RITES OF PASSAGE, Part 2
Writers: Ken Penders & Mike Kanterovich
Penciler: Art Mawhinney
Inker: Harvey "Harvo" Mercadoocasio
Colorist: Kyle Hunter
Letterer: Mindy Eisman
Editor: Freddy Mendez-Gabrie

Knuckles and Archimedes are starting the long trek out of the Sandopolis Zone, but a sandcrawler (a really big worm) wants to eat Knuckles for lunch. Archimedes uses his fire breath to attract the sandcrawler's attention and causes the sandcrawler to knock itself out by ramming into some rocks. Later, Archimedes tells Knuckles how the fire-ants helped save Echidnaopolis. The fire-ants chewed through the ground to enable the chaos emeralds to lift the city into the sky. Then, the fire-ants stopped Dimitri by eating away at the foundation of his tower. The fire-ants have lent a helping hand to echidnas every generation since then. Archimedes was testing Knuckles to make sure Knuckles is prepared for what awaits him in the future as a Guardian. Meanwhile, Enerjak creates a city out of nowhere and calls it Nekronopolis. Knuckles and Archimedes continue on their trek with some words of inspiration from Knuckles' father (shared mentally). They get some food and supplies at an oasis. Finally, they reach the city and Knuckles takes out some robots before entering Enerjak's Citadel. However, the guards of Enerjak's Citadel are the brainwashed members of the Chaotix.

To Be Continued in SONIC'S FRIENDLY NEMESIS KNUCKLES #3