Issue 23: An Ill Passage
Little Planet, Palmtree Panic (Present)
BGM-Sonic CD OST-Palmtree Panic Present (JPN)
With the handy dandy use of Shadow's Chaos Control, the united heroes are transported into the lush lakeside palm tree resort known as Palmtree Panic Zone so they can begin their search for the Masters of Evil and stop the ritual to revive Grima.
"So this is Little Planet." Chrom commented on the weird environment filled with star-shaped plants and vertical ramps of Palmtree Panic, a world he and his fellow Ylisseans are not used to. "A world within a world. How very strange."
"Woooow! This place is beautiful! I'd never seen anything like it!" Lissa said, happily twirling herself around the field.
"No time for messing around." Shadow told the Ylissean princess as they are on a mission to save the world.
"Never thought we'd visit Little Planet so soon." Weiss said, referring to how they visited Little Planet recently before they got dragged into this time-saving adventure.
"I know! This is also the first place me and Sonic first met. Remember, Sonic?" Amy flirted with her "boyfriend."
"I certainly remember you getting kidnapped by Metal Sonic." Sonic smirked, reminiscing about their first meeting.
"Why did you have to bring that up?" Amy gave the hedgehog an unamused, deadpan stare.
"So what exactly IS Little Planet? What makes this world so special that the Validar and Doom wants to conquer it?" Robin asked Sonic, as he's the sorta expert that visited this world the most.
"You see those signposts?" Sonic points the tactician to the weird signposts that either reads "Past" or "Future". "If you run pass them, like say "88 miles per hour," they allow you to travel through time, the past or the future. Probably because of the Time Stones that exist here." He explained, which certainly got his Ylissean friends surprised about this world's unique temporal anomalies.
"A world that allows you to travel through time. This is a strange area indeed." Lucina remarked.
Nearby a cliff, Scarlet Spider and Hummingbird look down below to see a lot of badniks, octobots, Doom-bots, and Grimm causing an annoying ruckus. "Whoa! Look at all those robots and monster things! This place is so cool!" Hummingbird said, hovering in the sky with excitement.
"They've definitely been here for years from what it looks like." Kaine remarked.
"Sonic. If we can time travel here as you say, can we return to the past and save this world's future? I don't want to see another world polluted in darkness if Grima revives." Lucina asked the blue hedgehog.
"I don't think it'll be that easy. Now that Doom has an Exo Stone that can control time, I assume even if we travel back to the past and destroy some robot generator, it probably won't fix the future. If we want to save Little Planet, and our worlds, we must take back the Genesis Stone, and stop the ritual from reviving Grima." Sonic explained.
"Then let's go find those Master punks and get this over with." Yang said.
"According to my Webware's readings, and the constant ringing in my head, the Genesis Stone should be around Metallic Madness Zone." Spidey informed.
"Then we have no time to waste! Let's traverse through the lands and stop those villains!" Chrom said.
"Follow me. I know the quickest route to get there." Sonic said, already making his way through the zone.
"As long as it doesn't involve time traveling! I'm still mad at you for trapping me in Wacky Workbench's future for twelve hours! I actually got nauseas from all the bouncing!" Spidey replied as the heroes start following Sonic through the many zones of Little Planet.
BGM End
Knowing they don't have much time left until the ritual, the united heroes give it all they got to traverse the bizarre landscapes of this outworldly little world. From having fun with bumpers in the past version of Collision Chaos to almost drowning in Tidal Tempest's bad future. The heroes mess around with the conveyor belts of Quartz Quadrant, which only further helped them getting sick when they bounced all over Wacky Workbench. And while waiting for Frederick to return from his scouting mission of Metallic Madness, the local speedsters and pegasus fliers have a little race action through the complex highways of Stardust Speedway, eventually coming across mysterious Plegian villagers making their way to Metallic Madness, having seemingly been brought here by Eggman's airships.
BGM-Fire Emblem Awakening OST-"Something is very wrong"
"Hey. Where did all these people come from? What's happening here?" Ruby asked after they finished their race.
"Let's ask 'em!" Lissa runs up to a villager to ask a question. "Um, excuse me, sir? …Sir?"
"...the appointed...time... ...to the Dragon's...Table... ...our prayers...Grima..." The villager man spoke in such a weird dialect that was honestly kinda creepy.
"Riiiiiight... I'll just be backing away slowly then..." Lissa does just that and hurriedly heads back to Ruby's side just as Frederick arrived.
"Sire!" Frederick spoke to his milord.
"Frederick! Have the scouts returned?" Chrom asked him.
"Yes, milord, and with grim news." Frederick answered. "Validar has moved to a great altar to Grima known as the Dragon's Table, having been transported from its original location in Plegia to Metallic Madness. What's more, it seems all the Grimleal in Plegia have been transported here via airship and are headed there as well. It's as if they're being drawn by some unseen force…" He informed them.
"Any idea what it all means?" Chrom replied.
"Who can say, sire? They speak only gibberish and plod on as if possessed." Frederick said.
"From the looks of it, they all bought tickets for front row seats as dragon chow." Spidey joked, but this time what he says actually makes sense to his friends.
"The cataclysm in Lucina's future... This shows all the signs of leading to it. Damn! This destiny is a stubborn business..." Chrom said, worried.
"We cannot give up." Lucina encouraged.
"And we will not. We make for this Dragon's Table, and quickly! Come, everyone!" Chrom said, making their way to the depths of Metallic Madness Zone.
BGM End
Metallic Madness Zone (Bad Future)
BGM-Fire Emblem Awakening OST-"Run all you like, you can't escape fate!"
As they approach Eggman's former base of operations the last time he conquered Little Planet, the heroes are forced to travel to the bad future of Metallic Madness, where everything is dark and foreboding and the machinery is all rusted. Right at the end of the zone, they finally arrived at the outside of the Dragon Table's desert courtyard, where not only Validar and Aversa are waiting for them, but also a returning Grimadoom and even Toxin-Cinder.
"It would seem Spider-Man and his friends have made it just in "time"." Toxin made a funny time-pun.
"Now it's time we get to business." Grimadoom quipped.
"Enough with the jokes. Delay them. But carefully…We must reclaim Robin's power." Validar ordered.
"Ah, yes. Don't worry, I'll take extra care with Daddy's special little boy." Aversa said, smiling.
"Grimadoom! I've finally found you!" Shadow shouted to see the dark faker standing in front of the entrance to the Dragon's Table.
"If it isn't Shadow, my insignificant brother! Want me to read you your future? Want me to grab some tea so we can reminisce about the past?" Grimadoom continues joking around simply to get on Shadow's nerves with his time puns.
"No. I'm looking forward to beating you in the here and now!" Shadow replied.
"Validar! Return the Fire Emblem and the Genesis Stone now, so we can end this!" Chrom asked the dark sorcerer, but Validar somehow found that proposal a little funny.
"Aaah ha ha ha ha! You would...end this?" Validar replied.
"Yup. No more fighting. No more reviving demonic dragons." Spidey quipped.
"My dear boy, we already know how this story ends—you and I both!" Validar said to Chrom. "And yet you rush here... Are you so eager to meet the fell dragon yourself? Or perhaps your own fatal destiny—you would have that realized first? Ha ha!" Validar laughed.
"To hell with your destiny. I'll write a new ending." Chrom declared.
"Oh ho ho, so now you believe you can change fate? And here I thought your exalted sister had delusions of grandeur..." Aversa joined in on the little fun discussion.
"We did it before, and we can certainly do it again." Ruby told the little witch.
"Your victory over sad little Gangrel? Or perhaps Walhart's defeat? Those were meant to happen. They were preordained. You are just another fool in motley, capering on the stage! And even though some of you weren't part of the original script, our new friends here made sure you roughly followed the same path to destruction." Aversa said, essentially saying that even though the D-Avengers weren't part of the original timeline of this world, thanks to the Masters of Evil's interference, and because the D-Avengers didn't do much to change anything drastic that led to this moment, everything still went according to destiny, just slightly altered with their arrival.
"I didn't know I was part of a play until I was told off-stage." Grimadoom said.
"Perfect. Wish we knew ahead of time things would lead to this much trouble." Sonic remarked.
"But…what about Emmeryn!" Lissa asked.
"From what I heard, you only changed the method of her death. In the end, she still went splat on the ground." Cinder said.
"But that was Gangrel's will... Not yours... Not Validar's..." Frederick spoke before getting cut-off by Aversa.
"You aren't listening. All of this—every word and action—has been orchestrated... Gangrel held the exalt in contempt, yes, so Validar and I, and to a certain extent, Grimadoom, used him. In life AND death. The king's defeat threw Plegia into chaos. It drove the people to Grima... Now their life force and rancor can be laid before the fell dragon en masse." Aversa explained.
"You couldn't mean…" Chrom looks surprised, starting to understand what's going on.
"It is called the Table for a reason, you naive little man. It is where Grima feeds! The Grimleal have gladly offered themselves to him for ages. Even now, they pray for his return... Today the Table overflows with bounty, and their prayers will be answered!" Aversa said.
"That's not going to happen! Not while me and Ero are still here! He stopped Grima before! Twice actually! And with us together now, we'll do it again!" Spidey said while Ero grunts in agreement.
"But it already HAS happened, in our future. This moment was set a millennium ago. Your Other only accomplished delaying the inevitable." Aversa replied, causing Peter to growl in anger.
"How could anyone give their life willingly to that...thing? That monster!" Lucina wonders in horror.
"We will stop you! We will stop Grima!" Chrom proclaimed.
"Goodness! Now you're starting to sound like Walhart, the big bully... He intended to destroy Grima as well, you know. ...Our thanks, incidentally, for taking him off the stage for us." Aversa said with a devious smile on her face.
"That's why you gave us your ships and treasure but no soldiers, so we can get rid of Walhart, but keep the Plegians set to be sacrifices for Grima." Ilia deduced.
"Aversa, it is time. I must prepare with the others." Validar said to his faithful lackey.
"As you command, Master." Aversa respectfully bowed to him before he leaves back inside the Dragon's Table.
"Validar! …VALIDAR!" Chrom yelled out his name, but the Grimleal sorcerer ignores him and returns to complete the ritual.
"Master Validar is not to be disturbed. But feat not, I have brought the Deadlords to keep you entertained." Aversa said.
"Deadlords?" Tails questioned what a "Deadlord" is, but at that moment of questioning, 12 undead warriors, covered in black symbiote slime, suddenly appear out of nowhere in the desert courtyard.
"These 12 generals were great warriors in life…and even greater, now, in death, enhanced thanks to a few of those "Symbiotes," you call them, we collected from another timeline." Aversa said, with one of the Symbiote Deadlords snarling at their enemies, looking like it's ready to devour them whole with its many, pointy teeth. "I would introduce them one by one, but well, as you'll see, they're not much for talk. Besides, you'll meet them all soon enough!" She said, standing beside Grimadoom and Toxin, who both look eager for battle against their rivals and enemies.
BGM End
BGM-Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) OST-Vs. Character
"Great. Make my life more terrible. Now we gotta deal with undead zombies, possessed by an alien symbiote, from an alternate timeline." Spidey said as he sees the possessed Deadlords approaching to attack.
"Is there a way we can beat them?" Chrom asked Spider-Man.
"They should be weak to fire and sound. If not, electricity." Spidey said, webbing up a Deadlord in the face.
"Sounds like we have a plan!" Chrom said, striking down another Deadlord with his sword.
"You all can deal with these weaklings. I'm going after Grimadoom!" Shadow powers himself up to his crimson-red "Chaos Boost" mode and darts after Grimadoom.
"You're not the only one who has a bone to pick with him, Shadow!" Sonic revs up a spin dash to enter his light-blue, light-speed mode and joins his rival in a lightning-fast showdown against their dark doppelganger.
"Me and Robin will go fight Aversa." Ruby suggested.
"Right. Let's go, Ruby." Robin nods and runs off with Ruby to fight against Validar's most trusted, and malicious assistant.
"And I guess Lucina and I will have a little fun with Toxin." Spidey said.
"I'll fight with you to the bitter end, Spider-Man." Lucina draws out her sword and joins Spider-Man in an epic fight against the Symbiote Mercenary of Remnant.
It's a huge brawl against the Symbiote Deadlords. Possessing incredible regenerative skills and weapons, these undead warriors prove to be quite a challenge to the heroes, but not for very long. While Sun clashes with the Deadlord Equus, this gives Sumia, who is now a Dark Flier, to unleashes a magic fire blast that severely weakens the Deadlord for Sun to deliver the final blow. A similar scenario happens with Cordelia and Knuckles, with the Falcon Knight holding off the Deadlord Anguilla's tendrils so Knuckles could smash their face in with a flaming fist after grinding on the tendrils. With the heroes knowing these alien-possessed zombies are weak to fire or sounds, the strongest generals in history are reduced to child's play. Unfortunately, the same thing couldn't exactly be said with the commanders of these zombies.
"I'll never understand minions like you and Excellus. No lives of your own... Living only to serve at the beck and call of your masters. Pathetic." Robin said while countering Aversa's dark magic with his lightning blasts.
"Oh? I might say as much about your relationship to the prince..." She said, commanding her dark pegasus to dodge Ruby's scythe slash. "And please, don't lump me in with that half-witted little toad. Excellus was nothing but a pawn on our board. Another actor on our stage. His ambition was our insurance against Walhart's threat. If you had failed, he might have destroyed the empire from the inside. But in the end, he was just another puppet whose strings we had to cut."
"Then that just proved Robin's theory." Ruby responded with an energy shot from her gun that hits Aversa.
"Yes, I promised him the Plegian throne in exchange for the Emblem... He jumped at the offer! Well, as much as the fat little piggie could jump... Men are all the same. Learn their ambition, and you have them by the— Oho... Well, perhaps Excellus was a bit different in that respect..." Aversa chuckled, while trying to attack both Robin and Ruby at the same time.
"Here I thought him the lowest form of slime imaginable, but you win handily..." Robin said, blowing away the witch with wind magic she easily recovers from.
"Yes, well, we play the roles we're given, Robin, as you'll soon discover." Aversa replied.
"If we all stand on a great stage; I'll be happy to assist with your exit!" Robin said.
"Oh really now, how amusing... You're so cute when you try to be clever. But Master Validar already considers you stronger and smarter than I... Whatever shall I do if he decides you're more witty as well? Perhaps I'd best kill you before you ripen and become his everything..." Aversa said, hinting to something that concerns Robin.
"Before he "ripen"?" Ruby responded with a confused look.
Aversa puts a finger in front of her mouth to shush the little Huntress "...Shhh. Nothing to worry your pretty little head over. Focus on our battle, instead! If Robin's truly as gifted as my master says... There is no need for me to hold back!" She said.
"And we won't hold back either!" Ruby said, letting out a war-cry with Robin, darting towards Aversa to continue their epic battle.
Not far away, Spider-Man and Lucina are doing an amazing job keeping Toxin on her toes during the whole fight, using various team tactics to keep her on edge. "Whew! Thank you. It's been a while since I've been this pumped up. I kinda need it after almost dying a few days ago." Toxin said, forming a large axe with her symbiote to try and slice off the heads of Spidey and Lucina.
"Whaddya talking about, Cindy? Who was strong enough to almost kill you?" Spidey asked, webbing her axe to the ground, leaving her vulnerable to a sword slash from Lucina.
"You've fought him before? Morlun? That bastard showed up at Latveria one day and almost killed me because I'm a Spider-Totem. My friends are still recovering from what he did to them. I don't care if he's helping us. The next time I see him, he's dead." Toxin said, throwing a large punch that Spidey successfully blocked.
"The Inheritor is dangerous, I agree. But you're helping releasing an even great danger that could doom us all!" Lucina said to Cinder.
"Don't be such a worry-wart, princess. You're standing with New York's Greatest Hero, and my personal rival. Even if I'm helping the baddies, they're still gonna fail. I just wanna have a little fun before that happens." Toxin said, surprisingly having full fate in Spider-Man to succeed despite she's on the opposite team.
"It's adorable you have so much confidence in me. You sure you're not developing a crush?" Spidey laughed at his own joke.
"You are so insufferable. Let's move on to the part I beat you." Toxin let's out a war cry of her own and continues her intense battle against Spider-Man and Lucina.
And nearby all across the battlefield, Sonic and Shadow continue duking it out at light-speed against Grimadoom, clashing heads repeatedly, with neither hedgehog reducing on the spiky spin attacks and energy blasts. "You're not giving it your all, aren't you?" Shadow asked Grimadoom after punching him in the face.
"Well, duh. You two aren't in your super forms, so I have to keep it fair. Don't want you to cry all across the planet." Grimadoom quipped while kicking Shadow in the chest, sending him flying for a brief moment, as Shadow teleports back in with an angry roundhouse to the head.
"Don't you dare underestimate me!" Shadow said, combining his Chaos Spear with Sonic's Sonic Wind to actually deal impressive damage to Grimadoom, skidding him back a few feet.
'Impressive. They've gotten stronger.' Grimadoom thought while continuing to clash spiny blows against his "brothers." While they clash speedy attacks, the dark clone is able to scan his surroundings to see how everyone else is doing. 'Those Deadlords aren't going to hold out much longer…' He said, seeing the heroes already destroyed 10 out of the 12 undead generals. 'Neither is Aversa…' He turns to Aversa close to losing against Robin and Ruby. 'Even Cindy can't distract those fools forever…' He spots Cinder starting to have trouble keeping up against Spidey's and Lucina's teamwork. 'Oh well. It would seem they're about to start anyways.'
BGM End
Grimadoom ends his epic clash with a powerful shockwave that sends both hedgehogs flying to a nearby statue. "Let's continue this dance another time, shall we?" He asked, declaring this brawl a draw.
"Wait! That's it?" Sonic asked the hedgehog clone.
"I've had my fill. So as the others. Call us when that name-taker dragon revives. I need to prepare filing a lawsuit. Bye-bye." Grimadoom said before teleporting himself, Aversa, and Toxin out of the courtyard just as the last Symbiote Deadlord is killed.
"They've escaped!" Ruby said after they left.
"That must mean they're ready for endgame. That's the only explanation." Spider-Man said.
"We have to stop them! My future is upon us!" Lucina hurried everyone.
"We will, Lucina. I swear to you, we will." Chrom said before everyone hurries inside the Dragon's Table to stop the Masters of Evil from ruining the world and its future.
Beast OST-Next Episode Preview
Sonic: I'm Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog! We're just a few moments away before Grima is revived. We have to stop them! Chrom! Robin! Take on, Validar! You've done it before in some alternate timeline, did you? I'm sure you can do it again, only this time, we'll create a better future that doesn't have a giant dragon.
Next time on D-Avengers: The Fell Awakening:
Invisible Threads
Sonic: You may have the power of time, but that's nothing against my speed!
KFX Here: I should spoil this now that despite Little Planet being involved in this story, the Time Stones aren't. We already have the Genesis Stone, which is pretty much all seven Time Stones wrapped into one, so it would be redundant including them so late in the story.