Special thanks to Trick Cooper for promoting my story, I was so excited when you told me about that!
And thanks to Trick and Sasuninja13 for PMing with me to discuss the story, it's so cool to be able to talk with readers about the certain scenes they like, or just about anything in general, I love that more than anything.
Time for some final boss battle music. I listened to a lot of intense orchestral pieces while I typed, and I think it really helped make the chapter more epic, and I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 22 Almost Déjà Vu
The raccoon remained on his hands and knees, frozen on the ground in the position, his head down and eyes closed. As sheer darkness enveloped him, a cluster of memories shot through his mind all at once like bolts of lightning, flashing in his psyche for a moment before everything went black once more...
"Sly…I'm pregnant."
"You're what?"
"I'm gonna have a baby…"
"I've always wanted to be a dad someday…this is gonna be wonderful."
"I was considering leaving the force…"
"You're helping me continue the Cooper legacy!"
"If our child wants to take after Sly and be a thief, then a thief is what they'll be!"
"Yes Sly Cooper…nothing would make me more content than to become your wife."
"I was so scared we were both gonna die!"
"Good night Mrs. Cooper. Thank you for the best day, and night, of my entire life."
"These four officers gave their lives to ensure our safety and well-being, and we will never forget the sacrifice they made."
"This is a stickup! We got this whole train under our control!"
"I promise to be the best dad ever too."
"I know you will be, mi amore..."
"Any last words, coon thief?"
"…you're my whole world now Carmelita. You and that kit in there. And if something were to take my world away from me…"
"Better hurry Cooper…the clock is ticking…"
The clock…is ticking…
"Sly, get up…GET UP!"
Sly was shaken from his lightning storm of memories violently and he slowly opened his eyes to see Bentley, face to face with him, gripping his shoulders. He looked around to see they were still in the same place: the edge of the cliff overlooking the span of thick wilderness, the towering volcano in the distance.
"Sly, we can still save them, both of them. There's still time. But we have to go now. Right now."
The turtle's words were enough to drive the raccoon to stand to his feet. He slowly turned to see the others with looks of determination on their faces. "No," he said in a glum tone, shaking his head. "I won't let you guys put yourselves in danger like that. I'll go alone."
"You can't!" Murray shouted. "This guy is way too powerful for you to handle on your own, we're comin' too!"
The others all nodded, even Tabby.
Sly looked around to his friends, his mind battling itself over putting his friends in danger, or going alone and possibly getting killed himself. Before he could say another word, Bentley gripped his wrist and pulled him back to the trail. "We're going, and you're not stopping us. You can argue all you want, but we're a team, a team who sticks together through thick and thin, no matter what. And when not one, but two members of our team are in trouble, there's no way we're not gonna do everything we can to save them. If you think I'm just gonna let you spiral into depression and psychosis due to us being too late reaching them, you're sadly mistaken. Now let's go."
Bentley's take charge attitude was comforting to the distraught raccoon and made him smile weakly. "Thank you," he said as Bentley quickly led him and the rest of the group to Dimitri's car.
When they all reached the two vehicles, Tabby spoke up. "I'll follow you guys there," she informed them.
Murray looked to her worriedly. "You sure you're up to this Tabby?"
The warthog looked back up at him with an unwavering smile. "You kidding? No way am I leaving you and everyone else hangin'. Whatever this creep throws at us, I'll be right there, defending you guys with everything I've got."
Murray wrapped her in a hug, and she returned the warm embrace. When he released her, she ran over and jumped into her truck, putting the key in the ignition as she slammed the door shut.
Dimitri hit his right fist against his left palm. "That dude don't know who he messin' with broskies."
As the others loaded up into Dimitri's sports car and took off for Mt. Etna, with Tabby following close behind, Bentley went over with the group what strategies they could all use and in what ways they could contribute, though he was struggling as this encounter was unexpected. As he relayed a makeshift plan to them, Sly sat in the front seat, gripping his cane tightly and peering out the window. He could faintly make out a shadowy figure up in the clouds. Its avian wings spanned wide in the air; they were the kind of wings that made you know that if you saw them silhouetted against the sky, it was already too late for you, especially if your name was Cooper.
His stomach twisted in tight knots at the possibility of the chimera slaughtering his beloved before they could even reach her, but he shook his head, forcing the thought out of his mind. He really hoped it wasn't too late for Carmelita and their kit.
He had freed her from Clockwerk's gas chamber, had rescued her from the Contessa before the spider could brainwash her, and saved her from the effects of the Mask of Dark Earth. Could he save her one more time?
Please hang on, Carmelita, he thought as he stared up at the blue sky above. We're on our way…
Mélange flapped his immense brown wings as his webbed feet touched the lip of the crater. Once he landed, he walked along the flat surface, nearing the fiery pit of molten lava. As he strolled up to the edge, he cradled Carmelita in his arms. He looked down at her as she trembled, her eyes focused on the boiling lava, and shook his head. "I am sorry my dear, that it's come to this. It's nothing against you personally; it's just the only way I can receive the vengeance that is rightfully mine."
As the vixen looked up to him with pleading, questioning eyes, a tear rolled down her right cheek. "Why?" she whispered brokenly.
He smiled and even chuckled softly at her. "Why? Simple, my sweet fox. You harbor the putrid, utterly revolting Cooper seed inside you, and I simply cannot let his bloodline continue. I'm afraid that for you and the little parasite, it ends here. Feeding you to the lava is only my…foreplay, if you will. You know as much as I do that he's coming to your rescue, and killing Cooper is when I receive the ultimate satisfaction. This is just the overture." As he gripped her wrist and lifted her over the pool of scalding hot lava, she screamed, "NO, PLEASE!"
He took a moment to enjoy her pleading cries, looking at the total fear in her wide eyes as the tears spilled down her face and as she kicked for her very life. It was so easy. All he had to do was release his hold on her wrist, and gravity would do the rest.
Just as he was loosening his grip, she cried out and clutched her huge midsection with her free hand. She groaned loudly as the harsh pain surged through her lower body.
As Mélange held her, he began to feel power course through his partially biological veins. His red eyes flickered in realization. This was a power with a kind of intensity he'd never experienced before, and it intensified as her screams of pain grew louder and longer.
A malicious grin slowly formed on his face. "On second thought," he said, picking her back up and flying up to a nearby ledge. "Maybe I can spare you a while longer." He threw her onto the ledge and she landed on her back with a shrill yelp. She scrambled backward up against the rocky surface the ledge jutted out from, panting heavily. All she could think was how grateful she was that she had landed on her back instead of her stomach.
He stared at her with a pleased look on his feline face, folding his furred black arms, and he nodded slowly as he watched her suffer. "As long as I can feed off of your agony. More power means a more satisfying demise when I kill the little rat you're so fond of." He casually examined his talons before returning his gaze to the vixen who was still enduring a severe contraction. "Perhaps," the chimera said with a grin, tapping a talon to his chin, "the little parasite is of good use after all."
"Don't you dare call my child a parasite," a smooth but intimidating male voice snapped from behind.
Slowly, the chimera whirled around and was not surprised in the least to see a raccoon gripping the all too familiar Cooper cane. To say he looked livid would be putting it mildly, as his ringed tail bristled in anger.
"Sly!" Carmelita cried from atop the ledge.
His expression changed to a unique mixture of worry and relief as he looked up at her. He made a run for her position when the chimera held his hand out and shot a beam of green light at the coon. He flipped backwards and barely dodged the beam, which hit a small rock, blasting it to bits on contact.
"It would be unwise to tamper with my power source," the chimera warned in a low voice.
Sly, confused, looked up to see Carmelita lying on her side, groaning, and looked back to Mélange, who was sighing in satisfaction, his arms spread wide and his hands alit with the green light.
Sly stepped to the inner edge of the crater, approaching the monster. He clenched his fists as the wind that blew freely at the crater's altitude whipped his fur. "Let her go," he asked of the chimera. "Please. This has nothing to do with her."
Mélange roared down at him deafeningly. "Oh this has everything to do with her." He jabbed a talon in her direction without looking over at her. "She carries your precious little leech inside her! A future Cooper will not be a possibility as long as I'm alive! Today I'll have your blood on my hands, and I won't rest until you and your family are rotting in the grave."
"But why?" Sly asked the hovering beast. "I haven't done anything to you! I don't even know who you are!"
His red eyes blazed as he glared down at the thief, his golden brown mane whipping at the strong gusts of wind. His lips curled back and he bared his needle teeth as a low growl rumbled in his throat. "Oh but I know who you are. You stand for everything that I hate. I absolutely despise you, Sly Cooper. You and your entire family line. Your imprudent ancestor should never have gotten in my way. That was a mistake that cost him his sacred legacy."
Sly's eyes darted around as he tried to piece together what this beast was saying. What ancestor? Who? Who had angered Mélange enough to bring forth this kind of unspeakable evil and hatred in him?
Before Sly could even make a guess, Mélange whipped a clawed hand down at him, and shot him directly in his chest with the beam of light. The thief cried out as it came in contact with him.
"SLY!" Carmelita screamed.
Sly put a hand to his chest, feeling the pull try to drain the very life within him. He gritted his teeth, his legs shaking. It wasn't a weapon that caused physical damage; this was something far worse. This beast had the power to extract souls.
He dropped to his knees, feeling the persistent tug of his spirit. He had never felt anything like it; it was horrifying. It was indescribable, feeling your soul being taken. It didn't inflict pain on him of any kind; no, what was so horrifying was the lack of feeling at all it left him with. This truly was the ultimate theft attempt. He was quickly losing the will to breathe, the will to think, the will to live…
Mélange smiled as he held his hands out in front of him. "Yes, Cooper," he sighed in satisfaction. "That's it. Feed me your wretched soul. Though it's not the same as sucking the life out of Slytunkhamen, it will serve my vengeful soul greatly to steal yours, and right the wrong that's plagued me for centuries in my stone prison."
Sly dug his gloved fingers at the rocky surface he was kneeling on, not being able to get a strong grip. He grunted, baring his teeth, resisting with all his might. So this all had to do with something his Egyptian ancestor had done, but what? Nothing about Slytunkhamen dealing with a chimera was ever mentioned in the Thievius Raccoonus. His eyes narrowed as his nostrils flared. "Even so…" he huffed against the strain, pawing at the rocky ground. "Whatever my ancestor did to you…has nothing…to do with me."
Mélange's talons curled upward as he fought to gain control of channeling Sly's spirit. "It's the only way to write the substantial wrong done to me. I will have my revenge. Today, all Coopers DIE."
Sly growled in protest, pulling back with what little strength he had left. He heard Carmelita howl in pain again from the ledge above. He groaned and shut his eyes.
No. He couldn't. He couldn't give in and let the villain win. He had never let that happen, not even when he'd been blasted by Rajan at his spice temple, or when he'd been in the clutches of the genetics experiment on Kaine Island. As weak as he felt, he couldn't surrender. He had a gang, a wife, a child even. His own flesh and blood was in danger. Too much was in the balance for him to simply surrender to the supernatural trap this monster had him in. Then and there he reminded himself: he was a Cooper. A descendant of a long line of master thieves who did incredible things in their time. If there was one thing he knew deep down, it was that the heart and soul a Cooper possessed was one of great strength. Even in the darkest of times, the Cooper's soul could prevail.
Sly craned his neck back, using every bit of focus and determination he had, and fought against the spiritual pull.
Mélange grew agitated at losing a grasp on it, and sneered at the raccoon. "Don't fight me, Cooper," he spat out each word slowly, hissing out every consonant. "Give me what's rightfully mine."
Sly glared up at the horrifying, repulsive beast. This was one theft that would not take place. "Never," he spat back at him.
Mélange roared, the green beams shooting out from his hands intensifying. "Just stop it," the chimera snarled in agitation. "You have no chance against me. What makes you think you do?"
At that moment, a large boulder sailed through the air. The chimera didn't have time to react before the boulder slammed violently into his mutated body. He spiraled through the air, completely losing his hold on the channeling, but soon regained his bearings. The force of the rock had only caught him off guard, not injured him. He turned and soared back down to his previous spot. His eyes smoldering, he roared and clenched his fists. He looked down to see a hippo and warthog lugging more giant rocks on their shoulders.
"More where that came from buddy!" Tabby shouted up at him.
The strain Sly had felt disappeared and he immediately felt like his normal self again, though still felt a bit weak. He slowly got to his wobbly legs and smiled up at the winged beast. "To answer your question," Sly said. "Two things." He held up a finger valiantly. "One: a Cooper soul is too powerful for even the greatest of evils to take control of. And two…" he looked over to Tabby and Murray, seeing Bentley, Penelope, and Dimitri step into view. He then looked back up at Mélange and gestured to himself proudly. "This Cooper has a gang, a gang that you don't mess around with."
"Got that right!" Murray yelled, hurling a boulder at the snarling chimera.
This time, Mélange gracefully spun and dodged the huge rock, before grinning down at the hippo. He folded his arms across his muscular chest and scoffed. "Oh, so your merry little band of thieves is here to help you?" Using the Panda King's ability to manipulate fire-related elements, he lowered a hand to the pool of lava he hovered over and scooped up the scalding substance in his palm like a snowball. "No matter, this will just take longer than I originally planned."
Bentley rushed over to Sly and handed him a familiar object, though it appeared to be a much more modified and improved model than the one Carmelita had let him use on the Krack-Karov volcano. "Never thought you'd get to use one of these again, did ya?" Bentley asked.
Sly laughed once as he adjusted the jetpack on his back. "Not really. Glad you came prepared."
Penelope stood next to Bentley, pressing the activation button on the remote control of her RC chopper. "We doubt our ammunition will help in any way against someone this powerful, but it might slow him down for a while. We'll give it everything we've got."
Dimitri rushed up with his harpoon gun. "Let's take this crazy sucka out already!" he screeched. "Let's dance!"
Sly nodded, shooting them a thumbs-up as he rocketed into the air, hovering face to face with the pinnacle of true evil, a being who had so much hatred for the Coopers that he'd transformed his body into a mixture, a true mélange, of the five beings that hated him and his family more than anyone else.
He hurled the ball of lava at the airborne raccoon, who flipped back and away from the scorching substance. It rained down in the direction of his gang members, who struggled to escape the stream of molten rock. A bit of it was headed straight for Bentley, and he used the technological repertoire of his gadget-packed wheelchair to fire lasers from ports on the arms to shoot up at the stream of molten rock, blasting it into oblivion just before it could reach him.
Penelope used her chopper and flew it high overhead, delivering high explosive bombs in quick concurrence. The detonations did little to stop the resilient chimera, as he seemed to be unharmed by any blast and repelled a few before they could come in contact with him, flicking them away like pesky insects.
Murray and Tabby used their incredible strength to collect as many loose pieces of rock they could find and launched them at Mélange. With careful aim, they were able to hit him directly several times, though still, it did little damage.
Bentley fired ammunition from the arms of his chair, ranging from missiles to laser guns, and the projectiles and lasers appeared to in fact slow the beast's defenses, if only for a short period of time.
Dimitri dashed to different spots as he dodged Mélange's attacks and fired his harpoon gun as he hid behind rocks like a guerrilla fighter, but just before any of the spear-like projectiles could reach his furry limbs, Mélange would grab the harpoons and toss them away in mild annoyance, or snap them in two, letting the pieces fall to the smoking lava. The fight wasn't fazing him in the slightest.
All while his friends assisted, Sly and Mélange twirled through the air sinuously, the mighty winged beast shooting green beams from his hands and Sly deflecting the beams with his cane. They circled and somersaulted as they dove under and hovered over each other. Sly fired rockets from the jetpack only to have Mélange swat them away. In turn he would attack him with the light beams and Sly would repel the dangerous rays with his cane, using it like a sword as he gripped it, swerving it back and forth to deflect the energy. The whole time, the beast fought against not only the thief, but the other six members. Together, they were a force that proved that there really was power in numbers.
Astonishingly enough, the beast grew tired of dueling after a while and perched on the tip of a pointed rock that stood in the center of the crater, his webbed feet helping him stay balanced in his crouched position. He growled at the raccoon. "You're foolish to let your friends fight your battles for you; why not face me alone?"
Sly sneered as he ninja spire jumped onto a nearby point of a similar rock. "They don't fight for me, they fight with me. And I'm not ashamed to rely on my friends. It's how we get the job done."
"Job? What job? Defeating me?" His tone was cold and impassive as he stared back at the thief, his long mane whipping in the wind like a cape. "Cooper, you could have an entire army on your side, and you still won't be able to kill me. I'm unbeatable."
Sly rolled his eyes and continued to glare back at the hodgepodge creature. Like he hadn't heard so many enemies say that before.
"OOOOWWWW!" Carmelita howled.
Sly's ears flattened at her cry of agony. He looked back at her suffering on the ledge, and it only made him angrier. He wanted more than anything to just be able to take her to the hospital and keep her and the baby safe from harm, but apparently, someone wasn't going to let him do that. And time was running out. "Penelope!" he called. "Get Carm to safety! I'll deal with him!"
"You got it!" the mouse called back in reply and put her remote controller down as she took off for Carmelita.
Mélange laughed ominously and Sly turned to see him leap off the rock and hover in the air. "Her pain makes me stronger each time she screams. It's glorious." He grinned down at Sly and drew more lava from the pool beneath him, causing smoke to billow up from beneath them. Sly dodged the rain of fire adroitly and coughed as the thick smoke entered his lungs. He resumed attacking with his cane. He shook his head. How terrible to feed off of another in severe pain; it was sickening.
Penelope climbed over the edge of the ledge and pulled herself up. She then knelt down beside Carmelita, who was moaning as she held her belly. She peeked up at the mouse who had a look of great sympathy on her face. Penelope tried to help her up but Carmelita pulled away.
"It hurts," she whispered. "Can't…move."
Penelope placed a hand on her shoulder gently and used her other hand to smooth her hair out. "I know Carm, but we gotta get you off this ledge and onto stable ground."
Carmelita groaned but grudgingly nodded. She knew she was right. She allowed Penelope to help her to a standing position. After struggling a bit, the little mouse was able to pull the pained fox to her aching feet.
"Need a hand?" Bentley called from below, extending two large mechanical arms up to them.
Penelope smiled. "That'd be swell, hon."
As Penelope climbed back down the rocky wall on her own, Carmelita was grabbed up by the metal arms on Bentley's wheelchair and deposited into his lap. He wheeled away with the laboring vixen, and she screamed out as the pain in her contracting abdomen intensified.
Bentley jumped slightly and yelled out, startled by the abrupt noise. This freaked the introverted reptile out. He wheeled away to the other side of a rock, a good distance from the fight. He shied away slightly as she sat on his lap, panting audibly. "Uh…just…just breathe Carmelita. Yea…that's it. Deep breaths, in and out."
Carmelita looked up at him and bared her teeth as she gasped and suffered. Easy for you to say, she thought.
Penelope soon caught up with them and helped Carmelita out of his chair and led her to the other side of a large rock. Mostly hidden from view now, she eased the gravid vixen into a sitting position up against the jagged rock's surface. Not the most comfortable place, but it was all they could do at the moment.
The mouse knelt down beside her and pushed the hair out of her face as sweat formed on her forehead. "It's gonna be ok, Carm. Just relax, you'll get through this."
Carmelita breathed unevenly as she looked up at her friend. All she could do was nod as the pain jolted her vulpine frame, overpowering her senses.
Bentley looked back to the other members as they continued to battle Mélange. "Penelope, you stay here with her, I'm going back to help the others."
Penelope nodded as Bentley turned and took off to return to the fight. He looked to see the chimera swipe at Sly, nearly smacking him before Sly rocketed out of range of his talons. He was grateful he had his friends on his side to aid in the fight, but even with them all fighting back, it was more a defensive fight on their side than offensive. The gang grew weaker, and it seemed to be impossible to wear down the invincible creature. He used his large scaly tail to deflect missiles harpoons and boulders. He even crushed a few with his avian fists.
Sly huffed as he breathed with effort, his strength beginning to dwindle. Mélange let out a low chuckle and raised a talon finger out to him, noticing the thief's efforts were becoming a greater struggle while he himself was only growing stronger from wearing the raccoon down. "As Slytunkhamen resides in the underworld where he belongs, he will forever rue the day he crossed paths with the high priest of the Purrghada Dynasty, and sealed me away in that stone prison."
From down below, at the edge of the crater, Bentley heard this, and narrowed his eyes. Neurons in his gifted brain fired off, as he rapidly tried to piece together why the things that had just been mentioned caught his attention. His mind sifted through the research he'd been doing over the last week. Why did that all sound so familiar?
His lips parted as he looked up at the chimera, studied his face closely. Then his jaw dropped and he let out a small gasp. He whipped his laptop out, pulling up sites in record speed.
Murray grunted and hurled another boulder up at Mélange as he and Sly continued to battle. "Bentley is this really the time or place for that?" the hippo shouted to him.
Bentley wasn't listening as he tapped the keys and swiftly scanned the information pulled up in front of him.
Priest. The high priest of the Purrghada Dynasty.
Bentley raised his head and looked back up at him. "The priest…was a lion…?" Could it be?
It had to be. It all made sense. A being who resided for thousands of years in a stone prison, was associated with an Egyptian ancestor of Sly's…
The talisman.
Bentley swiftly whipped it out of a compartment in his chair and flipped it over in his hands. He ran his fingers over the smoothly carved symbols and bronze engravings along the edges. Near the top was a shimmering ruby. A stone prison. "Of course," he whispered.
"Sly!" he called. "He's a partially spiritual, partially living being. He was a high priest in Queen Leopartigress's dynasty!"
Sly bared his teeth and deflected yet another beam of light with his cane. "That's awesome!" Sly called back briskly. "Is that supposed to help me?"
"Yes!" the turtle shouted. "Get down here right now!"
Sly's brow furrowed, but his reptilian friend sounded like he had a plan, so he turned and rocketed down to meet up with him on the surface of Mt. Etna's crater edge.
Mélange snarled behind him. "Come back and face me furball!"
Sly didn't answer as Bentley handed him the talisman. "I don't have time to explain," said the turtle. "But we've got to seal him in this talisman. It's the only way to defeat him. There's an ancient chant that I came across when researching talismanic magic in Egyptian artifacts that possess mystical qualities, just like this one, and it will initiate the resealing process. Only a descendant of a true Egyptian can use it though; that's you Sly. But Mélange needs to be kept in place whilst we do this. And I'm afraid I don't know how we force him to do that…"
"How about I use my cane?" a weak voice offered.
The two turned to see Carmelita slowly walking over on shaky legs. Sly ran over and steadied her. He held her to him and looked worriedly to Bentley who only shrugged.
"My cane," Carmelita grunted again, pushing Sly away feebly. "When I encountered this guy in the woods, Tony shot him with a shock pistol so I could escape, and it slowed him down long enough for me to do so. For whatever reason, it seemed to do the trick."
Bentley bit his lip. "The cane's voltage isn't very high…we haven't had time to modify and improve it. It's a prototype."
Carmelita looked up at the roaring beast to see him clenching his fists, a suspicious look in his red eyes, and knew they didn't have time to argue about this. "Just give it to me," she demanded, holding a shaky hand out.
Bentley didn't protest her authoritarian order and pulled the cane from an outer compartment on his wheelchair and handed it to her uneasily. "Well…alright, Carmelita, if you can keep him steady while Sly uses the talisman, I'll take care of the rest."
She nodded, gritting her teeth as she glared up at the repulsive enemy. "Take this, you fiendish freak," she hissed as she narrowed her eyes and fired her weapon.
The beast wasn't expecting a projectile from the cane and was hit instantly. As he roared out in pain from the electric shock, Carmelita fired again with a pleased smile on her face.
As he struggled with the electricity halting what biological systems remained inside his body, Sly held the talisman up to him and Bentley pulled up a written documentation of the resealing chant in an online archive.
"Keep firing," Bentley ordered Carmelita. "Can't chance him regaining his bearings."
"Got it," she said, waiting for the weapon to recharge, and fired again.
Bentley looked back up at Mélange as he stared down at the trio in sheer hatred, but couldn't attack due to the electricity coursing through his limbs. The turtle immediately recited the chant.
"كونه من قلب الشر والطمع يستهلك- يعاني عالمنا لا أكثر" ("being of evil and greed-consumed heart, plague our world no more")
"تختفي في السجن محكوم لك أن تعيش في عقابا له على طرقك الحاقدة،" ("disappear, return into the place you are doomed to live in as punishment for your malevolent ways")
"أن يكون قد انتهى، أن يكون قد انتهى، تبقى إلى الأبد في السجن الأوجه، وتعود أبدا" ("be gone, be gone, remain forever in your faceted prison, and never return")
The ruby of the talisman glowed and began to draw the monster toward it.
Mélange tried to resist but couldn't fight the pull. "NO!" he roared deafeningly, flapping his mighty feathered wings in an escape attempt, but it was no use. His eyes widened in realization. "Where did you get that?"
Sly smiled intrepidly, his eyes focused on Mélange. "It's working!"
Bentley nodded and repeated the chant.
Carmelita shot at him a few more times just for good measure, but as soon as the sharp pains hit her again, she was down for the count. She let go of her cane as she clutched her stomach with both hands and dropped to the ground, knowing Sly and Bentley would take care of the rest now.
It took great focus as they sucked the partly spiritual monster into the talisman, but it was a power not even he could win against. It was nightmarish to them as they watched his body lose form and slowly seep into the mystical talisman. His face contorted in rage, he yelled out, his voice echoing, resounding off the rocky walls. "I HATE YOU COOOOPPEERRRRR!"
When he'd finally disappeared completely into the large red jewel, Sly sighed deeply and looked down at it. "I'm sorry you feel that way," he mumbled. It was hard to believe that all his troubles over the past several months had been sucked into the small ancient treasure. He was so glad he'd decided to pick it up during the heist, but now it almost frightened him to hold the Egyptian talisman in his hands, knowing of the great evil that now existed inside it. His gaze then fell upon his friend, who was wiping the sweat off his scaly forehead. He placed a hand on his shoulder and Bentley looked up.
Sly was smiling at him. "Great job, buddy. Couldn't have taken care of him without ya." He handed him the object he preferred not to hold.
Bentley laughed once and carefully deposited the talisman back in a small compartment. "You say that every time Sly."
Sly laughed aloud as he stared up at the clear blue sky. He laughed mostly out of relief that the nightmare was all over.
He then heard a weak moan and turned to see the others crowding around Carmelita as she lay sprawled out on the unforgiving rocky surface. He ran over and dropped to his knees at her side. "Oh Carm. C'mere sweetie," he murmured and gently scooped her up in his arms. It was just too much at this point; there had been far too many close calls, and it was taking a serious toll on the shaken father-to-be. He held her close and rested his head upon hers as she lay limp in his arms. He stroked her cheek lovingly, hoping to ease her pain. She only responded with another breathy moan as her eyes remained closed.
"Your lady, she in bad shape man," Dimitri informed him in his own display of concern.
Sly looked around to see all their anxious faces, and grew uneasy. Murray and Tabby remained silent as they looked down at Carmelita trembling in Sly's arms. "What?" he asked. "What happened?"
Penelope stared up at Sly as worry graced her features. "Her water just broke."
Sly looked down at Carmelita as her breathing grew soft and feeble. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. Her chestnut eyes pleaded to him, but she couldn't utter a single word.
Sly spoke clearly to his gang as he got to his feet. "Well then, we need to get Carm to the nearest hospital. And fast."
The others nodded in agreement, and they all turned to head back down to stable ground. Bentley wheeled over to pick Carmelita's cane up off the crater surface and picked up Sly's cane as well, holding them both as his team leader, with help from Murray, carried his stricken wife back to the car, the others quickly following.
They may have defeated Mélange and saved Carmelita, but Sly and his gang still had one final matter to attend to.
Whew! How was that? Did it feel like a Sly boss while still having realistic elements to it?
What I really wanna know is if you had that 'heck yes' moment when Sly showed up on the crater. Like that moment where you go "Omg, he about to kick some tail!"
But I digress; I don't have to tell you what the next chapter will be about. Not as exciting as battling Mélange…but still exciting…right?