#sth 199

Knocking on Eggman's Door

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Matt Herms

Well, we're finally here! It's the morning of the final fight against Eggman, and the Freedom Fighters awaken to find that Rotor, unable to sleep, has set up a live feed back to their city. It seems that Sally has elected to stream the battle live back to the citizens of New Mobotropolis, which seems… excessively unwise, given that if something goes wrong you could easily be broadcasting your violent deaths to children and innocent civilians.

Eh, whatever, we all know how this is gonna go. After all, the heroes have this one in the bag! As they gear up and move out, Lien-Da instructs her troops to create a barricade to Eggman's specifications within the base, though she has little confidence in his plan.

See, this right here just sort of sets up why I think this final two-part finale to this era ends up feeling flat and devoid of any real excitement. Right off the bat, the heroes are being set up to win with little resistance. Eggman may think he has a chance against Sonic and his friends, but literally all of his subordinates are feeling disillusioned and traitorous, and actively plotting to make sure he fails. The result is that while we're curious about what exactly their plan is and who Snively is inviting over to hook up with, we already kind of know Eggman isn't gonna win this one. While we already tend to know that anyway given that an ending to a Sonic comic where Eggman wins and annihilates everyone would be horrifically opposed to everything we would expect from such a series, at least in cases like Endgame and the destruction of Knothole, there's some real tension where it really seems for a while like the heroes are screwed and Eggman is about to win everything. It makes the final payoff where the heroes overcome all obstacles and win the day that much more satisfying.

Anyway, Mighty and Bunnie use their combined super-strength to breach a hole in the front door, and the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix pour in, surprised when they find no immediate resistance waiting for them. The Freedom Fighters take one hallway while the Chaotix take another, clearing out all routes to the center of the Eggdome and planning to meet up further in. While the Freedom Fighters punch their way through the Legionnaires in their way, they cheerfully reminisce about the last time they had a big showdown with a Robotnik, bantering back and forth about their roles in Endgame.

Wow, I actually think that's the first time the comic has even acknowledged Sally's coma at all ever since it happened. Fun times, huh? On the Chaotix side of things, Vector and Julie-Su end up bickering a bit only to then save each other simultaneously from sneak attacks by a couple of Legionnaires, at which point they curtly agree to never speak of this again as they don't want anyone finding out they actually do like and respect each other. They get deeper into the base, and Julie-Su becomes briefly concerned about Knuckles' state of mind as she's worried he may be feeling that old guilt again about fighting members of his own species, but Knuckles reassures her that he's fine and that he feels they need to stop them from working with Eggman for their own good. However, they suddenly find their way blocked by Dimitri, who's using his tentacle-dreadlock-things to bar the door they need to get through. Further into the Eggdome, Lien-Da reports her troops "losing on schedule" and awaits further orders, but then nearly begins puking when she smells something awful, which turns out to be cologne that Snively has received from his new beau. He mocks her for not appreciating the scent before ordering her to move on to phase two, blaming her species for being the reason she doesn't like the smell. That would definitely seem to indicate, then, that his new girlfriend is human and not Mobian. The Freedom Fighters, who have ended up pinned down at the end of a hallway, are trying to come up with a plan to bust through the group of Legionnaires up ahead when out of nowhere they retreat, much to the heroes' surprise. At the same time, Knuckles, Julie-Su and Vector all confront Dimitri in their own hallway.

You know, at this point, it's definitely feeling like Dimitri is coming back around to not being such a bad guy after all. Ultimately, he cares more about protecting his people than anything else, and is looking for any way out of his current sticky situation with Eggman, which he believes allying with Snively will help him with. The two invading teams finally meet up at a central door, which has been thoroughly blockaded save for a small hole just big enough for a spindashing Sonic. Both sides discuss how the entire invasion feels too easy, and become very suspicious about the hole, reasoning that it's meant to simultaneously draw them into a bottleneck for easy pickings, as well as let Sonic through for a one-on-one showdown against Eggman. Sonic immediately announces he's taking the bait, and when the others ask him if he's crazy he points out that their only other option is to waste all their time and energy taking down the barrier, which would just give Eggman a chance to regroup or escape. They agree that he'll go on ahead and they'll provide backup as soon as they can break through the wall, and after a few tearful words of encouragement, including an emotional embrace from Sally, he zips through the hole and lands in the middle of a very strange scene on the other side.