The Nutcracker
Gumball began to stir once more, the effects of the tranquilizer receding yet again, though this time he felt several times more delirious than usual. Wasn't surprising, he vividly remembered that Penny had had to dart him multiple times, rather than just once. He also remembered why. When he'd changed, the abyssalis cat had actually managed to dodge Penny's first few attempts to shoot him. Was the abyssalis cat learning? If that's the case, it was seriously not good. The tranquilizer was the only thing keeping the abyssalis cat under wraps, so if he's learning to evade the darts…
…Carrie had better hurry up and get that ink.
Groaning slightly, Gumball braced his elbows against the soft cushion of the couch and propped himself up. He briefly contemplated on whether or not he and Penny would get to do anything special together today before she'd have to tranq him again when the soft texture of the couch finally dawned on him. There wasn't anything even remotely like that where he had been squatting. In that instance, Gumball forgot all about his weariness, his eyes flying open to be met by not the bare sheet metal wall of Tina's room, but the interior of a house. But not just any house. Gumball instantly recognized the living room of the Fitzgerald's house, having become quite accustomed to the house where Penny lives, due to all the times he visited her here.
Gumball bolted up on the couch he'd been laying on. How did he get here? He needs to get out of here, fast before anyone sees him. He made a beeline for the dining room, where the sliding glass door to the backyard was located. He dared not use the front door. Someone might see him. He might still be spotted if he left through the backyard, but not as likely.
"Gumball?!"
Gumball heard the sudden voice just as he entered the dining room, turning to see Patrick staring at him from the kitchen. Gumball let out a slight yelp of horror at the sight of his girlfriend's dad and raced for the sliding door.
For his part, Patrick was briefly dumbstruck to find Gumball up and about after seeing him so unresponsive recently. He'd left Gumball's side only briefly in order to use the loo, but apparently, in that short timeframe, Gumball had awoken as was now attempting to flee his house. And Patrick couldn't let that happen. In his opinion, Gumball still needed help, even though he'd woken up.
He made to pursue Gumball, and while Gumball had a good lead on him regarding the distance to the back door, as luck would have it, Gumball slipped on the phone receiver Polly broke that was still lying on the dining room floor, falling to the ground on his face, and by the time he scampered to his feet Patrick had gotten close enough to seize him by the waist from behind and hoist him up. Gumball instantly began thrashing and squirming, but was unable to wriggle free.
"Gumball, calm down!" insisted Patrick as he struggled to maintain his grip.
"Patrick, you need to let me go! Let me go now!" said Gumball insistently, frantically trying to pry Patricks arms off him.
"I can't do that, Gumball!" said Patrick, struggling just as much to maintain a grip. "You need to see a doctor! You have been missing for weeks! Don't worry! Your family will be here soon!"
But Patricks words had no success in calming Gumball down, who proceeded to struggle, while outside, the sun had slipped about halfway below the horizon and was continuously sinking further.
—
This fact was also realized by the current occupants of Cartax. At this rate there was absolutely no chance of getting to Penny's house before Gumball regressed. It really didn't help matters that they were eventually halted by an obstruction in the road. A really big obstruction. Hector was lying face down across the road.
"Oh, come on!" cried Nicole, honking Cartax's horn frantically.
"COME ON, YA BIG PALOOKA!" screamed Richard, leaning out of his window. "GET UP! GET OUTTA THE WAY!"
"That's not going to do any good," said a small, scraggly voice, everyone looking out the car's right windows to see Banana Joe poking out slightly from under Hector's left foot. "When he slipped on me I think the fall knocked the big guy out."
So Hector had slipped on Banana Joe and knocked himself out over the road? Well, that's just great! This road was the fastest method of getting to Penny's house. All other routes would take too long.
"What do we do now?" asked Anais frantically.
The answer came when Penny exited the vehicle and, focusing as much of her concern, frustration and desperation into bullying her abilities to abide by her whim's, shifted into her dragon form.
"I'll go on ahead!" she said in her guttural voice. "But one of you needs to come with me to shoot the dart from my back."
"I'll do it," said Darwin, grabbing the tranq gun. "I'm the lightest of all of us."
Penny nodded in appreciation and agreement. After all, she couldn't carry much weight in her dragon form, even Gumball's demure size gave her trouble. "The darts are in my bag."
Darwin went over to said bag and made to pick it up, but found he had trouble lifting it. "Good grief, how many darts did you take from pest control?"
Penny looked away sheepishly. "A few. There's no way I can carry all that and fly swiftly. We'll have to settle for just one shot."
There was no time to disagree, so, after Darwin loaded only a single dart into the dart gun, he mounted Penny's back and soon they were airborne, flying into the distance in the direction of Penny's house, the sun sinking ever lower. All the others could do is watch them go, silently praying for success. Though Judith was the exception. She still didn't understand what's going on. And she wished they would just untie her already.
"We need to get moving!" said Nicole, putting the car in reverse. "We need to meet them there!"
"I don't suppose someone can give me a hand real quick?" asked Banana Joe from under Hector's foot, only to be met with a cloud of dust as the car sped away in reverse. "I guess not."
—
Back at the Fitzgerald house Patrick was still trying to retrain Gumball when both caught a slight movement out of the corner of their eyes. Looking to the dining room table, both saw a familiar arachnid scampering up onto the tabletop and scurry over to them. Mr. Cuddles reared up his front legs, hissing as he exposed his fangs at Gumball.
Gumball immediately seized up in terror at the sight of him, while Patrick looked on with confusion at first, then annoyance.
"Polly!" he hollered into the house. "I thought I told you to detain Mr. Cuddles while Gumball was here?!"
"Sorry, dad," said Polly from somewhere in the house, the sound of her little legs stampering down the stairs reverberating behind her voice. "He gave me the slip."
"Well, come get him before he attacks Gumball again!" called Patrick.
However, Gumball was experiencing very peculiar emotions. Of course, the sight of Mr. Cuddles stimulated his arachnophobia at first, the familiar petrifying terror quickly taking hold, but, for some reason, as the seconds ticked by, his fear faded away to be replaced with…anger? Why was he getting mad? He loathed Mr. Cuddles with varying degrees, but not enough to just get outright angry at him.
Mr. Cuddles hissed again intimidatingly, and Gumball's anger only worsened.
Another predator. Challenging behavior. Attack. Intimidate, prove superiority.
Patrick also noticed Mr. Cuddles behavior and called out, "Polly, hurry up and…"
*ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAR!*
The immense sound that suddenly reverberated throughout his house took Patrick so off guard that he violently reeled back and almost lost grip on Gumball. Looking down, he saw that it was Gumball producing the continuous roar, his eyes clenched shut, his mouth open wide as he blasted his feral sound directly at Mr. Cuddles, who was blown slightly back by the mere inertia of the noise. Polly arrived in the dining room just as Gumball ceased roaring, her and her father wearing the same look of astonishment as Gumball continued to huff and growl in Mr. Cuddles's direction. For a split second both were completely taken aback. That sound…it had carried so much ferocity and malice listening to it felt like someone had driven an ice cold ice pick directly into their very souls. And it had come from Gumball, of all people. And towards Mr. Cuddles. A spider.
Gumball, someone who suffers from extreme arachnophobia, had roared savagely at a spider.
The transition between the second of Gumball's roar and him just huffing angrily seemed to take an eternity, but afterwards there was finally a reaction. From Mr. Cuddles. The tarantula suddenly began yelping like a wounded puppy, scurrying across the table frantically before leaping into Polly's arms, trembling against her chest as she caught him almost absentmindedly. Both Patrick and Polly were still too stunned to react further however.
But Gumball did.
Unbeknownst to Patrick and Polly, due to the angling Gumball's eyes had begun glowing their familiar yellow and orange colors as he roared. They had transitioned back at the sound of Mr. Cuddles's whimpering; a clear sign of submission which seemed to appease Gumball's growing desire for dominance. As his eyes returned to normal so did his thought process, and that's when Gumball made a terrifying realization. The only way he could have overcome his arachnophobia like that, so quickly and to such a degree was if his abyssalis cat instincts were flaring up, and that only happens when…
With a distressed whimper Gumball looked out the sliding glass door and saw, much to his horror, that only a sliver of the sun was still cresting over the horizon. In mere moments it will have set completely. Looking at the sight of the vanishing sun Gumball could feel the change beginning to take place within him, his body beginning to tremble while his thoughts became more predatory and aggressive. He needs to get out of here. Now!
Reaching up, he finally managed to break Patrick's grip on him, throwing the larger nut-mans arms off as easily as one might have shed a coat that was several times too big. As soon as his feet hit the floor, Gumball scampered to the door and began to slide it open. It was then that Patrick finally regained his senses, though his bafflement still increased after Gumball so effortlessly broke his hold on him.
"Gumball! Come back!" he called out as Gumball fled the house and into the backyard, running after him.
"Yeah!" said Polly, following after her father, still holding Mr. Cuddles. "Big sis will be upset if you leave…"
As she reached the threshold of the door she saw that Gumball had stopped halfway through the backyard and was staring out into the distance, in the direction of the setting sun. Patrick was behind him, but Gumball spoke before he could insist Gumball come back into the house.
"Patrick…run…" he said, his voice low and growing…guttural.
"Gumball, you need to get back in the…" Patrick began with a worried tone, but Gumball suddenly turned to him, and Patrick found himself taking an involuntary step back at the sight.
Gumball's eyes were glowing again, and this time in full view of Patrick and Polly.
"Run! You need to run, now!" declared Gumball, though now his voice sounded nothing like the mischievous goofball they all knew.
Then, at that moment the sun disappeared beneath the horizon, darkness spreading over all of Elmore. Gumball suddenly grabbed his face, gritting his teeth as he thrashed his head to and fro. Then, before Patrick and Polly's very eyes, he was draped in black smoke that proceeded to explode outward. The wave of black smoke impacted Patrick, blowing him back and sending him sprawling on the ground at Polly's feet.
"Dad! You alright?" she asked him worriedly.
"I…think so," said Patrick, looking at the undulating cloud that had just spontaneously exploded out of Gumball with bafflement.
"What just happened?" asked Polly, also looking towards the cloud. "Did he…explode?"
Patrick wasn't entirely sure. He'd seen Gumball do a lot of crazy things, but never something like this. What happened To him? Then both he and Polly heard faint whimpering and looked to see Mr. Cuddles trembling in fear in Polly's arms, his six eyes also trained on the cloud of smoke. He almost appeared…nervous.
"What is it, boy?" Polly asked.
*Growl, Growl*
The sudden sound brought Patrick and Polly's attention back to the cloud of smoke, which had begun to dissipate somewhat, revealing a massive form within, though more defined features were still obscured.
"Gumball?" Patrick inquired.
Suddenly, two massive, luminescent orange and yellow eyes open within the cloud of smoke, shining in the gloom like headlights. Polly and Patrick's eyes widened in shock, their mouths dropping open in terror. Then the cloud dissipated entirely and the form within stood up to its full height, towering over them, almost as tall as the house. The abyssalis cat stared at Polly and Patrick, lips twitching aggressively. They stared to, unable to comprehend the monster that Gumball had become. Then, with a savage roar, the abyssalis cat reared back his right foreleg with the obvious intent to bring it down on them…but the roar was cut short as a speeding red object impacted his neck.
The abyssalis cat's raised claw fell to the ground with a colossal thud that shook the neighborhood and he began wobbling on his feet. Then he made to keel over, and would have fallen into the Fitzgerald's pool, had Penny, in her dragon form, not swooped in, braced herself against his side and tilted him in the opposite direction. He didn't toppled into the pool, thankfully, where most certainly would have drowned, but he did impact Patrick's woodshed, smashing it to smithereens.
Though she didn't seem to care.
"GUMBALL!" she screamed worriedly, reverting back to her fairy form, Darwin stepping down from her back, still holding the dart gun.
She raced over to her boyfriend (for that's what he was, regardless of what form he took), knelt before him and began stroking the wide bridge of his nose, a look of worry and regret on her face. Darwin walked up behind her, looking over his brother with just as much concern.
Patrick and Polly just watched on from the house, Patrick finally getting to his feet, though he wore a flabbergasted expression that was equal to his younger daughter's as he observed the scene. Gumball…had just turned into that massive beast, then tried to squash them, then Penny showed up with Darwin, who apparently just shot Gumball with a tranquilizer dart; said dart jutting from his neck. What was going on here?
"Patrick!" said the voice of his wife Judith, who came waltzing up beside him from within the house, rubbing her mouth with an irritated expression, neither her or Polly having noticed the car pulling up outside. "You're not going to believe what the Watterson's did to me!"
But Patrick didn't respond, neither him nor Polly even addressing her presence.
"Patrick! Polly!" she said agitatedly, following their gaze.
That's when she saw the scene occuring in her backyard herself. The destroyed woodshed…and the massive animal Penny and Darwin were standing over. Judith joined her family in the thousand yard stare club after that. The Watterson's slipped out of the house past them, Nicole trailing behind, wearing Penny's backpack that held the other tranquilizer darts.
"Is he alright?" they all asked at once.
But before anything else could be said the other members of the Fitzgerald family seemed to come to their senses.
"What is going on here?" asked Judith, staring at the massive feline that lay motionless in her backyard.
"Why did Gumball turn into that thing?" asked Patrick.
"Wait! That thing…is Gumball?" asked Judith.
"Sure is," said Polly, still holding the shaking Mr. Cuddles. "He went all smokey, and then "poof", he turned into that thing."
The Watterson's turned from the motionless figure of the abyssalis cat and to the other members of the Fitzgerald family, as well as Penny, though she didn't stand up from her position kneeling before Gumball.
"Wait…" said Patrick as he stared at the massive beast, recognition forming in his eyes. "That's the…that's the monster that attacked Penny at the mall!"
Judith gasped in horror, covering her mouth with her hands. Her husband was right. This is the monster they saw attacking Penny on the news. She still remembered watching as Penny was seized by the neck in this creature's jaws and hurdle around. The scene still gave her nightmares. That thing…was Gumball?
"Alright!" said Patrick, balling up his fists and scowling. "I want to know what is going on and I want to know right now!"
They didn't have any other option. They had to tell Patrick, his wife Judith, and Penny's younger sister Polly what was going on. There was no point in denying or concealing anything. Patrick and Polly had seen Gumball changed firsthand.
—
While the Watterson's explained the situation to the Fitzgerald's, Green was watching from the Dark Place, his form trembling with irritation as he gritted his fangs.
"Ooooooh, thaaaat does it," he said, immense frustration clear in his tone, one of the stalagmites he could spawn from the shadows extending upward beside him, which he proceeded to smash to rubble with his fist. "I've had enough of this ridiculous…"dart game" of theirs!"
He didn't want to get more involved than he had thus far, for every time he does it strains the integrity of the Dark Place's connection to this world, but his patience has reached its end. He didn't give Gumball the ability to morph into the ancient form of his ancestor just so he could sleep each time he changes away. It was time to end this pathetic farce once and for all.
But first…
"My deepest apologies and sympathies, my honored guest," said Green as he loomed over Rob, who's situation was unchanged. "Tormenting you has been exhilarating, but I am afraid I have no more time or patience to indulge in idle pleasantries. I'm afraid this is goodbye, so…" Green tilted his head down until his mouth was level with Rob. "Farewell…"
Rob looked up just as Green extended his massive jaws, his maw opening up like a luminescent infinite abyss. Past the glowing flesh, Rob saw that Green's gaping throat was lined with teeth. Under normal circumstances this would be a horrendously terrifying sight, but with all he'd been through, Rob was just glad to know it was almost over, one way or another. And his end came with the impact of massive jaws, Rob, and even his restraints, obliterated in a heartbeat.
Green chewed for a second then swallowed. "I taste The Void's influence. That explains a lot. Now…" he rubbed his claws together with anticipation, looking through the luminous orb he'd been observing through. "The real fun begins!"
—
Patrick scowled as he looked at the Watterson's as they finished their explanation.
"Penny," he said to his daughter in a sharp tone, extending out a hand. "Give me your phone."
Penny gave her father a confused look. "Why?"
"I'm calling animal control," he said coldly, his hand still extended.
Penny looked horrified. "What? Why would you do that?"
"Because this dangerous animal needs to be dealt with!" said Patrick, turning to his daughter with his hands on his hips.
"What are you talking about?" asked Nicole, glaring. "Animal control? It almost sounds like you want Gumball put down, or something."
"Oh, they probably won't put him down," said Judith with a forced smile. "Maybe they'll…just put him somewhere where he can't hurt anyone."
"That's not going to happen!" growled Patrick, turning to the abyssalis cat with an angry expression. "This thing hurt my daughter. I won't stand for it! It needs to be destroyed!"
"DAD!?" Penny cried hysterically, throwing her arms around the abyssalis cat's neck protectively, the rest of the Watterson's coming up to stand between them and Patrick. "Dad, this is Gumball we're talking about! You…you can't possibly mean that!"
"And why not?!" growled Patrick, crossing his arms. "Did you forget what he did to you?!" Any earlier willingness to accept Gumball and his daughter's relationship was gone now. He'd seen this thing seiz his daughter violently around the neck, and that was more than enough reason for him to finally go the next step in making sure Penny ended her relationship with Gumball here and now, one way or another.. "I certainly haven't! No! I'm putting my foot down! One way or another you're not seeing this boy again, Penny! Whether they put him down or lock him up. It's over between you two!"
"Dad, what happened wasn't Gumball's fault! None of this is his fault!" cried Penny, staring at her father from between the protective Watterson's defiantly. "We explained what's happening! Green…"
"I'm not buying into that interdimensional demon garbage for a second!" Patrick declared impatiently. "It's probably just some hair brained excuse the Watterson's cooked up to cover up another one of their chaotic shenanigans! Now hand over your phone, Penny! I'm calling the authorities!"
"NO!" she said defiantly, pulling out her phone and tossing it into the pool.
"PENNY!" Patrick reprimanded as he watched the last functional phone in their family get ruined. Unbeknownst to him, while the argument went on Patrick's shadow, cast by the moon, began to ripple. "Alright! This has gone on far enough! This charade ends now!" As he continued to blow his lid a form began to ascend from his shadow behind him, lithe, slithery and serpentine. As it rose higher those that were before Patrick began to have a change of expression. From Penny and the Watterson's defiance and Judith and Polly's reluctant and silent agreement with Patrick, all soon grew a look of unbridled horror. "A demon of the netherworld that once caused the Trojan War!" said Patrick with angry sarcasm. "The only way I'd believe that is if he popped up before me."
"Then allow me to introduce myself, daddy dearest!"
The frustration and anger dissipated from Patrick's face at the sudden voice, replaced by a look of surprise and alarm, especially since each word was followed up by a strobing green light flashing through his backyard. Slowly, Patrick turned and looked over his shoulder, then spun around upon seeing what was towering behind him. It was a massive serpent about as thick as an anaconda, but several times longer. Where the neck met with lower jaw jutted a lethal looking spike, and the glowing green eyes had two slitted pupils each. It protruded from what appeared to be a black whirlpool swirling upon the ground.
Patrick could only stare as the massive snake leaned in closer, staring at him face to face, a grin forming on his lips. The sight alone was enough to petrify all present with terror, but it was all the more worse for the Watterson's and Penny. For they knew this wasn't all of Green, merely one of his tendrils.
"Hiiiii… I'm Green…"
Suddenly, the serpent lunged forward, coiled once around Patrick's midsection and then extended upward…up up up up into the sky, dragging Patrick so high that he soon disappeared from view entirely. Though his screams of terror lingered for a second.
"DAD!" screamed Penny and Polly.
"PATRICK!" screamed Judith.
—
By the time Patrick felt the upward velocity he was suddenly subjected to cease he found himself so high up in the sky that the lights of Elmore below were indistinguishable from the stars above. He would have still been screaming, but the length of coil wrapped around his torso had constricted halfway through the journey, prohibiting him from making any noise. He could still breathe at least, though if this thing had dragged him any higher that might not have been true. Looking down almost made him hurl, which would have been a bad thing, what with the constricting coil wrapped around him, so he looked ahead…and came face to face with the foreboding visage of the snake again, who began looking into his eyes with his double pupiled stare.
"Just so you know, Patrick, this is not personal," hissed the serpent, his voice so bone chilling Patrick felt that, were he not already freezing because of the altitude, he'd be trembling. "But I need Gumball to have at least one reliable and powerful ally for what is to come, like your daughter, and I'm afraid I just don't have the patience for an obnoxious, self-righteous, overbearing, overprotective father getting in the way. So…" the serpent turned sideways, prominently displaying the spike jutting from his neck. "Time to crack a nut!"
Patrick didn't know he could be more terrified than he had been upon being dragged into the sky, but he sure was now. This thing…this Green, was actually going to kill him? He hadn't given two thoughts to Penny's description of Green while he refused to believe in him, but with what was before him Patrick couldn't deny it any longer. He was apparently just as ruthless as Penny had made him out to be. Was this it? Was he actually going to die? The serpent suddenly jerked back, spike poised, then thrust forward. Patrick closed his eyes, waiting for the end, his last thought of his family.
"DAD!"
At the sudden voice Patrick opened his eyes just in time to see Penny, morphed into her dragon form, flying up from below Green and seized the serpent by the neck from behind, just below the spike. Patrick blinked as he gazed at the spike, mere millimeters away from embedding into his shell between his eyes, only his daughter's luminescent orange fist halting it in place.
"Let him go!" Penny demanded.
Green's tendril tilted his head backwards and looked at Penny upside down as she grasped him in her claw. He grinned menacingly. "Okay!"
The coil around Patrick's midsection unraveled, Patrick sliding out of the coils as gravity took hold and pulled him towards the ground.
"DAD!" Penny shouted in panic, Patrick screaming anew as the sudden lack of constriction granted him access to his voice once more.
"WHO WANTS PEANUT BUTTER? HAHAHAHA!" Green's tendril cried joyfully as Penny released him and dove after her rapidly descending father.