Okay, here is Chapter 7! Hope you enjoy it!
Sly Cooper and the Space Thieves
Chapter 7- The Games Part 3
After the 30 minute intermission, the stadium was full again and ready for the second half of the games. Needless to say, they REALLY want to see Sly's team get pummeled for their early lead. Both teams have returned as well. When Chief Rajz got back to his seat, he announced the start of the game's second half.
"Welcome back everyone! It is time to begin the second half of The Games! I think we will start with a very challenging event: The Psychic Struggle. Both teams shall select a player with strong mind powers to combat the other. They will both stand about 5 feet apart and use every trick in the psychic book to overcome their opponents. The first one to collapse from exhaustion will lose. Psychics, take your positions!"
The gang knew that the Guru was their best chance to win this one, so they let him enter. Opo chose his mind battler, Gub. They walked until they were 5 ft apart. Gub laughed at Guru when he got a good look at him. "You think a little hairball in a loin cloth like you could have mind powers greater than mine! Ha, ha, ha, ha!" The Guru told him in his native tongue that to underestimate your opponent can be dangerous, but Gub ignored him as he got ready. When they were both in position, the chief yelled, "Begin!"
Guru and Gub closed their eyes and tapped into their psychic powers, and in doing so they have created a huge thought bubble that can be seen from everywhere in the stadium. Now all can see the mind battle. Inside the thought bubble, the Guru tried to confuse Gub by creating multiple copies of him self while at the same time zapping him with his Moon Stone. Since the Plaxis Stone adds power to the Moon Stone, Gub felt 5 times the pain! Already he began to sweat. However, he discovered the real Guru (the one on his left) and blasted him with his own psychic blast; dissolving the copies in the process. Now the Guru was in trouble; that blast almost knocked him out. Gub laughed as he launched another attack at the downed koala.
But Guru vanished just before he got hit again, and reappeared on top of his head! Gub noticed this and grabbed him. However, it was the Guru's turn to laugh as he appeared behind him and pointed at Gub's head. When Gub looked up, he saw he was holding a 10 ton anvil above his head and he had an "Oh Shit!" look on his face as the anvil squashed him flat! Sly and the gang laughed their heads off! Even Rajz chuckled a bit, even though the crowds didn't! On the other side, Opo felt his team was being humiliated one by one. "Gub, don't let the team down like the others!"
Gub finally managed to get the anvil off, and he was as flat as a pancake! A second later he "popped" back to his original size and decided that he had enough! He held his arms out and began his most powerful attack; a big yellow energy wave! Guru used his own psychic attack and collided with his. So far it looked like a stand off; Gub's might began to overpower the Guru. Even with the Plaxis Stone's additional energy, he found that he was being outmatched! Guru may be a good mystic, but he was old while Gub was young. However, he will not give up 'till the very end! Soon the two psychic beams exploded and the thought bubble vanished, with both competitors barely standing. They were both exhausted; they could fall any moment. "Very impressive! Both players gave it everything they got and both look ready to drop! Who will fall first?"
Sly and the others yelled and told Guru to keep standing until Gub went down, while Opo's team encouraged Gub to win. Guru's spirit was still strong, but the rest of him wasn't; he collapsed! Gub had won. "Guru is down! That means Gub is the winner!" Gub was given the second gold horn for his team, and the whole stadium cheered! Opo was very pleased his teammate pulled it off. While on the other side, Sly brought back Guru to recuperate. He couldn't believe he lost; he was so close to winning. 'Oh well, at least he'll be ok,' thought Sly as he set him down on the soft grass to rest.
"Master! Oh, is he alright Sly? We he make it?" Murray asked as he was very concerned about his mentor. "He'll be fine, Murray. He just needs to rest. He will be back on his feet in no time," Sly reassured him. Once more, Rajz calmed down the stadium so he can speak. "Alright, time to begin the next event: Target blasting! In this contest, a selected player from both teams will take turns to shoot 100 targets under 1 minute. The one who hits the most targets in less than one minute wins! The champ shooter will go first!"
Weq, the chosen player, went to the target area of the stadium and was given his weapon: a slick-looking crossbow. As soon as the contest started, a hundred wooden disks appeared and Weq fired his crossbow at them. His aiming and timing were excellent; he already shot 50 targets in 30 seconds! He managed to hit 95 disks when his minute was up. "Amazing! He almost got all of them; his number of targets was better than last year! Now it is the visitor's turn!" Panda King decided that he will do it; he had the firepower.
"I will only require one of my special Proton rockets for this contest," he told the gang as he went to the target area. Opo saw this and laughed. 'There is no way he can hit all 100 targets with just one shot,' he thought. As soon as Panda King was cleared to shoot, he launched his rocket at the closet targets. He was right; one shot was all he needed. When the rocket made impact, the entire target area went up in smoke in a huge explosion! There was nothing left. The entire stadium was shocked; even Opo's team was dumbstruck! "Unbelievable! All of the targets have been burned to a crisp with just one shot in 5 seconds; as well as the whole target area! Panda King wins!"
Sly's team cheered as Panda King received the 4th horn, while the crowds booed and hissed as usual. 'These Proton rockets are indeed as powerful as I was told; I better be cautious about their continuing use,' he thought as he returned to the others with the horn. "Awesome, Panda King! You sure left them speechless!" Sly said as he congratulated his one time enemy. "Just 1 more horn to go! Let me play in the next event!" Penelope begged excitedly. Before Sly could respond, the stadium got quiet again.
"My goodness, everyone. Sly's team has 4 horns, while Opo's team has 2! Can they pull one more win and move on to the final challenge? Or will Opo's team catch up? Let us find out in our next event: Sword Fighting! Both chosen players will each be given a sword to fight each other with, but the swords are the only weapons allowed. The first one to knock the other's sword away will be the winner. Players, take your positions!" Sly thought about it and made his choice. "Okay, Penelope, you can enter this one. You're pretty decent with a sword; after all you did beat Captain Lefwee back at Blood Bath Bay." Penelope was excited to hear that. "Thanks Sly! I won't let you guys down; especially you Bentley," she said as she winked at the turtle who just blushed. She walked to the middle of the stadium and stood against her adversary; Jud.
"What was that all about? And who was Captain Lefwee?" Carmelita asked Sly after the skillful mouse went to compete. "It's a long story. I'll tell ya all about it when we are back on board the Dragon Thief," he answered. Penelope and Jud each received their swords, which looked ancient, and stood ready. "You may begin!" And then the contest began.
Their swords clashed and it was pretty obvious that Jud had the upper hand, being much stronger and larger than Penelope. She quickly backed away and ran toward Jud. He prepared to parry; but instead of striking him, Penelope jumped over him and kicked him in the back! Jud stumbled a bit before he regained his balance. He turned toward Penelope with a nasty look on his face. He stormed at her with powerful swings and complex combos, while Penelope dodged and blocked. Jud proved to be a force to be reckoned with as he continued his assault. Penelope couldn't keep this up much longer; she needed to find a way to fight back.
Then she thought of something… When Jud swung his blade again, Penelope jumped and landed right on his sword! While he was stunned, that clever mouse kicked him on his chin and landed on her feet! Penelope may not be as strong as the rhino, but she was light and a quick thinker. Jud was knocked down; but was far from out! He got back on his feet and slashed his sword at Penelope's left arm, distracting her long enough to knock her sword out of her hand! It was over; Jud had prevailed. "Wow, what impressive swordplay! Jud is the winner!"
The crowds praised Jud for securing his team's 3rd horn, while Penelope walked back to the others in defeat. "I'm sorry guys; I didn't know he was going for my arm there. I should have expected it…" "Don't talk like that," said Sly, remembering how he felt when he and his friends were caught so easily the day before. "Someone once told me that these things happen to the best us, and we should not blame ourselves for how things turn out. You did the best you could, that's all that matters." Sly looked at Carmelita when he said all of this, and she was smiling. "Besides, they are still 1 horn behind us and we can still win." "Yeah Penelope," said Bentley. "You didn't disappoint any of us; least of all me." Penelope looked at Bentley and felt much better. "Thanks Bentley."
"Now for the last event before the final challenge: Double Match! In this event, the captains of both teams and their chosen partners will engage in an all out brawl with their weapons of choice! They will fight with everything they've got until either one or both partners of a team are down for the count; the ones that remain on their feet will win not 1, but 2 horns! In other words, this match will determine who will proceed to the final challenge. Captains, choose your partners and get ready to rumble!"
Opo was really excited to hear that; he has been looking forward to pounding that smart-mouth raccoon from the start of games and now he finally gets the chance. He steps in the middle of the arena with his partner, Uri. Sly asked Carmelita if she could be his partner; she was all for it. "You got it, Ringtail. It looks like we're working together again, eh?" "Yeah, feels like old times," Sly replied as he and the inspector approached to where Opo and Uri were waiting. "The time has come for you to pay for humiliating my team earlier! I'm really going to enjoy this!" Sly smiled and had a look that said "Yeah right, meathead." Carmelita and Uri look like they are ready to get at each other's throats. "Players, begin!"
As soon as Rajz had finished saying that, all hell broke loose! Opo ran towards Sly, hoping to turn him into Swiss cheese. Sly jumped right over him and got on his back, holding on to his ears! Opo was not pleased about that as he tries to shake that pesky raccoon off him, with no success. Meanwhile, Carmelita had her hands full with Uri; who happens to be more agile than she looks as she gracefully dodges all of Carmelita shock blasts. "Blast! Why won't you hold still!" Then she remembered something about her pistol… It can hold her still; in an icy, cold kind of way!
She changed the settings on her pistol from shock to freeze and aimed at that spot where Uri was going to jump to. She fired and… It worked! Uri was big, rhino frozen in a block of ice. Carmelita couldn't help but said, "Now that is what I call putting the competition on ice."
Back with Sly and Opo, things haven't changed as the very aggravated rhinoceros continues to shake of the clinging raccoon. Finally had enough, he decided to fall on his back; squashing Sly in the process! He succeeded, and Sly was lying on his back completely out of breath. "That'll teach you for riding a Vapok, you furry freak!" Right after he said this he smelled that something was burning and found the source; his rump was on fire! He began to scream like a baby and ran around the arena looking for something wet to sit on. He spotted Uri, still frozen, and decided to put his roasted behind on the ice and stay there until it had cooled off. Feeling so relieved, he looked to see who had did this to him. He found it; Carmelita had hit him in the butt with her pistol set on heat, looking very pissed.
While Opo was recovering, Carmelita ran towards Sly and helped him up on his knees. "Are you alright, Sly? Are you hurt?" Sly had never seen her so concerned for him before; it was as if she was thinking she was going to lose him. "I've been through worse," he said as he felt very painful. She began to speak to him softly, "I thought that horn head actually killed you. I should've been there to watch your back. I should've…" But before she said anything else, she found herself kissing Sly; with a lot of passion. Everyone's jaws dropped when this happened; including the rest of their team! After a minute or two of smooching, she broke it off while looking stunned herself. "I, I'm sorry Ringtail. I don't know what got into me!" "It's alright. We'll discuss it after the match, right now we got a couple of rhinos to beat."
He was right; at that moment Opo and Uri had both recovered from their ridiculous positions. They both looked like they were ready to kill. "Shall we finish them off?" Sly asked as he got on his feet. "Oh, yeah," she replied with enthusiasm. Both of the upset rhinos were charging them at full speed with no intention of stopping! "I got an idea," said Sly as he whispered it in Carmelita's ear. "I like the sound of that. Let's do it." As soon as Opo and Uri were close enough, Sly and Carmelita jumped over them while at the same time using their weapons to their advantage. Right before they jumped, Sly planted his cane on the ground after tweaking it a bit, and then at the time of their jump Carmelita had reset her pistol to shock and fired at the cane. When they landed on the other side, they saw a big light show staring two shocked looking rhinos getting sizzled and then they both went down to the ground with a great big thud!
"It worked! They're both out cold!" Carmelita hugged Sly without realizing it, and then backed off blushing. "That was pretty good teamwork, Inspector Fox. I'm glad that you were my partner," said Sly as they walked back to the others in triumph. "Unbelievable! Sly Cooper and Carmelita Fox had actually defeated the captain and his partner in a double brawl! They win!" The two victors were immediately given their 2 horns, while the crowds were roaring in complete outrage. They earned the final horn they needed, along with an extra to boot! Needless to say, they felt like celebrating!
"It's over, everyone! Team Cooper has won all the required horns to participate in the final challenge! They have beaten our champions! They have now earned the right to take the final challenge, which shall be revealed to them tomorrow morning. I know that you all are disappointed that our champs had lost, I feel the same way. But we must never give up our support for them, even in defeat!" Everyone in the stadium cheered at that statement and began to talk about how the games would have been different if their team had won while they were all heading home.
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That night, Sly and the gang had finished their celebrating and decided to hit the hay. Sly was about to get into bed too, when a soft voice spoke to him. "Going to bed, Ringtail?" Sly looked and saw Carmelita with a wonderful smile on her face; a smile that made him really warm inside. "Yep, sure am. I sure am glad those games are over. All there is left btw us and finding the Aquians is this final challenge." "I hope it is something we can handle. Sly, about what happened back at the stadium, when I kissed you…" She was hesitating a bit; Sly could tell she was very nervous. "It sort of just happened. I…" Sly stopped her by putting his lips on hers; with the same passion that she showed him. She didn't break away. After about 5 minutes of making out, they stopped for breath. "I know. I feel the same way." They smiled at each other as they both went to bed, dreaming about that kiss over and over again. It was the most wonderful dream they've both ever had.