The next day, at school…

"Ah, hello, boys. Where's your sister?" Mrs. Walters greeted Gumball and Darwin as they walked into her classroom.

"Good morning, Mrs. Walters!" they said politely.

"Anais had to go to her locker first." Gumball explained.

"Oh, well, it's you two I wanted to see, anyway. These are your new schedules. I look forward to seeing you in class!" she said, handing them their schedules and returning to her desk.

The boys pored over their schedules.

Period 1: World History; Instructor: Francine Walters
Period 2: Chemistry; Instructor: Lucy Simian
Period 3: Algebra; Instructor: Steve Small
Period 4: Intro to Philosophy; Instructor: Francine Walters
Period 5: Physical Education; Instructor: Nicole Watterson
Period 6: Graphic Design; Instructor: Lucy Simian
Period 7: Free Study; Instructor: Francine Walters
Homeroom: 8th Grade; Instructor: Francine Walters

"Umm, Mrs. Walters? These aren't the classes we picked…"

"No, no they aren't. You picked free study for every period."

"Well yeah, I study best when I don't have anything to study for!"

"Think about what you just said…"

"…aw, man."

Gumball grumpily walked over to his seat.

Penny and Carrie walked in next. Penny eyed Gumball, then looked at Carrie expectantly.

"After school." she whispered.

Penny sighed and sat down.

As the bell rang, the last few students hurried in through the door. Mrs. Walters waited until everyone had arrived before making the daily announcements.

"Good morning, everyone. I-" she started.

"Good morning, Mrs. Walters!" the kids said in unison.

Mrs. Walters chuckled. "Thank you. Now, as I was saying, I'm sure you're all aware of the annual quiz bowl for eighth graders?"

Gumball grinned. He looked at his classmates, particularly Bobert, Anais, and Carmen. His homeroom had the smartest kids in school – there was no way they'd lose!

"Well, it will be held at lunchtime at the cafeteria. Be sure to attend!"

Gumball raised his hand. "What's the prize gonna be this year?" he asked.

"It's a surprise, is all the paper says. How exciting!"

How exciting indeed, Gumball thought. He couldn't wait to win.

Darwin raised his hand next. "I can't remember, how does the competition go?"

"Well, teams are comprised of your classmates in homeroom. We're splitting the competition into three categories: Science and Math, Literature and History, and Health and Sports. We have fifteen students in this class, so there will be five people in each team, assuming everyone shows up. And…that's the gist of it. The most important rule, though, is to have fun!" she explained. "Any other questions?"

Silence.

"Well, there's still five minutes left of homeroom, so just hang out until the bell rings, okay?" she said, returning to her desk.

"Hey, sis!" Gumball called. "You ready for the quiz bowl?"

"Oh, I'm not gonna participate."

"What?! Why not?"

"I can't go out in front of all those people! I'd lose my mind!"

"But…but!"

"What's it matter to you, anyway?"

"We need to win! Aren't you curious about what the prize is gonna be?"

"Not really."

Gumball didn't know what to say. It didn't matter – the bell rang before he could think of something.

"Oh well, see ya, bro!" she said, running off to her next class.

Gumball was still speechless.

"Can you believe her!?" he screamed at Darwin.

"What? It's just a game."

"Uh, no. It's a game with prizes!"

Darwin thought for a second. His eyes suddenly widened. "I want a prize…" he said hungrily.

"Then you know what we must do…"

"Hello, class, and welcome back to World History. Today, we have two new students joining us. Gumball, Darwin, if you would be so kind as to introduce yourselves…" Mrs. Walters stepped aside to let the two boys walk up. They didn't. "Um, boys?"

The two of them were whispering to each other.

"So we're gonna do this…and this…and especially this, and by then, she'll have no choice but to participate!"

"Dude, you're not making any sense. What is 'this, and this, and especially this'?"

"Okay, so I don't have a plan yet. But I don't see you coming up with anything!"

"Gumball? Darwin?"

"Ah! Uh, yeah?"

"Would you like to introduce yourselves to the rest of the class?"

"Sure. Hey guys, I'm Gumball, and this is Darwin." He sat back down and resumed plotting with his fishy friend.

Mrs. Walters shrugged and went on with her lecture.

It took all four morning periods, but Gumball and Darwin finally came up with a way to trick Anais into entering the competition. Fortunately, the period they had before lunch was Intro to Philosophy, which Anais was in.

"Thus, Descartes concludes with his famous line, 'I think, therefore, I am', asserting that in order for his senses to deceive him, or for him to be dreaming, or even for a demon to manipulate him, he must first exist to be a target for such deception." Mrs. Walters finished her lecture as the bell rang. "Remember to read his next meditations for tomorrow!"

Gumball and Darwin caught Anais at the door.

"Hey, sis! Mind coming with us for a sec?"

"Why?"

"We've got a uh…a surprise for you!"

"I'm not entering the quiz bowl."

"Yeah, yeah, we know. Just come on!"

Anais sighed. "Fine."

They lead her to the cafeteria, blindfolded.

"Are we there yet?"

"Almost…and…now!" He tore off the blindfold.

Anais's eyes glittered. "A pony! Wait...do I have to enter the quiz bowl to win it? Because if that's what this is about, then…"

"What? No! The pony's yours. Don't worry about it!" Gumball said, laughing off the accusation.

"Well…okay!" she said, jumping on the pony.

"Oh, here, you have to sign this form. It's, uh…the ownership document!"

"Okay!" before she read the title of the form, she signed it. When she realized what she had done… "Wait…quiz bowl sign ups?!"

"Yup! You're officially on the team!"

The pony melted away to reveal Clayton. "Uh…they paid me to do it!" He scurried away again.

"Gumball!" Anais yelled, a look of pure rage on her face. She really did take after their mother.

"Uh…calm down, sis! It won't be that bad…"

Suddenly, Mrs. Walters turned the corner. "I heard screaming, is everything all right?" she asked. "Oh, hello, kids. Have you signed up for the quiz bowl, yet?"

"Yup! All three of us!" Gumball replied.

"They tricked me! They tricked me into signing it!"

"Tricked you? Why don't you want to participate?"

"Because…there's too many people watching…"

"I can take your name off, but think hard about this, Anais. This would be a great experience for you, speaking in public."

Anais wasted no time responding. "No! Take my name off!"

"Wait, sis! This'll be fun! You love quiz shows! You watch 'Who Dares to be a Millionaire' every night!"

"Your brother's got a point, Anais. Fun is fun."

"Answering questions behind the safety of a TV screen is way different than being watched by millions!"

"Well, all right then. You don't have to if you don't want to." Mrs. Walters said as she raised her eraser.

"Wait! Come on, sis! I'll be right next to you the entire time! Come on…do it for your big bro?"

"And for yourself." Mrs. Walters added.

"And for the rest of the class!" Darwin added on top of that.

They looked at Anais, smiling encouragingly and supportively.

"…fine."

"YES!" Gumball and Darwin slapped hands. Mrs. Walters smiled and walked away.

"You guys will go up first, for the Math and Science portion. It begins in five minutes."

"Woohoo! C'mon, sis! Let's show 'em what the Wattersons are made of!"

They made their way up to the stage and took their seats between Molly and Banana Joe.

Nearby…

Bobert was putting the finishing touches on his plan for revenge. He looked over his plan one more time…he nodded, satisfied.

After all, he thought to himself. This plan was made by me, so of course it'd be perfect.

He let out a robotic laugh as he inserted the voice clips into the speakers…

"Hey, everyone! Welcome to the 52nd annual Elmore Junior High Quiz Bowl! I'm Rocky Robinson, and I'll be your host!"

Applause.

"I've been hosting this show for the past twelve years, and let me tell you, these kids are getting smarter and smarter! I probably couldn't answer half of these questions!"

A few chuckles from the crowd.

"Anyway, without further ado, let's begin the Math and Science round! Teams, please take your places!"

Gumball, Darwin, Anais, Molly, and Banana Joe took their spots.

"I say, good luck out there, fellow pursuiters of trivial knowledge!" one of the eggheads – Frank? – called out.

"Thanks! You too!" Darwin called back.

"Hmph. They don't stand a chance." Gumball said to himself, glancing at Anais.

"First question: " Miss Simian announced. "This psychologist became famous for inventing the 'operant conditioning chamber', which has since been nicknamed after him."

Anais's buzzer sounded.

"B. F. Skinner!" she answered confidently. But…

"Daisy the Donkey!" was what was heard on the speakers around the room.

The crowd erupted into a mixture of laughter and "aww, how cute!".

Miss Simian was not amused. "No, 'Daisy the Donkey' is incorrect." she said with as much contempt as she could fit in.

"What?" Anais said quietly.

Frank's buzzer sounded.

"B. F. Skinner!" he answered.

"Correct! One point for my homeroom." she said as the display incremented the score. "My homeroom's winning, losers!" she called out to the Wattersons.

Anais looked more determined than ever to win.

"Next question: add the following hexadecimal numbers together: 2F+13." she asked.

Anais sounded her buzzer off again.

She thought for a moment.

(2 * 16) + (13 * 1) + (1 * 16) + (3 * 1)…that's 64!

"64!" she answered. But again, the speakers said something different.

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G!" the speakers said, copying her voice.

More laughter from the crowd. "What's a four year old doing in a middle school quiz bowl?" Anais heard someone ask. The question pierced her heart like a spear. Tears started forming in her eyes.

Gumball leaned over to her. "Sis, you okay? Those answers…were sort of off…"

She looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"Oh…um, don't worry about it!" he said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Just take a deep breath…come on, breathe with me. Inhale…and exhale…Inhale…and exhale…"

Anais did as she was told. Thankfully, the tears stopped dead in their tracks. To cry in front of all those people would have been horrible.

"Thanks, bro."

"So everything all right? You're not yourself right now…is it the pressure?"

"No! I'm not sure how or why, but someone or something is twisting up my answers. Like, the answer to that last question was 64…"

Gumball suddenly noticed that no one had answered the question yet. He sounded off his buzzer.

"64!" he answered.

"C-correct!" Miss Simian said, surprised, as the counter for Mrs. Walters' homeroom incremented.

"Woohoo! Way to go, Anais!" Gumball said, high fiving her.

"Look, I'll tell you the answers, you just hit your buzzer and repeat what I say, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Find the limit as x approaches infinity of (1-x^2)/(lnx)."

"0." Anais whispered to Gumball. Gumball sounded his buzzer and repeated this.

"Correct!"

"How many distinct ways can you get two pairs in poker (without a full house)?"

"247,104 ways."

"247,104 ways!" Gumball answered as he pressed his buzzer.

"Correct!"

Anais continued to tell Gumball the answers to each question for the rest of the round. Unfortunately, because of the delay, the Eggheads scored most of the easier questions.

In the end, the score stood 14-10, in favor of Miss Simian's class.

"Loooooosers!" she called out to Gumball, Darwin, and Anais as they walked off the stage.

"What happened back there, sis? Why couldn't you use your buzzer?"

"I…don't know…the voice that came out of the speaker wasn't me…"

"So…looks like you're not so smart after all." Bobert said, sneeringly.

Anais's expression turned dour. She didn't even dignify him with a response.

Gumball, however, had a flash of intelligence.

Maybe it was because it had happened to him before, or maybe it was because it was his sister he was messing with, but Gumball put two and two together.

He pressed the "play" button on Bobert's recorder.

"Daisy the Donkey!" was the sound that played.

Anais looked for the source of the sound, then realized what had happened. "Bobert! I should've known…"

"Yes, it was me. But it's too late – everyone knows you're a baby now."

"Why do you hate me…?"

"Because you humiliated me in math class yesterday."

"I didn't mean to! I was just answering the question!"

"I'm the genius of Elmore Junior High. No one is allowed to be smarter than me."

Bobert laughed the laugh of a maniacal robot as he walked away. Anais just watched.

"Yikes. Someone's got issues." Gumball stated flatly. "You all right, sis?"

"Oh yeah. I'm gonna be fine." she replied, but she looked mischievous, as though she had just done something she shouldn't have.

The next round was Health and Sports, hosted by principal Brown. Unfortunately, Carmen didn't bring in the points like Gumball expected her to. She was too busy flirting with Alan…

"Your lips are sweeter than chocolate ice cream, Alan…"

"Your smile is brighter than a thousand suns, Carmen…"

Meanwhile, Teri, who was on the other team, was answering questions like mad.

"What is the colloquial name for the disease known as nasopharyngitis?"

Teri's buzzer sounded. "The common cold!"

"Correct! What sport is played on horseback with mallets and a small ball?"

Teri's buzzer sounded again. "Polo!"

"Correct!"

"Gah! What is she doing?!" Gumball said, referring to Carmen. He threw a rock at Alan to pop him. "There, now there's no distractions."

"ALAN!"

Unfortunately, she spent the rest of the round crying instead of answering questions.

In the end, the score stood 20-4, again in favor of Miss Simian's class. The total score was 34-14; in order for Mrs. Walters's homeroom to even tie with Miss Simian's, they had to answer 22 of the 24 questions in Literature and History. Fortunately, Bobert was on the team.

"Go get'em, Bobert!" Gumball whispered encouragingly, seemingly forgetting what he had just done to his sister.

Anais just smiled impishly. "Don't blow a fuse."

Bobert ignored her and took his place on the stage.

Mrs. Walters, being the main literature teacher, hosted this round.

"Let's begin, shall we? First question: what does the 'A' in The Scarlet Letter stand for?"

Bobert's buzzer sounded. He was about to answer, but something overcame him.

"01000100 01100001 01101001 01110011 01111001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01000100 01101111 01101110 01101011 01100101 01111001 00100001" he stuttered. When he finished, he looked confused.

"Ehm…no, I'm sorry, that's not correct."

Beans, the other Egghead, sounded his buzzer next.

"Adultery!"

"Correct! Next question: who wrote The Great Gatsby?"

Bobert sounded his buzzer again. "01000100 01100001 01101001 01110011 01111001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01000100 01101111 01101110 01101011 01100101 01111001 00100001…" he repeated this line of binary over and over. At about the twelfth iteration, he stopped suddenly, saying "Stack…Overflow…Error…" as he shut down.

"Oh, dear…"

Beans sounded his buzzer again. "F. Scott Fitzgerald!"

"Correct!...Um, Bobert, are you all right?" she asked. "Someone call the nurse!"

"No! Don't call the nurse, call a mechanic, for cryin' out loud!" the nurse shouted from the audience. Bobert was hauled off stage.

"Well, um…can anyone take Bobert's place?"

Anais jumped up. "I will!"

The crowd laughed. "The baby's gonna try again!" someone yelled. Anais just showed a look of determination. Mrs. Walters smiled.

"Okay, then. Complete this quote: 'The best laid plans of men and mice…'"

Anais sounded her buzzer. "Often go awry!" she answered.

"Correct!"

Anais was able to answer all 22 questions, ending the round with a score of 22-2. Meaning the overall score was…36-36. A tie.

"Looks like we've got a tie, folks! Time for the tie-breaker! Each team, send up one person!"

Mrs. Walters's team sent Anais; Miss Simian's team sent Frank.

"Good luck, Anais!" he said.

"You too!" she replied in good spirit.

"Now, for the game…who starred as Gerry Lane in the summer blockbuster, 'World War Z'?"

The two of them remained silent. Neither was a fan of mainstream movies – Frank was a nerd, and even though he read the book, he never watched the film. Anais, on the other hand, was far too young. Her mother would never let her see such a violent movie.

Gumball was screaming inside. C'mon, this is an easy one! It was Brad Pittbull!

He could feel the rest of the crowd sharing his sentiments.

Frank's buzzer sounded first. "Um…was it Shia LaBuffalo?" he asked awkwardly.

The crowd groaned.

"I'm sorry, that is incorrect. Anais? Do you have an answer?"

Anais thought long and hard. She didn't know very many actors.

Who was that actor mom liked? Matt Diamon? No…it was…

"Uh, Brad Pittbull?" she asked.

Confetti fell from above her. The crowd cheered – especially Gumball.

"That's correct! Congratulations, Anais, you've won the game for your team! (And me!)"

Anais smiled sheepishly. Gumball and Darwin ran up the stage and held her up; the rest of the class followed.

"Anais! Anais!" Darwin chanted. Everyone joined in, even the students in Miss Simian's class. Soon, the cafeteria was filled with the chanting of her name.

The prize turned out to be a pizza party. The students in Mrs. Walters's class met up during her off periods to eat, drink, and socialize.

"You were great out there, Anais!"

"You're so smart…"

"And cute, too!"

Everyone complimented Anais on her stunning performance at the quiz bowl.

"Thanks!" she responded, blushing.

The whirring of machinery could be heard – Bobert had just woken up.

"00010100…oh…what happened?"

Anais toyed with the idea of telling him how badly he got owned, but…

"You were great out there! After missing the first two questions, you answered the next 23 and won us the game!"

Tobias looked as though he were about to correct her, but Gumball signaled for him to play along.

"Um…yeah, dude! You totally dominated the other team!"

"You did good, Bobert." Gumball said. After all, shouldn't every robot get his day?

"Gee, thanks guys. And Anais…I'm sorry. I guess I got a bit carried away, there…"

"Aww, it's all right, Bobert." she said, moving in to give him a hug. When she did, Bobert's eye turned red and he squeezed her, hard.

"I know what actually happened. You reprogrammed me to crash up there. You must be terminated." Bobert increased the pressure, fully intending to break every bone in her body.

"Whoa!" Gumball ran up to the crazed robot and shut him off. Anais fell to the ground, gasping for air.

As soon as she recovered, she lifted up a desk, and with her mother's strength and rage, she charged at Bobert.

"Whoa there, sis!" Gumball stopped her. "No need to get violent; we'll just reset his memory, okay?"

Darwin hit Bobert's reset button, then rebooted him.

"Hey, Bobert! What'd you think of the field trip to the museum?" Gumball asked casually.

"Confusing. The way organics praise abstract paintings that a four year old could have made is strange."

"Mmhmm, mmhmm." Gumball nodded. "Well, let's get on with the post-field trip pizza party!"

The class cheered.

As the party went on around him, Bobert's eye turned red again.

"You win this round, Anais…"

After school, as Gumball, Darwin, and Anais walked over to their father's car…

"Hey, Gumball! Wait up!" Penny shouted, running to catch up with him. Carrie followed her hesitantly.

"H-hi Penny!" Gumball greeted her, nearly fainting.

"Hey." she replied flirtatiously.

Carrie followed up behind her. "Hi, Darwin…"

Darwin smiled, acknowledging her.

Anais saw where this was going – she had heard their conversation on the first day. "I'm gonna go wait in the car…" she said, winking at Gumball. He didn't notice, though.

"So…" Penny began. "I've got these tickets for this concert tonight…interested?"

"Sure! I-er…" he looked at Darwin. "We would love to go!" Gumball said, disappointed that he wasn't getting any alone time with Penny.

"Great! So me and Carrie will pick you guys up at 8:00, okay?"

Gumball lit up at the mention of Carrie. Maybe he would get some time alone with Penny, after all. He remembered Darwin kissing Carrie last Halloween…so with Carrie distracting Darwin…

Wow. Gumball thought. Penny's smart.

Gumball practically skipped over to his father's car. Darwin didn't share his enthusiasm – it seems he doesn't like Carrie as much as Gumball likes Penny. But he was still excited for the concert.

"Hey, boys! Who were those girls?" he asked.

"Oh, just two friends. We're going to a concert with them tonight!" Gumball replied.

"Oooh, a concert! How romantic! Did I ever tell you about all the times I took your mother to a concert?"

"Uh, no."

"Well, there were a lot of them. Just be careful – kids nowadays do crazy things at concerts. Like those…those 'smosh' pits, and grinding…and marrowana…" Richard shivered. "I remember the good old days, when all you did at a concert was scream your lungs out..."

His dad went on and on about concerts, but all Gumball could think about was his upcoming date with Penny…

A/N: Whooo! Second chapter's done! It's a bit shorter than the last one, but eh. I'm thinking the average length of each chapter will be about this long. Anyway, all reviews/criticism/grammar-correcting/anything would be much appreciated! Thanks!