#KtE 18

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In this issue, Knuckles commits a war crime! Maybe multiple if we’re lucky

[fyeahsonicthehedgehog]

[mobius-prime]

109. Knuckles the Echidna #18

Deep Cover (Part Two of Two): Debt of Honor

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Manny Galan Colors: Barry Grossman

Whilst the false Tobor we've seen in Haven so far has mostly seemed quiet and serious, the real Tobor, now being looked after by Lara-Le and Julie-Su, is actually quite an amiable and emotional soul, enjoying thoroughly the hospitality he's being shown. Lara-Le, seeing an opportunity, asks him some questions about his former station.

I think that really does sum it up, honestly - that Guardians are raised to be so indoctrinated that they see certain things as just natural inevitabilities of life. Thus far, as we know, only Tobor and Athair have ever ended up on a different path - and in Tobor's case, not even by choice. But for now, we leave Tobor to enjoy his newfound family, and head back to Knuckles stepping into Kragok's cell in the prison. Remington wants to supervise to ensure Knuckles' safety, but Knuckles vehemently refuses, insisting he be locked in with their prisoner. Remington isn't happy about it, but he eventually agrees.

How kind of Remington and his crew to let Kragok lounge in here unrestrained with his tattered edgelord robes and claw hand! I'm sure with Remington gone, he won't try anything at all! Knuckles is pretty pissed off, now determined to get some answers after hearing Tobor's story, and while he prepares to begin his interrogation, we hop back to Haven, and to Locke and Sabre's attempts to restore full power to the facility.

Gee, I can think of three guesses as to who might have sabotaged this place, and the first two don't count. It conveniently happened right before Tobor got a chance to tell his story, too. I guess Moritori Rex realized pretty quick once Julie-Su found Tobor that his time was beginning to run out and did what he had to to protect his secret, but of course, the other Brotherhood members don't know that - yet. As they continue working, back in the prison cell Knuckles demands that Kragok tell him everything he knows about Tobor, and when Kragok plays dumb he decides to get rough, which as we all know is the number one, scientifically proven best way to get information out of an uncooperative prisoner!

Man, Remington didn't even think to hook Kragok up with a limiter or something so that he couldn't go around zapping anyone who came into his cell? Remington, you're dropping the ball, man. Knuckles and Kragok start to brawl, but the expending of energy from both parties creates some kind of��� I dunno, dimensional wormhole? It dumps them into a strange weightless void filled with stars and what look like squiggly stereotypical Halloween ghosts. Knuckles is surprised and fascinated as he examines his new surroundings, but Kragok starts freaking the hell out, screaming and shrieking that he swore to never come back here. While he has his little mental breakdown, we jump back to Tobor for a second. Lara-Le is still baffled by the idea that Tobor's own father somehow didn't realize that he was taking someone who was definitely not his son back to his home, but Tobor has an idea of what may have happened.

It seems that in becoming so badly injured from the fight, Moritori Rex ended up stumbling upon a delightfully serendipitous opportunity to infiltrate the Brotherhood and gain inside information by impersonating the very person he'd been trying to kill a moment ago. I mean, with their eyes covered up there, next to each other, can you tell which one is supposed to be Tobor? Yeah, me neither. Lara-Le is still unconvinced, however, saying that she can't believe that his own wife, at the very least, would be fooled by an imposter - and though Tobor has agonized over this as well, he doesn't have an answer for her.

Back in the void, Knuckles grabs Kragok and forces him to stop having a meltdown, still determined to get answers. Kragok still acts defiant, but Knuckles, thoroughly fed up by now, beats him up a bit and continues yelling at him to talk. Come on, man, if you want him to confess information you gotta butter him up! Become his friend, take him out to tea or something! This isn't how to conduct a professional interrogation! Back in Haven, Sojourner, Spectre and Sabre are discussing how convenient it is that one component could take down power to their entire facility, while Moritori Rex sits nearby silently listening. The three share relief that at the very least, the sanctity of Haven has never before been violated, and no uninvited guests have ever been allowed to gain entry ever. Boy, it sure is nice that the Dark Legion are mostly weakened right now, and can't infiltrate this place, right? Right, Grandfather Tobor?

Meanwhile, in the void, Kragok's finally had enough of being knocked around, and concedes to talk. He first gets Knuckles to recap everything he knows about the story of Edmund and Dimitri, mocking him when he only gives the story in brief, as apparently the Legion puts strong emphasis on knowing their history. He then adds onto the tale, with the events that took place immediately afterwards.

Oho! So it wasn't serendipity after all, but in fact a coordinated plan to take over Tobor's role from the start! There is, of course, the question of why the Dark Legion has struggled so much with losing all the time considering they have a very powerful man on the inside, but eh, maybe Moritori Rex is just a terrible planner for anything that doesn't involve intentionally letting your eyes be gouged out to take over your enemy's identity. After he finishes his quick tale, he then distracts Knuckles using the tried and true "look over there!" strategy, and kicks off through space towards another dimensional portal opening up at that moment. Knuckles races… or, uh, glides… through the void after him, hoping to pop back out in the real world alongside him to continue their little chat.

While this is going on, Lara-Le has taken to looking through family photo albums, something which I find kind of hilarious - I mean, are you really telling me this super-secretive group just keeps like, ordinary baby photos and wedding pictures in a dusty old book that they hand down through the ages or something? - but she can't find any trace of Tobor or his wife anywhere. Tobor is about to reply when he suddenly gets an incredibly strong feeling that Knuckles is in danger, and immediately leaps out the window, to Lara-Le's shock and Julie-Su's vague disapproval at this abrupt departure. Tobor glides through the streets randomly, thinking to himself that the power he's sensing from Knuckles is so strong as to make it seem like Knuckles is a living Chaos Emerald, a level of power which he says that "no Guardian" has ever achieved before. I mean, sure, no Guardian, but are you forgetting about one Mr. Dimitri "the power of eleven Chaos Emeralds howls within me" the Echidna? Knuckles is distantly related, after all. As he glides, he sees the other end of the dimensional portal open up in front of him, with Kragok popping out followed closely by Knuckles.

As Knuckles so aptly says on the next page: "Go git'im, Grandfather Tobor!" Really, after all he's been through, Tobor deserves the chance to wail on Kragok a little within Kragok's hated pocket zone. In the apartment, Lara-Le is in the middle of giving Julie-Su a modified version of The Talk that can basically be summed up as "Don't get a crush on my son, seriously, it will be bad for your mental health," and as Julie-Su insists that she just wants to remain friends with Knuckles, the subject in question pops in through the window, prompting both women to hug him happily. He lets them know Tobor is currently taking care of some unfinished business, and the moment after he says that line, Haven's power finally comes back online, letting the Brotherhood resume their daily snooping into Knuckles' personal life.

Hey, Julie-Su, you said you wouldn't do that again like, two whole issues ago! Moritori Rex clearly disagrees that a pairing between Knuckles and Julie-Su is a good idea, however, given that well, until recently she was technically one of his subordinates. While the rest of the Brotherhood are content, seeming to believe from the sight in front of them that in the absence of their spying everything's just been all hugs and smiles, Moritori Rex quietly seethes in the background, realizing that with Tobor missing, his plans may quickly start to fall apart and his infiltration discovered. Dun dun duuuunnn…

[thankskenpenders]

As guardian Knuckles is apparently allowed to extrajudicially murder whoever he pleases

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Lara-Le asks the glaring question on everyone’s mind! How did Hawking not realize that the guy he rescued wasn’t his son? And the answer Penders came up with is “both of their faces were fucked up by the rubble that crushed them”

You know, even though neither of them was drawn particularly different in the scene where Hawking found both of them. And even though they probably had distinct voices. etc. etc. etc.

[thankskenpenders]

Ah, just what every teenage boy wants. His dad and a hundred grandpas, intently spying on all his most intimate moments

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“I’ve got to hand it to you, Knuckles! Either you’ve got the most biggest pair of nuts I’ve ever seen, or”

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I like how the Grandpa Gang is all like “Oh no, a guardian and a Dark Legionnaire? How STRANGE!” when Julie-Su being a member of the Dark Legion has barely been relevant to the story aside from being a reason for random characters to be a dick to Julie-Su

I was talking about this a little with @obscoorereference the other day, but I think their story could’ve been a lot more compelling if Knuckles and Julie-Su were treated as, like, rivals with romantic tension. Julie-Su could’ve stuck around on the Dark Legion for longer. We could’ve come to understand the Dark Legion’s views on technology and self-modification better, and seen what Julie-Su’s life was like there. She could’ve been a little more nefarious to give her some more personality. Not the big bad, but a cocky rival for Knuckles

So let’s say she and Knuckles fight a number of times, and their banter kinda turns into romantic tension. Then it morphs into this forbidden romance between opposing factions. They could’ve even used the Brotherhood and the Dark Legion disapproving of their romance to convince Knuckles and Julie-Su that actually, both sides are horrible and don’t have anyone’s best interests in mind, leading Julie-Su to quit the Legion and Knuckles to go against the wishes of the Brotherhood

Instead we got Julie-Su quitting the Legion and running off to find Knuckles before we had even been introduced to her because “soul touch,” and then she just kinda hangs around as his sidekick until the story decides it’s time for them to kiss

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I thought maybe Tobor would be okay since his dad completely ruined his life but no, he’s gonna be a Locke apologist too

Also why are you asking the guy who abandoned his family when his son was a baby because a fascist stole his identity and he just gave up about what it’s like to be a dad

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So Tobor detects that Knuckles is in danger with his special robot eyes and...

Oh god, we’re starting to set up that, aren’t we

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okay i get this was the early 90s, but looking at this page where a male character says getting a wife and child is normal and expected nowadays seems very eugh

the heteronormativity jumped out

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I was gonna ask why Kragok was allowed to keep his evil robot arm weapon thing in jail but the real answer is “nobody reading this comic would recognize him without it”

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Tobor just, fucks off to the other zone to beat up Kragok in there I guess. Okay

Meanwhile, Julie-Su is having an uncomfortable conversation with Lara-Le

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so is Tobor's name being Robot backwards supposed to mean anything

Uhh... he got his identity stolen by a guy who likes technology? I dunno. The wiki says “Unlike most Guardians, Tobor is not named for anyone or anything famous. Instead, his name is robot spelled backwards.”

[thankskenpenders]

So Knuckles accidentally transports himself and Kragok to the zone where the Dark Legion was exiled to and Knuckles makes him give us some exposition