The Argument
Elmore was about to face a heavy storm.
What began around the coastlines as strong winds accompanied by rainfall had only gotten worse, escalating into a tropical storm. By the time it would descend upon the city, it would become a full blown hurricane. The likes of which the local residents had never seen before.
Everyone was being warned to stay indoors. But at the Watterson household, indoors was exactly where another big storm had already swept through.
Nicole Watterson came running down the stairs in a frantic state to find the rest of the family assembled in the living room - all except for one.
"We can't find him anywhere Mrs Mom!" exclaimed Darwin, distraught.
"He wasn't hiding in the shed," added Richard, wringing the rainwater out of his ears.
"His backpack is missing, so he must've snuck out…" supposed Anais.
"Out there?" said Darwin. "In this weather?"
"All because I yelled at him…" muttered Nicole.
A void of silence filled the air, as the family's fears were all but confirmed.
Gumball had ran out on his own and he could not have picked a worse time to do it. With every passing second, the weather outside only grew more dangerous...
All eyes were on Nicole, waiting for her to assume authority and take control of the situation as she would normally do. But a quiet look of uncertainty was all she had to offer.
Everyone remained uneasy, uncomfortable and unsure of what their next move should be. A sudden clap of thunder broke the silence and an immediate decision was made. Swiftly snatching her raincoat from the rack, Nicole got to work slipping it on as she spoke.
"I'm going out there to go look for him," she announced, marching towards the front door. "Richard, watch over the kids."
It is said that there is a first time for everything. For once, Richard refused to obey his wife's demand without question.
"But honey..." began Richard. "You can't seriously go out on your-"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Nicole cut him off. "I know it's dangerous, that's why you three need to stay here."
"But we wanna look for Gumball too, Mrs Mom!" protested Darwin. "Let us come with you."
With a weary sigh, Nicole stood on one knee so she could be at eye level with her other son, gently holding his head in her hands as she spoke.
"I know you're worried about your brother, Darwin," explained Nicole. "But you need to stay here, in case he calls or comes back home on his own. And I'll have an easier time searching out there knowing that the rest of you are safe."
Darwin looked at Anais for support but his little sister could only shake her head in defeat.
"I guess you're right…" Darwin conceded.
Anais let out a heavy sigh before speaking. "Just… be careful out there, okay Mom?"
Richard walked over and protectively stood behind the children as Nicole prepared to head outside. There was no stopping a determined mother in search of her child. Richard knew that very well. All he could do to show his support was say:
"Best of luck, Nicole..."
"Thanks Richard. I'm taking my cell phone, so call me if anything comes up and I'll do the same."
Nicole hastily shut the door behind her. A few moments later, the green family minivan sped off into the distance, its destination unclear but the goal certain.
...
The hurricane had finally arrived.
The wind didn't howl as much as it screamed and rain didn't fall so much as it poured. Trees strained in place wherever they weren't uprooted whole or snapped like twigs. Leaves whipped haphazardly through the air like confetti.
Lightning pierced through the skies accompanied by loud claps of thunder.
Simply put, with the weather in such a chaotic state, outdoors was the last place anyone would want to be right now.
Whether it was dumb luck or a happy coincidence, Gumball Watterson was glad that he had been able to escape the worst of it.
Tucked away safely at the Fitzgerald residence, Gumball was thankful that Penny and her family had offered him shelter. Even her father Patrick, who was usually less than keen on Gumball's company, could not possibly turn him away at a time like this.
Sat upstairs in her bedroom, Gumball and Penny appeared to playing a rather popular kart racing video game. But in actuality... they were playing a cheap imitation of one.
Maria Kart Racing might only be one letter away from a lawsuit, but it was also pretty fun for what it was.
"Aha, looks like I'm in the lead now!" announced Penny. "You'll never catch me!"
"You're right," grinned Gumball. "But I won't need to, 'cause I've got this!"
"Huh?" gasped Penny. "What does that do?"
Gumball answered her question by activating his secret weapon, a spiky turquoise shell that only targeted the player in first place. Needless to say, Gumball successfully managed to secure victory by turning the tables at the last second.
"Oh come on…" said Penny, crossing her arms. "I know this game is a rip-off but did they have to copy everything?"
Gumball merely shrugged.
"Eh, the creators probably looked at the word 'copyright' and thought it meant all right to copy."
As Penny rolled her eyes at his little joke, her mother Judith entered the room with two cups of warm tea and a plate of oddly shaped cookies.
"Hi kids, I thought you might like something to keep you nice and warm in this weather."
"Wow, thanks Mom," said Penny, thanking her with a little hug.
"Yeah, thanks Mrs Fitzgerald…" added Gumball bashfully. "They look really nice…"
Much to his surprise Judith gave him a little hug too, giving him a mild shock.
"Aw, you're welcome," she laughed. "Well, you kids have fun now. Call if you need anything."
"Will do Mom," replied Penny.
Penny helped herself to a cookie and handed one to Gumball.
As they ate, Penny was quite surprised to see Gumball's expression abruptly change, now looking rather forlorn. He absentmindedly nibbled on his snack, gazing outside the window as Penny watched him with concern.
"Gumball?" began Penny. "Is something the matter?"
Gumball said nothing at first, pausing to swallow his mouthful. The cookies really were nice but he just couldn't bring himself to enjoy them. With a heavy sigh, Gumball spoke again.
"Thanks for letting me stay here a while, Penny…"
"That's okay, Gumball," she replied. "I wasn't going to leave you out there in this weather. It's way too dangerous, especially on your own."
"Yeah…" he agreed, dropping his gaze to the floor.
"What's wrong, Gumball?" inquired Penny, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's not like you to be so melancholic."
There was another pause as Gumball processed her words.
"...Does that mean I'm acting like a melon?"
Penny just burst into a fit of giggles at his silly remark and despite himself, Gumball weakly joined in. Pulling herself together, Penny wiped a tear from eye before speaking again.
"No no," she shook her head. "It means, why so glum, chum?"
Was he really that obvious?
Gumball hated himself for having such a poor facade. He didn't want to bore Penny with his personal problems. But since she asked him, he decided he might as well explain himself. Gumball took a long sip of his tea before speaking.
"Well, it's my Mom…"
"Go on," urged Penny.
"...I guess I should tell you the whole story…"
...
Although Elmore Junior High was currently enjoying a vacation period, the building was still being used for extra-curricular activities. Such an example would be the weekly karate class, spearheaded by none other than Yuki Yoshida.
Having dedicated most of her life to martial arts, Yuki had decided to make use of her knowledge and expertise by teaching others. She definitely needed a new hobby now that 'get revenge against her former protege' was off the table.
Given today's weather conditions, none of Yuki's students had shown up to class, much to her disappointment. Nonetheless, Yuki decided to make the best of it by doing some personal training exercises. Being a humanoid cloud, stormy weather only served to strengthen her inner fighting spirit.
As Yuki practised alone in the gymnasium, the double doors of the entrance were suddenly thrown open. Wonderful, one of her students must've decided to brave the weather and attend class.
"Dare desu ka?" asked Yuki, in her native tongue.
She got her answer as they stepped into view and said "Yuki? What're you doing here?"
"Is that you Nicole-san?" inquired Yuki. "Hai, it is you!"
Before Nicole could say anything more, Yuki had already walked over and pulled her into a friendly hug. With a little hesitation, Nicole returned her embrace.
"O hisashiburi desu ne?" said Yuki. "Or should I say, 'long time no see'?"
"It's good to see too Yuki," replied Nicole, patting her on the back. "But I'm afraid I can't stay for long."
"Why the hurry Nicole-san? I thought perhaps you came to join my class. I could use a good sparring partner."
Nicole lowered her head in shame. It finally dawned upon Yuki, that something urgent was preoccupying her friend's mind.
"It's my son, Gumball..." explained Nicole. "I came here looking for him. We had a little argument and well, he ran out on his own. I thought he might have come here…"
"Oh, I see…" said Yuki, adopting a serious tone.
"I'm sorry Yuki, I have to keep looking. It's dangerous outside and oh…" Nicole shook her head to regain her composure. "I just have to make sure he's okay!"
"Don't worry Nicole-san," assured Yuki. "If your son is anything like you are, I'm sure he will be fine."
"Y-You really think so?" said Nicole, with a glimmer of hope.
"Of course," Yuki assured her. "If I recall, you once told me that your little boy is quite, how you say…" Yuki twirled her fingers as she thought of the right word. " ...resourceful, no?"
"It's true…" sighed Nicole with faint pride.
"Then I am certain he will be somewhere safe. In fact, why don't I help you look for him?"
"Oh um, that's not necessary, I mean, I wouldn't want to drag you along-"
"Don't be so stubborn Nicole-san, it's dangerous to be out there alone. Besides, my class isn't showing so I have nothing better to do right now. Let's get going, hayaku mashou!"
Before Nicole could protest any further, Yuki was already making her way to the exit. Though Nicole felt uncomfortable roping her friend into her personal matters, at the same time, having a reliable and familiar presence about her, did help to steady her nerves.
"Thanks Yuki, I parked my car just outside."
...
Accompanied by the faint pitter patter of the rain outside, Gumball explained to Penny the events that had brought him to her. Penny patiently sat next to him, with her arms wrapped around her knees, as she slowly took on board everything the little blue cat had to say.
"...So after I got sent to my room, I snuck out the window and just ran away. At first I didn't even know where I was going. I just followed my heart and well… it brought me here."
"Oh…" replied Penny, distantly. "Well I'm sorry to hear that happened, Gumball. But when they notice you're missing, your family will be worried sick about you."
"Pfft, yeah right," scoffed Gumball, crossing his arms. "They probably won't even notice I'm gone…"
Penny shot him a look of disapproval and Gumball was quick to soften up.
"Alright," he conceded. "So it was a stupid thing to do. There I admit it. But I just needed some space… To just go somewhere and forget about my problems. Even if only for a little while…"
"I know how you must feel, Gumball," said Penny, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But you can't run away from your problems forever. Eventually, you'll have to go back home and face the music."
"Is it open mic night already?"
"Gumball, this is serious!" said Penny, with her hands on her hips.
"So am I," he insisted. "Since I'll probably get grounded forever, I might as well serenade you one last time."
Penny rolled her eyes, half annoyed and yet half amused. Reaching into her pocket or rather hammerspace, Penny retrieved her cell phone and held it before Gumball.
"Here, you need to call your family and let them know you're okay."
"I'm scared," he pouted in a petulant tone.
"Come on," Penny nudged him. "I'm sure it won't be that bad."
"You don't know my mom. She's pretty scary when she's angry…" said Gumball, lowering his gaze, as if the weight of his grief was becoming too much for him. "She really hurt my feelings, you know..." he added quietly.
There was a silence as Penny stopped to think. Taking Gumball by the arms, she faced him and finally spoke.
"Listen Gumball, I might not know your mom as well as you, but I do know one thing. No matter angry she was with you, right now, she'd want to know that your safe and sound more than anything."
"How can you be so sure?" inquired Gumball.
"She's a mom," she assured him. "And moms are like that. They might get angry sometimes, some more than others, but they never stop caring. My mom and I argue sometimes too, you know."
"Really?" said Gumball, with genuine disbelief. "But you two seem to get along so well…"
"Every family has its ups and downs," shrugged Penny. "I know you're upset with her, but she's still your mom. So she made a mistake… You can't forget about all the nice things she's done for you too. Sometimes we have to do the right thing even if it's not easy…"
Gumball laughed dryly as he took her words on board.
"It's funny," he admitted. "Now you sound just like my mom-I mean uh, in a good way of course!"
Penny merely raised an eyebrow with a smug grin. Gumball sighed in defeat.
"I guess you're right… We can't stay mad at each other forever. I'm gonna call home."
"Whoo, that's the spirit, go Gumball!" said Penny, dipping into her cheerleading persona. "Let me just dial… huh, that's strange… uh oh..."
Penny's expression noticeably darkened.
"What's wrong, Penny?"
"It looks like the cell service has gone down…"
…
Contrary to what one might assume, thunder and lightning are not usually common during a hurricane. However, there can always be exceptions and sometimes unhappy coincidences.
Amongst the ceaseless downpour of rain, a bolt of lightning had struck the cell tower on the outskirts of Elmore, frying the circuits and taking down the cell service with it. Given the stormy weather, fixing the problem would take even longer than usual according to the repair team.
Having learned the bad news, Nicole exited the TDM Gas Station, returned to her car and sat back down.
"Any luck, Nicole-san?" Yuki inquired hopefully.
"It's no use," she shook her head. "It'll take at least half an hour before the phone lines are operational again."
"Oh, wakarimasu-I understand," said Yuki. "Hmm, what should we do now?"
"We keep searching," replied Nicole, without a moment's hesitation. "I won't just sit around and wait. I won't stop looking 'til I find my little boy!"
Nicole jammed her key in the ignition and drove off again into the highway, speeding through the pouring rain.
"Okay, where shall we look next?" asked Yuki.
"I'm not sure, Yuki…" confessed Nicole. "I've tried the usual places. Any ideas?"
"Hmm, how about the shopping mall? Perhaps your son went there to seek shelter from the storm…"
Nicole pondered Yuki's suggestion for a moment before briskly nodding in agreement.
"Yes, that's a good idea," she said, quickly swerving the car into making a sharp turn.
"Nan desu ka!?" exclaimed Yuki. "W-What are you doing?"
Eyes locked on the road, Nicole explained as she continued to drive.
"This storm is only going to get worse, so we need to get there as quickly as possible. I know a shortcut that'll get us there in ten minutes instead of twenty. Buckle up!"
Despite her initial concern, Yuki merely shrugged and made herself comfortable in the passenger seat as the minivan swerved this way and that.
"Whatever you say, Nicole-san…" said Yuki.
…
At the Watterson household, Darwin and Anais sat close to each other on the couch, watching the TV with disinterest as their father prepared dinner. Unlike any other day, Richard's big appetite was nowhere to be found.
Nonetheless, the family still had to eat and a simple recipe like vegetable soup was just the thing they needed to stay warm on such a cold day. Every so often, Darwin glanced at the living room clock and then at the window and then back to the TV.
"Oh, I can't take this!" Darwin suddenly exclaimed, kicking his legs about. "We can't just sit here, we gotta do something!"
"Darwin, calm down," said Anais. "We're all worried about Gumball but you heard what Mom said. We have to stay here and be patient. Especially considering our cell phones aren't working."
"There has to be more we can do besides waiting," complained Darwin. "I mean, what're the chances that Gumball is just gonna show up at the door, any second now?"
"I dunno, dude. But it's more likely than you'd think."
"Not now Gumball," Darwin dismissed him, waving his fin. "I'm trying to prove a point-wait, what-the-what!?
"Dude, that's my line…" said a rain soaked Gumball, shutting the front door behind him.
"Gumball!" his siblings shouted in unison.
They ran up to give him a hug, only to abruptly stop when it dawned upon them exactly how wet he was.
Nodding to each other, Darwin pulled out a pair of towels while Anais revealed a hairdryer. Swiftly drying up their elder brother until his fur stood on end, they finally gave him the hug they had planned to give.
"Thanks guys."
Leaving the kitchen, Richard sternly walked to confront his son and his siblings stepped aside. Gumball let his hang head low in shame, awaiting whatever punishment that was in store for him. Between his parents, his father was definitely the more lenient of the two but Gumball knew he had probably gone too far this time.
A moment went by yet neither said a word.
From Gumball's perspective, the suspense felt even worse than the inevitable scolding. The tension was so thick it would take more than a knife to cut it. He swallowed hard and finally broke the ice.
"I'm sorry I ran out like that," he began. "Go ahead, I'm ready for punishing..."
"Look at me son," Richard instructed.
At a snail pace, Gumball lifted his head to make eye contact with his father. Surprisingly, Richard was not nearly as upset as Gumball thought he would be. He looked very disappointed in him but there was no fury.
"A-Aren't you going to y-yell at me?" said Gumball.
Richard merely let out an all too heavy sigh. Getting angry and reprimanding his kids was never something he was very good at. Thus, he simply kneeled down and placed a firm hand on Gumball's shoulder.
"Son, I'm just glad you're back safe and sound…" Richard said with relief before looking stern again. "But you're still in trouble. And besides, when your mother gets back, she'll do enough yelling for the both of us. Now go wait on the couch like a good boy."
"Yes, Dad..." agreed Gumball.
...
The thing about unhappy coincidences, is that sometimes, they lead to even unhappier ones. Sometimes, a single drop of rain is all that it takes to start a ripple effect.
It all began on the Elmore Expressway, when the constant onslaught of rain caused the boxed contents of cargo truck to suddenly come loose and spill out onto the highway. That little mishap caused the semi-trailer traveling behind it to violently swerve and topple over onto its side.
This in turn, lead to several vehicles colliding into the obstructing vehicle, quickly creating a massive pile up within seconds.
Although Nicole had managed to avoid the wreckage, not having merged into the Expressway yet, the strong winds had coincidentally caused a landslide of rubble to fall from the adjacent cliffs, which started to fall over towards the cliffside road underneath. And they were heading straight for the path of the green minivan.
"Nicole…" said Yuki, omitting the respectful honorific for the first time. "I really think you should slow down a little."
"We've almost reached the highway," argued Nicole. "I'll slow down once we get there. My son might be in trouble and I'm not going to let anything-
"-Yamero! Stop!" Yuki suddenly screamed, as her arm impulsively shot out in front of her, pointing towards the debris falling into their path. They were going to crash...
…
Three quarters of an hour had passed since Gumball had returned home, yet there was no sign of Nicole. Having finished their supper, the family diligently sat together on the couch, save for Gumball who was hard at work, washing the dishes.
He figured that if he finished a few chores for his mother before she got home, maybe she would be a little less angry with him. Upon washing the very last dish, Gumball placed it in the drainer and joined the others in the living room.
"It's getting late," said Gumball. "I'm starting to worry about Mom..."
"We tried calling her but the phone lines are still down," replied Anais with a shrug.
Darwin said nothing and switched on the news channel, in the hopes that they could learn something new about the situation. Accompanied by a red news ticker reading 'BREAKING NEWS', the anchorman stood ready to speak wearing a very serious expression.
"This is Mike the mic guy bringing you a special news report," he announced. "A major pile up has occurred on the Elmore Expressway. Emergency services are responding as we speak, however strong winds and rampant rain are complicating rescue operations. We take you now live to scene of the accident."
The family's eyes were all glued to the television. It was a horrible sight to behold.
The highway was littered with the wreckage of cars and debris that seemed to go on for miles. Despite the constant rain, fires had broken out and burning strong amongst the destruction. Firefighters and rescue workers were swarming the scene but there was only so much they could do. It was one heck of a pile up...
For a fraction of a second Gumball thought he recognized a certain green car amongst all the commotion before the camera cut away.
"No!" shouted Gumball as he stood up before the TV.
"Gumball, what's wrong?" asked Richard.
"T-T-That looked like Mom's car!" He grabbed his siblings and shook them as he spoke, "Was that Mom's car? Tell me that wasn't Mom's car!"
"Gumball, calm down!" said Anais pushing him off of them.
"We don't know for sure!" Darwin suggested hopefully. "Mrs Mom isn't the only one with a green car."
Darwin's words rang true but Gumball wasn't having it. His mind had already been made up.
Suddenly, he didn't care about how she had yelled at him. It was his fault that she went outside looking for him. He just couldn't live with himself if anything were to happen to her because of him.
Richard had opened his mouth to speak but before he could get a word in, Gumball had leapt into his lap and grabbed him by his shoulders.
"Dad, you have to drive us there to investigate!"
Richard peeled Gumball off of him, setting him down on the couch before speaking.
"Son, you know I can't do that-"
"But Mom could be in trouble!"
"-I promised your mother we'd stay here no matter what," explained Richard. "It's dangerous out there and she'd never forgive me if I let anything happen to you kids. Heck, I'd never forgive me!"
"But what if Mom needs our help!?" Gumball argued. "I don't care if she punishes us, we have to be sure."
"Yeah Mr Dad," agreed Darwin. "She should've been back by now. Something must be wrong…"
Richard darted his eyes back and forth, his loyalty being torn between his orders and his feelings.
"Oh, I don't know what to do!" cried Richard, burying his face in hands. "I'm worried about her too but I promised her we'd stay here..."
"Actually Dad," interrupted Anais. "Mom said we had to stay here in case Gumball came back. Well, now he has. She never said we couldn't go looking for her once Gumball was back home. Therefore, if you drove us out there to look for her, you wouldn't be breaking your promise."
Gumball perked up his ears with hope as Richard thought it over. He made a mental note to thank his little sister later.
"Hmm… well, that does make sense," said Richard. "In that case, kids, put on your raincoats! We're heading out!"
End of Part One