Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 168

Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 168 is the one hundred sixty-eighth issue of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series published by Archie Comics.

Official Solicitation

 * "Order From Chaos: The Gathering Part 1 of 2": A new and deadly evil lurks in the darkness, prepared to strike Sonic and destroy the entire planet. This latest menace proves to be one of Sonic's deadliest villains ever, and this time we might just mean it when we say the combined forces of Sonic and the Freedom Fighters may be no match for this fiend! Especially since Sonic may have to put a friend or two's life in danger just to stop him! PLUS: With Antoine and Bunnie finally back together and love in full bloom again what can Sonic have to say that could put this relationship in jeopardy? Find out in this intriguing back-up tale.

Gathering - Part One: Order From Chaos
At Freedom HQ, Sonic the Hedgehog is trying to find Tommy Turtle, with Miles "Tails" Prower and Rotor Walrus, telling him that hopefully Tommy was far away from the HQ, with Tails stating he has first dibs on Tommy because of his "help" with his project, while holding up a mangled device. Rotor said that Tommy washed the dirty petri dishes, which destroyed the nanite research he was working on. This worries Sonic, telling them that Tommy's been acting strangely when he got a dose of nanites in his shell, but then says that Tommy saved his life, stating he can't be all bad, which Tails bitterly replies "No, not ALL bad".

Meanwhile, at New Megaopolis, Doctor Eggman is telling his "son", A.D.A.M., that his mysterious foe, "Anonymous" is finally going down. A.D.A.M. then asks his father why he is deleting him, only for Eggman to tell him he finally figured it all out in the beginning, detailing each event of "Anonymous'" doing, and angrily replies that he watched A.D.A.M. steal Mogul's Chaos Emerald and releasing both him and Ixis Naugus, finally leading him to know A.D.A.M. was "Anonymous" the whole time. However, as Eggman was mourning the demise of his "children," he is shocked to hear A.D.A.M.'s voice emanating from a shadowy figure standing in a nearby corner, but before he could react, a metal tentacle grabbed him and the figure stepped out to reveal a nanite-covered Tommy Turtle under A.D.A.M.'s control.

Back at Freedom HQ, NICOLE states her systems were infected by the nanites as she tried to purge them. Just then, Bunnie Rabbot staggered into the room and immediately punched NICOLE's screen using her robotic arm, which was out of her control. She then threw Tails outside and scattered the others while yelling for someone to stop her. Knuckles the Echidna and Vector the Crocodile then appeared and tackled her down while Rotor disabled her infected robotic limbs. However, as Sonic went outside to see if Tails was okay, he is shocked to see an unconscious Tails being carried by his his father, who was also infected by the nanites. Sonic immediately raced after them while attempting to ask his father where he was taking them, only for his father to cryptically tell him he had been there before...

Meanwhile, at the Nanite City, Shadow the Hedgehog confronts Dr. Eggman about the mission he was sent on, only for him to be attacked immediately by A.D.A.M. After a brief conflict, Shadow is knocked out and placed in a capsule next to a mysterious spire. Jules and the unconscious Tails soon arrive after and A.D.A.M. places Tails in a second capsule. A.D.A.M. then reveals that by using the nanite city and the combined powers of Shadow's Chaos Control abilities and Tails' own mysterious abilities, he was going to acquire all the Chaos Emeralds in the universe. He also states that he knows that Sonic has just arrived in the city and that Eggman had summoned his Egg Fleet to their location, but he gloats that they will be too late to stop him, as the capsules and spire begin to glow...

Trivia

 * Story Two was dedicated to the memory of Jane Flynn (1922-2002), writer Ian Flynn's grandmother.
 * A.D.A.M. was able to control Tommy Turtle with the nanites which fused with Tommy's body during the events in Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 154.
 * In the start of the back story, one of the items on Antoine's floor is a Pokeball from the Pokemon series.
 * The base of the Summoning Spire has a flux capacitor, an important object from Back to the Future.