It was finally time for the operation. Guru joined the Gang as they set out to their starting point at a hill. There, Murray was held high above the ground by the "SuperClaw 10,000," giving the appearance of a radioactive disco ball. They learned that the mask is attracted to materials found in the nearby waste plant. They were hoping to draw the mask in and have Murray crash down on it to destroy it all at once.
Sly wandered the area around while Chaz, Guru, and Bentley kept a view on the high ground. "Everyone keep an eye out for the mask. It's sure to take the bait!" Bentley said through the radio. Sly's voice followed soon after. "We got a situation here, fellas. Looks like Carmelita finally managed to catch up." Sly called out through the radio, getting a gasp from everyone but Guru. "Carmelita…" Chaz whispered to himself.
Bentley grew visibly upset. "Drat! We can't stop the operation now! We'll just have to give her a wide berth!" Bentley responded back. Chaz and Murray giggled through the mic at Bentley's comment. "Roger, applying wide berth." Sly responded back in a mocking tone. Chaz and Murray couldn't hold it in anymore and began laughing through the mic, even making the Guru giggle a bit.
Bentley pinched his top of his nose and sighed. "Quit horsing around and look out for the mask! It has to be close... I can feel it." Bentley went quiet after speaking. Chaz turned around to unknown footsteps, noticing a flashlight guard approaching with the mask. "Guru! Watch out!" Chaz yelled out. The Guru turned around, surprised at the guard. The Guru quickly ran off to get under Murray being suspended by the crane.
Murray noticed Guru running away from the possessed guard and readied himself. "Here I come, Master!" Murray yelled out from the sky while turning the machine to hover over the guard. Murray pressed the button, dropping himself right on the guard and crushing him into the ground. The mask was sent soaring from his face. Bentley and Chaz had a hard time making out what happened from below and grew worried. "Did you get it? Is the mask gone? Sly, can you see?" Bentley asked through the radio. "I'll go check." Sly responded and went running to where the mask was last seen.
Sly searched the area for any sign of the mask. While searching, he found a figure crouching on the ground, groaning. A body in leather pants and a short coat comes rising up. Sly made out the figure to be Carmelita, and the mask attached itself to her. Carmelita turned around and made eye contact through the mask at Sly. "Cooper! I thought I'd find you here!" Carmelita said in a deeper than usual voice.
Sly was taken back by her deeper voice and examined her closely. "Carmelita, you've got a little something... on your face..." Sly joked, making Carmelita more aggravated. "It's not nice to make fun of a girl's looks... maybe I should smash you!" Carmelita roared out as she rapidly grew in size. The gang soon noticed the fox reaching high into the sky. Chaz's mouth dropped when he saw the mask attached to Carmelita, causing her growth.
Sly began to worry as Carmelita angled her head to look down to him. A giant shadow cast over him as Carmelita glared down at him. He was astonished to see Carmelita grow into unnatural height. "Now that's... not nice!" Sly said in a worried tone before quickly taking off into the opposite direction, Carmelita soon following after him. It sounded like an earthquake was shaking the land as Carmelita tried taking her building size boot down onto Sly. Chaz watched in horror as Carmelita rampaged through the canyon trying to squish the fleeing Raccoon.
Chaz quickly put his hand to his ear. "Keep running, Sly! Don't you dare become roadkill! " Chaz screamed in the mic before splitting the comm channel to call in Murray. "Murray, let's go into the giant truck! We can lead her to somewhere else and do something about that mask! We're risking too many lives here!" Murray quickly responded back. "Roger that! Grabbing Guru and heading to the truck now."
Chaz looked over to see Bentley firing darts at Carmelita, drawing her attention away from Sly. He hit her with one last dart before she stopped to wipe her face. "I think that did it!" Bentley said to Chaz. After watching Carmelita's movements slow down, they made their way down the hill and near the truck. Sly soon found his way back to the gang, exhausted from the chase.
Chaz walked over and put a hand on his shoulder then examining him. "Are you okay?" Chaz asked while inspecting. Sly chuckled slightly at the sight of the worried Chaz. "I appreciate you caring." Sly joked before crying out in pain after being pinched by Chaz. "Maybe it'll take a colossal slap behind your head to fix you." Chaz said in an annoyed tone.
Their calm reunion came to an end when they heard a monstrous roar echo throughout the land. Bentley turned to the noise and put on a smile. "Finally! The darts are starting to kick in…" His face soon dropped after noticing Carmelita beginning to grow even larger. "Or not... The chemicals in my darts must somehow be interacting with the mask to make her even bigger!" Bentley said in a panic induced voice. Chaz and Sly both were unable to look away from the still growing Carmelita. She was almost the size of a skyscraper by the time she recovered from her dazed state.
Murray yelled out to them from within the truck. The gang didn't hesitate to run inside to safety from the giant. Murray hit the gas and drove them through the green swamp waters, away from the canyon. Carmelita soon caught on and picked up the pace from a walk to a terrifying, ground rumbling sprint. On her way to the truck Carmelita picked up a similar vehicle to theirs, but it was packed with explosives. She ran through the swamp after them, causing ripples and waves through the green dark water.
They made it to the desert and started driving through the lands while Bentley tried to figure something out. Carmelita began to throw explosives onto the truck, exploding and damaging the vehicle. Chaz turned around and noticed the destruction unfolding from their relentless attacker . He quickly took control of the crane in the back of the truck to throw back the explosives at her. After a couple of returned explosives, Carmelita grew angry and roared out, starting to grow even larger. Murray parked the truck far away from the dazed fox and the gang came out to watch her continue to skyrocket. They noticed that Carmelita's officers caught onto what their boss became and watched as they flew around her head like flies with their jet pack. They were all firing shots into the mask but it seemed ineffective.
"She's too huge! We can't outrun her in the truck!" Murray cried out while pointing to the vehicle. The Guru even began to worry as there seemed to be no stop to the mask. "This is bad..." Bentley said out loud. Chaz was quiet throughout their worry filled conversation. After examining Carmelita in the distance, he came up with a plan. "We need to pry off that mask from her. Could we climb up her clothing to get to it?" Chaz called out while staring at the rampaging Carmelita. "That could work! You two have to climb up Carmelita and take off the mask at the same time! Her officers will surely put enough firepower into it to destroy it during its weakened state!" Bentley added.
Chaz and Sly nodded at each other before both taking off in the direction of the rampaging giant. "I'll take the left boot, you take the right!" Chaz called out. Sly gave a thumbs up before running through the legs of Carmelita, avoiding her boot as she stomped the ground. "And Sly!" Chaz yelled out, getting the attention of Sly. "Be careful!" Sly smiled at Chaz before ascending up Carmelita.
Chaz began the climb, going from her oversized shoe laces to her jean stitching. He climbed up to her coat zipper and continued up. Chaz hiked up her arm and onto her shoulder to then swiftly take out his staff and used to beat the rings connecting the mask to her. Carmelita raised a hand in an attempt to swat away the two. They knew she was going to throw them off any moment so the two put all their strength into one last hit, successfully destroying the mask's rings, sending it flying off Carmelita's face and to the ground.
Her mosquito like guards quickly flew to the mask, emptying all the firepower they had into it. Explosions and gunfire echoed throughout the empty desert as bullets pierced the mask. The mask began to screech and twitch before exploding, sending bits of the colored wood and mysterious glowing red dust all over the area. The guards were sent soaring in random directions from being to close the blast radius of the mask.
Carmelita let out a ghastly groan as she rapidly shrunk to the ground. Still on her shoulders, Chaz lost his balance as she raised her arms to put her hands to her face. He screamed out as he fell through the air. He noticed the ground getting closer and closer and felt his heart drop in fear. He closed his eyes and wished for anything to save him from his fate. It didn't take long for him to get swept up into the arms of someone and stop the feeling of quick descent. He recovered from the sudden burst of adrenaline and looked over at a familiar face. He laughed after seeing the smile of the raccoon. "Thank you, Sly." Chaz finished and put his head onto Sly's shoulders, taking him into an embrace.
The wind blew past the paragliding duo, soon having it become muffled with screams coming from below. Chaz took his head off Sly's shoulder and looked down to the gang with smiling faces and arms waving. They reach the ground and all come together to celebrate the victory over the mask. Chaz felt something out of place when he remembered a certain officer. He turned his head and noticed Carmelita unconscious on the ground. He quickly ran over and crouched beside her while checking her for any damage.
The gang caught on and made their way over to Chaz to see what he was doing. Chaz felt the presence of eyes staring behind him and spoke out. "She's cold. Grab the blanket from my bag." Chaz instructed. Sly went over to his bag and came back with a blanket. Chaz quickly threw it over her body and propped her head up with his bad. Silence enveloped as Carmelita tossed and turned in her sleep. "Well… we should wait until her backup comes." Murray broke the silence to tell the group. The gang realized they can't do anything without her guards finding their way back, so they took the time to set up a camp.
An hour passed and they gathered the materials for a fire to huddle around while Guru told the gang stories of myths and speculations. Chaz's attention was abruptly taken away from the group as he heard someone quietly calling out to him. "Hey Chaz... come here." Sly whispered over to Chaz. He turned around and left the circle to go over to Sly. "What?" Chaz asked. Sly held up Carmelita's camera before giving him a cheek to cheek grin.
"I say you have the stuff to be a model!" Sly said, making Chaz laugh hysterically. "Do I really? Here, take a picture of my good side." He soon mocked the modeling poses seen in magazines and Sly took many photos of them fooling around. The rest of the tang caught on to their absence and made their way over to the mini photo shoot. It didn't take them long to join in on the activity and litter Carmelita's camera roll with photos of them. The Guru questioned the device but joined alongside them anyways.
They all put their fingers in their mouth and used them to open it and their tongues out to reveal their teeth, forming a silly smile with the action. Once the camera's memory card was filled with nonsense, the gang went back to talking all night long until the sun rose. The officers soon caught on and found the location of Carmelita. The area became clustered with law enforcement which also meant that the gang was no longer welcomed. They were one step ahead as they quickly grabbed their stuff, some of the newly printed memories, and escaped to the next airport.
End of chapter 17