After talking to Bentley, he had come to the conclusion that our next specialist would be someone named the Panda King. I of course knew nothing about this Panda King but by the way Sly was acting, he obviously didn't like him very much. Sly later explained to me that he had fought the Panda King before to regain a page of the Thievious Raccoonus. It had me kind of worried that Sly would be totally against it. But, Bentley managed to talk him into it. If Sly wanted into that vault, we needed Panda King's help.

As far as we knew, Panda King was now a monk somewhere high in the mountains. Sly still wasn't convinced. He was very uneasy all the way to China.

When we got there, we surveyed the area. It looked like there was no way to get up there.

"Stay sharp, team," Sly said. "For all we know the Panda King is as dangerous as ever."

"How can you say that?" Bentley argued. "Look at him, have you every seen someone more at peace with the world?"

"I hate to say it, Sly but… I'm going to have to agree with Bentley on this one," I said.

"Well, he doesn't seem to be in a talkative mood. So let's go."

"Be realistic Sly. He's obviously in a deep meditative trance," Bentley said. "Hmmm… It may take some doing but I think I've figured out a way to get the team up there to his shrine."

"Good. The walk up here tired me out. I don't want to turn around now. Man, I miss the van…" Murray said.

I smiled at him. "It'll be alright, Murray. Lead the way, Wizard."

"Right then."

Bentley gave us all jobs to do. As soon as Penelope was done with hers, she turned to Sly.

"There you go Sly," she said. "Hope it's everything you could have wished for."

Hearing that made me pause. Are you serious? The way she said it made me a little worried. Then again…

Sly wasn't sure how to react.

"Uh… Thanks. It looks great."

I tried to hold my laugh in. She made it horribly and painfully obvious that she liked him. And poor Bentley saw it too.

"Sly, isn't it time that you climbed up there and joined Murray?" he said in an irritated tone.

Sly went to join up with Murray. I followed after him and waited for everyone else to follow. Then they coaxed the Panda King awake.

He wasn't too happy about the idea of joining the gang. Luckily for us, the Guru managed to really hit it off with him. Even then, the whole deal was pretty shaky. He was pretty wired as he told us about how he lost his daughter. She was kidnapped by some general from the northern mountains and was being forced into marrying him. I, of course, immediately reached out to him. It took Sly and the others a few minutes to agree with me on this one. In return for saving his daughter, he would join us in the vault job. It seemed like a win win to me. It would take awhile to get Sly on board but, give him a little while he would eventually understand that all this was necessary.

Our plan of action for this one was first for everyone to get jobs in order to keep tabs on the wedding details. Bentley went in first in hopes of being a wedding coordinator. I again would be hanging back until they needed me.

Bentley radioed to us.

"Sly, I need you out in the field. Tsao wants a photographer but in order for you to have the job you need to have some samples."

"Alright, I'll be right out." He turned to me.

"I'll be here until you need me," I quickly said to him.

He nodded to me then left.

A while later, we got word that it was a success. I went with the Panda King to hang out at one of the turrets that we would use for later. I watched him as he filled it up with fireworks.

"It's quite impressive," I complimented to him.

"Hm? How so?"

"Well, instead of using regular guns, you're using fireworks. It's different in a good way. Beautiful and dangerous."

He smiled at that. "I thank you Annika, for your kind words."

"Anytime, big guy. As far as I'm concerned, you're part of the team now."

There came in a radio conversation between Penelope and Murray about him saving his van. The meant that Panda King and I would have to cover him from the goons.

For an enormous panda with an even bigger grudge he carried, he was an awesome shot. We met up with Murray and Penelope.

"Great job, Murray! You saved the van!" Penelope cried.

Murray thanked the Panda King then went their separate ways. I stayed with the Panda King. I had grown very fond of him in only a few short hours. His love for Jing was so sweet. You could see it plainly on his face. She was his reason for fighting beside us, which made it all the better.

He didn't seem to mind me being around him. At first he was a little suspicious, thinking that Sly had put me with him just to make sure he didn't betray us. But, as I stayed with him, he seemed to relax a little and finally talked to me a little bit.

"So… Annika… How is it that you know Sly Cooper? Were you an enemy of his as well?"

"Not exactly. Before I found out that I'm part of a long line of thieves, I was part of Interpol. In fact, I worked beside Carmelita Fox and her sister, Kaylita Fox."

"Ah, yes. I know of them both," he replied.

I nodded to him. "I had a few run-ins with Sly. Then I was sent my mother's diary and found out that I was the last of the Reeves family."

"Truly?" he sounded surprised. "You are Crimson Reeves' daughter?"

Now that was something I wasn't quite expecting. "You know her?"

He nodded. "Yes. The night that we had come to kill Cooper, Archimedes was off to kill Crim Reeves that same night. We thought that you had perished with her."

"Hardly," I snorted. "And FYI, Archimedes is dead. I killed him myself."

"I see. And you are at peace with that?"

"Yes."

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a shock pistol nearby. I immediately knew who it was. I stepped out to see them both chasing after Sly. I radioed to him.

"Need any help down there?"

"Nope. They're doing what we need them to do. Just stay where you are."

"Roger that." I let him go and went back to Panda King.

"And now we wait…" I groaned.

Just as I had said that, Bentley came into our building himself.

"This is it, Panda King. We need you for a field mission. Sly's trying to break into a fireworks cache and he needs help."

"Fine. I will be there presently," Panda King said to him. "You may go."

Bentley left at that. Panda King turned to me.

"May I have a moment alone?"

I nodded. "Sure thing. I'll be right out here if you need anything."

As soon as I got outside, Bentley was waiting for me.

"We'll need you to hang back on this one," he said. "But we'll definitely need you for the next mission."

I nodded to him. "Of course. Always here when called."

As soon as he and the Panda King were done, he and I went to the top of Tsao's temple ready for the big shebang.

"We're in green light position," Sly said into the com. "Let's get a roll call."

"Ready," Bentley said first.

"In position," Penelope radioed.

"I'm pumped!" Murray called in.

The Guru also let us know that he was ready.

"I too stand ready," the Panda King said. "Even if we fail, it will have been and honorable effort. Jing King is not forgotten."

"Don't talk like that," I told him. "We will rescue her. You have my word."

Sly put a hand on my shoulder. "You ready?"

My heart skipped for a split second then I nodded to him. "When you are."

"Alright everyone. Let's go!"

I followed Sly into the temple.

"Alright you too, Penelope and Murray are depending on your second story work to be let in. They should be in position by the front door."

Sly went to let them in as I took a quick look around. As soon as Penelope walked in, I knew that she was going to say something to Sly.

"Opening a door for a lady," she said right on cue. "And they say chivalry is dead."

I rolled my eyes, mostly to myself, at the sheer ridiculousness of her hitting on Sly.

"I try to show my 'proper respect'," Sly replied.

And he had a good comeback for that? He had a comeback at all? I face-palmed myself. I couldn't believe that he… Oh wait. Yeah I could…

"You guys going to be okay in here? The security is tight."

"Yeah we're fine," Penelope assured him. "You and Annika need to get moving if you're going to make your rendezvous with the Panda King and the Guru."

"Always a slave to the schedule." He motioned to me and I went after him.

"The Panda King and the Guru are in position beneath the palace," Bentley instructed. "Once you're inside, they'll start blasting."

We quickly made our way to the palace. Sly left a calling card in front of the door then went inside. We found ourselves in a room full of Tsao's vase collection. I radioed the Panda King.

"We're here," I told him. "What's the plan?"

"The vases around you are used in an ancient Chinese technique to detect subterranean thieves," he explained to us. "Our tunneling to free Jing King will shake the palace."

"I get you," Sly said. "If any of the vases tip over, it'll trip an alarm."

"Correct. Don't allow any of them to fall. I am… putting my trust in you both."

Sly and I nodded to each other.

"I call this side," I said to Sly.

He frowned. "But that side a fewer vases."

"Exactly. That's what you get for flirting with Penelope on the job. Focus." I took my place and got ready to brace the vases.

As the Guru and the Panda King got to work, Sly and I did our best to keep the vases still.

"So… Are you jealous that I was flirting with Penelope?" He asked.

"Are you insane? This is not the time to be asking questions like that!"

"Just answer the question."

"You want the truth?"

"Of course I do."

"No, I'm not jealous of her. I'm mad at you for doing stupid things while we're trying to save Jing King. We're trying to save someone and you're flirting with Penelope instead!"

"So you are jealous," he teased.

Just before I could try to beat him to a pulp, the Panda King called in.

"Success! We are directly beneath the bridal chamber, just a few inches from Jing King."

Now it was Bentley's turn. He was going to lure Carmelita to the palace and get Carm to take Jing King's place. I went and hid myself in the rafters before she could show up. Sly, changed into his disguise of Tsao then completely faked a conversation with Bentley. Carm changed into an outfit and put herself into the bridal chamber. I went out through the roof to meet up with Sly.

As soon as I got out though, Tsao's temple was falling to pieces and below it was Kaylita.

"NO!" I cried. Without thinking I went to try to make it to her before the building could crush her.

Just before the temple hit the water to take Kaylita down with it, I got her out of the way but still fell into the freezing fluid. We got out as soon as possible.

"Annika!" Kaylita cried. "Why in the world would you do that? You could've been hurt!"

"Gee… Your welcome Kay, anytime. It's not like I just saved your life from an impending doom. I'd rather you live a little bit longer."

She smiled weakly as she shivered. "Thank you, Annika. I take it you've already ran into my wonderful sister?"

"Naturally. She thinks she's busting Sly but she'll still be happy with her catch methinks."

She managed a light giggle.

"In the meantime, you should go and warm up. I don't want you getting sick. It goes along with me wanting you to live a while longer."

She nodded. "You should go bundle up too."

"No worries there."

She ran off at that. Murray came and picked me up, taking me straight to the van to warm up. Sly and the others came swiftly and we made our getaway.

In the end, Carmelita and Kaylita managed to at least get Tsao behind bars if anything else. Needless to say, the people living nearby were happy to see him go. Jing King was left at her aunt's for safety and the Panda King willingly joined after that. Things were finally coming together…