Recap / Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Urban Warfare Arc

New Diamond Cutters, new problems.^note Issue #61 Cover A by Mauro Fonseca.

Written by:	Ian Flynn & Evan Stanley
Year:	Six
Saga:	None
Arc Duration:	#57 - #61

With Surge and Kitsunami gone for now, the Restoration's Director Jewel decides to create a new team, a Rapid Response group that will take on Eggman's schemes instead of just cleaning up the aftermath. Tangle, Whisper, and Lanolin are the first volunteers and Jewel requests Sonic's help to give his expertise to the new group's first mission: going back to Eggperial City, and investigating why it seems to be growing at an alarming rate. It's never that simple, of course, forcing Sonic to call for backup, and as more and more heroes enter the fray, Eggperial City soon becomes an all-out war zone.

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Tropes:

• Action Girl: The Neo Diamond Cutters has three of these: Lanolin The Leader, Whisper the Sniper and Tangle the Charismatic One.
• Adrenaline Makeover: Lanolin herself in her debut, wore a simple sundress and was portrayed as the Damsel in Distress background character, which she then exchanged to a more militaristic gear complete with her own cowbell being a Wispon.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Eggman, during his Villainous Breakdown, makes a Plea of Personal Necessity in a last-ditch attempt to prevent his city's destruction. None of the heroes buy it, with Sonic even stating that pleading doesn't suit the doctor.
• And I Must Scream: Eggman's improved portal traps dissolve Whisper and Lanolin and traps their atoms inside dodecahedral die-like containers. Sonic also gets trapped in one later on, but only briefly because being disconnected from the main network diminished the traps' effectiveness; the same disconnection releases Whisper and Lanolin off-screen.
• Ambiguous Situation: After escaping the doctor's portal trap, Sonic, in Tranquil Fury mode, warns Eggman he went too far this time and he knows what he's gonna do now, while clenching his fist. A shoulder high panel shows Eggman screaming, with the panel after showing him collapsing as Sonic escapes, implying Sonic sucker punched him in the gut from going fast in a spin with assistance from Blaze, Amy and Tangle, though it is not made quite clear whether it is such or merely a Villainous Breakdown on the doctor's part.
• And the Adventure Continues: Eggman's latest scheme is finally thwarted and peace is restored, but to Amy's dismay, she has to return an Echidna artifact that Rouge stole from Eggman's vault. Meanwhile, Sonic once more speeds off in search of new adventures (also to Amy's dismay).
• Anger Born of Worry: Tangle's What the Hell, Hero? moment when Whisper suggests scouting Eggperial City by herself.
• Applied Phlebotinum: At Tails' suggestion, Shadow taps into the Chaos Energy that the city's fake emeralds are emitting. While he calls them pale imitations, they allow him to use Chaos Control and lay a beatdown on the Shadow Androids. However, he first notes the energy is distorted, and when he attempts to use Chaos Control a second time, it ends up being too much for his body to handle that it causes a huge eruption of energy that traps him underneath the city. Whisper calls it a "Chaos Overload", which is enough to force Eggman to activate a limiter and reboot his city's system. When Silver finds Shadow trapped under the crystals, Shadow describes the energy overloading inside his body akin to noise accumulating in his head.
• Arc Villain: With all other villains currently neutralized (Dr. Starline fatally so), Eggman finally gets another chance to be the sole Big Bad of a whole arc—his first time in the role since Test Run.
• Art Evolution:
  • Adam "ADB" Bryce Thomas certainly has come a long way since his debut in Fallout; compare this angle with this one.
  • Thomas Rothlisberger has also improved after sharpening his skills working on Imposter Syndrome.
• Artistic License – Gun Safety: Eggman pressing his laser handgun against Tangle's head in Issue #61. Granted, Eggman doesn't exactly care too much if he were to accidentally blast the lemur's brains out.
• Ascended Extra: Starting off as just a cute sheep girl in the background that fans instantly took a liking to, Lanolin slowly grew to become more and more prominent, until finally she co-leads in this story.
• Badass Boast: Lanolin and Whisper give one during their Big Damn Heroes moment (see below):
  Lanolin: I believe you met our namesake, the Diamond Cutters. We serve as a small, specialized strike team that assesses danger and offers aid in extreme conditions. But mostly, we intend...
  Whisper: To be a problem.
• Batman Grabs a Gun: Downplayed; Sonic is usually able to take on hundreds of Badniks by himself, but ends Issue #57 by asking for backup, which can be treated similarly showing just how messed up the situation has gotten.
• Behind the Black: Metal Sonic somehow beats the heroes to the elevator after falling debris crushed him earlier (courtesy of Amy). They don't even realize he's there until he suddenly halts the lift.
• Big Damn Heroes: Having been freed from the portal traps, Sonic, Whisper and Lanolin arrive just in time to save Tangle, Amy and Tails from Eggman and Metal Sonic.
• Big "NO!": Tangle's reaction (complete with a Futile Hand Reach) as Eggman vaporizes Whisper with his new portal traps.
  • Little "No": Her reaction as Eggman does the same to Sonic.
• Big "WHAT?!": Amy lets out one at the end of the arc when Tails tells her Sonic ran off (without trying out any of the cake she and Jewel made for the victory picnic).
• Blasting It Out of Their Hands: When Amy tackles Eggman and pins him down, he retaliates by shooting her hammer out of her hands with his Ray Gun
• The Bus Came Back:
  • Jewel, Tangle, and Amy reappear in the main comic for the first time since the end of Trial by Fire in Issue #47 (although their 2022 Annual appearances occurred between Overpowered and this arc).
  • Silver also returns after being absent from the main comic since Issue #31, when he returned his time after the Metal Virus' destruction. Following his appearance in the 2022 Annual, he's eager to have even more reason to be back in the past, which he gets when he's sent in to help Sonic and the Neo Diamond Cutters.
  • Blaze's last appearance in the main comic was in Issue #32, where she helped Sonic return to his dimension. Following her appearance in the 2022 Annual, she arrived in Sonic's world for a vacation, but now has to help Sonic and his friends with another plot hatched by Eggman.
  • Team Dark finally returns to the main comic after being absent since the end of Chao Races and Badnik Bases in Issue #36. Outside the main comic, Rouge and Omega last appeared in the 2022 Annual stories "Rough Patch" (set between Issues #48-49) and "Weapons" (set immediately after Issue #36), respectively.
  • The Shadow Androids reappear in this arc for the first time since Shadow the Hedgehog, marking their proper debut in the comic (Whisper's flashback in the Tangle & Whisper miniseries notwithstanding). Eggman even notes he'd been holding onto these copies of Shadow for a while.
• Busman's Holiday: Blaze was visiting Sonic's world for a brief vacation from her royal duties, but finds herself once again helping Sonic and his friends foil another plot hatched by Eggman. Sonic even apologizes for making her work while she's supposed to be relaxing.
• Butt-Monkey: Metal Sonic gets The Worf Effect big time in the last two issues, culminating with him being unceremoniously gunned down by Omega. In fact, he is initially sidelined in favor of the Shadow Androids, of whom he is visibly jealous. He also gets reprimanded by Eggman on-page for the first time in the IDW continuity.
• Clipped-Wing Angel: The tower in Eggperial City's center is in fact a disguised Humongous Mecha—whose huge profile, sluggish mobility, and relatively light armament (a number of lasers on the underside; nothing more) make it an easy target. Eggman's real ace cards were his portal traps, Ray Gun, and Shadow Androids; once deprived of those, he loses the advantage.
• Closest Thing We Got: Shadow says that the Fake Emerald crystals are inferior to the originals, even voicing his disdain about relying on their power. They are however enough for him to be able to use Chaos Control.
  Shadow: Fake emeralds...I hate to stoop to using such a pale substitute, but...it will do.
• Console Cameo: Lanolin's data scanner is designed after a Sega Dreamcast VMU.
• Continuity Cameo: Belle makes two: in one of Whisper's flashbacks, and during the heroes' victory picnic at the end of the arc. The latter has Belle explain how she fixed Whisper's Wispon after Surge broke it in Overpowered.
• Continuity Nod: Several, mostly to the Eggman's Legacy Saga, the Tangle & Whisper miniseries, and the 2022 Annual.
  • Sonic notes that the Badniks are spread "thinner" than the last time he was in Eggperial City through Issues #50-52, with Lanolin bringing up later that he barely escaped from the city the last time.
  • Lanolin recaps her prior appearances in the comic to Sonic, who initially doesn't recognize her since their past interactions have been minor and only brief (plus, he was busy in each case). Various panels also show her different outfits before her current Restoration attire.
  • While conducting aerial reconnaissance, Sonic spots the plaza where he, Tails, Belle, and Kitsunami crashed in Issue #51 after Metal Sonic wrecked their escape shuttle.
  • Whisper's near-fatal run-in with Surge is now public knowledge, and because of it, Tangle refuses to let her run ahead on her own once again.
  • Eggman has somehow salvaged the portal technology seen in Test Run, only now said portals are mobile, which Tangle points out.
  • Before his pep-talk with Espio in the 2022 Annual, Silver was unsure of why he returned to the past without needing to. He's relieved to be part of the fight because it gives him some direction. Similarly, Blaze has already arrived in Sonic's dimension, as the same annual showed that she is taking a vacation from her royal duties and wanted to visit her friends.
  • The old Diamond Cutters' legacy is a subplot point early in the arc. Whisper is understandably dismayed when Tangle reuses the name for the Restoration's rapid-response task force, and when reminded that it's a touchy subject for the sniper (Whisper already told her about her Dark and Troubled Past in their miniseries), Tangle is so guilt-ridden that she breaks down. Ultimately, Whisper accepts the name being reused in honor of her fallen comrades (and figuratively stick it to Mimic).
    • When Whisper recalls Mimic's treachery, her Blue Wisp pops out looking distraught, reminding us that it used to be partnered with the shifty octopus.
  • Whisper's flashbacks recap key moments involving her since she left the Restoration during the Eggman's Legacy Saga. The last of these shows her previously-unseen Big Damn Reunion with her Wisps after Surge captured them.
  • Silver, Blaze, Rouge, and Omega find Shadow in the Humongous Mecha garage Eggman escaped to during Starline's takeover. The Egg Emperor and Egg Robo, which the doctors wrecked during their fight, are nowhere to be seen, indicating Eggman never rebuilt them.
• Cooldown Hug: As one might expect, Whisper does not take seeing the Shadow Androids, attacking her new friends no less, very well. Whisper ends up coming very close to a massive panic attack, visualized in her world going pitch-black around her, but Tangle is able to keep her calm and talk her down while giving her a tight hug.
• Crystal Prison: What Shadow finds himself encased in after using Chaos Control with the fake emeralds, with Blaze, Omega, Silver, and Rouge trying to free him from it in Issue #60. Silver is able to successfully break him out of it in Issue #61.
• Cutting the Knot: When Metal Sonic follows Tangle back to the others, Sonic and Silver are eager to fight him. Amy, however, isn't and collapses part of a building onto the robot. Tangle herself gets fed up with his sneak-attacks during the elevator scene and blindfolds him with her tail, then rides on his back all the way to Eggman's throne room.
• Death Glare: Whisper's response to Tangle for nominating her old team name without running it by her first.
• Distant Finale: The Eggman's Legacy Saga's main plot concluded in Overpowered, but several major plot threads were Left Hanging; mainly the threat of Eggperial City, Whisper's status after Surge and Kit's rampage, and Tangle and Jewel's plans for the Restoration. Tying up those loose ends is the main purpose of this arc.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: The Restoration and their allies destroy Eggperial City, crippling the Eggman Empire and restoring peace. In the process, Tangle and Whisper reconcile and get back together as part of the Neo Diamond Cutters.
• Elevator Action Sequence: As Tangle and Team Sonic ascend Eggman's tower, Metal Sonic ambushes them in the elevator shaft, cuts the lift loose, and pounces on Sonic. Tangle keeps Metal at bay by blindfolding him with her tail, allowing the heroes to proceed as he clumsily continues chasing them.
• Explosive Overclocking: With the limiters removed on the fake emeralds, they grow to sizes that ravage Eggman's city, with Shadow's consistent usage overloading them too. Eggman flies into a panic and tries to plead his case about letting Sonic spare him, which he doesn't take. Shadow however notes that the doctor wasn't lying, the city exploding after Shadow uses Chaos Control to teleport it into the sky.
• Extremely Short Timespan: Barring the flashback in #57 and the picnic scene at the end of #61, the entirety of this arc plays out over the course of a few hours, making it one of the comic's shortest arcs In-Universe.
• Face Framed in Shadow: Once Eggman has found that the Neo Diamond Cutters have infiltrated his tower, three panels have him drawn this way while he explains his newest invention, which can scramble his target's atoms into a prison. It's used to show how malicious the doctor can be, while gloating about how much of an advantage he holds over them. This effect is used again at the arc's climax as he locks Sonic himself in a portal trap, cockily sneering that the Blue Blur is out of his league.
• Failed a Spot Check: With his improved portal traps, Eggman has the upper-hand over Tangle and Team Sonic, even managing to bag Sonic himself. Unknown to all, however, Tails disabling the power limiter and Eggman activating his tower's battle mode disconnected the traps from the main network, rendering them useless; Lanolin, Whisper, and Sonic, whose bodies were only temporarily displaced anyhow, are thus freed. Neither Eggman nor the heroes realize this until Lanolin steps out from behind Eggman's throne and Whisper sneak-attacks him.
• Fastball Special: A team effort: Blaze tosses Sonic, then Amy (carried by Tails) uses her mallet to propel him further, then Whisper and Tangle rocket in on Whisper's wispon and Tangle uses her tail to chuck Sonic the last stretch towards Eggman.
• First Day from Hell: This whole arc is one for Lanolin. While she joined the Restoration before the Metal Virus outbreak, infiltrating Eggperial City is her first true mission, and she is therefore bummed out by her team's early stumbles. Luckily, Tangle and Whisper help maintain Lanolin's self-esteem.
• Forgotten First Meeting: Of the non-romantic type. As detailed in Continuity Nod, Lanolin has met Sonic many times before the events of the story arc, but Sonic doesn't remember their previous encounters. Lanolin replies that the blue blur was quite busy at each instance, with this being their first time working together.
  Lanolin: I've been looking forward to working with you for a long time, Sonic.
  Sonic: Zero offense, but I don't think we've met?
  Lanolin: It was brief, and you were busy...
  [...]
  Sonic: Awesome! Then it's a pleasure to meet you again—for the first time.
  Lanolin: Haha! The pleasure's all mine!
• Genius Loci: Sonic and Lanolin both come to this conclusion that Eggperial City seems to be "alive", when the former spots familiar locations repairing or "healing" by themselves and the latter suspecting the place expanding, with no construction robots or machines sighted. They eventually find that the city's regeneration isn't due to anything organic, but rather the giant fake Chaos Emerald crystals acting as the city's power source that rebuild the place, where it auto strip-mines the planet below in order to do so.
• Good Is Not Soft:
  • Whisper has wanted Eggman dead ever since he killed her old team and temporarily Zombot-ified Tangle and has shown she'll kill him if given the chance unless her friends hold her back. Her first crack at him fails due to her then-intangibility, but she finally gives the doctor a well-deserved smackdown after his portal traps' effects are negated. She and Tangle also lay the death blow to Eggperial City using Sonic as a projectile.
  • Sonic has gone easy on Eggman and Metal Sonic several times before the events of this arc and initially confronts them with his usual chipper attitude. Come Issue #61, however, he's dropped all pretenses and coldly leaves the doctor and his hench-bots for dead as their city falls. He goes so far as shoving Metal into Omega's line of fire and even tells Eggman in their last face-to-face exchange that the doctor taken things too far this time.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: When tackling Eggperial City proves to be harder than he thought, Sonic requests backup and Jewel dispatches Tails, Amy, Blaze, and Silver to the scene. Team Dark also arrives, albeit for their own reasons.
• Group Hug:
  • The flashback to Whisper's Big Damn Reunion with her Wisps after Overpowered shows her hugging all of them at once while recovering from her fight with Surge in the hospital.
  • After the Neo Diamond Cutters settle their differences, Tangle recovers from her Heroic BSoD and pulls the other girls into a hug. Lampshaded by Lanolin, who says there will be a limit on the number of future group hugs they do; Whisper seconds that motion. Tangle thus opts to make their current one count.
• Heroic BSoD: Each of the Neo Diamond Cutters has at least one.
  • Lanolin is royally bummed out after she and her team fall into the moving portal, especially since this is only her very first field mission. Tangle snaps her out of it, assuring her that everyone makes mistakes.
  • Whisper gets one upon seeing the Shadow Androids' deployment over the security feeds, prompting Tangle to give her the aforementioned Cooldown Hug.
  • Tangle herself gets this twice, devolving into Inelegant Blubbering out of guilt over (accidentally) hurting Whisper's feelings and giving off a speechless Thousand-Yard Stare after Eggman vaporizes Whisper with his portal traps. The latter stuns her so hard that Lanolin has to pull a Heroic Sacrifice to spare her the same fate. Once she escapes from a pursuing Metal Sonic, she briefly has another, wondering what to do after losing both Lanolin and Whisper, before quickly shaking it off and try to find Sonic and the others.
• The Hero's Idol: Zig-Zagged. Lanolin tells Sonic that he was the inspiration for her to join The Restoration after he saved her town during the events all the way back in Fallout, rising up in the ranks, to the point she was working alongside director Jewel. With this being her first official field operation as seen in Ascended Extra above; her adoration doesn't last too long though as she is upset by both Sonic and Tangle's recklessness, along with Sonic's lack of reasoning (see Teeth-Clenched Teamwork down below) which leads to her approaching and talking to him in a more serious manner than simply going alongside like most would.
  Sonic: (while sharing an excited grin with Tangle) Belle said there's a whole network of tunnels under the city. Let's check those out!
  Lanolin: (while crossing her arms) Sounds good. Diamond Cutters, move out. (immediately turns serious and quickly adds in) Cautiously.
  (both Sonic and Tangle groan in disappointment)
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Dr. Eggman is ultimately taken down by the fake Chaos Emeralds that he had been using to power Eggperial City. Shadow's final declaration to the doctor even describes it as such.
  Shadow: This city is a true monument to your hubris, Doctor. I'll show you the monster you've made! Chaos Control!
  (Several Fake Emerald pillars start sprouting throughout the city and towards the tower mecha)
  Eggman: What? You've teleported my Emeralds?!
  Shadow: I'm not done. These perverse Emeralds connect your entire city. And with them under my control... you've built your own cage!
• Hope Is Scary: Despite all of Tangle's efforts to help her cope, Whisper is still the same Shell-Shocked Veteran she's been since the loss of her old team and is afraid to lose the ones she's cared about after only recently learning to trust others again (aside from her Wisps); by her own admission, it'll take a long time for her to truly move on.
• Hope Spot:
  • Running from a moving portal while dodging a battalion of Badniks, it looks like Sonic and the Neo Diamond Cutters are going to make it, but at the last second Sonic and Tangle get their grip broken thanks to a Zoomer, sending the Diamond Cutters falling into the portal.
  • Once Team Sonic and Tangle break into Eggman's throne room, they quickly overwhelm him and it seems to be all over. However, Eggman isn't about to go down that easily and proves it by disarming Amy with his Ray Gun, turning his tower into a giant mech, and finally atomizing Sonic alive with his portal traps. Furthermore, Tails disabling the limiter backfires and lets the fake Chaos Emeralds keep growing uncontrollably, further harming the environment along with the city.
• How We Got Here: Issue #57 starts with Lanolin and Whisper observing Eggperial City, which is immediately interrupted by Sonic and Tangle charging in, fighting Badniks. Lanolin chews out both Sonic and Tangle for their recklessness in what is supposed to be a stealth and reconnaissance mission, with a couple of pages revealing how the current team was formed and why Sonic came back.
• Innocently Insensitive: Tangle enthusiastically puts forth Diamond Cutters as the team name. Since this is the same name as Whisper's old team, which she lost thanks to Mimic's betrayal, she's understandably unhappy about it.
  Tangle: (pumps her fist up in a excited pose) I vote Diamond Cutters!
  Lanolin: Nice! That sounds cool!
  Whisper: (glares at her silently)
• Internal Reveal: Lanolin learns about how Whisper's team disbanded permanently, as she thought the Diamond Cutters went their separate ways after the war, along with the wolf's backstory and motivations (as opposed to Tangle, who first learned about it in the Tangle & Whisper miniseries).
• It's Quiet… Too Quiet: Lanolin is concerned about the initial lack of Badnik patrols around Eggperial City, musing that this implies Eggman is baiting the heroes. Subsequent events prove her right.
• It's Raining Men: Several Shadow Androids are dropped into the battlefield from the sky by Eggman to overwhelm both Sonic's entourage and Team Dark.
• Jaw Drop: Downplayed. Lanolin drop hers realistically after Sonic scouts using the Hover Wisp and learns the City not only somehow healing and growing itself but has no idea why.
  Sonic: You were right. The city is getting bigger. Not only is it growing, it can heal itself.
  Lanolin: (while leaning in) How is that even possible?
  Sonic: (grins sheepishly while Lanolin drops her jaw in visible shock) No idea!
• Jerkass Has a Point: Initially, Sonic sees Lanolin's orders of holding their ground and not straying far from the pack as being overly restrictive and ineffective, with him seeing her as a little too controlling. It's not until Sonic gets cornered by Badniks and gets help from Amy, Tails, Blaze, and Silver that he realizes for as much as he loves flying solo, Lanolin was right that having assistance is just as effective and rewarding.
• Jerkass Realization: Well, not so much a jerk as just very insensitive, but in Issue #58, Tangle realizes how much she must have hurt Whisper with calling the new team the same name as the old team she lost, without running it by her first. She ends up breaking down in tears in a My God, What Have I Done? moment, while apologizing profusely. Though, Whisper realizing that Tangle meant no harm ends up having her own epiphany that she, too, had been hurtful to those who care about her by trying to keep them at arm's length.
• Jump Scare: Played for Laughs. Upon finding Sonic's group, Tangle—still separated from realspace—suddenly emerges from the sidewalk between Amy and Silver, startling them. Amy instinctively hammers at her, only to miss (again due to Tangle's intangibility) and accidentally smash Tails' Miles Electric instead.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Twofold for Eggman:
  • Against his friends' better judgment, Sonic kept letting Eggman go even after the Metal Virus plague and the fallout from Starline's Operation: Remaster, though his patience with the doctor has worn thin since the latter debacle. Come the climax of this arc, Eggman finally pushes his luck too far and Sonic shows him no further mercy even when he begs for it.
  • On another note, Eggman's losses here are the repercussion of his treatment of Starline, who ended up making Eggperial City's existence known when he tried to lure the heroes into a trap; this also contributed to Sonic's loss of patience here after learning how damaging the doctors' feud really was. Eggman ultimately goes down knowing Starline got the last laugh on him from beyond the grave.
• Lighter and Softer: Downplayed. Coming off the Psychological Horror-Thriller that was latter half of the Eggman's Legacy Saga, this arc returns the series to a lighthearted tone once more; however, a number of dark moments still pop up during the latter half.
• Leap of Faith: With both Whisper and Lanolin captured by Eggman's new portal trap, Tangle is backed towards a wall with her about to suffer the same fate. Tangle realizes she's still intangible, which forces her to jump through the wall as her last-ditch escape, with Issue #59 ending on a cliffhanger before the audience is shown what she jumped to (the following issue shows that she just jumped out the wall and was trying to find something to grab with her tail, which she couldn't find before falling through the floor).
• Made of Explodium: Sonic suggests destroying the Chaos Emerald-like crystals before taking down the city, but Tails immediately stops them, believing that the giant crystals are unstable enough explode and destroy a city block with them in it. What's worse is that until they can shut whatever is automatically expanding the city, it will only gather more resources below. After Sonic and his friends have destroyed Eggman's control tower, Shadow reveals that the doctor wasn't lying about how the overloaded emerald crystals were extremely volatile. The crystal-coated city explodes after Shadow teleports the entire thing into the sky with Chaos Control.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!":
  • When Eggman unleashes the Shadow Androids, all eleven heroes have this reaction, with Whisper taking it the worst.
  • The Neo Diamond Cutters share this reaction when Eggman has discovered the three of them inside his tower after rebooting his city's systems.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • Tangle's breakdown over accidentally pressing Whisper's Trauma Button happens almost immediately after her pep-talk with Lanolin. Her happiness is likewise immediately restored when Whisper forgives and reconciles with the rest of the team.
  • Tangle's brief breakdown over being unable to save both Whisper and Lanolin from being trapped by Eggman is followed up by her putting the pep back in her step, followed by her comedically jump scaring Amy that she tries smashing her with her hammer, but instead ends up destroying Tails' Miles Electric.
• My God, What Have I Done?: While trapped in another dimension, Whisper reminds Tangle that the Diamond Cutters name belonged to her team lost and betrayed by Mimic, causing the lemur to feel horrible for suggesting their team name without running it by her friend first. Luckily, Whisper understands she meant well and forgives her, deciding to keep the team name in honor of her fallen friends.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Lanolin's role as field team leader while holding a handheld computer device brings Sally Acorn to mind for some readers.
  • Tails discovers that the giant crystals popping up all over the city are huge, fake Chaos Emeralds with the "same wavelength and properties" as the originals, but considerably less power. Tails created a fake Chaos Emerald in hopes of foiling Eggman's scheme in Sonic Adventure 2, and the way Tails describes the crystals is essentially a paraphrase of his description of his fake Emerald.
  • When Sonic mentions trying to destroy the giant fake Chaos Emerald crystals, Tails says that it's a bad idea, with Blaze adding that "shattering" something as powerful as the Chaos Emeralds is asking for trouble. The use of the word "shatter" may bring to mind Sonic accidentally destroying the Paradox Prism from Sonic Prime, and how each parallel universe created was called a "Shatterspace."
  • Issue #59's B-Cover shows the Shadow Androids are designed after their appearance in the multiplayer mode of Shadow the Hedgehog. While some have orange highlights, others also have teal/greyish highlights, similar to Mephiles the Dark imitating Shadow's form during the events of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), in addition to the other colors, such as red and blue.
• Never Be Hurt Again: When Lanolin is feeling depressed about her first mission seeming to be a complete failure, she reveals the reason she wanted to start the team in the first place was because of how scared and helpless she had felt in the past when Badniks attacked.
• Never Bring A Knife To A Gunfight: Even though Amy is quite powerful by herself and her hammer is capable of taking down Badnik hordes, in a one-on-one confrontation with Eggman, the doctor manages to shoot it out of her grasp using his Ray Gun without even really aiming.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • Tails suggesting to Shadow to use the fake Chaos Emerald Crystals does cause Eggman's city to go down and force a restart, but it causes the Neo Diamond Cutters, who were infiltrating the central control tower, to be spotted with their invisibility wearing off after the reboot. Even worse, their intangibility remained, meaning that they couldn't hurt Eggman either. Downplayed, as neither party knew what each other's plans were, nor did Sonic's team know that the Neo Diamond Cutters were on a different plane that rendered them invisible and intangible.
  • Tails blows it again when he disables the limiter, which renders the fake Emeralds' growth uncontrollable and almost fully entombs Shadow (whose use of the fake Emeralds wound him up in a Crystal Prison) before Silver can get him out. Amy is also at fault here, since she smashed the Miles Electric upon Tangle's Jump Scare; without his tablet, Tails had no way of knowing in advance that turning off the limiter would backfire. Zig-zagged in the next issue, though, as turning off the limiter ultimately allows Lanolin, Whisper and Sonic to escape from their traps, and the overgrown fake emeralds allow Shadow to trap Eggman's control tower, which ultimately leads to the city's destruction.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: A retroactive case. The Restoration had no idea Eggperial City existed until Starline lured Sonic, Tails, and Belle there, hoping to have Surge and Kitsunami kill the former two. Not only did the heroes live to tell the tale, they ironically did so thanks to Kit (who agreed to a truce after his defeat/rescue) and Surge (whose antics distracted Metal Sonic). Therefore, Eggman has his late, traitorous Loony Fan to thank for the heroes' attack on his city.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Sonic and Tangle share one when the moving portal appears, recognizing it from Test Run.
  • All eleven heroes (especially Whisper) share this reaction when Eggman unleashes the Shadow Androids.
  • The Neo Diamond Cutters get a big one when their invisibility wears off in front of Eggman.
  • Eggman gets this when Tangle and Team Sonic break into his throne room, and again when Lanolin and Whisper turn out to have been freed from his portal traps. He then has a third such reaction when he sees he has pushed Sonic too far, triggering Eggman's Villainous Breakdown.
• "Oh, Crap!" Smile:
  • Tangle's reaction to Whisper's above-mentioned Death Glare.
  • After Tails sees both Sonic and Amy knocked down, he gives one to Eggman who is standing right behind him as he tries to unlock the limiter.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Tangle's aforementioned Heroic BSoDs and, before that, her What the Hell, Hero? rant to Whisper. The latter even expresses shock at seeing Tangle lose her temper, something she of all people rarely ever does.
  • Eggman in nearly all previous stories was consistently smug and defiant against Sonic, aware the latter's All-Loving Hero code assured he'd only suffer a humiliation and smashed resources from facing him at worst. When it becomes apparent to Eggman that Sonic has had enough of him and he may be in mortal danger this time round, the doctor becomes much more frantic, attacking Sonic in a desperate rage and pleading for mercy as Sonic deals the final blows.
• Pass the Popcorn: Eggman literally has a bowl of popcorn ready to snack on once he sends in the Shadow Androids. He even asks Cubot to help him get the cheese flavor seasoning.
• Queer Colors: During the final battle in Issue #61, Tangle and Whisper are shown holding hands together with the sky making up the lesbian pride flag colors in the background. While it's not confirmed that they're a couple, the two are heavily implied to be LGBT by Ian Flynn and other IDW staff members.
• Red Sky, Take Warning: The skies above Eggperial City are orange or reddish-brown throughout the entire arc. It becomes especially imposing at the climax when Eggman turns his tower into a mecha.
• She Knows Too Much: Metal Sonic pursues Tangle following her narrow escape from the control tower, attempting to keep her from relaying her team's findings to the others.
• Shout-Out:
  • Tangle on page 13 of Issue #57 exclaims she doesn't see any construction equipment or Egg Pawns in funny little hard hats. Doubles as a Continuity Nod to Sonic Colors.
  • Issue #59's B-Cover drawn by Nathalie Haines, where Shadow is surrounded and held down by several Shadow Androids, was inspired by Alexandre Cabanel's "The Fallen Angel" painting.
  • The retailer incentive cover of Issue #59 shows Silver and Blaze in a spiral, with their poses, colors, and circular shape bearing a similar resemblance to the Polymerization card from the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game.
• A Simple Plan: Sonic proposes that they simply attack the tower, as he believes that the Neo Diamond Cutters and himself will be enough to take down Eggperial City. As noted by Lanolin and Jewel, the new task force is barely tested and thwarting Eggman's plans is never as simple as it sounds. Sure enough, the girls struggle to get along until they've dealt with their own personal issues, while Sonic discovers the city isn't so lightly defended after all, and has to call in reinforcements.
  Sonic: Or—and hear me out—we just do it now. We've got the team, we're in the city, and I know Eggman is in that big, ugly tower at the middle of it all.
  Lanolin: That's far too dangerous. This team is untested and you barely escaped last time. We need to marshal more forces first!
  Sonic: And how big is this city going to get while you're a-marshalin'?
  Lanolin: It'll grow unopposed if we get taken out today!
• Storming the Castle: The whole premise of this arc, after a recon mission Gone Horribly Wrong explodes into open warfare.
• Swiss-Army Superpower: Maggie, Lanolin's Magenta Wisp. Not only can it paralyze Badniks and take some of them out with rhythmic sound waves, it also provides some nice lighting via echolocation in a dark dimly cave.
• Taking the Bullet: Lanolin pushes Tangle out of the way of one of Eggman's portal traps, telling her to run and get all the info they learned to Sonic and the others, as the trap closes on her.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
  • The Neo Diamond Cutters get off to a rocky start: Lanolin is annoyed by Tangle's recklessness and disappointed about Sonic not being everything she idealized him to be; Whisper is offended by the others naming their team after her old one; and Tangle is frustrated by Whisper's continued insistence on doing things solo.
    Sonic: (cringes, making tip-toe finger motions) Yeah, "slow 'n sneaky" isn't really my thing.
    Tangle: (bonks her head, grinning sheepishly) And I'm still getting used to this whole "team" dynamic. My bad!
    Lanolin: (facepalming) Honestly, how do you handle her?
    Whisper: I don't.
    Tangle: Whisper... is there something we need to talk about?
    Whisper: No.
    (Whisper walks past Tangle with a cold shoulder, with the latter looking sad, while both Lanolin and Sonic look at each other unamused)
    [...]
    Tangle: Those are both good points. Um...
    Whisper: You all fall back. I will stay and scout.
    Tangle: Oh, no, you don't! You just had your own close call! Quit trying to go solo!
    (Whisper turns back wide eyed and surprised at Tangle's concerned outburst)
  • As usual, Team Sonic and Team Dark struggle to get along upon meeting up. In particular, Sonic is irked when Shadow and Omega give him the cold shoulder, especially after Surge and Kit's own rejection of his kindness in Overpowered. Amy is likewise suspicious of Rouge, who in turn is (as usual) the only sociable member of her team.
• Time for Plan B: Eggman quotes the trope name itself, when his initial plans of growing the city are foiled by the fake emeralds growing out of control. As such, he activates the central tower's battle mode.
• Took a Level in Badass: Lanolin goes from a sundress-wearing-scared-sheep background character in #2 to a military geared headstrong leader in #57. It is revealed in #58 that she didn't want to stand around in fear anymore following the war against Eggman and its aftermath. For the moment, she's not feeling too confident, but Tangle and Whisper vow to help her.
• Trapped on the Astral Plane: After being sucked through a portal, Lanolin, Tangle, and Whisper are able to observe the prime universe, but can't be seen or heard by anyone there, with Tangle complaining that just walking around feels like she's gonna float away like a soap bubble. After a couple of arguments, they decide to take advantage of their invulnerability and imperceptibility to do recon until they're rescued. Once they manage to infiltrate Eggman's tower, Shadow's usage of the fake emeralds' energies forces Eggman to reboot his entire city. Unfortunately, once Eggman's city is back online, it causes them lose their invisibility but retain their intangibility. This gets them spotted by Eggman, as both parties are in the same room, but are unable to do anything to him due to them being on a different plane. Eggman's newest portals atomize Whisper and Lanolin altogether, while Tangle gradually returns to normal after using her waning intangibility to evade capture. After being disconnected from the city's network, the portals' effects are negated entirely, releasing Lanolin, Whisper, and an also-captured Sonic back into realspace.
• Trash the Set: Eggperial City, Eggman's post-Metal Virus home base, is gradually destroyed by a combination of Sonic's team attacking it, Shadow's Chaos Control reacting with the fake emeralds that cause them to grow out of control to giant sizes, and Eggman going with his backup plan, turning the city's control tower into battle mode. After the heroes take out the tower, Shadow uses Chaos Control again and warps what's left of the city into the skies, where it explodes into oblivion.
• Trauma Button: Tangle reusing the Diamond Cutters name reignites poor Whisper's bad memories of her old team's fate. Later, the sight of the Shadow Androids causes her to collapse to her knees, though Tangle is able to help keep her grounded with a Cooldown Hug.
• Uncertain Doom: Eggman, Metal Sonic, Orbot, and Cubot are seemingly destroyed with Eggperial City, as they were still within its limits when Shadow teleported it into space and it blew up. Most readers suspect that Sonic's main nemesis won't actually die, as Eggman's survived similar fates before (Sonic's Bond One-Liner to Metal also implies he fully expects to be dealing with them again), but the way the scene is illustrated makes it look as though they did.invoked Sure enough, Issue #65 confirms that Eggman did indeed survive the city's destruction.
• Villain Has a Point: Eggman was right when he said wrecking his tower would detonate the fake Chaos Emeralds. Regardless, the heroes need not his help to deal with this; Shadow sees to that via Chaos Control.
• Villainous Breakdown: Eggman flips out in the final issue after losing all his advantages and realizing he's finally pushed Sonic too far. He proceeds to launch a desperate Last Villain Stand, and when that fails, too, he resorts to begging for mercy, to no avail.
• Warts and All: Lanolin's adoration of Sonic is shattered when she discovers him not being the cautious or sneaky type and would rather charge headfirst into a mission instead of properly assessing their situation.
• What the Hell Are You?: Eggman's initial reaction after Whisper and Lanolin break free of his traps. They respond with the a Badass Boast, incorporating their newfound camaraderie as the Diamond Cutters.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Tangle berates Whisper for even thinking about scouting Eggperial City by herself, pointing out that her last solo run nearly got her killed by Surge.
• What Would X Do?: Lanolin asks how Whisper's old team would handle a situation when the three find themselves trapped in Eggman's pocket dimension. Whisper recalls that their psychic Claire would give her insight, with Whisper herself scouting ahead if she saw nothing. This gives Lanolin the idea for all three to scout the tower itself, as they're all intangible to the world outside and could learn some new information.
• Wrong Context Magic: Tails suggests Blaze go back home for the Sol Emeralds and use them to access the pocket dimension the Neo Diamond Cutters are trapped in. Blaze quickly shoots the idea down, stating the Emeralds only let her travel between her world and Sonic's. Silver likewise states he can't undo the girls' capture, citing the limits of his time-travel powers.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: As Silver frees him, Shadow despairs over his latest screw-up and asks to be left behind, but Silver refuses, reminding his comrade that he's the Ultimate Lifeform.
  Shadow: I'm fine. Go. Your effort...is of no use.
  Silver: No use? No use?
  Silver: I'm not giving up that easily, and neither are you! You're the Ultimate Lifeform, aren't you?! Are you going to let an overgrown rock tell you what to do?!
  (Silver's psychic abilities destroy the Emerald prison around Shadow)
  Silver: Well?
  Shadow: ...You're right. I am the ultimate.

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