The Newcomer
An Amazing World of Gumball Story
By NeoNimbus
Chapter 54-The Cake
It was just another day in Elmore, as Nicole made her way to a bakery shop, aptly titled 'Badgero Bakery', as the older, blue feline tapped on the kitchen bell, waiting patiently for Olivia to show up.
'I hope I didn't arrive at the wrong time.' Nicole thought to herself, before the red badger made her way out of the kitchen.
"Nicole, it's good to see you! What brings you over to my bakery?" the kind shopkeeper asked.
"Oh, I just wanted to drop by and say 'hi' to a friend, that's all." Nicole replied.
"In that case, hi," Olivia playfully told to the older, blue feline, before both women laughed their heads off, just before Nicole became serious.
"That aside, I actually did come here for a simple request. Can you bake a cake in time for Anais' birthday?"
"Wow, your daughter is turning five already?" asked Olivia, surprised to hear that from her friend. "Well, I'm hurt that you didn't tell me sooner." Olivia said feigning hurt.
"Sorry… I've just been so busy." said Nicole. The red badger playfully chuckled to show she was just kidding. "Anyway, how long will you take to bake this cake?"
"That depends on the cake itself, Nicole." Olivia began to explain. "It can take me either a couple of hours or the entire day."
"Take as much time as you need, Olivia." the older blue feline said to her friend, before Olivia decided to ask her friend.
"Just of curiosity, what kind of cake do you have in mind?"
"I just want a Daisy the Donkey cake, that's all."
The red badger was a bit surprised to hear that from Nicole, but at the same time, it made a lot of sense, considering that Anais happens to be a big fan of the show. With that in mind, Olivia turned to Nicole, ready to speak with her once more.
"I have a lot of orders to fill out, but I think I'll finish making that cake in four hours at most. Also, are you going to be free to pick it up when I'm done?"
Nicole didn't respond right away, as the older, blue feline took a deep breath before answering her friend's question.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to drop by later. I have to get Richard checked out at the hospital because he fell off from the roof today."
Before Olivia knew it, the red badger heard a loud moaning from outside, no doubt coming from the large, pink bunny himself.
"Oh, I see. Don't worry, Nicole, I'll make sure I'll finish that cake just in time before your daughter's birthday."
"Thanks Olivia, you're a life-saver!" Nicole happily exclaimed, before the older, blue feline left the bakery and returned to her vehicle to drive Richard to the hospital, while the red badger made her way into the kitchen.
Just as Olivia predicted, it took her exactly four hours, as the red badger was finally finished adding the last touch on the Daisy the Donkey cake. It took her much effort to make sure that the cake looks exactly like the character and despite the hard work, it was worth the risk.
'Wow, it almost resembles Daisy herself.' Olivia thought, impressed by her handiwork, before she realized something very important.
"That's right; I have more orders to fill out. In that case, I'll just put it right in the fridge."
With that in mind, the red badger made her way to the refrigerator, intending to put Nicole's order inside. But when she opened it, Olivia was dismayed to find that the refrigerator was already packed, leaving no room to put the Daisy the Donkey cake in.
"Darn, I knew it was too good to be true. Wait a minute, of course! I'll just call for some help, and I know who to call!"
Olivia put the cake on the counter and picked up her cell phone, dialing the phone number, hoping that help can arrive as quickly as possible.
At the Badgero residence, Gumball, Darwin, Brian and Mike were sitting on the couch, watching what appears to be a series of old retro cartoons. While Brian, Mike and Darwin were enjoying themselves, Gumball, on the other hand, was quite uncomfortable just watching them.
"Oh man, this is so unbearable! Where are the actions and colors?! Why does the animation look like that?!"
"Don't be so judgmental, Gumball." Darwin scolded his older brother. "It's actually quite enjoyable."
"Darwin's right." Brian agreed with the two-legged fish. "You don't need to be fancy just to make a good cartoon."
"Besides, these cartoons are where all of them began." Mike insisted.
Just then, Mike's cell phone rang, prompting the maroon badger to pick it up from his hoodie and answer it.
"Hello?"
"Hi Mike, how's everything back home?" Olivia asked her son.
"Everything's fine, mom. I'm just watching some old cartoons with my friends."
"That's good to hear. Anyway, is it alright if you four could come by the bakery really quick? I have an important task for you boys."
"Sure mom, we'll be right there." the maroon badger assured his mother.
After running to the bakery shop from the Badgero residence, Brian, Mike and the Watterson brothers made their way inside the kitchen, as they saw Olivia putting the Daisy the Donkey cake in a box, before the red badger turned her attention to the curious boys.
"Hello boys, thank goodness you're here. This is going to be very important, so listen as carefully as you can, understand?"
The boys nodded their heads to assure Olivia that they understood everything, before the red badger continued on with her explanation.
"I need you boys to bring this to the neighborhood, specifically to Gumball and Darwin's place. Whatever you boys do, don't reveal it to anyone, especially to Anais."
"Don't worry, mom. This will be a piece of cake." Mike assured his mom, before he and his friends snickered in response from the pun.
"Alright Mike, but be careful with it." Olivia wearily said to her son, before she handed the box to him and allowed them to exit the kitchen, as the boys left the bakery, beginning the long trek back home. But after making only just a few steps, a certain chinikin unexpectedly popped out of nowhere, surprising the boys in the process.
"Hello boys!" greeted Sussie. "What's in the box?"
"Well Sussie, you see-" was all Brian could say before the chinikin cut him off.
"Box! Box! Box! Box!"
"Sussie, I appreciate your curiosity, but we're really busy right now and we don't want to be late." Gumball said to the ecstatic chinikin.
"Besides, we're really in a big hurry!" Darwin pleaded.
"So whatever it is you have in mind, it'll have to wait." Brian suggested.
Sussie, however, ignored the trio and began to speak nonsense instead. As Brian and the Watterson brothers continued to calm the chinikin as best as they could, Mike, despite being irritated by Sussie's behavior, looked around all over the place, hugging the box rather tightly around him.
'If they think they're going to get one glimpse in this box, they'll have to get past me.' Mike thought.
While the maroon badger continued to survey his surroundings, Gumball, Darwin and Brian were finally able to calm Sussie down, only after they told her what was inside the box and the chinikin could only look on with horror.
"Is it true, you guys? That box will steal my voice?"
"That's right, Sussie." Brian lied. "That box will do exactly just that."
"So if you want to keep talking for a long time, I suggest you keep your mouth shut around it." said Gumball, playing along with the purple fox.
"I think this is the part where you run for dear life." Darwin suggested.
Sussie nodded her head, complying with the two-legged fish, before she turned around and ran screaming, just as Mike approached his friends.
"That takes care of one problem. I just hope that's the last time we'll see her for the day."
"Yeah, about that…" Gumball began, before he whispered in Mike's ear; after a minute or so, the maroon badger looked at the blue feline, before face palming.
"You guys just bring destruction and chaos where ever you go."
"Unfortunately, that happens all the time." Darwin replied. "But after a while, we just get used to it. Also you're one to talk, Mike."
"All we have to do is keep our guards up and we'll make it back home in no time." Brian stated, with everyone agreeing with the purple fox, before the boys continued their walk, as Mike could do nothing but groan.
Several minutes had passed since their unexpected encounter with Sussie, but for Brian, Mike and the Watterson brothers, it was an otherwise uneventful afternoon and for the maroon badger, he hoped it stayed that way.
'Looks like where almost out of the shopping district.' Mike thought to himself. 'Just a few more steps and we'll be out of here in no-'
The maroon badger's thought was interrupted, as he, along with his friends, suddenly bumped into what appeared to be a hard object. The box that Mike was carrying almost fell to the floor, but fortunately for the maroon badger, he was able to grab it just before it hit the pavement.
"That was a close one, Mike." said Brian.
"Tell me about it." Mike stated, before he turned around and saw Mr. Robinson on the sidewalk, as the older puppet got up from his feet. "I'm sorry about that, Mr. Robinson. My friends and I were in a hurry and we didn't mean to-"
Mr. Robinson raised his hand, prompting Mike to be quiet, as the older puppet began to talk.
"It's alright, kid; you didn't mean to do that on purpose. Apology accepted." Mr. Robinson assured the maroon badger. "But seriously, you and your friends need to be more careful next time."
With that, the older puppet resumed his walk once more, as the four could only sigh in relief.
"I'm glad that Mr. Robinson didn't question us about the box." Mike noted.
"Yeah, that would have been rather awkward." Gumball agreed with the maroon badger.
"At least he wasn't that upset." Darwin pointed.
"Anyway, we better get a move on right away before that cake goes bad." Brian reminded his friends, prompting the four to resume their walk.
The boys were glad that they were finally out of the shopping district and making their way towards the neighborhood. After having two run-ins on their walk, the boys were just glad that they were near their destination, with no further obstacles in sight. At least, that was the plan until the four stopped dead in their tracks finding themselves facing a certain t-rex, along with a hybrid and a toast, blocking their path.
"Good afternoon, boys." Tina greeted the four, before she narrowed her gaze at Mike. "What's in the box, badger boy?"
Before Mike could reply to the carnivore's question, Gumball suddenly spoke and quickly gave Tina an answer.
"It's a secret Tina and it's best if it stays like that."
With that, he, along with his friends, attempted to walk right past the trio, only to stopped dead in their tracks by Jamie, who remained unimpressed by the blue feline's response.
"Jamie, let us pass through. We don't have time to play your stupid games." an irritated Mike demanded.
"I don't think so, stripes! Tina, Anton and I wanted to know what's in the box. Either one of you tells us what it is or I'll give you a pounding." Jamie explained.
"For your information Jamie, I've taken on people like you twice my size and I still ended up on the top." Mike retaliated, before the maroon badger handed the box to Brian. "You want to take me on; then give it all you got."
"You're going to regret this." Jamie taunted Mike, before the hybrid proceeded to charge right towards the maroon badger. Mike, however, simply sidestepped out of the way, taking Jamie by surprise, before the maroon badger grabbed her arms from behind, restraining Jamie in the process.
"Told ya so." Mike nonchalantly spoke, before he let go of Jamie, as the hybrid staggered back to her friends.
"Wow that was rather disappointing." Anton flatly said.
"Shove it, Anton. I don't want to hear about it." Jamie barked back at the meek toast, before she focused her attention to the boys. "You guys can go back to wherever you were heading."
"You two really are giving up that easily?" Tina asked her friends.
"No, I'm done! I don't even care anymore about the stupid box!" Jamie shouted before stomping off.
Satisfied, Mike made his way to Brian, as the purple fox handed the box back to him, before the four resumed their walk once more, with the maroon badger looking on with a much serious look on his face.
It must have been at least one hour, but despite the craziness that the boys had encountered on their way back, they finally made their way back to the neighborhood at last and for Mike, he was just relieved that he can finally put the box away, as the four made their way towards the Watterson residence.
"Man that was very hectic back there." Brian commented.
"No kidding." Mike agreed. "It was hard enough to prevent everyone from finding out about the box."
"I'm just glad that we were able to make it in one piece." said Darwin, as he and his friends approached the front door.
"All I want to do now is just relax on the couch and watch some-" was all Gumball could say, before the front door suddenly opened, revealing Anais in front of them. Startled by the child prodigy's unexpected appearance, Mike attempted to hide the back from her view, but it didn't help that said box was too big, as Anais was able to see it from the maroon badger's back.
"What's in the box, Mike?" asked Anais.
Mike didn't answer the child prodigy's question right away, as he stammered to come up with an excuse for Anais. But just then, Gumball and Darwin spoke on their friend's behalf, as if they have already had an excuse for the child prodigy.
"Anais, this box was ordered by mom and it's really special."
"But that's all what we're going to tell you for now, Anais."
The Watterson brothers hoped that their answers were enough to satisfy their sister, but what came out of Anais' mouth wasn't the response that they weren't expecting.
"That's….so…cool! Can you guys please tell me what's in the box?!"
"I'm afraid we can't do that, Anais." Brian replied, causing the excited child prodigy to suddenly frown at the purple fox.
"Why not?"
"If we told you what it is, it'll ruin the surprise. You're just going to have to wait for the moment." Brian explained.
"But I want to know what it is right now!" the child prodigy demanded, making it clear to the boys that she won't take 'no' for an answer. Just then, Darwin made his way to his sister, much to Anais' confusion.
"Darwin, what are you-" without warning, Darwin pinched his sister in the neck, causing Anais to become briefly shocked, before falling to the ground unconscious.
"Wow, I can't believe it really worked." Darwin exclaimed in excitement, before he noticed Mike approaching, amazed by what he had did just now.
"How did you do that?"
"Oh, that's simple…" Darwin began to explain. "One of the cartoons you showed me today taught me that."
"At least Anais is down and out for the moment." Brian noted. "Anyway, Gumball and I will take her up to her bedroom, while you and Mike try to find a good place to hide that box."
Everyone agreed with the purple fox, as Brian and Gumball picked up Anais and made their way upstairs to put the child prodigy in her bed; Darwin and Mike, meanwhile, looked for any possible place to put the box in, hiding it long enough for Anais' birthday to show up. The task was easier said than done, however, due to the box's size and there were very few spaces available downstairs to hide the box. After what appeared to be like an eternity, it was then that Mike finally had found a solution, something that Darwin noticed right away.
"You know where to hide the box?" asked the two-legged fish.
"As a matter of fact, I do." Mike replied. "But first, you must promise me not to look. It's better if less people knew the actual location."
"…Alright, if you say so." Darwin obliged, turning and closing his eyes, as Mike made his way to the refrigerator and hid the box behind a few dozen foods and drinks, before the maroon badger quietly closed the doors.
"There, that should do it." Mike said to himself, satisfied that he was able to deal with one problem.
A few days later…
Anais' birthday has finally arrived, as the O'Quinns, along with the Badgeros and Paxtons, made their way to the Watterson residence, ready to celebrate the child prodigy's fifth birthday. After everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to Anais, Nicole, after being informed by Mike on where the box is, took out and unveiled it to her daughter, as the child prodigy looked on ecstatically.
"Oh my goodness, it's a cake shaped like Daisy the Donkey! This is the best thing to ever happen!"
"And you know what makes this day even better?" asked Richard. "The birthday girl gets to have the first slice."
As soon as the large, pink bunny cut the cake and handed the first slice to his daughter, everyone immediately began to have a good time at the Watterson residence. While everyone was enjoying each other's company, Nicole and Olivia began to have a chat of their own, as the older, blue feline began the conversation.
"Thank you for the help, Olivia. You were able to make my daughter's birthday very special."
"No problem, Nicole." Olivia accepted her friend's gratitude. "But the ones that should be thanked are Gumball, Darwin, Brian and Mike. They're the ones that were able to deliver it safe and sound."
"I'm just glad that it wasn't just Gumball and Darwin that delivered the cake. Otherwise, I might as well have suffered a panic attack." Nicole joked.
"At least the cake didn't end up a complete mess when it got here." the red badger stated.
Suddenly, the two women heard a loud commotion in the kitchen, prompting the two to make their way and investigate it. Upon further inspection, the two are in dismay when they learned that Anais had gotten herself covered in cake, as the child prodigy continued to eat the remains both from the floor and from her.
"Are you enjoying yourself with your birthday cake?" Olivia asked Anais.
"Yeah and it's the most delicious cake I have ever had in my life." the child prodigy happily replied, as a smile formed on both Nicole and Olivia's faces.
Next time on The Newcomer
Chapter 55-The Nightmare
After an argument with Rhonda, Brian ends up having a rather awful nightmare and Gumball, Darwin and Mike try to help their friend out.
Tidbits
-Originally, I was planning on writing The Puppy, but in the end, the chapter ended up going nowhere, so I had it scrapped altogether.
-First time that I was able to give Olivia a role in the story (other than her husband Chuck) and it was quite fun.
-The chapter was suggested by Sal and as such, I want to give him full credit for it.
I hope everyone enjoyed reading The Cake and I'll see ya next chapter!