Issue #7: Battle on Angel Island

Sonic and Spider-Man found themselves in a burning wasteland. Smoke and flames covered the entire area, nothing was visible beyond the horizon, only more flames and destruction. "What happened...?" Sonic asked his new friend.

Peter was still trying to process what he was looking at, "I have no idea. But this… this is terrifying."

The two started walking through the debris, covering their mouths so they wouldn't inhale the smoke. They climbed up the remaining stairs of the destroyed building, and with each passing second Peter swore he recognized this place more. His lenses narrowed, his mind trying to piece together where they were at. By the time they reached the next room, he did and muttered out, "Oh crap."

Standing in front of the heroes were seven figures shrouded in shadow. Sonic and Peter were unable to recognize them. "So are these any of your guys, Pete?" Sonic asked.

Peter scratched his head, "I'm not too sure actually. But whoever they are they made the mistake of hijacking Avengers Tower."

"Oh so these are where your friends live. I gotta say this is a terrible house party!" Sonic admitted. He raised a brow at the figures, "Think we can take 'em all on?"

"I've faced a group like this once before by myself. If it's the same guys then it shouldn't be a problem." Spider-Man revealed.

None of the shadowed figures said a word to them. Sonic said, "These guys aren't talkers. I think it's time we showed them a quick lesson as to why we're heroes."

Then the duo went after the mysterious villains, ready for battle. However, the moment started to fade away.

Sonic and Peter snapped awake, the latter holding his head. Peter grunted while rolling on the floor and said, "Okay, that was a weird dream."

"Yeah," Sonic agreed, stretching his back on the sofa, "For some reason I was in some place called Avengers Tower."

Peter blinked, "Wait, you had that dream too?"

Sonic nodded, "Yeah. I guess that this isn't supposed to be ominous in the slightest." he muttered sarcastically.

Getting a look at their surroundings, Peter asked, "Hold on, we're back in the workshop? How?"

"Because of me." Tails revealed, sitting at a desk not too far away from the heroes while repairing Peter's Velocity Armor, almost finished, "I came back for you once I brought the fragment here."

Sonic rubbed his forehead and said, "Thanks for the save, bro. But what happened to Osborn, Shadow and Metal Sonic?"

Tails said, "Shadow broke free of Goblin's control and used Chaos Control to send the three of them away from us. I haven't been able to track their location. There have been no recent surges of Chaos Energy anywhere on the planet according to my Miles Electric. It's very odd."

The human tapped his chin and pondered their options, "What if they aren't on Mobius?"

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

Peter replied, "They took all the Chaos Emeralds from us. What if Shadow took them back to my world, Earth? It's the only other place I can think of at least."

Tails scratched his head, "That's a possibility. However since Osborn has the Chaos Emeralds, we're one method short of returning. If we can find an energy source we can use the fragment to create a rift back there."

"There is one place we can check." Sonic revealed, "Angel Island. I'm sure Knux will let us borrow the Master Emerald for a brief interdimensional adventure."

"Angel Island?" Peter questioned.

"It's a floating island that wanders the planet. My old pal Knuckles watches over it and the Master Emerald. Basically imagine all the Chaos Emeralds combined into one. I'm surprised Norman didn't go after it when he had the chance considering he already knew about the Chaos Emeralds." Sonic explained.

Peter sighed, "Your world gets weirder the more I learn about it."

Sonic said, "You'll get used to it. Yo Tails, wanna prep the Tornado to meet up with Knux?"

"You bet! Just give me a few moments!" Tails replied, eager to visit their old friend. He dropped his tools and wiped the sweat from his head, holding the armor he was working on, "Here you go, Pete. Your armor is back in good shape and ready for anything!"

Peter grabbed the Velocity armor and grinned at Tails saying, "Thanks kid. I might have to hire you as my tailor."

"Haha! If it pays well, sure!" Tails joked.

Peter retorted, "We'll see. Money isn't exactly my strong suit."

Tails shrugged his shoulders, "Oh well." with that said he left to prep th Tornado, leaving Sonic and Peter to discuss things, like the matter of Angel Island.

Sonic said, "I know you're gonna ask some questions, so I'll answer them. Tails and I crashed one of Eggman's space stations called the Death Egg and it landed on Angel Island. We met its guardian, who Eggman tricked into thinking we were the bad guys as a distraction to steal the Master Emerald. After a bit, he found out Eggman's plan and helped us, we stopped him together, and the three of us have been an unbeatable team ever since. Does that explain everything?"

Peter blinked, trying to come up with something, but alas, no other comments came to his mind and he said, "Yeah, that sums it up."

"Glad we got that out of the way. We should check and see if Tails is ready, he's pretty quick about prepping a trip." Sonic said.

A portal opened up in the Scrap Brain lab, revealing none other than the Goblin King, who used Chaos Control to return, "We could use the Chaos Emeralds now, but I'd rather those pesky heroes be around to witness our greatest victory." he spoke through an interdimensional comm.

"Feh. Fine. Just distract them for a bit longer until we finish." the voice on the other end said.

Osborn smirked, "I can accomplish that." he looked at the last capsule, containing a red echidna robot that would be useful. Curious, he tracked the heroes whereabouts by detecting the fragment's energy, finding them on their way to Angel Island, "Excellent. It seems they're on their way to meet their doom. But instead of revealing myself to them, I shall give them a little present before they part from this dimension, and if they fail, we can get a little something out of it."

He examined the robot and pressed a button, opening it. The robot's red eyes glowed, signaling its activation.

Angel Island

Tails landed the Tornado landed in a thick jungle, the best and most convenient spot he could find. "You sure this is safe, Tails?" Peter asked, now in his Velocity armor.

"I'm sure, Peter. Sonic and I land here all the time." Tails assured, "It's the closest spot I can get to the shrine without having to worry about any leftover traps Knuckles planted throughout the island."

Spider-Man added, "And I assume Knuckles is the guardian of the Master Emerald."

Tails nodded, "That's right."

"I think I'm finally understanding your world." Peter quipped.

Sonic laughed, "About time."

The fox pointed forwards, "Don't worry, Knuckles isn't too far away from where we're at now. It's just a short walk ahead."

Peter stretched, "Good. Being in this world does wonders for cardio, my arms needed a break from web-slinging everywhere anyway."

Sonic chuckled, "Dude, you haven't seen the crazy places yet. Just wait until I show you Central City's highways or Spagonia. Now those places will put your legs to the test."

"I'll eagerly wait for that day. For now let's just focus on stopping Osborn's schemes." Peter reminded the hedgehog.

Sonic waved a hand, "I haven't forgotten, Pete. We'll get ya home in no time flat."

Peter cracked his knuckles, "I sure hope so. The sooner we get back, the sooner we can kick Osborn's sorry butt."

Looking back at the heroes, Tails pointed ahead, "There's the shrine. I guess Knuckles didn't feel like moving to the Hidden Palace again."

"Good. Means less work for us." Sonic joked. "Yo, Big Red! Ya got company here!" he shouted with a friendly wave.

Turning his head, the echidna standing on the stairs of the shrine spotted his old friends along with the costumed newcomer. A thin smile appeared on his muzzle as he said, "Well, this is a surprise. About time you guys visited again." he joked.

"Yeah, things on the ground have been pretty busy as of late." Tails admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

Sonic added, "We wish this was just a friendly visit, but we kinda came here to ask for your help. You don't have to join us for this, but we're just gonna need to borrow the Master Emerald for a bit there."

Knuckles scowled at Peter, who has so far been unacknowledged, "Before you say anything else, aren't you going to introduce that new guy standing behind you?"

"Oh! Right. This is Spider-Man, he's a hero from another world and we're working together to stop his nemesis, the Green Goblin, from using the Chaos Emeralds and some magic tablet to destroy the world." Sonic explained as fast as he could.

Tails also spoke, "The Goblin used the Chaos Emeralds and part of the tablet to put Shadow under his control and warped back to his world. We need to use the Master Emerald to head there and stop him before he finishes what he started."

"And trust me, Osborn is no joke. I know this sounds crazy, and I hear you're a protective guardian but we really need to do this, so can you help us?" Peter pleaded.

Knuckles crossed his arms, "Sounds crazy, but it sounds like just another day for Sonic and Tails. If you guys need to use the emerald's power so bad, feel free, you know I can trust you two. And Spider-Man? Just don't get on my bad side. You won't like me when I'm angry." he warned.

Spider-Man chuckled, "Oh boy, now that sounds familiar." he muttered, reminded of something an ally on his world tends to say. "Trust me, the last thing I want to do is upset one of this world's heroes. I annoy my friends on Earth enough as is."

"I'll charge up the emerald you three can head out. I'll stay back just in case this Goblin guy tries to steal it." Knuckles explained, "You just better hope you have a way back."

Peter replied, "On my world interdimensional passage is nothing new, we have plenty of ways to get Sonic and Tails home. And maybe Madame Web can make that easier."

The echidna raised a brow, "Madame Web?"

Sonic decided to elaborate, "Some spider psychic that can talk with us in our minds or somethin'."

"And a major pain most of the time." Spider-Man added.

"She's spoken to Sonic and I before. Like Spidey said, maybe she can help." Tails said.

Knuckles tapped his chin, "Eh, whatever. Anyway, give me a minute or two."

As Knuckles walked up the staircase, Peter held his head, feeling his Spider-Sense go off, "Wait…" he warned.

"Got that bad feeling again?" Sonic asked. Spidey nodded, earning a smirk from Sonic, "Well whatever's comin' we can take care of it no problem!"

Knuckles asked, "What are two talking about?"

"One of Spider-Man's powers is being able to sense oncoming danger. And he's sensing something now." Tails explained, readying his Energy Ball Blaster for battle. Meanwhile Sonic stretched his legs as Peter adjusted his new web-shooters.

"Bring it then!" Knuckles said, smashing his namesakes together.

Spider-Man immediately leaned his body to the side, dodging a spike projectile from the threat. The threat in question looked like a robotic version of Knuckles, said robot stretching his arm to retrieve his spiked hands after shooting them. "Another doppelganger? And I thought I had it bad with duplicates." Peter groaned.

Knuckles shouted, "Mecha Knuckles?! He hasn't been used in years!"

Sonic Spin-Dashed Mecha Knuckles, but was caught and ended up getting thrown through a couple trees. Tails went to counterattack, saying, "Goblin must've dug through Eggman's old resources to find these!" he shot at Mecha Knuckles, who recoiled back slightly upon making contact with the yellow energy pellets.

Spider-Man shot a web ball at the robot's optics, blinding him long enough for Knuckles to deliver a swift hook to his face, "Does it matter? Point is, he's here now!" he grunted, punching his metal counterpart in the chest. Mecha Knuckles recovered and gave his organic doppelganger a punch of his own, knocking the wind out of him.

Tails helped his friend up while Peter aimed a webline for a tree, using it to leap and swing kick Mecha Knuckles off his feet, "Can your knuckles stop my feet, tin can?" Peter quipped.

A moment later, Sonic came running back and Homing Attacked the tossed robot, launching it away for a second, "Really? That was the best quip you got?" Sonic groaned.

"I can't make good jokes all the time!" Peter retorted.

Getting his bearings, Mecha Knuckles used a tether attached to his arms to pin himself to the ground with his hands. He raised his hands and aimed them directly for the heroes. One of them aimed for Tails and Knuckles, the fox using his tails to spin it away. The other aimed for Sonic and Peter, the former using his Spin-Dash to knock it off course, allowing Peter to throw it back at the robot with his webs. Mecha Knuckles' head reeled back and he was then stunned.

Knuckles let go of Tails and hit his metal counterpart, "Take this!" he shouted right as Sonic joined him. The hedgehog kicked Mecha Knuckles and dazing his sensors while Knuckles pinned his arms. Peter webbed up the robot's feet as him and Tails moved ahead to shut down the robot.

"Okay that should keep him still long enough for Tails and I to do this." Peter hoped.

Tails grabbed a screwdriver from the fluff of one of his tails, confusing Peter for a brief moment, as he reached for a panel on top of Mecha Knuckles' head. "This shouldn't be too long." Tails said, readying to dig into the robot's circuitry.

However, Mecha Knuckles recovered, pushing his feet up hard enough to remove the webbing and kicking Sonic and Tails off. Peter leapt back from the attack, then he turned his hands so that he could throw Knuckles, tossing him right at Spider-Man before him or his enhanced Spider-Sense could even react.

Sonic slid on the grass and tried to go after Mecha Knuckles, but was pushed aside by his knuckle missiles. "Oh come on…" Peter groaned, using a Chaos Drive in his armor to give him a quick boost. He charged after the robot, who used his thrusters to go after the Master Emerald. "You're not getting that!" yelled Spider-Man, shooting a web-line at him to no avail as it ripped right off of him.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Spider-Man all leapt after the robot right as he landed on the Master Emerald, the aura pushing the heroes back down to the ground. "No!" Knuckles screamed, gaining the energy to run back there and destroy the robot himself in fear of failing his purpose. Mecha Knuckles was gaining a power boost from the emerald and was ready to take it, however, something appeared below his feet.

"Wait…" Knuckles muttered.

It looked to be a puddle of water, said puddle taking a unique form and uppercutting the robot off the Master Emerald. "Chaos?!" shouted Sonic, Tails and Knuckles in unison.

"Your world has a Hydro-Man thing too?" Spider-Man asked, the watery being reminding him of a rogue back home.

"Chaos is the god of the Master Emeralds!" Tails explained, "If he's here then that means this just got a whole lot bigger."

Chaos jumped down after Mecha Knuckles, prompting the heroes to join him. Sonic said, "Not sure why you're here Chaos, but we're glad you popped up when you did!" the water god glanced at him before lunging an arm after Mecha Knuckles, changing its shape to pin him down.

Spider-Man webbed up the panel on top of his head, "Alright, guys, it's time to shut this thing down!"

"With pleasure!" Knuckles proudly shouted. Tails pulled on the robot's head circuitry while Knuckles bashed it in. Sonic held the head down, allowing Tails to disassemble the bot for good. He finally shut down, Sonic and Spider-Man kicking his body aside.

"Finally. Now I can get home…" Spider-Man sighed, sitting down and taking a moment to rest. He removed his helmet and wiped the sweat from his head, relieved that he can finally get back to Earth now.

Tails looked over to Chaos, asking, "We're grateful for the help Chaos, but why did you show up now?"

"He's appeared because of the threat at hand." bellowed a voice. A glowing orb appeared from the Master Emerald and stopped directly in front of the four heroes. A bright light blinded the heroes, forcing them to shield their eyes. Once they opened them, they were greeted by a faint image of an orange echidna. "Greetings once more."

"Tikal? Things are that bad huh?" Knuckles asked.

"Hold on, what? The echidna ghost is a normal thing too?" Spider-Man blurted out.

Tikal nodded, "I do apologize for the sudden reveal, but time is of the essence. I have been in contact with Madame Web since you arrived on Mobius, Peter. She knows of the threat that is looming over our worlds."

Peter sighed, "Yeah, because of Osborn. He's going for a god scale scheme this time, but I'll knock him down like I always do."

"You got bad guys like that too?" Knuckles questioned the web-head.

"Yeah…" Peter answered sadly.

"Hopefully that is the case, because if you fail, all worlds will be conquered under his iron fist." Tikal warned.

"Right. No pressure…" Spider-Man muttered.

"Yeah, no pressure. Tails, Knux and I deal with threats like this all the time, Pete. We got this, no problem!" Sonic shrugged off, his optimism shining once more.

"At least one of us has confidence." Spider-Man replied, "Alright, Tikal. Can you send us to Earth?"

Tikal answered, "Of course. I can tap into the Master Emerald's power and open a rift with Cassandra's aid," Knuckles was about to say something but was cut off, "Do not worry, Knuckles. Chaos and I will watch over the Master Emerald. You are needed on Earth with the others."

"Uh right… thanks guys." Knuckles said.

The echidna ghost floated to the Master Emerald and opened her palms. The emerald started to glow and seconds later, a rift appeared, Tikal saying, "There. You can finally return to Earth, Spider-Man. Do not forget what is at stake."

"Trust me… I can't." Spider-Man replied. He looked over to his new friends, asking, "You guys ready?"

"Heh. You bet! I'm always down to see some new places!" Sonic laughed.

Tails smiled, "You know I won't leave you guys hanging!"

Knuckles smirked, "Someone's gotta keep you guys in line. Plus it'll be nice to bash some Goblin face in!"

Under his mask, Peter grinned at their enthusiasm, "Awesome! Alright Osborn, I'm coming home to end this, and this time I'm not alone!"

And so, the heroes jumped into the rift, ready for the next part of their adventure and whatever waited for them ahead. Tikal folded her hands, praying they succeed.

Unknown

The Goblin King watched the monitor, detecting a massive energy spike in New York. He folded his arms, "It seems those nuisances have returned. Looks like Phase 2 has finally begun."

"Hohohoho! Finally!" Goblin's partner laughed out. He adjusted his glasses and looked to the new machine where all the Chaos Emeralds were placed into, "It's gonna take a few days for this baby to be fully operational, but when it's done… it'll be glorious!"

Osborn smirked, "In the meantime, we'll have to distract our heroes long enough to reach our endgame. While I scour the planet in search for the final half of the tablet, you shall keep the heroes on their toes and away from my trail."

"That I can do! I have hacked into SHIELD's database quite easily and have come up with a few solutions to keep our enemies at bay!" the scientist proudly revealed, pressing a few keys and pulling up the profiles of some of Spider-Man's rogues.

The Goblin King laughed, "Excellent. They will not listen to me due to my infamous reputation, but they will no doubt trust you and unknowingly play into our plans. I trust that you have finalized your methods to conduct this, doctor?"

"Of course I do! Sonic and Spider-Man won't know what hit them!" shouted Dr. Eggman in his usual gloating manner.