Spiders and Magic: Worlds Unite

The team crossed yet another rift, bringing them past Green Hill and into a new location. Mega Man looked up, seeing skyscrapers and flying cars hovering past, trying to avoid the mass chaos of the merging worlds around them. "Woah. Is this your timeline, X?" he asked his successor, who shook his head.

"No, Rock. I've never seen a city like this before." X answered. "Or at least, not this clean."

Sonic put a finger on his chin as he lured his gaze around the futuristic city, "Hold on. We're in Metal City. This is where I first met the Babylon Rogues." he put his arms behind his head, "Heh. Guess they wanted a race like old times."

"So, your world has tropical islands and futuristic cities too? Seems this dimension has no sense of chronology at all." 'Trixie said in slight amusement.

Gwen shrugged, "Reminds me of Cybertron."

The hedgehog smirked, "Heh. My world's crazy, that's for sure. Now let's see if we can find Shadow, Zero and Yoshi."

The Emerald Hunters walked through Metal City as Sonic told of his history of the place, "...So those three came by while Tails, Knuckles and I were strolling. Then I decided I wanna beat them at their own game with the gear. Honestly, it's a pretty fun little side-sport. Y'know, when I'm not fighting or hosting that other racing tournament."

"Another racing tournament?" asked Spike, "With who?"

Mario and Luigi looked at one another, "You-a never brought this-a up to us before, Sonic. You could have-a joined us."

The hedgehog shrugged, "Eh. See, I come from my own universe and separate dimensions. Mario called it Sega, kinda like Capcom and the Marvel worlds with their names. Basically, we invited a bunch of guys like NiGHTS, AiAi, and Ulala. It was pretty nice. Heck, we even invited a guy called Ralph and a friend and we were tempted to invite another friend of his..." he paused, "I think his name was Zangief or somethin'. I kinda forgot. It's been years."

Peter nodded, "I know Zangief. He's from the same world as Ryu apparently."

"Yeah. He's from our universe," Mega Man said.

Spike looked at X, "Do you have any idea what they're talking about?"

The Maverick Hunter rubbed his helmet, "Kind of. Zero usually fills me in on these cross-dimensional details. I've never gotten involved with Marvel, at least not until now."

"Good to know." sighed Gwen. "Okay, where the freak are these guys at?" she wondered aloud.

Logan pointed ahead, "There. Seems they're just wanderin' about. A waste of time fer that hedgehog."

"Shadow and I are known for doin' that." chuckled the blue blur.

At last, the met up with the three, whom they crossed paths with, "Yo-Yoshi Yoshi (Did you get the emerald)?"

Mario held up the gem, "Mm-hmm!"

"Good. But the Rogues got away." Zero added.

Shadow nodded, "Those idiots suddenly vanished as I chased them. And these two decided to follow me. Why did you send them? You know they're nothing but a bunch of thieves and nothing more." he hissed at the team.

"To make sure you didn't do anything reckless. But it seems that they're better off." Peter elaborated.

Shadow huffed, "And why would I need babysitting? I can handle myself better than the lot of you." he scolded. "If it weren't for me, we wouldn't have known they'd come back here."

Zero growled, "You may want to rethink that, Shadow. It'd be best if we stuck together during all this. Be glad it was a peaceful city and not some dangerous jungle."

The black hedgehog growled, "Whatever."

"Yoshi Yoshi Yo-Yoshi (He was searching for them by the time we got here)!" explained Yoshi, with Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Shadow understanding him to translate to the others.

Spike put his claws to his chin, "So much for that. Do you have a reading on that radar, Pete?"

Spider-Man glanced at the emerald radar, "It's faint and moving, but I can still track it. That probably means the Babylon Rogues are just scouring about."

Zero put his hands on his hips, "That makes things easier for us at least. That Extreme Gear may be a challenge for us to catch up with, with the exception of Sonic and Shadow of course. We need to gain a tactical advantage upon." the red Maverick Hunter faced the Mario Brothers, "What do you two think?"

The plumbers were both looking at a head-shaped house. It did not match the theme of the city, meaning that it must have been displaced in the dimensional merge. "Is-a that Professor E. Gadd's lab-a, Luigi?" Mario questioned the younger brother.

Luigi rubbed his cap, "It-a looks to be. We-a should check to-a see if he is okay."

Mega Man raised a brow, "Is he a friend of yours?"

The brothers nodded, "Yep! He-a helped us when King Boo-a captured me. Luigi saved the-a world twice on his own." Mario said, in a proud tone, causing Luigi to chuckle sheepishly. "But the-a professor guided him throughout with his-a vacuum, the Poltergeist 3000." he complimented, patting his younger bro on the back.

Peter chuckled, "Sounds like you'd make a good Ghostbuster."

"I-a... Don't-a know what that is." Luigi replied in a confused tone.

Trixie rolled her eyes at Spider-Man's reference, "So, what do we do now, fearless leader?"

"Um... Meet E. Gadd? It sounds like Mario and Luigi trust him enough. Plus it'd be nice to warn him before any more damage is made in whatever we're calling this merged world." suggested Peter, scratching the back of his neck.

'You sound unsure of yourself, Peter.' Dream noticed, 'Perhaps it'd be wise to step up as leader. After all, you have mentioned Project Zero to Twilight.'

'I'm more of a follower, Dream.' Peter replied in his head, 'I'm kinda used to Captain America or Batman taking charge and I just follow. Plus, this whole mess is more the others' thing. I feel like I'm just along for the ride honestly.'

"Hello!" Gwen called out, snapping Spider-Man and Dream out of their internal conversation, "Earth to Parker!"

"Huh? What's up, Gwen?" asked Spider-Man.

Spider-Woman put her hands on her hips, "Should we or should we not go? The Babylon Rogues are still out somewhere. We could use some old-fashioned input."

"Oh... Right. First, let's see what's up with this professor, then we'll head after them." said Peter. The team agreed and all headed to the lab, but as Peter walked, Logan put a hand on his shoulder, prompting the wall-crawler to stop.

"Kid." began the mutant in a slow tone, "You ain't actin' like yerself. And that's not just the old age talkin'."

"I'm fine, Logan." shrugged off Peter with a wave of a hand, but Wolverine wasn't budging.

The old man shook his head, "Something's definitely up. I can sense it, ya know? Seems every now and then you'd blank out. The Peter I knew did that a lot when he had a lot on his mind. Now, I may not be the nicest fellow to have around, but I made plenty of mistakes, which I hope to resolve. Helpin' ya become a better hero is one of 'em." he assured in a surprisingly calm tone.

Peter blinked silently, "Woah, Logan... I didn't know you were this... heartfelt."

Logan growled, "Don't get used to it, kid. But if we're gonna save our worlds from Sigma, then we need to be at our best. And we can't have ya doubtin' yerself now. If ya know me, then I'm sure the past me would hate ya actin' like this."

Spider-Man shook his head, "I dunno, Logan. It's just... lately, Equestria's been having a plague of problems. Sloan, the Legion of Doom, the Sinister Six and now Sigma... And each time it's almost as though the stakes get higher. Now all of reality could be destroyed because some evil unicorn I couldn't find last year brought Sigma here to begin whatever scheme he hatched."

Wolverine frowned, "Let me guess... You feel useless. Sounds like the Parker I knew before the takeover. You ain't. Somethin' tells me yer gonna have'ta step up at some point."

"Gee, thanks." muttered Peter sarcastically.

"I ain't puttin' pressure on ya. But we ain't gonna be here forever. Equestria needs you. Hell, the multiverse needs us, as unfortunate as that sounds. Now, c'mon, we gotta prep ourselves to find that damn emerald." Logan insisted, with Peter following him into the oddly-shaped and designed building.

'Alright then. I'll keep that in mind.' Peter mused. 'Getting motivational support from Wolverine is kinda odd.'

The Astonishing duo stepped inside, taken aback by its size. "Woah. It's like a Tardis in here."

Spike saw the two heroes walk in, "Everything alright, you two?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, just thinking is all." Peter explained. "So, what's going in here? Is the professor safe?"

The dragon replied, "Yeah, in fact. It sounds like he's greatly interested in what's happening. Sonic and X are going over the whole thing with him right now to catch him up."

Professor E. Gadd laughed in a good mood, and having just hears the tale, "That explains what happened then. I must say, it's quite a predicament you found yourselves in, isn't it?" he asked, glancing over to the Mario Brothers, who nodded. "Now, all of you are from different worlds? What are you all up to?"

"Yeah we are. Mega Man responded, "We're about to chase after the Babylon Rogues, who have the next emerald."

"Babylon Rogues?" E. Gadd repeated.

Sonic decided to speak up, "A trio of treasure hunters that ride hoverboards called Extreme Gear. Truthfully, I'm not sure why they'd be doing something at a time like this considering our circumstances." he hummed in thought. "They'd never let the world get this bad and even joined us a few times."

"Sigma. He must've given them a bounty." X realized.

Spike asked, "How did you all meet?"

E. Gadd smiled, "Quite a story. See, I was investigating the paranormal happenings of a mansion. Mario was taken by the leader of the ghosts, King Boo. Luckily, Luigi showed up. I gave him my research vacuum and he rid the mansion of all the evil Boos while redeeming the good ghosts. We live in harmony now, minus the Boos of course."

"...A haunted mansion?" Trixie repeated, "This reminds me of a story involving Twilight and her friends."

As Peter looked around, he felt his Spider-Sense. Craning his head, he saw the metal door get kicked upon. Standing in the hallway was a green hawk, a purple swallow, and a grey albatross. They all wore sunglasses and held a board in their arms. The hawk laughed, "Ha! Thought we saw ya comin' in here!"

Sonic grunted, "Really, Jet? We're doing this now? Can you just hand us the emerald and call it a day? We're not in the mood if you can't tell." he suggested in a deadpan manner.

"Heh. Nope." Storm gloated.

Wave smirked, "Hey, hedgehog. Where's your little friend at? The fox that thinks he's a genius? Some pixel-brain if he couldn't match our current Extreme Gear."

"Don't you go insulting Tails, now." Sonic growled.

Peter stood up, "Alright, I heard enough." he said sternly. "I don't know if you know this, but two of us here have the proportional strength of a spider, have magic, superspeed, superpowers, robotic abilities and we have a Wolverine. So, unless you wanna take a major beating from the guys you pissed off, then stand down and hand us the emerald and we'll let you go."

Jet smirked, "Ha. As if we're takin' orders from you! You're that pony prince Sigma told us of! Guess you're not one after all. We're getting paid a lot by taking that gem."

'They are... Seriously asking for it.' Dream commented.

Out of nowhere, a beam suddenly shot past the trio. Zero lowered his Z-Buster, "Word of advice. Listen to Spider-Man. Cause I'm getting tired of this."

Turning around, the Babylon Rogues began to run, "Heh. If you want the emerald..." Storm began.

"Then catch us!" Jet declared. The three jumped on their hoverboards to make a getaway.

Trixie blinked. "Wow. What a bunch of petty bullies." she used her magic to lift a can. She tossed it and it landed on Storm's head, earning an "ow" while they continued on.

The blue hedgehog narrowed his eyes, "I say we beat them at their own game." he calmed down and smirked, taking a quick sprint. When he came back, he changed his look. He wore green sun-visors on his head, changed his shoes and wore thicker gloves.

"What's with the new look?" asked Spike.

Sonic faced the dragon, "Gotta get into the style, Spike. Now, I wish I had my board or something."

E. Gadd perked up, "You wish to race?" he chuckled, "Luckily, you lot have come to the right place then."

"You-a have some of-a our carts, Professor?" Mario wondered.

"Of course, Mario. I could not let these go to waste after all, but I only had space for a few anyhow. Plus, I have been around this strange city before. The technology fascinated me, so I gathered what you called Extreme Gear for research." he pointed out, taking them to a work garage.

Sonic whistled, "Not a bad collection, Gadd."

Peter looked at the various vehicles lying about, "No kidding. What do you got here?"

Gwen saw boards and a red car. "So, you collect cars? Not a hobby I'd expect. A pretty cool one though."

"Why thank you, Spider-Woman. It appears there's not enough for all of you to use. And I am unsure of most of you even know how to operate such vehicles."

Spike shrugged, "I can try." he hopped on what looked to be a bike, gripping his claws on the handles. "Okay... This may take some getting used to."

"If only we had Scootaloo." chuckled Peter.

Sonic's jaw was agape at what he saw hanging on a shelf, seeing a blue board that he appeared to recognize, "No way. I didn't think you'd find the Blue Star. Heh, this is the one I use mainly. Seems to be fully charged as well. And it looks like Spike's got his hands on the Fortress bike. Pretty cool pick."

"They sound like stage names." quipped Spider-Gwen. She walked over to Trixie and found what looked to be a green car with a spot that could be stood upon in the back. "What kinda car is this supposed to be anyway?" she wondered.

Luigi spoke up, "That is-a the Green Fire. Mario and I-a switched between his and mine during the-a Double Dash Grand-a Prix. You could-a use it if you-a wish." at that, Trixie hopped onto the back while Gwen sat on the driver's seat.

"You can drive. Trixie cannot handle the Spider-Mobile." the blue unicorn decided.

Yoshi cheered, spotting a standard kart with an egg symbol on it, "Yoshi Yoshi (I want this one)." he sat down instantly. "Yosh-Yoshi (Ah still comfortable)."

Mario and Luigi saw their original tag-team kart, the Red Fire and propped themselves properly so that Mario was in front while Luigi was in the back, "Oh yeah!"

Mega Man held another board in his hands, yellow and thicker than Sonic's. "Are you sure you can handle that, Rock?" Spider-Man asked his robot friend.

"Yeah. Rush can transform into a hoverboard as well. I probably should've brought him anyway." Rock assured, stepping onto the Road Star with ease. "Oh, yeah I can get used to this."

"Pretty nice of you to snag all this, E. Gadd." Peter complimented, holding up a board of his own.

E. Gadd laughed, "I didn't think they would be used at all, personally. But it seems you need it, so I am not one to deter you. Perhaps this would be a nice experiment to conduct."

"Sounds like something Twilight or Mayday would say." a sigh escaped Spider-Man, "I hope they're alright."

Sonic adjusted his visors, "They got our friends keepin' an eye on them, Pete. They'll be fine."

"Plus it seems as though Sigma's focusing his attention on us." X assured, "They won't be targets should we keep moving." he and Zero each grabbed a bike and held the handles, ready to ride like back on their Earth.

"Feels like the hoverbikes back on our world." Zero commented.

Shadow huffed, putting on the Wanted skates. "If we must... Then we'll stoop to their level. Rather petty, but as the Ultimate Life-Form, I shall humiliate them for earlier."

Logan growled, sitting on a bike as well. "Let's just get this over with... Those birds are lucky we're playin' by their rules. Would rather turn 'em into pieces for that scene earlier. My temper's been rather irritable lately in my age."

"Well, put those thoughts aside, Logan. Cause it seems like we're about to race."

E. Gadd laughed. "It appears that is the case. Do return the Extreme Gear and karts once you're done as I wish to commit to further study." he raised a finger, "And for the karts... There's a certain button that may help you in the long run. I've tested it myself."

Luigi mumbled something, watching Mario press a red button. Gwen and Yoshi mirrored the plumber. Suddenly, the tires began to turn sideways and the karts began to hover, "Mama mia! You-a put anti-gravity into-a these as well?!" Mario exclaimed in slight glee, impressed that his old vehicle got a major upgrade.

"Yes I did! Ever since your last race tournament I took the time to upgrade your other vehicles should you feel the need to bring them back for another race one day!" revealed E. Gadd, adjusting his glasses. He pressed a button, opening the garage.

"Thank-a you!" said Luigi.

Sonic smiled, "With that tech, you're able to catch up with us now."

Spider-Man smiled under his mask, "Anti-gravity? I should put that on the Spider-Mobile one day."

"Great. Now you're giving him ideas." muttered Trixie under her breath, hoping he didn't hear her.

Spike tightened his grip on the bike handles, ready to move. "Okay... I think I got this thing working." he pressed a pedal, feeling the vehicle hover in its spot.

Sonic gestured for Peter and Rock to walk backwards with him, "Alright, these things work with air and momentum. You just gotta jump on once we get enough speed. Just keep your balance and let the boards handle the rest." he explained. "Once the others make their exit, we'll ride with them."

Mega Man replied, "Sure thing."

"Heh heh, perhaps we should do this old fashioned." chuckled Gadd. "On your marks..."

Logan gritted his teeth, slightly annoyed he was dragged into a race now somehow.

"...Get set..."

Spider-Gwen and Mario revved their karts, intending to get a boost of speed. Shadow adjusted his skates while X and Zero narrowed their eyes, getting a feel of their hoverbikes.

"Go!"

Everyone minus the board riders got out of large garage into the streets of Metal City. Trixie had to hold onto the handle on the back of the Green Fire, taken aback by how swift the acceleration was. She held her mask and cape with her magic, "Trixie regrets doing this!" she yelled out as loud as possible.

Shadow used his hover skates next to them. "Hmph. Be wary, this course is about to get trickier."

Spike's bike began to stagger, "Woah! We're riding on air!" he noticed, feeling the turbulence from X's vehicle, riding the half-pipe of wind trailing behind the Maverick Hunter.

"Yoshi (It's great, isn't it)?!" Yoshi asked the dragon in excitement.

Back at the garage, Sonic looked to Mega Man and Spider-Man. "You two ready?"

Mega Man and Spider-Man nodded, "I guess..."

The hedgehog charged forward, "Then follow my lead!" once he was outside, it took him about a second to throw the board down and hop upon it, getting a boost and flying past the others. The other two looked at one another, before mirroring the blue blur's actions, although they weren't nearly as fast as him.

Gwen planted her palms firmly on the steering wheel, "Hold on, Trixie!" she warned, making a direct ninty-degree turn at a curve. Trixie once again held on, screaming as they moved at sudden speeds. The unicorn closed her eyes, feeling a burst of wind pass the Green Fire.

Sonic smirked, "Sup?"

"Wait for us!" called out Peter, boarding next to him. "Woo! Man, I gotta admit, this feels awesome! Feels like I'm in the wind!"

Mega Man found himself next to the wall-crawler, "Okay, now we gotta find the Babylon Rogues!"

Holding out the radar, Peter saw a signal, "We're getting closer to them. We just gotta keep going."

"Finally!" Logan yelled, "'Bout time we got our hands on that emerald." he hissed.

Sonic held the end of his board, tilting it slightly so that it was easier to turn at the next curve and performed a drift. Mario turned the wheel and pressed his foot firmly on the brake pedal, Luigi held the handle as tight as he could, his legs flying in the air. "Mama mia!"

Spike spun around, hoping to keep steady. Shadow merely leaned his body sideways, keeping his speed going while turning. "Oh man! This is so cool!"

"It's about to get better, dragon dude!" Sonic called out. For in front of them was a ramp. "Now, we gotta do some sweet tricks to get ourselves a boost!"

"Oh sweet Celestia!" Trixie screamed.

"What?" Logan blurted out.

Mario pressed his foot on the gas pedal, "Let's-a go! Hold on-a tight, Luigi!"

"Oh-a no!" Luigi screamed.

Sonic was the first to launch from the ramp, he spun his body in midair, holding the board in one hand while performing a flip before landing perfectly. Spider-Man performed a handstand on his board before rolling back on his feet. Yoshi's kart spun horizontally in a three-hundred sixty degree angle before landing perfectly on its hovering wheels and getting a quick boost of speed.

Mario spun the kart around vertically with Luigi holding on. Shadow merely performed a midair Spin-Dash. Logan didn't do anything while Spike attempted a flip, somehow landing it much to his relief. X and Zero mirrored the dragon while the latter commented under his breath, "This world works in strange ways."

"You're telling me." gagged Spike, wiping the sweat from his scales. He watched as Mega Man spun his board on his feet.

Trixie screamed at the top of her lungs, using her magic to hod her still as Gwen somehow flipped the car perfectly. "It's over, Trixie." the White Widow told the unicorn, who let out a sigh of relief.

Sonic gave his friends a thumbs-up, "Not bad for some of your first attempts. I'll give ya an 'S' rank on the tricks."

"Uh, thanks." Peter muttered. He then noticed a change of scenery, "Hey, so is Metal City supposed to have grassy fields as well as towering skyscrapers that looked to be fading from existence?" he asked, looking at the ripples in time and space taking effect again.

Mario took notice of the course and how it was patterned. They were on a road leading into a field, "We're in-a my circuit!"

"You have a circuit?" Logan asked, "That's pretty goddamn ridiculous, and that's sayin' a lot..."

"We all-a have a circuit." Luigi elaborated, "For all the-a racing tournaments we-a have."

"Huh." was all Spike said, "We should do that one day. Besides the Running of the Leaves."

Sonic squinted and saw three figures in the distance, "Heh heh. Looks like I found 'em!" he kicked his foot down, getting a burst of speed to catch up to them. "About time we showed 'em who the real pros are!" he kicked again, getting further ahead.

"Oh come on!" grunted Spider-Man, kicking the air also, following Sonic, and now Shadow, who was skating faster than usual.

"Some use of teamwork. Not that I needed it." growled Logan. His eyes widened, seeing a floating rainbow box. He thought he was gonna crash into it, but it exploded upon him passing it. "Huh?" he noticed an item in his hand, a banana peel. "...The hell is this?"

"Yoshi Yoshi (An item box)!" Yoshi exclaimed, pointing at the banana peel.

Mario decided to translate, "We-a have item boxes in our-a races. The banana peel can-a cause someone to-a peel out."

Wolverine threw the peel forward, thinking it wasn't gonna work. "This is freaking stupid."

Gwen nodded, "Feels like I'm in a racing game now." she threw a shell backwards, watching it spin across the field. "Cool." was all she said, focusing on the road ahead.

Mega Man scowled, kicking the air to catch the other board riders. "Maybe we can use this to our advantage."

Jet laughed, "Kinda a strange thing going on."

"Yeah. It's like we're in a double world." Storm commented.

Wave put a hand to her head, "What does that even mean, you idiot?" she wondered.

"It means we're gettin' paid to keep this emerald away from the so-called fastest thing alive and his friends." Jet explained.

"That's not what I mean." Storm added.

A whistle got the attention of the Babylon Rogues, turning their heads, they saw Sonic, in usual racing wear and riding the Blue Star past them, "Who's beaten you like three times already? It's a shame Tails and Knuckles couldn't be around to witness me riding circles around you again." he quipped.

Spider-Man shot a line of webbing outward, missing the Rogues, "But he has us." he added.

X pushed his pedal, catching up at last, "Just give us the emerald and we'll leave you alone."

Jet looked to the oncoming opponents, "Like I said. You gotta catch us fair and square!"

Sonic watched as the Babylon Rogues sped ahead again, jumping over another ramp that appeared to take them back to Metal City. Thr hedgehog and spider hopped off, wondering if their friends did the same and are all right. Suddenly, Logan appeared next to the two, his bike slightly bouncing, "Kid. Furball. Don't go thinkin' of pullin' another stunt like that, yer the ones talkin' about teamwork. Live up to what you say." he scolded.

"Sorry, Logan. But before you lecture us, we need to find a way to slow those three down." Peter said.

The Red Fire bounced as they reached a literal loop. Sonic, Spider-Man and Mega Man all sped up their Extreme Gear. "But first, let's get past this roller-coaster!" the blue hedgehog said.

Spike yelled, feeling the blood rush to his head. "Woah!" he pushed his foot down further to reach the other side before the others. Sonic cheered as he reached the highest point, having done this plenty of times before on foot.

Spider-Woman shook her head, the team having made it. "Jeez. I should'a brought a barf bag."

Trixie gulped, holding her lunch back, "You should have." she leaned on the handle, holding her stomach.

"You alright, Trixie?" Gwen asked with some concern.

Again, the blue unicorn gagged, "Y-Yeah, Trixie just needs a moment."

Yoshi raised a brow, "Yoshi Yo-Yoshi (Don't get too sick now, Trixie)." he warned with some worry heard in his voice.

Out of nowhere, as Sonic watched the scene, he and X crashed into another rainbow box, something materializing in their hands. "Huh? What's this?" asked X, holding a red shell.

Sonic's eyes widened, looking at a cloud hover into the sky, "Hold on, I had a few of these before in my last All-Stars Racing tournament."

"You-a had items too?" asked Mario.

The black hedgehog nodded for Sonic, "We did. We could use these boxes to divert the Rogues. They want fair, we'll play by our rules." Shadow gave a confident smirk.

Zero turned his bike so that he found an item, a Blooper. It flew out of his hand into squirted ink into Storm's face, "Gah! I can't see!" he warned, flailing about on his board. Zero let out a small chuckle.

"What was that about?" Wave wondered, helping Storm wipe the ink off his face.

Spider-Woman drove the Green Fire around a curve, the tires lightly hovering over the metal streets. Her little shortcut took her into a corkscrew where another item box appeared, having jumped from a small ledge. She held something golden in her hand, "A coin? Like I'll need this."

Trixie levitated the coin towards her, "Maybe I can use this as a bit when we're done."

Sonic pointed to a rail and got Peter's attention. Spider-Man said, "Well, it can't be weirder than skating with Tony Hawk." he jumped up, holding his board while landing on the rail. He began to grind on it, reaching another item box.

Mega Man aimed his Mega Buster, watching Spider-Man land. The Super Fighting Robot shot a charged shot at the Babylon Rogues, who swerved out of the way in time. "That was just a warning. We need to stop them somehow."

"Yoshi (Items)! Yoshi Yoshi (We need to find some good offensive items)!" Yoshi suggested.

Mario pondered, "That-a is a good idea. We-a need shells and mushrooms."

X nodded, moving his bike up to do a wheelie. Logan sliced apart another banana peel he grabbed with one set of claws. "Grah! Stupid items... Not gonna need 'em if I catch up."

Spider-Man and Yoshi each had a green shell. "Okay, looks like we have one. Any idea on how to use them?" asked Peter.

Trixie used her magic, throwing them at the Rogues ahead, but once again, they dodged in time. "Come on!" she snarled.

"Ha ha! You gotta do better than that!" Jet cackled, "This emerald is ours for the taking!"

Shadow hissed loudly, prompting him, Zero and Logan to reach somewhere else. The three turned and jumped off another ramp, performing more tricks to land and gain some speed on a grassy field, catching some more items in midair, each a shell and a mushroom. "Let's get moving!" the black hedgehog declared, skating faster than before, a trail of fire behind his shoes.

"Take this!" yelled Zero, throwing his shell like a frisbee, it hitting Storm so that he flipped, but he got his bearings and continued on. "Damn it!" snarled the Maverick Hunter.

"Alright, that's enough!" Wave scolded.

Spider-Man boosted ahead, webbing up the swallow's eyes before slowing himself down, "Nope!"

Spike passed through another item, this one being a cloud. While Wave was yanking the webbing from her eyes, the lightning cloud appeared over her head and she was struck, "Ah!" she exclaimed, spinning out for a moment.

"Aw..." moaned the dragon.

Sonic gritted his teeth, "This isn't enough! We need something big!" he yelled. He and X turned through the parts of Mario Circuit that merged into Metal City, riding through the corkscrew. "Alright, X. Do you see any items floating about?"

X nodded, he and Sonic holding a blooper. The squid creatures blinded Jet and Wave, nearly crashing into Storm as they tried to wipe the black ink from their eyes. "They're pretty quick in recovering." the blue Maverick Hunter said.

Then, Spider-Woman drove the Green Fire into one more box. This time, she had a blue shell with wings. "Uh... What the heck is this?" she asked, letting Trixie observe it.

"Use it!" Mario ordered loudly.

"What?" Trixie asked. "But it's a shell!"

Mario began to brake, "Use it and slow down!"

Spider-Gwen slowly nodded and threw the Blue Shell forward, it flying ahead of the other racers. "Yoshi Yoshi (Look out, Blue Shell)!" the dinosaur exclaimed. Sonic heeded his friends words and slowed down, then Shadow. Then the others did the same, hoping that whatever it was worked.

"You think that's gonna stop us?!" Jet boasted. Then, the Blue Shell lowered itself. An explosion of blue occurred and the three Babylon Rogues were launched before falling on their faces, their boards lightly hovering next to them. The explosiong dazed them long enough for Sonic to swoop in and take the emerald while it was still in midair. "H-How did you...?"

Sonic smirked, "I told ya, we're gonna play by rules of racing. Unfortunately, those rules were Mario's. This wasn't ordinary Extreme Gear racing, Jet." he kicked their boards away at last.

The others halted and got out of their vehicles. "Alright, birdbrains." Peter began, "We got the emerald. Now, care to explain why you thought working for Sigma was a good idea?"

"He had a lot of money." Storm explained.

Shadow grunted, "Y'know for a bunch of supposed genius, I didn't think you three were this dense."

"Take that back!" Wave growled.

"Dumbasses... Sigma's gonna destroy all worlds. That bounty he's given ya is pointless." Logan explained.

Trixie nodded, "That's why we needed the emerald to stop him. It's the only way we can stop this. See how the world's merging? You won't survive."

Jet slammed his fist on the metal ground, "So... Sigma thinks he can trick us like that, huh? C'mon, Rogues." he ordered, watching his allies stand up.

"Don't do anything stupid." warned Spider-Gwen. "We're all together now, so the butt-whooping will be extra large."

Jet shook his head, he and the Rogues holding their Extreme Gear, "Nope. Seems we have a common enemy now. We'll be bringing the chase to Sigma for duping us like that. Heh, gotta admit, I thought you lost your touch, Sonic."

"I'm full of surprises, Jet. Who knows, maybe we'll race again." euggested the blue hedgehog, "And I'm bringing Tails and Knuckles."

Jet smirked, "Hmph. Maybe. But we got a robot overlord to stop now. Till we race again, Sonic the Hedgehog. And new friends. Maybe you're not as talentless as I thought."

"Uh... Thanks?" Peter said.

The Babylon Rogues all flew away on their boards. Mario and Luigi removed their caps, wiping the sweat from their foreheads. "Mama mia. That was a good-a race." the red-clad plumber said. "So, should-a we return these to-a E. Gadd?"

Before Spider-Man could answer, Spike tapped him on the shoulder. "Yeah, Spike?" he pointed behind him, X and Zero scowling at what they were looking at. Shadow folded his arms as did Logan. Everyone was confused by the sight.

Standing on the other end of a rift tear, was a burning city, flooded with lava, destroyed buildings and what looked to be lizards made of magma. A sense of dread filled the Emerald Hunters while Peter put his hand to his head, "Holy crap. What is this place?"

"That doesn't-a look safe at all." Luigi gulped.

"But we need to see what this is about." Logan declared, revealing his claws, "Somethin' ain't right."