Hey there everyone, this is Neonimbus and back with a new story within the TAWOG archive. With the help of Sal and my beta reader, we're here to present you the official sequel to The Newcomer. So what's in stored for Brian and his friends this time around? Well...read and find out and I hope you guys enjoy the beginning of a new story!
Finally, as a reminder, I don't owned TAWOG. Just the story by itself.
Update: After checking the guest review regarding the title, both Sal and I agreed to alter the title and for that, we thank Okay for pointing this out and we appreciate his honesty about it.
That said, Enjoy!
The Awakened
An Amazing World of Gumball Story
By Neonimbus
Chapter 1: The Beginning: Part 1
For eons, there has been a war that has been raging on, a fight to determine the fate of the world. Many are unaware of that fight but soon that may not be the case anymore. There are individuals that possess abilities that can only be obtained from the previous wielders passing them on, granting them skills beyond anyone's limits and dreams. Some used them for the greater good, but others used them for their own selfish means.
These are the stories of a group of kids whose lives have been forever changed in one night...
It was a dark and cold night in an unknown forest, but for one stranger, a red humanoid, his night was turning out to be anything but good. He was running for dear life, ignoring the heavy breathing coming out from his mouth and the pain from his muscles. All he wanted to do was find a safe spot and get the hell away from that...that monster that is still chasing him like it was no big deal. He just lost all his friends and he was the last one still breathing.
'This can't be happening! Why the hell does this have to happen to us?!''
As much as he wanted the answer to come flying straight towards him, this wasn't the case, as the stranger ran straight into a dead end. Panic and anxiety soon came, as he desperately looked for any place where he can hide; after a few minutes, however, it became apparent that there were no avenues of escape. But before he could...
"GAH!" the humanoid screamed as he felt something pierce straight through his chest before being taken out forcefully, leaving him bleeding profusely. Before he passed on, he finally saw the face of his attacker but that info would do him no good in the afterlife. The mysterious figure, cloaked in a form of camouflage pulled out a device before talking into it.
"It's done; we've got them," he said with a cold, almost emotionless tone from his Russian accent.
"You'd better make sure it stays that way..." the voice from the device began. "Track down the next set and when you do, finish them off immediately."
"Don't worry, comrade. I'll do just that," the mysterious figure responded, before turning the device off, as he looked onward to the moon. "Soon, they'll have nowhere else to go."
*Beep Beep Beep Beep*
The sounds of an obnoxiously loud alarm clock filled the bedroom of a certain purple fox. He rolled over groaning loudly to shut off the clock though it took him a few tries to hit the off button.
"Ugh! Stupid clock," the fox grumbled, as he rolled back over to sleep some more, though his mother had other plans.
"Brian!" she called from downstairs. "Breakfast is ready!"
"Coming mom!" Brian quickly replied, despite his reluctance, as he leapt out of his bed and into his closet. Almost a minute later, he came out with his new attire that he picked out for the new school year: which consisted of a white and green shirt and dark blue jeans. He still had his three strand of hair, but they had grown longer and Brian himself had gotten taller during the last three years living in Elmore.
Once he got dressed in his new clothes, Brian immediately headed downstairs and into the kitchen and into an open seat, just in time to see his mom finish cooking her son's breakfast.
"I hope you like eggs and bacon," Annie said to her son, as she served the meal from the pan.
"Thanks mom," Brian told his mother, before he gulped them down in a matter of seconds.
"Brian, chew with your mouth closed!" Annie scolded her son. "And maybe taste your food while you're at it!"
"Sorry about that," Brian apologized to his mother. "Guess I was in a rush to get to school." Brian lied, as he really wasn't in any rush, preferring his summer break.
"I know when you're lying," Annie concluded. "Anyway, you should really get going. Don't forget to clean up your room when you get back home."
"Don't worry, mom, I will and thanks for breakfast," said Brian, before he waved a goodbye to his mother and quickly went out the front door, hoping not to be late on his first day back in high school.
Gumball, along with Darwin and Mike, waited patiently for their friend to show up, before the school bus suddenly showed up, the bus driver impatiently waiting for the three of them to get on.
During the last three years, the three had changed significantly; Gumball surprisingly has gotten quite as tall as Brian and he had just two strands of hair sticking out of his head. He was wearing a white shirt with a black vest, as well as a pair of khaki pants. Darwin also got taller, but not as much. Interestingly, he started to wear pants for the first time, as well as a pair of blue sneakers. Finally, Mike made the most significant changes out of the three, as he was also much taller, and he was wearing a black hoodie with red writing on it, a green shirt underneath it, cargo khakis and brown sneakers. He also had a few hairs sticking out of his head whenever he forgets to brush it, like on this day for instance.
"Where the hell is Brian? He should have been here by now," Gumball noted, as he was becoming a bit impatient waiting for the fox to show up.
"Chill out for a second, Gumball. I'm sure he'll be here in no time," Darwin attempted to calm his brother down.
"Darwin's right," Mike agreed. "Besides, he's not the kind of person to flake out at the last minute."
"I hope so," the blue feline muttered under his breath.
"Can you three get on sometime today?" the bus driver asked, clearly irritated.
"Oh quiet, you," Mike spouted back in defiance.
Just then, the trio heard some heavy breathing, prompting them to turn around and see Brian making his way to them, breathing heavily from all of the running he was forced to do.
"I'm sorry...to make...you guys...wait," Brian panted, as he explained his actions. "But...I'm here...now."
"It's about damn time you showed up!" Gumball exclaimed. "Now come on, we're going to be late."
Nodding his head in agreement, Brian, along with his friends, made their way onto the bus, as it drove off towards school.
Elmore High School, as expected on its first day, was quite packed with many students arriving at the building after a long summer away. Unlike Elmore Junior High, the school was rather large, designed specifically to accommodate students from both the previous Elmore Junior High/High School and Elmore Academy and as such, they are expected to at least get along with one another. In addition, it was also state of the art in terms of quality, from the security to the latest technology, designed specifically to make sure that students who planned to pull off some prank will reconsider their actions. In other words, this high school was one that Elmore had never seen before, but exactly how it managed to accomplish such a feat remained a mystery to most people, even to the teachers themselves.
The bus pulled up to the nearest bus stop, allowing its passengers off, including Brian, Mike and the Watterson brothers, as they made their way to the main entrance of their high school.
"So how was your summer?" Brian asked his friends.
"Gumball got attacked by a raccoon," Darwin happily replied, causing Brian to laugh his head off.
"He was trying to eat my cashews!" Gumball angrily explained.
"So he was biting your nuts?" Mike asked with a smirk.
"You weren't there when it happened!" Gumball furiously retorted. All the insults, put downs, and jokes from Mike over the years had taken its toll, causing Gumball to have a bit of a fiery temper, at least when his girl wasn't around.
"Hold it right there, boys!" a stern voice shouted, causing the four to cringe before they looked down and saw a parrot right in front of them, wearing a lavender suit, blue tie and a pair of brown loafers. Judging from his appearance and authority-like demeanor, there was no doubt that he was the principal of Elmore High School.
"Hi Principal McCaw," Brian nervously greeted the irate principal. "You're not still peeved about what happened before summer break, are you?" The principal's gaze fell on Mike, who was the instigator of the..."Chicken Noodle Incident", which resulted in them serving detention on the very first week of summer.
"Principal McCaw, we swear, it wasn't on purpose," Gumball feverishly explained to the principal.
"...Mostly," Mike muttered.
"It was beyond our control," Darwin insisted.
"Yeah, I heard that explanation a few times when you four were serving detention and I had to spend a week of MY summer watching you...ingrates," Principal McCaw reminded the boys, much to their discomfort.
"Look, Principal McCaw, we swear nothing bad will happen this time around," Brian attempted to reason with the principal.
"...If you boys pull off something like that again, then you'll be serving more than just a week of detention," Principal McCaw warned the four. "You boys are on thin ice as it is. Don't make it thinner. Now get to your class right now before I have you written up for being late."
"Yes sir!" The four nodded their heads in agreement before taking off into the building for class.
"Please tell me he didn't wait outside just for us," Brian asked.
"Twenty bucks says yes," Mike joked.
"What class do we have first?" Gumball asked, changing the subject.. Mike reached into his pocket and pulled out his copy of the class schedule.
"Looks like we have homeroom first period...at a Mrs. Vanessa Tulip's room at Room 208," Mike explained. "She must be new. I don't remember her last year on the high school staff."
"Her room must be on the second floor," Brian deduced. The four walked up the stairs and looked around for the room. With the school being brand new, they weren't accustomed to it yet.
"Here it is!" Darwin shouted, having spotted the room he and his friends were looking for.
But before they could walk into the room, a familiar voice stopped them.
"Long time no see!" The four turned around and saw a red bear, slightly taller than Mike and built like a house, wearing a brown leather jacket, a blue shirt underneath it, fingerless gloves and black pants. The moment the boys saw him they knew who they are looking at.
"Oh...hi Ivan," Brian nervously greeted his former rival, being uncomfortable in his presence.
"If it isn't the big bruiser himself!" Mike playfully joked as he and Ivan fist bumped.
"And if it isn't Stripes himself." Ivan cheerfully replied. "I see you're going to that homeroom. Funny, considering I'm also heading there myself. Here, let me open the door for you guys."
Ivan then opened the door and allowed the four in, before following them behind. Brian had to remind himself that Ivan wouldn't harm a fly anymore (unless it was on a gridiron in which case no one was safe), but just being in his presence left him rather uncomfortable, though he had to admit that it was nice of his ex-rival to let them in. Ivan had made huge strides in changing his personality as he was no longer the bully that they once knew. Now he was a respected student and co-captain on the football team, as well as a teammate of Mike's, who was the starting quarterback and the other offensive captain. Being on the football team gave him an avenue to let out his aggression in a productive manner, which was making sure Mike didn't get sacked every other play.
'Looks like we made it just in time,' Brian happily thought, as he and his friends walked in. The room had instead of desks, tables with four chairs at each one. The four spotted a table with no one at it and sat in the open seats, just as their teacher finally arrived shortly afterwards, who turned out to be a tulip as expected, but she was quite tall for her kind, with a thin frame, long leaves as appendages, a brown vase and a pair of glasses.
"Good morning class!" the tulip spoke in a kind and respectful voice. "I hope everyone had a good summer break!"
"Mostly everyone," Mike whispered to Brian, as both snickered afterwards, to Gumball's annoyance.
"I am Vanessa Tulip, but please called me Ms. Tulip," the tulip introduced herself. "As I'm new to this school and to you all, I thought it would be nice if I could get to know a bit about everyone. So I'm going to pass out these papers and you can just tell me a bit about yourselves," Ms. Tulip went around the room and passed out papers to everyone in the room.
"This is great, our first day back in high school and already we have to do some paper work?" Gumball quietly complained, before Darwin nudged him with his elbow.
"Gumball, be quiet. She might hear you," his brother scolded him.
"Darwin's right," Brian agreed. "We don't want to get into trouble already. Just get this over with."
"Fine, just so you guys won't be nagging me all day," Gumball reluctantly agreed, before he and his friends began their first assignment.
"While you're working, you may talk freely as long as it's not so loud that I have other teachers barging in to complain," Ms. Tulip instructed as the room became much more alive as everyone began to converse with each other.
'I think I'm going to like this class after all,' Gumball happily thought, having reconsidered what he previously thought.
So as homeroom came to an end, Gumball, Darwin, and Brian all stood up to leave before...
"Where are you guys going?" Mike asked as he remained in his seat, "Second period is in here as well." the boys were amazed that they had the same teacher two periods in a row. They immediately went back to their seats as if nothing happened.
"This is a first," Brian commented.
"I know, we have another class starting and already it's the same teacher who has been so nice to everyone," Darwin happily said.
"I can't believe this is really happening," Gumball whined, prompting Darwin to punch him on the shoulder.
"You are such a little whiner!" Mike flat out insulted. "Did you actually become even more of a prima-donna during the summer?"
"Just be glad that Ms. Tulip isn't like Miss Simian," Brian reminded his friend.
"Well…there is that," Gumball agreed. "I just don't want to be in school again."
"Oh suck it up. You got through ten grades without dying. I doubt two more will kill you."
"That's not very reassuring, Mike," Gumball disagreed.
"Quiet, you guys. Ms. Tulip is about to start," Darwin informed his friends, prompting them to be quiet, as their teacher began her lesson.
"Alright class, we will be learning about ancient Egyptians. Please get a blue book off the shelf and turn to page twelve..."
After another hour in Ms. Tulip's history class, the boys' next period was PE, as the four made their way to the school gym. Though instead of a normal gym class, there was to be an assembly in the gym as it was big enough for all the students to sit in. In the midst of the wave of students, Brian, Mike and the Watterson brothers spotted a few empty spots, thanks to three certain girls.
"Thanks for saving the seats for us," Brian thanked his girlfriend.
"Anytime Brian, we were just glad that we made it here before anyone else did," Rhonda insisted.
Brian couldn't help but admire his girlfriend, due to his newfound height. In the last three years, Rhonda, the girl of his dreams, became quite beautiful in his eyes; she maintained her short hair that she had since her days in seventh grade, but she now wore a blue sweater, with a black shirt over it, a pair of grey pants and purple sneakers. In addition, she became quite developed, though Rhonda herself was rather uncomfortable by the attention she was receiving; fortunately for her, Brian was always there when she needed it and handled any situation, thanks to some training from Mike.
But Rhonda wasn't the only girl that has changed. Penny made a drastic change, having decided to ditch her shell as soon as she started high school, revealing herself to be a deer underneath. She now wore a red and orange shirt, white skirt and green sneakers, though she still wore her red and orange wristbands.
"Penny, it's good to see your face!" Gumball happily said to the deer.
"It's been a long while, Gumball, but it's good to see you too," said Penny, returning her affection to her boyfriend.
"There's my grisly girl," Mike fondly spoke, as he sat next to Carrie and put his arm around her shoulder, which she moved closer to meet him. Carrie became quite optimistic since she started high school, no longer a depressed ghost and she even developed as well, wearing a white jacket and tank top to emphasize the change. The area below her waist was nothing more than her tail, which she sometimes liked to tease Mike with. The only thing that hasn't changed is the bow she had with her and part of her face being covered by her now long, flowing hair. She seemed to enjoy it when he said things that normal guys would get dumped for normally.
"Haven't been able to see you as much as I wanted this summer," Carrie seemed to chuckle at her boyfriend's words.
"It must have been torture without me," Carrie affectionately said to him.
"Yeah, summer didn't get off to a good start," Mike briefly explained to his girlfriend.
"Oh yeah, I remember about that," Carrie noted with a smile. "Never a dull moment with you around. So what really happened back there?"
"...Let's just say that me, Brian, Gumball and Darwin were unable to control the situation despite our best efforts," Mike replied, as he sheepishly rubbed his head.
"Okay, if that's your story," said Carrie, deciding not to ask too much regarding the unfortunate incident that took place a few months ago. "By the way, how's Darwin?"
"He's been doing well, though the first few weeks were tough on him," Gumball explained to her. Ever since Rachel left for college, Darwin had a hard time adjusting to life without her. Eventually, after a while, the two decided to maintain their relationship through emails and phone calls; at the very least, they were able to remain in contact until Darwin finished high school.
"Looks like he really misses her a lot," Rhonda noted.
"Considering that we went camping for two weeks, I don't blame him," Gumball simply stated.
"Oh yeah!" Mike remembered something. "You better tell us how you got attacked by a raccoon!" This prompted the girls to turn their attention to him.
"You got attacked by a raccoon, Gumball?!" asked a shocked and clearly sympathetic Penny.
"That probably wasn't a pleasant experience," Rhonda guessed.
"But it probably would have been funny to watch," Carrie figured, causing Mike to chuckle himself. Gumball, on the other hand, was hardly amused.
"You just had to tell them, did you?"
"Alright, students! It's time to begin!" Principal McCaw announced.
"I'll tell you guys later," Mike slyly said, causing an irked Gumball to grumble to himself.
"I would first like to welcome you all back from your summer vacation and to the new faces I would like to welcome you to the new Elmore High School!" The principal spoke again into his microphone. "But now that you're back it's time for you all to learn again and with this new facility, we will be able to give you the best learning experience possible. But before we do anything else, I'd like to introduce your teachers."
Principal McCaw then gestured his wing to his right as one, a green humanoid who appeared to be in his early thirties, black hair tied into a ponytail, wearing a blue tracksuit and a pair of black sneakers, was the first to come up. "Introducing first, our new PE teacher, Mr. Zachary Kenshin!"
"It is an honor to be here," Zack spoke with a strong Japanese accent, as he bowed his head to the principal and went right back to his seat, before a porcupine with orange fur and needles sticking out from his back, dressed in a white dress shirt, a red and black tie and brown trousers with suspenders made his way up.
"Next, meet your new biology teacher, Mr. Sam Pines."
"Thank you Principal McCaw, it's great to be here, but before I head back to my seat, I just want to let you know...THAT I HATED YOUR GUTS FROM THE MOMENT I LAID MY EYES ON YOU!"
With that, Sam then happily went back to his seat, as if nothing had happened, leaving both Principal McCaw and the rest of the students baffled by his unusual behavior.
"New favorite teacher. Hands down," Mike commented quietly to Carrie, causing her to giggle.
"Alright then," Principal McCaw muttered under his breath, brushing it off like nothing happened. "Moving on."
The principal went on to introduce the rest of the teachers, many of which Brian and his friends didn't have. After introducing all the teachers, Principal McCaw finished up the assembly. "I would like to wish everyone a good year at our school and I hope to see you all succeed here. You are all dismissed. Please head to your next classes."
Every student in the gym let out a sigh of relief, as everyone got out of their seats and made their way to the exit, as they all headed out to their next periods. As they made their way to their next class, the gang couldn't help but make some observations regarding their new teachers.
"Mr. Pines is just like Mr. Small, only he seemed to be more direct with his behavior," Gumball noted.
"Yeah and Mr. Kenshin is quite respectful for a gym teacher." Brian stated.
"I don't know about you guys, but they seem out of place," said Darwin.
"In this crazy ass town? Nah, they fit in just fine!" Mike joked.
"I wonder what happened to the other teachers from last year?" Carrie asked.
"Who knows? They might have gotten jobs at other schools," Penny figured.
"This is going to be an interesting school year," Rhonda spoke with amusement.
"Considering this is Elmore, anything can happen," Brian reminded his friends, to which they nodded in agreement.
"Well, we might as well meet our new gym teacher," Mike suggested as Mr. Kenshin was their current teacher for the current period, as they approached the green humanoid.
"Greetings, students," Zack happily said to them. "I hope that we get along this school year."
"Same here, Mr. Kenshin," said Brian respectfully. "My name is Brian and these are my friends: Gumball, Darwin, Mike, Penny, Rhonda and Carrie." They all said hello in their own ways.
"It is a pleasure to meet you all."
"Same here, teach," Gumball playfully said, before Darwin nudge him in the side.
"You're supposed to say sensei, Gumball," Darwin corrected his brother.
"There is no need for any of that here, Darwin," Zack assured his student. "Everyone is treated as equals and therefore, it is alright to just be yourself."
"Oh, alright then," Darwin said to the gym teacher. The rest of the class joined the group to Zack's delight.
"Ah, we are all here! Please take a seat, everyone!" Zack instructed, as he wanted to begin, before becoming serious, as everyone sat and quieted down. "I will now explain how we will be doing things during this hour." Zack seemed to transform into a completely different person, as he was now speaking in a very stern, no-nonsense voice.
"To warm up, we will be doing three laps around the gym and we will be starting..." Zack took a look at his watch before looking back at his students. "...right now!"
Stunned to hear this, but not wanting to get on Zack's bad side, everyone immediately got up and began to jog around the gym, while their gym teacher looked on.
"After you're done with your three laps, you will all make a circle so we may begin our stretches!" Zack shouted to make sure he was heard by all the students. "And no cutting corners!" Zack shouted as he spotted Gumball doing just that.
Once PE finished after a long hour, every student left the gym, trodding their way to their next period. Everyone was tired and worn out having just gone through one of the toughest gym classes they could remember. By the time Brian and his friends finally made it to their next class, which turned out to be biology, the gang simply wanted to rest and forget the whole ordeal, especially Gumball.
"Ah man! I can't believe he made us exercise on our first day back here!" Gumball complained out loud.
"He obviously takes his job very seriously, Gumball," Darwin added, as he moved weakly.
"I know what you mean..." Brian began, as he rubbed his sore arm. "I thought for sure he was like Ms. Tulip."
"I went through many exercise routines before, but nothing like that," Rhonda noted.
"If you're the one sore, that's saying quite a bit," Penny stated, as she needed Gumball to keep her balance.
"That guy likes his aerobics a bit too much," Mike stated as he rubbed the back of his head. "How many jumping jacks did we do? Fifty?"
"I don't see what you guys are complaining about," Carrie nonchalantly commented. Mike would say something if he wasn't dating her, but Gumball wasn't restricted by that fact though.
"Of course you wouldn't!" Gumball argued, though Carrie didn't seem to care.
"Look, we can argue later. Mr. Pines is starting." Carrie informed her friend, prompting everyone to be silent, as the porcupine began to teach.
"Alright class, it's so good to see you," Sam greeted them, oblivious to how tired and worn out they really are. "But before I began my lesson, I'm going to set one thing straight...IF I CATCH ONE OF YOU SLACKING OFF, YOU'RE GOING TO GET AN F ON THE SPOT!" Everyone in the room was instantly startled by the sudden change in voice, before Sam calmed down long enough to be back to his old self. "Does anyone here understand? Good."
"...This class is going to be the death of us," Gumball whispered to his brother, as Sam was starting his lesson.
"Agreed," Darwin fearfully nodded his head.
After one agonizing hour of trying to keep themselves up as best as they can, biology class finally came to an end, as the gang went to the new and quite spacious cafeteria to get something to eat, before they looked for a table to sit down and eat their lunch.
"I swear, I'll never look at biology class the same again," Gumball lamented, as he chewed on a sandwich.
"Tell me about it, Gumball. Mr. Pines is even more unpredictable than Mr. Small," Brian outright stated.
"Or any sentient life form on the face of the earth," Mike added after Carrie phased into his body so she could eat lunch too.
"Why was he even hired to begin with?!" Darwin whined. "I swear, for a moment, it looked like he was staring through me!"
"Maybe he's just that good at his job?" Penny reasoned.
"Or maybe he was hired at the last minute," Rhonda suggested.
As the gang continued on with their conversation, they failed to notice someone heading right towards their table.
"Hey guys! I see your first day back here is off to a bad start," the gang turned around and saw a green gerbil with blonde hair, wearing a black tank top with white stripes, a pair of blue denim skinny jeans and sandals. It didn't take too long for them to realize who she is...and for Mike to become uncomfortable.
"Hey Ally! How was your summer?" Brian asked, happy to see a familiar face for a change. To say Ally hadn't changed much would be wrong. She had become quite the curvy woman with rumors spreading about other boys constantly hitting on her ever since she came to Elmore. She was quite the bombshell and even Mike was aware of it, but he was still Carrie's and wanted to be with her more than Ally.
"Oh, it's no biggie," Ally calmly replied. "But if it'll make you feel better, I did some hiking and rafting."
"That's great to hear!" Rhonda praised her cousin. "It's good to know that you're trying out new things."
"Well...I just wanted to make some changes before school started again," said Ally, before she turned her attention to Mike, at which point, her demeanor changed right away. "Oh, it's good to see you too."
With that, Ally turned around and went off to the other side of the cafeteria, leaving just the gang sitting at the table with their meals.
"After three years, you'd think she'd let it go and move on," Gumball spoke, breaking the silence from the group.
"I still don't like her," Carrie said in a cold, distrusting tone as she exited Mike.
"I'm sure she just wanted to say hi to us, that's all," Penny insisted to her friend.
"Besides, aren't you still upset after what happened when she moved here?" Darwin asked the ghost.
"She's the one who made the first move!" Carrie argued.
"Carrie," Mike spoke calmly, causing Carrie to look at him. "In any case, it's not important right now what her reasons for coming over here are." the maroon badger reasoned to try and calm Carrie down. "As much as I don't like being around her either, we can put the past away even if she can't." His words seemed to do the trick as Carrie seemed to understand.
"Fine, I'll try to be nice to her..." Carrie began. "But I won't make any promises. As long as she minds her own business, I'll mind mine."
"That's all I'll ask for," said Mike. The group then continued to eat lunch until the next class bell rang.
Several hours later...
The school bell rang for the last time, as every student left the premises as fast as they could, intending to go home and have a little rest and relaxation until the next day. It was an idea that Brian and his friends planned to do after enduring one long hour after another, dealing with teachers with unusual and eccentric personalities.
"I think fate played a cruel trick on us and decided to make us suffer for its own amusement," Brian suggested out loud.
"So our first day back in school wasn't a pleasant one," said Mike. "But we've been through worse." With all the craziness they've been through, everyone had to agree with their friend's statement. "Anyway, I've got to get to practice so I'll talk to you guys later," Mike said as his friends waved him off. Carrie and him kissed before he walked off towards the locker room to get ready.
"What Mike said is right. We've always been through one mishap after another," Darwin recalled some of their misadventures.
"But still, how are we going to deal with a disciplinarian and a teacher with bipolar disorder?" Gumball asked his friends.
"Let's figure that one out later," Penny replied, having understood Gumball's plight. "Let's just get back home and rest for now."
"I'm with Penny." Rhonda agreed. "I'm just going to take a shower, brush my teeth and sleep for the rest of the day."
"Not to mention forget everything else," Carrie added.
With everyone in agreement, the gang departed ways, heading back to their respective homes until tomorrow, though Brian decided to hang out with the Watterson brothers until he felt ready to head back.
After several long, grueling minutes of walking, the trio finally made their way back to the Watterson residence. The building hasn't changed that much, though Gumball, Darwin and their family could care less about it. It was their home and they liked it the way it is.
"Home sweet home," Darwin rejoiced, as he, Gumball and Brian made their way to the front porch and went inside, before they noticed a small rabbit sitting on the couch watching TV, wearing a pink dress with a Daisy the Donkey symbol on it and pink boots to match.
"Hi Anais," Gumball greeted his sister, as she turned and saw her two brothers and their friend. Anais had grown a little in height but not very much. Other than that, she was the same unbelievably intelligent little girl they all knew.
"Hey guys, how was the first day back at high school?" Anais asked out of curiosity.
"It was torture!" Darwin began to complain.
"Not to mention that the teachers are unpredictable!" Brian whined. "One is a porcupine that debatably has two completely different people living in his head and the other is a man straight out of Japan that puts you through the most grueling workouts known to anyone!" the purple fox explained, before quickly changing the subject. "What about you, Anais?"
"Boring. Extremely boring," Anais deadpanned. "Though I can't blame anyone but myself. After all: 'I'm the super smart little prodigy who thinks she knows more than the teachers'!" Anais said, mimicking an older man's voice. It was obvious that she had made a great impression on her teacher.
"Looks like you got it better than us," Gumball stated.
"I'm an eight year old girl. Like that teacher could do anything to me that wouldn't make himself look like a fool," Anais retorted.
"I'm going to say that didn't go well," Darwin guessed.
"It went over fine actually," Anais explained. "After I tricked him into making himself look unintelligent, we had no problems after that."
"I wish you were with us when we had to deal with our own classes," Brian said to the child prodigy. "At least then, we wouldn't be complaining too much about our day."
"Don't worry too much about it, Brian. I'm sure tomorrow will be better," Anais assured her friend, before she heard her favorite TV show. "Right now, I need you guys to stay quiet. Daisy the Donkey is about to start," The three groaned loudly as the theme started to play.
After hanging out at the Watterson residence for a few more hours, Brian bid his friends farewell before heading back home, opening the front door to let himself in, as he saw his parents in the living room, both noticing their son's presence right away.
"Brian, how was your day?" asked Gordon.
"I hope your first day didn't get off to a rough start," said Annie.
"...It wasn't what I had imagined." Brian finally explained. "My friends and I bumped into Principal McCaw this morning, and then we had some new teachers, with one straight out of Japanese samurai flick and the other who is quite unpredictable. Then, the day just got more bizarre from there. Other than that, that's pretty much it."
Gordon and Annie didn't respond right away, both trying to process what their son just told them, until finally, the pieces of the puzzle finally fit together.
"Sorry that your day had a rocky start," Gordon sympathetically told his son.
"I'm just surprised that Principal McCaw is still allowing you and your friends in school after that-"
"We agreed not to talk about that." Brian cut off his mother, still uncomfortable about that subject.
"Sorry about that, sport," Annie apologized. "Anyway, get some rest for tomorrow and who knows, tomorrow might turn out better."
"I'll do that," Brian agreed, before he went upstairs to his room.
Later that night...
The entire town of Elmore was peacefully asleep, blissfully unaware of what would transpire that night. At the O'Quinn residence, it was dead silent as the whole house slept. Brian, in particular, was having a very nice dream about Rhonda when he felt his shoulder start to burn and glow. It wasn't enough to wake him fully and had faded before he groggily awoke. He rubbed his shoulder but thought nothing of it and simply went back to sleep. But across town, Gumball, Darwin, Anais, Mike, Rhonda, Penny, and Carrie all felt the same burning and glowing sensation on different parts of their bodies while they slept. Little did they realize that tonight would change their entire lives forever.
Next time on The Awaken
Chapter 2-The Beginning: Part 2
After a night that changed their lives without them noticing at first, the group discusses the effects...and the benefits.
Tidbits
-Like The Newcomer, The Awaken will be quite long, in terms of plot development and story length. Unlike The Newcomer, however, The Awaken will be more action-oriented, with a mixture of drama and a strong continuity. In addition to this, the characters are aged up for this story.
-For the voices of McCaw, Tulip and Zack, I envisioned Shawn Wallace (the voice actor of Rex from the Toy Story films) Allyce Beasley (voice actor of Miss Grotke from Recess) and Phil Lamar (the voice actor of Samurai Jack). For the voice of Sam Pines, I simply imagine someone imitating the late Sam Kinison.
-I want to thank both Sal and my beta reader for their help! I really appreciate it very much!
That said, I hope everyone enjoyed the story so far. Let me know what you guys think so far in your reviews and I'll be seeing ya next chapter!