Writer: Ken Penders
Pencils: Manny Galan
Colors: Barry Grossman
Knuckles is in some serious trouble. Enerjak has teleported himself and his new prisoner up to the surface of one of the moons (cause remember, Mobius apparently has one hundred of them), demonstrating to him his limitless power by holding him suspended above the surface in an air pocket. Enerjak pretty much intends to torture Knuckles to his breaking point as revenge, but Knuckles refuses to be impressed, instead giving him some smack talk about having a glass jaw the last time they brawled, and an irritated Enerjak then teleports them elsewhere - this time to the bottom of the ocean. And this time, he hasn't provided an air pocket…
But what happened to Julie-Su? Turns out, before he whisked Knuckles away, Enerjak actually brought her back to the Dark Legion! Kragok is apparently relieved to have her back, and she immediately drops back into her role, twisting the events of her time with Knuckles to make it seem like she was only biding her time until she could find her fellow soldiers once more.
Despite her previous membership with the Dark Legion, she now feels like a total stranger here, but continues to act loyal even as her former commander orders her around with suspicion. Lara-Le, meanwhile, has approached Constable Remington in the hopes that he might be able to get her in contact with Locke, as he's currently in his mysterious base hiding away from everyone while he creepily spies on everything his son does. Remington faces a conflict of interest at this request.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the ocean, Knuckles has begun to desperately swim for the surface while Enerjak gleefully watches his struggles, as he's quickly running out of air. Things of course go from bad to worse as some kind of freaky tentacle monster grabs him, preventing him from getting any higher.
After his attempt to save Hawking last issue, Locke wakes up in Haven's sick bay, having passed out from the endeavor. He and his father rush to their wall of monitors to check what's going on with Knuckles and the Dark Legion, figuring out that the Legion is likely about to target their city.
Back in the ocean, Knuckles is able to break free of the monster's grip and finally surfaces, gasping for air. Enerjak invites him to beg for mercy, but Knuckles refuses again. Also, we finally get to see what happened to the Chaotix, sans Charmy - Espio, Mighty, and Vector are imprisoned in a Dark Legion camp once more. Vector is quite angry to see his suspicions about Julie-Su apparently confirmed as she walks by, and manages to slip out of his bonds, immediately whacking the head of the soldier guarding them. However, he doesn't get much further than that before his escape attempt is noticed.
Julie-Su gasses the three prisoners into unconsciousness, but then, worryingly, after commending her, her commander orders her to finish them off…
Enerjak still isn't done having his fun with Knuckles. This time he's teleported them both "30,000 meters above the surface of the Floating Island," which as you'll remember is already eight miles high. This would mean that Knuckles is currently higher than the planet's ozone layer, at around 26.5 miles (43 kilometers) in the sky, higher than weather balloons float, basically at what most people would agree is the edge of space. Somehow, the thing troubling him most is not the severe lack of breathable air at this altitude, but rather how cold it is, and makes some quips while shivering about coming up here more often for the view. This enrages Enerjak, who decides to show him his power once and for all, and sends him plummeting headfirst at high speeds towards the ground.
Back to the Dark Legion, we find out what happened to Archimedes and Deo - they've been trapped in a glass ball by Kragok, which apparently has properties that prevent them from being able to poof themselves away, and which is then sealed into what legit just looks like a portable cooler and buried under the desert sand to be forgotten.
Still no sign of the Chaotix though… what did Julie-Su do with them?
Knuckles is powerless to stop his fall toward the ground, but is unexpectedly halted in the air barely an inch from the rock. Enerjak appears and gives Knuckles one last chance to submit, to which Knuckles responds by blowing a loud raspberry. Enerjak answers with perhaps the only logical response to such a devastating insult - by taking his molecules apart entirely!
