The Retro Nicktoons Talent Show Chapter 2

It was Easter 2019. All the classic Nicktoons have ended, and most of the original creators left to work at different studios. Despite both having the same creators, it has been settled that the cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra should live in separate Toontowns: The cast of ‘Airbender’ lived in Toontown California, while the cast of ‘Korra’ lived in Toontown New York. Anyway, it was here in Toontown New York that Thomas ‘Tommy’ Pickles, star of the beloved 90s cartoon The Rugrats, who was now eleven, was reliving his childhood by watching the Passover episode of the Rugrats. After the episode ended, a commercial for a SpongeBob 20th anniversary marathon aired.
“It’s been 20 years since we first visited Bikini Bottom!” Said the announcer. “On May 5^th, in collaboration with WatchMojo.com, we will air the Top 20 Best SpongeBob episodes in a four-hour marathon! Are you ready, kids?” Tommy then turned off the TV in disgust.
“That piece of cheese has been hogging the spotlight for far too long!” He said. “Why can’t they air anything else other than SpongeBob, Loud House, or a live-action kid-com?” Tommy’s younger brother Dil then walked in.
“Bro, what are you doing watching TV?” He asked.
“I was watching our Passover episode.” Replied Tommy. “It was before you were born.”
“Dude, you were only a baby.” Said Dil. “Besides, don’t you have a job?”

“You know that Toons are paid by the government.” Said Tommy. “Besides, the reboot in development will most likely star a new generation of babies. Plus, I don’t want to be an actor anymore: I want to be a film director! I’m going to talk to Arnold Shortman and see what advice he has.” Tommy walked out of the house and headed to the Hey Arnold section of Toontown New York.

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After a bit of a walk, Tommy made it to Arnold’s apartment. He rang the doorbell, and when the door opened, cats and dogs ran out of the apartment. Miles Shortman, Arnold’s long-lost father, answered the door.
“Welcome to Sunset Arms!” He greeted. “How may I help you?”
“I’d like to see Arnold.” Said Tommy.
“Arnold?” Miles asked. “He’s my son, and he helped me and Stella save the green-eyed people of San Lorenzo! He’s upstairs playing video games with Gerald.” Tommy was guided upstairs to Arnold’s cool bedroom, and he saw him and Gerald playing a first-person shooter video game on a V-Cube 2000.
“Excuse me!” Said Tommy, and Gerald’s video game character died.
“Arnold!” Said Gerald. “Look what you made me do!”
“Sorry, Gerald.” Said Arnold. “I was distracted by a voice.” He then saw Tommy. “Thomas Pickles?”
“Please.” Said the purple-haired boy. “Call me Tommy.”
“Tommy,” Said Arnold. “What are you doing here?”
“Everyone on your show would seek you for advice.” Said Tommy. “Where do I start to become a film director?”
“I’m no psychologist or miracle worker,” Said Arnold. “But if I were you, I’d start by directing a stage play.”
“A stage play...” Tommy started having a brainstorm. “That’s it! I’ll direct a stage play to show that us old Nicktoons still have some magic left! Thanks, Arnold!” Tommy left the building and rushed back home to make a phone call.
“That’s not exactly what I said.” Said Arnold.

“Let’s just continue our game, Arnold.” Said Gerald.

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Back at the Pickles residence, Tommy made a call on his cellphone to Nickelodeon Studios in California.
“Thank you for calling Nickelodeon!” Said the call. “To find out what channel Nick is on where you live, dial 0. To find out where our headquarters is, dial 1. To be connected to an employee, dial 2.” Tommy dialed 2.
“Welcome to Nickelodeon Studios,” Said a new voice. It was an interning secretary. “Entertaining kids since 1979. What would you like me to do for you, sir?”
“My name is Tommy.” Said the purple-haired boy. “Tommy Pickles.”
“Tommy Pickles?” Asked the secretary. “From the Rugrats? That was my favorite cartoon from when I was a kid! But you sound older. I thought you were supposed to be 1.”
“Not for the past 16 years.” Replied Tommy. “Anyway, I called to ask if I could put on a play. I believe that the older Nicktoons and I still have some tricks up our sleeves!”
“Sorry.” Said the secretary. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. We don’t take requests, but if you had some money, maybe we could work things out.”
“Deal!” Said Tommy, and he hung up to text his friends about a meeting he would hold the next day.
Author's Notes: Sunset Arms was where Arnold lived in Hey Arnold, and was a boarding house owned by his grandparents. It would be a running gag that whenever Arnold tried opening the door, cats and dogs would run out.
Miles and Stella were Arnold's missing parents in the show. During the run of Hey Arnold, they were in the fictional Central American country of San Lorenzo, exploring the city of the Green-Eyed People. Arnold wouldn't reunite with his parents until 'The Jungle Movie' in 2017.

Miles and Stella with baby Arnold.

When the Rugrats turned 10 years old in 2001, Nickelodeon let fans on their website vote for what they thought were the 10 best Rugrats episodes. The result was a DVD called 'Decade in Diapers', which included 10 episodes that fans voted for online.

The SpongeBob marathon Tommy sees a promo for is based on this DVD, as well as a real countdown from WatchMojo's 20 best episodes of the show in this link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM_x3jHzN3M
The V-Cube was a video game console in the Fairly OddParents episode 'Odd Ball'. It was a parody of the Nintendo GameCube and the Microsoft XBOX.