With all their work in clearing out the miners from the outback, the gang all gathered as Bentley laid down the groundworks for the big operation.
"You can feel it in the air, the miners are about to pack it in! In fact, they'd probably already be long gone if it weren't for the corrupting influence of the Mask of Dark Earth. It's clear we need to destroy it. Time for Operation: Moon Crash!" Bentley said.
"Man, where do you get the names for these operations, Bents. Some of them are pretty dope." Ben said as Bentley chuckled in appreciation of his friend's comment before continuing.
"To start things off, we'll need the Guru to take out the gyrocopter. With it gone, we'll have clear skies for phase 2. Now according to Aboriginal folklore, the Mask of Dark Earth is the sworn enemy of the Moon Spirit. So given Murray's 'moon' shape, we'll coat him in the glowing oil and have him pose as the spirit. We'll then dangle him from the crane. The Mask is sure to spot his ancient foe and come running. That's when we'll strike!"
"Works for me!" Neyla said as Bentley turned to Murray.
"Murray, Thunder Flop off the crane and obliterate that Mask! With the Mask destroyed and the miners all runoff, the Guru we'll be free to join the team for the Cooper vault job!"
The Guru nodded his head in appreciation as everyone prepared to set things up. The Guru possessed the few remaining miners and had them ram into the gyrocopter, destroying it after a few good strikes.
"Alright, you're up, Murray!" Ben said as Murray, wearing an outfit coated in the glowing oil, hung by a crane that Neyla was manning the controls of.
"Behold, the Moon Spirit rises! Woo-woooo!"
"Everyone keep an eye out for the Mask. It's sure to take the bait." Bentley said before Sly perked up when he noticed a familiar face.
"We got a situation here, fellas, looks like Carmelita finally managed to catch up."
"Was wondering when Old Ironsides would show her face..." Neyla sighed.
"Drat!" Bentley cursed. "We can't stop the operation now... We'll just have to give her a wide berth."
"Roger, applying 'wide berth.'" Sly responded as Ben and Neyla snickered but Bentley wasn't so amused.
"Quit horsing around and look out for the Mask... It's close, I can feel it!"
"You're really in tune with your Aboriginal side, Bents." Ben joked as the Guru lead the Mask of Dark Earth into the clearing where Murray was being positioned over. Quickly, the koala shaman spoke in his native tongue urgently.
"HERE I COME, MASTER!" Murray boldly cried as Neyla released the crane, allowing the Brawn of the Cooper Gang to fall down on the miner the Mask of Dark Earth was possessing. However, the Mask managed to escape in the nick of time. Guru headed over to Murray to make sure he was alright as Bentley called on his comms.
"Did you get it? Is the mask gone? Sly, can you see?"
Sly and Ben moved in while Neyla dismounted the crane to also check up on the results of the attack. However, it was there they saw Carmelita...wearing the Mask of Dark Earth on her face!
"Oh, crumb cakes..." Ben cursed.
"Cooper! Thought I'd find you here!" Carmelita said as Sly winced.
"Carmelita, you've got a little something on your face."
"It's not nice to make fun of a girl's looks..." Carmelita then began growing larger, as per the Mask of Dark Earth's power. "Maybe I should smash you!"
"Now that's not nice."
Ben held out his bionic arm and then held his fist down, revealing a mini-turret in the back of the hand as it fired a barrage of sleeping darts of Bentley's design from it, riddling Carmelita's chest.
"Whoa, Ben!" Sly exclaimed in shock.
"Relax! You know I only use non-lethal rounds and those were Bentley's patented sleep darts loaded in the chamber!"
"Um, boys, you might want to take a look at this..." Neyla awkwardly said as Ben and Sly looked up to see Carmelita growing bigger than before.
"It seems the chemicals in the darts are interacting with the mask...to make her even BIGGER!" Bentley said as he was witnessing this from his vantage point.
"EVERYBODY TO THE GIANT SEXY TRUCK!" Ben cried.
"WE DID NOT AGREE TO CALL IT THAT!" Neyla shouted as everyone headed to the truck. Murray took the wheel as Carmelita chased after the gang, a rig full of dynamite underneath her gigantic arm.
"Okay! Neyla, throw whatever dynamite she gets on the truck with the trucks' super-claw! I'll try and slow her down!" Ben then took a rectangular cartridge out of his bionic arm's storage area and it then unfolded into a high-impact rifle with explosive rounds.
"Ben, are you sure that's a good idea?!" Sly worriedly asked as Ben gave his blood brother a serious look.
"She's big enough to take 'em, Bro!"
Ben climbed onto the back of the truck and began firing shots at the giant Carmelita, the explosive rounds slowing her down slightly but not enough as Neyla used the super-claw to throw off any dynamite she threw onto the truck. Soon, the force became too much and Carmelita grew even bigger!
Everyone stopped the truck and got out as they saw Carmelita rampaging across the landscape. Her mercenaries came in and tried to shoot the Mask of Dark Earth off of her.
"She's too huge, we can't outrun her in the truck!" Murray said, the Guru saying some worrying Aboriginal dialect in agreement.
"This is bad! We need a new strategy and fast. Force just isn't working." Bentley said as Sly gained a serious expression.
"Time to stop running and deal with the real problem... pry off that Mask of Dark Earth, and, maybe we'll get back the Carmelita we all know and love."
"I do NOT love her!" Murray said as Neyla rolled her eyes.
"I'm with Big Pink here, Cooper."
Sly sighed. "Okay, not the point. It's all about taking off that mask. We gotta find a way up there."
"Well, you're the best climber out of all of us, Sly. Besides, this is a dream come true for you!" Ben said as Sly gave his brother a teasing look.
"You know Ben, that's not a crazy idea."
"Oh yeah, it's crazy!" Murray said.
"Well, what about you, big guy?" Neyla asked.
"Well, we'll need a giant fighting robot!" Murray suggested as Ben facepalmed.
"Murray, I love you, but we're not the goddamn Power Rangers here!"
Sly already was running ahead and climbing up Carmelita's boot laces and the lapels of her jacket. Bentley used his Binocucom to keep watch over Sly and then noticed something about the Mask of Dark Earth.
"Sly, you're in luck! Looks like each side of the mask is latched on with only one hook. Maybe if you hung off it, she'll swat you away and knock it off."
Sly followed Bentley's advice and Carmelita, in her rage, swiped at him. He quickly jumped off and latched onto the other hook of the mask, which she swatted off as well. With the mask off, Carmelita shrunk back down to normal, screaming in pain as the mask also shrunk down and landed at Ben's foot.
"Well, well, well, looks like the Mask of Dark Earth is now the Mask of Dark SHIT UNDER MY BOOT!"
With those words, Ben stomped on the mask as hard as he could, shattering it into a thousand pieces with the force he exhumed. The remaining bits soon glowed and faded into dark red mist before forming into the spirit of a man, who looked at Ben with calm eyes before giving a thankful nod.
"You freed me...thank you..."
With those words, the spirit disappeared. Ben was confused but the Guru put a hand on his leg and gave him a thankful look, speaking in his native tongue as Ben got the whole story.
"I see...it seems I liberated the tormented spirit inside the mask by destroying it. Well, I hope he's at peace now."
*Sly POV*
After destroying the Mask of Dark Earth, we kept watch over Carmelita throughout the night. Her camera proved to be a real source of entertainment as we took turns posing. Didn't want her to go home empty-handed, after all. Guru was pretty confused in the first few pictures, but eventually, he started getting into the fun.
Soon, morning broke and we got a clear view of the landscape. It was beautiful, empty of the miners that had been digging and drilling into the sacred place. Of course, we had to leave when Carmelita began waking up and her forces were closing toward our position.
Of course, we also were happy to welcome our newest member into the fold. Murray was particularly happy knowing that his teacher would be helping us out from now on. With our very own Chief Mystic, the team would surely never be the same.
Next Time: Flight of the Fancy!
Needing a dedicated RC Specialist for the Big Cooper Vault Job, the gang head to Holland in order to recruit the best-known RC Specialist around, Penelope. However, they'll need to take on her boss, the Black Baron, in an aerial dogfighting tournament to do so!