Sly's P.O.V.
Sly: It had been 2 days since our last group discussion. Carmelita had multiple police forces patrolling all of Western Europe and still no sign of Penelope. Panda King tried a more spiritual approach in meditation, but it didn't turn out as well as we hoped. Murray tried to tap into his Dreamtime abilities, to contact the Guru, only to find out he had been out of practice. We were sure we would have as much time as we needed to find her, but then Bentley, Murray and I stumbled upon our hideout in disrepair. After an hour of frantically searching, we found out the Clockwerk brain had been taken. The only clue we found was also the only one we needed on who did this… a calling card signed by none other than Penelope herself. Now we had no choice but to find her before she assembles that old bird completely. Eventually, Bentley came up with a plan himself. He took both his and my Binocucoms to find out where the track-stopping signal was coming from. In the end, we had the answer. Penelope could only be hidden in an isolated area in the dead center of England, near the area where we thwarted her way back when we were helping Sir Galleth out. With her finally pinpointed, it was time to take matters straight to her front door.
Sly: When we arrived, Bentley, Murray, Carmelita and I had immediately recognized Penelope's fortress as the very same one she used when she was the Black Knight. The only difference is that there weren't guards everywhere. Bentley explained to us all that she was probably in her 'Beta Stage' in reconquering England for her own. Even though we weren't inside quite yet, we could already tell this castle would be more secure than ever, and if we wanted to stop her once and for all, we had to go through with it.
Sly Cooper and the Gang in: Of Mice and Mechs II
Main Story
Bentley rock-hopped across the moat until he accessed the drawbridge hinges; he placed 3 bombs on each and retreated before they exploded. When the 'BANG' was heard, the drawbridge came crashing down and the gang entered through the main gate. Upon viewing its interior, the gang saw how 'teched-out' it was. Security was tight, robots were being manufactured, and the castle had more mechanics than rocks making it up. "Wow, where did Penelope get all this stuff?" asked Murray.
"Judging by the postcards she's sent me while Sly was gone, she's robbed quite a few banks. I'm sure she invested in machine parts, metal and circuitry with all the funds she came into." explained Bentley.
"Tch, stealing from ordinary people? Yeah, real honorable, Penelope." Sly insulted.
Bentley then said, "Now's not the time for insults and interior critiques, now is the time to stop her from reviving Clockwerk. According to my area scanner, this castle has a basement. In order to access it, we need to open that hatch in the corner over there. Should be no match for your fireworks, eh Panda King?"
"Yes, stand back everyone, and watch as my artistry shall be the doom for this mere hatch!" proclaimed the Panda King with pride. He then preceded to fully-load his firework cannon, and released a barrage of explosives onto the hatch, busting it wide open. "Excellent work, Panda King; now we can move on." The gang headed downstairs into what appeared to be a freezer. Murray was about to take one step onto the icy floor when Bentley said, "Murray no! My calculations say that this ice is way too thin to just walk across it. We need that bridge on the other side of the room to be extended if we're to move on."
Grizz stepped forward and said, "Then leave this to me, I'm as nimble as a bee!" He then took his medal, split it into two, and placed each side on his feet. After that, he began to navigate his way through the cold storage. After 10 minutes of skating, he reached a set of steps, climbed them, and pulled the lever that extended the bridge for everyone to cross. Murray then said, "Nice moves, Grizz!"
"Was nothing, Pinky." replied Grizz as the gang moved on. In the next room were multiple security lasers; too many for the gang to simply sneak across. Bentley analyzed the room and said, "Guys, there are no accessible computer terminals in here for me to lower security with. The only sources of power for all this security are those 4 spinning bulbs you see on the ceiling. Carmelita, this looks like a job for you. Use your pistol to blast those bulbs; that should lower the security, but you can only blast them when they aren't glowing. If you hit a glowing one, that will alert some of Penelope's guards into the room."
Carmelita pulled out her pistol and said, "Are you done whining? This'll be no problem." She took aim at the bulbs. She hit the first, then the fourth, the third after that, and finally the second. Upon destroying that last bulb, security was immensely lowered to nothing but two searchlights. The gang crept around them and continued. The next room was one that looked like the cold storage, but heated up to the point where the ice was warm water. Bentley then said, "Okay Dimitri, we'll need you to navigate through this underwater labyrinth so you can extend the bridge over to us. Luckily the water is clean this time."
"Time for me to get slippery!" said Dimitri. He put his goggles on and began to navigate the deep waters. 20 minutes of swimming led him to the other side. He pulled the lever and the bridge was extended. "No watery challenge is a challenge for this sweet iguana!" proclaimed Dimitri. When the gang entered the next room, it contained nothing but 4 gaps in the wall and a large door with 8 digital locks. "Oh my…" said Bentley, "… this'll be a tough code to crack. Obviously if that computer in the corner over there is tampered with in any way, Penelope's henchmen will come flooding in, get rid of the tamperer, and reset the terminal. Sly, Murray, I'll need you two to cover me while those locks are being jimmied."
"No problem, pal." said Sly.
"We've got your shell, little buddy." said Murray.
"And we shall supply airborne ammunition to provide some additional cover." said Panda King, implying both he and Carmelita will do so.
Bentley smiled and said, "You guys are the best. I'll have this hacked in no time!" He wheeled his way to the terminal and began code-breaking. Upon doing so, sirens went off and many hedgehog guards came flooding in. Sly and Murray jumped in and began fighting while Carmelita and Panda King made cover-fire for the three. It took a hefty thirty minutes, but all eight locks were cracked. Bentley shut down the terminal, the sirens stopped, and Murray finished off the last of the guards. "I need to take a break from computers for a while." said an exhausted Bentley.
"Bro, you earned a break!" declared Dimitri.
Sly then said, "Well, we have a traitor to stop. Let's get going." Murray and Panda King took the large handle on the bottom of the door and hoisted it up, revealing a hanger with an inanimate Clockwerk hanging from thick cables. When the gang entered, the door slammed shut behind them. Then they heard a very familiar voice say, "Well, it's about time you fools showed up." From the upper level of the hanger, Penelope walked in, glaring at the Cooper Gang. "How on Earth did you seven get through all of my security?!"
Sly replied, "Teamwork, something you turned your back on."
Penelope responded, "Hmph, beginner's luck I say. Now behold the most powerful piece of machinery known to mankind! Clockwerk was indeed an impressive specimen to put back together, especially since I had pieced together that hate chip so it could send out its signal and reform the many parts it needed to be reconstructed with."
Bentley then said, "But how could you even lift those heavy parts? Obviously your guards aren't strong enough, or coordinated enough, to do such a task, and you certainly don't have that kind of muscle."
Penelope replied, "And I thought you were smart, Bentley." She pulled out a remote, flipped a switch on it, and into the hanger walked a large yellow mechanical body with a control panel instead of a head. "Meet the Grolgoth mk II. I was inspired to make it when I played this old video game, but I added a few features of my own, like more powerful grip, stronger rockets, cup holders, and so-on. And now, to pick who I want to fight." The robot pointed at the Cooper Gang. "Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Bentley." The robot extended its arm and grabbed Bentley. "If you want to see him beat into turtle soup, who am I to deny?" said Penelope. The robot opened a large door on the side of the hanger and walked through. It dropped Bentley into a boxing ring in a dark room and immediately took to the other side. Sly and the gang followed inside to see a cage closing around the arena. "Let's see you try and beat me now, Puny!" shouted Penelope.
"Hey, that's cheating!" declared Murray.
"Ah who cares? Certainly not me, Meatball." responded Penelope. Murray looked at his gut and became down. Bentley noticed this and said, "'Meatball?!' Nobody talks to one of my best friends like that! You want a fight? It's on!" and the battle commenced. The robot's arms extended and punched the stage where Bentley had just barely dodged. It then used the other arm to launch rockets onto the stage, each missing the paraplegic terrapin. The robot charged and launched a heavy punch into the stage, jamming the fist. Bentley wheeled his way up to Penelope and began spinning his wheelchair to hit her. After a few whacks, he was thrown off when the fist became unstuck. "You dare hit a girl?!" said Penelope as she launched more extending punches. As Bentley dodged them, he said, "'Girl?' I consider you more of a tyrant." The robot launched more rockets, each missing, and then charged another heavy punch. Once it missed, and got stuck in the stage again, Bentley wheeled his way up again and began whacking Penelope with his wheelchair some more. He was once again thrown off and the cycle repeated. After launching its rockets, the robot grew a laser from its chest and fired it, homing in on Bentley. "Lasers? How original?" said Bentley. "They get the job done, though." replied Penelope. "Indeed they do." responded Bentley. Once the laser stopped firing, the robot launched another heavy punch into the stage. Bentley climbed the arm and whacked Penelope until it misfired and hit the control panel, causing the robot to stuble over and collapse. Before it could do so however, Penelope activated a switch that allowed the control board and seat to rise from the robot in the form of a hovercraft of some sort. The cage lowered after Penelope made her way inside the hanger once more. Bentley made his way to the gang and said, "Thanks for the moral support, guys."
Sly replied, "Thank us later, pal, we have an owl to nest." When the gang made their way in, they saw Penelope drop the brain inside Clockwerk's head. "Too late, I wanted to destroy you myself, but with Clockwerk under my control, the job will be done properly." She then welded the head's hatch shut and pulled out a remote. "Stop, you know you can't control him!" shouted Sly.
Penelope responded, "Pppf, sure I can. If it has a mechanical brain, I can control it with a little wiring."
"No, you don't understand!" replied Sly.
"Shut up, Cooper!" shouted Penelope, "I've had enough of you and your gang. As soon as this is over, Bentley will have nowhere to go but to join me in become the world's greatest weapon designers, and all I have to do is…" She flipped the switch, and tesla coils zapped Clockwerk's head. Sly then said, "Guys, run!" and the gang made to hide from the mechanical menace. Once the lightning had stopped, Clockwerk's soulless eyes began shining a bright red-orange. The cables unplugged and he landed on his feet, stretching his wings. "I am LIBERATED!" were Clockwerk's first words.
"Not for long, Bird-Boy." said Penelope who had pressed a blue switch. Blue sparks sputtered around Clockwerk's eyes, but to no effect. "What? Why isn't it working?!"
Clockwerk replied, "Heh heh heh, you tried to use a classic mind-jacking device? That only works on fully-mechanical brains."
Penelope began walking backwards in fear and said, "B-but don't you have a fully-mechanical one?"
Clockwerk laughed again and said, "If it were, I would have no emotion or memory of my origins and life. That is why I kept it in a container to preserve both organic and inorganic materials. You guess you aren't that bright after all; and now, I have a plot to carry out. First, I rebuild my death ray, and then this 'Cooper Gang' you keep on talking about will die. Surely Sly Cooper is a part of it, and I will end him and all of his friends." Clockwerk used his talons to create an exit and flew off into the distance, Penelope in fear on what she had released onto the world.
Job Complete
Sly's P.O.V.
Sly: When we had heard Clockwerk leave, the gang and I came out of hiding to see a down-hearted Penelope weeping in the corner of her lab. We all felt bad about it, but Bentley was the only one who took action. He wheeled over to her to actually comfort her; even after all that she did to us. I guess he thinks she's learned her lesson for now.
Sly: Clockwerk was now revived. Neyla may be gone from his frame, but his personality was much more twisted than hers ever was. He had built a death ray to target the cities he was blackmailing before Murray, Carmelita, Bentley and I had stopped him. Now that he is whole again, he'll undoubtedly attempt to rebuild that infernal machine, and the first targets will surely be us if we don't do something. Immediately, the gang, Penelope, and I headed back to the hideout to see where he'll set up his doom-bringing fortress.