Happy New Year everyone! As I promised, here is the next chapter to my incredible story. This is the most highly anticipated one of all: The fight against Kanog! Enjoy it!

Sly Cooper and the Space Thieves

Chapter 34- The Last Fight Part 1

Sly and his team stood there in front of the big, gold armored Kanog, waiting for the ultimate showdown to start. However, Kanog seemed to be in no hurry. He was staring at them with a nasty smug on his face. At last, he spoke again. "I have been looking forward to this moment, Sly. When I discovered that your ship's tracking device was no longer functioning, and that my retrieval ship was lost, I have been anticipating an attack of some sort. Though I have to admit, I never expected it to be so large."

Sly looked at the tyrant with a smirk. "Yeah well, that just shows you how much you really know me, pal." Kanog smirked himself as he looked at the others. His eyes landed on Jacor. "Well, well, if it isn't the fish I should have killed months ago! Nice to see you again, Jacor." The dolphin stared back at the evil ruler with hatred. "Sorry I can't say the same, monster!" Kanog chuckled as he turned his eyes at the other two. "Forgive me, but I don't think I've met your other companions."

Rovax spoke to him. "I'm Captain Rovax from Dramar, and I have heard all about you, Kanog. One of your ships attacked my ship's crew and nearly killed them! I am here to help my comrades defeat you. Though I must say…I thought you would be uglier." Kanog smiled menacingly at the falcon. "Very cheeky, Captain." He then turned to Beowulf. "And who is the hairball?" The white wolf looked at back at him with anger.

"I am King Beowulf of Crystalla. I have come to see to it that your reign of terror ends!" Kanog seemed amused. He then turned back to Sly. "Well Sly, you certainly have an interesting bunch of friends. Too bad none of you will succeed." "And why is that?" asked Sly confidently. Kanog smiled as he answered. "I have the tool to become the most powerful warlord in the universe…and you all have brought me the key to activate it!"

The team looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about, freak? What key?" asked Sly. "Him!" The Mantian ruler then pointed at Jacor! "He is the reason I had you and your band of thieves and the cop taken from Earth in the first place!" Sly and the others looked at Jacor, shocked and confused. Jacor looked back at Kanog. "I don't understand. What do you mean?"

Kanog then took out something from his belt…the Manta Heart! The whole team was really confused now. Jacor was the most confused. "Impossible!! How can you have the Manta Heart?! I stole it months ago!" Kanog laughed evilly. He then talked. "It is time you knew the truth about Sly's mission. So listen carefully, before I destroy you all." Sly and the others remained where they were, unable to know what to do. They had no choice but to listen.

Kanog then began to explain. "The Manta Heart that Jacor had stolen was a fake; a copy of the real thing. The real Manta Heart has been with me all along." Jacor couldn't believe this! 'A fake?!' Kanog continued. "I knew that the fish would try to retrieve it, so I put the Manta Heart in my throne room in a special container to prevent it from being detected. The fake was put in that room where Jacor popped in and stole it.

"With Jacor thinking that he had rescued his dear brother, I was free to experiment on the real deal. You see, I have a device that will feed off of another's life energy and make me stronger 10 fold! I had to attach the Manta Heart to its core, strap it onto myself, and activate it. With the immense power that Zarus possesses, I will become unstoppable!" Sly and the team were completely shocked at this revelation, especially Jacor!

Kanog paused for a moment, and then continued. "Unfortunately, the experiments failed. The device would not draw Zarus' power into me. I had my scientists study it around the clock, and after weeks of endless research, they have discovered the problem: Zarus was fighting the device's primary function." The team was stunned. "It turned out that even though Zarus was a statue, his fighting spirit was still uncontrollable. I could not believe that that fool was still fighting me, even in captivity!"

Jacor smiled as he said, "I believe it." Kanog ignored him and continued. "My scientists have determined that in order to have complete control over the Manta Heart, I would need something to subdue it, giving it no reason to fight. I then thought of the only thing that could calm Zarus' fighting spirit; his dear brother. Or at least, a part of him." Jacor and the others could not believe what they are hearing. "What are you getting at Kanog?!" Beowulf asked furiously.

Kanog answered the white wolf. "In order to become invincible, I needed Jacor to come here. I could have invaded his home world again and captured him, but it was too messy of an idea. So, I decided on a more subtle approach. I have sent research probes across the galaxy, looking for the right people to do it for me. And after months of searching, I have found them…" "Me and my gang!" exclaimed Sly.

The cruel ruler smiled. "That's right, Sly. Your gang of thieves were the perfect people for the job. I found out everything about you and was impressed with your reputation. Once you were onboard my ship, I had to weave a web of lies to get you to do my dirty work for me. I told you of the story of the Manta Heart and asked you to retrieve it so you would be returned to your planet.

"I knew that stealing a priceless artifact would get your attention and get you to go on your way." Sly interrupted. "Wait a second, dirtbag! I understand why you took me and my gang, but why take Inspector Fox and her commandoes as well?" "Simple, I didn't want any witnesses on your planet. Miss Fox and her troops were the only ones who would have seen your ship vanish, so I had to take them as well. I had her go with you to help you succeed, and her commandoes…let's just say I had other plans for them."

Rovax was mad. "You honorless fiend!" Kanog turned to him. "Be quiet, bird brain! I am not quite finished." Rovax stood there in silence, but still angered at this whole thing. The tyrant continued. "Once Sly and his team were on their way to Dolphus, all I had to do was wait for them to return. Of course, there were a few complications, which I have already explained. I knew that once you reach Dolphus, Jacor would convince you of the truth.

"I also knew that Jacor would want to help you to stop me, so I wanted to be prepared. However, I did not expect a fleet as massive as yours, nor so well prepared for combat." Sly's team smirked at this statement. Kanog continued. "Your huge armada is more powerful that I anticipated, I admit. They are formable, but not invincible. That is why just a few moments before you arrived in my chamber, I called for reinforcements back on Plaxis Prime. They will be here in 10 minutes to destroy your mighty fleet."

The team smiled again. 'Excellent, that means Yanor's rebel troops are on their way! We just have to keep Kanog busy until they get here.' Sly thought. Kanog noticed this and stared at them. "Why are you smiling like that, when I am about to crush you all?" Jacor answered, "Oh, no reason. We just can't wait to end your tyranny once and for all." The others nodded. Kanog shook it off. "I wouldn't be smiling. Before I destroy all of you, I have one last thing to do."

He then pushed a button on his wrist, which caused the floor section Sly and his friends were standing on to electrify them! Kanog deactivated the electro floor and approached Jacor while they were down. "Oh don't worry; the shock will wear off in a minute. Unfortunately, it will be far too late! Now watch as I finally gain the power I have longed for!!!" Kanog got on one knee and took out a syringe. Sly and the others could do nothing as Kanog took a sample of Jacor's blood.

After taking the blood, Kanog backed up and took out a backpack-like contraption from the back of his chair; it was the device that Kanog had talked about a moment ago. He put it on, and placed the true Manta Heart in its core, which was on his chest. He then took the syringe and injected it into the core through a small hole. Once the blood began to swarm around the Manta Heart, he pushed the on button on the upper section of the core.

Kanog then smiled as the device began to absorb the Manta Heart's life force and transferred it into his body. Sly and the team watched in horror as Kanog's muscles increased, becoming massive. He began to grow twice his size and he arched back and screamed as he felt the pain of absorbing the power. When his disgusting transformation stopped, he fell on one knee and breathed hard. But all too soon, he slowly got back on his feet, laughing like a complete psychopath!

He stood before our heroes a huge monstrosity with a look in his eyes that would make you faint in an instant! Then Sly and his friends got back on their feet too; the shock from the floor finally wore off. They looked at the now monstrous Kanog with fear in their eyes. Sly spoke. "This is not going to be pretty." He turned to the others. "You guys with me?" Beowulf, Jacor, and Rovax nodded as they took out their swords (Rovax had a sword all along; he just never took it out until now). Pleased that they are with him and as he took out his cane, Sly turned back to Kanog and yelled, "Let's take him down!!" They charged towards him, beginning the last fight.

Kanog merely swiped one of his massive arms and knocked the whole team into a wall, hard. This also caused them to drop their swords. They got back up, not willing to give up so easily. "Well, that didn't work," said Sly humorously. "We need a plan of attack." said Beowulf. Sly thought of the only way to win. "We need to remove the Manta Heart; it's the only way to stop him." "And just how are we going to do that?" asked Rovax. "We can't get near him without being flatten!" Jacor had found a solution.

"The solution is simple; attack him on all sides." Then Sly caught on to what the dolphin was saying. "I get it; Kanog can't touch us all if we attack all around him. He may be big and strong, but he is slow. We can easily dodge his attacks if we move quickly enough. We keep it up until there is an opening in his defenses; that's when I move in and take the Manta Heart. All in agreement?" They all nodded as they got ready to execute their plan.

Kanog approached and slammed his fists to where the spot where they were standing, but they had managed to dodge in time. "Spread out! Let's give him a good workout!" yelled Sly. Kanog looked around and chuckled. "You think you can defeat me? I have only just started on you insects!!" He went after Rovax first as he threw a table at him, but missed. Right after the table crashed, Jacor took advantage and jumped kicked Kanog in the back of the head. The blow only pissed him off, and tried to grab him.

The agile dolphin dodged his attempt with ease. "You got to do better than that, Kanog!" yelled Jacor as he grinned. Kanog was too distracted by him to notice Beowulf and Rovax grabbing both his legs and pulled them towards them. This caused the big Mantian warlord to fall with a great, big THUD! He was really mad now. After he got back up, he said, "Enough of this!! Stay still you insignificant worms!!" Kanog resumed his assaults, which everyone jumped and dodged easily.

Sly thought the plan was going well, except he didn't count on Kanog fighting dirty. The tyrant ripped off a piece of the floor and threw it at Sly! He managed to jump out of the way, but Kanog swiped him into another wall the moment he landed. It knocked the breath out of him. "Sly!!!" the others yelled as they ran to help their friend. Kanog turned around and body slammed on the incoming group. He missed, but it caused the whole room to shake violently, knocking the others off balance.

Before they could recover, he got up and went all battering ram on them! Beowulf, Jacor, and Rovax all got hammered and were lying face down on the floor, near unconsciousness. After seeing his teammates beaten, Sly felt a rush of reckless anger as he got back on his feet. 'He almost killed them! I have to end this now!' He then saw an opportunity; Kanog was looking at the others while making fun of their pathetic attempts to defeat him. Sly knew if he moved now, he would be able to grab the Manta Heart while his enemy was distracting himself!

Sly then charged at Kanog, and the Manta Heart, as fast as he could. Just a split second before Sly could take Kanog by surprise the tyrant turned and punched Sly hard in the gut! The raccoon fell on the floor again, rolling in great pain. Kanog then picked up Sly by the neck, and began to choke him. The others were too badly hurt to do anything to help him. Jacor and Rovax were trying to get back up, but Beowulf just lay there, watching the scene with a look of complete hopelessness.

Beowulf's nightmare had finally come true; Sly was about to be killed by Kanog, and his friends could do nothing to save him. 'No…it can't be. Even though I'm here, Sly's fate remains unaltered. My decision of joining him…has changed nothing. I am sorry Sly…' As Sly was gasping for air, Kanog pulled back his other gigantic fist and said a line that only Beowulf knew… "It is over. You have failed to stop me in my quest for ultimate power! Now I will destroy you." He then launched his final blow towards the helpless master thief. The others were screaming his name…

But then, something unexpected happened; Kanog stopped his attack just before it hit Sly and dropped him. As Sly and the others looked up, Kanog began to fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around himself. He also started to shake uncontrollably. "ARRGH!! AHHH!! WHAT…IS THIS…PAIN?!?!" As he fell on his back still screaming in pain, Sly and his team slowly stood on their feet once more, confused and shocked by this whole thing. Jacor then noticed that Kanog was clutching his chest, right where the Manta Heart was…

The dolphin smiled and said the one word that made sense of Kanog's violent seizure:

"Zarus..."

To Be Continued…