Sorry it took so long everyone, I just got caught up in the festivity of Thanksgiving (among other things) that I forgot to post this up. That's my own fault and I take full responsibility for my own action.
Now that's done, let's get right to the basic:
Greetings fellow readers and welcome to the story's first solo chapter (and hopefully not my last). This was actually planned out for a while, but I wasn't able to fit it into the story until now.
Anyway, if you want to see more solo chapters in the future, just leave your thoughts on your review or PM me.
By the way, if any of you have any time, check out Neko-Rainbow's (formerly Sobellice) "The Amazing World of Spies" when you have the chance
Also, there's a community out there called Writer's Unlimited. If you're interested, check it out now and see what you think.
Enjoy!
The Newcomer
An Amazing World of Gumball Story
By NeoNimbus
Chapter 10-The Bill
It was a typical lazy Saturday afternoon at the O'Quinn residence, as Brian laid on the couch, watching TV and reading a comic book at the same time, while his father was upstairs taking a quick nap and his mother was busy in the kitchen. Otherwise, it seemed that today wasn't going to be an eventful one for Brian.
"Brian, could I have a moment of your time?" Mrs. O'Quinn called out, prompting the purple fox to drop his comic on the couch and make his way to the kitchen.
"Sure mom, what do you need?" Brian asked his mother.
"I was hoping if you could do this one small errand, honey. Could you put this mail containing our gas and electricity bills to the mailbox? I don't want to bother your dad and I have a lot of errands to do this afternoon. Of course, I could hold onto this for tomorrow in case you have plans of your own today."
Brian pondered, trying to see if he has something available to do. His homework wasn't due until Monday and it was quite simple and easy to do. Also, some of his favorite TV shows didn't have any new episodes for the moment and there weren't any new comics to check out and read for the moment.
With these in mind, Brian turned to his mother to give her his answer.
"Sure mom, I'll do it. Besides, I could use a bit fresh air today."
"Thank you so much, Brian." says Mrs. O'Quinn, smiling, before handing the mail to her son. "The mailbox is around the corner and don't take too long on you're way there."
"Don't worry mom, I'll be back before you know it." Brian assured his mother, before heading to the front door. As far as he was concern, today was going to be an uneventful one. At least, that was his initial impression of today.
With the mail inside the pocket of his hoodie, Brian made his way towards the mailbox around the corner, which was only a block from where he was. While making his way to his destination, he couldn't help but chuckle a bit from his mother's earlier comment. So it'll probably take him like a few minutes, but it doesn't mean it'll be long.
"All I have to do is sent this mail in the mailbox and head right back home. Besides, nothing's going to happen, as far I could tell."
As Brian continued walking, he suddenly bumped into something, causing him to trip to the pavement face first. Thankfully, it wasn't painful and the mail was safely tucked in the pocket of his hoodie.
'What just happened right now?'
"Hey, are you alright?" asked a young, digitized voice, prompting Brian to turn to the direction of said voice. Right in front of him was an 8-bit spider, despite having six legs, looking a bit concerned for his wellbeing. It didn't take too long for Brian to realize who he is.
"Sorry Ocho, looks like I didn't see you there."
"That's alright, I didn't…Say, what you mean you didn't 'see' me?" Ocho asked, suddenly suspicious by Brian's comment, much to the fox's discomfort.
"It's not like that, Ocho, it's just that...I wasn't paying attention on my way to deliver a mail that I didn't even know you were in my path." Before Brian knew it, Ocho was suddenly floating right in his face, his friendly demeanor replaced by anger.
"Can you see me now?!" he angrily asked, moving closer to Brian. "CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?! CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?!" Ocho's voice intensified with each word, leaving the purple fox in utter shock and fear.
"Y-yes, yes I do. Just please, stop that already!" a fearful Brian responded. Ocho suddenly calmed down, acted like the whole thing never happened in the first place.
"Oh, that's good to know. At least now we won't get into another accident. See you on Monday."
With that, Ocho went to the opposite direction, while Brian continued on his way, still shaken from the spider's outburst.
'Note to self: choose my words carefully the next time I see him.' Once Brian made note of this, the fox calmed himself long enough to continue on.
"Ocho sure needs to practice his socialization. But right now, I need to-"
"Not so fast, Brian." a ghostly, feminine voice spoke out of nowhere.
Brian paused in his tracks, looking in every direction to find the source of the voice. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fine the individual anywhere at all.
"Um…where are you?" Brian asked, hoping whoever he was talking to would show up.
On cue, a figure mysteriously appeared out of nowhere and before the fox knew it, he found himself facing a young ghost, strands of hair covering one of her eyes, with a skull hairclip attached right on top of it. It was then that Brian realized it was the same ghost he saw on his first day at school.
"Carrie, is it? Look, I love to chat and all, but I'm quite busy for the moment. So whatever it is you're up to is going to have to wait." says Brian, before he resumed walking to his intended destination.
"Brian, wait!" Carrie pleaded, prompting the fox to stop once more. "This is going to be quick, I swear."
Against his better judgment, Brian sighed and turned around to face the ghost once more.
"Alright Carrie, what is it that you want?" Brian inquired to the ghost.
"Could you help me finish this meal?" Carrie asked, as she pulled a sandwich out of nowhere. Brian looked at her, a bit perplexed by this request.
"Sorry for stating the obvious, but why?"
"DUH! I'm a ghost and food passed right through me. Also, I was going to stop by at Gumball's place and asked him first, but since I saw you coming, I figured you would do."
Brian paused to think about Carrie's bizarre request; the purple fox recalled Gumball informing him of her crazy junk food spree and how it ended up with him becoming overweight in the process. Still, he didn't want to be rude to her and decided there was only one thing to do.
"If I let you take possession of my body, are you going to eat that sandwich and only that sandwich?"
"I swear it." Carrie assured Brian.
"Are you sure?" Brian asked, earning him a glare from the ghost.
"I'm sorry, Carrie. I just want to make sure, that's all. Anyway, go right ahead."
"Thanks." Carrie says with a grin, before she handed Brian the sandwich and enter into his body via his mouth. Expecting something to occur right away, Brian was strangely in good condition instead.
"Well…that was odd." Brian started to say. "For a second, I sure it was going to be-"
Suddenly, the purple fox felt his body going under spontaneous spasms, twitching with each movement. After several more spasms, Brian's body fell into Carrie's complete control, as she eyed the sandwich with great delight.
"Down you go where you belong." Carrie spoke darkly to the sandwich, devouring it like a mad animal, before belching out loudly. Satisfied with her cravings, Carrie exited Brian's body, allowing the fox to regain control of his body.
"Thanks for helping me out." Carrie says to Brian, before teleporting herself out of his sights. The fox, meanwhile, try to regain his composure from both the ghost's possession and action.
'Ugh! I can't believe she made me eat a sandwich consisting of peanut butter, jelly and ham. I need to remind myself to use some mouthwash when this is over.'
Decided that it was better to pretend the whole thing never happened, Brian resumed walking to the mailbox, intending to finish what he started. But halfway towards his intended destination, two familiar voices shouted out of nowhere.
"Brian! Brian! We need your help real quick!"
Brian paused in his tracks, dismay that he finds himself interrupted from his simple task. His best friends Gumball and Darwin unexpectedly popped up out of nowhere, their heads sweating with anxiety and their faces filled with sheer panic.
"Guys, I have a very long day and whatever it is, put it on hold right now."
"This is no time for arguments, Brian. Besides, this happens to be really urgent."
Without warning, Gumball grabbed the Brian's paw and, along with Darwin, dashed in a blink of an eye, dragging the unfortunate fox with him. The next thing he knew, Brian, Darwin and Gumball were standing right in front of a rather large tree. Confused and dumbfounded by this scenery, Brian confronted the duo.
"Can you two explain why we're here to begin with?" asked Brian.
In response, both Gumball and Darwin pointed upwards to the sky. Though puzzled, Brian complied and looked up, until he saw an object on one of the tree's branches. Brian squinted his eyes as hard as he could, before he was able to identify the object: a pink and yellow donkey doll with a silly look on its face. Curious by this sight, the purple fox confronted the anxious duo about this unexpected discovery.
"Before I could help you two with your problem, just answer these two questions. First, how did a Daisy the Donkey doll end up all the way up there and second, does Anais know what you guys have done?"
"It's a long and complicated story and I don't think we should bore you with the details." Darwin replied.
"Fortunately, Anais is with mom and dad when it happened." Gumball added. "But if she knew what we did with her doll, we're in so much trouble."
"That explains why you and Darwin dragged me here in this area in the first place." Brian concluded.
"Exactly Brian, so could you please help us retrieved that doll before our sister finds out?" asked Gumball, before he and Darwin went on their knees, begging for his help.
Brian ponders for a moment about his situation. While he still wants to complete his errand for his mother, he certainly didn't want to see his friends in trouble with their family, especially with Nicole, knowing full well of her explosive personality. With that in mind, Brian focused his attention on the duo, ready to give out his answer.
"I guess I could help you guys." Brian replied, as Gumball and Darwin shouted with joy.
'I just hope it doesn't take too long to get that doll.' Brian thought, as he, Gumball and Darwin began their ascension towards the top of the tree.
5 Minutes later…
It was a long, perilous journey, but somehow, Gumball, Darwin and Brian finally made it to the top of the tree, where Daisy the Donkey resides on the farthest branch, despite being completely exhausted.
Climbing their way to reach the doll had proven to be quite treacherous, as Gumball accidentally angered a swarm of bees for disturbing their beehive, forcing the trio to climb much faster than they have originally planned. While trying to avoid getting stung, they have nuts thrown right at them by squirrels and woodpeckers pecking on their heads on their way up. By the time they reached to their destination, the bees completely lost interests in them, much to their relief.
"Gumball…" Brian started to talk. "Next time, be careful! We nearly got stung by a swarm of angry bees!"
"How was I supposed to know there was a beehive in my way?!" Gumball argued back.
"Guys, forget about the bees! We need to focus on getting Daisy." Darwin spoke out, prompting both Gumball and Brian to cease their brief argument, as the trio stared at the doll lying at the farthest branch. There was no doubt that they are at least a few inches away from retrieving Anais' favorite toy, but the branch looked like it was going to break loose at any given moment.
"Alright, one of us has to go and get that doll." Brian remarked, before he and Gumball turned their attention to Darwin, much to the fish's discomfort.
"Are you guys serious? Why do you want me to do it?"
"For starters, your legs are quite long, Darwin." Brian reasoned with the two-legged fish.
"Plus, I'm not good on grabbing and holding onto things." insisted Gumball.
Once they made their closing arguments, Darwin sighed and proceeded to make his way to the farthest branch, all the while carefully crawling his way to the doll. Somehow, Darwin was able to make it to the branch without much effort; all he has to do is grab it, make it back to his friends and find a way to get done. Clinging onto the twig, Darwin slowly stretched his flipper out to the toy, reaching it as far as he could.
'Almost...got it...'
As Darwin reached closer to Daisy the Donkey, the branch suddenly snapped, taking him and the doll with it. Startled by this, Gumball and Brian immediately leaped towards Darwin, with the fox grabbing the fish by his ankle and in turn, Gumball grabbed the fox's, before he latched on to a nearby branch with his tail.
"Are you alright Gumball!?" shouted Brian.
"I'm fine, Brian. What about Darwin? Is he alright?" asked Gumball.
"Don't worry, you guys, I'm fine. Plus, I've got Daisy the Donkey with me." Darwin responded.
"That's great and all, but how are we supposed to get done now?" Brian asked.
As if on cue, the branch that Gumball was clinging on suddenly snapped, sending them right down to the ground. Fortunately, rows of branches happen to be on their path, slowing down their descent, until they managed to make a soft landing, with nothing but dusts of dirt covering them.
'Well, didn't see that one coming' Brian thought, as he attempted to regain his composure, before the Daisy the Donkey doll hit him on the head. Surprisingly, the doll was relatively intact, with not one scratch on it. The purple fox then grabbed the doll off the ground and headed right to his friends, who are also trying to regain their composure as well.
"Here you go guys." Brian said, handing the doll to Gumball. "Looks like you two won't be in so much trouble after all."
"Thank you so much for your help, Brian." praised Gumball. "We really appreciate your help."
"But right now, we need to get back home before Mrs. Mom, Mr. Dad and Anais finds out." Darwin noted, before he and Gumball head to the opposite direction, disappearing around the corner.
Brian, satisfied by this, checked the pocket of his hoodie to check the mail containing the bill, hoping it wasn't damaged during the fall. Thankfully, the mail was fine, with not one scratched on it. As the purple fox checked the mail, he noticed the mailbox right next to him, the same one he had intended to make a delivery since this afternoon, much to his joy.
'Finally, I could get rid of this mail and head back home.' As Brian made his way to the mailbox, with the mail in his paw, he is about to put it in when he suddenly spotted something on the top-left corner of the mail.
"You got to be kidding me!" Brian shouted in disbelief, as he realized that there was no stamp on it. Of all the things that had to happen this afternoon, this was the last thing he wanted to encounter.
"Great, what I am going to do now?" Brian asked himself. "Well, it can't get any worse than this."
Suddenly, Brian could hear footsteps stomping from behind him, getting louder by the moment, until they abruptly ceased. Frightened by this, the purple fox slowly turned his head and upon setting his gaze on the figure, his eyes grew wide and his jaws almost dropped to the floor, as Tina looked down upon him.
'What is Tina Rex doing here?! Wait a minute…could she be…uh oh.' Once Brian came to the realization, he closed his eyes and raised his arm, with the mail being the only line of defense.
"Let me guess Tina, the restriction on me is finally over and you're going to pummel me like a rag doll?" Brain asked, not caring what the answer was going to be. He just wanted to get the whole thing over with. But what happened next surprised the purple fox.
"Actually, you'll get yours next week. I just stopped by to help you out for the moment."
Before Brian knew what was happening, the t-rex leaned closer to the fox and unexpectedly produced a stamp out of nowhere, before she stuck it on the mail Brian is holding. Surprised to witness such an action, Brian looked at Tina with suspicion.
"I know what you're thinking, but I could tell you've been through enough. That's why I decided to help you out instead."
Stunned by Tina's admission, but relieved at the same time, Brian couldn't believe how today was turning out.
"Thanks for your help, Tina." Brian happily says, as he put the mail containing the bill in the mailbox. "Looks like I owe you again."
"Don't mention it, furball." Tina replied, before she started to chuckle. Likewise, Brian started to chuckle as well, before the t-rex leaned towards to the fox with a stern expression.
"Seriously, don't mention it. I still have a reputation to maintain."
Nodding his head in agreement, Brian nervously walked away from Tina, as he started to make his way back home. He had a lot of explaining to do to his mother.
"Brian, where have you been?" Mrs. O'Quinn asked, as her son made his way to the kitchen.
"It's been a long day mom and I don't feel like talking about it." Brian replied.
"Alright honey, if you say so." says Mrs. O'Quinn, before Brian headed to the living room, intending to do nothing but watch TV and read his comic book.
"Oh, by the way Brian, I almost forgot." Mrs. O'Quinn suddenly spoke
"What is it?" Brian asked, as he stopped in his tracks to hear what his mother has to say.
"When you have the time, could you mail this letter to your grandparents back at Folsom? I forgot to give it to you when you left the house this afternoon. Are you fine with that Brian?"
Expecting to hear a response from her son, Mrs. O'Quinn realized that Brian hadn't said a word since she asked him.
"Brian, are you there?" asked Mrs. O'Quinn, before she spotted her son on the ground, realizing he had just fainted, much to her confusion.
"Was it something I said?"
Next time on The Newcomer
The Mouse-Part 1
It's love at first sight for Brian, as he becomes smitten over a mysterious girl and he'll do anything to see her again.
Tidbits
-After it was pointed out that I haven't focus much on Brian's home life, I decided to make a chapter to do just that. Also, I wanted to thank Neko-Rainbow for that.
-This chapter was loosely inspired by "The Many and The Fowl" (a DC Nation short starring Plastic Man), but with my own take on it as well.
-Originally, Brian was going to face at least 6 obstacles, but I felt that would turn off many readers, so I reduced it to four.
As a reminder, I have a poll up in my profile regarding 7 chapter ideas for this story. By the end of the year, whichever gets the highest vote will be the first one I'll do (the rest would be done in order, depending on the number of votes).
Hope you guys enjoyed reading and see ya next chapter!
P.S.-Happy late Thanksgiving!