Once Dad had his suit, he made his way to go dance with Mom. While he was doing that for a 'distraction', Uncle Bentley, Uncle Murray, and I dealt with clearing the path for the rest of the job. My first task involved setting Rajan's elephants loose, which started inside their enclosure...or more specifically, under it.
Coco crawled carefully under the steps leading up to the enclosure entrance, startling a couple rats into running up into the enclosure. Doing so caused the elephants to startle in fear and escape their confines. This left Coco chasing the elephants down so she could snatch the headdress jewels off of them for a gem-sawblade Bentley intended to make. Getting onto the elephants' backs from the roofs proved easy. Getting the gems free of the headdresses would have been difficult normally, but Coco decided it was more efficient to unlace the headdress from the elephant's garb and pocket it whole. Once she had both, she headed back to the hideout for the next phase of the plan.
...well, they can't all be amazing! Anyway, after that I had to unlock the vault room for Uncle Murray and Uncle Bentley from the inside. This was easy enough, as I'd already been in there to unlock the vault. Uncle Bentley hacked the computers to gain control of the electronic winch, while Uncle Murray and I guarded him. Between Murray's brute strength and my diverse skills, we were able to do so readily. Uncle Murray had a moment of hesitation when some of the guards started using torches to spit fire at us...but my Flame Fu made short work of them.
After that, Uncle Bentley took out the surface-to-air defenses with an RC chopper. Not entirely his area of expertise, but he managed well. After that, he took out the bridge between palace and guest house to clear the area so Uncle Murray could use the electronic winch and gemsaw to swipe the Clockwerk wings through the skylight.
Of course, while all this was going on...Dad was enjoying playing 'distraction'...
As Sly strolled into the ballroom in his suit, he glanced around. While the ballroom was quite large, the dance floor could easily be seen from every point. He could see that Coco and the others were working fast, as Rajan had already sent most of his guards out to investigate the various disturbances, leaving very few left to distract. All that was left was finding the way to do it.
Much to his surprise, he saw Constable Neyla eyeing him, turning to move towards him. He figured a dance with her might get Carmelita's attention...but to his surprise, Carmelita moved to his side before Neyla could get there. "You seem light on your feet stranger," she murmured softly. "I find few of the men here can keep up with me on the floor. Care to give it a try?"
Chuckling, Sly gave a playful bow. "I'd be honored to try, Miss...?" He let the sentence hang to play into the fiction they were strangers meeting by chance.
"Fox," Carmelita responded as she let him lead her into a dance as the music began. Once they were dancing, she whispered to him, "What are you up to here, Sly?"
"Do I have to be 'up to' something?" Sly asked teasingly, his voice just as quiet. "Can't I just have heard you were here, and come hoping for a dance?"
Carmelita thought about that. "Alright, what are Coco and her Uncles up to?" she jibed.
Sly hid his laughter. "How'd you know it was me?" he asked carefully.
"A few ways," Carmelita countered. "First, by scent."
"And I was wearing a cologne to hide my natural scent," Sly countered playfully.
"The one I bought for you in Monaco," Carmelita pointed out. "Not exactly hiding well from me."
"Says the lovely lady wearing the perfume I made for her there in that beautiful city," Sly teased right back. "How else did you know me?"
"I recognized the stitching in your suit," Carmelita pointed out warmly. "Hoof-stitching is rather distinct."
"Much as it was in the swimsuit you were wearing when we met at the beach in Monaco Bay," Sly allowed, doing his best to keep his physical responses under control as Carmelita playfully pressed up against him for part of the dance. "Did you give her that design?"
"No," Carmelita chided. "I just told her what parts a swimsuit was supposed to conceal. She did the rest." She grinned from ear to ear. "It certainly got a reaction out of you."
"Did you have to tease me like that for it?" Sly complained playfully. "Are you hiding your cane in your trunks, or are you just happy to see me?" he quoted.
Carmelita let out a throaty chuckle. "Says the one who honestly responded 'both'." She smiled up at him. "But what really made it clear, once I saw those things..." She stared into his eyes. "Chocolate brown. I'll always know that shade."
Sly smiled down at her. "I'm glad we managed to work things out," he offered softly, lovingly. "I've missed this."
"This is the first time we've danced," Carmelita pointed out. "Though you dance quite well."
"As do you," Sly added. "But why'd you move to cut Neyla off so fast?"
Carmelita rolled her eyes. "Ever since she joined the force, she's read everything about you. Between that and knowing some techniques like your family ones...I think you might have a fan there." Her hands tightened their grip on Sly. "And I'm not about to let some fangirl get her claws on you. In love or war, Cooper...you are mine."
Sly grinned widely as he brought her into a dip, Murray and the wings already long gone. "Wouldn't have it any other way," he whispered softly, mightily resisting the urge to kiss her on the lips to seal the promise. Instead, he brought her back to her feet, kissed her hand, and left as a gentleman.
By the time Rajan got over being amazed by the dance, he reacted vocally to the missing Clockwerk Wings. Once they were named aloud, Mom and Constable Neyla could pull out their weapons and arrest everyone there. Rajan and the other Klaww Gang members got away, leaving their troops to be dragged off...
...which left us pursuing Rajan deeper into the jungle.