A/N: I've been pretty busy at work. Between that, girlfriend time and band practice, I've been putting all my efforts into one story at a time, so that I'm not overwhelmed. I figure I'm really far into this story; I might as well see it to its conclusion before going onto my next project. XD I just want to say… holy cow there are a lot of females in the Sly Cooper Fan Fiction Fandom. With that in mind, I feel vindicated for planning a very romantically written moment between Sly and Carmelita in the near future. I plan for him to sweep her off her feet for a few minutes and I want to melt some hearts in doing it. For those who can't stand Sly and Carmelita pairings, don't fret… I've got a super cool ending that EVERYONE will be able to swallow… And yet you're all going to put your hands on your hips and say, "you'd BETTER write a sequel, I SWEAR!" but I don't know when I would get the chance… so… maybe ;)
I just wanted to do an INTREAGUE style ending. Think Steven King. :;looks evil;: Muwahaha.
Okay, time for chapter 14! I went through a lot of names for this chapter. Inadvertent Super Heroes, The Cooper Gang Remix, Double Prison Break… I finally decided to do a play on words that could mean either "TEAMWORK" or "CLOCKWERK" and called it…
Chapter 14: A Well Oiled Machine
Murray gave a tug on the bars but they were pretty solid. He had been captured before and while this place wasn't using high power hypnotic equipment and spice chemicals to break his will, it was certainly just as creepy. But the thing was, Murray wasn't the average find. He wasn't quite a child, but he was certainly a child at heart, sometimes.
The cell was fairly simple. It was an odd thing to have in a bank but it was obvious that this bank was outfitted for the needs of these villains. His cell, however, wasn't an electronically locked one, like everyone else had. Murray frowned thoughtfully, seeing it as a sort of insult, but at the same time, it was probably better than he didn't have some high tech lock and key to keep him here.
"I could sure go for a bag of Carmelita's Jelly Beans right about now. I hate getting put behind bars," The hippo groused to himself, turning away from the bars and facing the wall with a sigh.
From out of the blue, a voice came to Murray's ear. "Hey, pal. You've just landed on the Chance Card spot. Low and behold, you've been awarded a 'Get Out Of Jail Free' Card. Would you like to redeem this voucher, good sir?" The voice was none-other than Sly Cooper, making a Monopoly connotation with a sharp grin. Murray turned about, quickly.
"Sly!" He bellowed in delight. The boisterous hippo ran across his cell, wrapping his hands around the bars. "Before they separated us, Bentley told me about a warehouse, here in Prague, where I can find the tank that I used against Neyla's forces, back when we were stealing the Clockwerk Eyes! ( A/N: Sly2 BoT ) Remember that? He gave me the passkey to get back in there and it's not far from here!"
"You and Bentley were locked in here, together?" Sly asked, raising his brows.
Murray shrugged. "I guess they figured he'd find some way to override an electric gate, so they'd given us the old fashion kind. He tried picking the lock on this one but I guess it was too old fashion; he gave it a good try though."
"Leave lock picking to the thieves," Sly said with a playful grin. "Can you get to that tank, Murray? We might need it more than you know, in order to get out of here. We might even need it against Clockwerk," Sly added with an adjunction of seriousness to his tone.
"If you can get me out of here, I can get that tank with no problem," Murray insisted, continuing, "I'm a driver; I don't forget my way around a town like this, I'll bring it back here using back roads, then I'll put it out back and keep it concealed."
"How do you conceal a tank, Murray?" Sly asked, scrunching his eyebrows. "That's a big boxy thing with a gun turret, after all, pal." Sly lifted his cane over his shoulder, using the hook to scratch an annoying itch. Murray blinked, seeing Cooper's left leg twitch from the back scratching.
"Sly, it's snowing pretty hard," replied the hippopotamus in a knowing sort of voice. "It's in a maintenance shed. I'll just grab a snow shovel and bring it with me. When I get it out back, I'll shovel snow up onto it. Between that and the snow storm, I'll have it buried. The Murray is up for the task! We've got to stop Clockwerk. People of the world are counting on us, Sly!"
Cooper grinned lopsidedly, pulling his blue hat from atop of his head. He reached his fingers into the fabric stitching, pulling out an old fashion lock pick, then made short work of the gate. "Good as new, pal. Good luck getting that tank; it's snowing awfully hard out there, don't get yourself hurt, big guy. And be careful driving that tank in the snow. I'm rooting for ya."
"Don't worry about me driving the tank," Murray chuckled, pulling his driving goggles down over his eyes. "Rommel is my middle name ," the hippo joked, causing a grin to tug at the corner of Sly's muzzle.
"We've got to hurry, pal," Sly told him, adding, "Penelope is upstairs, on the third floor. I'm going back for Carmelita and Bentley; they're on the third floor, too. Can you manage?"
The Hippo gave a tug at his driving gloves, so that the leather creaked, being stretched tight. "The Murray is on the case!" He announced, taking the bars of the gate and forcing them to slide open with a loud clang. Sly gestured with his palms, pushing them outwards in the ever popular 'patty cake' sort of way, as if to gesture for quiet. Murray saw it and grinned sheepishly, "Oops. Sorry, got a little excited. Anyway, don't worry about Penelope, I'll get her and you get everyone else. Once Penelope is free, I'll get the tank ready."
Sly gave a 'thumbs up' then dashed off, leaving Murray to find his own way to a set of stairs. Cooper kicked in the next door he came to, which just happened to be a stairwell. He hopped up, upon the railing and ascended it, one foot in front of the next. It was better than steps, because for someone with his balance, it was like running up a ramp, instead of marching up a staircase.
At the top of the stairs, two guards were rounding the corner, just in time for Sly to cross their paths. He was quick, locking his ankles and bending his knees. The master thief, using his ultra quiet slide technique, glided between the two of them, using his cane to grab one, throwing him into the other. Sly then lifted the cane like a bat and swung his entire body, to put his weight behind the strike.
Once the guards were on the ground, dazed and confused, Sly tapped the end of his cane against the floor, causing a puff of smoke to billow from the bottom. He then jumped upwards, throwing his feet over his head in a somersault, landing on the outside of the smoke plume. From there, he continued his sprint, heading for Bentley and Carmelita.
Hurrying through the hall, Sly lifted his cane upwards, catching the backside of a security camera, as he entered a new hallway. Finally, he planted the cane into the ground, vaulting forward and extending his right leg. His knee locked and his heel caught the door hard, knocking it open hard enough to startle Bentley, in the cell. The plush carpet, covered with brown stains from a prior combat in this hallway, whispered noisily from the raccoon's footfalls. He sprinted up to the bars and came to a quick halt.
"How is she?" Sly asked.
"You're back! You rescued everyone that fast?" Bentley asked, followed by, "She's all right, but dehydrated. Every so often, Carmelita mutters in parables. It's rather cryptic but oddly enough I'm able to comprehend what she's talking about."
"Well?" Sly asked, tilting his head.
"It's…" Bentley shook his head slowly, "Stuff you'd recognize if you've read Milton's 'Paradise Lost' or know much about the occult." Before Sly could protest or ask anything further, Bentley added, "When you've learned about semi-magical things like Bad Mojo (A/N: Sly2 BoT), you've learned about magical, worldly, celestial and biblical, Sly. It's just for the sake of knowledge."
Sly put his paws up, "It's the occult, sure, but there's no need to get defensive, Bentley. What's she talking about, in her sleep?"
Bentley glanced down at Carmelita's silent body then lifted his gaze back up to Cooper. He took his glasses off and began to clean the lenses with a sigh. "She's cursing at someone. She's referred to them by every name in the 9 levels of Hell. She said them as insults. She referred to them as Lucifer, Mammon, Asmodeus, Leviathan, Beelzebub, Satan and Belphegor. She swears that she's fighting 'the Morningstar', but that's impossible. The devil doesn't exist, it's a fairytale to show young children morality."
Sly quirked a brow, tilting his head. "That's pretty deep, do you think she'll be all right?"
"I don't know, but let's get out of here before that Lion guy comes back," Bentley pleaded. "He freaks me out," The turtle told him, shaking his head. "I'll help guide you through using the terminal in the next room, so you can unlock these bars. If you hurry, we can all get out of here and fall back on my backup plan, letter C, which I've instructed for Murray."
"The tank? Good idea, but I want to give Clockwerk the personal touch, first. If there's some way to personally stick a wrench in his gears, I want to be the one there, doing it." Sly noted with a reaffirming nod. "I'll carry Carmelita and you can hold onto my back. I think that should be enough balance for me to do everything I need to do to get us all out of here quickly." Sly went to the doorway where the cell controls were, turning the knob…
Carmelita Montoya Fox was fighting, not only for her life, but for her very existence. The pugnacious pink-furred princess, Karla Chintzy, threw her arms up, using her wrists to instinctively block Carmelita's left and right jab, only to teleport once more. She reappeared behind Carmelita, throwing her arms around the vixen's neck, squeezing tightly.
"You may have escaped me earlier, but I'll suffocate the life from your body, one way or another!" Karla screamed into Carmelita's ear. Inspector Fox reached her paws up, grabbing Karla's forearms. She then doubled forward, bowing over quickly, to cause Karla to be thrown over the vixen's shoulder.
Karla slammed into the dusty, dry earth with a thud. A plume of scarlet rose up about her form then the clay colored dust settled over her body. She lay still for a moment. Carmelita tilted her head, approaching cautiously. "Are you dead, you dimwitted cow?" The vulpine cop nudged the body with her toe.
Karla was still. "There's no way I'm falling for it," Carmelita said, pulling her Glock hand-cannon from its holster. She didn't pull the trigger yet because with Karla lying still, the woman had the concentration necessary to do that 'bullet teleporting' trick again. Carmelita was already hurting from a painfully un-fatal bullet wound, she wasn't ready to risk that chance again. She would have to make sure Karla was busy or distracted next time the gun was fired.
Carmelita lifted the gun, seeing that Karla's eyes were shut. She grinned then pistol whipped the half-breed across the muzzle, eliciting a shout of pain from Karla. The woman rolled over, coming to her feet, seeing her bluff was called. Carmelita, on the other paw, just grinned. "Thought I was going to pull the trigger didn't you?" She chided, drawing her fist back, to use the gun as a brutal melee weapon.
Karla anticipated the swing and disappeared but Carmelita was ready, having second guessed the half-feline's next move. The vixen spun about, swinging the pistol through the air behind herself, right as Karla appeared in that space. The gun slammed across the carnation and milky fur mixture over the half-breed's face, hard. Karla staggered back, a surprised look in her face.
Chintzy growled softly. "Carmelita, I've misjudged you. I thought you would be such an easy kill that I would just go easy to make it last longer but now I see I should unleash my full ability upon you!"
"Bring it on; I'll get you," Miss Fox snapped, drawing her fists back after putting the pistol back into the holster.
"Lend me your power, Nagan!" Karla shouted to the sky. As Carmelita lifted her head, she saw the dark cloud that was once in the shape of Clockwerk, beginning to billow throughout the heavens. For an instant, she could have sworn she saw a dark outline of what could only be described as a woman, holding a harp. She had middle eastern features and was rather pretty.
In that instance, Carmelita could make out the silhouette's form enough to tell that it was a serpent. The snake-like creature, hypnotically beautiful, plucked softly at the harp, playing an ancient Babylonian hymn. "Who in the heck…?" Carmelita blinked rapidly.
"What's the matter, sweetheart?" Karla chided playfully, "Don't know your mythology or ancient religious historical knowledge?" Her smile grew. "It's Nagash, the musical serpent of Babylon. She played music in the Garden of Eden. You have no idea who you're dealing with, Carmelita Montoya Fox. You cannot defeat evil; you are but one mortal woman. And now, you will watch the fall of the Physical realm from the white picket fence of Heaven, when I BANISH YOU THERE!"
Karla threw her arms upwards and the roaring glow of fire and brimstone rose upwards, consuming her form. She was engulfed with the power of the True Father of Caine, standing before the mortal Vixen. Her pink fur had a darker tint to it. The fiery strands of those now-rusty bangs lifted upwards as if compelled by an unseen force.
"Having blood-red fur and a bad case of static cling doesn't scare me," Carmelita grumbled, narrowing her eyes. It was true, she had no comprehension of what she was up against. But what she also didn't realize was that she was the right person to go up against this darkness. Carmelita Fox had a pure heart. She believed in right against wrong, good against evil and most importantly, she believed in love, fidelity, marriage and despite her emotional temper, never allowed herself to be completely consumed by wrath.
She was a pure-hearted woman. She was authentic, unsullied, and she was against the practice of unlawfulness. Carmelita Fox, when it came down to it, was an Angel with an attitude. Karla began a sprint, looking to throw the full force of her weight, backed with hatred and clouded with darkness, into her tackle attempt. Carmelita watched her approached and an odd, eerie sense of calm came over her, possibly for the first time ever.
The Inspector's eyes narrowed to slits. Her arm lifted and with the virtuous power of nobility and honor standing behind her, the valorous vixen was firm like an anchored tree. She stepped to the side and when Karla connected with her out-stretched arm, it knocked the half-breed flat onto her back. The momentum carried Karla several more feet, until she rolled to a stop. Inertia was a cruel mistress.
Chintzy stood up, glowering. She was allowing wrath to overcome her and the animosity and hate was all consuming. She teleported again, but for the first time, Carmelita could actually see everything. It was as if time had come to a near crawl and Karla quickly attempted to run around the Inspector so that she could stand behind Miss Fox but Carmelita could see the maneuver in slow motion.
Carme Fox reached out for Karla, grasping her gun with her right fist while using her left paw to knock the half breed down once again. The clever vulpine then brandished the pistol and fired. The bullet ripped from the barrel slowly in a cloudy burst of gunpowder flash. The round lanced forth, striking Karla in her other shoulder. With such a force, the sinfully created spawn of Iniquity was thrown into a hard spin before she could get all the way back to her feet.
Having only risen to her knees, the bullet threw her across the linier battlefield. She plowed through bodies of the defeated, skidding to a halt several meters away. Carmelita approached the woman, replacing the gun within its holster. She watched Karla raise from the darkness to one knee. Inspector Fox brought her right leg upwards instinctively, catching the half-cat under the jaw. It lifted the woman upwards, causing her to land flat on her back with a groan.
"You can never have Sly," Carmelita said. "You can never have my body; We're not as gullible as Adam and Eve. I don't care where the two of you began or where the two of you will end. Just know that I am Carmelita Fox. Your ass is grass and I'm the gardener. This is my lawnmower," She added, pulling the two weapons from their sheaths once more, opening fire repeatedly.
"Don't you realize," Karla screamed, throwing her arms up instinctively to defend herself from the bullets that screamed out of the weapon. "I am Lilith reborn! The Babylonian-Assyrian demon, Lilit! Lilu! I presented myself to Isaiah well over a millennia ago, in another body. I've been brought here to fight and have never been defeated! I will make your body my next host; you are powerless, mortal whelp!" The ancient symbol glyphs that were branded into the fur around her bosom began to incandesce.
"Then it's time someone shut you up," Carmelita snapped, firing the two powerful magnum pistols until the magazines were empty. She ejected the clip-like tubes, which clattered to the ground. Her paws lowered, seeking to slap fresh magazines home but the injured Karla wasn't about to allow that to happen. She closed her paw, causing both of Carmelita's weapons to go flying from her grip once more.
The two 9mm Berettas she'd not yet used were strewn about the battlefield, having been missing since Karla had used her powers to throw them earlier (A/N: Chapter 13). The vixen simply narrowed her eyes. "I've had enough of you. I've got more important things to do than to play games with you, woman," Fox snapped, lifting her right paw and throwing the hardest punch she could muster. Karla had been concentrating on using her powers against the weapons and was unprepared for such a strike.
Carmelita's punch struck with the force of thunder, knocking Karla through the air so hard that she landed on her back several feet away. The half-feline was completely dazed, trying to sit up but struggled to regain her equilibrium. A soft groan was issued from the half-breed immortal. Carmelita never stopped. She was immediately upon the other woman, following through with a powerful kick.
The truculent Inspector immediately grasped a hold of Karla's hair. Carmelita put one foot forward to gain a stance of balance, then she leaned back, swinging hard. To Karla's surprise, the reborn succubus was lifted from the ground, spun about and thrown to the dusty earth with incredible force. Carmelita was riled up but she wasn't consumed by wrath the way Karla had allowed herself to be.
Chintzy let out a visceral scream of frustration, trying to stand up only to be slammed to the ground again. She wasn't able to do so much as move without Carmelita being right there to beat her to the hardened clay floor once more. Karla's countenance showed fear painted upon her visage for the first time, when her eyes were met with Carmelita's own. However, she was not ready to surrender, yet.
Karla was exasperated and humiliated, shouting, "This land of perdition, the outer layers of the Dark State, should become your personal tomb like those that you see littering the ground for miles, here, Carmelita!"
"Shut your mouth and fight, witch," Inspector Fox replied, reaching back for her holster, beneath her jacket. Her paw wrapped around something familiar. The soft padding of her palm closed about the weapon beneath her jacket and her claws brushed together lightly once she held the object in her fist. Karla was coming to her feet once more, just as Carmelita brandished the destructive weapon.
It reflected in Karla Chintzy's eyes. Outlined with a yellow stripe and embroidered with an equally golden star upon its side. The object, which was emblazoned in a metallic crimson tincoat coloration, shinned with an unsubtle radiance. Within the depths of the barrel, a cerulean glow emanated, incandescing from deep inside. The glow illuminated Karla's face as it grew. The world seemed to revolve around only these two combatants and time stood still.
Without further warning, the electric bolt was unleashed and behind it was the counter of Good. Because Karla had called upon evil to help her cheat this fight, the power of light stood behind Carmelita's pistol shot. When it was unleashed, the devastating sapphire discharge lanced forward. Carmelita's azure bangs were pushed upwards as the electronic discharge caused static, among other forms of current, to come together in this awesome blast.
Carmelita was thrown backwards from the unexpectedly devastating blast power. The round consumed Karla, blowing her clear across the dusty battlefield. Her fur was burned away and all that remained was her true form… The iniquitous dark angel of Evil. The injured immortal stood up and she was completely different before Carmelita now.
The woman was a plain biped demoness. Her body was a dark as a raven and her demonic wings towered from behind her with talons at the tip of each wing. The fiendish imp had glowing eyes that radiated her impurity. She was sullied, defiled and her twisted inner state was now emphasized by her lewd outer appearance.
"So that's what a lecher looks like on the inside, huh?" Carmelita said, glancing back down to her Shock Pistol. It had drained its entire battery cell on that one powerful shot. The plasma discharge caused the golden stripe around the edge of the barrel to chip and the paint to bubble up from the intense heat of the previous shot. She abandoned it, tossing it to the ground. A wisp of steam rose from it, once it skittered to a halt on the clay earth.
Carmelita reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out two sandy-colored gloves. She pulled them over her paws, tugging them up over her wrists. She then pushed her paws together, cracking her knuckles before intertwining her fingers and inverting them to crack her knuckles a second time. The sound was laced with a thunder that rolled across the sky in the distance. "You're going down, freak," The feminine fox mused in an almost thoughtful sort of way.
"Devastating shock blast, I'll admit," Karla said, panting softly from her injuries. Most of her wounds were beneath that which could be optically perceived. In fact, she didn't even seem to be phased other than the way she looked winded and stood with her shoulders slumped. But the truth of the matter was that she was hurting within.
Carmelita simply smirked. She glanced over her shoulder then began to approach the succubus. They approached one another and met in the middle, and the clash of good against evil was in full swing. Karla immediately wrapped her hands around Carmelita's neck and her demonic wings around the vixen's body, trying to smother her.
The Inspector lifted her paws, slamming her right and left knuckles into Karla's face, breaking Karla's nose. The demon jerked her head back in surprise. For the first time, she could taste the salty, metallic taste of blood on her tongue, as if she were a mere mortal. Her hands released Carmelita who continued with her offensive attack. The vixen threw her arms outwards, breaking Karla's winged shroud from her body, then immediately spun about, delivering a devastating roundhouse.
The kick caught Karla across the side of her face, throwing the demon to the ground with tremendous force. Karla Chintzy's flesh was that of the most abysmal ebon hues. Her eyes were of the same coloration. Those narrowed coals burned with hatred and animosity. She leapt from the ground, reaching for Carmelita who acted on instinct.
Inspector Fox, partially through her police defense training and partially through the guiding hand of The Creator, took the demon by the horns. Carmelita shifted her weight by pivoting on her heel, throwing Karla to the ground with such force that it cracked the clay field all around the impact site. Karla's tail was now a long, narrow rod of flesh with a spiked tip that flitted with frustration and annoyance.
She tried to stand up but Carmelita was too quick. The vixen delivered a powerful kick beneath the devil's chin, throwing the evil woman into the air, only to land on the ground hard, once more. Karla scrambled to her feet, quickly throwing her arms outwards towards Carmelita but nothing happened.
"Why can't I teleport you!" She screamed angrily. "I called for the power of the devil, where is my power!" She abandoned her attempts and began to sprint towards Carmelita. Karla took the fox's neck in her hand and shifted her weight, leading into a throw that caused Carmelita to be ejected across the field. The weary Inspector plowed into a pile of bodies, stacked up on the ground. Once she stood up, dusting herself off, it was time to attack again.
Meanwhile…
Sly returned, pushing the cell bars open. He knelt down so that Bentley could climb onto his back but with the bionic leg attachment, he was heavier than ever before. However, the legs were comprised of lightweight titanium and so it wasn't beyond the raccoon's lifting ability. He then eased his paws beneath Carmelita's body, carefully lifting her to his chest before standing.
"Now this is weight training and endurance exercise," Sly grunted.
Holding onto his friend tightly, Bentley muttered, "I just hope your stamina holds out, Sly." Carmelita's head lulled back over Sly's right wrist. A filmy sort of paste dribbled from her muzzle, down the side of her neck, collecting on the floor. Sly winced, seeing how dehydrated she was. Bentley sighed softly, shaking his head. "We've got to secure immediate liquid hydration before pressing on, Sly. Maybe we can find a public lavatory somewhere nearby. I'm surprised the jail cells don't have anything more than a crummy toilet in the corner."
"Face it buddy," Sly said, balancing the weight carefully as he made his way out into the hallway. "The bad guys don't like showing their guests any sort of hospitality," The raccoon added with a slight semblance of a chuckle. "Now let's get you guys out of here so I can finish what I started against Clockwerk."
"Sly, no," Bentley said, shaking his head rapidly. He leaned up over Sly's shoulder, watching where the thief was heading. "We've got to do this together. I'm terrified of these goons but even with every fiber of my body protesting against a direct offensive… I'm afraid it is the only means possible for success of this mission!"
"I don't think it's just a mission anymore, Bentley," Sly quipped, heading out of the hallway and into the next area. "We've got to stop Clockwerk at any and all costs; A mission can succeed or fail but I don't see failure as an option here, pal."
"You are completely correct," Bentley mused. "Failure is not an option. This is less of a mission and more of an epic battle. Maybe we should hide Carmelita's body in a safe place once we're able to hydrate her. Then we can stop Clockwerk and pick her up on the way out, if we survive!"
"Sounds dangerous," Sly chided.
The turtle sneezed over Sly's shoulder. "The probability of our survival is below the recommended safety standards for all of my other plans. It's an undecidedly dangerous objective filled with peril and a high possibility of certain doom," Bentley blathered, in a near rant. He sneezed again, adding, "I'm allergic to the thought of dying."
"Sounds fun," Sly replied with a grin. "Can you fight without your crossbow?"
"Are you kidding?" Bentley conceded with pride. "These legs are state of the art in modern combat programming. That and Carmelita is armed to the teeth with all of my gear!"
"There's that," Sly chuckled, turning down the next hallway. There was a bathroom up ahead. Sly shrugged to himself and carried the two of them into the women's lavatory, setting Carmelita down on the floor. Bentley released Sly's shoulder, dropping to the floor; his bionic legs extended, cushioning his fall. Sly couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief.
The raccoon turned to the sink and placed his paws beneath the faucet which had a motion sensor under the spout. Cool water pooled into his paws, which he carefully cradled to Carmelita's muzzle. With Bentley's help, lifting her head at a better angle, they fed her water from the spigot for several minutes in this fashion. Once Bentley seemed satisfied that they had done what they could, he gave a reaffirming nod.
"Let's leave her here. It's near the stairs and we can stop by on our way out if we're lucky," The tortoise decided aloud.
"Why Bentley… I didn't know you believed in luck," Sly said with a grin. "Think you can keep up with me or should I carry you again?"
"I don't believe in luck but if it exists, we'll certainly need it right about now," Bentley explained, adding, "I want to hit the Laboratory at two angles, simultaneously. Boost me up to the vents and I'll go in that way. You go in through the main doors, just stay out of sight."
"Roger that," Sly said, placing his paws on either side of his friend's shell beneath the little man's arms. Bentley was lifted upwards and deposited into the ventilation register. "Good luck, Bent. I'll see you in the lab. Maybe we can beat the crap out of that engineer who's rebuilding Clockwerk if we're lucky. Stay quiet in there."
"Thanks for the advice," Bentley mumbled, reaching to adjust his glasses before starting to crawl through the vent shaft. After a moment, he was out of range. Sly turned back to Carmelita and knelt besides her. He leaned forward, covering her lips with his own for a moment before whispering something into her ear. With that done, he stood up and left the bathroom, heading for the Lab.
Murray stopped in front of Penelope's cell, placing his hands on the bars. They were solid; he would have to find a way to destroy the locking mechanism. "Hiya, Penelope. I'm here to rescue you while Sly and Bentley figure out how to stop Clockwerk. Uhm, got any ideas how I can open this gate?"
Penelope, ever grateful, nodded emphatically. "We'll need to shut down power to the immediate area, so the lock will release. This cell has fuses that need to be pulled. From there, I think you should be able to pry the gate open with your bare hands, Murray!"
"Right! Where?" Murray said, going from equally enthusiastic to looking lost again.
Penelope pointed at a box across the hallway. "Just be careful. I've been seeing guards pace this hallway every few minutes like clock work… Sorry," She added, realizing the poor pun that had come from her statement. "Just pull the one marked for this cell."
Murray approached the fuse panel and opened it. He squinted at the lettering but most of the pen markings were rubbed off or faded. "I can't tell which one is the right one! I'm going to just pull some fuses then put'em back in, if it doesn't work. Here we go!" He said, taking the initiative. Who was Penelope to argue at this point? Murray got to work pulling out small cylinder fuses one at a time, replacing each one until he got to the cell.
The lights inside the cell went dark, leaving only the recessed lighting in the hallway. There was a metallic click from the jail gate. Murray closed the fuse panel and approached the bars pulling on them hard until the gate hopped over the track, coming clean off the cell. It collapsed to the ground with a loud noise, causing Murray to wince, covering his mouth. "Uh oh… sorry about that. We should probably get out of here quick."
Before Murray could react, three guards came into the room. The rent-a-cop canines quickly surrounded the both of them, holding nightsticks. The initial one brandished his billy-club but Murray was quick to deliver a punch that knocked not only the first cop down but another officer who was standing behind the first. Penelope, not wanting to be a damsel in distress, executed some of the jabs and punches she used against Sly when she was dressed up as the Black Baron in the past.
The little white mouse threw her left and right paws out, dazing one of the hired security workers. Murray grabbed one cop, lifting the dog above his head, only to throw him into the guy that Penelope was fighting. She hopped over the fallen officer, snatching a broom up against a nearby wall. The police were quick to their feet, two of which were trying to overpower Murray. The other one turned to Penelope, brandishing the club.
Penelope broke the broom over her knee at the hilt, right against the thicker patch of denim sewn into her pants, taking the pole and using it like a crude fencing sword. She brought the shaft up against the nightstick, rolling her wrist to skillfully guide his weapon upwards. The witty mouse used the end of the broom handle, poking the guard in the nose hard. She followed through by lifting her right foot and stomped on the cop's well polished dress shoes, adding a jab to the nose before pushing him back.
The rational rodent then gave the broom handle a light twirl as if it was a marching baton, to gain momentum. At the end of her maneuver, she gave a hard swing, knocking the officer's melee weapon clean out of the terrier's paws. It clattered across the floor, tripping one of the cops that Murray was fighting. Penelope grinned happily, seeing that the foe was nearly dispatched.
With one cop down, Murray was able to knock the other cop out, leaving the one on the ground, who was still conscious. Penelope, fighting her own guard, delivered another jab to the guard's snout, following through with a thrust of the broom handle. Its tip connected with the officer's forehead, hitting rather hard. The cop reached his paws up, to favor this new injury, just in time for Penelope to spin around and whack him across the gut.
Murray punched the floor hard enough to cause the remaining officer, who had been tripped, to be launched into the air, winding up in Murray's grasp. The hippo raised him high above his head then threw the rent-a-cop into the other officer that Penelope was fighting. Within just a few short minutes, the two had made quick work of three trained security guards. "Let's get out of here," Penelope said, a little giddy from the fighting. They gave one another a high five and bolted for the door, together.
In the hallway outside of the vault, Steven had increased security. The Sire was still nowhere in sight and for that small miracle, Sly was thankful. The problem was, it would be difficult to go in through the main doors, with the guards in place. The Procyon Lotor gave a flip of his cane, spinning the staff in his paw. He wasn't so very sure about fighting a group of 5 guards on his own.
Finally, Sly decided that luring a few away from their post would make dispatching his opponents a bit easier. All five men were some sort of canine. Three of them were terriers and two of them were setters. Not the most champion of dog fighters but all five of them seemed to make good rental cops. Sly crept back towards the nearest maintenance closet and pulled a switch down on the electric box found within. The lights in the hallway outside of the vault dimmed dramatically.
"What happened?" One of the guards asked.
"I think a bulb might have blown out," Another said, immediately cut off by a third canine guard.
"No, you idiot," Said the third, "There are a series of lights in each track. They didn't all burn out. I'll go and check the fuse box. Don't leave your post; I'll be back in a moment." The third one, one of the spaniels, rounded the corner and headed for the janitorial closet, opening the door. Suddenly a hook grabbed his uniform from behind.
The dog was lifted into the air and slammed into the wall hard. Sly's infamous stealth strike was as cunning as ever, knocking the dog into another time zone. Cooper gave a grin, using the cane to tug the body into the closet, stuffing him in there and closing the door. He then waited in silence.
A few minutes later, another guard came looking for the first. This time it was one of the terriers. Sly employed a variant of the same maneuver. He swung the cane upwards, knocking the guard into the air, only to grab the guard by his clothes, slamming him back down hard. With the second guard unconscious, Sly stuffed him into the closet. He then pushed the door shut and barred it with a metal Fire-axe in a glass case in the wall, meant for Fire fighting use.
Sly grabbed the fire hose that was in the same case and uncoiled it, dragging the 100 feet of hose down the hall. He wound the nozzle end around the hook of his cane then swung the cane like a bat. The nozzle was thrown clear out into the hallway, colliding with one of the guards. Sly quickly used the hook of his cane to grab part of the hose, running towards the three cops in the dark. His natural nocturnal raccoon eye sight made it easy to fight in dim lighting.
He wound one end of the fire hose around another guard's neck, looping the nozzle through another guard's legs and around his waist. Sly then used the cane's hook to pull the remaining spaniel canine's head forward, grabbing the hose in his paw and wrapping it around the dog's neck, down under his arms, between his legs then over to the next guard. Once Cooper was satisfied that they were all tangled up in the fire hose, he made a hard sprint, dashing back to where the fire hose lead to the glass case in the next hallway.
With a quick flick of his wrist, Sly used his cane to hit the metal wheel hard, spinning it wildly. Water gushed through the hose, causing it to harden up immediately with immense pressure. Sly peeked around the corner, seeing all three guards, still tangled up in the hose, get thrown in three different directions hard. Sly stepped in the hallway, snatched the nozzle off the floor and pulled down on the metal lever.
Water gushed out of the nozzle with such force that Sly struggled to control the oversized water gun. High power water shot from the end so hard that it bowled over one of the cops before he could manage to stand all the way up. Cooper then threw the nozzle hard at the second guard, which the canine caught in his paws.
Sly gave a grin then tugged hard on the hose, using his cane, yanking the cop from his feet so that he careened into his partner, knocking both down. With another tug on the hose, Sly pulled the nozzle back into his paws and opened fire on the two cops on the ground, hitting them with tremendously intense hydra vigor. Sly somersaulted forward, landing between all three fallen guards.
He then lifted his cane like a bat, paused, then swung hard. He pivoted into a full circle, clocking each of the three men across their heads. The trio was rendered unconscious and Sly gave a twirl of his cane with a smirk. "Watching Jackie Chan movies really does wonders," the Raccoon chortled, turning to the Laboratory doors, wrapping his paw around the handle. It was time to finish this business once and for all. He gave a tug on the door, opening it slowly. His jaw began to drop and then suddenly….
A/N: OH NO! I did it again… I threw a cliffhanger your way! Now you don't know what's going to happen to Carmelita or Sly! You have no idea what's waiting for Sly on the other side of that door! You have no idea if Carmelita is going to be all right! But I think everyone got their tail handed to them in this chapter… Sly beat some sorry tail, Penelope and Murray tackled a few guards and Carmelita beat the tar out of Karla for trying to cheat in an epic battle of good against evil. She was betrayed when Evil didn't come through for her… or was she? You'll find out in Chapter 15, I promise!
Also, you'll see more of Bentley using his bionic leg things like he did a few chapters ago… That was awesome, I can't just keep him from using them to fight, again. Also, Carmelita has to wake up SOME time… and Murray and Penelope are now on the loose.
However, we now know where all our heroes are… so where are the villains? Where is The Reaper? What about The Sire and Steven the skunk? Is Clockwerk finished yet? What about the diamond in the Cooper Vault? Finally, where is Donovan Loupe in all of this? Hiding in the shadows, watching, maybe? Is he really not in league with the bad guys like he told Carmelita? After all, he did bring Bentley to Sly's cage and help Sly by giving him the pendant of Iron Will…
There sure are a lot of characters to keep track of… but it won't be so hard after the next chapter. I plan on simplifying everyone's position so it's less to keep track of, during the next chapter. That way no one gets lost as I get deeper into this… Thanks for reading! Chapter 15 will be out soon!
All the strange "stuff about evil" from this chapter can be found in A) your Bible, B) Google or C) Wikipediea (That site has EVERYthing).
Yeah, I made this into a story of Good Vs Evil, because you just don't see those anymore... and if you do, it's usually not done well. I'm not say I do things well or not, but I wanted to try my hand at it and give it the complexity it needed to be a believable evil. Carmelita, who has never done anything wrong in her life, is a pretty rightious person to fight, eh? Will she and Sly find true love or will it willow away, eroding into nothing...?
Find out soon! Same Sly Time, same Sly Channel!