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 16

Carmelita's Family

By the end of the week, the gang had done everything they could think of. Luckily, it soon came time for their train flight across the Atlantic Ocean to Carmelita's home, Madrid, Spain. Dimitri arrived at the Sky Serpent a little after 10:00, and after getting his stuff moved into his room everyone headed to the operations car for take off while Eclipse went up to the train's engine.

Eclipse went over the PA system and said, "Attention Passengers, we are about to depart, but before we do I would like to say one thing. Hold on because this is Sky Serpent version 2.0, and I am going to open her up and see what she can really do." With that Eclipse turned the PA system off and began the take off sequence. The train was off the ground in record time and was flying past the statue of liberty when Eclipse turned on the PA system again and said, "Attention Passengers. Please ignore the rumbles you are about to hear. It is just the entire train transforming into the Sky Serpents 2nd mode, the race mode." Eclipse turned the PA off and flipped a switch on the engines dash board. Everyone felt the train give a lurch as the hover fans turned off for 5 seconds and switched to their secondary positions underneath the engine and cars. The hover fans kicked back in as the Sky Serpent changed into its race mode with the two jet engines on its side and the mufflers in place of its smoke stack. There was then a second lurch as cars of the train opened up some automatic doors on both sides and two jet engines came out of each car and latched themselves to either side of the train.

Up to that point the Sky Serpent had actually been slowing down, but not anymore. Eclipse pushed the throttle forward till the 70 power position and held on tight to the steering controls as the jet engine kicked in to gear. The train began to accelerate quickly and everyone felt the G's until the train reached its cruising speed.

Eclipse soon came in to the operations car from the engine and coolly smiled as he said, "Well, be happy. At our current flight speed we will reach Madrid in 8 hours. According to the clock and time zone map we will arrive in Madrid at 9:00 in the morning." With that Eclipse went left the operations car. Panda King and Dimitri soon left, planning to get some sleep to reduce the jet lag, and Sly, Bentley, and Murray went to find Eclipse. Since Drag Strip Island, Bentley and Murray have been trying to think of some things they could show Sly to help him remember his times at Happy Campers orphanage. They had tried a lot of things, but Eclipse told them it had to be something somewhat familiar. Something, any item that would be able to latch onto a memory that was still getting through the doors that sealed them away.

Bentley, Sly, and Murray went and got a hold of Eclipse before they went to the living room car. They all took some seats at the table that was in the room and Sly asked, "What is this all about you two?"

Bentley dug something out form under the table as he said, "It's about these two things." Bentley slowly lifted two items from underneath the table. One was a cookie jar and the other was a drawing of something in crayon on a large piece of paper. Eclipse didn't know what these items meant, but he could already feel the door in Sly's mind opening, and grabbed hold of Bentley and Murray and bridged all there minds to Sly's. This trip went a lot quicker the last. Unlike when Carmelita went in, Bentley and Murray didn't feel the need to snoop into any of Sly's memories, because most of them happened when Bentley and/or Murray was near by. With there help Eclipse quickly found the keys to the second memory level door, and freed all of Sly's memories up to the point in his life when he, Bentley, and Murray left Happy Campers Orphanage to become the world class thieves they are today.

After all this, most of the Cooper gang went to bed except for Carmelita, Penelope, and Destiny. The girls decided to stay up for a while and have some time to talk.

The three of them talked mostly talked about the wedding. Destiny and Penelope tried to help Carmelita think of a way to tell her mother and father she was marrying Sly Cooper. After finally settling on the plan to just get Melody and Jason to help her and tell her parents the truth and see what happened. The girls then talked about what the wedding would be like. Carmelita then got Penelope to talk about how things were going with Bentley. She admitted that things were going great, and she hoped that Bentley would get the idea from Sly and Carmelita that it was time he asked Penelope to marry him.

After all this talk about love and marriage Destiny sighed and said, "You two are lucky. I wish I could meet a nice guy and fall in love like you two did."

Carmelita and Penelope eyed each other before Carmelita said, "What are you talking about?"

Penelope added, "Yeah, are you blind or are you just in denial."

Destiny looked at them a second with a confused look before she said, "What are you talking about?"

Carmelita shook her head and said, "We are talking about you and Eclipse."

Destiny blushed slightly as she said, "Oh yeah, in my dreams. I pushed him to far away back on Drag Strip Island for it to ever work between the two of us."

Penelope smacked hand to her forehead as she said, "You are being as dense as a cinder block. I have seen how Eclipse looks at you. I think he is in just as much denial as you are?"

Destiny shook her head and said, "Eclipse has no reason to be in denial. He is a powerful wizard, what does he have to be afraid of?"

Carmelita sighed as she said, "Destiny, Eclipse could be the most powerful mystic in the world, but he is still has his emotions. If you cut him he will bleed, and I think you have unwillingly captured his heart, why else would he trust you with that medallion. It is the key to the temple that used to hold the map to the Pure Magic Gems."

Destiny looked down at the medallion around her neck. She took hold of it with her left hand and said, "Still, what does he have to be afraid of?"

Penelope said, "He has to be afraid you will be scared to death of him again. What if we are all in danger, and the only way he can save us is if he risks a very powerful spell. He is worried that when that time eventually comes that after he uses his most powerful spells you will be terrified of him again."

Carmelita nodded her head and said, "Yeah, Sly caught up with Eclipse after the incident at the restaurant back on Drag Strip Island. Eclipse could only tell Sly one thing through his tears. And it was, and I quote, "Did you see how she looked at me? She was terrified of me. It was as if I had become a great, evil monster that threatened to devour her.""

Destiny's jaw was agape as she said, "He was that broken up about how I looked."

Carmelita nodded her head and said, "You see Destiny, Eclipse is a guy who doesn't like hurting anyone if he can help it. Imagine such a kind guy finding a nice girl. Then, when she finds out he has magic she looks at him with terrified eyes. It tore his heart up. All he wanted to do is make sure you were alright, and you cowered away from him like he was pointing a gun at you and was about to pull the trigger."

Destiny hung her head and said, "Your right, I didn't have any right to be afraid like I was, but what makes you think Eclipse forgives me for that."

Penelope smiled as she said, "Well I didn't hear him complaining when you kissed him on the cheek back at Dimitri's night club."

Destiny thought back and then realized as she said, "I hadn't even realized I had done that. I was so caught up in the moment I didn't even know what I was doing." Destiny's face turned a bright red as she realized that she had kissed Eclipse with out even noticing it. Carmelita and Penelope continued to convince Destiny to make a move with Eclipse for another few minutes when they all finally decided to go to bed.

The next morning the whole team slept in until about 8:00 when they most of them got up. The only one not up was Dimitri, who was used to partying all night and sleeping till about 1:00 in the afternoon. It took Eclipse dousing Dimitri with a bucket of ice water to get him out of bed. Soon the whole gang was out of bed in their normal clothes and watched out the windows as they flew over the Spanish landscape and Madrid came into view.

Carmelita had called her sister ahead of time, and had gotten her to spray paint a big black X on the dirt in the vacant parking lot beside her show. As they flew over the city, the engine back in its usual flying mode, Eclipse scanned the ground for his landing spot. Finally Dimitri spotted the vacant lot and Eclipse began to move the train into a position to land. The train circled the lot for a few minutes and then Eclipse began to lower the train straight down into the vacant parking lot.

To say the least the racket from the train landing got the attention of Melody and the others in the Spanish Rose flower shop. Melody ran outside with Brigit, Susan, and Kristine on her heels. They watched as the Sky Serpent gently touched down on the ground and the hover fans turned off. A few seconds after the fans turned off the door on the operations car opened and Carmelita stepped out, shielding her eyes from the bright sun shine common to Madrid. She then noticed Melody standing at the edge of the lot and she waved and said, "Hey, what do you think of my ride. Better then any airplane I can tell you."

Carmelita and Melody spent the next few minutes catching up before the others finally left the train. Sly had convinced everyone to give Carmelita a few minutes with her sister before they got into the mix, and Carmelita appreciated it. Carmelita noticed Sly step off the train and she then smiled at her sister and said, "Melody, I would like you to meet the master thief, Sly Cooper, my fiancé."

Sly took Melody's hand and kissed it as Melody said, "I will say this Carmelita. You have picked a very charming and handsome man to be your husband. Jason is supposed to show up later, you will have to stick around long enough to meet him."

Sly smiled as he said, "I think I owe him that much, I am taking his and your baby sister as my wife."

Melody nodded her head and then noticed the others stepping out of the train. She turned back to Carmelita and asked, "So, are you going to introduce me to the rest of these people or do I have to guess their names?"

Carmelita nodded her head and said, "Sure, if I were to go down the line that is Eclipse, Destiny, Murray, Bentley, Penelope, Panda King, and Dimitri."

Melody nodded her head and said, "It nice to meet all of you. If you haven't guessed I am Carmelita's sister Melody. These three behind me are my employees, Brigit, Susan, and Kristine." Brigit nodded her head, Susan smiled and gave a quick wave, and Kristine boxed slightly as Melody said their names. After a few minutes of general talking Melody smiled and said, "Come on, lets get inside the shop, this is no place to get acquainted."

Carmelita shook her head and said, "We won't all fit in the shop. How about you four come in to the Sky Serpent and we'll all sit down in the Operations car." Melody nodded her head in defeat and asked Kristine to go make sure that no one was in the shop before she locked the front door and joined them in the train. Melody awed at the spacious room of the Sky Serpent. After a few minutes Kristine join the group, but she had a tall male fox in a blue business suit with her. The fox had brown hair and black sun glasses covering his eyes. Carmelita smiled and said, "Everyone, looks like my no account brother finally showed up. How are you Jason?"

The male fox smiled as he took his glasses of and showed off his dark blue eyes. He looked around the group and said, "Now Carmelita. I heard tell tale from Melody you were marrying a thief, but which one is he."

Carmelita motioned toward Sly who was sitting at her side. Sly stood up and walked over to Jason and shook his hand as he said, "Hello Jason, I am Sly Cooper. I bet you have heard of me?"

Jason nodded his head and said, "I should say I have. You almost ruined my favorite reality show last week."

Sly smiled as he said, "Oh, do you mean the show called Apprentice."

Jason chuckled as he said, "Do not beat around the bush. Believe it or not my private security company's business would go through the roof if I took you in right now, but I won't, if only for the sake of not seeing my baby sister cry."

Carmelita glared at Jason as she said, "You know I don't like being called your baby sister."

Jason smiled at Carmelita as he said, "Yeah, I know. It is one of the few things I have left to hold over your head anymore." The whole group talked for about three hours. The topics that were talked across the table ranged from simple matters like the weather to more serious matters like what Carmelita wanted Melody and Jason to do at the wedding. It was nearing the end of the conversation when Melody finally brought up the highly avoided topic, "Carmelita, have you thought about how we are going to tell mom and dad about your fiancé."

The room was quite as Carmelita sighed and said, "The only way I could think of is taking you two with me and telling them straight out."

Melody sighed as she said, "That is what I was afraid of, but there isn't any better options are there."

Jason shook his head and said, "The only other option we could offer is just not to tell them, but they would eventually find out and then, Oh Boy, they would rampage through half the country before they got sensible enough to track you two down and get Sly put behind bars for life."

Melody looked around the table as she said, "Well, at least if mom and dad disown us, we have a lot of people to fall back on."

Carmelita, and soon the whole group laughed at the joke. It was getting to be around 5:00 when Brigit, Susan, and Kristine decided to leave. Melody and Jason decided to stay the night with the Cooper gang, Jason in the last spare room they had for the Guru once they went and got him and Melody on the couch in the living car.

Everyone had kind of gone off to do their own things after about 5:30. Murray, Panda King, Bentley, Penelope, and Dimitri had gone to playing cards in the dinning/kitchen car. Sly, Carmelita, Jason, and Melody stayed in the operation car, continuing to think about the wedding and the ever pressing fact of how they should tell Carmelita, Jason, and Melody's parents. Eclipse had retired to his room, but Destiny had kind of hung around the living car. She finished making the bed for Melody, and finally worked up the courage to make her next move.

She walked to the back of the train to the car that had Eclipse's bedroom along side her own. She hesitated a second before she knocked on his door. A few seconds later Eclipse opened door, dressed in his white robes. He looked at Destiny a second before he said, "Do you need something Destiny?"

Destiny nodded her head and said, "Well…I…kind of was wondering. What I am trying to ask is would you mind…"

Eclipse watched Destiny fight to control her own mouth before he smiled and shook his head as he said, "Are you trying to ask me out on a date or something?"

Destiny sighed and said, "Well, there is a movie theater down the block a bit. Would you like to catch a flick or something?"

Eclipse looked sternly at her a second before he said, "Isn't usually the guys job to ask the girl out?"

Destiny smiled weakly and Eclipse chuckled and nodded his head before he said, "Just give me a second." Eclipse closed the door and Destiny waited by the wall. Eclipse emerged from his room a few minutes later dressed in some casual black dress pants and a white button down shirt. He turned to Destiny and said, "First time I have been asked out on a date. The whole thing is a bit backwards."

Destiny smiled as she took Eclipse's arm and asked, "Do you mind it at all?"

Eclipse noticed how close Destiny got to him as she looped her arm around his and they began to walk for the exit door for their sleeping car. He smiled as he said, "Hey, it makes it easier for me when you do the asking. Now, what movie are we going to see?"

Destiny giggled a little bit as she said, "the theater is showing sci-fi romance movie."

Eclipse chuckled as opened the door to the Sky Serpent and said, "You know what, that sounds just perfect." With that they stepped out of the Sky Serpent and headed off to the movies.

Back in the dinning car Bentley, Murray, Penelope, Panda King, and Dimitri were locked in an intense poker game. The one to lose all his poker chips first had to make dinner for the rest of them while they finished the game. As it stood Bentley had won the last three round putting him a fair distance a head of everyone. Everyone else was about equal, with only one or two poker chips difference between them.

Dimitri smiled at his new hand after seeing he had four kings. He quickly chipped in all but a few of his chips. This was enough to get everyone else to back out except Bentley, who had the best poker face of all of them. Dimitri smiled as he said, "Come on bro, if can't play with the big dogs you better just stay on the porch."

Bentley gently reached for his pile of chips and matched Dimitri's bet. He then raised it just enough so Dimitri would have to go all in to stay in. Dimitri smiled as he through the last of his chips in and said, "I got 4 kings bro, try and out do that funky move."

Bentley just nodded his head as he laid down his cards and showed he had a royal flush, the best hand you can have in the game of poker. Dimitri's eyes were wide as Bentley smiled and said, "Well, I am starved. You better go get cooking Dimitri."

Dimitri grumbled a bit, but got up and head over to the other half of the car where the kitchen was. Bentley made everyone's piles of poker chips equal before they continued the game. The next to fall was Murray, who put too much on his last full house. After him Penelope was cleaned out when she got a flush only to be beat out by the Panda King with a royal flush. Dimitri served dinner, a simple grilled cheese and tomato soup meal, as Panda King and Bentley began the final round of play.

They played for 15 more minutes, Bentley slowly gaining an edge on Panda King. It was dark out when Panda King said, "Bentley you have played well, but I think it is time we ended this game. Who so ever wins the next hand is the victor of the whole thing."

Bentley nodded his head and said, "I will take that bet. Deal the cards." Bentley looked at his hand and saw he had a royal flush of the Ace, King, Queen, Jake, and Ten of hearts. He smiled as he said, "Beat this Panda King, a royal flush, my second one of the game."

Panda King looked up from his cards as he said, "Usually, you would be the victor with such a hand, but tonight it seems the fates have decided that neither one of use should win." With the last part Panda King put his hand on the table and showed he had gotten a royal flush as well. This consisting of the Ace, King, Queen, Jake, and Ten of clubs.

Bentley's jaw was hanging before he began to laugh and said, "I guess anything is possible. Good game Panda King."

Bentley offered his hand and the Panda King took it and shook it as he said, "You played honorably and excellently Bentley. It was a pleasure to be equally matched by someone of such a high intelligence."