The White Park Grand Chateau,[1] or just the White Park Chateau for short,[1] is a location that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by IDW Publishing. It is a big, old rustic lodge located in the mountains of White Park Zone.
Description[]
A Chao Racing stadium inside White Park Chateau, from Sonic the Hedgehog #33.
The White Park Grand Chateau is a quite large and luxurious lodge made mostly of wood. There are numerous apartments inside it, including a massive penthouse suite and a large stadium for Chao Racing.[2]
Being designed with its surroundings in mind, the White Park Grand Chateau is built to withstand avalanches.[3]
History[]
Chao Races and Badnik Bases[]
Amy, Rouge, Cream, Cheese and Gemerl came to White Park Grand Chateau to take part in the White Park Chao Racing Circuit and trade spare robot parts from Clutch for Omega. After they managed to enroll Cheese for the competition and pass the qualification round, Clutch invited Rouge to his penthouse suite to talk shop. There, he made her an offer: if Cheese won the race tomorrow, he would give Rouge anything she wanted from his collection in exchange for Cheese. Although Rouge said she would think about it and left, she secretly intended not to give up Cheese and made a plan with Omega to turn the tables on Clutch. Moments later, Rouge stumbled upon a mysterious figure in the Chateau's hall, who surprised her when he revealed himself to be Dr. Starline.[2][4] Starline proceeded to hypnotize Rouge into forgetting their encounter while also planting a subliminal suggestion in her mind that would compel her to kidnap Tails for him later.[4] Later, on the roof, Shadow encountered the hooded Starline, who managed to knock him off the roof when he chased after them.[2]
The next morning, Amy and Cream met up for breakfast in the White Park Grand Chateau, where Rouge joined them. The three of them then went on to the next rounds of Chao Races, while Shadow decided to pay a visit to Clutch after having found his business card on the hooded figure. In Clutch's suite, Shadow discovered the cage in which Clutch kept his Chao that had lost their races. He also found Omega, who revealed Rouge's plan to him. In the meantime, Cheese managed to beat Clutch's Dark Chao in the day's final race and qualify for the semifinals. Rouge and her team then visited Clutch in his apartment and tried to deceive him by pretending that they wanted to trade Cheese for robots parts. However, Shadow then suddenly showed up, knocked of Clutch and showed everyone the Chao's cage. Upon seeing them, Cream asked Gemerl to help her free the trapped Chao.[1] Meanwhile, Rouge called Sonic and Tails, asking them specifically that Sonic was dropped off at the chateau while Tails met up with Rouge elsewhere.[1][4] As arranged, Sonic came to the White Park Grand Chateau, albeit with Belle the Tinkerer in tow. At the chateau, Sonic and Belle were brought to Clutch's suite by Amy. There, Belle would help Cream try to free the Chao while Sonic left to get Rouge and Tails. After Sonic left though, Clutch recovered and activated the Badniks in his suite and had them attack the heroes before escaping himself. Amy in particular would face a tough Snowy. Meanwhile, an avalanche above the chateau was triggered by Starline.[4]
As the fight went on in the chateau, Cream convinced Clutch's Chao to help her allies after they freed by Belle. After the heroes had destroy the Badniks however, Tails and Rouge arrived at the chateau and warned them of the incoming avalanche. After that, they took the parts they needed for Omega and evacuated the guests to the upper floor of the chateau. However, Dr. Starline tried to block the heroes' path in an attempt to make them hand Tails over to him. Instead, Rouge and Amy fought Starline until he gave them the slip and lunged at Tails, who repelled him with Belle's aid. After that, Starline got buried by the avalanche he had created when it hit the chateau. Because the chateau had been built to withstand such natural disasters though, nobody got hurt when the avalanche impacted the chateau.[3]
Scattered Pieces[]
Sonic and the Chaotix enter the abandoned chateau, from Sonic the Hedgehog #77.
After the destruction of Restoration HQ, Eggman would attach a tick bug-like egg tech device to his head, as well as forcing Clutch to work for him, profiting off Clean Sweep Inc. to make way for the Eggman Empire. Clutch would later return to White Park Chateau, where Rough and Tumble would appear for a payback. Clutch signed the place over to the brothers, making them his "bosses" as well, much to the duo's excitment. Later on, Sonic and the Chaotix who are following Sonic in the Beat Monster arrive at the White Park Chateau in White Park Zone. Vector doubts Clutch would actually return to his stomping grounds after what happened to Restoration HQ, while Charmy wants to go to the amusement park, but is said no by his lead detective. As they park close the chateau, Sonic realizes the avalanche that attacked it the last time he was there was cleared away and place seems repaired, but the place also seems abandoned. Charmy then spots someone's silhouette on the window. So the boys immediately bust in to the place. Inside, the chateau is empty, only with may deactivated Egg Pawns lying around, Sonic uses his speed to look over the place and finds that many rooms are locked while others are empty, he only didn't check the kitchen, wanting to get some food. But then the boys hear a voice behind them and find Rough and Tumble wearing fancy clothing. As Rough rings a bell, the Egg Pawns suddenly activate and attack Sonic & the Chaotix, who fight back. Espio manages to take down some bots with his kunai, while Vector holds one still and then finds Charmy playing with a board game called "Half-Pipes and Pulleys", which he seems to be fond of. Seeing the Egg Pawns aren't enough to take down the heroes, the skunk brothers decide to "come out of retirement" and attack as well. Rough attacks Espio while Tumble attempts to attack Vector, the two Chaotix tear up the skunks' clothing, much to their exasperation.
Sonic puts an end to the fight and Vector asks the skunks why they are doing it if they quit Clutch. The brothers respond they are now legitimate businessmen, and that instead of working for Clutch, the latter is now working for them. While Charmy congratulates them, the others don't believe the duo. But then Clutch, completely well and unharmed, calls their attention. He shows to actually be serving the skunk brothers, as he calls them "misters" and asks for their permission to talk to the boys. Rough and Tumble allow him to and order him to clean up after. The Chaotix and Sonic believe it might be a trap but decide to go on anyway, while Vector orders Charmy to put the board game back, which the latter refuses. They follow Clutch to his penthouse suit as he sits down asks what they want after already ruining his life. Sonic asks him to answer for the destruction of Restoration HQ, which the elder replies that it was a pyrrhic victory and that the Restoration didn't lose anything valuable, while he himself lost everything. Sonic then asks what happened to him after Eggman took him away from their fight during the Clean Sweepstakes; Clutch responds that he escaped from Eggman as soon as he got distracted, but the heroes (except Charmy) still don't believe him.
Clutch then admits he overplayed his hands during the Clean Sweepstakes, so he did the "reasonable" and "smart" thing to do and ran away and hid. Vector calls out that hiding in the first place they would look for doesn't seem "smart", which Clutch replies the chateau was his haven and that the heroes didn't find him directly. The crocodile then asks why he still has Egg Pawns and Rough and Tumble with him. Annoyed, Clutch handles the heroes the deed to White Park Chateau, showing he signed the place over to the skunk brothers, as well as terms of his employment during their ownership, after the brothers went to him wanting a payback. He also claims the egg-tech are leftovers stock from when he ran operations in the place. Espio then demands to know why Clean Sweep Inc. is still operating. The opossum responds it's operating thanks to his automated robots, also claiming that most of his living being employees abandoned him after he was exposed. Sonic asks if there are maintenance bots, while Vector still has doubts, while calls the opossum rotten. Clutch claims the heroes have won as they beat him when he tried to get back into the game and that it is all over. Charmy feels remorse for Clutch, while Espio tells him not to. With this, Clutch gives Sonic a paper with the address of the nearest operational Clean Sweep facility for they to go look themselves, even claimed they can burn the place to the ground for all he cares. Charmy begs to take the board game with him, which Clutch angered agrees to. The heroes then leave the place, but Vector claims they will return if things still remain not right. After this, Clutch watches the heroes through the window. He then walks to a Picky animatron and twiddles its head, opening a secret passage. Just then Rough and Tumble enter the room to talk to Clutch but can't find him. But they don't care much and leave. Clutch is now in a room with many monitors, then Eggman appears in the screens. Clutch informs his new boss about Sonic and the Chaotix's arrival, as well their upcoming arrival to the nearest Clean Sweep base, letting Eggman do whatever he wants with them there. Eggman is impressed but still demands more details. Sweating nervously, Clutch takes off his hat, showing the device attached to his head, and tells Eggman he lied to the heroes, and that they have no idea Eggman is profiting off Clean Sweep Inc. to expand the Eggman Empire. Eggman is satisfied and dismisses Clutch before hanging up. Clutch puts on his hat again while nervously and still sweating holding his cane with his shaking hands.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Sonic the Hedgehog #34, "Chao Races and Badnik Bases, Part 2"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sonic the Hedgehog #33, "Chao Races and Badnik Bases, Part 1"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sonic the Hedgehog #36, "Chao Races and Badnik Bases, Part 4"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Sonic the Hedgehog #35, "Chao Races and Badnik Bases, Part 3"
External links[]
- White Park Grand Chateau at IDW Sonic Hub Wiki, the IDW Sonic wiki.