Ch15: Talking Sense
After an amazing trip into the air via the fireworks, we found ourselves inside the lair of the Panda King, the arena looking just as awesome as the game depicted it. "I see you carry canes of notorious Cooper thief clan... have you come here for revenge? To steal back the Thievius Raccoonus?" asked the Panda King, balancing his weight between his legs by bouncing. "That was-" Sly was about to say.
"Hold it bub," I frowned, placing two fingers to his mouth. I sighed, the plan already in my head. If it worked, we wouldn't have to resort to violence and we just might have an easier time with the Panda King later on in the story... though I wasn't sure how it would affect the story. But I had to attempt it. "I'll do the talking," I said, looking at Panda King from afar.
"So... who are you to be able to halt a Cooper conversation? Your cane does not look fit for fight, yet I sense power within it..." Panda King said. "Oh... you don't know? Woulda thought your boss, Clockwerk, could tell ya... seems he doesn't care much..." I frowned, the Panda King's face switching from cocky to confused. "What you mean about Clockwerk? Did he do something to you to say such things?" he asked.
I nodded, not moving at all and stopping Sly with my arm as he would've taken a step toward King if I hadn't. "Because of him, for no reason at all other than his own gain, he killed my family, using Mz. Ruby's powers to travel to my world and kill my kin." Panda King frowned and shook his head. "Do you really say you come from another dimension?" he asked, not faltering. "Why not ask the one that brought her here to this world?" asked another voice.
I knew it was Carmelita's, but I could tell it was over a megaphone. From the bottom of the mountain. "An Interpol officer? So... you do speak truthfully..." he frowned. "But why should it matter to me about Clockwerk's ambitions? Even if it involves twisting the dimensions, how would it affect me?" "Because if I wasn't here right now talking to you, you'd be exerting energy into either fighting Sly or destroying innocent lives with something you used to love doing for pure enjoyment... seriously? What does it gain you to destroy a village if you don't even try to do anything else? Wasn't your intention for your art originally to make people happy?"
I didn't expect sadness to come from the Panda King with my choice of words, but I saw his face turn and I could see distress in his eyes. "It is true..." he frowned, stopping his bouncing and just simply sitting on the ground, seeming to meditate his thoughts. "I was so happy, even as a poor man on the streets... and when nobleman... when they... crushed my dreams..." I stopped him right there. "Why should it matter to you what a bunch of rich snobs think? You could've just taken your firework artistry to another place. Maybe someone would've appreciated your talent?"
Panda King frowned and I saw a flame form in his hands, which he quickly extinguished in a second, upon seeing it. "I've been in seclusion for so long, away from what others may think... what would they say now?" he asked, looking at the floor in anguish. "Well, why don't you try and see for yourself?" I suggested, pointing to a nearby village that wasn't covered in snow. "It will be a simple test. Give them a good show, we'll let it slide... but you'll have to give up the page as well," I smiled. "If you end up destroying it via avalanche, however, Sly and I will pound the stuffing out of you. The choice is yours, Mr. King."
I didn't know if I saw what I did on Panda King so I looked again. He was giving a kind smile, one without malice. "Okay... if you think it'll work... I shall attempt..." The deal was struck, even if Sly wasn't too happy about it. "I'll give you a moment to prepare, then. If you attack, we attack back. Fair warning." "Fine with me."
"Are you really going through with this?" Sly asked me out of earshot from the Panda King. "He was part of killing my dad." "Well, it's working isn't it?" I pointed out, smiling as the Panda King worked on making his fireworks pristine. "Besides... better to have someone as strong as him as an ally rather than an enemy. Especially since he's got more brains than Muggshot and isn't butt ugly like Ruby or Raleigh." Sly still frowned, to the point of folding his arms. "Trust me. I think I know what I'm doing here, partner," I smiled, placing a kiss on his cheek.
Sly immediately gasped when I did this, both of our cheeks going red. "Okay... I'll trust you..." he smiled faintly. I heard some footsteps from behind me and saw the Panda King holding several cool looking fireworks in his hands as well as the page to the Thievius Raccoonus. "Um... th-thanks..." Sly gulped, picking up the page with caution. "This is not to say I still don't trust you, raccoon," he frowned, walking away from his gaze and setting up the fireworks in the direction of, but not aimed at, the village's mountains. "Alright big guy," I smiled. "Give 'em a show!"
"I still can't believe how well you did that!" Bentley commended me upon seeing the spectacular fireworks from the van with Murray. "I know how to forgive and forget someone's actions, so long as I can determine if said person has some good in them still." I smirked. "Still, I can't believe that you were able to change his ways like that! You may be a greater asset to the team than we originally believed!" "Oh? I wasn't already great?" I kidded. "Um... I... um..." "I'm just teasing! I'd never be that prideful."
"I still don't trust him..." Sly frowned, shuddering when he was remembering something sinister. I knew he was thinking about his father's death. After all, he witnessed it from behind a closet. "He may have done some bad things, and he is prepared to pay for them," I sighed, sitting next to him as we drove off to the hideout. "But the fact of the matter remains is that he's willing to forgive and forget. It takes a lotta guts to admit when you did wrong." Sly gave me a half smile as I started to look at the blueprints for Otto Van Cooper's machines.
"So... how about we do some maintenance on this van?" I asked. "I think a plasma blaster of our own would be a good addition... maybe a battering ram as well?" "Already on it, Sylvia," Bentley smiled, using a blowtorch in the back of the van to piece together the last of the plasma blaster. "Alright! Now we're all set to go after the big boy!" I glared, a sense of tension in the air all around us. "The fight with Clockwerk. Surely to go down as a fight to remember."