#anyway I asked the big ol gecko to do something about it

[theaologies]

Had to go out to the car but there was a wolf spider bigger than my PALM on the wall outside and then when I looked again it was GONE 😩

[cuddlesnowy]

Sonic & Tails in Castle Eggman Zone - Act 4

Sonic and Tails are met with a terrible fate as they are cornered off by something otherwordly. Are they about to learn the truth of the castle, or will the dungeon get the better of them? There’s only one way to find out - stay tuned, after...the jump! ;)

There was a pause, followed by a strange sparking sound. Sonic opened his eyes. The ghost had stopped, caught on a ceiling chain. The ethereal aura that surrounded it kept dipping in and out, making the whole experience feel a lot less real.

“Hey Tails, take a look at our ghost!” With that, Sonic leapt into a spin jump and plunged towards the incapacitated phantom. In a puff of smoke, their tormentor was defeated and all that lied in its place were a few nuts and bolts and a small, bespectacled gecko. The little lizard scurried up to Sonic and Tails and started chirping apologetically to them.

“That’s okay, I understand,” said Sonic calmly, before continuing “but I’m afraid you’ll need to start from the top. The reader won’t be able to make any sense from that! If we continued the story with chirping noises, that wouldn’t make for a very readable book! I’ll tell you what, you start over, and this time it’ll be conveniently translated into English, just so everybody’s clear on this.”

The gecko looked puzzled for a moment, but obliged with Sonic’s request anyway.

“I’m so so sorry! Dr. Robotnik trapped me in this ghost robot and forced me to h-haunt you guys! I don’t really mean any harm; I’m a big fan of you two really!”

Sonic pointed up to the chains,

“Those chains must have been wired up to something that short circuited the robot and stopped the program! Now we know your game, Eggman!”

Gecky continued,

“If it’s any repayment for sc-scaring you like that, being trapped in this dungeon has taught me a lot of shortcuts. I should be able to help you escape!”

Sonic and Tails were grateful for the extra help, and let Gecky lead the way.

“I should be small enough to run between the bars and open the doors from the other side.” Within a few moments, the doors swung open, and the gang were free to move on.

“If I remember correctly, this path is the quickest route to the exit. Follow me!”

“It’s like having our own personal tour guide!” joked Sonic as the trio headed down the corridor. “With you on our side, we should be outta here in no time! Or not…”

Sonic had just caught sight of another skeleton heading their way. Tails, who hadn’t said anything for the entire chapter, spoke up.

“Have at thee!”

With a single blow from his sword, the skeleton collapsed. Sonic and Gecky were sure that he hadn’t even grazed it at all. Tails turned around with a grin on his face, holding out what appeared to be nothing.

“See, I get how these work now! They aren’t real bones, they’re magnetic!” Tails prodded the invisible object once more with his sword. There was a small fizzing noise, and small, greyish orb came into view.

“When one of these floating robots gets close to them, they get attracted and form a skeleton shape. It’s quite clever, really!”

           Tails was happy. He couldn’t explain spooks and spectres, and the thought of the unknown scared him. But he knew now that everything in the dungeon was fake, which came as a huge relief. Not only that, but it was all mechanical. Tails enjoyed mechanics, which put a whole new perspective on everything around him. Maybe his situation wasn’t so bad after all.

The problem with dungeon corridors, Sonic thought to himself, is that they all begin to look the same after a while. He was starting to get a little impatient. Gecky clearly knew the way he was going, but that wasn’t helping much. So far the trio had been forced to turn back multiple times.

“Now I know there was a turning to the exit here…” said Gecky with a perplexed look on his face, “…but now there’s this wall in the way. We’ll have to try again from the other side.”

Sonic shook his head,

“It’s no use, ol’ Robuttnik clearly doesn’t want us to leave!”

Gecky looked irritated, pacing up and down fast and causing his glasses to bounce up and down his face. Sonic could have sworn that the little gecko was more annoyed about the lack of knowledge of this dungeon function than the fact they were now trapped.

“Hey! Can you hear that?” piped in Tails. Sonic turned around to see his friend pressing against a stone wall, his ears pricked up. Sonic and Gecky looked on blankly.

“Oops! I guess not!” Tails sometimes forgot that his hearing was a bit more astute than his friends’. He pressed an ear against the wall and begun slowly walking forwards, a look of pure concentration on his face. Gecky turned to Sonic hoping for an answer, but the blue hedgehog shrugged. Tails started to tap his fist against a particular stone excitedly.

“I think I got it!” He clasped his paws around the stone and began to pull at it, straining as he did so. Suddenly, it broke free with such a force that it sent Tails flying backwards, landing a few feet away. Seemingly undeterred by this, he sat up grinning, holding the removed part of wall up for his friends to see. It appeared a lot flatter than it had looked when attached, and on the other side, four prominent screws jutted out. Behind where the “stone” had been was a panel full of coloured coded wires and shining buttons.

“Check it out, the inner workings!” Gecky exclaimed, climbing up on top of Sonic’s head to get a closer look. Tails was now up on two feet studying the controls. He was all too eager to get hands on with these unfamiliar mechanics.

“If I move this wire to here, and change these settings to that…” Tails continued to mumble to himself as he rapidly tinkered with the panel. He even remained completely focussed when the corridor started to rumble and quake, merely holding on a little harder while continuing to work. Sonic was balancing on one foot, trying not to be knocked over by the sudden tremors.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Tails?” he called out, batting away some small rocks that were crumbling from the ceiling. Gecky was finding it hard to stay in one place on the hedgehog’s head and was in the process of slowly sliding off, hanging onto Sonic’s spikes with his sticky feet. It was thanks to this commotion that it took them a few moments to notice the cause of these quakes. The walls were moving! Without having seen the controls until minutes ago, Tails had hacked into the system and was countering Robotnik’s trap.

“….and we flick that switch and there! That should have cleared a path!” Tails let go of the panel and turned around to see a very surprised Sonic. It took him a few moments to speak up.

“……that…was….AMAZING! Way to go, Tails!” Sonic grinned, giving his sidekick a thumbs up. Even though it could take him a little while to show it at times, Tails really was a little hero. The little fox gave out a shy giggle, slightly taken aback by the praise.

“That’s new!” said Gecky, his glasses now askew, “I never encountered this door on patrol…” He was pointing in the direction of a large door that had been revealed by the wall shift. Strange coloured symbols were lighting up on it in a seemingly random order.

“Maybe I overwrote a puzzle sequence?” pondered Tails, as he looked back and forth between the door and panel. When all the symbols were lit, the door swung open dramatically and before Sonic and Tails could stop him, Gecky was already scampering forwards to check out the newly opened room. When inside, he beckoned his friends to come and join him. The sole contents were a single wooden chest.

“Do you suppose this is what Robotnik was trying to hide from you?” asked Gecky.

“Well, all good quests deserve a reward, so let’s get us some treasure!” replied Sonic, pulling up the lid. Inside, the chest was piled high with gold coins, with a few spilling out as it opened. Sonic picked one up and inspected it. Staring back at him was the engraved head of Dr. Robotnik. Every other coin was the same. Tails rummaged through the chest and emerged with a small scroll which he presented to Sonic.

“Contents – Novelty fun coins for use only at Eggman Land.

*OPENING SOON*”

“Whaddya know? Eggman’s finally cracked!” Sonic chuckled, flicking the coin away.

“Hey, where’s Gecky?” asked Tails, looking around frantically. Sonic quickly spotted the tiny lizard hopping down a corridor up ahead.

“Way ahead of you, Tails!” Sonic called back, speeding off. In no time, the two had caught up, leaving Tails to trail behind. The little fox sighed. It was hard enough to keep up with Sonic, and now there were two of them!

“Even without the wall traps, a lot of people would miss this!” Gecky was gesticulating towards a small alcove among the stone walls. Inside was a small wooden platform connected to a series of chains, forming a rather rudimentary lift.

“It might not look the safest,” continued Gecky, “but it’s your ticket out of here!” Sonic and Tails hopped on, and looked at the gecko expectantly.

“Aren’t you coming with us?” questioned Tails.

“Well actually, I’ve been thinking. W-what if someone else were to wind up down here? If I left, they’d be no one left to show them the way out.”

“So you want to stay behind and help out anyone else!” said Tails, nodding.

“Sort of like a guide I suppose…” considered Gecky.

“Gecky the dungeon master” Sonic added, a cheeky grin on his face, “I like the sound of it!”

The lift clicked into action, and Sonic and Tails said their goodbyes to their new friend with lots of waving.

“Good luck stopping Robotnik! If anyone can do it, it’s you two!” Gecky got up on his hind legs and waved back at the heroes as the lift continued to rise, creaking and groaning as it did so. Soon enough, it reached the top, and they were back on the familiar and far cosier ground floor, its warm torches and red carpets more welcoming than ever before. Their relief didn’t last long though, as before they could even step off the platform, the two found themselves helplessly grabbed by two robot guards either side of them. Sonic turned his head to Tails.

“You don’t suppose Robotnik’s one step ahead of us?”