//------------------------------//
// What Came After 
// Story: Dressed to Steal 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

	To say that I was relieved to learn that Dad wasn't going to jail was to say Genghis Khan dabbled in real estate.  It was the best news I'd ever heard.  Uncle Murray and Uncle Bentley were also relieved...but they had their own news.

The events of Clock-La had...wounded us all.  Uncle Murray intended to travel the world, trying to find some peace with himself.  Bentley intended to further his technical research until his paralysis was no longer an issue...whether because it was fixed or it no longer hindered him.  Our family was...going its separate ways for now.

I was okay with this.  Really, I was.  I saw them off with a smile and a wish of good luck.  ...okay, I bawled my eyes out like a baby begging them not to go and clinging to them desperately while Dad acted mature about it.  Get off my back, I was eight!  Eventually I ran out of tears, gave them a last farewell hug...and pouted like a spoiled brat as soon as they were out of sight.  I admit it was selfish of me, but like I said, eight!

A couple of interesting things came out of everything that happened, though.  My recommendations to Dimitri actually led him to branching out into all sorts of arts, including music.  He actually wrote a song dedicated to me.  At first, I was flattered...but then I actually heard the lyrics.  It was about what happened with Clock-La...





Dimitri carefully tuned his lute - he had a preference for older instruments in his performances - as he sat before a crowd of his usual clientele.  Even though he'd gone straight, he still drew quite a few criminal elements to his businesses, like this club which was still running now that he'd stopped dealing in spice and counterfeit currency.  Once he had everyone's attention, he began to strum...and then to sing.

Now we all know
The legend of that Clan
The Coopers who keep us in line
But let me tell you
Of one you should know true
Whose fierceness is like wrath divine

Of all the Gang there is to know
There's one whom we all see
And I shall tell you why you should
Fear the Cooper Pony

I'll tell you the tale of one who in folly
Tampered with forces unknown
By will of her master, awoke a disaster
And left that poor child alone

Through deception and games she divided the team
Trapped three of the five in the web
And don't you see, it caused fate to be
Turned by the wrath not to ebb

The fool, she declared, You have gone too far
I will show you the cruelty of fate
The power I wield, of love that's been scarred
Is far greater than that of hate

With that declaration, her magic was loosed
And the earth itself rose to her wrath
Mere walls of stone, doors of wood and steel
All fell that stood in her path

The spider that hunted, in her own web was bound
Truth cut right through all her lies
And when she was shown for what she'd become
She was shown to be what all despised

When one who had loosed this rose on steel wings
Stolen from evil so old
She claimed that poor pony for master uncaring
Only to find she'd been too bold

The battle was long and terribly fierce
From limb to limb that beast was torn
But with last despite, she broke turtle's back
And then faced that pony's scorn

She loosed all her magic, of this world and beyond
And reached deep into that twisted soul
And took from within it that seed of death
That makes a mortal whole

Now deep in the abyss, that monster does lie
Far neath cold ocean's flow
Where dark seals the eyes, and deep close the ears
And where death itself cannot go

Endlessly rotting, pain all she knows
Her screams unheard you see
Now she knows well, what we live to tell
Why you fear the Cooper Pony

With his song finished, he took a bow as the crowd snapped fingers in applause.  "Thank you."





...while not exactly how I'd want to be remembered in song...I guess we can be pretty sure nobody's going to be trying to split up my family on my watch anymore.

I admit, I was...feeling really down after Uncle Murray and Uncle Bentley went away, so I'd taken to wandering to clear my head.  Dad didn't entirely approve, but he didn't forbid either.  Instead, he took to following me at a distance to keep track of me.  I couldn't blame him for that, and I decided not to call him on it.

However, on one such wandering I found something that...well, it complicated things, but it left me feeling much better about everything...





Coco hopped from rooftop to rooftop, simply reveling in the cold air of the moonless night.  It helped clear her head, helped her not think about the damages that her family had experienced.  Leaping about, she pushed herself physically as she raced around the barely lit city, going wherever the path led her until she decided it would be time to make her way home.

A strange metallic grinding caught her attention.  Turning, she followed the sound into a dark alley before making her way towards the back.  Pulling some sacking aside, she found a tiny creature of pure metal that seemed to resemble a golden-eyed crab, struggling with its limbs.  "What are you...?" she murmured thoughtfully as she leaned in close.

"Deik-Beck!" the tiny creature responded immediately.

Coco jerked her head back in surprise.  "Really?  You can talk?"

"Yes!" Deik-Beck confirmed, shifting about as it struggled to get free of the garbage it was caught in.  "Help?"

Chuckling, Coco untangled the tiny creature.  "Where did you come from?" she asked curiously.

"Clockwerk!"

"What?" Coco demanded in shock, leaping back and into a combat stance.  "Clockwerk made you?"

"Yes!" Deik-Beck responded energetically.

"And what are you doing here?" she demanded coldly, swinging her cane and ready to smash the creature if it became hostile.

"Deik-Beck garbage!" Deik-Beck proclaimed, it's high pitched voice dipping in sadness.

"...why?" Coco asked carefully, inching forward again.

"Clockwerk make Deik-Beck," Deik-Beck explained.  "Clockwerk want army.  Clockwerk have only one Hate Chip.  Clockwerk make Deik-Beck without Hate Chip.  Deik-Beck work...but Deik-Beck have no hate.  So Clockwerk decide Deik-Beck garbage..."

Coco felt her heart wilt at such a declaration.  She knew she couldn't turn her back at this point.  Maybe it was lying, maybe it was telling the truth...maybe she just desperately needed something to take care of to fill the hole her Uncles' departure had left in her life.  Putting her cane away, she gently scooped up the little robo-crab.  "Don't worry, Deik-Beck," she offered comfortingly.  "You aren't garbage anymore, Deik-Beck," she promised.  "I'll take care of you."

Deik-Beck let out a happy chime, snuggling in.

As Coco carried Deik-Beck back towards the hideout, she failed to notice its eyes ever so briefly flash red.