Hi, Hyena King here! This is the beginning of the end. The final chapter of this story, where, The ponies and two of the goddesses have been captured, The clockwerk parts are in enemy hands, and only Sly, Murray, Bentley, Thunder, Lightning, Karen and Sasha are the only ones left to turn this truckload of bad luck around. Will they be able to save the day? Are we forgetting a pair of dragon wilds cards in the mix? Just what is it Arpeggio and Malice are planning!? Read on and find out!

Sly POV

There we were, heading east across the Atlantic ocean, Stowaways on a giant, airborne fortress. Though time was short, we made sure to study up on our unknowing host; Arpeggio. While attending a prestigious boarding school, the young Arpeggio excelled in all subjects, but he never managed to keep up with the other boys physically. Sadly his wings, due to their small size, were useless for flight.

Furious at his feeble body, he focused his powerful mind to search for a cure, in the works of the powerful, Renaissance masters. Their notebooks provided the springboard for the sinister, young genius. And it wasn't long before the Klaaw Gang took him on as chief inventor.

His talents must have been at work re-purposing all the Clockwerk parts for their criminal schemes. And now, thi9s mastermind is in possession of all the parts, it's only a matter of time before he puts them all back together, and if that happens...well, I,m not going to let that happen.

As for this Malice guy...Thunder and Lightning told me all about him, from some story they were told, how they were "Protectors" or something. The only conclusion I can come up with is that the guy's a head case, especially if he's that demon that worked with Clockwerk the first time. I shudder to think what he and Arpeggio have in mind...

Sly, Thunder and Lightning quickly got out of the room they were staying in and found themselves on the ledge of the top of the flying fortress they were on. Sly nodded to the boys, who nodded back, and the brothers spread their wings and silently took of into the dark, cloudy night sky, Thunder all but disappearing, except for his neon blue hair.

Sasha poked her blond hair out and looked to Sly, who motioned her to come out as well. Sly wanted her to stay with Bentley and Murray, but he knew by now that telling her to do something she didn't like was like trying to walk on water; all but impossible. So she crept out onto the ledge with him, followed by Karen, who naturally wouldn't be left behind. Oddly enough, they were dressed in winter coats to combat the cold, Sasha's being a really bright shade of pink, (Which none of the guards in this chapter noticed for some reason.) And Karen in a steel grey one. (Like she needed a coat, she hung out in this cold normally with only a t-shirt and jeans.)

The plan this time was this. Sly, Karen, and Sasha would sneak across the roof towards the destination Bentley pointed out while Thunder and Lightning provided air support. This would prove to be a valuable asset as they quickly mad there way across the roof of the blimp.

Any guards they came across were toucans, who were equipped with packs that allowed them to quickly boost themselves back up if they were knocked down. They didn't, however, make it possible to fly. So, when a guard came up to apprehend the trio, Thunder or Lightning who swoop down on top of them from behind, lift them up, and drop them off the ledge before the guards knew what hit them. If Thunder and Lightning weren't quick enough to stop a guard, Sly would knock them of the ledge with a few strokes of his cane, Sasha would do it with kicks, and Karen got the job done by ripping a piece of metal from the blimp and using it like a baseball bat. You could hear the guards scream for miles after Karen got through with them.

They made quick progress across the roof to a high ledge that gave them a great view of the sky, including a view of a blimp on the opposite side of the blimp they were currently on. Bentley talked on the Comm a moment later.

"My instruments have picked up large magnetic fields radiating from inside that blimp. If Arpeggio's already stared reassembling Clockwerk, that's where you'll find him."

"Sounds good, we're on our way." *Sly said, grinning.

"Don't waste any time here, Sly." Bentley warned. "Get to the blimp and take some recon photos. To build a plan, we need to know how Close they are to reviving Clockwerk."

"Relax Bentley." Sly reassured "I've got it under control."

With that, he shut off the comm link and whistled. Thunder and Lightning flew up to him as he said.* "You guys think you can give me a lift?"

"Not a problem." Thunder replied with a grin. As he reached down to grab Sly under his arms, Sasha screamed out.

"Hey, what about us!?" She and Karen were giving death glares to all three of the guys. Lightning spoke up.

"You're goddesses. just fly over on your own."

"We can't fly." Karen said. "It's against the rules for deities to fly when under a mortal guise."

There was stone dead silence, then Sly said. "Let me get this straight. You can cause random stuff to rain down from above, and have super strength. But the ability to fly is not allowed, cause it's against the rules?"

The two goddesses hesitated for a minute, then nodded, Sasha giving a "Yeah."

Sly stared, then said to the brothers. "Wherever they came from, they make less sense then you guys do."

They shrugged. "Don't look at us, they're supposed to be divine." Lightning said.

They flew Sly and the goddesses over to the blimp, (They had to make two trips.) And Sly broke open a ventilation shaft for them to crawl into to get into the blimp. When they finally crawled out of it, what they saw shocked them. They were in a large, open room, where, smack dab in the middle of it, A nearly completed Clockwerk was hanging from racks.

"I...I had no idea they could reassemble Clockwerk so fast!" Bentley cried from the comm link.

"Calm down, Bentley," Sly said. "He may be in one piece, but he doesn't appear to be, you know, 'alive' Let's stick to the format here. How about some recon photos?"

"You're right." Bentley agreed. "we need to be informed to create a plan of action. Try to get a shot of Clockwerk's head, a mech egg, and one of those spinning magnetic inducers. They seem important to the procedure. But stay away from the guards...If you get detected, we won't have time for a second chance."

Sly turned off the comm link, then passed Lightning a spare camera he got from his pocket. "Me and Lightning will take the pictures, the rest of you stay here." Thunder nodded, but he was shocked by the fact that The goddesses agreed to it.

As Sly and Lightning went off to take the photos, Sasha grabbed Thunder and whispered. "C'mon, it's rescue time." She started to drag him away, Karen following behind, When Thunder said. "Wait, we need to think up of a plan!"

"Plans smlans, we can do this." They started down a hallway adjacent to the room as Sasha said, "Don't you want top save the girls?"

"How do you even know where they are?"

"We have a spy."

"Really? Who?"

"Remember Fiona?"

Thunder struggled with his mind for a second, then said. "The big black dragon you had with you?"

"Yeah, she and Spike managed to escape, and said they overheard the guards saying they're keeping them in this wing of the blimp! C'mon, we can do this!"

"And where is the dynamic Dragon duo?" Thunder asked, still a little skeptical.

"They're hiding downstairs!"

"...Isn't that the cargo hold?"

Meanwhile, in the cargo hold, Spike and Fiona were cramped up inside a box, both of them groaning from the claustrophobic space.

"There's no room in here!" Spike cried out, trying to open the box and let themselves out.

"No, Sasha said to wait for further instructions."

"How long will that take!?"

The Chinese dragon thought on that for a second, then said. "I have no idea."

Spike screamed in frustration at that.

Back at the main plot, Sly and Lightning returned from taking Recon Photo's to revel that Sasha, Karen, and Thunder were gone.

"Where'd they go now!" Lightning growled, clearly angry. Sly was about to respond, when Bentley came on the line.

"Sly, I,m detecting voices coming from the front of the blimp. I think it's Arpeggio."

Sly sighed and grabbed Lightning. "We'll deal with that later. Let's move." They quickly made their way to the front of the blimp, coming up to a glass door that allowed them to make out general shapes of the things inside, one which was of a familiar Interpol agent.
"Neyla!? Neyla's here too!" Bentley cried out in surprise. Sly and Lightning looked at each other, then back at the door. Sly quickly took a picture of her, and Bentley came to a startling conclusion.

"I can't believe it! She must have been working with Arpeggio all along!"

"I,m not surprised." Lightning growled, looking like he was about to charge in there. Sly stared at him, and he said. "That witch shot me!"

Sly sighrd, then got closure and took a picture of the Renaissance menace himself, Arpeggio.

"There he is. The master mind behind this blimp, and the source of all our problems."

Bentley continued. "I don't need to study those photos to see the writing on the wall. Clearly, Neyla,and Arpeggio have conspired together to rebuild Clockwerk, and it looks like they're dangerously close to realizing their goal..."

"Look, Bentley," Sly began "I know it's not your style, but we need a quick plan of attack. Try to think of a way, any way, any way, to stop Clockwerk from getting reassembled."

"The quicker the better." Lightning said, looking ready for action.

"Well..." Bentley said. "those Magnetic inducers seem to be holding the parts together. If you reversed their polarity, it should pull Clockwerk apart. Unfortunately the inducer speed control station is locked down tight. Pickpocket keys from the four patrolling guards to get at it."

"Then, you'll need to manually reverse the polarity of each inducer deck at the top of their rotation."

"Consider it done." Sly said with a smirk.

Sly turned to Lightning. "Guess it's just you and me, now. Ready, partner?"

"All the way." Lightning and Sly clapped hands before they went to work.

They made quick progress, Sly taking the keys with his cane, Lightning hovering noiselessly and pickpocketing with the skills the raccoon had taught him. They then made their way to the speed control station. Sly quickly worked the station to make the inducers slower, then Lightning went to work reversing each ones polarity.

Soon, it was all complete, The whole assemble of Clockwerk crashing to the ground in a heap. Lightning almost gave a whoop of joy, but Sly grabbed him and dragged him into a corner. Soon, Neyla and Arppegio came out and inspected the wreckage.

"What's all this then?" Arpeggio demanded. "The magnets have been reversed! But...by Jove, it seems to have locked the Clockwerk parts into place! Excellent!"

It was true. The whole thing was now ready for takeoff. Lightning and Sly stared, and then Lightning let out a silent.

"Oh, crap."

Nelya, sadly, heard that, and turned to see the duo.

"Sly Cooper! And the white one I thought I'd taken care of! Of course, this would be your doing."

Arpeggio turned and smiled. "Ah, MR. Cooper, and MR. white winged horse friend, no doubt you believed a reversal would pull the old bird apart, eh?" He chuckled a bit before he continued. "But it seems to have had quite the opposite effect. I,m truly grateful...When fully powered up, I'll join myself with it's circuits and be born anew!"

Sly and Lightning looked disgusted. All this...because you can't fly." Cooper said, shaking his head. "You're pathetic."

Arpeggio shook his own head. "Immortality! Immortality is what I seek. The other Klaaw gang members were much too short-sighted. They were satisfied using the Clockwerk parts to drive their various, trivial schemes. But not me, no, I saw them for what they really were, the keys to life eternal!"

Sly stared, then asked. "So...what!? You had Neyla but me on the scent back in Cairo, and then waited while we stole the parts from all the other Klaaw gang members...All the while, not arousing any suspicion that you were behind it all?"

"Seems that way to me." Lightning said with a shrug.

Neyla cut in there. "You make it sound easy, boys. I had to carry your pathetic gang through that first set of heists. I was overjoyed when Arpeggio let me toss you in jail! I could finally go after the parts myself."

Arpeggio continued from there. "Ah! But acquiring all the parts was only half of the equation. Think Cooper...What kept Clockwerk alive for thousands of years?"

"He was fueled by hatred for my family." Sly responded.

"Splendid! That's right! Hatred! Putting his gears and wires together was child's play, compared to accumilating that much hatred."

"You can't make people hate."

"Oh, my poor naive boy...my meticulous mind has found a way. As your hippopotamus friend will attest, Spice consumption makes you both angry and susceptible to hypnosis. The Contessa, Hypnotist extraordinaire, devised a way to command people through flashing lights. I,ve created this blimp, to be a massive transmitter of those precise, light frequencies. The only problem I faced was finding a suitable source of light waves."

"The northern lights!" Both Lightning and Sly said at the same time. Sly continued on that thought. "You've been collecting Northern light energy so that you could hypnotize everyone beneath the blimp!"

Arpeggio nodded. 'Ah, hypnotize those who'd eaten food covered in illegal spice! Thank goodness for Demitri, Through his Nightclub, he got the whole city to consume the spice."

Sly got the big picture. "You're going to Paris to unleash a hypnotic light show of hate...That's outlandishly cruel."

"Cruel, perhaps." Arpeggio admitted. "But necessary to give Clockwerk his spark of immortality! Ah well, My new body awaits me, Be a dear, Neyla, and keep him covered. Ta-ta!"

He turned his birdcage around when Lightning suddenly cried. "Wait! What about Malice!? What's he got to do with this!?"

Arpegio chuckled. "That dark fellow. He simply offered his help in exchange for you, your brother, and your outlandish friends. They will be delivered to him as soon as I,m done here." He then turned and began to stroll towards Clockwerks body. When he got halfway there, Neyla suddenly knocked him over.

"Stupid Arpeggio...I double-crossed the Cooper Gang, Interpol, and Carmelita...What made you think I wouldn't do the same to you?"

With that, she jumped into Clockwerks body. The body powered up and began to move on it's one. Arpeggio said in anger.

"This is preposterous! You're my protege, not the next canidate for my immortality! I demand you leave the Clockwerk Frame at once or...or!..."

The Clockwerk framed pecked him, crushing him into the floor, leaving only his monocle to roll at Sly and Lightning's feet. The frame flew to hover in the air a bit as she proclaimed.

"Behold! Clock-La is born!"

She then rammed through the front of the blimp, leaving nothing but destruction in her wake. As she lew off into the night sky, Lightning said.

"Ah, crap."

There you go! Sorry for the long wait, everybody! Now, how is this going to work out? Will they be able to defeat Clock-La!? Find out next chapter! R&R please!