Not long after we all returned to the hideout - and before we could begin the next phase of planning - Uncle Bentley got word that Don Octavio had hired a local canal gang, the Blue Vipers, to take out Mom. As Mom was already on patrol in the canals, we couldn't reach her to warn her, so we raced down to the canal to take out the Blue Vipers before they could get to Mom. Uncle Bentley hacked into a police speedboat to gain control of it - and its gun - while Deik-Beck hacked into another. Uncle Bentley was shocked at how fast Deik-Beck gained control of the boat...but I was more surprised at what happened when we caught up to one of the Blue Vipers...
The three Blue Vipers took different canals as they hunted down Carmelita. Sly and Bentley followed two while Deik-Beck immediately took Coco after the third. Coco took control of the gun, doing her best to take down the boat before it could catch up to Carmelita's. She managed to get several good shots in, but the gun jammed from overuse before she was able to damage the boat enough to stop it. "Dammit!" she snapped, quickly moving to try and fix the gun...only to see Carmelita's boat come into view as the Blue Viper hefted out a rocket launcher. "No! M-"
Before she could say anymore, Deik-Beck disengaged from the boat, his optics glowing red. He leapt across to the Blue Viper boat and scrambled up the thug's back, somehow devouring the rocket launcher as he seized it. Leaning in, he whispered in a different voice so quietly that only the thug could hear, "They fall to none but me..." before driving razor sharp legs into the thug's torso and tearing it open before detonating the boat, blasting himself back into Coco's boat as Carmelita's moved out of sight, none the wiser.
Coco hadn't seen or heard most of what happened in the other boat, but could tell it was far more brutal than what she was used to...or so it seemed. "Deik-Beck, what did you...?"
Deik-Beck turned his yellow optics up at her. "He want hurt you," he explained in his piping voice. "Hurt your mom, hurt you. You take me in when I trash. I repay, not let you hurt."
Coco stared down at the little machine. She could feel his sincerity, and knew he meant it. "Just...not so brutal, okay? I know you were made by Clockwerk...but we aren't like him."
"I learn!" Deik-Beck promised.
I decided not to mention the details of what happened with the Blue Viper I hunted down...and Dad didn't go into details about what happened to the ones he hunted either. Once back at the hideout, we started collating what we knew into a plan of action.
Apparently, Octavio was pumping tar from the foundations of buildings so he could sink them on a whim, to hold the entire city of Venice hostage to his whims. He intended to demonstrate it on the first day of Carnival during his opera performance. We didn't have enough information regarding his extended plans to take him down completely yet, so instead we intended a delaying action, starting by destroying the balloons advertising the opera recital. If there was no audience, there would be no reason for a performance, and thus no demonstration.
Uncle Bentley would be seeing to that part. In the meantime, Dad and I would be seeking the three parts of the tar pump blueprints, so that it could be shut down completely. They were hidden in coffee houses, and Dad would be using a disguise I made to get me in and out undetected. Mom had already become aware of the increase in Octavio's aerial troops, and had already sent her troops against them to reduce the number of heavily armed criminals in town.
Once the blueprint parts were recovered - which proved easy enough, as the 'painting safes' they were contained in were child's play for me to crack, given all the practice Mom gave me finding details in pictures - I made my way to meet up with Uncle Murray to talk him into helping take out the tar reservoirs.
Murray smiled as he pulled Coco into a hug. "You need my help, Coco?"
"The 'black waters' are caused by Octavio's plans involving the tar under houses in the city," Coco explained. "To stop his plans and turn the waters clear, I need your help to destroy some tar drums around town."
Murray frowned worriedly. "I...I'd love to help, but I promised The Guru that I'd stay here peacefully until the waters ran clear..."
"So as long as you don't have to hurt anyone?" Coco asked hopefully. "Say...if you were rolling around in the 'Aboriginal Ball Form' with me balancing on you like log rolling and throwing knock-out darts at any guards we encountered until you reached the tar barrels to destroy them?"
Murray's eyes lit up. "That works! Long as it's peaceful, I'll smash anything you like!"
"Oh, Uncle Murray!" Coco laughed, leaping up to hug him. "Never change!"
The plan worked out flawlessly. I ran around atop Uncle Murray as he rolled around, and he used some sewer vents to launch us both high into the air before slamming down to the ground, bouncing us both even higher. I admit, I probably laughed far more than I should have as we bounced up and down, but it was a great deal of fun...as much because Uncle Murray was back as because I loved such fast movement. Still, it wasn't long before all six drums were destroyed, and then Uncle Murray went back out to his own things while I went back to the hideout.
The parting was sad, but I knew it wouldn't be for long this time.