Gumball rested his head on the soft pillow below him. His mind felt...cloudy. After having strained it to basically a breaking point, it prevented him from even contemplating basic thoughts. But luckily, he wasn't dealing with this all alone. Nicole was laying quietly beside him, taking advantage of the time with a quick catnap. Gumball closed his eyes. He needed sleep. Especially after all he had endured today and the day before.

———————————

Several hours now have past, but Gumball couldn't sleep. It was like something persisted on keeping him conscious and aware in his mind. But...why?

Gumball sat up and hunched over his side of the bed. He put his hands over his face and covered them. What was happening to him? Why couldn't he rest?

"Maybe I just need some fresh air..." he said to himself quietly.

Gumball made his way downstairs and onto the porch. The cool evening air did seem to help him feel more at ease, but not enough to feel sleepy. He sighed. This felt pointless. As he closed his eyes and tried to think again, he still hit a blank. This was going to be a long evening...

Nicole was still concerned. After having a little nap and cooking dinner for them, Gumball barely spoke during their meal. His quiet mannerisms had set off several red flags in her head.

'What is happening to Gumball? Didn't he rest?'

After closer observation, she noted his eyes were almost bloodshot. His darkened bags under his eyes seemed to tell her it wasn't something minor either. Just when she was about to ask him if he wanted to talk, he finished his plate and quickly headed upstairs without a word. She sighed. Hopefully soon she would talk with him. If this seem to persist, then it could be serious; and that was something she did NOT want to come into fruition.

——————————————————————

The next day, Gumball slowly made his way downstairs for breakfast. Nicole followed him down, noticing his slow movements. Usually, Gumball would rush down for breakfast. After all, it's the most important meal of the day. He would usually playfully make a few witty comments as she would make them their breakfast. Today however, was just the opposite. It seemed like all the light and joy of Gumball had been sucked out of him. There was no witty comments, no playful banter and no laughter. All that seemed to remain in him now, at their table, was a cold husk of his former self; something Nicole was all too familiar seeing in...in...

'No. Don't think that...' she told herself. 'He's not...him. He's Gumball. We just need to talk and sort whatever is bothering him, that's all...'

Nicole decided that tonight was the best time to talk to him. It was best that she do that sooner rather then later.

Gumball got up out of his chair and headed towards the front door.

"Gumball." Nicole spoke, drawing his attention.

"Are you sure you want to still train today? Maybe it's best we take a day off."

Gumball turned his back to her.

"No." He replied sternly. "I need to train. I can't stop. Not now..."

With that, he headed out the door. Nicole knew this was going to be challenging today, but saw Gumball's determination. Perhaps she had underestimated him. But despite that, something still was off about him. Something that needed to be addressed later tonight. For now, however, it was time to train.

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Despite Gumball's stubborn attitude today, Nicole followed through with some of the basic physical training exercises with him. She taught him how to place his feet, how to swing and strike properly. It was going quite well in Nicole's eyes, at least so far. She did however note his slightly sluggish movements after striking towards her only a few times.

'His endurance and stamina is low. We should work on that. But I feel like his lack of experience isn't the only issue at hand here. He's still barely spoken a word to me today...'

"Okay Gumball, take a break. I'll get us some boards for you to practice with, then we will be done for the day." She said, walking towards the neighboring house across from them.

Gumball nodded, before sitting and resting his body on the pavement. He ended up laying on his back and closing his eyes after a minute. He felt exhausted. He knew he had to keep pushing himself. He couldn't stop. He HAD to do this; for Nicole...

A few minutes past before she returned back with 2 pieces of thick square wooden boards.

"Hopefully these will do. I couldn't find much, but these should work for now." She said, putting them down.

Gumball got up and stretched out his body, before letting Nicole know he was ready.

"Alright. Now, I don't expect you to break these boards, but I just want you to learn where to strike them for the future, okay?"

"Okay." He replied, loosening out his arms.

"Now, hold these, and watch where I strike. I want you to try to mimic my movements."

Gumball received the wooden boards and he held them out firmly in front of his chest.

"Go ahead." He said, bracing himself, but keeping his vision locked on her the best he could.

Nicole readied herself before curling her fist, pulling it back, and struck the boards with rapid speed. Her fist hit dead center and Gumball felt the power of her strike to the wood transfer to his arms, causing them to lock up and move back a little. Nicole let out a breath, before pulling back and pretended to ready herself for another strike, before loosening her stance and dropping her arms.

"Alright. Now you try." She said, taking the boards from his hands.

Gumball took her spot and readied his feet. Nicole held out the 2 boards sandwiched between each other and braced herself.

"Okay, now here's a new piece of info for you to consider. When you are about to strike the board, try to imagine the board is someone or something you hate. It can help. It's what I do. Give it a shot."

Gumball closed his eyes for a second, and concentrated. Someone or something to hate... As his weakened mind wandered, the only thought that seemed to be on loop in his head was that memory. That painful memory. Richard...

Gumball opened his eyes. In the place of the board before him, he saw his face. His dad's face. It had a evil glare, before forming into a devilish smile. It was almost taunting him.

"You don't got balls to hit me. What son hits his own father? A coward does! You can't win..." It spoke with a demonic voice.

Gumball felt his mind pulse with rage. He remembered the face of Nicole cowering in fear and crying because of him. The way he shouted at her, the way he made her collapse onto her knees, the way he struck her...

Struck her.

Gumball let out a powerful and mighty roar of rage as he felt his eyes roll back into his head as he swung with all his might at the boards before him. As me made contact, the face of his father faded away screaming. All at he heard after that was the boards cracking and splitting in two.

Just then, he felt the most searing pain in his head that he had ever felt. This pain seemed to fade fast however as everything around him seemed to fade too, including his vision. Now he felt like he was flying. Flying in the sky. He could hazily see it too. Just then, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his skull. He wanted to cry out, but he couldn't; he was too weak. Just before his vision faded completely to black, he saw a blue shape appear over him, and draw closer to his face. He couldn't decipher what it was in time before everything faded, and darkness surrounded him and his vision.

——————————

He couldn't seem to wake up. No matter how much he concentrated, he couldn't wake up. He needed to get back to Nicole. He HAD to...

Suddenly he felt his body become submerged. He then saw the darkness around him fade, and become replaced with an endless clear ocean. The same ocean filled with that strange breathable liquid.

"No...no...NOOO!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

This couldn't happen. Not again. He couldn't leave her.

Just then, a bring flash of light appeared in front of him. As he covered his eyes, he felt the heat radiating from it for a moment before it dissipated. Gumball let down his arm, and looked toward where the light came from. In its place, in a motionless position, was a...watch?

Gumball reached out to grabbed it. It's leathery strap and metallic center seemed foreign to him. It had been so long since he had seen a piece of tech like this. As he looked at it closer, he saw numbers on it; and they were counting up.

'What does this mean? Why are they counting up? Where did this even COME from?'

As he tapped the watch, he felt the world around him shake. This startled him enough to accidentally drop the watch. As he saw it float down into the endless abyss below him, he tried desperately to get it. He kept swimming down, outstretching his hand to reach it, but to no avail. He swam as fast as he could, just within a few inches from it. He stretched with all his might. Just as he was about to finally touch and grab it, he felt the world around him fade to black once again.

——————————

Nicole was horrified. Just a moment ago, Gumball was preparing to punch the wood blocks. Now, he was laying on the ground unresponsive. She immediately dropped the wood and ran over to Gumball.

"Gumball! Gumball, can you hear me? Please wake up!"

Nicole felt tears start to well up in her eyes. This couldn't be happening. Not again...

She quickly took his arm and felt for a pulse. Lucky for her, she felt one. Letting out a sigh of relief, she gently raised his head off the ground to check for any injuries. Nicole saw quite a gash near the top of his back scalp. She needed to get that cleaned up for it to heal correctly and fast.

With a quick motion, she lifted Gumball up and entered their front door, heading for the upstairs bathroom. Once she reached it, she placed him in the tub and turned on the warm water. She placed a warm wet towel with soap on his head wound. This seemed to make Gumball stir a little.

'At least he's somewhat responding to this now...' She thought as she continued her cleaning.

It had been about an hour since he had passed out, and Nicole was still trying to process all this.

'I can't actually believe he managed to break the board. No wait, BOTH of them! He broke both of the boards. At the same time!... god that's hot...'

Nicole shook her head before attempting to focus her thoughts again.

'He seems to have somewhat inherited some of my strength. Not to mention blind rage...*sigh* This could be more problematic than I thought...'

She raised her free hand and brought it up to her face in contemplation.

'What made Gumball so angry that he unleashed so much strength on those boards? Surely he thought of something very personal if it invoked such a response. But...who? Or what?...'

Just then, Nicole heard water movement from the bathtub. She turned to see Gumball moving his head back and forth in oblivious discomfort.

"Gumball? Gummypuss, can you hear me?" Nicole spoke softly to him.

Gumball then slowly fluttered his eyes open, before squinting to adjust his eyes to the light.

"N-Nicole?" He asked wearily, looking around for her, until he locked eyes with her.

Nicole reached out and took his hand gently.

"I'm right here sweetie, it's okay..."

Gumball soon had tears fall down his cheeks.

"I-I thought I lost you again..." he replied in a coarse voice.

Nicole let out a small sigh and gave him a warm smile before resting his forehead against hers.

"You didn't lose me. I was right here the whole time. You just passed out. Everything is going to be alright Gummypuss. I'm right here..."

Gumball weakly placed his wet hand on her cheek before bringing her in for a kiss. After a few seconds he pulled back.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I did that. I just...I was so angry. I couldn't control myself..."

"Shhh, it's alright. I'm not angry. You didn't know. I'm just glad your okay now."

Gumball nodded and leaned back.

"I'm so tired..." he spoke, closing his eyes.

"Let's get you cleaned off and put in bed okay?" Nicole said, reaching for a towel.

Gumball agreed and with her help, he made it out of the bathtub and was dried off. Nicole had striped him down to only his boxers and T-shirt to allow him to not be restricted in bed. She didn't mind. After all, before his return she was rocking the full on "natural state" during times of rest. It suited her well enough, at least in her eyes.

As Gumball was placed gently in bed and covered in warm blankets, she slowly climbed into the other side and pulled him close. Although this time she couldn't play with his hair, for obvious reasons, she could however wrap him in a warm and welcoming hug.

Feeling Gumball's face nuzzle into her had always felt special to her, but right now, it felt amazing. She carefully stroked his back in a loving manner. All this felt like pure bliss to her. She felt like she could burst with happiness from it all. It was just so...overwhelming. Just then, she got an idea.

Gumball's ears twitched as he picked up Nicole's gentle humming. It was such a beautiful thing. The gentleness of her humming really was pleasing his senses. He felt...tired. More than before. Not just exhausted tired...but sleepy tired. Something he had been craving to have for some time now. Finally, he could rest. Not in deep thought, or having a bad memory on loop in his head, but in Nicole's warm embrace and surrounded by her humming that sounded like pure honey to his ears and senses.

Finally...

Gumball closed his eyes, and felt the world around him fade into nothing. All that remained was the soothing scent of her, the humming, and the warmth surrounding him. Soon enough, even that faded. Now all that remained was total bliss.

The bliss...of sleep.