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Sonic's Friendly Nemesis Knuckles 2

From Sonic Retro

KnucklesMiniSeries Comic US 2.jpg
Sonic's Friendly Nemesis Knuckles #2
"Rites of Passage!"
Cover date: August 1996
Release Date RRP Code Rating
Comic
US
1996-06-05[1] $1.50 ?
Comic
CA
1996 $1.65 ?
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Sonic's Friendly Nemesis Knuckles #2 is the second of a three issue limited series published by Archie Comics. The issue would be reprinted in Knuckles the Echidna Archives Volume 1.

Official solicitation

Stories

Rites of Passage! - Part Two

Continued from Sonic's Friendly Nemesis Knuckles #1.
Mobius contains numerous wonders, including the mysterious Floating Island, containing the Chaos Emeralds. These Emeralds are protected by Knuckles the Echidna, who comes from a long line of Echidna guardians. The Echidna culture, once a technologically sophisticated society, has since disappeared, replaced by wilderness in the Floating Island, all that remains of their group.
Dimitri, the all-powerful echidna from history, has returned as Enerjak. Thrown aside by Enerjak into the desert, Knuckles has joined with the fire ant Archimedes, working together to stop him.

Knuckles and Archimedes roam the Sandopolis Zone, a vast desert that they were thrown to by Enerjak. Knuckles presumes it will take the duo days to return back to face Enerjak, and that is if they can survive the harsh environment. As they plan their journey, the sand behind the group rumbles. Knuckles hears this and looks up behind him, as a large shadow casts over him and Archimedes, whom he is carrying. The two jump out of the way as a large snake-like creature dives at them. It misses them and burrows back into the ground.

The creature is a sandcrawler, a large one at that, that is capable of tracking body heat to find prey. It comes around again and finds Knuckles. It dives at the echidna, but is stopped short as a burst of fire from Archimedes gathers its attention. Archimedes continues to breathe fire, making him a better target for the sandcrawler. It digs back into the ground and starts to chase Archimedes, forcing Knuckles to run after them, confused as to what he is doing. Archimedes climbs up onto a rock in the desert and digs in. The sandcrawler doesn't notice the rock and slams into it, ending the threat.

At night, Archimedes and Knuckles rest, eating some marshmallows that Archimedes toasts.

The next day, the unlikely duo have a conversation to get to understand each other more. Although Knuckles has knowledge of his civilization's past from his father, he asks Archimedes how the fire ants have helped his civilization in the past. Impressed at Knuckles wanting to learn and listen, he agrees to. He recalls the situation where the echidna culture faced the threat of the comet, resulting in them gathering 12 Chaos Emeralds to lift the island up from the ground. Unknown to the echidnas, it was actually the fire ants that gave the city a starting push into the sky, using their strength to help get the island off the ground. He then tells the story about Dimitri's drive for power, draining 11 of the Chaos Emeralds of power and forming Mount Fate. To stop him, or so they thought, they dug into the mountain and collapsed it over the power-hungry echidna. After that, the fire ants had kept an eye on, and helped, the echidna culture over the generations up to present day. These are the reasons Archimedes had tested Knuckles; to ensure he was ready for the future tasks at hand. With one-thousand years of isolation to plan revenge, Knuckles intends on fighting him to prevent him from enacting his plans.

Elsewhere on the Floating Island, Enerjak flies over a plain and arrives at the ruins of the city of Echidnapolis. He slams his can into the ground, causing it to shake. Meanwhile, Knuckles and Archimedes continue on their trek through the desert, with Knuckles starting to become dehydrated and very hungry. With food on his mind, he looks down at Archimedes in his hand...then throws him in his mouth. Not wanting to become food, Archimedes fires a flame in Knuckles' mouth, burning it and causing him to spit Archimedes out. He scolds him, telling him never to do it again. They continue on, but as the day goes on, Knuckles gets weaker and weaker. He eventually collapses right onto the sand. Enerjak, in the meantime, uses his powers to raise the ruins of Echidnapolis.

A tired Knuckles looks up and witnesses an image of his father in the sky. He stands up, as the image of his father tells him to be brave, and that Enerjak can be defeated by using knowledge from the past. He gets up and starts to walk, as his father tells him that he has come too far to surrender. With his father's words in mind, the two continue to walk on, passing over a sand dune...and witnessing an oasis on the other side. They run into the oasis, which is quite real, and fill coconuts with water for their journey. Archimedes notes that it was quite lucky for them to find the oasis, but Knuckles feels that somebody or something wanted them to find it. As they walk up another sand dune, they look back at the oasis, which has disappeared. This confuses Archimedes, as he knows he ate some hot peppers from the oasis, and the supplies they gathered are still in their backpack. They then look ahead, witnessing the large new city that Enerjak has sprouted from the ground: Nekronopolis.

The large gray city, with many ancient-looking towers, is guarded by a number of bots. One of the bots is walking along a walkway into one of the towers. Knuckles sneaks up behind the bot and taps its shoulder, then giving it a large upper-cut. The two run past the downed bot, unsure of where to find Enerjak in his maze-like dark recreation of Echidnapolis. They pass a rock that looks out into a small clearing, with many bots and a large tower that Archimedes recognizes as Enerjak's Citadel, his home. On a whim, the two jump from out of their cover and start to take out the bots by surprise. They send out an alert, which causes a group of bots to surround Knuckles and Archimedes. Archimedes uses his fire breath to hold them back, but it doesn't work, as the group gets closer. Despite the odds, Knuckles pushes through the group and enters one of the surrounding buildings. He hits a gate release button, causing the door to the building to crash down, destroying some of the bots and holding the rest outside.

Archimedes, on Knuckles' hand, warns Knuckles to give him more of a warning when he does a move like that, as they run down a dark stone corridor. Despite the bots, Knuckles is surprised at the lack of resistance he has seen from Enerjak, expecting more from him. As they enter a very dark area, Knuckles is tripped by a hidden figure. He drops Archimedes as he's stung on the head by another being, blown away by music from the dark, and punched in the face. He gets up from his surprise attack, witnessing his attackers: the Chaotix, now brainwashed by Enerjak...the only thing standing between them and Enerjak.

Continued in Knuckles 3.

Other features

Production credits

"Rites of Passage! - Part Two"
Cover
Staff
Source: Page xx

Variants

References


Sonic's Friendly Nemesis Knuckles
KnucklesMiniSeries Comic US 1.jpg

Main page


Reception


Development

Archie Comics ongoing series
Mini-series
Stand alone specials
Free Comic Book Day issues
Crossover issues
Digests & Compilations
Single Compilations & Digital Exclusives
Miscellaneous