Cover by Tanner Bates.
The second chapter of Sonic Shift. This issue took a considerable amount of time to finish due to various hiatuses due to time constraints. The cover is notable for how plain it is, but this is reflected in the issue: it primarily serves to introduce Sonic to his newfound powers, and also is the debut of the first minor villain, the Foreman.
Plot
The story begins with Ogilvie waking up in a clearing. Despite feeling groggy, he is also incredibly thirsty, and his ears pick up the sound of running water. Just as he begins to drink, however, he discovers that his appearance has radically changed, from the brown-furred Ogilvie's to the distinctive blue Sonic's.
Convinced it is a dream, he runs headfirst into a tree to wake himself up, only to be bounced back, dizzy and unsuccessful. He finds it peculiar that such a brief sprint made the soles of his feet raw, though this just convinces him to find himself some shoes.
Sure enough, he looks around to see that there is a pair conveniently placed. While he at first has his reservations about it possibly being some sort of trap, he is quick to put them on and run at top speed, once more running into a tree. As he sinks into the ground, he notes that the shoes fit perfectly and are also able to hold up to his speed. He ponders who made them and why they were left there, though his simple mind quickly dismisses the issue.
Ogilvie then picks up the sounds of SWATbots, attracted by the sounds of his constant running. At first hiding, his mumbling attracts their attention, to the point they call him a UAO. With that, he springs into action, noting that he'll have a huge advantage over slow and clunky robots. Taunting the robots, he is quick to use his speed to make two of them aim at eachother, destroying two of the three machines.
As Sonic gloats over the stupidity of the machines, he notes a laser blast charging right in his face. He fortunately leaps back just as it fires, the blast only grazing his nose. Nonetheless, the painful blast angers him and takes away his normally playful personality. He is swift to trip the SWATbot and run away.
As the SWATbot reports back to HQ on a potentially dangerous lifeform, its "life" is cut short as Ogilvie returns with a severed robot arm and crushes its head. For the next few minutes, he does nothing but continuing to wail on the downed robot, tearing many of its limbs off and smashing its head in.
The Foreman soon comes on the SWATbot's radio, replying to the SWATbot's earlier message. As he and Ogilvie exchange banter, Ogilvie eventually grows tired of the conversation, introducing himself as someone the Foreman will learn to hate, before crushing the other SWATbot's head off-screen.
Gathering up the memory chips of the SWATbots, Sonic takes off, but not before doing one last thing... the Foreman arrives with his own personal cadre of SWATbots, investigating the area to find that Ogilvie has carved a massive "Blue Blur Was Here" message into the grass by tearing it up with his feet.
Trivia
- The exchange "Someone you're really going to learn to hate" and "I already do" is from a conversation between future Sonic and past Robotnik in the SatAM episode Blast to the Past Part 2.
- Sonic's shoe buckles are on the inside of his shoes for several pages, but then switch back to their correct position on the outside.