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Archie Sonic Miniseries Issue 2 was the third issue of the Original Sonic Miniseries.
Summary[]
Story One[]
- "A Crowning Achievement" - Part One
The story begins with the narrator elaborating on how the evil industrialist Dr. Ivo Robotnik has taken over Mobius and plans to turn all its inhabitants into robots, with the Knothole Freedom Fighters, led by Princess Sally, opposing him, with the group's biggest gun being Sonic the Hedgehog.
In Freedom HQ, Sally is calling Sonic from the throne room. Hearing her, Sonic decides to pull off a trick before her: by moving twice the speed of sound, he is able to reach her before she can finish her sentence. Sally proceeds to elaborate to Sonic on why she summoned him. Taking a guess, Sonic asks if she is going to explain why she went from blonde to brunette, but Sally insists otherwise, although she secretly wonders if Sonic likes him more as a brunette while Sonic thinks to himself that he likes her hair dark. Sally presents Sonic with her father's jewelry box, which Sonic recognizes as the box holding the Magic Crown of the Acorn Kings. Sally confirms it and that she has decided to wear it hopes that its magic will help them find him and free him. Sonic in particular is amazed that he is holding the Freedom Emeralds, four mystical gems whose awesome power keeps Robotnik's reign of terror at bay.
Sonic notes that it would be disastrous if the Freedom Emeralds fell into the wrong hands, but Sally assures him that Antoine's Royal Guard has been guarding them. Walking in on Antoine's training of several Mobians for his Royal Guard, Sally announces that she is ready for her coronation. However, Sonic discovers that the jewelry box is empty. Antoine notes it is impossible, having trained the Royal Guard himself, which Sonic says explains a lot. Before they can argue further, Sally has them cut it out, as Mobius will be doomed if Robotnik has gotten his hands on the Freedom Emeralds. Antoine is still in disbelief that a Royal Guardsman had failed until Sonic suggests that the emeralds were stolen by one of Robotnik's spies, posing as one of Antoine's soldiers. However, they are not certain who it is.
To figure this out, Sonic starts running in circles. He runs so fast that the rubber on his sneakers burn, creating smoke and triggering the smoke detectors installed in Freedom HQ by Boomer. The smoke detectors set off the sprinkler system, prompting Antoine to complain. However, Sonic points out that one the army men have begun to rust and shiver due to the water, revealing him as a robotic spy. Apprehending the robot, Sally demands that it talks. The robot explains that he has given the Freedom Emeralds to Robotnik, who has scattered them across Mobius. As Antoine notes how the robot has compromised their safety, Sally notices that the robot looks angry enough to explode. Recognizing that the robot has triggered its self-destruct mechanism, Sonic grabs it and runs away. Immediately after, Sally and Antoine hear a large explosion.
- "A Crowning Achievement" - Part Two
Sally is crying, thinking Sonic is dead, and almost says that she loved him, but Antoine notices Sonic returning, alive and well. Sally tries to say that she just loved his recipe for pumpkin pie, although Sonic hardly buys it. As Antoine demands an explanation for how he is still alive, Sonic explains that he just barely managed to throw the robot out the Great Oak Slide's entrance point before it blew up. Sally says that they can continue the fight against Robotnik now, but Antoine says that they must recover the Freedom Emeralds quickly. Sonic agrees, and mentions that he saw a Robotnik Blimp with an escort of Bat Brains and Buzzbombers in the sky while he was outside. As Sally realizes the Freedom Emeralds are onboard that blimp, Antoine and Sonic each agree to set out by themselves. However, Sally, having deemed the situation too dangerous for a single agent, commands both Sonic and Antoine to work together, which they agree to, much to their dismay.
Soon after, the pair has inflated their own hot air balloon and is taking it to the sky. Sally wonders how they got the balloon ready so fast, to which Sonic explains that he did it by getting Antoine to let out a lot of hot air by talking of his college days. Once they are up, they fly towards the Robotnik Blimp, only to be noticed by the flying badniks. Immediately after, their balloon is popped by a Buzzbomber. Antoine bails in a parachute, but Sonic manages to destroy the badniks by skipping across each one of them with a Sonic Spin, before smashing into the Robotnik Blimp, destroying it. As Sonic falls, Antoine catches Sonic in mid air, but along the way, they notice the SWATbot that was piloting the blimp dropping out of the blimp. The SWATbot falls to the ground, falling apart and revealing a Freedom Emerald inside it.
Landing on the ground, Sonic retrieves the Freedom Emerald. Noticing that the SWATbot is still functional, Antoine has him and Sonic listen to anything useful it is saying. As the SWATbot mentions that the Freedom Emeralds are hidden in the air, land, sea and underground, Sonic sees through Robotnik's plan: to separate the Freedom Emeralds so their magic cannot interfere with his plans. Having already collected one of the Freedom Emeralds from the air, Sonic tosses it to Antoine and orders him to give it to Sally. Antoine reminds him of Sally's order, but Sonic notes that things have changed now that they know Robotnik's plan. As Antoine agrees that Sonic is right, the hedgehog dashes off to find the other Freedom Emeralds.
- "A Crowning Achievement" - Part Three
At the Ol' Fishin' Hole, Tails is fishing when he notices his hero Sonic rushing in on the scene. Sonic does not have time to talk though, as he rushes into the water. However, Tails accidently catches Sonic's legs in his fishing pole's string as the hedgehog dives into the lake, and is dragged with him. Underwater, Sonic swims downward, having assumed that the next Freedom Emerald is in the underwater cave that he entered last month. However, he soon notices that Tails has been pulled along with him. As Sonic tells Tails that this mission is too dangerous for him, Jaws appears and tries to ambush the duo. Scattering, Sonic grabs Tails and explains who Jaws is as he swims towards the underwater cave where he thinks the next Freedom Emerald is, with Jaws hot on their trail.
As Tails recalls what the Freedom Emeralds are, Sonic finds the next one on a pedestal. However, Tails points out that Jaws is coming. Soon after, Jaws spots what appears to be Sonic and Tails, cornered against the wall. As he charges at them though, Jaws bashes into a solid wall, and realizes that he has fallen for the oldest trick in the book: a drawing of his targets on the wall. As Sonic swims away with Tails and the Freedom Emerald, the fox cub reveals that he drew the drawing on the wall with a waterproof marker he always has on him. Meanwhile, Jaws lies on the lake floor, lamenting that he should have noticed that the drawings of Sonic and Tails only have four fingers.
- "A Crowning Achievement" - Part Four
Back on dry land, Sonic has handed the Freedom Emerald over to Tails and orders the fox cub to bring it to Sally while he goes after the last two Freedom Emeralds, which Tails gladly complies to. Meanwhile, a nearby SWATbot contacts Robotnik, telling him that Sonic is approaching, to which Robotnik orders to execute "plan 426".
As the SWATbot begins walking away slowly with another Freedom Emerald in hand, Sonic notices it and suspects it is short-circuiting. As Sonic snatches the Freedom Emerald though, the SWATbot points out that the hedgehog is out of luck as Sonic falls through a hatch in the ground. Eventually landing on the bottom of what he thought to be a bottomless pit, Sonic encounters Burrobot, who carries the last Freedom Emerald. Stealing the Freedom Emerald off of Sonic, Burrobot tries to drill through him, only for Sonic to dodge him. As Burrobot drills through the wall, Sonic tries to run away, only for Burrobot to emerge from a wall ahead of him. Before Burrobot can attack him though, Sonic circles the badnik at high speed, making him dizzy, and takes both of the emeralds. As Sonic runs away, Burrobot collapses on the ground.
After hours of running, Sonic still finds himself in the underground maze, exhausted. However, Sonic finally realizes that he can just use a Sonic Spin to fly up to ground level. Using his most powerful Sonic Spin, Sonic burrows into the cavern ceiling and continues upward, eventually popping out of the ground in Boomer's shop, where Sally, Tails, Boomer, and Tails cheer for him. Handing the last two Freedom Emeralds over to Sally, Sonic and Sally watch as Boomer puts the emeralds back on the Magic Crown of the Acorn Kings. With the ancient relic restored, Boomer puts the crown on Sally, who says that, with the crown retrieved, their magic will be used to destroy Robotnik's machinery and restore Mobius' beauty.
As the Freedom Fighters cheer, however, Robotnik interrupts the story, wanting to complain that despite being the supervillain he is, he only made a small cameo throughout the first twenty-one pages of this comic. Furious, Robotnik demands revenge for this humiliation and swears that he will take no prisoners in the next issue. Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails ends the story.
Bonus Features[]
Short Stories[]
- "The Top 10 Reasons Why Sonic the Hedgehog is the Coolest Book Around"
Sonic lists off ten reasons why his book is great, from "addressing the environment" to containing no cholesterol.
- "Fin Fans"
Sonic explains how his spines help him run and fight. Sally decides to use them as an impromptu bulletin board.
- "Photo Finish"
The Knothole Freedom Fighters prepare to take a group photo. As Sonic starts to snap the picture, Sally points out he didn't set a timer. Sonic tells her there's no need, and runs into the shot before the camera's shutter opens to take the photo.
Quotes[]
- Sally: "Sonic -- I have something important to tell you!"
- Sonic: "You mean the reason why you changed from a blonde to a brunette?"
- Dr. Robotnik: "I've waited twenty-one pages for my big scene and what do I get?...Zippo! Nadda! Goose egg!"
Key Events[]
- The Freedom Emeralds from the Magic Crown of the Acorn Kings are retrieved.
Background Information[]
- Although not directly named, the robot pig disguised as a guard in this issue is likely an Auto Automaton.
- This was the last issue of the miniseries to be drawn by Scott Shaw.
Errors[]
- In "Photo Finish", Rotor's muzzle is miscolored purple.
- Sonic's "Top Ten Reasons" story has no title.
Reprint History[]
All reprints of this issue omit all bonus features. The issue has been reprinted in the following places:
- Sonic the Hedgehog: The Beginning/Sonic Archives Vol. 0
- Sonic Legacy Book 1
External links[]
- Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 2 (miniseries) at Sonic Wiki Zone, the Sonic wiki.