Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait, but a lot happened and I had to put this on pause for a little while, but Chapter Three is finally here, and it's finally time to really get the story going!
If you haven't already I recommend you go and read the new remaster of the first part of this story, The Kitten's Limit. It has a whole bunch of new scenes, including a big tease of a major element of this story as its epilogue/post-credit scene.
Anyway, I don't want this to drag on too much so, without further ado...here's Chapter Three! Enjoy!
Gumball's head rested against the window, the minutes going by as the bus slowly headed to school, frequently stopping for traffic.
The rest of his group were continuing to chat amongst themselves, laughing and joking around, though Penny stopped as she noticed her boyfriend had gone quiet. She turned to look at him, and saw the feline barely keeping his eyes open as he rested quietly in thought.
"Gummy, are you okay?" The fairy asked, her face etched with concern.
"Hmm?" He turned to her tiredly. "Oh yeah, just...a little tired. I didn't get much sleep last night. You can probably guess why." The feline let out a mixed sound that could be described as a mix of a yawn and a meow as his head dropped slightly.
"Aww, Gumball..." Her face softened as she looked at him with sympathy. "You really are terrified, aren't you?"
The feline remained silent, only giving a weak nod in response as he teared up.
"Oh, come here..." She gave a reassuring smile and held out her arms, inviting him to cuddle up with her.
Usually, he'd have been too embarrassed to do something like that in public, but right now he really couldn't care less. He eagerly accepted, shifting over and resting his head against her chest, the fairy wrapping her arm around his back.
She began to gently stroke the back of the young kitten's head with her left hand as he looked up at her with wide eyes "It's just, I was...thinking about my life, about h-how things are never going go back to being the same again. Even if I get all of my friends back, even if they all love me, I'll still have my limit. It'll still always be a part of me. For the rest of my life, I'm gonna be stuck managing it, worrying about it, praying I never lose control of it again, No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, nothing is ever going to change that. I can never get my old life back again. Not ever."
Penny hesitated, the fairy's glow dimming slightly as she considered what to say. She thought about the talk she, Anais, and Darwin had with Gumball's Mom a few days after his incident. Although initially reluctant, she and Gumball had decided it'd best to fill the three of them in. Thus, she had sat down with them and explained the limit to them in more detail, what it was, what it was like for her during some of her own incidents and how she had dealt with it and eventually learned to somewhat control it, and most importantly how they could help Gumball do the same.
Eventually, she pulled him even closer as she continued to pet him comfortingly. "You're right Gumball. Things won't ever be the same again. There's nothing any of us can do about that. But your Mom went through this exact same thing. She had her own limit to control. And sometimes she couldn't help it and lost control. But, no matter what happened, no matter how hard things got for her, she had your father. He was there for her whenever and wherever she needed him. If she needed him he would be there. No hesitation. Just like I am for you. I know how terrified and unsure you are about the future. More scared than any of us could ever be."
She held his head up, staring into his wet eyes with a determined but reassuring gaze. "Things are going to be all new and scary and uncertain for you, and it may take a while, but I promise you, no matter what happens, you're going to be okay. You're going to be happy again. You're going to learn to control your limit and keep it at bay. You're going to have people to turn to, people who love and support you and are there for you whenever you need a hug or a talk or to be told that everything will be okay. Just like your mother. She made it through to the other side and as long as you have me, as long as you have us, so will you."
"You...you really mean it? You promise?" He asked, not entirely believing it himself.
"Of course I do Gummy. I promise you, things will get better. They always do. You just have to stay strong and keep going. You have to be brave. Just like I know you are."
The kitten's face lit up slightly at this, an eyebrow-raising. "You...you think I'm brave? Really!?"
"Of course!"
"Nah, come on! When have I ever done something brave?" He waved his paw dismissively.
"Loads of time! You wore that gi and decided to be yourself, you went after me when I broke out of my shell, you risked your life fighting those sweater guys to save the entire school!"
"That's not how I remember it going..." He muttered himself, sighing at the recollection of how annoying that entire day was.
The fairy smiled, remembering something else. "Oh, and remember that one time when we were young, when we were in...the fourth grade, i think, and we were doing a school play of The Lion King. We were cast together as Simba and Nala, and I was so excited. I told my friends, parents, everyone! We both rehearsed together almost every day, and we had a blast doing so!"
The feline smiled and looked down as he thought back to the rehearsals, the hours he and Penny had spent together. Good times, good times...
" When it came to the day of the actual show however you were terrified to go on. You'd never performed in front of a crowd like that before, let alone as the lead, and you were absolutely petrified. But, you knew how much the play meant to me, how much I was looking forward to doing it, and how disappointed I would have been if you chickened out. So you went on anyway."
She smiled, placing her hands on his paw. "You faced your fears and went on stage, just for me. And you aced it! No one would have been able to tell how scared you were once you were out there. Hell, I didn't even know until you told me afterward."
"Nah, that was just a small school play Penny. That wasn't brave."
"Of course it was! You were terrified out of your mind, but you still went ahead with it anyway. If that's not brave I don't know what is."
"You really think so?"
"Absolutely! Though a certain someone.." She nodded over to Anais who had taken out a book to read as Darwin and Carrie continued to talk. "...probably helped to ease your nerves a little and break the tension when she decided to shout out your name as soon as she saw you on stage!" Penny giggled.
The young bunny looked over with a blush, overhearing their conversation. "Hey, I was a baby okay! I saw you and got excited! I didn't know any better!"
"Yeah...it was still hilarious though! I only barely kept my composure." Gumball admitted.
She simply rolled her eyes before smiling, "Hah, I remember after the play I had that song about no worries stuck in my head for days..."
"Hakuna Matata?" The shapeshifter asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That was the one."
Penny slowly turned to her feline boyfriend with a smirk, only to find him smirking back, both having had the exact same idea. Anais saw the gleam in their eyes, and her own widened slightly as she released what they were about to do.
"No, no, no, no, no, don't you d-"
"Hakuna Matata!" The two suddenly burst out singing as exactly the same time, belting out the song as loudly as they could, grins plastered across their entire faces as they began to dance in their seats. "What a wonderful phrase!"
"Hakuna Matata! Ain't no passing craze!"
"It means no worries, for the rest of your days!" Gumball leaned in toward Anais' face as he sang, struggling to break down laughing sd the bunny crossed her arms annoyed.
"It's our problem-free..." Penny smiled with a loving gaze at Gumball.
"...philosophy!" The kitten smiled back.
"Hakuna Matata!" The two finished before leaning in and locking lips, Penny wrapping her arms around the feline's neck.
"God, I needed that.." Gumball sighed happily once the two released each other.
"Glad I helped cheer you up a little!" The fairy smiled back.
Meanwhile, Anais sighed, the young bunny rolling her eyes. "God, I'm gonna have that stuck in my head for the rest of the day now.."
"Glad to.." The feline yawned again. "...be of assistance sis!"
"Still tired, huh?" Penny asked.
"N-No I'm...I'm okay now..." He replied. "I just need to...close my eyes for a moment...and.." His head slowly began to droop as he began to doze off, before suddenly jolting back up in surprise as he realized.
Chuckling, the fairy rolled her eyes. "Come on, you can come and have a rest against me for a while."
"What? A-A-Are you sure? I don't want you to be uncomfortable or anything."
"It's fine Gummy. You need the rest." She rubbed his head affectionately. "Just close your eyes and try to get some sleep, and I'll wake you up when we get to school, okay?"
He nodded before resting against Penny's chest again and closing his eyes.
"Thanks Pen...I really...needed this..." He smiled as she wrapped her arm around him. beginning to gently stroke the back of his head.
"You're welcome..." She gave him a peck on the forehead.
Only a few minutes later she heard the soft snores of the feline as he purred away quietly, fast asleep.
Gumball's eyes flickered open, the feline waking up. What time was it? Where they at school yet?
He stretched and let out another yawn before sleepily rubbing his eyes and turning to Penny. "Hey Pen, are we at school y-"
He stopped as he was meant with an empty seat next to him. Many empty seats.
As he looked around, he saw the entire bus was completely empty. Everyone had seemingly disappeared into thin air, including Rocky, meaning the bus was now completely stationary.
"What the!?" The kitten's eyes widened in confusion, ears standing to attention. "What's going on!? Did Penny just leave me on the bus!?"
He quickly shuffled over to the window and looked outside. They were parked in the middle of some random road, not even close to school.
So why had they stopped? Where had everyone gone?
As he continued to observe his surroundings he was even more confused as he noticed that not a single other vehicle was anywhere to be found. The streets were completely abandoned, say for the desolate, stationary school bus.
"What the actual what is going on!?"
"Hello? Can you hear me?" A voice suddenly spoke to him. It sounded familiar. Like his own, but deeper and void of any emotion. It echoed all around him in seemingly every direction, as if were his own thoughts.
Gumball froze. Did...did someone just speak to him?
The feline turned and began to look around again, but no one was there.
"Must be imaging things..." He mumbled to himself.
"You didn't imagine it." The voice spoke again.
He looked around again, confused. "H-Hello? W-Who's there?"
Suddenly the voice began to laugh. A crazy, delighted, gleeful laugh. "It worked...I'm in his mind...he can hear me!"
"What worked? W-Who are you? Where are you?" The young kitten asked, beginning to get a little frightened.
"Boy, you're an inquisitive one aren't you?" The voice remarked. "So many questions..."
"T-Tell me! Tell me what's going on!" Gumball demanded.
"Patience feline...you'll get your answers soon enough."
"N-No, I want them now! Tell me! S-SHOW YOURSELF!" The young kitten stood up, feeling as sudden wave of bravery.
"My my, Big show of courage for such a scared, tiny, worthless little kitten..."
"I...I s-said show yourself! Now!" Gumball demanded, trying and failing to sound intimidating."
"I can't. I'm not strong enough. Not yet anyway..."
"Not strong enough? W-w-what do you mean?"
"Oh, you'll find out in due time...but for now..."
Gumball jumped with fright as the bus engine suddenly rumbled to life. "AH! Did you do that?"
"Yes, I did. Our little test chat was fun, but the bus should be arriving at school any minutenow. it's about time you woke up, don't you think?"
"What do you mean wake up? A-A-And what does the bus have to do with that?"
"You're dreaming Gumball. Everyone knows that the fastest way to wake up from a dream..."
The gas pedal suddenly clamped down hard and the bus jolted forward as it began to tear down to the road.
"...is to die in it."
"No, stop!" Gumball's eyes widened with fear as he leaped up and ran toward the front of the bus as it continued to pick up speed.
The feline stomped his foot down onto the brake, but nothing happened. The bus continued thundering down the road, faster and faster with every second.
"Have fun Gumball. I'll be watching you..." The voice laughed before disappearing.
"NO, PLEASE! YOU'RE GONNA KILL ME!" The kitten begged, tears of fear streaming down his face.
His heart dropped as he looked up and saw the bus hurtling straight toward a steel barrier at the end of the road, beyond which was a pretty steep drop off a cliff.
Panicking, he tried to turn the steering wheel but it wouldn't budge. It was seemingly locked in place, the bus' course locked straight ahead.
As he began to hyperventilate he tried to open the doors, but none of the controls worked at all. The door remained firmly shut as the steel barrier was now only meters away.
"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUUUUT!" The feline pleaded, warm tears pouring down his face as he banged on the doors, genuinely fearing for his life. "PLEEEAAASE!"
The bus was only seconds away from hitting the barrier. There was nothing Gumball could do but cry and pray he survived.
"..Mom..." The young kitten called out quietly before the bus plunged through the barrier and went hurtling off the cliff.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
As the bus plunged to demise all Gumball could do was scream as he flung to the back of the bus, hanging onto a seat for dear life.
Bangs, crashes, and the sound of sparks scraping were all that could be heard as the bus crashed and tumbled down the cliff, rolling and flipping, pieces of metal and glass flying everywhere.
As Gumball continued to scream he was suddenly flung forward through the broken windshield. He screamed in terror as he plummeted to the ground below, and just as his body impacted the ground the feline let out a guttural scream of terror, jolting awake.
He began to hyperventilate, looking around frantically looking around as tears streamed down his face.
He immediately felt his girlfriend pulling him into a hug, the feline violently trembling in her embrace.
"Woah, woah, hey, Gumball, calm down, calm down! It's okay! Whatever you just dreamt was a nightmare! None of it was real!"
He looked up at her, continuing to breathe heavily as he sniffled and tried to hold back tears. "W-what?"
His brother came and sat down next to him, holding his paw and giving it a squeeze as the feline peeked out at hi from within Penny's embrace. "Whatever you saw, it was just a dream. You're okay. We're all okay. We're all fine. You're on the school bus and we're just about to arrive at school. Everything is okay. Everything is alright."
He nodded, tears still trickling down his face as his breathing began to slow. Suddenly he felt the fairy's grip on him loosen. She moved back, and let him rest against the back of his seat as he held a paw to his chest and closed his eyes.
Half a minute later and he'd finally calmed down. His sister had gotten up and moved to his right, worriedly placing both of her paws on top of his own, whilst Carrie and Darwin stood in front of him. Penny sat on his left, gently stroking his back.
"You okay now?" The young bunny asked, genuine worry audible in her face.
"Y-Yeah, I'm...I'm fine. As Darwin said, I just had a really bad dream."
"Dude, to cause a scream like that it must have been pretty bad..." Carrie remarked.
"Yeah Gumball, I've never heard you scream like that before." Carrie agreed. "What happened? I-I-In the nightmare I mean."
"I..." The feline hesitated. Could he tell them? Should he tell them? What happened was pretty weird, not to mention scary, and he had no idea what to think of it. Like, some disembodied voice talking to him? What on earth was that about? And apparently, it was watching him?
...yeah, better to keep this one to himself... "It was just something stupid." He waved his paw dismissively, trying to change the topic.
"Aww, come on, tell us!" His sister insisted. "We won't judge you, promise!"
"I know but..."
"Please, dude! We can't help if you don't tell us what happened." Darwin pleaded with him.
He hesitated, before sighing. Guess I'll have to make something up... "I was recruited...by a bunch of different versions of myself. And my family! And we fought. uh.. we fought this weird evil corrupted version of Rob, and...well, I uh...I died."
Really? Was that seriously the best he could come up with? A bunch of versions of himself and his family fighting an evil Rob? Why was that the first thing that had come to mind? And why had it come to him so easily? It sounded like something Sarah would come up with for one of her fanfictions or something! Maybe her...unique sense of creativity had rubbed off on him?
"That sounds pretty stupid." Carrie replied bluntly.
"Hey, we said we wouldn't judge him!" Anais complained, the young rabbit frowning at her.
"...sorry."
"It's fine. I guess that's just my weird sleep-deprived brain for you." The feline shrugged, forcing a smirk in hopes they would just go along with it.
"Yeah. that sounds about right." Darwin giggled. "You sure you're okay now though?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for calming me down bud."
"No problem dude!" The fish smiled, giving him a quick hug.
Finally, the bus came to a halt as it arrived at the school. As Anais, Darwin, and Carrie left with everyone else Penny stopped Gumball, giving him a stern but concerned look.
"Hey, are you sure you okay Gummy? If something's wrong, you can tell me."
"I'm fine Penny, honestly. It was just a weird sleep-deprived rabbit hole I fell into. But I'm fine now, honestly."
"I'm not just talking about the dream Gumball." The fairy took hold of his paws. "You're back at school for the first time since the incident. I can't imagine what could be running through your head at the moment, but I know whatever it is probably isn't good. I just want you to know, that if you ever need a moment to go somewhere quiet with me and let everything out, if you ever need a cry or a hug or a cuddle o-or anything else, just let me know, okay?"
"I will Pen, I promise." The feline smaller, before leaning forward and giving her a short kiss. "...I love you so much Pen. You really are the best."
She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck as she looked into his eyes lovingly. "I love you too Gummy. More than anything in the world. I honestly couldn't ask for a better boyfriend." She leaned forward and gave him another kiss, this one much longer.
"I hate to ruin the moment guys, but do you mind getting off? I need to go park the bus." Rocky suddenly spoke up, leaning his head out from the driver's area.
"Oh, y-yeah sorry..." Gumball rubbed his head sheepishly as he and Penny headed toward the door.
"It's fine. And hey, good luck dude. I'm sure you'll be fine." The janitor nodded.
"Thanks, Rocky..." The kitten smiled. "...you really are the only decent member of staff here..."
"Decent!?" He frowned. "I thought you liked me!"
"What!?" Gumball's face fell. "N-N-No, that's not what I-"
Suddenly the puppet burst out chuckling. "I'm just messing with you, dude! Bring it here!"
The feline rolled his eyes, before smirking and giving him a fist bump. "Alright Rocky, see you at lunch!"
"See you later dude! You too Penny!"
"Seeya!" The fairy waved as she followed Gumball off the bus, and as it drove away they were left standing in front of the school.
Gumball looked at the building in front of him, eyes widening as horrible memories of the entire day leading up to the incident replayed in his mind.
He trembled lightly, threatening to tear up, but was brought out of his thoughts by a hand gripping his shoulder.
He turned and looked at Penny, who was smiling at him reassuringly. "It's okay. What happened was in the past. It's already long dealt with. You have nothing to worry about."
"I know..." He replied, trying and failing to sound as if he actually believed her.
Sensing his hesitation she took hold of his paw and squeezed it tightly. "I promise you, everything will be okay. You aren't going to face this alone. We're going to get through this, together."
"Together?" He sniffled, smiling weakly.
"Together." She looked deep into his eyes with the most caring, loving look he'd ever seen from her. The feline hesitated, trying to form the words to express his gratitude. Words failing him, however, he instead silently leaned forward and pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss, the two beginning to float as space faded in around them. They remained locked in their loving embrace for what seemed like forever until finally the kitten pulled back and the two gently fell back to the ground.
The fairy smiled. "You're very welcome."
As the two beamed away Penny took Gumball's paw, giving it a squeeze.
"Ready...?"
"Ready as I'll ever be..." He purred as his ears and tail lifted up.
The shapeshifter nodded, turning toward the front doors as the two continued to hold hands.
"Oh, and one more thing?" She turned to look at him again.
"Yeah?" The feline raised his eyebrow.
"If things ever get tough...if you need something to raise your spirits and keep you going...just remember a certain phrase."
"And what would that be?"
"...Hakuna Matata." She winked.
A smile grin slowly formed on the kitten's face, and as the two headed inside he couldn't help but chuckle lightly.
"...what a wonderful phrase."
and that's a wrap for now! Chapter Four won't take anywhere near as long as this one did to come out, I promise! For those curious, the excuse Gumball came up with is actually based on a fanfic by Gumball_fan_247 on Wattpad called "The End - A TAWOG fanfiction" where the exact plot Gumball describes takes place, though obviously my Gumball isn't the first one recruited, and he hasn't died in it...yet.
I just thought it'd be fun for the canon version of him to be affected slightly by his alternate non-canon self being pulled from his story before it was finished, thus the events randomly popping into his mind when he was coming up with an excuse for his nightmare.
Let's just hope the ending he described isn't what actually ends up happening to him in that timeline!