*Ben POV*
At first, it seemed just like the old times; The gang was back together again! But after a few days, we realized that Murray's heart just wasn't fully in it. Without the Guru's permission to stop his Dreamtime Training, he didn't feel fully comfortable coming back to the gang.
Thankfully, we were there for him every step of the way and we were more than happy to help him out. After packing up our gear and putting on some quick disguises, we made our way for the Australian Outback.
Along the way, Murray told us story after story about his teacher's amazing abilities. The Guru could shapeshift to blend into his surroundings, take control of the weak-minded, see into the dreams of others, and so much more.
If even half the stories were true, then this was a guy we just had to meet. And it would be even better since he just might be able to help us out with breaking into the Cooper Vault. Unfortunately, when we arrived at where the Guru resided, we found out that miners were ravaging the land...and The Guru was nowhere to be found.
After finding a place to hide out in the miners' camp, Sly and Ben headed out to see if they could find the Guru and see if he was okay. Sly was overlooking a cave as Murray contacted him.
"My master spends most of his time up there in that cave, overlooking the valley and contemplating the depths of deepness. I really appreciate you breaking the news to him that I want to break off my training."
Sly smiled. "No problem pal, I'm looking forward to meeting him. Anybody you call 'master' must be a heck of a guy."
"Oh, he's awesome! He'll get inside your head and freak you out six ways from Sunday!"
"Awesome! I need something to freak me out!" ben said from his end of the line. Sly investigated the Guru's cave but found no sign of him.
"Any other leads, big guy?"
"Well, Ben is near his hut. But he doesn't really hang out there on account of the smell."
"The smell?" Ben and Sly asked at the same time as Murray looked sheepish.
"It's a long story...I had to apologize up and down for like a month before he'd speak to me again."
"Do I even want to know?"
"The unspeakable, guys. The UN-SPEAKABLE."
Ben winced as he placed an Oxygen Mask over his face before heading to the hut, only to see nobody was home...and that there were signs of a struggle.
"Murray, I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but I think the miners might have taken your master!"
"You may be right. They'd come in and be all angry and yelling, and he'd be all peaceful, and they'd just get TICKED. Then he'd try to find a 'middle way', and they'd just go crazy and smash everything up, and then haul him off!"
"Where do you think they might have taken him?" Sly asked over the comms.
"THEY GOT HIM! MY MASTER'S A GONER!"
"Hold on, big boy!" Neyla suddenly spoke up. "I actually see him! He's in a cage over there by...oh my god, that truck is MASSIVE!"
"Oh geez..." Ben groaned. "Sly and I will head over to where they're keeping him and see if we can bust him out."
"These miners have no respect for the Aboriginal sacred sights! They're drilling into everything: Ayers Rock, Kings Canyon, Wave Rock...The cultural insensitivity is sickening!" Bentley said over the comms in disgust.
"Well, don't worry, we'll drive them out and get the Guru back!" Ben reassured, punching his normal hand into the palm of his bionic fist. After regrouping with Sly, the two made their way to where the miners were holding the Guru captive. He was purple-furred Koala Beastkin with yellow tribal markings on his face and darker purple hair in dreadlocks with a red headband.
"You must be the Guru. We're good friends of Murray's. He's come asking to be released from his training." Sly introduced.
The Guru nodded, speaking in his Aboriginal native tongue but despite that, Sly and Ben could understand him.
"Alright! We'll break you out no time sweat and we'll talk to him!" Ben said as he opened his bionic palm, revealing an acetylene torch. However, the Guru shook his head and spoke about why he couldn't leave.
"You seriously won't leave without your gear?"
The Guru continued speaking as he gestured to all the disaster the miners had wrought onto the outback. Ben and Sly could see his point as they turned back to him.
"Yeah, I can see that the miners have really done a number on your land here. As for your Walking Staff and Moon Stone, our gang has a real talent for stealing back things that were wrongfully taken.
As Sly and Ben prepared to leave, the Guru called out to the latter, who walked back to him as he whispered into his ear.
"The Mask of Dark Earth, huh? Sounds dangerous. We'll keep an eye peeled for it."
Sly, Ben, and Neyla returned to the hideout in order to give the details of what they learned to Bentley and Murray. After looking over everything, Bentley set up his plan of attack.
"Okay, so from what Sly, Neyla, and Ben have stated, the Guru can't leave his fenced-in area until we bring him his Walking Staff and Moon Stone and also clear out Ayer's Rock of miners. But from what you have said, we also have the issue of an evil artifact called the Mask of Dark Earth. First, Sly and Ben will go to the different cave systems to find the Guru's items. Meanwhile, Murray will go to meet the Guru while also making a clear way for me and Neyla to reach him. And finally, Neyla and Murray will use a local truck to go to Ayer's Rock to clear it of miners," Bentley said, Neyla gasping and smirking widely.
"Oh, bloody hell yes~!" Neyla purred, her tail fluffing up as everyone looked at her worriedly except for Murray, who also looked pretty excited to be driving a truck.
As Sly went to get the Moon Stone, Ben went to get the Walking Staff. Obviously, the miners had stashed the items in two different caves so the blood brothers had to split up to get them. Ben traversed through the cave, taking out several guards. The cave was quite dark but Ben released several floating orbs made by Bentley that produced light so he could see better.
Soon, the Human Thief found the safe and the dial lock spider legs emerged from his palm, unwinding the lock and opening the safe cleanly as Ben took the staff.
"This staff is pretty neat but I wonder what the Guru needs it for..."
Suddenly, an alarm began blaring as Ben looked up in disbelief.
"A BOOBY TRAP FOR A STICK?! These assholes are PARANOID!"
Ben quickly used Time Stop to freeze time and rush back all the way to the exit. He then left an explosive to collapse the cave on top of the miners. After catching his breath, Ben regrouped with Sly, who had successfully retrieved the Moon Stone.
"I take it things went well on your end?"
"More or less."
Suddenly, the duo heard screams as they saw several of the miners fleeing for their lives as giant red scorpions chased after them.
"NOOOO! Giant scorpions?! Run for it mates!"
"BOYS! Fuggedabout dis place! Save yerselves! Abandon the rig! ABANDON THE RIG!"
Neyla and Murray regrouped with Sly and Ben, Neyla spinning the keys to the truck in her finger while Murray had a pumped up and satisfied smile.
"Oh yeah! Ayers Rock is now 100% Miner Free!"
"Did you guys also meet the Guru?" Ben asked as Neyla and Murray nodded but Murray frowned.
"We came across the Mask of Dark Earth that Master warned us about. It was possessing one of the miners but we took him down and scared it off."
With everything done, they headed back to deliver Bentley the goods so he could meet the Guru himself as well as return his Walking Staff and Moon Stone.
After Bentley had returned the Guru's Walking Staff and Moon Stone to him, the shaman had managed to trick one of the guards into coming into the fenced-off post and then ram him into the door to break free. Murray was excited to see his master free and ready to take action against the miners for desecrating his land.
His first course of action was to ram several miners into their own drills, destroying them in the process before heading to Wave Rock and using the miners to destroy the generator linked to the grinder tearing up the place, causing a chain reaction that completely destroyed the grinder.
"You're the master...Master!" Murray cheered as he watched this go down. "The Dreamtime Spirits rejoice!"
The Guru was then given directions to the Safehouse and when he headed inside, Murray happily picked him up in a hug. With Master and Student reunited, Bentley prepared to go over the next phase of the plan to purify the outback of the miners' influence.
"Okay, guys, now to the next phase. As we all know, the Mask of Dark Earth is still out there and the miners need to be completely kicked out of this area before the Guru will be able to join us without issues. So, here's the plan. In order to get rid of the miners, my plan is twofold. First, we'll enlist the help of the local fauna to help take out the miners. Murray will start feeding the miners to a local giant crocodile. With some luck, he'll take a liking to the taste of miners and start chowing down on them, left and right!"
"When did you get so sadistic, Bentley?" Ben asked, not that he was complaining. The Turtle Beastkin just smirked playfully as he continued his presentation.
"Next, we'll take the fight to where these guys live...or, at least, relax. If we can take control of their lemonade bar, it'll be a huge blow to their pride. They'll be begging to go home! And finally, we'll need to go out to the local oil mains and get access to some of the glowing oil. We'll need it to put together a suit for the big heist."
The Guru spoke in his native tongue but the gang all knew that he was trying to tell them 'Good Luck'. With his words of encouragement, the gang made their way to complete their jobs.
Next Time: Liberating the Lands!
The Cooper Gang continues to chase out the miners to purify the Australian Outback while also making sure to keep an eye out for the Mask of Dark Earth!
The next chapter is gonna have the best mission in all of Sly Cooper; Lemon Rage! I'm so excited!