Chronicles of the Cooper Crew

Prologue

Zack reached up onto the kitchen side, brown furred paws reaching for one of the cookies that were newly plucked from the oven. His mother turned and spotted what he was doing, shaking her head with a small chuckle and gently swatting his paws away.
"They're still hot, Zack," she warned him, though the young sentret frowned at having been caught in the act. Clearly he was not yet as good a thief as his father, and his father before him, but he would learn, just as every Cooper had done before him, continuing his family's legacy even after his father passed on.

Pushing the rack of cooling cookies back on the counter so that her son could not reach them, Claudia gave him a warning glance before turning to head out of the kitchen, "I'm just going to see what your father is doing. You'd better not touch those cookies whilst I'm gone," she warned, though it was the mother's concern that made her speak so harshly. Zack merely stared at the kitchen floor, his blue eyes trained on the tiles between his paws.
With a small sigh Claudia realised her mistake and crouched down so that she was as face to face with her eight year old son.
"I'm sorry," she began, "I just don't want you to burn your paws."
Zack's eyes remained trained on the suddenly interesting kitchen floor, before Claudia used a paw to gently lift his chin so that Zack's blue eyes met her green ones.
"So no touching until they're cooled, okay?" she smiled. Zack hesitated an innocent smile in response.
"Alright mom."

Stepping out of the kitchen and into the family living room, Claudia had turned to call up the stairs, "Connor?"
"Everything's fine Claud! I'm coming downstairs now," called her husband, appearing at the top of the staircase shortly after with a silver box in his paws. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs he grinned to his wife, giving her a small kiss before both parents turned to glance at the light coming from the kitchen. Tonight was the night that their son was to inherit the family treasure, a book passed down through the generations, detailing their family's heists and the skills they had perfected across the ages.

Zack meanwhile had pushed a chair over to the kitchen counter, aiming to use it as a stepping stone to get to the cookies he so desperately wanted to taste. The young sentret stood on the chair, using it to clamber up onto the counter so that he could reach the treats that had been pushed back as far as they could go to keep them out of reach of his thieving paws.
Picking the cookie with the most chocolate chips in, Zack quickly hopped down from the marble counter with his prize in hand and began the struggle of pushing the kitchen chair back it's original position.

Connor and Claudia's attention abruptly shifted from each other to the front door of their house as it was violently thrown open by a seismitoad. The blue frog-like creature was soon followed by what appeared to be it's comrades, a granbull carrying two firearms, a krookodile who wore a jeweled medallion around her neck, a pangoro carrying some form of explosives, and a noctowl, whose mortal body had been replaced with soulless machinery.

Hearing the sounds of the five forcing their way into the house, Zack wandered toward the doorway that joined the kitchen with the living room, stolen cookie still in his paws. His parents spotted him before any of the five did, Connor quickly distracting the gang whilst his wife nimbly dodged across the room, pulling Zack into a nearby closet and closing the doors, hiding him from view of the evil doers.
"Stay here," she told him, not even acknowledging the stolen treat in her son's paw; it was irrelevant now.
"I love you," she smiled, ruffling the fur on his head before quickly turning back to help her husband.

It all happened so quickly. One moment the gang was breaking down the door, the next one of them was holding Connor upside down by the tail, the four of them having easily overpowered him with their combined power whilst the mechanical noctowl watched on in silence. Connor fought, attempting to free himself to no avail as the four attackers cackled at his feeble struggling.
Claudia dodged away from the large paws of the pangoro as he attempted to grab her as the krookodile had done with her husband. The pangoro missed, Claudia leaping past the closet where Zack was hidden in her rush to dodge the incoming blows.

Zack watched on in horror through a small crack between the closet doors. The cookie he had stolen from the kitchen counter rolled across the closet floor, forgotten and slipping from Zack's grip as he feared for his parent's lives. The homemade biscuit collided with a wooden cane that was stored among the coats and shoes in the closet, before coming to a halt on the dusty floorboards.

Connor swung his body upwards with great physical prowess, biting down on the hand of the krookodile that held him in the air. The krookodile quickly let go with a cry of surprise, giving Connor enough time to hop across the room and into the air, using a spin kick to attack the pangoro, giving his wife enough time to struggle free once more.
However, as the four began to coordinate their attacks, the two Coopers stood no chance, and were soon cornered and caught. Claudia was thrown against the floorboards by the granbull, the force of the blow knocking her unconscious, a small trail of crimson lacing the fur on her head. Connor suffered a similar blow, however he remained conscious, the harsh sounds of the noctowl's mechanical form filling his ears as Clockwerk moved closer.

Spreading his wings, the owl grasped Connor in his metal talons, hoisting him into the air. The concussion left him unable to fight back as Clockwerk began to tighten his grip on the furret's small body. The noctowl's piercing yellow glare was focused on the furret, the last of the infamous Cooper line of master thieves struggling to remain conscious in his harsh grip.
The air was blocked from reaching Connor's lungs, and as Clockwerk's grip only tightened, the furret found himself glancing around the room, looking for anything that might be able to help him free himself. What he saw was anything but, as he caught sight of his son's innocent blue eyes staring back at him through the crack in the closet doorway, tears rolling down the sentret's cheeks.

Feeling his life fading as the mechanical owl's cold talons continued to crush him, Connor struggled to form the words he wished to say to his terrified son.
"Stay strong..." he managed to whisper, his own blue eyes beginning to glaze over as he slumped in Clockwerk's claws, "I...lo-ve....y-"

The owl's piercing yellow eyes were focused on Connor as he took his last breath. He clung onto the furret's limp body for another few moments, making sure he had snuffed the life out of him before tossing him unceremoniously across the room.
With the Coopers dead, the gang of five began to comb the room for their prize. It was the seismitoad who found it; the silver box that Connor had brought downstairs earlier. Opening the box, the frog removing a very old book from within.

"Remember the deal," grunted the granbull, snatching the book from the seismitoad's gloved hand and tearing a group of pages from within it. The others followed suit, each tearing a section from the book and making their exit, with Clockwerk being left with what remained.
Knife-like talons ripping the last few pages from the book, the mechanical noctowl proceeded to toss the book's hardback cover across the room. The cover collided with the closet on the other side of the room, and it was only then that Clockwerk heard the sniffling sound of Zack's crying. Yellow eyes stared at the closet for a moment, Zack keeping still in the hope that the noctowl wouldn't sense his presence.

Clockwerk gave a mocking cry before he spread his heavy wings once more. The Coopers were nothing without their book, and the sniveling child within the closet would prove that to the world.

Zack had felt rather out of place in the orphanage, despite the attempts of the staff to get the others to play with him and make him feel welcome. It was his first day though so he hoped perhaps the others would warm up to him.
Due to the feeling of being out of place, Zack had opted to stay in his room after a few hours of being ignored by the other orphans. He had hidden his father's cane and the cover of his family's book under his bed, they being the only things he'd recovered from the house before he'd been taken into custody by the police and social services. That and his father's hat, which was much to big for him right now, but he wore anyway.

When Zack was called into the main room for dinner, he ate in near silence, though his eyes scanned the group of orphaned youngsters, trying to remember the names that went with the faces he had been introduced to earlier that day. There was a young Azurill sat next to him... her name was Anne, or something.... a Starly sat opposite from him, his name was Justin.... and a Hippopotas sat on the other side of him. Zack couldn't remember the Hippopotas' name... Chev-something. Was it just Chevy? He assumed so, that seemed to fit right.

After settling on the names he thought were right, he turned his attention to the kitchens that were visible from their dining room. Everyone had finished their main meal now and the adults were handing out cookies to the children who cleaned their entire plate. Zack himself had left more than half of his meal, not feeling like eating right at this very moment. An adult looked at him in concern and tried to coax him into eating a bit more, but to no avail.

Soon enough they cleared away the plates, the group of kids chosen to help clear the table that night getting up from their seats and gathering up all the cutlery that hadn't been used -mostly knives, because what small child cuts up their own meal-

Zack remained seated, eyes watching as one caterer took the jar containing the cookies and stashed it in a cupboard in the kitchen. With a small smile to himself, Zack got up and left the table, grabbing a crayon and some paper before heading back to his room.

A young turtwig sat at the dinner table, a long ways down from Zack and Chevy. Leon, though intelligent, was a rather paranoid young creature, and something about today's meal did not sit right with him. With a small frown he didn't eat much, afraid that there was some form of germ or bacteria in it.

This however meant that he too was not allowed a cookie for cleaning his entire plate, something he thought was rather unfair as he'd only not eaten because he thought the dish would do more bad for himself than good. Leon would dare not voice this opinions though, for fear of hurting the caterer's feelings, that and he'd likely be laughed at by the other children for his petty fears.
Already knowing where the cookies were kept in the kitchen, the young turtwig quickly hatched a small plot that would hopefully get him the cookie he wanted.

As all the children were ushered off to bed, Leon cleverly arranged pillows and toys in his bed to make it seem like he was already sleeping, before sneaking off towards the kitchen. Finding a dark corner near the counter, he retreated into his shell to await the dead of night when all the staff would be asleep.





Zack had been in his bedroom doodling with coloured crayons on the paper he had brought with him, ever since dinner had ended a few hours before. Scrunched up pieces of paper were littered on the one side of his bed, all failed ideas that he had realised -in one way or another- would not work.

As he heard the doorknob turning, he quickly flicked all the paper off of his quilt and onto the floor, using his feet to brush them under the bed where they would be hidden from view. A member of the orphanage's staff, a blissey, peered around the door, flashing a small smile to Zack.
"Lights out," she smiled, her voice gentle, "Get some sleep now, Zack."

The young sentret nodded reaching over to turn the bedside light off before pulling the covers over himself. He snuggled up beneath them, closing his eyes. Satisfied, the blissey left the room, closing the door behind her with a small click.

As Zack heard this noise, his eyes flew open once more, blue pools scanning the darkness as he listened out to check that the coast was clear. Upon realising that all was quiet, Zack silently slipped out of bed, grabbing his father's hat and sitting it neatly on his head. It was still miles too big but he didn't care. With his parents dead and their family's treasured book of thievery stolen, Zack had no one to teach him the ways of the Cooper Clan. Thus, he needed to teach himself how to be a thief if he was ever going to recover his birth right and avenge his mum and dad.

Zack bent down and peered beneath the bed. Zack knelt down, his ringed tail flicking from side to side as he reached for the cane he had hidden beneath it. The young sentret grinned as he stood up, clambering back up onto his bed to test his skills.
Unfortunately, with one swing of his father's cane, Zack toppled over, landing on his bed covers again and realising that the hook-ended tool was way too heavy for him right now. With a small sigh, he resigned himself to just the hat his father used to wear. No manner of attempt to be like his father would fix the fact that he wasn't strong enough to use the cane correctly.

Slightly disappointed, but still psyched to get going on his first escapade, Zack reached under his pillow and took out a rolled up piece of paper. It was the final plan he had doodled on his last piece of paper. Blue eyes scanning the parchment to make sure he remembered every little detail, Zack quickly hid the paper once more, stuffing it back into his pillowcase. The sentret then crept over to his bedroom door, avoiding a loose floorboard under his room's carpet. Luckily he had discovered earlier that day and wouldn't fall into the trap of stepping on it now on so crucial a mission.
Standing by the door, he pressed an ear to it. All was silent on the other side. Grinning, Zack reached up and slowly opened the door, making minimal noise so as to not alert any of the staff.

If there was anything Zack had learned from his parents, it had been how to move almost silently. As the young sentret crept along the quiet hallways, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow as he remembered the games his parents had played with him, helping him to hone his abilities in fun and entertaining ways. Trying to put the feeling behind him, he pretended he was playing one of those games once more, beginning to enjoy himself as he made his way towards the kitchen.

Upon arriving outside the kitchen entrance, Zack was startled by the sudden clanging and clattering of silverware being knocked onto the ground. With a combination of quick thinking and natural instinct, the young sentret quickly dived for the nearest cover, a tall basket where umbrellas would usually be stored. The basket nearly toppled over as Zack hopped into it, his ringed tail sticking out of the top until he pulled it inside, steadying the basket as he evened out his weight.

Feeling safer in this enclosed basket, Zack used this chance to listen out for any adults that might have heard the loud noise. What he heard instead was the voices of two other young orphans, bickering in hushed but clearly childish voices. For a moment Zack was rather confused. What would other kids be up for at this time of night? Nevertheless, he decided to use it to his advantage, hopping out of the basket and using the cover of the two voices to mask any slight noises he made whilst testing the old flooring of the building.

Soon enough he had sneaked his way through the door and across the kitchen itself until he was stood, staring up at the wall mounted cupboard where the cookie jar was kept. Brilliantly, the two bickering nearby still hadn't noticed him.

Zack stood there for a moment, psyching himself up for a positively enormous jump. Well... enormous for someone of his size and stature anyhow.
Bending his knees, he bit his lip before leaping upwards, just grabbing hold of something on top of the counter and scrambling to keep his grip as he pulled himself up.

The hippopotas and the turtwig opposite him were still arguing, though Zack put it out of his mind as he stood on his tiptoes, reaching up to the cupboard's door handle. Not able to grasp it properly in his tiny fingers, he proceeded to edge the cupboard door open bit by bit, wobbling as he continued to stand on the very tips of his feet.

In his concentration, Zack didn't notice the turtwig get annoyed and launch a worry seed move at the hippopotas, which meant it was rather a shock when the large brown-skinned pokemon charged into the cabinet below, causing him to lose his balance and topple off the counter and onto the hard kitchen floor with a rather loud thump.

Just before this, Zack had managed to get his paws on the elusive cookie jar. It was painted red and had decorative cookie pictures emblazoned upon it. When he was knocked off of the kitchen counter, Zack lost his grip on the jar, dropping it straight on the turtwig's head without meaning to. Luckily the jar hadn't smashed upon hitting the child, but Chevy's panicked flailing around had already attracted the chief of staff at the orphanage, an unfezant who went by the name of Ms. Puffin.

It took Zack a moment to recover from hitting the hard kitchen floor after falling off the counter. In his temporarily dazed state, he initially neglected to notice the appearance of Ms Puffin in the now open doorway. However, when the lights were flicked on by the unfezant, Zack pushed himself back onto his feet, nudging his father's hat up so that his blue eyes could meet Ms Puffin's brown ones. He felt a hint of guilt as the bird stared him down, pointing to the door of her office before walking over to the cookie jar and scooping it into her wings.

The young sentret glanced either side of him, to the turtwig clutching his head, and the guilt ridden hippopotas who stared at his feet as he began to trudge towards the indicated office. Zack followed Chevy's lead, attempting to keep a confident air about him as he walked towards the opposite room. He was proud that he was trying to live up to his family's legacy.



After marching the three delinquents into her office, she motioned for them to stand in front of her desk. Pausing only to reach up and place the recovered cookie jar up onto the top of a high cupboard so that there could be no future attempts to steal the cookies within, the unfezant then pulled out a chair and sat at her desk.
"So what do you three have to say for yourselves?" she asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice. She was met with silence from all three, Zack not willing to risk the unfezant's anger. Ms Puffin glanced at each child in turn, analysing their expressions and body language. Both Chevy and Leon seemed to at least look a little guilty for their actions, however though Zack stared at the ground, it was more because he didn't wish to make eye contact with the unfezant.

Perhaps because of this, Ms Puffin addressed the young sentret first.
"Now, Zack. I know your family history is significant to you, but that does not mean I or any of the staff here will tolerate thievery. I expect you to learn from this experience and make a smarter decision next time stealing something crosses your mind," she began, before quickly moving on to the other two, "You two, however, should know better. I am very disappointed in you both."

Chevy:

What was this? Family History? Did this Sentret know his family BEFORE coming here? Chevy had been here as long as he could remember. Ms. Puffins was as close to a mom as he had ever received, which wasn't much. The Hippopotas flinched when Ms. Puffin's stern look turned to him, half of her gaze focused on the turtwig as well. She spoke of how ashamed she was and squabbled on and on at all three of them until her feathers had fluffed up once more, making her look ridiculous again. He prevented himself from laughing by not looking at her, Leon however, was not as successful.

Leon:

Leon could not help, but laugh as the bird's feathers made her seem like a giant puff ball. The Turtwig only stopped laughing when he felt the bird's stern gaze focus on him and only him. He swallowed and apologized, turning his thoughts to analyzing the conversation. How could he get out of this? He remembered what the bird had said earlier about a family history and stealing...he would need a way out of this, but using the sentret as a scapegoat did not seem like a wise choice. His eyes began to water as he finally spoke, "Chevy made me do it! He said he would hurt me if I didn't! He said he was going to crack my shell and eat me alive!"

Zack listened as the unfezant gave them all a good telling off. It felt like a lifetime before she was finally done lecturing them and telling them how disappointed she was with them. Zack only half listened to what Ms Puffin was saying, figuring that angry words wouldn't have stopped his father from stealing and so it shouldn't affect him either. However he did glean from the very fact that he was being lectured in the first place that he had some serious improving to do.

When Ms Puffin had finished saying all she was going to say, Zack glanced at the other two children, sizing them up for the first time. The hippopotas stood on the one side of him looked rather muscular, probably having more strength than he realised for his age. The turtwig on the other hand was rather scrawny, and his glasses seemed to take up most of his face.
As the turtwig, Leon, began to try and plant the blame on the Chevy, Zack stood for a moment, wondering how that could be true. From all the impressions he had gotten from Chevy so far, he was rather a gentle giant. It was only his clumsiness that caused a mess.

Despite these thoughts he couldn't help but make a passing comment, breaking his voluntary silence.
"I wonder what turtle tastes like..." he said mischievously, glancing up at the ceiling as if genuinely considering the idea. After a few short moments his blue eyes glanced back to Leon, a cheeky but friendly smile upon his face. The turtwig himself however, was not so amused by the thought.

Chevy:

"Wh-What!?" The hippopotas cried in astonishment, "I haven't done anything to you!" Chevy has surprised that the turtwig would even try such a thing. It was obvious they were all caught in the act, why make it worse by lying when they would obviously be caught. He paused when the sentret cracked a joke about eating turtwigs. Chevy could not help but giggle as the turtle seemed to be insulted and began to speak.
"He was in on it too! He probably manipulated brainless Chevy here into threatening me!"
"Brainless!?" was Chevy's reply, "I am NOT brainless!I don't refer to myself in third person!"
The turtle did not reply, but seemed to be sweeping up Krookodile tears. Chevy huffed, causing a puff of sand to emit from his nose and create a slight mess in the room by accident "O-Oh! S-sorry!" he stammered when he realized the mess he had made. It would not be a good idea to anger the head master further...
(SORRY IT'S CRAP ;A;)

Zack frowned as the turtwig then tried to plant the blame on him as well. He tried to remain calm however and not rise to shouting at Leon as he wanted to do. If he was to become a decent thief whilst here at the orphanage, he needed to keep on Ms Puffin's good side... and as far as he could tell, yelling at someone accusing him of something that was not true wouldn't help that goal, no matter how justified the yelling might be. An annoyed twitch of his ringed tail gave away how he felt, Ms Puffin picking up on the small gesture.

"There's no need to accuse me of something just 'cause you can't take a joke," Zack replied, having chosen his words carefully and kept a calm tone. The small smile returned to his face as he chuckled good natured-ly, shaking sand from his brown fur after Chevy had emitted the grains from his nostrils.
For some strange reason Zack found himself enjoying the company of Chevy. He wasn't sure why but he felt like maybe he could be friends with this other orphan. Leon however.... perhaps not.


"Enough. All of you," Ms Puffin finally spoke up, brushing sand from her own face before removing another set of pale brown grains from her desk. She'd have to bring a vacuum in here later, but for now she wanted to get these three back to bed.
"I don't want to hear any arguing about who did what, you were all found in the kitchen attempting to steal and will all be punished accordingly. All three of you will go without your after dinner cookie for two weeks."

"No buts!" squawked Ms Puffin, interrupting a few small protests from the three, "Now back to bed, all of you."

(It's not crap D: Even the posts you think are crap are awesome. My posts at the moment are mostly rambling. |D
Except for this one I guess. I figured maybe we should get the plot rolling |D)

After Ms Puffin's lecture had ended, Zack skulked off back to his room, not wanting to anger the unfezant any more than they already had. However he did not sleep well, his dreams full of distorted memories of his parents as his mind blended his desire to be with his parents again, with the traumatic memories of a few weeks ago.

He dreamed that his mother and father were teaching him how to be a successful thief, passing down the techniques honed by their ancestors through demonstration. However as their session drew on, the large shadow of a mechanical owl would loom over them, swooping down to attack Connor, Claudia already dead on the floor. The noctowl grasped Connor in his claws, slowly crushing him before his son's eyes until not a single ounce of life was left within him.

Zack tossed and turned in his sleep, quiet mutterings echoing around the nearly empty room. It was another few moments before he finally jolted awake, sweat beading his face as his panicked blue eyes scanned the room in a daze before he realised it had been just a dream.
"Just a dream..." he muttered quietly, ragged breaths returning to normal as he calmed himself once more. The young sentret took a deep breath before lying back down again and pulling the quilt covers back over himself.
"Just a dream..." he muttered once more, before drifting off into a relatively peaceful sleep.


When all of the children were woken the next morning, Zack groggily got out of bed, the nightmares still clear in his mind as he attempted to tidy his fur so that the orphanage staff wouldn't do it for him. With a large yawn, Zack exited his bedroom and proceeded to head for the dining room before he missed breakfast.

When the meal was over the children were left to their own devices, playing games or napping. Still tired, Zack decided to head outside. There were only a few trees in the orphanage's garden, so he picked the nearest one and quickly leaped upwards, grasping hold of a branch and vaulting himself higher into the tree. He was the only one of the children with such climbing ability. The only others who could reach the treetops were the birds, so it was a rather peaceful place to sleep.

With another yawn, Zack curled up between some of the branches, his ringed tail the only thing revealing his presence as it dangled from the branch he was lay on.

Zack had only drifted off into a very light sleep, Chevy's words disturbing him from it rather easily. The young sentret woke with a start.
"I didn't touch the cookies I swear!" he called out, obviously the remnants of the dream he'd been having. Glancing around in a half dazed state, Zack blinked, waking properly and pausing for a moment, a distant, almost sad look on his face as he realised he'd been dreaming. After a few short moments, Zack glanced down to see who had woken him.

"Hmm?"
Having still been asleep when Chevy had spoken, Zack had missed what he'd said. The sentret did however, rearrange his position so that he was lying on his belly, facing the hippopotas so as to not seem rude.

"That's me," smiled the sentret, the memory of his thieving attempt the night before returning to him.
"You must be Chevy, right?" he replied with a small grin, sitting up now that he was properly awake and more engaged in the conversation. Zack flicked his ringed tail, hopping onto a lower branch that was still positioned a little higher than Chevy was tall. He balanced perfectly, holding his arms out to steady himself and spread his weight evenly before crouching on the branch in a comfortable position.

"Yeah!" Chevy nodded, watching the sentret hop on down to a lower level to meet Chevy. He was glad that this pokemon did not seem to be bothered by his reputation. He assumed that it was because he was new, after all, all of the new kids thought he was an ok guy until they heard of his reputation. The hippopotas spoke again, "So uh...how are you liking it here so far? Aside from the incident that happened last night..." Chevy was just hoping to have someone to talk to, pass the time. It was not like he was actually doing anything. There was practically nothing to do around here since he was banished from the inside by the other kids.

"It's... uh, fine... I guess," he replied with a small half-smile and another flick of his tail, "Though I kinda wish there was something more exciting to do..."
Zack trailed off as his blue eyes scanned the other nearby branches. He quickly spotted one of the appropriate height and poised himself for a leap. Springing off of his branch, he grabbed hold of the next one, using it to swing and direct himself to an appropriate landing space on the ground below.
Landing neatly he grinned, shaking a few stray leaves from his fur and turning to face Chevy. On the ground he was quite a bit shorter than the hippopotas.

The hippopotas smiled slightly, "Yeah...it's a shame though, because of that incident last night it'll probably have to be mentioned to all adults that might be thinking of adopting us...and ruin our chances...I'll probably never be adopted." The pokemon had laughed though, knowing that the only change that has happened is that whatever slim chance he had before was now gone. Who would want a sand blowing baby that destroyed everything he touched? He would be too expensive to keep around. He was doomed to this orphanage, watching pokemon come and go over the years. The sentret might be adopted through cuteness, or it might even be clever enough to escape and live in the real world...somehow.

Zack blinked at Chevy, unsure of why he would put himself down like that. Sure being mentioned as a thief might lower the chances a little, but not everyone was perfect. Even if they had attempted to steal a few cookies, everyone still had a chance of adoption. There was someone out there who would love to have to hippopotas in their family for who he was. Zack's blue eyes scanned the grassy ground for a moment as he struggled to put these thoughts into words.

"I like to think everyone has a family out there somewhere who will adopt them," he replied finally, looking up at Chevy, "They just don't know it yet."

Of course if Zack were ever adopted he'd probably end up having to give up thieving... and he didn't particularly want that. Perhaps he could be sneaky about it.... a test of his honed abilities to make sure his adopted parents never found out. That sounded like fun.