Chapter: -36-

A knife twirled gracefully on Elvena's fingertip. "Are you sure we need to do this?" She glanced from Jing to Bruce and Carmelita. No one replied to her. "What's the difference between a pickpocket and a peeping tom?" Again, she received no reply. "A pickpocket snatches watches."

"Heard it," murmured Bruce while applying a wad of plastique on the side of the machine. He had an unmarked case strapped across his back, about the length of a billiard stick.

Carmelita fed a wire around to Jing who buried the lead into the off-white wad. The vixen glanced up and said, "I liked you more when you were overly serious and had no personality. Several decades under water have really changed you."

"Oh geeze, fine. I'll go keep watch. Not that I need to; there's no one left in this damn town." She left the room, walked up the stairs and crossed the lobby.

Eleven widened her eyes, seeing a group of armed men coming up through a manhole cover in front of the building. Water ran down into the manhole as though it were a giant bathtub drain. She backed away from the front windows and watched as they came up the stairs and let themselves in. Water two inches deep was in the streets but hadn't yet made it up on the sidewalk. The men left footprints in the building lobby.

Eleven hurried back to the stairs, hopped down the first five, rounded the corner then hopped the next six and rushed through the doorway. She dashed into the room where everyone else was prepping the drilling machine for destruction. "I was wrong! We have company! Armed guards – looks like half a dozen. They're coming!"

"Everyone take positions." Carmelita pulled a gun and hid in the corner. Bruce and Jing got down behind the drilling machine to stay out of sight. The vixen reached up and hit the lights. Eleven closed the door then ran further down the hall and hid around the corner in an intersection. She drew several knives from her belt and kept them at the ready. Silence.

The quiet didn't last long. Footfalls were distant but certainly audible now that everyone was holding their breath. The shadows of several bodies crossed over the small square window in the door. With the lights out in the room, the soldiers didn't know what part of the basement would be their destination. They began checking doors and Eleven knew it would only be a matter of time before they checked the room with Carmelita, Jing and Bruce. She waited around the corner from the room until the soldiers stopped in front of the correct door.

Eleven tightened her grip on the knives between each of her fingertips. She angled her fist full of knives away from her body and used her free paw to draw out a small vial of curare. She dipped each of the knives in the substance then capped the vial and replaced it in her pocket. As soon as the team managed to pick the lock, she came around the corner and began flinging her knives.

The team appeared ready, able to block her knives with precision by using body armor and special, thick wrist pads. Only one guard took a blade to the backside of his hand. He dropped to his knees and reached for his throat, unable to breathe from the poison.

Two of the soldiers turned on Eleven and opened fire immediately. She retreated by diving back the way she'd come. Meanwhile two other soldiers fired into the room in an attempt to hit anything standing in the dark. The remaining soldier dropped to his knees adjacent to the injured one, attempting to ascertain what could be causing his fallen teammate to become asphyxiated.

A gunshot emanated from the dark office, striking the forearm of a soldier. He fell backwards; the second soldier trying to enter the office fired into the small room again, shooting randomly into the dark.

Eleven peered around the corner trying to see what their next move would be when, quite suddenly, the gloom of the office began to expand. Elvena's muzzle contorted into a devious smile, watching the tangible darkness push from the room towards the soldiers. It enveloped them in a black bubble then burst, throwing all the soldiers against the far wall, including the one who lay on the floor, unable to breathe.

"Erik, there you are," she murmured with a smile. "I was beginning to think you were too busy to come and find me," she added in a half-whisper. She watched as the soldiers sat up, bringing their guns up as a defensive measure. They hurried back to their feet, looking a bit dazed by the shadow experience. There was no sign of Erik anywhere just yet but she knew it was him.

More sporadic gunshots punctuated the area but they were muffled, almost distant sounding. Without warning, an explosion rocked the entire sublevel, knocking everyone to the floor. Bruce O'Coop was the first to his feet. He took Carmelita by the wrist and said to Jing, "Help Carmelita's two friends to repel the attackers. Carmelita and I have business to attend. Meet at the Penthouse as soon as you clear this area. Time is short."

He and Carmelita made a dash for the stairs and took them two at a time. Once the couple made it topside, they hurried towards Clockwerk in the distance. She found herself impressed with his speed for his age. "So how do we beat this punk?" she asked.

"It's awfully complicated," he said as they ran together. "But the end result is simple. I created a virus that will open certain ports on his frame and when he flees the city, he won't be able to close them. He'll become over-encumbered with water," Bruce said, pausing to take a deep breath. "Water will get into his circuitry, bridging gaps and creating short circuits and messing with his batteries. It won't kill him or cause him to explode, but it will probably shut him down, causing him to sink. Let him sit on the bottom of the ocean in kernel panic."

"Pretty smart idea," said Carmelita as they hurried up the main avenue together. "How'd you come up with it?"

"Cleopatra thought of it." He glanced back at the vixen and grinned. "You know her better as 'the Baroness,' though."

Carmelita's eyes widened and she picked up the pace so that she was running alongside of him. "Cleopatra Moore?"

"Yes, she's my common-law wife. We live together to pass the time. How do you think she was so well connected? I was her internet source for information and disinformation."

The vixen balked. "YOU were her source, online?"

"Everything she did, she did because I instructed her the way Bentley instructed my nephew. Don't get me wrong, we didn't get married; we're not in love. We've just lived together for the last nine years so… we have a common-law marriage. Surprise." He approached a car blocking the middle of the street. Bruce put his foot up on the rearview mirror and boosted himself up onto the roof then performed a loose flip over the vehicle.

Carmelita followed but opted against the fancy somersault. It wasn't her age; she was tired from everything happening so far. She leapt up onto the roof, hopped back down and continued the brisk jog. "How do we deliver this virus to Clockwerk?"

"Conner will hit him with a negative-charge shot but he'll need to amplify his attack with his cane."

Carmelita frowned. "From what I understand, he left it behind in Lower Atlantis."

Bruce grinned impishly. "No he didn't. I retrieved it from Alphonse's torso, face to face, and came topside the same way Conner and Karla Chintzy got into Lower Atlantis undetected… the main air conduit."

Another small patrol of soldiers opened fire on the two, still a few blocks from where Clockwerk was locked in combat with Sly and Conner. Carmelita reached for her gun but it wasn't there. She cursed under her breath and reached for the nearest soldier, who appeared out of ammunition. She called back to Bruce, "You're well informed, how do you get your intel?" She reached for the soldier's neck, bringing a knee up into the man's gut.

Bruce also noticed that the soldiers lacked weapons, assuming they exhausted their ammo attacking Clockwerk then probably ran. "I will never give away my secrets," he replied to her. Bruce avoided a jab from an attacker on his left and a kick from another on his right. He opened his billowing cloak and withdrew Conner's bloody cane. With gloved hands, he twirled the cane about and struck both attackers in the face. "I want you to know that I often provide Bentley Wiseturtle with anonymous internet advice in order to help Sly's heists become successful. Well, not in years, but in his youth… that's how I got my jollies."

"You're jollies? And furthermore, I asked you earlier how Dawn and Conner are going to work things out if they're related." She ducked a punch then brought her head up, hitting the attacker in his chin. The man jerked his head back with a sour look while a female teammate came at Carmelita from the left. The vixen dropped into a split, punched the male soldier in his crotch then rolled onto her back, drew her legs together and performed a kippup just in time to receive a knee to the stomach from the female attacker. Carmelita doubled over, inadvertently head-butting the woman hard. She exhaled with a grunt then added, "Well?"

"My biological son adopted Dawn because he couldn't find true love," said Bruce. He spun about, took one soldier by the neck and swung him into the other. When the two were finished, there was one soldier left. The man put his paws up, turned about and ran the other direction. Bruce snorted. "Smartest thing I've seen anyone do all day." He then turned to Carmelita and redirected his tone. "I've got to get Conner his cane. He didn't know how much he'd need it, but it's important that he have this exact one. He charged it when he was impaled with it, three years ago."

"Let's hurry," said Carmelita, taking off into a hard run again. The two made their way to a park, where they saw Sly and Conner in the distance.

Bruce approached Conner from behind, took the boy by his forearm and stuffed the cane into his palm. "Don't ask questions, just use this and never let it out of your sight, ever again." He rolled up the canvas case he originally had slung over his shoulder, then stuffed the bag into one of the larger pockets on his long coat, which resembled a cloak of some sort due to its length and how it billowed out at the bottom.

Conner's eyes widened with confusion then he nodded and dashed after Clockwerk, who leapt upwards and began a rapid climb. Meanwhile, Sly turned to face his wife and his uncle with a blink. Bruce grinned and reached for Sly's paw. The two shook, right there on the battlefield. Bruce turned Sly's forearm over and leaned close, looking at two snakebites on Sly's wrist.

Before Bruce could even ask, Sly said, "Someone filled Clockwerk's body with live snakes. I don't know why but when we got the drop on him, I was bitten and somehow Conner's other cane helped the venom to dissolve."

"That's what the Nehushtan was designed for, initially," said Bruce. "Moreau thought that Clockwerk was a trophy. His failsafe trophy case was rigged with live, poisonous snakes. Seems a little quaint for someone of his technological caliber. When that stupid owl, Alester Crowell, reactivated Clockwerk's power supply, Moreau's little trap dumped half the snakes into Clockwerk's hull. It was supposed to be a failsafe to keep anyone from physically tampering with the internal components. Somehow, Clockwerk's empty drives downloaded a wireless transmission that was already being broadcast down here from something broadcasting Clockwerk's digital signature."

Conner watched as the metallic bird continued to climb up near the top of the dome. He glanced over his shoulder with a frown. "That's my fault, then. All his memories were copied to a data drive and the original drive was zero-filled… every sector. Bentley kept it just in case and Penelope brought it to Florida. We turned him on and sent a signal to my phone using a special tethering technique so that Clockwerk could lead us out to the dome. I got mad at Clockwerk and untethered him from my phone. It's my fault; I shouldn't have released him from my phone."

Bruce sighed. "No, it wouldn't happen because you untethered him from your phone. Clockwerk probably re-broadcast his signal locally from your phone to his body once Alester activated the power to the body… Copied the files over and continued to patronize you from your phone until you got tired of it and cut ties. Little did you know Clockwerk was already booting his body from across the dome. Yes, you brought the signal down here, that's your fault… but it had nothing to do with untethering the device."

Carmelita glanced at Bruce then her son then back at Bruce. "Let's stop being wordy and verbose… it's time to kill a metal owl."

"Where's my grand-daughter? Is she safe?"

Carmelita asked, "Conner, where is Dawn?"

The boy frowned, looking at the cane in his palm. "She's safe. She's helping Bentley to hack their way into the Penthouse yacht last I heard from her. She's okay." He looked back up at Bruce. "How'd you get out here?"

"Same way Winthrop did. Dimitri's personal yacht is directly above us right now."

Conner furrowed his brows. "Dimitri is up there? I've not seen him in years; he's an odd one anyhow."

Bruce smirked in reply, lifting his eyes back to the sky, watching Clockwerk for a moment. "Yes. Dimitri. What I could never understand is why he pretended to be Sly all those years ago."

Sly deadpanned. "It's a long story. I needed to be in two places at once. Dimitri is good at one thing… fraud-ing, forging and pretending to be someone else. It worked out; I even showed him a few moves so that it would appear legit but… he wasn't quite as stealthy as a true Cooper."

"Indeed," replied Bruce. He tilted his head, shifting his eyes from left to right. "Clockwerk is coming back. Everyone, listen… we'll only have one shot at this. I need to have Conner attack Clockwerk very directly. Everyone will fall back and wait while Conner fights this thing and wears him down; stay back because if Clockwerk thinks he's dealing with multiple targets, he'll attack with a different strategy. Once Clockwerk hits the ground, Sly… I'll need you to help me locate an access port somewhere on his body. Then I'll shove a data-drive into his access port. The virus will download almost instantly because the file size is small. Then we have to give Clockwerk a reason to want to escape so that he'll go into the water. Then it'll be up to the rest of us to get out of this city as quickly as possible before we drown."

Sly took his wife by the wrist and led her into nearby bushes. Bruce dove across the grass and disappeared into another row of hedges that was off to the west.

Conner, reunited with his cane, stood at the center of the park with a smirk as Clockwerk approached from above at a high rate of speed. "Okay, finally I have their permission to fight my own fights." He gave his family cane a slow twirl while reaching back with his other paw to make sure the Staff of Moses was secure in the harness. "C'mon, you big piece of crap. I'm RIGHT HERE!" he said, ending his taunt on a shout.

Clockwerk came into position, bearing down on the lone youth. Conner dove at the last possible moment, hooked his cane around a dogwood tree, swung about and landed on Clockwerk's back with ease. He dipped the crook of his cane into Clockwerk's metallic throat, holding onto the handle like reigns. With every ounce of raw emotion, Conner tensed up and shouted at the top of his lungs. The cane shined with incandescence and raw negative energy surged into the metal bird's body. With Conner sitting on its back, touching the metal outer hull, a circuit was completed, creating a loop with no resistance.

The raccoon grit his teeth and his adrenaline surged. His tongue felt numb, as did his legs but he held on for dear life, giving the metallic bird every raw volt, amp and watt he could muster. Conner thought back on every incident that led him here. The way he felt when his parents were missing, when he had to steal his own cane from Bentley's home; the way he felt when he found Rachel Razen on Dawn's floor… he recalled the time he was in a car accident and it caused the driver to die. He remembered his anger and distrust for Boris, the anger and shame at his defeat to Jasper Cunningham three years ago… he remembered how he felt when he woke up and found that his family was missing and presumed dead. He pictured the clone of his mother, lying on the floor by the elevator with a broken neck. He focused all of his raw, negative energy, hatred and emotional turmoil on Clockwerk.

An ionic vortex of immeasurable power emanated from Conner's body, swirling around the enormous metallic avian. Bolts and flashes of lightning arced outwards in all directions, drawing energy from nearby power conduits, lampposts, and cars out on the street in front of City Park… Conner's fur stood up on end as the energy surged through him and into Clockwerk's frame.

Steam rose up from his body and condensation beaded up on Clockwerk's hull as internal component cooling systems worked overtime to keep the metal from overheating. Conner stopped worrying about the plan, about Bruce's virus… about everything. His emotional focus was now to fry the hardware inside his enemy. His body ached. His muscles, his joints… he hurt worse than when he tried working out shortly after waking up last spring.

But the adrenaline felt amazing. He felt sharp, clearheaded and even as his mind raced through all the memories, Conner felt like he was aware of everything around him all at once. It was a level of acuity he'd never experienced before. His heart ached from the sad memories but there was a positive driving force behind all of it that kept him going. Rescuing his family, finding Dawn and rekindling his relationship with her… everything that could have gone wrong turned around and worked out for the best. He knew in the back of his mind that Dawn and his family watched his every action; he wanted to impress them. He wanted their admiration and to hear their praise. He wanted that ego-boosting acceptance; it gave him the determination to pour every ounce of himself into this attack.

Clockwerk began to roll, no longer in control of his avionics. The young Cooper teen unhooked his cane from Clockwerk's throat and snagged a tree in passing. The momentum caused him to swing around in a circle at a high rate of speed. Conner withdrew his hook from the tree and rolled through the matted grass, drenched in dew from the humidity in the air.

Conner came to his feet, slightly wet from the grass. A wisp of steam rose over his fur and clothes. He lifted his cane and approached Clockwerk's contorted frame, one wing up by its head, the other wing down by the metallic tail feathers. He lifted the base of the cane above Clockwerk's right eye and drove it down into the optical sensor, breaking through the tempered material used to cover the lens. Surprisingly, Clockwerk recoiled its head as if the attack brought pain. While the base of the cane was still inside the owl's head, Conner charged the staff with a smirk.

The metallic head reared back, pulling Conner from the ground. He tucked his knees up beneath himself then put his feet on the side of Clockwerk's head for stability as the owl whipped about in an attempt to shake off the raccoon. "YOU WILL DIE!" roared the machine.

"You first," murmured Conner without even realizing it. He continued to channel raw energy into the cane in an attempt to damage Clockwerk's internal hardware.

Clockwerk flitted about for a moment then drove its head into the grass. Conner held tight, now being driven into the soft, moist ground. Suddenly a roar of sound filled the air and flashes of what looked like lightning came up out of the ground. Conner found himself pressed against the underground wiring that ran beneath the park to a large fountain about two hundred feet away.

Sparks flew in all directions as Conner channeled the underground electrical conduit and fed all the raw energy into Clockwerk's body. The ground shook lightly. Bruce, Carmelita and Sly came out from their hiding spot, hurrying across the park towards the crater, where Clockwerk's head was half buried in the ground like a metallic ostrich.

"Conner!" shouted his mother. She hurdled a bush, making a beeline for her son. Bruce and Sly were hot on her heels. Upon approach, she had to shield her eyes with her left paw from the brilliant incandescence of Conner's ongoing attack from his pinned position.

Sly flanked the side of the crater and quickly wedged his cane down to pry Clockwerk's head from his son's body. Electricity raced up into his cane, deadened by the wooden staff but it still caused his body to shake. Bruce came alongside of Sly, helping to add body weight for leverage.

Carmelita reached for her son's ankle but upon making contact with his leg, she was blown back onto her tail in the grass. She glanced over at Bruce and said, "We can't get to him; his body can obviously handle that sort of thing, ours can't. Get Clockwerk while he's down."

Bruce nodded and dashed around to the other side of Clockwerk's head. "Conner! Cease your attack so I can plug in the thumb-drive!" To his palpable relief, the electrical onslaught concluded. Bruce climbed down into the crater and reached his paw into Clockwerk's parted beak. He pushed the drive into a connection socket then drew his paw out quickly, just as the beak clamped shut. The raccoon's eyes widened, becoming instantly moist with tears.

Bruce glanced down at his right paw where a little more than half-an-inch was missing from his middle and ring fingers. The bloody tips were gooey with crimson; the liquid began running down his fingers, into his palm. Clockwerk suddenly jerked its head back, freeing Conner. The metallic beast flopped backwards onto its backside, kicking talon-tipped feet into the air. Bruce grit his teeth together for a moment then quietly said, "That was for my brother and sister-in-law, you miserable sonuvabitch."

Ports on the side of the machine opened, just as Bruce had hoped. Snakes slithered out. "What the…?" He tilted his head, watching curiously as the small slithering serpents made their way into the grass around Clockwerk's body. All at once, Clockwerk rolled over and leapt straight into the sky, leaving two large footprints in the grass. It flapped its wings and propelled itself straight up towards the ceiling of the dome.

Carmelita watched it ascend then frowned. "He's going to punch a hole right into the ocean… we'd better…" She paused, watching Clockwerk strike the glass. The dome appeared to crack somewhat but it held. Clockwerk dropped from the sky in a tailspin. "Sly, grab Conner. Bruce, c'mon!"

Sly picked his son up and threw the boy over his shoulder. He picked up both canes in his gloved palms and followed his wife and uncle out of the park. A moment later, Clockwerk struck the park fountain with a thunderous crash.

Bruce called over to his nephew, "Did you see the snakes oozing out of Clockwerk's body?"

Sly offered a grimace. "Oh… did I leave that detail out, earlier? Don't get senile on me, old man; YOU were the one who pointed out the snake bite on my wrist, remember?" After a brief pause to catch his breath, he added, "Yeah… I thought it was weird, too."

"As I assumed, it must have been a booby-trap placed by Moreau to keep his trophy from being tampered with… My question is… how did Alester Crowell figure out how to power up Clockwerk without being able to access the hardware directly?"

Sly passed his son's two canes to Bruce as they ran. "I don't know and, right now, I'm more concerned with getting to that penthouse lifeboat yacht." After another brief pause, he added, "Is that blood?"

"Yes, it is." Bruce passed the Nehushtan to his left paw then reached for the family cane. One end was touching Conner's arm as Sly passed it over. Once it met with Bruce's bloody right palm, Sly and Bruce were shocked, bringing all three to the ground.

Carmelita turned around and hurried back to them. Bruce sat up first, quick to notice that his paw was smoking lightly. His wound had been cauterized and he struggled, as did Sly, to regain his equilibrium and motor skills. "Conner's still charged. But he's not grounded, Sly; don't touch anyone else while you're holding him. We just completed a circuit." His words were muddled because his tongue was numb.

The fountain collapsed into the ground, as if swallowed up in a sinkhole. Clockwerk and the Cooper family dropped into an underground bunker below the park. As the dust began to clear somewhat, Carmelita shouted, "Is everyone okay?"

"I'm okay," said Sly, with Bruce speaking overtop with a similar sentiment.

Conner groaned, trembling with stored energy. His fur stood on end and his tail was fluffed up. "I'm… okay. God, my head hurts though."

"Hello?" asked a new voice. "Conner?"

The young Cooper waved a paw, trying to clear the floating dust particles.

Carmelita murmured, mostly to herself, "That voice is familiar. Seems like I heard it just a day or two ago"

The younger raccoon perked up an ear and said, "For me, it's been a few months since I've heard it. But I've not forgotten it." He sat up in the rubble with another groan, adding, "That's Thomas Gerard." He took a slow breath through his teeth then said, "Where are you? Don't think I didn't know that you're a backstabber."

Thomas' voice was humble. "Then you probably also know that I chose to repent and I've changed my allegiance. Conner, I hear all of you but… where are you and what just happened?"

"I think," Sly trailed off with a grunt, getting to his feet and checking his joints for any sign of injury, "I think the damn park collapsed from the way Clockwerk struck the ground. Must have been too much for the underground support beams to handle. The pipes are broken; this place is starting to flood. I'm soaked. Where are you, Gerard?"

"I've been a prisoner down here for three years. Try and follow the sound of my voice."

Carmelita felt a strong paw beneath her right arm. She waved away the miasma of dust, coughing from the dry taste of dirt on her tongue; she turned to face Bruce and offered him a brief smile then felt around until finding her husband.

Meanwhile, Conner got to his feet and followed the bear's voice until coming face to face with the man. He quirked a brow, then looked around. "Are we… am I in your cell with you?" He began to feel around to find the bars.

"It seems the concrete backwall of the cell came down with the ceiling. The rest of your family appears to have landed in the hallway that ran parallel, behind my prison. Let's just get out of here. I've been sitting here, wondering what the hell was going on out there. I've not seen Moreau in two weeks, I've not seen any guards in the last day and I'm starting to get hungry. Then the whole city starts shaking on and off… when the ceiling started to cave, I thought it was because the city couldn't handle the shaking from earlier. I can't believe you guys found me; I can't begin to explain how glad I am to have heard your voices."

"Cut the crap," snapped Carmelita. "We'll take you with us but I still hold a grudge, Gerard." She approached the sound of the bear's voice, carefully stepping over the crumbled wall at the back of the man's prison. The dust continued to clear up until everyone could see each other.

Sly rubbed his eyes, red and irritated from the dirt in the air. "Where's Clockwerk?"

Bruce examined his bloody finger. Only the tip was missing, fingernail and all. "Clockwerk is here with us. He… it seems to be powered down for the time being. Conner really did a number on that thing."

"Did you find anyone else?" asked Thomas. "I believe most of the team was captured. I'm sure they're here. There was a rumor that some escaped to the surface."

"Yeah," murmured Sly. "Winthrop, the 'Analytical Scientist', and his wife, Karla, made it out and got married. They even had a kid."

Thomas blinked. "The crazy lady from the tube in Prague?"

The vixen snorted. "Yeah, that's her; good description. She's been one of our best allies this time around. Can we count on you, Gerard? I'll have you know that Moreau is dead – your benefactor won't be cutting you any more checks."

"He's not paid me in three years; he's kept me in this prison. He also has Chris Grapping here."

Carmelita quirked a brow. "Who?"

"He's the guy who took Conner and company to Riverview, where Jasper Cunningham attacked everyone."

Conner shook his head. "No, that guy died." A pause, then, "He was shot before he even got out of the car."

Thomas shook his head. "No, Jasper's team managed to resuscitate Grapping; they saved his life. But Jasper was pissed that Chris led your team to Riverview, Conner. So… after his arrest, he was sent here. He was here when I arrived to this prison." Thomas crossed his cell, placed his paws on the bars and called to another cell across the way. "Chris, get up." Silence. "Chris?"

Conner squeezed his lithe body between the bars and into the hallway opposite of where the fountain collapsed. He approached another set of bars and squeezed through them. A canine lay on his cot in silence. The young Cooper gave the man a gentle shake then checked for a pulse. "He's… he's uh… he's dead." He squinted in the dim illumination. With his paw on the man's neck, Conner inadvertently discharged his pent up energy into the canine's body. It caused the man's fingers to curl up and the body to seize. The dead man's head lulled to the side and a chicken bone dropped from his muzzle.

Conner backed away slowly. "I uh… I think he choked to death some time ago. Chicken bone, I think. He's still warm but… not… not really warm enough. It could have happened when the place started shaking earlier, I don't know, but he's dead."

Gerard sighed. "Living through a bullet to the chest only to die on a chicken bone. …So long "Brutus". Conner, I'm sorry you had to see that up close. After all, you're still just a minor and with everything going on, it must be pretty hard on you."

"I'm going to be turning eighteen in ten days," replied Conner in a sharp voice. "Look, let's just get out of here." He returned to Thomas's cell, took the bear by the wrist and charged towards the back end. He approached his father and said, "Give me a boost, pops."

Sly held his paws out, Conner stepped into his father's palms, and Sly helped push his son upwards. Conner climbed up into the park, lifting his head at a sound of feet marching in the street. "Aw man," he muttered, seeing a group of soldiers approaching in the distance. "Incoming badguys, everybody. Get ready."

"I hate to say this," Carmelita grumbled, "But I wish Karla was here to help with these guys." She got a boost from Bruce, who lifted her up with surprising ease. She leapt to the crumbling edge of the sinkhole, pulling herself up on a half-exposed tree root. Conner reached for her wrist, helping her to her feet. Both mother and son turned to face the incoming soldiers. "Where do these guys keep coming from? Let me handle them."

Carmelita held her paws upwards, gesturing for the approaching men to stop. "You're contaminating a crime scene. I've brought down Clockwerk; I need you boys to fall back to provide covering fire if the subject tries to flee. Right now, the damn thing is unresponsive and I have the situation under control so… just… fall back for now." A pause, then, "Go on. Move!" She tilted her head. "What are you boys just standing there for?" Carmelita's eyes widened, seeing a sergeant reach for his sidearm. The other soldiers lifted their rifles to bear. "What the HELL do you think you're doing?" she exclaimed.

The sergeant grimaced, defying his former boss. "Enforcer Fox, we've had several men tell us, over the radio, that you're leading the escape from Atlantis. The rest of us have been trying to find a way to drill back to Lower Atlantis and rescue Doctor Moreau. You've left him down there and now you're impeding our attempts at a rescue operation."

"You MORON," said Carmelita, glowering at the sergeant in a menacing way. "I was down there, earlier!" Her eyes narrowed. "I saw him take his last breath. This city can't take much more abuse and I've been charged with enforcing and protecting this city's people. So YES, I condone the goddamn evacuation plan! Now get your butts across the street and cover me or get your asses on a life boat. Make your choice but I'm busy right now and don't have time to be bothered by an ignorant plan, devised by uninformed people who think Moreau is still alive."

The sergeant flipped the safety switch on his pistol and cocked the hammer. "No, ma'am. Moreau found a way to make contact with us less than fifteen minutes ago. We all heard it over our radios. He said the real Enforcer Fox was with him at the bottom of the elevator shaft. I'm… I'm not sure how there can be two of you but… we heard him clearly and we plan to rescue him. And if you're not the real Enforcer Fox, then you're just some cheap knockoff."

The vixen clenched her fists. "Why you little…!" She lunged for the sergeant's throat.

Time appeared to slow down to a crawl for Conner. He hyper-focused on his surroundings. His eyes cut over to the group of soldiers, whose trigger fingers began to press inward on the triggers. Conner threw his arms apart, using his right paw to push his mother away with an electro-kinetic blast. With his left paw, he summoned a surge of energy. Without thinking about his next move, he wasn't sure of his own actions. His left paw began to glow and, at the back of his mind, he wondered what was about to happen.

His body flinched before his mind registered the sound of gunshots. A wall of transparent light, emanating from his left palm, shielded the couple from gunfire. Rounds disintegrated against the wall of light, leaving ripples in the electrified field. Time resumed its normal rhythm; bullets pelted the force field without penetrating it.

Conner's ears perked, hearing a voice over the radio. It was gruff and familiar. "Tell that little prick of a light bulb that he owes me one billion dollars. Then kill him!" Young Cooper widened his eyes, realizing that it was Boris (Chapter 26).

He thrust his right paw through the field, snagged the sergeant's radio receiver from the man's shoulder, and depressed the button. "Listen up, you sonuvabitch, it's about time you join your buddy that you killed back in Ethiopia. Simon Lancaster, was it? I'm going to hunt you down the way I hunted down Moreau. I'm going to kill you the way my father killed Moreau's clone. I'm going to rip you apart the way I just manhandled Clockwerk fifteen minutes ago. Show yourself, you piece of crap." Conner released the transmit button then took the sergeant by the scruff of his neck and pulled him into the field, electrocuting the man.

Boris' voice came back over the radio in a chiding voice. "The real Moreau is still alive and I'm heading up the rescue operation." The lynx paused briefly. "But first… Men! KILL THEM ALL!"

The soldiers fanned out, trying to flank Conner to get around his field. Conner put his other hand out, creating two walls. Carmelita, Bruce and Sly moved in close to help protect him on the two sides where his paws couldn't shield. Thomas Gerard grit his teeth and said, "We need to come to amends here. We can finish this later else we're all going to die." He pointed upwards.

Boris and a few of his men glanced up, quick to note the crack at the top of the dome.

"I'm sure you're just full of shit," Conner sneered. "Moreau is dead. I ran my staff through him and my Uncle Bruce found it and pulled it out. If Moreau was still alive, he would have seen something to back up your claim."

"I can prove it and you're all staying put until I do." Boris pulled out a radio transmitter and spoke into it. "Doctor M., this is Boris. I have the Cooper family at gunpoint. Respond with orders when possible." He released the thumb switch on the side of the radio and said, "You'll have to give him a few moments… he's trying to help the real Enforcer Fox. It seems someone pushed her down a three mile elevator shaft. Someone from your crew. So, for now, we wait while he decides your fate."

X-

Fifteen minutes ago…

Carmelita's eyes opened slowly. She grunted and tried to sit up only to have strong large hands ease her back. She brought her head up, looking at Doctor Alphonse Moreau. His clothes were saturated with blood. She continued up onto her left elbow and asked, "What happened?"

A sigh passed his lips. The doctor frowned and said, "My heart stopped briefly after being pierced with a gold cane. You're healing after falling sixteen thousand feet. So far, all your bones have mended themselves but it will take some time for the nerves and tendons to be repaired."

"I don't feel anything. No pain, just a little queasiness in my stomach. We're trapped in Atlantis?" she asked, looking around with a frown.

"Not exactly," said Moreau. "Bruce Cooper escaped through the main power conduit that goes up into the upper city. I theorize that's how Cooper's grandson got down here, earlier. "You're small enough to get through there as well. Then you can come back for me."

"So now you're admitting that I'm nothing but a clone? An illegally made…"

She thought about the right word to say but trailed off and remained quiet after that.

"My dear, I fear I've misled you in order to keep things simple. I had no intent on lying to you but a simple life is a far better one to have. Trust me."

"What else have you lied about?"

"What do you mean?"

"Conner Cooper is my son you dishonest bastard. The son of my … for lack of a better word… my doppelganger."

"Yes, Carmelita. He's your son." He eased back onto his haunches. Carmelita sat the rest of the way up, quickly, then suddenly turned her head and threw up. She ejected blood onto the ground the spit several times in an attempt to get the salty metallic taste out of her mouth. "You see?" said Moreau. "That's why I kept you from sitting up too quickly. That's why I kept your life simple by withholding the truth. To make things easier on you. Surely when you perished in the fall, an hour ago, your stomach ruptured. It filled with blood then you healed and came back to life. Now you're just spitting out what was in your digestive tract. You'll be fine in no time."

"You broke the law and you lied to me. About several things. You've kept those prisoners and kept people frozen against their will… and now I understand why." She noted his expression then sighed. "Same team. Where is the conduit? I'll head to the surface."

Moreau's stern glance softened and he pointed to the west. "Out in that intersection, my dear. You'll need Crowell's drill. It will cause tectonic quaking but don't be alarmed. It's simply using sound pulses to drill a hole into the ground."

"Crowell? Don't we have him locked up in the secondary jail below Central Park?"

"Indeed," replied the doctor with a nod. "It was a souvenir from Russia, where he lived (Chapter1), testing his devices, where he unsuccessfully attempted to market his technology to shady investors. The man is no saint, trust me. He needed to be jailed. Needless to say, he DID invent the drill we needed to reach Atlantis without destroying it. By using sound, we were able to drill straight to the hidden city without harming it; the drill worked like a sonar and once it broke through the surface into the ceiling of this city, it deactivated… thus preserving Atlantis. Yes, I took his machine by force but I let him live because I am not an evil man. I am simply driven to save the world."

"Indeed," she repeated back to him. "I'll be on my way to the surface now. Thank you for finally being honest with me. Now, I'd better hurry as I have my work cut out for me."

"Boris is up there. Last I heard from him, he'd located the Cooper group and was able to round up several guards who hadn't yet fled."

She snorted in disdain. "Boris? That man is trouble. I don't know why you place so much trust in him."

"He gets things done; he's highly motivated. But he'll need your help."

"Fine, I'm going." She turned about then stormed off. Enforcer Fox found the thickest conduit in the city jus where he'd said it would be. She opened a maintenance hatch on the side, just above the air circulation and light mechanism. She climbed up into it and began climbing the ribbed interior, which acted like a ladder. She knew that three miles was a long way to go by ladder but the gravity changed once she was inside, so it felt more like crawling, which made the sensation of falling nearly non-existent.

The crawling lasted twenty minutes, although it felt like longer. Motivated by emotion, fueled by Alphonse's revelation, Carmelita made her way up to an empty sewer line and immediately noticed the interior walling. While illuminated, it was also cracked. She followed the tunnel until there were missing blocks from the walls. The tunnel opened up to a large square section and against the wall immediately to her left was a ladder. She ascended it and heaved the manhole cover away then looked around. The park wasn't far.

She knelt beside a fallen guard and took his weapon from its holster. She still lacked a sensation of pain in her body and wondered if that was how Javari Ahma felt leading up to Moreau's brain surgery a few months ago. She came to an intersection and saw Boris across the street with a group of armed guards, all pointing their weapons at Sly Cooper and his family. They were separated from their friends, who were across the street in a large group. Javari Ahma was among the secondary group, along with her Russian boyfriend, Sergei. Also, Jing King was with them, Bentley, Murray, Thomas Gerard, a girl with knives on her belt and an unconscious wolfdog next to her. Winthrop was also there, along with the white-furred hybrid in his arms, also unconscious. They were all at gunpoint. Dawn was among the second group, standing next to Keri Tiikeri.

Enforcer Fox crossed the street and approached Boris from behind. One of the soldiers immediately saluted her. She nodded in return then said, "Boris, I'll take over from here."

"No! They're going to pay; half of the group sabotaged the repulser beam audio drill!" He cocked the weapon.

"Stand down," she snapped in reply. She watched in surprise as he brought his gun to Conner's head and thumbed the hammer back. She approached Boris from behind and said, "We need them alive."

"Shut up!" he cried, grinding the metal barrel against Conner's forehead. "Time to die, your girlfriend is next kid, followed by your FAMILY!" A gunshot rang out, nearly deafening everyone in the immediate area.

Boris widened his eyes. He glanced back over his shoulder, saying, "How dare you interfere?" He noted that she had her gun aimed forward. His brows furrowed in confusion, wondering who she was shooting at. All at once, Boris dropped to the ground.

Enforcer Carmelita Fox lifted her weapon to a ninety-degree angle and blew a wisp of smoke from the barrel. "Screw you, scumbag." She then lifted her voice to the others. "We're ALL getting out of here, alive, together! That's an ORDER. I'm going to destroy this place in any way possible. Boris was lying to you; Doctor Moreau is dead." She turned to the secondary group and called to Bentley, "Wiseturtle, I'll need your assistance in ridding the world of this… lie. This… abomination of a city. NOW."

Bruce cleared his throat. "We've already run a program. This city will launch itself into orbit and beyond. We don't have long."

Enforcer Fox nodded. "Perfect." She then turned to Carmelita Cooper and offered a weak smile. "You were pretty good in that fight, earlier. I respect you and you were right… about everything. I'm sorry I doubted you. I should know better than to doubt …myself."

One of the soldiers approached her. "Enforcer Fox, what's going on here? We overheard Moreau's voice on the radio."

Fox smirked. Since everyone else had lied to her up to this point, she decided it was the only way to fix the situation. "Boris wanted to take over by giving false hope. You would have followed him down to Atlantis where he would have retrieved the artifacts and then he would have assumed control. It was a lie. Let's get out of here. It's all over. Get to the lifeboats. I'll follow these people to the penthouse yacht and see them off."

"See them off…? You're not going with them?"

"Someone has to make sure this place goes where it's supposed to go. I'm an abomination. Clones are illegal. Don't worry, I'll bail out at the last minute, okay? Just go. I want to be the last one on this thing to make sure the city is clear. That's my job and it's all I have left." She made a gesture and the soldiers took off in a brisk run. She turned back to Carmelita Cooper and her family. "I'm sorry. After talking to Alphonse, I realized you were right. I suppose I got a little emotional; I don't like being lied to. So… this is the best way I know how to hurt him. Once this place takes off, the conduit tunnels will tear and water will flood in. I don't know if it will preserve Atlantis or destroy it… but… if Atlantis caused all the problems up on the surface then it needs to be destroyed or hidden away forever."

"I agree," said Conner, adding, "But we actually took all the artifacts. Steven is going to help us disperse them to the far corners of the globe."

"I don't know anyone named Steven but… fair enough. And I know you took the artifacts. I told a lie. I figured… when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Now let's get out of here!"

"You don't have to tell ME twice," said Carmelita Cooper with a smirk.

"I have to wonder if the world is prepared for two Carmelitas'," said Sly with a slight grin.

"Hush," said his wife. She then shouted to the approaching group. "All of you, get your tails up to that penthouse level now! I want this place to flood or explode before Clockwerk comes to his senses!"

Kalen began ushering everyone forward. "We all need to hurry."

Eric waved his paws apart, using his shadows to clear a path so that the overturned cars and chunks of concrete in the street were swept aside. The entire group headed towards the large building a few blocks away.

"This is going to suck," murmured Karla, still in Winthrop's arms. "I know what's expected of me. I can't teleport all of us to the top floor. I'm going to have to take groups of three, several stories at a time. It's not going to be easy."

Bentley chimed in. "Not to mention those attack droids."

Enforcer Fox sighed. "I'll be honest… once they're active, it takes several authorization codes to deactivate them. They're not going to be easy to beat. And having too many cooks in the kitchen isn't going to help because the hallway is too narrow between the stairwell and the observatory wrap-around on the penthouse floor."

Jing King coughed into a paw. "Could Karla…" she paused, realizing she was referring to the hybrid felox in the third person. She turned to Winthrop's wife and asked, "couldn't you just teleport us through that door and into the penthouse yacht?"

Karla frowned. "I don't know the layout inside that room. I don't want anyone getting stuck in a wall or inside of a piece of furniture, or vice versa. It's too dangerous."

"I see," murmured Jing. "Then we must fight. I understand that Kalen and Bentley couldn't defeat them, earlier, even with Murray's help. This won't be easy."

Murray smiled a bit. "We just need our best players to clear the path."

Javari nodded in agreement. "Kalen, Eric, Karla and Enforcer Fox since she's apparently unable to die. The rest of us will take the stairs, so that Karla can teleport the one group to the top in order to fight the sentries. That way she's not exhausted. By the time they finish taking out those blasted robots, the rest of us will be at the top and ready to leave. I don't even care to figure out the math for success… I just… I have faith that Kalen, Eric and Karla can get the job done."

Conner lifted a paw. "Hey, wait a second… I'm the one that can fry technology. I should go. Alone."

"At least let ME help you. I'll teleport you up there," said Karla. "And I won't take no for an answer. Kalen and Eric can protect the rest of the group and make sure they make it to the Penthouse safely. God knows if there are any of those sentry things in the stairwell. Then we'll have covered our bases."

Ahma nodded. "It's a good plan. Conner does have the ability to combat technology very well."

"No arguments here," said Conner's mother much to the surprise of everyone else. She saw her daughter open her mouth to argue but Carmelita lifted a paw to Carmen and smiled somewhat. "Not a word. Your brother does have the ability. He threw Clockwerk around like a ragdoll. None of us could do that. It's his time to shine. It's up to the rest of us to survive."

Sly offered his wife a smile. "I'm proud of you for cutting the apron strings."

"Hush, you." Carmelita winked at her husband, despite smirking.

Dawn approached Conner and took his paw into hers. "Listen, a lot has happened lately. I love you. I just found out today that I'm adopted; God only knows who my real family is. But I really feel like we have a future together. Don't go messing it all up by dying, okay?"

Conner put his free paw on her cheek and turned her face directly to himself then kissed her. Everyone else seemed to walk around them. Karla teleported from her husband's arms and appeared standing behind Conner. She patted both Dawn and Conner on the top of their heads. "That's the way to do it, kiddo. Show her you care instead of always just telling her." She leaned her head in as if trying to inspect the technique of their liplock. Conner slipped his right paw out of Dawn's left and put his palm flat against Karla's face, pushing her away then he casually draped his right arm around Dawn, deepening the kiss.

Enforcer Fox looked back at them and sighed softly, almost as if slightly jealous of their love. "Hey, guys, break it up. We don't have much time and if you treat this like your chance for a goodbye kiss, you might be jinxing yourself to a long goodbye. C'mon, we have work to do. The best is yet to come."

X-

A/N: OKAY! I just need to write the climatic part and the epilogue.

See? Conner and Dawn aren't blood relatives after all. Wshew! xD

OR ARE THEY? j/k

Finally, an update to this chapter. Now I just have to get everyone out! That's a lot of people, y'know? I'm sorry I've been away so much as of late. Lots going on. But I'm gunna finish this story and that's that! lol. Anyhow, is anyone still out there? Anyone still reading? Are you ready for the conclusion? Tell me what you think! AND STUFF!

See you soon! :D

-ME