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.
That ain't good
O_o oh sht
8005862
8005843
Amen to both.
I see a villain in the future for our little friend.
SERIOUSLY?! Can't she get a break after what she just went through?
Well Coco seems the old trope 'Break the Cutie' is still in full effect right now. You just too darn cute for your own good girl...
Deik-Beck proclaimed, it's high pitched voice
1. Its.
Hmm... I don't think punning here would fit.
Did Clockwerk hit the eject button on his own body or something? Cuz please tell me that's Clockwerk!
Uh oh... bad mojo
Egads!
Nice job Tat
Anyone seeing this cute little crab thing not turning into this?
rs1226.pbsrc.com/albums/ee409/TwistedOne151/WIW%20KLK/KLK-Ep15-GiantEnemyCrab_zps49vndoun.jpg?w=480&h=480&fit=clip
Yah, me nether.
Rhyming a word on itself, shame on you.
For a sec I was expecting something like Tamatoa. After all he was a drab, little crab once.
Jesus...look like Clockwerk isn't out of parts yet...
Also Seft is becoming much more of a key figure in this timeline as the Omnipresent force of Evil...kinda like his namesake...His Egyptian name sake...hmmmm
ok. that is gonn a bite her in the ass.
also, deik-beek? really? it sounds way too much like something else
Uh Oh.
why is everyone panicking, it's not like Clockwerk is all that dangerous as a tiny crab that can be picked up by a 7-year old pony. And while Clockwerk is many things, (Sociopathic, obsessive, homicidal,) he is not Stupid.
He knows that pure hate is and was not enough for him to surpass and suppress the Cooper clan so he needs to understand them from a point of view at he would never find as an outsider.
besides, coco is currently 7, and just how long do you think a 7 year old, even one trained to eventually be a Master thief, would be able to hide who made her new pet from her professionally paranoid Parents?
I can actually picture Sly bluntly threatening Clockwerk.
8006226
Yeah, if you stress the syllables a certain way it sounds like he's saying his name is D***bag. I ignored that and tried to think of what this could be a reference to since it sounds like it might be one, but all I could think of was Linebeck which doesn't work. I got nothing.
8005843
8006286 with how it's acting, before the flash at least, I thought it was along the lines of different, from "my little killing machine", except as an attempt for a mini-bot of murder death.
Yeah, like that thing wasn't made to target Coca at all.
If you can't beat 'em, find or make something they care about that is sympathetic to your cause and use it. Preferably plant that 'something' in a position to be near the target as much as possible.
Let's see... uses... Collect samples of her DNA, since she doesn't leave traces anywhere? Study the Cooper Gang's behavior to use against them later? Spy on them? Wait for a key moment in a future plan to have it betray them? Slowly poison Coco (either body or mind) over a long period of time? Attempting outright assassination of Coco seems counter to Seft's plan, and assassination of anyone else is likely to end up with Seft meeting with a terrible fate.
Honestly I hope that Coco uses Deik-Beek as a backpack with lots of fun and exciting upgrades. Everyone needs a Clank/Back-Pack for their crime-fighting adventures.
Red eyes take warning... damnit, Clockwreck might have built himself a little unassuming body just in case Coco became vulnerable. I will not be surprised if it morphs into something like this: img03.deviantart.net/0263/i/2006/242/4/b/_incredible_giant_crab_redux_by_vegasmike.jpg She really should let Bentley take a look at him to make sure he's safe.
But if it does go Giant Enemy Crab, then Coco needs to use Real Time Weapon Change to pull out all her tricks so she can Attack Its Weak Point for For Massive Damage.
D'awwwww...
...Goddammit.
*Still unable to comment due to mad howling laughter.*
Everyone thinks the red flash in the eyes means he's Clockwerk.
But it could mean he's serving as an autonomous, and possibly completely unaware, spy. An inadvertent sleeper agent, who doesn't even know that Clockwerk can see what he sees, whenever Clockwerk chooses to do so.
8006702 or could easily be akward lighting on hes eyes
Either Clock-La now has eyes outside the Puerto Rico Trench, or my theory that Clockwerk sent multiple robot versions of himself into the past, each thinking that they are the real Clockwerk, may hold water. As far as Deik-Beck (I feel that there is a reference here, but I'm not seeing it yet) himself, I fear that Skull Man has the right of it: The best Double Agents don't even know that they are Double Agents. Deik-Beck's fate will be a dark one even if he doesn't die in a Heroic Sacrifice.
8006286
8006863
It's a reference to this guy from 'Arc The Lad: Twilight of the Spirits'.
8006863 maybe a broken rage chip in him
8006458 No, it just doesn't feel right punning about someone recovering from trauma.
I was wondering when Coco would get her pet.
Also, Tat STILL can't catch that taste of Dimitri's flavor yet.
8008368 "Dimitri's flavor is like smoke. You can't catch it and it's all over the place."
At least I think that's how the quote goes.
8006528 I don't think Clockwork is interested in working with Seft. If that is Clockwork, then his plan is infiltration.
What his plan is, I am not entirely sure.
8011852 ...Ok, that I can get on board with.
8011821 Yeah, man. You inserted a quarter and got the phrase.
8011834 Or suffocation. Get lodged in someone's throat all night for 6 minutes then move on. The brain needs oxygen; Clockwerk does not.
8000005 riiiiiiiiight...
8012258 Score!
OBJECTION! Time line discrepancy: Coco is 8 not 7
8006316 mlp Twilight: It's a trap!
For some reason, I hear Deik-Beck's lines voiced by either Justin Roiland (anyone high pitched) or Rosearik Simons (GIR).
8011821
Replace "you can't catch it" with "ungrabbable", and that's basically the same exact words he used.
Literally every one: Coco's dad not going to jail?
Genghis Khan: That's free real estate
OH GREAT CLOCKWERK HAS A KID.
10126185
Now im just imagining genghis khan breaking into prisons and saying he owns them now.