Dark Vengeance (Part Three of Three): Twilight of the Titans
Writer: Ken Penders
Pencils: Manny Galan
Colors: Barry Grossman
Enerjak has returned to the Dark Legion after murdering the crap out of Knuckles, and creates for them a literal golden bridge across the desert sands that leads to Echidnaopolis. Great idea, man, I'm sure the other echidnas will never see you coming as you march across the humongous and flashy new landmark leading straight into their city! Julie-Su is quietly concerned when she hears that Knuckles is gone, but maintains her ruse as they head across the bridge. Oh, and we finally see what happened to the Chaotix!
I have to assume that this is Julie-Su's idea, since last issue she was ordered to execute them and all. The best she could really do was make sure it looked like they were doomed to a slow and painful death by desert sun, while still giving them a slim chance of being found and rescued. But what of Knuckles' fate?
Oh, good, he's okay! I guess being taken apart and put back together again atom by atom leaves no lasting ill effects, much to Knuckles' benefit. Apparently, this is the Ancient Walkers' doing, and Athair spends just enough time to explain this to Knuckles before having him teleported off once again, where he lands just next to the chained-up Chaotix.
Meanwhile, the entirety of Echidnaopolis is mobilizing for a battle, since again, I can't stress enough how non-stealthy the whole golden bridge idea was. Remington gets a call from… someone…? I don't know, it's not really explained, but whoever it is on the other line convinces him to go to General Stryker to request that he and his people help defend the city.
Meanwhile, after freeing the Chaotix with the help of a hammer and chisel mysteriously discarded nearby, Knuckles notices a water canteen in the sand, noting that it seems like someone was looking out for them. While Vector drinks all the water himself, claiming he would have escaped his bonds again like last time if given the chance, Knuckles gets the sudden, strong impression that Archimedes is nearby. Sure enough, when he digs at the site of a "rock" in the ground, it turns out to be the portable cooler that Archy and Deo were locked in. Oh, and Charmy was in there too, I guess!
I get the impression that Penders legitimately just forgot about Charmy until now, as nothing was mentioned or shown of him in the previous two issues. It's worth noting that he flies out of the same container that Archimedes and Deo were trapped in, which seems weird if you're thinking of him as being the same size he's depicted in the games, but apparently he's actually bee-sized here. A later issue does address this apparent discrepancy, since previous issues have been really unclear on his size, with the perspective even page to page being all over the place.
Back in Echidnaopolis, the Dark Legion's attack has commenced, with Julie-Su piloting Kragok's hovercraft around in the chaos. Enerjak stands up and attempts to shout insults and demands for surrender, but suddenly…
Julie-Su has finally seen her chance, and abandons ship to help the rest of the city out. Good for her! But who was it that forcibly teleported Enerjak away? Well turns out, it was Mammoth Mogul of all people, having made his reappearance with the true Sword of Acorns. He points it at Enerjak, using it to siphon the power of the eleven Chaos Emeralds within him, and as the city watches the spectacle above them, he gloats in his newfound power.
Knuckles, ever the selfless one, arrives just in time to catch Dimitri before he hits the ground, having appeared back in the city with his friends thanks to Archimedes' powers. Locke and his father watch the proceedings from their hideout, as Knuckles is grabbed by two Dark Legion soldiers and two more take Dimitri from his grasp, and Locke still refuses to step in and help, even when his own father admonishes him for staying out of it and making Knuckles handle it himself. Locke defends himself, saying he'll step in if Knuckles really needs it, but like, nah buddy, your dad is right. Locke is so hands-off it's ridiculous, and yet at the same time he feels comfortable meddling in literally everything Knuckles does. The result is often Knuckles being forced to play Locke's mind games without the slightest inkling that it's his own father setting everything up. However, this time Locke at least tries to get Knuckles some extra help by calling the Freedom Fighters while pretending to be Knuckles himself (hence, the distress call from StH#55).
Down on the ground, Knuckles and the Chaotix finish fighting off the soldiers attacking them, and are approached by Remington, whose men have also managed to drive off the rest of the Legion. In the fray, they managed to capture Kragok and Julie-Su, the latter of whom is now being treated as a traitor since that's technically how it appears from the Constable's point of view. Knuckles tries to insist on being allowed to speak with her, but Remington refuses for the time being. But things aren't over yet…
Just as soon as they arrive, Sonic and Tails, as well as Knuckles, find themselves being teleported away to yet another unknown location (this arc is just full of involuntary teleportation, isn't it?) while Mammoth Mogul, now powered up by the energies of the Chaos Emeralds he absorbed from Dimitri, demands that they immediately worship the ground he walks on (literally his words, not mine), or else be destroyed. Man, we just went over this with Enerjak, can't you cool it for like five minutes, Mogul?
