COVER

Tails’s turn through the Ring and we get a pretty big hint at what’s coming in this part, as if you didn’t already know it was going to turn up, but then again, it could mean anything…. Yeah, right.

1

Multi-layered insert noir flashback for the Prologue to show all the important parts quickly and recap it all properly. Now we’re in the missile silo in Eggman’s underground base, a very handy thing to have I must say, Mecha-Knux sounds a bit messed up due to the damage he took fighting Super Knuckles.

2

Now, here’s an interesting point. Originally, Eggman told the Robots to employ their full powers to get the Rings, they were to do everything they could, but Mecha-Knuckles didn’t because it assumed its powers would be enough against Sonic and the others and it was right, except for the fact that they can turn Super at will now, so already we have a bit of free-thinking amongst the Robots, and of course a set up for Mecha-Knux to become stronger. Neat little ride through Oil Ocean Zone to show how affected the Freedom Fighters are by this startling turn of events.

3

Sonic attacks the Robots out of rage and fury and because he’s so emotional following Eggman’s horrible attack, which turns him into Super Sonic part-way through the attack, which is a good thing to remember for later in this part. Knux feels the power of the Emeralds waning so they power up and dash Tails and Tornado 2 there real quick to investigate, bringing us to a much better shot of Floating Island than seen in TTSS, it has clouds and a real sky and everything, and I use a lot of those small-scale sprites in this comic too (just the usual sized sprites decreased in size).

4

Interesting things to note here are that Super Sonic and Super Knuckles run instead of flying when they reach the Island, which was done intentionally to show how comfortable they are with these new powers. Also, we never actually see Mecha-Knuckles with the Emeralds, or even the Emeralds themselves, which is also intentional to keep the focus off them in this comic, though their power is a pivotal plot device to power up the Robot Knux, but we don’t see it. Also, Mecha-Knuckles sweeping past them and floating above them is a direct copy of what we saw Mecha-Sonic do in BFTCE.

5

Check out how strong Super Mecha-Knuckles is now, the smart machine ascended its powers to match theirs, something Metal doesn’t do for a long time, and it kicks them senseless in these decent little Action Scenes, knocking the Super out of Knuckles and Sonic, something never seen before or ever again for that matter, and all the while Tails despairs at his uselessness, his inability to help or harness similar powers and, as he does, the Rings sparkle in his hands.

6

Now, Super Mecha-Knuckles is pinned down on Sonic, just like Mecha-Sonic was in BFTCE and Tails wants to save him again, but he can’t, but he snaps and gets mad, he gets so mad and so emotional that it taps into the power of the two Rings, just like Sonic’s emotions caused him to turn Super earlier. Now, Tails gets a doubled-over Super Tails transformation and the Rings promptly disappear, having been absorbed into him during the transformation. Super Tails is mindless, reckless, unleashed emotion, allowing him to attack and damage Super Mecha-Knuckles and allow Sonic and Knuckles the time needed to recover their own energy. The Super Tails sprite is also made by me, also done by fading out Tails’s sprite sheet, and Super Tails has both a golden and blue aura around him to show he is unique. Super Tails is actually stronger than Super Knuckles (not at this point, but by the end), but not by much and both of them are each about three times less powerful than Super Sonic. Sonic and Knuckles’s reactions are taken from an Archie comic when Tails became *shudder* Turbo Tails.

7

The three-way blast is a combination of all their powers and it takes that to destroy Super Mecha-Knuckles, which says a lot about how strong it was. When Tails powers down, he is fatigued and the Rings fly out of him. Their power is limitless but he is not used to their powers and he is young, so he can’t maintain the Super form like Sonic and Knuckles and it tires him out to do it (like Super Saiyan 3 tired out Goku, originally). Knuckles heads off frame to get a Chaos Emerald (or it could be the Master Emerald, I believe it’s just a Chaos Emerald in my script) but we don’t see him get it. At this point we assume he got it from the Emerald Chamber, but he actually got it from the Emerald Shrine, which is where the Chamber used to be but I hadn’t made it at this point (remember I said Perfect Chaos destroyed the Chamber? It’s being torn down during this part, I swear). Knuckles gives the vague explanation that they may need the Emerald’s powers at some point, and he’d be right (remember? Knux said only the power of the Emeralds can dispel the Chaos Ring? I don’t make this stuff up).

8

Tails is too tired to fly, so, in a reversing of roles, Super Sonic gives Tails a boost and Eggman fires off that next Bomb, powered by the four Rings also, towards South Island, which leads us to another fly-through-the-air-to-get-there scene. Sonic and Knuckles can’t destroy the Bomb or slow it down with their attacks because it’s powered by the four Rings and it is travelling too fast, so the resistance protects it (it’s like shooting a ball bearing at a cannon ball, it wouldn’t slow it down).

9

As if to force this point, they try to blast it but, when it starts to dip towards South Island, they realise that won’t work, so it’s Super Tails and the three-way blast to the rescue again. I love the Sonic Boom effect around Super Knuckles’s blast there. It’s interesting to note that their energies cause the Bomb to be wiped out, rather than explode, because their Emerald power neutralised the power of the Rings (and Super Tails’s Ring powers could break through the protection of the Rings).

10

Here comes Eggman in his Boss Machine from Sonic & Knuckles, just to look more dangerous, and protected by the four Rings, as we saw at the beginning of the Saga. Bad luck for Tails, who can barely stay in the air following another tiresome trip as Super Tails. I like how Eggman believes it takes a certain degree of insanity to rule a Planet, nice touch (dictators all have this: Hitler, Stalin, etc, were all mad) and he gets a bit overzealous and tries to blast them with the Rings powers and his ship, but Super Sonic makes quick work of that, and Eggman instead shows his smarts and retreats and goads them to follow him into his trap.

11

The last page shows that all three of them realise that there’s no turning back, that they have to follow Eggman and face him and they are actually talking about killing him, in a subtle way, to make him pay for his evil deeds. They all consider this to be the final confrontation, and at the time it was written to perhaps be that.

OVERALL

Shorter and much more action make this a decent entry, really getting the pace rolling for the final chapter. Now we have all three set up to have their powers ready to use at will and not afraid to use them to get things over with, but will it lead them down the dark side? The tension mounts…You know it does.