Running Like Clockwerk
By Airo Smicktor
I do not own Sly Cooper or the other Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus characters. I do own Douglas Smicktor, Jason and Veronica Palace; they are my fan-characters, so hands off!
Chapter 8 - The Conference
Location: The Conference Room, Royal Central Hotel, Moscow
Time: 11:00
Confidential Interpol Notes:
Subject: The Sinister Sixth - 'The Conference'
The case of The Sinister Sixth technically began many, many years ago, but it 'took off' at this moment. It cannot be overstated that before 'The Conference' - as it has been nicknamed - Douglas Smicktor had no knowledge who he was working for, what he was collecting, and what he was involved in.
The room was set up with TV Cameras in the back corners (the corners nearest the main entrance/exit doors of the room), and rows of chairs set up in front of the stage. On the stage itself, apart from the desk/table where Inspector Fox and Veronica Palace sat behind, 4 policemen guarded a container covered with cloth. On the other side of the stage, a large TV was set up. The seated guests in front of the stage were mostly journalists and police officials.
Douglas Smicktor was sat on the fifth row from the stage, on the far right seat. This was directly next to a side entrance/exit for Hotel staff members, in which a 'Hotel waiter' stood.
Douglas Smicktor had taken his seat five minutes before the scheduled start of 'The Conference', and was observed reading a small piece of paper. Hindsight reveals that Smicktor had removed the paper from underneath the bottom of his seat, prior to previous instructions from his employers.
Exhibit A: Douglas Smicktor's Instructions - From the Conference
'On the small card enclosed, write the answer when you figure it out. There is a waiter standing near you. Call him over and hand him the completed card. You should then leave discreetly by the side door when the waiter was, and return to your hotel room via the service elevator.
- R'
Douglas thought over in his mind the envelope that he'd pulled from the underside of his seat. It sounded simple enough, which, knowing Douglas' luck, meant that it was going to be stupidly and annoyingly difficult.
But right now Douglas was concerned with listening. Carefully. He was going to figure this out one way or another. And right now, anyway was better than the hard way he was going through.
The exact details of how Sly Cooper, the infamous master thief, gained access to the Hotel, and managed to hide directly underneath the stage are still unknown.
"Bentley?" Sly whispered. "I'm in position."
"Okay Sly." The turtle replied in an identically quiet voice. "Thanks to your recon and pick pocketing work, I'll be able to transmit the live TV images into your Binocucom."
"And to think that this is only going out as a police-only broadcast. So much for cable."
"This is the digital age Sly." Bentley said in a slight 'matter-of-fact' way.
"Huh?" Sly was confused.
"Never mind..."
Veronica Palace - 28 years old, female, feline. After easy passing through school, she quickly passed through the ranks of local, and then national police, before being spotted by the World Police Force. Impressed by her obvious law-enforcement skills, and an uncanny ability to somehow solve EVERY crime she was assigned to, she rose up the ranks again. At this time, she held the position of Commander in Charge of World Security for Europe.
Although usually calm and level headed, it was noted that on occasions she was seen to be nervous, verging on paranoid. This was thought to be due to wanting to maintain her police record.
Veronica breathed a sigh of relief as she stood up from her seat, glad that she was finally able to get the 'show' on the road.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Veronica announced, smiling. "Thank you for your patience, we are now ready to begin."
The whispered chatter from before died into silence upon hearing this.
"First, I'd like to introduce you to the guest sitting beside me..." Veronica continued. "One of Interpol's finest, Inspector Carmelita Fox!"
Polite applause followed the introduction, to which the Inspector simply nodded in reply.
Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox was observed to be meeting with Douglas Smicktor the day before 'The Conference', and also sat next to him during a 'plane flight to Russia. She was unaware of his true identity (Smicktor used the name 'Markus Taylor', as par instructions from his employers, and he was still relatively unknown in the criminal and police world. Only a sole page existed on ThiefNet about him. That of course changed very quickly).
To say that Carmelita was a little distracted was an overstatement. Unconfirmed reports from last night stated that Sly Cooper had been spotted in the area of the Police ball, which meant that once again he's slipped past her unnoticed.
'Sometimes I'm sure he does it for his own perverse amusement...' She thought to herself.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason for her distraction. There was a certain journalistic purple fox sitting to too far away from her.
Carmelita didn't know why when she was around him, she became so... Different. Although she would admit, but maybe only to herself, that she'd had the most fun in years with him.
'Why is it always the cute ones?' She sighed to herself.
"Well, I'm sure that you are all anxious to know what this is all about." Veronica said after the applause ended.
'Damn right.' Douglas thought to himself.
"You will all have noticed by now the container by the stage..." Veronica pointed to the guarded cases as she talked. "Well, let's waste no more time. Guys, please reveal the contents!"
The four guards around the case nodded in reply, and swiftly pulled the covering off the case. After which, flashbulbs from cameras went off.
"Bentley... Please tell me that is NOT what I think it is!" Sly spoke as quietly as he could.
"Oh... Oh my... This is bad! Really bad!" Bentley could only say in reply, which confirmed Sly's fears.
Exhibit B: Clockwerk's Brain (refer to archive picture)
Crafted out of a disturbing combination of rare metals, unparalleled circuitry, and pure hatred. The brain of Clockwerk was said to contain knowledge from almost over 2000 years of life on earth, but every thought, plan and memory was tainted by Clockwerk's pure hatred for the Cooper family. That same hatred caused Clockwerk to change his mortal owl body into cold, heartless machinery.
The strength of the Clockwerk Brain (and all of the other parts) cannot literally be measured by any human (or rational) means. Tests have shown complete resistance to intense crushing pressure, high and low temperatures, and even to being cut by diamond blades. Such is the hatred that kept Clockwerk alive.
"That, ladies and gentlemen..." Veronica announced. "Is the brain from Clockwerk, quite possibly the most ruthless, cruel and despicable criminal ever to exist."
Excited and worried chatter amongst the seated guests then followed. Temporarily forgetting his journalist disguise, Douglas stood up, and with an expression of mixed shock, awe and a little fear, stared at the brain.
'My god...' Douglas thought. 'What the hell am I involved in?'
"Please ladies and gentlemen, calm down!" Veronica called out. "The brain is totally harmless right now, please sit down."
After about a minute, everyone returned to his or her seats, including Douglas. But there was now a great sense of worry around the room.
"Miss Fox, would you please inform us a little on the history of Clockwerk?"
Carmelita nodded, before standing up to address the crowd.
"Clockwerk was once an ordinary owl; flesh and bone like everyone else. But then something happened. What exactly happened, how it happened, and why, we don't know. Whatever it was, it was the catalyst that started his hatred for the most infamous family line of criminals that has ever existed - The Cooper Family.
But this was no ordinary hatred. It was strong enough to make him not want to just kill the Coopers, but to erase the Cooper's family line, and legacy. Clockwerk wanted to destroy the prized possession of the Coopers, the relic that had been passed down from generation to generation. The Thevius Raccoonus.
But Clockwerk was unable to match the incredible thieving skills of the Coopers. So he neared the end of his mortal life, and the next stage of his troubled existence. To continue hunting the Cooper family, he began to replace his own body with the latest technology available to him; using amounted criminal funds he had 'obtained'.
A crude method, but effective. Clockwerk lived. Yet no matter how much he tried to kill off the Coopers, he was unsuccessful. New generations of Coopers added to the Thevius Raccoonus. So the years turned to decades, the decades to centuries, the centuries to millenniums. All the time, Clockwerk changed his body as technology advanced. Soon, he had removed all of his feathery body with metal almost as cold as his soul.
He was machinery from the inside out. His wings, lungs, claws, and as you can see, even his brain. The only part that remained the same through the years, was his hatred for the Coopers.
About a year ago, the police forces internationally breathed a sigh of relief when Clockwerk was finally destroyed. Although I am not the kind of person to gloat; it was a good feeling to know that the world was a much safer place thanks to my hard work in taking down the members of The Fiendish Five. The group Clockwerk had set up to finally get rid of the Coopers."
'That's a lie!' Sly thought. 'I did all of the work, and she took all of the credit!'
"Ultimately, I believed that Clockwerk was dead and gone. It seems that quite the opposite is in effect." Carmelita concluded.
"Thank you Inspector Fox, now allow me to fill in the rest of the details." Veronica said, now taking centre stage. "The Fiendish Five had managed to raid a Cooper family safe house, killing the father of Sly Cooper, the currant generation of Coopers. They found the Thevius Raccoonus, and tore its pages out, leaving Sly orphaned and alone.
It was thought that Sly would be persuaded out of his thieving family ways by the orphanage he was sent to. It had an opposite effect. There, he met up with Bentley and Murray, and formed the 'Cooper Gang'. One night, the trio mysteriously disappeared, and the rest has become history.
Interpol, after a search of the lair of Clockwerk, left the scattered parts in the lava, believing that they would be easily melted away into nothing. It is my unfortunate duty to inform you all, that this was defiantly not the case.
Some of you may, or may not have, heard of The KLAWW Gang. Well, it seems that they, for a still unknown reason, took an interest in the Clockwerk parts. In the past year, they recovered the parts, only to sell them off to various minor gangs across the world. At first, we thought this was solely for material gain. But we were wrong once again. If you would all like to divert your attention towards the television at the other side of the stage, we have a short film that would explain our concerns..."
Exhibit C: Video message/threat from The KLAWW Gang
The video begins with a shot of a darkened room. In it, the outline of a table can be seen, and something on top of it. Throughout the video, this is the only shot seen, the voices heard are from behind the camera, and therefore the owners of the voices cannot be seen. With hindsight, we are able to identify the voices owners.
"Attention police members, whoever you are!" A high pitched voice declared. (Arpeggio's voice) "We are the leaders of The KLAWW Gang, and have a declaration of war against criminals and police members alike!"
"Smooth!" A slimy, bad-accented voice added. (Dimitri) "Big up style bro'! Preach to da posse!"
"Quiet boy, eh!" A stiff, rough voice interrupted. (Jean-Bison) "Let him finish!"
"Yes... Now, where was I? Oh yes!" Arpeggio continued. "It has come to our attention that you police-types have been proud of yourself for rounding up some of the Clockwerk parts. Tsk tsk! You forget that you left the parts lying around, for us to easily collect!"
"Ignorance like a common flea!" A loud, imposing voice declared. (Rajan)
"Now, I'm sure you are wondering what we were doing with the parts, and why we disposed of them so quickly. Of course, I wouldn't expect anyone in your paper-pushing organisations to understand what we in the KLAWW Gang have envisioned..."
"Flip-Reverse it for da East-West-South-Coast-Side Crew!"
"Shut up!" Rajan roared. "You illiterate fool!"
"WHAT?" Dimitri replied. "My speak is over like Rover, ya feel?"
"AS I WAS saying..." Arpeggio interrupted. "We no longer need the parts of the 'old bird', and for good reason."
A silence then followed.
"Move." Dimitri stated.
"Eh?" Jean-Bison replied.
"Move it dude! Snap the lights on in this mother!"
"Oh, lights."
Some scuffling noises, accompanied by grumbling voices, were heard. Then, the lights then came on, revealing the item on the table.
The most accurate way to describe the item would be, as it was nicknamed, 'The Fake Clockwerk Brain'. In appearance, it is exactly like the original Clockwerk brain in every way. The difference is that it is obviously made from a combination of impure and pure metals, rare alloys, and a good deal of gold plating to disuse the hard work done to create it.
In actual ability, it is disturbingly accurate to the actual workings of the real Clockwerk brain. So much so, they are like clones or twins of each other.
"Behold! The creation from the greatest scientific mind ever to grace this planet! An exact replica of the brain of Clockwerk!" Arpeggio gloated. "And this is just the start! We in the KLAWW Gang have replica parts of ALL of Clockwerk! From the wings, to the heart, even the claws!"
"Sharper than knives those things." Jean-Bison stated.
"So it does not matter..." Arpeggio continued. "That Interpol has collected some of the parts, or that the remains of The Fiendish Five are searching them out. We have much greater plans for the parts, greater than any mind could possibly imagine!"
Another silence then followed.
"Is that all?" Rajan asked.
"Yes, that is all." Arpeggio replied.
"True 'dat!" Dimitri stated. "KLAWW Gang for life baby! Understand 'dis!"
The footage then ends, cutting insantly into static.
The conference room was in a state of disbelief; no one dared say a word as they tried to understand what they had just seen.
"I'll be brief..." Veronica broke the silence. "The KLAWW Gang has somehow found the means to recreate all of the Clockwerk parts, which is cause for alarm enough. But there is more bad news to report. It seems that the remains of The Fiendish Five gang have been recollecting the parts. Small, unconnected gangs bought the parts, to try and increase their status in the underground criminal world. This would make them easy pickings for an organisation like The Fiendish Five.
We have been unable to identify where all the parts were located, and therefore any additional information about the parts, save for around 20 of the Clockwerk fragments, which were taken for analysis. These include the Clockwerk Brain you see here today. So it was essentially a mystery as to how many of the remaining parts were still 'in the open' or in the possession of The Fiendish Five.
However, to further add to the interest of this situation, the KLAWW Gang delivered, along with the video message, a list of the gangs who held possession of the parts. Of course, this list wasn't taken too seriously due to its source. That was, until a few days ago.
An investigation by Inspector Fox into a break in to a small house in Paris, France, uncovered information about a large gang network. Interrogation of suspects from the house revealed that a high-tech safe taken from the house, by 'a beggar', actually contained the claws from Clockwerk. This location was listed at the bottom of the list from KLAWW..."
Douglas froze. All around him, everything slowed down as the words sank in.
A small house in Paris.
A break in.
A high-tech safe.
Taken by a beggar.
No, a beggar didn't take it. It was taken by...
'Oh... My... God...' Douglas thought. He felt sick, he felt amazed. A cascade of varying emotions rushed over him, as all the questions he had in his mind, from over 9 months seemed to fit into place.
The clues were there.
What else could the Sly Cooper gang and Inspector Fox be involved in?
Looking down at the small card, Douglas mentally answered the two important questions.
What was he collecting?
The Clockwerk parts.
Who was he working for?
The Fiendish Five.
Quickly, Douglas wrote that down onto the card. Unseen by the rest of the room, he then called over the waiter and handed him the card. The waiter simply nodded, stepped back into his alcove, and then walked away through the side passage from the room.
"Sly! I... I can't believe this!" The turtle said in disbelief.
"Calm down Bentley!" The raccoon replied. "I know this sounds really bad..."
"We are possibly dealing with TWO Clockwerks here Sly! TWO!"
Carmelita could quite believe it herself. She knew this was something about Clockwerk, but she couldn't in her worst nightmares have thought of this! She looked around the people sat in front of her, looking at the shocked faces.
'Huh?' She noticed a sole empty seat. 'Where did Markus go?'
Unseen, Douglas had slipped out through the side door, and was already in the service elevator, heading up to the third floor. All the while, he was shaking his head, not really believing himself.
'No way...' He thought. 'This can't be for real!'
When he saw the doors slide open, he quickly ran onto the floor of the hotel, up to the door of room 302, and unlocked the door with his room key.
Douglas walked into his room, and was instantly greeted by a familiar face.
"Welcome aboard!" Jason said, smiling as he greeted the fox. "Welcome to the ranks of The Fiendish Five!"
Douglas Smicktor is caught up in a battle between organised crime, Sly Cooper, and the Law. He's in too deep, all because of something he didn't realise he was helping to rebuild...
Organised crime The Fiendish Five and The KLAWW Gang
Something he didn't realise he was helping to rebuild Clockwerk
Welcome to Running Like Clockwerk.
Author Notes: Oh yes, you read right. That's what's going down! Jak and Dax Freak- I think it might be obvious why Muggshot's escaped, but wait and see. Noalyn- Wait and see, wait and see... Captein Amelia- I hope that's a WOW as in 'WOW, this is a good read' and not 'WOW, I wasted my time reading this'. Kidding!
One last thing: You all may start disliking Douglas for a good while now. Lets just say you'll soon find out what that 'mean-streak' Jason talked about in the Prologue is all about...
