The Lost World is a complete Sonic the Hedgehog story published in Issue 225 of Sonic the Comic Online. Together with the earlier Drowned and the subsequent In the Heat of the Night, this story forms a small three-issue plot arc detailing the raising of the Floating Island from the Mobian seabed, following the convention established in the Chaos Saga for elements of an extended connected serial to have their own individual titles, as opposed to being bracketed as parts of a single unifying heading (such as The Sonic Terminator or The Return Of Chaotix). It also reintroduces the character Tikal to the world of STC-O.
Staff
- Ed Reynolds - script
- Mike Corker - art
- Michael Stewart - lettering
- Based on original ideas by Nigel Kitching, Richard Elson and David Bulmer.
Story
The giant anglerfish dispatched by the inhabitants of the Underwater City to deliver Sonic to the location of the submerged Floating Island vomits Sonic forth in an episode that's decidedly low on dignity. The Floating Island's protective force-field is still intact and preventing the Island from being flooded; through the radio that he carries Porker Lewis warns Sonic about the fragility of the shield - too late, as at that very moment the impetuous Blue Bomber is spin-attacking his way through, damaging the shield and destroying his radio!
Having achieved ingress Sonic drops onto the Floating Island's surface - but now the shield is beginning to fail and as it flickers and fluctuates, water begins cascading down with Sonic. Conscious of how there's now a time-limit to the operation before the shield collapses entirely and crushes the island with the influx of millions of tons of water, Sonic rushes through the steadily-flooding Hidden Palace, seeking the Emerald Chamber - but he has to evade Guardian Robots that identify him as a threat and an intruder, and when he finally gets to the Emerald Chamber, the lack of a radio to get control directions from Porker leaves Sonic at a loss as to how he's supposed to raise the Island...
Back at the Underwater City, Porker monitors the declining condition of the Floating Island with increasing anxiety - there's literally only minutes before the Floating Island is completely flooded. At this, Ebony intervenes with a bold proposal - a portion of The Power could be sent down to the Floating Island, warping Sonic into Super Sonic and giving him the werewithal to complete his task. Porker is apprehensive about the prospect of bringing Super Sonic back into being, but Ebony is insistent, fixating on Sonic's earlier musing on feeling a "peaceful presence" when last in proximity to the Power and certain that that means that it will be the pacifistic Super Sonic that comes to be. Understanding that Sonic is dead anyway without this recourse, Porker reluctantly conedes to Ebony, with misgivings.
Sonic is shocked when the transmitted Chaos Energy from the Power suddenly sunbursts in the Emerald Chamber - and as Sonic is thrown back, Tikal materialises, thrown out of him!
Sonic writhes on the ground, twisting on the threshold of transformation as Chaos Energy wracks through him. He is shocked to see Tikal's arrival, and Tikal explains that during the Great War, when Chaos was defeated Tikal came to be imprisoned with it. During Sonic's earlier battles with the terrifying beast, Tikal transferred her spirit from Chaos into Sonic, causing her incarnation with the burst of Chaos Energy here... and making her, and not Super Sonic, the source of that "peaceful presence"! This revelation makes the current situation especially dangerous. Sonic's highly-strung enough as it is, and the slightest mote of agitation will knock him over into the monstrous Super Sonic - and the Guardian Robots are closing in for the kill...
Trivia
- The title of the story is also that of a Zone in the video game Sonic Adventure, but this had no bearing on the naming of the strip.
- The original name for the story was That Sinking Feeling, but was changed to The Lost World by then-editor Tom Huxley. Despite Huxley leaving the post before the strip was published, the title remained as it is now.
Timeline
The previous Sonic story was Drowned. The next was In the Heat of the Night.