Chapter 5

A few weeks had passed since the big heist. Tennessee's gang continued to pull off big heists, in fact Tennessee Kid Cooper managed to get his bounty raised to five-hundred-thousand dollars. The male raccoon smirked as he pulled the wanted poster off of the pole, pleased with the fact he managed to get his bounty so high. He knew if he kept up his work he would be known as the greatest outlaw in the Wild West.
Meanwhile Clara was sitting on the balcony. She had noticed her body was feeling strange lately, making her wonder if her series of events had finally caught up to her. She laid her hands on her stomach, wondering about the possibility there could be an unborn child inside of her, of course she needed to confirm it first.
Strongheart was confused why Clara had called her out on the balcony and told her not to tell anyone. She walked up to the female raccoon, seeing she was deep in thought.

"I'm here like you asked of me." Strongheart said.

Clara turned toward the female buffalo, nervous about what she was going to ask her. She took in a deep breath, steadying her nerves, ready to ask her question.

"Strongheart, I want ya to check to see if I'm pregnant." Clara said.

The female buffalo blinked in shock; she had no idea Clara and Tennessee had slept together. Though quickly she pushed these thoughts to the side and agreed to the task. Strongheart pressed her head up against Clara's stomach; her ears listening for the slightest vibration. She had learned that technique from the village she grew up in. She listened closely and finally she was able to make out what sounded like a small heartbeat coming from the womb. Strongheart got back up, placing her hand on the female raccoon's shoulder.

"I could hear a small heartbeat with in your womb. Clara, you are pregnant with Tennessee Kid Cooper's child." she said.

Clara placed one of her hands over her mouth, trying to decide whether she should be shocked or happy. The thought amazed her that the very next Cooper was actually inside of her awaiting the day for it to be born.
Strongheart began to walk away, planning to go back inside of the clock tower but to her surprise Clara grabbed her by the arm and stopped her.

"Strongheart, promise me ya won't tell Tennessee I'm pregnant. I want to surprise him, it'll be fun to see the look on his face at the fact to learn that soon he's going to be a father." Clara said.

Strongheart shook her head and sighed; she had been trying to get use to other people's customs ever since she decided to leave her village for good. Finally without a word she nodded her head in agreement, promising not to tell Tennessee about the pregnancy.
Clara smiled as she headed back inside the Clock tower, wondering how she should surprise Tennessee with the news.

Jeanette clenched her fists as she walked alone down a quiet path. She had been so sure that her plan would go through successfully; she hoped she would finally be able to succeed in bringing the Le Paradox family name to light. Though all her hopes were crushed when she saw Tennessee and his gang robbed the bank before her. The female skunk finally let out a frustrated yell into the sky, unleashing all the angry she held inside for many years.

"Why? Why my family must always be out done by the Coopers! Why is my family so forsaken within thieves? Why must my family suffer?" she screamed at the top of her lungs, her throat growing sore from how loud she was yelling.

When she finally finished yelling she lowered her head to the ground, taking in deep breaths, but unknown to her a dark shadow flew over her. Jeanette was about to continue walking until she found herself snatched up in giant metal talons. Jeanette's heart begin racing and her breath quickened in fear; she knew who she had been snatched up by. She had heard stories about the owl that vowed to wipe out the Cooper family; she heard about how some members of the Le Paradox Clan seeked his help to rid themselves of the Coopers only for them to get slain before they got the chance to speak. She knew she was in the presence of the infamous Clockwerk. Jeanette found herself being lifted up the almost completely mechanical owl, just staring into his red glowing eyes full of hate made her body become frozen in fear.

"It seems you are having trouble with the Cooper Clan." Clockwerk said, his tone dripping with venom upon saying the name of the clan he despised.

Jeanette was too frightened to speak so instead she nodded her head quickly, fearing that the ancient owl may kill her like he did to some of her ancestors.
Clockwerk narrowed his eyes at the female skunk's shivering form; he knew that she would provide useful in his plan.

"Now listen carefully, unless you wish to be slain by me, you will do what I say. Are we clear?" Clockwerk said in a threatening tone.

"Y-Y-Yes. Clockwerk." Jeanette stuttered, still fearing for her life.

The female skunk inhaled sharply when she felt the mechanical owl's talons tighten around her body a bit. She and Clockwerk were eye to eye with each other, not saying a word. Finally Clockwerk released her from his talons, dropping her on the ground.
The female skunk yelped when she hit the ground, but she ignored this and quickly stood up. She knew that despite the fact Clockwerk had spared her life that didn't mean he wouldn't hesitate to send her to her death where her ancestors would be waiting. She stared up at the mechanical owl, still feeling her heart beat quickly out of her, though her best chance to live was to do what Clockwerk says.

Tennessee took in a deep breath as he flipped through the pages of Thievius Raccoonus; he figured he might as well brush up on his thieving skills. His brown eyes carefully studied each of the pages, making sure to memorize every single detail within the book. He stopped on the page about his ancestor Henriette "One Eye" Cooper, he didn't know why, but he considered her to be his favorite ancestor. Looking at the picture with her holding her dagger with a c shaped handle firmly with in her mouth as she made off with a bag of gold, Tennessee could see a bit of himself in her. He was about to flip to the next page until he noticed something odd in the background of the picture. He lifted the book closer to his face to get a better look, allowing him to see a dark silhouette with red glowing eyes flying over one of the ships. Tennessee's heart nearly froze in fear when he saw the silhouette in the picture; he recognized the silhouette to be the figure in his nightmares. Curious the male raccoon flipped through the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus, seeing if the dark figure was in the other pictures as well. He checked every single picture, confirming his suspicion when he saw the dark silhouette in every single picture, leaving him to wonder why the figure was following his family and who the figure was. Before Tennessee could take his thoughts any further, Noir ran into the hideout with a panicked look on his face.

"Noir, what's wrong?" Tennessee asked.

The male mouse took a few deep breaths before answering "It's Jeanette! She came into the saloon and started shooting the whole place up! There's something off about her, if anything I know Jeanette doesn't charge straight forward into things like this."

Tennessee crossed his arms in thought, he knew that the female skunk would rather have people do her work for her rather than charge in head first. Without a word he grabbed a hold of his gun and began heading for the exit.
Clara had just entered the room and was confused on why the male raccoon was leaving when they weren't pulling any heists that day.

"Tennessee, where are ya going?" she asked in a concerned tone.

The male raccoon stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound of her voice. Quietly he turned around and held her by her shoulders; he didn't want her to worry about him.

"I'm only going to check something in town. I promise it'll be quick." he replied.

Clara frowned as she starred into the male raccoon's brown eyes; she wanted to believe him, but something inside her gut told her something terrible was going to happen. Before she could say anything Tennessee held her chin with his hand and pulled her in a short yet loving kiss.

When he pulled away he said "Don't worry, I promise you I'll be fine."

With that said Tennessee quickly left the hideout.
Clara bit her lip and placed her hand over her stomach, she couldn't let Tennessee go alone. Without a word she quickly began running toward the door.

"Hey, where are ya running off to?" Noir asked in a shocked tone.

"I'm going after Tennessee, I have a terrible feeling about him going alone." Clara replied before running out the door.

Noir let out a deep sigh, a little upset that Clara didn't even give him the chance to respond.
Just then Strongheart came running in the room breathing hard, her breathing quick and raspy as she quickly looked around the room.

"Where is Cooper?" she asked in an urgent tone.

"He just left to investigate something in town, why you ask?" the male mouse asked.

"I saw a large mechanical owl flying overhead, there was a terrible dark energy coming from it!" the female buffalo said.

"What, a mechanical owl?! Tennessee and Clara might be in danger!" Noir yelled.

"Clara went after him! If she gets hurt she might endanger her and Tennessee's unborn child!" Strongheart replied in panicked tone.

"Wait she's pregnant?!" the male mouse exclaimed loudly.

Tennessee tightened his grip on his gun as he approached the front of the town saloon. He saw Jeanette standing in front of the saloon's entrance, armed with her two guns. The male raccoon narrowed his eyes, studying his opponent. He saw the female skunk looked normal except for the fact there was sweat dripping down her forehead. He quietly approached her cautiously, preparing himself just in case Jeanette would try to shoot him.

"Jeanette, what's going on? Ya don't usual do things like this." Tennessee said,

"It's not any of your business what I do Cooper, but I am glad ya came here." Jeanette said, her voice had a hint of fear in it.

Quickly she extended out her arm with her gun.
Tennessee was going to dodge until he saw the female skunk aim her gun upward and fire. The male raccoon raised his brow in confusion, wondering why Jeanette shot up in the air. He failed to see Jeanette slowly back up into the saloon; her green eyes glancing at the dark figure soaring straight toward the unaware raccoon. Tennessee finally noticed Jeanette back into the saloon, giving him a clue that something was coming for him. He quickly turned around with his gun ready, but when he did this his heart nearly stopped. His nightmares began returning to him how a dark figure with red glowing eyes would be soaring toward him, but he knew that now he wasn't having a nightmare. He was staring at the very red eyes that haunted his nightmares.
Clara had arrived on the scene and gasped when she saw Clockwerk headed straight for Tennessee, but what scared her the most was that Tennessee was standing there and staring at the mechanical owl headed straight for him.

"Tennessee, look out!" she screamed as loud as she could.

The male raccoon rapidly blinked his eyes, snapping out of his shocked state.
Clockwerk narrowed his eyes and extended his deadly talons, ready to snatch up his prey within them.
Tennessee yelled when he saw this and rolled out of the way of Clockwerk's talons, avoiding getting snatched up in them. His breathing quickened as he watched the mechanical owl began turning around for another attack. Tennessee didn't waste any time and started firing his gun at him.
Clockwerk hissed in pain when he felt his metal skin get pierced slightly by the bullets being fired from Tennessee's gun but it did little damage to him. Quickly he got his body turned around and swooped down at the male raccoon again, ignoring the onslaught of incoming bullets.
Tennessee's face became pale when he saw his gun was doing very little damage and that the owl was dangerously close to him. He tried to roll out of the way like last time, but Clockwerk knew better.
Quickly the ancient owl pinned the male raccoon to the ground with his talons, pleased to hear Tennessee's loud scream of pain. With one of his wings he swatted away his gun, knocking it near some barrels.

"Wh-Who are you?" Tennessee snarled as he tried to force off the talons that kept him pinned to the ground.

Clockwerk pressed his talons down harder, earning more screams of agony from the male raccoon before replying "I'm assured that you must have been told about me."

"No I've never heard of ya, you're the kind of thing I only see in nightmares. But I did see you behind each of my ancestors in the Thievius Raccoonus." Tennessee grunted, his ribs feeling on the verge on cracking from how much pressure Clockwerk was using with his talons.

"Ah so you know that have been around for many years. Then allow me to tell you who I am so that way you shall know the name of the very ultimate being that had brought you to your demise and successfully ended the Cooper line." he said before pushing down his talons harder.

Tennessee screamed in agonizing pain, Clockwerk's talons were starting to cut in his skin, causing him to bleed a lot.

"My name is Clockwerk." the mechanical bird started, "My history with the Coopers span far back in time, before the Thievius Raccoonus was even made. I had made it my sworn goal to end the Cooper line so that I may be the greatest thief. Though some Coopers may had managed to live to old age like Salim or that blasted Rioichi, I've killed more Coopers than that, two of those being none other than your mother and father."

Tennessee nearly stopped breathing; he now knew that the being before him not only had killed many of his ancestors, but had also slain his own parts.

"Killing your father was simple, the weak fool barely stood a chance." Clockwerk continued, wanting Tennessee to feel complete torture before finally killing him, "Though it didn't take long to discover he had a child. I went to his house to kill both you and your mother, but to my misfortune only the wretched female raccoon was there. I demanded for her to tell you where you were, but the foolish woman did not tell me, instead she attacked me with a fire iron. I easily defeated her and gave her fatal blows to the stomach, when I had her in my talons I had asked her one final time to reveal your location. Though her response was to spit in my face. Seeing I was going to get absolutely not information out of her, I plunged my talons through her chest, killing her instantly. Now after all these years I have found you and now I will kill you, ending the Cooper family line."

Without another word Clockwerk began applying more and more pressure on the male raccoon pinned underneath his body.
Tennessee screamed loudly in pain as he continued trying to force Clockwerk's talons off of his body; he knew if he didn't do so and quickly he would be crushed to death by the mechanical bird's talons. The male raccoon's arms shook as he continued trying to shove the deadly talons off of him, he clenched his teeth in pain, feeling the talons create deeper and deeper wounds in his body. He saw his crimson blood beginning to come forth, staining his orange button-up shirt. Tennessee looked upward at Clockwerk's face, seeing only hate in those red glowing eyes of his. As Tennessee continued struggling the one thing running through his mind was Clara. He was worried he would see her face again, never see her lovely brown eyes, never see her kind smile, and never feel the warmth of her body pressed against his. The thought pained him of leaving behind the lovely female raccoon, a thought he knew he had to accept.

Just then the sound of a gunfire went off and a bullet shattered one of Clockwerk's eyes. The mechanical bird shrieked in pain, his talons lifting off the injured male raccoon. Tennessee turned to see Clara running toward him with his gun in her hands, turns out she was hiding behind those barrels the gun landed near.

"Clara, why did ya come here?!" Tennessee exclaimed.

"I was worried about ya Tennessee, I had a terrible feeling about leaving ya alone so I followed you." she explained.

Clockwerk shook his head, still managing to see out of his good eye, he fixed that problem ever since his encounter with Rioichi. He glanced down in anger at the two raccoons, but then he noticed his scanners was picking up three life-forms. He was confused about this until it dawned on him that Clara was bearing Tennessee's unborn child. A dark grin form on the mechanical bird's face.

"Cooper, I may not be able to kill you at the moment, but I can kill your mate and unborn child!" Clockwerk yelled.

Tennessee's heart nearly stopped, he couldn't believe that Clara was pregnant with his child. He snapped out of these thoughts when he saw Clockwerk headed straight for Clara. The female raccoon froze in fear, her body paralyzed from staring into the mechanical bird's red glowing eyes full of hate. Clockwerk extended out his talons, ready to snatch up the terrified female raccoon.

"Clara, no!" Tennessee screamed as he shielded her body with his, awaiting for Clockwerk's talons.