Sonic groaned, his head throbbing. This was definitely not what he'd had planned for the weekend. He tried blinking to clear his vision only to realize that he was in complete darkness. He tried moving his hands which he found uncomfortably bound behind him. The pounding in his head made it impossible to concentrate on anything else.

"Mina?" he asked, his voice dry and rasping. "You there, Mina?"

"Not so freaking loud," a groan somewhere off to his side said. "God, why does my head hurt? And why am I handcuffed?"

"Tell me about it," Sonic muttered, trying to stand. "Where the hell are we?"

"Please tell me we didn't sleep together," Mina said.

"Yeah. That's why we're both handcuffed in the dark with pounding headaches," Sonic retorted. "Where are you anyway?"

"Over here."

"Really? I couldn't tell."

"Well I can't see, idiot."

"For once will you just be helpf-" Sonic turned to face her voice only to smack his head into something warm and fuzzy.

"Ow!" Mina cried. "What did you do that for?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," he replied sarcastically. "At least we're in the same place. Thankfully we only hit each other." He tried to pull the cuffs apart or even use the wind to saw them in half but couldn't focus enough to do the job. "Damn it. I can't concentrate with this freaking headache."

"I know. It's like the only thing I can think about right now," Mina agreed. "Has this ever happened to you before?"

"Yeah, I plan something like this every weekend," Sonic said, rolling his eyes. "Actually with all the crap that happens to me that's not too far from the truth. I've had worse days."

"Aww, that's too bad to hear." Sonic froze. That wasn't Mina's voice but it was distinctly feminine. "Sorry about your accommodations. I was in such a hurry when I heard you were coming to visit."

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Mina whispered to him.

"And you should, little mongoose," the woman replied. "Don't you recognize my voice, Sonic? It should be rather obvious considering the nature of your assignment let alone your predicament." Sonic thought for a moment before shutting his eyes, trying to ignore the headache. "Oh but that's right. See, I needed to make sure those pesky Guardian powers the two of you have didn't interfere with my plans. I figured that if you can't concentrate then you can't use your abilities. And it seems that my assumption was correct."

"I only know of one person who is that methodical and thorough," Sonic said grimacing. "Cidana." Clapping filled the room and Sonic realized that Cidana was speaking to them through an intercom.

"Not bad," Cidana Magorium-Kintobor said. "I've been looking forward to this for some time now. Now, if the two of you would kindly walk into the light."

"Oh that sounds promising," Sonic said. "What light? There's nothing but-" He was interrupted as a bright light appeared in front of them. He and Mina fell to their knees in pain as their eyes tried to adjust to the sudden change.

"Oops, my mistake," Cidana said laughing. "Hurry now. You don't want to know what happens if you test my patience."

"Can this get any worse?" Mina said as they stood up again. As if to answer a shock ran through both their cuffs, leaving smoke rising off their fur as they fell to the ground again.

"Why do you have to ask stupid questions?" Sonic asked as they shuffled toward the light. "Don't you watch movies? You never ask if things can get worse because they always do." As they walked through the door they entered a room that was completely white, the light coming from all around them.

"What is up with this room?" Mina asked, looking around. "First total darkness now perpetual light. It's like Heaven and Hell."

"Meh, the afterlife was better decorated," Sonic said absently. The door into the dark room shut, cutting them off. He looked around, noticing that he couldn't see the edges of the room with the way the lights were positioned. When he looked down it appeared as if they were simply floating. "It was also a lot less freaky, I think."

"Why do you make it sound like...oh, right," Mina said. "So what now?"

"If Cid's telling the truth then this headache isn't going away anytime soon," Sonic said as he sat down, almost immediately popping back up when it burned his backside. "For now, let's just try to figure a way out of here."

In Xenodome the Vanguard office was a whirlwind of activity. Alura walked in past several officers talking with Operatives many of whom nodded to her. She walked through the hustle and into her husband's office where he was trying to coordinate efforts.

"Anything?" she asked, worry apparent in her voice.

"No. Wherever Sonic and Mina are we can't find them," Eric explained as he handed a folder to his intelligence officer. "One minute we're tracking them and the next their signal is gone."

"Do you think it's her?"

"Not a doubt," Eric said sitting down. He was visibly shaking from anger, fear and exhaustion. "Cidana has them. I never should have sent them after her."

"It was a scouting mission," Alura explained, kneeling next to him as she rubbed his shoulder. "This sort of thing has never happened before."

"Because it wasn't our son!" he yelled, kicking the chair back as he stood. "Cidana knows who and what they are. We might as well have sent them with a freaking bow on their heads and a sign saying 'Merry Christmas'."

"Commander, do you have a minute?" a human male asked sticking his head in the door. Eric calmed down and waved him in. "We got part of Sonic's last transmission." He handed him a small memory stick before heading back onto the floor.

"Cidana doesn't want them because they're Guardians does she?" Alura asked quietly.

"She can't harness Guardian powers like a sorcerer can," Eric said leaning against his bureau. "Remember, she's a geneticist. The two of them are something that she's never gotten her hands on."

"But that would mean she has them on the Highwind." Eric nodded and Alura's hands covered her mouth. "Oh dear God."

"They're going to need more than God's help on this one," Eric said as he looked out onto the Vanguard floor and playing with the thumb drive in his hand.

4 DAYS EARLIER

Commander Eric Hedgehog looked through his assignment folders for an appropriate mission to give his potential new recruit. He usually gave them a simple retrieval mission but he knew this guy wouldn't go for something like that. He needed something simple but would have a significant impact.

A knock on his door got his attention as he put all the folders together. "Come in," he said. The door opened and a human with short steel grey hair walked in. He was wearing a black uniform with no obvious rank markings. "Commander Ikari, I'm a little surprised to see you here."

"Commander Hedgehog," Director-Commander Shoren Ikari replied, giving a nod to the hedgehog. "I hear you have a new recruit."

"Yeah. I'm just trying to find him an appropriate mission," Eric said, motioning to the pile of folders. "One of my regular assignments won't work this time."

"I might have a suggestion," Ikari said, pulling a folder out of the fold in his shirt and handing it to him. "We've been keeping an eye on Cidana's work and are sure we found one of her research bases: the Highwind."

"Cid's genetics lab?" Eric asked, looking through the folder. "You sure that's a good idea? That's not a kind of hell I'd wish on anyone."

"Normally, I'd agree with you," Ikari agreed, "but ever since Cidana got her hands on the teleportation technology from Robotropolis we've had to watch how close she gets to our agents. One thing we've discovered is that it has a two-mile radius."

"So then as long as he stays out of that radius she can't get to him?"

"That's our theory." Eric rubbed his chin. From the docket it was just a simple scouting mission but would have serious impacts on the safety and security of the city and its personnel. "Also, you asked us to look into the abductions that have been going on in the colonies."

"I was actually about to ask," Eric said with a smirk as he set the folder down. "We haven't found anything on our end other than whoever's taking them is doing so only in several of the outer colonies."

"That's all we were able to find as well," Ikari said. "That and all the abductions happened at night. We were also able to confirm that only Mobians have been taken, no humans."

"Thanks, Ikari," Eric said and the human nodded before heading out. Talk about a lucky break, he thought. Plus we have the chance to get a lock on the Highwind for once. A beep from his desk caught his attention.

"Commander, your special guest has arrived," a woman said. "She's on her way back now."

"Thanks, Linda," Eric said as his door opened again. A female mongoose no older than Sonic walked in and sat down at his desk. She was dressed in a pair of khaki shorts, a black tank top and hairband. Her matching gloves and boots were sea green with black at the joint and while fashionable they served no true combat purpose. She stared at him with her green eyes, more looking past him than meeting his gaze. He knew of her through Arca who'd made mention of her not long after Sonic arrived in Xenodome.

"Was there a reason you wanted to see me, Commander?" she asked, her voice a warm alto.

"C'mon, Mina. You know why I wanted you to hold off on the tour," he said. "And considering that we're on the same side you can call me Eric."

"You know how weird that is?" Mina Mongoose asked, brushing a lock of hair out of her face, revealing her pierced ears. "Besides, I actually have no idea why you wanted me here. Ash kinda half-assed the message when he gave it to me." Before Eric could answer there was another knock on his door. The door opened and Sonic walked in, dressed in the same midnight blue uniform as his father but without any hardware.

"You called?" he asked and Eric motioned to the open chair. As Sonic sat down he stared at Mina.

"I told you before about an introductory assignment for all potential members of the Vanguard," Eric said and Sonic nodded. "Turns out this one is going to be different for more than one reason. First, rather than a retrieval job I have a scouting assignment for you." Sonic groaned as his father handed him the folder.

"You can't be serious," Sonic said, skimming the file. "Don't you have something a little more interesting?"

"Unfortunately no," Eric said with a smile. "Not really sure that I could top taking down Mammoth Mogul solo but this is just as important. Besides, in the two weeks since you took him down I've been scrambling to find a decent gig for you. You'll also be working with Mina."

"You're kidding me," Sonic and Mina said in stereo. Eric cocked an eyebrow. "She's a freaking pop star for crying out loud," Sonic said.

"Oh and like you're any better, blue boy!" Mina retorted. "At least I don't look like a freaking blueberry!"

"And they hit it off from the get-go," Eric muttered with a smirk.

"And just what does that mean?" they asked him but the elder hedgehog was unfazed.

"Nothing at all," Eric replied. "The reason Mina's going with you is because I need you to show her how being a Guardian works."

"No way, I did not sign up for this," Mina said standing. "I want no part in any of this. Besides, when I told you about that I was expecting you to help, not some wannabe soldier."

"And this is me helping you," Eric replied. "You wanted to learn how to awaken your powers. Sonic is probably the better authority on that than I'll ever be." He turned to his son. "While you two are out there you're responsible for her safety."

"I didn't realize that I'd be babysitting too," Sonic said, crossing his arms across his chest. "Seriously, please tell me that you're joking."

"The two of you are going to work this assignment together, am I clear?" Eric asked seriously. "Mina, I can't order you to go this is your best opportunity to learn to manifest your powers." He looked over at Sonic. "But since you are in the military I'm giving you an order to help Mina if she decides to tag along." Sonic pursed his lips and nodded. "Then I would recommend you get the things you need for the week, Mina. Sonic, we've got your gear ready for you down in the armory. I'll have a team meet you at the Eastern Checkpoint in two hours."

"Yes, sir," Sonic said as the two of them stood. As they left the office Mina glared at Sonic and stormed out of the building. "Seriously, what is her damage?" he asked aloud before heading toward the basement elevator.