THE AMAZING WORLD OF GUMBALL
THE DISTANCE
The classroom was slowly filling up, some students sitting doing something to pass the time while waiting for class to start and others arriving and going to their seats.
In the seats at the back of the room, Gumball and Darwin were facing each other and having a serious conversation.
"Yes! Of course I have a butt!", Darwin placed his hand on his "chest" with an irritated look at Gumball.
"No, man! You don't!", Gumball raised his arms towards Darwin with an equally irritated look.
"Yes I do!", he hit his "chest".
"No, there isn't! Not everyone has a butt, man!", Gumball opened his arms to show that he was referring to the people in the classroom.
Darwin mixed his irritated look with a skeptical look, "Really? That's your argument?!".
He pointed at Masami, who is in the chair in front of Gumball, with such force that his arm was shaking, "THEN WHY DOES MASAMI, WHO IS A CLOUD, ALSO HAVE A BUTT?!".
This managed to get Masami's attention, who turned shocked and very angry towards them, "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MY BODY PARTS?!", her body shook and moved with her anger.
Gumball dropped his irritated gaze and gestured towards her, "She doesn't have a butt, look at how her body moves, there's no way you can find a butt in that".
His cloud body darkened, "Never talk to a lady like that!".
Darwin didn't take the hint, "But you're not a lady, you're a girl".
That was the limit. She quickly got above them and hit them with a thunderous bolt of lightning, which lit up the room and ripped the air apart for half a second.
The two were now gray, with their clothes burned and torn, in addition to the ground below them having drawings of electricity wires equally gray on the ground.
The other students had moved back in their seats when they noticed the brightness and noise of the lightning, but ignored it when they realized it was just an angry Masami.
Banana Joe threw his arm unimpressed at the scene, "Oh, it's just Gumball and Darwin messing around, lots of Bananews", then he put his hand on his stomach, laughing at his own lame joke.
Gumball and Darwin dusted themselves off and coughed a bit as Masasmi returned to her chair, floating above it.
"You need a lot of education!", she raised her nose that didn't have one.
She broke the pose and looked at Darwin, "By the way, Darwin, I don't have a butt and neither do you".
Darwin's expression was pure shock, his pupils shrinking until they turned into black dots and the whites of his eyes seemed to descend like the head of a leaking cup.
Gumball had a confident smile on his face.
Darwin blinked his eyes and the white part returned to normal, he tried to be frantic, but at the same time he was confused, "B-b-but, what?!".
Masami began to explain, "Bipedal beings have buttocks to help them balance, because their faces are too far forward. Otherwise the weight would be very uneven".
He broke out in a cold sweat, "But then why does Gumball have a butt and a tail? Wouldn't just one be enough?."
"Because his head is big", she said without hesitation.
This made Gumball's gaze grow surly and Darwin just accepted it as something that made sense.
He looked shocked at his colleagues, "But what about them?", he stretched his arms towards them.
Masami thought a little to formulate her answer well, "Well, you, Penny, Bobert, Molly, Teri, Leslie and Joke have their heads right in the middle of their bodies, so the weight distribution is equal, with only small and light parts like tails and wings. Tobias, Idaho, William, Carmen, Banana Joe, Anton and Alan have literally perfect heads on their bodies, so no extra limbs".
Darwin continued in a cold sweat, looking everywhere for any counterarguments, but there were none.
He gave up and hung his head with a sigh of defeat.
Masami looked ahead again, leaving them alone.
Gumball rested his elbow on the table and smiled, both with his mouth and his eyes, in a victorious way.
"Didn't I say?".
Darwin raised his head with a disappointed expression, "Yeah, I don't have a butt, you were right".
But his eyes widen, realizing something, "Wait, if I don't have a butt, but I go to the bathroom, does that mean that...".
It took Gumball a while to understand, but he wasn't bothered once he understood, "Yeah, probably everyone who's ever stood behind you could see it".
Darwin fixed his gaze toward the camera, eyes wide and still.
Then his body quickly became wrinkled and lost color, looking like food that had gone bad in the refrigerator. In addition to your eyes becoming duller in color.
"I need to apologize to so many people...", he said in a hoarse voice.
Gumball chuckled lightly, "Yeah, I remember everyone we've ever bothered, I think we've met everyone in Elmore".
He adjusted himself in his chair and started counting all the names on his fingers, "Our neighbor, the mayor, Larry...".
Darwin returned to normal and interrupted him, "I'm going to leave, but I'll be right back".
He got out of his chair and stood behind her, staring at the wall with determination.
"If I don't come back, tell Mrs. Simian...that I threw up", he said in the serious voice of a man of action.
He put his arms to the side and spread his legs in a western fighting pose. His legs closed and began to accelerate, but did not move from the same place.
As soon as they gained speed, they stopped taking steps and assumed a circular movement like a wheel.
Then he shot at high speed through the wall, leaving a shape of his body that resembled a mushroom cloud on the wall he passed through.
Gumball stood still with one finger on top of the other that was counting, looking at where Darwin was a second ago.
Then he continued as if nothing had happened, "Billy, Billy's mother, Vladus, Hector".
He looked at nothing and chuckled at a memory, "Hehe, not to mention...-".
He stopped with his mouth tight, there was no name either on the tip of his tongue or in his mind.
He frowned in frustration, stuttering as he tried to say the name he could not remember.
He lowered his hands and looked frustrated and distant, "I don't-I don't know who I'm talking about".
He shook his head hard and shoved his whole hand into his ear, "Come on, Brain! You're not that rotten!".
He kept moving his arm, feeling around the inside of his head,even making echo sounds, "If only I could find you".
Then his hand appeared through the whites of his eyes, feeling around the part right next to them.
Without realizing it, he carelessly put his fingers in his eyes.
This made him close his eyes quickly and open them again now red as he screamed in agony at the ceiling in pain.
His tongue, which had assumed a shape identical to his face, jumped out of his mouth and he also screamed, but in a higher pitch.
He calmed down and lowered his head, showing that the sclera of his eyes were completely red and he was tearing up a lot.
He pulled his hand out of his head, which came out with a little difficulty and was all sticky.
"Urgh", he clenched his jaw in disgust and rubbed his hand on the table to clean it.
He turned forward with a distant look, his eyes having returned to normal. "Who am I not remembering?".
He joined his hands and stretched out his index fingers, placing them on his lips and extending his thumbs to fit perfectly on the curve of his chin. In addition to leaning on the table with his elbows and squeezing his eyebrows in concentration.
"Hhhhmmmmmm", was the only sound he made.
He didn't move from that position for a long time.
Mrs. Simian was passing by the tables and handing a sheet of paper to each one, each of whom made an expression of frustration and disappointment.
She approached him and gave him a wicked smile that would make many Disney villains want their mother, "Well, Gumball Watterson...".
She put the paper down, showing it was a test, with a big red F on it, "I think you should change your name to... FUMBALL WATTERSON!".
She laughed maniacally at her joke, but stopped when she didn't hear him cry.
"Gumball?".
She snapped her fingers in front of him twice, but he didn't react.
"Gumball?!".
"Gumball!", a female voice, but deeper and less hoarse, called him.
He was now in the gym, still in the same pose, while a dodgeball match was taking place with him right in the middle of the attacks.
The balls were passing from different sides, behind him, in front of him and above him, some coming within millimeters of his skin.
Coach Russo appeared on the screen in the background, far from the game, "Never stand still like that if you're being chased by a pack of wild dogs".
Then a ball managed to hit him right in the face, but instead of falling, he flew off the screen like a stone statue.
Coach Russo frowned disapprovingly, "This is how you don't win a gold medal for agility in the 1986 Olympics".
"Gumball, I'm just going to put on a bandage and an anti-inflammatory".
He was now in the infirmary sitting on the edge of the patient table while the nurse was on the other side of the room.
Still in the same position, but with one of his eyes very swollen and purple.
She came back to him with a spay medicine and a bandage in each hand.
She placed the medicine in front of his face and squeezed it, a jet coming out that covered his entire eye. His eye blinked uncomfortably, making a sound of flesh moving and tears in response.
Then she opened a plastic package and took out a bandage from it.
"Stay still", he said in a monotone. She quickly spread the bandage on her palm and slapped his black eye, making the characteristic popping sound. A tear fell from his good eye.
Now his black eye was almost completely covered by the bandage. "You can go now", she said in the same monotone.
"Gumball, do you want to switch our lunches?".
He was still like that, sitting on a bench in the schoolyard with his lunch on his lap.
Clayton was on the floor next to him with his snack in his hand, some kind of normal sandwich.
Seeing that Gumball didn't react, he adjusted his voice and got a poker face, "See, Gumball, when people have different opinions, they talk about it, but there's always one thing in common in every conversation like this: Everyone just defends their own side, almost always disrespecting the other's side to defend theirs in a discussion where people would rather be right than say "Yeah, I might be wrong, but I like it, that's what should matter". So, man, are you going to take responsibility for taking a step towards change when, instead of ignoring me, you're going to look me in the eye and tell me what you think?".
Gumball continued in the same way.
Clayton looked at this lack of response and shrugged. He created another hand and stuck it in Gumball's lap, replacing the snacks.
"Good talk", he turned and skipped away.
"Gumball, do you want to pair up with me?".
He was now back in the classroom, with all the students sitting together in pairs and Tobias standing next to him.
"You know, since Darwin disappeared a long time ago and because Bobert said I would leave all the work to him".
Gumball didn't react, standing in the same pose for hours without interruption.
"And also two chairs are gone, so we'll have to share".
Tobias waited a bit, but soon frowned and snorted in disappointment.
He climbed onto Gumball's chair and tried to push him with his body to make room to sit.
He pushed too hard and Gumball fell out of the chair, hitting one side of his body on the floor.
Ironically, that was the only thing that broke him from this quiet state.
"OUCH!", he glared at his colleague angrily, "TOBIAS!".
He shrugged in confusion, "What? You haven't said anything in hours".
Gumball spoke so hard that he closed his eyes, "I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER ROB!".
his eyes widened and his jaw dropped, paralyzed.
"Who?".
He closed his mouth and looked distant, "Now I remember, I remember everything".
Tobias looked at him with a strange look, "Okay... now are you going to help me?".
Gumball gestured frantically, "Dude, don't you remember him? He already kidnapped us inside a bus! He already tried to turn us into those weird things that had so much detail for a cartoon that they made the animators cry!".
Tobias was expressionless, "I don't know who you're talking about".
Gumball got angry, "TINA HIT HIM THAT DAY!"
"Tina hits a lot of people on a lot of days, be more specific".
Tobias twiddled his head, "I think your blood filled your head from sitting so much".
Gumball fumed, having been offended, "I'm fine".
He went to get up, but when he took his arms off the ground, his legs wobbled and gave way. He hit his head hard on one of the table legs, making a loud metal sound.
his face was crushed into two parts, as if someone had thrown clay onto an iron bar. And he slipped until he was lying on the floor.
The camera slowly approaches the Watterons' house at night, voices can be heard inside.
"Don't you remember either?".
Gumball and Darwin were sitting in the living room near the TV.
Darwin had a relaxed expression, a light smile and calm eyes, "I remember when we were kidnapped and when we broke a snack machine and when we almost turned those things over at school, but I don't remember why it all happened. even though our life is like this constantly".
Gumball frowned angrily, "Tobias doesn't remember anything either and I only remembered his name once", he placed his fingers on his head out of stress.
Gumball took his hand off his head and gestured to Darwin in confusion, "Besides, why are you so calm?".
Darwin raised an eyebrow, still in a serene state, "What do you mean?".
The camera focuses on Gumball, "You look like someone who has achieved inner peace".
The camera returns to showing the two, with Darwin standing making the same fluid and calm movements seen in the Kung Fu Panda films with his eyes closed.
He made the last move and turned back to Gumball, sitting down, "Well, I managed to apologize to everyone about that".
Gumball raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Even that weirdo we scared so much he never left the house again?".
A scene appears of Darwin running quickly down the sidewalk, then swerving across a lawn to jump through a window, breaking it.
Inside the house he broke into, him saying "Hello, Mr. Graves, I'm sorry!" and a cry of a deep voice could be heard.
He appeared soon after having jumped out breaking another window, "Bye!"
The scene returned to them at home.
Darwin confirmed with a nod, "Yeah".
Gumball's eyes widened with an idea, "Did you happen to find someone who looks like him?".
Darwin denied, "I remember everyone I met well".
Gumball huffed angrily and rested his head on his hand, "Damn, that was my last idea, At least I can still ask other people".
Darwin reached out, literally, and patted Gumball on the back, "Relax, man, someone must remember Rob".
Darwin stopped hitting him on the back and they both froze with wide eyes.
Darwin put his hands over his mouth and Gumball leaned back, pointing his finger at Darwin.
"YOU SAID IT!", a whiplash effect could be heard in the background with Gumball's finger shaking.
"I remember", Darwin said very quietly.
"DO YOU REMEMBER!".
"I remember", he said louder.
Then he stood up and opened his arms, "I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!".
Gumball shielded his eyes as a light appeared from Darwin's head, his brain being visible until the light became so bright it looked like lasers were coming from it. The lasers were reminiscent of the exploding brain meme.
Darwin returned to normal with a look of realization, "Now I remember! He was your archenemy! He had one eye and looked like a TV with no signal!".
"Children!", Nicole's head appeared from the kitchen with a worried look.
She examined everything as they stared at her.
His expression softened, "Phew, I thought they destroyed the TV again", she returned to the kitchen and they resumed their conversation.
Gumball slammed his fist into his hand, "Then you and I are going to look for information!".
Nicole appeared again, "Oh yeah, boys, dinner is ready, call Anais," and she went back to the kitchen.
Gumball raised his finger, "Tomorrow!".
They walked around the couch towards the stairs. But before they stepped onto a step, the phone rang.
They stopped in front of the stairs and looked at the ringing phone. they looked at each other and Darwin shrugged.
Gumball walked over to him alone and picked him up, "Hello-".
A sudden loud sound of static hit his ears, making him scream in fright and throw the phone. He picked up the phone like it was a hot potato and returned it to support.
He kept his hand on the phone with wide eyes. Until he rings again.
Gumball took it off the stand and slowly put it to his ear.
"...Hello?", he said excitedly.
The sound of static came again, but Gumball was irritated this time.
He forcefully returned the phone to the holder and stared at it irritably. Then the phone rang once again.
Gumball just laughed smugly, "Ha, I won't make the same mistake three times".
He went back to the stairs and left the phone ringing, "It must be a prank call".
As they walked up the stairs, their voices drifted away, "You know, I'm surprised you want to meet him".
"A hero always needs his archenemy bothering him...".
The room was now filled with the constant ringing of the telephone.
The camera faced the phone, approaching slowly and dramatically. Then it stopped right in front as he rang one last time.
The scene changes to the night sky over Elmore, the moon smiling as it looks across the city.
She then underwent fast motion, her face moving several times until it disappeared into the horizon along with the night and the sun appeared yawning, staying exactly where the moon was before.
Gumball and Darwin walked down the sidewalk, stopping people and asking them questions.
They spoke to a black woman with a hexagon head, detailing the characteristics of who they were looking for.
Gumball then stretched his body, thinned his limbs, and brought his eyes together as much as possible to look like a Cyclops.
He used his eyes so hard that the woman got scared and ran away.
They were in the park, talking to Alison Sandra Gator who was sitting on a bench feeding the pigeons.
She widened her eyes and threw her hand in front of them, having remembered something.
But her hand was full of pigeon food and it fell heavily on Darwin.
They closed their eyes and quickly opened them wide, looking down.
The pigeons stopped eating their food from the ground and stared at him.
Darwin ran screaming desperately through the park with the pigeons chasing him in a flock right behind.
They now stopped next to the small tree librarian who was walking slowly but without stopping.
When they tried to talk to her, she raised her hand to silence them and pointed to her house a few meters away, without stopping walking.
They looked at each other and shrugged, deciding to wait.
They were talking to the police Donut while he was standing next to the police car.
Gumball stopped what he was talking about and pointed to the street, where a car driven by a black fingerprint passed by at high speed.
The three of them stood there surprised, so the police officer ignored them and went back to talking as if nothing had happened.
Gumball and Darwin widened their eyes and constantly gestured to where the car went to the police officer.
Donut watched the gesture show with confusion and a raised eyebrow.
Then he made an expression of understanding and turned back into his car.
Just to get a cup of coffee and two donuts for Gumball and Darwin. Their jaws dropped.
Darwin frowned, hitting his hand and knocking over the donuts, then Gumball frowned too and they both pointed furiously at the street.
The policeman seemed to understand this time, he ran into his car and turned on the siren, speeding away.
Gumball and Darwin placed their hands on their hips and shook their heads in disapproval.
The scene returned to the librarian still walking slowly, not having walked even a meter yet.
Meanwhile, Gumball and Darwin were sitting on a house's lawn playing Checkers, looking a little bored.
They were talking to a man with a camera head somewhere, but then someone tapped the cameraman on the shoulder.
He stopped them and apologized, turning to film what was about to happen.
The car that the fingerprint was digesting jumped off a floor of the parking lot.
Just above him, the police car piloted by the police Donut appeared one floor above in the same direction.
The scene cuts to when a body holding his microphone head reports the two cars meeting in the air and exploding.
Back to the librarian, she only walked another meter while Darwin and Gumball played rock, paper, scissors.
They played twice, with Darwin frowning when he realized he could only use a stone due to his lack of fingers.
So in the next game, he uses his foot, but again he can only use a stone due to the lack of fingers.
Gumball becomes victorious as Darwin places his hands on his lowered head, appearing to go mad in an existential crisis.
They're talking to a paramedic bandage, their bodies swaying a little.
The bandage shakes his head and then points uncomfortably to where they are sitting.
The camera zooms out, revealing that they are inside a moving ambulance and sitting on top of a large blue man in a cowboy hat.
He was sighing in discomfort and breaking into a cold sweat, most likely having a heart attack.
They smiled nervously as the paramedic carried a defibrillator.
The back doors of the ambulance opened with the force of them being thrown out, along with a crashing sound.
They remained lying on the street with their bodies having slight contractions.
Returning to the librarian, she was still far from home. While Gumball and Darwin had their heads resting on their hands and sitting on the grass.
Darwin looked at his wrist as if he were watching a watch. They looked at each other and agreed.
They left, disappointed and bored.
As soon as they left, the librarian's eyes widened, "Hey, this isn't my house".
She turned around and saw her house, which was in the opposite direction. His arms drooped in frustration.
They walked down the sidewalk, "They're the only ones we haven't asked yet", they turned and walked up to the porch.
They stopped in front of the door, "I don't like coming to their house", Gumball rang the doorbell.
"But the Banana family is so cool!".
No one answered, so Gumball raised his hand to knock, "And all of them when they're in the house are-".
As soon as he knocked, the door was pushed open, showing that it was open.
They stared at the half-open door in surprise, "Much stranger than normal".
Gumball opened the door a little wider and they walked inside calmly. They looked around, the house was very quiet.
"Banana Joe, are you there?".
Barbara?".
They walked into the living room, startled as soon as they entered.
In the living room, one wall was covered with Barbara's paintings, many of which they had never seen. They approached and looked at them all, one by one.
"HEY!", Gumball pointed angrily at a painting of him and Penny in space in "The Shell", "That was a private moment!".
Darwin quickly crossed his arms and smiled arrogantly, "Wow, that's quite embarrassing", he said full of sarcasm. Gumball wrinkled his chin in annoyance.
They went back through the paintings, looking at a few in particular that had Rob on them.
"I didn't even remember Barbara had these pictures, that would have helped earlier", Darwin said.
Gumball put his hand on his chin, "Yeah, it's like someone doesn't want us to remember".
Darwin gasped, "Is it the government that is taking away our memories?!".
Gumball dismissed this idea, "Nah, they're not that competent. It's more likely the TV hosts".
They heard a sound, it seemed like a very small voice, but they couldn't know where it was coming from. The voice got louder and louder, to the point that I could understand some syllables.
The camera showed Barbara with a frightening shadow effect on Gumball's side.
"STATIC!".
Gumball jumped on Darwin's head and they fell to the ground, screaming in fright.
Barbara turned to them on the floor with her usual goofy smile.
Gumball gasped in relief, "Phew, it's just you, Barbara."
"Why are you in my house?".
They stood up, "Barbara, do you happen to remember Rob?".
Barbara's silly smile disappeared, she seemed to be thinking about a bad memory.
Then her face lit up in understanding, "Ah! Yes, I remember. Tall, slender body, strange hair...", she spoke in a tone that sounded like she would go into the clouds at any moment.
They widened their eyes with satisfaction, "That's right!".
"Do you have any information?", Gumball asked.
Barbara thought for a moment, "Hhhmm, I know where he is".
She turned in another direction and the brothers cheered wildly.
She turned back to them and their faces changed to disappointed.
Barbara held a painting of Rob falling somewhere, smiling as if that were the answer to all her problems.
"Static", she said in a silly, dramatic tone.
She handed the painting to Gumball, who looked at it confused and then at Barbara with a raised eyebrow, "Uh, that's a painting of him, Barbara, but where is he?".
"Static", he said in an even more dramatic, but still silly tone.
Gumball put a hand on his hip, "You repeating the same sentence that I didn't understand won't make me understand it".
She ignored Gumball's comment and walked out of the room, smiling optimistically.
Gumball and Darwin watched him leave with their mouths open.
Gumball got a grumpy look, "Thanks for the help", a very sarcastic and irritated tone.
They looked back at Rob's painting, him falling into a bottomless, static pit and with a look of fear at what could be down there.
Darwin pointed to the tunnel-like static around him, "Is that what she's talking about?".
He maintained his grumpy attitude, "Maybe, but where is that?!", he said frustrated.
They turned around when they heard Barbaba's voice, she was coming back into the living room from another room, humming with another painting in her hands.
They moved away a little so she could pass and reach the wall, hanging the four together with everyone else.
Their jaws dropped and their eyes looked like they had seen ghosts.
The painting was an exact replica, in Barbara's slightly crooked lines, of their house, more specifically, of the part between the sofa and the stairs where the kitchen entrance and the fixed telephone on the wall are located.
Next to the phone was Richard in an open robe, underwear and slippers, putting his hands on his head in despair and appearing to shout into the phone.
The phone had small scratches near it, suggesting it was vibrating because of a call.
The boys looked at Barbara, still looking like they had seen ghosts, looking for answers.
Barbara slowly turned towards them, her face darkened a bit by shadows for dramatic effect, smiling with her usual smile.
"Static".
The scene changed to inside the Wattersons' house, right in front of the door.
Gumball and Darwin went straight through the door very quickly, leaving holes in the combined shape of their bodies.
After Darwin passed, the door opened a little with momentum. Darwin stopped and went back to close it gently.
He returned to Gumball's side and they both watched the scene in front of them in shock.
Richard had the phone in his hand and was biting the cord with his big tooth, full of anger.
His expression softened when he noticed his children, "Hi kids", he went back to biting the thread furiously.
Darwin threw his arms forward, "What happened, Mr. Father?!".
He stopped biting, "SINCE YOU LEFT, THAT PHONE WON'T STOP RINGING! TELEPHONE!".
He gestured to the phone, "I'VE ALREADY DONE EVERYTHING! I PUT IN HEADPHONES! I MADE A SOUND INSULATION BOX AROUND HIM! I MADE ANOTHER BOX AROUND ME! I EVEN TURNED OFF THE LIGHTS IN THE HOUSE!".
He held the thread with both hands, "NOW ALL I HAVE TO DO IS BITE USELESSLY ON THIS STRANGELY RESISTANT WIRE!".
He opened his mouth right on top of the wire, the top part began to move like a rock drill, making the identical sound.
Gumball approached nervously, "We'll take care of this", he took the phone from his father.
Darwin appeared at his side and grabbed his hand, "I think you need to rest", he guided him to the couch.
Richard placed his hand on his chest and breathed lightly, "You're right, that was stressful", they stopped in front of the sofa.
"I hope it affected my sleep routine", he slept as soon as he fell onto his stomach laying on the couch.
Gumball put the phone to his ear, but became irritated when he recognized the same sound as yesterday.
"WHAT ARE YOU-", he then understood, "Oh wait, it wasn't prank, it was him".
Darwin arrived at his side, "What are you saying?".
Gumball focused on listening, his eyelids fluttering as the noise suddenly grew louder, "Um, nothing, just the sound of a TV that lost its antenna because she went on vacation".
Then his eyes widened, remembering Babara saying static several times. He turned to Darwin, ready to say his idea.
But nothing came out of his mouth, "Damn, I forgot", he fumed in annoyance.
This time Darwin's eyes widened, "Or from static". Gumball lit up, "Yeah!".
He was confused, "But how do you improve the signal on a landline?". Darwin placed his hands on his hips with a confident smile, "Like this".
He took Gumball's phone and pulled its cord with one hand, put it over his head, stepped on it, wrapped it around his arm.
He handed the phone back to Gumball now with his body wrapped around or through the cord.
He moved his body in several different positions, testing which one would have the best signal. It finally worked when he left one arm raised and one leg bent.
"Hello-hello?"
Both of their faces lit up.
"Hello! I hear you!", Gumball's tone was excited and agitated.
The scene shows Rob inside a dimly lit house, holding a landline phone to dial, "Phew, finally someone answered me".
"Don't worry, I can hear you now, eh-ergh...", he placed his hand on his chin, a vein in his head bulging from thinking.
He put on a nervous smile and tried, "...Herb?".
Rob got really angry, "YOU DIDN'T-", he calmed down as quickly as he got angry, "It's okay, it makes sense that you wouldn't remember in that situation".
Darwin interjected with confusion, "Wait, why did you call us?".
"I stayed in your basement for a long time, I ended up memorizing your number from so many times I heard you say it". Darwin made an "Ah" making his mouth round.
He made a grumpy face, as if it was difficult to admit, "And also because you're probably the only ones who would have a chance of making it".
Darwin and Gumball looked at each other, "What do you mean?"
"It's because you-ghrrrr-".
The signal started to get worse, "Darwin! Quick! Change position!"
Darwin moved his body in various ways again, "Is it working?". Gumball focused on the phone, "No, we're losing it!".
Gumball looked around the room to think, his eyes fixed on the TV.
"If this is static, then we can fix it on TV!".
He dropped the phone for Darwin to untangle himself from the cord, then picked it up again and they ran to the TV.
They knelt in front of the screen, picking up the remote and turning on the TV. Gumball looked between the two devices and tried to think.
He tried putting the phone on the screen on, but nothing happened, so he took it off and put it on a few more times, then rubbed the phone on the screen.
But nothing happened and he still felt an electric shock, pulling his hand away immediately. He rubbed the raised hairs on his hand.
"Maybe it will work on a specific channel!", Darwin took the control and hurriedly ran through the channels.
"Who wants to be a millionaire?-", "No, Milton! I don't want you-", "SOLD FOR A HUNDRED THOUSAND-", "Site of the yellow woodpecker-".
He stopped when he found an off-air channel filled with static. Gumball smiled, "yeah! That must be it!".
He passed, slowly this time, the phone across the screen, but nothing happened again.
Then he looked at the DVD player, his eyes shining with realization. He opened the CD compartment and placed the phone with the microphone side down.
He put his arms close to his body in nervousness, watching the compartment try to close, fail for obvious reasons and open, then do it all again. Nothing has changed.
He placed his hand on his chin, studying the phone fully with a raised eyebrow.
He took the phone out of its compartment, turned it now with the microphone facing up, and put it back. Just the same thing happened.
He groaned angrily and dropped his arms, "Why did I think this would work?".
Darwin picked up the phone and put it to his ear, worried, "We're losing him!".
Gumball took a serious stance with a thousand yard stare, "Not on my watch!".
He grabbed the phone from Darwin's hand and ran behind the TV, pulling out one of the claws. Sounds of repairs, turning screws, and pulling and pulling wires came from behind the TV.
Before long, the static began to move like a wave, shaking in white lines. Then an image formed, of a room in a dimly lit and quiet house.
The scene changed to where Rob was, in that dimly lit and quiet house. He was in the corner near a table, holding the rotary phone.
Then a bright light illuminated one of the walls, he quickly turned around and saw the TV in the room flashing static and showing the image of Darwin.
Darwin threw his arms up, "yeah! Gumball, you did it!".
Gumball's head came from behind the TV and looked at the result, "Who knew, you could fix things by destroying them".
Rob appeared leaning over to look towards the screen a little way away, looking shocked and confused.
He disappeared from the screen, the sound of metal and the phone being disconnected in the background. He appeared soon after, walking until he was very close to the screen.
His torso covered the screen until he sat up, much more surprised than confused now, "Ahm-hm", he tapped a finger on the screen twice.
Gumball went to his brother's side as he seemed to say frustrated and irritated for some reason, "Grr, That's exactly why I tried calling your house! You guys always manage to do weird things to your advantage!".
He shrugged when he became a little calmer, "But I don't know why I'm still surprised, after all, you are the protagonists".
Gumball and Darwin scrunched up their faces comically in confusion, "Huh?" they said in unison.
He pressed his finger on his eye, because he can't squeeze it since he only has one eye, "Of course", he said softly.
He looked at him seriously, "I'm going to explain this quickly because I don't know how much time I have. Remember when I tried to turn you into humans?".
Gumball pointed at him, "That kind of human that looks like the people from Richwood High, but with more 'depth' and less colors that look like they were made by a coloring pencil?".
"Yeah, I discovered a world where there are these humans and one of them is responsible for making this world".
They blinked a few times, "I still don't get it", Darwin said.
This made Rob visibly a little angrier, "WE ARE A CARTOON! A cartoon made by one of those humans for other humans just like him to watch! And you, along with the rest of your family, are the protagonists! The center of it all!". He took a quick breath to catch his breath.
Both Gumball's eyes and body expression were nervous, "There are people...watching our moments as entertainment? That, hahaha, that didn't make me want to have an existential crisis at all, hahaha". He smiled crookedly, full of falsehood and nervousness.
Darwin was the same way, "Hahaha, yeah, hahaha, as if this makes me rethink everything I've ever done in my life", he wiped the sweat off his forehead and smiled like Gumball.
Rob ignored their reactions with disapproval, "I tried to turn you into that so you could save yourselves in this other world. Because the place where I am holds not only the mistakes of the world, but all the exclusions made by the creator".
"And do you know what the biggest exclusion a program can suffer?".
"Everyone sees you having a weird time with a hot dog you don't even know?", Gumball said very quickly.
Rob looked at him unimpressed, even Darwin stopped panicking and also looked at him, but confused. Gumball shrugged nervously to avoid the topic.
"No", Rob said gruffly, "The worst thing is getting canceled or terminated. And ending a show is the same as saying the creator no longer thinks it's necessary".
Gumball and Darwin's eyes shrank, not just the pupils, but the entire eye shrank until it looked like a dot. Small wrinkles also appeared around the eyes.
"This is what's happening to our world, this drawing is-".
The image began to become several smaller images passing across the screen like an old film reel, separated by lines of static between them. The sound disappeared instantly.
Their eyes tried to shrink more, but they were so small that they disappeared with a soap bubble sound effect.
But they came back soon after, huge and desperate.
"NO! NO! NO!", Gumball shook and hit the TV while Darwin pressed the buttons on the remote. But it was no use.
"QUICK! GO THANK THE ANTENNA!", Darwin ran into the backyard.
Gumball lay down next to the TV, using his feet to fiddle with the wires he had strangely wrapped around the phone and continued hitting the TV with his fist, managing to see the screen where it was.
On the other side, Rob was touching the various buttons on the TV, a very old model, so it had many buttons. He even hit the buttons and shook the TV in anger.
"Damn! Damn! I was almost done!", he placed a hand on the screen, but quickly removed it when he got a shock, "OW!".
The scene changed to the Wattersons' roof, Darwin walking on top of it, swinging the antenna in various directions.
He put his hand over his mouth to strengthen his voice, "WAS IT RIGHT?".
"NO!", came Gumball's distant voice.
Darwin tried to think frantically and very nervously, sweating coldly and stamping his foot.
He analyzed the athena from top to bottom three times before looking closely at the base of the antenna attached to the roof. He had an idea.
He moved away a little and fell onto his stomach, getting up and started doing push-ups. He did all the stereotypes of this, breathing like he was hyperventilating and doing the last push-up almost falling over.
He stood up and flexed his arms, the exercise left them swollen and perhaps you could see some muscle in them.
He grabbed the antenna at the base and pulled with all his strength, removing it and pulling the wire that went into the house.
Inside, Gumball stopped for a moment when he heard the sound of something popping.
He looked up and saw a wire being tensioned to the point of breaking things as it passed.
The wire made a path of destruction from the ceiling to the wall, going down until it reached the TV.
The wire hit one of Gumball's feet like a whip and when he opened his mouth to scream, the TV tilted forward, hitting him in the face.
He became slightly dizzy and returned to normal, bringing his foot up to see the damage. He was left with a red line mark where smoke was coming out.
He blew until the line lost its red color, "WAS IT RIGHT?", came Darwin's distant voice.
"NO!", the TV fell back and he went back to messing with the wires.
A few seconds later, the sound of something falling to the floor, then Darwin returned to the room with his face covered in dirt, "WHAT DO WE DO?!".
"I DON'T KNOW! DON'T YELL AT ME!".
Rob had lost patience with the device, now he lifted it from its support and shook it irritably.
"Why can't adults get rid of old things when there are things that can make their lives better?!".
He dropped the TV back where it was and in a fit of rage, kicked it in the side.
But he wasn't strong, the TV had only moved a little with his kick as he jumped on one foot while holding the other letting out groans of pain.
Suddenly, the static from the TV made a different noise, less noise and more...empty.
He noticed this and looked at the screen, the pixels changed their colors from common bad signal white, gray and black to lighter tones. Very similar to Barbara's painting.
"Oh no".
On the other side, Gumball and Darwin also noticed the same thing happening, looking confused.
Then his eyes widened into something empty, being filled by the reflection of static on his retinas.
The TV turned off.
They blinked a few times until life came back into their eyes, Gumball came out from behind the TV and they both felt confused.
They looked at the TV, Richard sleeping on the couch, the antenna wire exposed on the wall and ceiling.
They looked at each other.
And they shrugged disinterestedly, "I don't know what happened, but I'm hungry".
They went into the kitchen, "It doesn't look like we destroyed much today, probably nothing happened to remember".
When they disappeared from the camera Darwin asked, "How about sandwiches?".
At that moment, Richard's body swayed and they jumped off the sofa, landing on the floor between the sofa and the stairs with a thud.
He then got up and ran to the kitchen, "WAIT FOR ME BOYS!".
The camera focused on the turned off TV screen, slowly moving away from its empty darkness.
Slowly.
Slowly.
Until almost the entire room could be seen in tense silence.
Slap sound, "Damn! I forgot to put the pineapple on the president's table!".