Penny was sitting on the porch waiting for the bus to come, as today was one of those days her father was unable to bring her to school himself.

Her sleep couldn't have been better. She had a dream about her flying session, of when she carried Gumball to feel it too. In it, however, instead of almost falling, he had spontaneously grown feathered wings, similar to that of an angel, and they both gleefully flew through the whole world.

She eventually woke up, feeling fresh, and couldn't wait to tell him about what she had imagined, until the opportunity presented itself when her boyfriend was suddenly thrown out of the window of the approaching vehicle, only for him to tumble right next to her and ending with a perfectly executed flip, then falling right back into the floor, which prompted a giggle from the faery.

-Helloooo, ma'am. - Gumball said, before tumbling into the bus entrance and politely leaving the door open for his lady.

Penny continued to smile as she entered the bus, amused by the cat's antics, before sitting down on the seat next to the broken window.

-Seems like somebody is also in a good mood. Not even this bus could hold you.

-Ah, well, you know me. Always ready to impress.

Gumball had, in fact, not planned this at all, which his girlfriend was aware of.

He had simply wanted to see whether his new power, which he called Tether, was able to let him go through glass.

He was wrong.

Though, his body certainly did the trick.

Penny noticed that her boyfriend, who was taking out shards of glass from his fur, had a light blue glove in his left hand. She initially thought it was just something he was preparing for later, as part of some kind of zany scheme, but then saw him try to hide his hand from her when he noticed her gaze.

Did he hurt himself yesterday? Did she hurt him yesterday?

All the faery remembered that was negative was that she had almost let him fall onto the floor, but when he was in safety, she had checked him for injuries and didn't notice anything. Only one way to find out.

-Is your hand alright, Gumball? Was it-

-Oh, nothing at all, really. I just hurt myself while eating and now have this to not show it.

Gumball was usually terrible at lying when it came to his mother or his girlfriend, but this time it was far more genuine and, thus, believable.

Putting her hand on his gloved paw, she began telling him of what she had dreamed of.

Of how she relived their date.

Of how she saw him grow wings to fly with her.

Of how they both explored the world together.

Gumball gave her a smile as big as hers, and made a dreamy sigh as he laid his head on her shoulder.

Indeed, it made him happy to imagine such an event.

And then, he thought about when it would happen again.

-What about you? Did you also dream of anything?

His eyes froze for a split second, unsure of what to answer, before settling with a weak 'no' that made him internally facepalm.

This wasn't enough to convince Penny, unlike the previous lie, but she thought about not pressing for details, as it could have been a nightmare.

Gumball, however, realized that it was for the best if he just told part of his dream, at least until before he received his tattoo, lest she ask later on and force him to spill the beans in more detail.

-I was back in the Void, Penny.

This was enough to shock the faery, because in spite of never having visited that dimension of static, both he and Darwin had told her about the place. Further details were given by Rob, her boyfriend's nemesis, after the cyclops had one of his plans foiled, giving the impression of a world of mistakes and still air.

The cat then told her everything that didn't include his new abilities, which was also unknowingly listen to by his colleagues that were left speechless by the description of such a place, as they had heard of it through one of Molly's stories.

In the end, they had arrived at their school, and Gumball reassured Penny everything was alright before they made their way into class, though her doubts would, in some way, still remain.

-And that is one of the many effects of amethysts in the human spirit.- Mr. Small claimed, gleefully teaching his students about one kind of alternative medicine.

Most students, rather than pay attention, were mostly focused on either the dancing birds outside or on wondering how a hippie managed to get a job as a teacher before settling in on politics.

Gumball, though, was unable to focus on anything in particular.

He could feel unknown sounds, very faint whispers, that were tiring him as he couldn't figure out their source or meaning.

Until, bizarrely enough, his teacher asked one thing in particular:

-In any case, to ensure your attention, I must ask, what is the best crystal to rest your bones?

The cat remembered his dream, of how the entity claimed he could further his own power through finding mysterious runes that appeared to be made of old bones.

He was reminded of the whispers it made, and, noticing the safe in the room, looked back.

And he felt it. He felt the whispers of the rune behind his head. They were getting louder.

-As I suspected, simply telling you isn't going to teach you well enough. I will have to demonstrate.

To everyone's surprise, Mr. Small then pulled out what Gumball had figured to be a rune, almost exactly like the one he had seen before, except even older and more yellow.

-An old friend of mine sent me this old decoration made of whale bone. With it, I will show you the healing effects of-

-Excuse me, Mr. Small, may you just bring it closer, please?- The cat said out loud, bringing the attention of the rest of the class.

-And why is that, my dear student?

He didn't know what to answer, just that he needed to touch it. His hand was tingling.

-To uh, well you know um, just feel the texture before it gets healed, right?

-Ah, an astute observation, young Watterson. Of course, you may feel its rotten texture.

Without noticing his classmates looking at him with utter confusion, Gumball launched his hand at the tune, and felt the old prayers inside of it rush into his body.

Unlike last time, however, the rune didn't turn to dust, but instead looked much more freshly made, as in, recently and masterfully crafted.

Everyone was shocked at what had happened, and the feline immediately recoiled in surprise.

-Oh crap, I am so sorry, teacher, I didn't know it would-

-Nonsense, Gumball, you just demonstrated the healing of the bone! Did you recently touch any rutilated quartz?

Desperate for a way out, he nodded intensely, much to Mr. Small's delight.

-I KNEW IT! And those snobs at the university, with their nose up there... I uh, I mean congratulations, dear student! He he he...

-Um, thanks, I guess?

-Uh dude, what did you just do?- Darwin asked, right next to him. He had been watching the whole scene up close, even noticing that his brother's hand was shaking the entire time, especially when the bone rejuvenated.

-I have no clue, but what I do know is that, um, need to go to the bathroom. You know, wash off the quartz before I heal too many bones.

-You seem to have learned, so I don't see why not. Just be sure to tell me where you found the crystal.

Gumball didn't even listen to the last part, as he was already making his way towards the bathroom in hurry, prompting his colleagues to lay the foundation of rumors, which was by far the most normal thing that happened in that class.

The tattoo's tingling kept increasing in intensity, as the cat tried to soak it in water completely, before giving up after a whole minute and trying to focus on what to do to calm it down.
Whatever was the energy he had obtained was rumbling inside of him, the voices continuously talking something about the "mark" he had.

That's when he realized he needed to "spend" what he had absorbed from the rune, like he had done before in the Void.
But... how did he do it before?

Looking in a mirror in front of him, Gumball saw his left hand, the glove still soaking wet, and adopted an angry and determined expression.

-Screw it.

And, with nothing holding him down, he ordered the chaos inside of him to migrate towards his paw, as it changed from a simple tingling to outright burning pain until his body relaxed, and it all subsided.

Many thoughts crossed his mind, consisting of four names he could not figure out the meaning of:

Alternate
Light Hole
Black Cat
Vitality

However, one last word passed through his head, and he realized what they truly meant.

Tether

Those whispers.
Those were his powers.
Or rather, his possible powers, which he could learn, or further his own knowledge in Tether. As he thought about what those could bring, someone started opening the bathroom door.

Crap, Gumball almost said, how long had he been there?

In reflex, he focused his thoughts on the Alternate ability, and whatever rune energy remained had left, and the tingling stopped.

Soon, the door was fully opened, revealing Leslie behind it, who was met with the sight of a blue cat hiding his left hand behind his back, the other one unfortunately placed in an awkward position before he waved it nervously.
The two stared at each other, as if they had both been stunned, until the bell rung a few minutes later, prompting the feline to close the water and quickly leave.

As soon as he collected himself, Gumball began thinking of what Alternate would do, before deciding to try it at home after school, lest he accidentally reveal what he now had.

Now, one might wonder why someone like Gumball, who desperately wished to be special, would hide such a thing from his peers and, above everything, his family. The reason for that was a multitude of reasons:

Since it appeared to come from a strange entity that gave him a tattoo, his mother would kill him for having it;
He needed to ensure he was good with the powers and that they were strong enough, otherwise this would just give him the embarrassment of the century;
And last but not least, he was afraid, afraid that others would think he is a lunatic or insane for having unknown powers, obtained "unnaturally", as they came from the Void. This was the most hidden of his reasons, but easily made him not wanting others to fear or shun him for what he had.

In any case, it was time to relax in recess, all while thinking about how what Alternate could possibly mean, along with how he could use Tether for, like a type of teleportation, all while forgetting that he had left his food in his backpack.