Author's Note: My first shot at a Gumball fic, WOO! I hpe you enjoy! EDIT: This will be revamped later on, because I don't really like this champter. Don't worry, though, it'll be much better later on!

Disclaimer: I do not own Amazing World of Gumball!

WARNING: This fic is dark. It will also contain pairings later on.

No. This could not be happening. He was going crazy. Yeah, that was it, he was just going mad, bonkers, simply insane. That was the only explanation for what was happening around him. Yet no matter how hard he tried to force out an insane laugh, his breath caught in his throat and pain racked through his body until he could feel nothing but the hot tears welling up in his eyes, blurring the fading world around him.

He wasn't insane. He was going to die.

"Gumball? Gumball, look at me!:

A hand slipped under his chin and pointed his head upward and the blue feline found himself looking at a familiar shape. His mind was fogging and his vision was fuzzy- he couldn't tell who it was, although the voice was on the tip of his tongue.

"Gumball, are you alright?"

He nodded before the question truly registered in his brain. Was he really alright? No, of course not! He couldn't feel any pain, but instead there was numbness. It was like there was nothing around him to feel other than the figure lifting his head, nothing to see but a blurry mess of shapes, nothing to hear but the explosions, nothing to taste but the blood pooling in his mouth and nothing to smell but death. Even though his senses were nearly useless, his mind continued to race.

"Gumball!"

Eyes opened and blurry figures filled his vision. He hadn't even realized he'd closed his eyes, and that could not have been a good thing. He was suddenly uncontrollably drowsy and his eyelids were extremely heavy.

"Stay awake, sweetie, please!"

The urgent sense of desperation in the familiar figure's voice kept Gumball fighting the overwhelming drowsiness threatening to pull him into a possibly eternal slumber. With a groan and a weak nod, he inched a hand over to the figure and grabbed a hold of a limb. An arm. He felt fur and his fingers closed around their appendage with little strength. That was when he had noticed the sticky substance. He pulled his hand back and turned his head to find an unfocused palm covered in a warm red facing hi,m.

Blood.

"Wha…" He was surprised by how vulnerable and pathetic his voice was. It lacked strength, it lacked the happy tone it normally possessed. It came out as a sort of gurgle, and he coughed up a good amount of blood. He was feeling so weak, he just wanted to sleep.

"It's alright, mommy's got you."

So that was who it was. Something in his fuzzing mind cleared, and violent coughs tore through his body before he could speak. "Mom? Wha…what's going on?"

He could feel Nicole drawing closer and pulling her son into her arms. "Don't worry about that right now, you'll know in a little while."

Gumball felt so pitifully weak that he was sure that he was going to fall out of his mother's grasp at any second. As she stood up, he grabbed onto her shirt with a bloodied hand and pulled himself closer to her chest in search of safety. As he rested in her comforting arms, heavy eyelids closed over unfocused eyes. He could feel Nicole running somewhere.

"Hold on tight," she told him.

"I'm tired, Mom."

"Stay awake, Gumball, I need you to stay awake." Her voice was full of fear

But no matter how hard he tried, the dangerous slumber already had him in its comforting claws.

"I can't," came Gumball's quiet voice, one hardly over a whisper. "I can't…"

Everything faded black, and Gumball's panicked mind seemed to relax as he fell into a deep sleep.

Falling. As soon as he slipped away, he fell. Nicole had let him down, the one that had just held him so tightly moments ago suddenly dropped him. She let him plummet into nothingness. Blackness consumed everything around him and he was trapped in a world of shadows. He tried to scream, but nothing but a silent breath escaped his lungs. Muted.

"Bye, Gumball…" The voice of his mother echoed through the darkness as if it were bouncing off of walls he could not see. He reached upward, trying to grab a hold of his mother again, but she only peered down at him, standing on a cliff that blending into the black, waving farewell. Blew fingers closed over empty air, black eyes welled up with scorching hot tears, and the silent scream continued to rush out of his lungs. The cat tried to grab onto her again. Onto something. Onto anything.

Nothing as there for him.

"Gumball!"

The twelve-year-old cat turned his head to the right, eyes stretched wide and fear covering his profile. Falling beside him was his dear baby sister.

"Gumball, save me!"

Her voice was a shrill bloodcurdling scream. If Gumball look afraid, it was nothing compared to Anais' face. She was absolutely horrified.

His breath catching in his throat and finally ending the breathy scream, Gumball tired to reach out and grab his sister's arm, but a gap grew between them. The further he reached the wider it got, the further apart they grew, the louder and more shrill Anais' screams became until they physically hurt, making her brother's ears throb and bleed and burn.

Eventually, Gumball just clasped his hands over his ears and squeezed is eyes shut, trying to block out the horror that was swirling around him, choking him with his own fear. It worked. Complete silence filled the world around him, and it tempted the boy to open his eyes again, but fear overpowered curiosity and he stayed locked up in his mind, shut behind his eyelids.

Suddenly, something soft touching his back. It's collision with him was gentle and smooth, relaxing, even, and it succeeded in getting the cat to open his eyes.

The sight of a white room sent blinding light rushing into his eyes and he found himself stirring awake in a bed. So all the time he'd been falling, he'd been dreaming? He groaned and blinked several times, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the light. It took longer than usual, he had a raging migraine and his mind was still as fuzzy as ever.

"Gumballs awake! He's awake, guys!"

Who was that? Gumball struggled to sit up and found his eyes scanning a hospital room. What in the world was happening here?

"Gumball's awake? Are you sure?"

Hope. That was the first emotion Gumball noticed from the voice.

"Positive, just come and see for yourself!"

Gumball followed the voice and found himself looking at… Tobias? It couldn't be, Tobias was only twelve years old! This guy had to be at least eighteen! Gumball blinked. "Tobias…?"

The rainbow lass looked over his shoulder at him briefly before turning back to whoever he was shouting at through the door. So that was proof, he had to be Tobias. But how? This Tobias was taller and incredibly muscular compared to his… old form. His body was covered in scars, the hues of the rainbow were dull, and his eyes were tough and cold; not only that, but his voice was deep and rumbling, full of strength.

"Tobia-" The blue cat broke off and his heart skipped a beat out of fear. That was not his voice. The sound that had escaped his lips was deep and weak, sounding tired and much older than before he'd woken up. Gumball swallowed dryly and kneaded his fingers into the sheets of the hospital bed, his breath coming in shallow panicked gasps.

That got Tobias' attention. He was by Gumball's side almost instantly, kneeled over at the bed and worried eyes scanning the feline's face. "Gumball? Man, what's wrong?"

Just as Tobias asked the question, the sound of rushed footsteps filled the room. Gumball turned his head to the doorway to see others entering. This time, it felt like his heart stopped rather than skipping a beat, because the sight that met his eyes was terrifying.

They were so different. But part of his mind already knew who they were.

"Gumball!" A set of pink furred arms wrapped around Gumball's waist and a head rested in the crook of his neck. He was sore, but he was too scared to do anything. And the thing was, he recognized the voice instantly. The young pink rabbit who had thrown itself on him released him from the painful hug and smiled at him. There was no way this rabbit was his sister! She was taller, covered in scars(she had an especially large one on her left cheek) much like Tobias', and she had lost her baby fat. In fact, she was looking abnormally thin.

She must have noticed the confused look on her brother's face, because the smile faded and fear faintly showed in her eyes. "Remember me, Gumball? Your sister Anais?"

Gumball shook his head slowly, still in shock. "What? No, you're not my sister, Anais is only four years old."

Anais, with a sadness in her eyes, said to him, "Gumball, you've been asleep for six years."