I wasn't really aware of most of this, as Mom and Dad were both very careful to 'protect' me from the situation at hand. I didn't learn about it until later, from reading about it in Dad's journals. Of course, now I understand both why they did it and what was going on, and it makes sense. Still, learning that they had to make the choice to actively destroy the machine that brought me to them - and thus being my only way home - wasn't exactly pleasant. Still, they took good care of me afterwards, so I can hardly blame them.
The destruction of the portal was comparatively easy as opposed to going after Seft. Uncle Bentley was able to use a slingshot to place the tiny explosives, and a well timed detonation left the portal device so much scrap. Uncle Bentley made sure to gather that scrap after it was all over, to prevent reverse engineering by unsavory elements.
Dad confronted Seft...and found himself in difficulty.
Sly leapt back as Seft once more struck forward with his tail stinger, nearly grazing his arm. This battle was not going well. Seft had chosen a battleground that had nothing hanging from the ceiling or sticking up from the floor, no dangerous hazards to lead him into, and no closing doors to trap anyone with. It was, in fact, the plainest chamber in the entire facility, with only one square platform in the center covered in colored tiles that didn't appear to do anything directly under the skylight. Seft had made his way there in a calm manner the moment the portal device had been destroyed.
And now Sly found himself hard pressed. In order to evade the strikes of tail or pincer, he was forced to leap around, demonstrating his superior agility and evasion. Seft, on the other hand, let his natural armor take the brunt of any blow Sly managed to land with his cane, and his six legs made it exceptionally difficult to trip him up due to how he was able to distribute his weight. Sly was forced to expend a great deal of energy while Seft could take it easy, and wait for him to wear out.
"So you see it now," Seft commented as Sly got some distance and paused, taking a breath. "You understand the purpose of this attrition chamber."
"Attrition chamber?" Sly asked playfully as he got back into a combat stance. "Interesting name."
"Indeed," Seft confirmed. "You saw the design of my base. Brute strength cannot reach this far, nor technology. Only speed, stealth, and cunning would allow someone to get this far, to reach me here. And one who relies on such abilities would not be able to penetrate my natural armor with their weapons, and would be forced to try and wear me down with blunt force trauma." He smiled softly, wickedly. "In truth, Cooper, this room is a trap...originally set for your father."
"What?" Sly gasped out as he barely managed to dodge the next strike of pincer. "How do you know my father?"
"Only by reputation," Seft explained calmly. "The whole criminal underground knows the legend of the Cooper Clan, those who skate on the surface of the abyss, hunting those who thrive in its depths. We all knew that if our criminal enterprises became advanced enough, a member of that Clan would come and lay us low, take the fruits of our dark tree, and cast us out of the abyss to burn in the light of the law." He skittered to the side to avoid another of Sly's strikes. "At least, that was the case before the Fiendish Five decided to change things."
Sly suppressed his need to question eagerly as he flipped out of the way of yet another tail strike. "Fiendish Five?" he asked calmly as he landed on Seft's back, putting his cane in front of the scorpion man's neck in an attempt to strangle him. "Who are-"
Sly felt like his spine was being pulled out at his pelvis as Seft ignored the cane at his throat and caught the tip of Sly's tail in a pincer, yanking him off his back. "I don't intend to give you anymore information than that," Seft stated bluntly as he held Sly upside down. "They are the ones who killed your father, and stole and scattered your family tome. They bragged about it in the underground...and if you survive this day, you will have that to go on." Before Sly could get his balance, Seft proceeded to flip him like a flapjack, slamming him into the floor repeatedly until the bit of tail fur in his grip gave way, sending Sly flying across the room. "Unfortunately, I don't think you'll survive this day. Pity."
Sly groaned as he pushed himself back to his feet, fighting against the pain in his body. "Why...a pity?" he gasped out as he got back upright.
"Because you are a pale shadow of your father, or any ancestor," Seft mused regretfully. "I built this chamber to do battle with a legend. I began my conquest to draw out your line. I wanted to see just what the legend was made of, so I could bring it down or be brought down by it. That is what a legend deserves as an end...not an ambush in his own home before the eyes of his own son."
Sly's hands clenched around his cane, his eyes hardening. "You seem to know a lot about it."
"Of course," Seft agreed. "I wanted to see what your legacy was capable of. It's a pity you came across me now, however. Having never seen the full contents of that book, you possess only natural talent and a few skills, a fraction of what a true Cooper should be capable of. I had hoped to test myself against that." He stalked carefully forward, his stinger raised high. "However, I will still get a chance to see it after you fall."
"Oh?" Sly gasped out, staggering as he lowered his cane, the hook pointed towards the ground.
"Yes," Seft confirmed. "Once I've dealt with you and recovered the alien, I'll devote part of my resources and my personal attention to the destruction of the Fiendish Five and the recovery of the Thievius Raccoonus...and then use it to train the agents that will invade that other world for me. So rejoice, your father will be avenged." As he finished speaking, he struck with his stinger.
Spinning desperately, Sly brought the hook of his cane up and wrapped it around the base of the stinger. Rushing forward, he pulled with all his might against the curve of the tail. Unable to stop it in time, Seft's own stinger became embedded in his chest, punching a hole in his natural armor.
Seft let out a hiss as he backhanded Sly away, carefully extracting his stinger as he staggered back. "Yes!" he crowed excitedly. "This is the legend I wanted to see! Even as untrained as you are, your rage brings out the true Cooper! Show me more of who you are!" Standing upright, he charged in.
Sly once again found himself hard pressed, as Seft now began attacking much more aggressively. He was already weak from the battering he'd taken earlier, and he knew he wouldn't last much longer. When he aimed strikes at the hole Seft's stinger had left in his armor, Seft actively deflected, showing he both knew the weakness and was compensating for it. Sly needed to find a way to take the warlord down, fast and hard.
Several reports caught his attention and gave him a way, as Seft leapt back to dodge blasts from Carmelita's stun cannon. "I told you those rounds are far too slow, Inspector," Seft chided gently.
Noticing the smirk on Carmelita's face, Sly's eyes went to the projectiles fired. The first one seemed too round...too shiny...
Reacting instinctively, he leapt up and hooked his cane around the metal core he hadn't consciously realized was in that projectile, obviously made by Bentley for just this purpose. Letting gravity do his work, he slammed the projectile into the crook of Seft's neck. As the scorpion man staggered back, momentarily stunned, Sly lunged in and got the tip of his cane's hook into the hole. Putting his shoulder behind it, he was able to force the entire hook into Seft's inner flesh before kicking the end of the cane, forcing it in further.
Seft bellowed in pain as he staggered back onto the central platform. As Carmelita rushed to Sly's side to back him up, Seft began to chuckle. "So this is what a legend is capable of..." he growled out. Reaching up, he grabbed hold of the cane embedded in his chest and tore it free, heedless of the damage to himself this caused as he held the cane up in his pincer before grabbing hold of it with the other. "And this is how a legend should end..." His voice trailed off as a thoughtful expression crossed his face. "But if this is but the tip of the true legend...what could you do with your legacy at your disposal?"
A sudden grin crossed Seft's face, and he tossed the cane aside. "I will see you again some day, Cooper...when you have truly come into your own." He slammed the tips of his six legs onto six colored squares of the platform, and it suddenly sprang upward, propelling him into the sky where a high speed glider caught him, flying him off into the distance.
Sly quickly put his hand to his ear. "Tell me you're tracking him, Bentley!"
"Sorry Sly," Bentley replied regretfully. "I couldn't track him. His flight path is too erratic. By the time I was able to get a bead on him, he was out of range..."
So Seft got away, along with the knowledge of how to rebuild the portal. And Dad barely got away alive. Not exactly the best way that could have gone...
Hmmm, this is a fight I would have loved to see from the games. Still, the eventual match between Sly and Sil once Sly has learned all the skills from the Thievius Raccoonus will be even more awesome.
This guy is an amazing villain. Speaking from curiosity, since I never actually played any of the games, Seft is a completely new character, right? He's not a canon villain?
Whoo! Epic!
7557134 yes
7557134 Completely new
7557193
7557186
Sweet. Tats is now even more of a legend.
7557195 Well of course, but seriously Seft is an amazing villain that isn't brain dead.
7557195
7557197
Yup. Seft is an OC villain created specifically for my readers to love to hate. I'm glad he's succeeding.
For a guy who has managed to avoid several problems of the Evil Overlord list, he seems to like the idea giving our hero a chance to improve his skills for the next clash seems like a foolish idea. Unless he's just hoping Sly takes out enough of the rest of the Criminal underworld to gain more influence over it without putting as many resources to an endeavor allowing him to work on other projects.
As I have never played the Sly Cooper games I have no idea which is right...
7557219 Hey I actually like him more than hate him cause he is actually a competent person and isn't just 'I want to fight Cooper cause I'm mad at other people'. At least Seft has a reason for wanting to fight him, not necessarily kill him cause even though it was a tough fight that nearly killed Sly he was 16 so half of Seft's attacks would deal more damage than against Sly's dad.
a villain that has a great respect for there foe those are rare
7557230
He follows the list, but the reason for his conquest is to force someone who can best him to fight him. It's the struggle to prove himself he desires, more than the power.
Edit: In essence, he's discovered the major flaw with the Overlord List. The prospective Overlord is left with one foe the list can't help him defeat...boredom.
7557231
Well, I'm glad you enjoy his competence and motivation.
7557283 He both reads the Evil Overlords rule book, but makes a twist on some things like the 'let the good guy go' thing which should be banned but he was like 'I wanted to fight the legendary Cooper, he's too young I'll let him get stronger then I can test my skills with his'...you know I hope that's how the series ends with Seth vs the entire Cooper Gang and family fighting him in Equestria that would be awesome(even though they left a cliff hanger at the end of Sly 4 and Sony are being assholes about the Sly Cooper license)
7557230
Based on my own interpretation of Seft, he seems to want Sly to get stronger just so he can see who truly is the superior combatant. I'm pretty sure this is to do with Seft's own minor obsession with fighting Sly's father, who he wanted to fight for some reason.
Hmm... not gonna pun here. It feels... unfitting to do so.
7557146 Agreed!
That was a clever plan that Seft had. Throughout the Sly games, at least, you mostly rely on the three S's. (Speed, Stealth and Secrecy) Sticking to high ground, using the verticality of your environment to your advantage. And that room had nothing he could use, forcing him to rely on the OTHER three S's. (Strength, Stamina and Surety).
THAT is clever.
Description makes this sound like a Sly Cooper fic with a pony thrown in just so it can be uploaded here. Not hating just curious.
7557540
It's a lot more than that, trust me.
It's a "My Little Dashie" style story set in the Sly Cooper universe.
7557540 You haven't read any of the PWNYverse fics, have you? They all look that way at first, but the pony's impact on the series they end up in is always more massive then you would expect.
7557598 Never heard of the verse.
7557546 Ah ok. Going right into my Read Later then.
7557657
All the stories listed here are in the same style. Different ponies, different worlds, but same basic concept.
Damn. Seft is really something else.
However, I'm still looking forward to how you portray the one true villain of the series. You fans know who I mean.
7557778
Perhaps you could tell me in spoilers, to make sure I'm on the same page?
7557784 Clockwerk
7557804
Ahh...
Hm, I like Seft's style, great for this media.
*Sigh* Will be interesting to read their next encounter, further down the line.
7557804 Ohh, yes, him. Until then the game had been rather lighthearted (apart from dead parents), but then he showed up...
He is quite possibly one of my favourite villains ever, so sinister, with an immortality brought upon by hatred and jealousy, but with a hidden tragedy. And every line he spoke was just pure villainous gold. I really wish they didn't simply axe him, the series felt naked without him.
I hope tats will do him justice. Although the new guy is pretty cool.
The word you want instead of sting (verb) is stinger (body part). It's the same for bees and wasps as it is for scorpions. Then again, same thing for the few sting rays who do use poison.
Never saw a story with hundreds of likes and no dislikes before
Uh oh
7557804 Why is he the greatest villain? Is it because he is actually evil and want's to see people killed instead of just making an empire of money and power?
7557219 I can't wait until we get into the later parts of thievious raccounous it's gonna be fun when they get to the second mission!
7558028 I'll read it and give it 10 billion dislikes to balance the ying-yang universal cosmic equilibrium thing or whatever.
Unless it IS actually good. Then I'll have no choice but to 'like' it and further tip the universe toward a Big Rip... which is being powered by 'hype', the TRUE source of dark energy!
Mmmmm... Seft is a pretty chill villain, I approve of this Tat, nicely done! And wheeeeeeeew... I honestly can't wait to see how you portray the canon villains, like Clockwerk for example...
Is this going to go through all of the games or... no? I'm curious... cause the idea of them getting the pirate ship and Coco dressing up as a pirate tickles me funny bone... that or her doing the pirate swear contest thing with the old salty pirate guy.
Maggot filled, scurvy ridden, whale fart!
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
7557996 Indeed. No one lived up to him. They knew that when they made "Thieves in Time" showing him as an easter egg in the over worlds.
Excellent chapter. I really like the character you've made in Seft. He make's for a interesting enemy/rival for Sly.
This story is currently #8 top rated story of all time on fimfiction.
(according to the filter)
Alondro sprays Seft with RAID.
"Hey, if it works on bug ponies..."
7557219 He's interesting.
You always make good villains.
Should've said this last chapter, but Seft made me think of the Scorpions from Kulipari: An Army of Frogs The show's decent.
7557325 Alright, we won't sting the legend.
I could see Seft here wanting to be the most famous villain in history. The Cooper family almost ended with a whisper of steel, but Seft wants it to end with a bang, a bang that propels him to legendary status using the status of the Cooper Clan.
Maybe his goal is to fight the best of the best, but I could see some fame creeping in as well.
7607622
He will kill you later.
8658493
We can only hope. I, for one, would love to see it happen. Seft deserves it. His heartlessness rivals a certain bird, and his callous arrogance is appalling. When at last he meets his rightful end, I shall be saying, "Farewell, foolish Seft–may you rest in pieces."
Seft is a pretty decent villian.