*Ben POV*

After Neyla and I had our fun, we were all set up for the Finals. This would be us against Team Muggshot and Team Black Baron. Even with Muggshot promised to help us, things were complicated. First off, the rules of the final match were that whoever took the Black Baron out of the sky was the winner. Second, any sign of collusion between our teams - of Muggshot trying to throw the match in our favor - would get both teams disqualified.

Not only that, the Baron had a massive team of pilots under his command, and wasn't above using other dirty tricks such as calling in attacks from support blimps if it looked like he'd be taken out. It seemed it would be tricky...

Surprisingly enough, it was Muggshot himself who came up with a solution. He threw down a special challenge that caught everyone off guard. As he put it, the ACES competition was about determining the Captain of the Skies...so he issued a challenge between the Team Captains to determine the true Captain of the Skies. If the Black Baron accepted, it would mean the final match would be the Baron, Muggshot, Sly...and no one else.

...the Black Baron agreed.

"This is it, guys! Eye of the tiger! Just take out the Baron and we win! Go easy on the throttle, Sly! It's been sticking lately!" Bentley said as Sly took off in his plane. Ben and Neyla kept an eye on Sly via the Binoc-U-Coms.

"O-o-okay! It's the big-time final round. This is what you came for, people! The best of the best! Going at it like cats and king cobras! The skies are full with the DAAAANGEEEEEERR~!" Dimitri sang the last bit.

Ben kept his eyes on Sly and what he was planning on doing. The Black Baron was fiendishly clever in the air. Rather than focus on one of them or the other to take them down, he kept his distance and waited until Sly or Muggshot started shooting at each other before focusing on whoever was in pursuit and using a strafing sweep to hit both of them. As a result, both Sly and Muggshot's planes had taken some significant damage, while the Baron's plane had barely taken any.

Muggshot brought his heavier plane down and Sly climbed into the air to try and get some distance. Suddenly, Sly flipped his plane over before going into a dive. The Baron quickly opened fire with his guns taking out Sly's own as well as his engine. However, Sly had one last trick up his sleeve as he shifted the course of his plane before bailing out.

Sly's plane crashed into The Baron's own, taking out both ships as The Baron quickly bailed just in time, both he and Sly landing on the wings of Muggshot's plane.

"That's my brother!" Ben cheered.

"You haven't won yet, raccoon!" the Baron declared angrily. "You may have destroyed my plane with your own - a clever strategy, I must admit - but as you can see, we are all still airborne! There is still no victor, and you have placed yourself at your opponent's mercy!"

The Baron clicked his heels together, causing his boots to affix to the metal wing magnetically. "All he needs to do is roll the plane, and you will go flying to your doom!"

"And leave you here to toss me out and take my plane?" Muggshot groused. "Even if the flaps weren't locked from your heavy landing meaning all I can do is glide slowly down in a circle, I wouldn't do that!"

"I guess we can consider Muggshot out of the running, if he can't do anything but keep us level," Sly deduced as he leveled his cane. "So if it's between us, let's settle it."

"Beware, my boy. I've trained ten years at fisticuffs. Pugilism is my passion."

"If you fight as well as you fly, this shouldn't take long." Sly taunted, causing Muggshot to snort in amusement as the Baron got ready to fight.

"En garde!"

As the Baron charged forward to throw a punch, Sly ducked under the strike, jabbing forward with the base of his cane into his opponent's stomach even as he spun it to catch the Baron's lead foot in the hook, pulling him off his feet. The Baron rolled away from the trip, coming back to his feet as he ducked under a sweeping strike to deliver a quick flurry of punches aimed at Sly's ribs. Sly backed away, spinning his cane in front of him to deflect the blows that hadn't already connected. Growling, he stuck the base of the cane into the wing before flinging himself forward in a flying kick, striking the Baron in the head.

"That's gotta hurt!" Muggshot exclaimed as the Baron stumbled back. Sly quickly raced around him to strike lightly with the base of his cane at the helmet, sounding out the interior. As the Baron turned to charge, Sly leaped over him, his hook coming down to catch under the helmet before jerking it off, sending it flying.

"Gaaah! A Fatal Blow!" The Baron screamed before his voice suddenly glitched and changed as he was surrounded by smoke, coughing as he waved it away.

"That's enough... you win, Cooper."

Sly's eyes widened when he saw it was Penelope wearing the Black Baron's outfit. "Wait, you?... You're Penelope, the Baron's mechanic. No... no, you ARE the Black Baron!"

"Suppose someone was bound to find out sooner or later... I guess I'm kind of relieved." Penelope awkwardly said.

"Sorry, but I actually saw you unmask yourself when I infiltrated your estate a few days ago!" Ben spoke on Sly's comms as Penelope blushed in embarrassment.

"Look, can we talk on the ground where it's safer?" The Mouse Beastkin pleaded. "The suit's starting to fall apart as it is."

"I'll take us down," Muggshot offered, immediately turning the plane to a landing vector.

"You said you couldn't do anything but fly in circles!" Penelope complained angrily.

"And I couldn't!" Muggshot countered. "If I did anything else, Sly couldn't beat the Baron."

"You colluded!" Penelope snapped angrily.

"Can't prove it from anything inside the match," Sly pointed out teasingly.

Penelope ground her teeth for a time, then sighed. "I guess you DID win, anyway..."

*Sly POV*

It was quite a revelation: Penelope and the Black Baron were both one and the same. Of course, I wasn't too pleased at how Ben kept that information from me and the others, but I guess he wanted it to be a surprise. Before we could even process this turn of events, we were rushed to the winner's circle. Somehow, against all odds, we'd become this year's champions.

There was a bit of an awkward moment between Bentley and Penelope. I guess the photos they'd sent each other over the internet were a bit exaggerated. However, Ben managed to get them to be more open with each other and they seemed to start hitting it off from there.

That night, Penelope explained that the disguise was invented to get her past the dogfighting league's strict age requirements. However, after winning, the Baron became a celebrity, and she found herself putting on the costume more and more often. But now, with the Black Baron out of the picture, she was free to take up a new path, and she joined the gang without hesitation.

Next Time: A Cold Alliance

Sly and Ben talk with a former foe about enlisting his help in the Cooper Vault Job.

Most of this chapter's style was taken from Dressed to Steal by Tatsurou on Fimfiction. Give it a read, it's great!