-1A/N: Sorry for using Biblical references in the good-vs.-evil undertones. I thought it was perfect that way, but some of you may be agnostic or part of Wicca or a million other religions. Stay cool, guys! This is, by far, the darkest hour of the story. It's time to find out just who is REALLY running the show, here. I now unveil… the mastermind bad-guy.
Chapter 13: An Unlucky Number
Carmelita's world dissolved into oblivion. She stood in the field of post-apocalyptic hell; in the battlefield of the damned, once again. Clockwerk was there, as well. The vixen narrowed those soft amber oculars, reaching to her hip for her guns. They were still there.
"What're you doing in my nightmares?" She inquired through clinched teeth.
"Who says they're truly nightmares?" Clockwerk asked. "What if you're being transported to another plane each time you come here?"
Carmelita tilted her head, furrowing her brows. "Spare me the semantics; you're a worthless criminal who's over-glorified and you don't frighten me."
Clockwerk, the massive two story metallic monster, placed his massive winged fists on his hips. "What if I told you that this place has a direct bearing on you? What if I told you that this limbo doesn't protect you? If you were to die here you would be dead; this is not a dream or a nightmare like your past visits into your mental subconscious."
"Donovan was here, last time. He's not dead," She reasoned, with a smirk.
Clockwerk didn't concede, but folded his arms, instead. "You're mind is conscious in this realm. Ask yourself this question: 'Who am I and what does being an Inspector mean to me?' Then ask yourself why you're here."
"I'm Carmelita Montoya Fox, a fourth generation police officer and 7-pointed-star-badge Inspector of Interpol International, based in Lyon, France. My office is in Paris and I employ several people underneath me. I report to the office of my Chief every Monday Wednesday and Friday. I'm here because I'm having a nightmare."
"No," Clockwerk said in a surprisingly subtle voice. "Ask yourself why you're alive, here on this planet; what your role in life is?"
Inspector Fox tilted her head for a moment, mulling the question over. "I'm here to bring justice to both the deserving protected and the undeserving unjust of the world. Happy?"
Clockwerk wasn't himself. He was just an image and at the moment, the puppet of another. "You've just consciously considered who you are, what reasons you have for being yourself and used rational decision making abilities, Carmelita Fox. Therefore, you cannot possibly be asleep. It is my esteemed honor to explain to you that your mind has been projected from your body to a neutral field of battle, where you will be given the chance to defend yourself in order to earn your God-Given right to live."
"Explain yourself," Carmelita snapped, narrowing her eyes. "It's obvious that you're not Clockwerk; I demand an explanation. Who are you?"
The image of Clockwerk began to distort. It was just an image, used by some greater force. "I'm the one calling all the shots, little mortal. Karla was my pawn; I had plans to stop you through her. I was then planning to force Sly Cooper to this plane. While here, I was going to present your dead soul to him in his 'dreams', while Karla bore his offspring. Then my plans were to take the perfect mixture of Mortal and Immortal and use the offspring of Sly Cooper, an easily controllable Immortal Master Thief, to garnish the ancient artifacts necessary to resurrect my spirit into a mortal body. From there, I would be unstoppable."
Carmelita's eyes went wide. Her natural instincts as an Inspector came to the front and she realized everything that was happening and the reason behind it. "You malevolent scumbag!" She cried in shock. "You were manipulating everything! You wanted Clockwerk's body rebuilt a certain way so that you could use the bastard-child of Sly and Karla to masterfully steal certain things in the world to bring your soul back… then you planned to insert yourself into Clockwerk's body and rule from the most capable host available!"
"Clever girl!" The distorted image of Clockwerk cried.
"And that's why you're using an image of Clockwerk; in my dreams and here!" Carmelita continued. "You're trying to play everyone's actions as if we were pieces on a chessboard! But who are you playing against?" She demanded.
"As I said, this is not a dream for you, woman. And if you must know, I'm usurping your freewill with coercion and manipulation to bring about a dark fate!" The image of Clockwerk shouted. Its wings unfolded and the massive metallic body turned dark as if it was a silhouette, backed by a blood-red moon, casting a shadow upon Carmelita. The aura of the crimson luna surrounded his form like a total eclipse. His eyes glowed with a fiery passion of power and immense evil.
"What's your next move? Now that you've revealed yourself, it is time to fight me… is that it?" She asked, pulling both of her Glock pistols from their holsters.
The devilish presence announced, "I'm in the spirit realm yet you're unconscious in the physical realm. Carmelita M. Fox, we're in limbo. You're the Queen chess piece and after killing Karla Chintzy, you seem to be the only threat against my plans. Karla Chintzy's death was a loophole as she killed herself with no intention to take her own life. She's too archaic to know about weapons and the misplay was on unfair terms: You'd have never beat her face to face. Now, I plan to pit you against her in an honest fight to the death. If she beats you, your body will experience an aneurysm in your brain and her soul will be placed into your physical body. If you succeed, I will admit loss of that 'chess piece' and you will wake up."
Carmelita protested in anger. "That's unfair, because I should be awake to stop Clockwerk's construction so that you have no host to inhabit. I should be closing every avenue of your return; it's unfair that you've brought my spirit to this land!"
"Donovan Loupe was here after you put a bullet in his brain. I forced him to fight for his life, while he was here," Said the demonic aura in the sky. Its distorted shape was melting from that of Clockwerk to something indiscernible. "Obviously, he won but he never figured out who I am or why he was fighting. I didn't think you would, either."
"I told you," Carmelita hissed. "I'm a fourth generation cop. It's in my blood to crack cases by putting clues together. Bring on your pawn, I've been itching to break that woman's nose, followed by her ego. But if I die, I'll be after you, personally. So you'd better pray that I win."
The dark force seemed to snicker softly. "Your threats are amusing. I will return to the physical realm; even Karla's death provides me with a measure of satire. I am undefeatable. Hell cannot hold me forever. I am the almighty of darkness. I was unfairly struck down by the Arch-Angels of Heaven. It took all four of them to defeat me in an epic clash of Good against Evil that restored the balance to the world. It leveled this planet and it caused nearly all life to be destroyed and start over, Sixty-Eight million years ago."
"But Sixty-Eight million years ago… that was caused by a meteor hitting the earth!" Carmelita reasoned.
The dark figure assuming the image of Clockwork huffed softly, shaking his head with a sigh. "That was the might of Michael, smashing me to stifle the life from my body; it worked for a while but I will return," Said the dark cloud above her. "It caused the nearly instant death of more than half the life forms on this planet. Dinosaurs, plants, animals. Can you imagine the catastrophic death toll if it happened today? The Arch Angels would leave me alone in this modern day world."
"Are you telling me that YOU are Satan?" Carmelita said with an air of sarcasm and disbelief.
"No," Said the omnipotent being of iniquity. "Satan is a child's story to put a name to our own sin. Our sin is caused by temptation that comes in all forms. It's as harmless as a credit card. It's a flimsy piece of plastic that puts you into debt if you're irresponsible. It seems harmless and it gives you what you want when you want it. But later, you pay with interest, whether it is monetary interest or whether you must pay in blood or you gamble at the cost of the lives of others you care about. Temptation is the only thing more evil than me yet there is no man to claim or blame, as Original Sin is born into every man, woman and child.
"No matter how innocent, temptation is the evil part of the balance of good and evil that comes into play every day. It gives the living realm a realistic ability to destroy the world without my help. I don't want the world to be destroyed: I want to rule it. Power and control are what appeal to me. You mortals have a 50 percent chance of destroying the world I wish to rule. I'm not tempted to gamble against such odds. Temptation doesn't affect me. I will simply fight to return to the world of the physical and control it with an iron fist to ensure the survival of your species so that I may rule the world as I was destined to do!"
"Then show me what you got. I'm surprised someone else hasn't figured you out already and stopped you by now," Carmelita said, grinning. "But if it's up to me, then I accept. Small world, huh?"
The evil miasma of darkness fluttered, still holding the shape of Clockwerk, only it was heavily distorted. "This is not my first attempt, little Vixen. It takes centuries to carefully plan this. That diamond is required to begin my plans. Having it put into hiding only slowed me down. I will acquire it. Those that have learned of my presence in the past shouted my name to the physical world and all of them were locked up and labeled insane. Perhaps it is fitting: Only the crazy would come against me."
"You're boring me. Bring it on. I'll fight all your little pawns. What's Karla get out of this, if she wins, huh?" Carmelita requested, seeking to solicit the truth.
"When she wins," The darkness explained, "Your physical body will be stricken by a brain aneurysm. That is simply an unfortunate side effect of ripping your soul from your body and replacing it with her soul. She will continue to live in your body. Then she'll bare Sly Cooper's offspring, kill him and the child will be half mortal and half Immortal. It will become my hand into the physical realm. With the child's inability to die and Master Thievious gifts, I will easily guide the young, unquestioning child to obtain all the scattered artifacts around the world necessary to bring about my re-birth."
"And what happens to Karla Chintzy if I defeat her?" Carmelita asked, standing tall. Her mortal-world wounds were gone. She was uninjured here. "Is her soul destroyed forever?"
"No, I'm afraid she will be reborn as a useless mortal. Then there is a 50 percent chance that she will be 'good'. If you are defeated, you will enter Heaven. That is the Creator's loophole, mortal. He is all-forgiving and if you've lived a life of evil, you are given one more chance to live a good life and earn your way into Heaven. If you fail a second attempt, you are subject to eternal damnation. Enough banter; it is time to fight!"
"You realize, if I win, I'll destroy the diamond forever," Carmelita boasted.
Clockwerk's shadow cackled deviously in reply to her comment, rebutting, "Not if temptation claims you and you claim it, covet it and protect it from harm! Temptation is quite a beast. Now, begin!"
Carmelita turned to glance over her shoulder. Karla Chintzy stood in the middle of the body-filled battlefield, glowering. Her voice was monotone with anger, telling the vixen, "I died unfairly. Now it's time to earn my way back to the world of the living. I'll take over your body and Sly will be mine. I'll have my way with him and look into his eyes every time he confesses love; I'll be the most powerful Immortal on the face of the Earth, with the ability to bare offspring. Prepare to die." The Felox closed her paws into fists, grinning darkly.
Carmelita ran towards Karla, holding two of her four pistols in her paws and Karla broke into a sprint, dashing towards Carmelita. It was an epic battle between two of life's chess pieces. It was overseen by God, who would ensure a fair fight. Carmelita knew that God would not intervene unless evil cheated, as he was the overseeing force of truth, justice and freewill. She would have to win this fight on her own merit.
Meanwhile, the dark sky of Limbo was filled with the presence of Evil, who also watched from the sidelines. It quickly became obvious just who he was. Who else could play the role of Evil but the Serpent of Eden? The shadowy snake grew quiet, leering at the two combatants with a fiendish smirk.
Sly Cooper gripped the top of two cell bars in his paws, placing his feet on the bottom halves, which he was bending, using all the strength in his body. It was an arduous task but he was slowly succeeding, since they had been sliced by Reaper's scythe. On the other side, Carmelita's body was slumped in silence. Only her breath ensured that she was alive.
The door at the far end of the hallway opened and Donovan came down the corridor, with Bentley. He turned to face the gate, glancing at the set of cut bars, back to Cooper. Worldlessly, he opened the gate and motioned for Bentley to go inside. The turtle used his bionic leg machine to walk himself into the cell, folding his arms across the soft pallet of his chest.
The gate was shut; Donovan glanced down at Carmelita's form and frowned thoughtfully. He used his foot and nudged her body towards the cell bars, so that her gear would be accessible to the two inmates, then walked out of the hallway, shutting the door behind himself. The hallway was silent again.
Cooper kept his position, half way up on the cell bars but he paused to catch his breath for a moment. Finally, he spoke again. "She's fainted or something. I think she's been running on full steam for several days without real rest or a chance to eat; she blacked out," Sly said with a sigh, shaking his head. "Maybe we can use some of her gear to get us out of here; I wonder what she brought."
Foam was building at the corner of her muzzle. It was a typical symptom of incredible dehydration. The filmy residue was eking at the sides of her maw, but her body was completely still. Sly had his feet turned outwards, using his heel against the lower half of the bars and locking his elbows and shoulders to pull on the top cut of the bars.
From where the metal rungs had been horizontally cut in the center, the bottom rungs were bending more and more now. They were solid metal but they weren't cast iron, reinforced or even tempered to resist. The bars only bent about an inch; not enough to crawl through, yet.
"Sly," Bentley said with a sigh, shaking his head. "You're going to give yourself a hernia. Think of your body; we can access her gear, grab some things out and let's see what we have to use!" Obviously the turtle knew that his Thievious friend had longer arms, it made more sense to have Sly complete the task.
Sly slumped to the ground, panting softly. After a moment, he reached a paw through the bars and began to rummage through the duffle bags of gear. Finally, he pulled a few objects out, looking at them as if they were puzzle pieces. There was a specially marked shotgun cartridge, a hook shot with chain and some other stuff that looked to be explosives.
His head lifted, looking back to the cut in the bars. The lower half jutted outwards a few inches, while the upper half of the bars were bent inwards about a half of an inch. After a moment, his eyes returned to the collection of gear. Bentley's muse of inspiration was with them and it rocked the turtle with an idea.
"Sly put the shotgun shell into the gap where the bars have been cut, with the metal part facing us," Bentley told him, rubbing his hands together with a grin. "This is just perfect."
Sly took the incendiary shotgun round and wedged it between where the top bar and the bottom bar were crooked, from his attempts of bending them. It barely fit and he had to struggle to wedge it into place but he made it work. Bentley nodded in approval, "Great, now wrap part of the hook-shot chain around the bottom rungs!"
Sly did as instructed and he wrapped the hind end of chain around the bottom rungs, which were bent slightly outward. Next, he reached through the bars and took Carmelita by her ankle. Sly knew what Bentley had planned, it had become as obvious as the fact that Bentley was a genius.
Slowly but surly, the raccoon had to drag her down to the other end of the cell, near the gate. He would have to pull his paws out from between cell bars, every so often, to guide her another foot downwards. He continued to do this until she was rather far away from where Reaper had cut a swath into a few bars at the opposite end.
Once Cooper was satisfied that she was as safe as possible, it was time to begin the 'science' experiment. "We need a hammer object; what about your bench seat?" The tortoise asked. "I have a feeling you already know what's going to happen."
"All right, Bentley," Sly said aloud, "You know, I figured this out when you said put the incendiary round between the jail bars. You know, between living with you and watching 'Bill Nerd the Science Bird' when I was bored on Saturday afternoons…" Sly trailed off, angling the hook-shot and loading the far end of the chain into the machine.
The master thief went back to the plank in his cell that was used as a bench. "This is plain awesome, Bentley, but as far as these incendiary cartridges: are you sure they're hot enough to work? What if the bars are solid cast iron?"
"We have to try," Bentley mused, thoughtfully. "But coming up here, I'm led to believe that the Wolf guy knew we would come up with this plan or that I would think of something. The first thing he said, when we left my cell on the other side of the building, was that these bars are a plain metal with simple alloy for strength. Now I understand."
The raccoon stepped up onto the bench then jumped on it, breaking the board from its wall mounts. Taking the chunk of wood, roughly the size and shape of a 2x4, Sly approached the incendiary round that was wedged into the bent part of the bars. He lifted the wood then smacked the back side of the shotgun cartridge as hard as he could, causing it to explode. He simultaneously dove away from the bars as the round erupted into a white-hot ball of fire.
Cooper could feel the wave of intense heat that emanated from the shotgun shell, which burned up instantly. It only took a short moment for the round's burst to conclude, leaving the cell bars glowing orange. He then moved back towards them, taking the hook-shot, firing it across the hall.
Having left a very small amount of slack in the line, the grappling hook line rushed across the hallway, pulling on the bottom half of the heated bars. It created enough of a gap that the Raccoon would easily be able to get through, if he was careful.
The metal rungs bent under the force of the hook-shot's chain, due to the heat that caused the metal poles to glow orange. They were malleable from the heat and it caused all three bars that reaper had cut, to bend forward, leaving enough room for Sly to climb through. The only problem was, the bars were still glowing orange and he couldn't climb through without burning himself, just yet.
Sly crept over to the other end of the jail cell, reaching through to the duffle bags over Carmelita's chest. He went through each object, trying to figure out how it could be useful. Finally he came to the smoke bomb. Like the objects before it, he analyzed it then gave it a shake. It was the best he could offer without the mind of a scientist. The smoke bomb, however, had liquid in it, which sloshed inside when he shook it.
"Perfect," Bentley said, over Sly's shoulder. "Intrinsic Science Knowledge tells me that oxygen mixed with the liquid inside is what causes the smoke", Bentley explained but Sly didn't care about anything other than the fact that it had liquid inside of it. He ran back down the wall of metal bars, to where the dimly glowing orange ones were bent, allowing for a means of exit, if he could squeeze through it.
The raccoon played with the smoke bomb until he found the small bolt in the bottom used for filling the little round ball with the liquid chemical. He unfastened the bolt using his teeth, then turned it over, pouring the contents on the glowing bars. It began to turn to smoke but for the most part, the liquid poured out faster then the compressed liquid-to-gas transformation could happen. Upon contact with the heat, the liquid hissed softly.
However, it worked better than Sly had hoped. He wasn't a chemist but this liquid was designed to transform into smoke in a room-temperature oxygen environment. The heat kept the chain reaction from happening too quickly. The liquid stayed liquid, oddly beading up on the orange bars.
It was like placing dry ice on glowing metal; it hissed and caused some steam and fog-like vapor but for the most part, the liquid absorbed the heat out of the metal, causing the orange glow to dim. Sly grinned over his shoulder at Bentley, who offered a 'thumbs up' gesture.
Finally, the smoke grenade was empty of its contents. By then, the bent bars were cool enough to touch. They were still fairly hot, but they didn't glow orange anymore, which meant that it would hurt to touch them but not cause scalding third degree burns. That, at least, was a step in the right direction, as far as Sly was concerned. Bentley, however, shook his head.
Sly could tell from a glance that he would be able to fit through the gap. His eyes perceived a twinkling aura of cerulean that shimmered all about the small gap. Bentley, on the other paw, wasn't convinced for himself. It was such a small space, for sure. He knew he couldn't hold Sly back from escaping. There was no probability to be sprung from jail, unless he escaped.
"There's no way I'll be able to fit through there, Sly. My shell is too wide at the hips, you'll be able to slither through that tight spot. You go on ahead, I'll be fine. We've got to hurry and free the gang, so that we can help Carmelita out of here. I passed them on the way here. They're in different cells, throughout the Bank. Penelope is on the third floor and Murray is downstairs, on the second floor. Hurry!"
Sly dove through the narrow gap with ease, breaking into a roll on the hallway floor. He glanced over his shoulder then grinned. "I'll be back, buddy. Don't let anything happen to Carmelita. In a few minutes, when those bars cool down, pull her over to the gap and pull her into the cell, just to be safe. Be back soon," Sly told him, dashing down the hallway to the door; he paused to look over his shoulder one more time then left.
Meanwhile…
Carmelita fell into a strafing step with Karla. The two women circled about, facing one another, at a stand off. Karla now had a solid hole in her shoulder, having found out the hard way that Carmelita's bullets seemed to have the same effect they had on her in the physical world. They hurt and they left wounds.
"I'm trying to decide," Karla said as the two strafed about, nearly toe to toe, "If I should use your own guns against you and blow your brains out, or if I should just snap your neck. Or maybe, I should punch a hole in your chest and rip your heart out while you watch. Can you possibly comprehend what I've seen in my years of immortality?"
"Shut up and fight, harlot," Carmelita snapped, suddenly throwing a punch. Karla teleported behind Carmelita, quickly using an elbow to hit the vixen in the back of the head. Inspector Fox grunted softly, dropping her paws to the dusty clay-colored ground. She then kicked her leg back, in an attempt to sweep the half-breed who was now behind her.
Karla leapt over the attempted sweep-kick, but didn't anticipate that Carmelita would follow through by pushing off the ground with all her might, immediately pivoting hard and offering a roundhouse kick. It caught the carnation-furred antagonist across the face, knocking her to the ground. The dust settled, but when it did, Karla had teleported again. Carmelita glanced around the area, not seeing her opponent.
Before she could say anything, the half-cat yet half-fox dropped from above, bringing a kick out to catch the Inspector across the face, atrociously brutal. The intense attack threw the vulpine cop from her feet. Carmelita spiraled back, landing in the midst of a heap of fallen bodies. Some were fairly fresh while others were nothing but bones. Limbo had a nefariously hellish feel about it, considering it wasn't hell, itself.
The Interpol agent wasn't finished, however. She rolled onto her back, drawing her pistols and firing two shots from each one. Three of the four rounds missed the half-breed Felox, but one of them actually connected with Karla's chest, ripping through her heart. The inertia knocked Karla Chintzy to the ground but she stood back up, giggling.
"As if I really had a heart; you can't beat me with a bullet to the chest, Carmelita Fox!" Karla cried with a giddy air. She picked up a femur bone from a skeleton's leg, then she twirled it about. Carmelita took another shot but Karla dodged the round. Another shot and Karla evaded that one, as well. The half-breed suddenly sprinted towards Carmelita, smacking the female fox across the side of her face with the chalky white weapon.
Carmelita groaned hard but she kept her cool. She pushed her pistols back into the holsters, reaching her paws up to grab Karla by the fur of her neck and the garment of her clothes, respectively in her left and right paws. Then Miss Fox placed a foot upon Karla's tummy, leaning back to throw the opponent across the field. Karla slammed into the dusty earth, sliding to a halt. A dust cloud swirled about the area while Carmelita came to her feet.
Suddenly, Karla teleported behind Carmelita, picking the Inspector up, with nothing more than bare paws. Carmelita struggled, being lifted high. Then Carmelita's world blinked from her eyes. The shocking realization came when she felt herself floating through the air; she'd been teleported into the sky. She fell, the wind whipping at her face and the collar of her jacket, which beat against her neck. Her paws were put outwards, seeing the ground rushing upwards.
Carmelita slammed into the clay-dirt earth of Limbo with a hard groan. It she had been attacked such a way in the physical realm, it would have surly killed her. The Inspector was beginning to wonder what it would take to kill one another. She felt a paw at the back of her neck and then the vulpine was airborne again. Karla leered at her opponent who slid to a stop, thirty feet away.
Chintzy teleported again, coming to stand besides Carmelita, delivering a brutal kick to the hip. Fox couldn't help but groan, curling her legs inwards in a fetal position for a moment. She reached for Carme's jacket, holding the vixen up by the scruff of her collar. Carmelita wasn't beaten, however.
The clever vulpine put her foot against Karla's chest, pushing off so that her other foot delivered a devastating kick to the pink-furred woman's face. Carmelita completed the somersault and landed gracefully upon her feet. She grinned, pulling the weapons from her holsters again, shooting several rounds into Karla's body. The bullets ruptured through the half-breed, eliciting a scream of pain.
Carmelita placed the barrel against Karla's forehead, whispering, "End of the line, babe. Say hello to the devil for me." She pulled the trigger but wasn't even ready to be surprised for what happened next. As the trigger was pulled, Karla teleported the bullet from the weapon. The next thing Inspector Fox realized was a bullet ripping through the back of her own hip, leaving a flesh wound just above her pelvis.
"Isn't that a pain in the love-handles, sweetie?" Karla said, kicking her leg up to knock Carmelita away. She stood up, dusting herself off with a foul looking smirk. "I am the devil, Carmelita Fox. You're meeting me now and it's time for you to die. Say hello to Saint Peter for me; Immortals never need to arrive at his gates."
The valiant Heroine dove back at Karla, knocking the woman to the ground. They wrestled about, attempting to gain purchase on one another before Carmelita found herself laying flat on her stomach with a weight upon her back. Karla had teleported from beneath her to standing on the vixen's back. "Get off of me you fat-arse!" Cried the French Inspector.
She rolled over quickly, causing Karla to loose her footing. Carmelita reacted with her animal instincts, wrapping her muzzle around Karla's leg, chomping down hard. Her bite snapped through bone and sinew. The ensuing crunch noise was nearly nauseating. Karla's pain bellowed from her diaphragm, but she wasn't yet beaten.
Defensively, Karla teleported Carmelita back into the sky, dropping the vixen from a dramatic height. Carmelita reeled about, kicking wildly as she fell from the sky. Racing towards the ground, Carmelita suddenly grew very still, folding her arms down at her sides. She angled herself so that she became a speeding bullet. Aiming her body, Carmelita crashed into Karla, knocking both to the ground, providing Carmelita was a softer landing, although it still hurt to collide with the busty Felox.
Carmelita sat up, perched upon the other woman's chest, pounding away at the half-breed's pretty feminine visage. In a method of self defense, Karla teleported all four of Carmelita's guns into the air, manipulating them so that they were on all four side's of the vixen's head. The 9mm pistols were cocked and all four were ready to be used on her head.
The Interpol agent was well trained and not about to give up, yet. She evaded the four round bullet tactic by quickly lunging her muzzle at Karla's throat. All four weapons fired, hitting one another, which caused the guns to scatter throughout the immediate area. Karla now had fangs wrapped around her throat, threatening to snap the evil woman's neck in half.
Chintzy wiggled a manicured finger at one of the weapons, causing it to fly through the stale air, until it slammed into the side of Carmelita's head so hard that it left the Inspector dazed, lying on the ground. The Feline-Fox stood up, limping towards the fallen, dizzy officer. She struggled over each step, from the break in her ankle. Karla lifted her pink-furred paws outwards, using her powers to scatter the weapons to a distance that was now completely out of reach; her grin dripping with sin and hatred.
Karla approached Carmelita, wrapping her paws around the Inspector's throat, picking the Inspector up from the pile of bodies. She held the vixen up, in the air, choking her. "This is the end of the line, Miss Fox. I'll be assuming your body. But I have good news: You'll stop aging, once I'm in your body. Then Sly will give me the Diamond and I'll have my way with him and assume the position of the most powerful Super Natural on the planet… one with the ability to produce offspring. I'll be a goddess!"
Carmelita struggled in her grip, feeling the life choked from her. She knew if she lost, that this wannabe (want-to-be) Ghengis Kahn rip-off would win; Karla would take over her body and Sly would eventually die. For once, the raccoon was innocent and as a cop she knew she had a duty to protect the innocent as much as she had a duty to arrest the guilty. But Karla currently had the upper hand and Carmelita Montoya Fox was struggling, gripping at Karla's wrists, trying to pull them from her throat but the half-breed was too strong…
A/N: OH NO! Is this supreme evil being going to win? Did I really have enough gull to implement such a massive, complex conspiracy? Making this an all out Good Vs Evil story? Hell yea, i did! hehe :D A lot of people wanted to see Karla dead. The rest of them wanted to see Karla and Carmelita actually duke it out, toe to toe. I'm giving you both! She's dead, they're fighting and for the one or two people that think I should keep her around until the end of the story… I apologize. As much as I like the minority, I'm doing what I can ;)
Just wait until you see what I have planned for Clockwerk. Will this supreme evil being take over Clockwerk's body? Will Clockwerk have a say in what's going on? Will the Cooper gang fight, let alone defeat the metal monster owl? It's going to be a real hoot, pardon the owl pun. Hehe. In the next action packed chapter… we'll see fighting, death, destruction, wanton explosions and random things blowing up! Just like in the movies:D But I promise… the story line, from here on out, is actually drafted out. I can't tell you all the details of what will happen because I still don't know that… but I know how I want to end it and how I want to go about getting there… But I don't know what will happen on the way from point A to point B. But I promise, it will be one 'hell' of a ride, pardon the Limbo pun. :D
-kit