The Gift: A TAWOG Story

Chapter 10: The Discovery

Gumball woke up to find that the sun had gone down. He was still under the blanket his mother got out for him laying down on the couch. He felt a little better, but knew he still had to stay home from school the next day.

The clock on the cable below the television read 10:26 PM. Gumball could hardly believe how much time flew by, less to say how much sleep he got. He got up off the couch and glanced in his parent's room. Only Richard was in bed, snoring so loud it could be heard from Nevada. He assumed Darwin and Anais were asleep as well, and sure enough, when Gumball cracked his bedroom door open upstairs, they were sound asleep.

Gumball headed back downstairs to the basement to see if his mother was visiting any dreams in the family tonight. He saw a light was turned on downstairs. However, when he reached the bottom, he saw that the space in the middle of the unfinished basement was completely empty; no radio, no candles with the static noise, no purple mat, and no Nicole in sight.

"Mom?" Gumball called, but got no answer. He called again, "Mom?" What he did not realize was that a shadowy figure was lurking in the dark behind him. The figure was trying not to make a sound, tiptoeing and hiding behind the furnace. "Mom?" Suddenly, the figure accidentally knocked over a stepladder leaning against the furnace. It made a hard thud as it hit the floor, which made Gumball jump. His heart now racing, he slowly paced towards the source of the noise. "H-hello?" He went around the furnace to see his mother in sweatpants and a sports bra crouched down behind it. "M-mom?"

Nicole realized she was trapped, so she turned around. The second she did, Gumball screamed. His mother's eyes were yellow with constricted pupils, just like in the supermarket when she was pushed over her limit.

"Aaahhh!!!" Gumball screamed.

"No!" Nicole shouted and tried desperately to shush him.

"I got to get out of here!" Gumball yelled and tried to make a run for it. His mother immediately grabbed him and his panicking skyrocketed.

"Gumball, it's okay! It's me!" Nicole pleaded, but Gumball continued to panic.

"Help! Mom's been pushed over her limit!" he shouted up the stairs.

"No, I haven't!" Nicole assured. "I'm not angry at all! I'm perfectly fine!"

"You're gonna go after Dad! You're after all of us!" He then faced back to the stairs. "Dad!! Darwin!! Anais!!"

"SHHHHH!!" Nicole covered Gumball's mouth with both of her hands. "Calm down, sweetheart! It's me." She then rubbed her son's cheek, assuring him she was calm. Within a moment, Gumball did calm down. He gazed into his mother's yellow eyes, yet her facial expression was one of filled with innocence and sympathy.

"M-mom?" Gumball said with a stutter. Nicole nodded, reassuring her son it was really her. "Your... your eyes! I thought you were pushed over your limit!"

"Nope," said Nicole. "I'm about as calm as a sloth. I'm sorry if I look really scary though."

"You look possessed," Gumball said out of fear.

"I do, don't I?" replied Nicole. "This face is what traumatized you in the supermarket, wasn't it?"

"Not to mention what you did!" said Gumball, still shaking in fear. "I mean, you can age people and melt stuff with your eyes!"

"You mean like this?" Nicole said. She then revealed a little toy plastic ball that Gumball had not played with in years. As Nicole stared at it, Gumball watched her eyes turn orange and glow, and then melt the ball. He panted heavily upon witnessing this and sunk to the floor against the wall. "Don't freak out!" Nicole quickly pleaded, her eyes turning yellow again. "Don't be scared, Gumball. You know why you shouldn't be scared?"