Hi everybody! PrimroseRaspberry here. I've been reviewing stories in the Bubble Guppies category for a while now, but this is the first time I've ever written a BG fanfic myself. I worked really hard on it, so…I hope you like it.
One thing you should know before you read it though: it's technically a parody of "Three On Three," a chapter from the book "And Then It Happened Book 8" by Michael and Laura Wade. There are several differences between it and my fanfic, like the main reason why the characters we'll be focusing on embark on their adventure in the first place, and a few dynamics regarding the game they eventually play. But it's still a parody, and the authors of the "And Then It Happened" series deserve credit for inspiring me :) I don't own the Bubble Guppies either; the rest of the credit goes to their true creators including the staff of Nickelodeon.
Well, that's basically all I have to say (aside from how disappointed I am that the show came to an end recently). I hope you enjoy reading my story…
"Have a good weekend, everyone!"
"You too! Bye, Mr. Grouper!"
The Bubble Guppies left their school and headed outside, where one by one, each of them said goodbye to each other and swam home. The last one to leave the school building was Gil, who had to stop for a moment to collect the leash belonging to his pet dog, Bubble Puppy.
As Gil grabbed what he needed and met up with Bubble Puppy, the excited young animal barked and playfully tackled him onto the sandy ground, licking his face again and again. Gil laughed. "Easy boy, I need to get your leash on!"
"Arf arf!" Bubble Puppy got off of Gil and sat straight for a moment, but when his owner took the leash and clipped it onto his collar, the dog suddenly picked up a new scent and took off to see where it led. Gil screamed as he was pulled along, still holding on to the leash, until Bubble Puppy screeched to a stop near a huge rock. Startled, his owner lost his grip on the leash, flew forward, and bumped into someone, sending both of them tumbling to the ground.
Gil sat up, in a daze; until he realized who exactly he'd just fallen on top of. "Molly," he gasped, "are you okay?"
His classmate and friend giggled. "I'm fine, Gilly. Are…are you okay?"
He nodded, and they helped each other up. Gil then heard a familiar voice laughing next to them, and he turned to find Zooli, another member of their class, playing with Bubble Puppy as he started licking her face again and again. He then stopped and started to sniff Molly's backpack, as though there was something new inside of it; something that hadn't been in it before.
Gil chuckled. "Sorry, Molly. He smelled something and just took off, and—"
"It's okay," said Molly. "There is something…different…in my backpack today." She removed it from her back and unzipped it, then took out two slips of paper. Both of them had a picture at their top edge: a picture of a dark-skinned female guppy with bright orange star-shaped sunglasses, a white bopped wig, and a cheerful smile. It was a guppy that Gil recognized right away.
He smiled in excitement. "Is that…Stylee?"
"It is," said Zooli, a smile appearing on her face too. "When we went outside today, Molly told me that you guys all got to meet her and watch her perform one day, before I joined your class. She felt bad that I'm the only Bubble Guppy who hasn't seen her in person, so…she bought two tickets to her next performance!"
"Really?" Gil exclaimed. "That's so cool! I hope you have fun there."
"Thanks, Gil," Molly said. "Except…there's still one problem we're trying to solve. My mom was the one who gave me the money to buy the tickets, but she only wanted to give me enough to buy the tickets to her performance. We still need to um…find a way to get some train tickets."
"Train tickets?" asked Gil, in confusion.
"Yeah," said Zooli. "You know the city Kelpfield? Stylee's singing there tonight in the halftime show for the next game of the city's basketball team, the Kelpfield Wild Catfish. The city's so far away that we'll need a train to get to it. I'll try asking my mom if she can pay for the train tickets and bring us there when I get home, but…I don't think she's going to say yes. She always gets nervous when someone in my family asks her for money."
"That's too bad," sighed Gil. Then suddenly his face lit up, and he gave the girls a crafty grin. "But if she says no, tell her that you're going to my house for a sleepover instead. I think I know a way to get both of you to Kelpfield and back. And you won't even have to spend any money!"
Molly chuckled. "What kind of crazy idea do you have this time, Gilly?"
"It's a secret," he replied, winking. "But you'll probably find out soon…"
"Maybe," clarified Zooli. "See you later, Gil!"
"Bye Zooli! Bye Molls!"
And with that, Molly and Zooli continued on their way, while Gil picked up Bubble Puppy's leash and swam in the opposite direction.
It had been two hours since Gil and Bubble Puppy had arrived home; and one hour since Gil had finished today's homework. There was still time before his mom would be finished cooking dinner, so he snuck into his parents' bedroom and reached under their bed. Being the energetic and sometimes mischievous guppy he was, Gil knew there was a jar of money underneath his parents' bed, which they had saved for an emergency. He also knew half of the money the jar contained was 200 dollars—the exact amount needed to buy one train ticket to Kelpfield, thanks to the day his dad had gone there for a business trip.
Now you're probably wondering, why was Gil only planning to buy one train ticket to Kelpfield when he could have spent the entire jar on two tickets—one for Molly and one for Zooli? Well, that was where the mischief in his plan came in. He knew he couldn't spend the whole jar, or else his parents would find out more easily and get upset with him for spending their emergency fund. But he also didn't want his friends to miss Stylee's concert, so today he'd worked out a plan to avoid the second problem and at least postpone the first. As for what the plan was exactly…well, you'll have to find out more about it later. Gil's mother was now calling her son to dinner, and he could tell by the smell of it that they were having a delicious meal of penne pasta and tomato sauce.
Gil had only just finished his dinner when he heard the doorbell ring. His mother, who had just gotten up to clear the table, went to answer it. A second passed, and then she called out to her son in confusion, "Gil, you didn't tell me Molly and Zooli were coming over for a sleepover tonight."
"Uh…that's because the sleepover's at Molly's house," Gil lied, leaving his seat and swimming towards the front door. "They just came to pick me up."
His mother frowned, but nodded. "Alright. Wanna go to your room and pack up your things?"
"You bet!"
Immediately, Gil swam at full speed down the hallway. But when his mother looked away to chat with Molly and Zooli, he instead went into his parents' room, grabbed the jar of emergency money, and dumped out half of the contents. He then screwed the jar's lid back on, hid the jar back underneath his parents' bed, and took the money he'd removed into his own bedroom. There, he grabbed his backpack, stuffed the collected money into it, and then packed up his pyjamas, sleeping bag, and pillow. Just to make sure his cover wasn't blown.
"Okay," Gil eventually said, returning to his mother's side, "I'm ready!"
His mother smiled and gave him a hug. "Don't stay up too late."
"I won't. See you tomorrow morning!"
After his mother waved, Gil went outside, closed the front door, and met up with Molly and Zooli. They each had their school backpacks with them too, but unlike him, they looked a little nervous. "We couldn't get any more money. So um…what's your plan?" Zooli said.
Gil smiled. "First we need to go to the train station and buy a train ticket."
"Don't you mean three train tickets?" Molly said.
"Trust me Molls, we only need one. Nobody's ever going to know that ticket's for all three of us."
Exchanging glances, the girls followed Gil to his garage, where he had attached a wagon to the back of his bicycle. He then had the girls sit in the wagon while he pedalled them to the BubbleTucky Train Station. Once they got there, they parked the bike next to a bush before heading into the station.
"Okay," instructed Gil. "Zooli, Molly, I need you to hide behind that garbage bin while I get us a ticket. Then once I leave the ticket counter, sneak on and get into one of the train's bathrooms. Together."
"Gil, are you sure we'll—"
"Zooli, it's okay," Molly reassured her. "I know we're not supposed to go on a train without a train ticket, but once we see Stylee perform, it'll all be worth it. Really! I don't want you to be the only Bubble Guppy who hasn't gotten to meet her."
Albeit a little uncertain, she allowed Molly to lead her behind the assigned hiding place while Gil went to the ticket counter and gave the ticket salesman his money. "One ticket to Kelpfield, please."
The lobster at the counter frowned. "Kid, I can't give you a ticket if you're not accompanied by an adult guppy."
Oops. That was the only thing Gil hadn't thought of. Thinking hard, he said, "Uh…well, I will be. I'm a friend of Stylee's, and she's performing at a basketball game's halftime show tonight."
"Sorry, kid. I can't let you on the train without a grownup you're familiar with. What are you even doing here by yourself?"
Gil sighed in disappointment. There was no way around this. He would never be able to get that ticket, even with the money. Which meant he, Molly, and Zooli would never get to Kelpfield and watch Stylee perform. So, all Gil could do was tell a little lie to the ticket salesman: "Looking for my friends. But I guess they're not here either."
"Actually, one of them is."
Startled, Gil turned to find a merman he had never seen before standing next to him. His voice had a loose Italian accent, he had olive-coloured skin, very short dark brown hair, acorn-coloured eyes, a thick curly dark brown moustache, and a light brown tail with metallic gold pocket watch-shaped marks on it. He also wore a dark brown trench coat, a white shirt, and a burgundy necktie, which Gil thought looked very professional. However, why was a merman he'd never met telling the ticket salesman he was his friend?
As if reading his mind, the merman side-whispered to Gil, "Play along, young man. I have strong faith in child power. You deserve to roam free. It's about time!"
Gil shrugged. If this was going to help him get a ticket to the Kelpfield train, he was all for it. So he smiled delightfully and exclaimed, "Ah! There you are, uh…" he thought quickly and said the first name that popped into his mind, "Willy! I can't believe I finally found you!"
The merman smiled back. Then, turning to the ticket salesman, he said, "Now, one ticket to Kelpfield please. Hurry. Time waits for no one!"
"Uh…alrighty then." The lobster took the money Gil had given him and placed it into his cash register. Next, he reached into a drawer, pulled out a ticket with a picture of a train station in Kelpfield on it, and gave it to the merman. "Be careful out there," he warned. "Kelpfield's a big city."
"Oh, we will," the merman cheerfully assured him. "See you later!"
With the ticket lobster turning his attention to the next person in line, Gil and the merman swam away from the counter. "Thanks," Gil said. "But…why did you help me?"
"Just for the fun of experimenting with adventures, I suppose," said the merman. He then reached into his coat pocket, gave Gil a small piece of paper, and said, "Now go. Your friends may be waiting for you, but time never shall!"
Gil glanced at the garbage bin his friends were hiding behind, and then back at the merman. "How did you know I—" And then suddenly he jumped. The merman had disappeared! The young guppy looked in all directions, but he was nowhere to be seen. How strange…then, out of curiosity, Gil examined the piece of paper the merman had given him and was startled to see that it was another ticket, but one for the basketball game Stylee would be singing at. That meant he could watch her performance with Molly and Zooli! This was such great news…but was it a coincidence, or did the merman somehow know the reason why they were going to Kelpfield too?
Suddenly the train whistled, and Gil realized that it was supposed to leave in just a minute. Forgetting about his odd but helpful encounter with the merman (at least for the moment), he rushed onboard, and as he entered the doors of one of the cars, he glimpsed Zooli and Molly sneaking through the set of doors next to his. They saw each other there, and quickly, Molly led her friends into the nearest bathroom, which was at the end of the car.
After flipping the sign to "Occupied," Zooli sternly put her hands on her hips. "Guys, this is crazy! The conductor's going to know something's not right here. This is just a one-guppy bathroom! Three guppies can't be in here at the same time!"
"If you both stay quiet until we get to Kelpfield, nobody's going to know we're all here," said Gil. "The conductor will come to the bathroom, think only one guppy's in here, and ask for a ticket, and then I'll give him mine. Then we'll stay in here until the train arrives in Kelpfield, we'll get off, and you can both go watch the basketball game and Stylee's show! It's too easy, really."
"Gilly, I saw you at the counter," Molly said. "If it wasn't for that merman, you wouldn't have gotten a ticket! This can't be as easy as you thought."
"Okay, you're right. It's not. But the hard part's already—"
Zooli shook her head. "Gil, the hard part is how we're going to get back to BubbleTucky after the game is over. That's our only ticket, and we don't have any more money!"
Gil gulped, his eyes widening. Why hadn't he thought of that either?!
The train began to move forward, and the trio jumped as they heard the conductor enter the car, asking passengers for their tickets. As he got closer and closer to the bathroom, Zooli managed a small smile and motioned for Gil to approach the tiny ticket slot above the doorknob. He did, and soon the conductor's voice arrived directly on the other side of the door: "Ticket please."
Without any hesitation, Gil slid his ticket through the slot. The conductor thanked him, and then was heard opening the door to the next car. Once they were sure he was gone, Zooli asked, "Now what are we supposed to do? My mom's not going to be happy that we snuck to Kelpfield without telling her first!"
"It's okay, Zooli," sighed Gil. "After the game and the performance, I'll find a way to call my mom and ask her to pick us up. I'll tell her it was my idea so you two won't get in trouble, and…and I'll sit in a timeout chair, or do whatever she wants me to do. I should have thought about getting a ticket without a grownup with me, and how we were going to get home."
"No," Molly said, coming over to sit next to him, "don't do that. I should have thought about those things and warned you, but I didn't."
"Neither did I," added Zooli. "In a way…we all got ourselves into this. We all made a mistake."
"But I was the one who made you go along with this," insisted Gil. "You shouldn't have to get punished for it. I should."
"Well, Gilly, we're in this together. So we'll take the punishment together too. Bubble Guppies always stick together."
Gil smiled, and then he led Molly and Zooli into a compassionate group hug.
Eventually the train arrived in Kelpfield. Once they heard the whistle, Gil opened the door so he and his friends could leave the bathroom…and instantly fell to the floor.
As Molly and Zooli laughed, Gil shook it off and got up. "I'm okay," he said.
"Aw man! So much for that."
Not recognizing that voice, Gil turned and saw two teenage guppies—a fair-skinned saffron-haired boy with brown eyes and a chestnut brown tail with orange stripes, and an olive-skinned girl with turquoise eyes, cyan hair in a long ponytail at the back, and a pale blue tail with black polka dots—sitting next to the bathroom door. The boy had his tail extended out in front of him, and Gil suddenly realized that was the reason why he'd tripped.
Molly came out of the bathroom as well to see if Gil was okay, and then noticed the teenagers, who looked startled to see her. "Whoa," said the girl. "Paying for one and getting two guppies on. I love it!"
"Actually, three guppies," Zooli chimed in, also leaving the bathroom.
"Even better," said the boy. "Allow me to introduce myself. Name's Leif, aka the guy who tripped you on purpose, and this gal here's my best friend, Fia."
Gil stared at them. "Wait…you tripped me on purpose?"
"Why would you do that?" Zooli asked.
"For fun," shrugged Leif. "Anyways, we best be going now. We've got a cousin of mine to meet up with in Kelpfield before we have to buy train tickets back to BubbleTucky so we can use its much bigger airport, and before we go to the train station, after Stylee's done performing at this town's basketball game, the staff there are gonna host this rad thing before the real teams face off again."
"Like really, totally rad," said Fia. "They're only doing it tonight, it's so unique. Never ever again."
"And that special thing?" Leif smirked.
Fia laughed. "It's a bonus round of basketball that just about anyone from the audience can play against each other. Three merpeople just have to volunteer for each team, and that's all there is to it. Leif and I? We're gonna volunteer, and Leif's cousin is gonna go along with us. Whoever wins the audience's basketball round is gonna get two-thousand dollars as a prize, and I so wanna spend most of that on some new lipstick tubes."
"Even though you already have like what, fifty of those?" Leif scoffed.
"Hey, I'm trying to get every colour of the rainbow here, remember? Now let's go, so we can see which basketball team's better."
As soon as the teenagers left, Gil looked at Molly and Zooli, his face lightening up. "That's it!" he said. "2000 dollars—that's more than we need! All we have to do is win that extra game and get that money. Then we can afford the tickets back home, and we won't have to get in trouble!"
"Seems like a good idea," Zooli said. "But…what happens if we lose?"
Molly sighed. "We don't have a choice. If we don't want to get in trouble for sneaking out of town, then we'll have to beat Leif, his cousin, and Fia at a basketball game."
The Kelpfield Wild Catfish were one of the most talented sports teams that the three present Bubble Guppies had ever seen. By the time the halftime show was set to begin, they were ahead of their opponents, the Plankington Hammerheads, by four points. If they kept this momentum going, they were going to win for sure. Which made their entire audience delighted.
As both basketball teams left the court and made their way into the locker rooms, the game announcer, a red crab with a black toupée on his head, came into view, holding a microphone in his claw. "Whoa! What a game, everybody! Our guest team is strong, but if our home team carries on at this rate, they could ultimately win!"
Everyone in the audience cheered, but as they did, Zooli nervously glimpsed Leif and Fia, who were sitting in seats on the other side of the court. Sitting right next to them was a teenage boy—definitely Leif's cousin—who looked just like Leif, except his hair was longer, and his cheeks were fuller and had a few freckles around them and on his nose. Unlike the rest of the crowd, the three teenagers were just rolling their eyes in annoyance, clearly impatiently waiting for their big moment to arrive. Then Gil noticed them too, and the sight of the mean teenage guppies increased his determination to beat them when the time would come.
"Yup," the game announcer replied to the audience's cheering, "it's good news indeed! And we'll have quite an authentic show to watch when the next round begins. But before that happens, while our players are resting for the final piece of the game, another authentic show is in store for us. Our halftime show!"
The audience (once more with the exception of Leif, his cousin, and Fia) cheered again, and the game announcer continued, "Tonight, we'll be witnessing not one, but two performances during this exciting time! First of all, of course, comes a very beautiful and dare I say it, stylish, song that many of you are probably familiar with. Ladies and gentlemen, here tonight with her famous hit single, the one, the only…Stylee!"
At least half of the audience, including Molly and Gil, rose from their seats and did a standing ovation as a familiar mermaid glided onto the stage. Stylee. Tonight she was wearing a wig that was coloured sky blue and in not one, or even two, but four ponytails; the first was ocean blue, the second was indigo, the third was purple, and the fourth was a beautiful flash pink that was so bright, it seemed to glow before everyone's eyes. She was wearing a gold star-shaped monocle on her right eye, and was dressed in an amazing midnight blue dress with a sparkly lavender sash, and several shiny yellow topaz gemstones decorating the chest area. It was like a constellation, shaped like one slightly bigger star, and it dazzled everyone who saw it.
As Stylee arrived in the middle of the basketball court, everyone who had participated in the standing ovation sat back down and, like the rest of those who'd cheered, fell silent. Molly stole a glance at Zooli, who was observing the famous singer in disbelief, excitement, and above all, gratefulness. She was actually here, in the same room as the practical queen of style herself, about to watch her perform in person. And she owed it all to her friends; Molly because she was the one who'd acquired the tickets to the special occasion itself, and Gil because of everything he'd done. It had been risky of course, and bits of what he'd had in mind could have been thought out a bit more than they had been. Not to mention there was still a chance that the last few parts of his plan would fail, but…despite all that, she still appreciated his efforts. His goal, like Molly's, had been to get her to this basketball game's halftime show, and it had been accomplished. Now it was time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show as it began.
Stylee smiled at the crowd, in the process noticing Molly and Gil. She smiled and winked at them to let them know she knew they were there, and after both guppies waved back, she smiled at Zooli too before starting to sing her song. "What you wear can say a lot about you. It's your style, it's up to you to choose. Walk your walk, be true to yourself! Celebrate you're like nobody else. Style, comes from the inside! Style, just let it out!"
"Style!" a woman in the audience chimed in.
"There's no need to hide!" Stylee continued.
"Style!" sang the woman, along with four more adult guppies in the audience.
"Express yourself! Yeah!"
Then, before anyone knew it, half of the crowd was singing along with the guppy singer. "High fashion, low fashion. Everybody's got their own passion! Play it safe, or just go wild! Come on and rock your style! Style! Tease your hair, wear it blue. Do whatever makes you you. Dress to impress if it makes you smile. Come on and rock your style!"
"Fashionista…" Gil called out.
"...or old blue jeans!" Molly sang.
"Style!" Zooli shouted.
Stylee continued, "Ev-Ev-Ev-Ev-Every, every everybody's got one! Surfer dude...or Ivy League."
"Style!" the audience members that were singing along chanted, rising from their seats again to further express their support.
"Ev-Ev-Ev-Ev-Every, every everybody's got one!" sang Stylee. "Personal style. Your choices make you stand out! Don't be shy, it's time for you to break out! Your fashion."
"Fashion!" shouted the crowd. More members of the audience were singing along now, to the Bubble Guppies' delight.
"It's your thing, so own it! Personality, don't be afraid to show it!"
"Style!" sang the audience, the new members of the singers within it now rising from their seats as well.
"Comes from the inside."
"Style!"
"Just let it out!"
"Style!"
"There's no need to hide."
"Style!"
"Express yourself!"
"Yeah!"
By now, the only members of the audience who weren't out of their seats, singing, swaying, waving their arms and tails, and dancing along with Stylee, were Leif, his cousin, and Fia. They were just huddled together in their seats, anxiously covering their ears and waiting for the song to be over. Sheesh—what was the deal with those three? There wasn't anything not to like about Stylee or her performance! She was a very good singer and an excellent friend! Gil could only imagine how his dramatic classmate Deema would have taken this scene if she'd gone into Kelpfield with them. She probably would have called the disrespectful trio out on their actions right then and there, in front of the entire audience. No—she definitely would have done that. If only she really had come with them…
Stylee sang the next few parts of her song, thankfully not seeming to notice the teenage guppies' bad attitude. "High fashion, low fashion! Everybody's got their own passion! Play it safe, or just go wild! Come on and rock your style!"
"Style!" sang most of the audience.
"Tease your hair, wear it blue. Do whatever makes you you. Dress to impress if it makes you smile. Come on and rock your style!"
"Fashionista…" sang a female snail with brown hair who was in the audience.
"...or old blue jeans!" sang the male snail who was positioned right next to her.
"Style!" sang everyone in the audience except for the mean teenagers.
"Ev-Ev-Ev-Ev-Every, every everybody's got one!" Stylee sang.
"Surfer dude…" Zooli chanted.
"...or Ivy League!" added Molly.
"Style!" Stylee continued. "Ev-Ev-Ev-Ev-Every, every everybody's got one! What you wear can say a lot about you. It's your style, it's up to you to choose! Walk your walk, be true to yourself!"
The song reached an instrumental break, and Stylee turned to face the audience. "Now," she called, "as an extra special treat, and I'll admit, due to an unexpected occurrence right before the show, I'm going to invite a few volunteers from my audience to come up here and help me finish the rest of the song. Who would like to sing with Stylee tonight?"
Fia finally looked interested in the spectacle. "Ooh, ooh!" she squealed, leaping out of her seat and waving her arms like crazy. "Pick me, me! Over here! I've always wanted to be involved in something famous!"
"No, me!" called a male crab who was in the row right behind the Bubble Guppies'. "I've got a jig that'll knock everyone's tail accessories off!"
A female lobster who was just returning to the seat next to his narrowed her eyes. "Are you teasing me for that pearl chain I always wear around my tail again, Jules?"
"W-Why of course not, Darcy," the crab stammered, slowly backing toward the nearest aisle. "You know I learned very well from the last time I…aaaah!"
He then quickly tried scurrying into the aisle, but before he could go far, the lobster grabbed both of his claws, lifted him up into the air, and began spinning him around in circles nonstop. Her spins became faster and more powerful the more laps he made around her, until he was moving so swiftly that it sent a series of bubbles forward. One of the bubbles hit Gil and sealed him up inside it, with Zooli, having seen the bubbles slightly ahead of time and predicting what was about to happen, getting sealed up in it as well after attempting to push Gil out of the way. Molly, on the other hand, managed to avoid the same situation, and couldn't help but burst into giggles as she watched her friends, thanks to the out-of-control bubble, fly over the rest of the audience and into the basketball court. There, the bubble bounced off one of the basketball hoops and sailed to the floor, where it soon rolled to a stop right in front of a startled Stylee.
Stylee fell silent, the music playing on the loudspeakers stopped, and the audience gasped. Even Leif, his cousin, and Fia were shocked. In fact, the only audience member who wasn't concerned about what happened was the lobster named Darcy, who was now being escorted out of the building by security guards.
"We're okay!" Gil called to everyone, after glancing at Zooli to make sure that statement wasn't only half-true. He then became aware Stylee was in front of him, still in a stunned silence, and he nervously said, "Oh, uh…hi Stylee! Um…this is my friend, Zooli. She's in our class now."
"What?" Leif asked, now even more shocked than the famous singer was. "That weakling…knows her?! How is that possible?"
Unsure of what to say, Zooli smiled and waved a little, just as nervous as her friend was, if not even more. Thankfully, a second later, Stylee's immense surprise faded away, and she removed her star-shaped monocle, using it to successfully pop the bubble. Both guppies were then freed, and she placed her monocle back in front of her eye. Next, Stylee helped the duo up, and sang, "Nice to meeeeeeet you, Zooli! Yeah!" Then in a normal voice, she happily added, "And Gil, it's nice to see you again."
Molly found her way into the basketball court and hurried over to the scene to reunite with her friends. Immediately recognizing her, Stylee's smile grew wider. "Molly!" she exclaimed.
"Oh! Hi Stylee," chuckled Molly. "Sorry about everything with the bubble."
"Yeah," said Gil, "that kind of thing happens to me all the time."
Stylee gazed at him reassuringly. "It's okay, guppies. The important thing is, none of us got hurt…well, except for that crab."
"No no, I'm alright too," the crab called from the faraway seat he'd landed in. "These seats could not be more soft." Then most of the audience cheered, this time out of relief that even he was okay.
"It's…it's nice to meet you too, Stylee," Zooli said, still nervous but now feeling a little better. "My friends told me so much about the day you got to know them…I never thought I'd get to meet you too. I mean…" Her voice trailed off, and she could only hope that she didn't look as shy and embarrassed as she felt on all the cameras filming the scene.
"Hey, don't get all nervous," reassured Stylee. "What matters is what's happening now. You all being here, in your own style too. By the way…I like your bun."
Zooli jumped a little. "You do?"
"Yeah! It looks good on you. It's a good style."
Leif and his cousin both shook their heads in disgust, and Fia grunted, "I mean, really. Can this get any more sickening?"
Gil then looked around the court and asked, "Hey, where are all your backup singers and dancers?"
"None of them could make it," admitted Stylee. "Some kind of stomach bug right before the show. It was probably a good thing I stayed away from that kelp salad. They should be okay by tomorrow, but…until then, this performance will just have to go without backup." She then studied each of the three guppies and added, "But, since you're here…are you three interested in being the ones who'll spice things up…"
"Yeah!" all three of the young guppies cheered in unison.
"No, no!" Fia screamed. "Let me be your backup! It's only fair! I'm practically a lipstick queen! I deserve to be famous!"
The game announcer returned and whispered to Stylee, "Uh…Miss Stylee, it's very fun watching your reunion with the girl you sang with at your Big Bubble City concert and two of her friends, but the second part of the halftime show needs to be started in about a second. Literally, a second?"
"Oh," Stylee said. "Yeah, um…just give us a few more seconds. We're only one chorus away from finishing the song." She then whispered a few instructions to the Bubble Guppies, before turning to the audience and saying, "Feel free to sing along if you know what's coming next! But first, say hello to three special friends of mine, old and new: Molly, Gil, and Zooli, stylish kids from BubbleTucky!"
The audience members all clapped and cheered, except for the three teenagers. Those guppies now looked more miffed than ever, especially the noticeably jealous Fia. If she was going to be famous for something, it wasn't going to be for singing with the underwater world's most favourite pop star; that was for sure. But having such an opportunity just slip away like this of all ways—just because the singer she could have sung with happened to already know some random kids personally…that was just…
Suddenly Fia, along with Leif and his cousin, all jumped back, as the verse of the concert took place. Only this time, Stylee allowed all three of the present Bubble Guppies to sing the lead lines with her, while the majority of the audience sang the backup lyrics.
"Celebrate you're like nobody else," all four of them sang. "High fashion, low fashion. Everybody's got their own passion!"
Then, on his own, Gil sang, "Play it safe, or just go wild."
"Come on and rock your style!" Molly added.
"Fashionista or old blue jeans," continued Stylee.
"Style!" sang most of the audience.
"Ev-Ev-Ev-Ev-Every, every everybody's got one! Surfer dude or Ivy League," sang Zooli.
"Style!" chanted the majority of the crowd.
And then, all together, Stylee and the young trio sang the final line of the song. "Ev-Ev-Ev-Ev-Every, every everybody's got one!"
The audience cheered louder than ever, and everyone in the crowd (except for three certain merpeople) took part in a standing ovation for the foursome. Even the game announcer was clapping, seeming to have gotten lost in the excitement of the song and forgotten that the second part of the halftime show was now behind schedule. Stylee smiled for the audience, before leading Molly into a hug in front of everyone's eyes. Gil chuckled and joined the hug as well, to both of his friends' delight, and then pulled an initially hesitant Zooli into the embrace as well. It was a truly beautiful scene all-in-all, and the crab who had accidentally caused the concert's pause even found himself shedding a happy tear because of it. It was amazing!
Finally, Stylee released her Bubble Guppy friends and said goodbye to them. They said goodbye too as she happily swam off the court and out of sight, and only when she was gone did they turn and start to head back to their seats.
The game announcer walked back to the center of the court, still holding his microphone. "Alright everyone, I hope you enjoyed everything you just witnessed, with the clear exception of the Darcy incident, might I add. But now, it's time for the second half of our halftime show. It's a downright one-of-a-kind experience, one that I guarantee you will never EVER get to experience again! Two three-player teams, each member from our beloved audience right here and now, are currently about to play a bonus basketball game that will win one team a beloved shared prize of two-thousand dollars."
Everyone cheered, and the announcer said, "Now, if I could just receive some volunteers—"
"We volunteer!" Molly, Gil, and Zooli quickly called in unison. They had to get the money they needed to get back home; they simply had to!
Almost immediately after that, Leif sprung out of his seat and cried, "I volunteer myself, my best friend Fia here, and my cousin here!"
"Yeah!" Fia shouted.
"Ripper's in the hoooouuuuuse!" shrilled Leif's cousin. "And by the way, I'm Ripper!"
"Alrighty then," declared the game announcer. "All volunteers, please swim forward and choose a team name."
The Bubble Guppies headed back to the middle of the court, while the three teenage guppies darted onto it and went to hover in front of them. Next, they each decided on a team name (the Bubble Guppies decided on the Guppies while Fia insisted her team be known as the Invulnerables), and after jotting each name down for the referee, the game announcer explained another thing regarding how the bonus game they were about to play worked: there would only be three opportunities to shoot the ball they would be supplied with through a hoop, and whichever team made the most baskets by the time all three chances were used up would win the game and the prize money.
"Oh, no problem," bragged a very confident Leif, flexing his biceps. In that moment, Zooli realized that he and the other two teens had a noticeable advantage: because they were older, they were stronger and probably more agile than herself and her friends. That meant there was an even greater chance that the other team would win, which wasn't good at all. She, Molly, and Gil needed that money, or they'd never be able to get home without also getting in trouble with their parents!
The game announcer stepped off the court, declaring, "Okay…now, let the one and only bonus round begin!"
The remainder of the audience cheered, and the referee of the Kelpfield Wild Catfish team's to-be-continued game—a male snail with a basketball-like pattern painted on his shell—slowly made his way onto the court and in between the teams, carrying a real basketball. While they waited for him to arrive, Ripper smiled mockingly, which caused Gil to become a little nervous. Still, they had to try to win; they all knew it.
Soon the referee made it to the right spot, and he tossed the ball high into the air. Fia was unsurprisingly the player who succeeded in catching it, and before anyone could blink, she swiftly dribbled the ball past her opponents, heading straight for their hoop. However, Gil was just as quick to follow her, and just as she tossed the ball towards the hoop, he dove after it and knocked it back to the ground before any points could be scored.
"Nice work, Gilly!" Molly cheered, lifting up her hands to signal for him to toss the ball to her.
"Yeah!" Zooli added.
Gil laughed, and then tossed the ball back the way Fia had brought it, calling, "All yours, Molls!"
"Think again, kid," smirked Leif. Before the pink-haired guppy knew what was happening, he'd darted in front of her and wound up catching the ball instead. Next, he let out a loud grunt and thrust it into the kids' hoop, thus scoring the first goal.
"Point, Invulnerables," announced the referee, blowing his whistle before going to fetch the basketball.
"Oh man," complained Gil. "I really thought we'd score first!"
Molly, however, stayed confident. "Don't worry. There's still two baskets left, so we can still win a way back home."
Overhearing what she said, Ripper whispered to his teammates, "FYI, if we win, those little guys are stranded in a city that's not their home! Double victory for us if we win!"
"Not if," hissed Leif. "Never if. It's when. The third goal won't even be needed."
The referee now had the ball again and was making his way back to the middle of the court. Both teams went back to their starting positions and eagerly waited, until he once again tossed the ball high up into the air. This time Ripper seized the ball and dribbled it towards the kids' hoop, with the Bubble Guppy chasing after him being Zooli. She then leapt up and tried to take the ball, but Ripper raised it away from her…only for Molly to appear in the high area he moved it into and knock it out of his hand. She then began to dribble it toward the teens' hoop, but Leif instantly blocked her way, ready to snatch the ball away. Unbeknownst to him however, Fia had the same idea, and they bumped into each other and fell over. Into an argument the spiteful best friends went—just long enough for Molly to throw the ball as hard as she could. The ball sailed straight for the teens' hoop, where it easily went in.
"Point, Guppies," announced the referee, blowing his whistle and going to fetch the ball again.
While the Bubble Guppies cheered and high-fived one another, Ripper angrily separated his teammates from each other. "Idiots!" he yelled. "I told you, the most important key to sporty success is talking to your partners first! Now the weaklings just scored a goal!"
"Hey don't get mad at me, cousin," scoffed Leif. "She's the one who didn't talk."
Fia started to give him an angry comeback, but when Ripper gave her a warning glare, she grunted loudly and instead said, "Fine. I'll talk. But if our opponents hear what I'm saying and win because they know what we're gonna do, I'm not taking the blame again. I'm NOT."
The referee returned to the center of the court, and so did both of the teams. He tossed the ball high into the air one more time, and Gil and Leif both lunged for it at the same time. Being taller than all of his opponents, Leif easily caught the ball and began dribbling it toward the Bubble Guppies' hoop. Zooli and Gil both swam after him, and seeing them, he winked at Fia before calling, "Yo Ripper! You open?"
Ripper elbowed Fia in the hip before replying, "Oh yeah!"
Molly quickly swam in front of Ripper so she could catch the ball instead once it came forward. Fia, meanwhile, darted in front of Gil and Zooli to block their way as they tried to get to the other side of the court and help Molly. However Leif took the children by surprise and threw the ball to not Ripper, but Fia instead. Then, before Gil and Zooli could recover from their surprise and confusion, Fia tossed the ball into their hoop, winning the game for her team.
"Point, Invulnerables!" hollered the referee, blowing his whistle, this time in a more dramatic way (though not nearly as dramatic as Deema would have done it, Gil couldn't help thinking).
"We win!" Fia squealed. "WE WIN, WE WIN, WE WIN! LIPSTICK RAINBOW COMPLETION, HERE I COME!"
Leif and Ripper squeezed her into a group hug, while Molly, Gil, and Zooli could only look on in disappointment. That was it—their only hope of getting home without their parents knowing about them sneaking to another city unsupervised, gone. Unless…maybe…just maybe…
As the game announcer returned with an envelope containing the 2000 dollars the teenagers had won, Molly smiled, politely went up to the trio, and said, "Hey, um…Invulnerables? Congratulations for winning the game."
Fia laughed and briefly glanced behind her, where the referee and the game announcer were leaving the court to let her team celebrate their victory. "It was all thanks to me by the way. The queen of lipstick is soon gonna famous for the biggest and beautifullest collection ever!"
"Might wanna practice smiling for the cameras now," teased Leif. "'Cause you'll be doing that a lot before you know it."
"Yeah," chuckled Molly. "But first, well…is it okay if my friends and I borrow 600 of those 2000 dollars? I can find a way to pay you back once we're back in BubbleTucky."
All three of the teenagers laughed. "Forget it, loser," mocked Ripper. "You and your friends can find your own way home…if there even is another way!"
He, Leif, and Fia laughed even harder, before swimming off with the money-filled envelope. And that was it; the Bubble Guppies' natural-born leader was out of ideas. It was the one position she downright hated being in, since she usually always knew what to do. But the worst part was that unlike the last time she'd felt this way, she wasn't out on her school's playground, doing nothing more than getting lost in the moment, breaking character, learning how it felt to be grumpy, and shocking everyone including the story's narrator, who'd just gone along with it to avoid breaking the fourth wall (which only the story's actors were supposed to do). This time it was all real, even set in a city she had never been to before.
"Are you okay?"
Molly turned around, nervous but for the most part, sad and trying to fight off the urge to become her rarely-seen grumpy self. Gil was slowly swimming toward her in concern, with an equally concerned Zooli a few paces behind him.
"No," she said. If there was anything she'd learned from her adventure in Happy Junction, it was that not talking about how she felt wasn't going to improve her mood; in fact, it would only make her feel even worse, whether she wanted to admit it or not. "That was our only way home without getting in trouble, and…we didn't win it. We'll have to tell our parents everything…and I don't want to make them mad! Usually they're never mad at me."
Zooli sighed. "I'm sorry, but without any tickets or money, we have to tell them everything. Besides, remember what we said on the train? We're all in this together."
"Yeah," said Gil. "And think about it. We still got what we wanted. We got to Kelpfield okay, and Zooli got to see Stylee. She even got to meet her and sing with her! That's what we came for, right? So even if we get in trouble, at least we'll do it knowing we did everything we came here to do."
Molly managed a smile. "Thanks guys." She then hugged both of her friends, and they hugged her in return just as the game announcer and the referee returned to reintroduce the Kelpfield Wild Catfish and their opponents.
But even as they headed back to the Kelpfield train station so they could find a phone to call their parents with, Gil and Zooli could tell that their comforting moment hadn't fully succeeded in cheering Molly up.
The Bubble Guppies eventually arrived at the train station and began to ask various mermaids, mermen, snails, crabs, lobsters, clams, fish, and even a few dolphins all around the building if they could borrow a phone. However, some of the other mammals in the station had phones that contained dead batteries, others simply didn't have any devices with them, and other mammals were just very protective of their phones and refused to let the guppies borrow them.
Finally, Molly couldn't take it anymore and grunted loudly. "What are we supposed to do now?!"
"I don't know," admitted Zooli. "I guess we might be…stuck in Kelpfield. At least for a day…maybe we'll find a way to call our parents by then."
"We can't stay here for a day!" Gil exclaimed. "By then our parents will start wondering where we are! They'll call Officer Miranda and the other police officers in BubbleTucky and ask them to help them look for us, and they might even ask the police here in Kelpfield to help too! Then we'll be in even bigger trouble. And we can't get in trouble with the police! We just can't!"
"Then what should we do?" Zooli asked. "'Cause there isn't another way!"
When neither he nor Molly could think of anything, Gil wistfully looked away from the girls. This was a very bad situation, and Molly's grumpiness wasn't helping. At this point he just wished Bubble Puppy was here to comfort him, but even that wasn't an option. His parents, for the sake of protecting his beloved pet from wandering off in a less familiar part of town, had given him an important rule that he now knew so well, it never had to be said anymore: to keep his dog at home whenever he went out for a sleepover, and tonight had been no exception. Things just couldn't get any worse.
Suddenly Gil's gaze wandered towards the train ticket counter, and he recognized Leif, Fia, and Ripper as the first ones in line. Leif was currently taking a noticeably small amount of money out of Fia's envelope, and handing it to the fluorescent pink angelfish behind the counter. The angelfish took the money and gave Leif a single train ticket, but no more. However, all three of the teenage guppies remained surprisingly happy, waved goodbye to the angelfish, and left the counter. Then Gil watched in shock as Fia and Ripper ducked under the large coat Leif was wearing, and snuck onto the last car of the train with him.
Gil gasped, now realizing what the trio were up to. They were using his "paying for one and getting three guppies on" trick just to save their prize money! How could they do such a thing? It had been him who had originally thought up that idea, and they knew he and his friends needed tickets home more desperately than they did! And now they were just going to get away with it? That wasn't fair. If only there was some way to get back at them…
And all at once, Gil knew exactly what he, Molly, and Zooli needed to do. It was risky, but it was their only hope. Turning to both of his friends, he instructed, "Guys, quick. Follow me onto the train, and don't let anyone see you."
"But Gilly—"
"We don't need any tickets. Trust me."
Zooli shrugged. "Sounds like whatever you're thinking is going to get us back to BubbleTucky faster…"
The three Bubble Guppies, led by Gil, quickly snuck onto the train through its final car, thankfully remaining unnoticed by everyone else in the station. They then hid underneath the seats until the train started rolling to BubbleTucky, and on Gil's signal, they snuck out of the seats and headed to the closed and occupied bathroom door. Next, Gil put his lips to the center of the door, deepened his voice, and said, "Ticket please."
Apparently fooled into believing Gil was the train's conductor, one of the teens slid their ticket through the slot in the door. Then, before Molly or Zooli could react, Gil silently directed them into the next car, where they hid in its bathroom together. As soon as Zooli activated the "occupied" sign, the real conductor entered the car and started collecting its passengers' tickets. He eventually stopped in front of the bathroom door and said, "Ticket please."
Gil wordlessly slid the ticket he'd taken from the teenagers through the slot, and the conductor grabbed it. He then went into the last car, where he collected the tickets belonging to everyone there, until he arrived at the bathroom. He then said, "Ticket please."
"Wait, what?" Leif asked in confusion.
"I said, 'Ticket please.'"
"I already gave it to you, remember?"
"No you didn't. I've been to every washroom in the train except this one, and I need you to hand over your ticket."
"But I already did! I know I did!"
"You didn't. Now please give me your ticket, or I'll have to ask you to get off this train."
"I told you, Mr. Conductor!" Leif shouted, now getting angry. "I'm not making this up! I already gave you our—I mean my—ticket!"
The conductor frowned. "What do you mean by 'our?'"
"Leif!" scolded Fia. Then she gasped, and clapped her hand over her mouth.
A few minutes later, the train stopped right in the middle of nowhere, and the doors of the last car opened. The conductor shoved Leif, Fia, and Ripper out the doors and onto the sandy ground next to the tracks, then slammed the doors closed. The last thing the three angry teenage guppies saw before the train disappeared into a tunnel was a familiar blue-haired boy sticking his head out the window and happily waving to them.
Ripper furiously clenched both of his fists. "I swear, that little punk is gonna pay for this."
"No, we'll pay," stated Fia. "If we lay a hand on him, he'll go free and we'll go to juvie. And I'm pretty sure there's no foods we like there."
"Chips," mumbled Leif. "That's what I could really use right now."
Gil went back into the bathroom, making sure he didn't open the door wide enough for anyone to glimpse his friends in there. He then closed the door, reactivated the "occupied" sign, and sighed happily. "So," he said, "how do you feel now that we're not going to get in trouble with our parents? Or the police?"
"Well, even after how mean they were to us, I feel bad that we had to get those teenagers thrown out of the train," admitted Zooli.
"Me too," said Molly. "But…they did kind of deserve it. And I am glad that we don't have to worry about getting in trouble with anyone anymore."
Zooli nodded in agreement. "By the time we get to your house, Molly, we'll be able to settle into our sleeping bags before your parents and your sister even wake up." She then furrowed her brow. "We did stay up pretty late though. I wonder how we're gonna solve that problem."
"Easy," smiled Gil. "Tomorrow's Saturday! We can just sleep for some of the morning!"
Molly smiled too, excitement in her eyes. "And if my mom and dad ask us why we were asleep for us, we can just say we stayed up late telling each other stories."
"Which guppies usually do at sleepovers anyway," chuckled Zooli.
The trio high-fived, and spent the rest of the train ride back to BubbleTucky planning out what kinds of events they would say their bedtime stories had featured when the time would come. By the time they arrived back home, all three of the kids had agreed that the story they would tell would be about three superhero kids trying to go see a concert, and stopping three teenage bullies along the way. The bullies would remain unnamed, unlike most of their stories' characters, but the thrill would still be there. And of course, it would end with all three of the heroes living happily ever after, while the bullies were tricked and ultimately forced off the train. It was pure genius—and for the first time during their adventure tonight, Molly, Gil, and Zooli could all honestly agree that they couldn't be more excited to put their plan into action.
And that's the end. :) I hope you liked it, and please feel free to share your thoughts on my story through the reviews. You can also feel free to check out some of my other fanfics as well, if you want.
I'm PrimroseRaspberry, and well…whether it's through another fanfic of mine or through the reviews of some of the other Bubble Guppies stories here, I'll see you around!
Note: The mysterious merman who helped Gil get the first train ticket is an OC of mine that will appear as a major character in an upcoming Backyardigans/My Big Big Friend crossover I'll be writing sooner or later.