[Mr. Game & Watch]

The coastline offered no sunshine. It was not the beautiful Emerald Coast that people from Station Square would visit for a nice relaxing day at the beach. The black clouds circled around the sky, not moving with the wind, but rather looming and swirling around the land, as if some unknown entity wanted this area to remain shrouded in darkness.

What was once the mighty flagship of Eggman’s empire was now a derelict warship crashed into the earth, half submerged. The Egg Carrier’s back end jutted out from the ground it was entombed within, rising to the sky like an artificial mountain. The stern of the ship was snapped, the tear exposing a mess of loose wires and shrapnel reaching out for its other half as if it wanted to be whole again. The crimson and gray ship casted a shadow about a mile long.

Atop the battered and beaten warship, a trans dimensional rift opened. Sparks and electricity flew every which way until a space in the sky tore open, a tear in reality itself. From it, three figures fell, all of which landing on top of the derelict Egg Carrier. While the ground was slanted, the main deck remained easy enough to stand on without losing their footing.

Just looking over the side of the Egg Carrier, the trio might be able to make out the party of people below, the adventurers who were first assigned to retrieve the Chaos Emerald from Eggman’s old ship. Shadow, Wolf, and Espio all crowded around a floating tv monitor, instructing them on what to do next. What was being said couldn’t be heard, but it seemed they were ready to head inside soon. Hopefully, the team wouldn’t have to worry about their interference.

The deck itself was covered in weathered old Eggman machinery, half destroyed cannons, pulled apart maid-bots, and the massive glass encased engine, its shattered green glass scattered all about. In addition to that though, there was a massive gate, the doors of which were ripped open and tossed to the side. Based on how clean the twisted and misshapen metal looked, it was done recently. There was a weathered old label next to where the gate once stood, it read ‘The Sky Deck.’

[cynda1]

One of those that appeared from the rift was… also Shadow? Well, anyway, the hedgehog glanced around his surroundings before slipping behind a wall. Shadow… the time traveling one, obviously, despite the Professor’s attempt to reassure them that nothing would happen to their timeline if they changed anything, Shadow still had two incredibly valid concerns. Well, he thought they were valid at least.

One was the effects it would have on the timeline they travelled in. Just because it wouldn’t affect him or anyone he knew in his timeline didn’t mean he wanted to mess things up for another one. So even if what the Professor said was true, which Shadow may have had some doubts, he still didn’t want to mess anything up too badly.

The second issue was Black Doom. Shadow had a history with Black Doom and the Black Arms, and he knew better than anyone how dangerous they could be. Even Black Doom himself was a dangerous threat, being able to manipulate Chaos Control not too dissimilarly to Shadow himself. On top of that, having existed quite a while longer than Shadow, the hedgehog had very good reason to believe that there were things Black Doom was capable of that he wasn’t… and no not just the third eye thing and… honestly he wouldn’t want that ability anyway.

Shadow had been in the Life Sphere for quite some time, but he had no idea that Black Doom had already had a history with the place before the hedgehog did. The Ultimate Life Form couldn’t imagine that killing Black Doom would be so easy without Shadow around, or even possible, but he couldn’t help but hope they managed anyway. After catching a bit too much of a glimpse of the danger his powers really were, the hedgehog was easily becoming more and more accepting of his lack of powers, even if he was ultimately trying to find a way to get them back.

However, none of that was relevant to the mission that he himself was carrying out. He needed to think and act quickly. The faster they stop this bandit, the faster they can get back with the pack and call it a day. Shadow did catch a glimpse of the group that was trying to enter at the base of the building, and happened to catch Wolf as one of the participants. Though his gaze lingered on a group for a bit longer than he liked, well… he didn’t seem to notice… well, that he was in that group, too.

Hm… strange… Shadow was usually a lot more observant than that…

Well, anyway, Shadow took his eyes off the group before turning to the other two who had joined him on this mission, assuming they had both made it through the rift as well. While he didn’t know either of them particularly well, he still had the impression that the two were capable of taking this seriously if needed, so he had no complaints.

The first was Nobody. He’d met him briefly, and while he was certainly… odd, Shadow didn’t dislike him, certainly. He was certain they’d be able to work fine together, and he would be able to see his skills first hand.

The second was Donkey Kong… definitely an… odd choice if their job was to get in and out, but perhaps Shadow would be unwise to judge the ape’s ability simply based on appearance alone, and they didn’t even know what this bandit looked like. So just as it would probably be useful to have Shadow around for his speed, even if the best thing Donkey Kong could offer was his strength… was that really a bad thing? What if strength was what they needed against the bandit? Donkey Kong was a perfectly acceptable ally as far as Shadow was concerned.

Shadow still had to keep his eyes peeled… Black Doom was here after all, of that Shadow was certain. The hedgehog knew they needed to stay on their toes. “Alright, you guys,” Shadow whispered. “I know the Professor said that there would be no consequences for our time if we mess up, but we should still be very careful. Black Doom is seriously dangerous, so just… be careful, okay?” Shadow was feeling rather tense about this whole thing...

[Blade Unlimited]

"Wait, so I get the anthropomorphic hedgehog thing; but that's just a gorilla in a tie, right?" Nobody remarked, pointing at Donkey Kong with a look of intrigue about his face. He seemed more interested and thrown off by this fact about their teammate than, you know, the fact they'd just time-traveled! Talk about having his priorities.

"Don't worry, spikes." He replied to the hedgehog's cautioning, stretching his arms one after the other over his chest while they spoke.While Shadow tried to take charge of the situation and get them organized, the mercenary took stock of their immediate area. A quick visual sweep, nothing too big. "You seem pretty knowledgeable about that 'Black Doom' guy so I'll defer to your judgement." Once he'd finished limbering up, Nobody flashed Shadow a grin and a thumbs up before slipping on his work mask. "Leave the search and destroy for the thief to me. Time travel aside, it's right up my alley."

Nobody threw a thumb back at the clearly recently-reopened sky deck entryway. "That looks suspicious enough to start off with. Let's bounce." Was all the advice the mercenary really gave before heading off through the ripped entrance, his gait low to the ground with a practiced rhythm that made his step practically noiseless.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

As the duo discussed the logistics of the mission, a low frequency static sound arose from each of their Past Packs until a familiar voice patched in. “Ho ho! Excellent! You all made it through in one piece! Well, not in one piece, three separate pieces, consider yourselves lucky that you didn’t all fuse on a cellular level, that would have been pretty messy!” E. Gadd’s voice relayed merrily, yet at a low volume.

“Ahem! Just needed to get on the horn real quick, I promise you fellers I won’t be nagging at your backsides every step of the way, but now that you’ve touched down in the right place and time, I was able to get some new readings on the stolen Past Pack! It seems to be that they warped directly inside the derelict Egg Carrier, can’t say for certain where, but the goal of this original mission was to seek out the Chaos Emerald that Eggman used to power this vessel, so they might be somewhere near the control room. We can only assume that’s what they’re after. That’s all from me for now though, happy hunting!”

As Nobody encroached on the entrance to the Sky Deck, he would notice that the dark corridor quickly opened up to a vastly expansive storage facility. There were several crane arms dangling from the ceiling, their hooks and lines acting like jungle vines. It went without saying, it was in a non-functional state of disrepair, much like the outer shell of the Egg Carrier itself. Barrels were strewn about, crates smashed open. It was masked in a coat of pure darkness, making any further details of the room neigh impossible to spot without the aid of some kind of light or night vision.

What was clear though, was that the Sky Deck was not abandoned. There were sounds of metal scrapping, twisting, and bending. A general shuffling noise, as if multiple unknown figures inside were scavenging through the doctor’s old stuff. All that could be seen of these interlopers were shadows, silhouettes of humanoid figures, some small, others much larger with spires erupting from their backs. Their true numbers were difficult to make out, but there was clearly upwards of a dozen of them.

For a brief moment, the sounds of scavenging stopped. In the back of Shadow’s mind, he would hear the low booming tones of a voice all too familiar. ‘I sense more than one Chaos Emerald now, the Doctor was hiding more than initially thought. They must be found immediately!’ After that message was sent out, the sifting sounds became more violent, one of the crates in the Sky Deck being lobbed across the room and smashing against the opposing wall.

While it might not be wise to enter a room blindly, it seemed that it was their best route forward. Perhaps it was best to not learn the sheer size of the army that resided in the room though, best to move light footed and keep to the shadows.

Stealth Check:
-To remain unnoticed by the creatures within the Sky Deck, you must succeed a DEX roll of 13.
-If you have natural night vision or an item that allows you to see in the dark, that success rate decreases to a DEX roll of 9.
-If you have a source of light that you can use, the success rate decreases to a DEX roll of 11, however, there is a 1 in 10 chance that your light source will be spotted.
-After succeeding the initial stealth check, you may attempt a stealth takedown of one of the enemies. You must succeed a DEX roll of 15 to successfully takedown an enemy without giving away your position.

[cynda1]

Shadow glanced around rather apprehensively before motioning for Nobody to keep it down, still keeping it to a whisper. "I don't think you understand," Shadow whispered, objecting to Nobody's attempt to try and take the thief on himself. "If Black Doom is on this ship, which he is, then that means that there's probably an entire-" Before Shadow could finish his thought, a familiar voice came out from their past packs, and Professor E. Gadd was in front of them again. Well, this time in hologram form, but still.

After putting the image of the three of them fusing into one being, (which... um... hurgugh...) the Professor tried to ensure that he wouldn't be badgering them the whole time, but... honestly, there was no clue where the thief might've gone off to from their end, so any insight was good as far as Shadow was concerned. Sure, they'd probably run into him somehow eventually, but this made the whole "not get spotted by past selves" thing or whatever a lot easier.

The Professor, also mentioned something about them being after a Chaos emerald that was left in the Egg Carrier, and since the time traveler ended up in that point of time, it only made sense that the thief was after the emerald that was in the pack. Emerald... mission... abandoned Egg Carrier...

Shadow shook the nagging in the back of his head. There wasn't any time to indulge in... whatever was going on in his head at the moment. They needed to get going and get the mission done quickly and get out of there.

After the Professor cut out, Shadow glanced in Nobody's direction, noticing he'd found an opening in the corridor, and within it was precisely what Shadow was worried about. Not so much the machinery, it was an abandoned vessel. There was bound to be broken tech and junk. No, it was the sounds coming from the almost completely blended silhouettes that concerned Shadow. "I knew it..." Shadow whispered even quieter than before.

This was typical of Black Doom, really. He always bragged about how amazing he was as the leader of the Black Arms, but when push came to shove, he would surround the place with his underlings, and almost solely let those he viewed beneath him do all the work while he remained out of sight. If he didn't know just how dangerous, and tough Black Doom was, this would've been a reason Shadow would've marked Black Doom as pathetic, but since he was the one who personally had the Black Arms destroyed completely, the hedgehog had a feeling he knew how dangerous they were.

Now, he wasn't sure if these silhouettes were Black Arms, but since Black Doom was alive, the hedgehog wouldn't be surprised either way. The idea that they were all alive here was somewhat frustrating considering the effort Shadow took to destroy the Black Arms completely, but again, that would be something Shadow would have to deal with later.

Before Shadow could get going, the hedgehog raised a hand up and clenched his teeth as the familiar voice of Black Doom himself rang in his ears like a low toned alarm bell. Black Doom could sense the emeralds in their packs and Shadow squinted his eyes a little. It seemed as though the shadows were moving a lot more chaotically, making this a whole lot more complicated than it needed to be. "He's onto us," Shadow whispered to Nobody and Donkey Kong. "Okay, the entire Carrier's going to be crawling with Black Doom's followers, so watch your step."

With that, Shadow slipped into the corridor, completely trusting his ears to get a range on his surroundings. The hedgehog started to try and slip through the room and try to get a good grasp on where they needed to go.

t8l6Kqmkp_1d20+4 (Shadow's stealth roll... successful!)

Shadow managed to sneak right under the silhouettes' noses, none of them even catching whiff of Shadow, though he did notice on of them take pause, forcing Shadow to hide behind a piece of broken conveyor belt. The soldier, or whoever he was, didn't keep on Shadow's direction and keep his desperate search elsewhere. The hedgehog breathed out a silent sigh before catching sight of a creature who was heading in Shadow's direction. The hedgehog pressed himself against the piece of corridor before leaping in the air and placing a decicive punch on the back of the creature's neck, knocking it out instantly.

p_1d20+4 (Shadow's attempt in taking out one of the enemies unnoticed... barely successful! Like... close call.)

Now this just barely missed by some of the other nearby creatures, but Shadow's attempt was still just sloppy enough, perhaps, for them to know someone was there that wasn't supposed to be. Maybe. Regardless, Shadow slipped to another spot in the room, waiting for another opportunity to strike while the other two were getting into the corridor.
1d20+4·1d20+4

[PSYCH]

Donkey Kong didn't have the first freakin' clue about the concept of time travel. Time in general wasn't really something he bothered to think about too much. Sure, he understood that Cranky was old and Diddy was young but that was probably as far as the concept reached inside his gorilla brain. What he did know about was thieves. Dirty, rotten thieves who stole bananas from under his treehouse in the night. A thief problem for one was a thief problem for an entire community, and it was up to him as the leader of the bunch to bash them on the head and take back what was stolen. That's why he signed up for this mission.

When DK landed out of the temporal rift, his fur tickled with collected electrical charge. He limbered up, winding his massive arms and stretched his legs out trying to get accustomed to the addition of the Past Pack with some minor irritation. It was a tough piece of hardware, adjusted to the shape of his broad back and hard like a nut so it wouldn't get in the way of his barrel rolling at least. Plus the doctor had told him to keep it on, so he did. Besides, he'd already gotten used to E. Gadd's communication device pinned to his tie. What could one more piece of equipment do to hurt his skills? He listened in on Shadow's team huddle and stood on his hands for Shadow to show him that Donkey Kong was always careful.

"Wait, so I get the anthropomorphic hedgehog thing; but that's just a gorilla in a tie, right?" Nobody remarked, pointing at Donkey Kong with a look of intrigue about his face. Donkey Kong grunted in response, and his comms device translated.

<<You are correct, I am a gorilla wearing a tie.>> DK gave a follow-up nod, confirming his approval. He then listened to what Nobody had to say and came up to sit behind him and place a very large hand across both of his shoulders, giving out a few reassuring whoops in declaration.

<<I will follow this one up his alley to the thief because I don't like thieves,>> The comms device said, DK having taken Nobody's statement a little too literally. He was just preparing to bounce over to the skydeck entryway when Doctor E.Gadd chimed in having seemingly jumped out of the Past Pack in a beam of light. The doctor tended to say a lot of things that DK didn't understand, but he seemed like a nice little guy and he gave out toys for free so DK didn't complain and waited for E.Gadd to stop jabbering, mostly just picking up from him that they had to get inside the big metal egg and occasionally swiping a hand through his hologram image. Cool.

As they approached the dark of the gateway, Shadow motioned for them to keep quiet so DK nodded his agreement and turned a little dial on his tie pin.

<<Whisper Mode activated.>> Said the comms device in a reduced volume.

"He's onto us," Shadow whispered to Nobody and Donkey Kong. "Okay, the entire Carrier's going to be crawling with Black Doom's followers, so watch your step."

Stealth roll = D20 +3 DEX mod = POUaoJAwp_1d20+3 

DK didn't have to be told twice. The big ape was delighted to find a jungle's worth of hooks and lines hanging from crane arms above the Sky Deck and with a resounding leap he took to the air and gripped the nearest line which swung him silently across the storage facility to an adjoining crane hook. This removed any concerns he previously had of attempting to manoeuvre silently between the ominous figures lining the ground beneath him. From his vantage point above, he saw no reason to try to take down any of the humanoids below just yet and instead swung round in circles, attempting to keep an eye on his buddies below in the darkness. If they got into trouble, he'd either pick them up and swing them to a safer reposition or try to quietly take out an enemy that spotted them.  1d20+3

[Blade Unlimited]

As soon as Nobody passed the threshold into the Skydeck, a visible change overcame his entire body. It was like stepping into such a scenario awakened an entirely different side of the mercenary, his form effortlessly blending into the shadows of the immense room; Nobody shifting between the shade of storage crates and different points of cover so quickly and silently it might've looked like teleportation to any outsider that could manage spotting him. In seconds, he had scaled one of the Crane arms like it were a jungle-gym on a playground before dashing across the ceiling rails of the complex.

NvmvpCxyp_1d20+3  (Nobody's Stealth Check - Success!)

It was clear that there were a number of enemies already here. While ideally this would be a stealth operation involving an encounter with nobody but the thief in question, realistically it'd be smart to thin the herd in certain spots they needed to pass. And the best part about people hiring personal armies--

p_1d20+3 (Nobody's Stealth Takedown - Success!)

Nobody questioned a few bodies going missing.

Rather than Shadow's nonlethal approach, Nobody's was far more direct and merciless. Dropping down no too far away from where the hedgehog had ended up, the trained killer's hands smoothly came up and around a particularly large humanoid figure; landing atop it's rear spire as one hand reached over to grab his forehead while the other wrapped around to grab his shoulder on the opposite side. Even if they were a big and buff alien, all of that build up momentum made the motion all the more powerful as the mercenary's arms abruptly yanked in opposite directions--snapping the creature's neck.

From a pack on his hip, Nobody withdrew a stretch of Nylon cord that he deftly used to wrap around the creature's body before firing the miniature grappling gun it was attached to; sending the deceased package racing up into the ceiling where it would perch in the shadow of a metal beam like a disturbing Christmas decoration.

p_1d20+3 (Coverup Attempt for Shadow)

Similarly he maneuvered his way over to the one that Shadow had knocked out before sending that thug off in the same direction as its deceased comrade.

"If we try taking down all of these guys we'll just be wasting time. Stay quiet, keep high, only remove the ones in the way," Nobody swiftly communicated to the hedgehog, without wasting one word. It was a short and sweet direction, but he'd clearly had experience with these sorts of operations before. Ironically, the Gorilla was taking to this quite well. He wouldn't expect such a hulking and seemingly unintelligent creature to perform this well in a stealth operation. "-and I'll re-examine my personal biases."1d20+3·1d20+3·1d20+3

[Mr. Game & Watch]

As the duo of Shadow and Nobody encroached on their targets, stealthily and easily making short work of the ignorant beasts that lurked within the shadows, they would be quick to notice their general shape and body structure. They were indeed the Black Aliens, the very creatures that were normally under Black Doom’s thrall. Even as they were being conked out, they let out their signature warbling hum before they fell toward the ground.

The other Black Arms in the area couldn’t have possibly made heads or tails of what happened to their brethren, on the account that they were too busy ripping the metal walls and floors of the ship asunder for the sake of hunting down their inquiry. The sheering of metal was by far louder than anything the beasts could bellow.

Once more, the sounds of bustling ceased, followed by a psychic word of Black Doom entering the minds of his minions, Shadow once more able to listen in on his instructions. ‘Incompetents! Be wary of how you dispose of your debris! I sense two of our soldiers have fallen, I will not tolerate further mistakes!’

The path forward was not a clear one, but there were glimpses of light from the distance. Donkey Kong’s aerial view from his vine-like crane tethers gave him a perfect view of the next point of interest. A door on an elevated platform. The lights from within were dim, but it might as well have been the force of the sun behind that door considering how pitch black the storage facility was. Strange that a derelict ship with no juice left in its systems to even power its emergency lights would have even the slightest of artificial light somewhere within.

For the jungle swinging gorilla, it was a simple path forward, continuing along the path of crane vines. From what could be seen of the door, it was a simple metal structure, an easy feat of strength for Donkey Kong to rip off its hinges and investigate what was inside.

As for Shadow and Nobody, the Black Aliens returned to their work after being scolded by their boss. The path forward had more of their silhouettes blocking the way. A cluster of them noticed the dim lights arising from beyond, heading toward the area. Unwittingly, they were walking toward a set of rails, a large crate on wheels set upon one end. Of course, they could probably reach the door faster than the lumbering giants, but this could prove a good opportunity to take them out before they become a problem.

In opposition to that, at the other corner of the room was a dangling bit of the ship’s roof, a giant chunk of scrap metal that one of the Black Aliens was futzing with before the dim light arose. It was big enough to make a loud thud, an excellent diversion that could whisk the attention of the aliens away.

Stealth Check:
-To remain unnoticed by the creatures within the Sky Deck, you must succeed a DEX roll of 11.

-The door at the other end of the Sky Deck can be torn off its hinges with a STR roll of 12 or higher, but requires a DEX roll of 7 to remain undetected. Conversely, the door could possibly be hacked with a successful INT roll of 16, though the user requires a power source of some kind in order to power the door.

-The scrap metal hanging from the ceiling can be shot down with the use of a ranged weapon, requiring a successful attack roll of 12, failure to meet this attack roll will draw attention to your location, likely to reveal your location if you didn’t succeed your stealth roll by more than 3.

-The storage container requires a STR roll of 17 to move. If one person fails this roll, the next that tries will receive a +3 to their STR Check. If the storage container is successfully pushed, it will crush the cluster of Black Aliens.

[cynda1]

0QI22Xlop_1d20+4 (Shadow's stealth roll... success! The Black Arms still haven't seen him.)

The moment Shadow confirmed his suspicions, the rage in the hedgehog started to intensify. He didn't know why this upset him so badly... maybe it was because he could justify Black Doom surviving in his head. There was a logical explanation, even if he hated that enough. But his army? He had personally crushed each and every one of these soldiers, most likely these very soldiers, with his bare hands. The ones he didn't were destroyed when he used the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the comet, so honestly, there wasn't any excuse for them to be here right now.

Here... now...

Here was the Life Sphere. It was already established by now that even those that no longer exist other worlds can exist in this one. They've also travelled to the past to fulfill a mission. To catch a thief... As much as he had an obnoxious way of going about it, Nobody was right. He couldn't let himself get caught up with the Black Arms, not now. This wasn't even his time line. Whoever ended up getting the Black Arms at least under control would again so long as he kept his focus on the missions...

...Still old habits died really hard. The hedgehog's ears twitched a bit as he heard someone wheeling something through the room nearby. Shadow's eyes squinted as he felt his entire body shake in utter rage, a slight yellow flickering in his eyes before he pushed himself to his feet and running toward the sound before creeping around the Black Arms rolling the containers and ramming himself into the containers as hard as he could.

p_1d20+1 (Shadow's attempt to knock over the storage container on the Black Arms... successful!)

Shadow ducked for cover again, listening as the container bounced on its way down, crushing the cluster of Black Arms that surrounded it. Shadow's hair raised a bit in anger as he heard each one of them gurgle their last grumble as they were crushed under the weight of the metal container. "Filthy, good for nothing, maggots..." Shadow bitterly whispered before glancing around and looking for a possible way out before turning to Nobody. "You said head upward, right? Let's go..." Forcing himself to be satisfied with the amount of aliens he'd already killed, Shadow moved around to try to find a way upward. It seemed Donkey Kong had the right idea, using the metal claws at the top as monkey bars. Now Shadow and Nobody needed to find a way up...

The question now was how...
1d20+4·1d20+1

[Blade Unlimited]

o0e1Nv|3p_1d20+3 (Nobody's Stealth Check - Success!)

"Alright, if we scale that beam over there we should be able to rendezvous with--and you're knocking over the storage container." Nobody remarked with a deadpan stare behind his mask, clearly unamused at Shadow's bloodthirsty display despite the fact that the mercenary had told the hedgehog literally seconds earlier to stop with the needless murder. Now, Nobody wasn't usually the all-business-type and did his fair share of screwing around; but that was almost always during instances where he knew it would increase the "fun-factor" of the mission without getting out of hand. At the end of the day, he did the jobs he was given and he did them damn well.

Crushing a crew of grotesque aliens under a storage crate was certainly an amusing, that was undisputable; but it would undeniably draw unneeded attention to themselves. "And people say I'm high maintenance." He scoffed in response to Shadow's laughable attempt to resume their objective as if nothing had happened. Nevertheless Nobody shrugged and moved on. As the continued to rendezvous with their air-borne ape ally at the end of the Sky Deck, it became painfully clear that they'd need another distraction to assure that they weren't noticed. Thankfully, when he'd been getting a birds-eye-view of the place from the cranes, Nobody had taken notice of a particularly hefty and loose piece of scrap metal hanging off of the ceiling at the near opposite end of the room. Perfect.

"Keep moving and try to curb the bloodlust a bit, mkay?" He casually berated Shadow while summoning his Rider weapon in its blaster-form, the Checkovzyu. The merc squinted one eye shut while trying to line up the target with the barrel of his gun. Despite the fact that they were mid-sprint and he was aiming back over his shoulder at a target likely hundreds of meters away-

p_1d20+3 (Scrap Metal Shot - Success!)

-the blast of dimensional energy still shot across the room like a space-distorting bullet before knocking the panel off of its hinge with deadly precision. "Still got it." Nobody mimed blowing smoke off of the barrel's end (even though there was none) before holstering the weapon. Time to meet up with their Monkey-man.1d20+3·1d20+3

[Mr. Game & Watch]

The whooping cries of the Black Aliens echoed throughout the mega structure, possibly even carrying far outside the Egg Carrier itself. The weighty container had managed to snuff out at least five of them based on the number of silhouettes and the accompanying racket. What followed was the sound of twitching and movement, all from several sources around the Sky Deck. Feet were mobilizing, all directed toward the area of commotion, the wheeled crate.

Fortunately for Shadow and Nobody, the mask rider’s previous gambit paid off. The thunderous sound of scrap metal plummeting to the hard metallic floor counterbalanced the carted crate. Most of the shuffling noises ceased and became distant once more, as if the creatures in the dark had turned their attention away and began scurrying elsewhere.

Considering the frequency of Black Doom’s mental commands, now seemed as good a time as any to relay another set, or perhaps reprimand his minions for their continued incompetence, but nothing came. Or at least, as far as Shadow was aware, Black Doom wasn’t transmitting anything.

Among the stranglers in the hangar though, the flapping of wings could be heard. Like bats in a cave, a set of Black Wings took to the air, navigating through the tethers of the cranes and patrolling the airspace diligently. They were like drones, their heads moving back and forth robotically. This would spell trouble for Donkey Kong, as he now had to share his airspace with creatures more dexterous than he was in the air, but if he was lucky, he might get out of harm’s way before being detected.

The path ahead for the duo remained rather unknown due to the darkness, but the dim light coming from the cracks of the door revealed the outline of structures, a set of possible paths. There seemed to be a straightforward path, up a couple of steel beams that were haphazardly tossed aside by the Black Aliens as they searched the area. It was almost like a series of ramps. They were a bit shaky in terms of balance, but unless they wanted to try their luck with fancy blind parkour tricks, it was the best solution.

So, anyways, here’s the fancy parkour trick route: Upon stepping on the steel beam, either of the duo might notice a glimmer of light, the reflection of a low hanging hook, much like the ones that Donkey Kong was using to swing above them. It was too low to bring them directly to the door, but one of the Black Wings were circling the area. One well executed homing attack from Shadow would be enough to bounce him toward a neighbouring pillar, allowing him to wall jump from there and land directly in front of the door. Nobody might get a bit more creative with his tactics, maybe commandeer the Black Wing for a ride with a little ‘convincing.’

The steel door remained as it was before, large and untouched. The dim light was beginning to flicker a bit though, as if it was dying out.

Stealth Check:
-To remain unnoticed by the creatures within the Sky Deck, you must succeed a DEX roll of 11.

-The door at the other end of the Sky Deck can be torn off its hinges with a STR roll of 12 or higher, but requires a DEX roll of 7 to remain undetected. Conversely, the door could possibly be hacked with a successful INT roll of 16, though the user requires a power source of some kind in order to power the door.

-Climbing the steel beam requires a steady gait, so you must succeed a DEX roll of 14. If failed, you can make a saving throw once, but if that also fails then the entire structure will collapse, taking your partner with you if they haven’t succeeded already.

-For the parkour trick route: you must succeed a DEX roll of 10 to grab hold of the dangling line. They must then make a STR and DEX roll which equals at least 28 when combined. Proceeding from there, if it is Shadow, he must succeed an attack roll of 13 to hit the Black Wing with a homing attack, then finally, the wall jump requires a DEX roll of 10 or higher. Nobody, on the other hand, must succeed a grapple roll of 13 to ride the Black Wing and succeed an intimidation check of 10 (using CHR). There’s only one shot, one opportunity for this trick, so only one person may attempt it.

-For Donkey Kong, there’s a Black Wing circling your area. It hasn’t detected you yet, but it might catch wind of you or your team sometime soon. It can be taken out with an aerial attack, should you choose to do so. The attack roll must succeed a roll of 13 to hit.

[cynda1]

cQP|NOYDp_1d20+4 (Shadow Stealth roll... success! Shadow still remained unnoticed.)

Shadow kept his back pressed against the same rubble he had been, continuing the try to keep himself at bay. The hedgehog wanted desperately to tear into these guys again, but he knew Nobody was right. Right now they needed to find that thief and get that pack back. Whoever was here to stop whatever was going on would handle Black Doom and the Black Arms. After all, this was the past. They technically already have.

But... that begged the question... how were they able to face Black Doom of all people without Shadow?

The thought brought a chill down his spine, and a squeamish sensation started to rise within him... where was his mind wandering? Well, it didn't rightly matter, because Nobody managed to both get the Black Arms' attention and snapped the hedgehog out of his thoughts in time to see the Black Arms had gotten distracted. This was their chance. The black hedgehog glared at the Black Arms, but ultimately started darting his attention around the room, looking specifically for a way to that door. The black hedgehog spotted the poles and a line, giving Shadow a straight forward path, but the latter gave the hedgehog different, and in his opinion better, plan.

The hedgehog took a couple steps back and slowly rose up to his feet against a crate. "Let's go..." Shadow whispered before jumping and grabbing onto the line with a huff before pulling himself upward, trying to get himself in balance.

p_1d20+4 (Shadow's DEX roll to grab the line... success!)

p_1d20+1 (STR roll... 21!)
p_1d20+4 (DEX roll... 9!)
(21 + 9 = 30! Success!)

Once that was done, Shadow started kicking his legs forward one, two, three times before ultimately launching himself into the air, not unlike an acrobat, and started to roll himself up into a ball. At that point, Shadow was able to launch himself at the Black Wing that happened to be flying around, landing directly on the creature's head before landing feet first on the wall and then ran forward while still standing on the wall, and then seamlessly jumped off the wall and in front of the door.

p_1d20+4 (Homing attack on the Black Wing... success!)

p_1d20+4 (Wall Jump... success!)

Shadow started panting a bit from all the acrobatics, but couldn't help but smile a bit at himself. That was pretty fun, and even though he wouldn't admit that out loud, he had to admit that he really should appreciate his speed even more than he already did. His powers were his pride, but his speed was something special, too.

The hedgehog made a move to try and open the door, but then a thought crossed the hedgehog's mind: Black Doom's been awful quiet, hasn't he? Didn't he say something about not tolerating any further... Oh no. Shadow glanced down at Nobody and then at Donkey Kong before ducking down in a kneeling position. He couldn't afford to get spotted, otherwise their already big problem will get a lot worse.1d20+4·1d20+4·1d20+1·1d20+4·1d20+4·1d20+4

[Blade Unlimited]

IU9HSUAsp_1d20+3 (Nobody's DEX Check - Success)
p_1d20+3 (Platforming Check - Failure)
p_1d20+3 (Platforming Check - FaIlUrE)

Nobody was fully prepared to parkour the hell out of that alternate path, but had to switch directions at the last second as the much faster hedgehog zoomed off to take that way instead. Maybe it was that split-second change in direction, or the steep inclines of the series of ramps, but just before the last jump carried him off to safety the masked mercenary lost his footing at the edge right before he leapt.

A lesser-trained person might've screamed or yelped as they fell, but Nobody kept deathly silent. With a deft roll he curled up mid-air to reduce the possibility of head trauma as he hit the ground, managing a painful landing with no lasting injuries. A sharp thud did ring from the impact of Nobody's body with the ground, but all-things considered it wasn't too loud of a-

"Shoot. Not my day." Nobody threw his entire body off to the side, just in time to avoid being crushed as the series steel beams crashed and clattered down in a deafening display. Welp, there goes for the silent and deadly approach. Throwing caution to the wind, Nobody began to book it across the sky deck--making a beeline for the other end where the door lay near the Kong and hopefully Shadow. He wasn't sure exactly how to realign himself vertically, but they didn't exactly have the luxury of chilling around to do so anymore.
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[Mr. Game & Watch]

The crashing steel beams riled up the distant silhouettes of the Black Aliens once more, though, these minions might be the least of the infiltration team’s worries. They hollered and howled, as if communicating with each other, giving away their positioning at all corners of the derelict ship, and by the sound of it, they were all headed in one direction, toward the fallen steel beams.

The remaining Black Wing circled around, leaving the sector for some strange reason. Its reasoning would be all the less strange as a blink of light arose from the center of the hangar, a flare of white that illuminated the entire sector for a brief second. From the flash arose a glowing yellow and red eye, the unmistakable Doom’s Eye, its sea star shaped body being lost within the darkness of the room. The creature flew to the highest point of the room, scanning all that was around it like the flaming eye of Sauron. “Witless scavengers! This ship belongs to me! You insolent fools should have stayed in your bubble!” he bellowed throughout the hangar, his booming voice reaching every which corner.

From Doom’s mono-eye, a thin laser-like red beam of light aimed at the fallen beams. As it struck the beams, they too glowed with an eerie redness. The hefty metal beams levitated slowly, but were then thrown about with the force of debris from a hurricane. They were flung down the length of the room, tumbling through the crates and smashing through just about everything in their path, including Nobody if he wasn’t careful.

Doom’s Eye then frantically switched to the far end of the room, toward the door. His eye glowed red once more, as did the roof of that section of the room. What followed was a massive creaking, the sound of metal scraping against metal. The roof came down in an avalanche of scrap metal, titanic and jagged shards of the ship’s hull piercing through the floor below, and Shadow if he wasn’t quick on his feet.

A pulse of red energy exploded from Doom’s bodice, the force of which caused all the chains and crane hooks to fly about wildly. This would not exclude the one that Donkey Kong had clung himself to, thus he might have to hold on for dear life to avoid getting flung off and slammed against a wall somewhere.

“Now scurry back to your bubble! You worthless pests have no place in the outskirts of this planet!” he continued to boast as his eye continued to lift random objects and crates, flinging them around the room violently as a show of superior force. It seemed that Black Doom wasn’t truly aware of where the infiltration team was, he just seemed to know that there were intruders within the Egg Carrier.

Meanwhile, back at the door, the dim lights actually grew much stronger, in wavering flashes. Along with this, there were what sounded like muffled screams arising from the other side.

Roll Call!:
-To remain hidden from Doom’s Eye, you must succeed a DEX roll of 12.

-The door at the other end of the Sky Deck can be torn off its hinges with a STR roll of 12 or higher, but requires a DEX roll of 7 to remain undetected. Conversely, the door could possibly be hacked with a successful INT roll of 16, though the user requires a power source of some kind in order to power the door.

For Nobody:
-A steel beam is rolling directly toward you! It’s time to dodge, dive, dip, duck, or dodge! To avoid being crushed, succeed a DEX roll of 11. Failure will result in taking 20% damage.

-This rolling steel beam might just be your ticket to get up to the higher platform and join Shadow by the door. If you have successfully dodged getting crushed by the steel beam, you can try to get atop and log roll your way across the rest of the hangar’s floor. Succeed a DEX roll of 10 to do this. From there, the steel beam will collide with the platform you’ll need to jump onto, which will be a tricky jump to make. You might need to do a few wall jumps. For this, you must succeed a DEX roll of 13. If failed, you might get caught up in the steel beam’s collision with the wall and take 10% damage.

-If log rolling a steel beam seems too complicated, you can simply scale the wall up to the platform with the door, but that might be easier said than done. To succeed in scaling the wall, you must make both a STR and DEX roll that is equal to 30 or higher.

For Shadow:
-The ceiling is collapsing upon you! To avoid getting piked by a series of metal shards, you must succeed a DEX roll of 14. Failure will result in taking 23% damage.

-There’s an itch in the back of your mind. Something’s trying to get in. You must succeed an INT roll of 12 to repress this feeling. With Black Doom around, who knows what this could be.

For Donkey Kong:
-The hook you’re hanging onto is flinging itself around wildly! To stay on, you must succeed a STR roll of 13. If not, you will be flung off this chain. You can attempt a saving throw to latch on to another line nearby, which requires a DEX roll of 14 to succeed. If both are failed, you will be smacked against the wall or the floor. Either way, you will be dealt 25% damage.

[cynda1]

QgItjfigp_1d20+4 (Shadow's initial DEX stealth roll, success!)

Shadow kept himself down glancing at Nobody, and his red eyes desperately searching for Donkey Kong. There was no sign of the big ape, and Nobody faltered so badly in his attempt to reach Shadow's location, the hedgehog winced at how much pain that must've caused the man. Shadow gritted his teeth as he looked over at the door before ducking down again as Doom's Eye finally entered the room. Shadow let out a gasp before placing his hands on the back of his head, trying to keep himself completely out of Doom's Eye's range. The red eyes of the hedgehog glanced over at the door, taking little notice of the collapsing ceiling.

p_1d20+4 (Shadow's DEX roll to avoid being seen while opening the door... success!)

As soon as the eye was looking away from Shadow's direction, the hedgehog made a dash for the door and started trying to yank the door open with the knob before ultimately backing up as far as he could, and just barely managed to ram the door open. By some miracle, Shadow wasn't spotted by any of the minions, or even Doom's Eye in the process, but y'know... that was at least one hurdle they were finally over. Now if only he could get Nobody and DK to his location...

p_1d20+1 (Shadow's STR roll to open the door... success!)

Shadow had barely managed to get the door open, so he was still on the outside of the door when he felt debris fall on his head pretty hard. The hedgehog managed to run into the door, but he was clasping the side of his head, trying to calm down the ringing in his head. In an instant, the hedgehog could feel something else creeping in the back of his mind...

p_1d20+4 (Shadow's Dodge roll... failed! Shadow is hit by the falling debris and received 23% of damage!)

Shadow took in some steady breaths to try to help himself concentrate and ignore the nagging in his head. Unfortunately the ringing in his head was just a little bit stronger, and he was still overcome by the feeling he had. Shadow clasped the sides of his head and shook his head as much as he could, but it was simply no use... the Ultimate Life Form couldn't overcome this itch.

p_1d20 (Shadow's INT roll... fail. Oh no... what happens now?)

Shadow silently waited, hoping this one slip up didn't just doom their mission all together...

---

Shadow
Health: 137/160

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