I just wanted to apologize for those who have been waiting patiently, but this chapter took much longer than I have originally planned. Also, I want to thank EvelioandZgroup for helping me out again.
Anyway, enjoy!
The Newcomer
An Amazing World of Gumball Story
By NeoNimbus
Chapter 8-The Project: Part 1
It was another day at Miss Simian's class as Brian, along with the rest of his fellow classmates, were forced to listen to the latest lecture from the cantankerous, old baboon, whether they want to or not.
"Alright class, listen up, today you and a partner would be working on a science project due on Monday. To make this interesting, I already decided who's going to be partnered up with, just because I felt like it." Miss Simian then cackled with glee while her students moaned in dismay by this.
"Now then, I'll read out loud who's being partnered up whom." Miss Simian says, before she pulled a sheet of paper and proceeded to make the announcements.
"Tobias and Tina…Anton and Jamie…Rob and Leslie…Sussie and Penny…"
While Miss Simian read the names out loud, Brian noticed the students' reaction from the list, ranging from dismay to indifferences. As far as the purple fox was concerned, he was bored, but quite nervous as to whom his partner was going to be.
"Whoever he or she is, I just hope we could at least get along-" Brian's thoughts were interrupted when his teacher finally got to his name.
"…Brian and Masami…"
The moment she read out his name, Brian paused what he was doing, before focusing his attention on the floating cloud, who looked rather annoyed, before turning away from him. Shrugging off the cloud's demeanor, Brian then noticed Gumball and Darwin looking at him with concern.
"Wow Brian, sucks to have someone like Masami to be your partner." Gumball spoke first.
"What do you mean?" a confused Brian asked.
"You don't know, Brian?" Darwin began to talk. "Masami's father owns the Rainbow Factory that Mrs. Mom works at. Because of that, she pretty much gets what she wants."
"So I'm dealing with someone who's rich and a bit uptight." Brian replied. "What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that Masami wants to have things done her way." Gumball explained. "If I were you, I would keep your guard up and be cautious at the same time."
Brian ponders for a moment, before looking at Masami, then back to his friends. He decided there was one thing to do.
"Alright Gumball, I'll take your advice for the moment. Besides, what could possibly go wrong?"
Gumball and Darwin looked at another, still worried for their friend and the dilemma he might face. Brian has no idea what he was getting himself into.
The school bell rang for the last time, signaling the end of school for today, as every student from their classes, including Miss Simian's, proceeded to head home until next week. While everyone was making plans for the weekend, Brian waited outside of Miss Simian's classroom, waiting for Masami to come out, all the while thinking of what his friends had told him earlier.
"Despite what Gumball and Darwin says, I'm sure she's not that bad as they made her out to be."
"Jeez, what are you doing, furball? Waiting for time to stop?" a rather rude voice spoke out, prompting Brian to turn to the direction of said voice. He noticed Masami floating right besides him, though hardly happy to see him. Shrugging off her demeanor, Brian attempted to make a proper introduction to her.
"First of all, it's not furball, it's Brian. Second, it would be better if you-"
"Yeah, yeah whatever you say." says Masami, cutting off the fox's words. "Listen, I'm just here to get an easy A and nothing more. If you want to help, start by carrying these books back to my locker."
Without warning, dozens of books pile down on Brian's arm, leaving the unfortunate fox to carry the load all the way to Masami's locker, while the cloud just simply headed to her destination, waiting for Brian to come by, struggling to prevent the books from toppling down on him.
"Geez Louise, why would she need this many books to begin with?"
"What's taking so long, furball? I haven't gotten all day." Masami spoke out loud, becoming rather impatient.
Brian was halfway to Masami's locker when he suddenly slipped, causing the books to pile all over him. Not wanting to wait any longer, Masami floated towards Brian and picked up a few books with her to her locker.
"Do I have to do everything myself?" Masami complained, not expressing a bit of concern for the fox's wellbeing.
"You know, Masami, I could have gotten here much quicker if you just helped me out to begin with." an annoyed Brian responded, attempting to regain his composure.
"Whatever you say, furball." was Masami's answer to the fox.
Deciding it was best not to argue back, Brian felt it was better to focus on another subject that they need to pay attention on.
"Anyway Masami, we need to think of a science project to work on if we want to pass. Why not come to my house tomorrow to discuss and brainstorm any possible ideas, just in case?"
"If it'll make you happy, I don't see why not." Masami replied, much to Brian's surprise. "I just expect you to not to make another mess like you did with my books."
Brian could feel his anger rising up a bit from Masami's comment, but took a deep breath and calmed himself down. It was times like these that he was thankful for using one of his mom's methods.
"Calm yourself down, Brian. This is just my first meeting with her. I'm sure things will work out tomorrow."
Once the fox's anger ceased, he noticed Masami giving him a strange look. Brian figured it was best to brush off the cloud's earlier comment for the moment and resume talking to her.
"Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon. By the way, here's my address in case you're wondering." Once Brian wrote down the information, he handed the piece of paper to Masami.
"Don't worry furball, I'll show up." Masami replied.
With that, the cloud headed to the school entrance. The fox sighed; the weekends were about to becoming much longer.
Today was Saturday at the O'Quinn residence, a two-story house that was quite big for a normal suburban house, but too small to be a mansion. Normally, Brian would just read, watch TV and played video games all day, but the fox had other matters to attend this time.
The afternoon had arrived, as Brian patiently waits on the stairs for Masami to show up. All day long, the purple fox had been trying to come up with something to do for their science projects, but none of them seemed to be working out. Whether it was a potato gun or a model of the solar system, they turned out to be too clichéd for his taste. What he needed was something that was fresh and original.
"Brian, how's your science project coming so far?" Mrs. O'Quinn asked, calling out from the kitchen.
"I haven't even started yet." Brian responded. "I can't think of any that stands out. So far, most of my ideas are already oversaturated."
"Don't worry, honey, I'm sure you and your partner will think of something." Mrs. O'Quinn assured her son.
"Speaking of which, where is Masami?" Brian muttered, as he realized that Masami was stopping by. He was just glad that his dad, for once, was actually taking the entire weekend to work overseas, a rare time on his part. At the very least, he won't have any awkward conversations to worry about.
As Brian continues to wait, the door bell suddenly rang, prompting the fox to head towards the front door. As soon as he opens it, he saw Masami floating there, though she looked particularly bored some reason.
"Is this where you live furball? Seriously, I've seen better looking homes than this." Masami remarked.
"You know Masami, not everyone could afford the same luxury as you." Brian replied, a bit upset by the cloud's comment. "Anyway, where have you been? It's been thirty minutes."
"If you must know, I just want to come by your place in style." Masami answered. "That and I think I come up with a pretty good idea for our science project."
"You do?" Brian asked, a bit perplexed by the cloud's comment.
"Do I have to repeat myself? Of course I do furball. In fact, I already have the whole thing written down." Masami then presents Brian a sheet of paper with the information. After a long while, Brian couldn't believe his own eyes: they need this much for their science project?
"Are you sure we needed this much for just one project?" a disbelief Brian asked.
"Would you rather get an F?" Masami asked, slightly annoyed for being questioned.
Brian pondered for a moment. On one hand, Masami's idea seems a bit outrageous for a science project, even with including the necessary materials to complete it. On the other hand, the last thing he wanted was to get a failing grade in Miss Simian's class. Either way, Brian needed some time to think this through.
"Well furball? I'm waiting." Masami was becoming a bit impatient, waiting for the fox to give her an answer. After a long while, Brian sighed and finally gave the cloud his answer.
"When do you want to begin?"
After Brian finished explaining to his mother on the science project he and Masami were working on, Mrs. O'Quinn agreed to help her son and his acquaintance by taking them to the local drugstore to get the materials required for said project. As soon as they arrived to their destination, Mrs. O'Quinn turned her attention to Brian and Masami.
"Alright, you two, if either of you needed help, just call out for me. In the meantime, I'll be at the other side of the store." Mrs. O'Quinn instructed the two.
With that, she heads towards to the opposite direction, disappearing around the corner and leaving the duo alone.
"Well, lets get this over with." Brian then grabbed the nearest cart, before he and Masami headed towards the beauty product sections. While the two looked around, Brian, still a bit curious, decided to ask the cloud about her idea.
"Can you explain to me again why we need some beauty products for our science project?"
"You want another explanation again furball?! Seriously, is your memory that bad?!" Masami talked back.
"Just answer the question, Masami." an annoyed Brian responded.
"Alright, but listen carefully this time, furball." Masami spoke, before she began her explanation.
"I talked to daddy about Miss Simian's assignment and he suggested creating a model of how the weather works. Of course, I managed to have my input before everything was finalized. If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't have a science project to begin with."
"Somehow, I figured you wouldn't have thought of this without some help of your own." Brian muttered to himself.
"Did you say something?" Masami asked.
"It was nothing." Brian responded, before he spots a can of hair spray and proceeded to pick it up.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" an old, grizzled but feminine voice spoke out of nowhere.
Brian paused what he was doing and turned to the direction of the voice. Right in front of him was an elderly, pale-blue skinned lizard, with white hair and yellow eyes with black pupils, wearing a green dress and a matching beanie hat and carrying a black cane. It didn't take too long for the fox to realize that her hand was on the same product he had just gotten moments ago.
"Um…I'm about to buy this can of hair spray." Brian answered. What happened next took the purple fox by complete surprise.
"I don't think so, fox boy! I've been searching around town all day to find a good deal and there's no way I'm going to let this one go!"
Suddenly, the Lizard Woman proceeded to whack Brian on the head with her cane, all the while the fox was clinging to the can of hair spray as hard as he could. Ignoring the pain in his head, Brian turned to Masami, who seemed somewhat unimpressed.
"Masami..OUCH…I could use some…OUCH…help!"
Masami, after pondering for a moment, sighed and confronted the irate elderly lizard, who finally noticed the cloud's presence.
"What do you want?! Going to help your boyfriend?!" The Lizard Woman talked back.
"Boyfriend?! Listen granny, I'm only here because furball couldn't get rid of you. Anyway, there some face lotions that cost thirty percent right besides you."
The Lizard Woman arched her eyebrow with curiosity, before she saw the product right next to the aisle, including a label that, as it suggested, was thirty percent.
"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" The Lizard Woman happily exclaimed, before letting go of the can of hair spray from Brian's grasp. "In that case, you two suckers could have this hunk of junk."
With that, the Lizard Woman headed to the face lotion aisle. Brian, rubbing his head from the beating, noticed Masami didn't look too pleased, despite obtaining the can of hair spray.
"Geez furball, that was quite pathetic back there."
"Thanks for the help, your majesty." Brian sarcastically remarked.
"Whatever. Let's just get the rest of the material and get out of here." said Masami.
"If you say so; I just hope we don't encounter that crazy lady again." Brian muttered under his breath.
30 minutes later…
The O'Quinns, along with Masami, finally returned home after a long day at the drugstore. Although Mrs. O'Quinn was rather upbeat and Masami was a bit happy, it was anything but fun for Brian.
During his time at the drugstore, Brian's search for the right items resulted in more encounters with the Lizard Woman, who once again started whacking him on the head each time they met, prompting a reluctant Masami to intervene. To add insult to injury, Masami "forgot" her wallet when they weren't unable to pay the following items they gathered. Fortunately, Mrs. O'Quinn showed up on time and manage to pay the whole thing off, saving the two some trouble. Still, Brian was becoming increasingly annoyed by how today was turning out.
"Lighten up furball, just be glad we have what we need for our science project." Masami said.
"She's right, Brian. What's important is that you two have to get started on your work before Monday." says Mrs. O'Quinn, before she heads upstairs.
Although still annoyed from his experience, Brian accepted his mother's word. He and Masami did gather what they need: a few cans of hair spray, several bags of cotton balls and two dental flosses, among others. Brian then focused his attention to Masami.
"Alright Masami, we got what we needed for our project. So what's the next step?"
Masami pondered for a moment, while Brian patiently waits for an answer. Then, Masami turned her attention to Brian, as if she had something to say.
"Well furball, if you must know…"
Brian couldn't believe what he was doing in the kitchen: of all the things Masami had requested, she wanted him to construct a model with his own two paws. It didn't help that the cloud had no idea how it should look liked, forcing the purple fox to make a few guess. Each time he shows the model to her, however, she ended up rejecting them, citing minor flaws of details. He could still recall some of the earlier responses from Masami.
"Are you kidding me furball? My grandma could do a better job than that."
"Those cottons aren't even in the right position. It doesn't look like a cloud at all."
"Are you even paying attention furball?"
"You called that a model?"
Brian's patience was about to reach its limits at any moment. No matter how hard he tried, Masami remained unimpressed with his best effort. What is it going to take to please this uptight snob?
"Just be level headed and calm about this, Brian. I'm sure everything will work out in the end." Brian muttered, despite feeling his blood pressure rising up.
"Are you done yet furball? I haven't gotten all day." shouted Masami.
Brian cringed the moment the cloud spoke, but undaunted by this, calmed down long enough to put the final touch on the model.
Brian observed the model right in front of him: the can of hair spray proved effective to increase the fluffiness of the cotton, the dental flosses were strong enough to hold the makeshift clouds on the display and somehow, he managed to find a creative way to use the food coloring.
"It's not much, but it'll have to do. I just hope this is enough for Masami." Brian says to himself, before carrying the project right to the table, where the cloud is presiding.
"What took you so long furball? It's been like almost an hour." Masami complained.
"Maybe if I had some helped, it wouldn't have been as long as it should have." Brian replied, before he set the project right in front of Masami.
The cloud took a moment to observe the project, looking at it inch by inch, while a nervous Brian looked on, not knowing whether he actually got it right or not. After what seems like a long time, Masami stopped observing the project and turned to Brian.
"Alright, this looks quite good." Masami spoke.
The purple fox sigh, relieved that he finally managed to please the cloud. Perhaps his day is turning out great after all. But what came of Masami's mouth wasn't what he hade hoped.
"Now do the whole thing again."
Brian paused in his tracks, his right eye twitched in annoyances from the cloud's comment. He couldn't believe that all of his efforts were for nothing. That was it for Brian; he could no longer bottle up all the anger residing in him. There was no way he was going to let this one slide.
"What the flip is your problem, Masami?!" Brian shouted, shocking the cloud by the fox's action. It was the last thing she would have expected to hear from him.
"All day long, you have done nothing but insult me every chance you get, despite my attempt to be nice to you. As a matter of fact, you've been treating me like dirt since yesterday!"
"Look furball, why don't we just-" Masami's words were cut off as Brian began to speak up once again.
"I'm not letting this one slide, Masami. All you've done is nothing but complained, whined and calling me names and barely done any work at all. I can't believe I have to be partnered up with a spoiled, rotten brat!"
The moment the fox said those last three words left Masami shocked. Then, her expression became quite serious, before she slowly confronted the fox.
"What do you just call me just now?" Masami demanded.
"You heard what I just said! A spoiled, rotten brat! It seemed like a worthy title for someone like you!" Brian talked back.
"You better be careful what you're saying..." Masami began to speak.
"Or else what, Masami? Go to you dad and complained about the whole ordeal?"
"What are you two arguing about down there?!" Mrs. O'Quinn shouted, prompting both Brian and Masami to cease their arguments. As soon as his mother showed up in the kitchen, Brian, with great reluctance, spoke.
"Well mom, it began like this…"
Five minutes later…
"…And that's how it ended up like this." Once Brian was finished explaining everything about their short feud to his mother, Mrs. O'Quinn began to ponder about the whole ordeal. Surely, there must be a way for the two of them to work their problems out. Meanwhile, Masami focused her attention to Brian, still annoyed.
"Face the facts, there's no way either of us will get a passing grade by Monday." says Masami.
"I rather have a failing grade than deal with you." Brian responded.
"Kids, please by quiet for a moment and let me think." Mrs. O'Quinn spoke out, prompting the duo to be silent. After what seems like a long time, Mrs. O'Quinn turned to Brian and Masami; it appeared she had something in mind.
"You know, maybe there is a way for both of you to receive a passing grade on your assignment by Monday."
"There is?" Brian and Masami simultaneously asked.
"Of course there is. In fact, I think you two should try this science project I had in mind for tomorrow." Mrs. O'Quinn replied.
"What is it?" her son asked, prompting Mrs. O'Quinn to rub her head sheepishly, before she answered her son's question.
"It's very hard to explain, but I do think this could help both you and Masami figure each other out."
"Somehow, I highly doubt I could last another whole day with her." says Brian.
"For once furball, I couldn't agree more." Masami replied, before the two glared at one another.
Next time on The Newcomer
Chapter 9-The Project: Part 2
As tensions grow between Brian and Masami, can the two put their own differences aside to finish their assignment?
Tidbits
-Before anyone could say anything, I'll just get to the point: I'm not going to make Brian and Masami fall in loved with one another anytime soon. At some point, Brian will have a love interest in the future (and definitely will be an OC), but I haven't gotten that far yet in the story.
-This chapter was a bit complicated, especially on the project part. But in the end, this is what I could come up (with a bit of help from EvelioandZgroup).
-Decided to have Brian have a bit more interactions with some of the supporting cast besides Gumball and his family, mainly because I haven't focus that much attention with any of them other than Tina (and to a lesser extent, Jamie). Don't worry folks, the Watterson's will still play active role.
Hope you enjoyed reading and see ya next chapter!