I just wanted to thank wiseguy1107 for his suggestion in this chapter.
Anyway, read and enjoy!
The Newcomer
An Amazing World of Gumball Story
By NeoNimbus
Chapter 37-The Visit: Part 2
It was Saturday afternoon in the town of Elmore and normally for Brian; he would be watching TV, reading a comic book or playing some video games. Today, however, proved to be an exception for the purple fox, as he find himself standing in front of the Paxton residence. Ever since Rhonda invited him to her place yesterday, Brian, fearing that he would make a complete fool out of himself, sought Anais' help, despite things not turning out the way he had hoped.
Even so, the purple fox decided to use what the child prodigy had taught him, determined that the last thing he wanted to do was to leave a bad impression on both her and her father.
"Alright Brian, you can do this." the purple fox muttered to himself. "All you have to do is just leave them a good impression and it'll be done and over with."
With that, Brian took a deep breath and made his way to the front door of the Paxton residence, before he rang the doorbell. After a few seconds, the door finally opened, revealing Rhonda.
"Hey Rhonda, how…are…you…"
Brian trailed off the moment he got a full glimpse of the mouse and he couldn't believe what he was looking at. Expecting to see Rhonda in her casual attire, the mouse was instead wearing a green dress with floral patterns and white sandals. In addition to this, she also had some eyeliners and rouge applied on her face. Needless to say, Brian wasn't able to say anything and ended up speaking in incoherent gibberish instead.
"Brian, are you alright?" asked Rhonda, perplexed to see her friend's unusual demeanor, prompting the purple fox to snap right back into reality.
"Oh, I'm fine Rhonda, thanks for asking." Brian said to the concern mouse, as he rubbed his head sheepishly. "Seriously, why do you look like that?"
"I…decided to try something new for a change." Rhonda half-heartedly responded, decided it was best not to let her friend know what really happened yesterday.
"I see." said Brian, as he arched an eyebrow with curiosity. "Well, it looks good on you."
"Thanks, I guess. Anyway, come right inside Brian."
Happy to hear such words, Brian walked right inside the Paxton residence and was amazed by how neat and organized it was inside. It looked rather cozy and cleaned, which somehow doesn't surprised Brian in the least bit. Still, he was amazed that he got a first glimpsed of what Rhonda's place looked like.
"Wow, this is such a nice place you have." Brian commented, prompting Rhonda to smile back. "By the way, where's your dad? I haven't seen him that much."
"If you're referring to me, I'm right behind you." a rough voice spoke, prompting the purple fox to turn around and stopped dead in his track, stunned to see who he was staring at.
In front of him is a well-built mouse, slightly taller than his dad, who had yellow fur like his daughter, but his hair is red instead of brown, along with a square jaw. He wore a light green shirt, blue jeans and brown boots. From what Brian could tell so far, it was clear that this older mouse is the father of his secret crush and judging from his expression, he seemed to be somewhat suspicious of him, much to his discomfort.
'Oh man! It looks like it'll be a lot tougher to get on Mr. Paxton's good side.'
"Brian, what's the matter?" asked Rhonda.
"Oh, it was nothing Rhonda. I just…didn't notice your dad was right behind me." Brian quickly explained, not wanting to make anything awkward.
"I guess that makes sense." said Max, still a bit weird out by the fox's behavior. "Well, as you probably figured out, I happen to be Rhonda's father. My name is Max Paxton and I want to welcome you to-"
Before the older mouse could have a chance to shake hands with Brian, the purple fox suddenly slapped his hand back, much to Max's confusion.
"Sorry, it wasn't on purpose, I swear." Brian insisted, freaked out that he had used one of Anais' unusual lessons from yesterday.
"That's alright, everything is cool." Max assured the startled fox, even though the older mouse was somewhat dumbfounded by this. "Anyway, just make yourself at home and be on your best behavior."
With that, Max excused himself from the living room, leaving just Brian and Rhonda in the room all by themselves.
"What was that just now?" asked Rhonda.
"It…was something I accidentally picked up." Brian replied, deciding that it was best she didn't know what had occurred yesterday afternoon.
"I see then." said Rhonda. "Well, since you're here now, let me show you around."
Brian couldn't help smile, as his cheeks blushed slightly in response, happy to know that his secret crush was willing to give him a quick tour around her house. Maybe the day won't be so bad after all.
But then, Brian felt a sudden chill down from his spine, as the purple fox slowly turned around to see Max just a few inches away from him, looking at him suspiciously. It was clear to Brian that the older mouse didn't fully trust him yet, a task that the purple fox soon realized wasn't going to be so easy to accomplish.
'Oh man! This is going to be a very long day.' Brian thought, before he followed Rhonda's lead, hoping he could at least avoid the older mouse's glares as best as he could.
4 hours later…
Today wasn't turning out to be an enjoyable one for Brian, thanks to the action of a certain older mouse, as the purple fox soon ended up at the dinner table, sitting between Rhonda and her father Max, the latter still looking at him wearily all day long.
For the last several hours, Max had continued to keep a close eye on Brian during his brief tour around the Paxton residence, whether it would be Rhonda's room or the backyard. The older mouse's glares only caused Brian to become increasingly uncomfortable with this and just being at the dinner table with him was only making things much more awkward.
'Geez Louise! I don't know how much I can take of this! There's got to be a way to at least end the day on a good note.'
As Brian continued to ponder about his situation, both Rhonda and Max looked at the startled purple fox; it had only been a few minutes and Brian had yet to make a single move. Although Rhonda was very worried for the purple fox's well being, Max, on the other hand, remained rather wary of Brian, waiting to see what kind of action he'll make.
"Brian, are you alright?" Rhonda asked, finally breaking the silence, as the purple fox snapped back into reality.
"Oh Rhonda, I was…thinking of something else." Brian nervously replied, not wanting to get the mouse worried.
"That would explain why you were so silent for so long." Rhonda noted.
"Rhonda's right, you haven't said a single word since we got to the dinner table." Max finally spoke, oblivious to the fact his presence was the reason Brian hadn't said anything all day.
"I apologized for giving you and daughter the silent treatment…" Brian began. "It's just that all day long, you've been eyeing on me around the house. No offense, but it's starting to make feel unwelcome around here."
"Now that he mentions it, I notice that you've been behaving like that since this afternoon." Rhonda noted. "Dad, just give Brian some space and give him a chance. After all, he is one of my friends."
Max pondered for a moment, thinking what his daughter had just said to him. The older mouse had to admit, he was getting too tough on Brian and not once, had he gave the purple fox a chance to prove his worth. The least thing that Max could do is just back off for just a moment and make Brian feel like at home.
Having thought of all of that, Max turned to Rhonda, ready to give his daughter his answer.
"All right, sweetie. I promise I'll go on easy on your friend."
"That's all I wanted to hear. Thank you so much dad." Rhonda said to her father, happy that the older mouse decided to give Brian the benefit of the doubt, while the purple fox himself was relieved to hear Max's answer.
"Now that everything is crystal clear, why don't we just dig in?" Max suggested.
"Sounds like a good plan to me." said Brian, before he and the Paxtons began to eat their dinner.
After everyone had a good and satisfying meal, Brian and Rhonda decided to watch some TV to pass the time. As promised, Max gave both the purple fox and the mouse some space, in spite of his reservation of having a boy around the house. Even so, Brian was glad that he got to spend some time alone with Rhonda for a change, just him and the mouse in the living room.
'Now this is more like it.' Brian happily thought.
While he was in the midst if his thoughts, the purple fox suddenly felt someone tapping him on his shoulder, prompting Brian to turn around and see Rhonda staring at him, much to his curiosity.
"I have to say, you surprised me today with your table manners and overall etiquette. I didn't expect to see that from you. That and you were behaving rather out of character."
"Oh, it was nothing, really." Brian said to the mouse, before the purple fox realized something. "I'm quite surprised that you were behaving rather modest. Not to mention that your personality was much more feminine."
"I…just thought that I would give it a try, at least for today." Rhonda said half-heartedly, flustered to hear such things from Brian, all the while not revealing why she was behaving like this.
For his part, Brian just looked at the mouse, a bit weirded out by Rhonda's reaction to his last statement. However, he decided that it was not the best time to talk about such details. Right now, he just wanted to sit down and watch TV with his crush. At least, that was the plan until…
"Oh crud." Brian muttered, as he got up from his couch and held his stomach.
"What's wrong, Brian?" Rhonda asked, worried for the purple fox's well being.
"It's nothing much, except that I really need to find a bathroom and fast." Brian explained to the mouse.
"The closet one is right upstairs." Rhonda informed the fox.
"Thanks for the help." said Brian, as he made his way upstairs and into the bathroom, as he closed the door behind him for some privacy, before he could relieve himself.
A few minutes later…
"Man, what a relief." Brian said to himself, as he pulled his pants up before flushing the toilet.
But as the purple fox made his way to the sink and washed his paws, Brian suddenly heard a few gurgling noises coming behind him. A look of horror formed on his face and slowly, the purple fox turned around and much to his dismay, the toilet had been backed up, as the water is slowly rising up.
'You have got to be kidding me!' Brian fearfully thought, shocked by this sudden turn of event.
As the purple fox desperately tried to find a quick solution to his situation, Brian spotted a plunger near the toilet, much to his relief. Without any hesitation, he immediately grabbed it and used it on the toilet, hoping he wasn't too late.
"This had better work." Brian commented, as he continued to pull and push the plunger.
After doing this a couple more times, Brian pressed the handle on the toilet, hoping that his effort was enough to unclog the toilet. Initially, the water was starting to recede, much to his joy.
"Yes, its working." said Brian "I can't believe its really working."
Unfortunately for the purple fox, the joy was short-lived, as the water inside the toilet starting to rise up much more, leaving Brian mortified once more in his situation.
'This can't be happening!' Brian thought. 'Of all the places, why did it have to be in Rhonda's house?!'
As Brian desperately tried to figure out what to do in his situation, it was then that he realized he still had his cell phone with him. It was a good thing that he always carried with him every single day and he was just glad to have with him right now.
"Desperate times calls for desperate measures." Brian muttered, before he pulled his cell phone out of his hoodie, hoping that Gumball and his siblings were still at home and praying that at least one of them could offer him a solution to his problem.
It was just another afternoon for Gumball, Darwin and Anais, as the brothers were playing video games, while Anais, as always, was playing with her Daisy the Donkey doll. Aside from a few mishaps around the house, it was an otherwise uneventful day. At least, it was supposed to be, until the phone suddenly rang, prompting Gumball to pause the game and make his way to the phone to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Gumball, thank goodness you're here!" Brian happily exclaimed. "Listen, I'm going to say something very important, so promise me that you won't freak out."
"Don't worry Brian, I promise I won't react in any shape or form." Gumball assured his worried friend.
"That's a relief."
Brian then gave a brief explanation to the curious blue feline about what had happened so far in Rhonda's house up to his current situation. As soon as the purple fox told him what had occurred in the bathroom, Gumball, his eyes wide opened and a look of incredulous on his face, couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"You clogged the toilet?!"
"Not so loud, Gumball! " Brian pleaded. "I thought you said you wouldn't freak out."
"Sorry about that, Brian. I just didn't expect THAT to happen at Rhonda's place, that's all." Gumball explained.
Just then, Darwin and Anais approached their older brother, both curious to know what's going on.
"Hey Gumball, what was that about just now?" asked Darwin.
"Wait, don't-" was all Brian could say, before the blue feline cut him off by answering his brother's question.
"Brian clogged the toilet in Rhonda's house."
"GUMBALL!"
"That's what you said." Gumball spoke defensively. "Anyway, I've got nothing for you, so I'll just hand the phone to Darwin right now."
With that, the blue feline handed the phone to his younger brother, allowing Brian to have a conversation with the two-legged fish.
"Hello Brian, what do you need help on?"
"Well Darwin…" Brian began. "I was hoping that maybe you could tell me how to unclog the toilet. The last thing I wanted to do is to face Mr. Paxton's wrath."
Darwin paused for a moment, trying to come up with a solution, while Brian could do nothing but wait, fearing that Max would show up at any moment and demand an explanation from him. It was the last thing that he wanted to do and it would make the situation even worse. Eventually, Darwin finally found one way to help his friend out.
"Hey Brian, is there a cabinet in the bathroom?"
"Sorry if I asked the obvious, but why?"
"Look around the cabinet to see if there is cologne, lotion or a brush lying around."
"Alright Darwin, if you say so." an uncertain Brian spoke, before he opened up the cabinet and found some lotion, cologne and a brush.
"I found the necessary items Darwin, now what?"
"Just applied them on your face and used the brush on your hair."
Brian was still confused where this was going, but for the moment, he decided not to argue with the two-legged fish and did what he was told, as he put some cologne on his, rubbed some lotion on his paws and brushed the three strands of hair on his head. At that moment, the purple fox finally decided to ask his friend once more.
"What does this have to do with unclogging the toilet?
"It doesn't." Darwin happily replied. "But when you get out of the bathroom, you'll be looking clean and fresh."
"DARWIN!" Brian angrily shouted back, causing Darwin to recoil with shock. "I can't believe I followed your stupid instructions! Do you know how mad I am right now?! If I wasn't in Rhonda's place right now…"
As the purple fox continued on with his angry rant over the phone, scolding the two-legged fish for not helping him out at all, Darwin pulled the phone away from his ear, before he covered up the receiver with his flipper and turned to his siblings with an oblivious look.
"Brian is really having a bad day." says Darwin, prompting both Gumball and Anais to facepalm by their brother's comment.
"I think you've done what you can Darwin." Anais said to her brother. "Why don't I take it over from here and help Brian out?"
"Sure." Darwin replied, as he hand the phone to the child prodigy.
"Brian, just calm down for a moment and listen to my instructions." Anais informed the stressed out purple fox.
"…Alright Anais, if you say so." Brian complied, calming himself down. "What do you have in mind?"
"Have you tried using the plunger?"
"Actually, that was the first thing I did…" Brian began. "But it did nothing to unclog the toilet."
"Oh, never mind then." Anais commented. "Wait a minute, I got it! Removed the lid from the toilet and I'll instruct you from there."
Brian did as he was told, taking the lid off from the toilet and put it on the ground, before talking to the child prodigy once more.
"Alright, I did what you told me to do. So what do I do now?"
"Look for a lever inside the toilet. Once you do, just lift it up. It'll stop the water from overflowing."
'This had better work!' Brian thought, as he spotted the lever inside the toilet and lifted it up, just as he was instructed. Before the purple fox know what was happening, the water suddenly began to flush down, leaving Brian relieved with joy.
"That was a close one." Brian commented, as he put the lid back in place and put everything back the way it was, before he picked up his cell phone from his hoodie.
"Anais, it looks like it worked." the purple fox informed the child prodigy. "Thank you so much for the help."
"Don't mention it. I was just helping a friend out, that's all."
"Regardless, I really owe you a big one. By the way, before I hang up, just let me say one thing to you and your siblings."
"What's that?" asked Anais, before she turned on the speaker for her, Gumball and Darwin to hear.
"I don't want any of you to mention this again in the future."
"Don't worry Brian, our lips are sealed." Gumball assured the purple fox, before Brian hung up, just happy that he was able to get himself out of an embarrassing situation.
It had been several minutes since Brian went upstairs to use the bathroom. Initially, Rhonda didn't think too much about it, but when the purple fox didn't come back from the bathroom; the yellow mouse was starting to become worried, prompting her to go up and check on him to see what was going on.
"Brian, are you alright in there?" asked Rhonda.
"I'm fine Rhonda!" Brian called out. "I'm just, um freshening myself up, that's all."
"Are you sure about that? You've been in there much longer than usual." Rhonda noted.
"It was…complicated, but everything is fine."
Rhonda was quite puzzled by the purple fox's last statement and somehow, she was still suspicious by his answer. Even so, the yellow mouse decided not to question him further and for her sake, maybe it was for the best.
"Alright then, if you say so. I'll be waiting downstairs when you're done."
With that, Rhonda went back to the living room to wait for Brian to finish up, just as the purple fox slowly opened the bathroom door, looking both sides to make sure that the coast was clear. Relieved that no one else was in sight, the purple fox was about to make his way downstairs when a certain older mouse suddenly spoke out of the blue.
"So, did you managed to finishing unclogging the toilet?"
Brian stopped dead in his tracks; his face frozen with fear, as the purple fox slowly turned his head around and saw Max standing right behind, with a look of amusement on his face. Brian doesn't know what the older mouse was thinking, but whatever it is, this won't look good for him.
"Mr. Paxton, I could explain…" Brian nervously began. "I was just relieving myself, that's all. I didn't mean to-"
Max suddenly raised his hand, prompting the purple fox to stop talking, as he allowed the older mouse to speak up about what had occurred just now in the bathroom.
"Don't worry, Brian. I won't tell Rhonda what happened in there. To be honest, I was quite impressed that you were able to act quickly on your feet."
"Oh, it was nothing, really." said Brian, as his cheeks slightly blushed with embarrassment. "I actually got help from my friends."
"Regardless, you did a fine job yourself." Max said to the purple fox. "Look, I'm sorry that today didn't turn out the way you had hoped for. As a matter of fact, I owe an apology for making you feel rather unwelcome in this house."
"It's all good, Mr. Paxton." said Brain, accepting the older mouse's apology. "It's understandable that someone like you can be rather protective of someone like Rhonda."
"Glad we came to an understanding."
"So, does that mean we're cool then?"
"Other than the fact that you almost made a mess in the bathroom, yes, we're cool." Max responded. "Now just relax and make yourself at home. You do need a break after what happened."
Brian nodded his head in agreement, before the purple fox turned around and headed downstairs, while Max looked on, somewhat happy that Brian was able to leave a good impression with him.
The rest of the afternoon at the Paxton residence went on without any further incident, as Brian was able to enjoy himself hanging out with Rhonda, whether they were playing a game of basketball or just talking about random things. When the sun was starting to set, Brian realized that he had to get home on time and with Max's approval, the purple fox found himself escorted back to his place with Rhonda by his side.
"Today turned out quite nice, wasn't it Rhonda?" asked Brian.
"Well, things did become rather awkward around the house…" Rhonda began. "But yeah, it turned alright in the end."
"That's good to hear." said Brian. "Look, about everything that happened…"
"That's alright Brian, I get it that you were only behaving like that just so you didn't upset my dad. Truth is, I really didn't want to wear this dress or put makeup on today. In fact, I really didn't like the way I was behaving myself."
"Really?" a surprised Brian asked the mouse.
"Yeah." Rhonda admitted to the purple fox. "The only reason I'm like this today is because I took my friends' advices yesterday. Even though I didn't want to go through it, I did it anyway just as a precaution."
"You know, the same thing happened to me as well…" Brian began, much to Rhonda's surprise. "I was also taking some 'lessons' from Anais yesterday as well and it turned out that it wasn't such a good idea after all. Seriously, she can behave just as erratically as Gumball."
"Wait a minute, are you saying that you went into similar circumstances that I went through for today?"
"That's pretty much it."
Once Brian gave his answer to Rhonda, there was a long, awkward silence between the fox and the mouse, both still surprised by the other's admission. Eventually, the two burst into laughter, as they couldn't believe that they went through almost similar situations as the other has gone through.
"Oh man, that was the funniest to ever happen to us." Brian commented, as he attempted to keep a straight face.
"I couldn't agree more, Brian." said Rhonda. "I'm just amazed that we actually took advice from our friends."
As Brian and Rhonda continued to laugh their heads off about their ordeal, it was at this point that the duo finally made their way to the O'Quinn residence, as the fox and the mouse were standing right next to the front door. It was then that Rhonda began to start off the conversation.
"Well, here we are Brian. Before I head back, let me just say that I'm happy you stopped by. I really enjoyed myself."
"Anytime Rhonda; it was nice getting to know your dad. He seems like a really cool guy."
"I'm glad that you felt that way. Honestly, I'm surprised that my dad managed to warm up to you."
"Well, I think I might have left a good impression on him."
"That's very good to hear from you. Anyway, let's promise each other that we'll be ourselves the next time."
"Don't worry, that is one promise I will keep."
Once Brian and Rhonda made their agreement, the mouse couldn't help but smile, glad to know that her friend will honor such a promise.
"Thank you Brian. Anyway, I have to get going now. Bye."
With that, Rhonda turned around and walked her way home, but not before she waved at Brian, who in turn, waved back at her. Satisfied by this, the purple fox went inside the house, just as Gordon came downstairs to see his son.
"So Brian; how was your day at Rhonda's house?'
"It was fine dad, just fine." Brian happily replied, still smitten that he was able to spend some time with Rhonda.
Next time on The Newcomer
Chapter 38-The Amnesia
When Brian accidentally gave Mr. Robinson amnesia, he, Gumball, Darwin and Anais have to help the older puppet regain his memories.
Tidbits
-I'll have to be honest; this didn't turn out the way that I had hoped for. Still, I want to make sure that I manage to complete this chapter.
-In some way, Max Paxton is somewhat similar to Mr. Fitzgerald, though in Max's case, he's more than willing to give Brian a chance to prove himself.
-Once again, I wanted to thank wiseguy1107 for his suggestion.
Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll see ya next time!