| Written by: | Ian Flynn |
| Year: | Three |
| Set Between: | Out of the Blue and Chao Races and Badnik Bases |
| Issue Count: | 4 |
In the aftermath of the Metal Virus pandemic, Dr. Starline finds himself in a pickle of sorts. He requires resources from one of Eggman bases to complete a project. However, his idol unceremoniously fired him, i.e. robbed him of his greatest asset, the Warp Topaz, and punted the platypus through a portal. After a botched solo attempt at "borrowing" them on his own, he realizes that alone he simply has no means to acquire them and he's certainly not into going into another trusting partnership. But, what if he had powerful pawns that he could use and then dispose of after? With that thought, a sinister scheme is born.
Entering the Everhold Prison, he bargains with some of the comic's resident evildoers, which include Mimic the shape-shifting Octopus, Skunk Brothers Rough and Tumble, and the leader of the Deadly Six, Zavok. Starline offers to erase Mimic from Eggman's database, new weapons for Rough and Tumble, and Zavok to be the leader of their motley crew. This partnership is on rather shaky ground, as Zavok immediately figures that the platypus is scheming something behind his back, but accepts his help in order to re-group with his Zeti brethren. With the team of bad guys established, the five break out of the Everhold Prison, leaving destruction in their wake.
Before Starline can enact his plan to take over Egg Base Sigma, he gets his team to break into another base to obtain the Power Cores, a series of objects that can grant them power, which will make it easier to infiltrate the Eggnet Hub. While Starline plans on giving them devices to harness them, in actuality they can be used by simply touching them, which Starline pins on them not knowing so he can build his ultimate device. While breaking in is easy, they also cover their tracks by having Starline pinning the blame on Sonic using Mimic's shapeshifting. During the break-in, Zavok plants the seed of Starline being overly dependent on Eggman, when in actuality, he doesn't need him. When Eggman assesses the damage to the base, he doesn't buy it for one second, believing a third-party is involved. Meanwhile, Starline's successful heist of his Power Cores has allowed him to build a device that allows him to go toe-to-toe with the supersonic hedgehog, the Tricore.
The night before the big takeover of the Eggnet Hub, Starline's treachery is discovered by both Zavok and Mimic, who decide to let the doctor get as far as he can with his plan before betraying them. Starline, believing he's still on top of the situation, gets access to the Eggnet Hub and its network. Before Starline can take control of Egg Base Sigma, Mimic and Zavok reveal how the platypus has been playing them for fools, and immediately gets him to give them what they need or else. Once Starline complies with their demands, Zavok notes the doctor is now of no use to them.
With Starline outnumbered, he immediately uses his new Tricore to escape their grasp, Zavok, Rough, and Tumble being in hot pursuit, leaving Mimic at the controls. With Eggman already on his way to level the Eggnet Hub, Mimic sells out his former teammates by alerting the doctor about what is going on. While Starline is on the backfoot, he eludes the trio after him, with Zavok noting that he's just making the same mistakes as Eggman, which causes him to rethink his goal. After making it back to the control room, he quickly uses it to gain control of Egg Base Sigma and makes a hasty retreat.
Meanwhile, Eggman has arrived, seeing Zavok being the only person left inside. After a brief back-and-forth between the Zeti and Eggman, the doctor bombards the Eggnet Hub, destroying it and whatever technology was in there in an effort to kill Zavok, the latter only surviving due to his Power Core. With Zavok on the mend, he leaves to recover and re-group with the other members of the Deadly Six. Rough and Tumble similarly get out of there before things truly got hairy.
With Starline managing to escape, he plans on striking out on his own, looking to take over the world and show that, instead of being equal to Eggman, he will be his superior in every way.
Tropes
- All Your Powers Combined: The Tricore gives Starline the powers of Super-Speed, Super-Strength and Flight. In other words, he has the full powerset of a Sonic Heroes-style team. All three powers up saving him when the rest of the group find out about his betrayal.
- Ambiguous Situation: It was never revealed where Mimic was during the Metal Virus Saga, or if he had escaped infection or was a Zombot by the time the storyline ended. He is still seen trapped in the same box Tails, Tangle, and Whisper placed him in after his defeat, but it doesn't make this trope any clearer.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Considering this is a series based around the villains, someone was gonna get what they wanted, with Starline and Mimic walking away with their original goals fulfilled. Starline manages to get the base he tried to break into at the start of the miniseries under his command and convert it into his personal HQ. Mimic get his records deleted from Eggman's base, freeing him from Eggman's notice, while preparing for revenge against Whisper. Downplayed with Rough and Tumble, where the two are freed from prison and more then happy to walk away with that, planning to become their own villains instead of lackeys. Zavok is the only one who ends up with the short end of the stick, where he manages to barely survive Eggman's onslaught and heads off to recover and regroup with the rest of The Deadly Six.
- Big "WHAT?!":
- Mimic does this when Starline reveals Eggman knows about the Eggnet Hub raid.
- Eggman himself also lets one out when Orbot informs him that Zavok is in the Eggnet Hub.
- Curb-Stomp Cushion: Despite Eggman's artillery cornering Zavok, he manages to reprogram his base defences to fight back, causing a frantic all-out for a short while until Eggman's forces finally manages to level the base on top of Zavok.Eggman: (panicking) STOP SHOOTING MY STUFF WITH MY STUFF! ONLY I GET TO DO THAT!
- Deck of Wild Cards: Starline himself acknowledges that the entire team is a potential powder keg waiting to go off due to his teammates not being very trustworthy. Mimic betrayed his entire team and got them killed, Rough and Tumble's obsession with revenge could potentially cause problems at the wrong time and Zavok's own obsession with power means he will not let go of it easily.
- Didn't Think This Through: As the group pursue Starline, Zavok leaves Mimic to guard the control center. Ironically, just as Zavok is mocking Starline for his lack of foresight, Mimic, being Mimic, decides to pull his own coup and exposes the group to Eggman before bolting. Zavok at least lampshades he probably should have seen this coming.
- Discard and Draw: After losing the Warp Topaz (which was taken by Dr. Eggman near the end of the Metal Virus saga), Starline makes use of gadgets he invented, the Hypno-Glove and Heel Spurs, to make up the deficit. These tools allow him to stun or hypnotize his enemies.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Of the unit, only Rough and Tumble show any genuine camaraderie with no intention of backstabbing their temporary allies. After dealing with Starline's betrayal and Zavok's lack of appreciation, they simply bail in disgust.
- Evil Versus Evil: The story is mostly about Starline and his recruits going up against Eggman, largely as revenge against the doctor for firing him. Though in truth, Starline wants to prove himself superior to his idol and secretly hopes this stunt will get him back into Eggman's good graces. Likewise, Zavok is no fool to Starline's promises and flattery and schemes to betray him when the opportunity presents itself. Mimic doesn't trust Starline either, though he holds off on drawing conclusions until he gets solid proof. This eventually comes to a head in Issue 4 where Zavok, the Skunk Brothers and Mimic try to take out Starline after his treachery is revealed. Likewise Zavok tries to take on Eggman by himself after the all the other villains have fled the facility. The base is brought down around him, but some quick thinking and using up the last bits of his Power core allow him to barely survive and he heads off to recover. The end of the series also cements Starline into striking out on his own, looking to overthrow the doctor and shape the world as he sees fit.
- "Eureka!" Moment: As Starline outlines his current predicament, he realizes that he needs some enforcers to pull off his plan of taking over Egg Base Sigma. He asks to himself if only there were people that he could ask for help who hated Sonic and Eggman and were easily disposable, with the realization hitting him that there are a couple of bad guys who do hate their guts. He even says "Eureka" upon realizing it.
- Foregone Conclusion: Given how Starline shows up in Issue #35 of the main series with the Tricore (which was released before Issue #4 of this miniseries), it's safe to assume he'll come out of this miniseries mostly unscathed.
- Starline's original plan was to get back to Eggman's good graces. While he was inspired to compete against him in the end, he is believes that the partners he rally for the plan would be a liability prompting him to dispose of them when the time comes. Zavok knows Starline has a hidden agenda that involves betraying him and the others in the end. He just happened to make the first move along with Mimic before Starline does, with both of them discovering his treachery before Starline can complete his plan. From there, it's a question of how long before Starline loses the loyalty of his men.
- Hypocrite: Zavok mocks Starline for grabbing the same Villain Balls as Eggman, taking amusement that the doctor's biggest critic acted exactly like him. Even more ironically Zavok himself falls victim to this trope straight afterwards, as his own mismanagement of the group gets him backstabbed in turn and is left the sole fall guy of the mission.
- I Lied: Starline offers something to each of his recruits: Weapons for the Skunk Brothers, wiped records from Eggman's computers for Mimic and leadership of the team and revenge against Eggman for Zavok. However in Issue 3, it's revealed Starline recorded a video log that states he had no intention of upholding his word to the group and plans to have them all of them terminated, seeing them all as liabilities. When Mimic and Zavok turn on him first, they force him to subvert this.
- Meaningless Villain Victory: Eggman attacks his own base to take down Zavok. The latter even disgustedly calls him out on how counter productive his methods are, though the doctor shrugs it off as a rebuildable sacrifice to squash him. Even worse, Zavok manages to escape with his life, making his lost infrastructure All for Nothing.Zavok: Such a waste! And I hate waste!
- Mid-Season Upgrade: One of Starline's main goals is to obtain new power to match wits with Eggman and power with Sonic and the Restoration after losing the Warp Topaz. Through the efforts of his new crew, he obtains the materials necessary to create the Tricore, giving him a Keystone Superpower that grants him a temporary boost in strength, speed, or flight.
- Mythology Gag:
- Everhold Prison, the jail Starline busts the other villains out of, is guitar-shaped, much like the Sonic X version of Prison Island.
- The T-rex robot seen in Issue 2 is based on Redzs from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, according to artist Aaron Hammerstrom
. - The Power Cores used by Starline's team and made to create his Tricore, work with the same mechanics from Sonic Heroes. Blue increases speed, red increases power/strength, and yellow increases jumping abilities or granting flight.
- No Honor Among Thieves: The core theme of this miniseries in a nutshell, with the last issue even called that. Starline considers his "teammates" expendable thugs, with Zavok and Mimic returning the sentiment. Only Rough and Tumble show any level of camaraderie, and just leave the group when they realize they're all no good.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Starline gets this three times: first when his initial attempt to hijack hijack Egg Base Sigma goes awry, then when Zavok and Mimic reveal that the jig's up, and finally upon realizing that Mimic ratted the rest of the group out to Eggman.
- Eggman himself has this reaction when Orbot tells him Zavok is in the Eggnet Hub.
- Zavok gets this when he is greeted by Eggman via monitor at the Hub's control center.
- Pragmatic Villainy: As ruthless as Zavok is, he chastises both Starline and Eggman for their pointlessly spiteful approaches and how counter productive they ultimately were (Starline for planning to off all his comrades as soon as they were no longer needed, and Eggman for leveling his own base just to attack him).
- Prison Riot: Starline starts one so he and the other villains can leave Everhold Prison unhindered.
- Put on a Bus: Mimic, after deleting himself from Eggman's database, immediately high-tails it out of there, laying low, disappearing from the story in the process. While Mimic gets mentioned in passing, it wouldn't be until much later that he makes another physical appearance in the book.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Issue #4 has four of the villains doing this in quick succession.
- Mimic, having already gotten what he wanted and thinking the other villains will blab to Eggman about his survival, cuts the dummy broadcast Starline had sent out to keep Eggman distracted, hoping Eggman will destroy the others for him, and departs in the semi-truck.
- Rough and Tumble, having been deemed useless by Zavok for failing to stop Starline, decides the team's not worth the trouble anymore after seeing Zavok abandoning them so readily and likewise head off. When they see Eggman arrive to attack the base, Tumble notes that was good timing on their part.
- Finally Starline, after hearing Zavok's "The Reason You Suck" Speech and finding out what Mimic has done, quickly reprograms the Eggman base he wants under his command and bolts before Eggman shows up. This leaves only Zavok there to take the brunt of Eggman's attack.
- Sequel Hook: All the villains of the book have broken ties and split up to pursue their own devices. Eggman knows that Zavok, the only one of the bunch he fought, wasn't smart enough to have orchestrated the attack on his base and knows that someone else was pulling their strings. We see said person, Starline, turning the Eggman base he commandeered into his personal HQ, promising to surpass Eggman as the true conqueror of he world. There's also the matter of what's in the tubes that he went through all the trouble of getting the necessary equipment for, which wouldn't be revealed until the Imposter Syndrome miniseries.
- Slasher Smile: The final panel of the third issue ends with a very anxious Starline realizing the rest of the group are aware of his plan to betray them, and all sporting rather concerning grins now that they no longer need him.
- Smarter Than You Look:
- Eggman and Zavok both, contrary to Starline's opinions of them. Zavok sees through Starline like polished glass, while Eggman, for the Spotting the Thread reasons described below, isn't fooled by the evil quintet's attempts to frame Sonic for their actions.
- Rough and Tumble not only manage to be useful throughout the mission despite their usual buffoonery, but catch wise to simply bail when they realize their allies don't share the same camaraderie, escaping just in time to avoid the carnage between Eggman and Zavok.
- The Spook: Following his defeat against Whisper, Mimic fears that Eggman would hunt him down if he ever shows his face again (Tangle warned him about this). Mimic joins Starline in hopes of accessing the Eggnet and wiping all records to be practically invisible.
- Spotting the Thread:
- Starline's group tries to frame Sonic for their raids on Eggman's facilities, and Orbot suggests Tails might be in on it, too. However, Eggman correctly deduces that something else is at work, knowing Sonic wouldn't try covering his tracks and that the work is too "sloppy" to be Tails'.
- Likewise at the end of the miniseries, Zavok is scapegoated to Eggman into believing that he was the one attacking his bases. But Eggman notes that the way Zavok operated wasn't his usual M.O. and knows someone else was behind his actions.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Mimic is exasperated at how easily Rough and Tumble are duped into joining Starline, along with their constant rhyming.
- The Unreveal: We never see what's in the tubes that Starline is making. This miniseries is just to set up that plot point for later.
- Villain Episode: The miniseries revolves entirely around several of the IDW comic villains teaming up to fight Eggman; none of the main heroes like Sonic or Tails even make a physical appearance.
- Villain Respect: When Orbot suggests that Tails was trying to cover up evidence of "Sonic's" attack, Eggman responds that the handiwork they've seen is too sloppy to be Tails'.
- Villain Has a Point:
- In the final issue, as Zavok tries to hunt Starline down, he tells him that his methods weren't any better than Eggman's and he fell into the same mistakes as his idol which turned the villains against him. Starline silently concedes that Zavok is indeed right despite doing his best not to pattern himself after Eggman and vows to be better than him.
- Mimic is quick to consider offing Starline after knowing his true intentions, though notes to himself that the doctor had the right idea of getting rid of potential threats, and shortly backstabs the whole team himself by alerting Eggman.
- "You!" Exclamation: Two, both directed at Starline.
- The warden of Everhold Prison says this when Starline's lie about being there for a job interview is exposed by Zavok.
- After Starline ambushes and poisons Rough during the climax, Tumble yells this when Starline finds him kneeling over Rough.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: As mentioned above, Starline considers the other villains expendable and plans on discarding them after achieving his goal. However, this gets turned on him as Zavok and Mimic are wise to his con and expose him to Rough and Tumble. Zavok even says this word-for-word at the end of the third issue.
