Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of its characters, except my OC
A/N: Hello everyone, here is the 26th chapter as promised: where Jack helps Sly and his friends destroy Clock-Lita to put an end to both Clockwerk and Carmelita...but at an unfortunate cost. There will also be a huge surprising twist to the chapter. Please sit back and enjoy.
Reviews and comments will be appreciated
Chapter 26: Anatomy for Disaster, Pt 2
Morning had soon arrived as predicted and Arpeggio's blimp, according to Bentley's computer, was nearing French airspace...not to far from Paris. But fortunately for the raccoon and his team, their turtle friend had good news for them and immediately put together a slide show presentation while Sly, Murray and Neyla ate a small breakfast as they needed to be mentally prepared for their final confrontation with the robotic owl/vixen hybrid.
"Guys, I have some very good news: Jack got the email that Neyla sent him yesterday and just emailed us back. He understands the dire situation we all face if Clock-Lita becomes immortal and is willing to help us to destroy the homicidal robotic bird. He's already airborne and is on his way." Bentley stated happily, informing his friends that Howlett had thankfully received Neyla's message and much to their delight, had agreed to assist them in destroying the demented hybrid they had successfully weakened by destroying the four main engines that Clock-Lita had absorbed power from!
Sly and Murray smiled happily and chuckled softly, which became into excited cheers and high fived each other while Neyla smiled herself before embracing her lover and hippo friend/teammate.
"Thank you Jack. Thank you." The tigress whispered softly, thanking her former training partner for agreeing to help them destroy Clock-Lita before she could become immortal.
"But...there's only a small problem: he's unable to locate this blimp through his chopper's radar." The turtle stated with a small frown, regretfully ruining the moment by informing his friends and teammates that the wolf detective couldn't find Arpeggio's blimp through his helicopter's radar.
"Is there a way to help him locate the blimp?" Sly asked, wondering if there was a way for them to help Howlett get a fix on their location.
"As a matter of fact Sly...there is. To help him hone in on our position, we'll need to boost the strength of four local radio towers. Once Jack has arrived, he can only take one of us to act as his tail gunner in a dogfight against Clock-Lita." Bentley answered, stating there was a way to help Jack locate the blimp: by boosting the radio frequency of the four radio towers scattered throughout the aircraft and once he arrived, their secret wolf ally could only take one of them to engage in an aerial battle against the robotic owl/vixen hybrid.
"This is it you guys. We don't have time for any other plans. We're almost over Paris and if that hate light show goes off...well, we all know what will happen." He added while concluding the final presentation, informing his friends that they no longer had the time to make any other plans...as the blimp was almost nearing Paris and mentioning what would happen if they failed to destroy Clock-Lita before the hypnotic hate light show went off.
"Wait a second...Howlett can only take one of us as his gunner to face flying hybrid freak?" Murray asked as he needed to sure he heard his turtle friend right: how Jack could only take one of them to act as his tail gunner to fight Clock-Lita!
Sly's and Neyla's eyes widened after hearing that Jack could only take one person on their team to face off against the robotic owl/vixen hybrid,as it brought up a very important decision: who would go as the wolf detective's tail gunner during the upcoming aerial battle against the demented and homicidal robotic owl?
"Sly...I think you should be the one to face that flying bitch when Jack arrives." The tigress stated softly to her raccoon, suggesting that he should be the one to act as Howlett's machine gun operator, much to her lover's deep surprise by her suggestion!
"Me? Neyla...I've never handled a helicopter machine gun before. And even I could, there's no way I'm leaving you, Bentley and Murray here on the blimp!" The raccoon replied, deeply surprised that his feline lover recommended him to be Jack's machine gunner while refusing to leave the woman he loved and his foster brothers/best friends on the blimp while he and the wolf detective battled Clock-Lita, while hearing her robotic screeches from inside the safe house.
"And there's no bloody way I would ever dream of leaving you chaps up here, if it was me volunteering to go with Jack. But's its a risk we have to take, my love. What do you think Bentley?" Neyla countered, showing she would be just as against the idea of leaving her lover and friends/teammates stranded up on the blimp if she went with Howlett and turned to their turtle friend for his input.
"Sorry Sly...but I have to agree with Neyla. This is our only chance to destroy Clock-Lita before the blimp reaches Paris...which will be...in half an hour!" The turtle stated, siding with his tigress friend and teammate as having to leave the rest of the team up on the blimp was a risk they'd have to take...and revealing they only had 30 minutes to defeat the robotic owl/vixen hybrid before Arpeggio's auto-pilot activated the hate hypnotic light show!
'Half an hour?! We're that close to Paris?!' Sly mentally shouted as he, Neyla and Murray stared completely shocked after hearing how much time they had left and how close the massive aircraft was arriving to Paris!
"Sly...we don't have time to argue about this. You defeated Clockwerk two years ago...Bentley, Murray and I know you can defeat him, especially with that double crossing bitch controlling his body this time." His tigress replied in a soft and firm tone, stating that they couldn't afford to waste further time arguing and reassuring her raccoon lover that he could defeat Clock-Lita, just like he defeated Clockwerk back in Russia two years ago with the turtle and hippo nodding in agreement.
"Neyla's right Sly. We'll be alright while you and Howlett take on that homicidal mechanical freak flying out there. You got this buddy." Murray stated, showing he sided with Neyla and reassuring his friend/leader that they would be safe in the hide out while he and the wolf detective confronted Clock-Lita.
"You can do this my love. End this...for good." The tigress stated softly, pressing her lips against her raccoon's in a heated passionate kiss, which Sly returned with equal passion...while their friends simply rolled theirs and glanced away with small grins on their faces as they knew that Neyla was merely wishing him the best of luck.
"Neyla...thank you. Stay safe you guys." The raccoon stated with his casual smirk on his face, thanking his tigress lover and two best friends for their encouraging words as he was mentally ready to face the robotic owl/vixen hybrid when Jack found them on his helicopter's radar.
"Hold on Sly. You're going to need this." Bentley stated, as he stopped his friend/leader from stepping out of the safe house and helped strap on a what appeared to be a highly advanced gadget that resembled sort of backpack, which Sly knew would be useful for his last and final field assignment on the massive aircraft.
After his turtle friend and tech support helped him slip on the hi-tech pack, the raccoon exited the hide out and approached his final RV point, which was located on top of the cabin on the left side of the safe house. Once he approached his designated RV point, Sly pulled out his Binocucom and contacted Bentley.
"Alright Sly, we need to send Jack a strong radio pulse so he can home in on the blimp. To do that, I'll need you to get on top of four very tall towers: they're too big to climb and too tall to jump up normally." The turtle started off, informing his raccoon friend that they needed to create a strong radio signal to help Howlett locate Arpeggio's blimp and the only means to create a signal that strong enough, was by climbing up four massive towers scattered throughout the aircraft...but there was a catch: the towers were too huge to climb up ordinary methods!
"I'm guessing this gadget you helped me strap on will get me to the top of all four towers?" The raccoon asked, while fairly guessing that the hi-tech gadget his friend helped him put on would assist him in climbing the towers.
"You guess it right buddy. This gadget is an experimental mega-jump pack...which activated will allow you to reach higher altitudes in just one jump! And Sly...good luck." Bentley answered, revealing the device he was wearing was an experimental mega-jump pack that would both: help him reach the towers and get around the massive aircraft in a single leap...and wishing him the best of luck once the wolf detective found them.
"...Yeah..." Sly muttered softly, showing he wasn't exactly thrilled of having to leave his child best friends and tigress lover stranded on the blimp when he and Howlett faced off against Clock-Lita...but had to be done before they broke contact.
Knowing he couldn't waste precious time, the raccoon immediately went straight to work: while deciding to take the mega-jump pack for a quick test run...after reaching the edge of the cabin roof, he activated the pack and instead of performing a regular jump...he was propelled way up into the sky! After experiencing how useful his new gadget was...Sly had instinctively deployed his paraglider and sailed silently over the walkways of the blimp, until he reached the first radio tower which was on the right side platform of the center deck. Once he landed near the first tower, the raccoon had climbed up the cabin, jumped normally while performing ninja spire jumps across the wire and landed safely on the shaft of the propeller.
Sly had then activated the mega-jump pack and launched himself skyward, while skillfully jumping through the wide gaps in the tower's round walkways and landing safely on top of the structure, which brought the tower online. After the first tower was activated and thanks to the mega-jump pack, the crafty raccoon had simply paraglided across the blimp, which saved him the trouble of merely running all over the walkways and mega-jumped to activate the remaining three towers. Once all four towers were activated, they shot a powerful energy beam towards the central array in the middle of the blimp and transmitted a huge signal throughout the entire aircraft!
"Great work Sly! Detective Howlett has picked up our signal and is en route directly towards us." Bentley cried out happily, congratulating his friend and leader on a job well down and informing him that Jack immediately pinpointed the signal and was currently heading right towards the safe house!
"Roger that Bentley. I'll be right there." The raccoon replied with his casual grin on his face, showing he was pleased that their secret friend and ally had already found them and would meet the wolf detective outside the hideout in a matter of seconds.
Once he leaped off the final tower he activated to send the signal to help Howlett locate Arpeggio's blimp, Sly had deployed his paraglider and sailed silently back towards the safe house. After he climbed over the dumpster and side of the cabin, that was Jack had instantly arrived in an Interpol issued attack helicopter outfitted with a twin barreled side mounted machine gun that was ready for some action!
"Jack, it'd good to see you again since Prague. Thanks for agreeing to help me and my friends on such short notice and warning us about Carmelita after we escaped on the Contessa's blimp." The raccoon stated with a soft smile, showing he was relieved to see the wolf detective as he and his friends were worried that he hadn't received Neyla's email yesterday and thanked him, for warning them about the corrupt vixen coming after them before they headed out to Canada to go after Jean Bison.
"You and your friends took a chance trusting me back in Prague, Sly...warning you guys about that backstabbing bitch the least I could. Now let's get down to business: hop aboard and strap in! It's time to go bird hunting!" Jack replied while mirroring the smile, stating he was merely returning the favor as Sly and his friends took a huge gamble trusting him: due to Carmelita shattering their trust in cops after what she did to the raccoon and his former training partner back in India and more importantly...couldn't pass up the opportunity to put that disgrace of a cop and treacherous vixen in the ground, as Barkley was furious beyond words after being informed of Carmelita's corruption and issued an arrest warrant on her: to be brought in dead or alive!
"With pleasure." He stated plain and simple before jumping over to the chopper and manning the main gun before the wolf detective flew them both to higher altitude to engage the robotic owl/vixen hybrid.
However...back inside the hide out, while Bentley and Murray had witnessed Jack arrive in his attack helicopter and picked up Sly to confront Clock-Lita...they didn't notice Neyla as she secretly sat in the turtle's seat and went straight onto ThiefNet.
'...I...I wish I didn't have to do this...But...it's for the best. I'd never forgive myself if Bentley and Murray got hurt, especially if that bitch Carmelita decided to come after us during the fight.' The tigress stated as she silently typed behind the ThiefNet computer and purchased the two mains items she was searching for...which would soon come in handy, especially if Clock-Lita intended to keep good on her threat, which she no doubtingly would.
~Meanwhile with Sly and Jack~
After the wolf detective flew them to higher altitude, which was flying directly above the blimp...Howlett simply snared/growled angrily as Clock-Lita had flown right after them, while cawing/roaring at the sight of the Interpol issued chopper and after carefully zooming her robotic eyes in on the cockpit, identifying her 'former temporary partner' and 'colleague'.
"Howlett? Of course Cooper and his gang called you! So...you're their new 'buddy' inside Interpol? You're pathetic." The robotic owl cried out, speaking in Carmelita's voice while expressing the same level of disdain she harbored against Sly and Neyla against Jack after discovering that he was their new ally on the force, just like she was before she betrayed everything she stood for and became the robotic hybrid she now was after entering Clockwerk's inanimate body!
"Speak for yourself Fox! If anything...the only one pathetic is you! You betrayed everything you stood for, threw away your humanity for what? All because Sly met and fell in love with Neyla? You could've met and fell in love someone new yourself, your true soul mate...but no, you merely let your jealously turn you from an honest, hardworking cop...to a heartless murdering bitch and mechanical freak of nature." Howlett cried out through the chopper's speaker system, informing Carmelita that it was really she who was pathetic as she threw away everything she worked so hard far: her freedom, career in Interpol and even sold her soul to the Devil, all because she couldn't accept the fact that Sly found his true love, Neyla and how she could've found love in someone new as well...but chose to give in to her jealousy and become the monster she truly was!
"Oh, I'm pathetic? You're the one assisting and abetting wanted criminals! Plus Cooper, let's all kid ourselves and say you, your gang and Howlett do by some small chance defeat and destroy me...you idiots are aware what that means later on, don't you?" Clock-Lita asked in a mocking tone while reminding Jack that he was also risking his career as a cop just by helping Sly and his team in stopping her from becoming immortal and darkly brought up a rather important fact: how the raccoon and his friends would be chased by the wolf detective, especially if Barkley decided to pass on the duty of bringing in the Cooper Gang onto him!
"...If that's how things are going to be between Jack and my team after you and Clockwerk are gone Carmelita...than that's just something we'll have to live with." Sly answered, showing he was indeed aware how his and his friend's relationship with Jack would go, especially once the robotic owl/vixen hybrid was defeated and the Clockwerk Parts were destroyed: how Interpol would no doubtingly send him to try and bring them in...and stated that it was an outcome they would learn to live and deal with once she and Clockwerk were destroyed for good.
"Enough of this foolish chitchat Cooper! Your time is up! After I've killed you and Howlett, I'll go after the rest of your pathetic gang: gutting that fat hippo alive, crushing that worthless nerd of a turtle underneath my claw and more importantly...saving your precious Neyla for last and I plan of savoring every moment torturing her before I end her..." The robotic owl/vixen hybrid screamed out, showing she had enough of their pointless talking and ready for battle...while darkly and sadistically bragging on what she planned to do with the raccoon's friends/teammates and lover: how she planned on disemboweling Murray with her Talons, crushing Bentley to death with her heavy robotic feet...just like she killed Arpeggio with her beak and how she planned on torturing Neyla to death before being cut off by both Jack and Sly!
"STAY AWAY FROM HER!" The raccoon and wolf detective angrily screamed, the both of them extremely enraged after hearing the sadistic plans the homicidal robotic owl planned for Bentley, Murray and more importantly, Neyla if she had somehow defeated them and were strongly determined to prevent it from happening!
After the initial death threat to his childhood friends/foster brothers and tigress, Sly had leveled his eyes with the iron sights of the machine gun and pressed down on the trigger, firing right at Clock-Lita! Although...attempting to land a direct hit on the flying robotic owl proved to be far challenging than the previous battle which took back in Russia two years ago...as the Carmelita had perfectly strafed left/right and performed several barrel rolls to avoid serious damage, even though several energy rounds had managed to hit her, but was still able to remain airborne! Once the raccoon ceased firing to prevent the chopper's main gun from overheating...that was when the robotic owl/vixen hybrid retaliated: firing three missiles, two yellow and one red directly at the attack helicopter!
But fortunately, the machine gun swiftly cooled down and the raccoon had shot the yellow/red glowing projectiles right out of the sky before they came anywhere close near the chopper! However...that was when Clock-Lita had activated and used an all too familiar attack that Sly knew all too well: the electrified ring attack that Clockwerk himself used when they faced off in the heart of the Krakarov Volcano! But thanks to his sharp mind, he immediately remembered the flaw in the energized rings: hitting the outside of the main ring rendered the attack harmless and the wily raccoon skillfully fired a precise shot that neutralized the rings from causing any severe damage to the helicopter!
"Nice work Sly! How'd you know how to cancel out those rings?" Jack cried out, complimenting his secret friend and ally on his shooting skills and was curious to how he knew how to render the energized rings that Clock-Lita sent right at them harmless.
"I battled Clockwerk himself when he was actually 'alive' in Russia two years a...Oh shit, Jack watch out!" Sly answered, explaining to Howlett that he and the robotic owl faced each other in battle two years...but cried out as three missiles were headed right towards them!
"Oh fuck!" The wolf detective cursed, before pulling up at the last second and thankfully managed to avoid any serious damage...even the red missile had struck the bottom of the hull, which caused the chopper to 'bounce' in the air!
"We did't take a serious hit, did we?" The raccoon asked in a concern tone, hoping that the chopper hadn't taken a direct hit from the last missile while still manning/firing the gun!
"No...No, we're good. That missile didn't do that much damage, so we're not out of the fight just yet." Howlett answered, informing Sly that the helicopter wasn't that badly damaged and could still keep fighting while avoiding another barrage of yellow and red missiles!
The heated aerial battle between Sly and Jack against Clock-Lita had been pretty intense and brutal, as neither combatants were going down easily: even though Carmelita was throwing every weapon her new body had at its disposal, including the weapons the actual Clockwerk used during his battle against the raccoon she despised so much...Howlett's Interpol issued helicopter avoided taking any serious damage, due to Sly memorizing the flaws/weaknesses to her energized rings and shooting down her missiles! As the battle continued, both the wolf and raccoon smiled...as they noticed smoking coming from the robotic owl's head, which showed their attacks were getting through and damaging her insanely strong armor and Sly continued firing bursts of energized bullets towards the flying robotic hybrid. As the aerial battle continued for what seemed like another five minutes...that was when Sly had landed a direct hit with the main gun that ended it!
"Nice shooting Sly! You know...if we had met under different circumstances, we would've made a hell of a team!" Jack cried out as he glanced over his seat and offered the raccoon a firm hand to shake while stating how they could've been partners in another life, just like he and Neyla were before he was assigned to the Fugitive Recovery Unit.
"And you're one hell of a pilot Jack! Way to go! Wait...look!" He replied, complimenting Howlett on his piloting skills and couldn't help but agree with what he just said: how they could've made a great team as partners, especially if he had been a cop as they shook hands...before glancing down to witness something they didn't expect!
"I don't believe it!" The wolf detective cried out, completely shocked beyond words as he and Sly couldn't believe what they witnessed with their own two eyes!
What did they see you ask? Clock-Lita crashing right into the main air lift, which kept the blimp itself afloat in the sky...destroying the massive aircraft, as explosions rung out and erupted everywhere on the vessel and making them both, especially Sly gasp in complete shock and horror: as the robotic owl/vixen hybrid was flying towards the safe house with his friends/teammates still inside!
~Meanwhile with Neyla, Bentley and Murray~
"Oh god...she's coming right towards us!" The turtle cried out, horrified as the robotic owl was merely seconds away from tearing the hide out apart from the self-destructing blimp and flying away with him, Murray and Neyla inside it!
"Oh, this is not good! What do we do guys?!" The hippo cried out, equally scared as he couldn't believe that Clock-Lita had actually survived crashing into the main lift...but quickly remembered Sly telling him how Clockwerk actually survived falling into molten lava, even with his robotic body badly damaged after his raccoon friend/leader recovered the final pages to the Thievius Raccoonus and leaving Carmelita handcuffed to the scaffolding in the crater of the Krakarov Volcano!
Before Bentley could even answer and much to his and Murray's great surprise...their tigress friend had pulled out two paragliders: one purple and one green before tossing them to her friends.
"Neyla...where did you get these parachutes?" The turtle asked, as he and his hippo friend didn't recognize the different colored paragliders and were completely baffled to why she just handed them the parachutes.
"There's no time to explain Bentley. Please, you and Murray need to put those chutes on quickly!" The tigress answered, knowing there was no time to ask questions and instructed her teammates to put the parachutes on before Clock-Lita flew them away while still inside the safe house!
Knowing better than to argue with her, Murray and Bentley had quickly strapped the parachutes over their backs and stared surprised as their feline friend/teammate had opened the front door and motioned for them to follow her!
"Neyla, wait! What are we even doing?" The hippo asked, demanding to know what it was his tigress friend had planned...as he and his turtle friend had a bad feeling shooting up their spines to what the answer was as Bentley grabbed the ThiefNet computer and placed it inside his shell for safe keeping .
"The only option we have big guy: we're gonna paraglide down to Paris." Neyla answered, which surprised her friends: claiming that the 'three' of them would jump off the exploding blimp and paraglide safely down to Paris!
"What?! We're not jumping!" Bentley cried out as he and Murray stared completely shocked by what she wanted them to do: to leap off the burning and still exploding aircraft and strongly refused to jump to safety!
"This is not the time to argue!" She angrily remarked, claiming there was no time to argue especially since Clock-Lita was mere seconds away.
"But...But we've never paraglided before!" Murray cried out, stating that he and the turtle didn't have any experience in handling parachutes or gliding through the air like she and Sly did!
"There's nothing to it! All you chaps have to do is think of something relaxing to calm yourselves before jumping, count to 3 and pull the cord." The tigress replied, informing here shaken friends and teammates that paragliding wasn't difficult as they thought: all they had to do in order to mentally prepare themselves before making a jump was to think of something of relaxing and counting to 3 before pulling the cord to deploy the cute to avoid falling to their deaths.
"But..." Bentley attempted to argue, but was silenced by an angry look Neyla had on her face.
"This isn't for debate! That flying mechanical bitch is coming! Trust me when I say this: get the bloody Hell out of!" She angrily and firmly added, while pointing directly at the robotic owl/vixen hybrid just meters away from the hideout and ordered her stubborn friends to jump before it was too late!
"Arghh! You'd better be right behind us!" The turtle angrily groaned as he knew that Neyla was correct, as Clock-Lita was seconds away from their current position and firmly commanded the tigress to be right behind him and the hippo before he reluctantly jumped off the burning/exploding blimp!
"See you on the ground?" Murray asked hesitantly, showing he didn't want to leave his feline friend but had no choice before jumping after Bentley.
"I'll be right behind you and Bentley, bug guy." Neyla answered, 'promising' to be right behind her friends...which was a lie as she was simply waiting for them to abandon ship.
"Cannonball!" He yelled out before running after his turtle friend, jumped off the aircraft and pulled the cord, deploying the chute and slowly descending towards Paris!
However...unknown to Murray and Bentley, Neyla hadn't followed them and actually stepped back inside the hideout...which was when Clock-Lita had arrived and clutched the talons of her right claw onto the roof, carrying the safe house with the tigress now trapped inside!
~Back with Sly and Jack~
"Cooper..I think your turtle and hippo friends just bailed out of your hideout!" The wolf detective stated, informing the raccoon that his teammates had just jumped off the blimp and deployed the two new parachutes, which he didn't recognize as they slowly headed to the ground beneath them.
'Wait...two? Where's... oh, no. No, no, no!' Sly mentally shouted, as he only counted the green and purple chutes sailing slowly in the sky and swiftly near where his tigress was: still inside the safe house that the robotic owl/vixen hybrid was flying away with in her claws!
"Jack, can you get me in anywhere near that flying bitch?" He immediately asked, wondering if Howlett could get in close to the mechanical owl that was holding his lover hostage!
"I can't. There's too much debris in the way. I can't fly us anywhere close without damaging the chopper." Jack answered, stating that he couldn't fly them in close as all the debris from the destroyed blimp had obscured blocked their path and couldn't afford to risk damaging the helicopter!
"Then drop me off at there: on top of that port cabin right there. I'll work my way towards her." The raccoon requested softly, asking the wolf detective to drop him off on top of a cabin floating in the air and stating he would work his way up towards Clock-Lita and Howlett did as he asked, flying the chopper close to the port cabin that Sly was pointing at.
"Good luck." The wolf detective stated softly, wishing the raccoon the best of luck in recusing Neyla from the robotic, as she way ahead of them and all the floating debris, along with the drifts that would make landing on a specific piece of debris dicey before flying off.
"Hold on Neyla! I'm coming!" Sly shouted shortly after Howlett dropped him off and they traded a thumbs up: thanking each other on a job well done during the aerial battle against Clock-Lita before turning his attention to the robotic owl that was holding his tigress captive and was fiercely determined to rescue her.
Once Jack had took off, the raccoon had thoroughly planned his 'route' to reach the robotic owl/vixen hybrid, leaped off the port cabin and deployed his paraglider: carefully gliding in the sky and landing on the floating fragments of the destroyed blimp: ranging from fragmented engine blocks, fan lifts, walkways, propellers and other port cabins. After carefully landing on an engine block near Clock-Lita, he deployed his paraglider one final time and landed directly on the robotic owl's damaged but still functioning left wing! While trapped inside the safe house and holding onto the briefing table in order to maintain her balance, Neyla smiled brightly as she witnessed her raccoon lover coming to her rescue: carefully gliding across the floating debris of the blimp and landing directly on the mechanical hybrid's left wing.
"You want a piece of me Cooper? Don't worry, there's plenty to go around!" The robotic hybrid demanded, incredibly annoyed that the raccoon that she hated so much had chased after...but expected as much, especially since she had the woman he loved trapped inside their destroyed hide out.
"You may have a new body Carmelita...but you're still the backstabbing coward and traitor we've beaten time and time again! This time won't be any different and I'm glad that I chose Neyla over you. Because as far as I'm concerned, you're dead to me." Sly replied while mirroring the same level of disdain towards Clock-Lita, angrily calling the vixen he once had feelings for a backstabbing coward and traitor who betrayed everything she stood for and was glad that he chose Neyla over her, as she no longer meant anything to him!
"Be brave while you can Cooper. I may not have the immortality born of pure hatred just yet...but I can feel something...some power rising inside me!" The robotic owl coldly replied, begrudgingly confessing that she hadn't obtained the spark of immortality just yet...but revealed that she had felt some sort of power coursing through her circuitry before charging her eyes for an energy attack!
Without wasting a second as this was his only chance to knock the demented and damaged robotic hybrid out of the sky, the raccoon had swiftly ran across the damaged wing up to the left side of Clock-Lita's head and immediately went to town on her face with his cane! Sly had landed a number of powerful blows down on the robotic owl/vixen hybrid's face, which canceled her energy attack and screeched out in pain, as the blows he landed caused the left Eye to explode and set on fire! After the left Eye was badly damaged, he quickly ran across Clock-Lita's back over to the right side of her head and immediately landed a number of blows, severely damaging and taking out the right Eye as well!
"Neyla, quick! You need to jump!" Sly called out to his feline lover, ordering her to exit the safe house as he knew right away that the robotic owl was about to lose control and crash from all the damage she took during the aerial battle against him and Jack in the attack helicopter and powerful blows he just landed from his cane onto her head/face!
"Don't need to tell me twice Ringtail!" The tigress called out, knowing her raccoon was correct and instinctively bailed out of the destroyed safe house: kicked the door down and deployed her paraglider.
As she sailed silently through the air, Neyla glanced over her shoulder and smiled as Sly was right behind her as he leaped off the out of control robotic owl/vixen hybrid, whom had crashed directly in the outskirts of Paris! After they touched down, the two lovers had heard Bentley and Murray calling out their names and smiled as they ran up to them.
"Sly! Neyla! You guys made it!" Murray cried out while embracing both his raccoon and tigress friends in his strong muscular arms, showing how relieved he was that they were safe and sound with Bentley chuckling softly at how tight the hippo was hugging their friends and teammates.
"We're glad to see you and Bentley as well big guy...but, uh...you're sort of killing us." Sly stated softly while chuckling in a raspy voice, showing he was overjoyed to see his two childhood best friends in one piece as well...while informing the hippo that he was killing him and his tigress.
"What?" He asked, surprised and somewhat confused from the words that just left his mouth!
"You're hugging us too tight. We can't breathe." Neyla answered softly while gasping herself, revealing to Murray that he was hugging her and Sly too tightly and he immediately released his hold on them.
"Oh, sorry you guys." The hippo stated, apologizing with a sheepish grin on his face as he couldn't believe how hard he was embracing his friends/teammates!
"It's alright big guy. We're happy to you chaps as well." The tigress answered after she and her raccoon took in a deep breath and swiftly recovered from the unintended powerful hug Murray had just given them...and turned their attention directly at the seemingly defeated and 'destroyed' Clock-Lita, which laid motionless on the ground.
"Is it over?" She asked softly, wondering if the robotic hybrid was truly dead as she and her friends carefully studied the badly damaged mechanical owl, hoping that the battle was truly over.
"It's over my beautiful tigress. It's all over." Sly answered, reassuring his tigress that it was indeed over...while a little unsure, as he remembered how stubborn Clockwerk was, when he and the ancient owl faced each other two years ago.
"Right on!" Murray cried out excitedly while flexing his arms, truly believing that the robotic owl/vixen hybrid was truly 'dead'!
"It's truly an emotional moment." Bentley replied, also believing that Clock-Lita was finished as well. However...they were sadly mistaken.
"DIE INSECTS, DIE! MY HATE WILL CRUSH YOU!" The robotic owl cried out angrily, showing she was still alive and functioning...much to Sly's and his friend's disbelief!
'Why am I not surprised?' The raccoon mentally asked himself, while glaring as he should've known that the mechanical hybrid wouldn't die that easy...just like Clockwerk refused to simply die thousands of years ago.
"Watch out! That thing is still kicking!" Sly cried out, as his friends stared surprised that Clock-Lita was still alive before they ran for safety as she released floor security lasers as a last line of defense to protect herself!
"Now what? How do we finish her for good?" Neyla asked as she turned to her lover and teammates, wondering if they had a plan to destroy the nearly destroyed but still functioning robotic owl/vixen hybrid for good.
"Clock-Lita mentioned something about a Hate Chip...it's fair to assume that its the true source of her power." Bentley replied, showing he had been listening to the conversation between his raccoon friend/leader and robotic owl: how she mentioned feeling some sort of power coursing through her body and fairly guessed that this 'Hate Chip' was what allowed Clockwerk himself to live for thousands of years since Ancient Egypt.
"If we can remove it, she should be unable to attack or defend herself." Sly stated, thinking that his turtle friend was right about removing the Hate Chip: if it truly was the source of Clock-Lita's/Clockwerk's power and they destroyed...it would put an end to the curse of the ancient owl and corrupt vixen for good.
"Then let's do some open head surgery! I'll pry open that beak so Bentley can go to town with his bombs." Murray stated as he also agreed with the plan and suggesting they do perform a little 'surgery' with him being the 'surgeon': how he would pry open Clock-Lita's beak open so the turtle could remove the chip and do some damage with his bombs!
After carefully and skillfully jumping over the lasers, the hippo had approached the left side of the robotic owl's face and immediately went to work at prying the beak open for Bentley to remove the chip...which proved easier said than done, as the beak was jammed shut from the crash. But once he succeeded in prying the beak open...Murray couldn't help but back away as a hologram of Carmelita's face had appeared from the inside of the mouth!
"I hate you Cooper! You and your precious Neyla! You may have won the battle, but this is far from over! I will find you in your sleep and I'll kill you both! You, your bitch girlfriend and worthless gang will never a moment's peace for the rest of your lives! The Clock-Lita will know revenge! I AM REVENGE! I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA! CLOCK-LITA!" Carmelita's digital face screamed out in pure ire and hatred, showing how much she hated Sly and Neyla and stating that they would never be free of her: vowing to find the two lovers in their dreams and killing in their sleep and promising that they and their future children never know a moment's peace!
"You have so got to die." Sly and Neyla muttered softly underneath their breath, showing they had enough of Carmelita's big mouth and narrowed their eyes angrily at the threat of toward their future children.
After witnessing his hippo friend pry open the mouth for him, Bentley had just as easily and skillfully leaped over the lasers as he approached Clock-Lita and planted a single bomb on the opposite sides of her beak: destroying the cables inside her mouth that kept the upper beak open and as a bonus, deactivated the lasers.
"I still have my Hate Chip! You maggots will never end me...NEVER!" Carmelita's holographic face screamed out, claiming that even though her body was damaged and defenses were all gone, she still had the Hate Chip and swore they would never destroy/kill her before her digital face vanished and revealed the chip etched in the center of the maw, which was what projected the corrupt vixen's face.
"That's what you think...bitch." The turtle muttered underneath his breath, showing he also had enough of the fallen vixen's mouth before removing the Hate Chip.
"Quick you guys! Let's get out of here, she's gonna explode!" Bentley shouted out, advising his friends to get to a safe distance as Clock-Lita's entire body was about to explode from all the damage it took during the battle against Jack's attack helicopter and impact from the crash!
But before he could step out of the defeated robotic owl's maw...that was when something truly unexpected happened: the upper beak had collapsed and fell hard onto the turtle's back!
"AHHH! My glasses!" He cried out as the weight of the beak falling down on him had caused a massive surge of pain erupt throughout his small body and his vision had became blurred due to the lenses of his glasses being shattered while Neyla and Sly stared shocked/horrified after witnessing the beak falling down on their friend/tech support!
"Wha...Bentley?! I'll save you!" Murray cried out, shocked and horrified himself after witnessing the upper beak fall down on his turtle friend and immediately pried the mouth open again after hearing his painful scream while their raccoon and tigress friends ran over to see how hurt Bentley was...and stared speechless after seeing him laying motionless flat on his stomach.
"P-P-Pick me up...I-I can't walk!" The turtle requested softly, asking the hippo to carry him as he couldn't feel or move his legs...much to his friend's complete shock and Neyla covered her mouth in pain/guilt...as Bentley was now paraplegic, he would never be able to walk ever again! Murray did as his crippled and paralyzed friend asked, gently picking him up and carrying him in his arms before turning to break into a fast run.
"C'mon you guys, let's get outta here!" The hippo ordered, telling his friends to run as explosions were erupting all over Clock-Lita's/Clockwerk's body and the two lovers didn't need to be told twice: as they broke into a fast run alongside their friend as he carried a semi-conscious Bentley in his arms and once they were at a safe enough distance...Clock-Lita exploded, sending all the Clockwerk Parts scattered in the river!
'And there we were...at the end of the road. The Klaww Gang had been defeated and the Clockwerk Parts laid scattered around in heaps...and yet, despite the explosion...they remained pristine. It was as if nothing could ever damage let alone, destroy them.' Sly mentally stated to himself as he Neyla, Murray and Bentley, while drifting in and out of consciousness stood in the outskirts of Paris, staring directly at the burning ruins of Arpeggio's destroyed blimp and scattered Parts of the ancient owl floating in the river and couldn't help but notice that the Parts didn't have a single scratch on them: as if they never took any damage from the aerial battle, impact of the crash or explosion...which was when they glanced over their shoulders as they witnessed Jack landing his helicopter not too far behind them.
"Sly, Neyla! Are you and your friends..." The wolf detective called out before exiting his chopper and approached the raccoon and his friends...but not before gasping softly after seeing the state Bentley was in as Murray carried him in his arms.
"Is...is he...?" He asked softly, hoping that their turtle friend was alright as he noticed his eyes opening and closing his eyes every few seconds, showing he was indeed still alive.
"He's alright Jack...but's he's paralyzed...from the waist down." Neyla answered for her raccoon lover and hippo friend: as Sly glanced down in shame, blaming himself for allowing Bentley to retrieve the Hate Chip, as his reflexes were much quicker and Murray had choked back sobs as tears were running down his eyes, as he also blamed himself for not bothering paying attention and keeping the beak open...which would've prevented the loss of Bentley's legs.
"Oh god...I'm so sorry. I truly am." Howlett stated softly, offering his former training partner and her teammates his condolences for the state Bentley was in and performed a hand motion, the Sign of the Cross: raising his right hand, bringing the pointer and middle finger to his forehead, to his heart and running the two digits across his chest, right to left...showing or suggesting he raised Catholic.
"Thanks Jack. We deeply appreciate it." Sly stated softly as he, Neyla and Murray smiled as their secret ally on the force had prayed for Bentley to recover from this tragic and unfortunate incident and shook hands with the wolf detective to show they appreciated his concern for their paralyzed friend,
"Where's that bitch Fox?" He asked, wondering where the corrupt vixen was...but knew with out a doubt that she was dead, as he heard the explosion and spotted the scattered Clockwerk Parts floating in the river.
"Dead...the only remains of both that double crossing traitor and Clockwerk is this..." The raccoon answered plain and simple, confirming his hunch by stating that Carmelita was no longer among the living and showed Howlett the only remnant of her, which was also the main source of power that kept the ancient robotic owl alive for centuries: the Hate chip...before coldly dropping the small handheld device on the grainy soil.
"Never again Fox..." Jack stated plain and simple before raising his right leg up and brought his foot down hard, shattering the chip into dust while Sly, Neyla, Murray and Bentley watched and felt a deep sense of relief wash over them: as the final remains of both Clockwerk and Carmelita was destroyed.
"Sly. Murray, Jack ...look." The tigress stated softly as she glanced directly at the river and her friends quickly followed her gaze towards the water...and gasped in surprise at what was happening before their eyes.
What did our heroes see? All the Clockwerk Parts floating in the river, they had immediately began to rust and corrode the moment Howlett had destroyed the Hate Chip: as if time had finally caught up with the ancient owl. The grin on Sly's face simply grew larger as he softly wrapped his arm around his tigress lover and Neyla immediately returned the gesture, as the curse of Clockwerk was finally over and they never had to worry about the robotic owl ever returning to harm the children they would one day have in the future.
"Neyla...I'm sorry to tell you and Sly this...especially at this time..." The wolf detective stated softly in a regretful tone, apologizing as he had troubling news to share with his former training partner and her raccoon lover.
"What's the matter?" The tigress asked softly, even though she and her lover knew the answer and their hunch would soon be confirmed.
"After I received the email you sent me about Carmelita betraying Arpeggio and merging with Clockwerk's body...I...I had no choice but to show it to Barkley. Once he read the contents of the email...he went ballistic. He was furious to learn that Fox had betrayed him, their entire office and had became monster. Before Barkley allowed me to take the chopper to assist you guys in stopping and destroying that traitor...he also gave me charge of bringing you and your team in." Howlett answered, revealing that once he received their email...he showed it to Barkley and his badger boss...was furious beyond words after learning of Carmelita's deception and corruption and before he allowed him to take the attack helicopter...he placed him in charge of capturing the wily raccoon and his team, much to their disbelief!
"So...that's it then huh Jack?" Sly asked in a somewhat sarcastic tone, while masking what he was really feeling: which was saddened that he would have to repeat the exact cat and mouse routine he went through with Carmelita with the wolf detective he came to greatly respect and think of as a friend.
"No...I'm going to let you and your friends go Cooper." Jack countered, stating he was actually going to allow him, Neyla and Murray to escape and get Bentley medical help!
"What?" Murray asked deeply surprised, baffled by the fact that the wolf detective was actually going to let them get the injured/paralyzed turtle to a hospital instead of arresting them, right here and now when the had the chance!
"You're letting us go? Just like that?" The raccoon asked equally surprised, as he didn't expect Howlett to allow them walk away and getting their friend medical attention!
"Jack..." Neyla whispered softly, just as surprised as her lover that her former training partner would risk his career as the Fugitive Recovery Unit's best operative to allow them to escape before Barkley and local police arrived.
"I may not agree with what you and your friends do for a living Neyla, targeting and ripping off high level international criminals...but I respect and like your results: since you guys can do what Interpol and the local authorities can't. You also taught me something rather important when we worked together back in Prague, Sly...which is pretty clear: you're the kind of criminal this world needs. You and your friends don't hurt innocent people...and sometimes rip off the bastards that do." Howlett answered truthfully, stating even though the raccoon and his team were criminals...they were the kind of criminals the word needed: as they didn't rob/harm innocent people and would sometimes target the high level criminals that did and brought them to justice: which was something that not even the local law enforcement and even Interpol could do.
"Barkley and the local cops will be here soon. Take your friend and go, please." He added while glancing over his shoulder, knowing that his ill tempered boss and French police would arrive soon and begged them to escape while they still had the time.
"Thank you." The tigress stated softly while planting a soft kiss on her former training partner and friend's cheek, thanking him for allowing them to escape while Sly smiled...as his faith and trust in the wolf was strongly restored.
"Thanks...you're alright." Her raccoon stated softly while bumping fists with Howlett, showing they were now friends and more importantly: he and his team now had a new ally inside Interpol that they could truly rely and count on and Murray simply nodded, showing he thought of the wolf detective as a friend as well before they walked away with Bentley in the hippo's arms.
"See you and Sly around Neyla." Jack stated softly as he watched the raccoon, tigress and hippo break into a fast run and sprinted as fast as their legs could carry them before glancing to see another Interpol helicopter with Chief Barkley riding in the cockpit and French police cruisers driving at full speed towards his location and smirked softly...as he had the perfect cover story to sell to his boss.
A/N: There it is everyone, the second half to the Anatomy for Disaster chapter! I would like to apologize to my loyal reviewers and fellow Fanfic authors for the slight delay. I know that I promised to have the 2nd half posted last Monday or Wednesday...only it took much longer than I had hoped...but I promise it was worth the wait. I should have the final chapter posted some time before the end of March and then I'll begin publishing a sequel: where Sly and his crew, along with new recruits attempt to get into the Cooper Vault. Please be sure to read and review. Until next time, take care. Bye.
