Author's Note: I should warn you, some very dark stuff happens in this chapter, so if you're curling up to read this right before going to sleep, I advise you to stop, and read this when you're freshly awake, don't wish for you to get any nightmares. And if I've caused anybody to get any nightmares from reading this chapter, I sincerely apologize in advance. Now, let's get on, with the next chapter!
Chapter 7, It's 1, 2, 3 Strikes You're Out
The early morning of August 10, 2014…
Tommy POV
Up to this point, I had been having a miserable time with these Bob and Mike people. It was even worser than the lastest time they tooked me away. Maybe it's because the firstest time they tooked me away, I was only with these peoples for a few hours? Point is, I was miserable, and I had enough of being their little distracter, especially after what I founded out yesterday night after we returned to our awful home from the library. I was sitting over on my uncomfortable pile of newspapers they figured would make a perfect bed for me, even though it was everything but perfect, it was quite uncomfortable, when I overheard them having this conversation over on their cots.
"Well, so far so good, just need to hit National's Stadium tomorrow, and we'll have just enough money to hand over to the guards of the Whitehouse come Monday to send them off on a trip to Hawaii so we can break in there, kill the President, and take over the country." Said Mike with an evil smile on his face, as he held a shoebox in his lap full of money.
"Awesome! Awesome stuff! I like it." Said Bob approvingly, liking this plan.
"But wait, what about the kid?" Mike asked.
"Oh, baby thump? No worries, I have a plan to get rid of him." Said Bob, as he lay down to take a nap.
Mike carefully got out of his cot, placed the shoebox back under the bed, then curled up in his bed to take a nap, since there was nothing left to do.
After hearing all of this though, I realized that these two guys were up to no good, and that I needed to find a way out of there, before they did something to me that I'd regret. Not to mention, I was hungry, as I hadn't had a bite to eat in over a day, thirsty, as the last thing I had to drink was some water from that rejecting pool at Jefferson's Memory earlier that day, and I was really tired from not getting much sleep the last few days. Sure I tooked nappies, but they weren't all that restful or comfortable, as I had to sleep on an old pile of newspapers, near a window where either bright sunlight or the moonlight at night was streaming in, keeping me awake. I knew that if I stayed with these guys for too much longer, something bad was going to happen, so once nighttime fell, and those peoples were asleep, I quietly snuck off of my newspaper bed, and started putting my plan into action.
First, remembering where the shoebox was, I knew that this money didn't belong to these guys, they stole it from all of those places we went. Not only that, but they tricked me into helping them, by telling me they were out to save America. You know what? They're not out to save America at all, they're out to destroy it, and it was up to me, to save it, but to do that, I'd need to get all of the money they tooked, and put it somewhere safe where they couldn't get it. So I quietly crawled over to Mike's cot, where I knew the shoebox of all of the moneys they had collected at this point was kept. I pulled the box out from beneath the bed, opened it up, took all of the money out, and started stuffing my shorts pockets full with the stuff. Then, once the shoebox was empty, I tooked out my trusty screwdriver, and went over to the metal door that led in and out of this uncomfortable place. I started pushing on the door, just to see if I could get myself out, but it was too heavy for me, or, perhaps it was locked. Using my plastic screwdriver, I reached up and stuck it into the lock, hoping to get somewhere. Little did I know what was about to happen next. My screwdriver, somehow gotted stucked in the lock. As I tried to pry it loose, it broked in half, leaving half of it lodged in the lock, the other half, the handle end, was in my hand. Upset by this, I thrust the end that was in my hand back into my shorts pocket, collapsed to the floor and started crying. I felt pretty upset, helpless, hopeless, not to mention, hungry, thirsty and exhausted, and I just, wanted it to be all over.
I didn't care what Bob had toldid me back in that closet at the library. Maybe he said the nextest time I cried, I'd be sorry, but really, how sorry would I be? In the end, I was hoping they'd be the ones sorry. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and I was about to have a price to pay that I was going to regret.
Not long after I started crying, Bob and Mike awoke, and boy were they not happy.
"Shut up kid, shut up! Can't you see we're sleeping here?" Bob yelled.
Of course, I didn't stop. Hopefully, if I kept crying long enough, they'd get so sick of me, that they'd toss me out, and sure, this would leave me, lost in our natie's capital, but I didn't care. Eventually, I'd find my family, somehow. Unfortunately, that's not what they did at all. Rather, they did something much worser.
"Well, since you're not gonna stop kid, you know what you deserve? A spanking!" Bob shouted, as he ran over towards me.
Now I had no idea what a spanking was, as I had never heardid that word in my entire life, not even from my own mommy and daddy, but I would soon find out what it was, and, it's nothing good. Bob proceeded to pull up my shirt, pull down my pants, and started hitting my behind really hard. It hurted so bad, it only caused me to cry even louder, this time, causing Mike to wake up and come see what was going on.
"What are you doing?" Mike asked.
"Giving this kid a spanking, cuz he just, won't shut up, and I've had enough of it, but apparently, it's not working!" Bob screamed.
"That's cuz you're doing it all wrong Bob, here, I'll do to the kid what my father use to do to me. Yep that's right, come on Bob, let's pound the stuffing out of him." Said Mike.
This only sounded even worser. I knew I was full of stuffing, or at least that's what Angelica made me think when I gotted my firstest cut a while back, little did I know what was about to happen to me. The nextest thing I knew, Bob and Mike were treating me no better than a bowling ball. Hitting me hard in places all over my body, slamming me against the hard floor and walls of the place, which felt a lot like the sidewalks outside, and only making the pain even worser.
"What are we gonna do Mikey? What are we gonna do?" Bob asked.
"What we should have done a long time ago, back when he threw our rubies into the toilet." Said Mike, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun.
I knew this couldn't be good, as Mike aimed the gun right at me, pulled the trigger, and as quickly as I could, I jumped into the cooler which was open at this point, but that wasn't enough. Mike shot at my left shoulder, sending a painful bullet into my shoulder, leaving a huge whole in the blue shirt I've worn forever, causing blood to come out, drenching my shirt. I was so mad at this point, I reached in with my hands and started throwing all of the ice on to the floor. Bob and Mike ran all over the small room, slipping on the pieces of ice, falling down. I was hoping they would give up, but they were two of the toughest growed ups I ever metted, as well as the meanest. I think they even top Coco in this case, at this moment, I'd do anything to just, be locked away with my friends and Reptar. At least I was with my friends, this time, I was all alone, and it was up to me, to get out of their clutches, which so far, wasn't going very well.
"You'd better do better than that kid." Griped Mike.
"Yeah, don't think ice will make us quit." Said Bob, as the two guys started to make their way up from the ground.
Then, I sawed Mike glance over at the empty shoebox.
"Hey! Where did our money go?" Mike asked.
"I bet ya the kid took it." Said Bob.
"You know what? I bet you're right." Said Mike.
Then, Mike turndid to me, an angry expression on his face.
"Hey kid, give me back our money, and we'll stop hurting you." Said Mike in an angry tone of voice.
By this time, I had made my way over to the metal door where half of my screwdriver was lodged in the lock. Now you all know that I said my firstest word, Reptar, to the growed ups over a month ago, but I guess you can't figure out what my second word was. It's thanks to Chuckie I learndid this one, and no, Bob and Mike weren't the firstest peoples to hear me say it, I did say it before now, but that story is for another day, provided I made it out of here alive.
"No!" I shouted, as I banged my right fist hard against the metal door.
It hurted, but as a result of hitting it so hard, I gotted the piece of my plastic screwdriver that was lodged in the lock loose, causing it to fall to the floor. I quickly picked it up and threw it into my pocket with the other half, hopefully, if I ever made it out of here and founded my family again, I'd get Susie to help me fix it. After all, she's Doctor Susie, always thinking of the toys first.
"I'm gonna say it, one more time. Give us back our money kid." Snapped Mike.
"No!" I shouted.
Just then, Bob and Mike came up to me, and Mike hit the back of my right hand hard with a rock, causing it to get cutted, not that I wasn't covered with booboos already. I had several painful booboos up and down my arms and legs, all over my back from when they gave me that spanking, and they slapped me hard on my face several times too, leaving several booboos on my cheeks and forehead, and even hitting me in the eye.
"Well Mikey, there's only one thing left to do." Said Bob.
"What?" Mike asked.
Just then, Bob picked me up, and slammed me hard against the metal door, hitting my head hard against it, at which time, the whole world went black.
End of Tommy POV
Bob and Mike had knocked Tommy out cold at this point, on top of physically abusing him, which included several bruises all over his body, a bullet wound on his left shoulder, a cut on his right hand, and a black eye. Not convinced that all of this damage would do any good, Bob picked up the only thing remaining in the cooler at this point, as all of the ice was nearly destroyed, thanks to Tommy, a full bottle of tequila.
"There's one sure way to get rid of this kid." Said Bob, opening up the bottle.
"Really? What is that?" Mike asked.
"Do to him what my father did to himself before he died." Said Bob, as he pried open Tommy's mouth, and poured a bottle of Taquila down his throat.
"Now what do we do?" Mike asked, as Bob removed the empty bottle from Tommy's mouth, and threw it into the trash, surprised that the contents of that bottle didn't choke him to death, all because the kid was knocked out.
"Come with me." Said Bob, as he and Mike left their uncomfortable bomb shelter, carrying the unconscious Tommy, as they ran all the way to National's Stadium, where they found a tall balcony on the outskirts of the stadium, usually reserved for very important guests attending games there, like if the President or the pope were coming. They went up the steps leading to this small balcony, where they found a gate, that unfortunately, none of their keys worked on. So quickly thinking, Mike grabbed Tommy, and threw him hard on to the floor of the balcony, near the railing that looked out over the field, causing him to land hard on his back, the kid, still unconscious at this point.
"Come on Bob, let's get out of here." Said Mike.
"But what about our money?" Bob asked.
"Want everybody to hear?" Hissed Mike softly into Bob's ear.
"There's nobody here yet." Whispered Bob.
"Wait, I've got an idea. We'll disguise ourselves as the ticket collecters at the game, and we'll at least get the two-million dollars in box office ticket sales, or at least that's what I read in a newspaper last night." Said Mike.
"Great idea! And then, we'll stay for the game, right?" Bob asked.
"No way am I sticking around to watch some stupid baseball game." Said Mike.
"How could you hate America's favorite pass time?" Bob asked.
"I just do, ok?" Snapped Mike.
"Although, isn't tonight the premier of that stupid tour by that crappy singer Taffy and her salty band?" Bob asked.
"Ah yes, and that woman thinks she can sing, and then there's that green haired childish punk, Sherry Berry. Musicians make me sick, all they have to do is sing and make money, they think they're so smart, but wait a second, Bob, you've given me an idea!" Said Mike with a chuckle, as they left the stadium.
"What?" Bob asked, as they made their way to the costume shop as the sun was rising in the sky, and the day was really getting started in our nation's capital, to see if they could sneak out two costumes that would give them the appearance of ticket collecters before the big game that evening.
"We'll see that this stupid tour doesn't happen. That's right, just like what happened with John Lennon, Sherry Berry and Taffy are about to say their last words and eat their last meal this evening. We shoot them tonight at the concert, we get all of the money, and then, we kill the President on Monday, taking over the country! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Scoffed Mike, as they approached the door of the costume shop, which hadn't opened yet.
"Love the plan, just, love it! Now, to get those costumes." Said Bob.
"Damn it! The place is still closed, and I'm getting tired." Griped Mike.
"No worries, we'll sit down on a nearby bench, and as soon as they open in a couple of hours, we'll continue with the plan." Said Bob, as the two criminals found a nearby bench, rested their heads on to one another, and took a snooze.
As for the Rugrats and their families, and Bobby Generic and his family, since that night was going to be a very jam packed evening with the baseball game and concert, and everybody was quite exhausted from a long week of tours, and being worried about Tommy, who still hadn't been found at this point, the families decided to spend a quiet day at the hotel, watching TV shows and movies on the video on demand service offered via room service at the hotel, and finish up the food they had bought in the refridgerator, as they didn't wish for the stuff to go bad, and knew they couldn't take the food with them on the airplane the next day. As for Hazel and her family, they went on a tour of the Air and Space Museum that morning, then went back to their hotel that afternoon to take a nap, and at around 6:30 PM, they took a taxi cab to National's Stadium, where they got in line, gave their tickets to the ticket people, unknowing to them that they were really criminals, as Bob and Mike did manage to sneak costumes out of the costume shop, then, made their way back to the stadium at around the time the gates opened up at 5 that afternoon, and put their plan into action, as they perched themselves into the ticket collecting booth, tricking the other staff working there, that the people were already collecting everybody's tickets.
As for the Rugrats and Generics, everybody was doing great at getting ready to go, except poor Didi had spent more or less, the entire day in bed, as she hardly got any sleep on this entire trip. When she hadn't made an appearance by about 4:30, and they had to leave in an hour for the game, Stu went up to the room to wake her, which was more or less deserted, as everybody else was down in Peter's room, watching Runaway Reptar, the same movie everybody saw a while back at the drive in, only now, it was out on DVD and available on the On Demand Service.
"Come on Deed, wake up sweetheart, we need to leave here in an hour." Said Stu, as he shook his wife awake.
"What time is it?" Didi asked sleepily, as she rubbed her eyes, sat up, and put on her glasses.
"It's four thirty." Stu replied.
"But the game isn't until seven." Didi replied, as she slumped back on the pillows, letting out a sigh.
"Yes, but remember what Taffy told us at breakfast? Oh, that's right, you didn't come to breakfast. She has to be there early at five thirty for a sound check, and the limo is only driving to the stadium twice, once to drop us all off at five thirty, and they're not returning until the concert is over, to bring us all back to the hotel, and take Taffy and her band off to the next place on their tour, somewhere in New Jersey." Said Stu.
"Oh, all right, I'll grab a shower and get ready to go. Are the kids ready to go?" Didi asked.
"Don't worry Deed I got Dil's diaper bag all ready to go and he's downstairs with Peter, watching a Reptar movie and waiting with everybody else until it's time for us to leave." Said Stu.
"Wow, you're more on top of things today than I am." Said Didi, as she got out of bed and rushed off to the bathroom to take her shower.
"I guess cuz I'm really excited about tonight. Mister Roach from the Air and Space Museum will be meeting with Randy and I at the big game, where I'll be presenting my Dummi Bear hot air balloon prototype." Said Stu, as Didi disappeared through the bathroom door.
"Yes dear, I know, I believe you've told me this, like, five times already." Said Didi, as she closed the bathroom door and rushed around to get ready.
An hour later, at 5:30 PM, the limo arrived outside of the hotel, picked everybody up, and took them to National's Stadium, where they got in line, handed over their tickets, and found their seats in the bleachers. Taffy and her band, disappeared to go have their sound check done, where they ran into Sherry Berry, who had just finished up her sound check, and asked her if she'd like to join everybody for the big game. She accepted, and Sherry joined the group, sitting in the seat where Tommy would have sat, had he been with them, sitting next to Stu and Didi, and seeing that neither Sherry or Didi was all that interested in the game, they spent the better part of the game, talking with one another.
At around 6:30 PM, after Hazel and her family had turned in their tickets, they went off looking for seats, when Betty called their names, so they went over to where all of the families were gathered, and joined the Rugrats and Generics for the game, which started half an hour later.
Tommy POV
Later, I waked up to lots of noise and and sunlight in my eyes. Upon waking up, I noticed I wasn't in that horrible place anymore, but wasn't sure where I was. My head was in a great deal of pain, as well as the rest of my body, reminding me of what happened to me earlier, how those Bob and Mike peoples hurted me. Slowly, I sat up, the pain only getting worser, but I didn't care. I had to figure out where I was and get out of there fast. Looking around, I noticed I was in some empty set of bleachers, on a balcony place high above the ground. Peering over the fence, I looked down to see a baseball game going on. Now I had been to one of these before with my daddy and grandpa a while back, only thing different, is that there was no bear at this one like there was at the lastest one, but who cared. I needed to go potty fast, so tried to stand up, only the pain was so bad, I collapsed back down to the ground.
Realizing I was in too much pain to walk, I crawled quickly over to a gate. Thinking fast, I reached into my pocket for my screwdriver, only then remembering that it gotted broked, and was now in two pieces. Not wishing to break it even more, I just sat there on the ground of the balcony, as I started to cry, hoping someone would hear me. Sadly, nobody did, as there was too much noise and the game going on, and as far as the having to go potty part, I eventually, couldn't hold it no longer, and had a accident in my pants. Feeling embarrassed, weak, and in a great deal of pain, I lay back down on the ground, as the game continued on around me. I started wishfully thinking, hoping somebody would come rescue me. I didn't care if it was Reptar, or my mommy, or Chuckie or even Rosie, just, somebody I knew, as I lay down and closed my eyes.
End of Tommy POV
Back at the public bleachers, Hazel had recently finished telling all of the other toddlers about her morning at the Air and Space Museum.
"Wow! What an interesting trip!" Said Rosie.
"Yeah! It was lots of fun! I'm sorry you weren't there." Said Hazel.
In another part of the same bleachers, Hazel's parents were telling Mary and the other adults about the tour they had taken that morning, when Stu spoke up.
"Wow! That tour of the Air and Space Museum sounds like fun! Sandy, do you think we could come back here some other time and take a tour of it?" Mary asked.
"I don't see why not, that sounds like fun!" Said Sandy.
"Oh my gosh, Randy! We need to head over to the consession stand, Mister Roach said he'd be here at eight o'clock with my balloon for the demonstration." Said Stu.
"Uh, ok then." Said Randy.
"And while you guys are at it, why don't you take the kids down and get everybody something to eat." Suggested Lucy.
"Good plan. Derek, mind coming and helping out?" Stu asked.
"Oh, do I have to help out the dork and his sticky fingered friends?" Muttered Derek in an irritated tone.
"Yes son, we could really use your help, as I'd really like to stay here and watch the rest of the game." Said Howard G.
"Oh all right dad, fine." Said Derek reluctantly, as he, Stu, Randy, Bobby, Angelica, Susie, Chuckie, Kimi, Jesse, Phil, Lil, Hazel, Rosie, Mary, Zack and Dil all went down to the consession stand.
Unknown by anybody, Peter, Kelly, and Sandy also went down there, to pick up some food for the rest of the adults, as everybody was interested in splitting a large order of popcorn chicken and curly fries, so they picked up that order, and took it back to the bleachers, while Randy, Stu and the kids all sat down at a picnic table down in the area, with orders of hamburgers and hotdogs for everybody.
As the kids ate their food, Chuckie spotted something off in the distance.
"What is it Chuckie?" Kimi asked, noticing her brother was staring up at something.
"Guys, I think I might see Tommy up on top of that balcony place over there." Said Chuckie.
"Really? Let me take a look." Said Zack, as he pulled out his fold up telescope from his shorts pocket, unfolded it and had a look towards where Chuckie was pointing.
"Oh my gosh Chuckie, you're right! And guys, it doesn't look good." Said Zack, as he put his telescope down, and turned his attention back towards the others.
"What is it Zack?" Bobby asked.
"Uh, you'll see when we get closer." Said Zack, as he took the last bite of his hotdog.
"But guys, we've gots to hurry before those Bob and Mike peoples take him away again." Cried Chuckie.
"But how?" Phil asked.
"Yeah, he's way high up." Added Lil.
Before another word was spoken, Mister Roach, a tall muscular man with dark hair and a beard came up to the table and tapped Randy on the shoulder.
"Are you Mister Pickles?" Mister Roach asked.
Randy turned to where the voice was coming from.
"Uh, um, no, I'm Randy Carmichael. Mister Pickles is sitting directly to my left." Said Randy, who pointed over to his left, to where Stu was sitting.
"Mister Pickles, I'm Mister Roach, from the Air and Space Museum." Said Mister Roach, shaking Stu's hand.
"Oh, hello there, I've been expecting you." Said Stu.
"Yes, so, are you the brilliant inventer of the hot air balloon we plan to be featuring in this year'sGracy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?" Mister Roach asked, as he led Randy and Stu over to where he had placed the Dummi Bears hot air balloon.
"Yes sir, and if you don't mind my doing so, I'd like to give you a small demonstration of what this balloon, which when blown up, will look like a full blown statue of Jelly Bear, can do." Said Stu, as he pulled a remote control out of his pocket.
"Using the latest and greatest technology, this hot air balloon is remote controlled, I can blow up the balloon with hot air, raise it, and lower it, with the power of this remote." Said Stu, as he started hitting buttons on the remote.
He pressed one button and the balloon filled up with hot air. Then, he went to make it go up into the air, only this failed to work, because as usual, he wired together the internal workings of the remote with paper clips and rubber bands, similarly to how he built his giant Reptar robot for EuroReptarLand practically a year ago now. You'd think the guy would eventually learn, but apparently not.
"Work! QWork! Go up into the air!" Stu yelled in frustration at the hot air balloon, as he kept hitting buttons on his remote control, without much luck.
Meanwhile, back over at the picnic table, Derek and Mary were engrossed in watching the game through pairs of binoculars they had brought down with them from their seats, while Bobby and the toddlers, were trying to figure out a way to get up to where Tommy was on the balcony, so they could rescue him. As the Dummi Bears hot air balloon inflated, Rosie was the first one to spot it.
"I've got an idea you guys, come on!" Shouted Rosie excitedly, as she jumped down from her seat at the picnic table, and ran over to the balloon.
"What is it Rosie?" Zack asked, as he and the other toddlers caught up to her.
"Oh wow, this is an excellent idea!" Said Kimi, as she spotted the balloon where Rosie was pointing.
"Yep Kimi, this balloon will go up into the air, and take us right up to Tommy. Come on everybody, get inside the basket." Said Rosie, as she climbed inside, followed by Kimi, then Bobby, then Jesse, then Hazel, then Phil and Lil, then Susie, then, to everybody's surprise, Angelica climbed inside after Susie.
"You? Wanna help us rescue Tommy? That's a first." Said Susie with a laugh.
"Who said anything about me rescuing mellon head. I'm only going for the ride, me and Cynthia are bored." Said Angelica, as she sat down near the edge of the basket, Susie, joining her.
The last two to get into the balloon were Dil and Chuckie.
"Well come on drool boy and Finster, are you coming or not?" Snapped Angelica.
Taking a deep breath, Chuckie climbed into the balloon, with Dil toddling in after him.
"Ok, we're all inside the balloon. Now, before we start this mission, I know we haven't all exactly been getting along lately, but right now, Tommy is in trouble, and needs our help. So I'd really appreciate it, if you all would just, put aside your differences and work together, as it's the only way we're going to get Tommy back. Do you all understand?" Bobby asked, as all of the toddlers turned towards him, and gave him a nod, not making eye contact with one another, in particular, Jesse, Phil, Lil, and Hazel.
"So how do we make the balloon go?" Jesse asked.
Just then, Dil spied a panel on one side of the basket, with several buttons on it, next to a knob and two ropes.
"Let's try this." Said Dil, as he went over to the panel, and hit a big green button in the middle.
Upon hitting this button, the balloon started to rise up into the air.
Noticing this, Stu looked up to see his balloon was heading off, now with the kids inside.
"Oh no! The kids! They're getting away! Come on, work! Bring the balloon back down. AAAHHH!" Yelled Stu at the top of his lungs, as he kept hitting buttons on the remote, only for it to fail, as the balloon continued to rise into the sky, floating away from him, to where he could no longer reach up to catch it. Frustrated, Stu sat down on a nearby picnic bench, where Randy and Mister Roach had gathered, as they sat there in silence, and watched more of the game, which was now up to the sixth inning.
Tommy POV
There I was, continuing to watch this game, as I sat there on this balcony, in pain. Wanting to get a closer look, I stood up at the railing, and held on to the fence with all of my might, since it seemed it hurt just to make the simplest movements of my body. I could no longer stand on my own without holding on to something. At that moment, I was hoping somebody would see me and rescue me. Little did I know that my wish was about to come true, but it wasn't no Reptar coming to rescue me, to my surprise, I saw Jelly Bear from the Dummi Bears in the sky, headed my way.
"Oh my gosh, Jelly Bear?" I thought to myself, as the bear came closer.
Then, despite how awful I felt and how hurt I was, as even my head was still hurting at this point, and my shoulder where they shot me was in lots of pain, I then remembered, this wasn't Jelly Bear, it was the Jelly Bear balloon my daddy had invented before coming on this trip. My daddy was on his way to save me! But then, as the balloon gotted higher into the air, I didn't see my daddy, but a basket with Rosie, Dilly, and all of my friends! They were all on their way to rescue me! Oh, but if I let go of this railing, I was going to collapse to the ground again.
"Rosie!" I called, but seems she couldn't hear me, as she didn't say anything back.
At this point, I was at a loss as to what to do. I was tired, hungry, thirsty, and hurt really bad, not to mention, I felt just miserable. I know the rule is, boys aren't spose to cry in front of their girls, but I didn't care. I slumped down to the floor of the balcony place, and started crying at the top of my lungs, hoping I'd get Rosie's attention.
End of Tommy POV
"Guys! I see him!" Rosie cried, as she spotted Tommy on the balcony, crying in pain.
"Oh no!" Cried Zack, as he got a closer look through his telescope.
"What is it Zack?" Rosie asked.
"Uh, Rosie, we'd better rescue him quickly, he's in some serious trouble if he's crying and he appears to be covered in booboos and some cuts." Said Zack.
"We've gots to help him, come on everybody." Said Rosie, as Hazel ran up to her.
"I'll help you, after all, you're my bestest friend." Said Hazel, as she grabbed on to Rosie and started to pull her out of the basket in the direction of the balcony.
"Can you reach it?" Hazel asked.
"No, not quite, Dil, can you move the basket thingy closer?" Rosie called.
Dil started hitting buttons on the little control panel, till he found one that caused the balloon to change directions. After playing for a few minutes, he figured out which ones went in which directions.
"No, your other left." Rosie cried, as Dil kept hitting the button that was making the basket move away from the balcony fence.
"I didn't know we had two left sides." Said Dil, as he hit the button opposite from the one he was hitting, as the basket crashed into the balcony fence.
"Stop!" Rosie cried, as Dil let go of the panel, and sat down on the floor of the hot air balloon basket.
At this point, Rosie climbed out of the hot air balloon on to the balcony, where she approached Tommy, who was still crying. Rosie walked up to Tommy and lay a hand on his right shoulder, the one that wasn't wounded.
"Tommy, you can calm down now, I'm here to save you." Said Rosie.
Tommy stopped crying, wiped away the tears with his left hand, and looked up at Rosie.
"Thanks Rosie." Said Tommy.
"Are you ok Tommy?" Rosie asked.
"No Rosie." Tommy replied, as he spotted the hot air balloon.
"Did you fall? How did you get all of those booboos?" Rosie asked.
"Uh, never mind that right now, we've gots to get out of here, but I'm gonna need some help." Said Tommy, as he tried to stand without holding on to anything, only to have the sharp pain surge through his body again, causing him to collapse to the ground.
"Ow." Cried Tommy.
"Help everybody! Help!" Rosie cried, as she grabbed Tommy's arm, and drug him over to the fence, next to the basket.
"Guys, Tommy is really hurted, and can't move on his own, you need to help him." Rosie cried.
"I'll do it." Jesse called, as he bounced around, jiggling the basket.
"Jesse! Stop!" Lil snapped.
"I'm only trying to rescue Tommy, give me a break." Jesse snapped.
"Yeah Lil, stop the attitude already." Argued Phil.
"Phil, I really like you, but if you and Lil don't stop fighting, then any further friendship between us is over. No worries Rosie and Tommy, we're coming." Hazel called, as she turned towards the others in the basket, and Zack spoke up.
"Ok everybody, all of us need to join together, reach out of the basket on to the balcony, bgrab Tommy, and pull him into the basket with us. Come on everybody, if we work together as a team, I know we can do this." Said Zack.
"You're right Zack, we've gots to save my bestest friend." Said Chuckie, as he let out a sigh, and everybody, except for Angelica, who was too busy talking to Cynthia about what she'd do when she became President, all joined together on the other side of the hot air balloon basket, as they all reached out their small toddler hands, and grabbed at Tommy's legs.
"Ow." Tommy cried, as he tried to bite his lip, trying to hold back any tears. His friends were after all, only trying to save him, not hurt him, but he was beat up so bad, that any touch to his body, really hurt.
"Ok everybody, on three now. One, two, three!" Cried Zack, as he, Bobby, Susie, Jesse, Lil, Phil, Hazel, Chuckie, Kimi, and Dil all pulled hard at Tommy, until they got him over the side of the basket into the balloon with the rest of the gang.
No sooner had they gotten Tommy into the balloon, who collapsed to a sitting position on the floor of the basket, when Dil bumped into one of the buttons on the control panel on the opposite side of the balloon with his back, causing the balloon to float away from the balcony, before Rosie could be rescued.
"Guys! Wait!" Rosie cried, but it was no use, the balloon was way high above the stadium now, higher than the eye could see.
"Gosh Tommy, I see you got a lot of booboos, what happened?" Chuckie asked.
Looking around, Tommy noticed Rosie was missing.
"Rosie! Where's Rosie?" Tommy cried.
"I don't know Tommy." Phil replied.
"I've gots to go back and get her." Cried Tommy, as he grabbed on to the side of the basket, where he spotted the tiny speck of pink hair down on the balcony, noticing they were way high up, but Chuckie, pulled Tommy back, causing the rip in his shirt to be made worse.
"Hey! What did you do that for?" Tommy asked.
"Tommy, you're hurted, I'm not letting my bestest friend go back out there." Said Chuckie.
"But I've gots to go back down and get her." Said Tommy.
"He's right Tommy, besides, we're too high up. I hate to be the barer of bad news, but one more booboo Tommy, and there's a good chance, you won't make it." Said Zack.
"How are we gonna get down?" Jesse asked.
"I don't know, but it's really scary up here." Said Chuckie.
"Got any ideas Tommy?" Kimi asked.
At that moment, the headache got worse, as Tommy tried to think of an idea, only for his mind to go completely blank.
"I don't know." Tommy muttered.
"What?" Zack asked.
"I don't know!" Tommy shouted.
Everyone gasp. They had never known Tommy to not be able to come up with anything before, unless all of his ideas thus far hadn't worked out, but this was a first in a while when he couldn't come up with anything.
"Wait a second, those ropes, I believe they control the balloon." Said Zack, as he ran over to where some ropes were, and pulled on one that was on his right, making the balloon go higher into the air.
"Yay!" Said Chuckie.
"Uh, Chuckie, if I were you, I wouldn't look down, we just went higher, not lower." Said Zack.
Chuckie gasp and covered his eyes.
"I bet this other rope on your left will lower the balloon, give it a try Zack." Said Bobby.
"Eye eye captain detective Bobby." Said Zack, as he pulled on the other rope, only to have it come loose from the basket, not pulling the balloon down, only making it go even higher into the air.
"Uh oh, I think it broked, and there's a wire here, but it's too small of an opening for me to reach in and get it back to where it needs to go. We need a tool to help us." Said Zack, noticing a tiny piece of loose wiring sticking out of the bottom of the rope.
"I know, Tommy's screwdriver would be perfect for this job!" Kimi exclaimed.
"No it won't." Tommy said disappointingly, staring down at the floor of the basket.
Everyone gasp.
"What do you mean Tommy?" Chuckie asked, uncovering his eyes at this point.
Tommy reached into his pockets, pouring the money he had taken out on to the floor of the basket, and holding the two halves of his broken screwdriver in his hand.
"What happened Tommy?" Chuckie asked, studying the two halves of the screwdriver in his hand.
"It broke." Tommy replied, looking about ready to cry again.
"Give that to me Tommy, I can't fix it right now, cuz I lefted all of my doctor's stuff back at the hotel, but I'll look at it when we get back." Said Susie, as she ran up to Tommy and grabbed the two broken pieces of plastic screwdriver out of his hand, and gave them to Bobby, where he placed them into his shorts pocket, since Susie didn't have any pockets in the dress she was wearing at the time.
"I'll give it back to you once we're at the hotel." Whispered Bobby into Susie's ear.
"Thanks, I didn't wish to lose them." Whispered Susie back into Bobby's ear.
Just then, Angelica noticed the pile of money on the floor.
"Oooh! Tommy got a ton of money! Give it to me." Demanded Angelica.
Tommy fell down on top of the pile of money, face down, as his entire body covered the pile of dollar bills.
"No!" Tommy shouted, his voice sounding slightly muffled.
"What, was that?" Angelica asked.
"No!" Tommy repeated.
Just then, Susie walked up to Angelica, giving her an angry glare.
"Come on Tommy, why not?" Angelica asked.
"Angelica, no means no, and if I'm not mistaken, and I'm not, Tommy, is this the money those guys stole from all of those places?" Susie asked.
"Uh huh." Tommy replied in a weak voice.
"How do you know about that, Susie?" Angelica asked in a nasty tone.
"Ever watch the news Angelica? Oh, that's right, all you care about is becoming President, which, if you take this money and keep it for yourself, you'll never become President, because real Presidents don't take money and keep it for themselves. I think I know what Tommy has planned to do with this money, and you're not going to stop him." Said Susie.
"What, give it back to those places? And how is he gonna do that? We leave tomorrow." Snapped Angelica.
"By getting help when we get back down to return it, right Tommy?" Zack asked.
Tommy didn't say anything. He painfully sat up, now kneeling on his knees, as he took his right hand, with the cut on the back of it, lifted it high into the air, as he had more free range of motion with that arm, since the other one was limited as a result of the bullet wound in his left shoulder, and slapped Angelica hard in the face, making an ugly red mark appear on Angelica's cheek.
"Ow!" Angelica cried.
"Tommy, what are you doing?" Chuckie asked.
"Giving Angelica a spanking." Tommy angrily muttered between clinched teeth.
"I can't say Angelica doesn't deserve a good spanking." Said Susie laughing.
"Oh yeah? We'll hjust see about that Pickles." Snapped Angelica, as she punched Tommy in the shoulder, knocking the bullet loose, that was helping the wound not be as bad as it could be, as no sooner had she punched at Tommy's left shoulder, when the bullet went flying out of his shoulder into the basket, when Tommy let out a loud scream, collapsed on to his back on top of the pile of dollar bills, and blood started rushing out of his shoulder.
"Oh no! What's happening?" Chuckie cried, as he glanced over at Tommy, to see the blood rushing out of his shoulder, causing him to pass out at the sight of it, landing on top of Hazel, who scooted out of the way quickly.
Zack turned around, and without saying a word, he took off his dark blue t-shirt, and wrapped it around Tommy's open shoulder wound, so the purple haired toddler, wouldn't lose anymore blood. Then, noticing the open wound on the top of his right hand, Hazel, who was wearing a pair of black shoes and white socks for this particular occasion, took off her shoes and socks, and put a sock over Tommy's wounded hand, and the other sock over it, to give it some protection.
"Thanks Hazel." Said Zack.
"Don't mention it, that was clever what you did with your shirt." Said Hazel.
"Yep, and I'm gonna keep this shirt wrapped around Tommy's shoulder till we get back down, and I can somehow, find some help." Said Zack.
"How are we gonna get down?" Jesse cried, as he started jumping up and down in the basket, hoping to make it go lower, only it kept going higher.
"Jesse! Stop! You're not helping!" Cried Lil.
"I guess not, I was only, trying to help." Said Jesse, as tears started to come to his eyes, and he started crying.
No sooner had Jesse started crying, when Dil looked around, and spotted something.
"I got it!" Cried Dil.
"What, are aliums on their way to rescue us or something?" Zack asked.
"No Zack, I'm serious, I know what will get us back down to the ground!" Dil cried, as he kept pointing to the knob that was in between the ropes that Zack had pulled on earlier to lift the balloon higher into the air.
Zack wasn't sure what Dil was talking about, but Kimi was.
"Zack, I think I know what Dil is talking about." Said Kimi excitedly, as she went up to the knob and touched it.
"Dil, is this what you were talking about?" Kimi asked.
"Yep, turn the knob, I think it will fill or unfill this balloon of air, and send it back down to the ground." Said Dil.
"Ok, I'll give it a try!" Said Kimi, as she turned the knob.
She turned it in one direction, only for the balloon to fill even more so with air, sending it higher into the sky.
"Other way, other way!" Phil shouted.
"Yeah, and quickly, before we all end up in outside space!" Bobby shouted.
"Ok, here I go." Shouted Kimi, as she turned the knob all the way in the opposite direction, until it wouldn't turn anymore, causing the balloon to deflate, sending the basket soaring quickly down through the sky, down to the middle of the baseball field.
Down on the baseball field, it was into the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Nationals needed only one more ball out to win the game. Bucky Majors, who was playing for the Nationals at this particular game, was up, as the swing was thrown, hitting a high fly ball into the air. Rosie, who was watching the game at this point, hoping her friends would eventually, come back down to rescue her, all of the sudden, spotted them coming down really fast through the air, and the deflated Jelly Bear above their heads, as they were screaming in terror for their lives, clutching tight on to one another.
"Oh no!" Rosie cried, as she reached out, only the balloon was moving too fast for her to catch up.
At that moment, the ball went high into the air, right into Rosie's direction. She jumped from the balcony, grabbing on to the ball, as she went after the hot air balloon, hoping she'd somehow catch up to it, only to end up landing in Bucky Major's glove, causing the Nationals to win the game.
"The Nationals won the game, the Nationals won the game!" Shouted several spectators, as Bucky caught the ball and Rosie.
No sooner had the catch of the day taken place, when a loud crash was heard down on the field. Everybody turned to see the hot air balloon with the deflated Jelly Bear on top, had landed in the middle of the field, the toddlers, all inside the basket.
Unknown by anybody, this game was being televised on national television throughout the entire country. Several people saw this go down on TV, including Lou and Lulu back at their retirement home in California, and Rosie and Mary's parents, Shannon and Terry Hall, all the way out in Boston, Massachusetts.
"It's like de ja vue all over again, like what happened at a game I played nearly two years ago against the Boston Boomers, the kid just, sort of, landed in my glove. Only this kid appears to be female with pink hair, the last one was definitely male, with no hair." Said Bucky Majors to a reporter on the television, as Rosie's descent down to the field with the baseball in her hand, reappeared on the television in slow motion.
"Oh my gosh! That's my daughter Rosie out there!" Shannon cried at the television.
Terry said absolutely nothing, passing out on the floor at the sight of his youngest daughter falling through the air on the television.
"And look at this folks, an entire crew landed out of nowhere to greet this child." Said the sports caster, as the cameras moved over to where the hot air balloon had landed, getting a good picture of Bobby, Susie, Angelica, and all of the other toddlers in the balloon.
"Jumping your hearts at that, what are the sprouts doing out there?" Lou asked, as he saw the image of this on the television from his living room at the retirement home.
"I didn't know the beans could play baseball." Said Lulu with a smile, who was sitting next to her husband on the couch, the two of them, watching the game together.
"I'm sure everyone is going to have quite a story to tell us when they get back from Washington D.C." Said Lou to Lulu, as he turned his gaze towards her for a brief moment, before turning his gaze back to the television.
Back out on the baseball field, Bucky Majors set Rosie down in the basket with the other toddlers, at which time, Chuckie uncovered his eyes, and saw Rosie before him.
"Hey Tommy we did it! We saved Rosie!" Chuckie cried excitedly, but no answer was heard from Tommy.
Chuckie turned to see Tommy, still lying on top of the pile of money, Zack's shirt wrapped around his left shoulder, and Hazel's socks on his right hand. The two-year-old, nearly three-year-old child, lay there, motionless, his eyes closed.
"Tommy!" All of the toddlers cried, as they all knelt down around Tommy, and started crying uncontrollably.
"Guys, I'd better go get help." Said Bobby, as he climbed out of the basket on to the field.
"I'm coming with you Bobby, everyone else, stay here." Said Susie, as she and Bobby ran off into the baseball field, making their way towards the bleachers where their folks were previously sitting, to get help.
And this, ends chapter 7. So, will Tommy live to see another day? Will Bob and Mike get caught before it's too late for Sherry Berry and Taffy? How will the concert go? And will everybody leave Washington D.C. and make it home in one piece? Stay tuned, to find out all of this and more, in the next, and final chapter, of this story.
Author's Note: Notice the reference of how Bob and Mike wished they had used a gun on Tommy way back when he threw their rubies into the toilet? Well, aren't you guys glad they didn't? Had that been the case, Rugrats would have most likely ended, after only six episodes. Also, I must say, I found this chapter difficult to write. Having my favorite character from Rugrats, suffer from some pretty serious child abuse? Who knew we'd ever see the day when one of the rugrats would go through this. Just bringing myself to get this chapter written was a difficult task in itself, so, if you made it this far, and made it through the entire chapter, then I thank you! Anyway, there's a good chance the last chapter won't get up until Monday, so have a good weekend everybody, and, we'll be back with the conclusion of this story, very very soon!