Greetings, everybody! I recently started watching this show called Bubble Guppies and I must say that it was fun. In fact, I decided to write this fic based on the SpongeBob episode Once Bitten. In this, Bubble Puppy's biting causes the people of Bubbletucky to think he has a disease. Nothing featured is owned by me. Enjoy!

Bubble Guppies: Once Bitten

A bright and sunny day in Bubbletucky and Mr. Grumpfish is seen with a smile on his usually grumpy face. "What a wonderful morning." Just as he swam outside, he tripped on an exposed squeaky bone. It doesn't take an archaeologist to know what, or rather who, buried it. Mr. Grumpfish saw paw prints in his yard. "Puppy tracks." He turns to see Bubble Puppy go into Gil's house. "That Gil needs to keep his pet out of my yard." Bubble Puppy sees Mr. Grumpfish start cleaning his yard with a broom. He hears barking and sees Bubble Puppy gnawing on some coral. "Not my favorite coral garden." He then growls angrily. "That's it! This isn't the first time you've sullied my yard with your paws. But mark this down on your little puppy notebook: it will be the last time!"

Later, Mr. Grumpfish is putting up a barricade of wooden stakes. As he puts in the last stake, he gets a splinter, which he easily pulls out. "This cheap, splintery wood will keep even Bubble Puppy out." He starts relaxing inside a barrier surrounded by wood stakes and barbed wire. "Now, I feel safe." But his thoughts were wrong when puppy drool drops on him. He looks up and sees Bubble Puppy climbing one of the stakes. He jumps over to another stake, more drool splashing on him. He's had enough. He had to do something about it. "Gil!"

"Hello, Mr. Grumpfish." Gil suddenly appeared.

"Hello, Gil. I was wondering if you would so kindly…" Mr. Grumpfish said calmly before yelling. "Keep your vermin off of my property! The next time, my annoyingly blue-haired neighbor, your filthy pet makes a mess on my lawn, you leave me no other choice but to call Animal Control. That little monster…" Mr. Grumpfish warned Gil, but before he could finish, Bubble Puppy bites his tail. Mr. Grumpfish stutters. "He bit me!"

"Bubble Puppy!" Gil gasped, pulling Bubble Puppy away. "No, dirty boy. This isn't like you."

"Oh, but it's just like you, Gil, to raise such a misbehaved puppy." Mr. Grumpfish said.

"Bubble Puppy's not misbehaved!" Gil retorted. Bubble Puppy starts growling. "But now that I look at it, there does appear to be something wrong with him."

"Tell me about it. I hope he had his shots."

"Oh, of course."

"All of his shots?"

"Affirmative."

"For rabies?"

"Yep."

"Puppy pox and soft paw dance?"

"Yes sir."

"Bronchitis, ringworm, teen angst?"

"Check, check, and check."

"Well, let's not forget the most dangerous of them all: Mad Puppy Disease." Deema suddenly spoke up as she appeared.

"Hmm…" Gil thought about it.

"Gil, are you saying your pet hasn't got a vaccine for mad puppy disease?" Deema looks over to Mr. Grumpfish. "Oh my. Looks like the rash has already started to set in."

"Rash?" Mr. Grumpfish said.

"Tell me, Mr. Grumpfish, are you experiencing any soreness in your throat?" Deema asked.

Mr. Grumpfish gulps. "Well, now that you mention it, Deema, my throat does feel a little dry."

"Over time, this disease will ravage your body with blurry vision, loss of balance, sudden trembling, ticklish rib cage, severely untrimmed nails, and finally, the bite from that infected puppy will turn you into… A zombie."

Deema's words made Mr. Grumpfish freak out as he swam away. Deema faces Gil.

"You need to get that puppy of yours to a doctor right away, before he bites someone important." Deema warned. They both gasp in shock once they see that Bubble Puppy is missing. "There's a mad puppy on the loose!" Deema swims off screaming.

"Bubble Puppy? Bubble Puppy?! Bubble Puppy?! Bubble Puppy?!" Gil exclaimed.

In town, a snail couple is enjoying a walk until Deema runs up to them. "The mad puppy is coming! If he bites you, you'll turn into a zombie." She warns them before swimming off.

"Jeepers, it's not like Deema to act this way." The snail commented before they sees Bubble Puppy.

"Oh look, honey, isn't he the cutest?" The snail's wife asked. Bubble Puppy appears to be panting in exhaustion.

"Come here, little puppy." The snail starts petting Bubble Puppy. "He's just adorable." Bubble Puppy starts to growl defensively before biting the snail in the arm. "Mad puppy disease is real!" He screamed as he revealed his bite to another snail. "I'm a zombie. I've been bitten by a mad puppy. I've got mad puppy disease!"

"Then I've got it! A puppy just bit me, too!" They both run off screaming. One of the crabs checks his arm and sees a bite mark. He screams in a panic. More townspeople see bite marks on their hands and scream.

"We interrupt this program to bring you a news blast. Terror in a collar." A news anchor crab reports the events of today. "This just in… fear and disease is spreading like wildfire as a killer puppy has been biting the citizens of Bubbletucky infecting them with… mad puppy disease. Ask any old crab on the street and they'll tell you that germs enter through the bite radius, traveling upstream until the entire host body is full of… mad puppy disease. We now take you to Channel 5 News reporter Shane Crawford live on the scene.

A crab with slick black hair in a tan suit is downtown. "Shane Crawford here with the first victim of this heinous epidemic. Tell me Mr. Grumpfish, when did you begin to suspect that you were a zombie?"

"Well, after I was bitten by a mad puppy, I began to get a rash; followed by loss of balance, ticklish rib cage, and a few other symptoms." Mr. Grumpfish explained.

A crab in a red shirt walked by. "Hey, I was bitten by a puppy. I kind of feel off balance." He falls over suddenly. "Whoa."

"Hey, my ribs feel ticklish, too. And it hasn't even bit me." Shane realized.

"Oh no, it's spreading through the air!" Everyone screams.

"Well, you heard it here first. We're all doomed to a horrible fate. Thanks to a diseased puppy." Shane reported before dropping his microphone and running around in circles screaming. In town, Gil stood in shock as he watched the report. Everyone else who was watching the news ran away in a panic.

"Bubble Puppy?" Gil called out to his pet. He swims around town, seeing a lot of damage. "I can't believe that sweet and lovable puppy would cause all this chaos." He then suddenly heard eerie moaning.

"I'm a zombie… here to dine on your squishy guppy flesh." Mr. Grumpfish moaned. More of the people start to moan like zombies. Gil screams and takes a bus and goes around the corner. Gil let out a sigh of relief, unintentionally alerting the zombies.

"Uh-oh." Gil screams again and heads to his school. When he gets there, the door is locked, preventing entry.

"It's locked!" Gil looked back and saw the "zombies" approaching. "Somebody let me in."

"Gil, come on in." Mr. Grouper said as swam to the door. "We've been waiting for you. And it looks like you brought some friends too." He opened the door to let Gil in, but Martin stopped Mr. Grouper.

"Stop! You can't let anyone in!" Martin shouted.

"But they just wanted to dine on some food." Mr. Grouper said.

"They're zombies. All they want to dine on is our flesh." Martin retorted.

"Do you really think so?" Mr. Grouper asked.

"I'm serious, man!"

"But Mr. Grouper, it's me, Gil." The guppy pleaded. Mr. Grouper quickly opened the door for Gil to come in, closing it afterwards.

"How do we know you're not one of those voracious flesh-eaters?" Mr. Grouper asked.

"Could a voracious flesh-eater do this?" Gil asked before performing a double backflip and landing perfectly.

"Gil, it's you." Mr. Grouper said joyed that Gil is truly here.

"Yeah, so let me in before I'm eaten." Gil pleaded.

"Yeah, that's Gil all right." Mr. Grouper said.

"Or is it?" Deema spoke.

"Huh?" Gil questioned.

"I don't think that's the real Gil." Deema deduced. "He looks pretty zombie-fied. Just look at how blue his hair is."

"Come on, Deema, would a zombie have a picture of his class in his scrapbook?" Gil shows a picture of him, Molly, Deema, Goby, Nonny, Oona, and Mr. Grouper.

"Fair point. But remember: I got my eye on you!" Deema warned.

"If you could pull out your eye and put it on his head, wouldn't that make… You a zombie too?" Nonny questioned. Everyone gasps

Deema thought about that and realized it. "You're right, Nonny." She became alarmed. "I'm a zombie!"

"Who's to say we're not all zombies?!" Nonny said. This caused a mass panic and made everyone scream in a panic.

"People, people, calm down!" Mr. Grouper tried to create some order but to no avail. Then they hear barking from the playground. They see Bubble Puppy swim in.

"The puppy!" Everyone gasps.

"Bubble Puppy!" Gil called out. "Are you okay buddy? Come here, boy."

"No, don't get near it. Oh, the pity of it all!" Martin pleaded.

"I can't watch." Officer Miranda said as she turned away.

"All those people think you're a monster. But I know you're just a puppy." Gil assured as he petted Bubble Puppy. Bubble Puppy growled defensively before biting Gil's hand. Everyone gasps in horror. Gil sees his wound. "Bubble Puppy…" He sniffled, shedding a couple of heartbroken tears. "How could you?" Bubble Puppy continued growling.

"Gil's been infected by his own pet puppy. Oh, the irony!" Martin said. "Quick, we must quarantine that infected puppy before he bites every last Bubbletuckian. Let's get that puppy!"

"Yeah!" The townspeople rallied as they surrounded Gil and Bubble Puppy.

"No, don't hurt him." Gil pleaded.

"Hand over the puppy." Martin commanded.

Gil glanced at Mr. Grouper and Molly. "It's… for his own good, Gil."

"No, I won't let you touch Bubble Puppy." Gil defended his pet.

"Stop the madness, man." Martin said. "The Mad Puppy Disease ends here and now. Seize the puppy!"

"Hold it!" They hear a new voice. Everyone disperses to reveal a snail in a doctor's coat. "Did someone say 'Mad Puppy Disease'? Is that what all this fuss is about?"

"Yeah." Deema replies. "What do you know about it?"

"Funny you should ask me that. Allow me to introduce myself. Dr. Simon Stone. P.D.E and P.E." Dr. Simon Stone gave everyone his name.

"P.D.E. and P.E.?" Gil asked about the acronyms.

"Puppy disease expert and puppy expert." Simon described himself. "I apologize for breaking this to you all, but that 'mad puppy disease' you're talking about, it doesn't exist."

"Huh?" Everyone asked in confusion.

"That's right. No such thing. It's an old urban legend. A myth." Dr. Stone confirmed.

"Well, does that mean we're not zombies?" Deema asked.

"Of course not. No one is. It's just mass hysteria caused by an overactive imagination."

"But what about my severely untrimmed…" Bobby asked revealing his nails.

"Those are only moderately untrimmed. All the supposed symptoms are just common ailments."

"Easy, boy. Easy." Gil spoke, trying to calm Bubble Puppy as he lifted his pet. "But what about Bubble Puppy then? If he doesn't have a disease, why'd he bite all those people, including me?"

Dr. Simon examined Bubble Puppy and saw the source of the problem. "Hmm… Mm-hmm. Ah! There's the root of your problem. He's got a little splinter in his tail." The doctor proceeds to remove the splinter from Bubble Puppy, returning him to normal. The camera zooms out to reveal one of Mr. Grumpfish's logs. "I'm sure this was the cause of his distemper making for serious grouchy puppy-itis."

"Oh, Bubble Puppy, I knew you weren't disease-ridden. You still love me?" Gil asked his pet. Bubble Puppy responds by licking Gil's cheeks, making him laugh. "Good old Bubble Puppy's back."

Mr. Grumpfish comes in still acting like a zombie. Some of the townspeople get mad. "Mr. Grumpfish, you're not a zombie, remember?"

"Oh, yes I am." Mr. Grumpfish said as he began to guide traffic with a hint of melancholy in his mood.

"Heh-heh. All's well that ends well." Mr. Grouper said before feeling a sharp pain in his tail. "OW!" He attempts to kill the pain then looks at Bubble Puppy.

Well, that's the end of the tale. Reviews are welcome. Excelsior!