THE CHAOTIX CAPER, Part 1: THE UNSUSPECTING!
Writer: Ken Penders
Penciler: Manny Galan
Inker: Andrew Pepoy
Colorist: Barry Grossman
Letterer: Vickie Williams
Editor: Justin Freddy Gabrie

On a street corner at night, a dingo named "Harry" is in his cab reading a newspaper. He doesn't mind this job because no one bothers him and considers it better than following Stryker, who hasn't done him any good. Harry hears someone yelling for help and he leaves his cab to find two bees in an alley. One of them is Charmy, who was yelling for help because his friend, the other bee, is sick. Harry picks up Charmy's friend and drives them to the hospital. The medics were waiting for them and quickly took Charmy's friend to the emergency room. As Harry tries to leave the hospital, Constable Remington walks in, which blocks Harry's exit. Remington was contacted about a patient who resembled Charmy and was suprised to see Charmy was alright. Harry tries to leave again, but this time the door opens and hits Harry on the nose as Vector, Espio, and Mighty walk in. At first the trio didn't recognize Charmy because Charmy was at his normal height, which is around Remington's shoulders, instead of "flight mode" (or when he's the height of an insect, which is how Charmy usually is). As Mighty helps Harry up, the medic (Dr. Loony) comes in and he has some bad news: Charmy's friend died. At first Charmy is shocked, but then he hugs Harry and cries his heart out.

The next day, a dingo named "Jollie" delivers a food shipment to Happyland. Renfield T. Rodent has rebuilt Happyland (from Knuckles' Chaotix) to attract the echidnas of Echidnaopolis. However, he doesn't realize that he's being monitored by a hare called "Downtown Ebony Hare" who believes this is the chance he's been waiting for to strike it big.

In Remington's office, the Chaotix are present and Remington asks Charmy if he's ready to answer some questions. Charmy says that he is and Remington wants to know where Julie-Su is. Julie-Su walks in at that moment and makes it known that it was Remington's secretary and no one else who told her about the meeting. Vector says that they didn't know what "rock to look under" to find her and Julie-Su responds by asking Vector if he would like to eat some teeth. Remington tells them to behave and proceeds to ask Charmy what did he do last night. Charmy tells them that he and his friend "Mello" went to Happyland, to which Mighty and Vector kinda question Charmy's judgement. Charmy explains that the signs said that the park is under new management and Mello hadn't been there before so they went. After they left the park, Mello became ill and fainted. Charmy started yelling and they all know the rest. Remington informs the group that what happened to Mello is the latest in a series of cases of lemon sundrop dandelion poisoning. The cause is believed to come from something all the victims (all have survived, except for Mello) have eaten, but EST doesn't know the source. Espio asks if they have a clue where to start and Remington says that all the victims have been young so they're checking schools, malls, and other places kids hang out. Remington asks them to check out Happyland, since the place seems to have a history of bad things going down.

Meanwhile in Haven, Sabre tells Locke to take a break. Locke says that he can't since Knuckles isn't on the Floating Island. Sabre asks where's Knuckles, who they find is trekking in the middle of the badlands. As Knuckles walks, he hears something and it gets louder and closer. When Knux sees the blinding lights, he decides it's time to get out of the way and starts to run. Locke, noticing that Knuckles is in trouble, tries to figure out a way to save Knux, however, Sabre sees something happening with Knuckles.

Back in Echidnaopolis, Charmy sees Harry's cab and thanks Harry for helping him last night. Charmy also gives Harry the puppy look and gets Harry to drive the Chaotix and Julie-Su to Happyland. During the ride, Julie-Su tells Vector that she's going to beat him up if he says "Are we there yet?" again, after Vector said it for the millionth time. Espio tells them to chill out, but Harry says that those two should fight after he gets to place a couple of bets on the outcome. When the Chaotix and Julie-Su arrive at Happyland, Harry takes off. Julie-Su asks Charmy if Mello ate anything at the park, to which Charmy says that he doesn't think so. We see a flashback where Charmy is watching a juggler while Mello orders a chilli dog and eats it. As Harry drives back to Echidnaopolis, he passes by a limo that has Downtown Ebony Hare as a passenger along with a female fox and huge male dog. At the park, no one can find anything suspicious. Mighty assumes that the food is okay and gets a chilli dog along with the rest of the Chaotix. Julie-Su, however, believes that they shouldn't eat anything yet and she refuses to eat.

Renfield, in his office, is happy because his park is a hit and he doesn't have any partners to worry about. However, Ebony Hare tells Renfield that Renfield now has a partner or Renfield can deal with Blackjack, the muscle-bound dog. Renfield chooses to have a partner.

Back at the park, Charmy starts to feel ill, and so do the rest of the Chaotix. Julie-Su does the "I told you so" bit, but notices that Charmy is really out of it and goes over to help him as the world starts to spin out of control for Charmy.

To Be Continued in KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA #14