Bastof was a russian mechanic who worked day and night to develop immortality. When a russian owl called clockwerk came with an awnser of using hate to fuel it, it wasn't long before clockwerk was reborn as the menace I once knew. The reason I had to stop this guy was simply because he could easily replicate clockwerk, and rumor has it that he owed the big guy a favour.
He's currently holed up in a huge base, and paranoia that the cooper gang will take revenge on him for building clockwerk has forced him to hire the best guards in russia. And, by the looks of things, I'm gonna be the one to take them all out. Just when I thought it was over...
SLY AND THE GANG IN:
A WINTER REUNION
Penelope checked that no-ne could see her, and scouted out at the base. She stared as the most heavily armoured plane flew past. Sly saw it too, and shuddered. It reminded him too much of his old enemy. Murray swerved a corner and radioed sly. Sly turned to penelope.
"we just got ouselves a safehouse. No doubt you know what Bentlys doing." Penelope turned away, and pused. She turned back and asked sly:
"What's your deal with this clockwerk guy anyway?"
Now it was slys turn to look away. He finally came out with an awnser.
"Clockwerk was jealous of my familys thieving reputation. He was too big and viscious to ever be a thief, so he stuck it out for a couple of years, fuelled by his hate for my family. It was so strong that it kept him alive for thousands of years. He hated everything I did. I honestly thought it would be over by now. guess I was wrong." He looked back at penelope. "this was one of the reasons I didn't want a bigger team...I was afraid that my burden would hurt someone. It did. Clockwerks the reason bently can't walk."
Penelope gave a visible start, but decided to leave it at that. It was too much for her to take in at this point. How could someone be THAT dangerous? Surely...or mybe...It defied all logic. Clockwerks hate must have been more powerful than she could percieve. The two thieves looked up as murray pounded five guards without breaking a sweat. He drove the car into the hold while bently set up a protective fence. It was finally time for Sly to get to work on the recon photos. Using the co-ordinates Bently had given him, Sly headed down towards the base, finding the one place bastof had not covered...a simple air vent. Climbing through Sly noticed how dated everything had looked, yet more advanced because of it. And petersburg was certainly beautiful in the winter. Things were looking grim in Bastofs lair...the walls were outlined with Clockerk designs, but none were anything to do with rebuilding it. One had been scribbled out in red pen and underneath the word "FAILURE" had been scrawled. hiding on top of a boiler sly saw Bastof himself...he could only make out some of his face, but noted the bats russian winter gear, the green coat with sleeves going over his hands, and the hat with the huge red star on it. Sly took photos of the plans and the huge dome like boiler (bently commented how menacing it looked rather than useful). But he couldn't help thinking about how a direct approach could be so much simpler. Suddenly, Bastof began talking, and sly listened in.
"No, I want to dismantle it...tell petro to bring in the guards tomorrow. this is going to be the biggest job of them all. I despise clockwerk, and I need to destroy the new clockwerk frame and his followers. I shall use the clockwerk propaganda to boost his interest. Once that's done, I shall Put my clockwerk bomb plane to use. And finally, I shall display his frame at the embassy ball, Have all those loyal to him make a speech, and blow them all to kingdom come! My experiment is working perfectly..." sly shuddered. This maniac was not only willing to brainwash through propagander, he was also willing to use clockwerk as a front to commit homocide. This was going to be a tough job.
Back at the safehouse, murmurings were breaking out about clockwerk, the way he'd hunted the family and how he'd been thier worst nightmare. Half of the team didn't even know who he was, and they recieved the news with extra thought. Bently headed over to the projector, and only sly and murray could see that his hands were shaking. He finally hushed everyone, and continued with the presentation.
"Okay, we've been presented with a set of challenging problems. Bastof has posted planes all over the place in an effort to boost his fire power. I'm going to need the panda king to take them out, which should cause the boss's zeppelin to bring in more planes. Destroy that, and the skys will be clear to destroy the clockwerk bomber.The plan also requires sly to dress up as one of the guards and ask one of them how Bastof is going to blow up the embassy.I'll then go with Penelope and murray and we'll help dimitri sink the clockwerk Propaganda shop. This should be enough for phase one. Good luck."
Sly walked into the street in his guard outfit and once again remarked how beautiful the snowy scene before him was. It was a shame that Bastof wouldn't ever look up from his work to see it. no wonder he was so lifeless. Sly was suddenly spotted by one of the guards and, after giving them the correct password as submitted by bently, he decided to make the first move.
"Excuse me comrade, but don't you think it's a fine day?"
The guard nodded. "Indeed. It's a shame to be working on a day like this. Are you by any chance heading down to the embassy tommorrow?"
"No, but I would like to know what the boss has planned. I hear it's going to be tragic." once again the guard nodded.
"Yes, it will be. I've had to keep my family away. The best person to ask about that is probably Boris. He hangs out in the cofee house."
"thanks for the tip," said sly, and he continued to the cofee house.
Sly Found Boris right up at the bar, and decided to ask him straight out. Telling him what he had been told, Boris considered.
"The boss is going to plant a bomb controlled by a computor inside clockwerk. Me and the boys know for a fact that it won't work though."
"how so?" asked sly.
"clockwerk can survive the bomb. Between you and me, there's gonna be a bit of a revolution against the boss, as we all hate the idea of more clockwerk business. He's obsessed by it. we know that if we could hack the computors, we could override it and destroy clockwerk. But we don't have a good enough hacker."
"oh,don't worry" sly grinned, "I know a good hacker."
Panda king set up his fireworks. He knew that while these planes would only be the warm up in preperation for the big bomber, they would contribute greatly to the completion of the plan. Suddenly, he saw a flicker of life within the mirror on the turret. It was that of his yang self.
"pathetic. Your old benefactor clockwerk returns in spirit and yet you still refuse to give up cooper to your enemy. how many years did you spend in his servitude? are you really going to let it pass you by a second time?"
The panda king shook his head. Could his mind really be so demented?
"you assume the worst. If I had really joined clockwerk then you would have destroyed yourself."
"How? I know how to keep myself in place.You could be rich! You could be me!" what was scary was how the king knew his other self was right. But this time he would ignore him and continue with the job in hand. But even as his fireworks took out the many planes, he still consoled himself. Bastof too was fighting his clockwerk half, and he could really relate to that. When clockwerk had taken him in, he had been offered a fortune, a home for his daughter, and revenge on those who had failed to cure his wife. Panda king began to look at himself in the mirror again. He had convinced himself that his wifes death had caused his evilness, but it just wasn't so. King had become a villain thanks to the blind eyes of the chinese nobles. And these events had fractured his phsyce. He thought back to dimitris words back in manhattan. How mixed he felt. After all, his mind was not always his own...
He kept taking out planes, with support from bently all the way. His mind was focused. His mind was clear...Bastof had seen the disturbance, and launched a heavy assult. King dodged, but not before destroying the zepplin carrying the planes. keeping a low profile, the panda king went back to the safehouse to further explore his conflicting feelings.
Bently gave himself a position on top of the roof of the propaganda building. He and penelope stared at the water.
"Dimitri is probably just setting up the bombs. He always takes his time."
Penelope nodded, and looked below to see murray. He looked up at the couple and awaited thier awnser.
"So" penelope called down, "you know what to do?"
"Sure, smash everything in sight, take down all the guards, and use anything around me to smash up the building. And according to you guys, If I can break everything, the whole place will fall apart and the foundations'll sink right?"
penelope nodded, and murray got ready. "This is going to be so awsome!"
Bently shook his head. "Why do I feel like creating my own theory of relativity will be easier than
this job?"
Murray had already smashed apart a couple of pillars and was getting ready to destroy some guards. Dimitri planted the bombs carefully underneath each beam until...
"AHHHK!" he stared down at his leg to see a huge tentacle made of steel was pulling him down.
"smokey alert! FREAK OUT! Big bad beast attack at twelve fifteen! We be boppin our way to the suface shine bro!" Bently sighed. It looked like he'd have to solve the plan again.
"Penelope, I want you to hoist murray with you R.C chopper and get him to thunder flop. NOW!"
"No problem!" penelope used the chopper to grab murray, and as the terrified guards looked above at the shining light, it created the ultimate moment.
"Anonymous meatheads, YOUR ANGEL OF CHAOS IS GONNA MAKE SOME PANCAKES! THUNDER FLOP!" And as murray hit the ground and bounced clear, the entire building fell to the sea, and the clockwerk propagander was lost.
Bastof glared down over his area. It hadn't been a productive day, especially when tonight was the night that he neededhis bombers to scout. No matter, he remarked, the clockwerk bomber would do just nicely. His worn face drooped, and he put a hand to his robotic reminder. Soon, there would be nothing left of clockwerks own thieving empire. Bastof too had seen the abdication of his countries tsar, the rise of Lenin and Stalin. The rule of hitler and defeat of the war hero otto van cooper. All because of immortality had he witnessed it all. He was a man out of place in this world. He broke down, and sobbed over the clockwerk plans.
The Guru began to struggle on his hands and knees as he viewed the depths of the destroyed shop. Nothing but Debris as far as he could see. The Guru thought back to his first days with the gang. Had it really been two years? He couldn't remember himself. He dipped his finger into the pool and gave it a taste. Machinery, iron and steam, over a couple of fathoms down. He stood, raised his staff, and began to chant in a language only a few could comprehend. All of a sudden a huge, steam belching octopus shaped submarine rose, and the guards inside, shocked at how thier veichle suddenly rose like it was alive, jumped over board. The creature promptly attempted to attack the Guru, but he stood firm. Still chanting, the guru looked on as the creature spluttered, judded, and stopped as it blew apart. What was left of it happened to be a huge control wheel, and he believed that it certainly could come in useful... Murray bounced up to him and began going crazy.
"Master, that was so awsome! like, you totally showed that creature who's boss! I wouldn't wanna mess with you!"
Bently rolled towards his two friends.
"That was incredible, mr guru! We'll find a use for that wheel...right now, it's time to review back at the safe house."
Sly reached for Bastofs last key...and got it. All he'd have to do now was head back to the boiler. Creeping through yet another vent, sly came across a terrifying gauntlet of axes, swords, hammers and ropes. And he smiled.
"Piece of cake."
Sly made it through every twist and turn, but his head was too busy thinking about clockwerks return...no. It wouldn't happen again. But supposing it did? Sly could only see a tragedy, the death of his friends and loved ones. His cousin would have actually have been the first cooper to die of natural causes. He was the lucky one, but he would never know of clockwerk. Sly inserted the keys and watched the boiler deactivate. Bently cmae up over the intercom ,but before he could congratulate sly, his friend had already had the first word.
"Look, bently, i've been thinking... maybe a direct approach to this bastof guy could be what we're looking for."
Bently made an agreement. "You think If we tell him how dangerous the situation is he might back off?"
"Yeah, i'll discuss it with you later. I'll just head back. lots to do, hey pal?"
"too true sly. see you there."
The panda king grabbed the bazooka and waited for the Bomber to show up. It did, bringing nothing with it. Good, thought King, this will make things easier. Sly looked up and watched the bomber circle the safe house. He shuddered...It was almost like bastof was obsessed with clockwerk in order to fill a purpose for his hatred. Bently blocked his ears as he heard the panda kings fireworks maken the first mark. He looked at Sly to see that he was actually shaking, terrified at how clockwerk could suddenly appear. It had only been three days of the gang being together, pushing four, and he had involved more people with the turmoil than ever before. Bently rolled over to sly, and in a decisive moment, patted his hand. Bently had already recieved his share of clockwerks curse, he knew how sly must be feeling. It was time to act.
"Sly, I believe that the idea of a direct approach to our target would prove effective. But the destruction of the embassy ball plot must go according to plan."
Sly nodded, and looked up at his old friend.
"I hear you pal, we need to take down clockwerk and bastof. Heh...notice how I keep referring to him as though he's still alive. Bently, you know how silly this whole business is. It's just getting repetetive, and he's already hurt me. Why won't he just go away?" A bit of debris hit the roof, and the roar of the panda king could be heard. Bently sighed and shrugged. He was at a complete loss for words. And in an abrupt move, he asked...
"Sly, do you wanna sit this one out? Before you awnser, I want you to know that the plan will work, I just feel you're under alot of stress. Especially with leaving carme... wait!" Bently excited went over to his plan, scribbled over a couple of lines and presented it to sly.
"Before I was worried that there was no explosion powerful enough to destory the frame without hurting or injuring the members attending the embassy. We need to place a discreet signal of a fake e-mail to carmelita asking her to arrive here. Then, we'll pretend to be the guards having a discussion of the plan. She's sure to take herself, the new jail warden and several guards undercover to the ball, where she will evacuate everbody when the ambassador begins the clockwerk selling pitch. She's bound to also show them the criminal truth behind him, and while thy're outside, boom!"
Sly smiled. This plan could actually be capable of destoring the parts. With no hate chip, the renewed clockwerk would be obliterated. But he was still in doubt about Bastof. Why would someone who truly hated clockwerk own a better version? He may have been fractured, but...could this have been the favour.
The Emabassy ball had gotten off to a perfect start. Carmelita drank champagne at the corner of the room, stayng close to the clockwerk frame. It was amazing to see the amount of people who still worshipped the old birds words. She looked for Lt. Gronk to see him at the buffet table gorging himself. The two guards she'd overheard certainly got it right. The minute the bidding started, she would evaccuate the members. It was a dead affair anyway. Too many snobs wandering around.
Bently had already hacked into the system, and looked overhead as the ambassador took his place above the owl. Sly got to work and pickpocketed the guards weaponary. It was all going according to plan. The ambassador took to the stage.
"Good evening everyone. It is with great priveledge that I present the rich folk of the world with a non-powered clockwerk frame. How much do I...ahhrghh!" The ambassador found himself lifted into the air by a huge gorilla like man, with a young police woman cuffing him. "What is the meaning of this?"
"I am Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox, and you are under arrest for attempting to auction a potential weapon of mass destruction...and this is coming from experience. Clockwerk was a criminal, and so are those who deal with him."
Once the hall had been evaccuated, Sly ran towards the bomb timer. But just as he pressed it, a hidden Bastof ran towards the machine. It was too late...clockwerk was destroyed once more. Bastof turned to sly and pointed an accusing finger.
"YOU! My revenge was almost complete! I was going to kill those who had turned me into a weapon, and revive myself but you, cooper! you..."
Sly was confused now. The guy was babbling about nothing. Wasn't he supposed to be taking revenge against those who loved clockwerk? Suddenly Bastofs cap fell off of his head, and revealed half of his face... a clockwerk eye.
"Okay...just what is going on?"
"Sly, you must help me while I can still talk to you! Before I completed clockwerk he had accumulated an enourmous popularity among the people. When I tried to reveal his true purpose, he planted a spore deep inside me that would turn me into him. Luckily I found a way to stunt it, but our personalities still conflict. He wanted to kill the criminals for using him as a weapon, and wanted to obviously destroy you. I wanted to dismantle him, so he used all of his power to control my mind and made me build a new body...and I would be reborn!" Bastofs right eye glowed with hatred. "cooper, It is time I destroyed you. My revenge will be swift and painful, and soon I will be the true master thief, clockwer..." Sly wrenched his cane out and drove it into bastofs clockwerk eye. It grew dimmer until it was nothing but a yellow plate.
"That's it...I'm sick of this. It ends here, where no-one will dare hunt me or my family. Bastof, I want you to do it or I will, and god forbid I should ever do this but..." Bastof held up his hand.
"I know what you want me to do sly. I hate myself anywat, and have lived for too long" Sly gasped.
"No, I wanted you to burn the plans and destroy your research. It's alot to ask and..." But it was too late. Bastof removed the cane and pressed a button attatched to the clockwerk eye. It buzzed, and before sly could stop him, Bastof lay dead at his feet.
I couldn't believe it. Clockwerk had claimed another life. The nightmare was well and truly over. But then how many times had I believed that? I decided to keep this to my self, as bently had left long before carmelita had made her announcement. Funny, I never thought it would end for him that way. I went back and destroyed the plans myself.
The gang had a great week as we made our way north. It was so nice to see how relaxed we were after what was in my opinoin the toughest ordeal yet. And for the first time in my life, I realised how precious the time the gang spent together was. How blind I had been...
So In an overview, I could always say I feel happy, but Bastof will forever be my message to those who got caught up with me. I would have to accept it. The life of a cooper would never be an easy one.