This is my entry for NeonClan's April 2015 writing contest. The theme is 'Revenge'. Let's start!
It was an utterly boring summer day in Elmore. An anthropomorphic teal cat by the name of Gumball Watterson sat scrolling through ElmorePlus on his desktop computer while his brother Darwin, an anthropomorphic orange fish, mindlessly played with a paddleball. The only thing keeping the blazing heat from melting them both was a small, spinning fan situated in the corner of their room.
"Gumball," Darwin said, continuing to hit the ball into the air.
"Yeah?" Gumball replied, clicking through profiles, increasingly jealous of the others' summer fun.
"Why don't we go somewhere, or meet up with someone?" he asked.
"Because," his brother said simply. He clicked around the site a bit more, looking for anything of interest. Suddenly, his eyes widened.
"Hey Darwin, get over here," Gumball said, calling over his bipedal fish brother.
"Yeah?" he answered, walking over to the computer desk.
"Since when did we burn down the mall?" The teal cat pointed at the screen, both of them staring in disbelief at the footage of the flaming building.
"Earlier this week, the Elmore Mall was burnt to the ground. Two preteens were spotted with lighters and cans of WD-40 at the scene of the crime. Police had been able to use the surviving surveillance footage to identify the suspects as Gumball and Darwin Watterson." Two overly-detailed sketches of Gumball and Darwin appeared on the screen. "While police are yet to have come to a conclusion as to who did this, these two are to be considered dangerous and should be reported if found. This has been 'Channel Six', bringing news to you."
The two stared at the computer in utter shock, jaws dropped to the floor.
"What the what?!" Gumball screeched, leaping out of the spinning chair.
"We weren't even at the mall this week! Mrs. Mom kept making us do chores!" Darwin exclaimed worriedly.
"I know!" The two wrung their hands, sweating profusely.
"GUMBALL AND DARWIN WATTERSON, GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" The fierce roar shook the whole house, sending a fearful chill down the spines of the two boys.
"Um… You think it has something to do this this?" Gumball muttered, tentatively inching towards the stairs. Him and Darwin were greeted with the three scowling faces of the rest of the family.
"Would you care to explain this?!" their mother hissed, pointing a clawed finger at the ruined living room. The sofa was torn up, television shattered, coffee table in pieces, paintings ripped violently from their places on the walls.
"W-What?! We didn't do any of this!" Gumball whined.
"Oh, and I suppose the kitchen just decided to tear itself apart!" Appalled by their father's accusations, they ran into the kitchen, only to see an assortment of foods scattered across the floor, the refrigerator door ripped off its hinges, water spraying from the sink's broken faucets.
"Mr. Dad, we didn't do any of this," Darwin protested, sheer terror filling the boys as their mother rose.
"I'm not buying it," she growled in a deep, demonic voice, her eyes replaced with horrific flames. "For years you've torn apart this house, day after day, and hardly got any consequences. But not anymore! I won't even bother in grounding you! You two are both banned from this house until I say otherwise!"
Their faces contorted with horror as the door was slammed in their faces, locking them out of the house.
"Gumball, where are we gonna stay?" Darwin said, holding back tears.
"Don't worry," he replied nonchalantly. "We'll just crash at Banana Joe's place."
…
"No way are you staying at my place!" Banana Joe screamed. "After what you said on ElmorePlus, you'd have to be crazy to do something like ask for something like that!" He slammed the door once more, storming back into the house.
"Now what are we gonna do?" Darwin whined. "I don't think anyone else will like us coming over!"
"Okay," Gumball said, sounding much more serious. "I didn't think it would come to this, but we're gonna need to take some pretty drastic measures."
…
"How could you ever come back here?! Just a moment ago, you told me…" Penny sobbed, transforming into a feminine grayish-blue blob.
"What did I tell you, Penny?" Gumball pleaded, torn to see his girlfriend in such a state.
"How could you forget? You told me you didn't love me! That I was a monster, that no one could love me!" Her form wavered, becoming a fiery red snake-like creature. "You're the monster! How dare you?! Get out, and stay out!"
Not wanting to mess with this, Gumball and Darwin fled from Penny's house just as her father emerged.
"You'd better run, Watterson! Anyone who hurts my daughter is a dead man!"
"Aw, man," Gumball breathed once they were a safe distance from Penny's house. "We're getting in trouble for all this stuff that we didn't even do! What's going on?"
"Look, it's them!" The two froze, daring to turn around. A huge crowd of people stood before them, wielding pieces of pointed wood and metal pipes. But it wasn't just any mob. No, it contained people they knew. Tobias, Carrie, Tina, Hector, Masami, Alan, Idaho, Jamie, Sarah, they were all out for their blood.
"Run." Taking off at lightning speed, Gumball and Darwin did what they could to outrun the crowd. Bolting through the streets, the two eventually reached a empty alleyway.
"In here!" Gumball hissed as he and Darwin did an unrealistically quick turn. The mob passed by without a second glance, searching ruthlessly for their targets.
"That was close!" Darwin exclaimed after a few moments of silence. "What are we gonna do about all this? It's not like we can ask anyone for help!"
"It seems you've met with a terrible fate." The two boys jumped about ten feet in the air, screaming piercingly, turning to meet who'd spoken.
Before them stood a boy, about their age, much of his body concealed with a long, black cloak.
"Who are you?" Gumball asked in a hushed tone.
"Do you really wanna go there again?" the boy asked, anger beginning to fill his voice.
"Uh, yeah," Darwin added. "It's kinda hard to tell who you are if you're covering your face like that."
"Oh, uh, sorry," he said once more, his voice much more relaxed. With a flourish of his cloak, he uncovered himself. There stood a scowling cyclops, static-y beyond belief. Part of his head was completely blank, the rest covered with flat brown hair. The rest of his body was blocky and uneven, giving him the look of a poorly-made 90s computer program.
"Hey! It's, uh... Rich?" Gumball suggested while Darwin facepalmed to himself.
"My name is not Rich," the boy said simply. "I'm surprised you even came that close. But to answer your question, my name is Rob. I am your nemesis, and my goal in life is to destroy everything you hold near and dear."
"Look, Rob," Darwin began, "let's not do something we'll regret. I mean, whatever we did couldn't have been that bad—"
"Typical! How could I even suspect you of remembering the fact that you ruined my life?!" Rob roared, infuriated. "There's no time for games! All that needs to happen is for you two to die!"
Within mere moments, Rob's body had transformed into a fearsome one-eyed dragon, spitting out pixel-like white flames. Screaming their heads off, Gumball and Darwin scrambled out of the alleyway, running from their adversary.
"Hey, look, there they are!" The mob began chasing them once more, with more ferocity than before. Sprinting as fast as their legs would take them, the two boys just barely avoided complete and utter destruction.
"Darwin!" Gumball yelled between breaths. "I... know what... we need to... do!"
"What?" he panted.
"The... mall..." With a second wind, they took off towards the mall, the crowd trailing behind them.
Upon reaching the mall's parking garage, they were stopped by a brick wall. Turning, they watched in horror as the mob closed in on them.
"Well, isn't this delightful?" Rob snarled, a cruel grin forming as he pulled back his lips. "Everything you've worked to achieve, ruined. It's as if no one wants you around anymore."
"Why are you doing this?!" Gumball shouted. Irritation growing, Rob transformed back into the disfigured boy he originally was.
"Because you did the exact same to me!" he screamed, his voice cracking with sadness. "All that seems to matter in this stupid world is what you two want! You saved Molly but you left me for dead! Why should you two deserve to get away with such a heinous crime?!
"Which is exactly why I have to do... this!" The two braced themselves for the worst.
Slap!
"Huh?" Darwin opened his eyes, seeing Rob weakly slapping both him and Gumball. "Hey, Gumball."
The teal cat slowly opened his eyes too, much to the cyclops' displeasure.
"Why isn't this working?! Why aren't you two writhing in pain?! What have I done wrong?!" he shrieked ludicrously, staring at his hands.
"Sorry Rich," Gumball said. "Better luck next time."
And we're done! Thank you NeonClan, and CN Europe, and all you lovely people!