A/N: Can anyone figure out what this chapter's name comes from? Let's see how Karla and Carmelita are doing… Oh, and like, right after I posted chapter 14, for like, the first few days afterI put it up, no one posted a reviewand so, at first, I worried that the chapter may have been over the top; was it?
I have no problems taking bad reviews or a blatant "WTF Kit?" just let me know ;) I know I took this story way over the top… but I want everyone to know how imperative it is for Carmelita and the Cooper gang to triumph… the world is honestly, literally at stake if they don't pull strings… and while the world will always be at stake on some plain or some field, somewhere, it's someone else's fight by that point… but it will really lend to how paramount the ending will be. Muwahaha.
I got a really cool review that made me smile when I read it. It said I was on the border line of amazing and possibly insulting which will attest to just how vile evil can be. I kind of feel like I've touched onthe darkness I meant to portray.
I've got good news, by the way! I beat Sly2! Excellent!
As far as differences in Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions go, they all begin in a way that's fairly related, leading up to around the time of Abraham. I went to a Catholic middle school as a kid and remember a few things, here and there but I keep an open mind and try to learn a little bit about everything. I've got some Jewish and Mormon friends who read this story and, so far, compliment me on putting research into something I can't even sell… It doesn't matter if I can make money on this… it matters that you people enjoy it enough to keep reading my work. One day, when I'm publishing my manuscripts, I want to know I've got at least a few people I've befriended online who will go out and buy my books :D StarFox has no room to touch on religion and I do mention a few things in The Curse, like "The Lion born of a Tigress" and such. But this is set on Earth which has a few billion believers in a metaphorically derived version (or variation of) the Old Testament.
Carmelita is being portrayed as someone who's fighting the good fight, not because she has to or wants to, but because she believes that Good is worth fighting for; God or No God. That makes her faith in the forces of Good seem rather Epic.
Finally, Karla isn't "Lilith". Evil, temptation, sin, deceit, all that stuff… it all goes hand in hand as Karla is simply exercising deceit by announcing that she IS Lilith. Finally, whether or not God gives people second chances who were evil, allowing them to come back and give it "one more try" could or could not be a lie, as evil cannot help but tempt or deceive. But then those of us who are sentimental won't feel so bad about Carmelita destroying Karla… It keeps hopes alive that she might get a chance to be good in the future. Whether it's true or not isn't the point… it's a story, so Karla's soul isn't in jeopardy :D
While I've not read Dan Brown (and honestly, the last books I've read were Rainbow6 by Tom Clancy, The Stand by Steven King and Jurassic Park & Lost World by Michael Creighton, back in the early-to-mid 90's), I highly appreciate the comparison and the thought-out review! It's inspiring :D
My 90 day trial version of Word2003 has ended. I'm using an un-pro Word Processor wannabe. It's fired. Lol. I'll be reinstalling the trial version again soon so my Grammar will be kinda slipping until then XD. Sorry for the rant! Hugs and Kisses to you all for putting up with my blathering, woot!
Can anyone tell me what the numbers in this chapter name are refering to?
In the last chapter, we basically left off with Sly and Bentley giving Carmelita's body water and Sly kissed her and whispered something tender into her ear, back in the physical world… I begin with Carmelita's reaction to that water and that kiss, in Limbo… Enjoy!
Chapter 15: "398683"
Carmelita shivered, feeling a warm sense of tender love pour into her ear. It was as wonderful as the memory of Sly Cooper whispering pillow talk to her well over a year ago. She shuttered, loving the sensation of emotional bliss even though it only lasted for a moment. Right about then is when she started feeling pretty good. She fought intense thirst up to this point and now… that too had passed. Karla could tell that Carmelita was feeling rejuvenated half-way through the fight and it caused the demon to growl in frustration.
Karla, having fallen into a side-stepping gait, said, "First we have a political government that will Control the free world. Something massive like the Conference of the United Nations. Then HE will come and rule it and we'll march through the streets of you puny beings."
"Enough with the bible talk and the revelations crap, just FIGHT so I can kick your tail," Carmelita rebutted.
Karla narrowed her eyes. Those black diamonds twinkled ominously with mirth. "You know, Carmelita, as the politicians sharpen their rhetoric, we let you mortals play the pundit. You, meaning your kind, as I plan for you, yourself to be dead by the end of tonight."
"I'm going to mop the floor with your butt until this clay earth shines," Carmelita snapped, in reply.
"Recall, please, that we cannot die," Karla grumbled.
The vixen smirked. "You know, 'Shadowman' once said that. Then I killed him. I could have kept going but I didn't and I had the power to kill him again when you showed up. But then, as I recall, I killed YOU. Did you forget that so soon?" Carmelita recalled with a grin.
Karla shook her head slowly, changing the subject as the two proceeded into a strafing circle again. "Remember when you were alone again, last year? Hmm, your male only left your side because you didn't know how to keep him satisfied. You could have fought Clockwerk together as you're doing now. If I was Sly Cooper, I'd have left you, too. It must be boring being celibate. Chastity is overrated, Carmelita Fox."
"Sly doesn't need to explain himself anymore," Carmelita added, not seeming emotional over the comment, for once. "I actually trust him, finally. It's taken years but I told him that I love him and now that it's out in the open, things are different." The Inspector moved to the left, keeping the circling motion alive. "Are you ready to give up the ghost yet, woman? I doubt you're the real Lilith; you wouldn't be reborn if you were some being older than time or something."
The fact of the matter was that Carmelita would still arrest Sly if she had to. She just didn't want Karla to feel correct. Carmelita trusted Sly Cooper more than she had in the past but she wouldn't tell anyone else that, in public. It was just something to shout into Karla's face. Honestly, Inspector Fox didn't know how she felt about Sly at this point. She just knew she couldn't deny what she felt when they were together. That was the bottom line.
Chintzy simply scoffed. "They say that you'll find out all your answers when you get to Heaven. Ready for your new home?" Karla growled, throwing two punches that Carmelita evaded, using her wrists to bat the demonic woman's arms away.
"Pipe down, freak of the week," Carmelita grumbled. "You're just a Demon Dejour," Inspector Fox said, grabbing Karla's paws then kicking the woman square in the gut to keep her at bay. The circling began again. Both of them were in a stare-down at this point. "In fact, I wouldn't even go that far," Carmelita added, saying further, "Demon of the hour."
"I'll show you exactly what I am the demon of!" Karla snapped, her revoltingly gaunt ebon flesh tightening over her bones as she contracted her muscles, tightening her hands into fists. "Are you ready for your final destruction? When I finish with you, Clockwerk will be completed and my Master's plan will be in full swing!"
Meanwhile…
Steven tightened his arms, pulling himself up from the bowels of Clockwerk's body. He slipped through the maintenance hatch in the belly, sliding down over the ramp, glancing up at the beautiful work he'd created from scratch, all over again. Was this the right thing to have done? Finally, the skunk offered nothing more than a frown. "You cannot blame yourself for the second defeat at the paws of the Cooper Offspring, Clockwerk. While you were forced to watch it happen, your consciousness was pushed aside by some child with small-time aspirations."
"I breathed before," Clockwerk mused, the voice audio being patched through internal speakers mounted throughout the body. "I do not require lungs this time. I spoke before but now my voice is carried through an electronic signal from my brain to a thin sheet of reverberating plastic and metal inside of a box in my throat. When I was alive in my other form, I felt joy when achieving victories over my enemies. That is all dead and foreign, now."
"It's the modern age, my friend. I've built you to surpass modern technological advances," Steven explained, taking off the wielding mask and placing it on the work bench. "You have processors that run on fiber optic light architecture, carrying information from your body back to your brain at several hundred terahertz. With particle accelerators, light speed is how quickly it takes for you to make a decision necessary to find your enemy's weakness, expose and exploit it, then flatten them."
"But I thought with my own brain before," Clockwerk said, not quite in a tone of protest but one of naivety. "What is the benefit of such an upgrade if I don't feel joy to gloat over my victories?"
"When the new HateChip is plugged into your onboard data center, you'll experience emotion again," Steven promised. "Your system processes quickly enough to handle it. Think of it, the speed of light is 300 million meters per second. Your brain will have processed everything, right down to zeal, within the second of time that it takes for your opponent to present their self to you."
"You can give back my sensations of emotion so I feel alive again?" Clockwerk asked, as pensively as an emotionless machine could muster. "I have a great deal of things to achieve but there is no use living or existing without a desire to do so."
"Perhaps," Steven said, walking over to the workbench, picking up a small metallic looking card, eyeing it. "You've not had the ability to conceive a thought until tonight. Not since that night in your Volcano Lair. I was surprised that you had loaded yourself down with modern weapons that night; they failed you. Honestly, I've never known one of my creations to be a failure at anything and yet you've never managed to do anything more then terrorize or hate some silly raccoons."
"Plasma Cannon turrets and other modern weaponry is required to stay with the times," Clockwerk replied flatly, in rebuttal to Steven's prior comments about needing to be technologically advanced. His lower half was now assembled and unlike before, he was on his haunches, the way a real bird might sit pretty in a cage. His wings were folded along his back; he looked sleek and polished. The old bird, young again, was nearly complete now. "I've been meaning to ask you," Clockwerk continued, "Why do you plan to murder The Sire?"
"He refuses to allow others to rule anything, directly," Steven explained. "Using his powers against me are futile. Ordering a follower to kill me would be his next course of action should I defy his will. This includes my wish to make a corner of the world distinctly my own."
"You cannot come to a truce with your friend?" Clockwerk inquired. A friendship, at least to the massive metallic owl, was a code of business conduct, like when he had formed the Fiendish Five, so many years ago. Mutual business was discussed, plans were carried out and everyone was in benefit of the cooperation.
"I know that he has killed friends over wanting their own slice of metaphorical 'Pie' in the past," Steven explained. "I'm being preemptive in self defense. That is what this boils down to: Self Preservation."
"He never bothered me when I made that Volcano lair my own," Clockwerk said in casual debate to the simple comment. "I don't wish to see you consumed by paranoia. The genetic coding of man's DNA is designed for an optimum performance of Two Hundred Years. You've far exceeded that and I fear it is taking the toll upon your mentality, slowly but surly."
Steven glanced up at the massive bird, quirking a brow. "I see that the brain I've built for you is causing you to think of things in a different light."
"Lack of emotion, perhaps, is an additional culprit. Finish the job, Steven," Clockwerk said, staying motionless, save for his eyes. Those ominous scarlet spheres lowered, eyeing the chip in Steven's palm. "I have work to finish against The Sire and, more importantly, against the last remaining Cooper Offspring."
"Indeed, you do," Steven said, glancing at the chip in his paw. A smirk touched his muzzle. "I'm starting to wonder if bringing you back to life was a mistake, however. Don't be insulted but the only reason I started this project was because of these strange dreams I'd been having for a few months now. I took them as a sign and got to work. But now, at the cusp of your completion, I find myself questioning my personal motivations."
"The HateChip, Steven." Clockwerk narrowed his gaze, attempting to look formidable but Steven just grinned, knowing the old soul was currently unable to portray real emotion. "Finish the job, so I can finish my job."
"Is that all life is, to you? A job to complete?" Steven asked. "Really now, old bird. Hast thou lost thy mind? To attempt a display of mettle with mine-self wouldst only serve to vex thine creator, impudent whelp. Thou art but a bumpkin, Clockwerk!" The skunk shouted, temporarily reverting to his archaic lexicon from his mortal days.
Clockwerk wanted to scow but he felt no emotion with which to be angry. "The times have changed, Steven. Now, put the chip into me; I need to be myself, once more. Do it."
"Hm," Steven said with a smirk, eyeing the chip between his claws. "Perhaps I should jam this chip into your brain and walk away, hmm? Is that all you want from me, foolish fop?" Asked the skunk, calming down enough to speak with a modern air, once more.
Suddenly the doors to the Laboratory burst open and Sly Cooper stood in the arch. Clockwerk's head rotated to the left, as an Owl's head would, eyeing the intruder. Bentley, on the other hand, was climbing to an opening in the vent high above on the other end of the room. The turtle pulled out the old weapon that he'd not used in years, which had been in the duffle Carmelita was carrying. It was none other than his crossbow.
Taking careful aim, he put the HateChip in the targeting reticule, loading one of his infamous green darts into the slot. With patience and precision, he might be able to shatter the chip that Steven was holding. Sly, down on the floor, walked in, cautiously, taking his cane in both paws.
Cooper smirked, pulling the cane apart until it split, left side and right side. The bottom of the cane folded upwards on a hinge so it was half the size but so that he was now carrying two smaller canes.
"I can't let you go putting that Chip into Clockwerk," Sly said, shaking his head slowly.
"Oh but I think you do want me to put this into Clockwerk, Boy," Steven replied, giving the metallic card a playful shake. "If I don't put it in, that's when you're in real trouble. Trust me on this."
"How about you hand me the chip," Sly said calmly, "And I put it under Inspector Fox's boot like the last one? Then we can all go home."
"His parts aren't designed with Hate Chip Apoptosis upon destruction this time," Steven said, narrowing his gaze. "And you can't defeat him by whacking him upon the head with your cane again," Added the scientist. "Only I have the power to construct or destroy my age-old creation."
"Then I guess I'll have to level the building and blow it sky high," Cooper said, still remaining calm. He was ready to use the two miniature versions of his cane to go wall crawling if he had to, just to be a difficult target. Anything, at this point. "But I think you're bluffing, so hand over the HateChip and we'll see after it's crushed."
Suddenly, to the surprise of everyone in the room, Steven's shadow rose up from beneath his feet. The inky tendril of gloom reached upwards, grasping his wrist and forcing him to hold his paw still. Bentley, not one to argue, took aim then took the shot. The green bolt lanced out of the vent cover, between the slats, and slammed into the chip causing it to burst into tiny pieces.
Steven gasped, his lower lip nearly quivering. "You fools! Do you realize what you've done?" He screamed in frustration. "Doest thou comprehend thy unknowing ills? Thy doom has been sealed and you shall be cleft in twain with but worms to hollow out thy noble brow and robust cheeks! FOOLS! Damn thee, thy fate shall be DESERVING!"
Sly reached one of the cane claws behind his head to scratch at the nape of his neck, tilting his head in slight confusion. "I don't know what you just said, but it sounded mean. I don't think you have a leg to stand on now. Why don't you just give up?" He said, half expecting Clockwerk to shrivel up into nothing any moment, just like the last time the Hate Chip was destroyed.
The vent cover across the room fell to the floor, causing Clockwerk's head to rotate into the other direction. Steven glanced over his shoulder and Bentley tumbled from the opening, getting to his bionic feet with a grunt. In order to give Bentley cover, Sly rushed Steven from behind, gripping both of his shoulders with each of the miniature sized cane pieces.
"Grab him, Sly, while I get OUR HateChip replacement (A/N: See Chapter 3's heist segment) that's on his workbench!" Bentley shouted, sprinting towards the remaining metal card sitting on the table in a special looking carrying case. One of the cards was shipped in from Interpol, when it was taken from the computer server in Paris, which was Bentley's original plan. The spare chip, when inserted into Clockwerk, would set off an apoptosis self-destruct program that Bentley encoded into the processor and now the remaining chip was on the table, waiting for Bentley.
Clockwerk's head rotated again, facing the group that met in the middle of the room. Sly slammed the skunk into the floor who shouted in protest. "Stop, fools! You've ruined everything! Thou art thy own undoing; cease! DESIST! ABSTAIN FROM THY COURSE OF ACTION!"
"Shut up," Sly grumbled, grabbing the back of his headfur and slamming the scientist's head into the floor, "I've got a real beef with you, making this freak to go after my family. I heard you're some robo-techno nerd who marches around in a metal suit, kicking everyone's tail, but you're not so tough."
"Nitwit," Clockwerk mused, lacking in emotion, "The suit of which you speak is against the far wall. Release my creator, he needs to fashion a new HateChip for me to return to my original mindset."
"Sly," Bentley cried, hopping up onto the workbench and snatching the chip from the container, "Here it is, I need to stick this in Clockwerk's brain!" The tortoise said.
Sly stomped on Steven's head, delivering a hard kick as the skunk attempted to stand back up. Cooper grabbed Bentley by the shell, twisted around twice, then chucked his shell-backed friend into the open hatch of Clockwerk's belly before the metal raptor could react. Steven shouted his protest, "NO, YOU FOOLS! NOT THAT ONE!"
Bentley scampered upwards towards the inside of Clockwerk's head as quickly as he could, taking the chip in his left hand and pushing some wires aside with his right hand. There was a small red LED light flashing besides an empty slot. Bentley glanced at the chip then the slot, eyeing them up then nodded decisively. It looked like a perfect fit to him. He slammed the chip into Clockwerk's main motherboard then pulled his body back into the shell.
The shelled turtle slid all the way back down from the neck to the hatch, flopping out. He used his bionic legs to run away from the bird, who was motionless for another moment. Clockwerk's eyes darkened and the entire metallic avian machine went through a rebooting sequence. Steven pounded the floor with his fists. "You idiots, you put the HateChip processor into his brain!"
"What…?" The voice belonged to Donavan, who took shape from a shadow cast on the wall by a workbench lamp. "Don't bluff!"
"I would never, in my right mind, bring back Clockwerk as he originally was; what a malfunction with no purpose!" Steven shouted. "I was just realizing it tonight, when I stopped having those dreams. They're JUST DREAMS! Nothing more; Clockwerk doesn't NEED to come back. Hard work is just that, but he's unnecessary. THAT Chip that you idiots destroyed was the replacement chip you designed to destroy him! I was going to use him to kill The Sire and make Clockwerk earn the chip as his reward then destroy him with the replacement chip and tell Sire's legions that I destroyed Clockwerk as punishment and take over Sire's forces for myself!"
"But look, he just shut down," Sly said, pointing at the dull, dim eyes. "What's that all about?"
"He's rebooting; I don't know why I even rebuilt him! I just had an epiphany," Steven said, gritting his teeth in anger, "And now you've done it again and brought him back to life, yourself. That's twice you fools have brought him back (A/N: Ending battle of Sly2) in an attempt to destroy him! You klutzes can't get ANYthing right!"
Sly just gawked, blinking. It happened again and this time it was much worse. It was the real Clockwerk and any moment, the metallic beast would wake up and be his old self again. Sly drew his right paw back and struck Steven in the face, hard. The skunk gasped, his head snapping back for just a moment. "You… you hit me!"
"Damn right," Sly said with a stoic calm, drawing his fist back. "And I'll do it again. How do we destroy that thing?" Suddenly Sly was knocked clear across the room by a massive metal wing.
"Cooper!" Clockwerk bellowed, having fully rebooted into his old self. "I will END your LINE!" The monstrosity cried. He picked Steven up in his talons, causing the Skunk to shout in surprise.
"What're you doing, you cretin! I made you, now put me down!" The scientist called out, more so shocked than exasperated.
"The other chip was destroyed," Clockwerk deduced aloud, adding, "The other chip was put into me and now I am myself again, so it's obvious that you had a sudden change of heart and you were attempting to kill me, as well!" Clockwerk said, hurling Steven at Sly Cooper across the room. The raccoon found himself immediately bowled over by the skunk's full bodied weight.
"He's not at full power," Steven gasped softly, from his new spot on the floor. His fall had been broken by Sly's body and yet he still hurt all over, now. "He's not at full power, you may still have a chance but you must hurry and fight him now," Steven said, standing up slowly.
"Traitor!" Clockwerk rumbled in a detestful, emotional tone. His eyes narrowed with true, passionate hatred and a lethal class of high power laser beam emanated from those optical orbs of crimson. Duel laser beams cut into the skunk's midsection, simultaneously cutting him into two halves while cauterizing the wound to both the top and bottom section of his body.
Steven glanced down at the slice, his knees giving out with the lack of motor skill signal from his spine. The top portion of his body collapsed to the floor and he shouted in agony knowing that his end was upon him. Sly evaded the lasers that were intended to dice him next but Clockwerk was faster than before and Sly had to work harder to evade better, this time around.
Bentley made a mad dash for the robotic attack suit in the corner that Steven designed for himself. The turtle climbed into it, stretching the bionic legs out so that he would become Steven's height, then activated the personal defense shields. The electronic shielding formed a thin bubble around his body that deflected Clockwerk's destructive eye laser cannon as it passed over the now-shielded turtle. Bentley could feel his heart racing, but nearly laughed in relief when the lasers simply bounced in another direction, harmlessly.
Steven, now cut into two halves, was laying on the floor in his final moments of life. He glanced up at Clockwerk with dull, sad eyes. "With all that work and that amazing ability to process information; you're nothing. You've reverted to what you were, blinded by hate and you'll never amount to success. You're the only creation I've ever invented that failed miserably. And in these last moments, all I can say is that I pity you for the fool that you are," Steven muttered.
The skunk blinked twice, frowning thoughtfully. "Death encroaching, mine eyes grow dim; weary," Steven continued, beginning to babble incoherently in his natural, archaic speech. Clockwerk cut his gaze back to Steven, dicing the skunk into smaller fragments for no other reason than to stifle the infamous genius. He then went back to chasing Sly throughout the large vault-made Laboratory, using short, rapid bursts of laser fire.
Bentley, from the mobile offensive suit, armed two rockets and a particle cannon. He fired the cannon first. The nearly invisible energy field caused nothing more than a wave of distortion in the open space between the two opponents. The rockets were fired next. Between the massive concussive force and the two rockets, Clockwerk was bowled over, knocked into the nearest wall.
The metalic machine grew angry. His brain only needed a fraction of a second to evaluate his own status, knowing he wasn't at full power. He then deactivated the laser attack eyes, cutting a glance at Bentley in Steven's robotic suit. Finally the Owl forced himself from the wall, saying, "I know just where to recharge quickly, then we'll finish this, Cooper!" Shouted Clockwerk, swinging his massive metal wings outwards. It knocked Bentley over and crushed the wall that Sly was climbing along with the miniature cane picks.
Sly flopped over, landing unceremoniously upon his tail. Cooper watched as Clockwerk pushed forward, bursting through the ceiling, leaving a gaping hole in the roof of the building. Snow began to flutter in, followed by the harsh bite of winter air. A powerful flapping noise was heard as Clockwerk spread his wings to gain altitude. Donavan approached Sly, helping the Raccoon up with a paw, then he did the same for Bentley.
"If that arrogant fool isn't going to his old Volcano Lair, then I don't know where else he would go," The wolf said with a slow shake of his head. "All I know is that Clockwerk's rebirth means things will be a great deal harder in the future for all of us. Now we need to wake Carmelita and find out if she's going through what I've been going through."
Sly brushed loose plaster and saw dust from his shoulders. "What aren't you telling us? Are you a long term enemy of Clockwerk?"
Donovan tilted his head. "I can't go into his Volcano lair. When he hovers above the lava, I'm unable to fight him. The light, of the fire keeps my shadows away from him, except upon his back which is well plated with armor. The actual fire, itself, would kill me in shadow form, if he decided to take a dip in the lava."
"But what did you mean in your reference to Carmelita?" Sly asked, still brushing away the specks and debris of the wall he'd been climbing, leading up to Clockwerk's escape.
Donovan tightened his paws into fists, glancing up at the hole in the ceiling. He sighed, then continued to speak. "Steven mentioned the dreams that inspired him to build Clockwerk. Then he picked up the replacement chip designed to destroy Clockwerk. He picked it up with intent to use that chip on his creation?
"That means someone was manipulating Steven up until this point. That means he never wanted to rebuild Clockwerk, someone made him think he wanted to rebuild the beast. Someone has been doing that to Sire, to Karla, to me and to Carmelita. Now Clockwerk is alive and this being, whoever they may be, is one step closer to getting their way. We must hurry!" Donovan concluded, motioning to the hole in the high ceiling, which was several stories up.
"Do you realize what this means?" Bentley asked from inside the mobile attack suit, "Anyone with the ability to defy The Sire has been killed or has their own agenda now. And that idiot is still ruining around. After hearing Clockwerk smash part of the roof down, the Sire is undoubtedly going to come in here and see what's going on then he's going to make all of us kill one another. We've got to get out of here!" Bentley told them, pointing at the emergency fire escape doors at the back of the Lab.
"Your little friend is correct," Donovan Loupe said to Sly, giving the Raccoon a push. "We must all hurry; I'll use my abilities and carry you up to the hole in the roof!"
Sly shook his head rapidly, "No! You guys go and I'll catch up with you. I've got to go back for Carmelita. Everyone meet at the safe house. Donovan, don't double cross us like Karla did or Carmelita will wake up and fry your tail. Now, everyone hurry!"
"This isn't according to the plan!" Bentley fussed, growing panicky. He was on the verge of an anxiety attack. Sly knew how he got if it went full blown, so he ran over to the turtle shrouded in that attack suit, prying open the canopy in the front.
"Bentley, listen!" Sly said, reaching in and taking his friend by the face, in those softly padded palms. "The plan has changed. I'll get Carmelita, Donovan will get you to the streets. Murray and Penelope will have secured a tank and we'll get everything set aside for use against Clockwerk. We're all safe, we just need to hurry. I know it's not your style to come up with a fast plan like this, but it's all we've got. I'll be back with Carmelita soon and we can go from there, nice and orderly, the way you like it."
Bentley nodded slowly, sighing in frustration. "All… all right, That's… That's a good play, Sly. Make sure you stay away from The Sire."
"I'll do my best," Sly promised. "You can even make your next plot extra devious, right? Now go you guys. Hurry!"
Steven was dead. Karla Chintzy was dead. Most of the Fiendish Five members were missing in action. Massive wings pumped, flapping to push him to his nearly terminal velocity. Heading north, Clockwerk was making good time towards Russia. Looming in the distance was the Krack Karov Volcano. Where else could a giant metal bird be allowed to dwell without having a Government getting into his personal affairs? Russia had been home throughout the entire 20th century.
Simply giving money to the country kept them away from his lair. It would be difficult explaining a fully functional, living metal machine with advanced artificial intelligence to the rest of the world. Simply living as a black market fairy tale was perfect. Being a thief and paying his way through life illegally would never fail in Krack Karov, the outer providences of The Motherland, or the rest of the now-broken nation.
(A/N: forgive me if I'm wrong, here. I've not beaten Sly1 yet, so I'm assuming that Clockwerk may have been hiding out in Russia for a while. :D) Russia's economic situation only grew better for the likes of someone who wished to remain private. Clockwerk could throw money at anyone and they would leave him alone forever. He continued to flap those mighty wings, fearlessly cruising through open airspace above Russia. Ever since the late 1970's, Clockwerk had to be coated with a special polymer to travel through open airspace. In the mid 1980's, he'd purchased codec transmitters to show up as friendly aircraft to the Russian Military. Every so often the transmitters would have to be changed or the frequencies would have to be updated. However, he was in a new body and that was all different, now.
As Krack Karov Volcano grew in size, Clockwerk transmitted the pass codes to the automated computer system built into the mountain. The lair's super computer was an invention of Steven, running on the BTU (A/N: British Thermal Units aka a measurement of power or intensity of HEAT)'s of the Volcano's hottest depths. Heat was channeled into chambers and compressed with a natural element from the ground, causing combustion to turn turbines. It was far more reliable than Nuclear and it would last until the Volcano goes extinct.
The Volcano's heat felt odd against his new body. He lowered into the opening at the top, swooping into a rolling door that lead into a hanger bay. His wings came to fold along his body and his eyes panned the dusty room. Metal parts lay strewn about the area in absolute disuse. A metal cart on wheels was rusted out on the far wall, from over-exposure to the heat and humidity. It could only be assumed from the barometric readings and humidity inside the lair, that the water mains eventually broke from lack of upkeep.
It was assumable that there would be parts of the lair that were flooded. Clockwerk, disgusted with the condition of his once pristine base of operations, could only think to plot vengeance against the final Cooper clan member. This had been a sort of home for him. Now it resembled a complex labyrinth of ruins. It was now nothing more than something for forthcoming archeologists to ponder over a few centuries in the future. The brief thought nearly amused him.
Only to prove him right, the further Clockwerk stalked into the hanger, the more apparent it had become that the area was partially flooded. A dirty mixture of soot, ash and still water rested in the corner, in front of a door, suggesting that the hallway beyond was flooded out. If Sly had any plans to come through the Volcano and fight him again, Sly would have another thing coming. Only a fool would attempt navigating through this defunct old mine. Half the traps probably didn't work anymore from the plumbing flood and having had no maintenance.
The thing was, attempting to survive the flooded areas would be beyond treacherous. The slightest hint of a grin started to tug at his beak with the thought of Sly Cooper struggling. On second thought, he welcomed Sly Cooper to try again, in consideration of the perils that awaited the young Raccoon.
Debris crunched beneath his talons as he stalked through the hanger. He was partially torn. Having Cooper show up in Russia would easily bring a weary Raccoon to the center stage for destruction. However, Sly was underestimated before and was nimble enough to destroy Clockwerk's body more than once. Getting the drop on the mortal boy would probably be the best. Clockwerk, despite all the quick thinking processors he had, found himself to be indecisive. He simply needed to weigh out different variables before acting.
First thing was first, however. He needed to be at full power. Sly Cooper could wait… He was injured from the attack the turtle caused, using Steven's attack suit. He didn't have time to raise his electro-static shielding device. But that wouldn't happen again. There would never be another chance for the Cooper gang to raise a preemptive strike. Clockwerk would ensure the Cooper Gang's defeat, he just had to contact The Sire first.
Sly Cooper ran through the hallway of the bank. There was more happening than he realized. Since Clockwerk blew the roof off the building, the guards were running every which way. Not only that, Interpol was rolling in to perform an immediate rescue attempt on their "new leader", the Secretariat General, SG1, aka The Sire. Sly was on a mission now, dashing through the hallways.
Every so often, someone passed him with a gun. He was quick to snatch the weapon out of the guard's paw, then hit the guy in the forehead with the bottom of his cane, so as to release his smoke trick. On occasion, he would have to swing from a light fixture to avoid a group of guards passing through the hallway. Once Cooper reached the bathroom where Carmelita lay silent, he pushed the door shut behind himself and approached her slumbering form.
Wrapping his paws around her body, Sly lifted her into his arms and held her close. It was protective, the way in which he held her. She was defenseless and one slip would cause her to be injured or possibly worse. The building shook hard from the top level collapsing, due to a weakened structural integrity. There was shouting out in the hallway for people to evacuate. Sly knew that his only chance of getting out of here was plummeting down the heating vent. His stomach iced over with the thought but at the same time, he got goose bumps from anticipation of such a thrill.
An idea all his own came to his mind. Cooper, suddenly feeling clever, carried her body over to the sinks, laying her across the row of them. He then lifted her up into the vent where he'd put Bentley earlier. It was long and tedious but Sly slowly scooted her through the ductwork until they were at the three story drop. Using the duffle bag tethers, Sly strapped Carmelita to himself, so that her chest was flush against his own chest. He then wiggled himself into the heating vent and plummeted into the abyss.
Halfway into the drop, he separated his cane again, folding the lower half upwards so that he had two miniature climbing picks again. Sly slammed the two sharp picks into the thin metal duct wall, shredding two clean tears all the way down. The problem was, with the extra weight of Carmelita's body, he was still descending too quickly. He arched his back, pushing his butt up against the opposite side of the duct, using his back and shoulders to create enough friction to slow his fall. It was hot against his fur, beneath his shirt.
Her head was resting against the crook of his neck and the closeness was the only comforting thing about this entire situation. His heart was pounding in his chest but the weight of her form against him was oddly calming. His hat was lost, somewhere during the fall and yet he was still dropping way too fast. His arms were on either side of her, holding the two small pieces of the cane so very tightly.
Sly put his feet out, trying to slow his rapid plummet that much more. He could feel the growing heat of friction yawning at his heels as his boots grew hotter. Sly clinched his muzzle tightly, half grinning through a partial snarl. He strained hard, tensing his body tightly. Finally his feet connected with the heater at the bottom, which partially collapsed, cushioning their fall, spilling them to the floor without causing any broken bones. His hat came from the vent, landing on his face as he lay there in a momentary state of repose.
Sly grunted softly, picking himself up and dusting off his clothes and fur. He picked his hat up, half chuckling at the joy of surviving the fall. Carmelita seemed to be fine, although the duffle straps had come undone because of the landing and they'd been separated upon impact. Cooper picked Carmelita up when his ears suddenly perked. Without further warning, a rush of heat gushed from the ceiling vent he'd just come through, followed by a miasma of soot.
Sly's eyes widened. He slung the Inspector over his shoulder, quickly exiting the building through the hole that Murray had made, when trying to open the back door, earlier. He never looked back as the building collapsed behind him. The brick spire slammed to the ground, crumbling to its foundations and all Sly could do was run to protect her. He kept one hand over her waist, against his shoulder, his other paw was wrapped around both pieces of his cane.
He could only hope The Sire had been killed. He could only hope for a lot of things. Once he made it to a safe Alley a few blocks from the building, he slumped into the snow, panting hard. Sly took out the bracelet of Iron Will and slipped it around Carmelita's paw, taking her hand into his own and kissing her knuckles softly. "Hopefully it'll protect you. I don't know what's going on inside of your mind but I can only hope you're going to survive this coma."
Sly's eyes lifted and his paws tightened into fists. Standing on top of a dumpster was The Reaper. "Looks like somebody enjoys working in mysterious ways," Cooper grumbled.
"They say the Creator works in mysterious ways. And perhaps it's true," Replied Nathaniel. The aging badger lifted his left and right paw, causing duel energy scythes to appear in the padded palms of each. "Let me show you just how mysterious the Creator can be. It's quite an electrifying experience! I'll send you to Him!"
Carmelita was panting softly. She felt winded from the fighting and it was obvious she was struggling against the esoteric forces of malevolence. She had to overcome the will of Evil and now that she had figured out their entire plot, there was that much more riding on her successes. The only reprieve she had was that Karla was no longer able to teleport. The transmuted demon now only possessed the ability to manipulate light physical objects with her mind and it seemed as though even that ability wasn't doing much in her weakened state.
However, Karla was growing that much stronger each time Carmelita delivered what should have been a deathblow. Earlier on in the fight, the vixen gave Karla's head a twist and after the sickening snapping sound, Karla seemed even stronger. Now Carmelita found herself tossed around like a rag doll at the mercy of an angry child. She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out.
Karla Chintzy was now freakishly powerful enough that each step she took caused the ground to crack and quake. Carmelita backed up, trying to keep the entire monster in her sight. She'd exhausted her weapons and the two smaller Beretta pistols were laying somewhere around the battlefield, now lost. The cop rubbed her forehead with the back side of her wrist then gave it another go, rushing into an attack.
Karla turned about gracefully, using one of her demonic wings to smack Carmelita to the ground again. She made it seem effortless, now. Carmelita was aching and struggled to even sit up by this point. Chintzy saw this and approached her with a leisurely gait. The devilish woman lifted Carmelita by the throat then put one hand on Carmelita's snout. The grip on Inspector Fox's throat loosened so that the hand could slide upwards, gripping the fox's jaw.
Karla began to force Carmelita's mouth open, stretching it apart, painfully. Carmelita gripped at Karla's wrists but it was no use. If Karla didn't stop, Carmelita's jaw would be ripped open and it would surly become a fatal method of attack.
Sly hit the snow hard, his shoulder skidding through the fresh, fluffy powder. He had to move quickly, to avoid The Reaper's attacks. Lightning bolts scorched the walls, the dumpster and left freshly melted holes in the snow, throughout the alley. Sly, wearing special thieving gloves, swung his cane upwards, glancing one of the glowing mystical scythes, causing the cane to incandesce like a bulb. The cane's motion was a smooth arc that followed through, catching Reaper under the chin. However, the transfer of electricity did nothing to him. The badger simply grunted from the strike, then swung a paw outwards.
One of the scythes was aimed for Sly's chest. It would have sliced through his torso but the Cooper cane, which Clockwerk once realized several years ago (A/N: Sly Cooper's first game, last level), could withstand high electrical current without damage. The scythe slammed into the cane but never sliced through it. Sly pushed his paw out, putting distance between himself and the supernatural badger. The raccoon was quick to back flip, landing on the alleyway dumpster.
Another lighting bolt was thrown but this time, Sly used his cane like a baseball bat and swung at the energy bolt. While successfully shocking Sly hard, it also caused the bolt to be projected back at The Reaper. While the electricity did nothing to hurt Nathaniel, the force of the energy impact was enough to warrant a gruff grumbling murmur.
Sly was dazed from the heavy shock. He was standing on the metal dumpster and the electricity was forced out of his body, into the metal and into the grounded earth beneath. Reaper hurled another lightning bolt in anger. This one missed Cooper, hitting the dumpster instead. Sly was lightly shocked again from the transfer of electricity into his feet. It caused him to fall into the dumpster this time. However, the lightning strike actually connected with the shiny chrome name plate of the pickup service that was bolted into the front side. This caused a reflective bounce.
The redirected lighting strike was angled downwards, hitting the ground in the center of the alleyway. However, the path it took led the ricochet strike directly into Carmelita's body. She was struck by the lightning, causing her to arch her back, her legs and arms going stiff and a dull scream was forced from her diaphragm.
On the fields of Limbo…
Carmelita strained hard. Sweat poured from her brow and tears of pain trickled from her eyes. Karla was beginning to crack her jaw from the pressure, causing the struggling cop to gurgle softly. "Don't think about the pain, mortal. Let your mind wonder away from it. Concentrate on something else, like your love for the boy-toy. Perhaps what Heaven will be like; that could be an interesting and comforting mental thought to ponder upon."
Carmelita continued to gurgle, nearly at death. Her body was quivering with adrenaline and fear, shaking from pent up rage and frustration with this sense of helplessness. She knew that Karla had cheated and asked for help from the Devil. Who knew what would happen to Karla's soul; all Carmelita knew was that the freak was cheating and that's one of the things that the Inspector loathed. "Goodbye, Carmelita Montoya Fox. I'll take very good care of Sly Cooper for you. Say Hello to the Creator for me…!"
All of a sudden, Carmelita's body began to glow. The vixen became incredibly hot to the touch. A powerful glow began to emanate from within the depths of her throat. Karla, who was forcing Carmelita Fox's mouth open to the near-breaking point, was staring straight down into Fox's throat, quirking a brow at the light. Without any further warning, a powerful bolt of pure lightning burst from Carmelita's muzzle, slamming into Karla's forehead.
The bolt impacted with such force that Karla was thrown clear across the field while Carmelita spilled to the ground, panting and clutching at her jaw. She was shocked and dazed from the lightning bolt that passed through her body. It had hit her in the physical world but the immense energy was transferred through her form and into the astral plane of her corporal being, here in Limbo. Carmelita had never felt more dehydrated in her entire life. She was scalding hot, like the worst fever ever and yet she felt as though she was showering in glacial, sub-zero water.
It was an incredible sensation of pain but the initial shock response of her body caused her to feel the pins and needles sensation of being numb, first and foremost. Karla's body lay on the ground, motionless. She was sizzling the way bacon sounded in a frying pan at breakfast time. Steam rose from above Chintzy's head and the nauseating stench of burnt fur filled the area.
Once Carmelita found her senses and regained her wits, she struggled to find her equilibrium again. With her balance restored, Carmelita Montoya Fox picked herself up and literally crawled on her paws and knees over to Karla's demonic body. Inspector Fox's eyes widened, seeing the hole in Karla's forehead, like some sort of marking. The woman was still breathing but she was clearly disfigured now.
It was as if God's almighty finger reached from the physical world into Carmelita's body, through time and space, into Limbo and shocked Karla personally. The mark upon the beast was a personal touch. Whether it was the Creator or a complete coincidence from the lightning bolt that hit her body, back in the physical world, one thing was certain… Karla was marked.
Karla sat up, blinking rapidly. "What in the 9 levels of hell was THAT?" She shouted, reaching up to touch the characteristic feature now upon her forehead. The succubus stood up, shoving the curious Carmelita away, moving to a fighting stance again.
Carmelita balked at the shove. She hauled off and punched Karla hard in the face. To Karla Chintzy's absolute surprise, it hurt this time. Karla reached up to touch her nose which had been busted open again. This was the second time she'd ever tasted blood at the back of her throat. Her eyes squinted shut from the pain and her vision was obscured from tears which shocked her that much more.
The Inspector growled softly, looking her opponent over. "I had to read Dante's Devine Comedy in school because we Inspectors have enough cultist fanatics out there that it was a class requirement," Carmelita muttered, rubbing her mouth with the backside of her paw before putting her fists back up. "And nowhere in that entire stupid collection of works was there anything about how crazy and freakish a true demon would be. But you wanna know something?"
"What's that, mortal?" Karla grumbled, rubbing at her eyes to clear her own vision.
"Whether this is all a wild hallucination in my mind, caused from repressed memories of one of my old occult cases in England," Carmelita started, tilting her head before adding, "Or whether this is real, there is one consistency: You're a bitch and you need to keep your grubby paws off my man!" With that clearly stated, Carmelita punched Karla in the face again. Much to Chintzy's displeasure, it hurt as much as the last assailing hit.
"That freakish lightning strike did something to me!" Karla shouted in protest. Carmelita wasn't about to let her keep whining and so she shut the demon up with a roundhouse kick across the mouth, following through with two more punches. Carmelita grabbed Karla's shoulders, bringing her knee up into the black, fleshy gut of her enemy, causing Karla to double over. Inspector Fox returned to her visceral, carnal instincts, bringing an elbow down into the back of her opponent's head. She then knee-bashed the evil woman in the already-broken nose.
Finally, Carmelita knelt down, crouching low. With a burst of fresh stamina, an uppercut was delivered into the face of the doubled-over demon. It connected so hard that Carmelita's paw went numb. Karla's body was lifted into the air and her feet went upwards, so that she flopped over, crashing down upon her stomach. Inspector Fox knelt over Karla, placing her left knee on the demon's shoulder and her right knee on the backside of the demon's head.
The truculent vulpine gripped Karla by the back of the neck and smirked. "Before I send your tail back to hell, I just want to tell you one thing… Sly Cooper won't even remember who you are by tomorrow… and neither will anybody else!" Carmelita gave a hard twist of her forearms to finish the job….
Sly Cooper put one foot into the badger's gut, gripping the man's shoulders and suddenly leaning backwards, very hard. He managed to throw The Reaper in this manner, but he was certainly in danger of collapsing from exhaustion. The archaic assassin temporarily took the form of a lightning bolt, reappearing directly over Sly, with a foot against Sly's neck and a glowing electro-scythe rod just centimeters from Sly's face. The raccoon could feel the heat emanating from the mystical blade. Any second it would do far worse than scalp him.
A loud shot rang out and it caused Sly to wince from the new pain in his ears. After a moment, his eyes returned to the once angry gaze of The Reaper. Another shot rang out, causing Sly to cringe from the horrendous thundering sound. Nathaniel lowered his gaze, seeing two glistening rubies sitting upon his chest. He paused, lifting one paw to touch them, realizing that they weren't actually glass, but liquid.
A trail of blood began to run down the front of his clothes and his finger was dabbed in the scarlet hue. Another shot rang out, an Sly could see his ears perk in spite of it. This time, the ruby glistened upon The Reaper's forehead, between his eyes. After a moment of brief pause, a trickle of blood began to run from the badger's nose. Yet another trail eked out of the badger's maw, running down his chin. His face held an expression of confusion. The pressure of his foot against Sly's neck was reduced just slightly.
Something cold touched the backside of the Badger's neck and it was followed by the voice of a woman that Sly knew all to well. "Dodge this, mister Assassin," She told him, pulling the trigger. Apparently all the guns that were still on her form, here in the physical world, were still loaded. And it only took one magnum shell at point blank range to completely obliterate the entire head of Nathaniel Carrington. The Reaper was no more. The remainder of the badger's body, from the shoulders down, crashed into the snow.
Sly just glanced up at her, blinking rapidly. He wasn't sure which was louder in his ears: the ringing or the fresh silence. He just sort of grinned, after a moment. Carmelita dropped the hand-cannon into the snow, offering her now-empty paw to him. Sly blinked twice then reached up and took her grasp. He didn't know what else to say and so a suave pair of words rolled right off his tongue…
"Well hello, beautiful. If it isn't my favorite brown-eyed girl. Welcome back," Sly said. Once their paws met, she pulled him to his feet and their eyes met. Both fell quiet and silence resumed. For once, Carmelita had nothing to say; she was too exhausted from defeating Karla Chintzy, she just didn't know what to say at this point.
Both of them were suddenly distracted by the beeping horn of a pickup truck. Who else was at the wheel this time, but Bentley. "C'mon you two! The obfuscation cloak needs to be re-fitted to the tank, if we're going to fight Clockwerk. Hop into the truck bed and we'll get out of here! Interpol is crawling around these parts like you guys would not believe! It's in our best interest to make haste!"
Sly just grinned at Carmelita then gave her a gentle nudge, motioning towards the truck. "It's good to see you, too," He told her, adding, "Let's hurry. Clockwerk could be anywhere by now. We've got to stop him!"
A/N: Lordie, what a ride. Karla's dead, The Reaper is dead, Steven is dead, Clockwerk and The Sire are alive and Carmelita now knows she has to find the Cooper Engagement Diamond and Clockwerk and then destroy both! It's the only sure way to put a massive hitch into the plans of Evil's very own figurehead. If she can successfully do that, she may have put a stop to his plans for a few more millennia. Carmelita doesn't seem the devoutly religious type so don't expect any more major spiritual or religious stuff anymore. ;) That was just my way of giving the Good Vs Evil history a bit of pizzazz to make it more believable… or at least more powerful to read. I didn't want it to be the boring old "I'm the power of light!" and "I'm the power of Darkness. Let us duel for the fate of the world! I will rule it!"
See, I wanted to get downright "Truth and Life vs. Deceit and freewill-crushing" and I wanted it to move like an epic.
Having all these immortal characters show up behind something as simple as rebuilding Clockwerk only made half-sense. If he's failed in the past, no self-respecting Immortal Super Natural character would give a CRAP about Clockwerk's reconstruction. Honest. They always have 5 more fishes to fry at any given time. They're timeless, that's how they roll with eons of experience. But if something as evil as the first known "evil" Character (The Devil) of the greatest known story (Creation) of any book was using evil to MANIPULATE his way into bringing Clockwerk back… having become closer to this fabled diamond than ever before…
It only made sense to have so many huge conspiracies behind Clockwerk, Doctor M, the Cooper vault and family… Then I wanted to have it all come together in one mega-plot by one immensely bad character. I love the idea of every evil character having to answer to SOMEbody… and that's when I'd decided to make a play and introduce the ultimate antagonist character… The Devil himself. I know it's really overboard and if you think about it, it's really lame to say "the bad guy is Satan." I mean, gee. He's always the bad guy in real life… it seems dumb to use him in a story. But shoot, who else could pull off so many conspiracies at once? Who else is badass enough in the evil department?
That's why I went out of my way to give him the Serpent a history of evil and power and such a lofty agenda… to come alive in the physical world… to be born into the living realm, so that he could try to bring about doomsday… the ultimate evil ending to anything. I wanted to make it powerful so that it didn't become hokey. … I like to take a hokey plot and make it slammin'. That's what my StarFox Story, "THE CURSE" is… a hokey plot that I put time and effort into, so that it would be deep, dark and complex. Anyone can say, "The StarFox Team became Vampires and kicked peoples butt." But I wanted it to rock so hard that the hokey synopsis would be overlooked.
And now Carmelita finds out that she's the only one who knows how to stop doomsday. If that kind of weight was on MY shoulders, I'd be Lamenting, too! After Karla got stripped of her powers completely for having cheated, it was kinda cool for Carmelita to waltz in and stomp the chick's tail. Wee. I've drawn this story out for you guys… I hope you're enjoying it… I meant to make it like.. 8-10 chapters, originally.
I've got to introduce Act4, because we're going in a new direction now… Clockwerk is free. There are only two bad guys left and the good guys are about to rally up and bust open a can of whoopass. Expect detailed action, some light traumatic drama and even a dash of romance in the future chapters… Act4 begins with Chapter 16.
By the way, did anyone understand what this chapter's name meant? Tell me in your review, if you got it. Good luck :D
Thanks for reading! I hope you're all prepared for the way I plan to end this thing, later on. Muwahahaha.
-kit