Issue 10: Webhead vs. Knucklehead
Above the skies of Westside Island
After liberating the underground ISO-8 cave from the Masters of Evil's control, Spidey's team make their quiet flight back to Mobotroplis to regroup with the others. On their way back, however, Nicole informs them of some ground-breaking news she recently discovered.
'Uh, guys?' She speaks to her friends from the Cyclone's computer.
"Huh? What is it, Nicole? Have something to tell us?" Spidey asked the lynx A.I.
'More like show you. Look at this recent news report.' A holographic screen pops up in front of the ship for everyone to closely watch and listen to the reporter describing a recent fight between two hedgehogs that took place at Casino Park.
'We interrupt this broadcast for an important news flash.' said the british female reporter, 'During the amidst of this strange Spider-Flu that's giving everyone spider-like powers, a massive battle erupted at the headquarters of Breeze Media, where the world-renowned hero, Sonic the Hedgehog fought against this mysterious new hedgehog in a chaotic battle that shook the very city itself…' She continued, showing video footage of Super Sonic fighting this all-powerful dark hedgehog.
"Super Sonic? But, who's he fighting?" Ruby asked.
"A hedgehog, but not one I've ever seen, especially one that could go toe-to-toe with Sonic in his Super Form." Sally said. "Nicole, where's Sonic and the others right now?"
'They've just arrived at Mobotroplis. I'll let them know we're coming.' Nicole replied.
"We should be reaching the city in about two minutes." Tails informed everyone.
"That's good." Sally said.
"First that Man-Spider, now a new hedgehog? This day's weirder than the time Fin Fang Foom joined the Olympics." Spidey said.
"You're joking, right?" Blake asked the web-headed jokester.
"I'm not."
"Yeah, I don't believe you." She said, leaving Spidey to depressingly sigh.
Mobotroplis
Sonic and his team are seen talking to each other in the middle of the city until they've spotted Spidey's team approaching them. "Hey guys, what took you so long? Uncle Chuck told us you were investigating the Mystic Caves." Sonic grinningly asked his other friends.
"We found some hidden palace filled to the brim with ISO-8 crystals. We 'quietly' asked the Egg Army to leave, and they did after we almost died fighting Metal Sonic and some monstrous Man-Spider, who Metal called 'Tarantula'." Spidey explained their recent mission to the others that weren't involved. "What about you guys? We heard what happened at Casino Park with some black hedgehog that's not Shadow."
"He called himself 'Grimadoom'. He, Mecha, and the Hooligans were going to blow up Breeze Media with a bomb that would've scattered the Spider-Virus across the city." Weiss told them.
"Grimadoom? Sounds like a nice guy." Spidey sarcastically said.
"We can assure you he's not, Sugah-Man. He single-handedly whooped our behinds while joking around like you or Sonic, barely taking us seriously." Bunnie told the web-slinger.
"And somehow, he not only has spider-powers but ALL our moves and abilities. He can even form his own weapons that're similar to ours." Yang added.
Ruby gasped, "You mean he has his own Crescent Rose?"
"One that can tear a hole through reality." Amy said, frightening her friends.
"That ze scary." Antoine shivered in fear.
"What's even more scary is that even with my Super Form, that guy was giving me loads of trouble. I doubt he was using half of his full power." Sonic said.
"How were you able to access your Super Form anyways? Was it because of the Chaos Stone?" Spidey asked the speedy hedgehog.
Sonic nodded, taking out the stone from his quills, "Yeah. Remember, this stone is filled with chaos energy. It's like having all seven Chaos Emeralds wrapped into one beauty of a gem."
"All the more reason we should be careful with it." Blake said, before putting her hand underneath her muzzle to think more clearly as she talks. "This 'ultimate power' Doc Ock mentioned before. And these Exo Stones. They've all been bugging me. And that Man-Spider from the caves? Who was he? I feel there's more to him than we're led to believe."
Peter puts a hand on one of her shoulders, "I'm curious about that guy too. We'll figure all that later once we locate the Masters of Evil. How is that going along, Sally?" He asked the Acorn Princess.
"I think GUN is close to locating Eggman's main base of operations. Guess what we can do for now is wait for the call from Rouge until we strike. C'mon, let's head back to the castle for some rest." Sally said.
"I like that idea. My legs need some sleep. And my arms. And my face. That guy really did a number on me. I can't begin to tell you how many bones he broke with just one punch." Spidey babbled.
BGM-Sonic Adventure OST-Unknown from M.E. (Instrumental)
The heroes make their trek to Castle Acorn for some R&R until they hear from Rouge about Eggman's main base, but as they walk through the city they hear a loud voice from the sky.
"HEY! SPIDER-MAN!"
"Huh?" Spidey stops on his tracks, turning his head to the sky to see an angry Knuckles gliding right at him at top speed. "Oh. It's Knuckles. Hey buddy! Long time no see! How's guarding that Master Emerald been goin' for ya?" The Spider happily waved at the incoming echidna, noticing he's looking a little angrier than usual, almost pounding Spidey with his rock-hard fist if he didn't jump out of the way in time. "Hey, what was that for, jerk?! If you wanted me to give you a high-five, warn me the next time you unexpectedly visit, assuming you have a phone somewhere in those dreadlocks." Peter joked.
"No times for games, Spider-Man! You and Ero are going down! Give me the Chaos Emeralds you have, right now!" Knuckles demanded from Spider-Man and his other.
"What?!"
'What?!'
"WHAT?!" Spidey and Ero shouted angrily at the same time, causing Peter's lenses to glow red-and-blue because of his status as the Avatar of the Great Weaver, and of course being the host of the Other. "I don't have the Chaos Emeralds, bonehead! On second thought, I do have that Chaos Stone that acts like a Chaos Emerald, so I guess-." He accidently babbled to the rock-headed Knuckles, making the echidna thinks he has the Chaos Emeralds, combined with his glowing heterochromic eyes, getting him to attack again. "I should really stop talking!" Spidey said, dodging Knuckles' attacks.
Meanwhile, the rest of the D-Avengers and Freedom Fighters are just standing there watching the two red-colored heroes fight it at each other, and while the Mobians are used to Knuckles' idiotic behavior, Team RWBY are a little more confused on what's going on with him. "Huh? Why's Knuckles fighting Spider-Man? I thought he was on our side?" Ruby questioned with a confused look on her cute little face.
Sonic tiredly sighed while crossing his arms, "Knuckles, don't tell me you've been tricked again?"
"Tricked?" Ruby questioned.
Amy grunts, "This always happens. He gets tricked like once every month. It's a running theme at this point."
"Should we stop them?" Yang asked.
"You of all people should know what it's like to be hot-headed piece of work in these situations." Sonic teased her.
"Excuse me?" Yang replied with her eyes glaring red.
"Just give Knuckles a few minutes to cool off, then we can berate him on his stupidity. For now, let's just enjoy the show." Sonic said.
Yang's eyes turn back to normal, "Yeah, that makes sense." She said, turning back with the others to watch Spidey and Knuckles duke it out with one another.
BGM End
BGM-Sonic Adventure OST-Fight for My Own Way
Knuckles punches Spidey who put up his defensives, managing to push back the wall-crawler to a tree. "Okay, Knucklehead. If you want someone to beat back your senses, then I'm your guy. Let's rock!" Spidey said, crouching down to his fighting stance. The red echidna goes a hard-hitting right hook, missing because of Peter's superior speed and reflexes, then kicked to the cheek. "C'mon, is that all you got, furball? I'm barely even trying." Spidey taunted the gullible guardian. Knuckles growls, attacking Peter with hefty barrage fist attacks that he easily dodges without breaking a sweat, throwing Knuckles across the ground with a web strand. "Wished you had spider-powers to make this fight somewhat enjoyable?"
Knuckles growls again after gaining his bearings, "I don't need the powers of a freak to beat you!" He breaks apart a part of the ground, lifting up a huge boulder for him to throw at the teasing Webhead.
"But spider-powers give life, hope, and astonishing good-looks." Spidey quipped, kicking the boulder back at Knuckles who smash it with one, powerful punch. The red guardian tries to attack Spider-Man but repeatedly misses thanks to the dozens of afterimages he's creating with his speed alone, releasing an onslaught of attacks while simultaneously mocking him with annoying jokes and blowing raspberries with his tongue. He double-kicks Knuckles straight smacking to a tree. "Man, you're so fun to knock around! I'm starting to have a hard time believing YOU guard the Master Emerald if you're this pathetic."
That comment seriously infuriated Knuckles to the core, effortlessly lifting up the mounted tree from the ground to smack Spidey around with for a while, crushing him with the final blow. "Not so funny now are ya, Webhead?" The cocky echidna who doesn't chuckle chuckled.
"Oh I am hilarious. Should've seen me when I was invited to Comedy Central. I was the talk of the town for two weeks." said Spidey, kicking the tree straight crashing at Knuckles, webbing him pin down to the ground. "Now are you ready to be good boy and tell Papa Spidey why you were trying to kill me?" He asked, receiving a flaming spiral uppercut after Knuckles broke out of his webbing, launching him across the city with Knuckles giving chase.
"Okay, this has stretched out long enough." Sally said with a narrow stare.
"Finally. I just finished my popcorn." Sonic said, eating the last of his popcorn bag with Tails, Ruby, and Yang.
"Wha-? Where'd you-? Uh, never mind. Let's stop them before they actually hurt themselves." Sally and the others race back deep into the city to cease the fighting between Spider-Man and Knuckles.
Speaking of those two blockheads, they continue to fight, with neither letting up on the damage and teasing to each other's bones. Spidey starts panting after sustaining some damage, but still keeps a confident face, "Ready to give up, knucklebrain? I'm just warming up."
Knuckles pants as well, not looking like he's ready to give up just yet, "Nah. I'm only getting started, web-for-brains." They charge at each other for one more attack, letting out war-cries, but out of nowhere, Yang pops in the middle of their clash to painfully bop their heads in.
BGM End
"Alright, boys, playtime's over." The blonde chick told the morons.
"HEY! What was that for?!" Knuckles shouted at the cheeky huntress.
"Just wanted to make sure you weren't mind controlled, that's all." She grinningly joked.
"What?!"
"Knuckles, what's the big idea coming here unannounced to pick a fight with Spidey? Usually, you only do that to me." Sonic asked as he and the others catch up via web-swinging.
"What do you think?! I'm saving the world from this walking infection standing right here!" Knuckles pointed to a confused Spider-Man.
"Walking infection? But I just got my flu shots." Spidey joked.
"Don't play coy with me, bug-man. I've been explained everything about what you're planning with your mutated Spider-Army." Knuckles said.
"Care to tell me what I'm planning, 'cause I am absolutely lost? Spidey requested.
"Heh. You see. I've been told I'm the world's only hope." Knuckles smugingly smirked to the side as he explains his story. "A mustached kid fan of mine named Otto the Octopus told me everything how Ero has gone evil and has taken control of Spider-Man's body for world conquest, giving his parents and everyone else spider-powers and mutating them into his servants with the Chaos Emeralds. And since I'm the smartest, strongest, and bravest among us, only I can save it. I mean, why else would that kid come to me? Why? Because I am awesome. So I left the Master Emerald with the kid all alone by himself with no one watching him while I came down here to save the world, because I am just that smart."
Everyone who listened to Knuckles' bewildering story are left astonishingly dumbfounded. Spider-Man, for once in his life is at a loss for words for how dumb Knuckles is. So lost he's starting to get a migraine from hearing such outlandish trash, with Sonic, and even Ero in his spirit form joining him. Everyone else either gives Knuckles this blank "Are you kidding me" stare, or in Big's case just a blank stare as if he's loss in his thoughts.
"So…Are you going to surrender and give me the Chaos Emeralds or what?" Knuckles asked the perplexed Spider-Man and Ero.
"First off, I don't have them. If I did, I would've super-kicked your butt straight to your half-destroyed moon!" Spidey angrily shouted at the echidna.
"Secondly, guardian, I'm not controlling the boy or the one infecting people like a diseased rat." Ero narrowed his multiple eyes at the naïve guardian.
"B-But the kid said…"
"You mean 'Otto the Octopus'?" Rotor interrupted Knuckles with a stern look towards the echidna.
"Otto the Octopus? Otto Octavius? Doctor Octopus? Ring any bells?" Weiss asked the red idiot.
"Uhhh…"
"He's working with Dr. Eggman in a group called the Masters of Evil, giving people in our dimensions spider-powers thanks to the Jackal. They must have either sent a robot or a Mysterio illusion to steal the Master Emerald for some big plan they have." Tails informed Knuckles on the real villains at play here.
"In other words…" Sonic started talking.
"You done goofed, Knucklehead." Yang finished.
The idiotic echidna takes a few seconds to process everything he has just heard. Slowly, he finally gets the sudden realization he has been tricked once again, this time by two doctors. His body starts to glow bright red as he gets really, really angry. And when he couldn't hold in his anger he shouts, "OCTOPUS! EGGMAN!" and storms off.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Ruby calls out to him but gets no response from the furious animal.
Sonic fires a web line onto Knuckles' back to prevent him from leaving. "Take it easy! Flying off the handle won't get the Master Emerald back!" He said.
"But what if they, I dunno, drops and shatters it? It'd be next to impossible to find all the pieces!" Knuckles told him.
"You make it sound like you've never collected broken Master Emerald pieces before?" Sonic said.
"But not in other dimensions. What if they fell somewhere outside reality?"
"Then we'll just collect them. Easy as that." Ruby casually said.
"Easy?! Why you little-?!"
"Knuckles, calm down for a second. I've just been informed by Rouge where Eggman's current base is located." Sally said after making contact with the special GUN agent while everyone else was arguing.
"Really? Where, Sal?" Bunnie asked her team leader.
"At an island in the middle of Efrika's oceans." Sally said.
"Efrika? Yeah, that's ingenious way to avoid inter-dimensional copyright on a continent." Spidey joked.
"The island is heavy fortified. Let's plan how we'll infiltrate the base on the Sky Patrol. Let's go, gang!" Sally said, gesturing her friends to follow her to the Sky Patrol.
"Whaddya say, Knux? Wanna join the adventure of the lifetime?" Spidey asked, already forgiving Knuckles for their misunderstanding.
He silently growls, "I need to find the Master Emerald. Angel Island isn't going anywhere now, and…I guess I do owe you. And it has been a while since I've been on any crazy adventures. So sure, I'm in!" He happily fist bump Peter, agreeing to let bygones be bygones between them.
"Sweet! Then let's go, Avengers, Freedom Fighters, and Knuckles! Off to Eggman's island base!" Spidey said.
"Ugh, do I have to be counted separate?" Knuckled complained.
"You're not part of any team, are you?" Weiss asked him.
"Uh, no."
"And there's your answer."
The red echidna shortly growls, then getting an ingenious idea. "Hey, Spidey, can I join the D-Avengers?" He asked the leader of the Dimensional Avengers.
"You're hired! Welcome to the team, buddy!" Spidey nonchalantly answered. Knuckles smugingly grinned back at an irritated Weiss before they all walk into the Sky Patrol, seconds later the ship lifts off from the ground and heads towards Eggman's island.
Remnant, Inside Salem's Maleficent Citadel
The sick Mistress Salem is taking a small break from experimenting with her new pet god, Chaos, hanging out inside her dark castle overlooking her precious Grimm working together with Eggman's and Doc Ock's robots outside her stained glass window, watching them fortifying her domain with heavily-armed defensives in case of intruders, which she seems unnecessary but allows it anyways.
As she observes her mindless pets, her venomous illness kicks in again, forcing her to collapse to the floor, repeatedly coughing out blood while the purple veins on her body glow with an intense light, causing her pain to hurt even more. 'M-My body…I'm getting…weaker…' She said in her mind between coughs. 'I could've never imagined…that I…would be on the brink of death… because of some illness…Spider-Man and his Other injected into me…' She thinks back to the most painful parts of her recent clash with the fused warrior between Spider-Man and Ero, using the power of their armored Shin forms to brutally beat her to a pulp, ending their battle with an enormous spider-like dragon fist that would've killed her but miraculously survived, further surviving after Peter gave her energy as an act of mercy. After a while, she begins to here various quotes of the Spider overlapping themselves in her head, taunting her, haunting her.
'Don't bother begging forgiveness when I'm through with you…'
'Then fight me…if you're ready to die…'
'If you're as smart and as old as people say, then you should know by now that it's the duty of every hero to save people who are in danger, even though that person planned to destroy the world earlier…'
'Honestly, I don't know whether to call you pathetic, a coward, or just plain stupid…'
'You've been hiding in the shadows for far too long that you've slowly transformed into a weakling…'
'You've seen the type of bonds I've made with my friends AND foes alike, the good and bad kind…'
'YOU FOOOOOOL!'
'Honestly, you had this coming, but I've got to say though, I never expected you to fall so hard…'
'You should know by now I'm no killer, but let this serve as an eternal reminder that I could've finished you right here and now…
'There are some fates far worse than death, and you're experiencing one right now…'
These words continue to echo throughout her weak mind, but for some ill reason, she's chuckling about it despite her weakened state. "This is the first time in my life I have ever experienced true pain…and yet…I can't seem to hate him for it…Spider-Man…the Other…When was the last time I've genuinely enjoyed myself before you two entered my life…Hehehe…I guess what Ozpin said before was true…I have changed thanks to the boy…Wished we could've fought each other…one more time…"
"Then how about you stop looking so pathetic and stand back up?"
Salem weakly turns her head to spot Grimadoom standing next to her. "Grimadoom…why are you here…?"
"Hey mom. Got bored of Mobius. Wanted to check this place out. Oh, and Eggman has something to show you." The clone hedgehog said, just as Eggman enters the room holding a strange dark bluish purple ISO-8 Reactive crystal.
"My, my, Salem, you're starting to look like death itself. A minute too late you would've died." Eggman said to the dying dark queen of Remnant.
"Doctor…what is that you hold in your hands…?" She weakly asked, barely gathering her bearings to gain the strength to stand up.
"Your key in rebirth." Eggman said, lifting the crystal to the air. "This, my dying friend, is a Dark Gaia ISO-8 Reactive Crystal Metal Sonic mined from the ancient ruins deep in my world."
"Dark…Gaia…?"
"A primordial hyper energy organism of pure darkness that I once used for my plans, and research shows they are quite similar to the Grimm of this world, down to the tea." Eggman started explaining. "Once I learned the ISO-8 was a part of my world, I had the suspicion that maybe, just maybe, there was a crystal that contained an essence of Dark Gaia's power. But they were extremely rare to find, with this being the only one I could dig up. Originally I was going to use it to power up some super robot, but when I learned you were sick, I figured this might cure your illness."
"You…sacrificed power…for me…?"
"Your part of a team now, whether you like it or not. If one man goes down, the entire team falls apart. We can't beat the heroes if we're so disjointed. This isn't your day to die, Salem, and you know it." Eggman said.
"Hmph…You humans and your kind hearts…" Salem said with a small smile forming. "So are you sure this crystal would cure me of my condition?"
"I've ran some tests. They've been refined and work perfectly compatible with you and your symbiote's DNA. I've even added in some of Spider-Man's DNA to prevent something like this happening again." Eggman hands over the Dark Gaia ISO-8 over to Salem.
"You are too kind…" She said, outright swallowing the darn crystal full to not waste any time.
"Was that really necessary?" Grimadoom asked.
A black substance, quite possibly her symbiote returning to full strength, surrounds Salem as a whole, wrapping her up in a dark cocoon for about a minute. After a while a dark light breaks out of the cocoon, and with it a brand-new, Salem walks out free. Her youth has been fully restored to that of her prime, honestly looking pretty attractive. Her red irises have been replaced with a purple color, as well as having full long black hair that reaches her back. While she still possesses the scars over her eyes, only smaller this time, and that black gem on her forehead, her white skin is looking less like death, with the veins across her body lessen and barely noticeable. Underneath her new black cloak with purple hemlines and red accents, as well as her signature demonic-looking symbol on the back is a Spider-Woman like black costume with a large, stylized red spider symbol that circles to her back, with .
"Wow…Was not expecting that." Eggman said, stunned at Salem's new, attractive look.
"Meh, a minor improvement." Grimadoom shrugged.
Salem takes a few seconds, closely observing her new young look, feeling as good as a young woman with the strength of a thousand armies. She chuckled for a bit, then goes lets out a healthy fit of laughter. "So this is what it's like to feel reborn. I can't believe I reclaimed my youth and lost strength. And the powers of Dark Gaia and Spider-Man's blood now runs through my veins. You truly have earned my eternal thanks, Doctor Eggman." She smiled to Eggman as thanks for saving her life.
In that short moment, both her and Grimadoom senses a great change happening on their worlds. "What? What's going on?" Eggman asked, wanting to know what they just sensed.
Grimadoom smirked, "It would seem the metamorphosis has begun."
"I can feel them; can't you doctor?" Salem asked. "Through the Exo Stone, our little experiment has finally reached its vital point of our plan. Our army is now growing. The infected of our worlds are starting to embrace their change into something grand. Something ostentatious."
"Yes, yes, I feel them too. Perfect. Soon we will obtain an unstoppable army to decimate countries and whole worlds. Everything is coming together." Eggman sinisterly grinned, only to be interrupted by Orbot calling him. "Orbot, was it?! I was in the middle of enjoying myself!" He yelled at him.
'Sorry, boss, but I thought it would be wise to inform you the Freedom Fighters and the D-Avengers are approaching Spider-Egg Island.' Orbot informed his boss.
"Is that so? Then prep the defensives and warm up my mech. If you could excuse me, Salem, I have some bugs to squash." Eggman maliciously grinned, exiting her room.
BGM-Dragon Ball Super OST-Limit-Break x Survivor (Preview)
Spider-Man: It's your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man speaking. We followed Eggman's trail to an island base called Spider-Island. How original. Each one of us are separating into teams, disabling the base, and to take out Eggman. Who's up for some scrambled eggs?
Next time on D-Avengers: Spider-Island DX:
Freedom Fighting Avengers
Spider-Man: Seriously, who's up for some scrambled eggs? That sounds delicious right now.
KFX Here: Salem's new design is like a cross between Adriana Soria, the Spider-Queen from the actual Spider-Island comic, and her original design but looking much younger and attractive. Thought it was appropriate to pay some homage to the villain of the original source material, and some character development for Salem.