Once Galleth was situated, and had revealed that Merlin seemed to have the same body type that Derpy did, in the sense that he was a male unicorn and not a female pegasus, Bentley informed them that they needed to get some more information on their enemy, the Black Knight. Derpy and Gilda immediately volunteered to go out into the field, as they were eager to head out and see what they could find in the area, something that he agreed with, since there was the possibility that the Black Knight didn't know that the gang was even here, so even if he was familiar with the Cooper Ancestors he might not be aware of the fact that they had three flyers with them. Sly and Carmelita, on the other hand, urged the duo to be careful, since they had no idea what the Black Knight was capable of and what other surprises he might have, even though Bentley was in the process of figuring out what they needed to do next, to weaken their foe's defenses and maybe even find something they could use to aid them. As the sisters headed outside the safe house, and prepared themselves for their venture, both of them noticed that Carmelita still seemed a little distracted, which made sense considering the fact that her parents were still missing, something that they were going to have to assist her with in the future.
As they left the village that was around the safe house, and flew over the part of the village that was behind the wall, they noticed some flying objects that might be targets in the future, but right now they kept their eyes on the grounds that were below them, before they noticed a beacon floating near some crates, causing them to raise their eyebrows before landing in the area that Bentley wanted them to start a mission in. Not even a few seconds after they landed behind the crates, and tucked their wings in, they heard the sound of the nearby drawbridge lowering into position and turned their heads towards it, where they watched as the bridge between the castle and their location lowered to the point where someone could walk from the castle to the village. Standing on the other side of the bridge was a large imposing knight that was made out of metal, as in what could pass for a mech from the future and not a knight like Sir Galleth, and they noticed the large battle-axe he was carrying in his right hand, something that they wanted to avoid at all costs. Behind the Black Knight floated a cylinder container of some kind and behind that were two of the mech wolf guards, meaning that their foe never went anywhere without an escort, though the two of them remained silent as they pulled out their binocucoms and looked at their imposing foe.
"Derpy, Gilda, I'm not sure if you're aware of what's going on, but it appears that the Black Knight has a patrol moving through the village with a locked case." Bentley informed them, telling the sisters that he must have figured this out while Sly and Carmelita were busy getting the components so they could rescue Sir Galleth, "From the level of security, I'm willing to bet the farm that it's Galleth's cane!"
"It's about the only thing that would require that much security." Gilda commented, to which Derpy nodded her head in agreement, as they both knew that they would have investigated the case while their foe was on the move anyway, but this was good news for them, "I take it you want us to get to the case and connect you to it?"
"That would be nice." Bentley said, as it never ceased to amaze him that the sisters were more focused on their missions than what Sly usually was, since Sly liked to joke around from time to time, before he turned his attention back to the matter at hand, "If what Galleth told us is true, the Black Knight almost never leaves the castle, and in the rare instances where he does leave the castle he only visits the Blacksmith Shop for a short amount of time. This might be the only chance we have to steal the cane back... and get some pictures of him in the process."
Gilda and Derpy made sure that their foe couldn't see them as they snapped some pictures of both the Black Knight's armor, as that was more interesting to Bentley since it didn't seem like anything that should belong in this time period, and then a few more of the case. The pictures of the case would give Bentley an idea what he was working with, though as he went over the pictures, and the girls moved in to take out the guards behind the case as silently as possible, they heard the Black Knight complaining about how hot the suit was, but since his voice was distorted it was impossible to get an idea of who was inside it. What was interesting was that it didn't take them long to best the guards and open the way for Bentley to hack into the case from afar, thanks to the connector that they were carrying, the same that Sly had used earlier, and as they silently followed behind the Black Knight they noticed that he either had no idea that his guards were gone or didn't care in the slightest. Fortunately the sisters didn't have to remain in the area for long, as it only took Bentley a minute to get inside the case with his code and shatter the security system's defenses, allowing the case to float down to the ground and forced it to open before them, where Gilda smiled as she grabbed Galleth's lance-cane and joined Derpy in the air so they could deliver the good news to Galleth and the rest of the gang.
The moment the two of them returned to the safe house they returned the cane to Galleth, who gladly accepted it and charged out to carry out the objectives that he had been tasked with completing, though at the same time Diz flew outside as well, to keep an eye on him and assist him if necessary... and when Galleth stood on part of the wall, that allowed him to overlook the village near the castle, Diz helped him with the binocucom, since he was unfamiliar with the technology that they were using.
"Sir Galleth, those balloons in the sky are more than mere decorations for the circus." Bentley said, revealing that he had discovered something interesting about them, especially since he had recognized part of their construction while he was staring at them, even if he thought it was just a coincidence and meant nothing, "The Black Knight can use them to monitor our movements and our conversations."
"Pray tell, how can such a thing be possible?" Galleth asked, though that was alarming, as it informed him of the fact that his foe had known that he and his knights had been coming long before they got into position, something that he was still sore over.
"Simple, it's modern technology brought back to the past." Diz explained, as that was the best way to tell the ancestor something without really going into detail, since he didn't need to know the ins and outs of what sort of technology they had access to in the future.
"Basically, think of them as eyes and ears in the sky that can hear and see things that are far away." Bentley added, just in case the first explanation did nothing for the ancestor they were dealing with, before he focused on what he needed him to do, "Galleth, you're the only one around these parts that can deal with them."
Galleth nodded and decreed that he'd use his Catapult Crash technique to destroy the 'airborne demons', causing Diz to follow him towards the first of the three areas that the one of the three balloons were floating above, giving him the chance to watch as Galleth used the hooks and his own abilities to swiftly move along the exterior of the tower, without making a sound from his armor. Even the sound he made when he smashed through the wooden obstacles that were in his way were near silent, as Diz had to strain himself to hear the noise, and soon enough Galleth flew into the air and smashed the first balloon into pieces, destroying the machine in the process. From there he relied on Diz to direct him to the second tower, even though Diz, as a thief, made sure to pick some interesting pockets along the way, though upon their arrival Galleth set himself to his task and made around the exterior of the tower, keeping his focus as he headed towards the highest point once more. It wasn't long before he scaled to the highest point and flew into the air, smashing both the balloon and the machine to pieces, before he rejoined Diz and allowed himself to be directed to where the third and final obstacle was waiting for him, even though the tower was much closer to the castle than the previous two happened to be. Even though the obstacles on the exterior of the final tower were different from the first and second one, something that caught Diz's attention, Galleth was able to make short work of the obstacles and quickly smashed his target to pieces, to which he returned to Diz with a smile on his face.
"Forsooth! That was exciting!" Galleth said, though at the same time he glanced at the castle and seemed to recall something, because not a few seconds later he turned back towards Diz, "Sir Diz, do you think we might make a detour and deal with the local Moat Monster? It's said that it lives in the nearby cavern and that it will protect the castle, and the Black Knight, should anyone try to attack it."
To Diz this sounded like the Black Knight had installed a new defensive measure that would become active if a group or something tried to assault the castle, meaning that if they wanted to succeed in taking out the Black Knight they would first need to destroy this monster, to which he nodded his head and followed Galleth out to the part of the village that was on the other side of the wall. From there they carefully crossed over the bridge that connected the area their safe house was in to the cavern that Galleth had been talking about, where the ancestor used the hook and his Catapult Crash to get up to where the door was located, allowing Diz to land near him before they ventured inside the cavern. It wasn't long before they found what Diz determined was a massive power generator, for what he had no idea since it was unlikely that the Black Knight would leave the power source for his castle out in an area where people could find it, but he didn't have much time to do anything as Galleth ran forward and started using the hooks and obstacles to climb up the sides of the generator, indicating that he was eager to find the 'Moat Monster' and put an end to it. Diz, on the other hand, spread his wings and flew near the generator, keeping his eyes on Galleth as he noticed that this particular ancestor was good at what he did, since he didn't need help at all, though at the same time he noticed the magma around the area and guessed that it was being used to power something... and he had to guess that all of this was going to power the Moat Monster, meaning that this was going to be a worthwhile venture for the two of them.
When Galleth reached the top both he and Diz discovered that the 'Moat Monster' was a massive red colored mechanical dragon that had three heads, and, before he could stop him, Galleth found out how to unplug the creature, allowing it to turn on and turn all of it's heads on them... but, instead of wasting time and energy defeating the metal monster, Diz just called his chaotic power into his hands and blasted the dragon in the chest, blowing it to pieces and leaving a shocked Galleth standing beside the remains.
"Methinks Merlin will have some competition for whose the strongest sorcerer, because I've never seen or heard of him doing anything like that before." Galleth commented, his tone indicating that he was shocked, while at the same time the grin on his face told Diz that the ancestor knew that they would be able to defeat the Black Knight in no time.
Diz, despite the fact that Merlin might be annoyed the next time Galleth saw him, couldn't help but smile as the two of them left the cave behind so they could return to the safe house and see what else Bentley had for them and the rest of the gang to do before the operation to deal with the Black Knight.
When they returned to the safe house Bentley informed them that it was time for them to hit the Black Knight where it hurt, as in the operations that he had set up and they had uncovered when they were gathering items for Sly and Carmelita's archer costumes. The first one of them to make a move was Murray and Diz, who would be hitting the local tavern to smash up the place and disrupt the fuel making machines, which would hurt both the mech wolves and whatever else their foe was planning, since they had no idea what his final scheme was. Sly and Carmelita were going to head back into the shoemakers and disrupt the machines there, while Galleth went into the bakery and did the same thing, since he was still the only one that could reach the upper floor without destroying the entire building. Bentley, Gilda, Derpy, and Clockwerk were going to keep an eye on the local communications and see if they could figure out where the Black Knight was hiding, because with some luck this would draw him out of hiding and maybe let them figure out what his goals were, so they could bring it down as well.
With the plan in motion the group of five headed out of the safe house and branched off as they headed towards their own objectives, starting with Murray and Diz walking into the tavern and raining destruction down upon the guards that were watching over the machines. While Murray kept the crowds occupied, by beating the stuffing out of them, Diz worked his magic and allowed the chaotic nature of his power to tear apart the machinery, even transforming certain pieces into items that would be considered trash so they couldn't be put back together. Since Murray was too busy knocking around the guards, and taking their items when he found something nice, Diz was sure that he'd be okay with not smashing the actual machines until they were slag, and when the third machine was taken care of he called Murray out of his battle mode and they escaped from the tavern, leaving a number of knocked out guards behind, who wouldn't be able to explain what happened since they had no idea how the machines got dismantled. As they headed back to the safe house they overheard Sly and Carmelita attaching something to a terminal in the shoemaker's shop, thanks to their binocucoms, and soon enough they were back at the table in the safe house to hear Bentley cheer for joy as he shut down the machines in that shop, meaning that the duo could come back as well.
Galleth, on the other hand, found it easy to get into the bakery, make his way to the hook that allowed him to access the upper floor, and then use his Catapult Crash to get up to the second floor, where he ran around the area and used his technique to smash his way through the first target... and not even a minute later they heard the sound of the alarms and then Galleth sounding happy as he escaped an explosion, meaning that the generator was out of commission and that the Black Knight would be angry when he found out what happened.
As he headed back to the safe house, however, he revealed that he heard the sound of the drawbridge moving again and Bentley told him to get back to where they were waiting, while at the same time he sent both Sly and Carmelita out to see what the Black Knight was up to. As Bentley expected the Black Knight was walking down one of the streets of the village, though as the two of them stuck to the roofs, as they followed after their target, they heard him mention that the production facilities were down, and that he had a feeling that the Cooper Gang was behind it. That meant that he knew they were there, helping Galleth reclaim his place in history, and he even mentioned that the balloons that Galleth had destroyed were gone as well, but the way he spoke indicated that he knew who was responsible for these actions. It wasn't long before the Black Knight reached the blacksmith shop and walked inside, which was when Bentley caught up with them and beckoned for them to stand aside so he could head inside and get some answers, which was why he used the hatch on the roof to get inside the building.
Bentley remained hiding in the rafters as the Black Knight entered the shop, though something interesting happened not a few moments later, the Black Knight turned around and moved the door blocker into position, preventing anyone from the outside from entering after him, before putting his battle-axe diagonally in the opening, to provide extra protection against someone trying to get in, and then leaned back against the door.
"I... I can't do this anymore." the Black Knight said, though at the same time Bentley was shocked, as their opponent's tone suggested that he was admitting defeat before he and the gang even had a chance to form their plan of attack, and he watched as the knight rested his helm against the door.
"Then why did you do it to begin with?" a voice asked, to which Bentley looked over the other edge of the rafter he was on and found Edward Fox standing out in the open, though while he looked annoyed about the situation he also seemed sad about something.
"The reason why would only anger you both further." the Black Knight replied, confusing Bentley even further, as it sounded like the Black Knight had been tasked with keeping track of Carmelita's parents and had kept them in the one building that his guards wouldn't enter, meaning that they'd be safe and under his watchful gaze all the time.
"Darling, if you didn't want to tell us why this is happening, you wouldn't have come talk to us as often as you have." a second voice said, to which Bentley noticed that his thoughts were confirmed, as Margret Fox was present as well, though she also seemed as sad as her husband was, and her word choice confused Bentley.
Bentley turned back towards the Black Knight as a compartment opened in the middle of his chest, where Penelope, who looked much sadder than what Bentley remembered, climbed out of the seat that allowed her to control the suit of armor that she had made for herself, but what shocked Bentley was that it looked like she had been crying lately. A few seconds later Penelope walked away from the Black Knight and came to a stop near one of the walls, where she sat down and put her head in her hands, something Bentley only saw when Penelope's emotions got the better of her, making him wonder what had happened to her, as this wasn't the girl that he had been working with before her disappearance. Even now, without hearing anything, he could tell that Penelope's heart wasn't in this, that she didn't want to cause havoc on the timeline or hurt Sly's ancestors, but something had happened to her, that much he knew, and whatever it was had been strong enough to force her into this position.
"I want to tell you, but I'm afraid of what will happen if I do." Penelope said, though she glanced up for a moment and glared at the armor she had been using moments ago, where Bentley saw the signs of hatred in her eyes for a few seconds, before she sighed and her expression returned to normal as she looked away, "What will Bentley and the others think of me when they break into the castle and find out that I was the one that forced Galleth into the position that they found him in? I came to think of them as my family, just like they did with a fair number of the people that they welcomed into their gang, and yet Le Paradox forced me to turn on my new family... and ruined my plans of spending the rest of my life with Bentley..."
"Penelope..." Bentley said, causing Penelope to look up at him as he used his hover feature to jump down and safely land near her, but as he approached her he noticed that there were a number of emotions tormenting Penelope, and all of them had been because of Le Paradox, "what did that madman do to you?"
"Bentley..." Penelope replied, though he could see more tears forming in her eyes, either because she was happy to see him again or just remembering why she had been put in this situation was emotional for her, before she beckoned for Carmelita's parents to join them, "Le Paradox... he came to me the night I went out for more supplies and said that if I didn't give him the plans for the time machine, and help him with his little 'project', that he'd send a professional hitman after Sly, Carmelita, and the kids. Clockwerk wasn't the only one watching the house that night, he had the hitman waiting near the house, ready to go inside at a moment's notice, so he could have killed Sly and his family if I said no, and he played on my emotions to get what he wanted, the time machine and my assistance. I was told that if I helped him send his forces back in time, and even secure one of the Cooper Canes myself, that he'd recall the hitman and leave us alone, but every step filled me with sadness, as I knew that the others he had under his command were hurting the other ancestors and that Sly would never forgive me for what I did... wait, are the kids alright?!"
"Penelope, both Daniel and Elizabeth are fine... especially after their adventure in the Old West and visiting the Prehistoric Age on accident," Bentley answered, though at the same time he noticed that Carmelita's parents were happy to hear that the kids were safe, while Penelope, on the other hand, tilted her head in confusion, "Before we came to check on Rioichi's time period, since he was the first one to have his pages disappear from the Thievius Raccoonus, we left the kids in the care of Edward and Margret Fox, figuring that with two high ranking Interpol officers watching over them they'd be safer than if we left them with, say, Dimitri. When we took on Toothpick, however, he revealed that Le Paradox had dropped off the kids and that the fake sheriff was planning on sending them crashing into the river by a runaway carriage, which was when we learned that they had been taken in the first place, though once we stopped Grizz, in the Prehistoric Age, we took them back to the future and left them in Secretary Sen's care until we got back."
"That lying... stinking... bastard!" Penelope snapped, surprising the trio that was standing in front of her, especially since she got back onto her feet and the sad look on her face had become one of anger, "He lied to me. HE LIED TO ME!! He said that if I helped him, he'd leave the kids out of this and call off the hitman... I can't believe what a fool I was for thinking that I could believe a word he said."
"You aren't to blame for what happened," Bentley said, though even as he said that he noticed that Penelope was looking at him and that she was smiling, as he didn't have to say anything, she knew, just by looking at him, that he believed in her and knew that she would never willingly betray the gang, and he was happy to see that, despite her earlier sadness, hatred, and anger, that the Penelope he loved was still in there, "and I think you know whose to blame for everything that's happened so far..."
"Le Paradox." Penelope stated, though at the same time she pulled out a remote and tapped one of the buttons, to which a door opened nearby and showed a hidden way out of the building, which she started walking to, "Come on, I'd like to explain myself to Sly and the others, and I'm hoping that they aren't too unhappy with me, before we start putting together a plan to stop Le Paradox's plans... I think you'll be happy with what I have in mind, Bentley."
Bentley smiled as he used his wheelchair to keep up with Penelope, while Edward and Margret followed after them, because despite the outer shell that was the Black Knight, a persona she created to hide her feelings, Bentley was happy to see that the real Penelope, his confident and powerful girlfriend, was ready to take charge again... and this time around Le Paradox would be on the receiving end of a plan that the two of them created, and enacted by the furious rage of the Cooper Gang and Clockwerk.