"Gumball! Come on, man, it's not that bad!" Darwin trailed after their brother as the cat trudged forwards in the desert heat. "Don't you think you're overreacting?"

"Overreacting?!" Gumball crossed their arms, almost immediately regretting how much warmer it made them feel but too stubborn to break the gesture. "You heard Mr Robinson! This is the only way he'll ever forgive us!"

Darwin blinked the dust out of their eyes. "Fair point. But can we at least travel to a less deserty end of the earth?"

"Yeah, you're right. My sweater is already drenched." Gumball pointed with their elbow. "How about that meadow over there?"

The fish looked up to see a large fence looming in front of them. It was composed of tall metal poles embedded into the ground with black wire strung all the way down it, letting off an ominous clicking sound at one second intervals. The fence stretched as far as the two kids could see in either direction.

"Whoa." Darwin breathed. "I didn't even get this far out of Elmore when I was flushed."

Gumball took a step towards the fence, finally dropping their arms to their sides.

"Gumball? I, uh, think we should go back now… this can count as the end of the earth, right?"

The blue cat let out a short laugh. "Oh, Darwin. How could it be the end of the earth if there is earth on the other side?"

"Uhhh…"

"Actually don't think about that too hard, that sounded like something Anais would say to make our brains explode." Gumball approached the fence, immediately feeling their fur bush up with static electricity. "Hmm, an electric fence. Now why would there be one like this in the middle of the desert?"

The two kids stopped and put their hands to their chins.

"Hmmm…" Darwin eyed the fence. "Maybe it's not just in the middle of the desert, maybe this electric fence goes all the way around Elmore?"

"Like part of a huge government conspiracy?"

"Yeah!"

Gumball puffed up their chest. "Then it's up to us to get to the bottom of it! For Mr Robinson!" The cat ran forwards, connected with the electric wire and was shot about ten feet in the air. They landed in a smoky heap on the other side, jumped up and dusted themselves off, totally unaware of a small red tracking device that had come up from the ground and hooked onto their pants. "Now your turn, Darwin!"

"Are you sure this is safe?"

"I turned out alright, right?" The fish skeptically eyed their brother's smouldering frame.

"Your tail is on fire."

"But you don't have a tail, so you should be fine!"

Nobody could fault that logic. With a sigh, Darwin followed their brother in the same way over the fence.

"See? It wasn't that bad." Gumball offered a hand, which was gratefully taken.

"No, it wasn't." Darwin pointed at their best friend. "But your tail is still on fire."

"I know, it's incredibly painful."

~Line Break~

Beep, beep, beep…

The Huntsman stood in front of a digital map of the world, watching a small red dot blink from the western coast of the United States. They pressed a button and the screen zoomed in to the continent, then onto the state of California.

"Finally." The Huntsman growled. "It's time."

"Time for what?"

The man turned and saw Rose. "Huntsgirl. The two of us have a mission to undertake."

"What mission?"

"The two of us will leave at dawn." The Huntsman walked past Rose, hands behind their back. "Pack supplies for a month, I will ensure a replacement Huntsmaster for 88 and 89 while we are gone."

Rose turned. "But what are we doing, master?"

"We are capturing a very special group of magical creatures. That is all you need to know."

"Don't you trust me?" The girl clenched their fists. "I showed you the dragon I slayed! What more do you want?"

The Huntsman paused just in front of the shelves containing the Aztec Skulls. "Succeed in this mission and I assure you there will be no more doubts about your loyalty, Huntsgirl."

Rose shivered as they bowed. "Yes. Yes, master. I'll go pack immediately." They started towards a set of stairs and jumped up them two at a time. Once at the top, out of sight, the girl brought their dream charm bracelet up to eye level.

"I've got to warn Jake."