Battle Royal

Sonic vs. Knuckles: Battle Royal
Corner Box: No. 1 $2.00 (no picture)
Cover: The Knothole freedom fighters are on one side and the Chaotix are on the other

"Battle Royal!"
Kent Taylor & Ken Penders-Writers
Sam Maxwell-Penciler
Jim Amash-Inker
Karl Bollers-Colorist
Jeff Powell-Letterer

"The Map"
Tom Rolston-Writer
Dave Manak-Penciler
Rich Koslowski-Inker
Barry Grossman-Colorist
Vickie Williams-Letterer

J. Freddy Gabrie-Editor
Victor Gorelick-Managing Editor
Richard Goldwater-Editor-In Chief

Special thanks to Susan Suarez and Helen Ball

The freedom fighters must fight against those they once called allies while knowing that somebody on their side may betray them.

As they approach the Floating Island, the freedom fighters are concerned about the distress call that Knuckles sent earlier. Sally tries to be optimistic, recalling how Rotor previously told her at her campfire talk that Knuckles found King Acorn's sword (in Sonic the Hedgehog #46). When the freedom fighters land, they search for Knuckles.

"Battle Royal"

Part One:
The Chaotix appear on a cliff, and Vector tells the freedom fighters that they were able to defeat their enemies using King Acorn's sword. Vector continues to say that Knuckles ordered the Chaotix to force the freedom fighters off of the island without the sword. Sonic says that he has always been right--Knuckles cannot be trusted. The Chaotix attack the freedom fighters, and Sally orders everyone to stop the Chaotix with little force. Rotor uses a sticky substance to trap Vector, and the freedom fighters leave the Chaotix in order to discover what is really happening.

Knuckles and the Chaotix try to relax as they try to figure out why the freedom fighters contacted them to say that they will kick the Chaotix's butt. The message did not make sense, especially since Knuckles found King Acorn's sword. The freedom fighters appear, and Knuckles demands to know what they were thinking. The freedom fighters begin to fight the Chaotix and say they are upset since Knuckles has had the sword for over a month. Charmy explains that Knuckles just found the sword. Soon Knuckles and the Chaotix have the freedom fighters surrounded. The freedom fighters run away, saying that they will bring reinforcements to take the sword. Once they are out of sight, the "freedom fighters" say they cannot wait for the fun to start.

As Knuckles and the Chaotix fight, Archimedes appears in Knuckles' hand. Archimedes tells Knuckles that things are not always what they seem. The freedom fighters appear, and Sonic says that the freedom fighters are going to find out what is going on now.

Part Two:
Everyone begins to fight, with the exception of Sally and Archimedes. Sally watches everyone fight until Archimedes appears in her hand. Archimedes says that the situation needs to be thought through. Sally grabs Archimedes and runs to Knuckles and Sonic, who are exhausted from fighting each other. With Nicole in one hand and Archimedes in the other, she explains that it is time for a talk. Bunnie, Antoine, and Mighty run after Sally while Dulcy chases Charmy. Archimedes uses telepathy to tell Charmy to not let Dulcy fall behind and fly towards Archimedes and Sally. Archimedes gives a signal, and Archimedes and Dulcy breathe fire at each other.

After the smoke clears, Mammoth Mogul declares victory as he holds King Acorn's sword. Sgt. Simian thinks that Mogul is declaring victory too soon; so Mogul points the sword at Simian. A bolt shoots from the sword, and Simian falls backwards. Mogul explains that when the Fearsome Foursome encountered the Chaotix (in the Mecha Madness special) it was just to assess the power of the Chaotix. When Knuckles found the sword, Mogul's plans were complete. Knowing that if the freedom fighters and Chaotix worked together, his plans would be stopped, Mogul used his psionic powers to trick Rotor and Knuckles. Rotor thought Knuckles was telling him that island was under attack, while Knuckles thought Sonic told him that they were coming for the sword. To increase the lack of trust, Mogul also used his power to appear as both members from the Chaotix and the freedom fighters. (Sgt. Simian posed as both Mighty and Bunnie, Lightning Lynx was Espio and Sally, Flying Frog was Vector and Sonic, and Predator Hawk was Charmy and Tails.)

Suddenly the freedom fighters and Chaotix appear. Mogul is shocked that they are still alive and orders the Fearsome Foursome to attack. The Foursome is easily defeated, and Mogul says that the Chaotix and freedom fighters were destroyed. Everyone takes turns to explain that Archimedes knew something was wrong and talked to Sally. After forming a plan, Archimedes contacted Charmy and Dulcy and Archimedes created a diversion. Archimedes teleported everyone to safety, giving Mogul the appearance that they had died. Afterwards, everyone was able to learn about Mogul's plan.

Mogul asks how they saw through his plan, so everyone begins to explain what was wrong. The first mistake was that Archimedes needs to touch somebody to escape. Later, Bunnie was shown holding up a boulder with her right arm (only her left arm has the power to do such a thing). Other mistakes included the fact that Sonic was too slow, only four of the six Chaotix attacked the freedom fighters, only four of the seven freedom fighters attacked, and Mighty didn't say hi to Sonic (Mighty and Sonic are old friends, and their story will be told in a future issue).

Furious, Mogul attacks everyone. Knuckles realizes that the king's sword is giving Mogul more power, just like it did to Mathias Poe (in Sonic #46). Archimedes appears with a Chaos Emerald. The emerald is drawn to the power in Mogul's cane, creating an explosion. A crater remains where Mogul once stood. The sword was left behind; so Knuckles returns the sword to Sally. Sally then knights Knuckles so that now when Knuckles is in Knothole he is known as Sir Knuckles. Later, the freedom fighters return to Knothole. Rosie tells Sally to come with her, and Sally soon discovers that King Acorn is healed (see Sonic #47 for more info).

Epilogue: Mammoth Mogul appears holding the real Sword of Acorns. Soon his plan will be finished, and he will rule Mobius.

Battle Royal mail highlight:
~ The next special is "A Brave New World"

"The Map"

Part One:
Antoine looks through the things that his father left behind, and he soon comes across half of a map. Bunnie hops in the room and asks Antoine what he is doing. Antoine tells Bunnie to leave him alone, and Bunnie turns and walks away. After telling himself that he will later apologize to Bunnie, Antoine studies a current map of Robotropolis to determine what the map means.

Meanwhile, in Robotropolis, Snively digs through a pile of papers in hopes of finding something to help overthrow his uncle. Snively finds half of a map that refers to the "Budding Circle." After using the computer, Snively discovers that the location is actually in Robotropolis. Back at Knothole, Antoine prepares to leave on his mission. He recalls that the Budding Circle was destroyed by krudzu, a species of metallic/organic plants that grow from seeds (from Sonic #1). The krudzu were destroyed in the past with water. Antoine wonders if the location has krudzu seeds or power rings. Rather than give Sally an incomplete report, Antoine heads off on his own.

In south sector of Robotropolis, Snively commands his eggrobos (created to be part of Snively's private army) to dig. Snively hopes to find krudzu seeds to destroy everything created by Robotnik. Antoine appears in the area and spies on Snively. Snively yells at the robots to move faster so he can find the seeds. Antoine thinks aloud that the map cannot lead to krudzu seeds since his father would not need a map. After deciding to tell the other freedom fighters, Antoine turns around and slips on a pipe. Antoine falls on his back, and the noise makes Snively send the robots to investigate. The eggrobos fire at Antoine as he tries to run away.

Part Two:
Antoine manages to jump into the sewers and tries to activate his locator device. Before he can get it to work, the eggrobos blast their way into the sewer. Antoine grabs a power ring and remembers that the rings could increase his abilities if he is pure of heart. He then grabs his sword and manages to slice an eggrobo in half. Antoine continues to make his way through the sewer when more eggrobos arrive. In order to confuse the robots, Antoine uses a device to create two images of himself. The eggrobos stand still as Antoine escapes.

Antoine makes his way to Uncle Chuck's spy base and tries to explain his situation. Uncle Chuck tells Antoine that the freedom fighters have been looking for him. Rotor noticed that there was some activity going on in the south side of Robotropolis and took Bunnie and Sonic with him to investigate. Antoine gives Uncle Chuck the map and tells Uncle Chuck that he must help his friends.

By the time Antoine arrives, the eggrobos are attacking Sonic, Bunnie, and Rotor. Antoine throws Sonic the ring, which allows Sonic to save Rotor. Swatbots approach, and the freedom fighters try their best to fight against the robots. When the eggrobos are defeated, the swatbots retreat. Antoine leads the freedom fighters to safety as Bunnie wonders why the swatbots disappeared.

Robotnik disappears and yells at Snively. He explains that he received a call that said Snively invented powerful robots and assumes Snively destroyed these robots. Snively tries to lie and says that the robots were only for digging for research purposes until the freedom fighters arrived. The freedom fighters destroyed both the research and the robots. Robotnik swears that the freedom fighters will pay. Back at Knothole, Antoine is thankful that Uncle Chuck made the call to Robotnik. He then wonders if he will ever find the other half of the map.

(Summary by Silver Starr)

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