Chaos Bond

G.U.N.'s First Shot

Vanilla frowned a little as the phone suddenly began to ring and looked away from Cream who was busy drying Ruby with a soft towel. They'd just given the puggle a bath after she'd discovered her digging skills that afternoon and had scooped out an impressive tunnel underneath the fence and into the neighbour's pond. 

It was a mercy that the pond hadn't suffered much damage and it was soon repaired thanks to the hard work of several pairs of hands holding shovels. 

Gemerl brought the phone to the bathroom for Vanilla to answer it while Cheese and Chocola entertained Ruby as Cream turned on the dryer. The noise meant that Vanilla made a hasty exit from the bathroom but Cream twitched an ear in her mother's direction as she began to address whoever was on the other line.

"...Yes, she's absolutely fine," Vanilla was saying. Cream switched off the noisy dryer and continued with the towel to navigate Ruby's stiff locks. "Although I might have to warn you that she's learnt to dig, so... Pardon?"

 Vanilla wandered slowly back to the now-quieter bathroom, phone in hand, a solemn look on her face.

"...Tonight? Well, yes that shouldn't be a problem Rouge, dear. I... Yes. ...Are you sure? Because... Mm-hmm... Well, yes, I understand that. ...Oh dear, how dreadful everything is... Yes... Yes... Mmm, yes..."

Ruby was still giggling at the two Chao but Cream now had her attention focused on her mother's conversation. It sounded, to her, like something had happened among the Allies which meant that Cream might be needed in a call to arms.

"...Well don't you worry, my dear. Cream and I can look after her for as long as possible," Vanilla seemed to assure Rouge. "And you tell me if there's anything else I can so. ... No, nonsense, it's no trouble. ... Well, we'll just have to Echidna-proof the back yard, won't we?"  Vanilla laughed. "No, it's fine. But what's Zooey doing? Is she okay with Rosemary or would she like to...? Oh, of course, there's Steele... Tell you what, you let me handle that you concentrate on your heroics. ... No, I don't want to hear of it, it's really no problem. ... Yes. ... Gemerl and I can manage quite well by ourselves, even if Cream is needed."

Vanilla looked to her teenage daughter and winked which caused Cream to feel a swell of pride. When she was younger, her mother was very protective and wasn't always so sure of Cream's involvement in dangerous missions that the other heroes went on in order to save the world, though she couldn't deny that her daughter was very brave and had done incredible things for the planet. 

"Okay then... Yes. Ok... Goodbye." With that, Vanilla hung up. 

"Are we keeping Ruby for a little while longer?" Cream asked, pulling the little echidna into her lap to squeeze the girl's paws and claws free of water.

"There's an awful lot of commotion going on at the moment with the others," Vanilla nodded. "Rouge was saying that Metal Sonic has gone time travelling and that there might be enormous issues on the horizon because of it. Don't worry!" She saw her daughter's concerned expression. "Don't worry - Tails will already be working on a plan."

"Yeah, he will," Cream agreed quietly. "Tails always has a plan. I just hope they're not too late..."

"Don't fret about it, Cream, dear," Vanilla soothed, sitting back down on the edge of the bath. "We might have Steele joining us this afternoon so let's focus on that instead, shall we?"

"Yes mother," Cream nodded. But the growing worry was far too large to ignore and Cream found herself fretting all day, despite her mother's calming presence. 

She wasn't the only one either; one by one, each of the allies fell victim to the ever increasing feeling of dread.

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