[Mr. Game & Watch]

The vast planes of desert and despair were not too welcoming to the would-be rescue crew. While the winds were non-existent, the sun chose this day to secrete the most amount of heat, to the point that waves could be seen radiating and leaking from the cracks in the incredibly dry earth. They were going in the right direction though, whether that be fortunate or not was up to them to decide, but as they continued to venture forth the tracking device from Nurse Joy would seem somewhat unnecessary as there was a trail left behind by the molting Loftwing. Stray feathers were the only unique detail to pick up on, as the rest of the way to and fro appeared to be nothing but flat lands. Save for the crashed spaceship in the distance.

Samus’s ship was far off from their coordinates, to the point that it could almost be mistaken for a mirage. In addition to the far off space ship were the shambling shades of some kind of creatures. The before mentioned heat waves made it incredibly difficult to make out whatever they were, frankly they could just as easily be seen as a figment of visual trickery as the space ship. Whether or not they should be seen as a threat has yet to be determined by the group, and given their advantage granted to them by E Gadd, they might not even need to worry about engaging them in combat.

Most assuredly though, if there were infected in the area, it could be an incredible danger to both Mr. Game & Watch and the Life Sphere as a whole. With any luck, the trio of heroes can make it out before stirring up too much trouble

READY?

GO!

[Cielmira]

The wastelands. Strictly closer than any other region to the Life Sphere yet the travel did not reflect it as such. Through long and winding mountain paths or a longer journey around the ranges to treacherous sea cliffs or the field cobbled with meteorites and broken ships. Those were the only ways here. She hadn't imagined they would traverse any such path as quickly as they did, but having one of the world's fastest hedgehogs around encouraged a certain haste. Her four padded feet beat against the ground next to her red striped ally skating through the air. The canine's light thumping footfalls may be louder than his silent gliding, but he kicked up more dust in their wake, so together they covered all bases for being noticed.

Not that she minded. Truthfully the rigorous travel was a pleasant stretch in her muscles even if the crackling sand beneath them wasn't as much of a pleasure. Each lunge of her back legs propelling her forward brought the air soaring through her shining white fur and an energy through her body that only a open run could do. How she missed this freedom, dashing across hills and plains with life springing up after her. It was invigorating. Amaterasu could almost feel her celestial power connecting with the earth cradling her steps and spurring a growth the barren wastes hadn't felt for a long time. There was almost an urge to glance behind, expectant to see lush greens folding their way around the broken shell of a planet. But she knew that was a just a dream; for now. All the more reason for success today.

As the trio sprinted the shimmering wastes lived up to their name. Glimmers of shapes ebbed in the distance through the heat waves, glints of things lost caught the sun and made the blank paste of the terrain seem dull in comparison, illusions danced all around them proving to be naught but stone or decrepit shrub when closer. On the horizon were some rather puffy group of clouds, a gentle breeze caressing the heroes as the air shuffled its way toward the growing storm. Amaterasu's nose twitched with the thought of rain, or worse, dust storm. Thankfully the tall sentinels in the east were all they needed to know which way was home so even if they lost their tracks or found themselves distracted with the wasteland's harpies. And all they needed to find their quarry was the tracking device. Once they were there though, that would be the tricky part.

[WolfEx]

The familiar pitter pattering of fleeting feet sound off in the musty air of the Infected lands. Some preferred flying, some preferred vehicles, Shadow, well, he preferred running, to everything. He's been a part of the planet Li long enough to be smart and obtain a scarf to cover his mouth and help prevent the breathing in of the Starvia as well as wearing an occasional Gas Mask here and there to keep him healthy. His appearance has changed drastically since his battle worn time on the planet, he's much more dirtied and roughed up looking due to lack of showers he's had and oh yes, being trapped in time for a year or so thanks to Black Doom and his Chaos Control attack which overpowered Shadow's own attempt at Chaos Control and froze him in a time lock. The two didn't cancel eachother out like predicted, but instead one overpowered the other, and Shadow was not the stronger power there. The hedgehog was now excited to be free and incredibly anxious to continue taking on missions, this mission he is currently on was the first available since his rescue from the Dark Emerald Coast out of the clutches of Chaos. He happily obliged. Granted, he wasn't fond of Game and Watch, really at all, the pixelated piss ant was actually becoming a nemesis of Shadow's, allowing his strange and silent ego to get the better of him, the flat man reminded Shadow alot of Sonic, which easily made GW a rival in Shadow's eyes, but alas, he is a valuable asset to the Life Sphere and needed to be rescued. Besides, Shadow had to be rescued recently, and sometimes you must know when you need the help of others to be able to live with yourself and move on knowing you are no God, and you are not invincible. Even immortals need a hand sometimes.

Shadow knew little to nothing about the one that kidnapped the 2D douchebag, except that the man was clearly crazy and fairly large in stature with a bit of a vanity issue, what else was new? Everything lately to Shadow has been about who's bigger and who's badder, and who can be the best. This was a trend The Ultimate Life Form was not fond of. It's been far too long since he was able to stretch his legs beyond the confines of a ship on Dark Emerald Coast, and now that he has the world at his disposal again, Shadow intends to mark his tracks all over it until every last Infected are destroyed and these sneaky kidnappings and undermined assaults are put to an end. The hedgehog will rue the day order is returned on Li again, and others actually realize and understand his good intentions instead of writing him off as just another hero who thinks he can do it all, when Shadow in fact, knows he can do it all and he will. This was called a healthy, perfectly natural ego. Not one driven by pride or madness. After just a little bit more ground covered, Shadow stops and notices a figure just ahead that triggered his memory, a dog, white and painted with bursts of orange and red. It took him a moment to adjust his eyes through the dust and heat, but he remembers the fox goddess rather well, and smiles warmly as a hello after walking up beside the creature.

"You...you are still alive and well. I am overcome with pleasure to see you again." Shadow knows the creature couldn't exactly talk, but somehow, he knew what it was saying or thinking, he could just feel its reactions to whatever he told it. He was glad he rescued it so long ago in the jungle, and it has grown much since then, this he could definitely tell. In a place with little to no hope, and nothing but dirt and desert everywhere, Shadow finds a light he so immensely missed, shine again and give him a reason to keep going in the cruel world. A friend in the darkness, one he never thought he'd see again after being trapped so long and put through so much. He pleaded to himself that it wasn't a mirage, it better not have been. It looked as real as the day he met the animal in the jungle. "I pray you are actually here on this mission with me, and if so, that we can find this so called general together, and get out of here sooner rather than later." Shadow didn't really want to get the mission done and over with so quickly, it was his first mission in a good while, he wanted to take his time, but ultimately, that was just the eagerness of many days without a mission in his system talking. Truthfully anyone would want to return to the Life Sphere safely and as soon as possible, Shadow just wasn't too adamant about being confined in a space again. This mission, this way of getting out again, was going to bring him back to his heroic mindset in no time, and put him on track once again to finding a way out of the Starvia mess and find the end game to it all without slowing down or letting things get in the way.

[Deleted]

Chase wasn't far behind the celestial goddess. Normally he didn't wear much protection, but in this case he wore a scarf around his face to keep sand out of his mouth and nose. Being slower, he couldn't run quite as fast. It was his first time venturing out somewhere besides Nintendo Land. It reminded him of when he forced to wander aimlessly until stumbling across the Life Sphere. This, however, was nothing compared to that. Soon Shadow came into view. "I think we're all here. Shall we begin?" Chase asked, taking note of the trail of feathers. A hedgehog, a wolf, and a Mii. Back on Tomadachi, my friends would've thought us a strange group. Even stranger than if if they saw me with Rosalina and Klungo, he reflected.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

As the group subtly ventured forth, exchanging pleasantries as they did, the crashed space ship was becoming clearer with every step they took. The gunship hardly looked the same as it had previously, though that would be only notable if one of the three were familiar with its design. A spire of some kind was sticking up through the battlecruiser, as though it was some kind of beacon. In addition to that was a strange bundle of twigs patched up atop the roof, giving an air of a bird’s nest of some variety. It could be easily assumed that the zealot’s ride was perched within it and the tracking device’s monitor stated that the target was in that general vicinity.

With the better view of the ship also came one for the shambling shades. Their features could hardly be described from this distance, unless one of the heroes had eagle eyes. One thing that was for certain though, they were crowding toward the crashed spacecraft. Not in a frenzy though, it was like watching a group of priests waddle into church. A headcount couldn’t exactly be done, but a rough estimate of the number of creatures they could see would be about a dozen, and that wasn’t getting into how many were inside the craft itself either. Storming their position seemed out of the question, lucky for the group though they had E Gadd’s handy dandy goop ready for use. Whether or not it would work was a gamble, but there was hardly another option unless the trio wanted to head in guns blazing.

The cream tubs within each of their pocket spaces itched with the want to be tested. They looked as simple as makeup kits that one would find in a model’s bathroom cabinet, but once opening it immediately removed that sensation. It reeked of moldy onions and rotted flesh, who knows what that crazed old man concocted to make such an odor. The colour of the stuff was naturally that revolting purple that most infected wore.

The label on side of the container read “Step one: Scoop. Step two: Lather with hands (those without hands should ask for the help of an accompanying adult, otherwise dump on ground and roll around in it). Step three: Allow it to set in, it’ll spread to your entire body within a couple of seconds. Step four: Professor E Gadd is legally not responsible for any unwanted side effects of this formula, however, you are encouraged to inform E Gadd of these side effects.”

[Cielmira]

The hedgehog's voice brought her head around to gaze upward at the slightly taller figure. Initially there wasn't too much of a reaction other than a mild slow down of pace, but once Shadow had made comment toward the dancing illusions wavering all about them Amaterasu gave an agreeable bark in reply. The slower pace sounded agreement with the Mii Sword Fighter trailing behind the white wolf. The brown haired avatar finding the breath to speak, though asking a question that had already been answered just by their presence in the wastes; they had already begun. There was only one tracking device so the idea of them all having left separately and wound up in the same spot in this land of indistinguishable landmarks beyond the mirage of a gun ship far off in the distance was inconceivable. At least, she for certain couldn't even hold the tracking device so she had been traveling based on the directions of others; with a mild lead to scout ahead for danger.

Luckily the one of them that did possess the useful device leading to their quarry wasn't mad and didn't just veer off when no one was looking. The team was getting close, thus it felt pertinent to remain a bit closer together. Both for their own safety and to begin their little ruse. With the roost and amassing shady figures barely within range now would be a good time to apply E.Gadd's newest experimental application. Far enough away that hopefully none of their enemies would spot the trio Ammy decelerated smoothly into a full stop and began shuffling through her astral pouch for the kit. With help from her friendly klaptrap she removed the small malleable tube and let it drop to the ground in front of her. Following that were a series of curious looks before she dipped her head down to attempt to unscrew the thing.

There wasn't much success to be had in that respect. Thus, with her tail darkening, Amaterasu crouched in beside the small container and released a power slash to cut off the top of the tube, allowing the slightly viscous liquid inside to begin slowly seeping out onto the cracked wastes. The canine crawled forward a smidge then used a paw to squirt out the thickening solution, a small spray splattering onto her fur. She flinched, her head jolting upward, but quickly remedied the action by rolling around in the dirt mixed purple fluid despite its horrid smell. It was probably best that she wasn't a shining white to begin with when this stuff made its course.

Ensuring that her divine retribution was well out of the way while rolling excessively on the ground as if she was scratching an itch she couldn't otherwise reach, Ammy eventually noticed E.Gadd's solution doing its thing. Finally ceasing her flailing on the ground she stood. Nose wrinkled, few quiet snorts and huffs escaped her being as she adjusted herself to the terrible aroma. She tried to take her mind off of it by inspecting the changes. Ripples and wisps of purple and black in varying shades ebbed off her dampened fur like stink fumes. She felt sticky and uncomfortable, wanting desperately to clean the matted patches but alas there would be no water source for miles. As far as she could tell her deific marks were unaffected. The flowing orange and red marks laying themselves atop the dirtied white fur, though were obscured to an extent with the waves of darkness. And though she could not see it, her eyes had flipped from their normal ebony to a bright yellow.

With a shake of her body in an attempt to puff out her fur Ammy gave a disapproving grumble and turned to take in her allies. The smell wasn't going to be taking its leave any time soon, but it was likely their best shot to getting through so many enemies.

[WolfEx]

It appeared Shadow was indeed not alone, and the wolf was actually real and there after all after she had reacted to Shadow as predicted proving she was there along for the ride and undertaking the mission as well. But there was also someone else, a strange human of sorts with a rather large head and some kind of one pieced uncomfortable looking suit. Nonetheless, Shadow didn't really want to judge the poor boy, and assumed he too was present on a mission. This was good news. Three person teams were always well balanced, that way there is a middle man in case two disagree on a tactic or approach. Shadow didn't think anyone else really signed up for this rescue attempt, also because Game and Watch really didn't have many friends or the best reputation between anyone in the Life Sphere to begin with, mainly because he also didn't talk, just moreso annoyed more than anything with his beeps and boops and bells. There may be more coming on the rescue, but the three really needed to move along and cover ground before the kidnapper gets any ideas. "Well welcome to the party blue suited human. I am Shadow, this creature next to us is Amaterasu, and yes, let us begin." Shadow reaches into his tufts of fur and grabs the jar of E.Gadd goop he was handed back at the Life Sphere.

He carefully twists it open, scoops his right index and middle finger into it being mindful of the smell and turning his head away as he does so. He felt almost violated in a way covering himself with this disgusting goo, but the strange feeling and overwhelming stench was quickly adjusted to after rubbing it properly over his skin and open spots on his body letting it sit for a moment or two. After a while one truly doesn't notice it anymore really. As it settled, Shadow eyed himself seeing his skin and fur change to a deep purple and his entire look being twisted around to resemble that of his enemies. In this camouflage Shadow was reminded of some old colleagues who, last he heard were still around today and also partaking in missions. "Lovely. I am now the clone of one large simple minded cat whom Amy always cavorts with, and oh yes, that nosy little chameleon with a knack for playing ninja. Surely nobody will see through this disguise...." Shadow rolls his eyes not believing a single word he was saying to himself. But if Amaterasu could do it without complaining and whining, Shadow too should be able to handle getting a little dirty for an important cause.

Shadow figured the Infected weren't smart enough to see through the mask of the goo, but he has been proven wrong before. He looks ahead after applying the goop and notices a few Infected in the distance, some staring right back at him and the group. "I think we need to do more than just look the part comrades, we should do our best to also act the part. We don't know enough about the Infected quite yet to underestimate them, especially if one of them is smart enough to kidnap a fellow fighter." Shadow assumes the position and stance of an Infected. He sort of goes into a wide eyed expression, then starts to sway a bit and begins moving forward to the ship and the enemies ahead putting faith and trust into his inane acting ability and bravery withholding any signs of fear or hesitation as best he can. He had to trust the others would do the same and follow closely behind as to not stir up any curiosity or panic from the enemies abroad.

The desert wastelands were a dangerous and unpredictable place, with no safety or food or water for miles and a thick air of deadly toxicity, walking right into an Infected nest was the last thing anyone would wish to do, in fact it was just plain insane, but whether it was a trap, or if the plan was actually going to work, no hero should be left behind regardless. That was one thing Shadow agreed on with Sonic, everyone deserved a chance at survival, and for Game and Watch to die as a victim of a kidnapping, would be unfair to his reputation and a shameful albeit embarrassing way to go with his skills and talents. One person was already lost to a kidnapping, Samus, and she will always be remembered as a legend in the eyes of so many, doing so much for everyone else and the Life Sphere. And Shadow also knew what it was like to vanish for so long and not be found, this shouldn't happen again, it will not...happen again. Shadow continues moving forward valiantly determined and ever hellbent on destroying some more Infected.

[Deleted]

"You can call me Chase," the blue clad Mii introduced himself. While the other two made their preparations, Chase decided to make his as well. He unscrewed the lid from the container. He grimaced from the unpleasant odor. He scooped some of the purple goo up in his hands and began smearing it over his head. As he applied it, he took care to study the infected. Having to act covertly in his previous encounters with the infected from the times he ventured out to Nintendo Land, he knew this was no different. Once he was finished he screw the lid back on, putting the rest away for later. He nodded in agreement when Shadow stated his opinion, having reached the same conclusion. Judging from his first actual mission, he knew this one would be difficult. He then proceeded to follow Shadow's example in the hopes of fooling the infected.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

In a fortunate twist of events, the magical sciency goop was actually a success. E Gadd would be very pleased if he was spying on the progress of the titular team. There has yet to be an overt side effect amongst the three so that would be even better news. Now that they all possessed the sickly purple aura around them they were ready to invade the Starvia ball. Hopefully they wouldn’t be assigned a dance partner, then things might get a bit more difficult.

The infected were still roaming toward the crashed space ship, some of them approaching from a far distance. In fact, a Moto Bug (one of the more notable of creations of Dr. Eggman) sped by them on its singular wheel. In its wake it left a cloud of its infectious aura. Given that it hardly seemed to be fazed by them when passing it could be assumed that they were well hidden. As Shadow stated though, they were probably needed to act the part if they wanted to continue their guise.

As the trio continued to approach the beacon, a section of the ground to their right began to shift. The dirt began to pile upward like a bubble until some sort of insectoid being poked its head out. It wore the same purple aura as everything else in the area, a shame really that everyone would be dressed the same at the ball. Those familiar with the treks and adventures of Samus Aran would know the beast as an Arachnus. This infected though, it seemed slightly different than the rest. It exited the hole rather quickly, investigating the surroundings as it did. Its eyes soon fell upon the trio and then proceeded to walk towards them. It was unlike the rest as it wasn’t making a b-line toward the ship, that is until it was within arm’s reach of Chase. It looked to be sniffing him from a slight distance, but before it could continue to analyze him, its eyes popped wide open and it began to march toward the yellow ship.

Meanwhile though, there was a looming presence within Shadow’s mind. It felt like something was squeezing its way into his mindscape. ‘Such a pity you decided to leave your time lock, Shadow. Though you seemed to have found yourself in an interesting position. And before you check, no, my troops and I aren’t near you. I am here merely to… watch. The flat one is an intricate part in this entire endeavour, so I would prefer to see whose hands it falls into.’ The voice of Black Doom boomed inside the hedgehog’s head.

In the moments that passed, the high pitched sounds of an alarm clock AKA Game & Watch himself were echoing from Samus’ ship. For whatever reason he was making such noises, it hardly sounded pleasant. Then again, nothing from that flat man’s mouth ever sounded pleasant. Perhaps it was time the heroes made haste.

[Cielmira]

Amaterasu murmured in agreement with Shadow's complaints, one of her back legs lifting and twitching in the air as if to shake off a build up of water. It didn't really help the dowsed feel of the goop. She cocked her head to the side when the black hedgehog made mention of acting the part. The sun goddess watched, seated on her haunches at first, her friend settle himself into an awkward gait. Her head tilted back and forth as she observed, taking in Chase's mimicry afterward. Standing once again the canine attempted to remember what other four legged infected had looked like moving around. She wracked her mind trying to remember, head lowered and trailing behind her allies while she forced herself into, at the very least, a less-than-graceful stride.

With the wheeled robot zooming by it took a lot of will power not to flinch or divert her attention. She remained focused on the nest ahead and only the nest, pretending that all the other bustle was a normal occurrence; nothing that needed extended looks. This didn't hold up very well when the arachnus scuttled its way over to the three of them. Amaterasu hastened her pace a little to lessen the distance between herself and the two ahead. She watched the weird creature sniff Chase before suddenly darting off for the ship. A pang of worry ebbed through her. Did it realize something?

Unfortunately it was impossible for her to make even an educated guess about the shelled beast. The best she could do was fall back into her less mindful appearance and pick up the pace. Every other infected was revving their way hastily to the ship so it wouldn't be out of place, and the shift was timely as the Mr. Game & Watch began calling. She wondered if part of this was Yami's doing... or if 'Mr. Gold & Fish' was in there with the flatzoner. Her fur prickled with the idea. She should have kept a better eye on the pair. If Yami had any part in this it was her fault Game & Watch had fallen into enemy hands.

[WolfEx]

There was no other way but forward, now. Everyone had quite a walk before reaching the ship and blending in with the other Infected, however, they were stopped by a burrowing creature cutting off their path and probing them with a fierce curiosity. An insect like species that Shadow had never seen before. He was on edge and almost ready to attack if it had been a little too pushy with its greeting to them. Luckily Shadow kept his calm and it naturally went away. What did that mean? Shadow didn't want to think about it, to be exposed this soon would be a bad sign and a good reason to turn back. After it left, Shadow remained on alert breaking his Infected character patterns for a moment to observe his surroundings for any other surprises before feeling safe again and deciding to shift back into it. "Keep moving everyone, don't break your facade. Not yet." Shadow said this memorizing the movement of Infected he has seen before and quickly getting back into the swing of it. His eyes did not leave the horizon of the ship and he kept a laser sharp focus ahead to keep glued to the goal. Yet again, Shadow is stopped in his tracks by another surprise, this time, it was a voice, booming in his head. This causes him to once more break his concentration and gives him a splitting headache. He falls to his knees from the pain of the voice and is forced to listen to it. Clear as day, it was the voice of Black Doom warning him of his presence. Shadow grumbles at the words he is hearing and yells back at it. "You...you trapped me for an entire year! And now you return!? You coward! Where are you!?! WHERE!?! Get out of my head! OUT!" This must have been part of Black Doom's plan all along, to haunt Shadow away on a mission at the most intricate part of his plan to stop the Infected and put everybody's safety in jeopardy for maximum effectiveness and destruction.

Was that his end game? Was he that cunning to mess with the hedgehog and his colleagues at such an important point? Everyone must be looking at Shadow breaking down wondering what is happening and he could have very well just blown all of their covers. The hedgehog is sweating now as he clamors on his knees gripping his head in horror. "Don't...listen...don't...listen...Umph..." He pounds a fist into the dirt trying to maintain his composure. He scratches to his feet as his knees wobble and glances over at his team hoping they don't think he's lost it. He shakes his head violently to phase out the voice and the clutches of his mind. "Please, pay no attention to me....we must keep going." Shadow didn't know exactly what the others were thinking, and he didn't care, he had one thing on his mind, total annihilation and complete victory over the enemy. It's what always kept him sane. He heard the cries of Game and Watch grow ever louder in the distance and it helped motivate Shadow to carry on and fight through any remaining distractions or obstacles to reach the ship at last. He knew Amaterasu trusted him, he didn't know about the other guy. He could only remain confident that the two would continue to believe Shadow had his act together, and continued to support him on this mission.

But if Black Doom really was around, and if what he was correct about his interest and his spectating, if Shadow were to find him or his monsters, there is no guarantee that the hedgehog wouldn't really indeed....lose it.

[Deleted]

Okay, that was weird, Chase thought, noting the odd behaviour of the Arachnus. Was his cover blown? If not, then what happened next probably did. "Just don't lose your head, okay?" he whispered to the hedgehog before continuing on. He was aware this wasn't Samus's original Gunship or at least it was a different design from what he was familiar with from the one at the Metroid Blast attraction in Nintendo Land. He was not however all that familiar with the Arachnus. All he could do was hope for the best, which from his experience sucked. Judging from the sounds that came from inside, Game & Watch was definitely in there. Chase would bring him back Life Sphere even if he had to drag him all the way there. Preferably with G&W alive and struggling to get free for whatever reason. Surely if it was important he could find some way of communicating it, right?

[Mr. Game & Watch]

Much to the surprise of the trio, they were able to approach the crashed spaceship without attracting too much attention. The infected seemed to be even more zombie-like than they usually appear to be. They all were merely walking to the ship without any sense of sentience, not that infected had that to begin with, but they seemed more robotic in this sense. Even the yelling of Shadow only caused a slight flinch in the creatures, but they resumed inching their way toward the beacon like nothing had happened. Those close enough to the mess of a ship were too busy getting an earful of Game & Watch’s cries, which anyone who has been in close proximity of the flat man would know it was difficult to hear anything over his method of speech.

‘Bahaha, coward? Would you prefer that I attacked you now and blow your cover? No. The flat one is a prize too big to let go to waste like that. I would prefer to have the Shadow Bug Breeder myself, but you’ve put yourself in a much better position to grab him. A straight up assault would spring up too much attention, and that would call for the end of us all. For now, I shall allow you to keep him. Should you prove to be irresponsible with him though, I might have to take matters into my own hands.’ the voice boomed once more, ignoring Shadow’s attempts at blocking him out. Shadow was infused with the blood of Black Doom to begin with, so it would be difficult for him to ward the Black Alien off completely.

As their approach became closer, they were beginning to file into the space ship, bumping elbows with the locals as they did. What was inside was slightly different than the exterior would suggest. It still looked like Samus’ ship, but there were little trinkets hanging off the ceiling and strange religious looking symbols carved into the metal walls.

The three were forced into a sort of mosh pit by the mobs of infected, all watching the front stage that was the control room of the ship. The stage metaphor was taken quite literally as there were lights shining upon it, and the broken and battered gold statue of Mr. Game & Watch was the backdrop. At the forefront was the flat man himself, dancing upon stage, looking as though he was in the middle of a tale of whimsy of some sort. In a matter of minutes, he took his bow and a rather buff man with slick red hair took to the stage next, clapping as he did.

“The Groose approves!” he announced with a smug smile. He gazed at his audience in displeasure as he noticed all he got in return was vacant stares. His face scrunched in anger and he stomped his foot. “The Groose says clap for your lord and saviour!” he demanded like a petty child whilst pointing to Game & Watch.

The infected still wore a blank expression, but their hands began to slowly rise and they all clapped eerily at the same time as one another. Groose crossed his arms and grew yet another smirk. “Game & Watch shall lead us to a time where all shall be one, there will be no more squabbles or wars. We will all be at peace at last!”

Mr. Game & Watch absently scratched his head, not entirely sure what this Groose guy was going on about, but he finally found his adoring public! It was unfortunate that they all were infected, but maybe that’s why his fame was on the decline lately. The man rose to the center stage again and began to wave his arms to the crowd, almost like he was demanding for more praise from them.

“Clap for him! Clap for the one that will show us the way!”

[Cielmira]

Shadow's outcry was something she couldn't ignore; even if it would hurt their undercover ploy. Ears flicked back and her head twisted around to look at the hedgehog curled up in pain. With a quick twitch of her nose Ammy immediately trotted back the bit of distance she had gained on the two of them, stopping next to her friend to stick her muzzle by his face. Sniffing away, her ears perked in attention to the muttered words of the black hedgehog. Amaterasu withdrew her nose and gave a light grumbling whine hoping for an answer; which she received. A gloved fist pounding the ground preceding Shadow's words of not to worry. She huffed skeptically, standing rigid with her head held high. She'd be keeping an eye on him.

With her ally's return to normal behavior Ammy turned herself back around, noting with a flick of her ears the whispered words of the Mii, and resumed the hobbled approach to the gunship. The walk was time consuming and nothing short of awkward causing a bit of a strain on her legs. If they had to keep going like this for much longer she'd need a break or risk a cramp. Thankfully the infected crowd pushed them along once they entered the flow of traffic and soon they were at a stop.

The sun goddess resisted the urge to shake loose the dirt and goop slathered over her furs, and to gain a little space in the cramped crowd. It was unsettling to be squished against so many of these poor creatures. Luckily a loud voice booming in the area demanded her attention, eyes locking onto the large muscled red head first then eventually shifting onto the dancing form of Mr. Game and Watch. The well of confusion and surprise almost paralyzed her through mimicking the masses uniform applause. After the first couple she added a drolling bark in time with them. Besides that she was dumbfounded as to what was going on here. Ammy turned her head up for a moment to gaze at both her teammates before returning to watch the show.

[WolfEx]

Regardless of his little outcry, Shadow seemed to have his team on his side as they showed real and honest empathy to his mental state. He was thankful, but wasted no time returning to the task at hand. As the team moved in closer and was pushed in with a crowd of Infected, so too did Shadow follow. But again Shadow was being talked to by Black Doom in his head, which did hurt every time communication was reached, it made Shadow's blood boil and his skin crawl, but this time Shadow managed to remain silent and twinge at the booming voice ever so slightly keeping under cover and not worry as much as he was earlier, for Shadow knew Black Doom needed Game and Watch for something, and any attempt at harm coming to the 2D nuisance was a red flag for Doom. Doom also needed Shadow to complete this mission, because the hedgehog knew how to fight, and survive, and he did so very well. But right now, Doom was the least of Shadow's problems, there was a man announcing to the crowd up ahead as Shadow tried to move and swerve through the bodies of Infected and get a better view, but this was no ordinary man, he was a rather large and demanding figure with a bit of an attitude, who not only didn't look entirely Infected, but he also had the innate ability to...control them? This discovery terrified Shadow as his eyes widened and he almost lost his footing in the crowd from this find. What kind of Infected was this? And how was he doing this? Shadow couldn't believe it at all. And just behind the man was Game and Watch, being...well...worshiped...adored even!

Shadow felt sick at the sight of it, but he had to remain in cover for the time being, he had to know...more....about what was going on. The Ultimate Life Form never had the best temper or patience, but he was going to have to be quiet and watch things unfold further, as would everyone else if they knew what was good for them. Shadow kept an eye out for his team mates around him, trying not to lose track of them in the crowd. It was difficult to spot them, but he had to know he would have backup and support if things got out of hand. It couldn't be too much longer now before they all get the information they need from this Infected controlling cretin, and gather new important data on the creatures to take back to the Life Sphere. This mission was going to be a big success if dealt with properly, but some serious strategy would have to be concocted to leave with a victory. Not speaking and laying low until things are more clear didn't help, but it was necessary.