This is a Sly Cooper Fanfiction of how the fourth game SHOULD have gone; in my opinion at least.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the rights to the Sly Cooper Franchise and do not claim to.

Sly Cooper is copyrighted to Suckerpunch Productions and Sanzaru Games.

Please enjoy!

We arrived in the old west in good spirits. After finding the nearest town and establishing a hideout in the old clocktower, we began looking for Tennessee Kid Cooper. His daring bank and train robberies, as well as pioneering the Cooper rail walk, had made him a legend in folklore and Cooper history. Fortunately, it didn't take long to find him. Unfortunately, we found him… in prison.

He had recently been arrested by a new sheriff who had just arrived in town. The whole thing sounded pretty suspicious; but what was more important was getting Tennessee out of jail before he was executed. After some planning and calculations, Bentley determined that the easiest way to get inside the prison was to allow myself to be captured. I was nervous, but I trusted Bentley. Besides; with the full strength of the Cooper Gang, I was sure we could pull off the jailbreak of the century.

Cotton Mouth Bluff, USA, 1884…

"Okay, Sly;" said Bentley, as the turtle presented his slideshow, "I've figured out a way to get you inside the prison."

"No offense, Bentley;" said Sly, "But… getting thrown in jail is kinda easy, isn't it?"

"In a way, yes." said Bentley, "But here's the catch. Tennessee Kid is doing hard time in the maximum-security wing of the prison. In order to be put in there with him, you'll have to gain a 'reputation' before being caught. Otherwise, you'll be put in with the petty crooks."

"I don't think that's your style; Is it, Sly?" asked Neyla.

"Definitely not;" said Sly, "I'm a master thief. There's no way I'm gonna be thrown in with the jaywalkers and litterbugs."

"Agreed;" said Bentley, "Fortunately, I know a few ways to mess with this new sheriff. Firstly, you can deface the posters of himself that he's posted all over town. That should put a burr under his saddle!" Most of the gang just stared at Bentley; except Penelope.

"Burr under his saddle…!" she giggled, "Good one, Bentley!"

"Thank you." said Bentley, "Secondly, the new sheriff apparently loves lollipops."

"Who doesn't love lollipops?" asked Murray, "They're like… big disks of sweetness on a stick!"

"Not these ones;" said Bentley, "The sheriff is fond of a particular Cuban variety of lollipop. Supposedly, they taste like rice and beans."

"Gross!" Sly remarked.

"Totally gross!" added Murray, "Even I wouldn't eat that!"

"But here's the good part;" said Bentley, "He just received a full box of those things. If we swipe it, he'll have to wait weeks for the next shipment. That will REALLY get him angry!"

"That sounds like more than enough to get me thrown in maximum security;" said Sly, "So why do I get the feeling it isn't?"

"Well, there is one more thing you can do;" said Bentley, "The sheriff is throwing a festival today in honor of… himself…"

"Sheesh!" said Sly, "Talk about an ego!"

"But…" said Bentley, "If you can tear down the banner above the fairgrounds, that will be more than enough reason to get you thrown in the slammer!"

"You sound… awfully happy about me getting arrested, Bentley." said Sly.

"Oh, sorry;" said Bentley, calming down, "It's just that I'm very pleased with this plan."

"I can understand that, I guess;" said Sly, "Well then, I guess I've got a full day of lawbreaking ahead of me."

"Right!" said Bentley, "In the meantime, it'll be up to Neyla to do some reconnaissance of the prison."

"What…?" asked Neyla, "You… you want me to do the reconnaissance?"

"That's right." said Bentley.

"Okay…" said Neyla, "It's just… I can't believe you trust me to do that."

"Well, you have shown signs of change;" said Bentley, "And the Guru says you've been doing better. More importantly, we're on a time clock right now. They're already rigging a noose for Tennessee! If he's hung, Sly will completely vanish from history; and who knows what will happen to us?" Bentley reached beneath the projector and pulled something out. "In light of the occasion," he said, "Neyla, I'd like to present you with your very own binocucom." He handed the device to the tigress, who accepted it.

"Um… Thank you…" she said, "This means a lot, actually."

"Don't mention it;" said Bentley, "Okay, we've all got our assignments; let's move out!"

Sly leaped from the clocktower and used his paraglider to safely reach street level. As he made his way through town, he couldn't help but notice that the citizens weren't really that enthusiastic about going to the new sheriff's fair. It wasn't long before he came across a poster of a small armadillo, wearing a sheriff's uniform.

"This must be him;" said Sly, "Time to do a little improving on his image." Taking the paint Bentley had supplied him with, he made the sheriff look like a ballerina. "Just like junior high!" Sly remarked. After sneaking past a guard patrol, Sly found another poster and redecorated it to make it look like a wanted poster. For his last act of vandalism, Sly painted over a poster to put the sheriff in a full-body cast. "Okay then;" said Sly, "Time to show the public the true face of their new sheriff." He gave a sharp whistle and disappeared to the rooftop. Some of the townsfolk came over, wondering what the whistle was. Upon seeing the poster, they all started laughing; and it wasn't long before they attracted the attention of the victim of the vandalism.

"Hey!" an angry Russian voice yelled, "What's-a-going on here?" The crowd parted, revealing the armadillo from the posters. His badge read, 'Sheriff Toothpick'. Upon seeing the poster, Toothpick grit his teeth, drew his gun, and emptied all six shots into it! "What are you all looking at?" he demanded, "Get outta here! Go!" Once the crowd had dispersed, Toothpick growled and said, "Oh, I'm gonna find this 'artiste' and bust-a his thumbs!" From the rooftop, Sly admired his handiwork.

"Way to go, Sly...!" said Bentley, over the radio, "That's got him angry. Now, head for the post office and steal the lollipops!"

"Roger-dodger!" said Sly, "I just hope things are going as smooth on Neyla's end."

Neyla now had her eyes on Cotton Mouth Bluff's prison. She was amazed that such a structure was possible in the eighteen-hundreds.

"Okay, Penelope…" she said into her binocucom, "I've got the prison in my sights. What am I looking for?"

"Try to see if there are any weak points in the wall;" said Penelope, "Bentley tells me that Tennessee Kid is locked in the northwest tower of the prison. If you can get any shots of that, that would be helpful, too."

"Right;" said Neyla, "I'm on it." She started climbing the low bluff that would give her a better angle on the prison. Upon reaching the top, she could see the prison's highest tower. "That's got to be it." she said, taking her binocucom and snapping two pictures of it. Neyla then scanned the wall for any weak points. At first, she couldn't find any, but she did see a cannon on top of the wall. Behind it, she could just make out a mess of cannonballs and gunpowder. "Gunpowder and explosives…?" she asked herself, "That ought to go off nicely when the Panda King drops some fireworks on them."

"Neyla! Come in!" said Penelope, over the radio, "I think I've located a weak point in the east wall. See if you can get a shot of it!"

"I'm on it!" said Neyla. Taking advantage of her cat-like agility, she leapt from the bluff and made her way across the rooftops of town. Once she was further east, she looked at the wall, and saw that Penelope had been right. It looked as though there had been a break in the wall, and it had been patched up with wooden boards. "Oh, now this is brilliant;" said Neyla, as she snapped a picture, "Breaking Sly and Tennessee out of hers shouldn't be too hard, now." Her job complete, she made her way back to the clocktower.

"Ugh… Gross…!" Sly moaned, as he held his tongue out of his mouth, "Bentley was right about those lollipops. Who in their right mind makes candy that tastes like rice and beans…?" After regaining himself, Sly made his way through town to the 'Toothpick Appreciation Festival'. "Almost done…" said Sly, "I just need to take down that stupid banner, and I'll be thrown in maximum security." He paused for a moment, and said, "And hopefully not the river…" The banner was being held up by a small cable above a grandstand. Sly snuck his way around the crowd and hid behind a rock. From there, he could see Sheriff Toothpick making his way onto the grandstand. He could also tell that Toothpick was extremely angry. "He probably found out about his missing lollipop…" said Sly, "Bet he's really steamed now." Toothpick finally took the stage and said,

"Hello to you; the people of Cotton Mouth Bluff. I, Sheriff Toothpick, want all of you to know that as your new sheriff, I will be bringing law and order to this little corner of nowhere!" Sly took advantage of the speech to sneak over to one of the poles supporting the banner and climb to the top. "As you all know…" Toothpick went on, "I have captured the elusive rouge, Tennessee Kid Cooper!" The crowd light-heartedly clapped. "You will also be pleased to know;" said Toothpick, "That at sundown today, Cooper will be hanged, and his stain on history will be erased forever!"

"Did you hear that, Bentley…?" asked Sly.

"I sure did, Sly;" said Bentley, "We don't have a lot of time here! But Neyla's got the recon photos, and I'm putting a plan together as we speak. Drop the banner and let them catch you!"

"Sure thing." said Sly. He then yelled, "Hey! Toothpick!" Everyone, including the armadillo, looked up to the top of the banner. "Sorry to rain on your little parade!" Sly said as he whacked the support with his cane. The clip holding the banner broke, and the heavy fabric swung down; hitting Toothpick head-on and knocking him off the stage. The crowd laughed at the sheriff's misfortune. Sly then jumped down to the stage and took a bow. Unsurprisingly, he was quickly grabbed by a large steer and handcuffed. An angry Toothpick picked himself off the ground and glared at Sly.

"So…" he said, "You're the poster-painting, lolly-stealing varmint who's-a been wrecking my law and order!"

"That's me…!" Sly said, "You can call me… uh… Rio Grande Stan!"

"Really…?" asked Toothpick. He then turned to the crowd and said, "Guess-a what…? There's gonna be a double hanging tonight!" He turned back to Sly and said, "But first… I'm-a gonna throw you in for a nice little stay at the Cotton Mouth Bluff community prison!"

"Well darn…" said Sly, "The day started so well, too…" He did his best to put on a scared face as he was led away from the festival and towards the prison.

Back at the clocktower, Bentley had the whole gang gathered to explain the plan.

"Based on the recon photos that Neyla took…" he said, "I've determined that the best way to do this is a multi-pronged attack."

"Just tell us what to do, Bro!" said Dimitri.

"First;" said Bentley, "Penelope will use her RC chopper to bomb the munitions dump on the west wall of the prison. Once the guards divert over to that side, the Panda King will use his fireworks to blast open the weak point in the west wall."

"I get it!" said Murray, "Once the guards are all on the other side, we charge in there and break Sly and Tennessee out of there!"

"That's a crude interpretation of the plan;" said Bentley, "But an accurate one. Once we're inside, nothing is written unless we write it."

"What will our priority be once we are inside?" asked the Panda King.

"Our number one priority is Sly and Tennessee;" said Bentley, "So I'll make a run for their cells while Murray covers me. There are sure to be tons of guards, so we'll be in for one heck of a fight."

"No problem, Chum!" said Murray, "The Murray will rain destruction on their puny heads like a dark cloud of pain!"

"I share in your enthusiasm;" said Bentley, "If we can't pull this off, Sly and Tennessee are gonna dangle from the gallows come sundown!"

"Then I say let's go now!" said Neyla, "There's no way I'm letting my brother be wiped from history!"

Sly was rather concerned as he was being led to the maximum-security wing of the prison. Everything looked so primitive, and he was sure the guards would have fewer restraints when it came to pushing the prisoners around. Finally, he was thrown into one of the cells. After getting back to his feet, he looked to the other side of the room and saw a raccoon in a prison outfit, just sitting in the corner and playing a harmonica. There was no question that this was the legendary Tennessee Kid Cooper. Gulping, Sly made his way over to his ancestor and said,

"Uh… Howdy…" The raccoon looked up at him and said,

"Well howdy there, Stranger. You musta ticked Toothpick off something awful to get thrown in here. I like that!"

"Yeah;" said Sly, "I kinda defaced a few of his posters, stole his lollipops, and dropped a banner on him at his own festival."

"Hoo-wee!" said the raccoon, "Wish I'd been there to see that!" He then got up and said, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Stranger. I'm Tennessee Kid Cooper."

"Pleasure to meet you too;" said Sly, "I'm Sly. Uh… Sly Cooper." Tennessee's friendly attitude changed in an instant.

"Listen here, Son!" he snapped, angrily, "I don't take kindly to folks makin' fun of my family name!"

"Neither do I!" Sly insisted, "I take great pride in being a Cooper."

"Applesauce!" Tennessee said, "You ain't no kinfolk of mine! I ain't never seen you before!"

"Well; there's kind of a good reason for that;" said Sly, "But don't worry. I'll have time to explain once we're out of here."

"And how do you propose we get out of here?" asked Tennessee, "This place is locked down tighter than a whiskey cabinet!" Sly just smiled and said,

"Wait for it…" Three seconds later, there was a huge explosion that rocked the tower and loosened the door from its hinges!

"Direct hit!" said Penelope, at the controls of her RC chopper.

"Nice shot, Penelope!" said Bentley, "Okay, Panda King; you're on!"

"Stand back!" the Panda King ordered. He loaded his fireworks launcher, and unleased a barrage at the wooden patch in the wall. BOOM! The patch was obliterated, and the Cooper gang stormed right through.

"We're in!" said Bentley, "Murray and I will make a run for the prison tower. The rest of you take care of any guards that try to stop you!"

"Go now!" said the Guru, "Our friends await!" He then waved his staff and turned himself into a tumbleweed. Bentley and Murray made a break for the stairwell, and the rest of the gang turned their attention to the steer and coyote guards coming for them.

"Let's dance!" cried Dimitri as he swung his tail, taking out two coyote guards.

"C'mon, Boys!" said Neyla, "Let's play!" She used her whip to grab a steer guard's horn and pull herself towards him; giving him a swift kick in the face. The Panda King reloaded his fireworks launcher and blasted some more steer guards. One of the guards tried sneaking up on Penelope, but the Guru turned back into himself and leaped on the guard's back; taking over his mind. He then steered the sprinting guard into another guard, knocking them both out. Meanwhile, Bentley and Murray were fighting their way through coyote and jackrabbit guards, who were trying to stop them.

"Murray!" said Bentley, "Watch my shell! I'm gonna try to bomb that door open!"

"Got it!" said Murray, as he uppercut a jackrabbit and caught him in the air. He then shook the guard, until a small gold nugget fell out of his pocket. "Score!" Murray said, before throwing the guard into someone else. Over at the door, Bentley placed his bombs onto the door and shouted,

"STAND CLEAR!" He then retreated, and BANG! The cell door was blown wide open. After the smoke cleared, Sly and Tennessee emerged; shaken, but unscathed.

"What in the wild blue yonder is goin' on here?" Tennessee questioned.

"A jailbreak!" Sly explained, "I don't know about you, but I'm not so keen on being hanged."

"I don't like that idea, neither" said Tennessee, "What say we make tracks?"

"I'm there with you!" said Sly.

"Sly!" shouted, Bentley, "Let's go! I'm not sure how much longer the gang can hold out!"

"Who are you…?" asked Tennessee, "And what's with that fancy chair of yours?"

"We'll explain later!" said Sly, "Let's go!" He, Tennessee, Bentley, and Murray made their way back to the ground floor and met up with the others.

"Good to see you made it, Bro!" said Neyla, after punching a coyote in the face.

"Good to see you too, Sis!" said Sly, "Okay, everyone; fall back!" The Cooper Gang finished off the last guards and made their escape through the wall.

"Great scorpion claws!" Tennessee exclaimed, "You tellin' me this whole gang is yours?"

"Sort of!" said Sly, "We're more of a team! A family, even!"

"Boy, I'll tell you what;" said Tennessee, smiling, "I knowed you was a Cooper the moment I laid eyes on you!" With that, the gang made a full retreat to the hideout.

It had been a narrow escape, but we made it. After returning to the hideout, we explained the situation to Tennessee. Surprisingly, he was easily convinced. He then told us what had happened prior to the jailbreak. He had been planning the gold heist that would have cemented his status as a master thief; only to have the mysterious new sheriff arrest him before he even reached the bank! After that, the robbery still took place, and Tennessee was charged for the crime, even though he was already in jail. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the new 'sheriff' had been responsible for the gold disappearing.

Bentley did some research on this Toothpick character and found out that he was actually a modern-day gangster from eastern Europe who had masterminded some heists from the gold reserves of European cities; only to mysteriously vanish two days before the anomalies had occurred in the Thievius Racoonus. He had always had a fondness for old western movies, and now it appeared that whoever was in charge of this whole operation had given him the chance to make his fantasy a reality. Needless to say, Toothpick presented a dangerous challenge. But me and the gang were up for it. It was now our mission to stop him and restore Tennessee Kid Cooper's reputation as the greatest thief of the old west.

It's time to break Toothpick…!

But can our heroes cope with an unexpected surprise…?

Answers incoming… in Chapter 6!