THE AMAZING WORLD OF GUMBALL
THE ASSISTANT
The episode begins with an inside view of the Dinner cafeteria, with some people sitting at tables with others or alone.
At a table next to the window, a shirtless person made of soft orange cheese appears to be talking to himself.
"Okay, man!", he slammed his arms lightly on the table, shaking his body in the process, "This time has to be the definitive attempt!".
"You may have failed several times...", one or two people looked at him strangely as they passed, seeing him gesture to the empty bench in front of him, "Many times! But you are a man, you take responsibility for your mistakes!".
He put his finger on his chest, "You recognize that you made a mistake and that's why you're going to try again! You're going to talk to her, you're going to show her how much you like her and you're going to be proud to look at yourself in the mirror tomorrow!".
He took the blue cap off his head, "You're not a soft cheese! You're a firm cheese, just like your father!".
He stood with his arms raised in a straining position, his entire body shaking and moving like butter.
Her soft, melting parts contracted into his body as he hardened.
His body was now a somewhat round piece of firm orange cheese that glistened due to the fat in its composition.
The camera changed angles so a pink person with a pear-shaped body stood in front of her and almost made the cheese man disappear.
"Hello, what will your order be?", an inattentive and half-hearted voice said.
"Hello, dear-", his face hardened into a look of panic.
The pink person was Karen, who had a small notepad and pencil, waiting to write down her order.
But his eyes seemed lost and his mouth moved constantly with minimal movements.
"W-well, I...-eh-...hm".
His body softened, his obese curves reappearing along with his cheesy drops hanging from his body.
But he softened more than usual, because his neck almost ceased to exist and his body widened a little.
Because of this, some of his cheese formed a thin puddle on the floor.
"Ehh...I'll have the usual", he raised his finger with an embarrassed smile.
However, Karen did not take her order. She was still standing still with that lost look.
The cheese man lost some of his embarrassment and sat a little closer to her, "Um, are you okay...".
"KAREN!".
An authoritative voice called her.
The scene now took place inside a reception desk closed by "dead" colored walls and an elevator.
There was a businessman on the other side of the bench that separated them. He seemed hurried.
"W-what?", was all he said when he noticed the man in front of him and realized that his finger was on the intercom.
"I said this meeting was rescheduled for tomorrow", was the voice of the company boss, "But since you didn't warn him, now you must expel him".
She took her finger off the intercom and looked in the direction of the businessman.
But he was gone.
The scene changed once again, now she was sitting at a table with a computer in front of her, surrounded by other tables with other people, who were out of spirits, working on their own computers.
She looked at her computer, on it there was a spreadsheet categorized into monthly payment intervals.
Instead of getting confused, this time she simply started tapping the keys to type, still with those lost eyes.
"I need to calculate the current yield considering the increase in interest rates and-".
The scene changed again, now she was in the supermarket with a green apron on her body.
In front of him was a table with a tray and on it were product demonstrations. Plus signs with things she couldn't read.
Even without understanding, she took the tray and tried to attract the attention of people passing by with her discouraged tone, offering a sample.
After a few seconds of trying, the scenario changed again.
She was working at the bank, taking deposit, withdrawal or offering cruel interest loans to people.
A lady gave her a piece of paper, "I wanted to make the marriage certificate for me and my love, Desmond", she began to ramble on the information, "We were married for thirty-four years, but only now we realized that we are not legally married".
Karen looked at the paper for half a second and turned to the lady, "Sorry, ma'am, but this is the bank, if you want to do something like this, you need to go to-".
The scenario changed once again, now she had a clipboard and pen in her hands, in addition to being equipped with protective glasses and a safety hat.
She looked from the clipboard to the mat that had panels in every color of the rainbow.
She clicked the pen and wrote it down, even though she didn't know what she should do.
Before she could, the scenery changed, now she was back at Dinner, with the cheese man in front of her.
His neck had returned and he was looking at her worriedly, "Karen, are you okay?".
The scenery changed once again, but now, instead of changing little by little, it changed every few seconds.
This made the diverse sounds of each of these environments accumulate in his ears.
Her lost eyes finally changed, they were now scared and she felt a decent headache.
She started to make incomprehensible sounds from her mouth.
She turned and tried to walk away, but slipped on the melted cheese on the floor and fell on her back.
Everyone at the Dinner looked at the sight of her lying distraught on the floor.
The cheese man looked away, "It's a good thing I don't have mirrors at home".
Karen left the dinner, with her arms drooping and disappointed with everything.
She walked a little until she sat on a bench from which she could see the mall's fountain.
She rested her elbows on her knees and let her head fall with a sad sigh and an expression that mixed tiredness with sadness.
The scene looked like this, people passing by and going about their lives, going in and out of stores, meeting or saying goodbye to someone, even walking with their families.
While just sitting there on that bench, in a position of self-soothing and silently mourning.
She remained unfazed when everyone in that part of the mall looked towards where an engine sound was coming from and remained unfazed when they ran away for their lives.
And it remained undisturbed even when a yellow station wagon resembling a 1977 Ford Pinto sped past the glass walls of the mall's second floor.
The vehicle flew through the air, falling from the second floor level towards the first floor floor. You could see a rope tied to the back.
He hit the ground front and the bumper made him tilt so he fell parallel to the ground, still having the momentum to continue moving forward.
The vehicle began to skid on the floor of the mall until it slid in a 360 and a half degree turn as it approached the fountain.
The rope tied to the back extended out of the mall and passed through all the glass walls as the car spun, breaking several due to being too tensioned.
When he was finishing the 180 degree turn, he started to slow down sideways, braking a few meters from the source.
The proximity caused the rope that was running through the mall to start getting tangled around the fountain, also getting tangled around the car.
He managed to hit her with little force, tangled up in the bridge with the huge rope that had its tip still circulating in the air.
Out of the car came Gumball, Darwin, Carrie and finally Penny, who was dizzy and looked like she was going to feel sick like a pregnant woman.
Everyone walked until they were away from the car, Penny almost falling twice and leaving her spine hunched over with a sick face.
Richard poked his head out, "Alright kids, when you want to leave, just call me".
His expression became serious, "Minus half past four, you remember, don't you boys?".
It was Gumball's turn to look sick to his face, "Don't worry, Dad, never again", he made an opening motion with his arms, "Never again! We're going to interrupt your moment with canned sausages".
Richard dropped his serious look and switched to his typical innocent smile.
But then tears started flowing from his eyes and within seconds he was crying like a waterfall.
Everyone looked at this in slightly surprise.
Gumball snorted, "Dad, aren't we past this stage?".
Richard cried some more before replying, "I know, but a father will never stop being emotional when his sons turn into men and are with their girls!", he cried more.
Darwin looked at the back of the car, then around and raised an eyebrow, "Eh, has anyone seen the bumper we tied up?".
Carrie looked at the rope still spinning, somehow, in a natural apathetic way, "It's still spinning".
Everyone looked at the rope running around the mall that never seemed to end, "We should have used a shorter rope", Gumball said.
They followed the movement of the rope, moving their heads in sync until the rear bumper hit Karen, who screamed in pain.
The bumper hit her with such force that it ripped the bolted seat off the ground and they both fell backwards.
Everyone just looked at the seemingly motionless pink woman.
Richard then acted as if nothing had happened, "Okay, now I go back home, see you later".
He got back inside and stepped on the accelerator, but the car was tangled in the rope and was being held.
Richard poked his head out again, "You'd better back off".
The four moved a step away.
Richard stepped on the accelerator and turned the steering wheel, which made the car spin in the opposite direction of the previous spin, unscrewing itself and becoming free.
He left the restriction and accelerated uncontrollably until heading towards the opposite side he entered.
But the rope was still stuck in the fountain, it slid over the fountain until the bumper suffered from the pull.
He flew toward the fountain, latching onto it like a climbing hook.
This caused the fountain to be uprooted and dragged across the floor, leaving a destroyed and wet floor behind.
"I like how it came out with impact", Darwin said.
They turned around when they heard something and saw Karen crying softly, still lying on the floor along with the bench.
Gumball looked at the scene, then looked at Darwin, who looked at him with concern and biting almost all of his lower lip. This made him snort surly.
They turned to their girlfriends, "Hey, you guys can go ahead", Gumball raised his arms towards some restaurant.
"Okay, and what will you want?", Carrie asked.
Darwin smiled sweetly, "You know the answer deep in your hearts".
"I have no heart", Carrie said with her natural apathy.
"And mine looks like it wants to come out", Penny put her hand over her mouth soon after.
Gumball furrowed his eyebrows looking at Carrie, "Well then do as you always have", he looked at Penny, "And feel free to use the bathroom".
Penny swallowed hard to overcome her nausea and kissed Gumball on the cheek, then put her hand over her mouth again.
Carrie approached Darwin and kissed him. Then they both walked away.
Gumball and Darwin walked until they were near the fallen bench, looking strange at the situation.
Darwin was the first to speak, "Erh, sorry about that, we're usually a little more careful".
Gumball glared at him, "Dude, lying isn't cool".
Now Darwin glared at him too, "I'm trying to establish a conversation through empathy and a light touch of humor, like normal people do".
Gumball seemed to get angry, "You don't have to lie to do this, make excuses until it's okay".
Karen calmed them both down when she spoke, "No-it's not that".
She got up and sat on the floor, "It's just that today was a *sniff* complicated day *sniff*".
Gumball shrugged, "We can't say we understand, because we still have some left before we get into the hard life of having a job".
Darwin put on his most generous look, "But if you need to vent, maybe we can help".
Karen sniffled once more before rubbing her arm over her eyes, wiping away her tears.
"It's just that, lately I've been having some strange problems".
Gumball and Darwin looked at each other with a raised eyebrow, "Okay".
"I feel like things are getting out of place and I can't keep up".
"OK...".
"But I don't feel tired or feel anything else weird".
Gumball sighed, "Ma'am, I'm afraid this is going to be more complicated than we expected".
"What does that mean?".
Gumball and Darwin looked at each other and nodded simultaneously.
They placed their hands behind their backs and now held a notepad, a pen, and a pair of glasses each.
They put on their glasses and assumed an attentive but calm stance, "It means that from now on you must open up to us".
Darwin was already writing something quickly on his notepad, "Alright, let's start at the very beginning," he pointed his pen at her, "When did this start?".
The scene changed to inside the Dinner, Karen was taking orders from the four young people at the table, "Well, it started a few days ago. What will you want?".
Penny and Carrie:A burger.
Gumball:I'll wait a little.
Darwin: I don't want anything.
Karen wrote it down in her own notebook and returned to her report, "I came home more tired than usual, so I started sleeping a little more. But it hasn't helped".
Gumball was writing something down as he continued to pay attention to her, "How much longer did you sleep?".
"20 minutes".
Gumball stood frozen with his mouth open, his body literally having a thin layer of ice over it.
The ice broke into small pieces, "How long have you slept?".
"Four hours".
The ice appeared on him again and quickly broke.
Karen ignored Gumball's reaction and went to get her orders.
Gumball looked at Darwin, "Well, we're heading somewhere, are you writing everything down, Darwin?".
Darwin was writing on a sheet with a typewriter, "Every important word", he pushed the sheet to continue writing.
Penny looked strangely at Gumball for answers, pointing to Darwin.
Gumball gestured calmly, "We're just saving this session for late appointments."
Penny suddenly became animated with a smug smile, "Belatedly? Where did you hear that word? In a discussion at Elmore Plus?"
Gumball also wore a smug smile, "For your information, ma'am, I'm not stupid".
Penny just slowly raised an eyebrow.
Gumball slumped, "Okay, I heard a gentleman use that word and I'm using it all the time".
Darwin turned his attention away from the typing machine, "I already kicked him out of our room yesterday for that".
Penny put her hand on her face as she laughed.
Karen arrived with her orders just then.
Penny stopped laughing and looked at him with a sweet smile, "You know, you don't need to do things like that, you're already amazing without being smart".
Gumball furrowed his eyebrows, "Was that...a compliment?".
Penny just laughed some more and kissed Gumball with bright eyes.
Karen joined in the conversation, "I get it, my fiancé Laurence works a lot of jobs and he's amazing. But still, I also need some jobs to pay our rent and not overwhelm him".
This caught Gumball's attention, "Ah, tell me more about that", he placed pen to paper, ready to write.
Darwin spoke up, "Sorry Gumball, but for now, you'll have to continue without me".
Darwin turned to Carrie and opened his arms, which made her smile.
She flew into his body, which shook in a macabre way until it looked like a zombie.
He took the sandwich and devoured it ferociously.
Gumball watched the scene unimpressed, "She literally possesses his body and then says we're a clingy couple".
Gumball turned back to Karen, "So, you don't get much sleep because you also have a lot of jobs?".
The scene changed to inside the rainbow factory, with Karen holding her clipboard and wearing safety equipment.
"That's what happens when you work for seven dollars an hour".
The camera panned away from her and showed Gumball and Darwin jumping from one colored plate to another on a treadmill.
Gumball wrote something down, "I would consider it exhaustion, but you said sleep doesn't do any good, so I'm guessing something deeper".
Darwin gave his opinion, "Maybe it's something different that has happened in your life".
Karen pointed with her clipboard at the conveyor belt, "You shouldn't be up there, that paint is very toxic when it's wet".
Gumball shrugged, "Don't worry, we already had Enriched Uranium for breakfast".
She was confused, "How?".
Darwin smiled innocently, "Our dad did this week's shopping. So, has anything been different lately?".
The scene changed again, now the three were in the supermarket, Karen was wearing her green apron and holding a tray of strange foods next to a small table.
"I haven't noticed anything different, I still deal with the consequences of customer service".
She turned to the people passing by, "Hey sir! Want a free sample?", she offered the tray to him.
Julius Oppenheimer Jr. walked right past her, not even looking into her eyes, "Leave me alone".
She returned to the Wattersons, "Who are selfish and mean people".
"But the only thing different was that strange feeling of tiredness, along with others".
Darwin looked up from his notepad, "And what would those other strange sensations be?".
They were now at city hall behind a counter with Karen typing things into a computer at city hall.
"Sometimes I feel lost, as if I can't keep up with things around me, and I'm forgetting some details about my jobs, like postponing meetings".
"Hello?".
Karen looked ahead at the counter, but saw no one. She stood up and stretched forward a little.
She could see a lady she recognized almost immediately.
She was a short lady with a document in her hands. "Oh, hi, it's you again".
The lady recognized her too, her eyes widening, "Oh! How nice! It's you!".
She held up the paper for Karen to take as she spoke, "Since it's you, then I don't need to tell you again that my husband and I got married a-".
Karen interrupted her by handing back the document, "Ma'am, this is the city hall and I already told you that you need to go to a notary's office to resolve this".
The lady took the document back a little angrily, "You said I had to come to the city hall!".
Karen turned back to the Wattersons, "See?! That's what I'm talking about!".
The lady was now very angry, "HEY!".
She put her hands tightly on her waist. Karen turned back to her, "Sorry, I wasn't talking about you".
"You big city people are really rude!" She blew smoke out of her nose like a bull. She turned around and walked away angrily.
The scene changed once more, now they were inside a cubicle with Karen sitting in a chair while Darwin was sitting on top of the desk and Gumball was sitting on top of the computer.
Gumball pointed his pen at Karen, "Is there anything else you'd like to add?".
Karen put her finger on her chin, "Hhhmmm".
She made an "oh" sound and bounced a little in her chair.
She adjusted her chair to sit straight at the computer, clicking the keys on the keyboard quickly, Gumball spreading his legs so as not to block the view of the screen.
A spreadsheet from the "Microsoft Excel" system appeared on the screen, showing several values and sums or subtractions.
"These last few days, when I'm calculating and correcting the profit and expense values, I also end up seeing the numbers in a strange way".
Darwin put the pen to his chin, "Define strange".
"The numbers seem to move around, or instead of moving, they seem confused in my head, even though they are very visible".
Gumball let out an "Uh-huh" and wrote on his notepad "Numbers are strange" and circled the sentence.
Darwin looked confused, "Wait, if you get confused by them, how do you know if you did the calculations correctly?".
Karen gave a full smile, "I don't, I try my best and hope I didn't make a mistake. Also, if I made a really big mistake, I would know, because everything here would be in chaos".
Someone stood up from their cubicle and screamed at the top of their lungs, "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! MY SALARY WAS TEN MILLION!".
Another person also stood up and screamed, "ME TOO!".
Then several others began to scream the same. Soon, everyone was destroying their work areas and tearing apart their uniforms.
"I'M QUITTING AND NEVER WORKING AGAIN! WOW!".
Gumball ducked his head to dodge a water cooler that flew by, "If every employee got ten million, how big would this company's loss be?".
Karen swallowed hard, "Too big".
The three of them were leaving the company building, Karen carrying a box with several items inside in her arms.
They stopped on the sidewalk and Gumball turned to Karen, "Well, I think we have enough, now let's move on to the next step".
"And what is it?", she asked.
He raised his finger in the air, "Analyze and formulate".
Gumball and Darwin moved away a little and stood next to each other, showing their notes. They made faces and let out "Ah," "Hhm," or "Uuuh".
They looked at each other and nodded, then turned to their notepads and wrote something down.
Gumball finished and showed it to Darwin, who shook his head. They went back to writing.
Darwin then showed his notepad to Gumball, who waved his hand in a "More or less" sign.
They went back to writing, then showed their notepads at the same time, reading each other's notes and nodding and smiling. They wrote again, but now their expressions looked lost.
They placed the notebooks side by side, but it didn't feel right.
Then Darwin had an idea, he stretched his legs out until he was over Gumball and on the other side of him, putting their notebooks back together. But it still felt like something was missing.
Darwin put his arm around Gumball's head, and Gumball put his arm around Darwin's head.
Darwin made his legs twitch, returning to where he was, but now Gumball was upside down on his side.
They placed their notebooks side by side again, this time smiling at the result.
Gumball fell to the ground and stood up. They looked at Karen seriously.
But they broke eye contact and briefly searched their cell phones, then put it behind their backs.
They resumed their serious look, "We've come to a conclusion", Gumball held out his arm to Karen, "You better sit down".
Karen looked down at the sidewalk, then looked at the box in her arms.
She knelt down and calmly dumped her items into the box on the ground with care.
She stood up and dropped the empty box behind her, then crouched down and sat on it.
Gumball and Darwin took a deep breath...
"You're exhausted".
Karen frowned as she raised one eyebrow in confusion, "Didn't you guys say the problem wasn't tiredness?".
"We're talking about a different kind of exhaustion", Darwin said.
"Mental exhaustion".
"What?" She raised both eyebrows.
Darwin stepped forward, "Think about it, Karen, all the signs point to that. You get confused by numbers because you can't focus, you forget things or get lost because your brain is overloaded".
"But what would be tiring my brain out?".
Gumball clasped his hands together, "People, people are the problem. You constantly deal with people being cruel, demanding impossible work goals, and disrespecting you because you're doing your job".
Gumball separated his hands and left his arms open, "There's nothing more tiring than dealing with stupid people".
Karen was paying close attention to his words, "But Laurence also deals with stupid people all the time, why does he seem to be fine?".
Darwin pulled a blackboard off the screen and Gumball placed his hand on it, "You see, Larry has a special condition where he can't rest for too long, otherwise the lack of adrenaline will make his heart stop".
Darwin had drawn a hyper realistic heart and the word adrenaline that pointed to the heart.
"He needs this discomfort, it has become a crucial part of his life".
Gumball placed his hand on the side of the painting and threw it towards the street. You could hear cars braking and swerving.
Karen lowered her head, placing her hands on her knees and patting them for a moment.
She looked up at them, "So how do I solve this?".
Gumball was stoic, "You won't".
Her eyes widened, "What?! How am I supposed to go back to work properly then?!".
"You won't".
Karen stood up from her box, "I don't understand!".
"Your mental fatigue is a consequence of your current lifestyle...".
As Gumball spoke, the background behind Karen changed to every situation she could remember being disrespected, insulted, or charged at by someone, bosses or clients.
"You only work while being devalued just for doing your job...".
The images lost color and took on shades of gray, several of them passing at the same time and faster and faster, while Karen's expression tightened with anguish.
"No extra hour of sleep is going to fix this".
Gumball's last sentence had an echo effect.
The scenes of her jobs passed so quickly behind her that it was only possible to see the different shades of gray a little blurred.
Then she felt a headache, putting her hand on her head and closed her eyes.
Gumball and Darwin look at Karen's uncomfortable expression with concern, taking off their glasses and returning to acting normally.
"If you want, we can help you".
Gumball looked disapprovingly at his brother, "Dude, you're lying again".
Darwin furrowed his eyebrows in irritation.
Karen opened her eyes and took a firm stance, "We're done here".
Gumball gestured towards him, "Are you sure?"
"I have".
Darwin sighed a little disappointed, "Okay".
The brothers left while Karen picked up her box and collected her items from the floor.
The scene changed to Karen working at the bank, serving a line of customers.
"Alright, next".
A round yellow person stepped forward, "Hello, I would like to deposit this check", he raised his hand with the paper.
"Okay", Karen took the check with a smile and turned to the computer.
But when she looked at the computer screen, the words and images were not fixed, they moved and were a little far from where they actually were.
She turned to the person, "J-just a second!".
She picked up a piece of paper that was on her desk and put the check aside to write on it.
But the words and numbers on the check also moved away.
His expression tightened.
And to make matters worse, she felt that headache again, but it was a little stronger this time. With a small ringing in your ear.
She took a deep breath, holding it, and sighed regretfully. She looked towards the line behind the yellow person, "Sorry, but you're going to have to form a line at the next counter".
Many grumbled or said things like "Why do I still trust banks" or "I should pay my bills online like my grandson said".
The scene changed to Karen walking sadly through a park until she sat down on a bench, sighing heavily.
By some miracle, Gumball and Darwin appeared and saw her, standing next to the bench with worried expressions.
"You guys are right, I need to do something".
They climbed onto the bench and sat on either side of her, "Acceptance is the first step in dealing with a problem".
She didn't look any of them in the eye, "And what do I do now?".
Darwin smiled hopefully, "Now you must say to yourself: I will change".
He gestured to her, "Come on", he said with a gentle tone.
She sighed a little, "I'll change", she said in a despondent tone.
In response to this, Darwin changed his expression to irritated and grabbed Karen's face by the cheeks, "I DIDN'T LISTEN! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?!", he shouted like a trainer.
She looked him straight in the eye and shouted at the same level, "I'M GOING TO CHANGE!".
"AND WHY?!".
She stood up from the bench with determination, "I'M GOING TO CHANGE TO PROTECT MY MENTAL HEALTH! I'M GOING TO CHANGE TO HAVE A BETTER LIFE, BUT STILL KEEP MY COMMITMENT TO SOCIETY!".
"THAT'S IT!", Darwin raised his arms in the air.
Karen did the same, "YEAH!"
Gumball turned to his brother, "Nice approach, bro".
She took a calming breath to calm herself, "Phew, thanks guys, now if you'll excuse me, I have a life to improve. I think I'll start by becoming my own boss", she walked away waving her arms. She no longer felt like her head was heavy.
Darwin looked at her proudly, "Do you think she'll make it?".
Gumball leaned on the bench with a cool pose, "Whether it's a good or bad path, we'll only know at the end of your journey".
Darwin looked at his unimpressed brother, "Dude, just say you don't know".