Hey everybody, it's me, The Goon. Chapter 10 is now up for your enjoyment :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Nintendo or Sega.
The tunnels grew darker and darker, but unlike others, there were no signs of cave drawings. After splitting up, Wario and Waluigi led the two speedy hedgehogs Sonic and Shadow deeper into the tunnels. Sonic and Shadow, as usual, felt that nothing could harm them, and were very calm about their situation. Wario and Waluigi, however, were pondering how long they could keep up the act they were putting on. Every footstep they took, even the tiniest water drop, echoed in the tunnels. So something as loud as a walkie talkie could have quite an effect, making Waluigi and Wario jump.
"Geez, relax," said Sonic, "It's just Tails. Come in."
"Sonic, things aren't looking good out here."
This voice was different. It was much rougher than Tails' voice.
"Knuckles, what's going on?" asked Sonic.
Sonic could already picture Knuckles sitting in the back of Tail's plane, flashing his long red hair around like a hot shot.
"Some weird cloud is heading this way," replied Knuckles, "It's like, all green and purple, with lightning and everything!"
"I don't think that's a normal storm cloud," said Sonic, "Any possible way you guys can get closer and look into it?"
"We can try, but we can't make a guarantee," replied Knuckles.
"Contact me if anything new pops up," said Sonic.
"Will do," replied Knuckles.
"What's going on out there?" asked Shadow.
"I'm not sure, but it doesn't sound good," replied Sonic, rubbing the center of his nose with his hands, "Wario, Waluigi, any chance we're getting close to the Emeralds?"
"Not much longer," replied Wario.
"Wario," whispered Waluigi, while Sonic and Shadow had their backs turned, "How long can we keep this up? They're gonna find out!"
"Sssshhhhh," hissed Shadow, "I hear something."
Both Wario and Sonic recognized who may have been in the group they could hear from the other side of the cavern walls. The signature jump Mario always made had a certain ring to it, and Wario and Sonic always knew Mario was around when they heard that jump.
On the other side, Mario, Luigi, the Four Toon Links, Peach, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, and Gebora noticed that part of the cavern walls they were looking at appeared softer. While the real walls were dry and impossible to move, the softer part was damp and could give off sounds from the other side.
"There's a real easy way to do this," said Donkey Kong, "Pound it until it breaks down!"
"Actually, I would have said use this Bomb that's already lit," said Purple Toon Link, holding a Bomb with a flame moving down the rope, "But that sounds good too!"
"YOU IDIOT!" everyone else cried.
"What?" asked Purple Toon Link, "It should get us through!"
"But we'll get killed if we're this close!" cried Green Toon Link.
"That's why we run before it explodes!" exclaimed Purple Toon Link.
"Then the walls collapse on us, dumbass!" shouted Red Toon Link.
"Put it out, quick!" cried Blue Toon Link.
But it was too late. The bomb exploded shortly after Purple Toon Link threw it backwards in an attempt to save them. It sent parts of the ceiling falling down on them. They didn't know how far it would go, but weren't about to stay to find out. Sonic and Shadow, who were following Wario and Waluigi, felt the rumbling vibrations on the other side of the wall as well.
"Something tells me we should start running," said Sonic.
"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Shadow.
Both groups, still on separate sides of the wall, started to run as fast as they could as far as they could. Soon enough, small rocks and lots of dirt started to fall from above them, and the way behind them was starting to become nothing more than a pile of rocks and dirt.
"We'll be lucky if we get out of this alive!" cried Purple Toon Link.
"If we do, I'm gonna kick your ignorant ass!" shouted Red Toon Link.
"Same here," said Green Toon Link.
"Totally," said Blue Toon Link.
"Look, I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking!" explained Purple Toon Link.
"Well no shit!" cried Red Toon Link.
"We'll be lucky if we get out of this alive!" exclaimed Blue Toon Link.
"Gentlemen, we don't have time for this bickering!" said Gebora, "We must hurry!"
The tunnels were closing up behind the two groups, but fortunately, both groups made it into a larger room just as the tunnels were consumed by falling dirt and rocks, no longer tunnels. The room had purple crystals sticking from the stone walls, and they would not come out even if one had tried. They gave a purple aura to the room. But there was no time to admire the beauty of the room. It didn't take long for Mario and Luigi to look across and see Wario and Waluigi, along with Shadow and Sonic.
"Oh dear," said Peach, "This won't be good."
"Why not?" asked Diddy Kong.
"Hey wait a minute," said Red Toon Link, "Aren't those the two treasure hunters that tried to kill us back in our last adventure?"
"Yes, but the hedgehogs are far worse," replied Peach.
"You know them?" asked Donkey Kong.
"Mario and Sonic have always been rivals, the way they always compete with each other," said Peach, scratching her head, "Though I'm a little confused as to why they're here, or why they're with Wario and Waluigi."
"So they're rivals, huh," said Purple Toon Link, "Kinda like us and Ganondorf."
"No, Dark Link is a rival," said Blue Toon Link, "Ganondorf is more like a mortal enemy."
Mario and Sonic took no hesitation in fighting each other. Luigi joined in when Wario and Waluigi started lunging towards Mario. Shadow just stood where he was, watching everything unfold.
"You're not fighting?" asked Meta Knight from across the room.
"Sonic's business with the plumbers is his own," replied Shadow, crossing his arms, "I don't get involved with their trivial affairs."
Coins and rings fell from the fight, but while Wario and Waluigi would pause to take whatever coins they could, Sonic kept attacking Mario and Luigi. Sonic would zoom over to the other side of the spot he was in whenever Mario and Luigi went in for the attack. Sonic sidestepped away from Mario when he launched himself towards Sonic, but found himself facing Luigi. It took a quick high jump to save him from getting a good old-fashioned Luigi punch.
However, before anything else could happen, a strange creature began crawling down the walls of the cave. All that was seen of it was one big, bright orange eye, but once it stepped out closely enough, it was pretty clear that this was a giant spider.
"Holy crap!" cried the Toon Links, "It's Gohma!"
"Looks like this will have to wait," Sonic told Mario, prepared to fight the spider.
"Yahoo!" cried Mario and Luigi, charging in with everyone else.
"What was it that attacked you?" asked Greed.
"I'm not entirely sure," replied Eddie, "But it's not our problem anymore."
Greed looked up from the dusty book he had been studying. The book was filled with worldly secrets and ancient spells. These would soon become useful.
"No matter," said Greed, "At least we have enough Ghost Seeds to take us to where we need to go. Darkkoopa!"
"Yes, Greed?" asked Darkkoopa, who was silently sitting on one of the luxury sofas meditating on his actions.
"Bring me Majora's Mask," replied Greed.
Darkkoopa got up and grabbed Majora's Mask, and brought it to Greed.
"Yes," hissed Greed, "With our power and this mask, we will truly be an unstoppable force!"
The Ghost Seeds began to spin around them, emitting green sparkles that teleported them out of the room.
To be continued...
~The Goon~