Knuckles the Echidna 02 (Archie)
From Sonic Retro
Knuckles the Echidna #02 "The Dark Legion" | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cover date: May 1997 | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
← Previous issue | Next issue → |
Knuckles: The Dark Legion #2, retroactively known as Knuckles the Echidna #2, is the second issue of Knuckles the Echidna published by Archie Comics.
Contents
Stories
The Dark Legion Book Two: Sins of the Fathers
- Continued from Knuckles the Echidna #1.
After being surrounded by the Dark Legion, Knuckles the Echidna and the Chaotix were knocked out and sent away to the Dark Legion camp, set up on the Floating Island. One of the Dark Legion members throws a water at Knuckles, who is tied up against a rock, which wakes him up from his unconscious state, along with the rest of the Chaotix. He comes to quickly, getting quite angry at the treatment he has received. The Dark Legion member, armed with a weapon, that woke up him is impressed with his tough talk, but dares him to talk in such a way to their master Kragok. He orders Knuckles to follow him, while the rest of the Chaotix stay behind. They walk by a whole horde of Dark Legion members and drones, as the guard tells Knuckles to keep his ego in check as he talks with Kragok. They arrive at a tent, where he is ordered to enter.
Knuckles slowly enters the tent, which houses Kragok in a makeshift office-like environment, complete with office desk and a bed. Despite Kragok's introduction, Knuckles remains silent. Nonetheless, Kragok asks Knuckles to sit down. He does, ending his silence by mentioning the shackles he is wearing. Despite being a prisoner, Kragok orders his men to release the shackles, but tells him that his men won't hesitate if he does anything foolish...
- In the past, after the technological round-up of Echidnapolis, a fire ant by the name of Christopheles reports to his royalty the situation regarding the echidnas, however, the royalty believes they can do no more to help them. Chrisopheles, however, believes that there is nobody in the echidna culture that can live up to protecting the civilization from their technology. This gives the royalty an idea: give them a guide. Chrisopheles offers to be such a guide, quickly disappearing to begin his work.
- Edmund sits in his home, reading a book while contemplating the reluctance of his civilization in giving up their technology. He believes he may be able to inspire change by adopting a disguise, just as Christopheles appears on a nearby table. Having heard what he said, Christopheles offers up the idea to use truth as a weapon, as his enemies use secrecy themselves. Edmund believes what the ant says, but needs convincing to listen to him. Christopheles tells Edmund that his son has already discovered the truth, instantly giving Edmund the drive to do something. He leaves the house, before Christopheles can finish, heading off into the night to help his people and his son.
Despite Kragok's warning, Knuckles jumps on his table and lunges at him, going for his neck. The Dark Legion guards move in quickly, hitting him with their fists and guns, then holds him down on the table. Kragok goes on to note that he has no need for the Dark Legion to protect himself, as he can take care of him himself. The Dark Legion guards let go of Knuckles, then prompting Kragok to punch him, easily knocking him off the table. He walks up to Knuckles, now on the ground, ending his initially kind stance, demanding that he give him the answers he requires. He first asks for the location of the Chaos Chamber on the island, but Knuckles doesn't give in, acting like he doesn't know. This further angers Kragok, who knows that Knuckles is aware of the location of the chamber. Not wanting to play his games, Kragok walks out of the tent, ordering his men to beat him. The tent closes, leaving Knuckles alone with the Dark Legion guards, and the outside guard concerned as he hears many hits.
In the tent, the guards jump at Knuckles, but cause a lot of confusion; many times missing Knuckles or hitting each other. Escaping from the cloud of battle, Knuckles punches one guard into a table, and kicks another into the bed. He then takes out the last guard with a massive uppercut. With all the guards incapacitated, Knuckles takes one of the guards' cloaks and puts it on himself to begin some infiltration.
- Edmund arrives at the site of his son's crashlanding, while a few members of the newly formed Dark Legion check the debris for Steppenwolf, who has now discovered their cause. They are unable to find any debris, as Edmund sees them doing their work. One of them hears a rattle, so he goes over to Edmund's location to investigate. Just as he arrives, Edmund grabs his mouth to muffle him and knocks him out, then takes out the other guard with a piece of debris. He sets the two down, not seeing two other guards arriving and noticing him. They take aim and fire, hitting him.
- The guards walk over to the lifeless body of Edmund, confirming their work as done. Steppenwolf, in hiding, comes out as the guards leave, running over to his father. He cradles the body of his father in remorse, thinking he should've been the one out and not in hiding. While mourning, Christopheles appears, telling Steppenwolf that his father would want to see him have the strength to continue his work. He introduces himself and offers to help.
Back with the Chaotix, who are guarded by two members of the Dark Legion, Vector sings a tune, which annoys Espio. Mighty tries to get Espio to lighten up, until he notices another member of the Dark Legion punch out the guards. The cloaked member announces that he's initiating a jailbreak, but Espio believes it's a trick. Knuckles reveals himself under the disguise to prove that he is not tricking them, but, in order to escape, they need a distraction. Charmy is quick to come up with an idea, pointing out the nearby tank that could be used.
Knuckles' father watches Knuckles begin his jailbreak with joy, but believes that he still needs help. Archimedes appears nearby, noting that it was a difficult choice to return, but needs to return to Knuckles. Before Knuckles' father can say anything, the alarm in his station goes off again. He grabs Archimedes and runs out of the command room, as an intruder has arrived. He arrives at the intruder's location, seeing Athair standing in the middle of a room.
Back at the Dark Legion's camp, the Chaotix let loose the tank on a group of Dark Legion members and drones, one of which is holding an explosive. The tank runs over the drones easily, then hits the Dark Legion members, causing the explosive to detonate and destroy part of the camp. The Chaotix, meanwhile, have escaped the camp and run away into the forest. It isn't long until Vector starts to complain about the running, but Knuckles is reluctant to take a break, telling him to keep up.
Knuckles' father confronts Athair, his grandfather, asking him why he is there, and letting him know that they are still dealing with his pacifist acts. Archimedes jumps in, stopping the argument, letting Knuckles' father know that Athair would only be there for an important reason. Surely enough, he is right, as the faces of the Ancient Walkers appear right behind Athair. He tells the two that he arrives as a warning, then quickly disappears, along with the heads of the Ancient Walkers. Archimedes, with those words, decides to return to Knuckles to assist him, but Knuckles' father thinks otherwise. He knows that Knuckles and the Chaotix are fine for the moment, and that Archimedes wisdom will work well. Knowing that the Ancient Walkers and Athair are all concerned about what is going on, he is quite worried himself.
- Now with Steppenwolf continuing Edmund's work, Christopheles trains him as he grows up. He first trains his body so he can gain strength, then moves onto his mind, developing his knowledge. Lastly, with all that done, he must learn the ultimate discipline...
- He leads Steppenwolf to the Chaos Emerald chamber, showing the source of the Floating Island's power. Now continuing Edmund's ways, he must learn to control the power of the Chaos Emerald. It doesn't take long until Steppenwolf is able to utilize the power of the Chaos Emerald, even enabling him to fly. Chrisopheles applauds him for his efforts, but before he can accept the mantle of guardian of the island, he must complete one more task.
Christopheles leads Steppenwolf to Sandopolis, revealing his new home off in the distance. He looks ahead, but all he can see is sand. Listening to the ant, Steppenwolf keeps walking forward, walking into a sand dune...and disappearing into it. He looks around as he enters a technological chamber known as Haven, now the home of him and all future guardians, and his base of operations.
Although having some lead time, Kragok is quick to have his men chase down the Chaotix, with him as leader of the search party in one of the tanks. They are quick to catch up, making Vector want to give up, being so tired from all the running. Knuckles tells him to chill, then turns to Mighty to help slow down the Dark Legion. Using his strength, Mighty knocks down a huge tree, giving them some time to escape. Nonetheless, Kragok continues his journey, ordering his men to fire on the trunk to clear the path...and to get rid of everything. They fire, destroying the trunk and setting the forest on fire. The Chaotix continue running, despite all the chaos around them, until they hear something. They stop and look around to find the noise. It isn't long until they look nearby, and see all the denizens of the forest running straight for them. Knuckles yells to the others to get out of the way, adding more to the chaos.
- Continued in Knuckles the Echidna #3.
Production credits
- Writers: Ken Penders and Kent Taylor
- Pencils: Manny Galan
- Inks: Andrew Pepoy
- Color Artist: Karl Bollers
- Letterer: Vickie Williams
- Editor: Justin Gabrie
- Managing Editor: Victor Gorelick
- Editor-In-Chief: Richard Goldwater
- Cover: Patrick Spaziante, Ken Penders, and Heroic Age
- Source: Knuckles: Knuckles: The Dark Legion #1 letters page, Knuckles: The Dark Legion #2 title page, Knuckles: The Dark Legion #3 letters page
Variants
References
- ↑ https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.comics.info/c/IY70FerdAis/m/IN7VPNwOFwEJ (Wayback Machine: 2022-04-30 07:12)
Knuckles the Echidna (Archie comics) | |
---|---|
|
show;hide
|
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
|