I wanted to thank Sal for coming up with this chapter idea, along with his OC.
Also, I want to give a shout out to Bda241 as my way of saying thanks for following my story, as well as for his upcoming story "Stay in School".
That said, read and enjoy!
The Newcomer 39
An Amazing World of Gumball Story
By NeoNimbus
Chapter 39-The Attitude
It was just another day at Elmore Junior High, as a blue car pulled over to the sidewalk. Once it stopped, the passenger side of the vehicle opened, revealing a kid wearing a gray and blue hoodie, with the hood covering his entire face, a pair of cargo pants and light red shoes, along with a black messenger bag on his back, as he stepped out of the car.
"Alright son, be careful on your first day here." the driver informed his son.
"I'll be fine, dad. Thanks." the kid assured his father.
Once the two exchanged words, the kid made his way inside the school and unsurprisingly, the hallway is filled with various students of his age. Not interested in interacting with his fellow peers, the kid ignored everyone and proceeded to walk down the hallway, garnering curious looks from everyone in the process.
"Hey, who is that?"
"Is he a new student?"
"I've never seen him before."
"I hope he doesn't mind if I borrowed his body for consumption."
'Jeez, the nerve of these people.' the kid thought, clearly irritated by their constant whisperings.
But as the kid was minding his own business, ignoring all the whispers around him, he bumped into what felt like a group of hard objects, falling down on his back, the hood coming down, revealing a badger with maroon fur and grey stripes on his face.
'What was that just now?' the badger thought, rubbing his sore head.
"Hey there, are you alright?" a voice asked with concern.
The badger looked up to the direction of the voice and saw three boys staring right at him: a blue feline, a fish with two legs and a purple fox. Judging from their expression, they appeared to be worried for his self-being
"I'm sorry about that." Brian apologized. "We didn't see you back there."
"We weren't paying attention to where we were going." Gumball explained.
"Anyway, if you need any help-" was all Darwin could say, before the maroon badger got up and stared right at the trio.
"Thanks but no thanks. I got more important things right now." the maroon badger coldly replied, before he quickly passed the shocked trio, disappearing around the corner.
"What was that about?" asked Gumball.
"Beats me, but he was rather rude." Darwin commented.
"Tell me about it…" Brian began. "I don't think I even seen him before."
In the midst of their conversation, the school bell suddenly rang, snapping them back to reality.
"Oh man! We need to get to Miss Simian's class before we get detention!" Gumball alerted his friends.
Nodding their heads in agreement, the trio immediately ran to their class as fast as they can, hoping that they could make it on time.
Gumball, Darwin and Brian were relieved that they got to their class just in time before the old, cantankerous baboon showed up. Oddly enough, their teacher was quite late as usual and the trio decided to discuss the new guy until Miss Simian showed up.
"So guys, any ideas on what the new kid will do on his first day?" asked Darwin.
"Honestly, I don't know Darwin." Brian replied. "But he should be careful around here."
"Besides, it's not like we'll be seeing him again." Gumball commented.
As the boys continued on with their conversation, the door to the classroom suddenly burst wide open, prompting the trio, along with their fellow classmates, to stop what they were doing, as Miss Simian made her way inside.
"Alright class, settle down for just a moment. As all of you know by now, we have a new student. So, without further delay, I want to introduce you all to Michael Badgero."
Once the elderly baboon finished her words, a certain maroon badger nonchalantly walked his way inside and faced his fellow classmates, much to their surprise, but none more so than Gumball, Darwin and Brian.
'It's him again!' the trio simultaneously thought.
"So Michael…" Miss Simian began. "Is there anything you wanted to say to the rest of the class?"
Michael, or Mike, didn't answer the old, cantankerous baboon right away and instead, simply walked right towards an empty desk next to Brian's. Needless to say, the badger's action stunned his fellow classmates and even Miss Simian was shocked by his actions. It was the last thing they ever expected.
"Mike, what was that about?" asked Brian, clearly irritated by the badger's actions. "You're not going to make some friends around here if you behave like that."
"So does that mean you care of the way I was acting?" Mike asked with sarcasm.
Brian didn't respond right away, irked that the badger would say something like that to him. The purple fox considered countering his claims, but not wanting to get into trouble, especially in front of Miss Simian, he decided to just let it slide for the moment.
"Look Mike, all I'm saying is that you need to change your attitude if you want people to like you more." Brian remarked.
The maroon badger, however, ignored the purple fox's words, as Brian could only sigh in disappointment by his behavior and the impression he had just left on everyone.
The afternoon had finally arrived, as the school bell signal the students to head out to the cafeteria, as everyone from Miss Simian's class left, with Mike being the last person to come out.
'Now what should I have for lunch?' Mike pondered, as he made just ten steps down the hallway, until a booming voice suddenly spoke out of nowhere.
"Hello there, badger boy!"
Mike paused in his tracks and turned around to see a t-rex, along with a hybrid and toast, staring right at him. While most would dread facing Tina and her gang, the maroon badger, however, was more annoyed than terrified of their presence.
"What do you want?" Mike demanded.
"That depends, badger boy." Tina replied. "You got two choices: give us half your lunch money or you'll suffer the worst beating of your life. What'll it be?"
As Mike continued to glare at the t-rex, unbeknownst to either of them, Brian, who had just came out of the boy's bathroom minutes ago, noticed the scene from where he was standing. Fortunately for him, it appeared that they didn't seem to notice his presence right away, much to his relief.
'I have to think of something and fast.' Brian thought, before he spotted a wet floor sign, along side a bucket of water and a mop that Rocky had left around…wait a minute! That gave him an idea!
Realizing what he had to do; Brian made his way to the mop and picked it up, before he proceeded to call Tina out.
"I choose option 3: mop attack!"
Startled by this, Tina turned around and saw a mop launching right at her, landing directly on the t-rex's face. Roaring in agony, as the soap made its way to her eyes, Mike took advantage of this and ran through Tina's legs, making his way to the wet floor sign, as the badger quickly discarded it from around the corner to prevent Tina from noticing it, just as the carnivore was able to see once more.
"Where did you go, you little runt?!" Tina shouted, determined to find the maroon badger at all cost.
On cue, the carnivore heard a loud whistle right behind her, prompting Tina to turn around and saw Mike from a very long distance, as the badger hid a puddle of water behind him. For her part, the t-rex smiled rather sadistically.
"You're going to get it now, badger boy!" Tina yelled, before she roar and quickly ran right towards Mike.
But the maroon badger, however, didn't bother to move at all, as Mike calmly and coolly leaned back, dodging Tina's jaws, as the carnivore's feet made contact with the water. Startled by this, the t-rex desperately tried to stop, as Tina continued to slide on the floor, until she noticed a wall coming towards her.
'This isn't going to end well.' Tina thought, before she closed her eyes and crashed right through the wall, slamming hard onto the pavement, just as Jamie and Anton showed up to inspect their unconscious friend through the hole.
"Do you think Tina is alright?" asked Anton.
"Let's just go down there and find out for ourselves." Jamie replied, before the two proceeded to leave the hallway to check up on their friend.
While Mike couldn't help but smirk in amusement to the bullies' misfortune, Brian, who had managed to avoid getting trampled by Tina earlier, approached the maroon badger with concern.
"Mike, are you alright? You're lucky that you managed to survive your encounter with Tina and her friends."
The moment the purple fox spoke up, Mike turned his attention to him, expressing confusion on his face.
"Why are you so concerned all of a sudden? We barely know each other."
"Isn't it obvious, Mike? I just wanted to help a fellow classmate out and make you feel welcome in this school." Brian stated. "Besides, be glad that I was there to help you out."
Mike continued to look at Brian, somewhat irritated to hear the purple fox's words. He chose to walk right pass Brian, before stopping all of a sudden, turning around to face the purple fox once more.
"Listen, I don't want your help. I can handle myself more than you think." Mike informed a confused Brian.
"Why are you acting like this towards everyone?"
"Sometimes the people you trust the most are your biggest threats. You don't want me as a friend and I don't want you as mine." Mike coldly stated, before the maroon badger turned around and proceeded to make his way to the cafeteria, leaving Brian quite stunned by his answer.
'I wonder what he meant by that.' Brian pondered, before he decided to just head to the cafeteria and informed his friends about his brief encounter with Mike.
The rest of the day went on without any further incidents, with the exception of Tina having to get sent to the hospital for her incident with the wall, as the school bell rang for the last time, signaling the students to leave until the next day. While most of the students chose to take the bus to get home, Gumball, Darwin, Anais and Brian decided to walk instead, the latter having plans to hang out with them. In the midst of their walk, they noticed a certain maroon badger walking right next to them.
"Strange…" Gumball began. "It looks like Mike is taking the same path as we are."
"Well, this is the first." said Darwin. "Perhaps we could use the opportunity to talk with him."
"Are you sure about that Darwin? He doesn't seem to be the talkative type." Brian pointed out.
"We don't know until we try it, Brian." Anais insisted, before she focused her attention to the maroon badger. "Hello, my name's Anais. How are you today?"
Mike didn't respond to the child prodigy's question nor did he look at the four. Before they knew what happened next, the maroon badger slowly moved away from them until they arrived at the Watterson residence. By then, Mike was three houses away from Brian and the Watterson siblings and already made his way inside his home, though the four were rather irritated by his silent treatment.
"Wow, you guys weren't kidding about him." Anais said to the boys.
"He's been this way all day, Anais." Gumball explained to his sister. "He even brushed off our help when we accidentally bumped into him."
"Even so, I still think he needs to change his behavior before he gets on everyone's bad side." Brian commented
"I don't know about you guys, but let's get back inside and take our minds off it for now." Darwin spoke.
Everyone agreed with the two-legged fish and went inside the Watterson residence, just as the four found Richard and Nicole carrying a basket of flowers and a bag of cookies, much to their surprise.
"Hey kids, it's good to see you back from school." Nicole greeted the four.
"Plus, you guys have arrived just in time." Richard stated.
"What's going on?" asked Brian.
"Oh, we're just getting ready to greet our new neighbors." Nicole replied.
"What new neighbors?" Gumball asked his parents.
"Oh, they live about three houses down from here. From what I heard, their last names are the Badgeros." Richard explained to his son.
The moment the large, pink bunny made that statement, both Brian and the Watterson siblings took a minute or so to realize what Richard and Nicole we're talking about. Needless to say, none of them were thrilled of the idea of facing Mike again, especially for his behavior. Fortunately for them, neither Richard nor Nicole noticed their reactions, as they spoke once more.
"Say, maybe you kids could come with us and gave them a warm welcome here."
"Richard's right on this one. After all, we don't want to give them the cold shoulder. So would you kids do this for us?"
Brian and his friends pondered for a moment to think of an answer. Even though they were still irritated by Mike's actions minutes ago, the four figured that perhaps a warm greeting from them would be enough to change the badger's mind. But if it doesn't work, then nothing else will.
With that in mind, the four turned their attention to Richard and Nicole, with Gumball ready to give them their answer.
"Alright, we'll do it for you guys."
Richard and Nicole smiled in response, satisfied by their son's answer, before the two led the four outside, making their way to the Badgero residence.
Nicole and Richard, along with their children and their friend, made their way to the Badgero residence, as the large, pink bunny rang the doorbell, as the group waited for someone to come by to the door. A few seconds later, the front door open, revealing a badger with red fur and white stripes, wearing a yellow blouse and green skirt, as she looked at them with curiosity.
"Welcome to the neighborhood." Richard and Nicole greeted the red badger, as the two handed her the basket of flowers and bag of cookies.
"Why, thank you so much." said the red badger, as she allowed them in her house. "My name is Olivia. Can I help you with something?"
"Well Olivia, we were wondering if we could spend some time with you." Nicole replied, as she, her husband and the kids sat on the couch.
"Sure, it's good to get to know a fellow neighbor." said Olivia, prompting Nicole to smile.
"That's very nice to hear. By the way, my name's Nicole and you already met my husband Richard…"
"It's nice to meet you." Richard greeted back.
"…And I want to introduce you to Gumball, Darwin and Anais, my kids, along with their friend Brian."
"Hello." Gumball, Darwin, Anais and Brian greeted simultaneously to the red badger.
"It's nice to meet every one of you." Olivia said to the group, before she focused her attention to the kids. "Did any of you meet my son yet?"
"Actually, we did, Mrs. Olivia, but he really wasn't nice." Gumball replied.
"All day long, he's been ignoring everyone that crossed his path and acted rude towards everyone who tries to talk to him." Darwin explained.
"He even tricked Tina to put herself in the hospital." Anais commented.
"Is he always like this every day or is there more to him?" Brian asked the red badger, causing Olivia to look down at the ground, before she took a deep breath and look at the four once more.
"I understand that he might not be a pleasant boy, but Mike is a very nice kid. It's just that the last school he attended gave him a hard time; especially when he couldn't find any friend with a mutual trust… not after what happened…"
This seemed to mystify everyone as they wondered what she meant, but decided they didn't want to press the matter as they wanted this to be a happy meeting.
"So my husband and I had him transferred to your school, hoping that a change in environment will improve his outlook on others."
'It still doesn't explain why he is weary of people. Brian thought. 'I'll just ask Mike myself.'
"Hon, who are you talking down there?" a voice spoke out, prompting everyone to turn around and saw a badger with dark blue fur and black stripes, wearing a brown vest, a red shirt and khaki pants, coming down from the stairs, surprised to see that he had some visitors in the house.
"Hello, we don't mean to intrude, but we just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood." Richard explained.
"It's all good, sir. I really don't mind company." the blue badger calmly assured the large, pink bunny. "By the way, my name is Charles, but you may call me Chuck. I also see you met my wife Olivia."
"That's a relief…" Nicole began. "Just out of curiosity, what kind of jobs do you two have?"
"I don't like to brag, but I'm a firefighter and the right-hand badger of the fire chief." Chuck said, chuckling at his own bad joke. "And Olivia owns her own bakery and…"
While Nicole, Richard and Olivia listen in to Chuck, Brian and the Watterson siblings spotted Mike in the backyard, holding a wrench in his paw. Before they knew what happened next, the maroon badger climbed up and over the fence, much to their surprise.
'What are you up to?' Brian thought, before a certain older, blue feline spoke up.
"Kids, are you alright?'
Both Brian and the Watterson siblings snapped back to reality, as the four noticed Nicole, Richard, Chuck and Olivia staring at them with confusion. Not wanting to alert them about Mike's sudden disappearance, Gumball decided there was only one thing to do.
"Sorry mom, we just realized that, um, we should get some gifts of our own to give to the Badgeros. Isn't that right, you guys?"
"Yeah."
"Sure."
"Certainly."
The adults looked at one another, somewhat weirded out by the kids' explanation. Eventually, Richard finally spoke, wanting to break the awkward silence in the room.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Positive, Mr. Watterson and don't worry, we'll be back before you know it."
"Alright then, if you say so." said Chuck. "You kids be careful then."
With that, Gumball, Darwin, Anais and Brian got off from the couch and head to the front door, hoping they could find Mike and confront the maroon badger about his actions.
15 minutes later…
Brian and the Watterson siblings were worn out from following Mike and despite their best efforts to keep a close eye on the maroon badger, he had somehow managed to elude them by the time they were able to track him down to an unfamiliar neighborhood.
Just several minutes ago, the four managed to spot Mike turning around the corner and without any hesitation, they proceeded to follow the maroon badger as quietly as they could, hiding behind garbage cans, mail boxes and even under the sewers. But then, Mike was suddenly walking much faster, forcing the four to pick up the pace. Unfortunately, he proved to be too quick for them and disappeared by the time they reached their current destination.
"Dude, I can't believe he disappeared just like that." Gumball commented.
"I'll say. Where exactly are we?" asked Darwin.
"Now that Darwin mentions it, I don't recall being here at all." said Anais.
"There's a sign right there..." Brian began, as he pointed to one posted just a few inches away from them. "Welcome to Uppermore, the brightest neighborhood in Elmore."
"Judging by the name, it appears that this is a rich neighborhood." Anais noted.
"I'm surprised such a place like this even existed." Gumball spoke.
"Forget about that, you guys. We need to find Mike and see what he's up to." Darwin informed his friends.
Agreeing with the two-legged fish, the four resumed their search for Mike, as they roamed around Uppermore, passing one high-quality house after another, hoping they could catch a glimpse of the maroon badger. But just then, the four stopped in their tracks when they heard a voice they we're all familiar with.
"You four have a lot of nerve coming around here. It's bad enough that you boneheads snuck into Elmore Academy."
Despite their hesitation, Brian and the Watterson siblings reluctantly turned around and much to their dismay, found themselves facing Ivan and his gang. Instead of wearing their uniforms, Ivan wore a sports jacket, with a white shirt underneath it and blue pants, Ray wore green sweater, black pants and cyan sneakers, Lloyd wore a yellow shirt and khaki shorts and Joey, being a Broccoli, didn't wear that much clothes at all.
"Care to explain why your here?" Ivan demanded.
"Look Ivan, where not here to cause any trouble or anything." Brian nervously explained.
"We just got here by accident, that's all." Darwin insisted.
"Besides, we were just…looking for someone, that's all. Yeah, that sounds about right." Gumball quickly spoke, not wanting Ivan or his friends to find out who they were looking for.
"Look, just let us be and we'll leave as soon as possible." said Anais.
"Aw, isn't that cute? These boneheads got lost and are looking for their mommy." Ivan spoke with mockery, as he and his gang laughed their heads off, much to the four's displeasure.
"Say, how about we show these dimwits how we treat people here in Uppermore?" Joey suggested.
"That's exactly what I have in mind." Ivan replied, as he and his gang started to menacingly approach the four, while Brian and the Watterson siblings could only back away from the brutes. As the four continued to do so, Anais noticed sparks flying out of her feet…wait a minute! That's it!
'Better do this quickly.' Anais thought, as she quickly rubbed her feet on the ground, building up a large amount of electricity. Her actions didn't go unnoticed, as Ray spotted the electricity coming out from the child prodigy's feet.
"What are you-" was all Ray could say, before Anais shoots electricity from her finger, shocking Ivan and his gang in the process, before all four fell to the ground unconscious, as Gumball, Darwin and Brian sighed with relief.
"That was some good thinking back there." Gumball congratulated his sister.
"Where not out of the woods yet, Gumball. It'll only be a matter of time before those four recover." Anais informed her brother.
"Oh, I knew it was too good to be true." Darwin moaned in dismay.
"Then let's get the flip out of here before that happens." said Brian, as his friends nodded in agreement, before all four quickly ran to the entrance, just as Ivan and his friends are about to stir up.
Getting out of Uppermore proved to be much easier than expected, as Brian and the Watterson siblings managed to get through to the gate before it closed. The same can't be said to Ivan and his gang, as the red bear was able to create a hole through the brick walls, much to the four's chagrin, before they went off running, with Ivan and his friends right behind them.
'Oh man! This is so not coo!' Brian thought, as he and the Watterson siblings ran with all of their might, leaping from one backyard after another, with Ivan and his gang doing the same thing.
By the time Brian and his friends got out of the most recent backyard, the four found themselves back in their old neighborhood. But as much as they want to relax, there was no time, as Ivan and his gang were getting closer, prompting the four to run once more, passing both the Watterson and Badgero residence, until they stopped dead in their tracks in the middle of the street when they saw a road construction sign and equipment blocking their path.
"Are you serious!?" Gumball shouted. "They have to have constructions now?!"
As the four realized this, Ivan and his gang managed to catch up with them, despite being exhausted, as Brian and his friends could do nothing but stare with fear and anxiety, having nowhere else to go now, before the red bear and his gang started to approach them.
"Looks like we got you right where we want you…" Ivan began, clenching his fists "You got nowhere to run and you have no dumb luck helping you guys out this time."
"Hey Grizzle Puss!" a certain maroon badger called out, prompting Ivan and his friends to turn around and much to their surprise, saw Mike on top of a fire hydrant, with the wrench mounted on the side. Likewise, Brian and the Watterson siblings was also surprised, but happy, to see Mike as well.
"It's about time someone cleans up your act"
Before the red bear and his gang could do anything, the maroon badger kicked the wrench, unleashing a high speed stream of water towards them, knocking them down to the ground, as Mike got off of the hydrant, turned off the water, and picked up the wrench, just as Brian and his friends approached him with enthusiasm.
"Thank you for saving us back there." Brian congratulated the maroon badger.
"Yeah, you managed to show Ivan a lesson or two." Gumball praised Mike.
"If you didn't show up, we would have been goners for sure." Darwin pointed.
"It looks like we owe you one on this." said Anais.
Mike, however, didn't respond to their words of praises and instead, walked right passed them and made his way towards to Ivan, who soon found himself being stared at an infuriated Mike, his hand gripping tightly on the wrench and his foot on his body, as the maroon badger began to speak.
"It's bad enough that you and your friends have to pick on new students at Elmore Academy just for the fun of it, but it's even worse that you guys decided to make anyone less fortunate than you miserable! Do you think this is some sort of game or something?!"
Gumball, Darwin, Anais and Brian looked on, confused and curious that Mike was somehow familiar with Ivan and his friends, as if they already knew each other. Ivan himself couldn't do anything else except listen to the maroon badger's angry rant.
"I can't believe I once called you a friend. You know, when I snuck out today, I was planning to finish where we left off, Ivan. But after seeing what you were doing just now, I realized that I'll just be stooping down to your level: picking on someone weaker than me. Therefore, I want you and what's left of your dot of a circle of friends to just head back home and stare at the ceiling, and realize that little kid you sent to the hospital beat you at your own game!"
Both Brian and the Watterson siblings were shock to hear what the maroon badger had said. Not only did he know Ivan personally, but he had known him for such a long time. It was then that the purple fox finally understood Brian's last statement in the afternoon.
'So that's why he's acting like this. No wonder he was weary of us. He was afraid that he would be betrayed again.'
While Brian pondered in his thoughts, Mike got off of Ivan, allowing the red bear to regain his composure, as his friends also got up to straighten themselves out, before Ivan angrily glared at the maroon badger. For a while, there was an intense silence between them, but eventually, Ivan turned around and walked away, regrouping with his friends.
"Come on, you guys. Let's go." Ivan informed his gang, as he and his friends ran off from the scene, with Mike smiling with satisfaction as he turned around to walk away, until a certain purple fox suddenly spoke.
"Mike, wait!"
Surprisingly, Mike complied with Brian's demand, allowing him and the Watterson siblings to approach him, as the purple fox spoke once more.
"I know we said this already, but we still wanted to thank you for saving us back there. Also, I finally understand what you were talking about and I'm sorry that happened to you. If I had known Ivan was the main reason you were behaving like that in school, I would have certainly listen to you right away."
Mike didn't speak but instead turned to look at the purple fox as he continued to speak.
"Your mom said that you couldn't trust anyone to be there and stand up for you and that you didn't believe anyone would trust you either. I was hoping that my friends and I could convince you otherwise."
Mike couldn't help but chuckle as he looked at the purple fox's speech, before he turned around to face Brian once more.
"Alright, I'll have to admit, you got me good down there." Mike confessed, as the purple fox smiled in response.
"So what do you say? Do you want to be friends with us?" Brian asked the maroon badger, extending his paw to him.
Despite some hesitation, Mike looked at Brian and the Watterson siblings, realizing that, in spite of his behavior towards them, they were more than willing to befriend him. With this in mind, the maroon badger smiled and shook the purple fox's paw, realizing that maybe he can trust them.
"Okay, I'm willing to take a chance. Sorry for how I was acting today." Mike said as he and Brian finished their handshake. Everyone accepted Mike's apology without hesitation.
"Sorry for the intrusion, you guys…" Darwin spoke out. "But we should head back to the Badgero house. I'm sure that Mrs. Mom, Mr. Dad and Mr. and Mrs. Badgero might be wondering where we've been."
"Oh my goodness, I'm almost forgot about them!" said a panicked Gumball.
"Then why are we standing around here for? Let's get going!" Anais exclaimed.
With that, the five kids ran as fast as they can to the Badgero residence, but for Mike, this day would be one he'll never forget, as the maroon badger finally found some friends who would always be at his side, no matter what.
Next time on The Newcomer
Chapter 40-The Counselor
Mr. Small quits his job after Annie questions his skills and soon ends up being his replacement. But Annie soon learns that being a counselor is anything but pleasant.
Tidbits
-I just wanted to thank Sal once again for this chapter idea, along with the creation of Mike Badgero, his OC.
-For the voice of Mike, both Sal and I agreed on Jesse McCarthy, best known as the voice of Robin in Young Justice.
-For Chuck and Olivia, we both agreed on Jeff Bennett, who is an experience voice actor and Kathy Najimy, who is best known as the voice of Peggy Hill from King of the Hill.
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll be seeing ya next time!