Chapter 2, Zack
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I please see Zachary Michael Wehrenberg up on the stage please?" Celrock asked, her head towards the audience.
The blond twenty-two-month-old toddler jumped out of his seat and ran up on to the stage, placing himself right next to Celrock.
"Here I am." Zack replied.
"Hector, we're ready." Celrock called, turning her head towards back stage, where Hector walked out.
Hector, now three-years-old, had aged quite nicely since the last time anybody had ever seen him. His head was now covered with very curly black hair, and along with his yellow signature t-shirt, rather than wearing a diaper, he now wore a pair of dark blue overall shorts, white socks, and black sneakers. It was also apparent that the three-year-old had all of his teeth, as he lit up with a huge smile, showing all of his baby teeth.
"Hi Hector, it's a pleasure to see you again, as we haven't seen you since season 2!" Said Celrock, who squatted down to Hector's level, and shook his hand.
"Thank you Celrock." Said Hector, as he went over to a red toddler sized chair set out on the stage, and sat down. Zack sat down across from him in a blue toddler sized chair.
"So, are you boys ready to start the interview?" Celrock asked.
"Yep." Zack and Hector replied simultaneously.
"Ok, let the interview, begin!" Said Celrock, as she stepped out of the way, allowing Zack and Hector to take the stage.
"Thank you." Said Hector.
"So Hector, I must ask you, how did you meet the Rugrats?" Zack asked.
"Well, I've only met Tommy and Angelica, and it was a couple of years ago when going in for my checkup. It had something to do with a rooster shot, I mean, booster shot." Said Hector.
"Oh wow, I bet that was painful." Said Zack.
"Well, to make a long story short, me and Tommy tried to run away, avoiding the shot all together, but Angelica squealed on us. In the end though, it wasn't a half bad thing that Angelica proved herself to be a tattletail, as we got our shots, and they weren't as bad as we made them out to be." Said Hector.
"Well that's good." Said Zack with a grin.
"So Zack, how did you meet the rugrats?" Hector asked.
"Well, I met them in a much better situation than you did, I met them at the park, on Chuckie's third birthday, a hair over a year ago now. Chuckie is the red head in the front row with glasses, and he's Tommy's bestest friend. I was only eight-months-old at the time, and poor Tommy, was in the process of getting over The Gray Plague. Me and Chuckie played together, and I attended his third birthday party, Reptar Live, and it took me a little while to warm up to the rest of the gang, but before I knew it, we broke the ice, and became really good friends." Said Zack.
"Wow, that's great! So how old are you now?" Hector asked.
"I'm twenty-two-months-old, which means, I'm not too far off from turning two." Said Zack.
"Oh boy, the terrible two's are upon you. Good luck." Said Hector.
"Awe, I'm not too worried. I watched Tommy go through them, as he recently turned three-years-old, and while the child went through everything, from getting potty trained, from suffering from The Love Bug, to a broken leg, food poisoning, getting his first library card, and nearly drowning on a camping trip, not to mention, some terrible treatment on our most recent vacation to Washington D.C. if there's one thing I learned, no matter what terrible things come your way when you're two-years-old, stand your ground, remain tough, and never give up. And I intend on following in Tommy's footsteps over this next year. If I do that, I'm sure I'll make it through the dreadful terrible two's with no problem." Said Zack.
"Oh I'm sure you will, you seem like a pretty tough, smart kid to me." Said Hector.
"Well, I am pretty smart. Heck, I can already read!" Said Zack.
"You can? That's amazing! I barely know my alphabet, and how to count to ten." Said Hector.
"Well, everybody learns at their own pace, but thanks to preschool, I'm sure you'll learn lots more stuff." Said Zack.
"Yep, and I'm pretty excited about preschool. I only hope Angelica isn't there though, as mommy took me in for an evaluation with some nice lady named Miss Weemer, and I saw Angelica in her classroom." Said Hector.
"Uh, Hector, Angelica will be heading off to kindergarten in the fall, and kindergarten meets in a completely different school building from preschool, so you've got nothing to worry about." Said Celrock.
"Oh, thanks Celrock, that puts me at ease." Said Hector with a sigh.
"So, got anymore questions for me?" Zack asked.
"Yeah, what is your family like?" Hector asked.
"Oh, my family is interesting. I don't gots a mommy and a daddy." Said Zack.
"What about brothers and sisters? Grandparents?" Hector asked.
"Nope, I don't gots any brothers and sisters, and my grandparents on my daddy's side of the family died when my parents did." Said Zack.
"What happened?" Hector asked.
"My family died in a fire that burned their house down while they were sleeping. I still gots grandparents on my mommy's side of the family, but they live far far away in a place called Wheeling, West Virginia. I don't get to see them very often." Said Zack.
"So are you adopted?" Hector asked.
"Not exactly, unless you wanna say that my aunt adopted me. I live with my Aunty Celeste. She's tall with dark brown hair, and must really like the color blue, cuz she wears it a lot. She's blind, which means she can't see, and she works at a radio station, but she's the bestest aunt there is. She takes care of me, feeds me, reads me stories and tucks me in at night. She's always taking me to fun and exciting places, like to music class with my friends, or to Sherry Berry concerts at Nature Village, and when she can't take care of me, or has to work, she makes sure there's somebody to take care of me, like Taffy, King Peter Albany of the Confederacy, or one of my friends parents. Usually Tommy and Dil's mommy and daddy." Said Zack.
"Dil? I know a Tommy, but not a Dil." Said Hector, a look of confusion on his face.
"Oh, that's right, Celrock was mentioning to Dil that you met Tommy before Dil was born." Said Zack.
"I take it Dil is his little brother?" Hector asked.
"Yep." Zack replied.
"Well, I'm sorry about what happened to your family, but I must ask you, if your aunt is blind, how does she get you to all of these interesting places?" Hector asked.
"She has a special driverless van that talks and drives itself. I tried to use it one time to take all of my friends to Tommy's mommy's graduation, when she went forward to school, but we got into lots of trouble." Said Zack.
"Uh oh." Said Hector.
"Yeah, it wasn't a lot of fun, but I learned my lesson to never do that again. Some toys are for growed ups only." Said Zack.
"Speaking of growed ups, what do you wanna do when you're all growed up?" Hector asked.
"Hmmm, well, I love libraries, I wouldn't mind being a librarian someday. Or maybe being a teacher." Said Zack.
"Wow, I bet you'd do good at both. Me, I wanna be a fireman someday, just like my daddy, who I hardly ever see." Said Hector.
"What happened?" Zack asked.
"Well, it's a long story, but here it goes. A long time ago, before going to get my booster shot and meeting Tommy and Angelica at that doctor's office, when I was just a little baby, barely crawling and able to utter a few words to the older babies at the park, my mommy and daddy were constantly yelling at each other a lot. I don't exactly knows what they were so mad about, but one day, my daddy walked out of our house carrying a suitcase, and he never came back. I see him every once in a while, as he'll come for short visits, taking me to the circus, to carnivals, or to get bites to eat, and one time, he let me come with him to the fire station and beep the horn on his truck, but that's about it. I live with just my mommy, and the rest, is history." Said Hector with a sigh.
"Awe, I'm sorry your mommy and daddy got a divorce." Said Zack.
"Is that what happened?" Hector asked.
"Yes Hector, they got a divorce. That's what happens when a mommy and a daddy don't love each other no more." Said Zack.
"Oh, I see. Thanks for explaining it to me." Said Hector.
"You're welcome." Said Zack.
"So, do you miss your mommy and daddy?" Hector asked.
"Sometimes, but I losted them when I was so little, and my aunty has been taking care of me most of my life, that she seems more like a mommy and a daddy than I recall my real mommy and daddy ever being, plus, she tells me they lived in a different part of America, so chances are if they were still alive, I might have never met the rugrats, so in a way, Bob got rid of them for a reason, and as far as I'm concerned, it was a good reason, so I don't regret being without a mommy and a daddy one bit." Said Zack.
"I wish I felt the same way. I wish I had my daddy around more, though my mommy keeps hanging out with a new lady, and they keep talking about how happy they are that something called gay marriage got legalized in the United States." Said Hector.
"What's that all about?" Zack asked.
"I don't know but my mommy keeps telling me I might soon have two mommies, not sure what it's all about, but if it means that other lady my mommy keeps hanging out with might be moving in with us, she is very nice to me, I suppose I can give this second mommy thing a try." Said Hector.
"Good luck." Said Zack.
"Thanks." Said Hector.
"No problem Hector." Said Zack.
"So, changing the subject, do you gots a favoritest stuper hero?" Hector asked.
"Oooh boy do I ever! My favoritest stuper hero of all times, is none other than, Super Why! He's so amazing, cuz he uses the power to read to save the day!" Said Zack excitedly.
"Really? That's my favoritest stuper hero too! I'm also a huge fan of Curious George." Said Hector.
"Me too!" Said Zack with a smile.
"Do your other friends like them?" Hector asked.
"Oh, you mean Tommy and the gang? Well, yes and no. Most of us like Super Why, except for Tommy, and while I like both, the TV show and books of Curious George, everybody else prefers the books, not caring much for the TV show." Said Zack.
"I see. What about Reptar or Captain Squash?" Hector asked.
"Now you're talking! Reptar and Captain Squash are the bestest, and me and all of my friends totally like them!" Said Zack.
"What's your favoritest Reptar movie?" Hector asked.
"Reptar versus the Mole People." Zack replied.
"Got a favoritest food?" Hector asked.
"I've gots lots of favorite foods. I like sausage, all kinds of fruits, French bread, sweet potatoes, and vanilla ice scream!" Zack replied.
"I like ice cream too." Said Hector.
"Who doesn't? A baby who doesn't like ice cream, well, they're just, not cool!" Said Zack.
"You said it." Said Hector, before Celrock interrupted the conversation.
"Excuse me, but Hector, your time is almost up. You have just enough time to ask Zack one more question before your mom will be here to pick you up." Said Celrock.
"Ok, thank you Celrock. So Zack, my lastest question for you is, out of all of your friends, who do you like the mostest?" Hector asked.
Zack sat there, looking out at the audience of toddlers, staring at the faces of all of his friends in the first row. Poor Zack was at a dilemma, as he didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings, so thinking fast, as he knew Hector was just about out of time, he came up with something quick, that he only hoped wouldn't hurt any of his friends feelings.
"Well Hector, I like all of my friends, but if I could only spend the day with one friend, I'd pick my friend Kimi, who's the little sister of Chuckie." Said Zack.
"Why Kimi?" Hector asked.
"Because she's sweet, always has a smile for me when I need one, not to mention, she's always coming up with great ideas, has an excellent imagination, and is always ready for aventures and to try new things. I could spend all day with just Kimi, and never grow bored or unhappy." Said Zack with a smile.
"Oh wow that's great! Hopefully someday, I can meet this Kimi person, she sounds really cool!" Said Hector.
"Hector, your mom's hear." Said Celrock, as she pointed to back stage, to where Hector's mom was peering out from behind the curtins.
"Well Zack, I've gots to go, but it was a pleasure getting to know you. I hope we can meet again sometime." Said Hector.
"Me too, and thank you." Said Zack.
The two boys waved, as Hector got out of his chair and ran up to his mom, took her hand and walked off stage.
"Now, I happen to know that the bulk of you guys in the audience already know Zack quite well, so, I'm gonna give the rest of you rugrats a choice. Do you wanna ask Zack some questions? Or do you wanna skip it?" Celrock asked.
"I've gots a question, what made Celrock come up with you anyways?" Tommy asked.
"I believe I'm based off of her nephew in real life, that has the same name. Like me, he likes Super Why, Curious George, and has blond hair, but I'm not sure if he's as smart as I am. No matter, he's celrock's inspiration, and for that, I am very glad." Said Zack.
"Hey Zack, if you could appear in one episode of Rugrats with us, which one would it be?" Kimi asked.
"Oh, you mean go back in time and be in one of the original episodes?" Zack asked, making sure he understood the question correctly.
"Uh huh?" Kimi replied.
"Well, I would have loved to have been in the episode, 'Bigger Than Life,' or 'Adventure Squad,' as I would have gotten to see what you were like before we metted, and I think those episodes of make believe fun and aventure, would have been so much fun!" Said Zack excitedly.
"Oh boy, that would have been fun." Said Kimi.
"I don't know, 'Bigger Than Life,' yes, 'Aventure Squad,' no." Said Chuckie.
"Why not?" Zack asked.
"Cuz, when we all tried to play Adventure Squad, we already had a hard enough time with having enough stuff to do when we played that without you in the mix. No offense Zack, but had you been there, I think somebody would have been bored out of their mind, with absolutely nothing to do, as there were only five aventure guys, and, well, adding you in there, uh, um, would have made it…" Chuckie stuttered, trying to finish his sentence, without much success, before Zack butted in.
"I get ya, with six of us there, playing Adventure Squad would have been nearly impossible." Said Zack.
"Yeah, that's it." Said Chuckie.
"Ok, who else gots questions for me?" Zack asked.
The toddlers just stared at Zack, clueless as to where to go next, as they already knew Zack so well, after playing with him, more or less, everyday for the past year, that nobody could really think of anything else to say.
"Ok, you guys are all set? No more questions for Zack?" Celrock asked.
"Nah, let's move on to the nextest person." Said Chuckie.
Celrock looked down and read over the Braille on the index card in her hand, then turned her gaze back to the Rugrats before continuing.
"Well, that's all of the interviews for today. Tomorrow, I will be taking the day off, as Boris Yeltsin fills in for me, and we interview his two OC's, Jake, and Ron." Said Celrock.
"Wow neat!" Said Tommy.
"So who will be interviewing them?" Chuckie asked.
"Jake will be interviewed by Angelica's first boyfriend Deen, while Ron will be interviewed by the Junk Food kid's last victom, Belinda." Said Celrock.
"This ought to be interesting." Said Zack, as he hopped out of his chair up on stage, heading back out into the audience, and returning to his seat in the second row behind Dil.
"Well everybody, that concludes the interviews for today. Come back tomorrow, when Boris Yeltsin and his OC's take center stage, as we have some more season 2 one-shot characters, do the questioning. Until next time, this is Celrock, signing off." Said Celrock, as she waved goodbye, and a red curtin fell before her on stage.
And this, ends chapter 2. And yes, tomorrow, this story shall continue, when we see Boris Yeltsin appear in chapter 3, along with his OC Jake, and one-shot Rugrats character, Deen, interviewing him.