It's been a long while since I last wrote part 2 of "The Mouse", but this chapter proved to be a bit difficult then I ever imagined. One of the main reasons for this is because I wanted this chapter to be a build up for the final part of "The Mouse" arc. That and I was pretty much occupied during the holidays. Plus, my beta had to get his computer replaced, which is why this chapter took so long.
Thankfully, I was finally able to get the direction I wanted for this chapter, thanks to some good suggestions from Sal.
Also, I wanted to thank EvelioandZgroup for correcting me about the tidbits section in the last chapter. It was actually Holden Caulfield, not Jack (It's been a long while, so of course I would make a simple error like that). Again, I thank him for pointing that minor error out.
Now that I have that out of the way, please enjoy chapter and hope you enjoyed it.
The Newcomer
An Amazing World of Gumball Story
By NeoNimbus
Chapter 13-The Mouse: Part 3
The afternoon had finally arrived at Elmore Academy, as every student left their classes to head out to the cafeteria, whether it was to savor today's meals or simply to chat with one another. But down the hallway, a certain purple fox and red bear glared at one another like dogs, ready for the opportunity to strike one another at any given moment.
Not so long ago, Brian, or 'Harry', was rudely shoved to the ground by Ivan, just because he was chatting with Rhonda. It also didn't help that the red bear had feelings for the mouse, a fact that Brian would not tolerate at all. Both boys continued to glare at one another, neither making a move towards the other. With their fists tightening with each gripped, it appeared that either of them was about to make the first strike when…
"Alright, you two, that's enough!" Rhonda shouted.
Before they know it, the mouse appeared in front of the two, slightly pushing both Brian and Ivan away from one another, before she turned around to confront the red bear about his earlier action.
"Ivan, what you did to Harry was wrong. You could have gotten him seriously injured. Has that ever crossed your mind?" Rhonda then turned to confront the purple fox, regarding his own action against the red bear.
"Harry, you could have gotten yourself injured. Do you want to end up in the nurse's office?"
'Harry' and Ivan attempted to give Rhonda an explanation about their action, but the mouse's stern expression made it clear she wasn't in the mood. After several seconds of thinking, the two boys, unable to come up with a single excuse, simply put their heads down, realizing just how upset Rhonda was at them.
Rhonda, though relieved that the situation didn't get worse, sighed, before she resumed talking to 'Harry' and Ivan once more.
"Now, I want you two to apologize to one another, please." Rhonda insisted.
Both 'Harry' and Ivan looked at each other and in spite some hesitation from both of their parts, they sighed with uneasiness, eventually responding to each other.
"…Sorry for causing you trouble."
As soon as they gave the other their reluctant apologies, 'Harry' and Ivan turned their heads around, their arms crossed and expressing dissatisfaction by their own actions. It was clear that they weren't going to be friends anytime soon.
Even though Rhonda expected such an outcome following their apologies, she was still worried, certain that both boys would resume quarreling with one another sooner or later. She was especially worried about 'Harry'; the last time that anyone stood up against Ivan was sent to the nurse's office and ended up being home schooled for the rest of the entire school year.
'There's got to be a way to make sure that Harry and Ivan would at least respect each other's space.' Rhonda thought.
As Rhonda pondered on her next move, she felt a slight tug on the sleeve of her sweater, prompting the mouse to look down and noticed Anais right next to her, sharing the same concern as she was.
"If it'll make you feel better, maybe I could help out."
"What do you have mind?" Rhonda asked.
"We should separate the two as much as possible before they try anything reckless." Anais began explaining. "The least thing we could do is act as buffers before things could get any worse."
"Sounds like a good plan, Anais." Rhonda agreed with the child prodigy. "Say, what about your brothers? Do you think we should ask for their help too?"
Anais turns around and saw Gumball and Darwin walking right towards the cafeteria in a hypnotic-like trance, their faces filled with amazements, before they disappeared into the crowd of large students. After a few seconds, Anais shrugged, before turning to Rhonda once more.
"I wouldn't be too worried about them, Rhonda. Besides, they can take care of themselves. Right now, let's just prevent collateral damages from those two."
Nodding her head in agreement, Rhonda headed towards 'Harry', both with the intent to have a quick chat, as well as distancing him from Ivan.
"Harry, since you and Anais are new around here, why don't I give both of you a tour around Elmore Academy?"
"You really mean it?" 'Harry' happily asked
"Of course Harry." Rhonda replied. "It's the least thing I could do to make up for Ivan's action."
The mouse then turned to Ivan, glaring at the red bear, as he raised his hands up defensively and his eyes widen in response.
"I assure you Rhonda." Ivan finally spoke. "I won't be causing anymore trouble to Harry."
"Are you sure about that Ivan?" Rhonda asked, her eyebrow arched by the red bear's response.
"I promised." Ivan insisted, all the while crossing his fingers behind his back. "Besides, I have to, um, make up some of my homework until the next bell." With that, the red bear turned around and walked off.
Rhonda, meanwhile, was still suspicious of the bear's action; Ivan wasn't known to be a gentle person, let alone honoring promises and yet, just now, he suddenly behaved rather kindly and simply took off without any hesitation. The mouse, however, decided that it neither the right time nor place to think about such thoughts.
"Anyway…" Rhonda began. "Let me show you two around the school until the next bell ring."
Both 'Harry' and Anais nodded their head in agreement, before following Rhonda's lead down the hallway.
As the two are walking down, Ivan, along with his three friends, poked his head from the corner, spying on 'Harry' once more. The red bear growled at the sight of the purple fox; he doesn't know what 'Harry's' next move is going take, but Ivan is willing to make sure that he doesn't make one at all.
"Ivan." Joey talked to the red bear. "Is there anything you want us to do?"
"There is one thing, Joey." Ivan replied "I want you, Ray and Lloyd to keep an eye on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in the cafeteria just in case they come looking for their pal."
"You got it Ivan." Joey complied, before he and his buddies headed to the cafeteria, leaving Ivan on his own, intent taking care of the problem all by himself.
Most of the time, the cafeteria was bustling with students eating their meals or chatting with each other at their table. But today, mostly everyone stopped what they were doing and focused their attention to a certain blue feline and a two-legged fish, their trays filled with a ridiculous pile of food on the table, as they began to madly devour them one-by-one.
Not so long ago, Gumball and Darwin, entranced by the aroma coming from the cafeteria, immediately dashed right into the large area, randomly picking off one of each food they could put on their tray, before locating the nearest table to sit at.
"Oh man." Gumball delightfully says, as he took a bite from a slice of pizza. "I never thought food this good even exists at all."
"I know what you mean Gumball." Darwin eagerly agreed, taking a bite out of a bread roll. "I just wish this would never end."
The two then continued to eat their meals like there was no tomorrow, ignoring the indifferences and disgusts from the students that continued to watch this unusual sight. But halfway through the pile of foods, both Gumball and Darwin felt a slight tap on their shoulder, prompting the two to stop eating and turned around to see Joey, along with his bat and mole friends, standing right in front of them.
"Enjoying your day so far?" Joey asked with a hint of sarcasm.
"We're good. Thanks for asking." Darwin happily responded.
"Glad to hear that." says Joey, before he and his friends leaned slightly closer to the duo. "If you two want to keep it that way, then I suggest you dweebs hand over half of your meals or else."
Gumball and Darwin nervously looked at one another, uncertain how to respond to the broccoli's demand. If they make the wrong decision, there was no doubt what Joey and his pals will do to them. What they need is a good plan…and luck.
"Gumball…" Darwin whispered to his brother. "What should we do?"
"I honestly don't know, buddy" Gumball whispered back. "But, I do know one way out of this mess."
"You do?" asked Darwin.
"Yeah, but trust me on this." The two boys then turned to face Joey and his pals once more, waiting patiently for a response from either of them.
"You right Joey, we shouldn't suffer a bad day all over a bunch of foods, but before we hand over our lunch, let me just say…FOOD FIGHT!"
Suddenly, Gumball grabbed a cream pie and threw it right onto Joey's face, prompting every student to grab and throw their own meals at one another in the cafeteria. In the ensuing chaos that follow, Gumball grabbed Darwin's flipper and quickly crawled away from the scene as fast as they could, disappearing from the bullies' sights.
"Duh…are you alright Joey?" the mole asked the broccoli with concerned.
"What do you think, Lloyd?!" Joey snapped at the mole, wiping the remains of the pie off of his face.
"To be honest, I didn't actually expect that cat to pull such a move on you." The bat commented.
"Save the smart talk for later, Ray. Now come on, we've got to teach those knuckleheads a lesson!"
With that in mind, Joey and his buddies ran out of the cafeteria, avoiding every piece of food that was thrown all over the place, as they went into the hallway, determine to find the blue feline and his fish friend and teach them a lesson they'll never forget.
For the last several minutes, Rhonda had continued to show both 'Harry' and Anais around Elmore Academy and the two couldn't believe what this school had to offer. Although they were familiar with the usual setups back at Elmore Junior High, the subjects that they were teaching were quite advance, from calculus to agriculture. Even more amazing, they learn that the academy had a strict guideline regarding schedules. How the students managed to balance their time was beyond their comprehension.
"I'm surprised that I haven't seen anyone cracked under such pressure." says 'Harry'.
"Now that you mention it, they seem to be handling the situation just fine." Anais noted.
"I'll admit, things can get very complicated when you're not familiar with the routine." Rhonda began explaining. "But after some trial and errors, you get use to it."
As Rhonda was explaining to the duo about the academy's schedule, 'Harry' unexpectedly tripped, prompting both the mouse and Anais to help the purple fox up to his feet.
"Are you alright?" a concerned Rhonda asked.
"Yeah, I'm alright." assured 'Harry'. "But what just happened?"
"Oops." a voice spoke with a snide tone.
'Harry', Rhonda and Anais turned around and saw Ivan leaning on the locker, expressing a smug grin on his face. It didn't take too long for either of them to realize what had occurred and 'Harry' wasn't pleased by the bear's intention.
'So that's your game, Ivan. Well, two could play at that.' Brian then spotted a vending machine just a few inches away, giving him a good idea in the process.
"Excuse me for just a moment." says 'Harry', as he made his way towards the vending machine, putting a few quarters in it and pressed one of the button. A few seconds later, a soda can popped out of the vendor, before 'Harry' grabbed it and unexpectedly, walked right towards to Ivan, much to the bear's confusion.
"You look like you needed a drink, so I figure I should save you the trouble to go get one myself."
Ivan looked at the purple fox, suspicious by his action. Why would 'Harry' behave like that after tripping him on purpose? The last thing he was expecting was a kind gesture out of this. Still, he had to admit, that was very kind of 'Harry' to give him a free soda.
"I don't know what you're up to, but since I do feel a bit thirsty, I'll let this one slide." Ivan informed 'Harry', before he snatched the soda out of the fox's paw. As soon as the bear took the soda from 'Harry', the purple fox immediately ran towards Rhonda and Anais, grabbed both of their hands, before disappearing around the corner with them.
Ignoring the fox's action, Ivan pulled the tab from the soda can when, almost immediately, a gush of soda splashed onto his face in a matter of seconds, before slowly dispersing itself. As the red bear wiped some of the soda off of his face, shocked by what had occurred, it didn't took Ivan too long to realize 'Harry's' intention. Needless to say, the bear could feel the anger simmering inside of him; how dare that fox made a complete fool out of him. There was no way he's going to let this one slide.
"That furball is going to pay for that!" Ivan vowed to himself, determined to track 'Harry' down.
Normally for Big Mac, he would be patrolling outside of the academy for almost the entire afternoon, until the next bell, at which point, he would head to the gym to begin PE. Instead, the muscular gym teacher was roaming inside the academy, looking for four certain kids, especially that glasses-wearing purple fox. Something about them seemed off and Big Mac was determined to get to bottom of this.
'When I find those munchkins, I'm going to get some answers right out of their-'
In the middle of his thought, Big Mac suddenly felt a strong force striking him from behind, nearly tumbling in the process. Once he regained his composure, the muscular toad turned around and right in front of him, was three kids: a broccoli, a mole and a bat. It didn't take too long for the muscular toad to realize who they were.
"Joey, care to explain why you and your buddies are in such a hurry?" asked Big Mac.
"Oh, um, sorry for rudely bumping into Big Mac sir." the broccoli sheepishly replied. "But we were just searching for a...few acquaintances of ours. Isn't that right, guys?"
Both Lloyd and Ray shook their head in response, hoping it would be enough to please their gym teacher. Big Mac, meanwhile, continued to look at them, uncertain what to make of their answer. Then, it hit him on the head.
"Would these 'acquaintances' happen to be a cat and a fish with two legs?"
"H-h-how did you know?" a shocked Joey asked.
"To be honest, it was just a wild guess." Big Mac replied. "All I do know is that I'm searching for them and two of their friends and since you three are familiar with one of them, I might as well tag along with you."
"Sure, whatever you say, Big Mac." says Joey.
"So, any bright ideas on where that cat and his fish friend are?" asked Ray.
While Big Mac, Joey and his pals began their discussion regarding them, just several inches away from them, in the janitor's closet, Gumball and Darwin cracked the door slightly open, spying on the four, before quietly closing the door, stunned by how unfortunate their situation has become.
Shortly after making a quick getaway from the cafeteria, both Gumball and Darwin tried to find several places to hide from Joey and his pals, though it was easier said than done. The lockers were too small for both of them to fit in, some of the classrooms were still occupied by students and teachers and the gym was all but locked from the inside. Luckily for them, the janitor's closet was big enough to lay low for a while, but it would be a matter of time before their pursuers would find their hiding spot.
"Gumball, what are we going to do?" Darwin asked, his head sweating with fear and anxiety.
"I don't know, buddy." Gumball replied. "All I do know is that we have to lay low, find Brian and Anais and get out of this place. But most of all, we cannot make a single sound. Understand Darwin?"
Darwin nodded his head, agreeing with his brother. A few seconds later, however, the two-legged fish belched out loudly, causing the room to slightly rumble. Shortly afterwards, both Gumball and Darwin could hear several footsteps coming towards their way, no doubt alerted by his friend's action.
"Darwin!" an annoyed Gumball shouted at his friend.
"I couldn't help myself, Gumball." says Darwin, as he covered his face in shame. "Their foods were so finger-licking good. I even bought an apple on our way out." The two-legged fish then showed his brother the fruit on his flipper.
"This is no time to talk about food! We need to find Brian and Anais and get the flip out of here!"
With that in mind, Gumball, with Darwin by his side, quickly opened the closet door with such force, accidentally knocking down their pursuers in the process. Stunned by what had occurred, Gumball and Darwin looked at the unconscious group, concerned for their wellbeing.
"Um…is everyone alright?" asked Gumball.
"Gumball, I don't think that's such a good idea." Darwin warned his feline brother.
"Lighten up, Darwin. I'm sure that at least one of them had loosened up."
Suddenly, Big Mac raised his head, his bruised face showing a rather angry expression right towards to the duo.
"You little munchkins are in so much trouble!"
Gumball and Darwin yelped, before quickly making a mad dash out of the muscular toad's sight, knowing full well that sooner or later, he, as well as Ivan's gang, would recovered long enough to resume their chase.
'Harry', along with Rhonda and Anais, found themselves at another section of the academy, with the purple fox trying to catch his breath, after he ran with his all his might away from Ivan. The purple fox wasn't certain whether the red bear was bright or not to react and he rather not stick around and find out for himself.
'Phew, that was a close one.' thought 'Harry', before he looked behind his back, hoping Ivan was right behind him.
As soon as 'Harry' managed to regain his composure, he turned around to find Rhonda staring at him, puzzled by his earlier actions.
"Harry, what was that about?" the mouse asked.
"Oh, um...I apologized for my actions earlier, Rhonda…" 'Harry' began to explain, his face slightly blushing. "It's just that I wasn't so sure how long we have left until the next bell, so I figure that we should at least get to the important part of the tour."
"Are you sure that was your intention?" asked Anais.
"What makes you say that?" the purple fox asked, confused by the child prodigy's question.
In response, Anais simply pointed across the hallway, where much to 'Harry's' dismay, was a rather enraged Ivan, his face still dripping with leftover sodas. Whatever Ivan planned to do to him, he was certain that it wasn't going to be pleasant.
"You have a lot of nerve to do that to me!" Ivan shouted, as he slowly walked his way towards to the purple fox. The moment Ivan said that, Rhonda turned to 'Harry', who only responded by chuckling rather nervously.
"You know, I was going to be a bit easy on you before the bell…" Ivan continued to talk, still slowly approaching the uncomfortable fox. "But now, you made me change my mind and nothing is going to stop me from-"
As Ivan was about to finish his sentence after reaching the halfway point in the hallway, out of nowhere, a blue of blue and orange dashed right passed him, prompting the red bear to stop in his track, before the mysterious figures stopped right in front of 'Harry', Rhonda and Anais. It didn't took too long for Ivan to recognize them as the same blue cat and two-legged fish that went into the cafeteria. Then, it hit him.
'If those two are here in the hallway, then where are tho-'
Suddenly, Ivan found himself tackled to the ground by Joey and his two friends from behind, knocking both him and themselves completely unconscious in the process.
While Ivan and his gang were lying on the floor completely unconscious, 'Harry', stunned to see this unexpected turn of event, confronted Gumball and Darwin, puzzled by their unexpected appearance in the hallway.
"Guys, what are you two doing here?" the fox asked his friends.
"Listen, we got no time to explain…" Gumball started to talk. "Big Mac is coming around the corner and-"
"Did you say Big Mac?" Rhonda asked, cutting the feline's words.
Before Gumball could say anything else, all five of them could hear footsteps coming around the corner, getting increasingly louder by the minute, only stopping the moment Big Mac had spotted all five of them in the hallway. As soon as the muscular toad spotted the four mysterious students, especially the glasses-wearing purple fox, something hit him.
"Now I remember!" Big Mac shouted, as he made his way towards the group, prompting all four to yelp, including Darwin, causing him to toss his apple up in the air, while Rhonda stood there, equally surprised by the toad's behavior.
"There's a good reason why I don't recognize any of you munchkins at all. You four are actually-" Before Big Mac could finish his sentence, the same apple Darwin was holding earlier landed right inside the toad's mouth, lodging itself in the throat. Shocked and panicked by this, Big Mac clung onto his throat, gasping for air. Likewise, 'Harry', as well as everyone, was equally stunned by this, until the silence was broken by Rhonda herself.
"Guys, we got to do something!" the mouse shouted.
"Rhonda's right." Anais agreed. "We got to help him out before he chokes to death."
"How are we going to do that?" asked Gumball.
"That's simple…" Anais began explaining. "You, me, Darwin and Rhonda will hold Big Mac's arms, while Harry will give him a Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the apple from his throat."
"Wait a minute, Anais. Why do you want me to do it?" the fox asked.
Before the child prodigy could say anything, Big Mac continued to cough, desperately gasping for air, as he pathetically attempted to give himself a Heimlich maneuver, to no avail.
"There's no time for arguing. We got to help him right now." says Anais.
Nodding his head in agreement, 'Harry' came to Big Mac's aide, grasping his arms around his stomach, while, Gumball, Darwin, Anais and Rhonda each grabbed a hold onto the toad's arm, holding them as tight as they could. Once everyone was in placed, 'Harry' then proceeded to give Big Mac the Heimlich maneuver as hard as he could, a feat the proved to be easier said than done.
'Geez louise, is his body made of steel?'
Despite this unexpected discovery, 'Harry' continued to perform the move and after what seemed to be a long time, he finally managed to get the apple out of Big Mac's mouth, leaving the toad exhausted and barely conscious, much to everyone's relief, glad that they managed to save the toad's life just in time.
"What is going on around here?!" a feminine voice shouted with sternness, prompting all five to turn around and saw the individual standing right in front of them. The individual is a fish like Darwin, but unlike him, she is a great white shark, with a fin on top of her head. She appeared to be middle-aged and she had a slender, humanoid figure. She also was wearing a red business suit and black high-heeled pump.
As the five stood in their tracks, unable to come up with any answer, Big Mac managed to get himself up on his knees, before facing the individual right in front of him, preparing to give her an answer of his own.
"Principal Pauline, thank goodness you're here. That purple fox and his friends are not students. They're trespassers!"
A wave of shock soon spread towards the four, especially 'Harry', or rather Brian, while Rhonda looked at them, stunned and speechless by Big Mac's accusation. With their disguises fully exposed, there was only one thing Brian and the Watterson siblings could think of.
'It's all over.'
Next time on The Newcomer
Chapter 14-The Mouse: Part 4
With their covers completely exposed, Brian learns that the only way they could escape punishment is that he and his friends must participate in a game of dodge ball against Ivan and his gang.
Tidbits
-Doing this chapter proved to be a lot difficult then I thought it would be, so I was forced to cut a few lines and scenes to make progress. I'll admit, it's not what I imagined for this chapter, but I did what I could.
-When Principal Pauline was created, she was intended to be the complete opposite of Principal Brown, at least in appearances. Her personality is expanded on in the next chapter. The OC, of course, is created by Truth of Chaos and as such, I want to give him full credit for that.
-Originally, before the creation of Principal Pauline, I envisioned the principal of Elmore Academy to be an old vulture with a pessimistic personality. However, I ended up disliking this OC, mainly because she was too similar to Miss Simian.
-As always, whenever an OC is created, I visualized how that character will sound like, based on their personality and mannerisms. For me, it would have been Jane Kaczmarek (Lois from Malcolm in the Middle) while Truth of Chaos suggested Michelle Pfieffer (whose only voiceover role, so far, is Eris in Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas).
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, but before I go, I want to announce the results from the poll regarding "The Newcomer":
The Alien: 26%
The Nightmare: 21%
The Nest: 15%
The Record: 15%
The Face: 10%
The Tree: 1%
The Argument: 1%
Originally, I was planning on doing all 7 chapters in order once the poll concluded, but I decided that it would be better off working on the chapter with the highest vote. As such, I'll be doing ONLY "The Alien" instead. I might retool "The Nightmare", "The Nest" and "The Record" as side stories in the future, but I'm not so sure. As for "The Face", "The Tree" and "The Argument", they'll be scrapped altogether.
I want to say thanks for those who have voted and once I'm done with the final part of "The Mouse", I'll begin working on "The Alien".
Thanks for reading and see ya next chapter!