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// Honor: Mask of Dark Earth 
// Story: Sly Cooper: Family of Thieves 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Bentley, upon finding that their magic users were ready to go at long last, and no longer had to fear the power of the Outback thanks to the enchantments that the Guru had put on them, revealed the plan to drive the miners out of the area and restore the peace that the Guru had enjoyed, all while plotting the destruction of the Mask of Dark Earth. The first thing they needed to do was find a way to drive the miners out of the lemonade bar that they had set up when they took control of the area, because driving them out would make it easier for them to strike the fear of the Outback into the superstitious miners, something that they all agreed on because of how the miners locked up the Guru. His original plan, before he found out that the magic users could use their powers again, was to head into the bar, challenge them to a drinking contest to drive them out, and then beat them at their own game, and potentially beat them up as well, since they were going to be sour over losing to a bunch of people that they didn't know. At the same time, however, he wanted Murray and Clockwerk to enlist the aid of the local wildlife to help them scare off the miners, where Murray already had a plan in mind, and then, once the miners were efficiently scared of the Outback, either Clockwerk or the Guru would need to take out the helicopter, just to give them free reign of the sky for the final part of the plan.

The final part of what he had planned, involving the Mask of Dark Earth, was for Gilda, Derpy, and Diz to combine their powers into one singular blast that should destroy it, because if the harmonic power of Derpy's magic was able to purify the Hate Chip, and transform it into something new, then the combination of two harmonic users and one chaos user might be able to terminate the Mask.

Diz, however, had an idea that might assist them in their time of need, as what he did was head out to an area that overlooked the lemonade bar and focused his mind for a moment, before he started channeling his chaotic power into the objects around his target. What happened was that the bottles that had been discarded got up and moved on their own, freaking out one of the dingoes that happened to be outside when the bottle he had finished became animated and started attacking him, along with the rest of the bottles that had been laying around the area. He opened his mind's eye for a moment and looked inside the bar, where he watched as the furnace became animated as well and joined the bottles in their assault, freaking out the miners at the same time, but what really freaked them out was when the drills inside the bar had faces appear on them and detach from where they had been resting, attacking the miners with the rest of the newly animated objects that he was controlling. A smile appeared on his face as he surveyed his work, as the miners, who were clearly afraid of magic based on what they did to the Guru and what they were doing now, eventually ran out of the bar and left it behind... though, at the same time, the furnace decided to burn the bar down before he returned to being a normal furnace, to which Diz just shrugged and decided that letting it burn meant that the miners wouldn't return in the future.

As he turned so he could head back to the safe house, however, he noticed two things, the first being that, despite his usage of his chaotic powers in such a manner, that he hadn't changed forms suddenly, like he did when he expanded a large amount of energy. The second thing was that the Mask of Dark Earth, currently being worn by one of the flashlight carrying dingoes, moved through the area that he was standing in, though one thing he noticed was that the guard was more aggressive than normal and that the guard was slightly larger than normal. He guessed that this was what the Guru was warning them about, that the Mask had powers of it's own and was something that they should be careful around, but, at the same time, it appeared that the Mask hadn't noticed him as it continued it's rounds around the rest of the camp, meaning that it knew that something was coming. He observed the Mask for a few minutes, just to see if it was going to do anything while it was out and about so he could report something back to Bentley, but for the most part it seemed like their target wasn't doing anything interesting, despite the fact that he used his magic a little and conjured a glass that was filled with chocolate milk... something that he sipped on as he watched the Mask, as he was used to his chaotic powers and had long since stopped questioning how he was able to do some of the things he did.

In the back of his mind he thought about saying something about 'where was the fun in making sense', in relation to his chaotic powers and how they affected the world around him, but such a thought only made him chuckle, as it was definitely true in more ways than one, though he kept that to himself and focused on the Mask... who was currently using the poor guard to simply walk around the area, observing the other miners that were either running scared or were continuing their objective, and eventually found that this was boring. While he did that, and kept taps on what the Mask was doing, he had to wonder what the others were doing at that very moment, as he had the feeling that Murray and Clockwerk were having more luck with their mission than he was having with this task he had bestowed upon himself.





Murray and Clockwerk, while some would find the combination odd, worked pretty good together, as the miners were quick to chase the metallic owl towards the area that Murray was standing in, because he found a crocodile that would eagerly assist them once they were through with it. Clockwerk was interested in Murray's plan, as it involved pulling guards to the area that the crocodile was located in and throwing them into the water around the animal, where it would chow down on them until it had a taste for miners, though for the most part it was going to involve the animal eating a few dingoes and kangaroos before they were through with it. His part in this was simply pulling the miners towards the area they would be working in, allowing him a change to watch Murray knock guards into the air, catch them before they hit the ground, and then hurl them towards their target, where the crocodile chowed down on the miners that were being offered to it, though it didn't seem to mind what was going on at the moment. Of course the miners retreated a few seconds later, or rather those that were smart enough to not be in the area anymore did that, and those that remained behind found themselves at the mercy of the crocodile... before Murray went out of his way to go and find a large flashlight guard, only to return a few moments later with his prize, something that had the crocodile's eye the moment he entered the area.

Clockwerk watched as the crocodile chowed down on the offered flashlight guard, exactly like what Murray was planning, before he and Murray moved up to a perch as the Mask wearing guard that Diz was following entered the area, which was when the crocodile pulled itself out of the water and attacked the guard, chowing down on him while the Mask jumped off and fled with it's natural power... meaning that they had succeeded in part of their mission, as this was going to spread some rumors among the miners and they might reconsider being here. At the same time, as both Diz and Murray headed back to the safe house, Clockwerk moved out in search of the helicopter that was flying around the area, though as he did so he made sure to be above the vehicle as he enlarged his body and shifted back into his true terrifying form as he sought out his target. The helicopter had no chance to defend itself as the ancient owl descended upon it, tearing through the propellers that kept it in the air, ripped apart the metal that was keeping the vehicle together, and made sure that the gas container exploded, tearing the rest of the helicopter apart in the process. Once that was done, and he was sure that there were no other machines like it in the area, Clockwerk nodded his head as he shifted back into his smaller form and flew back to the safe house, where he reported his success to the team, as this would influence what the miners did in the next hour.

Many of the miners hightailed it immediately, showing that they were scared for their lives and wanted nothing to do with this place anymore, but, at the same time, there were still some miners left over, and that must have been because of the Mask, or, as the Guru suggested, they lived somewhere nearby and had though this place was an easy target, only to understand that they had been wrong and were in the process of moving away from the area... leaving the Mask behind, with next to no one around for it to latch onto and use against them, meaning that it would be easier for them to take care of it without anything interfering.

"Okay, with the miners taken care of, it's time we make our move against the Mask of Dark Earth." Bentley said, to which the gang turned towards him as he revealed what they were actually going to do this time around, as he had gained some information from the Guru while the others were putting their finishing touches on what they needed to do to drive out the miners, "According to what the Guru told me the Mask is filled with, and feed on, rage, meaning that we need to draw it into an area where Gilda, Derpy, and Diz can combine their powers and destroy it... and there's only one person with a large amount of rage in their heart, despite recent changes."

Me. Clockwerk commented, as it had been his rage and hatred for the Cooper Clan that had driven him to create the body that he currently possessed, and would possess until someone got the better of him and smashed the chip that was the core of his being, I know many of you are angry at one person or another, for your own reasons, but the rage and hatred in my heart, despite being less than they had been when we first fought, are still there and it makes me the perfect target for the Mask to go after. Allow me to lure the Mask out of it's hiding place, then the three of you can use your powers to destroy it.

The gang looked at each other, as it was unusual for Clockwerk to even talk about himself or what he had felt before the core of his being had been replaced, even though this confirmed Sly's thoughts that it would take some time for the hatred to be taken care of, before deciding that, if he was okay with this, they would back him up and make sure the Mask didn't latch onto him in any way. As such the gang, including the Guru, made their way out to the big truck, as it was the best spot for them to be in, and, sure enough, the moment the ancient owl took to the field the Mask was moving once more, seeking out a target to latch onto and bond with, but soon the Mask would find that Clockwerk wasn't easy prey, not after the years he spent hunting the Coopers. Gilda, Derpy, and Diz, all taking to the skies, watched as the Mask charted a path towards Clockwerk, seeking out the dying hatred and rage that the harmony inside of him was slowly taking care of, while Murray got the truck moving and headed out of the area, heading to Ayers Rock for the showdown with the Mask. Oddly enough the Mask didn't seem to care about the camp at all, because it continued to follow Clockwerk right out of the miners camp and never looked back, showing that the group had it right where they wanted it, which caused Murray to grin as they headed towards their destination.

It didn't take them long to reach the area that Murray, with Bentley's approval, had selected as the area for their showdown with the Mask of Dark Earth, though when they arrived he parked the truck and they got a front row seat to the Mask's arrival... where Clockwerk, having backtracked the moment they arrived, loosed a metallic net from one of his cannons and pinned the Mask to the ground, showing that he wasn't to be underestimated.

Now! Clockwerk called out, though at the same time he flew over the area that the Mask was in and landed on the side of the big truck, giving him a good view with the others as they watched Gilda, Derpy, and Diz fly down into the area so they could target the Mask.

Derpy had decided that since the Mask fed off of negative emotions, just like Clockwerk used to do with his Hate Chip until she reformed it with the love and positivity that was in her heart, that she was open herself up to those same emotions when battling the Mask and simply let the magic flow into her for a few seconds, before loosing a stream of her magical energies down at the restrained Mask. As the Mask was hit it seemed to screech as the harmony filled magic touched it, to which it did so again when Gilda, who had been powering herself up the same way that her sister was doing, did the same thing and her magical stream collided with her target as well. That was followed up by Diz loosing his own chaotic magic, tempered by his own positive feelings and the harmony he felt whenever he was with his family, down at the Mask as well, causing the animated object to squirm and screech as they poured their magic into the area surrounding the dark artifact. While all of that happened, and the Guru watched this with the rest of the gang, the clouds happened to move out of the way and revealed the shining moon in all it's glory, though as their magic poured into the area some strands of moonlight broke off from the moon and came down to where they were gathered... only for the Guru to be surprised when the spirit of another koala, with dirty brown colored fur and wearing the ancient garb of a sage, stepped out of the moonlight and approached the restrained Mask with a powerful staff in his right hand.

The Guru had heard stories about the other Sage, as he informed the gang that there had once been two of them until one killed the other in a fit of jealousy, twisting the land into what it was these days, and that his own teacher had told him that he, as well as those that came before him, were supposed to bring balance back... by either recreating the artifact that was destroyed with the other Sage, or destroying the Mask itself.

As that happened the power that the siblings were channeling caused several cracks to form in the Mask of Dark Earth, though at the same time Diz switched his assault and delved into the depth's of the Mask's rage, diving towards the center of everything until he found the faintly glowing center of what it had been before it's power had been used to shatter the other artifact. He smiled as he found what he was looking for, as he knew what he had to do, especially since the shell that was the Mask's form was beginning to break, to which he grabbed hold of the core and withdrew from the depths of the rage, though as he mentally returned to his body he held the spiritual form of the Mask of Dark Earth, while at the same time the actual Mask started to loose it's color. A few seconds later the power that was coursing through the area shattered the Mask in it's entirety, scattering the dull golden fragments like they were nothing, though as that occurred another spirit joined the first one, only for the gang to find out that it was another koala sage, meaning that they must have been quite powerful all those years ago... and Diz, knowing what to do next, handed the spiritual Mask off to the Sage without an artifact, who accepted it and affixed it back to where it belonged.

The ancient spirits of the Outback, now restored in an entirely different manner, were quite pleased with that the three of them had done and so offered them a bit of power to go with what they already had, in the form of glowing stones, an opal for Gilda's wind and a topaz for Derpy's lightning, that could be worn around their necks in the form of a necklace. Diz, on the other hand, had to do something different since his power was one that they could not directly boost, since he controlled Chaos and they the essences of Creation and Destruction for this area, so what the spirits agreed on was gently awakening some of his latent power and bringing that portion to the surface. What actually happened was that Diz doubled over in pain for a moment as his wings, which were slightly smaller versions of Derpy's wings, vibrated for a moment, though while nothing happened to his left wing his right wing transformed into a bat's wing that was the same size as his other wing, complete with the same texture as a bat's wing as well. The only other difference that Gilda and Derpy could tell was that Diz's eyes had become bright red, while at the same time the sclera around them had turned yellow... and, if they were seeing things right, his right pupil was now slightly larger than his left pupil, though it didn't seem like that had any effect on his ability to see.

Before anyone could actually say anything, or question what had happened, the ancient spirits faded back into the spiritual world that the first Sage had been residing in, though now he had company so they could balance the rest of the land until the end of time... leaving the group to their own devices as each of them wondered what they were going to do next, especially after everything that just happened.

"You know, I'm going to have to get used to flying with a bat's wing, cause this is going to throw me off a little," Dix commented, as the only thing he was interested in at the moment was what had happened to his wings, despite the fact that they had brought balance to the Outback while gaining some increase to their own powers, "but, um, what now?"

"Now we rest up before heading back to Paris," Sly said, though at the same time he stopped in front of his brother and laid a hand on his shoulder, because he was still the same person he had been before they drew the Mask out of it's hiding spot, before he looked over at Murray and the Guru for a moment, "besides, we have a new member to welcome into the gang before we leave... and it looks like Murry's already prepared to tell his master all about the stories about us that he hasn't told him so far."

Diz smiled for a moment as he forgot about his own worries for now, as whenever the gang welcomed someone new to the gang it was always a good time, and yet, as they started to head back to the safe house to pack up their things, he had to wonder why he had reacted in such a way to the gift the spirits had given him... and, once more, he had to wonder if he had these powers because of whoever his parents were, before he shelved that thought once more and locked it away, so he could enjoy his time with his family.