A new adventure begins, and it's time to finally leave the past behind in the dust.
Uncle Chuck and Professor Pickle are abducted by Dr. Eggman, and it's up to Sonic and the Freedom Fighters to save them.
The team makes their way to a train en route where they are being held and, with the place crawling with Badniks, time is short.
But what could Eggman want with them and their research, and is there a way fix their world?
Tropes:
- Bittersweet Ending: While they failed to retrieve Professor Pickle's research, the Freedom Fighters are able to rescue him and Uncle Chuck. They learn from him that the key to fixing the world is to seek out seven Gaia Temples and install each Chaos Emerald to start the "rebirth" process. Meanwhile, Eggman makes use of the Gaia Manuscripts and tasks his Egg Bosses with searching for and securing the Temples. Elsewhere, a young priestess and a Chao are visited by a mysterious spirit.
- Evil Is Petty: Sally, Amy and Rotor find one of the train cars holding only a foosball table. What's more is that the balls are shaped like Sonic's head, which says a lot about Eggman's hatred towards the hedgehog. It's damaged by the time the heroes leave with the professors and the train reaches its destination, to the point where Orbot states it shall "foos no more".
- Foreshadowing:
- When Uncle Chuck asks Pickle about the strange gas coming from the earth, he states that his research hinted something about a "Dark Gaia".
- Uncle Chuck warns Sonic that the strange "gas" that hit him is said to have corruptable and mutagenic qualities, and is concerned if he has experienced any symptoms since. Neither of them are prepared about what Sonic is about to go through, and there are more sinister things crawling out of the planet thanks to the aptly named "Dark Gaia Energy".
- Gone Horribly Wrong:
- The delicate rescue mission goes south the moment E-106 Eta attacks Nicole, damaging the train's controls in the process. The train starts accelerating at dangerous speeds, forcing the Freedom Fighters to randomly search cars, which in turn leads to Badniks attacking them soon after. Thankfully, they find the professors and escape.
- Pickle claims that this isn't the first time the planet faced a crisis such as it shattering the way is did, as it is supposed to be a nautral occurrence. However, Eggman's attempt at changing reality made a mess of things. The strange dark energy coming from underground is a sure sign that something is off.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Sonic leaves Sally out that he was hit with dark energy back in Knothole as he feels that fixing the planet is a higher priority.
- Pyrrhic Victory: The team rescues the professors and does considerable damage to Eggman's Badniks and supplies on the train. Unfortunately, Eggman still obtains the Gaia Manuscripts because Pickle never informed anyone else about them.
- The Reveal: According to Pickle, the planet shattering was always meant to happen. As part of a "death & rebirth cycle" myth, the planet would break apart, prompting the inhabitants to take the Chaos Emeralds to seven Gaia Temples to begin restoring it. Sally deduces that because this isn't the first time after all, it explains why the oceans and atmosphere are somehow holding.
- The Stinger: Invoked in Part 2 during "After the Credits Month", a promotion where Archie Comics present a pair of epilogues of their main stories, with each one available when they were on sale.
- Epilogue #1 shows Efrika's Egg Boss Axel, ordered by Eggman to secure his unit's discovery of a possible Gaia Temple.
- Epilogue #2 shows a young priestess visited by a mysterious spirit, both playing a role in the next arc.
- Tempting Fate: Both Sonic and Nicole have seen many a Super Badnik functioning differently, to the point of switching to their side on their own or by reprogramming. Unfortunately, E-106 Eta is not one of those robots and immediately attacks the intruders.
