Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Normal day for Elmore, but not for the Wattersons. Why? Gumball and Darwin are cleaning their room.

Weird, right? 

honestly the only one cleaning was Darwin, gumball was on his bed making even more of a mess by getting stuff out of boxes instead of in.

“Ugh. What is all of this stuff? I don't even remember it!” The blue one groaned. 

“It's memories! Y'know, stuff you collect and leave in the attic to collect dust so when you're old and wrinkly you'll bring them out and cherish all of the good memories you got in your life!”

“As if I'll make it to that point in life.” 

“Oh come on, be more positive! Maybe one day you'll grow old and happy!”

“Don't think you can be old and happy at the same time in this economy.” 

“you have such a bad view of things.” The fish sighed, hoping at least his brother would bless him with at least one positive thought today. But alas, gumball is the most cynical and depressingly realistic guy he knows.

“ Huhhhh-huhhh .” gumball answered automatically, he wasn't really listening.

“Since when do we have uh.” He stopped his sentence by lifting some neon pink, badly cut, costume. 

It was a dark purple cape, with some yellow dish gloves, some…underwear and a badly cut top.

The top had a very very ugly heart shaped spot in the middle.

Oh! And there's some really long neon pink heels. And a mask? Hat? It has holes so we're going for a mask. 

“-someone in this house with a very questionable fashion choice? Is this from the 80s?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Huh? Clothes from the 80s— oh you mean our superhero costumes??” Darwin looked at the costume on the bed and the one in the box. “We kinda used them once and never again.”

“I can see why.” Gumball rolled his eyes. “They're the ugliest thing.”

“Oh come on! They're not that bad! …For being made by two kids.” 

“Why did we even make these? Couldn't we have just..I dunno, bought some from the internet?”

“Well, we could have but..these were specifically made for Sarah's comics, remember?”

“...since when do we care about what Sarah does?”

“We don't. But it was because the characters were based off of us, remember? You were uh. Laser something and I was something about kissing.” 

“... that's the stupidest character idea ever.”

“I know but, I guess we liked it back then?”

“I was stupid back then, I guess.”

“Who says you aren't now?”

and at that, gumball looked at Darwin with a deadpan expression.

Darwin giggled, trying to contain his laughs.

it was easy to do so when gumball kicked him out of the room and slammed the door. 

“Wh- oh come on! Dude! Let me in! Come oooonnnn. Gumball! Gumball let me in, it's my room too!” Darwin screamed, kicked and knocked in the door. “Did you use the lock? Dude, are you serious? For that stupid jok—”

“ Anyway! ” The door swung open, with the cat now in the costume he deemed dumb two minutes ago. “Since I'm a genius, and not an idiot, I have a great idea! And it involves using these costumes.”

“...is your idea showing that you're not straight?”

“I do that all of the time, I don't need a costume. But no. Remember like two days ago when we got banned from joyful burgers because of the whole…..soda fiasco?”

“..huh-huh? You mean when you—”

“Yes! That.” The cat shut his younger brother's mouth with his hands. “aannnddd! I just thought of a way to get in despite us being banned! We just need to wear these costumes, go in, order and BAM! it was like we weren't banned at all!”

“...what about our room? Mrs. Mom is gonna kill us if she finds out we've been slacking instead of cleaning our room.”

“Well, she doesn't have to know now, does she?”

“Well…”

“Well?”

“Alright, fine. But after we go back and clean everything here. Okay? I feel bad for lying to mrs. Mom.”

“Sure. Now go put your costume on! …Whatever your superhero name was.” 

“Yes sir!”

—————————————————————

“I forgot how uncomfortable it is to wear heels. It's like you're on your tippy toes all of the time!” Laserheart said.

“But you're always on your tippy toes! I think. The way you and mrs. Mom stand kinda confuses me.” The smooch replied. 

“Yeah but this is different! Who decided to give me heels?”

“You did.”

“Can I do a redesign for my costume?”

“No.”

"Life is unfair. Is this what adults go through every day?”

“Yeah, but the heel thing is probably just a girl thing.”

“Or whatever dad is.”

“That too!”

The cat sighed, tripping at least every two minutes. 

“...how long until we get to the closest joyful burger?” He lamented, full of pain. 

“we're here, actually. You've been kinda walking in circles and complaining for ten minutes for.. whatever reason.”

The cat's legs stopped, looking in front of him. There it was, joyful burger! 

In one of the windows there was a poster that said “If you're blue or orange DON'T come in!!!” With a man who was both orange and blue by skin tone.

The blue-orange man sighed, somberly walking away at the news that he was not welcome in here. 

“oh.” Gumball said quietly. 

Going back to a decent position that wasn't like the Notre Dame’s hump guy, he smiled. 

“ Time to test my greatest idea ever .” he grinned some more, scaring a little kid next to him, who dropped her burger and ran away. 

“You sure this is gonna work, gumball?”

“Of course it will! We're unrecognizable! Come on, darwin. ” He proudly announced. 

And they went. Right after they yelled their names for everyone to hear. 

Inside it was just the average fast food place you can imagine. families eating and laughing, people ordering and some green furred shorty with a purple suit on.

..wait what?

there was this..short little man with a purple suit on, a cardboard heart on the side of his face with a crack on it and some..clown make-up? 

gumball stayed in his place behind him, wondering who it was. 

Maybe he moved a littttleeee bit to see his face better, but just a little. 

until the guy turned and saw gumball crawling on the floor looking up at him. 

“.. dude, what are you doing???” Darwin whispered to him, looking down at his brother imitating a cockroach. 

“ Nothin’ .” 

“..uh..you okay?” The mysterious clown guy asked, holding a bag with his order in it.

laserheart popped right back up. Maybe stumbling a little on his feet but still. 

“Me?? I'm super fine! Anyhow…what is ..your name?” He held his hand out, smiling as if he didn't just look like an absolute fool in front of everyone.

“Uh..”

“I'll start! My name is..gum— LASERHEART! It's laserheart! .. I think. And I'm a superhero!”

he cleared his throat.

“...”

“...”

“LASERHEART!” the guy pointed and screamed laserheart’s name back. 

“...yeah that's what I sai—”

“MY ARCH ENEMY! finally!”

“Wha—”

“It is I! Heartbreaker! The villain of this town! And your arch enemy.”

“...huh?”

“...the- your enemy?”

“What?”

“The whole superhero and supervillain? I'm your enemy and you're mine.”

“...I thought..rop was my enemy? Wait,,wait no it was bug. No, ugg…brop? No. What was his name again?” Gumball wondered to himself, now too busy wondering the name of his nemesis. 

“..wh- but. But I am your greatest enemy.. heartbreaker? Doesn't it ring a bell?”

“No, it doesn't. Was it ragatha..?”

heartbreaker gasped, rightfully offended.

“How dare you! You dare to compare me to some guy you don't even remember the name of?! I take offense to that, laserheart! I shall go but I'll show you who is your real enemy! I'll show you how evil I am! Just you wait!” And with an angry look, he bolted out of the building.

“Hey! You forgot to pay!” Larry shouted at heartbreaker.

“..wait, I think it was rug. Yeah rug! Rug was my arch nemesis!” Gumball finally announced to the door, who couldn't care less about what he just said. 

Chapter Text

he wakes up like any other day.

He rubs his eyes and yawns. Sitting up on his bed to stretch properly.

He makes the mistake of looking to his window, catching his neighbor outside.

there's Anais and Darwin, both ready with their backpacks on.

He's about to get up when he sees Gumball approaching the two, yawing and sitting on the cold floor waiting with them.

He bets he fell asleep like that immediately after.

he sighs, wishing he was there. Waiting with them and cracking jokes. 

But y'know, that's kind of a big dream. Isn't it, Tobias?

He goes for the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

He takes a few minutes to do anything, he's too busy looking at himself in the mirror. Reminding himself more and more that he looks exactly like his father.

“I look like him, will I end up like him?” He thought.

“I hope not.” He answered in his head.

he looks away, taking his headband and styling his fur accordingly.

He washed his face, don't know how it works with fur on, but he does.

He decides to not brush his teeth, since he has to eat. He'll do it later. 

He takes his slippers off and quickly looks for his normal shoes that he wears every day. 

then his little warmers on his wrists and he's ready! Sort of. Halfway there.

he can already hear his parents argue downstairs, so he decided to just greet them, eat breakfast, brush his teeth and go.

“..hey mom….hey..uh- dad.” He says quietly, as he barely waves at them. 

It's not like they notice him, they're busy arguing over something stupid. 

Or about him being a failure again.

breakfast isn't ready, mom doesn't cook a lot anyway. 

So he just makes himself some toast and some orange juice and hopes for the best.

he'll just wait for lunch today, hopefully it's something good like a hamburger or a slice of pizza. 

or he can get something at the vending machines? Maybe some chips.

he decides to eat in his room. Less walking.

He'll just eat in his bed..like always. Watching gumball and his siblings do their thing and wishing that was him with Rachel.

not like that can ever happen, Rachel hates his guts. 

But she hates every kid under fourteen, so. 

—————————————————————

he's pretty fast with eating and washing his teeth, he has to or else he would have missed the bus.

He was so close on joining gumball, but the bus came first and the Wattersons just hopped in.

He followed behind.

he sat next to Joe, which was nice. They were friends. They chatted for a little while. 

That got him distracted enough to forget about the whole.. parents arguing deal.

The entire day distracted him, actually. 

It was pretty good too.

He played with friends, miss simian was nice enough to not give tests out at random and…no girl rejected him.

But that's because he decided not to flirt with them today.

He could see masami was already annoyed, penny is taken and so is Carmen. 

There's Tina and jamie but…yeah. Not his type.

teri? She would just slap him really slow because she's made of paper.

molly? Probably the only good chance out there, but he doesn't wanna bother her today. 

—————————————————————

he was just about to close his locker, but I guess gumball had to do it for him.

“Uh—”

“QUICK! Who do you think would win in a fight between masami and jamie?” The blue cat asked..for some reason.

“..why?” Tobias replied back. 

“a bet with Darwin. Now, answer the question.”

“Uh..masami? I mean she can fly and she can zap people. So.” 

“True..true..if I lose this bet you owe me five.” He showed with his paw, but his paw only had..four fingers..so. 

“Why do I owe you— okay.” he's not even gonna bother with what just happened or why gumball seems to be constantly on the run. He can never stay still. Is he on the zoomies? Do cats get that or only dogs?

He should look that up.

..maybe later. He's hungry.

He's been starving since this morning, a toast and some orange juice aren't the best to keep you full.

—————————————————————

there isn't a big line, today is his lucky day!

Most seem to have food prepared from home. Bet their parents did it. 

He wishes he had parents who cared enough about him for that.

and then there's the line, filled with kids who aren't so privileged with homemade lunch or simply don't like what their parents made them.

He could trade? Maybe? It's a gamble though, he doesn't know what the others have. 

maybe he'll stick with the cafeteria lunch, rocky isn't a bad cook.

But what if it's somewhere really small like..salad? Or something like that? He won't survive the day with that! 

He's definitely gonna starve and die alone and sad with that. Who even eats salad willingly? Alan? That guy would.

does..Alan eat? How does he eat? 

“Are you gonna just stand there, little dude?” Rocky asked, looking down at Tobias who was just.. staring at nothing. 

He was just staring at..the wall? On the floor. Where was he looking?

“Huh? Oh. Sorry rocky! I was thinking loud enough so it could turn into narration for this fic!” he nervously chuckled. 

“..sure! Whatever that..means. I need to update myself with modern humour kids use these days, I swear.” he mumbled to himself, unluckily for rocky, Tobias knows the script and knows what he said.

The chef..janitor..kind of everything that isn't a teacher or a counselor or principal, took the tray and placed a perfectly divine looking hamburger. It had everything Tobias loved in it.

Meat! And. Uh. The bread. 

And other condiments he doesn't really care about but appreciates nonetheless. 

Better than whatever he had in mind for lunch. 

“Here you go! I'll give you a cup so you can fill it up with your soda, okay?” Oh yeah! They had that..thing. 

He doesn't know how he's called, he just know that he loves it. It's just this thing that fills your cup with anything you want, how many times you want and how much you want. 

It's incredible.

“Thanks! You're the best.” Like always. 

he stuffed his hand in his..fur? Pocket. Whatever, don't try to understand the logic of these characters. They barely have one. 

But one dollar is one dollar. 

“Sorry, man! The new policy says it's two, now.” 

What.

“What.”

“Yeah.. principal brown said that he had to higher the prize so we could afford actual food.” 

“But—..” 

“Sorry!” 

“But it was one dollar yesterday! there were no warnings or anything! Ugh. Whatever.” He pulled out another dollar, not even caring too much about the money.

He has them anyway, it's that he wasn't warned before it. Now he wasted a dollar that could have been used for more useful stuff! Like.. buying stuff in games he likes. 

he moved to let the line keep going, nobody seemed to really complain. Most only gave out a sigh, or were indifferent.

But of course there was someone else just like him who didn't appreciate such injustice.

Gumball. 

He was really quick to shout to the entire school how principal brown is a fraud and how he's stripping people of money without an actual reason, and other stuff. But honestly it's Gumball, nobody listens to him anyway. 

but like tobias said before, the money wasn't the problem. His problem was something else.

Well, maybe he should say problems, because he has a lot to think about.

first, his parents. They are fighting more often lately.

Then his usual existential dread over the reality of his existence. 

Oh! And his grades. They've been dropping since his older sister moved out for college, he's failing almost all of his classes and he's struggling to keep up with the new material in the classes he was actually good at. 

..he isn't happy about it. He feels like a failure because of it, as if he isn't one already. 

and there isn't anyone he can ask help for! Gumball? He's failing even more than he is. Banana joe? I mean, he's pretty smart but not too much of a fan of school to explain the subject, he only does enough to pass it.

Bobert? Too technical for Tobias to understand, it's not bobert's fault, though. He just doesn't know big words.

maybe Carmen? She's usually really busy helping other kids, so. That's out of the question.

Alan? …no 

well.

Well, this is bad. 

How is..he gonna explain that to his father? He remembers how he acted whenever Rachel had a single bad grade, imagine how he'll react to him failing almost all of his classes! 

…

He does have an idea. But.. it's probably not the best. But does he have any other choice? It's either seeing his father mad or risk and getting his grades up.

…

risking is better, yeah. 

“Are you doing what people say “disassociating?”” a robot voice asked from behind, startling tobias. 

“Wh- huh? No! Wh- I'm not disassociating. I'm thinking.”

“Oh, good. Because by my quick research on Google, it said that you had three days to live.”

“..why would that happen?”

“Ask Google, I do not have enough information on…. whatever you are, for me to answer. Glad you're not dying though! I would not be happy about that.” He nods and (aggressively) pats Tobias shoulder, before walking away to plug himself in the wall and charge (or eat, as some say.)

“Yeah..” he's not even questioning what bobert said, he heard worse. It's his shoulder that feel like it's broken in a million pieces now. 

“...I just need to get to the end of the school day.”

—————————————————————

he waited until everyone walked away, literally counted all of them to make sure no one was in the school anymore.

He didn't have to worry about his parents picking him up anyway…they forget to do it, anyway.

now, the second step for his plan! Quickly change in the bathroom. 

Didn't really take long, it's just him putting on clothes and stuffing his face un white powder. 

Third step! Throw a brick at principal brown's head. 

..maybe two.

Or three.

Okay, maybe a few. His aim isn't great. But hey! Now he has an unconscious adult that happens to his principal on the ground!

…yeah! 

Uh.

Anyway, step four! Bringing the body to his secret lair.

His room.

not the easiest task, nor the sneakiest. I think he saw like three or four people look at him or take pics. 

He did.. struggle a lot, actually. Maybe that's why. I think someone asked for help at some point, he was looking kinda pathetic trying to drag a grown man across town.

Doesn't matter! Heartbreaker is not weak nor pathetic! Just.. just knows when to manipulate others to get help! Yeah! Totally what happened.

…

Step five! Manage to keep principal brown to sit still on the chair. 

Step six! Prepare the monologue before the man who likely got a concussion wakes up!

“.. should I just, go straight to the point? What if he finds out I'm Tobias? …Maybe I'll keep it vague? Or ask him for me to change it myself..?”

he wondered, looking at the empty paper on his desk. He had various attempts scattered across his room, but they were all scrapped. They felt evil enough! Or convincing enough.

“...am I in the wrong?” he suddenly spoke out loud, the more he thought about it, the more he realized how not normal it is to kidnap someone over school grades.

Who is he? Jamie? Gumball? Who kidnaps someone?! Who in their right mind would do that?!

has he finally went crazy?! Did he took his villain role too seriously to the point he's actually evil now??

Did they decided to change his role and make him evil? A bad guy? He doesn't wanna be bad! 

“hey tobias? Can I come in orrr..”

THERE'S SOMEONE IN HERE?! 

is it the police?! Did they found out about the crime he did? The crimes?! 

is he gonna go to jail? Is he gonna get grounded?!

….jail sounds better.

“Hey?—” a blue head popped out from the door, barely open. 

Tobias yelled, throwing everything that was on his desk on the floor.

Also he fell off the chair from how bad he jumped.

“WHAT- WHO— UH!-” he turned, holding his hands in defeat.

“...”

“...”

“...why is there principal brown in your room, badly tied up and in a position that could count as a new yoga pose?” Gumball asked, eyeing the principal. 

“Uhm….uh- YES! You seemed to have found me, you..uh. FOOL! This is actually heartbreaker! The most evil villain there is in Elmore! I've kidnapped your principal for my selfish…uh..evil and..bad reasons! Yeah.” 

gumball is stupid enough to not realize it's Tobias and call the police and get him in trouble and hate him forever and end the friendship…..yeah..?

“...yeah. yeah, okay. Whatever gay thing you got going on, I'll support it. Can I eat the food in your fridge? The one in mine isn't too aesthetically please for me to eat out of boredom.” One his ears twitched. 

“NOT SO FAST! You're using that as an excuse to run away and snitch on me, aren't you?”

“I'm not the snitch, Darwin is. Get it right.” He rolled his eyes.

“HAH! As if I'd fall for those tricks of yours, LASERHEART!” yep. He's done with Gumball. He can kiss goodbye one of the only good friendships he has.

“Laserhe— no, dude. I'm Gumball. Also I seriously do not care. Can I steal the fried chicken in the microwave?” 

“not before you beat me!” He pointed to himself, before running up to Gumball and…softly hitting him? I don't know what he's doing but it's very sad.

“Dude. Hey- dude. Tobias- knock it off.” it didn't hurt at all, just annoying to have this dude weirdly slap you soft enough you can barely count it as a slap.

“Dude. Stop.”

“Dude.”

“Okay fine, can I get the doritos instead?” 

the weird slapping continued.

“DUDE!” He pushed heartbreaker off of him, the slapping was genuinely ticking him off. 

Tobias ended up on the floor, falling on his butt.

“Ow..” 

“h— sorry. Sorry, it just bothered me.”

“Owww..” 

“..please don't cry, mom said that if I make someone else cry I won't be able to play videogames anymore for a week.”

“Owwwwww..” 

gumball’s ears fell, looking around for something that would help.

there was nothing, super boring room in his opinion, and uh. Principal brown looking at him and Tobias.

“Uhm. Hey- Hey look, I'm sorry.” he kneeled down to comfort Tobias better.

Gumball WAS sorry, it was really a reaction he didn't thought of, but y'know…principal brown is watching..that..might get him in trouble tomorrow at school? 

“Do you want a hug? I'll leave after. You can keep the chicken.” 

he offered. Not a good offer.

Gumball did hug Tobias anyway,

he got a hug back! 

“I still hate you, heartbreaker.” he didn't. He was enjoying the hug a lot. His butt still hurts though.

“Sure, whatever man.” 

“.....kids these days and their weird flirting. Back in my day we gave out flowers.” Principal brown mumbled to himself, dusting his…fur..? Hair? And just walking out of the room.

Gosh his heels were loud.

Chapter Text

It was a late Friday night. The rain was pouring outside Molly’s bedroom window along with thunder. It was very quiet as her parents were asleep. She just stared at the window with her hands behind her back, her face low towards the window. 

Earlier on in the morning, she remembered Gumball saying how she “looked like a notebook decorated with a dinosaur neck”. She also remembered the big mean detention kids that made fun of her as she walked to class. But she didn’t understand, what did she do wrong? 

“It’s not fair. I do everything people ask me too. I let people borrow my pencils and paper, I just don’t get it.”

She sighed. She looked away from the window and stared at the wall. Her eyes were down.

“No one likes me. I really am boring. Just like my stories.”

She began to get out of her bed and sat down on the floor. She hands on her knees. She peeked with her eyes and saw her shadow. It had the shape of a villain. It suddenly gave her an idea, an evil idea.

“That’s it! I could finally show the others how sick I am of them making fun of me! I can finally get rid of the whole world. From this moment forward, I will bring destruction to Elmore. I will be the greatest supervillain this town has ever seen!”

She rubbed her hands and tried to intimidate an evil villain. The thunder roared as she laughed. As she did, a knock on her bedroom door came. 

“Molly, it's 3 am. Go to sleep!” 

It was the sound of her mom. “Sorry mom!” she said. As soon as she heard of the footsteps of her mom leaving, she began to go to her closet. In her closet there was a bunch of stuff. Mainly old items she still had along with clothes and fabric. She grabbed the box with fabric and found some scissors by the side. 

She began to cut and craft for a long while. As it was done, she took one more look at it before wearing it. The outfit had a pink tank shirt with a broken heart stitched on, a purple tutu skirt, along with a blonde wig with a heart headband. 

She took the outfit and wore it. 

“Prepare Elmore…prepare for the greatest supervillain of all time.” 

After she said that, she choked on air but quickly recovered. She took the outfit off and began to hide it under her bed. No one could know about her secret identity. Not even her friends. 

The next morning came, Molly woke up from her slumber and got up from bed. She had the most evilest plan she could think of. She would go to Joyful Burger and swap the burgers around. Those poor customers would be crying and weeping after having the wrong order. 

She put her outfit on and began to make way to the front door. As she nearly opened the door, a laundry basket was dropped. She forgot that her dad was home.

“Uh excuse me, miss? But uh. What are you doing in our house?”

Her dad didn’t seem to recognize her. This was going to be easier than she thought. 

“Are you one of my daughter's friends? She never said she was inviting people over. Then again, she barely tells me anything. Say do you want something to eat?-“

“Don’t give me your kindness, old man! For I have other simpler matters to take care of. Later on, this town will be no more. You will be screaming and begging for mercy as Elmore burns to the ground. Have fun trying to stop me!”

As Molly said that, she closed the door and left. Only her dad stood there.

“Molly has some weird friends.”  

Molly made her way to Joyful Burger. As she passed, she was hoping for some of the townsfolk to be scared of her. All they did was just take a peek and not say anything as she walked by. 

She finally got to Joyful Burger. She saw that Larry was taking Gumball’s dad order. Along with that she saw two orders on the counter. It lined up perfectly with her plan. She sneakily went past the cashier and swapped the order names. 

She sat down near an empty seat and saw one of the servers grab the orders to bring it to the customers. She watched as the server gave the wrong food to them. “Uh miss, I ordered the ultimatum burger.” “I ordered the regular cheeseburger.” the customers said as the servant brought their food.

Molly couldn’t help but giggle. This was so diabolical for them. The world would be in shambles because of this. 

As she laughed, everyone was staring at her. 

“Greetings citizens. I am Pokerface! I am the greatest villain Elmore is going to see!” 

She began to laugh some more but then left. Everyone went back to what they were doing. 

Molly came back home and went to her room. “The look of those customers when they got the wrong burger! I love being evil!” She then proceeded to mess up her bed sheets and rolled around. 

She began to think to herself that this is only just the beginning. 

The day after, Molly got up for breakfast. “Good morning, Molly! Do you want some pancakes?” her father said as he was cooking some batter. Molly sat down and proceeded to say yes. 

“Dad, did you hear what’s going on on the news?”

“Tax prices going up?”

“Even worse.”

“Climate change?”

“No. Worse than that.”

“An asteroid making its way towards Earth right now as we know it?”

“What? No. This new supervillain came in and she swapped two customer’s Joyful Burgers. It’s so terrible! Everyone’s been talking about it!”

“I didn’t hear anyone say anything about that.”

“Huh?” 

Molly exited out to the living room where her mom was. She was sitting on the couch reading one of her sci-fi books.

 “MOM!!! CAN I ASK YOU SOMETHING!!”

 “What in the-god Molly you nearly scared me to death. What is it?” 

“Can I borrow your phone?”

“Oh sure, here.” 

Her mother proceeded to hand her her phone. Molly looked up the news to see if there was any mention of her. Sadly there wasn’t. But how? She did the most evilest thing she could’ve imagined and no one cared. 

“That’s it. I need to step my game up.” 

“Breakfast is ready!” her father called. Everyone got up to leave and went to the kitchen. 

After she was done eating, she left the house with her outfit on. When she was walking she noticed that there were a few traffic cones on the road. She quickly looked around and went on it. She grabbed the traffic cones and flipped them upside down. 

“I can’t believe you did that!” someone said. Molly looked around and realized that both Darwin and Gumball were here. “Why would you do that, miss? Think of all the citizens passing by as they get hurt on the road.” Darwin said. Gumball just stood there on his phone clearly not caring. 

“Dude, who cares, let's just go home.”

“But we have to do something! We can’t let her get away with that!”

“What can we do? Neither of us have weapons and besides it's a traffic cone.” 

Darwin sighed and went with Gumball to go back home. Molly had to be intimidating for just a second.

“This won’t be the last you see of me! I’m going to destroy this town!” 

Molly evilly laughed and all Gumball could say was a simple “Yeah ok.” and left. 

She began to realize maybe that was the problem. She needed someone else to help her. 

She went home and began to write a flyer with the text “Applications to be Pokerface’s Assistant(s) @ The Collins Treehouse during 7 pm ”. She put it throughout the town and hoped someone or some people would see it and help.

7 pm arrived, Molly was sitting in her treehouse waiting. She had a cup of tea on the table but she was already bored. What if this didn’t work? If it didn’t then she would have to go back to her ordinary life. She just wants to be something, someone important, someone necessary. 

The ladder in her treehouse began to creak. Molly looked to see where the noise was coming from. She then saw two sauropods making their way through, but it was clear that they were both struggling to climb. 

Molly cleared her throat. “What brings you here?” she said in the fakest deep voice possible. 

“I came for the flyer!” said the shorter sauropod, they had a purple hood that covered their entire face except their eye and mouth. They also had fake goblin ears attached to the side of the hood, along with a green sweater with darker stripes. 

“What’s your name?” 

“Gray Goblin. But you can just call me dad. AS A NICKNAME I MEAN!”

They began to awkwardly chuckle but the other taller sauropod didn’t say much about anything, along with Molly. The sauropod had shades and a metallic belt. She also had 4 sets of robo-arms behind her back. 

“What about you? What's your name?”

“Octopod but…you can also call me mom. You don’t have to, of course.”

Molly took the time to process both of her new assistants. It really was better than nothing. 

“So do the both of you want to join me?” Molly said as she poured a cup of tea. “Yes! We’ll do anything in your favor” The mom said. 

“Yes but why do you want to join me?”

“Because me and Gray Goblin are also evil, just like you, miss.”

“How evil?”

“Very evil. We want the town to be destroyed!”

“Hmm alrighty then. I’ll accept the both of you as long as you help. And also if you aren’t secretly a good guy. But I don’t think I need to worry about that.” 

“To chaos!” they all said in unison. 

The next day came forward. Octopod and Molly were sitting near the road waiting for Gray Goblin. Molly had asked them to find something that could help to destroy the Sun. As she was thinking, Gray Goblin showed up with a bunch of boxes. 

“What’s in the box?” 

“Oh, it’s just a bunch of fireworks. Surprisingly, the people at the store gave it to me for free! I’m not sure why…” 

“Fireworks?”

“Fireworks explode. If we launch one of these fireworks then the Sun will definitely explode.” 

“I think she’s right, miss.” Octopod said near Molly. Molly didn’t want to think about the scientific stuff as of right now. She needed Elmore gone. “Alright then. Start the firework!” Octopod then grabbed a lighter from her belt. Gray Goblin positioned the firework in the middle where the sun was. 

“Goodbye Elmore. It was nice while it lasted.” Molly said as she watched from the distance. The firework took off right in the center. 

All of the sudden the firework took a different direction. Instead of the sun, it headed into what looked like a citizen. He looked familiar until she realized who he was. 

IT WAS TOBIAS’ DAD!!! 

When she realized, the firework quickly hit Tobias’ dad and exploded on him. He wasn’t dead but he was very hurt. 

The three of them just stared at what had happened. “So uh. Does anyone want ice cream?” Gray Goblin said. Both Molly and Octopod agreed and said yes.

Chapter Text

"dude! How could you not care?! What if someone actually gets hurt?" Darwin asked, to the one who is known not to care.

"Then it's not our problem, it's hers." Gumball shrugged, keeping his eyes on the phone as he walked away from the supposedly ‘crime scene.’ ad Darwin calls it.

"But it's not right! We're witnesses! We should have done something!" he threw his fins in the air, trying, like always, to get his brother to have basic empathy over anyone that isn't his girlfriend and family. 

"Dude, seriously, who cares? It's a traffic cone, not someone actively dropping bombs on people." He rolled his eyes. He seriously couldn't see what was so bad about whatever that girl was doing.

"But—"

"What pizza do you want?" He cut Darwin off.

".. I'm done trying to argue with you, you never listen." Darwin sighed long and loudly.

"Neither do you apparently since you didn't answer my question." Darwin's brother answered sarcastically.

"Just get a pizza with spinach, eggs, pineapple and pepperoni for me." 

"....dude. spinach? Egg- what kind of combo is that?!" Frankly, an odd combo. But that's me. 

"A combo that I like, Mr. So picky I can't go past chicken nuggets!" He accused Gumball of the server case of pickiness.

"At least I have TASTE! Whatever, you're disgusting."

"Says you."

"Yeah yeah,why is Tobias dragging principal brown around?" Gumball dropped the ‘argument’, clearly more into whatever his friend was doing. 

"Huh? Oh. Oh! Wait, what—? That's Tobias?" Darwin asked, a mix of curiosity and genuine confusion. 

"Yes? literally the same guy?" 

"Thought it was another guy! His hair is green and he has makeup on, see? Also he wears clothes outside of shoes."

"okay? The smell's the same. It's Tobias. Also cosplaying anime or whatever sarah watches exists.” 

"...you can tell people apart by smell?" 

"Yeah? You don't?" 

"No? I go by face! Like...any normal person."

"... I can't tell the difference between faces, nor do I care to learn them." He doesn't particularly like eye contact, either. 

"How? Like there's clearly a difference—"

"I don't know, leave me alone! Let's just go home, I'm hungry." Now, is it hunger or boredom? 

"What about the pizzas?"

"I don't feel like paying and waiting, let's just eat whatever's in the fridge. Or I'll ask the neighbors for food, I dunno."

"Gosh, you're so weird."

"That's why I'm a Watterson, Darwin." 

Chapter Text

she was just.. perfect. 

She isn't exactly sure that's something friends would think of each other, but it's true! 

It's been a few days since Penny, yes, Penny Fitzgerald, got a new…look. Makeover? Glow up?

I don't think anyone is sure, she just says she's finally out of her shell. 

She was pretty nonetheless. She was this..soft yellowish color, emitting a faint glow. 

She wore a sweet smile on her, holding a few books. History, math and geography. 

She had smaller antlers than when she was in her shell, and now she came with a pair of small wings. 

A few people asked her already, and apparently she can slightly float but not entirely fly with them.

Unless she shapeshifts. Yes, she can shapeshifts now. Which makes her even more interesting and unique.

She says she could technically control it, but she's new to this as well, and isn't really good with it yet. Her emotions dictate the shapeshifting too much, as she says.

She watched from afar, too shy to interact. She doesn't know why, they were friends. 

She just…got shy all of the sudden. Maybe it's because of Penny's change. 

It wasn't a bad one, she just..gets stuck, I guess. Her cheeks go red and she feels hot whenever Penny says hi.

The moment she hears that soft spoken tone of hers, and the graceful voice of hers, she just falls apart.

But today it'll change! She decided that today, she will talk to Penny again.

…Maybe she needs to go to school first, to see her of course.

she just..wonders why she feels so weird with penny. She doesn't feel this way with any of her friends. 

just penny.

she just feels so.. nervous, but happy. It's like when you're getting the toy you always wanted so it feels like you don't know how to act because of how happy you are!

..maybe not the same, but she never felt this way before, she has no proper example!

It's okay. It's okay, molly. You'll be fine.

it can't be that hard to talk to your own friend, right?

You just walk, which is what you're doing right now.

Approach her, which you're doing. 

And then say h—

“i honestly have no idea myself, Gumball! Miss simian isn't really good at explaining history..” her voice was just…incredible !

Wait.. Gumball?

Molly thought Penny was alone!

“Ugh- I know! I have to get Anais to explain to me the entire story, again.” he threw his arms in the air, huffing. 

“It shouldn't be that hard to explain about a bunch of people with too much of an ego about their ideologies fighting for subjective and meaningless beliefs!” 

“Well, it's not just that! It's also the consequences and why they came to that point and how it became what we are today!” she giggled, smiling softly at the blue cat.

Isn't Penny ever tired of looking down with him? You must have neck pain from it, yeah?

…maybe the other way around? 

“I forgot you're a nerd who actually cares about that stuff, I just think it's boring.” the shapeshifting fairy shut her locker, freeing her hands from the books that were now enclosed in her personal locker.

Her hands instead fell on her hips, “I'm not a nerd! I just think of history differently, sorta like gossip. That way it's more fun to study!” she stated. 

She was so smart. That's why she and Molly are friends.

“Uh-huh. Well— too bad I'm the one creating the gossip not hearing about it, so.” He rolled his eyes, he looked at her more gently, but he always did. It was…known, very obviously, that Gumball had a crush on penny.

Apparently the only one who doesn't know is penny. Or knew, maybe he finally proposed.

for some reason Molly hated that thought. She felt..jealous. jealous of Penny getting a partner.

She doesn't know why. 

She just..she just knows Penny deserves better.

“Mhmhm. And that's what I like about you, gummy.” Gummy? “Your charm is so strong you catch everyone's eyes.” she was obviously sarcastic, molly could hear it from her tone.

Gumball, however, didn't seem to get the hint. Or if he did, his reaction is far different from usual.

Normally he would respond back with a sassy answer, or an equally sarcastic comeback. He would boost his own ego in trying to prove the other person wrong, and how the statement is more true than the person lets it be.

But not this time..this time he chuckled silently and blushed, looking the other way. 

a few other laughs escaped from his mouth the moment he interlocked his eyes with Penny's. He had to cover his mouth to not let the laughs escape.

The attempt was futile, as the moment penny giggled herself, both started laughing.

It felt.. genuine, like they joked many times about this. Like if they finally got past the wall that used to block them from properly interacting for years. 

They finally found a way to talk without one of them panicking, usually Gumball was the one panicking.

maybe they…told each other's feelings about each other? Well, gumball's feelings. 

“You're so silly.” She said, snorting a little. her laugh wasn't…..the best kind, it was odd and people often got surprised by her laugh, but molly found it adorable.

but that's where Molly's thoughts ended.

The moment she saw it, her entire world fell apart.

Penny kissed Gumball on the forehead, as he glanced at her doing so.

He blushed a little more, relaxing under her kiss. He leaned into it, and his tail swung into a question mark position like.

They hugged the moment Gumball looked for more physical touch, engaging by a tiny headbutt.

They hugged and kissed, they kissed. 

Kissed.

On the mouth.

It was a quick one, the reason for it was penny having to hurry to meet Leslie. It was for a family matter.

Gumball was clearly disappointed, molly could see it from a mile away. He let her go anyway, but not without an ‘i love you’.

The worst part is that he received the ‘i love you’ part back. 

He watched penny go, and so did molly.

She was left there dumbstruck. She didn't know how to feel.

Why did it hurt? Did she misunderstand something? 

Why was the thought of penny loving someone that wasn't her so painful? 

“—ey?” she felt her eyes water, did something go in her eye? Was it an eyelash again?

“Molly? You doin' good?” That was Gumball, he was waving in front of her chest. That was the highest he could reach. Not like he could get on his tippy toes, he was already on tippy toes. 

“..huh?” She looked down, her voice oddly shaky and quiet. It almost came out as a mumbled.

“I said if you were doing good. I turned around and saw you standing here like if someone stole your lunch or somethin’.” He shrugged, lowering his arm. 

“U-um…” He couldn't look at him. She doesn't know why. Eye contact never bothered her too much.

she just..she didn't know. Seeing him with penny like…that, just struck something inside of her.

They had something going on. She knew. She knew what was going too. Too obvious. 

She didn't like it.

She didn't like how Gumball was looking at her, so innocent and so clueless of what he has just done.

He's pretending as if he didn't just steal the love of her life away from her.

…The..love of her life as a friend, of course. Nothing else.

He raised an eyebrow as she struggled to speak.

“...you can take your time, s’not like I don't have recess.” He couldn't help with that little comment of his, it hurt her more. For no reason.

It just felt like her feelings were unimportant enough to make jokes about it being a waste of time.

“.. I'm fine. M’sorry for disturbing you two.” She mumbled the last part. 

“Interrupting what?” He asked. And asked again, but a little louder. “Molly, hey— whatever.” he hunched over, she heard him groan a little.

not like.. she cares too particularly, she just wants to go to her bathroom stall. She really needs it right now.

She hasn't been using it for..weeks but- but something so stupid managed to get her to crave it again after weeks of happiness.

What was she doing wrong? 

—————————————————————

Was she doing something wrong? 

Did she forget an important event? 

worry filled Penny's whole body, she noticed earlier that molly was watching her and Gumball, she didn't look happy.

Did penny forget her birthday? Maybe an hangout? 

Everything was going too fast for her liking, ever since the school play and then the shell and then…the start of the relationship and..—

“You doin’ alright? You look like the food insulted your face!” Leslie asked, chewing some of his food on his tray.

“I'm.. I'm fine. I guess I'm just getting used to all of these changes.” She smiled, reassuring her cousin. 

“oh that's normal! you literally got an entire new look and a boyfriend in one night!” He repeated, as if penny didn't know that already. “Though I still think Gumball isn't a good choice for you, he's a bit…y'know.”

“He's sweet. He just….gets too honest with his opinions and phrases them wrong.” She reminded Leslie.

“It's.. it's— I don't know. I feel like I'm forgetting something. I don't know what though!” She groaned, crossing her arms.

“Welllll…maybe it wasn't important if you forgot?”

“Let's not do that reference.”

“Alright, alright. But seriously, maybe it's just that feeling you get of forgetting something but you didn't actually forget anything.”

“Maybe..? I don't know.”

“hello friends!” Sussie exclaimed, sitting next to penny.

“Oh— hello, sussie! I didn't hear you coming!” The shapeshifter turned to sussie, her mood getting better just a little bit.

“I have a question.”

“Mhmhm.”

“Is something wrong with molly?” Ah.

“Oh..uhm. I don't know sussie, I was wondering too.”

“maybe it's personal, orrr you could ask.” Leslie stepped in the convo. 

“sussie is worried! molly is her friend and she doesn't want molly to be sad.”

“Me too! It's- I don't know she seemed fine yesterday, I don't know what happened!” 

“Ask?” Leslie 

“You're right, Leslie! Sussie will ask!” She exclaimed, before getting up and walking away. 

—————————————————————

She doesn't get it, she thought she was past this. 

She sniffed, rubbing her hands? Hooves? On her eyes to take off those tears of hers that kept falling.

“Why?..” why does it hurt? She should be happy! Isn't it a good thing when someone gets a new partner?

She sniffed, she's sure she was tomato red by now. 

“May I come in?” Another girl asked, interrupting her crying.

“Occupied.” Molly said in automatic. She wasn't really using the bathroom but she needed a place to cry, alright?

“sussie knows it's occupied, that's why she's asking if she can come in!”

“Sussie just,,just use the other stall. There's no one there, I checked.” She can tell, there's no feet hanging there.

“But sussie wants to check on her friend molly…” 

“I— ..y-..what?” She lifted her head a little, looking at the closed door, as if she could see past it.

“Penny told me how sad you were! Sussie wanted to know if you were okay.” 

“Penny saw that?! She saw me cry!?” What if she ruins everything with this? What if Penny thinks she's a loser now?!

“Are you okay, though?” Sussie asked again, not really caring about Penny right now, but rather molly.

Molly swung the door open. Her eyes were puffy and red. 

“I'm —... I'm fine. I'm sorry I took the stall.” 

“That's alright!” Sussie opened her arms. “Hug?” She tilted her head a little.

“Yeah..” molly smiled a little, sniffing, embracing sussie in a hug.

It wasn't bad. It really wasn't. Made molly feel safer, more..calm. less worried about whatever got her so worked up earlier. 

She closed her eyes, imagining only herself and molly existing, as if they were the only thing important at the moment. 

She would feel warmth in her chest, things didn't look so bad now.

Sure.. she's hurt by what happened with penny, but can she blame anyone? Can

she do anything about it?

They're friends anyway, nothing more. She doesn't even like girls.

she just…she just wants to stay with sussie here for a little while, maybe things will finally feel complete after. 

Maybe that empty hole of hers will finally be patched up. 

Chapter Text

He stared at his drink. 

It was…kinda sad compared to the others. It was just some juice with ice. 

It was colorful though! That was nice to look at.

….his girlfriends would say it's nice to look at.

See, this is why Richard Watterson can't hang out with the other guys.

He just doesn't belong. He knows that. He always knew. 

It's just..why did he even try tonight? It's dumb. 

He's watching as the others, also parents from his children's school, drink and laugh. How do they do that?

How can they enjoy the taste of any alcohol?

How can they..just be normal fathers?

He knows he's weird, it's a Watterson thing, but this is so isolating. 

He prefers hanging out with women, but sadly the women don't wanna hang out with him.

Nicole does though! They always have some time for themselves after the kids go to bed. 

They always end up watching corny romance movies, on the couch, cuddling.

Occasionally, his eldest joins. He always has trouble falling asleep, like his mother, so his joining is his silent declaration that he cannot fall asleep.

but it doesn't happen as often, so every night, he and his wife have some cuddling sessions.

He wished he could be cuddling right now. it's better than here.

The music is loud, and not his taste.

Gosh, he feels so out of place. 

Maybe he's too “sissy”, as his mother would always say.

.. though, maybe he wasn't completely alone.

He was sitting next to one of the parents he decided to go out with, he was a sauropod. 

He was shorter than him, and he too had a non-alcoholic drink like he did.

He looked more sad though, as if he was trying not to break down in front of everyone.

He was struggling, but Richard couldn't put his finger on it.

Richard looked a bit more around himself, most parents were either tipsy or drunk. 

How could they? Not that there's anything wrong with being drunk or enjoying alcohol, but how can you drink knowing you have kids at home?

How will they react? Will they be scared? Will they be confused? Why is their father acting so weird?

“not a fan of alcohol, either. Huh?” the man next to him asked. It was the sauropod Richard was describing earlier.

He sipped a little on his drink, “not really, the taste is too sour for me. It kinda burns my throat.” 

“..yeah. yeah I get that, alcohol isn't for everybody.” 

“What about you? Not a fan of it either?”

“Mhm. I would rather not slip and erase all the time I spent in order to stop being an alcoholic.” He sighed, now he gets why he looked so sad.

“oh.. I'm sorry. You didn't have to come if you.. y'know.”

“It's alright. It's what dads do, right? Go out in bars, drink and uh..go back? I guess.”

“I must be a terrible dad then!” Richard giggled, a joke only he got.

“Why?”

“Because I never do this! Nor do I work. I'm the opposite of a father! I stay at home and I always pick up the kids. You could say I'm the mother in the family.” Which isn't…a big stretch. He didn't mind being called mom.

“Oh,well that's…fine. I hardly do this either. I mean I do have a job but..”

“But?”

“Nothing. Nothing, it's fine.” He dismissed it quickly.

Richard looked at him, he could tell the sauropod had more to say but didn't.

He dated Nicole long enough to know this behavior, it's bottling up.

“..you can tell me. It's.. it's fine! I won't judge. We might even end up relating too.”

He could see how hard the man was trying to explain. The words wouldn't come out, though.

“...I just don't like being a dad.”

Oh.

“Don't get me wrong, I love my child. I love being a parent. Just..just not a dad.” He explained himself.

“I..I don't wanna be a father. I would rather be a mom. I- I would rather be a woman. But that's just stupid! how do you even feel that way?! You— you probably won't get it. It's fine- it's just..I hate how I'm perceived, I don't know why.”

He covered his face with his hooves.

“I just..I just feel jealous when I see my wife..seeing her being a woman. Because I wanna do that too but I can't. I'm a man. I'm just being..weird.”

“..oh.”

“Sorry. I'm sorry. Sorry it's..I didn't mean to drop that on you. You can forget I even said anything.” He got up in a rush, but Richard stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

“Wait, wait I get that. I get how you feel.”

“Huh..?”

“Feeling like you've been put in the wrong body, as if the role you were given was the wrong one. Wanting to be called a woman, being referred to as she, wanting pretty dresses and make up. I get that. I'm the same way.” The pink bunny admitted.

“I've always been that way, I know how trapping it may feel like but..I can help if you want.” 

“I..”

“I have a few dresses at home. We're the same size, they should fit you, I can give it to you tomorrow.”

“No- no really, it's fine uhm..Richard. it's fine. Really—”

“Please, let me help. I know how you feel and I know this is gonna ruin you in the end. Don't ignore those feelings, embrace them. There's nothing wrong with how you feel, there's nothing wrong with how we feel. We just happened to be in the wrong body, in the wrong expectations.”

“I—..I gotta go.” as he walked away, his voice shaky.

He stormed off in a rush, getting into his car and just going home.

He doesn't wanna think about it. He doesn't wanna know. He's just broken. That's it.

He's a dad.

He's a father.

He's a man.

That's it.

—————————————————————

the morning after felt like a million heavy potato bags were on top of him.

It was hard to even open his eyes, and everything felt gray again.

He hasn't felt this way since molly offered therapy for all of them.

He looked at his sleeping wife. Wife. He wanted to be called that.

He felt those familiar tears pick at his eyes again, but they didn't have time to fall as he heard the doorbell ring.

he thanked whoever god was there, and even if the wasn't one, he thanked someone anyway.

He didn't wanna think about himself today.

“Yes?” He opened the door slowly, but no one was there.

“..hello?” He called out a little louder.

“if tall people stopped assuming everyone is as tall as them maybe the world would be better.” A little voice he hasn't heard in weeks spoke, it was the blue cat.

Gumball.

He held a box, along with a letter. 

“What? Kiddo it's so early in the morning wh—”

“So ANYWAY! i couldn't sleep and decided to do my father a favor. Yesterday I heard him complain to mom about you so I decided to do what he couldn't do! Help.”

“He what—”

“He told me about your gender crisis whatever you boomers call it. Woke agenda, I don't know. And I thought to bring you a few things to help with it. Also look up transgender on google.”

“Kiddo, wait—” he took the box before it could fall down after Gumball dropped it.

“Anyway, I'm going home because I wanna eat the last muffin before Darwin or Anais. Yesterday they annoyed me so that's my pay back. Have a good day, ma’am.” And he left?

Did all the Wattersons never let you speak?

He looked at the box, gently putting it on the floor.

He opened the letter, he didn't really wanna read it but.. curiosity killed the sauropod, I guess.

Or was it cat?

Hey mr. Collins!!! Sorry, dad didn't wrote thus because he doesent know about it.

But either way, I'm serious, look up what transgender is on google, it explains well what you and dad are going through. 

I've seen it with that anyway, it's better to say ut than hide it or it'll end up in bug misunderstandings. 

anywhay dad (me, actually) left you some clothes you could try, and old makeup from mom. If you really wanna explore with yourself just call this number—

Yeah we're not giving private informations over here.

dad really cares. He looked incredibly sad yesterday, he really wants ti help you. And he could use a new friend. 

And so do you. I keep hearing about Simon saying you're a loser who never had friends in highschool, so. 

Anyway, this kid can't spell. Jeez.

But he thought about it. He really it.

—————————————————————

“Hey, Richard? Uhm..i was wondering..do you know how to put make-up on?”

“Oh and…if you could explain to me what “transfem” means. I…I think I found out what I am.”

“Would you help me? Please? I'm tired of hiding.” 

“..thank you.”

Chapter Text

“There was still time.” Wally said as her eyes began to swell. 

It was ridiculous to cry like this. Especially as a grown adult. She was told to never cry in front of people; it would always make you weak, they said.

She couldn’t help it. She held onto this feeling, this cage, this imprisonment of being somebody she wasn’t at all. 

“Wally.” Holly proceeded to say, “I’m really not mad at all. I’m not upset either. I promise.. Please don’t cry. It’s ok.”

Holly wrapped her hands around her wife’s body. She tried pulling her in for a tight squeeze just to hug her back. To make sure she wasn’t letting go. 

Wally needed to say what she needed too. 

“I’m just so sorry. I’m so sorry for everything. For us. It wasn’t fair to you. I should’ve communicated  to you. I should’ve talked-I should’ve..god I’m just so sorry. It’s all my fault. It wasn’t you. It was all me.”

“Wally. It’s ok. I sort of…understand. I do wish you could’ve said something so early on. I really wish you did.. But we both made mistakes. That’s all I can really say.” 

Wally felt awful.

 She knew she could’ve just confessed she was a woman at the beginning. But that feeling that she was going to hell for transitioning from a man hunted her. It loomed her even. 

But then again. She looked at Holly one last time and saw that maybe… 

There was a chance. 

There was a chance to make everything right again. One last time. 

“Holly…”

“Yes Wally?”

“Do you think we could restart? Restart everything?”

“I guess so. Why?”

“I just want to experience everything with you again.”

Chapter Text

It was closing time. Finally, after spending many countless hours working at the bank desk helping customers, it was time to go home. 

Kurtis got up and stretched up from his desk. He straightened his arms and readjusted his shell. After all, he was a turtle. He got up and left. He wasn’t doing much after work, he never does. Most of the time he just reads the newspaper, watches TV, eats dinner, sleeps, and repeats. 

But he couldn’t help but feel lonely. What’s crazy is that he is rich. He never was the type of person to flex about all the money he had, he just sort of acted…normal? He typically donated to those in need, specifically those less fortunate than him. It made him feel better. People always described him as being the “nice” one in the group. It definitely made him feel better than his sad lonely homelife. 

His home was just so depressing. He had everything he wanted but he just wasn’t happy. Maybe if someone lived or talked to him, things could be ok. But he wasn’t sure. It would be weird to ask one of your coworkers to live with you. It was whatever. Maybe he was just cranky. 

He opened the door and grabbed the keys. One for the door and one for his car. He securely locked the door and left. As he walked, he noticed someone sitting there beside the bushes on the side of the building. A man it looked like? They were covered in a long blue blanket, clearly shivering from the cold, along with a sign that said “HOMELESS!! WILL DO ANYTHING FOR MONEY!!! :(“ 

Kurtis saw the sign and couldn’t help but feel bad. But then again, what if it was a scam? He did notice people usually pretended to fake being homeless just for profit. He should just leave and ignore him. “KURTIS WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!! DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE!! HELP HIM!! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO HELP PEOPLE!!! THAT'S YOUR JOB!!” all those thoughts were coming in again. Dammit. 

“Hey, are you alright?” he said to the man. The man looked up and just stared at him.

 “I’m alright. Do you want me to do something for you or what?” 

“Oh no. Not really. Say what’s your name?” 

“Simon.”

“Simon…what an interesting name. I like it. So Simon, how did you end up here?”

Kurtis then sat down right beside him. Simon noticed and couldn’t help but blush. Only a little. 

“I uh…may or may not have lost everything in my entire life. 

“Literally?”

“Yes. Not only did I lose my entire business but I also lost my fucking mansion. I lost all of my life savings over something I couldn’t even control!”

“What happened?”

“Some company ripped off on me. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. You know The Bobert System?”

“Oh yeah! I’ve heard of them. So did they basically take your product and resell it? Something like that?” 

“Pretty much the gist. Yeah.”

“That sucks. I’m sorry.” 

Kurtis wrapped his arms around Simon to comfort. Simon noticed felt very uncomfortable but it was definitely better than freezing in the cold. 

“Wait, when you said you “lost” everything, does that mean your family too?” 

Simon nodded his head. Kurtis gasped. Simon then realized he implied that his family was dead, in which it was, at least in his eyes, but they weren’t literally dead. 

“No, not like that. Don’t worry. It’s just after I lost the house, my sister got so incredibly outraged. She started throwing things at me and even tried to kill me.”

“Oh my god?”

“She’s always been like this though. She gets upset over the smallest things, it’s ridiculous. She just treats me like shit. She makes me feel worthless, it’s like I’m nothing to her. She didn’t even try to help me when I became homeless!” 

Kurtis padded him on the back. 

“She sounds absolutely awful. I’m sorry she treated you that way. How long have you been staying here?” 

“Just yesterday. I stayed with someone else for a week but they kicked me out. They just didn’t want me there anymore.”

Kurtis couldn’t help but tear up a little. Simon looked so down but so calm at the same time. Which was surprising considering what he was just talking about. He wanted to help him. He wanted to make him feel loved, from one person to another. Maybe this was the answer to his problem. But those thoughts crept in again, he looked at him again and thought to himself that he couldn’t be lying. If he was then…

“D-do you want to stay with me? I mean you don’t have to if you want! But it would be a bit better for you to stay somewhere safe, somewhere else less cold.” 

“Wait what? You mean it?” 

“Yeah! You can stay as long as you need. I’m here for you. I’ll cook you some food when we get home.” 

Simon hugged him. Kurtis was taken aback, only because he hadn’t been hugged in a long while. And Kurtis hugged him right back. 

They went to the car and drove home. Simon looked out the car window and then back at Kurtis. Kurtis was rambling about something he could care less about. But Kurtis gave Simon the bright idea that things were going to be okay. 

Forever. 

Chapter Text

Okay, he has to admit, this is fun.

Sure, still…kinda lame. Only if Penny is watching. 

But he's having fun, so he's not gonna complain now. Maybe if people point out that he's indeed having fun he will. 

He has a reputation to hold, y'know? He can't let people know he participates in such childish lame games. 

He's not sure how it came to this, but hey. He's not one to overthink now, is he?

What he's talking about? This whole superhero game.

He's not sure why his “laserheart” sona got trendy again, but this time it gathered more people.

More heroes and villains started showing up, and he always found himself in the middle of it. He's at the point of going around in costume under his normal clothes.

he doesn't particularly care about any of ‘em. They're fun to play with though, they have interesting stories. 

But he doesn't care enough to invest himself into them.

Some do get his eye, though.

Like heartbreaker, or whatever his name was. 

He knows who that is, and he has so much fun with him. 

He's dumb, yeah. His plans are the lamest thing, but Gumball finds it amusing anyway. And kinda cute I guess.

Darwin says it's bad, because the heartbreaker guy is messing with public property and it's not nice.

Does Gumball care? No.

 Will Gumball listen to Darwin? No. 

Will Gumball keep letting heartbreaker do his thing because he's cute when he does it? 

Yeah. 

but, something has been bothering him for a while, sure heartbreaker is nice to hang out with but he never like…you know. Thought outside of “guy's so stupid he's cute.” Y'know?

But this other guy? Well, girl. This other girl? It's driving Gumball mad.

Mad with guilt, actually. 

It's only because whenever they interact, for whatever reason, he gets super nervous and red. He doesn't even know her! He just knows she's a superhero or whatever called “the paladin of love.”

gosh, why did he have to crush on another girl?! He likes penny. He really does. 

But this girl is just not helping. He refuses to stand near her now.

Darwin looks at him weird for it, Gumball feels even more embarrassed now. And guilty. He doesn't wanna cheat. He would never.

He'd rather go bald and shoot himself in the leg before that. Maybe on two legs. 

Depends on what penny wants. She's free to kill him if he cheats or he accidentally makes her upset. 

It's rule number one boyfriend: let your girlfriend maul you to death if you mess up. 

“...are you..okay?” she asked. She dared to ask him a question.

“Yeah, I'm good. Why?” Be cool. Literally. Act cold. 

“Because you keep moving two feet away from me and uhm. Huff when I'm near. Are you mad at me?” 

“No? Why would I? I don't even know you.” 

“... Gumball, you do know me. What are you talking about?”

“nothin’ ‘paladin of love’. Just leave me alone, I'm doing hero things.” 

“Like.. ignoring me, getting mad at me and then acting like nothing happened the next day at school?” She leaned down to look at him better in the face, but he just gave her the cold shoulder. 

“Gumball?”

“... Gumball?” she put a frown on her face, glancing at Darwin sitting at the bench behind her, silently asking for help.

He shrugged. 

she quickly shuffled towards the fish in costume. “Did I do something wrong? He seemed happy this morning.” murmuring.

“I dunno! He's been acting weird whenever you show up to play. Maybe he feels embarrassed?”

“Why would he be embarrassed?”

“I don't know. He's a weird guy, y'know how he is. to figure out what's going on in his head you need at least three days without sleep and whatever mr.small drinks.” shrugging, honestly too tired to figure out his brother's antics. 

“I know I'm just,,worried. We've been dating for less of a week and I don't want to break up over something that I could fix if I knew beforehand!” she rubbed her hands together nervously, slightly turning more grayish.

“You really think he's breaking up with you over something like this? He's probably gonna cry about this and ask if you wanna stay with him still.” 

“Mhm..”

“Penny, just give him a minute to huff and get all grumpy, he'll forget about it in a second.”

“Alright…I just hope I didn't mess up.”

—————————————————————

“Sooo…. why were you mad at penny for?” Darwin asked, spinning on the chair he and his siblings had in their room.

“Mrrp?” His tail twitched, his eyes barely glancing at his brother.

“I said—”

“Oh, I'm not mad at penny. Why?”

“it's because you kept avoiding her when we were playing. She's sad about it.”

“when did we play with penny?”

“We've been doing that for a while! Y'know, with the superheroes.”

“I thought it was just me, you, Tobias and some other kids.”

“Yeah. One of those kids is penny.”

“No she isn't. I would have noticed.”

“dude, she is the kid with the pink skirt with the hearts. The little plastic crown? Purple boots? She dressed up to match with you, she even named herself “the paladin of love” to match.”

“The palad—” stop everything.

‘the paladin of love’? 

Isn't that the girl Gumball has been guiltily crushing on?

…Was he crushing on his own girlfriend this entire time? He's not a dirty cheater after all?

He didn't even cheat. He just felt guilty about liking multiple people at once. 

But..

“Penny's the paladin of love?” He asked, to be sure.

“Yeah? It's..kinda obvious. She's the only kid with wings who can shapeshift…..I think.”  At least with both of them.

He stared at the screen of his phone. ‘game over'. He lost. 

That's kinda how he felt. He was mad at his own girlfriend because he loved his girlfriend so much to the point of falling in love with her persona?! 

How stupid was he?! how did he not recognize her? Her smell? He made her sad for nothing.

he dropped his phone on his chest, covering his eyes with his paws.

He groaned, but it sounded super shaky. Now he has another reason to feel guilty.

“You messed up, didn't you?” Darwin asked, innocently.

“...yeah…” 

“Wanna tell me how?” As if Darwin didn't knew part of it already.

“...no.”

“Too embarrassed?”

“...yeah.”

“Want me to leave you alone so you can call penny?”

“...yes, please. Thank you. Sorry.” 

“It's alright. You're so stupid, dude.” He laughed to himself, hopping off the chair and moving towards the door. “Tell me how it goes!” 

—————————————————————

Maybe he didn't like the dress? he thought the matching was corny?

Maybe he didn't like that she got all pretty for a game? Was he jealous? Was he like the guys who don't want their partner to go out pretty or else other boys will stare?

She doesn't think Gumball would care. and when he's jealous he's never mad at her, always the other guy.

did she seriously do something wrong? What if he thinks she's ugly? What if he didn't want her to join? 

she stared at the dress on her bed, she didn't feel so sure about it anymore. She remembers how she asked Leslie for help.

Making the designs, sewing it and trying it on. She was ecstatic. She really wanted to join Gumball in his silly superhero roleplay. She thought it was cute. 

Maybe she should have asked him first. 

she kicked her legs, they didn't even touch the ground. Should she call him? Should she wait for tomorrow?

Why was being in a relationship so hard?!

was it because she's afraid of losing gumball? After years of trying to win him over?

her cellphone started ringing, making her leave out a yelp in surprise.

It was from Gumball and she, for the first time, felt scared to pick it up.

But she did, anyway. Because who is she to ignore him? Why would she? 

“Yeah? Gumball, you okay-” she heard a loud sniff. Was he .. crying?

“Gumball?” She can already imagine him, with puffy red eyes and his nose stuffed. He was an ugly crier. 

She found it cute, but she can't say that out loud.

“I'M SORRY, OKAY?! I DIDN'T MEAN TO!” he yelled, voice cracking while doing so.

“Wh-” 

“I THOUGHT YOU WERE ANOTHER GIRL— Y- I GOT WORRIED FOR NO REASON- I'M SORRY FOR GETTING SO COLD WITH YOU, I WOULD NEVER. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME— IT WAS AN HONEST MISTAKE— I LOVE YOU, PLEASE—”

oh, gumball. 

Chapter Text

He..he REALLY didn't know how to do this.

Sure, it's easy when you're the one giving advice but when you're the one having to do the work? That's the hard part.

And it's where he gets confused, he doesn't HAVE problems in trying to hit on someone or flirt or ask someone out.

I guess it's embarrassing? Or maybe..fear of him not feeling the same way?

Not even in the romantic sense, maybe the guy isn't even into men! That would ruin Leslie's life forever. 

he had a plan, well more like an idea. He could ask someone for confirmation! He even knew who!

Tobias’ ex.

Well, maybe ex. Leslie always assumed, just like he always assumed the guy's sexuality. He was so ambiguous people started making bets on his gender, sexuality and relationship status. 

It's whatever, he can just be..vague.

“Soooo…are you and Tobias close?” He asked, nonchalant.

“...huh?” Gumball turned, looking up from his phone. “What?”

“I asked if you and Tobias are close.”

“Uh- not really he's on the other side of the class normally, you know it's miss simian who decides the seats, not me.” He shrugged, going back to play the little pizza mobile game.

“wh— no I meant as in.. y'know. Are you two good friends?”

“..OH! oh in that sense! Yeah we are. Why?”

“Well, you two are pretty close and you always get really affectionate with Tobias and I was wond—”

“I'm affectionate with anyone.”

“Yeah but like, y'know, you pick him up, hug him or—”

“I do that with Darwin too.”

“Ugh— are you two dating or what?”

“..No, why? I'm dating penny. You should know that, she's your cousin?” he raised an eyebrow but didn't look at Leslie.

“Maybe an open relationship? Honestly I expect anything from you.”

“A what now?” that's when he looked. 

“An open relationship, y'know when you and your parents can have multiple partners and everything? Polyamory?”

“.. that's a thing?” His tail shifted a little.

“Yeah?”

“No, we're not that.” He answered, he seemed a little conflicted but that's probably just confusion on his part.

“So you and Tobias aren't dating?”

“We broke up like a few months back.”

“You— WHAT?!” he shouted, making Gumball's ear drop and his eyes dilate.

“I— don't scream.” He covered one of his ears. “Yeah we broke up, dude. We stayed friends after. Why?" Now he seemed bothered by the scream, more than the invasive questions. 

“I didn't know you two were dating??”

“Because Tobias asked me to keep silent about it, he's pretty secretive about his sexuality.” him saying it now is not a good thing, but it slipped. Yeah. 

“Is that why you were so clingy to him ?” no way Gumball has a more active love life than Leslie.

“I'm clingy to everyone.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I mean yeah, I was more affectionate than usual with Tobias, but that isn't because we were dating— ew what kind of pizza is that..?” The mobile game has odd topic choices. 

“Spill. Everything.” His leaves..? Hands? Whatever. They slammed on gumballs. He wanted to know everything, it could be gossip material but also, it's about his crush. So.

“I'm not spilling anything, Leslie. There's a reason I never said anything about dating Tobias and I'm certainly not saying it to Mr. I can't keep my mouth shut. Not even Darwin knows.” He kept himself as stoic as ever, but that's probably because the topic isn't one he's interested in. 

“Can I know what Tobias likes, at least? Like in terms of dates. Is he the rich kid that likes big stuff? Does he keep himself humble?”

“uh. he liked hanging out at my house, mostly. He enjoyed doing cheap stuff, like playing video games or just watching movies.” He shrugged. “You can just ask him out, y'know? He won't say no.” And he's busy popping pizzas left and right over here.

“I know, I just don't wanna be unprepared for it. It would make me unprofessional.”

“Didn't even know Tobias was your type.”

“Well, he is. Don't make fun of me.”

“I make fun of you for other stuff, I don't need to know who you're crushing on for that.” He waved dismissively. 

“.. I'm very aware. Like that time you tried to cut my head off in fourth grade?” dark times. 

“No, I just didn't like you, that's why I did it.” The feeling was mutual anyway, they tolerated each other at best. 

“It's — whatever. Is that all? Do I need to mind something else?”

“Uhhhhhhh. He's sensitive. Like super sensitive. Like a balloon full of water about to explode at any contact with anything. Not in the mean way, he's just a really wet sad creature once he drops his confidence.” He shrugged.

 “I didn't see it much, he hides that part of him. it's just clear when he always asks you if you love him and cannot comprehend that I like to hug him regardless.” He whispered the last part, sometimes he's glad he's the only guy who hears almost anything.

Good for gossip and knowing secrets, and also saying them. Maybe. 

“.. wait, really? I mean I knew he was definitely not the confident ego type but—”

“Just go and ask him out, dude. I don't care about what you think. I'm busy doing this awful topping pizza.” 

“..fine. Are you sure he's into guys?”

“Uh-huh.” he nodded slightly. 

“This is not a prank to mess with me, is it?”

“Want me to kiss him and see if he still enjoys it?” kind of a snobby tone followed with it, In my opinion. He was obviously mocking the guy. 

“you’re impossible sometimes.” He doesn't know why he bothered, maybe because he's desperate? Or just doesn't wanna do something embarrassing.

the cat giggled, you can't really insult him anyway. He either likes the insult or ignores it. 

“Do you at least know where he is?” The flower sighed with the lungs he didn't have.

“I dunno, I'm not his babysitter.” 

—————————————————————

Well, that wasn't useful, and he's back on square one. 

Well, plan B, I guess!

“Heyyyyy…Tobias! So what's up?” The flower walked towards the rainbow ambiguous creature, holding his pot so he wouldn't be stuck in one place.

“Mhm? Oh hey, Leslie. I'm just fixing my locker a little so I can go home.” he waved, shoving a blue book in his locker. 

“Oh yeah? Other places you wanna go?” He smirked.

“Uh..no? I have chores to do anyway.”

“Oh. Well, when are you free, then?” 

“Uhhhh…next.. Sunday? My parents are leaving for a while and my aunt’s coming over to babysit.” his aunt is not the best, but not the worst. Maybe she can let him go play! Or whatever Leslie wants to do.

“Perfect. We have a date, then. Me and you, next Sunday.” And he turned. And left. What?

“..uh..okay?” ..sure? I guess? 

—————————————————————

At least Leslie kept himself true to his words.

Tobias' parents left early on after that day, and Tobias’ aunt, Maria, came over. 

it was.. nice, I guess. There weren't many bad days, Tobias still waited for Leslie though.

Because did he mean an actual date? Or just..a way to hang out? He gets confused with this type of thing, especially when things become slang.

Tobias kind of..wishes it was an actual date. Leslie's..nice. 

though frankly, Tobias hardly can even get a girl to talk to him, imagine guys.

He swung his feet gently as they didn't meet the floor. He was waiting for a call or a message, something from Leslie.

All of the sudden, Tobias got a notification from his phone. A text from Leslie appeared on the top along with the words “Meet me at Joyful Burger ;)” 

A winky face? He was always aware that girls used them all the time. Not with him of course, except that one time Gumball did while pretending to be Masami all for a slap on the butt. It was best to not think of that. 

Tobias then realized that yes, it was indeed a date. He couldn’t help but get flustered. Especially since it was Leslie out of all people! 

Tobias then put on his heartbreaker outfit, Itvwas a requirement on the date apparently, for whatever reason. 

He got Maria to drop him off at Joyful Burger. Maria made a few positive remarks on the costume but Tobias didn’t think of it much.

He sat at a table near the back, Leslie put his name on it so he just needed to ask for “Leslie's table.”, did the guy have a last name? Wasn't he Penny's cousin? Why does she have a last name but he doesn't?

Either way, he looked at the menu to pass the time. Then suddenly, a particular someone came. 

It was Leslie. 

Leslie had changed his petals to look more like a rose. His face was powdered with white makeup, pink eyeshadow, along with green lipstick. His torso was also covered in spikes. He sat down on the other side of the table.

Now they were both sitting. Face to face.

“nice.. outfit?” Tobias complimented, still confused on why they were using the outfit from their roleplay game but hey. Free food.

was Leslie even in the game? 

“thank you, Mr. Heartbreaker. Would you like to be my mr. Heartfiller?” Leslie, speaking in riddles now, smiled at Tobias- sorry, heartbreaker.

“What?” 

“can I join your team?” He clarified.

“Oh.” what a date. “Uhm— sure? if you wanted to join the game you could have just..asked me. You didn't need a whole..fancy..date over it.” He knows Leslie is very dramatic, but now he feels disappointed. 

“What? I mean- yeah I wanna play too, sounds fun. I get to make outfits. You didn't get what I was saying though.” 

“..sorry, I'm slow.” Not really, people just say one thing that means another and it confuses him.

“Do you wanna be my partner? Inside and outside the game?”

“Uh—”

“Like, boyfriends.” 

“Ah— i mean- just like that? Did masami put you through this?” because yeah, he doesn't wanna fall for this prank.

“No, she doesn't even know about this. So?”

“Uh– uhm- sure? I mean— yeah, OKAY. Whatever- uh.” The white face paint didn't hide neither his sweat, or blush. 

“Mhmhm.” The flower nodded, leaning in to kiss Tobias on the cheek. “Well, I'll wait for your next evil plan, heartbreaker.” 

“Ah—”

“anyway, wanna order and then run off?”

—————————————————————

Larry was mopping the floor, he was having such a nice day. 

Until he saw two kids run off with the food on their plate.

“Hey!! You kids didn’t pay for your food!!” he ran after them, falling over the wet floor he just cleaned.

—————————————————————

“Well, that was corny.” 

“Do you have to sneak around all day and stalk your classmates? You're starting to do the same thing Sarah does.” Darwin sighed exasperated, sitting on the floor.

He didn't even bother looking at the two lovebirds through the window.

“I'm not like Sarah! She's just weird.” 

“i mean, she is but—”

“Yeah. Either way, I'm not doing that. I'm passing the time.”

“by stalking?”

“By watching! Look I'm bored and season seven is not gonna drop any time soon. There's nothing to do when you have no episodes to do.” 

“season- what? Dude, you keep freaking me out with these comments.”

“it's just stuff sarah says occasionally, it's fine.”

“Yeah but it's still weird— imagine living in a tv show! Would anything be genuine?”

“That'd be fun, I would totally be the main character. Anyway- I'm bored, let's go bother anais. I'm sick of watching peop

le be in love and happy.”

“You're such a joyful person.” Darwin sarcastically commented.

“‘course I am, my life is amazing, why wouldn't I be joyful?”

“uh-huh. The amazing world of gumball.”

“Exactly! It's why I would be the main character.” 

Chapter Text

She looked out of her window, the sky full of stars looking back at her.

she always wondered how there were so many stars, and if they were more than just some lights in the sky.

Why couldn't we see during the day? Who turns them off?

Her mom, holly, told her it has to do with the sun and the sky turning blue but molly just doesn't get it.

Nor does she get the stars just being a mass of hot gas.

Her mom says that it's alright not to understand it yet, she's merely in 8th grade, astrology is something that is still a complex concept for kids her age.

The stars are still pretty to look at though, they decorate the void-like sky and bring some pretty white like lights around. 

Or that's the moon. 

Either way, both are very pretty. Her mom always makes her see them from the telescope and Molly wonders how people could not find stars incredible. 

and yet, in all of their beauty, her parents are still not home.

they went out hours ago. When they told molly they were gonna go out tonight it was 7pm, it's 11pm now.

Where were they? She was worried! What if they're hurt? What if they got lost? Kidnapped?! Or worse, murdered.

she shivered, she didn't even wanna think about that. 

Molly already lost them once, she doesn't wanna lose them again.

She tried to call them already, but they didn't answer, and her messages weren't even seen yet by either of them.

she can't just go out and look for them, what if she gets in danger? Should she call someone?

She really should.

—————————————————————

he loves when his parents aren't home, it means he gets to be in charge of things. 

The absolute beauty of being the older brother, you have the privileges that your siblings dream to have.

He sat on the couch, with the lights off and the tv with its volume being the minimum there can be, he didn't wanna disturb his sleeping siblings.

 It's all because then they would complain he's having sugar and tv late at night.

Not like he can sleep either way, and he doesn't feel like looking at the ceiling for hours. 

but..he has to admit, he is also taking this as a chance to just do whatever he wants. So now he's fully awake, watching random horror movies he found while eating ice cream.

His phone rang, and rang but since he decided to be unavailable to anyone he doesn't notice until he decides to check the time.

he notices about..five or so calls from the same unsaved number, who could possibly call him at 11pm on a Sunday? 

Who is the idiot who decides to call the one with his phone on silent no matter the circumstances? do they know he will not answer?

“if it's something stupid, I'm hanging up.” he waited for the other side to pick up the phone, keeping his tone low.

“Uh.. laserheart?” a voice, slightly trembling, asked. There wasn't any confusion or uncertainty in the tone, she knew who she called, she was scared for something else.

“..molly? Oh. that's the number that called me, I really should save your number on my phone.” He looked at the number, he'll definitely forget to do that.

“..you didn't save my number? Also it's pokerface, not molly.”

“I didn't save half of our classmates' number, your point?” 

“it's-..okay. I need your help. Please?”

“With?” 

“Uh– are your parents home..by any chance?”

“Not really, they went out like a few hours ago.”

“Then it's worse than I thought..our parents are missing! Who else got their parents kidnapped in the middle of the night?”

“what?” That sounds silly, considering in this town there's literally one singular criminal or two and his mom would break their arms before getting kidnapped. 

“Our parents got abducted! we gotta save them laserheart!”

“dude, no way they actually got kidnapped. They're probably doing adult stuff like.. staying up late? I guess.”

“And what if they're not just staying up late? Come on, we gotta figure this mystery out.”

“...do I have to?” he took a spoonful of his ice cream.

“Yes.”

—————————————————————

She heard a loud groan from the other end of the call, before a loud beep.

“.. Gumball?” She asked, looking at her phone. He ended the call.

Did he ditch her like that? Did he find her too silly? 

She was serious though!

she shrieked when she heard a knock on her door, was the murdered of her parents here now?! Is she after her too?!

“Just open the door, molly. I just wanna get this done with.” 

nevermind, it was just Gumball.

“Oh..oh the door's open!” And he was in costume! He wrapped his cape around himself like a blanket, he looked more like a bat now than anything with those ears of his.

“Do you even know where your parents could possibly be?” 

“Our parents! Also, get out I need to get in costume! Nobody can know my secret identity!”

“Ugh. Fine, I'll wait for you downstairs.” He rolled his eyes, with his loud heels marching back downstairs.

—————————————————————

He sat on the couch, snuggling on the cushions. His boots and gloves were scattered on the door, uncared for.

He pulled his phone out, waiting for ‘pokerface’ to get done with her outfit. 

“Alright, I'm done!” the dinosaur popped out, with her little blonde wig and tutu. 

“Great, know where our parents are?” he sank further on the couch.

“No, that's why I wanna find them.”

“I'm not searching the entire town, molly. Last time I went out late at night some creepy shadowy dude approached me and I was paranoid about him for a week straight.” He's still suspicious of any shadow-like person he sees. 

“Well— .. okay that's concerning. But do we have any other ideas?”

“Is there a place where parents gather at night?” like flies with lights!

“Uhm…the bed after an entire day of work?”

“Well, they're not in bed. Aren't they?” 

“Then I don't know.”

“Maybe they're at a party or somethin’.” oh how he loves this couch. 

“Maybe! A party their kidnapper hosted! where though…?” 

“I ‘dunno. I just hear loud music not too far from here.” 

“I don't hear anything.”

“I know, that's why I mentioned it. Wanna go check that out?” 

“Uhm, sure! maybe they're there.”

—————————————————————

The more they got close to the music, the more Molly could feel Gumball get tense. 

He guided her all the way to where they were now, in front of a bar with really loud music coming from inside.

he was resting on her neck, because ‘he didn't wanna walk all the way with heels.’

“Is this the place?” she pointed at the bar, she saw a few people outside. Some were drinking and some were smoking but they all seemed her parents' age.

“Uh-huh.” he nodded, before getting off of her and landing on the floor, on his feet too! Cats really do always land on their feet. 

“You okay? I see your eyebrow twitch occasionally.”

“Yeah, the music ‘s loud and it's kinda irritating. Dealt with worse anyway, let's get in.”

She nodded, coughing a little from the smoke coming from the guy next to her.

They opened the door and Molly understood why Gumball was so irritated by the loud music, inside it was worse. And people were singing too!

none of them noticed their presence, they were busy eating, drinking….apple juice or something that looked like it, and singing.

Some were at the counter and others in their respective seats. 

She suddenly felt nervous, there were so many strangers she didn't know and none of them were their age. 

“So?” He asked, raising his voice a little because of the music.

“So what?” She matched his tone, her neck lowering a little to hear him better.

“See our parents?” 

“Uhm..” she saw two bunnies drinking together, some goats and other indescribable folks.

Her eyes landed on the tables in the back, where she saw a blue cat, a pink bunny, her parents and a peanut. 

“Found them!” She said, walking towards their table. 

Gumball followed, grabbing her tutu gently to stay close.

—————————————————————

As they both approached, they saw Nicole, Richard, Wally, Holly, and Patrick sitting at the same table. 

Nearly all of them were drinking beer except for Molly’s parents. They had fruit punch but they still looked wasted. 

Nicole had drunk the most out of them all. Her head was down with multiple drinks by her side. Richard was petting her fur, clearly trying to comfort. 

“I think we're done for tonight, honey.” He whispered to her, already accepted that he would have to pick her up and drag her to the car.

Molly put her hoof down and announced very clearly “Moms!! I’ve come to save you!” her hoofs on her hips, with a proud smile on her face. 

All of the other parents just stared, looking very confused as to what she was talking about. Or why she was there in the first place. 

Richard tried saying something to Gumball but the music was blasting too loudly for him to hear. 

“Huh?” Holly mentioned she was also tired. Patrick whispered near her ear to tell her that their daughter was here along with Gumball.

“Molly? What are you doing here with Gumball? It's midnight. You should be at home sleeping. ” Holly exclaimed, once she processed what Patrick whispered to her.

“You’re getting kidnapped!! That's why!” Molly shouted, a few people on other tables turned to look at Molly, but she didn't care.

“Huh?” 

“Honey, I think she’s saying we’re kidnapped.” Wally whispered next to Holly’s ear. 

Molly still continued. 

“Don’t worry moms! I’m getting you out of here.”

“..why? From here?” Holly said 

“yeah? From the bar? The evil workers? Uhh…” 

—————————————————————

Molly kept on rambling about something that Gumball couldn't care less. 

He noticed a table near him. It had an open drink filled with beer that he mistook as mere juice. As soon as he drank it, he immediately spat it out. 

“Eugh— is this expired?” He coughed a little from the acid taste of the ‘juice.’

However what he didn’t realize was that Nicole immediately woke up from his coughing.

“What the?— Richard? Where the fuck are we? Gumball?”

Nicole glared at where Gumball was at, with an expression that looked like he just ate four lemons in a row. 

“Oh, Gumball is that you? I’m so sorry you’re here, you shouldn't be exposed to all this stuff. Are you ok?” she sobbed uncontrollably, grabbing her son and pulling him into a tight hug.

“Yeah, mom, I’m fine. You can stop hugging me now.” 

his cheeks went red from embarrassment, but his attention shifted immediately to the food on her mom's plate. Which was his now. He was taking bits of them and eating them. 

“i’m sorry, son. Your mom is just woozy and tired, that’s all. What are you doing here with your friend?” the pink bunny asked, concerned that his 12 year old son was out here, such late at night in a bar.

“Friend?” he squinted, he could barely hear. But also, what friend?

He’s talking about Molly dumbass. 

“Oh! Molly. It's molly. It’s just superhero stuff. It’s whatever. Somethin’ about savin' ya.” He murmured the last part to himself.

“Well I’m glad you two are having fun— maybe not at this hour and in this place.”

“Glad we can agree on that, dad. This place is giving me a headache. And the drinks are crap.”

“Language!” Nicole said to Gumball, shoving him out of the hug to glare.

“It's something you always say, mom! It's not a curse word.” He defended himself. “And they really are bad drinks.”

—————————————————————

Molly was tugging onto Holly’s leg, trying to help her get up. 

“Come on mom! I gotta get you out.”

Holly was too tired to say anything. She really wanted to take a nap. She could barely process what was going on.

Wally saw this happen and tried to gently push Molly away from her. Sadly, this failed and Molly clung onto the both of them.

“Why do none of you want to get out? Don't you see how dangerous this is?”

“Sweetheart, we don’t know what you’re talking about? We’re perfectly fine!” Wally said, exasperated. Mostly because who knows what molly saw and experienced out there so late at night to come here.

“..Wait what?.. Then how come none of you came home like you said at 9 pm?” she asked, confused. 

“Oh..we just got distracted and did other stuff with the other parents. Sorry honey. Also can you let go? My leg is starting to hurt.” Holly asked gently, stroking Molly's ... .wig with her hoof.

“Sorry…” Now that was just humiliating.

Molly let go of both of their legs. She clung onto her skirt as she felt really embarrassed for what she did. Wally gave her a quick kiss on the forehead to reassure it was all ok.

"Hey, Richard. I had lots of fun but I think me and Holly along with Molly have to go.” wally smiled at the bunny. “Gotta get my girls in bed, they're way past her bedtime.” 

“ah, it's alright, Wally! Karaoke night on Wednesday? I think we gotta go anyway.” 

“You bet!” 

—————————————————————

Once they reached the exit, both kids could finally breathe some fresh air. 

Molly clung to both of her parents, holding their hands. She just wanted to go home and make sure her parents were safe. 

Gumball on the other hand got a jacket from his father. The little man was freezing and not afraid to complain about it. 

Now he was just resting with his head on his mothers shoulder, she was too scared to let him go so they decided to just let Nicole pick Gumball up.

They came out later than expected, it was around 1am, and the kids were absolutely exhausted, and some parents were too.

They said their goodbyes, hoping for another night like this without the kids interrupting this time.

Patrick went inside his car, quickly waving one last goodbye, Richard apologized for Gumball, and hoped a goodnight for the Collins.

Nicole and Gumball were already in the car, Nicole was fast asleep in the front while Gumball was half asleep in the back, laying down. 

They drove off peacefully.

Holly yawned, too tired to drive. So Wally did instead.

Molly sat in the back, feeling prideful again for finding her parents and getting them home safe, even if it was for a little misunderstanding. 

he really has to make sure her parents don't recklessly roam around at night again, she might have to ground them for it.

but that's for another day,

They all fell asleep on the couch happily while watching a superhero movie.

Maybe there’ll be another time where they do need actual saving. Just not now. 

Chapter Text

Ever since Simon and Kurtis got together it was like magic! 

They always did lovey dovey things, like go to the movies, shopping, and even go on dates. 

Only occasionally though. Simon most of the time just spent time at home while Kurtis worked. 

Kurtis understood though. He knew Simon was going through some things. He always got him a gift or two to make him feel better. 

And plus, work never really gave him time to do things, so he couldn't blame anyone really. 

But that was when Simon really appreciated him, the gifts always cheered him up. Simon always thanked  him with multiple kisses and a thank you, such a sweetheart. 

Another thing that Simon did was the use of his credit card, Simon would also use his credit card a whole lot.

 But he didn’t mind, finally having money after being homeless for who knows how long must have felt like heaven, so he let Simon spoil himself as much as he could.

 He cooked him food every single day after work, it's the least he could do.

Though Simon always refused to eat or only ate a few, never finishing his plate.

Kurtis understood though, Simon always took the chance to go out when they were out, and again. He understood. 

Who knows for how long Simon had to go through garbage to just find something to eat, Kurtis would never take away his joy of enjoying junk food, even if it meant that the food he cooks goes to waste. 

He really wanted to ask Simon if he wanted to see his parents sometime soon.

 Maybe go on another fancy date like last time but he wasn’t sure yet.

 He did notice Simon took a recent liking to one of the outfits he got him. It was a navy blue shirt, a golden chain necklace with a dollar sign, star shaped shades, and a starry cape. Simon would always leave the house with it on but Kurtis wasn’t exactly aware where he went. 

It probably didn’t matter. 

Until it started to get concerning, Simon always came home upset.

He always slammed the door, mumbling to himself and ignoring Kurtis, or anything that Kurtis would do to him.

“Fuck off!” He would scream, “get the fuck out my way!” If Kurtis tries to insist.

It hurt Kurtis, it really did. He never saw Simon so mad before.

So, one day he decided to follow Simon.

—————————————————————

It was the weekend, when everyone was free.

People were free from their jobs, kids were free from school and parents were free from their kids as they were freely roaming around the town to be someone else's problem.

Kurtis loved the weekend, the town looked so alive. So many people were around, walking, chatting or just enjoying the sunny day.

He could hear the kids laugh and play, music playing in the background and everything just felt more colorful.

What stood out was Simon, he for some reason just brought some negativity around and he couldn't tell why.

“You sure you're okay?” he asked for what felt the billion time.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” He dismissed his concerns, again.

“It's because you've been talking to yourself—”

“I KNOW! God, Kurtis. Just shut the fuck up.” 

“..okay.” he quietly answered. It's been like this for a few days now, it was making Kurtis really uncomfortable.

The heels of his partner angrily clicked on the floor, feeling more aggressive each step.

“—you’re done for, heartbrea— oh are you serious?” a child's voice, the moment Kurtis turned the corner he saw why there was a child in there.

It was a bunch of children, in costumes. Superhero costumes? Probably.

They were all playing: fake weapons made of cardboard and toilet paper, silly costumes and sound effects for their powers. It was really cute, but why would Simon go here, to them?

“Dude, again? Told you already, you're too lame to play!” A kid told..Simon, he assumes. He was wearing some underwear.. literally. No pants, pink heels and crop top and some silly purple mask and cape. 

The kid was a blue cat, Kurtis never saw him, probably because they lived on two different sides of town.

“Oh shut up! I can do whatever I want.” Simon shot back, hooves on his hips. 

“Uncle Simon, why are you here?” another kid asked, she didn't have the confidence as the cat. In fact, she was trying to hide behind her makeshift hammer. 

“Uncle simon-? What is she talking about?” Kurtis’ eyebrows furrowed, glancing at the man next to him.

“Just ignore her, Kurtis. She’s just being delusional.”

“Oh. But it’s just.. you know.”

“What?”

“You both look so similar.”

“Are you serious? Are you saying all sauropods look the same? Wow. Thanks a lot, Kurtis.”

“No! I didn’t mean to phrase it like that. Sorry, hon.”

“Don’t call me that. Just-..Go inside and make us some sandwiches or whatever.”

“Alright..?” their house was on the other side of town, but..okay? I guess. 

He'll just go and buy some, don't think he'll be able to walk all the way back. 

but it was so awkward . Now everyone stayed silent and just looked around waiting for something to happen.

And Kurtis can't blame the kids, having a random man interrupt the game is awkward.

“uh— Molly, can you tell your uncle to like..leave? Like actually leave.” the little orange fish spoke, he wore a similar outfit to the cat next to him.

“he doesn't listen to me, Darwin! I'm sorry. whenever I do he just..uhm.” 

“It's okay, molly. don't worry.” Penny spoke next to her. “Let's uh…leave, I guess? Move to another part of town?” The fairy suggested. 

“Ah— sure.” the smaller sauropod smiled, honestly the more she was away from Simon the better.

“ Please .” Tobias begged, he was too uncomfortable now. 

“‘kay. Alright everyone, let's move! Everyone to Penny's house.” Gumball shouted for everyone to hear him, starting to walk away with his brother.

“Hey! I'm not done with you, ya mouse eater.” Simon walked over to gumball, forcefully turning him around so they would face each other.

“Mouse eate— I don't eat mice! If anything you would, with that breath of yours.” he pushed simons hoof off of him.

“I'm not over with what you did, you hairball spitter.” his tone lowered.

“Well then, get over it! What are you, five?” but gumball's tone raised. 

“Gumball let's just go- let's not pick a fight with someone older than us-” Darwin pleaded his older brother. 

“Shut up you fucking r-.” Simon said as he pushed Darwin out the way. He then went on with only words Gumball understood. Gumball did not enjoy any of it.

“FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT” banana joe chanted next to Tobias, maybe a little too excited about this. 

Also where does he come from? 

Darwin winced as he fell to the ground, going quiet as the man in front of him stood menacingly.

Gumball reached to grab Darwin but with heels, his movements were limited, the only thing he did was almost fall over with his brother. 

his ears fell down, and his tail puffed up, looking between Darwin and Simon.

"Dude, what's wrong with you??" He asked the sauropod.

"Oh give me a break, he didn't even get hurt!" the dinosaur huffed, rolling his eyes.

grabbing the little child's fin, pulling him up, dragging him like some sort of ragdoll.

his hoof was pushed off with a scratch. "HEY— what the hell!—" Simon looked at his hand, ruined by a scratch that slowly let out a little bit of blood. It burned. 

"Don't touch my brother, weirdo." gumball said, more defensively than anything. He was now on the floor hugging his brother to keep a little more distance between him and Simon.

"Oh you little bit—" 

“Hey! What's going on over there?” A cop asked. Leaning on his car, with coffee in his hand.

“This weirdo is being mean!” Gumball answered before Simon could say anything. 

“Mean you say? Mean..how?”

“hitting children mean.” he clarified, with some annoyance to his tone.

—————————————————————

That line was long . Took him maybe twenty minutes to even order two simple sandwiches.

and in those twenty minutes, hell came. 

Kurtis found himself in front of a…concerning sight. 

His boyfriend, Simon, was getting escorted inside the police's car with handcuffs, yelling protest after protest. 

The kids were all reunited next to a bench, the fish and the sauropod sitting on it while the rest stayed next to them.

“You sure you're okay?” Gumball asked again, “yeah I'm fine, he just pushed me. I still don't get what Simon meant though.” 

“It's nothin’, don't worry. The guy was just a massive weirdo.” And he doesn't feel like explaining to his brother what he was gonna say. 

“Gosh if he was scary, did you two know each other?” Penny joined in the convo, very much not enjoying how many things his boyfriend has been called. 

“..maybe. he was Molly's uncle, that's why I know him.” lie, since the two have a history outside of molly, but it's whatever. 

“Ugh. I'm sorry for what my uncle did! He's always so..violent and mean.” molly apologized, to everyone really. she knew more than anyone how…bad Simon could be. 

She knows by experience. She has been called those things before and went home with bruises before. It's nothing new, it still hurts though.

she was too scared of him anyway. 

“..you kids okay?” Kurtis walked over, with two sandwiches in hand. 

“Oh yeah, just your fucking weird psycho boyfriend calling my brother a slur, nothing much .” 

Gumball murmured to himself. Turning to Simon, with ears still in airplane mode and tail occasionally swinging. “We're good, but I'd reconsider your choices in men if I were you.”

“My– oh come on, I'm sure it can't be that bad! to know what Simon did to get arrested now..” 

“Your boyfriend got arrested because he's nothing but a selfish, fat, abusive and racist prick ! That's why!” The cat retorted angrily. 

“that guy got his hands on my brother because he couldn't stand a ten year old quietly asking his brother to just go away! just find a new boyfriend, dude.” 

“He— he what? He would never! He's just..he just had a bad day!”

“well I'm going to have a bad day and I'm gonna be mean to your boyfriend for it, how's that?” 

“Oh you're exaggerating now-”

“Just go to the police- or mrs. Collins, they have the full story. That guy's a jerk.” Gumball huffed, hugging his little brother.

“N-no- you just caught him in a really bad day—”

“dude, just go! I don't feel like hearing you defend him!” Gumball pointed in a random direction, getting sicker and sicker of Kurtis excuses. 

“The game's over, we can play tomorrow.” he told the rest, walking away with Darwin, who didn't even wanna try to argue with his angry brother. 

—————————————————————

“Oh hey molly! How did the superhero game go—...” Wally welcomed molly, hearing her finally coming back this morning.

she didn't expect to see Molly with her makeup smudged by tears.

“Hey honey, what happened?” 

“Uncle Simon is in jail.” 

“He- what?”

Simon being in jail wasn't even why Molly was crying, she was just really scared. Simon scares her. Scares her more than anything. 

not like she'll see him again, he's not gonna come out of jail any time soon.