Chapter 6: Witnessing his Legacy

Gumball was riding with Triston in his car. They were going to a nearby part of town. They drove by a lot of buildings that were under construction, like the entire neighborhood was in the middle of being built. He could see the workers just working their tools and fingers to the bone. "This is our current project we recently got to work on last month, a crazy man in an eighteen wheeler wrecked his truck through the homes and literally tore them to pieces," Triston explained what had occurred to require all of these repairs. Gumball had heard about that before, understanding what happened. Suddenly, his father was coughing violently. Once the coughing fit had subsided he just sighed.

"Are you okay dad?" Gumball asked. Triston nodded. "Yeah, don't worry about it," Triston reassured his son, even though he had already told him about his cancer and how he only had an unknown amount of years of his life left. "So what do you do?" Gumball couldn't help but ask with his ears perked up a bit in curiosity. "I own all of it. The most I do is go to meetings to decide what we do next, and luckily for you, you're going to get to sit in on one of the meetings," he said. His son was excited over this. He was already enjoying the first day of career week, but he had a worried feeling of what might happen when he got back to school, or how he could explain what person he chose to follow for his career week.

Gumball and Triston arrived to the library. It seemed like an odd place for a meeting, but Gumball didn't say anything on it. They parked the car, and the both of them climbed out of it. Triston grabbed a briefcase from the trunk and they made their way into the huge library. Inside, bookshelves were lined up like inviting games of dominos ready to be knocked over, with books ranging from small to huge. "Now then, my boy. Let the adults talk, and if I tug my ear, I want you to leave the rest of the meeting," Triston explained the rules behind him sitting in on this meeting. Gumball nodded listening to his father and understanding the rules.

They arrived to a room in the back of the library, normally used for adults-only sections, but it had been recently cleared out when a bunch of children broke in and stole some of the mature content. Gumball saw another man in a suit there, but he clearly recognized him. "Gumball, meet the co-owner of Fitzgerald Co. Limited," Triston introduced them. "I didn't expect you to be the fatherly type, Triston. The name's Nook," Nook introduced himself. Gumball had heard some school nicknames that Nook had been rumored about, mainly Nook the Crook, but he knew him as the co-owner of his ex-girlfriend's father's company.

"You see, Mr Nook here has gone around buying the company shares, and as a result of this, he owns 51% now and has majority control," Triston explained. Mr Nook felt much more like the owner now than Mr Fitzgerald himself was, but he was unaware of it. "So what does that mean?" Gumball asked. The two adults gave each other small chuckles.

"It means that I'm going to buy out the company. They were our greatest competition," Triston explained to his son. Soon, he was going to own Mr Fitzgerald's company. He laid the briefcase on the table, opening it and revealing a ton of money in it. This made Gumball's eyes widen. He knew that she had a grudge against him ever since he started dating Teri, but this was a step too further. He threw his hands up.

"W-wait, dad! You can't just buy them out! Who knows what'll happen to the workers," Gumball tried to make up an excuse for him not to buy the company. "Nothing. Simply there will be a new owner. Me," Triston reassured him that no one would be fired. "B-but my ex... her father owns it. If that happens…" Gumball continued, but his father tugged his ear. This was the signal for Gumball to leave. "You have a kind heart, but I'm sorry. It's just business," Triston told him. Distressed and disappointed, Gumball left the meeting room.

Gumball was now stuck, waiting around the library and reading a book called 'The Journey to the West' while sitting in a chair. The excitement he had all this time turned into slight depression. "Gumball?" He looked over his shoulder, seeing Rachel standing there. Her hair faded from yellow to magenta and her blue skin was noticeable by a mile away. "Oh, hey Rachel. What are you doing here?" Gumball asked while putting the book away, surprised to see his friend there. "I had to replace a book I accidently ruined. What's up with you? Darwin told me you ran away," she claimed remembering a conversation she had with her boyfriend. She had been dating his younger brother for quite a while. Gumball raised an eyebrow. "I dunno what you're talking about. I just got stressed out," he responded with a sigh.

"Gumball, it's time to go," Triston called out to him, Rachel seeing his father standing there confused her. Gumball stood up, his tail dragging on the ground behind him with his ears hung low in guilt. "Bye, Rachel. I'll see you at school," he said, walking away and exiting the library with his father. "How did the meeting go?" the young feline asked, mentally praying that the deal failed. "It went great. We now own Fitzgerald's company," Triston responded. This made his son just became more miserable. Penny's father was going to be either fired or majorly demoted. Gumball was sure of this, and he didn't like imagining it one bit.

"Well, good job, I guess," Gumball said while they were driving away from the library in Triston's van, watching him and his smirk. "The rest of the week will be just me and you relaxing. That's a perk of being the boss, I suppose. You have the most responsibilities, but at the same time, you don't. Just a part of my legacy," he exclaimed to Gumball. The day had only just begun, and it was already showing the bad side of his father.

End of Chapter 6