Sly 5: Thieves Forever Part 3

In the present day, The Cooper Gang arrive in Chile and set up a base of operations in a café near to the beach. Over breakfast, Bentley begins to draw up a plan to get at Leo Lapitz. He needs Carmelita (the closest in terms of stealth to Sly) to gather reconnaissance of the area and Lapitz's mansion. She reluctantly agrees to go against the law to do this, but only for Sly's sake. She follows Lapitz around and discovers that he is making plans with his hired muscle to rob the nearby bank, and plunge the town into chaos and poverty. Horrified, Carmelita returns to tell the gang, but as she runs along the beach, she notices a bottle caught in seaweed. Picking it up, she sees a message inside, and goes to open it.

(Berlin, Germany, 1915) – Sly and Wolfgang arrive in the middle of WW1 Germany, and are alarmed to almost be run over by a tank. The two discover an old disused bus shelter and convert it into their base of operations. Sly reluctantly heads out into the area to do recon work. Approaching what appears to be the main military base, Sly sees a Buck dressed in a Major's uniform ordering troops around. Sly watches as he approaches the airstrip and is shocked to see many highly advanced planes that are many years before their time parked in the field. As he takes a photo of the airstrip he is knocked out from behind by an unknown assailant.

Back in present day Chile, Carmelita has opened the bottle and, showing it the Cooper Gang, they are overjoyed to see it is from Sly. The message reads:

Hey there,

This is Sly Cooper, master thief and friend. Don't worry, I am fine. I escaped Le Paradox's blimp but was thrown into Ancient Egypt. The plot to endanger the Cooper legacy is still active. I have defeated an operative in Ancient Egypt and am now travelling with another time traveller called Wolfgang who is claiming to want to help me. I don't trust him though, so I want you to check out the Thievius Raccoonus, and try to come help me. I miss you guys, especially you Carmelita. Not a day passes when I don't think of you, and me, the way we were. If you're reading this and you are not the aforementioned Cooper Gang, I am very drunk, so you should probably disregard everything I just said. Buurrrrpppp!

Sly

Bentley affirms that the parchment is from the Caribbean in the 17th century, and that when the van is recovered, their most logical step is to refer to the Thievius Raccoonus. Yet they are filled with new resolve now that they know Sly's fate. Bentley reveals his plan to lay a trap for Leo during his bank heist. Carmelita suggests they do this through cooperation with the cops but Bentley reminds her that the Cooper Gang is wanted in every country. He tells Murray and the Panda King to break in through the basement of the bank and leave a calling card with Lapitz's name on it. They first need a card, so the Guru must break into a logging plantation and get some paper, sabotaging the camp along the way. Once this is in play, Bentley will hack into the bank terminal, lowering security for the night. Then the Cooper Gang will make the jump on Lapitz as he attempts to steal from the bank, take his vault key, and get their van back, leaving Lapitz tied up for the cops.

Back in WW1, Sly wakes up in a darkened room with a light in his eyes. He is asked questions about his binocucom by a man out of sight with a German accent. Sly tells him he is a tourist, but the man believes he is a spy, and orders him to be taken to jail. Once he is in custody of the guards, Sly realizes the man is his ancestor, Otto van Cooper. Sly is horrified that Otto appears to be working for the bad guys, and begins to question his own legacy. Wolfgang arrives to break him out of the prison cell, and Sly tells him what he has learnt about Otto. Wolfgang refuses to believe he is working for the Major willingly, and sets off to do his own reconnaissance. Sly meanwhile, returns to the airstrip and collects a Mechanic Costume from the tools shed and sabotages the futuristic planes with his spanner, and he sees an incredibly fast blur fly over his head. He concludes that that it must be some kind of supersonic stealth fighter. Returning to the hideout, Wolfgang tells Sly that the man he saw is called Major Adlar, and whilst not inherently from the future, Wolfgang has concluded that he is working with the time-travelling syndicate due to his armada of futuristic planes and tanks.

Wolfgang sets out to sabotage the general's car so that he will be forced to make a detour to a garage where the two will spring on him. Sly goes to steal and commandeer a tank, and is irritated to discover that Otto has repaired the planes he sabotaged. He is confronted by Otto in the engines room, and the two fights. But Otto overcomes Sly and handcuffs him. Sly asks Otto why he is working for Adlar, and Otto tells him that the Major is a good man dedicated to the victory of the Ottoman Empire, and that he is proud to serve under him. Sly tries to convince Otto that he is his predecessor from the future, but Otto tells Sly that he is a liar, and accuses him of stealing the cane from a Cooper. Sly convinces him to release him for long enough to prove himself, and after pickpocketing several guards, Otto is finally convinced. Sly tells Sly that whilst he doesn't accuse the German front of being evil, that Major Adlar is trying to change history significantly with his future technology. Otto reluctantly agrees to help his relative, but only to defeat Adlar, as he is a proud member of the German RAF. Meeting back with Wolfgang at the safehouse, the three plan their attack.

Meanwhile in the present day, the Cooper gang's plan against Lapitz is in motion and Leo enters the vault rooms and attempts the lock. Murray throws a punch at him from behind, but Leo suddenly sidesteps and goes through the wall. He reappears behind and Murray and beats him senseless, leaving Murray concussed on the floor. Leo shouts to the other hidden members to show themselves, and the Guru, protective of his student, appears to face down Lapitz. Leo laughs at the Guru's nonsensical language, and boasts that his 'benefactor' instilled him with prestige by giving him his Solid Matter Converter from the future. The Guru engages him in a battle, riding Lapitz into the walls to damage him and dodging his matter attacks. Eventually defeated, Leo pops a cyanide pill before he can be stopped and tells the gang that he has had the last laugh, before dropping dead on the floor. Bentley takes his vault key and his Solid Matter Converter (which he says the gang will find useful) and the Cooper Gang (with a recovered Murray) go to retrieve their van.

Back in WW1 Germany, Otto tells Sly and Wolfgang about the stealth bomber, which he has seen from his plane circling around him, and he believes that Adlar was spying on him because he believed he was a traitor. Wolfgang tells Sly to use the Mechanic Costume to destroy any tanks displaying signs of modification but to be careful not to disable any genuine articles from WW1 as that will disrupt the time continuum. He goes off to spring the trap on Adlar, and Otto gets into his plane to shoot down the stealth bomber. Successful with his exploits, Sly goes to help Wolfgang. Otto flies into the foggy Berlin skies and duels with the stealth bomber, which seemingly has a mind of its own. Upon dealing significant damage to the bomber it falls to the ground. As it passes Otto's plane he catches a glimpse of a pair of glowing yellow headlights on the front, and could've sworn he heard it speak in a metallic wrenching voice "Cooper…!" but puts it down to his imagination. The bomber crashes into the ground, and Otto lands his plane, victorious. Sly arrives at the garage to find Wolfgang has been defeated by Major Adlar, who turns to face Sly. Sly brags about their victory over the stealth bomber, and Adlar is confused and claims he is not responsible for the bomber. Adlar tells him that all he wanted was to ensure Germany's success in the war and that the 'benefactor' was making it possible. Sly tells him that time cannot be changed, even for those who you may love (thinking of his parents). Adlar calls him a heretic to Germany's victory and fights Sly. Using the workbenches to mash Adlar, Sly emerges victorious. Adlar, defeated, sobs about his failure to Germany. Sly tries to convince him to return to the war and fight purely for what he believes instead of his endgame, but Adlar throws down a grenade and kills himself, forcing Sly to make a quick exit with Wolfgang.

Adlar defeated, Otto thanks Sly and apologises for being misled by his promises of a glorious Germany. Sly tells Otto that he is Germany's best hope for the war, and that he should always fight for what he believes in, regardless of history, and Otto laughs and wishes him luck, before getting into his plane and heading out for more adventures.

Back at the hideout, Sly tries to convince Wolfgang to wait for his friends to catch up with him, but Wolfgang refuses, telling Sly his father had placed trust in him and that he must continue his goal, and that he can't do that without Sly. Seeing that Sly needs more persuasion, he tells Sly that his goal is to do with the arch nemesis of the Cooper Clan, Clockwerk. With great reluctance, this causes Sly to agree to go with Wolfgang to help his Victorian England ancestor, Thaddeus Winslow Cooper.

As Otto Van Coopers plane lights up the sky with passionate gunfire, a dark shape moves through the streets, limping. It is dripping with what appears to be blood, and is clearly dying. It moves towards a garage, and almost falls over on the workbench. A pair of yellow eyes open, illuminating blueprints left there by Adlar, charting the greatest war machine ever to be built, but one that he had not yet gotten around to building. A figure walks in from behind and says "It's time for you to make good on your part of the deal, now". The larger shape simply ignored the figure, as its golden feathers bristled in the wind. For it had immortality to conquer…