Bloople, quietly closed the door behind him, watching as the two young Toons had quickly fallen asleep the second their heads hit the pillows. Walking downstairs, all his mind could focus on was the whisper he had received from his sister. "Meet me at home tonight." She didn't respond to him after, and with everything else going on he couldn't help but feel anxious. What if something bad had happened? He had considered calling the Toon Forces, but figured they were busy. He knew Pickle would get here. But what if she didn't? The thoughts raced through his brain until he finished descending the stairs and heard the front door opening across the living room. Heart pounding, he made his way over to the door just in time for Pickle to walk in. "Oh my cog, where were you? I've been freaking out all day! Why didn't you respond to me?" Pickle's face was emotionless. Without responding, she tilted her head towards the couch, indicating to Bloople to sit down. Making their way over, the two sat in silence for a moment. "Pickle, what's going on?" Pickle kept silent. Reaching into her shirt pocket, she pulled out a folded up piece of paper. Tossing it over to Bloople, he slowly unfolded it and scanned over the sheet. "What is this?" His voice a mix of anger and confusion.
"I've been drafted, Bloople. That's what that is." Pickle looked downwards, trying to avoid any eye contact. Trying to stay strong for her brother, she didn't want him to see her like this.
"What do you mean drafted? Like they just told you that you have to show up? Don't they have someone else that they can take? I mean, we need you here!" Bloople tried to keep his composure, as his voice started to break. "Like, what am I going to tell the kids. "Hey, Aunt Pickle is gone, get used to it?" This is going to kill them."
Pickle scooched over to her brother and grabbed his shoulder. "I don't like this either, Bloople. But we need Toons to fight. What would happen if the cogs came back here? Do you really want Miko and Hula to have to go through what we did as kids? When mom and dad were always gone because they had to fight cogs in the street just to keep them from taking over our house? Nobody wants to go. I certainly don't! Sometimes we have to make sacrifices." She looked over to see Bloople's face buried in his hands. No longer able to resist the feelings bubbling inside of him, he stood up.
"Well why can't they take me? Why are they taking you? Do you even know how to fight? This.. This.. This is just stupid!" He yelled out, punching the air aimlessly, looking for some sort of outlet for his anger. Pickle walked over and hugged her brother. Up the stairs, two young Toons peeked out from a gap in the railing, watching their father and aunt crying. Sprinting down the stairs as fast as they could, they grabbed on to the pair and held on.
"Why are you guys crying?" Hula questioned, innocently.
Bloople leaned over and picked her up, holder her head to his chest. Walking over and sitting down on the couch, Miko followed and hopped up next to him. Pickle sat down on the far end opposite Bloople. "I'm sorry to wake you girls up. It's way past your bedtime. It's nothing, me and Auntie Pickle were just talking about something. I shouldn't have raised my voice. That's not very Toony is it?" Doing his best to put on a brave face for his daughters, he did his best attempt at a laugh.
"Bloople. Maybe they should know. After all, it's going to come up sooner or later, right? They are strong too. Give them the chance to show their strength." Pickle slowly petted Miko's head.
Taking a deep breath, Bloople managed to let out a quick "Okay." Nodding to his older sibling, he pickled up Hula and sat her on the couch, getting down and kneeling in front of the pair. Their eyes sparkled, their sweet young minds blissfully unaware of the danger lurking around them. Bloople's heart shattered trying to get the words out. "Girls. Auntie Pickle needs to go somewhere for a while. She might not be coming back for a very, very long time."
Interrupting, Miko leaned forward. "Is she going to go see grandma and grandpa? They haven't come to visit us in a long time either."
Bloople and Pickle's sad eyes met, at the realization of the deeper meaning of the young girl's well intentioned question.
"No hon." Pickle calmly responded. "I need to go somewhere to keep you guys safe."
Hula's face contorted into a confused mess. "Are we in trouble?" she squeaked out, unsure of what was going on.
"Yeah, can't we go with you?" Miko called out. "We need to keep you safe too!"
Pickle turned around, tears forming in her eyes. "Thank you sweetie, but I'll be okay. I'm going to come back sooner than you think. Maybe us and dad can go to Silly World and go on the Merry-Go-Round when I get back?" Wiping her face she turned around and feigned a smile. "How does that sound?"
The two young Toons jumped up and screamed excitedly. "Silly World! Silly World!" the pair giggled and jumped up and down, quickly forgetting everything else.
"Absolutely, but sleepy girls can't go to Silly World now can they? You guys really should be in bed. How about you go upstairs and I'll be up in a minute to read you guys a story?" This was enough the get the two excitable young ones up the stairs and back to bed, the entire way shouting about their upcoming vacation.
The two sat back on the couch. "So, I think it's your night to choose?" Pickle laughed quietly as she tossed the remote to an unaware Bloople, bouncing off his hands as he attempted to make a quick catch.
"Yeah, you're right." Turning the TV on, and flipping through channels the room permeated with silence. "So.. when are you leaving?" Bloople asked, fearing what he would hear.
"Tomorrow.." Pickle sighed. "Looks like tonight's our last night watching TV for a while. You better pick something good. If something happens to me I'm going to come back and haunt you if the last thing I get to watch is reality TV again." She laughed and looked up. Knowing that the nightly tradition would be coming to an end, she curled up into a ball and watched the channels turning back and forth, she smiled. This was all for them.
Rudy walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed. A teal duck walked in, holding a platter with two cupcakes. "Hey sweet thing, I made you something." Sitting down next to her, the handsome young Toon placed the platter down on the bedside table and jumped up to be with her. Reaching over, he grabbed Rudy's hand and rubbed it softly with his thumb. "So, what's on your mind?"
Rubbing her neck, the brown cat shrugged. "I've just been thinking about what we talked about, and I'm just not sure, Romeo. I mean, you're kind of asking a lot of me. Especially with everything going on. I don't think I can do it, hon."
"Please Rudy. I can't do this without you. I know I'm asking for a big favor, but I promise it will be such a right decision, that you certainly won't remember what you left behind? Get it, right and left?" Making a silly face and sticking his tongue out, Rudy could not help but laugh. Using 2 fingers, she pulled down below her eyes, and with the other she lifted her nose, making an even wackier face. The young couple laughed. "See, it could be just like this all day." His voice lowering as the silliness left the room.
"I don't know. I mean, opening your own bakery is a big deal! Besides, we already work together at Donald's. Why the rush to change things up?" Rudy clenched Romeo's hand.
The duck's once silly face had transformed to one of crushed optimism. "Rudy, we work together one day a week. Ever since you got promoted they always have you work at nights. I feel like they try to keep us apart there. I don't want to spend the rest of our lives seeing each other as we pass by through the front door, and the rare days off or days together at work. Is that what you want?"
Standing up, Rudy scowled. "Please don't try to guilt me, Romeo. I've worked my butt off to get to head chef. You were the one who encouraged me to go for the position! Now you want to blame me for doing so? I don't need this right now."
"I'm guilting you? Don't you think you're being over-dramatic? Seriously? I understand you've worked hard, but now you have the opportunity to be the head chef of our own bakery! Besides, I'm tired of following orders. I want to do my own thing. I have so many great ideas. Seriously, look at those cupcakes. Jellybean and white chocolate? You're not finding that at Donald's!" Standing up he walked over to where his girlfriend faced away from him, wrapping his arms around her stomach and resting his head on her shoulder. "Besides, my mom said she'd help out with getting started. She has a lot of experience from her time running the gag shop in Toontown Central. Plus her position on the Toon Council could help get us gag contracts! Need gags to fight cogs, right?"
Brownie turned around, still scowling. "That seems pretty opportunistic, doesn't it? I mean, this isn't a game. My dad told me about the cogs. He had to fight them. They're dangerous. People are scared. Yet you're thinking of how it can benefit you? Then asking me to give up everything I've worked for to fulfill your dream? Seems selfish to me, if we're being honest with ourselves."
"So you think I'm going to be a failure then?" The duck quacked angrily. "Great girlfriend you are."
"Don't twist what I said. That's not what I said and you know it." Rudy's voice trembled with emotion.
The duck sat down and grabbed a cupcake unwrapping the paper, he shoved it in his mouth. "Well why else wouldn't you want to come with. You keep saying this and that about reaching your dream. What's so great about that place anyways? Is your dream really to work for someone else? To be unable to fully take charge of your life? We could be even bigger and better than them. But you don't believe in me enough to see that I see, I guess."
Both Toons soaked in everything that had just happened. Rudy sat back down on the bed and unwrapped the other cupcake. Taking a bite into the unusual looking dessert, she smiled. In between chewing sounds, she managed to get out a few muffled words. "This is delicious, babe."
"So.. is that a yes?" The duck's eyes widened with anticipation, doing his best to make a silly face.
"Show me the plans, and I guess we can give it a shot." Trying to hide a smile, she finished off the treat. Inside of her mind, she was still worried. What if something DID go wrong? Would she be able to get her old job back? What would happen to her co-workers? She didn't want to leave them behind or put any additional stress on them. But there was something so charming and alluring about Romeo. She couldn't resist him. Plus he did make a really good cupcake. Reaching over the pair hugged, and shared a quick kiss.
"I promise, I won't let you down Rudy. I swear it."
"You just thought we were going to be okay with this?" An older pink dog paced back and forth. Making various arm motions, he was unable to put into words what he wanted to say.
"Honey, what I think your father is trying to say is that you are too young to be going off to fight the cogs. I mean you're only seventeen. You need to finish school." A sweeter, gentler voice came from a mature red dog.
Raindrop stood up angrily. "That's ridiculous! Dad was fighting cogs when he was fourteen! Why wasn't he too young?" Slamming himself back into the chair, he folded his arms.
Raindrop's father, Rosebud, lowered his voice, bringing himself to a calmer state. "Rain, it was a different world when I was your age. Everybody had to fight. Cogs invaded playgrounds and roamed the street. We didn't have a choice. You do. You need to focus on school and graduating."
"How is that fair!" Raindrop stood back up, still folding his arms. "How are things any better now? I'm not a little kid anymore guys. I can watch the news. I saw what happened. Besides, Cookie's parents already said he can go! I want to go. I want to do SOMETHING that isn't this!"
Raindrop's mother, Honeysuckle walked over grabbed his ear, stroking it gently. "Sweetie, we're not doing this because we want to keep you from your friends, or to hold you down. But you've never seen the cogs. You don't understand how dangerous they are. We do. Both have us have seen Toons go sad. If something were to happen to you.." She paused, biting her lip.
"Mom, nothing is going to happen to me. I've been studying gag theory for years. I know how to fight! Besides, I'd be with Cookie. When we're together, nothing can stop us!" He flexed his arms, jokingly.
Rosebud walked over and sat down next to his son. "Rain, I just don't want you to rush into something like this and to regret it. This isn't a game. There are consequences. What are you going to do if you get hurt? Or go sad? What if there's nobody around with toon-up? Like your mother said, if something happened to you it would kill us. You're still our baby boy, no matter how old you get. I understand that you want to get out. Most Toons have ventured out and have seen beyond their own Playground. I can't say I wasn't quite the adventurous type when I was younger." Looking over to his wife, he winked. "Just think about it first. At least do that for us."
Raindrop could sense the seriousness in his father's voice. While his dad was usually the silly, easy-going type. When he did put on his serious face, Raindrop knew to listen. "I will dad, I will." Looking to Honeysuckle he smiled. "Plus you don't have to worry about me mom. Who else is going to help you walk the Doodles? I'll be safe, I promise."
"I know honey. I know." Honeysuckle sat down next to her family, and the three all hugged. Falling into their loving embrace, Raindrop could not help but feel a bit guilty for his hasty decision making. But he knew himself better than everyone. While he loved his parents, this would be the right decision for him. It had to be. Plus Cookie was going. He could just imagine coming back as a hero, and maybe then Pippy would notice him. Sitting back, he smiled. Yup, he was making the right decision.