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It was lunchtime at school and Gumball and Darwin were sitting outside eating their lunch with Masami, Teri, Banana Joe, and Hector.
Darwin looked up and noticed that Masami was brown for some reason.
"What happened to you? You look like a Florida grandma."
She scoffed at him.
"This, my ignorant friend, is a suntan. My dad just took me skiing. You've probably never heard of it. It's what rich people do."
"Yeah, you're rich, we get it Masami. No need to rub it in." Gumball replied annoyed as he crossed his arms.
"Pfft, you're just jealous." She smirked.
"Whatever .." He rolled his eye.
"Hey, my dad is rich too!" Banana Joe joined in.
"Really!?" Darwin asked surprised.
"Yeah, in vitamin B-six and potassium. He's also a good source of fiber!"
"Oh, you meant vitamin-rich. I thought you meant he had a lot of money." Darwin replied sounding a little disappointed
Joe began to laugh hysterically. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHA! GOOD ONE!"
"I...wasn't joking..."
"My dad's cool too! He can beat rock!" Teri boasted.
"Yeah, well, that's nothing! My dad's so big that three mountain climbers got lost in his belly button!" Hector joined in.
Meanwhile, Richard pulled up on the other side of the fence and got out of the car, holding a brown bag. He'd noticed Gumball and Darwin had seemed pretty upset earlier that morning and had decided to do something to cheer them up a little.
He opened the bag and checked the cupcakes inside. "Still intact. Kind of expected considering how hard they'd turned out. He wasn't sure why that had happened, but he hoped the two would still appreciate the gesture.
"So, what's your dad good at?" Masami asked Gumball and Darwin.
"Our Dad? Hmm, good question..." They placed their paw/fins on their chins as they began to think.
Richard overheard and gasp excitedly, a smile forming on his face as he anticipated their response.
"He's good at being nice!" Darwin suggested.
"Yeah, and he's really funny!" Gumball smiled.
"Yeah, he always cheers us up!"
Richard smiled proudly as he listened to his son's praise.
"No, I meant more like a skill," Masami replied.
"Oh, right, uhh..." They went back to thinking.
"Cooking?" Gumball suggested.
"Nah, little of what he cooks could really be considered 'edible'" Darwin said doing air quotes.
"Good point...you know, you'd think he'd be better at it considering how much he knows about food." Gumball thought out loud.
They both continued to think.
"How about dancing?" Darwin suggested.
"Dude, have you seen him dance?" Gumball raised his eyebrow.
The scene cuts to a flashback of Richard dancing badly outside the mall as Gumball and Darwin rest their heads in their paws/fins embarrassed.
"Ohh! Oh-oh-uh-ohh-ohh! Ohh! Oh-oh! Uh-ohh-oh!"
They look at each and shook their heads as they blushed before the flashback ended.
"Good point..." Darwin rubs the back of his head remembering.
They continued to think and Gumball began to do rapid-fire suggestions, As he did we see Richard's face slowly falling in the background.
"Oh, Singing?"
"Nope."
"Drawing?"
"Not really."
"Swordfighting?"
"What? No!"
"Sewing?"
"I mean he's alright at it but I wouldn't really call that a talent."
"Err...game reviewing?"
"Well, he would be if he reviewed actual games, and again I don't think that's a talent."
"Okay, how about...how about...uhhhhh..."
They continued to think, raising their fin/paw trying to come up with stuff but ultimately came up with nothing.
Gumball shrugs. "I got nothing. I guess there really isn't anything he's good at."
"Really? Nothing?" Masami asked.
"I...guess not." Darwin looked down ashamed.
Meanwhile, Richard's ears lowered, as he was on the verge of tears.
"Wow, that's...pretty lame dudes." Banana Joe told them.
"Yeah, he sounds pretty stupid." Hector agrees.
"I'd be mortified to be around him if I were you." Teri joined in.
"Right! You must be pretty embarrassed to have a father like him!" Masami agreed.
Gumball looked down and began to blush, rubbing his head.
"Well, I mean I...I guess he is a little embarrassing but-" He began to admit, the embarrassment clear in his voice, but Masami interrupted him before he could finish his sentence.
"Well, I guess it sucks to be you then!" Masami laughed, and everyone else besides Gumball and Darwin joined in.
The two looked at each other incredibly embarrassed, then back at the others as they began to nervously laugh with them.
Meanwhile, Richard burst into tears and dropped the bag, the cupcakes falling out of it, as he ran back into the car sobbing and drove away.
A couple of hours later Gumball and Darwin arrived home from school with Anais, chatting and laughing with her, though still a little embarrassed about lunchtime.
"Yeah, I suppose that would be a little-" Anais began before the three immediately froze when they saw Nicole standing by the stairs, arms crossed, looking furious.
She glared at Gumball and Darwin and Anais realized it was them she was bad at. She slowly moved toward the stairs as she laughed nervously. "Well, I'm gonna go upstairs and study now...seeyoulaterbye!" She quickly finished before sprinting upstairs.
"Uhhh...hey....you...okay?" Gumball greeted her nervously.
"About time you two got home! Would either of you like to explain why I came home to find your father sobbing to himself in the shed?!"
"What!? Why do you automatically assume we would know?" Gumball asked.
"Because, from what little I can gather, he went to bring you something at lunch and overheard you talking about him!"
They both gasped and their eyes both widened in horror, Gumball placing his paws on his mouth.
"Oh no...he heard that?!" Darwin asked, the guilt evident in his voice.
"I don't know what 'that' is exactly but yes, he did! You'd better go and apologize to him, right now or you're grounded! He's really hurt by what you said!"
"He is...?" Gumball asked quietly, sounding equally as guilty.
Gumball's ears fell as he turned to look at Darwin, the two's faces falling as both of their stomachs literally knotted themselves.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Don't just stand there, go and apologize, now!"
She glared at them furiously as the two looked at each other before slowly walking into the living room.
They saw their father sitting on the sofa, eyes red and wet from crying.
"Dad...?" Gumball called out to him quietly.
He looked up and saw them, then frowned and looked away not saying anything.
Their stomachs tied themselves even tighter. The two hesitated before they went and sat down next to him.
"Mr. Dad...?" Darwin called but he didn't respond to them.
"We're...we're really sorry..." Darwin said, unable to look at him out of guilt.
Richard just sighed and rolled his eyes.
Gumball sniffed. "We didn't mean to upset you, honestly..." Gumball placed his paw on top of his father's.
Richard said nothing and just got up and walked into his and Nicole's room, completely ignoring them.
Gumball's ears fell flat on his face and he whimpered and looked down, feeling really guilty.
"Oh no, he's...he's really mad at us dude..."
Darwin placed his fin on Gumball's shoulder
"Hey, it's okay. We'll make it up to him. Show him how sorry we are."
Gumball looked up. "We'd better, 'cause my stomach can't take being knotted any tighter."
The camera zoomed out and we saw his stomach was straining and shaking under how tight the knot had become.
"What do we do though? I'm no good at this apologizing stuff" Gumball admitted.
"Don't worry, I have a few ideas." Darwin smiled.
A montage began of their many attempts to apologize to their father.
First, they try dancing to Dad Rock to make him laugh but Gumball trips and falls into Darwin, and they fall into the coffee table and then onto the floor, where they roll around and groan in pain.
Next, they draw a card for him which has a drawing of him with "We're sorry!" on it. They go to give it to him in the bedroom but it slips from Darwin's fin and falls into a shredder which is on, the paper flying all over Richard.
They then try singing a song, with Gumball playing the ukelele and Darwin singing, but the strings on the ukelele snap and hit Gumball in the face making him drop the ukelele and stumble around, holding his face in pain.
They try baking a cake for him, but it turns out terribly and just slips off the plate and splats on the floor, so they try giving him one of his cupcakes instead. When he bites into it the cake is so hard it causes his teeth to crack and fall out in pieces, making them cringe.
They try writing a letter but keep changing their mind and scrapping it multiple times until they look back and see he's completely covered in the crumpled papers of their previous attempts.
They try making a video but after they finish they go to watch it back and accidentally delete it, causing Gumball to throw and accidentally break the camera in frustration, much to Darwin's annoyance.
They pester Anais and try to get her to apologize to him for them but she just gets annoyed and throws them out of her room, slamming the door behind her.
They try hiring a plane to write a message in the sky for him, but a bird flies into one of the engines, and the plane crashes.
They try hiring a hot air balloon with a banner attached to it, but the banner catches on the engine and bursts into flames, resulting in the entire balloon eventually catching alight.
Finally, they try getting him a present but when they go to buy it they have no money left and are thrown out of the store. They give him a wrapped box, which he opens to reveal a piece of paper saying "We owe you!". He looks up at them and they shrugged.
He sighed and threw the box away behind the sofa.
They looked at each other and sighed, walking away into the garden, looking down sadly as their arms drooped.
Nicole saw them walking away upset and began to feel bad, her ears lowering slightly. She walked over to Richard to talk to him.
"Richard honey, I know that you're upset at what the boys said, but they really are trying their best to apologize to you. You know you're gonna have to forgive them eventually, right?
He sighed. "I know, I know, I'm just...I'm not ready to forgive them yet. I need time to reflect on some things."
"Like what?' She raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms,
"Just...stuff."
She sighed. "Just don't wait too long, alright? I can tell they're starting to get really upset. They genuinely feel really bad about upsetting you. They didn't mean anything bad by what they said, you know that, don't you?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I know they didn't. Don't worry about it, I'll have a talk with them later on."
"You promise?" She asked, sounding unconvinced.
"I give you my word." He smiled.
Her expression softened. "Thank you, honey, I knew you'd understand."
She kissed him on the cheek and walked away.
He sighed and picked up a photo from the table of young Gumball and Darwin riding on his back, both wearing cowboy hats.
He chuckled at it then got up, still holding the photo, and left the room to go outside.
Meanwhile, Gumball and Darwin were sitting on the grass outside.
Gumball sighed, arms drooping in front of him.
"Dude, we've tried everything but he still won't forgive us..."
"I know, I feel so bad. We must have really hurt him..."
"What do we do?" Gumball asked.
"I'm not sure. We've done everything we can think of."
"Oh man, what if...what if he never forgives us..." Gumball asked worriedly. His ears lowered and he looked down with a whimper, feeling really guilty.
Darwin noticed and hugged him. "Aww, hey, I'm sure he will. He just needs time to cool off, that's all...I hope..."
He looked up with a sniff. "Me too..."
They heard the back door open and looked up to see Richard walk out and enter the shed holding a photo.
"Why's he gone in there?" Gumball asked confused.
Darwin shrugged, and too c urious to resist, they walked over and looked through the window.
Richard looked at the photo again and sighed. He began to sing as the camera panned over a collage of photos containing younger Gumball, Darwin,and Richard in happier times as well as drawings from the boys to Richard, notably a picture of Gumball as a baby trying to walk over to Richard, who has his arms outstretched.
I recommend you listen to the actual song here if you can, rather than just reading the lyrics as text
"I remember when you were still little, my little ones.
I was the giant who picked you up when you fell down.
And life was just one funny riddle, my little ones.
We laughed every day as the world went around.
I was the hero who taught you how to talk.
I was the hero who taught you how to walk.
And now you're no longer so little, my little ones.
You see so much more than I ever will see.
And though I'm just Dad, not a hero, my little ones.
Being just Dad's good enough for me..."
As the song finished Gumball and Darwin turned around, tears pouring down their faces.
"Dude, that was...that was..." Gumball began as he sniffed and wiped his eyes with his sleeve, which proved pointless as more tears fell.
"...I know..." Darwin finished.
They climbed down and sat back down again.
"Oh man, I can't stand seeing him like this. We have to do something to cheer him up, but what?" Gumball looked down and sighed.
"Hmm...Little one, I was the hero who taught you to walk, I was the hero who taught you to talk--Hero! That's it! We need to make him feel like a hero again!" Darwin said excitedly.
"How do we do that?" Gumball looked up.
A couple of hours later and it was now night out, raining heavily. Gumball and Darwin were standing on a car body at the scrapyard.
"Are you sure about this?" Gumball asked.
"Yeah, it's simple! We get picked up by that magnet and get dropped into that crusher and I've called Dad to come and rescue us before we fall in!"
"Not that I uhh...doubt Dad or anything but...are we sure we want to rely solely on him to save us?"
"Oh, don't worry. I can stop it at any time with this remote in case of an emergency."
"Oh, phew! Alright then, let's get this started!"
Darwin clicked the remote, activating the magnet crane. It lifted the car body up but the powerful magnet also drew the remote out of Darwin's fins, sticking it to the roof.
Gumball and Darwin attempted to pry it off but the magnet was too strong.
"Ah, what do we do now?!" Gumball began to panic.
"It's okay! Here's Dad now! He can stop it from that control box!"
The Watterson car plowed through the wire fence and into the dump.
"Don't worry boys, I'm coming to save you!"
Richard drove straight into the control box, making the crane move toward the crusher.
"Oh god, oh god, this is bad, this is really bad!" Gumball began to hyperventilate.
"Don't worry! Have some faith in him!"
"Boys! Where are you?!" Richard called out to them.
"Up here!" Darwin called back!
"What!? How am I supposed to get up there?!"
Gumball looked around panicked and spotted a ladder next to Richard.
"The ladder!" He yelled out as he pointed to it.
"Right!"
He grabbed the nearby ladder and tried to reach the car's body, but the magnet ripped it out of his hands. It flew up and stuck to the underside of the car's body.
"Ahh!" Richard yelled.
"What now?!" Gumball cried, beginning to tear up and shake slightly, frightened as the crane neared the crusher.
"Don't worry, kids! I have an idea!"
He pulled a switch at the control panel and the magnet powered down, causing the car body to begin to plummet to the ground.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" The boys screamed in fear.
"AH, NO!" Richard panicked.
He pushed the switch back, powering the magnet back up. It immediately pulled the car body back up causing Gumball and Darwin to hit their heads on the roof.
"OW!"
"Sorry!"
The control box exploded making the crane's magnet power up even more, attracting metal objects from across the entire scrapyard, and forming a large pile of them.
"Ah ha! That's, uhh...what I meant to do!"
He began to climb up to them.
"Great job Mr. Dad, I believe in you!" Darwin encouraged him.
"Yeah, you can do this!" Gumball joined in.
"Thank you!"
He slipped and almost fell. "AH!"
Darwin gasped as he grabbed onto a cabinet door. It opened and notes fell out, flying everywhere. Richard whimpered as he held on.
"Dad!" Gumball cried out worried.
"I'm okay!" He continued to climb up.
The crane stopped, now right above the crusher. To Gumball and Darwin's horror, the steel cable attached to the magnet had begun to weaken, barely holding onto the magnet, and by extension the car body, as it was close to snapping.
"Not to rush you but uh, I don't think we have much longer here!"
"Don't worry, I'm coming!"
he climbed faster and pulled himself onto the car.
"DAD!" They ran over and hugged him.
Suddenly they heard a large creak and looked up to see the steel cable was only hanging on by a single thread which was about to snap.
Darwin's eyes widened.
"IT CAN'T HOLD US ALL, IT'S GONNA SNA-"
The cable snapped and they all fell, screaming.
The car body crashed into the ground and the three were sent flying, Richard and Darwin to the right, Gumball to the left.
Richard was the first to land, next to an old mattress.
"Ow! Ooh!" He groaned in pain.
"AHHHHHH-OOF!"
Darwin went flying into Richard's stomach which softened his fall.
"OW! You could have tried to land on the mattress!"
His eyes widened as he noticed Gumball hadn't landed with them.
"Wait, WHERE'S GUMBALL!?"
"DAD, HEEEEELP, PLEASE!" Gumball called out terrified.
He sobbed as he was precariously balanced on the ladder, which had landed over the mouth of the crusher, wobbling slightly.
"GUMBALL!!" Richard called out in horror before running over to the edge of the crusher with Darwin.
Richard held his arms out.
"Son, walk over! You can do it!"
Gumball tried to get up but the ladder wobbled, even more, making him nearly fall off.
"AHHHHHH!" He screamed and clutched onto the ladder as he sobbed harder, absolutely terrified, tears streaming down his face.
"Gumball, you have to get up!" Richard called.
"I-I CAN'T, I'M TOO SCARED!"
"It's okay son, I'm here, I've got you!"
Richard briefly flashed back to his younger self.
Gumball slowly stood up wobbling, trying to keep his balance.
"I'm gonna fall!" He cried.
"No, you won't! You can do it! I believe in you!" Richard encouraged him.
"Yeah, you can do this buddy!" Darwin joined in.
Gumball whimpered and slowly began to walk forward.
"Okay dad, I-I-I'm coming!" He briefly flashed back to his baby self.
"That's it!" The scene briefly flashed to baby Gumball walking toward younger Richard.
The ladder suddenly wobbled and Gumball lost his balance and fell off. "AHHHH!"
"GUMBALL!" Richard and Darwin yelled horrified.
He grabbed on and held the edge, dangling above the drop below. "AHHHHHHHH HELP!"
"GUMBALL, I'M COMING!" Richard began to slowly edge his way onto the ladder.
"DAD, HURRY, PLEASE! I CAN'T HOLD ON!" Gumball yelled as he felt his grip beginning to slip.
The ladder shook under Richard's weight but he continued edging closer and closer, determined to save his son.
Gumball lost grip on one of his paws and released it, now dangling as he held on with only one paw. "DAAAAAAAAAAAD!
Richard began to speed up, the ladder wobbling even more.
He was about three-quarters of the way there when he saw Gumball's other paw about to lose its grip. "DAD, I'M GONNA FALL!"
"NOOOO!" Without any hesitation, he suddenly ran forward and grabbed his arm just as Gumball let go.
He pulled Gumball up to safety, who immediately hugged him in tears.
"It's okay, I've got you, you're okay, you're safe." He assured Gumball.
Just then the crusher groaned as it began to close, and the ladder began to slip into it.
"Dad, the ladder! It's slipping!"
"RUN!"
The two ran as the ladder began to fall away behind them.
As it was about to fall away completely Richard looked behind him and realized Gumball wasn't going to make it in time.
Without hesitation he stopped and picked up Gumball, throwing him over to Darwin, and to safety, before he along with the ladder fell.
"DAD, NOOOOOOOOO!" The two ran over the edge and watched as the crush slammed shut below them.
Gumball fell to his knees, beginning to sob. "He...he sacrificed himself to save me, Darwin! He's gone, and it's all my fault! Why, Why didn't I tell him that, in spite of everything, I was proud, Darwin? I was proud of him! If he were still here, I would tell him!"
Suddenly Richard's paw appeared on the edge behind them, having managed to hang on just in the nick of time.
"If...if he was still here, I-I-I w-would..."
Richard coughed and spluttered as he pulled himself up. They noticed him and gasped. "Dad!"
They ran over and hugged him tightly, sobbing into his shirt. "We thought you were dead! We thought we would never see you again!"
The two looked up at him, tears streaming down their faces.
"We're so sorry about what we said at lunch! We really didn't mean to insult you, honestly, we didn't! We love you so much and we could never be mean to you!" Gumball cried.
Darwin nodded and continued. "It doesn't matter if you aren't good at anything, it doesn't matter if you aren't that smart, you make us laugh, you comfort us, you look after us, you're always there for us and we're so, so proud to call you our father!'
"Yeah, we don't care what anyone else thinks, we don't care if they laugh, we love you just the way you are! You're an awesome dad, no matter what anyone else thinks!"
They both looked at him with large teary eyes. "Please, you have to forgive us!"
Richard teared up and smiled, touched by what they said.
"Oh, boys...of course I forgive you! Come here!"
He wrapped his arms around them and hugged them in a tight embrace, both of them closing their eyes and resting their heads on his chest with a smile, Gumball lightly purring.
"We love you so much!" They both looked up and told him.
"I love you too boys!" He smiled.
As they continued to hug it stopped raining and the clouds departed to reveal the moon, which shone down on them.
Richard released them and chuckled."Alright you two, I think that's enough near-death experiences for one night. Let's get you home before your mother gets worried, hey?"
They nodded and they all turned around and walked back to the car, Gumball and Darwin holding their father's paws and smiling, happy to have finally made up with their father.
The next day Richard was in the shed with Nicole, who hugged him.
"Awww, I'm really glad to hear you've made up with the boys. It's nice to see you all so happy again."
He chuckled. "I have to admire their determination with their apologies, they really went out of their way and tried everything they could think of..."
She smiled. "That just shows how much they love you."
He smiled and nodded.
"Hey Dad, come play with us!" They heard Gumball call from outside.
"Just a second!" He called back.
Nicole smiled and kissed him on the lips then chuckled.
"I'll leave you three to it then. Have fun!"
"We will!"=
She left the shed as Richard chuckled.
Richard picked up and hung a picture onto the wall, but we don't see what it is yet.
He smiled and teared up as he looked at it.
"Come on Mr. Dad, we're waiting for you!" Darwin called.
He chuckled again. "Okay, okay, I'm coming!"
He walked away, and the picture is revealed to be a drawing by Gumball and Darwin of Richard wearing a cape, standing in a superhero pose as they both hug him, with "Our Hero!" written at the bottom, as the episode ends.