It wasn't long before Sly caught up to Coco at the second set of fireworks. He focused on the fireworks, as the grin Coco directed his way was far too knowing for a six year old. He prayed she hadn't seen too much when he was...helping Carmelita warm up. Still, she didn't have anything to say as they combined their Treasure Keys and unlocked the fireworks. Using their canes, they hooked themselves to the fireworks as they launched, carrying them straight to the top of the statue.
(1)
The Panda King looked up from his meditation when he felt, more than heard, the Coopers come in. Seeing Sly standing there with confidence and readiness to do what he needed to do, The Panda King smiled inside. At the same time, he found himself lost in sorrow. He was the same age as Jing, after all. This would never be easy...but it was the fate he had to live with. He also noticed the little pony that he had adopted. She must have been the same age as Sly was when... He shook his head. There was a time and place for regrets. "Greetings, Sly Cooper, Coco Cooper." He stood and stretched slightly.
"Panda King," Sly responded, making no move beyond that.
"You are here for the pages, and revenge, I presume," The King grunted. He glanced to the side, where a vault rested in a far wall. "They are there."
Sly glanced at the vault, and blinked at the fact that it wasn't even shut, open and revealing the pages in their glory. He looked back at the Panda King in confusion. "Oddly convenient," he offered carefully, suspecting a trap.
Coco watched the Panda King curiously. After having seen nearly every other member of this 'cutthroat crew' turn out to be a lot softer than expected - and Mz. Ruby's assertion that only the leader had been a true monster - she was no longer certain what to think of The Panda King.
Noticing the suspicion and curiosity on his guests' faces, The Panda King took a neutral stance. "They are yours to take when you leave, no matter how our encounter goes. I have not read them." He smirked as he noticed Sly's confusion grow even further. "You have questions." He settled into the first stance of Flame Fu, flames gathering around all four paws. He saw Sly tense in surprise, and Coco's eyes widen, her mouth widen in eagerness. "I have answers, if you can prove you can handle them. Fight me, Coopers! Show me how you have grown! Show me your strength, your heart! The child hiding in the closet, he cannot face him. Show me that child has become a man! Then I will answer your questions!" Without further stalling, he tossed a flame up off his hand before spinning to kick it towards the pair.
Coco and Sly immediately split, each of them running in a different direction. The Panda King focused his attention on Sly, discounting Coco as a threat. After all, she was too small to actually do physical harm to him, and he'd built up a tranquilizer immunity from the many, many times he'd tried to sell his fireworks to the spoiled rich only to be shot with a tranq and tossed out with the trash for being 'a penniless nobody daring to think he was worth a noble's time'. Besides, Sly was the one he wanted to test.
Both of them proved faster than he'd anticipated, however, as Sly was able to easily outrun the flung flames as he circled, quickly moving to the center platform of the pagoda. The Panda King shifted his combat stance to close range. "Fiery Wheel!" he cried out, charging flame into one paw before flipping on his head, spinning like a wheel in an attempt to knock Sly off his feet. Sly, however, leapt over the strike, using his cane to propel himself off Panda King's own leg as he shot for the ceiling, only to come down on The Panda King's head before leaping off.
"Booming Chop!" The Panda King cried out angrily, spinning to try and chop Sly down, only for Sly to dodge...and Coco to catch the blazing strike with her forelegs.
The Panda King's eyes went wide and he cringed inwardly, expecting to see Coco Cooper crumple and cry out in agony, whether from the impact or the agony. His eyes widened further as neither happened. Coco clutched the paw in both forelegs, pushing back as her eyes glowed. She then smiled softly. "...that's how it works..." she whispered.
Spinning, she planted her fore hooves, lifted her hindquarters, pulled her hind legs close to her barrel...and kicked out with the sound of a cannon firing as twin bursts of flame shot from her hind hooves, straight into The Panda King's belly.
The Panda King flew back, clutching his belly as the mother of all heartburn ran through him, making him cough as he slammed into one of the pagoda's support pillars. As he landed, he was somewhat relieved to see Sly Cooper showing as much shock at this twist as he was. He looked Coco in the eye as he got to his feet. "To understand Flame Fu...just from encountering it..."
"Energy is energy," Coco replied softly. "If I can stand on water, midair, and magic...why not fire?"
The Panda King chuckled, the soft sound slowly growing louder. "Then let us see what you both are really capable of!" Channeling flame into all four paws at once, he launched himself forward, intent on unleashing a shockwave of flame on impact, and possibly crushing one of them beneath him as he landed.
Sly dashed forward to meet the charge...and Coco leapt off his head, catching The Panda King around the neck with the hook of her cane. As the momentum jerked his upper body back, Sly caught one of his ankles in the hook of his cane, making him flip onto his back before the pair kicked off the ground to deliver a twin kick into his belly.
As they both moved back, The Panda King got to his feet...only to see Sly spinning his cane with the hook up, Coco's cane hooked onto his as she clung to it, spinning faster and faster before releasing. As she spun towards him curled in a ball, her entire body burst into flame as she struck him once more in the belly, sending him slamming back into the floor and onto his side.
He coughed, gasping and choking through the burn and the blows he'd taken. "Alright, I yield," he gasped out finally. "Plainly, the two of you have grown strong together...strong enough to face him."
"Who is...he?" Sly asked carefully. "Mz. Ruby wouldn't say anything about him either."
"Nor will I so long as Coco is within earshot," The Panda King stated firmly. "If you want to know, have her take the pages back to your compatriots, Murray and Bentley. I will tell you nothing until she is on her way."
"...you seem to know a lot about us," Sly observed calmly.
"There is reason for that," The Panda King replied.
Since he wasn't going to bend on that, I grabbed the pages from the Vault. Since these contained the blueprints crafted by Otto Von Cooper - who specialized in vehicle modifications - they would only really be useful to Bentley, so I took them back to him. Sly stayed with The Panda King for quite some time...
(1) Scene heavily inspired by this comment by SvenBjorn.