//------------------------------// // Lost: World // Story: Dressed to Steal // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Taking care of little Haras after that was...bittersweet. He was absolutely adorable and precocious, and definitely enjoyed the time he spent with us all as we worked to raise him for those first two years...but there was always that little voice in the back of our minds, reminding us that we would be saying goodbye all too soon. Mom took it worst of all...but it also led to a reconciliation between Mom, Dad, and Deik-Beck...even if they were still calling him Clockwerk. All too soon, Wadjet came back to us, watching over as Haras toddled up to Deik-Beck. We knew what was coming... "The time hassss come," Wadjet spoke softly, apologetically. "Harasss isss now old enough that, with guidance from mysssself and Clockwerk, he will ssssurvive and thrive in the wildernessss. Thisss will inssstill in him the right traitsss he will develop naturally to repair the broken bloodline, the broken timeline." Carmelita did her best not to cry as she held Haras' hand for the last time, knowing for all their sakes she had to let him go now. Sly held her tight to offer comfort as he stared sadly at the son he would never get to raise...and never know as an adult, leaving him on his own even younger than he was. "Will...will he be alone out there?" he asked worriedly. "That hasss not yet been written," Wadjet offered in a sibilant tone. "He will thrive in the wildernesssss, and he will ssssave the ancessstor, and complete the bloodline. How thisss will come to passsss...that isss yet to be revealed." "You have all spent time with him," Clockwerk offered comfortingly. "He is used to being surrounded by many. He will seek out others to be with, and I will ensure he does so safely." Sly managed a worried smile. "T...thank you..." Everyone sat silently for a time. Eventually, it was Penelope who spoke up. "So...this is when we leave, right?" she asked sadly. "How are we leaving? And where, not to mention when, are we going?" Wadjet smiled softly. "That hassss already been taken care of-" At that moment, the van appeared out of nowhere in front of the group, screeching to a halt in front of the group as Crazy Hassan hopped out of the driver's seat. "And Crazy Hassan delivers!" he declared excitedly as he popped open the engine cover to demonstrate. "Traveling the Void doesn't work well without protection, but you left your time van behind and it already had proper protection! So I just stuck some Void Camels into the engine block!" He pointed to where four tiny camels trailing black smoke stood on a treadmill hooked to the turbines. "Threw in Void Positioning System with Equestria destination at the proper time already programmed in, free of charge! Crazy Hassan goes all the way for valued customers! Even expanded internal dimensions with a Time Camel, a Dimension Camel, and a Space Camel so all could sit comfortingly, real premium services!" Sly managed a smile at that. "Well, that certainly sounds interesting-" His words cut off as he glanced into the back of the van and saw several beds, a full fridge and mini-bar, two love seats, three sofas, two TVs, and a full arcade with three camels wearing fezes and long, brightly colored scarves standing around the edges. "...don't suppose you've got one to help Clockwerk look after our kid?" he asked jokingly. "Plot Camels!" Crazy Hassan declared excitedly, pulling out a pony-sized camel. "Perfect companions for growing heroes. Grows with you, and will always get you where you need to be right when you need to be there! This little lady's name is 'Sexy', and only ridden once by strange man who lost his Blue Box so he could find it again. Only 25 Thief-Net coins, real bargain!" "Deal," Sly agreed with a laugh as the little camel marched right up to Haras to stand beside him. "Happy customers are best customers!" Crazy Hassan declared happily. "If you're anywhere other than Equestria and have need of me, just ask! I find you!" With that, he turned and stepped around a sand dune and promptly vanished. Everyone took the time to give one last goodbye to Haras and thanks to Wadjet and Clockwerk...then clambered into the van as Murray drove it into the Void. The van drove calmly through darkness and nothingness as one of the TVs glowed as the VPS announced the directions. "Drive approximately 3300 years forward until history has stabilized, then turn left. Observe history's correction on the wide screen to pass the time." As the group watched, time unfolded... It was a long ride, although time didn't seem to really be passing. We did get to watch Haras' history unfold. Much to our pleasure, it didn't take long for him to find friends to grow up with. ...much to our surprise, they were a desert tortoise and hippo from the Nile, that history scanners confirmed were direct ancestors of Bentley and Murray! Much to Mom's consternation, while the trio thrived in the wilderness...they thrived by stealing from gangs of bandits. Dad couldn't stop laughing for an hour as he watched the 'Proto-Cooper Gang' lead bandit gangs 40 strong and more on wild goose chases leading to them being captured by a fox who acted as the head of the Pharaoh's Guard. He was constantly shouting imprecations at the gang he could never prove actually existed, since they always escaped by leaping onto Deik-Beck's back off the edge of a cliff. The Plot Camel 'Sexy' proved to do exactly as advertised, and Haras was in the right place at the right time to keep the Pharaoh's daughter from getting captured by the brigands who would have ended her fate...only to whisk her back to the capitol on Deik-Beck's wings, making the arrival look very divine touched. As a result, Haras Cooper was welcomed into the Pharaoh's family once he was learned to be an orphan, and betrothed to the Princess once the attachment was seen to be mutual and genuine. ...one unexpected change to history was Haras' obsession of bringing horses to ancient Egypt, and specifically trying to breed a smaller one that would thrive in the heat of the desert. I guess he remembered me after all. In the proper time, Slytunkhamen I was born, and began the Thievius Raccoonus so that any member of the bloodline would have access to all the skills, so that none would ever need rescuing like his mother had. As we watched history playing out, Murray accelerated so we wouldn't be sitting through 3300 years straight, the screen now only showing us highlights as Deik-Beck watched over the bloodline without interacting directly, interfering only when needed. We saw him add the page about controlling body temperature to the Book so we would find it right when I needed it. We saw him watching sadly at each time period where we'd traveled to meet the ancestor...events that no longer happened now that time was restored. Murray started to slow down as we saw him use his Hypno-Eyes to control Henriette's crew to steer them out of a storm sent after them magically by enemies of the Cooper Crew, a storm they couldn't have escaped otherwise. It was during the life of Henriette's son that Deik-Beck...gave out. His soul no longer had the strength to sustain himself in his metal body, and knowing he was on his last legs he made direct contact. The legends of the family - passed down by word of mouth - had spoken of the 'metal bird' who had watched over them since the days of Slytunkhamen, and so he gave him a final resting place, in a museum where the family stored much of their loot as 'historical finds', an offshoot of the Cooper Vault that was easier to access. ...it was two generations later when things went wrong. It started out happily enough. The Cooper of that time took on an apprentice thief, a little orphan owlet by the name of Klaw. He was nearly as skilled as any Cooper in thieving, and right at first our ancestor was happy to raise the little one as part of the family and teach him the ways of thieving not from the Thievius Raccoonus. That is...until Klaw began to grow sweet on his teacher's daughter, and she on him. That was where the seeds of darkness began...