The Soul Kingdom Trilogy

by huntington1998

When a meteor shower scatters the Chaos Emeralds and 7 individuals from different worlds find them, everything changes. Crossover between Rayman, Ratchet and Clank, Kingdom Hearts, Sly Cooper, Sonic Boom, Super Mario, and The Legend of Zelda. Discontinued. Full Trilogy Chapter List added.

37. Color Series Chapters(Base game)

Soul Kingdom: Part White summary

The Color Series:

It all started with a gang of thieves. Now, a mysterious jewel and an unplanned trip to the worlds of Kingdom Hearts with a big twist of fate leads to the biggest surprise in Sly Cooper history!

Sly starts the story with narration like in the animated cutscenes in the two trilogies of games that lead into Soul Kingdom. I'm putting his words in the summary because of the relevance they will eventually have.

"I've faced many things in my career. No, my life. I've done things that were thought to be impossible. But... none of it prepared me for what was next. A single night. A single jewel. They changed everything. I've been having these visions lately ever since that night. I feel like there are others who see them as well. Is it a coincidence... or destiny?"

And with that, we begin what I'm expecting to be, by the time everything is said and done, Sly's longest adventure ever.

Prologue: Sly's Dive to the Heart/Calling Connections (A World Within A Dream, Terra II's Paris)

After saving their entire universe (or what they thought was their universe! More on that later!) from evil versions of themselves that attempted to rebuild longtime Cooper family nemesis Clockwerk during the events of Sly 6: The Dimension Generation, the Cooper Gang is resting in Paris, but during a meteor shower, a white jewel appears in Sly's hands, causing him to fall from the pole he was using for balance. The Cooper Gang runs to catch him, but he just keeps falling. (this is similar to the Kingdom Hearts 1 intro) He then begins dreaming, and appears in a strange place and meets a new friend, Sora, who a strange voice says will be an ally. Sora attempts to explain to Sly where he is, but doesn't get anywhere with his explanation before members of the strange race of monsters Sora knows as the "Heartless" appear. Sly attempts to attack the Heartless, but has to be saved by Sora because his cane doesn't make a dent. Sora explains that only special weapons can hurt them. But then the giant Heartless known as a Darkside attacks. Sora and Sly fight off the Darkside Heartless, but then the platforms begin to break apart, sending Sly and Sora into the dark abyss. Sly then wakes up from his dream after a whole day. Sly takes the jewel to Bentley and Penelope, who are relieved he is OK. Bentley then takes a look at the jewel, and is unable to find anything on the internet about it, but he does notice then the massive amount of energy inside it. Sly then decides to keep Sora's existence a secret until the heist they've been planning is done.

Chapter 1: Anthro Galaxy visit #1: Heist Ambush (Terra II's Paris)

The Cooper Gang starts a heist on Le Paradox's former associates, with Sly taking the white jewel with him. Murray holds off the guards surrounding the building with the targets and Sly heads to an air vent to enter the building. Sly plants a tear-gas bomb and starts to leave, but on the way out, the Heartless start to attack. With his gang in shock that their attacks aren't doing anything, Sly quickly heads out to his gang and rushes toward the Heartless attacking Murray, with the jewel in his hand. He feels a surge of power, and when he opens his eyes, the Heartless are gone, and his cane looks different. Sly wasn't entirely sure what had happened at the time, but his cane had been turned into a Keyblade, which Sly uses to save Murray. Then, a massive pool of energy starts focusing on Sly, who is now more terrified than he was when he was in the grip of Dr. M's monster, and it tries to pull him in. Sly asks Bentley if he has any idea as to what is going on, but Bentley just can't remain calm. Sly tries to resist the pool, but the pull is too strong. Just before everything went white, one name crossed Sly's mind: Sora.

Sly's Journey Home Arc:

Chapter 2: Welcome to the Galaxy of Hearts part 1: Islands of Destiny (The Destiny Islands, not that I need to say it...)

Sora returns to the Destiny Islands, being guided by a cyan-colored jewel that he insists is reacting to something, but Riku and Kairi think he's crazy. Sora then trips over Sly's cane. After Kairi jogs Sora's memory as to where he saw the cane, he tells Riku and Kairi about a dream he had, his first meeting with Sly. After Sora says that this can't be a coincidence, the three decide to split up and search for Sly. Sora heads to a small cave where he notices a new cave painting of some jewels that wasn't there before, as well as the unconscious body of Sly. As Sly awakes to Sora's voice, Sly wonders where he is. Sora says that Sly ended up in his world, through a means Sora probably won't ever truly understand, the door behind Sly. Sora explains to Sly what a "human" is, and now feeling that he won't be treated as crazy, Sora leads Sly out of the cave. Sly and Sora meet up with Riku and Kairi, who ask where Sly came from. After Sly says he came out of the door in the cave, Riku says nothing coming out doesn't have a meaning and there's a reason he came to this world. Sora says to a shocked Sly that he is an alien and that he came from another world. Kairi says maybe Mickey would have an idea what's going on. Sora asks what world Sly came from, and Sly says he came from Earth. Sora and Riku say they have never heard the name, but decide to go see Mickey. When Kairi summons her Keyblade, Sly mentions he saw a key-shaped sword in his dream. Sora mentions he saw Heartless in the dream, shocking Riku and Kairi. With the situation now more dangerous, Kairi opens up a portal to Disney Castle, and the group heads through, with Sly deciding to trust Sora, his only way home.

Chapter 3:Welcome to the Galaxy of Hearts part 2: The Two Realms (Welcome to Disney Castle)

Sly, Sora, Riku and Kairi arrive at Disney Castle to meet with Mickey. Donald and Goofy are introduced to Sly, and the group goes off to see Mickey. When it is brought up that Sly is from a new world, Mickey says that Sly's sudden appearance may be tied to a distortion of time and space he's looking into, which is that a burst of power created a wormhole between Sly's world and Sora's world. Sly brings up the topic of the jewel and the meteor shower, which prompts Sora to bring out a cyan-colored jewel that he also got during a meteor shower, leaving Sly in shock. Sly then says that he used a sword like Sora's to save Murray, leaving the entire room in shock that he can use a Keyblade. Sly starts his story of the past few days from the beginning and it is decided that the group needs to get to Sly's homeworld before the Heartless destroy it. To do that, they need to see Yen Sid. Unfortunately, the gateway to his tower was deactivated, and the group needs to go to Radiant Garden and activate it manually. Sora promises Sly he will help him get back home, and Sly settles in for what may be his longest adventure ever.

Chapter 4: Welcome to the Galaxy of Hearts part 3: New World, Ho! (Welcome to Radiant Garden Part 1)

Sly and Sora move to the Gummi Ship, with Sly commenting on how beautiful the worlds look from that distance. Mickey announces the group is a few minutes away from landing in Radiant Garden, and Sora tells Sly about how the worlds are connected through Keyholes, and that important items are needed to locate them. After the group lands and Sly takes in the beautiful scenery, Kairi suggests that the group should head to see the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee (several important characters from various Final Fantasy games that mostly play supporting roles in the Kingdom Hearts games), and Sora thinks they may have an idea of where to go next. After arriving at the committee's meeting place, Sora introduces the committee to Sly, with the committee being yet another group that's never heard of Earth. The committee suggests that Sly should go to meet with Ansem the Wise, and Sora starts telling Sly his long backstory on the way to Ansem's castle. (If I started to explain Sora's backstory now, we could be here all day, so it was made a moment that takes place offscreen.)

Chapter 5: Welcome to the Galaxy Galaxy of Hearts part 4: Ansem (Welcome to Radiant Garden Part 2)

Sly and the Guardians of Light arrive at the gates to Ansem the Wise's castle to arrange a meeting with the leader of Radiant Garden, Sly's best shot at getting to Yen Sid's Tower, and with it, his way home. Sora helps Sly get past the guards, with Sly thinking about how weird it is that he isn't using a disguise to get in. The group heads into the castle and meets Ansem, who gives his theory on why Sora has never been to Earth: that some worlds are closed off from the others by barriers. Ansem says the group will need to see Yen Sid to confirm this. Just then, the White Jewel starts glowing, almost as if it was reacting to the card that the committee gave Sly that is currently in his bag. The card lifts itself into the air, Sora's Keyblade glows, and Sly looks up to see a Keyhole. Sora unlocks it, unaffected by the trance he was in, and announces that the group can go to Yen Sid's Tower. Ansem tells Sly and Sora to be careful because of the broken barriers, and Sora and his friends promise to help stop the Heartless invasion of Earth. On the way out to the ship, Sly feels an itch on his arm, almost as if something was being burned onto his fur. Something that probably won't be brought up too much in the chapters coming next but is VERY important to where this story heads in the future. Let's just call it "the mark." I can't say too much about it without capital S spoilers.

Chapter 6: Welcome to the Galaxy of Hearts part 5/Intergalactic Jump to the Anthro Galaxy: Master Yen Sid (Welcome to The Mysterious Tower)

The group arrives at the Mysterious Tower for a meeting with Yen Sid, who immediately looks at Sly after the group enters, and after introductions are made he explains that the only way for a person from a completely different world to come to a world far from their own is if there was a disturbance in time and space, that had worn down, and something of great power is used to open a rift to a far off world. When Yen Sid asks if anything of note has happened recently, the topic of the meteor shower is brought up, and Sly and Sora show the jewels. When Sly and Sora are asked when they got the jewels, they are surprised when they both give the same answer of "two nights ago". Kairi asks if this is a coincidence, to which Yen Sid replies that it is not, and that the appearance of the Chaos Emeralds, mythical gemstones said to be created by God and with infinite power, are an omen for the spread of darkness. Yen Sid explains that not just any being can use the Chaos Energy inside naturally, but the gem activated while Sly was in a life-threatening situation, and opened a rift. But you can't just appear in a random place while using the power of Chaos Control, and something in Sly's heart was used as a guide. Sly then realizes that thinking of Sora before he blacked out was the reason he was sent to him. Sly then asks if it would be possible to use Chaos Control to get home. Yen Sid replies that it would be a likely possibility...if he had former awareness or presence of Chaos Energy. Since he didn't, the method can't be repeated. Yen Sid says that there is one method that could work even with Sly's inexperience. He asks if Sly has ever summoned a Keyblade, to which Sly replies that he had done that once to protect his friends. Yen Sid tells Sly to use his desire to protect his friends to summon the Keyblade once again. Sly looks down at his cane, remembering how, during the attack, nothing but his friends' safety mattered. He sees a spark on his cane, and Sly's Keyblade (it currently doesn't have an official name. I really should get on that..) appears in a flash of light, leaving everybody but Yen Sid stunned. Yen Sid tells Sora and Sly to take out the Chaos Emeralds they were entrusted with, which start levitating, and the two use their Keyblades to perform a "Duo Chaos Control", in which two users, both inexperienced or one or none, use two Chaos Emeralds to transcend time and space, creating portals, that, while open, allow travel to other worlds and periods of time. The portal that Sly and Sora created allows Sly to go home but take Sora and his friends along, so they can save Earth from the Heartless. On the way back to the ship, Yen Sid warns the group that the appearance of the Chaos Emeralds may have led to the biggest threat that the worlds have ever faced. The Gummi Ship flies into the portal at top speed, and Sly gets ready for the fight of his life. (I say that, but this is nothing compared to what we have coming. I'm going to make something very clear. Yen Sid wasn't lying about the severity of this upcoming threat, and although I have a general idea of what it is going to be from Soul, even I don't know the specifics. He was NOT talking about the normal run of the mill Heartless invasion that Sora helps stop. I'd say what's coming is way bigger than that. I'll say it again. Destiny is a major theme of this story. )

Sly's Return Home Arc:

Chapter 7: Return to the Anthro Galaxy Part 1: Earth, Sweet Earth (Is In Danger!) (Return To Terra II's Paris Part 1)

Sly and Sora arrive at Earth, with Sora in awe at what Earth looks like from above, wanting to land and see its surface. Sly pinpoints Paris using the Eiffel Tower, and after Donald transforms Sora, Riku, and Kairi so they won't attract attention, the group lands. Shortly after landing, Bentley contacts Sly though the earpiece that was left in Sly's ear after the failure of the Le Paradox associate hiest. Sly tells Bentley, who is unable to remain calm now that he's back, that he's on his way and to make space for guests, but Bentley still can't calm down, and wonders who Sly is bringing. The group arrives at a Cooper Gang safehouse, where Sly is almost immediately bear-hugged by Murray after entering. Sly tells Murray about his new friends, who Murray thanks for helping Sly out. Sly then hears a yell from Carmelita, and explains to Sora and the others that he's married. The group heads into the living room where the rest of Sly's gang is, and Bentley notices the new people in the room, thinking that the new people in the room are the "guests" Sly mentioned. Sly tells Bentley that he met Sora earlier but couldn't tell him before the attack, and when Penelope asks how, Sly says he met Sora in his mind while he was unconscious. Sly says that the gang wouldn't believe him if he told them then, but Penelope makes the point that the Alternate Universe counterparts of Sly met in his mind during the series of events Soul calls the "Dimension Generation." (A small reference to one of Soul's previous works from before she met me, in case you were wondering.) Carmelita asks where Sora and the others came from, and when they reply that they are from another world, Bentley believes them to an extent, saying that it is possible that other worlds exist, because the gang had no way of tracking Sly while he was in Sora's worlds. Sly tells the gang that Sora, Riku, and Kairi's appearances aren't like their own, and that Sora, Riku, and Kairi are known as "humans" in their worlds. Sly asks Donald to change the three back to human form, which he does, leaving the gang shocked. Sly then asks his gang what happened after he disappeared, and Bentley says that most of the monsters just left, like they were following Sly though the portal. Penelope asks what the monsters were, and the Guardians of Light spend a few minutes explaining the Heartless, leaving the gang petrified. Sly's gang asks Sora's group how they fight back against the Heartless, and Sora, Riku, and Kairi summon their Keyblades. When Kairi is asked how Keyblades are summoned, she says that it's complicated, and refers to Mickey as King Mickey, which sends Bentley into a rage, thinking Mickey could have the Cooper Gang arrested. Kairi asks for more info on what he meant, and Sly explains that they are thieves, but they only steal from the greedy and people who abuse power, and they call themselves the Cooper Gang, which leads Sora to make a Robin Hood comparison. The group asks how Penelope and Carmelita got involved with the Cooper Gang, with Penelope avoiding the topic of her betrayal and Carmelita leaving Riku shocked that she's a cop that joined up with thieves. The conversation shifts back to what happened after Sly's disappearance, and Sora's group explains that they are here to help save Sly's world from the Heartless by finding and locking the world's Keyhole. As the groups ponder where to start the search, Murray notices a light on Sly's cane, and when Sly picks it up, his Keyblade appears, which quickly shoots out the window. Bentley wonders what just happened, and after a moment of forgetfulness from Sora, he remembers that whenever that happens, it's pointing towards the Keyhole. (That moment of forgetfulness is on me. I still have yet to play Kingdom Hearts 1, meaning I wasn't around when Sora was locking Keyholes.) The groups promptly get up to follow the Keyblade's beam of light, with Sly hoping that he's headed in the right direction.

Chapter 8: Return to the Anthro Galaxy part 2: The Keyhole Tower (Return to Terra II's Paris part 2)

The Cooper Gang and Guardians of Light continue following the light trail to the Keyhole that is being emitted from Sly's Keyblade, with Sly commenting on how surprised he is that Sora's group is able to keep up. The 2 groups continue navigating Paris until they aren't far from the Eiffel Tower. Sly's eyes track the Keyblade all the way to the top of the tower. The groups agree to be on guard because of the Heartless, and Bentley says that after Sly vanished, he made some adjustments to his time-distortion tracker so that it can track space ruptures as well, which makes Mickey think Chip and Dale would be amazed by Bentley and Penelope's smarts. The groups silently agree that they need to seal the Keyhole as soon as possible, but then Sly freezes and says he feels like he's being watched. Bentley then picks up activity on his tracker, and then Heartless appear. Sly asks Sora for help with learning how to use a Keyblade, and Sora, Riku, and Kairi all agree to teach Sly what they know. They use their current situation as a sort of tutorial for Sly to learn how to use a Keyblade, and Sly fights rather well. Penelope asks why the Heartless keep coming after Sly, Mickey says it's not just Sly they are going after, but every Keyblade weirder currently present, and Sora explains that the Heartless fear the Keyblade more than any other thing you could possibly imagine. As Sly finishes taking out the Heartless, his right hand starts to feel itchy, and he pulls up his sleeve to find that the Mark is glowing. (I know it's important somehow, but even to this day, I don't know the specifics as to what the glowing means/why it happens. Generally, I know what the Mark represents, which is SPOILER REDACTED (Did you honestly think I would say it? ), but I don't understand the glowing, because at this point it seems to happen randomly. Maybe it won't feel that way in the future. You'd have to ask Soul about that...) As the groups continue to the tower, Sly and the others start to smell a stinky odor, and Penelope says that the odor can only come from one person. And that person, Sly 4 villain Le Paradox, was supposed to be in solitary confinement, leaving the gang wondering how he got out of jail with no sign of a break in. Bentley says that there is no way Le Paradox could break out of solitary confinement without some sort of assistance. Sora's group wonders what is getting the Cooper Gang so worked up as Le Paradox gets close enough to talk to the Cooper Gang about how he thinks it's too bad that he has to see them again, and Le Paradox, using a portal of darkness that Riku says should be impossible to create in Sly's world, summons a giant mechanical dragon to fight the Cooper Gang and Guardians of Light with, (possibly the same dragon seen in Sly 4's Medieval England episode, although I'm not sure) and although Sly hoped to never lay eyes on Le Paradox again, the tension is high regardless.

Chapter 9: Return to the Anthro Galaxy part 3: One of Who? (Return to Terra II's Paris Part 3)

With the tension remaining high, Le Paradox continues to talk to the Cooper Gang, asking if they really thought they'd seen the last of him. Carmelita brings up the fact that there is no way Le Paradox could escape the solitary confinement he was in since the end of Sly 4 without help, and then Le Paradox notices Sora's group. Riku asks how he got though the darkness, and Le Paradox replies by referring to Sora's group as Keyblade wielders, leaving everybody shocked. Sora asks how he knows of the Keyblade, and Le Paradox replies that his "associate" told him everything about what they could do. Kairi then wonders who he is referring to. Le Paradox doesn't give the answer, but does say that his associate lent him some Heartless that he will use to take over many worlds. Bentley and Penelope tell the team to keep Le Paradox distracted while they work on destroying the monster, and Sly climbs up the monster for a sword fight with Le Paradox that is eerily similar to their last one at the end of Sly 4, only this time there are Heartless watching as well. But then the Heartless and Le Paradox expose the Mark on Sly's hand, sending Le Paradox into a rage that Sly is "one of them", confusing Sly greatly. Le Paradox then backs off, saying he is not permitted to lay a finger on Sly as long as he has that mark. Bentley and Penelope finish hacking the robot, and Sly jumps off before it is destroyed, but Le Paradox escapes. On the ground, Sly meets up with Sora, and the groups promptly head up the Eiffel Tower to the Keyhole. Sora attempts to lock the Keyhole, but his Keyblade doesn't get a reaction, which prompts Riku to ask Sly to try himself. Sora shows Sly what he usually does, and the Keyhole is locked. With the Keyhole locked, Sora explains that the Heartless will keep coming, but they can't destroy Sly's homeworld. Sly asks Sora's group about the mark, but they have no idea what it is. Sly says Le Paradox wasn't able to hurt him as long as he has the mark, which Sora agrees is weird. Bentley chimes in regarding the robot Le Paradox was using, saying that it was coded by a professional and runs on energy he isn't familiar with. Murray asks what Le Paradox being able to control the Heartless means, and the Guardians of Light reply by saying that Earth isn't the only place in trouble. Sly brings up that Le Paradox was tracking him and some other unknown people, and that they need to find them. Sora proposes that his group should form an alliance with the Cooper Gang, which Sly accepts, and everybody heads back to the Cooper Gang safehouse to plan their next move.

Chapter 10: Return to the Anthro Galaxy Part 4/Return To The Galaxy Of Hearts Part 1: Tailless Forms (Return to Terra II's Paris part 4, The Lanes Between, Welcome To Twilight Town)

During a short walk back to the safehouse, Sly shows the gang the strange mark, saying that it itches and burns from time to time, and Penelope and Bentley do some research after saying that the itching and burning is unusual. The two are unable to find anything, but then Mickey suggests going to see Ansem the Wise again. Sly asks if he will be able to help figure out what is going on with the mark, and Sora responds by saying that the answers completely depend on if Ansem is familiar with it. An excited Murray asks if this means that the rest of the Cooper Gang will get to see Sora's worlds. Mickey says that is up to Sly, who responds by saying that he definitely is bringing his gang with him. Murray asks if he can bring the Cooper Van, and Mickey responds by saying that it will probably fit in the Gummi Ship, making Murray very happy. Sora then gets out the Cyan Chaos Emerald, which prompts Sly to prep for a Duo Chaos Control. The wormhole to Sora's worlds forms, and when Bentley and Penelope first enter the Gummi Ship, Bentley's jaw drops, and Penelope thinks the tech inside could work well in the Cooper Van. Bentley asks Mickey for the blueprints, and Mickey responds by asking if him and Penelope would like to learn how to wire the ship in case of a malfunction, which the two are ecstatic at. When the group lands, they find themselves in the wrong world: Twilight Town. They are surprised at first, but then Murray spots a dark shadow nearby, which makes the group think that they were meant to come here. But before they go after it, Donald uses his magic to turn the Cooper Gang into humans to blend in. And then the group leaves to go after the shadow, with Sly thinking to himself that he needs to gain more of Riku and Donald's trust.

The Shadow Mini Arc:

Chapter 11: Return to the Galaxy of Hearts part 2: The Town Basked in Twilight (Welcome to Twilight Town part 2)

The Cooper Gang and Guardians of Light start their search for the shadow by talking to Twilight Town's locals, first Seifer's gang, who doesn't give them any information, then Heyner, Peince, Ollete, Roxas, Namine, and Xion. Xion says she was hanging around the sandlot when she allegedly saw a humanoid, unknown figure, but she thought it was just the light. The groups decide to check it out anyway, and when they arrive at the sandlot they don't find anything at first glance, but Riku is sure it wasn't an illusion. Murray looks at the sky, and the two groups see the shadow they first spotted in space, which looks like it has some very menacing power. The groups then hear someone screaming before it stops, and what sounds like a bad soap opera starts playing. The groups head in the direction of the noise to find a robot, leaving them in shock.(The playing of "Lance and Janice" should tell you something, but I'm really trying to keep the element of surprise for this story.)

Chapter 12: Return to the Galaxy of Hearts part 3: A Not-So-Nefarious Menace? (Welcome to Twilight Town part 3)

Continuing from the end of the last chapter, the Cooper Gang and Guardians of Light hide and watch what is going on regarding the robot while they are hidden. They see a fat-looking human snap the robot out of a sort of trance, and the two talk about the cloaking device on their ship. Riku says that they have probably found the people that created the shadow they saw in space, but then the human spots them. The robot and the human start arguing, making both the Cooper Gang and Guardians of Light bored. Camalita's shock pistol gets their attention and Roxas asks if they can fight already, leaving the robot sad that he can't use the monologue he prepared. The two, at Kairi's request, introduce themselves as Dr. Nefarious and Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, causing Sly to struggle to hold in his laughter at Dr. Robotnik's nickname. As the Guardians of Light summon their Keyblades, Nefarious and Eggman say that their "most gracious friend" filled them in on the Keyblade, prompting Sly to wonder just who the person could be. They don't say much, only that they have a new army that Nefarious used to attack his archnemeses (referring to REDACTED and REDACTED. What can I say? I want to keep you guessing.) on their own ship. This prompts Bentley to conclude that Nefarious and Eggman are from a completely different system of worlds. A mech that Sly says reminds him of Le Paradox's mech then falls from the sky. Sly asks Bentley if he and Penelope can analyze it due to its design similarities to Le Paradox's mech. When Bentley responds that he was thinking the same thing, Nefarious wonders how Sly is even here (the two had been looking for Sly and some other people for a while) and how the skunk (Le Paradox) lost. When Nefarious says that Sly will be coming with him, the conversation shifts to the mark on Sly's hand. Sly asks Nefarious and Eggman what they know about the mark, and they respond by saying that Sly is "one of the keys". Sly asks what he is a key to and if there are other people out there with marks. They respond to point #2 by saying that there are, in fact, other keys. Nefarious and Eggman say that Sly is coming with them to "ensure they can unlock the greatest world in the universe." (If you were expecting more hints to the villains' plan, too bad. That's all you get, mostly because that's about as much as we can say without spoilers.) They also say they will be happy to take him by force as the Egg Beetle Mark 1 powers up. The fight goes similar to the last mech fight, with Sly using his cane to pierce the legs, causing the mech to crumble from lack of support. While doing this, Sly summons his Keyblade without even thinking about it. Xion notices this and wonders why Sly has a Keyblade. Goofy says that they have no idea, but then Riku remembers that Eggman said why during the fight. It was through contact with Sora. Riku thinks that Sly and Sora's hearts connected during the meteor shower, and then Kairi puts the pieces together and says that the connection inadvertently passed the Keyblade down to Sly. Sly has trouble processing this turn of events, Bentley says that the Cooper Gang will do some research on the history of the Keyblade, and Sly states that the situation just got a lot more complicated. (Before we move on, I'm saying it now. Writing Dr. Nefarious was the most fun I've had in a long time with this story. You'd think pairing him with Dr. Eggman wouldn't work, but it absolutely does... I'm still surprised at how well Soul Kingdom works as a concept. I love playing in this sandbox!)

The Visit to Ansem Bridge Chapter/The First Hyrule Arc:

Chapter 13: Return to the Galaxy of Hearts Part 4/ Intergalactic Jump to the Triforce Galaxy: On The Road Once More! (The Lanes Between, Return to Radiant Garden)

After the fight with the Egg Beetle, Sly and the Cooper Gang change back into their animal forms, surprising Xion. Sly brings up that before the shadow incident, the groups were on their way to see Ansem, causing the Nobodies of the groups (Roxas, Naminé, and Xion) to get somewhat tense. Sly then asks Sora for more information on why Riku said Ansem views the Nobodies as inferior. Sora refuses to answer, saying that it's personal, and the groups prepare to leave for Radiant Garden. As the groups come into port, Sly hopes that Ansem can help figure out the mystery of the mark, why it's so important, and why his enemies are being so vague about it. In Ansem's Study, Ansem says that the mark is mysterious, but part of it can be interpreted as the face of a clock. Riku asks to see the symbol, and Ansem brings out a book. Sly notices the sun on one of the pages. And then, something clicks. After Sly gains a pen and paper, by recreating some things in the book and flipping the sun vertically, he is able to recreate the mark, leaving Sora shocked and Sly thinking he just helped make a breakthrough regarding the mark. Sly asks Ansem if there is anything that they should know about the book, and Ansem responds with the following: It was given to him by an unknown donor upon his return to Radiant Garden, he doesn't know who the author is, how the book got past the castle guards, or even how to read it, given that he can't understand the alphabet used. Sly looks through the book, but then looks away. Sora then says that the words just changed so that he can read them. Sly looks back at the book and confirms that Sora isn't going crazy. When Kairi asks what Sly and Sora are going on about, the two respond with "We can read it." This leaves the room in a state of shock as Sly starts to feel like another breakthrough in the mystery is imminent. (Messages from the "Mystery Book", as I'll be calling it until we give it an official name, are so important to the overall plot of the story, I'm not going to try and summarize them. At all. I'll just let you read the passages we end up using word for word.) Sly and Sora read that "The flow of time is as constant as the stability of space. To understand them, they must be considered as one power, known as Dimension." "The power of Dimension bends both elements to the will of the user. It is what brings order and foundation to the universe. The Dimension is shaped by the Desires of those created in it." "The part of space, the astral sun, creates a living environment for new worlds and organisms. The part of time, the grand clock, gives the worlds an ever-changing environment that does not remain constant." "Dimension is where these two natural elements coexist and where one is affected if the other is as well. While it is stable, it is also dangerous. A single disruption can shake the balance of time and space. Therefore, Dimension must be watched by they that bear both." Bentley responds by saying that what he just heard is one of the most cryptically written passages he has ever heard in his life, and most of the room agrees. (There's actually more hidden in that passage than one would expect. The passage was intended to be cryptic at this point in the story. It should slowly start making sense after a few more chapters, as we build to the big destiny-related surprise we have planned.) Then, Sly's bag starts glowing, and Sly and Sora take out their Chaos Emeralds, both glowing intensely. Ansem then flips back in the book to find pictures of 7 gems much like the Chaos Emeralds. The book says the power that can be gained when one person gets all 7 Emeralds is almost godlike, leaving Penelope interested but scared. When the book talks about reactions between the Chaos Emeralds, Sly wonders if the glowing from a few seconds ago was from Sly and Sora's Emeralds reacting again, or if it came from an Emerald the team has yet to locate, and Mickey responds by saying that the reaction was most likely coming from a person that is not from Sly or Sora's world-system. (The term used is world system. The Cooper Gang and Guardians of Light are using the wrong term. They just don't know it yet. The Chaos Emerald holders are part of a much bigger picture that I can't say too much about. )Roxas asks where the team is supposed to check for the remaining Emeralds, which causes the group to think about how to get out of this pickle. Then, Sly gets an idea. (In retrospect, I just put this in as a throwaway line. Not intending for it to go anywhere this early.) This idea is that Nefarious, Eggman, Le Paradox, and possibly some other people are searching for the Chaos Emeralds on behalf of some unknown person. Sly then asks Ansem for permission to borrow the book. Ansem agrees, then the group brings up the possibility of checking the book for info on where to go next. Sora infers that since the book says that the Chaos Emeralds react to one another, then Sly and Sora could use Chaos Control to help the team move to the location of one they haven't located. With nothing else to go on, the groups say goodbye to Ansem and move out to the Gummi Ship. On the way to the ship, Sly and Sora start talking about how it was possible to read the mysterious book. When Sly brings up the possibility of it being due to the mark, Sora says that he may not have one. Sly counters with the fact that he's never seen Sora without his gloves on, and when Sora takes them off, both Sly and Sora's eyes widen in surprise. (This is related to the fact that Sora has a mark similar to Sly's. Maybe there's a bigger connection between Sly, Sora and other mark holders. If there are any...). This train of thought is cut off when Murray calls and says that the group is almost ready for the jump. Back on the Gummi Ship, Sly wonders where the team is headed as Sly and Sora perform the Chaos Control needed for the jump and the chapter ends.

Chapter 14: Welcome to the Triforce Galaxy Part 1: A Distant Kingdom (Welcome to Hyrule)

The Gummi Ship flies through the Chaos Control wormhole and lands on a world with a lot of green. Sly and Bentley comment on how simple this world looks, and Bentley asks for the plan. Mickey says the team they send to explore the area will have to be small to avoid raising suspicion. Sly then volunteers to do the recon, given his experience back home. Bentley reminds Sly to not draw too much attention to himself, but when Sora says that they can't send only Sly, potentially after the monster Bentley and Penelope saw on the radar, he decides to come with. Sly agrees, and the two head down to scout out the area as they are amazed at how peaceful the world looks. Sly takes out his Binocucom as Sora wonders how Sly usually does recon, with Sora curiously looking at the device in Sly's hands. Sly explains about the Binocucom, a combination binoculars and video calling device, and the two try to get started on recon, but without Sly having access to Bentley's holographic markers, or Sora finding a map, they can't. Sly then hears footsteps, and brings Sora over to some cover as they see a horse galloping past them with a blonde-haired human at the reigns, next to a similar-looking, possibly-related, silver haired human.

The horse stops a few meters from their location as the humans take out the Green Chaos Emerald. Then, Sly hears the sound of a bowstring. Chaos sets in as a vial of gold powder is shattered by an arrow, sending Sly and Sora into coughing fits. Through the madness, Sly manages to get out that he wasn't planning an ambush at all, confusing the humans about who him and Sora are... the humans, "Link" and "Aaron", decide to give the foreigners a chance, and ask about the Emeralds after Sly and Sora are given the antidote that Aaron (an alchemist) made. Sly and Sora explain how the Chaos Emeralds could likely lead to a great threat, and how they've been trying to find all of them. Aaron agrees that they have at least some importance. And then Bentley and Penelope chime in on the Binocucom asking for an update on the recon. Sly explains that one of the locals they came across do have a Chaos Emerald, surprising the two on how quick they found it. Aaron surprises Sly and asks about the communication device. Sly talks about how Sora isn't great with technology, and then decides to explain his and Sora's story. After the two finish, they hear a horn. A nearby town is under attack. Thinking quick, Sly throws a tracker on the horse so Bentley can get a waypoint up as Bentley comments on a possible Heartless attack and Sly and Sora race to town. When they arrive, they find not Heartless, but robots. Sora quickly summons his Keyblade and Sly gets ready for a rumble.

Chapter 15: Welcome to the Triforce Galaxy Part 2: Hyrule (Welcome to Hyrule Part 2)

The battle begins, and the Cooper Gang and Guardians of Light find it difficult to keep pace with the robots. Bentley is surprised that such a low-tech world can have robots, but then he notices that they are being teleported in from somewhere. He tells Sly and Sora to hold out a little longer, and he will locate the point of origin. As the Guardians of Light struggle to fight off the robots, arrows start flying and the robots start glitching as Sora starts noticing heat and water. The robots are promptly destroyed. By Aaron and Link. The Guardians of Light and Cooper Gang decide to help with clean up after Sly gets the "world order" speech from Sora and Link heads to the castle to meet with Princess Zelda. (The term "protecting the world order", according to Kingdom Hearts lore, is referring to the fact that, when Sora and other Keyblade wielders travel the worlds, they keep the existence of the other worlds they've been to a secret from the inhabitants unless they need to know. They also try not to interfere in the world's natural events unless they have to.) As the Cooper Gang and Guardians of Light clean up the square, Zelda comes out to visit. She thanks Link and Aaron's new friends for saving the town, and Sly tells Zelda how he wouldn't know what would have happened if it wasn't for Aaron. Zelda offers Sly and Sora an opportunity to have dinner at the castle, and Bentley and Mickey, thinking it will give the group more info on Link and Aaron's Chaos Emerald, urge the two to accept, and after Donald provides some fancy clothes given by Yen Sid, they do. At the dinner, Zelda explains, with Link and Aaron in attendance, that she called for Sly and Sora so she could get more info on the importance of the Chaos Emeralds and the other strange happenings of the last few days. And so, after Penelope says over Sly's Binocucom that withholding information would be a bad idea given the current situation, Sly and Sora prepare to tell their story as the chapter ends.

Chapter 16: Welcome to the Triforce Galaxy Part 3: Mark Marks (Welcome to Hyrule Part 3)

Sly and Sora tell their story offscreen, and after they are done, Aaron looks at them as if they were the biggest thing to ever happen in the universe, (He's right. The use of the word "universe" was probably a deliberate choice on Soul's part, just so you know. ) and Link has that "far off" look. Zelda is calm, and asks if collecting the Chaos Emeralds would prevent the bad guys from using them for their evil plans. Sly says that is the plan, Zelda comments on the good news that the group is collectively in possession of 3 of them, and Sora says that he doesn't know how long it will be until the other four are found. Especially if the people they are up against find them first... Aaron jokes about all the other worldly people he's about to meet, but mentions "itchy markings". This surprises Sly, who proceeds to mention the marks that he and Sora have, and Zelda asks to see them. Sly and Sora agree, and Zelda theorizes a connection between the marks and the meteor showers that Sly, Sora, and Link were involved with. Link asks what is known about the marks, and their apparent use as keys to what the villains are looking for is brought up, as well as the possibility that Le Paradox's informant had prior knowledge of what the marks mean. Sly decides to check the Mystery Book Ansem gave him and Sora for clues. The book is right where Sly left it. Reading through it, moving down a blank page, he finds a message from...someone, who says this: "Hello, Sly. I've wanted to meet you for a long time. I missed my usual visit when you were a pup, and you're now a married, honorable adult. Your ancestors would be proud of you. Don't be alarmed, my boy. I know everything about the entire history of your clan. But here, I cannot tell you eveerything. Need to leave room for the others, lol. Next time you you look into the Thievious Raccoonous, look for a message from me."

(Yes, there was a slight mistype of the word "everything." That one is on Soul. To explain something to the people who aren't Sly Cooper fans, the Thievius Raccoonus is a thieving handbook passed down through Sly's family line that only Coopers or those connected to them are allowed to write in. To quote Sly during his first adventure, "Anyone who read it learned to be especially sneaky, which is why we specialize in stealing from criminals. After all, there's no honor, no challenge, no fun in stealing from ordinary people. You rip off a master criminal and you know you're a master thief." I know you'll be asking about that, Grandma. As I expected, I'm not the only one that misspells the name on occasion... I wouldn't be surprised if the message in the the Thievius Raccoonus, whatever it says, is a major clue to our big destiny-related surprise. Although, with the way the most recent arc as of July 2020, chapter 18 and beyond, is looking, Sly won't be back on Terra II to check for a while, given that it looks like he's going to find the other Emeralds BEFORE his next trip home, something I didn't expect to have to write just now. Back to the summary.) Sly, freaked out over how he's going to explain this new development to the others, decides to just go with it and play along. Back in the dining room, Sora notices Sly looks tense... and when Sly says that the book talks, Aaron comments on it possibly being cursed. Sly explains what he read, and Sora starts wondering about what the Thievius Raccoonus is. Sly gives a quick explanation, as he wonders what the Mystery Book's author meant with the line "need to leave room for the others." Zelda then wonders if she and the rest of the Hyrule group can look at the Mystery Book as a way of understanding the contents and providing their own interpretations of the clues that may lie within. The book is put on a table, and a cover with a temple like structure and a gigantic jewel is shown, as Sly gives a recap of what they've already learned from the book. Not much, to be honest. Sora decides to take a look in the book for info on his mark and Link's. Zelda is surprised when Link says that the book translated into Hylian for him, and that Aaron can read some bits. Zelda theorizes that the marks are related to the translation. Sly says that he thinks all the pieces of the mystery fit together somehow , and Aaron agrees, as Sora wonders out loud why not everyone in the room is able to read the Mystery Book. At Sly's request, Link and Aaron give the important info that they are not related and didn't know each other existed until some time ago. As they try to come up with a logical explanation, the groups decide to check the Mystery Book for possible answers to their many questions. As they prepare to start translating, a castle guard comes in to say that the "Incarnation Of Malice" has returned and monsters are coming out of the ground and attacking. Link springs to action immediately, and Zelda, thinking about the Heartless, asks Sly and Sora to go and assist. (I would not be surprised if the Hyrule Keyhole is sealed next chapter. Just saying. Update: I stand corrected. I now think that's being saved for a future visit.) Before heading out, Sly asks for clarification on the "Incarnation Of Malice" the guard was talking about, and Zelda says that "You'll know who he is when you both see him." In the final lines of the chapter, without another word, Sly, Sora, and the others step outside to find a massive splotch of darkness, greatly worrying them.

Chapter 17: Welcome to the Triforce Galaxy Part 4: It Came From Malice Incarnate (Welcome to Hyrule Part 4)

Continuing on from the last chapter, Sly, Sora, and the others are taken aback by the scene. As they watch a boar-like creature rush the bridge, Sly asks for info on the enemy they are going to be facing. Zelda explains that the Incarnation of Malice has been attacking Hyrule and its neighbors for millennia, and that the beasts they see are the telltale sign that it has returned. Sly then asks how this situation is normally dealt with. Zelda explains that the Incarnation of Malice is sealed away in the Master Sword, a blade wielded by the Hero of Hyrule. Bentley comments that Sly shouldn't meddle due to the event being part of the natural order, but Sora responds by saying that they are here to help deal with monsters of darkness, Heartless or not, alongside locating the Chaos Emeralds. Sly says that he doesn't want the people of the land to get hurt, and Mickey agrees. This convinces Bentley to let the issue slide, but he tells Sly and Sora to be careful. With that, Sly and Sora quickly run to town, hoping to turn the tide of battle. A chaotic scene begins, and Sly asks Sora how he remains calm in high stress situations. Sora responds that normally, he tells himself that the safety of his friends is more important than the protection of his own heart. Sly, impressed at Sora's selflessness and feeling a strong resolve of his own burning in his chest, decides to not hold back when protecting his new friends in Hyrule. The battle continues, with Sly expecting victory, until a spider beast named Ghoma comes into the picture. Sora quickly rallies the troops, and Sly gets injured in the ensuing chaos, hitting the dirt with a crash. Sora quickly uses healing magic on Sly, leaving Sly wondering if he can learn it himself. Sora says that will take time, and the battle continues. Sora casts Blizzard magic to freeze Ghoma and tells a pinned down Link to get away before his head is a casualty. He does, and Sora orders Sly to grab Link's things, being the fastest of the group. Sly manages to get Link's things, but panics when he doesn't think he's going to make it in time to hand Link his sword. But then, a light beam coming from Link's pocket (the Green Chaos Emerald) disintegrates Ghoma, and then Sly's White Chaos Emerald starts feeling warm, so he gets it out. Sora does the same with the Cyan Chaos Emerald, with Link and Aaron confused about what is happening, until the light coming from the Emeralds catches all of them, until, to use Sly's words, everything just faded in the light. End of story arc cliffhanger.

And that's everything we've written for Sly's portion of the Soul Kingdom Color Series, AKA Part White, as of late June 2020. Here are my personal thoughts on what happened during this most recent story arc:

End of First Hyrule Arc Author's Notes by Huntington (I don't intend to publish these. rules about non-story content or something. Maybe this will become a regular thing as I continue to write the summary, who knows?)

Honestly, sometimes I have no idea what Soul's thought process is like with this story... Maybe it's the shock of waking up to the chapter being finished so early in the morning, but that ending surprised even me. "What is going to happen in the next arc?" is the million dollar question right now... Sly, Sora, Link, and the others...how do I put this? They're at destiny's mercy now. I know where the Chaos Emerald and Mark mystery's endgame leads. What just happened most definitely isn't it. I think we're still a ways from the story's BIG moment, the biggest surprise in Sly Cooper history. (And an even longer ways from using the story's title. Don't worry, we'll get to that eventually. And by eventually, I'm talking about the final arcs. Although, we did tease the origins of the title "Soul Kingdom" somewhere. You're not getting any hints from me as to where though...) That big surprise is also a life changing moment for everyone involved in the story so far. But what probably just happened is simple. I'm not 100% certain, but I think Sly and the others just took a giant step towards figuring out the truth behind everything that's happened since the meteor shower. The groups probably got caught in a teleport to the location of another Chaos Emerald, similar to how the Cooper Gang and Guardians of Light arrived in Hyrule. Which one? I personally think it's not a specific Emerald, but rather all of the ones that remain undiscovered. Soul did mention to me before we started writing It Came From Malice Incarnate that she's thinking about having the four Chaos Emerald holders (and possible Mark bearers) we have yet to fully introduce into Sly's story all in the same place, the Glade of Dreams (homeworld of REDACTED) but she's not sure if things should build up before then. She's a bit torn about that. I'm assuming she went with that mass gathering idea until proven otherwise, but for the first time ever, I'm about to go into a Soul Kingdom chapter having no idea what to expect. (July 15th Update: turns out I was right about the mass gathering. We are not wasting any time! From Soul: "For this new arc, we're going to overlap all seven protagonists on one world, namely REDACTED's homeworld Glade of Dreams. The Choas Control caused the entire planet and the Gummi Ship just out of orbit to be transported to the Dream Galaxy, where the other four Chaos Emeralds are gathered." And yes, I made a slight edit to the quote so I could keep the element of surprise when it comes to introducing the other Chaos Emerald holders. Did you really think I'd say anything?)

When 7 people (I want to keep them a surprise. Sly: White, Sora: Cyan, REDACTED: Red, REDACTED: Blue, Link: Green, REDACTED: Yellow, and REDACTED: Purple) get together in the new arc, I'm expecting the overarching plot to surge forward towards Sly, Sora, and the others finding out they are part of that "much bigger picture" I mentioned. July 15th update: Well, at least we know what she went with. As far as I know, the Dream Galaxy is VERY remote. Just saying. WARNING: LONG CHAPTERS AHEAD.

The Meeting Arc (I really don't know how this arc should be titled in the summary):

Chapter 18: Welcome to the Dream Galaxy Part 1: A Really Big Oops Yet Convenient (Hyrule, The Gummi Ship, and Welcome to The Glade of Dreams Part 1)

To start what is officially the longest chapter to date, Sly wakes up, barely being able to make out Sora's voice. Sly wonders what just happened, and Sly and Sora agree that it was Chaos Control as Sly wonders why it didn't appear to work, since they are still in Hyrule. Link and Aaron wake up, and wonder just what happened, and Sora and Sly swear they have no idea. Aaron, impressed at how Ghoma was destroyed, wonders how it happened. Again, no idea. This leads Aaron to conclude that there's more mystery to the Chaos Emeralds than first thought. Bentley chimes in on Sly's Binocucom, saying something isn't right over on the Gummi Ship. When Sly and Sora say they need to go, Link is surprised, but Aaron convinces Link to trust that they will be back. Aaron decides to hang onto the Mystery Book for the time being, and Sly tells Link and Aaron to let him and Sora know what they have found by the time they return and that they have bigger issues at the moment. Back on the ship, Sly and Sora explain what happened during the battle. When asked what got the group on the ship so worked up, Carmelita tells Sly to look outside and guess. He does, and him and Sora find that although Hyrule is fine, everything around it is different. It used to be space for miles, but now Sly can make out a planet close by (by space standards), as well as a natural satellite, AKA a moon. Sly realizes that they moved an entire planet and several miles around it. Sly says in response to the questioning about what happened that other than magic Sora isn't familiar with, he sees no explanation. (I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to sneak in a random reference to one of Mario Maker 2 Youtuber DGR's best reactions to getting trolled. "Other than magic, I see no explanation" was what he said after a particularly devious troll involving a checkpoint one time. I paraphrased that for the moment. I REALLY hope that makes it into the final draft... I haven't smiled that much when writing a line in a while. I don't think anyone is going to get the reference though. I'm weird like that. Update: the line is going to be published, and I'm very happy with that.) Sly wonders where they've ended up. Bentley is wondering that as well, and is surprised at the unusually high number of moons the new planet they have arrived at has. Sly, surprised at his recent luck and wondering about a plan, says that telling his new associates (Link, Aaron, and the other members of who I'm calling "Team Hyrule" for the time being) about what just happened is probably completely out of the question. The conversation quickly shifts to figuring out why the Chaos Control did what it did. Penelope reminds the group that the Chaos Emeralds don't do anything without a reason, so Sly gets out his, hoping for a clue. And then the itching starts. He pulls off his glove and inspects the Mark. And then everything clicks into place. To use his own words, "There were four similarities between me, Sora and Link. One: We all witnessed a meteor shower; two: We received a Chaos Emerald that same night; three: Those marks appeared on us at nearly the same time; finally four: We can read the strange language in the book as if it was translated into our respective languages." Bentley looks at a shocked Sly, wondering if he has any idea what happened. Sly explains the similarities he noticed, and says he thinks that everything in the mystery could possibly be connected somehow. Penelope thinks that is a possibility, and Sora reasons that the team was brought to the new planet to locate another Chaos Emerald, answering Penelope's confusion. Bentley says that Sly and Sora will need to bring a third person when they go down to the unknown world. Sly suggests Bentley comes with them himself, and he is not having any of it. Sly responds with the possibility that they may need his tech know how due to the fact that he doesn't want to take any chances after the robot invasion of Hyrule, and Mickey agrees. Bentley gives a defeated sigh and agrees to tag along, saying that the group doesn't know what those robots are capable of as Sora wonders what they are going to do about Link and Aaron. Bentley says the group will be quick to avoid drawing suspicion from Link as they prepare to beam down to the surface, no disguises needed. Sly says to expect the unexpected, and the group beams down to find themselves in what seems to be a jungle. Bentley is shocked to find that the entire area is giving off an energy signal he isn't familiar with, and when Sora inspects some leaves on the floor of the area, he is confused when he sees it give off a bubble, thinking for a moment he found a Heartless. Sly feels like getting used to the place will take time, and Bentley says, thinking for the right words to describe where they've ended up, that the area feels almost dreamlike. (He's actually right. Right on the Mark. ) Sora responds by saying it doesn't feel like the Realm of Sleep (a Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance reference), and Bentley tells the group to stay cautious as Sora pulls out the Cyan Chaos Emerald to find that it is reacting to something, telling Sly they are definitely in the right place as Bentley theorizes that one of the other Emeralds they are looking for is glowing as well. With that, the group sets off, making their way through a place clearly untouched by industry, and eventually finds a clearing. The first thing they see after getting out of the jungle? A massive tree, shocking Bentley and Sly and making Bentley namedrop Prague (referencing the Sly 2 sections titled Jailbreak and A Tangled Web, by far two of the most disturbing sections of the original Sly Cooper trilogy). After checking for the glow of his Chaos Emerald, Sora is surprised to find they have to go up the tree somehow, but Bentley and Sly, intimidated at the task, agree that climbing the exterior probably isn't the answer. As Sora says that they have definitely located a Chaos Emerald and the group starts circling the tree, bombs start falling. (Likely coming from... I shouldn't say it. If you know me, it should be obvious at this point who the attacker is. If it isn't, keep reading.) Bentley theorizes that if the Chaos Emerald holder is in fact up there, they must be desperate to keep people from reaching them, and Sora feels like there has to be a way up the tree. Sly gets Sora's point: How did the possible Chaos Emerald holder climb the tree in the first place? Bullets start raining down, telling Sly that they are dealing with a professional sharpshooter. Bentley, wanting to retreat into the forest in the chaos as Sly dodges the bullet hail, accidentally comes across a hidden door leading to a wall of climbable ivy. Sly, nervous but thinking he may not have a choice in the matter, decides to get climbing. Using what he has, Sly creates a net for Bentley to ride in so he can avoid issues related to him being crippled since the end of Sly 2. The climb begins, and the Cyan Chaos Emerald's glow becomes more intense as the group gets closer to the top of the tree and the attack stops. And at the top of the tree they find the remaining four Chaos Emeralds, surprising Sora at how easy it was to find the ones they hadn't found. Sora wonders how the people here managed to get the remaining four since him and Sora have one each and the other one they know about was found in Hyrule. Sly suggests looking for the people who live here, hoping that cooperation will give some answers. But then, Bentley screams to duck and cover as the team gets pelted by fireballs from REDACTED and Sly gets knocked over by a mysterious, super fast blue blur. (For the record, I expected this chapter to end sooner, but I think I know where we're headed now, and I LOVE it. Soul and Mino have outdone themselves. I'll say it now. If things keep going in the direction that I think they are, this arc will be HUGE in terms of the amount of major reveals. I said we wouldn't be wasting any time. I appear to be right on a level that even I couldn't have possibly seen coming, and I'm co author!) Sly wonders what they could have done to deserve this. Bentley hypothesizes they are being attacked because of how valuable the Emeralds are, and Sly knows they haven't done anything wrong. A way out of this pickle is suggested: Sly and Sora showing the others their Chaos Emeralds and explaining their case. Sora responds that since Aaron was a mediator back in Hyrule, the same situation probably won't happen here. As the blue blur knocks Sly to the wall, Sora runs up the wall and launches a stream of water, knocking the Blue Blur to the floor and impressing Sly. Bentley quickly finds out that it is a hedgehog "not from our world." The comment surprises the hedgehog, telling him that the group isn't working for Eggman and Tincan (referring to Nefarious.) After a laugh at the name Eggman, and Sora explaining that they (him and Sly) aren't working with Eggman and Nefarious, the hedgehog explains "We pretty much assumed that since you two were approaching the tree and managed to get yourselves in here, you were after the Chaos Emeralds just like Eggman and Nefarious are." Bentley is surprised at the use of the word "we", and some other people come out of hiding at the hedgehog's request. Sly and the team see, well, I'll just have Sly say it. "A human short in stature compared to Sora and definitely Rounder but not on the scale of Eggman was the first to step in from one of the branches. He had brown hair under a red cap with an "M" on it, a nicely done mustache that would put Bentley's fake one to shame, and he was dressed mainly in reds and blues.

The second one was... pretty unusual. He... I'm sure it's a he... didn't have arms, legs, not even a neck. But his hands, feet and head hovered close to his purple middle with a red hood and a white ring symbol in the center. His hair looked like rabbit ears and he had a nose the size of a squash.

There was a third who... I didn't know how to say this, but he seemed familiar? He was yellow furred with a cat-like face minus the whiskers, but with large triangles ears with three brown stripes. His eyes were large and a brighter green than the hedgehog's. The feline was dressed like the perfect mix of a mechanic and a pilot, and he had a striped lion-like tail behind him." Sly and Sora's team wonders how the Chaos Emeralds are known here, and the hedgehog responds that Eggman told him before he was sent here. Bentley inquires, "Wait a second," Bentley interrupted. "Are ALL of you from other worlds?" The short human says the answer is yes. Except for Rayman, the strangest of the bunch, who says, "This is my homeworld," he informed. (Fun fact: The Cooper Gang likes to joke about Sly's Italian accent ever since Sly 3's Cooper Vault Team recruitment job in Venice let them know it was horrible, and the short human does have an Italian accent.)

Introductions are made quickly after it is explained that they are all from different worlds: The cat creature, giving Sly deja vu, (for reasons I don't know. Sometimes I have no idea what's going through Soul's head. Research needed.) introduces himself as Ratchet (as in Ratchet and Clank), and confirms that he was the one attacking them as Sly and Sora were trying to climb the tree, the short human introduces himself as Mario (as in the Super Mario Bros.), and the hedgehog calls himself Sonic. (The Blue Blur has been a marketing nickname for Sonic the Hedgehog for years.) Sonic wonders how Sly and Sora's group know of the Chaos Emeralds, and Sly explains that a wizard friend of Sora's told them. Sora clarifies that they've been made aware of a great threat coming, and ever since they have been trying to track the Emeralds down and keep them safe. Sly brings up the reactions Sora's Chaos Emerald had made, and the conversation quickly shifts. I'll put part of the exchange down here.

"Meteor shower?" Mario asked. Yep, I saw where this was going. "Yes."

"Chaos Emerald out of nowhere?" Rayman added.

"Yes," I replied.

"And last but not least, you had to fight some black creatures," Ratchet threw in.

What.

"Yes, and no," Sora answered worriedly, pointing at me first and then himself. "Did these black creatures look like shadows with yellow eyes?"

"Yeah, Eggman was commanding some," Sonic replied. "We couldn't do anything against them."

"And they attacked all of you at some point?" Bentley screamed.

"Because of them, the ship my friends and I were in crashed here," Ratchet stated. "They had come out of nowhere."

"I haven't seen any for myself, but I had to fight off something close enough," Rayman explained himself.

"But yes, we've seen them," Mario said.

"There's no way that's coincidence," Sora stated.

Sora gives a quick explanation of the Heartless, Sly says that the day spent fighting off the Heartless that attacked his homeworld was long, and Ratchet says it was a miracle that him and his friends made it out of a Heartless attack alive. Bentley says it is time for Sly and Sora's group to head back now that they know the location of all seven Chaos Emeralds, but Sly is worried about Eggman, Tincan (Nefarious), and Windbag (Le Paradox), coming after the group on this world. The discussion shifts to the villains, and Sly, Ratchet, and Sonic give a quick description of the villains from their worlds, with Sly not surprised at Eggman wanting to destroy Sonic. He is surprised that Nefarious is the Most Wanted Supervillain where Ratchet is from, though. After another quick laugh, this time at Nefarious's original battle with Ratchet where he tried to turn people into robots, Rayman addresses Bentley's earlier slip of the tongue, that he knows the location of all the Chaos Emeralds. In response to Rayman's question about the one Emerald that isn't here, Sly says that they should tell the group that the last one is in good hands, explaining about how a knight named Link has it, but sends the group into a frenzy when Ratchet learns Sly and Sora accidentally transported Hyrule to a different solar system. After discussion, Bentley comes up with the plan of trying to repair Ratchet's crashed ship, a massive home base for the galactic police Ratchet works with, to get the group off world and try to get Link's world back where it belongs. Rayman, to Sly's shock, creates a magical bridge that leads right to the ship so they don't have to go the long way. And the group gets settled and starts going across the bridge as the chapter ends.

Chapter 19: Welcome to the Dream Galaxy Part 2: Follow The Yellow-Green Vine (Welcome to the Glade of Dreams Part 2) (The "new message board format test chapter", by the way. Given the circumstances, things went surprisingly smoothly on my end. Can't say the same for Mino though...)

The groups start going across the vine-bridge, with Sly in shock at how Rayman isn't falling. Go with the flow, he tells himself. Rayman notices how tense Sly is, and Sly explains how people in his world would get migraines trying to make sense of this one. Sora then asks if, since the group knows about other worlds, if they can talk about them. Sly says that he didn't know much about other worlds before he met Sora, who, after quickly bragging about the dozens of worlds he has been to, asks what kinds of worlds Ratchet has been to. Ratchet says his worlds are more technologically advanced than this one. The conversation between the group references everything from Courtney Gears, the robotic pop star boss from Ratchet and Clank: Up your Arsenal, to even a recent addition to the Mario canon, the Broodals, the rabbit wedding planners with the moon as their home from Super Mario Odyssey, which, being a Switch exclusive, wasn't even released until a year after I joined the Soul Kingdom project. (That just goes to show that, although we had a general idea of where Soul Kingdom was headed years ago, the specifics can change. We couldn't have referenced Odyssey until release, October 2017 at the earliest, and if we did it back at the earliest opportunity, we would have been going into spoiler territory.) Sly, at Sora's encouragement, mentions fighting a gigantic mechanical owl (Clockwerk from Sly 1 and 2), and his time travel/alternate dimension adventures in his world (Sly 4-6), the mention of time travel enraging Ratchet to the point where Sly fears for his life. Seeing this, Sonic and the others apologize on Ratchet's behalf for how hotheaded he can be at times. Bentley responds by saying that the Continuum Jumper was taken apart after the fight with an evil Sly. (Referencing the ending of Sly 6: The Dimension Generation, AKA the project that made me aware of Soul Kingdom and Soul and Mino's work in general years ago.) Sly says that it was for the best, and that they (Sly and his friends) didn't want to know what would happen if it was kept around. As the focus returns to getting to the ship, Sonic says after Bentley comments on Ratchet's ship that Bentley and Tails will get along just fine. Sly thinks that, with another tech wiz for Bentley to bounce ideas off of, that answers about the current situation won't take long to appear. It is mentioned that although Ratchet isn't the captain of the ship, (and that title belongs to an oaf, referring to Quark,) he is a mechanic. Sora wonders about Clank when he is namedropped, and although the past of Ratchet's best pal is complicated, being a robot that's actually part energy being, AKA a "Zoni", Sly is interested in the stories Ratchet can tell if they find the time. Sly says in reference to the word "complicated", that Ratchet's story can't be more complicated than Sora's, who says that even he's a little lost on the details of everything that happened in his worlds, and Sly jokes that Rayman could probably understand half of Sora's story. (We had to reference that Kingdom Hearts fandom inside joke at least once!) So that Rayman can understand the others a bit more, he asks what Sly is, leaving him surprised his world doesn't have raccoons, Ratchet explains the desert species known as a "Lombax", In his words, "Identified by our long ears, big eyes and stripes. We're a desert species, but we can adapt.", and Rayman is said to be a hybrid of some sort, with Rayman appearing notably exhausted as the word "hybrid" is mentioned. Sly understands how Rayman feels after he had to tell his story many times to Sora's friends (see chapters 2-6.) The group agrees, and comments on how Link probably had to do the same thing, and they will probably head out to check on him and the remaining Chaos Emerald later. The conversation shifts. Ratchet manages to work out that Heartless are destroyed by intense light. When Sly is shocked that Ratchet activated Chaos Control by himself and starts feeling like something important is being missed, Sora brings up the Mystery Book, currently in Link's possession, and Sly says that "whoever wrote that book knows more about what's going on than any of us." (Compiler's note: although one portion of the story near the epilogue will be narrated by Soul herself, although it might seem that way, as far as I know, the Mystery Book's author is NOT Soul's self insert. Just thought I should clarify after Kingdom Hearts fans were talked to directly by the Master of Masters during the latest Union X update, unrelated to Soul Kingdom.)Ratchet agrees, and says that they need to get back to the ship and start repairs fast, get off world, and get some answers. As Sly wonders how far away the ship is, Rayman says to look to the sky for the answer. A small orb with a propeller comes down, scanning the group but blaring an alarm when it gets to Sly, Sora, and Bentley. Sonic jumps in, telling Tails, "They're with us!", causing the alarm to stop as Ratchet says that was a defense mechanism. Sly is impressed at the precautions taken, and, when Ratchet says the group is close, him and Sonic begin racing down the vine, with Sly thinking Ratchet's hoverboots could be useful as Bentley questions the nature of the answers this chain of events could lead to. As Sly gets out of breath, he congratulated the others on their speed. Rayman says that the rest of the groups speeds combined are nothing compared to Sonic, the "fastest hedgehog alive" where he is from. The group continues down the vine to find the biggest ship Sly has ever seen, the Starship Phoenix Mark II, crashed with debris all over, and a big crowd, who Sly assumes are friends of Sonic, Rayman, Mario, and Ratchet, gathered around. Sly, impressed at the size of the ship, learns that Ratchet uses the best state of the art equipment available. When Sonic confirms his pals are nearby, he gets curious about Sly, Bentley, and Sora's friends. The race down the vine continues, with Ratchet using a rope and Rayman using his literal hair (He uses it like a helicopter.) causing Sly to break out the Cooper Gang's Paragliders, which he feels are plain by comparison. (Personally, I'd use the design of the paraglider that has the logo of Sanzaru Games, AKA the developers of Sly 4, to sneak in another reference, but that's just me.) Sonic accidentally knocks Sly off course, leading to Sly feeling irritated and Sonic getting a glare from Ratchet as Sly continues down to the forest floor, with the ship just beyond some nearby trees according to Rayman. Sora, worried that him and Sly will be treated as threats, is told not to worry by Ratchet as the group heads for the wreck, with Rayman looking forward to eventually meeting Link once they get off world, to end the chapter. (Soul called this chapter "filler." I have a hard time believing that.)

Chapter 20: Welcome to the Dream Galaxy Part 3: The Crew (Welcome to the Glade of Dreams Part 3, The Starship Phoenix)

Sly notices people of all shapes and sizes at the wreck, and thinks that the introductions this time will again be long. A small robot with round, green eyes comes over to Ratchet and asks about the Chaos Emeralds. Ratchet tells Clank that they will be fine and the barrier will protect them, leaving Sly surprised at how small Clank is. Thinking that this is going to be a long day overall, Sly braces himself for more introductions. Ratchet introduces Clank, and Sly feels more deja vu. (I still have no idea what Soul is referencing there, by the way.)

As Sly waits for the others to catch up, a green fly buzzes up, which Sly tries to shoo away, and Rayman says to it, Murphy, that "no one is comfortable with you doing that." Sly feels like the group has dealt with that a lot, which Rayman confirms, and Sly is introduced to Globox, a frog creature with a tummy that could rival Murray's, and a genuine fairy named Ly, as he tries to rationalize the situation he's been in since meeting Sora, wondering why him and his new friends (the Emerald holders) have been brought together. Rayman says that he's sure that answers will come eventually, and that Sly should focus on getting him and Sora acquainted with his friends. At that, Mario, Sora, and Bentley arrive, with Bentley looking tired, the wheelchair launching Sly into a verbal fight with Knuckles (one of Sonic's friends, super strong) a fight broken up by Amy (another one of Sonic's friends and his on again off again girlfriend.) (Sly doesn't know their names yet, but I'm putting them in this summary a few lines early for Grandma's sake.) Bentley is introduced to Tails (the brains of Sonic's friends), who says, "we'll need all the tinkerers on deck for this fix-up." as Sly gets happy at how well the current round of introductions is going. Amy, confused at what Sly means, asks for clarification, and Sonic explains, "Er, long story short, we didn't exactly leave a good first impression when we first met them," Sonic explained with a nervous grin. "We kind of ended up attacking Sly and his friend, Sora, over there when they arrived at the tree."

"In our defense, though, we thought that they were after the Chaos Emeralds," Rayman chimed in.

The group lets that first impression slide, and Tails calls Sora a "pretty tall human", causing Sly to remind the group that they all come from different worlds and probably have different expectations for what is considered normal. Ratchet agrees, and and Sora asks Mario if he came here alone. Mario answers yes, saying that,

"Yes, my-a main nemesis Bowser sent-a me here," he explained with a shrug. "Not the first-a time he sent me to some-a random location." Sounds like he had been through this enough times to see this as completely normal.

"How about another planet?" I (Sly is telling this story in first person like in his games) inquired.

"Actually yes, he did once. It-sa long story."

(Can I just say, I love writing Mario? How we do it is the kind of thing that I would have never expected, incorporating his Italian accent into his dialogue, but it somehow works.) Ratchet says that once the Phoenix (the Galactic Federation starship Ratchet works on) is fixed, Mario can get back to his world. Tails announces that with Ratchet back, they can get started on that, and Sly decides to let Bentley and the other brainiacs do their thing so that the group can get some idea of what they're dealing with regarding leaving. Bentley and Tails are surprised that the technology used to make the ship is so advanced, and when Ratchet offers to give some pointers, he gets the world order speech from Sora, with Sly saying that no one is willing to find out what would happen if that rule is broken, and Ratchet and Sly get into an argument about if it is OK to break the world order in this instance... Sora, after carefully analyzing the situation, says, "Well, I suppose if it means restoring world order for anther world, we can make an exception," Sora said slowly, like he was piecing together his answer carefully. "As long as you don't share what you learn to other inhabitants, it should be okay." With that, Tails heads off to begin work with a wrench in hand, and Sly can't blame him. The conversation shifts to how the others got stranded on this planet. Sora explains that his ship is currently in orbit outside this world and his friends are on it, but it has limited capacity, and Sly asks Sonic how he ended up here. That explanation helps the team come up with a plan, which is as follows:

"Egghead stole my Chaos Emerald, then tried to use its energy to send me and my friends to another dimension with a laser like device," he explained. "I managed to smash it and get the Emerald back, but then the machine acted up and sent us here."

"By that time, Mario and Ratchet's ship were already here," Rayman added.

"It did say in that book we mentioned that the Chaos Emeralds are attracted to each other," Bentley pondered. "Perhaps due to several of them being in one place, Sonic's Emerald simply brought him and his group here. Then, the same happened with us."

"Which because of the massive amount of energy released from three Chaos Emeralds instead of one, it not just transported the three users but the whole planet and everything in its orbit," Clank concluded.

"So that's how Link's world got here," I said, finally able to understand what happened.

"Which means this can be reversed once we get the trick of Chaos Control down."

"But we won't get much ground on that if we're still on the ground of this world," Ratchet reminded, waving a giant wrench weapon as he was starting to repair what looked liked a wing of the ship. "Everyone needs to pitch in for this to work."

Sly isn't worried as the group gets to business. Ratchet says that "The faster we get this ship fixed, the sooner we get to your pal's world and find a way to get it back to its solar system before start to go downhill for them. Don't worry, my pals and I will run you guys through on how things about this thing work!" Sly asks where they should start, knowing that he's not as tech savvy as Bentley. A bit later, on the ship, Ratchet gets mad when he finds that, "The 4 and a half pentagonal nut for the main control panel was knocked loose. Without that, the steering's a bust." His response to Sly wanting to get out a spare? "Are you kidding? You're lucky enough to get even one of those blasted things. They're always out of stock because every ship uses them. And we can't use one from another part of the ship, or else we could blow up as soon as we leave the planet's atmosphere." Sly gets worried, understandably, and wonders what the group can do to avoid getting hurt. Ratchet responds, "Unless your planet happens to make a nut that's exactly like the one we're missing and you're carrying it on you, I don't think we're going to be going anywhere anytime soon," Ratchet shrugged. "And I seriously doubt this world of all places could have one lying around somewhere."

"But you said that it got knocked loose, right? I know it seems extremely unlikely, but maybe it could be somewhere lying around here."

"I guess, but like you said, it's extremely unlikely. Besides, we'd need the whole team to pitch in looking for the thing and we can't really afford to waste time looking for one single piece if we want to get to your friend's world as soon as possible."

Sly gets a brainstorm, and asks Ratchet for something magnetic as Ratchet gets out his old Mag-Net Launcher, capable of generating electromagnetic fields, and Bentley is surprised, but Sly knows that Bentley using it is exactly what he needs. Sly's plan? "Well, obviously the nut we're looking for has to be made of metal, right?" I explained. "I was thinking that if you got your hands on something magnetic, you could probably work your magic on it to try and utilize it in a way that could help us find it without all of having to search for it at once." "And you think my Mag-Net Launcher will do the trick?" Ratchet asked with a raised brow.

Sly says that, "Bentley can make anything he puts his mind to. I'm sure an impromptu metal detector is on the list." Bentley gets his hands on the device, with the robotic arms on his wheelchair (See Sly 4) scaring Rayman to a degree. Rayman wonders what else Bentley's genius is capable of making as he gets to work. A short time later, a metal detector is reverse-engineered, and Bentley says that Sly should take a local with him to help with any trouble while Bentley stays behind at the ship. Rayman agrees to go with Sly, and they head off as the chapter ends, with Sly hoping parts can be located.

Chapter 21: Welcome to the Dream Galaxy Part 4: Digging For Bolts (And Monsters) (Welcome to the Glade of Dreams Part 4)

As Sly and Rayman start their search for the missing ship part, Rayman opens up about the Glade of Dreams' history and his past. I'll just put that exchange here, I'm not a Rayman fan. "So," I chose to strike up a conversation because it would otherwise be rather awkward while looking for that specific bolt and any possible other parts that had fallen off the ship. "What do you call your world, Rayman? I never caught the name."

"The residents of this world simply call it the Glade of Dreams," he answered, landing from a tree to walk at my side. "Ratchet calls the name a little lazy, but lots of people here are the more relaxed, pacifist types. So it hasn't changed from the old days."

"How old are we talking here? Some 200,000 years ago?"

Rayman laughed. "Oh no, this world is much younger than that. I'd estimate it's been around for 50,000 years."

What? I'm no astronomy nerd like Bentley or Penelope, but I did know that it took BILLIONS of years for planet to form, let alone for signs of life to form.

"Yeah, Tails made the same face when I told them," the ginger stated, walking backwards smugly. "Seems a lot of people find it impossible for a world to only be around for that long and already be brimming with different creatures."

"Does the age of this planet have anything to do with these 'Nightmares' you keep talking about?" I inquired. My guide sighed.

"Sort of. The creator of this world is Polokus, the Bubble Dreamer. Anything he dreams of becomes a reality here. Some say he can even foresee future disasters. And as you know, not all dreams are about rainbows and sunshine. So his Nightmares also manifest, and unlike the other inhabitants they can multiply as much as they want on their own. It's practically endless."

"So that's where you and your friends come into play."

"Yeah, especially me." His tone changed, like it was hard to talk about himself in particular, and he even turned around to walk forward again. Maybe it's because he was asked the same questions by the others already, or he didn't like being involved in cleaning up the mistakes of the "creator" of the Glade of Dreams.

"Is it something you chose?" I asked cautiously. "Did you choose to be a hero, I mean."

"I..." The ginger stopped. So did I. He looked up to the sky, where one of the moons was becoming visible. "I didn't like to think about it, still don't. I didn't choose to be a hero, not originally. Because that was the reason I was born in the first place. And I didn't want to be tied to a single role."

I could see where this was going. But Rayman? This cheerful goofball of oddities was brought into this world to face a threat alone with no other purpose let alone one he chose for himself? I thought that was only in movies and books. Never liked those stories, they're messed up.

"You're the first person to ask me those questions, actually," Rayman admitted, smiling up at me. "Felt nice to get it off my chest." In response to this, Sly says he can tell his friends anything, given that Sly is expecting long lasting friendships to come out of the current situation. Rayman is happy he's finally able to open up to someone about being shoved into the role of a hero, and Sly is sympathetic, given what he's been through in his later life that's hero related. (I think Sly is referring to the Klaww Gang incident, (Sly 2), but I can't be sure.) With the metal detector still not showing anything, the conversation continues, with the topic being how, for Sly, being a hero just happened. When Rayman seems to understand what Sly went through with losing his dad, Sly brings up how everything seems to have worked out for him because he likely wouldn't have met Bentley and Murray, really the only family he needed, if his dad was still around. Rayman agrees, having noticed the bond that the three of them have. After a short conversation about Globox's family, the metal detector finally picks up something, and Rayman freezes when he senses something bad coming.

"Trust me, you get attuned to this world after several hundred years."

Nightmares and Darktoons start coming, and Sly and Rayman fight them off, as Rayman becomes distraught over the high expectations placed on him from birth. One of them drops a bolt, Sly calms Rayman down. "If you can't rely on them, a shoulder to cry on, then they're not worth it. But I doubt that will be the case with your friends." The group heads back to the ship.

In the spirit of full disclosure, after Chapter 21 me and my writing partners had a falling out, and so I have attempted to do the rest on my own using the scraps I had. Here's what I envision for the rest of what is basically Sly 7.

Chapter 22: Welcome to the Dream Galaxy Part 5, Return to the Triforce Galaxy: Another Day, Another Mystery (The Glade of Dreams, Hyrule)

Sly and Rayman arrive back at the Starship Phoenix Mark II, and the group is informed of the Nightmare and Darktoon attack, worrying the Cooper Gang and Sora. To lighten the mood, Bentley asks about the bolt, which Sly hands over, and the geniuses get to work. A few minutes later, the Phoenix is restored to working order. "What are we waiting for? Ready to get an update on the mystery?" And the Emerald holders blast off for Hyrule. Upon landing, a surprised Link, Aaron and Zelda greet Sly and Sora, and introductions are made for the other Chaos Emerald holders. Chaos Control reverses the accidental planet move, and Link and Zelda get down to business. The mysterious book referenced beings "made of pure bio-energy". Ratchet is confused, but then it hits Clank. They need to see the Zoni, explained to the others as a group of beings connected to Clank's father that watch over time in their universe. Thinking that species may have some answers, Ratchet gathers up the Chaos Emerald holders, and they blast off for Fastoon via a Duo Chaos Control.

Chapter 23: Welcome to the Galaxy Cluster Part 1: Lombax Anthro (Fastoon)

When they arrive on Fastoon, the Chaos Emerald holders are guided to a Lombax mural similar to the one in Rivet's dimension. Bentley is unable to make heads or tails of a message that definitely wasn't there before and seems to be addressed to the Emerald holders. The Zoni say to "bring everyone to the Clock." And so, they head for the center of Ratchet's universe.

Chapter 24: Welcome to the Galaxy Cluster Part 2: The Soul Princes (The Great Clock)

At the request of the Zoni, Ratchet and Clank bring everyone to the center of their universe, give or take 50 feet, the Great Clock, with Bentley interested in temporal activity and Sora comparing it to Kingdom Hearts. As Clank comments on Sigmund likely not being happy with the size of the group, The Zoni gathered to greet the group, who know about the Marks and the Chaos Emeralds, refer to Ratchet as "his Majesty" and ask to see the mark on his hand. Surprised, Ratchet takes off his gloves, and is informed that he has been chosen as a Prince of some sort by the creator of a cluster of galaxies.

"Majesty... our galaxy's faithful Prince... You have been selected by the master's best friend.

Ratchet, confused, asks, "What does that mean?" I would be too, if I were him.

Clank asks the very logical question, "What does Sigmund have to do with this?"

"No, sire. Caretaker not responsible. Another friend. One that created cluster of galaxies."

"Like a god?"

"In a way. He also creator of Zoni and people of galaxies."

"It must be a god. No living being can live for aeons."

The Zoni respond, "No. He not god. He spirit now. But watch over his kingdom in the Universe of Life. (all three Zoni turn around) Follow us for more answers you seek.

Sora says, "Uh, okay, this is kind of getting a bit confusing."

Riku responds with, "A bit confusing? I think the right term for this is extremely confusing."

The smartest turtle in the room says, "Well, either way, I suppose the only way we're going to solve this mystery is to follow them." If anyone can make some sense out of this, it would be Bentley.

After following the Zoni through a part of the Clock Clank hasn't been to, the group are led to a mechanism by Sigmund, a mechanism that only one person in the universe can operate, Ratchet, being the Zoni's Majesty. Ratchet doesn't know how, but he is told to use his heart, not his head, and he is able to read a message. "My successor, I understand that you will have a thousand questions about your new role. But I am confident that you will choose the right path with your new power. Bring happiness to the universe and preserve justice against evil." The mechanism activates, and out of the mechanism comes Orvus, Clank's father. Father and son have a tearful reunion, and Orvus gets down to business: that his friend has chosen Ratchet as his Soul Prince successor, same with the other Emerald holders, signified by the marks on their hands. Here's the explanation:

Zoni 1: Master, the Prince has some questions.

Ratchet: I'm a what?

Orvus: Oh yes, that is a matter we must discuss. (turns to Ratchet) My friend has chosen you as his successor Soul Prince, Ratchet.

Clank: Soul Prince?

Ratchet: Uh, excuse me, Orvus, but what exactly is a Soul Prince? I'm honestly getting pretty confused here.

Orvus: Ah, yes. I believe a proper explanation is in order here.

You see, every living thing has a soul. But only seven in the whole universe have a pure soul. These seven are known as the Soul Princes, and they are the guardians of the universe.

Ratchet: So... I have a pure soul?

Orvus: Indeed you do now, Ratchet.

Ratchet: "Now"?

Orvus: Unlike the Princesses of Heart who are born with pure hearts, Soul Princes have the darkness purged from their souls upon selection, and it cannot be undone.

Sora: So Orvus, does it tie into... any weird marks?

(residents of the Great Clock look surprised)

Orvus: Why do you ask?

Ratchet: Well, I'm not the only one with a mark on my hand, Orvus. Mario, Sly, Link, Sora, Sonic, and Ray have one too.

(all six reveal the six marks)

Sigmund: My goodness!

Orvus: (big smile, chuckle) Well, this makes things easier! All seven of you are here!

Mario: Ah... what?

Sonic: (puts glove back on) Are you saying that the six of us are also...?

Orvus: Yes. You six, along with Ratchet, are also Soul Princes.

Sly: Woah... We're just like Ratchet? We're destined to become the guardians of our entire universe?

Link: I... I am utterly speechless about this...

Bentley: Did anyone catch what this means?

Murray: Means what?

Bentley: We all thought that we come from different dimensions. But with this revelation... we're really from the same universe!

Ly: For real?!

Zelda: All of us?

Orvus: Indeed you are. Our galaxies are just so far apart that you're not aware of the others' existence!

Riku: How many... galaxies are there then?

Orvus: Hundreds, but only seven are counted because this galaxy is made of many galaxies. That's why we call this zone of the universe the Galaxy Cluster.

Ratchet: The Galaxy Cluster... Makes sense.

Orvus: You could say that each galaxy is a Soul Prince's "kingdom" and they are to protect these kingdoms from evil. (turns to Ratchet) And your kingdom to protect, Ratchet, is the Galaxy Cluster, our galaxy.

Ratchet: My duty as a Soul Prince... It's to protect our galaxy from evil?

Orvus: Exactly. It is a very important duty that you must make as your responsibility. The same thing can be said for the other six Soul Princes. The fate of all seven galaxies rest in your hands.

Ratchet: Yeah. I think I understand fully on what you're saying.

After all, that kind of is already our job.

Orvus: (smile) You young ones learn so fast. Oh! Speaking of learning, there's something I've been told to teach you, Ratchet! My friend had left me in charge of that!

Ratchet: Really?

Orvus: Yes. It's one of your new powers as a Soul Prince! But you haven't tapped into it yet.

Clank: Ratchet has powers?

Orvus: Powers, magic, whichever you prefer. Though this is an ancient form of magic that we Zoni have been using our whole lives. It's probably one of the last fragments of magic in the Galaxies.

Clank: I've never heard of this magic. What's it called?

Orvus: Mahou-Tech, it must be one of the most ancient forms of magic here in our cluster of galaxies. Very few creatures even know it exists than those that can use it. But it has certainly been aeons since a lombax recieved the power. And my friend was that very lombax all those years ago.

Ratchet: Wait a minute, your friend was a Lombax just like me?!

Orvus: Why, yes, of course. And like I said before, he was the last Lombax to recieve such a power as Mahou-Tech... Until now.

Ratchet: Until now? ...Wait, are you trying to say...?

Orvus: Yes, Ratchet. You are the next Lombax to recieve the power to use Mahou-Tech.

The next Lombax and the first heir to be the one we call our Soul Prince of Storm. Protector of Joy, Humility, and the Galaxy Cluster.

Ratchet: This is... whoa, a lot to take in.

Orvus: Take some time to let it settle in. In the meantime, let's get your training started. Sigmund will guide you to Sector 20. There's a training hall made specially for adapting to Mahou-Tech there. I'll be waiting for you, Ratchet. (teleports)

Sticks: Did anyone catch everything? Because my head short circuited during the last three minutes.

Kairi: I hope so.

Sonic: Well, let's not keep Orvus waiting.

Ratchet: And there's still more we need to know. (inspects mark on hand before putting his glove back on) Let's go.

Sigmund: This way, everyone! Tour 2 of the Great Clock begins now!

Chapter 25: Welcome to the Galaxy Cluster Part 2: The Soul Princes Part 2 (The Great Clock)

Sigmund guides Ratchet and the rest of the Soul Princes to the training hall, where Bentley takes the reins like he does at home with Sly, with guidance from Orvus. Ratchet shows off electric powers similar to the ones used by Cole in inFamous, and Orvus gives more info about the Soul Princes. Specifically, how they are able to use the Elements of True Light using their Mage Costumes. Mario's looks familiar if you've ever played his games… (it's basically his Fire Flower outfit) The Soul Princes are informed how there are multiple Earths in the universe, differentiated using the word Terra and Roman numerals, with Sly's Earth Terra II. They are also told about about the Core of the Universe of Life, and Sora comments that Le Paradox's rant back in Paris is starting to make sense. Orvus talks about the World Rings, and Sonic makes a comment referencing Sonic and the Secret Rings. He also says, "If the bad guys are after the World Rings, they probably need protection…" Orvus also talks about how a special song is the key to the Core. Sora, thinking about the last few minutes, then gets an idea to lighten the mood, but he needs info on his friends to make this "creative project" happen. Sly then pulls a Cooper Calling Card out of his bag, Ratchet gives Sora a better look at his wrench, Rayman tells about his connection to dreams, Mario pulls a mushroom out of his pocket, and Link talks about his connection to the Triforce, 3 golden triangles of great power. Riku asks what Sora is planning, Sora whispers something to Kairi, who smiles. Sora says, "You'll see…" just like how the Master of Masters talks about the contents of the Black Box in Kingdom Hearts prequel movie X Back Cover. Sora then says he's going to be visiting the Soul Princes in a few days, making a trip around the universe. His reason? "I should have some things to deliver if my plan works. And you're my first stop, Sly."

Chapter 26: Return to the Anthro Galaxy Part 1: A Legacy Reborn (Terra II's Paris)

A few days later, the Cooper Gang is resting in Paris, and while waiting for Sora, Sly goes to his old childhood home. Unfortunately, this only makes him remember his father's death, putting him in grief. Searching his forgotten house, he finds a music box his parents always played for him. Upon contact however, it starts glowing and it softly speaks that it will rid him of the pain that's currently in his heart. Unable to interpret what it meant, the music box opens and starts playing the Cooper Melody. It flashes and Sly feels something "rip" out of him. He hears a groan on the ground floor and looks to see a raccoon that looks just like him. "Dad?!?" Sly gets a pic and Bentley comes in on the Binocucom ear piece. "It can't be! How?!" "The music box said it would rid me of the the pain in my heart. I have no idea how it was going to do that, but it just happened." Sora walks up to find Sly in tears. "You OK Sly?" "…My dead dad just came back to life. Sora, this is Connor Cooper. Everything has changed."

Chapter 27: Return to the Anthro Galaxy Part 2: Wayfinder

Sora gives Sly a moment to calm down, and Connor asks what happened while he was gone. "I'll give the short version. Do you have 5 minutes?" "I have a lot more than that…"

A few minutes later…

"So, let me get this straight. Clockwerk is destroyed, but my old brains Dr. M attempted to raid the Cooper Vault and kill you, and then you became a time traveler, saved the Theivius Raccoonus, met Sora here and became a prince after a meteor shower brought down the barrier between worlds?" "That about sums it up." "It has been a while. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Can I meet your gang?" "Why would you not? I think it would be a good idea for you to go and explore Paris for a bit. It has been a couple of decades after all… The Cooper Gang safehouse should be over there… Bentley, could you get a marker up?" "On it." "Thanks, bud." "Sora, didn't you have something to give me?" "That I do. Our strong connection led me to make this." He takes something out of his pocket. "On my island, there are these fruits called Paopus and they represent an breakable connection between friends when shared. It is said that if you carry charms shaped like them, the bond will never break. Not even when you're many worlds apart."

The shells on this charm are mussels with a black outside and, hence its name, pearl white inside. The strings holding the five points are black with the blue Cooper insignia in the center. Its hanging string is blue with a pure white pearl on the end.

Sly thanks Sora, and gets a big smile from the boy. "It's beautiful! How did you make this?" "Kairi makes charms like these all the time. I had some help from the expert…" "Thanks SO much!" Sly gets a smile on his face. "…I just got an idea." Sly summons his Keyblade, and concentrates. "Water!" A small wave starts moving. "How did you do that, Sly?" "Our strong connection. I think it's Soul Prince related as well." Sora starts thinking. "What's your element, Sly?" "Dimension. Time and space. What are you thinking?" "Can we combine our Elements?" "Let's try something." After concentration, the wave is able to freeze time. "Wow. Fusion is awesome!"

A few minutes later...

Sora says, "I've been thinking, and I think I can explain your dad, Sly. In my world, sorry, galaxy, we have "Nobodies." When someone turns into a Heartless, a Nobody is the shell that is left behind. At least that's how it usually works. It's what happened with me and Roxas. I think your dad could be your Nobody, but this is not like any Nobody I know." "So, you're saying… this is a new case?" "I think so. And it is probably going to need a new name. How about, "Reborn Nobody"? Since we brought him back to life and all." "I like it. If this isn't just a one time thing, we'll fill the others in later." "Deal." "Don't you have other Soul Princes to visit?" "You're right! If I'm going to make it before nightfall…" "Don't worry. I'll keep you posted on Dad. Meet you on the Phonix in a few days?" "…See you soon."

Starship Phoenix Meeting (In the fictional Soul Kingdom game series this novel is based on, you would be able to go after the World Rings in any order.)

World Ring 1: Mushroom Galaxy

The Soul Princes get a surprise when searching for the World Ring in the Shadow Realm, Peach's Nobody, named Blossom, created after an unknowingly pregnant Peach was possessed by the Shadow Queen during the events of Thousand Year Door. To get the World Ring here. Peach has to deal with the X-Naughts' devastating legacy, and Luigi must struggle with his past. Chrono Song piece for the Mushroom Galaxy originates from the World 1-1 theme. (In the game, a You Got A World Ring! Screen similar to the End of Chapter screens in the first few Paper Mario games appears at certain points.)

World Ring 2: Triforce Galaxy

The Soul Princes meet Zelda's Nobody Jade and search the Sky islands above Hyrule Castle for the World Ring, with Galaxy Cluster tech seemingly coexisting with Zoni Devices. Tears of the Kingdom with a crossover twist. Chrono Song piece is the Song of Time.

World Ring 3: Chaos Galaxy

Searching the Chaos Galaxy for the World Ring leads the Soul Princes to discover some unintended side effects of Eggman's new machine that can create Heartless. Chrono Song piece is the Sonic Boom theme.

World Ring 4: Galaxy of Hearts

The Soul Princes must help Ventus restore his lost memories of his time in Daybreak Town to find this World Ring, but they are in a race against Bowser to decode the clues, and the clock is ticking… Dearly Beloved (the title screen music in most Kingdom Hearts games) is the Chrono Song piece here.

World Ring 5: Galaxy Cluster

The Soul Princes meet a test subject of Terachnoid life "creation" experiments with a connection to Ratchet's girlfriend. Rift Apart theme is the Chrono Song piece.

World Ring 6: Anthro Galaxy

Sly reunites with his dad, meets Carmelita's mom María Fox, (also a Nobody) and has to deal with the arrival of the Mushroom Galaxy's Broodals, making sure Jing King's wedding goes off without a hitch (for a second time) to fulfill a bargain with the Panda King to receive the World Ring. Sly also checks the Theivius Raccoonus to find a message addressed to him from his Soul Prince of Dimension predecessor. Cooper Melody is the Chrono Song piece.

World Ring 7: Dream Galaxy

Rayman and the Soul Princes meet Drayke, Rayman's Nobody, and Lo, Ly the Fairy's Nobody, during a spelunking expedition to the Cave of Bad Dreams.

Finale Chapter: Battle at the Core (Soul Kingdom)

Gearing up for war, the Soul Princes gather alongside their Nobodies. (Point of no return in the game.) The Phonix and a fleet of Gummi Ships fly to Soul Kingdom, the center of the universe, and use the completed Chrono Song to open the door. They are surprised to find murals depicting the universe's origins, how the original Soul Princes fought against 7 "Sins of True Darkness" who they eventually sealed away in the Black Chaos Emerald that stands before the current Soul Princes. But then, the Sins take possession of the Nobodies via dark energy radiating from said Emerald in an attempt to destroy the Soul Princes. In the final battle section, the Nobodies are freed from said possession after an endgame platforming/combat gauntlet, depending on which Soul Prince's game you are playing. Sonic can blast through with speed, Mario is more slow, deliberate platforming, Sly has a section similar to Le Paradox's blimp from Sly 4, Ratchet is combat focused, etc. The final boss is the original person corrupted by the Darkness, Yiya. It takes the power of all 7 Soul Princes to free him from the curse. But as the group starts to head home in victory, the door shuts on the Nobodies, and they are forgotten by everyone as a result of being trapped at the core.

You didn't think that was the end of the story, did you?

The Soul Princes Will Return In:

Soul Kingdom: The Faux Paradox Series