[heirtothemonado]

As Steve relayed that information back to Lusamine, Shulk took a closer look at the network of tunnels that these Keepers had been building. As creeped out by them as he was, Shulk's inner engineer couldn't help but admire the systems that they were building and dismantling so smoothly. Because his attention was more focused on that, though, he wasn't paying attention to most of Steve's conversation with Lusamine. However, his attention was called back by Steve gesturing from him to follow him to the grate, while explaining their plan from here on out. "I see. Well, if the pen works, then it'll probably get these things out of our hair for the time being once the way is open. Good riddance..." he muttered, still not thrilled about being so close to these Keepers. At least going down to the hall with the grate gave him space away from the mechanical bugs.

Though, the voices echoing up from the grate perked Shulk's interest. Was there some else here? Who? And what were they saying? Ever the curious one, Shulk followed Steve down the hall, trying his best to keep up with him and the voices outside without drawing too much attention to himself.

---

Shulk
Health: 145/145
Shield: 45/45
Status: Sneaking 

[Mr. Game & Watch]

As the group broke off from one another and Chell started to put her plan into motion, the Keeper remained at his terminal, clicking his little insectoid fingers against the holographic input device. Its black, void-like eyes weren’t positioned as if it was looking at anything in particular, almost zombie in appearance. It didn’t seem to notice the portal busting open above it, though, even if it did, it did nothing about it. As the note dangled down in front of it, blocking its vision from its terminal. It clicked its fingers for a few seconds before its arms fell to its sides. It was difficult to tell, but it seemed like it was in a trance, different from before, as if it had to stop and think instead of working through some robotic subroutine.

The Keeper walked backward away from its terminal; the creature’s head lowered as if it was a powered down robot. It continued to scuttle across the small hall and toward the wall that had just recently closed. By merely standing in front of the desired location, the wall opened up once more. The panels shifted, the metallic surfaces folding in on each other in a way that seemed technologically impossible until what remained was another hall that seemed like a natural extension of the system of tunnels. The Keeper remained at the mouth of the corridor, standing completely still as if it was waiting to be powered back on.

The path before Chell lead to another dead end, a wall with another strange, alien terminal. On the floor before the wall though, some sort of acidic substance had burned a hole clean through the metallic tiles, revealing a room below. From her current angle, Chell would be able to see shelves stacked with vials, tubes, and other such sciencey gobbledygook.

---

The duo left Chell to her own devices, walking down the pathway toward the grated wall. Steve walked rather casually at first, letting his body flow with the motions of his steps. As he crept closer to the grate and the florescent lights arising from it, he kept close to the wall, assuming what looked to be a rather natural creeping posture, head and torso pointed forward. The radiant light made it seem like it was coming from a room, rather than another section of the labyrinthian tunnel network they found themselves in.

Steve gently placed the flat of his back against the wall next to the grate, only slightly peering his head through the metal slats of the structure. What would be found on the other side of it all looked to be a war room of some kind, a vast and sprawling room filled with computers, monitors, and holographic displays. Very high tech, possibly even higher end than anything the Life Sphere had to offer. Speaking of, at the center of the room, there was a holographic map at the center of it all, like a massive chess board. Most prominently was a holographic reconstruction of the Life Sphere, circa the time period that they found themselves within.

At the head of the board, was a large muscular man dressed in black spandex, large bull horns adorn his cranium. It was Black Shadow. He slammed his fists against the countertop, the hologram frizzing a bit. “No! I’m tired of all this waiting around! I’ve captured their leaders, they’re defenseless now! They’d stand no chance against a frontal assault!” he loudly claimed as he pressed a button at the controls, a sea of red figures arising around the model of the Life Sphere. A massive and dastardly grin grew on his face. “Ha ha, a show of pure power, they’d crumble beneath our feet!”

On the further end of the table, a piercing bloodshot eye arose from the holo-field. “You only see in small pictures. Nothing outside of their scope. You took the pieces out of play, tampering with Mephiles’s deception. Worst of all, you brought Samus to our base. Prisoner or not, you willingly brought a gamma bomb into our facility” the holographic display spoke in a robotic tone. Even then, it seemed to have a bit of contempt underlying it.

Black Shadow looked dejected for a moment. He then gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. “Oh, don’t you worry about Samus, I’ll deal with her personally” he boasted with a sinister grin.

The holographic mono-eye remained as it was, seemingly unimpressed. “Make it so you do. I will not tolerate failure on top of your wealth of other reckless mistakes. Both you and Andross have already tipped our hand far too quickly.” The floating eye circled around the diagramed battlefield, observing the Life Sphere and the thousands of minions that Black Shadow placed on the board. “Even without their leaders, the Life Sphere is built upon avatars from various universes. The ones that can turn impossible odds onto their head. A frontal assault will result in failure, even if there is a 99% chance of success.” With a blink of its eye, all the tiny red figures disappeared from the board. “I will not waste resources on a battle with even a modicum of doubt in its success, not when there are better, more direct routes for extermination.” As the mono-eye spoke, a yellow smoke-like substance filled the bubble of the Life Sphere.

With a scowl, Black Shadow crossed his arms along his chest. “Hmph. There’s nothing impressive about gassing your foe and watching from a distance” he dismissively scoffed.

The eye reached the edge of the holo-map, stopping directly in front of Black Shadow and gazing into his eyes. “Your machismo pride will be the death of you, if not your insolence. I grow weary of this alliance. Do as you’re told, and it will continue to be tolerated” the cold machine continued before its holographic image frizzled out and faded away.

The sound of metal sheets shifting arose from behind the duo, most prominently where Chell and the Keeper resided. It seemed that however she went about her plan was successful! Unfortunately, one wall opening meant that another wall closed. The tunnel that Steve and Shulk found themselves within would quickly be closed off from the main network, leaving them trapped in a small corridor with no escape except for the grate leading into the war room. At least, that would have been the case, if Chell hadn’t left an open portal for them on the immediate wall over.

Steve still had his gut sucked in from the harrowing thought that they would have to bust open the grate and have to sneak around that guy in spandex. He wiped an arm across his helmeted forehead. “I gotta get me one of those” he quietly said aloud, pointing his thumb at the portal. He peered back at the grate for a moment, only really seeing Black Shadow mull over the holographic battlefield some more. The two might bicker some more and drop information, but they were on a schedule. Might be better to move along to whatever their bounty was after.

Upon crossing over through the opposite portal, he sauntered over to the opened tunnel, tapping the side of his helmet’s lens as if he was activating a thermal scan, or something of that variety. Steve leaned his elbow against the motionless Keeper, as if he was hanging out with an old buddy. “Looks like our guy tampered with your buddy” he stated as he gestured to the acid burn in the ground. He then looked over to Chell. “Ladies first, I insist” he said in a gentlemanly manner, pointing to the hole once more.

[Make a Stealth Check (DEX) after entering the hole to determine your level of hiddenness]

[Coolshaymin]

Chell tilted her head as she waited with the bait lowered. There was a change in demeanor but hopefully it was a good one as she was still cautious... There wasn't any exploding so that was a good sign. She reeled her note back to herself and grasped it as she dismissed the Keyblade and stepped back a little bit to give the alien creature space as it went to work. After a very cautious watch the way slid open just like she planned! This note and pen isn't the most practical solution but it gave them a fairly subtle path forward... However with how this tunnel seemed to work meant... She quickly made sure to plant the other portal shortly after getting the note back.

"... Has it's uses," Chell remarked as she stepped into the room. There was now a hole in front of them burned into the ground... No telling what was down there but if their lead went that way then they have to follow. They wasted enough time in these tunnels as is. "... Fine," she rolls her eyes at the ladies first thing before jumping down it to the other side of the Rabbit Hole. She would make sure to quickly hide behind any cover or opportunity she had to check the coast.

eYkzaxUZp_1d20+2(Stealth Check)1d20+2