It was a wet, rainy evening in the town of Elmore and the three Watterson kids were currently home alone, having arrived home from school before either of their parents had from work and whatever Richard was up to.

The three were now sat in Gumball and Darwin's room, hanging out and playing 'Would you rather?' to keep themselves occupied until one of their parents finally got home.

"Would you rather...be ugly or stupid?" Gumball asked.

"Hmm, I don't wanna lose my adorableness so I'm gonna go with being stupid." Darwin replied.

"Ugly of course! My intelligence is the most important part of me, no way I'm losing it!"

"Yeah, I thought you'd go with that." Gumball smiled.

"I'd ask you what your choice would be but you're already both so it wouldn't make a difference." Anais teased him as she held back laughter.

Gumball let out a mock gasp of insult, before picking up the pillow from his bed and beginning to hit her with it.

"Ah, I'm kidding, I'm kidding, ahahahahahah, ahhahahahahaha!"

As she continued to laugh the power suddenly turned off, leaving the house with no light other than the moon outside.

"Woah, what the what?!" Gumball exclaimed.

"What's going on?!" Darwin panicked.

"Relax, it's probably just a power cut." Anais assured him.

"Y-Yeah, it's just a power cut. N-Nothing to worry about..." Darwin assured himself.

Just then they heard a loud crash come from downstairs.

"What was that?!" Darwin jumped in his spot.

"I...I don't know..." She admitted.

"It sounded like glass smashing..." Gumball's ears lowered as he began to worry. "You...you don't think that..."

"Someone's breaking in?!" Darwin caught onto his train of thought.

"No, it was a...a plate that uh...got blown off the side by a gust of wind..." Anais tried to make an excuse, though the uncertain tone of her voice alongside her ears lowering and her beginning to shake slightly made it obvious she didn't really believe it.

"OW!" They suddenly heard a muffled female voice cry in pain from downstairs, confirming their fears. Someone was inside their house.

"Oh my God, s-someone's inside our house. What...w-what do we do?!" Anais began to shake even more, now genuinely terrified.

"I d-don't know! I'm scared!" Darwin let out a whimper, also terrified.

Gumball looked between the two shaking and tearing up and his ears lowered.

He felt his brotherly instincts begin to kick in as his thoughts raced.

Someone was in their house, probably trying to rob them, and they were home alone. He himself was just as terrified as his siblings, but they needed him right now more than ever.

This was serious, more serious than any other situation they had been in before. There was a complete stranger in their house and if she realized they were there, who knows what she'd do to them...

Someone had to take charge of the situation and look after his siblings, protect them, and for once he had to be the one to do so. He had to be...what was the word...responsible!

He quickly pulled them both into a tight hug to comfort them. "Hey, it's okay, just stay calm. We're gonna be okay. There are three of us and one of her. We can stop her." He assured them, ensuring to keep his voice down, as did the others, so as to not be heard by the intruder.

"How!? What can we do!?" Darwin looked up, his eyes wide.

"We...we could do a home alone!" Anais suggested, sounding slightly excited at the idea.

"No, we don't have enough time for that! We'll all sneak down together, then I'll jump her whilst you two get out of here and get help!"

"What?! We can't leave you alone with her! What if something happens to you?!" Darwin exclaimed in a whisper.

"I don't care what happens to me! My priority is to make sure that both of you get out okay, no matter what! That's all that matters to me!" He replied, sounding completely serious, more so than Darwin and Anais could ever remember him sounding.

"But...w-w-what if you...what if she..." Anais began to tear up at the thought of what could happen to him.

"We don't have time to argue! She could come up at any moment! We have to do this, now!"

"Why can't one of us do it instead?!" Darwin asked.

"Because I'm the one with night vision, claws, and sharp teeth! I have the best chance against her! Now please, we have to go, now!" He pleaded with them.

The two looked at each other as they held back tears, before turning back and slowly nodding.

"Okay, follow me, quietly and wait for my signal!"

The three tiptoed over to the door, Gumball in front, Darwin behind him with his arms tightly wrapped around Anais.

They quietly opened the door and tiptoed over the stairs. They carefully made their way down but stopped halfway down as they peered over the railing and saw a hooded figure in the kitchen searching threw the drawers, with the back door wide open.

"Ugh, for god's sake where is it?!" She mumbled to herself frustrated.

For some reason the voice sounded familiar to them, but because their minds were racing so fast at the moment they didn't have time to stop and think about it.

Gumball gestured for them to follow, and they continued down, quickly and quietly running and hiding behind the sofa.

"On my signal, run for the back door and get out of here, okay??" Gumball whispered.

The two despite absolutely hating the idea of leaving him alone with the intruder, reluctantly nodded in agreement.

He nodded back, and before he could do anything else Anais suddenly ran forward and silently hugged him and tears streamed down her face. "Please, b-be careful! I don't want you to get hurt!"

He hugged her back. "I will, I promise."

She nodded with a sniff, then let out a quiet whimper as she reluctantly let go of him.

"Okay, ready?"

The two nodded and he raised his paw counting down from 3.

3...2...1

"NOW!" He yelled.

Anais and Darwin ran for the door as Gumball charged into the kitchen and tackled the intruder to the floor, knocking her hood off as she yelped in surprise.

"DON'T YOU DARE HURT MY BROTHER OR SISTER! STAY AWAY FROM THEM! LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Gumball began to scream as he jumped on top of her, unsheathed his claws, and began scratching her with all his might.

"GUMBALL WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?! STOP IT!" The intruder yelled.

He froze, along with Darwin and Anais who had only just gotten through the door.

She knows his name?? How?!

Just then the power finally came back on, and Gumball saw who he had been attacking.

He gasped horrified, as he began to shake and his eyes widened in horror.

He slowly got up and backed away from her, covering his mouth.

"M-Mom?!"

Darwin and Anais slowly came back inside confused and equally as horrified as she got up from the floor, wearing a raincoat, which was now torn, with her face now covered in scratches.

Nicole glared at him furiously. "What the heck is wrong with you?! Why on earth did you just attack me like that?!"

"I-I-I didn't know it was you! W-w-we thought you were an intruder b-because the power went out and w-w-we heard glass smashing a-a-and the hood and t-t-the cry of pain! I-I-I was just trying to protect Darwin and Anais, I-I-I'm so sorry, please don't be mad!" He began to cry, fear and guilt flooding him, horrified at what he had just done, and terrified of his mother's response.

He braced for her response, cowering and preparing for her wrath, when, much to his surprise, she covered her mouth as she held back laughter which ultimately proved useless as she then broke out into tears of laughter.

"Ahhahahahahaha, ahhahahahahaha! Oh my...oh my God...that's brilliant!"

"Wait, s-so...you aren't mad at me...?" He asked confused.

She regained her composure and wiped her eyes. "No, no, of course not!" She sighed happily. "God, you really are one fierce fighter when you aren't holding back! Those scratches were painful!" She said as she rubbed her cheek.

His ears lowered."I'm really sorry...I-I-I didn't mean to hurt you..." He said quietly, sounding genuinely guilty.

She placed her paw on his shoulder. "It's okay, honestly! It's just a few cuts, I'm sure I'll live. How did you not see it was me though? You're meant to have night vision! Some cat you are..."

He blushed as his ears lowered in embarrassment. "My eyes hadn't adjusted yet and I wasn't paying attention okay! I thought you were a threat!"

"Aww, I'm only teasing you, sweetheart! I know you were just protecting your brother and sister, and for that, I am so, so proud of you."

"Y-You are?!" He asked sounding surprised.

"Of course. You put your siblings first and prioritized their safety over yours. I couldn't be more proud of you." She hugged him, and he hugged her back lovingly."

"So...what were you doing anyway? What was all of that about?" Anais asked confused.

"Yeah, you really scared us!" Darwin complained.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you all! I was just bringing someone shopping in, as I'd stopped to get a few things on the way home, and it was raining so I got my raincoat out from the back of the car."

"Why'd you come in the back though?" Darwin asked.

"I needed to go to the kitchen to put the shopping away so the back door was more convenient. Then the power went out and as I went to check the breaker down in the basement I knocked a glass off the side."

She nodded to the broken glass on the floor next to her. "The power was still on so I went back up, and I tripped and stubbed my toe on one of the steps as I was coming back up. Then since I didn't know when the power would come back on I decided to look for a torch, which is when you jumped me."

"Well, we all feel pretty stupid now...especially me." Gumball admitted as he rubbed his arm and blushed embarrassed.

"Aww, don't be! It was an honest mistake. A pretty funny one too!" She giggled.

"Please don't tell anyone!" Darwin begged.

"Hmm...no promises!" She smiled.

"We're never gonna live this down are we?" Anais sighed.

"Oh, I'm never gonna forget this one, don't you worry! You three are never gonna hear the end of it!"

Gumball chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I'm just glad it was just you! I was so worried that Darwin and Anais were gonna get hurt..." His ears lowered.

"Aww, that never would've happened! Not with you looking after us!" Anais smiled.

"Yeah, you really went out of your way for us dude! You were willing to risk your own life for us!"

"Aww, it was nothing..." He rubbed his head.

"No it wasn't! You were great!" Darwin smiled.

"More than great, amazing! The best!" Anais grinned.

He began to tear up. "You guys..." He sniffed as a smile slowly grew on his face.

"Aww, come here!" Darwin smiled.

The three hugged each lovingly, glad that this whole thing was a misunderstanding, but also secretly glad the experience had happened, as they felt it helped their bond to strengthen more than ever, and showed them a side of Gumball they never knew he had, one that assured them that he would protect them both, no matter the cost.