| Written by: | Ian Flynn |
| Year: | Four |
| Saga: | Eggman's Legacy |
| Arc Duration: | #41 - #44 |
Overhearing that Zavok is around, Master Zik decides to help his former student. Meanwhile, Zavok is madder than ever and wishes to reunite with the Deadly Six. Finding Zazz and Zomom, the trio meet up with Master Zik, Zeena and Zor. The reassembled Deadly Six then decide to make a big move by attacking Restoration HQ. To stop the Deadly Six, Jewel calls in the Chaotix Detective Agency while Sonic joins in. As the heroes make preparations though, the Deadly Six manage to sneak into Restoration HQ and wreck havoc while Dr. Starline sneaks in and kidnaps Belle. Sonic, however, quickly arrives to stop the Deadly Six, which he accomplishes with a little help from Tails and his Zeti Zappers. In the aftermath, Sonic and Tails send the Deadly Six back to the Lost Hex while the Chaotix save Belle. However, before escaping, Starline has gotten the data he needs from Belle for his long-term plans.
Tropes used in this arc
- Action Prologue: The first issue of the arc begins with Sonic and Eggman locked in battle.
- Advertised Extra:
- Covers seem to indicate Jewel would have a bigger role here. It turns out to be fairly minimal and there's not much focus on her while Tangle and Whisper at least provide some support for Sonic in the third issue.
- Solicitations state the Chaotix would be important in the arc. But they only play a role in the last issue of it saving Belle.
- A meta example: the original solicits listed Adam Bryce Thomas as the penciler for the first three issues of the arc, but in reality, all he drew was Issue #41's cover (seen in the image above) and story.
- After Boss Recovery: A comic book version. Zavok beats the crap out of Sonic and Tails before going down for the count, yet the duo have fully healed by the time Tails brings in his "Zeti-Launcher" rocket. This can also be attributed to the Art Shift between Issues 43 and 44.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: The Deadly Six invade Restoration HQ, while Starline also sneaks in to kidnap Belle.
- Antagonist Title: "Zeti Hunt".
- Arc Villain: The Deadly Six (of the main plot) and Starline (of the subplot). Eggman has only a minor role and only in the first issue, after which he pulls Villain: Exit, Stage Left and disappears.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Starline succeeds in getting all the data he needs for his plans from Belle and escapes before the Chaotix can arrest him.
- Berserk Button: Belle was made by Mr. Tinker, not Eggman, and don't suggest otherwise. Starline provokes her on purpose so she'll yield the emotional data he's after.
- Big Damn Heroes: Double-subverted. Sonic gets to Restoration HQ first and intercepts the Zeti just short of the control room, but they overpower him along with Tangle and Whisper. Then Tails arrives just in time to save Sonic from the Zeti and help him neutralize them.
- Big Damn Reunion: A villainous example. After his time apart during All or Nothing and Bad Guys, Zavok gathers Zazz and Zomom before meeting up with Zik, Zeena, and Zor. With this, the Deadly Six are together again.
- Big "WHAT?!": Tails' reaction when he contacts Sonic about the Zeti and finds out Sonic already knows, Eggman having told him earlier.
- Flat "What": Zavok's initial reaction when he learns the Zeti are to be spared and sent home after their defeat.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Deadly Six are once more defeated and are finally transported back to the Lost Hex. However, Zavok declares that they will one day return to Sonic's world and continue their revenge. Meanwhile, Belle is rescued by the Chaotix after Starline abducted her, but is heartbroken in realizing that she will never see Eggman's "Mr. Tinker" persona again. Worst of all, Dr. Starline has copied her data based on her personality, the last item needed for his secret project.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Sonic and Eggman argue about who's to blame for the Zeti's takeover of the Zombots. Eggman insists it wasn't his fault because Starline was the one who got the Zeti involved. He's not wrong, but Sonic points out that Starline was Eggman's lackey at the time (Eggman didn't fire him until after the fact), so Eggman still bears responsibility. Eggman's much longer List of Transgressions doesn't help his case.
- Break the Cutie: Belle's hopes of seeing Mr. Tinker again are dashed once and for all after Starline confirms that he and Metal Sonic helped restore Eggman's memories.
- The Bus Came Back:
- All of the Zeti, save Zavok (who appeared in Bad Guys), return after being absent since Issue #30, three arcs ago.
- The Chaotix, who were last seen in Issue #32, reappear as Jewel hires them to help deal with the Zeti.
- Whisper and Starline both return in Issue #42, having not been seen since Issues #32 and #36, respectively.
- Issue #41 marks the first time a Wisp has appeared outside of a Wispon since Whisper's Wisps were last seen in Issue #29.
- In a meta example, Issue #42 marked Tracey Yardley's first time doing interior story artwork for the series since Issue #18, exactly two years priornote .
- Call-Back:
- Sonic hasn't forgotten how Eggman and Metal Sonic threw away the second chances he gave them previously, or the scathing earfuls Shadow and Espio gave him for not letting them kill/jail Eggman (during his "Mr. Tinker" phase) when they had the chance, which ultimately set the stage for the Metal Virus pandemic. Zavok gives Sonic PTSD flashbacks of these events when he warns that sparing the Zeti will similarly backfire.
- Starline recalls how he had Eggman abducted so he could snap him out of his "Mr. Tinker" persona, also admitting this time that Metal Sonic helped him.
- Belle reveals she was present in Windmill Village when Eggman made it Ground Zero for the Metal Virus. Being a robot, she was immune to the virus and spent the rest of the saga hiding from the Zombots.
- Car Fu: The Zeti begin their attack on Restoration HQ by crashing a burning truck into the front guard station.
- Covers Always Lie: There's a huge emphasis on Whisper, Tangle and Jewel in the A and RI covers of Issue #42, giving the impression that the issue is about them. In reality, the issue is about the Deadly Six attacking the Restoration base and Starline capturing Belle, with the trio of girls being minor characters, and the former two appearing on all of one page. Tangle and Whisper do get a major role in Issue #43, but are taken out by Zavok halfway through.
- Damsel in Distress: Belle is kidnapped by Starline during the Zeti's invasion of Restoration HQ, prompting the Chaotix to search for and rescue her upon finding out.
- Death Glare: Zavok gives Sonic a really menacing one in Issue #44 when he berates the Blue Blur for having mercy on him and his pack.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Master Zik is the only Zeti who's able to wrap his head around the fact that non-Zeti people naturally try to help each other and avoid conflict. The other Zeti are dumbfounded by this, and Sonic even mocks them over it.
- Hijacked by Ganon: Subverted. Starline gives the Restoration a loose end to try and clean up, although he escapes before they can do so after getting what he wanted. Otherwise, the Zeti remain the central threat of the arc.
- Hoist by His Own Petard:
- A double-whammy spells the Zeti's undoing. In All or Nothing, they used special siphons to harness the Chaos Emeralds' power and give themselves better control over the Zombots. Zavok lost his after challenging Super Sonic and Super Silver (to predictable results), but Tails salvaged it and has since reverse-engineered it to create "Zeti Zappers", which turn the Zeti's own powers against them.
- Whisper is incapacitated when Zavok attacks her with his powers, causing her own mask and Wispon to shock her.
- Zavok also uses Tangle's own tail against her by grabbing it and slamming her into submission against the doors.
- Hope Crusher: Upon the Zeti reuniting, Zik figures rather then just take out towns one by one, they strike directly at the Restoration's new HQ since they give the people of the world hope. Taking them out would diminish that hope and truly send the world into despair, making it easy enough for the Zeti to conquer.
- Hope Spot: Just as Starline grabs Belle and makes his way to the elevator. The Zeti's rampage has damaged it preventing him from using it to leave. Belle thinks he's stuck without an escape route, but Starline just goes to the flight mode on his Tricore, grabs her and wall-jumps his way to an exit.
- Innocently Insensitive: After rescuing Belle, Vector notices her being dejected. When she claims Starline "broke her heart", he wonders if Tails can fix that literally. He's not sure how to properly deal with an emotional robot like her, but assures her that there are friends still caring about her.
- I Shall Return: Zavok declares to his cohorts that though they are defeated, they will one day return to face the Restoration again.
- It's All My Fault: Downplayed. When the Chaotix visit the new Restoration HQ, they mention feeling a little guilty since the fall of the old HQ was partly their fault (Vector and Espio brought in a Zombot-ified Charmy, who escaped and infected the others). They don't dwell too much on it, with Vector citing they should give the Restoration a discount for their services as an apology.
- Kansas City Shuffle: Zavok comes up with a plan to have the Zeti attack a few of the towns. While some of the Restoration comes to their aid, they'll double-back and attack the Restoration while their resources are stretched thin.
- Knight of Cerebus: The Deadly Six, natch.
- Lack of Empathy: While holding Belle captive, Starline allows her to air out her backstory about her relationship with "Mr. Tinker". However, he cares more about her A.I. behavior than her life as he get the chance to copy her data. Belle is completely hurt over this, even after being rescued by the Chaotix.
- Let No Crisis Go to Waste: Starline finds Restoration HQ, but just as he gets inside, the Deadly Six arrive and invade. Panicked at first, he decides to uses their rampage to his advantage to look for Belle, succeeding in kidnapping her while the others are busy with the Zeti.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!":
- Tails, Sonic, and the Chaotix all anticipate that the Zeti will attack one of the towns they did before in All or Nothing. They later learn from Jewel that they are instead attacking Restoration HQ, forcing them to scramble to that location.
- Everyone at the end of #43 when the Orangutan mechanic manages to recover and inform the heroes that Starline kidnapped Belle.
- Metronomic Man Mashing: A variant, when Tangle tries to attack the Zeti through the hole with her tail after they knock out Whisper. Zavok grabs it and pulls it multiple times, slamming Tangle against the blast doors until she finally goes limp.
- Missed Him by That Much:
- Starline just barely avoids being seen by the Zeti once he makes his way inside. He encounters Zomom, but manages to hypnotize him into leaving a room without seeing anyone.
- Just as Sonic arrives at Restoration HQ, he misses Starline and Belle turning into the elevator tunnel.
- Mistaken for Spies: It is revealed that Belle was still active when Eggman unleashed the Metal Virus on Windmill Village. When the inhabitants are eventually cured from their Zombot state, they suspect she was a Badnik spy and was made unwelcome. Of course, them knowing that Mr. Tinker was an amnesiac Dr. Eggman who built her didn't help matters.
- Mythology Gag:
- Zeena imitates Sonic's pose in Sonic Adventure's cover art while kicking two Restoration soldiers.
- Tails' rocket that he plans to send the Zeti back to the Lost Hex is the same rocket from Sonic the Hedgehog 4.
- To reach Restoration HQ faster, Tails switches planes, using the Tornado 2 from Sonic Adventure in jet-mode.
- The Chaotix get stuck in traffic en route to Restoration HQ in the Beat Monster, Vector's sports car from Team Sonic Racing.
- Vector's "It's all part of being a good detective" catchphrase from Sonic Heroes comes up again when he and his team face Starline.
- Near-Villain Victory: Zavok curb-stomps Tangle and Whisper and very nearly kills Sonic and Tails before he and his pack are finally neutralized.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The Chaotix manage to locate Starline's temporary base and had the element of surprise. But when Espio went to free Belle, her exclamation at him thinking he was a ghost at first, then calling him by name blew their cover. This allows Starline to destroy the computer he copied Belle's data to (he uploaded the data to a cloud server) and use the Tricore to escape.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Zavok orders Zor to go fight with the other Zeti, to which Zor states he's trying to wait for an opening to strike in. Zavok promptly grabs him and throws him at Sonic only to get blasted out of the air by Whisper.
- Noodle Incident:
- We never see what Zik, Zor, and Zeena were doing before they met up with their fellow Zeti.
- An off-hand remark from the machine shop owner reveals Belle accidentally got his face covered in oil.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Seeing the Zeti briefly evokes this reaction from Starline.
- Belle has this reaction when she sees Starline and recognizes him from their last encounter.
- Zavok gets this in #43 when he realizes Tails hid a Zeti Zapper in his tails and he just pulled Tails close enough to hit him with it.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Sonic's Tranquil Fury upon finding out the Zeti duped him and his friends and are attacking Restoration HQ.
- Tangle is very distraught about Belle's abduction.
- Starline admitting his part in Eggman's return gives Belle's Relative Button a good solid whack, causing her to lose her temper for what's quite possibly the first time in her entire life. By the time the Chaotix rescue her, she has crossed the Despair Event Horizon.
- Vector is unusually crestfallen when he sees the near-catatonic state the above-mentioned emotional breakdown left Belle in. Keep in mind, him of all people showing such a reaction is extremely rare.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Eggman was locked in battle with Sonic for a few days. During the few days, Sonic managed to have the snowman mech Eggman was fighting him in dealt with and blew up the egg base which the explosion was onscreen 41#:
- Prepare to Die: Zavok's line to Sonic at the end of #42:Zavok: No party, hedgehog. But you're just in time for your funeral.
- Post-Final Boss: Slightly. Starline kidnapping Belle is a concern, but he doesn't pose a threat to the Restoration yet in this arc and flees after getting the data he wanted from Belle.
- Put on a Bus:
- Eggman vanishes after Issue #41. He isn't seen again until a couple of arcs later.
- The Deadly Six are deported back to the Lost Hex at the end of the arc, teased that this is not the end.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: With no way to return to the Lost Hex (at first), the Deadly Six decide to terrorize the world following their previous defeat, starting with the Restoration.
- Sarcastic Clapping: Starline's reaction when the Chaotix burst into his temporary lab, which doesn't worry him because he already has what he wants.
- Self-Deprecation: While waiting for the Deadly Six's attack, Sonic somberly acknowledges that people still recovering from the Metal Virus crisis are either want to completely move on or act like it never happened. It can be a jab at the IDW series itself for having the longest story line to date, and the audience who, likewise, want to move on from it especially considering real life events that happened during the arc that made it
harder to look back on. With the Zeti's return to the Lost Hex, the last loose end from the Zombot Apocalypse is finally tied up. - Shot in the Ass: Zomom gets this, courtesy of Whisper—ironically through the hole he himself punched in the blast doors.
- Shout-Out:
- Eggman's rant over being called "Baldy McNosehair" again contains one to Dragon Ball Z Abridged.Eggman: That's not funny! It's never been funny! It's never going be funny!
- Sitting on Tails' desk in his lab is a coffee cup with a Starbucks-esque logo reading "Star Fox". Also a nod to that series' "Can't let you brew that, Starbucks!" meme.
- When Dr. Starline sees the Deadly Six rampaging through Restoration HQ, he nervously mutters "Serenity now..." and "Fear is the mind-killer...".
- One of Zavok's taunts while fighting Sonic is based on a quote from WandaVision.
- Starline tells Belle "There's more to [her] than meets the eye", a tagline from the Transformers franchise that IDW also regularly adapts into comics.
- He also has what looks like a Matrix of Leadership on a shelf in the background.
- When Belle tries resisting Starline's interrogation, he isn't fooled and drives that point home by saying "lies will make your nose grow"—an obvious reference to Pinocchio.
- Eggman's rant over being called "Baldy McNosehair" again contains one to Dragon Ball Z Abridged.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: When Zavok mocks Sonic for his mercy in letting the Zeti go and promises to repay his mercy with vengeance, though it causes Sonic to have brief PTSD flashbacks to the scathing earfuls he got from Shadow and Espio over the consequences of previously doing the same with Eggman and Metal Sonic, he shrugs it off by saying he's not going to abandon his principles out of fear, and promising to beat the villains as often as he needs to.
- Slasher Smile: Starline sports a big one after successfully gleaning Belle's personality data.
- Spoiler Cover: Covers A and B for Issue #44 spoiled Starline's involvement in this arc well in advance. A draft cover for the same issue also spoilednote The Reveal of Belle's origins in the previous arc.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: Belle, while in Starline's captivity.
- Sympathy for the Devil: The townspeople that Zomom terrorized, during the Metal Virus crisis, keep him under lock and key, but are willing to feed him regularly as long as he behaves. Alas, Zavok once more inspires him to take as he likes, allowing him to attack the town once more.
- Tempting Fate: As Jewel briefs Sonic, Tails and the Chaotix on what's going on. Sonic thinks to himself that the situation with the Zeti should be fine as long as Eggman or Starline don't get involved. Unfortunately, it's around that point that Starline manages to find Restoration HQ and sneaks his way in. Not long after, the Zeti begin their attack on the base.
- That Man Is Dead: Starline lets Belle know that Mr. Tinker is no more, and there is only Eggman. Belle already knows about this, but is no less devastated of the confirmation that Starline took her "father" away.
- Trash the Set: After only one arc establishing the new Restoration base, it quickly gets invaded and damaged by the Zeti in this arc.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left:
- At the end of #41, Eggman flees after another loss to Sonic and vanishes for the rest of the arc.
- At the end of #44, Dr. Starline escapes the Chaotix's pursuit, revealing that the hideout he took Belle in is a decoy from his real HQ. He also copied Belle's personality data for his schemes.
- Villainous BSoD: Zavok has one in Issue #41 as he despairs over his ruinous defeats in All or Nothing and Bad Guys. He briefly considers admitting defeat before angrily rejecting that notion and pressing onward.
- Villain Respect:
- In Issue #43, Zavok calls Sonic a Worthy Opponent, and in Issue #44 notes that he can respect Sonic sticking to his principles.
- Despite their falling-out, Starline still respects Eggman's work and claims to have abducted Belle based on that.
- Virtue Is Weakness: In #44, Sonic offers the Zeti mercy long as they get in the rocket back to Lost Hex, but Zavok mocks him for it, reminding him of the other times he tried this with other villains only for it to blow up in his face. Sonic at least understands this, but vows never to let that fear dictate his actions.
- Worthy Opponent: In Issue #43, Zavok acknowledges Sonic as the greatest challenge that the Zeti have ever faced.
- You Killed My Father: Belle's enraged reaction after Starline reveals his part in erasing Mr. Tinker.
