Eggmanland - Jenny and Ada's Special Guest

[bunnikkila]

This was definitely, absolutely the best idea Jenny had ever had.

She knew that Ada wanted more offline friends, and to be honest - Jenny did too! The problem was, Eggman could be... protective. Restrictive, in Jenny's opinion. Either way, not really into the idea of Ada going out to where she might find other kids her own age.

Which meant of course that Jenny had to take matters into her own hands.

So, naturally, the logical step was to go out, find someone, and bring them back to Eggmanland!

And that was how, after having been AWOL for several hours, Jenny dumped a bewildered rabbit in one of Ada's work areas, went to retrieve her plush shell (she hated leaving it behind, but being able to fly was worthwhile, at least for this), and then went off to find her best friend/creator, calling out in a singsong voice.

"Ada! I brought you a surprise!"



Meanwhile, Cream slowly got to her feet, peering around. This wasn't the first time she'd been kidnapped; granted, a silver hedgehog robot she'd never seen before swooping down to snatch her out of her own back garden was not the way she'd expected her afternoon to go, but... well, she was always up for an adventure, and this looked like one! Cream wasn't sure what the robot had been chattering about in its (her?) girlish voice - something about adding? - but one thing was obvious: Eggman was up to something!

With that in mind, she went to the door the robot had gone through and peered out, looking up and down the hall before creeping out. Cheese would be there soon, she knew - the Chao could find her anywhere - and until then, she could definitely handle this!

[Jammerlee]

"Huh?" at that moment Ada happened to be trudging through the door into her room. She had a contemplative look on her face and was carrying her ballhog, Bacon, in her arms. She looked up at the plush-like metallix with a look of surprise. "What's up?"

[bunnikkila]

"Hi Bacon!" Jenny chirped brightly before looking back at Ada. "Well - since we can't really go out where other kids are to make friends just yet, I had an idea! And so - I went and got someone to bring here to make friends!"

Her LEDs flickered to pleased 'smiling' eyes as she stepped forward.

"Wanna come meet her?"



Meanwhile, Cream hadn't gone far; she peeked around the corner behind Jenny, meeting Ada's eyes and blinking once before ducking back around the corner.

There was another little girl held here?!

[Val]

The corridor behind Ada clanged with frantic footsteps as a lavender coyote appeared around the corner and bumbled halfway into the doorframe beside the miniature Robotnik. His vision obscured by a wobbling stack of books, DVDs and comics. His earthen green uniform now accompanied by a bright yellow emergency helmet etched with the grinning façade of his emperor.

“Ow! A-Ada? Where are you, are y-you alright? I heard a v-voice. Oh Chaos, we’re not under attack already, are we?”

[Jammerlee]

Ada's brow furrowed in puzzlement. "You.. brought someone here?" she questioned. Glancing behind her at the coyote trying to keep up, the young girl adjusted her glasses. "Everything's fine, it's just my friend Jenny. And apparently someone else?"

[bunnikkila]

"Yup!"

Jenny nodded eagerly at her creator.

"I mean - it's kind of quiet in here, right? So! I went and found something! We've got a third for that game and everything, come on and I'll introduce you!"

She reached out to take Ada by the hand, turning just in time to spot Cream stepping into the hall again.

"Oh! There she is!"


The rabbit froze on being spotted, blinking wide eyes at the three people at the end of the hall. Cream considered the situation a long moment; it really wouldn't do to leave the other girl, right?

Or... would it?

What was even going on here?

Another blink, and she realized she'd been staring - gaping, really. Well, that wouldn't solve anything, would it? She raised a hand warily.

"Er... hello?"

[Val]

Milo’s face appeared poking around from the stack in his arms as he stared at the rabbit girl. She looked a little familiar. Had she been here before? Maybe she was the daughter of someone who worked for the Empire.

“Oh, h-hey there. I guess having some other friends is f-fine. I mean, so long as her parents know where she is.” He chuckled as he put the pile down nearby. “Y’know, company to p-pass the time til…well, til we’re safe again.” Scratching at the back of his head, the coyote tried not to think about the fact that either world renowned speedster hedgehog could come crashing into the city at any time. He just kept thinking back to the warning Doctor Eggman had given him should the worst happen.

[Jammerlee]

Ada tilted her head in a mixture of curiosity and confusion. "Umm.. hello," Ada greeted slowly. "I'm.. I'm Ada. You.. know Jenny?"

[bunnikkila]

The plush hedgehog's eyes flickered at Milo's mention of Cream's parents. Huh. Somehow, that detail had escaped her. It made sense didn't it? The Doctor would want to know where Ada was if she went out! But then... in Jenny's defense, it wasn't exactly like she could go up to the rabbit's dad (or mom? that was a possibility) and say 'we're going to go see Eggman's secret daughter at his secret base'.

Not that anything Eggman built was a secret, but even so.

"Um... well... not... exactly...."



"We've... sort of met," Cream said slowly, nodding at Ada. "Um... we didn't talk much, she just sort of... brought me here? To... meet you?"

She cleared her throat. This was the strangest kidnapping she'd ever heard of, between the other little girl, the.... little girl robot, apparently, and this coyote concerned about her parents knowing where she was, of all things! Perhaps she was misunderstanding the situation.

"My name is Cream," she said. "It's er... very nice to meet you both?"

[Val]

Soooo her family didn’t know where she was...that could be a problem, especially with the city on high alert like this. They were essentially stuck here until things calmed down.

Milo stumbled to find a patch of empty floor and set down the huge pile of things in his arms before scratching at the back of his head, some tufts of lavender fur falling away as he thought. He’d have to babysit two kids now, neither of which could come to any harm, until things quietened down which could be…whenever. It wasn’t ideal but this was the job he’d been given. Perhaps if he made a good first impression with taking on the responsibilities of his new role, the Doctor might trust him more.

Resolved to make the best of a bad situation Milo offered the rabbit girl as best a smile as he could muster, unintentionally showing off his prominent fangs, and held out a hand to shake. “N-Nice to meet you too, Cream. I’m uh...Milo.”

[Jammerlee]

Ada's eyelids fell slowly behind her thick glasses, the weight of the situation landing with a thud. As they raised once more, the young girl's face tightened into a grimace.

"Oh.. Jenny, please tell me you didn't. Daddy's going to flip!"

[bunnikkila]

"Didn't what?" Jenny asked, LEDs flickering uncertainly. She was beginning to suspect that not everyone would see the plain sense of bringing the rabbit here - but if Ada couldn't leave, then what else was there but to bring friends here?

Then again, she was beginning to suspect that doing so might produce its own problems.

"Er. Well I... might not have... one hundred percent cleared it with...."

With anyone at all, really. Jenny clasped her hands behind her back, LEDs dimming briefly as she rocked on her feet before making a sound akin to clearing her throat and forging boldly ahead.

"But we do have her here now! So... what do you want to do?"


Cream was no less bewildered than before. Still, she did take Milo's hand with a sort of half curtsy, smiling weakly.

"Um... well it's...."

She trailed off. Saying it was no trouble would very definitely be A Lie.

"It's... certainly been a very interesting day!" she said at last. Diplomacy, that's the ticket! "So, um." Milo didn't seem to be in charge, Jenny definitely wasn't... Cream finally looked to Ada, fingers twisting together as she awaited her response to Jenny's question.

[Val]

It was as if in that instant Milo’s body turned to stone. Not a muscle moved as those words echoed in his ears over and over.

‘Daddy’s going to flip!’

With strained effort he turned to regard Ada, his expression petrified and drained as he had to force the words from his mouth, afraid of the answer. “Wh-Why…is he going to f-flip?”

[Jammerlee]

@sebacon@ At that point Bacon finally wandered into the room. The little ballhog walked up beside Ada and paused as he took in a view of the room, his eyes finally settling on the newcomer. Bacon's eyes widened as he looked between everyone, then slowly approached Cream, making a sound not unlike that of snuffling, as though he were sniffing out the situation.

Well, at least Cream wasn't panicking, unlike it seemed her newly appointed bodyguard. Ada exhaled softly, adjusting her glasses. "Ah. I uh, I'm very sorry about Jenny. She's.. enthusiastic? You're not.. uh," she paused, her head tilting as she tried to think of her own form of diplomacy. "We can take you back home if you'd like. I'm sure Jenny's very sorry for kidnapping you."

[bunnikkila]

Jenny straightened up as if she might be about to speak. She wasn't sorry for bringing Cream here! Ada deserved more friends, that was all she really wanted to do!

But then Ada's emphasis struck her and the plush robot deflated a bit, LEDs flickering again. Maybe... Ada had a point. Grabbing Cream without letting anyone know what was going on was maybe, maybe not her smartest move.

"I'm sorry I grabbed you without any warning," she said at last, hands clasping awkwardly.



"Um. That's, um...."

Cream was even more at a loss now, though she did hold one hand out to let the Ballhog sniff at it.

"I... do you want me to leave?" she asked after a moment, eyes on the little badnik. "Er... actually, Miss Ada... why are you here?"

[Jammerlee]

"Oh, no, I'm not saying I want you to leave! Just uh.." she snapped her fingers, trying to boot her brain into functioning. "You're not a prisoner or anything. You're free to go if you like! As for your other question, uh, well..." the young girl glanced aside, pushing her index fingers together with uncertainty. Her dad was really not going to like this. "I live here. This is my home."

@sebacon@ Inspecting the young rabbit, Bacon continued snuffling at her. After a moment the little badnik seemed to reach some kind of conclusion... and began to nuzzle her.

[bunnikkila]

"That's, um, very good to know, Miss Ada."

Cream blinked and then giggled at Bacon's nuzzling, relaxing as she reached out to pet the Ballhog. She looked over at Ada again after a moment, brow furrowing.

"Live here?"



"Well sure!" Jenny piped up. "I mean - this is a city after all. Cities have citizens pretty much by definition... well, I mean aside from abandoned or ruined cities, but this one... well... isn't! So me and Ada and Milo and plenty of people live here!"



Cream was quiet at that, blinking. It would be rude to ask why, wouldn't it. Yes, definitely rude.


"Could I, um... call my mother?" she asked at last. "It's just... I don't think she'd be, um... well, it'd take me awhile to go home, and she didn't know I was going to have an adventure today."

She paused, voice going a bit plaintive.

"You definitely don't need rescuing?"

[Val]

Finally thawing from his frozen catatonic state, Milo blinked at the small ballhog nuzzling Cream. That fickle little…he’d tried to make Bacon like him and, nothing.

“Uhh…I um..” He stammered, trying to answer Cream’s question, how to resolve all of this without giving away Ada’s surname. “I’m k-kind of…uh..taking care of Ada.” He glanced to the young Robotnik and shrugged, looking for her to back him up on this. “M-Maybe calling her mother is a good idea. She’s gonna be worried, right?”

[Jammerlee]

Ada blinked. "Oh, right, yes, your mom. Yes, yes you should let your mom know. Here, you can borrow my phone," she said, jamming a hand into her pocket and producing a smartphone. As she swiped to unlock it, the Eggman Empire emblem appeared briefly, emblazoned on the loading screen, before she passed it over to Cream.

"And yes, I'm sure I don't need rescuing. I like it here," she glanced back into Cream's eyes, giving a small, if slightly pained smile. "Eggmanland really isn't that bad."

[bunnikkila]

"Thank you," Cream said automatically as she took the phone. She knew the number by heart, of course; just because she could rely on stored numbers didn't make it a good idea! "I, um... if you're absolutely sure. But I'm going to leave you with my phone number! I've fought robots before, so if you want to leave it won't be a problem!"



"Pff. Eggmanland is great!" Jenny asserted, hands on hips. "Couple hours and you'll want to live here too! It's got everything you could want - video games, rides, robots, a benevolent but firm ruler... wait, fighting robots?" Her LEDs flickered, briefly showing incredulously glittering question marks. "You?"



Cream just held up a finger, giving Jenny an apologetic look. Apparently she had an answer.

"Hi mama...."

[Val]

Not wanting to interrupt the young rabbit’s phone call, Milo leaned in to Ada and brought a hand up to the side of his muzzle like a barrier as he erupted into panicked whispers.

“What’re we gonna do?! The c-city’s already on lock down, Sonic or Sh-Shadow could show up at any moment! What if she w-wants to go home? What if her mom calls the police? What if she f-finds out who you are?”

As he rambled on, blurting out every bad outcome that popped into his head, the coyote could feel the color draining from his face as be progressively made himself light headed with worry. He was in charge of keeping Ada safe which was nerve wracking as it was and now THIS on top of everything else. The Doctor and Metal Sonic would eviscerate him if he screwed this up.

A bag. He needed a paper bag. Now.

[Jammerlee]

"The city's.. not on lockdown," Ada gave her panicked bodyguard a confused look. "Daddy would have sent in more reinforcements to guard me if it were. Or moved me to a different location," the young girl leaned in close, whispering directly into the coyote's ear. "Also I'm pretty sure rabbits have really, really good hearing..."

[bunnikkila]

Jenny popped up between Milo and Ada, draping her arms over their shoulders as she leaned in to whisper.

"Aw, relax guys! She's buying it! And Milo - no alarms or anything."

She pondered a moment.

"Maybe they have good hearing, but... don't organics usually rely on moving your ears around to really hear well? I mean - look at her."

The plush hedgehog turned her head to stare at Cream a moment (because that was not suspicious or anything, and neither was a huddle, why would it be?).

"Her ears are so huge and... and floppy! Like deflated balloons! How good can her hearing be?"



Cream could, as it happened, make out some of the conversation, just bits and pieces... enough that 'who Ada was' could pique her interest, though little else. What could it--oh. Wait.

"Yes Mama, I'm... with friends. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before I went...."

Deflated balloons?!

"...yes Mama, I'll be home for supper...."



"See?" Jenny said, triumphant. "Friends. I completed my mission flawlessly!"

[Val]

It was like he’d just had a bucket of ice water dumped over him. Milo shivered at the idea that this rabbit girl had infact heard every word he’d just said. What if he ended up being responsible for Ada’s identity getting out? The Doctor would never forgive him!

“N-n-n-n.” His stammering went overboard as he just stood there panicking. “Not on lock down? B-But the Doctor’s gone and they could come any time. What about our defences? I’m supposed to keep you safe a-and whatever this girl is to you, I can’t let her get hurt either. An-” Milo cut himself off and slowly craned his head to the pink cheery robot at his side.
“Wait, what mission?”

[Jammerlee]

This was supposed to be her current bodyguard? Oh dear. Drawing in a breath, Ada placed a hand on Milo's arm. "Okay just - just breathe," she said. "They're not coming here. Da--" she paused, glancing quickly at Cream, "--The Doctor is going to them. Let's just focus on our guest, okay?"

@sebacon@ At this point Bacon had waddled his way over toward Milo, glaring up at the coyote. He then stomped a hoof down on Milo's foot.

[bunnikkila]

"The mission to find Ada a friend, duh."

Jenny folded her arms, LED eyes flickering to a half-closed look.

"Obviously. She can't... doesn't leave the city, so any new friends have to come to her!" The doll looked over at Cream then, voice taking on a wheedling warble. "And we're friends now, right?"



Cream's floppy ears twitched at Ada's verbal backspace, but she didn't offer comment on that - instead looking over at Jenny.

"Well, um... I don't... think kidnapping is--"



"It wasn't a kidnapping, it was picking you up for a playdate," Jenny said patiently.



Deep breath.

"Please don't interrupt me. It isn't nice. Anyway... er... picking up without permission isn't a very good start. But I don't mind starting properly now that I'm here--oh!!"

Bacon's stomp had gotten her attention. She scurried over, crouching, and wagging a finger at the Ballhog.

"Now now, that isn't nice at all! Why don't you let Mister Milo be, and come play with us?"



Jenny, for her part, made a sort of high-pitched electronic warble that might have been her version of a stifled laugh.

[Val]

“YEOW!”

Milo stumbled back, grabbing at his throbbing foot in panic, narrowly avoiding the pile of DVDs and books he’d brought in with him as he slumped against the wall. Balancing against it so as to keep the weight off his now aching foot, he shot a glare at Bacon. That little Badnik was getting to be a pain in his tail…and foot.
Here he was trying his best to do an important job given to him by the Doctor and he was being treated like…well like a nobody.
Taking a deep sigh and letting it out through his nose, Milo muttered to himself. “It’s fine. I’m f-fine. Everything’s g-going to be fine.” He went to scratch at his head, noticing the helmet still atop him and huffed. “We’ve got st-stuff to occupy us for now. I think there’s a p-pizza place not far if anyone wants food.” Despite his reassurance, the coyote kept massaging his temples, trying to ease himself.

[Jammerlee]

@sebacon@ Bacon glanced back at Cream, before glaring at Milo and gronking loudly at him.

Ada rushed in, scooping the little badnik up into her arms. "Bacon, no!" she scolded, holding him around the midsection. Bacon struggled in her grasp and pointed a hoof at Milo, continuing to make electronic squeals out of frustration. "Bacon, stop! What's gotten into you?!"

@sebacon@ After a moment the ballhog settled down, his eyes going half mast in irritation. He continued to glare daggers at Milo.

[bunnikkila]

"He thinks Milo's being a spoilsport," Jenny said, folding her arms. She tilted her head at the Ballhog, reaching out to pat his head.

"C'mon Bacon - it's not that bad, right? Looks like he's ready to help us entertain our guest for one thing! And, he might make a good fourth for games. Right Milo?"



Cream just sighed, shaking her head.

"Thank you, Mister Milo. Pizza would be lovely. And I would very much like for you to play games with us, if you want to!"

She looked over at Ada and Jenny, tilting her head.

"So... what are we going to do?"

Might as well make the best of this until Cheese showed up.

[Val]

“I am not a spoilsport!” Milo blurted, amazingly without stuttering. His brow furrowed into a concerned expression. “I just w-worry. It’s my job to keep Ada safe and…” His gaze flicked towards the bunny girl, “And I guess you t-too now.” Balancing to keep his now throbbing foot an inch off the ground, the coyote fidgeted with his hands, looking down at them as he mumbled. “I just don’t w-wanna see anyone hurt.”

He let out a heavy sigh. This wasn’t going all that well but…he should’ve known. He wasn’t cut out for this much responsibility given his nervous tendencies. As much as he wanted the respect of Doctor Eggman, perhaps he should leave the job of caretaking Ada to someone better qualified. He’d try to speak to the Doctor when this was all over but for now he just shrugged. “Uh..s-sure, I’ll play if you girls can ch-choose what to do. I’ll uh..” He began rummaging through his pockets for a notepad. Along the way finding a roll of gum. Thank Chaos, his ticks were getting worse and he needed something to calm him. “I’ll see if I c-can go place an order. What’s everyone w-want?”