Author's Note: Once again, fatigue took over, so my actual entry for March 19, 2017, is getting posted late. However, I have another interesting take on an ancient Rugrats episode, and one I found kind of boring originally, mainly because of the lack of dialogue interaction we had from the babies, due to the fact that only one baby appeared in this episode. So, let's spice things up a bit, and include a second baby along with the first one, and by the end of the story, we'll see if my take on this particular season 1 episode improved it, or ruined it.
Ruthless Tommy and Chuckie
Summary: An AU take on a classic season 1 episode. This time, what happens when Tommy along with his fraidy cat best friend are kidnapped by Bob and Mike? Read this to find out!
Disclaimer: I do not own the original Rugrats characters, they're the property of their original creaters.
"Wow Tommy, this shiny toy is fun!" Chuckie cried, tossing a set of keys back at Tommy.
"I knew you'd like them." Tommy said happily, tossing the keys back at Chuckie.
The two little toddlers continued to sit in the playpen, throwing the keys back and force to one another, oblivious to the fact that Tommy's mom, Didi, was looking all over the living room for them. Noticing the laughter coming from the playpen, Didi decides to go check on her son and Chuckie.
"Hi sweeties, having fun?" Didi asked, noticing the car keys in Tommy's hand.
"Oh my! Tommy sweetheart! How did you get those?" Didi asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion, as she took the keys away from Tommy, and the two boys stared up at her, shocked.
They were slightly disappointed that their fun with the shiny keys was ruined, but surely they'd find something else fun to do, who knew it would be a bigger adventure than they ever imagined. Didi put her keys in her purse and turned to grandpa Lou who had just walked into the living room.
"Anyway Pop, Stu's glued to his workbench downstairs, so, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind watching after Tommy and Chuckie this afternoon." Didi asked.
"Well actually I was thinking of training for the triathletathon this afternoon." Lou said jokingly.
Didi took it as a joke, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks Pop, you're a prince." Didi said, turning her attention back to the boys.
"Have fun with grandpa boys." Didi said in a baby voice, before disappearing out the front door, failing to notice that it didn't close behind her.
Lou then turned his attention to the toddlers.
"Yeah yeah sure, take an old man for granted. In my day, we didn't have half price sales. You had to walk fifteen miles to the store, and pay full price when you got there." Lou said, boring the two toddlers.
It was such that Chuckie let out a huge yawn, with Tommy closely following behind. The two boys closed their eyes, appearing to have fallen asleep where grandpa Lou was concerned.
"Good idea sprouts, take a nap and get our snooze on." Lou quietly said, as he switched on the TV and sat down in a nearby chair.
"And now, the fishing network proudly presents, Swimming Down Stream. The touching story of a young salmon…" A narrator said on TV, as Tommy opened his eyes.
He then shook Chuckie awake.
"Tommy what are you doing? I was trying to take a nap." Chuckie sleepily said, irritated.
"Come on Chuckie, there's better things for us to do with grandpa asleep. Now we can do anything we want." Tommy said.
"Come on Tommy, we already had our fun ruined with your mommy's shiny toy, face it Tommy, there's nothing left to do but take a nap." Chuckie said.
"Oh I don't know, I think, we should go exploring." Tommy said, looking around the house until he spotted it.
The front door was open a jar, perking up the bald baby's curiosity, much to his redhead sidekick's dismay.
"Come on Chuckie, we've explored the backyard before, but never the frontyard. Are you with me?" Tommy asked, pulling his trusty screwdriver out of his diaper and unlatching the playpen.
"I don't know about this. I mean, what if your mommy comes back and finds us outside. We could get in trouble again." Chuckie said.
"Aw come on, don't be a baby." Tommy said, crawling out of the playpen.
Chuckie sighed, hesitating for a split second, but as usual, not wishing to be left behind, he quickly catches up to Tommy, who's halfway across the living room carpet at this point, keeping his eye on the front door. Chuckie quickly crawls up behind Tommy, and together, they make a break for it. No sooner are they outside, when the wind blows the front door closed, and Tommy notices a purple ball of his in the grass.
"Hey Chuckie look! My ball! I knew the frontyard was full of surprises! Come on let's play!" Tommy said, picking up the ball and tossing it to Chuckie, who was still standing on the top step of the stoop.
Chuckie caught the ball and let out a sigh, glancing out at the street ahead, and noticing the various cars rushing by.
"I just hope me and Tommy don't end up out in the street, those cars look kind of scary." Chuckie thought to himself, as he then glanced over at Tommy, who was eagerly waiting for him to throw the ball back to him.
Slowly and cautiously, Chuckie walked down the two steps of the front stoop and into the grass, then threw the ball back to Tommy. The two boys started giggling, as they played a friendly game of catch, not realizing what was about to happen next. Two stout looking guys approached the Pickles frontyard, noticing the two little boys.
"There it is, the joint. Number 66, right?" Mike asked.
Bob looked down at the piece of paper in his hand, which he was holding upside down, so the read 66 written on it looked like a 99.
"Yeah, uh, number, 66." Bob said hesitantly, as he's turning the paper right side up in his hand.
"This don't look like no fancy mantion." Mike said.
"Could it be a setup?" Bob asked.
The two men quietly approached the two little boys playing in the grass.
"Quick grab them!" Mike cried, as Bob grabbed up Tommy and Chuckie.
Noticing he was in the air, the redhead tried to squirm out of the man's arms, but Bob's grip was too strong on the child to let go.
"Quick! The ransom note." Mike said, tossing a piece of paper into Bob's face.
"Dear Ronald Thump, if you ever wanna see your precious baby Thump and his sidekick, Four Eyes again, bring two-hundred million smackers to 22 L Street. We mean it, and we're very big criminals. Just ask around. Love, Bob and Mike." Bob read aloud from the piece of paper, before Mike tied it to a brick and threw it on the Pickles stoop.
They quickly put the kids into their car, got in themselves, and drove away quickly before anybody noticed. However, inside the Pickles home, the impact of the brick hitting the wall of the house awoke Lou from his slumber.
"Third time they've shown that salmon story this week." Lou said yawning, noticing what was on the TV before him.
He quickly switched the TV off and went to see what was outside. Noticing the newspaper on top of the pile, he picked up the brick and paper, and carried them inside. Curious about what the note said, he started trying to read it, only to find he was having some difficulty, as the print came in and out of focus.
"Need my reading glasses." Lou said, going off to fetch his reading glasses out of his pocket and putting them on to have a better look.
However, because the note was tied to a brick, he found it a bit heavy to hold.
"Drat. Can't tackle a newspaper this heavy, without some Java. Too many conflabbed Ads if you ask me." Lou said, putting the pile down on the coffee table and heading into the kitchen to fix himself a cup of coffee.
Meanwhile, in the get away car, Chuckie was shaking in fear, as he noticed Tommy didn't seem to have a care in the world, giggling and playing with his purple ball.
"I don't like this Tommy these men are scaring me. They're not our mommies and daddies." Chuckie said, but Tommy ignored him, still giggling and tossing his ball up in the air, until the car went over a speedbump, making him drop the ball on the floor of the car.
It sadly, landed up in the front seat, too far out of his or Chuckie's reach. Upset by this, he started crying at the top of his lungs.
"What's wrong Tommy? You don't like this either?" Chuckie asked, only for Tommy to keep crying.
Then, it hit the redhead, that Tommy was on to something. Maybe if they start crying, those scary men would take them back home. So immediately, he joins in crying with Tommy, much to the poor men in the front of the car's dismay.
"These kids are driving me nuts!" Mike screams.
"How about singing the kids a lullaby." Bob suggests.
"I don't know any." Mike replied.
"I gotta do everything around here. Hush little baby don't say a word, papa's gonna buy you a mocking bird." Bob sang very off key.
This did get Tommy and Chuckie's attention, but only for a brief second when they noticed that they weren't turning around in the direction of home, or giving Tommy back his ball. Unimpressed, the dynamic duo starts crying again.
"Maybe they need something more visual." Mike suggests.
Bob then puts on a mask of a Dummi Bear and starts talking to the babies.
"Now, put all of your diapers into this bag, and don't try anything funny." Bob said with the mask on his face.
This only terrified Chuckie, as he screams and covers his eyes, Tommy following after him and doing the same, followed by the two kids crying again.
"You're scaring them genius take that thing off!" Mike screams from the driver's seat, glancing away from the road for a brief second.
"Okay." Mike grunts, taking the tightly fitting mask off of his face.
"Hand me a banana." Bob said.
"Why?" Mike asked.
"Because I learned in the latest baby book I read, kids like bananas! Now give me one!" Bob snapped.
Mike pulls out a banana and hands it to Mike, who peals off the skin, breaks it in half, and hands the two halves to Tommy and Chuckie.
"Hear tigers, try one of these." Bob said, handing the halves of banana to Tommy and Chuckie.
However, Tommy isn't impressed, while Chuckie decides to politely eat his banana half, in hopes that it would get the strange men to take them home. However, Tommy starts crying again, as Chuckie takes his banana half, and just then, Bob notices the purple ball on the floor at their feet.
"Hey Mikey, how about this ball on the floor?" Bob asks, picking up the ball and squeezing it, noticing it squeaks.
He hands it to Tommy and he immediately quiets down and smiles.
"Hey! I did it! You know, I might make a pretty good father." Bob comments, as Mike pulls into a parking space at an unfamiliar building.
Realizing that they weren't going home, Chuckie starts crying again.
"Oh great, now what?" Mike grumbles, as he gets out of the car.
"Let's go inside and we'll figure it out from there." Bob said.
We now cut to them carrying the two toddlers up several slights of stairs, Chuckie still crying.
"These kids weigh a ton, and Four Eyes won't shut up!" Bob grumbles, as he struggles to carry the toddlers up the stairs.
"Oh quit your belly aching, it's only four more floors. And when we get up there, we'll find a way to get them to be quiet." Mike says, as they reach the top floor and the door to their apartment.
They unlock it to reveal a very messy living room.
"Home sweet home." Mike says with a smile, as they enter the apartment and place the kids down on the floor.
Just then, Tommy loses his ball, which goes flying across the room to the window sill, making him start crying again, Chuckie following close behind him.
"Oh great what now?" Mike asks irritably.
Bob pulls out another banana, only for Mike to snatch it away.
"But the book says it works!" Bob said.
"Books know nothing and neither do you. These kids want milk, doesn't take no rocket scientist to figure that out." Mike said.
"Well, great news, I think we have some." Bob said.
"Yeah, but what we don't got, is a baby bottle." Mike replied.
"I think I can rig up one using the Kepchup bottle." Bob suggests, heading towards the kitchen.
"Now this I've gotta see." Mike said, following his partner into the kitchen to see what he can do.
However, unknowing to them, Chuckie was completely confused. With the adults out of the room, the frightened redhead runs up to his crying best friend and tugs on his shirt.
"Tommy! Did you hear that? They wanna feed us Kepchup in our bottles!" Chuckie screamed in a panic.
"I like Kepchup!" Tommy said with a smile, forgetting about the ball for a brief second.
"On our meat and French fries, yes, but in my bottle! Uh uh, I wanna go home Tommy." Chuckie protests.
"Not without my ball. Come on Chuckie, help me!" Tommy says, pointing over to where his ball landed.
At this point, the redhead was getting really annoyed.
"You mean to tell me, the onliest reason why you were crying in those strange men's car was, cuz you wanted your ball? Tommy! These men are strangers! They're not safe! And that nanner they gave me tasted terrible." Chuckie said, a look of disgust crossing his face.
"Well why did you eat it then?" Tommy asked.
"I was hoping eating the nanner would get them to take us home." Chuckie replied, loosening his grip on Tommy's shirt.
"Come on Chuckie, help me get my ball." Tommy said, dragging a suitcase over to the table.
Chuckie let out a sigh, realizing he wasn't going to get his way unless he helped out Tommy, so followed behind him. Tommy was standing on top of the suitcase, but still couldn't quite reach the table, so Chuckie, being slightly taller, comes up behind Tommy, and climbs on top of the suitcase, only for one of his untied shoelaces to get caught on the clasp that keeps the suitcase closed, unfascining it, at which time, the lid pops open, knocking Tommy to the floor, and revealing to the boys, a collection of money and beautiful shiny jewls, which excite the toddlers.
"Wow Tommy, look!" Chuckie comments, pointing to the shiny rocks in the suitcase.
"Wow! Rocks!" Tommy cries, picking up some of the jewls and examining them.
Chuckie picks up some of the jewls and gives them a closer look.
"What do we do with them?" Chuckie asks.
"I know, let's throw them!" Tommy suggests.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea. We might get in trouble." Chuckie says, then gasps.
"Wait a minute Tommy, that's a great idea, but Tommy, where could we throw them?" Chuckie asks, looking around the room.
Tommy was doing the same, until he spots the door to the bathroom.
"I know, follow me." Tommy said, running towards the bathroom with Chuckie tagging after him.
Once inside the bathroom, Tommy points over at the potty, where he throws one of the rubies he's holding. Chuckie watches it floating around in the water at the bottom of the toilet bowl, and starts giggling, finding the sight of the floating rock amusing. Realizing that this sounds fun, he, too, starts throwing the jewls he's holding in his hands. The boys have fun throwing the rocks in the toilet, completely forgetting about Tommy's ball or where they are for a brief moment, until the crooks return from the kitchen to find their toddler charges have disappeared.
"Oh no!" Bob and Mike scream simultaneously.
"Where did they go?" Bob asked.
"Well they've gotta be around here somewhere." Bob replied.
"Of course they've gotta be around here somewhere. I mean, it's not like they disappeared in the get away stroller." Mike said.
"Okay Wise Guy, you tell me where they went." Bob said.
At that moment, they overhear Tommy and Chuckie giggling and stuff being tossed into their toilet. Curious, the two men go to investigate.
"Oh no! The rubies!" The men cry, spotting their rubies in the toilet.
"Bad babies!" Mike screams, trying to grab the toddlers, who run quickly out of the room before he can grab them up.
"What are we gonna do?" Bob asks.
Tommy turns for a brief second towards the bathroom and coos.
"Tommy! Let's get out of here!" Chuckie whispers in his ear, grabbing his arm and dragging him back towards the living room.
"Oh no, I'm not sticking my hands in there." Bob says, looking back towards the toilet.
"Well I'm not doing it, I did it last time!" Mike argues.
"I got a cut on my finger, I'm not putting my hands in there." Bob argues.
"You can put a cut in that finger I'm not doing it either! My hands are my life!" Mike argues.
"Well mine are more than my life, they're my death if I put them in there I'm not putting them in there." Bob argues back.
As the two crooks continue to quarrel in the bathroom, Tommy and Chuckie are exploring the living room, trying to find a way to get his ball and a way to escape.
"Tommy, how are we gonna get up there? The suitcase didn't work." Chuckie says.
Just then, Tommy spots the vacuum cleaner.
"I know, maybe this would work." Tommy says, climbing on top of the vacuum.
"I don't know about this." Chuckie says, just as Tommy's foot accidentally hits the power switch, turning on the unit.
"Help me Chuckie!" Tommy screams, the vacuum getting out of control.
"I'm coming Tommy!" Chuckie screams, running up towards the vacuum, where he grabs the hose, which he accidentally points towards his hair, and the suction tries to suck up his hair.
"AAAHHH! My hair!" Chuckie screams, finding the attachment stuck to his head, because it's trying to suck off his hair, but can't because Chuckie's hair is stuck to his head.
"I'm coming Chuckie!" Tommy cries, jumping off of the vacuum and running up to Chuckie, where he grabs the hose out of his hand.
Only right then, he throws the hose towards the open suitcase, where it vacuums up the cash. Just then, Bob and Mike walk back into the living room to see the cash being vacuumed up.
"The cash!" Mike screams, just as Bob reaches in and turns off the unit.
"Those kids are traumatized." Bob comments.
"Forget these kids how do we get our money?" Mike asks.
"I know, turn it on, in reverse!" Bob suggests, as he switches the vacuum on in the opposite direction.
Just then, the cash along with all of the dust in the vacuum come pouring out all over the room, covering everybody in dust and making Chuckie sneeze, as well as the crooks cough.
"I can't see nothing!" Bob screams in between his coughs.
Just then, Tommy notices a chair that helps him climb up to the table, where he retrieves his ball from the window sill. By this point, the crooks have switched off the vacuum, and as the dust clears, they notice that Tommy is about to fall out the window.
"Don't look now but half of our little smackers is about to fall out the window!" Mike panics.
"Quick! Grab him!" Bob screams, as the two men climb up on the table and manage to push Tommy away from the window sill, only for them to fall out of the window instead, making a huge loud thud and crash down below.
"AAAHHH!" The two men scream.
As a result of them being injured, they don't return for several minutes, as they landed on an arning down below, and manage to repel down a poll of somebody's back porch down to the ground, but not without getting several cuts and bruises in the process, and poor Mike hurting his leg as well. The two men slowly make their way back into the building and the long climb up to their apartment, while Tommy and Chuckie find they have the place to themselves.
"I don't think we're ever gonna get home Tommy." Chuckie cries in panic, as Tommy throws the ball towards him, the two boys now in the middle of the living room floor.
"Oh sure we will Chuckie." Tommy says, just as Chuckie catches the ball.
"But how? Those guys fell out the window. I don't think they're coming back Tommy." Chuckie said.
"Then we've gots to find a way home ourselves." Tommy said, looking around.
"But how?" Chuckie asks.
"We've gotta think!" Tommy cries, just as Chuckie throws the ball back at him and their game of catch continues.
No sooner has Tommy caught the ball, when Bob and Mike open the door to their apartment. The two men are covered in cuts and bruises, and Mike is limping on his leg.
"Ow! My leg hurts." Mike complains.
"And I have cuts everywhere! And look at the kids! Sitting there, plotting their next move." Bob comments, watching as Tommy and Chuckie continue to play catch with the purple ball.
"You're right Mikey, there's got to be an easier way to make a million smackers." Bob said.
"You mean one that doesn't require us to get a booboo?" Bob asks, kicking up a cloud of dust in the air.
Just then, the dust goes in Chuckie's direction, as he lets out a loud sneeze, sending snot on to Mike's hand.
"Eeewww! Gross! Four Eyes and Baby Thump are really starting to bug me!" Mike screams.
Just then, Tommy makes a poop in his diapers.
"And Baby Thump stinks!" Bob adds.
"And let me guess, we don't have any fresh diapers around here, do we?" Mike asks, rolling his eyes.
Bob looks around the apartment, but can't find any.
"Nope, and I have no idea how to make a diaper." Bob said.
Mike lets out a sigh.
"Then I guess, there's only one thing to do." Mike said, picking up Chuckie, who lets out another sneeze, this time, sending the snot into Mike's face.
"And that's what?" Bob asks.
Mike wipes the snot out of his face, glaring at the redhead in disgust.
"Take! Them! Home!" Mike angrily screams at the top of his lungs.
Just then, Bob picks up Tommy, and the two men run out of their apartment in a panic, poor Mike screaming in pain as he's attempting to run down the stairs with his injured leg.
Once they reached the bottom, they climbed into their car and drove in the direction of Tommy's house. The babies turn to one another.
"You did it Chuckie! You got the men to take us home. And I've gots my ball too." Tommy said with a smile, holding up the purple ball to Chuckie.
"Yeah, I guess I did." Chuckie says, smiling eagerly as he stares out the window, seeing the familiar houses in his neighborhood come into view, as Mike traveled in the direction of the Pickles house, he and Bob sitting in the front seat riding in silence, feeling a bit guilty about taking these kids.
Meanwhile, back at the Pickles residence, Lou had eventually fallen back to sleep, when Stu emerged from the basement.
"Oh, hi Pop." Stu said upon entering the living room.
"Oh, I was just resting my eyes." Lou said, waking up and stretching.
"Wait till you check out my new fancy lazer oven Pop. Where are Tommy and Chuckie?" Stu asked.
"Sleeping I suppose, haven't heard a peep out of them all afternoon." Lou replied, just as Stu noticed the piece of paper on the table, that was the ransom note.
"What's this?" Stu asked, picking up the note.
"Came with the newspaper, probably the bill." Lou said.
"Dear Ronald Thump." Stu started to read aloud from the piece of paper in his hands, just as he heard the doorbell ring.
He went to answer the door to find the two men standing there, carrying Tommy and Chuckie.
"Please! Take these kids back. We're really sorry, and we've learned our lesson Mister Thump." Mike screamed, tossing Tommy and Chuckie into Stu's arms.
"And you might wanna blow the redhead's nose, and get the other kid a fresh diaper." Bob adds, just as Mike grabs his arm.
"Let's leave! Now!" Mike screams, dragging his partner down the steps, barely able to walk, as the two injured men run to their car and climb in, driving off.
"Who are those guys?" Stu asks, losing hold of the ransom note as he holds Tommy and Chuckie in each arm.
The wind blows the note through an open window on Bob and Mike's car right into Mike's face, obstructing his view of the road, as he runs into a red light, and if Chuckie's sneezing wasn't enough of a bit of karma for the poor crooks, they were really going to get it now, when the Police stops and notices what has happened.
"Boy you men are in trouble. Running a red light, destroying public property." An officer says, removing the piece of paper from Mike's face and studying the note.
"Boy Harry, you're not going to believe this." The officer says to another officer, reading the note.
Just then, an officer sees to taking the two men out of the car, putting them into handcuffs, and escorting them into the back of a Police car, just as Didi's car drives past and she returns home to find Tommy and Chuckie on the lawn with Stu. Didi gets out of the car with her purchases and walks up to her husband, son, and son's best friend.
"Hello boys, did you have fun while I was gone? I bought something especially for you." Didi says, reaching into her bag and leaning into Stu's ear to whisper something.
"Those boys could probably use some stimulation after having such a quiet day." Didi whispers, presenting the banana toy to Tommy and Chuckie.
"Here you go boys." Didi says, squeezing the banana toy and making it squeak.
Just then, with the sight of the banana reminding Chuckie of the awful tasting banana he had earlier that day, the redhead screams in terror, with Tommy following close behind him. The two toddlers continue to let out a long scream, as a few houses down the block, we hear the Police men's siron, and see one of them driving off with Bob and Mike in the back of their car towards the Police station.
The End
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed my alternate take on that episode. Yeah, if you noticed how ridiculous Tommy was being at points, I had to keep some things in tact from the original, and it seems from what I could tell, minus much dialogue, that all Tommy seemed to care about in the original episode, was getting his purple ball back. Never mind that he was with strangers. Chuckie on-the-other-hand, being more of a voice of reason, would be plumb terrified to be kidnapped, and would try to convince Tommy otherwise, that they had bigger problems here than worrying about some dumb old ball. And I almost decided to make Chuckie not find throwing the rubies into the potty unenjoyable, but he obviously thinks it's okay to throw things in the potty, as we learned in a season 7 episode, when he does just that at the beginning of the episode, and once I do a little bit of research, I plan to come up with a prologue for what led him to do that in the first place, which I hope to release sometime later. Also, another difference in this alternate take from the original, was having Bob and Mike injur themselves when they fell out of the window. I know it's just an animated cartoon, but to fall out a window from high up on a building and not get injured at all? I found that to be a bit misleading, and felt that needed to be changed. I almost thought about having them gone for several hours and it getting dark, and having Didi come home to find the boys missing, as well as Chas when he came to pick up Chuckie, and then, decided against it, having Chuckie sneeze in Mike's face instead, being the final straw to get them to take them back, which, we don't exactly see in the original episode what really made them decide to take Tommy back, just them realizing the kid isn't going to be worth much money, so ultimately, deciding to take him home. Yes, I did my best to fill in some plot wholes that weren't filled in the original, and fix anything unrealistic to a degree. So with that said, what do you all think? Do you like the original episode better? Or my alternate take here? Would love to know in your review should you leave one, and with that said, thanks for reading, and I hope to be back with more material, sometime very soon.