300. Sonic the Hedgehog #214
Reigning Cats and Dogs (Part Two)
Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Matt Herms
A flustered Sonic finds himself in the middle of two very angry opposing clans, trying to figure out how to keep the peace without Sally here to help him. Lupe states that she brought her people along to find Sonic because she'd figured that he may have been hurt or captured by the Felidae, though it really does seem like just somewhat of an excuse to confront the queen face to face.
The two sides start accusing each other of stealing the Ancient Onyx, while Sonic wonders worriedly where Sally has gotten to. In the intervening time, Drago's had her tied to a pedestal holding, but of course, the Ancient Onyx. Turns out, it's the very same black emerald that Eggman cracked to release Chaos way back in the Sonic Adventure arc! Remember, the Master Emerald had barely come into existence by that point, so they needed a different "container" for Chaos to come out of initially. Drago gloats about capturing Sally while Sally is mostly unamused by his cheesy villainous dialogue, and she begins to taunt him only to stop herself when she sees an opportunity. Instead, she acts like she's given up hope because Drago is such a brilliant tactician, pretending to be dumb in order to goad him into monologuing about his plans.
He explains that he went back to the Eggman Empire because he was tired of running with the Destructix, while Razorklaw here was - oh, hey, that's a familiar name! Yep, this is the same Razorklaw whom Locke bested in combat, again, back during the Sonic Adventure adaption. After he lost the fight, he was disgraced and exiled by the queen, and in looking for a new crew to join ended up with the Dark Egg Legion. Sally drops the pretense once he's finished, pointing out he's just another lackey and hasn't moved up at all, so Drago gloats that he's the one who came up with the idea for this operation, stealing the emerald to pit the Wolf Pack and Felidae against each other. And now with Sally in his custody, he has to decide if he wants to set her up as the one behind it all to turn her into the scapegoat, or kill her to bring in New Mobotropolis for a "nice three-way war." Meanwhile, Sonic paces, trying to figure out what Sally was up to, while Big stands in between the irate Lupe and Hathor, who are screaming accusations at each other. Sonic suddenly hits upon an epiphany, and gets everyone to quiet down for a moment so he can share it.
Eyy, look who's learning to use his smarts! As he convinces Hathor to agree to his plan, Drago plays at being indecisive about his choice over what to do with Sally, stopping Razorklaw when he tries to just kill her outright and scolding him for being "terrible at this villain thing." At least he's self-aware, man. A loud chorus of howls interrupts them, and Drago and Razorklaw are horrified to see both the Wolf Pack and the Felidae charging their hideout. Sonic shows both leaders that members of their own clans have betrayed them to join the Legion, and they're infuriated that any of their own would think to join such an evil organization.
Big, I love you so much. Sonic and Big untie Sally, and she congratulates him on figuring everything out without her there to help him, as well as bringing both warring nations together for the first time. Drago, Razorklaw, and the Legionnaires who haven't been captured all make a run for it, and Lupe orders her people to stand down instead of giving chase. With their shared enemy gone, the Wolf Pack and Felidae look like they might start going for each other's throats again, but Sally holds up the Ancient Onyx, and gives a nice speech about how they've argued over it for too long and how their enemy has used it against them, and yet they came together as allies today of their own volition.
Good enough, man! That night, Lupe inducts Sonic and Sally as well as Big into the Wolf Pack Nation, and while the festivities commence Sally asks Sonic if he thinks the Ancient Onyx has anything to do with the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic replies that he can't sense any Chaos energy coming from it, so while he doesn't know what it might be, it's definitely not related. This is a strange thing to claim, because, again, this is the artifact that literally held Chaos in it for millennia, but eh, that plot point was never really properly explained to begin with anyway. The story appears to be over, but an issue is never complete without a hook for the next plot arc…
We haven't heard anything from either the Arctic Freedom Fighters or Rotor's herd in a very long time! I guess it's finally time to see what they're all up to…
