The Gathering
An Amazing World of Gumball Story
A Newcomer Side-Story
By NeoNimbus
Christmas was right around the corner in the town of Elmore and for Brian, his friends and their respective families, they couldn't have been more excited than ever to celebrate the holiday and just for this occasion, they'll celebrate it together under one roof. After all, they have known each other for over a year, so it would make sense for them to celebrate Christmas together. But while they excitedly talked about their plans, it was at this very moment that they came across one big problem.
"So where is this going to take place?" Gumball asked his friends.
"Our place isn't big enough to hold everyone," Darwin stated the obvious.
"Considering how many people we're going to have, that's an understatement," Anais simply said.
"My house couldn't hold that many people either," Brian informed his friends.
"I could have asked my dad, but he'll probably shoot down the idea after the clones incident," Rhonda commented. "It took us several hours to clean up the mess after what happened."
"Mine's out too…" Mike began, before he sneezed loudly, causing him to literally jump off the ground. "Plus, I'm feeling under the weather, so I don't want to get everyone else sick."
"You can forget about heading to my place," Carrie spoke up. "Last time we did that, we got noise complaints from everyone."
"After my place nearly got burned down, my folks don't want to take their chances," said Penny.
While the group continued to talk about this unexpected hitch in their plan and walked at the same time, none of them were paying any attention to where they were going, until Darwin stopped dead in his tracks when he saw something that caught his attention. His action didn't go unnoticed, though, when Gumball spotted his brother just a few inches away from him.
"Darwin, what is it?" he asked, prompting everyone to stop what they were doing and went back to him.
"I think I found our solution," Darwin replied, as he pointed his flipper to the direction he saw; everyone looked to where he was pointing and they couldn't believe what their friend was looking at.
In front of them was a building that was the size of a warehouse, covered in red paint and ten feet windows, with automatic doors and a nice big sign right on the front. It was none other than the Elmore Community Center that most locals would gather to do any kinds of activities, but for Brian and his pals, this was the exact spot for their Christmas celebration.
"So…" Brian began, looking at his friends. "Who here wants to go first?"
Fortunately for them, the Elmore Community Center was nearly void of people, save for the lone owner of the building. After negotiating with him for what felt like a long time, he relented, provided that the place was neat and clean when they leave. Once they got his permission, the gang began to set up the whole place; Brian and Mike helped each other out with the decorations, despite the latter's constant sneezing delaying them for a few minutes, Gumball and Darwin went out to inform their family, as well as everyone else's, the location of the party, while Rhonda decided to do some cooking back at her place, with Anais, Penny and Carrie tagging along.
"How are you holding up, Mike?" Brian asked, putting up another decoration on the wall.
"I...I'm good, Brian," Mike insisted, only to sneeze once more, knocking down the decoration that he and Brian just hung up. "Who am I kidding? I'm feel like I'm dying," Mike said with a sad chuckle.
"That's the fifth one, Mike," Brian commented, before he inspected his friend closer. "Also, you're starting to look a bit green…literally."
"Eh, it's probably just the lighting from the weird green and red christmas ball that Gumball put up," Mike shrugged it off like it was nothing. "I can deal with it. Now let's just put this up before….before…" unable to finish his sentence, he let out another sneeze, much louder than before, knocking down every single decoration off the wall, much to Brian's dismay.
"This is going to take forever."
One hour later…
"There...it's finally...finish," Brian sighed with relief, breathing heavily a bit. After he and Mike have to set up the whole decoration up (and taping them tightly just in case), they were finally finished with their task, even if it took most of the time to set them up, due to Mike's constant sneezing.
"I just wish we have taped them up sooner after the ninth sneeze," Mike commented, sniffing his nose a little from the cold. "Maybe I should go lay down."
"Good idea," Brian agreed, "Now that we've got the decorations up, our friends should show up with everyone, including our families, any minute now," Brian happily said.
As if to answer his question, both Brian and Mike heard the sound of the main entrance opening, prompting them to turn around and saw Gumball and Darwin heading their way, along with Richard and Nicole, both holding treats they most certainly cooked for the occasion.
"Sorry for not coming sooner…" Darwin began. "Mrs. Mom and Mr. Dad were making some holiday treats."
"And making sure Richard wasn't going to eat a single one until we got here," Nicole added. Right behind her, though, Richard quietly attempted to snatch a gingerbread man out of the plate, only for his arm to be squeezed without warning, causing him to wince in pain. "Nice try, Richard, but I know when you're going to make your move. Now wait patiently until everyone is here."
"Oh, but I want to eat now!" Richard whined, before his wife released his arm and sulked away.
"Hey Mike, what happened to you?" Gumball asked his friend, approaching him with concern, who was laying down on the bench like a makeshift bed. "Wow, you're green from head to toe...just like the Grinch."
"Why don't you say that to my-" was all Mike could say, as he was cut off by a cough. Upon seeing this, Gumball smiled deviously on his friend's misfortune.
'This has to be my luckiest day! I can tease Mike no matter what and he can't do nothing about!'
"Gumball, why are you smiling like that?" asked Brian, snapping his friend back to reality.
"Oh, um, I was just thinking how this will be our most wonderful Christmas. Yeah, that sounds about right."
"...Sure," Brian decided to accept Gumball's answer for now.
"Brian, we're here!" Brian turned around and saw his parents, as well as his grandparents, making their way into the Elmore Community Center, before Gordon spoke up once more. "We got here as fast as we could."
"We have to pick up my folks from the airport first before we could make our way here," Annie explained to her son, before inspecting the decorations. "You and Mike sure did a good job with this place."
"I don't know, dear. I seen better decorations than this," Norton disagreed.
"Norton, be gentle. Brian did the best he can do in such short notice," Honey admonished her husband. "After all, it's the thoughts that counts."
"...Alright Honey, I'll...try," Norton reluctantly agreed, making his way to his grandson. "Nice decor you got there, kiddo."
"Don't mention it, grandpa," Brian insisted, rubbing his head sheepishly, just as Darwin and Gumball joined up with him.
"I see that you're still hanging out with these weirdos," Norton commented. Brian decided not to protest and shrug it aside from now, as his grandfather took notice of Mike. "Hey, I didn't know the Grinch was here...and looking very ill to boot."
"Grandpa! That's not the Grinch and his name is Mike!" Brian corrected him, sighing with annoyance. "And he just got the cold, that's all."
"I heard better insults than that," Mike said otherwise, before letting out another sneeze, shooting him upward from the bench and land perfectly on the ground.
"He seems like the feisty one...I like him already!" Norton spoke with enthusiasm, only to grimaced shortly afterwards when he saw Richard. "Who let the Pillsbury Doughboy in?"
"He's here?! Where?!" Richard happily asked, looking all over the place.
Before Norton could insult any further, he noticed an older, blue female cat heading right his way, looking rather annoyed for some reason.
"Sir, I demand that you take that back," Nicole demanded. "That happens to my husband that you just insulted."
"Whoa! I didn't know the Banshee is married to the Blob!" Norton exclaimed, exaggerating his expression to match his surprise.
"Banshee?!" Nicole was fuming with anger, her face turned bright red in response, taking offense to his insult.
But just as the situation was about to get worse, Honey and Annie popped right between them, stopping the argument just in time.
"Dear, don't act like that. We're here to celebrate."
"Nicole, I know you have every right to be angry, but let us handle him, please."
Norton and Nicole looked at one another, both looking peeved and ready to assault one another at any given moment. Eventually, they reluctantly sigh and turned to the other direction, much to Annie and Honey's relief, while Brian watched on with disappointment.
"Not what I have in mind."
"It's just one setback, Brian. I'm sure this is just one time only," Mike attempted to assure his friend. "Besides, everyone else hasn't shown up yet."
"Speaking of which, your family isn't here yet and we haven't seen the girls since we've left," Darwin noted.
Just then, though, everyone in the Elmore Community Center heard what sounded like the flapping of wings from above, getting much louder with each seconds, as it approached the building. Eventually, it stopped as it suddenly appeared, followed by the noises of several footsteps heading to the main entrance, revealing themselves to be Rhonda, Anais, Penny and Carrie, along with their respective family, including Mike's, some carrying meals with them.
"We apologize for arriving late, but we're here," greeted Rhonda, as everyone began to disperse and started putting their handmade meals on the table, while Brian, Gumball, Darwin and Mike made their way towards her and the girls.
"Rhonda, it's so good to...see...you…" Brian trailed off when he and his friends noticed that she and Anais were covered by what looked like cookie doughs, as well as Penny looking a bit worn down, while Carrie looked fine compared to them.
"What happened to you guys?" Darwin asked the girls, causing them to recall the event that took place before their arrival at the Paxton residence.
One hour earlier…
"Rhonda, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Penny cautiously asked, watching her friend fiddling with some of the pastry laying on the kitchen counter, along with many cooking ingredients.
"I thought you know how to cook," said Anais.
"Do you even know how?" Carrie questioned her friend. At this point, Rhonda let out a sigh and turned around to face them.
"Look girls...I'm still have trouble cooking and maybe you can at least help me out a little with it."
"Sure, we'll help Rhonda, as long as we don't blow a hole into the roof," said Anais, with Penny and Carrie nodding their heads, much to Rhonda's relief. "So what were you trying to bake again?"
"Just a batch of cookies, that's all," Rhonda replied, handing Anais the cookbook, as she opened it and along with Penny and Carrie, looked at the instruction.
"First, you have to crack a few eggs…" Anais started, as Rhonda took a few eggs and cracked them into the bowl.
"Eggs?" Carrie asked as she floated over to the instructions. "What are we making: Cookies or a cake?"
"I didn't write this stuff. That's what it says right here," Anais insisted, before resuming where she left off. "Next, add a cup of milk into the bowl…" Rhonda filled up the measuring cup until she got the amount and put them into the bowl."
"I don't want to be doubtful or anything, but are you sure we're doing it right?" Penny nervously asked.
"We'll just have to find out when this is over," Anais advised her. "Finally, add in a teaspoon of...baking soda? ...Wait a minute, Rhonda, don't-"
But it was too late, as Rhonda added in a teaspoon of baking soda onto the batter; suddenly, the batter began to rise up like mad, much to the girls' horror, as they slowly walked back from the bowl, while the batter began to increase in size. By the time it reached it's limit, the batter exploded, splattering the girls, except for Carrie, with cookie dough, along with the entire kitchen.
"Why don't we just buy some Christmas cookies instead?" Penny suggested. "Sugar cookies are a lot less…explosive."
Present...
"Let's just say that we went to a wave of troubles," Anais simply responded to the boys' curiosity. Brian, as well as his friends, decided to accept the girl's explanation for now.
"Sorry to hear that, Anais. But at least everyone is here," Brian said in an attempt to cheer everyone up.
"Not everybody," Chuck said otherwise. "I told Grandpa George where the party is being held at. He should be arriving anytime soon." As soon as Chuck mentioned his dad's name, Mike's face beamed with excitement, much to Brian's curiosity.
"That reminds me…" Nicole began. "Granny Jojo is coming here as well." The moment her name was mentioned, Gumball groaned in disbelief, also earning Brian's curiosity as well.
But before he could utter a single word to either of them, he heard what sounded like someone barging through the main entrance and marched right towards the group, the thumping on the floor getting much louder, eventually ceasing, allowing Brian to see an elderly green badger behaving in a military-like stance.
'So this must be Grandpa George that Mike told me about the other day,' Brian thought with intrigued.
"Chuck, Olivia and Mike! Front and center!" George commanded, prompting all three badgers to obey them without a second thought. Shortly afterwards, George gave them a mighty hug and the trio happily hugged him back in return. "Merry Christmas!"
"It's good to see you again, dad," said Chuck.
"We're so glad you came," Olivia spoke.
"And just in time for the holidays," Mike happily added, before sneezing, jumping out of the group hug. "Sorry, I just got a cold."
"Don't worry, Mike. One lousy cold won't stop me in my tracks."
"So you must be Grandpa George," George looked down and saw a purple fox he didn't recognize. "Mike told me what you did during your visit here."
"Well, it was nothing really. I just had to show that would-be robber a lesson," George sheepishly said.
"I wish I was there when it happened."
"Hey, what's going on back there?" George turned around and saw a large, pink rabbit heading his way. "Who's the old man?" As soon as Richard said his last statement, the Badgeros cringed with horror.
"Did you just call me 'old man'?" George asked, putting his face right in front of Richard's almost immediately. "Drop and give me twenty this instant!"
Stunned but frightened by George's action, he obliged and began to do some pushups.
"Consider this as a warning," George informed Richard, before he felt a tap on his shoulder, prompting him to turn around and saw an older, blue female cat staring at him with serious intent.
"Sir, I don't know what that was about, but you shouldn't force Richard to do something like that," Nicole scolded him.
"I'm just teaching him a lesson in manners, ma'am," Gordon insisted.
"Ow! The pain!" Richard yelped, laying on the ground and sweating like mad, before being approached by his sons. "I was not made for exercise!"
"Tips of advice: never say the "O" word in front of him," Gumball warned him.
"Trust us, your arms will thank you," Darwin added.
"What's going on around here?" an elderly, female voice spoke out of the blue, prompting everyone to turn and saw an elderly, pink rabbit at the main entrance, who then spotted Richard on the floor. "And why is my son laying down like he broke his arm?"
"Granny Jojo, you're here at last!" Darwin happily exclaimed, as he and Anais went up to her, followed by their friends. Gumball, however, kept a close distance from the scene, praying that he doesn't get her attention.
"Who are these people?" Granny Jojo asked, having not seen them before.
"Granny Jojo, these are Brian, Rhonda, Mike, Carrie and Penny," Anais introduced them, as each of them gave a greeting to her.
"Is there anything that we can-" Brian was cut off when Granny Jojo handed him one of her luggage.
"You can carry this and put it right next to the table, Purple One," she bluntly replied, before handing Mike another of her luggage. "You too, Stripes."
"Oh wow. That's original," Mike muttered, before trying to pull the luggage up. Much to his surprise, it was rather heavy. "Geez, what's in these luggage?! Rocks?!"
"Ha, now you know how it feels!" Gumball gloated, much to Mike's annoyance. If he didn't have a cold, he would have punched his friend in the face this instant.
"There you are, Gumball. I was wondering where you were," Gumball stopped dead in his tracks, before he slowly turned around and saw Granny Jojo from behind. "You know the drill."
"Granny Jojo, can we just shake hands instead of the usual?" he pleaded with his grandmother.
"Gumball, what's that?!" Mike shouted, prompting him to turn to his friend's direction, allowing Granny Jojo to kiss him on the lip; Gumball's mind went blank upon receiving his grandmother's kiss, as everyone laughed their heads off at his misfortune. "W-Worth it," Mike said, before coughing up.
Once everyone managed to settle down in the Elmore Community Center, the party finally went on without a hitch and soon, Brian, the gang and their families were celebrating the holiday, having a good time with each other's company. Despite a few setbacks an hour ago and looking at the scene with caution, nothing strange or unusual was happening, much to Brian's relief.
'Maybe this won't be so bad after all. This could be the first normal night I ever had,' he thought with enthusiasm.
"Brian, why are you standing around?" Rhonda called out to her boyfriend. "Just loosen up and have some fun."
Brian nodded his head and decided to relax and join up with his girlfriend, making his way towards her at the table. He could use a holiday treat or two, as well as some eggnogs to wash it away. But upon his arrival, he noticed that Penny and Gumball had joined up with them, both eating some cookies from the plate.
"Hey Rhonda! This is really good. What kind of cookies did you pick out?" Penny asked her friend, as she continued to munch on it.
"Oh, they just happen to be peanuts and blueberries," Rhonda nonchalantly replied, causing Penny's eyes to widen with horror. Likewise, Gumball was just as shocked as she was.
"D-Did you say peanuts and blueberries?" she meekly asked.
"Of course I did. Why?" asked a confused Rhonda, just as Penny began to gasp for air, before collapsing to the ground unconscious.
Shocked by her friend's reaction, Rhonda quickly informed both her father and Patrick of the situation, prompting the latter to call 911 immediately. Fortunately, paramedics arrived just in time, hauling the unconscious Penny to the ambulance, with her mother and sister sitting right next to her, before it drove off to the nearest hospital, leaving Rhonda, her boyfriend, her father and Patrick outside.
"What was that for?!" Patrick angrily shouted at Rhonda. "How could you not know that my girl was allergic to peanuts and blueberries?!"
"Calm down, Patrick," Max spoke with a calm but firm tone. "Rhonda didn't harm Penny on purpose. She had no way of knowing she was allergic to them."
"Mr. Paxton's right, Mr. Fitzgerald!" Brian agreed with a firm voice. "Rhonda would never harm Penny in any way!"
"Maybe she should have double checked before giving Penny those cookies!" Patrick disagreed, irking Max in the process.
"Don't talk to my girl like that! One false move and I'm sending you to an early grave!"
"Both of you, just stop!" Rhonda pleaded, getting herself between her father and Patrick. "Arguing with each other is not going to solve anything."
"Let's just agree that the worse was prevented, so why don't we have let bygones-be-bygones and just move on...please?" Brian begged.
Patrick and Max both looked at each other, still steaming from the other's remarks, before simply letting out a sigh, neither saying a single word and walked right back inside the community center, much to the duo's relief.
'Crisis averted,' Rhonda thought to herself, before she and Brian headed back into the community center, only to be greeted by Gumball upon entry, much to her discomfort. "Oh, um...look Gumball, about what happened back there…"
"Rhonda, we know you didn't do it on purpose," Gumball quickly assured her. "Just want to let you know that I'm not that angry, that's all."
"Thanks you, Gumball. That means a lot to me," Rhonda accepted her friends' apology.
"I just can't believe this night just got off to a rocky start," Brian bemoaned over the situation
"Can't be any worse than with Mike's," Gumball disagreed with a smug look, before pointing his finger to where their friend is, standing right besides his family, all drinking eggnogs, along with Carrie and her parents, apparently in some sort of conversation.
"So Stripes…" Archibald began. "Now that you and Carrie are officially dating, I just got one thing to ask: what was your first kiss with her like?"
As soon as he brought it up, Mike immediately did a spit take, while Carrie's face blushed like mad from her father's comment. Chuck, Olivia and Vivian, though, were amused by their kids' reaction.
"Dad, that's none of your business!" she scolded him, before she took some deep breaths to calm herself down.
"I'm just curious how you and him are at the moment," Archibald defensively said.
"Now Archie, don't get too impersonal in our daughter's private life," said Vivian. "If she likes Mike, then she likes him and that's all you needed to know."
"Why does he always have to embarrass me?" Carrie mumbled to Mike, as she landed on top of his head comfortably.
"Don't get mad at your dad, Carrie..." began Mike, wiping off the remaining eggnog from his face. "He only just asked because he cares about you, that's all."
"That still doesn't change the fact that he keeps bringing it up at the wrong time," Carrie disagreed.
Mike opened his mouth, about to counter her claim, before he let out a big sneeze, twice as bad as usual from his previous sneezes, sending him crashing into the wall behind him, leaving a large dent.
"Ahoho…" Mike breathed out, grabbing the back of his head and pulled himself off the wall, leaving his imprint behind.
"Looks like somebody is going to have to fix that wall when Christmas is over," Chuck commented, as he and Olivia approached their son, intending to help him up to his feet. Brian, Rhonda and Gumball, meanwhile, continued to watch the scene unfold.
"Man, this has to be Mike's unluckiest day," Gumball was bemused by his predicament, trying to hold back his laughter. "Glad that he got sick for the occasion."
"Gumball, you shouldn't say something like that about Mike," Rhonda scolded him.
"After all that guy's done to me? I'd say it's karma getting even!" Gumball defended.
"Still, it's not as bad as the one before," said Brian. "I swear, there is no way that this night could turn for the worse!"
Just then, Darwin and Anais were rushing towards them, their faces filled with panic looks and waving their arms like mad. All Brian could do is face palmed in annoyance.
'Me and my big mouth!'
"Guys, you got to come with us real quick!"" Darwin exclaimed.
"What's going on now?" asked Rhonda, prompting Anais to giver her an answer.
"Mom and dad are getting into a heated argument with George and the same thing is going on with Mr. and Mrs. O'Quinn, Norton, Honey and Granny Jojo. It's starting to get very ugly!"
Stunned by her claims, the trio followed them to where the scene is taking place and the moment they arrived, they saw that Richard, Nicole, George, Norton and Granny Jojo were indeed in some sort of argument. Whatever it was, it doesn't look like it was going to die down anytime soon.
"Alright, George, that's enough picking on my husband!" Nicole shouted.
"Please, I can't take anymore!" Richard yelled. "I've already done forty and sixty pushups! If I have to do more, my arms will be completely useless!"
"You should have thought of that before saying old in front of me," George reminded him.
"My husband apologized profusely to you and you still punish him anyway!" Nicole countered
"He needed to learn some manners!"
As Nicole, Richard and George continued with their arguments, Gordon, Annie and Honey, meanwhile, did the best they could to prevent Norton and Granny Jojo from choking one another.
"Tell that no good elderly fool to apologize this instant!" Granny Jojo demanded.
"I'm not going to apologize for my honesty!" Norton refused. "I said it before and I'll say it again: 'You're old, short and wrinkly and you're face is so trollish, I can make some troll cookies out of it."
"Dad, just give her an apology!" Annie pleaded.
"You're already pushing her patience enough as it is!" Gordon added.
"Plus, it looks like she's ready to pounce on you any seconds," Honey spoke in a worried tone.
"I'll see it when I believe it," Norton dismissed his wife's claims.
"Oh, I'll show you what I can do, you cranky, motor mouth buffon!" Granny Jojo outright insulted him.
"Why don't you say that to my face, you wrinkly muffin?"
Their arguments, however, were interrupted by Nicole and George, having escalated much louder than usual, still on the topic of George's action and his justification, while the other was about Richard's well-being and how his body couldn't handle that much pushups. At its peak, Nicole looked like her patience had finally reached its limits.
"Oh that does it! You're getting it now, old man!"
"Old man?!" an infuriated George shouted, before Nicole's knuckles made contact with his face, knocking him down to the ground. After checking his jaw to check for any damage, he got up from the ground and turned his attention towards Nicole with a serious look.
"You're going to be court martialed!" he declared and leaped directly at Nicole.
Nicole, though, barely managed to avoid his tackle, as George ended up landing on the nearest serving table, obliterating the food and drinks on it, to Richard's horror.
"No, anything but that!" he shouted in disbelief, before his horror turned into righteous fury. "Oh, you've just crossed the line!"
With one mighty war cry, Richard made one mighty leap and landed right on top of a shocked George; despite this, though, George used every ounce of his strength to remove Richard's large body off of him, sending him directly to the nearest wall.
"It's going to take more than that to put me out," George retorted, before Nicole tackled him to the ground.
"Alright, my bet is on the Banshee!" Norton decided, watching the scene with excitement. "Though the Blob did a good job on that Drill Sergeant!"
"That happens to be my son!" Granny Jojo shouted, kicking Norton in the shin.
"Ow! That hurts and whoa, I don't want to know you manage to-"
But Norton never finished his sentence, as an outrage Granny Jojo leaped towards him, grabbing his neck and started to strangle the life out of him.
"Stop it, both of you!" a panicked Annie exclaimed, before she, Honey and Gordon attempted to pry them off from the other, to no avail.
Chuck, Olivia, Archibald and Vivian, meanwhile, were watching the scene from afar, having become curious of the fiasco in front of them.
"Hey, what's going on right there?" Chuck voiced his concern.
"I don't know, but it looks like fun!" Archibald then grabbed Chuck's wrist and floated upwards. "C'mon, let's join in!"
"But I didn't-" But Chuck was unable to finish his sentence, as Archibald quickly flew directly towards the action, getting themselves in the middle of Max and Patrick's fights, both taking advantage of the chaos to settle the score with each other. Olivia looked on with horror and rushed right after them, while Vivian simply shrugged and followed her into the fray.
Brian, along with his friends, couldn't believe how this night of celebration was turning out; what was suppose to be a festive night was now turning into a free-for-all smackdown brawl, where everything is fair game and only one will emerged victorious from the catastrophe.
"This cannot be happening!" Brian exclaimed, before he felt a tap on his shoulder, prompting him to turn around and saw Mike and Carrie from behind, having just joined up with their friends.
"What'd we miss?" Carrie asked with a very calm tone.
"Guys, it's so good to see you! Our families are beating each other up! We have to do something!"
"Don't worry, Brian, I got this," Mike assured his friend, before pulling out an air horn from his cargo pants before handing it to Brian. "Make it count," he said with a sniffle. Brian and the gang examined the air horn to see it had a nice little sign on it with Christmas themed lettering.
"In case of Christmas brawls?" Brian, Rhonda, Gumball, Darwin, Anais and Carrie asked incredulously.
"Can't go anywhere without this," Mike said with confidence. "Now everyone, cover your ears."
Everyone did as they were told and followed Mike's instruction, as he blow the air horn with all of his might, unleashing a sonic wave that knocked down every single item in the room, shattering the entire windows and finally ceasing the adults' arguments, stopping them dead in their tracks.
"Thanks, Mike. Looks like I owe you one," a grateful Brian thanked his friend, before he turned around to face the stunned adults with a serious look on his face. "What the flip has gotten into everyone?! We planned this event out just so that we can have a good time and instead, you choose to argue and fight each other over every little things!"
"Brian's right," Gumball agreed. "You guys just have to fight on the worst moment and on Christmas Eve of all place."
"Plus, we've put all of our efforts into this," Darwin added.
"Not to mention planned this whole party out," Anais continued.
"But instead, everyone of you chose to fight instead of trying to get along with each other," Mike bluntly said.
"Ruining the holiday for us in the process," Rhonda firmly pointed out.
"So everyone should stop what they're doing and think of how we're feeling right now," Carrie concluded.
Once the kids' were done expressing their disappointments, the adults looked at one another, some covered in bruises, others covered in discarded holiday treats and eggnogs, then observing the now destructive community center, before facing their children once more. It didn't took them to long to realize the consequences of their actions weighing very heavily on them.
"They're right," Nicole agreed with a sad tone. "We've been fighting with one another over nothing."
"Ignoring how our kids would be feel about it," Richard gloomily added.
"But instead of getting along, we've only ended up as bad role-models for them," George acknowledged his action.
"So I say we just apologize and have a good time," Gordon suggested, to which everyone agreed.
"Sorry for blaming your girl for Penny's allergy."
"Sorry I overreacted back there."
"Sorry for making those names."
One by one, the adults exchanged genuine apologies to each other, much to the gang's joy and happiness. It might not have been the night they have envisioned, but at least they were able to put an end to what could have been a disastrous holiday for all of them.
"Guys, I'm back," the gang turned around and saw Penny up on her feet, now in better shape, with her mom and sister joining up with her, as they enter the community center. "My allergy wasn't that bad as…" Penny trailed off when she saw one too many collateral damages all over the place. "Guys, what happened while I was gone?"
"...Let's just say that we manage to pull off a miracle," Brian replied after a moment of thinking.
"Speaking of which…" Mike began. "I'm actually feeling much better now. My fur is back to being red and my cold is gone." He then turned around and face Gumball, who looked on completely nervous. "Gumball, come over here."
"Yeah, um, sure," Gumball reluctantly complied and made his way to his friend. "Look, um, about those teasings I made a while back-"
Without warning, a fist flew right into his face, knocking Gumball down to the floor, as he rubbed his sore nose, while Mike simply smile, proud of his action.
"It truly is the most wonderful time of the year."
"Not for me, it isn't."
"Alright, that's enough from you guys," said Brian, preventing another chaotic event from happening, before helping Gumball up to his feet. "Look, let's just have a good time before we have to clean up this place when this is over. Until then, what do you say we celebrate all night long?"
"Yeah!"
With everyone unanimous with their decision, the gang partied through the night at the Elmore Community Center, just having a great time on the most wonderful time of the year together.
The End
Tidbits
-Here's another holiday theme story that Sal and I have been working on, just in time for Christmas. We made sure that this story was as polished as possible to make up for the last Christmas-theme story in the TAWOG archive.
-For this story, we decided to focus just on the gang and their respective families instead, something that hasn't been done before until now.
Hope everyone enjoyed reading The Gathering and have yourselves a merry Christmas!