Gamelover41592- Neyla went after the Contessa because she needed to keep her cover up to get the eyes and the Contessa was trying to defend herself
Shadow Joestar- That's a pretty good description. Also, by any chance, have you checked out Gwen's story?
Okay, so time to head for Canada to defeat Jean Bison. Also Canada was the location of the original show. Something is going to trigger in Duncan's mind and it's going to enforce a viewpoint he and one other contestant will have in the final story. Anyways let's get going.
"Duncan, you okay are?" Scruffy asked his owner as he made his way to the safe. (Duncan, are you okay?). Duncan had been quiet ever since the group reached Canada to take on Jean Bison. He was basically a time relic, as he had been traveling through Canada to be a part of the 1852 gold rush and ended up frozen alive and thawed out almost 200 years later. He also happened to be the Klaww Gang's spice shipper, which everyone was convinced had more to it then just Rajan's main source of income. Carmelita had also made the decision to join the gang temporarily, at least until she could find a way to clear her name. Sly had made the offer to let himself be turned in, but Carmelita had vetoed that, much to the shock of everyone. She said that it would be a last resort only. So Duncan had every right to be quiet because of all that.
But there was another reason for it.
Ever since Duncan had arrived in Canada, he had been getting faint flashbacks to what he guessed were his parents. The man he had guessed was his father did look a lot like him. But that man was also constantly screaming at him, telling him he had to do things the father's way, and that he wasn't loved. All this did was enforce Duncan's idea that Sly, Bentley, Murray, and Carmelita were his real family.
"This is gonna sound weird, but I've been getting...I don't really know what they are but I've been seeing my….biological parents. But all I see is my father screaming at me," Duncan admitted as he smashed the last few clue bottles and headed for the vault.
"You do find want parents those?" Scruffy asked. (Do you want to find those parents?)
"No!" Duncan said quickly. "As far as I think, mom, dad, Uncle Bentley, and Uncle Murray are the only family I care about," Suddenly, four courses of gushing and awws filled Duncan's binocucom. "Did you guys just hear all of that?"
"Yes we did and if it means anything, we love you all the same," Carmelita said.
"Well, at least now I don't need to tell you guys later," Duncan said, playfully rolling his eyes as his family laughed.
"The threre's safe!" Scruffy said as he used one of his legs to point it out. (There's the safe!)
"Thanks buddy," Duncan said as he jumped over to it.
"Jean Bison is in for another rude awakening the next time he checks this vault. Enter 1-2-9," Bentley explained. Duncan punched in the code and pulled out what was inside.
"A music box? What is this supposed to do? Make the guards have a dance party?" Duncan asked as he threw a music box behind him. A few guards happened to behind him and they fell asleep as the music started.
"Aw, wanted I guard a party dance," Scruffy groaned. (Aw, I wanted a guard dance party)
"Not gonna lie, that would have been pretty funny," Sly admitted.
Job 1: Spice in the sky
"So Bentley, what's the plan?" Sly asked as he, Duncan and Carmelita watched over the trains. They had found all of Jean Bison's train roots and found out he had both Clockwerk Lungs and the stomach. How such a low tech guy got all those parts confused everyone, but it was shrugged off. However, they had also learned that he was going to deliver something called a Northern Light Battery to Arpeggio. Speaking of Arpeggio, he was headed for Paris for something that the other Klaww gang members had helped with.
"We need to break into the Iron Horse trains... but the only way in through the caboose is locked. To blow the locks off you'll need to collect the ultra-unstable denatured spice gas from those balloons floating above town," Bentley explained.
"How are we supposed to get up there to collect the spice gas?" Carmelita asked. After joining the gang, Sly had given her a spare paraglider, claiming that it was really helpful to get around and even said she could keep it once everything was back to the way it should be. It didn't have the Cooper Gang logo on it, so Carmelita said it would work. He had also showed her how to use the Cooper temperature technique so that she wouldn't freeze.
"Murray's already commandeered this ice plane. Jump on its strut and he'll fly you up to a good paragliding altitude. Oh, and strap on a special vacuum backpack, it'll automatically collect the spice gas after you've popped a balloon," Bentley explained.
"Do we get to blow something up?" Duncan asked, already excited
"Yes, you do, but in order to do so, you'll need to land directly on the train's caboose," Bentley said.
"Why directly on the caboose?" Carmelita asked, even though she already had a feeling she knew.
"Denatured spice gas is very unstable at lower altitudes. Unless you land on the caboose, you won't have time to get the gas tank to the lock before it blows up," Bentley explained.
"So you're saying we either land on the caboose... or get blown to bits?" Sly asked.
"That's correct... chemistry can be a harsh mistress," Bentley said.
"...How on earth are you guys still alive?" Carmelita asked bluntly as they made their ways over to Murray.
"Not even really sure," Sly admitted with a laugh. Carmelita and Duncan just grabbed each other. Sly went up first and Duncan had made the offer to go next, but Carmelita said she would, leaving Duncan to go last.
"You ready Duncan?" Murray asked.
"Let's go!" Duncan replied.
"Hang on tight, we're going up," Murray said as he flew up to a good spot, before letting Duncan jump out. As soon as he opened his paraglider, he heard a loud boom. Squinting, he saw Sly jumping off one of the trains. Clearly he was done already. About a minute later, Duncan had heard another boom, it was Carmelita this time.
"That did it. You've got a full tank of gas. Target the last caboose," Bentley said. Duncan saw the last train moving through town. He was a little nervous about blowing himself to bits, but thankfully, he had timed it perfectly. He used the spice to blow the last door open.
"Boom-ka!" Scruffy said as they watched the blast after getting off the train. (Ka-boom!)
"Yes, you guys did it! All the Iron Horse trains are unlocked!" Bentley cheered.
Job Complete
"Attention men, this here's Jean Bison. That was a quality job you boys did on moving the spice off them boats. Soon enough I'll have one of them special Iron Horse trains come by and pick it all up for distribution. Stay sharp, and once this year's spice business is taken care of we'll have ourselves a hunting party! Go out into the woods and kill off some bears, eh?" Jean Bison said over the intercom.
"Isn't hunting the bears in this area illegal?" Duncan asked his parents. Bentley had gone to get the first Clockwerk Lung.
"I don't think Jean Bison really knows what 'animal protection' acts are," Carmelita pointed out.
"Yeah, he isn't from this time," Sly added in.
"Good point," Duncan noted.
"I got the lung!" Bentley said, snapping them out of their thoughts
"Outstanding! Chalk up one strange robot organ for us and one less Iron Horse train for Jean Bison!" Sly cheered.
Job 2: Theft on the rails
"The second Iron Horse train is coming too fast. You might not have time to jump on top!" Bentley warned Sly, Duncan and Carmelita. The threesome had decided to snag the other lung together.
"Relax Bentley. There's more than one way to get on top of that caboose," Sly said as he, Duncan and Carmelita climbed onto the caboose. They all hopped inside the train.
"The other Clockwerk lung should be hooked into the engine's furnace. Sneak your way up there and grab it," Bentley ordered.
"Roger that, Uncle Bentley," Duncan said.
"Let's get going," Sly said as the family started to make their way to the front of the train. A few train cars had parts destroyed.
"You should've seen how many missile launchers were attached to these train cars. I don't mind saying that it took some real finesse on my part to deal with the defenses," Bentley bragged. He had to take out some of the air defenses in order for anyone to board the train in the first place.
"Attention Iron Horse number 2. In case you haven't heard, some lucky varmint managed to make off with the Clockwerk lung in Iron Horse 1. All the guards on duty have been punished according to the lumberjack code. Don't let the same thing happen to you folk. You boys have done some real good work lately and I'd hate to have to put you out on disability. That's it. Keep your axes sharp," Jean Bison said over the PA. As soon as he mentioned disability, Duncan cringed, Sly shuddered and Carmelita just looked sick.
"...I kinda feel bad for these guys," Duncan said as he knocked a guard out with a stealth slam.
"No kidding," Sly agreed. Despite all the guards, lasers, and other obstacles, the group was able to make it to the second lung.
"Fantastic! We're raking in the Clockwerk parts left and right!" Bentley cheered.
Job Complete
Okay guys, this is it. Time to break into Iron Horse number 3 and carry away the Clockwerk stomach. Now, the train's moving too fast to jump onto here in town, so we'll have to catch up with it on Murray's new hand car. Once we're in position, Sly will hop on board and make his way to the engine. While he travels through the interior, I'll provide air support with my RC chopper. I've planned this as a textbook train robbery. If we all do our jobs right, what could possibly go wrong?" Bentley said, only for Duncan to cover his mouth with his hands. Bentley then noticed that Murray, Sly and Carmelita all had horrified looks on their faces.
"What?" He asked, his voice muffled from Duncan's hand.
"You never say 'what could possibly go wrong'! Now something is bound to go wrong!" Duncan protested.
"Oh please, you guysreally believe the oldest myth in the books? You are even more superstitious then I thought," Bentley said as he rolled his eyes.
Job 3: Operation "Choo-Choo"
"And something just went wrong," Duncan snarked at Bentley. They had boarded the final train, using a handcar that Murray had stolen. Sly, Duncan and Carmelita were beginning to make their way to it when, surprise surprise, Neyla had turned up in a small aircraft.
"Oi, Cooper! Thought I might find you here. Just can't stay away from these Clockwerk parts can you?" Neyla said.
"Better then letting you take them," Sly fired back.
"Seems like you're still mad for my double crossing, but I suppose you got your payback," Neyla replied.
"You aren't worthy of being an Interpol officer," Carmelita said, causing Neyla to take another potshot at them.
"What's the problem Poodles? Afraid you can't take me on? Have to call up your little friends for help?" Neyla taunted.
"Isn't that racist?" Duncan asked Carmelita, who nodded.
"Come in 'little friends,' Neyla's got me pinned down... any chance of air support?" Sly asked Bentley.
"I've already launched the RC chopper- she won't know what hit her!" Bentley replied. Sure enough, the little chopper started firing at Neyla.
"Come on Cooper... let's play…" Neyla said, only for the shots to start hitting her. "What in blazes!? Alright little RC friend, this should be a quick bit of destruction,"
"Come on, Bentley," Duncan mumbled. He loved watching Neyla get humiliated. Thankfully, the chopper won the shooting match.
"You rummy Blighter! This is a... wuh? Oh no. Oh no!" Neyla panicked as she pulled away.
"That was some fancy flying 'little friend,'" Sly thanked Bentley as he, Duncan and Carmelita climbed onto the train car.
"Whatever you say 'Poodle.'" Bentley replied.
"Come on, dad! Before she gets back!" Duncan rushed his father as he climbed after his mother to the top of the train car.
"Hey Sly, get to that Clockwerk stomach fast. This old hand car is starting to fall apart!" Murray added, causing Sly to speed himself up. Thankfully, they were able to reach the engine room quickly.
"Looks like Jean Bison's wised up and bolted the stomach down. We'll have to crack the engine block to get it free," Sly noted.
"Then that's just what we'll do. A well placed bomb down the train's smoke stack will knock it loose. Just make sure to take some cover," Bentley replied.
"Not so fast chum. The Clockwerk part is mine. They will all be mine," Neyla said as she blocked the RC chopper.
"Can she just go away!?" Duncan groaned. Much like last time however, she went down again.
"You won't stop me! Not the Cooper Gang, not Interpol, not anyone!" Neyla vowed.
"Stand clear guys, this might be messy!" Bentley warned as he dropped the bomb down. Sure enough, it blew the stomach free. "You guys okay?"
"We've got an upset stomach on my hands but other than that- we feel great!" Sly announced as Carmelita grabbed the stomach.
So a personal headcanon I have for Duncan is that his father was abusive(that moment in his message from home tape didn't help. "Do we even love you?" Wow!) and that drove him to his life of crime, feeling that the justice system failed him. He hasn't realized it yet, but his devotion to his family and his fear of losing them stems from not wanting to go back to a bad family life. Anyways, next one will be short but there will be a few big moments and set up the final story.