Doomed was the only word that came to Darwin's mind. He was staring at the one thing that he never expected to see (sure, he didn't expect a revenge-bent kid either, but this was worse by a long shot)
What he was looking at was worse than anything he could've imagined doing for revenge.
Okay, let me rewind just a few minutes back.
For a reason Darwin couldn't remember anymore due to his brain malfunctioning, he went to his backyard, and looked around, smelling the fresh aroma people called fresh air, and he called smoke. He turned to go back inside but out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a small little rectangle. He wasn't sure what it was and wasn't sure if he wanted to approach it, but his curiosity eventually won over and as he got closer, he saw more details that would soon be carved into his mind.
The first thing he saw while stepping closer was a yellow sticky note
Sorry for dropping in, I know it's rude but I couldn't help myself, enjoy, buddy!
-You're old friend, G
He could practically hear the sarcasm, but shoved the thought to the side, focusing on the bold letters. Why would he make them bold? For fun? To mess with him? Was it a secret note? Wait- that's it!
The fish took the letters and pieced them together.
B…
O...
M…
B...
His eyes widened and he grabbed it.
That spelled…
No…
It's a joke…
It's not actually…
A bomb
He looked around, ready to call out whoever did this, but no one was in sight.
Darwin dropped to his knees and picked it up. It was heavy and he couldn't figure out what it was made of, except for that he was surprisingly light.
He saw another sticky note he and read it.
'Before you do anything, yeah, this is a bomb. A real bomb, so don't think I'm joking
-G
'Gumball!' He thought after seeing it once again. Did he really drop a bomb on them!? He let the details soak in the perfect shade of light gray, the round, soft corners, the ticking of the counter as it left a week before exploding, the little keypad used for the password to stop it, the plastic feeling he felt as he- wait, little keypad used for the password to stop it?
Upon further inspection, he could confirm it really was.
Next thing he knew, he was running
"ANAIS!" He yelled, skidding across the floor, clenching the notes in his right fist
"ANAIS!"
Darwin searched every corner of every room until he remembered she had a playdate, which his dad took her to before getting some groceries (and the biggest joyful meal ever made)
He did the next best thing he could think of. He needed to learn more about Gumball if he needed memories.
'Penny'
He remembered her screams at him when they were younger.
"DARWIN! YOU NEED TO REMEMBER!" She screamed while wildly shaking his shoulders "GUMBALL WAS YOUR BEST FRIEND! YOU CAN'T FORGET GUMBALL!"
And he used to think he was an imaginary friend of hers
Logically, he grabbed the phone in the living room and crunched the numbers in.
It rang once before being answered.
"Who's this?" It was Polly
"Hi Polly, it's Darwin. Could you pass me to your sister, I need to talk to her."
"Sure."
He heard footsteps, a creak and muffled words being exchanged
"Hello?"
"Hi Penny."
"Hey Darwin, what's up?"
"Yeah, I was wondering a few things and I was hoping you could answer."
Okay, maybe he could've been less blunt
"Sure…"
Yep. Noted.
Welp, time to get straight to the point. "Okay, do you know anyone with the name of Gumball?"
"Y-yeah."
"Were you… friends with him?"
"Yeah..."
"Do you know where he lives?"
He probably sounded like a creep now. He mentally slapped himself.
"No."
Of course not
"Oh.." he sighed in disappointment. "Well, When was the last time you saw him?"
"Kindergarten. Now Darwin, can I ask a question."
Oh no… he knew that tone… not good. Part of him wanted to turn off the phone.
"Go ahead."
"Why do you need me to answer all these questions?" She was running out a patience
"It's just- you- I can't tell you."
"Why not?" His thoughts were racing
"It's a long story and, well, and I can't tell anyone, but it's really important, just please answer!"
Oh crud… Oh crud, oh crud, oh crud, oh crud! What did he do!? He wasn't supposed to say that! He listened again to hear her reaction but ther was only silence
"Penny?"
"..."
"Penny?" His worry increased with each second
"..."
"Penny…?"
"I'll talk later, my parents are calling me."
A lie
"But Pen-" Click! -ny!"
He sighed and reluctantly hung up the phone.
Looks like he was going to have to stop the bomb himself
You really thought I forgot about the thing that could kill them all, causing the main character(s) to try to get the antagonist to remember their memories? Ha! You were wrong!