The Awakened

An Amazing World of Gumball Story

By NeoNimbus

Chapter Ten-The Savior

It was a quiet day at the Fitzgerald residence, though Penny was hardly happy with how her day was going so far, as she laid on her bed with a disappointed look. Ever since Mike advised her and the others to train in order to control their powers better, she took his words to heart, as she went through with it right away. But as it turned out, this was easier said than done; for the last few days, Penny had attempted to uncover any other powers she might have, but so far she didn't have any luck.

First, when her parents and sister were away, Penny decided to test her strength by punching a tree in the backyard as hard as she could, only to end up breaking her arm. At the same time, she discovered that she can recover from any injuries that her body sustained, as her right arm got healed in a few minutes.

Undaunted by this, Penny made another attempt by trying to see how far she could jump, a move she came to regret when she didn't jump as far as she had hoped. Thankfully for her, there was a nearby tree that managed to slow her fall and before anyone could see what happened, she managed to make a quick getaway.

Recently, Penny tried to test herself by running around the neighborhood, hoping that she could run really fast. Instead, she ended up tiring herself after half an hour, so she had to rest for an hour.

'This is getting me nowhere...' Penny started to think, still lying on her bed. 'No matter what I do, I can't seem to find any other powers I might have.'

"Penny dear, are you alright"? Mrs. Fitzgerald asked behind the closed door.

"I'm fine, mom. Just a bit sore from running around the neighborhood, that's all," Penny responded back.

"You shouldn't have pushed yourself like that in the first place," Mrs. Fitzgerald criticized her daughter. "It's one thing to stay fit, but when your body needs to rest, let it rest."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Penny assured her mother.

"That's all I wanted to hear. If you need me for anything, I'll be in the kitchen."

With that, Mrs. Fitzgerald headed downstairs, leaving just Penny in her bedroom, as she mustered what strength she had to raise her body up from her bed.

"Looks like I need some help with this," said Penny, as she picked up her cellphone and dialed in the numbers. "Hey Gumball, are you free today? I need a hand with something. Bring someone else along, too, if you wouldn't mind."

After spending a few more minutes on her bed, Penny felt well enough to get off of her bed completely, as she stretched her arms and legs to get some feeling back, before she heard a knock on the front door.

"I got it," Penny called out, as she made her way downstairs and up to the front door, before she opened it up to see Gumball and Rhonda standing right in front of her, much to her joy.

"Guys, I'm so glad to see you," Penny cheerfully greeted them by hugging her boyfriend and close friend at once, before she allowed the two in the household.

"Don't mention it, Penny..." Gumball began with a smile on his face. "I'm always here to help my girlfriend out whenever...she...needs...help…"

Gumball trailed off, as he noticed his girlfriend's father standing right behind his daughter, staring at a nervous Gumball with a suspicious glare.

"Penny, are you sure you want that boy hanging around?" Mr. Fitzgerald asked his daughter.

"Dad, he's my boyfriend!" Penny replied, defending Gumball as usual.

"I'm just saying, that's all!" Mr. Fitzgerald attempted to defend himself.

"Sir, she called us over to help with something she needed," Rhonda interjected herself in the conversation, hoping to defuse the situation as fast as possible.

"Y-Yeah, we should probably do that right now," Gumball nervously agreed.

"Are you sure about that?" Mr. Fitzgerald asked, as he turned his attention to Gumball once more.

"Dad..." Penny began, as her patience with him was starting to wear thin.

"Alright, if you say so. But no funny business while you're here," Mr. Fitzgerald warned Gumball, before turning his attention to Rhonda. "It was nice seeing you again, by the way."

With that, Mr. Fitzgerald headed upstairs, leaving just the three teenagers in the living room and for a while, there was silence, until Rhonda eventually spoke up.

"Well, that could have gone better."

"Tell me about it..." Penny began with a sigh. "He's becoming even more protective of me ever since I took my shell off."

"Many people still couldn't believe their eyes when they saw what you really look like underneath it," Gumball noted, clearly remembering what happened like it was yesterday, before changing the subject. "You said you needed help with something?"

"That's right, I need some help regarding my training," Penny said to her friends.

"How is your training going?" asked Rhonda, prompting Penny to look down on the floor with disappointment.

"It's terrible. I took Mike's advice, but I haven't made any real progress. I tested myself to see what else I was capable of, but so far, all I can do is heal."

"What's wrong with that?" Gumball asked his girlfriend.

"There's nothing wrong with that. It's just that I don't seem to have any offensive abilities. How am I supposed to help you guys out if all I can do is just heal?" Penny replied in a frustrated tone.

Gumball and Rhonda looked at Penny, uncertain about how to answer her question. They knew of her as someone who would always remain cool and never complain, no matter what kind of situation she found herself in. Even so, the two couldn't help but feel bad for her. They would have been just as upset as she is if they thought they were useless.

"Don't worry Penny, we'll help you see what you're really capable of, no matter how long it takes," Gumball assured his girlfriend, as he put his paw on her shoulder.

"Gumball's right, Penny. And since you helped me out the other day, I wanted to return the favor," Rhonda said to her friend.

"Thank you so much, you guys. That really means a lot to me," said Penny, feeling a bit better upon hearing this.

"But let's test your powers somewhere else, where no one can run in on us." Rhonda suggested.

"Agreed," both Gumball and Penny simultaneously said, before all three left the Fitzgerald residence.

Ever since they discovered the isolated area within Elmore Mountain, the gang would always try to make time to go there to hone their powers and today was no exception, as Gumball, Rhonda and Penny arrived at the training ground, in the hopes of finding something else that Penny could do besides heal.

"Man, every time I come here, I love how it's still as beautiful as ever." said Penny.

"At least we won't be bothered here," Rhonda commented.

"Good point," Penny agreed. "So how does this work?"

"That depends..." Rhonda began her explanation. "We'll test out certain abilities and see how your powers react to them."

"If it helps, I already tried to test out my strength and speed," Penny informed the two. "That and I tried leaping from a tall building. I'm sure you can imagine how badly that went."

"Looks like we'll have to cross those three out then," Gumball commented, before a thought occurred to him and a grin formed on his face, much to the girls' curiosity.

"Should we trust Gumball if he makes that kind of face?" a concerned Rhonda asked Penny.

"The least we can do is give him a chance," Penny replied as this was nothing new. "Besides, he might be onto something."

"Think fast, Penny!" Gumball suddenly shouted. Before the deer could have a chance to react, she felt something hard hitting her on the head.

"OW! Gumball, what was that for?!" Penny demanded an answer from her boyfriend, rubbing her head as she glared at him angrily.

"And why did you throw a rock at her anyway?" Rhonda asked Gumball, causing him to rub his head sheepishly.

"I thought that Penny might have good reflexes, so I figured that she might catch it once I threw it."

"...Seriously, that was your plan?" Rhonda wasn't impressed by Gumball's answer.

"I was just trying to help, that's all," Gumball defensively said.

"Gumball, I know you mean well, but next time, give me a heads up before doing something like that," said Penny, before she turned her attention to Rhonda. "Do you have any other ideas?"

Rhonda pondered for a moment. After what seemed to be a very long time, something finally came to her, as she turned to face her friend.

"I think I might have something."

"You do?" both Gumball and Penny asked simultaneously.

"I do. In fact, let me put this blindfold on you right now, Penny."

"A blindfold, for w-" before Penny could finish her sentence, Rhonda put the blindfold on, making sure that Penny couldn't see and that the blindfold remained still, until Gumball finally spoke, puzzled by the mouse's actions.

"Not to doubt you or anything, but how does a blindfold help?"

"That's simple..." Rhonda began. "All Penny has to do is rely on her hearing, just like how bats use echolocation to navigate around their surroundings."

"I don't know, Rhonda. That doesn't sound interesting in the least," Gumball remained skeptical of this plan.

"Just trust me on this," Rhonda insisted, before turning her attention to Penny. "Are you ready for this?"

"Sure, I guess," Penny replied with uncertainty. "So what do I have to do?"

"All you have to do is to go from where you are now to where Gumball and I will be, all the while avoiding some rocks that are in your path," Rhonda instructed, before she and the blue feline headed towards the end of the training ground. "Just take your time."

"Alright, I will," said Penny, before she took a deep breath and began slowly navigating through the training ground. So far, she seemed to be doing quite well.

'This isn't bad so far...' Penny began to reconsider this idea. 'Maybe this wasn't such a bad-'

Her train of thought came to an abrupt end, as the deer's foot caught on a rock, and before long, she ended up falling to the ground face first.

"Are you alright?" Gumball called out to his girlfriend, as Penny picked herself up from the ground.

"I'm fine Gumball, though I can't say the same about my pride," Penny replied with disappointment in her tone.

"Don't worry, I'm sure this won't take too long. Just keep trying," Rhonda advised her friend.

"Alright, I'll give it another shot," Penny called back, as she resumed with her long walk. "I'm sure it won't take too long."

Unfortunately for Penny, it took her more than twenty minutes, as she continued to trip on one pebble after another, before finally arriving at her destination, irate that this attempt was all for nothing.

But this paled in comparison to what she had to go through the rest of the day. After the echolocation proved ineffective, Gumball suggested that his girlfriend might have telekinesis, similar to his sister, prompting Penny to concentrate on a nearby rock as hard as she could. But after a few more minutes, all she ended up getting was a migraine.

Next, Rhonda suggested that Penny could deflect incoming attacks, as she instructed her friend to remain still, as the mouse raised her arm up and began to shoot lasers at the deer. However, this proved to be just as ineffective, as Penny kept dodging, and even got hit a few times, but she did heal quickly enough where it wouldn't do any real damage.

Both Gumball and Rhonda made one last attempt to test Penny's power by trying to see if she would be able to predict moves in advance. The two of them rushed towards her, looking to see what Penny would do, but they only ended up colliding with each other, as Penny jumped out of their way. Once they managed to get up, the three of them decided to call it a day.

"OW! That did not feel good," Rhonda commented, as she rubbed her sore head.

"That's pretty much an understatement back there," Gumball pointed out, a bit sore from the impact.

"Guys, I'm so sorry back there! I just freaked out, that's all!" Penny apologized to the two for her earlier actions.

"It's all good, Penny. It wasn't a good idea on our part as well," Rhonda assured her friend.

"That's beside the point, Rhonda..." Penny began in a sad tone. "No matter what I do, I don't have anything that can prove useful. Let's face the facts, I'm useless."

"Don't beat yourself up over that," Gumball said to his girlfriend. "So we didn't have any luck today, but that doesn't mean you should give up like that. We'll keep trying. Who knows? We might end up finding something pretty soon."

"Gumball, I appreciate what you're doing, but-"

Before Penny could finish her sentence, she found herself cut off by screaming, as the trio witnessed several people running past them in fear.

"Well this is just great! We just got back to town and another OverHundred has to ruin our day!" Gumball complained.

"Now's not the time for that, Gumball. We have to find whoever is doing this and take them out," Rhonda informed her friend.

"Rhonda's right, Gumball..." Penny agreed with the mouse. "We need to take action right now."

Once the trio agreed on what to do, they head to the nearest alleyway and changed into their superhero personas, before heading off to the source of the commotion.

It took at least a few minutes, but the trio managed to arrive at their destination, as more citizens were desperately trying to get away from the carnage.

"I wonder who would cause this much destruction?" Toaster asked out loud.

"Considering who we've been fighting so far, this shouldn't be a surprise," Photondra simply commented.

"Whatever it is, we have to prepare ourselves," Savior advised the two, before she spotted something, or someone, in the cloud of dust. "Guys, he's over there!"

Both Toaster and Photondra turned in the direction the deer pointed out and soon, the three prepared to face the inevitable. But once the cloud of dust settled down, the trio was stunned to see who they were looking at. In front of them was a rooster, wearing an opened Hawaiian shirt and brown shorts, with the number 161 on his chest. It was the last thing they expected to see today.

"What...the...hell?" Toaster finally asked.

"Seriously, this is it?" Photondra was just as stunned as her friends are. "I was expecting more from the OverHundred."

Unexpectedly, the rooster calmly turned to face the trio, and before they knew it, he suddenly crowded, unleashing a sonic boom from his beak, much to the three's shock.

"DUCK!" Savior shouted, as she, her boyfriend and Rhonda all ducked to the side, barely avoiding the sonic boom, as it quickly demolished a nearby building.

"I knew this was too good to be true!" an irate Toaster spoke out, as he formed some fireballs from his paws.

"Let's take him out before he gets away," Photondra suggested, as her left hand let out a glow.

"Agreed," Savior simply said, ready to face the fight head on.

The trio made their way towards the rooster, who once again crowded, unleashing another sonic boom, prompting the three to dodge once more. Soon, the rooster continued to unleash one sonic boom after another, while Toaster and Photondra shot out their respective powers against their target. Unfortunately for them, the rooster let out another sonic boom, causing their powers to disperse, prompting the two to duck for the nearest cover.

"Wow, I have to admit, I didn't see that one coming," Toaster admitted.

"No kidding," Photondra agreed. "Looks like long-range attacks won't be as effective as I thought."

"So how are we supposed to take him down? We can't just get close to him and smack him in the face," Toaster pointed out.

While the two tried to come up with a plan to take down the rooster, Savior looked on from a few feet away, still taking cover from the rooster's sonic boom, concerned and wanting to help out but not knowing how to pull it off. She didn't care whether she put her life on the line, so long as her boyfriend and Photondra would be fine and well.

'You've got to think this through.. .' Savior thought to herself. 'I need to find a way to stop this rooster, but how will I pull this one off?'

As Savior continued to figure out her next course of action, she turned her gaze to the OverHundred, as he turned his attention to a nearby piece of debris and let out a sonic boom, hitting it with ease, before she turned her gaze back to the duo. It didn't take her too long to realize what was about to happen.

'Oh no!' Savior thought and without thinking twice, she ran towards them as fast as she could, before leaping right at the two, barely pushing them out of the way, just as the large piece of debris was about to hit her.

"Savior, no!" Toaster shouted, as he and Photondra attempted to get back to their companion.

But what happened next took them by complete surprise: as the debris was about to make contact with Savior, her entire body suddenly changed to match the street pavement, and as a result, the debris shattered over her head, leaving her unharmed as she changed back to her old self, just as Toaster and Photondra reached her.

"...How did you do that?" Photondra finally asked, speechless by what she just witnessed.

"I don't know," Savior admitted, as she rubbed her head sheepishly. "I'm just as surprised as you guys are."

"Look out!" Toaster yelled, as the rooster took in a deep breath and let out the biggest sonic boom the trio had ever encountered.

"Don't worry, I think I got this!" Savior declared, as she touched a nearby metal scrap, just as the sonic boom was about to reach them. Suddenly, Savior's body turned to steel and she managed to shield her friends from the oncoming attack. Savior then began to slowly make her way to the rooster, putting in as much effort as she can with her newfound power.

'Come on, you can do this!' Savior thought to herself, as she continued to push herself as much as she could.

For his part, the rooster continued to use his sonic boom attack, which did little to stop his opponent in the slightest; after what felt like forever, Savior finally made his way to the rooster, who attempted to flee for his life, only to get a fist in his face, knocking the rooster out cold as Savior returned to her normal self.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Toaster praised his girlfriend.

"Don't mention it. It was better than doing nothing," Savior assured her boyfriend, before she fell down to her knees. "Though I should probably practice this new ability I have."

"Agreed. It looks like it takes a lot out of you," Photondra noted, before she heard police sirens coming. "But for now, let's get out of here."

Nodding their heads in agreement, the trio left the scene as quickly as they could, narrowly avoiding the police.

After reverting back to their casual attire, Rhonda headed off to her house, as Gumball and Penny began to walk back to the Fitzgerald's, simply enjoying each other's company.

"That was a pretty neat power you had back there," Gumball commented. "At least you know that healing isn't the only power you can do."

"Yeah, I'll admit, it was pretty awesome," Penny agreed. "Still, I shouldn't be too reckless using it all the time."

"You're right about that. We should all continue to train to make sure nothing goes wrong with our powers," said Gumball, before quickly changing the subject. "So how was today for you?"

"Other than narrowly surviving another OverHundred attack, I'd say it was good," Penny replied, just as she and her boyfriend finally arrived at her house. "I also wanted to thank you and Rhonda for helping me out."

"It was nothing, Penny. I did what I could to help out," Gumball insisted, before his and Penny's eyes locked on each other.

"Gumball..."

"Penny..."

Soon, the two closed their eyes, their lips slowly inching towards each other before suddenly being interrupted by Penny's father.

"Am I interrupting anything?" the moment that Mr. Fitzgerald spoke out, both Gumball and Penny turned to see him right in front of them and as always, he had a disgruntled look on his face, as he stared intently at the nervous blue feline.

"Oh, look at the time, I should get going now. I'll see you later Penny!" Gumball feverishly said, before he quickly left the Fitzgerald residence as fast as he could, leaving just Penny with her father, the former displeased by the latter for ruining the moment.

"Was that really necessary, dad?" Penny asked her father.

"I just wanted to make sure nothing funny was going on between you two," Mr. Fitzgerald replied, before noticing a look of displeasure on his daughter's face. "But I'm sure that Gumball was just being a good Samaritan."

"If you say so," said Penny, deciding to play along with her father.

"So how did today go for you?" asked Mr. Fitzgerald, as he allowed his daughter inside the house, curious to know what she did.

"Just hanging out with my friends, as usual," was Penny's answer, as she smiled back to her dad.

Next time on The Awakened

Chapter 11-The Scales

Darwin's training is interrupted when his girlfriend Rachel suddenly shows up and fearing rejection, he turns to Anais and Mike for help.

Tidbits

-Penny originally had the ability to form a shield around herself, but both Sal and I disliked the idea, so eventually, she gained the ability to absorb any property in her vicinity. Before anyone else says anything, her power is loosely based off both Kevin 11 from Ben 10 AND the Absorbing Man, a Marvel Comics character.

-As shown in this chapter, Mr. Fitzgerald still has yet to accept Gumball and Penny being together. Whether he will accept it or not remains to be seen.

Six down and two more left to go, as we are getting closer to the conclusion of the Training Arc. So until then, see ya next chapter!