Résumé du #176:
• Citer
The story starts out with Sonic and Tails returning to the rubble formerly known as Freedom HQ. Amy, bawling her eyes out, runs to Sonic to ask him what happened. He breaks the news to her and Knuckles that Knothole is destroyed and everyone captured. He tells them to start fixing up the place while he salvages what he can from the lab to help him rescue everyone. When Tails offers his help, Sonic is adamant about going alone and refuses all assistance. Tails looses it (rightfully so) and basically tells Sonic that if he does as good a job with this as he did saving Knothole, then they're all screwed. Nicole interupts the confrontation with her own plan.
The story cuts to the Egg Vinyard, where Eggman thanks his captives for the entertainment they have provided him over the years, especially the freedom fighters. He states their somewhat symbiotic relationship- "...you were all ready to give your lives for your cause, and I've always been willing to take them!" He mocks the Chaotix for aiding the Monarchy when they knew they were weaker than him, Maximillian for letting his "inexperienced first born take the crown," and Elias for being the weakest king he ever encountered. Ouch. Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Nicole have been speeding towards Robotropolis in a salvaged hovercar. Eggman decides to demonstrate the Eggrapes to the mobians and use an excellerated draining process on Charmy. Charmy answers Eggman's taunt with a short but courageous speech, but his energy is promptly drained, while Saffron looks on in horror. Sonic and co. burst through the wall, just in time. Sonic frees Charmy, Amy and Knuckles free everyone else, and Tails takes Nicole up to a platform where she rewires something. We'll get back to that later. Eggman and Snivily, shocked to see that Sonic is not beaten, run out of the room while Dr. Quack confirms that Charmy is alive. Sonic tells everyone to go back the way they came in. Sally tells him it won't work because it's too crowded, suggesting instead that they put everyone on the hovercar and have the freedom fighters and chaotix hold off any attacks. Sonic, dismissing her plan with a "nope," tells her to stick to theirs. She is skeptical at first, knowing Sonic isn't the brightest bulb, but Tails flies in and confirms that it is, in fact, Nicoles. All doubt erased from her mind, Sally runs foward just in time for some new doubt to take hold. Eggman flies in with his battle armor, Zapping a few mobians. Sonic, unconcerned, changes the running direction. Eggman, already having teleported most of them, is interrupted by Snively as he corners Sally, Sonic, and a few others. Telling him to shut up, he zaps a completely wigged out Sally, a disinterested Sonic, and the other random guys. Elated, Eggman tells Snively not to start the Eggrapes until he's there to watch, when Snively tells him, "I've been trying to tell you the entire time! The teleportation frequency was tampered with! THERE'S NOBODY IN THE RESERVE EGGRAPES!" Eggman sits there stunned. Really quite funny. Then he tells Snively to track down the frequency and get on the Eggfleet to confront them. It switches to an amazingly beautiful replica of Mobotropolis. Everyone is happily exploring, when Nicole appears in her lynx form. She happily tells them that she had been preparing it for them for some time, but that Eggman's attack forced her to reveal it to them now. She and Sally hug, while she tells her that she is able to have a body in New Mobotropolis due to all the holographic matrixes she built in the city. All the happiness is interrupted, however, as the Eggfleet appears on the horizon.