Alright, now it is Sly's team's turn to be in the spotlight. Also, this and the next chapter will be the last I post before Christmas. This will be a double post. I will continue to post after New Year, I promise. Until then, Enjoy!
Sly Cooper and the Space Thieves
Chapter 32- The Unexpected Surprise
"Bentley, it worked! The hatch is still open! We are heading inside that big tub of junk now. Wish us luck." When Sly heard Bentley signing off, he and the rest of his team flew up the open hatch to the inside of Kanog's flagship. The huge garbage duct was filled with falling junk; the team had to do a lot of maneuvering to not get damaged. "Heads up, guys! If we are not careful, we'll be going out with the trash too!" Sly yelled. They had to move left, right, and spin a little to avoid being bombarded with waste. Finally, after some trash dodging, they have made it into the waste disposal section of the ship and landed.
It was completely dark when they landed, but before they even got out of their cockpits, the lights came back on and the disposal unit was operational again. "The Neutron Cannon's effects have worn off," said Beowulf as he and the others stepped out of their ships. "Yeah, but at least we are inside. Now we just have to hunt for Kanog," said Sly. Before they could do anything else, a patrol of green-armored guards came into the disposal room near their location. Sly and the team hid behind a huge metal crate before they were spotted. Rovax looked at guards and smirked.
"We can take them out easily. I want to deliver some personal payback for losing some of my men out there." "I agree," replied Jacor, thinking the same thing. "But even after we "take care" of those guards, more will show up, eventually we will be discovered. We need stealth and cleverness for this mission…at least till we find Kanog," said Sly with a smile. "What do you mean by "stealth" Sly?" asked Beowulf. Sly continued to smile as he took out a small device from his pocket.
"With this bad boy, we won't even have to lay a finger on those guards." The others looked confused. Seeing the expressions on their faces, Sly simply replied, "Watch and learn, gentlemen." He then threw the device nearly exactly where the guards were patrolling. When it stopped rolling in front of them, they looked at it with surprise and curiosity. A few seconds later…BANG! A small cloud of red gas came out covered the guards and they began coughing. When the cloud cleared up, they were completely unharmed.
"I thought you said that gizmo would knock them out?" asked Jacor. He, Beowulf, and Rovax still looked confused when nothing happened. "Keep watching," said Sly. With uncertainty, they looked back at the guards. When they saw them again, they tried not to laugh; the guards were fighting each other! "What did you do that for?" said one of the guards. "Me? It was you who did it!" said another. "If I didn't know better, I'd say it was both of you gas bags!" yelled a third guard. "I believe it was all of you idiots!" screamed the fourth guard in anger. Right then, they got into a big brawl!
When they started fighting, they formed a cloud of dust so thick that the only things that could be seen were their fists, heads, and feet mangling around with the sounds of a good old fashioned beating! After 5 enjoyable minutes of "Mantian Guard Smack Down," the guards were lying on the floor, unconscious. Sly told the team to move out and take off their armor. While they were removing the guard's armor, Beowulf asked, "What was that device you used, Sly?" "A Rage Bomb," answered a smirking Sly. "A nice little specialty from Bentley. Throw one of those at a group of guards, and instant guard fights!" "Very impressive, and creative," said a very impressed Jacor.
Once all the armor was removed, Sly told them to pick a suit and put it on. "With these armor suits on, no one will know that we are intruders. As long as we keep our cool and "blend in", we should be able to track down Kanog no problem." "I love that plan." said Rovax. It took a few minutes, but they all managed to get their new armor on. They were uncomfortable at first, but then the suits instantly changed size and shape to fit their new wearers. "Nice feature," said Sly. "I can't see a thing in this helmet," complained Beowulf. Just then, the helmet's visor cleared up so that its new wearer can see as clearly as before. "Uh…never mind," said the white wolf king.
They then moved the unconscious guard's bodies into an empty crate and locked them in. "That'll hold them." said Rovax. Then they picked up the guards weapons and were about to move out of the garbage disposal room, when they received transmissions on their Mantian helmet receivers. "Guard Unit 31, do you copy? This is Security Control. We have detected unusual activity at your location, almost like there was a fight. Is everything alright down there?" Acting fast, Sly masked his voice and hoped that they wouldn't recognize him.
"Security Control, this is leader of Guard Unit 31. Everything is fine down here, we just had a...uh…malfunction in the compactor system. It was driving us crazy…like it just didn't want to cooperate. And this was after the ship's systems came back online! We had just finished looking at it when you guys called in." The team waited in silence, hoping that their cover wasn't blown. After a minute, they got a response. "Yeah, I hear ya. They don't make garbage compactors like they used too. Head on back here and give a complete report on the malfunction. Control out."
Once their signal was gone, Sly took off his helmet and wiped the sweat out off his brow. "That was close." said Sly. "That was too close, quick thinking Sly!" said Beowulf. After he put his helmet back on, Sly told the team to head out. They couldn't agree more to get out of this smelly place. Once they were outside in the main hallway, they stopped. "What is our next move?" asked Rovax. Sly turned to him. "You heard Security Control…we're going there to give a "malfunction report"." It took a moment or two before he caught on and laughed. Beowulf and Jacor joined in too.
While they were laughing, another guard patrol was marching by and noticed them. One of them came up to Beowulf. "What is so funny?" The white wolf hesitated. "Oh, we were just…uh…you know…" The guard waited. "My comrades here were just telling me a great joke about…about a bird, a dolphin, and a wolf at a bar, drinking wine. They got drunk and danced with one another. And do you know what the wolf said after they were done?" The other guards shook their heads. "He said…well, he said "Great, I danced with a feather duster and a sardine! Now I just have to find a girl to dance with!" Isn't that funny or what?"
They just stood there for a moment. And then…they began laughing their heads off! "That has got to be the funniest joke I have ever heard!" said the guard that questioned Beowulf. "You're buddies sure know how to make a guy laugh! I'll be sure to tell the others about it." He and the rest of his patrol marched away, laughing loudly. Stunned beyond belief that that worked, Beowulf laughed to himself as well, along with his friends. Sly put a hand on the king's shoulder. "Wow, your highness. I didn't know you were such a comedian." "A "feather duster" am I?" joked Rovax.
Once everything was quiet, Sly started to form a plan. "Okay, here is the deal. We head to Security Control, knock out any guards that are there, and use the security systems to locate Kanog. It will save us the trouble of searching this entire ship for the scumbag." "There is just one problem," said Jacor. "We don't know where the Security Control room is." At that instant, Jacor's visor changed to a layout of the ship, focused at their position. It showed him a route to Security Control. The other visors did the same. "Wow, I am beginning to like Mantian technology more and more," said Jacor.
"According to these readouts, Security Control is located 5 levels above us, in Room 451. We need to take an elevator nearby to get there." said Rovax. Impressed with this, Sly said, "Okay, let's move." They turned left and pretended to march like real Mantians. So far, none of the other soldiers didn't see past their disguises. 10 minutes later they had arrived at the elevator they needed to get onto. Before they could step inside, another Mantian guard came their way. This one was thinner than the others, and wore crimson armor. When the guard spoke, it was female.
"Hey boys. I need to get to Security Control immediately. I have to report an escaped prisoner on this ship. So be goods boys and let the lady in first, then you can have the elevator all to yourselves." Sly spoke up. "No offense miss, but we need to go to Security Control too. We need to report of a malfunction in the…" But the female guard cut him off. "Who cares about a stupid ship malfunction? I really need to get this report in, or Emperor Kanog will have my head for not doing my duty." She spoke with impatience and rudeness. Jacor stepped in. "Look, I am sure that elevator can hold all of us, and we are going to the same place. Why don't we just go there together?"
The crimson guard looked like she wanted to knock his head off, but she took a deep breath. "Fine, tough guy, we'll all go. Just don't crowd me," she said with annoyance. As they stepped into the elevator and the female guard asked it to take them to Level 5, Beowulf spoke to her. "You know, miss, you could show some respect for your fellow officers. What you did was rude and inconsiderate." She looked at him. "So sue me. It is not my fault that a very dangerous criminal escaped from his prison cell on my watch." Rovax spoke next. "How dangerous is this "prisoner"?
She looked at him and hesitated. "Well…surely, you know all about prisoner #23?" They had to play along to not give themselves away. Sly responded. "Oh yeah! Wasn't he the one who…caused a fight in the mess hall?" The guard laughed. "You wish. He happened to get imprisoned for causing sabotage in the main reactor of this ship a few days ago. He planned to blow it up along with Kanog and all his troops. Unfortunately for him, he was unprepared for a patrol of guards that had just come down to investigate the "malfunctions." He was zapped and next thing he knew, he was behind a laser door prison cell. What a fool; he should have been prepared for them."
The elevator stopped and opened its doors, letting them out on the floor. As they walked towards Room 451, Jacor spoke. "How did Prisoner #23 escape?" She turned to him and sighed. "He faked being dead after getting himself shocked from touching the laser door. He stayed down for a while, and me and another guard there were starting to think he really did get fried. I opened the door to take his body out. When I bent down to pick him up, he sucker punched me! He then took my blaster and zapped the other guard. He then got up and ran for it. When I got back on my feet, I began to head over to Security Control to report the escape. That is when I bumped into you, guys."
"What was his name?" asked Jacor. She looked away. "I…didn't ask what his name was. I never ask prisoners their names; I just watch them 'till they are executed." Jacor and the others were really getting paranoid about her. 'We may have to take her out too. She seems pissed off enough.' Finally, they have arrived at Room 451: Security Control. They went inside. There were about 6 to 7 other guards in the room, not counting the one they walked in with. A security officer wearing dark green came up in front of Sly. "Alright guys, give me the report for the compactor malfunction."
Sly nodded to Beowulf, Jacor, and Rovax; it was time to strike. But before they made any moves, the dark green officer got blasted! Sly turned to the direction the blast came from, and saw with surprise that it came from the female crimson guard! She then proceeded to fry the other guards in the room, leaving only Sly and his team. She then turned her weapon on them. "Now it is your turn, boys." Just then, Sly took out his cane and with one fast motion, he knocked the blaster out of her hand.
Rovax caught it and pointed it at her and said, "Don't move." The whole gang got her surrounded. Stunned, she looked at Sly's cane. She turned to Sly again. "That is not a Mantian weapon! Where did you get that?" Sly replied with, "Let's just say it was a gift from my dad." Beowulf stepped to the female guard with his sword out. "We have questions of our own. For instance, why did you fire at your own fellow officers?" She turned to the white wolf in disguise. "They weren't my fellow guards, and neither are you!" Sly sensed something strange about the female guard, so he decided to take a risk.
"Yeah, well, you are right about that. To be honest, me and my teammates were about to do the same thing you just did. I guess we should thank you for keeping our hands clean." She looked at him with confusion and suspicion. "You were going to fire on them too? Why?" Sly then took off his helmet and let her see his face, to the shock of his teammates. Needless to say, she was shocked as well. "You are not a Mantian! Who are you?" He smiled as he answered. "I'm Sly Cooper. Surely dear old Kanog told you about me?"
She thought for a moment, and then she nodded. "Yes, I have read Kanog's report about you. I believe he ordered you and your friends to retrieve the Manta Heart from Jacor, isn't that right?" Jacor stepped forward and took off his helmet too. Now she was more shocked than ever. "Jacor?! On this ship?!" He nodded. He asked Beowulf and Rovax to take off their helmets as well. Still confused about this whole thing, they took off their helmets. The female guard looked from one to the other, not knowing what to say.
Sly spoke next as he pointed at his two other teammates. "Meet King Beowulf and Captain Rovax. They, Jacor, and I are here to give Kanog a real bad day. But before we get into that, tell us you're story. I got a feeling we weren't the only ones hiding our "true" faces." After overcoming her shock and disbelief, she nodded and then she took off her helmet. Sly and his friends were shocked beyond belief; the crimson Mantian guard was actually an Aquian! She was about Jacor's height and appeared to be as old as he, had light green eyes, had a lighter skin tone, and had the look of a tough warrior, but not without beauty. After Sly told everyone to lower their weapons, she looked much calmer. 'She is so beautiful. How did she get on this ship?' Jacor thought as he stared at her.
The female Aquian looked at everyone. "My name is Ariel. You boys better take off that heavy looking armor and sit down, this could take a while.