Coco slowly pushed herself to her hooves with a groan. She wasn't entirely certain what just happened. The last thing she remembered was Le Paradox cursing...
She gasped as memory flooded back. The feeling of time itself unraveling as her body and magic were pulled apart. The screams of her family. Her own scream. Something metal digging into her back-
"Beep!"
As the feeling of metal in her flesh withdrew, she recognized the feeling of Deik-Beck's tiny feet on her skin. "Wha...what happened?" she managed to ask.
"Unprotected time travel," Deik-Beck offered, his voice more controlled, more mature, than it normally was. "Not fun."
"Doesn't sound it..." Coco managed to groan. "...Mom? Dad? Everyone?"
"Six here," Deik-Beck confirmed. "Sly, Carmelita, Murray, Bentley, Penelope, you. None wake. I give you stimulant to wake up. Worried."
"So that's why I'm awake first," Coco mumbled as she shifted. She tried to open her eyes...only to realize they were already open, but she was still trapped in darkness. The heat on her coat, however, told her she was in bright sunlight. "...how come I can't see anything?" she asked as she did her best to control herself. The last thing she wanted was to upset Deik-Beck and have them both panicking. "Is it the stimulant?"
"No. Tumbling."
"Yeah, I probably didn't land out of time travel lightly," she grunted, doing her best to keep worry out of her voice. "So...I bumped my head bad landing then?"
"No. Eye mask turned around."
Coco blinked. Reaching a hoof up to her face, she patted over her eyes and found solid cloth instead of holes. "Oh, yeah...that'd do it." She chuckled nervously, letting her tension flow out of her as she slowly turned the mask around, squinting her eyes shut to protect them when the intense sunlight hit. As her eyes adjusted, she shifted her beret so she could shade her eyes enough to take in her surroundings. She'd already felt sand under her hooves, but...
Her eyes widened as she stared out across the endless sand. Sly, Carmelita, Murray, Bentley, and Penelope were all laid out near her, but it was what she saw in the distance that really caught her off guard. A massive pyramid stood beside a tiny oasis, casting its shadow across the desert as the sun crossed the sky. "I don't think we're in Paris anymore, Toto," she murmured dryly.
"Woof!" Deik-Beck agreed helpfully, attempting to ease the mood with some levity.
Coco giggled softly before sitting down to think things through. "Well, the pyramid and oasis says Egypt," she concluded thoughtfully. Pulling out her binocucom, she swept it around to search for signs of civilization. "...no signs of technology, so we definitely aren't in the present..." Putting the device away, she reached for the Staff of Moonlight...only to jerk her hoof back as the magic from it surged violently. "Yikes! And strong enough background magic that using my artifacts is a bad idea. That says we're pretty ancient. Wish I had some way of narrowing it down further..."
"Paradox Machine and Time Tunnel work based on Cooper Canes," Deik-Beck suggested. "Ancient Egypt Cooper Ancestor?"
Coco frowned thoughtfully. "Well, that would be either Slytunkhamen I, II, or III. I hope we're not at that time point, though, because that's when the Thievius Raccoonus was created. If something were to happen to prevent it being created...that could have serious repercussions..."
"Indeed it could," a hissing voice spoke from behind Coco.
Coco let out a scream as she spun...staring up into the eyes of the largest cobra she had ever seen. It made the snake that had lived in Mrs. Ruby's swamp base look tiny by comparison, with coils that stretched for perhaps a mile...though that might have been Coco's sudden fear making things seem bigger. Its scales were a bright mix of blue and green, and shone like emeralds and sapphires. Its eyes were bright gold like sun discs, and stared down at her and the entire group coldly from nearly twenty feet up, the spread hood ten feet wide...and yet the creature cast no shadow.
"Be not afraid, child of another world," the serpent hissed, her voice gentle and soothing. "I will bring no harm to you nor your family. It isss your family I have come to aid...and to beg a boon of. For one has come to thissss land that should not have, and he hasss wrought great wrong to land and time. If he issss not sssstopped, time itssself could unravel, and I cannot allow that to happen."
"Le Paradox?" Coco gasped in surprise. "But what harm could he have wrought? He can't have been here long-"
"That one will bring no harm to any now," the serpent hissed softly. "He ssssseeeksss one he thinkssss ally...but that one knowssss only betrayal, and isss one who brought sssssaid harm..." Her eyes flashed.
Le Paradox staggered out of the sun into the cavernous shade. "They will pay for this," he growled angrily. "Bah! No matter! This is but a setback! I just have to find my ancestor in this time. I memorized my family's history and the Coopers' while I was preparing. With that information I'll be more than able to create the empire I desire!"
"How interesting," a deep voice echoed from within the cavern. "It seems you haven't outgrown your need to monologue. I did tell you, you never know who might be listening."
Le Paradox jumped in fear, but quickly calmed himself. "Oh, there you are!" he said happily. "So nice to see an ally here. I wondered what happened to you when the Coopers had Penelope on their side. That gambit with Bentley was good, though. I'm certain you have something just as good in the now?"
"Oh yes, I have plans," the voice replied softly. "Plans already in motion. There's just one problem...though not for long."
"Well, I'm certain we'll be able to fix-" Le Paradox's voice cut off as a pincer closed around his head.
"The problem is..." the voice continued as a second pincer seized the skunk's kicking legs. "...I don't need you, and you plainly can't carry things out correctly...so you are in my way."
A wet rip. A hot splash. Two thumps.
Coco swallowed nervously as she found herself pulled out of what felt like a shared vision. "No..."
"Yesss," the serpent confirmed. "I will guide you assss I can...but it mussst be you and your family who sssstopsss him." She looked towards the oasis. "A cavern is hidden from ssssight. Lead your family there when they awaken, and I will anssswer quesssstionsss."
"Why do this?" Coco called out. "Why is this your concern? Why are we your concern."
"My name ansssswersss all thosssse quessstionsss if you have heard it," the serpent replied. "You would know me assss Wadjet."