A/N:Me: *looks up at the readers with a bruise on her cheek, a bandage around her head and right arm in a cast.* Hello everyone! I finally decided to post this story and see what you all think! If you've read my Fire Emblem story you'll know why I'm bandaged up like this.

Sly: *enters the room* Well, you did have five boxes of jeans fall on top of you.

Me: *sigh* Don't remind me! Anyway unlike in my Fire Emblem story, I have Sly Cooper here with me in the Authors' note. He's here to help me with disclaimers and all that while Final Fantasy Crisis Core's Golden Trio keeps Flamers and the like from my Fire Emblem story.

Sly: *leans against the wall* Didn't you say you were going to write out the entire story before you posted it?

Me: *shrug* I got impatient!

Sly: *sighs shaking his head* Alright. PhantomGirl17 does not own me, my friends or anything in the main original story line of the game series named after me.

Me: And just like in my Fire Emblem, Questions, Comments and Reviews can be PMed to me or left in the Review section at the bottom of the screen. A bucket of water will be left aside for any and all Flamers, people who post Rude Comments and Snide Remarks.

Sly: She would also like if you would read her other story's, 'Fire Emblem: True Awakening' and 'My New Life in Middle Earth', and tell her what you think.

Me: You don't have to though. It's up to you. Enjoy the first instalment of 'Sly and Erica Cooper in: Thieves in Time'! *Bows*

Sly and Erica Cooper in Thieves in Time
By: PhantomGirl17

I: Sly Cooper and the Gang in: 'We're Where!? You're Who!? I'm a WHAT!?'

I probably should just start at the beginning. The name's Sly. Sly Cooper and I'm a Thief from a long line of Thieves. In fact, thieving is the Family Business, and business was Good! Although until recently I considered myself retired. Having hung up my mask and cane, I wa-

WAIT! Hold it! {Cue record scratch} Wrong intro! Sorry, let's try that again.

Let's start at the beginning. My 'real' name is Erica Monica Thomason and I'm human. Well, until about a year ago I was. I'm now half-human, half-raccoon. I live in the exact same world you readers do. A world where everyone believes the impossible (meaning Fictional impossible) is impossible. So, how did it happen that I'm half-coon you ask?

Well, my story starts with a Video Game Series called 'Sly Cooper'. You know the one. It had become one of my favorite games over the years. I was playing 'Thieves in Time' in my room when I heard a scream from the living room. When I got there, I was met with a sight that made me sick. My little sister, mom and dad dead in a pile with Rats the size of a toddler, dressed in radioactive protective gear staring at me. It was then that a Skunk walked in on his hind legs. I recognized him immediately but never thought I would see him in real life since he wasn't supposed to exist:

Cyrille Le Paradox, one of Sly Coopers' worst enemies.

He smirked at me before I was knocked out. When I woke up I felt strange. Rubbing my eyes beneath my glasses, I tried to get whatever sleep I could out of my eyes. When they cleared, I screamed. Mostly because there was a gold-furred female Humanoid-Raccoon dressed in the same clothes as me staring back at me. Slowly I sat up and crawled towards her. She did the same and soon we were in front of each other. I reached out my hand but it hit glass. Placing both hands on the glass, the truth hit me hard: this was a mirror, this was my reflection and the Humanoid-Raccoon was me.

I later learned that Le Paradox's Time Machine also could jump dimensions. His plan was to find someone compatible with the Raccoon DNA he had and make that person a half-coon. This person would meet with Sly Cooper, learn the ways of a Master Thief and then steal the Thievius Raccoonus and deliver it to Paradox.

Guess who was compatible with the Coon DNA?

After refusing to go along with his plans, he injected something into me that made it so it's painful for me to go from my human form to my coon form and visa-versa. On my third week in that prison, I decided to escape. True, I wouldn't have anyone to go to and no family left but I can live. You see Paradox showed me a News report about a mass murder. Not only were my parents and sister murdered, but also my grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, and teachers. Even every one of my church family was murdered!

I looked around for something to help me unlock the lock on my cage. I then saw an old but sturdy branch about my height, a bit of rope, some sharp but old nails, and what seemed to be a bent bar form when they changed the old bars on my cage. An idea came to me, and using these items I made myself a Cooper Cane. The bar and branch were thick enough so that they wouldn't brake easily and the nails held them together really well. The rope would serve as a shoulder strap to keep it on my back. I twirled it around a bit before holding it over my shoulder like Sly would. Smirking, I went into my newly dubbed Cooper Form and used my new Cane to break the lock on the door.

I slowly used my new instincts and senses in this form to avoid the guards and even pickpocket a few of them. I finally reached what seemed to be Paradox's Treasure Room. I took a quick look around and grabbed some stuff, putting them in a bag that I had taken from one of the guards. I suddenly froze when I saw a familiar dagger. In 'Thieves in Time', this Japanese samurai dagger in front of me was needed by Bentley for his Time Machine to travel back to Feudal Japan. An idea came to me.

Pulling out a pen and paper, I wrote a note.

Finishing my letter, I folded it so it would fit in the sheath of the dagger and marked the corner that stuck out with the Cooper Family symbol. I then placed it so that only a True Cooper would be able to see it. I then placed the dagger back, grabbed a couple more small jewels and some twenty and hundred dollar bills before leaving the room to sabotage the place.

That was a year ago. I had returned to my old home and grabbed everything that I knew I couldn't do without, placed them in my 'Doctor Who' themed bag, that was inspired by the painting 'The Pandorica Opens', and left my hometown.

I've never gone back save to visit the graves of my friends and family.

I've traveled all over the world, trading in the small jewels for cash and using my Cooper Form to work on becoming a Master Thief. I have stopped many men and women who were in the Black-market and stealing to show off. Most of the stolen stuff I returned to the original owners, but if the owner was dead I kept it. I left the Cooper mark at the scenes of my heists and a couple of times let security cameras and guards see me in my Cooper Form. At first, the world thought my work as a publicity stunt to promote the 'Sly Cooper' series and to get people ready for game number five. But when most of the items I had stolen were never returned, they realized I was the real deal.

Soon my Cooper Self was known and seen all over the world. Mostly on 'Wanted' posters but there where those who were putting me into the new copies of World History Books!

My hideout was in a cave behind a waterfall in France. It was filled with all my treasures, but also many traps to keep people out. I was happy with this new life to a point, but now I was dealing with a new heist and decided to first crash the party at the Museum the man I was researching "invited" me to.

~~~~~-~~~~~-~~~~~-~~~~~-~~~~~-~~~~~
~Slys' POV~

We were at our hideout at the moment as I found something strange inside the Japanese samurai dagger we had just taken from the Museum. I saw that there was a letter inside it with the Cooper symbol on it.

I read it aloud to Murray and Bentley.
"Dear Sly Cooper,

I know you don't know me but I need your help. You are extremely popular around here, and not just for your Thieving skills! My whole situation is hard to explain unless you're here. I know Penelope, Bentley's Girlfriend, is missing and I know you needed this samurai dagger to go back to save your ancestor but I Beg you, Bentley and Murray help me first.

The Rat, well Skunk, who you will steal this dagger from, Le Paradox, has held me captive for about a month now. Because of something he caused when he captured me, I have no one else to turn to so I decided to take up a new name and follow the family's tradition to a T. Said family lives in you dimension and only exist in a Video Game Series here. I only ask that you use this letter in Bentley's Time Machine to travel to this dimension and find me and take me to your dimension. Currently, I am trying to escape this prison and will be going out and putting my new families name down in the History books.

If you do make it and try to find me, search carefully. I will be well hidden but I'm sure as a Master Thief you'll be able to find me. Again, please help me and in return I will help you find out about what happened to Penelope.

Help me, Sly Cooper. You're my only Hope!

Signed, Erica Monica Cooper previously Erica Monica Thomason."

After reading it aloud, we were silent. She had signed it Erica Monica Cooper previously Erica Monica Thomason. She had taken the Cooper name as her own because the Black marketer that I had been researching about had held her prisoner.

"Guys, I think we should find her. She used the name 'Cooper' as her own, she knows about Penelope's disappearance, she even knew about Le Paradox and that we needed this dagger first!" Bentley nodded. "I agree Sly. She could definitely help, but we should still be couscous." We all hopped into Murrays' van and I placed the note into the receptacle. "Hang on tight guys!" Murray shouted before slamming his foot on the gas.

We soon found ourselves with a city to our left and a forest on our right. After making our hideout in an old abandoned treehouse in the forest, Bentley began his research. To our shock, this whole dimension was completely parallel to ours but inhabited only by two-legged, no-tailed, no-furred creatures called Humans. We also found that I was famous, and it's not even for stealing. In this dimension, I am a fictional video game character in a series named after yours truly but that's not what caught Bentleys' eye. When looking up my family name we came across a News report from this morning with the name Cooper in it along with a picture of the Cooper Family symbol. Clicking on it, we watched.

"And in other news; last night, The Cooper Thief struck again. In the Museum of Lyon, Matthew Beowulf, a billion heir and owner of the newest Egyptian Exhibit had hosted a party in said exhibit earlier that evening but left early claiming his assistant needed him back at his mansion. It was discovered, with the help of an anonymous source, that Beowulf was the Master of the Biggest Black-market in France and all the items that Beowulf 'supposedly lost' that were to be a part of the Exhibit, were actually sold to the Black-market.

Through the help of the anonymous source, all the items on the Black-market were returned to the original owners before they returned them to the museum, allowing them to be on display. Even though investigators found all the treasures original owners, a priceless Egyptian Crown, necklace and earrings worn by a Pharaohs Wife were not owned by the Museum but kept on display since the original owner, Professor Eric Nixton a major archeologist in Egypt, was killed a week prior. It was later found out that Beowulf had paid an old rival of the Professor to kill the man only to make sure the man was caught in the end and nothing could be traced back to Beowulf.

That night when everyone had gone home, the crown, necklace and earrings were stolen. It is obvious that the worlds' infamous Anti-Hero, The Cooper Thief, was behind the theft. Cooper did not even turn off the security cameras that showed her theft."

We looked up the World-Wide Police report on the Cooper Thief. When her picture appeared, we were surprised. Instead of a Human, she looked like me but her fur was a golden color and her eyes were emerald green. Her outfit looked a lot like mine but it was a dark red almost black color. Her cane was also something to see. It was made of a sturdy branch with a crooked bar as her hook and it was held together tightly with nails and a rope strapped to it to keep it round her shoulder. Even as strange as it looked, it had been smoothed out, polished and on the staff of the cane were symbols in Ancient Greek, Latin, Japanese and Egyptian which Bentley translated as 'Once a Cooper, Always a Master Thief'. Looking up her profile, she was definitely an Anti-Hero. She was proud but not cocky, shy but not insecure, brave but not without fear, innocent but with a past, and though she worked on the dark side of the law, her actions proved she worked for Justice.

With a few clicks, Bentley brought up the video of the party, sound included. As I looked through the crowd, only two people caught my eye. One was a man with grey hair in a business suit and the other was a blond haired young woman with red glasses in a gold and red dress. The Man seemed to be eyeing the girl with a smirk that worried me, but the woman seemed a bit too interested in the Egyptian Queens Crown and jewelry.

"Bentley, can you zoom in on the girl in the red and gold dress and get the sound feed of what she's saying?" "Of course I can! Do you doubt my abilities as a genius?" He asked and soon we had zoomed in on the green-eyed, fair-skinned female. We heard her softly whisper. "These are beautiful. But they look exactly like the ones Eric dug up on his diggings in Egypt. He told me they were stolen last month before he was..." The man came over and tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me."

The girl turned around with a gasp but then sighed. "I'm sorry mademoiselle. I didn't mean to scare you." "It's fine Sir. My name is Erica Monica Thomason."

Murray gasped. "That's the name signed on the letter!" Bentley then began to look up the name on a separate computer as I continued to watch the feed.

The man smirked, took her hand in his and kissed it saying, "Charmed, I'm sure. I am Matthew Beowulf." I snarled as I watched him flirt with the girl. "Pleasure." She pulled her hand out of his and placed it behind her back, wiping the back of her hand on her dress. I snickered. "You know this crown reminds me of the one that Professor Nixton dug up from that old tomb in Egypt." Beowulf frowned. "You knew the Professor?" Erica nodded. "Old friend of the Family. It's sad that he was shot to death by an old rival a week ago." Beowulf smirked again. "Indeed."

He placed his arm around her waist and pulled her close. It was so sudden she almost spilled her drink. His hand kept wandering up and down her body but she didn't move. To a normal person it would seem that she didn't want to leave the man's grasp, but to the eye of a Master Thief, she wanted to get away from him. I watched as she sucked it up and placed what seemed to be a tracker on his jacket.

Beowulf then asked her if she would like to go home with him and have some 'fun'. I growled verbally at that. But before she could obviously refuse, his cell phone rang and he growled answering it. "What?" He was silent and said, "Very well, I'll be there in a moment." He hung up and apologized to Erica for having to reschedule their 'date' before leaving. Suddenly, Erica smiled slyly and pulled out a small device. "Finally! I thought he would never leave me alone. At least I got to put that tracker/voice recorder on him. Now to record the evidence of his Black-market and his guilt in Eric's death and send it to Interpol via Wireless."

Pressing a button on the computer, I skipped to the Heist and watched as the Golden Coon descended from the ceiling by cable. She slipped through the security lasers easily using the Ninja Spire Jump, though she had to grab a column with her cane to keep a laser from singeing her tail. Using her cane, she grabbed the crown, the necklace and earrings. She looked up at the camera and blew it a kiss before leaving a small sapphire token shaped like the Cooper Family symbol. Winking at the camera again, she disappeared up into the roof.

"I got it! Erica Monica Thomason is an American who was kidnapped and kept prisoner by some mysterious person. The FBI couldn't find out who kidnapped her, because she escaped her captors and her captors blimp disappeared when they had a clear site on where they were going to crash. It also says she sabotaged their base using only some rope, old nails, a bent piece of metal and a branch." I raised my eyebrows in shock. That sounded impressive. Plus the items she used to escape seemed to also be what made up the Cooper Thief's cane. "When she got back to her hometown she learned her kidnappers took extra care to ruin her life. They not only killed her entire family, but her friends, teachers and even the members of the church she went to!" I growled wondering how stone-hearted her kidnappers were. "She told the FBI that she was never told why her kidnappers wanted her, nor did she meet them in person, just the minions. The professional Doctors she was examined by stated that she had been experimented on a lot, but they were never sure what..."

"Guys! I hear something coming this way!" Murray said and we heard music coming our way. Looking out one of the windows I see that it is Erica. She's wearing faded blue jeans, tennis shoes, a skin tight T-shirt that says 'Define Normal', and her red glasses. She had a bag on her back that seemed to be in the pattern of something exploding and in her pocket was what I thought was her phone, the music coming from it. As she came closer I saw that she also had something else on her back but I couldn't make it out.

"~The rhythm of the city but once you get it down, then you can own this town, you can wear the crown! Why should I worry? Why should I care? I may not have a dime, Oh! But I got street savoire faire! Why should I worry? Why should I care? It's just bebopulation and I got street saviore faire! Everything goes, everything fits! They love me at the Chelsea, they adore me at the Ritz!~" She sang with the music without a care, dancing like no one was watching. And to her no one was.

When she came into the light I saw what it was on her back: The Cooper Thief's Cane! "Sly, she's heading deeper into the woods. Time for some Recon! Go follow her!" I was out the door before Bentley finished his sentence.

The song finished and I watched as she started walking slowly, the next song coming on. Unlike the first song it was slow and soft. She was humming along with it as she came to a river. "~Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me? Why is my Refection someone I don't know? Somehow I cannot hide who I am, though I've tried. When will my Refection show who I am inside? When will my Reflection show who I am inside?~" She placed the bag and her cane down before kneeling down, taking off her glasses, placing them into her bag and splashing her face a bit. Wiping off the excess with the back of her hand and wrist, she stared at her reflection in the water. She sighed.

"Still can't believe it's been a year to the day since I was kidnapped by Le Paradox. If I told the FBI who captured me and what he did to me, I'd be in a straitjacket in a mad house right now... or living as a lab rat. But still...' To my surprise, she transformed into the golden furred Raccoon I saw on the Video feed. I quickly snapped pictures of her transformation on my binnocucom. She winced in pain. 'I'm happy I was the one kidnapped and not someone else. I can't believe I was the only one compatible with the Coon DNA he had. I'm so glad he didn't drag me into his plan of destroying the Cooper Family." She stood and stretched before picking up her bag and placing her cane on her shoulder much like I would do. "I hope Sly got the letter I sent him. There's nothing left for me in this world, so I might as well go to the next one."

I blinked before contacting Bentley. "Bentley, you were right! Erica is the one who wrote the letter, and guess what, it was the art dealer Le Paradox who kidnapped her and did something to her to make her half-coon!" "Then she's definitely our target! Keep following her Sly!" I nodded before following her.

~~~~~-~~~~~-~~~~~-~~~~~-~~~~~-~~~~~
~Erica's POV~

I knew there was someone following me and that they most likely seen me transform. I led them to the waterfall where my hideout is, humming the song 'I Stand Alone' from 'Quest for Camelot' as if I had no care in the world. Wading through the shallow water to the front of the waterfall, I held out my cane and hit the switch that was on the other side with the hook. I took a step back keeping the bent part of the hook in contact with the water. I then raised my cane and the water split like lifting up a curtain from the middle.

Removing my hook, I walked through the dry entrance. Knowing my follower will try the trick for himself, I knocked the switch back in place with my foot and the waterfall went back to the way it was. With another kick I hit the switch that turned on the torches along the walls. I quietly stepped over the first of my three entrance traps. The other two you could easily see are traps, but their triggers are not what you think they are. The one I just stepped over was too classic for someone not to get caught in it.

As I was passing the third trap, I heard a 'SPROING!' sound and a yell of 'Hey!' I smirked knowing my follower was trapped in my first trap. Turning off the music, I placed my cane behind my neck but still on both shoulders and hanging both arms over it, and I turned around. Walking back to the first trap I said aloud, "Ah, the old hidden net trap. The oldest one in the book. So easily known, so easily forgotten and so easily fallen for." I chuckled.

I looked up to see who I caught in my net but I gasped and almost dropped my cane in shock. In the net, staring back at me, arms crossed and a raised eyebrow was Sly Cooper himself. He looked just like he does in the game. Grey fur with black rings on his tail and around his brown eyes. His signature blue thief outfit and his cane were hanging there with him. It also seemed he got a little bit wet from the waterfall because I could see his abs through his shirt. Blushing, I stuttered out. "Good Lord, I'm so sorry!" I quickly jumped up onto the net and untied the knot that held the net up.

"If I had known you were the one following me I would have warned you about the first trap." He brushed off the invisible dust on his pants and shirt saying, "It's fine. I didn't know if you wanted me to reveal myself. Nice entrance, by the way. Using the waterfall for your door." "Hearing that from you really means something to me Mr. Cooper."

He laughed. "No. Mr. Cooper was my Dad. You can call me Sly, Mademoiselle." He took my hand and kissed the back of it, being a complete gentleman. I stuttered and looked away blushing. "Um...uh... S-Shouldn't you contact Bentley or something? I'd rather explain everything to all of you at once then having to repeat myself."

That was how I met the team. I led the three of them past the traps to the main room/cave. On my immediate left of the entrance, was a fire and water powered kitchen. On the right was a couch, Flat Screen TV, Lazy-boy chairs and a coffee table. In front of me was an old four poster bed with red and gold curtains and a small closed off tunnel that led to the bathroom with a hot spring and two guest rooms. "Just give me a minute to put some stuff up. Make yourselves at home and help yourselves to anything in the kitchen."

Bentley went over to the couch and Murray went straight to kitchen. I however went to my bed with Sly following behind. I pushed the curtain that was behind the headboard out of the way and hit a switch which made the trap door next to my bed open. "Since you are the only Master Thief I know of and the only person who was able to find me, I'll show you my Treasure Trove." With that said I jumped down the trap door and landed on the Arabian and Egyptian pillows.

Sly landed next to me and the Torches flared up revealing piles and piles of gold, jewels and odd treasures. "Most of these no longer have original owners." I placed my bag on a hook on the wall and pulled out the Egyptian crown and jewelry. I walked over to a mirror and tried on the crown. I smiled as I saw it fit perfectly. I again winced as I transformed back to a human. I leaned up against the wall to keep my balance. Sly came over and held me up. "Are you alright?"

I gave him a shy smile as I shakily straitened. "I'm fine. This is one of the disadvantages of what Le Paradox did to me. Going to and from my Coon form is painful, but I can handle it to a point. Can you get my glasses from the pocket in my bag? It's funny that I'm still half blind when I'm human but have twenty-twenty vision in my Coon form." He nodded and returned with my glasses, putting them on for me. I smiled and tried on the necklace and earrings. Turning to Sly, I asked, "How do I look?"

He smiled. "Like Egypt's Queen." He took off his hat and gave a mock bow. "You Highness." I laughed and began walking past the piles of treasure to a small pedestal. I placed the crown on it and the necklace and earrings on the pillow next to it, then turned to Sly spinning in a circle. "So Sly, what do you think of my Treasure Trove?" "Impressive." I kissed his cheek, making him blush, before walking back to the front of the room. "Thanks. When I escaped Paradox, I gathered what I knew I would miss from the home I was living in before I was captured, then started traveling the world. I followed what I could from what little of the Thievius Raccoonus was shown in the games and only stole in my Coon form. This way no one can catch me because I've never shown anyone I can transform in the first place." "Very clever."

I reached the ladder that led up back to the main room but stopped before I touched it. I pulled out a small shuriken I got in Japan from my pocket and threw it so it smacked the priceless Spanish Gem carved in the shape of a fox out of Slys' hand. "Don't even think about taking anything from here. I'll tell you this now because I like you and already consider you a friend. The only way you will take anything from this trove will be if I personally give it to you. Got it, Cooper?"

He nodded. I climbed up the ladder with Sly following behind. We came up on the opposite side of the bed that the trapdoor entrance was on. I reached again behind the bed curtain and flipped the switch closing both trap doors. Walking back over to the living room couch where Bentley and Murray were sitting and eating, I turned to Sly and asked, "Anything you want to eat?" He shook his head and went to sit down. I then pulled out a CD from my cabinet by the TV and handed it to Bentley. "This is most all the information that I could get from Paradox's Original Plan. I have no idea if it's changed in any way though. However, I'm going to go with the more fun version of figuring out his plans,' I pulled out my PSVita, starting up Thieves in Time. 'And that's playing the videogame version of your current adventure."

Murray came over and watched me start up a new game. "So this is the game that shows the adventure we're on now?" he asked. I nodded. "Yeah, it is. It's easy once you get the hang of it. But on the third Boss Level, I kept getting defeated and had to redo the Level about sixteen times before I beat it."

I offered them to stay the night here and they agreed. As Bentley and Murray went to get the van, I set up the two guest rooms. "Murray can have one room, Bentley can have the other.' I then turned to Sly. 'I'll take the couch and you can have my bed." Before he could protest, I grabbed my 'Kiss Me, I'm a Master Thief' shirt and matching pajama pants and went to the bathroom. I undressed and put my hair up in a bun. As soon as I slipped into the water of the hot spring, I gave a content sigh and slid deeper into the water. I started washing off all the mental and physical grime of the day before turning Coon and washing my fur.

I was gently washing my tail when I heard, "Is it okay for me to turn around now? I've been standing here with my back turned for about five minutes." My head whipped around to see the back of Sly. "W-Well, I'm in the water if that's what you mean." He turned around and walked toward me. He stopped almost directly in front of me and crouched down and I could only think one thing: 'Thank Heaven for the Bubbles'. "Why are you giving me your bed? I mean, it's nice of you to do and all, but you're also a Lady and I don't think sleeping on the couch will be very good for you."

I looked away. Honestly I had only given him my bed because it seemed like it had been a while since he slept on a real bed, and the fact that he won't get a real soft bed while time traveling. Plus there was the fact I had always had a crush on him, but I wasn't about to tell him that! Instead, I said, "I don't know. Just a gut feeling you'll appreciate it later. Especially since you'll be traveling through time." He was about to say more, but paused. With an expressionless face, he stood up and walked to the other side of the spring before putting down his cane. He then started to strip and I looked away, placing my hands over my eyes. "Warn me next time you're about to undress, Cooper!"

I heard him laugh and the sound of him getting into the water. I then felt a pair of hands pull mine away from my face and I found myself looking at Sly's face. I blushed a bit but relaxed when he picked up a brush and started to brush out my tail. I sighed as I felt his fingers gently untangle the knots in my tail before brushing it out. "You... You don't have to do this, you know."

"I want to."

I blinked and looked up at him. It had been a long time since someone had said that to me. I smiled and let him continue brushing.

~~~~~-~~~~~-~~~~~-~~~~~-~~~~~-~~~~~
~Sly's POV~

I lay awake on the bed Erica had given me thinking everything we found out today over. First, we are now in a world where no one is an animal, but Human. Second, I'm a famous Video Game Character here. I half wish Clockwerk were alive so that I might rub it in his face! Ahem, moving on... Third, Paradox somehow got Coon DNA and found it matched Erica's DNA and turned her into a Human-Raccoon Hybrid. Fourth, Erica's family and friends are all dead thanks to Paradox and she chose to become a Cooper. Finally, Erica knows what's going on with the Thievius Raccoonus but won't tell us directly for fear of Time Paradoxes and something deadly disastrous happening to all of us.

I sat up and got out of bed to get a drink. I felt the cold stone floor beneath my feet and shivered a bit before heading towards the kitchen. I opened the fridge and pulled a drink called Diet Coke out. Unscrewing the top and taking a gulp, I sighed leaning against the counter.

My mind wandered a bit before the stunt I pulled in the bath came up. Honestly, that was a very dangerous thing to do. A Male Raccoon brushing a Female Raccoon's tail is intimate and only meant for mates to do to each other. I have no idea what came over me to want to get in that bath with her. Perhaps its' because my instincts wanted to make up for lying to Carmelita. So it found the first Female to pamper, which was Erica. I took another deep gulp of my drink. 'Though I have to admit, I didn't mind. She is beautiful, both as a human and a Raccoon.'

I almost did a spit-take when that thought started running in circles across my mind.

Before I could really comprehend that thought, I heard whimpering coming from the living room. I put my drink back in the fridge and walked over to the couch where the sound was coming from. There I found Erica whimpering, tossing and turning on the couch. "No... Don't hurt them... Mom, Dad, Little Sis! Please, Don't..." When I realized she was having a nightmare about her family's' death, I kneeled down next to her and gently began to shake her awake. "Erica, wake up. It's just a nightmare!"

She gave a little scream and sat up. Her eyes were franticly looking around the room before they locked with mine. I saw complete and utter fear, sadness and no recognition of who I was for a second. "S-Sly?"

I saw the tears running down her face and gently began to wipe them away. "Erica, I know it hurts to lose your family. Believe me, I know how you feel. I lost mine when I was just a kid thanks to the Fiendish Five. But I have a new family now. Murray, Bentley, My ancestors. And now, there's you."

She blinked. Then I found myself in a hug with her crying into my shirt. I wrapped my arms around her and rubbed her back comforting her as best I could. She soon fell asleep in my arms. I was about to place her back on the couch, but found she had an iron grip on my shirt. I sighed. I was already having troubles with my relationship with Carmelita; being around Erica was not really helping the situation. With no other choice, I picked her up and headed to the bed.

The next morning she apologized for falling asleep on me after panicking about waking up in bed beside me. Actually she squeaked and fell off the side of the bed. She poked her head up over the side and looked at me with a blush. "Um... uh... I'm gonna go get dressed and make breakfast."

After a hearty breakfast of 'Frosted Flakes', eggs and bacon and French toast, we finally talked more about what was going on. "Without ripping a hole in the whole time/space continuum, I can safely say that your ancestors are only being wrongly imprisoned and their canes are being taken from them. Rioichi is the first you should see."

After gathering everything she would need, she asked one more thing of Bentley.

Twenty minutes later, Murray, myself, Bentley and Erica were in the Van zapping off to our destination. Going into her Human form, she now wore black jeans, black heels and a Black long sleeve shirt. Murray parked the Van and I got out first helping a solemn Erica out with four bouquets, one of white roses and three of lilies, in her hand. When Murray and Bentley were out of the Van, she gave each of us one of the lily bouquets and kept the rose for herself. She opened the gate and led us through this small town graveyard in her hometown in Virginia.

It was a clear night and the stars and full moon shone brightly down on the tombstones. She led us to the center of the cemetery, to a large tombstone that I read aloud. "Thomas William Thomason, René Mariam Thomason (nee Jones) and Christina Elaine Thomason. Beloved Father, Mother and Little Sister."

She kneeled down and smiled. "Hi, Mom, Dad, Little Sis. I have some people I want you to meet.' She motioned us closer. 'These are my new friends. Directly behind me in the wheelchair is Bentley Turtle, on my right is Murray Hippo and on my left is Sly Cooper. I told you they were real Chrissy!" She said exclaiming the last sentence in that old 'I told you so' voice. Me and my friends chuckled.

"I'm not going to be available for a while. The pages in the Thievius Raccoonus are disappearing and I'm going to help them as much as I can. It's the least I can do and I will also get back at Paradox for what he did to you and everyone else.' She placed her flowers on top of the headstone. 'I'm not sure when I'll be back but I'll have a lot of stories to tell when I do!" She kissed each name on the headstone before standing and walking back towards the van.

Bentley wheeled forward and placed his bouquet on the gravestone. "Don't you worry Mr. and Mrs. Thomason; we'll keep your daughter safe." Murray nodded placing his down as well. "Believe it!" They both followed Erica back to the van. I stood in front of the grave and was reminded of my own parents' grave. Kneeling on the grave, I placed my lilies in front of the name of Erica's mother and leaned my forehead on the cold stone. Closing my eyes I spoke.

"Mr. Thomason, Mrs. Thomason, Christina Thomason. I swear to you I will watch out for Erica and help her find happiness again. She will be welcome in my family and I have no doubt in my mind my ancestors will love and approve of her. On my honor as a Mater Thief and a Cooper I promise you."