Chapter 2: Odd Feelings
Gumball woke up early the next morning in a gasp of sweat and pain. While panting, he looked around to see himself back in his bed in his messy room like nothing had ever happened though. The pain he felt however seemed very real, and he remembered everything so clearly. That and the multiple needle marks in his arm seemed to act as more evidence, but he didn't feel entirely right. It was like he wasn't himself. He presumed that it was over the fact that he was up very late.
Gumball looked over to the nightstand and by his brother's empty fish bowl. A note lay on there on top of a hundred dollar bill. He picked it up. The note wasn't written, but the words seemed to have been cut out and put together from magazines, just like a ransom note would be made. "Sorry for the test. I recommend keeping this a secret. We will be watching to see results, and plausibly put them to the test," the note read. Gumball just put the money away. He got up, but he stumbled and fell over face first to the ground, slamming onto the carpet like gravity had gotten bored of holding him up.
Gumball felt weak. His muscles were throbbing and aching. He stood back up, leaning onto the wall. With one arm, he pulled himself to the bathroom. He went to the sink and ran the cold water from the tap, splashing himself in the face with it. "That... that was no nightmare," Gumball told himself. He didn't know how much worse it could get, remembering his girlfriend breaking up with him, and then becoming a weird test subject.
Gumball preceded downstairs, his legs strength eventually coming back after he calmed down. He looked around to see his father, an obese pink rabbit, asleep on the couch. It was the usual place to find his father since he didn't have a job at all. "Oh, Gumball. Good, you're awake," he heard, turning around to see his mother behind him in her usual grey skirt, and a white shirt with a rainbow pin on it to represent where she worked at. Like Gumball, she was a blue cat as well. Suddenly, Gumball felt more depressed when he saw her. "Why aren't you at work?" he asked with nearly no emotion.
"I took a personal day. I was worried if you and Anais were sick. You had a bad fever and Anais has a bad cold," Nicole responded while feeling his forehead with her hand, noticing that he wouldn't even make eye contact with her. She didn't question it though. "Well... you don't feel too hot now. Listen, I need to go get Anais's medicine. Can you watch her?" she asked her young son. He let out a sigh. "Fine..." he agreed. His mother took her purse and left the house.
Gumball held his head, not sure what was wrong with him. He heard a bell ring. He raised an eyebrow before climbing upstairs out of curiosity. He went to the second door in the hallway that was open. He entered through the door to a room that compared to Gumball's was the opposite of messy. It was neat and tidy. The room had a desk under the window and a dresser beside it. Gumball looked over, finding the ringing coming from his younger sister, a pink rabbit that was in an orange dress lying in her bed.
"Gumball…? I was calling for mom…" Anais said in a raspy strained voice. "She's getting your medicine. She asked me to take care of you," Gumball told her. He held his head in a bit of pain. It felt like a drill being put through his skull and digging inside. "Ohh… I-is there anything I can do for you?" he questioned, trying to ignore the pain, wondering what she was ringing the bell for in the first place. "I wanted someone to play with…" she said in her weak tone, holding her Daisy the Donkey doll in her arms. She noticed Gumball staring at the floor, and the blue color of his eyes steadily changed to green, but before she could question him about it, he turned to her. "I'll play with you," he claimed. Anais found it weird since usually he didn't like playing with her. She was a lot different to him when it came to the kinds of things she liked. Nonetheless, she was happy to play with him.
After an hour later, Nicole arrived back home. Nothing had changed since she had just left. It was relieving to her. Gumball was well known for his antics around town with his friends, which always worried her. She heard giggling and laughter coming from upstairs. Nicole was curious about it. She headed upstairs, slowly opened the door to Anais' room, and saw a funny sight. Gumball and Anais were sitting at a small children's table with a few dolls at it. Appearing to be having a tea party. "Aww… you two look adorable playing together," Nicole said. Anais however felt tired due to being sick, but nicole was glad to see her children getting along and bonding more, even if it was slightly weird.
Gumball saw his mother, and his green eyes changed back to blue. He held his head in pain. He just went quiet while standing up in the same state of mind as before where he refused to look at her mother in the eye. "Thanks for playing with me, Gumball," Anais thanked her older brother, still somewhat confused and worried about him. The eye color changed was the one thing that she so far only noticed. "Yeah… it was fun," Gumball claimed in a blunt tone, receiving a quick hug from his little sister. He just left right after, refusing to give Nicole a warm greeting. Like something in the back of his mind was forcing him to try and avoid her at all times.
"I need to find someone to help me…" Gumball muttered, wondering where Darwin was while noticing that it was a weekend. He knew something was wrong, and he needed to know what it was right away. He could think of only one person to go to for help. Gumball didn't hesitate to leave home, taking his helmet and skateboard from his room and setting off into the streets of Elmore, where the bright sunny day seemed to reflect the opposite of how he felt today.
End of Chapter 2
Author note. Real quick i would like to say, and forewarn. That the chapters are going to have varying length. Could be long, could be short. Either or. Sorry if the story isn't to good anyway. Just thought i'd give a heads up.