Teri x Gumball: In between worlds

by FantasticSchaefer

Three months after a devastating break up, a depressed Gumball is surprised when Teri shows up at his house in the middle of the night with a monster chasing her. Soon Gumball and Teri find themselves caught in an invasion by invisible monsters known as "Nephilim" and have to prevent Elmore's destruction. Will this unlikely duo succeed or will Elmore be trampled underfoot?

13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Battle for Elmore: Azura squad arrives!

Teri x Gumball

A/N: Once again, I am happy to bring forth another great chapter and after everything that went down in the chapter prior, I am just getting fired up! While chapter twelve had its amazing introductions to new characters, trust me, you guys haven't seen nothing yet! This is the chapter where Captain Amy Rajit from chapter ten arrives with her squad and will grapple with the defenders of Elmore. What will the conflict be about? Let's find out as we dive into this chapter!

I also wish for you all to pardon the two month delay this chapter took to come out, it all started when I took a two week vacation from writing, but then more breaks came in and then the holidays came crashing into my writing schedule like a cement truck tossing bricks with a blind mime behind the wheel… in the passenger seat. I also had to do so many rewrites and word of warning for those who don't like long chapters, I TRIED to keep this condensed, but there was much ground I needed to cover that it still clocked out at 94 pages on Google Docs. That's enough of that now.

Many OC's will be presented in this chapter.

Enjoy the chapter and post a review as well as a fav in the section down below, DEW IT!

Jormungandr = Midgard serpent

(I do not own The Amazing World of Gumball. All rights belong to Ben Bocquelet, the staff, Cartoon Network, and other respective owners.)

(I do not own Jamiko Miyamoto, all rights to that character go to Kainsword-Kaijin.)

(Even though only his name is mentioned in this chapter, Iris is a new character being introduced to the story and is a nod to the Traveler series by Villicus.)

-Elmore park, October 9th, 2013, 6:55 PM-

"WHAT?!"

The shout came like a ripple through a pond, startling the combined group of Teri, Rob, Rachel, Carrie, Darwin, Anais, Macey, and Chimera when the stone that was Gumball ruptured the surface with his flabbergasted response. It was dark out now, but not completely and the twilight of the setting sun cast eerie shadows and glows across everyone's faces. The air was still and all eyes were on Gumball and Carrie, the latter of whom was shrinking back in terror, ashamed for what she had done.

Seemingly hiding her face behind her bangs, the floating emo tried not to meet his hurt, yet seething gaze as she forced an explanation out,

"Gumball, I'm sorry, I really am, but I couldn't hide it from them, not after what happened today and I wasn't trying to-!" she shut her trap when Gumball took a step forward with his paws running over his scalp.

"Carrie, do you realize what you've done?" he was angry, upset, and frustrated, but his voice came out only as a shadow of what that spilling rage could have been.

He was too tired, both emotionally and physically.

From the crowd, Anais stepped forward and gave her brother a hardened glare,

"What she did was the right thing, Gumball." she said, her voice only a decibel above a growl,

"Do you know what you've done? What all three of you have been doing? This whole city is in a state of panic right now because no one here knows what's happening, except you three and you didn't even tell us, your own family and friends, that there are literal invisible giants attacking the city!" she had long since surpassed her indoor voice and was directing her anger at her older brother, who stood in shock.

This was it. The one scenario he and his only other companions tried so desperately to avoid was unfolding right before their very eyes and it was because one mistake after another kept piling up all around them until it tipped too far. Now all that was left was a mess they had to clear up and somehow make sense of.

Up next was Teri, who wanted to try to calm everyone down by explaining their actions,

"I know this may all seem twisted and frightening to you, but we didn't want to incite a panic and cause more damage to Elmore than the Nephilim could ever could. You've got to believe us when we say we were trying to keep everyone safe and meant no harm by keeping this from you." she looked at everyone else in the eye and showed to everyone that she was being genuine.

Sadly for the paper puppet, good intentions and explanations were not enough for everyone present. Stepping out from the small throng was Macey Barnes, the Calico girl in the yellow dress with red frizzy hair and a beard, who stared at Teri with such an intensity that the paper girl would surely turn to stone if she stared long enough. She could already tell that her first words weren't going to be pleasant, but nothing could prepare Teri for what she was about to hear next.

Sucking in a deep breath, the goat head of Elmore High began her rebuttal,

"Three people are dead, one of them was my Uncle Rupert." there were tears brimming in her eyes now and her voice was trembling,

"My dad, his brother, was devastated when he heard the news and so was I. He was one of our closest family members and until now, we had no idea what killed him. So tell me this, how exactly are you keeping everyone safe?" she demanded.

Then came the tears, washing the face of the high schooler in painful streams as Teri looked on with guilt and regret when she remembered those three individuals who were caught up in the first attack. She didn't even warn them as she passed them by and one by one, they all fell prey to Silver Twelve's unseen assault. Looking back now, she remembered one of those few people happened to resemble the girl before her and was now feeling the weight of her uncle's death on her shoulders.

Understanding her now, Teri realized she never looked into those cases and left those who've lost their family and friends to pick up the pieces themselves, while they themselves knew the truth.

While Teri was struck with an immense guilt, Rob was angry and before Rachel could stop him, he lashed out at the red headed high schooler,

"You think that was their fault?! When this whole thing started none of us knew what was going on, but after that terrible night all of us eventually got together and have prevented such tragedies from happening since." he shouted back at the distraught Calico girl.

"That still doesn't make it right!" Darwin interjected, finally stepping in,

"Keeping a secret this big is what's causing everyone to turn on themselves and in case you haven't noticed, the Nephilim are still causing damage even when you guys deal with it. Do you even have a plan to stop these guys or were you going to wait for them to eventually destroy everything to finally realize that you're just a bunch of kids who are in way over your heads?" he pointed out, much to Gumball, Teri, and Rob's irritation.

That would've been the end of the argument right there had Gumball not already been thinking two steps ahead and stood beside Carrie to highlight his point,

"Of course we have a plan! The Nephilim are spirits in a way, so Carrie is going to contact a demon named Malabranche to help us solve this situation." he confidently declared, giving Carrie a quick glance out of curiosity.

The little ghost seemed reserved and was already looking somewhat doubtful after being thrust into the spotlight like that,

"Gumball, I can't say for sure it will work out like that. It's a plan for sure, but it could easily backfire and we could learn that he has nothing to give us on account of this being none of Mephisto's business." she stated, her voice and face grim.

There was a brief moment of silence amongst the party as Carrie's words hung in the air like an impending meteor and everyone's hopes were dashed right then and there. Amongst the grim faces everyone was putting on display, Rob remained self-assured and came up with something to dish out. Quickly bringing everyone's attention on him, he brought up the events of today and what fortune the news might bring,

"Guys, Teri and Gumball have been to their world and have also escaped too!" he exclaimed enthusiastically before placing his attention on the aforementioned boy and girl,

"You two must have seen something important, right? Tell us what happened up there and we can probably figure out a way to actually beat them for good!" he looked at them with an endearing hope that forced him to almost dance with enthusiasm.

Looking at each other, Teri and Gumball shared an unspoken conversation before deciding to say what they needed to say,

"We've been to Babyloth, but we didn't see much." Gumball answered honestly.

"There were some people up there that we've encountered too and we barely survived the initial engagement." Teri followed in a serious tone.

They both got to explaining their adventure in space and how they were abducted by the giants not too long after. They told them about the massive hub of portal rooms, the encounter with President Nimrod, his guardians: Michael and Gabriel, the death of the president's son, Isaac, and how the Babyloth was on the moon, but stuck in another dimension. All around were the faces of shocked and awe-inspired individuals that listened to their tale with great interest, but the terror was even more apparent once they learned of how powerful the forces on Babyloth were.

Once they were finished, Rob was less lively and staring at the two with a blank expression,

"Oh…" was all he said before turning his head away with a forlorn expression. Clearly this wasn't everything he was expecting to hear.

Then came Chimera's response, which was quite surprising seeing as he was completely silent this entire time,

"I feel bad for him, but why would any parent send their kid down here where they could get killed?" the living toy asked in that croaking voice of his. Sadly, that was anyone's guess and his question was left unanswered.

While Chimera only knew the lonely toymaker as his family, the closest person he had to a father really, he still found the aspect of parenting to be confusing and hearing how this "President Nimrod" person was the one responsible for sending Isaac, the first Nephilim he dreamed of and the first one Teri and Gumball encountered, to essentially die left him far more baffled than he could ever imagine.

Macey was the next one to voice her confusion,

"But everytime Chimera saw them in his dreams, they were actual giants and according to Carrie, powerful too! So why were they so small and weak in their world?" the young huntress-in-training asked.

Lucky for her, Rob seemed to have an answer and was able to recall what Fjel had told him,

"The Nephilim were imprisoned after their crimes against nature and the Jade Emperor. Babyloth must be their prison and has made them weaker as a result, so they probably gain more power by coming to Earth." he theorized.

After facing off against the head three of the Republic, Gumball and Teri didn't want to imagine what those monsters would be like if they ever decided to come down to Earth and pick a fight with them. While Rob thought of a possible counter strategy with the intel provided, Rachel heard something and turned around to see four figures laying by a tree starting to stir. The largest one, a T-rex yawned and got up while right next to her, an orange-haired husky female with curved horns and a lion's tail got up in a similar fashion.

Right next to them a white robot booted up and surveyed its surroundings like a curious child while a spider sprite with two big eyes slowly levitated into the air. A video game pop-up menu appeared above his head with text reading, Continue from last save? with underlying text offering yes and no. An arrow appeared and selected the "yes" tab and with a video game jingle playing seemingly from nowhere, he was conscious again.

"Where are we and why do I smell bacon?" Jamie asked in her gruff voice, still a little singed from Rob's electrocuting blast.

Tina looked about in a stupor before having registered it all at once,

"Well, seeing as it's way nicer-looking than the landfill, I'd say the park." she growled.

After regaining all his data from the previous few hours, Bobert scanned the area once again with his optics and spotted a group of students standing around a ways away,

"Organic members of search party detected along with the armed assailant and three new members." he stated.

Ocho's eyes lit up in rage as he remembered the events that led to him being knocked out and he started up in a furious rant,

"What?! Where is he? I'm going to knock his blocky head off and use his gun as a golf club to practice my swings with!" it hadn't been five minutes and he was already screaming loud enough to send all the birds in the tree up in a startled cloud of furious fluttering wings and angered caws.

He wasn't the only one boiling over though, and with only a mere mentioning of their attacker, Jamie was already on her feet with her horned head swinging about in a desperate search for that dastardly individual,

"Why, when I find that cowardly, gun-toting yahoo I'm going to put my fist through his- THERE HE IS!" she roared when her black eyes finally zeroed in on the lanky pre-teen standing amongst the motley crew with his fear growing larger every passing second.

Without wasting a single moment, a lion's roar was emitted from the husky tomboy's throat and despite the stubby nature of her legs, she was already racing towards the polygonal cyclops at speeds only an athlete runner could match. She'd never seen his face before, but she recognized him through body shape alone and that was enough set up for a trip to pound town. Seeing her friend in trouble, Rachel surprisingly placed herself in between Rob and the charging middle schooler, ready to face her down the moment she got close.

She didn't need to though because Gumball, having learned how to react quickly to danger, pulled his scythe out from his bag and activated it, BUT he kept it folded. He would never consider hurting any of his classmates and that's why he was glad that he only needed to be touching the weapon in order to use its power. Moving incredibly fast, the feline rushed past Rob and Rachel not long before intercepting Jamie and placing a hand up in front of him, causing her to stop.

He kept the handle at his side and tried to tell her what's going on,

"Jamie, calm down! There's a lot going on right now and we're going to explain everything." he blurted out quickly.

However, Jamie wasn't having it, her vision was red and she was past the settling point,

"Out of my way, Watterson!" she shouted, completely blinded by rage.

She didn't even give him a chance to move before she started up again and proceeded to run him over to reach her intended target. Not willing to let this happen, Gumball stepped to the side and grabbed her by the shoulder, using his super strength to stop her,

"Jamie, listen-!" he started.

"SHUT UP!" Jamie retaliated, rearing her hand back to deliver a punch.

In the space of an instant, Jamie jabbed at his face, but Gumball was quick and swung his forearm up to redirect the punch away, a move his mom taught him. He released his grip on her and jumped back, giving some distance so he could try again with reason,

"Jamie, knock it off! I don't want to fight you!" he cried, relaxing his stance to show that he wasn't trying to instigate more conflict.

Snorting in contempt, Jamie regarded him with only irritation, but was now facing him instead,

"Don't tell me what to do, you mangy feline! If you don't want to fight so bad, then go sit this one out!" she snapped.

"Rob's not the enemy!" he countered, ignoring her degrading comment.

She didn't answer him, rather she roared again and charged the blue cat at full speed. She was pretty much a blur and if Gumball hadn't possessed a magic that allowed him to increase his speed and strength, his head would've been pasta salad. Dodging her second strike, Gumball was introduced to a flurry of jabs, punches, hooks and crosses all of which he had to clear or block with half a second to spare.

Everyone else was about to step in to help out, but Bobert, Ocho, and Tina were on the move too, with their sights set on their former attacker. Seeing this, everyone scattered except for Carrie and Teri who faced down the oncoming murderous trio. Leaping into action, Carrie went to confront a charging Tina who was a far greater threat than the others present and floated in front of her.

Having more than enough power to take on Tina, Carrie concentrated and used her telekinesis to lift the tyrannosaur off the ground,

"Tina, I can explain what's going on, just stop trying to kill Rob and help me with Jamie!" she called out to the young dinosaur.

"Let me go, you emo freak!" she shouted in agitation as she kicked her powerful legs, which dangled helplessly above the ground.

That seemed to set the ghost off and she growled back,

"That's it, lizard breath!" she countered.

Still holding her up, the spirit shot towards her and entered through the dinosaur's mouth. Seconds later, her eyes switched from yellow to red and her anger melted away once Carrie was in control. Setting herself down, the possessed tyrannosaur searched for her next target and set off in another direction.

Meanwhile, Teri was about to go help out Gumball when she saw that he was put on the defensive, but then she noticed Ocho flying after a fleeing Rob and Rachel, prompting her to take action. Hopping on her origami bat that she arrived to Earth on with Gumball, she took to the sky and caught up to Ocho with very little difficulty. Banking around, she got in close and zipped on by, startling the flying spider and causing him to shift his focus on her instead,

"What was that for? Were you trying to hit me?" he shouted, watching her fly around and face him once again.

She shot him a hostile look and made a beeline straight for his face,

"Heads up!" was all she said to warn him.

He weaved through the open air and prevented a mid-air collision with the flying Pepakuma child, but was now far angrier than before,

"I don't know where you learned to fly, Teri, but I will knock you back down to Earth!" he seethed.

Smiling in a challenging fashion, Teri's eyes lit up in determination and she mocked him,

"Gotta hit me first, Ocho, but seeing as you can't even hit a flying washer, I doubt you can pull that off!" she taunted.

Without much regard towards his first target, Ocho switched gears and went after Teri instead while firing bolts that Teri was easily able to dodge.

While their aerial battle commenced, Bobert engaged his self-defense mode, becoming large and boxy with laser mini-guns replacing his clamps, rocket launchers sprouting from his shoulders and a directed energy weapon placed in the center of his chest, all of which were directed at the fleeing pair of former void residents. Seeing how the situation had quickly devolved into chaos, Darwin, Anais, Macey, and Chimera watched on in sheer horror as they ran. Then Darwin saw Bobert preparing to annihilate Rob and Rachel, forcing him to turn to Chimera for help.

Turning to the gentle giant, Darwin shouted to get his attention,

"Chimera, stop Bobert before he hurts Rob and Rachel!" he shrieked in desperation.

Turning his shark head, the living toy's purple eyes widened in shock and he snapped into action. Lowering his upper body forward and charging, Chimera's stride had a bit of limp thanks to his mismatching footwork, but he was fast enough to reach the robot in time. His speed combined with his weight was enough to knock Bobert to the side, causing him to misfire and one of his laser blasts struck a nearby tree, setting it ablaze.

Regaining his balance, Bobert's processor registered the new threat and the aggressive robot turned his weapons on Chimera, his eye glowing red,

"Aggressive actions detected, new target acquired: Chimera. Proceeding to eliminate hostile individual." he said, raising his gun arms with the barrels glowing an ominous red as they powered up.

Seeing as his life was now in danger, Chimera fought back, using his muscular arm to swat Bobert's arms away and deck him in the face right after. There was a sharp snap of plastic striking metal, but the force was enough to send Bobert's head spinning. He quickly recovered and stopped his head from twisting around endlessly before returning the punch with his club-like arm.

Chimera's head was knocked clean off his blocky body, but for the most part, he was okay, if not a little disoriented. Like his robot counterpart, he couldn't feel physical pain and his body wandered somewhat aimlessly as it searched for his head. Seeing his opponent incapacitated, Boberted returned his attention back to Rob and Rachel, who were farther away now and almost nearing the park entrance.

"Exterminate!" he screeched.

He raised his arms to open fire, but didn't get a chance when he felt someone tap his shoulder causing him to turn around and met a swinging shark-head aimed directly at his face. The strike from the improvised flail-like weapon wasn't enough to knock him down, but it did temporarily stun him after his main optics glitched out and Chimera took this opportunity to reattach his head before sinking his teeth into the robot's arm. With a mighty heave along with a shift in weight, Bobert was thrown onto his back with a heavy thud and an impact crater was formed underneath him.

Confused and unsettled by his opponents uncanny strength, Bobert tried to restabilize himself, only to be prevented from doing so when Chimera clambered on top of him. The giant toy amalgamation roared before repeatedly slamming his fist into Bobert's round head, knocking it back with every strike and even taking the opportunity to use his circular saw to cut through the wires connecting to his rocket launchers. Notified of both weapon systems going offline, Bobert diverted energy to his primary chest cannon and from the circular device, a powerful beam of red energy shot out, striking Chimera dead center below the head.

As an act of self preservation, Chimera allowed his body to split into all of its separate components, allowing a few bricks to be melted rather than having a hole burned through his chest. His parts were rained all over the field and seconds later, his head met the ground, bouncing a few times before rolling to a complete stop. Once his scattered pieces found the ground, they began to move and shift all on their own (minus the two bricks that were destroyed), but Chimera knew it was going to be a few seconds until he was back together again. Chimera groaned as his eyes dizzily rolled about and his red dyed hair was plastered all over his face in a sprawling mess.

Seeing that his opponent was down, Bobert prepared to finish him off with his remaining missile launcher, but was stopped when Anais, Darwin, and Macey got in his line of fire. Seeing as they registered as non-combatants, Bobert placed his weapons on standby as they called out to him,

"Bobert, stop it! We're trying to stop you from killing Rob because he's not a bad guy!" Darwin screamed.

"He came back and explained himself to us, but there's more going on here!" Anais followed.

"We'll explain all of this, but you have to help us stop all of this fighting!" Macey ordered, pointing in the direction of the ongoing individual fights.

Despite the nonsensical violence and random assortment of sounds culminating the park, Bobert heard them loud and clear, deactivating his weapon's as a sign of compliance,

"Understood! Proceeding with non-lethal termination of all active engagements." he stated in his electronic voice.

Selecting his first target, he zoomed in on Ocho in hot pursuit of Teri as she continually snapped back and almost clipped him with her wings, and with a fiery roar, he ignited his thrusters to take off in an intercept course. Like a guided missile, the autonomous droid smacked head-first into Ocho, who grunted in pain as the wind was knocked out of him and the two went down in a tangled mess. After meeting the ground in a fast approach more appropriate for an artillery shell, Bobert absorbed most of the impact with his body and wrapped his coiling arms around the struggling spider sprite, tying him up rather nicely.

Seeing as she was no longer being pursued, Teri paused for a moment as she looked back to where the two crash landed and Bobert noticed her checking up on them,

"Do not be alarmed, I have the situation under control." he assured her in an unrealistically calm manner,

"Go help the bipedal cat defined as Gumball before the overly-aggressive hybrid defined as Jamie terminates him." he ordered as he lifted himself and a squirming/cursing Ocho out of the crater.

Nodding in consensus, the paper bear wasted no time in helping out her boyfriend and was already on her way across the park to where their fight carried out. Not shocking in the slightest, when an extremely strong and violent Jamie took on the empowered, yet restrained Gumball, the fight didn't stay in one spot and now the two were racing all over the open fields, clashing every now and then. Seeing how Gumball was actually going toe-to-toe with her, Jamie was no longer holding back and with every meeting, she would hit him with everything she's got.

Knocking him through a bench, Jamie pounced like a deranged animal with her fangs bared and laughed maniacally,

"I can't believe it! You're actually putting up a fight, Watterson!" she delightfully sang as she landed on top of the downed feline and attempted to punch his face in,

"Where did you get this strength anyway?" she questioned with only half a care.

Gumball moved his head left to right as each time her fists came down a hole was punched into the dirt and after dodging the seventh time, he reached up, grabbed her shoulders, planted his foot into her hard stomach and launched her off of him. He quickly got back up, dusted himself off and clutched the sheathed weapon tightly. He could end this fight quickly if he wanted to, but he couldn't risk going over ten-percent and injuring her by accident.

Unsurprisingly, when he looked, he could see that she had already gotten back up and was cracking her knuckles in anticipation, so he sighed and readied himself,

"You know, maybe if you calmed down a tick, I could share that with you and we can also tell you what else has been going on lately." he explained, hoping that would cool her jets.

It didn't and she was already cracking another wild, toothy grin as she raised her fists in a fighting stance,

"Where's the fun in that?" she spat, her dark eyes shadowed by fading light and her overgrown hair, giving her a more menacing appearance,

"Why don't you quit holding back and show me how much of a tough guy you really are!" she challenged, shaking her head and snorting.

There was no getting through to her, she just wanted to fight and seeing as she could see right through him, Gumball knew there was no way the tomboy was going to listen. He figured he could unfold his scythe and perhaps scare her out of a fight, but that could possibly lead to her viewing him as a greater threat. Worse, she'd probably go find a weapon herself and use that too, then they'd both be in trouble.

"Gumball!" a voice called out from above.

Pivoting on his heel, he turned and saw a dark shape heading towards him with a white figure sitting on top and waving. He recognized the person as Teri and her origami bat, causing him to ditch the fight and take off with a mighty leap. He cleared the distance easily and landed behind Teri on her winged creation, while Jamie was left below in furious indignation.

Jumping up and down, Jamie hurled her rage in the form of an insult directed at the escaping pair,

"Get back down here and fight me, coward!" she bellowed.

Turning his head back, the eldest Watterson child stuck his tongue out and made an L-shape with his thumb and pointer finger on his forehead,

"Catch me if you can, T-rex bait!" he jeered as Teri sped off.

At first, all Jamie could feel was her anger rising to uncontrollable levels as a promising fight was torn from her grasp, but then she paused to think about what he meant by that nickname he gave her. She didn't get much time to herself though, as the ground began to shake rapidly and something big began to approach her from behind. She managed to get one glimpse of a Carrie-possessed Tina before the husky daughter of the Russo's was snatched up in the dinosaur's jaws and carried off into the depths of the park itself, all the while screaming and using offensive language.

Having managed to escape all the commotion, Rachel guided Rob by the hand as the two made a break for the park entrance and the odd pair could already hear the sounds of conflict starting to die down. Rob mentally berated himself for not noticing the four people he'd knocked out almost an hour ago earlier and for not hiding when they came to. Now he felt bad for fleeing while his accomplices were taking the brunt of it for him instead and probably getting hurt too.

He tugged against Rachel's grasp and the two came to a stop, with Rachel shooting him a questioning glance,

"What are you doing?" she demanded, looking back towards the entrance that was several yards away.

Rob freed himself from her grasp and took a step back, back to the park where the chaos ensued,

"I've gotta help them and set things right! Part of this is my fault and I shouldn't leave them behind!" he replied, his eye set with guilt and determination.

Shaking her head, Rachel grabbed his hand again and pulled the grey-skinned Nephilim fighter back with her,

"I don't know what you did to them exactly, but they're mad enough to pulverize you! I can't let you go back there because they'll just get angrier!" the fluffy haired high schooler countered, keeping a firm grip on him.

"But-!" Rob started to protest, but was cut off by a sudden glare from his roommate.

"NO! We'll settle this in the morning once everyone has calmed down. Right now isn't the right time and all you'll wind up doing is-?" she paused when she heard something in the distance.

It was a police siren. Its wailing could be heard as the patrol vehicle made its way in their direction and given that they both saw laser fire and heard multiple screams coming in from behind them, it didn't take a genius to figure out why they were coming this way. There had been a heavy police presence in Elmore following the terrorist attacks in San Francisco and that meant any risky behavior after dusk was likely to be called upon by the authorities.

With fear coursing through them, Rachel turned to Rob with a frightful glance,

"You need to get us out of here!"

Knowing full well that they couldn't stay, Rob begrudgingly agreed and pulled out his teleportation rune. Eventually a portal was opened up in front of them and the two found themselves looking into the living room of their apartment, a comforting sight indeed. Feeling glad that Teri and Gumball were safe, the rainbow lass and the cyclops, hands still joined, leapt through the portal and entered their domain.

With immense distances crossed in a single moment, the portal closed behind them and the two were left to wait for the next day to resolve the issue that had been interrupted.

Meanwhile, Teri and Gumball caught up with the rest of the group along with Carrie/Tina and Jamie, but couldn't stay for long when the approaching sirens grew louder by the second,

"Better book it!" Gumball shouted in alarm.

And just like that, the group of eleven took off and faded into the line of trees leading them to the park's nature reserve. The animal filled forest was pretty safe to be wandering through, provided you weren't a walking piece of toast, because this place was only filled with creatures like ducks, rabbits (feral ones), a few snakes, and just small critters in general. The group of kids found it not too difficult to make it through the slightly dense forest with Anais and Macey riding atop Chimera, Bobert flying with Ocho tucked in his arms, Teri and Gumball still riding their bat, and Carrie still in control of Tina's body with Jamie clamped between her jaws and Darwin riding her scaly back.

Once the sirens could no longer be heard, the kids slowed down and Jamie was the first to say something,

"Put me down already and stop controlling my friend, you transparent weirdo!" she cried out in protest.

Carrie grumbled a bit before doing as she was told, tossing her head back and sending Jamie up into the air before landing on Tina's back in front of Darwin, saddle style. Then Carrie emerged from the T-rex's mouth and the lizard's eyes went from ghastly red to yellow again as Tina regained control of herself. She kept on going, but snarled at Carrie when she saw her,

"What's the big idea, taking me over like that?" she snapped.

Carrie floated right beside her and shot her an equally nasty look before folding her arms in agitation,

"That's because you weren't cooperating, jerk!" she retaliated.

Within the entangled coils of Bobert's arms, Ocho grunted and squirmed, but couldn't do anything about his current predicament,

"If you don't drop me right now, I'm going straight to your manufacturer's tomorrow and raising hell!" he angrily warned.

Bobert complied with a simple "suit yourself." before unraveling him and allowing the school's hardcore gamer to float beside him.

"Tin can. Now can someone please tell me what's going on? Why was that one eyed monster and that weird chick hanging out with everyone? And what's Gumball and Teri doing here? Also, since when does Teri have the ability to use origami like that?" he looked to multiple faces as he waited for an explanation.

Answering his question, Anais cleared her throat and made sure that everyone could hear her,

"Carrie told us everything. Turns out all the strange things happening in Elmore are caused by invisible giants called Nephilim and Gumball, Teri, and Rob (that guy who attacked all of you today.) have been fighting them off in secret. They also got Carrie involved after she found out and she's been covertly helping them too." she paused as she turned to Teri for a moment and then shrugged at Ocho,

"As for Teri's origami related ability, I'm not quite sure why-!" she began to theorize, but was cut off by the origami rider herself.

"It's an ability I've always had and was passed down on my mom's side. Most of you never knew about it because I never used it except in an emergency or out of necessity. To be honest, I've used this ability more in the past two months than I have in two years." she explained, sounding grumpy.

This left everyone speechless, at first there was confusion (except for Gumball, who already knew) and then everyone slowly pieced it together.

However, the pink bunny's explanation caused quite a stir in the four that were unconscious during Carrie's confession. With the utmost probability, Jamie was the first to voice her frustrations and confusion. With no regard to volume control, she was already bursting everyone's eardrums when she started screaming at Gumball, Teri and Carrie,

"WAIT, WHAT?! You mean to tell me that you three had something to do with all those crazy weird blackouts, explosions, and that dangerous thing that attacked Tina's pops!" she interrogated.

At the mentioning of the recent incident at the junkyard, a fire was lit in Tina's eyes and her burning glare traced itself over to the flying bat along with its passengers. Gumball gulped in fear and prepared for the worst while Carrie also stiffened up in guilt. Without hesitating, Tina lashed out at them,

"Wait a minute! There was a Nephilim in my home and you guys dragged my dad into it?" she angrily asked.

"I tried to keep him out of danger, but I…" Gumball stopped himself when he thought about Carrie, who was the one who possessed Mr. Rex and brought him into the fray in the first place.

Luckily Carrie was willing to step for Gumball and flew right next to the T-rex until she was at eye level,

"Tina, I was the one who dragged your father into it. Gumball's life was in danger and I couldn't fight Tartarforas as I was, so I had to possess your father. I'm sorry for putting him in danger, but I was trying to help save everyone else!" she explained, looking rather fretful.

Her attempt to calm the landfill dwelling bully was met with failure when she let out a roar of anguish and launching a hurtful wave of insults at the ghost,

"You little twerp! Why did you even bother entering the landfill in the first place? If there was a big monster running around my home, my dad would've handled it!" words couldn't begin to describe how enraged she was.

Angered by her seriously dumb rebuttal, Gumball snapped back at her which was quite a gutsy move on his part, but not one he was unfamiliar with,

"Because if we didn't, the Nephilim would've killed him! They're deadly to people who can't see them and if that monster so much as touched your dad, he would've dropped dead! Why do you think Teri and I started fighting these things in the first place?" he scowled as soon as he finished speaking, not even caring what she may try to do.

What she did next did not meet his expectations, rather than spout off more insults and threats towards them, Tina just went silent. There was a look in her eyes that Gumball swore he thought he would never see again the day after his mom took them to her home to confront the Rexes about Tina's bullying and that look was fear. She was legitimately scared and while Gumball was unaware at first, it slowly came to him as to why this was: she had joined Anais to find out the identity of her dad's attacker. With the truth being what it was and the monster that had set her on the narrow path of revenge revealed to be impossible for her to kill left her terrified.

There was a familiar tightening in Gumball's chest and he recognized it to be sorrow for the dinosaur. He understood that for once, Tina was feeling helpless and there was nothing she could do to ease her anxiety. Jamie saw this too and her pity towards her friend was far greater than Gumball's.

Butting in next was Ocho, who was more concerned with his own well-being and didn't like what he was hearing,

"Wait, that's how deadly those things are? What else are they capable of? Were these the same creatures that attacked San Francisco and you didn't warn me about them!" his anger levels spiked again and his voice was becoming more distorted.

Then came the robotic chatter from Bobert, who was notably calmer than the other three,

"I apologize for interrupting, but could one of you please further elaborate upon these "Nephilim" creatures? I've searched all publically known databanks and found no results that matched your descriptions of them." he politely raised a clamp as he brought up his query.

Sensing the rising tension in the group, Darwin knew he needed to act fast or else things were going to explode into a conflict that no one would be able to walk away from without scars,

"Everyone just stop it, okay!" his issued ceasefire reached everyone present and all eyes and ears were on him,

"Look, it's been a long day, there's a lot that needs to be processed right now and I think we all need some space. Let's just go home, sleep on it, and meet up tomorrow after school at the mall where we can further discuss this matter without tearing at each other's throats." he stated, partly in defense of his girlfriend, who he knew had no evil intentions when it came to protecting others.

No more words needed to be spoken, as everyone knew right away that a lot has transpired and their stress levels were at an alltime high right now. A little rest wouldn't hurt anyone and with that being the case, everyone began to depart right away. Carrie took hold of Darwin's body and flew him off to her mansion, Tina lumbered off into the woods with Jamie on her back, Chimera also took off with his passengers, having been asked by Anais to take them to Macey's house, Gumball and Teri flew off towards Gumball's house and Bobert along with Ocho decided to race one another to Ocho's place since it was closer.

Soon nothing could be heard in the woods, except for small animals and insects.

-Carvington street, half a mile from the Watterson residence, 7:08 PM-

Towering over the neighborhood, Hector strode quietly along the near vacant road and kept a lookout for any oncoming traffic. On his right shoulder was Molly, whom he made friends with last weekend at the mall when she came out and had a quick conversation with him. The two had really hit it off that day and when school came on Monday, they met up before class, in between hours, and during lunch with every meeting bringing the two closer together. It's been three days now and the two were the bestest of friends.

With each step passing an entire block, Hector travelled pretty quickly despite the fact he was only out on a stroll, but time seemed irrelevant to him as he was caught up in his conversation with the tiny sauropod,

"...and when Bambu was being chased by that evil farmer and his dog, I was so scared that he was going to get caught when he got entangled in that overgrowth! Panda's are already going extinct, so why do people keep attacking them? They're so cute and cuddly-looking, why would anyone want to kill one!" Molly whined as she recounted the events that happened in the film they watched, Bambu, and threw out her opinion to the quietly listening giant.

"I thought it was pretty sad when his mother disappeared." he commented, thinking about his own parents,

"My dad's asleep most of the time and he can't come out from where he lives, so my mom has to do all the hard work in raising me. I can't imagine what I would do if my mom disappeared like that." he said in monotone.

During their three days together, Molly had heard about Hector's absent dad and honestly felt some sympathy towards him. Her parents were almost never home to see her and it was rough dealing with it at first, but her grandparents made great company, so she was pretty content. Sitting down on his balcony-sized shoulder, Molly's head dipped a little as she was reminded of her home life,

"Yeah, I know what you mean." she muttered and felt her tail start to swish a little in agitation.

Normally she tries to keep an upbeat and optimistic attitude, but whenever her parents were brought up, she would always feel bothered. It was one of the things she kept hidden from others, but then again, no one really noticed her anyway, so she had to deal with her issues internally and sort things out herself. She always wondered if the way she was coping with reality was correct and the sad part was, she wasn't entirely sure herself.

"Huh, check that out!" the sound of Hector's booming voice caught Molly's attention and she swivelled her head to see what it was exactly that Hector was referring to.

"Woah, that's a big bat!" she cried out in surprise and alarm.

Not too far away, a large flying bat was soaring through the open air and following along one of the streets. It was flying real low, probably around twenty feet or so from the ground and when Molly got a closer look, she could see two figures on its back. The one in front appeared to be a flat, bear person and the one behind her was a humanoid cat with a big head.

In a moment of recognition, she gasped in surprise and got up quickly,

"It's Teri and Gumball!" she exclaimed, pointing it out to the gentle giant.

Squinting through all the fur and getting a closer look, the star athlete saw that his cheerleader friend was right,

"Huh, you're right! They must be riding on one of her origami again." he rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he watched the two bank in the direction of another street and vanish completely.

Keeping her focus on where they were headed, Molly ran through a few quick calculations and came up with a theory,

"I think they're heading to Gumball's house." she guessed before suddenly snapping her head Hector's direction with a vexed look,

"And what do you mean they must be riding her origami again? I didn't know Teri had a power like that and they've done this before?" she asked quizzically.

He wasn't sure why Molly seemed so put off by this, but he figured he may as well tell her what he knew seeing as it wasn't hurting anyone,

"To be honest, I don't know much about it. It started a little while back and every now and then I would see Gumball and Teri leave the school on one of her origami and they would come back within half an hour, sometimes looking a little beat up. I'm not sure what it is those two do, but given that Gumball carries that scythe of his whenever they take off like that, I'm sure it's pretty dangerous and now that I think of it, they did save me from that sword wielding skeleton last Friday. Stupid demonic salesman." he grumbled.

He knew that the two schoolmates of his were sneaking off on their own and going off on some adventures, seeing as he had tutoring done outside in the school courtyard. It also just occurred to him that Gumball was carrying the same scythe he used to fight that one guy who cut his knees and stabbed his hand. The one-eyed one named Rob told him that there was a curse plaguing Elmore and that he and his associates were dealing with it.

Could it be that Rob's associates were Gumball and Teri and this so-called "curse" was actually the appearance of powerful entities like the ones he faced?

While his mind sat on this, Molly had more questions and was asking away,

"Wait, wait, back up a bit! So those two have been sneaking off to do dangerous things for some time now and you also said Gumball was carrying a scythe? Was it about four feet long, and silver with weird symbols on the blade? Also who are the demonic salesmen?" she kept firing them off and patiently awaited Hector's response.

The massive football player carefully considered this and realized that Molly was new to the world of magic that he had been accustomed to since birth,

"Um, I'm sure whatever it is they're doing is very important and probably magical too, seeing as your description of his scythe is pretty accurate. Sadly, I'm not allowed to talk about strange creatures because my mom thinks it'll frighten other people and cause harm, so sorry." he mumbled, watching his footing as a car made its way underneath his massive, hairless feet.

With her brow knitting into one of a serious expression, the pensive dinosaur recalled finding that very scythe at the football stadium a while back and when she brought it to school, she bumped into Carrie in the hallway, who laid claim to it before taking it off her hands,

"I figured it was Carrie's because it made the most sense, but why would Gumball be using it? This is so weird." her thoughts carried her skepticism as she continued to stare down at the furry orange floor.

There was nothing more he could offer her on the matter and so Hector decided to drop the subject altogether,

"Yeah, I'm not quite certain what's been happening lately, but things are getting pretty crazy around here." he said in a glum tone before remembering something that cheered him up a little and he quickly informed his best friend,

"Oh, that's right! Before I forget to mention it, my mom was wondering if it was alright for you to come over for dinner tomorrow after school? I talked to her last night and she told me that you were a pretty good friend, so she doesn't mind!" he recalled, his hopes already rising.

"Really? That's awesome and yes, I would love to!" she declared, feeling a tremendous feeling of warmth from within.

Underneath the shaggy mat of fur, Hector smiled and continued on with their little stroll through the neighborhood,

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." he replied in a warm tone,

"My mom says all you need to do is get your folk's permission so that way she knows and meet up after school where she will come to pick us up." he explained.

He was glad that she was up for this, he knew that they met only five days ago and that visiting someone else's house was kind of a big change in pace, but there wasn't much going on at his place, plus his mom was cool whenever guests didn't get on her nerves. He was bubbling up from the inside, but he had to be careful 'less his emotions run free and cause a catastrophe. He was grateful that Molly was comfortable enough to come over and was already planning ahead as to what they could possibly do, being sure to follow Rob's advice as he did so.

After he got confirmation from Molly that she will talk to her folks tonight, the two had their plans set for tomorrow and continued to enjoy their nighttime stroll. They had gone to a drive-in theater just outside of Elmore to watch the previously mentioned film, Bambu, just after school let out and the two of them really enjoyed it. Now he was taking her straight home, like a gentleman, and endorsing himself in the pleasant small talk they had.

Now they were quietly enjoying the skyline as multiple police helicopters swept through the skies above downtown Elmore.

-Watterson residence, 7:15 PM-

Sitting quietly in the early evening, the blue suburban house Gumball called home quietly awaited its residents as they set down on the front porch and disembarked from the flying paper mount. Folding up their respective tools and putting them away, the two made their way into the house and closed the door behind them. Seeing as the yellow station wagon was parked out front, Gumball knew both parents were home and didn't worry about getting into trouble.

Dropping his bag on the floor next to the doorway, Gumball walked his way over to the kitchen while Teri remained in the living room,

"Well, that went about as well as I could've imagined!" he quipped in heavy sarcasm as he thought back on the ride through the park's nature reserve.

Setting her bag on the couch, Teri just shook her head and let out a large sigh,

"Ugh, I don't even want to think about it right now! First, the trip through space, then the encounter on Babyloth, and now everyone knows! It's all too much to process right now." she groaned in exhaustion.

The blue cat was in full agreement and decided to take his mind off of it by focusing on tonight's task,

"Right. You want me to make you dinner while you call your mom and let her know you're here?" he politely suggested,

"Gotta warn you though, my mom hasn't done any shopping yet and the only thing I'm allowed to make is spaghetti and sauce." he mentioned with a nervous rub of his neck.

Plopping down on the couch, Teri was more or less content with that and gave him her approval,

"That's fine, as long as you're the one making it." she said.

Gumball smiled and gave her a brief response before turning tail towards the kitchen. With Darwin and Anais being in separate houses and both parents probably hidden away in their bedroom, Gumball noticed that the house was unsettlingly quiet and empty. He busied himself with cooking, snagging a lucky find when he discovered that they had some brownies leftover from when he was experimenting with a new recipe, and in the living room, Teri talked to her mother over the phone.

Eventually the meal was ready to be served and Gumball, being the gracious host he was, brought over two steaming bowls of pasta to the living room where his girlfriend just finished her conversation with her mom,

"My mom's shift ends at 8:15, so she said she's going to be here at 8:30 to come and pick me up." she announced, slapping her phone shut.

The clock read 7:32, so they had a little less than an hour to hang out and that was okay with him,

"Fine by me." he chirped in a happy tone before handing her a bowl,

"Here you go by the way." he offered.

Taking the bowl and smiling back in appreciation, she moved over a little to let him sit next to her,

"Thank you, come here." she said, patting the spot next to her.

Doing as he was told, the blue cat settled himself in right next to her and before the two could get started, he grabbed the remote to switch on the television set. Unfortunately, Under the Stethoscope wasn't going to be on until 9, so they had to settle on some other channel and began to unwind from there. While snuggling up beside one another, they ate in silence and watched some random cartoon show. Considering all the craziness and stress the day has brought, this was exactly what they needed.

Once he had gotten a second bowl for the both of them, plus brownies and a blanket to wrap themselves up in, Teri wondered about something that happened earlier, deciding now was a good time to ask Gumball about it,

"Hey, Gumball?" she started, gaining the cat's attention.

Swallowing a fork full of noodles and sauce, Gumball focused his attention on the paper puppet when he heard his name mentioned,

"Hmm?" he mumbled.

Setting her bowl on the coffee table, she placed her hands in her lap and turned her head towards him,

"Back when we were out in space, I kissed you on the cheek and then you kissed me back, but only on the forehead. Why was that?" she questioned, keeping her face simple.

This kind of caught him off guard as he had to take a moment to think back on that event and wondered why he went for her forehead instead of her lips,

"Oh, that! Ummmm, I'm not sure why, I just kind of assumed you didn't want me to kiss you on the lips because you were uncomfortable with it." he explained, rubbing the back of his neck with his palm as he bashfully looked at her,

"Did you want a kiss on the lips?" he asked with uncertainty.

Backing up a bit, Teri threw her hands up in front of her and began waving them back and forth,

"Oh no, no, no, no, no! I wasn't trying to pressure you into giving me one!" she countered very quickly, almost startling Gumball,

"I'm just glad that you were being considerate of my feelings and that you didn't go for it without asking me first, I mean, if you did then I wouldn't have held anything against you, but thank you!" she beamed in appreciation.

Now it made more sense and Gumball could see why this was a major concern for her. Every one of her romantic encounters up until today had been rather "off", as in she was always under the influence of some kind of spell and thinking back on it, Gumball felt extremely guilty for being responsible for one of them. He was right in making the safe decision to kiss her forehead in response to her kissing his cheek, he loved her and wanted to make sure she was happy,

"Yeah, don't mention it! I want you to be happy and comfortable around me. If you want to take things slow, then as your boyfriend, I accept your decision and will do as you wish!" he boldly declared.

Hearing this proclamation coming from him, Teri felt grateful and was simply glad that not only was he kind, funny, and accepting, but respectful too. She couldn't ask for anyone better and this gratitude radiated from the paper girl,

"Thank you, I'm glad you think so and don't forget, I also want you to be happy and comfortable with me too." she said, kindly reminding him that this worked both ways and she pulled him into a warm hug,

"I love you." she said into his shoulder.

Gumball held her close and nuzzled his face against her cheek,

"I love you too." he whispered and pecked her papery skin.

Teri quickly pushed him away and wiped her cheek with her hand,

"Ugh, don't kiss me when your face is covered in sauce!" she angrily replied as she grabbed some disinfectant from her bag.

Feeling the tender moment being ripped away by that remark, Gumball was first met with surprise then mild frustration as he folded his arms across his chest,

"What the what? Hey, come on now, it was a touching moment! Could you at least reel in the paranoia after the moment had passed!" he retaliated.

And then they began arguing again, just like they always did and there was an exchange of curses coupled with mild insults as the two went at each other. The exchange didn't last long though and the two were back to cuddling in no time, finishing their dinner with both occasionally stealing a brownie from the plate. Eventually the light from the screen and the sound from the speakers became distant as the combined warmth from the blanket, their body heat and from the meal they shared began to cast a shroud of drowsiness over the two, causing them both to drift off into a dreamland where they laid by a massive oak tree in a peaceful meadow.

Their argument had gained the attention of Gumball's mother, who went out to go investigate and when she found the two sleeping on the couch together, the motherly cat couldn't help, but smile softly at the two as she made her way over to the dining room to grab a seat and a book to read until the two woke up.

-Elmore Shopping Mall, October 10th, 2013, 4:52 PM-

Sitting by himself in the Siren's allure coffee shop that had recently opened up in the mall, Leslie the flower boy was enjoying the fact that there were no cheer meetings today and was taking this newfound freedom to hang out at one of his favorite coffee shops. He wasn't here to eat and drink however, rather he was focused on the phone in front of him. He was on a video chat with someone he hadn't seen in a long time and missed dearly.

On the tiny screen was a yellow shape-shifting fairy with antlers and a friendly, approachable aura that more often drew people to her,

"...and so the prime minister of Japan is sending aid overseas to help the citizens of California recover from the San Francisco attacks." Penny said, wrapping up a conversation they were having about recent events.

Clapping his leaves together, the daisy's bright face seemed to shine even brighter and he chuckled happily at the news,

"That's a relief! When all the explosions stopped, I left the shelter with everyone else and I gotta say, the amount of damage was so extraordinary, I thought they were going to need an army of engineers to help fix it!" he claimed, remembering those terrible few hours vividly.

Shooting him a sympathetic look, Penny nodded slowly and sighed in relief,

"I'm glad everyone got out okay. When I first heard of the attacks, I was completely horrified and then I learned of Hector's injuries, so I worried that others got hurt. Thankfully Masami told me everything was alright and Hector was back in shape the next day, which is very pleasing to hear. I guess his mom's magic is effective in curing Elmore's greatest athletes!" she said, rubbing her hands together nervously.

Leslie nodded in agreement, feeling as though everyone was indeed very lucky for surviving that ordeal, especially when four hundred others didn't, and kept in high spirits,

"I know, it was really scary, but everything turned out okay and the mayor is even helping out by keeping a lookout for any suspects that may have been involved in the bombings. Unfortunately, there's been a dramatic increase in police patrols and it like, totally sucks right now because they keep holding up traffic and they're also really paranoid right now." he responded in frustration before switching his focus on Penny's newest accessory,

"Speaking of magic, that necklace you're wearing is simply enchanting! Is that a Jade statue from made from actual Jade stone?" he asked, raising his brow in a curious manner.

Looking down at her chest, Penny saw that he was referring to the miniature green statue of the Jade Emperor himself, dressed in elegant flowing robes with a small halo behind his head and having the appearance of a regal Chinese figure. The figurine itself was as big as a human thumb and was wrapped in a leather cord that hung around Penny's neck. It was a precious item and Penny heard all sorts of tales regarding the stone's value as well the connections it had to the lord of the seven heavens.

Holding it up for Leslie to see, she talked about it with an air of mystique,

"Oh, this? It's a gift my friend Castro gave me a month after moving to Japan, he found it in some kind of charm shop and told me that it brought the wearer luck. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but I like it anyway and yes, it's made from real Jade stone." she set the necklace down and gave Leslie a warm smile.

Leslie was impressed with what he heard and placed his petal covered chin on his leaves as he prodded her for more information,

"So even in the land of the rising sun, you're still just as popular with others. I bet you're having so much fun over there with all your new best friends that you've forgotten about all your old one's in Elmore, aren't you?" he asked with a wicked grin and a look that was so playful, you would have to be a fool in order to miss that he was joking.

Feigning hurt, Penny shot back in her seat, hands placed over her heart as her face twisted into one of pretend shock and disbelief,

"Why Leslie, how could you accuse me of such a thing? I still miss and love all my friends back in Elmore with all my heart. Especially you, seeing as you're not only my best friend, but also my favorite cousin!" she gasped, before breaking character when she cracked a smile.

Giggling in response to her playful banter, Leslie waved her off with a single leaf and shook his head,

"Oh please stop! Fluttery won't get you anywhere!" he replied in between giggles.

"You mean flattery?" Penny corrected.

"I know what I said!" Leslie rebuffed with a huff.

Then something else came to the yellow fairy girl and an excited look crossed her features,

"Oh, speaking of Elmore! My dad was talking to some construction worker, who was also from California and he told him another construction company was opening up in Elmore!" she explained in a rapid machine gun fire voice,

"Do you know what that means?" she squealed, leaning in closer to the screen.

"Girl, tell me what it means!" Leslie demanded, his excitement already building.

"My dad's taking us back to Elmore during Winter break and if he lands the job, he says we can stay!" her voice had risen so much, she was practically shouting with astonishment.

Now he was completely blown away, the news was too much to handle and Penny's cousin needed to pinch himself to make sure this wasn't a dream. Jumping up in his chair, the flower's little roots bounced him up and down as he whooped and cried with joy along with his relative. His cousin and one of his closest friends was coming back and there was nothing on this Earth that could make him feel any happier.

Once the two had finished celebrating over the news, Leslie settled himself back down in his chair and held up the screen again so he could see her clearly,

"This is beyond awesome, Penny! Once everyone figures this out, they'll be drowning in excitement and best of all, we'll have the original cheerleading gang back together. I mean, we can finally toss Sherry out because she's such an airhead and doesn't even socialize that much anyway." he spoke with venom at the mentioning of their newest member.

Sharing her relative's high enthusiasm (minus the part about booting Sherry because she's actually heard decent things about her contrary to Leslie's beliefs.), Penny couldn't stop grinning and was really glad to have more to share,

"Yeah, I would like to get together with everyone else again and hang out like the good old days, but I'm also bringing some of my friends from Japan over too! You guys will absolutely love them, they're all really cool people to be around and you have got to meet Jamiko Miyamoto, he's so awesome!" she announced.

"Looking forward to it!" Elmore's greatest dancer replied eagerly,

"Is he hot?" he followed up, giving her a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.

Rolling her eyes, Penny sat back in her chair and folded her arms in dissatisfaction,

"Leslie! He's my friend!" she groaned while he only tossed his petal head back and laughed.

The two then got started on a conversation regarding travel and their plans for when she arrived, when over Leslie's shoulder, through the cafe's window Penny saw someone very familiar wander on by. At first she thought it was nobody important, but after a double take she noticed that he was blue and dressed in a brown sweater. Right next to him was another figure, this one almost completely white and flat as a sheet of paper.

When she recognized them, she gasped and drew her cousin's attention right away,

"Is that Gumball?" she stated in surprise.

Looking back and through the glass, Leslie spotted them right away and nodded to confirm Penny's inquiry,

"Yep, and Teri too!" he said, holding up the phone so she could get a better look at the two.

At first she was so happy to see him not only walking about the mall, but with a smile on his face too! He was happy now! She couldn't believe it herself, after hearing from Leslie and the other girls on how depressed he'd become after she moved away, she'd been so heartbroken at hearing this and tried her best to reach out to him, but to no avail.

Now he was up and in high spirits again, which was splendid for her because maybe she could try contacting him again to deliver the good news,

"Oh my Jade, he's actually looking better now! I'm so glad he's- eh?" she stopped when she noticed something else soon after.

Right next to Gumball was Teri, which she had already noticed, and at first she believed that the two were just hanging out as casual friends. This seemed rather off to her, considering how those two normally interacted before she left, but what she saw next completely took her by surprise. The two of them were holding hands and talking to one another in a way one could describe as affectionate.

There was a very tense moment of silence as Penny watched this scene, her emotions mixing and clashing as she tried to piece it all together,

"Um, are Teri and Gumball usually that close?" she wondered in a serious tone.

It was this question that sparked Leslie and the resident drama queen was already in full gossip mode,

"Oh my goodness, you wouldn't believe what happened today at school! So I was at recess with Masami, talking about Hector and Molly's "little exchange" during practice last Tuesday, when she saw, you guessed it, Gumball and Teri sitting by the shed and playing some video game on Gumball's phone." she said, blowing the Hector and Molly part out of proportion because the two were actually just friends and not that close, yet,

"So we approached them all cool-like and when we got their attention, they were both red in the face when they saw us. So we chatted with them and guess what they said next? They're going out with each other, that's right!" he snapped his leaf tip (somehow) and made a sassy mmm-mmm!

All the color seemed to fade from Penny's face under the span of a single instant and her expression was stone-like. Something wasn't right, when she got her last update on Gumball, it was about a month ago and according to Leslie, Gumball was starting to get better and Teri was just hanging out with him. She initially saw this as nothing to worry about and sometimes she would wonder how those two came to start being friendly, but this was the complete opposite of what she heard.

She was so caught up in her own inner turmoil that she almost forgot to say something,

"...what?" her voice deadpanned, sounding brass and hollow as she stared seemingly ahead at nothing.

Completely unaware of her dispassionate reaction, Leslie continued on with his train of gossip,

"I know, right? I mean, I already knew they were about to get together and when they said they were dating, I was like Ugh, finally! and Masami seemed happy too, she had this really big smile on her face. It was so big, it almost looked fake! I haven't told anyone else about it yet, except you and Sarah, but I can't wait for school tomorrow to start spreading all this juicy information." he was fully immersed in the drama zone, so much so that he'd already gone blind to the world around him.

That was until Penny got mad and exploded at her, shapeshifting into a hissing Gorgon that frightened poor Leslie,

"What?! Leslie, why didn't you tell me they were getting closer? Why didn't you tell me Gumball was happier in the first place?" she didn't mean to shout, but there was no other outlet for her negativity.

Leslie stopped what he was doing, the effects of her anger already stunning him into a silent statue of fright and confusion as he wondered what was wrong with her,

"I, uh… is something wrong, Penny?" he asked, genuinely confused and scared as was evident by the way he used his leaves to shield his face.

The red Gorgon hissed once more at him, her forked tongue flickering in and out of her fanged mouth, her tail rattled menacingly and the nest of snakes on her hair seethed in anger like their master before she got a hold of herself and reverted back to her original form. She took a deep breath and let it out, calming herself down. Next she furiously rubbed at her temples and spoke slowly to the phone, as if she were on the brink of unleashing her rage again,

"No, everything is fine." she whispered, though the edge in her tone clearly suggested she wasn't,

"I was… I knew he was going through a hard time and I figured it was going to be a while until he got better, but I wished he would call me first. I wanted to let him know that everything was going to be fine and that I was coming home soon. That we could have… we could…" she sniffed as tears began to well up in her eyes and she wiped them away with her hand, before reaching for the phone again,

"I gotta go!" she sobbed, cutting the feed shortly after.

Leslie watched in horror as the screen went dark and he grabbed the phone while shouting,

"Penny, wait!" but it was too late.

Feeling sorry for her and for bringing that up, the potted plant slumped back into his chair with a look of pure dismay written on his face. Before she left Elmore, Penny had told him that she wanted to see if she could keep her relationship with Gumball going online, but Leslie found that unlikely seeing as there was no telling how long it will be until they actually saw each other again. He was right too, as soon as Gumball got the news, first he tried to convince her folks to stay and when that didn't work, he tried to persuade Penny to stay and live with him. This too was met with failure and as soon as they said their good-byes, that was it, their relationship had ended just like that.

When they got in touch with one another, Leslie did his best to keep her up to date on the status of her friends and Gumball included. She often told him how much she missed him and was always asking on how he was feeling once the conversation stretched on long enough, but he remained unaware of the fact that she still believed they could make it work somehow, until today, apparently. He honestly thought that she would've been happy seeing her ex moving on, but now he felt bad for ruining their chat together.

While he was sinking into a well of despair, the drooping flower failed to notice a peculiar person approaching from behind and jumped when he felt a soft finger poking him in the back,

"Hey, what's the big id- Masami!?" he gasped in alarm as he peered into the blank, white cloudy face of his current best friend and fellow gossiper.

She greeted him with a warm smile and proceeded to sit down next to him,

"How's it going, Les? Who were you talking to on the phone?" she questioned with slight intrigue.

Happy to see someone he could talk to, Leslie tried to force a smile, but failed and his plump lips sagged back into a frown,

"Not good. I was talking to Penny over video chat and it was going great at first, but then I went and said something without thinking. Now she's upset and mad at me." he whimpered, feeling very downcast.

Now further interested, Masami's eyes opened wide and she leaned back a little in her seat,

"Really now? You wanna tell me what happened?" she asked, though this was a lie because she had overheard their entire conversation after she trailed him into the coffee shop.

Keeping his eyes directed only at the table top, Leslie retained his sad demeanor, but continued forth anyhow,

"Well, for starters, there is some good news…" he began.

The two sat together at their lonely table, with only a few people coming in every now and then and quickly leaving once their order has been delivered. Masami quietly listened to Leslie describe the details of the online conversation he had with his distant relative, from the part where he told her about their disastrous field trip, to the news that she was coming to Elmore this upcoming winter, and to the final part after she noticed Gumball and Teri together. Once he was finished, Masami feigned shock and reacted in a way that seemed appropriate,

"That's amazing! We can get the whole girl's gang back together and do all kinds of fun stuff, just like old times!" she beamed, displaying a face full of content and nostalgia.

Seeing her look all happy brought him some joy again and he too lit up like the sun,

"You know it, girl! We should celebrate by throwing her a party at your place or maybe we should take her to Elmore Funland, where they've installed some new rides that are way better than last year's. Oh, she's also got some friends coming over to visit as well, so we should hit up that karaoke bar and party all night long, show them how awesome American culture is!" he boldly proclaimed.

Masami nodded along and kept up with the excited exchange,

"Right! I heard that the Stomach destroyer 2.0 has an extended track that increases the ride time from three minutes to six minutes and the Tunnel of love has some new features being added in for Valentine's day." she added in before her expression was replaced with one of clarity,

"Hey, you know we can try getting Penny and Gumball back together when she comes back, right?" she suggested with a sly smirk.

As she expected, Leslie's first reaction to this remark wasn't necessarily positive and the flower boy was already reeling back in surprise,

"But we can't do that! Gumball is already dating Teri and I'm sure Penny is willing to move on, given enough time of course." his round face displayed his inner shock to the cloud as clear as day.

Masami kept up her charade and nodded sympathetically, making sure she looked as though she were on his side,

"You're right about that, but think about it for a moment: was it Penny's fault that she had to move away? How is it fair to her that she had to leave all of her friends and boyfriend behind, only to learn that she's coming back in a few months anyway? That's only seven months she was gone and now she can't restart her relationship with Gumball all because Teri managed to get a jumpstart on him. She practically stole him and now you saw how upset she was, she was completely devastated by this." her masked concern was actually leaving an impression on her friend and she had one last trick up her sleeve to completely sway him,

"Besides, you want your cousin to be happy right? Picture how excited she'll be when she finds out that things between Teri and Gumball didn't work out so great and that she can have everything the way it was again!" she eagerly explained while leaning in closer to hear his response.

And just like an enchantress, she had the flower boy completely under her spell. While he was excited for Teri and Gumball kicking off a new romance, the fact that Penny was so broken up about their own relationship officially being over broke his heart too and he wanted to see her happy again. Maybe he was wrong about rooting for Teri in the first place and besides, even if something were to happen between those two, it's not like Teri wouldn't be any different anyway, right?

There was the issue of Teri herself and how she would take the break up, considering for one, she's never been in a relationship before and two, once December arrives that will make it only three months that those two have been dating.

He pushed those thoughts aside and after a moment of consideration, the flamboyant classmate of Masami's slowly shifted in tone before nodding in accordance,

"I see your point, but how are we going to get those two to break it off before Penny arrives?" he asked quizzically, still feeling slightly conflicted as to whether he should be doing this.

Easing back into her chair, Masami simply didn't seem all too concerned for Penny's arrival and the truth was, she wasn't,

"While getting those two to part before winter break would be ideal, it wouldn't necessarily be a hindrance if she were to come home before then and there's a way we can work it to our advantage." she simply replied, stretching her cloudy arms behind her head.

Arching an eyebrow, Leslie peered curiously at his fluffy friend and further wondered what she could have in mind,

"Really now and what are your plans exactly?" he questioned.

Happily accepting his request for additional intel, Masami leapt at the question and proceeded to fill him in,

"Glad you asked! In the months leading up to her arrival, all we have to do is instigate some heat between the two and try to make them distrust one another. You can also take the time to spread lies to Penny about Gumball and Teri's relationship, that way she'll be more than willing to get together with him when she comes back and when she does, that'll be an opportune moment to set up an "incident" involving Penny and Gumball right at the wrong moment when Teri is nearby. The best part about our paper friend is that like her body, her mind is fragile too and it won't take much to break her little heart." she quickly explained.

Leslie understood this and was now completely on track with this plan. With their relationship being as young as it is, it'll be easy to convince Penny to think that something's going wrong and destroying their bond would be just as easy too, provided everything was set up right.

With an affirmative nod, she continued,

"Right, spreading misinformation is my specialty and I'm also guessing that you weren't really a fan of Teri hooking up with Gumball?" he was curious, seeing as he noticed that her reactions towards the paper girl were noticeably hostile.

A small nod and an honest look of pure disdain was given to him, prompting the cloud girl to sigh in agitation,

"You can say I'm not really a fan of Teri herself." she replied honestly.

While Leslie could make a few guesses regarding the rich girl's animosity towards the hypochondriac, he decided not to pry any further and got down to discussing particular plans for the weekend. While they talked, Masami also reminded the walking flower to keep Penny's arrival a secret from everyone else and Leslie assured her that he would and that he could also get in touch with Penny herself to tell her to keep it a secret too. Once that had been settled, Masami turned to the window and caught a brief glance of Gumball and his obnoxious girlfriend walking out of a clothing store to head towards a different store for movie rentals.

She scowled at the two, mainly at Teri herself and turned her head away from the sight of both of them holding hands,

"Seriously, how in Jade's name did that irritating, wretched snowflake of a girl manage to get Gumball completely wrapped around her finger?" she thought bitterly to herself.

Out of all the classmates Masami personally detested, the name Teri was close to the top, just beneath Sussie, Sarah, and Tobias. She hated Teri for the fact that she was a complete nutcase when it came to cleanliness and found some satisfaction in seeing her alone, chasing one activity after the other while trying desperately to gain some attention. While Masami was aware of her own flaws, at least she believed herself to be well respected and appreciated amongst the student body. Teri, on the other hand, deserves no such respect or even the slightest bit of attention, especially when she demanded that everyone give it to her.

Now she has a boyfriend and the entire class was captivated by the unusual turn of events for her.

"I'm going to knock that lightweight back down a peg and make her regret seeking out more than she deserves." was her final thought regarding the matter before she went back to her private exchange with Leslie.

-Dinner, 5:01 PM-

"Here's your order of french fries, a chocolate cookie milkshake for you, sir, and a raspberry lemonade for you, ma'am." Karen listed off as she set their orders down in front of Gumball and Teri,

"Is there anything else you two would like?" she asked one last time before getting ready to part for the next table.

With everything they wanted set right in front of them, Gumball and Teri shook their heads and sent the waitress on her way with a simple reply. After getting some shopping done today, they still haven't received a message from Darwin, or anyone else for that matter, in regards to where they were meeting and decided to take a snack break while they waited. Digging into the basket full of fries, the two went over today's events while enjoying the salty potato slices that were really thick when compared to normal fries and relishing the cozy atmosphere the restaurant brought,

"I'm so glad they had Under the stethoscope seasons one through two at Ripley 2000." Teri commented, patting her backpack where the films were stored.

Swallowing a french fry and taking a swig of his milkshake, Gumball was nodding in agreement,

"Me too, I was kind of bummed I missed out on the first two and half of season three!" he remarked.

Teri giggled and munched on another fry,

"Well, tomorrow evening we can go to my place and help you catch up while snuggling on the couch together." she said, giving him a wink and the kitten grinned from ear to ear.

Setting his glass down, Gumball went over today's events and how he felt about it,

"You know, despite some of our classmates keeping their distance, I thought today was really great! I'm kind of impressed not many of our classmates have picked up on us being a thing now." he said, recounting most of the student's supposed lack of interest, despite the fact they were both holding hands on the bus and in the hallway.

Thinking back on it, Teri too noticed the absence of the student's opinions regarding how they were behaving today, but already considered a possible reason for such a matter,

"I had a great day too, so far, and I think the reason no one, except Leslie and Masami, has picked up on us yet is because we haven't really done anything that couples normally tend to do. I mean for example, Carmen and Alan are always flirting and sharing meals while your brother and Carrie are always cuddling on the bus and occasionally sharing a kiss in the library when they think no one is looking. I'm sure given time, Leslie and Masami will spread the news and everyone in a hundred mile radius of Elmore will know about it." she thought her words over carefully and felt what she said made sense,

"Of course, this is going to take some getting used to, I mean for starters, calling you my boyfriend now just seems so unreal to me and I'm not even sure how the rest of this is going to go. I'm just so nervous right now because I've never dated anyone before." she honestly replied, not sure why she was though.

"I know what you mean, I remember waking up this morning and thinking to myself, "Oh my goodness, I can't believe Teri's my girlfriend now! If this is a dream, I don't want anyone pinching me!", the wait for the bus was especially nerve wracking because I didn't know what I was going to say or do when I met you. I mean, do I just walk up to you and say "hi!" or do I hug you tight?" he stated before remembering the conversation they had last night at his house,

"I think last night's decision to take things slow was a good idea for both of us. There's no rush to take things to the next level and there's still quite a lot left for us to figure out." he said, feeling as though that was the right thing to say.

Teri stopped sipping on her lemonade and checked her boyfriend (okay, that's still weird to say), to see if he was alright or if he had somehow been replaced by an android. There was no way in heaven she had ever heard him sound this mature before and it surprised her. It was hard to tell if he was starting to get better thanks to the war itself or if it was thanks to the events of yesterday that helped him grow or perhaps it was both?

Chuckling to herself, Teri began to fiddle with the straw and watched it spin around the glass rim,

"I thought I was supposed to be the mature one in this relationship?" she joked, sending him a teasing smile.

Laughing along with it, Gumball leaned back in his seat and swiped another fry from the basket,

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I try to be sensible." he teased her back, to which she stuck her tongue out at him and he returned by pulling at his lower eyelid.

After sharing some more laughter and shenanigans, the two quietly went back to snacking, both happy with their current situation. It honestly didn't matter to either of them whether people noticed they were a couple or how they should act, as long as they were comfortable with each other, then everything was fine. Both of them weren't sure if they should consider this little outing a date, seeing as they were meeting people later on, but it did bring back pleasant memories of the first time they hung out here.

Once they were finished with their meal, the duo shared a brief kiss, one on the cheek and one on the forehead, before striking up a conversation with the primary topic being the increased security in Elmore, when someone familiar let out an excited squeal,

"YES! I KNEW IT!"

Turning in their seats, Teri and Gumball spotted Carmen, of all people, rushing up to them with a sparkle in her eyes and the biggest smile they'd ever seen on any person,

"Sarah told me you guys were dating once school got out and at first I thought she was just looking too deep into things again, so I checked with Darwin and he said you guys totally were. Then I walk in here and you guys are!" she was a never ending fountain bubbling with joy and both were completely caught off guard by this level of attention they were getting,

"I'm so excited and happy for you both!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down excitedly.

Realizing that Leslie must've already told someone and Sarah happened to be one of those few, the two knew very well that tomorrow was going to see some very different reactions in comparison to today's. Still, they were glad someone else approved and was happy to see them finally get together. Teri also suspected most of Carmen's excitement was directed towards her, given how many times she's teased her about it and tried to set up potential dates to kickstart the relationship.

Calming down from her initial surprise, Teri went first and thanked the cactus girl for her support,

"Well, thank you very much, Carmen! Yesterday, Gumball and I went… out of town for a bit because he wanted to show me a great view of the stars and then while we were out, well, we talked and then he kind of let it slip that he liked me." she explained, fudging up the story just a tad bit before smiling warmly at her furry, Cyan partner sitting across from her,

"You can say, the evening really took off and we had quite blast afterwards." she added, using a little inside joke between them.

Gumball picked on her humor right away and further stacked it with his own,

"Well, the view was exquisite, but Teri really knows how to take my breath away!" he commented, watching her turn to him and go beet red when she figured it out, then giving him a hug afterwards.

Gushing at the flirty exchange going on, Carmen pressed her hands together and began bouncing again,

"Oh my Jade, you guys are too adorable! I need to hear all the details on how this evening went tomorrow during lunch and Teri, I expect juicy tidbits!" she demanded, giving her a wink.

Parting from their hug, the paper puppet was reminded of something and returned her attention to the leader of the seventh grade girl group,

"That sounds almost exactly like what my mom said when she found out last night! There was also Gumball's mom's reaction too, and that was pretty hilarious, if not embarrassing." she retained her blush at the recent memory of the humiliating moment and Gumball's face also shared the same hue.

Curious, Carmen tilted to the side a little and opened her mouth to question her,

"Really? What happened last night?" she placed her stick hands on her hips as an amused smile crept into her features.

With a pleading glance directed at Gumball from Teri herself, the boy caved and started off with what happened after they woke up on the couch.

-Flashback, yesterday evening-

They didn't sleep for long, only about twenty minutes or so, when a loud noise from the active television's speakers sounded off and startled the two of them awake. While Teri was slow to rise, Gumball was fully awake the moment his eyes opened and he noticed right away something was amiss. Whether they realized it or not, when the couple began to fall asleep, they rearranged themselves in a way where Teri was in front of Gumball and the latter had an arm draped around her torso, holding her close while under the covers. At first, all Gumball saw was white and when he pulled his head back a little, he saw that this blank surface was moving on its own.

Seconds later, he further scrutinize this strange object in front of him and realized all at once that it was the back of Teri's head,

"Oh?" he mumbled as he pushed himself up a little.

The little noise he made in addition to his movement helped wake Teri up even faster and the paper bear finally noticed her surroundings as well as the furry, blue arm snugly wrapped around her. She was very warm right now and even though this all seemed strange to her, she didn't mind as much and grabbed the paw she knew belonged to Gumball before bringing it closer to her. She massaged his knuckles with her thumb and the cat began to purr right behind her, making her all the more comfortable.

Turning her head around so she could get a good look at him, she smiled when she saw a dark pair of eyes staring back into her own,

"Well hello there, Mr. Purrington." she spoke soothingly.

Finding that nickname legitimately funny, Gumball couldn't force back a giggle and he shook his head at her silliness,

"So we're doing pet names now, eh? I thought we're supposed to be taking this slow?" he remarked with a hint of sarcasm.

Flashing him a sly look and smile, Teri giggled back,

"That's rich coming from the one who's spooning me right now." she countered, raising an eyebrow.

Looking down, Gumball saw that she was indeed correct and rectified this by sitting up quickly, though his face was already bright red by this point. Once again, he didn't remember how they wound up in this position, but he didn't want to take things too far and thought it better if he put a little space between her and himself. Teri, however, was fine and didn't mind his close proximity, showing it by cuddling up beside him again.

"It's okay, you're fine and I'm fine too, you lovable dork." she explained humorously before pecking him on the cheek, which was a humongous relief to Gumball.

Settling down again, Gumball pulled out his phone and checked the time, finding that they had about twenty minutes or so, until Teri's mom came to pick her up. At a loss for what to do during their remaining few minutes, Gumball turned to Teri for ideas. Feeling just as perplexed as to which possible activities to indulge themselves in, there were only a few that came to the cheerleader's mind,

"Well, we could either just go back to sleep or we can finish that Raging Red the Bandicoot game?" she offered with a shrug, fine with whichever.

Before Gumball could process the question and weigh the pros with the cons for each choice, a third party made itself known,

"How about you guys tell me about your evening together went?"

It was feminine, coming from someone middle-aged and it's direction was from that of the dining room, where neither had bothered to look once they woke up. Freezing up like criminals caught in an act of a felony, two heads slowly turned and found the form of a blue feline sitting at the dining room table, book in hand and clad in her beige PJ's with her head turned in their direction. Smiling knowingly, Nicole continued to stare at the children and the seconds ticked by as a multitude of confusing thoughts ran through their heads.

Then both of them exploded into action the moment it all set in and no one could clock how fast it took them to throw the blanket off, hop off the couch, and start babbling nonsensical gibberish as they both tried to explain their current predicament in a way that made it sound less scandalous.

After Nicole had nearly fallen out of her chair from laughing too hard, Richard came crashing out of the parent's room donning nothing more than his tighty-whities and a sense of curiosity as to what could be the cause of such a commotion,

"What's going on here? Why is there so much noise and why do I smell pasta and brownies? Did someone have a party without inviting me?" he questioned almost accusingly, before finally seeing all three members in the living room, with Nicole practically in tears at this point and Gumball and Teri looking at him in pure mortification.

Noticing that one of them wasn't a family member, Richard casually greeted the newcomer with a small wave and a friendly demeanor,

"Hey, you're Gumball's girlfriend, Mary, right?" he asked, pointing at Teri.

However, Gumball placed a paw over the horrified Teri's eyes as well as his own before shouting,

"DAD! PUT SOME PANTS ON!"

-present-

"And yeah, after dad got dressed, we all sat down and talked about what happened yesterday. I'm still scarred for life, by the way." he quipped, his eye twitching slightly.

Teri nodded in agreement before placing her hands together on the table and sighing slightly while fighting to keep that image from re-emerging in her head,

"They were pretty happy to hear that we were finally going out and Gumball's dad even called me his new daughter-in-law." she chuckled, remembering the ecstatic, overweight bunny's reaction.

Patiently listening, Carmen nodded and saw Gumball shake his head before muttering,

"Yeah, then my mom gave me a list of places I should take her because she wanted me to get to know Teri a little better and to get out of the house more." he thought that was pretty thoughtful considering they've only been hanging out for only a month, a little over one actually.

Then came the next part Teri wanted to share and she told Carmen what else happened that night,

"Oh yeah, speaking of mom, when mine finally arrived…"

-Flashback, twenty minutes after the discussion-

Yui just stood there for a moment, as still as a statue, while she processed what she had just heard and both kids and the Watterson parents patiently awaited her response. They just broke the news to her and now the curvier look-alike of Teri finally grasped what this meant for her daughter. Stretching from ear to ear, a smile broke out on her face and her eyes lit up as she began shaking like a toddler hyped up on sugar.

Then she lurched forward and threw herself around Gumball, much to the young boy's discomfort,

"EEK! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You just made my daughter the luckiest girl alive and you made me the happiest mother on this planet! Thank you so much for accepting my Teri-bear!" she cried, hugging him as though she were trying to squeeze the life out of his lean body, though it didn't really hurt in the slightest.

She then reached out and grabbed Teri to join in on the hug, catching the two of them together in a tight embrace,

"You two are going to be so great together, I know it!" she said, sounding very sure of herself and the two just blushed in embarrassment.

Stepping back from the hug, the circular paper bear mom drew on her striped dress a pocket, that she pulled a paper flip-phone out of and pointed the camera at the two,

"Okay you two, I wanna snap a couple photos to commemorate this moment with. First we'll dod one with you two standing side by side, then one of you two holding hands, and finally one where you two kiss!" she instructed with passionate enthusiasm.

"MOM!" Teri screamed in embarrassment, hiding her face in her hands as she tried to keep her eyes off of Gumball, who was looking equally as flustered.

All three parents laughed together and continued to have a good time.

-Present-

"She took several pictures, but at least she was kidding about that last part." Teri recalled, still feeling her heart racing at her mom's prompt to kiss Gumball.

Having wrapped up the story, Carmen nodded in appreciation and got ready to leave,

"That's lovely, you two. I wanna hear more about this later, but I gotta get back to shopping. We're having a student-staff meeting tomorrow discussing the increased security detail around Elmore, including the mayor's morning statement regarding the contract he made with the Bobert store and Elmore Dynamics to manufacture security sentinels and send them out to patrol our streets. It's a very unsettling topic and it needs to be addressed, I'm hoping we can form a petition to cease the mass production of security droids." she explained, sounding very distressed.

This came as a bit of a surprise to the two, as they had just been discussing a similar topic before Carmen showed up and neither of them knew about this,

"That is very alarming." Teri responded.

"I agree. There's already enough police officers in the streets and this will just cause even more panic!" Gumball followed up in agreement.

Nodding in acknowledgment, Carmen sighed and clasped her hands together,

"I know, Alan and I were thinking the same thing and wanted to spread the news to everyone else. We understand that everyone is scared right now and the citizens of Elmore are very concerned considering our entire class was caught up in the attacks, but there's got to be a better way to look after ourselves." she stated.

She took off from their table and waved back at them as she exited the restaurant,

"Enjoy your evening you two and congratulations, both of you! I will be seeing you both at school tomorrow, but please consider coming to the meeting as well, we need as many members present!" she said and they both gave her their word before wishing her good-bye.

As soon as she left, there was nothing being exchanged between the two and a heavy silence hung over them, filled in by the sounds of the restaurant and it's customers. When the Nephilim first showed, most people had their concerns, but seeing as they couldn't make heads or tails of the strange events, no one was really too concerned, save for a suspicious few. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before the Nephilim did something bold and now the culmination of all the anomalies, plus the events of the past few weeks was finally getting to the citizens.

And now many of them knew the truth, catching them in the center of all these events.

Releasing the tension building up in her shoulders, Teri groaned and slumped down in her seat,

"We really can't keep doing this anymore. People are starting to connect the dots and the ones that already have want to reveal everything. What's worse, if we do manage to keep it hidden, then people are just going to keep getting desperate for answers and this whole thing may collapse in on itself." she said, feeling as though she were suffocating with all this secrecy.

Gumball glumly nodded his head and brought it down on the table top, air hissing past his lips as he exhaled,

"Yeah, you're right. I never expected any of this to get out of hand, but I should've expected it anyway, given how powerful our enemies are. Maybe we should contact the NEA and see if they could help us out. If people felt safer and were given a proper explanation, maybe they'll be less scared?" he wondered.

Curious, Teri set her drink down and leaned forward a bit,

"Are we going to do that after we warn them of the invasion? We were lucky enough not only to escape with our lives, but also with critical information that could save millions, but we still don't know where they are and time is not exactly on our side here. They way they mentioned it, it sounded like it was happening soon and also, what are we going to do when it does happen?" she pried a little with a quizzical expression.

Finishing his milkshake, Gumball fought off an incoming brain freeze before answering,

"Honestly, I say we should start looking in San Francisco, it's the last place we found them and it can be done tomorrow seeing as your origami can get us there. As for the actual invasion itself, we can definitely- wait, hang on a moment, someone's texting me!" he stopped his original line of dialogue to pull out his phone and check his messages.

Making her way over, Teri read the text over her boyfriend's shoulder and found that it was from Carrie. It read:

Gumball, the meeting's been postponed, Rob and Chimera spotted the Nephilim in their sleep and they're appearing over the Channax building. If Teri's with you, bring her and meet me out front near the mall entrance ASAP!

Putting the phone away, Gumball got up and paid the check, before ushering Teri out the door along with himself,

"Looks like Nimrod's not happy with yesterday's visit and is bringing his friends along to finish the job he started." Gumball said, feeling a twinge of fear grip his stomach, making it do flip-flops.

Fearing his wrath, Teri too was nervous and wanted to hope the Nephilim's arrival wasn't going to be high in numbers,

"If they're appearing in downtown Elmore, then we have to hurry, many people's lives will be in danger, including your mom and my parents!" she exclaimed, picking up her pace.

Feeling the urgency of the situation bearing down on them, the fighting pair rushed to the mall's main exit, pushing past many shoppers and onlookers as they went. Eventually they got outside, where Carrie was waiting and she was relieved to see that both of them were there. With the target location not being so far, Carrie grabbed them by the hands and within a flash of light, the emo teleported all three of them away.

-Channax building rooftop, 5:11 PM-

Time and space mattered not for the trio, for in the blink of an eye the ghost, the cat, and the paper doll were brought to the concrete square that sat atop the capitol of Elmore's most ambitious conglomerate. They were not alone in this towering landscape, standing not too far way from where they appeared were three others: their long time ally, Rob, and Gumball's adopted brother, Darwin. Surprised to see him here, Gumball was immediately wrought with confusion,

"Um, nice to see you, bud." he greeted with a nervous wave before he looked around and noticed the small number of people present,

"Where's everyone else?"

There wasn't an immediate reply, but after a long moment of intense stares and awkward silence, Darwin finally said something much to the relief of the newly arrived,

"Anais is home, waiting for mom to come back from work. Macey's at her place with Chimera, she was the one who texted everyone, and Ocho is on his way along with Bobert. Jamie went over to Tina's house because she wasn't acting like herself today, but she's probably heading this way as we speak." he explained, sounding like an irritated teen having to explain something so simple to someone a second time and Gumball could still sense some hostility in his sibling.

"I was at the mall's arcade with Carrie when we got the message and she brought me up here just as he arrived." he hiked a "thumb" over at Rob, who didn't seem all too happy to see him.

Up next was Rob, who was dressed in a space suit covered in tin foil and a kevlar vest along with two strange devices covering his hands. On his right hand was a thick, metal, cylindrical casing holding a cluster of coil gun barrels ranging differently in size and caliber. Feeding into the guns was a series of wires and rubber hoses that acted as a track for all the ammo stored in his bag, which is where the hoses and wires led up to. On his left hand was a gauntlet also connected to several wires that ran along his arm and mounted to the index finger was a spray nozzle, no thicker than a pen tip, that connected to a canister containing a gel-like substance strapped to his wrist.

He looked like a spaceman invading from another world and his angry, one-eyed face kind of sold it too,

"This is a waste of time! You and everyone else need to stay as far away from this place because once the Nephilim arrive, you'll just be in the way." he said in exasperation, curling his left hand into a fist.

It didn't take any of them long to realize that there was some kind of uneasy tension between the cyclops and the fish, with Carrie holding even more knowledge as to why Darwin was acting this way. While Darwin wasn't easy to anger, he'd already been put in a bad mood today with all the stress from yesterday still lingering and this combined with his mistrust of Rob made him particularly perturbed. Pivoting on his heels, he had to tilt his head upwards in order to look him in the eye and he stomped his foot in defiance,

"None of us should be here in the first place! This is not a job for kids and once I've personally seen how dangerous this all is, I'm going to help Anais explain this to mom before we move onto informing the authorities. So until then, we're not going anywhere!" he argued, curling his fins into fists before briefly glancing off to the side where Gumball, Carrie, and Teri were standing and sighing,

"Besides, I want to make sure they're safe." he muttered, this being the real reason why he insisted on coming along.

All day at school, he kept his distance from Gumball and Teri, even though it made him feel bad because his brother was finally happy again with finding love in Teri. He needed space to think and would only converse with Carrie every once in a while. Before they went to school, they had a long talk at breakfast and when they got down to it, Darwin had explained to her that he was afraid of losing both of them, to which she told him that she was sorry for making him worry needlessly and for lying to him in the first place.

She was forgiven, obviously, but he still stood by his beliefs: a line had to be drawn on how to keep everyone safe.

As inevitable as the morning, Rob's rebuttal came and was driven by the same desire to protect, but not in the same way as Darwin wished,

"The authorities won't be able to do anything because they won't be able to see them, no one else can either and that goes especially for you! You want to help out, then stay out of our way and let us handle this!" he countered.

Now was the time for Carrie to speak up and she moved forward with a hand gripping her other arm,

"Actually, I need a body to possess in order to fight the Nephilim." she stated as a matter of fact before checking with her boyfriend,

"What do you say, Darwin?" she asked, hoping for his consent.

At first Darwin was hesitant and rightfully so. He knew that the Nephilim were dangerous, but were also like people and he found the act of fighting others completely distasteful. However, his desire to protect his loved ones was stronger than his fears or his beliefs and he accepted Carrie's offer,

"Of course." he chirped in agreement, having complete faith in his girlfriend's abilities.

Rob didn't object to this and seemed less agitated by the fish's presence, now that he had a means of providing further assistance. Then there was Teri, who also had a point to make regarding the things he said earlier and spoke to him,

"Just before Carrie came and picked us up, Gumball and I were talking about contacting the NEA at San Francisco." she left out the fact that they were leaving to warn them about an impending invasion, but now probably wasn't the best time to bring that up.

Raising his monobrow, Rob thought back to when he first heard one of them mention that name and it came back to him quickly,

"You mean the organization that one woman mentioned working for during your field trip?" he asked, needing confirmation.

Teri nodded and a smile was present,

"Yeah, that one! I believe her name was Amy and she helped us in our fight against Gorothim, she even saved Hector's life!" she explained with hopeful enthusiasm.

Rob remembered now and when he thought about it, there was an uncertainty that was pressing into him that he needed to voice out to the group,

"Right, but how do we know we can trust these guys? They may be fighting the same opponent, but we have no idea how they operate and what conditions they're willing to follow when it comes to outsiders." there was something else too, he remembered what Fjel had mentioned and was worried about what actions these guys would take once they figured out how important Hector and the Void were.

Upon the mentioning of this new group, Darwin's hopes rose and the group's youngest member was all for contacting the NEA,

"That's it! If there's a group of specialists that are trained to deal with this kind of threat, why don't we contact them and let them know that our home is under attack!" he suggested.

"I guess that could be beneficial." Carrie thought out loud, somewhat agreeing with Darwin.

"Creating allies would be a great help if we are to pull through this." Teri added in. In reality, she was all for it if it meant that they could live slightly normal lives, not that she hated defending Elmore from the forces that conspire against it, but felt as though the war was slightly taxing on all of them.

Gumball remained silent because he was unsure of what he wanted. On the one hand, Rob was right, they didn't know anything about these guys and even though they may want the same thing, their ways of achieving their goals may conflict with how they do things. Then there was Darwin's point, they were just kids and a group of highly trained specialists could probably get the job done better than they can, plus they could probably go back to living their lives if the NEA took over. He stared at the ground, his tail swishing back and forth while his ears flattened against his head as he racked his brain for a possible solution.

Completely against the idea, Rob objected and voiced his opinion,

"Did you not hear a single word I said? We don't know these people and if we're going to start reaching out for outside help, then we should at least test such an alliance before we-!"

"Greetings organic classmates, spectral entity, and former hostile!" a robotic voice from afar interrupted.

"Hey guys! Did we miss the show yet!" another one called out in a friendly greeting.

Rob felt his shoulders slump forward as he groaned in irritation and his eye rolled in his head,

"Great, here comes more deadweights!" he muttered venomously.

Arriving by air, Bobert and Ocho soared over to the Channax rooftop and set themselves down right besides the five already gathered. The robot appeared to be nonchalant whereas his companion was looking very excited, not even caring that Rob was there and armed with more weapons. Everyone, except the aforementioned cyclops, seemed shocked to see the two bickering school rivals here and not at all upset with what they learned as of recently.

Being the first to greet them, Gumball walked up and said hello,

"So what are you guys doing here? Are you still upset about the whole "keeping secrets" thing?" he nervously asked, a few sweat marks appearing on his head.

"Negatory." Bobert answered,

"In the last twelve hours I have calculated the best response to the situation and I have come to the conclusion that it would be beneficial If I gathered sufficient data on the electromagnetic spiritual anomalies labeled "Nephilim" in order to better assure the survival of Elmore and its residents." he listed off in a rapid machine-like manner.

Rolling his eyes at the droid's prattle, Ocho butted in and explained himself,

"You talk too much!" he spat before turning his attention towards the blue feline,

"You kidding? Of course not, well, maybe a little, but that's all water under the bridge. I just want to beat these guys and help out!" he exclaimed very boldly.

"Wow, that's a lot of confidence coming from a guy who's never seen a Nephilim before and probably can't either." Gumball thought in shock before getting to the main issue at hand,

"Um, yeah, as much as I'm glad to see you taking this very well, I don't think you guys should be-!" he stopped abruptly when Carrie let out a gasp.

Right at that very moment, the ghost sensed something very powerful appearing in the skies above and not too long after, several presences could be felt emerging from somewhere unknown. To Rob, Teri, and Gumball however, they could see this just fine and all three bore witness to not one, but five portals opening up in the sky above. The black tears that served as gateways to Babyloth contrasted against the hues of the late-afternoon sky and from these gateways, twenty Nephilim emerged.

Pulling out his folded scythe, Gumball cried out in alarm,

"They're here!" and with a click of two buttons, the stock and blade sprang out like an extended claw.

"There's so many of them!" Teri exclaimed in fright.

Just as she uttered that phrase, all the power in the skyscraper they were standing on and from the surrounding cityscape went out, leaving an unnatural aire of silence. The only machines that hadn't shut down were Rob's weapons and Bobert himself, who lucked out after getting that anti-EMP software installed following the attacks on San Francisco. The two boys searched the sky desperately, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary and Rob readied his weapons for the inevitable showdown.

Sliding his visor into place, a digital HUD appeared on the glass and Rob smiled when he saw that all systems were nominal,

"Perfect! With this many Nephilim showing up, I can put Leviathan Book to the ultimate test!" he remarked anxiously, priding himself with the weapon system he so caringly constructed in all his spare time.

Snapping into action, Carrie turned to Darwin and began to drift towards him,

"Darwin, I need to use your body!" she commanded.

Darwin, who also had no idea what was happening, quietly nodded and opened his mouth to let the emo spirit in. Like a white comet, she sailed right into his maw and after a few convulsions along with a color change from bright orange to sickly green, Carrie had complete control over his body. With new eyes, both Carrie and Darwin could see the true form of Elmore's greatest threat.

From the recesses of his mind, Darwin was already reeling in terror not just at the nightmarish sight of the giants, but at the alarming amount present,

"Oh my… the whole city is in danger! How are we going to deal with all of this?" came his worried thoughts, which was heard loud and clear by the fish's current driver.

While she had her own concerns with the horde gathered in the sky, she pushed those down and forced a smile onto her face, flashing a dangerous set of fangs,

"We'll deal with the big guy first, the rest will be easy pickings!" she declared. It may have been arrogant for her to say such things, but her excitement was being fueled by the adrenaline Darwin's body was pumping.

The Nephilim she was referring to, was by far the largest and most intimidating of the ones who arrived. Standing at over three hundred feet in height, this behemoth was so large that even though all the Nephilim were at least a thousand feet above them, every small detail could be seen by the ones who could perceive them and the nineteen other giants were like dolls to him. Humanoid in appearance, his outfit consisted of a white samurai kimono decorated with black, linear geometry that ran along his sleeves and in one hand, he carried a golden sickle. Though lightly exposed, they could see that his skin was silver and the back of his hands were covered in glowing markings that flash different colors and made him more noticeable.

The only odd thing about him was his head: there was a lower portion that had a mouth lined with shark teeth and stopped where the nose began, with there being no upper portion, rather a large disk that sat horizontally like a hat and there was nothing above it.

While everyone was hastily readying themselves for what looked to be an intense confrontation, the Nephilim in the sky remained where they were and the one in the kimono produced an object from his pocket. It was a hologram projector in the shape of a gem and only Gumball and Teri recognized the device. Moments later, the hologram of a ginormous figure sprang from the gem and in full view of the defenders was the image of an antlered figure wearing a regal cape and robes with a mess of wild black hair traveling down his backside.

His empty black eyes burned holes through the souls of the onlookers and a certain two within the crowd trembled in fear upon recognition of this Nephilim, then he spoke,

"Gumball Watterson and Teri Pepakuma." he hailed, a hollow sound passing through his thin lips.

"Nimrod!" Teri and Gumball addressed in unison.

Carrie and Rob looked at one another for the briefest moments and then back at the towering hologram presenting the fearsome leader of the world's deadliest opponents,

"So that's their leader." Carrie realized with shock.

"Given their description of him, I didn't think he would look that terrifying, but this guy really freaks me out!" Rob thought once he saw that the form Nimrod was in was the same first form the two survivors described before he transformed into the deadly one the Nephilim were mostly known for.

While Darwin was also shocked to see the evil president was speaking to them, there was something about the mysterious figure that stood out to him and he couldn't help but wonder,

"He kind of reminds me of Penny, only more human and less radiant." his inner voice mused.

Meanwhile, Ocho and Bobert still couldn't see what was happening and when the paper girl and cat boy mentioned a particular name, a frustrated Ocho demanded more intel,

"What's going on? Who's Nimrod and how many of them are there?" he asked in a raised voice, narrowing his eyes at the two and moving back and forth rapidly.

Bobert's head swiveled up, down, and side to side as he completed a scan of the environment,

"Multiple electromagnetic disturbances detected, but no signs of hostile life forms!" he reported.

Ocho's questions went unanswered as the other five continued to listen as Nimrod's projection continued to deliver its message,

"That was quite the lucky turnout for you two to survive Chalon's trap, to stand up to my trusted bodyguards, Michael and Gabriel and myself included before ultimately escaping my Republic Guard back to your insignificant speck of a nest." he praised, but there was no respect behind it, just disgust.

Gumball felt his paws clench into fists and Teri gritted her teeth, both of which were enraged with him for still talking down on them.

Nonetheless, his speech went on and his face contorted into one of smug satisfaction when he got to the part he was looking forward to,

"But it was only luck that's gotten you so far. You may have defeated wave after wave of my soldiers in the past, but it all ends here and I most certainly can't have you revealing my plans for invading Los Angeles to those lowly pests, the NEA." he prattled on, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

Catching that last part, Rob and Darwin, who had managed to regain control of his mouth, both asked at the same time,

"What's he talking about?" their focus directed at Gumball and Teri.

Snapping his head to the side, his glare was all he needed to cease further interrogation and the feline swiped a paw in front of him,

"I'll explain later!" he hissed.

"Guys, this is getting really annoying!" Ocho chimed in, the 8-bit spider already turning red from his building fury.

Finally wrapping up, the wrathful leader of the giants took one last hateful look down at the insects below and commenced the final verdict for the unfortunate,

"For the death of my son and the obstruction of my grand plans, you will be washed away in a rain of light!" he then whirled around to face the Nephilim holding the communicator and issued an order,

"Captain Az, I order you and your men to unleash a concentrated blast upon their location. Destroy the building they're on and once they're reduced to atoms you are to send the Enoch squad out to eradicate the city. I want that wretched Earthling blotch completely leveled by the end of the evening!" his word was swift and powerful, not once did he raise his voice.

The disk head bowed obediently before moving to carry out his orders and raised his golden sickle until the point was directed at the gathered defense team,

"As you wish, Mr. President!" he responded sharply, his voice gruff and hardened,

"Enoch squad, prepare to fire on my mark!" he barked at his subordinates.

At the tip of his curved blade, an orb of red energy manifested and was joined by many others when the members of his army charged up their devastating attack. Feeling the gravity of the situation, a million things went through the minds of the defenders while the two oblivious children continued to press for more updates of the given situation. However, there wasn't much they could do when the combined strength of the Nephilim's presser fields began to weigh them down and lock them into place. It was even too much for Gumball to handle and the poor kitten found himself in a desperate state when he tried to activate his weapon's ability, only find himself still being crushed.

He let out a strangled grunt as the air started to leave his compressed lungs and he struggled some more against the invisible force that held him in place,

"Darn it! I can't stand and even if I could, how will I be able to deflect twenty of these things? If we all leave, the people inside the building will be in danger too and I don't know if we can save everyone with all these guys running around either!" he looked around as best as he could and saw everyone struggling like he was, with Ocho crying in confusion, Bobert's systems going haywire as he tried to divert more power to his limbs, Rob was gasping for air while trying to raise his gauntlet, Darwin was still possessed by Carrie while snarling like a rabid animal, and Teri, poor Teri was spread flat on the ground not even able to move because of her frailty,

"I can't believe it! We had less than a day with each other and there was so much I was looking forward to. Why did it have to be today?" he thought with a grim realization that they had only been dating for less than twenty four hours and that this could be it for the both of them.

Struggling even harder to free himself, Gumball's heart sank when he heard the all too familiar hum that followed the Doom blast trap and signalled the near completion of the destructive attack,

"Everyone, I'm sorry!" Gumball's last thought came as he realized he still couldn't fulfill his promise to protect everyone and looked up to see his death waiting in the form of twenty red lights that shone like stars in the late-afternoon sky.

Watching with delight at the closing seconds 'til his most hated enemies were vaporized, Nimrod continued to his surveillance of the mission and thought the secret task to be practically completed.

That was until the combined barrage was interrupted by a surprise attack from an unseen vector:

BRAKKA! BRAKKA! BRAKKA!

Tearing through the air, bullets streaming by in magic trails of neon pink and blue, three Nephilim were instantly cut down and exploded in a plume of purple flames. Caught completely off guard by the sudden loss of three squad members, the attack was aborted and their attention was turned towards the direction of the lowering sun. Feeling the Nephilim's grasp suddenly lift like a cloud, everyone quickly got up and checked to see if everyone else was okay before turning towards their saviors.

Rob couldn't believe what his single eye was showing him and his breath nearly left him a second time,

"No way!" he gasped.

In the distance, eleven military helicopters approached like dark birds of prey and remained in formation. Having some basic knowledge of American military aircraft, the first thing Teri noticed about the incoming reinforcements was that their aircraft were quite antiquated and probably saw use in the 60's and 70's. The one in the lead and the only one of its type, a large, tandem rotor, transport helicopter officially designated the Boeing CH-47 Chinook, while flanking it were two Bell UH-1 Hueys, and the remaining eight were formed of Bell AH-1 Cobras, dedicated attack crafts with multiple rocket launchers and machine guns.

One thing they all had in common was that they were colored black and there was a red insignia painted on the side of each one: a crescent moon with a sword running through the middle.

The kids cheered in triumph once they saw the newcomers engage the scattering Nephilim, which remained airborne thanks to a strange spell they all utilized and while they weren't sure why the military was here, they were just happy to be alive for now. The air was filled with the sound of gunfire, whirring helicopter rotors, and the otherworldly screeches of the giants placed on the defensive. Watching the squad fall apart immediately, Nimrod once again issued an order to Captain Az, who charged a Doom blast and blasted an attack helicopter out of the sky, melting the entire front half and sending the rest down in a burning heap,

"Captain Az, pull your men out of there and report back to base immediately. They've won this round." he begrudgingly ordered.

Carefully surveying the battle itself, the Kimono wearing captain saw no need to retreat and shook his head in spite of the president's orders,

"No need, Mr. President, the NEA are outnumbered! If we regroup now we can finish them off and complete the mission." he countered, sounding very sure of himself.

Nimrod gave the defiant Nephilim a hard look before sighing and turning to leave,

"Very well, captain, but should you obtain too many casualties, you are to retreat right away. I don't want to waste precious lives on a pointless skirmish and I certainly won't hear it from the senate. Do you understand?" he looked back one last time to the thirty story behemoth.

He nodded as he swiped his curved blade at another helicopter that got too close, guns blazing away as the magic bullets simply bounced off his enchanted clothes and the pilot veered off,

"Affirmative, Mr. President!" he replied, his shark teeth flashing in an optimistic grin.

The hologram faded faded back into the gem and after stowing the device away in his coat, Az was free to use both hands again.

Down on the building top, Gumball and company watched as the opposing forces darted through the air, pursuing one another as machines and beasts gave it their all. In the minute that had passed, seven Nephilim were killed while the NEA had sustained one loss, technically two, considering that attack helicopter seated a pilot and a weapons officer. The only aircraft not engaged in the fight was the Chinook, which was just hanging back as multiple creatures tried to tear at it, but were intercepted by an opposing aircraft.

Seeing as there were thirteen hostiles remaining and only nine aircraft actively in combat, Gumball saw this as an opportune moment to strike. He rallied his team's attention and called forth a plan,

"Come on guys, let's help even the odds!" he declared before setting a plan into motion,

"Rob, find cover and provide support fire, target any enemy that gets close or try to hinder their movement. Darwin and Carrie, you're with Teri and I, we're going to get up there and pick off anything that strays too far away." an explosion sounded overhead, causing the whole building to shudder, but no one was fazed by it,

"Bobert and Ocho, you guys can't see them, so I'm going to need you guys to help evacuate the Channax building." he finally stated.

Saluting and following orders, Bobert activated his thrusters to lift himself up off the ground,

"Affirmative! Proceeding to assist with the evacuation of all remaining non-combatants!" he replied and with a roar of his engines, he swung around in a graceful loop before smashing through the metal door that lead to the stairwell.

"Sheesh, he's not even going to use the safety stairs, what a waste of taxpayer's money!" Gumball cringed.

Ocho however, did not follow behind Bobert and remained rooted where he was, his expression stone-like,

"I am not going anywhere. I want to help you guys fight!" he stated, sounding firm.

Gumball, not one to put up with this nonsense, tried to talk some sense into him,

"Ocho, you can't, these guys are dangerous and can kill you. Besides, only magic can kill them!" he countered with a seriousness he rarely showed.

Still not having it, Ocho remained fixated on helping out with the fight and retaliated with greater tenacity,

"I don't care! I'm not some kind of punk who ditches out on a fight and besides, I can still be of use." he was dangerously close to exploding.

This didn't matter to the scythe wielder and he continued to debate this, albeit with urgency due to the battle overhead growing more intense and his teammates patience teetering ever so slightly,

"Ocho, listen to me! You c-!"

The voice of Rob cut in and provided an easy solution for both,

"Hey, bug boy, you wanna help out? Provide me a lift and I can better cover everyone else." came the sharp response of Rob, causing Gumball to look back at him in amazement.

Without a single argument, Ocho jumped up and tagged along with the cyclops as the two headed towards the roof's edge,

"Sure thing and don't call me bug boy, unibrow!" he snapped.

Offended, Rob shook his fist at him before the spider cleared the edge and allowed for the space suit clad gunman to hop on his head. Gumball wanted to object, but kept his mouth shut after the pair took off and proceeded to get ready with his girlfriend. Soon Teri formed an origami F-35 for Gumball and herself to ride on, along with six deadly shurikens to blow the enemy away with. Without further ado, the remaining four took off and joined the battle in the heavens.

From her position in the co-pilot seat of the UH-1, falling under the call sign "Azura one" Captain Amy Rajit watched as a vulture-like Nephilim with six eyes tore an attack helicopter to shreds with its claws, killing both the crew inside, before it broke off and banked in a wide, arcing circle. It noticed them and was making for an attack run, its beak full of serrated teeth opened and charging up another Doom blast. Using the radio headset, the female Svarn alerted the helicopter's starboard gunner to the Neph's position,

"Braunwhen, we have a bogey on our eleven! He just took out Phoenix three and is preparing a Doom blast!" she shouted into her mouth piece.

Then came in Brock's voice, loud and clear over the radio,

"Copy that, Captain Rajit, bogey sighted! Engaging right now!" he replied.

Seconds later, a stream of neon blue bullets swept across their flank and the vulture was caught up in the gun's arc. Try as he may to dodge, it was no use and the flying Nephilim's left wing was severed from its body, sending the creature tumbling down in a purple blaze before a final dying screech was uttered. The Bison man verbally scratched off the target and remained on the lookout for any more hostiles.

The woman with the golden eyes breathed a sigh of relief before turning her attention to three hundred foot monstrosity that was still harassing their forces with a combination of sickle swings, punches and kicks. Realizing that he must be their leader, Amy turned to the pilot and asked him for the enemy's status,

"Jackson, what's the status of the enemy's strength?" she asked, keeping an eye on the giant warrior as he chased the second troop transport through the air.

Officer Nox Jackson, a Telkhine with the head of a coyote and flippers instead of hands, swerved the aircraft to the left as a lance of red energy zipped by and seconds later, a saw-shaped Nephilim with a human face in the center came into view with an AH-1 in hot pursuit,

"Jormungandr reports ten losses on the enemy's side and with the remaining units attempting to regroup. Also, there are reports that five unidentified combatants have entered the battle and are engaging the hostiles." he stated, keeping the light troop carrier level as both gunners continued to open up on any visible airborne unit marked unfriendly.

Sure enough, when Amy looked out the window, she spotted a paper jet with two riders, a paper bear and a blue cat wielding a scythe. They were accompanied by a flying fish with legs and both teams attacked a Minotaur Nephilim covered in armor and wielding an oversized meat cleaver. The monster attempted to get a swing in on the flying pair, but Darwin, under the control of Carrie, caught the blade between his fins while Gumball leapt from the origami F-35 and landed on the Nephilim's sword arm.

Charging his scythe with energy, the blade was coated with silver flames and the cat shouted as he raised his blade towards the Nephilim's incoming hand,

"Moonfire slash!" he shouted as his eyes glinted with dangerous determination as he called the name of his signature move.

An arc of grey fire leapt from the swinging crescent and cut into the giant's armored hand, splitting it down the middle and exiting through the elbow. The one half fell and the Nephilim screamed as he saw the damage done, but failed to realize that he was completely defenseless against Teri's attack. Approaching at high speeds, Teri pulled two folded shurikens and with a flick of her wrist, sent the spinning projectiles into the crevice between the Neph's helmet and shoulder.

Swinging the paper jet around, Teri allowed for Gumball to hop aboard and sped off just as the evil spirit's head was separated from his shoulders thanks to the resulting explosions created by her spells,

"Nice one, Teri!" Gumball commented, watching carefully as two helicopters shot by to pursue different targets.

Teri turned back to him and gave him a thumbs up before she noticed Darwin still holding the cleaver, which was fading fast, before he swung it around in a full circle and hurled it at another giant adversary. The burning blade spun through the air before lodging itself into a monster that looked like a cross between a crab and a human, with many legs and powerful pincers as it tried to snip the tail off of an attack helicopter it was pursuing. The fallen Nephilim's weapon bore itself into the entity's spiky head and the two burned away to nothing.

Seeing the amazing performance done by the four, the golden woman ordered all aircraft not to harass the local defenders and to keep the Nephilim from regrouping,

"If they keep dropping at this rate, the only one left will be the one with the funny hat and I think he's their leader." she stated as she spotted the three hundred foot tall warrior of silver send an AH-1 down in a ball of flames with a single Doom blast before charging another squadron with his sickle raised.

In the passenger cabin of the Azura one, Brock, the massive Bison, manned the starboard gun while Hei Brookes, a Chinese-American who resembled a human, but sported a pair of white antlers and two whiskers just beneath his nose, manned the port gun. He wasn't a Nephilim by any means, rather the descendant of a Chinese water dragon spirit that controlled the Yangtze river, some of which he kept in a massive jug tied to his back by a thick rope.

He opened up a few rounds on a giant insect covered in a black chitin, large gossamer wings that lit up like glow sticks, and a set of vertically aligned mandibles that snapped like scissors,

"Die, you giant homeowner's nightmare!" he shouted as he pumped round after round into its narrow head.

Eventually, the neon tracers broke through the shell covering its narrow head and split the whole thing open like a coconut: the Nephilim didn't even know it was dead by the time its body began decomposing. He didn't get a chance to celebrate however, as two more Neph's, twin knights carrying shields, swung in from behind and began charging up a directed energy shot to bring them down. Reacting quickly, the demi-spirit warned the pilots of the approaching danger before he swung the mounted .50 caliber machine gun around and started peppering the giants with enchanted shells.

Taking them down proved to be a greater task in itself because both were protected by an anti-magic barrier produced from their forward-facing shields, causing his bullets to melt on contact,

"Shoot! Jackson, try pulling us around! We need to get behind them before they- huh?" he stopped when he spotted something in the distance.

Riding atop an 8-bit spider that flashed rainbow colors, like an invincibility stat from a certain video game franchise he knew of, was without a doubt a spaceman wielding a hand mounted weapon of sorts and was directed at the two pursuing Nephilim. Hei almost mistakened the two for a Nephilim himself, when he saw the spaceman fire upon the shielded giants and his bullets transformed into fourteen serpentine dragons made of emerald fire that swirled in double helix patterns straight towards his intended targets. The Nephilim sensed the oncoming attacks, but were too slow to do anything and were caught up in the gunfire, burning away into nothing as the dragons consumed them.

With only smoke clouds being the only indicator that two beings once existed, Hei remained in a surprised stupor for the slightest moment before he saw the figure clad in white wave at him and he slowly waved back as he watched him dash off on his flying spider,

"Brookes, do you still have visual confirmation on the bogey?" came Amy's voice on the radio.

Snapping out of it, Hei answered his captain on the open comm. and described the status of the enemy pursuers, now deceased,

"Uh, that's a negative, captain! Both hostile entities were taken out by a friendly wearing a spacesuit and riding what I believe to be a flying spider." he reported.

Then came a voice from within the cabin,

"I keep telling you, Brookes, stop smoking those Chinese herbs before we launch!"

The sarcastic response belonged to one of the two passengers seated towards the aft of the UH-1, Alicia "Medusa" Rodriguez, a transparent jellyfish with the body of an adult human female, only colored navy blue with glowing pink spots that acted as freckles on her face. She possessed the typical dome of a jellyfish atop her head like a hat and was lined with thin, wispy, venomous tentacles. Her hair was also made up of tentacles, but these ones were thicker and frillier and her second most striking feature were her eyes, a lovely shade of glowing pink surrounded by blue sclera. Her only outfit consisted of a black tank-top and army green camo pants.

She was a bit of a joker and Hei knew it, though she tended to get very personal with her humor,

"First off, they're incense and I don't smoke them! They make the place smell better after you and Brock finish a workout!" he retorted, earning himself a sharp glare from both Brock and Medusa.

"Hey!" they both shouted in unison.

"Knock it off you two." came the annoyed response of Remus Satyrn, a bizarro with a muscular figure covered in red scales, like a dragon, with a head in the form of a glass bowl. There were no facial features to distinguish, except for a single black pupil that sat on the surface of the glass and two antennae on top that allowed him to communicate telepathically. He wore the same outfit as Hei and Alicia and as the squad's oldest member acted as an older sibling to everyone, so he was a bit of mediator when it came to disputes.

They all did as they were told and went on high alert as Amy's voice came in through the radio,

"Look alive everyone! Three targets remain and I want all available units to concentrate fire on their captain. His kimono is enchanted, so target the exposed areas and that should cause some damage." she ordered, and the Azura one's two gunners readied themselves for the next assault while the other two passengers remained on the lookout.

What she said was true and only three Nephilim remained in the air. Two of them were average, run of the mill behemoths standing in between thirty feet to sixty feet, that were set upon by four attack craft and the defenders of Elmore, all of which battled fiercely for dominance of the air. One was the captain himself and he was in a bit of a rut now, as three aircraft were swarming him like flies, peppering his body with bullets,

"Augh! Enough of this!" Az roared, his attention seemingly focused on one of the aircraft unleashing a metal storm that was traveling up his torso.

With a rapid spin, the colossus shot upwards, a feat that would seem impossible for a figure his size and with an outstretched hand, he swatted a helicopter aside and cut another in half with his sickle. When he finished, Azura one and Azura two swooped in and started harassing the exposed areas his magic kimono didn't protect. Wounded, the silver warrior dressed in white and black tried to blast them out of the sky, but did not heed the Chinook helicopter, Jormungandr, which was rotated in a way so its port side was facing the enemy captain.

On the side, a door slid open and in it was a red-skinned devil man with curving horns set on his forehead, a forked tail, slicked back jet black hair, a leather vest and a scowl that could make Attila the hun cry,

"I got eyes on the big guy!" he shouted back to the crew and hefted a large, metallic cylinder covered in chains and runes onto his shoulder: a demonic rocket launcher!

The runes burned red as he acquired the appropriate target and let out a bellowing battle cry as he launched magical ordinance in the form of a bats swarm trailing smoke right at the three hundred foot monstrosity. Captain Az sensed the incoming attack and aborted his current pursuit of Amy's chopper to deal with this new conundrum. His hands moved like striking vipers and his sickle was an extension of himself, a golden fang that brought death, but even as he was able to cut down many bats, his head was severed from his body after one got through his defenses.

Then the remaining bats sought out and cut down every last Nephilim present, leaving the NEA and the defenders of Elmore victorious.

With the loss of five out of the eight AH-1's that accompanied them, Amy sent the rest home while Azura squad proceeded towards the double landing pads present on the Channax building and the Chinook containing the elite capture squad, Jormungandr, took off for the northern mountain range. If all goes well, the son of Jotenheim should be in their custody along with Gumball Watterson and Teri Pepakuma.

Speaking of whom, the kids celebrated their victory and spotted the military craft making a landing on the building they started from. With no better option other than to go meet them, the six kids proceeded straight to the skyscraper and watched as the city slowly started to come alive again once the Nephilim's presence wore off. With the sounds of battle gone, the city was at peace and everyone was relieved to have survived that ordeal.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Gumball took a deep breath and let it out,

"Thank goodness those guys showed up! I thought we were goners back there!" he exclaimed, still surprised with their luck.

In front of him, Teri shared the same sentiments and was trembling from all the adrenaline coursing through her flimsy body,

"Yeah, I knew Nimrod had it out for us after we left, but I still wasn't prepared for twenty of them to show up like that!" her voice, just like her body, was shaky too.

Gumball nodded in agreement and directed his attention to the landing platforms where the two black helicopters sat, their rotors still rotating at high speeds,

"Right, good news is, with these guys here we can finally warn someone about the invasion and not have to worry about travel plans." he said, sounding happy.

Teri turned back to him and the moment she did, Gumball recognized that smug look gracing her drawn on features,

"Oh, so you don't want to travel with me? I thought we could stop by, see the sights and enjoy a few quiet moments together while we worked." she replied, before lightly shrugging and turning her back on him,

"but, I guess you're just not that interested anyway." she huffed.

Mentally smacking himself for walking right into that one, Gumball's interjection came as swiftly as a batter's rebounding strike and the fool was a babbling mess,

"Now wait just a moment! I didn't say I never wanted to travel around the world with you! I just meant that- no wait, hang on! What places are you interested in seeing?" he stammered out, until a laughing Darwin under the control of Carrie flew up to them.

"So the happy married couple is up and at it again! You two sure can bounce back fast!" both of their voices overlapped and Gumball could hear both of them chuckling.

However, the blushing blue cat wasn't able to get a word in when Rob and Ocho pulled up on their right, with the former voicing his dissatisfaction,

"Save the flirting for the date, you guys! In case you haven't noticed, those guys just showed up packing some serious gear and I have a feeling they weren't just here for an assist." he mentioned, gesturing towards the seven figures now exiting the pair of matching NEA aircraft.

It would be a lie to say none of the children except Rob weren't suspicious with the arrival of these powerful new challengers of their would-be alien destroyers and with a unanimous silent agreement, they all embarked on a descent towards the rooftop.

Words could not express how please Amy was to see the motley crew that lent them a hand in the skirmish heading towards them and she made her way to the front, making sure Gumball and Teri would recognize her first. They eventually came to a stop and made preparations to greet the Azura squad, with Carrie even emerging from Darwin. This raised a few eyebrows and even threw Amy off her rocker a little when she saw that there was an independent specter amongst them.

A rare sight indeed and quite a valuable one too, the golden girl made a mental note to further look into this city's inhabitants as she adjusted the bow rifle strapped to her back and steadily made her way over,

"That was quite the spectacle you lot displayed out there, for a bunch of pre-teens, your skills are quite extraordinary! Nicely done, all of you." she congratulated, clapping her hands together.

Recognizing her right away, Gumball pushed aside his snide thoughts towards the lady that was quite rude the first time they "met" (Teri was also on the fence as to whether she was supposed to be grateful for her help or angry at her for shoving Molly and herself to the ground during their field trip. Was that too petty of her?) and straightened his stance as he presented himself to her,

"Glad we could help out in some fashion, although we definitely owe you guys our thanks for saving our skins back there." he smiled in appreciation, but there was a sense of unease in his eyes.

Returning his smile with one of her own, her bright teeth really complimenting her overall radiant appearance, and brought both hands behind her back as she took a step back towards her squadmates,

"We're glad we could make it on time." she replied. Her optimism never left her voice, even as she explained herself to the upright kitten and his crew,

"When we consulted the oracle of Delphi this morning, she foretold of a devastating attack led by one of President Nimrod's deadliest kill squads and we were pressed into countering with a joint operation consisting of my squad, Azura, Jormungandr, and Phoenix squadron. We've met a few losses, but at least that scratches off one kill team lead by Babyloth's butchers." she spoke the name of Babyloth with such venom, that one could easily guess that the blonde Svarn harbored a lot of resentment towards the invading nation from the moon.

Curious, Rob popped his visor back up so everyone could see his face and stepped forward to ask her something,

"Wait, you guys have an oracle too?" he spoke without a regard for formalities and didn't even bother addressing himself.

Amy's raccoon eyes bounced from Gumball to the one who spoke and then she analyzed him carefully as though she were sizing him up for a fight before answering him directly,

"Yes, there are few people in this world that receive the blessings of Jade in the form of his clairvoyance, but the oracle at Delphi holds a special gift, unlike other prophets who can only see one event every now and then, the one at Delphi is capable of tracking multiple futures at any time she wishes." she spoke this knowledge with a sense of pride, for there were few who ever met her or knew of her and she was one of those lucky few,

"It's how the Nephilim Expulsion Administration or NEA for short, has been able to effectively intercept the Nephilim for five years. Well, most of them at least, she can't use her gifts all day and sometimes they will attack during those times she isn't looking." she looked off to the side for a moment as though remembering something a while back.

It may have come across as a good idea for Rob to look into asking Banana Barbara, Banana Joe's strange, artistic, and sometimes cryptic, psychic mother, for particular outcomes in their distant future as a better alternative then just sleeping and waiting for visions, but thought it unlikely to work seeing as she probably can't see the Nephilim. However, when the NEA member told him that each one was selected by Jade himself, he remembered what Fjel had told him a while back and that the heavenly ruler of the cosmos played a role in selecting the Earth's defenders against the forces that seek to destroy it. He wondered if his initial theory was wrong and that Elmore's oracle can help them out in the future, by painting it for them.

While he consulted this with his inner voices, Amy got straight to the point and turned to Gumball as well as Teri with an interested look,

"Anyways, as much as I would like to spend all day sharing precious knowledge, I've got a mission to complete and wouldn't like to keep Iris waiting, for our overseer likes to see results delivered as quickly as possible." her tone shifted from comfortable to serious when mentioning the subject of their mission,

"Gumball Watterson and Teri Pepakuma, you two are to come with us immediately!" her voice was steady and full of authority, providing a sense of force that was not to be taken lightly.

Before anything could be said by either of them, Amy snapped her head in Hei's direction and the soldier stood at attention,

"Private Brookes, use your senses, tell me what you can see in the others!" she barked and remained patiently quiet soon afterwards.

The demi-water dragon spirit fulfilled his orders dutifully, closing his eyes and reaching out with his senses, encompassing not just the skyscraper, but the whole city before delivering his verdict,

"Gumball and Teri are very powerful, their soul signatures burn brighter than the other four! The one in the spacesuit carries a strong mark too and the amphibian shows some potential as well. The ghost is powerful in her own right, but not as powerful Gumball, Teri, and the cyclops, and the spider has very little spiritual energy. I'm also picking up multiple powerful signatures all over the city!" he finally finished his search and opened his eyes again,

"With proper training, these individuals can become worthy assets to the NEA and it may be possible to defend the Void entrance with just the inhabitants, plus a small regiment." with that, he reached the end of his analysis and stood at the ready.

She dismissed him and with a salute, he stepped back into formation with the other six, turning on her heels once more to gaze down at Teri and Gumball, who were shocked at how Hei was able to pick out certain individuals with just his own senses,

"Very well then, Private Klaus and Private Argus, escort Mr. Watterson and Ms. Pepakuma to the Azura two and get ready for departure. Once we've secured Jotenheim, we'll make way for Jeruzalem and in the meantime, Lieutenant Braunwhen and Corporal Satyrn!" they saluted as she turned and delivered her next set of orders,

"I want you two to escort the rest to their dwellings and keep an eye out for more Nephilim activity. We'll be sending a helicopter to pick you guys up and with the proper authorization, Iris can begin the construction of a training facility where we can bring in the new recruits."

"Yes, sir!" they complied and stepped out of line to separate the group appropriately.

There was an immediate protest from all the children and the air was filled with their shouts,

"Wait a minute! You're not taking them anywhere!" Carrie shouted defensively.

"You can't just show up and take people without their consent, where's your legal right to do so!" Darwin cried, hugging his brother tightly.

"I thought we're on the same side here! We can help you guys out, there's no need to take us anywhere!" Gumball shot back, hugging his little brother with one arm and clutching Teri's hand in the other.

"And what do you mean by Jotenehim? Are you referring to Hector? What does he have to do with anything?" Teri questioned, refusing to let go of Gumball's paw.

Rob secretly knew what they wanted from Hector, how they acquired information on him and his worth was beyond him, but right now all he cared about was driving them off,

"We just got those two back and we're not going to let you take them from us!" Rob declared,

"And you're not going to do anything else to anyone here because we are the Defenders of Elmore, this city is our under our jurisdiction!" Rob's voice spoke out above all the others and further emboldened the crew.

"And did that guy with the whiskers call me weak!" Ocho seethed, eyeing Hei with a murderous glance.

This vocal opposition was expected by the Svarn and her team, leading the blond haired woman to try and reason with them,

"I have all the authority I need from the U.S. Government and the U.N.'s Supernatural Commission branch to seize any individuals I see fit to serve Earth's army. In case you haven't noticed, we're fighting for the survival of all Earthlings and we all have to make necessary sacrifices." she wasn't angry, but it was clear she was frustrated and given the way she was clenching her fists, she was close to the tipping point,

"As for your three friends, they'll be stationed in one of our heavily defended facilities where they'll be sheltered, fed and clothed while receiving top tier training and for the sake of comfort, their families will be allowed to join them on the base's housing units. Everyone else here who has the potential of being awakened or already is will be trained, but otherwise won't see much change in their daily lives and will be able to defend their homes from the Nephilim." finishing up, she waved Klaus and Argus over to complete their tasks.

Private Lycarius Von Klaus was a Lycan native of Germany and was a fellow of few words, a man of spectacular build covered in a fine layer of thick brown fur with only his upper face, pointed ears, and broad hands being visible. Half naked, the only clothing he wore was the same camo pants everyone else wore along with a harness holding his back-mounted, double-barreled cannon. He was very intimidating and served as one of Azura squad's primary enforcers, with his wolf form making him very formidable to his enemies.

Joining him was Private Argus, simply, a soldier who looked less organic and more like hundreds of thick metal cables wound together to form the body of a gorilla. His only defining feature was a simple mask of white marble, with three glowing red eyes peeking out from the corresponding holes and remained silent. While he didn't say much, his body was constantly emitting screeches and scraping sounds as the metallic coils grinded against each other, making him very unpleasant to hear or stand by.

With the two NEA personal from the Azura two aiming to take Gumball and Teri away, by force if necessary, the soldiers were blocked by a wall consisting of Rob, Carrie, Ocho and Darwin, all of which were wearing their game faces,

"I said you're not taking them anywhere!" Carrie warned, preparing to use her telekinesis against the two.

"You will leave Elmore empty handed and never return." Rob stated.

From behind them, Gumball tried one last bid for a peaceful resolution and spoke up until his voice was heard,

"Guys, there's no need to fight! We can help each other out, for starters there's an invasion that's about to happen in Los Angeles and if we come together we can probably-!"

"We know already and the only way you're helping us is by laying down your weapons before you two get on that chopper!" Amy interrupted.

This angered Teri to the point of shouting and from the back, she let the blondie hear it from her,

"What part of not going did you not get! None of us care how desperate you think the situation is, we're fully capable of taking care of ourselves and have a month's worth of experience to prove it!" she jumped up and shook her fist at her, getting a good view of her surprised reaction.

This was it for Captain Rajit, she hadn't come all this way over hundreds of miles, losing ten brave pilots in a brief aerial battle and wasting precious resources, just to get lip from a bunch of prepubescent brats playing soldier,

"That's it, I've had enough of this place already. Klaus and Argus, push them aside and grab the two-!" she was about to finish her instructions, but stopped when she spotted Rob pointing his gun arm at her.

"SHUT UP, BLONDIE!" he shouted, before squeezing his enclosed hand into a fist around the trigger.

A burst of coil gunfire and ten Ruby Sun runes were ejected at high velocity straight at the Svarn's face. However, Remus Satyrn was faster and the bowl-headed telepath raised a barrier resembling a glass flower in front of Amy and the copper rounds smashed harmlessly against the solid shield, blossoming into spiky orbs of Ruby stones before shattering into nothing. Snapping into action, Amy pulled the bow rifle off of her shoulder and dropped herself to one knee with the strung weapon already pointed at him.

Aiming for his heart, Amy called out to her attacker and waited for the barrier to drop,

"You're dead, blinky!" she snarled.

Everyone else scattered when the barrier dropped and Rob remained where he was, his next move already in motion. With a press of the trigger, the bow string snapped forward and from the rifle shaft, an arrow was fired. Drawing a rune with his left hand, the cloud gel that squirted from the finger's nozzle hung in the air as though the space itself contained an invisible canvass and Rob poured forth his spiritual energy.

The flying arrow, enchanted with strange magic, formed into a glowing white beam accompanied by three more swirling around the central one and crashed into a solid iron wall, exploding with the force of a dynamite stick. Walls of Jericho, the magic barrier left Rob completely fortified on all sides with hexed iron, brandishing spear-like protrusions along the tops and the symbol proudly carved on each wall, a square formed of four corner arrows with a smaller square in the center intersected with eight lines. With its purpose being fulfilled, the walls faded and Rob was granted the time to refill his ammunition stock.

Such was the power of Leviathan Book, a weapon system consisting of duel components that provided a variety of utility and defensive spells and overwhelming firepower to deal at his enemies.

With all the kids scattered, Carrie possessing Darwin once more, Ocho arming himself with "Smiley Bullets" provided to him by his uncle Mario, Gumball and Teri in the air once more and Rob ready to unleash another onslaught, Amy was left to formulate a plan of attack.

"They're directionless for now and don't have a solid plan in dealing with us, plus we have numbers and knowledge on our side. Our objective remains the same: capture Gumball and Teri." she carefully thought this through and it all came to her naturally,

"We gotta split them up and take them on individually, if we can get those two alone, then capturing them should be simple." with that lone realization, she drew back her drawstring and another arrow was loaded from the rifle's stacking chamber.

She sent Rob running when she fired another energy arrow at him and when he fled the explosion, she took off after him,

"Everyone split up! Satyrn, you're taking on the moon man with me, Brookes, you've got Watterson, Rodriguez has Pepakuma, Braunwhen's keeping the ghost/fish pair busy and I'm leaving the spider sprite to Klaus and Argus, you two are more than a match for him! Everyone copy!" she pressed the button on her headset and everyone confirmed accordingly.

Taking to their designated targets, Azura squad broke formation and multiple engagements began on the rooftop. The two UH-1's were ordered to take off and remain in close proximity, but out of range for potential stray fire. Each soldier was equipped with a unique skillset or magic ability that made them a very versatile fighting force.

When Brock took on Carrie and Darwin, the anthropomorphic Bison pulled a lump of beige molding clay from his cargo pockets and stabbed it against the horn carved with a rune depicting a circle surrounded by six hands,

"Golem!" the Isrealite chanted.

The rune glowed red like a star and his clay began to morph and expand, enveloping him completely. Soon the blob of clay took a form, a ten foot bulky man with a broad upper body and a pair of arms that split into three at the elbows. From the Golem's neck stump, Brock's head poked out and acted as the clay giant's actual head.

Smashing all six fists together, the man from the Middle East slowly lumbered his way over to the ghoulish two-legged fish and uttered a single warning to the two as a sign of courtesy,

"I really don't want to hurt children, but if you two don't stand down now, I will make an acception right here, right now. So please make the right choice." he pleaded in his brass voice.

Not moved one bit by his colossal form nor his peaceful demand, Carrie gave her answer loud and clear,

"Deus Belli Leonus! (War god's lion!)" she chanted in Latin.

From Darwin's mouth and eyes, pillars of crimson flames spewed outwards like jets and with the roar of a hungry beast, the flames spread and completely covered his chubby face. As soon as this all happened, the flames ceased and left behind a monstrous visage in place of Darwin's face. Surrounding the mask in a halo of red flames was a voluminous mane and a pair of fierce red eyes pierced from the masks eye holes, its gaping mouth salivating with a viscous, green glowing substance.

Overcome with a voracious appetite for bloodshed and violence, the possessed individual reared up in a feral stance before it roared like thunder and pounced with a newfound strength burning through the shared body. Like a flaming cannonball of gnashing teeth and endless hunger, the fish embedded itself into the Golem's stomach and with enough force to send all three of them flying, they quickly engaged in a dangerous match of fisticuffs.

With Alicia and Hei both capable of flying, the water based pair easily crossed the distance put between them and Azura squad's VIPs. With Hei summoning a pair of draconic water wings as well as a claw fashioned from ice, the water dragon spawn caught Gumball by the neck and sailed off into the distance with him caught in a vice grip. Seeing her beloved feline being taken so easily, Teri momentarily took her eyes off of the second adversary on her attack run and that moment was all the jellyfish needed to catch her.

Wrapping her tentacles around the paper F-35's wings and nose cone, Alicia spun herself around and swung the paper craft with its passenger in a full circle several times,

"I see that you're really upset, how about we take this chat somewhere a bit more private, shall we?" she said with a childish giggle.

Releasing her hold on Teri's plane and letting the gathered momentum do the rest of the work, she sent Teri's plane tumbling off into the skyline and floated after her as soon as she was far away. As soon as Teri was able to stabilize the aircraft's flight path and regain her bearings, she spotted the transparent invertebrate drifting towards her, using her umbrella-like membrane to ride the air like a parachute. She giggled some more when she saw that Teri was looking at her and curled a single finger inwards, beckoning her to come,

"Come on now, this is really starting to get fun!" she cheered, acting like a kindergartener and sounding like one too.

Growling in response to this woman's lack of seriousness, Teri withdrew one of her shurikens and with a single command, she willed the strike craft to pursue the blue lady. Seeing her coming in fast, Alicia's eyes widened with a child-like innocence and she gasped in shock while placing her hands on her cheeks. Quickly darting away from the paper puppet by opening and closing her dome to generate thrust, the jellyfish was trailing laughter and tentacles as she seemingly fled.

Tilting her head slightly to look in her direction, Alicia called out to Teri and began mocking her as she remained far behind,

"Wow! You and I both practically weigh nothing and you're still slower than me!" she teased, while Teri tossed her spinning projectile in response to the insult and Alicia easily dodged, bending her body in an unnatural way to avoid collision,

"Lame! I hate dodgeball, so let's play tag instead and since I already touched you, you're "it" until you tag me back." she challenged.

Practically losing it at this point, Teri let her anger fuel her and formed another premade rune shuriken,

"Shut up, you annoying blob!" she screamed, using her spiritual energy to give her plane a boost.

The more they danced around each other in their aerial game of tag, the further away they got from the Channax skyscraper and away from any kind of support, all of which was Alicia's plan.

On the rooftop, everything quickly fell apart for the divided team of defenders, who were ill equipped and unprepared to deal with professionally trained soldiers. Amy's pairings did the the Azura team justice when many of the most effective members on the opposing side were evenly matched or surrounded. Up against Lycarius and Argus, both of whom were packing some serious firepower, with the former firing spinning green crescents of explosive energy called "Wolffen gouging claws" from his dorsal cannons and his partner dishing out damage from several raised tendrils in the form of purple lightning bolts, they had Ocho on the run.

Firing back with a flurry of smiley bullets, black shells with his eyes and menacing grins of sharp teeth, of which they either dodged or blasted out of the sky, Ocho was placed on the defensive as he tried to find a better place for cover and decided to fly upwards when he couldn't find any,

"I can't shake these guys and it's two against one, punks!" he griped, wincing as a spinning claw zipped past him, almost cutting off one of his legs, and quickly found the air being filled with ordinance as the two concentrated their fire on him,

"No choice, gotta use my ace!" he proclaimed, realizing that he couldn't keep running and dodging forever because sooner or later, they were going to catch him.

Moving in a specific pattern, Ocho formed a particular code he memorized and used quite often: Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, and then finally,

"B, A!" he shouted.

The code took an immediate effect on his body, bolstering his speed and power to awesome levels while leaving him completely invulnerable and the only noticeable change to his form was the flashy light show his formerly black body was creating.

"That doesn't look good!" Lycarius uttered to his partner.

Argus remained silent and the two kept up the fire, but were quick to discover that Ocho was immune. Then began the blitz, a relentless barrage of lightning quick strikes done on all sides as ocho's invincible body slammed into them both repeatedly and left both the lycan and the cyborg knocked to the ground full of bruises and dents. As quickly as it began, it ended and Ocho was back to his normal color again.

"Hah! Take that you… you… (wheeze!) oh, geez, gotta lie down for a moment." he breathed as his ace sapped him of strength.

Setting himself down and wheezing out a laugh, Ocho slowly began to crawl forward, keeping the sound of the ongoing battles around him as a reminder to stay conscious, the 8-bit fighter tried to figure out as to who he should assist and looked to see Rob in a bit of trouble,

"That'll teach those punks not to underestimate me!" he chuckled as he inched forward,

"Once I'm able to float, I'll summon an energy bar to get my strength back an-AUGH!" he howled in pain.

From behind, someone backhanded him hard enough to send the exhausted child flying into the exit door's housing and the hard smacking sound of flesh connecting with concrete could be heard as he tumbled to the ground.

"AAUUUGH! OH MY G-AAAH!" he screamed, closing his eyes tightly.

Head burning like a wildfire, the arcade bug couldn't even scream out anymore because he was so choked up on the sheer hell his body was in and he was on the edge of just forcing himself to restart. Able to roll over slightly, Ocho could see that the people he originally thought were done for were actually far from being knocked out and were even more terrifying than he could imagine.

With their combined footsteps ringing heavy, the usually quiet Lycarius spoke out to his downed foe and mocked him for his arrogance,

"Did anyone ever tell you that when a Lycan changes forms, they heal quickly and to make matters worse for you, my little friend, Argus here can never get hurt." the wolf man said with delight.

In his new form, Lycarius Von Klaus, was a beast, literally! A wolf, no bigger than a bear prowled on all fours, his once brown fur now jet black, longer, and more jagged, his face less than that of a man's, was pointed and narrowed into an elegant snout covered in fine fur. Covering him, like a set of slithering armor, was Argus, completely wrapped around his streamlined canine body for extra protection, and to make up for his lack of firepower. His mask face was set just above Lycarius brow, giving the wolf a menacing two-faced appearance, with five eyes, three of which were red and the other two a striking amber.

Ocho wanted to get up, to challenge this beast, to get his dignity back and to prove to everyone that he wasn't useless in this new fight, but his body wouldn't let him. Wracked with pain and exhaustion, Elmore's most aggressive and hot-headed male was overcome by darkness that pulled him into unconsciousness. Once again, he had lost to an opponent he'd severely underestimated.

"Damn it all…" his thoughts faded as the darkness closed in.

Seeing his blackout, the combined Lycarius and Argus switched targets and spotted Rob holding his own against the unified forces of their leader and master barrier maker. Snarling in anticipation, the two headed off and silently stalked the one-eyed spaceman from behind. The unsuspecting lad never knew he was about to be ambushed and remained focused only on the two in front of him.

Blasting away with a barrage consisting of Diamond Hydra and Ruby Sun runes, Rob broke the broken mirror barrier Remus set up around them and was met with another arrow strike from Amy's bow rifle. Using one of the two remaining shields from the Three shields of Alexander Rune, Rob sent the Hoplite inspired barrier out halfway to meet the swirling bolts of energy and the two magical objects collided, resulting in a white explosion orb that quickly died out.

"Alright, here comes the charge!" Rob said to no one but himself.

Using the gauntlet of Leviathan Book, Rob extended his pointer finger while squeezing the other two shut, pressing the trigger and activating the nozzle. Out came the cloud gel and Rob used it to form a hydro-trident rune. With the symbol complete in seconds, a three pronged spear formed from water appeared and rested itself in his open palm.

Raising the weapon and bringing the shield up to bare, the disfigured cyclop's upper body was completely protected as he lowered himself for a sprint. However, before he could put one foot forward, Lycarius and Argus struck from behind!

"Heads up, bucket head!"

He heard the snarl and managed to twist himself around in time to meet the surprise attack head on, catching the swiping claws on the shield's lilac surface and stabbing blindly at the wolf's neck, only to have the icy tips of the weapon chip off against the armor Argus covered him with.

With the round barrier's strength being depleted after one attack, Rob was completely defenseless and unable to stop the Lycan from spinning around to catch him in a tail swing.

Smacking hard into his body, Rob flew like a ragdoll across the concrete surface and after a few bounces, his helmeted head was struck with something solid, shattering his visor and Heads-Up Display. The added padding his suit brought, saved him from serious injury, but he was still winded and dizzy, unaware that he smashed into one of Remus' barriers. What happened next, he couldn't remember, except that he looked over and saw a pair of golden eyes belonging to his adversary, then his body went limp as paralysis set in.

With the second one down for the count, Amy met up with the Lycan and the cyborg, who slithered his way off the wolf's back and returned to his gorilla form,

"What's the status on the spider?" she demanded.

Returning to human form, the hairy German spoke swiftly and quietly,

"He's out cold." he pointed in the appropriate direction.

Nodding in approval, the woman with the golden look issued more orders and checked on Rob,

"Grab the two of them and bring them down to the first floor. Once you've placed them in a safe place, I want you back up here and on standby for further instructions. Understood?" she asked, keeping a straight posture.

Saluting, the two responded with respect and discipline,

"Yes, sir!" they said, before taking off to carry out their captain's orders.

With two more left on the rooftop to deal with Amy silently goaded Remus to follow her and the two proceeded straight to where Brock was facing off against the possessed sibling of Watterson. It was quite the spectacle, really, the ghoulish fish was squaring off pretty well against Brock's Golem and his soundwave-based attacks with dark magic to cut him with and even though the clay was capable of regenerating, Brock had to be extra careful when it came to his face. He would knock them down on occasion, but whenever they got back up, a merciless assault quickly followed.

"Let's go, you Clayton wannabe!" Carrie's voice screeched from Darwin's vocal chords as another weapon was formed in their fins.

Bringing his six arms up to cover his exposed head, the Bison grunted as a halberd constructed of bones and jagged skull plating, sliced halfway through the top layer of limbs. With the shafted weapon catching in the malleable material, Brock pulled back hard and dragged the two kids with the weapon as he reared three fists clasped together in a blunt hammer to strike them with. He threw the punch forward with a mighty yell, but before the triple fist connected, Carrie pushed off with a telekinetic blast and forced the offending object away.

Using the executioner's sorrow's (Dolorum carnificus) handle as a launching platform, Carrie controlled Darwin bounced up, kicked the NEA lieutenant in the face and backflipped to safety. Spitting out a broken tooth, the Israeli angrily cast aside the halberd, having figured out a plan to separate the two, and formed four runes in his Golem's hands, two sound blast runes and two slithering rope runes.

"Time to end this! I think you two need some time apart." he said,

Clapping his hands together, the ghoulish amphibian braced themselves as a sound wave powerful enough to clear the rooftop of any obstructions crashed over them and pounded the two mercilessly, luckily Carrie was able to fix most of the damage done to her lover's body, provided she had the energy.

In their bid to protect themselves, Brock was already taking action, holding his lowest set of palms out with spiraling snakes etched into the clay surface and uttered a special phrase,

"Foul spirit, with this spell, I command you to leave this young man's body!" he quoted an exorcism and the snakes, slick with oil shot out from his open palms.

Still feeling the sound wave, neither heard the man's chant and when their eyes opened, the slimy creatures were already upon them. Reacting fast, Carrie tried to push them away with a psychic blast, but they proved immune and the dancing ribbons wrapped themselves around his legs before moving up to sink their fangs into the cheeks of the possessed. As soon as the venom pumped itself into Darwin's veins, an ear splitting scream emitted from the ghastly mouth of Carrie's vessel before violently convulsing and twitching in an unnaturally horrific fashion.

"NO!" they screamed in unison.

Then Carrie's spirit was ejected from Darwin like a sickness, laying the boy to rest as he became unconscious.

Seeing him like this, Carrie was left in dismay as she never ever wanted to see him harmed and her dismay melted into fury when she turned towards the Bison man who did this,

"You monster! How dare you hurt him!" she shouted.

Wiping his six hands, Brock only shook his head and sighed in frustration,

"I tried to warn you both. Now for the last time, please surrender." the dreadlocked man offered, not even moving to attack.

While he wasn't moving, she certainly was! Hellbent on invading his body and turning him inside out, Carrie assumed her ghoul form, a ghastly apparition with spiked edges and ripping claws. Her advance was put on hold however, as a green dome produced by Remus formed around her and trapped the specter inside. Not even willing to pay this barrier any sort of mind, carrie tried to pass through like she would any solid surface, but was bounced back by the shimmering green wall.

Realizing that she couldn't pass through, she tried her magic, but that did nothing and the barrier began to close in on her,

"Stop! Stop! Someone help me!" she cried out in fearful desperation as the structure of the dome was unbearably close now.

Eventually the barrier finally settled in around her, taking on the form of the spirit and vanishing as soon as she closed her eyes. Remus' spell paid off and now both Carrie and Darwin, the last of non-essentials, were peacefully at rest. Overseeing the work done by Brock and Remus, Amy congratulated the two of them on a job well done,

"Excellent work, you two!" she praised, her black and gold eyes eagerly lighting up as she proceeded to her favorite part of the mission,

"Now get these two downstairs and meet back up here. I'll have the chopper ready and we'll go and collect Gumball and Teri once Brookes and Rodriguez takes care of them. Now let's go, double time soldiers!" she snapped, driving the men into action.

"Sir, yes, sir!" Brock respectfully addressed.

"Sir, yes, sir!" came the menta response of the bowl head at the same time.

They saluted, before taking off with the unconscious kids in their custody and leaving the chipper Svarn on the roof by herself. Slinging her weapon over her shoulder where it naturally rested, Amy radioed the Azura one for an immediate extraction while Azura two was to remain in the air for the inevitable task of collecting the valued targets. She also wondered how the Jormungandr squad was doing in their mission to retrieve the giant that had eluded them for so long, thanks to his meddlesome mother.

"Oh, just you wait, Grendella. We'll have your child in our possession and we'll make him into the finest protector the world has ever seen." she mused as she looked off into the direction of the northern mountain range.

-Rainbow factory, 5:39 PM-

Another busy day in the grind and just when Nicole thought her time spent in the office was going to be boring and uneventful, there was a black out that left the workers in her department completely confused, followed up with an air show consisting of eleven military aircraft firing at nothing and four exploding for no reason whatsoever, then the power came back on and now everyone was trying to get everything reorganized and secure. Surrounded by many busy office drones, filing reports and taking phone calls, the head manager of the complaint's department made her way over to a nearby cubicle where an orange bizarro with blonde curly hair sat over a desk full of papers.

Tapping his shoulder to claim his attention, the man looked up and his eyes widened when he saw who it was,

"Oh, Mrs. Watterson! I have those reports you asked for ready for you to look them over." he replied in a hastened fashion, scrambling to gather together a stack of papers before handing them over to the patient female cat.

Flipping through the pages, Nicole found that everything was indeed where it should be and she nodded in appreciation,

"Thank you, Ted! Did you get my coffee too?" she asked, remembering also placing an order earlier seeing as it's been a long day for her.

The worker was stricken with panic as the realization set in that he totally missed that opportunity when he was scrambling about the 27th floor to gather those reports and he began sweating profusely,

"Uh, coming right up, just give me a second!" he squeaked, as he stumbled out of his chair and dashed down the lane, knocking aside several office workers, including a woman who was carrying a leaning tower of paper, sending them flying all over the place in a messy explosion.

Normally Nicole would've gotten on his case for being so careless and for forgetting her coffee, but given how much confusion was plaguing the workplace, Nicole just let it slide with a long-winded sigh. Walking over to help the woman collect her fallen papers, the middle aged woman knelt down and started scooping them up. The employee thanked her kindly and when she was all set, Nicole sent her on her way with the promise of sharing lunch tomorrow.

Wiping her brow and twisting her head to crack all the kinks out of her neck, Nicole made her way to the little office she owned with the reports now in hand,

"Last time this place was in this much turmoil was when Gumball and Darwin visited and filled the office with the factory's vapors." she muttered, remembering that day with a slight shudder and grimace.

CRASH!

Breaking through the glass window, smashing through several cubicles and landing directly in front of her, a blue cat in a tan sweater holding a scythe no longer than himself lay sprawled on the floor. The boy groaned as he slowly lifted himself up, placing his palm on the back of his head as he winced, screwing his eyes shut as white hot pain poked needles through his cranium and he groaned some more.

"Ooh, ow, ow, ow! Ugh, where did that guy throw me?" he wondered as he finally opened his eyes.

Looking around to see where he landed, he first noticed that it was an office building of some sort, people all around him were screaming and running about, (though he couldn't tell if that's how they normally acted on a work day) then he noticed the towering figure standing over him wearing a white work shirt embellished with a colorful pin and a grey mid-length skirt.

Something about that simple work attire seemed familiar and dread kicked in right when he looked up to the face of his mother staring right back at him,

"Mom?!" he cried in alarm.

Dropping her stack of papers, Nicole's jaw went slack when she recognized her son right in front of her and covered in scratches. With her maternal instincts already kicking in before she could question him, she knelt down beside him and lifted him to his feet,

"Gumball, sweetie, are you okay? What happened? How did you come crashing through that window?" she hugged him tight, there was more she wanted to ask him, but then she took notice of the item in his hand and gasped in shock,

"What the- where did you get that scythe? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to be run-!" she tried to take the weapon away from him while she berated him for his reckless behavior, but was cut off when he pulled away from her.

"Mom, I can explain, but there's a guy after me and an entire team of guys out there is attacking Darwin, Teri and- oh no, GET DOWN!" he shouted when his eyes darted over to the window, only to see the demi-dragon already flying toward them on wings made of water.

Sailing through the window with claws covered in a coat of ice, the American-Chinese bizarro reached out to grab Gumball again as he cleared many cubicles and this time the cat was ready for him. Staying clear of his mom, he swung his scythe out to the side and let the fire burn within. Soon the blade was engulfed in glowing silver tongues of flame that lapped hungrily at the air and snapped like closing jaws.

Waiting for him to close in, Gumball swung hard like a baseball batter and shouted,

"Moonfire slash!" he shouted, uttering the name he made up on the spot during his fight with Gabriel for the attack that became his signature move.

The burning crescent set off in its destructive path, its flames devouring any obstacle that came in contact and failed to slow down as it cut a path towards the antlered hydrokinesis wielder. Sensing the danger and seeing the destructive power himself, Hei was quick to wrap his wings around him, simultaneously summoning water from his jug to further reinforce the protective shell while it all froze and hardened. The wave of fire smashed into the icy sphere, knocking it back into ceiling and punching a new entrance into the upper floor.

More screams, followed by debris raining down in the form of plaster, severed wires, and other supports found in the ceiling. Gumball felt bad for causing this level of damage to his mom's workplace and cringed at the potential costs for all this destruction, especially if his mom was likely to take the blame. Turning to his astounded mother, who stood still with her jaw hanging open as she marveled at what her kid just did and Gumball made an attempt to relieve the tension,

"So, um, how was work today?" he asked, trying to look casual, but failing miserably.

Closing her mouth and shaking her head, she shot her child a stern glare as she placed her hands on her hips,

"You've got a lot of explaining to do when we get home, young man!" she exclaimed, her voice elevating to a dangerous tone and her disapproval was all the more apparent on her features.

Trembling with fear, if there's anything Gumball dreaded more than his fights with the giants, it was getting a scolding from his mother and having to explain his actions to her and he only nodded meekly before quietly replying with,

"Yes, mom." then he gulped nervously.

From the hole in the ceiling, a stream of water shot out with an icy claw attached to the end of it and latched on to the unsuspecting child's neck, sending him headfirst into the floor. Dragging him along the carpet, Gumball's face and shoulder burned from the increasing friction, he tried to scream, but the dragon's vice grip was cutting into his windpipe. He was sent crashing into a wall before the hand retracted back into the opening and down came the NEA warrior with two raised water claws protruding from the gourd-shaped vessel roped to his back.

Dusting himself off and sneering at the fallen kitten, the whiskered man talked down on him,

"Water always trumps fire, cat! Your attack did nothing." he fumed in a condescending tone.

He took a step forward, but failed to take another when the blue hardened fist of Gumball's mother connected with Hei's cheek, his teeth forced against each other, and sent the half-spirit flying through a wall. Smoke sifting from her enclosed fingers, Nicole gently blew it out and walked herself up to Hei's silhouette before reaching in to grab him by his black tank-top. Pulling him out, she brought his face close to hers until their noses were inches apart and her all encompassing stare of death was all he could see,

"Listen here, you thug! I don't care who you are, why you're here or who you work for, you don't get to waltz in here, trash my workplace and hurt my baby without paying the price." she warned, snorting at him like a charging bull.

When she was done threatening him, she tossed him up in the air, delivering a hundred punches straight to his gut in a series of rapid jabs before swinging her leg up and bringing it down on the whiskered NEA fighter. Seeing such a brutal takedown delivered by his own mother, Gumball almost felt sorry for the poor sap and watched as her kick sent Hei straight through the floor, down to the level below. The cracking sound of a table being smashed to splinters could be heard from where they were standing and more people who were nearby started to shriek in terror and confusion.

Peering down into the hole she made, shock gripped the older cat as she saw something slither its way up to her,

"What the-HEY!"

A transparent liquid tendril wrapped itself around Nicole's waist and lifted her up into the air, where she failed to find any way out of her tight predicament. She scratched, punched, kicked, flailed, hissed and did anything she could to escape the water arm's grip, but her attacks did nothing to sever the liquid appendage and then the portion wrapped around her waist began to harden into ice, squeezing her midsection tightly.

Gasping as her middle was clenched, she struggled harder to escape, but Hei had climbed out of the hole with the aid of two more summoned arms and brought her closer to him,

"Utterly unacceptable." he whispered, dusting himself off.

Keeping her out of arm's reach, the humanoid water wielder chuckled at his flailing opponent and wondered how such a fool could be so powerful, yet so gullible,

"I am Hei Brookes, son of the Yangtze river spirit, and within my vessel I hold a portion of the river I was born in. I control its currents and like all rivers, mere muscle power alone cannot overcome it." he smirked as he squeezed tighter and could see Nicole's face turning red as her diaphragm was starting to crush under the intense stress,

"Do me a favor and stay out of my way." he finished.

Raising a second tendril, he shot off towards the side in the direction of a charging Gumball Watterson, desperate to save his mother, and the charging blue cat was impeded by the incoming strike. Such a delay was temporary, as Gumball simply jumped upwards, twisting himself and planting his feet on the ceiling, he rocketed towards Hei with a single superpowered pounced. Scythe already in full swing, Gumball hacked at the water dragon as soon as he got close, but the soldier was quick and blocked with his third icy appendage.

The good news: when Gumball forced him to take on defense, Hei's concentration faltered and his mother was set free.

Tumbling to the ground, Nicole gasped and inhaled the fresh air after nearly being cut off from it. Coughing and retching, she was joined at the side by her concerned son, but when she stood and gave him a look, he knew that everything was alright. Taking up a defensive stance, both of them, Nicole took to her studies as a martial arts student under master Sanda Yoshida and scrutinized her opponent.

Spotting a few possible weaknesses, the experienced martial arts champion turned to her child/student and whispered out a plan,

"Gumball, can you keep his water constructs away with your scythe while I take him on myself?" she asked, never once seeing him wield such a weapon before, but having a distinct feeling he knew how to use it.

"You can count on me, mom! Let's take this guy down!" he boldly declared, shifting into a ready pose.

Smirking, hers knuckles cracked just by squeezing her fists and she popped the rest of her neck joints with just a roll of her head,

"That's my line!" she said, her grin getting wider by the second.

Pulling larger quantities of water from his back jug, Hei did not look pleased and taunted the two as he formed multitudes of claws and snapping jaws,

"A miracle only happens once, you two will never last against my unrelenting force and skill." the corner of his mouth tilted in a cocky smirk as he assumed his own fighting position, legs positioned apart, hands tucked in at the core, and eyes dead set on the nearly identical cats.

Once the clock ticked down to zero, the room exploded into a violent hellstorm as mother and son took on the dragon. With the increase in strength his scythe drew out, Gumball moved past his mom and used his superior strength coupled with his greater reach to clear the way of attacking water constructs. Whenever Gumball missed one, Nicole would simply strike it aside before it reached her, her powerful punches creating blasts of air capable of blowing the water apart and evaporating instantaneously.

However, try as they may, they could not get close to the master of hydrokinesis, for every limb and fang filled mouth they took out, a legion of replacements would come to his aid and slow the pair down. He was on the move too, keeping light on his feet as he made his way back through the narrow hallways and kept the pressure up on the attacking cats. Realizing their progress was being hindered by all these water weapons, Gumball gradually increased his overall power outlet and his moves became faster, stronger and harder to predict. Nicole too was giving it her all and more, becoming a blue tornado that tossed everything thrown at her aside.

Eventually, Gumball hit a breakthrough at eighty percent of his power outlet, slashing hundreds of swiping claws and gnashing teeth of ice every second as Hei's defenses began thinning. Backing himself into a corner, it seemed as though Hei had nowhere left to turn to and the Wattersons were getting closer as the two tore through his powerful defenses.

Charging up another moonfire slash, Gumball turned to look over his shoulder where his mom stood,

"Mom, get ready!" he warned, already spinning his body for the swing.

Powering up for a final charge, Nicole lowered her body, clenched her fists tightly and placed one foot in front of the other. Finishing his rotation, Gumball shot off a flaming torrent towards the NEA soldier's water wall and as soon as he did, his mom took off in a leaping sprint. Working in tandem with her son's powerful attack, Nicole waited for the grey fire arc to cut through Hei's defenses, steam forming in abundance as the blazing inferno came in contact with the water, causing it to boil and evaporate, as Nicole punched through the opening.

Only to meet nothing, but air.

Having already predicted their attack, Hei lowered himself and slipped by under the cover of the steam, effortlessly dodging Nicole's punch. Forming a spinning vortex of water around his own fist, Hei retaliated and slammed his covered hand into her abdomen. Knocking the wind out of her, she made a strangling sound as she was sent flying down the hall and Gumball watched in horrific shock as the strongest person he knew crashed through the wall.

Turning to him with a raging glare followed with a roar, Gumball sailed towards him with his scythe pulled back to remove the dragon's head,

"You're going to pay for that!" he bellowed.

Forming a scythe from ice, Hei met Gumball's strike with his own and the two remained locked in place, with both scythes hooking onto each other. Pressing against one another, both fighters struggled to unlatch their weapons or to gain supremacy over one another in this shoving contest. Looking him in the eyes, Hei quietly spoke to the cat while still trying to push him back,

"You're mother's strong, Gumball, but she's no match for the spiritually gifted, even your soul burns brighter!" he grinned as he closed his eyes for a moment, reaching out to sense the others, before opening them again,

"I can sense your friends back on the rooftop, they've been defeated and it seems as though Pepakuma is in trouble with Medusa. I doubt she'll last long against her on her own." he remarked, playing into Gumball's fears.

It worked and the blue kitten's strength wavered a bit as he wondered about his friends he left behind as well as Teri. This was the exact moment Hei needed, shoving as hard as he could and knocking Gumball back, forcing him to stumble backwards. Lunging forward with his ice scythe's tip directed just above Gumball's left eye, the water dragon's son aimed to leave a gash so the resulting blood flow would blind him and thus earning him a swift victory.

He only got within a foot's distance of Gumball's head before the cat caught the scythe, using an open palm to halt the blade's advance. The tip struck the flesh, but didn't pierce through and from where the point connected veins glowing purple appeared, spreading across his paw. Realizing he was using some kind of spell, Hei nervously looked down to see the second rune on Gumball's scythe glowing the same color and when he looked up again, he saw a pair of blue eyes gazing back into his own with a warrior's resolution.

Feeling his power spike from the impact, Gumball pushed his blade aside before lunging forward and clashing once more with this water wielder that insulted him so. Every time their blades met, Gumball's speed increased and the two fought fiercely, moves becoming a blur until Gumball's strength dominated his own, causing his ice scythe to shatter completely. Kicking him in the stomach, Hei was sent back and looked up as the cat stepped forward,

"If what you're saying is true, then I have no choice, but to crush you and all your comrades with all my might!" his voice thundered.

Holding his chosen weapon up with both paws now, with the blade being directed downwards, Gumball tried something new and poured his spiritual energy into the third rune,

"I know that my knowledge of the scythe's powers is limited, but if the first one grants me strength and fire while the second provides a limited invulnerability along with replenished stamina, then the third one must be in a league of its own. Besides, I don't have time to deal with this guy, I gotta save the others so we can save Hector." he argued mentally.

Placing his power in the third rune initiated a strange reaction from the blade itself, the fanged skull that served as the scythe's third power symbol turned black before it spread across the entire weapon and the cutting edge dripped with a tar-like substance. It didn't stop there however, as Gumball could feel his power being amplified to levels beyond that of the first two, his mind being filled with nefarious thoughts as his power filled it completely and from the outside, his body was experiencing some strange changes.

Startled, Hei jumped back at the sudden transformation his target began going through and could only stare in awe,

"What's happening to him? His spiritual energy is climbing drastically and why's his scythe completely black? That magic is completely unnatural and what's that forming on the left side of his head?" he wondered as he continued to observe.

Whether Gumball was aware of it or not, his left eye had blackened entirely and from it, the dark material began flowing outwards, covering the upper left portion of his head. The viscous substance bubbled before hardening into a black mask with a single antler protruding from the side, just above the ear piece, and several sharp teeth appearing at the jawline. Running from his neck down across his left arm and to his fingertips, black tribal markings formed into swirling patterns.

Once the transformation was complete, Gumball, drunk on power, laughed hysterically before raising his jet black scythe, dripping with black ooze to cut him up with.

"I. WILL. CRUSH. YOU-ACK!" before he could finish, he stumbled forward and fell to his knees with both paws clutching his stomach.

From his mouth, blood gushed forward and splattered all over the ground as the cat sputtered and coughed. His partially complete mask cracked and shattered into thousands of little pieces before his scythe returned to its normal color. Shaking and trembling, Gumball tried to piece together what just happened, but his strength left him and he collapsed, unconscious.

Completely at a loss and with a million questions in regards to what exactly all that was, the water dragon's son cautiously stepped forward to analyze Gumball's body,

"No doubt about it, that mask and those markings were definitely like those of a Nephilim's. His energy level's back to normal, but he's completely knocked out. Whatever power he just tried using was too much for him to handle. I need to get him on a chopper immediately, he probably needs medical attention." he noticed the amount of blood he's lost and deduced that he might live if provided the right amount of care.

Walking over and scooping him up with one arm, the American-Chinese NEA member folded up the scythe before placing it in the unconscious cat's backpack. He had so many questions for this young man who fought him so bravely, but could not wait for him to awaken. Making his way through the halls and towards one of the windows, the black haired individual prepared to take flight with his wings of water.

He was stopped however, when he heard a crashing noise along with someone calling out to him and when he looked back, he could see a battered Nicole standing there, clutching her sore arm as she stumbled towards him.

Through gritted teeth, she growled and her eyes were filled with a mother's desire to protect,

"Give him back to me! You're not leaving with my son, I won't let you!" she demanded, her voice unwavering in its authority.

"This woman's tenacity is truly astonishing! I can see her son picks it up from her, but I need to end this now. I believe she's too exhausted to do much, so this shouldn't take long." he mused, before turning to face her and retracting his water wings,

"Your offspring is part of the NEA now, Miss Watterson, the world is in danger of being overrun by a threat you can't possibly perceive and we need strong warriors to defend it. Try not to be angry with us." he knew it was a pointless endeavor to try and make her understand, but he was just doing his duty.

Spitting out some blood, Nicole shook her head and picked up the pace, claws extended and ready to gouge his eyes out,

"I don't give a flying fuck about your organization's needs or your stupid reasoning, I'm not letting you take away my child to go play soldier in someone else's war!" she boldly declared.

Sighing, Hei tried one last time and offered something reassuring,

"You won't lose him forever, you can come with us, we can provide you a home for your family and a job too. You'll be able to see your son everyday when he's not working or on missions." he promised, his face and his tone calm.

Having heard enough at this point, Nicole lunged forward, putting everything she had into sinking her claws into his face and as she closed in, she roared,

"We already have a home, you bastard!"

Saddened and severely disappointed in the woman's inability to listen to reason, Hei unstrapped his river carrier and hefted it until the opening was pointed at Nicole like a cannon,

"I'm sorry to do this." he apologized before uttering in Chinese,

"Diguo Shuilong de iller! (Imperial water dragon's piller)"

Foam sprayed like a faucet from the opening followed by a raging torrent as a column of water splashed forth, a chinese dragon's head mounted at the tip and a force as great as the rapids was all it took to push the flying cat lady back into the building. The unbelievable quantity of water tore through the Rainbow factory's walls with Nicole taken in as an unwilling passenger and she screamed soundlessly as she was pulled further away from her child. Soon she smashed into the final wall and blacked out from the heavy impact, leaving her sprawled in a puddle on the ground.

Seeing that she was taken care of, Hei re-tied the vessel to his back before spreading his wings again and taking off through the broken window. He really made a mess back there, with most of the twenty third floor sustaining some kind of heavy damage, but he never expected the fight to last that long. As unbelievable as it may have sounded, that last attack almost drained his magic gourd of water and had he used any more, he would've been left defenseless.

Impressed, a smile formed on his thin lips as he sailed over the cityscape and got a closer look at Gumball's unconscious face, his lips and chin stained with blood,

"They're both really strong, can't believe they actually drove me this far and lasted as long as they did. Utterly impressive. I hope Fjel awakens her to the real danger and she reconsiders that offer, she could be a great asset to our forces." he wondered how great a spectacle it would be to see those two on the same team and against a Nephilim, truly terrifying indeed.

His thoughts were then turned to Teri Pepakuma and how her spiritual signature matched Gumball's in strength. He'd never seen the paper puppet in battle, but given how she and Gumball were together at the beginning, they must make one hell of a was right, this city had many great catches and the raw power Hector possessed outshined every soul currently in Elmore.

-somewhere over downtown Elmore-

Flying at top speed, the jellyfish remained steadily ahead of Teri as the both of them continued their aerial dance and the latter of the two was just about finished with the childish invertebrate. Ten minutes of teasing her for her poor aim and slow speed, Medusa had the Pepakuma practically ripping her ears off in frustration. She'd wasted a good fifteen shurikens and not once had she even come close to hitting her, meanwhile Alicia hadn't even done anything yet in terms of attacking.

Watching as she wasted her sixteenth paper throwing star, Alicia laughed and pointed at her in ridicule,

"Ha, ha, you missed again! I think your aim's getting better though, you only missed me by eight feet that time." she teased, before pushing herself away again.

Several tick marks formed on Teri's forehead as her mind was consumed with a fiery hatred for this taunting woman and was about to give chase once more while getting another projectile ready, but stopped when she noticed something.

"Hmm?" she hummed to herself as she got a better look.

Far below her was a bridge that crossed a small channel that ran through the city and an idea struck her. Changing course, she dove straight down and arched her flapping head back to call out to her,

"Hey, Medusa! Let's play a different game, how about hide-and-seek and you get to be "it" this time!" she shouted in the same childish manner before sticking her tongue out at her.

Flabbergasted at this sudden change in games, Alicia stopped flying forward and remained in the air for a moment to see where she was going,

"Hey, no fair! You can't just start a new game without finishing the first one, you meanie!" she huffed, puffing out her blue cheeks, bringing her arms to the side with her fists curled, and stomping her foot in the air much akin to a child throwing a tantrum.

It was kind of cute to be honest, but Teri just found the behavior to be odd,

"Meanie? Just how old is this woman exactly?" she wondered in amazement as she zipped beneath the bridge.

Closely trailing from behind, the female jellyfish tailed the paper bear and her jet beneath the bridge, but when she found herself underneath, there was no one there! Searching left and right while looking up once, she couldn't see anything within the darkness of the bridge's underside, much less the paper puppet. Frantically searching for her, the boneless NEA soldier flew back over the bridge, completely unaware that Teri was still down there, just folded up and tucked away within one of the concrete ledges carved inside the bridge's underbelly.

Searching for any signs that she may have flown away, Medusa's blue and pink eyes carefully scanned the area,

"Hey, Teri where did you go? Would you settle for a game of Marco Polo?" she suggested, hoping the child was still around to answer her.

Silence.

Hearing only the soft lapping of the waves below, the Jellyfish shrugged and called out again,

"I'll take your silence as a yes, so I'll go first. Marco!" she shouted.

Suddenly from down below, an object appeared on the water and Alicia caught it through the corner of her eye. Intrigued, the gelatinous woman fluttered down to the river and towards the paper object, which turned out to be a large paper boat colored black. Swooping down, she used one of her tentacles to lift the craft out of the water and inspected it closely,

"Teri, are you hiding in there somewhere?" she playfully asked, turning it over to see the inside.

Within the cone that served as a cabin was not Teri as she expected, rather it was a single glowing rune shaped like a square with three lines bisecting it.

Lifting a frilly eyebrow, the transparent creature was confused before momentarily realizing what it was she had been holding,

"Oh! Clever girl." she smirked.

KRAKOW!

Summoned by the ancient magic, a single lightning strike punched into the jellyfish's dome, sending bolts of electricity coursing through her body and the chatty female was sent into the waves. Peeking out from her hiding place, Teri atop a wasp of her own creation, hovered and watched to see if she survived. The water hissed and boiled where the lightning struck, turning white and foamy as pieces of her destroyed boat disintegrated. After a solid minute of intense silence, it appeared as though she wasn't coming back up and while Teri felt bad for possibly killing another person, she was glad that she wasn't going to be attacking anyone else soon.

Turning around, the wasps wings beat hard as it kept them both in the air and she willed it to take her back to where her friends were,

"I hope everyone's doing okay back there. I didn't realize how far this was going to take me, but at least she's gone n-!"

SHHWWP!

While flying over the bridge, something long and spear-like ripped through the tail end of her origami wasp and protruded from the head, with the sharp tip cackling with electricity. Recognizing the blue hue of the shafted weapon, Teri was shocked to see it was one of Medusa's tentacles that had been thrown at her, but confused as to how it got there. Seconds later, another one tore through her wasp's right wing and Teri lost control of the paper insect as she tumbled down onto the asphalt below.

Striking the ground, Teri was thrown from her mount and felt her left arm tear as she scraped it against the hard surface,

"Rrrgh!" she winced as pain surged through her left side and she quickly got to her feet.

Checking to see if the damage was severe, she saw that the rip had gone halfway through and that her arm was now as limp as an actual sheet of paper. She needed glue or tape, but now was not the time. That was the least of her worries however, as she noticed that her surroundings were getting brighter and twisted to the side to see a set of headlights belonging to a car speeding straight towards her!

"Oh my Jade, NO!" she cried out,wishing she had a barrier moon to save her while raising her one good hand in a feeble attempt to stop the car.

Then something odd happened and she was saved by what one could describe as a miracle. The ink forming the cuff of her blazer's sleeve moved on its own down her arm and onto the palm of her hand where it formed a barrier moon. Seconds before the car came into contact, a circular glass window appeared and the car's front crumpled upon impact, the shrieking of bending metal reverberating in Teri's ears as the speeding vehicle was brought to a stop. The driver inside was so overcome with sudden shock, that he passed out in the seat and remained unaware of the little girl out in the road

Baffled and not believing that she'd somehow done that, Teri brought her palm to her face only to see that the symbol had gone,

"What did I do?" she asked, no one hearing her and unable to answer her self-imposed question.

That was put on the back burner however, as she was snatched up by two electric tentacles from behind and brought up to Medusa's hovering form. Being paper, she was immune to the electricity's harmful effects, but that still change the fact that she was still in danger and she squirmed as the tentacles continued to wrap around her. Screaming for help that would never come, Teri realized how utterly helpless she was without her weapons and found herself tiring out the more she struggled.

Leaning in closer, Teri got a better look at the face underneath the hood and saw that it was strikingly beautiful for a dangerous sea predator. Her childish grin never faded, but her eyes held a form of viciousness, like a cat catching a mouse before it started tormenting it,

"Well done, Teri, you actually got me with that one! I'll tell you one thing that may spark your interest though: even though I'm a water creature, electricity is my primary element. Good try though!" she cheerfully said, before a more serious face settled in on her freckled features,

"Anyway, I think playtime is over, let's get you back before Iris gets mad for waiting too long, okay? I'm going to put you to bed first, so nighty night!" she giggled.

With one of the fine, hair thin tentacles that lined her glowing membrane, she allowed it to slither upwards like a snake and raised it until it's tip was pressed against Teri's shoulder. With barely any effort, she poked the sharp barb into Teri's flesh and released a small bit of venom. Teri groaned in pain as the non-lethal chemicals pumped through her system and she fought hard to stay conscious, but the harder she fought, the more tired she became and soon darkness clouded her vision.

With a final groan, she mouthed the word no before her head fell forward and her eyes closed as she slipped under.

Seeing as she was finally out, Alicia unravelled her tentacles from the paper bear's unconscious form and pulled her in with her arms, cradling her like a baby. She was pretty clever, but the NEA soldier knew that on her own, Teri was simply no match for any opponent who was equally as thoughtful. Hopefully the training will provide the young lady the skills she needs and bring out her true potential. Hei said she was strong and she knew it too.

Radioing in the Azura two, the jellyfish was ordered to stay where she was until the extraction craft came to her and in a few minutes time it did, where she floated aboard where Hei Brookes and an unconscious Gumball awaited her before they took off into the night.

-Jotenheim's cave, 5:50 PM-

While Molly has seen plenty of caves before on some fishing trips with her grandpa, the home of the Jotenheim's was definitely something worth noting and the shy school girl was happy she was invited over. Even though it seemed mostly empty, the mountain's cozy interior housed so many things that piqued her interest, namely all the books sitting on the living room's shelves, all of which looked old and full of mystery. For a girl, whose passion was reading anything she could get her trunks on, Hector's home was a wonderland and she would have to ask his permission to come over more often so she could touch on all this material.

Sitting on Hector's shoulder with a book popped open, Molly was fully immersed in the story she was finishing up on while Hector flipped through his tiny issue of Captain Punch, a popular comic book his mother "edited" to make sure it was suitable for reading, while Hector's mom got off from a crystal ball call with a delivery man and hobbled her way over to the living room where they sat,

"Okay, sorry that call took an hour, Amazing delivery services haven't been living up to their title, but at least I know my package will be here next monday once they retrieve it from Montreal." she wiped her hands off after finally feeling some relief from that whole ordeal,

"Are you two finished with your homework?" she asked, finally looking up at the two of them.

Nodding in unison, the two looked down to where the tiny troll stood and answered simply with,

"Yep!"

Then Molly followed up with,

"Your place is so cool, Mrs. Jotenheim!" she complimented.

Chuckling to herself at the dinosaur's little comment, she really found Hector's friend to be rather pleasant, albeit a little bit of a motormouth if you let her go for a bit, but she was very laid back and that's honestly all the witch could ask for,

"Glad you think so, kiddo! You two have been so quiet and I was worried you guys had somehow wandered off without my knowing." she paused as they shared a laugh before she directed their attention elsewhere,

"Since you guys finished your homework so early, why don't you go downstairs and get yourselves something to eat. There's a pizza in the oven, a vegetarian one for you, Molly, and the sausage/pepperoni topper for you, sweetums!" she doted lovingly as she gave Hector's leg fur a pinch.

Excited at the prospect of a meal, the giant shot straight up and the two cheered before making their way downstairs to the lower confines of the cave. Reminding them that she'll be checking their homework once they finished, she saw them off before turning to her witch's brewery where all her supplies were she kept her magic supplies and selecting a jar of pine cones. Earlier during her call to the delivery company, her talking skull alerted her to the presence of magic in Elmore and consulted another all-seeing orb to check it out.

Sure enough, there was trouble in downtown Elmore, as an entire attack force of NEA helicopters showed up and most likely several elite ground units too.

This didn't bode well for her, as she knew if the Supernatural Commission's lackey's showed up here in Elmore, chances were they wanted more than just to help out and she feared for her son's safety. Digging up a patch of dirt, she placed a pine cone in the hole before covering it back up and pouring some water on it. After whispering a spell and breathing life into the buried plant, the green-skinned cleaning lady removed her hair band, allowing her wispy white locks to fall around her shoulders.

The sound of whirring helicopter blades cut the silence the cave offered and Mrs. Jotenheim just sighed to herself,

"Never a quiet moment in this place." she spoke with irony as she reached over and grabbed an ancient mug from her stovetop.

Pulling in overhead, the twin rotor Chinook veered around and from the rear-facing ramp cables dropped, allowing for several men and women wearing specialized black uniforms to grapple down onto the cave's ledge. Then came the red devil man, still hefting his chained covered bazooka and once all twelve Jormungandr squadmates were assembled up front, he took the lead, allowing them to follow in from behind.

Raven hair ruffling in the wind, the hulking devil eyed the place with amber eyes and spotted the tiny troll woman inside, holding a mug of some sorts while paying them no attention. According to his intel, this was Grendella Jotenheim, wife of Fjel Jotenheim and mother of their current objective. His men, armed with magic staves that produced an electric shock powerful enough to bring down a T-rex while two were armed with loaded M4 Carbines housing enchanted ammo for lethal support, and himself were tasked with bringing in a highly valued target named Hector to their home base in Jeruzalem, where he'll be shipped off to a far more secure location. The devil man, Ignius Blackwell, was handpicked for this job, solely based on his background as a former monster hunter/trapper, with a confirmed record of over three hundred dangerous species successfully detained with very little casualties sustained to his own party.

There could be no better man for the job than him, yet he was advised to be very cautious, and when he got a good look at the place, he wasn't thoroughly impressed nor concerned,

"Good evening, ma'am! Love what you've done with the place, but it's a lot of space for such a tiny thing such as yourself, don'tcha think?" he greeted, his voice ashen and lacking in respect.

The tiny witch in the purple dress continued to inspect the contents of the cup without even bothering to answer nor acknowledge his presence. Irritated, the horned individual rocking the leather jacket and a soul patch, slammed his cannon on the ground, leaning it against his side as he cracked his knuckles and his mouth twisted into an amused sneer. Behind him, his fellow soldiers dressed in all black with heavy body armor and face concealing helmets with masks, stood around nervously as their captain grew impatient.

Picking up his cannon, he pressed a button from the top and a long handle extended from the bottom middle section while both ends closed, transforming his bazooka into a warhammer that he carried as he made his way over to her,

"Not sure if you're hearings not what it used to be, crone, but I'm really far from home right now on official government business and I need to pick up a giant brat, who coincidentally doesn't show up on any official records or documentations. If I don't do my job, then Iris is going to be very mad and that's one more headache I don't want to deal with, so what'cha say? Can you help me out?" he asked, his eyes lit with a fire as dangerous as this man's voice was implying.

Not intimidated in the slightest, Hector's mom rubbed the edge of the mug with her gnarled finger and peeked in closer as if noticing a smudge. With his patience wearing thin, the hot-headed Ignius silently gave her to the count of ten to answer before he brought the hammer her own husband constructed himself onto the poor womens little misshapen head. However, before he could reach the end of his countdown, the haggardly troll finally made a sound and he stopped out of curiosity,

"No, no, no, I must be losing my mind! I've washed this mug fifteen times today and I still can't tell if that's a stain!" she fumed in disgust before holding the brown, clay mug up for him to see,

"Can you check to see if that's a stain for me, dearie?" she asked innocently.

Before his common sense could get ahold of his better judgement, he peeked inside and was surprised to see not the bottom of a plain old cup, but a sea of stars without end. Before he could react, the capture squad captain was pulled in by a powerful vortex and disappeared into the vessel with a startled scream. Alarmed, the twelve soldiers raised their weapons to her and began shouting amongst each other,

"He's gone!?" one screamed in despair.

"Release Captain Blackwell, you witch!" another armed with a carbine demanded.

"Who's in command now?" a female soldier asked.

"That'll be me." another female, this one taller with a long neck and snout like a Zebra. She too carried a stave and was known as Lieutenant Carla Vanchez,

"Just got word that Gumball and Teri have been successfully captured. Our task now is to free need to free Captain Blackwell and capture Hector Jotenheim. Let's go, Jormungandr squad!" she commanded.

Stepping in front of them with a fierce look in her eyes, Grendella feared none who stood before her and was ready to defend her family at all costs,

"Might want to delay that order, miss, because none of you will take five more paces in this room before you are all defeated!" she declared, before raising a hand in front of her,

"Rise, Manfried!" she shouted.

From the ground where the pine cone was buried, a beast erupted, flinging dirt everywhere and taking its first steps into life. A giant, measuring in at nineteen feet, made of lumber with skin of bark, a head full of branches bristling with pine needles and fingers much the same, the creature faced down the twelve stunned soldiers with hollow eyes. Reacting to this horrifying sight, both soldiers with guns stepped forward, took their aim and fired several rounds into the giant's bark hide.

"RAAAUUGHH!" the walking tree roared as bullets, exploding into orbs of green light, ruptured his skin and further agitating him with their stings.

Raising a branch-like arm, the creature roared once more as it swung it like a club and it grew longer as it came towards the capture team. The soldiers screamed as they tried to run back, with the two gunmen still shooting, but were caught up in the swipe and knocked off their feet. Roaring in triumph, the tree monster, reached out with its other hand and its fingers, like snakes, slithered out towards the fallen soldiers, splitting, branching out and wrapping around their ankles to lift them into the air.

Watching them dangle helplessly, the creature born from a single pine cone laughed like a toddler as it shook them all as they screamed in fright and struggled against their bindings,

"Manfried, over here!" Mrs. Jotenheim called out with a whistle.

Like an obedient pet, the tree brought its prisoners over and held them up as Mrs. Joteneheim raised her mug. One by one, they were all pulled into the pocket dimension within and soon after, the witch went out with a staff in hand towards the chopper still waiting outside. Chanting a spell and waving her wooden staff, a sparkling trail of light made its way towards the helicopter.

Upon contact, the Chinook cargo carrier glowed for a second before shrinking down and falling into Mrs. Jotenheim's open palm as a toy. Placing it within the mug, the reclusive spellcaster made her way back into her home and ordered Manfried to return home to the woods, while she got a package ready. Placing the containment vessel inside a cardboard box, she closed it up, taped it shut, wrote down a mailing address along with a threatening note and with a single tap of her magic staff, the box sprouted a pair of white dove wings before taking flight.

Watching the box fly away back to the SC's headquarters, the tiny troll chuckled in amusement and wiped her hands clean,

"That oughta keep those chumps from showing their ugly mugs around here." she smiled with satisfaction before turning back to the kitchen,

"Now I should probably get started on some hot chocolate, bet those two would love that!" she said, hobbling her way to the kitchen.

Her showdown with the NEA did not go unnoticed however, as Molly had come up earlier to ask whether they had something to drink and instead watched as Hector's mom single handedly took down thirteen mysterious figures who looked very dangerous. While that was truly remarkable in its own right, she also heard everything the others had said and could not believe her own ears when she heard one of them mention Gumball and Teri being captured. She wanted so desperately to ask her what had happened and who were those guys, but something told her that Mrs. Jotenheim sent them downstairs to keep them from seeing this.

Remaining quiet, Molly slipped back downstairs, but not before spotting a book of magic on the floor nearby and grabbing it before disappearing.

(A/N) It's 1:23 in the morning guys, what the hell! Why am I doing this to myself- (slaps own face) Right, there's a reason Fantastic is in my name! Oh, my god this was a long one, but alas it's finally finished and I can rest easy.

So yeah, this is the first time the defenders ever really lost a fight and actually, my original idea was to have the good guys barely squeak out a victory in the end, but saw some potentially good writing opportunities if I went this route instead. This chapter had a lot of fights and so many cool reveals, I can't even begin to talk about all of them right now and will keep this outro short.

In terms of magical prowess, Mrs. Jotenheim is very OP and now Molly is joining in too, along with Tina, Jamie, Ocho, Bobert, Darwin, Carrie, Anais, Macey, and Chimera. We still have a while until Hector really starts showing off his stuff and I guarantee you that you will be impressed. There's also a lot antler talk in this chapter and while I won't get to far into it, I'll just tell you guys now that antlers have a significant meaning in this story. Also, Teri has a new power, I wonder what that's about and what it means for her?

Oh yeah, then there's the reveal of Mrs. Jotenheim's first name, Grendella. It's a nod to the monster, Grendel, in the epic of Beowulf and I thought that would be a fitting name for her. Also, there's the subject of Hector's documents, while they actually exist in Elmore, Mrs. Jotenheim made sure that no information regarding her son ever left the city in order to prevent organizations like the NEA from finding out and she has multiple contingency plans if this fails.

Find out more in the next chapter as we pick straight up with Rob and the others in the aftermath of their defeat, we'll also get a peek into Teri and Gumball's new lives in Jeruzalem (yes, it's spelled like that intentionally because it's not Jerusalem.) and how the NEA functions along with Rob's plan to liberate their allies and with all that being said, I'll see you guys for chapter 14: Malabranche.

If you've enjoyed this chapter leave a like and also review if you want to post your criticism, have an excellent day all you wonderful readers!