Sonic could feel intense pain flare up through his body as he slowly regained consciousness, his jaw burned intensely like a roaring bonfire from where he and Miles's mysterious assailant had punched him.
He groaned slightly, his cheek was pressed against cold concrete…Not against the stone tiles of the atrium…Then it hit him…He wasn't in the atrium at all.
His emerald green eyes shot open as he sat up, analysing his surroundings he was in a dark cell, akin to that of a prison, there was no colour throughout the entire room, only cold stone grey…And the sound of a door slamming shut.
He looked back and saw a fully clad G.U.N soldier staring down at him, their expression impossible to see under the gas mask he wore.
"Hey! Why am I in the slammer huh? What's the big idea?" he called out, irritation lacing his words.
"Quiet hedgehog, G.U.N has something special in mind for you and your fluffy little companion." The soldier answered in a cold tone before turning his tail and leaving the hedgehog alone in his cell.
"Wait…What?! COME BACK! WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH MILES? IF YOU TOUCH A HAIR ON HIS HEAD THEN I SWEAR TO GO-"
Sonic's outburst was cut off by the sudden sound of radio static which came from a small speaker that protruded from the wall behind him, the voice was cold, uncaring, yet formal.
"Calm yourself Mr Sonic, Subject: 92341 will not be harmed under our care. He is currently being seen too by our medics in the hospital wing."
"Subject what now?! Oh never mind, that's not what I want to know! What I want to know is what G.U.N wants out of me and Miles? We've done nothing to break the United Federation's laws nor have we seen or done anything that would warrant you taking us in! This is completely immoral!"
"Immoral or not, you do not have a choice in the matter. We are interested in how you harness the power of the chaos emeralds, we want to know how you do it, how it affects your physiology and who knows, maybe we can even use that to our advantage…You know there are plenty of corrupt villains who need to be stopped."
""I'LL NEVER JOIN YOU! I don't know how I harness chaos energy I just do! And Miles doesn't even know what the emeralds are and hasn't ever been near them! How do you know that he can do what I can with them?" The hero exclaimed, exasperated at the words the mysterious voice from the radio was telling him.
"That is none of your business, all we need to know is how it happens. There is much more to Miles than you think, in fact we consider him to be far more valuable to our interests than you to be frank, it is not as if there aren't already chaos harnessing hedgehogs in the world."
"What do you mean?"
"Once again, that information Is none of your concern, now I'm afraid I must depart, one of our allies must speak with you, be seeing you hedgehog."
Before Sonic could open his mouth to protest, the radio crackled and fell silent, leaving Sonic alone in the cell…But that didn't last. Mere seconds after silence fell he heard another crackle from the radio and this time…Another voice sounded out…A voice that Sonic had been happy to have not heard for years.
"Ah, hedgehog, there you are…Funny thing seeing you in a G.U.N cell, it appears that not even the big hero can avoid incarceration." It's tone was sneery and sarcastic, a twinge of arrogance could be detected in it's sharp tone.
Sonic could feel his heart sinking horribly…It couldn't be anyone else…
"Eggman?!"
"That's Dr Ivo Robotnik to you, you cretinous whelp!" the Doctor barked, the same eccentric rage bringing a nostalgic smile back to the hedgehog's face.
"Yeah, yeah sure it is. Either way, what are you doing working for G.U.N? Finally decided to go after the government instead of the people?"
"I'm not working for G.U.N you blind fool…This…This is about Miles…" the sudden drop in the former villain's tone caught Sonic's attention, it wasn't normal for Eggman to drop his usual over the top, mad scientist shtick, so something had to be serious…Especially considering it was about Miles.
"Wait…What? Then why are you talking to me and why did the last guy tell me you were their ally and what the hell does this have to do with Miles?"
The serious tone in Robotnik's voice didn't shift as he slowly explained.
"They're forcing me to help them, plain and simple, they've more or less kept me under house arrest in one of their labs that they converted into some kinda cell. They know I know Miles so they're using me as leverage against him, in case he doesn't buy the lies their Commander will be feeding him."
"What? You know Miles? How? And what do you mean if he doesn't buy the lies the Commander will be telling him? Why is Miles seeing G.U.N's Commander?"
"Well…I was allowed to look at some old documents during my time in here, apparently Miles means something to , I don't know how just yet but until we find a way out of here, then we will never know. A for how I knew him…Has he ever mentioned having a family to you before?"
"Ummm…Yeah he did…After we first met, Vanilla the rabbit said that he had an adoptive parent who died in a car…cra…Wait…Were you?"
"Yep."
"Really?"
"Mmmhmm"
"But that's…Impossible…You died! Well…I thought you had at least…How the hell could you be his adoptive father?"
"That is a long story…For another time, we have a greater concern at the moment. I promise I'll try and find a way to bust you out of that cell soon…I know you and I don't see eye to eye but we're gonna have to work together against G.U.N…For Miles's sake…Are you in…Or out?"
It took no time at all for Sonic to give his answer…while yes he and Eggman were sworn enemies, they were both united in their care for Miles's wellbeing, whatever G.U.N had planned for him almost certainly wouldn't have the little fox's best interests in mind and if they were resorting to using Eggman as leverage to pressure him into joining their organisation, then so be it.
"I'm in."
…
There had been quite the stir in Knothole ever since Miles and Sonic disappeared, it had been over 2 days since they had departed from the village and yet there was no sign of them…People were beginning to grow worried, where was the great hero of Mobius? Where was his adorable fluffy best friend?
Word was beginning to spread around the little village, some were suspecting the return of Dr Robotnik, other's merely suggested it to be a longer trip than they had anticipated.
But whatever the case was, It was Vanilla and Cream's job to find them…Cream had been the first to note the odd absence of the pair…noting how it was strange that they weren't back at their expected time…By nightfall things grew direr and direr…And as the hours turned to days, their worry became almost frenzied, they had to know where they were, it wasn't like them to just randomly up and disappear with no prior reasoning or sign…
Sadly the worry was beginning to affect Cream, she had started staying up late at night, trying to ponder where her honorary brother was…By day she nigh interrogated the other villagers as to the last times that they had seen Miles and Sonic or staring out from her window at the road into Knothole, praying that the two would emerge from over the horizon and put her worry to rest. Her concern broke Vanilla's heart…It was always saddening seeing a child fret to the point where it was beginning to take a physical toll on them, but her own daughter? That was a new level of dreadful.
"Great hero Sonic the Hedgehog has vanished!" that was on the front page of every single newspaper that every single citizen was reading in the Knothole café.
It acted as a terrible reminder to what was happening and it didn't ease her mind as Vanilla sipped down on her coffee, they had to be somewhere…They had to be.
However, then she noticed something…Something odd…Someone odd…In the back corner of the small café, Vanilla could see a crimson echidna, sitting all alone in a chair, an uncomfortable and dare she say it ashamed look on his face, his amethyst eyes were locked on the newspaper headlines…Could he be a piece to the puzzle?
She didn't know yet but if she wanted to find Miles and Sonic she would have to…Interrogate this stranger, he looked very out of place in Knothole as it was…And his demeanour towards the newspaper headlines suggested something…Something off about this new guy…She sit back and eyed him up like a predator gazing upon it's prey…Slowly taking another sip of coffee.