Bubble, Gupple, Tattoo And Trouble
One afternoon, Gil was on his way home. He had been to the library to return some books and check out new ones.
"Boy, I sure can't wait to read these new books." said Gil.
Just then, Gil saw his friends gathered outside a building. The building was built to look like a saloon from the Old West. There was a sign above the door that bore the name "Cowboy Roy's Tattoo Saloon" in red Wild West-style lettering.
"Hey, guys." Gil greeted as he swam over to them. "What's up?"
"We're just checking out this new tattoo parlor." said Molly. "I think it's cool how we have one now."
"Yeah, I bet we'll find some really cool ones." added Goby.
Just then, a male lobster exited the parlor, with a fresh tattoo of a heart with the word "Mom" in it.
"You kids like my tattoo?" the lobster asked as he showed it off. "That "Cowboy Roy" guy sure knows that he's doing."
The lobster then went on his way.
"Come on, guys, let's go!" said Goby.
Goby grabbed Gil and Nonny by their hands and raced inside the parlor, with Molly, Deema, Oona, and Zooli following close behind. Once inside, they gazed at the display of designs for tattoos on the wall.
"Wow." said Gil. "Look at all those tattoos!"
"Yeah, there's lots of cool options here." agreed Nonny. "I wonder what the right one for me would be."
Just then, a middle-aged adult male fair-skinned Guppy with gray hair, pale blue eyes, a darker blue tail with a Paisley pattern, and dressed in a red Paisley long-sleeve button-down shirt, a white bandanna around his neck, and a straw cowboy hat on his head approached them.
"Howdy, kids." the Guppy replied in a Texas accent. "I'm Cowboy Roy. Welcome to my Tattoo Saloon. How can I help you kids today?"
"Do you have any tattoos that would be appropriate for children?" asked Nonny.
"I sure do, son." Cowboy Roy nodded. "I've got lots of temporary tattoos right this way."
Cowboy Roy then showed the Guppies a rotating display rack that housed several temporary tattoos on it.
"Go ahead." Cowboy Roy said. "Take your picks."
The kids all looked through the rack and soon made their choices of tattoos, with Molly choosing a tattoo of a dolphin, Gil choosing a tattoo of Optimus Prime, Goby choosing a tattoo of Thomas the Tank Engine, Deema choosing a tattoo of a butterfly, Oona choosing a tattoo of a red panda, Nonny choosing a tattoo of two ribbons made of red, light blue, dark blue, and yellow puzzle pieces, and Zooli choosing a tattoo of a seashell. Cowboy Roy smiled when they showed him their choices.
"Very nice choices." he said. "Now, which of you wants to go first?"
"I'll go." Molly offered as she raised her hand.
Molly gave Cowboy Roy her tattoo, then took a seat in a big brown leather chair while Cowboy Roy pulled the plastic foil off of the tattoo, then placed the tatto face-down on Molly's forearm. This was followed by him taking a damp cloth and pressing it against the tattoo for forty seconds, after which he slowly peeled back the paper, eventually revealing Molly's new tattoo.
"There." he said. "All done."
"Gee, thanks!" Molly grinned as she hopped down from her seat while gazing at her forearm.
"You're quite welcome, young lady." smiled Cowboy Roy. "Alright, who's next?"
Gil had his turn after Molly, then Goby, then Deema, then Oona, then Nonny, and finally Zooli.
"I say, those tattoos look great on you." said Cowboy Roy.
"Thanks, Cowboy Roy." replied Molly. "How much do these cost?"
"No charge at all." replied Cowboy Roy. "Children 12 and under are free."
"Oh." said Molly. "Thank you very much."
"No problem, kids." said Cowboy Roy as the kids began to leave. "Come again!"
As the kids started towards the door, Nonny looked around and saw the numerous pictures of famed actor, singer, and television host Roy Rogers, as well as a sign for the fast food restaurant chain that bore his name.
"You're quite a Roy Rogers fan, aren't you?" he asked.
"Yep." nodded Cowboy Roy. "It was my favorite show as a kid back in the day. Now, I suggest you join your friends in going home before your folks get antsy."
Nonny agreed and hurried to join the others. Later, when Gil arrived home, he found his mother, Sonya, on the couch going through some laundry.
"Hey, Mom." said Gil. "What's for dinner?"
"I asked Dad to stop at Wendy's on his way home, since he gets off work early tonight." Sonya replied.
"Sounds good." nodded Gil.
Gil then started for his room, but Sonya spotted something on his arm.
"Hold it, Gil." she said. "Mind if I look at your arm?"
"Uh, okay." said Gil.
Gil showed his mom his arm, and when Sonya saw the Optimus Prime tattoo, she became furious.
"Gilbert Eric Hall, Jr., where did you get this tattoo?" she demanded.
"From that new tattoo parlor in town." her son replied.
This kindled Sonya's anger more, and she stormed over to the phone and called every one of the other Guppy Moms and furiously explained the situtation to them, and likewise, the other Guppy Moms, who had also seen the tattoos on their children's arms, and were mighty angry about them, although since Zooli lived with her dad, as her parents were divorced, when Sonya called him after getting off the phone with Nonny's mother, he said that he was fine with his daughter having a tattoo. That did little to quench the flame of anger burning inside Sonya, though, and she angrily hung up the phone, then went into the kitchen and grabbed a rolling pin. Gil was rather alarmed at his mother's present behavior.
"Mom, what are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm going to teach the owner of that tattoo parlor a lesson!" Sonya snarled.
And with that, Sona started towards the door and stormed out of the house, with Gil following.
"Mom, wait!" he called. "You don't understand!"
Sonya was too angry to hear her son's pleas, and it wasn't long before she met with the other Guppy Moms outside Cowboy Roy's. All of them had grabbed various household items and were using them as makeshift weapons, with Kayla (Molly's mother) holding her purse, Harriet (Goby's mother) holding a cleaning brush, Sally (Deema's mother) holding a rake, Whitney (Oona's mother) holding a broom, and Sandy (Nonny's mother) holding a golf putter, one in a set of clubs owned by her husband.
"Alright, ladies, we'll give Cowboy Roy a chance to explain himself." Sonya explained. "And then we'll tear him to pieces!"
With that, the Guppy Moms stormed into the parlor as Gil finally arrived. He was soon joined by Molly, Goby, Deema, Oona, and Nonny. Zooli wasn't with them, due to her father's contrary views on his daughter's body markings compared to her friends' moms.
"I can't believe this is happening!" said Molly.
"I know, right?" agreed Gil. "I've never seen my mom act like this before."
"This is madness!" Nonny exclaimed as he put his hands on his head to prove it.
From outside, the Guppies could hear their moms arguing bitterly with Cowboy Roy, who could be heard trying to defend himself, but was soon seen bursting out of the parlor with a face as white as snow and the Guppy Moms following him with their makeshift weapons.
"We've gotta stop our moms before they hurt Cowboy Roy!" said Molly. "Or worse!"
The other Guppies agreed, and the group immediately followed their mothers in their pursuit of Cowboy Roy, who held onto his hat as he ran. The chase led all the way to the boating pond in the local park, where Cowboy Roy grabbed a life jacket and put it on. The Gupies soon caught up to him.
"Quickly! Into that boat!" Cowboy Roy shouted as he pointed to a rowboat*.
Cowboy Roy and the Guppies, after the Guppies also put on life jackets, then jumped into the rowboat, which was somehow big enough to fit all of them, and Cowboy Roy, after untying the small craft from the dock, began rowing furiously to the other side.
"Cowboy Roy, you don't have to run!" Gil pleaded. "We'll tell our moms everything!"
"I don't think they're in the mood for listening." Nonny said. "Look!"
Nonny pointed to the Guppy Moms, who had also donned life jackets and were in a second rowboat, all of them facing forward, with Sonya in the bow. They were still furious at Cowboy Roy, and their faces showed it. To make matters worse, the rowboat Cowboy Roy and the Guppies were in suddenly spring a leak in the bottom and began filling up with water, and the boat itself began to sink.
"We're sinking!" cried Molly. "Good thing we're half-fish."
And so, they jumpedi nto the lake and began swimming back to shore. The Guppy Moms noticed this and rowed after them, and it wasn't long before all parties were back on shore.
"There he is!" Sonya yelled, pointing to Cowboy Roy. "Let's get him!"
The Guppy Moms advanced towards Cowboy Roy, but their sons and daughters got between them.
"Mom, wait!" said Gil. "Let me explain!"
Sonya then noticed that Gil's tattoo wasn't on his arm anymore.
"Gil, where is your tattoo?" she asked in a surprised tone as she looked at her son's arm.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you, Mom." Gil replied. "These tattoos aren't real. They're that fake kind that washes off with water."
"The boy's right." Cowboy Roy agreed. "I would never give a kid a real tattoo."
The Guppy Moms were all very embarassed and guilty upon finally hearing the truth.
"Please except our apologies, Cowboy Roy." said Sonya. "We don't know what came over us."
"There's nothing to forgive you for, ma'am." Cowboy Roy chuckled. "This whole thing was kinda on me. If there's anything I can do to make up for it, just name it."
The Guppy Moms all looked at each other, exchanged a nod, and smiled.
"Well, there is one thing." Sonya said.
Later on, back at Cowboy Roy's Tattoo Saloon, the Guppies and their moms came out with new tattoos. This time, they had all gotten matching tattoos, which were in the form of hearts, just like the one the male lobster from earlier had gotten, with the word "Mom" for Molly, Gil, Goby, Deema, Oona, and Nonny, and for their moms, their heart tattoos had the word "Daughter" for Kayla, Sally, and Whitney, and the word "Son" for Sonya, Harriet, and Sandy. And of course, while the Guppy Mom's tattoos were real tattoos, the Guppies' were fake tattoos just like the ones they had earlier.
"Now we have matching tattoos!" said Sonya with a smile. "Boy, will Mr. Hall be surprised when he comes home!"
Everyone had to agree that all their tattoos were very nice. Cowboy Roy then looked at his watch.
"It's just about closing time." he said. "Good night, everyone."
Everyone said good-bye to Cowboy Roy, who then went inside the parlor, where he turned the sign on the door from "Open" to "Closed", then turned off the lights.
"We better be getting home too, Gil." said Sonya. "Your father will be home any minute."
Gil agreed, and he and Sonya bid good-night to their friends and left for home. As they went home, Sonya spoke to Gil.
"Gil, sweetie, I'm sorry I acted that way." she said. "I really should know better than to act so childish in front of you like that."
"It's okay, Mom." Gil reassured. "I guess even grown-ups still act like kids sometimes."
Sonya laughed in agreement.
"That we do, son." she said. "That we do."
And as Gil and his mother continued home, both felt pleased to be able to put such a silly ordeal behind them.
The End
* Yes, boats do exist in the Bubble Guppies universe. They were even the topic of discussion in the episode "Party At Sea!".