Chapter Text
Something is wrong with Elmore.
That's the first thing Gumball thinks, as he walks the familiar way to his childhood home. It looks the same as it did when he left — maybe that's part of the problem — but the people act so differently from what he expected. People who grew up with him struggle to even acknowledge him. Instead, they glance and whisper to each other, and when he greets them, they pretend not to see.
Gumball assumes some embarrassing rumor must've spread across town while he was away. At the same time, he wonders how it spreaded; the more he walks, the less people he sees. Maybe his childhood friends moved away too. Once he reaches the porch of his old home, the whole street looks like a ghost town, eerily silent and unmoving. It feels as if his footsteps are disturbing the peace of a perfectly still neighborhood, untouched by life or time.
He knocks on the door. There's an audible hurry inside before his mother opens it. She smiles, but the light in her eyes is stiff and unnatural.
“Gumball, sweetie. Look how much you've grown… I can't believe you're back in town.” She speaks, caring and affectionate, but something feels amiss. Her eyes are alert, switching quickly between her son and the porch of every neighboring home. Gumball notices one of her ears is twisted towards the inside of the house. He wonders whether the white hairs and dark spots under her eyes came from aging or stress.
“Haha, yeah… I'll put my stuff in my old room, is that okay?” He asks, walking inside. Every detail of his home remains the same as the day he left, from the couch, to the framed pictures, to the channel playing on the same old TV. “Where's Darwin? And Anais?”
“Actually, Gumball, we set up a room for you in the basement. Anais has your old room now.” She says, sounding strangely cautious. “Anais and Darwin are… out there, somewhere.”
“Oh, sure…” He replies. Gumball finds it strange that neither of his siblings had stayed home to wait for his arrival, but he figures they'll at least show up for dinner.
Gumball settles the few contents of his backpack on an old desk. He doesn't mind the lack of a wardrobe. He does mind the ominous silence. The streets are stale. His home is near empty and devoid of life. It doesn't feel like Elmore.
Maybe Darwin and Anais will be the pop of energy he needs to feel the warmth of his town again.
-
His ears just barely pick up on his mother speaking in hushed tones. He can't understand the words being spoken, but the voice is definitely hers. He doesn't hear a responding voice.
Only a few seconds later, his mother calls him up for dinner, and tells him, in that awkward faux-happy tone, that his siblings had arrived home. Gumball hurries up the stairs.
He walks into the dinner room, and there, quietly chatting near one of the corners, are Darwin and Anais.
Anais had grown considerably since the last time he saw her; much like his own, her teenage appearance is one of long, thin limbs; her pastel pink hair sports a messy, shoulder length cut, and she had ditched her dress in favor of shorts and a t-shirt. Her long ears are pinned back in what he recognizes to be either frustration or deep thought. He can't see her face.
Darwin is leaning against the wall. He's taller than Gumball now, and his face lost the round shape it used to have in their childhood. His dark hair is styled in locs and tied up in a half up, half down, exposing the fins on both sides of his head and the gills on his neck. The locs end in a vibrant orange, reaching his shoulders. His long fishtail is folded over his legs, bright orange scales and fins reflecting the light. He tilts his head up in his direction, and for half a second, the light of the dinner room hits his eyes just at the right angle to light up an iridescent silver-green iris hidden underneath the warm brown. He had seen Darwin's eyes do that before, when they were younger, and it always unsettled him. It looks cold and out of place, especially on someone like Darwin.
“Hey, Gumball.” Darwin calls. His voice doesn't sound as friendly as it did when they were children. Gumball doesn't think it's because it sounds deeper. “How was the trip?”
Anais turns around to face him. Her eyes are intense, restless, and her ears shoot upwards.
“Oh, it was alright. Well, sleeping on a bus seat kind of crumpled my back like an old receipt, but other than that, no big issue.” He rambles, his tail flicking behind him. He takes a few steps closer, and leans in. “Dude, is it just me, or is the whole town acting weird?”
“Maybe it's just you.” Darwin replies, strangely deadpan.
“No, dude. Something's wrong.” His own ears are pinned back, and his eyes narrow. “And I gotta figure it out.”
“I'm sure you will.” He says, putting a hand on Anais’ shoulder. She puts her own hand over his, absentmindedly tracing the translucent membranes between his fingers as she stares at the floor.
“... What's up with her?” Gumball asks.
“Nerves. She thinks too much.” He says. “Something we definitely didn't do at her age.”
“Oh, yeah, definitely not. But it's okay,” He says, messing with her hair. “You'll grow out of it… I think.”
Anais looks up at Darwin, her ears pinned flat to her head. He looks down at her and sighs.
“Okay, something is going on here. Come on guys, talk to me! What's up with everyone?”
“Kids, your mom told me to tell you dinner is ready- Oh, hi Gumball!”
Richard stands right outside the kitchen. He also shows signs of age, some silver hairs hidden among the few pink, but to Gumball's relief, he's behaving like he remembers from years before, cheery and lighthearted.
“Hi dad!” He waves, calm washing over him. Something in this house feels normal. Maybe it's just a weird day for everyone else. “Come on, guys, let's eat.”
Dinner felt awkward. His father ate as much as he normally did; Nicole and Anais barely ate, with Anais eating a few more bites at her siblings’ insistence. Darwin was strangely tense, as if, at any moment, he'd have to abandon his plate because of some unspoken urgency. His mother's food was delicious, as it's always been, but Gumball felt misplaced at the table. As if he no longer belonged, despite being welcomed. Nobody spoke.
Now, as Gumball lies in his temporary bed, within his temporary room in the basement, he still feels as if there's something wrong. The streets, the neighborhood, his house; the whole town is strange. And his family knows something about it.