This story is based on an episode of the 1995 LPS series entitled, "Whenever Lola Laughs" and includes a few of my fan-made LPS characters introduced in "My LPS OCs." Please enjoy!(BTW, a picture of Monique and Gerard is now available on my blog, the Keeper of the Fun blog!)
It's a lovely day in Downtown City. Inside the Littlest Pet Shop, Vinnie is merrily tapdancing in place, while Cody Wilson juggles a soccer ball on his hooves, Fiona Hemingway sits at a small table, polishing her teacups, Sunil Nevla practices a magic trick, and Minka Mark swings on a tire swing, painting a picture of her friends. Suddenly, Tessie Blake bursts through the door, excitedly exclaiming, "She's coming, she's coming, she's coming, she's coming!"
"Goodness, who's coming, Dearie?" Fiona inquires curiously as she casually looks up from what she's doing. Noticing that she's painted an excited Tessie standing in front of everyone, Minka stops and scratches her head in perplexity.
"Monique the Sad Little Kangaroo!" the little golden hamster replies while hopping up and down in place. "She'll be boarding here at the day camp while her act is in town!"
"Wow!' "Cool!" the pets reply excitedly.
"It's more than an act, it's a life statement." Cody notes as he accidentally kicks the ball too hard and beans Vinnie on the head, causing him to veer off balance and flop to the floor. "Oops, sorry Vinnie," the brown horse says with concern as he traipses over and helps his friend up. "Y'all okay?"
"Somewhat." a dazed Vinnie groans.
"Hmph," Zoe Trent sniffs from her dog bed. "I certainly don't see what all of the fuss is about. After all, she's only a kangaroo who acts depressed."
"She's a whuppin' big star over in Europe," Cody notes. "They like her even better 'n country music." Zoe's only response is a disinterested glance.
Just then, the pets hear the door chimes ring. "She's here! SHE'S HERE!" Tessie exclaims excitedly as she leaps up and does a somersault in midair. The pets stick their heads into the doorway to see a tall thin man with blonde hair and a long, pointed nose, wearing a baggy green shirt, an even baggier pair of black pants, and a pair of brown shoes, gently holding a small greyish-tan kangaroo with a cream colored face and belly and dark purple eyes, wearing a black beret and a matching sweater(1), addressing Blythe and Mrs. Twombly. "Ah, bonjour, mon amis. I ;ave, 'ow you zay, come to board my little Monique 'ere."
Mrs. Twombly smiles warmly. "Well, we promise that your little one will be well taken care of, Mr. Gerard sir."
"And she'll be in good company." Blythe adds pleasantly.
"Ah, zhank you." Gerard replies as he leaves.
Once he's left, Blythe gently leads Monique into the playroom. "Hello, little friends. We have a new friend for you to meet." Blythe then leaves the room. "Please have fun, little ones."
Tessie excitedly dashes up to Monique with a speed that would put a cheetah to shame. "Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, you're just my favoritest of favorite celebrities ever!" She quickly takes out an autograph book and a pen. "May I have your autograph, please pretty please?"
"Zorry my dear, but I do not zign autographs." Monique replies solemnly.
"May I please take your picture?" Penny Ling inquires as she takes out a small digital camera.
"Zorry mon ami, but I do not 'ave my picture taken ether."
As Penny sets the camera down, Vinnie picks it up and looks curiously into the lens. "Hmmm..." He then presses the button, causing the flash to go off, sending him toppling backward in a daze. "Ooogh..." the little green lizard groans. "That was a bad idea..."
"Well, if I may ask, please, Dearie," Fiona inquires. "What type of souvenirs do you give your fans?"
The little kangaroo promptly removes a small plastic bag of water, resembling the type housing goldfish at the carnival, but without the fish, from her pouch. "I give out zmall bags of my tears." She then hands the bag to Sunil. "Gee, thanks." the blue mongoose replies elatedly. His friends simply look at him oddly.
"So, Monique," Minka inquires politely as the group strolls across the room. "How do you like our town so far?"
"It is a zad and desolate landscape of quiet suffering and torment." Monique replies.
"Gee," Cody muses. "Ah kinda like it here, actually."
"May we see some of your act, please?" Pepper Clark inquires.
"Zo zorry, my friend, but I do not work zolo. I do my act with zee great Gerard, my mentor." the little kangaroo replies.
"Oh, but just this once, please?" the grey skunk asks.
"Veddy well." Monique obliges, as the pets quickly seat themselves in a circle around her. "Oh boy, I love club acts," Vinnie says excitedly. "Once I went to Vegas to see Wayne Newton!"
Monique then begins her act, reciting a sad poem while imitating various animals:
"Zee cow chews cud, such crud,
Zee bunny jumps, I pass no trumps,
Bang, bang, shezzang, bye-bye Bambi,
Zay hi to your mom,"
Doleful looks cross the pet's faces as they look on. "Did Wayne do that one?" Minka whispers to Vinnie. "Not that I recall..." he whispers in reply.
Monique then continues her act, waving a pair of black pom-poms in the air:
"Bleak, dark, dreary, a tear,
Order a cola, zhey bring you rootbeer,
Life vissout meaning, life vissout hope,
Vhen ze eternal vaiter of life ask me if I vant zeconds,
I cover my glass and zay, 'No zhank you, I'm broke.'"
Saddened, the pet's eyes well up with tears. "That's the saddest thing I've ever heard!" Russel Ferguson sobs. Penny Ling weeps two waterfalls of tears.
Concerned by her new friend's sadness, Pepper traipses up to Monique and inquires, "Monique, have you ever wanted to do something more positive? Y'know, make the audience laugh?"
"Vhy should zhey?" the little kangaroo replies woefully. "I zurely never do."
Upon hearing this, the pets exchange concerned looks. "Not ever?" Tessie inquires.
"Never."
The pet's expressions become even more concerned. "That's terrible!" Fiona notes.
"We's-all really gotta help cheer her up." Cody adds.
At this moment, Pepper is struck with an idea. "Well say, Monique, maybe one of us can make you laugh."
"Please, do not put youzelves out." Monique replies woefully.
"Well, please prepare yourself for some hilarious hijinx!" Zoe says with a flourish as she motions toward the back of the room, where Sunil, who's clad in a magician's outfit, tapdances up to a small card table, then pauses and does a somersault in place. "Nothing up here," he says, rolling up his left sleeve. "Nothing up here," he says, rolling up his right sleeve. "And nothing up here!" he says, pointing toward his head.
The blue mongoose quickly removes his top hat, sets it on the table, then reaches into it, pulling his bunny friend Buttercream Sundae out by the ears. Buttercream hops up on the edge of the table, throws her paws in the air, and exclaims, "AROOGAH!" Sunil motions with a flourish. "Tada!"
The pets all break into uproarious laughter. All that is, except for Monique. "And are not vee all pulling each other through zis op hat of tears? Zis formal wear of misery called life?" The pets exchange nonplussed glances. "Mmmn," Sunil says dolefully. "Well, thank you for your help, Buttercream."
"You're quite welcome." the yellow bunny replies.
Nothing daunted, Penny quickly motions toward the back of the room, where Pepper and Zoe are standing on either side of Minka. "Hey Monique, check this out!"
"Why, I oughta..." Pepper says in a comedic manner as she wallops Minka on the head with a rubber chicken.
Zoe then takes out a seltzer bottle. "Listen, you." she says in a humorous manner as she sprays the pink monkey in the face.
"Oh, a wise guy, eh?" Pepper says as she picks up a huge bucket of pistachio pudding and dumps it all over the dog and monkey's heads. "Heh."
Minka then stands casually with her paws folded behind her back as Pepper and Zoe sneak up to her holding pies. Once they come close, the pink monkey quickly ducks out of the way, causing the dog and skunk to throw the pies in their own faces. "Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!" she laughs. "Ya missed me!"
The pets all begin roaring with laughter again, save unfortunately, for Monique. "Thus does modern life split us into three: me, myzelf, and I. Zo true. Zo zad." She removes a small handkerchief from her pouch and dabs her eyes.
Growing frustrated, Pepper tosses the rubber chicken on the ground, with a resounding SQUEAK! "Oh for gosh sakes, those were some of my best props!"
"Don't despair, Dearie," Fiona replies. "It looks like Vinnie may have something in mind."
The little green lizard, wearing a huge rainbow afro wig and a wacky expression on his face, dances goofily up to a prop record player. "Hum-de-dum-de-dum, do-dee-do-dee-do.." Upon growing close, his tail wraps around the center of the turntable, whirling him around in a rapid circle, then sending him flying around the room, bouncing off the walls. "WHOAWHOAWHOAWHOAWAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! OOH! YIPE! EECH!" As he slowly sits up in a daze, Vinnie trudges up to the record player, picks up the record, and tosses it to the floor with faux annoyance.
The pets immediately crack up once more, upon which Monique bursts into tears. The pets stare in shock. "What was so sad about that, Monique?" Pepper inquires.
"Do you zpeak lizard?" the little kangaroo replies.
"Uhm, well...no." the grey skunk replies in perplexity.
"Zhen I cannot explain it." Monique notes. Pepper's only response is a blank stare. "Zhank you for attempting zee impossible, mon amis." the little kangaroo continues.
Not willing to give up yet, Vinnie traipses up to a largish watermelon sitting in the center of the room and takes a bite of it. When this fails to make a dent in it, he then takes out a hacksaw, but only succeeds in bending it in half. Vinnie then tries a welding torch, but barely singes the watermelon. He then tries a jackhammer, but only ends up bouncing away. Finally, he dashes off and returns shortly with a mallet the size of a smallish redwood; he swings the mallet high in the air and smashes the melon into slices, which go flying into the air at top speed. The little green lizard hurries up the climbing tree in the middle of the room, climbs out onto a branch, shoots out his tongue and grabs one of the passing slices into his mouth, causing his head to take the shape of it.
Monique chuckles a bit as she watches this, then giggles a bit harder, then dissolves into full-fledged laughter as she collapses to the floor, hilarious. "HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! OH, THAT IS FUNNY!" Vinnie traipses up to her and opens his mouth into a big watermelon smile, causing the little kangaroo to laugh even more.
The pets gasp with delight. "Vinnie, you did it!" exclaims an elated Tessie. "You made Monique laugh!"
"Hee, hee, and it feels oh-so-good." Monique giggles.
Vinnie swallows the watermelon, then quickly spits out the seeds, upon which Monique traipses up to him. "Zhank you, Mr. lizard man, for teaching me 'ow to laugh." She plants a big kiss on Vinnie's cheek, causing his eyes to grow wide. "AROOOGAH!" he exclaims as he shoots into the air like a rocket, causing Monique to laugh even harder.
At this moment, Gerard returns to the shop. "It is I, Gerard." He poses with a flourish, causing his baggy pants to slide down(2); red-faced, he quickly pulls his pants back up as Blythe and Mrs. Twombly approach him. "Hello, Mr. Gerard sir." Blythe addresses him.
Gerard begins to dance in place. "I 'ave braved zee bright zun of day to pick up my little deadpan diva, my tiny zolemn ztar, my-" He's cut off sharply by the sound of laughter, upon which he looks toward the playroom to see Monique doubled over with laughter. Gerard gasps in shock. "MONIQUE!" Upon hearing his voice, the little kangaroo looks up with concern. "Uh oh, I zhink I am in trouble."
"Oh, Monique, what 'ave zhese pets done to you?" Gerard hurries over and gently scoops Monique up. "I must remove you from zhis den of levity at once!"
The pets look on sadly as the two leave. "Gosh, Monique," Pepper says dolefully. "We're so sorry."
"Please, do not be, mon amis," the little kangaroo replies. "I am glad zat I 'ave learned to laugh, and vill again zomeday. Au revoir, my friends, and zhank you for everything."
Before Gerard reaches the door, he turns to Mrs. Twombly and says, "Monique an I vill be headlining at Club Gloom zis evening. If her performance tonight is not up to par, you vill surely hear of it!" As he reaches into the air, Gerard's pants begin to fall down again, upon which he quickly pulls them back up and leaves with his face bright red.
"Oh dear," Mrs. Twombly despairs. "He could give our establishment bad word of mouth."
"Don't worry, Mrs. T," Blythe says consolingly. "I'm sure that all will work out for the good." She casually turns toward the playroom giving the pets a wink. She knew that they had something in mind.
Angered by Gerard's rudeness, Cody bucks and throws a kick into the air. "Ooh, that ornery varmint! When ah get mah hooves on him, he's gonna be sorry!" Cody had never liked bullies.
"Aw gee," Vinnie says as he sadly looks out the window. "I've sure made a mess of things..."
Penny places a consoling paw on his shoulder. "Don't be sad, Vinnie."
"Yeah," Pepper notes. "It's not your fault Gerard's a stick in the mud." Feeling his spirits lifted, the little green lizard gives a happy sigh.
"The only question is, how will we save poor Monique?" inquires a worried Minka.
"Gerard said that they'd be headlining at that club in the middle of town," Russel muses, rubbing his chin. "Maybe if we sneak in before their act begins, we can rescue her."
The pets exchange happy looks. "That's brilliant, Russel!" Tessie exclaims happily. The pets then quickly put their paws together. "GOOOOOOO TEAM!" they cheer, upon which they quickly hurry off.
Moments later, the pets make their way into the heart of town. Peking around the corner of a nearby building, Russel spies a building bearing a neon sign, reading, "CLUB GLOOM. PLEASE CHECK YOUR HILARITY AT THE DOOR." The orange hedgehog whispers, "This must be the place." upon which the pets quickly dash from their hiding place and sneak past the doorman, into the club.
One of the patrons stares blankly. "Hey," she says. "I just saw a dog, a skunk, a lizard, a monkey, a mongoose, a hedgehog, a panda, a hamster, a horse, and a fox sneaking into the club!"
"Ooh," the doorman replies excitedly. "I think I know this joke. Uhm...was the punchline, 'So don't let anyone take those peanut butter sandwiches, no matter what you do?'" The patron can only stare at him blankly.
As they enter the club, the pets cringe at the somber ambiance. "Ughh," Zoe notes, wrinkling her nose. "This place is darker than the inside of a cave, only without the bats."
"And it smells just about as bad." Sunil replies pinching his nose.
Peeking around the corner, Cody suddenly spots Gerard and Monique standing on a stage at the back of the room. "Ooh, there she is!" he notes, motioning toward them.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen," Gerard announces. "Vee vill present our most beloved act, 'Ze Toe-Stubbing Man and zee Kangaroo vis' a Migraine.'" The audience watches with intrigue as Gerard hops around in a circle, clutching his foot, while Monique rubs her temples in faux pain.
While the audience is distracted, the pets quickly scurry toward the stage. Noticing someone about to step on his tail, Vinnie squeals and leaps into the air, ending up landing on the edge of a coffee cup on a nearby table. As a lady picks up the cup she suddenly comes face to face with the little green lizard. "Howdy!" Vinnie jovially greets her, upon which the lady screams and flings the cup, causing Vinnie to topple onto the table and the coffee to go flying toward a well-dressed man holding a glass of water nearby.
The shock causes the man to accidentally toss the water in the face of a lady wearing an expensive dress; angered, the lady throws a punch at the man, upon which he ducks out of the way, causing the lady to knock the toupee of the man standing behind her into the glass of water of the lady standing beside him. Picking up the sodden wig with disgust, the lady tosses it away, causing it to land in the path of a waiter passing by. "WHOA-WHOA-WHOA-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the waiter cries as he goes sliding across the floor, sending the contents of hi tray fling everywhere.
As Vinnie climbs down from the table, a coffee cup falls and gets stuck on his head. "Hey! Who turned out the lights?" the little green lizard exclaims in a muffled voice as he runs in a frantic circle, trying to pull the cup off. Noticing this, Monique gives a small smile.
"Ohh, oh my toe," Gerard groans in mock agony as he continues to hop around the stage. "Ze pain, it ees zad. Like a kangaroo vis' a migraine." As Monique observes Vinnie pulling the cup off of his head, then doing a crazy dance in place, she begins to giggle gleefully. Noticing this, Gerard shoots a disdainful look at her. "Ze pain is nossing to laugh at!"
Nothing daunted, Vinnie quickly grabs and tugs the shoelace of a waiter serving a nearby table, causing him to trip and spill the contents of his tray on the people at the table. The audience dissolves into uproarious laughter, as in turn does Monique. Looking down to see the little green lizard, Gerard seethes with rage. "Vhy, you little pest, I'll teach you a thing or two!" He pounces toward Vinnie, all ready to capture him, upon which Vinnie dodges, causing Gerard to slam into a table. CRASHH! The little kangaroo laughs even harder at this hilarious display, making her owner even madder.
Vinnie begins hopping from table to table, upon which Gerard chases after him in front of the surprised patrons. As the little green lizard takes a diving leap from the edge of the last table, Gerard pounces toward him, but only succeeds in toppling to the ground. "Oogh..." he groans. As he slowly picks himself up, Gerard spies Vinnie on the run again. "You von't get avay from me, viseguy!" Gerard exclaims angrily as he shoves his way through the crowd.
As he nears the end of the line, Gerard accidentally crashes into an old lady. WHAM! Seeing what he's done, a sheepish Gerard slowly helps her up. "Oh, I am zo zorry, Madame. I should, 'ow you zay, be looking where I am going." Unswayed by this, the lady swings her purse high in the air and knocks Gerard across the room. "Madame," he groans weakly. "Can vee not talk zis over?" From the stage, Monique doubles over with uproarious laughter.
Vinnie dashes toward the kitchen just as a waiter carrying a pie leaves. As Gerard climbs to his feet and pulls his pants up again, he dashes after the little green lizard again, but only succeeds in crashing into the waiter, causing him to send the pie flying toward the pets, who are standing in a far corner of the room, and hit Sunil in the face. SPLAT! "Mmm," the blue mongoose notes as he licks his lips. "Coconut cream, my favorite."
Gerard chases Vinnie up onto the stage and quickly corners him. "You 'ave ruined zee show and made a fool of me!" Just then Gerard's pants hit the deck again, causing the audience to break into uproarious laughter. "Nice undies, dude." a teenage boy in the audience notes.
Gerard is surprised, albeit pleasantly so, by the audience's reaction. As he pulls his pants back up again, he silently contemplates that perhaps it's better to make the audience happy. He promptly whips around with a flourish to face the audience. "Zhank you, ladies and...germs!" The audience then laughs even harder. Gerard then motions toward his little friend. "Now, let's give it up for Monique, zee Happy Little Kangaroo?"
The audience, including the pets, clap and cheer happily. "You slayed 'em, Vinnie!" Minka exclaims elatedly. As the little green lizard sticks his head around the corner, Monique glances over and gives him a wink. Vinnie then winks twice in reply.
By the next morning, Gerard and Monique return to the day camp. "Are you sure zhat you vould not like to come vis' us on tour, Vinnie zee Vonder Lizard?" the little kangaroo inquires.
"Your offer is very kind, Monique, but my place is here at the pet shop." Vinnie replies.
Monique gives a small smile. "I understand, Darling." She gives the little green lizard a gentle hug and plants a big kiss on his cheek, causing him to collapse to the floor in elation. "Wow," he sighs blissfully. "I'll never wash my face again." Just then, a dog walks by carrying a bowl of kibble and dumps its contents all over Vinnie's face. "Well, maybe just this once."
Gerard, who's now wearing a rubber clown nose with his costume, happily addresses Mrs. Twombly, "I cannot zhank you and your little friends for all zhat you have done for me and my Monique. I shall surely be relating news of your vonderful establishment to each of my audiences."
The pet shop owner's eyes light up. "Why, thank you so much, sir!" Blythe smiles wistfully as she peeks over her shoulder at the pets. "That's my buddies."
As Gerard then traipses over to collect Monique, the little kangaroo politely waves to her friends. "Au revoir, mon amis! Zhank you zo much for everything! I shall never forget you!"
"Goodbye, Monique! Please take care! We'll never forget you!" the pets call happily as they wave to their new little friend.
As they watch Gerard and Monique go, Sunil muses, "Hmm, I wonder if we've seen the end of Gerard." Before Gerard can reach the door, his pants catch on the door handle and fall down around his knees again. "We have now." Pepper says with a glib smile.
The end.
Voice Cast
Mrs. Anna Twombly/Patron at Night Club-Kathleen Barr
Blythe Baxter-Ashleigh Ball
Zoe Trent-Nicole Oliver
Pepper Mildred Clark-Tabitha St. Germain
Vinnie Alfonso Terrio/Doorman-Kyle Rideout
Minka Mark-Kira Tozer
Sunil Nevla-Peter New
Penny Ling-Jocelyn Loewen
Russel Ferguson/Waiter-Sam Vincent
Tessie Blake-Miss Tony St. Vincent
Cody Wilson-Tom Kenny
Fiona Hemingway/Lady with Coffee-April Winchell
Buttercream Sundae-Cathy Weseluck
Monique-Kelly Metzger
Gerard-Brian Drummond
(1) Their appearances are based on those of Lola and her owner Gunther from the original episode.
(2) Gunther had a similar problem in the original episode.