"NOOOOOO!" Gumball's scream pierced the air. Tears were streaming down his face as he looked at the pile of ash Rob once was. Rob, with all of his stubbornness and his wit and his hidden heart of gold, how could he just be gone? Tears sprang up in the eyes of the rest of the Elmore citizens as well. None of them knew him like Gumball did, but to just destroy him like that, it was so cruel. He didn't deserve that, no one did. Gumball was frozen again, but nothing was controlling him this time. He just stared at the ash, tears spilling down his cheeks, for what felt like an eternity, until something in him just snapped. Gumball turned toward The Void, fury in his eyes. "How could you? How could you do something like that? You killed him! You just killed him!"
"How could I have killed him when he doesn't even really exist?" The Void retorted. "Think of it as just getting rid of an unwanted character."
"I wanted him," Gumball shouted. "He was my friend!" The Void gave it's trademark laugh at this comment, which just infuriated Gumball more.
"Friend? Ha! Some friend you turned out to be. You certainly didn't show any remorse the first time he found himself in here."
"I didn't know him then. You erased my memory of him!"
"Oh please, don't act like you had nothing to do with it. If you hadn't ignored him he wouldn't have ended up here in the first place. I only take what's unimportant Gumball, I didn't make him that way. You made him exactly what he is now. You were the one who ignored him, you were the one who made him the villain, you were the one who got him involved in this crazy plan of yours that was doomed to fail. Face it kid, this is all your fault."
"No, you were the one that trapped him, you were the one who traumatized him, and you were the one that killed him!" Gumball shouted. But despite saying this their words still echoed in the back of his mind. There was some truth to them, he did use Rob to an extent. Heck, the whole reason he asked him to come along on this adventure was because he had information, not because they were friends. And look where it led him! As just a pile of ash in The Void. He never came through for him when it counted. Not when he was in The Void for the first time, not in the warehouse, and not now. All he had done to Rob was hurt him, no wonder he had hated him so much. He really was a terrible friend. He was a terrible person. Why wasn't he nicer to him when he had the chance? Why didn't he tell him how much he meant to him? "I'm so sorry Rob." He said to the pile of ash on the ground. "I'm so, so sorry. This is all my fault. I should've saved you. I always should've saved you." The other Elmore citizens were silent, letting Gumball mourn. None of them really knew what to say. They hadn't encountered death before, especially not seeing someone get killed right in front of them. Some wanted to give him a hug, but they were stopped by the barrier. Darwin ached to tell Gumball that it wasn't his fault, that he couldn't have known this would happen, but he still couldn't speak. Gumball didn't even notice the other's reactions, he was lost in his own grief. He sobbed for a little while longer when he heard The Void's voice rise up around him.
"Drop the notebook, Gumball, or I'll do the same thing to you." Gumball froze and his tears stopped. He heard some gasps and words of protests in the background, but they were drowned out by his own thoughts. He didn't want to die. He really, really didn't. But what was the alternative? Dropping the notebook and being trapped in The Void forever? Not to mention dooming everyone else to the same fate. No, he couldn't do that. Maybe if he kept the notebook, he could write something in it before he perished, maybe. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all he had. Gumball defiantly shook his head, tears starting back up again.
"No? Oh, I see. Trying to play the hero, one last time. How noble. Pointless, but noble. Threatening you isn't going to do the trick. You seem to be quite attached to these characters however, maybe one of them?" Gumball's breath caught in his throat. No, no, this wasn't part of the plan! He could risk his own life, but not anyone else's! Meanwhile, The Void was trying to decide who to go with. The girlfriend? The parents? No, if he was going to comply, they needed to bring out the big guns, the person who meant the most to him. Gumball's heart stopped when Darwin started to lift into the air in a manner similar to Rob right before he perished. Of course, of course it would go for Darwin. Everyone knew how much he meant to him. The tears got heavier and he tried to look away, but he just couldn't. Tears were flowing down Darwin's face as well. He feared for his life, obviously, but he also was scared for Gumball. If only he could talk to him! The tears on Darwin's face were too much for Gumball to bear. "No! Let him go!" Gumball shouted, even though he knew that it wasn't going to listen. The Void let out another one of its chilling laughs. "Only if you give me what I want." It replied. "Tick tock Gumball, you don't have much time." Gumball racked his brain. This was an impossible choice. If he handed over the notebook, he had no chance of saving Elmore. The remote was gone now too so he couldn't go back and try again. But at the same time, he couldn't just let Darwin die. "Three, two…."
"Stop! Just stop! Please! I'll do whatever you want, just please don't hurt him!" Darwin stopped floating upwards at this statement and just stayed in place.
"That's more like it." The Void said. Darwin, instead of feeling relieved, just started crying harder. What was he doing? He couldn't risk all of Elmore for him. He had to stop him somehow. But what could he do? He wasn't able to talk to him, and he couldn't move, but he knew he had to do something. He just had to. Gumball reluctantly grabbed the notebook and lifted it up. He was just about to drop it when suddenly he heard someone shouting at him.
"Gumball no!" Darwin shouted. Gumball looked at him in shock, both from what he was saying, and the fact that he could talk at all. Wasn't The Void controlling him? How did he break free? Darwin was shocked as well, he didn't think that would actually work. He had to say what he needed to say quickly in case The Void took back control. "Gumball, please, you can't do this!"
"I have to. I can't risk your life. I can't risk anyone's life. I'm out of options."
"You're Gumball Watterson! You're never out of options! Every time you're in a jam you think of some crazy way to get out of it, it's one of the things I love about you. Please, Gumball you can't give up yet."
"What else am I supposed to do?! I just lost Rob, I can't risk losing you too."
"I know, and that's awful, but Rob wouldn't want you to give up. He believed in you, and I do too. If anyone can get us out of this, it's you." Gumball just shook his head.
"I can't."
"Yes you can!" Another voice shouted at him, Penny's this time. "I may not know much about this TV show stuff, but I know you. And you've done some incredible things! You time traveled! Rode in Santa's sleigh! You even helped me break out of my shell and stand up to my family! If you did all that, you can do this!
"That was different." Gumball weakly protested.
"Maybe, but so are you." Anais piped up. "You're better than you think you are Gumball! You constantly do things that surprise me. And I'll probably deny this later, but you're smarter than I give you credit for. You can think of something, you always do!" At this, it was as if some sort of floodgate had opened and everyone was shouting encouragement at Gumball.
"You've got this Gumball!"
"We believe in you!"
"You can do it!" Gumball started tearing up from the show of support. It was one thing when they all showed up for him, but this, this was overwhelming. He couldn't let all of these people down. Darwin was right, everyone was right. If he didn't fight back, then Rob's sacrifice would have been for nothing. And the last thing he wanted to do was let him down again. If all these people thought he could do it, then maybe, just maybe, they were right. He couldn't just let The Void win, he had to fight back. For Rob. For Elmore.
"Shut up!" The Void boomed, loud enough that several Elmore residents had to cover their ears. Darwin then started to float into the air again. "It's funny, I didn't think you were someone I had to worry about. Happy and agreeable Darwin Watterson, not even capable of making any decisions on your own. But your loyalties, they're so strong. Too strong. Maybe I should just get rid of you now." The Void attempted to do so, and Darwin closed his eyes in anticipation. He braced himself for the fall, but it never came. Darwin tentatively opened his eyes and saw The Void struggling to drop him. It was like something was keeping it from getting near him. Some strange force. The Void had barely started to comprehend this when it heard a shouting in the distance.
"Leave my brother alone!" Gumball screamed, holding the notebook in his hand. He wrote something down and Darwin safely floated down to the ground below. Darwin smiled in relief, he knew it. He always knew that Gumball could do it, even if Gumball himself didn't.
"What?!" The Void shouted. How could this be possible? It attempted to get Gumball back in it's control, but no matter what it tried Gumball didn't budge.
"You don't get to hurt my friends, or my family, or me, ever again." Gumball said, voice tinged with rage. The Elmore citizens looked at each other, wide eyed. They had never seen Gumball this angry. "You don't get to control us anymore, we're more than just your little puppets." Gumball wrote something in the notebook and all the barriers around the citizens were removed. They could all move freely again. "I think it's time you learned something that the writers of my show found out a while back. No one. can tell me. what to do. Now let's see how you like being erased from existence." At that, Gumball started frantically scribbling in the notebook. The Void did everything in its power to get him back under its control, but he shrugged off everything it tried like it was nothing. Not even noticing the blows. It was getting desperate, it was starting to lose power. This could be the end of it for good. It had to do something, anything. It couldn't go out like this! But there was nothing it could do, Gumball had finished writing in the notebook. It's fate was sealed. It let out a final, ear-splitting screech before a white light flashed. Everyone closed their eyes from the sudden brightness as they were thrown off their feet, the screech coming to an abrupt stop.
Gumball slowly opened his eyes again. God, his head hurt. He wasn't sure if it was because of the crying, the sudden bright light, or both. His vision was blurry as his eyes slowly started to adjust back to normal. As they focused he could see the street right in front of him. His heart leapt. Was it possible? Was he back in Elmore? He looked up and saw the traffic lights, the buildings, the bright blue sky. Everything was back where it should be. Gumball started crying tears of relief. He did it. After everything he had gone through he finally did it. He was safe. Everyone was safe. Well, almost everyone. There was a pang in his heart when he thought about that, but he was quickly distracted as he felt two arms wrap around him, Darwin's. He gave a small smile, at least he was ok, thank goodness. He didn't know what he would do without Darwin. Soon after that he felt six more, Mom, Dad, and Anais. Gumball gave into their hug and collapsed into their arms, crying into his Mom's shoulder.
A/N: So, little fun fact, Gumball is now immune to all forms of mind control. He shrugged off The Void's attempts so completely that the affect became permanent. So, Carrie can't possess him now, for example. So Gumball has a little special talent of his own now. Also, it you want to know my voiceclaim for The Void, it's White Dimond from Steven Universe. I based a lot of that character on her tbh.