Only two chapters left after this. I actually wanted to have twelve chapters total in this story for the sake of the whole time motif, but sometimes these things just don't work out.

Chapter 11: Ancestry

When Sly woke up this morning, he thought the worst thing that could happen to him today was being stranded in the past forever. Not only had that already happened, but now he was actually in an even worse situation. Tied down, without either his cane or gadgets, at the complete mercy of Clockwerk of all people. He used to have nightmares about this exact scenario and that familiarity didn't make this any easier.

No, he thought as he glanced back to his left, this was scarier than the nightmares. In those he was always alone, while here Neema was going to suffer with him. There was no chance of Clockwerk simply letting her go. He was more likely to torture her to death in front of him just to hurt him more. The fox remained quiet, but not out of bravery. She was simply so terrified that she was completely unable to speak. He couldn't blame her. The mechanical owl must have been even more frightening to the people of this primitive era.

Or awe-inspiring, as was the case with the Sisterhood of the Sand, who immediately knelt down in reverence of him as soon as he landed. "Oh Divine One, we have brought you the foolish raccoon, as you requested," Isis spoke, bowing down as well.

Clockwerk didn't even seem to notice her. His soulless gaze was focused only on him. "Slytunkhamen Cooper," he spoke in that cold, computerized voice. "Finally I have you in my grasp. You fell into my trap as easily as a moth to a flame. Do you know who I am?"

"Clockwerk," Sly spat back. "Scourge of the Cooper Clan."

His metallic face made it hard to portray emotion, but the owl actually seemed surprised. "I didn't think my name would spread among your line so quickly. I have only but begun to fulfill my desire for vengeance."

That's right. THIS Clockwerk hasn't met most of my ancestors yet, including my father.

That revelation made it easier for Sly to calm down a bit. "You have, and you will continue it for a while, but ultimately you will fail."

"Is that a fact?"

"It is actually. You just don't know it yet."

He was not impressed. "From your position, it appears I have little to fear. Once I have erased you Slytunkhamen Cooper, your family will crumble."

No it wouldn't, because he was not Slytunkhamen Cooper. Clockwerk could kill him right now and it would change nothing. The real Slytunkhamen would still be a great thief in this era, and the Cooper line would continue. Sly himself would still be born in the distant future, where he would grow up to destroy Clockwerk for good. Nothing that happened to him now mattered.

The only one he was worried about now was Neema, and to keep her safe, he needed to draw all of Clockwerk's attention to himself. Hardly a difficult task. "I'm not so sure about that," he said as casually as possible. It was the kind of attitude he always used to tick off Carmelita and he had little doubt it would work on Clockwerk as well. "We Coopers have a real knack for always popping back up again. Like weeds."

"Or cockroaches." Clockwerk leaned in closer, so his beak was mere inches away from Sly's face. It took all of the raccoon's mental focus to remain calm. "I suppose we'll just have to find out how well I can exterminate you." His head reared back and Sly shut his eyes, waiting for the metal beak to pierce his skull.

"No!" Neema couldn't remain silent any longer. Unfortunately, she chose a very poor time to speak up.

Clockwerk paused and turned his head towards her. "And who is this girl?"

"Nobody. She just followed me here." Sly said, unable to keep all the fear out of his voice.

"On the contrary," Isis said, stepping towards them. "He seems to be quite attached to her. Why, he would do anything to keep that girl safe." She took no small amount of pleasure from seeing the look of horror on Sly's face.

Clockwerk chuckled, a sound that was somehow even more menacing coming from his monotone voice. "In that case, perhaps I should play with this one first."

Sly was panicking now, but he dared not say anything else. The more he protested, the worse this would be for her. He turned his head away, not wanting to see whatever this monster did to her. How could this all go so wrong? I'm sorry, Neema.

"Now then, what should I start with? The arms? The legs? The-AHHH!" Sly turned his head back around as an explosion lit up Clockwerk's face. Caught by surprise, the owl stumbled back a few feet from the blast.

The Sisterhood panicked and fled at the sight, quickly clearing the area. The only one who remained was Isis, shouting after her retreating brethren. "Hey! Where are you going?! You cowards!"

Sly and Neema both watched all of this in confusion, wondering what could have caused all that. That question didn't go unanswered for long, as Sly soon felt the ropes on his wrists being undone and looked up at his savior. "Le Paradox?"

"Bonjour," the skunk replied unenthusiastically. Sly noticed that he was back in his original pilot's outfit and that his cane hung from his back.

But that was the least of his concerns, as Clockwerk had already recovered. "An impressive surprise attack, but I will not be so easily beaten." Seeing that he couldn't free Sly fast enough, Le Paradox aimed his weapon, an almost comically large rocket launcher. Clockwerk raised his wings in front of him to shield himself from the blast, but Le Paradox didn't aim for him this time. He aimed for the cliff face above him, causing a small rockslide that buried the owl under several layers of stone.

"Clever diversion," Sly complimented. "You're thinking like a Cooper."

"Don't make me regret this any more than I already am," he said bitterly as he went back to working on Sly's bonds.

"So why exactly are you helping me anyway?"

"Oh, I get it!" Neema said excitedly, promptly forgetting all about the fate she had narrowly avoided. "You felt guilty about leaving your partner behind, and so you came back to make amends!"

Sly, now freed, sat up and shared a look with Le Paradox.

Then they both burst out laughing.

"Oh, that's a good one!" Le Paradox cried.

"Yeah, like that would happen!" Sly laughed along. As they both quieted down, Sly reached up and wiped a tear from his eye. "No seriously, why are you helping me?"

He sighed. "Evidently, you were right when you said that small changes in the past can change the future drastically. With your untimely death and your cane in my possession, I somehow managed to erase you and the entire Cooper Clan from existence." Sly's eyes widened.

Holy crap, seriously?! So much for my death not mattering. That was a close one...

"But...isn't that what you always wanted?"

"I thought so, but I did not consider the consequences. Without the Cooper Clan, my family did not rise to prominence either! I guess we've always existed to be rivals to you, even from the beginning."

Sly thought back to when he and Bentley were first looking up information on Le Paradox. Cyrille and his ancestors dated back almost as far as his own, and he distinctly recalled seeing one that looked like he came from this same era. Perhaps hearing about his "death" had shaken the real Slythunkhamen Cooper enough to quit the thieving business for good, and with no one to compete with, the ancient Le Paradox had grown bored and quit as well.

"So our families are connected. One cannot exist without the other. History dictates that we must always be rivals. " Even if your family isn't good enough for us to even acknowledge.

"Exactly. In the future we came from, I was a failed criminal. In this future, I was nothing. If I'm going to kill you Cooper, I will do it back in our own time!"

Neema, who had no earthly clue what either of them were talking about, finally noticed that she was still tied down. "Uh...guys? A little help here?"

Le Paradox passed Sly his cane, and he used its hooked tip to quickly free Neema from the ropes. "I hid the time machine back on top of the cliff," Le Paradox explained. "I didn't want any of those mangy cats wrecking it again while I was trying to save you."

"Alright, then let's find it and get out of here before-"

"Cooper!" A hail of rocks flew everywhere as Clockwerk freed himself and set his sights back on the raccoon.

"Before that happens." Sly readied his cane, knowing he was in for the fight of his life.

"What should I do now?" Neema asked.

"Find someplace to hide and let us handle this."

"But-" Sly gave her a hard look. "R-Right. I'll hide." She ran off and Sly felt a huge weight taken off of his shoulder knowing that he didn't have to worry about her anymore. Sly and Le Paradox brandished their respective weapons and slowly backed away as Clockwerk advanced.

"Just what is that thing anyway?" Le Paradox asked.

"Clockwerk. Evil psychotic owl. Turned himself into a machine. Really hates my family."

"Sounds like me."

"You wish."

"So how old is he then?"

"Perfection has no age," Sly said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Clockwerk's beak froze half-open, clearly about to say the same thing. The sight would've been almost funny if the situation weren't so dire.

"Go for the time machine. I'll keep him distracted," Sly ordered.

The skunk looked at him like he was crazy, which he probably was. "Are you sure? I'm the one with the rocket launcher here."

"And I'm the one he'll go after if we split up. You just know that machine better than I do."

"Very well. Let me just get a little head start." Without warning, he fired another rocket at Clockwerk. This time, the owl knew what was coming and swiftly dodged out of the way of the projectile. "Sorry, that was the last one. Good luck, Cooper!" Le Paradox promptly dropped the weapon and made a run for it. Predictably, Clockwerk made no move to go after him when he had a Cooper in his sights.

Isis had other ideas. "Oh no you don't!" The sand cat leader screamed as she tore past Sly and after Le Paradox. Sly cursed to himself, having completely forgotten she was still here. He hoped that Le Paradox could handle himself alone, but any concern for him was pushed to the side for the time being. Now he had Clockwerk to deal with, and all he had to face him with this time was his trusty cane.

How hard can it be? I've kicked his butt twice already. I'm a pro at this by now.

He took a deep breath and twirled his cane around, pointing it at the face of his greatest nemesis. "You want me, Clockwerk? Then come and get me!"