Mega Man Issue 26 (Archie Comics)


 * Previous Issue: Mega Man #25 (Worlds Collide - Part 4) ←—
 * —→ Next Issue: Mega Man #27 (Worlds Collide - Part 10)

Mega Man #26 is the twenty-sixth issue in the Mega Man comic book series by Archie Comics, released in June 2013.

Publisher's Summary
"'When Worlds Collide,' Part 7 of 12. The historic Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man crossover event rolls on! The hunt for the Roboticized Masters continues as Sonic and Mega Man face down Shadow Man and - Shadow Man? Meanwhile, Drs. Eggman and Wily gloat over the captive Dr. Light. But what is the brilliant, bearded scientist preparing to do? Featuring stunning new cover art from Patrick 'SPAZ' Spaziante, and a special throwback variant cover you just can't miss!"

When Worlds Collide - Part Seven: Evening The Odds

 * Previous Part: Worlds Collide - Part 6 (Sonic the Hedgehog #249) ←—
 * —→ Next Part: Worlds Collide - Part 8 (Sonic Universe #53)

Mega Man, Sonic, Tails, and Rush are seen trekking through a forest area in the Skull Egg Zone. A snake enemy from Mega Man attacks them but he blasts it. They soon come to an snowy area. They are ambushed by both Shadow Man and Shadow Man, but both Mega Man and Sonic identify their counterpart as Shadow Man and are unable to tell who's their target from name confusion. Shadow Man (Roboticized Masters) blasts Sonic with his Chaos Cannon, freezing him, and Mega Man uses Espio Man's Chroma Camo to sneak up on Shadow Man and follows up with Tails Man's weapon, Tail Wind, resulting him in losing hold of Sonic's frozen time state. Mega Man then uses the spin blast to revert Shadow back to normal. Mega Man then uses the Chaos Cannon to freeze Shadow Man (Robot Master) in place. Shadow manages to get up and then angrily smashes the paralyzed Shadow Man to pieces.

Sonic asks Shadow if he can help on this one. However Shadow says no and warps out of the area with his Chaos Control. The time-space teleportation disrupted the zone, giving the heroes remember part of their old lives. Sonic says he seems to remember dealing with a similar event (Sonic: Genesis, StH# 226-229) and thinks about how the two doctors rewrote their worlds and suddenly starts to fear what this Genesis Wave might cause after this. Mega Man tells him not to worry about it for now and they carry on. Back on the Wily Egg, Drs. Eggman and Wily are gloating over the captured Dr. Light. Orbot appears in a Toss Machine to deliver the bad news on how and why the two Shadow Men were defeated. They angrily leave and Rouge the Bat pops in on Light to talk with him, saying she is looking for her partner, who was captured by Copy Robot. She shows a holographic map of the Wily Egg and asks for his help in discovering where the weak points of the base are.

While Sonic tries to use the Appearing Blocks to scale a large cliff, Blaze Woman and Silver Man appear to ambush the group. Mega Man and Silver Man end up blasting each other in the face, even though Silver is reverted to normal. Just as Sonic was about to get roasted by Blaze Woman, Silver holds her back with his psychic powers while Mega Man blasts her with the spin blast to revert her back to normal. The everyone sits down to rest and manage to get all their bearings together. Blaze and Silver say they'd love to help but are tired. Sonic tells them to rest for now and they can attack the two doctors together in the Wily Egg once they save Amy Rose and Knuckles.

Meanwhile, the Chaotix follows behind Proto Man on a mountain pass with Knuckles Man and Rose Woman looking down on them from above. The doctors order the two Roboticized Masters to go after Mega Man and Sonic, and Rose Woman comments how the option to self-destruct has now been authorized.

Destruction Buddies
Bass and E-123 Omega create a rather "destructive" friendship.

Trivia

 * The cover of this issue is based on the North American "box art" from Mega Man 10.
 * The Wily Battleship appears in the background of the regular cover off to the left, as does the Mecha Dragon off to the right.
 * Sonic's frustration at the vanishing blocks is a joke on the old Mega Man games, saying what most people are thinking: "I am not getting beat by a bunch of stupid, annoying blocks!"
 * Dr. Eggman referred to Dr. Light as "Santa in a lab coat," referring to Keiji Inafune basing Dr. Light's design on Santa Claus.