//------------------------------// // Wrath of the Earth // Story: Dressed to Steal // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// By the time Uncle Bentley got me back to the hideout, we found it already overrun by the Contessa's goons. Apparently, Neyla had tracked the active Binoc-U-Com signal there, and they were already making off with the Clockwerk parts we'd collected. We did manage to get to the van undetected, though it took an entire week for Uncle Bentley to track down Mom, Dad, and Uncle Murray...a week where my rage continued to grow. It turned out they were locked up in a new prison in Prague run by the Contessa. Though apparently it was some sort of 'criminal rehabilitation center', using 'hypnotherapy' to turn criminals into upstanding citizens. Word from within the center - from Ms. Ruby herself - was that she used hypnosis to get the ill-gotten fortunes of her inmates for her own, brainwashing them into being 'good people'. Ms. Ruby and Muggshot hadn't been slated for it as of yet, but it was only a matter of time. And Mom, Dad, and Uncle Murray were at the top of the Contessa's list. I was not going to let that happen. And with the message from Ms. Ruby...I knew just how to do it. I hoped I lived up to her faith in my abilities... Bentley watched nervously as Coco stepped out of the back of the van and onto the grass of park, plainly ready to act...whatever she was intending. She had traded out her normal thief attire for a very different look. Her entire body was covered in painted designs, with necklaces of beads, stones, and teeth around her neck. A loincloth hung under her tail, and her cane was decorated with skulls of birds, ferrets, and weasels filled with mummified bones that rattled in the skulls with every movement. Feathers were woven into her mane and tail, and paint covered her face in runic designs. As she stood there, ready to act, Bentley had to consciously remind himself that she was eight. "Sly and Carmelita are not going to be happy to see you done up like that," he grumbled, averting his gaze. "If it means I've gotten them out safely, they can scold me all they want," Coco stated as she walked up to a clear spot on the ground. Digging the butt of her cane into the ground, she drew out a circle and runic designs around herself. Swinging the hook of her cane, she pulled out several vials of potion she'd prepared and scattered their contents over the ground around her. The air shimmered with the feeling of magic. "You might want to step back...and be quiet." Swallowing convulsively, Bentley took several strides back. He didn't know what Coco was planning, but it was giving him the heebie-jeebies already. Coco lifted her cane and shook it, making the bones rattle around. "Shtey erd folgn..." she chanted, her voice suddenly much deeper than it was normally. She repeated her chant as she proceeded to dance, an odd hopping skip that planted her hind hooves in each of the gaps the runic design she had shaped around her left. As she chanted and danced, the design began to glow as her golden magic poured off her body, mingling with the green magic all around her and seeping into the Earth. As her voice rose to a fever pitch, the ground began to shake. Bentley staggered back against the van, his eyes popping open as he saw something he never would have believed. Stone hands erupted out of the ground all around Coco as men of stone slowly clawed their way out of the Earth, seeking the air above. One after the other they dragged themselves from the dirt as red magic began to flow out of Coco's chest to infuse the fifty - yes, fifty - stone men that stood arrayed before her, facing the prison. As the magic flared brightly, Coco shouted out three more words. זריחת Upon the back of each stone man, a symbol engraved itself...one Bentley recognized from math calculations as 'Aleph'. ארץ A second symbol was driven into the stone...and by pattern, Bentley realized it could only be 'Mem'. צייה A final symbol etched deep in the rock...and Bentley recognized it as 'Tav', completing the golems Coco had raised to do her bidding. Coco slumped over her cane, struggling for breath. She'd poured all her rage, all her pain, and all her sorrow from being separated from her family into her creations...and the lion's share of her available magic to make them work. However, she knew she had done enough. Once she had her breath, she lifted her cane...and pointed at the prison. The eyes of the golems glowed, and they began their march, five rows of ten. They tromped down the street straight for the prison. When patrol guards attempted to stop them, they were tossed off the road. If they persisted, they were backhanded away into unconsciousness. If encountered on a bridge, they were tossed into the water. If vehicles blocked the path, they were either picked up to be thrown or walked over...or through. Unimpeded by anything they encountered, the golems continued their mindless, soulless march to carry out their objective. As the walls of the prison approached, the golems spread out and charged. Each one drove through the stone walls, leaving behind a cartoonish silhouette hole that changed shape as each one followed after. Those that charged the steel doors knocked them from their hinges before stomping right over them. As the alarms sounded, the guard towers turned their machine guns on the golems. As some of the golems broke down from the machine gun fire, others charged the towers, taking out the foundation and causing the gunners to tumble to the ground. They were caught before they hit the ground and buried up to the neck in the solid stone of the prison grounds, while the broken golems reassembled themselves with the stone of the collapsed towers. Soon the alarms were accompanied by screams of terror...but the golems continued their march heedless of those screams, smashing their way into the prison itself. Bentley stared in awe, and more than a touch of fear. "Uh...Coco?" he asked worriedly. "Yes?" "How...how are you going to erase the Aleph to make them stop?" he asked worriedly. "It's...it's driven pretty deep into the stone." "...I'll worry about that after Mom, Dad, and Unlce Murray are safe," Coco stated bluntly. "In the meantime...there's someone I have to find..." Clutching her cane, she rushed forward in the wake of the destruction. Groaning, Bentley rushed to follow.