Almost as soon as Sly, Carmelita, and Coco exited the structure to a ledge over a pit of magma, one of Clockwerk's owl drones swooped down, seizing his and Coco's canes and flying off. Carmelita quickly shot them both down, but the canes fell off in the distance.
"No!" Sly called out angrily. "That cane's been in my family for generations! And Coco needs hers-"
"Then go get them," Carmelita instructed them both. "I'll cover you from here!"
Coco chuckled softly. "Like Uncle Murray's runs, but faster," she murmured softly. "Course, then I'm the one doing the shooting."
Carmelita smiled, then turned to Sly. "You know, with everything that happened, I will have to make an attempt to arrest you once Clockwerk is dealt with. Otherwise, there will be questions back at HQ."
"I kind of expected that," Sly allowed. "I won't hold it against you."
Carmelita smirked. "I will, however, give you a ten second head start."
Sly chuckled. "All I need," he offered teasingly before scooping Coco up and leaping to the nearest spire to make his way forward.
"Keep an eye out for my jetpack!" Carmelita called out as she offered covering fire, shooting the Fire Slugs that got too close to the pair, making sure they stayed safe. After all, this was her family, and she would protect it.
That thought left her with a conundrum as she let it settle in her mind. Family...this was complicated now.
As she saw Sly and Coco reach the top of the death ray and reclaim their canes, she made a mental note to get them all some therapy. There was a lot for them to work through.
Sly and Coco saw the jetpack at the top of the owl-shaped death ray structure, right where they'd thought it would be. As they looked, Bentley contacted them both. "Hurry!" he called out. "The magnetronic support field for the death ray broke while you were racing for your canes from the obstacles Carmelita had to shoot out for you! The entire structure is going to sink into the magma before too long!"
"Got it!" Sly shouted out, leaping for the nearest rail as Coco clutched his back. He slid down rapidly, leaping to the next one before climbing back up when down ceased to be a viable option. He continued to leap through broken chunks of machinery as the structure fell apart, desperately making his way towards the top. He paused only while climbing when electrical fields blocked his path, and he still got as close to them as he dared so he could rush past when the field dropped. It was a relief to both of them when they reached the jetpack.
To Sly's surprise, the jetpack had a spot for Coco to sit and control the guns, though the main controls at Sly's hands could override if no input from Coco's controls was incoming. Once Coco was strapped in, Sly took to the air, trusting to their bond and cooperative efforts to maneuver around and shoot at whatever arose...and arise it did.
Clockwerk proved to be a massive owl, his entire body seeming to have been replaced with sturdy metal parts as he lifted into the air, flapping as he rode the thermals of the magma pit. "Sly Cooper," he growled out, his voice echoing through his metal frame as his golden eyes glowed with hate. "You escaped my gas chamber and destroyed my death ray. Remarkable. You Coopers always find a way to beat me."
"So that was you in the background of those photos," Sly concluded as he shot for height. "How old are you, anyway?"
"Perfection has no age," Clockwerk responded immediately. "My hatred for your clan has allowed me to transcend the ravages of time. So long as my hate fuels me, I am forever beyond death's grasp." His eyes flashed red and gold. "Revenge is the primary ingredient in the fountain of youth. I have kept myself alive for centuries with jealousy and hate, until the day I would finally eclipse your family's thieving reputation."
"And then what?" Coco asked curiously.
"Then upon this world I shall raven as I choose until I die," Clockwerk growled out. "The legacy I leave behind shall never be forgotten, my mark upon the land forever scarred."
"Sly!" Carmelita called into the communicators. "His armor's too strong for damage from the jetpack's weaponry, and my own weapon fire can't damage his insides...but can put holes in his armor!"
"Got it!" Coco responded immediately. "I'll aim for the holes."
Sly kept control of the jetpack, flying around to evade the purple blasts of hate-fueled energy that Clockwerk fired off. Every so often, one of Carmelita's stun rockets would impact part of Clockwerk's body, and Coco would immediately fire on that part as much as she could before the charge faded or the plate shattered. After shattering the plates on his face, his talons, his tail, and one wing, he was no longer able to maintain flight and crashed into the magma.
"Did we get him?" Coco asked worriedly.
Sly frowned as Clockwerk flapped out of the magma. "Not yet," he mumbled. He then called out to Clockwerk. "If you've been following my family for so long, how did you miss me when you killed my father?"
"You mean when The Panda King blocked the closet?" Clockwerk chuckled wickedly. "I knew you were there. I left you alive intentionally, to show the world that without your precious book, your line was nothing."
"Seft thought that, too," Sly growled angrily. "He's probably still got the scar in his chest to prove his mistake. It's not the book that makes the Cooper, but the Cooper that makes the book."
"Enough!" Clockwerk snarled out as he struggled for height. "It ends here! I will finish you like I finished your father, and your line will end!"
"Not on my watch," Coco growled silently, putting her hooves to the guns and focusing her magic...and her skills in Flame Fu.
"And then the only Master Thief will be-"
Clockwerk's rant was interrupted as Coco let out a cry of, "Meteor Shot!" Massive blasts of flame focused to the point of being solid spheres shot at high speeds from the rockets of the jetpack, shorting out the launchers as they flew. They slammed into Clockwerk's wings, punching huge holes in each and sending him crashing to the lava anew.
"Sly!" Bentley shouted out. "I've located the focus of Clockwerk's auto repair! You need to get to his head and smash it before he gets back in the air!"
Sly rushed across the obstacles Clockwerk scattered to prevent him from getting close, landing on Clockwerk's back. Sly and Coco wailed away with their canes, ripping apart his structure even as he gave his last words.
"You will never be rid of me, Coopers! Never!" With that, his head collapsed, and the body stopped moving.