Welcome welcome welcome! I hope you guys are having a great Christmas! I won't talk to much here, I just hope you guys enjoy! See you guys in a bit!

Chapter 29:The Counter Offer

The sounds of ratchets and clanks could be heard in the Barons personal hanger, as his Chief Mechanic, Penelope, worked on his personal plane. While the competition was months away, the young gearhead insisted that she keep the vehicle in it's absolute peak condition. As she finished her tune up, the blonde woman would stand up, and wipe the axle grease from her forehead with a soft sigh.

"Alright boys, that should do it for now." She said as she adjusted her glasses as her crew emerged, and headed off for lunch, leaving Penelope to her thoughts. Her mind was still fixated on Bentley's offer from the previous day, one she had been mulling over for the better half of the day. It was incredibly enticing, especially since Bentley sounded like he had a good head on his shoulders. Not to mention running with the legendary Cooper Gang would definitely bring in a lot of excitement into her life. Under normal circumstances, it would've been an instant yes.

But, currently, she was in a great spot too. She had a job she loved, fantastic pay, and skill that made her the envy of every mechanic in Holland. She couldn't just… give all that up to run it with the thieves… could she? With a sigh, she retrieved a scrap of paper from her pocket. Upon closer inspection, it would be found to be a folded up newspaper clipping. Unfolding it, she viewed its contents, which was a picture of the Baron, a 1st place trophy in his absurdly large hands. It was an image of the victory that made him the superstar he was today.

'If only the Baron wasn't such a big shot…' She thought to herself, and then something clicked. "If only he wasn't a big shot!" She exclaimed to herself as she bolted towards her bag and retrieving her laptop. It was a long shot, but if it worked, she potentially had a way to accept Bentley's proposal. Once the laptop was fired up, she logged into the RC Elite Chatroom, and sent a chat request to Bentley's user.

Spex_guy has accepted your request, New Session Initiated

Air_Heart_Babe: Hey Spex_Guy!

Spex_Guy: Whaaaasssuup

Air_Heart_Babe: So, I've thought on your offer from yesterday, and I have for you, a counter offer.

Spex_Guy: I'm listening

Alright, step one was complete. Now to get them here.

Air_Heart_Babe: The ACES competition is coming up here in Holland soon!

Air_Heart_Babe: Think you guys can beat BB at his own game?

There was a brief pause between responses, and for a while, Penelope thought she scared him off. That was, until he responded back.

Spex_Guy: Hmmm… how far off is the competition?

Air_Heart_Babe: it's four months off! And if you beat him, you'll prove to me that you're not just a pack of jokers, and actually worth my time :)

Spex_Guy: LOL Tell you what Penelope, give us time, and I promise you, you'll have our answer before the competition!

Air_Heart_Babe: Of course! Oof, I gotta go, I need to get back to work! Talk to you soon Bentley!

Spex_Guy: Alright then, talk to ya later Penelope!

Session ended.
As she closed her laptop, the bespectacled mouse let out an excited squeak. If they said yes, she had a real good shot of leaving Holland, AND get to meet Bentley in person! She could only hope Bentley was the same way.

High in the stormy skies of Kaine Island, the newly christened champion of Clockwerk, Chrona, would currently be in the air, testing out her newly acquired wings. In her memories, she knew what flight was like when she crossed paths with Sly in Canada, but this took it to a new level. She was flying higher than she ever thought possible, and enjoyed every second of it.
"Now, now Chrona, ease up! There's no need to end up like poor Icarus is there?" Dr.M spoke to the clone via an earpiece in her earpiece. When he first learned of her new appendages, he had taken a sample of her blood, to see just what happened. After extensive tests, all he could find out, was that the mutation, was near spontaneous.

Then he learned of his creations interaction with Clockwerk. He had heard rumors of the birds abilities, and had even seen his abilities first hand in his few dealings with him. But, his scientific mind had chalked it up to being simple smoke and mirrors, that was, until the day he created Chrona.

"Oh please, since when do you worry?" she asked him, shaking him out of his thoughts. "Besides, just imagine the number I'll be doing to Cooper once he sees these things!" she spoke to him, earning a dark chuckle from the mandrill.
"But until then my dear, moderation is key." He spoke to her. He had to admit though, he himself was quite shaken. If the clone had indeed inherited Clockwerks wings, what other abilities had she gained? His steel cutting talons? His hypnotic gaze? It made him shudder just thinking about it.
It's not so much that he had formed a bond with his creation, no, it was a matter of, what could happen if she grew too powerful. She'd ruin EVERYTHING he had worked towards and more. He'd need something, anything, to make sure he could avoid that. With a sigh, he set his thoughts aside for later.

Atop his desk, was a file, and in it, was a set of falsified documents he had printed for Chrona. If she was to learn how to use her wings properly, he could only think of one way to do it. The ACES competition, would certainly provide more than enough opponent's to help test his creations mettle. "Uh, Doctor M? Chrona's throwing guards into the shark infested waters." One of his goons spoke over the intercom, earning a growl of annoyance from him. While amusing to see his otherwise useless henchmen suffer, it only reinforced his earlier thoughts on a contingency.
But, those are thoughts for another time. For now, the winged tigress was useful to him. And when the time came, he'd dispose of her accordingly.

And thats all she wrote for this one! So as you can see, Chrona will be joining us in Holland~ I felt I didn't give her quite enough screentime in Venice so I'll be going all out! I wish I was able to get three chapters out to you guys out as my Christmas present to you all but I ran out of time ^^'. Like I said before, I love you guys, and have a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic New Year!