I do not own TAWoG or any of the characters herein. They are the intellectual property of whichever entity can legally make that claim (most importantly not me). This is a fan fiction written by Caelum T. Myers.

Sqeeeee!

The hinges complained as Gumball Watterson opened his locker and mentally cataloged its contents: a comb, two pens, a carefully folded piece of paper, a slightly crumpled drawing, and a picture taped to the wall in the back. He'd already returned his school books and this is all there was left. He sighed and set to work.

The comb and pens went in his pocket. Next he picked up the folded note and opened it up. There, in faded letters, were words he had read nearly a thousand times; Would you be the jelly in my peanut butter sandwich? Reading them always made his heart pound. Penny's note had been hard to find. Gumball had spent 3 days going though the school dumpster before he found it. But it was worth it. He had a mega crush in the girl since 6th grade and this note was the first real evidence that she might like him too. After a moment, he carefully refolded the note and tucked it safely into his wallet.

Gumball frowned at the crumpled drawing. He thought about just throwing it away, but curiosity got the better of him, and he soon found himself staring at a ludicrously handsome version of himself. His muscles were greatly exaggerated, as usual, but at least he had his shirt on in this one. The image was very flattering. Really there was only one problem with it. His bodywas pressed tightly against the form of Sarah. Sarah. She had been stuffing these into his locker ever since he and Darwin had acted out her stupid script. Irritated, he crumpled the drawing and sent it to join its predecessors in the trash.

"Wow, she's getting good." On his right, Gumball saw his pseudo-brother, Darwin Raglan Caspian Ahab Poseidon Nicodemius Watterson III. Noticing Gumball, Darwin smiled, "Hey, dude. Whacha get this time?" He held up his own paper, revealing an underwater scene. He and Sarah were suspended in a colorful coral reef. Darwin's likeness was also ridiculously handsome and muscular. Gumball did have to admit that the rest of the drawing was almost lifelike. He shrugged, and pointed at the trash. "Make-out scene against the lockers", he said before he reached into his locker to retrieve the final item; their 6th grade class photo.

Gumball stared at the picture, amazed at how everyone had changed. He scanned the rows of faces until he found the one he wanted. He smiled as he took in his younger self - short, stubby legs and a head way too big for the rest of him. Thankfully, the last 3 years had evened him out... OK, so his head was still a little big. He was 15 now and at nearly 5'10", he'd managed to be taller than most of his classmates. His coat had darkened a bit and now his fur was a deep navy blue. Thanks to Coach, he'd even buffed up a little, but his cat body tended more toward lithe and sleek than powerful. He gave up his trademark sweater a while back and now he favored t-shirts and and the occasional hoody. Secretly, he thought t-shirts showed off his body better. He still didn't wear shoes, though.

Next to him, then as now, was Darwin. Darwin had changed radically. No one knew what to expect given that there hadn't been any other cases of pet goldfish growing legs and learning to breath air. At 13, he stood 5'6" with a streamlined body and long legs. The kid was built for seep in or out of the water. Darwin's body had lengthened and curved until it was roughly "S" shaped. This had effectively given him a chest. His fins had also developed spiny digits that passed for fingers. He had begun wearing clothes shortly after growing a chest. His new posture had unexpectedly exposed parts of him. Gumball smiled at the memory. It was the first time Darwin had to wear that embarrassing blur. He had taken to wearing sweatshirts and other baggy tops to accommodate his unusual shape. His pants had to be tailored to allow his now longer tail to be free. He still felt naked without his shoes though.

"...hellooo? Dude?", Darwin's voice cut into Gumball's thoughts and brought him back to reality.

"Huh?... What? Oh! Sorry, what did you say, bro?", Gumball asked, looking at his brother.

Darwin sighed, "I said, what are looking at? You've been staring at that thing for, like, 5 minutes and haven't heard a word I said."

"Oh, just an old picture, man. It's from a couple of years ago, near the end of 6th grade", Gumball said and held the picture up so the fish boy could see it.

"Pft... man, I forgot how small and dorky you used to be..." Darwin's voice ended in a now rare squeak as he tried to keep from laughing and failed. "Ha ha ha!"

"Grrr, what the what are you laughing at? I seem to remember that little fish boy," Gumball growled and poked at his brother's younger image for emphasis, "falling madly in love with that small dorky kid just because he was wearing A DRESS!"

Darwin crossed his arms and tried to look angry but tears rolled down his face as he broke into sobs. "That was really low, man. I was in love. Why did you take that away from me?!" Darwin bawled. He had never quite gotten over his crush, even when Gumball finally admitted what had happened.

Gumball sighed. "Oh maan. Look, I'm sorry, dude, but it wasn't real."

"It was real... to me." Darwin whispered, tapping himself on the chest. Gumball hugged him and pet his head, "I know... I'm sorry, buddy." "It's OK, I forgive you." They both sighed contentedly.

"Oh hey, did you say you tried to tell me something earlier?" Gumball asked.

"Oh yeah, dude. Did you pass? Come on, how'd you do? How'd you do?" Darwin jumped up and down flapping his fin-arms.

"Calm down, dude! Here, see for your self." Gumball smuggly handed over his final report card.

Math C

Science C+

History B

English A

Home Ec B+

Geography D-

Sport A

Music A

"Dude, you got an A in Music? You've barely been passing that class." Darwin had worried about Gumball's grade all semester. Gumball needed that credit to advance, and he had failed Music most of 6th grade.

"Finally found my instrument, bro. Apparently, I have a superb sense of rhythm. I just couldn't keep all the different notes straight. So, I talked to Miss Cello, she put me on a drum. Once I didn't have to worry about figuring out different notes, I did pretty well. Hmm, simple actually." Gumball shrugged, "The final was, like, 90% of the grade and all I had to do was play a sheet of music to prove I could read it."

"Bro, that's fin-flappin-tastic! You remember what Mrs. Mom said? Erhmm," Darwin cleared his throat before continuing in a near perfect impression of Nicole Watterson. "Look, Gumball, I'll tell you what. You bring me a report card with at least 3 A's on it and NO F's, and I'll let you have a car."

Darwin grabbed Gumball by the shirt and yelled, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!?"

"Oh ho ho yeah, dude..." Gumball and Darwin did a little hop and pointed at each other before shouting, "OUR OWN CAR!" And began to dance, singing, "Who's got a car?" "We gotta car!" "Whooo, I said, who's got a car?" "We got a car!" Gumball and Darwin were so busy celebrating, they didn't even notice when Carrie popped in a few feet away. After a moment, Gumball saw her, though. She was leaning against her locker, giggling at them dance. Giggling wasn't something the old Carrie would have done. It was a nice byproduct of the many changes she'd undergone.

About six months ago, she had looked exactly the as she always had... until she had hit something she called ghost puberty. Now she stood just a few inches shorter than Gumball. On legs no less. She had matured in a single day. Her hair now reached the middle of her back but she still had those bangs over left eye. With her ghostly grey eyes and a full, curvaceous figure, she was sought after by most of the boys in school. She turned them all down, but they kept trying. It so bad that now the only boys she hung out with were Gumball and Darwin. She always said it was because they didn't pressure her. Gumball enjoyed her company even before her change. After her change, she was able to feel and eat, so she'd brightened up a lot and was even more fun to be around. He was happy she could experience what living was like. She deserved it.

Gumball was so caught up in his thoughts and dancing, he was startled when her familiar voice broke through their revelry..

"Hey boys, what's up?" Carrie asked walking up and leaning against the lockers.

As answer, Gumball danced over, handed her his report card, turned to Darwin and shouted "Who's got a car!?"

Darwin spun, did the splits, and answered, "We got a car!"!

Carrie studied the card for a moment. A smile appeared on her face and grew until she was beaming with pride. Turning back to Carrie, Gumball's heart skipped a beat. A blind man would have noticed how beautiful she looked just then. Gumball wasn't blind. Her eyes sparkled with emotion, and her smile was positively radiant. His mouth fell open and his brain stopped working for a second. Unfortunately, that was when Carrie threw her arms opened and flung herself at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and her weight slammed into him. Of course, he started to fall. Carrie screamed as they toppled backwards.

The fear in that scream ripped through Gumball, awaking a primal instinct in him. His new instinct took over. Pulling Carrie's legs around his waist, he planted one foot behind him, kicked off the ground, and sent them sailing backwards. "Hold tight! " Gumball shouted. With a monumental effort, he overcame their combined center of gravity and brought his legs up and in, spinning them into a backflip. He felt her arms and legs clamp around him as they flipped across the hall. At just the right moment, his feet planted on the opposite wall and he savagely kicked off, this time swinging his legs forward to land on his feet. But the wall was getting close too fast. Beans, he thought. He was gonna need to do something.

In a millisecond, he spun them around to face the other way. "Don't let go!" he yelled, unsheathed his claws and put on the brakes. The ear-numbing sound of silverware scratching a plate filled the hall and Gumball fought to find purchase on the ceramic tile. Carrie seemed to have gotten the message. She was clinging to him so hard, he was having trouble breathing. He ground his teeth and strained his claws against the hard surface. Finally, after what felt like an eternity to his aching paws, they stopped. He looked up see Darwin staring at him with his mouth hanging open, still doing the splits.

Down the hall, a group of people stood frozen in the door way with similar expressions and he could have sworn he heard Coach say, "Watterson one, hall zero." before it all caught up to him and he toppled over, passed out.


Carrie was shaking. The last few seconds replayed in her mind. She was so proud that Gumball had done well, she had hugged him without thinking. Then she felt terrified and screamed as they fell. Then Gumball had done... that. Suddenly, he'd swept her up and propelled them into the air. When the view over Gumball's shoulder suddenly changed from a few dented lockers to the ceiling, she squeezed her eyes shut and clung to him even tighter, if that was possible, while he came down on all fours to try to stop them. When they did stop, she looked up just in time to see his eyes roll into the back of his head. Then she had her hands full as she struggled desperately to lower him to the floor without hurting him.

She lay panting against Gumball's chest, trying to recover from the shock of their ordeal, when she heard footsteps. Footsteps running toward her. Slowly, she released Gumball, and shakily sat up. Floating in front of her were two orange legs. She followed the shapely legs up as they swelled into the usual orange, antlered fairy body and found herself looking into the astonished face of Penny Fitzgerald. She was flanked on either side by four other girls: Misami, Teri, Carmen and Molly. Every face had the same shocked expression. Carrie rubbed her arm in embarrassment and looked down. She was surprised to see she was still holding Gumball's report card.

"Uh, hi guys. What's up?" Carries shook and voice trailed off. Coach came running up and pointed at Masami.

"You. Go get the nurse. Krueger, what happened here?" Coach's monotone voice droned..

Carrie was still unsettled and answered rapid fire, "Gumball got good grades and we were celebrating, and I was proud, so I tried to give him a hug, but we started to fall and I screamed, then Gumball did this flip and-"

"We know. We saw him backflip like a boss. How did this happen?" Coach pointed to the four bloody lines starting a few feet away and ending at her and Gumball.

As soon as Carrie saw them, her eyes went to Gumball's paws. Sure enough, they were wet with the dark stain of blood. "Oh, no", Carrie cried, "He's hurt!"Tears filled her eyes as she pointed out his injury. "I think we was trying to stop us so we wouldn't crash." Carrie crossed her arms miserably. She was wracked with guilt and her own hands ached in sympathy.

"Excuse me, please. Where is the injured student? Ah! Watterson. I might have known," the tall figure of the school nurse muttered as she bent down and looked at Gumball's paws. "OK, Coach. I've got it from here. Teri would you be a dear and go get Rocky to clean this floor? Penny, Carrie? Will you help me get him on the stretcher? That's good girls. Now, lift together. Alright, let's get him to the infirmary." The Band-Aid had plenty of practice dealing with this blue cat's messes. She wasted no time in taking control and calming everyone down.

When they reached the infirmary, the nurse turned to the girls. "Please put him on the bed. Thank you girls, you can go now." She turned around and got a few bandages and some tape. When she turned back, she looked surprised to find the girls still huddled together and staring tearfully at her patient. She sighed and made shooing motions at the girls, " I said-"

"Can I stay?" Carrie begged breathlessly. "Please? It's all my fault he got hurt. I need to know that he's okay."

"What about you?" The nurse asked Penny.

"There was an awful lot of blood... I'd really like to stay, if that's alright." Penny shifted nervously and glanced at Gumball.

"Fine, but stay out of the way." The nurse got busy. "Hmm. Lucky boy. Nothing broken... No claws missing. Looks like the floor filed his claws though." She frowned. "Filed them right to the quick. There's the cause for the blood. Alright! I'll get him bandaged up. He won't be able to use his hands for a few days, but he'll be right as rain in a week or two."

As the nurse worked, Carrie and Penny waited anxiously. When Carrie heard the nurse say he would be OK her knees buckled and relief flooded through her as she sank to the floor. "Really? He's going to be OK?" She asked, "Oh, thank goodness." Penny knelt and tried to comfort her friend. When she felt Penny's arm around her, her restraint broke. She began to sob, overcome by an odd mixture of guilt, sorrow, and relief. The nurse watched silently for a few minutes and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, well," the nurse said dryly, "this is all very dramatic, but I think you're overreacting. If you recall, Watterson has been hurt worse than this several times." She handed Carrie a tissue.

"That's true," Carrie sniffed, "but he was never hurt because of me! I made him eat too much a couple of times but I never hurt him!"

"Ugh, don't cry, Carrie." Gumball tried to lift himself up. "It's not - Ouch! - it's not your fault."

"Gumball!" Penny and Carrie rushed over. Carrie punched him in the arm, "What were you thinking? You nearly scared me to re-death!" She saw him wince when she hit him. "Ooooh, sorry! I didn't mean that. Why did you do that Gumball?"

Gumball chuckled. Thinking he was laughing at her, Carrie got ready to hit him again. He held up his bandaged hands, placatingly. "Easy there. I was just laughing cause I know the answer, for once." He shrugged with a grimace. "It was instinct."

Carrie and Penny looked at each other, then back at him with quizzically.

Gumball relaxed and closed his eyes. "Cats," he said simply, "always land on their feet." With that, he fell asleep, leaving the girls to stare dumbfounded at him.


Miles away, another cat was staring blankly at the body of the woman she had called mother for 15 years. Her mind was abuzz and she struggled to process what her "mom" had told her.

She was sitting in a hospital room as her mother wheezed softly, close to death. After the accident, her condition had slowly worsened. Now, it was only a matter of time. For two weeks, Lilly McMillan stayed near her mother's room, hoping for her to awaken. When she finally did, she said only 4 words "... not my... daughter." She said pointing at Lilly. "Elmore..." Her mother gasped. Then she was gone.

She always wondered how a crowbar had a pink cat for a daughter, but she figured it didn't matter. She stood up at a sudden though. The attic! It was the only place in the house she'd never been. Maybe it would hold some answers.

Lilly grabbed her keys, and headed for the door. Just as she reached the door, a searing pain ripped through her paws. She stared at them, panting, confused. After the pain subsided, she looked back at her mother. She was somehow sure this had to do with her revelation. A tear slid down her face and she whispered one word - "Goodbye." Then she was gone too.

So, what will Lilly find in the attic? And what is going through Penny's head after seeing the easy interaction between Gumball and Carrie?

Rearranged some chapters here. I will bring the Carrie chapter back when it is a bit more appropriate. It was kind of misplace at chapter 2.