(If you can play "Now" from Detroit: Become Human please do so now.)
Julius burst through the doors and began running through the school corridors as fast as he could, panting and sweating as he pushed himself to run faster than he ever had before, genuinely fearing for his life.
Gumball soon followed on all fours, growling and snarling as he chased after him, smashing into and destroying lockers and walls as he careened haphazardly around corners. He was focused on one thing, and one thing only.
His prey.
To Julius' surprise, the beast suddenly jumped up on top of the lockers, beginning to run across them. The bomb had to duck as Gumball made a swing at him, which only barely clipped his head.
The feline jumped down again, continuing the chase on ground. Panicking, Julius looked around for anything that could help. Suddenly, he noticed an open locker.
He ran over and held the door closed, and waited for Gumball to catch up. The beast snarled, ready to attack, but as it made its charge Julius swung the door open as hard as he could, slamming it in his face.
Gumball roared in pain and stumbled backward onto the ground, dazed. His plan had worked, he had a chance to escape.
Julius made a bolt for it, running through corridor after corridor, trying to get as far away as he could from the feral beast.
He made it to his own locker, where he allowed himself to stop and catch his breath. He'd done it...he'd escaped...
Just as he thought the coast was clear however Gumball suddenly charged around the corner, having followed Julius' scent.
"HOW THE HELL DID IT FIND ME!?" He screamed as made a run for it again.
The two's chase continued, Julius sprinting through corridor after corridor as the beast closely tailed behind, jumping back up onto the lockers.
Suddenly, the beast jumped off of the lockers and swung onto one of the lights to reach the locker opposite, causing it to fall off and smash into the ground, the glass from the long lightbulb smashing everywhere. This in turn caused an electrical surge which caused all of the lights in the entire school to explode one by one, leaving everyone in darkness.
Now even more terrified Julius began running even faster, the beast following behind, eyes glowing terrifyingly in the darkness.
Julius ran into the cafeteria where confused students were discussing why the power had gone out. The bomb slammed the doors shut, but Gumball easily burst right through them, letting out an enraged snarl.
The students, terrified, made a run for the courtyard which left only the beast and his prey.
Julius panicked and ran over to the serving counter, grabbing a stack of trays. He threw them at him as hard as he could but they just bounced off, not even making a scratch.
As Gumball continued to move toward him Julius looked around panicking. He saw a fire extinguisher on the wall and grabbed it, emptying it around Gumball and creating a wall of smoke and foam before he threw the empty extinguisher at him.
He heard a clunk and nothing seemed to happen for a few seconds until he saw a pair of orange-glowing eyes appear in the smoke.
Gumball jumped out at his prey with a snarl, but Julius dodged out of the way causing him to smash into the wall instead. The beast growled, its rage growing ever stronger.
Julius sprinted out of the cafeteria and headed toward the Library, Gumball following shortly after becoming undazed.
Julius burst in and tried to barricade the door shut two book trolleys, but Gumball still just smashed through, knocking Julius to the ground.
Terrified, Jullius stumbled back onto his feet and ran into the maze of bookshelves. The feline roared with fury. He wanted his prey and he wanted him now.
"SHHHHH!" The librarian tried to silence him but the beast simply picked her up and glared at her. She screamed as she rapidly aged, before she was thrown aside.
Julius meanwhile scrambled to hide behind one of the bookshelves, praying he had lost Gumball, tears of fear streaming down his face.
"Please, please, please, please, please..." He muttered under his breath.
He could hear the beast prowling around, snarling, as it searched for his prey. It stopped and sniffed the air. It grinned.
"I can smell you..."
The feline's steps got closer, its breathing louder, until Julius could have sworn it was on the opposite side of the bookshelf he was on. He held his breath, praying he wouldn't be found.
When he heard the beast's footsteps get quiet he thought he was in the clear and let out a sigh of relief. The relief was short-lived however as Gumball growled and appeared on the bookcase above him, having jumped up after hearing him. "FOUND YOU!"
Julius screamed and ran through the library as the young feline jumped from bookcase to bookcase, knocking them over as he did.
Julius weaved his way through them, reaching the computer desk. He saw a bottle of water someone had left next to one of the computers and had an idea.
He grabbed the bottle before turning to Gumball and whistling. "Hey, ugly, over here!" He waved to get Gumball's attention.
Gumball snarled and charged at him but then stopped, howling in pain as Julius opened the water bottle and poured it over the plug sockets, electrocuting him.
The beast fell to the floor charred, panting heavily.
"Hahahahahaha! Not so tough now, are you beasty!" Julius grinned.
To his horror however the feline slowly but surely climbed back up onto his hind legs panting and heaving, his fur and ripped clothes blackened from the electricity.
"T-T-That's Impossible!" Julius frowned, slowly backing away before he broke into a sprint again.
He burst out of the library and ran toward the science lab hoping to find something he could use there. The beast chased closely behind, now more enraged than ever.
The doors of the science lab burst open as Julius heaved and panted. He really needed to get into better shape...
He frantically slammed the door shut, barricading it with as many tables and chairs as he could. Suddenly the beast slammed into it, but wasn't able to break through it.
It would hold him, but only for a little while.
As the feline continued to pound against the door Julius frantically searched through the lab trying to find something ANYTHING to help him. All he could find however were a bunch of labeled chemicals, none of which he knew anything about.
"Gah, I wish I had paid attention in science class now!"
He quickly grabbed an assortment of random chemicals, just as Gumball finally managed to smash the door down.
The beast snarled and growled, saliva drooling out of his mouth. "ENOUGH!" He charged at Julius, who immediately threw as many chemicals at him as he could hoping something would happen, until finally , one caused a chain reaction causing an explosion that sent both of them flying through the wall and into the room next door.
Julius got up, panting with exhaustion. Had he done it? Had he stopped the...that...that beast.
Not wanting to stay and find out he slowly limped towards the door, holding his arm in pain.
He was about to open it when he heard a snarl and saw Gumball also getting up again, seemingly unphased.
"Oh come on!"
He opened the door and started running through the corridors again as the beast continued its chase, destroying even more lockers, crashing into walls as he turned corners and leapt at Julius.
Julius rounded corridor after corridor, corner after corner, until he ended up at a dead end, cornered by some lockers.
"Oh god...oh god..."
The beast stalked towards him growling and snarling. Finally, his prey had nowhere to run...
"Dude, I-I-I'm sorry, I swear! I promise I won't ever go near her again! Or you, or your brother!"
Gumball paid no attention, focused only on ending his prey.
"PLEASE, I'LL DO ANYTHING!" Julius begged, cowering against the lockers as the beast again unsheathed in claws.
It raised its paw and swiped, aiming to land the killing blow.
"GUMBALL STOP!"
A voice screamed his name, which distracted him enough to cause him to miss and swipe the wall instead.
He slowly turned around to see Anais panting and shaking. She had woken up and, upon realizing he was gone, had immediately hurried to follow the trail of destruction and get to Gumball to stop him before he did anything he would regret.
"Please...this isn't you! You have to snap out of it!"
Ignoring her distractions he turned back around, only for Julius to sprint past him and around the corner.
He had his prey right there...he was cornered...but now he had gotten away...because of her.
The beast growled, his anger now turned towards his sister. He turned back around, glaring at her, beginning to slowly stalk toward her.
Her eyes widened in fear as she realized what he intended to do. "G...Gumball? W-What are you doing?! I-I-It's me, Anais! Your s-sister!"
She tried to turn and run away but stumbled and fell over. She hurriedly backed up, only to find herself stuck up against a locker with nowhere else to go.
Panicking, tears streaming down her face, she began to plead with her brother. Hoping, praying, that she could get through to him. "G-G-Gumball, p-please! I'm your s-sister! Y-Y-You...you'd never hurt me! I-I-I know you wouldn't!"
The beast continued to stalk closer, determined to the end this annoying little rabbit who had allowed his prey to get away.
The young bunny cowered in fear, trembling violently, absolutely terrified. "GUMBALL PLEASE!"
The feline snarled and raised his arm to strike her when he saw his reflection in the locker. His eyes were glowing, his clothes were ripped and charred, he was covered in dirt and his fur was a mess. He faltered, his expression turning to a mix of fear and confusion.
He looked down at his sister and saw how she was violently trembling and in tears, absolutely terrified of him. Genuinely terrified of her own brother.
His eyes widened with horror as he finally returned to normal, all of his anger dissipating immediately. "Oh my...oh my god. W-w-what am I doing!?"
His arm dropped and went limp as his claws sheathed.
"I...I...I'm...I'm s-so sorry!" He fell to his knees, sobbing painfully into his paws, trembling violently. "I'm...s-s-so...sorry! I'm so sooooo-r-y-y-yyyyyyyy!
Anais hesitated still terrified. As she watched him sob however she eventually gathered the courage to get up and walk over to him, hugging him as tightly as she could. She as still terrified, visibly shaking still, but her brother need her comfort right now more than ever.
She shakily stroked him as he sobbed, her voice shaking as she spoke. "Hey, i-i-it's okay...it's alright..." She said more so to herself.
"No...no...it's not! I lost it...I completely lost it! I destroyed the school, I lost Penny, I upset and hurt Darwin...I almost killed you and Julius." He sniffed. "I completely lost it!"
"It wasn't your fault. None of that was your fault. You didn't mean to lose control like that. You got pushed over the edge and snapped. That's not your fault" She continued to stroke him slowly, her nerves beginning to steady.
"I...I went berserk! I-I mean, l-look at what I did to the school!"
"It's okay, I'm sure Principal Brown will understand." She reassured him softly.
The young kitten quietly looked down. "I-I really hope so..."
She stopped stroking him and hesitated as she sniffed, her eyes wide with fear. "Are you...a-a-are you okay now?"
"Yeah, I'm alright. I've calmed down now. I guess popping my fuse like that let out all of my anger. Not gonna lie, I'm honestly a little glad it happened. God knows how much I needed it..."
His sister nodded before, placing her paws on her lap and fidgeting nervously. "You won't...y-y-you won't turn back again, will you? I-I-Into that thing?" She asked sniffing, her eyes tearing up.
He noticed she was still shaking violently, and had dried tears around her eyes and, realized just how badly he'd scared her.
"No, no, of course not. I'm me now."
He went to hug her back, only for her to jolt back with a yelp, whimpering slightly.
The feline smiled reassuringly and held his arms open for her. "Hey, it's okay, it's alright, I'm not gonna hurt you. I would never, ever do that. You have nothing to be scared of, I promise you."
The young bunny hesitated before slowly accepting his offer and letting him wrap his arms around her. He began to stroke the back of her head as she continued to shake.
"I'm so, so, so sorry for scaring you like that." He teared up. "I can't believe I almost...almost..." The feline looked at his paw which was shaking and began crying again. "I almost hurt you, attacked you! My own sister! How could I have almost done something like that!"
"Well..." She began, intending to tell him about him throwing her into the fence, but quickly decided he already felt guilty enough as it was. Telling him he actually had hurt her would only make things s hundred times worse. "...you didn't, so it's okay, right?"
"That doesn't matter Anais! I still could have! I came only seconds away from doing so! I...I don't know what I would have done if I had actually gone through with it..."
The rabbit hugged him back as tightly as she could, trying to calm him down. "It's okay, it's okay, even if you had I'd still forgive you. Whatever that was, it wasn't you. I know the real you would never hurt me, ever, not in a million trillion years!"
He sniffed. "You...you really mean it?"
"Of course I do." She smiled.
Not knowing what else to say he silently hugged her, grateful tears streaming down her face.
She looked up at him and sniffled. "I'm really glad you're okay now. I was so worried. I t-thought you were gonna get hurt o-or worse do something terrible, like h-hurt someone you c-cared about..."
"I'm just glad you managed to snap me out of it in time." The feline sighed in relief. "I don't know what I'd...what I'd do if I'd actually hurt you...I would've never forgiven myself."
"Wait, I snapped you out of it? How?" She asked confused.
"Well...kind of. I saw my reflection in the locker and you terrified and it somehow brought me out of it."
"Oh...well...you're welcome I guess?" She chuckled.
For the first time since this morning, the feline smiled and let out a small chuckle himself.
"Oh, and thank you as well..."
"Huh? For...what?"
"For protecting me from Julius. He would've beaten me up if it weren't for you!"
"It wasn't really me to be honest. I just saw him holding you and something inside me just snapped. I guess that on top of everything just pushed me over."
She smiled. "Not gonna lie, it's kinda flattering that the thing that pushed you over was your protectiveness over me."
"What? Pffft, nah, it wasn't anything like that." He waved his paw dismissively. "I just didn't want to end up being your slave for the next week or so whilst you recovered. If it weren't for that I totally would have just let him go ham on you." He smirked.
The young bunny rolled her eyes. Yeah, her brother was back all right...
"I love you too..." She giggled as she playfully nudged him.
"WATTERSON!"
The two looked over to see Principal Brown standing in the middle of the destroyed hallway, glaring at Gumball furiously.
"MY OFFICE NOW!" He pointed in the direction of his office.
They looked at each other, Gumball's ears falling as he silently nodded and headed toward the office.
"You too young lady. I need you to explain what happened."
"...Alright.."
Anais hurried over and joined Gumball and looked at him with a mix of worry and guilt as they both knew that he was in serious trouble.
She hesitated before taking his paw and holding it in her own. She looked up to him with a reassuring smile. "Hey, it'll be okay. I'll make sure he goes easy on you."
He smiled back, giving her a nod as the two entered the office.