Chapter 6: Losing Control
During lunchtime, most of the students were going to the cafeteria. Meanwhile, Tobias was at his locker, getting out a few items from his backpack. He had his hand resting on the part of it, before suddenly the locker slammed close, crushing his fingers and making him yelp in pain. He looked over and saw Gumball standing there with red eyes that were so bright that fire could be seen in his pupils. Tobias jerked his hand out of the locker, gripping it in pain. "What was that for, Gumball?!" Tobias questioned, only to receive a shove from his rival. "Shut up. I told you what's going to happen. You're going to tell everyone you were lying. Then I'll let you keep your teeth," Gumball simply explained in the precise tone an evil madman would say it in.
"I'm not going to do that. Face it, you don't have the guts to-" Tobias received a punch to his face that gave him a bruised cheek. He realized that the angered cat was serious, and now knew that his threats and demands were serious. The headband wearing bully had the choice to flee down one of the two hallways that Gumball weren't blocking. "I'm never listening to you! You can't make me!" Tobias declared before immediately darting down the hall to their left, but before he could get far, suddenly a big tail swept out from a doorway and smacked him, sending him sliding back across the floor. He groaned, looking up and seeing Tina there. He was terrified to see Tina Rex standing there.
Gumball was just staring with a grin, enjoying the sight of his enemy become fearful. Tobias tried to run down the other unblocked hallway, only to receive and punch to the face that stopped him. He stepped back and saw Jamie standing there, blocking the other hallway. Every hallway was blocked by the bullies and Gumball. "L-listen, man! I-I'm sorry," Tobias tried to apologize to his friend. Gumball walked up to him with, his red eyes glaring like daggers trying to pierce him with his gaze. "You need to learn your lesson…" Gumball claimed before kicking his foe's legs from under him. Tobias slammed into the floor, and Gumball pinned him down, refusing to let him get up.
"Tell the truth that you lied," Gumball continued to demand, his sharp teeth beginning to show from his grin. "I'm not afraid of you!" Tobias responded, only to receive a punch to the face while still being pinned down by Gumball. Tobias could say nothing more as he began to receive a vicious and unrelenting assault, one punch after the other, digging into his face and feeling tougher within each hit. Tina and Jamie watched happily since they were hired to just prevent him from running away and escaping, and seeing Tobias get beat by the one they bullied before was suddenly entertaining.
Gumball had brutalized Tobias to the point where a few of his teeth were chipped and broken, his nose was bleeding, and both eyes were black. "Are you going to do it?" Gumball asked, grabbing Tobias' head and slamming it onto the ground, the back of his head rattling. "Alright! Alright!" Tobias cried in agony. "I'll tell the truth! Just stop!" he begged in fear of being hit anymore. Gumball got off of him, his red eyes slowly fading away as he rubbed his eyes, a throbbing headache following shortly after.
"Good job, Gumball. Maybe you aren't as bad as we thought," Jamie commented, patting his back before walking off to get to the cafeteria. "Yeah, but you're still a loser…" Tina mumbled while heading off as well. Gumball was just overlooking the situation when he saw the injured Tobias. He just looked his shaking hands. Gumball was terrified, barely remembering what he just did. He proceeded to run down the hall, leaving the area where the incident happened.
Gumball found himself in the nurse's office. He was sitting on the examination table where the nurse had been spending the past few minutes examining him. "I don't know what you mean. You don't seem sick in the slightest. You're perfectly healthy, but just a bit overweight," the nurse claimed since Gumball had been hoping for someone to recognize his current symptoms and maybe hope for some form of help beyond his younger sister and Bobert's.
The nurse heard a nearby phone ringing on the wall. She went over and answered it. "Hello? …I see… I'll be right over" she said after a short conversation she hung up the phone. "I have to go attend to a severely injured boy. I'll be right back," she informed him before exiting the office, leaving Gumball there. He just sat idly and shed, knowing she was talking about Tobias. He just wondered how much trouble he would wind up in over the fight.
Before Gumball could leave, he saw the door open and found a slightly crumpled paper bear, wearing her usual blazer. "Oh, hey Teri," Gumball greeted her. She was a friend of his, and was well known in school for being quite a hypochondriac, with a lot of diseases that were more than likely in her head.
"Hey, Gumball. Is the nurse in?" Teri questioned, somewhat looking away. Gumball could see a clearly visible burn on her arm. "Err, no. She went to handle something. What happened?" Gumball responded in curiosity. "I got burned in home economics," she explained what happened to her to cause the major burn. "I'll come back later," she quickly added, thinking that she may just find the nurse at a better time. Suddenly she felt something stop her. Gumball was holding her hand. She looked at him, witnessing his eye color change from blue to magenta which made her feel startled.
"Don't worry. Allow me to treat the injury," Gumball insisted while dragging her into the doctor's office. He helped her on the examination table. "D-do you even know how to treat burn wounds?" Teri questioned, somewhat fearful of an inexperienced teen treating her. "It's not that hard. Simple as can be, really," he responded, not even looking at her while rummaging through the cabinets. The nurse had carelessly left them unlocked. He pulled out a bottle of green liquid and some medical gauze.
Teri was hesitant, watching Gumball come over and pour some of the strange green gel on his hand. He began rubbing it on the burn wound. "It's Aloe Vera, don't worry," he said with a reassuring smile. The paper bear had a light blush, seeing him so calm and collective. Once he finished applying the Aloe Vera, he took the gauze and began wrapping it around the burn mark on her arm. "There. It should be fine now," he claimed, seeing her awkwardly look down. "It feels a lot better… Thanks, Gumball. I didn't know you knew anything about medicine," she complimented him before leaving. Gumball just groaned, holding his head as his eyes went from magenta to blue again.
"What's happening?" Gumball questioned, unable to remember what he did right away until he heard a static noise over the loud speaker which normally indicated an announcement. "Gumball Watterson. Please report to the principal's office," the speaker announced. Gumball heard the voice of Principal Brown and gulped. He knew he was going to miss his next class, but he just ignored it while his ears drooped low. He began to make his way to the principal's office, his tail dragging on the floor behind him.
Gumball entered the principal's office. He was staring strongly at the floor. "I believe you know why you're here?" a brown furry slug with glasses, which was principal of the school, asked the student. Gumball took the next moment to notice a heavily bandaged Tobias sitting in front of the principal's desk as well. He took a seat beside Tobias, the one person he had thoroughly beaten within an inch of his life to stop the rumors and tell the truth. The same had already been done by Jamie and Tina for him since they were some of the first to hear about the fake rumors.
"Tobias here claims you assaulted him at lunch time. Is that true?" the principal asked, but Gumball felt his head throb again. His eyes snapped green before he just let out a short laugh. He took a deep inhale and looked at his enemy. "Sir, you must be out of your mind to believe that I, of all people, could brutalize this pathetic being," Gumball said, flexing his arms to just add onto his point. The most muscles that showed were small bumps. "I was also in the nurse's office around lunchtime and assisted Teri. I was nowhere near this unruly gentleman at that time," he continued lying. The personalities were getting more and more prominent, and that were taking over a lot more, the fact that he had Teri as a living excuse.
"And might I add that he started some rumor that I beat my ex girlfriend," Gumball finally finished defending himself with his lies. The principal over viewed the both of them and sighed, holding his head. "Something seems different about you, Watterson. You're dismissed. Sorry about that," the principal said. The wide eyed Tobias couldn't believe that Gumball was easily getting away with the cruel beating like that. It was like he had planned it all out in the back of his mind.
Gumball tried to get through his school day as normal as he possibly could, but towards the end of it, while he was at his locker getting his backpack, he noticed something odd sticking out of it that looked like a folder. He pulled it out, seeing a picture of himself clipped to the folder, along with writing on it. Most of it was blacked out, but the words that made sense to him was the following phrase, "Analyst Gordon." Gumball decided to find Bobert and Anais to talk to them about this, but he did feel a lot calmer and less angry ever since he beat Tobias to the ground with his bare hands.
End of Chapter 6