Chapter Text
Friday evening in Elmore. Gumball, Darwin, and Anais were sitting on the sofa, mindlessly scrolling through channels on the television. From Cartoon Station to Pennyodeon, to more live-action oriented channels like Fennec and SBC. Anywhere where the programming looked interesting.
"Ugh, isn't there anything good on TV these days?" Gumball complained, leaning against the armrest of the sofa, cheek in palm. "Where are all the cartoons?"
"Blame the executives" Anais responded as she continued to flick through channels. "The old guys in charge keep cancelling any new and interesting cartoons cause they think they're just for kids and no one will watch, and instead focus on nostalgia pandering by lazily churning out the five hundred forty-seventh reboot of an old, already popular cartoon instead."
Just as she finished talking, Gumball's phone pinged. Taking it out to check, the feline let out a groan, prompting his siblings to give him a questioning look.
"They just announced a reboot of the revival of the sequel to Techno Power Teenage Warriors."
"...make that five hundred forty-eight." Darwin remarked with a sign.
Suddenly, the front door opened, and Nicole entered the house. Having a long and hard day at work, she was eager for a rest. Her aching head and wobbling legs were killing her and her eyes were barely able to stay open. So she could only tiredly greet her kids with "Hey kids, sorry I'm late, I ran into a traffic jam on my way home. Closing the door, she removed her purse from her shoulder and dumped it on the ground, too tired to put it away. "I hope you had a good day at school. You're all gonna finish your homework, right?"
"Already finished." replied Anais smugly.
"Just taking a quick break, Mrs. Mom." said Darwin.
"Uh, don't worry, Mom. I'll...get it done after dinner!" said Gumball, giving her an obviously forced smile.
"Thank you" said Nicole. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm gonna have a rest before I have to get dinner ready". And with that, she opened the door to her and Richard's room and crashed onto the bed.
Anais looked at Gumball, his hesitation in his response to their mother grabbing her attention. "You have no intention of doing your homework, do you?"
"What? No, of course I'm gonna do it!" replied Gumball
Anais raised an eyebrow. "Really? Cause you clearly hesitated when you answered Mom".
"Hesitated? No, I didn't. I have no idea what you're talking about." Gumball responded with a nervous grin.
"Whatever..." Anais responded with a roll of her eyes. It wasn't worth the hassle to continue this argument. "Just don't blame me if you get in trouble."
Later, after dinner...
The door to the kids' room opened, and Anais made her way inside, her brothers having finished dinner early. Upon entry, her eyes widened. "Gumball?"
"Anais!" shrieked her startled older brother, who was on the chair at the desk with an Elmore Plus private messaging wall on the computer screen, which he frantically attempted to minimize.
"Aren't you supposed to be doing your homework?"
"Um, what are you talking about? I am." replied Gumball, sweating nervously as the computer behind him pinged to indicate a new message had been sent.
"Hmm" pondered Anais, placing her paw on her chin as she examined the scene before her. "Really? I didn't know you could do homework on an Elmore Plus chat with Penny".
"Wait, you can do your homework on a private messaging chat!?" asked Darwin, who was lying on Gumball's bed and doing his own homework.
Anais facepalmed. "No, I was being sarcastic. Gumball is clearly slacking off on doing his homework".
"I thought he said he was gonna do it online" said Darwin.
"I am!" Gumball insisted, fidgeting nervously. "I was just asking Penny online if, um...if she had any answers, yeah".
"And you couldn't ask me?" asked Darwin.
"Or me? Or Mom? Or Dad?" added Anais, before taking a moment to ponder what she'd said. "Okay, maybe not Dad."
"You mean I could've asked you?" Gumball feigned an act of realization. "How stupid of me!"
"...seriously?" Anais responded with a blank stare.
Looking at the glares his siblings were giving him, Gumball sweated even more, biting his lip. Finally, the glares became too much, and the feline broke. "OKAY, YES, I'M SLACKING OFF ON MY HOMEWORK!"
"What's going on up there!?" shouted Nicole's voice from downstairs, followed by loud footsteps.
Gumball, this time lucky enough to receive a warning, quickly closed the chat window on the screen just before his mother entered.
"What on earth are you shouting about!?" Nicole asked
"Mom, Gumball....." Anais began, intending to explain the truth, only to pause when she looked back at her brother and saw him giving her a pleading look.
"Well..?" Nicole crossed her arms, giving a glare that read "I'm waiting".
Anais looked back at Gumball again, who now had big puppy eyes and his lips trembling, a desperate-looking face that read "Please don't tell. She'll go ballistic".
Sighing, Anais looked back at her mother, whose eyebrow was raised and foot tapping in impatience, and said "Gumball was just yelling out the window that my cuteness would rival that of a puppy".
"Really?" asked Nicole.
"Um, yeah!" replied Gumball. "Just like this!" Walking over to the window, he opened it wide and stuck out his head into the night sky. "YOU HEAR THAT, WORLD!? MY SISTER IS SO ADORABLE SHE MAKES PUPPIES LOOK UGLY!"
Nicole covered her ears but smiled. "Well, while I don't agree with the screaming, that's very sweet of you, Gumball. Just try to keep it down, okay?. Just because it's the weekend doesn't mean the world is going to sleep any later. Alright?"
"Okay, Mom" Gumball nodded.
"Thank you. Let me finish putting away the laundry, and I'll come and tuck you all in." said Nicole. And with that, she left downstairs to finish up the mentioned chore.
Once the door was closed, Gumball looked back at his little sister, who had a cute smile and big sparkly eyes, showing how flattered she was at what he said. "Look, sis, you made me say that. I didn't mean it".
"Really? Are you suuuuure?" squeaked Anais with a soft giggle.
"Shut up!" groaned Gumball, face red as he turned his computer back on.
Anais, still finding what she made Gumball say funny, left for the bathroom. While in the hallway, the humour in Gumball saying something so sweet was quickly replaced by the annoyance of Gumball slacking off and hiding it. Something she'd helped him with. Eventually, however, she brushed it off.
"What's the big deal?" she thought. "Mom will find out sooner or later."
The next morning, in the bathroom...
"So, any plans for the weekend, Gumball?" asked Darwin, his words slightly hindered by the toothbrush he was moving in his mouth.
After rinsing his mouth and spitting into the sink, Gumball answered. "Well, I plan on going to the mall later to hang out with a friend. I mean, friends. Plural. Definitely not just one."
"And who exactly would you be 'hanging around' with, hmm?" asked Anais, finding Gumball's answer suspiciously vague.
"You know...friends...from school. Banana Joe, Leslie, and...uh...oh, Roy. Yeah, Roy," he said with a grin, attempting to close the conversation.
"Roy? You mean Ralph?" asked Darwin.
"Yeah, the cyclops guy."
"His name is Rob." Anais sighed.
"How do you know that?"
"Because, unlike you, I actually bother to pay attention to the people I go to school with. Which is why I also know you've never once paid any attention to him, let alone hung out with him. So who are you really hanging out with?"
"Uh..."
All of a sudden, Darwin smirked. "It's Penny, isn't it! That's why you were talking to her last night."
"Okay, yes, I'm going to hang out with Penny. But it's not a date, okay!"
"You sure?" Anais raised a brow. "'Cause we all know you're totally into her."
Gumball's cheeks went rosy red in embarrassment. "What? No! Of course I'm not! I mean, why would I be into someone as... sweet and beautiful as Penny...." he said softly, starting to mumble random nonsense. The thought of Penny gave him a pudgy-cheeked smile and big sparkling eyes as he mumbled lovestruck gibberish, staring off into space.
"Are you alright, Gumball?" asked Darwin.
"Oh yes, I'm alright, Penny, I can still save you from the evil Simian, I'll do anything to protect you..." he mumbled, obviously trapped in some alternate reality romantic daydream.
Anais and Darwin really couldn't continue this conversation any further, so Anais changed the topic. "Anyway, you look upset Darwin. What's on your mind?".
"I'm just wondering where the scarf I lent Gumball went. He said that he has it and was gonna give it back, but still hasn't done so." replied Darwin.
"When did you last see it?"
"Two days ago, when I lent it to Gumball". He hopped off the stool he was standing on. "Well, I'll be downstairs. Wanna play some Kebab Fighter once you're down Gumball?"
Gumball just kept mumbling in his lovestruck fantasies.
"I'll take that as a yes". And with that, he left the room and headed into the hallway.
Anais, now curious about Darwin's scarf, tugged at Gumball's sweater to garner his attention. "Gumball?"
All she got for an answer was more soft mumbling. So, she put her paws underneath the running tap, caught some water, and splashed it into her big brother's face, waking him from his fantasy,
"AH, IT'S COLD!" screamed Gumball, his fur standing on end, before he noticed Anais staring at him with a blank expression. "Oh, hi Anais." he greeted happily, instantly forgetting about his daydream and that sudden splash of water in his face.
"Gumball, do you really have Darwin's scarf?" Anais asked.
"Oh, uh, y-yes, I do." answered Gumball, giving a smile while chuckling quietly.
Anais was sure her big brother was lying. "...You lost it, didn't you?"
"Uh..." Gumball only stood there in silence, sweating and grinning nervously, until he pointed to the bathtub and shouted "Look, it's right there!"
"Where!?" asked Anais as she darted to the bathtub, looking through it only to find some rubber toys. "What do you mean, there's nothing in here but some old bath to-" She was cut short by the sound of glass breaking and pained screaming. When she walked back into her and her siblings' room, she saw a cracked hole in the window.
Instantly assuming the obvious, her assumption was proven correct when she peeked out the window, seeing Gumball in a pile of broken glass, a pained look on his face as he crawled away in agony.
"You could've just taken the stairs to the living room." she called from the bedroom.
"They do this in movies, and it doesn't hurt them this badly!" cried Gumball in pain. Anais rolled her eyes as she went to the kitchen to get something to treat her brother's stupidity-induced wound.
Sunday, mid-day...
"Don't open your eyes just yet, sis!" said Darwin, guiding Anais, who was covering her eyes, into the living room.
"Okay, what is it?" giggled Anais, knowing that her older siblings were obviously preparing to present her with some kind of surprise.
"Okay, you can open them...now!"" said Gumball. And the moment Anais opened her, they widened and her heart fluttered, all out of a combination of joy and relief.
"Ta-dah!" hollered the two brothers, presenting a stuffed pink and yellow donkey before their little sister.
"Daisy!" gasped Anais happily, grabbing the donkey from the table and hugging it tightly. "I thought I'd never see you again. You were gone for six days. Good thing you didn't end up somewhere like Tina's place again".
"Oh, we are never doing that again." said Gumball. "I'd rather my heart remain beating safely inside my chest, thanks. And besides, Darwin and I have a no-repeat policy on our adventures. Keeps things more interesting."
"Fair enough." Anais shrugged, "Still, I hope Tina's sleeping peacefully with my old Daisy doll."
"I'm sure she is, sis. And she has you to thank for it." Darwin smiled.
"And I guess I should thank you for finding my new Daisy for me. So, uh... thank you. For doing that."
"Oh, it was nothing!" replied Gumball. "It took six days of searching the entire house for her, but it was worth it to see you-". As he leaned against the couch, Gumball was cut off when it fell back and, with it, the cushions. One of them revealed something that shocked Anais.
There, in the couch, was Daisy the Donkey. Her Daisy the Donkey. Her head was severed, and stuffing lay everywhere. The sight horrified Anais, whose eyes widened at the realization that the stuffed donkey she was holding had a brand tag attached to it, making it clear that it was recently purchased from Elmore Shopping.
"DAISY!" she gasped in terror, dropping the newer doll and running over to the sight of what was left of her real one. Caressing the head of Daisy close to hers, she mumbled under her breath, "...You did this". Then, she looked at Gumball, with her face conveying two emotions at the same time; her tears showing the horror at what happened to Daisy, and her lowered eyebrows showing a building rage and the feeling of betrayal.
When they saw their little sister's face, Gumball and Darwin began nervously sweating before the former pointed at Darwin, saying "It was his idea!"
"WHAT!?" gasped Darwin. "You were the one who thought it would be a good idea to try and cut her from a rope to drop her into an RC car for that ramp jump stunt!"
"Well, you were the one who moved your arm and lifted her up as I went to cut it!"
"Because you distracted me!"
"Well...If YOU DIDN'T HIDE THAT STUPID DONKEY IN THE COUCH AND THREW IT IN THE TRASH LIKE I TOLD YOU TO, SHE WOULDN'T HAVE FOUND IT!".
"I THOUGHT I COULD FIX IT THEN SWITCH IT OUT WITH THE NEW ONE WITHOUT HER REALISING!" Darwin counter-argued.
They both stopped when they turned and saw Anais, whose fists were clenched and her teeth gritted, growling in fury at what her brothers, specifically Gumball, had done. Gumball and Darwin nervously chuckled before Gumball said sheepishly "No hard feelings".
In the kitchen, Richard was browsing the fridge for a container of brownies that they were saving for dinner. "Ah! Found ya!" he snickered quietly when he pulled out the box. "My wife could never keep you hidden for long".
Just when he said that, a high-pitched scream of rage exited the living room. He instantly mistook the owner of the voice for Nicole and panicked. "AH! I'M SORRY! I'LL PUT IT BACK!" And after running around the room screaming with his arms flailing, bumping into various cupboards and spilling junk everywhere, he leapt through the back door and hopped away like the rabbit he was.
Shortly afterwards, whilst Gumball and Darwin continued to bicker in the living room over who should go and talk to her, Anais entered the kitchen, Daisy in one hand, whilst the other was clenched. "GRRR, Gumball is so infuriating!" She paced around the room, trying to let out her rage. "His homework, Darwin's scarf, my doll! All it is with him is lies, lies, lies! I'm sick and tired of it!"
"Can he not, for once in his life, just own up and tell me the truth! Tell anyone the truth? Is that seriously so difficult!? It's like he's incapable of doing so!"
Suddenly, she stopped. "But what if... Slowly, a sly, sinister, demonic grin snuck onto her face, very reminiscent of the one she'd used to pull as a baby. "...what if he was incapable of lying instead?"
Finally, Gumball entered the room, having lost rock paper scissors to Darwin and thus having to be the one to go and front his sister. Look, sis, I'm sorry okay. But it's nothing that a little stitching, love and attention can't fix".
"It's not that." Anais turned around and faced Gumball."Well...not entirely."
"Okay, so what is it?" sighed Gumball, knowing he was not walking out of this one.
"What is it? I'll tell you what it is! YOU'RE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL LIAR!" the young rabbit furiously raged at Gumball.
"What?! I'm not a liar!" he argued.
"See, you did it again!" was all. Anais needed to say to counter her brother's claim.
"I'm not a liar."
"Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!"
"Oh come on! You're really using that argument tactic?"
"No, really, you're leaning against the lit stove top. Mom left it on."
And when Gumball looked down at his pants sure enough, front and back, his jeans were lit up. Screaming and panicking, he jumped into the sink, immediately sighing in relief as the water doused the fire. "Now, what were we talking about?" he asked Anais, who just groaned in annoyance and turned the stove off before continuing.
"Gumball, the majority of time, you let dishonesty take the wheel. I can make a pack of trading cards out of how many times you've lied this week alone" said Anais, resuming the conversation.
"Alright, fine. Yes, I lie most of the time." he gave in. "But only because I need to".
"Really? You call 'I can't do my homework because I have to chat with my girlfriend' and 'I hid Daisy the Donkey because I damaged her' necessary to lie about?" Anais rhetorically asked with a raised eyebrow.
"For one, Penny is not my girlfriend! She's just a, uh...regular friend." he said with a small grin. "And second, okay, maybe I lie when I don't need to. But what's the big deal? It's not like I do it the majority of the time".
"The majority of the time? Gumball, like 78% of your lies are only beneficial to you." she retorted.
"So?"
Anais smirked. "So...I don't think you can live without lying".
"What?" Gumball raised an eyebrow before scoffing. "Nah"
"Gumball, why else would you lie so often? It's perfectly clear that you're making your life what it is by hiding the truth all the time!" countered Anais.
"Look, I don't lie to get by!!" argued Gumball. "And I can prove it!"
"Really?" asked Anais, still unconvinced.
"Yeah. I can prove my life isn't reliant on lying!"
Anais turned around and pondered for a few seconds before facing Gumball again. "Alright...how about a challenge?"
"I'm listening." said Gumball, his ears perking up in interest.
"I want you to promise that you won't lie at all, even once, for the whole of next week. From now til this time next Sunday!" began Anais. "You can say the truth and only the truth. Promise?"
"Cross my heart, hope to cry." said Gumball, motioning his paw over his chest doing just that. And at that, he turned to leave.
"Wait, you forgot something!" said Anais, holding her paw out.
"What?" asked Gumball, stopping himself in his tracks.
"It has to be an unbreakable pinky promise," clarified Anais.
"Ugh, really? Isn't a normal promise enough?"
"I want to make sure you really mean it."
Gumball sighed and walked back to his sister, reaching his arm down to his sister and extending his pinky out from his paw, intertwining it with her own. "Pinky promise" he said, his pinky wrapped around his sister's. After breaking the grip, Gumball said "So, are we good now?"
"Yeah, but remember; no lying," said Anais, pressing her finger on Gumball's chest and looking him in the eye.
"Got it" said Gumball, nervously smiling, as he made his way out of the room.
"Phew." Anais sighed in relief once the feline left. "I wasn't sure I'd be able to convince him to agree to it."
Just then, Richard suddenly crashed his head through the wall with a scream, having made an entire circle of the neighborhood which had led him right back to the house again.
"Oh, uh...hi sweetie! I just, uh...went for a walk. Did that uh...health thingy your mother keeps going on to me about." The older bunny nervously explained, trying to avoid telling his daughter the truth in case she snitched to Nicole.
"You mean exercise?" She replied blankly.
"Yeah. that! Wow, am I exhausted! I think I might make myself a sandwich!"
"Well...could you maybe do me a favour first?"
"...Depends." Richard replied as he climbed through the hole his head had made and crossed his arms. "How much effort does it require?"
"Not much." Anais smiled. "I just need you to drop me off somewhere."
Later that night, everyone was asleep in the house.
Nicole was ready for another week of work at the Rainbow Factory.
Richard was eager to claim the couch for the day.
And the kids lay sound asleep in preparation for a long week of school.
Gumball opened an eye and looked at the numbers on the alarm clock.
11:59 PM, the clock read, before it changed to 12:00 AM.
"Pfft, not as if she'll know if I've lied or not..." Gumball muttered to himself quietly with a smirk, obviously showing no interest in keeping his pinky promise with Anais. "In fact, she's probably forgotten about the promise already." He turned around, before closing his eyes to doze off into dreamland...
...unaware he made a big mistake.
Anais, meanwhile, lay awake in the bunk above him, a mixed expression of guilt and fear, as she heard what he'd said.
A small knot began to form in her stomach as, after the many hours that had passed and her finally calming down, the gravity of the situation began to sink in and she too began to realize that she may have made a mistake.
One far worse than Gumball's.