It was hard keeping a straight face. Victor von Doom, puffing his chest out as a legendary force of evil, while covered in enough ponies to host a surprisingly popular cartoon. He failed, of course, bursting out laughing at 'I have defeated Gods and fought cosmic beings', rolling over the floor with mirth. He simply could not take the good doctor seriously, all his usual fearful aura replaced with ridicule. Galactus himself could have walked in, and he would have dropped down laughing, Deus was sure. For good measure, Deus made large fluffy rabbit ears grow from Doom's hood, and a rainbow background that seemed to follow him around. A masterwork completed. In fact, right now, Victor's most powerful weapon was most likely the fact that no hero would take him seriously.
After recovering from his mirth, Deus stood up once more. Lady Beatrice was indeed one to be watched. Any witch capable of shifting around entire universes was one to be watched, and Bob would not like to get on her bad side. Doom had no clue what he was getting himself into. However, the conflict would be amusing, if brief. Deus estimated that of this little gathering, Beatrice was at the top of the food chain, with Victor and himself vying for second place. So long as Deus could piss Doom off, he was sure he'd have the upper hand. The man was filled with delicious hate, dreams, and a genius mind. A six-course meal that would nourish him in any conflict, Deus was sure. But he knew less about the other members of the party, and couldn't rightly estimate them.
"What? Walk after the shadow?" Deus stared around the group in dismay. Were they really so simple and straightforward, so as to follow the first mysterious appearance they saw? Was that truly the extent of their creative spirit? "It's OBVIOUSLY what we're supposed to do! If we're going to follow the rules of the game, then how will we ever get anything done whatsoever?" Sighin, Bob clapped his hands, as the air shimmered, and a palace formed into existence around them. In one corner, a perfect replica of the Gameboard, in another, the armored walls of an Imperium bunker. A massive holographic pie floated in the centre of the mysterious hideout, constructed from memories and thoughts of the odd accompaniment. In fact, that projector looked a lot like the one used by the Fantastic Four. "Welcome to the Pie Hole! I know, I'm great at naming things. If we simply folllow a shadow, we'll get where we're supposed to go, which isn't where we WANT to go by far. No no no, that would be too simple. Instead, I propose we do research. Search one another's thoughts for clues as to why we're here. We were quite obviously chosen for this."