Welp we're kicking into gear, enjoy the second chapter! ^^

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7 YEARS LATER...

"HEY!"

"Oh shoot oh shoot oh shoot…"

A now 12-year-old Gumball was running down the sidewalk, as an angry cop chased him. The cat occasionally glanced back, panicking as he ran. Now he realized how bad of an idea it was to try to snatch that ruby necklace from the store.

"Get back here!"

"Yeah uh.. I don't think so." Gumball found himself trapped, dead end in sight. His fear slightly rose. "Crud not again.."

"Finally." The cop caught up to him, beginning to approach. He found the young cat's attire rather strange, it being a light brown shirt ripped at the elbows, with red pants torn slightly at the ankles where bandages resided on the left foot, a dark red cape over the whole thing. He didn't bother to question it. "Now put your hands where I can see them."

"Ugh, fine." Gumball begrudgingly held his paws up, however, suddenly grinned. "Not."

To the officer's surprise, the feline snapped his fingers, suddenly gone with the blink of an eye, leaving only red misty particles behind. "How in the…"

Elizabeth stood by the chimney, grabbing the old coffee pot from underneath as she poured herself hot coffee. Her expression was rather moody, as she sat down with the drink in her comfy armchair. "Any moment now." She uttered, taking a sip.

Red particles appeared sporadically, a coughing Gumball showing up from them. "Hi, I'm home."

"I know, I could sense your presence." Elizabeth replied. "And it seems to me like you got into trouble again. You know what I told you-"

"Yeah yeah 'keep yourself hidden' I know, I know. Sorry." Gumball flopped over onto the red couch, cape trailing on the floor. "Oh and I got the stuff you asked for." He lifted his paw, magic swirling around his brown leather satchel as it floated to Elizabeth.

"Thank you child." She grabbed the bag and dug through its contents, finding her ingredients. A couple photos soon slipped out, which she was quick to grab, seeing one of the feline's old parents. Her expression faltered. "Still have that photo I see."

"I can't help it." Gumball said, sitting up a little better as he took the satchel back, as with the photos, staring at them with sorrow. It was as if they kept him in a trance, an open window to a beautiful memory before horror. "..I still miss 'em.."

Elizabeth frowned, sympathetic. "I see."

That horrible night was difficult to forget for the both of them. Elizabeth couldn't help but relate it to her own tragedy with her mother. Killed for sorcery. She couldn't leave him by himself with all of it like she had been. So naturally, she took him in as her own, raising Gumball around magic and potions.

If society didn't accept the feline, then maybe the witches and wizards would.

"Come child." Elizabeth stood up, carrying her coffee with her as she walked into the cauldron room, Gumball quick to follow behind her.

"Ooh is it that shapeshifting potion you promised you'd teach me?" The feline grew excited, as the two went over to the large black cauldron, plain water inside it at the moment. He peeked over at the pot, waiting for her to begin, practically bouncing in his place.

"You'll see once we finish." Elizabeth replied, as she began pouring in the ingredients he had given her earlier. "Hand me the bag in the other room."

Gumball nodded, and made his way to the destination. He always loved watching Elizabeth make things, since they were rather fascinating to him. She was so powerful in his eyes, knowing so much about magic. Admittedly he was pretty amazing, but still learning witchery, yet he yearned to achieve her greatness one day. The cat was quickly taken out of his thoughts however, as he heard… Struggling?

Curious, he bent down and observed the large brown bag on the floor. It suddenly moved, making him flinch, as he lifted it up. "Oh geez what did she put in this thing?"

"Mmph!"

Gumball raised an eyebrow, hearing muffled noises from inside it. That can't be right. Usually the creature would have been unconscious when he got to it. However.. The noises sounded.. Almost human..

Cautiously, Gumball slowly opened the bag, lifting one paw up. Suddenly, an orange blob quickly rose out of it, startling the feline, who quickly dropped the sack. "What the what?!"

"Where am I?! What is this place?!" The figure turned to Gumball, becoming more confused, but looking rather panicky and terrified. "And who are you?!"

"Okay too many questions." The cat lifted the figure up, examining who exactly he was looking at, keeping his guard up heavily. Last thing he wanted was to accidently get killed by this thing.

The "blob" however, appeared to be an orange goldfish with two legs. A younger looking kid rather.

"Eh, I've seen stranger." Gumball shrugged, about to pick up and close the bag back. However the goldfish was quick to stop him, keeping his fins on the other's paws.

"Hey! You can't just leave me in there again!"

The feline raised an eyebrow, soon dropping the bag back down. "Okay.. Then what do you want? It's not like you have much time before you get thrown in."

"Okay first off, you didn't answer any of my questions. Two, I have no clue what you mean by that and I'm not sure if I wanna know.. And three, rude."

Gumball sighed, seeing the fish clearly angry. "Alright, I guess I'll fill you in." He sat himself down, crossing his legs as he watched the other with curiosity. "Where, my house. What, obviously a house. Or well.. Cave. But that doesn't matter, it's a house."

"And who are you exactly?" The fish questioned, narrowing his eyes. "I should probably know this considering you literally kidnapped me."

"Why should I tell you? For all I know you could be plotting to kill me. I don't trust you y'know." Gumball replied, crossing his arms as he glared at him.

"Why would I want to kill you? The only thing reasonable for that is because of LITERALLY BEING TAKEN FROM MY HOUSE AND KIDNAPPED!"

"Ouch geez, no need to shout so loud."

The fish sighed. "If it makes you trust me, I'll explain my side of the story, okay?" He grumbled to himself, as he sat down as well. "My name is Darwin, I'm from Elmore. I'm sure you've been there right?"

"Yeah, a few times."

"Okay, cool. I'm ten, and so far you just kidnapped me from my house."

"Technically my mom did, but okay."

The fish, now known as Darwin, looked vaguely annoyed by this. He didn't bother to care about it at the moment. "Now you introduce yourself."

Gumball cleared his throat, as suddenly it felt like his mood shifted suddenly, at least to the goldfish. "The name's Gumball! And no I totally wasn't the guy that stole from that grocery store last week."

Darwin slightly laughed at the response, beginning to figure out how harmless the other was. "How old?"

"Twelve at the latest. Older and wiser than you."

"You don't sound wise."

"Hey cut me some slack!" Gumball became offended by that comment. "You're not the one with the super cool magic knowledge and-" He was quick to cut himself off, realizing what he was about to say. Heck, what he currently just said as well.

"Excuse me?"

"...N-Nothing.. I didn't say anything.."

"Dude come on, I was honest. You might as well be honest too."

"What's a dude?" Gumball sighed, looking a little nervous and hesitant, rubbing his arm. "...Okay. I'll be honest." He lifted up a paw, red magic swirling around his fingers. He was afraid of this, waiting for some kind of negative reaction. There was no point to outright say it, visualization seemed enough to him.

"Woah… You're a wizard? That's amazing!" Darwin looked at the red magic with awe, admiring its colors.

"Wait.. Huh?" The feline was confused by this, mist disappearing. "..You aren't mad?.."

"I'm only angry with the kidnapping part here."

"So.. You're not gonna suddenly take me and use me for profit?"

"Of course not! Why would I wanna do that?"

Gumball relaxed a little bit, surprised that.. He was safe. For once he was finally able to be himself around someone. It felt rather odd. "...It…. Kinda happened before…."

"Sorry to hear that.."

"No worries, it was years ago.." Gumball looked down with sorrow, before changing the subject. "So um… yeah. I'm a witch I guess."

"Don't you mean wizard?"

"Are you trying to say I'm an old man?"

Darwin giggled, which earned a smile from the cat. "Nooo, I was just asking."

Gumball soon frowned, ears perking up.

"Gumball where are you? Have you not found that bag yet?"

"Oh right…" He said, glancing back at the fish. Nervousness began to appear more heavily on his face.

"Wait a second let me get this straight." Darwin grew annoyed, trying to piece together the situation. "You're telling me you and your friend-"

"Um, she's my mom."

"Okay you and your mom kidnapped me, to use me in some kind of witchy thing?"

"Basically.. Yeah." Gumball stood up, looking a little hesitant to drag him over. If anything, he felt uncomfortable considering it. "...I hate to admit it but I kinda don't wanna kill you now…"

"..Then what are you going to do?..."

"Um…." Gumball thought for a moment, before an idea lit up in his mind. "Ooh maybe I can pretend you escaped or something!"

"Are you sure that's gonna work?" Darwin asked. "What if she doesn't believe you?"

"I'll figure it out as I go." The feline created some magic, beginning to sprinkle it around the fish. "Think of where you wanna go, this magic will teleport you there."

"Thanks." Darwin paused. "Oh and um.. Gumball? I hope we get to meet again someday. You sound pretty cool." He said, smiling.

"Can't make promises, but I'll try." Gumball replied, smiling as well as Darwin disappeared, magic being the only trace that he was there. For the first time in years, he felt a little less lonely.

Elizabeth sighed with relief, as the cat returned to her side. "There you are. Wait.. Where's the bag?"

"Uh.. Sorry mom but um.. It escaped.." Gumball lowered his head with shame, putting on quite a convincing act. "It was gone by the time I got in there. I tried looking everywhere but I couldn't find it."

Elizabeth shook her head with disappointment. "Creatures these days.. No worries child, it was not your fault."

"..So.. What do we use instead?"

"I'm afraid the potion cannot be created unless we have an unusual creature such as what I had caught. We'll have to wait until I find another." The witch began putting materials back, keeping the cauldron's contents within a jar, and onto a shelf with other jars of the same nature.

"Aww.. I really wanted to see it.."

"I know child, but unfortunately things happen." Elizabeth said, caressing the cat's face with sympathy. "Until then, let's go get our dinner for tonight, alright?"

Gumball nodded, mentally cheering for himself as he left the cauldron room. His new friend was safe.