The Newcomer
An Amazing World of Gumball Story
By NeoNimbus
Chapter 72-The Statue
It was the afternoon at the town of Elmore, as every kid left school to head back home, including Brian, Mike and the Watterson siblings. But their afternoon got off to a rocky start, as Gumball and Darwin suggested taking a shortcut, even insisting on leading the way as well. Despite their reservation of their claims, both the fox and the badger agreed and decided to give them a chance, something that they both would come to regret, as the two ended up taking one detour after another. It would be several minutes before they got out of the so-called shortcut, only to find themselves at the other side of the neighborhood, much to the annoyance of a certain maroon badger.
"You know..." Mike began. "Your house isn't that hard to find."
"No kidding." Brian agreed. "I thought you guys said you knew the way home like the back of your heads!"
"We do!" Darwin stated.
"We're just having a hard time remembering." Gumball added, causing Mike to face palm before groaning loudly.
"Somehow, that's not very reassuring." Brian said plainly, irking both of the brothers. "Right now, let's just turn back where we came from and take the long way home."
Reluctantly, Gumball and Darwin nodded their heads in agreement and were about to turn around when they heard a bunch of noises not far from where they were. As soon as they turned around, they saw Ivan and his goons right across the street from them, as all four were throwing stones at what appeared to be an angel statue, the entire structure being worn out and covered entirely in vines, including the foundation it was standing on, as the four could only look on.
"What are Ivan and his pals doing around here?" Gumball asked his friends.
"Gumball, open your eyes." Mike rolled his eyes. "Do you really need to ask?"
"Mike's right, Gumball..." Darwin began, agreeing with the maroon badger. "Ivan and his friends are just doing this as an excuse to kill time."
"Besides, none of them can aim." Brian remarked, causing him and his friends to snicker, just as a certain red bear showed up in front of them.
"Ugh...Gumball, get me a stick." Mike demanded, readying for a possible fight.
"Whoa there, stripes! We're not here to start a fight." Ivan insisted. "In fact, I heard what you said about our aiming skills. I'm here to offer you a bit of a challenge."
"Give us a good reason why we should accept your challenge, Ivan." said Brian, keeping his guard up in case the read bear planned a sneak attack.
"So you're saying that you and your friends are a bunch of chickens?" Ivan mockingly asked Brian, prompting the irate purple fox to turn around and face his rival.
"Challenge accepted, Neanderthal!" Brian shouted, before grabbing the nearest rock from the ground and making his way to the statue.
"Really? That's your berserk button?!" Mike shouted, as he didn't believe Brian would be THAT easy to persuade.
"I have to admit, I was expecting Gumball to react like that." Darwin commented, prompting his brother to hit him on the arm. "Ow."
"I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to feel left out." Gumball commented, as he grabbed the nearest rock from the ground and followed Brian.
"I want to go too!" Darwin said as he followed suit.
"Why do I even bother?" Mike muttered under his breath, before following his friends to make sure nothing bad happened to them.
As soon as the maroon badger made his way to his friends, both Gumball and Darwin threw the stones at the angel statue, but so far, the stones barely made a scratch on their surface, much to their disappointment. Likewise, Brian also threw the stone at the statue, but it broke on impact, much to the amusement of Ivan and his gang, cackling in their own laughter.
'There is no way I'm going to give up that easily.' Brian thought, before he picked up another stone and wound his arm back as far as he could. After what felt like a long time, the purple fox threw the stone as hard as he could towards the statue, hitting the head in the process, as the statue began to wobble around. As everyone looked on with shock and amazement, out of nowhere, Rhonda showed up from the opposite direction on her bike, before she hit the brakes and got off, making her way to her friends to see what the commotion was all about.
"Guys, what are you doing here?"
The moment the mouse spoke up, every one of the boys turned around and were surprised to see her right behind them. But before anyone of them could gave an explanation to Rhonda, the angel statue suddenly began to break apart, as every bit of stones slowly crumbled under its own weight until only the foundation was all that remains. Everyone stood in silence, all shocked by what they just witnessed, but none more so than Rhonda herself, her mouth hanging ajar and her eyes widening in disbelief.
"Well, at least we know who has the better aim." Mike said nonchalantly.
"Mike, what's going on? And what did you mean by who has the better aim?" Rhonda asked the maroon badger, still shocked by what she had just witnessed.
Before Mike could answer the mouse's question, Gumball cut him off and gave her the answer himself.
"Brian just threw that rock at the angel statue and shattered it into several pieces after Ivan challenged him."
In response, Darwin face palmed, Mike groaned, and Brian cringed at Gumball's betrayal.
Rhonda, for her part, was stunned that her boyfriend was the one who cast the stone and somehow succeeded in destroying the angel statue. But her shock soon turned into anger, as she made her way towards Brian and promptly slapped him in the face, to everyone's surprise.
"How could you?!" Rhonda shouted at her boyfriend, before making her way back to her bike and rode off.
"You're on your own, buddy." Mike said as he turned to leave.
But Brian didn't hear a single word from the maroon badger nor did he hear Ivan and his gang laughing out loud about his misfortune, still in a state of disbelief that his own girlfriend just slapped him out of the blue, while Gumball and Darwin looked on with great concern.
The next day at Elmore Junior High, Brian showed up as usual, as the purple fox made his way to his locker. But ever since yesterday's incident, he had the same look of disbelief on his face, still in a state of shock that Rhonda, of all people, had slapped him in the face just like that. As he began to bang his head on the locker door in despair, Gumball and Darwin looked upon him with worried looks on their faces.
"What do we do?" Darwin asked.
"I don't know, man." Gumball responded. "I've never seen him like this."
As the brothers pondered on what to do next, a certain maroon badger made his way towards them.
"I see that our friend is still down in the dumps." Mike casually said, causing the duo to yelp in surprise, before Darwin spoke up first, hoping he knows the solution to help the purple fox out.
"Mike, how do we help him?"
"Do you need an instruction manual? Just help him patch things up with Rhonda." the maroon badger replied.
"I don't think that's going to be that easy." Gumball stated.
"Well then, I guess I'll have to do it cause you two will probably just make it worse."
"Hey!" the brothers objected to Mike's response, before the maroon badger walked over to Brian, who was still banging his head against his locker door.
"Brian..." Mike began.
"Can't you leave me alone for a moment? I'm still wallowing in my own sadness."
Annoyed by the depressed purple fox's answer, the maroon badger grabbed Brian and pulled him away from the locker.
"Brian, snap out of it! Banging your head on your locker isn't going to solve the situation!"
"Then what is?!" Brian shouted back.
"Well you're not gonna figure it out with your brain turned to mush!"
"Sorry to interrupt, but you guys need to cut this conversation short." Gumball informed his friends.
"The bell is about to ring and we need to get to Miss Simian's class right away." Darwin added.
Nodding their heads in agreement, the four quickly made their way to Miss Simian's class, not wanting to spend most of their day in detention.
Getting through the entire day proved to be a lot more difficult for Brian, as Miss Simian's lecture was oddly enough all about statues. All day long, the elderly baboon talked of their history and importance and how some statues in certain parts of the world are highly revered and respected and the impact it might have had on different cultures should they be seriously harmed. One statue in particular, the Colossus of Rhodes, made quite an impact on the purple fox, as the cantankerous teacher explained of its importance in the ancient world and the impact it made when it was destroyed by a series of earthquakes.
Now the purple fox found himself sitting in his usual spot in the cafeteria with his friends, as all he could do was stare at his soup with a look of despair, while Gumball, Darwin and Mike sat around him, all worried for their friend's well-being.
"Oh man, I never thought subjects about statues would cause him to become even more depressed." Gumball noted.
"Now what?" Mike asked his friends.
"I don't know Mike, but we better think of something quick. I can't stand to see Brian like this." Darwin replied.
As the trio pondered, trying to brainstorm some good plans, it was then that that Darwin stood up, as if he had thought of something.
"I know! Why don't we ask Mr. Paxton?! Maybe he might help us out!"
"That could work! Right after school we'll go and ask him if he can help Brian patch things up with Rhonda!" Gumball said.
"No." was all he said before he slammed the door in their faces.
"So much for that plan." Mike said flatly.
"I knew it was too good to be true." Darwin gloomily said.
"Well what now?" Gumball asked Mike.
"Find Rhonda, I guess."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Brian spoke with uncertainty.
"We can try Max again." Mike responded.
Brian could only shudder in response, as he still recalled the glare he gave to him and his friends seconds ago.
"The defense rests your honor." Mike said as he walked off the porch.
Realizing that he has no other choice, Brian, along with the Watterson brothers, followed the maroon badger to Elmore Academy, not knowing how his encounter with Rhonda will turn out.
It took quite some time, but the four made their way to Elmore Academy, as every student by now had already left. As much as Brian, Mike and the Watterson brothers hoped to come face to face with Rhonda, they did not see the mouse near the front gate and the few remaining students that have left through the gate were not familiar with them, much to their disappointment.
'Where could she be?' Brian thought, before he spotted a green parrot, a rose and a glasses-wearing peach making their way towards him and his friends. After inspecting them for a few seconds, it didn't took the purple fox too long to realize that the trio are no doubt friends of Rhonda, as the parrot approached him and spoke first among the trio, all the while glaring at Brian.
"You got some nerve showing your face around here, townie."
"Well so much for the one on one conversation option." Mike said aloud.
"Edie, calm down. May we remind you that were not here to jump to conclusions." Rose scolded the irate parrot.
"Rose is right." Momo agreed. "We all agreed on at least hearing Brian's side of the story first."
"Well that was easier than I thought it would be." Gumball remarked.
"Yeah," Darwin added. "Normally they just judge us and then throw us out the door."
"...Fine, I'll give fox boy a chance to tell his story." the green parrot reluctantly agreed, much to the satisfaction of her friends.
"There's the superiority complex I've come to know and expect from everyone." Mike said amused.
"Brian, was there a reason that you threw a stone towards that statue yesterday?" asked Rose.
"Now's not a good time to talk Gumball." Darwin whispered to his brother's ear.
Brian stepped forward from behind Mike and spoke for the first time in hours.
"It began yesterday afternoon..."
Five minutes later...
"...And that's how it happened."
Once Brian was done with his story, Edie, Rose and Momo looked at the purple fox, having listened to what had occurred yesterday.
"I see..." Rose began, as she rubbed her chin. "At least you accept full responsibility for your actions."
"Wait, shouldn't Rhonda be the one hearing this?" asked Mike, clearly aware of Rhonda's apparent absence.
"Now that he mentions it, where is Rhonda?" Gumball asked the trio.
"Yeah, we haven't seen her all day." Darwin noted.
The three girls looked at one another, hesitant to inform the four of what they know. But after a minute or so, Momo finally spoke up, hoping to help them out as best as she can.
"She went to the graveyard on her own and wanted to be left alone."
"Graveyard?" Brian asked. Then it hit him why.
"Oh boy..." Mike said face palming. "I wonder why." He said sarcastically as he knew why.
"Whoa!" both Gumball and Darwin uttered simultaneously.
"We should probably go see her." Mike said to Brian.
Brian, as well as the Watterson brothers, nodded their heads in agreement, before the four left the academy to make their way to their next destination, leaving just Edie, Rose and Momo at the school gates, as the girls looked at one another.
"Do you think we should follow them?" the peach asked her friends.
"Of course, Momo! Besides, we should make sure that Rhonda's day doesn't get worse." Edie insisted.
"After all, we did inform them where Rhonda was to begin with." Rose pointed out.
With that, the trio left the academy right away, as they followed the boys' lead as quickly as they could.
It was several minutes since both groups have left Elmore Academy, but they all managed to make it to their destination roughly at the same time.
"Never thought I would be here again after last time." Brian commented.
"Yeah, but that's not important right now." said Gumball.
"Besides, we need to find Rhonda." Darwin added.
"We just need to find her mother's grave stone." Mike said as they continued walking. "We find it, we find Rhonda."
"Easier said than done, Mike..." Brian began. "This graveyard is huge. It could be anywhere."
It was then that the group heard a subtle crying coming from somewhere in the graveyard.
"Did anyone else hear that?" asked Momo.
"We all did, Momo." Rose replied.
"I think it's coming from that direction." Edie then pointed her wing to her right, prompting the entire group to follow the source, as the crying got louder and clearer with each step they took, until finally, they stopped and saw Rhonda near a grave stone, kneeling on the ground and weeping like mad. The group also notice an angel engraved on the tombstone, along with the name of the occupant, no doubt belonging to her mother:
Toni Paxton
1971-2007
Beloved Wife and Mother
"Brian, I think this is something you need to do alone." Mike said with Gumball and the rest nodding in agreement.
Likewise, Brian nodded his head in agreement, as he slowly made his way towards Rhonda, determined to make things right.
"Rhonda..." was all Brian said, before the mouse turned around and saw the purple fox right behind her, much to her surprise.
"What are you doing here?" Rhonda demanded, her eyes still filled with tears.
Brian tried to think of what to say next but nothing came to his mind so far. Eventually, after what felt like forever, Brian took a deep breath and finally gave her his response.
"Rhonda, I just came by to say that I'm sorry for everything. I just wish I could turn back the clock and prevent myself from making the biggest mistake ever."
Rhonda wiped off a few tears, as she continued to listen to Brian's apology.
"I really wish I had turned down Ivan's challenge and I also wish that I had known sooner that angel statue meant so much to you. Instead, I just ended up destroying what you cherished the most. I just came here to say that I'm really sorry for my selfish actions and I take full responsibility."
Once the purple fox was done with his apology, all the mouse could do was look at Brian, noticing the look of guilt and sadness all over his face.
"Brian...I accept your apology. It was good to hear those words coming out from you."
Rhonda walked up to Brian before hugging him as tight as she could, while the purple fox, in return, gave the mouse a hug of his own, as he felt his eyes being filled up with tears. After embracing each other for what felt like the longest time, Rhonda let go of Brian and sat right in front of her mother's grave stone, with the purple fox sitting right next to her, as their friends looked on at the scene.
"It's good to see Brian and Rhonda patch things up." said Gumball.
"Another happy ending." Darwin agreed.
"We should probably go before we ruin the moment." Mike added.
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and left Rhonda and Brian alone for the time being, just happy that things turned out alright in the end.
Next time on The Newcomer
Chapter 73-The Question
There was a question unanswered for a long time: what made Ivan like Rhonda and how did Ivan became who he is? Gumball, Darwin, Brian and Mike search for the answer to that very question and Brian begins to suspect Mike knows more than he is willing to tell.
Tidbits
-It's been a long while, but I've been waiting to do this chapter for quite some time.
-I want to thank Sal for his help on this chapter.
I hope everyone enjoyed The Statue and I'll see ya next chapter!