Chapter -25-
"Twist of Fate"

"Is THAT Clockwerk?" AJ asked, watching as the monstrosity opened its wings, throwing several soldiers head-over-heels. They flew overtop Sly and Carmelita and landed in the street, splayed out unnaturally.

"Hey, big guy. Long time no see," said Sly, staying in front of his wife. "Looks like you got your body back without my help." He glanced back at the motionless group of soldiers then towards Clockwerk once more.

Clockwerk brought his enormous metallic wings down like fists, cracking the pavement less than six feet away from Sly. The remaining guards started shooting at him with energy weapons and rifles but the large metallic owl appeared fully unfazed. "We have unsettled business, Cooper! …But it will have to wait."

"It will…?" Sly murmured.

Carmelita spoke almost in unison to her newlywed husband. "It will?" she repeated.

"YES," roared the owl, standing back up fully. He swung his wings outwards again, dicing through three of the four remaining soldiers. Carmelita quickly turned away from the gore. Sly kept his eyes on Clockwerk, who rotated his head like a real owl and told them, "We have a common enemy in this city. We must unite to destroy him together."

AJ whispered to Sly and Carmelita. "Let's just fire the Zeus cannon on this spot. You guys have control of it; you just said you would shoot him with a satellite. Just hit him right here, right now. The dome is clear and will act as a magnification device, like a lens. Let's just end it with this thing right now. You two do control the device, correct?"

"Slow down," said Sly in reply. "I need to hear him out. I don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot – he's a computer and has done the math. If he feels the only way to take down this dome is through teamwork then it's obvious we need each other."

Clockwerk moved towards them. The last guard took refuge near the building's dock. The owl drew a large wing back. "My math variables include Carmelita and Sly Cooper. This third wheel isn't necessary and, now that I know he wishes to destroy me, I do not trust him." And without warning, he brought his wing back down towards AJ.

The vulpine agent dove to evade certain death but the wing still clipped him. While narrowly avoiding death by being severed in half, the wing caught him on the follow-through upswing, launching him into an alley.

"JACOB!" shouted Carmelita. Before she could hurry after him, Clockwerk brought the wing back down, blocking her from going to the agent's aid.

The mechanical voice was only slightly more natural than Clockwerk's original voice, years ago. "He isn't necessary. We should begin our assault on our enemy."

"WHO is our enemy?" Sly demanded with his paws outstretched.

"Doctor Alfonse M—" A bright light came down from above, surrounding Clockwerk and temporarily blinding everyone else. Carmelita and Sly found themselves thrown backwards.

Sly hit the ground with a groan, Carmelita landed upon him. His arms instinctively wrapped around her to protect her from physical injury. He cradled her in his embrace then rolled over, moving atop of her. Specks of dust and debris rained down over them, causing the couple to clench their eyes.

Several seconds passed and Sly sat up. He glanced around but there was no sign of Clockwerk. "Crater," he said softly before clearing his throat and repeating himself somewhat louder.

"Pardon?" Carmelita sat up and saw a crater in the asphalt. It was a mere eight inches deep but the blacktop appeared softened from heat. The vulpine inspector got to her feet and hurried into the alley after AJ White. She knelt down besides him and rolled him onto his back then sighed in relief. "You're alive."

"I've been better," he said. "Carmelita, I have a secret to tell you. I've come here with the intention of not leaving." He saw the confusion on her face and said, "This is a suicide mission for me. Do you seriously think the Moores' would have agreed to a three-way if I was likely going to live?"

The vixen offered a moue of disgust. "Jesus, Jacob. I thought he killed you; you're over here thinking about last night on the yacht, you pervert. Get up and let's go."

Jake sat up and frowned. "I'm serious. I'm not going home today."

"What are you talking about? What's the point?"

"I planned to destroy this place while you two got away. The government can't do anything – they'll think it was an accident. But the truth is I've chosen to go rogue and take this place out."

"You're a fool." Her ears perked and she looked up. A roar of sound followed causing everyone to cover their ears. She kept her eyes on the top of the dome, seeing something high above. "What… the hell is that?" Her words were lost to the rumble in the background.

Jacob read her lips then lifted his eyes. His gaze widened with fear. The sound subsided. "…Satellite!" he shouted as the noise concluded. "That bright light… must have taken it down! The loud noise we just heard was the satellite landing atop of this dome just now. Didn't you see it?"

Carmelita stood up, glancing back to her husband. She looked back to Jake, offering him a paw. "The light was an attack on Clockwerk. He's vanished. What are you talking about? You didn't see it because you were back here."

Jacob stood without the vixen's offered help. "That thing you saw bounce off the top of the dome was the Zenith Satellite… the Zeus Cannon! It must have been shot down and crashed into the ocean."

"But how could it have landed right here," she argued. "You must be wrong. Those things typically burn up in the atmosphere and crash randomly somewhere on this planet."

Sly brought a paw to his ear. "I'm here, Bentley. What's going on? …Well… it doesn't much matter at this point – Clockwerk was just vaporized in an attack. I don't see a single trace of him." A brief pause, then he said, "It's probably for the best that thing is gone. We saw it hit the dome." Another pause then Sly said, "Magnetic beam, huh? Well, that explains things. Don't worry – so far, we're fine and everything is okay. Just stand by for right now." He lowered his paw and said, "Well, gang, apparently that was the satellite weapon we just saw."

Cooper's ear twitched then he brought his paw back to his ear. "Yeah? Yeah, I'm …really? It does? Well how does it work? Wait, hold on…" Sly pulled his binoc-u-com out of his pocket, unpaired it from the Bluetooth earpiece and set it to speakerphone mode.

Bentley's voice came in loud and clear over the device, despite Sly having it beneath the ocean. "Listen, everyone, I still have a computer uplink established with the Zeus Cannon. Instead of routing through a satellite dish, I'm connected to it directly by beaming a signal from the boat to the satellite. Apparently it didn't burn up upon atmospheric reentry and it wasn't destroyed when it hit the water."

"Well, it's hard to point it in the right direction," said Carmelita, approaching her husband and the communicator.

"That's what I need to talk to you guys about. If we can use a maintenance sub, the kind with the arms on the front, we can point it towards the Island. Soldiers are on the island; innocents are in the dome. If we take out the island, we sever the Atlantis Dome from the rest of the world. They'll have to surrender to keep from starving."

"Unless they learn how to self-sustain," said Jake. "I'll take the sub and find the satellite. If it's still somehow transmitting some sort of signal, I should be able to track it, correct?"

"Ah, yes, that's quite correct," said Bentley over the communicator. "But the problem is… it needs to be held so it doesn't shift with the current. And anyone within range of it will surely be vaporized along with anything in its way. We need to point it at the island to destroy it."

Jake smiled inwardly. "I'm up for the job."

"This is insanity," Carmelita growled. "There are other ways. This self-sacrificial bullshit is unnecessary!"

Jake saw her reach for his arm. He brushed away from her. "You know I'm terminal. Allow me the honor to die for a cause."

"It's a needless death!" she argued.

Jake turned away from her. "You're pregnant with the child of a raccoon. Don't think I didn't know – I'm in the business of intelligence. But, despite how awkward it is to hear of a fox bearing the offspring of a 'coon, that baby will never see the light of day if we don't do our jobs. I'm doing the mission, Inspector Carmelita Cooper. Deal with it. I had my fun last night with Saundra and Cleo and I've done everything I wanted to do with my life. Now, allow me to have the control to end it the way I want to end it and NOT in a hospital bed; I have the God-given right to control MY destiny the way I wish."

She ground her teeth together. "I don't understand your need to go out as a hero, you stupid, racist, misogynist, piece of…" She found herself interrupted by the agent.

Jacob threw his arms outwards. "I want to die with my boots on, OKAY?" He approached Sly and snatched the communicator from the thief's paw. "Give me that, boy wonder." He cleared his throat and said, "Tortoise, I need your help in pulling off this mission. Don't let them persuade you differently – at this point, they're thinking with their emotions."

Sly sighed and pulled his wife into his arms. He murmured into her ear. "Just let him do what he wants to do. We don't need a wildcard getting us killed. I wanted him here to help protect you but… this is the only way he seems to know how to protect anyone. Just… let him go."

She scowled, paws clenched. "Fine. Whatever." She turned to AJ and smacked him across the muzzle. "Jacob White, you're a racist prick. You've lost what little respect I had for you." Then she leaned forward and kissed the side of his face. Her voice softened. "But thank you for offering to give your life to ensure Sly and I make it out of here safely with our baby. Who do I notify as your next of kin?"

Jacob brought his paw to his cheek where she smacked then kissed him. "Tyrell Antoine Jones (A/N: C23 – Dawn of Progeny). He's an African hyena who works for the CIA. He's my best friend and was my roommate throughout college and the eight years after graduation. We were frat boys together. We've shared chicks back in college – he's the closest thing I have to family. He'll want to know so he can make funeral arrangements. I left him everything – big TV, cash, little black book, you name it."

Carmelita lifted her paws, again, with a look of disgust. "Learn to leave out certain details, Jacob. I don't care if you two tag-teamed one-night-stand girls. God, you're a bigger dirtbag creep than anyone else I've ever met."

He smiled. "The government is full of perverts. Not everyone is as innocent and black 'n' white as yourself and your mate. Now…" He turned away from her, holding the communicator. "Let's plan this out, Mr. Wiseturtle. Impress me – live up to your name."

X

Jacob White placed a paw on the lever and smiled, watching as the mechanical arms on the front of the sub lifted the satellite into position. "Okay, Bentley. I'm ready." The sub continued forward towards the island, closing the gap between the satellite's remains and the island shore to maximize destruction probability.

"Understood, Mr. White. The Island should be clear but we can't verify it just yet. Everyone is now back on the yacht and accounted for except Saundra."

"She knows the risks. We have a very small window of opportunity, here." He cracked his knuckles then said, "Tell the sisters I said… well, I can't think of anything clever so… scratch that." He gasped, feeling an arm around his throat. Jake found himself dragged out of the seat in a headlock. His legs struck the control console, pushing the throttle bar up to 'flank speed'.

Jacob reached for the arm around his neck, being pulled to the floor. He glanced up at his attacker, recognizing the man as the soldier who escaped Clockwerk's wrath earlier. He struggled, unable to move because the powerful arm around his neck. He tried to bite at the throat of the attacker but couldn't get his head back far enough. He could see the man's chin, looking up at the attacker helplessly.

"Jacob?" Bentley's voice went unanswered. "Agent White are you still there?"

The fox jerked his head forward then back, striking his attacker in the collarbone but the soldier held tight. The sub shuddered hard, the aft section dragging along the bottom of the seabed.

White found himself free, sliding along the deck to the port side. He rolled up against the wall and tried to close his legs around the other man's waist while reaching for some way to gain the upper hand. Imperfections in the ocean floor caused the sub to roll to the right. The two flopped to the starboard section, grasping for anything they could. The submarine continued at high speed towards the island.

X

Moore grunted softly, moving across the side of the old conning tower. A porthole nearby caused water to bubble up, creating a puddle about an inch deep. She continued through it to the far end, looking for a way off the aging ship. She heard something in the distance and peered out into the night sky. A white cigarette boat raced from the island.

She withdrew binoculars from her gear and zoomed in. A hulking large man was at the wheel of the boat with a cigar in his right hand. "You must be that guy, Cunningham," she murmured softly. Saundra scanned the beachfront then smiled brightly. "Jackpot!" She packed the binoculars away again and dove into the water. It didn't take very long to reach the other side of the lagoon. She raced across the beach back towards the oceanfront and made her way up a pier to where several boats were moored.

She hotwired the starter with ease and disconnected the ropes from the cleats. Her heart jumped simultaneous to a loud sound further down the beach. Again, she drew out the binoculars from her waterproof gear pack and squinted in the darkness.

A strange looking object had run aground with the waves lapping at it. She couldn't see what it was in the dark but, to her, it looked like trouble. Saundra jerked down on the throttle, reversing the motorboat from the dock. She cut the wheel then pushed it forwards, headed out to sea at full speed.

X

Jacob grunted. He brought his elbow back against the soldier's chin and wiggled away. No sooner did he free himself the entire sub slammed into the shore. Both he and the attacker fell forward again.

Bentley's voice came over the radio again. "Agent White! You've made it all the way to the beach! Look, there's a change of plan! See if you can find a method of transportation then get yourself out of there. My computer says the satellite's remains have now been damaged 'beyond operating parameters.' However, I can still overload it. It was designed with a backup countermeasure… the explosion consists of firing the cannon while damaged. It should obliterate the whole island, but that will give you time to get away. Hurry!"

Jacob reached for the radio but the attacker pounced him from behind, causing both to fall back to the deck. Because of the angle at which they were beached, both men went sliding towards the aft section. His ears perked, hearing the muffled sound of a motorboat racing away.

The soldier's arm slid beneath his neck again, resuming the headlock. "Tell him to call it off."

"Agent White?" called Bentley.

The fox, through clenched molars, said, "Are you ready to die? You have time to escape and take a boat out of here. But you're not going to save this island."

"I'm not here to save the island, I'm here to report its whereabouts to Artimus Crowell."

White struggled in the man's grip. "Who the hell is that?"

"You're CIA, right? Don't you have files on Author Cogwell's fifth great grandson?" He put his foot on White's back and shoved him forward, against the bulkhead. "Surly you know Author Cogwell, the man who accidentally created an energy generator that wiped out an entire city in Russia."

White grunted, trying to get out from beneath the man's powerful feet that held him against the side. "N-nghh.. Nev-never heard of'em."

"You can't destroy this island just yet. I need it to find the Atlantis Dome again. Once I've given the location to my employer, you can blow this island to hell for all I care. But not until then."

"You're not bringing in anyone," said Jake. He brought his paw back, caught the soldier beneath the knee and pushed away from the bulkhead. He rolled over and bought his fist into the man's neck, crushing the soldier's windpipe. "So you're a double agent, pretending to work for that idiot down on the dome. So you helped to try and bring down Clockwerk. Guess what? I'm not impressed." He punched the man in the face several times then rushed up to the front of the sub and reached for the radio. "Bentley! I've been compromised by an attacker. Give me a minute to get his identification then I'll…" A gunshot rang out. Jacob gurgled in pain, feeling the wound in his chest.

He reached down to the Kevlar vest, seeing that a bullet had gone completely through the vest and out through his chest. Water began to pour in through the cracked window at the front of the small sub. He sucked in a breath, wheezing in pain, then said, "Blow it now."

"Come again?" Bentley exclaimed. "NOW?"

"Hurry," Jacob added, unable to catch his breath. He dropped to the sub's seat, draped over the armrests then he flopped to the deck on his right hip. He looked back at the soldier who couldn't speak either. He glared at the man's gun then smirked. "Looks like…" he coughed then continued. "…Won't get to read your latest report on Clockwerk, the island or anything else." The soldier was unable to speak because of his crushed windpipe.

The water pouring in through the front of the sub turned hot. Jacob eased up on an elbow, looking up over the controls. The remains of the satellite, seen through the cracked window, began to incandesce with a soft white color emanating from its core. Jake glanced back at the soldier with the gun, grinned, and said, "See you in hell, pal."

X

A bright flash startled Saundra. Only a second later, an intense wave of hot wind rushed over her, knocking her to the motorboat's deck. She held her arms over her head to protect her face from the intensity of the heat. It passed, followed by a powerful blast. She got to her knees and reached for the throttle, slowing her boat. In the distance, she saw the most impressive fireball she'd ever witnessed in her lengthy CIA career. It illuminated the night sky and reflected off the water.

Powerful wake followed, rocking the boat wildly. She got back to all fours and waited for the chop to die down but… it didn't end. The ocean, churned up and now angry, tossed the boat about, causing whitecaps that splashed salty water over the gunwale. She struggled back to the chair and hit the throttle, trying to head back towards the black yacht in the distance.

She struggled, gripping the wheel while reaching with her other paw to an emergency box built into the side of the boat, beneath the throttle box. The boat rocked wildly, occasionally offering the sound of the propeller out of the water. The buzzing sound disappeared as the outboard's prop was submerged again.

She fidgeted with the emergency box then withdrew a flare gun and fired it straight into the air. Seconds later, she saw the black yacht's deck lights in the distance. Spotlights came to life, pointing in all directions on the side of the large vessel. Saundra cut the wheel to the right. The yacht moved from starboard until it was lined up with the stern. She gunned the engine, fighting with the wheel to keep control in the now-choppy water.

The smell of charred wood and burning metal became significantly greater than the smell of saltwater. She dropped the flair gun and took the wheel in both paws, struggling to maintain control of the motorboat.

X

Sly brought a finger to his Bluetooth earpiece. "I'm here, Bentley. What's going on?"

"I'm terribly sorry to tell you… but Agent Jacob White is gone. He asked me to detonate the satellite then was abruptly shot. I asked him to confirm his last demand, to which he whispered the word, 'hurry'. The island is gone, now, too."

Cooper sighed with a nod. "He seemed like he was in a hurry, alright. It's a shame. Anyway, I'll let you know what's going on as soon as possible. We're trying to sneak out of here but we're hiding in an alley. The security just got crazy thick really quick. I guess I know why, now." He lifted his head and whispered to his wife, "The whole island is gone. That's probably why the whole place is crawling with armed guards all of a sudden."

"What about Jake?"

Cooper frowned and shook his head. "I'm sorry."

She scowled in anger. "That fool. He's supposed to be here to help us get through the streets so we can get out of here safely. I can't believe he ran off to take out a target that we could have destroyed later on."

"I'm sure he had his reasons for doing things in this order," Sly reassured her. He then said, "Bentley, you still there? Do we have a way to destroy this dome?"

"Not directly but without the island acting as a go-between, the people on the dome will eventually starve. I theorize they'll have a mutiny on their hands before long. Unless the guy who owns the place is a genius, these people are screwed. It's not our problem anymore. Let's just get you guys out of there. Get to the attack sub I've left for you and come home."

"We've gotta find a smart way out of here," said Sly. "We're outgunned down here. I'll see you soon." He ended the transmission and they dipped back into the alley where the crater was located behind the museum. Sly hopped up on the delivery dock and picked the lock leading into the building. "You said you remembered a way out, hon?"

"There are tunnels below the museum that lead to the subway. Cleopatra showed them to me last time I was here, when I caught you stealing stuff with AJ." She glared at him then nodded. "Follow me."

They hurried into the museum and made their way to the stairs. Once they were on the lowest floor, Carmelita led him to a maintenance door that lead out to a catwalk above where Sly's old heist was. She turned to him, slugged him the way she did earlier then smirked. "Again, you deserved that. C'mon, this way." The two raced along the catwalk high above the first floor of the underground museum. They continued through two doors and the catwalk ended, dumping them back into another hallway.

The vixen slowed her pace, trying to remember which of the many doors in the hallway led to the subway tracks. "Cleo showed me how I could leave the museum and end up in a maintenance section halfway down the subway tracks. We can walk along the tracks and follow them back to the industrial section of this city then find our sub and get the hell out of here."

"Sounds good," said Cooper to his wife. "How you holding up?"

"The baby is in an athletic mood, I feel like crap and I'm angry about that idiot giving his life when I tried telling him to find another way. And how are YOU holding up?"

Sly shrugged. "I'm saving the world with my wife. No complaints here. I saw Clockwerk get zapped by some enormous beam of light and disappear. I'm happy."

"Indeed." She opened a door and peered in then froze. "I guess you spoke too soon."

"How so?" Sly approached her and stuck his head in through the door, above her. His eyes widened, seeing Clockwerk's body. It was getting dismantled by a group of engineers with various tools and blowtorches. Some were entering through the mouth to get down inside. Cables ran in through Clockwerk's eye sockets. The eyes were set aside. A table full of components sat on display off to the side. Cooper shook his head. "That's the brain. I don't know who this Alphonse guy is, although Clockwerk acted like I should know… but one thing is for sure. Alphonse, whoever he is, shouldn't have access to that brain. Nobody should have access to that brain."

"The room is full of people," she said. "I'd feel safer knowing we have his brain, too. We have a baby on the way… but I don't want you getting hurt while…" She gawked as her husband slipped in through the door and dove behind a large cart, designed for the transport of Clockwerk's body parts. She sighed and shook her head, watching from the gap between the door and doorframe. "He's so stubborn sometimes."

Her husband disappeared then, moments later, reappeared crawling up the wall with what looked like two small hooked canes. She couldn't tell from where she was but he seemed to be scaling the wall quite effortlessly. Sly dropped down, landing on one of the talons, high above. With Clockwerk's body on its back, he was now on the highest part, crouched on the tip of the metallic scythe.

He slid down the leg and onto the belly and crept low to avoid being seen. He moved up behind one engineer with their back turned. Sly rendered him unconscious and continued on towards the neck of the large body. He somersaulted to the floor and snatched the parts then made a hard run for the door.

"HEY! STOP HIM!" someone shouted.

Carmelita groaned, opened the door for him then, when he went through, she kicked it shut. The couple broke into a hard sprint, checking every door in the hallway quickly. Sly opened one that led to an equipment room.

Carmelita popped in, grinned in delight and snatched up several weapons then took him by the wrist and led him across the hallway to a door she'd found that led into the dark tunnels of the subway maintenance area. She kicked the door shut behind them and they began to race down the tracks. Fifty yards down the line they heard gunshots. Sly shoved the parts into Carmelita's arms, scooped her up and began to pump his legs as hard as he could manage it.

"Almost there!" she cried, keeping one arm over the 'brain' with her other paw outstretched, gun facing forward and at the ready. "Keep going, Sly! We're loosing them!" She reached the gun around his waist and shot two rounds back the way they'd come to slow down the attackers. They dove for cover, allowing Sly's lead to increase.

"I hope there are no trains on this line!" Sly huffed as he ran.

"The city is under attack! They've stopped all public functions," she called back to give him some measure of reassurance. She reached around his hip and fired again, to keep the enemy pinned down. She lowered her ears from the thunderous sound. Sly did the same.

The track began to angle upward and there was a distant light at the end of the tunnel. She panted, carrying his mate up the incline. "Not much longer now!"

"Thank goodness. Get us out of here. I want to go home and lock this brain away so we can focus on being a family again!"

"Not much longer," he said between breaths. The ground began to shake, causing many of the pursuers to fall. Sly kept his graceful footing but it wasn't easy. The entire dome shook wildly and, in the distance, they could hear a muffled klaxon blaring in warning. They broke free of the tunnel, running along the tramline in the middle of the city. Sly glanced up, seeing debris from the island crash down over the dome. Large chunks of rock hit the glass top and rolled down to the side. The dome shook violently from the island's remains assaulting the underwater structure.

"Hurry! I really don't want to be here anymore," she said, pushing her face into his neck. She feared for the life of her unborn baby, worried about possible injury that would hurt her future child. She snuggled into Sly's arms, facing towards him to keep her belly hidden.

Cooper continued along the tracks, headed for the industrial sector. "It won't be much longer now," he promised.

X

A/N: Okay, so I finished re-reading Dawn of Progeny and found the first 1700 words of Dawn of Progeny, C34 that I started on about a year ago. I promise I'll finish it really freakin' soon! This story, too! :D

Then I'll work on Castlevania: Claws of Fate. YAY

Next will be Détente and the Reflections stuff in no particular order, lol.

Thanks for reading! I kept the chapter short so I can get ready to finish out this story! !yAy!

KW