*Sly POV*
Following the trail of spice shipments, we made our way up to Nunavut Bay, Canada, the secret hub of the shipping empire of Jean Bison.
As a young man, he trekked across Canada to strike it rich during the Gold Rush of 1852. An avid prospector, he took some chances and ended up buried alive in an avalanche. Miraculously, the quick freeze kept him alive, and thanks to global warming, he thawed out 120 years later.
A product of his time, he dreams of taming the "Wild North," damming every river and chopping down all the trees with progress delivered at the sharp end of an Axe. Shipping spice for the Klaww Gang proved a lucrative way to bankroll his one-man war against nature. And yet, I have to feel a little sorry for him. He's just a normal guy thrown into a world he's unfamiliar with. In his day, he could have been a hero...but now, he's a villain.
Either way, that man's got more than his fair share of the Clockwerk parts. What a low-tech guy like Jean Bison is doing with robot parts is a mystery. I almost don't want to know. But as always, it's only a matter of time before the gang and I find out.
After heading into a nearby town to make their Safehouse, Sly and Ben worked together to head towards Jean Bison's cabin, after using some old wall hooks to clean up the rock face leading to it, the blood brothers used Slytunkauhmen's Invisibility Technique to sneak inside without being detected.
Sneaking up to the ceiling, the duo heard Jean Bison talking with none other than Arpeggio through a two-way radio.
"Hello, Arpeggio here."
"Salutations, Mr. Arpeggio. Y'all got time to shoot the breeze?"
"Of course, for you, Jean, always, although must we communicate through that dreadful speakerphone?"
"Yeah, I can think better while my legs move...pumps blood to your brain."
"Yes, of course, one must keep blood in one's brain, but do tell. Is there some pressing matter you'd like to discuss?"
The two began talking about a 'Northern Light Battery' and that Arpeggio would arrive at the end of the week to pick it up. Jean Bison also revealed that he was using Clockwerk's Lungs and Stomach to fuel his shipping trains, which he called his 'Iron Horses'. Thanks to the powerful metal organs, the trains could run without needing to refuel.
While the two remaining Klaww Gang members chatted, Ben and Sly took some pictures of the route maps for each of Jean Bison's Iron Horses. Ben also discovered that the blueprints for Jean Bison's trains were in the trophy bass above the fireplace, Sly quickly swiping it and the brothers making their escape.
"After analyzing Bison's decorating techniques, I think we'll find the other trophy bass above the mantle in the two remaining cabins." Bentley said over the comms as Ben and Sly split up, each of them taking one cabin to get at the blueprints in the trophy bass'. Jean Bison seemed to catch wind of what was going on as he spoke to his men over the speakers.
"Attention all cabin guards. I've heard tell from the boys in Ponderosa Cabin there's someone been at my hidden blueprints. Everyone stay sharp, this ain't no summer camp. I don't pay you boys to lollygag while there's a thief in these parts."
"Oh boy, he's gonna be ticked!" Ben chuckled deviously as he and Sly then headed to a satellite dish placed on a nearby mountain. After scaling it, the blood brothers inputted the code, which was thankfully on the blueprints, and Bentley took complete control.
"This is great! We've got total access to the trains' GPS system! It's all on my computer! Head back to the safe house. I'll crunch some numbers and give everyone the rundown."
"Thanks to Sly and Ben, we now have the routes to Bison's Iron Horse trains. Each one has a Clockwerk part in the engine, allowing the trains to run endlessly without refueling. Because of this, we only have the option of using a hatch on the caboose while they move, which unfortunately are currently locked tight. Sly and Murray will commandeer an ice plane to use denatured spice gas to destroy the caboose hatches. After that's done, I'll have myself and Ben hop on Iron Horse 1. With some luck, we'll have the first Clockwerk Lung in a few hours."
"Okay, we all got our assignments. Let's kick some ass!" Ben said, punching his fist into his palm as the team of four headed out of the Safehouse, Murray taking out the nearby guards and hijacking the ice plane to take himself and Sly into the air.
"Sly quickly jumped off, using his Paraglider to keep his descent safe as he collected spice gas from the balloons, using the collected gas as makeshift bombs to blow off the latches on the caboose of each Iron Horse train.
Y"es, you guys did it! All the Iron Horse trains are unlocked." Bentley cheered, only to realize something...Murray had lost contact!
"Oh no! Don't tell me Murray's been captured!" Ben exclaimed as Bentley began hyperventilating. Sly heard this over the comms.
"Don't worry, guys. I'll bust him out. You guys just focus on getting the Clockwerk Lung!"
Bentley swallowed nervously as he jumped onto Ben's shoulders, the two of them managing to board the first Iron Horse train and sneak around before eventually swiping Clockwerk's Lung. With their treasure obtained, they quickly escaped the train with none of the guards any the wiser.
Upon arriving at the Safehouse, they saw Sly and Murray, both safe and sound.
"Turns out Inspector Fox was here and she ended up busting Murray while he was out getting a snack. Luckily, I broke him out."
"That's good to hear..." Bentley said, breathing a sigh of relief as he and Ben presented the Clockwerk Lung. Now, it was time for Phase 2 of the plan.
"Things are going great! We've already stolen one of Jean Bison's three Clockwerk parts. However, Iron Horse two and three are going to be a little tougher to crack. First, I'll need to hop aboard Iron Horse two and do a little preemptive RC chopper strike to clear out the air defenses. Once cleared it'll be up to Sly and Ben to work their magic in the interior to get at that second Clockwerk Lung. Murray, you'll need to trap some of the local bear cubs in order to unlock a nearby handcar. We're gonna need it to catch up with Iron Horse number three, but don't worry, the cubs won't be hurt, although I can't say the same for the guards."
"Okay, that's good to know. I don't want to hurt those cute little cubs." Murray said in relief as the gang went out to do their assignments. Bentley and Ben headed to Iron Horse 2 and got onto the Caboose before Bentley took out his RC Chopper.
"This had better work. Sly won't stand a chance making it through this train unless I neutralize the aerial defenses. Good thing I outfitted the RC chopper with a new cannon."
"Let 'er rip, Bents!" Ben said as Bentley piloted his RC Chopper around the train and began laying waste to the aerial defenses. Soon, the last of them had been neutralized as Bentley and Ben cheered, giving each other a high-five.
"Bentley strikes again. Yes! The aerial defenses are down... now it's all up to Sly to finish the job."
"And he'll need a little help from his brother to do so!" Ben said, flipping onto the roof of the caboose and seeing Sly having already boarded. The two blood brothers winked at each other and headed to the front of the train, finding the other Clockwerk Lung. As they made their escape, Bentley regaled them with his experience.
"You should've seen how many missile launchers were attached to these train cars. I don't mind saying that it took some real finesse on my part to deal with the defenses."
The group headed back to the Safehouse to see that Murray had successfully destroyed the cage surrounding the handcar thanks to luring the Mother Bear to free her cubs from it. With everything in place, the gang was ready for the final Clockwerk part.
-Operation: Choo Choo-
"Okay guys, this is it. Time to break into Iron Horse number 3 and carry away the Clockwerk Stomach. Now, the train's moving too fast to jump onto here in town, so we'll have to catch up with it on Murray's new handcar. Once we're in position, Sly and Ben'll hop on board and make their way up to the engine. While they travel through the interior, I'll provide air support with my RC Chopper. I've planned this as a textbook train robbery. If we all do our jobs right, what could possibly go wrong?"
"Don't say that, Bents!" Ben said.
"Why not?"
"Because in these sorts of stories, when someone says what could possibly go wrong, something ALWAYS goes wrong!"
Bentley rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess you got a point there..."
The four then headed to the handcar and thanks to Murray's sheer strength, they managed to catch up to the third Iron Horse train in no time.
"Got it! Strong work, Murray." Sly praised the hippo.
"Yeah, sure...The Murray's strength knows no limit!" Murray said, doing his best to stay focused on pumping the handcar with all his might.
"Jean Bison is one strange guy...why did he decide to take the stomach and lungs is far beyond me. It freaks me out just thinking about it!" Ben said.
"Get freaked out later when we aren't riding an antique handcar at breakneck speeds." Bentley sarcastically retorted as Ben nodded, he and Sly boarding the train and sneaking through it. One of the cars actually had Jean Bison inside patrolling.
"Ain't nobody getting past me. That their Clockwerk Stomach is as safe as a snowman in winter. I'd like to meet the varmint that's been looting my Iron Horse trains. By Jiminy, I get hot 'neath the collar just thinking about how I'd cut that boy down. I'd kill him like a spotted owl. I sure will."
"He certainly has a colorful way with words. But what would you expect a guy from the 1850s to say?" Ben said as Sly chuckled.
"Yeah, especially from the South."
The blood brothers climbed up the roof of the next train car before a flying vehicle flew past them, upon closer inspection, the duo saw it was Neyla!
"Thought I might find you here. Just can't stay away from these Clockwerk parts, can you?"
"Oh, we just do it to meet exciting ladies like yourself!" Ben called back with a smirk.
"f you'd like some excitement why not climb up on top of the train? I'm sure to get your heart pumping, maybe even show you my new ride!" Neyla snarked as Ben rolled his eyes.
"That sounds lovely my dear, but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to decline for right now! I'm sure we'll go for a ride later if you know what I mean!"
"Nice try!" Neyla taunted before suddenly being shot at by Bentley's RC Chopper. "Whuh in blazes?!
As Neyla was distracted by Bentley, Ben and Sly made their way to the front of the train, finding the Clockwerk Stomach in all its glory. Unfortunately, it looked like it was bolted to the furnace.
"Looks like Jean Bison's wised up and bolted the stomach down. We'll have to crack the engine block to get it free." Sly told Bentley on the other end.
"Then that's just what we'll do. A well-placed bomb down the train's smokestack will knock it loose. Just make sure to take some cover."
Bentley maneuvered his RC Chopper past Neyla, much to her confusion before it went down the smokestack of the train and exploded, knocking the stomach loose as Ben caught it along with Sly. The two then began making their way to the back, dodging Neyla's fire before getting on the handcar.
"Parting is such sweet sorrow, Neyla! I'll send you flowers!" Ben said as Neyla scowled from her plane and flew off.
"Oh, I'll be sure to get a little more from you, you handsome little rotter..."
*Ben POV*
We had managed to pull off an impossible feat and make off with three Clockwerk Parts at once! And even better, we shut down spice distribution all throughout North America. Needless to say, we were all pretty pleased with ourselves.
However, Carmelita was still at odds with Interpol, and Neyla was still giving us trouble. We were going to need to take down the Klaww Gang soon and clear Carmelita's name. After all, she's the only cop our gang can technically trust to make things fun in the life of thievery. I knew Sly felt the same way.
Next Time: Menace from the North, Eh!
The last of the Clockwerk parts are in sight and the gang is ready to take them off Jean Bison's hands. Unfortunately, things are about to take a turn for the worst...