It was break time at Elmore Junior High and Bobert was sitting on the bench feeling depressed as he watched the other students play kickball.
He sighed before he noticed the ball rolling over to him.
"Hey, Bobert! Kick it over! Come on, dude!" Tobias called out.
Bobert stood up and kicked the ball but the kick was so powerful that the ball flew right into the Sun, hitting it in the eye, before disintegrating into ash.
The sun blinked, unphased.
"Oh, Bobert! Now look at what you've done!" Jamie yelled out annoyed.
Tobias crossed his arms annoyed and yelled in a sarcastic tone. "Yeah, good job, robo-dork!"
"Hey, take it easy!" Alan protested, feeling bad for Bobert.
"Pfft, why? It's not like you can hurt his feelings. He's not a real boy!"
Tobias and Jamie laughed and walked away with Alan leaving Bobert alone.
Bobert sighed and walked away upset.
Elsewhere in the schoolyard Gumball and Darwin were playing with dolls, both talking in fancy voices.
"Would you like a cup of tea, Mrs. Biggerlocks?"
"Don't mind if I do, Mrs. Pumpernickel."
"and could I interest you in a... Dynamite cupcake?!"
They tossed their dolls around acting out an explosion and pretending to fight. Then they noticed the upset Bobert walking by them and slowly stopped playing, their faces, and Gumball's ears, slowly lowering.
"Hey, Bobert. What's wrong bud?" Gumball asked him softly.
"Oh...it's nothing..." Bobert replied sounding downbeat, well as much as a robot could.
Gumball crouched down beside him and gave a reassuring smile, as did Darwin who Bobert looked over to. "Aw, come on, you can tell us. We're friends."
Bobert sighed. "I just wish I was a real boy..."
"Oh! Well, wish no more, we'll help you!" Gumball smiled.
"Really!?" His monitor changed to a happy expression.
"Of course. That's what friends are for." Darwin nodded.
He printed out something on paper then happily showed it to Gumball and Darwin.
"What's that?" Gumball asked, looking at it in confusion.
"It's the algorithm for a smile."
"Awwww..." Darwin smiled.
Gumball also gave a weak smile. "Bobert, that's cute and all but..."
He grabbed the paper and threw it away.
"...you've got a lot to learn. If you want to be real then you have to have proper emotions."
"Define emotions."
"You know...like... feelings and stuff." He shrugged.
"Define feelings."
"You know... When you feel things... like, uh... pain!"
"Define pain."
He sighed. "Okay, look. Let me demonstrate. Here, Darwin, describe this."
He pinched Darwin's cheek as hard as he could.
Darwin's pupils shrunk as he screamed in pain.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!"
"I need more than 'AHHHHH'. How does it feel?"
"HORRIBLE!"
"Yes, yes, of course it's horrible, but can you be more precise? Describe it."
"It feels... feels... like this!"
He pinched Gumball's chest hard in return.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
They both collapsed to the ground, still pinching each other and yelling.
Gumball teared up. "Stop, you're making me cry!"
Darwin then teared up too. "But when you cry, I cry!"
They stop pinching each other and began to cry as Bobert watched in confusion.
Gumball stood up and held out his paw for Darwin. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!"
Darwin took it and Gumball pulled him up. "Me, neither, I don't know what I was thinking!"
"I love you, buddy!
"I love you too!"
They hugged each other, still crying.
They then suddenly both immediately stopped crying and returned to normal, as if nothing had happened. "And that, Bobert, is emotions. Do you understand?"
"Affirmative. Emotion equals X over Y plus a square root of a hypotenuse."
"What the..."
He facepalmed. "Look, man. If you wanna be a real boy, you gotta be cooler than that. A lot cooler!"
"Commencing temperature adjustment!"
A fan emerged from his chest and he began cooling himself.
"What, no, not like that!" He turned it off and it retracted back inside Bobert's chest. "Look, Bobert, just do as I do."
He walked around in an exaggerated 'cool' walk while rap-like music began to play.
"Go ahead!"
Bobert tried to do the same but walked very heavily and clunkily.
"Aw, come on! Give it a bit more... bounce! Like this!"
The same rap-like music played as Gumball tried to show off some kind of springy walk.
"Dude, what are you doing?"
"I'm cool walking!"
"You look like you're horse-riding nothing."
Gumball and the music stopped.
"I concur with the aquatic life form."
Gumball mimicked Bobert with a robotic voice. "I concur with the aquatic life form!"
He switched back to his voice. "Bobert, if anyone wants to believe you're a real boy, you need to lose that robot voice."
"May I simulate yours?"
"Excellent choice!"
"Excellent choice! His voice slowly changed into Gumball's voice. E-Excellent choice! Hi, my name's Gumball and my head is so big, I have to go in the other room to look at it!"
Darwin and Bobert both laughed as Gumball examined his head, before slumping with a whimper, his ears falling.
Bobert continued to speak in Gumball's voice. "Did you hear? I laughed! I have feelings! I'm a real boy! Thank you so much!
He hugged Gumball and Darwin for an awkwardly long time.
"You're, uh, welcome, but dude, little tip, normal people don't hug for this long."
"Just a little longer..."
He continued to hug them for a few more seconds as they slowly turned to look at each other uncomfortable.
A montage then began of Bobert becoming popular with Gumball's voice.
He made Gumball insult himself in various humourous ways to everyone but Gumball himself's amusement.
People began to hang around with him, asking him to sit or hang out with them.
Crowds began to form around him, asking him to say stuff in Gumball's voice.
Everyone loved the new Bobert and began to cheer as they paraded him through the corridors, as Gumball and Darwin watched from the side. They just shrugged and walked away smiling, happy to have cheered him up.
A while later Gumball and Darwin were walking home.
"Do you think all this popularity is gonna go to head his head? What if he gets carried away and does something crazy? Darwin asked concerned.
Gumball thought for a moment then shrugged. "Hmm...nah, I'm sure it'll be fine!"
Meanwhile, at Bobert's house, he was is in the bathroom looking at the mirror.
He spoke in his voice. "People finally like me, I'm finally popular! I feel great! But...I need more...I can go further!"
"I'm a real boy on the inside, but not on the outside...I must rectify that..."
He sinisterly lifted a paintbrush with blue paint on the end as his eye slowly turned red and the lighting around him darkened.
"Immediately..."
The next day at School, Masami, Carmen, Molly, and Carrie were walking along the hallway, laughing.
"Gumball's such a dream boy..." Carmen sighed happily.
"Sensitive, funny, smart..." Masami happily thought aloud.
"And punctual!" Molly added.
"He's just perfect..." Carrie smiled.
They all sighed dreamily and walked away, as Gumball walked in.
Gumball placed his paws in his pockets and chuckled as he began to walk confidently.
"Hehehe, I'm not even trying..."
He tried to open his locker, but to his confusion, the combination wouldn't work.
"Huh? Why's my combination changed? Whatever, luckily I have this paper clip!"
He took a paperclip out of his pocket and opened it. It looked like he was going to pick the lock, but instead, he turned around and walked across the hallway, before poking his butt with the paperclip.
He screamed in pain and charged at the locker, opening it with a headbutt.
"Ow...works every time..." He rubbed his head in pain and got up to get his stuff.
"What the!? Where's all my stuff!?"
He thought for a moment then shrugged. "Oh well, I'll worry about that later. Guess that means I can't do any work in class, hehehe..."
He walked away towards the end of the corridor.
The bell rang as it was now lunchtime, and Gumball was sat at a table with his lunch.
He picked up his burger and licked his lips.
"Mmm, finally. I'm starving!"
He closed his eyes and went to bite into it, but instead bit into the air as he realised the burger was gone.
"Huh?!"
He saw Rocky standing next to him holding it. "Hey, what gives!"
"Sorry, dude, you know the rules, only one burger per student!"
"Okaaay...so...can I have mine?"
"Nice try, Gumball, but you were here 10 minutes ago."
He gave the burger to Carmen. "Here you go, sweetie, still warm."
"What? No, I wasn't!" He tried to protest but Rocky had already walked away.
He sighed and got up, heading towards the exit.
"This is getting weird... what is going on today?!"
He heard Penny laughing which snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Oh, Penny! Wait, she's talking with someone."
He hid behind a column and eavesdropped.
"Wow, I've never realized how sensitive, funny, smart, and punctual you are, Gumball!"
A student who was in the way walked away, revealing Bobert poorly disguised as Gumball, with cardboard ears and his front poorly painted blue, with a second eye and mouth painted onto his face.
"What the what?!"
"Come here!" She kissed 'Gumball' on the cheek and the real Gumball's mouth comically dropped open.
"Bye, Gumball!" She waved and walked away, leaving Bobert alone.
"(in Gumball's voice) I'll pick you up at 8, cupcake!"
He was about to leave, but Gumball zoomed over and stopped him, glaring at him furiously.
"(In his voice) What?"
"Cupcake?! CUPCAKE?! What the actual what do you think you're doing?! I said you could use my voice, not completely steal my life!"
"But that's the logical conclusion of this course of action: Observe, assimilate...(his eye turned red) Replace!"
"What the... okay, give me one good reason not to hit you right now...apart from the fact you're made of metal."
"Because...I am you!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I know everything about you: I know how you walk...(in Gumball's voice) How you talk...(in normal voice) How you behave. (Mix of both voices) I. Am. You! (normal voice) Only better."
"Grr, there's only room in this town for one Gumball, and that's me! Let's see how long you can fool people!"
"Challenge accepted!" He walked out of the cafeteria as Gumball stormed off in the other direction.
After school Gumball walked out and headed to the bus, only to see it had begun to drive away without him.
"Hey wait! Wait! Stop the bus!"
Bobert appeared and waved at him mockingly from the back window as it drove away.
He growled in frustration and began to walk home, but Principal Brown suddenly ran out and stopped him.
"And where on earth do you think you're going?!"
"Uhh...Home...?" He said like it was obvious.
"Not yet you aren't! Have you seriously forgotten you have a two-hour detention!?"
"Wait what?! What for?! I didn't do anything!"
Principal Brown crossed his arms and glared at him furiously. "You call vandalizing and completely destroying my office at lunchtime nothing??"
"Oh come on, that wasn't me! I would never do something like that! At least not intentionally..."
"Gumball, how stupid do you think I am!? The CCTV clearly shows you doing it, bright as day. You should be glad I'm not calling your parents or suspending you for what you did!"
"But-"
"No buts! Inside now, or I'll give you another week of detention on top of the two you already have!"
"Two weeks?!" He cried out.
"Surely you didn't think just one two-hour detention would be enough for the severity of the damage you caused?!"
"But...I..."
"Last chance. Inside, now!"
Gumball's ears lowered and he let out a whimper, sadly and slowly walked inside.
A while later he finally arrived home, and it was now dark out.
His fist was clenched and he was kicking a can about as he walked.
"Stupid electronic trashcan copying me! Who does he think he is?! I'M THE ORIGINAL!"
He held his stomach as it rumbled, having missed lunch.
"Oh, I'm so hungry..."
He suddenly stopped, ears pricked up as he began to sniff, smelling a very familiar and irresistible aroma coming from the window, a smile beginning to form on his face.
He gasped happily. "Mom made fish for dinner?! My favourite!"
He excitedly ran over and went to open the front door, but it was locked.
"Huh!?"
He ran around to the back door and tried it. Also locked.
"What's going on here?"
He ran around to the back living room window and peered inside.
"W-What the..." His ears lowered and he teared up slightly, his heart shattering as he saw Bobert still disguised as him, sitting with the whole family at the table having dinner, Nicole looking at his report card pleased and Anais looking at him with confusion.
"Uhh...what's going on here?" Anais asked.
"I can't believe this report card! What's happened to you, Gumball?" Nicole praised him, genuinely pleased.
"What!? That...that isn't Gumba-"
"You're like the same, but better!" Darwin said excitedly.
Anais raised her voice slightly. "But he isn't Gumball thou-"
"You're the best son a family could wish for!"
She raised her voice, even more, getting frustrated. "That's not Gum-"
"We love you, Gumball!" Everyone except Anais hugged 'Gumball', her instead facepalming frustratedly.
The real Gumball screamed and banged on the window. "NOOOOOOOOO! THAT'S NOT ME! THAT'S NOT MEEEEEE!"
Anais looked towards the window hearing something but Bobert quickly pulled down the blinds before she could see Gumball, drowning him out.
She crossed her arms and glared at him annoyed and watched the rest of the family happily fawn over him before sighing in frustration and getting up.
She went to go upstairs but paused as she looked at the family portrait on the wall next to the door.
She looked at Gumball and her ears lowered as she teared up and looked down, worried about Gumball, before she walked up.
Meanwhile, the real Gumball hopped down and slowly walked to the shed, sniffing as tears began to fall down his face, heartbroken that even his own family were so easily fooled by Bobert.
He lay on the ground shivering and crying softly. He then grasped his stomach as it growled again, before the sprinkler turned on, wetting him. At this, his crying turned to sobs.
A couple of hours later almost everyone had gone to bed, Bobert in Gumball's bed, plugged into the wall and charging up.
Anais however was still wide awake, staring out the window and hugging Daisy as her thoughts were filled with nothing but worry and concern for Gumball, as he still hadn't come home.
Her ears were pinned behind her head as she sniffed and began to tear up.
"Oh, where are you Gumball...?" She spoke in a quiet, broken voice, letting out a whimper as she began to cry softly.
"Please...please be okay..." She hugged Daisy tighter and sniffed as tears streamed down her face.
She continued looking out of the window as her concern continued to grow. She looked at the time on Gumball's alarm clock and saw how late it was. 10:45.
She looked at her bed, considering going to bed.
She sniffed. "No...I can't just sleep whilst he's who knows where all by himself."
After staring out the window a little while longer she sighed and wiped her eyes, despite more tears still threatening to fall at any point.
"I suppose I should try to at least get some sleep, so I have the energy to look for him tomorrow. Maybe a glass of warm milk will help..."
She quietly opened the door and tiptoed downstairs, making sure to be as quiet as possible.
As she reached the bottom she saw Nicole asleep on the sofa, much to her confusion, until she heard a loud snore coming from their bedroom.
"Oh, that makes sense..."
She entered the kitchen and made herself a glass of warm milk, using a dining room chair to teach the counter, and drank it, before cleaning the glass and putting it away.
Just as she was about to turn and go back upstairs she glimpsed through the window a blue figure in the garden shivering by the shed and gasped.
"Gumball?!"
She hurriedly unlocked the door and ran over and, sure enough, Gumball was curled up on the ground shivering, still awake and sniffing, unable to sleep.
"Oh my god, Gumball!"
He sat up, hearing her. "Huh? A-Anais?!"
She hugged him tightly, beginning to cry softly. "I was s-s-so w-worried! I thought you were h-hurt or l-lost o-o-or worse! I'd thought I'd never see you again!"
He stood up and hugged her back, beginning to reassure her. "Hey, it's alright, I'm okay, there's nothing to cry about."
He smiled. "Thanks for worrying about me though, nice to know you're looking out for me!"
Anais sniffed and smiled back weakly as he rubbed her head, chuckling lightly. "Someone had to..."
She let go and wiped her eyes, sniffing again.
"How come you're out here?! Why is there some robot pretending to be you?!"
Gumball sniffed and teared up slightly. "That's our friend, Bobert. He wanted to be a real boy so I let him use my voice, but now he's gone insane and completely taken over my life! I just wanted to help out my friend and cheer him up, and what does he do in return?!"
He clenched his fist and began yelling. "He gets me two weeks' worth of two-hour detentions and locked outside of my own house, forcing me to sleep in the garden cold and hungry because he also made me miss lunch and dinner!"
He kicked a football they'd left outside as hard as he could in frustration, and it bounced off of the fence, then the shed and then finally hit him in the head knocking him to the ground.
"Ow..."
Anais gasped. "You haven't had lunch or dinner?!" Her ears and face fell. "You must be starving..."
He got back up and nodded slowly as he held back tears, his stomach growling furiously.
She suddenly gasped and her ears pricked up as she remembered something.
She smiled. "Oh, hang on! I have just the thing!"
She ran inside, much to Gumball's confusion.
A couple of minutes later she came back holding a plate with a large fish and some chips that she'd warmed up in the microwave, and a can of soda.
"Here you go!" She smiled excitedly, knowing this was his favourite.
He gasped happily and began to grin. "Wait, there's still dinner left over?!
She chuckled. "No, Bobert couldn't eat his, cause y'know, robot, so I made sure to save it and hide it in the microwave when Dad wasn't there as I thought you'd be really hungry when you came home and I know it's your favourite."
Gumball eagerly eyed the fish and licked his lips as his stomach growled hungrily for the delicacy in front of him. "Ohh, thank you so much! Yet again you prove that I can always count on you!"
She beamed proudly as he began to hungrily eat the fish.
She sits down next to him and chuckled. "Wow, you really were hungry..."
He looked up with half of the fish flopping out of his mouth. "Mhm!"
She burst out laughing at the humourous sight, and he smiled before continuing to eat.
"Mmmmm, this is so good! Mom always cooks the best fish..."
Anais regained her composure and sighs happily. "She really does..."
A little while later he finished eating with a burp and held his stomach content. "Oh, that's so much better! Thank you so much, sis, I really owe you one!"
She chuckled. "I'll add that to the pile of the dozen other favours you owe me!"
"Hey, I'll re-pay them...eventually..."
The wind blew and the two of them shivered.
"God it's cold out here...thank god I can go back inside now..." He went to get up.
Anais' ears fell and she looked down. "Actually... I'm really sorry, but you're gonna have to stay out here..."
He stopped. "What? Why?"
"Because Bobert's in your bed and Mom's on the sofa because Dad is snoring. So, unless you wanna sleep with Dad..."
"Oh God no, I think I'd rather freeze to death out here!"
They both laughed.
Gumball sighed and sat back down. "It's alright...I can bare the cold for a few hours. At least I'm not hungry anymore..."
"You...you sure...?"
"Yeah, I'll be...I'll be fine..." His ears lowered and he sniffed, indicating otherwise, which Anais took note of.
"Anyway, you sound tired, you should go back to bed." He quickly tried to change the subject.
Anais' face fell as she teared up. "But...I can't just leave you out here by yourself! It's freezing and you'll be all alone!"
"It's fine, really. You've already done enough."
"I..." She sighed as her ears fell. "Alright.."
She spoke quietly her voice full of concern. "You promise you'll be okay though...?"
"I promise." He squeezed her paw.
Anais hesitated. "Okay..." She hugged him tightly which he reciprocated before she sighed and got up. "Alright then, goodnight...I guess..."
"Night sis..." He said sounding genuinely upset she was leaving.
He laid back down on the grass shivering.
Anais slowly headed to the door, then looked back at him shivering and sniffing, thinking to herself, before going back inside.
A few minutes later Gumball was confused when he suddenly felt something warm cover him.
He sat back up and saw Anais had come back out with her pillow, quilt and Daisy, and had put half of her quilt over him, and was making sure it was properly covering him.
"Huh? Sis...? Wh-What are you doing?" He asked confused.
She smiled. "Keeping you company."
He smiled weakly and teared up.
"Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh, y-yeah, I just...sniff...I just..."
He began to think about everything that had happened to him today, how bad of a day he'd had. Bobert had completely taken over his life and stolen everyone he loved from him, except Anais. He had been so cold, hungry, lonely and upset outside. So scared and confused.
"Gumball...?"
She placed her paw on his shoulder, looking at him concerned as tears began to fall down his face.
He suddenly burst out in tears as all the pent-up pain and sorrow he'd been building up all day finally exploded and flooded him.
Anais' ears and face quickly fell and she hesitated, unsure what to do, before silently hugging him, tightly and lovingly.
He sniffed and looked up, feeling her hugging him and began to smile weakly as he hugged her back, continuing to sob.
They remained like that for a few minutes, Anais slowly raising her pas and beginning to stroke his back softly. After he began to calm down he slowly sniffed again and closed his eyes, enjoying warmth and love from her embrace, and the feel of her paw softly running through his fur. His smile began to grow and he began to purr deeply, feeling genuinely happy and content.
Usually, he'd be too embarrassed to purr in front of her, but not did he feel genuinely happy and content right now, but he'd needed her hug really badly, and her going out of her way for him, keeping him company and cheering him up, really meant a lot to him, and he wanted her to know how happy she had made him, how much he appreciated her.
Plus, he knew how much she liked it whenever he did, always getting really excited and letting out that adorable squeal of delight he always loved to hear from her, so it was the least he could do.
Anais heard him purring and gasped happily before slowly grinning and, sure enough, letting out a squeal of delight as she got really excited. "You're purring!"
He smiled and chuckled, happy to have made her happy too as they continued to hug for a little while longer, before Gumball eventually let go.
Gumball smiled and continued purring as he wiped his eyes. "Thanks so much sis...you have no idea how much I needed that. I had such a bad day today...I felt so cold, hungry, miserable, alone...and so scared out here. I had no idea what I was going to do...then you found me, and you've gone out of your way to look after me, saving food for me, comforting me...even coming to sleep outside with me just to keep me company and cheer me up and it...it means so, so much to me. Thank you so much, really, I mean it."
Anais teared up a little, feeling touched. "You're very, very welcome." She hugged him again lovingly, and he hugged her back.
They let go, smiling and looking at the stars, beginning to stargaze, thinking to themselves before Gumball spoke up again.
"So, how come you didn't fall for Bobert's disguise?"
"It's just some paint and cardboard ears, it was obvious!"
Gumball chuckled. "You'd think that but look at where we are..."
Anais' face suddenly fell as she looked insulted. "Why do you ask? Do you think I'm an idiot!? Did you think I was stupid enough to fall for it!?"
Gumball's face fell too. "Wait what!? No, no, of course not!"
"I didn't have to do all this for you, you know! If you're just gonna be ungrateful and start insulting me then I'll just go back inside and leave you out here by yourself!" She raised her voice before starting to get up.
"No, no, no, no, no, please don't! I don't wanna be out here by myself again!"
She stopped and looked at him angrily before breaking and starting to giggle. She tried to stop but covered her mouth as she broke into an even bigger fit of giggles. "Hahahahahahaha, it's okay, it's okay, I'm only messing with you! You should have seen your face!"
He gave her a mock look of annoyance which made her laugh even harder.
He chuckled as she sat back down on top of the quilt.
She continued to giggle, unable to stop.
"What are you still laughing at?" He grinned.
"I...I have the giggles! Hahahahaha!"
"Hmm..." He grinned. "I'll soon fix that!'
He suddenly started tickling her, causing her to fall backwards onto the ground and squirm as she burst into an even bigger fit of giggles.
"AHH, NO, NO! S-STOP, STOP IT!AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"IT TICKLES, IT TICKLES, AHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP, PLEASE! I CAN'T BREATHE, I CAN'T BREATHE, AHAHAHAHA!"
He finally stopped and let her catch her breath.
"Hah...whew...gah...I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard!"
"You're welcome." He smiled.
She climbed back under the quilt starting to feel cold.
Anais smirked at him. "So...'I don't wanna be out here by myself', huh? Nice to know you really do enjoy my company..."
Gumball grinned. "Nah, I can't stand you! I despise you, absolutely hate your guts! I'm just putting up with you so you don't take the quilt!"
She rolled her eyes and giggled, playfully nudging him. "I love you too you big dumbo!"
They both chuckled before being interrupted by Gumball's stomach rumbling again lightly.
"Still peckish, huh?"
Gumball blushed. "Yeah, I could go for a snack..."
Anais thought for a moment before she picked up and unzipped Daisy to reveal about 9-10 chocolate bars inside her and handed two to Gumball, and took out another two for herself, zipping her shut again, before winking at him.
"Don't tell the others..."
"You have a secret stash of chocolate inside Daisy?! I guess that explains why she always felt so weirdly heavy...why didn't you tell me or Darwin about it?"
She chuckled. "Because you'd just eat them all immediately!"
He lifted his paw to retaliate but then just shrugged. "Fair enough..."
She giggled. "Just don't go helping yourself!"
"Hmm...no promises!"
She grinned and chuckled, rolling her eyes and shaking her head as she put Daisy down again.
They proceeded to sit and munch on their chocolate bars, chatting about whatever came to mind long into the late hours of the night, before they finally began to feel tired and lay down.
She hugged Daisy and snuggled up to Gumball for warmth, who then wrapped his arm around her protectively and began to purr again.
"Love you, sis..."
"Love you too Gumball...and hey...yawn...we'll...we'll stop that life-stealing phoney, don't you worry. We're in this together...til the...til the end...yawn"
Gumball sniffed and smiled weakly. "Thanks, sis..."
He heard a light snore and noticed she'd fallen asleep and his smile grew as he chuckled. "You're only 4...staying up this latest must've really worn you out, huh?"
He thought about everything she'd done for him tonight, and smiled, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead.
He rested his head partially on top of hers and continued to purr even louder as he fell asleep.
The next day Darwin and 'Gumball' were playing outside.
"OK, it's time to play..."
"DODGE OR DARE!" The duo cheerfully shouted, Bobert still using Gumball's voice.
"Roll the dice, pick a-"
Gumball suddenly jumped onto Bobert.
"NO! Gimme back my life, you shape-shifting garbage can! I'm the real Gumball! "
Bobert kicked him off. "There's only one Gu-"
Bobert jumped on him. "OW!"
"Gumball, calm down! We already have a plan, remember?!" Anais called as she came outside.
"Sorry, pent-up anger..."
Both of them got up, Gumball dusting himself off.
"Huh??" Darwin looked between the two confused, rubbing his eyes to check what he was seeing was real. "Two Gumballs?! Am I dreaming!?"
"No, this..." He ripped off Bobert's fake ears. "...is Bobert!"
"No way! His disguise was so convincing!"
Anais facepalmed in annoyance before turning to Bobert. "You stole my brother's life, what is wrong with you?!"
"He said I could."
"NO, I SAID YOU COULD USE MY VOICE!"
Bobert just shrugged. "(In Gumball's voice] "Close enough."
"GRR!" Gumball tried to jump on him again but Anais held him back and continued to do so as she spoke, Gumball clawing at him.
"If you wanna be Gumball so badly, then how about a challenge? If you win, you get to stay as Gumball. If not, you back to being yourself as Gumball get his life back."
"'My audio receptors are focused."
"I propose a quiz. The first person to answer five questions correctly wins."
"I am a computer. I can answer any question correctly."
Anais smirked. "Oh really? You won't mind accepting the challenge then?"
"Naturally. ([In Gumball's voice) Prepare to lose to the superior Gumball!"
"Stop using my voice!"
A while later they had set up a quiz show ''set' outside. Gumball and Bobert were both stood bins, which they were using as podiums. Gumball had a squeaky dog toy to use as a buzzer, whilst Bobert planned to just play an actual buzzer sound.
Anais was standing opposite them wearing a silver glittery jacket that was too big for her, going all the way down to her feet, and holding cards with the questions on as she stood on an upside-down box to reach the whiteboard next to her, which they were using as the scoreboard, with a drawing of their faces with a line between the two.
The audience, sitting off to the side, consisted of Darwin with a large foam hand sitting amongst Daisy, Mrs. Biggerlock, Mrs. Pumpernickel and all of Anais' other dolls.
"Woo, you got this!" Darwin cheered.
"You guys ready? Anais asked.
"Of course." Bobert replied.
"Yep!" Gumballed smiled.
"Then let's begin!"
The lighting suddenly became dark and dramatic, and spotlights appeared over Gumball, Bobert and Anais, as suspenseful quiz show music began to play.
(If you can play the suspenseful Who Wants to Be A Millionaire music, please do so now)
Anais cleared her throat. "Question 1, What is Darwin's full name?"
(Whenever Darwin is shown the dramatic lighting disappears and the music becomes a lot quieter)
"Ooh, I know this one!" Darwin held up his arm.
"No kidding. What about you two?"
Bobert buzzed in. "Easy. Darwin Watterson, of course."
Gumball made an incorrect buzzer noise. "Nope."
"Hey, that's my job!"
"Sorry..."
"But yes, that is incorrect. Gumball?"
He squeaked his toy and proudly announced his answer. "Darwin Raglan Caspian Ahab Poseidon Nicodemus Watterson the Third!"
"Correct! One point to Gumball!" She drew a point on the board under his face.
"Yeah, go Gumball!" Darwin cheered.
"Wait, what?!" Bobert asked confused.
Gumball smirked. "Not so confident now, are you?"
"That...was just a small malfunction! My database was missing that information!"
"We'll see about that..."
"Question 2, What is my favourite show?"
"Ooh, ooh, I know!" Darwin raised his hand and shook it in the air, eager to answer.
Anais smiled and rolled her eyes. "I know you do Darwin, but you aren't a participant."
Bobert remained silent, unsure of the answer, before noticing Daisy the Donkey sitting to Darwin.
Bobert buzzed in quickly before Gumball could.
"Daisy the Donkey!"
"Correct! Point to Bobert!" She drew a point under his face.
"Question 3, When is Mom's Birthday?"
"Ooh, ooh, I know, I know!" Darwin once again called it.
"Yeah, we get it, you know all of these questions." Anais replied.
"What? How am I supposed to know tha-" Bobert began before Gumball squeaked in.
"October 12th!"
"Yup! Another point to Gumball!" She added it to the scoreboard.
Darwin teared up proudly and whispered to Daisy. "That's my bro out there...sniff... he's making me so proud!"
"Question 4, What is Gumball's favourite food?"
Bobert buzzed in immediately. "Fish!"
"Another point to Bobert!" She drew it on.
"What the-how'd you know that?" Gumball asked.
"Your mother served it last night for dinner and informed me it was 'my' favourite. Also, you are a cat, it is pretty obvious."
Gumball went to complain but sighed and turns back around.
"Question 5, Who is my best friend?"
"But you don't ha-" Darwin began.
"SHHH!" Anais quickly stopped him.
"OH, right, sorry..."
Bobert buzzed in but couldn't think of an answer.
"Sorry, you're out of time. Gumball?"
He squeaked in. "Trick question, you don't have any friends!"
Anais' ears lowered slightly as she sighed.
"Unfortunately, that is correct...yet another point to Gumball! 3-2 to him!" She drew it on.
"Question 6, When is Mom and Dad's Anniversary?"
"I know, I know!" Darwin called out.
"Don't start doing that again..."
"Sorry..."
"There is no way I could know that informa-" Bobert once again tried to complain but got interrupted by Gumball squeaking in.
"November 1st!"
"and another point to Gumball! 1 more and he wins!"
"I calculate the chances of me winning are astronomically low."
"Does that mean you're forfeiting?"
"Negative!"
"Question 7, who does Gumball have a crush on?
Bobert buzzed in immediately. "Penny Fitzgerald!"
"Correct! Point to Bobert! 4-3!"
"What?! N-No! No, I don't!"
"Yeah, you do!" Darwin called out from offscreen.
Gumball blushed. "No, she's just really nice a-and friendly and pret-I mean, uh...I just don't okay!"
"Come on, we all know you do, it's painfully obvious, even to her." Anais smirked.
Gumball blushed harder and crossed his arms, looking down embarrassed, making Anais giggle before clearing her throat and regaining her composure.
"Question 8, What is the name of the board game Gumball and Darwin made?"
Bobert buzzed in before Gumball could. "Dodge or Dare!"
"Correct, 4-4!"
"Oh, come on, he was just about to play that, why'd you pick that question?!" Gumball complained.
"Sorry, that's just the order the cards were in." She shrugged.
Gumball grumbled.
"This final question is the decider. Whoever gets it, wins!"
She cleared her throat. "Final Question, who do we love more than anything in the world? Someone who is funny, loving, caring, and pretty annoying sometimes, but still completely irreplaceable."
Bobert buzzed in and spoke in Gumball's voice. "Me of course!"
"Nope, you aren't him, and you never will be, no matter how hard you try."
Bobert returned to his normal voice. "But I look and sound just like him. Is that not enough?"
"You may look and sound like him, but there's one key thing you can never copy. His heart. He loves us all so much, and he's proven that time and time again. He would do anything to protect us, anything to cheer us up and make sure we were okay, and no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you can never replicate or copy that kind of love. It's one of a kind."
Gumball teared up and sniffed, feeling touched. "Awwww..."
Anais whispered to him. "Psst, you still need to answer!"
"Oh right!" He squeaked in. "Me!"
"Correct! Point to Gumball which means, he wins!"
Victory Music (Who Wants to be a Millionaire 1 Mil win music) played as Gumball cheered.
"YEAH!'
Darwin started jumping up and down and overenthusiastically cheering. "YEAAHHH! WOOOO, YEAHHH!"
He ran over and he and Gumball started dancing and taunting Bobert.
"Yeah, in your face! You may sound and look somewhat like me but something else you'll never have is my mind! You'll never know everything that I do, as because of that, you'll never really be me!"
Anais hopped down, throwing the cards away and ran over, and she and Darwin hugged him lovingly as they all laughed happily.
"I told you it'd work!"
"Thanks so much, sis!" He hugged her back. "You're the best sister ever!"
She giggled and beamed with pride and happiness. "and you're the best brother ever! I'm really glad we have the real you back!"
"Me too, we showed that phoney who's boss! Cut it a little close though..."
"Doesn't matter, you won dude!" Darwin smiled.
They all laughed and continued to hug.
Bobert sighed, his monitor changing to a sad expression.
He slowly walked away, arms low, as they continued to laugh together.
Gumball heard him walking away and turned to see him walking.
"Where's he going?"
The other two looked up to see what he was talking about.
They watched as some drops of oil leaked through his monitor, slid down his face and fell onto the floor as he walked around the corner.
"Is he...is he crying!?" Anais asked.
"I think he is..." Darwin replied.
They all began to feel guilty, Gumball's ears lowering as he looked down.
"Oh no..." Gumball said quietly, feeling genuinely bad.
"We didn't mean to upset him, we just wanted him to stop being you..." Anais looked down.
Gumball sighed. "It's okay, I'll go and talk to him..."
The other two nodded and Gumball left to join Bobert.
Bobert sat on their doorstep, head in hands.
He sighed. "They're right. I'll never be Gumball. I'll never be real."
He activated windshield wipers and wiped the paint off of himself.
He thought about what he did to Gumball, thought about how upset and hurt he must have felt, and realised how bad a friend he had been.
"What was I thinking, trying to steal his life? I was so blind in my pursuit of popularity that I did not consider how much I was hurting my friend. How could I have allowed such a severe malfunction to occur?"
A loading bar appeared and filled up on his monitor before a folder with a sad face appeared on his screen.
"New program downloaded, file name: GUILT.exe. Executing..."
He ran it and his head slowly lowered as some more drops of oil fell out.
"Bobert...?"
Bobert looked over. "Why are you here? Have you come to gloat at me even more?"
Gumball sat down next to him. "I'm uh...sorry about that, I just got a bit carried away...I didn't mean to upset you..."
"It does not matter, it is not relevant. Your assessment was correct, I will never be real.."
He looked down again. "I apologise for what I did to you. I finally became popular and I felt a surge of what I believe you call 'happiness', but the power of it got to my processors and I got carried away and took things too far.
He looked up at him with a sad expression on his monitor. "There is no acceptable excuse for my malfunction, I can only severely apologise for it and beg for your forgiveness. It, however, would be a logical and completely reasonable response for you to terminate our friendship and cease all contact with me."
"I would understand and accept if you did, but I hope that you do not as this outcome would be extremely...undesirable to me..." He slowly looked back down again.
Gumball's ears lowered as he watched Bobert begin to 'cry' again, realising he felt genuinely guilty and upset for what he did.
He thought for a moment before placing his paw on Bobert's shoulder, making him look up confused.
He spoke softly as he gave a reassuring smile. "Hey, I'm not gonna do that, I know you didn't mean it."
Bobert tilted his head confused. "You do not wish to terminate our friendship?"
"No, of course not. What you did may have been wrong, but I know you never meant to hurt or upset me. You were just happy and got caught up in the excitement and didn't realise what you were doing. You made a mistake, and everyone deserves a chance to right their wrongs."
Bobert's monitor changed to a neutral expression as he tilted his head back. "Thank you. I only hope I can one day change to become as good a friend as you are..."
"It's okay. You don't need to change yourself, you're already a great friend."
"Our classmates disagree..." He looked away.
Gumball turned Bobert's head back to face him.
"It doesn't matter what they think about you, you're our amazing, smart, super cool, high-tech robot friend, and we love you just the way you are. Besides, they're all probably just jealous that they aren't as smart and cool as you. I mean, who else can access all the knowledge known to man in an instant and turn into an awesome giant rampaging death machine?!"
He winked and punched Bobert's arm playfully before inhaling as he held his paw and let out a whimper of pain.
"Do you mean that?"
Gumball nodded as tears formed in his eyes from the pain, and he spoke really high pitched, as he could barely talk due to the pain."Mhm!"
Bobert printed something out, showing it to Gumball.
Gumball let go of his paw as the pain finally subsided and looked at the paper confused. "What's that?"
Bobert tilted his head as his monitor turned to a happy expression. "The algorithm for a heart."
Gumball smiled, feeling touched. "Awwww..."
"So, you forgive me?"
Gumball chuckled. "Depends. Do you promise to never impersonate me again?"
Bobert hesitated then began to speak in Gumball's voice again.
"I dunno, it's pretty fun being a big dumb loser like you!"
Gumball crossed his arms and looks at him annoyed.
"...especially with my big dumb head! It's so big it makes Hector look like an ant!"
Gumball realised what he was doing and began to smile weakly.
"and my brain is so small and stupid I make Jamie look like Einstein!"
Gumball's smile grew and he began to snicker.
"Not to mention how talentless I am! Even Molly's stories are more remarkable than me!"
Gumball's smile turned into a grin and he giggled,
"Oh, and don't get me started on my love life...it's deader than Carrie!"
Gumball covered his mouth, shaking with laughter.
"and my voice is even more annoying than my sister, and boy that's really saying something!"
Gumball burst out in tears of laughter, unable to hold it back anymore.
Bobert also began to laugh genuinely in his own voice. "Hahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahaha!"
They continued to laugh for 5-10 seconds before Gumball regained his composure and wiped his eyes before smiling. "Awwww, of course I forgive you! Come here buddy!"
He hugged Bobert happily, and Bobert hugged him back. Gumball after a couple of seconds stopped hugging him but Bobert continued to hug him in silence as he grew uncomfortable.
"This is even longer than last time..."
The End.