DISCLAIMER: The following fanfiction contains content from the "The Amazing World of Gumball" franchise owned by Ben Bocquelet and Cartoon Network. The story is more of an idea of what could've happened after the events of The Joy. Therefore, it's a reimagined cut of the previously deleted "Everyone Loves Gumball" storyline. Reasons for this are cluttered content that needs to be relocated and deserves a better presentation. Some sentences are the same, but others are different. I also watch more TAWOG content to get a better understand of the characters and the comedy. Just in case if I didn't get their characterizations right and keep accuracy.

In essence, it's been forever since I have ever been to a Fanfiction site and settled out of the writing gig for several months. The past months have me dealt with spirituality, getting back at doing art and YouTube videos. Not to mention the entire pandemic to deal with until faith arisen with vaccines established. Now, with all my dilemmas trimmed down and trying to face a clear path, I'm ready to go. I apologize if I haven't been around much since that time. Right now, I'm here to finish things off with the stories I intended to finish up. Anyway, enjoy the story!

Chapter #1 - The Inception

On the morning of Elmore City...

Within the Watterson family home, each member of the family is still sleeping in their perspective room. As the sun rose in the boy's room, the clock began to ring loudly. As a result of ringing, both sides woke up from their respective areas and yawned in the aftermath. Gumball went up and slammed the clock. Aiming to prepare for school, both brothers left their sanctuary and prepared themselves for a new day.

As the boys head to the bathroom, Anais wakes up from sleep with a Daisy the Donkey doll. In his parents' room, Nicole and Richard were already preparing for the morning. While Richard struggled with his outfit for a moment, the mother cat managed to set up a store for her business. As the whole family settled down that day, the brothers decided to use forks and food as tools to add creativity to their breakfast ingredients, and their parents laughed at their children's silliness.

After the family ate their meals, Nicole and Richard give each other kisses, and the youths present him cautious hugs in case a particular event ever happened again. Afterward, Nicole came out of the house and placed her belongings in the car. Using her keys, she opens up and back hatch.

"Okay, kids! Bring the projects in here!" She shouted as she witnessed Gumball, Anais, and Darwin bring in their covered-up materials. Once the children finished settling the work into the truck and sat in the car, the siblings noticed police cars dashing beside them, with their alarms blaring in the streets.

"Hmm... I wonder what's that about," Darwin questioned.

"Who knows?" Gumball responded as he placed his backpack and Nicole starting the car. "Let's just start the day once by heading to the center of migraines."

"What's wrong? Are you angry about today's Science Expo?" Anais asked as she raised her eyebrow.

"Yes, that's the same day I'm supposed to set a special date with Penny later," the cat protested. "Still, our teacher announced this and stabbed it in my face before. Well, the weekend is approaching, so I think I need to change my schedule."

"Maybe it has to do with all the trouble we had at school. I heard in advance that Ms. Simian might hire bodyguards to monitor you. But don't worry, man. Once the event's over, we'll have time for our girlfriends." Darwin said.

"Yeah. It was a difficult experience to set up with my dad's help, so I hoped it was worth it," said the young cat as he given a message to Penny on the phone.

"And me too, considering I helped you out the most since neither of you guys got some research done and played games together." The bunny spoke bitterly to her brother. "Needless to say, I got an overview apart from that, so you own me.

"Hehehe, right." The blue cat said as sweat drops from his head as he remembers enjoying father-son time with Richard.

As the Wattersons drove on the street and Richard holding down the fort, Nicole encountered a traffic jam in front of the car, helping the drivers turn around with few police officers in the foreground. The mother cat slowed down and sighed incredibly because of the barrage in the middle of the road.

"Oh my goodness, this is gonna make me late," Nicole sighed as the Hamburger and Dog Cops direct the cars to different locations. Suddenly, the Wattersons noticed a familiar phantom in the distance, with fliers attached to his hand. For a better visibility, both Gumball and Darwin looked through the window.

Once the car drew closer to the intersection, the boys noticed Vladus Lokowitchki speaking to Donut and Coffee Cops while Soda and French Fry Cops finished covering the doors of Carrie's house with barricade tape. Nearby the mysterious event was Mike the Microphone Guy and Ken broadcasting the news to Elmore, while some detectives with Dog Cop collecting evidence inside. Most citizens nearby the terrain took pictures of this event, which cause the Dog and Hamburger to blare their whistles to get them to pay attention to the road. Witnessing this from a distance, both siblings were in shock of the discovering, especially Darwin. The tragedy made him anxious and sweaty, wondering what had happened to his girlfriend. Seeing her sons popped their heads in the window, Nicole immediately became irritated by the outcome.

"Hey! Both of you get back to your seats! We about to pull up!"

"Mom, you might want to see this before you go," Anais suggested when witnessing the event.

"What?" The motherly cat asked as she observes whet the youths are starting. Once she looked on her right, Nicole became appalled as she witnessed the situation on the street. The feline watched as the event caught much attention, which she figured why the traffic jam happened. Abruptly, Darwin promptly strives to exit the windowpane and collapsed to the ground, commencing to run towards the happening. As he rushed to the scene, his heart began to throb quickly, swearing to himself that the ghost girl is okay in the occurrence.

"DARWIN!" Gumball screamed as he began to eject himself from the seat and open the car door, following his stepbrother's pursuit.

"Hold on, Mom! I'll get them!" Anais spoke as she got out of the seat, following the trail her brothers left behind. Distraught that all of her kids are out of the car and looking at her watch, Nicole grudgingly decided to park her car at a nearby parking space and halted the car's engine. Shutting the door behind her, the workaholic started chasing after her children.

"Officers, I'm worried sick! I haven't my seen daughter since last night! And the cretin who caused it is nowhere in sight!" Valdus spoke to the cops with an anxiety-filled look on his face.

"Calm down, sir." Coffee Cop replied. "We'll do whatever it takes to find your child. Not the first time with dealing with criminals like this one."

"Okay, Mr. Lokowitchki. What does this crook look like, and what are the motives?" Donut Cop asked, taking out his notepad for writing.

"Well, from what I know so far, this figure has a cloak that helps it blend in the dark, and it doesn't look like the fellow undead I encounter." The spirit described the person. "The criminal broken into my house and taken our items. It also bears this mysterious fungus I don't recognize, and my beloved got engaged in a forced commitment before he disappears."

"Oh, dear." Coffee Cop sighed in distress, comforting the phantom. "That must've been horrible."

"MR. LOKOWITCHKI!" A young voice shouted his name, and the phantom and police turned their heads to see who roared his name. They saw Darwin heading towards them at high speed with the others behind his back, causing the police to put their hands in front and stopped the young fish.

"HALT!" Coffee Cup shouted to the aquatic stepbrother. "Do not cross this area! It's off-limits!"

"Never mind that! What's happened to my girlfriend?!" Darwin shouted in concern as he waves his arms up and down frantically.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down, kid!" Donut Cop said as he knelt his left leg to his level and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Before you know it, you could've gone across this tape and flung into that massive gunk on the ground."

"Okay." Darwin sighed as he rested his fins on his lap and took a breather. The fish moved his left head towards Carrie's father. The father put his hand on his shoulder. "Mr. Lokowitchski, what happened to her?"

"She faced a dire fate because of what I collected," Vladus replied.

"Finally, I managed to catch up with you! And hello, Vladus. What's going on?" The young cat asked curiously.

"Carrie disappeared, and I couldn't find her whereabouts," The phantom replied to the feline.

"Oh, man. I'm sorry for your loss," Gumball answered when his ears fell.

"And that's not the only thing. Judging by what this ghost is saying, it's clear that a criminal loose with charges of burglary and maltreatment towards an innocent victim. Neither of them found despite the evidence. Once we clear out, we'll find the ghost and perpetrator." Donut Cop concluded. Vladus looked down in shame, feeling disgusted at what the officer gathered did to his daughter. Hearing this, the boys gasped in horror for what they heard from the Cop. Darwin felt his heart torn and tears slowly dripping from his eyes. Gumball, who felt sad for his brother, patted his back with a smile. Hearing the sobbing, Vladus opened his eyes and turned his head to the right. He let out a sorrowful sigh as he drifted to the aquatic mammal, placing his hand on his back.

"Don't worry, Darwin. We'll find her eventually." The feline responded.

As Darwin wiped his face, Gumball felt his ears start moving and heard something strange. 'What was that?'

He looked at the area and found it oozing to the ground. When the cat observed, Gumball noticed that it was shining brightly nearby, and it gave him a striking chill in the aftermath. As if he felt some familiarity with it. These experiences disturbed him. It probably cramped his eyes a little because of the lighting. Before further questioning the mysterious slime, he heard his sister's footsteps come behind him.

"Guys! We need to get back in the car! And Mom isn't happy with what you did!" Anais shouted that she managed to reach out to her brothers.

"Uh oh." The cat and the fish talked together as they see their mother fuming in the background, with desperation and rage casting her eyes.

"Dude, I think we just made Mom late, especially because of what you did," Gumball shouted in horror.

"No kidding." Darwin agreed.

"Farewell, children. Enjoy the rest of the day until we meet again for Carrie," Vladus said when he lifted his hand and hovered with the police. Afterward, the Watterson brothers widened their eyes and raised eyebrows. Each sibling's limbs instantly shivered as they began to come up with a good excuse for why did they dangerously leave the car and raced towards a dangerous place.

Unbeknownst to the Watterson Family, a mysterious figure was cast from the shadows in an unknown location, watching them before heading to their house.

And that's the end of this chapter! Consider this as my welcoming chapter after a previous blowout.