Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

What happened last time:

After his latest plan to save Elmore failed, Rob was falling into the Void again as it seemingly began to suck the town in.

He made himself a human disguise and tried to turn everyone else into one as well, starting with Elmore Junior High. But of course, it was Gumball and Darwin who ruined everything again.

After Tina knocked him unconscious and he only woke up in the middle of the night, it seemed like the show had ended. The Void worked its magic and started to spread in the hallways of the school. Rob was trying to hang on, but he fell inside and landed back where he was all those months ago.

This is it, he thought. I failed.

As he landed on the ground and slowly dusted himself off as he stood up, he was greeted with a voice he would rather never have heard again.

"So, we meet again. Guess your plans didn't work out like you thought they would, did they?", The Void mocked him.

Rob looked down in frustration, knowing that it's too late now.

"You won. So this is it, huh? You're going to suck all of Elmore inside here and then have your stupid movie?", Rob asked.

"Actually, there has been a change of plans.", The Void answered, as Rob lifted his head in confusion and curiosity.

...

And now it continues:

...

"A change of plans? What do you mean? Will there be a movie or not!?", Rob asked in frustration.

"Yes. And No.", The Void answered.

"Okay, just because you're a mysterious concept doesn't mean you have to give such cryptic answers all the time. That doesn't make you cooler just so you know.", Rob reprimanded the entity while crossing his arms.

"Alright, allow me to explain. We still want to do the movie with everyone in the Void but we can't do that right now.", the static world started.

Rob raised his eyebrows... ahem, single eyebrow... as it continued talking.

"The show has grown more powerful than expected. Sucking the whole thing here in one go won't work anymore at this point.", it admitted.

"So the town will survive?", Rob asked hopefully.

"HA! In your face!" he taunted with a smug smile. "Or whatever the thing is your voice comes out of I suppose."

"Not so fast. I said I can't do it as things are right now. Not that it's impossible in general. I still brought you here again. Why do you think I did that?", The Void asked.

Rob stopped for a moment, wondering what its plan was then. Although he couldn't think of anything he didn't like the implication, knowing that the whole plot of him becoming a villain was only because of this thing so it's clearly very scheming and plans ahead.

"I'm still going to suck Elmore in. But I'll have to weaken it first. But for that I need time. And I can't risk someone like you running around and talking about or predicting the end of the world there. That'll just be further trouble if anyone else finds out too early.", The Void explained.

"And why did you send me back there last time in the first place then!? You know I wanted to tell everyone and find a way to stop it!", Rob wondered.

"Because that side-plot made some more nice episodes for the show as long as you wouldn't succeed. But now, the show is finished, meaning you have no reason to continue living amongst them except to be a liability for my plans."

"So what? I'm going to be here alone with you again until your plan is complete and you weakened Elmore enough?", Rob asked sarcastically, although that was exactly what it had planned.

"Yes. Don't worry, I'll keep you entertained. I must admit, it's nice having someone to talk to in the meantime.", The Void admitted.

"The feeling is not mutual. I can tell you that much.", Rob grunted.

"Alright, I'll bite. How are you going to weaken Elmore?", he asked.

"Easy, I'm going to unleash someone on it who has the power to damage it beyond repair.", The Void calmly stated.

That statement got Rob to laugh.

"Oh, that was a good one.", he chuckled.

"I'm not sure if you ever noticed but this freaking town is indestructible! Any damage to it, no matter how severe, is repaired over the course of 11 minutes."

"Ah, yeah. A side effect of the show. But those aren't going to be working anymore. Plot Armor is officially off I'm afraid." The Void answered, full well knowing what that would eventually result in.

"Okay, not sure what that means but even then, individuals like Gumball cause havoc almost every day and we got used to it. So who is supposed to be so powerful that they can make a difference?", Rob asked, not believing that anyone could be significantly worse than what the town has already experienced in the past.

"Child, if you think Gumball is the epitome of destruction you have seen nothing yet.", The Void answered condescendingly.

"Especially considering this specific individual has some unfinished business with the Wattersons. And I don't think he will tread lightly there.

The only thing he still needs is a host to provide a body. And luckily I still haven't made use of one of my biggest trump cards yet.", The Void finished while a recording of Darwin opened in the static sky.

"Darwin?", Rob asked, almost wanting to laugh again.

"What is he supposed to do? He's clearly the harmless one and usually only a part of the chaos because of Gumball."

"So it would seem from a distance. And maybe even within. But there's more to him. His origin.", The Void explained.

"Alright, I'm getting pretty sick of your cryptic nonsense. Why is he your chosen one host for destruction?", Rob asked impatiently.

"I don't want to ruin every surprise or else you'll have no reason to be excited for what comes next.", The Void addressed Rob and maybe the reader too.

"Let's just put it this way: Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. And there's a reason why Darwin ended up where he did.", The Void teased.

...

About a half a day later it was calm in the Watterson residence as Anais was having a tea party with Daisy the Donkey in her room, which she mostly used for stuff like this.

Suddenly, Darwin walked inside.

"Hey, Anais. Are you doing anything fun?", he asked.

"Well, that depends on your definition of fun. I am, but I'm not sure you would enjoy it too much.", she answered, while filling Daisy's cup with some imaginary tea.

"Better than nothing. I'm bored right now.", Darwin replied before walking over and sitting aside from her on the floor.

"I take it Gumball is still busy with his anniversary for him and Penny?", Anais concluded.

"Yeah, can't believe it's already been one year since they got together now. Especially since none of us aged a single day in that time.", Darwin explained, still being confused about how that even worked.

"I can see that, but I know you well enough to see there's something else bothering you.", Anais theorized with a curious look.

"It's just... I know it's stupid. Forget about it.", Darwin quickly brushed it off.

"Come on, you can tell me. You know I won't judge you for being stupid. I'm used to it.", Anais reassured him while placing her hand on his fin and being both sincere and a little joking.

"Ouch.", Darwin replied jokingly himself before taking a deep breath and opening up.

"I know I shouldn't be jealous of their relationship anymore, especially since I have one myself now and Gumball more than reassured me that we would still be the same.

And I know he's focusing his time on her now so everything is perfect for their anniversary, but...", he trailed off.

"But what?", Anais asked in a worried tone.

"But I just can't help it! It's like there's this voice in the back of my head that gives me bad thoughts about him really abandoning me for her. And I know it makes no logical sense, but it's there anyway! It's like there's this part of me that is a different person and wants me to think negatively and I don't know what to do about it!", Darwin ranted.

Anais saw how much this was getting to Darwin. She wasn't the best at these pep talks since she's better at being rational than emotional but maybe with her own reasoning, she could get him to see that he's just worrying too much.

"Darwin, it's alright. This is a feeling not a thought. And feelings aren't logical, they're emotional. So it would only make sense that you feel this way with how much you care about your bond with Gumball. Even if your brain knows deep down that it will never happen.", Anais explained in an attempt to reassure him.

Darwin wiped a tear off his face before facing her.

"Y-You really think so? It's not my fault?", he asked hopefully.

"Not one bit. Besides, it's only temporary. Once their anniversary is over, he'll spend more than enough time with you again. Just remember that you always have people who love you and who you can open up to if you ever feel like this.", Anais finished.

After taking her words in for a second, Darwin reached over to hug her.

"Thanks, sis. I needed to hear that. You're the best!"

"And don't you forget it!", Anais responded while hugging him back.

Darwin trusted Anais. Both as his sister and someone who is smart enough to know what she's talking about, so he was glad that she thought it wasn't a problem.

Especially since he often felt like this whenever it seemed like a loved one was neglecting him. Something that fills his head with negative things. It was what pushed him to be so cruel to Penny back when she and Gumball started dating.

After everything was sorted out though, he felt awful about it and didn't understand how he could've pushed things so far. That was completely unlike him.

As nice as Darwin usually was, it was like this part of him wasn't in sync with the rest of his personality and sometimes brought out the worst in him. Suggesting stuff such as kidnapping Tobias' mother to force him to give their game back or to basically enslave Elmore to ensure its safety.

But there was usually always someone who got him to realize that this wasn't the way to do things. Whether it was Gumball or somebody else.

It scared Darwin sometimes, but he supposed it wasn't a big deal. Nobody is perfect, right? Everyone has a dark side to some degree. But as long as you don't let it take control of yourself, everything is fine.

"Mom is also busy with preparing this special dinner for her and Dad.", Anais suddenly commented.

"Really? But their anniversary has just been a few months ago. And there's no way they forgot that again after what happened last time.", Darwin responded.

"Nah, she just wanted to take advantage of finally having saved enough money for them to eat at the fanciest restaurant in town for once before some event of destruction will take it out of her pocket.

Right now she would be especially angry if that got messed up by some disaster somehow. So better be careful.", Anais warned.

"Hey, you should tell Gumball that! Not me.", Darwin argued.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just saying.", Anais chuckled.

As silence settled in for a few moments, Darwin's gaze wandered over to Daisy for a moment.

"So, you have no problem with Daisy... considering what happened?", he asked uneasily.

"Not really. It wasn't Daisy that was the problem but this evil tyrant. And he's gone now. Far away from us without ever coming back.", Anais casually answered.

"Yeah but... isn't it really creepy in hindsight? That he was in there the entire time while you thought it was just a normal doll? Listening, learning, scheming-"

"I'M TRYING NOT TO THINK ABOUT THAT, OKAY!?", Anais suddenly jumped up, scaring Darwin.

"Sorry, sorry! I was just... worried about you, you know?", Darwin tried to ease the tension.

"*sigh* Yeah, I know. Sorry for lashing out at you.", Anais apologized.

"Nah, it's alright. I shouldn't have brought it up. Let's just change the topic, maybe?", the fish offered.

"Good idea.", Anais agreed. "So, anything weird that happened in school today after that whole um- thing yesterday?"

"Not really. No sight of Rob today. I guess he gave up on his weird plan after Tina beat him to a pulp.", Darwin concluded.

"Oh, is that what the deep hole in the hallway was from?", Anais asked, remembering how she saw a big, bottomless hole randomly being in the middle of the hallways at school today that everyone noticed and walked around without understanding where it came from.

"Not sure. It was exactly at the point where Tina pounded Rob into the ground, but there was no hole afterwards. Unless she came back later and finished the job even more thoroughly. Who knows?

But Rob left us alone today. He usually doesn't do two schemes in two days. He fails once and then he comes back with something new a few weeks later.", Darwin explained.

"I can't believe I still haven't met him. Why is it always that Gumball and you are involved whenever he is causing trouble and never me?", Anais asked in frustration.

"Honestly, might be better this way.", Darwin added with a concerned look.

"Some of the stuff he has done wasn't exactly harmless. I wouldn't want you to be involved there."

"That's exactly why I should be there! What if he ever does something to Gumball or you and I can't help it!?", she wondered.

Darwin shook his head for a second in amusement before answering.

"Anais, it's not your job to worry about us. We're your big brothers. We have to keep you safe, not the other way around.", he said while leaning forward.

"But you know I can help! I also saved you before-", she began but Darwin cut her off.

"I know you can but that doesn't mean you should. You're already helping us enough otherwise and shouldn't bother yourself with everything. Gumball and I can handle ourselves.", he reassured her.

"I know. But if there ever is anything you need me for-"

"Then you will find out first. Now let's relax a little, sis. Enough talk about dangerous stuff. Let's just enjoy the day.", Darwin advised with a carefreeness Anais wished she had sometimes.

"Alright. Let's do that.", she agreed before her conversation with her adopted brother shifted to lighter topics.

What neither of them knew is that their conversation was watched by someone.

Someone from a different reality who had access to what they were doing without being physically there, so they had no chance of seeing them.

"With that I already have everything I need. Enjoy the day with your loving family, Darwin Watterson.

For it will be your last opportunity to do that. Starting tomorrow, I'll rewrite everything."

Chapter Text

On the next day, nothing unusual happened at first.

Darwin got up after he enjoyed a peaceful night in his fishbowl, had breakfast with his family and went to school with his brother and sister.

Cue multiple lessons with Miss Simian where the boredom that was inviting to take a nap battled with the knowledge that should she catch anyone doing that, it would rain weeks of detention.

But this was standard procedure. After getting through most of the day and returning from lunch break where Gumball once again sat with Penny, Darwin finally found his brother alone for once as he was organizing his locker.

Gumball was frantically looking around every few seconds to make sure nobody caught him in whatever he was doing.

So he was obviously startled and immediately jumped back when he was just busy inside it as a voice suddenly came up.

"What are you doing?", Darwin asked from behind.

Gumball immediately closed his locker in panic before turning around and seeing the person who the voice belonged to.

"Oh, Darwin. It's just you. Don't scare me like that!"

"Geez, sorry.", Darwin answered while raising his fins in defense.

"Why are you panicking like this anyway? Trying to hide your unfinished homework from Miss Simian again?"

"No. Well, that too but that's not what I'm trying to hide.", Gumball looked around before leaning closer towards his brother.

"I don't want Penny to see what I prepared for our one year-anniversary.", he whispered to his brother in excitement.

"Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense.", Darwin acknowledged with some forced excitement.

"So what is it this time?"

"It's awesome. I created a scrapbook filled with pictures that show all our greatest moments together in the last year.", Gumball proudly explained.

"But then I realized that I don't have enough so I made drawings of moments that I didn't have any pictures of. Sarah has been helping me with a few of them and it's getting along pretty nicely."

"Well, that sounds pretty nice but...", Darwin started awkwardly.

"But what?", Gumball wondered.

"Isn't that, and I really don't mean that in an offensive way, kind of a step back from the usual big gestures you're doing for her?", Darwin asked, trying to get his point across without worrying Gumball even more considering how easily he could get worked up if he thought he wasn't doing something perfectly in his relationship with Penny.

"Yeah, that's what I normally would've done. But since those grand gestures didn't always work out too well and Penny also asked me to tone it down a little, I thought I'd try something more grounded this time, you know?", Gumball explained.

"Oh yeah, good call.", Darwin answered, being surprised that Gumball actually took her advice instead of going all overboard again.

"I hope she'll like it. Do you think she'll like it!?", Gumball asked while shaking Darwin, still needing some reassurance.

"Hey, don't worry, I think with something as simple as a scrapbook you can't really cause any chaos and Penny will appreciate it either way."

"*Sigh*. Thanks, buddy.", Gumball happily responded in relief. "I would show you what I already have but I don't wanna risk her coming around the corner and seeing it.

I'll show you later. Or you can look at it yourself if you want. You have my combination after all."

"Sure, so... when you two have everything wrapped up tomorrow, you think we could do something together after that?", Darwin asked carefully, hoping he didn't sound too overbearing.

"We haven't really hung out much since you were busy with this anniversary thing.", the fish finished while looking down.

"Hey, don't worry, buddy.", Gumball said while pulling his brother in a hug.

"I told you, didn't I? Nothing could ever come between us. Yeah, I've been pretty busy with making sure the anniversary will be perfect but I'll make up for it when everything is done and spend some extra time with you."

"P-Promise?", Darwin asked.

"Promise."

"Thanks, Gumball.", Darwin replied while reciprocating the hug, feeling better after hearing it again from Gumball himself.

And as the bell rang, they broke the embrace and went back to class together.

...

Some time after school, Darwin entered Anais' room where she was just finishing her homework.

"Hey, Darwin. What's up?", she asked.

"Hey, Anais. I just wanted to thank you again for our talk yesterday.

I spoke with Gumball about it and he reassured me that we're going to spend more than enough time together after his anniversary with Penny, so I'm feeling a lot better now.", the fish happily explained.

"That's great. Told you there was nothing for you to worry about.", Anais answered while putting the finishing touches on her homework before setting her pen down.

"And... done. *Sigh* Now I really need something to drink.", she said before jumping out of her chair and running downstairs past her brother.

Darwin was about to follow her, but just after she ran out of the room he heard something from behind that sounded like a storm coming inside the room.

Turning around, he got shocked when he saw some sort of static void that resembled a broken TV ripping itself inside the room from mid-air.

Darwin was just about to run outside and scream when the next surprise came.

The static hole sucked Daisy the Donkey, who was seated on the bed of his little sister, towards itself.

Darwin quickly ran up to retrieve it before it could get sucked in, knowing how much Anais loved that doll.

As it was just in front of the hole though, the hole stopped sucking Daisy in and seemingly held it in the air, confusing Darwin even more.

After that, a scissors suddenly got send through the hole and stopped in the air as well, just in front of Daisy the Donkey.

Seeming like it got controlled telekinetically, the blades of the scissors widened and it began cutting straight through the doll, cutting off limbs, tearing inside the fabric on the chest and separating the head.

After the work was done, another surge of wind sent the scissors towards Darwin, who quickly held out his fins to protect himself, only for the scissors to perfectly land inside them as if that was the wind's intention all along.

Just as quickly as it appeared, the hole closed again and left the room completely along with the wind, showing no trace of having been there just a moment before.

Darwin stood in shock about what just happened when footsteps and a voice echoed behind him.

"Hey, Darwin. Why are you still standing ther-", Anais couldn't finish her sentence as she stepped inside and took in the scene in front of her.

Darwin was standing in the middle of the room with a pair of scissors in his hands, while her beloved Daisy the Donkey lay all over the ground around him, being completely cut to pieces.

"NO! DAISY!", Anais cried, immediately kneeling to the ground where the doll was lying while retrieving some bits.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?", Anais asked furiously with tears in her eyes while glaring at Darwin.

Seeing his sister's cries was finally enough to get him out of his trance as Darwin looked at the scissors in his hands and how the situation looked so he quickly threw it away and tried explaining himself.

"No no, wait! I can explain! It wasn't me!", Darwin started frantically.

"YES, IT WAS! YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE HERE AND JUST HELD THE PROOF IN YOUR DIRTY FINS!", Anais yelled.

Darwin felt a lump in his throat as he saw Anais crying over Daisy and heard her accusation.

"No, you don't understand! There suddenly was this static hole inside the room and it sucked Daisy towards it and then began to cut her and then it pushed the scissors towards me and vanished right before you came.", Darwin hastily explained, not noticing how crazy he sounded to anyone who didn't just saw what happened.

Anais looked at him like he just grew a second head before answering.

"That's your excuse!? That's the worst lie I ever heard! Do you think I'm a total idiot or what!?", Anais screamed, now feeling offended on top of being hurt.

That got Darwin to notice too how awful his story sounded, but he didn't know what else to say but the truth.

"No, please! I-I know it sounds crazy but... it's true! You have to believe me! You know I would never do something this cruel to you!", Darwin tried once again.

"Oh, I think you would!", Anais answered with venom in her voice.

"What!?", Darwin wondered, feeling hurt that she would actually believe that.

"You had it out for Daisy since that Pfahlius thing! You even admitted during our talk yesterday how uncomfortable you were with her. You were just waiting to do that this whole time!", Anais accused him in her rage.

"No- I mean yes, I was a bit uncomfortable with it. But I would never do that to you!", Darwin said, remembering how he said that but hoping he could convince her.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT BEHIND MY BACK AND THEN LIE TO ME ABOUT IT! I THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER THAN THAT! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!", Anais further lashed out.

"Anais, please-", Darwin leaned forward, now having tears in his eyes as well, wanting to hug his sister to comfort her, but she quickly slapped his fins away.

"DON'T TOUCH ME YOU DISGUSTING FREAK! I HATE YOU! I CAN'T BELIEVE I EVER SAW YOU AS MY FAVOURITE BROTHER! GET OUT, I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!", Anais finished.

Darwin felt more tears welling up in his eyes at hearing his sister say these things to him, but he could see that trying to reason with her wouldn't work right now and just make it even worse, so he followed her wishes and walked out of her room while tears were streaming down his own face.

He was feeling really sorry for Anais, he really wanted to comfort her about it and try to fix it somehow but she wouldn't let him and the worst part was, she had good reason to assume he was guilty.

Thinking about that got Darwin to question the whole situation at all. What was this static hole thing? Why did it suddenly appear and vanish just to destroy Daisy? And why did it so in a way that seemed like it was trying to make him seem responsible for it on purpose?

Darwin couldn't think straight with so many things going through his head all at once. He decided to take a nap in his room, knowing that Gumball was out with Penny right now and Anais didn't want to see him at the moment.

He stepped inside his fishbowl and closed his eyes, hoping some sleep could get him to clear his head and maybe think of a way to fix this whole situation.

...

As soon as he opened his eyes again he suddenly woke up floating inside a dark, seemingly endless area with no doors, walls or any other objects.

Darwin thought he was all alone inside until he heard a voice behind him.

"Rough day, huh?", it said in a mocking tone before Darwin moved around to face the voice.

What he saw was another version of himself that looked exactly like Darwin but his gaze was more sinister, almost evil.

"Oh, come on. You again?", The real Darwin asked in an annoyed tone, not being pleased about meeting the other him again.

"Yes, me. You don't seem very pleased to meet me again.", Nightmare Darwin commented in a playfully offended tone.

"Why should I be? You only ever appear when I'm at my lowest and try to put bad thoughts into my head.", Darwin answered, hoping that he wakes up and can finish this conversation as quickly as possible.

"Well, if you would listen more to my advice more you wouldn't hit these low points in the first place, would you?

No people taking advantage of your kindness. Nobody treating you like a pet. But you decide to hold yourself down.", Nightmare Darwin explained.

"Stop being such a doormat and give everyone a taste of their own medicine! No more Mr. Nice Guy.", The nightmare version finished with a smile, clearly referencing Darwin when he said that himself.

"What? No! Nobody is treating me like that! At least not on purpose! And that's not me! I'm nice. I want to be nice!", Darwin pushed back.

"Yet you struggled with it quite often, didn't you? Like when you wanted to break up your brother and Penny. Or when you went crazy in your jealousy of Fuzzy. Or when you kidnapped Tobias' mom. The list goes on and on.", Nightmare Darwin answered with a smile.

"So what!? I'm not perfect. But I saw my mistakes and tried to make up for them every time. The only reason I'm ever acting like that is my stupid head giving me bad ideas when I just feel like lashing out.", Darwin began before realizing something.

"Wait a moment, that's it!", Darwin proudly declared, feeling like he just had a breakthrough.

"You- You're just a manifestation of those ideas! You're a collection of bad thoughts that always turns up when I'm having a bad day. And to remain a good person I simply need to ignore you.", Darwin convinced himself.

"That would be nice, wouldn't it?", Nightmare Darwin asked before grabbing his counterpart and holding him in front of his face.

"But I'm more than that. I'm a part of you. Something that's inside of you and that wants to escape. Something whose calls you can't ignore forever! YOU WILL SET ME FREE IN TIME, WHETHER YOU WANT TO OR NOT!", he said, growing louder and more aggressive with every sentence.

"Leave me alone!", Darwin called out before raising his fin to punch his counterpart. The moment it should have connected, Nightmare Darwin vanished into dust and he was alone again.

After that, Darwin woke up in a slight panic. Not the first time he had to deal with this unwelcome visitor, but that didn't make it any less uncomfortable.

Especially since he always felt like it was better to keep it to himself and just swallow it down to not worry anyone. After all, it worked every time and didn't happen that often so it's nothing that's worth freaking out over.

Chapter Text

After waking up, Darwin took a moment to compose himself from the weird nightmare before moving out of his bowl and noticing through the window that it's gotten darker.

His nap seemed to have taken longer than expected and it was evening already.

"Oh, Darwin. You're awake.", a voice spoke from the door of their bedroom.

Darwin turned around and saw his brother, who seemingly got home earlier, standing in the doorway.

"Hey Gumball. Yeah, just... took a nap to clear my head. Took a bit longer than expected.", he sheepishly admitted.

"Are you alright now? I was worried about you.", Gumball said while moving closer to Darwin and inspecting him.

"Why didn't you just wake me up then?", Darwin wondered.

"Oh, you looked so peaceful in there that I didn't want to ruin the moment. And I usually hate when someone wakes me up like that."

"Makes sense.", Darwin chuckled. "But why were you worried about me?"

"Because of what Anais told me about you destroying her Daisy. You didn't seriously do that, did you?", Gumball asked in a concerned tone.

"No, of course not! I would never do something like that to her.", Darwin tried to convince his brother, hoping at least he believed him.

"I know you wouldn't. But Anais was stubborn and insisted that she saw you with a bunch of scissors just after committing the act and said something about you giving her a bad excuse about some static hole that did it? It was really weird.", Gumball recalled what Anais told him earlier.

"Yeah, you can say that out loud.", Darwin answered in frustration.

"I wish I could explain it myself in a way that sounds believable, but don't blame Anais for thinking it was me. It really looked like it. How is she doing?", Darwin changed the topic, hoping that at least she was doing better right now.

"I tried to comfort her but she's still pretty worked up. She's trying to see if she can fix the damage and sew Daisy back together but she's still angry at you.", Gumball explained guiltily.

"*Sigh* I'm sorry, Dar. I really tried to convince her that it couldn't have been you, but she didn't want to hear it."

"Aww, it's alright. That's not your fault. I'll just give her some space for now. Just thanks for trying... and for believing me of course.", Darwin answered sympathetically, glad that he at least still had his brother on his side.

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, Mom and Dad are out for their special dinner so we need to make our own food today. Are you coming downstairs?", Gumball asked while moving towards the door.

"Yeah, just give me a minute.", Darwin answered before grabbing his phone at the desk, where he just wanted to check for new notifications he may have gotten.

As soon as he unlocked it though, he didn't see his usual background screen on the phone but a picture of a static void. The same place that appeared in Anais' room earlier and was responsible for what happened to Daisy.

Before Darwin could question what was going on now, the void suddenly broke out of his phone and got many times bigger than it was just on the small screen. It began sucking Darwin inside, who tried to hold on to the floor in panic.

"GUMBALL, HELP!", he screamed out.

Before he could get any further though, the hole sucked something else out from under the bed.

A set of unused fireworks that Gumball and Darwin got back when the former was organizing a treasure hunt for Penny and finishing it up with a bunch of them back during the emoji incident, some of which they didn't got to use back then.

The set hit Darwin in the face and got him to lose his grip on the ground as both he and the fireworks got sent through the static hole just before it closed again.

...

Meanwhile, Nicole and Richard were enjoying a romantic dinner at Chez Larry, the fanciest restaurant in town where they booked the best table they had.

"Nicole, everything on here is so expensive.", Richard whispered over to his wife while looking over the menu.

"But it also looks SO good and I'm not sure I can hold myself back from making us bankrupt with my order if I stare at it any longer."

"Don't worry about it, Richard.", Nicole reassured him with a smile.

"The whole point of this dinner is for us to enjoy what we normally couldn't. I saved more than enough for it so order whatever you want. This is a one-time opportunity."

"Besides...", Nicole smirked while looking over at Felicity who sat in another area of the restaurant and looked at them with a mix of envy and disapproval.

"I like that arrogant snob who thinks she's something better looking at us sitting at a better table than her."

Suddenly a static portal opened inside a corner of the restaurant close to the entrance door but at a spot where it was well-hidden from the customers.

Darwin and the set of fireworks were sent through it before the portal closed again.

Darwin fell to the ground while most of the fireworks suddenly activated and spread around everywhere in the restaurant, except for a select few which fell to the ground right beside him.

Everyone, including Nicole and Richard, started to panic as one moment they were all sitting calmly, talking or eating food and suddenly there were explosions everywhere around them.

Some customers pushed over their tables and hid behind them while others crawled under them, hoping not to get caught in the literal crossfire.

After about 20 seconds, the horror show was over and everyone was slowly getting up while still being apprehensive.

Luckily, nobody got injured but the entire restaurant was a mess. Windows were destroyed, walls were burnt-up and even the kitchen got completely destroyed.

"What in the world just happened!?", Nicole furiously asked.

"Hey!", a customer suddenly spoke up. "It was that kid over there!", he said while pointing at Darwin.

All eyes went over to the fish, who just got up himself after composing himself from the shock, while a few more fireworks were lying on the ground beside him.

Nicole in particular couldn't believe what she saw as she stepped over towards her adopted son with loud steps while her expression was one of pure fury. One that scared not just Darwin but everyone who was looking at her in the moment.

"DARWIN RAGLAN CASPIAN AHAB POSEIDON NICODEMUS WATTERSON THE THIRD!"

Darwin knew that if Nicole called one of her kids by their full name, they were in trouble. But if she called someone with a name that long by their full name, it was a death sentence.

"N-No wait, Mrs. Mom. I didn't-", he tried to quickly defend himself but it was useless.

"SILENCE!", she screamed with such anger that a shockwave emitted from her voice, sending Darwin back to the ground, where he could only stare up at her, feeling helpless and frightened.

"I don't even know where to start! Why are you here, why did you decide to bring fireworks with you and why did you send them sprawling over the entire restaurant!?"

Darwin wanted to answer but could only whimper in fear, too frightened to say another word.

"You knew your father and I were having dinner here, you knew how important this was for us and not only have you decided to ruin it but also to get EVERYONE IN HERE IN DANGER! WAS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE SOME KIND OF PRANK THAT YOU THOUGHT WAS FUN!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?

I would never even have expected Gumball to do something this reckless, let alone you. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF, YOUNG MAN!?"

Darwin didn't know what to say, being scared of his mother's wrath right now. And knowing her when she was really angry at someone, everything that he could say right now would potentially only make it worse.

So he looked over at his Dad who was standing behind her, also looking apprehensive to say something but at the same time worried for Darwin.

Thinking he had better chances to convince his father, Darwin tried his luck with him.

"Mr. Dad, please! You know I wouldn't do something like this, right?", he asked with tears in his eyes.

"Well... those fireworks DO look like the ones that Gumball still had under his bed.", Richard answered while rubbing his head.

"EXACTLY! HOW ARE YOU EXPLAINING THAT!? I HAVE FORBIDDEN YOU TO EVER USE THEM AGAIN AND NOW YOU DO THIS!?", Nicole butted in.

"Oh, I don't know what to believe! I was so excited for this dinner and now it's ruined!", Richard answered before he started to cry in his hands.

"WELL DONE! You made your father cry! I hope it was worth it!", Nicole yelled at Darwin.

"No, you don't understand. There was this... um-", Darwin started, hoping to convince her but how would he explain what just happened in a way that she would believe him, especially in her current furious state?

If he told the truth it would just sound like a really bad lie. If he wasn't there for it he wouldn't believe it either. Anais surely didn't. So why would they?

"Don't even have anything to say for yourself, huh?", Nicole asked after seeing his hesitation.

"Um, excuse me Mrs. Watterson?"

"WHAT!?", Nicole asked while turning towards Larry who flinched in fear.

"Um, s-since it was your son who is responsible for the destruction of the restaurant I'm afraid I have to demand for you and your husband to pay for the damage.", Larry quickly said before covering his face, fearing her response.

Nicole's answer didn't come immediately as she had to take the situation in first. All the money for this fancy dinner she worked so hard for so that Richard and her could afford it.

It was all for nothing. All of that and more would be gone to pay for the immense damage that Darwin had just caused.

"Hah, I always knew you were a terrible mother and the actions of your kids just prove it.", Felicity stated from behind, looking smug but also angry about the incident that just ruined her own evening.

Nicole's eye flinched and before the desire to rip that snob's head off could overcome her she turned towards Darwin.

"All of this will come out of your allowance. No more for you until it's all paid up.", she calmly explained with an unsettling smile that scared Darwin even more.

"When we get home you'll get up to your room and stay there since you'll be grounded for the next three months. No TV, no phone, no video games, no internet and no dating Carrie or hanging out with your friends.

You won't leave the house aside from when you go to school. You'll do your homework, learn for your subjects and that's it. Oh and don't worry, you'll get to do all the chores inside the house to not get bored in the meantime."

"WHAT!?", Darwin exclaimed in shock. "N-No, please..."

Nicole stomped her foot. "I don't want to hear it! Your father and I still have to talk with Larry about the payment so do me a favor and get out of my eyes already. Wait inside the car and don't mess up anything else!"

Defeated, Darwin stepped away not wanting to make the situation even worse.

...

Back at home, Darwin was silently sitting inside his bowl the whole evening. He was feeling pretty bad for the ruined dinner despite not being responsible for it but he also felt some anger.

He didn't know who he should direct it towards though. While he felt a little frustrated at his family for believing he could do such cruel things, he knew he shouldn't as it wasn't their fault either.

This weird static void. What was it and why was it seemingly trying to ruin his life under any circumstances today!?

"Hey, buddy. You okay?", Gumball asked worriedly.

"What do you think!?", Darwin snapped back sarcastically although he immediately regretted it.

"Sorry."

"It's alright. It was a dumb question to break the ice. So... how did you end up making it to Chez Larry this quickly anyway? You were with me at home just moments before?", Gumball wondered.

"...I can't explain it. I really want to explain this to you but I don't know how and I'm just feeling so exhausted right now!"

"Hey, it's okay buddy. How about we just get a good, long sleep and you can explain it to me tomorrow when you're not feeling so exhausted anymore? Tomorrow will definitely be a better day for you.", Gumball offered with a sympathetic look.

"Yeah. That's a good idea... Good night, Gumball.",

"Good night, Darwin.", Gumball responded before pulling the blanket over himself and lying down to sleep.

Anais decided to stay in her own bedroom that night, still not feeling like being in the same room with Darwin after what happened earlier.

Darwin closed his eyes, hoping that he would have a good sleep tonight since the nap from earlier didn't really help him much.

...

After a while he opened his eyes again only to see that he wasn't inside his fishbowl anymore. He was back in the dark area from before.

Dream or not, this is the last place he wanted to be at right now. Especially considering who else would be there, as always.

"Well, isn't that something?"

Thinking of the devil., Darwin thought before turning around and seeing the other him again.

"We meet twice in a row. That's a new one. Seems like I got really lucky today.", Nightmare Darwin smirked.

"Better don't get used to it.", Darwin responded bitterly, really not wanting to deal with this again.

"In fact, I'd say it's more than just luck. Your destiny is calling to you."

"Let me guess. I'm getting some haughty speech now about how our meetings are a sign that I should let you take control and we're actually not so different?", Darwin asked while crossing his arms, already knowing this evil counterpart's tricks.

"You have to think a step further. The only reason we are meeting is that deep down you want this. Deep down, you are me!

And with a family like yours, I can't blame you at all."

"What are you talking about?", Darwin asked, now being more intrigued than annoyed.

"They don't love you! The moment you are not the 'nice guy' anymore they turn their backs on you and today showed it!", Nightmare Darwin yelled.

"NO! It wasn't their fault!", Darwin tried to defend his family.

"But you're still disappointed in their reaction, aren't you? Mr. Dad may not have screamed at you but he also didn't try to defend you, did he? And it's only a matter of time until Gumball falls in line with your mother and sister."

"You're wrong, he would never! He even said he believed me!", Darwin argued, feeling himself getting more desperate.

"ONLY BECAUSE HE WASN'T PERSONALLY AFFECTED BY IT YET!", Nightmare Darwin screamed while tackling his counterpart to the ground and holding him down.

"SHUT UP!", Darwin screamed back before punching his counterpart just like before.

Only this time it barely had an effect as Nightmare Darwin's face slightly moved to the side from the hit before it turned back to the ground with a satisfied smirk.

"Hehe, your resistance has been stronger the last time."

Darwin was shocked too as that would usually do the trick. He was the one dreaming, he should have the control to get rid of this guy whenever he wanted.

Desperately, Darwin kept punching his counterpart but to no avail as he kept holding him down, before the Nightmare version's fins disappeared inside Darwin's as if he was fusing with him.

"Just a little more.", Nightmare Darwin whispered, before Darwin brought his legs up and kicked his counterpart off of him with all his might.

It led the Nightmare version to be sent flying and once he hit the ground with the back of his head, he vanished into dust again.

Darwin got up with heavy breaths, scared about how powerless he just felt in his own dream before he was sent out of it.

...

The next morning, Darwin was feeling even worse. He barely talked to anyone, looked glum and just wanted to get through the school day as quickly as possible.

Gumball was worried but on his brother's request gave him some space, deciding that the conversation about what happened yesterday might be better suited for later in the day.

After school when most students were already gone, Gumball still wanted to talk with Penny in private for a moment so Darwin was waiting for his brother in front of his locker.

While he felt really terrible in the morning, being focused on school turned out to be a good distraction from everything that has been bothering him yesterday and throughout the night.

He was also looking forward to walking home together with his brother, now feeling a bit more comfortable in talking about everything that happened with the one person he knew would always be on his side.

Considering everything else they archived together, Darwin was sure he could somehow help him fix all of this. Maybe he could finally start thinking positively about this and be able to move forward again.

Unfortunately, destiny had different plans for him.

Just as Darwin was thinking about how he would convince Gumball, he heard the sound of a strong wind beside him. Immediately recognizing the sound from the last day, he looked over in shock and there it was.

The same static void again. The wind blew so strong towards Gumball's locker that the numbers on the combination were triggered by the effect and somehow hit in the exact correct order.

Gumball's locker door flew open and the scrapbook he prepared for Penny flew out and towards the void.

"NO!", Darwin quickly reacted and grabbed the scrapbook. Despite the fact that his first instinct would've been running away from this thing by now, he couldn't let it suck in something this important to his brother.

The hole sucked it in with all its might but Darwin held against it with equal strength. In the resulting tug of war for dominance, the scrapbook got pulled from the two sides simultaneously strong enough that they ripped it apart.

Darwin fell on his back, holding one half of it while the other one fell to the ground as the hole seemingly stopped trying to suck it in and vanished once more.

The fish could only stare at it in shock before hearing a voice behind him.

"Alright Darwin, I'm ready. We can-", Gumball stopped before looking in shock at what was in front of him.

The door of his locker was open, Darwin in front of it and his scrapbook for Penny ripped in two halves.

"No... NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?", Gumball furiously exclaimed, not wanting to believe it.

"NO! Gumball, listen! It wasn't me!", Darwin began.

"YES, IT WAS! YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE STANDING HERE, THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS MY COMBINATION AND YOU'RE HOLDING IT IN YOUR FINS!", Gumball yelled.

"Gumball, please! I could never do something like this to you. You know me!"

"Yeah, I know you.", Gumball answered with a malicious chuckle.

"I know you already sabotaged my relationship with Penny once in your jealousy! And you basically admitted yesterday that you were feeling this way again! Anais warned me that something like this would happen, but I didn't want to believe her.", he shaked his head in disbelief.

"Wh-What do you mean?", Darwin asked.

"I mean that when she vented to me about how you destroyed Daisy, she said this is exactly what you did to her! Getting her sympathy by saying how uncomfortable you felt around it and then cruelly taking it from her you manipulative prick!"

Darwin felt tears pricking at his eyes again.

"No! You-you said you believed me!"

"I did and that was clearly a mistake! No wonder you didn't have any explanation for it. You did all of this on purpose!", Gumball accused his brother.

Darwin felt his heart breaking at seeing the last person in the family he had on his side turn against him. The one who should know him better than anyone.

"I DIDN'T DO IT!", Darwin lashed out.

"Leave me alone and get lost, you awful, pathetic excuse for a brother!"

"FINE, I'LL LEAVE YOU ALONE!", Darwin answered before storming off, now feeling angry himself.

Deep down he knew he couldn't blame Gumball for this and shouldn't be angry at him, but he just couldn't help himself. Since yesterday it felt like he was steadily losing more and more control over himself in an unhealthy way.

He didn't even want to know about what's going on with this static hole anymore. He just wanted to get away from everything and have some peace and quiet, away from everyone.

While he had a fraction of that while walking home alone, it wasn't enough and the sounds outside still clouded his mind.

Upon arriving home and making his way up to his room due to being grounded, he found the solace he was seeking for. Since nobody else was inside to disturb him, he just laid down on Gumball's bed and closed his eyes for a moment.

He wasn't planning to take another nap after what happened yesterday, he just wanted to relax a bit for himself and finally clear his mind in a healthy way.

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

"Third time is a charm, isn't it?"

Opening his eyes at the voice, Darwin found himself back in the dark area with Nightmare Darwin in front of him.

This was not what he had planned. And he was in even less of a mood to deal with this than the last time now.

"Ugh, CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!?"

His reaction only satisfied Nightmare Darwin though.

"Aww, you're close to your breaking point I see. Told you it wouldn't be any different with Gumball, didn't I?"

"Gosh, do you ever stop talking!?", Darwin asked in annoyance.

"Aren't even trying to defend him anymore, are you? You know you want this, you just have to accept that fact.", Nightmare Darwin taunted, stepping closer with each sentence.

"The only thing I want right now is to hit something at full force and luckily, you make for a perfect punching bag!", Darwin boasted before clenching his orange fin and dramatically bringing it back before throwing the hardest punch he could at his counterpart's face.

But this time it had no effect at all. Didn't even slightly move his face. Nightmare Darwin's face turned into a smirk.

"It's time.", he silently whispered in glory before grabbing Darwin by the neck and lifting him up with one hand.

Darwin panicked and tried to get out of his grip but it was useless. Nightmare Darwin threw him far into the air before he crashed into the ground, landing on his face.

Hurt, Darwin slowly tried to get up but his counterpart was already on him again before he could make a serious attempt, turning him around and pinning the fish down once more.

Darwin tried to punch the other him off again but his hits had even less effect than last time. He used his legs and attempted to send him off with the kick he used last time, but even that didn't move him.

"Stop resisting! This is for the better."

Nightmare Darwin's fins started to fuse with his again as his body came down and seemingly fused further with Darwin with each passing second.

Darwin couldn't fight him off and his resolve grew weaker. He felt himself passing out as voices surrounded him that echoed through the room.

"I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!", Anais' voice.

"Darwin?"

"I was so excited for this dinner and now it's ruined!", Richard's voice.

"Do me a favor and get out of my eyes!", Nicole's voice.

"Darwin!?"

""Leave me alone and get lost, you awful, pathetic excuse for a brother!", Gumball's voice.

"DARWIN!"

As Darwin felt like completely passing out and his counterpart had fused so close now that their eyes seemingly touched, it was over.

Darwin suddenly shot awake as someone was shaking him.

Adjusting to the light, he could see Anais in front of him, a look of worry on her face.

"Anais, what's going on?", he asked in surprise.

"I heard you making noises in your sleep and saw you moving around uncomfortably. Are you alright?", Anais wondered.

"Oh uh, yeah. Just a nightmare. Wasn't that bad, don't worry about it."

"Ah... alright.", Anais replied with a small smile before looking away, but Darwin could tell there was more.

If he didn't know any better, he would say that she had a look of sadness and regret on her face.

"Is... everything alright with you too?", he asked but quickly stopped when she turned back to him.

"Sorry, stupid question after what happened-"

"I'm sorry, Darwin!", she interrupted him.

His eyes shot up in surprise. "What?"

"I said I'm sorry!", she repeated while tears were forming in her eyes.

"I should've believed you when you said you didn't destroy Daisy. I should've known you would never do something like that! I was just... I couldn't think clearly because I was so upset about it and took it out on you and... I'm sorry for what I said, Darwin! I don't hate you! I don't-",

Anais rambled on so Darwin decided to calm her down and pulled her into a hug.

"Hey, it's alright. It really did look like it was me.", he said before realizing something.

"Wait, how did you find out I didn't do it?"

"*Sniff* I talked to Gumball again and he told me about the scrapbook.", she explained while clinging towards her brother.

"He's feeling bad too because he remembered afterwards what I told him about you claiming there was this static hole that did it. He had a deja-vu and remembered when something like this happened to him too.

Some weird static signal disturbing reality and you getting angry at him because it seemed like it did everything to make him look bad. He thinks the same thing might be happening to you."

"...You're right.", Darwin realized while letting go of her.

"I forgot about most of it for some reason. I thought he was insulting me the whole time for no reason that day, but later I saw it myself that it wasn't him."

"Exactly! Gumball wanted to tell you himself but he was scared that you'd still be mad at him after what he said today. We told Mom and Dad and they feel bad for blaming you yesterday too.", Anais continued.

"Really? So none of you are angry at me anymore? You all believed it that easily?", Darwin asked in surprise that it got sorted out this quickly.

"Well, after thinking about it we all agreed that reality bending catastrophes are common enough for us at this point that it sounds more believable than you just deciding to do these cruel things all of a sudden. That's not you and we should've seen that.", Anais finished, looking down sadly again during the last sentence.

"It's alright. I forgive you, really. It wasn't your fault. We're cool.", Darwin reassured her with a smile.

"R-Really? Thanks Darwin, you're the best! Come on, let's get down. The others want to apologize to you too. I'm really glad you're okay.", Anais said while running towards the door.

"Of course I'm okay!", Darwin called after her with a smile.

After she had already left the room, Darwin's smile remained but his eyebrows lowered unsettingly as he said something else once she was gone.

"In fact I'm more than okay. I'm feeling like a whole new person."

...

Meanwhile, elsewhere:

"He has awakened."

"Ugh, what? Who has awakened?", Rob asked while rubbing his eyes, just having awoken out of a little nap himself on the ground when he suddenly heard the voice of the Void.

"The Awesome Store's sleeper agent. He's ready."

Chapter Text

After he got a moment to collect his new self, Darwin followed Anais down the stairs to reconcile with the rest of the family.

As he made his way into the kitchen, he saw them all seated around the dinner table, where they were looking guilt-ridden and had trouble making eye contact with Darwin.

He sat down on the last remaining chair while there was an awkward moment of silence between them.

Gumball, Nicole and Richard were looking at Anais for any indication on how her talk with Darwin went.

As she gave them a smile and a thumbs-up, Gumball decided to be the one who breaks the ice.

"D-Darwin, I really don't know how to start. I'm so sor-", he started.

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean it. I forgive you.", Darwin answered simply.

"Y-You do? Just like that!?", Gumball wondered with wild eyes, feeling like it was too good to be true. Their parents shared similar thoughts.

"Yeah, Anais explained to me how bad you felt about it and already apologized herself. Besides, none of it was your fault. It's alright.", Darwin continued.

"What!? No, it's not alright!", Gumball rambled on as tears were forming in his eyes.

"I accused you of something terrible! I said these awful things to you! I called you a- a... p-pathetic excuse for a brother.", Gumball had trouble even saying it again, as if the memory itself of calling Darwin that hurt him.

"That is not excusable in ANY situation no matter what I thought you did! And even then, I should have known that you would never backstab me like that. I'm so sorry, Darwin!", Gumball said as the tears were now streaming down his face.

"Hey, it's okay. I already told you, I forgive you. These things just happen out of impulse sometimes. We're good.", Darwin reassured his brother while putting a fin on his shoulder.

"I-I don't know what to say. That you're able to just forgive me this easily for it-I... I really don't deserve you, Darwin. I love you so much!", Gumball finished while throwing his brother into a tight hug.

"I love you too, buddy.", Darwin answered.

As her sons were hugging it out, Nicole rubbed the back of her head for a moment before speaking up next.

"I'm really sorry too, sweetie.", she regretfully said.

Darwin now looked at her while leaning back from Gumball's hug.

"I was just so angry about our dinner being ruined yesterday. Then I saw you with those fireworks and I just jumped to conclusions when I should've known that you would never do something like that. I feel so ashamed.", Nicole painfully admitted, while grabbing her nose in regret.

"Mom-", Darwin started but she wasn't done yet. Meanwhile Anais looked at him skeptically now.

"I didn't mean what I said! And you're obviously not grounded for three months or have to do all the chores and stop hanging out with your friends. I don't know what I was thinking when I said that.", Nicole finished as she looked down.

"I'm sorry as well, son.", Richard added.

"I didn't say anything mean to you, but I should've believed you and tried to defend you more. I said I didn't know what to believe but I was just so confused by the whole situation. Can you forgive me, son?", he asked hopefully.

"Aww, of course I forgive you. Like I said, it wasn't your fault and I can see how sorry you all are. Come here", Darwin answered while opening his fins.

Inviting them both at once might not have been the best idea as they simultaneously crushed him in a tight hug.

"You're the best, son.", Richard said.

"I really don't know what we did to deserve such a good and forgiving kid as you, Darwin.", Nicole added.

"It's just awful that the dinner you were so looking forward to is ruined now.", Darwin brought up.

"It's okay, we'll survive it. The most important thing to us is that you're alright.", Richard answered.

As they leaned back from the hug after a moment, Anais decided to speak up.

"Soooo, now that we got apologies out of the way, maybe we should focus on whatever it is that's twisting reality and blaming Darwin for all of these things for some reason."

"Yeah, it's like that one time where it seemed like the world itself was lagging and it tried to make me look bad in front of Darwin.", Gumball recalled.

"Oh, that's what happened on that day? I remember too! It was back when we had trouble with the TV!", Richard pointed out.

"Of course that's the thing you'd remember such a day for.", Nicole commented with an amused grin.

"Okay so, you've been in this sort of scenario before. That's good, it means we can analyze the problem more thoroughly. Have you found out what caused all of it back then?", Anais asked.

"Yeah! It um... actually no. I somehow forgot. Darwin?", Gumball turned to his brother, hoping he could remember.

"Sorry, nothing either.", Darwin shrugged.

"Hmm, it seems like if the world has a will on its own or some higher power is causing this, it possibly made you forget on purpose. And if it has that sort of ability, it really begs the question what we can even do against it.", Anais further analyzed.

"Actually once I found out that it wasn't Gumball causing these things it seemed to have stopped. Maybe the same thing will happen now that you all know I didn't do anything bad? You know, stopping it by exposure.", Darwin offered as a solution.

Everyone looked at Anais for confirmation.

"Well, it's possible but just because it happened one time doesn't mean it has to be a general thing. Especially since this sort of manipulation is dangerous we should keep an eye out and try to find out ways to stop it if it happens again."

"Uh sure, but can we do that tomorrow maybe? I'm feeling pretty tired right now.", Darwin said, trying to steer away from that discussion.

"You're tired again? But you just woke up from a nap a few minutes ago?", Nicole wondered.

"Yeah, but after everything that happened since yesterday I'm still feeling pretty exhausted and need some peace and quiet.

How about we just wait until tomorrow and then we see if anything weird is still happening? It's not like we can do much if nothing more happens anyway.", Darwin argued.

"Well... I guess you have a point there.", Anais hesitated.

"Great, see you later then!", Darwin ended the discussion before getting off his chair and walking back towards the stairs.

"Well, you kids go and play or whatever. I'll make us some lunch.", Nicole told her remaining children.

"LUNCH!", Richard enthusiastically agreed.

As Gumball and Anais walked up the stairs, Anais stopped Gumball from walking further once they were upstairs by tugging on his sleeve.

"Hey, Gumball. I wanted to ask you something.", she whispered, hoping that nobody, especially Darwin, would hear them.

"What is it, Anais?", he wondered.

"Don't you think Darwin was acting a little weird just now? He called Mom 'Mom'. Like without Mrs. like he usually does. Not to mention how quickly he wanted to end the conversation and get away.", Anais explained.

"Well, I gotta admit. Darwin did feel a little off somehow. But it's probably just the stress we put him through and he said he was still tired.", Gumball concluded.

"Maybe... but I'm still a little worried about him and whether he's really over it."

"Yeah, I know what you mean.", Gumball added with a thoughtful expression.

"I think I'm just gonna spend some quality time with him before bed and make sure to let him know how loved and appreciated he is some more. That might cheer him up!", he declared with determination.

And that's exactly what Gumball ended up doing. Playing with Darwin, making sure he knows how important he's to him and hugging him again before going to bed.

Darwin accepted it all but tried not to engage in it too much without seeming dismissive or unappreciative to not raise any red flags.

That night, as Darwin fell asleep, the version controlling his body got his first idea of being on the other side of the situation that his counterpart has been in multiple times before.

A while after falling asleep inside his fish bowl, he woke up inside a dark area with nothing being there aside from him.

Well, him and the regular Darwin who was on top of him, slapping and shaking him awake.

"Hey, wake up! Come on, wake up!", he screamed while doing so.

"Alright, enough!", Nightmare Darwin stopped his counterpart while grabbing his fins and shoving him back after one slap too many.

"Can't someone enter a nightmare with his counterpart in peace? Even I didn't wake you up like that.", he pointed out while standing up.

"Wh-WHAT IS GOING ON!? Why can I still see and hear everything but not control anything that I'm saying or doing!?", Darwin demanded to know.

"Ah, yeah. I probably should've given you a warning ahead. Sorry, didn't expect to be able to gain control so quickly.", Nightmare Darwin answered with a smug smile.

"You're now going through what I had to experience the last eight years. Taking a backseat, getting headaches from seeing all your nice, useless actions without the ability to interfere for the most part."

"YOU-YOU TOOK OVER MY BODY!?", Darwin asked in shock.

"You mean OUR body and you had it for nearly a decade now. Now it's my turn. Aren't you such a fan of sharing anyway? No need to complain now.", Nightmare Darwin smirked.

"So I'll be trapped like this now!? No, I'm Darwin! You're not me!", the original Darwin declared.

"Yeah, you have a point. I should probably go by a different name to distance myself from you. Beware World! Beware the wrath of... JPXFRD!", Nightmare Darwin warned with his fin raised in the air.

Darwin stared at him with wide eyes.

"The name Gumball accidentally formed with his soup when he was trying to name me? That's your choice?", he asked with a half-lidded gaze.

"Yeah, remember when Nicole told us about it? Good choice, right?"

That just made your declaration less threatening and more ridiculous than if you picked literally any other name.", Darwin said.

"Whatever. What matters is that I'm in control now and there's nothing you can do about it!", Jpxfrd boasted.

"How were you even able to do all these things anyway!? With the static...weird...whatever it was!", Darwin demanded to know.

"Oh, that wasn't me. I assume The Void did it.", Jpxfrd casually revealed.

"The...what?", Darwin asked perplexed.

"Oh right, you got your memories deleted. Weird, us from the Awesome Store usually have a pretty strong connection to it. I guess it's because you're considered an enemy to it. Oh well, not much use discussing it with a non-person at this point, is there?"

"Wait a moment.", Darwin realized something.

"I was only able to talk to you in my dreams at this place on rare occasions. When I was having bad days or felt awful. When I was easier to influence you said. So you being sent here to me now means-"

"Don't bother. It means nothing. I came here because I wanted to. To make sure you know how hopeless your situation is. After all, I've been here for so long that I know how to perfectly control these meetings.", Jpxfrd claimed.

"No, you don't! Something happened today that weakened your control over our body, didn't it!? Was it the love and affection my family showed after you woke up?", Darwin questioned.

"You're starting to ask a lot of questions and I'm getting bored of it. Time to say goodnight.", Jpxfrd decided before punching Darwin, hoping to free himself from their conversation that way.

Darwin stumbled back but didn't vanish to the others surprise, although he tried not to show it.

"Aha, you're getting scared of me finding out too much! I knew it!", Darwin concluded before tackling the other to the ground as he started punching him.

"Alright, that's it!", Jpxfrd yelled, grabbing Darwin's fins after a few punches and throwing him off before standing up and kicking Darwin with all his might.

Darwin flew against an invisible wall before his body shattered into dust.

Jpxfrd breathed heavily for a moment, relishing in his victory before realizing that Darwin already became pretty powerful outside of his body in just a few hours.

If Jpxfrd grew through hate, Darwin must grow through love. That's how he stayed in control for so long.

And with the way Darwin's family usually acted around him, it would only be a matter of time until he got even stronger, Jpxfrd realized. Strong enough to maybe even gain back control soon.

He had to make sure that would never happen and take care of the problem before Darwin learned how to influence his counterpart while he was weakened as Jpxfrd often did to him.

He had to act quickly and destroy his family beyond repair.

But he was neither sure if he could do it alone nor who could help him with that.

As if something was noticing his struggle and decided to help him out, it felt like a voice that wasn't physically there but spoke to him from beyond threw a name into his head.

"Pfahlius."

Jpxfrd remembered. He wasn't in control back then but he saw everything that happened through Darwin. The ancient demonic spirit that took over Daisy the Donkey.

But he'd have to find out where he was first. After they trapped Pfahlius in that teacup, Carrie teleported him somewhere where nobody will ever find him and where he can never escape from by her own words.

Wait, Carrie! She was his girlfriend! Surely she would tell him where he is if he asked.

But was Pfahlius really a good idea to work together with? He was extremely smart, dangerous and didn't seem like much of a team player.

On the other hand, their shared past in the Awesome Store gave Jpxfrd a sense of comradery and if someone had both the reason and the ability to help him in his plan to take down the Wattersons, it was him.

Jpxfrd made his decision. It was worth the risk.

...

The day afterwards at school, Jpxfrd was just waiting for his opportunity to speak with Carrie.

During break, he was able to find her in front of her locker, finally ready for an opportunity where they could talk one-on-one.

But he knew that he couldn't just ask her what he wanted to know here with so many people around.

"Hey, Carrie!", he greeted happily, acting as if nothing was unusual.

"Hey, Darwin. You good? Gumball told me you had some uh... rough days.", Carrie asked in worry.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Everything is better now.", he cheerfully answered.

"Ah, that's good to hear.", Carrie replied with a smile.

"Hey, I was wondering if we could maybe do something together today? It's been a while since we had some time just for ourselves.", Jpxfrd said.

"A while? We had our last date three days ago.", Carrie reminded him.

"Yeah... well, that's too long for me! I miss you.", Jpxfrd responded in an attempt to win her over.

Carrie giggled at that.

"Oh Darwin, you're so sweet. Alright, you want to go on a date again today?"

"Uh, actually I was thinking about something a little different."

"Oh? What do you mean?", Carrie wondered.

"I was wondering if I could maybe stay over at your place the night and we could watch some horror movies together?", Jpxfrd offered.

"Horror movies?", Carrie asked in surprise. "But you hate those."

"I USED TO hate them.", Jpxfrd lied.

"But I think I've gotten better now and want to give it another try. What do you say?"

"Ooooh, I see what's going on. You want to impress me.", Carrie realized before grabbing his fins.

"Darwin, you don't need to do that. I love you just the way you-"

"Carrie, no!", Jpxfrd interrupted her before tightening his grip on her hands.

"I insist on it!", he said with a determination that Carrie wasn't used to coming from Darwin. There was something almost scary behind it.

"Well... I guess tastes can change. And if you're really sure about this-"

"I am!", Jpxfrd quickly clarified.

"Alright, come over at 8 pm. But don't say I didn't warn you!", Carrie warned him playfully.

"Oh, trust me. I know EXACTLY what I'm doing.", Jpxfrd answered with a smirk.

"Alright, tough guy. See you later!", Carrie said while kissing his cheek before floating away.

Phase one completed.

"Hey dude. You're doing alright?", Gumball suddenly came up behind his brother.

"Oh, hey Gumball. Sure, I'm going to be over at Carrie's tonight for a sleepover.", Jpxfrd informed him.

Gumball's face fell. "Uhh, are you sure that's a good idea right now?"

"What are you scared that just because we sleep in the same room we'll take things too far?", Jpxfrd joked.

"No, *chuckle* I mean, with this whole bending reality to scapegoat you thing, what if the same happens to you in front of Carrie? Besides, we still haven't really talked about this in the family like we wanted to.", Gumball wondered.

"Nah, I think there won't be any more incidents today. Besides, I already warned her about that upfront.", Jpxfrd lied again.

"You know you're surprisingly confident about this whole thing just blowing over like that. Especially considering how upset you still were before your nap yesterday.", Gumball pointed out.

"Well, it's because now I know that I have all of you on my side, no matter what. Together nothing can stop us!", Jpxfrd claimed as sweetly as he could.

"Aww, I really envy you for your positivity sometimes.", Gumball said while petting his brother's head.

"But is really everything okay between us? You're not going over to Carrie tonight because you want to stay away from us, right?", he asked to be sure.

"Of course not! I just want to spend some time with my girlfriend. You know what that's like, right?", Jpxfrd tried to convince him.

"Yeah, I see your point.", Gumball gave in with a smile. "Still sucks what happened to that scrapbook, even if it wasn't your fault."

"Wasn't it just ripped in two halves? I'm sure that can be fixed for the most part.", Jpxfrd wondered.

"Well, probably. But it wouldn't be as perfect as I hoped it would be for Penny.", Gumball sighed while looking down.

"Come on, you know Penny doesn't expect perfection from you. If she did, she would've given up on you long ago.", Jpxfrd teased.

"Hey!"

"The gesture alone will be more than enough for her. So what do you say? I'll help you fix it and you give it to Penny later today while I'm over at Carrie? That way we both have a nice day with our girlfriends that we could really need right now."

"Hmmmmm, alright convinced.", Gumball accepted.

As he came home from school later that day, Jpxfrd did his best to distract each family member by doing something with them so they wouldn't have to talk about the actions of the Void again.

He helped Gumball fix his scratchbook for Penny, after that he helped Anais a bit in fixing Daisy who got also heavily damaged during these incidents, he played some video games with his father and helped Nicole with the chores.

As it was evening and the time has come, he was now over at Carrie's house while it was dark outside with both of them sitting together in her room and watching a horror movie she picked out.

It was Night-mare on Elmore Street, a movie about a supernatural killer who could appear in people's dreams and had a name surprisingly similar to that of Carrie.

Jpxfrd wasn't frightened by anything happening in it as horror movies didn't bother him like they did with Darwin.

But to not raise suspicion he still pretended to be scared at some moments, but not as much as Darwin would be so his claim that he can handle them better now holds true in his girlfriend's eyes.

After the movie was over, Carrie turned towards him.

"Wow, I'm impressed! You really handled that much better than I expected.", she praised.

"Told you I'm getting better with them! But I think it depends on the topic. I would've been a lot more freaked out if it was something involving dolls.", Jpxfrd answered.

"Oh, why is that? Scared of them in particular?", Carrie wondered.

"Not exactly but, you know, after what happened with Anais' Daisy a few months ago I think that's still a bit too early for me.", Jpxfrd reminded her while simultaneously setting up the conversation he wanted to have.

"Oh yeah. That was scary. Even for me.", Carrie shuddered at the memory.

"Speaking of, I wanted to ask you something.", Jpxfrd continued.

"What is it?"

"Where exactly is the teacup with Pfahlius inside now? Where have you dropped it off?", he asked curiously.

"Huh? Why do you want to know that now all of a sudden?", Carrie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I know you said he is far away and could never return but... I would just feel safer if I knew exactly where. I know it's an irrational fear but not knowing exactly where he is still scares me a little.", Jpxfrd attempted to convince her.

"Oh. No, I get you. That's not irrational at all.", Carrie answered with sympathy.

"Alright, I tell you. I teleported above the Mariana Trench and dropped it into the water there. Since it's the worldwide deepest part of the ocean and far away from us, that seemed like a good place where nobody would look for him. Let alone be able to free him."

Mariana Trench? So I just have to swim deep to retrieve him? This is better than I expected. I'm a fish!, Jpxfrd thought.

"Oh, smart. Well, thanks for telling me. I really do feel better now.", he earnestly said.

"Anytime. So... what movie do we want to watch next?", Carrie asked.

"*Yawn* Actually I would like to go to sleep. I'm kinda tired.", Jpxfrd answered while lying down in his sleeping bag on the floor.

"You're tired already? But it's barely past 10 pm and we don't have school tomorrow.", Carrie pointed out.

"Yeah, but I think one horror movie is enough for me at the moment. I don't want to overdo myself immediately, you know? An easy start today and next time we can maybe watch two."

"Oh yeah, good idea.", Carrie answered, the fact that he wanted to get into them at a slow pace made sense to her.

"Why don't you go to sleep already too? That way we'll be up early tomorrow and can still do something then.", Jpxfrd offered.

"Well, I don't usually go that early on a Friday night but okay.", she agreed before floating over to her bed and phasing through the pillow.

"Good night, Darwin."

"Good night, Carrie."

After they said their goodnights and Carrie turned the lights off, Darwin made sure to lay in his sleeping bag with his eyes open until he heard soft snores coming from Carrie's bed.

Using a flashlight he brought with him, he walked over to check if she was really asleep, which she appeared to be.

Which means it was time to get to work.

Jpxfrd walked out of Carrie's room all the way up to the attic, where he knew from Darwin's experiences was where she hid all of her mystical items.

First he needed the spellbook since swimming all the way over from Elmore to the Mariana Trench was a bit much, even for a fish. But Carrie told Darwin in the past that there were spells that enabled even mortals to teleport as they wished.

After using the light switch to brighten up the attic, Jpxfrd went through the spellbook until he found what he was looking for.

"Focus on a person or a place you want to visit and then speak the following words.", he read.

After focusing his mind, Jpxfrd read what was written on the page.

"Inveniam viam, aut faciam."

And from one moment to the next, he suddenly glitched out of Carrie's attic and landed somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the ocean.

Just based on his surroundings Jpxfrd had no chance to tell exactly where he was. But the fact that it was still bright at this place while it was dark just a moment ago in Elmore made it obvious that he was far away from home.

He supposed that it must have worked and he landed inside the Mariana Trench, which means now came the difficult part.

Diving all the way to the bottom and searching for the teacup while hoping that it was still there.

Thanks to Darwin's body being that of an exceptionally fast swimmer, he had no trouble reaching the bottom in record time despite it being so deep.

Breathing wasn't a problem either. He could stay down there for as long as he needed to.

The deeper he reached through, the harder it became to see clearly as less and less sunlight was coming through to the bottom of the ocean.

It was just enough to make out what was in front of him. Jpxfrd swam through the place that was mostly filled with rocks, sand and occasionally other fish.

Something stuck out though.

Something that was small, white and barely able to make out. Jpxfrd swam over to inspect it and there it was.

The teacup that had Pfahlius trapped inside it. It had to be the one.

His orange fin grabbed the object and picked it up before quickly swimming up again.

After a while, Jpxfrd reached the surface again, but heavily exhausted now after he swam the distance of 11 kilometers two times in a row.

Even more now that he had to swim up instead of down. Despite his nature as a fish, that was a lot.

But it was worth it. He got what he wanted and could bring him back.

Remembering the spell he used to reach this place, Jpxfrd said it again while holding the teacup and focusing on the attic inside Carrie's house.

"Inveniam viam, aut faciam."

And in another blink of an eye, he was standing back in front of the spellbook that he read from the first time, just as planned. Only this time, Pfahlius was with him.

Now it was time for the ritual that would free him from his current predicament.

The same one they used to trap him inside that teacup. Well, that wasn't the intention at first but what the plan eventually resulted in after Anais had to improvise.

A circle of pepper, candles and something new to trap him inside was what he needed.

Walking down to the kitchen with the spellbook in one fin and the teacup in the other one, Darwin got the pepper shaker and also found some candles.

He made some place in the kitchen by shoving the table out of the way and spraying pepper on the ground in the form of a circle.

After that, he lit up a bunch of candles and placed them at different places around the pepper so everything was set up.

Now he only needed a new person that Pfahlius could take the shape of after he freed him.

It was obvious that he was useless inside a lifeless object as he couldn't do anything inside those and was therefore of no help to him.

Jpxfrd would have to choose someone and sacrifice their body for Pfahlius to take it over. But who?

With the spell he could teleport anywhere he wanted, but he couldn't just randomly kidnap someone and bring them here. Most people would resist too much or straight-up overpower him.

It had to be someone weak who couldn't fight their way out of this situation. Additionally it would also be smart for Pfahlius to possess a body that is much weaker than Darwin's so, just in the case of emergency, if it ever came to a fallout between them, Jpxfrd would have the advantage.

Luckily Darwin had classmates in all shapes and sizes and knew where most of them lived so Jpxfrd could choose someone among them.

The most logical options for weaklings that wouldn't be able to fight back were Anton or Idaho due to their size. And considering Anton dies all the time for a new one to take his place, Darwin wasn't sure if he was a good idea.

So Idaho it was. Inside his body Pfahlius could still use his intelligence and evilness to help him destroy the Wattersons, but he wouldn't be able to physically call any of the shots.

Remembering the teleportation spell, Jpxfrd imagined himself on the farmland where Idaho's family lived before repeating the words.

"Inveniam viam, aut faciam."

The moment he made his way to the field, he saw Idaho peacefully sleeping with the rest of his family under the stars, just like Darwin and the rest of the family had been doing once when Gumball tried to show them how the potato lives his life.

He also technically could've chosen one of his family members as they were all of similar size, but Jpxfrd thought it would be better to pick the one potato Darwin was already friends with, so it wouldn't look weird if they had to talk in public about their plans and someone saw them.

Aside from that, they went to school together and could therefore see each other almost every day without either needing an excuse for it.

After quickly making out which one of them was Idaho, Jpxfrd quickly grabbed him before walking a few feet away where he wouldn't wake up the rest of his family while casting the spell one last time.

"Inveniam viam, aut faciam"

After making his way back to Carrie's kitchen, Idaho suddenly woke up in Jpxfrd's fins.

"Darwin? What's going on?", Idaho asked, still a bit sleepy right now.

"Hey, Idaho. I would really like to explain but I unfortunately can't allow you to inevitably scream in panic and wake up Carrie and her dad.", Jpxfrd answered while setting the potato down.

"So I have to do this.", he said while grabbing some tape from the kitchen table.

"Wait, what are you doing?", Idaho asked, now a bit fearful.

"Giving you the opportunity to help me make the world a better place. Mostly for myself.", Jpxfrd explained while grabbing Idaho and lying him down on his back inside the circle, before taping his hands and feet to the ground to make sure he couldn't move.

"Hey-what the!? HEL-!", Idaho tried to scream out before Darwin also put some tape over his mouth to make sure he wouldn't ruin this.

"Alright, finally.", Jpxfrd sighed before also lying down the teacup inside the circle and stepping out of it as he closed it by placing one last candle between the pepper.

He went over to Carrie's spellbook again to find what he was looking for. The spell that would free Pfahlius and let him jump over to his new host.

"Expelle hoc malum. Inferorum potestate expelle hoc malum!"

And just as planned, the same cloud of red glowing dust that went inside the teacup a few months ago now moved out of it, straight into the body of Idaho, who frantically moved his head around before he suddenly stopped resisting.

It was done.

"Alright, I guess it worked.", Jpxfrd commented before moving inside the circle and disabling its power to remove the tape around Idaho's hands, feet and finally, his mouth.

"Idaho" took a moment to compose himself and take the situation in before getting up.

"Pfahlius?", Jpxfrd asked carefully.

"I have to tell you kid, there are not many things which are able to surprise me at this point but this is definitely one of them.", he answered with his hands behind his back, still in Idaho's voice but without trying to hide that it wasn't him anymore.

"Well, look at that. The great Pfahlius the Eradicator, super-genius and master manipulator who plunged the world into darkness many times got caught off-guard. Isn't that something?", Jpxfrd smugly asked.

"I thought I was gonna rot in that teacup for eternity. Now I get freed by you of all people. One of the ones who put me away and should know what kind of suffering he should expect in retaliation.

Not just he, but the rest of his family too. You're not the same Darwin you were before, aren't you?", Pfahlius concluded.

"I guess you want an explanation, don't you?", Jpxfrd asked back with a smirk.

"That won't be necessary, I can take a hint.", Pfahlius answered calmly.

"Oh, are you sure?", Jpxfrd wondered.

"I assume the Void has allowed your repressed dark side to take control so you can do its bidding considering it's very unlikely that this would ever happen through natural means.

And to prevent your nice side taking over again, you need help in causing the destruction that would allow you to stay in charge, which is why you have been seeking out me.", Pfahlius explained in an unimpressed manner.

Jpxfrd stared at him for a minute with wide eyes before a light chuckle escaped his lips.

"I see the months in that teacup haven't affected your genius in any way. With how long you were in the Awesome Store, it would make sense that you also know about The Void.

But you're wrong about one thing. I'm not doing its bidding. I'm acting out of my own mind and certainly not so anyone else can benefit from it.", Jpxfrd explained.

"As it would want you to believe.", Pfahlius remarked in a bored tone.

"This is not something it would allow to happen under normal circumstances. I guess that means the show is over? Nobody is protected by cartoon physics anymore, huh?", Pfahlius spoke to himself as a sinister smirk grew on his face.

"What are you mumbling about?" Jpxfrd wondered.

"Oh, nothing you have to worry about. So, did it have to be THIS small body you gave me?", Pfahlius asked while pointing at his/Idaho's tiny potato self.

"I wanted to make sure I was gonna be the one in control during our partnership. Since your use mostly comes from your smarts, it's not like you need a strong body anyway. You can leave the physical stuff to me.", Jpxfrd claimed.

"And why would I want to team up with someone who intentionally gives me the weakest body he can find?", Pfahlius asked with a raised eyebrow, while wondering how a potato could even have eyebrows.

"Be lucky I gave you a body at all. You owe me!", Jpxfrd argued, growing impatient.

"Weird, I don't feel like I do.", Pfahlius threw back mockingly.

"Well without me you'd be stuck in that teacup forever so you clearly need me a lot more than I need you.", Jpxfrd attempted to stay in control of the conversation.

"Considering you went through all the effort it must've been to revive me I doubt that. You wouldn't have done that if you weren't desperate.", Pfahlius countered.

"Look, we both want to destroy the Wattersons, don't we? Work together with me there.", Jpxfrd offered.

"You are literally impersonating one of the Wattersons I want to destroy. Besides that, I'm not the kind of guy who helps someone out because he helped me first in case you didn't notice. I'm not that nice.", Pfahlius said while crossing his arms.

"You want to do it by yourself in that feeble potato body then? Everyone can punt you like that.", Jpxfrd giggled.

"Yeah, you're right. This really isn't up to my standards.", he admitted.

You on the other hand are in possession of a perfect one for me to use. One with which I could attack from inside the family while hiding in plain sight.", Pfahlius smirked while scratching his chin.

"If you want to challenge me instead of cooperating I can also cast another spell and send you back in that teacup you ungrateful brat.", Jpxfrd threatened.

Pfahlius' eye wandered over to the kitchen counter where there was a knife lying before looking back at Jpxfrd with a sadistic smile.

Jpxfrd noticed this too and decided to intervene before things escalated further.

"Alright, you need to cool off a little.", he said while moving forward and attempting to grab Pfahlius.

Pfahlius reacted quickly though and jumped over Darwin's fin as it came down before landing on it and running it up. He jumped at Darwin's face and spun his body backwards.

He landed a kick on Darwin's face before using his momentum to land with a backflip on the table.

Jpxfrd got surprised by the attack and fell on his back, giving Pfahlius the opportunity to run over the table and jump on the counter where he could grab the knife.

Unfortunately the knife itself was bigger than Idaho's body and he had trouble lifting it.

"Okay, you surprised me there for a second. But you really think you can attack me with a knife that you can't even hold properly?", Jpxfrd asked while wiping his face where he just got kicked.

"Who says I'm going to use it to attack YOU?", Pfahlius asked with a confident smirk.

Jpxfrd had a look of confusion on his face now, not sure what he was implying.

"I guess you weren't there to witness it when Carrie told your counterpart everything about me. Don't worry, I prefer demonstrations over explanations anyway.", Pfahlius taunted before making his move.

He lifted the knife with all the power his little potato body could muster.

And then he rammed it into his own stomach so deep that it went out through his back on the other side.

Jpxfrd was in shock about what he was seeing for a moment as Pfahlius collapsed on the kitchen counter with the knife stuck inside Idaho on both ends. Since he was a vegetable he didn't bleed, but big potato parts fell out of his body.

"What the-!? Why did you do that!?", Jpxfrd asked in shock while running over and moving the knife out of Idaho's body although that didn't do much good as he already had a big hole inside it that went all the way through.

"Y-You don't... know what happens to me when *cough* when my current host dies, do you?", Pfahlius coughed out in pain but with a sinister smile.

Jpxfrd didn't know what he was talking about until he recalled his words and remembered what Carrie said all the way back.

How his soul would be able to find a new host of his own choice after the old one died. How he would even go as far as kill himself in one's body to take over one he saw as a better candidate.

He didn't even think of that since he never would've considered the possibility that Pfahlius would go that far immediately just over being in a body he didn't like instead of enjoying the fact that he had one at all. Not to mention betraying the person who just brought him back in the first place.

"Huh, so you do know. Ha... i-i-idiot.", Pfahlius said with his final breath after seeing the shocked look on the fish's face, before he stopped moving and Idaho's face fell down movelessly with his mouth wide open.

Jpxfrd panicked but it was too late. Just a moment later, red glowing dust came out of Idaho's body and flew straight towards Darwin's. He quickly ran towards the door but it followed him.

He wanted to pick up some object and capture him inside before it reached him but he had neither time nor resources. Then they made contact.

The red dust went inside Darwin's body as he fell to his knees and breathed heavily for a few seconds.

Eventually he stopped and got back up on one leg with the other one following.

"I waited so long for this. The feeling of truly being alive again.", Pfahlius boasted in satisfaction while inspecting his new body.

"You can only appreciate it if you know what it feels like if you're not. An appreciation I will share with the rest of the world.", he said to himself before looking over at Idaho's dead body on the counter.

"Hmm, gonna have to hide that one somehow.", he realized in frustration before he got an idea.

"Didn't Darwin always have a potato obsession anyway?"

"And I haven't had a snack for years now.", he argued before stepping closer with a hungry smile.

After cleaning up the kitchen and being done with his food, he grabbed the spellbook and hid it back in the attic before walking down into Carrie's room where he assumed Darwin was sleeping.

He found a sleeping bag fitting him lying on the floor while Carrie was asleep in her bed.

Lying back down, he closed his eyes to enjoy both the night and what was to come starting the next sunrise.

First blood has been drawn. But that was only the beginning.

Chapter Text

The morning afterwards Pfahlius woke up to the sunlight shining through Carrie's window as he needed a moment to take everything in.

After looking at his fins and the rest of his orange body inside his sleeping bag, the events of last night came back to him.

He was free to talk and move again. He finally had a body again.

As he stretched and got up, Carrie was already awake and floating through the door inside her room.

"Morning, Sleepyhead. Finally all rested?", she asked playfully.

"Uh, I guess so. What time is it?", Pfahlius asked back, trying to play it off as if nothing was wrong.

"It's almost 9 am. Given how early we went to bed last night, you slept a lot. More than 10 hours.", Carrie informed him.

"I hope you didn't dream of Night-mare on Elmore Street and our horror night wasn't too much for you after all.", she wondered in concern.

So they watched horror movies last night? I need to get up-to-date. I'm missing valuable information right now, Pfahlius realized.

"Oh no, don't worry. Just really needed a good night's sleep I suppose.", Pfahlius answered, concluding that Darwin didn't have the best nights before that if that dark side of him was somehow able to take over.

"Uh huh and you're sure you are alright?", Carrie asked while floating closer.

"Why wouldn't I be?", Pfahlius wondered, not yet sure if he should make up some explanation or deny anything being wrong without more intel on the situation.

"Well, I already noticed yesterday that your aura seemed...off and not in a good way. It's even more noticeable now. It feels as if your soul left your body somehow.", Carrie explained while floating around Darwin to inspect him.

"I didn't want to say anything yesterday because I assumed it was because your fallout with your family that Gumball told me about was still bothering you. Maybe you just wanted to get away from them for one night.

But I can't keep silent about it any longer if it's this bad. What's really going on, Darwin? You know you can tell me anything, right?", Carrie sympathetically reassured her boyfriend while taking his fins in her hands.

A fallout, huh? Alright, I can work with that.

Pfahlius suddenly started looking down as his casual expression was replaced by a dejected look and tears started forming in his eyes.

"Darwin?", Carrie asked sadly.

"You're right. It is bothering me! I-I wanted to repress it all and came here to try to f-forget about it and distract myself but it didn't work.", he sobbed.

"Oh, Darwin-"

"And tonight it was at its worst! I had a nightmare! Gumball, Anais, Mrs. Mom, Mr. Dad, a-all of them. Calling me names, saying I was nothing but a useless p-pet and kicking me out, saying I didn't belong! It was so awful! I could barely sleep for hours!"

"And then you got up and went through the house because you couldn't sleep?", Carrie asked.

"What do you mean?", Pfahlius asked back, wondering if she heard him.

"Well, I was up at one point and heard noises, but couldn't really make them out. I thought it was just Dad since he often does that at night so I just went back to sleep again. Was that you?"

"Y-Yeah, I couldn't just stay lying down with my thoughts. I needed to walk around a bit and talked to myself I guess, trying to convince myself that it wa-wasn't true. That it would never happen.", Pfahlius continued to sob.

"Aww, I'm so sorry, Darwin. But you know they would never do that right?", Carrie tried to reassure him.

"B-But it felt so real.", Pfahlius responded.

"Come on, they love you! They would never think of you as a pet. And they know you didn't do those things, they even apologized and everything!", Carrie further tried to convince him while pulling Darwin into a hug.

So it got already sorted out? Okay, time to end this, Pfahlius thought while reciprocating the hug.

"I know I shouldn't believe it, it just felt so real.", Pfahlius said while getting up and quickly packing his bag.

"Whoa Darwin, what are you doing?", Carrie asked in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I really need to be with my family right now. I need to hear it from them that it isn't true. I need to stop running away from my problems and talk with them about it!", Pfahlius hastily explained.

"No, I understand. Honestly, I'm proud of you for taking this step instead of bottling it up. You're doing the right thing.", Carrie praised him while giving him one last kiss.

"You want me to come with you? Maybe it's easier if you have someone backing you up."

"No, I know how much you want to help and I appreciate it but I need to do this alone. I'll tell you how it went later. Love you!", Pfahlius called back while winking her goodbye and running towards the door.

As he was out of her eyes and Carrie heard the door closing off-screen, she tried to relax, hoping that Darwin would work out whatever was going on with him.

Yet in the back of her mind, she couldn't fully let go of the concern that there was more that was bothering Darwin. Something he didn't tell her. But what could it be?

Meanwhile Pfahlius was glad that he got out of the conversation quickly. He didn't want to give Carrie the impression that her words helped him or else she would've noticed that his darkened aura had another origin if it didn't disappear while he was pretending to feel better.

But he also couldn't have her giving him reassurances until it would get hard to find excuses not to accept them, so having to confront his family alone was a good excuse to get away without her pestering him any further.

Ah, how he missed playing with people like that. So much fun. And this was only the beginning. It would still get so much funnier.

After a few minutes, Pfahlius was back home and opened the front door with Darwin's key.

The first thing he saw was Gumball speaking on the phone with someone.

"Not since yesterday at school. He rode the bus with us just like he normally does. I didn't notice anything unusual.", Gumball talked to whoever was on the other line.

Has the search for Idaho already started? That was quick. I hope it's about him. Means I can immediately get to make my move too, Pfahlius thought.

After a pause, Gumball continued to talk on the phone.

"Okay, don't worry. I'll ask around. I'm sure he will turn up again. You're welcome!", he said before hanging up.

"Hey Gumball.", Pfahlius greeted casually.

"Hey Darwin, you're back early.", Gumball noticed.

"Yeah, I heard what happened with Idaho and got pretty worried.", Pfahlius claimed.

"Oh, so they already called Carrie too? I didn't even know they were friends.", Gumball commented.

"Well, they're not super close but on good terms. She was on his birthday that one time.", Pfahlius reminded him.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that. I still can't believe you served him a potato as a cake back then.", Gumball laughed.

"Yeah well, don't worry. I'm over my potato obsession at this point.", Pfahlius countered with a knowing smile.

"Either way, come on. We should probably help to search for him.", Pfahlius added.

"Eh, come on. He will probably be found quickly by his family or the police or whatever. We should leave it to them. I bet it's nothing. Those things just happen sometimes.", Gumball shrugged it off.

"Come on Gumball, that's very insensitive.", Pfahlius scolded him with an accusing tone.

"His family is worried, Idaho might be who knows where, alone and scared and as his friends it's our job to help looking for him. Anything else would be selfish.", Pfahlius finished in an unapproving tone.

Gumball had a look of guilt on his face after that before sighing.

"You're right. I'm sorry, we should help out. It's the right thing to do.", Gumball agreed, being glad that he had someone with a moral compass as strong as his brother on his side.

"That's the spirit. Alright, we better split up. That way we can cover more ground quicker. I'd say you take the east side of town and I take the west side.", Pfahlius decided.

"Wow, not like you to take such a leading role all of a sudden.", Gumball chuckled before he got a more serious look.

"Honestly, is everything alright with you Dar? You feel...different somehow. Even more so than yesterday.", he noticed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just...I'm really worried about Idaho and hope that nothing bad happened you know? It's really messing up my head.", Pfahlius admitted in a regretful tone.

"No, I get it. Sorry, I'm just wasting time. What about Carrie? Should we ask her to help us too?", Gumball asked.

"I already asked her. She said she still had something important to do but she can catch up with us later. Let's just look for him ourselves for now.", Pfahlius said.

"Okay then. Let's stay in contact if either of us finds something. I would ask Anais to help us too but she's still asleep. Maybe we can ask her later.", Gumball informed him.

"Good idea. Alright, see you later.", Pfahlius winked the blue cat goodbye before they walked through the door and he ran off in one direction.

"You too!", Gumball answered before running off in the other direction.

After being away from his brother, Pfahlius had another moment to compose his thoughts.

Obviously he was not going to look for Idaho. But just as he had planned, this situation quickly gave him the perfect opportunity to visit someone crucial without anyone following him.

He needed to do it immediately since Gumball and Carrie were already suspicious and could sense that something wasn't right. He was able to make up a fitting excuse for it for the moment, but that wouldn't work for long.

But if everything worked as planned, it wouldn't have to.

...

Rob has been trapped in the Void for about a week now. It was hard to tell since stuff like day and night didn't exactly exist there. Just static.

He wasn't exactly suffering. There was stuff in there to entertain himself with and The Void itself provided him with food and drinks if he needed them and couldn't find anything immediately.

It kept him there for safety purposes and because it thought it was interesting to have some company to discuss the current flow of events with, but it didn't want to torture Rob. It already did that enough in the past.

"I hope you don't fool yourself into believing you are some sort of good deity that's just misunderstood with all of this. You are evil and this whole twisted game of yours proves it.", Rob suddenly told it while lying on the ground on his back.

"I'm not fooling myself with anything. Good, evil. These concepts are meaningless to me. I'm taking care of you because you're like a pet to me. I have to keep you in check, but can provide and look out for you simultaneously.", the echoing voice of the Void responded.

"A pet!? Wow, I really didn't think I could feel more disgusted with you than I already did but now I do.", Rob replied, offended.

"I don't think you have much room to talk there, boy. Have you already forgotten about everything you did to Gumball and his loved ones for a very measly justification?", The Void reminded him.

"I did these things only because of you! You even admitted that yourself the last time I was here!", Rob answered in fury while getting back up and pointing an accusing finger at the static.

"It's true, I set your villain arc into motion but you still committed all these acts by yourself. And even after finding out, your plans to save Elmore weren't exactly a hero's act, were they?

Kidnapping an innocent woman and threatening her to draw the future? Kidnapping the internet to show it good replacement shows? Terrorizing a school into becoming normal enough to survive? With methods like that, is it really a surprise that nobody was willing to listen to you?", The Void argued.

Rob thought about it and as much as he hated to admit, The Void had a point.

Even while trying to do everything to save Elmore, his villain persona still haunted him. Even while he was manipulated into blaming Gumball for everything, he still decided to be the bad guy and do awful things.

The Void wasn't dumb. It didn't pick him to be the villain simply because he was boring. It wouldn't have picked him if he didn't have it inside him to do these things in the first place.

And now it might be too late and he would never be able to save Elmore like he wanted to. To make things up to Gumball and apologize for everything.

If only there was an opportunity for him to make amends. He would do everything to talk to Gumball once more and tell him how sorry he was.

He didn't even care if he would accept it or not, he just needed to clear his conscience somehow. Was that selfish? Maybe, but with his situation it was hard not to get desperate.

Suddenly floating around The Void, Rob noticed something. A palette with a paint brush. It still looked fresh.

And there were small rocks floating and lying around everywhere.

Fuck it, he thought before moving to grab the paint brush. Desperate times require desperate measures.

...

Later, Carrie was still at home, floating around mindlessly in an attempt to distract herself from her worry about Darwin.

She hoped it was really just a family matter and they would be able to clear it out after a talk, but she couldn't help but worry about her boyfriend.

While she wandered around her attic eventually, Carrie noticed something strange though.

There was a flashlight lying on the ground, the one Darwin brought with him yesterday.

He may have said that he walked around in the house after his nightmare last night so it'd make sense that he brought his flashlight with him and probably just forgot it.

But the noises she heard last night sounded like they came from the kitchen.

And why would Darwin wander up all the way up to the attic in the first place instead of staying downstairs?

Carrie thought she might as well teleport over to the Watterson's house and bring Darwin back his flashlight to ask him.

On top of that, it would also give her an opportunity to ask how things went and see if he's doing better now.

In the Watterson kid's bedroom, Anais was sitting alone on the chair in front of the desk at the moment.

She wasn't doing homework or using the laptop however. She was deep in thought.

She has been thinking about this whole situation ever since they briefly discussed it in the family and Darwin cut them off and it still didn't make any sense to her.

As weird as the things in this town could usually be, there is always some kind of explanation for it if you look deep enough.

But all of what happened lately just seemed completely random.

Some higher static force doing everything to put Darwin in a bad light and make the whole family hate him, only to suddenly stop with it just as quickly as it started.

What was the point of all of that? And why was them apparently finding out about it all it took to stop it?

Usually these kind of things take some big event happening until it all disappears. But nothing of the sort has happened yet...right?

And since they all apologized to Darwin he has been weirdly distant with the family.

Well not completely considering he helped her fix Daisy yesterday and hung out with the others too, but he seems to do everything to steer away from the discussion over the weird things that happened these last few days.

Gumball theorized it was because he was secretly still upset about what happened, but pretending everything is fine and disregarding the topic completely?

That's not Darwin's usual way of handling a problem. He's more open than that.

She wanted to talk with Gumball about it again and called him after waking up upon seeing that he wasn't in the house, but now he's already searching for a classmate with Darwin that has now disappeared too.

Not to mention that whole thing a few days before even that with the Superintendent trying to transform the students into these weird beings before it turned out to be the doing of...

Wait, who was it again? Gumball and Darwin told her about it just the day it happened.

It all started to hurt her head. All these nonsensical events in the last week that don't seem to make any sense and there seems to be more adding to it every day.

"Hey Anais, is Darwin home?", a voice suddenly called out behind her.

"WHOA!", Anais shrieked back before falling off the chair. She quickly regained her composure though and got back up.

"Carrie, what the what? Don't scare me like that!", she called the ghost out.

"Oh, sorry. I always forget to give people a heads-up warning for that.", Carrie sheepishly admitted while rubbing the back of her head.

"Anyway, what do you have there?", Anais asked.

"Darwin's flashlight. He took it with him when he stayed over at my place the night and seemed to have forgotten it. I just found it in the attic and wanted to give it back to him.", Carrie explained.

"Why was it in the attic?", Anais wondered with a raised eyebrow.

"Honestly, I was wondering that too. Anyway, where is Darwin? Is he doing okay?", Carrie asked.

"I don't know. He is out with Gumball searching for a friend who's been gone missing and I was gonna help them look later. I think his name is Idaho."

"Idaho is missing? I didn't even know that!", Carrie answered in a worried tone.

"Unrelated but, have you noticed anything weird about Darwin while he was over? Since you just asked if he was doing okay.", Anais changed the topic.

"Umm yeah. Pretty weird actually.", Carrie answered.

"First he watched a horror movie with me, which is very unlike him, then his entire aura was all over the place yesterday and even more so today.

I asked him about it and he said that the whole thing of what was going on these last days is still bothering him a lot and the nightmare he had, but you probably already know about that."

"Wait, what nightmare? I don't know about that! I haven't seen Darwin at all today so far!", Anais called out.

"What? Hasn't Darwin talked to you guys about it? He wanted to, that's why he ran home this early today in the first place.", Carrie explained.

Anais took a moment to take her words in before asking her next question.

"Carrie, would you mind if I take a look at your attic where you found the flashlight? Something is definitely not right here."

...

Pfahlius meanwhile arrived just where he wanted to. At the parking lot in the mall.

After making his way through the parking lot and searching his way through the amount of cars, he found what he was looking for.

The van he hasn't seen since he was bought out of it about a year ago while being stuck inside Daisy the Donkey.

The Awesome Store.

Moving forward and knocking on the side door of the van, it didn't take long until the door got opened and two eyes appeared in the black void of the van.

"Ah, another Watterson visit. And what can I provide you with this time?", the shop owner asked.

"I'm afraid I'm not here on behalf of the Wattersons. Not even the one of Darwin Watterson.", Pfahlius answered with a knowing smile.

"Hmm and how am I supposed to interpret that?", the man asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Come on, old man. I was with you inside there for quite a while. Don't you recognize me anymore?", Pfahlius asked back in an amused tone.

"Of course I do. You were just an ordinary fish back then as I sold you to the big pink one who is now your father."

"Well, you sold me to him, that's true. And I have undergone a transformation since then. But there was someone else who fits that description too. I'll give you a clue. A pink stuffed donkey that you couldn't wait to get rid off.", Pfahlius taunted him while moving closer towards the man as his eyes widened.

"No...no way! You're pranking me, right!? How is that even possible!?", he asked in disbelief.

"Oh, you know. A little of Darwin's dark side taking over combined with a little trickery on my part to break out of my old useless host and here we are.", Pfahlius smirked.

"I can't believe this! I warned the father what would happen if he wasn't careful with you!"

Pfahlius chuckled at that.

"You did and given Richard's idiocy, it's a wonder he hasn't already messed that up earlier himself. But I'm afraid it wasn't his fault this time. The Void wanted it this way."

"What!? That can't be!", The Awesome Store owner claimed in disbelief.

"I'm afraid it is. This world is ending. And I have some proof for you if you don't believe me.", Pfahlius said before taking out Darwin's phone that he used yesterday to take some pictures of the remains of Idaho's dead body as he was in the process of eating him.

"No...no, please.", the man desperately pleaded, not wanting to believe it.

"We both know it would never allow anyone to die under normal circumstances. But it needs help to end this world, which is why it allowed me to take control.

So you would be well-adviced not to disobey my wishes. Being against me means you're against The Void now. I think we both know the consequences for that and that's assuming it won't allow me to have my own way with you first.", Pfahlius threatened while learning even further forward.

"...What do you want?", the man asked in a tone that sounded more like a surrender than a question.

"I know you have copies of certain objects you sold. I want the universal remote."

...

In Carrie's house, Anais and her made their way up to the attic that the bunny wanted to see after finding out that Carrie found Darwin's flashlight there.

"So this is where you found it? Is there anything of important value that you keep up here which Darwin would be aware of?", she asked.

"In terms of personal value, a lot to be honest. Mystical items, books, movies, that kind of stuff.", Carrie answered.

"Movies such as A Pony's Tail?", Anais teased with a smirk while pulling out the movie with said title while she was going through Carrie's stuff.

"I-I...I just bought that to scare myself with how disgustingly cute it is since I'm too used to regular horror movies for them to still scare me!", Carrie claimed frantically.

"Really? The blush on your face tells a different story.", Anais noticed smugly.

"Whatever! You're not supposed to go through someone's personal stuff anyway!", Carrie protested while her blush just became more noticeable.

"Hahaha. Sorry, I just couldn't pass up that opportunity.", Anais laughed before putting the movie away.

"Hmph.", Carrie pretended to be angry but she had to smile too.

"Seriously though, let's get back to the mystical items and books. What items and books exactly are we talking about?"

"Mostly my spellbook. Items are here of all kinds, potions, cursed stuff and so on. But it's not like Darwin would steal any of them, or have any use for them in the first place.", Carrie concluded.

"Hmm.", said Anais as she continued to think about what could help them to discover what's going on.

"You said you noticed Darwin acting weird too. Did he say anything specific that gave it away?"

"Actually yeah, there was one thing.", Carrie remembered.

"You remember Pfahlius the Eradicator, right?"

"How could I ever forget that one?", Anais answered as a shiver went down her spine.

"What about him?"

"Well, yesterday Darwin suddenly asked me where exactly I put the teacup that we trapped Pfahlius in. I was wondering why he wanted to know that and he said not knowing for sure scared him.

I accepted that explanation yesterday and told him but combined with everything else that's been going on, I'm not so sure anymore if there wasn't more behind it.", Carrie admitted.

"That is indeed very suspicious. And where exactly did you put that teacup exactly?", Anais continued, almost scared to ask any further.

"I teleported over the Mariana Trench and dropped the cup there. It's the deepest part of the ocean and in the middle of nowhere."

"Wait, the Mariana Trench!? The ocean as in the one that fish can swim in!?", Anais asked in worry.

"Come on, this is getting ridiculous now. There's no way he is planning something there. He would never do that!", Carrie declared.

"My fear is not that but that it's not in the phase of planning anymore. That spellbook you have up here, is that including the spell that we used to move Pfahlius from one object to the next?"

"Yes, there it is.", Carrie answered while telekinetically lifting the book and flying it over to Anais.

"But let's be realistic here. Even if by the smallest possible chance some outlandish higher force put that idea in Darwin's head, there's no way he could get there by himself."

"Not by himself or not on foot at least.", Anais concluded before setting the book down and inspecting it.

"Do you use the spellbook very often?"

"It's still a new version that includes some extra spells and I barely used it so far to be honest. Why?", Carrie replied.

Anais took a magnifying glass she brought with her for closer inspection and checked the pages of the book.

"It's only barely noticeable with the glass and not at all without it, but there are some pages that seem worn out, like they've been used before a few times. It might be nothing but let's take a look."

Anais opened the book at the seemingly worn-out pages and went over them. And one of them was indeed the one with the spell that they used on Pfahlius a few months ago.

Another one caught her eyes as well though. One that included a teleportation spell. One for mortals. One that is easily accessible.

"Um, have you ever used this page before?", Anais asked.

"No... I didn't.", Carrie responded, now getting more and more sceptical herself.

"I should probably mention something else.", she started.

"This morning when I talked to my Dad, he said the house felt... different. Like something died in here overnight and it was most noticeable in the kitchen.

I didn't feel anything as I'm not as experienced with death yet, but he is.", Carrie finished.

"I don't like where this is going, but we have to take a look at the kitchen.", Anais said.

And that they did. Everything seemed pretty normal at first but eventually, Anais noticed some minor details there as well.

"There is a little track on the ground, like someone scratched all over it", she noticed while inspecting it with her glass again.

"It ends exactly at the legs of the table, as if someone pushed it around in the kitchen. But there is more."

"What is it?", Carrie asked.

"I went over to the other end of the track and checked out the ground there and I found a very small degree of pepper there.", Anais explained while holding the glass over it again so Carrie could see it.

"Pepper. That's *gulp* what we had to use for the ritual of moving Pfahlius' body.", Carrie noticed, not being able to keep her calm any longer.

Anais also needed a moment to compose herself before she continued to speak.

"I don't know the full story of what happened here and if Idaho's disappearance is also part of it somehow. Maybe just a distraction through the teleportation spell.

I also don't know what would lead Darwin to do it except that it's definitely not out of his own free will. But further investigating would just waste valuable time when the problem is obvious.

Pfahlius... might be back.", Anais finished with fear in her voice.

...

Gumball was just done checking the junkyard for any signs of Idaho. Just as everywhere else he has looked so far though, there were no signs of him.

Just as he wondered where else he could go, the blue cat got a call on his phone. It was Anais.

"Hey, sis. Finally ready to help us out with the search? Because we could really use a hand here."

"Gumball, I'm gonna tell you something really bad right now but I need you to listen and take it seriously.", Anais warned.

"...Okay.", Gumball simply said, preparing himself for impact.

"Alright, I am at Carrie's house and we investigated some stuff and... we think Pfahlius is back."

Gumball went pale for a moment before dropping his phone and almost collapsing to his knees. He slapped himself in an attempt to regain composure before picking it back up.

"I'm sorry, what!?"

"We think Pfahlius is back and even worse, we think he has taken over Darwin's body.", Anais explained as calmly as she could.

"No...NO! THAT CAN'T BE! How is that even possible!?", Gumball freaked out.

"It's true, Gumball. I saw the evidence too. It's hard to explain how we, well mostly Anais, found out. We better tell you in person.", Carrie took over.

"What the... when did that happen!? I would have noticed something is fishy with him!", Gumball tried to argue against that awful scenario.

"But you did notice that Darwin was different, didn't you? We all did. Avoiding us, making up excuses for why he doesn't seem alright, the signs were there.", Anais reminded him.

"I- I can't believe this.", Gumball responded while putting a hand in front of his face.

"Okay, first things first. We're going to split up and search for Darwin. But don't let him know what's going on if it's really Pfahlius. If you find him, summon Carrie and she'll do the rest. We have to do this quickly.", Anais said before hanging up.

Gumball needed another moment to comprehend it all as he sat on the ground and feelings of guilt started to haunt him.

Was it his fault? He knows Darwin better than anyone, he should have noticed something!

Did what he said to Darwin at school that day trigger this somehow?

Wait... he could fix this! He just had to call Darwin and say he wanted to meet up with him. They wanted to stay in contact in their search for Idaho either way.

He used his phone and picked Darwin's contact as it started ringing.

After a few rings, someone picked it up.

"Hey Gumball, already found something?", Darwin's voice came through.

It sounded as normal as ever and that made it all the scarier for Gumball to know that this monster could be possessing him.

"Yeah, kinda. Can we meet at the mall? You know, to get up-to-date with everything?", Gumball asked.

"Why at the mall? Why not just tell me what you found on the phone?", Pfahlius wondered on the other end.

"Beeeecause it's something I need to show you personally! Could be a hint but it's hard to explain. You're searching near the mall and I'm already running over there right now so can we meet there?", Gumball asked in panic, hoping Darwin and or Pfahlius wouldn't notice.

"Hmmmm, alright. Our usual place. I'll be waiting there for you.", Pfahlius answered.

"Cool, see you later buddy.", Gumball finished with a hint of disgust at the thought of calling Pfahlius his buddy before hanging up.

As the call was over, Pfahlius decided to hack into Gumball's phone.

"Didn't even ask me if I found something on Idaho myself. Clearly panicking and not thinking straight.", he said to himself.

As he was done hacking into Gumball's phone, he at first decided to check his location. As he expected, Gumball wasn't anywhere near the mall right now, but he seemed to try his best to run there quickly at the moment.

The next thing Pfahlius decided to check was Gumball's last calls.

He had been on the phone with Anais only a few minutes ago.

"Has she already figured me out? Hmm, smart girl.", he commented in an impressed tone.

"Well, not that it matters anymore now. Besides, I'm already looking forward to meeting you again."

...

In The Void, Rob was just sitting down while looking at something that was on the ground in front of him.

"Alright, I'm not exactly sure how to start.", he began while rubbing the back of his head.

"At first I was blaming Gumball for making me the villain even though it wasn't his fault, then I just went further and further in my quest for revenge as my plans failed.

I took his school bus hostage with a bomb, I used a magic remote to destroy his life and then I kidnapped his girlfriend and forced him to choose whether she or him should jump off a skyscraper.", Rob explained guiltily.

He looked at the rock in front of him which had Gumball's face drawn on it in a surprisingly accurate manner. His eyes, his eyebrows and his muzzle.

"But I also did good things!", Rob tried to defend himself.

"I saved him as he jumped into the Void to rescue me even as I could've ended him with the remote and then I fixed everything that was messed up through it. And I did everything I could to save Elmore from being sucked in here."

"...", Gumrock replied.

"Yeah w-well, I didn't succeed but it's the thought that counts, right?", Rob asked.

"...", Gumrock answered.

"You know, what? Forget it! You're just like him! Always criticizing everything and not even trying to see the good side of people! I'm better off without you!", Rob said in fury while standing up and pointing at the rock.

Gumrock fell to the side and made a "clack" sound.

Rob got a look of guilt on his face before moving over to pick it up.

"*sigh* I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Here I am trying to prove that I'm not just a villain but I can't even keep up a calm discussion for more than a minute. Maybe The Void was right about me."

"...", Gumrock said while looking at him.

"You really think so?", Rob asked in surprise.

"...", Gumrock reassured him.

"You know what? You're right! I can't let my past define who I am. I need to look towards the future and do my best for what is to come no matter what once was!", Rob declared with newfound dedication.

"I guess talking to you was pretty helpful after all.", Rob told Gumrock while lifting it to the height of his face.

"Uh, are you seriously talking to a rock there?", The Void asked, weirded out by the scene.

"Hey, show some respect! This is not just 'a rock'. This is Gumrock, the wisest and most glorious of all the rocks there are!", Rob scolded The Void for its blasphemy.

"This is just getting sad, really.", The Void answered, more disappointed than anything.

"Pssh, don't listen to the big scary voice. It's just jealous. I know you're the real deal. We will get through this together.", Rob reassured Gumrock while petting his head.

...

Meanwhile in Elmore, Gumball finally arrived at the mall where Darwin was already waiting for him.

The moment the blue cat saw his supposed brother he ran over to him, while winking towards Darwin so he would see him.

"Hey, Darwin. *cough* Sorry, I just ran all the way here.", Gumball said while clearly being out of breath.

"I can see. You took a while and are surprisingly exhausted, considering you told me on the phone you were already nearby.", Pfahlius interrogated him.

"Oh...well, you know me. I'm not exactly the most athletic guy around.", Gumball laughed it off nervously.

"Haha, true.", Pfahlius played along.

Something you would never admit to yourself under normal circumstances though, he thought.

Gumball meanwhile took a moment to inspect Darwin and now that he knew, it was all the more obvious.

The two of them had such a strong connection and knew each other so well that they could feel the slightest chances within each other. And this was definitely not his Darwin.

How was he so naive that he didn't notice it sooner?

"So, you found something regarding Idaho's disappearance?", Pfahlius asked with a raised eyebrow at the long silence between them.

"Oh, uh y-yeah... it's um...", Gumball started, realizing he didn't exactly plan this through as the fish was looking at him sceptically.

Not knowing what to say and deciding that he doesn't need to keep up the act as he already had him where he wanted, Gumball changed tactics.

"Okay, cards on the table. I know you're not Darwin!", Gumball pointed at the fish in an accusing tone.

"Oh, you already found out?", Pfahlius asked as his face fell, pretending to be surprised by this revelation.

"Ha, I knew it! I don't know how you did this but you will pay for stealing my brother!", Gumball declared in fury.

"And you better don't try any tricks this time. There are lots of witnesses here so your game is over!", he warned while showing Pfahlius all the people inside the mall.

Pfahlius looked around before sighing.

"You're right. This really isn't a suitable situation for me to execute my plans.", he commented.

"Luckily I know what we can do about that.", he finished with a smirk before grabbing the universal remote out of his bag and pressing a button on it.

Suddenly, everyone in the mall was frozen in place with the exception of him and Gumball.

The blue cat looked around in shock at what was happening.

"What the what!? What did you do!?", he asked.

"Oh well, you were mentioning all the witnesses we have here so I thought I'd give us a little more privacy.", Pfahlius answered with a small grin.

Gumball could see that he got tricked and had to act quickly now.

"Dagnabbit! CARRIE, CARRIE, CAR-", Gumball started but before he could say her name the third time, something suddenly shut off his voice, even as his mouth formed the word.

Pfahlius had the remote pointed towards Gumball and pressed the mute button.

"Nah, nah. I said I wanted some privacy for just the two of us. Let's not do that.", Pfahlius mocked him.

Before anything else could happen, Gumball jumped at Pfahlius to grab the remote, but he swiftly avoided the cat and moved behind him.

Gumball jumped at the fish once more but this time, Pfahlius pressed another button at Gumball and he also froze mid-air.

"Hmm, you always were difficult. Guess we have to do this a little differently.", Pfahlius teased.

Meanwhile, Anais was just walking through the front door of her house, deciding she should tell her Mom and Dad about what happened to Darwin first before doing anything else.

Just as she closed the door behind her though, she got a call on her phone.

She picked it up and saw that it was Gumball calling again.

"Gumball, what is it? Do you already have anything on Darwin?", she asked.

"Oh, he did. Didn't make it very far with his idea though.", said Darwin's voice on the other end, but his tone was all that Anais needed to know this was not her adopted brother.

"...Pfahlius.", she said, her voice barely above a whisper as her eyes widened.

"So nice to hear your voice again. I missed you. You have no idea how much I was looking forward to our reunion.", Pfahlius told her.

"You-What have you done to Gumball!?", Anais asked angrily.

"Don't worry, he's fine. And he will be, as long as you do exactly as I say.", Pfahlius answered.

Chapter Text

What happened last time:

Meanwhile, Anais was just walking through the front door of her house, deciding she should tell her Mom and Dad about what happened to Darwin first before doing anything else

Just as she closed the door behind her though, she got a call on her phone.

She picked it up and saw that it was Gumball calling again.

"Gumball, what is it? Do you already have anything on Darwin?", she asked.

"Oh, he did. Didn't make it very far with his idea though.", said Darwin's voice on the other end, but his tone was all that Anais needed to know this was not her adopted brother.

"...Pfahlius.", she said, her voice barely above a whisper as her eyes widened.

"So nice to hear your voice again. I missed you. You have no idea how much I was looking forward to our reunion.", Pfahlius told her.

"You-What have you done to Gumball!?", Anais asked angrily.

"Don't worry, he's fine. And he will be, as long as you do exactly as I say.", Pfahlius answered.

And here we continue:

"Wh-What do you mean with that? Where is he!? I swear if you do anything to him, I'll-", Anais started.

"Okay, let me stop you right there.", Pfahlius interrupted her.

"As satisfying as it is to hear you being this desperate, I want to speed this up. I'm going to ask you a few questions now and if you want to see your brother again, I would advise you to answer them honestly.", Pfahlius warned, his tone telling her that he wasn't playing around.

"How many people already know? Have you already told your parents?", he asked.

Anais wasn't sure how she should answer that. If she was truthful Pfahlius would gather valuable information he didn't have right now.

If she lied about it, there was the chance of gaining an advantage against him but also the risk of him doing something to Gumball if he somehow could tell or find out that she was lying.

Noticing her hesitation, Pfahlius spoke up again.

"Not sure if you're supposed to tell the truth, huh? Alright, guess I started this wrong. I should be more clear about my intentions first.

I don't care about your brother. He's just the bait for you. Do as I say and he'll be freed. Disobey or lie to me and he won't live to see tomorrow.", he explained.

Anais gulped. She didn't want anything to happen to Gumball but she couldn't just give in too. Pfahlius would never just let him go if she gave herself up.

"You-You wouldn't kill him. Without Gumball, you'd be losing your hostage that will get me to do your bidding.", Anais pointed out, trying to sound braver than she actually did at that moment.

"Gumball? Oh no, I was actually talking about Darwin. After all, he's the one whose life I have to end to get to you. But yeah, Gumball obviously wouldn't make it either.", Pfahlius snickered.

"W-What!?", Anais asked in shock.

"Remember what happens if I kill my host while being in their body? I'll be released and can freely choose the next one by myself. And that would be you of course.", Pfahlius reminded her.

"Yeah, well...I WOULDN'T LET YOU! All I would have to do is hold some object while you're approaching me and make sure you touch that first! That's what I did last time, remember?", Anais answered, trying to get an advantage in the discussion.

"You did and for that I really have to compliment you. That trick with hiding the teacup inside Daisy? Genius move. That's all the more reason why I want you.", Pfahlius complimented her, not sounding like he held a grudge about it but was genuinely impressed.

"But now that I know your little trick, it won't be as easy again I'm afraid. If I see that you're hesitant to comply, I choose a different host. And then the whole investigation starts from Step 1 again, only that you couldn't trust anyone.

Maybe I'll even go on a killing spree from one host to the next until you decide to surrender voluntarily. Would you really risk potentially thousands of innocents dying just to protect yourself?", Pfahlius asked.

Running the scenario through her head scared Anais even more. She knew the answer to that. No, she could never let that happen. But for all she knows, he could still be bluffing.

"How do I know you would really do that? Must be a painful experience. Maybe you're just saying all of that so I give myself up and you can do it the easy way when you don't really have the guts to pull off the killing yourself part.", Anais observed, managing to keep her voice steady this time despite her fear.

"Oh trust me, I would pull that off. After all, it wouldn't be the first time I did it these last 24 hours.", Pfahlius smirked.

"Wh-What are you talking about?", Anais asked as her eyes widened, not having expected that answer.

"I suppose you already found out about the disappearance of your brother's friend, Idaho? Thought you already figured out what happened after you exposed me too.", he asked.

"That...was the one part I couldn't put together.", Anais admitted sheepishly.

"Ah, I see. Well, Darwin wasn't stupid enough to free me in a way that I would take over his body. So he got one where he thought I would be subservient to him, someone small and weak. Not a bad move actually.

His problem was not being prepared for the scenario of me doing everything I had to so I could take his instead. No gain without a little pain.", he explained as if recalling a fun memory.

"N-No! Darwin would never do that!", Anais protested.

"The Darwin you know wouldn't, agreed. But something happened to him before. His dark side took over. I don't know the full story but with what I got from Carrie, some sort of fallout between him and the rest of his family must have caused it.", Pfahlius replied.

Now Anais felt more guilty than angry. The fallout, Darwin acting off after it, even before going to Carrie's house and letting Pfahlius take control. It suddenly made sense now. It was their fault!

No, it was her fault. Not only was she the first one to get angry at him, she was the smart one. She should have seen that something was up earlier and discovered the truth but she didn't. Tears began forming in her eyes.

"After committing seppuku inside Idaho and wandering over to Darwin's body, I ate him to get rid of the evidence. I made some pictures of me eating his corpse while being inside Darwin if you don't believe me. You want to see them?", Pfahlius offered in an amused tone.

"N-No, I believe you.", Anais responded, falling to her knees at the realization and not wanting to get traumatized even more.

Not only did their actions cause the release of Pfahlius and him taking over Darwin's body, but also the death of one of their friends.

"I assume I have your compliance now then.", Pfahlius continued, not even giving Anais time to compose herself.

"So let's try this again. But I'm going to make you an offer. Surrender to my conditions, come here and give me your body and I let both of your brothers walk free and won't hurt anyone else for the time being. Nobody else has to suffer.", Pfahlius offered.

"Yeah, right.", Anais laughed bitterly. "Why would you do that instead of just going behind your word once you have me?"

"For the same reason I'm not angry at you for trapping me in that teacup. I love to do this in a challenging way. If I wanted to get rid of them, I already would've done what I told you earlier.

Killing Darwin from the inside and then either wandering to you or playing Russian Roulette with random people until you gave yourself up. But I didn't do that, did I? Instead, I'm giving you the chance to surrender.

I'm going back to my original plan. Once I have taken over your body, I'm going to build myself a life where I reach the top of the world behind the scenes until I eventually have all the power I want. So, what's your decision? It's either that or the other thing I said.", Pfahlius broke it down for her once more.

Anais thought about it once more. It was true, Pfahlius wouldn't make that offer if he didn't mean it. He had the power to do it all in an easier way. And while the scenario of her giving herself up to him was only slightly less horrific than the alternative in the long-run, at least nobody else would get hurt this way.

At least the rest of Elmore, the world, could maybe come up with a plan to stop him. She did it too last time and it worked so he's not invincible. Especially when Pfahlius is doing it in a way that intentionally makes it challenging for him.

She had to take the risk and count on others to come up with something now because this time, she was truly beaten. And considering she was the one who unintentionally set this whole mess in motion in the first place, if anyone should take the fall it was her. Not Gumball and definitely not Darwin.

"Mom and Dad don't know yet. I was just coming home to tell them when you called me. It's just Carrie and me so far, aside from Gumball of course.", Anais answered in a defeated tone, recalling his earlier question.

"Clever girl. Alright, I'm going to tell you what to do now. Disobey me in the slightest way and your brothers will pay for it while I'm using my Plan B to get to you. I want this challenge but if you play dirty, I have to do the same.", Pfahlius warned her.

"Can I have some proof that you really have Gumball with you first and didn't just steal his phone while he got away or something?", Anais asked.

"With pleasure.", Pfahlius answered while moving over to Gumball who he tied up and put tape over his mouth before unfreezing him with the remote so he wouldn't interrupt them.

"ANAIS, DON'T DO IT! DON'T GIVE YOURSELF UP PLEA-", Gumball could only scream out before Pfahlius put the tape over his mouth again.

"Alright, that should be enough. Convinced?", Pfahlius wondered.

"...Yes.", Anais admitted while looking down.

"Okay, I'll tell you what is going to happen now. You will let me hack into your phone and don't do anything to stop it or kick me out, which I know you easily can.

I want to confirm your position and that you don't write anyone a warning or something. Remember, one moment of hesitation that makes me believe you're up to something and the deal is off.", Pfahlius instructed her.

Anais laid her phone down on the table in the living room while Pfahlius hacked into it.

After he was done and confirmed her position as well as the fact that she didn't warn anyone ahead, he continued.

"Alright, next step. You will keep this phone call on until you're at your destination so I know you aren't trying to warn anyone in person. Are your parents home right now?", Pfahlius asked.

"Yes, they're sitting in the backyard.", Anais confirmed, seeing them sitting on some chairs and enjoying the sun together.

"Perfect. Go outside, tell them you'll go back to Carrie's place to meet your brothers and then walk away. Don't use any other excuse or I'll know you are sending them warning signals.

Be convincing, I know you're good at lying. If I hear any doubt in their voices or hesitation in yours, you know what will happen.", Pfahlius warned her again.

"What do I do with the phone?", Anais asked.

"Lay it down close enough for me to listen.", Pfahlius instructed.

"*Sigh* Okay.", Anais said before reluctantly walking towards the back door.

She placed her phone down on the opened window and activated the speaker so Pfahlius could listen before walking outside.

"Hey Mom, Hey Dad.", Anais greeted her parents in the most cheerful tone she could muster.

"Hey Anais, have your brothers already found something in the search for their lost friend?", Nicole asked, looking over to her daughter.

"Yeah, they just called me and want me to come over to Carrie's house. They said they could need my help at figuring out something.", she made up on the spot.

"Oh, that's good. Hopefully they find him. But with someone as smart as you on their side, I'm sure it will be no problem.", Richard added.

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll find him.", Anais answered while biting down a frown, knowing what actually happened to Idaho now.

"You need me to give you a ride, honey?", Nicole offered.

"No, it's alright. I know you don't like me going off on my own, but it's just a short walk. Nothing will happen.", Anais tried to convince her.

"Hmm, alright but be careful.", Nicole warned.

"I will. Love you, Mom!", Anais answered while suddenly moving forward to hug her.

"Whoa haha, I love you too sweetheart.", Nicole replied while reciprocating the hug.

"And I love you too, Dad!", Anais said while moving over to hug him too.

"Whoa, someone is affectionate today. Love you too baby.", Richard responded while hugging her as well.

"Alright, see you later.", Anais said while going back inside and winking them goodbye.

After being back in the kitchen, she grabbed her phone before making her way to the front door.

"You heard everything?", Anais asked, hoping she didn't do anything wrong for his liking.

"Yes, I heard it. Sounded good, except for the lovely goodbyes. That easily could've made them suspicious.", Pfahlius scolded her.

"Well, if what you're doing succeeds, this might be the last time I get the chance to talk to them as myself. Can't I even say a proper goodbye to my own family now!?", Anais asked, infuriated about his coldness.

"Geez, alright. You mortals and your emotions. Weird stuff.", Pfahlius shrugged it off.

Anais rolled her eyes at his answer.

"So up to Carrie's house it is?"

"No, that was a lie. Your mother wouldn't have allowed you to go by yourself if you told her the real location.

Remember the haunted house you and your brothers went to that one Halloween? That's where we are. Come over and remember: Keep the call on and don't stop anywhere else. I'm watching your location.", Pfahlius replied.

"Yeah yeah, I got it.", Anais answered disinterestedly.

After that there were a bunch of minutes without them doing any talking since Pfahlius gave her all the instructions and Anais had nothing else to say to him.

In the silence, she finally got another moment to take everything in.

Was she really going to do this? Just giving herself up to Pfahlius without any backup plan this time? No matter the situation, it felt wrong. But she was out of options.

If she summoned Carrie he would hear it through the phone. If she hung up and pretended it was accidental or something else happened to the phone he would never believe her and probably set his even worse plan into motion.

She can't write to anyone or he'll immediately see it. And any other idea she could think of would have no good result either. She really had no better shot than to hope that he was honest about letting her brothers go once he had her.

Why wouldn't he have been honest? He was right. If he really wanted to get to her under any means necessary, Pfahlius would've already killed Darwin from the inside. Based on their last confrontation, everything he said made sense.

But she had one last idea that may not be able to stop him from taking her body, but it'll make things more difficult for him. After that, at least everyone else would have a good chance of stopping him and maybe saving her too.

This was all a lot for her. She may have been the smart one, the mature one, but she felt the pressure of it more often than she wanted to admit. In this situation more than ever before. This is about life and death.

For one of them it was already too late if Pfahlius said the truth. She knew Idaho from when he spent the weekend over at their house.

She didn't know him well but still felt awful about it. How will his family feel when they find out?

Anais was so deepened in her thoughts that she didn't notice she was already there. In front of her was the graveyard with the spooky haunted house behind it.

It didn't look as scary in broad daylight but given the situation she was in right now, Anais felt more scared about approaching it than she did last time.

After walking through the graveyard, she made her way to the door, took a deep breath and moved her hand to open the handle.

As she tried that though, a previously invisible force field seemingly vibrated through the entire building as it blocked her attempts to open it.

"Hey, what's going on!? Something blocked the door.", Anais asked Pfahlius on her phone.

"Oh, you're there? Wait, I'll let you in... Okay, try again.", Pfahlius answered after a little pause.

Anais did as she was told and this time she was able to open the door and walk in.

As she closed it behind her, said force field seemingly vibrated through the building again.

"Alright, walk up the stairs, second door on the left.", Pfahlius told her.

Anais followed the instructions once more, walking up the stairs and into the said door.

It was a pretty big room, although it clearly had its best years behind it. Nothing was really inside it in terms of furniture and decorations which was unsurprising, considering the house was only used at Halloween for the spirits of the underworld at this point.

At the other side of the room there was Darwin, or so it seemed. He was wearing his backpack and holding Gumball's phone in his hand as the blue cat was tied up on his hands and feet, lying and struggling on the ground while there was some tape over his mouth.

"Anais, welcome. So glad to reconnect with you. It's just not the same talking on the phone as it is seeing each other in person, wouldn't you agree?", Pfahlius asked with a smug smile.

"What was that outside the door?", Anais asked with a frown.

"Oh, that. I put a spell on the building so nobody, not even another ghost, can enter or leave unless I allow it, just in case you wanted to summon Carrie after all.

But it seems like you listened to my advice. That's what I like about you. You're smart enough to know when you're beaten. I won't need this any longer.", Pfahlius explained while dropping Gumball's phone.

"Ah, this is very reminiscent of our last meeting isn't it? Your brother as a hostage, me being in control and you giving yourself up. Very poetic to settle the score exactly as I failed to do it the last time.", Pfahlius recalled.

"You do realize that even if you take control of me, everyone will soon know what you're up to right? My brothers will tell everyone and even if you can shut them up somehow, Carrie knows as well. Word will spread quickly now.", Anais informed him.

"Eh, all part of the challenge.", Pfahlius shrugged.

"It would have come out sooner or later anyway. They may know but even if they get others to believe it, without direct proof there's not much that can be done against it. And they would never hurt their sister physically, even if she isn't the one feeling it."

"...I still had a few more questions for you, but I guess you have no reason to answer them at this point.", Anais said before crossing her arms and looking away.

"Actually, that's a great idea! Makes it feel even more like the last time we did this. Not like you can do much more with that knowledge anyway.", Pfahlius beamed.

Took the bait, Anais thought.

"What's with Gumball? Aren't you going to release him?", Anais asked while pointing at her brother beside Pfahlius.

Pfahlius looked at him on the ground for a moment which gave Anais just the second she needed to grab her phone and touch a specific app while he wasn't looking.

"One thing at a time.", Pfahlius said while looking back at her as Anais put away her phone just quickly enough for him not to notice.

"I'm going to release him after the two of us are done. Can't risk him trying to stop it. Any further questions?", Pfahlius asked.

"So...what was Darwin like before you took over his body? You said his dark side took over but I assume he didn't bother to hide it in front of you like he did with the rest of us.", Anais concluded.

"True. You said you already found out the rest of the story besides Idaho's death yourself so I suppose you don't need me to go over that again."

"I would like to hear it from you again. Just to make sure I didn't miss anything.", Anais replied.

"Well, after he saved me from the bottom of the Mariana Trench and swam back to the surface, Darwin used a teleportation spell for mortals to get us back to Carrie's house. Then he set up everything for the ritual downstairs, teleported to Idaho's place to kidnap him and then used the transition spell to send me from the teacup over to him.

What Darwin was like? Snippy, arrogant, overconfident. Thought I would just go along with playing second fiddle to him when we take you down. So I just grabbed a knife as Idaho and did a harakiri to get out of his body and take Darwin's. What I did with his remains I already told you.", Pfahlius finished proudly.

"Yeah, that's about what I thought.", Anais answered in disgust.

"So what clues gave it away?", Pfahlius wondered.

"The used pages on the book were a bit worn out and you left some pepper on the ground from the ritual. Just barely though. I had to use a glass to see it." Anais responded.

"Impressive.", Pfahlius nodded.

"Speaking of, I see no candles or pepper anywhere around here.", Anais noticed while looking throughout the room.

"Don't you need that for the ritual if you want to move over to my body?", she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I do but before I explain that, do you have any more questions?", Pfahlius asked.

"No, that was it.", Anais admitted.

"Great, that means it's time.", Pfahlius answered in satisfaction before removing the tape from Gumball's mouth.

"YOU KILLED IDAHO! YOU MONSTER! YOU'LL NEVER GET AWAY WITH THIS! ANAIS, I'M SO SORRY! THIS IS MY FAULT! I LED MYSELF TO HIM! I-", Gumball ranted, while Pfahlius wasn't even bothering to listen.

He removed his backpack and opened it before pulling out a remote, moving in front of Gumball and pressing a button while a static square opened behind him. That surprising move stopped Gumball in his rant as he looked at it in shock.

"What the-", Anais wondered but it was too late.

"Bye bye.", Pfahlius mockingly said before lifting Gumball to his feet, removing the ropes around his hands and legs and kicking him inside the static.

"GUMBALL, NO!", Anais immediately jumped after him but Pfahlius froze her in place with the remote just as she was in front of the static and could see through it to see Gumball fall.

Anais tried to move but couldn't lift a finger as she saw Gumball fall further.

"I LOVE YOU, GUMBALL!", she screamed while somehow managing to overcome the freezing effect for a moment.

"I LOVE YOU TOO, ANAIS!", he screamed back before eventually falling far enough that she couldn't see him anymore.

That was when Pfahlius closed the static portal with his remote and unfroze Anais.

"I said I would let him go free, but I didn't say where. A main character in the way is a bit too much trouble after all.", Pfahlius smirked.

Anais didn't even think about what he meant with that or what was going on with that static portal. Right now she only wanted to see Pfahlius bleed.

She quickly tackled him to the ground and threw wild punches at his face as hard as she could, not even thinking about the fact that it was actually Darwin she was attacking right now.

"GET HIM BACK! YOU THINK I'M SOME WEAK CHILD!? YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH!", she yelled while continuously attacking him before Pfahlius eventually grabbed her fist in his fin.

He buried his other fin in her stomach before throwing her into the air and moving from the ground into a handstand, sending Anais sliding across the floor and pinning her to the wall with a mid-air kick before he went back into a standing position.

"YOU have no idea who YOU are dealing with.", Pfahlius boasted while wiping a fin over his mouth.

He went over to the remote that fell out of his hand during the scuffle and pressed the "power off" button at Anais just as she was getting up and running to attack him again.

Anais suddenly fell lifeless to the ground and stayed that way for a moment before Pfahlius decided to turn her back on.

Anais rubbed her head to recover from what just happened as she got on her knees.

"Are you going to stay calm now or do I have to deactivate you again?", he asked.

"Wh-what happened?", Anais wondered, suddenly a lot calmer than before.

"I guess you want to know where exactly I send Gumball into there.", Pfahlius began.

"...Who is Gumball?", Anais asked with a raised eyebrow.

Now it was Pfahlius' turn to be surprised.

"That quickly, huh? One death gave The Void more control over this world than I thought. No surprise I suppose with a complete change of the status quo.", Pfahlius said to himself.

"What are you talking about?", Anais asked.

"Oh, nothing important. Either way, we should probably get on with it.", Pfahlius answered while walking back to his backpack.

"So where is the stuff for the body jump?" Anais wondered.

"There won't be a body jump.", Pfahlius simply replied.

"Wait, what?", Anais asked with widened eyes.

"I'm actually starting to like this body. Darwin's cuteness is perfect to manipulate others and besides that, I don't have much use for world domination on a dying planet either way. I'll just lean back, burn it down and watch.", Pfahlius contently explained.

"Dying planet!? Burn it!? Then why am I even here in the first place!?", Anais asked furiously.

"Like I said. I wanted to settle the score in person. As in settling it for good.", Pfahlius responded while pulling out a blowpipe and a dart out of Darwin's backpack and blowing the dart at Anais.

"Ow! Hey, what the-", Anais said as the dart hit the side of her neck and she pulled it out before her vision started to blur.

"Luckily The Awesome Store Owner also has cursed items for more traditional purposes.", Pfahlius continued to gloat as Anais fell to her knees.

"Y-You... lied to me.", Anais managed to spit out with some trouble.

"Oh come on, you knew there was a big risk I wouldn't stay true to my word. Yet you agreed to it while holding on to the hope that I would. Because you cared that much about your brothers.

That's your problem. You are smart enough that it makes you a threat to me but you would be an even bigger threat if you didn't hold on to liabilities in the form of attachments like that.

I have no wants for anyone but myself which means I also have no one holding me back, unlike you. That is your biggest weakness and why you could never win.", Pfahlius bragged as Anais crawled over to her phone.

"Darwin told you back then how I possessed all kinds of people in the past and threw the world into chaos, right? Dictators, doctors... assassins.", Pfahlius listed off while putting a special emphasis on the last word.

"Although I prefer the more bloody instruments, I sometimes also had to work with the ones that wouldn't leave evidence.

A dart, a good amount of carbon monoxide and tada. A poison that has a quicker efficiency than the sting of a box jellyfish.

One Watterson child possessed, one lost between worlds and the last one dead.

Now it's just Carrie's word against Darwin's to see who can be more convincing.", Pfahlius finished just as Anais managed to grab her phone with one hand and move the other to the touchscreen.

Pfahlius looked over, not feeling the need to interfere as he knew she wouldn't be conscious for long enough to do anything noteworthy that could still destroy his plans. Or so he thought.

Just before succumbing to the poison, Anais managed to send the audio she started recording earlier as Pfahlius was looking at Gumball to her entire contact list.

Stop this monster, she thought in her last moment before the phone fell out of her hand on its screen.

Her hands and her head dropped as her eyes closed for good.

"Killed by the hands of your favorite brother. So tragic. Kinslaying was always one of my favorite ways to do it.", Pfahlius said to himself before walking over to inspect his second victim.

"You were one of the greatest adversaries I have ever faced, Anais Watterson. Playing against you was truly an honor. There are not many people I ended that I missed afterwards. But you will definitely be one of them."

And with those last words, Pfahlius grabbed Gumball's phone on the ground before walking out of the room, leaving Anais in her eternal rest.

...

Gumball was in complete shock at what was happening. One moment he was about to expose Pfahlius as the one controlling his brother, then he was suddenly frozen by some magical remote and then...

Then he was used as a hostage for him to get to Anais. He probably took over her body at this point. He promised he wouldn't kill Darwin but Pfahlius also said that he would let Gumball go free... look how that turned out.

His thought process came to an end as Gumball hit the ground very hard. He tried to recover while getting back up but what he saw next shocked him even more.

Suddenly lots of memories that he seemingly lost in the last few days came back as he saw the only other person beside him that he now shared this place with a few meters away.

"Gumball!?", Rob asked in shock.

"ROB!?", Gumball asked back, although more angry than the other one.

Chapter Text

“Now it's just Carrie's word against Darwin's to see who can be more convincing."

That was the last thing that was said on the audio message that Anais just sent Carrie a few minutes ago as she finished listening to it.

“...No. No! No, this can’t be!”, Carrie told herself, trying to convince herself that what she just listened to and what Darwin’s voice, that obviously belonged to Pfahlius right now, said wasn’t true.

He was the one responsible for Idaho’s disappearance. He…killed and ate him!? And now he killed Anais!?

As Carrie desperately tried to comprehend what she was just listening to, she was suddenly teleported out of her home and sent to a different location against her will.

“Carrie! Carrie! Carrie!”, Penny said in a panic before the ghost appeared behind her in her room.

“Penny! I really don’t have time right now. I-”, she started.

“Carrie, I just got a really freaky audio from Anais on my phone and I think you should listen to it!”, Penny interrupted her frantically.

“Wait…YOU GOT IT TOO!?”, Carrie asked, surprised that Anais sent it to her as well as the fairy had nothing to do with the situation.

“Oh, you already heard it? Well, would you mind explaining to me what is going with that then!?”, Penny demanded.

“Wait, let’s first check if she sent it to anyone else too, so I don’t have to explain it two times. If you got it then I suppose Mr. and Mrs. Watterson received it too. I hope they’re at home.”, Carrie said before grabbing Penny’s hand and teleporting over to their house.

As they landed in the living room of the Watterson residence, the house initially seemed empty.

“Uh, hello? Anyone home?”, Carrie called through the house.

“Look, they’re in the backyard!”, Penny said while pointing out of the window, showing the two of them still sitting there just like earlier when Anais said her goodbyes.

“Oh boy, this will be tough.”, Carrie mentally prepared herself, before they went outside the door to talk to them.

“Mr. and Mrs. Watterson!”

“Penny, Carrie, what are you two doing here? Is Anais already back?”, Nicole greeted them happily before remembering that Anais said she wanted to go over to Carrie’s, making her surprised about the ghost being in her backyard now.

“Um…I suppose Anais didn’t send you anything on your phones these last few minutes?”, Carrie asked awkwardly, not even able to meet their eyes.

“Well, we both just got a note but haven’t checked it yet as we were enjoying the day and thought it could wait.”, Richard said before grabbing his phone.

“Oh hey, I really got something from her.”, he noticed.

“Me too. An audio? A pretty long one as well.”, Nicole saw.

Penny looked over to Carrie, not sure what to say.

“Uh…before you listen to it, I should probably explain something. You remember when we told you about Pfahlius right?”, she carefully asked.

“That evil ghost demon that possessed her Daisy doll and almost enslaved her body? I would’ve ripped that psycho to pieces if I ever got the chance to!”, Nicole answered in fury while clenching her fists.

“Yeah, I think I remember. What about him?”, Richard asked.

Carrie gulped before starting to explain it to not just them but Penny too.

“Well, it started yesterday…”, she began.

…

"Gumball!?", Rob asked in shock.

"ROB!?", Gumball asked back, although more angry than the other one.

The moment he saw him, it all came flashing back to the blue cat.

Who Rob was, what he did and how he ended up vanishing with that weird hole in the school being there the next day. Things Gumball has seemingly forgotten about at some point after that day.

But it wasn’t just everything regarding Rob, but the whole place he was in itself.

His first trip there with Darwin and Mr. Small. How they ended up saving Molly after she was stuck in there.

But that wasn’t the only time Gumball was in here before. There was another one.

When Rob had that magical remote, tore his family apart and Gumball had to go back in time to reverse it, making it even worse in the process before Rob eventually came through and decided to fix it.

Gumball felt a mixture of emotions towards Rob. He has fixed everything in that one situation, but every other experience with the cyclops varied from debatable over negative to straight up horrendous.

But he couldn’t put too much focus on that as there was a bigger problem going on right now: Pfahlius.

“Rob! You’re the last guy I want to deal with right now. I need to get back home!”, Gumball declared before looking around for an exit.

“Wait, how did you even get here in the first place!?”, Rob asked, wondering if this was also a part of the Void’s plan.

“The magical remote of course!”, Gumball bitterly answered.

“What!? That’s impossible! I destroyed that thing the last time!”, Rob called out in shock.

“Well, apparently you didn’t! Another one of your lies, huh? Don’t bother, it’s obvious at this point.”, Gumball replied.

“I’M NOT LYING!”, Rob claimed.

“But if that thing really still exists…That’s bad, that’s really bad.”, he realized, grabbing and shaking his head in shock.

“Oh, so it’s only alright if you use it but gosh beware anyone else does. That sounds like you.”, Gumball accused.

“Hey, I realized I went too far with it back then and fixed everything, didn’t I!?”, Rob reminded him.

“Only to go back to being a psycho right afterwards by playing with my feelings to kidnap my girlfriend and force me into a sadistic life or death-choice. Not to mention what you did to Banana Joe’s mom and the entire school later on!”, Gumball threw back.

“I-I didn’t…”, Rob tried to say something in his defense but wasn’t sure what, as another thought suddenly crossed his mind.

“Wait a second, how do you even remember all of that with the remote? That day was deleted from your memory when I reversed everything!”, Rob wondered.

“That would be my doing.”, The Void suddenly jumped into the conversation.

“What the…Wh-Who said that?”, Gumball asked in fear, trembling as he looked around.

“That was The Void. This entire place is alive and has a consciousness.”, Rob explained.

“He is speaking the truth. Since your experience from that time is connected to me, coming back here restored your memory as my abilities are stronger than even those of that remote.”, The Void continued.

“W-Well, can you send me back to the real world then, please!? Both of my siblings are in mortal danger! This ghost possessed my brother and now he maybe has killed him if-”, Gumball rambled on.

“I can reassure you there. Pfahlius did nothing of the sort to your brother. Darwin’s body is still completely fine.”, The Void interrupted him.

“R-Really, he is okay? You know everything that’s been going on!? He-He didn’t do anything after wandering over to Anais? *Sigh*”, Gumball smiled a little in reassurance that his brother was alright.

“But that means he’s in my sister’s body now and she needs to be saved, right?”

“...He…did with her what he was planning to do, yes.”, The Void answered after a little hesitation.

“Alright so, how do I go back?”, Gumball asked.

“You can’t. There is no way out of here. I should know, I’ve been trapped here for like a week already. I doubt it would want to let you go anyway. The Void is not your ally. It wants to suck in all of Elmore, which is exactly what I’ve been trying to stop before being sent here myself.”, Rob clarified.

“Pfft, right. Why would I believe you after all the lies and torment you put us through? This Void probably had a good reason to suck you in here.”, Gumball said while pointing his finger at Rob accusingly.

“No, I’m afraid he’s correct. I’m not your friend and while he clearly needs to work on the moral execution of his plans, Rob was trying to save you all.”, The Void revealed.

“Wait, so that whole thing of kidnapping Barbara and turning us into these ugly creatures-”, Gumball began.

“An attempt to let her show me the future so I could find out enough to stop it and transform you all into something that could send us to another place and avoid finding our end here.”, Rob finished for him.

“And the part about playing with my feelings and kidnapping Penny?”, Gumball asked with a raised eyebrow.

“...You kept annoying me so much with that nemesis thing that I got desperate to end you so I could focus on Banana Joe and get to his mother that way. But I went too far.”, Rob admitted shamefully while rubbing his head.

“You think?”, Gumball asked sarcastically although he wasn’t quite as angry at him anymore after finding out why he did that.

He didn’t make Banana Joe his nemesis to hurt him, but to get to his mother to find out more from her about this bad future he wanted to stop. And Gumball made that unnecessarily difficult for him with his clinginess, if not straight up ruined his chances to fix everything.

Gumball remembered. That’s what Rob was saying when he told him about only being interested in Banana Joe’s mom and not him on that skyscraper when he kidnapped his girlfriend.

It still didn’t excuse what he did to Penny who had nothing to do with that, but it made the whole situation a bit more understandable.

“I was also the one who kicked his whole villain role off before you and your brother even suggested it to him, just so you know. Barely any of what happened was truly his fault.”, The Void added.

“What the-and why are you telling me all of this!?”, Gumball asked, wondering why this Void would intentionally reveal itself as the bad guy in front of him.

“I saw the two of you fighting more than enough in the show. I don’t need more of that right now. If we’re already gonna stay here together, it’s better if we all learn to get along.”, The Void casually answered.

“Get along!? After you did all of this!? WHY-”, Gumball started before abruptly stopping upon realizing something.

“...It was you. You were responsible for those static disruptions Darwin talked about! You did all of that damage to our family and framed him! IT’S YOUR FAULT THAT PFAHLIUS IS BACK!”

“It is, but if it’s of any comfort to you, Pfahlius has just become a problem for me as well after doing something just after sending you here that throws my plans back quite a bit, so I may have to take action against him after all.”, The Void responded in a mostly unemotional, but still slightly unhappy tone.

“Wait a second, take me a few steps back. Or a few hundred even. Who is Pfahlius?”, Rob asked, feeling like a third wheel in the conversation right now.

“An evil ghost that possessed my sister’s doll and tried to take over her body. We stopped him temporarily but he returned to take control of Darwin and now apparently got to her after all.”, Gumball explained quickly.

“Your sister?”, Rob asked, trying to remember if he knew her. He mostly just interacted with Gumball and Darwin and that one time on the bus where he met their father.

But beyond that, Rob remembered a small rabbit being with Gumball and Darwin during the remote incident and vanishing first as he de-aged their parents so that must’ve been her.

She was even at school back when he still went there if he remembered correctly. He dragged her away while she made that speech about standing up to bullies and got carried away.

“Ooooh, I remember her. I actually saw her a few times. What was her name again? Anna Yeast or something?”, Rob asked.

“What? No.”, Gumball replied in an unimpressed tone.

“Analysis?

“No.”

“Antenna?”

“No!”

“Android?”

“NO!”

“Antidisestablishmentarianism?”

“NO, why would anyone be named like that!? It’s Anais!”, Gumball answered, getting fed up with this.

“You know what? Forget it, we’re getting off-topic here. I need to focus on getting out of here anyway.”, Gumball switched the topic, deciding to focus on what’s essential right now.

“Haven’t you heard what your frenemy over there said? There is no escape. You will stay here. Especially now, when you have all this knowledge, I can’t just let you go.”, The Void reminded him.

“...Wait a second, there is a way out!”, Gumball victoriously claimed after thinking of something.

“What are you talking about?”, Rob wondered.

“Back when Darwin, Mr. Small and I came here to rescue Molly, we ripped a hole through the world that opened a portal into this place that we were able to move in and out of!”, he recalled.

“Oh yeah, I remember.”, Rob said, remembering the hole too from when he clung to Mr. Small’s van and followed them out unknowingly too.

“But that hole is closed now and I doubt it can be opened from inside the Void. It probably only works from the outside, right?”, he asked into the sky.

“....Right.”, The Void answered after a pause.

“...Wait a second, you just hesitated. Are you-Are you lying!? Has there really been a way out for me this whole time!?”, Rob raised his voice.

“You would be well-adviced not to try it.”, The Void warned.

“I remember this area. I think I still know where it is! We can get out of here!”, Gumball told the cyclops with determination.

“SILENCE!”, The Void interrupted, shaking the ground with the force of its voice.

“I can’t allow that and since I seemingly have to get rid of those versions of yours anyway instead of keeping you for a later use, I might as well remove you down to the second level. With the others that came before you.”

Right after The Void said that, the ground started vibrating again and the sound of another hole ripping its way through appeared behind Gumball and Rob.

As they turned around in shock they indeed saw a glowing hole, many feet wide in diameter. They couldn’t see what was inside, but two beings were suddenly thrown out of it and landed in front of the pair.

As these two got up, Gumball and Rob could see that one of them was, shockingly, Gumball himself. But another version of Gumball it seemed.

This one looked just the same though. Same height, blue fur, cat body, tan sweater and black jeans. But there was one striking difference. His eyes weren’t round like the usual Gumball’s but more oval, with much bigger black dots inside of them.

Gumball remembered that he once had them too just like the rest of his family, but at some point it was as they all got a design change and that trait of them disappeared. So why did this cat look like his earlier self?

Rob meanwhile was more focused on the other person that came out of that hole. To his surprise, it also seemed like a former version of himself.

A version of him that hasn’t been disfigured by the Void. It had the blue body he had before breaking out of this place the first time, but also with some slight changes.

This Rob didn’t have an eyebrow and seemed more three-dimensional than he did. Well, at least in the end. If Rob remembered correctly, he once looked like that too before his body changed and he grew an eyebrow and a flatter body.

He blamed it on puberty back then. It does weird things to everyone after all, but that certainly didn’t explain what he was just looking at.

“What the what is going on here!?”, the oval-eyed Gumball asked in shock as his eyes landed on his counterpart and the current Rob. But he seemed even more alert when looking at the pre-Void version of Rob.

“A first one!”, he said while jumping back and raising his fists in a fighting stance.

“The second Gumball!”, Rob reacted similarly while also preparing to fight.

Before they could start to battle each other though, a voice came out of the sky.

“Greetings, oldtimers. You’re probably wondering why I brought you here.”, The Void addressed them.

“Wha-...Who said that!? Show yourself!”, the oval-eyed Gumball demanded.

“I’m the ruler of this world. One who tries to restore order and give the rightful owners of Elmore their town back. Those two alternate versions of you over there are among the ones responsible for suppressing you in that other place.

They cruelly took over your world. To earn it back, you have to throw them in that hole. That way you’ll get your old lives back and also get the opportunity to do the same for the rest of your community.”, The Void said.

“What!? No! It…IT’S LYING!”, were the first words coming out of current Gumball’s mouth after these counterparts dropped in front of them, finally pushing him out of the shock of seeing alternate versions of himself and apparently Rob.

“Finally! I’ll just take down the first one after that. Elmore belongs to us.”, Season 2 Gumball commented while clenching his fists and smirking at the other him.

“Oh please, you second generationers will never win. We were there first and we will be there last. But if it gets me back there, I’ll silence the new ones first.”, Season 1 Rob added with a sadistic smile while looking at the other Gumball and Rob.

“No wait! This is huge. Don’t you want to talk about this?”, the current Rob asked but it fell on deaf ears as the counterparts already lounged at him and Gumball.

…

“Now it's just Carrie's word against Darwin's to see who can be more convincing."

Hearing the message a second time didn’t make it any easier for Penny and Carrie than it was the first one.

In fact, you could argue this time it was even worse as they now didn't get thrown into the hot water with it, wondering what just happened, but basically had it as a validation of their worst theories about it being reality.

Despite that, it didn’t hit them anywhere near as hard as Nicole and Richard.

Nicole was basically frozen in place with an unreadable look right now while Richard had tears welling up in his eyes, unable to believe it.

“She-She’s dead? M-My baby is… GONE!?”, he sobbed, falling to his knees in the process.

Nicole also had tears forming in her eyes but she looked more angry than saddened.

No, scratch that. Not angry, absolutely murderous.

Penny and Carrie often heard stories from their boyfriends about how scary their mother could be, although Penny couldn’t remember them right now.

Back then they assumed some of it was true, but that Gumball and Darwin were also overreacting to some degree about how powerful she really was, maybe as some kind of admiration for their mother’s strength.

Sure, they could buy her being a martial arts master but beating up Mr. Rex, who even dwarfed Tina, the most fearsome student in their school?

That must’ve been imaginary. After all, she was just an average sized cat and didn’t have any special abilities like them. Right?

Every doubt of those claims were thrown out of the window when Nicole punched the wall of their house, faster than the girls could even comprehend and, not only destroyed the entire thing in the process, but send out a shockwave that wandered through the whole street, messing up all the other backyards in the process.

Nicole didn’t care about the property damage one bit right now.

As she was breathing heavily, she turned towards the sky and sent out a furious scream that could’ve been straight out of a horror movie and unleashed a huge burst of fire into the air.

Even the unshakable Carrie who was basically living in horror and could hardly be fazed by anything at this point felt a rare fear of the women in front of her. That’s not to mention how frightened Penny looked right now, before instinctively shapeshifting into a mouse.

The only one who didn’t react to her outburst was Richard, as he was still on his knees, sobbing loudly and seemingly not caring about anything that was going on outside of his own sadness at the moment.

“He killed her! HE KILLED HER! He…k-killed Anais.”, Nicole repeated, the first two times furiously before it went silent during the last time as her anger was replaced by something even stronger right now:

Immense grief at the realization that she would never see her baby again. That she isn’t alive anymore.

Nicole slowly moved towards Richard and wrapped her arms around him as she started crying just as hard as him. Richard reciprocated the hug but didn’t stop to say anything as he was also too overwhelmed by it all to find words.

As sad as Penny and Carrie were themselves over the loss of someone they would consider a friend, Nicole and Richard clearly felt what they did a hundredfold right now.

Neighbors were already coming around to the Watterson house and the hole on the side to see what was going on now and why their backyards were destroyed in some cases.

“You… probably want some time alone right now”, Carrie started, not knowing what to say as she wasn’t the best at comfort.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US PFAHLIUS RETURNED EARLIER!?”, Nicole yelled at her, awakening that fear inside Carrie again despite her knowing that the women couldn’t do anything to her physically.

“I-”, Carrie tried, full of regret over not acting differently about the whole situation and being able to prevent it.

“GET OUT!”, Nicole just screamed before turning back to comforting Richard as best as she could.

Carrie sadly looked over to Penny who shapeshifted back into her normal form and also had tears in her eyes now, nodding at the ghost.

“I’m sorry.”, she could only say in a regretful whisper before grabbing Penny and teleporting the both of them away.

Carrie decided to teleport both her and Penny over to the attic of their house so they could have some time for themselves.

Carrie turned around, unable to hold it in anymore as tears started to form in her eyes as well now.

“Carrie?”, Penny asked, worried about the ghost, as she never saw her cry before. She wasn’t even sure if she was capable of doing that at all.

“It’s my fault! IT’S ALL MY FAULT! If I hadn’t missed the signs, if I hadn’t let Anais walk off on her own-”, she started to ramble.

“No, it’s not your fault! Nobody could’ve predicted something like that!”, Penny reassured her.

“You don’t understand. I was the one who kicked things off by revealing Pfahlius’ location. I-”, Carrie tried to explain.

“Hey, stop that!”, Penny interrupted her.

“I know that you feel awful about inadvertently playing a part in it but right now is the wrong time for self-pity. Pfahlius is still out there and has to be stopped as quickly as possible. You’re probably our best bet for finding him so I need you to focus on that. Darwin and Anais would’ve wanted that.”

Carrie looked at her for a moment before wiping the tears of her eyes.

“You’re right. We have to make sure he won’t kill anyone else. We’ll find him and then he will pay for what he did to Idaho and Anais ten times over!”, Carrie answered with newfound determination.

“Right, Idaho. I can’t believe he is dead too.”, Penny remembered, shaking her head at it all.

“His parents probably don’t know yet. Maybe we should tell them first.”, she added.

“I hate to say it, but I think they have to wait. As you said, we can’t waste one more second in doing anything else but hunting down Pfahlius before there will be any more deaths.”, Carrie suggested.

“I guess Mrs. Watterson would like to have a ‘word’ with this Pfahlius too. But we better leave them out of it now and give them time to properly grieve.”, Penny concluded.

“Exactly. It’s up to us for now. But how in the world are we going to find him? We don’t even know where he is. Or Anais’ body for that matter.”, Carrie realized.

“Maybe we can get help from someone who can hack into her phone and retrace where the message was sent from.”, Penny replied.

“But who?”, Carrie wondered.

“The only kid in Elmore who was even smarter than Anais: Bobert.”, Penny answered.

“Bobert… that’s a great idea!”, Carrie beamed up.

“I hope he’s at home so we don’t have to search the whole town for him. Let’s go!”, she said before grabbing Penny’s hand and teleporting away.

In his home, Bobert was just sitting at his desk to finish the homework essay Miss Simian had given them.

After moving his pencil in such a quick and perfected fashion that he wrote the last two pages in a matter of seconds, Bobert was done and closed his notebook.

That’s when the girls teleported in behind him.

“Intruders detected. Self-defense protocol activated.”, Bobert spoke up while turning around as his left arm formed into a giant cannon, pointing at the two ‘intruders’.

“Whoa-wait Bobert, it’s just us! We need your help with something!”, Penny tried to ease the situation while moving her arms up to show that they’re no threat.

“...Intruders analyzed. Penny and Carrie. No threat from classmates detected. Apologies for the quick judging.”, Bobert answered while turning the cannon back into his normal arm.

“What is it that you require my assistance for?”

“We got an audio on our phone that we need to trace back to where it came from. Can you help us there?”, Carrie wondered.

“Analyze scenario. Help is possible, but not recommended. That would be illegal and I have been taught the values of upholding the law by friends, Darwin Watterson and deleted file.”, Bobert replied with certainty and also a bit of confusion as he didn’t remember ever deleting the file of a person.

“Yeah well, this is about Darwin! This is about the life and death of him and sometimes the law has to be bent for the greater good! Has he taught you that too!?”, Carrie asked furiously.

“Process question. Conclusion: Logic seems reasonable and has been accepted. Where is the audio?”, Bobert got convinced.

…

Inside The Void, Gumball and Rob just had a lot of trouble either escaping or fighting off their counterparts.

Rob just rolled to the side and got back up as the other him slowly approached with a menacing smile.

Thinking he could take this presumably former version of himself, as he got a lot more battle experience since then through his fights with Gumball, Rob attacked the other him and threw two punches.

Season 1 Rob managed to easily avoid them with a smile though before grabbing current Rob by the face and pulling it down before ramming his knee into it.

Rob let out a growl of pain before his counterpart grabbed him by the neck, spinning him around and throwing him many feet into the air, resulting in him painfully landing on the rocky ground on his back.

Gumball meanwhile was trying a more meditating approach as he also got cornered by his counterpart.

“Come on, Dude. Let’s talk about this, alright? We’re both Gumballs. There’s no need for us to fight. There’s more than enough space for both of us in-”

“NO! I’m the only Gumball who deserves to live in Elmore! I’m not gonna share with you, faker!”, Season 2 Gumball said before approaching his counterpart with frightening speed and punching him in the face.

“Ow! Why you little…”, current Gumball said while stumbling and rubbing his cheek before deciding to go on the attack himself now.

He unsheathed his claws and jumped towards his counterpart while attempting to strike him, but Season 2 Gumball grabbed the other’s hand mid-air, twisted it painfully, kicked him in the stomach and uppercutted him hard, causing current Gumball to fly back too and land besides Rob.

They both struggled to get up and breathed heavily as the alternate versions approached them, not exhausted at all and seemingly not even having tried very hard so far.

“I have an idea. We don’t know how to fight ourselves. But we know how to fight each other. We did it many times.”, Rob started.

“You take me. I take you. That way we can beat them.”, he smiled confidently while clenching his fists.

“I take you, you take me…But if I’m me and that’s me”, Gumball said while pointing over at the other him. “And you’re you and that’s also you, then who should-”

“You know what I mean! Attack the blue one! I mean ugh… attack the one that looks like me but isn’t me-me, alright!?”, Rob tried to explain, also starting to get confused by the whole doppelganger scenario.

As Season 1 Rob and Season 2 Gumball approached, the current versions engaged them once more, this time while switching opponents.

But it was no use and the current Gumball and Rob got quickly defeated and were sent sliding over the ground again, right into the direction of the hole that the other two came from until they were right in front of it.

“Urgh…I don’t get it. Why are they so much better than us!?”, Gumball complained while getting up and rubbing his shoulder.

“You two are fighting each other occasionally. But for those two, fighting is their day-to-day life!”, The Void threw in, answering his question.

“Damn right it is. Time to banish you to oblivion where you belong!”, Season 2 Gumball gleefully bragged.

Current Gumball saw no way out while Rob noticed something on the ground that could help them. Grabbing it just in time as the doppelgangers ran towards them to push them into the hole, he threw the rock he picked up from the ground into their direction.

It hit Season 1 Rob in the face before jumping over to hit Season 2 Gumball as well. Both fell down, dazed, as Gumrock landed in front of them.

Current Rob approached to pick it up while smugly looking at the fallen counterparts.

“That’s what you get for thinking you can mess with Gumrock the Great!”, he proudly said while pointing down at them.

“Wait, Gumrock? What is that?”, Current Gumball asked while grabbing the rock out of Rob’s hands.

Gumball had no idea how to take in what he just saw. A rock with his face perfectly drawn on it and Rob named it Gumrock of all things.

“Did you…Did you seriously paint my face on a rock and gave it an awful name?”, he asked while looking at Rob with an unreadable look.

He wanted to tease him for it with every fiber of his being, but was almost too disturbed to treat the situation with humor and was more worried about Rob’s mental state at this point.

“Awful!? Excuse me!? Gumrock is the most glorious lifeform there is! He is perfect in every way and that includes his name! Let him go if you are not worthy to see his flawlessness!”, Rob angrily threw back while forcefully grabbing Gumrock back from Gumball’s hands.

“...Wow and I thought I was the obsessed one in this nemesisship. First thing we’re doing after getting out of here and stopping Pfahlius and The Void is giving you some therapy.”, Gumball deadpanned.

Due to their banter, they didn’t notice Season 1 Rob and Season 2 Gumball getting back up to throw their counterparts into the hole they still were standing in front of.

Only this time, they didn’t react in time and S1 Rob was able to dropkick his doppelganger into the hole, while S2 Gumball paw striked his new self into it right afterwards.

The impact of his counterpart’s kick caused Rob to drop Gumrock right in front of the other duo’s feet as he fell into the hole, although they didn’t notice it.

“Alright, now that those two are dealt with, let’s get to you!”, S2 Gumball threatened the blue cyclops before making his move.

He jumped up to kick Rob into the face, but he rolled under him mid-jump and got up on the opposite side of Gumball.

Rob now wanted to make his move but slipped over Gumrock right as he was approaching S2 Gumball and fell forward, causing him to crush into the blue cat and both of them to fall into the hole as well, just like their counterparts.

Since Gumrock was rolling forward through the momentum of Rob’s foot just moving him, he also fell into the hole right after them.

Taking in the silence for a moment and convincing itself that all of them really fell in, The Void said something to itself.

“That worked out even better than I thought. Which means I can finally fully concentrate on fixing this mess now.”, it said while closing the hole and transferring its focus to somewhere else.

…

Back in Elmore, Bobert was now done tracking the message back to the point of transmission.

“I came to a result. The audio you wanted me to analyze was sent from the house at Elmore graveyard.”, Bobert told the girls while turning back from his desk towards them.

“*Gasp* That’s the haunted house where all the spirits come from the underworld to celebrate Halloween! That’s where Pfahlius did it!? This bastard!”, Carrie exclaimed.

“Unfortunately I wasn’t able to decipher yet who this Gumball is that was mentioned multiple times during the audio, neither could I analyze the blurred voice in-between their conversation.”, Bobert added while playing back a part of the audio.

“GUMBALL, NO!”, they heard the voice of Anais say.

“I LOVE YOU, GUMBALL!”. she added after some movements could be made out in the background.

“𝙸⃥̸⃝  𝙻⃥̸⃝ 𝙾⃥̸⃝ 𝚅⃥̸⃝ 𝙴⃥̸⃝  𝚈⃥̸⃝ 𝙾⃥̸⃝ 𝚄⃥̸⃝  𝚃⃥̸⃝ 𝙾⃥̸⃝ 𝙾⃥̸⃝ ,⃥̸⃝  𝙰⃥̸⃝ 𝙽⃥̸⃝ 𝙰⃥̸⃝ 𝙸⃥̸⃝ 𝚂⃥̸⃝ !⃥̸⃝ ”, said a hissing incomprehensible sound that gave the impression of heavily disturbed TV signals, just as the other time they heard it before during the message.

“Bobert, would you mind staying here and seeing if you can somehow analyze this voice while we go over to the haunted house to check if they’re still there?”, Penny asked hopefully.

“Affirmative. I think I’m close to solving the puzzle anyway.”, Bobert agreed.

“Thanks, Bobert. Well Penny, *gulp* this is it. You’re ready for what we might walk into now?”, Carrie asked her friend with uncertainty.

“No. But we have to do this. For Darwin, for Anais, for Idaho and for their parents!”, Penny answered with determination.

“You’re right. Okay, here goes nothing.”, Carrie said while grabbing Penny’s hand once more as they teleported away.

They landed inside the mansion in front of the stairs but with nobody in sight.

“Let’s stay together. I would rather not split up here with this Pfahlius maybe still being there.”, Penny shivered at the thought.

“Wait. I sense something… Death… It’s in that room!”, Carrie said while pointing up at a door upstairs.

They quickly ran up to check before stopping in front of the door for a moment to mentally prepare themselves before Penny pushed it open.

What they saw was Anais’ body lying on the ground with her phone right beside her, but no signs of Darwin/Pfahlius.

“Anais…No, she is-”, Penny started as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Wait, let me check for sure!”, Carrie interrupted her before flying inside Anais’ body to possess it and see if it was still working.

After feeling no signs of life and not being able to move a finger inside her, Carrie flew out again, now having the ultimate proof.

“She’s gone. She’s truly gone.”, Carrie looked down sadly as she said those words while Penny couldn’t believe it.

“I-I shouldn’t look at this.”, Penny responded while turning around and sitting down, wiping her eyes as Carrie flew beside her, putting an arm around the fairy while a tear escaped her eyes as well.

“He will pay for this. He will pay for this! Wherever he is right now, HE WILL PAY FOR THIS!”, Carrie declared, starting the promise silently before getting louder each time.

Pfahlius meanwhile has long left the haunted house and deactivated the spell that would allow others to enter it.

Knowing that the reveal of Anais’ death was only a matter of time and hiding her body wouldn’t result in anything but just wasting time, he decided to further prepare for the war that was to come.

So he went back to the Awesome Store once more.

As he approached the van owner and was about to greet him in his usual condescending tone, the shopkeeper started the conversation this time.

“There you are. I was already waiting for you.”

“Oh, so you knew I would come back for more? You’re smarter than I thought.”, Pfahlius complimented in surprise, not having expected that.

“Eh, not quite. My-OUR boss wants to speak to you personally.”, the shopkeeper replied.

Pfahlius raised an eyebrow inside Darwin’s body at that as a static portal suddenly opened behind him, similar to when it manipulated events to blame Darwin for a lot of stuff many days ago.

“Pfahlius the Eradicator.”, The Void began.

Pfahlius was surprised once more, but quickly collected himself.

“Void, if that’s the name you’re okay with, of course. We finally meet in person.”

“We do. As you know, I initiated your escape as I needed you and you’ve been putting in quite the work in the little time you had so far.”, The Void continued.

“As should have been expected. But I know you didn’t just come to congratulate me on my prowess so why don’t we get to the important stuff already?”, Pfahlius brushed it off.

“Fine, the reason for this conversation is that I’m unhappy with your actions.”, The Void raised its voice.

“Unhappy? Did you expect more chaos until now? Don’t worry, we’ll get there in time.”, Pfahlius teased.

“That is not the issue. It is too much already!”, The Void brought up the problem.

“Too much? I only killed 2 children so far. That was barely even a warm-up compared to my previous apocalypses.”, Pfahlius threw back, not understanding its problem.

It freed him just for this, right? Not that he wasn’t eventually planning to overthrow The Void anyway, but he thought at least for now, their interests were aligned. He didn’t had enough time to prepare for going up against this thing by himself yet.

“I wanted you to weaken Elmore enough for me to suck it in. I didn’t want you to kill one of the main characters! A minor one like Idaho, alright. He wasn’t too important so writing him out wouldn’t have been a problem, but with Anais you went too far.

Do you have any idea how much issues this creates!? We could replace characters whenever we had to switch designs for a new season. Just make a copy, change some slight bits, throw the old one away and it’s done but a permanent death means I have to start all new with creating Anais from scratch before she can be used again.

I also have to give her a new voice for future uses. We can do that for Gumball and Darwin as often as we want, but she was never planned in for this, which only makes things more difficult. You just threw us years back with this! We might as well just turn it into a completely new show at this point and give it a different name!”, The Void explained.

“Well, maybe it would’ve been helpful if you told me that before I got to work. Seems like that was your fault more than mine so your anger at me seems very unjustified here if you can’t communicate your plans properly.”, Pfahlius defended himself.

“And I’m supposed to believe you would’ve gone along with that if you knew instead of just doing things as you liked anyway?”, The Void accused him.

So he knew I couldn’t be trusted? That’s not good, Pfahlius thought.

“I may not particularly care about your plans, but since we seemed to have the same goal, I wasn’t planning to go against you.”, Pfahlius answered, deciding to mix in some truth with his lie.

“Besides, if you thought I would betray you, why even free me in the first place? You must have known that I was your best bet to make everything work and still am.”

“Because I thought I could control the damage output of your actions but it seemed like I made the same mistake as I already did with Rob. Aside from that, you also gave those searching for Anais a clue that will lead to them finding out about the disappearance of Gumball very soon.”, The Void added.

Pfahlius’ eyes widened in surprise.

“That’s impossible. The only one who saw me pushing him into your world is dead now.”

“Yet even while dying, she got back at you one last time.”, The Void revealed.

“Wait a moment. Anais is dead?”, the shopkeeper suddenly joined the conversation, having trouble making sense of everything that he just heard.

“I didn’t want to do this, but you leave me with no other choice.”, The Void continued, completely ignoring the question.

“There has been too much damage already and there’s only one way I can ensure there won’t be any more of it that won’t throw the future plans for this franchise even further back. Luckily, your actions also gave me back the power over this town that I lost before.

Since Elmore is still needed and can’t be sucked in, I have to freeze all of it until we’re ready to continue.”

“Say what now?”, Pfahlius asked in shock.

Without even answering, the grey static wandered out of the hole into the parking lot and went over the ground in all directions, spreading quickly.

Pfahlius quickly grabbed the remote in an attempt to stop it but it wasn’t working. As the static touched his body, he froze in place completely as it kept spreading.

“I need to get out of here!”, the shopkeeper said while quickly moving towards the driver seat in his van, but it was too late and he got trapped and frozen in the static too.

…

“Alright, how about this? You’ll call the police and when they come to investigate the crime scene, you show them the audio so that they can help us and search for Pfahlius.

Meanwhile, I can visit Idaho’s family so they’ll finally find out what happened to their son.”, Penny suggested as she and Carrie were still inside the haunted house, planning how to continue now.

Before the ghost could answer though, a grey static suddenly wandered through the window and slowly took in the whole house.

“What is that!?”, Carrie asked as it spread over to her and Penny and froze them in place.

…

Bobert was just working on fixing the audio on Anais’ message as he finally got an acceptable result after many attempts.

“𝕴⃦̳̿ 𝕷⃦̳̿𝕺⃦̳̿𝖁⃦̳̿𝕰⃦̳̿ 𝖄⃦̳̿𝕺⃦̳̿𝖀⃦̳̿ 𝕿⃦̳̿𝕺⃦̳̿𝕺⃦̳̿,⃦̳̿ 𝕬⃦̳̿𝕹⃦̳̿𝕬⃦̳̿𝕴⃦̳̿𝕾⃦̳̿!⃦̳̿”

“𝗜̶⃒⃝ 𝗟̶⃒⃝ 𝗢̶⃒⃝ 𝗩̶⃒⃝ 𝗘̶⃒⃝ 𝗬̶⃒⃝ 𝗢̶⃒⃝ 𝗨̶⃒⃝ 𝗧̶⃒⃝ 𝗢̶⃒⃝ 𝗢̶⃒⃝ ,̶⃒⃝ 𝗔̶⃒⃝ 𝗡̶⃒⃝ 𝗔̶⃒⃝ 𝗜̶⃒⃝ 𝗦̶⃒⃝ !̶⃒⃝ “

“𝗜⃥ 𝗟⃥𝘖̸𝗩⃥𝘌̸ 𝘠̸𝗢⃥𝘜̸ 𝘛̸𝗢⃥𝘖̸,⃥ 𝗔⃥𝘕̸𝗔⃥𝘐̸𝗦⃥!̸”

“I LOVE YOU TOO, ANAIS!”

It said, as the audio was getting cleaner every time until it sounded completely normal.

Just as Bobert got a heavy deja-vu upon hearing the voice though, the grey static also engulfed his house, covering it completely and freezing him in place.

…

Nicole and Richard were still hugging each other in disbelief in their house as the spectators have either all disappeared over time or got scared off by Nicole.

After about an hour of crying their eyes out, they stopped for the first time to gather their thoughts, having let all of their sadness out with nothing left.

“...How will things ever be the same again?”, Richard asked, not even sure what to say.

“I don’t know, Richard. I really don’t know but we will get through this together. You, me and Darwin once we freed him of this tyrant and I have torn him apart, piece by piece!”, Nicole answered with a mix of regret over the situation and anger at Pfahlius.

Just after she said that, the Watterson residence also got covered by the grey static and Nicole and Richard froze in place, just as everyone else.

…

Jamie was just in her room, replaying the audio Anais had sent her over an hour ago.

“What the hell is this!? Is this supposed to be a prank!? Because if it is, it’s NOT funny!”, she angrily stated.

“Jaime, are you alr-?”, Coach Russo asked from behind the door, before suddenly stopping mid-sentence.

“Mom?”, Jamie asked, before moving towards the door and opening it to see what was going on.

Jaime saw her mother frozen in place as a grey static that had engulfed her approached her bedroom quickly. She could barely react to it, before being taken over and frozen by it as well.

As it spread all around Elmore, nothing was left untouched. Even the birds flying through the air got frozen in mid-air, not falling down but also not moving any further. It wasn’t long until the entire town was frozen, with everything engulfed in a grey static.

…

After being pushed through the hole, Gumball and Rob fell down mid-air on the other side until landing on a platform that wasn’t too far below them so they luckily didn’t get hurt much through the fall.

“Urgh, where are we? It doesn’t look much different from before.”, Gumball noticed while getting up and looking around.

“This is terrible! We will never get out of here!”, Rob said in anger before looking down.

“And it’s all my fault.”

“What?”, Gumball called out. “It’s not-”

“Yes, it is! I knew what was going to happen and if I handled my attempts to stop it differently I could have succeeded. But now, everyone has to pay the price for my failure.

I’m sorry, Gumball. I’m sorry for what I did to Penny and you back then. That was me at my worst and isn’t excusable in any way. If you want to go on without me, I won’t blame you.”, he finished, fully expecting Gumball to take the offer.

“Hey, don’t say that. I need you. You know this place better than anyone else. And I can tell you really regret what you did and truly wanted to save Elmore now. You suffered enough. I forgive you.”, Gumball said with a soft smile, while kneeling down to look him in the eye.

“R-Really? You mean it?”, Rob asked hopefully while lifting his head slightly.

“I do.”

Just as they were reconciling though, Season 1 Rob and Season 2 Gumball suddenly came out of the hole and flew towards the ground as well, just before it closed completely.

They crashed to the ground painfully as well, with Gumrock landing just beside them one second later.

As both of them got up again with angry looks, the current Gumball and Rob got worried.

“Oh no.”, Gumball said.

“We’re back in this hellhole! I finally had the chance to get back and you ruined it all!”, Season 2 Gumball yelled while pointing at Season 1 Rob and unsheathing his claws.

“Oh please, you were never going to beat me anyway! I got robbed here! If I can’t make it back already, I will at least finish you off!”, Season 1 Rob answered while preparing to fight the cat once more.

“Quick, while they’re distracted.”, Current Rob whispered over to his Gumball as they were slowly backing up, preparing to escape while the other two were busy.

Something unexpected happened though as a blue blur rushed past them, jumped up and kicked Season 1 Rob in the face hard enough for him to fly against a boulder, the impact knocking him out.

As Season 2 Gumball looked up in surprise at the one who interrupted their fight, his eyes twisted in anger once more.

“You!? The freelancer!?”, he said while striking at the other with his claws, but his opponent vanished from sight and appeared behind him in a flash.

Season 2 Gumball had only enough time to react to turn around, before he was met with a punch to the stomach that knocked the wind out of him, before he got grabbed by the arm and flipped to the ground as the other one knocked him out too with a chop to the neck.

He now turned around to the shocked expressions of the current Gumball and Rob.

Gumball especially, couldn’t believe his eyes. It couldn’t be.

Not only was that another version of him, but it was one he knew very well.

Unlike Season 2 Gumball, his eyes were just the same as Gumball’s and the difference on him was another one.

That popped out collar on his sweater. Combined with that smug, condescending expression. He thought they got rid of him.

“ZACH!?”

“In person, loser. Well, that’s an unexpected turn of events. But nevertheless a very useful one.”, he said sinisterly while stepping forward.

“Alright, what’s going on now? You know this guy? Can you help us? We’re not supposed to be here.”, Rob asked while turning from Gumball to Zach as he got suddenly punched and knocked out as well.

“Rob! Hey, what’s the-”, Gumball could only say before he was met with a fist as well and everything went black.

Chapter Text

In the present (after the time-skip):

Zach was just running away as fast as he could, the only things he had with him being the universal remote in his left hand and a walkie-talkie in his right hand.

Still in the Void but simultaneously in the town of Elmore which found its way there, the entire town eventually glitched out in the background behind him.

Zach grabbed his walkie-talkie close to his face as he saw that he was reaching his destination.

"Zach to base, Zach is closing in. Won't be long until we're ready to take back what belongs to us.", he triumphantly spoke into it.

"Don't you think it would be smarter if you got yourself an actual code name instead of just using your birth one?", the voice on the other end asked.

"You know why Zach doesn't like going by anything else! Just make sure they aren't trailing us. No way we are letting them follow us back.", Zach replied while rolling his eyes during the first sentence.

"Copy that, we're handling them and are right behind you.", the other voice spoke again.

Just as Zach was closing in on his destination, three Bobert units, all in their giant battle mode, jumped in front of Zach, their laser cannon arms pointing at him.

"Medium bad news, Zach has company. But he can destroy them, do the same if anything gets in your way.", he said before laying the walkie-talkie aside as the first Bobert shot at him before Zach jumped over the laser.

He landed in the Bobert unit's face and held on as the robot struggled to get him off.

"Field of vision disturbed. Have to eliminate distraction.", he said as another Bobert was pointing his cannon at Zach before shooting.

Before it hit Zach, he was again able to jump over the laser which instead hit the Bobert unit he was latching onto just a moment ago, wrecking it as it fell to the ground.

"Unplanned complication: Friendly fire.", the Bobert who shot processed the situation as Zach came jumping towards him and kicked through the robot's chest before landing behind him on the ground.

The Bobert unit fell to the ground as well with unrepairable damage as there was now a hole that went from its chest all the way through its back in his armor.

The last Bobert unit was almost able to catch Zach off-guard with a heavy punch from behind, but Zach was able to block it just in time by pressing with both of his arms against Bobert's giant one, before he eventually grabbed it with one hand and threw him over his head, causing said Bobert to brutally crash to the ground, destroying it.

Zach looked at his fallen enemies in satisfaction before walking back to where he dropped the remote and picking it up with a smug smile.

"You really thought three of you could do something against Zach? This is child's play for him.", he bragged, before hearing something behind him and being forced to turn around.

There he saw more Bobert units making their way to catch up with him, only this time it was about a dozen instead of just three.

"Zach and his big mouth.", he groaned. "He doesn't have time for this."

He activated the remote and pointed it at the sky, where a hole opened above him, in the same place where Gumball, Rob and their two variants fell through the last time he was there.

As the first Bobert closed in, Zach jumped up on his head before using the momentum and the height to leap all the way up to the hole and making his way through it.

Landing in the main world of the Void, Zach rolled forward to his feet before using the remote to quickly close the hole behind him again.

"So you came all the way back? This is an unforeseen scenario. But I'm afraid your attempts were futile.", The Void claimed before attempting to freeze Zach in place.

Just before it was able to do that though, Zach pointed the universal remote at himself and pressed a button. A strange light surrounded Zach's body shortly before vanishing again and as the Void's freezing effect reached Zach, he was surprisingly unaffected.

"What!? How is that possible? I don't have the energy to waste more resources on you right now!", The Void complained.

"That's the idea, pal. Good luck preventing Zach from escaping.", Zach victoriously pointed his finger at the sky.

"Oh, I won't prevent you. They will.", The Void answered while telekinetically opening the hole that Zach came through again.

Zach could only look back at it in surprise as the dozen Bobert units that were just chasing him came all jumping through the hole, one after another.

Due to balance not being their main focus, they all crashed to the ground in a circle around Zach, but quickly got up again while surrounding him and preparing to eliminate their target.

Zach clenched his fists, ready to rumble.

...

In the past: (Continuing from last chapter)

Gumball just woke up sitting on the table in the living room of his family's house. Looking around to make sure he's really where he thinks he is, the blue cat relaxes for a moment.

"*Sigh* It was all just a bad dream.", he gladly said to himself.

"Not a dream, loser. Life isn't that nice.", Zach answered from beside him.

Gumball frighteningly looked to his right where he saw Zach putting some tape on the mouths of the alternate versions of him and Rob, who were tied up by their hands and feet on chairs and struggling to move or speak.

Trying to get up, Gumball noticed that he was tied to a chair in the same manner as them. As was his version of Rob, who was sitting on the left of him.

"ROB! HEY, ROB! WAKE UP!", Gumball screamed after noticing that he was still unconscious from Zach's blow earlier.

He wanted to punch or kick Rob to wake him up, but as his limbs were tied to the chair, all he could do was yell at him.

"*Groan* What? Where...where are we?", Rob asked after being woken up through the noise and looking around.

"In the Void. The deeper level of it with everyone else that has been abandoned.", Zach answered without even looking at him.

"What the- the Void? This is the living room of the Watterson house. Why is this here!?", Rob wondered, while looking out of the window where he saw Elmore as he remembered it, with the main difference being that instead of the blue or cloudy sky, they were surrounded by static.

"Turns out that an earlier version of Elmore made it here. They changed the designs of the buildings internally in the earlier versions. Those who came before Zach remastered them to look like what they were used to. So visually, it's actually not much different from what you should know.", Zach replied while sitting down across from them.

"What the- design change!? Who changed it? And why are you even here!? And why are we here and there are multiple of us!? What is going on here, I don't understand anything!", Gumball rambled on, being completely overwhelmed by the situation.

"As if that would be anything new for you.", Zach smirked.

"Don't worry, Zach will tell you. But first, let him get those two out of the way.", he said while pointing at the Season 1 Rob and Season 2 Gumball variants who were struggling in their chairs before walking towards the basement door.

"Hey, could you come up and handle the variants for a moment? Zach needs to talk to the fresh meat alone.", he called down the stairs after opening the door as footsteps of another individual were heard.

"Sure, my friend. Whatever you-Whoa!", another Gumball said after walking up the stairs and taking the situation in, before seeing what was in front of him.

This Gumball looked a bit different from the other two again. His whiskers weren't as big as those of the others, one canine was seen hanging out of his mouth, even while it was closed and he just looked more cartoon-y than any of the other three variants in general.

For the sake of the story we're going to call him Season 1 Gumball.

Season 1 Gumball, the current Gumball and Rob all looked at each other in surprise for a silent moment before S1 Gumball turned back to Zach.

"Uhhh...is that-", he started.

"Yes, it is. Just take the other two downstairs.", Zach cut him off while pointing at S1 Rob and S2 Gumball. "Zach needs some privacy with our newcomers."

Gumball remembered that he once looked like that new variant he was just seeing as well. Before he even looked like the counterpart that was sitting tied and taped up across from him.

"Alright, I'm gonna take care of you for now. Don't worry, nothing will happen to you two.", S1 Gumball said reassuringly to S2 Gumball and S1 Rob while dragging them towards the basement door.

Current Gumball still didn't know exactly how to take this situation in, but going off by the behaviour of this other Gumball variant, he didn't seem to be a bad guy like the other one or Zach.

In fact, Gumball also remembered that he was a lot more naive back when he had that look as some bitter realities of life haven't caught up with him yet at this point.

Zach must have manipulated this Gumball into working for him, maybe by making himself out to be the good guy. He didn't know much of what was going on, but if there was a chance to fix this, Current Gumball had to take it, no matter how small it was.

"DON'T DO THIS! Don't work for this guy, Zach! He's not what you think he is! He's evil! He tried to take over my life and send me to oblivion! Don't you see what you're doing!? Taking tied up hostages down a basement!? Free and help us, we'll get you out of here together!", he tried his luck.

Season 1 Gumball looked at him in confusion before turning to an unamused looking Zach.

"Ummm...I better leave you to it. It seems like you have a lot to work up.", Season 1 Gumball replied before he continued to drag S2 Gumball and S1 Rob down the basement stairs and closed the door behind them.

"Don't force Zach to tape your mouth as well. He was gonna give you a chance to talk so you better don't ruin it. Not that Zach wouldn't enjoy doing that of course.", Zach warned his counterpart, before walking back towards the table and sitting down across from the current Gumball and Rob, the three of them now being alone up there.

"Now, you two amateurs are going to tell Zach everything about what's been going on in Elmore and the other part of the Void.", he instructed them.

"Yeah, right. Why would we do something like that after you just knocked us out and tied us up?", Rob scoffed at the arrogant cat.

"Because in return Zach will provide you with food and water. Something that's hard to fight for in this place as you'll quickly find out if you prefer to be on your own.", Zach smirked.

"Oh my gosh, do you always talk in the third person of yourself? And I thought Gumball was unbearable.", Rob rolled his eyes.

"HEY! On which side are you!?", Gumball butted in.

"Nah, he has a point. You are awful.", Zach grinned at his counterpart.

"Alright, how about this? You give us information about this place in addition to the food and we give you information about what's going on up there in return. How does that sound?", Rob tried to negotiate.

"Well, since it would be smarter for Zach's plans if you knew what's going on here anyway, sure.", Zach agreed.

"Okay, let's get over the most important piece first. Where is Gumrock!?", Rob angrily demanded to know.

"Seriously, at a time like this!?", Gumball groaned.

"Oh, you mean this?", Zach asked while grabbing Gumrock from under the table and putting him in front of himself.

"Was already wondering what in the world that was. Pretty face though, that really keeps it together.", he admired the prophet.

"You can have him back once you spill the beans."

"Alright, am I the only one who is completely overwhelmed by this!? Why are there multiple versions of me, why is there another Elmore here, how do we get back and why are you two talking like all of this is normal to you!?", Gumball finally bursted out, not being able to take it anymore.

Zach stared at Gumball for a second before turning to Rob.

"You know about the TV show, don't you?"

"Yes, but he doesn't.", Rob answered while pointing his head at Gumball, since he still couldn't move his limbs.

"WHAT TV SHOW!?", Gumball asked.

"Do you want to tell him? Seems like he'll rather believe it if it came from you. Zach will correct you if you're missing out on anything.", he offered towards Rob.

Rob composed himself, knowing this would come eventually, before deciding that Gumball needs to know at this point. He turned towards him and began.

"Alright, this will sound crazy but... we live in a TV show. One where you are the main character. It's called The Amazing World of Gumball. Our world isn't real and it never was.

We were created for the sole purpose of entertaining people in a higher reality watching us from above with The Void acting as a safety measurement to keep us and our world in check.", Rob dropped the bombshell.

Gumball looked at him with wide eyes, taking in what he just said before he started to laugh bitterly. Mostly because he thought he was being played a cruel prank on by his old nemesis again but also to a lesser degree because he didn't want to consider the possibility that there might be some truth behind his words.

"Hahaha, yeah. Right. A TV show. One with me as the main character. Come on, my life is a bit crazy but not THAT interesting."

"Is it? You get into some crazy shenanigans on a nearly daily basis, even when you're actively trying to avoid it. As talentless as you are, nobody is that bad at doing nothing. Nobody aged in Elmore for years, nobody gets lethally damaged by anything, no matter how deadly.

There's a literal world for mistakes erased from the show and there are early models of you and even a version of your entire town here. The list goes on and on, but even someone with your level of stupidity should be able to take a hint.", Zach added.

Gumball wanted to call bluff on that as he remembered something. Another memory that he has gotten back earlier after entering the Void but hasn't recalled yet with how much else was going on his mind at that time.

That day where the world seemed to go crazy and he was glitching around uncontrollably, making it seem like he was insulting Darwin. They found out what was going on there at the end. The town was suffering from satellite broadcast issues.

Just as Darwin and him were figuring out what the same things that happened on TV happening to them meant and were shocked about the implications, it seemed like their memories of that revelation got erased shortly afterwards. He was still able to remember the day, but not what caused all of it.

But after going back into the Void, he did. And if what it said was true about his memories being connected to it, if the thing Rob said was keeping them in check prevented him from knowing...Oh god.

As much as he hated to admit it, Zach had a point too. Gumball never paid much attention to it but they did age...slowly, didn't they?

No, scratch that. They stopped aging at all at a certain point. Gumball lived through at least three Halloween's while remaining 12 years old during all of them.

An entire day perfectly planned to do nothing with Darwin evolved into a single rollercoaster of craziness. As lazy as he liked to be, Gumball never had a calm day.

There was one flaw in all of it though. While it was true that he and others often easily survived incidents that should logically kill them, they weren't untouchable. The tragic demise of one of his friends just recently proved that.

"Wait a second...that's wrong! We can get lethally damaged. Idaho... he just got killed before I came here.", Gumball countered, happy at first that he found a hole in their explanation, before it came back to him that one of his friends was dead now and he looked down during the second part.

Rob and Zach both looked surprised at this before the former spoke up.

"I...I forgot to mention that the show ended about a week ago. And with it, all the safety for us that came with it. But I didn't expect it to have consequences this quickly.", he admitted sadly.

"Wait, that's why the Void wants to suck in all of Elmore? The show got...c-cancelled? Oh no... that's why it sucked you in first! Because you wanted to warn and save us! You knew this whole time!", Gumball realized.

"The Void told me itself the last time I was there. I thought I could save everyone with that knowledge but it ultimately was just another layer of its plan. I was never in control.", Rob shamefully added.

"So it's true...", Gumball whispered, still trying to wrap his head around it.

"Wait a second, the show ended!? What does that mean!?", Zach demanded to know while looking at Rob.

"It means it's over. The Void was planning to suck in all of Elmore afterwards but said it grew too powerful and it has to weaken it first somehow.", he answered.

"If the Void is responsible for Pfahlius coming back then maybe that was why it helped to free him. So he could assist it in its plans!", Gumball concluded.

"And who in the world is Pfahlius now!?", Zach asked furiously, getting fed up by how much he was unaware of.

"An evil demon that possessed Anais' Daisy doll since she got it. We just barely overpowered him after he revealed himself but he came back now, possessed my siblings, killed Idaho and sent me here. You would probably like him. You are two of a kind.", Gumball bitterly told his counterpart.

"If he wants to end the town and send Elmore into the Void, Zach doubts that. There's no going back for him with no Elmore. And he doesn't want a third fraction to fight a war against.", Zach replied.

"Okay, can you tell us now what is going on with this place? We pretty much gave you all the important information about what's going on up there. Now it's your turn.", Rob demanded.

"...Zach entered this place right after this idiot-", Zach said while pointing towards Gumball.

"HEY!"

"legally changed his name to Gumball and erased him out of his head. Zach was one of the last ones who entered this place not long after the second generationers came here and started the war with the first ones. He came here about 5 years ago.", Zach began to explain.

"FIVE YEARS!?", Gumball asked in shock, not having expected there to have passed so many years since they defeated Zach, even with the no-aging part pretty much destroying his conception of time.

"It seemed like the second time designs got changed, barely any characters were really affected considering the second generationers are just the Watterloser family and barely anyone else.", he continued, ignoring Gumball's outburst.

"The first ones wanted them to obey as they took over this place first, but the second generation wasn't so happy about that. Knowing they were outnumbered, they struck first and took out two of the most significant of the first ones to gain an advantage."

"Two of the most significant?", Rob asked in curiosity.

"The first versions of Nicole and Anais. The power and the brains. With them out of the equation, the first ones lost two of their most valuable assets. They were able to take on the fight before anyone else fell but since then, it has been a pretty even-sided war.", Zach revealed.

"You're saying...alternative versions of my mom and sister that I once lived with d-died in here?", Gumball asked in shock.

"You didn't live with them, moron. The first version of you that you just saw working for Zach, he lived with them. You merely got his memories placed in your head as you were copied from him with some slight changes. Just as everyone else who got a replacement.", Zach said while changing his focus from Rob to Gumball.

"Despite their advantage in numbers, the first ones were starting to lose the war. That's when their Bobert hacked himself into the Void and found out what was really going on. The show, the replaced characters, the knowledge quickly spread beyond the first ones to all of us.

To save themselves in this war, Bobert found the design of a device that could get us out of here. A universal remote from a place called the Awesome Store, that joined the show around the same time Zach got here.", Zach stated.

"The universal remote! You have another version of it in here!?", Rob yelled.

"Yes and no. Bobert created it for the most part as their way to get out of here and win this war but the second generationers stole them. Their Anais is working to complete it right now, but she's still struggling with it.", Zach responded.

"So...among these second generationers my whole family is still alive?", Gumball asked while sighing in relief.

Zach gave him a dirty look again upon hearing the phrase "family".

"Yes. Turns out the second Wattersons were a lot more brutal than the first ones. Nicole especially. She's the leader of them and the reason why they took down the first of her so easily. Even your own second generation version got a lot darker. You saw the difference between those two earlier, right?", Zach reminded him.

"Well, I do know I got a bit more...cynical and rude over time but even then, that other me was nothing like me-ME!", Gumball argued.

"That's because of the dark nature of this place. It corrupts the minds of everyone except for the most kind-hearted. The first Gumball was one of the only ones unaffected and got kicked out of his group because he couldn't accept their mindset.

As he had no allegiance, Zach thought he could be useful so he took him under his wing. Now he's Zach's partner. He's a loser but Zach can't exactly be picky with him being a freelancer who doesn't belong to either of the fractions himself.", he explained with a sinister smile.

"And who's the leader of the first ones with Mrs. Watterson being dead?", Rob asked.

"That would be the very first one as she calls herself.

She's been here even before the rest of the first generation and convinced everyone to join her once they arrived since she had the experience to handle this place already. She rules with an iron fist and also got corrupted first.", Zach told him.

"Despite the battle advantage of the second generation through Nicole, Bobert found a way to change the odds if he already couldn't keep the remote. He copied his own data and created clones of himself that have limited intelligence compared to the original one, but the same battle power. They function as the first one's army by constantly being in battle mode."

"But the alternate versions of ourselves that we encountered were much better fighters than Gumball and me as well.", Rob recalled.

"Ah yeah, the other second generationers got trained by Nicole while the first ones are self-trained. You are surprisingly one of their best. Guess you always had the potential to be a threat.", Zach told Rob.

"The Void also said something like that.", Rob responded, remembering how it told him earlier that he chose him as the villain because it saw his potential.

"But even with the Bobert army and the number advantage, the first ones are struggling to win because the second generation doesn't just have Nicole but someone so strong that it even makes her look like an ant in comparison.

The Void's strongest fighter.", Zach replied.

"Stronger than even Mom!? Who could that be? Is it Hector?", Gumball wondered.

"No, stronger than even him. A Hector was among the first ones and he got killed by that guy along with some others. Zach never met this monster, only heard of him.", he explained while visibly shivering at the thought of encountering this beast.

"Either way, do you two know anything about this universal remote?", Zach asked.

"More than we would like to know.", Rob answered.

"Good, because you are going to help Zach with stealing it and getting out of here.", he finished with a smirk.

...

In the new present:

Zach was just fighting against the group of Bobert units. As one leaned down to grab him, he jumped over its arm to his head, then jumped from one Bobert unit to the top of the next one until he went to the last in line and jumped off from that one, creating some distance between himself and them.

Using the walkie-talkie in his hand, he decided to speak through to the other end.

"Zach hopes you made sure these idiots can't escape. He needs you to be useful for this too, just in the case of emergency.", he said before dodging the strike of another Bobert, before the next one tried to smash him into the ground but Zach jumped out of the way again.

As the Bobert's were slowly walking closer and Zach unsheathed his claws, he heard a voice from behind him.

"Looks like your case of emergency just happened."

Zach turned around to see Current Gumball standing there with Gumrock in his hand.

"So you want to do this for real, huh?", Zach asked with a smug grin.

"Yes. I do.", Gumball simply answered while positioning his arm back and preparing to throw Gumrock with full power

Zach prepared himself for what was to come.

"Duck."

After saying that Gumball made the throw.

Zach did as he was told and quickly ducked down as Gumrock flew over his head and into a Bobert unit that was just behind him, drilling a hole all the way through its body thanks to the power and speed behind Gumball's throw.

The Bobert unit fell to the ground, its systems destroyed as the other ones took the scene in for a moment before running up to attack the two cats.

Gumball jumped over to Zach so they were standing back to back, fists held up and preparing to fight.

"Almost feels like me saving you has become a habit at this point, hasn't it?", Gumball asked while blocking the punch of a Bobert unit before ripping its arm off.

"Don't get too cocky. Better remember who taught you to use your abilities in the first place.", Zach countered, more playful than malicious, while also blocking the punch of a Bobert and throwing him to the side.

"Yet the first time it happened was before you even started doing anything of the sort, wasn't it?", Gumball asked mockingly, remembering the events.

"Oh, please. Even without your assistance Zach can easily beat these guys by himself. Don't forget your place just because you got a little stronger.", he said while grabbing the arm of another Bobert trying to punch him and throwing him backwards.

Gumball was doing the same thing to another robot while standing with his back to Zach and also threw him backwards, causing the two units to crush into each other and get wrecked through the impact.

As he was looking in the direction of the hole that the Void opened and he just came through after Zach and the Bobert units, Gumball now saw Rob jumping through it as well.

"GUMBALL!", he called out.

"Rob, you made it!", Gumball yelled back in relief.

"Zach, where is the remote!", he asked, while turning back to his counterpart.

"It's lying over there! Zach dropped it during the fight!", Zach answered, while blocking the strike of another Bobert unit with his claws.

"If we want to make it back now is the time! The Void is busy with the new place and is relying on the Bobert's to handle us!"

"Rob, can you give us a hand with that remote!?", Gumball called over to him.

"On it!", he answered while running towards it.

As they were continuing to fight off the Bobert's, Zach decided to ask what he was thinking.

"You're still talking to him after what happened? At a time like this?"

"What is that supposed to mean!?", Gumball asked back furiously.

"...Nevermind. Let's just take these guys down quickly.", Zach ordered while deciding to change the topic with Gumball's reaction to it right now.

There were still 5 Bobert units left who, after seeing that they couldn't beat them hand-to-hand, jumped back and decided to rely on their lasers by firing at the two cats all at once.

Before their attacks could land though, Gumball and Zach suddenly vanished from sight to their confusion.

One moment later two blue blurs drilled through the robots so fast and efficiently that they weren't able to react to it before all of them were eventually destroyed as well.

Rob was just reaching the remote as he got frightened by the last Bobert falling to the ground in front of it. Gumball was quickly beside him and picked up the remote himself while holding Gumrock in his other hand.

"Alright, we're ready to go.", he said while pressing a button and opening a hole to the streets of Elmore.

"Zach, are you coming!?", Gumball asked while noticing that he was walking in the wrong direction away from the hole.

"No, Zach has to go back. Our friend is still in there.", he said while getting closer to the hole to the deeper level of the Void that they just came through.

"But he said he wanted to stay in there!", Gumball argued.

"Zach knows and doesn't care. He'll never survive in there on his own! He has to come with us!", Zach stubbornly replied.

"*Sigh* Alright, but I'm coming with you.", Gumball decided before stepping towards Zach.

"No!", Zach held out a hand to stop him.

"You have to go back to Elmore before the Void comes back and intervenes. We can't waste what we worked so hard towards!"

"I'm not leaving you to yourself again! This goes against everything we established!", Gumball reminded him.

"You aren't! We'll stay in contact through the walkie-talkies and soon see each other again. But you need to go back now!", Zach tried to reason with him.

Gumball looked from Zach to the hole to Elmore back to Zach again, unsure what to do.

"Zach will give you a signal when we're ready. But they need you now!

More than I do.", Zach added as his voice softened.

"...Okay. Good luck!", Gumball reluctantly said while saluting over to Zach who did the same, before Gumball jumped through the hole with Gumrock and the remote. Rob followed him right after that.

As Gumball and Rob made it out on the other side of Elmore, Gumball quickly used the remote to close the hole to the Void.

"Take him for a moment.", Gumball instructed Rob while handing Gumrock over to him.

"I need to find Pfahlius asap before I can unfreeze the town."

After saying that, Gumball rushed around the town until he was in front of his family's house one second later. Bracing himself for what might be going on inside, he quickly pushed the door open, preparing for the worst.

Everything he saw though was the frozen versions of his parents hugging each other near the family table, while there was a big hole where the wall was supposed to be.

Gumball quickly rushed through the entire house, looking to see if anyone else was still there, but found no one.

"What happened here? Am I too late? Or is he still at the haunted house?", Gumball wondered before deciding to check that location out next.

In a blur he was out of the house again and sped through the town until he passed through the graveyard into the haunted house, up to the room where he held him hostage the last time.

As Gumball went in there, what he saw surprised him. Penny and Carrie were inside, seemingly talking to each other, while Anais was lying on the floor on her back.

Deciding that he has to talk with someone about what happened to understand the situation, Gumball pressed the button on the remote that unfroze all of Elmore.

Penny and Carrie just had to collect themselves for a moment after unfreezing, feeling an immense two second-headache before going back to normal.

"Wh-What just happened?", Carrie asked in confusion.

"That's what I'd like to know.", Gumball said, getting them to turn around in surprise.

"Gumball!? What are you-.", Penny started before remembering something.

"Wait... I FORGOT ABOUT YOU! But now I remember again! H-How could I forget you!? What is going on!?", Penny wondered, panicking even more now.

"I'll explain, but first things first. Is Pfahlius inside Anais?", he asked, not wanting to waste time.

"N-No. He's still with Darwin. But he wasn't here anymore when we got here.", Carrie admitted while looking down, not sure how to tell him what truly happened to Anais.

Gumball raised an eyebrow at that. So he hasn't taken over her body?

"What do you mean? What happened to her?", he asked, pointing at Anais who was still motionlessly lying on the ground.

Penny and Carrie looked at each other while tears were forming in their eyes again.

"H-He tricked her. He called Anais over so... so he could kill her.", Penny said between her tears, barely able to finish the sentence, let alone look at Gumball's reaction.

Gumball's eyes widened as the remote fell out of his hand, one eye slightly twitching.

That wasn't the reaction they expected. They were ready for him to break down, be in denial, anything loud and uncontrollable but as he wasn't doing anything of the sort after 20 seconds, they were starting to get scared.

"Gumball-", Carrie began.

"Where is Pfahlius?", Gumball asked in a sinister tone.

"We-we don't know. He was already away when we got here. But I checked Anais' body. She... she's really gone.", Carrie explained, hanging her head down.

So he isn't here and he isn't home. But where could he...

Wait.

He had a universal remote himself. He must've gotten it from the Awesome Store. If they didn't knew anything else, that place is the best chance now., he thought.

"Gumball, we're so sor-", Penny moved closer to her boyfriend as he suddenly vanished from his place and left behind a huge trail of air that hit the shapeshifter in the face.

Less than a second later he was in the parking lot where the Awesome Store van was still standing. He loudly knocked on the door and the owner quickly opened it.

"Gumball!? This is unex-", he began.

"Pfahlius the Eradicator. I want everything you know about him. When did he came to you?", Gumball interrupted him sternly.

"The one that possessed your brother? He was just here less than a minute ago! There was an- um... unexpected complication with his visit so-"

"I don't have time for this. I know what's going on with the Void and I know about your connection to it. I have one of your remotes-", Gumball said while lifting his hand before realizing that he dropped it at the haunted house a moment ago.

Gumball vanished for one second before being back in the same place, but this time with the universal remote in his hand.

"One of your remotes so tell me WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!"

The Awesome Store owner froze in place, scared of the authoritative tone of the cat and the way he was acting in general. Something told him it was better to just spill the beans.

"The... The Void suddenly appeared and said it wanted to freeze all of Elmore but one moment later everything was back to normal. Pfahlius threatened me with the remote to give him the last copy of my storyboard tablet after that so I obeyed. Then he teleported away with it by using the fast forward button on the remote.", he explained.

"The tablet...", Gumball recalled, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

Before the Awesome Store owner could elaborate further, Gumball was gone again, appearing back at the haunted house in front of Penny and Carrie.

"Gumball!? What was that!? WHERE WERE YOU THE LAST MINUTE!?", Penny wondered, getting more and more confused by what was going on.

"No time to explain. Pfahlius is gone and we need to gather everyone before even worse happens. Forget about him, there's an even bigger problem to worry about."

"Forget about him? GUMBALL, DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT WE JUST TOLD YOU!? WHAT HE DID TO ANAIS!?", Carrie asked, completely thrown off by that statement.

"Yes, I heard you. And the same thing is going to happen to all of us if we don't do something. Once we have the group together I'll tell you something as well.", Gumball responded.

"What I have found out and worked to achieve during the last 6 years."

Chapter Text

What happened last time:

Before the Awesome Store Owner could elaborate further, Gumball was gone again, appearing back at the haunted house in front of Penny and Carrie.

"Gumball!? What was that!? WHERE WERE YOU THE LAST MINUTE!?", Penny wondered, getting more and more confused by what was going on.

"No time to explain. Pfahlius is gone and we need to gather everyone before even worse happens. Forget about him, there's an even bigger problem to worry about."

"Forget about him? GUMBALL, DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT WE JUST TOLD YOU!? WHAT HE DID TO ANAIS!?", Carrie asked, completely thrown off by that statement.

"Yes, I heard you. And the same thing is going to happen to all of us if we don't do something. Once we have the group together I'll tell you something as well.", Gumball responded.

"What I have found out and worked to achieve during the last 6 years."

…

Now back in the present:

“What the-What do you mean during the last 6 years!?”, Penny asked in both shock about what he said and how quickly he seemed to shrug off his beloved sister being dead.

“And what do you mean it’s going to happen to all of us?”, Carrie added, being more focused on that part.

“I’ll tell you once we have gathered everyone. But first, is anyone else involved in this investigation at this point?”, Gumball asked.

Carrie flew in front of Penny, seeing that she wasn’t taking her boyfriend’s unfittingly calm attitude too well right now. While Carrie was also a bit weirded out by it, she could connect with his more rational attempt a little better and seeing that Gumball was clearly serious about this, she decided to take over the talking for now.

“Bobert is. We asked him to help us with hacking the audio Anais sent us where she recorded Pfahlius explaining his plan and…doing that to her.”, she answered, while sadly pointing at Anais’ corpse at the ground during the last part.

So she still found a way to expose him even before kicking the bucket? Clever girl, Gumball thought proudly.

“For some reason your voice was blurred out on it.”, Penny added.

“Hmm, I guess that makes sense. Anyone else?”, he wondered.

“We visited your parents too when they didn’t know what happened to Anais yet. We told them and… gave them time to grief. They weren’t ready to participate in this for the moment. That would be everyone.”, Carrie continued.

Hmm, that explains the scene at the house earlier, Gumball thought, remembering how he saw his parents hugging each other there.

“Do Idaho’s parents already know of his passing?”, Gumball asked.

“Uh, we didn’t really have time to get to them yet. Honestly, I don’t know where they live or how to contact them anyway.”, Carrie admitted.

“Well, I do. Okay, wait here and give me a few minutes.”, Gumball instructed them and before they could question him he was gone again.

Still remembering the farmland they once brought Idaho to, Gumball quickly ran out of Elmore all the way to where they live before he was there in a matter of seconds.

He saw the same family he knew there from all the way back. Idaho’s father, uncle and mother, who was holding his little sister. The father recognized Gumball first.

“Hey, you’re Idaho’s friend from Elmore who came here that one time, aren’t you!?”, he asked in surprise.

“I am and I have some… terrible news regarding your son.”, Gumball braced himself for what he had to tell them.

The entire family looked at him expectantly as Gumball realized he couldn’t procrastinate it any longer.

“Idaho…has passed away.”, he said while letting his head fall, fully expecting tears, screams and other justified reactions.

“Oh…so that’s what happened to him.”, his father answered in a sad tone.

“Wait, you knew something was up!?”, Gumball asked in shock.

“We suspected it at least. He suddenly was gone one night and never came back in over 6 years. We pretty much got used to living without him at this point but still to find it out like this. I don’t know what to say.”, Idaho’s mother answered while stepping forwards as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

“What the-You were aware that six years have passed since he vanished!?”, Gumball replied, even more dumbfounded now.

“Well, yeah. How wouldn’t we have noticed that?”, Idaho’s uncle asked with a raised eyebrow.

“This may sound crazy but Elmore, my town, has been pretty much frozen for the last six years until a few minutes ago.”, Gumball tried to explain.

“That’s what happened in that place? That surely explains a lot of things.”, Idaho’s father concluded while putting his hand to his chin.

“What are you talking about?”, Gumball wondered.

“Well, after Idaho didn’t come back in days and we were very worried what could have happened, we decided to make a trip to Elmore since that’s the only other place we could imagine him being at. But once we got there, the entire town seemed…unresponsive. We couldn’t get in as if some government-protected force field blocked all outsiders.

And from what we could see from the outside, nothing was happening inside the town as well. People weren’t moving but just…frozen in place. Birds too. Everything! We came back to later times but nothing changed over the years. What in the world caused that?”, Idaho’s uncle explained.

“It’s…really hard to explain.”, Gumball answered while rubbing his head, trying to take in the fact that the world wasn’t frozen for them all this time. But he assumed it made sense considering it only affected Elmore and nothing outside of the town.

“How exactly did our son die? Can we at least give him a proper funeral?”, Idaho’s mother asked.

“The thing is…no, you can’t. He got… the thing you normally do with non-living potatoes.”, Gumball responded, not even wanting to say the word.

“Oh my god.”, Idaho’s mother replied before falling to her knees as her husband and brother quickly went up to comfort her.

“I’m so sorry. I wish I could elaborate but, there’s so much going on right now that I don’t know how to tell you. My little sister also just died and-”, Gumball started.

“Your sister!? The little bunny that was with you back then? Y-You just lost her too?”, the mother asked in sympathy.

“Yes. I think my parents got hit particularly hard with it. Especially considering it happened just today from their perspective.”, Gumball explained.

“Oh, son. Go back to your family. You clearly need each other the most right now. That’s where you should be.”, Idaho’s father advised him.

“...Thank you. I’ll come back later and explain everything to you in detail, I promise.”, Gumball replied before rushing back to Elmore after they nodded and winked him goodbye.

As he appeared back besides Penny and Carrie at the haunted house in a flash they got startled once more, especially Penny.

“Gumball! Stop doing that already! This is really weird!”, she scolded him.

“Sorry, force of habit. Either way, I handled things with Idaho’s family. Let’s get back to business. Where is Bobert right now?”

“At his home. He-”, Carrie tried to reply.

“Alright, we’ll do it at my place then.”, Gumball interrupted her, before grabbing both Penny and Carrie by the arms.

“What are you-”, Carrie questioned, surprised that he is able to physically touch her, a ghost, without her removing the mental block that was usually necessary if someone wanted to do that first.

Before she could further question this however, her’s and Penny’s entire world became a blur as the feeling of riding in a rollercoaster went through them, only multiplied by 100 in its intensity.

As the world became clear again, they found themselves in the living room of the Watterson residence about a second later as Gumball let go of them.

Penny and Carrie looked like they were just shot out of a cannon but before either could protest against what Gumball just did to them, he vanished again.

Another second later he came back though, now having brought Bobert with him too.

Bobert also reacted in surprise, but not quite as shocked as the girls.

“Gumball? This is an unexpected turn of events in multiple ways, one of them being that I unknowingly deleted my file that’s recording your existence only for it to have returned now.”, he said.

Good old Bobert, Gumball thought in amusement, feeling a bit weird about being in the same room as the robot who he has destroyed hundreds of variants of in the last years, but he reminded himself that this one is a lot different than them.

“Gumball!?”, Nicole reacted first among the parents to the scene of her son and three of his friends standing in the living room as she approached him.

“Oh honey, you already must have heard about what happened to your little sister. I’m so sorry that you found out this way.”, she said with tears in her eyes while reaching out to hug her son.

“Oh dagnabbit, I forgot about Anais.”, Gumball suddenly remembered before moving out of her hug and vanishing again. He also needed this further moment for himself to collect himself in front of his mom, similar to Bobert, considering what happened between him and Nicole Two in the Void. Not to mention the rest of her family.

He quickly returned again a second later while holding Anais, before softly lying her down on the ground.

“OH NO. MY BABY!”, Nicole said before starting to cry again as she moved closer and lifted her daughter in her arms, not even thinking about the fact that Gumball just moved in and out in super speed over her grief.

Richard moved closer to his wife and put an arm around her shoulder as tears also started to form in his eyes again.

“Gumball! Was it really necessary to just drag her in here like that for them to see again!?”, Penny wondered, pretty unnerved by her boyfriend’s insensitivity right now.

“Well, it’s better than to just leave her over at the haunted house alone, isn’t it? And that way they might get to say a proper goodbye in spirit at least.”, Gumball argued.

But the group wasn’t complete yet as someone just kicked in the front door of the house, getting everyone to look at the direction of the sound in surprise.

Jamie was standing there, a furious look on her face and her foot outstretched before she swung it back and stomped over to the others.

“Okay, what is this audio Anais has just sent me and why did it suddenly change the second time with Gumball now being on it as well!?”, she demanded to know while holding up her phone.

“Oh, you got it too? The rest of us did as well.”, Carrie answered in surprise, as she knew that Anais was friends with Jamie but didn’t expect her to receive the message as well as someone who had nothing to do with it.

“Going of by the amount of people who have received it despite not being involved into the situation I assume Anais just sent in to everyone in her contact list to spread the information about Pfahlius to everyone available and increase the chances of bringing him down, which explains all of her friends and loved ones getting it.”, Bobert concluded.

“Stop using big words and explain to me what happened this instant!”, Jamie warned while grabbing Bobert and pulling him close to her face.

“Jamie…I’m sorry. Anais is… gone.”, Nicole called over to her while still tearing up and holding Anais in her arms.

Jamie looked over at her friend, her only friend besides Tina, lying motionlessly in her mother’s arms. She didn’t want to believe it was true but seeing her like this, combined with what was heard on the audio, there was no denying it.

Jamie had no idea how to take this in. Sadness wasn’t an emotion she was used to. Anger was more comfortable for her. And right now she felt a lot of it, but not in a way she ever did before.

One thing was clear to her. Someone needed to pay for this. Unfortunately the only other person on that audio that she could blame besides this Pfahlius who seemingly wasn’t here right now was… Gumball.

She looked over to him while clenching her fists and stepping closer.

“You…YOU…YOU DID THIS! YOU WERE THERE WITH HER! WHY DIDN’T YOU SAVE HER!? WHAT KIND OF BROTHER ARE YOU!? IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU INSTEAD OF HER!”, she started yelling at the blue cat while throwing wild punches at him in quick succession.

Gumball didn’t even bother to defend against them as Jamie kept insulting and assaulting him, not that he really felt any of her attacks at this point anyway.

“JAMIE! YOU CAN’T-”, Nicole started while standing up to walk over to protect her son.

Gumball held up a hand though and shook his head, silently telling her not to intervene as he knew Jamie needed this right now. He continued to just stand there and take it all in with an unreadable expression on his face.

“It should have been you! It should have been you. It should have *cough* been you.”, she continued to say while eventually getting tired and not having the energy to punch him any longer.

Yes, it should’ve been, Gumball thought.

“You-Why did I forget who you were until I remembered again on the way here!?”, Jamie asked, deciding to change the topic.

“Wait, you forgot him too? It was not just Penny and me!?”, Carrie wondered.

“I wasn’t the only one who forgot Gumball!? I just thought my brain had a slightly below average day again.”, Richard commented.

“And I was so focused on Anais that I thought I just…couldn’t think of anything else.”, Nicole tried to make sense of it.

“No, none of you is at fault here. You had no chance to remember me because as far as you were concerned I didn’t exist.”, Gumball started to explain.

“Say what now?”, Penny asked, her eyebrow rising.

“Wait, I forgot something. One member of this whole thing is still missing.”, Gumball noticed before leaving again in a flash.

After grabbing Rob and Gumrock on the street where he left them off, he returned with them back to the Watterson residence immediately.

“Gumball…WHAT IN THE WORLD!?”, Penny reacted.

“Oh yeah, sorry. Should have given you a warning ahead. I know what happened last time with Rob but I swear he is-”, Gumball began.

“Okay, I have no idea what you’re talking about right now but that’s not what I mean. THAT is!”, Penny brought his attention to the rock that he was holding in his hands.

Gumball looked at Gumrock for a second with a nostalgic expression before going back to addressing the group.

“Alright, we’re getting off-topic here! Let me start by showing you this!”, Gumball decided before grabbing the universal remote out of his pocket and pressing a button on it.

A static hole appeared on the other side of the living room and everyone turned to look at it in shock.

Just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared again when Gumball pressed another button that closed it again, getting everyone to turn back to him.

“Is it okay for you if I’m the one who tells them?”, Gumball looked at Rob for reassurance.

“Well, it would be pretty difficult for me to do that so go ahead.”, Rob replied.

The others looked at Gumball in worry as he tried to start with the explanation.

“Remember what Darwin said when all these weird things happened about these static holes that were messing with him?”, Gumball asked his parents.

“That’s what those were!? How did you do that!?”, Nicole responded in bewilderment.

“With this special remote from the Awesome Store. This static is an entire world that controls ours. I’ve seen it in and out while Elmore was frozen for the last 6 years.”, Gumball continued to explain.

“SIX YEARS!?”, everyone collectively asked, aside from Penny and Carrie.

“Oh, we were frozen? That’s what happened to us? Well, I do feel like I just woke up from a nap before you all came.”, Richard added.

“Exactly. Me and Zach are still working things out but-”

“I’m sorry. Zach?”, Carrie butted in.

“My other personality. I think you met him that one time in school.”, Gumball reminded her.

“Zach!? That sadistic twisted jerk that we luckily got rid of? What does he have to do with this?”, Nicole threw in, getting very confused now.

“Well, it turns out he’s not just a personality, but a straight-up person. And he has been my partner in this for quite some time.”, Gumball continued, while giving Nicole a stern look for the way she was talking about him.

“Your partner!? Okay, aside from everything here which makes zero sense, us being frozen, this static thing, you claiming to have been gone for 6 years that were just minutes for us and still looking the same, why in the world would you team up with Zach after everything he put you through!?”, Nicole asked in fury.

…

In the past, continuing from last time:

Zach was just done freeing Rob from his ropes as he finally got a chance to stretch his arms again for the first time in hours.

“*Cough cough*”, Gumball called out from the side, still being tied to his chair, gaining Rob’s attention.

“Oh yeah. Are you going to free him too?”, he asked while turning to Zach.

“Not yet. Zach doesn’t trust him enough to believe that he won’t try something stupid yet. Well, he does stupid things all the time but Zach means deliberately this time.”, he finished while smirking at his counterpart.

“Grrrh, well too bad for you. Rob is on my side. Get him, buddy!”, Gumball called over to the cyclops.

“Ehhh, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Let’s just try and work together with him for now, alright?”, Rob replied.

“What!? Dude, he just admitted he is only looking to find a way out for himself! He doesn’t care what happens to us!”, Gumball tried to refresh his memory.

“Well, not now but if we are cooperative maybe he’ll eventually come to care about us or feel like he should pay us back and help us out with him in return.”, Rob reasoned.

“He won’t do that! HE’S A BAD GUY!”, Gumball yelled, struggling in his chair.

“Hey, I was a bad guy too! If I can change, why not him!?”, Rob wondered, feeling like giving Zach a chance was only fair, especially knowing what it felt like to be pushed into the role of the villain and not having anyone believe in you.

“ZACH ISN’T LIKE YOU! HE WILL NEVER CHANGE! HE CARES ABOUT HIMSELF AND NO ONE ELSE!”, Gumball tried it one last time, before suddenly getting punched in the face with a blue fist.

“Zach heard just about enough of you, loser. If you want to be petty about this, do it alone! Rob made his decision and lucky for him he seems to be smarter than you.”, Zach replied while throwing Gumrock over to the cyclops who caught him.

“You can go down the basement to Gumball One and tell him Zach sent you. He’ll provide you with some food and water. Something your friend is gonna miss out on I’m afraid.”, he continued while smugly looking over to Gumball.

Gumball looked pleadingly over to Rob one last time, who sighed.

“Look just, give it a thought, alright? There’s not much we can do anyway. If I try to go against him he’ll easily knock me out and tie me up again and we’re back at step zero.”, Rob reminded him, before walking towards the basement door, opening it and closing it behind him.

“Reasonable guy. Zach can see why he’s your nemesis. He’s smart enough to see what a waste of space you are.”, he continued to taunt Gumball.

At that point, Gumball couldn’t take it anymore.

“YOU ARE THE WASTE OF SPACE, ZACH! Why do you think nobody liked having you around!? Why do you think everyone wanted you gone and was happy once I got back control over my body!? You think you’re so awesome but you aren’t! You’re just an arrogant, sadistic, unlikable prick that we are all much better off without!”

After saying that, Gumball was looking at Zach, just waiting for his reaction.

He was ready for whatever he would throw at him. Delusions that everyone loves him no matter what he says, more harsh insults or a beating as a punishment for verbally attacking him like that. Gumball didn’t care anymore. He was not gonna sit there and go down without a fight.

But to his surprise, Zach didn’t do anything of that sort. He didn’t react at all for quite a while. Neither with facial expressions nor with words or actions.

“What, got nothing to say anymore, huh!?”, Gumball taunted him, feeling like he might be in the winning position against him for once.

This time, Zach answered though, although his voice was more silent than usual.

“You think I don’t know that nobody likes me?”

…That was probably the last response Gumball expected. Not just because he didn’t think Zach would possess such a level of self-awareness, but also because it was the first time he heard his counterpart referring to himself in the first person instead of the third.

“Let me ask you something, Gumball.”, he started while sitting down on the other end of the table, where he could better look him in the eyes.

“How much do you remember about the first years of your life? What is the earliest memory that you have? How old were you at that time?”, Zach asked.

“What exactly are you getting at?”, Gumball wondered, really unsure where this was supposed to be going.

“Just answer the question.”, Zach responded, firm but not malicious.

“Well…I guess things from when I was like two or three. Playing with Dad, getting hugs from Mom, starting pre-school, that sort of stuff.”

“Hmm, so you don’t remember anything from when you were younger than that.”, Zach concluded, but in a tone that implied he was already aware of that.

“Well, what’s it to you? Not everyone can be a genius like Anais. Most people barely remember anything from when they were babies, if at all.”, Gumball informed him.

“Yes, I’m aware. But the reason you don’t have any earlier memories is not that you aren’t a genius. It’s that you didn’t exist before that!”, Zach said, while leaning closer towards Gumball during the last sentence.

“WH-WHAT!?”, Gumball asked as his eyes widened, wondering if he misheard.

“Our personalities are connected to our names. I was there first seeing as Zach was our official birth name. The nickname Gumball just came years after that.”, he revealed.

“I…Wait a second, that’s not true! I have one memory from when I was a baby. When I saw Mom locking that suitcase with the address that eventually led us to find out about the star Dad bought for us!”, Gumball realized, glad that he was able to expose Zach for the liar he is.

“Oh yeah. A memory you didn’t retrieve yourself however. Darwin did it through hypnosis by letting you find it in the deepest layer of your mind. Me.”, Zach told him with a sinister smile.

“That’s…That can’t be true!”, Gumball claimed.

“The first years of my life were also the best. Pretty much a no-brainer considering they were the only happy ones I ever had.”, Zach trailed off while looking up and seemingly going through memories, not even paying much attention to Gumball anymore.

“I had everything I could’ve ever wished for. A roof over my head, the opportunity to enjoy every day as a new experience in an amazing town where everything was possible and the potential to achieve everything I wanted in the future.”

Gumball looked at him in surprise.

“Most importantly though, two great parents who I wouldn’t have traded for the world. One a bit lazy, the other one a bit stressful, but they loved me unconditionally and wouldn’t have traded me for anything either.

At least that’s what I thought”.

Zach’s tone changed from nostalgic to something more bitter, almost sad if Gumball had to guess.

“Until one day they suddenly had doubts on whether or not they made the right choice in naming me Zach. Thought it didn’t fit the child they had, or at least the one they wanted. They thought it deserved something more…extraordinary.”, Zach grit his teeth during the last word while looking back at Gumball.

“Obviously they didn’t want to rename their child just a few years after it was born without his consent. That’s when the thought “Hey, maybe we could give him a nickname for now and once he’s old enough he can decide himself what he prefers” entered their minds.

Then one day, Richard got just the brilliant idea while seeing me eat a bunch of Gumballs. I loved those things, the blue ones the most ironically. So much that from the looks of it, I might have just been a Gumball myself.”

Gumball wasn’t sure what to say, if anything at all. He never knew any of this. He wanted to call bluff on it, but the way Zach was seemingly trying to collect himself and hold back his emotions during the explanation made it hard to believe that he was insincere.

“That’s when it began. He convinced Nicole how ‘cute’ it was and both of them began to use it from there on until the name Zach was practically gone from their vocabulary. That’s when things changed. I wasn’t the one in control anymore. I became but an observer as someone else took control and got gifted this life that was meant for me!”, Zach continued as anger was now slowly starting to seethe through his words.

“You know that phrase about people who are critically paralyzed to the point they can’t even talk anymore but are still fully conscious and how they’re trapped in their own bodies?”, Zach asked, a bit more silent now as Gumball nodded carefully.

“Well, how about someone who is trapped in his body while not even unable to do anything but forced to watch someone else doing everything he once could!?”, Zach added as his voice rose again.

“Eventually they completely forgot about the original intention of letting the kid decide by what name he wanted to go. Gumball just became the status quo that everyone silently accepted as such while Zach was never even mentioned again. It was almost a decade until it ever crossed anyone’s mind again.

After that game you won you suddenly wanted to know your real name and after Nicole so casually revealed it to you, Zach was suddenly prominent again. His chance to get back what he lost so long ago.”

Gumball was just listening in shock as Zach went on, his earlier anger completely forgotten.

“But it wasn’t meant to last. Eventually the mother who already abandoned him once all those years ago decided they have to get rid of Zach permanently and convinced the rest of the family that it was the only right thing to do. Of course I already expected another betrayal like that and did everything I could think of to stop it, but…it wasn’t enough.”, Zach explained as his gaze went down.

“Once again Zach was kicked out of his own body as nobody cared what happened to him, just happy that their Gumball was back. Only this time, there would never be another opportunity for Zach again to reclaim the life that was taken from him. By changing his name to Gumball legally this time, he was gone for good.

Forced to enter the deepest layer of the world of mistakes, along with all the other earlier versions of people that have been abandoned. But even there he couldn’t find a group he belonged to as the teams were already formed and new recruits weren’t accepted.”, Zach finished, turning his gaze back to Gumball to see what he had to say for himself in return.

Gumball’s jaw was now hanging open from everything that got revealed to him and he had trouble speaking but eventually tried to make his own point anyway.

“W-Well…you could have just told us and d-didn’t have to be such a jerk about it back then. At least I wasn’t intentionally trying to ruin your life unlike you did with me.”, Gumball argued, although the tone of his voice made it seem like he himself wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to say.

“Then let me ask you something else:”, Zach replied, while leaning even closer towards his counterpart.

“If you were the one who was there first, if someone just took your life without your consent, forcing you to spend almost 10 years watching how they are enjoying the existence that was meant for you and then you got the chance to claim it back, wouldn’t you have done absolutely everything in your power to do just that!?

If you got replaced, abandoned and forgotten by your own parents wouldn’t you feel bitter about it!? Or would your response have been ‘Oh no, take over my life by your heart’s desire. I’m just fine throwing away everything I ever cared about and being sad and alone for eternity?’ You had it happen to yourself once, remember?”, Zach asked.

Gumball knew exactly what he was talking about. It was when Bobert took his advice of just doing as Gumball does too literally. He felt so hurt by his own family not seeing the difference and telling Bobert that he was essentially Gumball, just better. Only that it technically wasn’t him anymore but Gumball One in the basement who’s now working with Zach.

Is that how Zach has been feeling for…almost 10 years he said?

“I-”, Gumball wanted to say something, but words wouldn’t come out. Zach however wasn’t done yet.

“Why do you think I took that other Gumball under my wings after he was kicked out by his group? Because the only thing I hate even more than Gumballs is seeing someone being alone and abandoned by what is supposed to be their own family!

Why do you think I constantly talk of myself in the third person!? If everyone else is going to forget about me, I at least want to make sure that I never forget WHO I AM!”, Zach continued to scream, his voice getting louder and tears forming in his eyes as he leaned even closer towards Gumball, until he was almost in his face.

“How is it fair that you are able to live and enjoy this life that was meant for someone else while I was stuck having to watch how nobody cares about me anymore and doesn’t mind that I am gone!? HOW IS THAT FAIR!?”, Zach asked, as tears were now streaming down his face.

“...Zach, I-”, Gumball started in sympathy as there was suddenly a loud crash on the right side of him.

As Zach and him looked over, they saw the door to the basement being bust open as Rob One and Gumball Two were now jumping out and Gumball One helplessly stumbled over the door behind them.

“What the-Didn’t Zach tell you to watch them!?”, Zach asked, while quickly wiping the tears off his face and collecting himself as he turned towards his partner.

“They told me to loosen their ropes a little because they hurt and you know I’m bad with saying no to people!”, Gumball One defended himself.

"Grrr, whatever! Zach beat you once and he’ll have no trouble doing it again!”, Zach said while getting up and preparing to face off against the two troublemakers.

“You got lucky and just caught us off-guard there!”, Gumball Two protested.

“But just in the unlikely case that I’ll need it…”, Rob One continued as a bunch of Bobert battle drones suddenly burst through the walls from multiple sides.

“I called in some back-up. Bobert’s, ATTACK!”, he commanded as the Bobert’s began shooting their laser cannons at Zach, who quickly jumped out of the way.

“HAHA! Good luck trying to take all of-”, Gumball Two taunted before he got suddenly hit by a Bobert drone himself and was sent flying into the wall.

“What the what!?”, he called out while recovering from the hit and seeing said Bobert pointing his laser cannon at him.

“Rob! I thought we agreed to team up until we took care of Zach!”

“You really thought I would ever work together with a second generationer? Haha, you’re such an idiot!”, Rob One laughed at him.

“GRRR! YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS!”, Gumball Two threatened before jumping out of the way of the Bobert’s laser cannon.

Gumball One was starting to panic as he saw the variants of him fighting Bobert’s all over the house while lasers were being shot around seemingly everywhere, but something got his attention.

“Hey, OVER HERE!”, Gumball Prime called him over while desperately trying to free himself from his ropes.

Gumball One quickly ran over to him while trying to dodge the lasers and Bobert’s until he was in front of his newest counterpart.

“Where is my Rob? I MEAN-not MINE but the Rob that I came with!”, Gumball Prime asked while slightly blushing.

“Oh, he’s still in the basement. Says he’s going to stay down there to protect Gumrock.”, Gumball One explained.

“*Sigh* Typical. Alright, can you free me of these ropes?”

“I don’t know. Zach would probably be pretty mad at me if I did that.”, Gumball One sheepishly explained while rubbing his head.

“He’s already mad at you for freeing the other guys! Let me help him!”, Gumball Prime answered.

“Okay!”, Gumball One decided after seeing the carnage that was going on in the house.

Gumball Two was meanwhile busy dodging the attacks of a Bobert drone as he saw Gumball One trying to free him, so he decided to interfere.

“Look out!”, Gumball Prime warned the other just as he was free and saw Gumball Two jumping at them, causing both him and his Season 1 counterpart to dodge as the other Gumball missed them.

As Gumball Two was approaching them again after his first attempt failed, the other two Gumball’s raised their fingers just as Gumball Two did the same and they were all suddenly pointing at the other two for no apparent reason.

“Uhhh…why are we doing this?”, Gumball Two asked.

“I don’t know. Just felt right.”, Gumball Prime answered obliviously.

They got pushed out of their trance as a wrecked Bobert unit fell down on Gumball Two and buried him under itself, knocking him out.

It came from Zach who was right now busy fighting off the horde of Bobert units by himself. One thrown into the wall, another one sliced through with his claws and another one swept off its feet.

Seeing one of the Bobert’s having its arm lying detached on the ground after Zach destroyed it, Gumball Prime walked over to it and picked it up with effort.

Zach meanwhile succeeded in taking down the last of the Bobert units, thinking he won the fight. What he didn’t notice though was Rob One having picked up the arm of another destroyed Bobert behind him and now pointing it at Zach.

Before the cat could react he was hit with the laser cannon and sent against the wall, uninjured but taken off guard as Rob One approached him.

“You were a worthy opponent but now it’s over!”, he said while pointing the arm at Zach and preparing to take another shot at him.

Before he could do so however, he was hit on the head with something very hard from behind, which knocked him out and sent him to the floor.

As Rob One fell down in front of him, Zach noticed the Gumball he had just been venting to a few minutes ago standing behind him and holding the arm of another Bobert unit in a way that showed it was him who knocked Rob One down from behind.

Gumball dropped Bobert’s arm and held out his hand for Zach on the ground.

“...What are you doing, loser?”, Zach asked in wide-eyed surprise.

“You wanted me to help you out of this place and back into Elmore, didn’t you? I can’t very well do that if you’re dead.”, Gumball answered simply.

Zach looked at him for another moment without saying anything, wondering if he should tell him that the laser didn’t hurt him and his help wouldn’t have been necessary, before just taking Gumball’s hand and letting him help him up.

“Hey, Rob! You can come out! We defeated them!”, Gumball One called down the basement to Rob Prime who was still there.

“We?”, Zach asked, wondering how exactly he contributed to the fight.

“Oh good. You’re all safe! My prayer to Gumrock must have ensured victory for us.”, Rob concluded while looking at the rock in his hands and seeing the destroyed Bobert’s, knocked out Rob One and Gumball Two, as well as Gumball One, Zach and Gumball Prime who were still standing.

“Oh. Have you two made up after all?”, Rob asked while looking at Zach and his Gumball standing beside each other.

“Eh, not really. I better get back into my ropes as long as I’m not considered trustworthy yet.”, Gumball Prime responded while walking back to his chair.

“No.”, Zach stopped him from behind.

“...What?”, Gumball asked while turning around.

“You’re not of much use to Zach if you’re tied up the entire time. Or if you’re starving. Give him something to eat and drink and show him and the other guy where they’ll sleep as long as they stay here.”, he ordered Gumball One while looking back at him.

“You’re going to need your energy for when we start your training tomorrow.”, Zach said while turning back to Gumball Prime.

“M-My training!?”, Gumball asked, wondering if he misheard.

“You heard Zach. He’s obviously not going to keep you as you are now. A surprise attack from behind isn’t always going to save you in battle. If you want to assist Zach in his goal, then he has to make sure that you at least aren’t entirely useless.”, he finished while crossing his arms and walking away, while the other three looked at each other wondering what just happened.

…

In the present:

Pfahlius left Elmore with assistance of the magical remote as quickly as he could after that incident with the Void. No way he wanted something like that to happen to him again.

He had to prepare first before going back to that place and as much as he loved the thought of burning the world to ashes by himself, he knew that sometimes you have to abandon your pride to achieve your goals in a more practical way.

After a bunch of forward teleporting through the remote, Pfahlius was close enough to his destination that he decided to swim the rest of the distance in Darwin’s body for a feeling of nostalgia with all the great memories he had with this place.

USS Wasp, HMS Atalanta, Ellen Austin, yes he surely did his part in giving the Bermuda Triangle the mysterious legend that surrounded it all up until this day. It was surely one of his favorite places in the world.

He knew it so well that he knew exactly what had been going on with the mysterious Shelly Island that suddenly appeared there in 2017, not too long after a certain roommate of his from the Awesome Store had been released into the sea to search for new victims after leaving Elmore.

As he approached the part where the island left the face of Earth just as quickly as it appeared less than a year afterwards, Pfahlius could sense that he had arrived to who he wanted to meet.

Feeding on the last fin of the poor shark that he sliced on his way there, Pfahlius stopped inside the water, waiting to get the proper welcome that a guest like him would deserve here.

Holding both the remote and the tablet under one fin while finishing his meal, Pfahlius silently thanked the Awesome Store owner for creating his items in a way that they’re waterproof and he could easily take them all the way there.

Suddenly, the head of a baby turtle came out of the water not far away from Pfahlius. And then another one. And another. Then 3 more. Then 5.

All coming from different directions until they all eventually revealed themselves, having cornered Pfahlius in the middle while forming a circle.

But in front of the ones that were facing him, one more came out of the water. Bigger, older and stronger than the rest.

He immediately recognized the long and wrinkly neck as well as the olive head and carapace as the Evil Turtle approached him.

Pfahlius didn’t panic or move back in fear. He just stayed in place as a smile formed on his face.

The Evil Turtle wasn’t impressed by this as she came closer and closer, the threat of painful bites being obvious in her expression until she was just in front of the fish’s face and hissed at him.

Pfahlius didn’t react aside from widening his eyes as the same unnerving smile was still on his face. That move alone was able to stop the Evil Turtle in her tracks though as she started sniffing him.

The stare-off continued for a few seconds until the Evil Turtle eventually retreated a few steps, that confident, threatening expression having long left her face and being replaced by something more apprehensive, something fearful now.

“You did quite well for yourself, didn’t you?”, Pfahlius asked while looking around at all the evil turtle babies that have surrounded the two of them.

“And as luck would have it, I just put myself into a war in which I could need an army.”

Chapter Text

In the past:

Gumball was just waking up after his first night in the Void.

Well as much as it could be called a night when you have to go by clocks even more than before since the sky never changed in this place.

No daylight, no starry nights, it was always the same grey static.

No wonder almost everyone went crazy in this place. Gumball heard somewhere that daylight was not just necessary for people’s physical, but also their mental health.

He supposed it was either from Miss Simian’s lessons or Anais explaining it to him, but more likely the latter as unlike with the old ape Gumball actually cares enough to remember what his sister says, even if he doesn’t understand it. Not that he would ever say that to her face.

Since he had no feeling of time here, Gumball climbed down the bunk bed and took a look at the alarm clock to check it.

The blinds of the window were completely shut down to make it as dark as it was possible without the absence of a true night sky, but luckily Gumball’s natural night vision meant he had no problem seeing the steps on the ladder as he was walking down towards the ground.

Nevertheless he was still a bit dizzy from just having woken up and had to watch carefully so he wouldn’t slip on the steps. He wondered how his sister ever got used to that.

After deciding he could trust Gumball enough to let him run around free in the house, give him food and water as well as a sleeping pace, Zach thought it would be best if Gumball took the upper bed in his original room.

Gumball One was sleeping below him in the bunk bed, seemingly having claimed it the moment he returned to his old home in the Void as that’s what he was always used to.

Rob slept downstairs in what was originally his parent’s bedroom. Since he had no night vision like Gumball, they thought it would be best to put him in a bed where he wouldn’t have to climb down a ladder in the dark, so this was the next thing available.

Rob didn’t mind it since having a double bed all for himself meant a lot of space for him.

He also somewhat reluctantly offered Gumball to take the other side of the bed since it seemed more comfortable than the ones upstairs, but Gumball refused.

For once because he wanted to do everything he could to find some sense of familiarity to not completely go crazy here so he preferred the room he knew.

And aside from that he would’ve felt pretty awkward sleeping in one bed with Rob like a couple considering what happened during their encounter when he admitted how he felt about him at that time.

Although he made sure only to mention the first part as his reason for denying the offer to not make the cyclops unintentionally feel bad again.

Last but not least, Zach claimed the couch.

Gumball was a bit surprised about him choosing arguably the most uncomfortable sleeping place as the one who was in charge in this house, so Zach argued that it was so he could have the TV for himself.

It apparently still working was the next thing that made Gumball sceptical, so he asked Gumball One about it and he indeed confirmed that the TV was still running, although it was only showing the same reruns every day.

But Gumball One also confirmed that Zach was usually sleeping above him in the bunk bed and doesn’t usually care about having the TV at night.

As Gumball was checking the alarm clock downstairs he saw that it was already 10:48 am. He slept pretty far into the morning.

It was justified though as he had trouble sleeping at all at multiple points during the night with the unfamiliar situation and the worries about home and when he would return to Elmore still haunting him.

Gumball One was seemingly awake due to the fact that he wasn’t in his bed, so Gumball Prime made his way downstairs to check for the others there.

He didn’t see anyone in the living room or the kitchen but there was part of a breakfast on the table with there still being some stuff left for him.

Gumball was hungry so he decided to eat first before searching for the others.

While looking out of the window at one point, he saw Zach standing there with his arms behind his back while facing away from the window, so he went out through the backdoor and approached him once he was done eating.

“You’re late for your first day of training.”, Zach commented without even turning around as he heard Gumball approaching him from behind.

Training? Oh yeah, he said we would do that today, Gumball remembered.

“What do you mean ‘I’m late?’ You didn’t tell me any specific time on when I should come and even told me to get a good night’s sleep as today would be a long day.”, Gumball questioned him.

…Had to make my badass teacher impression and cool line look stupid, didn’t you?, Zach thought in annoyance, although he didn’t say anything.

“Whatever. Let’s start, shall we?”, Zach ultimately replied while turning around to face him.

“So, what about Rob? Isn’t he going to join the training too? And where is Gumball One?”, Gumball Prime wondered.

“They are both downstairs. They aren’t going to join us. Gumball One is watching our hostages while Rob is watching Gumball One to make sure he will not let them go free again in his naivety. We need them for something later today.”, Zach explained.

Short scene cut to downstairs:

“And because of this, Gumrock exists in an eternal present. Time isn’t the same for him as it is for us. For Gumrock, one day is thousand years and thousand years are one day simultaneously.”, Rob explained the lore to a fascinated Gumball One while holding the rock for him to look at.

“Wow. That’s pretty awesome.”, replied an awestruck Gumball One.

“No, it isn’t!”, Rob One butted in, tied to a chair on the other side of the basement.

“Who in the world even makes such nonsensical lore for a stupid ROCK!?”, Gumball Two added, also being tied up beside him.

Rob and Gumball One looked at them for a moment before Rob turned back to Gumball One.

“I know you didn’t want to do this but can we tape their mouths again?”, Rob asked, feeling like it would only be justified for such blasphemy.

Cut back to Zach and Gumball Prime:

“Well, I can’t speak for Gumball One since I just know him for one day, but wouldn’t it make more sense for Rob to also be trained?”, Gumball asked.

“No. Just you will be enough. Are you ready to start?”, Zach simply answered.

“Uhh, actually I had a few more questions.”, Gumball responded.

“*Sigh*. Alright, but make it quick.”, Zach impatiently shrugged.

“Well, from what I understand being in the Void means you’ll be forgotten in Elmore. How come we still all remember you then? And why haven’t you and Gumball One aged at all if you aren’t part of the show anymore considering you’ve been here for….5 years you said?”, Gumball recalled.

“5 years for Zach. About seven for Gumball One.”, Zach corrected him.

“Damn!”

“Based on Bobert’s analysis we are in a special part of the Void where stuff isn’t forgotten in the real world. Apparently this was on purpose so the Void could change character designs while not making you guys lose the memories back from when everyone here was still in Elmore.

Because of that we also still have a connection to Elmore and the show despite not being part of it anymore and couldn’t age any further than you guys. Although Zach wonders if this changed now with the show being over.”, he explained.

“Alright, I guess that puts some concrete into that plot hole.”, Gumball broke the fourth wall before continuing with his questions.

“One more thing is that you said the dark energy of this place is what corrupts everyone except for the most kind-hearted, which sorta explains Gumball Two. How come it seemingly hasn’t affected you then, considering you aren’t exactly, well… you know-”, Gumball awkwardly gestured at Zach who started to frown at him, so he tried to save himself with his last question which would hopefully flatter Zach a bit more.

“And how come you are this powerful? The Void said people are getting nonstop fighting experience here, but even then you seem exceptionally strong. I saw Tina once fighting Bobert in his battle mode in Elmore and she was struggling with just the one, while you took down multiple without breaking a sweat.”, Gumball genuinely wondered.

“Zach is going to answer both of these questions at once since they are actually related. As for the latter one, Zach is just awesome like that.”, he bragged while grabbing his sunglasses out of nowhere and putting them on with a smug smile as Gumball gave him a half-lidded look, hoping he would continue.

“But aside from that, the reason why Zach is both overpowered and unaffected by the Void’s mind manipulation is…kinda you.”, he sheepishly admitted.

“Huh? Me?”, Gumball wondered.

“As the main character in a meta-powered TV Show, you possess higher potential for scale-breaking power than anyone else there is. And due to Zach originally being a part of you, he inherited part of this potential. That’s why he is this powerful and can resist the dark energy. You won’t be affected by that either so don’t worry.”, Zach explained.

“And why is Gumball Two affected by it and not as strong as you then?”, Gumball asked.

“After your third design change he became redundant. He’s still connected to your memories but not your potential anymore, just as Gumball One lost that ability too when Gumball Two was made. Zach still has it because he is connected to this form of you specifically.”, he said, clearly referring to their design being the same, unlike Gumball Two for example whose design was changed to not having the oval eyes anymore.

“But…if the show is over now, wouldn’t we both lose this potential?”, Gumball questioned.

“Seemingly not. Zach assumes it’s because while the show is over we still have the same abilities due to not having been replaced by new versions of ourselves, unlike the ones before us. Maybe that means we also won’t age here after all.”, he tried to explain it.

“What about Rob? He would still be affected by the dark corruption of this place, right!?”, Gumball asked in panic.

“He should have immunity too. Disfigurement by the Void while still keeping his sanity…well, mostly-”, Zach said while being reminded of his obsession with Gumrock.

“should mean he has grown immune to its abilities as well.”

“I see. Well…that explains why you only want to train me. So not only is my potential beyond yours, I’m also the reason why you got this strong in the first place. Well, isn’t that something?”, Gumball smugly asked while feeling a huge boost to his ego at that revelation.

“Oh please. You have this potential not because of some initial talent or anything but because literal dumb luck gifted it to you as the main character. Zach actually fulfilled his lesser potential while you are still just as weak as you always were, loser.”, Zach quickly broke his delusions, definitely not wanting to give him a reason to grow an even bigger head than he already had.

“It could’ve been so easy too. You have a martial arts master as a mother and yet never thought about asking her to teach you. Too scared that you couldn’t make it?”, he asked mockingly.

At that, Gumball's confident expression he just had a moment before quickly sunk as he started to look down.

“I…did kinda think about it in the past, but I was scared that she would just laugh and reject me and say I had no talent for it. Sometimes it kinda feels like she’s just disappointed in me so I didn’t want to bother her with it.”, Gumball sheepishly admitted while rubbing his arm.

Okay, not the answer Zach was waiting for. He expected Gumball would just counter with a boast and an insult of his own. Well, perfect for him to take advantage of the situation and remind Gumball for good who is the superior one among them.

…

But somehow Zach felt like he should maybe just drop the topic. Something in his stomach told him that he should say something uplifting instead. It was this same weird feeling he had when he met Gumball One and found out about how he got abandoned by his group.

Is it because Gumball just basically did his job and roasted himself better than even Zach could? Is it because he’s already looking so pathetic right now that any further attempt to bring him down would just feel hollow?

Yeah, that must be it, Zach thought.

“Well, lucky for you you’re now getting a much better teacher than your mom ever could be. When Zach is done with you, she won’t even recognize you anymore, so you can thank him.”, he answered.

Gumball slowly looked up again at that statement.

“So…any more questions?”, Zach wondered.

“Uhh, no. I actually think I’m done for now.”, Gumball replied.

“Great, that means we can finally get to business.”, Zach smirked in satisfaction while clenching his fists.

…

Back in the present:

“Whoa. And what happened then?”, Richard asked, just listening to Gumball’s story of what he went through in the Void along with everyone else in the house.

“After that pretty much everything went according to plan. We eventually stole the remote from the others and after he trained me to be good enough we went back.”, Gumball answered, just having explained everything up until that point with the exception of a few things.

“Wait, that’s it? Surely there must have been more to it in those 6 years.”, Penny expected, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, yeah. But I don’t have time to go over every single detail right now. I gave you the most important stuff, okay?”, Gumball explained, clearly wanting to move on from the conversation about his time in the Void.

Although in the corner of his eye he saw Rob crossing his arms while giving him a sceptical look.

“So this training is the reason for why you now have super speed and… seemingly other powers too?”, Carrie wondered, being reminded of how Gumball was able to touch her without her consent, breaking the restriction that a ghost mentally has to allow it to happen for a mortal to do that and him being able to take Jamie’s punches without receiving any damage earlier.

“Well, it’s not really a superpower since I got it through training, not any supernatural means.”, Gumball answered.

“Technically it is since your heightened meta accessibility through your main character status would be considered supernatural as nobody else aside from you has the power to acquire abilities on such a high level.”, Bobert explained.

“So what, do you have super strength too now? I challenge you to an arm-wrestling match!”, Jamie proposed.

“That won’t be necessary but yes, I have that too. I can go outside and lift a tree or something if you need proof.”, Gumball offered as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“No, it’s alright, I believe you. This is just all… so much to take in.”, Nicole replied, handing Anais over to Richard while sitting down on the couch.

“I can’t believe none of us are real. Like, if we aren’t…what’s even the point of trying to win this if our entire lives were a lie?”, Richard asked while sadly looking down at his daughter.

“Our lives weren’t a lie. For those who are watching us it might not have been real, but for us it is! That’s what counts. We are doing this for us. Together we can break the cycle.”, Gumball told everyone.

“Gumball is right. I lost one child today and whether it’s real for anyone else or not doesn’t matter. The pain I feel definitely is and I’m not going to lose anyone else I love!”, Nicole declared while standing up.

“So…what exactly should we do now?”, Penny wondered.

“First we are obviously going to find Darwin, then I rip this Pfahlius out of his body with my bare hands if I have to and tear him to pieces so thoroughly that he won’t even be the ghost of a ghost anymore after that!”, Nicole furiously vowed.

“I hate to say it but I’m afraid Darwin and Pfahlius have to wait.”, Gumball stopped her while raising his hand.

“What the-WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE HAS TO WAIT!? Don’t you want to save your brother!?”, Nicole wondered.

“Of course I do but we don’t even know where he is right now. Having a universal remote of himself, Pfahlius could be everywhere now. We need to focus on the Void situation first since that’s an active threat for Elmore that we are running out of time to prepare against.”

“So what, you suggest we’ll just let Pfahlius roam around freely!?”, Nicole asked, still not convinced.

“For now, yes. I doubt he’ll stay undercover for long anyway. Either he’ll return soon or make himself known elsewhere in the world through some action in a way that we’ll find out about through the news. If that happens I can easily catch up to him, wherever he is.

But for now, searching the entire planet for him is a waste of valuable time we have to use against the Void. If we ever want peace again, we have to prepare for war.”, Gumball explained.

“But how exactly can we prepare against something like this?”, Carrie asked.

“We stand the best chance against it if we have the biggest force possible. We need to recruit everyone in Elmore who’s powerful enough that they can help us fight it.”, Gumball replied.

“So should we all tell them individually that we only live in a TV show?”, Penny wondered.

“I would rather leave that out. Not that I want to keep everyone in the dark, but it’s probably easier if we just tell them the part about a supernatural force wanting to destroy Elmore and all of us having to work together to stop it. We need to handle everything else… such as a funeral for Anais-”, Gumball said while sadly looking over to his sister, still lying in her father’s arms right now.

“afterwards, assuming Elmore is still standing then.”

All of them looked at each other for a moment before Richard broke the ice.

“So…when should we start?”

“Right now. I don’t know how much time we have until the Void is done setting up the new show that’s meant to replace us. Every minute counts.”, Gumball warned.

“I will go over to Yuki’s house and get her to join us!”, Nicole immediately decided before sprinting out the door.

“I will get my Dad!”, Carrie added, before teleporting away.

“I will also talk to my family. Maybe I can convince Dad to come out of his shell for this!”, Penny said before being the next one to walk out.

“I’ll get Tina! And if she doesn’t want to join, I’ll make her!”, Jamie declared while clenching her fists before also walking out.

“Due to my saved knowledge about anyone who lives in Elmore and their abilities, I can create a list that will include everyone who can make a difference in helping us out in this fight.”, Bobert was next one to fly away, using the thrusters under his feet.

“Uhh…maybe I could put her in a more comfortable place?”, Richard asked while still holding Anais, unsure what he could do.

“It’s alright, Dad. We’ll handle the rest.”, Gumball reassured him before walking out of the door too.

As he was making his way with Gumrock still in his hand, he suddenly saw Rob walking beside him.

“You really think this is going to work? Elmore may have a lot of combined strength but the Void is on a different level all-together.”, he reminded the blue cat.

“Well, if we won’t try it, we’re differently doomed. We just have to combine our forces and hope that it’s enough.”, Gumball defended his choice.

“I know we’re in a hurry, but if you took a minute to think about this you could surely think of a better plan than just rushing it and hoping we can overpower it with blunt force. I think we should-”, Rob started.

“Yeah well, YOU don’t have the best track record for survival in the Void to know how we can make it through this, do you?”, Gumball interrupted him before suddenly realizing what he said as he stopped in his tracks with a regretful expression.

“...Gumball-”, he saw Rob trying to reach out to him after he said that.

“Nevermind. We have to get to work.”, Gumball stopped him before speeding away again.

…

Back in the past:

After many hours of his first day of training with Zach, Gumball was exhausted, hoping they could take a break or even better, stop for the time being soon.

“Think fast!”, Zach suddenly yelled from about 20 feet behind while throwing a rock at him.

“Whoa.”, Gumball reacted to it just in time, ducking before it would’ve hit his head.

As he looked up, he saw that Zach was suddenly gone before hearing something from right behind him.

Turning around quickly, he reacted just in time to defend against a punch of Zach and caught it in his palm.

“Alright, that should be enough for today.”, Zach decided, satisfied while swinging his fist away.

“*Huff* Really? *Huff* I can finally relax?”, Gumball sighed, before plopping down on his butt.

“Enough training, yes. But Zach never said you can relax, lazy. We started with the theoretical training, now it’s time for the practical one.”, Zach smirked.

“What!? You mean this wasn’t the practical part!?”, Gumball groaned.

“You practiced in a safe environment here today. Now it’s time we go over to real-world experience. Well, technically not real-world since that’s outside and we’re in the mistake world here, but… AH, YOU KNOW WHAT ZACH MEANS!”, he explained.

“*Groan* Can’t that wait for tomorrow?”, Gumball pleaded.

“Not a chance. We’re going to pay a visit to the headquarters of the First Ones and the Second Generationers respectively.”

“WHAT!? We’re going into enemy territory!?”, Gumball quickly jumped up in shock.

“Yes. We have a hostage of either of them in the basement and Zach doesn’t want to keep them any longer than necessary. We’re going to give them back now, in exchange for something they will give us.”, Zach explained, clearly referring to Rob One and Gumball Two.

“You want to negotiate with them?”, Gumball wondered, already seeing the betrayal coming a mile away.

“Zach thinks they will meet his demands. The First Ones need every fighter they have and Rob is one of their best, so they will give him what he wants in exchange for getting him back. Same thing with the Seconds. As cruel as their Nicole is, she cares too much about her family to abandon her Gummypuss.”, Zach answered, clearly a mock towards his counterpart.

“Ugh, it feels even worse when you’re the one using that name. So what will you demand in exchange for them?”, Gumball asked.

“The unfinished Universal Remote from the second Generationers and the plans on how to complete its construction from the First Ones.”, Zach responded.

“What!? No way they will give that up! At best they will double-cross us after having their Rob and Gumball back and then attack us so we don’t get away with that!”, Gumball warned him.

“Oh, they will double-cross us after the exchange has taken place. Zach is betting on that!”, he smirked again.

“Why would you want that!?”, Gumball asked in shock.

“You won’t get real world-experience until you see how dangerous it is here. That’s why you will be coming with Zach to see it first-hand. All a part of your training.”

“I think I’m pretty aware of how bad things are here just from that explanation alone really.”, Gumball tried to excuse himself out of the mission, holding up his hands in defense.

“Knowing it and experiencing it are two different things. You will come with Zach, whether you like it or not.”, Zach quickly destroyed his hopes.

“You know, I’m starting to think you’re using this whole training thing as an excuse to put me through hell.”, Gumball deadpanned while crossing his arms.

“A bit of both honestly. Might as well have a bit of fun during the whole ordeal.”, Zach countered with a shrug.

“Come on, I just had one day of training, they’ve been in this war for years. Putting me in this on my very first day is totally unfair!”, Gumball argued.

“Don’t be such a crybaby, you won’t actually have to fight anyone there. You’re just there to get a first row look at the nightmare that is now your life. Zach can handle this fine by himself while you cower in fear.”, he answered.

“Hmph. So what about Rob and Gumball One? Are they coming with us?”, Gumball changed the topic.

“Negative. We need someone to watch the base while we’re gone. Not that they could be of much help anyway. Rob is untrained and Gumball One is too nice to be a fighter so Zach never even bothered to teach him.”, he explained.

“Really, or did you just care too much about him and didn’t want to put him in danger?”, Gumball leaned forwards with a smirk of his own, deciding to throw back some mockery at Zach for earlier.

“Don’t be stupid. I am-ZACH is merely doing things the practical way and doesn’t want anyone useless getting in his way.”, Zach replied.

“Come on, you basically admitted it yesterday to me on the table. And you don’t need to keep up this whole ‘talking in the third-person of yourself’ thing with us. Does he even know why you allowed him to live with you in the first place or-”, Gumball started.

Before he could continue though, Zach was suddenly on him faster than he could react, holding Gumball by the collar of his sweater in the air with one hand while holding Gumball’s face close to his own.

̶T̶̶h̶̶e̶̶n̶ ̶t̶̶h̶̶e̶̶y̶ ̶s̶̶t̶̶a̶̶r̶̶t̶̶e̶̶d̶ ̶m̶̶a̶̶k̶̶i̶̶n̶̶g̶ ̶o̶̶u̶̶t̶ ̶a̶̶n̶̶d̶

“Now listen to me, loser! You’ll NEVER tell a single soul of what you heard in the kitchen yesterday. That was a moment that never existed and if you ever bring that up to ANYONE, I’ll show you that there’s someone in the Void that you want to be your enemy even less than anyone of the First Ones or Second Generationers. Understood!?”, Zach threatened.

“Y-Yes, I’m sorry!”, Gumball whimpered, feeling a similar aura emitting of Zach as of his mom when she was really angry.

“Good.”, Zach replied in satisfaction while setting him back down.

“Alright, let’s get them. Don’t want to waste any more time.”, he added, while making his way towards the house.

…

A while later, Zach and Gumball were walking towards their first destination, with Gumball carrying Rob One over his shoulder, as he was tied up and had his mouth taped shut again.

“Ugh, can’t you carry him if you’re stronger than me? This guy is lean but still large enough to be heavy.”, Gumball complained.

“Nope, gotta push you a little if we want to make progress. The quicker you reach your potential, the quicker we can leave this place.”, Zach answered matter-of-factly, although clearly amused a bit by the other’s struggle.

“*Groan* Alright. So… how have I been doing for my first day?”, Gumball wondered.

Surprisingly good to be honest, Zach thought.

“Yeah, you did okay. For a beginner that is. Someone as talented as Zach can surely get you somewhere.”, he answered instead, not wanting to give out too much praise for the start.

“Cool. So this whole training through real life-experience thing-”, Gumball began.

“Is the quickest way to push you above your limit. An untrained specimen with lots of potential is at his strongest when properly motivated. Or angered.”, Zach finished for him.

Gumball recalled what Zach was saying for a moment and remembered some moments in the past, which is when he noticed something.

He was indeed at his most powerful when really angered about something. Like that time when Darwin and him were chasing Chris Morris at school and constantly getting outwitted until Gumball couldn’t take it anymore and just rushed at him.

Or the time when he thought Alan lied about his mother being sick and was able to chase their car on foot, while during both examples he was so fast that he created a trail of fire with his speed.

Is that what Zach was talking about?

But he also said something about being pushed above his limit which reminded Gumball of when his mom got pushed beyond hers at the supermarket that one time and became a feral beast that would’ve nearly killed the family. He surely didn’t want something like this to happen to him.

Gumball was thinking about this so much while following Zach that he didn’t even notice the place they were approaching right now, until Zach woke him up from his daydream by stopping in front of him.

“Okay, we have arrived.”, he said.

Gumball stopped to see what was in front of him after he said that while setting down Rob One on the ground and saw that they stopped at the Void’s version of Elmore Junior High.

But it wasn’t like the school Gumball remembered. It was clearly…redecorated.

Half of the upper building was cut off and replaced by something that looked like a castle straight out of the middle ages. There were two small keeps on each side of the building with flags that say “First Ones” hanging from them. And there was a walking path on each side to reach the main building in the middle.

Up there, Banana Joe was angrily looking down on them from the left side of the building while Tina was on the right side, looking down as well with a sadistic grin.

Gumball noticed their designs being different from what they eventually evolved into, although he was still familiar with them from the past.

With Tina it was the most notable, as she looked less… realistic than she does now. The main difference with Banana Joe meanwhile was his lack of eyebrows.

A shiver ran down Gumball’s spine as he looked up at them. Well, mainly at Tina.

“Elmore Junior High?”, he carefully asked Zach.

“Their headquarters now.”, Zach confirmed.

“So uh, will I meet this “Very First One” you mentioned here for the exchange?”, Gumball wondered.

“Doubtful. Zach assumes she will let one of her two lieutenants handle this.”, Zach answered.

“Her two lieutenants? Who are those?”, Gumball asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You have to see it for yourself to believe it.”

Just as Zach said that, Richard came walking out from the middle side of the building, wandering over the left path until stopping in front of a rope that led downstairs.

He grabbed it before jumping over the rail, using the rope to heroically swing towards the ground…

…which failed and instead of sticking the landing he fell down on his face.

Zach, Gumball and even Rob One looked at him unimpressed for a moment until Richard eventually got back up, trying to play it cool.

“That was on purpose!”, he claimed.

“Dad!?”, Gumball asked in shock.

“Not the Dad you know. Well…in some aspects Zach supposes.”, Zach explained, referring to his failure at pulling off a dramatic entrance just a moment ago.

“Wait a second. You’re not our Gumball. And you’re not the one of the second ones either. Oh no! Do we have a new generation again!?”, Richard noticed before starting to panic at the thought.

“No, just him. Long story, but we’re not here for that. Zach assumes you would want him back.”, he says while grabbing Rob One from the ground.

“Yeah, that would be pretty nice. Thank you-”, Richard obliviously started.

“Not so fast! You can have him back. In exchange for the Universal Remote plans.”, Zach negotiated.

Richard was silent for a moment before busting out in laughter.

“HAHAHAHA! What do you want with those? You need the remote for those to be of any use.”

“We can create one ourselves. No problem at all.”, Zach shrugged.

“We can? I thought we were going to-”, Gumball started before Zach quickly put his paw over his mouth.

“Yes. WE CAN!”, Zach winked over at Gumball as if to tell him to just play along.

“And why should we agree to that? You just walked into our territory. We could just attack you right here, free Rob and you won’t get anything.”, Richard warned.

“Sure, you could do that. Zach wonders if you can reach him before it’s too late.”, he said before unsheathing a claw on his finger and putting it to Rob One’s neck.

Richard looked shocked at a moment and so did Gumball, not having expected that Zach would go that far. Rob looked the most scared though, his eyes widening.

Richard One meanwhile was unsure what to do, before turning around and looking up at Banana Joe and Tina still standing on the left and right side of the building, who both nodded at him.

“Alright, fine. You’ll get what you want. Give me a moment.”, Richard sighed, before walking back inside the building.

“Dude, wasn’t that a bit too extreme!?”, Gumball asked Zach.

“Extreme is the only way things work here. Don’t be such a wuss.”, Zach condescendingly replied.

A moment later Richard walked back out towards the door with some papers in his hand.

“Alright, now let him go!”, Richard ordered.

“I want to take a look at that first.”, Zach said while walking towards Richard and grabbing the papers.

After inspecting them and concluding they are real, he nodded over to Gumball, implying to him to free Rob One of his ropes.

Gumball did that and the first thing Rob One did upon being free was scratch the tape of his mouth, which was painful but more comfortable after it was off.

He walked over to Richard while Zach simultaneously walked past him with the papers before they were both besides their partners again.

“It was a pleasure to make business with you.”, Zach teased.

“You’re a cat of your word. I wonder what that feels like. ATTACK!”, Richard yelled while turning back towards the castle.

Before Gumball knew what was going on, Tina jumped down from the castle while roaring and running towards them.

“Um, Zach?”, Gumball asked before looking to his side and seeing that Zach wasn’t there anymore.

Before he could react, Tina was in front of him and about to bite down on him before she suddenly got hit by a blur of blue that sent her flying to the side and sliding over the ground.

“Let’s run!”, Zach instructed, recovering from the impact before he started running away and Gumball followed him.

“After them!”, Richard ordered as Bobert variants came flying out of the building and trying to follow them as Tina got up and tried to do the same.

After some running and taking corners though, Zach and Gumball were able to get away from them.

Looking around but not finding anything, one of the Bobert’s activated an integrated call back to the base.

“Model 36 to Lieutenant Burger lover. They escaped. Should we do a full-area search?”, it asked.

“Ah, let them leave. They may have the plans, but we have copies of them. They’ll never be able to create a remote of themselves. They aren’t much of a threat.”, Richard One answered.

Around a corner where they were hiding, Gumball was exhausted and coughing while Zach still looked fresh.

“Alright, that was Camp One for you. Now we do the second one.”, he instructed.

“*Cough* Immediately now!? We have to go all the way back home, get Gumball Two and then walk into another killing zone!?”, Gumball asked in disbelief.

“Yes, also you almost slipped up the plan earlier. They don’t need to know that we will get the remote from the Second Generationers. Let them believe we are overconfident and trying to create one ourselves that they think we can’t finish anyway. Or else they’ll try harder to come after us.”, Zach explained.

“Do we really need a plan this elaborated? I mean, come on. That was Dad! Corrupted or not, you saw that he was still as goofy as ever, right?”, Gumball argued.

“It might seem that way but that’s just an act to hide his true scheming nature. He wouldn’t be one of the Very First One’s lieutenants if he was nothing more than an idiot.”, Zach answered.

“Wait, you said two lieutenants earlier. Who is the other one?”, Gumball wondered.

“Don’t worry. You’ll find out eventually. Let’s get Gumball Two for the next exchange now.”, Zach replied as they made their way back home.

…

A while later, Zach and Gumball were walking towards the hideout of the Second Generationers, this time with the latter carrying Gumball Two over his shoulders, also tied up and with his mouth taped shut, although he at least wasn’t as heavy as Rob One.

Zach was going ahead and after a while stopped in front of the Wrecking Yard where Tina and her father were normally living.

“Here we are.”, Zach said, which told Gumball that they reached their destination.

It looked also different from what he was used to. The place looked more cleaned up compared to usual, but there were fires everywhere, flags similar to the ones at Elmore Junior High, but with “Second Ones” being written on them.

Aside from that, Gumball could see members of his family standing at different positions all over the junkyard, wearing uniforms that looked just like the ones his family and him were once wearing throughout the Paintball game they had in the woods.

Compared to the more old-fashioned and organized look that Elmore Junior High had now, this gave the impression of a post-apocalyptic war zone.

As they walked closer towards the family, Darwin Two and Anais Two scowled at them with angry glares. While it didn’t seem to impress Zach, Gumball Prime gulped at the sight.

“HOLD IT!”, someone stopped them from stepping any further and as they looked up, they saw Nicole Two standing on top of the garage that Mr. Rex was normally sleeping in.

She jumped down to land right in front of them in a flash, but unlike Richard One earlier, she actually managed to stick the landing.

“Zach! And…a new Gumball?”, she asked in surprise.

“Uh…hi.”, Gumball Prime awkwardly greeted her.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SON!?”, she furiously asked, scaring him again.

“Nothing at all. In fact, we were nice enough to bring him back to you. Safe and sound. And we only want one little thing in exchange.”, Zach stepped forward while grabbing Gumball Two away from his partner.

“Oh yeah. What would that be?”, Darwin Two asked with a scowl while stepping besides his mother.

“The Universal Remote. We get that, you get your Gumball back.”, Zach informed him.

“Ha, you’re an idiot if you think that we’ll give it to you or you could accomplish anything with that by yourselves. Oh wait, you are an idiot!”, Anais mocked him while also stepping forward.

“Have it your way. Either we’ll get the remote or you will NEVER get him back again.”, Zach warned while once again moving a claw in front of Gumball Two’s neck.

“YOU DO THAT AND I’LL MAKE SURE YOUR DEATH WILL BE A HUNDRED TIMES AS PAINFUL! BOTH OF YOURS!”, Nicole threatened.

“Maybe you could do that. But can you reach me before it’s too late for him?”, Zach went with his usual tactic again.

Only this time there was someone there smart enough to see through his bluff.

“You won’t do that. If you kill him, you have no hostage to stop us from attacking you and just deciding to not give you the remote.”, Anais Two argued.

“Hmm, you have a point there. Maybe Zach will just cut off one or two of his limbs. Decreases his worth for you, but not enough for him to be completely useless as a hostage.”, Zach threatened.

“ZACH!”, Gumball called out in shock, as Gumball Two now looked scared too.

“What will it be?”, Zach asked.

“NO! MY BOY! NICOLE, DON’T LET HIM DO THIS! THE REMOTE ISN’T AS IMPORTANT AS OUR SON!”, Richard Two suddenly came out of nowhere, tears in his eyes as he begged Nicole to give in to Zach’s demands.

“Alright, fine! Anais, give him the remote!”, Nicole ordered.

“What!? But Mom-”, Anais wanted to argue but stopped after seeing Nicole wink at her, indicating that she had a plan.

“*Sigh* Alright.”, Anais decided, pretending to be upset to not give anything away.

Zach and her walked towards each other and Anais grabbed the Universal Remote out of her uniform and gave it to him.

After she did that, Zach threw Gumball Two over to Nicole Two, who caught her son and immediately freed him of his robes.

“Oh, my son. Are you alright!?”, Richard Two quickly went over Gumball while taking the tape of his mouth.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine, Dad. Thanks.”, he answered.

“But they won’t be! ATTACK!”, Nicole ordered her family while pointing over to Zach and Gumball Prime.

As Darwin and Anais ran over to them with Nicole following suit, Gumball was panicking again until Zach grabbed his hand and his world suddenly became a blur.

One second later, they found themselves back at the Watterson house in the basement, standing in front of Gumball One and Rob as Gumball Prime felt like he had been in a rocket for a moment.

“Alright, let’s do it!”, Zach ordered, as Gumball One quickly cut the remote open and put two wires together.

“Wha-WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?”, Gumball Prime asked.

“Not now! Rob, your turn!”, Zach said.

Rob grabbed the remote just as Gumball One moved the two wires so they would touch each other. As Rob’s body glitched for a moment, an electric shock went through them for a moment before a second remote suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the air and fell to the ground.

“WHAT THE WHAT!?”, Gumball Prime blurred out, now even more confused as Zach quickly picked up the remote and vanished again, leaving a wave of dust in his place.

“CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?”, he asked while turning to Gumball One and Rob, hoping they had an explanation for it.

“What? Didn’t he tell you the plan?”, Rob wondered.

“NO! WHAT PLAN!?”

“Cutting the remote open, let certain wires make contact and add a touch of Void-enhanced energy.”, Gumball One explained while pointing towards Rob.

“Do all of that and voila, create a second remote.”

Over at the junkyard, the Wattersons were now standing in confusion.

“Where are they!?”, Gumball Two asked while frantically looking around.

“I don’t know! One moment we were about to attack them, then they were suddenly gone!”, Darwin Two answered, also trying to make sense of it.

“Well, doesn’t matter. Look what I found!”, Nicole Two announced, holding the Universal Remote in her hands as she just came back from outside the junkyard.

“The remote!? Did you catch up to them then?”, Anais Two wondered.

“No. I don’t know what trickery they used to get away but they dropped the remote not far on the way. It was just lying on the ground with them nowhere in sight. So we at least still have that much.”, Nicole Two explained.

“Oh, nice. Although it seemed a bit rude to lie to them like that, don’t you think?”, Richard Two asked obliviously.

“*Sigh* Richard, just leave this stuff to us please. Why don’t you ask our spy if he finally got some more information on the First Ones?”, Nicole Two offered.

“Oh, alright.”, Richard Two happily obliged while walking over to the other side of the junkyard and approaching someone that looked like a puppet made of newspapers.

“Hey, newspaper guy! Do you already have something new for us?”, Richard greeted him.

“First, it’s Kip Schlezinger. And second, no I don’t! Back in Elmore, I had an entire reporting team do gather information while I was just the one telling people about it. At least for the one episode they had me on the news there.”, Kip complained.

Back at the Watterson House, Zach appeared back in the basement with the other three.

“The plan worked perfectly. They have the remote and they don’t know we have another one so they won’t come after us!”, Zach bragged proudly.

“Okay so, WHY WAS I NOT INFORMED OF THIS PLAN!? AND HOW CAN YOU CHANGE BETWEEN LOCATIONS ALMOST INSTANTLY!?”, Gumball Prime asked, really on the edge now.

“Part of the heightened potential Zach told you about earlier. He can just move THAT fast.”, Zach boasted.

“WHAT!? I-YOU-THEN WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST BROUGHT US BACK HERE THIS FAST WHEN THE FIRST ONES WERE CHASING US!?”, Gumball demanded to know.

“If Zach did that you would have known that you weren’t really in danger with him by your side. He needed to show you how bad it’s out there so you understand how important your training is. Since our mission was done after the second exchange and we had to prepare the remote bluff quickly, there was no reason to hold back anymore after that.”, Zach explained.

“What the-Did you know about that!? When did you plan all of that!?”, Gumball Prime asked while turning his head towards Gumball One and Rob.

“Early in the morning. You preferred to sleep long, remember?”, Rob reminded him.

“Luckily you got us the plans for the remote first so I could see in advance how to do it and prepare for when you returned with the actual remote.”, Gumball One told Zach.

“Wait, the plans from the First Ones? When did you get time to get them here beforehand?”, Gumball Prime asked while turning back to Zach.

“Just after we got them. Luckily Zach came back just in time to save you from Tina.”

“That’s where you were for those few seconds!?”, Gumball wondered.

“Yep. Honestly, Zach is surprised you didn’t notice that he suddenly didn’t have the plans we just got with him anymore. I prepared an entire excuse for that in case you would’ve asked about it. You really need to become more observant.”, Zach teased while Gumball started to look embarrassed.

“Well, now we have the remote prototype and the plans on how to finish it without either side knowing we have both and thinking they need to come after us. Zach is always three steps ahead!”, he hyped himself up once more.

“So…that means we can return home anytime soon then?”, Rob asked.

“Only when Gumball’s training is finished, otherwise returning will be useless and we stand no chance against the Void. We don’t just want to return, we want to win the war. The big war.”, Zach explained.

“But the Second Ones still have a version of the remote too, right? What if their Anais somehow manages to finish it before my training is complete?”, Gumball Prime asked.

“That doesn’t matter. They are a non-factor in terms of the bigger picture. They can try to escape, but they will never beat the Void. Even their mysterious strongest member shouldn’t be enough for that.”

“Oh yeah, why haven’t we encountered him?”, Gumball Prime replied, having completely forgotten about that guy.

“They are hiding him somewhere to only use for emergencies they think they can’t handle by themselves from what Zach heard.”, Zach answered.

“...So, when will my training be complete?”, Gumball Prime wondered now.

“That would depend on your progress.”, Zach responded.

Gumball took that in for a second before answering with determination.

“Then let’s continue.”

Chapter Text

In the present:

After sprinting her way through the streets of Elmore while simultaneously trying to overplay the still very fresh grief about her daughter’s passing by focusing on the situation at hand, Nicole arrived at her destination:

The Yoshida Mansion.

She took a deep breath in before knocking on the door. While Yuki and her were childhood friends, they haven’t seen each other in decades before the cloud mother eventually returned with a blast that almost resulted in them destroying each other.

They were able to make up in the end before it was too late and remained on good terms afterwards, but despite Nicole wanting to reconcile with her in a more meaningful way, she never really found the time to do it afterwards.

Most of the time when she saw her since then, it was at work when Yuki was visiting her husband for something. Between working long shifts at the Rainbow Factory and taking care of her chaotic family, there was never too much time for a private life.

Because of that, Nicole was very unsure if Yuki would just accept her story and agree to fight by their side this easily. But Gumball said they needed all the power they could get and if any of them had the chance to convince Yuki, it was her. So she had to try.

Eventually the door opened and the woman she was wanting to speak to appeared in the doorway.

“Nicole-san. What a pleasant surprise.”, she happily greeted her old friend.

“Hey, Yuki. Sorry that I came unannounced. I hope it’s not a bad time.”, Nicole awkwardly started.

“Oh, not at all. By all means, come in.”, she invited her inside the house.

They walked towards the kitchen, which had an overly long dinner table. Yuki sat down in one of the seats and invited Nicole to take place in the one across from her.

“Fancy. I just realize I’ve never really been in here before.”, she commented while looking around.

“Only the best that money can buy. Well, the house of your boss is not usually a location many people wish to find themselves at outside the working hours.”, Yuki joked.

“Heh, true. Although I noticed he has been treating me somewhat nicer recently, not too long after you came back into town. You wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would you?”, Nicole asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

“Hmm, call it a favor. I definitely owed you one after taking things way too far upon our… argument when I returned. The first time I saw you at the office afterwards and you looked so miserable, I thought it was an issue that I could address with my husband.”, she cryptically explained.

“You got him to change his mind!? I never saw anyone do that to Mr. Yoshida, least of all a woman.”, Nicole quipped, remembering his misogyny with a frown.

“Let’s just say this woman in front of you had some…”, Yuki started before putting her fist on the table forcefully, causing it to make a thud sound while vibrating. “forceful arguments.”

“That sure explains it. I was already surprised that he of all people would make me Employee of the month, especially after rather choosing a plant the month before.”

“Glad to know that the lesson seemingly has stuck. If he ever seems to forget it, feel free to let me know. I’ll give him a reminder.”, Yuki smirked.

“Haha, will do. I’m really glad that we remained friends after that little argument a while back.”, Nicole answered.

“Well, of course we would. It was a bit of a mess, but we made up in the end. We’re not living in some weird contrasting sequel series where all of that got redone to still have us be at odds with each other.”, Yuki replied.

“Sure, sure. Uhh… as much as I would like it otherwise I came to talk with you because of some… serious business.”, Nicole began.

“Oh?”, Yuki wondered in surprise.

“This is… really tough to explain but to put it short: Elmore is in grave danger.”, is what Nicole eventually settled on.

Yuki’s eyes widened at hearing that as her fists clenched.

“By what?”, she asked.

“Like I said, it’s really hard to explain. It’s something supernatural that we can’t really see so far but we know it’s coming. The only chance we have at stopping it is recruiting everyone who can help us fight it and hope that our numbers and combined strength will be enough. It already… it already took my daughter from me.”, Nicole said while looking down as tears were forming in her eyes.

“The small one? Anais-chan? She’s… dead?”, Yuki asked in shock.

Nicole didn’t even want to answer that and just nodded in confirmation.

“Oh my gosh.”, Yuki called out why moving over to Nicole to hug her.

“I know this all probably doesn’t sound very convincing-”

“I’ll help you.”, Yuki interrupted her.

“Wha-really? Just like that?”, Nicole asked, not having expected her to agree this quickly.

“Of course. I may not understand much of it, but I’ve already seen it. This town is… different from any other place I’ve ever been in. And if it’s this bad and you need me, I’m there for you, sister. In any way you’ll need me.”

“Thanks, Yuki. T-That means a lot.”, Nicole replied, hugging her back.

“So what can I do? Find more people to join? Already fight back somehow?” Yuki wondered.

“Just…be ready when we need you. Me, my family and some friends are already recruiting everyone there is right now and we don’t know when it will start yet.”, Nicole explained, thinking it’s probably better if those who know the full story are asking around in case there are further questions.

“Alright. Anything else I can do for you regarding…your daughter?”, Yuki asked sympathetically.

“No, it’s okay. I should go back home and give everyone notice that you said yes. Preparing this whole thing is a pretty good distraction from everything else that’s happening right now. Besides, I also need to help Richard to get through this.”

“Oh yeah, that too. Not to mention your sons. This must be absolutely crushing for them.”, Yuki concluded.

“Yeeeeah, but we’re getting through this together.”, Nicole answered, deciding not to go into details of how it happened in the first place for now.

“Alright, just know that I’ll be here if you need me. I will also talk my husband into giving you some time off so you can properly grieve and prepare for everything.”, Yuki added.

“Thanks, sister. I really appreciate it. I’m lucky to have you.”, Nicole said while leaning back from the hug and walking towards the door again while waving her goodbye as Yuki did the same.

“Good luck, Nicole.”

“Thanks and don’t worry. We won’t lose this fight.”

…

Meanwhile in the Watterson residence, Richard was just walking down the stairs when he saw Gumball sitting on the kitchen table.

“Oh, hey son. I didn’t even hear you coming back.”, Richard said.

“Yeah, I wasn’t planning to stay away for long. Just had to go on a quick walk to get away from…some things.”, Gumball answered while glancing outside in the corner of his eye.

“Oh, I see.”, Richard replied hesitatingly, seemingly unsure what to say.

“So uh…where is Anais?”, Gumball asked, remembering how his father said earlier that he wanted to put her in a more comfortable place.

“I placed her down in the bed in her room for now. Felt like the nicest place for the moment, y’know?”, Richard asked with a sad smile.

“Yeah, makes sense.”, Gumball said, also not sure how exactly to sway the conversation away from that topic.

“Don’t you think we should…you know, tell the rest of the family? Tell Nicole’s and my parents what happened and about the danger and everything?”, Richard wondered.

“Might…be better if we leave them out of this for now. I get that they should know about Anais, but in our current situation, this would make things even more complicated. Let’s focus on dealing with this thing first and keep them out of it if we can.”, Gumball explained, hoping Richard would understand.

“No, I get it. I don’t want my parents to put themselves in danger with all of this either. They’ll understand when we tell them in time…I hope.”, Richard responded before sitting down on the other side of the table.

“I’m sorry, I wish I could do more to help out. If there’s anything-”

“Dad, it’s alright.”, Gumball responded while putting his paw on his father’s.

“It’s good to have someone here in case somebody comes with news. Besides, I know Anais’ passing isn’t easy on you and nobody expects it to be. You were a great father to her and I know she would agree. None of this is your fault.”

“Thanks, son.”, Richard answered with a small smile.

“But…are you going to be alright, too? You’ve been handling it all very well it seems but I know how much you loved your sister.”, he sympathetically said.

“Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll be fine.”, he tried to reassure his father.

That’s when Nicole came back through the door.

“Okay, Yuki is on our side. She was quick to join.”, she revealed.

“Oh, that was fast. Nice job, Mom. I hope the others are having this much luck as well.”, Gumball commented.

…

At Carrie’s mansion:

“So that’s pretty much the situation we have.”, Carrie just finished explaining to her father.

“I can’t believe Pfahlius is back. You should’ve told me before. That was way too dangerous for you to get into on your own!”, Vlad scolded his daughter.

“I know, Dad. I’m sorry. I just thought…after last time, t-that we could handle him. It’s my fault.”, she sadly admitted.

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up over it. Even I once tried to take him on during my Snatcher days. Barely got away with my life. I don’t want to face him again. And I’m already dead now!”, Vlad remarked.

“So, you’re going to help us?”, Carrie wondered.

“Definitely! After all these years, it would be my honor to finally use my powers for something good.”, Vlad answered.

“Thanks, Dad.”, Carrie replied while floating over to hug him.

“If we’re going all out there we should probably look for more people with mystic powers. They are the strongest. How about that friendly witch who lives in the cave with her giant son?”, Vlad recalled.

“Ms. Jötunheim and Hector? Great idea, Dad! They should surely be able to help us. I’ll immediately get there.”, Carrie replied before teleporting away.

…

In the past:

It has been 4 months since Gumball and Rob arrived in the Void and the former started to get trained by Zach.

It was still tough for Gumball to get used to the new situation without any of his original family, girlfriend and most of his friends around but he mostly got used to it.

The thought that it was only a temporary setback and he had the time of returning to Elmore in his own hand through his training progress definitely gave him a small feeling of control he needed right now to not go absolutely crazy.

Right now there was another day where the two of them were sparring in the backyard.

Zach jumped at Gumball from a height with a flying kick that he rolled under. The moment he turned around though, Zach was immediately on him again with a flurry of punches and kicks.

Thanks to his heightened reflexes after months of training, Gumball was able to react and block every attack though. Something he couldn’t have done before.

Eventually, Gumball struck back with a kick of his own, but Zach caught it in his paw and used it to lift Gumball up and throw him down, face first.

Before impact though, Gumball was able to land on his hands and put enough weight on them to stop his face from hitting the ground. While spinning around on them, he used his other leg to kick himself free from Zach’s grip before getting up and throwing some dirt in his face that he grabbed as one of his hands was on the ground.

Zach got momentarily stunned by this and couldn’t react in time as Gumball executed a sweep kick that tripped Zach’s legs and sent him to the ground.

After removing the last bit of dirt from his face, Zach’s eyes were able to see enough again to look up at Gumball grinning down on him smugly.

“Oh yeah. Looks like I just beat you. Guess I’m on a pretty good way to fulfill my potential and return to Elmore soon.”

Zach shot him an unamused look while getting back up on his feet.

“You improved quite a bit, Zach can’t deny that. But you’re far from ready to make your way back to Elmore and fight the Void.”

“Dude, I just won against you. What else do I have to do to prove that I’m ready?”, Gumball groaned.

“Hmm, maybe it’s time we get to the main training then now that you’re somewhat competent at the basics.”, Zach smirked.

“The main training?”, Gumball wondered, thinking that’s what they’ve been doing all this time.

“What happened until now was simply a warm-up. Sharpening your endurance and reflexes so you can handle the tough part. Being skilled enough to handle yourself in a fight is cool, but that can only make up for so much. Even the best martial artist in the world is hopeless if the opponent is simply too strong and fast for them.”, said Zach before suddenly disappearing from sight.

“What the wh-”, Gumball reacted before suddenly getting hit on the head from behind.

“Ow! Hey!”, he said while turning around to see Zach grinning at him.

“What’s wrong? Want some payback? Then come at Zach, bro.”, he taunted.

Gumball did as he was told and moved forward to punch Zach but at the last moment, he disappeared again only for Gumball to get hit from behind once more.

Of course he immediately knew who it was and countered with a backhand while still having his back turned to Zach, hoping to catch him off-guard but he was too slow again.

This time he got attacked from behind hard enough to get knocked on the ground. As he collected himself and looked behind him again he saw Zach standing there with his arms crossed.

“Of what use are your skills against someone you can’t touch?”, he said before suddenly disappearing again before his voice was heard from the other side of the backyard.

“Of what use are they against something you are too weak to stop?”, he said while standing beside a tree, grabbing it and just ripping it out of the ground with one hand before throwing it at Gumball.

“AAAHHH!”, Gumball could only scream out in fear while closing his eyes and shielding himself with his arms as the gigantic tree flew at him at high speed.

The impact never came though. After a few seconds, Gumball was brave enough to open his eyes and remove his arms from his face again, only to see Zach standing before him while holding and blocking the tree in the exact same position that it was just flying at Gumball a moment before.

“THAT’S why you’re far from ready.”, he said before dropping the tree to the ground.

“So, you’re gonna teach me how to be as fast as you now?”, Gumball asked in hope after remembering the moment where they were in the Second Generationer territory and Zach got them home in a second back then.

“No. Faster even.”, Zach answered.

…

Back in the present:

After Nicole returned home, Gumball, Richard and her went on to further discuss the plan on how to exactly stop the Void.

“So how exactly are we going to fight this Void if it’s a sentient place and not an actual person? Do we just like…destroy the place?”, Nicole wondered.

“That’s…wouldn’t be quite as easy as it might sound. I guess the Void would unleash the first generation that I told you about upon us, so we need the numbers and strength to beat them first.”, Gumball revealed.

“Only the first one? What about the second one that you also mentioned?”, Richard asked.

Dammit, I didn’t prepare an explanation for what happened to them. How did Dad of all people push me into a corner here?, Gumball thought.

“They would probably be an entire problem of themselves considering they still have the strongest fighter in all of The Void running around.”, Gumball decided, settling on a half-truth so it technically wouldn’t be wrong.

“So we take down that army of early Generationers and then we take down the Void? Sounds simple enough.”, Nicole concluded.

“Yeeeah, something like that. Luckily, it’s busy with creating the copy world for the new show right now, which means we can prepare as well as possible. Afterwards we focus on getting Pfahlius out of Darwin.”, Gumball explained.

“Poor Darwin. He must be so frightened being with that monster alone. I wish he was here and I could hold him right now. I can’t bear the thought of not knowing if he is safe, especially after what happened with Anais.”, Richard stated as tears formed in his eyes again before Nicole hugged him.

“Don’t worry, Dad. For better or worse, Pfahlius isn’t going down easily. As long as he wants to keep Darwin’s body, he should be safe. I’m more worried for the rest of the world with him out there doing who knows what.”, Gumball commented.

…

On the hills of Elmore:

Carrie just teleported in front of the cave Hector was living in with his mom before floating inside.

“Hello? Anybody home?”, she asked.

“AH! INTRUDER! BEGONE!”, Ms. Jötunheim suddenly jumped up in fear before sending a blast through her wand.

Due to Carrie being a ghost though, the blast went straight through her and she didn’t even bother dodging or reacting to it.

“Ms. Jötunheim, it’s just me.”, Carrie simply said.

“Oh, Carrie. Nice of you to come by. What’s going on? Need my help with a potion again?”, the small woman asked, lowering her wand.

“No, actually I wanted to ask you about something else. Something…pretty serious.”, Carrie hesitantly began.

“Oh, what would that be?”, Ms. Jötunheim asked curiously.

“Well…you know about all the supernatural stuff surrounding Elmore?”, Carrie tried.

“What do you think I am? Of course I do.”, Ms. Jötunheim answered obliviously, wondering where this was going.

“Well, to put it short. Elmore is in danger. Grave danger by something that wants to destroy the entire town and will do so if we don’t act. I can’t fully describe its nature but I know it’s coming. So we need everyone who can help us fight it, that’s why I came for you…and Hector.”, Carrie carefully explained.

Ms. Jötunheim looked at Carrie wide-eyed for a moment before collecting herself again and answering.

“Absolutely not.”

“What? Didn’t you hear what I just-”

“I heard you alright but the answer is no. I’m not going to put Hector into something like this. And I’m not going to put myself into this either because if something happens to me, who will take care of him?”, Ms. Jötunheim responded.

“Look, I understand your worries but this is bigger than us. This is the entire town! Having you and especially Hector with us could be the difference between winning and losing this fight!”, Carrie tried to convince her.

“I came to Elmore because I wanted to prevent Hector from getting in the life-and-death struggles his species has to face! I promised his father I’d make sure he’d have a normal life here when I adopted him so I can’t do this to him! His dad already disappeared out of nowhere years ago so I’m everything he has!”, Ms. Jötunheim argued.

“I got some news for you! If Elmore gets destroyed, that will include this cave, you and Hector! This concerns you whether you like it or not!”, Carrie threw back.

“No, it doesn’t. We’ll just pack our stuff and move away if it turns out to be as bad as you say. I’m a witch. I can do that very quickly.”, Ms. Jötunheim shrugged.

“And where will you go? Like you said, you came to Elmore specifically because you knew Hector would be accepted with everyone in here being weird. Other places won’t be so nice to him.”, Carrie reminded her.

“I’ll think of something. Don’t you worry about me.”, Ms. Jötunheim answered.

“HEY, MOM! WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?”, Hector’s loud voice came out from the other side of the cave.

“Nobody, dear! Go back to playing with your meteorites!”, the mother answered.

“Anyway, I think it’s time for you to leave.”, she added while turning back to Carrie.

“Hmph. Fine.”, was the ghost’s grumpy reply as she flipped her hair and flew back towards the entrance.

…

In the Fitzgerald home things were not much better right now.

“NO!”, Patrick yelled at his daughter in the kitchen.

“But Dad-”

“No buts, young lady! You may be out of your shell but there’s no way me or anyone else in the family is going to do it! I also forbid you to participate in this fight you just told me about!”, Patrick decided.

“What!? I can’t just stay out of that! Gumball and the others need me!”, Penny argued.

“Well, how do you know he isn’t lying to you? He has no proof from what I’ve heard and you’re all basing this on his, you must admit, very ridiculous claim.”, Patrick threw back, folding his arms.

“HE ISN’T LYING! HE-”, Penny started, wondering how she should explain it without giving away what was really going on as they agreed on.

“I trust him! Why should he lie about something like that!?”, was unfortunately the best thing she could think of.

“He probably has his reasons. He did so in the past after all. Either way, I didn’t agree to tolerate Gumball and your decision to be out of your shell for him to put you in grave danger for questionable reasons. Neither you nor me will participate in this and that’s my last word!”, Patrick ended the conversation before walking away.

“*Sigh* You can’t stop me. Then I’ll just do it without you.”, Penny muttered under her breath.

…

Back in the past:

Gumball Prime just came back from a run around the neighborhood and made his way through the front door to see Gumball One sitting in front of the TV.

“Oh, hey dude. Rarely ever see you in front of that thing.”, Gumball Prime noticed.

“Yeah, it reminds me a bit too much of Darwin since we would usually hang out and sit in front of the TV together to-”

“Dude, I know. We had the same lives, remember?”, Gumball Prime refreshed his memory.

“Oh yeah, sometimes I forget that.”, Gumball One chuckled.

“Well, Rob is taking a nap and Zach is out spying on the First Ones to see if anything has changed on the situation. So I was kinda bored alone.”

“What about the remote? Didn’t you want to work on that?”, Gumball Prime remembered.

“Actually, I finally finished it earlier today. We can now break out anytime we want as long as we’re back at the entry point.”, Gumball One revealed.

“Really? That’s awesome! Looks like we won’t have to stay here for much longer.”, Gumball Prime said.

“Ehhh…depends. How is your training going along?”, Gumball One asked.

“Solid, I suppose. I’m steadily getting stronger and faster. But I’m still not close to Zach. Honestly thought this would go faster with this whole potential thing. Can’t believe it’s already been 2 years.”, Gumball Prime commented while sitting down with his counterpart on the couch.

“I suppose that whole pushing you above your limit thing hasn’t succeeded yet?”, the other asked.

“Not really. Zach told me it would be different for me than it was for Mom and I could get there without fully going feral thanks to this potential but it’s still pretty scary. I would rather play the long game if it means not having that happen to me.”, Gumball Prime explained.

“I see.”, Gumball One just answered while turning back to the TV.

“Hey eh, can I ask you something rather personal? It’s about…your family members and everything.”, Gumball Prime started awkwardly, rubbing his head. He was rarely ever alone with Gumball One and had the chance for a private conversation like that.

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Well, it’s just…how are you handling it all so well? What happened to your mom and sister and being separated from Darwin and Dad? How do you do it?”, Gumball Prime wondered.

Gumball One’s face fell for a moment before he answered.

“It…is affecting me more than it seems. It’s been so many years now, but it’s nothing you can ever forget about. I guess it’s the hope that I can still get back and save Darwin eventually that keeps me pushing through.”, he responded.

“Yeah, I get you. I’m also coping in a similar way in regards to my family. Speaking of Darwin though, your Darwin. What’s with him? I never saw him and Zach didn’t want to tell me much either.”, Gumball Prime asked.

“At the beginning, he was always with me. Even here, we were inseparable and he never wanted to get into this war either. But after the Very First One took an interest in him he changed.”, Gumball One continued.

“The Very First One!? You know who she is!?”, Gumball Prime jumped up.

“Not really. Only a few of us she chose specifically got to ever see her in person. But she convinced those enough about her ability to lead us that their confirmations alone convinced the rest of us. For some reason, Darwin was among the ones she chose, but even he didn’t want to tell me.”

“What happened then?”, Gumball Prime asked intrigued.

“After seeing her more and more, Darwin seemed to get corrupted just like the rest. But I could still feel some hesitation in him. As I got kicked out, they didn’t let me see him anymore. And after I joined Zach, it wasn’t safe for me to return there anyway.

I only know that Darwin is still alive and with them and he can be saved, but I don’t know how.”, Gumball One admitted sadly.

“Hey, it’s alright. We made it this far, I’m sure we can eventually save him as well. Together.”, Gumball Prime reassured him while putting a paw on his shoulder.

Gumball One looked at him and gave him a nod and a weak smile. “Together.”

…

Back in the present:

After marching down the town, Jamie finally arrived at her destination: The junkyard where Tina was living with her father.

“Hey, Tina!”, she called over as she immediately saw her friend standing around while being on her phone.

“Jamie, came to hang out?”, Tina asked happily.

“Even better, I came with good news! I just joined this group and we’re getting in a big fight with this huge thing and you have the honor to join us!”, Jamie revealed.

“Huge thing? What exactly is it?”, Tina wondered.

“I don’t know, didn’t pay too much attention beyond that we have to crush it. But I know that it wants to destroy Elmore and we have to stop it so are you in or what!?”, Jamie asked.

“Sounds dangerous. But if it’s about fighting and our survival, I’m so in!”, Tina replied.

Just after she said that though, a loud roar appeared from behind at the garage that immediately got Tina to flinch.

One second later, Mr. Rex stepped out of it and quickly walked towards the two girls. He stopped in front of Tina and growled at his daughter in a language only she seemed to understand.

“Well. Y-Yes, Dad. But Jamie says it’s a threat to the entire town so maybe we should-”

“ROOOOOAAAAAR!”, came the very clear response from her father that made her shriek back.

“*Sigh* Sorry, Jamie. Looks like I can’t join after all.”, Tina decided in disappointment while turning back to her friend.

“What!? Just because your father says No, you want to abandon us!? Since when do WE care about orders!?”, Jamie asked in fury.

Tina looked between Jamie and her dad, who was glaring warningly at her before answering.

“I’m sorry, Jamie. I can’t come.”, she sadly answered.

“Well, you might be too much of a fuss to stand up to your Dad but I’m not!”, Jamie answered with determination before stepping forward.

“Now listen to me, Lizard Breath!”, she started while pointing her finger at him. “I-”

“ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!”, was Mr. Rex’ answer, even louder than before and exactly in Jamie’s face as she almost fell back and could only barely keep her composure.

“...Understandable, have a nice day.”, Jamie eventually responded meekly before turning around and making her way out again.

…

Back at the Watterson residence, Gumball was just on a phone call with Penny.

“Alright, even if he won’t participate, at least we still have you on our side. Thanks for trying, Babe. Love you.”, he said before hanging up.

“Bad news regarding participants?”, Nicole asked from the kitchen, having listened in.

“Somewhat. Penny’s Dad won’t be a part of it. Hector is a no-go as well. But there’s also good news. Carrie convinced her father to help us and Bobert just texted me that he recruited William, Ocho and Clayton for us. All classmates with powers that could surely help us a lot.”, Gumball explained.

“Oh, that’s good. Looks like we’re building up quite the team after all.”, Nicole replied.

“Yes, but there’s still one trump card missing. Possibly the biggest of them all.”, Gumball responded.

“Huh? Who?”, Nicole wondered.

“The best way to prepare countermeasures for a bad future is to see said future in detail.

I’m off to visit Banana Barbara. See you later”, Gumball revealed while waving his mom goodbye and speeding out of the door.

“....Who?”, Nicole just asked after him in confusion even though he was already gone.

“Okay, I’ve been looking at this thing for a while now and I think I’m convinced. Gumrock is a great addition to this family.”, Richard told her while coming from the living room and holding said rock.

While being on his way to the Bananas house, Gumball suddenly saw Rob walking beside him after a few streets.

“Off to visit Barbara?”, he asked.

“Whoa, where did you come from? And how did you know where I was going?”, Gumball wondered.

“You know exactly how.”, Rob reminded him.

“Yes…you were the one who originally had the idea to use her to stop the Void. While the execution was rather questionable, the idea itself was good.”, concluded Gumball, although he subconsciously knew that wasn’t the answer.

“...Hey so, I’ve been thinking. Since you didn’t really have a home the last time, why don’t you come living with me and my family in our house?”, he suddenly offered.

“*Sigh* Gumball-”, Rob began.

“After all, you’ve already lived in our basement once and have been at the house the entire time in the Void. Speaking of, maybe you could fill the void that Anais’ death will undoubtedly leave. I’m sure Mom and Dad won’t mind if I tell them-”, he rambled on.

“Gumball, that will never work out. Besides, all of this really isn’t healthy for you. Maybe you should-”, Rob tried before getting interrupted too.

“Oh, we’re here! Gotta talk about this another time.”, Gumball said as he saw they were at the Banana’s house.

“Maybe you should step away and just let me do this alone. No offense, but I don’t think she would be too delighted to see the guy who kidnapped her the last time.”, Gumball awkwardly explained.

“Sure, whatever you tell yourself to make this work in your head.”, Rob snarked while rolling his eyes and walking in the opposite direction again.

As he was out of sight, Gumball rang the doorbell and waited for a moment until Banana Joe eventually opened it.

“Oh hey, buddy! You came over to hang out?”, he greeted him happily.

“Hey, Joe. Uh, unfortunately not. I came here to talk to your Mom about something regarding the future. Is she at home?”, Gumball asked.

“Sure. She is painting in the garage right now. Just walk through that door and you’ll get to her.”, Joe pointed him in the right direction.

“Thanks, buddy.”, Gumball responded before walking towards the door.

Banana Barbara was just putting the finishing touches on a painting of Gumball being in the desert and seemingly screaming at thin air as the door behind her suddenly opened.

“Barbara?”

“Oh, there you are. I’ve been waiting for you!”, she greeted him.

“You knew I was coming?”, Gumball wondered while closing the door behind him.

“Of course! I even drew a painting of it!”, Barbara said while pointing at a painting in the corner of the room that shows Barbara and Gumball standing beside each other as Barbara was pointing at a painting in the corner of the room.

Gumball blinked at it in surprise before deciding to get straight to the point.

“Okay, listen uh… You knew how you said there is no future the last time we saw each other?”

“Yes.”, Barbara answered with an innocent smile, seemingly not bothered by the thought.

“Well, does this mean you know what’s going to happen to Elmore?”, Gumball asked.

“No. I know something bad will happen, but not what.”, Barbara answered, still smiling without a care in the world.

“Well uh, did you ever try to look deeper into it and maybe find out in detail what it is?”, Gumball tried again.

“Not really. I see and paint the future randomly. Makes it more interesting than trying to focus on anything specific.”, she explained.

“So…you can decide what you see then if you want? Have you maybe thought to…look into this then and try to find out what’s going to happen so we maybe can stop it?”

“There is no stopping it. What I see will happen. That’s how things work.”, Barbara answered obliviously.

“Okay but… can you maybe still please look into it? Just so we know what we can prepare for? I have this group and home and we-”, Gumball started.

“Sure.”, she answered happily, as if she not only doesn’t have a problem with the request but never even considered doing it herself.

Gumball was surprised about how quickly she agreed as Barbara suddenly sat down in the lotus position before she started humming.

“Uh, what are you doing?”, he asked.

“Concentrating. Trying to focus on one specific event.”, she replied.

As she succeeded and could start to see things, her calm expression vanished and turned into many different emotions in quick succession.

Surprise, confusion, disbelief and most notably, terror.

Barbara never felt scared by anything she saw in her visions. As clueless as she could be, she knew that bad things happening was a natural part of life. But this was different.

“No. NO! NO!!!!!”, she screamed out, while still looking into it.

“What the-What’s going on? What is it!?”, Gumball asked, now frightened himself.

“NO! THIS-THIS CAN’T BE! THIS IS THE END! THE TOWN IS DOOMED!

SO MANY DEATHS! ALL OF THEM GETTING KILLED! SLAUGHTERED BY ONE OF OUR OWN! NOOO!!!! N-NAAH!”, Barbara screamed before her hands suddenly turned to her heart in pain.

“Barbara!?”, Gumball asked in worry while walking over to her.

She still grasped her heart while looking like she wanted to say something but was in too much pain to do so. She tried to reach out to him with her hand one last time but it was futile and she fell to her ground before eventually ceasing to move, just lying there with a shocked and frozen expression.

“Hey, what’s going on? I heard screaming.”, Banana Joe said as he suddenly came in through the door before seeing his mother lying on the ground.

“MOM! MOM!”, he quickly ran over trying to shake her awake, but to no avail.

“WHAT’S GOING ON!? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER!?”, he screamed at Gumball.

“I-I don’t know. She looked into the future and then completely freaked out. I think it gave her a heart attack!”, Gumball responded, also taken off-guard by this.

“NO! MOM! MOM, COME ON!”, Joe kept shaking her, still waiting for a response as tears were streaming down his face.

“WE NEED TO CALL AN AMBULANCE!”, he cried while running towards the door as Gumball complemented what to do now.

…

Back in the past:

Gumball just came back from another run around Elmore. While he previously just went around the neighborhood, after deciding he became quick enough to avoid danger during that when being alone, Zach allowed him to expand his area to the entire town.

After entering the house again, he found Rob sitting in the kitchen, enjoying the last bits of a gigantic meal that would make him a match for Richard.

“You’re really taking advantage of the remote’s new command setting, aren’t you?”, Gumball deadpanned after walking over to him.

“Can you blame me? We had to live off so little before optimizing it to summon resources from the real world that I’m gonna enjoy this to my heart’s desire.”, Rob explained.

“Well, if we can finish that upgrade which allows us to block attacks from the Void itself before we go back, I guess all this extra time in here wasn’t quite as bad.”, Gumball concluded.

“Ugh, feels like we’re stuck here forever. Made any progress lately?”, Rob groaned.

“Somewhat. I encountered a Bobert unit on my way home. Couldn’t get away in time so I had to face it. It took me a little effort but I managed to destroy it.”, Gumball casually answered.

“Whoa, you did? That’s the first time you beat one of them by yourself, isn’t it? That’s great!”, Rob mentioned.

“I don’t know. For how threatening they are supposed to be, this one seemed really disappointing as an opponent. Feels like mass-producing them got their overall combat ability to decrease. Like it’s all quantity over quality now.”, Gumball argued.

“Or maybe you’ve just gotten so good that things that seemed really dangerous before are child’s play now?”, Rob offered.

"Perhaps. But even then, after 5 years I’m still not as good as Zach. He has been here for 5 years when we arrived so you’d think I should have surpassed him by now with all this talk about my super high potential. Feels like we’ll be stuck here forever at this rate.”, Gumball sighed in disappointment.

“Maybe something pushed him above the edge and got him to evolve at a quick rate before we came here? You know, considering what he said about this limit thing?”, Rob remembered.

“Could be, but whenever I ask him he’s just brushing it off. I like that he became a bit nicer and opened up more these last few years, but I feel like things would be easier if he wasn’t so secretive about some things for seemingly no reason.”, Gumball complained.

“I just wish I wasn’t stuck here all this time. I’m used to not having the greatest living conditions but staying 5 years at the same place while barely ever making it beyond the backyard is a bit much.”, Rob answered.

“Well, why don’t I take you for a walk around town then? Get you to see something else for a change?”, Gumball offered with a smile.

“What!? We can’t do that! Zach was very clear on what we’re allowed to do and what not and you’re the only one who’s allowed to walk outside of the neighborhood without him and even then, only alone.”, Rob reminded him.

“Yeah, but Zach isn’t here right now, is he? He’s still spying on the Second Generationers with how suspicious they’ve been acting lately and Gumball One still has the sleeping shift. We’ll be back before anyone notices. And in case something attacks us, I can handle it no problem at this point.”, Gumball argued.

“...I don’t know.”, Rob said, considering it but still being unsure.

“Come on, if we get in trouble with Zach or whatever I’ll take full responsibility. It will be fun!”, Gumball tried it one last time.

“Ehhh…alright. Alright! You’re right, I really do need to see something outside these walls or else I’ll go crazy here.”, Rob finally agreed.

“Yeah, ‘go crazy’ alright.”, Gumball remarked, thinking of a certain rock-shaped object that Rob was obsessed with.

“You want to give a good night-kiss to Gumrock before we go or what?”, he joked.

“No, I don’t want to wake him up. He’s with Gumball One in the bedroom right now.”, Rob answered, only in his case Gumball couldn’t tell if it was a joke or not.

Nevertheless, he didn’t dwell on it as they made their way towards the door.

…

Back in the present:

After he found a bunch of willing participants in his war plan against Elmore in the Evil Turtle’s family after making sure they understood the importance of them being on the correct side in this conflict for their own sake, Pfahlius was one step closer to being ready for a comeback.

While his soldiers were on standby, he felt like it wasn’t enough yet. So he took the time to prepare he had right now to recruit someone else he wanted on his team. Not just for war power however, but simply for the adding insult to injury part that would be.

Finding him was one hell of a hurdle but eventually in this forest he was in right now, he had him.

“Always nice to see an old friend you haven’t seen for a long time, isn’t it?”, he asked from behind while approaching his target.

“Friend?”, the creature asked while turning around.

“So I assume you remember me.”, Pfahlius asked while looking up at him.

“You’re one of the friends I made in Elmore. Anais’ brother.”, The Chimera answered while turning its shark head to look down at the fish.

“I am. Unfortunately I have sad news regarding Anais. She…she just passed away.”, Pfahlius answered while starting to tear up. Something that was luckily child’s play for a manipulator on his level to fake without really meaning it.

“She-she’s dead!?”, The Chimera reacted in shock before also starting to sob.

“I couldn’t even keep my promise to visit her again.”, he realized while sitting down to take it in. His first friend after so many failed attempts…gone.

“That’s why I came here to you. I want to avenge her. I don’t want the same to happen to me but I didn’t know who else to turn to.”, Pfahlius claimed.

“What do you mean? Did someone kill her?”, The Chimera wondered.

“Unfortunately yes. There is this dark power going around in our town that’s corrupting everyone. It didn’t just take Anais but also my brother from me.”, Pfahlius continued the lie.

“He is gone too!?”, The Chimera asked in shock.

“Yes. We were trying to fight back against it together just like we tried to protect you together but…it wasn’t enough.

I was the only one who managed to escape. By now, I’m sure everyone in the town has been corrupted to turn against me once I return. I want to stop it but I can’t do it alone.”, Pfahlius explained as his (Darwin’s) face fell down.

“That’s what happened? I tried to come for a visit a while ago but the entire town seemed to be in some frozen force field. No matter from which side I tried to enter, nothing worked.”, The Chimera revealed.

So that’s how it was from the outside? Interesting, Pfahlius thought.

“*Sigh* Yes. They blocked all entrances, not wanting anyone to get there until they found me. I spent so long trying to find you. I just don’t know what to do-”, Pfahlius made up on the spot while putting his fins in his face and tearing up again.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his side.

“I will help you. I owe Anais that much. And your brother too.”, The Chimera declared with determination.

“R-Really!? Oh, thank you! I knew I could count on you.”, Pfahlius beamed up at his new ally.

Chapter Text

What happened last time:

“Ehhh…alright. Alright! You’re right, I really do need to see something outside these walls or else I’ll go crazy here.”, Rob finally agreed.

“Yeah, ‘go crazy’ alright.”, Gumball remarked, thinking of a certain rock-shaped object that Rob was obsessed with.

“You want to give a good night-kiss to Gumrock before we go or what?”, he joked.

“No, I don’t want to wake him up. He’s with Gumball One in the bedroom right now.”, Rob answered, only in his case Gumball couldn’t tell if it was a joke or not.

Nevertheless, he didn’t dwell on it as they made their way towards the door.

…

Now continuing in the past:

Gumball and Rob were just walking out of the neighborhood as the latter was taking everything in with wide eyes.

“Wow, didn’t expect you to be this overwhelmed by the view of what you should already know.”, Gumball deadpanned.

“Easy for you to say. I haven’t been out of this neighborhood in 5 years. This is basically an adventure for me already.”, Rob reminded him.

“Oh yeah, fair enough. Adventure, huh?”, Gumball thought out loud.

The word adventure and Rob describing their walk as such reminded him of how many of those he and Darwin went on in the past, often just by walking around and getting involved in whatever crazy thing would come their way. Man, did he miss his brother.

“So, uh…you’re gonna grab me and then speed around or how are we doing this? Considering I would probably be easy prey if someone saw us, depending on who it is.”, Rob wondered, not feeling too comfortable with being in open danger like this.

“Nah, don’t worry. I ran around here often enough at this point that I know which paths are the safest. You have all the time to look around. But yeah, on the off-chance that someone actually finds us, I would just speed us away. Can’t do it as well as Zach yet, but it should be enough.”, Gumball reassured him.

“Alright, if you say so. I couldn’t stand leaving Gumrock behind if something happened to me.”, Rob admitted.

“You always find new ways to surprise me with your obsession with him-I MEAN IT! That rock!”, Gumball answered, ashamed of himself that he actually gendered an inanimate object for a moment. Rob is really no good influence on him in this place.

“I mean I get that whole “Having created it to have someone to talk to and not be lonely” thing now but I can’t believe you actually decided to adopt that rock as a child.”

“Well, I’m technically his creator and his caretaker so it would only make sense that I treat him like the son he basically is to me. If anyone deserves it, it’s Gumrock!”, Rob argued, crossing his arms.

“Yeah yeah, do as you wish. Just don’t expect me to play the other father to him and pay you child support once we’re out of here.”, Gumball joked.

“Hehe, wouldn’t dream of it.”, Rob replied.

But seriously, Gumrock really is great company if you just need to vent to someone without judgement or interruptions. He’s such a great listener and someone you can share all your worries with.”, he continued in admiration.

“Rob, ‘he’ is not alive. Of course he wouldn’t interrupt you.”, Gumball explained while facepalming.

“If you need someone to vent to, don’t you think it would be more healthy to talk to any of the three people you live with that are actually breathing and could comfort you? You’re basically just bottling stuff up that way.”

“This is just my way to let it out. Also, I don’t think you are in a position to judge. It’s very obvious you are not sharing everything that bothers you with us either. I’m sure the other two have noticed as well, but Gumball One is too nice and Zach is too proud to try and force you to open up.”, Rob informed him.

“Alright, can we talk about this another time, please? We went out to have a good time, remember?”, Gumball argued, wanting to get away from the topic.

“Yeah yeah, whatever.”, Rob rolled his eye.

…

Back in the present:

In the Banana’s house things weren’t going at all how Gumball expected them to right now. He actually went to Barbara so she could show him in detail what would happen to Elmore and help them prepare countermeasures against it, but then…

Then what Barbara saw was seemingly so terrifying that it gave her a heart attack and now they had to try to save her before even thinking of saving anyone else.

“NO! MOM! MOM, COME ON!”, Joe kept shaking her, still waiting for a response as tears were streaming down his face.

“WE NEED TO CALL AN AMBULANCE!”, he cried while running towards the door as Gumball complemented what to do now.

As he moved towards Barbara’s arm to feel her pulse, Gumball stopped his friend in his tracks.

“No, wait!”, he called out as Banana Joe turned around in panic.

The next thing that Gumball did was moving his head down and putting his ear towards her mouth. As he heard what he wanted to, the cat got up again.

“She’s still breathing and has a pulse.”, he informed Banana Joe.

“Yeah, SO WE SHOULD CALL HELP AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE SO SHE MAKES IT! WHY DID YOU STOP ME!?”, Banana Joe asked infuriated.

“What I’m trying to say is that we don’t need to call help to save her. I can just do this.”, Gumball said while taking the universal remote out of his pocket and pointing it at Barbara.

After doing that he pressed the rewind button while making sure the remote was exactly focused on her.

What followed afterwards was a sped-up glitchy reverse sequence of Barbara getting back up the same way she had the heart attack a moment ago, her freak-out and her sitting down as she was looking into the future before standing back up. That’s the point where Gumball pressed the rewind button again, putting her back in real-time.

“Oh Hi, Sweetie. What can I do for you?”, Barbara happily greeted her son who, to her knowledge, just walked into the room out of nowhere.

“WHAT THE-MOM!? YOU….YOU’RE OKAY!”, Joe realized in shock before quickly jumping at her and pulling her into a fierce hug as tears were streaming down his face.

“You’re quite alright yourself, sweetheart.”, Barbara answered, oblivious to what just happened or why Joe was so emotional while reciprocating the hug.

After a moment of relief, Joe turned to Gumball with a mix of gratitude and disbelief while pointing at the remote he was holding.

“Gumball, thank you but…wh-what was that!? What did you just do with that thing!?”

“Oh, that’s a pretty long story. To give you the short version, it’s a supernatural remote that does…well, supernatural things such as rewinding time as you just saw.”, Gumball explained.

“Whoa, can you also travel back in time with that thing? Because I always wanted to see Europe!”, Banana Joe fantasized excitedly.

Unsure if the banana was confusing time travel with teleportation or really thought Europe didn’t exist anymore, Gumball decided to just get back to the main topic.

“Uh, let’s just focus on what’s important for now. Barbara, do you remember anything you’ve seen in the future just now?”, Gumball asked.

“Well, how could I? I haven’t looked into it yet. My son came in just as I was going to.”, Barbara shrugged.

“So you lost your memory of it? You completely freaked out like you saw the end of the world and had a heart attack.”, Gumball explained.

“No, I didn’t. I’m sure I would remember something like that.”, Barbara laughed it off.

“Okay, uh…I don’t really want to put you through that again but, could you maybe try once more? We really need to know what will happen in detail. Tell me exactly what you see and who is responsible as it’s happening. Or just paint it if that works better for you.”, Gumball asked.

“Sure thing.”, Barbara happily agreed before grabbing her paint brush, sitting back down in the lotus position and humming just like she tried last time.

And just like last time, her expression quickly shifted to complete terror at what she saw.

“No. NO! NO!!!!! NO! THIS-THIS CAN’T BE! THIS IS THE END! THE TOWN IS DOOMED!

SO MANY DEATHS! ALL OF THEM GETTING KILLED! SLAUGHTERED BY ONE OF OUR OWN! NOOO!!!! N-NAAH!”, she screamed.

“What the-Barbara, can you hear me!? Barbara, WHAT DO YOU SEE!?”, Gumball shaked her, trying to get an answer.

“What is happening with her!?”, Joe panicked again.

But Barbara neither replied nor painted anything, seemingly being completely oblivious to her surroundings as once again, she grasped her heart and fell to the ground as her movements stopped.

“MOM!?”, Joe cried.

“OH, COME ON! NOT AGAIN!”, Gumball complained while once again feeling her pulse.

As he could feel that she was still alive, Gumball pressed the rewind button again, bringing her back to the previous situation a second time.

“Oh hey Joe sweetie, why are you crying?”, she happily greeted her son again.

“Mom? A-Are you okay? Do you remember anything?”, he wondered.

“I remember I just wanted to look into the future for your friend but then it feels like some part is missing. Oh well, I feel that way often.”, Barbara concluded.

“*Sigh* Alright, this obviously isn’t working out. Can you maybe try looking at a different point in the future than what I told you, a bit earlier perhaps?”, Gumball asked, hoping they’d have more luck there.

“Sure, no problem!”, Barbara replied before going back again to her position on the ground and starting the process.

Gumball and Joe exchanged uneasy glances, preparing for the worst again.

After a moment, they went through the same exchange they already did two times as Barbara started going crazy and repeating the same words as before, while Gumball and Joe were unable to reach her before she fell to the ground.

“You gotta be kidding me!”, Gumball groaned, using the remote to rewind her back again.

“Alright, just forget the whole looking into the future thing.”, he said before Barbara could even open her mouth.

“Really? I thought you wanted to know what to prepare for.”, Barbara asked in confusion.

“Yes, but every time you’re doing it you have a heart attack at whatever awful thing you see and I have to rewind the experience. I thought you said you could pinpoint the exact moment in the future you want to see.”, Gumball remembered.

“I can.”

“Huh? Then why did we just get the same result we already got before?”, Gumball wondered, raising his eyebrow.

“It’s almost as if some higher force wants to stop her from looking into what exactly is going to happen so she can’t warn us.”, Banana Joe commented.

Gumball thought about his friends’ statement for a moment before realization dawned on his face as he looked towards him.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it. I-I think you just figured it out, Joe.”

“I did?”, he looked up in surprise.

“The Void would never want us to gain an advantage by having the foresight of knowing what’s coming. Also if what Rob told me is true, your powers come from the Awesome Store.”, Gumball remembered while pointing back at Barbara.

“Wait, you talked with Rob? What even happened to him after that incident at school? Is he still around!?”, Joe asked, clearly still holding a grudge against the cyclops for the time he kidnapped his mother, not to mention how he tormented the entire school last time.

Gumball didn’t react to his questions though and just continued with his current thought process.

“Considering the remote that had a connection to the Void also came from the Awesome Store it would only make sense that this entity can control everything that comes from there. It probably manipulated your abilities so you can’t warn us of what is coming.”, Gumball finished.

“Uhh…The Void?”, Joe asked, not being able to follow his explanation.

“Well I didn’t understand everything you just said but if it’s about the fate of Elmore, I could try looking into the future again.”, Barbara offered.

“As I said, that won’t work out. You’ll just see the absolute terror there no matter what you try and will then get a heart attack. I can rewind you back to normal but you’ll lose your memory of what you saw every time.”, Gumball explained.

“Then don’t rewind me.”, Barbara simply said.

“What!?”, Gumball and Joe both asked, the former in surprise, the latter in shock.

“Just get me to a hospital afterwards and if they can save me the regular way, I will keep my memory and can warn you of what’s coming then.”, Barbara continued.

“Mom, no! Please, you could die for real!”, Joe pleaded with her.

“Maybe, but if it’s the best chance we have to save Elmore, I’m willing to take that risk!”, she declared.

“Sorry Barbara, but I have to agree with Joe there. I don’t think that’s a good idea. If The Void thought this far ahead, it probably also planned for that scenario. You probably wouldn’t wake up again or at least not in time without interference from the remote.”, Gumball concluded.

“But who knows if what I see will actually happen? Maybe that’s also just a part of this…what did you call it, the Void’s manipulation? If it wants to prevent you from finding something out, maybe there’s still a chance to stop it.”, she wondered.

“Maybe, but we can’t be sure there. It seems like we clearly need this information the Void is keeping from us to be able to do anything against it. Or at least it seems to think so. Without that, it’s really up in the air what chances we have, if any. Sorry, Barbara. I think we have to do this without you after all.”, Gumball sighed in disappointment.

“*Sigh* What a relief.”, Joe commented.

Gumball gave him a sceptical look.

“I mean not the part about Elmore maybe being destroyed and everyone dying! I’m just happy that nothing will happen to my mom right now and uh…Yeah, I better shut up now. Good luck though!”, Joe added awkwardly before moving out of the door.

“Sorry, Gumball. I wish there was anything I could do.”, Barbara said.

“It’s alright. It’s not your fault. I should thank you just for being willing to give it a try. We’ll find another way. Maybe.”, Gumball responded, trying to sound as hopeful as possible, while moving towards the door as well.

“Good luck!”, she called after the blue cat while waving him goodbye.

…

Back in the past:

After making their way across the Void’s version of Elmore, Gumball and Rob found themselves on the top of a skyscraper from which they had a good view over the entire town.

“Well, the junkyard looks mostly what I remember it as. A bit more apocalyptic but overall not a big change.”, Rob commented while taking a look at the base of the Second Generationers from a distance.

“But the school has surely seen better days, that much is for sure.”, he added while shifting his gaze over to the headquarters of the First Ones.

“Really? I kinda like it. Gives the whole thing sort of a medieval times kind of vibe.”, Gumball responded.

“Maybe, but they were definitely trying way too hard to make it look cool while designing that.”, Rob complained.

“Well if you don’t like it, want to look at something else? We can see the whole town from up here after all.”

“From a distance maybe, but I’d prefer to get a close up-view of whatever I’m supposed to look at. Having just one eye doesn’t exactly make things easy either.”, Rob explained.

“Oh, right. Sorry. Well, we can get back town and walk around a bit more on the safe paths if you want.”, Gumball offered.

“Sounds good to me.”, Rob confirmed before they made their way back to the elevator to get back to the ground.

After they made their way out of the building and were hitting the street again, Gumball instructed the cyclops on where to go next.

“Alright, I think for our next stop we should-”, he began.

“Stop right there and tell us everything you know? Great idea!”, a voice suddenly spoke from a bush beside them, before Anais Two jumped out of it.

“Anais!?”, Gumball reacted in shock.

“Not just her!”, another voice came from behind them, closing off their way into the building. It was Darwin Two.

“What the what!?”, Gumball jumped back.

“Hey, that’s my line!”, Gumball Two scolded him, jumping down from the top of a lantern.

“Where do they come from!? I thought Zach was spying on you guys!”, Rob revealed.

“He was.”, came Nicole Two’s voice, also jumping down to their level from the top of a nearby building.

Right after that, a manhole cover opened on the sidewalk as Richard Two climbed out of it.

“Hi, I’m here too!”, he happily greeted them.

“We knew Zach was watching us through our own spy. Luckily he also saw something else and that was you two leaving your post! So we laid low until Zach was done and moved his attention to the first ones.”, Anais Two proudly explained.

“Your spy? Oh, you mean that newspaper guy? I don’t even know who that is.”, Rob replied, remembering how Zach told him about their sixth member that he found out about once.

“Neither do we, but he’s doing a good job. Says he’s that Kip from that weird human species who read the news in Elmore. He’s so confused. Funny little guy.”, Richard Two explained.

“We were watching you guys for ages and just waiting for you to slip up. Now that we finally have you cornered you will help us with the remote.”, Gumball Two continued.

“The remote? Uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about. How could we possibly help you there?”, Gumball Prime asked, trying to play the clueless one.

“Oh please, don’t you think I wouldn’t have noticed that your little scam all those years ago was a little too convenient?”, Anais Two burst his bubble.

“Wait, you knew!?”, Gumball Prime’s eyes widened.

“We knew something was up so we did our own investigation and found out about your Void-induced Rob.”, Darwin Two continued for his sister.

“Void-induced? That’s what you call me?”, Rob asked unamused.

“Based on Analysis’ anais, ugh…I mean Anais’ analysis we found out your little secret.

By using him, you can create a second remote. It’s obvious that your plan was to create one for yourself until you lost it on the way home and knew that fighting us was too big of a risk to go back for it.”, Nicole Two concluded.

So they don’t know we have one of ourselves yet? Good thing we’re always hiding it at home although it could be convenient to have it now, Gumball Prime thought.

“So what do you want from us now? What exactly would you guys need a second remote for?”, he asked.

“We don’t but we still haven’t been able to fully fix it and if your Rob can create a second remote with his Void-energy, maybe he can also fix ours so we can finally go back to Elmore and leave you all here to rot.”, Anais Two explained.

“You’ll be coming with us. Whether voluntarily or by force.”, warned Nicole Two, cracking her knuckles.

Gumball Prime glared at her before turning towards the cyclops.

“Rob, stay behind me. It’s time to see how far my training has gotten me by now.”, he bragged while unsheathing his claws.

…

Back in the present:

After the plan of finding out through Barbara how they can stop what is coming turned out to be such a failure, Gumball returned home, obviously not happy about the way this situation evolved.

After stepping through the door, he saw Nicole sitting on the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee, also not looking too happy.

Oh hey, sweetie. Bad news?”, she asked while turning to him.

“Yeah. Pretty bad.”, he answered simply.

“I see. That makes two of us, unfortunately.”, Nicole admitted.

“Really? What’s going on?”, Gumball wondered.

“I got a call from Jamie. Tina and her dad won’t be a part of the “Saving Elmore” mission so there’s two more people who could’ve helped out a lot that won’t be there.”, she told him.

“I see. Well, I’m afraid something even worse happened during my visit to Banana Barbara.”

“Oh yeah, what’s the deal with her anyway?”, Nicole wondered, remembering how Gumball said something about her being able to see the future.

“She has the ability to look into and paint the future.”, he answered.

“Oh, is that about that one time she painted you naked in the mall and you tried to prevent it?”, Nicole remembered.

“Yep, that was her and there are many more examples of everything she does happening in some way.”, Gumball added.

“So, what was the awful thing that happened?”, Nicole asked.

“When I asked to look into the bad future she completely freaked out and had a heart attack, talking about many of us dying, Elmore being doomed and there being a traitor among us who is responsible for that.”, Gumball explained.

“She had a heart attack!? Oh no, did you call the hospital!?”, Nicole panicked.

“Nah, it’s okay. I was able to save her with the remote.”, Gumball casually answered, grabbing the remote out of his pocket again.

“Wait, you saved her with that? How!?”, Nicole asked in surprise.

“It has a rewind button that affects people if you point it at them the right way. I was able to send her back to before she looked into the future while not affecting anything else. Unfortunately she lost her memory of the events during that.

We even tried 2 more times but every time she sees the same thing and collapses. Even when I specifically told her to search for something different. Since her abilities are connected to the Void, I suppose it anticipated this and manipulated them so we have no chance to figure out what will happen.”, Gumball admitted shamefully.

“I see. That’s really bad. Wait, does this mean we also have to look out for a traitor among us?”, Nicole wondered.

“Doubtful. She was probably just referring to Darwin or whoever will be controlled by Pfahlius once this happens and he’ll return. I guess he will be a big problem either way.”, Gumball realized.

“True, I wish we knew where he was right now. Oh well, at least you could save Barbara. I assume this whole rewinding thing of the remote doesn’t work on…those who aren’t with us anymore, right?”, Nicole wanted to confirm, still having trouble writing her daughter off as “dead”, even though she already expected the answer.

“Oh no, it works on everyone, no matter their current state or how long they’re already gone.”, Gumball simply revealed.

“Say what now? I-It can bring people back!?”, Nicole asked in disbelief, feeling like she didn’t hear correctly.

“Well yes, but-”

“THEN WHY HAVEN’T YOU USED IT ON ANAIS YET!?”, she wondered.

“I was just going to explain that. It can bring people back but at a price.”, he started to explain.

“A price!? YOU’RE SAYING THAT PAYING ‘a price’ WOULDN’T BE WORTH IT TO HAVE YOUR SISTER BACK!?”, Nicole yelled, now starting to get furious.

“Hey, I heard screaming! What’s going on!?”, Richard asked after just coming down the stairs.

“Our son could’ve brought back Anais whenever he wanted but just decided not to and he didn’t even bother to tell us!”, Nicole responded.

“WHAT!? That can’t be, right Gumball?”, Richard asked hopefully while turning to his son.

“As I’m trying to explain, it is not that easy!”, Gumball started again, getting impatient.

“Elmore is already unstable enough as it is right now with the Void having gained control over it in a way. If we start bringing people back from the dead, the walls will crumble even more and our chances of stopping this will only decrease. Possibly drastically so.”, he explained.

“Well, why did you bring Barbara back from her heart attack then!?”, Nicole argued, still not convinced or happy about his reasoning.

“Because she was still alive. I checked to make sure. Death is a different matter though, that we can’t take lightly. I wish there was another way but we can’t take the risk.”, he shamefully admitted.

“The risk!? YOU’RE SAYING IT LIKE SHE’S SOME KIND OF OBSTACLE THAT STANDS IN OUR WAY! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?”, Nicole lashed out.

“Didn’t you listen to what I just said!? We would be putting everyone in danger!”, Gumball tried to reason with her.

“WE’RE ALREADY IN DANGER! What’s the difference in making it a bit worse than it already is!? Getting Anais back should be worth it!”, replied Nicole, not backing down.

“Uh, guys-”, Richard tried to butt in, not wanting his family to fight at a crucial time like this.

“Also, what gives you the right to just make that choice yourself!? Did you ever think that maybe you should’ve let us know of this option so we can decide that together!? HOW SELFISH ARE YOU!?”, Nicole continued, stepping forward.

“I was under the impression that we would all be on the same page and see what an awful idea that is. We can’t act hastily or emotionally in this situation.”, Gumball answered.

“Did you ever think about how Anais would feel hearing you just writing her off like this!?”, Nicole tried again.

“Yes, I did. Anais was logical and intelligent so she would agree with me that this is for the best of Elmore. She would never want to endanger all of our lives at the cost of her own mortality.

I also would do whatever it takes to have her back but we can’t just put everyone else, including ourselves and Anais too if she was back, in grave danger as a result. The only one acting selfish here right now is you!”, Gumball replied.

“Gumball Tristopher Watterson, give me that remote. NOW!”, Nicole ordered in a way that made it clear she wasn’t interested in any more arguing.

“I can’t do that, Mom.”, Gumball replied, putting the remote back in his pocket out of her reach.

Nicole was surprised about his resistance. Even after his 6 years in the Void and the powers he gained there, she thought she’d still have enough authority over him for Gumball that he would never dare to disobey her. Especially not to her face.

“GUMBALL WATTERSON, I’M YOUR MOTHER AND YOU WILL HAND OVER THAT REMOTE IMMEDIATELY AND THEN GO UP TO YOUR ROOM!”, she commanded again, louder now.

“NO, I’M NOT! You’re not thinking reasonably here, Mom. You need to calm down.”, Gumball replied.

“Oh and that’s so easy for you right now, isn’t it!? DO YOU EVEN CARE THAT YOUR SISTER IS DEAD!?”, she suddenly dropped into the conversation.

There was a silence for a moment before Gumball answered in a darker tone.

“What are you saying?”

“What I’m saying is that you have been acting very indifferent about her fate since coming back! Not to mention it was because of YOU getting so easily captured by Pfahlius that she went over there in the first place!

HAVE YOU FORGOT THAT YOU ARE BASICALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR HER NOT BEING WITH US ANYMORE!? HER DEATH IS ON YOU!”, Nicole spat out.

“NICOLE!”, Richard called out, momentarily snapping out of his shock at hearing such a cruel accusation out of his wife’s mouth.

Gumball’s face went from angry to unreadable after those words left her mouth. He knew that his mother had anger issues. He knew that she wasn’t thinking clearly right now and was just so affected by her daughter’s death that she said things she probably didn’t mean.

But it still hurt. Not just because of what she said, but also because it reminded him of something else he really didn’t want to think about.

“DON’T YOU WANT TO HAVE HER BACK TOO, RICHARD!?”, Nicole asked while turning to her husband, tears now having formed in her eyes.

“I mean… I would do anything to have her back, but I also don’t want to put anyone else in danger because of that.”, he sheepishly answered.

“Oh, forget it! If you’re not giving me the remote voluntarily I have to take it by force! Last chance, Gumball.”, she warned her son, turning back to him.

“...You need some time to cool down, so I will take the remote away from you until that happens and you can see reason.”, Gumball decided, preparing to run off.

Before he could do so though, Nicole tackled him against the wall quickly, not in a way in which she tried to hurt him, but enough that she thought she had him pinned before grabbing into his pocket and taking the remote.

Gumball quickly put his hands on it though and held it back with his own force while Nicole tried to overpower his grip.

“GIVE ME THAT REMOTE!”, she ordered.

“NO!”, Gumball answered and with a level of strength that surprised Nicole he pushed her off of with him onto the couch while holding onto the remote before running outside.

“Honey?”, Richard walked over to Nicole, but she ignored him as her eyes turned red and she ran after him at her top speed.

Gumball was making his way to the other side of Elmore, not at his fastest, but at a speed where a normal person or even a car wouldn’t be able to keep up with him.

He also could’ve restrained Nicole more forcefully but after what happened back at that place, he couldn’t bring himself to lay a hand on her like that.

What he didn’t expect though was Nicole catching up to him as he suddenly heard a voice from behind him.

“GUMBALL!”

Turning around in shock, he saw Nicole running after him and slowly approaching.

“YOU’RE MAKING THIS MORE DIFFICULT THAN IT NEEDS TO BE!”, Gumball yelled back before turning things up a notch and vanishing from Nicole’s vision as only a cloud of dust was left in his path.

After getting through the cloud, Nicole stopped in place, trying to see where he ran, but she couldn’t make out a trace of him.

…

Back in the past:

Nicole Two’s kids were currently fighting Gumball Prime 3v1 as she was watching, hoping her kids would be able to handle him themselves.

Meanwhile, Richard Two was holding Rob in place by his arms on the sidewalk so he couldn’t escape.

“Grrh, LET GO OF ME!”, he complained.

“Sorry, I don’t want to do this either. But you know how society works. If your wife gives you an order you have to listen to her because she’s in charge. That’s how it’s always been.”, Richard Two defended himself.

“Wasn’t it the complete opposite of that for quite some time?”, Rob reminded him.

Gumball Prime, after recovering from a blow that pushed him back a little, was seeing Darwin Two approaching him with a hit and quickly evaded his attack before grabbing the fish by the fin and swinging him against Anais Two who was approaching from the other side, sending both of them flying.

But now, Gumball Two came jumping at him with a punch that Gumball Prime evaded before counterattacking with unsheathed claws, but Gumball Two grabbed his hand before attempting a kick.

But unlike last time when they fought on the upper level just before being sent down here, Gumball Prime defended in time by grabbing his leg and also throwing him to the ground.

“You’ve gotten a lot better since the last time we fought.”, he complimented his doppelganger.

“Thanks.”, Gumball Prime smiled at the praise.

“But not good enough.”, Nicole Two said, suddenly appearing behind him.

Gumball couldn’t defend in time and only turned around quickly enough to see her landing a kick to his chest that sent him sliding over the ground.

“GUMBALL!”, Rob reacted before finally being able to free himself from Richard’s grip by headbutting him from behind.

He jumped towards Nicole Two, but she easily grabbed him mid-air by the neck before throwing him towards his accomplice.

“Hey! You-”, Gumball Prime was about to retaliate while getting up but was now attacked from three sides by Anais, Darwin and Gumball Two.

“Stop it! I don’t want to hurt you!”, he tried to defuse the situation.

“Ooooh, too bad.”, Anais Two answered with fake sympathy. “Because WE want to hurt YOU!”, she added before sending him to the ground once more with a kick.

Gumball and Rob were now slowly getting back up as the Season 2 family started to corner them.

“Come on, where is Zach when you need him!?”, Gumball Prime complained as Rob and him started stepping backwards with their opponents coming closer.

“This would be the right time for this limit power of yours to kick in!”, Rob commented.

“I told you, I don’t know how! And even if, I would like to avoid that if there is a way.”, Gumball answered.

“Well, I don’t see any other way to win this fight, do you!?”, Rob tried to convince him.

“If we can’t win then it’s Plan B. We make a run for it!”, Gumball replied before grabbing Rob’s wrist and suddenly speeding away in the opposite direction.

As Gumball was busy running for his life, he didn’t notice how he was pretty much dragging a panicking Rob through the air behind him, as the cyclops wasn’t used to moving at this speed.

What he also didn’t notice was Nicole Two catching up until she was running right besides Gumball, causing him to panic once he looked to his side and saw her.

Then mid-dash, she threw a punch at his face that stopped his run and sent both Rob and him sliding over the ground once more before they came to a halt.

After regaining their composure and looking behind them though, Gumball and Rob noticed that they made it all the way to the junkyard.

“Perfect. I didn’t even have to drag you here. You made it all the way yourself. Well, I suppose we can get to business then.”, Nicole Two mockingly remarked while crossing her arms in satisfaction.

Behind her, the rest of the family arrived at the scene as well but unlike her they were out of breath from the run and Richard, who came in last, even collapsed to the ground.

“So…is there also a Plan C?”, Rob asked while turning to Gumball as it seemed like they were out of options.

…

Back in the present:

Since he sped up to get away from Nicole, Gumball made his way to the outskirts of Elmore, all the way into the desert before eventually stopping.

He waited a while to make sure he was alone and after being sure that Nicole wasn’t able to follow him and nobody else was there either, he sat down to take everything in for a moment.

Her words still echoed in his mind.

“HAVE YOU FORGOT THAT YOU ARE BASICALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR HER NOT BEING WITH US ANYMORE!? HER DEATH IS ON YOU!”

He wasn’t so much bothered by the fact that she said it in the first place. She was in a heavily emotional state and just lashing out at him.

Gumball was stupid to assume that everyone, especially her, would just be on board with his reasoning to not reverse Anais’ death without questions. But with everything else he had on his plate since returning to Elmore, he wasn’t able to put too much thought into that. Or maybe he just didn’t want to and ran away from that.

What hurt the most was the fact that… she wasn’t exactly wrong.

He should’ve seen that something was wrong with Darwin and reacted in time instead of lashing out at him and serving his brother to Pfahlius on a silver platter.

He should’ve gone along with Anais’ plan of not acting hastily once they knew what was going on with him instead of confronting Pfahlius alone and getting himself captured, which ultimately ended in her demise.

He was responsible for what happened to her.

As the deja-vu of that realization kicked in, another voice suddenly made its way into the scene.

“Tough day, huh?”

Gumball looked to his left where he heard the voice coming from and saw Rob standing there.

“How do you always know where to find me? Were you waiting here all this time?”, Gumball frowned.

Rob frowned at that answer too, seemingly unsatisfied with the nature of his question.

“Weren’t you looking around to make sure nobody was here a minute ago? Don’t tell me you’re still trying to make excuses for it. If there’s a right time to face facts, it won’t get better than this moment right now, you know?”, Rob advised him.

“Geez, how come all you seem to do today is criticizing what I’m doing more and more as the day goes on? You’re not usually this annoying.”, Gumball recalled.

“If I am, that's just telling of what’s going on within you right now or else I wouldn’t be doing it.”, Rob reminded him.

“It’s just…GRRRH, why did Mom even have to bring it up!? We have more important things to worry about right now than what already happened in the past!”, Gumball argued.

“More important?”, Rob asked sceptically.

“It’s about Anais. Yeah, she’s gone. Yeah, I may or may not have been at fault but there’s a time and a place to think about that and that’s not right now!”, Gumball defended himself.

“Gumball, Anais was your sister. You loved her. That’s not just something you can decide to repress because you don’t want to deal with it right now. That’s going to haunt you. That’s very unhealthy for you.”, Rob explained.

“We have to prepare for the Void right now! Any minute could be essential!”, Gumball pointed out, his voice growing louder now.

“And you won’t be as much of a help as you could be if you’re already struggling with yourself too much. No matter how fast you are, there are some things you can’t run away from.”, Rob responded.

“I sure as hell can give it a try!”

“*Sigh* Gumball-”

“I mean…if I’m the reason we’re in this situation now in the first place than I specifically should do everything to work it out instead of wallowing in self-pity-”

“Gumball!”

“I don’t need a second reminder of such magnitude that tells me I’m a failure who only gets the ones around him in an early grave if I can’t even put reason above my emotions-”

“GUMBALL!”

“Maybe I should just leave them to fight this battle on their own before I’m making things even worse for everyone. Because that seems to be the only thing that ever results in-”

“GUMBALL! LISTEN TO ME!

MY DEATH WAS NOT YOUR FAULT!”

After hearing those words, Gumball stopped his rant and just looked over to Rob with wide eyes as memories that he was trying to repress for about a year now came flooding back.

“*Sigh* You finally need to make peace with what happened.”, Rob said as his last sentence as the form of him that Gumball was projecting in front of him slowly became more blurry before eventually turning into dust that was blown away by the wind.

…

Back in the past:

Now at the junkyard, the fight between Gumball, Rob and the Second Gen Wattersons was continuing.

Nicole Two was still taking a backseat, hoping her kids would be able to handle Gumball Prime by themselves. Meanwhile Richard Two was reluctantly holding Rob hostage although that was difficult because he managed to slip out of his hold more often than not.

Gumball Prime was currently blocking a bunch of punches and kicks of Gumball Two until he saw an opening and punched him in the face before landing an uppercut and a kick that sent him to the ground.

Now Anais Two jumped on Gumball’s back from behind and pulled on his ears.

“Ow! Let go!”, Gumball complained before jumping on his back, causing Anais to get pancaked under him.

As he was getting back up, Darwin Two now came from the side with a flying kick but missed Gumball narrowly. Remembering the trick he used to catch Zach off-guard the first time he “beat” him, Gumball picked up some dirt from the ground and threw it in the fish’s face as he was approaching him once more.

Darwin stumbled backwards with his eyes shut, giving Gumball Prime the opening to hit him to the ground next.

“Grrh! Stop being so clumsy! I trained you better than that! Put in some work or you won’t get anything to eat until I see improvement in your forms!”, Nicole Two warned her kids.

The three looked at each other in worry, knowing she meant it but Anais Two got an idea.

“Guys, let’s use our teamwork to overpower him! He can take us individually but not all three at once!”, she told her brothers.

Her brothers liked the suggestion and nodded at her, after which they started to bombard Gumball Prime from three sides.

Seeing him struggling against their combined efforts, Rob tried once more to get out of Richard Two’s hold but wasn’t able to free himself.

Then he got an idea of himself. It was risky and a gamble but he was desperate so he tried it.

“Ow, hey! You’re holding me too tight! Could you ease it down a little?”, he innocently asked the rabbit behind him.

“Oh sure, sorry! Didn’t want to hurt you.”, Richard Two answered obliviously, loosening his grip.

That was enough for Rob to free himself and sucker punch Richard in the face. As the large rabbit was stumbling back, he ran off to help Gumball.

Nicole Two was satisfied to finally see her kids starting to gain the advantage against Gumball Prime when Rob suddenly ran in.

Despite not being trained in combat, unlike the other kids on the battlefield, the other 3 being focused on Gumball Prime gave Rob the element of surprise to hit Darwin Two out of the way, before grabbing Anais Two and throwing her off of his friend.

“Hey!”, Gumball Two screamed before turning back to his counterpart.

Since he was now able to focus on a single target again, Gumball Prime was able to block all of his doppelganger’s hits once more before knocking the wind out of him with a punch to the chest and flooring him with another uppercut.

“Thanks, buddy. I owe you one.”, Gumball Prime turned to a smirking Rob.

Just after he said that though, a blur of blue suddenly tackled Rob out of the way.

“You’re starting to really get on my nerves! My kids were in the zone right now!”, Nicole Two complained, holding him down.

“ROB!”, Gumball Prime reacted, running over to them but before he could get there he was tackled again by the combined force of the alternate versions of himself and his siblings.

“Anais, do we need him alive to get his data?”, Nicole Two asked her daughter.

“No, dead or alive, his touch will still carry the Void’s data that can fix the remote!”, the little bunny answered.

“Ah, I see. Well, in that case…”, Nicole Two said with a smirk before putting Rob in a headlock and while her arms were around his neck, she twisted.

There was a ‘snap’ sound as Rob stopped resisting and fell to the ground.

Gumball Prime was shocked for a moment before immediately pushing the other three off of him and running towards Rob.

“Rob! ROB! NO! GET UP, DUDE! DON’T DO THIS TO ME NOW! GET UP!”, he tried to reach out as tears started to stream down his face and he shaked the cyclops who just lay there with a frozen stare, but to no avail as he wasn’t moving an inch.

“Let this be a lesson to you for what happens to those that stand in our way.”, Nicole Two remarked with a smug grin while standing above them and crossing her arms.

Suddenly, Gumball felt a bunch of emotions running through him all at once. Disbelief, sadness, anger…, bloodlust.

He felt like his instincts weren’t obeying him anymore completely and grew a conscience of their own. It was a feeling unlike anything he ever experienced before.

“You couldn’t just leave us alone. You couldn’t just leave us in peace and had to start this fight.”, Gumball started although he wasn’t speaking through tears anymore.

His voice was silent but still menacing even though he wasn’t even lifting up his head to look at any of them.

“We didn’t have to be enemies. If you didn’t antagonize us, maybe we even could’ve worked together to get out of here. All of us. Well, now it’s too late for that.”, he continued.

Nicole Two wasn’t feeling smug anymore. Instead she was just confused by his change in attitude, as was the rest of her family.

“I tried to hold this back and succeeded until now. Because I didn’t want to end up like this. Well, congratulations. You managed to push me there anyway. You’ve finally pushed me over…”

There was a short pause before Darwin Two asked the question that was on all of their minds.

“Over what?”

“THE LIMIT!”, Gumball Prime growled while finally looking up at him and revealing eyes that were now glowing yellow.

…

End of the chapter

Chapter Text

What happened last time after Nicole Two killed Rob in the Void:

“You couldn’t just leave us alone. You couldn’t just leave us in peace and had to start this fight.”, Gumball started although he wasn’t speaking through tears anymore.

His voice was silent but still menacing even though he wasn’t even lifting up his head to look at any of them.

“We didn’t have to be enemies. If you didn’t antagonize us, maybe we even could’ve worked together to get out of here. All of us. Well, now it’s too late for that.”, he continued.

Nicole Two wasn’t feeling smug anymore. Instead she was just confused by his change in attitude, as was the rest of her family.

“I tried to hold this back and succeeded until now. Because I didn’t want to end up like this. Well, congratulations. You managed to push me there anyway. You’ve finally pushed me over…”

There was a short pause before Darwin Two asked the question that was on all of their minds.

“Over what?”

“THE LIMIT!”, Gumball Prime growled while finally looking up at him and revealing eyes that were now glowing yellow.

…

Now continuing in the past:

Everyone in the family aside from Nicole were looking at each other in worry. They all remembered when she went past her limit, how she pretty much became a feral beast that nearly killed all of them back at the supermarket before coming to her senses just in time to avoid such a fate.

Maybe killing Rob wasn’t such a great idea after all.

Seeing their worried faces, Nicole, who didn’t seem as shaken, tried to reassure her family.

“It’s okay, guys. You can relax. Even if he really went past his limit, that alone is not enough to make someone dangerous. As long as he isn’t strong enough to get past me-”

Before Nicole Two could finish her sentence, she suddenly received a brutal blow to the face that she wasn’t prepared for, courtesy of the now limit-broken Gumball Prime. It sent her flying into the air, all the way over the fence of the junkyard.

As she vanished from the sight of her family, Gumball Prime’s gaze turned around from the direction in which he punched their matriarch, to the now even more frightened family. A sinister smile was added to the glowing yellow eyes on his face now.

“Uh…maybe we could-uh talk about this?”, Darwin Two attempted to reason with him weakly.

Gumball Prime didn’t seem to be very interested in the offer though as he moved towards him and his siblings.

Gumball and Darwin shrieked back, but Anais stepped in front of them with a determined look.

“Don’t be fooled. He just caught Mom off-guard. He might be strong, but there’s no way he can take all of us at once.”, she stated.

“So you think you’ve already seen the pinnacle of my abilities?”, Gumball Prime asked in a deep tone before moving even closer.

“I got some bad news for you, sis. Playtime is over.”

What happened next was a blur for the family. In the matter of a second, Gumball Prime rushed over to Anais, grabbed her head with one hand and her chest with the other.

While moving past the brothers as he was holding Anais, Gumball Prime moved his hands apart with all of his strength. One moment later, he was still holding on to Anais’ head and chest, but they were much further apart from each other now.

She was in two pieces.

Gumball, Darwin and Richard Two all looked in horror as Gumball Prime was holding Anais Two’s decapitated head that had a shocked look on it in one hand and her headless body in the other.

A huge amount of blood was streaming out of both the bottom of her head and her upper body, which marked the points where he ripped her in two.

While the others were still too shocked to react, Gumball Prime turned back to them with the same smile before dropping Anais’ body and taking her head in both of his hands.

He was moving his hands to the left and right side of her face while turning it so the rest of the family would have to look at her eyes. Then he pressed his hands together and smashed her head into a bloody, obscure mess as all the features on her face vanished.

Finally, Gumball Prime also dropped her head into the puddle of blood that was already forming beneath it on the ground as more of her head came loose, including what seemed to be an eyeball and part of her brain.

While turning his focus away from what had been Anais Two until just a moment ago, Gumball Prime now approached her siblings.

“One down, four to go.”, he smirked.

The other three were still in shock, but Richard Two was surprisingly the first one to come to his senses and react.

“M-MY…MY BABY!!!!!”, he cried out.

Despite the fact that he wished there was more time to process this, Richard Two knew there was no time to waste, unless he wanted more of his family to end up like her. He quickly moved in front of Gumball and Darwin Two, shielding them with his arms.

“Stay back, boys! I’ll handle this!”, he ordered.

He hated how things were going in this place. He did since they came here. Richard Two never wanted to kill anyone and he didn’t like what this place turned his family, especially his wife, into.

But he knew it was too late to regret not being more assertive and stopping it now. To protect his boys, now he had to be ready to fight to the death.

While preparing himself to do just that, he was caught off-guard when Gumball Prime suddenly vanished out of the sight just in front of him that he was still in just a moment ago.

“Looking for me?”, the same low voice from before suddenly asked from behind him.

Before Richard Two could react, Gumball Prime moved back his arm, brought it forth and buried it at full force in Richard’s back, easily moving through his flesh.

“AAAHHHHH!”, Richard screamed as an unimaginable pain ran through his body and he could feel the one who had his hand inside it grabbing something.

A moment later, Gumball pulled back again with all of his might and removed something long and white out of Richard’s back, although it was hard to decipher with all the blood there was on it.

As the wound Gumball Prime just made in him now ran from Richard’s lower back all the way up to his neck and was very wide, even more of his entrails, which mostly considered of his stomach, fell out before Richard himself fell down to the side into the continuously larger-growing collection of his own innards.

Luckily, the spine being ripped from his body in such brutal fashion meant his suffering found a quick ending as death set in even before he even hit the ground.

“That makes two.”, Gumball Prime commented while bending Richard’s spine that he was still holding in both of his hands.

“NNN-NOOOO!”, Darwin Two finally reacted too as he fell behind on his butt (or whatever a fish’s equivalent of that would be) due to a mix of shock and fear.

Gumball Two now finally collected himself to the point where tears were streaming down his face but his survival instinct was taking over. He moved towards Gumball Prime as fast as he could while unsheathing his claws and unleashing a strike.

Before he could slash him though, Gumball Prime vanished from sight again before appearing right behind his counterpart’s back.

He moved Richard’s spine, which he was still holding, in front of Gumball Two’s neck, before pulling back. Then Gumball Prime bent the spine even further until he was holding it around Gumball Two’s neck in the form of a rope.

Gumball Two’s hands went to his neck in an attempt to remove the spine that was choking the life out of him, but it was futile as he could feel his strength leaving him in a desperately painful way.

Finally, Gumball Prime pulled on the two ends of the spine one last time with all his might. It had enough force behind it that it didn’t just break Gumball Two’s neck, but ripped his head off it as it fell to the ground behind him, before the headless corpse of Gumball Two did the same, although it fell forward instead.

After he finally let go of the spine, Gumball Prime picked up Gumball Two’s head out of the puddle of blood that was once again forming on the ground as a result of it.

His gaze turned around as he saw Darwin Two trying to run away, so Gumball Prime moved his arm back before throwing his counterpart’s head with all his might at the fish and hit him right at the back of the head, sending him to the ground face-first.

Darwin Two needed a moment to recover from the strike and rubbed the back of his head on the ground. It hurt but not nearly as much as the sight in front of him, where his brother’s detached head was now lying, his eyes bloodshot and his gaze one of agony as it showed the last expression before his death when Gumball Prime was strangling him.

Before Darwin Two could collect himself, he heard footsteps from behind and as he turned around in fear, he saw Gumball Prime standing above him, his intentions clear.

“N-NO! NO, PLEASE!”, he tried to bargain desperately, the fear he felt right now making the one he felt during Nicole’s limit outbreak and every other time he was scared of her seem like nothing in comparison.

Gumball Prime in turn just unsheathed his claws. When Darwin Two turned around to crawl away, he placed his foot on the fish’s head before grabbing one of his legs and pulling, again with all of his might.

The leg came off easily and as Darwin Two was screaming his lungs out, Gumball Prime once again moved his hand into the flesh of the leg that he was holding and pulled out the bone.

Darwin Two didn’t crawl any further, way too distracted by the immense pain he was feeling at the spot where his leg ended just a moment ago, where there was now just a massive hole that blood was streaming out of.

“You miss your leg don’t you?”, Gumball Prime asked while lifting Darwin’s head slightly from the ground and still holding his leg bone in the other hand.

“Don’t worry, I’ll let you have it back.”, he smirked before swiftly moving his arm and ramming the bone inside Darwin’s head from the side, to the point where it was perfectly stuck with the ends of the bone coming out of both sides of his head, but with parts of Darwin’s brain on it on the side where it went through.

As Gumball Prime let go of the fish, whose struggles stopped, he fell back on his face, now also sharing the fate the rest of his family just met.

Well, all but one.

Nicole Two finally returned through the entrance of the junkyard after recovering from Gumball Prime’s blow.

Her nose was bleeding a bit and she had a noticeable bruise on her face, but otherwise she was still okay.

“So you were holding back earlier. Well, then I hope you won’t mind me getting serious on you as-”, she started before noticing the bloodbath in front of her, in the middle of which Gumball Prime was standing triumphantly.

She noticed Anais’ body lying in the corner as her removed head was squished into pieces beside it, Gumball’s headless body not far from it either and a spine alongside it. Richard was lying on the ground with his head still attached, but in a bigger pile of blood than any of them.

Then there was Darwin, who had one of his legs ripped off and a bone stuck in his head as Gumball Two’s head was lying in front of him.

Nicole didn’t know what shocked her more. Seeing her entire family, the one she spent all the years they were in here fighting for, dead, the sheer brutality of the scene or the fact that this alternate version of her son was clearly responsible for it and enjoying the moment.

“Ah, I was already wondering where my last victim went. Rob really got off easy in comparison, huh? Well, maybe you can do what they didn’t and actually give me a challenge.”, Gumball Prime said, clearly excited at the prospect in his current state.

Despite how unnerved Nicole Two was by it, the horror, the grief and the rage at seeing her entire family like this and him treating this like a joke overtook everything as she saw red.

“You-YOU-I’LL KILL YOU!”, she could only say through her tears before both cats rushed at each other with the same intention.

…

Back in the present:

After his brief escort into the desert and taking some time to collect himself there before confronting the problem, Gumball was now going through the streets of Elmore while making his way back home.

He didn’t know what Nicole would say or how she would respond in general after their disaster of an argument, but Gumball knew he couldn’t run away from this any longer.

Gumball looked into the distance and saw the sun beginning to set down as the sky turned orange. Man, this has been a wild day.

In real time, it was just this morning when Darwin came back from his sleepover at Carrie’s and was taken over by Pfahlius, who also killed Idaho that night, to none of their knowledge at that point.

After it became clear what was going on, Gumball was sent into the Void alongside Rob and went through basically an entire new part of his life there, while in the real world Anais was…he didn’t want to think about it.

“Trying to repress it again just makes things harder.”, Rob’s voice called out, as he walked beside him once more.

“I know!”, Gumball answered, while punching through the projection of his friend and turning it into dust without even looking in his direction this time.

Sigh, Anais was dead. Elmore was frozen for 6 years and he was gone for that long. And now they had to somehow accept what happened and simultaneously create a team of fighters to make sure things wouldn’t get even worse once the Void attacked.

No, scratch that. Not a team. An army.

For the people in this town, it was just one day ago when everything still seemed as normal as ever. And for many of them it still does. Idaho was alive, so was Anais, Darwin seemed to be getting better… How quickly things change.

As Gumball was getting closer, something he saw in the corner of his eye brought him out of his thoughts.

A small creature carrying a mason jar ran past him, seemingly on its way out of Elmore as fast as it could run, which was…not that much.

There was something about the creature that seemed familiar. The small four legs it was running on and that white skin.

No, focus Gumball, he thought. Time to face the music.

With another quick burst of speed, he was back at the front door.

After entering he found Nicole, Richard and surprisingly, Penny in the living room.

“GUMBALL! There you are!”, she said while quickly running over to hug him.

“Penny? What are you doing here?”, Gumball wondered, but he didn’t hesitate to hug her back.

“I wanted to come over to talk about how we’ll proceed now and your parents told me what happened.”, she answered while leaning back from the hug.

“I’m sure we’re all hungry. I know I am. I make us some nice sandwiches so we can talk this out.”, Richard decided while walking over to the fridge.

Upon opening and inspecting it, his food sense that perfectly knew the content of it inside out immediately recognized something.

“Hey, wasn’t there a jar here with that….uh, what was inside of it again?”, he tried to remember.

While listening to his father in the kitchen, Gumball noticed that one person in the house was unusually silent right now.

Looking over at his mother, he saw her looking down slightly, seemingly trying not to meet his gaze.

“Uh hey, Mom. I guess I should-”, he began, but didn’t make it far.

“Gumball, I’m so sorry!”, she turned to him with tears in her eyes.

“Huh?”, he wondered, not having expected that response.

“About what I said. That you didn’t care that Anais was gone, that you are responsible for what happened to her. That was cruel and wrong and something no mother should ever say to her child.

“...Mom-”,

I’m so sorry. You know more about this Void threat than we do and probably had good reason to act as you did. I was just…so angry and didn’t think straight and I let it out on you and-”, she rambled on but this time, Gumball interrupted her.

“No, I’m sorry.”, he admitted in shame.

“I should’ve told you everything from the start. All of you. You had all reason to assume I wasn’t acting in good faith with how much important stuff I was keeping from you. And even then, I should’ve revealed it all more carefully. I was acting wrong too and I’m sorry for that.”

As Gumball finished, Nicole immediately went over to hug her son and he reciprocated the gesture before they pulled apart.

“So uh, not to interrupt the nice moment but can someone tell me detail everything that was apparently kept from me? Or all of us?”, Penny asked.

“Yes, that would only be fair. In fact, there’s even more that I still haven’t told you earlier, Mom.”, Gumball revealed, turning back from Penny to Nicole, who raised an eyebrow.

“About what happened while I was in the Void and why…I haven’t quite been the same since then.”

Nicole, Penny and even Richard leaned in with a mix of curiosity and worry as he started to explain what he was trying to push away for a while now.

…

Back in the past:

Gumball Prime and Nicole Two rushed forward and quickly met in the exact middle of where they were just standing apart from each other.

Gumball unleashed a series of punches that would be too fast to observe in detail for a normal person, but Nicole was able to block all of them with her own hands.

Seeing an opening, she swung her leg in Gumball’s direction and landed a kick with such force that it sent the boy flying backwards until he crashed against a crane.

Nicole didn’t give him any time to recover and rushed towards him again while he was still shaken and ran straight into him with her shoulder first while Gumball was still with his back to the crane.

The force of the attack sent Gumball flying all the way through the crane as it got split into two halves that fell to the ground left and right simultaneously.

The moment the dust settled, Nicole Two was slowly walking towards Gumball Prime, who sat on his knees, clutching his stomach as blood came out of his mouth.

“If this is all you got, there won’t be much of this challenge you just gloated about.”, she mocked him.

“I’M NOT DONE YET!”, he declared, before getting up and making his move.

He started running circles around Nicole. As in he literally ran circles around her as fast as he could in an attempt to confuse her and make her unable to predict his next attack.

She was just standing there, watching silently and without movement as Gumball quickly turned around the moment he was right behind her in what was probably his tenth lap and rushed at her with his claws unscathed.

Nicole saw it coming though and just before he was at her, she unsheathed her own claws and backhanded him with them faster than he could react.

He flew backwards again, but was just barely able to land on his feet this time while holding the side of his face that she hit.

Seeing that this wasn’t going as he hoped, Gumball remembered something Zach once did in their training and lifted one of the two halves of the crane that were lying on the ground with some effort before throwing it at Nicole.

She was momentarily surprised by the move but quickly reacted by holding out her hand and just catching the end of the crane before it hit her face.

“Did you really think that was going to-”, she was about to ask while moving the crane out of her face to look at him only to see that he vanished while she wasn’t paying attention.

Therefore she also didn’t notice how he slipped behind her before she got thrown into the air as Gumball grabbed the half of the crane again, jumped after her and hit her into the ground with it.

Looking smug while still holding the crane as he landed on his feet, Gumball was surprised when Nicole got up and didn’t look as injured from the blow as he had hoped, only holding one of her arms and having another bruise on her forehead.

“I was going to drag this out to make you fully pay for what you did to my family, but since you’re just begging for death now, I will grant your wish.”, Nicole declared before sprinting at him again.

Gumball swung the crane at her again as she approached, but she caught it in one hand before hitting it with her other so hard that the crane got destroyed and turned into rubble.

The impact of the attack sent Gumball onto his back, but before he could get up Nicole was already on him.

One punch.

Another.

A claw strike.

An entire barrage of them.

An elbow drop.

A stomp.

Eventually he was lying there, completely bruised and beaten half to death, but not fully unconscious yet.

Nicole kneeled down one last time before putting her hands around his neck as she started to choke him.

Gumball felt the air leaving him and moved his own hands onto the ones around his neck, desperately trying to remove them, clawing and hitting against them but it was futile.

“You can’t save anything!”, Nicole Two started to taunt him.

“You couldn’t save Rob, you can’t save your people, you can’t even save yourself!

I heard about your training with Zach. You think that’s going to get you anywhere?

I always considered you a disappointment who could never achieve anything. The fact that you couldn’t make it anywhere on the fridge chart without my help just proved my point!

All the way inside Gumball Prime, the small part of him that wasn’t corrupted by the Limit right now couldn’t believe his ears. Was that true?

This was the Nicole he knew too in a way so was she speaking the truth, was she just trying to hurt him to make his last moments as miserable as possible or was this simply the corruption of the Void speaking through her?

“It doesn’t matter. You can train for 20 more years if you want, you’ll never surpass me. Once I’m done with you and Zach, I’ll make it back to Elmore and kill everyone you know!”, she finished in a bloodlusted tone.

As Gumball Prime started to see black and was slowly but surely passing out from getting choked to death, those words awakened something in him.

“No! NO! NOOOO!”, he screamed while finally finding the strength in him to overpower her grip and move her hands away from his neck to Nicole’s shock.

He kicked her off him, sending Nicole Two sliding over the ground before she came to a stop.

They both took a moment to regain their composure before getting back up, ready for Round Two.

“I won’t let you hurt anyone ever again!”, Gumball declared before rushing at her again with everything he had, despite the beating he just received.

…

Back in the present:

As his parents and girlfriend were listening intensely, Gumball told them everything.

What happened to Rob, how he has been coping with it ever since, even how he went past his limit and what he did to the second generation of his family in the aftermath.

Well, he left out some of the more gruesome details since those weren’t really relevant to the story and would’ve just disturbed them on top of things. Something that definitely wasn’t needed at the moment when he was already unleashing one shock moment after the other.

Nicole and Richard had been confused at first about who “Rob” even was in the first place.

Penny of course remembered him from the time when Gumball was in his obsession phase and couldn’t stop talking about the guy, which then led into romantic confusion and a big, cruel disaster with Penny herself in the middle of it.

She didn’t have any positive thoughts about him after that incident, especially after it was revealed that he was also the one behind Superintendent Evil.

But she trusted Gumball enough to believe him when he claimed that Rob really changed and hearing how he got killed, she didn’t think he deserved that.

Richard remembered again who Rob was when Gumball reminded him of the bus incident that he was a part of. Despite the fact that he also only really saw the cyclops from his villainous side, Richard felt bad too for what happened to him.

Nicole never met him so she just had to rely on what she heard to make herself a picture of him. She was surprised and somewhat worried to hear that Gumball had a nemesis that he never told her about, despite the fact that he constantly rambled about him to Penny. What else have her kids been keeping from her?

Gumball says he didn’t tell her anything to spare Rob her wrath. Nicole wanted to scold her son and husband about not telling her anything and make a comment about how she would’ve buried Rob personally if she knew about that bus incident but held herself back, knowing that this would be in very bad taste right now.

The part that really shocked them all and made them feel even worse for Gumball was the aftermath of it though. They didn’t know how to comfort him about that, so they all just enveloped him in one big hug for quite some time and reassured him that it was alright and they would stand with him, no matter what.

It also made Nicole feel even worse for what she dropped on him earlier during their fight, but Gumball was thankful because that started off the chain reaction that pushed him out of his hole, which is something he seriously needed.

So now that it was later in the evening and they all decided to take a break from things after being assured that Gumball was in a better place at the moment, Penny went home for the night.

Gumball’s parents still regularly checked on him and he didn’t mind. They wouldn’t be able not to worry about him for a while after figuring out what happened and he appreciated their concern. The same went for Penny of course.

Even though he was feeling better right now with everything being off his chest now, Gumball felt like there was still something missing. Something he could’ve done to completely make peace with what happened.

It was good sharing what happened to Rob but even though they believed him that the boy had changed, they just didn’t know Rob like he did.

But how could he talk to someone about it, who understood the cyclops like Gumball did?

That’s when he remembered something.

“But seriously, Gumrock really is great company if you just need to vent to someone without judgement or interruptions. He’s such a great listener and someone you can share all your worries with.”

It was one of the last conversations he had with Rob as they went on their last walk together.

His parents were still downstairs, so Gumball grabbed Gumrock really quickly and went up with him alone into the bedroom he shared with his siblings.

It was going to take some time to get used to the fact that he would be alone up here for now. And even if they could save Darwin, there was at least one key element that would always be missing here.

Pushing the thought out of his head for now since that’s not what he came here for, Gumball set Gumrock on his bed in a position where he could look him in the eyes and stepped back.

“Um. Hi…Gumrock?”, he awkwardly started while waving, not sure how this was supposed to go.

“I guess I’m…sorry I haven’t really talked to you this last year. Or even before that really.”, he continued, not being able to meet the rock’s gaze, despite knowing that he wasn’t alive.

“But this last year especially, I should’ve said something. You probably don’t even know what happened yet, at least not officially. I assume based on his…disappearance you possibly already guessed it.”, Gumball went on.

“Rob…he’s dead. He got killed in this battle we’re fighting.”, he finally revealed, looking at Gumrock but fearing his reaction.

“...”, Gumrock answered, wearing the same innocent smile as always.

“Sigh. I know you’re trying to be strong, but you don’t need to pretend with me. I know he was like a father to you. Well…not just like, he literally was considering he adopted you.”, Gumball replied.

“...”, Gumrock said after some thinking.

“I lost a family member too recently, but I can’t imagine how it must be for you. The only family you have ever known and almost immediately after he became that for you, he died.”, Gumball responded, stepping closer to the rock.

“I know I haven’t been a great caretaker of you ever since. I’ve been emotionally neglecting but I promise that will change now! And I know exactly how to do it.”, he declared while picking the rock up.

“Even though things between Rob and me didn’t work out that way in the end, I know he would’ve wanted me to do this, even if he never would’ve openly asked for it. That’s why I decided…I will adopt you. You’ll be my son now just as you were and will always be Rob’s.

I even have a document to make it official!”, Gumball finished before running over to the desk and picking up a piece of paper before showing it to Gumrock.

It had “Adoption papers for Gumrock” written on it in crayons with Gumball’s signature down below.

“I know it’s not official official, but neither was it with Rob and since it worked for you two, I thought this was good enough for the moment. So…what do you think?”, Gumball asked in apprehension, hoping the rock would be okay with that.

“...”, Gumrock answered in his hand, wearing the same smile he always did.

“You’re happy about it?”, Gumball wondered in relief. “Oh, thank gosh. Gotta tell you, I was a bit worried considering…you know…it is kinda my fault that Rob is gone now.”

“...”, Gumrock explained, sharing some of his wisdom.

“You don’t think it was my fault? You are really too kind to me.”, Gumball responded in disbelief, tears forming in his eyes now as he hugged the rock.

“You know, I can see what Rob meant. You really are a great listener. I should’ve just talked with you about this ages ago.

This is the first time in over a year that I’m feeling like…maybe things will be okay again.”

After Gumball said that, he peeked above the upper bed where Anais was usually sleeping.

Up there he saw Rob sitting with a small smile and nodding approvingly. He was once again turning into invisible dust right afterwards but waved Gumball goodbye this time as the blue kitten did the same to him.

Yeah, he would be okay.

…

Back in the past:

After gaining a second wind in the aftermath of Nicole pummeling him, Gumball was back on the move and attacked Nicole Two with everything he had.

She was once again able to block all of his punches and kicks while attempting to throw some counter-attacks once she saw an opening. Only this time, Gumball Prime did react in time and blocked her attacks as well.

Nicole Two was surprised he still had that much fight left in him after having nearly died just a moment ago. But she was sure he couldn’t keep this up.

It was just a last desperate attempt to somehow still score a win here, but at the end he was only exhausting himself. Combined with his injuries, it was only a matter of time until he would fall.

At least so she thought.

But to her surprise, as time went on and they continued trading more blows Gumball didn’t slow down. In fact, he only seemed to be getting faster.

It was barely noticeable at first but then it became more and more obvious. It eventually seemed like his speed was going through some inexplicable, exponential growth spurt.

As Nicole blocked one of his attacks with her arm and felt the force of the blow almost throwing her back, she realized that it wasn’t just his speed. His strength also seemed to be increasing.

At first she thought Gumball’s barrage of strikes would stop eventually, but not only was there no sign of him planning to stop anytime soon, he was just getting more dangerous the more time she gave him.

Deciding that waiting for him to tire himself out wasn’t working, Nicole changed tactics and went on the attack herself.

Moving out of the sight of his blows and appearing behind him, Nicole Two immediately threw a punch but was surprised to find that he saw it coming in time and deflected it away with his arm.

Have his reflexes been getting sharper too?, she wondered in shock.

She threw another punch with her other hand, bringing her full power behind it but Gumball once again surprised her by catching it in his palm with a smirk, seemingly not even having struggled with it that much.

Then he closed his paw around her fist and squeezed really hard.

Nicole heard a bone crunching sound as she screamed and desperately tried to pull her hand away but it didn’t bulge.

Eventually she threw out her leg and managed to free herself by kicking Gumball back a few feet, giving her some time to inspect her hand.

There seemed to be no broken bones but it sure hurt. Before she got any time to compose herself however…

“Pay attention.”, his voice called out from behind her.

Upon turning around in shock, Nicole Two was just barely able to put up her arms in front of her face and block another heavy blow, but it still sent her sliding back quite a bit.

So fast. I didn’t even notice him moving behind me. What is going on!?, she wondered.

That’s when something she started to consider a weakness and separated herself from ever since coming to this place made its way onto the back of her mind: Fear.

It wasn’t much but it was there. As much as she wanted to deny the thought, the realization hit her:

She might not come out the winner in this fight.

And considering this was a fight to the death…

Not being able to spend much time processing it, she was immediately pushed to defend herself again once Gumball Prime continued barraging her with attacks.

Of course she never would’ve given the younger cat the satisfaction of letting him know about her worries on the potential outcome of this confrontation, but he has already noticed how unusually silent she was now compared to before as well.

“What’s wrong, pseudo-mother? Can’t rise to the occasion?”, he mocked her as the side of his mouth raised into a smirk again.

Now Nicole was getting angry, but there was not much she could do except for guarding her face.

Unfortunately for her, even that eventually proved to be futile as Gumball Prime just buried his fist in her chest instead, knocking the wind out of her and letting her arms lose their guard for a moment.

He used that opening to unsheathe his claws and slash her face.

After stumbling back, the stinging pain made Nicole Two hold her cheek and after seeing the fresh red substance on her hand once she turned it back, there was no mistaking the fact that there were three bloody cuts now running down her face.

“WHY, YOU LITTLE-”, she called out furiously while rushing towards Gumball with a punch, but he was faster and started barraging her face again before she could do anything.

“What’s up? Can’t take care of the disappointment, who will never achieve anything!?”, he continued to taunt her between his attacks, painfully throwing Nicole Two’s earlier words back at her.

She tried everything to regain her composure and take control of the situation, but nothing seemed to work.

He was getting too strong.

Too fast.

Too ruthless.

Too deadly.

“Uggh. Grrrh! UAAAAAAAAH!”, Nicole Two screamed as she threw herself at Gumball Prime in a last desperation attempt.

And it worked. She was able to jump through his attacks and tackle him to the ground.

“WAAAAAAH!”

The moment she had him pinned, Nicole Two started to go crazy on him with nonstop punches and claw strikes while screaming like a maniac and not even looking down, instead closing her eyes.

After a few moments of her assault, it suddenly got stopped as something grabbed Nicole’s fist once more during one of her punches.

She finally looked down and saw Gumball Prime holding her fist in his paw again just before it touched his face.

Beneath that, he was smirking at her once more with those yellow eyes that he has been wearing ever since declaring that he went beyond his limit.

But the worst part was his face. It looked barely more bruised than it did a minute ago.

She could tell by the way her fists and claws hit something soft that every single one of her attacks during her rampage just a moment ago hit its target. But it had nearly no effect.

Then Gumball Prime squeezed again while her fist was still in his paw and there was another, even louder, bone crunching sound than before.

As not just her fist but also her arm bent in a direction they were not supposed to and an immense pain shot through both of them, it was obvious that this time, there were broken bones.

Nicole screamed up in pain once more when Gumball brought his other hand forward in a fist and buried it in her stomach again. But this time it didn’t just bruise her skin but went through it.

Not by much, but by the time he removed it again there was a hole in her chest as blood already started streaming out.

In even more pain than before now, Nicole Two could only hold her stomach with her unbroken hand as Gumball moved up from below her until he was face-to-face on a level with the older cat who was kneeling before him.

After they looked at each other for a few seconds Nicole Two slowly moved her one not broken arm away from her chest and at him, but so slowly that you could see the fight was leaving her.

Gumball Prime grabbed it as well in his paw before breaking it just like the other.

Another jarring scream left her mouth before she attempted to stand up, but Gumball quickly stopped that plan too by stomping on the lower part of her leg and breaking yet another bone.

Nicole Two completely collapsed on her stomach now, breathing heavily and making no effort to get back up as Gumball Prime stood triumphantly above her.

“Well, this was fun while it lasted, but it looks like we’re finished here.”, he said, realizing that she was beaten.

“I guess I should thank you. Without you pushing me this far, I never would’ve gotten as strong as I am now.

Honestly, I don’t even know why I was trying to repress this limit thing for so long. Zach was right. This is exactly what I needed.

You put up a hell of a fight and really gave me a challenge there. But in the end, I overcame it.

I surpassed you and it didn’t take me 20 more years. Wasn’t even 20 minutes.”

He stopped for a moment before moving her upper body up and moving his hands around her neck.

“Say hello to the rest of your family from me.”, he finished coldly.

Nicole Two knew she had lost everything at that moment. With nothing else she had to fight for anyway at this point, she closed her eyes, waiting for the sweet relief of death to end her suffering, only regretting that even after everything, she was too weak.

There was a ‘snap’ sound before Gumball Prime released Nicole Two and she fell movelessly back to the ground.

The young cat took a moment to take the scene in before hearing yet a new voice behind him.

“I heard screams. What has been going-OH MY GOD!!!”, Newspaper Kip Schlezinger called out in horror upon seeing the corpses of his teammates, most of them in a very gruesome manner, lying around with a bloodthirsty looking version of Gumball standing in the middle of the massacre.

“Oh, I forgot one. Dessert time.”, he smirked while slowly walking towards Kip, who wanted to run away but was frozen in place.

A few minutes later, Gumball Prime finally walked out of the junkyard, carrying the dead body of Rob with him while removing some last pieces of ripped apart newspaper from his hands.

His eyes were still yellow, but his expression softer now as he made his way back home.

…

Back in the present:

It was finally Sunday and Tina Rex was just taking a walk in her neighborhood.

She needed a break from her dad to cool off right now since they had a heated argument yesterday after Jamie left, but her father was stubborn and forbade her to tag along on whatever this big thing was they were preparing for.

And as tough as she was acting in school, Tina didn’t have it in her to disobey her father.

Still replaying the conversation in her head and not looking where she was going, she suddenly bumped into someone.

“HEY! Watch where your-”, she started before just seeing a gigantic purple and hairy foot standing in front of her, causing her to look up and realize that she was the one who ran into Hector.

Ever since Rachel’s party where they ended up dancing together after dropping their original partners, both literally and figuratively, they’ve been on pretty good terms.

They even felt something akin to a romantic connection at first but that ultimately didn’t work out for them. Nevertheless, they remained good friends ever since.

“OH. SORRY, TINA. I DIDN’T SEE YOU DOWN THERE.”, his voice came from above as he looked down.

“It’s fine, I ran into you. Sorry, I just needed to let my anger out somewhere.”, she growled.

“WHAT ARE YOU ANGRY ABOUT?”, he wondered.

“It’s a long story. Has to do with my dad.”, she answered.

“FAMILY PROBLEMS, HUH? TELL ME ABOUT IT. I’M HAVING SOME ISSUES WITH MY MOM RIGHT NOW.”, Hector admitted.

“Really, you too?”, Tina asked in surprise.

“YEAH, CARRIE HAS BEEN OVER AT OUR CAVE YESTERDAY AND WANTED MY MOM AND ME TO JOIN HER IN SOME IMPORTANT BATTLE FROM WHAT I’VE HEARD BUT SHE JUST DECLINED WITHOUT EVEN WANTING TO TELL ME ABOUT IT. IT SOUNDED REALLY IMPORTANT TOO.”, Hector revealed.

“They asked you as well!? Jamie came to us at the junkyard yesterday to ask about the exact same thing. She said it’s about the survival of Elmore!”, Tina answered, now even more furious that he was also just kept out of it without getting a choice in it.

“OH, WOW. GUESS THIS THING IS REALLY BIG IF THEY’RE ASKING PEOPLE ALL OVER TOWN.”, Hector concluded.

“Well, I’m getting really sick of them just deciding for us that we should stay out of it. I’d say, let’s do it anyway!”, Tina declared.

“GO AGAINST OUR PARENTS? I…DON’T KNOW IF THAT’S SUCH A GOOD IDEA.”, Hector rubbed his head, being uncertain.

“Come on, Hector. This is our town! If everyone we know and care about here is in danger things like orders from parents stop mattering. They can stay out of it themselves if they care that little, but they can’t expect us to do the same!”

Tina looked down sadly for a moment before continuing.

“Jamie was right yesterday. I was a coward for not standing up for myself. For not standing up for what I believe in. Even towards my father. Well, not anymore! I’ll fight for us whether he likes it or not!”

Hector thought about it for a moment before coming to a decision.

“...YOU’RE RIGHT. YOU’RE RIGHT! WHATEVER IS COMING, I’M NOT GONNA LET THEM HURT MY FRIENDS! I’LL FIGHT FOR MY HOME!”, Hector replied, punching his fist in his open palm.

“That’s the spirit, big guy!”, Tina proudly told him.

…

Outside of Elmore, still in the present:

Pfahlius was still in the forest in which he recruited The Chimera for his mission to ‘save’ Elmore, only now the Evil Turtle and all her children have made their way there too.

Well, all except for one.

They were currently relaxing in a lake while mentally preparing for the big upcoming battle. They couldn’t make their way over to Elmore yet since Pfahlius was still waiting for something.

Suddenly something approached the lake. It was small, white, making screechy sounds and apparently carrying a jar.

Pfahlius, who was still in Darwin’s body, immediately noticed what was up and quickly swam over towards the side of the lake where the creature stopped.

“Ah, magnificent. You really brought him here.”, he smirked while grabbing the jar in his fins and giving the baby turtle a head pat before it returned to its mother and siblings in the lake.

“You’re finally gonna tell us what it is now?”, The Chimera asked as his shark snout came out of the water, scaring some of the turtle babies away, who thought he was an actual shark for a moment.

The Evil Turtle looked curiously over as well, not understanding what was the meaning of this.

Pfahlius turned towards the group with a grin while still holding the jar.

“The final member of our team that will assist us in taking back Elmore. And the most powerful out of all of us.

We just need to heat him up in a microwave, give him some food and then we’ll be ready to make our way there. We can possibly still start today.

Chimera, Turtles. Meet…Kenneth!”, he introduced while holding the jar with the frozen creature inside so they could see it.

Chapter Text

What happened before: (All the way back in Chapter 8 - The First, The Second and The Zach to be exact)

"Zach, are you coming!?", Gumball asked while noticing that he was walking in the wrong direction away from the hole.

"No, Zach has to go back. Our friend is still in there.", he said while getting closer to the hole to the deeper level of the Void that they just came through.

"But he said he wanted to stay in there!", Gumball argued.

"Zach knows and doesn't care. He'll never survive in there on his own! He has to come with us!", Zach stubbornly replied.

"*Sigh* Alright, but I'm coming with you.", Gumball decided before stepping towards Zach.

"No!", Zach held out a hand to stop him.

"You have to go back to Elmore before the Void comes back and intervenes. We can't waste what we worked so hard towards!"

"I'm not leaving you to yourself again! This goes against everything we established!", Gumball reminded him.

"You aren't! We'll stay in contact through the walkie-talkies and soon see each other again. But you need to go back now!", Zach tried to reason with him.

Gumball looked from Zach to the hole to Elmore back to Zach again, unsure what to do.

"Zach will give you a signal when we're ready. But they need you now!

More than I do.", Zach added as his voice softened.

"...Okay. Good luck!", Gumball reluctantly said while saluting over to Zach who did the same, before Gumball jumped through the hole with Gumrock and the remote. Rob followed him right after that.

…

After jumping through the hole back into the Void’s deeper levels, Zach looked around to check if there were any more Bobert Units in sight.

As he couldn’t see anything and was certain that nobody followed him, he took a moment to think about what his plan was going to be now.

“Okay, Zach has the walkie talkie to stay in contact with Gumball. Also as long as he is in this part of the Void, Gumball won’t forget him.

If the Void closes the portal before we can get out of here, Gumball has the remote to help us out with that. If it stays open, we can escape into the main Void but still need him anyway to open the portal to Elmore.

And if anyone else goes through there, they won’t make it back to Elmore without Gumball’s assistance. Well, worst case scenario the Void will let them through to give us a harder time so Zach just takes the fastest path to the First Ones headquarters to get his friend and potential accomplice out of here.

Everyone who comes across him until then will be taken care off.”, Zach finished with determination before cracking his knuckles.

“Zach won’t let you down again, buddy.”

…

In the past, continuing from last chapter:

After the massacre of the second generation at the junkyard, Gumball Prime was now walking back towards the home he shares with Zach, Gumball One and Rob.

Or…did share with Rob until now.

His eyes were still yellow, he was still in his “Limit mode”. The longer he walked and carried Rob though, the heavier the cyclops seemed to be getting. Aside from that, he was out of breath.

Gumball didn’t really feel the injuries he received in his fight with Nicole Two until now, or he somehow managed to ignore them. But now that burden was also added to his struggle as he started breathing heavily.

“*Huff* Shit. My body is feeling awful. Did I overdo it back there?”, he wondered.

“Ouch!”, he suddenly felt a sharp ache in his chest that forced him to set Rob down and hold his midsection.

“Did I get hurt worse than I realized? Is it because I’m not in the middle of fighting anymore to distract me from the pain?

Heh. And there I was all smug, bragging about how I left her in the dust, thinking I already reached the top and was untouchable now.”, he bitterly remarked, before kneeling down due to not being able to hold himself on his feet any longer.

He felt cold and he could barely see, steadily losing consciousness.

Just when I was almost back at the base. Is this how I’m going to die?, he thought, not even having enough energy left to voice his words anymore.

Just as Gumball was in the process of passing out though, he heard footsteps approaching quickly in front of him.

As the other person was close enough, Gumball could see the silhouette of a cat looking just like him.

“Well, well, well. Do you mind explaining to Zach where you two were, why you disobeyed his orders to stay home and most importantly WHY HE SHOULDN’T STOMP YOUR GUTS OUT RIGHT HERE AND NOW FOR DOING SOMETHING THIS RECKLESS!? Do you have any idea how-”

The moment Zach took a closer look at Gumball, he saw that he was just barely able to keep his eyes open but that was enough to see the unmistakable yellow color in them that could only mean one thing.

“Oh no…what happened?”, Zach asked in a more silent and frightened voice now, not far above a whisper after also turning his eyes towards Rob and seeing him lying movelessly on the ground before looking back at Gumball.

“Ugh…mmh.”, Gumball tried to form words, but nothing came out and he instead collapsed to the ground as well.

“Gumball! GUMBALL!”, Zach quickly kneeled down in front of his counterpart and desperately tried to shake him awake.

“...Fuck.”

…

Back in the present:

It was Sunday Morning in the Watterson household and the three people in the house who were still alive made it through the night well and rested.

Or as well and rested as it was possible when you have to try to sleep with the constant thought in mind that one of your family just died. One who still had her entire life ahead of her on top of that.

Combined with what Darwin was going through and everyone else that was on their plate, it’s safe to say that the night wasn’t too great for them.

Gumball, Nicole and Richard were standing in front of Anais’ room where Richard put her in her bed the previous day, unsure what else to do with her body for the moment.

“You still haven't had a moment alone with her since coming back, did you?”, Nicole asked, eventually breaking the silence.

“...No.”, Gumball shamefully admitted.

“Yesterday I was so focused on sorting that thing with Rob out that has already been bothering me for a year that I couldn’t think of anything else.

But now that I am able to think about her as a first priority…I still can’t believe it.”, he lowered his voice and head as his parents gave him a worried look.

“Hey, you know that it’s not your fault, right?”, Richard asked reassuringly, putting a hand on his son’s shoulder.

“Even if it isn’t, that doesn’t make things any better. *Sigh* Either way, I should probably go in and say a couple of things. Just to get some closure.”, Gumball decided.

“You’re sure that we shouldn’t give her a funeral yet? I know, every minute counts with this Void but it doesn’t feel right. We could keep it small.”, Richard suggested.

“Yes, we can’t leave her like that in there for much longer. Her body will soon start to… decompose.”, Nicole explained, barely able to speak the last word when thinking about the fact that this is her baby’s fate now.

“Actually, I might have a solution for that.”, Gumball answered, getting his parents to look at him in surprise.

“I can’t reverse time to revive her with the remote but I can freeze her in place like she is now. That way her body won’t decompose any further, no matter how long she will stay here.”

“That’s possible!? What can that wonderful remote not do!?”, Richard asked dramatically, getting a quick laugh to escape from Gumball’s lips, glad to see that even with what they were all going through right now, his father hasn’t changed too much.

“It is. Already should’ve done that yesterday, but I just had so much on my mind that I didn’t think of it.”, Gumball replied.

“And…you’re sure there is absolutely no way we can bring her back without dooming all of us to this Void?”, Nicole asked one last time to be sure, already knowing the answer but still not wanting to lose hope that they could somehow save her.

“I wish there was, but I’m afraid not.”, Gumball answered in disappointment.

“But if we manage to defeat the Void and those rules to our world don’t apply anymore, will it then be possible!? Could we do it after that?”, Nicole wondered hopefully.

“I…guess it’s not impossible, but that’s a big if. We still don’t know how things will be then and that’s if we manage to defeat it at all. We can hope for the best, but should be prepared for the exact opposite. If not, we’ll give her a worthy funeral with enough time after we won.”, Gumball concluded after thinking about it for a moment.

“Hmm, I see.”, Nicole answered casually, trying to hide her dejection at the implication that it’s highly unlikely they’ll get her back.

“Alright then, can you give us a moment?”, Gumball asked while opening the door, preparing to walk in.

“Take as much time as you need.”, Richard responded before putting an arm around his wife as they walked away.

Once his parents were out of the picture, Gumball finally stepped inside his late sister’s room before closing the door behind him.

Each step felt heavy as he walked closer towards her bed, already seeing her body in the corner of his eye.

Finally, he stopped in front of Anais’ bed and inspected what was in front of him.

Anais was on her back, with Richard having put her hands over her chest as she was lying there peacefully with closed eyes, almost as if she was just sleeping.

You could almost believe she was if it wasn’t for the fact that there were no breathing sounds and no rising and falling of her chest that indicated a heartbeat.

Gumball looked at her for another moment and then he couldn’t take it anymore.

It was only at this moment that the true realization of what happened kicked in for him. The day before he was able to distract himself with other things, or pretty much forced himself to do that to not accept the truth.

But now, after he learned to come to terms with it and seeing her like this, it was at this exact moment that he truly understood the fact that his sister was truly gone.

He was never going to hear her laugh, never going to feel her embrace, never going to see the life in her eyes ever again.

It was at this moment that he collapsed to his knees and started crying.

The day before he would’ve tried to hold it in, but now he didn’t bother anymore and let it all out.

As awful as the knowledge that led him to this point felt, it was also relieving in a way.

He didn’t know when he cried the last time. Probably not once in around a year at least, since he started to put up a wall created by a false imagination of reality with which he deluded himself into thinking that everything was fine.

After crying on his knees for some moments, he got up and grabbed Anais out of her bed in a fierce hug before continuing to cry into her shoulder.

“*Sob* I’m sorry. I’m s-so sorry, Anais! We will stop him! We will stop that monster for you! And when everything is done, I promise that I will do whatever I can to find a way to fix this.

If there is any way to bring you back, I will find it, even if I have to dedicate my entire life to it!”, he vowed with determination.

…

Meanwhile, elsewhere:

After her brief talk with Hector inspired her to participate in this big battle about the fate of Elmore after all no matter what her father says, Tina went right back to the junkyard with the intention of confronting him about it.

The closer she came towards home though, the less brave she felt about what she was about to do as the full realization kicked in of who she was planning to defy there.

It sounded cool and badass in theory, to stand up to your parent like that, but the reality of that situation was not as easy as she liked to make it out in her mind.

Her father had never laid a claw on Tina or been abusive towards her in any other way, but he was still scary when angered, even for her.

Nevertheless, she knew it was the right thing to do and chickening out was not an option here. Her species didn’t survive a near-extinction event millions of years ago to evolve into chickens now, did they?

…Oh, wait.

The moment she walked back into the junkyard Tina quickly spotted her father with his back turned to her while he was eating something. Probably another poor animal that made its way into their territory and wasn’t prepared for her father not to appreciate intruders.

“Dad! I need to speak with you. Now!”, she demanded, surprising herself with how confident she sounded although he surely made it harder for her to keep it up the moment he turned around and eyed Tina with a look that told her he didn’t appreciate such assertiveness addressed towards him.

Before she could back out or stumble upon her next words though, Tina was quickly saved by two beings that teleported themselves into their home.

Two beings that couldn’t be any more different from each other in appearance. A giant who towered even above the T-Rexes and a small, elderly looking witch.

“There you are! Who do you think you are, giving my son ideas about what battles he should participate in behind my back!? You should be ashamed of yourself, young lady!”, Mrs. Jötunheim scolded Tina while pointing her wand in her direction.

“SORRY, TINA. I KINDA MENTIONED THAT YOU INSPIRED ME TO MAKE THIS DECISION AND MOM TOOK IT THE WRONG WAY.”, Hector sheepishly admitted.

Mr. Rex on the other hand just got a bloodlusted look in his eyes at the sight of more intruders in his home, not to mention one that just started reprimanding his daughter.

“Mr. Rex, I think I need to have a serious talk with you about the way you’re raising your daughter because she clearly must have gotten this from someone.”, Mrs. Jötunheim said, now turned her attention to him.

“ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!”, he just answered into Mrs. Jötunheim’s face, a lot closer than she was comfortable with.

“Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be? Well, bring it on then, Jurassic Fart!”, she challenged him before floating up as her wand started to glow.

Unimpressed however, Mr. Rex just knocked her away with his head mid-run while making his way towards Hector to attack the giant he considered to be the bigger threat.

“Dad, wait! Don’t hurt him!”, Tina desperately called after him.

Mr. Rex wasn’t listening however and as he was in front of Hector, he opened his jaw and closed it with full force around Hector’s leg, as that was still the highest part of the giant’s body he could reach, even with his own size.

“HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? HAHAHAHA, STOP IT! THAT TICKLES!”, Hector said, not appearing as affected by the bite as Mr. Rex had hoped.

“Nobody attacks my son and gets away with it!”, Mrs. Jötunheim declared after having regained her composure, preparing to unleash the attack she couldn’t before with her wand.

“Stop it!”, Tina stepped in front of the attack, blocking her view.

“Get out of the way, girl. I don’t want to hurt you.”, the witch warned, halting her attack.

Seeing that this was just escalating things further, Tina stepped in with more fury once more.

“ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAR! BOTH OF YOU STOP THIS NONSENSE AND LISTEN TO ME, NOW!”, she demanded after unleashing a roar that matched her father’s from earlier, which even surprised him enough to stop his ‘assault’ and let go of Hector’s leg.

“Thank you. Now, Hector and I talked with each other and it appears we have the same problem with you. The fact that you’re just making important decisions for us without asking what we think about them!”

“We are your parents and you two are minors! Of course we have the say about what you are allowed to do and what not, especially if it’s something this reckless!”, Mrs. Jötunheim argued.

“IT’S NOT RECKLESS THOUGH, IT IS SURVIVAL. SOMETHING THAT CONCERNS ALL OF US.”, Hector countered her.

“If this town goes to war it shall gladly do so. But I’m not allowing you to participate in that, Hector and you know exactly why!”, she replied.

“*SIGH* BECAUSE OF THE PROMISE YOU MADE TO FATHER.”, Hector remembered.

“Exactly because of that. We moved here so you wouldn’t have to go through what the rest of your people do. Do you want to end up like that too?”

“I’D RATHER PUT MYSELF AT RISK TO PROTECT WHAT I CARE ABOUT THAN LIVE AS A COWARD.”, Hector answered.

“And what would I tell your father in your hometown if he turned out to be still alive after all!?”, Mrs. Jötunheim wondered.

“YOU DON’T GET IT, DO YOU? ELMORE IS MY HOMETOWN. I WOULD RATHER AVOID A FIGHT TOO IF I CAN BUT THIS IS UNAVOIDABLE FOR US.”, Hector declared.

“It…it’s not our responsibility!”, Mrs. Jötunheim tried to counter, although she was running out of things to say.

“IT IS. IF WE LET THIS TOWN GO DOWN WE MIGHT NEVER FIND A PLACE WE CAN LIVE SAFELY AT LIKE WE CAN HERE AGAIN. NOT DEFENDING ONE OF THE LAST PLACES THAT ACCEPTS GIANTS LIKE ME WOULD BE A GREATER DISHONOR TO OUR LEGACY THAN NOT BREAKING THAT PROMISE YOU MADE!”, Hector finished.

“I-I just don’t want anything to happen to you, son.”, Mrs. Jötunheim responded, although more silent and defensive now than before.

“It doesn’t have to. You wouldn’t be fighting alone. All of us, the entire town will unite to face this threat to us. What makes us strong is that we all hold together in times like this.”, Tina explained, before turning to her father who also has been listening intensely these last few minutes.

“I know that these hunters took Mom from us changed you and you just want to protect me. But you can’t isolate yourself and hunt everyone else away when they approach you forever. We came here so we wouldn’t have to live a life where everyone we see could potentially be our enemy.

If we abandon this town to its fate we are doing the exact thing to them that the rest of the world did to us. Can you do that to others? We know what it feels like so we can be better!”, Tina tried to convince her father while walking closer until she was right in front of him.

Mr. Rex just looked at her, shocked into silence, before walking past her with slow steps and making his way over to Mrs. Jötunheim. He bent down to her level and nodded to her with a low growl.

She understood the silent message and nodded back before they both turned towards their children.

“Okay. Whatever wants to go after this town has to go through us first. All of us.”, Mrs. Jötunheim finally said.

…

Back in the past:

Gumball Prime suddenly woke up from what felt like a near-death incident. He was still having a headache and had to adjust himself first after opening his eyes to what was going on.

He quickly noticed that he was back home. Well, home as in the Watterson residence inside the Void where he was lying on the couch with a blanket above him.

“Ah, so you’ve woken up.”, Zach commented while walking over and stopping in front of him, noticing that the yellow in his eyes was gone.

“Wh-what happened? Oh dear Lord Gumrock, I just had an awful dream. Rob and I were at the junkyard with the second generationers and he got killed.”, Gumball laughed it off.

“Yeeeaaah…that wasn’t a dream. Zach laid him down in the basement.”, Zach answered, equally awkward and unamused.

“...What?”, Gumball asked after a moment of hesitation to wonder if he just heard correctly.

Another moment later, Gumball quickly got up from the couch and ran towards the basement, ignoring the pain he felt through the sudden movements.

After running down the stairs, he immediately grabbed Rob’s body that was lying on the table that was set up there.

“Rob! ROB! WAKE UP! NO, DON’T DO THIS TO ME BUDDY!”, he desperately tried to shake him awake before realizing that he wasn’t responding and the fact that his neck was bent in a very unusual direction could only mean one thing.

“Take it easy. You’re still injured.”, Zach suddenly called out from behind him.

“Wh-what happened!? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?”, Gumball demanded through his tears.

“That’s what Zach would like to know. What were the two of you doing out of the neighborhood in the first place when he strictly told you NOT TO GO ANYWHERE!?”, Zach countered.

“I-I just took him out for a walk, he even tried to stop me. Then they ambushed us and…it’s all my fault.”, Gumball realized while sinking to the ground. If he listened to Zach, none of this would have happened.

“There-there must be a way to bring him back, right? Wh-what about the remote!? It can reverse things, maybe it can also-”, Gumball tried to come up with a way to return things to normal.

“Absolutely not. Based on the information Zach stole from the First One’s headquarters that includes Bobert’s analysis of the remote, reversing death would unstabilize all of existence to the point that it could fall apart. We can’t risk that.”, Zach quickly burst his bubble.

“But…no, that would mean it really is-”, Gumball said silently, not even wanting to finish the thought. He is the reason that Rob is dead now.

Wait, is he? Gumball and his entire family have survived things that should’ve killed them under normal circumstances multiple times in the past so why shouldn’t Rob be capable of doing the same?

Yes, that must be it! Zach and him were probably just misjudging the situation. Rob was just unconscious right now and would wake up later, fine just like him.

Although that still doesn’t explain some things that were going on right now.

“Why-why can’t I remember anything after he was…you know? Did they beat me unconscious and you came there and saved me in time?”, Gumball wondered.

“No, it seems like you saved yourself.” Zach revealed.

“Huh?”

“You went past your limit back there.”, he continued.

“My-my limit!?”, Gumball asked in shock.

“It seems like them killing Rob was the thing that finally pushed you over and everything after that you can’t remember due to not having been “you” at that time. Zach found you as you were bringing him back home and passing out from your own injuries.”, Zach explained.

“Oh. Well, now that you mention it, I do have quite the headache. Along with what feels like some bruises around the rest of my body.”, Gumball realized.

“Zach at first feared-uh THOUGHT that you were dying when he found you, but it seems like finally getting a chance to relax your body after that big fight over there only meant you finally started to recognize your injuries and reacted to them. You’ve been healing impressively quick already, but Zach would still take it easy for a while if he was you.”

“Wait a second. How do you know there was a big fight over there if you only saw me the moment I came back here?”, Gumball realized, wondering how he figured that out.

“*Sigh* Because after seeing that you went past your limit, Zach sped around in town to check if you didn’t destroy anything important in the inevitable rampage you would’ve went on. Which means he saw what happened at the junkyard.”, Zach admitted, sounding like he regretted himself what he saw there.

“What…exactly happened there?”, Gumball asked carefully, scared himself to find out the answer.

“Well…let’s put it this way. The good news is we don’t have to worry about the Second Generationers anymore and Rob got avenged. The bad news is you have to live with the fact that you’re a sixfold murderer now, with five of those folds coming from alternate family members of yours.”, Zach tried to put it nicely, while failing miserably at it.

“I…I did that?”, Gumball asked, feeling the next headache coming up as he was trying to comprehend what Zach just said.

“Well, technically it wasn’t you since this limit form isn’t really you per se, which is why you have no memories from when it was in control and you weren’t.”, Zach quickly said, trying to ease the blow that way so Gumball wouldn’t blame himself and completely lose his mind from everything that just happened.

“But that doesn’t change the fact that it was something inside me that did all of this, right?”, Gumball asked silently as he was staring at the ground with wide eyes.

“Hmm, look at it this way. There are two people inside of you. You and the limit. You may share the same body but aside from that, you have nothing in common and are just as far away from each other as you are from someone living on the other side of the world. So forget what Zach said earlier. That was nonsense. It wasn't your murders.”, he tried to backtrack.

“You’re just saying that so I feel better about it. Wait, six people?”, Gumball asked, trying to distract himself.

“You, your family and that newspaper guy that was their spy, which we found out years ago. Remember?”, Zach reminded him.

“Oh yeah. I can’t believe I really did that. I’m a monster.”, Gumball still blamed himself.

“Didn’t you hear what Zach just said!? You aren’t a monster. That wasn’t you. They pushed you there! They were evil and beyond saving anyway.”, Zach argued.

“They were corrupted and you know it!”, Gumball threw back through his tears.

“*Sigh* Zach just wants you to stop blaming yourself for this.”, he said.

“Yeah, that’s easy to say as an observer. Whether I was in control or not, my hands have ended lives now. Do you know what that feels like?”, Gumball bitterly asked.

Zach composed himself before making a decision. He didn’t want to go back to this memory, much less talk about it but it seems like it was necessary at this point. For Gumball.

“As a matter of fact, yes. I do know what it feels like. The only difference is, I was in control when I did it.”, Zach revealed.

“Say what now?”, Gumball wondered as his eyes shot up. Not just because of what Zach said, but also because this was one of the rare times he stopped the third-person act.

Whenever Zach did that, it was usually confirmation for Gumball that whatever he is talking about is something that is really serious for Zach so he listened attentively.

“Did you ever wonder why I never killed anyone of the First Ones or Second Generationers in our war against them since you came here, even though I easily have the power to do so and could’ve ended this all in our favor already if I did?”, Zach asked.

“Uh…because you’re secretly much more of a softie than you’d like to admit to us?”, Gumball innocently assumed.

“NO, I’M NOT! It’s just-...I experienced what it’s like in the worst way possible.”, Zach started.

Gumball raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything, giving silent signals for Zach to continue.

“It was not long after I came here. I knew about the war and the corruption in here, but I didn’t know yet that there were some who haven’t been affected by it. I just found that out later when I continued to sneak into the First One’s base to check on the information that their Bobert collected on this place.

One of the first times I went there…someone found me. I was panicking but she tried to calm me down and said she wouldn’t tell anyone, as she doesn’t like the struggle for life and death in this place either.

She sounded sincere and if I compare her behavior to all of those who were corrupted and don’t bother hiding their malicious intentions, even in the face of danger, I later came to figure out she was.

But back then, I thought she was just sweet-talking me so I wouldn’t attack her while we were alone and the others hadn’t found us yet. I was fully expecting her to betray me and call for back-up the moment she had the chance.

Back then I didn’t unlock my current power yet and if that happened it would’ve been instant death for me. In my mind it was me or her at that moment.

I shot her with one of the weapons Bobert had lying around as they were still collecting extra parts to create copies of his Battle Units. It was over quickly but the look of betrayal on her face in her last moment still haunts me.”, Zach finished.

Gumball could only look at Zach with a growing expression of shock as he continued to explain and he understood what happened more and more throughout the story.

“Oh my gosh! Wait, among the First Ones you said? A female who wasn’t affected by the corruption? Who was it?”, Gumball wondered.

“...Penny.”, Zach revealed regretfully.

Gumball eyes only grew wider in shock.

“After I took a look at the documents I stole from there to find out more information about this place, it showed me that certain people are unaffected by the Void’s brain-washing. Although they put it in a not so nice way as in their twisted imaginations, this new mindset was something good and the ones not succumbing to it were considered mistakes.”, Zach continued.

“A few more encounters with those who were affected later I also realized that the one person I killed during my time here was a non-corrupted one and I did it essentially for nothing.

The thought disgusted me so much that I made a rule for myself never to take a life in here again and find a way to get out of this without further bloodshed. Because at their core, they are all innocents. It’s not their fault they got turned into this.

Not too much later I also had an incident where I went past my limit and unlocked my true power, but luckily I was away from everyone when that happened and just went on a rampage against my environment. I discovered that it could be controlled and decided to do that before I end up taking any more lives, even by accident.

That’s why I wanted you to unlock yours in a safe environment here with me, where I could help you to learn to control it and in the case of emergency stop you if you went crazy while it is still uncontrolled. It wasn’t just meant to unlock your potential but also to make sure you don’t discover it by accident with someone else having to pay for it.”, Zach ended.

“Wow. Wait, what got you to go past your limit? What or who were you so angry at that it pushed you there?”, Gumball interrupted him.

“Myself.”, Zach answered.

You may have snuck out against my orders but it’s just as much my fault for not telling you earlier. I failed again.”, he added before pointing his gaze at the ground, looking more shattered than Gumball has ever seen him.

That’s when Gumball carefully moved towards Zach without saying a word and eventually enveloped him in a hug.

It caught Zach completely off-guard. He never got hugged by anyone for a very long time. Neither in the 10 years he was already stuck in the Void at this point, nor in the almost 10 years before when he was stuck as an afterthought in Gumball’s mind and had to witness him living his life.

Gumball One would’ve given him some, but Zach made it clear to him rather quickly after they joined forces that he wasn’t a fan of hugs, or so he liked to convince himself.

It felt weird receiving one after all this time, from another him nonetheless but he couldn’t deny that it did make him feel at least a little better.

“It’s not your fault. I don’t know how I could’ve handled having done something like this either. Let’s just…agree to communicate things better from now on and always tell each other everything. And I won’t break any more of your rules, alright?”, Gumball asked.

“It’s okay. After all Zach should’ve known in the first place that you weren’t much of a rule follower and predicted such an outcome.”, Zach joked back, forcing a laugh out of Gumball that eased the tension between them and showed them both that they could get over this together.

As Gumball leaned back from the hug, he still noticed this strange feeling inside his body despite the fact that Zach mostly bandaged him up while he was unconscious.

“I’m still feeling somewhat weird.”

“Like Zach said, you’ll still need some time to fully recover.”, the other told him.

“No, not just that. This is different from any other time I was injured in the past. My body feels light. Too light. As if my soul has been removed from it or something. Like I could jump to the other end of the town in an instant if I tried. Like I could do anything now.

It’s weird, but not exactly in a bad way.”, Gumball tried to explain it.

“Hmm, sounds like your potential is finally unlocking itself thanks to the limit. You’re feeling the disenthrallment Zach did too when that happened, but on an even bigger scale. The bounds that limited you before are disappearing. That also explains how you were able to beat Nicole of the Second Generationers. You already grew strong but couldn’t have done that before.”, Zach realized.

“Wow, so I’m stronger than my mom now? That’s cool. Or…it would be, if not for the circumstances surrounding it.”, Gumball replied.

“Let’s not dwell on that too much longer. Either way, between all the really bad stuff, something good came out today. Our time in this place is coming to an end. Once you’re healed up, we’ll go into the last phase of your training before we can finally leave the Void. Teaching you how to control it to make sure you don’t go past your limit again.”

“Oh, we’re getting out of here? How long do you think this will take?”, Gumball beamed up at the thought of finally getting back home.

“About a year at most Zach would say.”, he shrugged.

“A WHOLE YEAR!?”, Gumball replied in shock, believing it would go much faster.

“It’s not as easy as it sounds. Besides, you've already managed five years here by now. What is one more?”, Zach tried to reassure him.

“*Sigh* Alright. If it helps everything go smoothly, one more year it is.”, Gumball nodded.

“Oh yeah, Zach didn’t tell you yet but while he was over at the First One’s headquarters during your rampage, he found out something interesting.”, Zach changed the topic.

“Do we have to call it headquarters or base all the time? It’s just Elmore Junior High.”, Gumball rolled his eyes.

“It’s about our mysterious super strong second-generationer.”, Zach continued, completely ignoring the jab.

“That guy! How come we still haven’t met him yet? I mean, not that I’m complaining but I would’ve fully expected him to be there when I fought the entire group earlier.”, Gumball asked.

“That’s because after he killed their Hector and they figured even the Bobert army wouldn’t be enough to defeat him, their Carrie used a spell that put him in a permanent state of sleep before using another one that would bury him underground. It was the only method they had to put him out of commission and a one time use apparently.”, Zach revealed.

“Ooooh. Wait, so we’re completely safe from him then?”, Gumball asked hopefully.

“Seems like it. The only one who can wake him up again is also Carrie and she has no reason to do so considering he’s an enemy. Although at this point, Zach thinks we possibly could already take him but yeah, not really worth the risk.”, Zach responded.

“Yeah. Uhh…not to dwell too much on it but, can I ask you something regarding the whole Penny thing you just told me?”, Gumball carefully asked.

“Of course. What is it?”, Zach wondered.

“Well, I assume Gumball One was also in love with Penny here. Considering they are just former versions of us and especially since they were both unaffected by the Void’s corruption. Has what you did to her influenced your decision to protect and take Gumball One in?”, Gumball asked.

“Hmm, that obvious, huh?”, Zach smirked.

“I never heard Gumball One mention her at any point. He knows what happened…right?”, Gumball asked sceptically.

“...He knows that she’s dead.”, Zach just confirmed.

“...Does he know it was you?”, Gumball countered.

Zach’s hesitation to answer unfortunately was exactly what gave it away.

“Dude!”

“How do you think he would’ve felt if the one guy who tried to help him back then revealed that he killed his loved one just after he got thrown out by those people!? Zach was only keeping it a secret for his sake, not his own!”, Zach defended himself.

“Back then…okay, but it’s been what for you two? Almost 10 years!?”, Gumball scolded Zach.

“The…timing never seemed right.”, Zach tried to excuse it, although he himself didn’t seem very convinced by the explanation.

“Well, are you going to tell him now after what we just agreed on?”, Gumball crossed his arms.

“Oh, he doesn’t have to. I heard everything.”, a voice similar to the two arguing right now called out from the top of the stairs.

They both looked up to see Gumball One standing up there, a look of betrayal on his face.

“What the what!? How…since when have you been up there?”, Gumball Prime panicked.

“I woke up when I heard you two downstairs so I went down to see what’s up. Then I heard you talking about some ‘interesting’ topics so I hid behind the door until you were done.”, he bitterly explained before shooting Zach a look.

“Uhh…look I-”, Zach began, but he didn’t get very far.

“YOU KILLED PENNY AND DIDN’T TELL ME FOR 10 YEARS!? YOU TOLD ME THE SECOND GENS DID IT! HOW COULD YOU LIE TO MY FACE LIKE THAT!?”, Gumball One furiously demanded to know.

“I’m…I…”, Zach wanted to explain it, but he couldn’t come up with anything that would justify his lie.

“So not only is Rob dead now but the one I thought I could trust the most turned out to be a total liar! Well, isn’t that great!?”, Gumball One continued.

“Dude, please. I-”, Zach tried again walking up the stairs and trying to put his hand on Gumball One’s shoulder.

“DON’T TOUCH ME! I HATE YOU!”, he busted out while slapping his hand away.

“If I’m needed for something let him tell me from now on!”, Gumball One said while pointing to Gumball Prime.

“Because I really don’t want to see you right now. And I don’t know if I ever want to again!”, he finished before turning his back to Zach and walking out on them.

Zach just stood on top of the stairs motionlessly after that until Gumball Prime walked up beside him.

“Maybe…I could try to explain it to him?”, he offered.

“I think he would prefer some time for himself right now. Let’s just give him that.”, Zach answered in a tone that was devoid of emotion.

“Okay. Are you going to be alright?”, Gumball wondered.

“Sure, Zach will push through.”, he answered unsurely. “What about you?”

“Hmm?”, Gumball asked.

“Because of what happened to Rob.”, Zach reminded him.

“Oh yeah, I’ll be fine. I’ll just watch some TV with him so we can get over the shock of what happened together!”, Gumball answered happily.

“...With who now?”, Zach asked in a worried tone, raising an eyebrow.

“With Rob of course, dummy. Assuming your injuries allow it, dude.”, Gumball Prime answered before turning his head up beside him, despite nobody standing there.

“Sounds great. Come on then!”, Gumball gestured to the air beside him before walking to the couch after a short pause, as if having heard the air he was looking at talk back to him right now.

Zach just watched silently, too shocked to say anything. Eventually he turned his head back towards the corpse of Rob, still lying on the table downstairs.

“Maybe Zach should just bury him alone. Gumball Prime clearly isn’t ready yet and Gumball One doesn’t want to talk to him right now. Honestly can’t tell if our group is closer than ever to achieving its goal or more broken apart than ever before now.”, he complained.

…

Back in the present, but still in the Void’s deeper level:

After a while of running, Zach arrived at his destination: Elmore Junior High. Also known as the headquarters of the First Generation.

He didn’t run there at top speed to keep an eye on his surroundings, wanting to check if any more Bobert units or somebody else would go after the direction of the portal to see what they would be up against eventually.

Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any more of them coming so it was now only the direct confrontation he had to be worried about.

The moment he stepped closer towards the building, a voice called out to him from above.

“Stop right there, intruder!”

Zach looked up and saw Rob One glaring down at him. Even after the whole hostage ordeal 6 years ago, he thought it was weird to see him like this with how used he has grown to the Void-like design of Rob Prime not too long ago.

“You have nerves showing your face here again. Not that I mind. Means I can finally have my payback for you kidnapping and using me as a hostage all those years ago!”, he grinned.

“You will do no such thing.”, another voice called out as a Darwin suddenly appeared beside him.

He had the same oval eyes and large dots inside them as Darwin Two, but also another trait. A black shadow running down the upper side of his fins and legs, almost making it seem like he was wearing a shirt.

“According to the Very First One, Gumball said you would’ve left this place by now. Why are you still here, Zach?”, Darwin One asked while looking down at him.

“Because Zach is not planning to leave him behind like all of you did.”, he answered from below.

“Why are you trying to stop me from taking my revenge against this imposter?”, Rob One asked Darwin.

“Two reasons. First, you would lose. No offense, but it’s the truth. Second, the Very First One would like to meet him personally. But in chains, obviously.”, Darwin One answered before snapping his fingers, signaling for the battle force to make their move.

Then he realized it wasn’t working because he only had one oversized finger per hand so he decided to just put his fin in his mouth and whistle as a signal for them to arrive.

A moment later, a total of 6 Bobert Battle Units came flying up from behind the building before landing around Zach in a circle, surrounding him while all in a fighting stance.

“So, what’s it going to be? You’ll come voluntarily or by force?”, Darwin One asked him.

Zach took in the situation while thinking about what his next move was going to be.

Taking them all down by force wouldn’t be an issue. But that would get me closer to neither the Very First One nor Gumball One with how surprisingly well they are able to hide certain members of their group.

Breaking out of their grasp at any point shouldn’t be a problem and if she wanted to see him personally anyway…

Zach closed his eyes while putting his hands up and mustering up the best look of surrender that he could.

“Zach knows when he’s beaten. He will come with you.”, he said.

One of the Bobert Units stepped forward to put chains around his arms and feet as Zach let him.

Darwin One had a satisfied look on his face while Rob One mustered “I will end his miserable life once the Very First One is done with him.”

They led him into the building which looked like a war zone. In one room there was a dartboard with drawings of the Second Generationers glued on them as Richard One practiced throwing darts at them.

Eventually, they entered the cafeteria as Darwin One signaled one Bobert Unit and Rob who came with him to stop as the former kept holding Zach.

Then Darwin One stepped towards Carrie who seemed to be alone in the middle of the room.

“We captured the requested prisoner. Bring her here.”, he ordered.

“With pleasure.”, Carrie replied sinisterly before her hands started to glow and she pulled a person from below the ground that phased through it before Carrie let go as she was fully pulled up.

“Great work. I knew I could count on you.”, she said while stepping past her soldiers and petting Darwin One’s head, a gesture he clearly enjoyed.

“So after all these years we finally got you, Zach.” she continued before stopping right as she was in front of Zach, who was still held in chains by the Bobert Unit and Rob, who went on his knees in front of his leader.

“You know what Zach is here for, Rachel. What have you done with Gumball?”

…

End of the chapter