Disclaimer: Sly Cooper and the Cooper gang are property of Sucker Punch and I am just using them to entertain the masses with a good story. I only own the characters that I have personally created and the other elements of the story I have created my self.

Chapter 14

Assault on the Sky Serpent

In a few days the Sky Serpent was ready to fly, and everybody pilled in. Destiny had taken Eclipse's advice and began dressing in more comfortable cloths on a daily bases. She usually wore a pair of tight blue jeans like Carmelita's and a black short sleeve shirt. She had also started wearing the medallion Eclipse had given her around her neck on a tight necklace. Eclipse had gone to the engine while everybody else got belted into their chairs in the operations car. Eclipse fired up the engine, and smiled as all the hover fans along the train began to kick in, and the train began to hover. He pushed the engine throttle forward and the train was off. They were heading to the big apple, New York City. Recent reports had placed Dimitri there. He was either doing his skin diving work off the coast of California or keeping an eye on his night club up in New York. According to reports, Dimitri had announced that he would be personally managing his night club for the next month while his second one was being constructed in another part of town.

Eclipse gathered everyone in the operations car an hour after the train had left Drag Strip Island. Drag Strip was located several miles off the coast of Florida. With Eclipse's flight calculations, they would arrive in New York after about two days of travel, arriving in the afternoon of the second day. The Sky Serpent was faster then any car, but now the addition of the firework turrets, garage car, and the expansion of Eclipses sleeping car to make room for Destiny, it had a lot more to haul. Eclipse was planning to make upgrades to the train's drive engines once they were in New York.

Eclipse looked over the group after finishing his flight plan before he said, "So, we have a few days of rest and relaxation before we get to New York."

Sly leaned back in his chair and said, "Cool, I could go with a few lazy days sleeping."

Panda King nodded his head and said, "It will give me time to work on a new type of firework. They will be fireworks that will actually play music as they are launched off. The theme parks of the world will pay great amounts of money for my musical fireworks."

Eclipse sighed a bit and said, "That is all fine and good, but if one goes off in the train I will not be happy about it."

The Panda King nodded his head and was first to leave the operation car. Bentley and Penelope were last to leave, telling Eclipse they were going to continue their work on the Sky Serpents mode two. Murray was the next to leave, going back to the garage car to work on his van. He needed to put back a lot of the old technical equipment that used to be in the van before he converted it into a racing van. Sly and Carmelita went to their room to do who knows what, leaving Eclipse and Destiny in alone in the operations car.

Destiny was still a little nervous around Eclipse, but she decided that it would pass with time. She walked over to him and said, "So, what are you planning to do for the trip."

Eclipse looked toward Destiny and said, "I don't really know. You have any good suggestions."

Destiny looked around the room and said, "Well, I think you might want to do one thing before you get to busy with your R&R."

Eclipse puffed out a breath as he said, "Really, what have I forgotten to do?"

Destiny looked at him and then said in a sarcastic tone, "This really is a nice large train. It has ten nice big cars, plenty of room to move around in, I just wonder. Where do you plan to park this thing once we get to New York?"

Eclipse raised a hand to answer, when he realized he didn't have an answer. He quickly span around and jumped on to the operation cars computer, and began searching for some place he could park his precious train. Destiny just smiled as she walked over to Eclipse and held a small pamphlet in front of his face. Eclipse took it and read it. It was a flyer for New York's annual train festival. It would be held in an open part of Central Park. Eclipse turned around and saw Destiny smiling as she said, "My old college roommate is coordinating the event. I called her yesterday, and when I told her I knew a guy with a flying train, she practically had heart attack. We are the main attraction in this year's festival, and that means we have a place to put this train while we are in the big apple."

Eclipse got up from his seat and said, "Well, I am truly impressed. So, what kind of stuff will we have to do to get this fine parking spot?"

Destiny smiled as she said, "We get that if just bring it there. If we are willing to give a few demonstrations a day she was going to give us unlimited access to every part of the festival. That includes free food from the vendors."

Eclipse raised an eyebrow as he said, "Are we going to be able to get aboard the Sky Serpent when ever we want."

Destiny nodded her head and said, "Yes, I made that the biggest condition. If we can't have free access to it, the deal is off. I have even drawn up a legally binding contract she will have to sign before we will even agree staying there."

Eclipse smile widened as he said, "Destiny, you are an amazement. I guess I owe you one for covering my slight mental lapse."

Destiny giggled as she said, "Oh, I think I have a way you can pay me back?"

Eclipse raised an eyebrow as he said, "Oh, what would that be?"

Destiny gently grabbed his hand and said, "I know it's kind of strange, but can I learn a little magic?"

Eclipse got a surprised look on his face, but it quickly passed as he smiled widely and said, "I think I can manage that. It just matters what king of magic you want to learn."

Destiny shrugged her shoulders as she said, "Why don't you pick. I really don't have any knowledge in the field."

Eclipse scratched his head a second and then smiled as he said, "I got it. An Elementalist, You would probably be a very good Elementalist."

Destiny raised an eyebrow as she asked, "What is an Elementalist?"

Eclipse smiled as he said, "They are people who are specialized in using their mind and the natural mystic energy in every creature to move different forces of nature. The four most basic ones are Fire, Water, Air, and Earth."

Destiny smiled as she said, "I think I would like to learn to control water. I used to be an avid swimmer until I got employed at the track."

Eclipse smiled as he motioned toward the door and said, "Then let's head to the dining car. I bet its empty and we can use a pan full of water to practice."

Destiny nodded her head as she walked past Eclipse. He got in stride beside her, and felt her hand grasp his. He didn't know if she was doing it on purpose or not, but he wasn't about to say anything about it.

In Sly and Carmelita's room, Sly and Carmelita were sitting at a table and just closing their fifth wedding book. They had it finished, every part of their wedding was planned; now the only problem was finding the time and place to do it while they were trying to gather the rest of the Cooper gang up, and then steal back the map to the pure magic gems. Carmelita sighed as she sat back in her chair and said, "Now, the really hard part, telling my family that I want to marry the master thief Sly Cooper."

Sly shrugged his shoulders as he said, "Well, why don't you tell me about them. I don't believe I know that much about your family."

Carmelita looked up at Sly and then stood up from her chair and walked over to the couch they had in their room. She sat down and ran her hands through her hair as Sly walked over and took a seat beside her. She looked at the roof before she said, "Now, let me see. My father is the head of Spain's central Interpol office in Madrid. He is just a black and white as I used to be when I first started chasing you, you could say I got it from him. My mother, she is also an officer in Interpol. She works along side my father as the best criminal detective Interpol has ever seen. She is one of the few people who have a true knack for getting into a criminals mind and guessing their next move."

Sly said, "Do you have any siblings, brothers or sisters."

Carmelita nodded her head and said, "Yeah, I am the youngest of three. My older brother, Jason is the oldest of the three of use. He is about 35 and has his own private security company. He specializes in protecting museums and other public works. My older sister, Melody, is about 32. She is the only one not in law enforcement. She owns a flower shop in Madrid, the Spanish Rose, and it is one of the most famous ones in the city."

Sly got a sparkle in his eyes as he said, "I think I know how will tell them your getting married."

Carmelita turned and said, "What are you cooking up in that head of yours?"

Sly smiled as he said, "Well, last time I checked we need some nice flowers for the wedding, why not get them from your sister's shop."

Carmelita thought about it and then smiled as she got the idea. She reached over to the phone sitting on the end table beside the couch, and quickly dialed the number of her sisters flower shop, The Spanish Rose.

Melody was working on a floral arrangement. She was a fox, stood about 5' 10" and was dressed in the Spanish Roses uniform. Working along side her was her three employees. One was a white horse by the name of Brigit, and she was the shops accountant. She handled much of the in shop sales and keeping the place well stocked with flowers. Next was Susan, a leopard, who was a floral designer like Melody. Finally there was Kristine, a mountain lion, who was the newest employee, and usually got stuck with delivering the flowers and cleaning up the work space. Melody was in the middle of a large bouquet when the phone rang and she said, "Can someone get that?"

Brigit nodded her head and walked over to the phone. She picked it up and said, "Hello, You've reached the Spanish Rose, this is Brigit speaking."

Carmelita tried to contain her laughter as she said, "Yes, can I speak with the manager of the store?"

Brigit replied, "Yes, hold a moment please." While Carmelita waited for Melody to come on the line she realized that Melody would recognize her voice. She quickly passed the phone of to Sly as she said, "You'll have to do it. Melody will know it's me if I do it."

Sly nodded his head and listened until a female voice came over the line saying, "Hello, I'm Melody and I am the owner of the Spanish Rose. Is there something I can help you with?"

Sly replied, "Yes, I was wondering if you would mind doing the flowers for my wedding. I am getting married to the most beautiful fox, and I want the flowers to be just as beautiful."

Melody smiled as she got a sheet of paper and pen and said, "Tell me what you are looking at?"

After about thirty minutes of talking Melody smiled as she said, "I think I got everything. All I need is your name and the name of your fiancé."

Sly smiled to Carmelita, it was the part they had been waiting for. Sly went back to the phone and said, "My name is Sly Cooper, and my fiancée's name is Carmelita Montoya Fox."

Sly held the phone away from his ear when he heard Melody screaming for joy at the other end of the line. Sly quickly passed the phone off to Carmelita and she said, "Well, I take it your excited for me Melody."

Melody's happy voice came over the line as she said, "I am thrilled for you Carmelita, but I hope you are joking about who you are going to marry."

Carmelita shook her head and said, "Sorry sis, but you were just on the line with THE Sly Cooper, and I am going to marry him."

Melody sighed and said, "I am still happy for you Carmelita. Since I am not in the family business I have the right to be, but have you run this by mom and dad yet?"

Carmelita replied, "Nope that is actually why I decided to tell you first. I need at least one person on my side before I go to face them."

Melody nodded her head and said, "Don't worry; just tell me when you are going to stop by. If you give me enough time I will be able to get a hold of Jason and try to get him on our side. We will have a much better chance of swaying mom and dad if we have them outnumbered."

Carmelita said, "You work your magic Melody. It always seemed like Jason was putty in your hands. I am sure you can convince him."

Carmelita and Melody spent the next hour on the phone. At one point Carmelita turned on the speaker phone function and she, Sly, and Melody all talked for a good hour about the wedding, and how it all happened. Once Melody was up to speed she said, "Well, I am very happy for you Carmelita. I will see you when you come to town; you are coming to town right."

Carmelita gave Sly the biggest pair of puppy dog eyes before Sly said, "Sure, I bet I can get Eclipse to take us their after we get a hold of Dimitri."

Carmelita quickly gave Sly a loving kiss on the lips with a hug before she went back to the phone and said, "Will be their in a few weeks at max Melody. You don't even have to get us motel rooms. Just clear out the vacant lot beside the Spanish Rose. It is still there, right?"

Melody answered, "Yeah, it's pretty clear right now, but why do you need a vacant lot that big."

Carmelita chuckled as she said, "Oh, you will see Melody. Well, give your husband my regards."

Melody said, "You got it Carmelita, Bye." With that Melody hung up the phone and turned to her staff to say, "Okay ladies, we got some planning to do."

Carmelita shut off the speaker phone as she said, "You sure you want to do this Sly. If things go wrong you will probably end up behind bars."

Sly just smiled as he said, "I am sure your brother and sister will be able to bring you parents around. Even if they don't, I'll leave your father to you guys, and I'll take your dear mother. I can probably sway her with some of that famous Cooper charm."

Carmelita chuckled as she said, "Don't lay it on to thick Sly. I don't need mom and dad getting divorced."

Sly rapped his arms around Carmelita and kissed her gently as he said, "You are a jealous one Carmelita, but you have no need to be. I only have eyes for you, and you are the only one with keys to my heart."

Carmelita smiled sweetly and kissed Sly back as she said, "I also have keys to this room, if you catch my drift."

Sly smiled sweetly as he said, "I thought you wanted to wait till after we were married."

Carmelita just continued to smile as she said, "I can change my mind, can't I." With that Carmelita slipped away from Sly and walked over to the bedroom door that had been just barely ajar. She closed it tight and secured the dead bolt before she turned to Sly and said, "Come here my ringtail."

Eclipse and Destiny had been for a few hours in the kitchen. It was getting to be eleven, and Destiny was making a bit of progress. She was now actually able to tap into her natural mystic energy and channel it enough to disrupt the surface of the water. Eclipse smiled at her last attempt before he said, "Now I think that is enough for one day. As the old saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day.''

Destiny nodded her head and said, "You also need to get lunch going don't you?"

Eclipse shrugged his shoulder as he said, "Hey, it isn't a crime to like cooking, and over the past few days I have been able to get a lot of practice."

Destiny looked down at the pot of water and said, "Can I see you do something really fancy with the water? Just to see what I might be able to do someday."

Eclipse turned and nodded his head. He placed his hand above the water and all the water in the pan rose up as he lifted his hand up. He turned his palm upward and the water followed as it formed into a perfect sphere. He brought his other hand close to it and began to pull up with it. The water lengthened out until it looked a lot like a long thin stick. He then took hold of the water at one end and it began to melt back to his hand. After a few seconds Eclipse held in his hand a bouquet of flowers, at least the form of a bouquet. Destiny touched the water flowers and was amazed that they felt like real flowers. She even could smell them. That was until Eclipse turned the water back into a sphere, and let it drip down, back into the pan.

Destiny smiled as she said, "Now that was an amazing trick."

Eclipse shrugged his shoulders as he said, "It wasn't anything special. Now, why don't you get Bentley, Penelope, Murray, and the Panda King? I think today is a fine day for some oven pizza cooked in an instance with some fire element control."

Destiny got up, but as she left she realized something and asked, "What about Sly and Carmelita?"

Eclipse just shook his head as he said, "If I can trust my magical senses, I don't think you want to disturb them right now."

Destiny just nodded her head, not knowing what he meant as she left to get the others.

Soon, everyone was sitting and enjoying the few pizzas Eclipse had cooked up. Sly and Carmelita soon joined them and everyone was sitting and talking. That was until they all felt a great shock and the pizzas went everywhere. Eclipse jumped up and looked out the window. His face went pale when he saw some F-18 flying beside the train. Eclipse ran up to the engine and could hear the F-18 pilot's voice over the radio. Eclipse picked the radio up and said, "Please repeat, having some difficulties with the radio."

There was a pause before the F-18 pilot voice came over the radio saying, "Unidentified flying object, you have entered restricted air space. You are to follow us as we take you to the closest air force base for questioning." Eclipse looked down at his GPS map and saw they had accidentally flown through the Washington DC no fly zone. Eclipse quickly ran through all his options before he sighed, and picked the radio receiver up again to say, "I am sorry, but we can not follow your request."

The F-18 pilot responded, "Then you will be brought down by force."

Eclipse chuckled as he said, "I like to see you try slow pokes."

Eclipse then switched the radio over to the trains PA system and said, "Guys, I would hold on. This is going to get a little turbulent."

Eclipse then began to flip switches on the engines control boards while Sly and Panda King were soon up to the engine, Sly said, "What's the damage."

Eclipse kept looking over the control board as he said, "We are being threatened by two US F-18. We skimmed the Washington no fly zone, and they don't want to give us a break."

Sly nodded and got on a serious face as he said, "What can we do?"

Eclipse turned and said, "Simple, use the new firework turrets to keep those guys off our backs long enough for me to finish these engine calibrations."

Sly and Panda King nodded their heads and ran back into the train's operations car. They each hoped on to the turret computer controls, and got ready. The F-18 pilots had gotten behind the train, and were about to launch their missiles when the firework turrets came online and Sly and Panda King began to fire on the F-18s. The both aimed to miss, making it so the pilots had to swerve to stay out of the explosion range. They also shot down any missiles the pilots were able to get fired off. This continued for about thirty minutes.

Around that time Eclipse finished the necessary adjustments and he used the PA system to say, "Hold on tight. This is going to ruin our drive engine, but the Sky Serpent is ready to outrun these two flyboys." With that Eclipse flipped a final switch and the whole train began to shake as more and more fuel was sent into the engines drive engine. The train quickly began to gain speed, and soon was out running the F-18's.

By the time they reached New York, they were about ready to fall out of the sky. They had lost the F-18s, but in the process Eclipse had to burn out the drive engine. Luckily, they had enough flight time to get the train in position, and get it landed right in the center of the train festival which was being set up.