[Blade Unlimited]

B08RqW8tp_1d20+3 (Nobody's Stealth Check - Success)

p_1d20+3 (Steel Beam Dodge - Failure)

Unfortunately, Nobody's haste wasn't hasty enough as the telepathically controlled steel beam quickly closed in on him. A moment latter, the mercenary found himself painfully flatter than a pancake--briefly smooshed and flush with the ground before disorientingly popping back up to full-size seconds later. "That's gonna hurt in the morning." Nobody groaned, but nevertheless carried on.

Coming up upon the end of the road presented a new challenge. It was gonna take some fancy wall-jumps and parkouring to get to the door. From his dimensional storage, the merc quickly unfolded and tossed onto the floor a... bright purple spring! Two standing jumps and a front-flip onto the bouncy pad sent Nobody shooting up into the air and offered the perfect boost to his dexterity!

(Nobody used x1 Spring: 11% Damage, Grants +2 to DEX Jumping Challenges. | Can be thrown at opponents to inflict 11% damage, otherwise it can improve a character’s ability to jump, allowing them to reach heights like never before!)

p_1d20-1
p_1d20+5 = 31 (Wall Scaling STR+DEX Check - Success!)

Shadow didn't seem to be performing much better, but at the very least the door was open now.

"We've been made! Get the lead out!" Nobody barked at the hedgehog wavering in their psychic disorientation as he ran past. They could afford to chill and take an ibuprofen when evils of the past weren't hot on their trail!

Nobody HP: 20%/190% Shield: 0%/70% Status: RUNNING

1d20+3·1d20+3·1d20-1·1d20+5

[Mr. Game & Watch]

Nobody and Shadow managed to keep out of the line of sight of Doom’s Eye, however, Donkey Kong was not so lucky. The chains and hooks wildly flung about, causing the massive ape to lose his grip and fly through the air like the many other objects Black Doom was scattering around the room. Before he could slam into a wall and greatly injury himself, he was saved by an eerie red glow, which cradled him gently and suspended him in the air. It wasn’t so pleasant when the source of that power looked upon him with his glowing yellow eye.

With Doom’s Eye focusing on Donkey Kong, it gave the other two ample opportunity to sneak through the door without much notice. With great fury, the eye of Doom furrowed at the ape. “Worthless pest. Back to the jungle with you!” the starfish said dismissively. Following that, Donkey Kong was launched clean through the roof of the Egg Carrier and clear over the horizon, in the direction of Kongo Jungle no doubt, keeping to his word. All that remained of the ape was a twinkle in the sky, perhaps a sign that E Gadd managed to warp the time displaced Kong back to the present before he could sustain any major injuries. Regardless, Doom’s Eye returned to patrolling the room, not quite satisfied with his find.

As Shadow tore open the door, he would find a small engine room, only slightly bigger than a broom closet. It was likely one of many around the Egg Carrier that allowed access to a small portion of the mega structure’s core engine, thus the wall in front of him was barely more than a mess of pistons and wires, all weathered and seemingly functionless since the crash that took place. The room would have been as pitch black as the rest of the sky deck if it weren’t for a glowing crystal, a Chaos Emerald proudly displayed in a container on the wall that looked suspiciously like a Past Pack. Upon closer examination, it was a Past Pack, but it was half fused with the wall. How did that happen?

Looking at other sections of the wall, there were Kremling claws jutting out of it, along with a reptilian tail squirming as if it was trying to free itself. Then the muffled screams started again, the sound trapped behind many layers of thick metal. Well… this must have been the time bandit. Guess he didn’t know about the rule for not transporting inside of buildings.

Before much else could be done, the itch in the back of Shadow’s mind grew into a mind splitting tear. A rapturous migraine that nearly felt like something was growing in his brain. Then came the voice. ‘Shadow’ it crept in to the back of his mind. ‘I thought I felt your presence. Not just one of you though, but two. One inside the ship, one outside. Not clones, not androids, no not this time. Your memories tell me you’re an echo from the future. A future. A future where my presence surprises you. So it is true, my plans for this planet are destined to fail.’ Suddenly, a pulse of pain would shoot down from Shadow’s brain to his entire body, a tingling paralysis.

[Shadow: Black Doom has struck you with a mind flare and is attempting to paralyze you. You must succeed a CON check of 15 to avoid being inflicted with the paralysis status infliction.]

‘Look at you, weak. Neither your body nor your powers obey you any longer. Had you only obeyed my commands all those years ago, you would have been absolved of these issues. Your imperfect blood could have been made pure. But all that is left for you now is suffering. A perfect end for a traitor like you.’

Suddenly, the three-digit hand of Black Doom phased through the wall of the engine room, snaring around the Past Pack as it did. Soon, the rest of Black Doom’s body followed through, imposingly floating before the duo with the time machine firmly within his grasp. He looked down upon the two. “Your meddling with time has done me a great service. It has shown me what I must do to avoid my future failures. For that you should be rewarded.” Black Doom held the Past Pack up in the air, as if it were his lightning rod. In that same sense, it began to pulse with energy, ripping a hole through time and spaceas his figure quickly began to fade. “For that, I’ll allow you to live the rest of your miserable lives, as I achieve what this planet so desires. The extinction of both you and the Starvia” he boasted before fading out completely, his essence flying through the warp hole above him.

[Shadow and Nobody: Fortunately for the both of you, Black Doom’s boasting has provided you enough time to get one quick shot in before he managed to teleport away. It might not stop him, but it could certainly slow him down. You must succeed an attack roll of 14 to strike him before he fades away. However, if you roll higher than 19, you may hit the Past Pack in his hand instead, possibly breaking it while he’s in mid-jump. If Shadow fails the above CON check for the mind flare, he does not have the opportunity to strike.]

[cynda1]

Stranger’s voice managed to grab Shadow’s attention enough to snap him out of his stupor long enough for him to dash into the room the door had been previously hiding. Shadow pressed his back against the wall as he peered over, watching in shock as his other ally, Donkey Kong, was found by Doom’s Eye. The hedgehog felt himself stiffen as he continued holding himself back from acting. He clenched his fists shut as the ape was sent flying into the distance, slowly letting out a quiet sigh before lifting his head up and noticing… quite the odd spectacle before him.

There, fused with the wall, was a lizard like being, struggling for freedom. Guess you didn’t exactly have to be smart to steal one of E Gadd’s inventions, huh? However, even still, there was that nagging itch in the back of his head, and though he could tolerate it enough to function, he couldn’t completely overlook it.

Shadow took a step toward the device, and that’s when the extreme pain started. “Ugh…!” Shadow screwed his eyes shut as he cupped his head with both of his hands, completely frozen by a strange power. An infiltration attempt of his mind… he’s had something like this happen to him before, but this time it was an assault. “...Mmm…” Shadow tried to resist any urges to yell out in pain, but as Black Doom’s voice spoke into his head, he knew they were already found.

Black Doom spoke of… another Shadow being there. The hedgehog thought he’d imagined it, so he simply ignored it as someone from an alternate reality or something. However, Black Doom mentioned something about them… sharing memories. What? But… how could that be? Shadow never infiltrated a base like this one. Or… or did..?

“Gah…!” Before Shadow could even finish his thought, the hedgehog’s pain started shooting into his entire body, causing Shadow to fall to the side and almost curling into a fetal position, clutching his head and stomach as he tried with everything in his being not to let whatever Black Doom was trying to do to him succeed.

MEArBJWip_1d20 (Shadow's CON roll to avoid being paralyzed... successful!)

Shadow smirked a little when Black Doom started talking down on him. Oh yeah? Shadow thought in amusement. And what does that say about you and your monster fleet? If I’m so pathetic, then why even bother using your precious resource of power to try and bring me to my knees? I’ll tell you why, Black Doom, because even after all this time, you’re still scared of me. Because you know I’ll destroy you and your underlings again the moment I can…

And in that moment of resolution, Shadow managed to break free of the monster’s power enough to avoid too much real damage, and let out a sigh. Black Doom was quick to make an appearance, though Shadow’s eyes needed a second to adjust. The hedgehog blinked a little and turned his gaze to the evil creature who had somehow aided in the existence of his previous demise. Black Doom boasted that though his plans were destined to fail in this time, he could simply go to a time and ensure that it wouldn’t. This was brought to the hedgehog’s horrified attention when the Black Arm leader activated the device.

p_1d20+4 (Shadow uses his Dash attack to attack Black Doom directly, but it fails to knock the device out of his grimy hand. 15% damage if that even matters.)

Shadow quickly sat himself up, curling both of his hands into fists before getting to his feet, and skated at full speed directly in Black Doom's direction before jumping at him to try and reach out and grab his face. “Oh no you don't! You're not getting away from me!” Shadow yelled out before trying to get a hold of the creature's eye in particular, clearly unwilling to let go if there was even remotely a chance for the hedgehog to keep Black Doom within range. Shadow growled as he struggled to perform his attack, still quite hazy from Black Doom's previous infiltration, but allowing the alien to escape was not an option.

Black Doom is my responsibility... I won't let him get away!1d20·1d20+4

[Blade Unlimited]

Nobody was a bit underwhelmed when after all that rushing and prepping, the identity of their "time thief" turned out to be... some kind of reptilian. A reptilian so dumb they had spliced themselves into the wall with their hapless time jumping. It pays to listen to tutorials.

Before him or the hedgehog could even consider how to remove the time travel device from its position, the past pack was abruptly spirited away by the ghostly hand of Black Doom! True enough to what Shadow had mentioned, it seemed him and this black alien indeed had a history. So much of a history that the monster was seemingly ignoring the human's presence entirely in lieu of terrorizing the mentally frozen Shadow.

Big Mistake.

"First rule of 'bad-guy portal exits':" Nobody interrupted to remark before dashing towards the alien monarch.

Luckily it seemed that Shadow the Hedgehog and Nobody had similar ideas. "Watch the clock on those monologues!" He shouted before springing into the air with a forward flip, converting all of his forward momentum into a flared-out, flying side kick straight into Black Doom's chest. He didn't hit the past pack, but combined with Shadow's own assault, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that their combined attack would carry them with Black Doom through the warp hole--likely in a more painful fashion than the alien overlord intended with his exit.

HgUVrgbRp_1d20+3 (Rider Kick@Black Doom: Heavy DEX Attack; DMG 30%, -2 to 1 dodge roll next turn)

Nobody HP: 20%/190% Shield: 0%/70% Status: Taking the Advantage!

1d20+3

[Mr. Game & Watch]

In the process of Black Doom’s essence turning incorporeal, the duo of Shadow and Nobody made haste in their attempts to stop him from being absorbed into the tear in the space time continuum. It seemed that the villainous Doom under estimated the speed of either his enemies or the process of the device he had in hand. Regardless of which, it seemed he would pay dearly for this error. The sound of his grunting was the last that echoed through the engine room before the ruptured time hole collapsed in on itself, taking all three of the combatants with it.

The Kremling’s tail wiggled once more, now left alone in his suffering. He let out a small whimper and returned to silence.

In the meantime, the crew was being thrust through a wormhole of nothing but blackness and flaring blue streaks of plasma. Due to the way that Nobody dive kicked into Black Doom, he was careening dangerously through the timestream, not unlike perpetually sinking through a body of water without any way of swimming back to the surface. He would quickly be separated from the other two, losing sight of them not long after being pulled into the wormhole.

With Shadow gripped against his face, Black Doom blindly swatted at the hedgehog as they tumbled through the timestream together. It was difficult enough to try to get his bearings straight within the weightless directionless dimension, but having his traitorous creation clawing at his eye only made things worse. “You continue to disgrace your heritage, you miserable pest! I fear you like the body fears a virus. You taint and corrupt everything you touch, but you can be easily squashed when dealt with properly.”

While it seemed the two were tumbling without direction, the Past Pack was leading them in the right direction, the exact coordinates that Black Doom had entered. A new tear in the time stream opened, spitting the duo out in a violent fashion, separating them and throwing them across the ground. Black Doom tumbled across the brick tiles on the ground, coming to a halt as his back crashed against a building. His head shook and then his eye feasted upon the surroundings.

The duo was smack dab in the middle of the Life Sphere, more specifically, the Black Market district. The artificial sky was set to dusk, but the looming shadows of Eggman’s battle fleet were indistinguishable. The echoes in the distance made it sound as though there was a wide-scale war going on. The sounds of stomping feet, the war cries associated with glory charges, the clashing of weapons and fists. It was pure chaos. Wherever they ended up though, they were far enough away from the main battlefield to be unaffected, stowed away in an alley far from the commotion.

Black Doom’s body whisked itself off from the ground, a pile of scrap metal left in his wake. It seemed that during his tumble, the Past Pack was utterly destroyed, likely due to the fact that it wasn’t secured to anything. Had his departure not been so violent, it would probably still be in tact, but it mattered little, he was exactly where he wanted to be.

Suddenly, the earth quaked, the explosive ringing of a bomb echoing from the distance. Black Doom’s head turned to its sound. “Bah hah ha! Just as the reptile’s memories foretold! The day of reckoning” he proclaimed with a clenched fist. He looked down upon Shadow once more, a copy of his starfish form sprouting from his back and floating to his side to join in on the stare down. “Your destruction requires my direct attention, but fate is my stronger adversary. Bur like all, it too will bend to my whim” Black Doom stated as his body became intangible and phased through the ground. The Chaos Emerald from the Past Pack followed, but Doom’s Eye thrusted itself forward, glowing with power.

The eye of Doom’s starfish form glowed, aiming at the rooftops. The bricks from the surrounding buildings began to loosen and bust apart, causing an avalanche of debris to descend upon Shadow’s current position. “You’ve stripped me of one of the scientist’s time devices, but I can always collect the one from your corpse!”

[Debris Avalanche: Deals 25% damage. DC to dodge is 14. If dodge roll is below 7, Shadow will receive a -3 to his next dodge roll as he will be partially buried.]

Doom’s Eye floated toward the pile of rubble, a streak of red light emitting from his pupil. “Perhaps if I’m feeling merciful, I’ll return your body to whatever is left of your Starvia infested dimension.” As if it was a targeting laser, the streak of light suddenly expanded with power, releasing a pulse of concussive energy at Shadow.

[Eye Beam: Deals 20% damage. DC to dodge is 11]

HP: 120
DC to Hit: 14
Status: N/A

---

Meanwhile, back at the Samus’ laboratory. E. Gadd was pasted to several monitors, rapidly typing on two separate keyboards at once. His head whipped around rapidly until a flash of light erupted from behind him. “Oh ho ho! My dear brave monkey! My tracking signal showed you were falling at terminal velocity back there! Lucky I was able to catch you!” E. Gadd spoke merrily as his computer chair spun around. Donkey Kong would find himself exactly in the position that he initially left for the Egg Carrier from. “Don’t you worry, chum! I’ll have you back in the fight in a jiffy, just give me a-”

Before E. Gadd could finish his sentence, a sciencey bloop noise arose from his monitor. Clearly, it denoted something of great importance because the professor hastily spun back around and speedily scattered his fingers across the keyboard. “Oh ho ho! It seems our time bandit is on the move again! Oh! And our little friends followed through their time hole! Oh dear! Shadow kept a good grip on our friend, but Nobody’s fallen off course! If he’s not careful, he could end up in Li’s molten core while its still forming itself!” The mad scientist continued to type feverishly. “Let’s see… the time bandit opened a time hole into… Ah, the big Gang War! Oh, that’s understandable, I have a hard time remembering what happened with that one too!”

E. Gadd spun around once more, lifting a finger to Donkey Kong. “Keep that Past Pack strapped on, Mr. Kong! I’m sending you right into the heart of the Gang War! I don’t know what our time bandit wants there, but Nobody can fill us in!”

With that, Donkey Kong would be enveloped into the folds of the time hole and thrusted through the timestream once more.

---

The place, the main plaza of the Black Market. During most other timeframes, it would be bustling with shady businessmen and eager patrons looking for something they couldn’t acquire legally. During this time period though, it was a place of war. The rivalry between King K. Rool, Bowser, and Dr. Eggman had come to a head, a final war to decide who would become the head of the Black Market and possibly the newest Leader of the Life Sphere. Every resource and every recruit that any of the three had gathered were all in one place for one night, and it showed.

A tear opened up in the sky, a hole into the timestream that coughed up both Donkey Kong and Nobody. They landed on the rooftop overlooking the chaotic battle below, given a vantage point that allowed them to see most of the chaos as it unfolded. Hundreds of Kremlings and Koopas duking it out in the streets while a fleet of Eggman’s battleships descended onto the area. A full-scale war taking place just outside of King K. Rool’s warehouse.

The instant they were able to look upon the battle, an explosion erupted at the westward wall of the warehouse. A mushroom cloud plumed as the earth shook violently.

The Past Packs on both Nobody and Donkey Kong began to glow, a holographic projection of E. Gadd arising from the glow. He stood rather confidently, a splayed hand presenting the battlefield before them. “Welcome to the Gang Wars! The Life Sphere Leaders leave for a day and look what happens! Ho ho! Anyways, I tried to reach out to that Shadow feller, but it looks like he’s preoccupied fighting a starfish. I have a voice chat open for him, so say hello everybody! Ahem, so, it looks like Black Doom got a hold of the Past Pack and chose to come here! Well, its actually a very important point in time for him. Y’see, during all this hubbub” E Gadd gestured to the fight going on below “Black Doom planted a ‘bomb’ of sorts underneath the battlefield. This bomb isn’t the exploding kind, no, using the same technology from the Dark Cannons used in the Subspace Emissary fiasco, it’s a bomb that’s designed to send out a mass trophication pulse. I studied the remains of it, it would have trophified not only everyone in the Black Market sector, but nearly half of the Life Sphere altogether. A marvelous weapon, actually. Nobody-” E. Gadd turned his gaze to Nobody for a second “err, no one knew about it until that explosion you just witnessed exposed an underground tunnel, leading directly to the bomb. A couple of heroes went down and disabled it, and I wager he’s here to stop that from happening.”

“You’re going to have to get through…” E. Gadd looked down at the battlefield once more. “All of that to get there. You might want to find that Shadow feller too, but time’s of the essence, so maybe he’s going to have to find his own way.”

The High Road
Eggman has a full fleet in the sky for you to hop across, meaning you don’t have to worry about rushing through the mosh pit below. Taking this path means you’ll be hopping across multiple Egg Flappers until you reach Eggman’s flag ship, the Egg Viper. You’ll need to hop across three Egg Flappers, each of which will require a DEX roll of 10 or higher. You will get one saving throw, but you must succeed a DEX roll of 13 to save yourself from falling. Otherwise, you’ll end up in the Low Road during the next post rotation. If you have a Li Jetpack handy though, you can bypass all of this and position yourself where ever you want.

The Low Road
Taking the Low Road means you’ll be right in the thick of things on the battle going on below. It will be physically taxing and you could wind up in the crossfire of one of the three armies that are currently duking it out. You want to give yourself as much space as possible, so you’ll want to KO as many foes within range as possible. There’re hundreds of enemies, so you won’t run out of targets. Each enemy has a DC of 7 and has 10 HP. If you have AOE attacks and/or items with AOE effects now would be the time to use them. After you finish your attacks, make a DEX roll to determine how deep into the crowd you make it.

[PSYCH]

Having been tossed telepathically by a giant starfish, teleported not once but twice and then sent back through the space-time continuum, the great ape DK could do nothing but shrug it all off as "science stuff" to save his puny brain from short-circuiting. E. Gadd seemed to know what he was jabbering about. DK stroked his chin and nodded along as if he followed most of what the good doctor was saying. He got the important stuff: a bomb in a tunnel and the thief Black Doom who was on the other side of the big crowd trying to mess with said bomb in said tunnel. Got it.

DK gave a sniff and one final nod to E. Gadd and with that he gave Nobody a reassuring slap on the back and a couple of grunts.

<<Sorry for leaving you back there, I am here now.>> The translator said cordially. DK took a gentle hold on Nobody's shoulder and turned him back and forth, inspecting his wounds and gave a small cautious growl and a gurgle. <<You look pretty beat up. Here, take this.>> With that, the Kong took out a Food item from his personal hammerspace and offered it up to his companion. It wasn't much, but it might help ease some of his pain. [DK gives Nobody a Food item!]

SPOILER: Click to show

Food
Given that naturally grown food is a luxury in this time of despair, the food items are often times made of a food substitute that is much easier and faster to produce than the real thing. The texture of it is like a rice cake, but it tastes exactly like the real meal and fills you up like it too. They also restore health, though only a fraction and the character will only feel a difference when used in large quantities. Heals 1d3 + 2. Characters with 14 or higher Charisma gain an additional +1 to their roll and characters with 9 or less charisma suffer a -1 to their roll.

While Nobody dealt with receiving Food from a giant gorilla, DK assessed his options. He could take the high jumping route but last time he did that some metal birds spoiled his good time and he got caught. So, he decided to do some good ol' fashioned stomping instead. [DK takes the Low Road]

Before he got to stomping though, he had just the item to deal with this situation. He took out a ghastly looking Kackle Assist Trophy, activated it and launched it into the crowd with a mischievous. If there was a chance to clear a path without having to bash through, the Kong would take it. After all, his buddy was injured and looked like he couldn't take too many more hits. Besides, he was looking forward to seeing how much it creeped out such an immense amount of people. [DK uses Kackle AT]

SPOILER: Click to show

Kackle AT
This skeletal ghost strikes fear into the weakest of minds and causes most to stop dead in their tracks or run away in fear. Kackle is a large being and can dwarf many, in addition to that his ghostly body makes him invulnerable to attacks. Kackle is better used as a distraction when there are too many enemies to deal with. Due to his terrifying demeanor, he inflicts Fear into all enemies in the area should they fail to meet his 15 INT check. His presence lasts for 2 turns.

With that, he took a few steps back to get a run-up and launched himself forward curled into a ball. The rolling Kong took off in a straight line after the ethereal spectre, smashing into the crowd as a great hairy battering ram to forge a path ahead. [DK uses his remaining action to Barrel Roll his way into the crowd, dealing 14% dmg + DEX mod of +3 so 17% dmg!]
[Dex roll for making way through crowd: EbVGxawCp_1d20+3]

1d20+3

[cynda1]

4Fuxuy|Dp_1d20+4 (Shadow's attempt to dodge the Avalanche... success!)

p_1d20+4 (Shadow's attempt to dodge the Eye Beam... success!)

p_1d20+4 (Shadow used his Samurai Sword Shockwave... 22% damage, 1 turn cooldown... Success!)

p_1d20+4 (Shadow used Spin Dash! 7% damage, fail...)
p_1d20+4 (Again, fail...)

p_1d20+4 (Shadow used his Dash attack! 15% damage, lowers Doom's Eye's next dodge roll by -2 if applicable, does the same to Shadow if it misses... success!)

(Doom's Eye takes 37% of damage total!)

Shadow kept a fierce hold on Black Doom’s face as Nobody seemed to follow his lead. However, if the intention was to follow the alien leader, like the hedgehog had intended to do, then he totally missed the mark in the worst way possible. Shadow saw a glimpse of Nobody fall into an unknown spot in the time stream, but Shadow had to screw his eyes shut and duck down just to keep himself from falling. Crap… Shadow scoffed as another teammate seemed to meet another horrible fate. It was just him and Black Doom now, and… while he did want to take out the Black Arms more than anything…

...He didn’t want it to happen this way.

Shadow glared down at the alien leader intensely. Nobody and Donkey Kong were counting on him to pull his weight and be a team player, and while Shadow tried his best, it wasn’t enough. Now he had to try and defeat Black Doom by himself, which… considering he’d done that once before shouldn’t be a big challenge on paper, but now Black Doom knew better than to try and get Shadow on his side.

Black Doom knew that effort was futile probably more than anyone. And that was the main difference between then and now.

As Black Doom boasted of comparing Shadow to a virus, the hedgehog formed a smirk on his face. “Yeah?” Shadow grunted, still barely maintaining his grip on the alien’s face. “Well… y’know… maybe you should’ve thought about that before you created me…” Shadow would’ve chuckled except he was too focused on… not falling. Shadow’s eyes remained shut as he maintained his grip while also fending off Doom’s attempts to get him off his face until he found himself somewhere completely different.

Shadow was thrusted off of Black Doom’s face due to the impact of being thrown into… well, it looked like the Black Market from the Life Sphere, but… even more chaotic than it normally was. In fact, when he looked toward the barrier of the Life Sphere, he noticed the entire place was in total chaos. Shadow tried his hardest to think but… no this event didn’t at all ring any bells. You’d think Shadow would remember a chaotic event like this, but there wasn’t so much as it being familiar to him.

Of course, he remembered it being chaotic when Porky was using Claus to attack the Life Sphere, but he didn’t remember most of these people here.

Before Shadow could think more into it, Black Doom made a swift motion to get off the ground, prompting the hedgehog to push himself to his feet as well, glaring fiercely at his foe. There was that “day of reckoning” talk again. If Shadow knew anything, when that phrase left Black Doom’s voice box, it never meant anything good, but… this was in their past wasn’t it? Well… maybe Black Doom’s future, but it’s hard to imagine how the alien could’ve predicted this unless… unless he planned it.

As Black Doom continued talking, he made it obvious he was still trying to escape Shadow. The hedgehog scoffed as he tried to make chase, only to be stopped by Doom’s third eye. Shadow glared at the starfish shaped creature. “Get back here, I’m not done with you yet!” Shadow demanded, but it seemed quite obvious that the alien leader would do no such thing. Black Doom was up to something… He had to stop him somehow!

Which meant that he had to do away with Doom’s Eye quickly.

Before he could start, the eye sent an avalanche of stone in his direction, something of which he just barely managed to leapt away from to avoid being hit by the stones. Doom’s Eye approached the area, probably expecting Shadow to be stuck between the rocks, the hedgehog hearing Black Doom continue to mock Shadow before flawlessly avoiding an eye beam by leaping into the air and landing behind Doom’s eye with his sword unsheathed.

“You wanna know how you could’ve ever succeeded in your schemes, Black Doom?” Shadow smirked quite a bit. “The irony is, the only way that would’ve been possible… is if I were never born.” The hedgehog sliced the air with his sword, sending a red shockwave at the alien’s mobile eye, hitting its mark remarkably. While the eye was probably trying to recover from that blow, the black hedgehog rolled into a ball and tried to ram into him twice, missing both attempts.

Shadow then unrolled and started skating at full speed, darting around the alien’s eye before barely grabbing a hold of one of his tentacles and slamming the starfish eye first into the dirt before gaining more distance. “This distraction is your sad attempt to delay the inevitable. I’ve stopped you once, and I’ll do it again! I think you’re the one who’ll have to pray that I’m feeling merciful today…”

---

Shadow
Health: 137/160
Shield: 50/50
Status: Eager to destroy Black Doom
Cooldowns: Samurai Sword (1 turn, starting next turn)

1d20+4·1d20+4·1d20+4·1d20+4·1d20+4·1d20+4

[Blade Unlimited]

Nobody took his temporal displacement in stride. His entire arsenal had to deal with manipulating dimensional energies so it's not like he was a total fish out of water. Still, the fact that they had been completely relocated to another time period, let alone one apparently amidst a gang war, was not the greatest of hands dealt. He recognized the general landmarks of the life sphere's black market, but it was clear it wasn't quite the one he was familiar with. Warzones did some funk stuff to places.

The big ape was somehow back too, with food of all things. Nobody sniffed the rice cake-like item to check it for any obvious poisons before saying 'screw it' and taking a chomp out of the disc.

lHO8Hf8Tp_1d3+3 (Food heals 5% HP)

Since the low path was the monkey's goal, that left the high-road to him. Though since stealth was seemingly all out the window now, that meant that Nobody could finally get loud and serious. Withdrawing the Dimension Driver from his pocket, Nobody held it over his shoulder while thumbing in the activation code before placing it against the front of his abdomen.

"Henshin!" (+4 STR/DEX/CON stat buff; x2 damage received; perma-death enabled)

Mugen Rider Culturgen emerged from the flashy transformation sequence before setting a neon bug-eyed gaze on the row of egg flappers before him. "I'm taking the advantage!"

p_1d20+5 (High Road Dex Check - Success)
p_1d20+5 (^ - Success)
p_1d20+5 (^ - Success)

The first robot burst under his feet as the Rider launched himself onto the flapper. Using the explosion, Culturgen rocketed farther into the air and slid across the second before impaling his grapple-hook into the second with a well-aimed shot--using the combined momentum to swing jump off towards Eggman's flagship.

Nobody HP: 15%/210% Shield: 0%/80% Status: Mugen Rider Culturgen

1d3+3·1d20+5·1d20+5·1d20+5

[Mr. Game & Watch]

Watching the hedgehog with nimble and subtle movements, Doom’s Eye was prepared to evade his enemy at the slightest of movements. That said, speed was always Shadow’s advantage. In the blink of its mono-eye, Shadow leaped past his eye beam, receiving a rude surprise to his backside. “GRAHH!” erupted from the starfish’s body, almost vibrating from his skin. It caused the creature to stumble from the air and closer to the ground, clearly weakened by the blow.

Being caught off guard like that only strengthened the floating eye’s awareness, zipping just out of reach from Shadow’s attempted spin dashes. “You’ve inherited too much foolhardy arrogance from that blue pest” he boasted as he nimbly spun out of harm’s way from the hedgehog’s second spin dash. “But it is rooted in some truth. You have always been my rotted seed. Corrupted by heroic nonsense from that meek little girl.”

After the final spin dash, Doom’s Eye searched the premises for where the black hedgehog had skirted off to, only to be grabbed by the tentacle unawares and dragged across the pavement. He seethed in rage as his skin skidded against the harsh ground, his slippery body freeing itself from Shadow’s grip with a bit of time and tugging. “In your vain antagonism, it will be you that dooms not only this reality, but all realities to the whims of the Starvia” Doom’s Eye spouted as it raised itself skyward.

At the peak of his height, his eye glowed once more, a sort of laser sight touching the ground then expanding to a large circle around Shadow. In that instant, the pavement split into jagged rock, piercing upward to jab at Shadow. Whether the attack landed or not, the area would reduce to rubble, revealing a tunnel underneath the ground.

[Jagged Path: Deals 20% damage. Has a 20% chance to inflict Mortal Wound. DC to dodge is 13.]

“The Black Arm’s genetic perfection is the only weapon that can stave off the Starvia! The Life Sphere’s population is the only biomass large enough to brood an army fit for victory! You will have it undone, and you will cause the universe to perish!” the vibrating starfish bellowed as its eye laser struck a building behind Shadow. In the span of a few seconds, the entire building glowed the same red colour. Like he had lassoed the building, Doom’s Eye was tugging backward, heaving with all his might. The towering structure shifted, then suddenly, the whole thing was tilting. The entire building was rumbling down, the entire mass of it toppling over the space where Shadow last stood. “I will not allow it!” he called out with the crashing of the building.

[Drop-a-Building: Deals 40% damage if caught underneath the main mass. DC to dodge is 10. The scattering rubble will deal 23% damage (only applicable if the main mass was dodged). DC to dodge is 15.]

The building crashed with a thunderous thud, the very earth trembling from its sheer weight and size. Once the laser’s connection was severed from the building, it quickly reduced to an incoherent mass of rubble. What it once was had become indistinguishable.

Moving such an object with this form’s limited capabilities seemed to have taken a toll on the starfish’s physical form, the creature looking as if it was hyperventilating. A glow surrounded Doom’s Eye, a pulsating power that perhaps could no longer be contained within.

[Doom’s Eye’s DC to hit has been reduced to 10 for the following attack only.]

HP: 83
DC to Hit: 14
Status: N/A

---

Deep within the frontlines, where Koopa clashed with Kremling in a chaotic mosh pit of sorts, Donkey Kong touched down with a dramatic cloud of dust arising from underfoot. For obvious reasons, it caught the attention of the scale bellied reptiles, most brushing off their opponents so that they could brandish their blades, skimming their leathery fingers across the edge as they grew a sinister grimace. The great ape had caused them so much grief in their past, now he was surrounded by hundred of them. There was no possible way he could succeed. Even if they lost on this day, they could regale over the defeat of their greatest adversary.

As the lot encroached on Donkey Kong, he pulled a dome like bauble out of hammer space, casting it to the sky. The crocs encroached unintimidated, that is, until a massive figure erupted from the Assist Trophy. The skeletal frame of the ghost pirate swirled up from the erupting light, a menacing cackle radiating from his being.

Amidst their stride, the rampaging Kremlings skidded at their heels. “Kackle!?” one of them shouted in confusion. The ghost pirate raised his skeletal arms, unhinging his jaw in the same motion, and released a bellowing roar. The Kremlings’ eyes became the size of saucers as they turned tail and scattered. “He has the touch of death!” one screamed in horror. “Since when was he part of the DK Crew!?” another hollered. “Shut up and run if you value your life!”

The skeletal ghost continued its haunt of the battlefield, stampeding forward through the sea of armies, parting them like he was some holy figure. If Donkey Kong wanted a good, clean path forward, that’s exactly what he got. Barreling Rolling his way forward, anyone who was too dense to flee from Kackle’s sight was trampled over by the great ape.

King K. Rool’s warehouse was within sight, however, there was something strange about its wooden walls. They expanded and stretched, like an egg about to burst. The tension swelled until the entire warehouse burst into splinters, scattering across the battlefield. Kremlings, Koopas, and Egg Pawns all fled from the scene, in terror of a possible super weapon. What stepped out from the dust was something much greater. King Krusha K. Rool.

The rotund reptile had somehow grown to a size of titanic scale, rising above skyscrapers as he dusted his shoulders off. The Kremlings in the crowd ceased their retreating cowardice, turning to look upon their king and raising their fists in a cheer. K. Rool slapped his boxing gloves together, raising his hands victoriously. “Thank you, thank you!” he blustered with his gigantic sized baritone voice. As a show of his newly bestowed power, he stomped his foot forward, a shockwave of seismic proportion scattering the stray Koopas and Egg Bots into the air.

The beastly lizard laughed in mirth, though as his massive bloodshot eye scanned the battlefield, he noticed a familiar face, a dastardly grin growing on his face. “Lookie here, lookie here, look what I got, don’t think I won’t make little DK drop!” he boasted as he wound back his meteoric fist. When it released, it was like a freight train chugging toward the earth, all of that force and motion focused onto where Donkey Kong stood.

[King Krusha K. Rool’s Meteor Mash: deals 35% damage. DC to dodge is 13]

DC to Hit: 12

---

After successfully rebounding off the destroyed Egg Flappers, Nobody would find himself atop the roof of the Egg Viper, the menacing machine being at the highest point of the battlefield, a useful vantage point. All the skirmishes below were like a trio of ant colonies waring over a single territory. Before him, he would see the massive King K. Rool emerging from his den, though, to his right, should he turn his attention away from the rotund reptile, he would notice that one of the buildings in the distance was glowing with a familiar red energy, like the steel beams he was threatened to be flatten by back in the derelict Egg Carrier. Much like those steel beams, the entire building collapsed forward. Three guesses as to who might be over there. It would be a simple task to drop down and parkour his way across the rooftops, but, then again, there was also a giant lizard right in front of him that might need to be dealt with.

Regardless, it seemed that the clashing of metal to metal drew the attention of the pilot of the Egg Viper. “No way, I can’t believe this!” his muffled voice hollered from within the cockpit. “He’s not gonna get away with this!” he added as a steam released from the two spin top-like objects as they disconnected from the body of the viper. They floated up, taking to either side of the flagship’s roof. They begun to spin with deadly force, launching toward one another, with Nobody in the middle of it all.

[Spin Top of DOOM 1: deals 15% damage. DC to dodge is 11]
[Spin Top of DOOM 2: deals 15% damage. DC to dodge is 11. If the previous spin top has hit, this attack will deal 5% more damage and DC to dodge will be increased to 15]

With the spin tops removed from the side of the Egg Viper, it certainly looked a lot more vulnerable than it had previously. A couple of well-placed strikes could puncture the side, cracking the egg open if you will. An underhanded rider could commandeer this aircraft for their own purposes. That could be time best spent helping his allies instead, but hey, the Egg Viper could have enough fire power to deal with any foe with ease, should Nobody be able to figure out how to pilot it.

[The Egg Viper will need to take a collective of 30% damage before its hide can be properly punctured. How you deal with the Eggman inside is up to you.]

DC to Hit: 9

Tags: PSYCH

[cynda1]

kTYJESwvp_1d20+4 (Shadow's attempt to dodge Doom's Eye's Jagged Path... Failed... Shadow received 20% damage.)

p_1d100 (But he didn't get mortally wounded.)

p_1d20+4 (Shadow used his spin counter on the falling building! If successful, the attack will do 1.5x the amount of damage intended for Shadow onto Doom's Eye... successfully dodged! Doom's Eye will receive 60% damage if something isn't done about it.)

(Shadow uses his shield on the falling debris: 50-10-23=17.)

p_1d20+4 (Shadow used his Omochao Gun! 23% damage, 3 turn cooldown... Critical hit!)
p_1d20+4 (Omochao Gun's Crit check!)

The black hedgehog smirked at Doom’s Eye’s remarks, though perhaps more so for the damage the starfish had received than anything else. “We can agree to disagree about that,” Shadow scoffed at yet another poke at how Sonic and Shadow were similar. “Still leagues better than being compared to you, at least. And is it really "foolhardy arrogance" when I’m winning?” The smirk on the black hedgehog’s face instantly fell the moment Doom’s Eye started talking about a certain “meek girl” forming a fierce glare in its place. “I know what you use Maria for,” Shadow spat. “It won’t work anymore, so might as well keep her out of this.”

Doom’s Eye then started talking about Shadow being the one to “doom all realities to the whims of Starvia”. Despite Shadow’s instincts to ignore that, Shadow took pause and had to wonder out loud. “...What do you mean?” He knew it was probably a trick. That was all that Black Doom ever did was twist the truth to try and fool Shadow, but there always seemed to be a grain of truth to what Black Doom said. He couldn’t completely disregard it even if he wanted to.

Before Shadow could get an answer, Doom’s Eye shot out lasers all around Shadow, causing jagged rocks to pierce through the ground. Shadow tried to avoid them, but barely missed one that got him on the arm. “Gah!” Shadow grunted before snarling at the starfish, growling at the alien leader’s eye in frustration. If Shadow had gotten hit in the side or the leg, it might’ve been a lot worse than it turned out. It was only after this when Doom’s Eye continued his explanation.

Doom claimed that the Black Arm had “genetic perfection” and that it was the only true weapon that could fend off Starvia. The black hedgehog scoffed and balled his hands up into fists. That sounded… familiar somehow. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he’d… heard Black Doom say that before…

“The Black Arms have the purest DNA, we cannot be infected by these creatures’ pathetic parasites.”

...Wait, when did Black Doom ever say that? Shadow’s head was starting to hurt again, but he managed to gather himself again to focus on the matter at hand. He could worry about… whatever that was later. Right now Shadow had to address this nonsense. “You keep making the same mistakes, Black Doom,” Shadow argued with a scowl. “We both know you only care about your own army. The rest of the universe is nothing but a tool for whatever your twisted ambitions are. Your insistence in underestimating everyone around you is going to get you destroyed again, just like when you underestimated me back on Earth.”

Shadow straightened himself out staring down the starfish. “Believe it or not, I don’t blame you for underestimating them, for I’ve made the same mistake in the past,” Doom’s Eye knocked over a building, and Shadow stood his ground as he glared down the impossible odds. Odds much like the ones he’d always faced in the past… odds just like this one that the hedgehog had overcome each and every time. “But just like me,” The black hedgehog then rolled up into a ball and started rolling as fast as he possibly could, kicking up enough wind and pressure to push the building down away from Shadow and right at Doom’s Eye. “They’re a lot tougher than they seem.”

As another piece of debris fell at the black hedgehog, he formed a shield around himself just before it made impact, shattering the rubble to pieces. Doom’s Eye had no doubt sustained some serious damage by now, so Shadow brought out his Omochao Gun and held it in both hands. “I’m finishing this.” Shadow quietly stated before aiming the weapon at Doom’s Eye and firing the laser bullet at Doom’s Eye before taking a step forward to see if the eye was finished.

There was something strange about this whole situation… Why would Black Doom send his eye to fend Shadow off? Wasn’t his eye his weak point? Whatever the case, as soon as he was certain this was finished, he was going to go off after Black Doom and stop him before he could start anything.

---

Shadow
Health: 117/160
Shield: 17/50
Status: Eager to confront Black Doom.
Cooldowns: Omochao Gun (3 turns starting next turn); Spin Counter (3 turns starting next turn); Samurai Sword (1);

1d20+4·1d100·1d20+4·1d20+4·1d20+4

[Blade Unlimited]

vY|SY|Pnp_1d20+5 (Spin Top Dodge - Success)
p_1d20+5 (Spin Top Dodge - Success)

"Sorry mate, but I already have!" Nobody jeered back at the dismayed Eggman while deftly maneuvering out of the path of the spinning doom tops despite the limited space for mobility. Now that those immediate threats were out of the picture, he just had to find a way inside of the interesting death machine ship the Rider found himself upon. The cockpit definitely looked sturdy, protected with a reinforced casing. No doubt it was hedgehog proof: But was it Rider proof?

A couple of well-placed strikes would no doubt puncture the hull.

p_1d20+5 (Rider Punch@Egg Viper: DMG 30%, -2 to 1 dodge roll next turn)

He only needed one.

"Get a load of this!" Was all the warning that the doctor would get before the mugen rider drew his fist back, cloaking it in miasmic yellow energy before slamming it straight into the window of the Egg-Viper--exposing its pilot to the open air. Leaping over the side, his arm flared up to snag the corner of the Egg Viper's top to angle back into the vessel's side and slam right into the hole; no doubt widening it upon entry and possibly hitting Eggman himself on the way in.

p_1d20+5 (Rider Kick@Egg Viper: DMG 30%, -2 to 1 dodge roll next turn)

"Now..." Nobody had no idea how this machine controlled and he wasn't some super genius hackerman that could figure it out at the drop of a dime either. So, he took the most efficient (and fun) approach to making the robot do a thing: Pressing and pulling every god damn button and lever in sight. "How about we see what this puppy here can do!?"

Nobody HP: 15%/210% Shield: 0%/80% Status: Mugen Rider Culturgen

1d20+5·1d20+5·1d20+5·1d20+5

[PSYCH]

Donkey Kong 

HP 180/180

Shield 65/65

Status: Thrown off by a giant boss stomp

...Crud. DK had been trying to regain his balance after the colossal lizard shockwave stomp had thrown everyone in the near vicinity away with its sheer force. The Kong had managed to avoid the worst of the earth-rumbling stomp's devastation, but K.Rool's follow-up punch was coming in too fast to dodge. DK put his arms up to form a guard against the incoming hit...

Wham, it collided with DK's bubble shield which formed in front of the ape's large form as he put his guard up to take the hit. The energy shield took the force of it so that DK managed to stand his ground, but the ethereal barrier took a lot of damage as a result. The glowing sheen of the bubble cracked with distinctive point of impact from Krusha K.Rool's fist.

[DK's shield goes down to 30%]

...but the momentum of K.Rool's huge YOLO punch brought the giant Kremlin boxer over-extending close enough for some retaliation. DK lowered his arms, the damaged shield dissipating, as the Kong took full advantage of his enemy's lack of balance, leaping up onto the offending boxer's enormous glove and clambering up K.Rool's trunk-like arm as it retracted. The big gorilla rode up with the arm and leapt forward to deliver a few punches of his own to K'Rool's face and upper body. (DK goes for Gorilla Combat punches x3)

ZMSoCJJop_1d20 + 3 (MISS!)
p_1d20+3 (BOOM! 19% damage!)
p_1d20+3 (POW! 19% damage!)

Donkey Kong

HP 180/180

Shield 30/65

Status: Throwing hands

Tags: Mr. Game & Watch

1d20·1d20 + 3·1d20+3·1d20+3

[Mr. Game & Watch]

The body of Doom’s Eye continued to pulsate, as if the overexertion it was experiencing was leading its body to overload with chaotic power. His eye seethed, bulging as if it was past its breaking point. That said, it remained vigilant, watching as Shadow attempted to dodge his onslaught of attacks. “Peh, you must be an arrogant fool to think that your ‘win’ against my scouting eye is something to take pride in. Do you think I’m not already securing my victory while…”

Before the floating starfish could continue to boast about how everything was going according to plan, something most assuredly went awry. Just as the massive building was tumbling down upon the black hedgehog, he curled up into a ball and began revving. One would have assumed he was doing his best to get out of dodge, but instead it summoned a torrent of wind and energy, enough to cease the fall of the structure and redirect its descent. And just like that, the shadow of the building enveloped Doom’s Eye, his gaze turning to one of disbelief. “What?” he bellowed in disbelief before the avalanche of rubble buried him.

A thunderous crash followed the destruction of the building, littering the alley way with nothing but jagged edges of concrete and splinters of wood. A small section of the rubble began to vibrate, soon glowing with power before another clustered blast of red arose. It cleared a small circle of rubble, enough to reveal the battered and bruised body of Doom’s Eye. He clearly still had a bit of life left in him, however, he was pinned down like an ion butterfly. Nothing he couldn’t have broken himself free of, assuming he was allowed the time to. Shadow, however, wasn’t willing to give him that inch of time. With his Omochao gun pointed directly at his titular eye, he was clearly facing down his end.

Doom’s Eye let out his signature bellowing laugh. “Shadow… Your perceptions are twisted. The universe is not my tool, I am its salvation. The antivirus to the pests and pathogens it unwittingly creates. Its answer to lifeforms that have become unwieldly. The Starvia is the natural evolution of life and its cancerous ways. It will always come to this, and I will always be there to stop it.” The creature’s eye rolled back just before Shadow pulled the trigger.

With a clack of the Omochao gun and a spurt from the starfish’s body, Doom’s Eye had certainly and without doubt met its end. Before the hedgehog could muse over the corpse of Doom’s seeing eye, a massive rumbling arose from the distance. A thunderous tremor arising from the battlefield not too far from Shadow’s position.

---

Ever the confident crocodile, King K. Rool put all that he had into that one punch against his comparatively small adversary. Unfortunately, such a blow would be his own undoing. A wicked smile was cracked across his face, until his boxing glove struck the king of kongs. As if he slammed his fist against a titanium fire hydrant, his entire body stiffened, his knuckles audibly cracking for those even miles away to hear. His eyes welled for a minute, ready to cry out in anguish.

Taking advantage of the tyrant reptile’s paralyzed state, Donkey Kong raced up the length of K Rool’s arm. The rolling ape was so quick in his action that his adversary only noticed the impending doom when it was already in his face. K Rool lurched back quickly, the fear in his eyes diminishing when the ape’s first swing sailed right passed his snout, completely missing. The reptile began to chuckle, his arrogant persona taking kind to the gorilla’s folly. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t have the time to follow that up with a full belly laugh.

Donkey Kong first strike might have been a whiff, but the following two hit their mark, smashing King K Rool’s left cheek and then his right jaw. The tyrant’s feet fumbled, his head reeling back again once more. He continued to wobble on his feet, head looking a bit dizzy, until he fell on his rump, a titanic quake following the puffs of ash and dust. His back fell flat to the ground.

The crowd gathered around, the kremlings shouting in unison “One! Two! Thr-”

“Enough with the countdown, you buffoons!” he hollered as he slammed his gloved fist against the ground. Enraged, the boxing king quickly pulled himself back into his seating position. “They don’t call me King Krusha K Rool for nothing!” he boasted as he slammed his boxing gloves together.

---

Blinking error messages consumed the screen of the Egg Viper, the Eggman inside it frantically working his hands away as if he was a robot in a packaging plant. “Oh no, my power is going down!” he proclaimed as he frantically fused about. He turned to the cockpit as he heard the sound of a sudden thump. Before he could even take notice of the masked rider, the glass hull was suddenly shattered and Nobody’s foot lead the charge. It slammed right against the good doctor’s collar bone, causing his whole head to pop off like a jack-in-the-box.

The sudden exposed winds caused Eggman’s head to fly off into the distance, all while it continued to laugh heartily. “Hoo hah hah! See if you can make thr-“ the doctor’s grainy quickly disappeared into the cacophony of noise. The remainder of Eggman’s body was left flaccid in its seat, the sparking wires at his neck joint giving away his deception. Figures, it was just a dummy.

Where the real Eggman was didn’t seem to be a particularly bothersome question at the moment. No, instead Nobody did what he did best, pressing all the buttons available on the Egg Viper’s console. The chaotic flurry caused the entire ship to jerk around violently, like it was a mechanical bull. The ‘eyes’ on the machine blinked like it was a car’s headlights, the spin tops that had previously tried to strike the masked rider descended on the battlefield below, cruising through the hordes of armies below. Lasers from the tail of the Viper blasted in every which direction, causing a rave-like light show in the sky. Lastly though, the main cannon housed at the front of the machine began to charge, a ball of pure chaotic energy forming at the tip.

As King K Rool slapped his boxing gloves together, he was prepared to go for round two with his sworn adversary. With a confidence in his brow and a toothy grin on his face, King K Rool whirled his arm back, charging up his next strike. Before he could get even a step closer to Donkey Kong though, the charged ball of energy was unleashed from the Egg Viper’s main cannon. It was flung straight across the battlefield, being only so much as a twinkle in the corner of K Rool’s bloodshot eye before it smacked him in the chest. Upon impact it released a billowing explosion, the shockwave of which knocked the tyrant king off his feet once more, this time though, it dug him into the ground, a craterous gorge forming around his bodice.

The body of the Egg Viper was then covered in static, the machine suddenly losing altitude. It seemed that putting all systems at full power was more than the battleship could handle, especially with the damage it had received. Might be a good time for a flashy retreat.

In the meantime, the crowds of people that had once gathered to watch the fight between the titanic King K Rool and relatively small Donkey Kong decided it was best to turn tail and run. The rim of the crater revealed the jagged edges of the street, and with that, large cracks and crevasses that led to the underground. A series of tunnels and sewer systems underneath the surface level of the Life Sphere. From the shadows of these faults in the ground arose a pair of radiant yellow eyes. Not just one, but a series of them sparking into vision.

The holographic image of E Gadd arose over Donkey Kong’s shoulder. “Ho ho ho! Good show my furry friend! I see you made your own way into the underground!” he announced with a gasping glee.

A familiar whooping cry arose from the dark cracks in the pavement. Suddenly, like a flurry of drones exiting an ant hill, a legion of the Black Arms aliens came scurrying out from the woodwork. In droves, they chased after the fleeing Kremlings and Koopas with a ravenous gate to their sprint. It wouldn’t be long before it was tooth and claw clashing against one another. A seemingly fourth faction to this gang war, however, it seemed that the thugs that had originally come to fight each other were working together, ever so subtly.

The holographic E Gadd was suddenly over everyone’s shoulder, projecting out from the Past Pack. “You really kicked the hornet’s nest now! Oh ho ho! They’re all running around like chickens with their heads cut off! That’s good for us though, go against the tide and they might not even notice us going in” he relayed to Donkey Kong and Nobody.

“Follow the tremors, old chum. Without that Past Pack, I can’t track the movements of your doomy and gloomy friend, but if my best guess is worth anything, he’ll definitely be trying to secure that bomb of his that he planted underneath the Life Sphere all those years ago. It was the deciding factor in his victory over enslaving us all” he informed Shadow.

“Oh, and one more thing about that bomb. Some of your fellow adventurers just came back from their respective time warps with their Starvia strands. We’re pumping a few test runs on this cure and I just released something about that bomb’s design. Due to the unique integration of the Dark Cannon technology, I believe I could retool it to work in our favour. In theory, I could kajigger the device to trophify the infected, lock them in that state while the cure does its thing, and release them once the infection has been purged from their systems. In other words, I’d like for you to bring me that bomb back intact. So long as the countdown’s within ten seconds, I’ll have no problem disarming it!” he announced excitedly to all three of the adventurers.

[TAGS: PSYCH ]

[cynda1]

“Oh yeah?” Shadow said, confidence lacing his voice as he felt the corner of his mouth twitch upward upon Doom’s Eye announcing he’d “always be there to stop it”. His mouth then relaxed. The black hedgehog had already pulled the trigger of his gun at this point as he glared down at the eye that he’d just defeated. Well, I guess I’ll always have to be there to stop you, then. With that resolve, the black hedgehog’s attention turned to the trembling of the earth in the distance.

“Don’t run away Black Doom! State your business!”

Shadow’s thought process was suddenly halted from hearing his own voice shout at Black Doom. The hedgehog’s eyes sealed shut as he grabbed a hold of both sides of his head, and it seemed as though this… whatever it was wouldn’t allow Shadow to ignore it any longer. Instead of pure blackness, Shadow suddenly found himself back in Eggman’s old ship… although he now remembered it being his base! Unfortunately for Shadow, much of his confusion still wasn’t resolved. These images and the words he could remember being said… and the people there were all choppy and the pieces were still too hard to put together.

What made it even more confusing was these didn’t take place in the same place at the same time. He remembered seeing an aurora somewhere… an aurora! When did that happen?! Was that the same event? The place looked completely different though!

Before the hedgehog could completely comprehend what was happening, the sound of a familiar chuckling snapped him out of his thoughts. Shadow struggled to understand what it was he had just seen, so he struggled to even comprehend what the professor was saying to him for the most part. However, when he talked about where “he” could be, the hedgehog caught himself. Black Doom… if it was even possible… the alien leader had somehow earned even more of Shadow’s ire. “Then that’s where I’m going,” Shadow stated simply as he immediately started making his way toward Doom’s presumed location. “He’s not getting away again.”

He let the Professor continue talking, but he stubbornly kept his face and forward motion toward the tremors. He said that other groups had already made it back. That was good in his book. After all, that meant that the other groups were safe and sound, even if they were the only ones holding everyone up now. “Bring the bomb back with at least ten seconds to detination, got it.” Shadow simply said before letting his jet shoes push him toward the tremors, moving in a skating motion as he quickly brought himself up to sound breaking speed.

Black Doom wasn’t going to get away from him again…

[PSYCH]

Donkey Kong looked back at the Egg Viper quickly losing power and could just about make out Nobody up in the cockpit. He gave his new buddy a whooping cheer, a winning smile of gleaming white teeth and a big thumbs up. Sure, he kinda robbed the Kong vs Krusha fight but hey, that cannon shot was pretty cool to watch and at least it wasn’t DK blasted into the ground.

The gorilla flinched as a projection of E Gadd once again appeared at his shoulder without warning. The jabbering doctor congratulated him for getting some punches in on K.Rool and DK grunted with pride and drummed a beat on his chest. Then E Gadd started going on about hornets and chickens so DK let him flap his gums for a while. (He used to do the same with Kranky back in the treehouse seeing as it was either that or getting bopped on the head with a walking stick.)

DK signalled over to Nobody to follow as he made a beeline towards the crater, muscling his way past the Kremlings and Koopas attempting to coordinate against the Black Arms swarm. Anyone looking to get in his way was barged or tossed towards their nearest enemy to keep them busy. DK was a little worried for Nobody attempting to make his own path out of the aircraft and down to the underground so once he got to the mouth of the crater the big ape prepped a ripe Orange Grenade in his hand to punch a hole in the crowd if anyone tried to block Nobody.

[TAGS: Blade Unlimited ]