Bentley knew that the rest of the gang was going to be pissed off once he, Sly, Carmelita, and Murray returned to the ship and told them LaFwee had not only ambushed them and taken the rest of Black Spot Pete's treasure, but also forced them to surrender Penelope, for fear of killing her if they went at him. His calculations were correct, everyone else, even those that barely knew her, were pissed off and the three magic users had to take some deep breaths to avoid a meltdown, as they were tired of things like this happening to their friends and family, something that he agreed with. Even Clockwerk, who saw her as an intelligent person that he could have a meaningful conversation with, much like he could with Bentley, was annoyed by what had happened, though he remained silent and stared out the side of the ship, no doubt thinking about what he'd do to LaFwee when they caught him. Once they had calmed down, and were willing to listen to his plan, he revealed that LaFwee and his ship, the Death's Head, had no doubt set sail back to Blood Bath Bay, meaning that they were going to have to fight their foe in that area and that meant that they needed a plan of attack to outsmart their enemy and recover Penelope.
The plan was simple, as the first thing they were going to do was set sail for some shipwrecks and salvage enough cannon blast amplification collars to outfit the rest of their cannons, as they would be useful in the eventually fight against LaFwee's ship and the other targets that Bentley had in mind. Once the collars were secured, and firmly attached to all of their cannons, the next stage of his plan was for them to set sail for the location of a ship that sailed the colors of the Red Sail Sea Dog Clan, a group of mercenaries that apparently worked for LaFwee, and he stated that ambushing them in small groups would ensure their victory. Murray asked the question of why they didn't just lure them all into a single area and let Gilda, Derpy, Diz, and Clockwerk go to town on them with both their magic and the ancient owl's weapons, and Bentley revealed that if it turned out that they were in one group, which was highly unlikely, then that was the plan that they were going to go with, once more telling them that he was quick to come up with these ideas. Once the Red Sail Sea Dog Clan was taken care of they were going to sail to the misty waters near Blood Bath Bay and see if they could find a creature that the local pirates called 'Crusher', something that everyone that was under LaFwee's command feared... which would make it a valuable ally in the upcoming fight, if the creature was even real.
Once they knew what they were doing the gang assumed their positions throughout the ship once more and got underway, where Murray, following Bentley's map and Sly's directions, was able to navigate them over to the shipwrecks that they were going to loot, while at the same time Gilda and Derpy stood at the top of the mast to keep an eye out for any enemies that might come at them... giving Dimitri enough time to suit up before joining Bentley on the beach of the area he wanted them to come to.
"You all set with your gear?" Bentley asked, though based on how Dimitri looked, as he had squeezed into the suit and, against all odds, he managed to fit without wrecking it, making him wonder what sort of material it was made out of, as that reminded him of Clockwerk's metallic body.
"Got the gear, got the macho swimsuit, got more juice than you'll ever know! Whah! I'm a hit single with a bullet!" Dimitri replied, once more showing that his old personality was still alive, despite the fact that he was allied with the Cooper Gang for this venture and the one that he'd be able to help them with, before he noticed a look on Bentley's face, one that he wanted to squish immediately, "Look, time is of the essence, so come at me with some turtle talk and let's get down to business."
"Your objective is beyond the reef." Bentley stated, though as he spoke Clockwerk, still in his miniature state, flew down and landed on the nearby washed up log, allowing him to stare at them as he dropped the collar that he had taken from the inside of the ship, to give Dimitri an idea of what he was looking for, "We're looking for some more of these cannon blast amplification collars. We'll move the boat above the wreck and lower a basket for you to drop 'em into."
"Cool, bro." Dimitri said, taking a moment to study the item that he would be searching for, as he was planning on grabbing all of the collars that were down there before he came back up to join them, before turning around and headed towards the entrance that he was after, "I'll cop the collars and spice up your basket big time."
Bentley nodded and returned to the ship, with Clockwerk hauling the blast collar back to where he had taken it from, and they moved the ship into position as Dimitri went off in search of the shipwreck that he wanted them to loot, where he dropped the basket and waited for the signal that the objective had been found. It took Dimitri a few moments to find what he was searching for, though when he did that Bentley informed him that there were six cannons on their ship that were missing a blast collar and that he should try to find as many as he could before they finished up here. Dimitri confirmed his statement and started swimming around the shipwreck, allowing Bentley and Clockwerk some time to start applying the collars they had to four of the cannons, before the sound of Dimitri dropping his findings into the basket could be heard over their binocucoms. Fortunately, despite the fact that he was new to the whole scuba thing, the gang found that Dimitri must have inherited the same skills that his grandfather used before he was caught, as it wasn't long before he had recovered all the blast collars he could find, six in total, and Murray hauled the basket up so Bentley and Clockwerk could finish their modifications to their cannons.
While that happened Clockwerk revealed that in order for them to make full use of the blast collars they were going to need the bones of the hammerhead sharks that were in the area and, based on his own memories from the time of Sly's pirate ancestor, Henriette 'One-Eyed' Cooper, told Dimitri that if he could catch some yellow dart fish he'd be able to attract the sharks, making it easier for him to get the bones that they needed. Of course those bones needed to be grounded up before they were any good, but fortunately he'd be able to make short work of the bones that Dimitri brought them, meaning that they wouldn't have to spend a great deal of time here once they got what they needed. It took Dimitri a few minutes to track down enough yellow dart fish to draw in the hammerhead sharks, though that was when the real challenge began and they could tell, just from Dimitri's tone, that he was having a blast and didn't seem too concerned for his own safety, as he was taking the fight to his enemies and collecting all the bones that he could recover, even if that meant making many trips to do so.
The moment Dimitri had killed all the hammerhead sharks in the area, and he was sure that there weren't any he had missed, he finished hauling the bones into the basket and let them be pulled up to the deck, as he had acquired more than enough to outfit all of their cannons for a long time and, as a bonus, the Panda King confirmed that mixing some of the bone into his own explosives added an extra kick that would really surprise whoever he was fighting.
From there Bentley had them sail to the first sighting of a ship that belonged to the Red Sail Sea Dog Clan, where the gang took up their positions as Murray turned the ship and Sly fired the empowered cannons, starting a battle with the ship that they had come to destroy. Their foe clearly wasn't expecting them to be under attack in any way, shape, or form, and the power of their empowered cannons tore through the mast and essentially reduced the ship to a state where it couldn't move at all, to which Murray grinned as he drew close to it and the Cooper Family, meaning Sly, Carmelita, Gilda, Derpy, and Diz crossed over to the other ship and started beating up the crew members before forcing the captain to come aboard the deck. From there it was a simple matter for the five of them to overpower the captain and knock him to the deck, where Sly grabbed the map detailing where the other members of the Red Sail Sea Dog Clan were supposed to be as the rest of the gang hauled off anything that was of value, meaning addition cannonballs, all the barrels of gunpowder, and whatever treasure that was hidden below deck, before they sunk the ship and moved on to the location of their next target.
The next area they attacked had three members of the Red Sail Sea Dog Clan, as in three ships that weren't ready for their assault, and instead of sinking all of them right away Sly made sure that they damaged their enemies enough to destroy their masts and stop them dead in the water. From there they took a few minutes to personally assault each ship, taking out the captain and his men before plundering the ship of it's treasure and supplies, thus allowing it to sink into the water and be lost from their memory, and then moved on to the next ship in the line. It wasn't long before they took care of the three ships and sank each of them, while making sure to grab what was on each of them, before Murray set sail towards the final location on the map that they had acquired, where the gang found the remaining four members of the Red Sail Sea Dog Clan minding their own business, meaning that they were sitting ducks as Sly fired at the first one and knocked out it's sails. The ensuing battle was different from the previous ones, as Gilda and Diz used their powers to knock the enemy cannonballs out of the air and dropped them into the water around them, while at the same time Derpy called forth the lightning and started blasting holes in the ships that were around them, avoiding the gunpowder barrels so she didn't blow any of them up before they were ready to take their loot.
Once all four members of the Red Sail Sea Dog Clan were defenseless the gang repeated the process and looted everything that was valuable that happened to be aboard each ship, before sinking them and moving towards the area that was near Blood Bath Bay, as it was time to see if Crusher was real or not... though when they arrived at the area in question, however, Diz expanded a little more of her power and separated the masts from their ship, storing them on one of the large rocks that rested nearby, keeping them safe until it was time to return them.
"These deep misty waters are said to be home to the monster." Bentley said, though at the same time he, Sly, Gilda, Derpy, Diz, and the Panda King stood on the deck, as the others were below deck, making sure that the ship was fine in case they found their target, "Keep a sharp eye out."
"Sorry, Bentley, but I can't see a thing in this fog." Sly stated, as they were able to see the immediate area around their ship, but that was as good as it was going to get at the moment, unless Gilda used her powers again, "If your sea monster is here, there's no way we'll find him."
"It's imperative we track it down and discover why the pirates fear it so vehemently." Bentley replied, to which he turned towards Gilda for a moment, as her powers were exactly what they needed at the moment, and the look on her face told him that she sensed that as well, "Gilda, do you think you can use your power to move the fog or get rid of it, so we'll have an easier time spotting the creature?"
"Shouldn't be too hard for me to do som..." Gilda started to say, thought that was when the ship rocked and they spotted several tendrils, like those from an octopus, or a kraken, erupted from the water around them, informing them that their target had sensed their arrival and had come to attack them.
"The sea monster is upon us!" the Panda King declared, to which he turned towards Sly and Bentley for a moment, where he pointed to the grate that would allow them to head below deck, where the others were located, "Go below deck and placate the others. I will confront this creature with your sisters and my firework artistry!"
"Give a shout if you need any back up." Sly replied, though at the same time he had the feeling that with three known magic users, all equally powerful in their own right, and the Panda King, whose explosive fireworks were deadly and he had some skill in the art of fire magic, wouldn't need his help, "I'll stand ready."
As Sly and Bentley moved below deck, however, the group that remained on the deck started blasting the tentacles that emerged from the water, each of them facing a different direction and making sure that they didn't miss, which was hard to do when their targets weren't moving all that much. It only took them a minute or two to force Crusher's head to emerge from the water, where it started firing flaming boulders at them, which Diz took care of by warping them all into the water around them, thus allowing the others to focus on blast the beast with everything they had. After a few moments of that happening Crusher dropped below the water again and started to wrap his tentacles around the ship's deck, trying to pull them into the depths and kill them in the old fashioned way, to which the group changed targets and started attacking the tentacles, knocking them off the ship and preventing them from being dragged under the water, as that was something they were planning on avoiding. After that failed Crusher raised his head once more and repeated the second stage of his tactics, firing flaming boulders at them, but this time he included tentacles that tried to squish them, causing the three magic users to take to the air and continue what they were doing as the Panda King focused on his own target... though he was sure that the four of them were more than enough for the beast to handle, especially with his newly empowered fireworks and the power that the three siblings commanded on their own.
Eventually Crusher revealed his face, or at least his eyes since he didn't actually have a face, and continued his assault as the group struck at him, though when his tentacles latched onto the deck they smacked them, where they remained fastened to the ship for a couple of minutes. That allowed them to pull Crusher in when he tried to latch a good number of tentacles onto the deck, where Sly, who had come up to see how the battle was going, decided to fire a volley of cannonballs into the kraken's eye, weakening it further and pushed their foe backwards. It happened twice more, where Crusher tried to latch onto their ship and they used his own tentacles to drag him up to the cannons so they could fire into his eyes, though once they did that a third time he remained in front of them and looked like the fight had left him for the moment, revealing that they were victorious... especially since the Panda King was declaring that this was a glorious battle, one worthy of the names Cooper and King, showing them that the Cooper line was more important than his right now. As they stared at their defeated foe the Guru climbed out of the area below deck and approached the creature, as the goal of this venture was to see if Crusher existed and if he might be of use to them when they attacked Blood Bath Bay.
"Say, Guru, could you get inside this creature's mind?" Bentley asked, gesturing to the wounded creature for a few seconds, though while he did that he noticed that Diz was reversing the spell she had used on the masts and was now putting them back where they belonged.
The Guru placed a hand on one of Crusher's tentacles, one that happened to be resting on the deck of the ship at the moment, and thought about what Bentley had told him earlier, in case they were successful, before he started sending them the images and feelings associated with what he felt.
"That's why we came here." Bentley said, knowing exactly what the Guru was afraid of, but with his power he should be able to gain some control over Crusher, enough to last them for the duration of their final mission before they let the poor creature free to do whatever it wanted.
The Guru spent a few moments channeling his power towards Crusher, just like he did when Sly and Clockwerk were going into the Panda King's mind, and Crusher's eyes snapped open a few seconds later, where he disappeared into the water and grabbed the Guru as well... though Bentley told the rest of the gang that this was all part of their plan, and that he'd know when their friend was ready to make a move with their new ally.
By the time that Bentley got the signal from the Guru that he and Crusher were ready to go, and get the rescue operation underway, he had given the gang the information they needed so they could save Penelope and fool LaFwee at the exact same time. Once everyone was ready to go Murray steered the ship back towards Blood Bath Bay, and the Guru made sure that Crusher was following from a safe distance so they could be ready for what happened next, giving the others some time to relax before the operation started. Bentley was sure that this plan was going to work, even if it turned out that LaFwee was hiding Penelope in the Death Head's hold and not his Skull Keep, because his plan was designed to figure out where the trick was located, spring it, and then save Penelope. Clockwerk even stated that it was going to be a challenging operation for all of them, since they would be dealing with pirates that would be looking for an excuse to kill them, and Bentley even agreed with him, before stating that this was the best plan that they could have come up with and if they didn't act soon then they might as well kiss Penelope goodbye.
It wasn't long before they drew close to their destination, causing the gang to rush to their battle stations as they moved into Blood Bath Bay again, where Sly and Carmelita easily spotted the Death's Head sitting in the middle of the harbor, though that was followed by the two ships engaging in a small battle with each other, where Diz made sure that the enemy cannonballs didn't do major damage to their ship... though once they managed to tear LaFwee's masts down, and stalled him, Murray brought their ship close and let Sly jump over to the enemy vessel as he moved into position for the next phase of the plan.
"Really, Cooper, a bad choice boarding a ship packed with over a hundred pirates." LaFwee said, though at the same time he smiled as he stared at the leader of the Cooper Gang, someone that he wasn't afraid of, despite the many tasks and deeds that were attached to his name, "Sure your cane is up to the task of crackin' all our skulls?"
"I don't know about all of you, but yours I'm sure it can manage!" Sly replied, to which he held his cane out for a moment, showing LaFwee and his men that he wasn't scared of them, not with all the stuff he had put up with since he, his sisters, and his best friends left that orphanage, "Besides, if I can take out Clockwerk, the bane of my family, I'm sure that I can beat all of you."
"Bah, restrain this man and keep yer distance from the enemy vessel." LaFwee stated, showing Sly that he cared not for his deeds or his words, instead he preferred to be done with him so that he could seize the ship that had been stolen from him and see what they did to it, "This smells of lubber trickery. Take heart, boys, been a long time since we witnessed the good plank-walkin'."
Sly found that LaFwee's men seemed to think twice about restraining him, because despite being pirates they knew the name Clockwerk and feared it, just like they feared Crusher, and they seemed worried about their chances, but it was also clear that they were afraid of dying and he simply moved to the plank so he could get the show on the road... and see just how far he could push LaFwee until he unwillingly gave up the information that they were after.
"You're making me 'walk the plank'?" Sly asked, deciding that now, while they were standing in front of the majority of LaFwee's crew, that it was time to put Bentley's plan into action, as the others were definitely in position, especially since Murray was below the plank with the jollyboat, ready to move the moment he figured out where Penelope was supposedly hidden, "You're the pinnacle of creativity, LeFwee."
"Not creative?!" LaFwee snapped, clearly showing that Sly had struck a nerve, one of the things that he and his family were well known for these days, and yet, despite how smart he was, LaFwee was taking the bait, "I'm the Smartest Man on the Seven Seas, you... slanderous scabbard!"
"I've got to say, you've got a real knack for pirate talk." Sly replied, taking a few steps back, to show that he knew his place in this situation, but at the same time he was more than ready to push his opponent's buttons again, especially since 'slanderous scabbard' was worse than what he and Black Spot Pete were doing earlier, "Put two nonsense words together and POW - scary pirate name calling!"
"Bah! Yah might be quick with the put downs, but who's got the hidden girl, huh?" LaFwee stated, coming to the topic that Sly and the gang wanted him to talk about, despite it being a little sooner than what Bentley was initially anticipating, but this was better than what he had been hoping for, "Me! And you'll never find her!"
"Oh, I'm not worried about Penelope." Sly said, to which he smiled for a moment, as while he was sure that this statement wasn't true at the moment he knew that Penelope could make it true if she stuck with them, "A girl tough as that would free herself by tomorrow morning, then come and steal your wallet!"
"Ha! That chick-a-dee will never escape my Skull Keep. She's locked up in irons and there she stays until she agrees to love me, despite all my faults." LaFwee stated, reminding Sly of what they went through with General Tsao, how he wanted to force Jing King to love him, and that made Sly want to punch him so badly right now, before he focused on Sly once more and raised his cutlass, "Now, be the time sharks lunched on yer parts!"
"You're the captain." Sly replied, to which he took another step back and walked off the plank, only to drop into the jollyboat and let Murray get them out of there, though it took LaFwee a few seconds to realize that he had been right, that they had been trying to play him, before the alarm went off... and yet, despite what LaFwee thought, they weren't heading to Skull Keep, Clockwerk was.
While Murray and Sly covertly headed back to the ship, which was heading towards the mouth of the harbor for the final stage of Bentley's plan, Clockwerk flew up to the eye socket of the Skull Keep and entered the area that Penelope was supposed to be hiding in, only to find that a fake creation that resembled her was resting there, one that exploded when he turned it around. Fortunately, due to the unique makeup of his armored body, where the only weaknesses it had were electric shots from a shock pistol and magic itself, he was unharmed by the attack and flew out of the keep the moment the trap was sprung, to which he dived into the water and started to change his shape. While that happened Diz played along and used a spell to hide the masts when Bentley reached the location that was the final stage of the plan, to which it appeared that the ship stalled due to some internal damage and LaFwee was more than happy to come up and declare that they were all going to die by his blade... only for Bentley to reveal their hand as the Guru, riding on top of Crusher's head, erupted from the water behind LaFwee's boat, scaring all of his men and shocking their foe in the process.
"Yah might have Crusher, but I still have the girl!" LaFwee stated, showing that he knew that they couldn't do anything to the ship, so long as Penelope was still his hostage, and he was banking on using that to his advantage, all while failing to hear the metallic claws touch down behind him.
Not anymore. Clockwerk replied, though as LaFwee turned around, with a slightly terrified look on his face as he realized that the ancient owl was actually real and not just a legend, Clockwerk latched onto the grate above the hold and pulled it off the ship, destroying the bolts keeping it in place, and allowing Penelope, who was now wearing a dress of some kind, to pull herself out of the area she had been trapped in.
"Stay away from my pirate flo..." LaFwee started to say, though that was before Penelope punched him in the side of the jaw and knocked him to the floor of the deck, where he remained for a few moments without getting up, giving the gang time to get their ship back in order, and claim the rest of the treasure that Dimitri's grandfather had lost, before they started to sail out of the area... but not before Penelope turned to watch as Gilda, Derpy, and Diz loosed a combined energy blast at the side of the Death's Head, blowing the entire ship, and LaFwee, to pieces.
As they sailed out of Blood Bath Bay, and ignored the fact that Dimitri was happy with himself and proclaiming that he was now the frogman of the Cooper Gang, Bentley and Penelope headed to one of the rooms below deck to get her back into her old gear and clothing... and, from the sounds of it, she was impressed that he had outsmarted the 'Smartest Man on the Seven Seas', meaning that he might have finally gotten himself a girlfriend at long last. At the same time, however, Sly, his siblings, and Carmelita stood on the deck as the Guru joined the rest of the gang, after freeing Crusher, as they knew that they were ready to assault Kaine Island and defeat Dr. M... and claim what was rightfully theirs in the process.