Chapter 10 - Firepaw's Castle

GeneX - Knuckles the Echidna
Chapter 10 - Firepaw's Castle
Boss 7 - Egg Villain

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
Super Mario Bros. elements are (c) Nintendo (just to be safe)

The story thus far:
Sonic learned from Vector that Tails's Workshop had been destroyed, and that Tails was missing! After deducing that Eggman might be behind it, Sonic headed for Troblusk City to find him. Meanwhile, the Troblusk City police chief, accompanied by Razor, attempted to take Eggman in for questioning, leading Eggman to take them hostage instead! The doctor then left to search out a Chaos Emerald, leaving Sonic to face Metal Eggman upon his arrival. Sonic ended up stepping into a trap, and landing in a virtual reality video game called Super Eggman Land! Meeting up with Shadow, he faced Firepaw the Virus, only to be challenged to reach a castle at the end of the game world as Firepaw escaped! Sonic and Shadow were joined by Alpha as they explored the game world, finding the glitched robot to be unusually helpful. Now, they've arrived at the castle. What dangers await inside?
Now, on to the next chapter!


The interior of the castle was dark, except for the glow of lava bubbling in lakes surrounding the walkways. Sonic, Shadow and Alpha could see that the castle was heavily fortified, with Egg Troop guards patrolling all over the place. Sonic pointed to a door ahead. "That must be the way to Firepaw! Let's go!" he said, a bit loudly. "Sonic, quiet!" Shadow snapped. "Yeah, in fact, ALL OF YOU BE QUIET!!" Alpha screeched, getting the attention of the guards! Some distant Egg Troops manned some cannons, firing some small balls at the hedgehogs! They dodged, and the balls rolled a bit before hopping up on robotic feet! It looked like a little toy bomb, and it was flashing red as it approached Sonic and Shadow! "B-bomb!! But only I can make BOOM!!" Alpha whined, flying away. Sonic and Shadow nodded to each other and started running past the bombs, which exploded as they went by, destroying the floor and leaving nothing but the lava below! More bombs kept coming as Sonic and Shadow ran forward, speeding away from the rapidly exploding floor! A digital Gohla was spinning lines of fireballs around, blocking the path somewhat effectively, so Sonic and Shadow were forced to leap over them, kicking some Egg Troops into their shells as they passed by and arrived at the door! As the bombs took out the rest of the floor in the room, Alpha flew over to the cannon and fired directly inside it, causing its payload to explode and destroy the cannon and the Egg Troops operating it! "...BOOM!" he said before flying to the door. "He scares me..." Sonic muttered. "YOU wanted him along." Shadow reminded him.

They arrived in a hallway where every once in a while the floor seemed to be separated into bottomless chasms. Skeletal Egg Troops were wandering around, and they could see those same angry spiky blocks from where they found Alpha hanging from the ceiling. "Aww, Egg Bones. They're no fair, 'cuz they don't go poof." Alpha groaned. Sonic chuckled. "Leave it to me! I'll take care of 'em!" Remembering the rules of the game, Sonic ran up and hopped on an Egg Bones's head. This caused it to break into pieces all over the floor! "Huh... strangely easy!" Sonic remarked, turning and motioning for Shadow and Alpha to follow. "Look out, you idiot!" Shadow shouted as the Egg Bones started to reassemble itself while Sonic's back was turned! "Huh? Yaaaaah!!" Sonic jumped away, then jumped again as he found another Egg Bones approaching him! Then, he grunted as he felt his head strike something hard. "What the!?" A block appeared out of nowhere above his head, and a sparkling star with a smiley face popped out and started jumping around! "Hey... Where'd that block come from?" Sonic grumbled. "It was... invisible..." Shadow growled. "Ooooh!! A star! I will get its autograph and put it on top of a tree!" Alpha chortled. The smiley face on the star reminded Sonic of the mushroom he'd used before. "I think it's another power-up! And I found it, so it's mine!" he said, running off to grab it! As soon as Sonic touched it, it instantly imbued his body with a sparkly energy! "Hey, this power feels familiar...!" Sonic said, feeling like he could do anything! He ran right smack into the Egg Bones, causing them to disintegrate into dust on contact! "HA HA!! I AM INVINCIBLE!! I love this game!!" he cheered, dashing at intense speed through the hall, taking out the spiky blocks as they tried to crush him, mainly to make it easy for Shadow and Alpha to proceed, since he could easily outrun the blocks. "...I hate this game..." Shadow groaned, not at all amused by these antics.

The next room seemed relatively simple. There was a locked door ahead, and a switch with an "E" marked on it, likely meant to open it. However, the switch was attached to the side of the wall, high out of reach, and Alpha suddenly claimed to be scared of heights. Sitting nearby, there was a purple mushroom similar to the one Sonic had used before. "All right, Sonic! I'M going to use this mushroom! I've had enough of letting you carry me through the whole game!" he grumbled. "Uh... Shadow, that mushroom looks kinda frowny..." Sonic muttered. "So what?" Shadow said, picking it up. Suddenly, he noticed Sonic appear to grow larger than him again. However, so did Alpha! "What!? ...NO!" The mushroom had shrunk Shadow into miniature size! To make matters worse, a cage suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, trapping Sonic and Alpha! "Meow ho ho howr!! Looks like I win!" laughed Firepaw, appearing in the room with a flash. "Let Sonic out of there right now, cat!" Shadow growled, though his voice sounded a bit high pitched in this size. Firepaw glanced around and gasped upon seeing him. "I missed one!? Hee hee... You took the poison Egg Mushroom! You sound like a chipmunk!" he laughed. Shadow was not amused. "I will RIP your tail off, virus! Do NOT trifle with me!" he warned. Firepaw yawned. "Find me in the throne room, then. Meowr. Bye!" As Firepaw vanished, several Egg Paratroops emerged in his place! "Shadow! Go find some way to restore your size! We'll be all right!" Sonic shouted. "We can blow up each other!" Alpha said. Shadow scoffed. "Yeah, very reassuring. I'll just have to get that cage open..." he squeaked, sighing at how annoying his voice was now. He then growled. He was gonna take out his frustration on these Paratroops! He jumped into the air, shouting "Chaos Control!" in order to warp closer to the enemies! He went from turtle to turtle, punching and kicking them out of the sky furiously, leaping from the last one to get some height and reach for the "E" switch! He flipped in midair and struck it with his foot, and the switch caused the cage to vanish! "Hey, what!? If the switch was for the cage, what about the door?" Sonic asked. Alpha simply blasted the door, and it opened. "Didn't you ever play that one space video game?" he giggled. Shadow smacked his forehead and groaned. "We better find a way to fix my size ahead..." he muttered.

They now arrived at a room filled entirely with lava. The only platform they could see was a line of red blocks. "Not a lot of standing space there... But at least you don't take up much room now, Shadow!" Sonic joked, resulting in a tiny Chaos Spear being shot at his knee. "Ow!" Seeing no other way forward, they climbed on to the platform of blocks. Once they were aboard, it shook, and then started to move! "Okay... So, is this a roller coaster or something?" Sonic wondered. Alpha flew beside them and laughed as the block platform started to speed up. "Hold on! Fasten your seat belts!" he said. "Seat belts? What seats?" Sonic muttered. "Stop trying to find logic here... And why am I behind you!? I can't see!!" Shadow yelled, pushing between Sonic's legs to get in front. The block coaster started moving and swaying in various directions, back and forth, up and down. As it sped up, Sonic and Shadow found it harder to keep their balance. "Still, not so tough..." Sonic said. Gold coins raced toward them as the coaster went, but they passed just over the hedgehogs' heads, and they weren't too fond of jumping after the seemingly useless items. Alpha, however, was having a blast flying around and nabbing them. "Ding! Ding! Ding! Money, money, money! I wanna use it to buy rings!" he laughed. Soon, however, the roller coaster ride got dangerous. Egg Troops dressed in wizard robes were levitating toward them, swinging magic wands around in a crazed fashion! "Hmm... Think this is how Eggman sees Gemini?" Sonic joked. "Look out! This isn't going to be pretty!" Shadow squeaked. "Oooh, Magi Troops! Can they make brooms fetch water?" Alpha wondered. The Magi Troops hurled colorful spells at the hedgehogs, forcing them to jump as the block coaster bobbed and weaved over the lava! "Waaaah!! Alpha, shoot those wizards!!" Sonic yelled, grabbing desperately for the blocks as he fumbled a jump. "I want enough coins for my own castle!" Alpha said, ignoring the hedgehogs' plight. "Rrrrr... Chaos Spear!!" Shadow fired some tiny spears at the Magi Troops, but they bounced off uselessly. "Stupid, wretched, annoying video game!!!" he roared. Finally, the coaster neared the end of the line, so Sonic picked up Shadow and ran to the edge of the blocks. "We're... outta here!!" He leapt to the platform at the other end, just as the block coaster plunged into the lava as the conclusion of the ride! "...Did you know the blocks were gonna do that?" Shadow asked. "...No, I was getting queasy." Sonic gulped. The Magi Troops, not paying attention to where they were flying as they targeted Sonic, smacked into the walls at the end of the room and fell into the lava at either side of the platform.

Sonic and Shadow found a large, ominous-looking door in front of them, with Eggman's symbol on it. A small character wearing a mushroom-shaped hat was sitting in front of the door. He had a bushy, Eggman-esque mustache, and an "F" on the front of his hat. "Hello, plumbers! I am Fungus, steward of Super Eggman Castle!" he said. Sonic scratched his head. "Huh?" he muttered. "It's a non-player character. There's bound to be at least one in any game." Shadow said, making Sonic glance suspiciously at him. "What? I'm not allowed to know something?" he grumbled. Fungus motioned to the door. "I can unlock this mighty door for you, but it's gonna cost ya! Say, 1000 coins!" he said. Sonic and Shadow's eyes went wide. "You mean... those coins actually... have a purpose!?" Sonic yelped. "I don't even know if we actually properly collected ANY..." Shadow groaned. A virtual wallet appeared before them, and Fungus checked it out. "Hmm... You've collected 23 coins... Sorry, you'll have to go find more!" he said. Shadow clenched his fists angrily. "Maybe I can persuade him... Though probably not, since he's just code..." he growled. Just then, Alpha approached with his own virtual wallet. "Here, jeeves! How many rings did I get?" he asked. "It's coins, Alpha..." Sonic sighed. "Don't get your hopes up, Sonic. This is Alpha, here." Shadow grumbled. Fungus took a look and gasped. "Thank you so much for your generosity! Your 2006 coins will go towards funding a lovely playground for the Fungi children to play, surrounded by refreshing molten lava!" Fungi vanished as the door opened, and Alpha groaned. "He stole my moneys! Where's a donut when you need one? Probably eating a cop..." he sighed. Sonic chuckled awkwardly as he and Alpha moved on, however Shadow hesitated. Nearby was a smiley faced green mushroom. "I don't know... But what more can this game do to me?" he muttered, picking it up. A cheerful sound effect played, and Shadow grew back to his normal size! "Thank you, Eggman. But I'm still going to kick your butt for the rest of the game." he grunted.

Shadow joined them at the next room, which was the throne room Firepaw had mentioned earlier! A bridge led across a chasm with lava bubbling at the bottom. At the other side, Firepaw was sitting on a fancy throne, taunting Razor the Porcupine and Police Chief Paynson as several Egg Bones blocked them from approaching him. "Oh, Sonic! Meowr! Welcome to the boss round!" he chuckled, prompting Razor and Paynson to turn around. "THE Sonic??" he gasped. Sonic nodded. "Yeah, and you're... Who are you?" he asked. "Meowr... They're cops, can't you tell? It seems they wanted to arrest Dr. Eggman or something." Firepaw said. Paynson crossed his arms. "It wasn't like that! Well... Not JUST like that..." he grumbled. "We were going to interrogate Eggman about the Covenant of Despair." Razor explained. The mention of Despair got the attention of a uniformed dog who was up to something on a high ledge surrounding the room. "Hey, Anubis... They're talkin' about us..." he whispered. Firepaw blew a raspberry at the mention of Despair. "What a joke! Eggman's only helping the Covenant of Despair so that they'll attack GUN! Meowr." he said, earning a glare from the jackal sneaking above. "Yaaay! We win! Game over!" Alpha cheered, shooting into the air randomly. Firepaw glanced at him with confusion. "Meowr? What're YOU doing here, Alpha?" he asked. The robot gasped in reply. "Firepaw! You don't exist!!" he yelled, panicking, "BWAAAAAAAAA!!! This whole castle doesn't exist!!! I'm a GLITCH!!!" he screamed, running out of the room! "That was weird." Sonic remarked. "Yet strangely a relief." Shadow added. Paynson turned to Firepaw angrily. "So, Eggman's pitting human against animal, you say? I thought that fiend couldn't sink any lower!" he growled. "OK, I'm bored with these cops. Let's show them the other side of the bars!" Firepaw grinned, "Egg Bones! Toss them in the dungeon! Meowr!" The Egg Bones quickly seized the chief, forcing Razor into action! "Hey, boneheads! Let him go!" he warned, drawing his gun. Sonic and Shadow started across the bridge as well. "Hey! Call those numbskulls off!" Sonic yelled. "And hand over the Chaos Gauntlets!" Shadow added. However, Firepaw stood up on the throne defiantly. "Meowr!! You hedgehogs are in no position to make threats! Like I said, you're in MY world! But I DID promise you a prize if you reached here. Meowr... So, here it is! You win the Egg Villain!!" he cackled as a giant turtle monster dropped on to the bridge! It was green and blue, like the Egg Troops, with a huge, spiked shell, a big, toothy mouth, and generally had an appearance that Sonic swore he recognized from somewhere. It roared loudly, ready for their big boss fight!

Sonic shrugged. "Hey, Egg Villain! If you're our prize, go attack Firepaw!" he said. The Egg Villain growled. "Make me!" it roared. "Well, it was worth a shot." Sonic sighed. Firepaw jumped on the Egg Villain's shell, just above the spiky portion, and created Fireballs in his paws. "Meowr! Now we'll burn all the extra lives outta you!" he yelled. Shadow pointed over behind the throne. There was a big switch on the wall, similar to the one that opened the cage earlier. "Sonic... What do you think that switch does?" he asked. Sonic smirked. "Keep 'em busy and I'll find out!" he said, running ahead! "Hey, rodent! Catch!" the Egg Villain growled, hurling digital Piko Piko Hammers in his direction! "Yaaaaah!! Bad kappa!!" Sonic shouted, swerving out of the way. Shadow raised his hand to aim a Chaos Spear, but was startled by fireballs flung in his direction from Firepaw! "Oh... I almost didn't notice you there." he chuckled. "Meowr! Don't laugh at me! I'm the KING of this castle!" Firepaw snapped, swinging his stretchy tail at Shadow in his rage. Shadow jumped it and tossed a Chaos Spear at him, causing him to tumble from the Egg Villain's back! "MEOWR!! You'll pay for that! Fry him!" he shouted. The Egg Villain turned away from Sonic and blew a jet of flames at Shadow, forcing him to jump and dodge as the giant turtle kept blowing continuous flames! Sonic took advantage of the diversion to run across the bridge, where Razor was shooting at some Egg Bones. "These guys don't quit! I shoot 'em apart and they just pull themselves right back together! Luckily, I seem to be running on video game ammo." he said. "Just get me away from them! But don't hit me!!" Paynson whined. Sonic turned in the chief's direction, bouncing off the Egg Bones around him in quick succession in order to give him an escape route! He then dashed over to the big button on the wall. "How's it going, Shadow?" he called. Shadow was busy evading flames and hammers, and was starting to sweat. "PRESS THE STUPID BUTTON, SONIC!!" he yelled. So, Sonic jumped up and gave it a kick.

The bridge suddenly started to rumble, and the Egg Villain stopped short, gasping in alarm! Realizing what was likely about to happen, Shadow dashed for the other side while the Egg Villain stood there with a stupid look on its face. Firepaw also started to flee as the bridge collapsed, sending the Egg Villain plummeting into the lava pit below! Victory music played, and BAS gave one final narration. "And so, our heroes defeated the Egg Villain, and his reign of evil ended. Dr. Eggman will be most displeased." As he said this, the Egg Bones vanished, and Firepaw started throwing a tantrum. "No, no, no, MEOWR!!" he shouted. "All right! Now I love this game!" Razor said. "That makes ONE of us..." Shadow groaned. "Greeeeeat... All my minions are toast..." Firepaw sighed as he collapsed into his throne. "And you'll be next if you don't do EXACTLY as I say!" Shadow threatened as Sonic, Razor and Paynson gathered with him in front of the throne. However, a huge blast of fire came from above, destroying the throne! "You'll tell him nothing!" shouted the attacker, Anubis the jackal! As everyone looked up at him, Firepaw laughed. "You tried to destroy me with fire! What a dope! Meowr..." As Firepaw processed what had happened, though, a look of panic came over him. "Wait... YOU TRIED TO DESTROY ME!? MEOWR!?" Sonic squinted up at Anubis. "Hey! You're that guy from the Covenant of Despair!" he realized. Anubis growled at Firepaw. "I don't know what you know of our plans... But I'll destroy this whole castle to make sure they stay secret!" he said. "Meowr... I think that's my cue to log off..." Firepaw gulped, vanishing in a burst of flames! "Meowr! Thanks for playing!" he said in parting. "So, uh... Anubis, huh?" BAS muttered as Firepaw vanished, "INTRUDER ALERT!!! Covenant of Despair members in Super Eggman Land!!" Sonic scratched his head. "The computer's only picking up on that NOW??" he said.

Razor pointed his gun up at Anubis. "Don't move! You're under arrest for treason and terrorism!" he announced. "Come quietly, or we'll be forced to use force!" Paynson added, trying to sound official despite still being flustered from the Egg Bones attack. Sonic remembered why he was here at this point. "Hold it! My best friend's workshop was burned down this morning, and certain detectives say you guys might have something to do with it! Where's Tails!?" he shouted. Anubis looked thoughtful. "The fox? He escaped with the guardian of the Master Emerald. I believe they are now in the employ of Dr. Eggman." he said. Sonic was taken aback. "You... you're lying! Tails wouldn't work for Eggman!" he shouted. Shadow looked at Sonic impatiently. "Could we get back to arresting this guy? It sounded like a good idea to me." he said. Anubis scoffed at them. "You do not faze me. I will destroy you all at once!" he said, turning to the canine agent with him, "Detonate the explosives!" he ordered. "But... They'll blow us up, too!" the dog protested. "Explosives!?" Sonic gasped. "Spineless twit! I'll do it myself!" Anubis grunted, heading for the bombs he'd planted while the dog started to flee for his life! "Shoot! We gotta do something!" Sonic shouted. Shadow nodded. "The Fake Chaos Emerald! Now, Sonic! Don't worry... The real world doesn't need to be 'loaded.'" he said. "We could've warped home at any time!?" Sonic stammered, "Never mind! Over here, everyone!" he shouted. "You are too late!" Anubis snarled, "Once again, farewell, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Anubis covered his hands in fire as he grabbed at the bombs, detonating them with the heat! At that moment, Sonic and Shadow simultaneously shouted "Chaos Control!!!"

Sonic, Shadow, Razor and Paynson emerged back at Eggman's Eggtopia. They appeared unscathed, and the base seemed deserted for the moment. "Whew! That was close! Those Covenant of Despair guys are nuts!" Sonic sighed. Paynson panted with relief. "I used to feel that way about all animals, until I met Officer Razor." he smiled. Razor nodded. "We should get out of here, chief. Dr. Eggman could be back any moment." he said, "Obviously, we're not bringing him in by ourselves..." As they started to leave, Shadow glanced at Sonic. "I have work to do as well. Later, Sonic." he said, heading out the door. "Your welcome, Shadow. Well, guess I'll hang around here and see if Knuckles or Tails show up..." Sonic muttered to himself. He wasn't alone for long, as he soon heard Knuckles's voice at the door. "Hey, Eggman! I'm back! ...Huh? Sonic...?" he yelped, knowing how this must look. Indeed, Sonic felt what Shadow and Anubis had told him was confirmed. "Rrrrr, Knuckles!! You've gone and done it again!" he yelled, sick of dealing with the echidna's apparent stupidity. "Hold it, there, Sonic! It's not what you think!" Knuckles stammered, hoping to make Sonic understand his situation. However, Sonic wasn't hearing it. "Oh, yeah? 'Cuz it looks like you've been tricked by Eggman for the millionth time!" he shouted. This, Knuckles couldn't take. "Wha... I have NOT been tricked by Eggman a million times!! You take that back!" he growled. Sonic smirked. "You're right. It must be a billion times by now! Ha ha! You're so gullible!" he laughed. "Grrr... Laugh it up, Sonic!! Like you've never been tricked by Eggman before yourself!" Knuckles retorted. Sonic shrugged. "That's enough. Where's Tails? Don't tell me you let Eggman lock him up..." he asked, rolling his eyes. Tails had decided to head off on his own to try to gather information about Eggman and the Covenant of Despair, but Knuckles was too furious to explain that now. "WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR!?" he roared. "Oh, brother. I can tell where this is going... again..." Sonic sighed, raising his fists. "I'm sick of you acting all high and mighty!! It's time I taught you some respect!!" Knuckles shouted back, beating his fists together in anticipation of their fight. Sonic chuckled. "Whatever... Bring it on, knucklehead!"

To be continued...

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