Thieves In Time Redux Writer

Hey kids! Welcome to my behind the scenes blog!

Do you hate Thieves In Time with a burning passion?

Do you love redemption stories?

Are you a Bentley/Penelope fan like me?

Are you wondering what might have happened if Penelope had joined the boys for the events of Thieves In Time?

If you answered "yes" to all of these questions, then congratulations! This Thieves In Time rewrite is for you!

Since I can't pin more than one thing to the top of my blog, here's a link to the abridged version of my story!

Here's a link to the mission recaps, and a link to everything Penelope does in the story.

Lastly, here's a link to the beginning of a slightly less abridged version! I’d start there if I were you; it’s more fleshed out than my old DeviantArt story.

Episode 1 Recap: Here

-Breakout! Recap: Here

-Something's Fishy Recap: Here

-Tiger Tail Recap: Here

-Altitude Sickness Recap: Here

(Not listed: Photo Op, Sushi House Startup, Pretty In Pinker, Spiked Sushi)

Episode 2 Recap: Here

-Under Arrest Recap: Here

-Jailhouse Blues Recap: Here

-Cooper For Hire Recap: Here

-Saloon Bug Recap: Here

-Blind Date Recap: Here

-Jail Break Recap: Here

-Grand Key Larceny Recap: Here

-OP: Gold Digger Recap: Here

(All Missions Completed!)

Episode 3 Recap: Here

-Unexpected Ties Recap: Here

-Getting Stronger Recap: Here

-Penelope's Fever: Here

-Going Up Recap: Here

-Ice Ice Bentley Recap: Here

-Penelope's Nightmare-A-Thon (partially covers Going Up, Starving Starving Hippo, Ice Ice Bentley, and Duty Calls): Here

-OP: Jurassic Thievery Recap: Here

(Not listed: Stone Age Reconnaissance, Starving Starving Hippo, Duty Calls)

Episode 4 Recap: Here

-Juggling Act Recap: Here

-Mechanical Menace Recap: Here

-Short Supply Recap: Here

-Shell Shocked... Heart? Recap: Here

-Hard Target Recap: Here

-Princess Out Of Distress Recap: Here

-OP: Frog Trap: Here

(Not listed: Shopping Spree, Cane Swipe, Eye In The Sky)

Episode 5 Recap: Here

-Penelope's Atonement Protocol: Here

-Lost And Found Recap: Here

-Open Sesame Recap: Here

-All Rolled Up Recap: Here

(In progress: Copy Cats)

(Not listed: Rug Rats, Up In Smoke, Heavy Metal Meltdown)

Episode 6 Recap: Here

-Penelope's Golden Ending: Here

-The Epilogue: Here

Feel free to ask me anything about Thieves In Time Redux!

I realize that my Penelope might not be perfectly written (for my Thieves In Time rewrite), but… I think the time has come to ask...

This girl goes through a lot.

Episode 0: Here

First, she gets dragged into a time traveling adventure against her will, and while secretly working for the bad guys...

Episode 1: Here

She feels disconnected from her friends, then jumps off a bridge, then saves Sly from getting burned and zapped alive... only to then get yelled at by an overprotective Bentley for running off.

Episode 2: Here

She spends some time thinking Bentley wants her to be weak (he doesn't; he's just scared of losing her), then shows him she's not a helpless damsel by breaking the boys out of jail...

Episode 3: Here

She battles a life-threatening fever, then realizes that her life belongs to the Cooper Gang...

Episode 4: Here

She dismantles the villainous empire she was supposed to inherit, all while not letting the boys find out what she did...

Episode 5: Here

She grows fanatically devoted to her boys (to the point of self-neglect), then gets outed by her former boss (Le Paradox)...

Episode 6: Here

She believes that in order to redeem herself, she must lead the gang to victory, then singlehandedly defeat Le Paradox in battle. Then she learns she doesn't need to be perfect.

All five major characters (Sly, Bentley, Murray, Penelope, and Carmelita) go through some sort of change over the course of my Thieves In Time rewrite.

Okay, maybe not Murray. Any change he goes through is microscopic at best. But that's perfectly fine. Murray doesn't need to change any more. He just needs to be there for his brothers and little sister.

We kick things off with Penelope, who gets the most profound character arc as our main protagonist.

As Le Paradox's secret chief engineer, she starts off rather distant from the rest of the gang.

Despite this secret alliance, she's still somewhat loyal to the Cooper Gang, a feeling that only grows the longer this story progresses.

She also naturally feels underestimated by her overprotective boyfriend, Bentley (I'll go over him in a bit). When he gets suffocating, she responds by thinking she has to dress up like a doll to make him feel like a man.

As she works to earn his respect, something changes within her that she doesn't quite understand at first.

And those feelings of loyalty? They mutate into her being fanatically devoted to her boys.

By the end, when she's been found out as the traitor in the gang's ranks, she begins learning to forgive herself and maybe stop putting herself last all the time, but not before thinking she has to be perfect to buy back the boys' love.

The big lesson from Penelope's arc covers what it truly means to atone for a heinous sin, such as changing history for the worse. She thinks it means eternally punishing herself. But in reality? It means promising to be there for your friends (at least in this case it does).

Then, of course, there's Bentley. Everyone's favorite neurotic turtle.

One week before the museum heist, his beloved girlfriend almost gets kidnapped. This triggers the beginning of his arc: where he learns to not be overprotective of his loved ones.

Bentley starts off by micromanaging Penelope every chance he gets, whenever she goes outside. But not while she's in the hideout. Because that would get exhausting.

He's at his most suffocating during the events of Episode 2, following the events of Penelope's infamous bridge jump.

But despite this, even he's quick to realize that maybe excluding her from missions isn't the best idea. It only weakens the team if you leave a member out of the action.

Only after seeing how strong Penelope is (during Episode 2's Jail Break) does he finally open his eyes. Only then does he apologize for his behavior.

The rest of the story after that has Bentley proving over and over again that he no longer wishes to coddle his brilliant girlfriend. It gets to the point where he's giving her tactical advice on how to dismantle a wannabe time god by herself; where any wrong move could result in her getting erased forever.

The lesson Bentley teaches himself? "The bad guys need to be shielded from Penelope, not the other way around."

Now it's Sly's turn. The franchise's namesake.

His arc isn't just about navigating the aftermath of what he did to Carmelita. Because Carmelita wasn't the only person he hurt by faking amnesia.

The rest of the gang never really says it out loud, but ditching his friends on Kaine Island just to be with the girl of his dreams wasn't Sly's brightest move. Bentley and Murray understood (maybe partially) why he ran off, but as for the rest of those (The Guru, Penelope, Panda King, Dimitri) left behind? I'm not so sure all of them did...

As the story progresses and Carmelita keeps pushing him away, Sly starts to believe he doesn't deserve her. That he might never be forgiven. So he pours himself into doing what he knows best: stealing from other thieves with his brothers (Bentley and Murray) and sister (Penelope).

But little does he know that one of his friends, Penelope, is hiding a much bigger (and worse) secret...

...Which leads us to Carmelita.

Now, unlike the rest of the cast, Carmelita's arc isn't really front and center. Yes, it is very much tied to Sly.

The lesson she needs to learn isn't made explicitly clear, but she does reach a sort of epiphany at the very end, after Le Paradox's arrest.

She gets to see Penelope (who was hiding a far worse secret than Sly's amnesia) lead the gang through a living nightmare after her treachery gets found out, and still find forgiveness.

If a traitor like Penelope can pull that off, maybe there could be hope for a certain ringtail...

She and Sly don't really make up at the end, but at least Sly's not trapped in Ancient Egypt.

But does she want Sly to go away? She... really doesn't know yet.

This mission in Episode 1 of my Thieves In Time rewrite would be identical to canon... if it wasn't for Penelope having other plans...

Penelope's Very First Assignment

Bentley isn't so sure about letting Penelope go outside after she snuck out, but he doesn't have a choice. It's time to spy on El Jefe, and Penelope seems to be the best girl for the job.

But that's when Penelope finds an opportunity to snoop around some more...

As Penelope puts it, Bentley would be the better option for tailing El Jefe, even though she's the superior driver.

Thankfully for her, Bentley is fairly easy to convince. Because they'll both be using their RC Cars, they won't be in the line of fire.

Bentley Strikes It Rich

While Penelope investigates the Geisha House, Bentley digs up a gold mine of intel...

El Jefe: "Ah, even this magnificent prison pales when compared to my new statue fortress!"

He finds hit after hit...

El Jefe: "Nobody would guess the Palace Gate switch is actually under the bridge!"

Although one bit of intel is a bit outdated...

El Jefe: "Bah! Fishing caves. Good thing I sealed them! My Dragon Gates are invincible as long as that lazy guard doesn't get distracted by sushi!"

Yep, this guy loves hearing himself talk... Although buddy, those fishing caves aren't exactly sealed anymore... Bentley cracked them wide open.

El Jefe: "Even if those fools get to the Dragon Gates, they'll never figure out the switches are inside the dragon mouths! Hahaha!"

What a blabbermouth.

El Jefe: "Now I just need to find that blasted Rioichi, so I can deliver the package to the boss!"

Bentley is thrilled with all the info he got, but how did Penelope do...?

Also, what does El Jefe mean by "package"? He keeps it vague, so our heroes won't find out... yet.

The House Of Disappointment

Meanwhile, Penelope investigates the Geisha House... What she finds in there... isn't promising at all.

Guard 1: "So lemme get this straight. You're saying everyone's getting stiffed?"

Guard 2: "Sure am."

Guard 1: "That's funny... That ain't what's happening over at the Big Boss's fancy shmancy blimp..."

Guard 3: "No, he's right. And if I know the big bad skunk in charge, most of the guys under him are probably being forced to do his bidding!"

Guard 2: "No wonder they ain't getting paid..."

Guard 1: "...You know what? Maybe a new job sounds like a great idea..."

Utterly disappointed, Penelope backs away and leaves the Geisha House empty-handed.

Well, This Stinks

"Madame Geisha" then meets with El Jefe, swipes something off him, then tosses it to our favorite turtle and mouse.

As Bentley is examining the scroll Murray just tossed him, he spots a rather saddened Penelope. As far as he can tell, she's upset because she didn't dig up any valuable dirt.

Penelope: "I probably shouldn't have gone in there, wasting all my energy for no reason..."

Bentley, of course, can't have his girlfriend putting herself down like that. He tries to cheer her up, and she does... kind of.

If only he knew her about her dark secret of treachery...

This mission from Episode 2 of my Thieves In Time rewrite is again identical to canon, but... why not? Guess I'll talk about it anyway because of the changes in the background.

After the last mission, you'd think things would keep going smoothly, but... this is a Sly Cooper story. Things almost never go according to plan.

Carmelita Enters The Chat

I'm not sure what the original plan would have been without this happening (even in canon), but Tennessee manages to find a kidnapped Carmelita...

Tennessee: "Hmm, that's not good... Looks like Toothpick rustled himself a pretty lady!"

Bentley (comms): "Sweet jumping jackrabbits! That's no lady, that's Carmelita! What is she doing here?"

Tennessee: "You know her?!"

Bentley (comms): "I'm afraid so! Something is very wrong here, Tennessee, but all quantum physics aside, we have to rescue her! Nobody can get there faster than you! I'll grab Sly and Murray, and we'll meet you in the van. Just get going!"

As you might expect, Bentley's omission of Penelope's name means she won't be joining the rescue effort. Though perhaps it's due to either the urgency of the situation or a massive amount of hubris on Bentley's end... or both.

No, Penelope is expected to remain at the clock tower and hold down the fort... and not leave under any circumstances. She's more than happy to do this, and not just because she's learning to like being inside.

Penelope Snoops Around

Since Bentley was kind enough to leave his laptop behind (since Penelope might need it), Penelope decides that now is the perfect time to investigate Le Paradox, even though leaving behind a search history containing someone the boys don't know much about could be risky. She waits a few minutes (just in case the boys forgot something), then makes her move.

Penelope: "Bentley won't mind if I borrow this, will he?"

C-Y-R-I-L-L-E

L-E

P-A-R-A-D-O--

Before she can type the final letter, an SOS arrives from Tennessee. And it's bad. Sly, Bentley, and Murray have all been arrested by Toothpick, and the van has been taken.

Penelope: "What?! All of them?! Even Bentley?!"

Penelope wasn't told what to do in the event of a near party wipe... But all hope is not lost. Tennessee managed to rescue Carmelita, and now they need to figure out their next move.

Our favorite mouse finds herself in a bit of a no-win situation.

If Penelope stays (like Bentley wanted her to), Tennessee and Carmelita will have to handle the upcoming jail break with her operating from the clock tower. But there's a chance the operation could end in failure.

If Penelope joins the mission personally, the jail break will have a higher chance of success, but it could likely result in Bentley having the worst freakout in recorded history, even worse than after the bridge jump.

But then she remembers the scorpion incident... She disobeyed orders to run away back then, and she didn't get yelled at afterwards.

Penelope makes her decision... She'd much rather have Bentley angry and alive than happy and dead. She orders Tennessee to return to the clock tower with Carmelita for a strategy meeting.

Penelope: "…Send her over here. If we want to bust the boys out of prison, we'll need all the help we can get."

The One Where A Mouse Meets A Fox

Penelope wastes no time sending her drones out to the prison to find her imprisoned allies. Turns out they've been separated. She's in the middle of all this when Tennessee and Carmelita show up...

Carmelita isn't sure what to expect when she walks in... probably an empty hideout. But what she doesn't see coming is a mouse girl calling the shots. A girl she doesn't recognize at all.

But the mouse is more than ready to stand up to Inspector Fox... and lead her and Tennessee through what might be her very last field mission...

As she prepares to step outside, Penelope's imagination starts to run wild. What will Bentley do to her when this is over? Surely he'll insist that she stay locked inside the van (tied up, even) when they get it back... He might even order the gang to double back to Paris just to buy her those ridiculous doll clothes she's been daydreaming about...

That doesn't matter right now. The boys need help, and she's the only one who can pull it off. Bentley can yell and give her all the restrictions he wants when he's free.

Oh, and now that this mission's done, Penelope is fully playable again. And you'll need to select her for the next one.

This mission in Episode 2 of my Thieves In Time rewrite might be identical to canon on the surface, but since Penelope's here...

Penelope is back to benchwarming after the scorpion incident. Understandable, since she's been stung. She's been patched up, and she hasn't felt any weird side effects... yet.

Bentley's not super comfortable with letting her go outside right now, especially after the above incident. She still needs to let her injury heal. That, and she's still under "house arrest". But his "overprotective armor" is beginning to crack... That said, Bentley seems ready to allow a small bit of freedom...

Invading The Watering Hole

Sly and Bentley make their way to a local saloon where Toothpick has his office...

Bentley (comms): "Toothpick's office is somewhere in the upper levels of the saloon. To find out what he's planning, our best bet is to plant a bug. Needless to say, we must remain undetected. Conveniently, I discovered they're looking for a new bartender, so I'll go in - undercover - and control the situation by introducing the patrons to my special home-brewed sarsaparilla."

Sly: "Your mustache looks… bigger. What have you been feeding it?"

Bentley (comms): "Pay attention, Sly. You'll need to enter through that window and make your way to the ventilation system. Meanwhile, I'll have the goons inside so sugared up, they'll be seeing double until they crash. Hard. Once you launch the RC Car in the vents, Penelope will take control and guide it to Toothpick's office."

Bentley could drive the RC Car himself (as he did in canon), but he needs to give Penelope something to do, if only to alleviate her boredom in the clock tower. That, and she's the better driver. He's also got to keep an eye on the saloon's patrons in case they somehow wake up.

Sly: "You're not going to start wearing that mustache all the time, are you?"

Bentley (comms): "Jealousy is such an ugly emotion, Sly."

Bentley then makes his way to the saloon to pose as its bartender. Sly holds his position at the window...

While waiting for her part of the mission to start, Penelope has a few words with Sly...

Sly: "Hey Pen, how're you holding up? Feels like you're a million miles away."

Penelope (comms): "...I'm fine. But I think I just realized something."

Sly: "Yeah?"

Penelope (comms): "I... I think I'm starting to like it in here. Just like Bentley wants me to. And, you know... maybe Bentley's right. It's no use feeling bad about something you'll never get to have. Like more facial hair, or... You know what? Forget it. Let me know when you're in position, Sly. I'll... I'll be here."

Penelope almost says "freedom", but she stops herself. Will Bentley yell at her for wanting freedom? And you read that correctly. She's training herself to not want any freedom.

After all, Bentley did say that "jealousy is an ugly emotion". If she wants to avoid being "ugly", she needs to want what Bentley wants.

She does want to get out there and help the team, but since Bentley doesn't want her out there... what she wants doesn't matter. And maybe she's wrong to feel jealous of the boys' freedom because Bentley said "Jealousy is such an ugly emotion". It's a toxic way of thinking, but if it makes Bentley happy...

This might subtly cause Sly to start thinking about how he treated Carmelita (faking amnesia to be with her), though he doesn't say a word about that. Oh, and he's pretty sure giving up isn't the right answer for Penelope... A good relationship requires communication and understanding, not one person giving in to the other's demands all the time. Then again, Sly wasn't exactly practicing a lot of those healthy habits with Carmelita... He spent most of it (his time as an "amnesiac") catering to Carmelita's every whim.

Penelope starts daydreaming about her future life (as Bentley's helpless girlfriend/wife) while waiting for Sly and Bentley to finish up, only jumping back to life when her turn comes up...

Bentley is busy serving the patrons in the background during that little chat... He doesn't really get a chance to hear what Sly and Penelope are talking about...

Into The Vents

Now that the saloon patrons are mostly down for the count, Sly is ready to infiltrate. He makes his way through the place (and casino) and sends Penelope's RC Car on its way to Toothpick's office...

When she gets to Toothpick's office, she gets the villain's plans to skip town after the Toothpick Appreciation Festival wraps up.

But before Penelope backs away, she spots an opportunity to snoop around... She asks Bentley for permission to do exactly that. Thankfully, Bentley sees no problem with this idea. The gang needs all the intel they can get. It helps that Penelope is not physically inside the vents.

What Penelope finds in the guards' break room is... a little disappointing. Turns out Toothpick's goons are planning a mutiny which might not go anywhere...

Penelope is left in quite the state of mind afterwards. The timeline's all messed up, Toothpick's goons are planning a mutiny, and the next biggest thing on her mind is... on how fast she can get her hands on some frilly dress?

It's embarrassing. If only Le Paradox could see his "chief engineer" now... She'd probably die of embarrassment before Interpol could cuff her.

Not that this stops her from planning to dress up like a helpless, fragile doll just to appease her overprotective boyfriend. But... maybe she can dial down the ribbons just a little.

And so ends Episode 6, and my Thieves In Time rewrite. Let's see exactly what happens...

Le Paradox has just been defeated after an epic duel. Now it's time to witness the end of this tale...

The Skunk Who Was Never King

Our ten heroes land in Paris safely.

But the blimp? It crashes spectacularly into the Seine.

And Le Paradox? He miraculously survives the disaster. Our heroes watch as the local authorities fish him out.

Le Paradox is placed under arrest for multiple offenses, including temporal tampering, kidnapping, impersonating royalty, and attempted murder. And that's just a fraction of his charges. (Let's just say his defense attorney's going to have a heck of a time trying to defend him, especially after he tried to kill 10 people with a dangerous [and possibly illegal] time blaster...)

The incredibly soggy would-be king of the world tries the "royalty" card to avoid arrest. And upon spotting Penelope, he also tries to get the cops to arrest her instead.

...Instead of obeying their so-called king, the cops laugh. A good amount of them even slap their knees.

Interpol Officer: “We’ve already received Inspector Fox’s report and testimony from the Cooper Gang. Says here this ‘traitorous mouse’ played an integral role in dismantling your flying circus. Turns out she was a mole in favor of those friends of hers the whole time. Young lady, I believe you have some medals in your future. You know, for saving the city.”

Le Paradox: "???????" (he'll probably protest and stick to his story that Penelope is the true villain)

Interpol Officer: “Yeah, yeah. Tell it to the judge, stinky. And watch your head; wouldn’t want that ‘crown’ of yours shattering.”

Enraged, Le Paradox swears revenge against Sly, his gang, and his ancestors. And especially Penelope.

Penelope: (in response to Le Paradox swearing revenge against her and the gang) "I'd like to see you try."

As Le Paradox is loaded in a van for transport to a maximum security prison, the two officers in charge of him chatter a bit...

Officer 1: "'King Of The World'? More like 'King Of The Nutcases'."

Officer 2: "Yeah. He's the most fun we've had in nineteen months!"

They laugh their butts off as they drive away.

And... it's over. One of the shortest reigns in recorded history. Only a few hours at most. And all thanks to a very heroic mouse named Penelope.

Except... she's not feeling very heroic. You see, this poor girl tried so hard to do this perfectly. This performance? Not perfect in her eyes.

She let Le Paradox's toxic words get to her. Her friends had to come save her, putting themselves in danger in the process.

A perfect leader never would have let that happen.

So... Penelope decides that her redemption didn't count. She failed. It'll only be a matter of time before the boys realize it. That because she wasn't perfect, she's not sorry for what she did to them. She decides to return to her home country.

It'll be hard at first, rebuilding the ACEs tournament, even with the Black Baron as its mascot. But once the money starts rolling in, she can keep her boys safe from the shadows.

She'll also never work for anyone else ever again. Because she knows the gang has a lot of enemies. She doesn't want to accidentally start working for one of them.

Penelope, The Redeemed Hero

Sly's ancestors are finally returned to their respective timelines. The timeline is fixing itself, according to Bentley. Everything's great! Or is it…?

Penelope begins to walk away from her friends, prepared to never see them again.

…She doesn't get very far, because the boys see what she's trying to do.

As the boys try to convince her to stay, she says she should have done this perfectly. Without putting everyone she cares about in danger.

…Then Bentley comes in. He's there to remind his girlfriend of how much she grew over the course of this adventure. And of how much she forced him to grow.

She started off as this terrified girl who didn't even want to go time traveling. Bentley dragged her into it against her will to keep her safe from a bunch of kidnappers.

…But then she grew up. The terrified girl vanished and made way for the brave young woman who spearheaded a jail break and led the gang through a living nightmare.

Bentley doesn't need her to be perfect. He just needs her. And he's also incredibly proud of the woman she became.

As the boys hug it out with their redeemed sister, Carmelita watches them from afar…

If that mouse can crawl out of such a giant hole in one piece, maybe there's hope for a certain ringtail…

The Real Golden Ending

After a long vacation, the Cooper Gang (Sly, Bentley, Murray, and Penelope) go back to what they do best: steal from other thieves. And more importantly, stop dangerous criminals from corrupting the world.

Penelope gains a lot of experience in the field. She pours her soul into every heist the gang pulls. And she slowly starts unlearning her punishing Atonement Protocol.

She eats real meals on duty, starts taking naps, and stops putting herself last. Because she can't help the gang if she's always punishing herself. Over time, most of her Atonement Protocol goes out of business.

Bentley? He makes sure to let his girlfriend know how proud he is of her every day in an effort to stop her from spiraling into self-loathing.

Eventually, Carmelita reaches an epiphany of her own. Strictly following the law isn't the only way to do the right thing. She shocks the world by quitting Interpol to join the Cooper Gang. She also forgives Sly for faking amnesia. (but that's a story for another day)

And after Penelope learns to stand up for herself again, she and Bentley are married. The wedding is as beautiful as she imagined it. Bentley waits for his bride at the end of the aisle, so proud of of the woman she's become it physically hurts.

Their kids? A mouse boy and a turtle girl.

The boy is every bit the playful hacker his father is.

The girl? She's incredibly timid. Wears a giant red ribbon in her hair. Almost like the porcelain doll her mother feared becoming. But she does slowly grow out of it.

Bentley is a fantastic father to these kids. Humbled by the lesson his wife taught him many years ago, he doesn't dare to wrap either of them in bubble wrap, not even his daughter who's scared of her own shadow. He still protects them from real danger, but never goes overboard. And when they stumble, he doesn't yell or panic. He shows them how to get back up.

As for Penelope, she doesn't keep her secret of betrayal to herself forever. When the twins are old enough, she tells them the full unabridged story. And they don't hate her. They simply hug her.

Penelope never retires from serving the Cooper Gang. Though when she grows older, she moves from the front lines to mission control.

Finally, at age 115, Penelope is surrounded by great-grandchildren. She lived her life serving the Cooper Gang not out of guilt, but gratitude. A few months after her 115th birthday, she passes away, and is buried next to her faithful husband, Bentley.

So continues Episode 6 of my Thieves In Time rewrite...

Last time, Penelope decided to try to redeem herself by facing the villain of her story in battle. This time, she actually fights him.

The Smelly Throne Room

We kick things off in Le Paradox's extravagant throne room, where our villain lounges on his throne, eagerly awaiting the moment he truly becomes king of the world... except he's about to be dethroned. Little does he know that his prized blimp has an irreversible virus loaded on it.

Penelope steps inside, unseen by the would-be king at first. She takes a deep breath, then shows herself to him.

Le Paradox, expecting Sly to try and take his cane back, is very much amused that his chief engineer has come instead. She doesn't look like she wants to bow down to him or beg for mercy.

She wants to fight for control of the blimp, or so she says. (In reality, she's only doing this to subdue him and bring him to Interpol. That's because the blimp is doomed. Not that she's willing to tell him that.) She's also here to get Sly's cane back (which is true).

I should note that removing Sly's cane from the blimp's system will not stop the countdown. Once it starts, it can't stop.

Our villain, thinking a duel will be an amusing way to pass the time, agrees to her terms. He then proceeds to draw his weapon, which he'd been saving for Sly... an electric-powered rapier.

This makes Penelope a bit terrified. That thing could fry her entire nervous system if she's not careful! But no. She's not allowed to run away. If she does, she's not serious about her redemption. She summons every last bit of her courage, draws her weapons, and charges forward, making the first move before Le Paradox can start up his villainous monologue.

Phase 1 (Penelope Vs. Le Paradox)

The opening few seconds of the duel are explosive. Penelope's approach on Le Paradox is very aggressive. Understandable since she believes her very soul is on the line.

For a moment, she can almost hear the cheering crowd of people still watching Le Paradox's coronation parade. Almost as though they're cheering for him to crush this traitorous rodent under his heel.

But Penelope can't think about that right now. If she wants to truly redeem herself like the world's greatest atoners, this is how it has to be done.

Besides, the boys, Carmelita, and the ancestors would be risking their lives if they tried to join in. For a fight that isn’t their responsibility. The only person that needs to be there to fight the villain of this story is her.

Penelope claims first blood. She doesn't slow down to admire her work. She relentlessly tears into Le Paradox, hoping to take him out quickly.

Le Paradox might be a fencer, but a skilled fighter he is not. So he utilizes his words of poison...

At this early stage, the villain's just testing the waters. The first Blade Lock of the duel contains his first taunt...

As Penelope and Le Paradox trade blows, the former starts getting tired. It doesn't help that she got hurt saving Murray's life during the events of Copy Cats...

Le Paradox notices this and suddenly stops the fight. He makes Penelope an offer she can't possibly refuse. He suggests that she should rejoin him as his Queen Of The World... The gang obviously hates her. Why should she keep fighting for them?

Penelope pauses. What if he's right? What if the boys do hate her?

Then she remembers all the evidence against Le Paradox she gathered... In Feudal Japan, where guards kept getting stiffed on the regular. Cotton Mouth Bluff, where Toothpick's goons were planning a mutiny...

She also remembers the kindness the boys showed her over the course of their adventure together...

All this causes her to reject Le Paradox's "generous" offer with violence.

Enraged, Le Paradox starts dishing out even worse taunts.

The more he talks, the more our favorite mouse doubts herself...

Then Le Paradox prepares his next attack. Penelope tries to block him with her wrenches... but her heart isn't in it. He pierces through her defenses, and she goes down.

Penelope's wrenches scatter. One stays near her, while the other slides much farther away.

She stares at the ceiling, fully convinced she deserves to die here...

The Hacked Feed

Meanwhile, Sly, Bentley, Murray, Carmelita, Rioichi, Tennessee, Bob, Sir Galleth, and Salim are all watching this battle unfold from outside the throne room.

A concerned Bentley watches as his girlfriend fights Le Paradox. She's using up too much of her energy too quickly.

Then Le Paradox tries his re-recruitment card... and when Penelope refuses with violence, the crowd goes wild.

It's official. Penelope's redemption attempt was genuine. The boys (especially Bentley) couldn't be more proud of her.

...Then they all watch helplessly as she starts to give up on life. Then she goes down.

Sly can't watch anymore. He dashes to the throne room to save his fallen friend.

Before long, the rest of the gang follows him.

Phase 2 (Sly Crashes The Party)

Penelope lies helpless on the floor. She could grab her remaining wrench and continue fighting. But she doesn't.

Le Paradox circles around her delivering a villainous monologue. Almost pitying the poor girl for failing at her redemption. He even kicks her wrench away to twist the knife further.

But before he can kill Penelope, Sly Cooper enters the chat, reclaiming his cane in the process.

Penelope is stunned. Why did Sly just save her? She's a traitor! She deserves to die...

...But there's no time to discuss ethics, because Le Paradox is still at large. He's ready for his next trick... A time blaster.

Le Paradox decides to test his new toy on one of his statues. Within seconds, it ages away into dust. He then grins with glee at the thought of testing it on live targets...

Imagine if he were to descend down to the streets of Paris with a weapon like that... He could erase anyone he didn't like! The masses would be too scared to do anything other than love their abusive king!

Sly and Penelope can't have that. They prepare themselves for Phase 2...

Le Paradox starts by aiming his new toy at Sly, causing Penelope to run in front of the raccoon.

Knowing full well she could get erased, she takes the blow with her wrenches... but nothing happens to her.

You see, Penelope's Morph Wrenches are made of a powerful fictional alloy. They always remember what their true form is. They can reform faster than Le Paradox's time blaster can wither things away.

Before anything else can happen, Bentley charges in. He's followed by Murray, Carmelita, and Sly's ancestors in that order.

Penelope is the only one who can counter Le Paradox's time blaster. If it manages to hit anyone, they're history.

She doesn't hesitate. She rushes to shield everyone, fully believing they deserve to survive long enough to kick her out when this is all over.

Le Paradox decides to spend this phase trying to turn the rest of the gang against Penelope. Good thing none of them are good listeners, because they don't believe him at all.

Then the villain aims his time blaster at Bentley. The turtle can't get away fast enough! He declares that Penelope is a horrible person unworthy of anyone's love.

Cue Penelope getting to her boyfriend's side just in time with her full Shield Form. She stands strong (despite being exhausted), and manages to knock Le Paradox into his own throne.

And Bentley? He's in awe.

Phase 3 (The Rematch)

While Le Paradox is recovering, Penelope orders the gang to retreat so she can safely face the villain alone, for she's the only one who can get close to him without turning to dust.

One by one, they all back off... until only Bentley remains.

You'd think this is the part where he begs her not to do this... but he instead gives her the tactical advice she needs to kick Le Paradox's butt. He then wheels away.

Le Paradox, fully believing he must be a god, makes the first move.

The rematch finally begins. Penelope dodges and blocks time blasts as she advances forward.

Our villain, thinking his old tricks from Phase 1 will work again, taunts our heroine... but good thing she stopped listening.

Instead, she delivers him a speech on what she learned about friendship. Even though she believes she doesn't deserve it from anyone.

Listening to Bentley's advice, she locates a weakness in Le Paradox's toy and exploits it.

She doesn't just destroy his toy; she knocks Le Paradox out cold.

It's over. Penelope won.

Suddenly, the blimp starts violently destroying itself. The chaos from the recent fight caused Penelope's virus to activate prematurely! Meaning she can't stay and drag Le Paradox out. She has to run.

Our ten heroes run back to the van. They all escape safely. And nobody gets lost in Ancient Egypt.

And Penelope? She thinks it's only a matter of time before the boys throw her out...

Episode 6 is advancing smoothly, ain't it? It's time we witnessed the prelude to the final showdown...

Penelope's briefing in the war room was flawless. Let's see how the actual mission unfolded...

Before The Raid

Penelope steps out of the van onto Le Paradox's blimp with our other eight heroes (Sly, Bentley, Murray, Rioichi, Tennessee, Bob, Sir Galleth, and Salim), ready to properly atone for her treason. But first...

Penelope: "You boys remember the plan, right?"

Murray: “You don’t need to worry about that, Sis, for my mind is like a steel… uh…”

Penelope: "...Trap, Murray."

Sly: "You remember our deal?"

Penelope: "Of course." (silently to herself) "No messing up allowed."

Let me remind you once more. Penelope thinks she's being tested on her loyalty. One wrong move or misstep, and the boys will (supposedly) think she intentionally betrayed the team. If she's not perfect, she thinks she's going to be expelled forever.

Time To Raid Us A Blimp!

With this, Penelope's redemption test truly begins. She doesn't dare show how terrified of failure she is.

The ancestors go to retrieve their canes for each other, while Bentley, Murray, and Penelope go to rescue Carmelita.

As for Sly... his job is finding Le Paradox and challenging him to a "duel". It won't be your traditional duel. Sly needs to lose on purpose and let the villain take his cane. And he needs to make it look convincing. Good thing Sly's a great actor.

Penelope, of course, simultaneously manages all three teams herself. She warns Sly's ancestors of incoming traps, shields Bentley and Murray from vicious guards, and makes sure Sly remembers not to make things too easy for Le Paradox.

Thankfully, everything goes perfectly. All of the ancestors get their canes back, Carmelita is freed, and Sly's cane is installed into the blimp's system. Meaning the trap is now active.

It's now time for the team to evacuate and watch the fireworks...

A Dangerous Detour

...Instead of joining the evacuation, Penelope marches herself to Le Paradox's throne room, for that is where the villain of her story is waiting.

It doesn't take long for Bentley to realize what she's doing. He doesn't want her to sacrifice herself like this! When he said "put an end to what you started", he didn't mean "challenge Le Paradox to a duel, then personally drag him off to jail"! He tries to stop her. But before he can fully say she's been forgiven... she kisses him.

She breaks away and runs to the throne room. She sees a vision of her potential future as she advances...

Penelope's Golden Ending

Penelope's duel with Le Paradox is nothing short of legendary. She dismantles the villain of her story singlehandedly, and drags him out by his velvet cape.

The boys are in awe. They're intensely proud of her right now.

Le Paradox is sent off to prison, and he spends his days cursing the mouse who humiliated him.

The Cooper Gang (Sly, Bentley, Murray, and Penelope) soon returns to what they do best: stealing from other thieves and stopping criminals from corrupting the world.

Penelope pours her soul into every single heist. Everything she does is for the gang. She doesn't ever stop working, because a truly redeemed traitor must always keep paying off their debt.

Eventually, Carmelita reaches an epiphany of her own. Strictly following the law isn't the only way to do the right thing. She shocks the world by quitting Interpol to join the Cooper Gang. She also forgives Sly for faking amnesia. (but that's a story for another day)

Before Penelope knows it, she and Bentley are married. Bentley waits for his bride at the end of the aisle, so proud of of the woman she's become it physically hurts.

Then the happily married couple has twins: a mouse boy and a turtle girl.

Their son is every bit the playful hacker his father is.

Their daughter? She's incredibly timid. Wears a giant red ribbon in her hair. Almost like the porcelain doll her mother feared becoming. But she does slowly grow out of it.

Bentley is a fantastic father to these kids. Humbled by the lesson his wife taught him many years ago, he doesn't dare to wrap either of them in bubble wrap, not even his daughter who's scared of her own shadow. He still protects them from real danger, but never goes overboard. And when they stumble, he doesn't yell or panic. He shows them how to get back up.

As for Penelope, she spins a very sanitized version of the gang's time traveling adventure for her twins as a bedtime story. They hear everything... except the part where their mommy designed a death blimp for a smelly skunk.

The twins happily work with Sly and Carmelita's kids on several heists.

Penelope never retires from serving the Cooper Gang. Though when she grows older, she moves from the front lines to mission control.

Finally, at age 115, Penelope is surrounded by great-grandchildren. A giant family of thieves, all of whom love her. A few months after her 115th birthday, she passes away, and is buried next to her faithful husband, Bentley.

She opens her eyes. She's still young. And her destiny lies beyond the door leading to a tyrant's throne room.

All she has to do to earn that beautiful fantasy is not mess this up.

So continues Episode 6 of my Thieves In Time rewrite...

After arriving back in a very smelly version of Paris, our heroes have agreed to let Penelope lead the gang to victory...

But before she can present her plan to the gang, she must first retire to another room to make herself look spotless.

Penelope Cleans Up

No messing up allowed. That's the phrase Penelope keeps hearing in her head like a broken record.

Any error, however insignificant, will be "proof" that she intended to betray her friends from the beginning. "Proof" that she must be a bad person.

In order to be "good" again, Penelope must spearhead the ultimate, perfect blimp raid. If she doesn't, the boys will give up on her forever.

Spoiler alert: The boys do not want to give up on her. They don't expect perfection. All they want is for her to stay loyal to the gang. If she makes it through this entire job without defecting to Le Paradox, she gets to stay.

...But that's the problem. Penelope believes that if she makes even the tiniest mistake, the boys will think she did it on purpose and throw her out.

Loyalty equals perfection, and perfection equals loyalty. At least, for a repentant traitor, it does.

It all starts with her appearance. Penelope looks like a mess right now. She can't go into the war room looking like that!

Penelope starts by cleaning her glasses off. She'll need perfect vision if she wants to complete the tasks ahead of her.

She next brushes her hair and fur. If she looks perfectly groomed, maybe the eight people in the war room (Sly, Bentley, Murray, Rioichi, Tennessee, Bob, Sir Galleth, and Salim) will take her seriously.

She unclips the badge she forged in Medieval England. She hasn't taken it off until now. She sets it down to be polished later.

Then she gets to the red bandana in her hair. Should she leave it off? Is it somehow disrespectful to wear it?

...Of course it isn't. It's a vital part of her. She washes it off and leaves it to dry, then straightens out her clothes and mends any tears.

Next comes her gear.

She makes sure her Morph Wrenches, RC vehicles, and pickpocketing magnet are all working perfectly.

Now that the cleanup's complete, she can polish her badge and pin it back where it belongs: over her heart. Her bandana goes back where it belongs as well.

She's done. She looks immaculate. Just like the leader she needs to become.

The Redemption Test Begins

Penelope comes out to face everyone. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. She already has experience leading an entire fleet of dogfighters as the Black Baron, and leading that jail break as herself.

But now? Her heart's pounding. She's pushed herself into a position where she has to lead a team of people who were hurt because of her.

She can't afford to mess this up. Not even a little. She doesn't dare show it. That's not what a perfect leader would do.

All five of Sly's ancestors remember her.

Tennessee recalls the legendary jail break Penelope spearheaded alongside him and Carmelita.

Penelope was sick for most of her time in Bob's time period, but the cave raccoon does remember how she helped train him and fight back against Grizz.

Sir Galleth fondly remembers the lady knight in the making who not only struck down the Black Knight's operations, but the merciless Sir Raleigh himself.

Salim remembers all the hard work Penelope did during her time in Ancient Arabia.

And then there's Rioichi. He's pleased that Penelope's darkness has been purged. But he senses that something else is troubling her... It's not darkness, but rather a blinding light... He keeps quiet, as always.

So yeah. She made a good impression on all five of Sly's ancestors. Enough to get them listening.

The boys are all ready to listen as well. And Bentley's ready to help out with anything Penelope might need.

Penelope's briefing finally begins.

The plan is simple. During this blimp raid, the gang must reclaim the ancestors' stolen canes, rescue Carmelita, and start up a trap Penelope laced into the blimp.

The trap? The key to starting it up is Sly's cane. Once it's inserted into the blimp's system, a countdown will start. Le Paradox will think it's a countdown to when the timeline locks in his favor forever, but joke's on him. It's actually counting down to when the timeline is fixed.

One hour after insertion, the timeline will snap back to normal, and all of the damage Le Paradox did to the timeline will be erased.

Penelope also talks about several backup plans in case Le Paradox's engineers noticed the trap... but she'll later find none of them will be required because those engineers are kinda dumb. They followed her blueprints to the letter. The trap is still there, just as she intended.

The only thing she doesn't bring up is neutralizing Le Paradox. Because she plans on fighting the villain herself.

Everyone is satisfied with the plan... but Bentley thinks something is off. But because he doesn't want to be controlling anymore, he lets it go, hoping its just his nerves getting the better of him.

This mission in Episode 1 of my Thieves In Time rewrite probably doesn't need to be recapped, but here it is anyway.

Our heroes are now ready to try and break Rioichi out of the imperial prison headed by El Jefe.

Samurai Sly

According to Bentley's research, there's only one way into the prison: through the front door. Sly can't just waltz in there because it's heavily guarded. He'll need a disguise to get in.

Sly then procures enough parts of a guard's uniform to make a Samurai Costume. He then uses it to blend in with the guards and gain access to the prison...

Sly: "You there! Open the door!"

Boar Guard: "Hmmph! A little short to be a commander, aren't you? Who are you?"

Sly: "Why, I am…. Major Muggshot!"

Boar Guard: "Hmmph! Muggshot?! I've never heard of you!"

Sly: "You dare question me?! Son, I've been a guard since you were just a squealing piglet! Wait until I tell the general about this! I hear he loves pork chops…"

Boar Guard: "Wait! I'm very sorry, sir! I didn't recognize you! Please, go right in!"

Piece of cake. Now Sly can waltz in.

Meeting Rioichi

With his disguise, Sly has no trouble breaking into the Imperial Prison.

He finds Rioichi and, with a few hiccups along the way, frees his ancestor.

Rioichi's Tale Of Woe

Our heroes are all introduced to the legendary Rioichi Cooper. While he greets Bentley and Murray warmly... he pauses when he gets to a fairly reserved Penelope. He senses both a powerful darkness and light within her, but keeps his remarks incredibly cryptic, enough that the boys all misinterpret what he's really saying.

Murray is a little too eager to introduce his little sister, but Penelope can't have a 17th century ninja calling her 'Sis', so she introduces herself properly. (She does secretly admit Murray's nickname is cute coming from him.)

Rioichi then shares the tale of how he ended up in prison, confirming the rumors our heroes heard earlier.

He keeps it simple: he was falsely accused of feeding the local shogun bad sushi. With El Jefe in charge of things, it wasn't long before the legendary ninja/sushi chef got locked away.

And El Jefe? Bentley realized it in the last mission, but the intimidating tiger is a notorious mercenary from the present day. Meaning the Cooper Gang isn't the only group of time travelers. All the more reason for Bentley to keep his girlfriend locked safely inside...

Though the boys have no idea how El Jefe got the technology to make his way to the past, it's Penelope who knows what really happened (not that she's willing to fess up)...

The beginning of Episode 6 of my Thieves In Time rewrite.

After the devastating events of All Rolled Up, the Cooper Gang seems to be fighting a losing battle... but little do they know that the traitor in their ranks has a plan to shut Le Paradox down for good.

The Skunk Who Is King

Our four heroes (Sly, Bentley, Murray, and Penelope) arrive back in modern day Paris... only to find that Le Paradox's fake royal documents worked and made him king of the world.

Bentley turns on a news channel on his laptop, and... well, I'll just let you see for yourself.

News Reporter: "…and for those of you still unaware, just two hours ago, it was discovered that this world has long been owed a brand new king: Mr. Cyrille Le Paradox I, the rightful heir to the world’s throne. We will be providing live footage of what appears to be his pre-coronation celebration in Paris, France for the remainder of the evening. As we welcome our glorious new--" (Bentley mutes the audio feed)

Bentley keeps the video feed and captions on. The news special continues on and on about Le Paradox's inspiring "rags-to-riches" story.

There's even this noisy parade going on right now.

Murray looks at his brothers and the exhausted girl in the back as he drives the van. He always called that girl Sis. Ever since her last birthday. But she ended up betraying the gang, endangering Sly's ancestors, and she handed a megalomaniac skunk the keys to the timeline. He can't just keep calling her Sis and pretend everything's normal. Calling her by her name again also sounds wrong. How can he call her anything?

Sly rides shotgun, thinking about everything that just happened in Ancient Arabia. He's not feeling too great, especially since Carmelita's been captured by the enemy...

Then there's Bentley in the back with the time machine... and her. How could his other half, the love of his life, do something this awful to the timeline? But wait... Her behavior doesn't add up. If she were a cold-blooded traitor, she would have fought a lot harder to get away from the gang, and even more so to hurt them.

And who can forget the mouse-shaped elephant in the room, Penelope? Still too terrified to talk about why she sided with Le Paradox, she can't bring herself to look at the boys at all. She only looks up to see that Le Paradox has pulled out all the stops for his coronation ceremony... and it's all her fault.

Penelope fully expects to be unceremoniously thrown out of the van any minute... but that's not what happens when Murray hits the brakes. Instead, he proceeds to drive away from the parade route. He's just been asked to take the gang over to a backup hideout so they can make an emergency war room and figure out how to stop Le Paradox once and for all.

Looking Back At The Past

On arrival, Penelope prepares to leave the boys behind, thinking they don't want her around anymore.

Nope. Turns out they still need her. She designed the blimp; she can help take it down.

The boys (especially Bentley) have also been thinking. Everything Penelope did on this adventure happened long after her betrayal.

In the museum, Penelope had every reason to bolt. Yet she not only stayed, she also demonstrated loyalty by saving Bentley's life from the wrath of a guard. Though it is noted that she only stayed because Bentley was so overprotective at the time.

In Feudal Japan (El Jefe), her behavior was at its shiftiest. She snuck around, joined a mission unannounced, and jumped off a bridge after bickering with Bentley. But she also capped off the era by saving Sly from getting burned and zapped alive.

In Cotton Mouth Bluff (Toothpick), she saved Bentley from a scorpion invasion, broke the boys out of jail, and saved Sly from getting crushed by a giant Toothpick.

In Gungathal Valley (The Grizz), she, right after recovering from a nasty fever, tried to deadlift Murray and Bob (trying to save them), then faced Grizz in battle alongside Murray. She also helped train Bob despite feeling incredibly sick, to the point of collapse.

Medieval England (Sir Raleigh) was when Penelope really started pulling her weight. Especially since this era was supposed to be her domain. She shuts down the Black Knight's operations, helps dismantle a tavern, breaks herself out of a guarded princess tower, destroys her evil impostor, and strikes Raleigh down after playing him like a fiddle.

In Ancient Arabia (Miss Decibel), Penelope more than pulled her weight; she ran herself to near exhaustion. The list of stuff she did there is dizzying, culminating in when she refused to go back to Le Paradox's side after he outed her.

What do you get when you put all that together? Simply, a young woman who desperately wants to change for the better.

The Deal Is Made

After going through everything Penelope did after the fact, the boys make a deal with her. If she can help put an end to what she started, her slate will be wiped clean. Her treason? Completely forgotten.

To a normal person, this sounds like an amazing deal. But this is Penelope we're talking about. She's the type of girl who thinks she has to be perfect in order to be loved. That, and she committed treason. If she messes this up, the boys might think she's still on Le Paradox's side and cast her away for good.

Penelope doesn't just accept their deal. She volunteers to be mission leader, fully intending to face Le Paradox in battle all by herself. But she doesn't say a word about her plan to duel him to anyone, knowing the boys would likely try to talk her out of the best way there is to achieve a perfect redemption and prove she's become a better person.

Murray, happy his little sister's willing to fight back against Le Paradox, starts calling her Sis again.

The plan is simple, but she'll need to clean herself up first. The gang will also need to summon Sly's ancestors...

Penelope: "I’ll also need to summon Sly’s ancestors here. Because I’d like to see the looks on their faces when they get their canes back."

So in my Thieves In Time rewrite, Bentley starts off as an overprotective boyfriend following a near kidnapping targeting his girlfriend.

He spends Episodes 0 and 1 micromanaging Penelope.

Episode 2? He starts off incredibly suffocating after her bridge jump at the end of Episode 1, causing her to think he wants her to be weak.

But then throughout Episode 2, he realizes he's been hurting Penelope and the entire team by not letting her spread her wings, leading to his apology at the beginning of Grand Key Larceny, after she leads (and personally breaks him out of jail) during the events of Jail Break.

This change is immediately tested in Episode 3, when Penelope realizes she's sick. Bruised by her boyfriend's overprotective behavior, she hides her illness, thinking Bentley will forget all about his promise to stop smothering her if he finds out.

…He does find out, after she collapses at the end of Getting Stronger. He assures his sick girlfriend she won't lose her new place on the team just because she got a nasty fever. She gets better, he keeps his word, and things just go up from there.

He ends up a much better partner by the end, even letting her face a very dangerous Le Paradox boss fight alone and giving her tactical advice.

This mission in Episode 3 of my Thieves In Time rewrite is very identical to canon. But here it is anyway.

Into Grizz's Lair

Still stuck in prehistory, our heroes need to infiltrate Grizz's lair. Sly goes to check it out.

It isn't long before Sly uncovers something incredible...

The First Cooper

As it turns out, Grizz isn't just here for fun. He's here on Le Paradox's orders.

Sly witnesses Grizz's men holding a cave raccoon (who will later be named Bob) captive in a net. The cave raccoon's cane gets stolen before Sly can get to him.

Using a Sabertooth Costume he finds in Grizz's bedroom, Sly makes his way to the cave raccoon...

After freeing the cave raccoon, Bentley confirms it. He's most likely one of Sly's earliest ancestors, predating the Thievius Raccoonus.

Sly asks for the cave raccoon's name, and what comes out is gibberish.

Unable to pronounce what he just heard, Sly names the cave raccoon Bob.

Bob then carries Sly out of Grizz's lair.

Bob's Tale Of Woe

Bob carries Sly back to the hideout, and the cave raccoon meets the gang.

Our heroes then piece together Bob's story as he plays around with all the strange new "toys" from the future...

When Grizz first showed up and started stealing all the pterodactyl eggs, Bob let himself get out of shape. He's supposed to provide food for his tribe. This allowed Grizz to capture him and take his cane.

And Grizz? The gang already knows this, but he's another time traveler under Le Paradox's thumb.

Meanwhile, Penelope is trying her hardest to look healthy. Even though she's at rest, she keeps feeling worse, and she doesn't fully understand why. But she needs to prove she's not weak. When Bentley checks up on her, she insists she's just freezing cold (in reality, she's burning up).

Bentley buys it for the time being, but that doesn't stop him from worrying...

She and Murray volunteer to get Bob trained up so he can help get the time machine parts back.

This mission from Episode 5 of my Thieves In Time rewrite is, naturally, identical to canon. It has to be. But with Penelope present on the heroes' side, we can expect at least a few minor changes...

Arrival At Ancient Arabia

With Penelope at the wheel of the Cooper Van (after the events of OP: Frog Trap), our heroes have safely arrived at their next destination: Ancient Arabia.

During the drive over here, Penelope has quietly adopted a very punishing Atonement Protocol in which she puts herself last all the time. She committed treason; therefore, she must spend the rest of her life serving the people she betrayed.

The boys, unlike canon, have not discovered what she did yet. The events of Episode 4 have led them to believe Sir Raleigh was solely responsible, not Penelope.

The next Cooper ancestor, Salim al-Kupar, happens to be a charter member of the infamous Forty Thieves, meaning the gang could get a lot of help in this era. However, by the time our heroes arrive, it turns out most of Salim's gang have retired.

It also turns out that Salim has seemingly skipped town, going missing during a job with the remaining three members. And his friends? Also nowhere to be found.

It doesn't help that Le Paradox's goons are also out here causing trouble.

Our heroes' next objective? Find Salim. But first, Penelope needs to make sure the new hideout is completely secure.

Where In Town Is Salim al-Kupar?

Normally, finding Salim would prove to be a challenging task. But since Penelope's here putting in work, things are made a bit easier.

Sly first goes to the lamp shop, where he finds a mysterious locked door that definitely doesn't belong in this era. He snaps a photo and finds that Salim has been here.

He continues looking around town for signs of Salim. With some shiny new technology, he's able to finally locate the elusive ancestor.

Meeting Salim

Thanks to Penelope's help, Sly ends up finding Salim holed up in a boat...

Sly: "Greetings. You're Salim al-Kupar, aren't you?"

Salim: "And who are you?"

Sly: "Uh... Well, that part's kind of… complicated. I'm a thief like you, but I'm kinda new in town. How about you come back to my gang's hideout and I can explain myself?"

Salim: "How about you go lick a camel's hump?"

Sly: "Oookaay. Look, I know you're in trouble. I'm here to help. I can explain everything, but let's go where we can talk safely. Besides, you look hungry. How would you like some food?"

Salim: "Food? Haha! It was foolish of you not to mention that in the first place! Let's go!"

Salim's Tale Of Woe

Penelope wastes no time making sure Salim gets all the food he wants.

The boys have no clue why she's insisting on pushing herself this much, but... maybe she's just really dedicated to protecting the timeline?

While stuffing his face, Salim tells his story.

It turns out the last job he wanted to do before retiring was steal from this new lady in town: Miss Decibel. He and his remaining three friends (The Panther, The Tiger, and The Lion) tried to rob her blind, but things went horribly wrong when his friends were captured. Salim has been trying to figure out how to save them ever since.

Miss Decibel? She's not just new here; she's from the present day (as Bentley finds out from his database). One of Le Paradox's lapdogs.

Our heroes are more than happy to help him out, especially Penelope. Unfortunately, Salim's not entirely convinced the gang can be trusted for some reason.

This mission in Episode 4 of my Thieves In Time rewrite is identical to canon. Heck, a lot of these missions are, as you already know.

Now that Sly has a shiny new costume to play with, it's time to invade the circus to save his knightly ancestor, Sir Galleth Cooper.

The Amazing Cooperoni... Or Bad Italian Takeout

Sly makes his way to the circus tent where Galleth is being held captive. Inside the tent, he finds plenty of dangerous traps.

Little does the master thief know that the mouse in his hideout, Penelope, was responsible for designing all of them. She remains mostly quiet, knowing if she reveals too much information, she could be abandoned here. She does, however, find the courage to give him a few "lucky" hints...

Sly makes it through all the traps and lasers without any trouble.

Meeting Galleth

Eventually, Sly finds his ancestor dressed like... a jester? Understandable, since he's imprisoned in a circus.

Sly: "Sir Galleth? My name is Sly. I’ve come to rescue you." 

Galleth: "Greetings, friend. But I require no rescue! I am merely… biding my time until the… eh, proper strategic moment. Yes, that." 

Sly: "So, how long have you been… biding your time?" 

Galleth: "Well, I suppose it has been about… a fortnight." 

Sly: "Alright. If you want to stay here with the cannonballs and flaming rings, that’s fine. I’m heading back to my gang’s hideout to plan our next move."

Galleth: "You make a good point, Sir. Yes, I believe the time is now! Let us rush forward, that we may strike a crushing blow against the black tyrant who imprisoned me!" 

Sly: "Whoa, one thing at a time! Let’s just get back to the hideout first..." 

Galleth's Tale Of Woe

Upon returning to the hideout, Galleth speaks about how he ended up in the circus and lost his cane. He also talks about the Black Knight terrorizing the town.

Just like in canon, Bentley can't find any info on the Black Knight in his database.

While the boys and Carmelita see this as a new challenge to take on, Penelope... is privately horrified. Somebody took the armor she was supposed to use here! Good thing she's not on the bad guys' side anymore.

Instead of cowering away, Penelope puts on a show of her usual confidence.

Penelope: "Sounds intimidating, this Black Knight. When do we start ruining his day?"