A/N: The reason this chapter took so long is because my editor-of-the-week got abducted. I had the Five grand in unmarked bills but they also demanded cheese and I was fresh out…. So I had to proof the story myself and it was really busy at work so… I didn't do a very good job! Sorry; I'll try harder next time XD
I FINISHED THREE CHAPTERS for the sequel of this story! Sorry, I got really into it and then realized, OSNAP-SON, I gotta finish THIS one! AHH!
This chapter was completed November 5th…
Also, I entered a submission into a writing contest. Top prize is a hundred bucks. It's posted here: httpCOLONfwdSLASHfwdSLASHwwwDOTfanstoryDOTcomFWDSLASHdisplaystoryDOTjspQUESTIONMARKidEQUALSSIGN125589
fanfiction won't let me post a dang website address. Laaaame. I guess it keeps bots from putting up spam but sheesh, yanno? Anyhow, I probably won't win or anything because I got silly with the wording and the lexicon but the contest rules state that it has to be a short story that begins with the sentence: "It looked like a simple butcher knife" … BUWAH HA HA!
I think this is the chapter I've been waiting to write since after finishing chapter 18. The good ole' beat'em up and break stuff chapter. I had a bit of fun with the "fire hose" scene, a few chapters back but… I really like writing about crackin' skulls! Well, that and intensely mushy romance. I could write about that all day at night and never get tired but it just hasn't had a place in this story just yet. I really love writing every-day happiness and white-picket-fence romance… But anyway, back to the crackin' skulls part! That's what Carmelita is about to do! So let's get to it and see some action! For those of you who have recently re-read through the entire story … you're going to understand why things happen the way they do, concerning Steve and Clocky.
Let me refresh your memory really fast… Chapter 15, Clockwerk kills Steve. DO you remember why? It was in self defense, of course! Remember, Steve is a clone of the real skunk, (The real Steven is actually rebuilding Clockwerk). At the same time, the biologically-created Steven (BCSteve? Lol) let it happen because he was intrigued by the fact that a clone could have such dreams and desires and passion… just like watching a child pursue a dream. And so he let the clone of himself build Clockwerk. Dumb idea for such a genius, Clockwerk became a badass. At the last minute, the cloned skunk had the idea to use Clockwerk to kill The Sire for his own reasons, then use the "hate chip" as a reward… but he planned to use the one that Bentley made back in chapter 3, which would immediately kill Clockwerk. It all went wrong and Clockwerk was inadvertently resurrected by Bentley and Sly … oops. Let's see how that plays out a second time, huh? Things could get sticky for the good guys AND the bad guys… Hmm, knowing me – they probably will. XD
Chapter -28-
COMMANDO
The western-facing Safe House was quiet. The room remained dark throughout the morning and Sly Cooper had to squint to see. He shut the back door, ran his paws up through his stormy-hued tousled bangs and then paused. He opened his stance, leaned over then shook hard to rid himself of the snow on his bare chest, shoulders and back. At a glance, he could see that the crew was not here, but the subtle sound of breathing could be heard over on the other side of the room.
Sly cautiously and quietly approached the two cots and a chair near the wall then smiled, relief welling up in his chest. Carmelita lay on one of the cots, asleep. She seemed to be resting peacefully and the sight of her served to instantly restore his mood. If he could only get her to trust him again, they could attempt another relationship. He loved her in a way that had grown tenfold since the relationship ended, last year. He even considered proposing at some point in the near future.
He reached for a small gas lamp that sat on a block of wood nearby. He spied a box of matches resting adjacent to the lantern and reached for them. Removing a long-stick match, Sly struck it against the side of the box then eased the lit matchstick down into the glass tube until the flame touched the wick. A very soft glow filled the immediate area; Sly turned back to the slumbering vixen and knelt down besides her cot, just taking a moment to breathe in her scent.
What sort of power did she hold over him? He couldn't be sure. Cooper reached his paw directly behind her left ear and began to massage his short, stubby claws into her fur. In a state of unconsciousness, Carmelita churred pleasantly. Her ear flickered from the proximity of his paw but the muffled hum of her voice was proof-positive that she enjoyed the touch. Indigo tendrils spilled over the side of her face, partially obscuring the tug of a smile at the corner of her maw.
After a few moments, she began to shift her position on the cot, rolling onto her back to stretch out with a light squeak of noise at the back of her throat. Sly pulled his paw up then reached to brush back her long dark blue locks, looking down at her dimly illuminated face. Unable to resist the temptation, he leaned forward until his soft, velveteen tiers brushed against her lips. Cream-like pallid fur covered her neck and cheeks; it was soft to the touch which Sly noticed once his paws came to cup either side of her face. Only a master thief could steal a kiss this well.
His heart was pounding in his chest and yet she was so calm, relaxed and beautiful in her slumber. Was he prince charming, come to kiss the sleeping beauty? The idea had a great measure of appeal in his mind, partially wishing she would wake up and wrap her arms around his neck. At the same time, he didn't want to disturb her sleep because he knew that she needed it.
Just having their lips meshed together, locked in a tender kiss was enough to excite his heart. Tender little nips were offered against the vixen's pursed, kissable lips. He wasn't sure what overcame him but he enjoyed the moment of greed in taking as long as he could with this opportunity. His entire body was afire with love, lust and desire. His will was higher than normal from the pendant but willing his heart to be calm was beyond the ability of any magic artifact.
After several moments of indulging in such sensual and passionate bliss, Sly placed one last, deep kiss upon her soft rose petals of flesh then turned his head to the lantern and extinguished the flame with a breath. He snatched the other cot and brought it closer to hers, then crawled upon it and closed his eyes. All he could think about was his fantasy, where she would have woken up, wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss willingly.
Once the light was out and he was completely still on his cot, Carmelita opened a single eye, peering over at him in the dark. A crafty little smile crept over face, listening for his breathing to grow deeper. She licked her lips, complimenting herself, secretly thinking, 'he totally wants me'. Once she was positive that he was asleep, her eyes fluttered shut once more and she allowed herself to sink back into slumber, enshrouded by the sands of Morpheus.
The hours flew by while the rest of the team was out collecting gear that they would need. Sly and Carmelita, nearly side by side, slept through the day, recuperating from the long, crazy night. Both had romantic dreams possibly spurred on by the early-morning kiss.
Cooper opened his eyes as the western sun began to pour in through the window on the other end of the room. It was frosted over with a silvery sheet of tint on the outside but the illumination was still welcome. It was obvious that there was a small break in the weather from the mid afternoon, on in the mid evening. Sly felt almost weak with happiness, just lying in the warm beam of light. It crawled over his body until it began to touch the cot adjacent to him.
His head lulled to the side only for his eyes to widen when he saw that the cot was empty. As if on cue, the hiss of water came from a nearby room. To his near surprise, it was followed by soft feminine singing. The raccoon eased up onto his elbows then licked at his sticky lips. His face contorted into a moue of disgust at the taste on his lips; he reached a paw up to touch at his mouth then lowered his eyes to his fingertip, illuminated by the late-afternoon sun that came in through the westward window. …Lipstick? He was absolutely positive that she was not wearing lipstick last night… after all, he would have tasted it when he kissed her in her sleep.
Sly glanced around the room, his eyes zeroing in on the block of wood with the lantern, the book of matches and… a small rectangular tube of lipstick. "Touché, Carmelita Fox," he whispered to himself. A grin crept across his scruffy muzzle and the bare-chested raccoon sat all the way up on his cot. Did she apply the lipstick then kiss him in his sleep or did she paint his lips with it as a joke? He could only hope for the former over the latter but either way, he was surprised that he hadn't woken up when it happened.
The next thing he noticed was that Bentley and the gang had visited the safe house a few times during the day while he slept. Some of the gear they had secured was now sitting in the middle of the room, including fresh clothing. His eyes returned to the empty cot besides him then panned about the area to see if there was anything else he'd not noticed right away. Sliding off the cot, he ambled towards the noise of the water, following it to the bathroom. Light filtered through, beneath the bathroom door.
The door was unlocked; he stepped in, squinting until his eyes adjusted. Carmelita's silhouette could be seen against the frosted plastic of the shower door, her soft humming never ceased. His sleeveless shirt was lying on the floor next to her pants and undergarments. A fresh change of clothes were neatly folded and resting on a small stand next to the sink.
In another lifetime, or possibly in his future, he could see this happening the exact same way but for a different reason… if he was ever so lucky, it could have been a typical morning before she went to work, after he successfully laid a foundation for a white picket fence and a family. If only he could ever be so lucky. Perhaps, one day, if he was ever clever enough to make Carmelita his wife, he would have joined her in that shower… not today, though.
Shifty eyes panned the bathroom for a moment then he lifted the toilet lid and seat and made quick work of his wake-up routine. He knew he couldn't flush the toilet without deviating the cold water from the bathroom pipes …but it would be rude not to flush, knowing she had to come out of that plastic stall eventually.
Just when he thought he'd gotten away with being sneaky again, the shower stall opened just a little bit and her paw reached out, palm up in an expectant manner. "The conditioner is on the sink, Ringtail." Caught! Sly blushed fiercely, reaching back for the white bottle on the basin. He passed it to her without a word. "Cat got your tongue?" She asked.
"No, but a certain vixen…" he was suddenly interrupted by sharp laughter.
"In your dreams, Sly Cooper," She replied, waiting a few seconds before adding, "By the way… you sometimes talk in your sleep. Guess I never mentioned that when we dated." Sly's jaw dropped but not a single word came out. She then said, "Thanks for lifting the seat; a woman loves a housebroken man. Don't worry, I'll leave you some hot water. Close the door on your way out, so you don't let out all the warm air." Sly put the seat and lid down on the toilet thought about flushing it to get even with her but opted against it, then made his way to the door and slipped through, shutting it behind himself. Either he wasn't as sneaky as he used to be or she was getting better with age. Did he really talk in his sleep? He was almost mortified and yet, at the same time, he couldn't help but grin inwardly.
As far as the lipstick on his muzzle, he might never find out how it got there; some girls took their secrets all the way to the grave and he had a feeling that he'd never get a straight answer to what happened while he was sleeping. But in his mind, there was nothing wrong with fantasizing about how she might have applied it to him.
Cooper stepped out of the shower only to realize that the building was silent. He knew he'd have to hurry if he wanted to catch up with Carmelita but at all the same time, he also realized that some of the gear that the team had been bringing back throughout the afternoon was also missing. "They're working with her and not me?" He wasn't jealous, he was just surprised.
It wasn't like he couldn't shower, though. It was tough being stealthy when covered in a day's worth of raccoon funk. Draped on his cot, fresh clothes had been laid out. A pair of handcuffs linked the sleeves together on the clean shirt causing him to grin. "Ah these subtle little notes she leaves," He mused aloud with a chuckle. She was just too cute. Unwrapping himself from the damp towel previously used by Carmelita, Sly dressed quickly then left the towel on the cot.
Once ready, he left through the back door, into an alley and made tracks for the bank. The evening sunset was blanketed out by the oncoming second wave of snowstorms sweeping through the area. Plump shards of crystal tumbled from the sky in a gentle manner; it was the calm beginning before the major storm began.
Meanwhile…
At the bank, Sire stood on the roof, his hands folded behind his back. Nathanial Carrington, also known as The Reaper, stood besides him. Sire gut his gaze over to the other man then looked upwards at a chopper descending to the rooftop. "I've never seen you fail," Sire muttered. "It's a shame you couldn't even hold them. Those idiots have destroyed the Laboratory Castle just outside of town and now Donovan Loupe is working for them. Karla was slain once and if she dies again, she will have no way back as the Laboratory has been destroyed; she'll be without a body unless she's lucky enough to be slain by another female. My plans will be ruined if all these things happen. Your job is to protect her. When Clockwerk is completed, I want you to kill the clone of the skunk downstairs. The real Steven is already in Panama, waiting for me. I don't like having to change my plans, Carrington."
"Understood, my liege," Nathanial replied, averting his eyes to the snow-covered rooftop. It still held a great deal of the snow from yesterday's storm and now, with this new weather bulletin in the forecast, there would be at least twice as much snow to worry about. "You'd better hurry before the brunt of the storm arrives."
"That's why I'm going now," Sire muttered, watching as the helicopter's skids touched down upon the concrete plate built into the roof. "I have one more job for you, Mister Carrington."
"Yes?" The badger glanced up at his leader. The bridge of his nose was crooked but he refused to set or bandage it. There was a swell beneath his right eye and some of his facial fur was matted down from where Carmelita head butted him through the cell bars.
"This clone of Steven… His dreams have ceased and now he's beginning to have second doubts about finishing Clockwerk. If he changes his mind, he'll use Clockwerk to his own ends then offer the HateChip in payment. Those Cooper fools made a chip designed to destroy Clockwerk from the inside out, utilizing a computer virus. I don't put it past Steven's clone to give Clockwerk that chip. We can't allow this to happen. It's on his workbench in a case, next to the real one. Find the fake chip and put this upon it," Sire said, handing over what appeared to be a clear sticker.
"And this is…?"
Sire grinned at the older looking badger. "The real Steven understands my vision; he's designed a clear computer chip inside of a translucent film. If you place this sticker upon the fake chip, it will override the virus and… while it won't give Clockwerk his emotions back, it won't destroy him, either. He's necessary to my plans. His death would ruin everything I've worked for. When the Cooper gang is dead, meet me in Panama. It just so happens that the first three artifacts are on three different ships all docked near the Canal. That brings me thirty percent closer to my goal in one fell swoop. The other seven pieces will be retrieved by Slick Cooper or possibly Karla's future master-thief child. At this point, I don't care who retrieves my artifacts, so long as I get them."
Carrington nodded slowly. "As you wish, M'lord. I'll take care of Prague. See you in Panama." The Reaper stepped back, watching the effeminate lion prance towards the Helicopter. Once aboard, the chopper began to lift vertically into the sky until it disappeared in the clouds. Once above the storm, it began to move away from the city, leaving the badger alone on the rooftop. A soft noise caused his ears to flicker; the badger whirled around but no one was behind him. He narrowed his eyes and sniffed at the cold wind but couldn't detect anyone's presence.
Carmelita Fox put her back against the wall, peering over her shoulder, and down the corridor that ran alongside of her. Soft chocolate eyes flitted about, checking for any guards in proximity to her location and then her ears perked, standing tall in an attempt to listen. She could hear Slick Cooper speaking to someone else. "And so you see," said Slick, "Sire is only using you. Your creator is only using you. They think because we're clones that we're as disposable as machines; that we don't have feelings or a soul. I don't know if I have a soul but I have a heart and I assure you that Sire and his lackeys are making a grave mistake. Be careful and do not trust Nathanial. They care about Clockwerk, not us."
"I believe you," said the person in reply. It was the voice of Steven, albeit the clone of the skunk. "I wonder how Sire plans to carry this out when I've planned all along to have Clockwerk kill him. He's too power hungry in my opinion."
"That's what you fail to understand," Slick snapped in reply strutting back and forth in a light-footed gait. "They don't care about your opinion and will kill you for it. In fact, they plan to kill you for less than that. Your usefulness has run out. I'm on a mission, mind you. If the three of us can walk away from this, start a new life and have our own rights, then we're better off. I can't seem to convince Karla to walk away from this mission with her life and her abilities."
"She carries the soul of the true immortal version of Karla Chintzy," she other replied sullenly. "We can't trust her, unfortunately. I know you've taken to her and even call her 'mate' now, but her mandate is a personal one… she wishes to bare offspring with her abilities because it's something she desired in life, before her original death, several hundred years ago. But trust me, Slick, if you don't walk away from her this very moment, it will cost you your life by the end of the week, maybe even the end of the night."
"Unfortunate that we can't trust her," Slick sighed, sounding dejected. "I'm quite taken to Inspector Carmelita Fox but … Karla was… is my first. She's… I don't know. I can't just abandon her, she's…"
"Special to you…?" the cloned skunk chuckled. "You're like your doppelganger, Slick. You're a hopeless romantic at heart. Perhaps the reason you're attracted to Carmelita Fox is due to the fact your original DNA provider is her soul mate. Even with all the science knowledge I've assumed, I have found nothing that suggests Soul Mates cannot exist. It's possible; there is no proof to refute it in any way."
"If they were soul mates, they would not be at odds from one another," Slick protested. "Regardless, I wish to change Karla's mind. But to be quite honest, I want to kill the Cooper gang first; their existence will only make my life more difficult."
"From our gathered intelligence," Steven said with a sigh, continuing with, "She is too set in her ways to love a Criminal. That doesn't mean her heart can't beat faster when she's around him. It matters not; she's the reason they're not together, as her willpower towards justice makes her who she is. While she could not say no to Sire's directly influencing powers, he wouldn't be able to program her to commit a robbery, either. You can't make the world's clumsiest person dance a ballet over night. It's impossible without years of brainwashing. The psyche is too powerful. I have work to do; I must finish Clockwerk ahead of schedule and send him to Panama. Then I'll ensure that he receives the HateChip designed by the Cooper gang. I had an epiphany this morning… His existence is a danger to us all. I'll be in my lab."
"We need to watch one another's back," Slick replied. "I'm off to try and talk to Karla. I want her to change her ways and walk away from this."
"It won't happen… but good luck. While your heart may be involved," Steven said, trailing off with a slow shake of his head. "She will put her mandate before thy status as mates."
"Thy?" Slick chuckled. "It's quite interesting how you've obtained so much of Steven's old memories that you waver in and out of his old, defunct archaic speech method."
Steven nodded, rebutting, "It's my personal quirk and it makes me who I am. Thou can'st deprive me of such as it makes me unique in mine own eyes."
"There you go, again," Slick chortled, patting his friend upon the shoulder. "You do it more when you're tired."
"Indeed, such is so," Steven's clone replied. "I've not slept in days, Slick. I'm physically exhausted. I'll be in the lab." A few seconds passed and Carmelita's ears flickered, hearing the chime of an elevator then the hiss of hydraulic doors shutting. Seconds later, she saw a shadow grow on the floor, coming into the intersection in which she hid. As soon as he came around the corner, she clocked him as hard as she could, and laid him out cold.
"I feel sorry you people feel like you have to fight for your rights but," she trailed off then shrugged. "Whether the world feels you should have rights or not isn't the point because I'm not a cop anymore, babe. I'm just the girl who overheard you say that ya wanna kill the Cooper Gang. Not on my watch, buddy." She picked up the cane that lay besides his crumpled form and gave it a playful twirl. "I promised I would return this to its rightful owner; I don't rightly approve of thievery, jerk." She stepped over his body and sprinted off down the hallway with the Cooper cane.
Her free paw went to her ear and she began to speak softly, while dashing through the second floor hallway system. "Are we ready to shut them down?" she asked.
"Roger!" came the reply over her radio. It was Bentley's voice. "Penelope is going to flash the Electromagnetic Pulse and you'll retrieve her RC car, which will be rendered useless. Then, after a few minutes, we'll have her take the RC Chopper in to you and drop off night vision goggles. You'll fasten the RC Car to the suspended platform on the chopper then break a window so she can bring it back to the base. Your shock pistol will be useless after the EMP is fired and you wouldn't want to use it on someone like The Reaper anyhow."
"Why not?" Carmelita asked.
"I've been doing some research on these guys," Bentley explained to her. "His supernatural power is lightning and using electricity as a weapon."
"Will the EMP have an effect on him?" She asked.
"I've pondered that," the turtle said over the channel. "But I don't think it will affect him. I hope my hypothesis is incorrect but an EMP should not do anything to a living breathing body. It only renders devices inoperable. At any rate, it won't have any effect on Clockwerk; he's being specifically built to withstand an EMP blast… however, Steven's progress should be halted to some extent. His tools and computer components would need replacing although I would hope the HateChip would become worthless, though I doubt luck would be so kind to us."
"Roger," replied the vixen, still running down the hallway. "When are you going to fire it?" she asked.
"In one minute. Be prepared," Bentley said before closing the channel. Carmelita Montoya Fox came to a sudden stop, her eyes widening. The hallway opened up into a large room filled with more guards than she could currently count. Mostly Rhinos and Czech-hounds, a mixed bread of wolf-dogs from the general region, seemed to inhabit this room as if it were a guard's lounge. At least two dozen heads lifted, all turning to stare directly at her. Her heart stopped and her breath caught. She froze, standing there in the doorway to the recreational lounge, her eyes as wide as saucers. She was outnumbered and didn't have any guns.
"…Crap." A soft whirring sound was heard, coming down the hall behind her. The RC car zoomed over the thin carpeting, zipping between her ankles and coming to stop in the center of the room. Almost all the guards stood up at once, first glancing to the remote control toy then glancing back to Carmelita. "You're all under arrest, have the right to remain silent and are being taken in for questioning in regards to the kidnapping activities of the Secretariat General of Interpol."
The group of men suddenly burst into laughter only for Carmelita to clinch her eyes shut. The RC Car flashed with an incredibly bright light that stunned every guard in the room. Simultaniously, a capsule on top of the car cracked open and every light in the building went out. Every flashlight and every battery operated device became useless in the entire facility. Carmelita opened her eyes after a few seconds, already getting a head start on having her eyes adjusted.
Also, it was known that foxes had far better natural night vision abilities than rhinos or canines. She stormed into the room, drawing the Cooper Cane and started out by swinging it like a bat. The fight was on; it was time to rumble. The guards in the room had been blinded by a stunning flash just before the lights went out and now Carmelita, who knew to close her eyes before it happened, was the only one with the ability to see anything. While it was difficult to see in the darkness, she could make out the outline of each target.
She hooked the staff around the neck of the nearest guard and flipped him around, placing her foot on his neck. Carmelita snatched a Beretta off of his hip, she flipped it around in her paw, holding it by the barrel, then clocked him in the face with the handle. Another guard blindly approached her with his own handgun pointed in her general direction.
She dropped the cane, thrust her paw at his weapon and caught the barrel of his pistol against the padding of her left palm. The slide of the handgun slid backwards into the loading position then she squeezed her fingertips around the weapon and jerked her wrist down then upwards. The handgun came apart, becoming a useless hunk of metal. She still held the sliding mechanism in her paw and quickly used it to strike the second guard in his face. Bringing her right paw swooping downwards, she aimed the Beretta low at the second guard, then fired, striking his armored vest at point black range, surly cracking at least one of his ribs.
Carmelita dropped the gun slide that was in her left paw then put her palm against his face and pushed. He teetered backwards and collapsed to the ground, semi-conscious with labored breathing. She slid her foot beneath the cane and lifted it to her awaiting paw then reached it outwards to snag the next closest dark form, hooking it around his neck. She wasn't quite as handy with it as Sly Cooper was but it was light weight, strong and had a good grip to it. She pulled back against the cane and put her feet outwards, literally walking up the rhino's chest while holding the cane tightly in her left paw. Her feet came up from his torso, delivering a double kick beneath his jaw, shattering that glass jowl with ease.
The vixen followed through into a loose somersault, until her feet touched the ground again, half kneeling. The rhino stumbled backwards from the attack, the hook now unlatched from his neck. She then lifted her right paw and eased in on the trigger, squinting her eyes to anticipate the blast flash. The gun bucked in her paw, causing her ears to flicker; the noise of firing a weapon indoors was nearly deafening and she'd already fired it twice. The guard was thrown backwards from the pointblank round, received in his armored vest.
He collapsed to the ground with a thud, wheezing for breath. She hopped over his form and went for the next guard, her ears perking simultaneously at the sound of an incoming RC Chopper in the background. A deep scarlet flash occurred, dimly illuminating the room in a crimson strobe-light effect. Carmelita half-narrowed her eyes, to keep her vision dilated. Almost immediately a nearby guard was mowed down from a volley of blaster fire.
Fox dropped to the ground, extending her toned thighs. The long, lean leg swept across the floor, forcing a canine soldier's ankles out from beneath his body. He landed unceremoniously upon his tail with a grunt only to receive a metal pole across the back of his head, seconds later. He slumped over to the side, face to the ground. The athletic vixen then slammed the cane into the floor, ejecting herself upwards and back to her feet. Due to the deep garnet-colored strobe effect, her movements seemed animated as if in slow motion to the squinting guards around her.
The pink-painted remote control chopper made another pass, opening fire on the guards that threatened to broadside the suspended inspector. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted a charging soldier approaching her at a high rate of speed. Carmelita stepped to the left, using the cane hook to snatch another guard's neck then let the charging guard clothesline himself at the neck, against the extended pole handle. From the collision, both guards were knocked to the floor, inadvertently yanking the cane from Carmelita's paw.
It clattered to the floor the way a typical metal rod would sound being strewn across a hardwood floor. A second remote controlled helicopter zoomed into the room, opening fire from a fresh angle. An emerald hued glow filled the area as a stream of rapid fire shots lanced through the recreation lounge. Bentley's chopper swooped about, dodging one of the guards who swung his rifle at the two mechanical flies as if he were holding a baseball bat.
"It looks like freakin' Christmas lights in here," Carmelita muttered, carefully evading the wrath of both choppers. Their combined fury cleared the remainder of the room within a few minutes, bringing every guard in the room down to the floor. A few miscellaneous groans were heard from a few of them, while others were simply silent. Carmelita leaned over, snatching the Cooper cane from the floor, flipping her tail upwards before standing straight once more. It was one of those partially-unintentional 'I'm sexy and I won; hear me roar' poses that someone like Sly would have wanted to witness.
She gave the cane a little victory twirl and grinned a bit. After taking a moment to wipe the handgun off with her shirt, she ditched it with a shrug and approached Penelope's chopper. The Night Vision Goggles and a new electronic radio earpiece hung from a well-braided piece of plastic 'gimp' rope. It was a nice, feminine touch as far as Carmelita was concerned. She unlaced the flat, plastic string piece and removed the goggles and earpiece then walked back across the room and picked up the RC car that was now powerless. She reached a paw up and plucked the now-useless earpiece from her ear and tossed it to the floor, replacing it with the new one that hadn't been affected by the Electromagnetic Pulse.
Carrying it back to the hovering chopper, Carmelita took a moment to secure it to the braided plastic rope then turned her attention back to the goggles. She brushed her paw back through those dark hued tresses of headfur, craning her neck back a bit. The goggles were fitted over her head then she released the wave of hair which cascaded forth once more. Tucking the straps behind her ears to make them comfortable, she adjusted the size just a bit then switched the night vision's power button.
A soft, phosphorescent green bathed her eyes, showing her everything in the room. The RC Chopper, almost directly in front of her, was a brighter green object with a fair amount of definition and texture displayed to her. Things in the distance were a duller coloration of green while the background was only a shade lighter than black.
"Be sure to avoid a gunfight," Bentley said over the radio into her ear. "The flashes of multiple guns will cause the lens to flair up and all you'll see is a bright mess with no clarity. That's the only drawback to using N.V.G.'s. Penelope is going to bring her car back to the base checkpoint and do a quick re-install of the electronic components so we can use it on another task. I'm bringing my Chopper back to cover hers. When you get to the third floor, let me know and we'll go into phase number two."
"Understood," Carmelita replied, sliding the handle of the Cooper cane through her belt, across the back of her posterior. A playful little thought popped into her head and she whispered to herself, "I bet you'd love to be that cane, right now, Ringtail."
"What was that?" Bentley said over the radio.
"Nothing, I'm talking to myself. Carmelita OUT," She replied, reaching to her ear to close the communication. Carmelita approached the nearest window, struck it with the cane causing it to crack then turned to the choppers. "You'll have to shoot it out; the glass is pretty thick." She then turned away from the window and took off in a sprint, leaving the choppers to deal with their own method of escape.
Creamy streaks with carnation highlights; Karla Chintzy brought her paws out before herself, drawing the power within to force the men away. Donovan's followers were becoming a nuisance to her and she was tired of playing with them. The Czech wolfdogs were combining their abilities to compete with her powers but Karla had no intention of being defeated to a bunch of students.
Her palms began to glow; those glyphs inscribed in the padded portion of her paw incandesced softly. She brought her arms outwards in a sweeping motion at shoulder height and each one of the five men were thrown head over heels across the dark vacuity until they disappeared from her eyes. She narrowed her gaze and smirked, prancing around in the dark with her chin held high. "And that," she said, placing her paws upon her hips, "is what you get, children!"
Karla paused then folded her arms and tightened her paws into fists. She knew what came next. Her woman's intuition was sharp; she called out with a smirk, "So, are you ready to avenge your beaten students? Never send children to do a man's job, eh Donovan?"
His reply was concise. "Your trite banter is not important, Miss Chintzy. Let us begin."
The enshrouding gloom felt almost stuffy in a way. Guards were quick to discover that their flashlights and stun guns did not operate. Any guard in the building who already had night vision found that the batteries were depleted and that the electronics were malfunctioning. Also, it didn't take long for a rumor to start by word of mouth that guardsmen were dropping like flies.
Carmelita Fox crouched on her haunches, perched atop of a cafeteria table in the center of the lunch room, upstairs. The green phosphorescent advantage showed seven soldiers all within unbelievable proximity. She specifically positioned herself to be upwind of them, just west of the air conditioning vent in the ceiling, so that they couldn't detect her scent.
"And then Murphy was gone," one of the guards said to the other six. "I was standing right next to him and suddenly, I'm tripping over his leg. I know it was him… Now I've got his damn action express and I'm going to use it on the killer, dammit."
"I thought those bosses split for South America," another guard muttered. "They're the only ones capable of doing this kinda stuff."
The vixen tightened her jaw, rolling her eyes. She nearly had to bite her tongue not to say anything. 'Central America, you idiot,' Carmelita thought to herself. Her thoughts then turned to something simpler. 'I wonder what kind of gun he's got; probably a Desert Eagle or something.' Her eyes shifted, recounting the seven guards.
Now that he was telling all his buddies, she changed her mind about what was and what wasn't a threat in this room. Slowly removing Cooper's cane from her belt, she clinched it between her paws tightly, wondering if she could slip the hook out and snatch the big gun out of his holster. She'd need a steady paw to accomplish such a feat but felt ready to try it.
Slowly but surly, the vixen crept across the table, reaching out with the cane. The hook slipped gently beneath the button of his holster, detaching the metallic button with the utmost care. She then turned the hook slightly so that it slid into the trigger guard of the weapon. How in the heck did Cooper do this with only one paw and make it seem so easy and effortless?
Carmelita lifted the weapon out of the holster, surprised by the lack of difficulty in the matter. To her dismay, the gun was an AMT Automag V, one of the lightest fifty-caliber weapons on the market. Lighter guns meant more recoil, although it did have built in compensator ports at the tip of the barrel.
In her opinion, such a weapon was too light for a magnum round of this power. She wasn't about to argue, however, and took the gun, checking to make sure that it was fully loaded with seven rounds. She slid it down the back of her pants then used the cane once more, trying to go for a second successful score. This time, she went for a different angle and used the sharp hook to pierce the side of the cardboard box of bullets resting on the table next to the guard. She brought it back to herself, pleased with the results. Her paws were shaking from the now-top heavy cane with a box of bullets snagged at the tip. Had the guard not been wearing so much body armor, he'd have probably felt the amateur theft of his weapon.
She opened the box of shells with her thumb. The box originally held twenty rounds but only six were missing. That left her 14 cartridges; two full refills worth in ammunition. The Inspector tucked away the box of bullets into a pocket then paused, listening to them continue their conversation.
Carmelita crept back away from the group, holding the gun in one paw and the cane in her other. She was a little disappointed that these men were so very unprofessional. They simply continued their banter… "No, man. There were two cops. They were like, twins or something. It was freaky, though. One shot herself, the other one died from it." Obviously, he was speaking of the other night when Karla had taken over Carmelita's future-doppelganger's body.
"Bullcrap," said another. "You're mixing fact and fiction; there is no such thing as people like the Corsican Brothers. Give it a rest."
"No, I'm serious!" the first one cried in defense. "I saw it happen! Then I was instructed to carry off the body of the dead one. She was hot, though. It sucks that she was dead but it was kinda nice to get my paws on her… even if it was just to carry her down to the sewer and dump'er ass with the trash."
Their conversation quickly caused Carmelita to see red. One of the guards fished out a cigarette and struck a match. The flame sprang to life, causing a light green flair to creep up in the goggles. She waited a moment for the flash to pass, squinting her eyes for a moment, then the guard extinguished the match, throwing it on the tile floor. "The fox cop, right? She was okay," he said, taking a puff on the cigarette. "I'd have hit it once or twice," he added, exhaling a plume of smoke from his nose. He then added, "But I still think your story about one shooting herself and hurting the other was crap."
"Whatever man," said the first, throwing his paws up in the air. "I was in the doorway when it happened. Later, I was the one to pick her tail up and throw the body out. That one hardly had a scratch and she started bleeding under her shirt; there wasn't a single hole in the shirt – I know that for a fact! You guys know there is some freaky-ass supernatural crap going on, here. You've all seen it. Why is this so damn hard to believe, all of a sudden?"
"Will ya just shut up, already?" said another, who'd been quiet all along, up until this point. "And from what I overheard, both those bitches were the same person."
Carmelita simply couldn't stand it anymore. They were all scumbags. One apparently suffered from necrophilia and boasted to throw her body out like trash… another boasted that he would have had sex with her and a third was referring to her as a female dog. Her temper couldn't be held back any longer.
She leapt upon the table they were sitting at and, using Sly's Cane, struck the one who had been currently speaking. "¡No soy una perra! " she shouted at the first one, then dropped to the table, performing a sweep-maneuver that caught the second speaker directly in his face with a booted foot to the mouth, adding, "¡No doy mi cuerpo a los hombres al azar!" then she came to a stop and single-handedly she leveled the recently acquired hand-cannon directly at the chest of the one who boasted to have felt up her doppelganger. This was the same man who claimed to dump the body into the sewer, which angered her that much more. "¡Le mataré, usted pedazo de mierda!" The trigger was pulled and the gun blast flared up her goggles with a bright white blotch of lighting.
The lack of weight in the weapon, combined with the powerful blast, caused her right paw to lift almost vertical, above her head. When the white flair began to dissipate, she noted the body began writhing on the floor; the man had a fairly large hole through his chest. The magnum rounds had punched through the medium-class armored vest he wore due to the proximity – large enough for a person to put their fist through, although it didn't continue out through the backside. His jaw quivered for a moment then his body grew still. The four remaining men scattered, taking up positions underneath the nearest tables in the dark.
"Do you hear me?" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "I am not a female dog, I do not 'hit it' with random men, and … for the love of God, I will not let some filthy sack of crap boast that he threw me out like trash after copping a cheap feel! Do you understand me? Do you! Do you hear me? Do you HEAR ME!" She re-aimed the large gun and pulled the trigger, blowing away one of the seats that was next to a guard who hid under a nearby table. "I can't take you to jail; so be it, I'll whip you all if I must!"
The other guards, four in all, were quick to get up, readying for a fight by drawing their firearms. Not wanting to waste all of the ammunition, she opted for the cane, snatching either end with her paws, keeping it out before herself. She watched as the guards backed up into a huddle, facing outwards in all directions due to the darkness.
Carmelita gave a grin then slid her paws together until she held it like a bat. Pivoting on her heel, she swung as hard as she could, careening across the sidearm of two guards, side by side, who were holding their weapons outwards at an even height. Both their guns went skittering across the ground, one of them approached her; she gave it a hard kick, until it stopped at the other side of the room.
She pivoted once more, going into a full circle to build up the momentum. She elevated the second attack, catching both guards across their faces. They spilled backwards, bowling the two guards behind them to the ground. Her arms extended, using the cane to hook up one of the remaining conscious guards by the belt. She drew him close, sliding her paws down the cane, choking up on the grip then bowed her head. She jerked her paws to the left, so that he was swung about in a way that caused her headbutt to connect with the side of his face, knocking him clean out.
The remaining guard scrambled to his feet, crawling out from under the 'slumbering' bodies of the fourth and fifth soldier. Carmelita was quick, lancing the cane outwards and hooking it around his ankle. He fell forward, landing flat on his face. She then pounced like the fox she was, landing squarely upon his back. Lifting the cane, Carmelita brought the hilt down upon his head, hard enough to provide a concussion but the guard remained conscious.
She then snagged the hook-end into his uniform collar and hopped off of him, putting all of her weight into swinging the cane over her shoulders and down as if chopping wood. Even with her adrenaline, it was far harder for her to pull off this maneuver than it would have been for Sly Cooper. Normally his favorite method of sneak attack; anatomically speaking, men had a muscle in their shoulders that women didn't possess. She was able to pull it off, but she struggled just the same, huffing softly once the soldier's body slammed into the ground at her feet.
Carmelita took off for the nearest doorway, winding up in a stairwell just outside of the cafeteria. She dashed up the staircase and headed for the top floor. She had tucked the gun in her waistband and the cane still rested in her paws. At the top of the steps, Carmelita came to a doorway which she kicked hard, throwing her weight and momentum into the act.
The door burst open, slammed into the wall and became stuck in place. Carmelita stood there, in the doorway, watching over the large corner room that took up the top half of the building. Windows at the far end, in the corner, along the east and south facing walls, allowed low illumination to filter into the room. Within, Donovan and Karla were locked in combat with one another.
Karla received a lashing across her face from one of those tendrils of shade. It struck her like a whip but she was quick to recover, thrusting her paws wildly in the air. Donovan found himself levitated through the air and ejected across the room into one of the windows. It didn't crack or break, obviously made of high end bullet-proof composite.
He slid down to the floor then clinched his paws together. Shadows came up from the floor, directly in front of the windows. They rose up and wrapped around Karla's face, blinding her so that he could keep her from using her powers. She took a deep breath, inhaling his scent then began to charge him blindly.
Donovan quickly stood up, snatched her by her arms and guided her face first into the nearest wall. A dent in the concrete showed a metal rod just beneath, where the wall was reinforced. She slumped to her knees, facing the wall, panting hard. Donovan stepped back a bit and called forth the minions of the shadow. A dozen black tendrils of night assaulted her across the back, whipping her repeatedly. They tore through the cloth of her shirt, shredding parts of the fur on her back and leaving light gashes against her flesh. She grunted with each strike, still blind to use her abilities from the shadow that clouded her eyes.
"A burden you've been, Karla Chintzy," Donovan muttered. "For some reason, this punishment seems justifiable."
Suddenly, Carmelita's lens flared again, causing her to squint before reaching up and lifting the goggles so that they rested upon her forehead. A glowing bolt could be seen; she squinted in an attempt to dilate her vision. By the time she was able to see, it was too late; Nathanial Carrington stood tall, above the collapsed body of Donovan. A solidified bolt of lighting had been used like a wooden stake, impaling the shadow master through his heart. The Reaper put his foot upon Loupe's head, looking triumphant.
Karla sat up on the floor, ragged breath causing her lower lip to quiver, her paws shaking with adrenaline and rage at the humiliation she'd suffered. Carmelita quickly covered her muzzle, seeing that Donovan's life was now over… shade could not stand up to the power of light or fire. With the solidified lighting bolt jutting out of his back, he would not wake up. The paralyzed man lay there, staring off into the distance.
"Would you like to do the honors?" Carrington asked, passing the Felox some sort of blade. In the dim lighting, Carmelita couldn't tell if it was a short sword or something more elegant. Karla snatched the weapon from the badger's paws and smirked. Carmelita pulled the goggles back over her eyes and quickly mashed her finger in on the setting display button. It cycled through night vision to thermal display to x-ray instantly, so that the bolt of lighting was no longer blinding.
"With pleasure," she muttered, lifting the blade high above her head. Carmelita drew the magnum into her left paw, leveled it on Karla's forehead and fired. The bullet ripped from the barrel, causing the gun and her left arm to lift straight up into the air. The round, however, was true to its mark and found Karla Chintzy's forehead. It was, unfortunately, too late. She was already in mid-swing. The blade came crashing down with the follow-through strike. It separated Donovan's head from his shoulders in a grisly display of death; the mental image of the splatter on the wall and floor quickly caused Carmelita to shutter. She was glad she couldn't see it with the x-ray setting.
It reminded her of one of the dreams where Sly died to Clockwerk. The one where she was in the small office, interrogating the attacker in that café. …The one where his blood was splattered across the wall when Clockwerk used a tail feather to impale him. That vision quickly faded from her eyes, watching Karla's boney form slump back against the wall.
Carmelita approached Karla, aiming the powerful gun, which still had five rounds in it, and put it directly to the half-breed's chest, firing twice in succession. Both blasts ruptured from the back side of the powerfully augmented clone, cracking the window behind her. Carmelita's paws were lifted into the air from the powerful recoil. Inspector Fox then re-lowered her weapon and took two more shots, putting massive holes in each shoulder with one more fired directly at Carrington. The badger was unharmed as the round disintegrated from heat and intense energy that surrounded the man's body.
Karla, on the other hand, dropped to the ground, her breath raspy. Carmelita grinned inwardly. "I didn't separate your head from your shoulders, because you'd attack me on some sort of metaphysical level and that's crap. No, I'd rather incapacitate you then chain you to the bottom of the ocean."
"I'm not considered immortal for nothing; if any woman kills me, I take her body," Karla whispered in a husky voice. Strands of flesh began to stretch out from the wounds, seeking to seal the massive holes in her stomach and shoulders but this went unnoticed by Carmelita, whose goggles had been set to display x-ray. However, Carmelita could see the Felox's lower ribs mending themselves, followed by her shoulders.
Karla then thrust her paw outwards. Glowing glyphs etched into her palms quickly flashed once the connection was made, throwing Carmelita into a nearby wall with exquisite force. Carmelita narrowed her gaze, staring at the white bone structure of her enemy. She knew exactly how she wanted to kill Karla but making it happen just right was going to be difficult. Perhaps fighting the Felox in the afterworld was her only chance after all.
Karla was still slumped up against the wall, trying to heal her wounds. She was fazed but the distraction wouldn't last forever; Inspector Fox had to make the situation more permanent by completely removing the woman's head. It would be risky but she also knew that Carrington wouldn't attack her body if she was in a coma, because he'd be killing Karla as well, especially if the Felox won.
Nathaniel was quick to keep his cohort alive, however. He waved his paw outwards, causing a bolt of lighting to reach out for the Magnum. Instead, it deviated for the larger metallic item in her other paw, striking the Cane. The way it was designed, Cooper's cane absorbed the energy without electrocuting Inspector Fox. She opened fire again, this time shooting at Nathaniel once more. Caught in the moment between recharge, having just thrown electricity, his defenses were down and the bullet clipped his shoulder, spinning him like a top.
Karla finished healing her injuries with the power of her immortality. She slowly made it to her feet, looking rather weathered. "You stay back," Karla muttered to the panting badger who was tending to his own wound, now. "She's mine," the Felox added, narrowing her eyes, regardless of the lack of illumination.
Carmelita was taking the opportunity to refill the Magnum, but Karla threw her paws up in the air, causing at least half the box to go flying out of Inspector's paws. The attack also knocked the night vision goggles from Carmelita's eyes; the bulky device crashed to the floor with a dull thud, casting a soft white and green glow onto the floor directly behind it. Bullets spilled across the ground, rolling every which way. Outside of those windows, snow was still falling, providing a light gray sky that helped both of them to see one another. Carmelita's natural vulpine night vision and Karla's natural feline-fox-mixed night vision made it so that both predators were able to see one another.
Carmelita took the half-loaded magnum and pushed it back into her pants pocket then bared the cane once more. Chintzy thrust her left palm out, her pink glyphs causing her paw to glow gently on the bottom side. A powerful force struck at Carmelita's ankles, knocking her to the floor. Carmelita was faster on her feet than Karla gave her credit for, however. Doing a quick handstand, Carmelita bound forth, on the attack once more.
She landed on her feet then swung the cane hard. The hooked tip hit Karla beneath the temple, the metal tip sinking into the flesh and fur at the side of Chintzy's head. That tip continued through, removing Karla's left eye, completely. Almost immediately, the immortal mistress of beauty screamed in anguish. She threw her paws outwards in defense, throwing every object in the office. A desk, pens, chairs and even Carmelita was hurled back to the far end of the room. She snatched the night vision goggles from the floor and put them over her head, not quite covering her eyes with them just yet.
Suddenly, a blast in the roof occurred; one of Bentley's bombs went off, making a hole in the rooftop. Carmelita sat up, able to see the dim outline of her breath now. Having fallen immediately from her forehead, the night vision goggles hung around her neck now; the somehow managed to slide down over her face, over her muzzle. Without further waiting, Sly Cooper hopped in from above with a graceful somersault just to show off.
He landed between the women and Carmelita was quick to react, tossing him the cane from where she sat on the floor, at the opposite end of the room. Sly snatched the cane from the air and gave it a playful twirl. "Thanks babe! I always knew I could count on the top cop to recover my stolen heirloom!"
"Don't mention it," Inspector Fox grunted softly, coming to her feet. "If you want more lipstick loving, like you got last night, you'd better use it on these idiots!" She said that, just to piss of Karla that much more but the Felox was in too much anguish to care at the moment.
Karla continued to writhe in agony, from the bloody hole in the side of her face. She glared through her right eye at Carmelita then reached her paws outwards. Carmelita suddenly reached for her neck as if an invisible paw was clinching her by the throat. Without further warning, Karla swung her paw outwards and Carmelita was thrown away from the wall, slamming into the cracked window. She connected with the glass at such an impact that it shattered and Carmelita went out through it, disappearing into the night.
Sly's eyes widened and his heart froze. In that instance, he thought she would be dead for sure. He gripped the incandescent cane in his paws tightly, still glowing from the absorption of Reaper's lighting bolt, earlier. Quickly charging Karla from her left, where she couldn't see him coming, Sly lifted the cane into the air and swung with all of his might.
The electrified cane transferred all of its stored electrical energy back into Karla with the first powerful connection, against the side of her head. He'd never killed a woman, let alone any person in hot, passionate blood before. All he saw was red from the loss of Carmelita and acted on impulse. Karla never saw her end coming. Her head was completely separated from her shoulders, adding to the wanton display of gratuitous violence that painted the floor and walls from Donovan's death. There was no scream or sharp cry of agony this time. Her head, from the neck up, passed through the window and her body collapsed to the ground, first kneeling then spilling over onto the front of her torso.
Sly didn't waste another minute; he rushed to the broken window, looking out into the cold night air. Shocked and suddenly elated, Carmelita was dangling from the ledge. She was struggling in the cold; her numb, frozen fingers were starting to give out. Her head lifted and her eyes met with his. She was losing her grip, beginning to slip from the concrete ledge. Cooper's gaze was soft and yet full of concern, begging for her to trust him… she had no choice in the matter.
He thrust the cane out to her and she reached for it. Her paws locked up from the bitter cold and she began to fall. Sly acted on impulse and jerked his wrist, snagging her clothes with the hook that was still stained in Karla's blood. He made the graceful maneuver with a simple twist of his wrist, using only one paw on the cane, keeping his other paw on the windowpane. His chest tightened, holding her weight which was extended by the now-top heavy pole. And yet he made it look easy…
Something struck Sly from behind and he collapsed, dropping the cane. It caught, diagonally, in the window, leaving Carmelita to dangle from the hook but struggling to get up over the ledge. Sly slid to the ground, reaching behind his head with a groan. Nathanial Carrington, on the other side of the room, lifted his paws, causing electric force fields to cover all the windows and the doorway leading into the room. Carmelita struggled, hanging from the ledge, unable to make her way back in through the window due to the force field.
Now it was just Sly and Slick, paw to paw, with no weapons. After glancing at the window to make sure that Carmelita was still there, Sly turned his attention to Slick and the two began to circle one another, bringing their paws up with the intent to finish this the old fashion way.
"Sorry I'm late to the party; your girl thought to put me down for the rest of the night with a dirty ambush but," he glanced over at the window, where Carmelita was struggling, "She got what she deserved, now didn't she?" He folded his arms for a moment, sizing up his doppelganger then a smirk crept over his face. Slick sneered at his counterpart, announcing, "An interesting way to end this whole ordeal, don't you agree brother?"
(A/N: This kind of scene is where people start to dislike my writing style and technique because I mix the point of view back and forth so much… It's action, though! You as the reader need to see both people as if you were watching this on a screen! Sorry if it confuses some people! Still love me?) "We could have been on the same side," Sly muttered, ready to fight. "So let's get this thing done, already. I have a girl to save, punk." Sly wasted no time, charging the physically perfected clone. Slick reached out and snatched Sly's wrist then brought his knee up into Sly's gut, causing the protagonist raccoon to slump to the ground. Slick then used his elbow, bringing it down upon Sly's shoulders, knocking him flat to the floor. The clone wasted no time to finish the attack.
Slick Cooper picked up Sly by the collar than delivered an uppercut with his free paw, knocking Sly back onto his tail. Sly Cooper wasn't out of the game, though. He rolled back onto his shoulders then kicked his feet out, landing upon his heels, ready to fight again. Slick waved his doppelganger on, ready to fight as well.
Sly charged once more but Slick was far too skilled as a fighter, having obtained memories from Sly at the time of creation. The clone pushed his palm up beneath Sly's chin while kicking his foot between Sly's ankles and slammed the gray-furred raccoon back on the floor. Slick then leaned down, his black-furred muzzle brushing against Sly's ear. "Carmelita will be mine; she'll submit to… and fall in love with… me."
Sly kicked his legs out, bringing Slick to the floor. The gray raccoon grabbed the black-furred one by the collar and struck his enemy in the face, hard. Semi-dazed, Slick reached for Sly's shirt and lifted his right knee rolling backwards hard. Sly was pulled overtop of his doppelganger then kicked away, landing on his back, several feet away. Slick jumped back up and acted as though he was casually dusting himself off.
Sly stood back up then leapt into the air. He drew his feet up, beneath himself, keeping them together, and performed a spire jump, landing directly upon Slick's head. The unique style of kick caused Slick to be knocked to the floor but he was also keen to grab Sly by the ankles, slinging the gray raccoon to the ground as well. Both returned to the scuffle, rolling over one another, tumbling about in the tumult.
Their physical tryst continued until Slick snatched Sly by the throat and hurled the natural-born Cooper into the doorway. Sly was immediately zapped hard by Nathanial's force field. The gray-furred raccoon lay there for a moment, dizzy from the powerful shock. Slick approached him and picked him up by the neck, using his other paw to grab Sly by the muzzle. "It's time to die, Sly," Slick chortled. "I'll make it easy; snap your neck then you won't feel anything anymore. You'll have a few seconds of conscious thought as your brain dies; you'll see comforting things like a bright light… that's your mind's way of relaxing itself in the last seconds of life. I'll take real good care of your vixen," he added.
Outside the window, Carmelita had pulled the magnum from her pocket, still dangling from the cane, several stories above the ground. She aimed it through the window and prayed for accuracy, her paws shaking from the cold. Her paw quivering, the gun shaking…
Slick's paws tensed up and Sly braced himself, still struggling in the clone's grip. His body was completely numb from the effects of the zap and so his motor skills had abandoned him. A shot rang out, causing Sly's ears to flicker. A magnum round flew in through the window, now electrified by passing through the field of current.
Simultaneous to Carmelita's squeeze of the trigger, the sharp eyed Slick Cooper cut his gaze over at the window; his pupils dilated and his jaw began to part. "…Oh shit."
The bullet hit its mark, illuminated from the electricity so that it looked like a tracer line streaking through the dark vacuity. The little golden light made a beeline for Slick Cooper, smashing into his skull. It was all over… Slick Cooper was no more.
Before Sly could react, the injured Nathanial Carrington stood up enraged that his side was losing control. He rushed the window and reached his paw through the electricity with ease, shoving the Cane outward. It slid out from where it was stuck in the window and Carmelita began to fall. Sly was still trying to recover but looked up just in time to see it all happen. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
In the flash of an eye, something small went down, passing the window. Everyone's attention was distracted; Bentley's RC Chopper came in through the large hole in the ceiling. Bentley's small green-lit bombs began to erupt from the small cargo door under the chopper, bombing the Reaper with a quick attack. Carrington whirled around and began swinging at the chopper with a glowing scythe in one paw, while attempting to throw lighting bolts at the mechanical nuisance with his other. Bentley's chopper swerved about, dodging the attacks in order to keep the badger's attention. The fighting lasted several minutes, while Sly struggled to get his motor skills back.
After a few moments, Penelope's RC Chopper came back up from the window, over the roof and down through the hole. Attached to the crane cable that hung beneath it was Sly's cane. It released the metal rod which clattered to the floor directly in front of Cooper, who was using the pendant of will to regain his senses more quickly, forcing himself to his feet.
Minutes prior…
Carmelita fell from the window ledge, her eyes widening as that weightless sensation of vertigo overcame her. Sly's cane was still hooked in her half-ripped collar and her heart seemed to stop as she felt herself began to plummet. A small flash of an object caught her gaze, her tail fluttering up between her thighs and her hair rising upwards… Her paws reached upwards as if to grasp at anything to stop herself from falling.
A metal claw suddenly snatched her belt buckle. Her weight and the momentum from her fall caused a cable attached to that claw to become instantly taut. Her fall began to slow but it wasn't enough to stop her. Penelope's RC Chopper was pulled down by the weight of Carmelita's fall. She plummeted, albeit slowly, into the alley far below.
Without any sign of warning, she came to an abrupt stop, crashing through the plastic top of a green recycling dumpster. It was filled to the brim with paper and plastic soda bottles, cushioning her fall. The Chopper landed in the paper pile besides her, the rotors at a halt and the cable coiled on the Inspector's stomach.
Realizing that Sly was in danger before she even gave a thought to her own near brush with death, the Inspector, still in shock from the fact that she fell several stories, quickly unhooked the cane from her collar and shoved it into the claw's grip. She picked up the RC Chopper, lifted it in her right paw and gave the rotors a hard spin with her left paw. "Take this to Sly!" She shouted.
The pink painted chopper lifted up into the night sky, climbing vertically for quick altitude. Carmelita suddenly collapsed back into the paper as snow fell over her form. "I could have died," She groused. "What was that jerk thinking?" She muttered, panting as the shock began to pass, leaving her with the realization that she nearly fell to her death. If it wasn't for Penelope's quick thinking, her life would have been over.
A few moments later, watching as the top window flashed with illumination several times, Carmelita's ears flickered, hearing a double explosion. "Ah hell," She panted, still unable to climb out of the dumpster, just yet. From all of the intense physical combat, falling several stories into a dumpster and the over-all general state of mind she was in, the Inspector simply collapsed, fainting right there.
Bentley's Chopper burst into parts and pieces. The lighting bolt that hit it caused his cache of bombs to erupt, destroying his chopper instantly. Penelope's remote control chopper suffered a similar fate when Carrington snatched the claw cable in his right paw and sent an electric charge up the metal line. It ruptured her battery packs causing them to burst, consuming the plastic molding with fire. Both remote control helicopters fell to the floor in pieces, now tame and quiet.
Sly was quick, using the distraction to his advantage. He picked up some of the magnum bullets that were scattered all over the floor. The raccoon glanced up only to see that Nathanial was now charging Sly once more. The badger wasted no time, hurling a lighting bolt at Sly. Somehow, when it hit Sly's cane, the metallic rod absorbed and deflected the attack again. Sly accidentally dropped most all of the rounds in his other paw from the intensity of the strike, leaving him with one bullet in his palm. He closed his fist around it, narrowing his eyes.
Sly charged the older badger; Cooper still held Carrington responsible for what was assumed to be the deathblow against Carmelita Fox. The badger lifted his paw again, forming another lighting bolt in his paw, but this one resembled a scythe, much like the one he'd had earlier. Sly held out his staff, using it to block the attack, absorbing current from the assassin's energy weapon. Sly drew back his other paw and delivered a devastating punch to Nathanial's gut. The badger's jaw dropped open with a grunt and Sly was quick to react, reaching his fist up and forcing the bullet down into Reaper's muzzle.
It immediately became lodged in Nathanial Carrington's throat, causing the badger to choke. The scythe disappeared and both of his paws came to his neck, trying to gasp for air. Sly lifted his cane, now glowing and charged from deflecting the lighting bolts and being used as a shield against the scythe, moments prior.
Sly gripped his cane in both paws and swung it like a bat. It hit Nathanial Carrington in the neck, causing the bullet to burst, immediately decapitating the badger and ending his life. Without even giving it another thought, Sly jumped out of the broken window and popped his parasail, heading for the alley, where Carmelita's body would surly be. Her form was motionless in a dumpster, which appeared to have a crushed plastic lid. His heart was pounding and his mind was screaming, assuming that she was dead.
Wanting to hasten his descent, Sly released the parasail halfway down the drop. His legs absorbed the impact by dropping into an immediate crouch, burying his paws into the snow. His legs were tucked up beneath his body and he paused for a moment before standing up. Just inches away, the lifeless head of Karla Chintzy stared up at him with an empty, accusing gaze; it was a sight that would later haunt his dreams but for now, his mind was on Carmelita and her safety. A sudden sprint; Sly made a beeline to the dumpster, climbing up the side of it.
There, inside, Carmelita Fox lay atop of a snow-covered plastic lid which bent and partially snapped at the hinges. Her fall had been broken by all the paper to be recycled as the dumpster had not been emptied in the last few days. Sly reached in dipped his paw beneath her head, slipping his fingers beneath the strap for the night vision goggles that still hung at her neckline; he gently pressed his fingertips to the nape of her neck to make sure it wasn't broken. A gasp of relief was visible from her lips in a cloud of warm air against the frigid chill that surrounded them. Her eyes opened and he saw himself reflected in those glassy amber orbs.
She draped her right paw over her chest, where the stitches were located from the gunshot. Carmelita flung her left paw across her forehead almost melodramatically, sighing up at him. Sly couldn't believe it; his relief was almost palpable.
"You're okay," he said, looking over the frozen metal rim. "You scared the hell out of me."
"Bull," she mumbled in a weak voice; it sounded as though the fall had knocked the wind out of her lungs and she'd only just gotten it back; she struggled to speak with a thin, hoarse tone. "I think I popped some of my stitches," she told him. "I need a sutcher kit; I can stitch myself up just fine," added the vixen, struggling to sit up.
Sly slid one paw beneath her legs and his other paw under her shoulders, lifting her out of the dumpster slowly. "They're all dead," he told her. "Everybody but Clockwerk. What do we do now? Do we shut him down or go after Sire and Steven?"
Carmelita gave it a moment of thought then said, "Let's leave Bentley, Penelope and Murray here to level the bank and Clockwerk; he's no threat in pieces and Steven doesn't have any operable tools to finish the job. You're with me, Constable Cooper; we're going to Panama to stop Sire and Steven from starting any more trouble."
"Actually, you're with me," Sly remarked, noting that he was carrying her.
"Put me down," she mumbled, immediately contradicting herself by reaching her paw up around his neck, half-snuggling into his chest. "I saved your life again," she told him; her words muffled into his collarbone. "And as for that heirloom pendant in your family vault… leave it in there forever. That thing sounds like bad news. And what girl wants all boys anyhow?"
"Oh? Planning to have kids soon?" Sly said in a playful voice. He grunted, feeling her swing her heel back into his ribs, then laughed softly. "Let me guess; you want at least one girl because you want a protégé Carmelita Montoya Fox?"
"One word, Sly," Carmelita said with a roll of her eyes. "Just one reason I'd want a girl." She gave him a moment to think about it but she could tell by his facial features that he drew a blank. She smirked inwardly and then simply said, "Outfits, Sly. It's all about the outfits. Another girl would know what I mean; I want at least one daughter for the sake of dressing her up in little outfits."
"Aw geeze," Sly grinned. "That's really cute, Carmelita. I thought you were always tough and macho for such a foxy lady?"
Carmelita looked up at him and rolled her eyes so that he could tell she thought his last line was lame. He started to grin but she was in a defensive and feisty mood, quickly replying, "Was I tough and macho the night I was in that black high-cut dress, dancing with you in front of Rajen? Consider yourself lucky to see this side of me, even if it only lasts for a moment. Just because I somersault off the rooftops with a gun in my paw doesn't mean I'm not a woman. Just… don't tell anyone." She offered a clever grin then buried her face again, partially for the warmth of his chest and partially to avoid letting him see her smiling.
Sly decided to be clever as well, returning fire with a warm breath upon her ear. "I won't tell anyone if you don't tell anyone that I kissed you."
She wasn't sure if he was referring to last night; how could he have known she faked being asleep? Carmelita lifted her head, glaring up at him; she decided to call his bluff and said, "Kissed me? When? Krakorav Volcano?"
"No," Sly said with an airy tone, being his playful self. He paused then said, "Right now." Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her own, causing her toes to curl and her tail to coil around his hip. Her ears went flat as if she was annoyed but at the same time, she leaned upwards, just slightly, pressing herself into that kiss. He carried her out of the alley, surrounded by fat little flakes of snow. Cooper's casual swagger through the pearl-colored street cover was reflected by the way he shuffled his feet through the snow with every step…
Carmelita had to wonder: how in the hell did he have such control over her? One thing was sure, she loved it. "Damn you, Ringtail," She muttered in muffled tones against his lips…
A/N: I need your vote on an important issue; the question is down at the bottom of this note... There will be some measure of mushiness so that the epilogue and chapter 1 of the sequel make more sense in the way I've written them…… Not to say that I wrote Chapter 30 already, but I have some semblance of an idea for it. :)
Anyhow, I'm sorry for the delay! And stuff! And then I wronged you all by rushing the editorial! I'll hold my hand out and you can all slap it, 'kay?
So, did anyone feel bad for the Clones? You almost feel sorta bad for Slick when he's talking to Steven but then BAM, he's as bad as ever in the very next scene. Yeah, Sly came in and stole Carmelita's thunder concerning Karla but… I didn't feel like doing another dang scene with the two of them in Limbo. Been there; done that… twice! But yeah, I gave Carmelita the spotlight again, concerning the death of Slick… did you like that little quotable one liner? Hey, it was funny when Data said it in StarTrek The Next Gen: Generations, you know? Sometimes you go an entire story without any real cusswords… and then adding one zinger at the climatic scene is a great way to break the tension and cause the reader to chuckle. I know Slick's character wasn't designed the same way as data from star trek but, shoot, I still thought it was an amusing thing to say as your last words, when you're the hated badguy!
Anyway, Chapter 1 for my sequel, "SPY COOPER" is finished and ready for posting. It's edited, it's all nice and neat and ready to print… I still have chapter 29 and 30 to post but, in the past, I've always uploaded the first chapter of my sequel just as I finish the last chapter or two of the current story. Do you guys want me to post it? It may give away a little of the anti-climatic ending that I have planned for THIS story so… it would spoil things… so I'll leave it up to you guys… post the sequel or not?
Let me know!