I just wanted to thank wiseguy1107 for helping me out with this chapter!
Anyway, read and enjoy!
The Newcomer
An Amazing World of Gumball Story
By NeoNimbus
Chapter 23-The Bodyguard: Part 2
Several minutes had passed since Brian and the Watterson brothers began searching for Hans and Ivan, hoping that they could stop the former from harming the latter.
The boys couldn't believe what had just happened not so long ago; Hans, their bodyguard, had actually tried to harm Ivan, despite the impression that he merely going to intimidate the red bear. Sure, what he did back at the Watterson residence and the school was over-the-top and overzealous. But up until that point, all the swamp monster did was scared the daylights out of anyone who crossed his path. However, his recent action against Ivan proved to be the last straw.
'I can't believe we overlooked Hans' behavior! I really wished that we hadn't called Bodyguards Inc. to begin with!' Brian thought, as he and his friends continued their search.
Eventually, after what felt like forever, the boys stopped dead in their tracks, noticing the heavy damages all over the town. Some of the buildings looked as if they were blown to bits. The lamp posts were twisted in all the wrong places, somehow being easily bent. But most of all, they spotted dozens cars piled up together, followed by broken pavements and hydrants.
If Brian and the Watterson brothers knew any better, there was no doubt that Hans and Ivan were here and judging from the scenery, it was clear that the swamp monster was relentless in his pursuit.
"At least we know we're on the right track." Gumball commented.
"But we still haven't seen Hans or Ivan around." Darwin pointed out.
"Darwin's right." Brian spoke out, agreeing with the two-legged fish. "Where the flip are those two?"
On cue, there was a sudden loud explosion coming from one of the buildings, prompting the startled trio to quickly make their way to the direction of said explosion. Upon arrival, Brian and the Watterson brothers witnessed Ivan hiding behind a pile of broken boxes, as Hans came out of the destroyed building unscathed, with a look of determination on his face.
"Ivan, prepare to meet your maker this instant!" Hans demanded.
"C'mon man, can we talk about this?!" Ivan fearfully shouted back, as the red bear poked his head from behind the boxes.
In response, the swamp monster dashed towards Ivan, prompting the red bear to roll over on to his side, just as Hans barreled through the boxes, obliterating them like they were nothing. Startled by the swamp monster's action, Ivan ran past Brian and the Watterson brothers, with the swamp monster in pursuit.
"Hans wait!" Gumball, Darwin and Brian simultaneously shouted.
But the boys' pleas fell on deaf ears, as Hans continued to follow Ivan, plowing through several cars, hydrants and lamp posts along the way, leaving nothing but a trail of destruction. Both Brian and the Watterson brothers looked on with disbelief.
"Great, it looks like Hans is really determined to get rid of Ivan." Brian fearfully said.
"We can't stay around and let that happen, even if Ivan is a jerk." Gumball pointed out.
"Gumball's right…" Darwin began. "We have to follow Hans and try to think of a plan to save Ivan as quickly as possible."
With this determination in mind, the boys continue to pursue the swamp monster, hoping that the menacing bodyguard hadn't caught up with Ivan.
It was just another day for Larry and Karen, as the two were off in another date around the town of Elmore. For the rock humanoid, he prayed that this was the right time and moment to propose to his long-time girlfriend and the last thing that Larry wanted to happen was another awkward moment between them.
"Oh Karen, I've been waiting for this moment." Larry said to his girlfriend, as went on his knee and pulled a box from his pocket, before opening it to reveal a diamond ring. "Karen, would you be my-"
The moment was suddenly interrupted by the wailing of a young red bear, as he quickly passed the rock humanoid and his girlfriend with dear life. Before either of them could have any time to react, a blur of green suddenly passed by them, followed by a blur of blue, orange and purple, causing Larry to spin around like a tornado. Once the spinning ceased, Larry quickly found himself wearing nothing but his trademark hat, shirt and underpants, something that Karen quickly noticed.
"Um, I could explain…" was all Larry had to say, as the rock humanoid found himself in yet another awkward situation with his girlfriend.
Mr. Robinson happily drove his car on the street, for the sun was shining brightly and the blue sky was clear with no cloud in sight. For once, the older puppet was in a rather good mood for a change and nothing is going to ruin the day.
At least, that was the impression he had on today until he noticed a young red bear passing by him with a look of fear in his face. Before Mr. Robinson could do anything, a swamp monster appeared right in front of his car, as he proceeded to flip both the car and its occupant up in the air. After several seconds, the car came crashing down, breaking into several pieces, though Mr. Robinson crawled from his vehicle unharmed.
"Ugh…what just happened?" the older puppet asked no one in particular.
"Mr. Robinson! Are you alright?!"
Mr. Robinson could only cringed in response, as he reluctantly turned to see a certain blue feline looking at him with concern, alongside a certain two-legged fish and a purple fox he didn't recall eve seeing before.
"Does it look like that I'm alright, Gumball?!" the older puppet rudely responded to the blue feline.
"Sir, all Gumball did was just ask if you were alright! You didn't have to react like that!" Brian shouted at Mr. Robinson.
"Calm down Brian, I'm sure Mr. Robinson didn't mean it like that." says Darwin, before focusing his attention on the older puppet. "Mr. Robinson, we need to ask you a quick question. Did you-"
Before Darwin could finish his sentence, the older puppet cut him off, as if he already knew the answer right away.
"If you're talking about a swamp monster chasing a red bear, they went that way."
Mr. Robinson then pointed the trio to the direction that Hans and Ivan went; once they got the answer they needed, Gumball, Darwin and Brian immediately headed off to continue their pursuit, just as a driving wheel came down on the older puppet's head, much to his annoyance.
"I hate my life." a disgruntled Mr. Robinson muttered under his breath.
It was another busy day for Mr. Fitzgerald, as he and his construction workers were hired to construct the latest building in the ever growing town that is Elmore. For the bulky antler peanut, it was just another day at work and as long as he and his workers were on schedule, nothing could possibly go wrong, until…
"Out of the way!" a young voice fearfully shouted.
Startled, Mr. Fitzgerald turned to see a young, red bear heading into his direction, before he passed the bulky antler peanut and quickly entered into the construction zone. Just then, a well-dressed swamp monster suddenly showed up and went into the construction zone as well, followed by a certain blue feline and his friends.
"Sorry Mr. Fitzgerald, but were doing something very important right now!" Gumball called back, as him, Darwin and Brian headed into the construction zone.
Mr. Fitzgerald, for his part, just stood in his spot, completely dumbfounded by what he just witnessed. Although suspicious by this turn of event, Mr. Fitzgerald just shrugged his shoulders and focused back on his work once more, pretending that he didn't see a single thing.
Ivan couldn't believe how today was turning out for him. Just moments ago, the red bear was planning to make mince-meats out of Brian and his friends for getting his ePhone destroyed. Instead, he found himself being chased by a psychopath that intended to end his life right then and there. He didn't know how long it has been since then, but frankly, he doesn't care, just as long as he made it out alive.
'This is seriously not cool at all!' Ivan frantically thought. 'I really don't want to die just yet! I haven't even got my first kiss!'
As Ivan continued to run for his life, he took a quick peek from behind to see Hans continued to run towards him, destroying some of the construction equipments in his path. Panic soon set in on the young bear, prompting him to run even faster than before. Upon seeing some stairs, Ivan quickly rushed towards them, with Hans right behind him, much to the red bear's dismay.
'Doesn't this guy ever get tired?!'
Meanwhile, Gumball, Darwin and Brian were completely exhausted from their constant running; despite their best effort to catch up with them, the trio was no closer to stopping Hans from harming Ivan. Sooner or later, the swamp monster will not only catch up with the red bear, he'll go through with his intention.
"Gumball, what should we do now?" asked Brian.
"Honestly, I don't know, Brian." Gumball replied. "But we really need to think of a plan in order to save Ivan."
"Dude, we need more than a plan. We need to pull of a miracle!" Darwin exclaimed.
"Can't argue with that, Darwin…" Brian began. "But we need to come up with something to completely fool Hans and we need to come up with a solution and fast!"
The boys then began to ponder about their next move, hoping that at least one of them could come up with the answer to their problems. After a few minutes, an idea finally came to the trio; none of them were sure if it would work, but it was better than nothing.
"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" Brian asked his friends, prompting Gumball and Darwin to nod their heads in agreement.
"Alright then…" Brian began. "To the prop store this instant!"
As soon as the purple fox shouted those words, Darwin looked at Brian in confusion.
"Why are heading to the prop store for? I thought we're here to save Ivan."
Brian, however, didn't respond right away, as he face palmed before he eventually answered the two-legged fish's question.
"Darwin, the prop store is part of the plan to save Ivan."
"Brian's right, Darwin…" says Gumball. "If you want to know why, just follow our instruction when we get there."
"Okay." Darwin said happily
With that decided, both Brian and the Watterson brothers went off to the store, hoping that they have enough time to save Ivan from Hans' wrath.
Ivan continued to climb up the stairs like mad, going from one floor after another, while Hans was as relentless as usual, following the frantic red bear with no end in sight. By now, Ivan felt his body going numb from all the running, as the pain was now starting to express itself. Nevertheless, the red bear chose to ignore it altogether and continued to run up to the next floor.
"I wish this was all a dream to begin with." Ivan muttered under his breath.
But as he managed to reach the next floor, Ivan was to dismay to find that the area he was in was still in construction. Just when he realized this, the red bear felt a horrifying chill down his spine and with great reluctance, Ivan slowly turned to see Hans standing at a distance, cracking his knuckles and preparing to follow through with his threat.
"Please reconsider what you're doing right now." Ivan pleaded with Hans. "I'll do anything you wanted, I swear!"
"I'm afraid I don't do negotiations, Ivan." Hans bluntly replied. "As a bodyguard, I have to eliminate any threat that comes to my clients and you are no exception."
Ivan backed away from Hans as best as he could, as the swamp monster slowly advanced on the frightened red bear. But as Ivan continued to back off, the young bear felt a cold, hard object right behind him. Curious by this, Ivan turned to see a rather long flag pole right next to him, prompting the red bear to climb all the way to the top as quickly as he could. By the time Ivan reached to the top, Hans approached the flag pole, unimpressed with the bear's action.
"That doesn't change anything, Ivan. I will get you by any means."
"Exactly how are you-"
Before Ivan could finish his sentence, the red bear noticed that the swamp monster was cracking his knuckles once again. With one war cry, Hans unleashed a barrage of punches at the flag pole, each hit causing it to shake like mad, as Ivan continued to cling on to it with all of his might. After what felt like an eternity, Hans made one final punch on the flag pole, releasing a wave of energy around it. Expecting something disastrous to occur, Ivan noticed that the flag pole was still standing, much to his confusion.
'That's odd…' Ivan wondered. 'For second there, I thought for sure it was-'
Suddenly, the red bear heard a cracking noise from down below, as the flag pole began to sway side-by-side. As Ivan continued to cling on, the pressure within the flag pole finally gave way, as the pole snapped backwards, sending its frightened occupant down to the ground. But at the very last minute, the flog pole ended up getting wedged by two pillars of girder, preventing Ivan from falling to his doom.
'Wow! That was a close one!' Ivan thought, as the red bear sighed with relief.
But his joy was short-lived, as the end of the flag pole Ivan was hanging on suddenly snapped, sending the red bear towards the ground. Fortunately for him, a large pile of burlap sacks were resting on the ground, cushioning the fall for Ivan, as the red bear received only minor injuries from his fall, much to his happiness.
'Thank goodness I'm still alive!'
"Ivan, are you alright?" a voice whispered to the bear's ear, prompting Ivan to yelp back, only to see a concern Brian right next to him.
"Oh, it just you." Ivan replied, silently thanking that he was actually glad to see the purple fox for once.
"Listen Ivan, I know that me, Gumball and Darwin are inadvertently responsible for your dilemma, but don't worry, we got everything under control."
"What are you talking about?" asked Ivan, arching an eyebrow in curiosity.
"This is no time for arguments, Ivan! We have to hide behind these burlaps sacks and let Gumball and Darwin takeover from there."
Ivan continued to stare at Brian, still curious about what he and his friends were up to. Despite his own reservation, the red bear complied with the purple fox's demand and the two continued to hide behind the burlap sacks, as Gumball and Darwin were heading towards Hans, carrying with them a rather large object.
"Hans, are you still there?" Gumball called out to the swamp monster, prompting Hans to immediately dash down from the top floor and to the ground right away.
"What is it right now? Can't you see that I'm busy with my job at the moment?"
"That's why we're here, Hans." Darwin explained. "We got Ivan right in our grasps."
Puzzled by the two-legged fish's claims, the swamp monster inched his head towards the object that Gumball and Darwin carrying. The object in question was a mannequin that somehow resembled Ivan, from the features of the red bear and all the way down to the outfit that he wore.
While Hans continued to inspect the Ivan mannequin, the real Ivan and Brian looked on from the distance, the former having doubts that the swamp monster would be so easily fooled by the getup.
"Is that the best you three could come up with? There's no way that lunatic is going to fell for something like that."
"Just trust us on this one." Brian calmly replied, before him and Ivan resumed focusing their attention to Hans once more.
The swamp monster, meanwhile, inspected the Ivan mannequin one more time, before he stopped in his tracks and pondered on the spot, leaving Gumball, Darwin, Brian and Ivan nervously awaiting Hans' next course of action. Finally, after what felt like a long time, the swamp monster turned to the Watterson brothers, ready for his response.
"I have to say, I'm quite impressed what you two just did right now." Hans admitted to the duo. "For a second, I thought for sure you would actually try to stop my pursuit."
Hans' last sentence left the Watterson brothers rather nervous, as the duo slightly chuckle in response. Fortunately for them, it appeared that the swamp monster didn't notice their reaction right away.
"If you two don't mind, I have a task to finish up."
Before Gumball and Darwin knew what happened, Hans grabbed the Ivan mannequin by its collar and proceeded to pulverize it in the most unimaginable way, leaving them, Brian and Ivan quite shocked by the swamp monster's action. Ivan was especially mortified by the scene he was just witnessing right now; if that mannequin was him, he would have been a goner for sure.
Hans continued to brutally tear up the Ivan mannequin with no mercy in sight for several minutes, until the mannequin itself was nothing more than several tiny pieces on the ground, much to the swamp monster's satisfaction.
"It looks like my job here is finally done." Hans commented, taking one last look at the mannequin, before he focused his attention to Gumball and Darwin, as the duo looked on with discomfort.
"You and your buddies are free from Ivan's wrath. There's no need to thank me, I'm just doing what a bodyguard is suppose to do."
With that said, Hans immediately dashed out of the construction site, leaving only Gumball, Darwin, Brian and Ivan, as the four sighed with relief. Once they were certain that the swamp monster was no longer in their presence, Brian and Ivan went towards Gumball and Darwin to regroup.
"That was a close one, wasn't it Gumball?" asked Brian.
"It sure was Brian." Gumball replied.
"At least we finally got rid of Hans off our back." Darwin stated.
"That's a relief." says Brian, before he turned to Ivan with concern. "Ivan, are you alright?"
"Am I alright?! I was chased around town by a crazed lunatic that you three were indirectly responsible and you're asking if I'm ALRIGHT?!"
Gumball, Darwin and Brian recoil in shock, their faces cringing in response to Ivan's statement, before they noticed the anger disappearing from the red bear's face, replaced by relief and calmness.
"Yes furball, I'm alright, thanks to you and your friends." Ivan finally answered Brian's question. "I'm just glad that this nightmare is finally over."
Both Brian and the Watterson brothers sighed with relief, knowing that Ivan was at least showing his gratitude for their effort minutes ago. Then, something hit Darwin.
"What about your ePhone, Ivan?" the two-legged fish asked.
"Forget about it." Ivan replied. "I'll just tell mom about it. Just my way of saying I forgive you guys."
"That's good to hear." says Gumball.
"Oh, one more thing, furball…" Ivan began, much to Brian's curiosity.
"What's that?"
Before he and his friends knew what happened, the red bear expressed a serious and stern expression, before Ivan spoke his words.
"This incident never happened at all."
Gumball, Darwin and Brian nervously shook their heads in agreement, assuring that their mouths are sealed. Satisfied by their response, Ivan, Brian and the Watterson brothers went their separate ways, pretending that the entire ordeal never took place at all.
The rest of the entire afternoon went on without any further incidents, as Gumball, Darwin and Brian took the transit bus all the way back to the neighborhood. Once they arrived to their destination, the trio got off the bus and made the walk to the Watterson residence, as the boys reflected on today's event.
"That was one flipping day, wasn't it Gumball?" Brian asked the blue feline
"I couldn't agree more, Brian." Gumball replied. "I'm just glad that everything turned out alright in the end."
"Let's all agree that we won't call Bodyguards Inc. anymore from now on." Darwin spoke out.
"Agreed." Gumball and Brian simultaneously said.
Once the duo assured the two-legged fish, the trio continued to head to the Watterson residence for a day of relaxation. Then, out of nowhere, Idaho suddenly showed up in their path, looking rather excited, much to the boys' curiosity.
"Guys, you wouldn't believe what happened to me!" Idaho excitedly exclaimed.
"What is it, Idaho?" Brian questioned the potato.
"I was able to make a friend and he was fun to hang out. In fact, he should be coming here in any second now!"
"Who is exactly is…your…friend…"
Gumball trailed off before he could say anything else, as a large figure showed up right next to Idaho. Likewise, Brian and Darwin were just as speechless, as the trio find themselves facing a certain swamp monster cracking his knuckles and ready to do his job. There was only one thing that the boys could think of right now
'Oh no!'
Next time on The Newcomer
Chapter 24-The Blind
After being pranked one too many times, Brian decided to get even with Jamie with a prank of his own-with disastrous results.
Tidbits
-Once again, I want to thank wiseguy1107 for creating Hans, as well as helping me out on this chapter.
-First time I was able to fit Mr. Robinson and Mr. Fitzgerald into the story, along with Larry and Karen. It's not much, but it was better than nothing.
-Speaking of Mr. Robinson, the brief conversation between him and Brian does foreshadow an upcoming chapter, but for now, my lips are sealed.
Thanks to everyone who had read part 2 of "The Bodyguard" and I'll be seeing ya next chapter!