Archie Princess Sally Issue 3


 * This miniseries takes place between Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 20 — Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 21

Archie Princess Sally Issue 3 is the third and final issue of the Princess Sally miniseries published by Archie Comics.

Deadliest of the Species - Conclusion
The remaining Freedom Fighters, apparently and unknowningly under command of an Auto Automaton duplicate of Sally Acorn working for Dr. Robotnik, have begun to storm Robotropolis, having destroyed the city's energy substations and leaving the city vulnerable to attack. Inside a factory, the group are easily able to take out numerous SWATbots from a catwalk. As more SWATbots arrive on the catwalk, the three Freedom Fighters hide behind a pipe to prepare their next plan. Dylan is becoming sceptical about their assault to their Auto Automaton Sally, with their group only at half strength, and with the absence of Geoffrey St. John. Still angry about him, Hamlin believes they still do not need them as they continue forth to take out more SWATbots on the catwalk. From below, two SWATbots take aim at the catwalk and fire near Hamlin, destroying his section of the platform, sending him plummeting to the ground. The Auto Automaton Sally runs over quickly and grabs his arm in the knick-of-time, but the SWATbots on the ground still have their targets sighted on Hamlin. Sally, however, pulls him up just as they fire, thus missing. The Auto Automaton Sally then takes out NICOLE and locates their objective behind a door on the catwalk. The three of them run at the door, crashing through it and arriving in Robotnik's lair. They look on as Robotnik stands in the middle of the room, looking at his watch and timing how long it took them to arrive. He introduces himself, and then Geoffrey, who is standing beside the apparently real Sally in a stasis tube. Hamlin is quick to call out Geoffrey as a traitor and jumps at him, starting a brawl. The fake Sally takes out her slingshot and tells Hamlin to back off, as they are on the same side. Confused, Hamlin gets up, as Robotnik reveals Sally as a robotic duplicate. He continues on, stating that there was no defensive weakness to Robotropolis. The substations were merely set up for field tests for his Auto Automaton, which are a series of perfect robotic duplicates of organic creatures. With the test a success, he has already started to make robotic duplicates of Tails and Sonic, among others. The time to deal with the real Sally has begun, as Robotnik plugs the Roboticizer into Sally's stasis tube. The roboticization process begins, but suddenly malfunctions, causing the tube to explode. Robotnik looks into the tube, where Sally is no where to be seen. Robotnik takes a closer look at the unit, realizing that a feedback loop had occurred. He realizes that the only way it could occur is if the subject was really a robot. He looks back to see that what he thought to an Auto Automaton of Sally standing before them is actually the real Sally, aiming her slingshot at Robotnik. Sally had known about Robotnik's plans from the beginning, and demands that he follow her orders. Although surprised by her cunning, Robotnik always has a back-up plan, and calls out his Stealth 'Bots out of the wall and confront the Freedom Fighters. They pick them up, minus Geoffrey, who brandishes a controller behind his back, pressing a button on it. As Robotnik gloats, the ground beneath him starts to shake violently. Geoffrey reveals that he is truly the leader of the Rebel Underground as a drill vehicle breaks through the ground of the lair. Numerous Rebel Underground soldiers come out of the vehicle and surround the area, including Penelope and Arlo. While the other Freedom Fighters react in shock to seeing their friends back, the rebel underground take out the Stealth 'Bots, while Sally kicks a surprised Robotnik to the ground. Two of the rebels, Lieutenant Smiley and Commander Fleming give Geoffrey his rebel gear, confusing Dylan and Hamlin as to what side he is actually on. Sally walks over, and quickly explains that Geoffrey is on their side, but that a full explanation would take some time. Robotnik, however, has another plan up his sleeve as he reaches for a control panel. He opens it up, and presses the button on the panel, as an auto-destruct sequence starts up. He gloats about his victory as he leaves the group alone, falling into a pipe to escape the facility. With only 30 seconds to escape, Geoffrey recommends taking their vehicle out. Suddenly, one of the remaining Stealth 'Bots smashes the drill vehicle easily. The group run away from the lair, as Sally finds a room labelled 'vehicle maintenance'. They run into a hangar, taking out Swatbots on the way, as the Stealth Bots continue to pursue them. The hangar is full of UFO-like hovercars called Air Ships, which Sally orders everybody to use. They board them and escape Robotropolis, just as the Auto Automaton facility explodes. With Robotnik's Auto Automaton plant destroyed, Sally declares this an accomplished mission. The Freedom Fighters land in a field, while Sally's groups of Freedom Fighters are confused as to what has happened. Before she explains everything, she takes out a box from her vest, revealing many badges in it. She awards her Freedom Fighters battlefield commissions, making them official Freedom Fighters. At night, around a camp fire, Sally tells everybody what exactly has transpired: She revealed Geoffrey never had any ill thoughts, with his true loyalties with the king and country. He had sent Sally to his bunker earlier, activating the Auto Automaton Sally prematurely, prior to any of the attacks on the energy substations. Geoffrey and Sally released the Auto Automaton Sally early on to handle the Freedom Fighters during their assaults on the substations. If there were any complications, Geoffrey had his Rebel Underground for backup, which came in handy when Arlo and Penelope needed help. After the attack on the third energy substation, Geoffrey took the Auto Automaton Sally and put it in a stasis tube infront of Robotnik's monitor. He then released the real Sally, with Robotnik thinking it was the Auto Automaton one. Dylan puts in his two cents, not believing that the robotic duplicate was so perfect in design, having noticed some minor differences between the Auto Automaton and the real Saly. Sally thanks Geoffrey for his help, for if it was not for him, Robotnik's plans could have succeeded. The next morning, Geoffrey prepares to leave with his troops. Sally offers him an invitation to come to Knothole Village, but Geoffrey must maintain his leadership of the Rebel Underground. He gives her a kiss goodbye, after saying that they will likely meet again. With Robotnik's plans deterred, Sally and her new Freedom Fighters head back to Knothole. She also realizes that she put her obligations as a Freedom Fighter over her personal obligations, and that now she sees that she has two men interested in her.

Key Events

 * The group attacks Robotnik's third base but are soon caught in Robotnik's trap.
 * Robotnik explains his plans for the Auto Automaton and Geoffrey appears to be a traitor to the group.
 * Robotnik attempts to roboticize Sally but fails, as Geoffrey replaced her with the Auto Automaton.
 * The group is attacked by Stealth 'Bots but they defeat them and destroy the factory, though Robotnik escapes.
 * Geoffrey kisses Sally, laying the foundations for their potential relationship in the future.

Sonic the Hedgehog Back Issue Offer
A comic subscription page for subscribing to:
 * 6 to 12 future issue of the main Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series.
 * Archie Sonic the Hedgehog In Your Face!
 * All four issues of the Sonic the Hedgehog miniseries (issue 1 and issue 3 are sold out).
 * All three issues of the Princess Sally miniseries.
 * Issue 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the main Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series.

Sally-Grants
A "Sally version" of Sonic-Grams that includes:
 * A note from Scott Fulop.
 * A fan-letter send into Archie Comics.
 * A preview of the covers for Archie Sonic & Knuckles and Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 24.

Trivia

 * This issue shows the Freedom Fighters using gun-like weapons. This would contradict the ban on gun-based weapons the Kingdom of Acorn adopted prior to the Great War.
 * This is the first issue to reveal other members of the Rebel Underground.
 * The leftover duplicates of the Freedom Fighters created by Robotnik will later be used to aid in training of a brainwashed Sonic in Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 27.