Rugrats in Dalmatian Street

Chapter 2 - Little Brother Lost

Tommy let out a long yawn as he stretched after a peaceful nap before sitting up to find that his friends were all still in a snooze and given that he hadn't heard a thing from Dil throughout the entire nap, chances are he had been sleeping too.

"Boy, Dil, you sure have been quiet for a..." Tommy was about to comment, but his words fell as he turned to where Dil should've been, but instead in place was an empty doughnut cushion. The infant stood up and walked closer to the play pen fence and called out.

"Dil! Dilly! Did mommy and daddy give you a fresh diapie?" Tommy turned his head sideways in hopes that he would hear Dil call back to him, but no such response was heard. That was when Tommy noticed something else near the cushion which made him gasp in horror.

"Dil's rattle! He never goes anywheres without it! Oh no! You guys, wake up!" Tommy quickly urged his friends with worry as they groaned and rubbed their eyes.

"Uuugh... You probably left your stewdriver under the couch again, Tommy." Phil groaned groggily, evidently annoyed that his nap had been interrupted.

"No, not that! Dil's gone!" Tommy explained.

"Dil's gone? Where's the last place you sawd him?" Lil asked as the news had now fully woken the three up.

"There! That was where we last sawd him before we took our nap and now he's missing!" Tommy pointed to the doughnut cushion as his friends were now in a justifiable panic.

"Call the police!" Phil yelled.

"Call the millon terry!" Lil exclaimed after Phil.

"Call me when it's over!" Chuckie said, covering his hands with his eyes.

As Tommy's friends were in a frenzy about his lost brother, Phil accidentally stepped on a ball that shot out from under his foot due to the pressure and flew straight at a glass of milk on the table that knocked over as a result... and ended up dumping it's contents on the prototype dog translators Stu had recently invented, the devices flickering with small bolts of electricity before stopping.

"...Oops." Phil could only say as they watched the accident unfold.

"Oh great! Now not only Dil is missing but now Tommy's daddy's invenshun is broked! Can this day get any worser?!" Chuckie ranted in near despair as Tommy pulled a plastic screwdriver out from his diaper and threaded the end in between the gates, unlocking the play fence before pushing the now unlocked gates apart and walking to the table where he reached for and grabbed the liquid-damaged devices and looked at them.

"Maybe we can fix them after we find Dil... Or... Or maybe they still work!" Tommy said in vain hope as he remembered watching how Stu used one of them and inserted it into his ear.

"Now what?" Lil asked as she and the others joined Tommy.

"Well, my daddy says these thingies are s'posed to tell you what doggies say, like with Spike." Tommy recalled as he looked at the remaining earbud translators in his hand.

"Did someone say my name?"

Tommy gasped when he heard the sudden unrecognisable male voice which he knew did not belong to any of the grown ups. He turned to find a brown dog with grey spots and a red collar facing him and the other babies with his head tilted in curiosity.

"...Spike? Was that you?" Tommy hesitantly asked his beloved pet whom's ears pricked up from being aware that he was being talked to.

"Well, who else could it be, Tommy?" Spike said with a chuckle as Tommy's jaw nearly fell to the floor.

"What's going on, Tommy?" Chuckie inquired as his best friend turned to him in response.

"Chuckie! The invenshun worked! Spike is talking!" Tommy explained in a mix of shock and amazement, earning a funny look from Chuckie and the twins.