Okay so here's the second chapter, time has passed and now Gumball is 15 and Anais is 12.

Oh and about some reviews from a guest; seriously dude stop flooding the review box with O.C. suggestions. I appreciate the thought, really I do, but could you tone it down some? I'll most likely use a few though so thanks.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Amazing World of Gumball!

Chapter 2: Ten Years Later

The night was silent and a cold wind through the disserted docking area of Elmore (1), the only thing one would be able to hear was the soft sound of flowing water, and the very quiet mutter of voices from the only warehouse with a light on.

Suddenly a loud scream ripped through the air, disturbing the peaceful silence of the night, followed closely by the loud bangs of gunfire. This all lasted for several minutes before quiet once more reigned over the area.

If one were to look through one of the high windows of the warehouse they would be appalled by the amount of blood and gore almost completely covering the entirety of the warehouse. But the thing that would catch the most attention was the sole figure standing over one of the bodies; sword still raised and dripping with the blood of its latest victim.

Not a single drop of blood looked to be on the figure's outfit, which consisted of a black hoodie; hood up to hide his face, black fingerless gloves with small metal plates attached to each of the knuckles, black cargo jeans, and combat boots of the same color. There was also a pistol holstered to one of his hips, and the sheath to his sword strapped diagonally across his back.

Although the oddest thing about the figure was the fact that he had a blue furred tail standing stiffly behind him. (2)

Gumball Watterson scowled in disgust at the corpses around him. These were the bodies of drug dealers and various smugglers, who'd been meeting to discuss a deal. A deal he'd just put a stop too.

"Tch, damn dealers never learn." Gumball muttered with a disgusted scowl as he bent down and whipped the blade of the sword on the shirt of its latest victim.

Ever since that day ten years ago, Gumball had stuck to his vow. He'd trained and trained, every day, for ten years. his teachers had been brutal in their teachings, Gumball would even go so far as to say sadistic even; they made him do some of the most bizarre and degrading forms of training regimens. One such event was carrying a pair of water filled buckets on his shoulders over a pool while balancing on a not so sturdy log; only thing was that it was raining, the pool was filled with electrical eels and he'd been in nothing but his boxers.

Despite this though there was no denying the results, and Gumball now stood at an impressive five foot ten inches. Rather tall for someone his age and sported a toned and lithe body built for speed and flexibility, one of the many perks of being part cat.

Ever since he turned ten and his training had progressed enough, Gumball had been taking jobs as a mercenary, both to provide for his family and to make sure he could keep them and others safe.

Standing, Gumball looked around the room and smirked sinisterly as he remembered the carnage of the last few minutes.

"Do we have an accord? My guns for your enhancers." a shadowed figure asked, holding a hand out to the person before him.

Numerous other figures surrounded the two in the shadowy warehouse. Each of them armed to the teeth with high powered rifles and automatic guns; body guards and possible smugglers by the looks of things. On either side of the warehouse there were several rows of trucks, all of them with a tarp over their beds, but it was obvious that crates carrying something were stacked in them.

The other of two center figures looked at the offered hand for several long seconds before nodding and grasping it in his own.

"We do." he replied, shaking the other man's hand.

That was all that was said before what little light there was suddenly started flickering and a blood curdling scream rang throughout the warehouse from outside.

Immediately everyone was on guard and the armed men moved to protect their respective bosses.

All was silent after the scream and nothing moved for several moments. None of those present dared to move and hardly breathed, lest they set off a gun fight. But what really bothered them was the fact that they could hear soft footsteps echoing against the walls as something made its way into the warehouse.

It was chilling, hearing the steps of something they could not see making its way to them, but right as the steps seemed to reach the large room, they began to hear something else. Something that sent their nerves into over drive.

They heard a low voice, singing, clear as day.

"Total Slaughter, Total Slaughter

I won't leave a single man alive

La de da de die

Genocide

La de da de due

An ocean of blood

Let's begin…the killing time."

The voice was cold and dark, soulless even, and it set everyone on edge. They could hear the desire the voice held; the desire to rip them all to shreds.

"Is that...singing?" one brave man asked, not quite as on edge as the others.

"God, those are horrible lyrics!" another one braved.

Little did the man know but that was his undoing. As soon as those words had escaped him there was a deafening bang and he fell to the floor, a hole right between his eyes.

The shot set everyone off and the sounds of hundreds of bullets simultaneously escaping their barrels was heard as the men all fired in the direction of the door.

Gumball smirked as he rushed forward through the door's opening and drew his sword, deftly dodging all the bullets as they whizzed past him. Thanks to his enhanced vision he could see much better in the dark then the average person and he soon found himself nearing the first of many to fall this night.

Blood sprayed as Gumball ran past and the man's head feel from his shoulders. Man after man fell in a similar fashion within a matter of minutes and pretty quickly the once crowded warehouse was almost empty, save for the dealers themselves, who had their backs pressed up against each other as they tried to see with flickering light.

All around them the bodies of their former protectors littered the floor. Their wounds still bled, painting the floor and walls a bright crimson. The sight scared the men and they knew their turns were coming soon.

"Good bye." A voice whispered in their ears. Before they even had a chance to look around, the blade of a sword burst from the chest of one of them and was withdrawn faster than the unaided eye could track before it was sheathed in the other's chest just as fast.

They stood there for a moment before, as one, they fell to the already blood stained floor.

A sharp noise to his right snapped Gumball out of his reminiscing and faster than one could track he had his sword ready to slice the jugular of the man he now had pinned to the wall.

"P-Please," the man begged, "d-don't k-kill me!"

Gumball's hooded visage regarded the man with a scowl. But he withdrew his blade and tossed the man out the door by the front of his jacket.

The man landed with a resounding thump and quickly looked up to see the person responsible for the slaughter he'd just witnessed standing in the door way of the warehouse; icy eyes glared at him from beneath the hood.

"I'll let you live," the teen growled to him, "but spread the word. Shadow Cat is on the prowl. Now go, before I change my mind." Gumball ordered, fingering the hilt of his pistol.

The man nodded fearfully and quickly hauled himself to his feet and took off like a bat out of hell. Which in a strange sense, he was.

Gumball watched the man go with a smirk. It was odd, but he got an odd thrill from scaring the daylights out of his victims.

Turning around and looking at the bloodbath that was the warehouse interior, Gumball shook his head.

This had been his third job this month and he'd already taken out two similar dealings. Although the body count was nowhere near this big on either of them. Gumball estimated that he'd take care of fifty men in total this time, the bosses not included. It seemed the ring leaders were starting to wise up some when it came to making their deals and they were sending more and more guards with every man they sent to make said deals. Not like it worked.

Walking back into the center warehouse floor he took out a small device from his pocket and placed it on one of the trucks inside before turning and heading back to the exit.

Gumball stopped once he was a few feet out the door and brought something else out of his pocket, a cell phone this time. Flipping it open he pressed a few numbers and then the dial button before bringing it up to his ear and waiting for the person on the other end to answer.

"It's done." He told the person on the other end. "They shouldn't bother you or your family again. The payment is due at the regular spot."

He hung up and pressed a small button on the side of the phone.

Almost instantly there were a series of loud booms from the warehouse and the entire building burst into flames.

When the flames were later extinguished and the damage inside discovered the authorities would be unable to find the person responsible. But they knew; they knew Shadow Cat had paid them a visit this night.

xXx

Sighing tiredly, Gumball slipped into the back yard of his home and lowered the hood of his top. The face that met the cold night air was not that of a child but of an older and more mature teenager, it held no sign of baby fat and was somewhat angular in appearance.

"Home sweet home," Gumball muttered as he slowly made his way through the back door and into the house. Only stopping to grab a small snack from the kitchen, gumball made his way up the stairs and into his room. He made a very brief stop at Anais' room to check on her, but resumed his trek when he saw she wasn't there.

He wasn't worried at all; he knew where she would be. Some nights just didn't allow Anais any sleep unless she was beside him, there were times when she would suffer from night mares and would seek out Gumball's presence for a source of comfort.

The teen smiled again when he opened the door to his room and found he was right on his money. Twelve-year-old Anais sat cross legged on the center of his bed, a look of expectancy adorning her face when she turned and watched him walk in.

"Hey sis," Gumball muttered through a thick yawn and made his way over to his dresser, stripping to his boxers as he went.

Anais said nothing as she watched her older brother go to change into his night ware.

"Nightmare's again?" Gumball asked, pulling on a tank top and turned around to face her. He had a feeling that's what it was judging by how pale she looked when he saw her.

The rabbit girl found herself with a small blush as she looked upon Gumball's muscular form, but his question dawned on her and she nodded.

"Yeah," she breathed out, turning her head away in shame. "It was that one again." She admitted, sniffling.

Gumball winced, that one always referred to the day they lost everything and almost lost each other.

Nodding in understanding, gumball made his way to his bed and motioned for Anais to make room for him, which she did, and slid in next to her and laid down. Gumball wrapped an arm around his sister and smiled softly when he felt her rest her head on his shoulder.

It was often like this, whenever Anais had a bad dream or just needed someone to talk to, he was there for her. After their family's murder the two had been the center of each other's world and they were close, extremely close. Not at the level of more than a brother and sister; but closer than siblings should be regardless.

"Want to talk about it?" Gumball offered.

He felt Anais shake her head.

They were silent for several minutes and Gumball had begun to think that she'd drifted off when, "How'd it go?"

Sighing, the older brother looked down at his sister to see her eyes staring up at him. "I really shouldn't tell you. You know how Granny Jojo feels about me telling you all this before bed."

Anais scoffed into his shirt. "It's not like she isn't going to ask in the morning herself. Besides hearing you talk helps me sleep."

Smirking at his sister's way of thinking, Gumball didn't bother with a rebuttal and instead started to relate his escapade to her.

…

…

"…in the end they were nowhere near a match for me; just some cowards hiding behind their body guards." He finished, looking back down to her.

Gumball smiled a soft smile once more when he saw Anais fast asleep on his shoulder.

Readjusting himself so he was in a more comfortable position, Gumball lent down and gently kissed her forehead, Anais smiled in her sleep at the action but didn't wake up.

"Night Lil' sis." He muttered, lying back and closing his eyes as the first rays of the sun began to peak over the horizon.

'Later that day'

Gumball; now dressed in his regular outfit of a tan sweat shirt with brown rings around the color and wrists, blue jeans and sneakers; groaned tiredly as he fished his school books out of his locker.

'Man, I really wish I got more sleep.' He thought sourly. He hadn't gotten more than three hour rest before Granny Jojo woke him up that morning; and it showed in how bloodshot his eyes were and the dark bags under them.

'Fucking dealers,' he mentally cursed; as if it was their fault he hadn't gotten to sleep. Although he should be used to it by now, considering how often his alter ego operated at night.

Gumball had barely put the last of his books in his bag and closed his locker when someone came up beside him.

"Another long night, Gumball?"

He grinned at the soft voice and turned to face a rather pale girl with shoulder length silvery blonde hair and a soft kind face that was often devoid of emotion, though currently held a small cheeky grin. The girl was just a bit shorter than Gumball and wore a black sweater shirt that was slightly too big for her and constantly had one of the shoulders dropping off, allowing one to see the strap to her bra, and a black skirt, stopping at her knees and a pair of black sneakers. She also had a small skull shaped pendant in her hair, parting it so that it only showed one of her eyes, which where a ghostly grey.

By all definitions the girl looked like a gothic emo, but in truth her pale look was actually from being part ghost; strange as it was.

This was Carrie Krueger (her real last name, honest!), and one of Gumballs best friends.

Before Gumball had a chance to reply though, another voice spoke up behind him.

"What could have possibly kept you up this time cat, studying again?"

Grin widening at the second voice, Gumball turned to find his other friend leaning up against the locker next to his and grinning at him playfully.

Tina Rex was a rather tall girl who easily stood over either of the other two by a good few inches. She had dark greenish hair that reached her mid back; though one part curled to where it rested just beneath her left eye. Tina wore a military green tank-top that was cut very low and showed off a good deal of her generous chest, it also showed she was quiet daring as it was obvious she wore nothing under it to help support it. Accompanying the top was a pair of tight fitting blue jeans and a knee high boots.

The strangest things about Tina though were that her eyes were yellow and somewhat slitted, and she had a rather thick scaly tail sprouting from her tailbone; traits she got from her father to show she was part T-Rex. (3)

Carrie and Tina had been his friends since he'd met them in grade school. Having been just after his families deaths Gumball had been having a rough time getting along with anyone before they'd somehow managed to befriend him. He guessed it had something to do with them having rough family lives and hardly any friends themselves. They knew nothing of what he did for work and Gumball intended to keep it that way.

"Nah," Gumball denied, "I just couldn't sleep." He told them, which was the truth really since he'd hardly gotten any at all.

The girls shared a small look. They'd always had a feeling that there was something Gumball wasn't telling them; something more about his lack of sleep than he was letting on. But they put that out of their heads right for the moment as the warning bell rang.

"Sure you couldn't," Tina replied and her smile became sly as they shouldered their bags. "You weren't having naughty dreams about me again were you?" she asked, ignoring the glare Carrie sent her way.

Gumball almost tripped over himself as they walked towards their first class. Almost being the key word as he managed to catch himself, but that didn't stop the cherry red blush from blooming on his face.

Gumball knew the taller girl liked him as more than a friend, how could he not? She practically declared it every day with the ways she teased him.

It was much the same with Carrie, although she was much more subtle about it than their taller friend was. Her hints weren't much other than the occasional blush or the small prod to get together after school and do something alone together.

However, as flattering as it was to have the attention of two girls, rather beautiful ones too he might add, Gumball couldn't choose between either of them and risk breaking the other's heart. Besides he doubted his line of work would allow such a relationship to develop much.

"N-No," he stuttered, righting himself and continuing on to class, "I just couldn't get to sleep, I swear!"

Tina grinned wider, "Keep telling yourself that Gummy. But you'll come around, you'll see." She told him, using her nickname for him.

Sighing Gumball dropped his head in defeat, but only to hide his smile. 'yeah, maybe,' he couldn't help but think.

After that the subject changed to more common things like which sport was better, fast food and what to do after school.

The day went on like such, as was normal for the group of friends. But that all changed at the end of fourth period.

"…sorry you two, but I can't hangout, I've got stuff to do after school." Gumball told his friends as they exchanged the first half of the day's books for the next.

"But I thought we could hang out at my place and catch the all night horror fest since it's the weekend." Carrie pouted, rather put off that one of her friends couldn't join her.

"Oh leave him be Ghosty;" Tina said slinging an arm around the pale girl. She had a nickname for each of them; Gummy for Gumball since she liked him, and Ghosty for Carrie because she was so pale. "If he says he can't then he has to have a good reason. Besides we can make it a girl's night. I can't remember the last time it was just the two of us."

Carrie shrugged Tina's arm off and sighed, but her lips still arched upwards a small amount. "Alright, but no skipping out next time, Gumball."

The cat boy grinned at his two friends and raised his arms in surrender to show she won; the girls had really become an essential part of his life and he wouldn't know what to do without them.

However, he never got the chance to respond as a very snide sounding voice spoke up from behind.

"Well well if it isn't the freak trio. I'm amazed you haven't slept with either of them yet Gumdumb." A laugh followed after.

Teeth gritting at the voice the trio turned to face Tobias Wilson and Banana Joe, two of the biggest jerks in the school.

Tobias was a somewhat muscular teen with beady eyes and wore a sweat band across his forehead; he stood at a good five foot ten inches. In retrospect Banana Joe was a wimpy looking kid and only reached the taller teens elbows.

They made for an odd duo; that much was for sure.

Gumball seethed silently, this was the last thing his already exhausted mind needed right now. He smirked though and replied. "That isn't jealousy in your voice is it Tobias? Can't say I'm surprised seeing as they're some of the small amount of girls here who you haven't managed to seduce and leave in the dust."

It was true too, Tobias being one of the star jocks often had a female or two hanging off his arm at any given time, but everyone knew that he would dump them once he got what he wanted from them and then move on to the next in line. Tina and Carrie were some of the only ones who he hadn't managed to sway and that made the jock furious.

Speaking of which, Gumball gave a mental smirk when he saw the blood rising in Tobias' face in fury and he turned to leave given he had obviously won this round; Tina and Carrie right beside him with their own looks of triumph. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have class to get to and we'll just leave you two on your lonesome. Or do I have to kick your ass…again?"

By now they had drawn a bit of a crowd and all those watching began to laugh at Tobias' increasingly red face as they remembered the time when Gumball literally sent the taller boy into a wall…with one punch.

Just the reminder of the event was enough to send the angry jock into a rage and he said something that he knew would give him a bit of leverage in the current war of words. Something he really shouldn't have.

"Funny thing coming from an orphan whose parents and brother were killed. What did you do when it happened, eh? Run and cry like a little baby? I bet you cry for mommy and daddy every night. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if they faked it just to get away from y-"

WHAM!

Everyone was surprised when they saw the jock suddenly vanish in a blur mid-sentence only to reappear with Gumball holding him against the wall with nothing but his hand around his throat and a very pissed off look on his face.

"Let's get one thing straight." Gumball growled to him. "You can talk smack about me, you can say what you want behind my back; hell you can even try to kill me, but no one and I mean NO ONE can talk about my family like that!"

The surprise everyone felt when they heard such a dark tone coming from the normally happy and go-lucky Gumball was shocking, but they were unable to tear themselves away from the scene as they heard him continue.

"I may have lost my family to a murderer, but you know what? I got the bastard back. I put a fucking bullet through his head with his own gun, and guess what? I don't regret pulling the fucking trigger! So don't you ever let me hear of you talking about my family again, if you do," here Gumball paused and smiled so his teeth, now pointed, showed in a blood thirsty smile.

"Let's just say you'll be begging for death at the end, and I'll be standing over you; laughing as you do so. Now,"

Tobias suddenly found himself on the floor as Gumball released him and he froze under the glare from the blue haired teen.

"Get out of my sight before I put you down like the rabid mutt you are, you fucking coward."

Gumball turned around as Tobias hightailed it out of the area, a large wet spot covering the front of his pants, and clutched his shaking fists as he took several deep breaths to calm himself.

Meanwhile everyone else stood stock still, wither it be by fear of this new Gumball or of shock they never knew, but they were all certain of one thing. Gumball would kill Tobias if he ever messed with him again.

However, there was one who wasn't shocked, if anything she was impressed. Carrie.

While yes Gumball's sudden change of attitude was surprising, that wasn't what Carrie was focused on. Being part ghost made Carrie highly sensitive to a person's aura, and the one Gumball was emitting was what impressed her.

It was dark, borderline evil if she were to admit it. It was like staring into a black hole and the oddest thing? Carrie felt a magnetic pull towards it. She often felt the same with Gumball's other aura, something the exact opposite of what he was letting off now, but this one was different. She physically had to stop herself from walking up to the teen and claiming him as her own, like the ghost part of her was screaming for her to do. A small blush rose to Carrie's face at the thought.

Tina though was neither shocked nor impressed, no she was worried. Never had she saw Gumball's angry side before and seeing it now had her almost shaking. Where was the boy she openly admitted to having a crush on? Was his past really so painful that he would turn into this at the very mention of it?

The thoughts of both the girls, and everyone watching for that matter, didn't last long as Gumball's posture relaxed and his aura went back to normal, (a big relief to Carrie) and he turned his attention to the crowd around him as his usual smile appeared.

"We better get to class or we're going to be late." He exclaimed happily and walked up to Tina and Carrie before starting on the way to their fifth period.

Everyone else stood silently for a moment before complying and went to their respective classes. The event had been a major eye opener for them, letting them know that they didn't fully know the boy they thought they knew. As they went they all shared the same thought.

'Who is Gumball Watterson?'

(1) I'm not sure if Elmore has a pier/dock but for the sake of the story it does here.

(2) Anyone interested in sketching that and sending me a copy for the cover picture? I promise to give you the credit for it.

(3) Here's how I picture Tina and Carrie to be as humans

Tina (just take out the spaces): images 6 . fanpop image / forum / 201000 / 201953 _ 1371766160754 _ full . png

Carrie just with different cloths (Remove the spaces): fc06 . deviantart fs71 / f / 2012 / 097 / e / d / amazing _ world _ of _ gumball _ carrie _ by _ kutori - d4vc8b2 . png

CUT!

So here's the second chapter to Shadow Cat and I hope you all liked it as it shed some insight into what Gumball will be like throughout the rest of the story.

Please review.