The following story contains instances of violence, murder, possible drug use, implications of rape, and other related criminal activities.

The Amazing World of Gumball is a work of Cartoon Network created by Benjamin Bocquelet.

Prologue

Cruising down the cleaner streets of Elmore late one midnight, Gumball Watterson was a young man on a mission, with his left hand tucked into his hoodie, clenching the grip of a time-worn Colt. The barrel rattled with each step he took, though if any passerby could hear it, they paid no mind to the sunken-eyed cat in all black. Gumball was positive he was rousing suspicions. A shady teenager at this part of town at this time of night meant bad news.

Someone's luck would run out tonight, Gumball had promised. That was all he had: a promise. No plan or call to action; He'd been roused tonight by the thought of a world without that bastard, Wilson. He couldn't bear the thought of seeing that gradient-faced show boater go all around the halls of Elmore high, making a fool of himself and whatever circle he would jerk around on any given day.

For years, it'd only been playful goofing off, but something had changed over the last school year. Tobias had never been a heavy drinker – at least as far as Gumball had known him. But by October, he was chugging shot after shot at parties, throw outs, bashes and what have you, a few of which at his own house, where Gumball saw the sour side of his long-lost friend for the first time.

Or rather, heard screaming bloody murder down the hall as one of their half-dressed classmates rushed out of Tobias' bedroom. At the time, Gumball had convinced himself to walk away and ignore it, a decision with had stricken Gumball with regret as his writhed in bed on late nights, thinking about that poor girl running down the hall with tears in her eyes. A few rumors went around the school as to what happened in that room, many of them salacious and crude, and the school decided to intervene. Both Tobias and the girl were questioned, followed by their parents. But no justice came to that girl for what happened that night. It turned out all the Wilsons had a bad temper, and the school board and her parents were folded trying to fight back. Maybe they just didn't want their son to get in trouble, or maybe they were actually convinced he'd done nothing wrong. Everyone else at school knew though, because that entire house had heard Tobias Wilson on that fateful night, putting that "dirty whore" in her place.

Gumball had been selectively distant. If Tobias called out to him, he'd call back. Tell him a joke, he'd laugh. When approached, Gumball could play the part of a friend. He knew which buttons to push and which ones to ponder on. Secretly, he couldn't wait to graduate and have him out of his hair, but part of him wondered if Tobias would eventually get expelled. The thought comforted Gumball more as Tobias' bastard clique began to grow, echoing bad ideas off of each other like cave walls. The steroids, the fake IDs, more parties (many at the Elmore Community dorms), and a charcuterie board of other junky shit molded Tobias into an invasive, vile, neurotic scumbag.

His reputation became more and more infamous throughout the school as the year came to an end, though he still managed to weasel his way out of any punishment. Often, he played the victim in his own game, blaming bad kids for impressing themselves on to him – a few hours later, he'd sneak them into his basement and chug a forty together. His parents ate it up, or didn't care enough to deny it. Whatever the case, that girl who he'd hurt – the one which Gumball could never take out of his mind – stopped coming to school one day. That's when Tobias made a habit of what happened that night.

In late January, Sarah came to school with a black eye the night after going to a rave. Everyone had suspected it had something to do with "the Twinkling Tweakers" as Tobias' group had been called, but Sarah changed the subject if you brought it up to her. Weeks passed and she became more withdrawn, while Masami started hanging out with the Tweakers and Tobias. February came and she got caught with a strip of LSD in her bag. Rumor had it that Tobias had been selling them second hand.

Throughout all of this, Gumball mostly kept to himself. He'd had his own problems to deal with and couldn't be bothered to get involved with whatever Tobias had done the current week. Sure, he'd been bothered by it, but even if he could get up the nerve to speak up, he knew nothing came of it in the end. Although, he had made Tobias out for the fool he was one Tuesday night. No one else really knew who'd leaked those photos of Tobias' infected tattoo, smeared red and yellow all across his Adonis, all except for Gumball. And his girlfriend Penny, of course, who had the crotch shots to begin with. It was their ingenious plan after Tobias had sent her the pics after a night of heavy drinking.

The rest of February ended without scandal – nothing out of the ordinary anyway – but March came and blew up in Gumball's face. He'd made his true feelings towards Tobias clear after discovering he'd sent a slew of messages targeting his sister, Anais, telling her 'eat shit to kill herself.' And though Gumball was sure a shiny new black eye would put Tobias in his place for the time being, it also put him out of school for the remainder of that week. Gumball noted that he didn't have the advantage of defensive parents. And in his absence, the final straw was drawn.

Penny refused to share every detail, but early after midnight Monday morning she called him, recounting the event between shortened breaths. He asked what Tobias had done, and what he would do if Tobias had even laid a finger on her, but she could not come up with more than, "he cornered me, and I couldn't get away." The following evening, when Gumball saw the cuts and bruises, he made his promise. Before he knew it, he was already in Tobias' backyard.

Gumballs mind raced thoughts poisoned by rage and fear, for what had been done and what had to be done. He wouldn't stop himself though, even if he didn't think he could pull it off. He was sure he wouldn't. There was the chance Tobias wasn't home, he could be in one of his friend's basement embalming himself, or off at some party the next town over. And even if he was home, Gumball had never used a gun before in his life. He'd only had it for a few hours now. The gun was an expensive purchase off some shady dude in a van. It was entirely possible the gun might be broken or misaligned, though Gumball wasn't sure if he would even notice if that was the case with his aim. How was he to get in the house anyway?

With a deep breath, Gumball put the thoughts away. He had to do this. For Penny, and for his sister, and whoever else Tobias had hurt and might hurt if he didn't put a stop to this tonight. The lights were out in the house, so maybe no one had seen him yet. He checked the back door, safely locked and stuck in place. He tried all the windows on the floor level and checked the front door, but the house was locked tighter than a safe. Nothing is easy in a nice neighborhood, Gumball thought.

Just as he decided he'd need to break in, probably through one of the windows in the back. But then, Gumball found another way as he headed back. A doorway to the basement. It seemed like it might be easier to break in through there instead of getting glass everywhere. There was a lock holding the handles to the door, but it was only as good as its weakest link. That link turned out to be the handles themselves, as one was effortlessly ripped from its binding when Gumball tested it. It was amazing no one had broken in sooner.

Gumball crept down the stairs and found a door to the basement. A minute passed before he let himself in, adrenaline pumping all throughout him. The gun in his hoodie felt like an extension of himself, an older, uglier part of himself out for blood. In his mind, he wished the door before him was locked, and that when the Wilson's discovered the broken basement door handle in the morning, the police would come and find his fingerprints. He'd be sent off somewhere for breaking and entering, just a little time behind bars was all he needed to set himself straight. But with one errant twist, the doorknob went. With delicate care to make as little noise as possible, Gumball was in the basement, up the stairs, through the living room, down the hall, up more stairs, and at Tobias' bedroom door.

His parents' room was right next door. Gumball peaked inside and saw no one inside, his parents weren't home right now. Right now, Gumball thought. He had nearly the best circumstances for what he was doing. He hadn't put much thought into prison life, this was what, murder in the second, first degree? Gumball wasn't sure, he hadn't cared if he went to jail for the rest of his life the next morning. Part of him had considered he wouldn't live to see the next morning, but he figured with the opportunity to shake a prison sentence – one he felt would be too strong a punishment for what Tobias had gotten away with for so long – he might as well try to stay free for as long as he could.

Gumball put his ear to the door. Silence. As he placed his hand on the door, he heard a faint cry in the night. He hadn't been as quiet as he thought coming in, oh well. Gumball threw the door open and saw Tobias, frozen in place right next to his bed. He'd built up the courage to see who'd broken in.

"Oh, it's just you, Gumball." He managed his most friendly tone of voice, but fear still crept alongside it, "If you wanted to hang out you could have asked buddy."

Gumball drew his revolver in a flash. It was too dark for Tobias to make out the object in the dark, but he managed to figure out what it was. His instincts took hold of him and he ducked, too late to avoid the bullet if Gumball hadn't missed. The rusty thing WAS misaligned.

"Damnit!" Gumball yelled, firing off another shot at Tobias as he crawled towards Gumball. He'd meant to aim for the head, but it veered off into his shoulder. Tobias nearly caved in place from the pain, but he kept himself grounded and slammed into Gumball's legs, knocking him over. A third shot sprung from the barrel of the gun and burrowed into the ceiling.

Tobias got up and ran out of his room into the hall, racing for his life, "This isn't funny dude! Think about what you're doing!"

"You're one to talk." Gumball muttered to himself. He tried to make up for the gun's inaccuracy by angling his next shot. As Tobias pounded down on the first step, another shot blasted down the hall right into the flower vase by the stairs. Nearly there, but not quite. Gumball raced after Tobias to get a clearer shot. He'd tripped up when he heard the vase explode and plummeted down the stairs, only just recovering when Gumball appeared at the top of them. Gumball had never been good at gauging trajectory, and yet another shot missed its mark as it shattered Tobias' collarbone.

One last shot, Gumball thought. He examined the situation, realizing who he was in this moment. How scared Tobias was right now. He hated what Tobias had turned him into but found a cruel joy in seeing him on the ground, begging for his life. But then he was up, racing towards the kitchen. Gumball followed him, his heart pounding in his chest. He couldn't miss the next shot.

There they were in the kitchen. Gumball had stopped in the doorway when he saw the moonlight bounce off the shiny blade in Tobias' hand. A few dried remains of some herb or vegetable fell off of it as Tobias pointed the tip at Gumball.

"Stay back, I'm warning you!" Tobias said, his sounded as if his lungs were about to explode.

Gumball was silent, his face partially illuminated by the light of the moon. He slowly raised the gun up at his waist and put one hand out in front of him to appear like he was standing off. Of course, he had to deal with the most awkward angle for his last chance.

Tobias bought the act though, and gave out a manic and cocky laugh, still out of breath. He lowered the knife, "I-I know what this is about. This is about your girl."

Memories of Penny earlier tonight flashed in Gumball's mind, fueling another burst of rage which pushed him forward, bringing him closer to the knife but tightening the corner on Tobias.

"H-hey woah! Take it easy, you don't wanna know what I can do with this thing!" He stuck out the knife and thrusted it forward, and Gumball stepped back a little.

"Yeah, that's it!" Tobias mocked, "You're not the best shot, are ya? I don't mean to brag, but I bet I bet my aim with this thing is better than yours with that busted up gun."

Gumball put Tobias words to the side, he couldn't let him get to him or he'd mess up again. He pressed the revolver to his side, hoping that once he got the angle that he thought was right, he wouldn't just end up shooting himself in the process.

"Ya know, for someone with a shit aim like you, you sure did land a bull's eye with Penny."

A little to the left, Gumball thought.

"Her chest ain't great, don't get me wrong, but behind…"

A little higher.

"I couldn't help myself man, she's been driving me crazy for years. I guess I had an obsession."

I need to put my hand down or else I'll blow off my fingers.

"But don't worry, Gumball. I got what I needed, and Penny did too from the looks of her. Why don't we put this behind us and forget this all ever happened."

Not again.

"Besides, she got what was coming for her for leaking my pics. Stupid bi—"

Gumball watched as the Tobias' blurry head shot back in the dark, and as his figure crumpled in the dark. The deafness in the room stung as easily as Tobias' final words. A cold rush went through Gumball's body. He couldn't believe he'd pulled it off. There was a sharp pain in his side, a cut across his thigh. The knife must have hit him when Tobias fell to the ground. But that didn't matter right now. He covered the wound with his hand and applied a bit of pressure. Gumball couldn't tell if he'd already bled onto the floor. Or where the knife had landed.

All he could see in the unlit room was the pose the body had taken as it hit to the ground, not anything like Gumball had expected it to be. What he didn't see was the detail in Tobias' face, the expression he died with, or the hole in his forehead. He couldn't see the blood splattered on the fridge from where the last bullet left Tobias' skull or the trail he had made when he tried to escape him. Gumball only saw what he needed to see: he'd done what he promised to do.

All reviews are read and appreciated. Thank you for supporting the story.