An hour had passed and Jamie had still yet to return. The other girls had continued to play Truth or Dare as they waited, though Anais was no longer into it, too worried about Jamie.

To make things worse, just as they'd predicted a storm had begun and a bad one at that. it was now thundering and pouring down rain outside, which only served to make Anais even more worried.

Penny noticed how anxious she was and placed her hand on top of her paw. "You're still worried about Jamie, huh?"

She nodded quietly, letting out a quiet whimper.

"Aww, I'm sure she's alright. She's a tough girl, she can handle herself."

"But this storm is really bad, and she's still out there in it. What if something happened? What if she's hurt?" She teared up.

Penny thought for a moment. "I'm sure she's fine. Maybe she just got a little lost or is trying to find something to bring back? Plus the walk to the forest from here is a good 20 to 30 minutes so I wouldn't be too worried. Just try to stay calm, okay? You have nothing to worry about."

Anais nodded and tried her best to remain calm but as another hour passed and Jamie still hadn't returned she was now increasingly worried.

Eventually, she couldn't stand it any longer and spoke up. "Guys, I'm really worried about Jamie, she's been gone for ages! We need to go and look for her!"

"In this storm?! No way!" Masami immediately rejected the idea.

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll find her way out." Carmen agreed.

"Don't you care about our friend? She's stuck in a forest all by herself, in an awful storm! She could get killed!" Anais tried to convince them.

Teri thought about it. "Well, I would but, I have no umbrella and without one I'll literally melt."

Carrie frowned and teleported away then 30 seconds later teleported back holding a weird supernatural-looking one, throwing it over to her. "Here, now there's no excuse!"

It knocked her over, which Carrie smirked at slightly.

"Why does it look so...weird?" Molly asked.

"It's a special one that floats above you on its own, saves you having to carry it yourself."

"Oh, right."

Teri sat back up and looked outside nervously. "Hmm...it still looks really bad out there. I think I'd rather wait until it dies down..."

"Yeah, I've already gotten went once today. I'd rather not do it again."

Anais looked at them all annoyed. "Fine, if you wanna be terrible friends and hide here because of a dumb storm then be my guest, but my friend is in danger, and I'm not gonna sit here and leave her alone in this! I'm gonna find her!" She stormed off out of the treehouse.

"No, Anais, wait! Anais!" Penny called out as she went after her.

Carrie went to follow but stopped as Molly asked her a question.

"Are you really going to go into the Forest of Doom with her in this weather?"

"Of course we are! She's only four, we can't let her go in there all by herself, especially not in a storm like this! Besides, as she said, our friend is in danger and I'm not gonna let her down because of a little water!"

She left and Molly, Teri, Masami, and Carmen were all left alone thinking.

They looked at each other, all considering following but none of them was willing to speak up.

Eventually, Molly sighed and decided she have to be the one to do it. "Come on guys, they're right! We can't just sit here, our friend is in danger! We have to go help her! Besides, it'll give me a great story to tell!"

"What if we get hurt though?" Teri asked.

"or lost?" Carmen added.

"or...or worse.." Masami shuddered.

"That's a risk we have to take! Jamie is out there, possibly trapped in the forest, all on her own, and she's counting on us to come to save her!"

"I don't know..." Carmen replied.

"Come on, she'd do the same for us!"

"Would she really though? Would she really risk her own life to save one of us? After she bullied and harassed us all the time?" Masami argued.

"Of course she would! She may have been a bully before, but I believe she's changed! I'm willing to give her that chance, and so should you!"

The three turned to each other and thought about it before Masami eventually sighed. "Oh, alright then, let's go..."

The others mumbled in agreement and they all got up and left, Teri stopping to open the umbrella and have it float above her first.

"Hey guys, wait up!" Molly called out to the other 3 as they were almost at the end of the street, about to the corner.

They stopped and saw the four approaching them, and Anais smiled, happy that they'd changed their minds and were now willing to help. Once they'd all gathered they began their journey towards the forest to rescue their missing friend, as the storm above them grew ever worse.

30 minutes later the seven of them arrived at the entrance of the forest.

As the other continued to walk forward Anais froze and looked at the forest in front of her and felt a wave of guilt and fear wash over her.

Gumball and Darwin had told her about their many escapades there before and warned her that the Forest of Doom was incredibly dangerous and scary. They had seemed very stern and genuinely worried when they had given her that warning, and they had made her promise that she would never step foot inside it.

She hated whenever she had to break a promise to them, she always felt so bad about doing so. They had trusted her, trusted she would keep to her word, but she was betraying that trust, betraying them, and it always hurt her to do so, each and every time.

This one especially hurt, much more than any other, as they had seemed so genuinely worried and scared about her when they'd made her make this promise. She could tell that they weren't exaggerating or playing up the danger of this forest and that they really were terrified about her getting hurt.

Her ears lowered and she teared up slightly as she thought about how they'd react if they found out what she was about to do. "I'm really sorry, but I have no choice...my friend is in danger. She needs me"

She sighed and walked up to the others who were waiting for her.

"Right. We stick together. No one wanders off. We already have one person lost, we don't want to be looking for anyone else." She informed them.

"And who put you in charge? " Masami asked.

"Me. I came here to save my friend, and that's what I intend to do, and I can't do that unless we all work together."

"Pfft, like I'm gonna listen to some toddler bossing me around." She rolled her eyes and turned around.

Anais slowly looked down with a sigh.

"Hey, Anais is very smart, more than any of us. If anyone should be in charge it's her." Carmen spoke up.

"Definitely! Gumball and Darwin have told us about some of the stuff she's done before and if what we've heard is true then she's more than capable of leading us!" Carrie claimed, Penny nodding in agreement.

Anais looked up and began to smile as everyone else began to defend her, and agree that she should be the leader. Well, everyone except Masami who just growled in frustration. "Fine, whatever! Let's just get this over with so we can get back home!"

Anais grinned, feeling a little excited by this whole prospect, but quickly remembered why she was here, and what was at stake. This wasn't meant to be fun, this was serious. She had to stay focused.

"Right, are we all ready?"

They all nodded and turned to face the forest.

"Then let's go and find our friend!"

And with that the seven of them began their rescue mission, heading into the depths of the forest that lay ahead.