//------------------------------// // The Final Assault // Story: Dressed to Steal // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// We weren't really ready when Jean told us Arpeggio was on his way to pick up the battery...the battery that was now empty, and thus the perfect hiding spot to sneak us onto his blimp, and from there onto his flying fortress. Despite this, we went anyway. Even knowing that Jean was going to look after his beloved van didn't cheer Uncle Murray up at all. I did all I could for him, curling up in his lap while we waited inside the small metal canister. On the other side, Dad actually had Mom sitting in his lap, holding her close. The long confinement was forcing her to face the recent upheavals in her life without the distraction of something immediate to do for our mission. Dad rubbed her back soothingly as she clung to him, doing her best not to cry as she mumbled about what her father and grandfather would think of her. This left Uncle Bentley at odds, with no one to comfort or to comfort him, and nothing to distract himself with. He couldn't even engage in conversation, as all of us were doing our best to be silent. Once the blimp docked with the flying fortress, we found ourselves a base of operations and began planning our move. First up was reading up on Arpeggio...and discovering just what a genius with tech he was. But given his inability to fly, his reasoning for gathering the Clockwerk Parts became clear. He wanted to fly, and thought installing himself in Clockwerk would give him the ultimate flying body. Although that did make us wonder...why did he spread the parts around and repurpose them for the various schemes in the first place? As usual, the first thing I did once we were ready to make our move was to go hunting for the Vault. I admit freely that it was the most harrowing mission I'd ever been on. The flying Fortress was stretched out with crisscrossing pathways held aloft by large propeller engines, and no guard rails to keep anyone from falling off to their death, whether off the edge or into the main turbines. The winds were also rather strong...strong enough that they were able to pick me up and tumble me around if I didn't find something to hide behind before the stronger gusts kicked in. Thankfully, there were interior portions, one of which containing the vault. Inside were designs for thread that could turn invisible when exposed to the right energy...specifically, the very same energy used in Slytunkhamen's invisibility technique. Applying this to our outfits would allow us to move at full speed once invisible, and only draw attention if we made noise. While useful, this was also concerning. It meant someone was involved here who had been studying the Cooper family...with the goal of reverse engineering the techniques. I began to grow suspicious of Neyla...too little too late. While I was doing that, Dad got the recon photos we needed, which established that Clockwerk had already been fully reassembled in another blimp held aloft a short distance from Arpeggio's flying fortress. Unfortunately, Dad's attempt at a quick counter assault backfired and gave Arpeggio and Neyla what they wanted, locking the Clockwerk parts together. Thankfully, he managed to trick Arpeggio into spilling his entire plan...before Neyla backstabbed Arpeggio and fused herself with the Clockwerk parts. What happened then... As Coco made her way back from the Vault with the blueprints she'd found, she heard a startling metallic shriek, followed by Sly shouting out, "Coco, watch out!" Looking up, she froze a moment in fear as she saw Clockwerk swooping down on her. That moment was all it took for one talon to close around her, dragging her into the air. She screamed in terror as she was pulled away from the solid paths and out over open air. "Daddy!" she screamed out. "Let my daughter go, Neyla!" Sly roared angrily as he raced up to the top of the flying structure, trying to get to the metal bird. "It's Clock-La now," the unnatural avian proclaimed in a distortion of Neyla's voice. "And I think that's a very poor choice of words." She waggled one talon, showing how releasing Coco now would drop her into open air, much too far from the ground below. "What do you want with her?" Sly demanded angrily, one hand inside his shirt as he searched for anything he could use to fight with. "You truly are a fool...this has all been about her from the very beginning!" Clock-La proclaimed. "My Master sent me to infiltrate Interpol and the Klaaw Gang with the express purpose of using the Clockwerk plot to retrieve that which you stole from him all those years ago...his key to ultimate power!" Sly's eyes widened in fear as he put it together. "...Seft!" he gasped out. "You work for him! That's how you can imitate Cooper family techniques so well, and why so many of the things the Klaaw Gang had in their safes were almost designed to work with them!" "Yes...he studied your family for a long, long time," Clock-La proclaimed. "And soon this metal body will be charged with all the hate in Paris, rendering it - and whoever rides within it - completely immortal! And then I will carry this foolish pony back to Seft...and the body of Clockwerk will be Seft's weapon to conquer other worlds! Magic and machine, fused together and powered by the darkest forces...they will fall before us!" "And you think he'll keep you around after you give him what he wants?" Sly called out, trying desperately to resolve the situation any way he could. "You've seen how big Seft is, and how small this skull is," Clock-La countered. "You really think he can fit? That's a laugh! And besides...once the portal's open, who says he'll still be the one calling the shots? Scorpions aren't the only ones to sting those who carry them!" Sly leveled his cane at Clock-La. "You won't get that far," he growled out dangerously. Clock-La cackled. "I'd like to see you try and stop me..."