Ben had practically cried himself to sleep when the gang got back to the ship. Knowing just how much of an emotional toil he suffered, everyone decided to let him rest until they were ready to take on the Cooper Vault. Sly, Neyla, Bentley, and Murray stayed right beside Ben as he slept, making sure he didn't suffer any night terrors.
Carmelita had also visited the gang in their ship, per Sly's insistence. While she understandably kept her distance from Neyla due to their rather sordid background during the Klaww Gang Incident.
As Ben rested, Bentley and Penelope worked together to take out the radio towers while Carmelita offered to have her mercenary crew take out the missile launchers. After all of Dr. M's security was taken care of, Ben finally was woken up by Murray.
"Come on, Ben. You don't wanna miss out on the Cooper Vault, do ya?"
Getting up tiredly, Ben put on his coat and then attached his bionic arm to his arm stump, flexing the fingers before following Murray and Bentley to join Sly at the Cooper Vault's entrance.
"How are we gonna join Sly up there?" Ben asked.
"It's very simple!" Panda King said, attaching his fireworks to the Cooper Van. "Hold on tightly!"
The fireworks launched the Cooper Van all the way up to the vault entrance as Sly and Neyla, who had gone ahead of everyone else in order to open it, got out of the way. The door then opened as Ben stumbled out dizzily.
"Okay! I'm awake! I'm awake!"
"We're never doing that again!" Bentley said as he wheeled himself out next.
"You doing okay, brother?" Sly asked as he put a hand on Ben's shoulder. The human boy smiled at his blood brother and slowly nodded as Neyla moved over and kissed him on the cheek.
"It's okay, love. That crummy blighter is gonna be rotting in the darkest cell."
Ben clenched his bionic fist at the thought of Dr. M before letting go and sighing.
"Don't suppose you have room for one more to join?" Came Carmelita's voice as everyone turned to see the Vixen Beastkin walking in, her arms folded and a smirk on her face.
"Of course, you're practically like family already," Sly said with a charming smile to his favorite policewoman. "And besides, ladies first."
Carmelita scoffed playfully, pulling Sly's cap over his eyes as she passed him before entering the vault, followed by Sly, Ben, Neyla, Bentley, and Murray. As they entered, Sly gazed in wonder at the vast wealth.
"This place is amazing!" Bentley breathed out.
"Yeah, it's got to be like at least a hundred years old!" Murray spoke in agreement.
"An archeological marvel!" Neyla said, admiring everything. "And to think I almost blew this off by trying to join with Clockwerk."
"Glad you all are impressed because I don't know how we're gonna get Bentley and Murray past all these obstacles the Cooper Clan have no doubt left behind to keep this place secure," Sly said as Ben rubbed his chin before snapping his fingers.
"I think I got something! The Guru showed me how to do this!" Ben then rolled through Aboriginal hand signs before a purple glow surrounded Bentley and Murray.
"Master told me about this! We'll be able to fly as long as the aura is held up!" Murray said excitedly. "I am SO jealous that you got to do it first, Ben!"
"Well, Guru figured he'd teach me it first so I could help teach you later. He said it was because a friend teaching another friend is the best experience."
With Bentley and Murray being able to join them, Ben, Sly, Neyla, and Carmelita made their way into the vault, and no sooner had they entered did they find the first bit.
"This vault was started by Slytunkhamen II. The year he made his contributions...10,430 BC!" Sly gawked.
"Damn! That was WAY before Moses!" Ben said with a whistle as Neyla giggled before turning to Carmelita.
"So Old Ironsides, Is there any other reason you wanted to join this little treasure dig?"
Carmelita glared at her ex-partner before sighing. "It's just that, what with everything happening, I should probably get something off my chest to that Ringtail before it's too late."
Neyla smirked, already having a feeling on what Carmelita was getting at as the group continued through the vault, seeing the entries by Sir Galleth Cooper, Old Sally Cooper, and Old Drake Cooper
"Say, Ben..." Neyla asked as she gently held her lover's hand. "After this is over...you figure on maybe...you know?"
"Tying the knot?" Ben asked as Neyla beamed and nodded. The human boy smiled as he leaned his head towards his beloved, both of them smiling as Bentley chuckled.
"Well, looks like we got a wedding to plan, you guys."
Carmelita chuckled as she said to herself. "Better make it a Double Wedding..."
"What's that?" Sly asked as Carmelita gave him a teasing smile.
"I think you can figure it out, Ringtail~."
"Oh..." Sly's eyes then widened as a wide, silly grin split across his face when he realized what his favorite policewoman was implying. "OH!"
Bentley chuckled. "Guess I'll be the one to uncork the champagne bottle and make the toast!"
"And I'll be the one to host and destroy the hot dog eating contest!" Murray cheered.
"We'll be each other's Best Men, don't you agree Sly?" Ben asked as his blood brother chuckled and gave him a fistbump.
The group of six continued onward and once they made it to the section owned by Salim-Al-Kupar, they all gaped in awe at what they saw; Jewels, priceless artifacts, gold everywhere! There was even tons of silver, and there was even a hunk of a type of metal next to Salim's photograph that Bentley recognized.
"Oh my god! This is the extremely rare metal known as Krakonium! It's the very metal that Clockwerk was made out of!"
Ben held his bionic hand out to the metal and scanned it, keeping it in a biometric library stored inside the bionic arm's built-in computer. He then noticed it was compatible with Sly's cane.
"Well, what do you know! It's also the same material Sly's cane is made out of!"
"Bet the same can be said for all of my ancestors and my father before me," Sly said with a thoughtful smile. "I figure we should definitely take this metal back with us, could be useful in the future."
"Only if you let me bring it back to my people at the police force. We could make some useful stuff with this for our side." Carmelita pointed out.
"Ah, fighting us with our own weapons. You clever, clever girl." Sly said teasingly as Carmelita just chuckled playfully and flicked his nose.
"Ugh! Just kiss already! You've been jumping around each other since before we even first fought Clockwerk!" Ben complained, which only made Sly and Carmelita laugh while Neyla, Bentley, and Murray sighed.
"They'll never change..."
The group moved on to the next area, which belonged to Sleigh MacCooper. There were also entries of Colonel Reid Cooper and Karin Coopergiwa as well besides him. It was a bit tricky getting past as the group needed to use the Wall-Sneak move to get past several pounding stone mallets. Bentley and Murray used the Aboriginal Aura Ben gave them to fly across while Sly, Ben, Neyla, and Carmelita snuck past.
Soon, the gang made it to Riochi Cooper's area. Ben saw an incense candle that still looked like it could be lit even after all the centuries had passed. Snapping his bionic fingers, he produced a small torch from his thumb and lit the incense, paying his respects to the Feudal Ancestor of Sly.
"Nice going, brother. Bet he's smiling at you from Heaven for doing that." Sly said appreciatively as Ben chuckled and the group continued on their way. They found Heinrette 'One-Eye' Cooper's area next along with entries of her direct descendants; Thaddeus Winslow Cooper I, Huckleberry Cooper, Sir Augustine of Cooper, and Suzanne Cooper.
"Hey, Heinrette. We found your old ship. Don't worry, we're taking good care of her." Ben said as he gave a salute to Heinrette's memory.
"Come on, big boy. Don't start getting sentimental until after we make it to the ned." Neyla teasingly said, using her tail to pull Ben along. In order to get past Heinrette's section, Bentley needed to use his Size Destabilizer to shrink himself and Murray so they could get across the boats along with Sly, Ben, Carmelita, and Neyla.
The next area belonged to none other than Tennessee Kid Cooper, and his place even had entries by BF Cooper, Thaddeus Winslow Cooper II, Sir Andrew Cooper, and Dev Cooperinda.
"This has to be our most heavily influential page in the Thievius Raccoonus right here. I think we've used Tennessee's move the most during our adventures." Ben pointed out as Sly smiled in agreement.
"You're actually right about that, Bro. Ever since we learned his move, we've been using ropes and vines as our personal playgrounds ever since. Thanks, Tennessee." Sly smiled at the wanted poster of 'The Kid' and the group then moved to the next area,
After making their way over the rails and tightropes, the group eventually made it to the next area, where they saw that it was Thaddeus Winslow Cooper III. And he was joined by the portraits of Chris Cooper, Rob McCooper, and Kelle McCooper. There was also a small picture next to Thaddeus's cane that was of him and two children. One of them was Matthew De Le Coopeur and the other was of an unknown Cooper named Harriet Coop.
"According to what Thaddeus Winslow III's photo here says, he married four times and was the kindest man as well as the noblest and gentlemanly of all the Cooper Clan. Even his three wives loved him and each other because of how kind he was. In fact, he says he never once felt anger for anyone other than the Cooper Nemesis and the infamous Jack the Ripper." Bentley read.
"Heh, Clockwerk definitely had that way with people. Good thing he's finally gone for good." Ben said.
Murray still looked a bit sad as he looked at Bentley but the Turtle Beastkin put a hand on his friend's own, silently reassuring him that he still didn't blame him for Clockwerk crippling him. Neyla also had a bit of a guilty look but a kiss on the cheek from Ben helped snap her out of those negative thoughts.
The group then moved forward more into the vault and then they came to Otto Van Cooper's area, where his portrait had him with a young kid that looked almost like Sly, except that he had a black fur color with orange stripes on his tail.
"Wait a minute..." Sly said as he got a closer look at the picture. "That's my dad when he was a kid!"
"Then that must mean Otto Van Cooper is your grandpa!" Murray exclaimed in amazement.
"And over here is Bruce O Coop. Apparently, his info says he's had to contend with Clockwerk a total of fifteen times, and each time he was successful in keeping him at bay. But he knew he couldn't get away for long, so he decided to try to hack the mainframe of Clockwerk in one final attempt. To his surprise, Clockwerk actually got turned off for a good thirty years thanks to his hacking, but he came back to life shortly after Bruce died of natural causes," Bentley said as he read his placard. "Let's move on, if I'm right, there should be one more Cooper after this and we know him all too well. The one that made the Master Thief, Sly Cooper. Conner Cooper."
Sly smiled as the gang made their way through Otto Van Cooper's gauntlet, which consisted of hooks and plane motifs all around as well as rotating fans on the floor that came on in intervals. They then finally made it to Conner Cooper and gawked as they turned on his defenses and saw something that made everyone surprised.
"So... he expects us to run along this laser beam?" Carmelita asked.
"Well...NOBODY LIVES FOREVER!" Ben said as he jumped onto the laser and cheered excitedly as he slid across it. Sly chuckled as he watched his blood brother enjoying himself.
"Dad you old rascal."
Sly picked up Carmelita bridal-style and slid across the lasers after Ben while Bentley and Murray shrunk themselves and hopped on Neyla's shoulders as she followed after them.
"We've made it to the Inner Sanctum!" Bentley cried as the gang witnessed everything around them. There were glowing crystals all over the place that lit the room up like it was of royalty, the loot piles had the biggest pieces of art and loot all stored up atop one another, and there was even a special placard on the ground in the center of the room.
"Congratulations, young Coopers. You have made it to the Inner Sanctum of the Cooper Vault. This is the area we add only our most valued treasures in. Remember that Coopers are honorable and that you should never steal from an innocent person unless it is required to get at a master criminal. Carry on the Cooper legacy."
"Wow, that's deep...it's like they had the foresight or something," Ben said as Sly then perked up as he noticed an extra bit carved underneath the placard.
"And Sly... my pride and joy... if I do not make it to the final battle of my life, I hope you are able to reach this spot and do a better job at being a gang leader than I could've been. Love, always... Conner and Winnie Cooper..."
Sly started to tear up as he read those words before being hugged by Ben, Bentley, and Murray.
"Father... I did it... I carried on your legacy... I ended the threat of Clockwerk forever."
"Yeah, you sure did. We ALL did. Together." Ben said. After Sly finished wiping his tears, everyone looked around trying to find a way to get the treasure out.
"We'll have to make several trips and I am in NO mood to be going back through that gauntlet," Carmelita said with her hands on her hips.
Ben then perked up as he saw something at the end of the area. A special elevator. And it was still operational!
"Let's see where this leads us," The human boy smiled as he went up the elevator and was surprised at how, when he got to the top, it was actually at the area the gang first started their trek to the Cooper Vault! It was right underneath a giant boulder! The rock door slid open and Ben started to laugh out loud at how there was a special button on the rock as well, but it was very well-camouflaged.
"I can't believe it... this whole time, we could've used this rock to go down to the Inner Sanctum...Then again, where's the thrill in taking the easy way out of everything?"
Ben then headed back to the others and told them about the secret elevator. Needless to say, they were as shocked as he was.
"This rock... the whole entire time, this rock would've led us to the Inner Sanctum? Dr. M may have tried the wrong method of entry, huh?" Bentley said with a smile.
"Heh, that damn dirty ape is not only going to be spending life in prison, but if things work out for us, we may just give him 'The Chair'." Carmelita dangerously said with a smirk as Sly shivered in excitement.
"That is just bloodthirsty...I like it~."
"Weddings first, Old Ironsides. THEN we can talk about killing that filthy mandrill." Neyla said, wagging her finger as Carmelita rolled her eyes in response. The gang then returned to the ship, where everyone was waiting expectantly, and were relieved to see them all okay.
"How was it? Was it amazing?!" Penelope asked in excitement.
"A groovy Smoothie?" Dimitri smirked.
"Riches beyond even the wildest of imaginations?" Panda King asked while rubbing his chin.
"Let me tell ya guys, the amount of wealth in that place, especially in the Inner Sanctum?... Its riches are so off the rails insane and so old and ancient, that trying to put a price tag on anything in there would require at least 24 zeros! That's how plentiful the riches are in there!" Sly explained.
"A gross understatement, Sly..." Bentley said while rolling his eyes.
"24?! Why that's... upwards of One sextillion dollars! And that's just the rough estimate?!" Penelope asked with wide eyes of glee.
"It's an ancient treasure that not even the King name could ever hold a candle to. I am honored to have been by your side to help in reclaiming this sacred island and the treasure belonging to the Cooper Thief Clan." Panda King said with a smile as he bowed his head.
"And we're honored that you managed to find redemption and join the side of Chivalrous Thieves, Panda King," Ben said as he did a bow of his own.
"The amount of money in that vault... it's going to be going to every one of us... right?" Penelope asked with a smile.
Sly nodded. "It belongs to each and every one of us who wants a share of the wealth. We couldn't have gotten this far without any of you. Penelope with her genius intellect. The Guru, with his mystical powers. Dimitri, Neyla, and Panda King, past rivals that have become some of our best friends. Carmelita...the love of my life, the one who puts the criminals in jail that we steal from... and last but not least by a long shot, Ben, Murray and Bentley, my brothers."
Sly first addressed Bentley. "Bentley, your smarts and your heart are the biggest of anyone I know. You went from someone terrified of going out into the field to one of the smartest and bravest people I've ever known in my entire life. And even though you lost your ability to walk, you still have the courage to get into the thick of the action no matter what it may be."
Sly then looked to Murray. "Murray, back in the old days, you were an excellent driver and helped us get out of many scrapes in the past when dealing with the Fiendish Five. And then 'The Murray' showed up and came into his own, taking on armies of thugs wearing nothing but a towel. And through all the turmoils we've faced, you shine atop the pile of bruised bodies with the most willpower and the kindest heart I'd ever known."
Finally, it was Ben's turn. "And Ben, my closest brother. You truly are one-of-a-kind. In fact, I'd dare say we're practically like twins despite me being a Beastkin and you a Human. Besides that, our blood is thicker than the DNA that separates our species. You've sacrificed so much to help me...and just know that no matter what, I'm willing to sacrifice the same amount for you too."
Ben smiled, tears welling up in his eyes as he hugged his brother, who hugged back. The rest of the gang all cheered as Carmelita chuckled, happy for them as she headed back to rejoin her mercenary squad.
"I'll be holding you up on that wedding promise, Ringtail~." The Vixen Beastkin said as she made her leave.
Next Time: Wedding Bells!