Ch34: The Only Way to Fly!
"OH YEEAAHH!" I exclaimed, trying out my new wings as the others tested their new plane. Well, test was a light way of putting it. More like it was our first flight and we were going the full length to Holland to compete in the Aces Competition against the Black Baron... (Penelope) and it was our first run on both sides. "Seems you can fly really well, Sly!" I exclaimed, noting on how easy it was for him to use the biplane that somehow fitted all the gang inside it.
"You should try it! Those wings look kinda tired!" he yelled back. "Oh? Do I hear a challenge in those headwinds?" I smirked, doing a bit of airplane joke in there. "First one there buys the groceries?" Sly smirked. "Oh it is so ON!" me and Neyla both exclaimed at once, going into a stance that made us go a bit faster than Sly's plane. "Wait! No fair! You got a head start!" Sly kidded, going somewhat faster with the plane.
"Don't go too fast, guys," Bentley said, ruining the fun. "The plane is brand new and we only have one. If it gets into a crash because of an overheated engine, I blame you guys." "Alright, grandpa," I frowned, going slower as well as Sly. "We'll go slower." "And don't call me grandpa, please?" "Sorry, couldn't help myself."
Once we had reached the landing strip, we quickly realized what we had gotten ourselves into. The entire place was dark and rainy as we found our assigned hangar and placed our plane inside. "Okay... I'll stay behind with the big boy here in case of problems," I smirked, tapping the plane's wings gently. "Don't worry Sly. I won't let any harm come to this baby. You guys go ahead and do whatever ya gotta do to get the odds in our favor. I'll be here to protect this baby."
"Um... I think I could do this task?" Opal asked, simply hovering over to me and Neyla, placing a hand on my furry forehead. "Oh?" I smirked, looking at her. "I am a goddess. I think my powers can be... up to the task of helping your plane be in safe protection." 'Seriously?! She's talking all fancy just to be funny!' Neyla thought to me. 'Don't worry, N. Besides... I have a different task I'd like to do...'
"Okay then. You boys go back to that hotel and I'll stay here to guard the plane," Opal said. "We're trusting you, Opal," Sly smiled. "Good luck!" It was then that I took off with my wings and went invisible, surprised I could even do that successfully! "You know the only problem with going invisible and flying?" Neyla asked. "We make a shadow with nothing to send it?" I asked back. "Exactly." "Well, I plan on doing it for two occasions only."
"Where are we going exactly?" Neyla asked. I looked up and gave her a good look of our destination. "The Black Baron's Castle? Are you sure?" "I need to have a little 'talk' with miss mouse." "Penelope?" "Yep."
After we landed on the windowsill, I tapped on the glass, seeing that Penelope was in her Black Baron outfit. "Hmm?" she asked in a masculine voice, heading over to our window. "Hmm... rotten kids!" I tapped on the window again, which seemed to make her put up a battle stance. "Reveal yourself, cretin!" she exclaimed. I sighed, revealing myself, which she gasped at.
"Hey... um... can ya let me in Miss Mouse?" I asked, looking into the goggles. I could see her cute little eyes behind them grow large. "Y-Y-You know?" she asked in her normal voice. "Get inside, quick!" she then unlocked the window and I jumped in, landing without a sound despite the heavy wings. "Wh-What are you?" she asked, taking off the mask.
Her face was even cuter in person than in the game, her large glasses, kind eyes, and blonde hair were adorable. If only she didn't betray Sly and friends later on... "Trust me, hon. If you knew my origins, you'd either not believe it or be too stunned to speak," I frowned. "But if you want a short answer, I'm a cat from a different dimension that has a cybernetic partner in this robotic owl eye. And... I got giant wings from her. Questions?"
When I said robotic owl, her eyes went wide. "Y-You mean C-Clockwerk?!" she asked. "How'd you know?" Neyla asked, stunning her even more. "Um... because that's all that team Muggshot talks about nowadays. Seriously!" She wasn't lying at least. "So... how'd you know I was Penelope and the Black Baron?" she asked. "This eye can see through disguises like it's nothing," I smirked, rubbing it again.
"Argh! Don't do that! It feels funny!" Neyla groaned again. "Heh. Didn't know Clockwerk was a funny girl," Penelope smiled. "He used to be evil, but once I took over the mainframe, now I'm in control of it. Clockwerk is, in a sense, no more. Now it's just Sylvia and Neyla."
"Wait... THE Sylvia?!" Penelope gasped. "Muggshot won't stop yapping about you! He says you beat him in a fist fight with only two attacks! A gut punch and a roundhouse! Unheard of!" "Then you know which team I represent in the Aces tourney?" "Y-You're with the Coopers?" "Don't worry. I won't tell them. But... I do have one thing I'd like to ask of you..."
I then started to walk back to the window, giving her a pat on the shoulder as I walked by. "Don't cheat this year. Trust me. You cheat in the Aces event, I come in and take out whatever cheating ways you want to do. Alright?" Penelope faltered for a moment and sighed. "Okay... I won't cheat. But that doesn't mean I won't put up a fight!" "Fair enough... now I must bid you, adieu!" And with that, I jumped out the window and flew off, turning invisible as I flew over to the hotel.