Deik-Beck swam down into the lake as directed, questing the Mithril hidden deep in its depths. His sensors showed him the energies infusing the entire lake, those of divinity and the essence of time. He could see why any living being who entered the lake would be reduced to dust if they tried, and that was the best possible fate. His mechanical body, however, was already treated with energies that made it indestructible. After all, Clockwerk built Deik-Beck after Coco had rendered Clock-La immortal by taking from that fused being the Seed of Death that made living beings mortal, that allowed them to leave the living world when their bodies gave out.
Deik-Beck looked back on those memories, the ones that weren't his. Neyla's screams of pain and fear as she sank towards the depths, only for her to realize - as the body she was in moved without her directive - that she was not alone.
"W-what's going on?" she demanded in fear. "Why is my body-"
"It was never your body to begin with," Clockwerk responded cruelly. "You were simply borrowing it. And I must thank you. If not for you, I would have remained a lifeless husk of my former self. Because of you, I was called back, my soul awoken. But I have no more need for you."
"Wait!" she called out despairingly. "I can help you-"
"All you are - all you ever were - is dead weight. And it's time to shed that."
With a jerk, half the Clockwerk head broke off the rest, letting Clock-La sink into the trench. An extra twist of cruelty, and part of the trench broke away with a strike, tumbling enough dense rocks down atop Clock-La to hide the metallic signature from any deep scans. Someone would have to know exactly where to look - and what to look for - to find her now...and the change in momentum from breaking off meant even calculating exactly from the point of entry into the ocean and all forces involved would get the wrong location. She now sank into a completely different branch of the trench.
Clockwerk himself altered the shape of the chunk he'd broken off, grasping the wall of a trench in an animal form that could make the climb back to the surface. Once there...he would get close to the Coopers. The filly...she was despondent after what happened to the turtle. He would just need something...cute to get her attention. Cute, helpless, damaged...just like her.
And as he broached the surface, the red optics turned blue. Deik-Beck was crafted, with a story to win sympathy.
An odd set of memories to be looking at, Clockwerk observed idly to the other voice in his metallic head, a voice he once thought naught but a tool.
End coming, Deik-Beck answered simply. When end comes, only natural to look at beginning.
...you know my plans.
We share head. Hard not to.
As the two in one being used their hind legs as propellers to drive deeper into the waters, they sat in silence for a time. Eventually, it was Clockwerk who spoke up. They will probably never forgive the deception, if my plan works. Coco will likely never forgive being used.
This I know.
Silence reigned for a longer time. ...I expected you to be more upset about that.
If save Coco, I do anything.
Even...make her hate you?
...do you remember love now?
Clockwerk was silent for a time. He looked back in his memory - as long as it was - and sought out a recollection that wasn't about hate. Wasn't about revenge against the Coopers. Wasn't...
...a little owlet named Klaw. An older raccoon. His daughter. A mission. A desire. A promise. ...a fool.
Did I go too far?
Love makes fools of all.
Clockwerk was silent for a time. Is that where you come from? Is that why your presence is so strong in my mind? Is that why you're able to influence my thoughts to the extent you've become a part of me, something truer than I was? Are you...young Klaw?
Not Klaw, Deik-Beck! Deik-Beck corrected insistently. After a time of silence, he added, Echo, perhaps.
Clockwerk let that turn over in his mind as they descended further...until they found the vein of Mithril. The ore glittered with silverly light, one very similar to the color of Clockwerk's metal wings. Carving off a tiny piece, Deik-Beck devoured it, letting it and its energies infuse his body. I am...sorry.
Sorry?
For treating you like nothing more than a tool. For taking what you had to offer me for granted. For disregarding what you could have been. And now...for destroying your future. I am...sorry.
Sorry for revenge?
Clockwerk thought about that for a time as Deik-Beck got to work carving out enough Mithril to make the weapons for Sly and Carmelita. As they turned to seek the surface, he found an answer. No, I'm not sorry for the quest that began in hatred, or what I did as a result of it. Or, to be more accurate, I do not regret my actions, or the results of them...though I repent the pain it caused.
Time to grow, Deik-Beck offered happily. Time to change. Time to love. Time to forget.
If we fail, there won't be any time left.
If succeed, all time in world to fix. Deik-Beck let off a few happy beeps, his version of a happy giggle. Cooper ancestor missing. Replacement has to come from somewhere. Grandfather of Book author dead...so supply replacement father of author.
Clockwerk thought about that for a time and couldn't help but chuckle. Those two stuck here in a place where they can get plenty of privacy, can't interact with many others, and waiting until the timestream is stable again before they can be sent anywhere? There might be plenty of choice by the time Wadjet drops that bit of news on them!
Clockwerk and Deik-Beck shared a laugh...and Clockwerk began to understand more than he did about what love meant.
I had almost completely forgotten about this. It was foreshadowed way back when. Ouch Coco is going to be heartbroken but it looks like we are going to be getting another forced stable time loop when somehow Clockwork finds a way to save the timeline.
And now the Grandparent Paradox begins to unravel.
Now that was very interesting... And a nice look into the mind of him! I loved it.
Good show!
A... Are you going to redeem Clickbait (Clock-beik)?
I forgot how much I love you giving more depth to some of these villains. Way back when I first read this, as interesting as the story already was, the changes you made to Muggshot, Mz. Ruby, and Panda King(In both their pasts and futures) was what got me really sucked into the series. And going for depth, even sympathy with what seems to be a 'not-exactly-redemption arc-but-he-wants-to-help-now' story on Clockwerk, a character the game described to be 'what was once an Owl, but is now soulless machinery powered by hatred of the Coopers', well, I'm interested to hear the full story on that one.
At least he'll always have someone to talk to in the unlikely event he gets cast out.
So we aren't doing a Clockwerk/Deik-Beck v. Clockwerk's Brain later. Part of me is sad over that.
On topic, however, they really need to find a proper bloodline ancestor to fill this slot. Paradoxal Causality may keep Sly alive, but the timeline they would be forging would have precious little to do with the one they left behind.
(calculating the score for "nature vs nurture") hmm, Pinkie: could you help me with this?
...uh, thanks, I think
When did Deik-Beck become Yoda?
To quote Kratos in God of War 3....
How fiendishly clever. I wonder what they have cooked up?
So Deik-Beck is essentially an Echo of Clockwerk's daughter, or perhaps an echo of his compassion, which takes the form of that which he associates with compassion. It's a piece of himself he shed long ago, and was able to re-emerge when he excised Clock-La from his soul.
Clockwerk does not regret the hatred nor the choices he made in that hatred, but instead regrets the pain he caused.
Hatred, believe it or not, is not a negative emotion. Certainly not a positive one, but not a negative. It's more of a guide, a funnel through which one can channel a great deal of passion. So much passion focused into one objective though brings about tunnel vision and self-applied blindness. That's why hatred should be avoided. Not because it's "evil", but because paths undertaken with hatred are incredibly hard to turn away from.
So yes, I still think Clockwerk is a viable candidate for Loyalty. After all, The Mane 6 did not start out as perfect representations of their Elements, but learned through experience how to be an Element of Harmony. And Clockwerk is certainly learning...
As I read this part, I imagined Clockwerk sounding confused, maybe even a little desperate. I think he's trying to understand why something that essentially represents the good in him would be so okay with betrayal.
Guess it clearly shows Deik-Beik echoes Clockwerks thoughts quite well.
Sometimes even compassion can Klaw its way up from the depths of despair.
Figures Neyla was caught between a (buncha)rocks and a hard place (to be found).
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Actually Hatred is a negative emotion, but as you said not evil. Greed is the negative side of generosity but at the same time it can be hard to tell which is which, since we look more at the action then the emotional drive behind the action. By it's nature what we use to separate greed and generosity is if it's for one's self or another's but they aren't mutually exclusive as a selfish reason could be behind working towards all but yourself, such as through atoning for one's "sins" can be born from the desire to rid themselves of the guilt over the pain they have caused so they ignore themselves to ease the pain of others. Another way to help understand is with the yin-yang showing both light and dark in balance and while most people don't realize it Light is actually suppose to be the destructive side of nature while darkness is the healing side of nature.
Deik-Beck really knows what makes his creator tick...
Huh
I see Diek Beck riding Clock-La with Princess Cadence in her...
With their heads bobbing. Instead of “What is love?” playing, some kind of majestic Titanic music plays.
So is this lost ark it's own game or all made up?
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All made up.
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Nice, exited to see what you are making
I keep forgetting your ability to make me feel a bit of sympathy for characters I hate.
How do you do that?
Sorry not sorry.
Excellent chapter, though if you're going to show more of Clockwerk's past it seems like it will be interesting. I think Coco will like the idea of having her parents get a nice vacation in ancient Egypt. I can see her needing some time to herself, maybe going for more magic lessons and talking to Guru to help sort out her feelings.
I do laugh at Clock-La, she got exactly what she deserved: trapped for all eternity and unable to die.
It's taken THIS long before someone thought of the part where the first Cooper thief would have to be replaced???! SERIOUSLY??!
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Elementary, my dear Watson!
static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/0/4852/953364-1239073137827.jpg
(...I regret nothing.)
What's love got to do with it? What's love, but a second hand emotion?
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Oh, "Crazy Steve" made meme status, huh?
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What can I say, I'm a sucker for the classics
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Jafar says it, in a menacing tone, as he's gotten annoyed of pleasing Abis Mal's greed.
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The Cooper line has existed for quite some time since prehistoric times i.e. Bob. The Catalyst for the modern Coopers came from the creation of the Thievius Raccoonis. The ancestor Seth killed was to bring about the start of the evolution of the Cooper family into their current legendary form.