**Prologue: Society's Evolution**
10 Years Ago...
Somewhere in the suburban reaches of Toontown Central...
It was just another weekday afternoon. All the Toon children we're heading home from school; some by bus, others by their parents' cars. Those who lived close to school often chose to simply walk home, and among those children were a pair of lanky 11-year-old Cat Toons; brother and sister often known by their peers as the Catache Twins.
"Man. It's getting dark already...? Winter's coming too fast!"
Elder twin Cola Pop was the more outgoing and socialable of the two; a vibrant red child whose good mood could never be dampened. Cola was loud and often cocky at times but always knew how to make anyone feel better about themselves.
"I just hope there's lots and lots of snow this year! Don't you agree, Sodie?" He mused cheerily as he pushed home the wheelchair occupied by his sister twin; Soda Pop.
Soda... or often referred to by her peers as Sodie Pop thanks to a certain uncle's pirate accent, was definitely considered the stranger sibling. It was typical for a Toon to wear their hearts on their sleeves in a way nobody could ignore for long, but Sodie always spoke all of her thoughts, no matter how emotional; with a completely straight face and a hushed voice. Those who were only somewhat acquainted with her often agreed that the icy blue cat was an emotionless and cold type, but her friends and close ones would always say otherwise; Sodie Pop was just as Toony as any other Toon, she just had a difficult time showing it.
For example, from that moment it had been two months since the incident that caused Sodie's leg injuries. Ever since she was confined to a wheelchair, she had generally been more silent than usual.
"Look, Sodie... we all know you can't wait to start walking again, but being mad about it won't help!" Cola reminded her.
To this phrase, she finally responded to her brother; "I know."
"Let's cheer up now! It's Friday!" Somehow, her brother's radiant optimism lifted the heavy feeling on her chest somewhat, and to which she replied "I know... thanks Cola."
"Big bro will always be on your side!" Cola Pop boasted, pushing her up the driveway of their home, to which Sodie replied flatly, "You're only 3 minutes older than me."
Upon entering the suburban home, Cola and Sodie greeted a pair of extremely excited Doodles in order to calm them down, then headed straight to the kitchen where their lone guardian prepared her finishing touches on a treat for the twins. The two pets followed their respective owners obediently.
"Hey mom, we're home!"
"Ah, hello kids! How was school today?" She was called Ma Macaron; owner of the popular sugar bar known as Catache's Saltwater Sweets located in Donald's Dock. She was quite tall, but also plump and motherly in appearance; her lavender hair tied into a simple braided bun. Ma beamed down at the twins, "Did anything special happen today?"
"Not very much, but we had a schoolwide assembly about joining the Toon Resistance." Sodie responded, "Now that I think about it, I've seen a lot of stuff about that ever since those Cog people appeared three years ago."
The Cogs... a mysterious species of robots who asserted themselves as the natural enemy of Toons. All about order, work and profit; they we're essentially the exact opposite of Toons. It is believed they wished to conquer Toontown and the rest of the world for themselves...
Hence the existence of the Toon Resistance; for in order to defeat the Cogs, Toons had to fight back.
"Again? But school children are much too young to fight Cogs..." Ma said with a frown, "Either way, we won't have to worry about them coming here... Cogs only seem to target areas of commerce.
"That being said, the T.V. is still broken and the repairman will be here later... in the meantime the newspaper's on the table if you two would like to read the Phriday Phunnies now, I'll bring your treats over in just a few minutes!~"
"Alright, thanks mom!" "Thank you, mom." the twins sat themselves down at the table (Sodie simply rolling herself up to a vacant spot) and started looking through the Daily Dally newspaper. Articles, ads, silly stock charts and cartoons all about Toony things for Toons.
While Cola Pop entertained himself with a page full of colorful comics, Sodie Pop shuffled through the papers for her own to look at... until something caught her eye.
"Hey, Cola... look at this." She grabbed the sleeve of her brother's red coat without taking her eyes off the article that had her attention.
"What is it sis? Grown-up news makes me snooze."
"No, but... this is really weird, look."
It was a headline article written by a famed news reporter. The image on the front was what piqued Sodie's interest; a picture of a female Rabbit Toon and a Bloodsucker Cog sitting side by side. But it was the content of the news story that would give her many questions to ask.
-Breaking News! Romeo and Juliet in Toontown?-
Is it really possible for a robot to feel love... and for a Toon to love a badly-dressed robot? Bloodsucker RMX-062 and his supposed partner 21-year-old Gladys Hopsalot claim to be madly in love. Both are being thorougly investigated by both Toon and (unfortunately) Cog researchers... could it be a rose for the Cogs to gain more information about us? What our weaknesses are? Is this just blind love between star-crossed lovers... that really should not be together? Will Gladys be brought back to her senses before her heart is broken in the worst possible way?
Sodie Pop felt her mouth curl into a rare frown. "Huh?" The Toon child was at a complete loss of words... was it really possible for the average Cog to feel complex emotions like love; or was that Bloodsucker just special? Or perhaps defective? She was raised to believe that they were nothing but heartless, thoughtless robots who simply destroyed anything in their way for the sake of profit... but this very article seemed to have proven that Cogs are infact capable of so much more. Was it really possible for a robot to feel love... and for a Toon to love a badly-dressed robot?
"That's... so wrong." Sodie heard her Cola mutter in a tone of disbelief. "It's so wrong!"
Sodie tilted her head as she faced her brother, "Do you think so?"
"Well, yeah!" Cola Pop exclaimed angrily, "They're our enemy and all!"
Sodie closed her eyes and nodded, acknowledging her brother's words. "I agree... but..."
"Huh?"
"I just feel... mixed up about all this." sister twin loked down at her hands, twiddling her thumbs sheepishly, "I know it's wrong and weird and everything but... do those two really deserve all the stuff they're going through?
"If its not causing problems for anyone, and if we know that the Toons aren't being compromised.. then they should just be left alone. Love is love, after all. It can take strange forms, but in the end it is all the same."
Cola's expression changed from one of deep thought to a teasing smile, "Ooh I get it, Lil' Sis... you wanna be with a Cog when you grow up, don'cha?"
"What?" Sodie immediately regret speaking her thoughts. Her brother, kind and upbeat as he was, could be a bit too mischievous sometimes.
"You heard me! I bet you wanna marry a Cog!" Cola laughed.
Sodie Pop imagined herself in the arms of a Cog, being kissed by him... and immediately felt her entire being cringe at the unpleasant thought.
"In you're dreams, Cola... they're really gross!"
"Cola, don't tease your sister!" Ma Macaron lightly scolded her son. He responded with a mildly guilty but jovial expression.
Shortly afterwards, the doorbell rang. Followed by the two Doodles barking, followed by many more doorbell rings in rapid succession. The twins immediately knew who it was.
"Luna and Ghost...?" Sodie pondered, "I thought they said they were grounded today."
Cola ran over to the door and opened it briskly to greet their classmates; a pair of sister cat Toons named Luna and Ghost. Respectively nine- and seven-years-old, the playful Luna and the cranky-but-sweet Ghost were very close with the twins.
"Hey!" Cola greeted his friends cheerily, but as usual the sisters initially had all their attention on Doodles Chocolate and Fizzy.
"Whose a good girl, whose a good girl? You are!" Luna cooed as she hugged and pet Chocolate, "Its so nice to see you babies again!"
"Luna, we're over here." Sodie said as she rolled up to see her friends invite themselves in. She couldn't help but smile briefly at the sight.
"Hey, Sodie and Cola!" Luna chirped, "You guys aren't busy today are you? Can we play?"
"But you said you were grounded."
"Yeah, so what? It's not like we ever listen to our folks!"
"True..." Sodie thought for a moment, "The TVs still down though. A repairman is coming to fix it later but in the meantime, we can enjoy Mom's treats."
"Sweet!" Ghost was not only the youngest of the four children, she was also by far the smallest, "We're here, Ma!"
"Ghost's been waiting all day to have a bit of your desserts, Ma." Luna chimed in, "And quite frankly, so have I!"
Ma Macaron smiled warmly at the two familiar faces beside her children, "Well you've come just in time, Luna and Ghost! I've prepared all your favorites, just make sure to have good table manners and enjoy yourselves!"
"Will do, Ma!" The children chirped.
Present Day...
"He should be here soon."
Alone in her home, 21-year-old Sodie Pop sat patiently infront of her T.V. thinking about when he would come home. She was a patient Toon, but Friday evenings were always the slowest time of the week for her. Usually he'd be here at around this time. But... sometimes he wouldn't arrive until hours later... sometimes he didn't arrive until after the ice blue cat had fallen asleep in defeat.
Not even her favorite cartoons could take her mind off of him. Love was truly a pain sometimes. Her phone blinked infront of her; indicating new messages. No doubt, it was Luna teasing her. She always did that on Fridays.
Sodie gently brushed her fingers through her silver hair... the way HE always did... and sighed quietly.
And then, there was knocking.
Sodie Pop quickly flipped off the tv and got up to answer the door. Immediately she felt the heavy feelings in her heart lift away completely as she gazed into her favorite pair of eyes in the world; big and bright with pearly pink irises. A pair of incredibly adorable eyes despite being artificial.
He smiled sweetly at her, held her hand in his own; a narrow hand of dark brown metal and flawless clockwork. A hand so precious. A love that no longer needed verbal greetings.
Sodie Pop helped him out of his dark brown jacket and striped tie after bringing him inside. She muttered something to him, allowing him to hold her warmly. His build lean and strong, standing just a few inches higher than the tall cat Toon.
They found themselves sitting on the couch beside each other, kissing sweetly. An an arm wrapped around her narrow waist, she felt one of his hands gently brush through her hair. She shuttered; feeling her entire being envelop in pure bliss.
And when their lips finally broke apart, Sodie Pop said to him, "Welcome home, Oberon."
Sodie Pop Catache. She was one of the hundreds of Toons who became lovers with a Cog. And this is her story.