends. And now..." The Panda King bowed low, and released a tremendously loud thunder technique. This blew Sly straight into the water, where he made sure that the two members didn't notice him swim to the shore.
Gasilja kept bringing his axe down on Dimitri, unsucessfully trying to get at Bently in the process. Gasilja let out a roar, and clapped his hands so powerfully, that the entire square shook. Bently suddenly had a brain wave, and sped over to two pillars, tying a piece of string inbetween hem and to each. Dimitri noticed this, and knew exactly what to do. He continued to move back, until he came to the rope. As Gasilja lunged forward, Bently lifted Dimitri into the sky using his boosters, and Gasilja tripped, caving in both pillars as he did so. Dimitri, wanting at least some credit, quickly put his foot triumphantly on top of the defeated villain. As he did so, He heard a slight muffle from behind. It was Bentlys intercom on his belt, and Bently picked it up and held it close to his ear.
"Bently, it's Penelope, and we're in grave danger! Raleighs put us in the hull of his ship because we KNOW what the RALTIO gang are now!..." The message cut off, Bently sank back into his wheelchair, and scratched his chin. It seemed that the mystery was almost about wrapped up...
Bently, Sly and Dimitri hoisted Gasilja into the electrified cell they'd built, and began thier meeting.
"My comrades," Bently sighed, "We are almost on the cusp of victory and yet one more job needs doing. Let's face it- our specialists are captured, our most powerful member has been made a monster, they control both the upper and lower lake...but there's still hope. We may not be able to simply defeat the Panda King, but we can heal his mind. And we do have an experienced pirate captain...the remains of LeFwee! Here's the plan-LeFwees ghost'll auto pilot our newly aquired ship. Once done, we board thiers and engage in battle with King while Dimitri dives under the ship, ready to insert the detonator. I have a feeling that it'll come down to me bargaining with Raleigh for the first time, and once this is all done, we head on to the van with the final piece!" Bently smiled at the select two and sorted out the files, but Sly felt that the gang was now simply together for fun-not for the emblem, or help. To tell the truth, he could have done alot of the jobs with only five members, but all the other members meant that there were always complications. He was glad that once this was over, the emblem would be his. He glanced at Dimitri, who was already suiting up. Things were about to get personal with Raleigh. Very personal indeed...
Carmelita checked her files as Gwen was escorted into the cell.
"To think," scoffed Gwen, "We could have made Interpol rich with the RALTIO funds if you had only agreed to join me. But I knew a narrow minded person like you..."
"Now let's get one thing straight- it was you who told me that all criminals are just that. Criminals. Yet you most likely deem yourself to be perfect as you are still...were a cop while you continued to work for the other side. Well, maybe if that's the way I've been seeing things like this for so long..." Carmelita paused. She couldn't bring herself to think with Gwen there, nor admit the truth. She simply turned and left, knowing what she had to do...and as she did so, Gwen sat back in the cell, laughing hysterically. From behind came a low growl. She turned to see an enourmous inmate with a huge moustache, a fat cigar in his mouth, and tiny legs which made him have to use his arms as transport. He came out of the shadow towards the now trembling Gwen.
"Hey," He grunted, " I'm Muggshot, and you're a friend of that Hag lady right? And you know what we do to cop friends..."
LeFwee cursed the fact that his movements were controlled by Bently, who was of course the real captain of the ship. This did not prevent the bitter ghost from spitting ectoplasm at Bently every time
he walked by. Dimitri was already under, waiting for the crucial moment where the two ships would collide. Raleigh had already spotted the crew from aboard his own vessel, and bid the Panda King turn the wheel far enough to set alongside the ship. And everything went like clockwork. The ships collided, angry shouts, Dimitri readied his gun for the com-links signal. Sly leaped aboard and whipped out his cane, his stance poised for action, pointing an accusing finger at Panda King.
"All right King, It's time."
"Piteous Cooper,"
laughed the king, "Has our previous meeting meant nothing to
you? My mind was fractured, but has been fixed- without your help!"
"But in a biased sense! You taught me that the mind must be of
two traits to focus..." He dodged one of the kings well timed
attacks, and ducked from a powerful chop. "...and this was
certainly the case back in China. And...I know Jing King would say
the same."
The panda Kings face became slightly noble. "Jing King..." But only for a split second. He continued to attack, and while Raleighs crew cheered him on, Raleigh noticed something the others didn't. Coopers constant movemnts and attempts to lunge at the kings head. And he seemed to be...frustrated, at every point that he missed. By the time Raleigh had worked it out, it was too late. Sly had lept at Kings head, grabbed hold, and gone into an almost instant trance. As he did so, the Panda Kings eyes went green as he succumbed to the influencial power of Bentlys new machine, one that Bently had created thanks to watching the Guru perfrom the same trick back in China. The Kings skin turned dark purple once more, and his eyes returned to thier normal state. As he did, the Panda King grew angry, and delivered a chop that removed all guards from the ship to the water, where they began yelling and swimming for dear life. Raleigh spluttered and grated his teeth, but was interruppted by Bently, who was now face to face with the genius. The tensed slightly.
"Raliegh."
"Wiseturtle."
The two masterminds flicked thier fingers, waiting for the other to make a move. "I have heard much of you, Wiseturtle. I know of your gang, of your intellect, but never have I seen it in practice. A sloppy plan, made of use by your brainpower. Remarkable. Forgive me for not detaining it, a matter best dealt with in person. I have but one backup to all of this..." He pressed a button, and Bently turned to see a huge creature rise from the water, hidden by smoke, where its evil red eyes were protruding. But the most terrifying moment for Bently was after the clearing of the smoke, where the creature was revealed to be none other than another of the madmans machines.
"...UNBELIEVEABLE!" Bently was certainly impressed. "A predictable plan, but one no-one could ever pull off. Create a monster, wreck ships, get loot. We would have done that with Crusher if we had the chance."
"I am glad to see somebody with talent who appreciates my work. This is the N.E.S.S.I.E., My latest and greatest creaton to date. And perhaps the most crucial part of the Raltios secret plan... Raltio has one goal- immortality. But we had one goal ourselves...wealth beyond compare. Project loch ness was simple-Gasilja would use the mills to create the parts of Nessie. Reptil would proide the tourists and thier belongings, and I the intellect. Unfortunately our plan was cut short due to disagreements from the other members, and aristocracy became the main point of interest. If only Sly knew what Reptil had in store for him, though..."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Time is short, Bently. Tick tock, Tick tock...oh my," sneered Raleigh, his smile curling to reveal his yellow teeth, "however will the Cooper gang survive the ultimate high seas thieving machine?"
Bently suddenly socked Raleigh in his huge jaw, making him fly back into the ships banisters. The frog felt his hat to make sure it wasn't dented, and began clenching his fists. Before anybody could stop him, he swallowed a nearby fly and blew up to the size of Murray himself, and began jumping around the deck, attempting to crush the turtle. The seamonster began to swim closer to the two ships, its red eyes gleming and its mechanics whirring away. Sly quickly covered himself with his arms, but could hear the oddest noise-the creature had suddenly begun to wail. He looked up to find the Panda King, now in full regalia, bombarding the creature with several heavy duty rockets. He turned to Sly, and waved him away. "You must retrieve the others from the hull," he yelled, " I will deal with things from now on. Jing King is waiting for me." Sly nodded and noticed a tear in the bears eye. Sly dashed to the centre of the ship and unlocked the hulls entrance, hoisting the cage inside out onto the deck using the cane. From behind, a low hum had begun as Reptil himself clmbered down onto the deck from a large helicopter. Moments later the Panda King had accidentally set fire to the helicopter when a heat-seeking rocket went rogue. Reptil looked up, shrugged off the incident, and lifted a book high into the air. Lightning struck it, and everybody fell silent.
"So! It seems that the Raltio gang has finally met its match!" He suddenly began to impersonate several different personalities, all in sarcasm, and Sly knew that the truth of the matter was coming. "Surely Raltio himself should be here to witness this moment of glory? Oh, of course, he's dead! Silly me! And what is this? Raleighs gone and built himself something that has nothing to do with our scheme, only something to further his career as a criminal?" Reptil bared his teeth and chuckled. "How deliciously predictable. They never had a plan, Cooper-I did!" Reptil splayed his hand and magical cages appeared around all prisoners. In the Hull, Shelia and Harold, locked seperately to the other prisoners, managed to struggle free from thier ropes, and quickly headed up the stairs to the deck. They watched from the shadows of the masts as Reptil paced up and down. "You see Cooper, when first we heard of your cooper emblem, we became quite excited. We are all upperclass thieves- Gaslija only entered because we needed his might and resources. No doubt the other 'people' you met hindered you, and yet it was all a fantastic performance. If only you had seen the looks on your faces when that Djinn burst free the evening before we rocketed you to kingdom come! To think that Ronnie really thought magic was at ther disposal. Not magic..." He opened the books pages and showed it to the prisoners. They were all metallic and glowed with power. "...but science! Our plan was simple. Steal the cooper emblem piece from you once you had assembeled it, or at least stop you while we tried to assemble it ourselves. Then, we would rob the Coopers of everything they ever owned, and every other criminal, becoming the ultimate crime ring and the planets next financial superpower! Children would be taught Mexican as they were readied with thier families to bow down to our new state, the ultimate country that would control every war and every government...NEW MAYA!" Reptil held the book high as he gave a diabolical laugh. Raleigh snapped his hand at the villain.
"You idiot! You've told them the whole plan!"
"Quiet Raleigh! You went on to create your own plan with your idiotic machine. Even that accursed Barnabus...I mean, Raltio just wanted immortality! This deemed him unfit to rule any such city! I claim this right as not only was it my design, but my heritage! Hotel maya and Coaticule was a mere experiment, and Raltio was too busy with affairs in Egypt. It seems only Gasilja was truly loyal. But perhaps my 'other' plan," He looked distastefully to one side, secretly looking Sly right in the eye for only a moment, "will have to wait. Now, I shall defeat you all, and begin my new era. Perhaps this machine will indeed be of use to me. Raleigh...Raleigh?" But Raleigh was now lunging at Reptil, clinging to the book as he landed.
"You are unfit to even claim credit. I will defeat you by BLOATING TO GARGANTUAN SIZE, AND SQUASHING YOU LIKE THE INSIGNIFICANT BUG THAT YOU ARE!" Sly gave an obvious start at the familliar phrase. The two villains struggled for control of the book, and suddenly stared down at the floor. Tied to Reptils foot was a cable, and the two followed it up the deck with thier eyes until they came to rest on Harold, Shelia...and an enourmous detonator. Shelia gave a wry smile and raised a hand. "You think you've got the awnsers? Then tell me..." She lowered her hand as Harold activated a hose, spraying them both constantly, "...what happens when electricity hits water on a big, fat, warty tongue!" Reptil was confused until he saw that, as he had closed the book in the struggle, Raleigh had reached with his tongue and got it caught in the book. Reptil had time to say one thing to the embarrassed Raleigh.
"Why must everything you do involve your TONGUE for gods sake!"
Minutes later, and they lit up like a christmas tree. They flew into the air, and landed on the top of the monster. The electrical sparks hit the monsters 'brain,' and it began to have a massive malfunction. It sputtered, whirred, and the entire head simply blew up. Raleigh found himself flung onto the deck, and lay in a smoking heap, groaning.
Bently shook Harold and Shelias hand as the ship washed up on shore. He had been impressed by thier plan. It turned out that Harold had supersped towards Reptil and attatched the cable, and they knew Raleigh would get angry from what they had been hearing. from there it was simple. Sly looked out to sea and heard LeFwee going absolutley mental as they reached the shore. He was the only one to notice Reptils glances at him, his secret smiles, and his immenent disappearance from the area after being electrocuted. He then became aware of Raleigh weakly calling his name. He sidled over and crouched next to the frog, who was slowly recovering.
"Cooper, in some ways, I regret this venture. I am a man of intellect, yet I have been bested by the very science that brought me here. Perhaps I was wrong to have, all those years ago, joined the Panda King and others in the killing. You see..." He looked to see no-one was looking, and he spoke even more softly, "..Reptil knew while he could never rule this superpower, his original plan was to bring back somebody who might. And I can only be glad of his disappearance. But the emblem...is deservedly yours. Cherish this moment as best you can. You have made me realise that perhaps none of us are any longer thieves. Just pieces fighting for survival." Sly nodded his head, and looked up to notice a lone police car on the shore. Of couse...Carmelita! He had forgotten in the long hours of thought that even she would return. But she didn't seem to be...angry. He lept onto the shore and approached her. Raleigh had been correct about many things, and perhaps thievery was one of them. He held out his hand and...she accepted it. Sly knew that there was much to talk about.
Reptil wrapped the blanket around himself and shivered. How foolish it was for him to actually believe that the Raltio did not really take his plan seriously enough. If only they knew of the truth of the plan- of how his ancient city in Mexico WAS the very city that, once hoisted into the sky by his own technology, would be the very next superpower. And the one who would rule it...he had been happy to see that the ship that picked him up was a U.S ship, calling by...
Russia. The very place to retrieve the ruler of new Maya...
Carmelita and I talked long into the night over dinner at the castle. She told me how perhaps she had been rash...not just now, but over our entire meetings over the years. She knew who was right and who was wrong, and secretly, she wanted that herself. It was a touching moment...but I knew it probably spelt a fitting end to my career. Perhaps I need to retire the name, and what better undercover guise than the husband of an officer? Only, unlike last time, this time I wouldn't be faking amnesia. We're still technically married, after all.
The gang actually decided to throw a party and to continue with the castle rennovations. Bently oversaw the work, and in the end, we had the best safehouse in all of scotland. We even invited some of the locals to the opening of the place. But the next morning, we said our goodbyes. Panda King, Dimitri, Shelia and Harold were finally leaving, and we were sad to see them go. They were going to do something to the castle, but I wasn't sure until I saw the note in the van as we drove away. It read:'The Repooc clan castle- a home for those with special gifts and nightclub.' Like Shelia and Harold realised, not every one can get what they want. They think they find it with the Cooper gang by asking to join. And now there's a place for them to go where nobody ever has to prove themselves. Not only am I impressed, but I'm also touched. And things may just be going our way for the final time...
