After Sly and Neyla escaped the helicopter, they managed to track down where Ben, Murray, and Bentley were at and they were currently in the best hospital in all of Paris. Murray was in the waiting room, a crushed look on his face.

"Murray!" Sly cried as the Hippo Beastkin noticed his friend and ran over to him, hugging him as tightly as possible while also being careful not to crush him.

"How are...Bentley and Ben?" Neyla asked as Murray sadly shook his head and showed the two in the ICU. Ben and Bentley seemed to be alive, which was the important thing, but they still looked pretty banged up.

A doctor came out of the ICU and noticed Sly, Murray, and Neyla. "Are you friends with the two patients?"

The three nodded as the doctor sighed. "They'll both survive, but the damage to Mr. Wiseturtle's spinal cord is far too severe to treat regularly. And given that he's a reptile, it'd be too risky to use anesthetics to operate on him. I'm sorry but he'll never walk again."

Murray fell to his knees in anguish as Neyla looked afraid to ask about Ben's condition. "And what about Ben?"

"We were unable to reattach his arm. It had taken far too much damage from being crushed and torn off his body."

Sly hung his head down, the bill of his cap shadowing his eyes as Neyla covered her mouth and collapsed to her knees alongside Murray.

"They're awake, you can see them now."

Sly, Neyla, and Murray hurried into the rooms holding Ben and Bentley. The two seemed to be alright for the most part but looked utterly exhausted from everything that had happened to them.

"Bentley?" Murray worriedly asked as the Turtle Beastkin gave his friend a reassuring look.

"I'm okay, Murray. It's kind of scary not being able to feel my legs anymore...but I'll manage."

Murray pulled Bentley into a hug, silently sobbing as Bentley did his best to reassure him. Sly and Neyla sat down beside Ben as he looked at the sealed and bandaged stump that was once his left arm.

"I'm sorry..." Neyla said as Ben stroked her cheek with his remaining hand.

"Don't be, Kitten. Though I do have to admit it's gonna be a pain in the ass to wipe myself on the toilet."

Sly couldn't help but snort while Neyla scoffed before pulling him close and kissing him on the lips gently. Murray turned over to Ben and hugged him as well, still hurting emotionally from the states he and Bentley were in.

Despite the horrible things that had happened, the Cooper Gang had survived and destroyed Clockwerk once and for all. However, life was still in the process of changing for all of them.

Bentley and Ben needed to stay in the hospital for a few more days before being given the clean bill of health. It was an absolute miracle that the doctors were able to treat their wounds despite the fact Bentley would need a wheelchair and Ben was down an arm.

Despite these sudden changes, Bentley seemed to be handling his paralysis in stride. He refused to let the loss of the use of his legs get him down and was already putting his big brain to work in upgrading his wheelchair with all sorts of gadgets.

As for Ben, Bentley was able to procure a decent prosthetic arm for him while making plans on a special new bionic arm just for him. Neyla had also been welcomed into the Cooper Gang despite their disputes, considering her near-death experience at being assimilated into Clockwerk's conscious and seeing the full nightmare of his hatred firsthand.

"You doing okay, guys?" Sly asked as he walked into the room to see Bentley tinkering on the prototype for Ben's new bionic arm, the human boy in question watching him work on it.

"Mostly, yeah. Still getting used to things but Bents is really putting all the stops on it." Ben reassured as Bentley stopped tinkering so that he could flex his in-development bionic arm. Sly smirked, glad to see his blood brother was still in high spirits.

Soon, Neyla came in, a can of Coca-Cola in her hand and a worried look on her face. "Oy, you guys need to come quick. It's Murray."

The Cooper Gang all confronted their friend to see he was packing his personal belongings, preparing to leave.

"Murray, it's not your fault. You don't need to do this."

"I have to, guys. I should have kept my focus on Clockwerk while Ben and Bentley were saving Neyla and taking out the Hate Chip. I couldn't focus and they paid the price because I was stupid."

"Murray, you're the farthest thing from stupid!" Bentley argued.

"Yeah!" Ben agreed. "Come on, man. We can work it all out."

Murray bowed his head as he turned and left. "I'm sorry, guys. I just wasn't strong enough..."

The Cooper Gang could only watch sadly as Murray left the house, leaving his old mask, gloves, and scarf behind in the process. Neyla turned to Sly, Ben, and Bentley with a sympathetic gaze in her emerald eyes.

*Many Months Later*

Ever since Murray left, it felt like a piece of the Cooper Gang was missing. Neyla did her best to fill the void but it just wasn't the same. Bentley managed to upgrade his wheelchair with all sorts of tech and gadgets to keep going out in the field with the others while Ben's bionic arm was finally finished after a few months of work. Bentley had even called in some favors from their associates on ThiefNet to give the bionic arm all sorts of personal upgrades and bling to further enhance Ben's arsenal.

The gang did some small jobs here and there but managed to pull off a big train heist in stealing the most expensive Bavarian Chocolate, which Carmelita had also been on guard to protect. Despite this being a special moment for them, they kept the chocolate preserved in order to share it with Murray if they ever reunited with them because they knew he would love it the most.

Ben had taken up a few hobbies to keep his mind off things. He took up computer network hacking with help from Bruce O'Coop's entries in the Thievius Raccoonus. He managed to show great promise though Bentley was still the master hacker of the group.

Neyla was allowed to read the Thievius Raccoonus after managing to fully win Sly's trust in the matter. Her already nimble agility and skills were greatly enhanced and she even added a karambit knife similar to Ben's own as well as changing the handle of her whip to that of a Cooper Clan cane hook.

Ben and Neyla had also officially begun a relationship with each other. Sly was happy for his blood brother despite their past transgressions with Neyla but a new adventure would soon be upon them...and it began with a letter addressed to Sly...

Sorry for the short chapter, the next one will hopefully be longer!

Next Time: Meeting McSweeny

Sly, Ben, Bentley, and Neyla receive a letter from an old friend of Connor Cooper and visit him in prison, where they receive knowledge of an amazing discovery!