Hello folks, and welcome to a rather strange one-shot of mine! So back in 2021 when Pibby first released, one of my first instincts was to write a short one-shot on the Tawog side of things, as always. :)
With the news that Pibby is currently not going to be a show, I decided now would probably be the best time to finally release this, since I really like how it turned out anyways. It may not be super original, but I don't really mind, I think it's pretty neat for what it is.
Warning before we start! This story contains blood and kinda gore! If you are sensitive to that, I suggest not to read this fic.
With that being said, enjoy!
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"In recent news, there is a report of terrifying static raging through the city that is- OH MY GOD WHAT IS IT DOING TO PEOPLE?! RUN WHILE YOU STILL CA-"
The news mike man is swallowed by static, glitching and becoming horrifying, as his screaming distorts. His crew look upon with terror, as they try to run, but it spreads to them, as the camera eventually cuts to static abruptly.
"What the what?!" Our main duo was seated in their home living room on the couch, shock and horror on their faces. They had been having a pretty normal day, watching TV while the family were out doing errands. Now it was torn away, with such a broadcast practically spelling out the end of the world for them. Those crew were very much in pain, and almost.. Zombie like from what was shown. It wasn't the Joy Virus, but it wasn't friendly either.
"What do we do?! It's gonna come here too soon!" Darwin began to cry, as Gumball desperately tried to calm him down.
"Don't worry buddy, maybe it's a universe thing again? I'll keep you safe I promise!" The cat replied, holding his brother close as dread hung over. He had a hard time comprehending this as well, but tried his best to keep positive, and try not to think about it. It had to be fine. This could be just some antics like usual, couldn't it? "Maybe we can run out of town! Or try leaving the planet? I don't know yet, but we'll figure something out!"
"Really?..." Darwin looked up at him, tears streaming down his cheeks. He was grateful to have his brother right now. It seemed like a blessing that the cat had rejected the offer of shopping with the family, opting to stay home like he was doing.
"Really." Gumball said, giving him a hopeful smile. "I'll stay by your side no matter what."
"..Thank you I-" Darwin screamed.
Gumball turned around, and copied the same.
The horrible glitching static enveloped the front door, horrifying faces of what appeared to be different cartoon characters glitching all over the place. They couldn't recognize any of them, they didn't look like the shows they watched. All they could assume was that these were people from other areas. That could only mean this thing was everywhere.
"RUN!" Gumball yelled, quick to get off the couch, the goldfish following suit.
The two ran for their lives out into the backyard, screaming and crying as the static came near. It didn't stop, simply enveloping anything around it, including the flowers with faces. Even the sun wasn't safe from this, bearing a terrifying twisted smile as black ooze poured from its mouth.
Gumball ended up tripping on a rock and falling onto the lawn, trying to quickly get back up as the static loomed behind him. His breath was heavy, as panic appeared on his face, tears streaming down his face. He couldn't die now, not in front of his friend, not this fast. He could make it, he had to.
"GUMBALL RUN!" Darwin cried. He ran over to help him, but screamed in utter horror. The goldfish had been frozen, unable to move as he bear witness to the sight.
"DARWIN Ḩ̶͍̜̳̼̮̍́̕E̷̢̘̦̜̝̪͙̦̔̈͒̇͛͛͘ͅĻ̴͐̾̈́P̴͖̳͉̉̃̈̊̿̐͝ 🄼🄴🄴!" Gumball was reaching his paw out desperately, screaming in pain. It was beginning to be covered in the substance, glitching as it shook, as he was unable to hold it up much longer. The static didn't care for his pleas. His voice became glitched and distorted, as his eyes lost pupils and his form fell apart. He too, had become the static.
Darwin was in utter tears, sobbing horribly as he was forced to abandon his brother and run. He watched as countless friends and citizens were losing the battle, the town becoming horrible amounts of terrifying static. He was alone. What could he do now? He had noone to turn to, nowhere to go. For all he knew there was no way to stop this.
"Kid get on!"
The fish turned to see a strange cartoonish female cat grabbing for him inside a 70s looking van, her paw outstretched as desperation was in her eyes. Having no other choice, he grabbed on and dove inside the vehicle, as the cat woman drove faster.
Later…
Darwin and countless other classic cartoon survivors watched in horror, as the static appeared. However they contained hope, hope to save their worlds and loved ones. They couldn't give up now, not when they were so close. It could all be over, maybe they could finally go home after this.
He and them let out a battle cry, as they ran towards the static to fight it. The risk was worth it.
"D̶̨̨͓̰̟͗̂́̌ȧ̶̡̺͓̯̖̖̠̈́̃̿̌͂̇̍͑ͅr̴̢͇̪̪͎̀͋́͘ŗ̵̦͕̫̖͍̩̭̖̃ͅr̸̹̪̦̃̌̈̈́̆̚͝͠͝w̸̧̧̯͋̽̊ȋ̴̻̻̳̟̮͎̪i̴̡͈̪͎̜̘̲͑̿́̏̈́̾̄͆ͅǹ̴͚̟̤̫̩̭̠̱̄̄̐̊̄͐̓͠.̸͈̫̲̟̮̘̔͒̍̈́͆̈̓̚.̶͈͈́̔̎͐͊̓̚͝͝.̷̨̜̪͙̻͕̤́̈́́̿͌̅͌͜͠ͅ"
Caught off guard, he gasped as he found the familiar hunk of static that was Gumball, reaching out for him. He had dead, soulless eyes, and what appeared to be that of a twisted smile. It almost felt straight out of a horror movie, as if a loved one's corpse talking to the main character.
"G-Gumball? Is that you?.." He couldn't dare hurt his brother. Yet.. He knew he had to. In some strange way, he could see a look of pain in the cat's eyes, the sight nearly breaking his heart. How could he help him if he had no idea what could stop it? "Gumball please, you know this isn't right! You gotta fight it! Please!"
Tears streamed down Darwin's face, as he nearly backed away. Had he even truely prepared for this? What if he saw his other family members in this hunk of static?
"D̷̤̲̤̣̓a̴̢̡̢̡̗̩̩̘̘̿̀̐́͆̒̊͂ͅŗ̴͖͔̬̳̦̯͖̦̱̏̓͌͝r̶̨̛̬͈̲̝̺͚̆̓̔̈́̐̒̔̐̂r̶̦̱̬̹͔͍̈̾̈̄͗͘͜͝w̵͈͌i̷̩̤̰̥̟̟̰͗̿̈́̽̉͜͜͜i̸̢̧̹̰̜̰͓͙̅n̵͈̤̬͙͑̈́͋͆̉́̕.̶̢͍̟̘̫́̔̎̃̒̆͜.̵̼͕̲̘̥̰̪͇̈͐͊̃͂͝.̸̦̰̪̞̘͙͈̫̪͈̔̔̋ ̵͈̯͎͍̱̓̊̅͝͠ĉ̷̺͇͍̣̝̪͖͙̥͐̈́͌̌͐̈́̋͝ŏ̶̜̟̤̤͙̈̾̌͝͝m̴̩͎̪͇̗͍̞̳̠͆͆̽͐̍͘͝ě̸̢͎̒̾ ̶͙̩̰̾̽͋̂̈́̒͂̊̓j̴̮̥͉̓͊̊o̷̝̙̠͈͖̘̳̫̾͑̂̀̚̚͝ȉ̷̜͚̪̀̏̈́͑͊̇͐͝i̸̳͑͊́͊̅͐͂̚ņ̶̼̟̘̪̮̖̫̉̄̔ ̴̢̱͈̖̠͓̬͑͗̔͊̇̑̈́͐͌͌͜m̷̨͎̜̏͌̊e̵̡̛̛͔̖̼͈͛̈̆́̌̓̀̚ͅḛ̷̩͚̻̞͙̥̰̊̀̔̄͆̾̕̕.."
Gumball only inched closer. Suddenly, a sword smacked him in the face, causing him to screech in pain.
Darwin turned to see the purple preschool girl fighting him, much to his horror. "W-Wait no don't hurt him!"
"That isn't your brother anymore." The girl said, as she stabbed the glitched feline in the face, glitched bits of… red dropping to the ground. Some of it managed to catch into her long flowing hair. "It's nothing but static."
"No you're wrong! It's still him! I can feel it!" Darwin cried, trying to pull her away. He couldn't bear to see this. He had to save him, to help him in any way he could. He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't let him die. "I can see it in his eyes, I swear!"
"HE HAS NO EYES!" She yelled, pushing him aside as she stabbed and fought. Her expression was anger, as she focused on her task, determined to put an end to the glitch.
"NO DON'T!" Darwin tried grabbing the sword, fighting her now. He could hear a faint sound of glitched sobbing. That had to be proof right there. The goldfish looked at her dead in the eyes, tears scrolling down his cheeks. "Please.. He's all I have.. He said he'd protect me.. I don't wanna lose him too.."
The girl paused, yet did not speak another word. Quietly, she grabbed her sword, and swiftly lifted it up, swinging it with one heavy blow. A horrible ear splitting screech was heard. Darwin screamed in agony, as he fell to his knees, unable to keep himself together.
There on the ground lied the bloody head of Gumball. The glitching had stopped, showing the cat's expression of fear and pain. His body soon was seen tumbling down after, falling to the grass in a heap. It was a horrid sight, as red was beginning to cover the ground. The goldfish couldn't help but hold the head close and cry horrible ugly sobs.
"HE ISN'T REAL!" The girl cried. She looked about upset herself. "DON'T YOU SEE? WE COULDN'T SAVE HIM!"
"SHUT UP!" He buried his face, sobbing uncontrollably. "You know what it's like to have people you care about.. Don't tell me you don't.."
She paused, as a look of sorrow appeared on her face. Turning to leave, for a moment she stared at the brightly colored grass before her. "...Put him back together… It might be able to save him…"
Darwin looked up, seeing her gone, off to go fight other characters, sword in hand. He then looked back down at the bloody remains of his brother. Was this some sort of cartoony technique people could do? A surge of hope soon sparked within him. "...Put him back together…"
He stood up, carefully picking up the beheaded body, setting it down as gently as he could. "..Please come back…" The fish slowly placed Gumball's head back onto the neck, carefully pushing up the sweater collar to keep it together. Blood began to drip down the clothing, the sight hard to watch.
Nothing.
"...Maybe it takes some time…."
Darwin took a deep breath, and quickly placed Gumball against a cartoon tree in a sitting position. He stared at him solemnly for a few seconds, before quietly heading off to help fight the static monster. It'll be okay. Everything will be okay.
A pair of fingers moved.
"Darwin…"
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Thank you for reading the one-shot, I hope you all enjoyed! Let me know what you think! Feedback is always appreciated. :)
-Is8