Sonic the Hedgehog
#42
Corner
Box: No. 42 Jan. $1.50 (no picture)
Cover: The freedom fighters walk through a forest
"In Every Kingdom There Must Exist a Little Chaos!"
Script: Kent Taylor
Art: Art Mawhinney
Inker: Phil Sheehy
Lettering: Mindy Eisman
Coloring: Barry Grossman
Editor: J. Freddy Gabrie
Managing Editor: Victor Gorelick
Editor-in-Chief: Richard Goldwater
Part 1:
Sonic and Knuckles fight on the Floating Island until Tails breaks up
the fight by saying it won't save King Acorn. Sonic explains to Knuckles
that the king was rescued from the Zone of Silence, but due to a side effect,
his body is turning into crystal. The freedom fighters tried a power
ring (in SonicQuest #1), but it failed
to help the king. Tails had thought that King Acorn looked like a
Chaos Emerald, so Sonic is looking for Knuckles' extra Chaos Emerald taken
from the power ring grotto (in the Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles
special). Knuckles thinks they should be able to use the rings
from the grotto, and Sonic keeps Tails from saying that they were able to
get the rings after Robotnik removed them from the grotto. Sonic decides
to give up and says Knuckles will regret not helping Sally's father.
Knuckles says he already regrets his decision.
The next day at Knothole, Sonic gives Sally the power rings he collected
(in SonicQuest). Later, while
eating chili dogs, Uncle Chuck visits with Sonic, Tails, and Sally.
Uncle Chuck explains that the power rings were unable to help King Acorn,
but another magic talisman should help. Sally shows everyone a document
and explains that the Crown of Acorns should be able to help. Sonic
disagrees, saying that King Acorn wore the crown when he was banished.
Sally concludes that it was a fake crown. She points to the document,
which orders the Crown of Acorns to be placed in a magical dimension when
the ruler's life is in peril. The name of dimension is called the
Hall of Limbo. Uncle Chuck says that the power rings should be able
to help find the dimension, and then he decides to return to Robotropolis.
Sally tells everyone to prepare for "Operation: Save the King," which
will begin at the Lake of Rings.
Part 2:
Sonic, Tails, and Sally wait at a location far from the lake since they
are afraid that some combots transmitted the location to Robotnik (back
in Sonic the Hedgehog #38). A ring appears
from the lake once every hour, so one should soon appear. Meanwhile,
the freedom fighters wait for Fly Fly Freddy to appear and discuss what
Robotnik knows. Sleuth Dawggy-Dawg appears and says that Fred's cover
was almost blown. He says that he will tell Sally about his report
on the lake. Sally says that it isn't a standard procedure, but Sonic
says he thinks they can trust him. When they arrive at the lake, Sleuth
says that Robotnik didn't know where the lake was until Sally made her strategic
mistake. Sleuth kicks Sally, and a group of swatbots appear.
Sonic, Sally, and Tails try to fight back as a robot flies by them.
Sonic realizes that Fly Fly Freddy, like Carl Condor (in SonicQuest #1), was roboticized.
Bunnie appears and begins to fight the swatbots just as the ring floats to
the top of the lake. Sally orders Sonic to grab the ring. Sonic
doesn't want to stop fighting, but he bounces off of the heads of the swatbots
to get to the ring. Freddy tries to shoot Sonic as Knuckles appears
to help. Tails flies Sonic away from the lake, and everyone else defeats
the remaining swatbots. Sally arrests Sleuth as Sonic holds up Fly Fly
Freddy's head. Knuckles gives Sally his Chaos Emerald, saying that he
had a change of heart. Phase two of "Operation: Save the King" will
now begin.
Part 3:
Back at Knothole, Sonic demands to know why Knuckles arrived. Uncle
Chuck explains that he thought there was a double agent within their spy
network. When Fred missed a meeting, Uncle Chuck radioed Knuckles using
an untraceable frequency. Knuckles agreed to help and let the freedom
fighters use his emerald. Rotor hooks the Chaos Emerald to a device
that will release its energy. After Rotor activates the machine, the
other half of King Acorn's face turns to crystal. Rotor stops the machine,
and suddenly, the new transformation disappears. Sonic uses the power
ring to find the location of the crown. To everyone's surprise, Sonic
is thrown on the ground. Sonic explains that he was unable to find the
Hall of Limbo, but he learned that the royal sword will lead them to the
crown. However, Sonic explains that they don't know the location of
the sword. Sally is ready to give up, but Knuckles says that he knows
nobody should have to lose their father (Knuckles is unaware that his father
is still alive). Knuckles vows that he will begin his personal quest
to find the sword.
(Knuckles' quest starts in the following story.)
Sonic Art - 1 page
"Knuckles' Quest!"
Ken Penders & Kent Taylor - Writers
Art Mawhinney & Brian Thomas - Artists
Mindy Eisman - Letterer
Barry Grossman - Colorist
Knuckles is upset since Tails is tagging along on his personal quest. Knuckles
wants to find the Ancient Walkers. Tails says they appear when a significant
event occurs, such as when Knuckles thought he died (in the Sonic
Triple Trouble special), Sonic collected his billionth ring (in Sonic #35), and when Tails was considered to be the "chosen
one" (in the Tails mini-series). He
continues to explain by saying that both Athair and the Ancient Walkers were last
seen on Downunda.
After the two dock, Tails leads Knuckles to a crater. Knuckles becomes
upset when nothing happens after searching the crater. Tails tells
Knuckles that the crater is once where the Floating Island stood. Suddenly
Athair appears, surprised at Knuckles' ignorance. Knuckles is upset
at the fact that Athair was the only one of their family that was too scared
to become a guardian. Athair explains that it is better to protect the
universe. Knuckles starts to leave as Athair explains to Tails that
the two echidnas met for the first time. Athair then raises his cane,
and both Tails and Knuckles are sent through space. The two land on
a rock and see the images of the Ancient Walkers. Tails tries to explain
that they need a Chaos Emerald to help save King Acorn. The Ancient
Walkers explain that a Chaos Emerald cannot help the king. Knuckles
then tells them that they really need to know the location of the king's
sword.
Darkness covers Tails and Knuckles, and they begin to fly again.
Images appear in the background as Knuckles blames Tails for wasting the
Ancient Walkers' time. A voice explains that once there was a world
where it had a sorcerer, wizard, and an alchemist. Now they must face
a charlatan, enchantress, and a paladin. Tails and Knuckles reappear
on Downunda. Knuckles says that the images they saw are beings that
they will have to face to find the king's sword. Tails is excited until
Knuckles says that he must face these challenges alone.
(To be continued.)
Sonic-Grams highlights:
~ The Cosmic Interstate cannot be used to reach the Zone of Silence
since zones are not alternate realities
~ The main freedom fighters met as kids and the others joined later
~ At the time of issue #25, Metal Sonic
was called Mecha Sonic; Metal Sonic appeared again in the Knuckles Chaotix special
