Chapter 7

Tennessee smirked as he watched from his perch on a roof of a building some longhorns carry in wagons full of gold inside the bank. The male raccoon knew if he managed to rob this bank it would put him down as the greatest outlaw in the Wild West. He quickly jumped down from the roof and landed where the others were waiting.

"I never seen so much gold being carried into a bank. If we pull this heist, we'll be legends!" Tennessee exclaimed.

"The idea seems nice and all Tennessee, but something seems off. I don't what it is, though no matter how hard I try I can't shake the feeling." Noir explained.

"You're not the only one, I sense dark energies coming from the bank." Strongheart said.

Tennessee pushed his hat up a bit with a smirk, thinking the two were letting the pre-heist jitters get to them. He glanced over at Clara, noticing how she was barely making eye contact with him. Ever since the Clockwerk incident where he actually did not respond to her telling him to promise they would get married she had barely spoken; the two would only share a few words with each other before going off on their business. With a sigh Tennessee took Clara by the hand and led her away from the rest of the group.

Once he was far enough he said "Clara, you're still not upset about the whole marriage thing are ya?"

Clara let out a deep sigh before replying "Not really it's just I thought that after that night and the fact ya protected me, I thought that ya would have your mind set. Now I just don't know anymore."

Tennessee said nothing as he placed his gloved hands on both sides of Clara's face, looking deep into her eyes.

"Tell ya what, after this heist I will tell you my decision on your offer." he replied.

The female raccoon smiled a little bit; it made her a bit happy that Tennessee had been thinking about it but his answer left her worried on if he was ready for not. Without a word the two raccoons headed back where the others were waiting, ready to start the big heist. Noir carefully hid behind one of the buildings; using a while aimed thrown rock he managed to hit one of the longhorns in the head. The longhorns without second thoughts ran in the direction that the rock was thrown in to investigate.
When they got there Strongheart was waiting for them and gave them all a hard kick to the head, knocking them unconscious. Once all the guards were unconscious she gave Tennessee the signal that the coast was clear.
The male raccoon grasped his hand tightly around the burlap sack in his hands as he ran across one of the ropes leading to the bank. He jumped up on the roof, ready to find an opening inside the bank, but just then he felt a gun pressed his head. Tennessee froze instantly and tried to get over the shock he had been actually caught.

"Drop the gun, Tennessee Kid Cooper, and slowly turn around." a voice commanded.

Seeing he had no choice Tennessee obeyed, finding himself coming face to face with a male armadillo in sheriff's clothing. The male raccoon raised his brow in confusion; he didn't know who this sheriff was, making him wonder what happened to Sheriff Wiley Fox. Before he could say anything the armadillo pulled out some rope and tied up Tennessee. The male raccoon clenched his teeth as he watched the new sheriff pick up his gun with a smirk.

"Well, Cooper, looks like you won't be stealing anytime soon because this is the day you were caught by I Toothpick!" the armadillo laughed.

Toothpick turned toward a couple approaching longhorns and handed one of them Tennessee's gun, telling them to put it in the mines and to keep an eye out for the rest of Tennessee's gang to arrest them.
Tennessee clenched his fists tightly as Toothpick grabbed firmly a hold of the ropes he was tied in and began to drag him off to jail.
Back with the gang they all stared in shock, they couldn't believe that they had witnessed Tennessee's arrest. Clara silently gasped when she saw a couple of coyotes heading straight for them. They knew they had to break Tennessee out of jail somehow, but the important thing at the moment was to avoid being arrested themselves. Quickly making sure they weren't seen they fled back to their hideout to hopefully create a plan.

Tennessee slammed hard on the ground as he was thrown into his cell. He examined how his body was now dressed in the black and white stripes of a jail uniform; the thought of him being in jail made him sick. His ears twitched when he heard the sound of a door slamming behind him, hearing the sounds of the guards laughing at the thought of the infamous outlaw finally behind bars. He grumbled under his breath as he dusted himself, taking a look around at his small cell.

"Who knew I would see the day to see you get arrested, Cooper." a male voice said.

Tennessee turned around and to his surprise, standing outside of the cell door was none other than Sheriff Wiley Fox.

"Sheriff Fox?!" the male raccoon exclaimed.

Wiley lowered his gaze before replying "Former sheriff. Jeanette Le Paradox managed to convince the entire town I was secretly working with you. So the town had me kicked out and that scum Toothpick take my place. When I get a hold of that lowdown dirty skunk, I will make her pay."

"Should have known she had something do with this." Tennessee muttered.

"There's another thing." the male fox started, "Even though you were arrested, the robbery still happened. Everyone is convinced you are the cause. Toothpick has promised you would be hung tomorrow."

"What?!" the male raccoon yelled, nearly dropping the twig he was chewing on out of his mouth.

Tennessee couldn't believe what was happened, making him not regret listening to Noir and Jeanette when they had warned him about something being off. He silently walked over to other side of his cell and sat down on the bench. For the first time the situation he as in seemed hopeless. He lowered his head to the ground placing his face in hands. There was no way he could escape and now not only would he be hung for a crime he didn't commit, but he would also be leaving behind a broken heart Clara.

Jeanette grinned at excitement that things were finally falling in place for her. Tennessee was arrested and there was nothing stopping her from becoming the greatest thief of that time. She loved her skill at being able to manipulate others to her will and never once getting caught in her webs of lies, because of her skill she was able to get Toothpick in as sheriff and Wiley Fox thrown out. She turned toward her descendant Cyrille Le Paradox, she couldn't be happier that he showed up, none of this would have been possible if he hadn't been there.

"So you convinced everyone to work for Toothpick?" he asked.

"Yep, those suckers believed every word I told them. Now with the entire town against Tennessee and his gang, there is no way anyone can get him out of jail." Jeanette smirked.

Back at the hideout Clara paced around the room nervously, with the entire town searching for them to arrest them there was no way they could bust Tennessee out of jail without getting spotted. In fact the patrols were so bad that Noir had to quit his job of being the saloon bar tender to avoid getting arrested.
Clara bit her lip; she couldn't wait any longer to bust Tennessee out of jail. She had to act before they took him out to hang. Without a word she ran out of the hideout so that neither Noir nor Strongheart would have the chance to stop her. The female raccoon ran as fast as her legs could carry her; her heart kept racing at the thought of losing Tennessee. She couldn't stand the thought of losing another person close to her. She kept running until she accidentally ran into one of the longhorn's line of sight.

"Hey ya are part of that Cooper gang! We have orders to lock ya up!" the longhorn exclaimed.

Clara began slowly backing away from the longhorn; she didn't know what to do. If she tried to run she would get the attention of the other guards. Just then a bright flash of light appeared before her. She squeezed her eyes shut, shielding the face with her hands. When the light disappeared the female raccoon was shocked to see a strange object before her. That object was a blue van with flame designs on it. The longhorn moved closer to the van to inspect it. Just then the door swung open, smacking the longhorn in the head and knocking him unconscious. Clara watched as a gray raccoon wearing a blue sweater, hat, boots, gloves, a black mask, and a brown backpack. Clara's eyes carefully studied the male raccoon before her. His features actually seemed similar to Tennessee's; she watched as he managed to catch one of Tennessee's wanted posters from the blowing wind. What shocked her the most was that the male raccoon had a cane that was brown for the most part, but the top was gold
and shaped like a C, similar to Tennessee's gun. Her breathing nearly stopped when the male raccoon turned toward her.

"Are you alight?" he asked.

"I-I-I guess so." she stuttered, still bewildered by the male raccoon's appearance.

At that moment a green turtle in a wheel chair wearing glass and a tan shirt along with a pink hippo wearing a red wrestling mask, blue shirt, white shoes and scarf, and red gloves came out the van as well.

"Sly, what are you doing?! I thought I explained you the situation last time!" the turtle exclaimed.

"Relax, Bentley, I was only asking if she was okay." Sly replied.

"I understand that, but still..." Bentley started.

"Uh guys, you do know she's still standing in front of us right?" the hippo pointed out.

"Murray's, right, the damage has already been done. We might as well explained to her who we are and why we are here." the turtle sighed.

Clara's eyes grew wider and wider as Bentley explained to her how they were from the future and they had come to investigate why the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus were disappearing. They explained how most likely who was behind the whole the mess was after Tennessee's cane since they had already stolen Rioichi Cooper's cane. The female raccoon was a bit surprised that the entire thing actually made sense to her in a bizarre way, but she knew that whether or not they were telling the truth was important at the moment. She explained how during the heist Tennessee was arrested by the new sheriff named Toothpick and how she heard that the sheriff had planned to have Tennessee hung the next day.
Sly was shocked about this, he couldn't believe yet again another one of his ancestors had been thrown in jail except unlike Rioichi they planned to kill Tennessee. He looked around, figuring Toothpick was the one that had his posters hanging everywhere.

"Alright take us back to your hideout and we'll find a way to get Tennessee out." Sly said.

"Sure thing, but don't tell Noir or Strongheart that whole time travel story. I think it's best they didn't know." Clara replied.

Sly nodded his head in agreement before they all made their way back to the hideout. Once there Noir and Strongheart was surprised by the trio that had returned with Clara. The female raccoon explained to them how they were allies and that they were going to help them break Tennessee out of jail.
Unknown to everyone Bentley stared at the male white mouse. The mouse's features along with the fact he wore glasses and his name meant black reminded the green turtle of a certain pink female mouse that had disappeared shortly after the time machine was fixed, making him wonder if he had actually found Penelope's ancestor.

"If he is Penelope's ancestor I bet she would be excited to discover one her ancestors was part of Tennessee's gang. I'll have to tell her when I find her. Oh Penelope please be okay wherever you are." Bentley thought.

Seeing that the trio served no harm to them, Noir and Strongheart agreed to work with the team, knowing it was there best chance to break Tennessee out of jail.
Bentley opened up his laptop, typing in number and equations on what was the fastest way to get Tennessee out of jail before he was hung. He did get confused looks from Clara, Noir, and Strongheart about the strange technology. After going through many plans Bentley finally came up with the fastest way to get in jail but he wasn't sure if Sly would like the idea. He closed his laptop and turned toward the male raccoon.

"Okay, Sly, I figured out the fastest route to where they're holding Tennessee. But unfortunately that route is to get arrested yourself." Bentley explained.

Sly placed his fingers against his chin, the idea of allowing the law to catch him for the first time was pretty interesting. After all he had once let himself get captured by a pirate before and he had tricked Carmelita into thinking she had finally caught him twice. With a smirk he agreed with a plan, figuring it'll be easy as the other times. Before he jumped out of the window Clara had clung onto his arm.

"Please get Tennessee out safely, I don't want to lose the father of my unborn child." she whispered.

Sly's eyes widen in shock; he knew if Clara was pregnant with Tennessee's child that had to mean that she was his ancestor as well. He laid his hand on her shoulder, promising he would bring Tennessee back. With that said he jumped out of the window, planning to follow through with the plan. Once outside he pulled out his binocom to get further instructions from Bentley.

"Sorry, Sly, about this plan, but it's the only way we're going to reach Tennessee in time. There's just one problem though." Bentley explained, "They're holding Kid Cooper in the Maximum Security Wing. To get yourself thrown in there you're going to have to gain 'Outlaw' status, so you need to make sure you build a rep before they catch you! Otherwise they will throw you in with the common criminals."

"Ugh. You mean like, jaywalkers and litterbugs? Not going to happen." Sly replied, despising the thought of having to share a cell with them.

"Well, around these parts it's probably more like goat thieves and tobacco spitters, but you get the point." the green turtle stated.

A smirk grew on Sly's face as he glanced at the posters of Toothpick. Bentley suggested that he started with them. Taking a paint brush and bucket in hand he managed to deface all the posters of Toothpick, figuring it would tick off the armadillo. Sly held back his laughter as he watched Toothpick rant and rave how he was going to bust the artist's thumbs and maybe his pinkie; he knew at this rate he would gain outlaw status in no time. He continued on with his deeds, stealing the sheriff's special Cuban lollipop and knocking down his banner off the bridge. That was when finally he was caught, but fortunately those three things were enough to make Sly an outlaw in Toothpick's book. Sly smirked as he jumped down in front of Toothpick, loving the idea that the armadillo had no idea he was giving him what he wanted.

"Well, amigo, you just booked yourself a permanent room in the stony lonesome!" Toothpick said with his gun aimed at Sly.

Sly clenched his teeth as two longhorns forcefully grabbed him by the arms, forcing him into one of the prison uniforms. Sly had expected this kind of treatment but he hadn't expect another longhorn to approach with a ball and chain. The male raccoon yelped as his leg was pulled out from underneath him, causing his back to slam on the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut in pain when the tight leg cuff was slapped around his ankle, nearly cutting off circulation. He weakly stood back up once the longhorn let go of his leg, only for the large ball connected to his chain to be dropped in his arms, causing him to bend over just so he could hold it. Finally he let out an annoyed sigh, though he was glad the plan was working it didn't mean he still didn't find the idea annoying.
With a grin Toothpick had the two guards lead Sly away to the prison, pleased with the fact he managed to easily capture two sneaky raccoons.
Strongheart had seen the entire scene and pulled out her binocom that Bentley had given her so that she may contact the male turtle.

"You're plan had worked, Bentley. Two guards are taking away Sly right now. You are a very wise turtle." she said.

"No time for compliments, Strongheart. We got to keep the plan moving, I'm going to go and take some photos of the prison that way I can guide Sly from the inside." Bentley replied.

Not wanting to waste any more time Bentley quickly wheeled out the hideout. He used the hover pack in his wheel chair to reach higher parts of the buildings so he could get a good look at the prison. Once he did all this he managed to discover there was some armory that Sly could use to break down the wall that was weak so that they could escape.

Meanwhile back with Sly he struggled to carry his ball and chain as he was lead to the door of his cell. One of the longhorns unlocked the door and opened it, allowing Sly to enter before slamming it shut behind him. The grey male raccoon inhaled sharply when he saw there right across from him was his ancestor Tennessee Kid Cooper who was lying on the bench with his feet propped up on a barrel and his hat over his eyes.

Sly walked over to his ancestor, unsure what to say so he just said "Uh... howdy."

Tennessee lifted his hat off from his eyes, a bit surprised to see a male raccoon before him that sort of looked like him.

"Howdy yourself." he replied with a grin, "Looks like you must have ticked off ol' Toothpick pretty good. I like that. You got a name?"

Sly dropped his ball and chain on the ground, tired of carrying it before replying "It's Sly. Sly Cooper."

Sly had decided to might as well tell his ancestor he was his descendant since he figured he would have ended up finding out either way.
Tennessee narrowed his eyes when he heard this; he couldn't believe that the raccoon before him actually had the nerve to call himself a Cooper.

Quickly he sat up, taking his feet of the barrel before saying in a strict tone "Now Son, you should know I don't take kindly to folks funnin' on my family name.

Sly raised his hands in defense as he replied "Woah! I swear I'm not joking I can explain..."

"Talk ain't worth spit boy!" Tennessee interrupted him as he shot up from his seat, leaning toward the male gray raccoon's face, "Only one way to prove you're a Cooper. Bust us out of here!"

"Right. My friend Bentley's working on that... I hope." he replied, pausing a bit when he heard nothing from Bentley.

Tennessee crossed his arms, figuring that the male raccoon was all talk and no show, but to his shock Sly picked up his ball and chain and threw it against the wall, breaking it open. His eyes widen as he watched Sly jumped out of the tower and break open the door down below. Tennessee held his hand in front of his eyes as he stepped out of the tower to avoid being blinded by the sunlight. A smirk began growing on his face at the fact that Sly could have possible telling him the truth and they were going to get out of jail. The two raccoons made their way through the prison, even at one point Tennessee had to carry dynamite to blow up the wall much to his disliking. But after all they work they successfully managed to escape the prison.

"I just want to say I knew you was a Cooper the second I laid eyes on you." Tennessee said before giving Sly a pat on the back.

"Thanks but, Tennessee, we need to go!" Sly yelled before some longhorns started firing at them.

The two raccoons ran up to the edge of the cliff, glancing down at the canyon blow.

"You ready?" Sly asked.

"Well, not really..." Tennessee started, but before he could finish the gray raccoon shoved him off the cliff before jumping after him.

The grayish-brown raccoon yelled as he continued falling until Sly grabbed a hold of him and opened up his paraglider. Tennessee looked around in shock as he clung tightly onto Sly's cane, surprised how they had managed to avoid falling to their deaths. Finally he began laughing in happiness, once he gets his gun back he would be back in business.