Yo, yo, yo! What's up?! PickleToast is back! Anyway, I have recently gotten into playing the Sly Cooper series. I have played the first one before….but kinda got sidetracked. However, just a few months ago, my good friend DarkinUnderground got me back into playing it after telling me all about the fourth game (and OMG it is AMAZING!). So I got the fourth game and played some of it, but I have seen all parts of the game previously. Getting back on topic, my friend and I thus began our usual brainstorming and came up with some amazing ideas. In an effort to not forget any of these ideas, and with some pushing from my friend, I created THIS little story.
Disclaimer: I, PickleToast, do not own Sly Cooper or any of the other characters as seen in Thieves in Time. I do, however, own this storyline (to be considered as an AU) as well as the theories and plots behind it and the new ancestor characters that will be introduced (who are co-owned by my good friend, DarkinUnderground). So sit back, relax, and enjoy!
Warning: This IS an AU. The placement of this story is after Thieves in Time, but in the event that Sly did NOT get sent to Egypt. Again, this is an AU.
Note: Personally, I am not actually that happy with this starting chapter. I am by no means great at grammar or writing, as my style tends to lean more towards the 'stream of conscious' writing. As you read, if there is ANYTHING you see that bothers you about the style or does not make sense or if you see something grammatically wrong, please feel free to tell me! I will go back an fix it so that it works. Thank you.
Chapter One: Rewind and Begin Again
It was a lovely day in Paris, and a certain raccoon was making the most of it. Sly Cooper was walking through the city streets in a small disguise in order to enjoy the sun. It had been almost four months since he had that crazy, amazing adventure through time with his friends Bentley and Murray, as well as the ever lovely Carmelita. It had taken him about a month to fully reconcile with her about lying about his amnesia, and another month of not pulling any heists to gain her full trust again (a couple of 'honest' dates helped as well). Although, if he was to be truthful, he thinks the only reason Carmelita started to forgive him and like him again was when she finally realized what he had given up in order to be with her.
Despite everything, Sly was glad the events had happened. If they hadn't, he wouldn't be able to have the best of both worlds: keeping his friends and having Carmelita as an almost girlfriend (again). The only issue left was just how to juggle both his 'job' and being able to stay with Carmelita. It had taken him a while, but Sly believed he had the perfect answer. He was going to run it by Bentley and Murray earlier today, but it was such a nice day out, he figured he could wait a bit to tell them. If he got their okay and their input, he was going to then tell Carmelita. He hoped that she would approve.
Looking up at the Eiffel Tower, Sly smiled. This was the first real thing he had kept secret from her. He had this idea in his head for a year now actually. He wanted it to be a surprise. Thankfully, Carmelita was on a job in Germany right now, which gave him the perfect time to smooth out the edges and get his friends on board. Coming out of his musings, Sly decided to head back to the base. If he made it back quick enough, he'd be able to catch Bentley before he left for his lab. Murray would be there for at least a while longer, before heading to the garage and tweaking the gang van a bit. Lord knows how much Murray loved that van. Sly could still remember when they got it. Murray had seen it in a junk yard, all beaten up and rusted. He couldn't take his eyes off of it. So, Sly and Bentley had 'borrowed' it permanently and gave it to Murray as a birthday present. He's been with it ever since.
With a smile and skip in his step, Sly made his way back to the base just before dusk. Putting his jacket on the hanger by the door, Sly called out "Bentley! Murray! I'm back!" Silence. Confused, Sly walked further into the base and checked each room. "Murray? Bentley?" Still nothing. He looked at the clock on the wall and knew that the two wouldn't have left yet. So where were they? He was about to give them a call on the cams when he heard a loud crash coming from the garage. Ah. There they were, or at least, there Murray was. Sly relaxed and made his way to the where the van was. Opening the door, he was expecting to see the two tweaking the van here and there, with the crash having been attributed to one of them dropping the tool box. He got a madhouse instead. There was stuff everywhere, and to be honest the garage looked more like his messy childhood room than what it was supposed to be.
Looking around the chaos, Sly found Murray and Bentley moving around frantically grabbing things and trying to place them back. Bentley's laboratory laptop was there as well. That itself was enough to tell Sly that something was absolutely wrong. Bentley never took that laptop out of his laboratory. What was going on? He walked up to them, catching a flying piece of paper on the way. "Hey guys. What's going on?"
"Sly! There you are! Where have you been? We've been trying to contact you for an hour now!" Bentley said, frantic. Sly rolled his eyes. His smart turtle friend could just be so dramatic sometimes.
"It was a nice day. I went for a walk. As for not answering, I probably left my phone here. Sorry. So what's with the mess?"
"There's something wrong with the van pal!" Murray said, his arms full of tools and an oil can that was starting to drip on the floor. Sly was about to ask for clarification when Bentley beat him to it.
"The time machine is starting to act up! I haven't taken it off the van yet. I didn't think I needed to! But now it's causing abnormal force waves, and I can't figure out why!" Sly looked up at the top of the van to see exactly what Bentley was saying. The time machine was out of control, spinning rapidly in random directions and with random speeds. If he looked closely, he could swear he saw faint blue pulses coming from it.
"Wh-what happened to it?"
"I told you Sly, I don't know!"
"Calm down, pal! You'll figure it out. "The Murray" is positive!" Bentley didn't respond well, being high-strung and worried about what was happening and thus a small argument began between the two. Sly looked back up at the machine. When his eyes found their way to the clock arrows on the machine he froze, eyes widening and ears slowly flattening against his head.
"Uh….guys?" They didn't hear him. "Guys?" More arguing. "GUYS!" That got their attention.
"What is it Sly?" Murray asked. Sly slowly pointed to the machine.
"…That." The others looked up to find the machine had completely stopped, but now the space around the machine was literally spinning in a warp hole…and the hole was getting bigger. Seeing that the van wasn't being affected, Bentley shouted out that they all get in the van now. As soon as the door closed behind them, they felt the familiar drop and speed of being sent through time. Their eyes widened as they all thought the same thing. What is going on? There was nothing in the chamber to tell them where they were being dropped, and the three just dearly hoped they would be able to figure this mystery out and get back home.
Soon, the van came to a stop, jerking the friends in the van, leaving Sly, who hadn't had a chance to buckle up, to flip and land in the windshield upside-down. After a moment of groaning and getting back in his seat, Sly looked outside. They were on a cliff overlooking the sea. There was grass not that far away and some trees. Sly cautiously opened the door and stepped out into the cold breeze of the ocean. "…Do any of you know where we are?" Before Bentley or Murray could answer, a hauntingly familiar voice answered instead.
"Nope! I ain't have a clue. But if I weres to venture a guess, I'd say the ocean!"
The three whipped their heads towards the voice and almost fell over. "T-Tennessee?!" Indeed, it was Tennessee standing there, complete with his orange shirt, gun belt and unlit cigarette, grinning at them.
"Howdy there fellas! Been awhile!"
"B-But what are you doing here? What's going on?" Bentley asked, just as confused as Sly was shocked.
"We had hoped you would know, Bentley-san." Looking passed Tennessee revealed Rioichi walking up to the group, followed by Sir Galleth and Salim.
"Rioichi! Galleth! Salim! You're all here as well?"
"Hai."
"Verily!"
"Mmph." Salim just groaned, looking like he'd been rudely awakened from a nap. Seeing as they were getting nowhere fast, Sly asked his four ancestors how they had gotten here. All of their answers were the same. They had been minding their own business when they were blinded by a light and suddenly found themselves here on the cliff. After some thinking and deliberating with the now group of seven, Bentley could only think of one answer.
"The time machine was used originally to fix Cooper history and the Thievius Raccoonus. Therefore, the machine is more than likely connected to the book and or to just the Cooper line in general. Since you four were affected the most directly by the machine, you all will be affected by it no matter what it does, as it can reach you more readily than Bob. Thus, the only explanation I can give is that something must be going on either with the Thievius Raccoonus or with Cooper History. But what?" No one had a clue.
"Well," Sly said with a sigh before stretching and heading back to the van, "might as well go have a look around the area. We might find a clue or two." He pulled out the binnocucoms and tossed them out. "I think we should split up. If anyone finds anything, contact everyone else." Soon the group had split, with Murray and Bentley staying by the van as a base of operations and so that Murray could take a look and see if the van was injured during the trip. Recon mission was a go.
Well, there we have it! The first chapter! As stated before, if you see anything wrong, let me know and I'll fix it. Also if I have misspelled 'binnocucom' let me know…it's a hard word to spell! Anyway, I promise the following chapters WILL be longer, as they have more content. I know I am not writing out the character's personalities very well, but please remember this is my first Sly Cooper fic, so please be lenient with me. If you have advice on how to portray one of the characters better, feel free again to tell me in the comments. Thanks!
PickleToast, out!