Special thanks to my friend CameoTaku for initially coming up with the idea and letting me bring it to life and another thanks to my friend ShadowOkkotsu for being my beta-reader.

A/N: My first take at a Sly Cooper story. Don't expect anything big from me in this fandom.

Everything was leading up to this moment. The changes in history, his lessons from his ancestors and their contributions to his clan, his training, and most importantly, his time to make his ancestors proud.

Sly Cooper was locked in a heated battle against his clan's archrival, Cyrille Le Paradox. Sly was unmatched with his cane, but Le Paradox was very skilled with his rapier.

Sly feigned to the left and then swung his cane to the right, but Le Paradox was too quick and blocked the attack. Sly then quickly jabbed his cane at Le Paradox's stomach, but Le Paradox jumped back out of the way.

"Come now, Cooper, I know you can do better than that," the thieving skunk tainted. "You looked better when facing my henchman."

Sly didn't retort and attempted a roundhouse kick, but Le Paradox dodged it and countered with a thrust of his rapier. Sly stepped back to avoid being impaled and then quickly swung his cane, hitting Le Paradox in the face.

"How about that? Do I look better now?"

Le Paradox growled and lunged forward. Atop his collapsing blimp, the thieves danced on the horn of the ship as rings of fire crackled around them, and the wind rushed past their faces. They were in a precarious position, but it didn't matter to them. They were only focused on the fight. Their lives were at stake, but then again, when wasn't it?

The two adversaries sized each other up, looking for an opening. They both knew that this was the decisive showdown and that there could be only one winner.

Sly struck first, jabbing at Le Paradox's stomach. The skunk parried and then tried to slash Sly across the face, but Sly ducked out of the way. He forced Le Paradox closer to the edge but lost ground. Their weapons clashed, both struggling to gain the upper hand.

"You blasted imbecile!" The skunk seethed. "I'll run you through!"

"Now, now, think about your blood pressure, Cyrille," Sly countered. He found his chance and pushed back, striking in a flurry of swings to daze his opponent, and then whacking him hard over the head.

Le Paradox recovered and went back on the offensive, but Sly parried each strike perfectly. He was losing more ground, and Sly was pushing him closer and closer off.

Sly leaped and let the blade fly under him. He fell over the edge but used his cane to catch him and rocket up, where he kicked the skunk in the face, stood on his tail, and jabbed his cane into his stomach.

Cyrille felt the air rush from his lungs but refused to give up. He impressed Sly with his determination.

"I tire of this charade," he said as he got back up again. He swung his weapon with a jumping slash, striking it against the raccoon's cane. "There is just no point."

"Sure there is," Sly overpowered him. "It's right there on top of your head."

Cyrille was ready to dodge the obvious counter, but Sly caught him off guard by throwing his cane instead. It hit him in the face, and Sly followed up with a bonk on the head to send the skunk to his knees.

Dazed and stunned, Sly unleashed another flurry of swings to Cyrille's head, and before the skunk could get his bearings straight, Sly wind up, and delivered a fierce baseball swing that sent his adversary spiraling.

Cyrille hit the surface hard and slipped off, but he managed to grab the beam and hang on for dear life.

Sly was victorious.

"This is not right!" The skunk cried. "My plan was perfect!"

"Sorry, Pal," Sly shot him a smug grin. "You just can't plan for a Cooper."

"Just… please! Help me…!" Cyrille was losing his grip.

"Why should I?" Sly asked back.

"I do not wish to die!" The skunk sobbed.

Sly hesitated.

"Well, I guess you won't be doing any harm from a prison cell."

His instincts told him not to help, but against his better judgment, he obliged.

Of course, the first thing Cyrille does was put Sly in a hold and yank off his parachute.

He laughed in Sly's face.

"As I said, so predictable!"

Sly scowled. "You won't get away with this! I'll find you!"

"Au contraire, Sly Cooper. I do not think we will meet again," Paradox jumped, laughing triumphantly as he left his nemesis stranded.

Unfortunately for him, Karma was not too happy about his deceit. Le Paradox got face-planted by a jetliner and fell from the sky into the sea.

Sly gave him the two-finger salute, but then he faced a major problem of his own. He didn't know how he was going to get down. The blimp was breaking apart, a maze of ship parts falling from the sky like meteorites. Sly was trapped.

Violent turbulence shook Sly's balance and tossed him overboard. He couldn't reach the ship with his cane and continued to fall, where the rift in spacetime waited to swallow him. Sly closed his eyes and accepted his fate. No one was going to rescue him, but he didn't show fear.

It would be alright. He was a Cooper. They always find a way.

"At least she knows," he smiled, knowing the love of his life was aware of his real feelings. Although he put a strain on their relationship, he greatly enjoyed the days with the beautiful inspector. He wished he gave her one last kiss to seal the deal.

'Another time… perhaps? Hahaha.'

"Stay focused!"

Sly's eyes shot open. He was still falling, but in the direction of the voice, he saw someone moving, speeding towards him, advancing through the maze of debris like it was nothing.

"Who is…?"

The way they moved was incredible and yet, so familiar. Like he had seen it before…

On the ground, Sly wasn't sure what happened. One moment, he was on the blimp about to fall into the mouth of the spacetime rift, and the next, he was saved by a mysterious figure who proved his agility and dexterity were in a league of their own, almost like a Cooper.

"Sly!"

Bentley, Murray, and Carmelita rushed to the discombobulated thief, who focused more so on the one who saved him.

"Thank you," he said, "but who are…"

The moonlight pierced through the clouds and forced the shadows to recede. Sly's face went wide-eyed. At that moment, a few years of fond memories flashed through his head.

"Dad?"

Sly's savior resembled him in almost every fashion. His fur was the same shade of gray with black stripes on his tail. He wore a similar shirt, belt, gloves, and hat as well, but it was the pipe in his mouth and the cane that solidified Sly's thoughts. He remembered his father smoking a pipe while balancing the little Sly on his knee, and the cane was identical to the one he had, the one he inherited from his father after his death.

There was no mistaking it.

"Is… is that really you?"

The man lifted the bill of his cap.

"Not too sure myself," he said with a slight smirk. "After all, I just put my Sly down for bed not too long ago."

"What?"

Confusion swirled around in Sly's head. The last time he saw his father, Connor Cooper, he was fighting against the Fiendish Five and lost his life along with his mother. There was no way he could be here. Unless.

"After your mother and I tucked you in bed, we got a strange message from this young man here," Connor pointed to Bentley. "He didn't say much except you were in trouble, but that couldn't be. You're sound asleep."

"The situation was dire, sir, but I'm glad you were able to save him in time."

Connor chuckled. Even his voice was suave like Sly's. "When a parent hears their child is in danger, you can't sit around and do nothing."

"But how did you get here? I thought you needed something from the same period to go there," Sly pointed out.

"That's right, we do," Bentley pulled out the book, the Thievius Racoonus. "I thought it would help convince him."

"Wow," Sly was speechless. His old man was here, and he didn't know what to say. "Dad, I have so many things to tell you, so many stories I want to share, but…"

Sly grew somber.

"You don't need to say anything, son," Connor placed a hand on Sly's shoulder. "I can tell just by looking at you. You've grown into a fine thief."

Sly hiccuped and threw his arms around his father, silently crying on his shoulder.

Connor held his son tight, patting his shoulder in an attempt to soothe him. To him, his Sly was sound asleep, but there was no doubt this was still his boy. It brought the past Cooper immense joy to know his son followed in his footsteps.

"It's okay, son," Connor whispered. "Regardless of the time frame, I'll always be with you."

He started to glow blue, signaling his time was coming to an end.

"Keep on improving, Sly," he patted his son's shoulders. "You've made your mother and me proud. Also, an Interpol agent? I think that's a first."

Connor tipped his hat to Sly's group.

"Thanks for taking care of my boy. Farewell."

Like the previous Cooper ancestors, Connor went back to his time, happy knowing his son was in good hands.

Sly pulled his cap down.

He was trying his hardest not to cry, but he couldn't help it. Seeing his father again, even if it was for a brief moment, meant the world to him.

"Sly," Murray placed a hand on his shoulder. "Your dad would be proud of the man you've become."

Sly nodded, trying to compose himself. Seeing his father again made him realize how much he'd grown. He was no longer the young thief trying to make a name for himself. He was a master thief, leading his own gang, and he had a family he would do anything for.

Sly wiped his eyes and put on a brave face. He had a feeling that things were going to get rough, but he was ready for whatever came his way. After all, he was a Cooper, and Coopers never back down from a challenge, even when the love of their life was trying to slap the old handcuffs on them.

"Carmelita, I thought we were past this."

"You know me better than that, Ringtail. I don't forget things easily! You still owe me!"

Carmelita chased Sly around Murray.

"What do you want me to do, jump through flaming hoops?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Carmelita's smile was sickly saccharine. "I'll have you do that and a lot more. Now accept your punishment like a man!"

Sly continued to run while his friends laughed at him. It was moments like these they especially cherished. Had things continued without Connor's aid, there was no telling what would've happened to Sly.

Several weeks passed since that night. Cyrille was arrested and wouldn't be out for a long time. Things went back to normal for the Sly Cooper gang and Inspector Carmelita Fox, but there was something off over the horizon.

Bentley showed the most concern. He wasn't surprised by the turn of events. He knew it would happen sooner or later, but the revelations came with a new set of worries.

Penelope, his ex-girlfriend, had escaped prison and was on the run. The genius turtle shouldn't let this bother him. The mouse was highly intelligent like him, but then he saw the postcards she sent him with her logo spray-printed on them. She had already visited several crucial locations. Bentley could only speculate, but he had a working theory on her plans. She still possessed the blueprints for their time machine. It wasn't too farfetched to believe she might try to mess with time again.

Right now, Bentley was doing his best to locate his ex-girlfriend and put an end to her scheme, but the mouse remained elusive. Fitting how she was of equal intellect. She wouldn't make it easy, but Bentley was all about tackling challenges. His time in the Cooper Gang taught him that.

The harder the challenge, the sweeter the reward, and Bentley was going to enjoy cracking down on the crooked rodent.