Now we move on to the next chapter to my ever growing story! Enjoy!
Sly Cooper and the Space Thieves
Chapter 24- The Rivals
Sly Cooper and his friends stood before Queen Wingdra in her fortress on Dramar. It was magnificent: It was like standing inside a giant ruby! The place was as big as Kanog's palace but had different architecture. Needless to say, the gang was impressed. The queen smiled. "I am glad you admire my fortress, it was cleverly crafted and heavily defended. We take great pride in it." After a moment, her voice became more businesslike. "The race will take place at the Plains of Clouds. It is located in the nearby mountain area. It will be a very challenging location for the racers, though I think our racer is ready for anything. I hope you will enjoy your stay to witness the great race tomorrow. My guards will show you to our guest quarters so that you may rest up for the event."
"Thank you, your highness." said Sly. As he and the others moved to follow the Dramaran guards to their rooms, loud noises could be heard outside the main doors. When the doors burst open, everyone jumped. Three aliens came in and approached the queen. Sly and the others looked at the newcomers with disgust. They looked like scorpions: they had pincers for hands, had skin that resembled scary looking armor, and each have their horrifying stingers were on their heads. The one in front was the biggest and the scariest of them, and his creepy yellow eyes didn't help make him look friendlier.
This one stopped right in front of the queen and spoke in a creepy voice. "Queen Wingdra, how pleasant to see you again." Queen Wingdra looked grossed out, but she remained polite. "Lord Kona, welcome back to Dramar. I hope you are looking forward to the race. You don't mind the chosen race course, do you?" The scorpion lord shook his head. "Of course not, I am confident that our racer will make his people proud." He motioned for one of other two Tramurans to step forward. This one was not as big as his leader and had silver eyes, but he did not look any more pleasant looking. "This is my world's best racer: Sacu. He has been training very hard for this event. He will not be easy to defeat as last year's was."
Sly heard a growl on his right; Rovax did not look disgusted at all, but looked ready to kill. He stepped toward Sacu. "I knew it! I knew that it would be you!" Sacu turned to the bird captain with a smirk on his face. "Well, if it isn't the brave and noble Captain Rovax. I heard you were space dust!" Rovax looked at Sacu with pure hatred in his face while Sacu was laughing. "I hope you are ready for tomorrow's race, bird brain! Don't try to lose! After all, it wouldn't be the first time that you lost to me!" He continued to laugh as Rovax made to thrash him. But Queen Wingdra and Lord Kona stood btw them.
"Enough, both of you!" said the queen. "Save your aggression for the race. Stand down Captain that is an order." Rovax stood there for a second, and then he turned and stormed out to his quarters. Kona whispered something to Sacu that could not be heard, but it was clear that Sacu looked nervous. Kona turned to the Wingdra. "My apologizes Queen Wingdra. Sacu can be a little overconfident. But I assure you he will not be making anymore disturbances. We will see you tomorrow." He, Sacu and the third Tramuran left the fortress to their ship outside.
Sly was disturbed by Rovax's behavior. 'Why would Rovax lose his cool like that? What is going on btw him and that Sacu guy?' he thought. Queen Wingdra apologized for Rovax's outburst. "He sometimes can be a hothead, but he is a good person. He is just full of anger right now." Beowulf spoke up. "But why is he so angry? What has he got against Sacu?" "Yes, what is going on btw those two?" asked Jacor. "What did Sacu mean by "it wouldn't be the first time you lost to me"?" asked Carmelita. The queen looked much stressed at these questions. She took a deep breath and spoke again.
"My friends, it is not my place to say. That is btw Rovax and Sacu. It would not be right if I said anything." "We just brought your captain back to you, your majesty. He has become a friend of ours, and I think we all have a right to know." Everyone agreed with Sly at this statement. The bird queen looked touched, yet still uncertain. "Alright, I'll tell you. It all started about 10 years ago when Rovax's father, a great military leader, was assassinated." Sly and the gang were surprised. She continued. "There was evidence that a Tramuran was responsible, the body was broken in half and the poison in his blood stream was Tramuran.
"We tried to discover the murderer, but we were unsuccessful. Lord Kona had no better luck. Rovax suggested identifying the one whose poison matches that with the assassin's. However, all Tramuran poison is 100 identical; no Tramuran has a different type of poison. In his rashness, Rovax hijacked a shuttle to Tramus to find the killer personally. I did not hear from him for hours. Finally we got a message from him. He was returning home, and he looked badly injured. As soon as his shuttle landed, I sent a medical team to assist him for immediate treatment.
"After he had recovered, I scolded him for taking a shuttle without permission and punished him by confining him to his quarters for a month. He told me he did not care about the punishment, and he said it in good spirits. I was startled by his attitude. I asked him what happened to him on Tramus. He told me that he was tracking down the killer when he got attacked. He told me that his attacker was Sacu, who happened to be a fierce warrior. He said that Sacu saw his ship and decided to pay him a visit.
"Rovax told him he was looking for his father's assassin. Sacu told him not to look any further; he was his father's killer." Sly and his friends are completely shocked at this revelation. The queen resumed the story. "Angered by what he had heard, Rovax attacked him. Sacu fought him off and was about to kill him like his father, but he decided that "the fun should not end this soon." Before he vanished, he gave Rovax something to remind him of who his enemy was and how he had failed to avenge his father: a scar." Panda King spoke up. "You are saying that Sacu was the one who gave Rovax that scar on his left eye?" She nodded.
"It was a hard and difficult day for Captain Rovax. But he when told me all this, I was stunned. He said as long as Sacu was alive, he is a danger to other Dramarans. He was at least satisfied that he discovered his father's murderer. When he heard that Sacu may be the next Tramuran racer, he decided to beat him not on the battle field, but on the race track." When she said that, Sly and the others looked confused. "You see, Captain Rovax is our planet's racer. He will be Sacu's opponent tomorrow."
"That explains why he was so uptight back on the Dragon Thief." said Sly. The queen nodded. Bentley decided to speak. "Excuse me Queen Wingdra, but haven't your people been able to prove Sacu was the killer after Rovax told you this?" Wingdra shook her head. "No. I told Lord Kona about Rovax's encounter with Sacu and all the things that were said, but he did not believe me. He believes that Sacu would never commit such a crime. Rovax figures if he can win in the race, he will be able to ask me to interrogate Sacu about the murder and force him to admit it."
She looked doubtful. Sly however, got an idea. "I think I know how we can prove Sacu killed Rovax's father. Penelope, can't you use one of your RC vehicles to spy on Sacu before the race tomorrow?" She nodded. "Yes, I think so." "Good thinking Sly. I can easily attach a miniature video camera to her car to record everything Sacu says. Then it is an easy process of preparing the incriminating evidence for Kona and Sacu after the race. Once everyone hears what Sacu said about being the killer, that scumbag will be locked away for sure!" exclaimed Bentley.
Everyone liked the idea, including the queen. "Brilliant idea. Do you think it will work?" Sly nodded. "Don't worry, Queen Wingdra. Bentley's ideas are not only brilliant, but full proof too. Sacu will get what he deserves after the race." "But do you think Rovax can win?" asked Jacor. Sly nodded again. "If that bird can survive a head-on collision btw two starships, winning a race should be a piece of cake for him."