Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 171


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Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 171 was the one hundred and seventy-first issue of the main Sonic the Hedgehog comic series.

Story One

 * "I Am"

The story takes place straigh where last issue left off, with Shadow the Hedgehog demanding where Professor Gerald's diary is from Eggman. He refuses to tell him, and Shadow then threatens to pull out Snively's remaining hair, and the nephew tells him. But Shadow pulls his hair out regardless for wasting his time. He grabs Gerald's digital diary out of a book and heads off to Freedom HQ as it is the only place he can go to to access the diary.

At Freedom HQ, Sonic is wondering where Fiona is, with this being the latest of her disappearances. Tails then comes flying in and tells Sonic that Shadow is heading that and is under attack from flying Egg Pawns. The Egg Pawns special electricity weapons manage to damage Gerald's diary while Shadow is trying to escape. Sonic and Tails destroy the Egg Pawns and Shadow tells them about the diary, and how it has all the answers he's been searching for.

They then head back to Freedom HQ and Tails informs Shadow that the data is so old and damaged that if they try to access it, they could end up corrupting the whole thing, but Shadow refuses to back down and NICOLE suggests that they could physically interface with the data, and they decide to do it.

Inside Gerald's diary, Sonic, Shadow and NICOLE in her lynx body, see what appears to be the inside of the Space Colony ARK. They head off in search of Shadow's answers, and the hedgehog meets up with a holographic representaion of an old friend.

Back at Freedom HQ, the alarms go alerting them to Snively in his Egg Lobster. Tails dicovered that he used a beacon that was inside the base (Snively's hair). Knuckles goes outside to stop Snively and attacks the Egg Lobster.

Back in Gerald's diary, Shadow is overjoyed to see Maria, who he thought he had lost forever. She leads them to her grandfather and he reveals the truth to his "son." He tells him that he is the ultimate protect of life on Mobius and that, initially, his body was to be the source for a cure to the disease Maria had developed, Neuro-Immuno Deficiency Syndrome. But there were barries he could not break in his research. Desperate, he sought the aid of Black Doom, a monstrous alien who wanted Shadow to be his greatest weapon. Black Doom helped him create Shadow and gave him his rare skills in Chaos Control. But gerald made it so Shadow would be a champion for Mobius against Black Doom and his Black Arms that would return in fifty years, but were held up by the Xorda. Gerald told Shadow that he was a savior of Mobius, and that he was so sorry to put all this on his shoulders and that we is well prepared for it. Before Shadow can get anything else, the digital matrix collapses and they are forced to flee, but not before Shadow says goddbye to Marai.

Upon arrivial, Tails informs the two hedgehogs that Knuckles is fighting Snively for his hair. Shadow then races off and destroys the Egg Lobster and tosses Snively's hair at him. He tells Snively to tell Eggman that he is the protector of Mobius and will no longer serve him. With Shadow's quetions answered, Sonic goes to get his own answers from Fiona about why she keeps disappearing.

Story Two

 * "Enforcers"

The Dingoes are attacking Echidnaopolis on Angel Island and it looks like they will be killed, but the Destructix come to the rescue and save them.

Looking on from afar, Guardian Locke recognises them but doesn't understand why they rescued the Echidnas. Dr. Finitevus then arrives via Warp Ring and reveals they he told them to do so, and both he and the Destructix had reformed, but Locke does not believe him. Finitevus then brings forth Dimitri hoping that Locke will believe him. Dimitri says Finitevus saved what was left of, but Locke still holds doubts Finitevus. Finitevus then offers to let the Destuctix and he keep guard over Angel Island and the Master Emerald so he can search for the Brotherhood of Guardians. Locke agrees, but says he will return frequently to check on him.

Finitevus then discusses his plans with Dimitri, to use the Master Emerald to bring Dimitri back to his old form of Enerjak.

Quotes

 * Snively: "He took my hair!!!
 * Eggman: So what? Bald is beautiful!
 * Snively: THEY WERE MY LAST SIX HAIRS!!!"


 * Snively: "I demand my hair back! I have an Egg Lobster, and I know how to use it!"

Key Events

 * Shadow finds out his true purpose from Gerald Robotnik inside his diary.
 * Shadow stops working for Dr. Eggman
 * Dimitri re-emerges for the first time in months
 * Locke goes off to search for the Brotherhood
 * Echidnaopolis village is left to be protected by the Destructix
 * Dr. Finitevus gains access to the Master Emerald

Background information

 * Black Doom briefly appears in Gerald Robotnik's flashback in his diary. The Black Arms and Black Doom's appearances were deliberatly limited by SEGA, thus limiting Black Doom to a brief cameo.
 * Knuckles is briefly seen with Extreme Gear.
 * This issue marks Dimitri's first appearance since Sonic the Hedgehog #118. It was stated by Lien-Da in Sonic the Hedgehog #139 that "Dimitri is no longer with us", implying the character had died. Dimitri's whereabouts during his long absence is explained in Sonic the Hedgehog #181 and Sonic the Hedgehog #183.
 * This issue is somewhat of a comic book tie-in with the 2005 video game, Shadow the Hedgehog.