With the family all back together, I was much more at peace with myself...for the moment. Still, Uncle Murray was acting a little off, not that we could blame him after what had happened. We were all a little off. Still, for some reason Uncle Murray's behavior stuck in my mind...
Dad thought the first thing we should do was to get Mom reinstated on the force and get her record cleared...but Mom vetoed that immediately. With both Neyla and the Contessa exposed as members of the Klaaw Gang, scrutiny would be high everywhere as Interpol hunted Neyla and the other Klaaw members down. She said our priority would have to be on the Clockwerk Parts. Not only would that lead us to the remaining Klaaw Gang members - and Neyla - the parts had to be destroyed. They were simply too dangerous.
Thankfully, we knew where to find one member of the Gang. The trail of spice shipments led to Nunavut Bay, Canada, the secret hub of Jean Bison's shipping empire. On our way there, I learned a bit about the man. Apparently, he wound up frozen for 120 years, leading to him being a bit out of his time. Behaviors and attitudes that were perfectly acceptable in his day had him an outsider in the present. Kind of a pity. It made me wonder if there was any way to save him...
That would have to sit on the back burner, though. He had quite a few of the Clockwerk Parts - both lungs, the stomach, and the talons - which was rather concerning considering what the other Klaaw Gang members had been using theirs for. That much of Clockwerk's body in the hands of one man who was using it...we had to act fast.
Once we had a base of operations set up, I went looking for the Vault while Dad did some scouting. I actually crossed paths with Dad while hunting the vault, since we both had to go into that cabin for our respective missions. Once I'd raided its contents, though - designs for a music box that played on a specific harmonic that forcefully induced sleep - Dad insisted I go back to the hideout so Mom didn't worry. I went, wishing Dad as much luck on his run as I had on mine.
Of course, Dad had much better to report from his excursion. Not only did he get the blueprints for all three Iron Horses - the trains Jean Bison used to deliver his spice, powered by the Clockwerk Lungs and Stomach - he also brought back pictures of their routes and information about a 'Northern Lights Battery'. On top of that, he connected Uncle Bentley to a satellite dish that would let him track all three trains all the time.
...no, I wasn't jealous. Why would you even think that? To be perfectly frank, I was glad to get to sit on the sidelines for a bit. My magical reserves still weren't fully recovered from Prague, and we didn't exactly have time to let me take a week's siesta...so taking it easy was the next best thing.
Then came the plan for how to get into the trains...and Mom caught all of us off guard.
Bentley laid out the information he'd put together from what Sly had gathered. "Alright, we know where in the trains the Clockwerk parts are. Unfortunately, the Parts let the trains run day and night, so we can't just wait for them to shut down for the night. We'll have to get the parts while they're running...which is going to be tricky. The only entrance is a hatch on the roof of the caboose of each train, and it's locked shut. There's no way we'll be able to get the keys, so we'll need to blow the locks open."
He shifted the visual to a picture of the sky. "Thankfully, Jean Bison's operation is actually helpful to us here. There are balloons of ultra-unstable denatured spice gas floating all over the place. If you're able to gather enough of it, Sly, you can attach the canister to the hatch and blow it open...but you'll have to land on the caboose, or the gas will explode before you can detach the canister." He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "The gas is highly unstable at lower altitudes, after all."
"That sounds needlessly reckless, not to mention dangerous," Carmelita observed. "One mistake and Coco loses her father."
"Not all that different from most of what we've done," Sly pointed out.
"Yeah...that's about standard for what Dad goes through," Coco agreed, much to Carmelita's displeasure.
"It just seems foolish to not use a much simpler, safer option when it's available," Carmelita countered irritably.
"And what would you suggest, Carmelita?" Bentley asked curiously.
"I switch my cannon from 'stun' to 'armor pierce' setting, and use the focused electrical discharge to blow the lock off," Carmelita explained simply. "No risk of any of us getting injured, and the 'armor pierce' setting is a lot quieter than an unstable gas exploding."
"That's...not a bad idea," Bentley allowed. "I didn't know your stun cannon had an 'armor pierce' setting."
"That's because none of you wear armor," Carmelita shot back teasingly.
"But...won't it look bad for you to be actively helping us with a heist?" Murray asked worriedly.
"That's not a concern right now," Carmelita responded flatly.
The room fell completely silent. Eventually, it was Sly who spoke up. "What do you mean?"
"Despite Coco's efforts getting my name cleared, it's highly unlikely I'll ever be able to wipe this whole incident from my record," she responded softly. "The investigation will go deep...and likely will uncover our relationship, Sly. Even if Neyla's interpretation is completely disproved...that emotional connection will mark me as being compromised where the Cooper Gang is concerned. If that's the case...I'm finished at Interpol." She managed a smile as Sly's hand found hers. "I accepted that from the moment the Contessa locked me up. I just had to look at my priorities...and taking care of Coco is the highest priority for me.
"And if I'm no longer a member of Interpol...then the most efficient - and most pleasant - way to do that is to become an official and permanent member of your Gang."
Bentley's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his sockets. Murray actually fell over in shock. Coco didn't know whether to cheer or commiserate.
Sly put his arm around Carmelita, pulling her into a hug. He made sure to position himself so the others couldn't see her tears.
Didn't see that one coming... But going to make Sly 3 all the more interesting because of it. Wonder who or what is going to replace the Giant Carmelita boss if this stays between games...
So, uh, just curious. The only thing I know about Sly 2 is that Bentley ends up in a wheelchair by the end of it, continuing to be in one in Sly 3. I wonder if Coco will be able to prevent that here, of if she'll fail?
I'm surprised you didn't have someone(Coco) point out that they don't need to blow the caboose since they can just jump on to the train.
7923649
...as covered in story, they can't. The only way into the train is through the top of the caboose, and they need to blow the hatch to do so.
7923631 maybe coco will go evil for that fight i mean it is "The Mask of Dark Earth" and she is an Earth pony so it might get drawn to her over any other possible host Also the break between 3 and 4 are going to be interesting thanks to the whole faked amnesia allowing the inspector to deputize sly,
Hm... Wait a second... Dosn't this mean that Sly don't need to fake amnesia in the aftermath of Sly 3?
Damn your a tear jerker with that I mean she loved her job and giving that up I a huge sacrifice for her
And there's the twist I was waiting for. Now I really want to know how this adventure ends and the next two turn out.
Should have seen that coming.
Whoaaaah... that was intense...
Nicely done man, wow...
not going to lie: this chapter had a SERIOUSLY heavy feel to it...not that's necessarily a bad thing, but it kind of threw me through a loop, you know?
Looks like Carmelita finally managed to stun the Cooper Gang after all this time. Still, it's nice to know she's always shooting for safety even at times like these though sometimes I do wonder about her train of thought and which way it goes.
Carmelita's weapon is a Shock Pistol, not a cannon or a stun gun.
7923658 you barely figured that out?
7923658 correct, or maybe he actually WILL get amnesia this time around, cause that would be both ironic and hilariously bad
Knowing how hard she worked to get where she was... damn..
Jesus you think if they'd just mention Seft was involved with Coco's existence they would give Carmila a pass here.
7923823 one thing to learn about the fuzzy ones in Tasu's stories: they love to tinker and customize.
Well there goes the ending of the third game I think.
Well that's and it, um... What do you say, when there's nothing to say?
Deus tecum.
7923999 What in Oblivion are you talking about?
Damn. Depending on how this goes, this could basically change the next two games.
Oh, and when we finally hear the last boss' name, or rather what they christen themselves, I want to hear someone make the comment "Worst. Villain name. Ever." Or maybe a simple "your villain name sucks!"
Sly.
You are a true Gentleman.
Our hats are tipped to you.
For those worried about Sly 3, you are forgetting something. Tats already created a workaround. All that is missing is Sly having a permanent address that Coco isn't going to be at very often. Say, like an island in the middle of nowhere with the Cooper Vault as its primary landmark?
nice. I always knew she would make a great member of the gang.
7924181 mistyped a few words. I was talking about his other stories: Ratchet as an example.
I was about to rail on you for this, but then I realized it's probably from the game. Seriously though, Nunavut is the largest province/territory of Canada!
7924702
Well, yeah. That's probably why they used it.
Funnily enough, until I looked it up, I thought it was a pun name. A contraction of "None of that".
7924937 Nunavut is also the least important part of Canada, with ~30,000 people. However, there are a lot of bays in Nunavut, considering that it's got just about all of the northern islands, so "Nunavut Bay" is ridiculously vague. That's why I was unhappy about it; a town called "Nunavut Bay" should be situated near a bay of the same name, but Nunavut has something like a hundred separate bays, so there's no way someone would call just one of them "Nunavut Bay".
I didn't know that the Sly games used real-world places and that Nunavut is the largest and least-populated province in Canada.
I have to wonder if Sly starts picturing Carmelita in a slinky catsuit now.
I like Carmelita deciding she'll join the gang, I can't wait to see how that goes. Though I can also see her old subordinates sending her letters asking when they'll get an invite to her wedding to Sly or if they need to babysit Coco for a night.
7924298 Genius! I can just see Sly having Mugshot and Mrs. Ruby move there with their kid and watching the place and Coco as needed.
Wow.
I was not expecting this plot twist...
At least not until the fic reaches the 4th game.
And onto my two favorite parts of sly 2 we go.
7928874
I was expecting Ms. Fox to stay with Interpol long enough to trick the "memory-lost" Sly into going to jail and quitting Interpol on a high note while Coco broke Sly out.
EDIT: The three would leave Paris with nobody the wiser.
But somewhere deep inside:
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7969568
Silly filly don't you know this is a pwny story.
I wasn't expecting that.
i mean it makes senses, but still feels wrong
9452420
Just because it makes sense doesn’t mean its a terrible thing. In context anyway that it was FORCED and not pure willingly
What I don't understand, is why don't they destroy the parts as they get them? Why leave them intact as they get the others? Gathering them all together into one place at once just seems like a really bad idea.
11247253
because plot not to say i dont agree though