I own none of the characters in Sly Cooper or it's sequels.
I only own 1 OC in this fic, her name being Tilly the Rabbit (who is now, at this time, 17 years old).
I will let you know if a new OC will come into play at any point during the fanfic.
With this out of the way, let's begin.


Ch52

"You guys are really going to have a blast once you meet our Master," I smiled at the gang around me as they all sat in their seats, some of them actually having to sit on others' laps because they didn't have tickets. Eh, at least not a one questioned it, so that was good. "Really? What kind of stuff can he do?" Kiri asked with big eyes of wonderment. "Well, back when we first started our training with him in the ball form, he demonstrated that even though the users of the Dreamtime are all peaceful, the techniques used by them are quite varied, just like the Cooper family," I explained with a smile. "The Guru is not only able to use all the moves that me and Murray can, but he also has a few of his own that he and only other masters can use. He can use the power of the Dreamtime spirits to change his body into any object on a whim and he can even gain mental control over the weak-minded," I explained with a smile.

"Mental control of the weak-minded? That sounds far out of any Cooper's league," Sally gawked. "There was even this one time where, when I was learning how to use 'Zen Mode', he taught me something invaluable about it. It can only be used to do good and cannot be used to harm people. If it does hit someone, it will make them fall into a deep, impenetrable sleep so long as the user remains in Zen state. I managed to get a lot of good techniques, same with Murray, but there are still a crap ton more for anyone willing to put in the effort to commit to the Dreamtime," I explained with a smile.

Me and Murray then began to go over all of the other stories we had with the Guru, not including a few scant times that really shouldn't be mentioned. We then got off the plane at the airport and walked the rest of the way to the destination. "Ugh... I miss ol blue..." Bruce sighed. "Me too," Murray frowned. "Me three," I agreed. But then, when we finally arrived at our destination, we knew that something wasn't right. In fact, a whole lot wasn't right! The entire place had been invaded by money-hungry miners, who were destroying the entire landscape and hauling off large sacks filled with opals! "M-Master... You guys find a Safehouse, I'm going to go search for him," I said with worry as I headed off, but not before Sly grabbed hold of my ears. "I'm coming with you, Tilly," Sly said.

I then proceeded to lead Sly to different areas that I could believe my Master to be located. We tried to reach the cave that he used to overlook the valley and think about stuff, and when he wasn't there, I thought of only one other nearby area he could be. "We could try the hut... but he doesn't really hang out there on account of the smell," I said with a smile. "Smell?" Sly asked. "Yeah... it's one of the stories that me and Murray don't like talking about... it's unspeakable," I frowned at him. Neyla then chuckled and spoke the unspeakable. "Fried beans and cabbage casserole. You do the math," Neyla chuckled, my face burning up bright red if only because... I was partially guilty of the smell as well. "Neyla... we're going to have a little itty bitty talk about what you just did," I frowned at her as we made our way to the hut. "What?" Neyla asked, her voice trying to feign innocence. "You knew what you did," I frowned at her.

When we finally reached the hut, we were happy to learn that there was no smell anymore (me and Neyla), but we did see something that concerned us. There seemed to be a scuffle at this area and there were broken bottles and garbage here that looked to belong to the miners. "Master... he's been kidnapped! We have to save him!" I exclaimed as I shook Sly by the shirt, only then looking behind him to see something interesting. A high fence with barbed wire on top. "Hmm..." I frowned as I tried to sense Master's essence over there. And when I sensed it, I gasped. "He's in that stockade over there! Let's go," I said to Sly as I grabbed hold of him and we flew over there, only then noticing something else screwy. There was a gyro copter above us and it seemed to be chasing after me specifically! "Oi, blokes! We got us another Dreamtime punk wit' a moonstone! Let's git 'er!" I heard the miners say from inside the helicopter with my acute hearing. "Moonstone?" I gulped as I looked to my headdress and saw that there was, indeed, a purple stone in there.

I simply focused my powers while afloat and closed my eyes. I entered Zen Mode in an instant and tried to locate where they could be sensing me on the chopper. I eventually found a sensor on the underside of it and blasted it with a small burst of Dreamtime energy, which also made a small, tiny hole that penetrated the chopper and gave them a slight bit of turbulence. "Oi, Kaz! Take this ship to the ground! We got a 'ole in the bottom," I heard the bloke in there say, which made the gyro copter go off course and down to the ground, it landing safely so they could inspect it.

I then turned my attention to the cage and landed me and Sly there as my 5 minutes nearly expired. "Master? Are you in there?" I asked, hoping to see him with a smile on his face. He soon came out and I saw another thing wrong with the situation. He didn't have his staff or his moonstone on him. "Ah, student Tilly... you have returned..." Master smiled as he looked at me with a smile. "Um... what did he say?" Sly asked. "Sorry, it's impossible to understand him unless you also are a Dreamtime student... Neyla will translate for you," I smiled as I tapped the eyeball with a frown. "Ey! Quit it!" Neyla groaned. "Serves you right for ratting me out about 'the unspeakable smell'," I growled at her.

Master chuckled at this and looked at me with a small smile. "As you can see... my artifacts are gone from me and were stolen by these rude invaders... they are also disturbing the spirits by drilling into the sacred grounds around us, including Wave Rock, King's Canyon, and even Ayer's Rock," my Master sighed. "Master... there's another reason I wanted to come here other than to see if you were alright," I smiled at him. "I wanted to know... if I could break off of my training temporarily. I need to help my friends out with a big job," I said to him. "Ah... a big job in terms of thievery, like you told me of in the past?" "Exactly. In fact, it's the biggest heist of all... and I was hoping that you could come along too," I smiled at him. "Well, I'd actually like to join with you guys, but I'd need my equipment back, the miner's dealt with, and a certain problem destroyed," Guru said.

When he said the word 'destroyed', it raised a HUGE red flag for me. Whenever he said that something needed to be destroyed, it meant that it was a part of the ancient enemies of the Dreamtime Spirits, the Nightmare Demonics. "What demonic needs taken care of now, Master? It's not another moonstone eater, is it?" I asked, remembering the one time that a white-tentacled monster from the Demonic realm tried to take Guru's moonstone and eat it whole. It was the only food source they had and it would make them more powerful with each one they devoured. "No, it's the main honcho that these miners have dug up foolishly... The Mask of Dark Earth..." the Guru frowned grimly.

I gasped and so did Neyla when he said that name. He had told us of the Mask of Dark Earth a lot in the past and how it was the ancient foe of the Dreamtime deity known as the Moon Spirit. It was apparently a sentient mask filled with demonic evil that could latch itself onto any unsuspecting civilian and make them larger, more aggressive, and much stronger. It'd be very bad if it were to latch onto any person, especially if it was one of our members or, heaven forbid, any police person. "Okay, we'll do whatever it takes, Master, to get the Mask of Dark Earth destroyed, get the miners out of these sacred grounds, and recover your ancient artifacts," I smiled at him. The Guru smiled and clapped his hands together, which was his sign of gratitude. I did it back once again and Sly was gobsmacked by the whole thing. "What's this 'mask of dark earth' thing?" Sly asked. "Only the most powerful demonic artifact of all time, Sly. It can latch itself onto anyone and turn them into monsters that are bound to it's will. Only by either killing the unwilling host or by removing the mask will they be freed of their torment," Neyla said with a grim attitude.