Ch13: The Cold Ascent
"It's freezing!" I shivered as we started the trek to the Panda King's stronghold. We had to start at the bottom of the mountain and work our way upwards, which seemed fun in the game, but it was less so when you were actually doing it yourself. "I didn't know you hated the cold," Sly frowned, seemingly unhappy as well. "I grew up in San Fransisco, a city in California. There was never any ice there!"
I shivered again as another frigid blast hit us. My paws were numb and it was getting hard to move. "Wait... what's that over there?" Sly asked, pointing his cane over to a box that I hadn't seen before in the game. This small box, which was right at the base of the pine tree at the start, held three gas masks and a jet pack with a full tank. "Aww, sweet!" Sly exclaimed when he picked up the jet pack. "Sly?" I asked, getting his attention and taking the jet pack from him. "I have a feeling someone put these things here for us to take... but it might not be handy in this frigid climate..."
Sly was confused, whereas I wasn't. Carmelita definitely put these here, since I could see the mark of a police star on the back one of the jet pack's tanks. "Trust me. I have a feeling these will be helpful when we battle Clockwerk. I'll take these to the van and leave them with Bentley for safe keeping. You go on ahead and I'll catch up." Sly smiled and did a salute, running up the hill towards the ape duo while I delivered the stuff to Bentley.
"You sure about this?" he asked, noticing the star almost immediately. "She knows stuff about Clockwerk more than I do. I'm sure that, since he's a flyer, we should be able to fly as well." "Okay... just be careful about making promises with a cop." "Point taken."
I met up with Sly once he saw the village get smothered by the Panda King's avalanche. "We've gotta get up there fast before that lunatic squashes another town!" Sly said with seriousness. 'Yeah. That same lunatic will actually help you out with the Cooper Vault,' I thought.
Soon we were flying through the suspended bridge section and were approaching the area with the giant, falling icicles. "Be careful here..." Sly said. I followed him slowly, making sure not to lose focus as the icicles flew down after every once in a while.
"Seriously? How can these icicles form so quickly?!" I complained as we made it safely to the other end. "I don't know... maybe the Panda King is doing it somehow?" Sly asked. "By smashing the ground with his large butt?" I commented, making both of us laugh a bit.
After we'd taken care of the duo of ape duos, we hit the fireworks that were laying around and opened a door that would lead to the more secured area of the mountain. "Hmm... ape flashlights at five-o-clock..." I frowned, pointing to the fireworks guarded in a secure house. We'd found every clue bottle so far and I knew that the house was where the safe was.
"I'll go and climb the place and clear the way. You watch me and tell me how awesome I am afterwards," I giggled, attacking the guard on the ground without getting seen. "Be careful!" Sly warned. "Aren't I always?" I said back as I went on the wall and underneath the pylon window top, shielding myself from the guard's view.
Invisibility kicked in as I would've been spotted, which I found to be quite useful. When I managed to get to the other side, I hit and knocked out every guard around the tower and attacked the fireworks, clearing the way and opening a hatch that led to the vault. I jumped down and slid open the rolling door, meeting Sly on the other side. "How'd I look?" I smirked. "Pretty damn awesome," he chuckled. "Let's go then! I feel awesome and we still need to find the key and clue bottles."
And so we ended up at the area where the key was protected by at least fifteen ape guards. "Wanna take 'em on together partner?" I asked, fixing my dress that I was somehow still able to wear after I was warped here. "You bet!" he smiled. Soon we were in the fray, silently destroying the guards as they blindly chased us through the maze, the power of two against impossible odds actually proving to be quite amazing. "That's all of 'em! I'll get the page while you get the key," I smirked, heading back to the safe.
When I got to the safe, however, I saw none other than Carmelita Fox standing right at the entrance. "Oh! I didn't know you'd be here!" I exclaimed softly, hoping Sly didn't hear me. "Well I had to make sure that you got the gift I left for you," she smiled, fixing her hair with her pistol. "I know that Sly's with you, but I'll wait until I get him alone to start chasing him... maybe where I'm supposed to attack him here?" I could only smile.
"Just know that you're competing with me for his affections, Fox," I smirked. "I'm glad for a little competition... I'll see ya," Carmelita grinned, jumping directly over the stronghold gate and entering the facility ahead of us. "Now why didn't I think of that?" I asked myself, getting the page with Bentley's help. It was the ability to move while staying invisible, perfected by Huckleberry Cooper.
"I got the page!" I smiled, giving it to its rightful owner. "Good! Hmm... moving while invisible? That sounds like it will come in handy!" Sly grinned. "Doesn't it?" We then unlocked the door together and we entered Mr. King's stronghold.