Work Text:
The camera focused on the houses in one of Elmore's neighborhoods, illuminated by streetlights and window lights.
Then the angle zoomed in on a specific house.
The camera shifted to the inside, showing Penny sitting at the dining table, illuminated by the lamp directly above her, while Judith was cooking on the stove.
She was leaning on the table, her head supported by her hand, which was resting on her elbow.
Her eyes had prominent veins, and her expression looked like someone who had just woken up.
Footsteps approached her, and Judith stopped beside her, placing a plate with a mixture of ground beef, rice, beans, and long strips of kale, along with silverware, in front of her.
Penny blinked slowly, without reacting.
Judith snapped her fingers.
This made Penny jump slightly, then she noticed the plate in front of her.
She turned to Judith with a tired smile, "Thank you, Mom."
Judith stepped back a little and placed her hands on her hips with an empathetic expression, "I had to mix the food so it wouldn't spoil," she looked slightly worried, "Are you sure you don't want to go to sleep first?"
Penny picked up her fork and shook her head from side to side, "If I sleep, my stomach will hurt from hunger. And if I eat, I'll get a headache," she took a bite of food and began to chew, "But actually, I'm much hungrier. It must be because of that thing."
She pointed the fork at her mother with a raised eyebrow, "It's amazing that the three of you are okay."
Judith smiled proudly, "Well, these boots aren't just stylish," she lifted one foot, "They also kick."
Penny looked disappointed, "I should have worn some before," she shrugged with a smile, "It probably would have matched the extravagant outfit Gumball was definitely going to wear."
"He certainly was extravagant."
They both looked out of the kitchen.
Patrick appeared in the kitchen, looking at one card at a time in the decent mass of cards.
He stopped between them, looking intently at one of the letters, "Because if this is the material damage you caused...".
She smiled sheepishly.
"I can't imagine what Watterson did for the city."
Penny shrugged, "He wasn't to blame. This time."
Patrick held out his hand to her in a stopping gesture, "I know, I'm not blaming anyone. I'm not like that anymore," he said, placing his hand on his hip and looking away, "But he'll definitely have to deal with people who don't think the same way."
He turned and went on his way, "Now I'm going to call some people and try to reduce Penny's 'sentence' to something more manageable."
Then the doorbell rang.
Patrick continued on his way, "I'm busy."
Judith walked to the door while Penny continued eating.
She opened the door and saw no one, so she looked down.
Gumball was standing in a scout pose, with his blue eyes and ears lowered, "Hello Judith."
They both looked inside when a sound of a chair being dragged across the floor came from the door.
Penny appeared beside Judith with a curious look, "Gumball?"
Judith made a gesture of permission that to her looked like a princess greeting and went back inside.
Penny took up the entire doorway, "What are you doing here? It's very late. And your mother will be furious."
Gumball gestured and wagged his ears frantically, "It's just that, you know, what happened to Elmore has to do with me and Darwin, as always! So I wanted to make sure that Koologne was disposed of properly or if there's still any trace of it around! Haha! 'Trace' is a strange word, because I've never said it before and yet I pronounced it correctly! Pronunciation also fits into this--".
"Gumball," she said with a confused expression.
Her ears perked up, "Ah?", then he widened his eyes, "Yes, yes! I accept, thank you!".
He walked past her calmly.
She looked annoyed and a little worried.
The scene changed, now they were at the dinner table, with her back in her place and him sitting across from her.
He held the pot of food, serving some to her, "So, do you still have any Koologne with you or with someone you know?", he put the spoon down in the pot and picked up another spoon to eat directly from the pot.
She took a portion with her fork, "Not that I know of," and began to chew.
She leaned across the table with a teasing look, "But I'm impressed you're trying to fix this. Especially since you weren't even to blame this time."
Gumball, who had been eating very fast, stopped immediately as if a gun had been pointed at him, "Uh, I know, it was an accident with me and Darwin getting out of control."
He put the pan and spoon aside, clasping his hands and lowering his head, "But even so, I'm involved, so I'm just speeding up the process."
Penny raised an eyebrow, "Process?".
"Eeehhh...".
His cell phone started ringing with a call.
He picked it up and turned to answer, "Hello?".
"Hi Gumball!".
Gumball moved the phone away because the sound was too loud.
He put the phone back to his ear, "Grandpa Frankie, the sound is too loud".
He moved it away again before Frankie could speak.
"What? I don't know how to use this technology. But anyway, those things you asked for--".
Gumball pressed the cancel call button with a startled expression.
He turned to Penny with a nervous smile, "Can we change the subject?".
Penny smiled gently, "Gumball, I'm glad you're owning up to your mistakes," she shifted to a serious expression, "But this isn't one of them. You don't have to take so much responsibility."
Gumball's mouth stretched to the side like a duck's beak, "But there are always consequences," he whispered.
She frowned.
Gumball pointed upwards, "Look, just let me take a look upstairs to see if there aren't any more Koologne and we're done. Simple."
She rested her face in her hand with a distressed expression, "Okay."
Gumball got down from the chair and left. He kissed Penny as he passed her.
She looked confused, "Wouldn't it be better for you to go to other people's houses than to spend more time here snooping around?"
Gumball stopped on the stairs and waved dismissively, "Nah, they're sleeping," he made finger gun gestures with both hands, "And I know you'd never slam the door in my face," he winked at her.
He went back up the stairs.
And she went back to eating her food.
Patrick's upper half appeared in the kitchen, with a landline phone in hand, "I didn't mean to interrupt earlier, but you should know there's a bottle we haven't gotten rid of upstairs yet."
Penny sighed in annoyance.
She stood up.
The scene shifted to upstairs, with Penny arriving from the stairs and looking around.
"Gumball?"
She spotted her parents' bedroom door open.
She walked over and opened the door, "I wonder if he's already found it in the..."
Her eyes widened slowly.
Gumball froze, staring at her in terror as he held a bottle of Koologne about to be used. There was also a cardboard box from the post office that had recently been opened.
Gumball pulled the bottle into a terrified hug.
Penny frowned, "W-what?...", she raised her hands, "But what are you doing?!"
Gumball's expression turned serious, "I-I'm going to use this!"
He looked unimpressed and slapped his own face.
Penny stretched her arms out to him, "How dare you use that again?!"
Gumball raised his voice tensely, "Because it feels good!"
She returned the favor, her expression turning angry, "This thing wreaked havoc in Elmore and you still think it's good?!"
"Yes!! Because it keeps me away from all of this!"
Suddenly, Judith and Patrick burst through the door, worried, "What's happening--".
They looked at the bottle in shock.
Patrick pointed at it with a stern look, "Put that down, boy!"
"NO!!".
Judith smiled empathetically, "Honey, don't you think maybe you're...addicted to this?"
He pointed his finger angrily at her, "I'M NOT ADDICTED!!".
He calmed down and, looking at the bottle with disappointment, "I'm just tired of this. I can't take the consequences anymore."
Patrick threw his arms at him, "What consequences?! You never get arrested because of your age!"
Gumball rolled his eyes with a mocking tone, "Oh sure, Patrick," he turned to him, annoyed, "As if legal problems were all that mattered!"
He looked down sadly, "And the emotional consequences? Of having to deal with people's disapproval?"
The Fitzgeralds calmed down a little.
"I cause problems and even when I'm just involved, I'm always belittled."
He threw his arm away forcefully, "LOOK WHAT I DID TO TOBIAS' PARTY! AND I DIDN'T EVEN TRY!".
He looked away, "Even though that guy really needs a reality check," he looked unimpressed, "But I'm sure some million-dollar outfit cushioned the impact."
He shook his head, "But that's the point! I'm sure everyone at school will look at me disapprovingly tomorrow!".
He looked at the bottle, specifically at his sad reflection, "Be it my family, my friends...".
He growled at the bottle, "THEY THINK I'M UNAWARE OF MY MISTAKES!? DO I NEED TO BE DEVALUED TOO?!".
Judith looked cautious, "It's a bottle, dear."
Gumball's eyes widened.
He squeezed the middle between his eyes.
Penny looked at him with pity, "Why didn't you ever talk about this before?"
"Because it makes no difference at all! I always stay the same!"
He shrugged, "And since I'm lazy, I just don't do anything. As if it didn't matter."
He held the bottle out in front of him with both hands, "BUT THIS! This made me run away from everything!".
He hugged it and rubbed the surface affectionately, "It was so good that I don't want to be without it anymore."
Patrick looked skeptical, "So that's it? You think you'll get away with everything because you used a clearly toxic and addictive perfume?"
Gumball shouted at the top of his lungs with his eyes closed, "YES!! THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING! DIDN'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
"And when it stops working?"
Gumball raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"
Patrick pointed to the bottle, "If you use this all the time, one day your body won't feel the effect anymore."
Gumball's eyes darted from side to side, confused, "I'm going to risk it."
Patrick became more stern, "Are you sure? Because this might stop working and then you'll have nowhere to run."
He opened his arms, "The consequences of all the time you've spent running away will crush you at once."
Gumball looked hesitant for the first time, "Metaphorically or literally?".
Patrick crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, "Do you really want to find out?".
Gumball groaned loudly, "That's going to be a problem for my future self!".
Penny's expression was sincere, "No, Gumball, this is going to be a problem for me."
Gumball's expression was shaken.
"And for all the other people who will be around you. You're going to affect them too."
Gumball tried to open his mouth.
Penny raised her hand in a stop sign, "And don't say you don't need anyone in the future," she was slightly annoyed, "Do you really want to trade the people you love for a flawed moment of relief?"
He looked down with disappointment.
Penny became serious and slowly approached him, "Let's talk more--".
Gumball noticed her approaching and was startled.
This made him let out a cat-like growl, aggressive and furious. His wide-open mouth highlighted his fangs.
This made Penny back away a little, scared. While Patrick and Judith were even more scared.
Gumball stopped abruptly when he noticed their expressions.
He returned to normal, now with a frightened look, "S-sorry, I...".
He shrank even more the longer he looked at them.
He looked at the vial.
And pressed the click hastily.
A small gray smoke appeared around his head, forming a demonic face before dissipating.
The Fitzgeralds looked at him, attentive.
Gumball's eyes were wide, expressionless.
Then a goofy grin full of square teeth appeared, bigger than his head.
He tilted his head back and let out a laugh full of joy, which manifested in yellow "HA's" coming out of his mouth.
Soon after, the room began to fill with various colors that moved non-stop from side to side.
Gumball crouched down and got on all fours, jumping forward.
He landed on the wall, now having become a real cat, but with the classic Disney style.
He jumped from the wall to the ceiling and from the ceiling to the floor.
He jumped onto a headboard and kicked the lamp, the alarm clock, and a picture frame whose photo was not recognizable.
Then he looked at a glass still on the headboard.
He sat down, with a cheeky grin, and hit it with his paw, throwing it to the floor.
He jumped back onto the floor, walking happily.
Then he began to feel discouraged, the colors also stopped moving and became darker.
His head expanded and went back, then expanded backward and became a real cat's head again.
Then his head returned to its true normal shape and he put his hands to his face in pain.
The colors in the room faded as he writhed in pain.
A buzzing sound rose in his ears.
And it grew louder.
And louder.
Then it stopped.
He pulled his hands away from his face, startled.
His eyes were red and the veins were very visible.
He looked at the floor; there was a broken lamp nearby.
He lifted his head.
The room was a mess; some picture frames had fallen to the floor or were leaning against the wall.
The ceiling had the remaining part of the broken lamp, along with some claw marks nearby.
All the items he had thrown on the floor earlier were broken around the headboard.
And then he saw Judith, holding the bottle in her arms.
"That was too fast..."
He quickly stood up and tried to run to her.
But Patrick appeared behind him and caught him in mid-air.
Gumball continued stretching his arms desperately, "That was too fast! I need--".
Patrick continued holding him, "You need to calm down!"
"But! But!--".
He grew more stern, "And what did you say? At some point this wouldn't work anymore!"
"And for your own good, this happened much faster than you thought!" he tightened his grip, "You need to accept it!"
Gumball kept trying to reach the bottle, but he was getting increasingly discouraged.
He soon lost his enthusiasm, his body going limp under Patrick's grip.
Patrick waited a moment, attentive.
Then he carefully put Gumball down on the floor.
Gumball settled himself, his legs on his chest, his head resting on his arms, which were on his knees.
Patrick and Judith looked at him with pity. Then they looked at each other.
And then they looked at Penny.
Her expression was much more shaken than theirs.
They looked at each other again and nodded.
Judith leaned down slightly toward him, "Let's give you some space to breathe, okay?"
Gumball gave a soft groan.
Patrick and Judith left and closed the door.
Penny continued to stare at him anxiously.
"Don't you want to go out too?", came his muffled voice.
There was silence.
Then the sound of a bed shaking.
He lifted his head slightly.
Penny was sitting on the bed, patting the bed beside her with a forced smile, as her expression was heavy.
The scene changed.
Now they were both sitting on the bed, looking ahead with uncomfortable expressions.
"Are you really bothered by this?"
Gumball looked at her.
"With people staring at you?" She didn't look at him.
He looked ahead again, "It's hard not to care when the stares are right above you."
"And you really need to expose yourself so much to that thing, even if it would ruin your life, just to not feel bad about it?"
Gumball shrank back, "Well, I didn't need to. But I wanted to."
"Then why didn't you talk about it?"
Gumball got annoyed, "I already said, it never changes anything."
"I meant..."
Gumball turned to her again. And he was surprised.
Her eyes shone with sadness, "Why didn't you ever talk to me about this?"
Gumball put his hands on his knees and lowered his head.
There was a moment of silence.
"Because I'm an idiot."
Penny seemed to get even sadder.
"Because I prefer to pretend everything is okay instead of talking about it," he snapped angrily, "Or use a toxic product that came from Grandpa Frankie," he squeezed his own head, "FROM GRANDPA FRANKIE!"
He pulled his head back with an irritated groan, "Aaahhh!" he released his head, "What was I thinking?! I just made the wrong decisions in this whole thing!"
He noticed her sad look and calmed down, placing his hands back on his knees, "But it is, because I'm an idiot."
He looked away, "You don't like it when I keep talking nonstop about something stupid when we should be enjoying our time together."
She slammed her hand on the bed with an angry expression, "But this isn't stupid!"
He shrank back with a surprised look.
"This is an important thing! This is something you don't need to worry about talking to me about!"
He perked up one ear, "Are you sure?"
Her gaze softened slightly, "You're an idiot, but you're the idiot I love the most."
He gave a small smile.
She opened her arms with a genuine smile.
They hugged, letting out groans of relief.
Gumball snuggled even closer to her, "Okay, I'll try to talk to you more. Instead of trying to find an escape in some hallucinogenic drug."
She snuggled closer, "That's good."
He smiled comfortably, and so they stayed.
Gumball's body grew softer against Penny.
His smile began to fade.
He sniffled a few times.
Tears welled up around his eyes.
Then he started crying like a baby. But without letting go of Penny.
Penny gently rubbed his head, a relieved smile spreading across her face.
Gumball hugged her tighter.
"It's okay," she said calmly.
##
The bedroom door was opened by Judith, who peeked inside through a crack.
Then she opened the door wider and half-entered.
Penny was stroking Gumball's head, who was sleeping peacefully in her lap.
She gave Judith a strange smile.
Judith finally entered the room and walked to the bed, sitting beside Penny.
She leaned forward, looking intently at Gumball.
He was sleeping with one hand on Penny's legs behind his head and the other hand hanging in the air, his eyes almost closed as if he had fainted.
"Looks like someone let out quite a bit," she frowned, "But why are his eyes open?"
Penny didn't stop stroking him, "I think his eyes are hurting too much to close. Mine still bother me."
Penny's expression weighed down a little, "I didn't know he had things to deal with."
Judith shrugged, "People never want to talk about your problems," she chuckled, "Unless you're the problem."
She tilted her head, "So they jump headfirst into dealing with it the easy way. Running away, lying, or procrastinating."
She looked at her daughter. Her stern expression remained the same.
Judith smiled empathetically, "But I think it's not just that, is it?"
Penny pressed her lips together, "I just wish I could see that, instead of needing something to happen."
Judith put her hands on her hips with a serious expression, "I hope you're not blaming yourself."
She dramatically raised her hands, "I don't—"
They both watched Gumball shift slightly as she removed her hand.
She stroked him again. It calmed him down.
"I just wish I could have done better."
Judith rubbed the back of her head, "I'm just surprised he never let anything slip about it because, honestly, I never know when Gumball is being sincere or just showing his emotions."
Penny raised an eyebrow, confused.
"Gumball is a very expressive boy, but even if he wasn't, knowing that he has a problem isn't going to solve everything."
Judith placed her hand on her shoulder, "The person also needs to want to solve the problem."
"So when someone doesn't want help..." she smiled gently, "The best thing to do is to be there when the person realizes they need help."
Penny hesitated, "Even if he goes through bad things for that to happen?"
"Someone who wants to save themselves will recognize their problem when it becomes evident. We can't help someone who doesn't even want to try."
Penny looked at Gumball, still sleeping soundly.
"Then I'll make him promise he'll talk to me from now on. And make it clear that I'll always be here."
She looked back at Judith. And was surprised.
Judith stared at her with a proud expression.
"I'm happy to see the person you're becoming."
That put an embarrassed smile on her face.
Judith stood up with her hands on her hips and a smile at the end of her shift, "Well, I think you should sleep too. I'll call Nicole and explain that he's going to stay here, it seems."
Patrick's hand appeared in the doorway, "Let me do that, since I still have calls to make. And we don't want Nicole breaking down the walls of the house and waking Polly up”. And the hand disappeared.
Judith turned to Penny, "Can you take care of the rest?"
Penny smiled weakly, "Absolutely."
Judith turned away and went out the door.
Penny stared at the door. Then at Gumball.
"Please, no matter what you think, if you're having problems, talk to me."
She slid her hand from his head to his back.
"I don't want to see you destroying yourself before you finally talk to me."
She placed her other hand around his head.
"I want to be your escape valve."
She bent down.
"Because I love you too much to do nothing every time this happens for the rest of our lives."
She gave him a light kiss on the head.