Warning: This fanfic is REALLY sad. Read at your own risk. You have been warned!

Doggone Spunky

One day in O-Town, Rocko is reading a newspaper. His dog, Spunky, comes up to him. He wanted to play with Rocko so he barked.

"Spunky, I'd love to play with you," said Rocko. "But I'm kind of busy right now."

Spunky grows sad. Then he barks some more.

"I already told you, Spunky," Rocko told again. "I'm busy."

Spunky is now impatient. He begins to howl very loudly. Rocko is now aggravated.

"Spunky, can't I be alone for one minute?" Rocko yelled at the top of his voice. "I'll play with you later!"

Spunky is scared by his tone. He sadly goes outside by going through his dog flap and then he runs off on the pavement. But what Rocko doesn't know is that he's going to regret shouting at him sooner or later.

Meanwhile, Ai is walking on the pavement.

"I love this kind of weather," said Ai. "Sugoi da yo ne (It's beautiful)."

Suddenly, Spunky runs up to Ai.

"Hi, little dog," giggled Ai. "What's your name?"

Ai looks at Spunky's name tag.

"Oh, I see," she smiled. "Your name's Spunky. That's a very cute name."

Ai stands up.

"You seem lost. Can I take you home until your owner finds you?" Ai asked.

Spunky responds by barking happily.

"Yoshi (Okay)," said Ai. "I'll call the lost pets department later if I have the chance."

Ai then picked up Spunky and walked to her house.

Meanwhile, Rocko has finished reading his newspaper.

"Time to play with Spunky, but I wonder where he could be," said Rocko.

He went into the kitchen but Spunky wasn't there.

"Spunky!" called Rocko. But Spunky didn't arrive.

"Where are you, Spunky?" Rocko called again. But Spunky still never appeared.

Rocko looked everywhere in his house. But Spunky was nowhere to be found.

"That's strange," said Rocko. "He was here moments ago. Where is he?"

Then, Rocko started having bad thoughts.

"What if he's been taken away?" Rocko thought horrifyingly. "Or if he's being attacked? Or worse…what if he's ran away?"

Right after saying "ran away", he then knew that dogs can run away. Is he thinking…that Spunky's ran away?

"Oh no, Spunky hasn't ran away, has he?" Rocko exclaimed, getting scared. "Did he?"

Then suddenly, he knew what happened to his dog.

"Oh no…Spunky…has…gone…" he said quietly, his voice choking up.

Now Rocko was regretting what he had done. His feelings are hurt very painfully. His eyes are all watery and he could feel tears running down his face. His lower lip and hands started to quiver.

"No…it can't be…" he sobbed "No! No! No! No!"

Rocko fell to his knees and started sniffling.

"Oh, why did I make you run away Spunky?" he sobbed. "Oh crikey…I'm so sorry…"

More tears spilled from Rocko's eyes as he started to cry uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, Spunky!" Rocko exclaimed, tears flying out his eyes. "I wish you came back! I WISH YOU CAME BACK!"

Rocko then started crying more harder. In fact, he was wailing…for his lost dog.

Meanwhile, Heffer and Filburt are walking to Rocko's house.

"Okay, here we are at fun central! Rocko's house!" cheered Heffer.

Filburt knocked on Rocko's front door.

"Go away!" Rocko yelled tearfully at the door, not opening it. His line made Heffer and Filburt confused.

"Rocko, what's wrong?" asked Filburt. "What's with the foul mood?"

"I TOLD YOU TO GO AWAY!" Rocko screamed, making Heffer and Filburt recoil. He is then heard crying.

"Heff, I don't think something's right," Filburt whispered to Heffer.

Filburt started knocking Rocko's front door again.

"Rocko, open the door and tell us what's wrong," Filburt called to Rocko.

"Why should I?" asked Rocko.

"It's okay to tell someone," replied Filburt.

"Well, if you wish," said Rocko.

Rocko opened his front door. That's when Heffer and Filburt got a shock.

"Woah!" Heffer gasped.

"Oh dear," said Filburt

Well, let's survey the damage, eh? Rocko's eyes were bloodshot and they were overflowing heavily, covering his cheeks in tears. He was doing his best to stifle his crying.

"Spunky…he…" Rocko whimpered, choking back his sobbing. "He…"

"What happened to Spunky?" asked Heffer.

Finally, Rocko couldn't hold it in anymore.

"HE RAN AWAY!" Rocko blurted out.

Heffer and Filburt gasped. That's when Rocko began to cry…really hard and quite loudly, causing his best friends to cringe a bit, even though they were sympathetic.

"Oh no, poor Spunky!" gasped Heffer.

Filburt quickly went up to Rocko and hugged him comfortingly.

"There, there Rocko," said Filburt. "Cheer up. We'll find Spunky. No more tears, okay?"

Rocko's crying dies down.

"You're right Filburt," answered Rocko, starting to smile. "Let's go find Spunky."

"Not with those tears on your face you're not," said Filburt, letting go of Rocko. "Why don't you go wash up first?"

"Okay," said Rocko.

Rocko went inside to wash his face in the bathroom. Moments later, he came back with a better face.

"Okay, guys, let's go," said Rocko.

Rocko, Heffer and Filburt then run off to find Spunky.

Meanwhile, Ai is playing fetch with Spunky in her back garden.

"You're very nice, Spunky-kun," said Ai.

Two cats are watching Ai play with Spunky. One has black fur and the other has white fur. They run outside with balls of wool. Just as Ai is about to throw Spunky's ball, she sees the cats. She runs up to them.

"Yuriko-chan. Kenji-kun. Do you want to play with Spunky-kun?" asked Ai. The cats purr with agreement. Ai lets out a giggle.

"Okay, then," Ai chuckled.

Yuriko (the black one) starts playing with her ball of wool. Kenji (the white one) gives a piece of wool to Spunky. Spunky plays with the piece. Ai watches them play with a smile.

Meanwhile, Rocko, Heffer and Filburt are looking for Spunky.

"Spunky! Spunky! Spunky!" they called out.

The guys have tried asking people and putting up posters everywhere in the neighbourhood. But by now, they haven't found any luck.

"Well, I hate to say this but Spunky's gone forever," sighed Heffer.

"Oh no!" gasped Rocko. "My poor little dog is gonna be missed!"

Rocko bursts into tears. This made Filburt angry.

"Now look what you've done, Heffer!" scolded Filburt. "Rocko was just fine until now!"

"Hey! It wasn't my fault!" Heffer yelled back.

"Oh yes it is, you dummy! You made Rocko cry!"

"WELL I DIDN'T REALIZE SAYING AN UPSETTING THING ABOUT SPUNKY WHEN HE'S RAN AWAY MAKES HIM CRY, OKAY?"

"DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT OR ANY OTHER UPSETTING THING ABOUT SPUNKY AGAIN, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

"ALRIGHT! I WON'T, OKAY? ANYWAY, THIS IS A KIDS FANFIC!"

Heffer and Filburt recoiled when Rocko started crying his eyes out more harder.

"Okay, I think we better cool down," said Filburt, regretting the argument he just had. "I think we're scaring him."

"Yeah, I think we should," said Heffer, also regretting his argument.

Filburt went over to Rocko and gave him another hug.

"Shh. It's okay, Rocko." said Filburt, consoling Rocko. "There's no need for the waterworks. Don't cry anymore. How about you ask Ai?"

Rocko calmed down at the saying of the word "Ai." He knew that Ai was a nice young girl so he decided to go with Filburt's choice.

"Well, okay," replied Rocko.

Wiping his tears away, Rocko started to run all the way to Ai's house.

Meanwhile, Ai is practicing her karate moves as Yuriko, Kenji and Spunky watching when she heard the doorbell.

"Imaderu yo (I'll get it)!" called Ai.

Ai opened the door to see Rocko standing on her doorstep.

"Rocko-chan, konni-" began Ai but is cut off to see tears in Rocko's eyes.

"Daijoubu, Rocko-chan (Are you okay, Rocko-chan)?" asked Ai. "What's the matter?"

"Ai, it's terrible!" cried Rocko. "My dog ran away!"

Rocko ran into Ai's arms and started crying again.

"Oh my gosh," Ai gasped. "Do you know what caused him to do that?"

"Well, he wanted to play with me but I was reading my newspaper so I said that I'll play with him later," Rocko explained, sobbing. "He pleaded again and I said the same thing. When did it again, I shouted at him 'can't I be alone for one minute? I'll play with you later!' And then, I finished reading my newspaper and tried to find him so I could play with him but I couldn't and that's when I realized he'd already ran away."

Rocko cried more harder than before as Ai hugged him back and started rubbing his back gently.

"Yoshi, yoshi (There, there)," consoled Ai. "What's his name?"

"Spunky," replied Rocko.

"Hey, that reminds me," said Ai. "I took in a dog who ran away from his owner."

"What was his name?" asked Rocko.

"His name is Spunky," Ai answered back.

"Spunky? You kept him safe?" questioned Rocko.

"Yes. Wanna see him?" replied Ai.

Rocko nodded his head. They went inside and arrived in the living room. That's when Rocko saw Spunky and started to smile. Instead of sadness, he was now shedding tears of joy.

"Spunky!" called Rocko.

Spunky ran up to Rocko, who was now on the verge of crying happily.

"Oh, I'm so glad your safe," said Rocko, his voice shaking as he hugged Spunky. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. Thank you for finding him, Ai. I thought I've lost him forever."

"It's okay, Rocko-chan," said Ai, smiling. "I was going to call the lost pets department but I'm glad you've found him."

Rocko nodded as he sniffled. Ai gave him a tissue, which he wiped his eyes and face with. Just then, he saw Yuriko and Kenji walking up to them.

"Hey, what cute cats," said Rocko. "Who are they called?"

"Yuriko and Kenji," replied Ai. "I've had them since I used to live in Japan. I got Yuriko from a person selling kittens and I got Kenji from a pet shop."

"Their names are nice," said Rocko. "I really have to go now."

"Okay. Sayonara," said Ai.

"Come on, Spunky," Rocko called to Spunky.

Rocko and Spunky went out of the house.

Meanwhile, Heffer and Filburt were waiting for Rocko. Just then, Rocko appeared with Spunky.

"Filburt, good news!" called Rocko. "Spunky was at Ai's house! Ai just kept him safe."

"Wow, that girl is very nice!" cried Filburt.

"I know!" agreed Heffer.

"You know, it's getting pretty late," said Rocko. "Let's all go home."

"Okay, see you tomorrow!" replied Filburt.

Heffer and Filburt walk off.

"Let's go, Spunky," Rocko called.

Rocko and Spunky went home.

THE END