Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 253

Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 253 is the two hundred fifty-third issue in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series published by Archie Comics.

Official Solicitation
The biggest, most shocking event in Sonic comic history is underway, and YOU can grab a front-row seat in Countdown to Chaos Part One! Sonic and Tails are on a journey to the Mystic Ruins jungle in search of their missing pals. What they encounter is sure to surprise you! Meanwhile, Dr. Eggman begins the long trek back to his deadly Death Egg II battle fortress. Will our heroes find him and stop him before he launches again? And just who, or what, is the "Sky Patrol" and what does it have to do with the missing Freedom Fighters? Don't miss a moment of the chaos, featuring the first in a series of ALL-NEW inter-connecting covers by Sonic art superstar Ben Bates, and bone-chilling variant cover by T.REX!

Countdown to Chaos - Part One: The Builder
In the Mystic Ruins, Sonic the Hedgehog and his best friend Miles "Tails" Prower search inside the jungle to look for their friend and Freedom Fighter Rotor the Walrus. While using NICOLE's portable device to search for Rotor, Tails has a weak signal nearby. With this, Sonic states that Rotor is the only Freedom Fighter that can prove the theory that NICOLE is the answer to returning the Freedom Fighters back to normal. Speaking of NICOLE, Sonic asks NICOLE if she is alright, who states that she is still buggy. NICOLE then says that Rotor was working on something with Tails in the jungle, with Tails strikingly remembering. Sonic then wishes that there was a guide to help [Sonic and Tails] find Rotor, but Sonic's wish then came true...

Meanwhile, at Efrika, Doctor Eggman, Orbot and Cubot are stranded in the middle of the Efrika plains, pushing a destroyed-Egg Mobile. As Orbot wishes for a repairer to fix the Egg Mobile, Eggman, agitated, yells at Orbot and states that [Eggman] has no idea where he's at, has no hope to getting to the Death Egg, and that he has no tools to help repair the Egg Mobile. As all hope seems lost for Eggman, a large armada ambushes Eggman, but this turns out to be Eggman's own army. As Axel the Water Buffalo gets out from his vehicle and questions Eggman being here for another "surprise inspection", Eggman, confused at first, takes the opportunity of this surprise inspection. As Axel tells his name and rank in the Egg Army (Axel being an Egg Boss), Eggman, giddy with joy on this new term used for his army, quickly takes the Egg Monster-inspired vehicle that Axel was driving and drives it towards the Efrika Egg Army Base. Orbot then reminds Eggman that [Orbot] is pretty sure that Eggman's army was not "Egg Army" prior nor was Axel one of Eggman's leaders. But Eggman is aware of this and understands that he might of made a mistake of disrupting Super Sonic's Chaos Control before this mess and he quickly needs to refresh himself before heading to the Death Egg.

Back at the Mystic Ruins, Sonic and Tails finds Big the Cat with his pet Froggy fishing in a nearby pond. Sonic, confused on Big's whereabouts, asks Big if he was at Mobotropolis with Team Freedom fighting the Tails Doll. Big, however, states that he has been fishing this whole time. Tails, seeing Sonic's desperation on trying to get answers where Rotor is at, asks Big if he knows where Rotor is at, and Big then tells the two Freedom Fighters to follow him inside deeper in the jungle. As they head into a giant plain with a ruined-tower and a giant airship, Sonic remembers that fight on the Final Egg with Eggman in his Egg Viper battle. Tails, confused, asks Sonic if that really happened, and Sonic then tries to prove that it happened, but he realizes that it is his two memories (his old self prior to the second Genesis Wave and the new, video-game-inspired history) mixing with each other. However, Big warns them of enemies below the airship, and see E-06 (Bladed) Spinners shooting lasers at Rotor Walrus. Sonic, Tails, and Big head down there to help out in the battle.

Glad that Sonic and Tails made it to the battle, Rotor gets on a shooting chair and begins destroying the badniks, while Sonic performs Homing Attack Combos on the badniks. Big, on the other hand, is Spin Dashing his way towards the other part of the jungle due to him falling off of the cliff just as Sonic and Tails headed off to help Rotor. With Rotor being self-confident on defeating the badniks, a nearby Silver Sonic enters the scene and spin dashes his way to Rotor. With Sonic bragging about his thirty-six combo on the badniks, he notices the danger still continuing downward. Just as Silver Sonic is about to head towards the airship, Big stops the robot in its tracks and throws it skyward. Rotor then shoots at the robot, ending the fight. Rotor thinks that the battle was amazing, and thanks Sonic and Tails for their help. Sonic is shocked at Rotor's new appearance, but he shakes it off as he questions the ariship. Rotor then gives a tour to Sonic, Tails, and Big.

Inside the airship that contains T-Pup (in which Tails is glad for), now known as the Sky Patrol, Rotor and Tails built this to solve their answers of Eggman's battleships and fleets constantly firing at the Freedom Fighters. As Sonic and Tails realize that this never happened according to their memories, they decide to give Rotor the portable device NICOLE is inside. Rotor grabs the device and begins to remember the previous world. Shocked and traumatized, Rotor begins to question this world and has nearly a mental breakdown on this new, but old, world. Rotor rests for a moment, and Tails asks Rotor for the status quo on the remaining Freedom Fighters. Rotor pulls up a screen with the Freedom Fighters location, and states that Antoine D'Coolette is helping Charles "Uncle Chuck" Hedgehog at Knothole; Bunnie Rabbot and Sally Acorn are currently undercover somewhere; and Amy Rose's whereabouts are unknown, as she mysterious vanished. Sonic, glad that Sally is no longer roboticized, then heads out with Tails back to Knothole.

Trivia

 * The "Sky Patrol" may be a reference to the 1995 game Tails' Skypatrol.
 * The title of this issue, which is "Countdown to Chaos" shares the same title with the 26th episode of Sonic X.
 * This issue marks the first time the redesign of Rotor Walrus that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comics.