THE NEW SLY COOPER CHRONICLES
THE PANDA PRINCESS
Murray was excited. He didn't get to go out in the field a lot. Mostly he was driving the van. He only had come out during two operations: At Muggshot's and at Panda King's. Both times he obtained a few Treasure Keys. He had entered a race and an underground fighting ring at Muggshot's, and he was doing the same in the Panda King's stronghold. He had already obtained one key from beating the monkeys at racing. Now he was in the underground fighting ring to obtain another.
Murray's opponent, a big gorilla, was grabbed by Murray from behind, before being lifted over his head and suplexed into the ground. The gorilla was knocked out that very instant. "And Silverback is down!" the announcer, a small spidermonkey, said. "The newbie is a tough cookie, that's for sure! But will he crumble while fighting the next opponent? Meet the Hood!"
A new person stepped into the ring. She was slimmer then the gorilla, but had a bit of bulk on her. True to her name her face was obscured by a hood and kabuki mask she wore. For the rest she wore a traditional Kung-Fu outfit and bandages around her hands and feet, hiding her species. She took a polite bow, with her left hand outstretched over the other hand, which was curled into a fist.
"Er...I...er, the Murray does not hit girls." Murray said nervously.
The Hood thrusted out her hands forward so fast Murray couldn't even see and was tossed in an opposite wall. "I can see why." she muttered. She slowly stepped towards him. "Your chivalry is admirable but misplaced. I am a strong woman. It would be more disrespectful to me if you don't fight back."
"I can vouch for the 'strong' part." Murray said. He got up and dusted his arms. "All right. I guess I can cut a bit loose. So you...er...you better watch out...I am really strong too. Because...I'm the Murray." Murray had tried way too desperately to sound cool.
He rushed at her, but he was sloppy and she easily dodged his fist by stepping backwards. "You're still hesitating. To boot, you try too hard to be confident, but you only show yourself more vulnerable. You have the skills, but you need to cut the chains that bind you. You came to test your strength? Then do it, you will never know if you hold back." she said as she kept dodging, before grabbing one of his wrists, twist his arm behind his back, then kick his shin, forcing him on one knee.
She leaned in and whispered in his ear. "I know you work for the Cooper Clan. They are not my enemy. But if you want to reach the Panda King and stop him, you can't let yourself be the reason the team is imbalanced, held back. If you don't toughen up enough he'll be too busy watching your back to be a proper thief. You don't want to be weak, do you?" she asked.
"No...Not weak! Never again!" Murray said as he forced himself up, knocking the Hood back as he suddenly took on a different tone and shouted: "The Murray is like a demolition derby, crashes into everyone and wreck their shit!" He then rushed at her again, but didn't held back as he rapidly started throwing punches.
Hood still dodged carefully. But she wasn't given much time to try and counter. She backflipped and jumped up in the rafters before jumping down with a flying kick. Murray was knocked back. Hood than moved in but Murray got up faster then anticipated. He grabbed her in a bear hug, then jumped up, spinning around in the air before slamming down into the ground. The Hood stumbled up, ready for another pose. She was a much more experienced fighter and could take the punishment and probably would still win. But oddly enough... "I surrender." she said as she bowed.
The fighters around the ring were surprised. "But...we're not done." Murray said. He felt like he was just getting warmed up.
"We are. I didn't come here to win. I came here to give you a push in the right direction. To ignite a fire within you. And I succeeded. You didn't hesitate anymore, you showed confidence..." she snagged the Treasure Key and tossed it towards Murray, whom caught it. "You have a long way to go, but nothing that more training won't fix. You may handle these simple goons, but you'll fight stronger foes in the future. Show them the very same Murray you showed to me." Hood said. She then handed two other things to him. Both slips of paper.
"What are these?" Murray asked.
"One of these papers show how to translate that Russian dialect in the writings you saw on that one particular Thievius Raccoonus page." she said.
"And the other one?" Murray asked.
"That's my chat address." she said in a tone that sounded less serious and a bit more playful and flirty. Murray turned a bit red. "I thought I would like to hear more about your progress in the near future." she strolled away and Murray swore she deliberately started shaking her hips like that.
"Wait, what is your real name? And why are you helping us?" Murray asked.
"You'll learn soon enough. But only when you guys reach the Panda King." she said. She then walked out the door.
"So...unexpectedly the newbie wins." the announcer said nervously. "I guess it is time for a break, snacks and drinks are on the right."
But with Murray's efforts, the last Treasure Keys were obtained and Sly had taken the fight to the Panda King. After riding some fireworks all the way up to the top of the temple where he set up shop, the big, lumbering but clearly physically impressive ursine awaited him.
"I see you carry the cane of the notorious Cooper thief clan. Have you come here for revenge? To steal back the Thievius Raccoonus?"
"That was my plan at first, but now I'm more interested in putting an end to your avalanche extortion racket." Sly Cooper said.
The Panda King scowled. "Why should you care if I bury a few worthless villages in the snow? You are a thief, just like me."
"No, that's only half right. I am a thief, from a long line of master thieves. While you... you're just a frustrated firework artist turned homicidal pyromaniac. My family, unlike you, never abandoned their honour!" Sly shot back.
"Insolent child! You shall pay dearly for your disrespect. Still, to honour your Cooper ancestry, I will send you to your doom with the beauty of my new firework technique... Flame-Fu." Panda King said as he took a bow, like the one martial artists did before a fight.
Sly was ready, holding his cane tight. He rushed at the Panda King, trying to close the distance between the two of them. He then had to quickly dodge to the side when the Panda King actually threw a fireball at him. "Whoa, stupid punny name aside, that is actually impressive." Sly muttered to himself. He had to do some crazy dodges and hide behind treasure and statues in the arena, but he could make it to the big panda himself.
"Fiery Wheel!" Panda King said as he did a fiery sweep kick, which Sly dodged by jumping over it and then did an overhead bash. Only the Panda King blocked with his forearm. "Palms of Thunder!" his hands became engulfed in flames and tried to thrust them forward at Sly, whom barely managed to avoid. "Booming Chop!" Sly was nearly cleaved into two by a fiery karate chop. He then whacked the Panda King in the side with his cane. Panda King roared, and then thrusted his gut forward, and Sly found himself flung across the room, as if hit by a shockwave. Panda King then started throwing fireballs, but this time quicker and not wanting to give Sly a chance to get close this time.
"Ok he's stepping up his game. Those fireballs are fast...But I can be really fast as well!" Sly muttered. He then used his slow down time in his surroundings, but at the same time used the Fast Time on himself so that he could move faster, a combination of two which made sure he was nothing but a blue blur to the Panda King. He could only keep this power up for a few seconds, but he got a few good hits in as a blur and got close enough in the meantime so Panda King couldn't aim his fireballs properly and he was forced to rely on close combat.
But in that regard Panda King was also stepping up, as he was rapidly launching a series of fiery punches and kicks which forces Sly on the defensive, dodging or blocking with his cane. Luckily, thanks to the Hood's translation guide, Sly had translated the last Thievius Raccoonus Page. And it included a Stun move. Sly slammed his cane into the ground, and there was a flashbang. Thanks to the filters in his mask's lenses he wasn't affected but Panda King was paralyzed. It was only a few seconds, but Sly took advantage of those seconds by whacking the Panda King a few times. He then struck the Panda King's legs, making him topple over. Sly then jumped up, and did a diving attack right into the Panda King's gut, knocking the wind out of him. The Panda King coughed. "Your skills with that cane is unparalleled...you win." he said sadly.
"Good." Sly said. "You know, from a guy calling himself 'king' I expected more. I heard about being snubbed badly, but you took it a bit too far, don't you think? All this because some rich bozos didn't want to buy your firecrackers."
"You think it is all about that?" Panda King sounded furious, though from the beating he received he couldn't get up. "I needed that money! I needed it for medicine. For my wife! I begged them to buy the fireworks, so I could buy what she needed, but they laughed at me! They didn't care for the life of a 'peasant woman'." Sly admit, that statement had taken him back. He didn't know about his wife...though he was not done ranting. "Do you know what it does to you, to lose a loved one due to the greed and cruelty of..." The Panda King's face mellowed as it dawned on him. "You do...I..."
Sly was looking at him with a look that mixed anger and pity. "You know what it is like to have someone taken from you...and yet you did nothing to change my father's fate. In your anger you became selfish and didn't realize others may have suffered like you did. You became what you hated most."
"I...I was a fool." For the first time in years, his anger cooled down. "I took a father from his child...a child no older then my own at the time."
"You have a child?" Sly asked, surprised. The Fiendish Five was full of surprises. This was the biggest surprise though, that one of them had enough humanity to actually fall in love and start a family.
"I have...a beautiful daughter. But I left her to be raised by my late wife's sister. I let myself to be consumed by revenge, causing me to distance myself from those I cared about. I was a terrible father. I only kept enough decency to not drag her with me in the world of crime." The Panda King was now visibly in tears, as the rage that consumed him for so long hadn't given him the time to properly grief. "What have I done?"
Sly didn't know what to say, or do. Mz. Ruby had shown regret. But the Panda King actually had become a blubbering mess in front of him. Few things across the months went according to what he had been expecting. It was then that another voice came from the other side of the room. "I'll take it from here."
Sly recognized the newcomer. "Hood?"
"Yes, yes I am." she said as she undid the bandages around her limbs and removed her namesake hood and mask. She revealed herself to be a female Panda. "My real name is Jing King...and the Panda King, he is my father." she explained.
Sly's eyes went wide, and the Panda King stared at her with a mix of bewilderment and sadness. "Jing? Is it really you?" Panda King asked.
"It is me, father." she said as she walked up to him and crouched down near him. "And I have been helping the Cooper gang since they came here. I knew that Cooper would defeat you...and get you with both feet on the ground again. I...I wanted my father back."
"Jing...you may have succeeded in making me see the error of my ways, but the father you knew cannot come back. I have done horrible things. I helped kill a man. I buried villages in the snow...I was so consumed by my anger, revenge. How could you even look at me, let alone want me back?" Panda King said, half crying and half shouting.
"A part of me is disgusted of what you've had become, I won't deny. But another part, the little girl in me, still loves her father." Jing King grabbed her father's hand. "Please...father. Let us stop the foolishness here. Turn yourself in and promise to do better...to become a good man once more."
The Panda King looked his daughter in the eyes. He turned around to Sly, then back to Jing King. Sly made his face unreadable, as conflicting emotions went through him. Panda King was still one of his father's murderers...But he was also a father of Jing King, a girl whom has been helping them this whole time. But if he got a chance to get his father back, like Jing King had...he would also have taken it.
The Panda King sighed. "Sly...the pages of the Thievius raccoonus are hidden in the floor at the top of this temple. Take them, and whatever else you need, and then...go home. Do not persue Clockwerk. Keep yourself safe. Live up to the legacy you inherited but end your journey here."
"I am going after Clockwerk. I am not afraid of him. I can handle him." Sly said. "I am not ready to forgive you, but I am just going to leave you alone after this. As long as you do as your daughter says, get your act together and due something better with your life. But I want you out of mine." Sly said.
"Not to worry Cooper. I no longer wish to bring further grief to your family line. But be warned about Clockwerk: unlike me he has no regrets, no sense of remorse. He doesn't know anything else but hate. It is what has kept him going. He is not a person, he's a monster, a demon. He is not in it for glory, riches, or revenge. He just wants you dead. So I warn you again, do not go after him." Panda King said.
"I am not backing down. I have come this far. I wanted to make sure he would not harm anyone ever again. And I'll make sure of this. This started out as recovering my legacy, but it has become much more than that. People suffer because of the Fiendish Five's schemes. I am putting a stop to it." Sly said.
"You Coopers, you are a remarkable bunch." Panda King said.
"Cooper, I want to thank you for helping my father see the light. I owe you and your friends a lot." Jing said.
"We're even. You helped us get here. You don't owe me anything. Just make sure your father behaves." Sly said as he broke open the floor and took the pages.
"And say 'hi' to Murray from me. Tell him I'm first catching up with my dad and then we'll speak again soon." Jing King added.
Sly chuckled slightly. "I'm certain to tell him. I guess...until we meet again." Sly said as he jumped out of the temple, and grabbed his paraglider, gliding off in the distance. The police would soon be all over the temple, but Panda King would not resist arrest.
Sly however, was not done. There was still one Fiendish Five member to go after. Clockwerk. The one the world knew the least about, but had the most reason to fear. The number one criminal in the world. Odd thing was that the silhouette in his file, the only picture they had of him, also appeared in drawings and pictures of the Thievius Raccoonus...what did this mean?
"I'm not sure what is going on with Clockwerk, but it will be a matter of time before I find out." Sly said. He would not be deterred. He would go on until the very end.
ARTIST'S COMMENTS
An expansion of the Fire in the Sky chapter of Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus.
Murray is toughing up a little earlier in this universe. The runs for the keys would be replaced with underground fighting rings.
Jing King is introduced much earlier, leaves a mark, and it also helps that it would only help the development of the Panda King later down the line.
Also I'm a Murray/Jing Shipper. You probably saw the hints I dropped.