Chapter 43: Scars Don't Heal

"No fucking way."

That was all Gumball could say as the one who stood a few steps down the aisle, was his fairy ex-girlfriend.

Penny Fitzgerald, fairy shapeshifter, former girlfriend of his. She maintained her old look, only she got taller and had a little more curves on her sides.

"I didn't think I'd see you again." she said as she took one step forward. A possible sign for her to show her old embrace, or worse.

Her old grudge.

Gumball took one step back. "You stay right where you are." he said silently.

Surprisingly, she complied. Although her look of nervousness or shock to see him back in Elmore in the first place, she seemed to be settle for just a talk. No fighting stance or dagger stares.

"You're not supposed to be here." he started.

"Neither should you, hm?" she responded.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you at all since I got back."

Penny looked down. "After what happened, my parents believed that I was way too consumed in boys since they found out that what happened between you, me and Tobias has always been a fight of who gets to be my boyfriend. I've been homeschooled ever since. Almost never allowed to go out. Only my girl friends are allowed to visit me at home and that happens very rarely now that they see me as a selfish jerk. I've made a terrible mistake, Gumball."

"Better late than never, but you really took your damn time with this one. And selfish jerk is kinda an understatement, dontcha think?" Gumball retorted, not afraid to show his hostility he's been holding on since finding out he was innocent from the school bombing. "What about rainbow fuck? Where did he run off to?"

"Tobias' family moved out of Elmore after Tobias did his time. Principal Brown pressed charges after your friends proved him to be guilty. At least that's what I heard from the others. We lost contact after my dad took my phone away and deleted all the guys' numbers in my contacts list. We're definitely not a thing anymore."

"Not surprised." Gumball thought.

"I know you're mad, Gumball." she continued. "And you have every right to be. I made your life a living hell. I've held a grudge on you for petty things. I-"

"Gumball, where are you?! You need to check this out!" Darwin screamed from a couple aisles away.

"Dammit, Darwin! You're choking me!" Cato remarked with the same volume as the bipedal air-breathing fish.

Darwin looked down the aisle and saw Gumball and immediately ran to him (forcefully dragging Cato by the collar with both his fins) but he stopped when he saw Penny.

Darwin let loose of his grip on Cato and he got to his feet, turning towards the scene. "God, that hur- PENNY?!" he said with a shocked expression.

"Fancy suit. For Amber I assume? How's she doing?" Penny said in a somewhat confident voice.

However, Gumball called her bluff. As he grew older, his instincts grew better too. He noticed signs of her body language and tone the moment she laid eyes on Cato. Shaky hands and disguised voice crack; not to mention the sweat forming on her face, probably since she saw Gumball. It's no doubt that she remembers what he can do and has done before.

He looked behind him and saw Cato now ready for a battle as if he was itching for one for so long. Darwin, on the other hand, chose to be pacifist at the moment and stood still.

"Leave us alone." Gumball said calmly.

"Uh..what?" Cato asked.

"I said leave us. I want to talk to her personally." The blue feline turns to face the fairy again. "No more pussy hiding, no more senseless fighting."

Cato took awhile to consider until Darwin laid his fin on his shoulder, gesturing him to leave the scene. They both left the two back to their conversation, at least to those left talking.

"You've done way too much to me, Penny. All at once." he started reminiscing past memories 4 years ago at Junior High. "You cheated on me with Tobias behind my back." Gumball remembered the first time he caught them together and Penny staright up told to his face. "You tried manipulating an innocent little girl into thinking that I would do her harm." he remembers Anna lashing out at him and his friends back when she was still new and influenced by Penny. "You made an embarrasment out of Carrie far too much." Gumball reminisced all the times Penny insulted Carrie. "You picked fights with me and my friends all the time..." Remembers all the fights they had, whether win or lose. "..and you would even go as far as to hire someone to attempt to kill me and Jake." Gumball went back to when he would see Jake on a hospital bed, fending off death itself, and Cato sprawled next to his body when he tackled him away from a sniper shot by Rob (who was the hired hitman).

Penny by now is almost at tears, her hands covering her head. "Please..that's enough."

"Not to mention you almost tore Ivan limb by limb before the cops came to save him." Reminisced the time when Ivan was injured by Penny's dragon form when they fought while he and the others went to Elmore PD. "And worst of all, you tried to banish my girlfriend to the death realm." Finally, remembering the time he and his friends had to save Carrie from being banished by Penny and her group.

Penny starts to deform into a little mouse out of fear. Gumball saw this as a sign that she wasn't here to settle old scores and that he might've gone too far.

"You don't look like you wanna get back at me for everything." Gumball continued. "But there's no doubt in my mind that we cause each other too much pain. I won't see myself as the saint or victim. I admit; I have done my share of misery on you. Now get back to your normal self. I can't take you seriously as a mouse."

Penny looked up at Gumball, his face as stern as ever. He's not here to fight, but he's not here to make amends either it seems. She complied and transformed back into a fairy.

"We cannot see each other anymore, Penny. I don't know what's happening on your side, but I'm feeling quite satisfied with my life right now without you. Say what you want right now, I will not be affected. Enough hostility, it's time to be matured and forget everything, including everything we've done to each other. It's long overdue we move on." Gumball starts to step forward towards Penny, the fairy standing still in one place. "For everything you've done to me,..." he stood eye-to-eye with the shapeshifting fairy, "..you're dead to me."

Penny was without words. She stood there, her lips quivering as if trying to find words but nothing came out. Her body still shaking.

Gumball turned to the rack of clothes, picked out the red shirt and walked away from her, as Penny was left still as a statue. He didn't look back as he turned the corner, finding Cato and Darwin eavesdropping; Cato already changed to his normal clothes.

"All done?"

The two boys were as speechless as Penny was, with worrying expressions painted all over their faces. Gumball walked past them and looked for his dad. Cato and Darwin looked at each other for a brief moment before catching up to Gumball.

Penny still stood at the aisle, as her dad stepped in. "Is it done?"

"Yeah. He doesn't want to see me anymore. I'm nothing to him now."

"I knew he was trouble from the very start." Patrick looked over the empty aisle as if looking at Gumball in the distance. "But let this be a lesson for you to take responsibility for your actions." he said as he looked back at his daughter, on the verge of crying a waterfall. She kept looking down and Patrick walked her out of the store.

"Forgive and forget." Gumball thought as he saw Penny walk out of the store with her dad from the checkout. "Only in this case, you hurt me way too much for me to forgive, so I'll just forget."


So yeah, that's the end of this chapter. I didn't wanna make it as long as my recent chapters since this one is all about Gumball settling scores with Penny and setting things straight for the better of both of them. I also feel like this chapter was way overdue since it's already almost the end of the story and only now I'm talking about where Penny and Tobias have been, but like Gumball said; "Better late than never, but you really took your damn time with this one."

Anyway, enough of me babbling off. I hope you guys enjoyed (or at least satisfied) with this sort of intervention chapter. Leave what you think in the comments and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.

Peace out!