#I think Silver would not *mind* needing to work with GUN in emergencies but he'll never ever trust them again after this

[true-blue-sonic]

I know I've joked before about the whole "Sonic kidnapping Silver" thing (cause really that will never not get a good laugh out of me whenever I go back to read NB), but at least everyone knows there that that's all jokes and Silver's fine. But what if one day Silver were to be captured for real by something he couldn't evade easily? How long would it take for Espio to start feeling very worried, and how would he feel about the possibility of a threat so strong that even Silver cannot handle it?

I'm glad you like that scene so much; I don't recall how I came up with it, but I myself also find it very funny! Sonic is just a cheeky dude like that, haha. But in a situation where Silver gets overrun and captured for real... yikes. The moment everyone finds out, I can imagine they all immediately begin looking for him, because they are rather worried about what someone would like to do with a psychic hedgehog with knowledge from the future!

As for whom Silver gets kidnapped by... I figure it could be Eggman, managing to get the jump on any friend of Sonic's who happened to come across his current Evil Plotting. Whether it was planned or not, Eggman likely won't pass up the opportunity to kick Sonic where it hurts and get his hands on someone with incredible powers on top! But a scenario I'd honestly find even more interesting is if Silver were to get captured by GUN, actually. After the whole debacle of Sonic and Shadow in SA2 and then Shadow even more in ShTH, I can imagine they'd want to keep a close eye on the superpowered heroes/hedgehogs in the world; both to ensure they do not 'mistake' them for each other again, but also so they know where potential threats could arise (because let's face it, especially Sonic is a wild card that the military might have little appreciation for, despite the fact he is not above helping them). So when a report comes in that someone from the future with psychic powers has taken up residence in a city somewhere, their interest might just be piqued, even if they do not mean him harm overall. Still, the justification of "We're just doing this to ensure nothing bad will befall the world in the future, better safe than sorry tho" is easily used for slightly less unethical things like surrounding Silver by a ton of robots to have a 'friendly' chat with him about things. But of course, if they get the jump on Silver he might panic and lash out, and that might show them he's perhaps more dangerous than they foresaw...

I think Espio would immediately get the odd sense something is amiss. He seems to possess some ESP powers or heightened senses himself: in Sonic Forces he could 'feel Sonic's presence' within the Death Egg, in Sonic Heroes he could detect Team Dark behind him without seeing them, and he states he could look in the heart of the Time Eater where he 'saw only darkness'. Not exactly things normal people can do! So when Silver gets attacked by GUN, fights back, and is therefore captured, Espio immediately knows something is wrong and goes out to search for Silver. Who by that point might already have been knocked out and taken to the GUN base for a full interrogation... Of course, since the Chaotix are ace detectives it won't take them long to figure that out, and a single call towards Sonic will be enough to bail Silver out again. Sonic (with Espio tagging along) absolutely would not be bothered by breaking right into the GUN headquarters and raising absolute Hell with a capital H until his friend has been returned safely! I think it altogether boils down to a misunderstanding that gets talked out relatively easily, since Silver only panicked and lashed out after he got attacked by GUN, but I think Espio would have no issue with making some thinly-veiled threats towards the military that they know they have no right to protest against after everything that happened. Silver is probably shaken up by it all, but more indignant that GUN even dared consider the idea he would willingly bring harm to the world! And Sonic makes very clear that they'd best not pull this off again, lest he does not stick only to raising Hell with a capital H within their headquarters without further collateral damage. GUN lets them go without further issue (they wouldn't be able to win the fight against three ticked-off anthros with a variety of super powers anyway), having gotten the verification that Silver is indeed most likely not that big a danger to society and that Sonic and co are keeping an eye on things (for better or for worse).

Once home again, I figure Espio and Silver have a long talk about everything that happened, with Espio explaining that some people can be frightened by just how powerful Silver is and that the fact he knows Silver would never harm anyone does not mean they believe it as well. Silver might be mournful about that, but he understands. I can imagine Espio is somewhat worried afterwards about letting Silver go out on his own, though Vector and Sonic both point out most people in the city they live in are completely enamoured with Silver and that GUN is an exception to the rule. But Espio does make Silver swear that if he ever were to get in a situation he might not be able to fight himself out of, he bails and comes right back to Es for back-up. Espio trusts that Silver is able to handle himself, and Silver gets the reassurance that he can always come towards Espio when he needs it <3 But altogether it was a whole situation, and everyone is glad it ended in a good way!