Control (Two Parts)
Sonic, Sally, and Amy meet with the Blue Blur's old friends Mighty and Ray, as they prepare to retrieve the next Chaos Emerald. However, they are about to face two major problems.
The Emerald has been dug up by who might be Dr. Eggman's most loyal and dangerous Egg Boss to date, and is ready to give the heroes a deadly welcome.
Then, there is Sonic himself; something dark and beastly has been growing within him ever since he inhaled the strange energy in Knothole; something that is at risk of being a problem for everyone, be it Freedom Fighter or Egg Army.
And it is finally about to be unleashed.
Tropes:
- The Bus Came Back: Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel return after the Cosmic Retcon. While both still possessing their abilities, Ray no longer has a stuttering speech.
- Fighting Your Friend: Mighty vs. Werehog Sonic.
- Hermit Guru: Following the end of the previous arc, Moss the Sloth is introduced as this. A lax elder who secludes himself in the jungle, he is described as the one who helped Mighty hone in on his strength as well as restraint.
- I Choose to Stay: With Thunderbolt driven away, the team successfully obtained another Emerald. But while Sonic is starting to have a bit of a grip on his new Werehog form, he worries that he will become a danger to his friends as long as it's nighttime. He decides to stay with Moss to better control it before rejoining the Freedom Fighters.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Mighty does this against Sonic when his attempt to talk him down fails. Sally and Amy take a turn after and succeed.
- Insistent Terminology: When one of her subordinates report that their plan against Sonic is ready, Thunderbolt corrects him that this is Lord Eggman's plan, and they simply have the pleasure of executing it.
- Mugging the Monster: After discovering Sonic is willing protect cute little animals, even as a Werehog, she threatens them if he doesn't surrender. She had clearly forgotten that he tanked all of her electric attacks, plowed through her subordinates, and trashed her robot suit and electric towers, and she would have been ripped to shreads if Mighty hadn't step in to stop Sonic.
- Mushroom Samba: Sonic accidentally inhaled a smoke-like substance that was Dark Gaia Energy, so it counts once he becomes a Werehog. His initial transformed state twists his senses to perceive everything as dark and demonic note . Luckily, it doesn't last.
- The Napoleon: After Werehog Sonic destroys her mech suit, Thunderbolt is revealed to be a tiny yellow chinchilla, one of the smallest in the Egg Boss roster and the cast in general. Still, she has the power of a lightning storm to compensate as Sonic finds out soon enough.
- Not Brainwashed: Unlike the game, Sonic starts out as a berserker with little to no control over his actions. Sally believes the fact that he saved everyone from Eggman's trap and went straight for Thunderbolt and her army means that Sonic is still being a hero; albiet a violent one.
- No-Sell: Thunderbolt throws a huge lightning blast at Sonic while being chased, but his Werehog form brushes it off after a few seconds.
- Shock and Awe:
- Following Eggman's instructions, Thunderbolt sets a trap to have the Freedom Fighters get close to the Chaos Emerald, then activate a set of electrical towers to fire at them. The danger of Sonic as well as his friends ends up triggering his Werehog transformation.
- Thunderbolt herself can generate electricity from her own body or suit and weaponized to dangerous degrees, but is no match against Werehog Sonic.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Thunderbolt is irate that one of Eggman's Super Badniks were destroyed so quickly, even by Sonic and his friends.
- Wham Episode: After several issues of resistance, Werehog Sonic finally makes his debut.
