*Ben POV*
Things in Canada were looking pretty grim. The Northern Lights were looking all out of whack and random acts of violence were popping up everywhere. Sly and I recalled Jean Bison and Arpeggio talking about a Northern Light Battery, which is no doubt an important key component in all of this.
Thankfully, the Northern Light trail was our guide and we found ourselves in an old lumber camp. The sheer number of fallen trees made it very clear that this was Jean Bison's turf and worse, he was in possession of Clockwerk's Talons.
The Thievius Raccoonus details the talons as being sharp enough to cut through solid steel with ease and I remember from my vision of the night Sly's parents died that a living person's body was even frailer to those butcher knife-like appendages. And considering Jean Bison's profession, it was even worse for the environment.
The whole gang was in unanimous agreement that those talons needed to go to both get rid of Clockwerk once and for all and to make sure Jean Bison's old-fashioned views of progress are put a stop to.
Sly had gone out to get recon photos of the lumber camp so Bentley could scope the area out for the plans to get at the Clockwerk Talons. As they waited, Bentley was checking things on ThiefNet, Murray was eating some pretzels, and Ben was reading up on the Thievius Raccoonus, finding an entry from Colonel Reid Cooper that detailed the sheer menace that Clockwerk had.
'And indeed, the day I saw the Cooper nemesis for the first time was truly a sight of nightmarish proportions. A beak that could crush through the roof of a temple. Wings as large as an elephant. And vicious talons that were sharp enough to slice through the hardened steel of a giant gate, previously thought to be impenetrable. I fear for the day that the monster known as Clockwerk will face me in battle. Even with my techniques, the monstrous aviator will prove the hardest challenge in my life, my son's life, and his kin's life, for ages to come.'
"And this is from the guy who invented the Time Stopper Technique. Clockwerk truly was a monster in those days..." Ben sighed as he closed the book just in time for Sly to return with the recon photos.
"Guys, Jean Bison is hosting something called 'The Lumberjack Games' and he's holding the Clockwerk Talons as a trophy for whoever wins. Of course, he has full confidence that he can win himself." Sly explained as Ben, Bentley, and Murray looked over the photos that Sly took.
"Well, let's pull the wool over his eyes and show him just how skilled we are at messing up the bad guys' carefully laid plans!" Ben said with a smirk as Bentley looked over the information from the photos and set up his plan of attack.
"Well guys, Jean Bison has unknowingly thrown down the gauntlet. With the Clockwerk Talons as a trophy, we'd be fools not to participate in his lumberjack games. Fortunately, due to frequent avalanches, a log chopping guide was frozen in a wall of ice not far from our position. Ben, you're in charge of acquiring the book. I'm sure it will prove invaluable. Now, we're all aware that Arpeggio's blimp is coming to pick up another battery. To sneak aboard without incident, I'd recommend we pull a Trojan Horse and stow ourselves away inside the battery. However, the location of the device is still a mystery. We need some inside information. So, working together, Sly and Murray will infiltrate the moose guards' secret RC combat club. Those guys all work in the lighthouse. If you win the battle, I'm sure they'll talk. Despite his antique mind, Jean Bison's no fool. To keep tabs on him, we'll need to bug his house. Ben, you'll need to steal the radio tags off the local bears and then jerry-rig them into a sensor array. It's a challenging set of tasks, and that blimp's on its way. Let's get to work!"
"Showtime, baby!" Ben said as the gang all went out to do their missions. Ben headed into the bear cave and saw many of the bears napping peacefully. Bentley soon contacted him on the comms.
"The radio transmitters have all been tagged in their mouths. You'll have to sneak up and pickpocket it while they're yawning."
"Sounds 'safe'." Ben sarcastically said with a roll of his eyes before simply stopping time and gently removing all the radio transmitters from the bears' mouths, then fled the cave before the snoozing group of Ursi was any the wiser.
"Why did I forget you know all the tricks from the Thievius Raccoonus just like Sly does?" Bentley rhetorically asked from the comms after realizing Ben had gotten the transmitters. The human thief then rushed to Jean Bison's house and placed two of the transmitters, soon hearing the bison out of time's radio chatter.
"Perk up your ears, boys. I'm gonna tell y'all the tally for last month. The blue lumberjack team managed to clearcut 128 acres of forest. Not bad considering they had to kill all them badgers to do it, eh? But now, the gold lumberjack team. Bless their hearts, those boys chopped down 211 acres! Y'all hear that? 211 acres of progress. Almost brings a tear to my eye when I think about how much wilderness y'all have tamed. Keep up the good work, fellers. Not long till we can start putting up those tract homes, yeah!"
"What's a tract home?" Ben pondered as he finished putting in the remaining four transmitters and made his escape.
"Alright! Murray and Sly managed to get the details on the whereabouts of the Northern Lights Battery!" Bentley cheered through the comms. "Alright Ben, now you have to get that ancient log chopping guide that's stuck in ice."
"And how do you propose I do that?"
"Simple, head into the industrial house and use the laser there that's used to cut petrified logs in order to melt the ice by reflecting the laser off the windows!"
Ben made his way through the industrial house until he found a switch. Flipping it, the laser redirected itself out the window. With the first hurdle done, Ben headed back outside and saw the laser burning into the nearby snow.
"Alright, I know enough about physics to figure out what needs to be done next."
Ben then placed crystals on each point where the laser touched until it reached the ice peak that the ancient log cutting book was frozen in. However, it also freed a wooly mammoth that was preserved in the ice as well.
"Whoa, Nelly!" Ben exclaimed.
"I've never seen such a majestic creature. So full of life, so ready to live-!" Bentley began, only for the mammoth to fall into the nearby lake and drown. "So much for that, he's back in the deep freeze."
Ben picked up the antique book. "Cheer up, Bents. We got the log chopping guide all the same."
Everyone returned from their missions back to the Safehouse. Bentley read up on the antique log chopping guide that Ben had retrieved and after he finished, he laid out the plan to the others.
"After reading through the log chopping guide it's become painfully clear that to win in the Lumberjack Games, we'll have to cheat."
"Hey, it's not cheating if you don't get caught!" Ben pointed out with a chuckle as Bentley rolled his eyes before continuing.
"Now, I've constructed a plan that hinges around us acquiring an eagle's egg which is more difficult than you'd think. First, Murray needs to lure a bear into taking out the local oil mains. Once destroyed, the pressurized oil should ignite and create updrafts which Sly will then use to paraglide over to the eagle's nest, grab an egg, and then head back to the Safehouse."
"Let's just hope we don't break the egg. The Murray would not forgive himself if it cracked!" Murray said.
"Relax, Murray. We'll keep that egg safe and sound when we get it." Sly reassured as Bentley resumed laying out the plan.
"Thanks to Murray's undercover work in the RC Combat Club, we've learned that the Northern Light Battery is hidden in a silo nearby. The battery needs some serious modification if we're going to hide inside it to sneak onto Arpeggio's blimp. First, we'll short the battery with grapple lines on local boats. Then, we'll all break into the lighthouse and sever the power flow to the battery that way it won't recharge. Given my electrical engineering background, this plan has a 97% chance of success. Pretty good, huh?"
"Sounds good to me! What part can I play?" Ben asked.
"You go around and swipe some loot off the guards so we can sell it on ThiefNet. If we run into trouble, we'll call you." Bentley explained as Ben nodded and the gang set out to do their next batch of missions.
Ben moved around the lumber camp as swift as a shadow, snatching all sorts of loot from the guards, including gold bars, silver necklaces, and even some rubies and sapphires. Ben looked at a ruby and sapphire he had in his hands and looked around to make sure nobody was watching before pressing them together, making kissy noises as he did so.
"Huh, that's disappointing. They didn't become a garnet."
"Ben! We need you over by the lighthouse! We're ready to hijack the silo battery!" Bentley called from the comms.
Ben nodded and made his way over to the lighthouse, where Bentley and Murray were waiting. The sound of something breaking on the other side of the door was heard as Sly opened it for his three friends to come inside.
"Thanks, pal...just let me at that Northern Light attractor...it'll be slag in minutes!" Murray said, punching his fist into his palm.
"Not quite that simple, Murray. I'll reverse the energy flow from the control computer, while you lift the main circuit breaker. That should give Sly and Ben a short window of opportunity to climb up the power lines and overload the system from the top." Bentley said.
"Up down, up down...They should put an elevator in this place." Sly said as Ben chuckled.
"Come on, Sly. It's good for the legs!"
Ben and Sly made their way up, knocking away the guards before finding the double reverse circuit breaker and flipping the switch.
"We did it! The collection mechanism is overloading!" Bentley cheered as the gang made their escape just in time for the mechanism to explode, putting it out of commission for good.
"Alright! That was awesome!" Ben cheered as the Cooper Gang all did a collection of high-fives, Ben finishing with a 'Too Slow' on Murray.
With everything in place, it was time to begin the operation to acquire the Clockwerk Talons from Jean Bison.
-Operation: Canada Games-
"The Lumberjack Games are upon us. Now, despite Murray's study of the log chopping guide, none of us are skilled enough to beat Jean Bison at his own game. So, though it pains me to say it, we'll have to cheat. Murray, you'll participate in the power log chopping competition. Get us a good score and then let Bison up for his turn. While he's chopping I'll sneak the eagle egg into his trousers and the protective parents should disturb his ax swings."
"Ah, it pains me to have to do things to a guy like that. He's proud of his accomplishments and it'd be rude to do that to him." Ben said before shaking his head. "But sometimes, you gotta do cruel things for the greater good...except killing children, not even the greater good is worth that."
"Well said, Ben."
Sly, given your ascension skills, I've signed you up for the ice wall climb. We'll keep Bison from beating your score by pulling him off the wall with some nearby grappling lines. And finally, I'll represent our team in the log rolling competition. With my knowledge of rotational mechanics, we're sure to get a stupendous score. Ben will be in charge of greasing Bison's logs so he has no chance of beating it. If you guys are ready, I say we head out and show these meathead lumberjacks what we're made of!"
The group proceeded to the Lumber Jack games by the water's edge.
"Okay, guys, let's head down there and win those talons from Jean Bison! Sly, try to keep a low profile when we get close. We don't want him to recognize you." Bentley warned as Sly nodded, recalling the dance at Rajan's Palace.
"Good thing I had the Michael Buble look patted down, eh?" Ben joked as Sly ribbed his blood brother for that comment. Soon, they approached Bison.
"Excuse me, sir. We humble lumberjacks would like to participate in your Lumberjack Games." Bentley introduced, trying to make his voice sound as gruff as possible.
"Think you got what it takes to win the Clockwerk talons, eh? Well, I'm sure enough gonna let you play...so long as you pay the entry fee." Jean Bison said as he gave everyone a look over.
"Much obliged, eh. We'll be taken our positions for the competition." Ben said in a very impressive Canadian Accent as he handed four gold bars to Jean Bison to pay for him and the rest of the gang.
Jean Bison just chortled while accepting the fee. "Enjoy the moment while yah think you've still got a chance...it's as close to winning as you'll ever get!"
Murray would be playing first in a log-chopping competition. The pink hippo Beastkin showed impressive concentration as he sliced the log clean in half in just a few swings. The judges all held up scorecards, each with '10' on them.
Jean Bison was up next and Bentley quickly snuck the eagle egg into his back pocket, causing the angry eagle mother to fly in and throw him off-guard, causing the judges to give him low scores after he was finished.
"What? I think you better rethink them scores, boys. What ya'll intended to give me was perfect tens, RIGHT?!"
The judges gulped and showed perfect tens in response. Ben was watching this and shook his head.
"Hmmm, looks like Jean Bison is also fair game in cheating. We'll just have to beat him at his own game, then!"
Next was the ice climbing challenge and Sly split his cane into two using the technique of Slytunkhaumen III in order to easier climb up the ice and also use the Wall Hook Launch Technique of Sir Galleth Cooper and the Time Slow Technique to reach the top in record time.
Jean Bison was up next but Murray distracted him by slowing him down with grappling hooks. This of course made the judges give him low scores again.
"It seems you have pulled the wrong cards again. Did I ever tell any of you the story about the judge from last year's competition who mistakenly gave me a score other than 10?"
The judges once more flashed perfect '10s' for Jean Bison's score. The bison out of time turned to the Cooper Gang with a smirk.
"I see we're tied with only one event to go. Unfortunately for you, I've saved my best event for last; The Spinning Log!
"Okay, looks easy enough. I just need to stay out of the water." Bentley said to himself as he jumped onto the logs and showed impressive balance and skill in making sure to avoid falling into the water.
As Bentley was impressing everybody, Ben snuck down and knocked out the judges while Jean Bison wasn't looking. He, Sly, and Murray all took their places, putting on fake beaks and using Thaddeus Winslow Cooper III's Master of Disguise Technique to dress up in their clothes as well.
Bentley soon finished and Jean Bison took his turn, only for the greased up logs to make him lose his balance and fall into the water. The disguised Ben, Sly, and Murray all gave him low scores as he growled.
"I thought I warned you judges about the consequences for "incorrect" scores!" Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Wait a second...you aren't the judges I hired! It's the scrawny raccoon and his annoying friends. Well, if you want the talons then why don't you just TAKE 'EM!"
With a grunt, Jean Bison threw his staff holding the Clockwerk Talons at the three. Bentley gasped in horror as Murray got a gash on his hand and Sly got a cut on his cheek and left ear but Ben got it worst, the talons actually wedging deep into his side.
"NO!" Bentley cried before several of Jean Bison's guards arrived and cornered the Cooper Gang.
"Get those varmints to the interrogation room in the sawmill!" Bison then winced when he saw the state of Ben's injuries, the snow around him turning red with his blood. "And get that kid to the emergency room. Don't know my own strength sometimes, especially with those Clockwerk Talons added in."
"Sly! Murray! Wake up!" Bentley cried as Sly and Murray groaned and got up. They had passed out from the shock of getting hit with the Clockwerk Talons but thankfully, Jean Bison wasn't heartless as he had healed their wounds, Sly having a bandage on his ear and some gauze on his cheek while Murray also had gauze on his hand.
"Bentley, what happened?"
"It's awful! Bison put us in here for interrogation and he also took Ben hostage! We need to save him!"
The trio looked around and saw that the place they were in was pretty sealed tight. However, Sly noticed something and turned to Bentley.
"Hey, Bentley. Think you can fit through that hole?"
The bespectacled turtle gulped. "I... I think I can squeeze through there. I'll drop down and try to free you guys from the outside. If there's any trouble I'll call with this walkie-talkie, you might be able to help me with these sawmill controls."
"While you guys do that I'll try prying open that steel door. Given enough time I might be able to make some progress." Murray said as he went to work, using his might to slowly lift up the steel door, putting his back into it while motivating himself with the knowledge that Ben needed his and the others' help.
Bentley went through the hole and ended up in the control area, looking around as he heard Sly's voice on the walkie-talkie.
"Bentley you okay?! I can't see you from in here but I heard the fall."
"I'll be fine, just give me a moment to catch my..." It was then he noticed Jean Bison waiting for him. "...breath."
"Well now Candy Britches, I shoulda figured a puny turtle like you would find a rat hole to squirm through."
Bentley stuttered with his words, the larger Beastkin staring into his soul. "Well...uh...Just dropped my glasses, had to come pick 'em up!"
"I ain't like you boy, I ain't stew-pid." Bison snarled. "While y'all were unconscious me and my boys paid a visit to your hideout and found all them Clockwerk Parts. Lucky thing too; Arpeggio was willing to plunk down a King's RANSOM for the whole lot! I even threw in the talons!"
"You sold ALL the Clockwerk Parts?! Arpeggio has them ALL?!" Bentley asked in utter disbelief.
"And you're human pal was a fine bonus too. Thankfully, we stopped the bleeding and cauterized the wound so he wouldn't die before we shipped him off. But I wouldn't expect one of your kind to understand the finer points of commerce. You turtles are too stew-pid to know a woodcutter from a woodchuck!"
Bentley's fists clenched angrily. It was one thing that all the hard work that the Cooper Gang had put into collecting Clockwerk's parts was more nothing...but to see that Ben had been sent off to be a prison of Arpeggio...that drew the line right there!
"THAT'S IT! Time I showed you just how "stew-pid" we turtles really are. Sly, on my command!"
"I hear ya!"
Bentley then pointed forward towards Jean Bison, all fear gone and replaced with righteous anger.
"Prepare yourself, Bison! En Garde!"
The bison out of time sneered, accepting the challenge. "Okay Walnut, get ready for a smushin'."
As Jean Bison charged at Bentley, the turtle smirked as he called to Sly. "COOK HIM!"
Needless to say, Jean Bison got a nasty surprise as the flame panels lit up, burning his behind as he yelped in pain. Growling as he patted out the flames, he called in his henchmen.
"Come on in here boys! Let's get this varmint."
Several of the thugs rushed in but Bentley grinned as he got them and Bison in one place and gave another order to Sly.
"LOGS AWAY!"
"10-4!"
Logs were dropped down on Jean Bison and his goons, crushing them flat. While the thugs were knocked out, Bison furiously pushed off the log on top of him and ripped it in half with his bare hands.
"EAT DYNAMITE, TURTLE!"
Taking out a stick of dynamite, the bison out of time prepared to throw, only for Bentley to grin as he activated a special device he got on ThiefNet earlier called the Temporal Lock. Time froze around him as he grabbed the stick of dynamite and then slammed it into Jean Bison's face before resuming time, the Temporal Lock breaking since it could only be used once as the dynamite exploded in Bison's face.
Grunting, the bison out of time got up, wiping the soot off his face and revealing he had some blast scars from the explosion as well. He angrily lunged towards Bentley before the turtle gave one last command to Sly.
"Saws, Saws!"
The sawblades were activated and struck Bison head-on before he could react. Thanks to his tough hide, he wasn't fatally injured but he was badly cut up as he fell to his knees, groaning in pain.
"Tarnation! I've been dun in by some four-eyed turtle?! Times have changed..."
Bentley smirked as he stood triumphant over his foe. "Once again, brains triumph over brawn!"
Murray finished lifting up the steel door as he and Sly made their way out of the interrogation room and reunited with Bentley. However, there was no time to celebrate as one of their own was still in the hands of the enemy.
"Come on! If we're going to save Ben and get the Clockwerk Parts back, we need to get on Arpeggio's Blimp!"
The trio found the battery silo and got inside, eventually feeling themselves getting lifted off the ground and pulled up to Arpeggio's blimp. However, despite vanquishing Jean Bison, there was a sense of failure they were all feeling. Ben had been taken captive by Arpeggio, all of the Clockwerk Parts had been taken, and Murray sadly looked out the vent of the silo to see the Cooper Gang's Van floating away on a block of ice.
"Goodbye, sweetie. You're with the great blue know..." The Hippo Beastkin sadly said, wiping his tears before steeling his gaze. "But Ben is my pal, and he needs us all more than ever!"
Sly and Bentley both nodded, they couldn't sit around feeling sorry for themselves. They had a friend in need and a big bad villain to take down...and it was all personal.
Next Time: Anatomy for Disaster!
The final stretch is here! Will the Cooper Gang stop Clockwerk from coming back once and for all and rescue Ben? Or will Arpeggio have the last laugh? And what's Neyla's part in all of this?