Sheik had earned herself an impressive victory over the malevolent Metal Sonic, and with his begrudging acceptance of his situation he accompanied Sheik and Kirby as the pair continued their journey north before having to head east. Sheik knew that she was to be on constant watch of their surroundings, as now that they were finally exploring deeper into the new world, they could be ambushed by one of Galeem's forces at any moment. Not long after the group's departure, they came upon a fork in the road, with one path leading up north while the other took them further eastward, and Sheik could cleanly make out each hostile spirit that would bar their path no matter where they went next.

"The path up ahead is obscured by Galeem's clouds of light," Sheik noted. "We defeat the spirit up ahead then we'll gain access to more of this world."

'Why take that path?' Metal Sonic inquired. 'That road will not take us to Galeem sooner than the high road. We should make haste and eliminate Galeem as soon as possible.'

"While that is true to an extent, it would not be wise to march straight into enemy territory unprepared. We could stand to rescue other lost spirits and fighters who could aid us."

'Are we truly so weak as to rely on an army of weaker lifeforms? You are a powerful Sheikah warrior, Princess, and you should know as well as I do that what matters most in the end is a core team of powerful and shrewd units.'

"You forget that it's not just a matter of defeating Galeem as soon as possible; we must also rescue our captive friends to free—"

'"Friends"? I have no such thing as "friends". Friends are for those who are too dependent on the strength of others. I need only my own strength and cunning to accomplish my goals, and if you are so concerned with rescuing your "friends" then you may leave me out of this fool's errand.'

"You would rather aimlessly wander about as a disembodied spirit then even attempt to contribute to a cause greater than yourself?" Sheik was making it very clear that she would tolerate Metal Sonic's abstinence on the matter, and the Guardian Stalker glared at the malicious machine in kind while Kirby looked on unsure of what to say.

'Greater than me? Ha! There is nothing greater than me; Galeem only managed to best me in a cowardly surprise attack, and when I see that pretentious prick again I will—'

"Lose. Miserably."

'What? You dare—'

"You are a spirit. Without a physical vessel to combat Galeem with, you stand absolutely no chance of any victory. And before you run off on another tirade, I shall remind you that you can and will be captured once again unless you stick with us. You are right on some level about us needing to hurry on and defeat Galeem, so you do not have long to make your choice since I have already made mine: Kirby and I will rescue our fellow captors, with or without you. If you believe that you can accomplish anything without us, then be my guest and do as you wish." Metal Sonic was steaming at how impudent this Hylian was being with him; he could trample her and anything else that stood in his way a thousand times over, and yet she still felt the illogical need to backtalk him of all people. He was about to tell her off in kind and depart on his own to exact his vengeance upon Galeem, but Sheik was ultimately right about his situation; no matter how badly he wanted to, without a physical form he could only go from place to place in the hopes that there was an abandoned shell left behind for him to claim, and the odds of that were near nonexistent if his prior battle against Sheik was any indication. Thus, he found himself slowly but surely relenting to the princess's words.

'…Hmph. Very well then, we'll do this your way "Sheik", and if—or rather when this decision proves disastrous, it will be on your head. No pressure.' While Sheik was fiercely scowling at the robot for his snide remarks, she chose to ignore them and instead led the four of them onward to face their next obstacle. Right before the blinding clouds sat a trio of a false Dr. Mario, Wario, and R.O.B., the three of them apparently dancing to a song along the lines of "Mike E." and "Karaoke" from their boombox. Apparently the spirit—renowned roboticist Dr. Crygor of WarioWare Inc.—hadn't exactly gotten the memo of being on the lookout for Galeem's enemies. About to take advantage of the situation, Sheik quietly motioned for the others to sneak into the surrounding bushes with her.

"Good, they seem distracted enough," Sheik whispered. "Now we would only need to catch them by surprise and we'd have freed another of our allies." As they watched the trio dance, Kirby took note of the false Dr. Mario's peculiarity; it's aura possessed a stronger pulse from the ones exhibited by the false Wario and R.O.B., and the false Dr. Mario was mimicking the spirit's movements exactly unlike the other two who were awkwardly doing their best. It seemed like the spirit of Dr. Crygor was housed in the body of the false Dr. Mario; Kirby voiced his observations to Sheik who went to make notes of it herself.

"I see. Under this assumption, if we were to take out the false Dr. Mario, we would free the spirit without having to engage the other two. In that case, we should take him out as fast as we can. Metal Sonic, was it?"

'Yes.'

"Kirby will require your speed to help him keep up with me in this. Will you lend it to him?"

'If only to end this farce sooner.'

"Glad to see that we understand each other perfectly." Without waiting for further instruction, Metal Sonic condensed his spiritual form and flew into Kirby's body, filling the star warrior with his power. Instantly he could feel his strength rising, and his tiny little feet felt like they could run a hundred miles per hour. However, he could also feel the killer intent within Metal Sonic's soul, not unlike that of the supercomputer Star Dream; Kirby did his best to ignore the overwhelming evil the spirit radiated and looked to Sheik for further instruction. Before they did anything next, Sheik had them both leave the immediate vicinity of the hostile spirits to enact the next phase of her plan.

"Now that you have Metal Sonic's power coursing through you, you will be able to more quickly dispatch your foes. I do have one last inquiry: do you think you can copy my ability?" That was a weird question for Sheik to ask Kirby, but he didn't need to think twice about the matter—nodding his head in confirmation. "Good. I want you to try inhaling me right now so you can copy my powers. I have a hunch that it will come in handy."

While Kirby did question the intent behind the request, it was not for long and he did as he was asked. Revving his little feet up and jumping forward, Kirby took a huge breath to suck Sheik inside of him. Though she initially resisted out of instinct from their sparring sessions, Sheik was quick to let go and allow herself to be inhaled by Kirby. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the familiar void that seemed to stretch on for eternity—filled with all manner of matter that never seemed to change no matter how long the objects seemed to sit up inside Kirby. Eventually she was dragged further into a light opposite of the one she started closer to, and when she reached it everything whited out for her. When it died down, she was standing right behind Kirby whose appearance had changed just like she had predicted: instead of the turban Kirby would have been expected to wear, there was a maroon kabuto helmet with a violet plume on the top and a cape at the back on his head instead, and underneath it draped a skullcap which sat over the concealed kunai and shuriken at Kirby's sides, and a ninjato was sheathed at the back of the helmet. Kirby's skin had also turned into a light shade of lavender with maroon cheeks and feet, and it took Kirby a while to realize the change his body had just undergone, and Sheik marveled at Kirby's new form.

'So this is the full extent of Kirby's ninjutsu abilities…' Sheik thought to herself. While this did stoke a small spark of excitement in her to have another equivalent shadow warrior to test her abilities against, there was business to attend to. Motioning at Kirby to follow, she led the star warrior back to the bushes where they would pounce on their prey.

'What nonsense are you plotting this time?' Metal Sonic asked.

"According to Kirby's analysis," Sheik began, "the false Dr. Mario is the main body that the spirit is controlling. If we defeat that body, the other two should cease functioning."

'And how exactly do you plan to accomplish this?'

"Observe." In a single hand was the last of a specialized Deku Nut grenade attached to the end of her chain, while the other hand held three paralytic bo shuriken, and Kirby had his had at the hilt of his ninjato steadily unsheathing it. When Sheik found the opening she needed, she quickly tossed her Deku Nut grenade into the midst of the trio and pulled at the pin just before throwing her paralyzing bo shuriken at the exposed neck of the false Dr. Mario. Before the other two false fighters could react the burst grenade went off, disorienting the fighters with a bright flash of light before filling the area with multicolored smoke.

"I will keep the false Wario and R.O.B. occupied," Sheik instructed. "You deal with the false Dr. Mario." Nodding, Kirby dashed off into the cloud of smoke along with Sheik. Despite their own vision being somewhat clouded by the smoke, Sheik and Kirby could still make out the forms of their targets well enough and went to work on dispatching them. Sheik was quick in misleading the R.O.B. and Wario of her whereabouts in the plume of smoke, throwing her shuriken in each other's direction where they would end up running into each other to fight who they thought was their assailant. Kirby was just as skilled at misdirecting Dr. Crygor, tossing kunai daggers at him every other moment from various spots within the smokescreen. Soon the colored smoke's intensity was dying down, and the two assassins knew that they needed to finish the fight right then and there; after Sheik had left the false Wario and R.O.B. to each other, she went to gang up on the false Dr. Mario with Kirby, working as best as she could to synchronize her attacks with Kirby's to overwhelm Dr. Crygor with damaging techniques.

Eventually, the colored smoke had died off completely, finally allowing Dr. Crygor to see just exactly what was going on; the false Wario and R.O.B. bodies were fighting each other in a blind haze while being so thoroughly worn down, yet the attackers were still nowhere to be seen. This was absolutely frustrating for the good doctor; had he been in his original body he would have certainly caught the perpetrators by now—his cyborg senses completely gone thanks to being trapped in a fully organic vessel. Before he could gripe more, he found himself quickly snatched up from behind—his arms awkwardly held out in a chokehold, and the next thing he felt was a sharp blade furiously tearing into him. While he was eventually let go, it was only so that he could suffer another torrent of invisible sword strikes, forcing his back up against the blinding clouds. Blood was pouring out of him like a water balloon poked full of holes, and the pain had forced his eyes shut. When he opened them one last time, he finally caught the briefest glimpse of two warriors armed with swords and knives running toward him at full speed, and it was just that: a brief glimpse. Sheik and Kirby landed one final blow on him and launched him screaming straight into the clouds of light until his voice could be heard no longer. The false Wario and R.O.B.'s bodies had suddenly stiffened up and remained motionless for a few seconds before their eye lights went out, and their bodies collapsed lifelessly to the ground before bursting into many mottes of light.

Seconds later, a few streams of light pierced through the clouds as they shrunk into themselves, and they exploded outward forcing Sheik and Kirby to shroud their eyes. When they opened them back up the next area up ahead had revealed itself; a small ghost town of a city much like the villager kids' home Smashville stood before Sheik and Kirby, littered with spirits under Galeem's control everywhere the duo looked. Speaking of spirits, the two shadow warriors wondered where the spirit of Dr. Crygor had disappeared to right before the good doctor in question descended upon them from the sky, looking around his surroundings in confusion. With the threat of the man neutralized, Sheik and Kirby approached the scientist with their weapons sheathed to appear friendly. His single cycloptic visor scanned the area before laying itself on Sheik and Kirby's forms, and the first thought that came to him was the thought of exactly who his attackers were.

'You!' the doctor angrily called pointing at the pair. 'You were the fiends who ambushed me as I was enjoying a good tune! Why I ought to…!'

"Please, my good sir," Sheik said holding her hands up to dissuade the irate cyborg. "We meant no harm in doing so. We only sought to free you from your shackles. You are free now."

'What do you mean?' As Dr. Crygor thought on the woman's statement a little longer, he started noticing that he looking at the duo with a pair of organic eyes—rather through his single mechanical eye. In shock, he quickly inspected himself and found that he was no longer inside a puppet fighter's body; he was back to being his own self, albeit not in a completely physical form. Either way, he was finally back to being Dr. Crygor, brilliant scientist of WarioWare Inc., and the realization brought him to a happy dance, something Kirby found himself copying being the copycat he was as Sheik looked on humorously shaking her head. 'By the great ghost of, well, me, I'm me again! Wah ha ha ha ha!' After a good minute of dancing, Dr. Crygor had finally calmed down and faced the two heroes who freed him. 'Truly, I am sorry for the misunderstanding; you have my deepest thanks for freeing me from that horrid prison of flesh. How can I ever repay you?'

"There is no need for repayment," Sheik said. "We are doing what must be done. On the subject of that, though, we could use your assistance in this crusade against our enemy: Galeem, Lord of Light. It has destroyed our worlds and turned us and our friends—enemies as well—into slaves to its will, threatening to forever change the universe into one of only light. May we count on your expertise and power to aid us?"

'Well of course you may! Even if I wasn't grateful for your help in freeing me, even I could see the threat such a being holds and how important it is to have as much help as I could get.' The statement caused something ugly to bubble up in Metal Sonic who had actually been listening to the conversation, almost as if the remark was meant as a jab towards him; Kirby did his best to push the feeling down from his mind and smiled towards the doctor. 'I may not have much of any combat experience, but what power I do have is yours for as long as you need it.'

"I thank you for your assistance sir."

'Please, just call me Crygor—Dr. Crygor if you will.' Dr. Crygor gave the duo a respectful bow which they returned (or rather just a simple nod for Kirby given his shape), and he flew up to Sheik to lend her his strength seeing as Kirby had Metal Sonic's power within him. After ingraining his spiritual roots into Sheik, he quickly dissolved into her, and her body began to emit a glittering green aura. She didn't feel too much of a change in her, but something about her paralyzing bo shuriken caught her attention; they lightly crackled with electric energy whereas before they were merely ordinary looking weapons. 'It seems your weapons possess a minor bit of electricity in them. My power should amplify their strength by a small margin.'

"Thank you sir. Your assistance is most appreciated."

'Think nothing of if madam.' As Sheik and Kirby ventured further into the town, they found another spirit barring their path up ahead. A PAC-MAN coated in a thin blue aura with yellow bands adorning its arms and legs was possessed by a hardhat wearing spirit with cartoonishly big eyes and yellow feet. Said puppet fighter was crouching down with its eyes screwed shut in fear as if it still had a hardhat on to hide away from enemies.

"A Mettaur…" Sheik wondered aloud. "The poor little robot must be scared out of its mind…"

'Understandable,' Dr. Crygor commented. 'I felt the same not too long ago. At the very least this Galeem was not so cruel as to allow me no form of easing my nerves.'

"How so?"

'He gifted me this marvelous boombox so that I may play my favori—'

'We do not have the time for idle chit-chat,' Metal Sonic snarled impatiently. 'Engage the spirit so that we can make haste and defeat Galeem.' Angered at being cut off so rudely, Dr. Crygor was ready to lecture Metal Sonic until Sheik stopped him, not wanting him to get into an altercation with the deadly robot.

"Leave him be Dr. Crygor," Sheik warned. "He does raise an important point after all, and we'll have more time later for casual conversation. For now, I may need to call upon your power to free this next spirit."

'You need only ask my lady.' Sheik turned to the rest of her group and noticed the Guardian Stalker glowing a peculiar aura; two nearly invisible hexagonal shapes rotated its large frame, and Sheik remembered seeing a similar pattern swirl around Dr. Crygor and Metal Sonic, though Metal Sonic only had one hexagon orbiting him. Realizing that she could not call upon the Guardian Stalker's power earlier led Sheik to realize how she could do so now. She approached the massive construct and gently laid a hand upon its hull.

"I have not forgotten about you my friend," she said. "Do you think you can help me o' great guardian?" The Sheikah robot's eye lit up a bright blue in response, ready to lend its power to its princess. Two translucent tendrils emerged from the hexagons and took root in Sheik, and after a moment's passing the Guardian Stalker's body glowed a brilliant aura of many colors as its started to fade, and within seconds it dissolved into light before seeping into Sheik's body through the tendrils. Sheik could feel the machine's unadulterated content inside of her, figuring that it was finally able to fulfill its duty.

'Goodness, aren't you a rather large fellow?' Dr. Crygor daid to the Guardian Stalker. 'All of my spare space it completely filled, though that is alright. Let us do our best to assist the madam and her allies.' The guardian let out a loud "bong" in response, more than happy to lend its strength to Sheik's cause.

"Thank you—both of you. Now, let us proceed." Sheik and Kirby made their way toward the Mettaur spirit. Before they could reach it, its eyes finally opened upon detecting a hostile lifeform nearby, and its red eyes spotted Sheik and Kirby sneaking toward it. Whatever control over itself it had left was snatched away from it, turning its body around away from them and letting its back shield face them as it huddled down. Sheik and Kirby almost stopped their movement toward the Mettaur, but seeing it merely shrink away from them made them resume their advance, at least until the ground started rumbling beneath them. In the blink of an eye, the ground erupted from beneath them and carried them up high into the sky, forcing them flat on their stomachs to the ground as it rose higher.

Soon it stopped, and the pair found that they weren't in the Smashville look-a-like town anymore, rather inside one of the many large skyscrapers of what looked like the Metro Kingdom's city of Donklyn with the rest of the city sprawling out from below them. The building they were in was littered with bombs amongst the many brittle support structures and ladders, meaning that the pair was in a building that Mario's wrecking crew was working on demolishing. The Mettaur had not moved an inch, content on staying in its defensive position. Taking advantage of this, Sheik whispered a plan to Kirby, and the young star warrior nodded his head in agreement. As Sheik continued creeping on toward the Mettaur as Kirby went off elsewhere within the building.

Sheik hopped over the Mettaur's shield to the other side, surprising it as she went for a grab, forcing it to back away from the Sheikah warrior, but she was quick to pursue it with a double knifehand swipe, shaving off some of its health. Now realizing that it was in immediate danger, the Mettaur quickly belted out a replica of Blinky the Shadow Ghost to protect it. This managed to strike Sheik, though Sheik noticed that for one reason or another it didn't hurt her as much as she thought it would, and the princess didn't need to wonder for long as she knew it could only be because of the Guardian Stalker within her. Smiling to herself, the Sheikah warrior quickly closed the distance and unleashed a flurry of knifehand strikes, whittling away at the Mettaur's natural shield raised up in a panic.

Meanwhile, Kirby had climbed all the way up to the top of the building throughout the many floors and finally found a single empty oil drum. Heading back down to the previous floor, Kirby made his way over to the bomb next to the support beam, and the star warrior placed his hands together to form a gesture of sorts before slamming a fist to the ground, creating an eruption of fire at both sides of him. The fiery blast detonated the bomb instantly, blowing up the weak structure next to it and causing the rest to cave under the sheer weight of the floor above them. Kirby was quick to move out of the way of the falling floor to where it was safe, and watched as the higher floor came crashing down on his level, pleased that the oil drum was intact. He went downstairs to repeat the process some more.

The Mettaur could have sworn that it heard an explosion above it, but Sheik was keeping its mind occupied by relentlessly attacking its vessel. A few more explosions above it alerted the robot to the fact that something was about to come crashing down on it; alas, with no control over itself, it could only hope that whatever it was wouldn't hurt too bad if it could not escape Sheik's onslaught. Fortunately for it, the body it gave power to seemed to sense this change as well, and as if remembering where it was the body tried to evade Sheik's attack knowing what was going to happen next. When it ran to the other side of the room, it was met face-to-face with Kirby, the star warrior that had mysteriously disappeared on it. The realization dawned on both the puppet fighter and the Mettaur inside of it; Kirby was responsible for the chain of explosions going off on the floors above them, but before it could think more on it Sheik grabbed the false fighter from behind and dragged it off to the middle of the room. Still on the staircase, Kirby looked to where the oil drum would fall next and called out to Sheik pointing at a specific spot. The Sheikah warrior caught on to it and started forcing the Mettaur into the spot Kirby designated before the star warrior went back upstairs.

Sheik knew that the false PAC-MAN knew what they were planning, but with it being so worn down from her attacks and having lost its back shield in the scuffle, all it could do was shield against Sheik's attacks naturally and strike back when its shield was almost depleted.

'Now my lady!' Dr. Crygor called out. 'Your electric knives! Throw them at the creature's shield!' Sheik quickly readied her bo shuriken and lobbed them at the false PAC-MAN, who predictably shielded against them. To its misfortune, the shuriken had shredding past its shield and shattered it with little effort, leaving the fighter stunned for a while.

"Now!" Shiek shouted, hoping Kirby heard her. He did, as Sheik could hear an explosion from above her and she ran for cover against the collapsing floor. When the floor finally gave way, the false PAC-MAN was unable to escape as a heavy oil drum fell right over it, sealing it inside. Kirby found himself right beside the oil drum when the floor fell, and without further instruction both of the shadow warriors took their weapons and went to town on the oil drum, still able to damage the false PAC-MAN inside of it. When steam started to rise out of the oil drum. That was when the pair finished off the attack with one last blow, slicing through the drum and past each other. For a moment everything was silent, and soon light poured out of the oil drum signaling an impending explosion the pair could not run from. Bright light burst from the oil drum, blinding Sheik and Kirby as it overtook them.

When the dust settled, the duo found themselves back where they started—in the replica of Smashville. The two warriors took breaths of relief with the fight over, and not too soon did the spirit of the Mettaur descend upon them, free of its prison. The robot looked around itself before spotting Sheik and Kirby, ducking back under its hat out of fear, Sheik softly laughed at the display and walked up to the scared robot, softly placing her hand atop its hardhat.

"Do not fear little one," Sheik said. "You are safe now, free from that monster's control." The Mettaur barely peeked out from under its helmet to be met with Sheik's gentle eyes, seeing the sincerity in them. Shyly, it slowly raised itself back up deciding to trust Sheik's words, and Kirby came up beside it to smile with a wave. Slowly, the robot found itself smiling as well, now knowing that it was in the company of friends. With another ally on their side, Sheik and Kirby continued up the road, chatting amongst each other to help clear the tense air hanging over them.

"Dr. Crygor," Sheik began, "you mentioned something about a boombox earlier. Would you care to explain to me what that it? I am actually rather unfamiliar with many of the modern inventions beyond my world."

'Ah yes, the boombox,' Dr. Crygor started. 'It is a digital contraption that most often allows one to listen to either musical cassette tapes or compact discs of their choosing. Some models also support radio compatibility to listen in on different radio stations, while others still possess microphones that some may use for a spot of karaoke if they wished.' Despite Dr. Crygor explaining it all to Sheik, the princess could only manage a confused stare at the scientist, being similarly unfamiliar with much of what the good doctor had just said.

"I'm…sorry? What exactly is a…'cassette tape'?"

'Oh goodness heavens, you don't know what that is either?'

"No, actually. I'm afraid that I had not been present at much of the others' little social get togethers, so I am actually unfamiliar with much of the latest technology."

'She's techno-dumb,' came Metal Sonic's snide remark, earning him a heated glare from both Sheik and Kirby and not caring for them regardless. Dr. Crygor almost felt like he was reeducating his employer Wario on some of the more common doohickeys again, but he knew that Sheik wasn't like the man so he took a calming breath and prepared to go in-depth on the ins and outs of what made a boombox a boombox. After a good several minutes, Dr. Crygor started to feel worried that Sheik didn't understand anything he said due to her silence, but Sheik nodded her head in understanding of what he told her and even paraphrased it the best she could to show him that he explained it good enough for her, making the older man smile in pride. Bonus points was that at the very least Sheik already knew what a CD was from a prior adventure so he didn't have to explain so much of it to her.

In the midst of the group's chat they ended up nearly reaching a small shop coming up to their left with a large sign that read "TIMMY'S AND TOMMY'S", and two false copies of Blaine Smascevilla with raccoon ears and tails guarded the entrance to it, although it was less "guarding" and more "sadly moping in front of it while drawing shapes into the ground with their sticks". The spirits above them were two Tanuki twins similarly moping about, a sad sight for the fighters for sure save for Metal Sonic. Sheik looked to Kirby and drew her shuriken in each hand, mentally signaling him for an attack. Kirby nodded solemnly and reached for the ninjato on his back, and with Sheik's signal he bolted towards the twins. With Kirby closing in on the two boys, Sheik tossed her paralyzing bo shuriken at each one's necks, stunning them in place for Kirby to start wailing on them with his ninjato before she caught up with him. The star warrior was quick in carving up red ribbons on the boys before retreating to the shadows in the nearby trees as Sheik had done. In a teary-eyed start, the boys stood to their feet and frantically looked around the area.

'Wahh! What was that Tommy?!' Timmy cried.

'I don't know Timmy!' Tommy replied. "Quick, let's get back inside—ack!" The two boys were too slow to escape from Sheik and Kirby who quickly ran past the two boys and landed deep cuts into them before retreating again, making them spill out some of their wares. Panicking, the twins picked up some of these wares—a fire flower and a super sea snail with its spines extended, and slowly inched their shaky legs toward the store's doors back-to-back.

'*sniff* Wh-What's going on…?'

'*sniff* I want my daddy…' The twins were scared out of their minds and in bad shape from the shadow warriors' attacks, doing their best to completely freak out with tears and snot running down their faces and blood running out their tiny bodies. From their hiding spots, Sheik and Kirby just watched the poor bloody children and tried holding back tears of their own at having to fight and—in a sense—kill innocent small children. Taking a few more steadying breaths, the shadow warriors steeled themselves and readied their weapons once more before rushing at the boys. This time Timmy and Tommy caught their attackers, but they were too injured and too frightened to fight back despite their best effort, and with two murderous assailants barreling at them all they could do was drop their improvised weapons and hold each other, closing their eyes and bracing for the impact as they whispered "I love you" to each other. Kirby and Sheik—in spite of the heartbreaking display they were about to ruin—took one last decisive slash at the kids and launched them straight into the glass doors of their store. For a while the two boys were seen struggling to get back up, but after a few futile attempts their legs finally stopped moving, lifelessly resting over the shattered remains of their door before their false bodies burst into light a few seconds later. The two fighters couldn't find it in themselves to celebrate their victory, blankly staring at the spot where the two kids were felled.

'Those poor boys…" Dr. Crygor said, unable to help himself. The Guardian Stalker remained silent, being reminded of the conversation it had with Celeste many moments ago and how it dreaded the potential of having to fight against children. Metal Sonic, however, had no pity for what had befallen the boys.

'Get over yourselves already,' he harshly reprimanded. 'We are here to eliminate Galeem's forces regardless of whomever may be possessing these empty shells. If you cannot get past the thought of killing children then you are not fit to stop Galeem, period. Now enough of this foolishness and continue o—'

"Stop." Metal Sonic was about to continue on until Sheik had interrupted him, and he was ready to glare a hateful light towards the Sheikah had she not send him the most murderous look he had ever seen, not even from Shadow the Hedgehog. "That is the last I will warn you about your behavior."

'Or what?' Despite playing with fire, Metal Sonic was in no mood for Sheik's backtalk.

"Or I will abandon you to the mercy of Galeem's remaining forces and continue on without you." The words made Kirby, Dr. Crygor, and even the Guardian Stalker give her a shocked glance, and though Metal Sonic was about to say something else, something told him that Sheik meant every word of what she said and wasn't willing to tempt her. He absent-mindedly wondered if he could possess Kirby's body and fight her, but he was not about to chance it. In the end, the badnik remained silent, already attuned to how he was quickly wearing out his welcome and his chances of making it through this ordeal were dwindling. Incensed beyond belief but recognizing the danger, he merely folded his arms in quiet relenting, choosing to say no more unless it was absolutely necessary. Sheik wordlessly accepted this and returned her eyes to the store, eyes widening in surprise when she found the door itself completely repaired and none of the blood spilled from the boys was anywhere to be seen. Looking around, Sheik did not see the spirits of the twin Tanooki and could only assume as to where they went. Sharing a glance between her allies, she slowly led the group to the entrance of Timmy's and Tommy's, and with steady hands she slowly pushed the doors open, ready to face what was behind them…