Issue #12: Of Scarlet and Steel

Goblin Castle, Sokovia

The Goblin King returned, dragging a body down the hall with him. He sneered and threw it upon the feet of Dr. Eggman, who looked a bit appalled at the deed despite his own heinous acts. "You didn't need to supply me with evidence, Norman. I know what you can do." the scientist calmly stated, observing the body of the green creature.

"I brought him here to ensure that this is the real deal and not one of his pesky clones. He is quite annoying with that." Osborn growled, scowling at the unmoving body of Miles Warren, the Jackal, in his Jackal form. From the looks of his body he tried fighting back, but it was futile.

Eggman adjusted his glasses, "Ah yes, I see. I can stop for the time being to double check. May I ask why you went to the trouble of finding him?"

Osborn crossed his arms, "I needed his technology for our cause, but I found something we can use to our advantage. Or more accurately someone."

Eggman watched as another person walked in, a person clad in red and black. He smiled realizing how useful this person could be to halt the heroes just a bit longer.

"I like the way you think Norman." Eggman laughed, "Now I believe it is time to enact the next phase."

"I agree. The Chaos Emeralds shall finally serve their purpose, and our greatest asset can finally show his newfound power. It is time to send in everyone." Goblin laughed.

Avengers Tower, New York

"You had the symbiote?!" yelled Spider-Man in pure disbelief. Mockingbird had told him the truth of the V-252 and let that information stew in his mind as the team returned to Avengers Tower. Once they did, Peter decided to give Fury a piece of his mind. "Why am I asking? Of course you did, because you SHIELD agents always gotta have secrets in your secrets, even when said secrets could doom everyone!"

"Calm down Mr. Parker." Fury sternly replied.

Spider-Man grunted, "Calm down? How can I calm down when Eggman and Osborn have access to one of my strongest foes because of you?!"

Fury scowled, "You think we wanted this? The Venom symbiote was kept in the most secure lab in the Triskelion, we didn't account for Shadow to intervene."

"Why do you even have it?! Who decided giving the symbiote to SHIELD was a good idea?!" Peter questioned.

"If you must know, once we finally contained Gargan we removed the symbiote from him by force." Fury revealed, "It was safer in our hands than anywhere. Be lucky it didn't end up in the terrorist black market."

"Yeah I should be grateful it ended up in the hands of shady government people. Sure." Spider-Man retorted with bitter sarcasm.

Sonic decided to butt in asking, "Alright I gotta ask, why is this such a big deal?"

Peter scowled, "The Venom symbiote is a deadly parasite that can change the mind of those who bond to it. I wore it for so long it's even immune to my Spider-Sense when someone else wears it. It was fine when Eddie Brock had it cause he used it for good after a while, but now that he lost it and it's in the hands of Eggman and Norman, there's no telling what it can do."

Logan chimed in, "Well whatever happens, we'll slice it apart."

May bit her lip, having no idea just how deadly some of Peter's foes could be. She looked to Mary Jane, "Is this what Peter endures every day?"

"Yeah…" MJ admitted.

"Oh dear…"

Hearing the conversation, Peter spoke to his aunt and put his hands on her shoulders, "It's alright, Aunt May. It can be pretty freaky sometimes, but I know what I'm in for now. You and Uncle Ben taught me to keep going, and I am no matter what."

"But this… this seems too dangerous." May said worriedly.

"Pete can handle this, May. I promise." MJ assured her.

Sonic added, "Yeah he's just as good at this as we are. And if nothing else, he's got us three to back him up now! Like we told him, he's a part of the team now and we look out for each other."

May managed a smile, "...Alright. Sorry for my doubt, I'm just… new to being involved in all this."

Giving her a hug, Peter replied, "You're just worried. I get it, heck MJ still has

the same worries too. But I promise you both, I'll be fine."

"Heh. Very well, Peter…" May looked to Sonic, "And do take care of him alright?"

"You got it, Mrs Parker!" Sonic saluted the elder woman.

May said, "Please, you may call me May, dearie."

The hedgehog gave a thumbs up, "You got it, May!"

'Team Sonic. Spider-Man.'

Peter released his hug and rubbed his head, sighing, "Sorry Aunt May, um… this next part is kinda hard to explain."

Mary Jane said, "Let me guess, psychic in your head again Tiger?"

"Bingo." Spider-Man answered.

"...What?" May wondered.

"I dunno much about this either, May." Sonic revealed.

Tails spoke up, "I'll fill her in the best I can, don't worry."

Peter held his head, "What's up M-Dubs? Been a while since we spoke."

'I have glanced at the Great Web once more. You four must seek the one known as Steel Spider.'

"Wait the kid? I haven't seen him in years. What does he have to do with all of this?" Peter asked.

'He plays a vital role in the upcoming battles.' Madame Web teased.

Sonic chuckled, "We can do that no problem then! We just gotta find whoever this guy is!"

Spider-Man tapped his foot, "That's gonna be hard to do. Him and I don't exactly keep touch."

"Peter, is there any way we can track him down?" Tails asked.

Peter thought about it for a moment, "I'm not too sure."

Madame Web finally spoke up, 'Steel Spider has actually returned to New York in your absence, Spider-Man. Tikal can sense a presence not too far away from your location, nearby the building owned by the one person you greatly dislike.'

"And let me guess, it's Oscorp!" Peter groaned.

"Oscorp? Wait, Norman has a company?" Sonic questioned.

Rubbing his head, Peter answered, "Yeah believe it or not. Even before he became the Green Goblin, Osborn was a very shady businessman. Making deals in the criminal underworld and the like, I even remember that short time he was with a crime lord called Tombstone."

May gasped, "I had no idea Norman did such things."

"It was a surprise to me too, Aunt May. Don't worry, Harry's already aware of this stuff, and well you know how good Oscorp's been since he's been running it."

"That's good." May replied.

Logan spoke up, "You four can do that, I think it's time I started huntin' for Osborn."

Knuckles cracked his namesakes, "So what are we waiting for? Let's do this already!"

Kneeling down on a rooftop across from the Oscorp building was a man wearing thick navy blue armor. Its design was similar to Spider-Man's, but lacked the webbing pattern and it was clear that he wore something more durable than Spidey for the lack of abilities. "Alright it's time to dethrone that Goblin once and for all."

"You're not gonna get very far." a familiar voice said.

Curious, Steel Spider turned around and saw his former idol, Spider-Man. And alongside him were the three animals he heard about. His lenses narrowed as he said, "Oh… it's you."

"You're the Steel Spider, huh? Nice suit. Way cooler than Mister Spandex over here." Sonic quipped.

"Hey!" Spider-Man yelled.

Tilting his head, Steel Spider said, "Yes. I am. As if the other Spider-Guy over there cares."

Peter crossed his arms, "I only shrugged you off to keep you away from the craziness that is my life."

Steel Spider pointed a finger at him, "And I told you I could handle it!"

"You were way younger than me than when I started, Ollie!" Spider-Man scolded his former 'apprentice', "And a lot more reckless too. You nearly got that armor of yours destroyed day one on the job."

"A simple error. A hero pushes on even when the odds are against him, that's what you're all about right?" Steel Spider asked.

Spider-Man sighed, "Yes. But you were a kid that had no powers and no prior experience. There was no way I was letting a kid die by my hand just because I kinda wanted a sidekick."

Steel Spider paused, "...You didn't have to be a jerk about it though."

"A lot of heroes can tell you I wasn't all that friendly back then. I don't think fondly of those times, Ollie. Believe me." Peter revealed.

Sonic tapped his foot, "Okay, did everyone say what they needed to? Cause we're kinda on a mission here."

Spider-Man nodded, "Right. Ollie, we need your help. For real this time. And I'm being sincere when I say that I'm willing to give you the benefit of a doubt to prove yourself."

"...You mean that?" Steel Spider asked.

Peter shrugged, "I do. It's been a few years, and I heard you were active in Boston recently but I backed off, so I want to see if you became something more than the reckless kid I first met since we might have no choice but to work together."

The armored spider paused as he composed himself, "...Okay then. I won't let you down then… okay now I have to ask what the hell these guys are?"

Sonic raised a brow, "What? Never seen a hedgehog, fox and echidna before?"

"Glad we got that settled. Now we just have to figure out what kinda role you'll be playing here. Is Madame Web always this cryptic?" Tails asked.

Spider-Man lowered his head, "...Yep…"

Knuckles tapped his foot, "So we're on a wild goose chase, huh? Great. Just what we need right now. I just want to bash Eggman and Osborn's faces in already!"

"Actually… I was in the middle of a self reconnaissance mission that could get us closer to doing that." Ollie revealed, "With everyone else left to clean the streets, I took it upon myself to strategize a stealth entrance into Oscorp to figure out if there were any leftover plans. Been tracking some strange energy there, possibly under everyone's noses."

Tails put a finger on his muzzle, "There's no other option right now. If Eggman was there, he was bound to have left something for us to find by accident. It's the best lead we have."

"Sweet! All we gotta do is head in there, find some hidden lab and we'd be all set!" Sonic realized.

As the others were conversing, Spider-Man rubbed his head, something that Knuckles noticed, "You alright, Spidey?"

Peter waved a hand, "Yeah… it's just… my Spider-Sense is going off. I don't think we're alone."

"Then we better keep our guard up. Eggman and Osborn might've given us another distraction." Knuckles added.

Suddenly by pure instinct, Spider-Man ducked down, narrowly missing a web ball aimed right for him. Curious, he turned around and spotted what appeared to be another Spider-Man, this one clad in red and black, a small spider emblem connecting to the black spots on his shoulders. His red lenses narrowed at the sight of the original Spider-Man.

"...Wait a minute… a clone?!" Peter gasped, "Damn it! Last thing we needed is the Jackal right now!"

Sonic looked up, "Jackal?! Another Spidey? What the heck is going on?!"

The fake Spider-Man lunged downwards and tried swiping Sonic, the Hedgehog countering with a Homing Attack. As he did this, Peter explained, "The Jackal's a nutcase obsessed with cloning me. This looks like another one of his Scarlet Spiders as I like to call them, so either Warren's making a move now, or our two favorite baddies managed to hijack whatever it is he wanted to do."

Scarlet Spider attempted to punch Knuckles, but he blocked his fist with his palm before delivering an uppercut, "Doesn't matter! He's fighting us anyway!"

Peter shot a web line at the Scarlet Spider and yanked him back. He turned his head and yelled, "Tails! Ollie! Head to Oscorp! The three of us can handle the clone!"

"Are you sure?" Tails asked.

Sonic took a kick from the Scarlet Spider and said, "Yeah! I trust ya to handle this buddy!"

"Alright, kid. Let's do this quickly." Steel Spider said, holding Tails' wrist and flying towards the building.

Tails and Ollie managed to sneak into the lab through a window the Steel Spider broke through. The fox landed on the floor of the empty office, "Huh. This place looks pretty ordinary."

"Now it is. Probably because of Norman's son taking charge." Steel Spider explained.

"Wait Norman has a son?" Tails asked in disbelief.

Steel Spider nodded, "Yeah. Harry Osborn, he's a good guy unlike his Dad. If he finds us, we'll probably just have to explain ourselves."

"Oh okay." Tails replied.

He cracked his knuckles and used a flashdrive to hack into Oscorp's computer network, "Okay, we're in." he revealed.

Tails sat on a chair and made his way to the keyboard, "Alright Steel Spider, just give me a minute to see if Norman or Eggman left anything on here. But knowing Eggman, the answer is probably yes."

Steel Spider stood and watched, feeling uneasy about the silence of the room and looked up, spotting a jackal watching from the shadows thanks to his tech lenses. He shot a makeshift web at the jackal, causing him to move from his position and reveal himself, "Well well, it seems that suit of yours has a keen eye after all." Zero quipped, revealing his sword.

"Another animal person!? The hell's going on?" Steel Spider wondered.

"He's a mercenary Eggman hired to stop us!" Tails shouted, "So you knew we were coming huh?"

Zero smirked, "Let's just say my employers have eyes everywhere. You'd wish they went after you instead of sending me, I'll make your deaths slow, terrifying and agonizing."

The fox scowled, "I've faced scarier bad guys than you!"

"A bold claim for a mere child like yourself." The jackal laughed, "That bravado won't matter with what I have up my sleeve." he pulled out a strange device from his tail and strapped it to his chest, attaching a red gem Tails recognizes to it.

"Oh no." Tails gulped.

"What is it?" Steel Spider asked.

The fox pointed to the gem, "That's a Chaos Emerald! He's used it to power up, so that's what Eggman and Osborn wanted!"

Zero was surrounded by a powerful red aura, "Oh yes! This power! It's… amazing! Taking you two out will be so easy now!"

Ollie snarled, "Yeah right, bring it!"

Tails tried to swipe at the jackal, but Zero moved out of the way in the blink of an eye, the fox turned his head, getting the feeling that he was behind him. Acting on instinct, Tails jumped over the mercenary, giving Steel Spider an opportunity to strike him. "Nice moves, fox kid." the armored spider complimented.

Now angered, Zero kicked back Ollie, causing him to slide on the floor before getting his bearings. "You got lucky." the jackal snarled.

"Zero! What are you doing?" Eggman yelled through the jackal's comms.

The mercenary sliced at Steel Spider, denting his armor. He put a finger to his ear to respond, "I'm getting rid of our pests! I can do this!"

"You had one job! The heroes will suffer soon and I'd advise you listen if you wish to avoid their fate!" Eggman advised.

Zero growled while dodging a punch from Tails. "Fine…" he backflipped and threw his trusty blade down, destroying the computer Tails and Ollie hacked into. "You both got lucky… for now."

"No!" Tails shouted, swiping the jackal with his namesakes, causing him to fall on his stomach.

Zero chuckled, "Chaos Control!"

The mercenary vanished in a bright light, leaving Tails and Steel Spider alone in the lab, "Damn it!" the armored spider cursed, examining the damaged computer, "This is busted up real good."

"It looks irreparable…" Tails mumbled.

"Not quite. With a day or two I can probably salvage some data." Steel Spider revealed, "How good are you with tech like this?"

Tails rubbed his neck, "I don't like bragging but even though I'm not used to what this world has to offer, I think I can adapt and figure this out too."

Ollie nodded, "Great. Grab the hard-drive, we'll take it to wherever Spider-Man needs it."

"Right!" Tails replied, grabbing the hard-drive to repair later.

Back outside, Sonic, Knuckles and Spider-Man were dealing with the Scarlet Spider. The echidna gave him a swift punch to the chest, dazing him momentarily. "Alright, Spidey! Now!" he yelled out. Peter yanked the clone's leg and tripped him up.

"Not a bad hit, Knux!" Spidey complimented, "I think we figured out a pattern with this guy!"

Sonic kicked the clone while asking, "And what's that?"

Spider-Man shot some web-balls at him, "He seems to prefer brute force…" he grabbed the Scarlet Spider's fist, "See?" he lowered his clone's fist and decked him right in the face.

"Oh I get it!" Knuckles exclaimed, "So we gotta corner him!"

"Yeah! It seems someone forgot to finish reading the clone instruction manual!" Spider-Man quipped

Sonic gave a salute, "This should be easy then!"

Scarlet Spider found himself surrounded by the trio. Knuckles lashed out first, but the clone lowered his arm. However Sonic gave him a swift Spin-Dash to the back, giving Knuckles an opportunity to slam his namesakes towards the clone. Spider-Man webbed up the Scarlet Spider's lenses, which made him flail his arms around.

Knuckles growled and uppercutted the clone, launching him into the air. Sonic followed with a strong Homing Attack to his chest and uncurled yelling, "Alright, Spidey! Let him have it!"

"With pleasure!" Spider-Man shouted back, using a webline to throw him down onto his stomach, "Normally I hate doing that to people, but I'm sure he can walk it off."

The clone mumbled something, catching the heroes' attention, "Huh?" Peter asked.

The Scarlet Spider said, "...The hell…? I'm… alive?"

"Wait… alive?" Sonic scratched his head, "Did he die before?"

Peter walked closer to the clone, unmasking him, revealing the rugged face of a man who looked like Peter, except his hair was much more unkempt and he was growing a beard, "Wait… Kaine?" he questioned in disbelief, remembering this clone.

"Parker…?" Kaine wondered.

Knuckles folded his arms, "You know this one?"

Spider-Man nodded, "Yeah. Kaine here's one of the good guys. I thought he died when Kraven got to him. Um… sorry about beating you up like that."

The clone shook his head, "No it's fine kid… but can you tell me what the hell's going on and why you're talking to a bunch of cartoon animals?"

"Long story. Basically it looks like we're gonna have to save your planet too." Sonic explained, "We think Osborn and Eggman got to you like he did a friend of ours."

Peter looked to his clone and said, "We can use all the help we can get. The Avengers went missing and a lot of other heroes are busy so it's down to us, Wolverine and anyone else left in New York to pick up the slack. You wanna join us?"

Kaine scowled, "Yeah… I could use a little payback."

"Eh. Good enough reason I guess." Knuckles shrugged.

Peter nodded, "Once Tails and Steel Spider get back, we'll get you to Avengers Tower to rest up."

"Alright alright… wait Steel Spider?" Kaine repeated.

"Smart kid with spider armor. Looks like we're forming a Spider-Team." Sonic quipped. "Speaking of, I see them flyin' out now."

"Guys!" Tails shouted,

"What's up Tails?" Spider-Man asked.

"We need to tell you guys something." the fox noticed Kaine, "Is that the Scarlet Spider?"

"Yeah, he's on our side. Continue." Spider-Man debriefed.

Steel Spider landed first and explained, "Some jackal came and destroyed our only lead. Luckily we can probably salvage just enough to get something with enough repairs."

"And that's not all. Apparently Eggman created some kind of harness that lets someone absorb Chaos energy! He used it on us!" Tails revealed.

"...I need a freaking drink." Kaine grumbled.

Sonic tapped his foot, "So Egghead's using the Chaos Emeralds against us now. Great…"

"Even with that harness it's still too risky. Chaos Energy is unpredictable." Knuckles added.

"He's probably made enough to use for each emerald." Tails realized.

Spider-Man said, "And knowing our luck, Zero was just a test run. We gotta regroup at Avengers Tower and form a plan before Eggman and Osborn begin their next step."

Goblin Castle, Sokovia

"You nearly went against your orders there." Goblin scolded the Ultimate Mercenary.

"I could've finished them off." Zero scoffed.

Osborn gritted his teeth, "If you value your life you will listen to us and only us. Consider this a warning."

"Hmph. Whatever." the jackal shrugged.

Eggman scowled at the mercenary, "The nerve…"

"You are lucky you have proven yourself a useful asset for now." the Goblin King said under his breath, "But with that done, I do believe it is time to initiate the next phase at last."

The scientist laughed, "Oh yes! The heroes have been quite distracted, and now we have a perfectly coordinated strike! Metal Sonic is repaired and the Chaos Harnesses are working!" he pressed a button, revealing a schematic of a super prison known as the Raft and the mugshots of 4 supervillains that were locked up there.

"Excellent. They have played right into our hands!" Osborn mocked the villains.

"Indeed they did!" Eggman cackled.

Shadow grumbled in his prison, trying to break free from the mind control he was put into, "Now now, Shadow. Your usefulness has only just begun." Goblin said as he punched Shadow. "For tonight, you shall prove your worth as not only Sonic's equal but Parker's as well!"

He held up a familiar canister and grinned, ready to unleash his greatest weapon.