Mario, Peach, Amy and Blaze are still waiting for the other teams to arrive in the chalet they've found. It's getting dark soon, and the sun is already hiding behind the mountain.
- Peach: Well, it's almost dark! The trek will soon be over!
- Amy: But the others still haven't arrived! How strange...
At the same moment, the four friends hear a creak. The door opens. Sonic and Daisy enter the chalet.
- Sonic: Hey guys! There you are!
- Amy: Oh Sonic! I'm so happy to see you!
Amy is about to pounce on Sonic, as she's wont to do, when Peach's advice comes back to mind. She then resigns herself, and to her surprise, it's Sonic who comes straight to her.
- Sonic: I'm glad to see you too, Amy!
Peach winks at Amy, who smiles. The tip worked pretty well.
- Mario: So? How did it go for you?
- Daisy: Great! It was nerve-wracking, but fun! We didn't have any problems, except...
- Peach: A earth-quake, was it?
- Daisy: Did you feel it too?
- Blaze: Yes. I'm still wondering what it was...
- Sonic: Well, I don't think it's a big deal!
Everyone looks at each other, shrugging their shoulders.
- Blaze: Well, let's wait for the others.
As the hours pass, the Yoshi/Tails and Silver/Waluigi teams find the chalet. Wario and Knuckles arrive in turn.
- Sonic: Knux, there you are! I thought you'd never get here!
- Knuckles: Tell me about it! Let's just say we've had a few problems, it would take too long to tell...
Wario looks around at all the teams, then lets out a grunt of frustration.
- Wario: This sucks! We're the last ones!
- Knuckles: Whose fault is that?
Wario grunts even more and Knuckles sighs in exasperation.
- Tails: Uh...actually, you're not last! Shadow and Luigi aren't here.
- Knuckles: Shadow's still out there? I'm surprised at him.
- Sonic: So am I. I thought he'd get here first!
By the fireplace, Mario looks very anxious. Sonic approaches him.
- Sonic: You're worried about your brother, aren't you?
- Mario: Of course I'm worried! They should have been here a long time ago! I hope nothing's happened to them...
- Yoshi: Yoshi Yoshi! (Don't worry, Mario, I'm sure they'll be here any minute!)
- Silver: Yeah, well they'd better hurry up, it'll be 8pm in ten minutes! Omochao and Toad will be here soon!
Suddenly, the door opens. Just as everyone expects to see Shadow and Luigi or Omochao and Toad, two unknown men appear, both dressed in green. The confusion is total.
- Unknown: Who are you? What are you doing here?
- Mario: I'll ask you again!
- Unknown: I'm ranger Maxwell and this is ranger Orsown. I'd like to know what you're doing in our observation post!
- All: WHAT?!
To avoid any misunderstanding, Mario, Sonic and their friends explain the situation to the two Rangers. Maxwell pulls the trek brochure out of his pocket.
- Maxwell: I see...so you're the trek candidates!
- Mario: Yes, we had to find a chalet hidden in the mountains. But if you say it's a ranger station, then we're in the wrong place...
- Maxwell: The only other chalet is on the summit side. That's definitely where you were supposed to find it.
- Mario: But that's impossible! We've all been to the summit and nobody's found a chalet!
- Orsown: Come here a minute...
Maxwell approaches Orsown, who is consulting a seismograph.
- Orsown: There's been an avalanche...
- Maxwell: Right on this spot. It all makes sense.
The two Rangers approach the group, showing them the seismograph.
- Orsown: There seems to have been an avalanche where the chalet is. The snow probably buried it completely.
- Peach: So that's what the earth-quake was!
- Amy: And that's why we didn't see the chalet! Because it was hidden by the snow!
- Sonic: Wait a minute...that would mean...
Sonic looks panicked, which gets everyone's attention.
- Tails: What are you thinking...?
- Sonic: That means Shadow and Luigi are stuck in there!
- Mario: What?!
There's great concern among the gang, especially Mario, who looks as if he's seen a ghost.
- Knuckles: Yeah, that explains why they're not here yet...
- Peach: That's terrible! They must have frozen to death!
- Amy: To think they were right there under our feet!
Suddenly, Mario rushes to the door. Sonic blocks the door.
- Sonic: Wait, where are you going?
- Mario: To save my brother!
- Peach: Mario, wait, we've got to think of a solution first...
- Mario: But I don't have to think! Luigi's in danger! I'm not going to lose him!
- Maxwell: Sir, calm down! There's no point in going if you don't have a solution. We're trained for this kind of situation. We'll give you a hand!
- Peach: And we'll help you, too!
- Sonic: Yeah, we're going to rescue Shadow and Luigi! Right guys?
- All: YEAH!
- Mario:...Thanks guys.
Immediately, the two Rangers come out of the chalet, beckoning them to follow.
- Orsown: We're going to take a shortcut! We'll see what we need to do on the spot, and hope your two friends are all right!
Everyone sets off for the summit, accompanied by the two Rangers. They're all determined to get Luigi and Shadow out of their ice prison.
Shadow and Luigi
Inside the chalet, it's so cold it's like being in a real cold room. Night has fallen and the temperature has dropped considerably. Luigi can't stop shivering and chattering his teeth. His blanket is no longer enough to keep him warm.
- Luigi: I'm cold...so cold...
- Shadow: Keep your fingers warm. And breathe deeply.
Luigi follows Shadow's advice. He rubs his hands together and takes deep breaths. Luigi seems surprised by Shadow's tenacity, who shows no sign of weakness.
- Luigi: It's strange. You seem to know a lot about survival. It's almost as if the cold doesn't bother you.
- Shadow: It's true that I know all about it, and that's normal. From birth, the Professor taught me to deal with any situation. Which reminds me...
Shadow flashes an amused smile.
- Luigi: What are you smiling about?
- Shadow: Nothing, just thinking about something funny.
- Luigi: Well, don't keep it to yourself! Because right now, I could use a good laugh!
- Shadow: I remember one day, the professor wanted to test my resistance to extreme temperatures. So he tried an experiment. I was locked in a cold room, where the temperature gradually dropped.
- Luigi: But...that's really dangerous! What an idea to put you through such an experiment!
- Shadow: If you only knew...but the professor never made me do an experiment if it put my life in too much danger. I trusted him completely. Besides, it's always interesting to know my limits.
- Luigi: So... how did it all turn out?
- Shadow: In the end, I managed to hold out for a few minutes at around -80°. As soon as I started to twitch, the professor immediately stopped the experiment. But I soon got over it.
- Luigi: -80°?! But that's impossible! Nobody can survive in conditions like that.
- Shadow: Don't forget I'm the Ultimate Life Form. "Impossible" is a word I don't know.
Luigi stares at Shadow, very impressed by the black hedgehog's abilities.
- Luigi: Wow. You're even tougher than I thought. I wish I had such stamina, such strength...like you, my big brother and all the others...
- Shadow: But you're just the same. I'm sure you've been through some amazing things with your brother too.
- Luigi: Yeah, that's true. Me and Mario...we've had...so many adventures...together...
Luigi is paler than a sheet and breathing heavily. Shadow notices him and looks worried.
- Shadow: Uh...you okay? Are you feeling all right?
- Luigi: Yeah...don't worry...anyway...the others will be here soon...Mario...will be here...he's always...been here...
- Shadow: You're really starting to scare me now! Stay with me!
- Luigi: My...head...is...spinning...
Suddenly, Luigi collapses to the ground. Shadow rushes to him and presses his ear to his heart. It beats slowly, too slowly. Shadow shakes him awake.
- Shadow: Luigi! Wake up! Hold on!
Despite Shadow's best efforts, Luigi doesn't wake up. Anger and panic seize Shadow.
- Shadow: Sonic, I don't know what you're doing, but you and the others better HURRY UP!