Hey guys, here's chapter 5 of My Guardian Demon. I don't have anything else to say, so, here we go.
Gumball groaned with a stretch of his arms as he descended the stairs. Given that it was the weekend, the preteen cat was in his sleepwear, having just woken up not too long ago. When Gumball stepped into the dining room, he saw the rest of his family there. His mom came towards the table with several plates.
"Breakfast for Richard," Nicole placed a plate in front of her husband, "Breakfast for Darwin," she placed a plate in front of the fish boy, "Breakfast for Anais," she placed a plate in front of the bunny girl, "Breakfast for me," she placed a plate in front of herself as she sat down, "And nothing for Gumball," she said rather coldly, not even looking at the kitten.
Gumball simply looked at her with a mix of shock and slight outrage.
"Seriously?! I don't even get food?!" the male cat narrowed his eyes.
"Not until you apologize father," Nicole replied, "Until you apologize to your father, you're on your own," she told him.
"What if I'm sick at school and need to be picked up?" Gumball asked.
"On your own," Nicole replied.
There was a brief pause.
"So, if I get kidnapped by a lunatic, escape, and I'm in the next town over in the middle of the night…?" Gumball started.
"On your own," Nicole repeated.
"Even if the kidnappers are ninjas?" Gumball raised an eyebrow.
"On… your… own," Nicole said slowly.
There was another pause.
"Alright, fine!" Gumball said, furrowing his brows, "That's how you want to play? Game on, bitch!" he snapped.
Everyone else gasped upon hearing that last word. There was a pregnant pause. After the initial shock, Darwin spoke up.
"You did NOT just say that…" Darwin said, his jaw still slightly dropped.
"Yes, Darwin, I did," Gumball replied, crossing her arms over her chest, "She's already making me fend for myself, so what's the worse she can do?"
The other winced when they heard that. Everyone, including Gumball, looked at Nicole. Slowly, the Watterson matriarch slowly raised her head. When Gumball was met with his mother's gaze, he saw the fire in her eyes. Literal fire.
Gumball yelped at glare his mom was giving. The young kitten bolted for the door. However, it was pointless due to Nicole leaping onto the table and lunging at him, the adult cat being able to tackle him with little effort. Nicole lifted him up by the collar of his sweater, making him look her in the eyes for a few seconds before spinning in place. After the third spin, Nicole released him, Gumball screaming as he was tossed through the closed front window.
He was tossed from there, flying through the air from the house and through the closed window of the house across the street. Luckily, there was no one living in that house. Gumball rolled across the empty living room of the vacant house, now covered in glass, cut, and blood, all over his face, arms, and legs. Nicole snorted out of her nose like an angry bull, dusting off her hands as she returned to the dining room table.
Gumball groaned, feeling a shooting throughout several parts of his body. Luckily, had the strength to stand up. He then pressed the button on his transporter and vanished in a quick burst of flames.
Kira's Dimension…
Gumball appeared in Kira's living room, the flames that brought him here vanishing.
"Oh my god! Gumball!" he heard Kira's voice cry out to him with worry.
Gumball looked up and saw the demon cat lady lying on the couch… in nothing but a white towel. The preteen cat quickly found himself blushing at the sight of his guardian partially naked body.
"Oh, hey Kira," Gumball waved at her, though he winced when he did it.
"What happened?" Kira asked, her hands on her cheeks.
"Well…" Gumball started.
Gumball then told the demon the short events of what happened. Once the explanation was done, Kira walked into the kitchen then came back with a glass of what appeared to be milk. She sat back on the couch and patted the spot next to her, to which Gumball complied.
"Here, drink this," Kira told him while handing him the milk.
Gumball took a few gulps of the cold liquid. He immediately noticed how different this milk tasted. It was richer, sweeter and creamier than the milk that he normally drank. It was better than the other kind. It was delicious. It must've had healing properties too, because the bleeding from his injuries stopped and his wounds were starting to heal up and close. It was soothing. Using her demonic power, Kira removed every piece of glass from Gumball's body.
When he finished the milk, his injuries were completely healed.
"Thanks, Kira," Gumball said to the demon cat lady.
Gumball then found himself pulled into an embrace by Kira, the fabric of the towel being the only thing putting a space between his face and her enormous chest.
"I can't believe your mom would do something like this to you," Kira said, only to think it over, "Actually… yes, I can," she added, "What I really can't believe though is that you called your mom a bitch."
"Let me guess, you don't approve of me calling her that," Gumball assumed.
"Actually, I thought it was pretty funny—and kind of ballsy. Nice job standing up to her for once, kiddo," Kira said, ruffling his head, "Plus, she kind of is being a bitch lately, if I'm being honest," Kira added.
"Yeah, she wouldn't even make me breakfast. Which means I have to buy and make my own food," Gumball said.
"Well, you're going to need money for that," Kira told him, "Any ideas for how you could make some?" she asked before quickly adding, "Ideas that won't end with the town going up in flames or you ending up in the hospital."
"Hmm…" Gumball rubbed his chin. His idea had to be harmless yet profitable on a personal level. That's when it came to him, "Oh! I could sell drawings. You know, do art commissions," he offered.
Kira had seen him draw, both through the visual portal and in person in her Home Ec class whenever there was free time. Whenever he rushed through it, his drawings were rather crude. When Gumball took his time though, she wouldn't say they were masterpieces, but they were pretty good. It was probably one of the very few things he was actually good at.
"Huh. Safe, won't cause you to get hurt, and can make a you a decent amount of money—at least enough to get you something to eat. Not a bad idea, Gumball," Kira smiled.
"But in order to do that, I'm going to need a drawing tablet," Gumball said, rubbing his chin, "But those cost a lot of money, around $400 for a good one with a screen…"
"Well, just get a sketchpad, charge people a certain amount for each tier—"
"I know!" Gumball perked, cutting Kira off, "I'll just go down and get a loan from the bank!"
"The bank?!" Kira repeated.
"The bank gives out money all the time. All I have to do is get them to give me 400 bucks, buy the tablet, and I can start doing commissions," Gumball informed her of his plan.
"Gumball, that is a terrible idea," Kira told him, "Banks only want to take all of your money and bankrupt you. They're nothing but evil, greedy demon bastards! And coming from an actual demon, that's saying something!"
"Ah, you're exaggerating, Kira," Gumball waved her off while breaking their little embrace, "Watch, I'll just pop into the bank, ask for a loan, buy the drawing tablet, and make enough money to feed myself. Easy," he shrugged reassuringly, "See you in a few hours."
Gumball pressed the other button on his transporter, vanishing in a pillar of flames. Kira sighed to herself.
"Looks like this going to be one of those days…" Kira muttered, massaging her temple.
Elmore Bank…
Gumball arrived at the bank. Since his mom wouldn't give him a ride and was on his own and didn't have enough money for the bus, Gumball had to walk here. Compared to when he had walked several hours to get back home from the desert when his mom had that stupid reach chart up, this was a piece of cake. Gumball stood there, staring at the building's entrance.
"Alright, here goes nothing," Gumball muttered to himself before heading in.
Unknown to him, Kira stood on the roof of the building, her arms folded as she watched him. The demon cat lady sighed. Using her demon power, she cloaked herself in shadows then shrunk herself down and shapeshifted into a fly. In this form, she flew through the open grate and through the ventilation system. When she came out, she landed on a beam near the ceiling then changed into a mouse.
From here, she watched as Gumball entered one of the lines. While this was going on, male mouse climbed on Kira's mouse back. Without even turning her head, Kira changed the shape of her tail and impaled the mouse through its chest, piercing it heart. She then flung the corpse against a wall which then fell into a trashcan. She listened closely to Gumball.
"What do you mean you can't give me a loan?" Gumball asked, lowering his ears in disappointment.
"I mean we can't give you a loan. We don't give out loans to children," a female receptionist told him.
"Oh, come on! So, there's no way I can get any money?" Gumball asked.
"What exactly do you need the money for, little boy?" the receptionist asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"I plan on taking commissions and selling drawings. Kind of like my own business," Gumball replied.
"Hmm… I think we can work something out," the receptionist said with a small smile, "Come with me."
Kira watched as Gumball followed the receptionist to the back room. She transformed back into a fly and flew down, landing on the back of Gumball's sweater. The back room dimly lit and completely empty, save for a large desk in the center. Kind of like those custody confession rooms you'd see in cop shows. On the other side of the desk was a large, muscular dude in a business suit.
"Sir, this young man wants to take out a loan," the receptionist told the man who appeared to be her boss.
"I see. Have a seat, young man," the manager said, gesturing to the chair in front of him, the young cat doing so, "Now, we don't normally give out loans to children…"
"I know, but I'm—"
"However!" the manager cut Gumball off, "There is a way around it. We could give you a trial."
"What kind of trial?" Gumball asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Simple," the manager pulled out a contract, "We give you the money that you need and you pay us back within a week," he said, sliding Gumball a pen.
"Don't do it, Gumball…" Kira thought to herself.
"Deal!" Gumball took the pen, Kira silently sighing with a roll of her eyes.
The young cat then wrote his signature on the bottom line. Once he did, the signature lit up in flames, followed by there being a distorted devilish laugh as the contract rolled up all by itself. Gumball simply sat there with wide eyes.
"So, how much do you need?" the manager asked with a rather creepy grin.
"…Four-hundred?" Gumball replied.
The manager pulled out four one-hundred-dollar bills and slid them towards the blue kitten.
"Uh… what happens if I don't pay you guys back in time?" Gumball asked with a mix of caution and slight fear as he took the money.
"You'll be condemned to bank hell," the receptionist said, flashing him several dollar bills. Rather than the faces of presidents, the faces on the bills were instead of various different people, pleading and screaming to be let out.
Gumball gulped nervously.
"We'll see you in a week, Mr. Watterson," the manager said with small, somewhat mischievous smirk.
Gumball got up and walked out, a look of slight dread upon his face.
One Week Later…
A week had come and went, almost in a blink of an eye. Gumball sat in the same seat he did a week prior.
"So, Mr. Watterson, how's your little business coming a long?" the bank manager asked.
"Uhh…" Gumball trailed off.
[Flashback]
Gumball stood in the center of the mall, holding out a pen and a notepad.
"I'm selling drawings. Does anyone want to drawing? I need the money!" he said to various people.
Sure, there were a few people that paid him some attention, but a majority of them passed by without so much as a second glance. Hell, he only had two commissions on this damn sheet. The week was almost up and he didn't even come close to paying back what he owed to the bank.
"Gumball?" he heard an elderly, feminine voice.
He turned to see a short, elderly female pink bunny.
"Oh, hey Granny Jojo," Gumball greeted his grandmother.
"What are you doing here?" Jojo asked.
"Oh, just trying to earn some extra cash for reasons I'd rather keep to myself," Gumball quickly replied.
"You're trying to get money for food, aren't you?" Jojo guessed.
"How did you—"
"Anias told me what happened. Everything. Including this bet you have with your mother. Didn't think she had it in her to do something like this," Jojo cut him off, "What are you doing for money? It had better not be anything illegal, like selling your body."
"I'm selling—or at least trying to sell—drawings," Gumball told her, "Say, do you want to buy a drawing?"
"Don't need one. Sorry, kid," Jojo replied, causing Gumball to sigh and hang his head, "However…" she reached into her purse and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill.
"Wait, for real?" Gumball looked at her with surprised, wide eyes.
"I don't approve of what you said about your dad, Gumball. However, I can't stand to see my grandkid starve, so…" Jojo handed him the money, "Plus, if you doing well pisses your mom off then that's a bonus," she added with a wink, "See you later, dear," Jojo said while walking away.
Gumball smiled a bit. His Granny Jojo may have been grouchy and rude a majority of the time, but still somewhat cared deep down. Gumball then looked at the money in his hand.
"Yeah, I'm screwed…" he told himself. He then remembered what his grandmother said, about him doing well possibly pissing his mom off, "Unless… I'm… doing… well," a small smile slowly crossed his face.
[End of Flashback]
"Great. Business is booming. In fact, I've gotten so many art commissions, I can't keep up with the demands," Gumball replied, "Which is why I haven't been able to get all the money I owe just yet…" he added with a small shrug.
"So, you'll be getting more money than what you owe?" the manager asked with interest.
"That's right. More money than I know what to do with," Gumball replied, "It'll be getting that money in a matter of weeks. But alas, my soul will be trapped in a dollar, so I won't be able to collect that sweet, sweet cash."
"Unless someone else were to own the account," the manager chimed in.
"Huh?" Gumball looked him.
"You said you'd be making more money than you know what to do with. So, how about this? You give us the account and, in exchange, you get to keep your soul," the manager offered, rolling out a new contract.
"Hmm… Deal," Gumball said, once again signing his name on the line.
Gumball's signature lit up in flames as the contract rolled up by itself, the devilish laughter being heard once again.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Watterson," the manager said.
"Likewise," Gumball replied before heading out.
As he stepped out of the bank, Gumball stepped into a nearby alley.
"So, judging by the fact that you're not trapped as a dollar, I take it your little ruse actually worked?" Kira asked, kicking her legs back and forth as she sat on the lid of a dumpster in her earth disguise.
"They took it hook, line and sinker," Gumball said, his voice dripping with smugness.
His plan to get the manager to by his username had a slim chance of succeeding, but fortunately for him it worked.
"Good," Kira hopped off the dumpster and approached the Gumball, "By the way…"
*smack*
"Ow!" Gumball rubbed his forehead where Kira had lightly backhanded him.
"That's for not listening to me about the banks, you little dork!" Kira told him with her eyebrows furrowed.
"Hey, it worked out, didn't it? Besides, I—" Gumball was cut off and silenced by Kira grabbing him by the sweater and planting a kiss upon his cheek.
"And that's for outsmarting them, you little cutie," Kirs told him, tickling him under his chin.
Gumball chuckled with a blush.
"I've got food to buy. See you around, Kira," Gumball said he walked off.
Watterson House…
"Wow, another commission," Gumball said, sitting at his computer with snacks and drinks that he had gotten from his new, personal mini fridge, "Bobert was right, having multiple social media accounts did help."
A whole week had passed since that incident with the bank. Since then, he had been doing well for himself as a digital artist, getting multiple commissions. He had created a new username and this time his business really was booming. Not only did he do art commissions, he also did a few speed drawings and a couple of how-to drawing videos here and there. For now, he made enough to feed himself at least, and for now that was enough.
"Heh. Gotta say, I think I'm doing quite well in this bet," Gumball said with slight smugness, taking a sip of his drink.
And that's the end of this chapter. I had some help with chapter from my friend I Write Big.
If you have ideas for a future chapter, say it in a review or feel free to message me.
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