Writer: Ken Penders
Pencils: Art Mawhinney
Colors: Josh & Aimee Ray
So we've covered what's going on with Evil Sonic in Mobius Prime so far, but how is the real Sonic doing? Well, Evil Sonic went ahead and dressed him in the leather jacket and boots he usually wears and left him in a convenient spot where the evil Freedom Fighters would find him. Sonic awakens to find himself surrounded by them, all hurling insults at him and mocking him for thinking he could ditch them. He quickly figures out what's going on as they start beating him senseless, realizing where he is and just how bad his current situation has become. Perhaps the most surprising thing, however, is that unlike all their previous appearances, they're actually accompanied by Anti-Bunnie now, and interestingly enough, she's not half-roboticized!
I mean, it makes sense I suppose - our Bunnie only became who she did because of Robotnik being evil, and since this world's Robotnik is a good guy, there would have been no reason for this world's Bunnie to end up in a roboticizer. Hell, it's likely roboticizers don't even exist in this universe, at least not how we know them. Back in Mobius Prime, Evil Sonic approaches Rouge with the intent to woo her, but is thrown off balance when he realizes she recognizes him - or rather, his counterpart. He decides to play it cool as she explains she was just on Angel Island, and offers to give her the tour, catching her attention when he mentions the Master Emerald. This is enough to make her instantly scoop him up and take him for a flight, heading straight back to the island. Meanwhile back in Anti-Mobius, the Freedom Fighters have by now hung Sonic upside down above a lake, bound and ready to be drowned. Evil Antoine laughs that he's had this coming for a long time, and - wait, remember, that's not Evil Antoine, that's Antoine Antoine! It seems this entire time he's been forced to play along in the evil Freedom Fighters' ranks, while waiting for his chance to get revenge on the one who got him stuck here. As they cut the rope and send a resigned Sonic splashing down into the water, Rouge and Evil Sonic land on Angel Island, near where Rouge was initially strolling with Locke. They spy him some distance away through the bushes, and Evil Sonic recognizes the entrance to the Chaos Chamber from when he snuck into it all the way back in StH#44. Rouge, emboldened by this knowledge, tells Evil Sonic to wait for her signal and walks out to greet Locke, who is surprised at her persistence. And back again to Anti-Mobius, where the Freedom Fighters stare down at the water musing about Evil Sonic's manner of death, only to be shocked as he appears behind them soaking wet and stripped of everything but the boots, cocky as ever. Antoine, in particular, takes an interest in Sonic's words…
Hold it, buddy! That's your buddy! Sonic begins to fight back against the others, obviously still not aware that he's looking at the real Antoine, kicks off the boots and begins to fight back against the other Freedom Fighters, knocking them out one by one or throwing them into the water. The only one he leaves conscious is Anti-Rotor, who realizes by this point that he's the real Sonic and not Evil Sonic. As Sonic demands that Anti-Rotor send him back home, Evil Sonic watches eagerly as Rouge begins her routine on Locke.
All things considered, I'm glad Penders at least has Rouge's personality right. Too many people try to portray her as this hypersexual flirt who just wants to sleep with the entire male cast or something, but this is the real her - using her beauty and her flirtatious skills to distract her unsuspecting targets so she can rob them blind. Evil Sonic hears his own voice calling him names within the chamber, and is irritated to see his good twin step out from behind the Master Emerald. They begin to battle it out, with Sonic yanking his shoes off Evil Sonic's feet, leaving them both in their socks as they continue to punch each other. Locke, outside, suddenly senses a danger to the emerald and quickly leaves Rouge behind, recognizing now that she was merely a diversion. He enters the chamber to see the two Sonics wrestling on the floor, and deducing which one is the evil one due to him using a rock as a weapon, smacks him clean out of the chamber, leaving a bruised but happy Sonic safe on the floor. Outside, Rouge approaches the winded Evil Sonic, and makes a weird comment about how he only failed because he's a male, because grand theft emerald should only be committed by women, I guess? That's… less in character for her. She walks away, resigned to giving it up here and going somewhere else to acquire the shinies she wants, but Evil Sonic isn't done trying to win her affections yet.
Remember, she still thinks she's hanging out with the real Sonic. Why she hasn't questioned yet why Sonic the hero would want to help her steal his good friend's home's most important possession is beyond me. But either way, the real Sonic is dropped off in Knothole by Locke, where he immediately is set upon by Amy, whom he can't figure out why she's flirting so hard with him. He manages to get her dropped off at home without being smothered, only to be approached by Bunnie, looking for a round two of last night… Good luck dealing with the mess your doppelganger left you, Sonic ol' boy!
Stargazing
Writer/Pencils: Tania Del Rio
Colors: Jason Jensen
We've finally made it! This is one of my favorite stories in the entire preboot despite its short length, and it's incredibly important to the future of a specific character. Sally awakens one night when she hears Nicole beeping on a table across the room. She looks over and briefly sees a shadowy figure next to the table, but when she rubs her eyes the shadow is no longer there. Wondering if she was dreaming, she gets up to ask Nicole if she saw anything, and thinks Nicole must be in sleep mode when she gets no response. She's about to go to bed when she notices her bedroom door cracked and becomes suspicious. Soon, she's dressed and outside under the moonlight, looking for whoever the intruder might have been. She spots a figure near a pond in the distance, and heads toward it, finding it to be a pretty but unfamiliar lynx in a dress, letting the wind blow through her hair.
That's right - Nicole's designed a physical form for herself! She sits by the pond and plays with the water, and explains that ever since she and Sally briefly switched bodies she's become fascinated with the idea of having a physical body, and worked on making one for herself using some kind of hard light hologram program. She's realized that though she's a genius in her own right, as an AI, she's never been able to feel the air or touch water, and wants to be able to do that, envying the abilities of living beings. Sally is delighted, and asks Nicole to stay like this permanently, telling her she can become a Freedom Fighter alongside the rest of the team, but Nicole explains that this program drains her energy very quickly and she's already becoming tired. Her files aren't secure in this form, since she's projecting a part of herself outward, so she chose tonight to test it out since all the Freedom Fighters are in Knothole and there's less of a chance of attack.
With that, Nicole's physical form fades away, but Sally doesn't go back to bed. Instead she stays lying on the grass for a while, watching the stars on her own, and as tears form in her eyes she begins to realize that in a way, she and Nicole are more alike than she'd realized - she'd also never properly taken the time to simply admire the stars above her. Not only do I love this story because it's the introduction of Nicole's physical form, but this seems to be the beginning of Sally's healing from her trauma. She's spent her whole life fighting, and been so caught up in all of it that she's never really had the chance to simply slow down and enjoy life, admire the beauty of nature around her. I think she's beginning to realize here that she can't continue on the way she has been, and has to stop and figure herself out first before she can continue on fighting.
