Disclaimer: I do not own the Banana Splits, they're the property of William Hanna and Joe Barbera.
Notes: Once an idea hits as hard as this one had, it has to be written no matter what. Which is why you're about to read a multi-chapter anti-bullying fic featuring some characters from the 1960s. Warnings concerning each character's story will be featured in notes for those chapters. For this one, there might be slight OOC. Also, all of Snorky's speech is translated for your benefit.
This is friendship only. Enjoy!
Fleegle, Snorky and Bingo were watching through the window to see if Drooper would manage to outdo one of the Sour Grapes Bunch in a rope-wrapping contest. Unfortunately, the Sour Grapes' members had a habit of playing dirty or just outsmarting the Banana Splits, no matter who took them on one-on-one.
Fleegle covered his eyes as he'd seen an unpleasant sight concerning Drooper and part of the lion. "Is it over yet?"
"No. They've got more left. Looks like they've done it again. Hope it'll be easier to help him this time compared to untying that knot they left in his tail," Bingo remarked.
"Beep beep..." Poor Drooper... Snorky couldn't help but murmur as things were wrapping up.
A minute later, the indoor Splits hurried to open the door knowing their friend wouldn't be able to at that moment. They moved aside and watched as Drooper hopped inside, his tail binding his torso; his hands were tied to his sides and his legs had also been bound together by his own appendage. "Need a hand?" Bingo offered.
"That'd be most 'ppreciated," Drooper replied. His tone sounded off though. The normally laid-back lion sounded angry.
Bingo chose not to comment on how his buddy sounded. "Okay. Where's the end?"
"There it is!" Fleegle exclaimed as he pointed it out. He untucked it from the part of the tail binding Drooper's left hand to his left hip. "You two help keep him standing while turning him slowly. Ready now? Go!"
Bingo and Snorky did as instructed and slowly spun Drooper around to help unwrap him from his long tail. "Beep beep!" Don't worry, it'll be done soon!
"I'd love to say 'can't wait', but with the length of my tail, I know it'll be a while," the lion responded with evident bitterness in his tone. He made sure to emphasise on length of my tail to let his friends know he wasn't cross with them, he was cross about how long his tail was.
Still, Fleegle almost froze when he heard Drooper's tone; he'd never heard the lion sound like that before. Okay, so I'm not imagining it. Something is really bothering our pal, but what? It's got something to do with his tail, that much I know.
A couple of minutes passed, and a slightly dizzy Drooper found himself finally unbound. He picked up his tail, glared at it and flung it over his shoulder. "Knew I shoulda had ya shortened. You're nothin' but trouble."
"Something bothering you there, Droop?" Fleegle asked.
"Yeah. But, I don't wanna talk about it right now. I'll be in my room if ya need me." He started heading to the stairs, then turned to look back to his friends. "By the way, thanks for helpin' me."
The other three watched him leave. Bingo then turned to Fleegle. "We're not just gonna ignore this, are we?" he asked once sure the troubled lion was out of earshot.
"Course not! Drooper just needs a few minutes to calm down first, that's all," the canine responded.
"Beep, beep-beep." Maybe it's just me, but Drooper hardly ever gets angry, right? Snorky questioned.
"Nope, not just you. The only times I can specific-ally recall seeing him angry are when I saw him struggling to put out the trash - but that was more frustration than anger - and then there was the time Bingo and I were playing jump rope."
"Beep beep." Why'd he get angry about that?
"Because we...uh...tied one end of the rope to his tail without him knowing."
A lightbulb went off in the gorilla's mind, just as he was sure the beagle's own head-lightbulb had switched on. "It all comes back to his tail. It'd be frustrating having to carry one so long just to avoid it being stepped on or tripped over, whether by him or someone else," he pointed out. "Being tied up with it must've been the last straw."
Fleegle became a little more concerned at the realisation. "Something's not right here. Come on, fellers, let's go see our buddy. I think we really need to talk about this with him."
Drooper was still glaring at his tail. "Give me nothin' but trouble, you do." He heard a knock on the door and sighed. "I said I don't wanna talk about it, Fleeg!" He surprised himself with the slightly harsh tone he just used on one of his best friends.
Fleegle was also a little surprised, but he stood his ground. "It'd be better if we did. There's something more bothering you and we wanna try to help you with it."
He sighed again, this time in resignation. The canine was correct about there being something other than just his tail's length bothering him. "Alrighty then, come on in."
The door opened and the other three Splits entered the lion's bedroom. Fleegle sat on the bed beside Drooper, making sure to mind his friend's tail. As for where the other two sat, Bingo situated himself on a beanbag chair in the nearest corner of the room while Snorky sat on the chair near the lion's desk. "We know there's something bothering you about your tail, but it's more than that, ain't it?"
Trust his friends to catch on. "You're right, Fleeg. Truth is...when I was a cub, I was given a hard time 'bout it. Today wasn't the first time someone used it as a rope to tie me up."
That explained it; Drooper had been bullied about his tail when he was younger. "Would you mind telling us about it? In exchange, I'll share my story too."
"Your story?"
"I was given a hard time in my puppyhood too."
"Beep!" Same for me!
"Me too," Bingo added.
Drooper was a little surprised to hear his friends had also dealt with bullies in their younger years; what could have brought theirs on? He nodded; not because he wanted to hear their stories of the past, but because maybe sharing his would help lift the weight off his shoulders. "Well...okay then. It all started on my very first day at school." Drooper hung his head and closed his eyes as he started recounting the unpleasant memories of his cubhood. He could still feel his friends were there, and that granted him the courage to speak openly.