As everyone gathered in the cavern, it quickly became obvious what sort of announcement Sly and Carmelita had. Sly looked to be fit to bursting with pride, and Carmelita - despite her conflicted expression - seemed to be glowing. Before anyone had even spoken, Bentley and Murray had wide grins on their faces, Penelope was beaming, and Coco was almost vibrating with suppressed excitement and glee. Despite Coco's insistence on treating 'the transformed Deik-Beck' as family, Clockwerk had chosen to remain outside so as not to stress the others who had not accepted him entirely yet. By now, everyone had grown somewhat used to his presence, but his relations with Sly, Carmelita, and Bentley were still somewhat strained.
The only one present who did not seem charged with positive emotions was Wadjet, who sat back from the group in stony silence, watching calmly as everyone gathered.
Sly was the one to begin the discussion as he cleared his throat. "Everyone," he began carefully. "Carmelita and I have-"
Murray opened his mouth, only to be kicked in the side by a glaring Coco. "What?" he complained petulantly.
"Let them make the announcement," Coco insisted firmly.
"Why?" Murray demanded in confusion. "We all already know what it's going to be. Honestly, with the way they've been, I was expecting it half a year sooner."
"It's still polite to let them announce it, even if we can't even feign surprise anymore," Penelope insisted with an irritable glower.
Sly managed a chuckle. "So, were we just that obvious, or do you all just know us that well?" He put his arm affectionately around Carmelita's shoulders, getting a brief smile out of her.
Bentley tilted one hand back and forth. "Little of column A, little of column B, little of column C."
"Column C?" Carmelita asked in confusion.
"C for Coco," Bentley explained calmly. "Even if we couldn't guess it, Coco obviously has, and she's been vibrating with excitement from the moment she laid eyes on the pair of you today. Given our present circumstances, there's only two possible announcements to get that sort of reaction out of her, and you'd have approached Murray and I privately if you were trying to pick a Best Man. Logic."
Carmelita blinked in surprise. "You know, with everything that's happened...it completely slipped my mind that we aren't married yet..." This admission caused Penelope to burst into giggles.
"I can asssssisssst with correcting that delinquency..." Wadjet offered gently, only to fall silent at the suddenly angry glare Carmelita shot her.
Everyone blinked in shock at that interchange. "...Carmelita?" Sly asked worriedly. "Is...is something wrong?"
Carmelita turned back to the group. "We're going to have a son," she said warmly, clinging tightly to Sly. "And...his name's going to be Ha-Horace!" She glared angrily at Wadjet again, her eyes narrowed to slits as she growled territorially at the Goddess.
Coco's brief joy at the announcement of her becoming a big sister faded at Carmelita's sudden uncharacteristic hostility. "...Wadjet..." she asked nervously. "W...Why is Mom acting like that?"
Wadjet sighed sadly. "I have ssssserached," she offered sadly. "Trying to find one with the right qualities to preserve the timeline and the Cooper line...but none live in the pressssent time with thossse qualitiesss...yet. If I sssearch through other timesss, I will be unable to maintain your pressssence in the meantime. However...one will soon be born who will have the right qualitiesss...who mussst take that misssssing place in the timessstream." She looked sadly towards Sly and Carmelita as Sly's face turned a mix of stunned and tragic. "Sssssly, Carmelita, I am ssssorry...but hissss name will be Harasss..."
It was a few months after that before Mom would speak to anyone again. When Wadjet tried to speak to her, she actually struck out with her flail to drive her off. What should have been a happy announcement...instead left everyone depressed and devastated.
Dad did his best to take care of Mom as the pregnancy progressed, and eventually she opened up to the rest of us. At first it wasn't pleasant, as she lashed out vocally at everyone as the mood swings hit her, blaming everyone in turn for having to 'lose her baby'... I'm going to try very hard not to remember that month.
Thankfully, she managed to get control of herself and apologize before the time of delivery. I...I do understand why she lashed out. She knows Wadjet wouldn't do this if there were another option, and it's even logical that it happen this way. It's...just not pleasant.
Mom delivered out by the oasis lake, with Wadjet herself taking on a less intimidating form to perform the delivery. I had no idea Gods could do that...
And what happened next stunned everyone...
Wadjet carefully cradled the tiny infant in her arms, her tongue passing gently over his fur to clean off the afterbirth mess. The Goddess had shrunk herself down to a naga not much larger than Murray to perform the delivery, and had eased all the pain Carmelita would have gone through during labor to make it a swift, painless birth. Once the young Haras began to cry, Wadjet gently placed him in Carmelita's arms to begin nursing.
Carmelita gently cradeled the young raccoon in her arms, staring down as he immediately began to nurse. "It...it really has to be?" she asked sadly.
"I am ssssorry," Wadjet offered sadly.
Carmelita closed her eyes against the pain. "Can...can we stay to raise him?" she asked desperately.
Wadjet shook her head sadly. "If he isss to be accepted into the Pharaoh'sss clan without a place of origin, he must bear the mark of the God-Touched, marked by Fate. To do that, he cannot know you consssciously. Only in inssstinct, deep memory, and ssstoriesss told."
"How...how long?" Carmelita asked sorrowfully. "How long can I...?"
"Until he isss on ssssolid food," Wadjet stated firmly. "...about two yearsss. After that, the way will open for you all to take Coco home...and you mussst go with her for now, and never return to thisss time period."
"But...will he know who he is?" Sly asked sadly. "His heritage? What waits for him in the future? How...how do we know he is going to be okay?"
"I will watch over him," Clockwerk spoke up as he leaned forward slightly, his predatory eyes gentle and compassionate. "Him and all his line for as long as time is unstable, until history is firm and the Cooper destiny assured."
Sly stared up at Clockwerk in surprise. "R...really?"
Clockwerk nodded firmly. "Even if it takes a thousand thousand years. Haras Cooper will know what awaits his descendants, and what must be done to prepare for them. And I will remain endlessly in the shadows of the Coopers, keeping death at bay that they can grow to be the shadow guardians the world needs."
"You mussst not interact with them once the line leavesss Egypt," Wadjet warned. "Nor with anyone elssse. If you take up thissss role...all that awaitssss you isss eternal lonelinessss..."
"All that awaits me is penance," Clockwerk corrected firmly. "For as long as my soul clings to this body, these wings will shield the children of Cooper from the sort of evil I once was. This I promise."
Sly stared in shock at Clockwerk's declaration...but Carmelita reached over and wrapped an arm around one metal leg. "...thank you..." she whispered on the verge of tears as she cuddled her infant to her breast.
Little Haras nursed away, unaware of the fate that awaited him.
I was afraid something like this might happen... not exactly this mind you, but something along those lines.
Ah damn.... why do these feels keep clotheslining me....?
8883831
Eh, I wouldn't worry TOO much; Tats' stories tend to work out in the end...
Well that’s an emotional kick to the crotch I could have done without today. Understand why it was necessary, doesn’t make it easier to accept.
So the lurking Clockwerk in the earlier images is not the evil one, but the reformed 'Taking the LONG path' one...who must step aside eventually and allow his past self to do what must be done to preserve time.
That REALLY sucks.
Typo: When Wadjet tried to speakto her
Well, I saw that coming, and it was just as sad as I expected. Well, at least it was over quickly.
I assume that a certain owl (the good one) may reappear once they get back... just a bit older than he was before.
Or is it the same one, and he's stuck in a time loop? (which would be REALLY sad)
I suppose I half called it. I did say Clockwerk will stay behind. I was just wrong about what role he'd play.
Then again, I did point out that Haras could potentially replace the dead ancestor as well, as how far back in time they are would dilute the genetics enough to not be a problem for Sly when he's born.
So... 3/4ths right? I don't know. I study theoretical physics, with a passion for stuff like this, and it's still giving me a headache...
damn...
The feels were strong this chapter. At least Clockwerk's immortality shall serve as a boon in this case.
Wait... does that mean Clockwerk left the heat regulation spell for Coco?
I... don't think this qualifies for Harassment but... Augh, the feels.
8883961
It's plausible
Oh god this chapter actually made me cry a bit! [>@^^^/ IT! Tatsurou! Why couldn't you find a less heart wrenching way to resolve the messed up timeline!
Well that sucks for Carmelita hard. I hope she and Sly will have more kids soon.
8883873
It's NOT a grandfather paradox! It's a causality loop. These two things are not the same thing!
Damn, Tatsurou, you're just piling on the feels, awesome and complexity. Clockwork... I hated him once, but that this version would turn himself into a shadow of penetant protection rather than one of arrogant wrath... It honestly is very heart-warming. I'm sad for Sly and Carmelita's firstborn having to grow up never knowing his family, but I understand the reasons why. To save the future, one must stay in the past who can undo the damage done, and little Haras is the one who will do it. He will never know his mother and father, save for the lingering love in his heart for and from them, and be brought into the home of the Pharaoh to ensure the Coopers become shadows of justice, closing the loop in time and ensuring all will be well with the world.
Poor Carmelita... I can't imagine how much that would hurt, to hold your baby in your arms, only to know that it won't last and they'll be taken away so that you can't even watch them grow... And Sly, to never be able to pass on his knowledge and legacy to his firstborn son... I only hope Coco can keep them both from falling into the shadow of despair, and I have every faith she can. She's a strong-willed little pony.
Soon, we make the journey to Equestria, and see what kind of mischief the Cooper Clan can get into there... I can hardly wait.
A bit sad outcome for young Coco, who want to play with her younger brother.
I knew Sly would be the progenitor of the Cooper clan. But, Sly giving birth to his ancestor is just all types of weird.
8883873
You have the wrong Paradox. It would have been the Grandfather Paradox if Sly slept with the Pharaoh's daughter to produce the heir. It's a Causality Loop, as far as the new timeline is concerned. According to the new timeline, Sly and Carmelita come here and leave their baby behind because the timestream says they've already done it. Or, rather, it will once it's stable.
8884127
penitent
Tats has the tendency to do that. Remember what happened with Flame Hyenard?
Sometimes, terrible things must happen for things to take their proper course. It sucks, but still...
8884187
Flame who? (Funnily, saying that aloud put "Flame Fu" in my head. )
Yes...
And thanks for the correction–my iPad doesn't always tell me when I've misspelled a word.
8884225
I'm referring to chapter 81(i believe) of Melody of the Future;
- MLP: FiM
- Mega Man
- Comedy
- Slice of Life
Megaman X raises an infant Octavia Melody in a world of human, Reploid, and Maverick conflict.Namely We Carry On.
8884246
Oh, yeah! Heh, that was a more recent read for me, so some memories are a touch vague. :) Tatsurou does have a habit of having characters who shouldn't be redeemable become redeemable, and that in the most awesome ways.
8884251
From the AN on that very chapter
8884163
It wouldn't exactly be a causality loop because In all rights this story could be caused by a distortion in time already from how sly goes missing at the end of the fourth game, so we see changes made partly for the better partly for the worse because we really have no clue where sly ends up in-game cannon might have allowed time to alter certain events that led to Seft trying to use the portal that brought Coco into this world, and eventually to Seft going back and causing another ripple in time bringing us to a different Sire for the line from what should be cannon according to this stories history that everyone was going off of.
I'll be blunt. This can only work if Sly is from a different branch of the Cooper line than the one his son's bloodline will be marrying into. The problem isn't inbreeding, as genetic drift over the generations has taken care of that. The real problem is that, unless Sly is descended from a branch that split off before the key union, then no matter what, Sly himself will never be born.
And this is why I hate time travel sometimes.
8884336
Missing one key point.
A Goddess whose specific job is to control and correct the flow of time is devoting her energies into making this work.
Damn......As happy as I am that time will be corrected, I feel so bad for all of them. I just hope Sly and Carmalita can have another child later on so Coco can have a proper littler brother/sister.
8884394
Almost makes you wish Sly or Carmelita would go all "Time Lord Victorious". You know, "The laws of time are mine... and they WILL obey me!"
8883961
That... actually might be it. Weird thing to think about, but in all likelihood what happened.
>>Dark Monarch Sombra
but that Twilight Sparkle job is making make trime and Making causality her form
- MLP: FiM
- Adventure
Ratchet balances saving the galaxy with being the father to a purple alicorn foal. Adorable shenanigans and explosions ensue.On the plus side, when they get home Clockwerk will be waiting for them...
8883961 I had figured that Coco had left it for herself but either IS possible
8884638
She made time and casualty her bitch. That is a feat anyone would be scared and happy for
I have a gut feeling Haras Cooper won't live to a ripe old age in Ancient Egypt. Probably long enough to sire an heir, but not long beyond that.
There is a couple of reasons for this. But the primary one happens to lie with Clockwerk. For most of his very, very, very long life—10,000 of his 12,000 years to be exact—Clockwerk has hunted the Cooper Clan. The time period Haras Cooper is in right now is at most 7.000 years from the Cooper's present. So at this very moment, and for the next 7,000 years, there are two Clockwerks operating throughout history. One to protect the Cooper Clan and the other to hunt them.
Which means Coco's Clockwerk knows the exact date, time, and location where Haras is going to die. History says he does and there is no way Wadjet is going to allow history to be altered once she has it stabilized. So the date Haras exits history will be a fixed point in time. But just because Haras is no longer a part of history does not mean his life comes to an end. I have a feeling Clockwerk is going to save Haras, and then arrange for him to reunite with his mother, his father, his sister, and his uncles in the future. And here is why and how it is going to happen.
Clockwerk just promised to Sly and Carmelita that Haras will know who he is. He will know his heritage. He will know what awaits his descendants, and what must be done to prepare for them. He will grow up hearing the stories of his family. He will know his father. He will know his mother. He will know his uncles. But the person he will know the best is the person who has chronicled her entire life while she has been stuck in ancient Egypt.
Haras will hear the same stories that Wadjet told Hades as he was growing up. He will know his family.
The one problem would be him leaving his own immediate family. It will be a very hard struggle, but not impossible. I have a feeling Wadjet will instill in Haras a very strong understanding of what her job is, and specifically why maintaining the timeline is so freaking important. Clockwerk will save Haras's life from, well, Clockwerk. In doing so Clockwerk will rip Haras away from his wife and his child. Haras will hate him for that.
Clockwerk will point out that Haras was destined to die at the moment he saved him. History will only know him as dying on that day and that now his role in history is done. Haras will scream. He will lash out. He will decry that he has been robbed of his entire future, and that will be the precise moment Clockwerk informs him that that is exactly what happened to Sly, Carmelita, and Coco. Haras will break down in acceptance of what happened, and realize that he too is one of Seft's victims.
It will be at this moment a helicopter in the shape of an alarm clock appears from seeming out of nowhere and crashes in the sand. Scrooge McDuck will come out screaming at Launchpad, before turning his attention Clockwerk. Scrooge will then berate Clockwerk, asking him if he had any idea how hard it was to get the Millennium Shortcut back up and running again, how astronomically expensive it was to manufacture enough bombastium to be able to make this trip, how it was nearly impossible to find the item Clockwerk requested him to find—even though he had told him exactly where to find it—and bring here, and how difficult it was to keep all of this quiet from Sly, Carmelita, and Coco the last time he saw them all to make sure this causality loop remained intact!
Once Scrooge gets through yelling at Clockwerk, he would then turn to Haras and then ask if he is ready to go. Haras would be completely dumbfounded and not comprehend what is going on. Scrooge would give Clockwerk a look that would say "you didn't tell him anything, did you?" before explaining that he is from the future; that he is a personal friend of Sly, Carmelita, and Coco; and that he used a time machine to travel back in time to bring Haras home to his mother, his father, and his sister.
Haras is still dumbfounded, and ultimately cannot believe it. Refuses to believe it. Instead comes to the conclusion Clockwerk is either playing a prank on him, or he's dreaming. Scrooge would then wack him upside the head to prove he isn't dreaming, and then yells at Launchpad to bring it out (and not break it!). Launchpad brings out the item, wrapped in protective cloth and Scrooge then presents it to Haras to prove this isn't a joke.
Haras unwraps it, and discovers it is a Cooper Cane. And not just any cooper cane. As Haras examines the cane, he would discover six letters written in a language he hasn't read for a very, very, very long time and spells out the name Conner. Haras would fall to his knees when he realizes he is holding his father's original cane. The cane which was lost when Le Paradox put the wrong cane in the Time Tunnel. Scrooge would then remark that Sly would want to have that back.
Shakily, Haras would be guided into the Millennium Shortcut. Before he enters, he looks back to Clockwerk. Clockwerk once again reminds Haras that he made a promise to Sly that he would watch over him and his descendants and ensure they are protected and live out to fulfill their destinies. All of them. And those descendants just so happen to include his own parents and sister. Clockwerk would then probably make a quip about the grandfather paradox, some other time travel pun, or possibly both before telling him to go live out the life he should have had and not the one he was forced to live. Clockwerk then flies off after stating he will see Haras again soon… from his point of view.
Secure in that knowledge, Haras departs with Scrooge and Launchpad clutching the cane tightly. He still feels an unberable sadness with having to leave his wife and children, but he is also feeling nervo-cited at the prospect of finally getting to know his parents and sister.
Which he does, just in time, to join his birth family in Equestria.
And of course he will arrive shortly after Sly, Carmelita, Coco, Bentley, Murry, and Penelope left him in Egypt because Time Travel.
8885016
You are overlooking one point.
Nowhere in canon does it say specifically how long Clockwerk has been hunting the Coopers...and Sly's conclusion that he's been hunting them since the beginning of the Thieviues Raccoonus is based entirely on seeing the silhouette of an owl in the background of the pictures of his ancestors in said tome. A silhouette that was just explained in this timeline as Clockwerk watching over the line to protect it.
Wow Wadjet a cruel snake bitch. Who wants cruel snake bitch soup
8885037
Aren't time loops a wonderful thing? Who is to say that Clockwerk wasn’t in two time streams at the same place? His older self was secretly looking after the Coopers while his younger self was trying to kill them and setting the stage for his future/older self’s redemption.
8885126
Like the old saying goes, sometimes you must be cruel to be kind.
8885175
Mostly because in each past scene in Sly 4 (except prehistoric) there was only one giant owl circling over things and watching.
8885126
She might be cruel, but then again
8885204
Is the owl in the shadows the Evil Clockwerk or the Good Clockwerk?
8885037
Not quite.
The exact dialogue from Sly's encounter with Clockwerk:
At the very least he's been hunting the Coopers for hundreds of years. Hundreds. Plural. Meaning at least 300 years (otherwise he would have said 200 years or a couple hundred). Which means the earliest he could have started hunting the coopers was in the 1700s.
Furthermore, Clockwerk appears several times in Thieves in Time. With his earliest appearance in Gunga (10,000 B.C.). He is there, in game. 10,000 years before the calendar was reset to count up in 0 A.D.
So yes, as of some point prior to 1300 BC, there are now two Clockwerks on the same planet, in the same timeline, and will exist together for at least the next 2,700 years. Which means some of those photos in the Thievius Raccoonus are of the evil Clockwerk hunting down the Cooper Clan while others are of the good one watching after them.
In either case, you've written two Clockwerks into the story. One which currently isn't aware of the existence of the other. And one which has both an encyclopedic of every single Cooper throughout recorded history, and more than likely remembers with some degree of certainty everywhere he has been during that time.
Yeah, time travel can cause a massive headache.
8885275
The 10,000 BC time frame is the one time where you can't see Clockwerk circling in the sky, actually.
And the first time we see Clockwerk in the pictures in the Thievius Raccoonus is the picture of Slytunkhamen I, the one who made the book...the one Haras Cooper is going to sire in this new timeline.
Trust me, I did that research for this part back when I first planned out this side of Clockwerk's redemption...back when I first introduced Deik-Beck.
8885290
Incorrect. He shows up twice in Gunga (10,000 BC). The first time during the mission "Stone Age Reconnaissance," and the second time in "Starving Starving Hippo."
This walkthrough proves he is there: https://youtu.be/f6M7wScVoQ0?t=1m41s
So… i think you missed him, but at the same time made for a lot of interesting possibilities in this story. 3,000 years worth of new possibilities to be exact.
8885301
...and that doesn't even work with established game canon for that to be the normal Clockwerk, because it shows him with a metal body, and those metals didn't exist back then.
So...I have to assume those are either continuity mistakes on the part of the game makers, or the result of Clockwerk himself traveling through time at some point in his life span to observe the origin of the Cooper line.
8885323
The latter opens up more story possiblities, but the initial point I brought up still stands.
Haras Cooper does not need to stay in the past for all eternity (or to the end of his natural lifespan, or even close to the end of his natural lifespan). Just long enough to sire an heir, and a certain someone else (with a very long life span a good memory) can make sure the book is filled with the knowledge Coco and the rest of the line will need. Especially since Wadjet only barred Clockwerk from interacting with the line once they leave Egypt. Last I checked, the Cooper line in Egypt lasts until Slytunkhamen III. So Clockwerk can interact with them until at least then.
Clockwerk is in the very unique position to not only make that happen, but has the motive to ensure Coco reunites with her brother someday. Not soon enough for Carmelita and Sly to raise him, but soon enough for him to still be a major part of their lives. :D
8883640
even saying is a jinx ya know.