AWOG: Instinct Chapter 26: The Loss, an amazing world of gumball fanfic

The Loss

Within the Dark Place , Gumball, still in abyssalis cat form, and Green were interlocked, tumbling end over end weightlessly in the expansive void of swirling shadows as they brawled, swiping and biting at each other relentlessly, though neither inflicting any extravagant damage to the other. That is, until Green threw Gumball off with a swipe of his tail, bashing him in the chest and sending him spiraling into the encompassing void of swirling darkness. Before Gumball could even begin to reorient himself some of those double-tipped stalagmites sprang up from the darkness, wedging Gumball's limbs between their points; same as Rob and Penny before. Gumball didn't even try to break free though, for what was the point? He was trapped in a parallel world of perpetual darkness with no way home, his only company a being that might as well be malice incarnate, so what was the point of if he was bound or not?

" Never … " hissed Green as he closed in on Gumball. " Never …" He repeated as he now loomed over Gumball and spread his wings intimidatingly. " NEVER … in all my millennia of schemes and plots have I been thwarted so ! All of my efforts , rendered for not with your miserable gesture of self - sacrifice !" Green grabbed Gumball by the chin and forced him to look him in the face. " You will suffer ! Oh , you will suffer greatly !"

Gumball, despite growing ever fearful at Green's words, didn't react however. He had resigned to his fate. He knew that there was no point in resisting Green's retribution, so he wasn't going to. He remained in abyssalis cat form however. If he was going out for the long haul he was determined to go wearing the imposing figure of his brutal, savage ancestors. He'd spent his whole life Gumball Watterson, someone everyone knew as weak, but, now that he had the opportunity, he was going to go out as someone, or something, that was the epiphany of strength.

It seems Green was going to begin with his favorite method of torture, raising two pinched claws and snapping them.

Gumball flinched as arc's of electricity danced suddenly over his body, but, surprisingly, it didn't hurt. In fact, the streams of electricity were surprisingly pleasant. Green's vengeful snarl then became a look of confusion, snapping his claws repeatedly, sending more arc's of electricity coursing through Gumball's body, but, again, there was no reaction of pain from him. In fact, the sensation became so euphoric Gumball was almost lulled to sleep.

" Wait …" hissed Green, ceasing his snapping. " That ' s right , your kind have a natural affinity for electricity ."

Green frowned, the fact that his preferred method of torture was going to be inaffective against this current victim another source of annoyance for him.

But then he grinned sinisterly.

" No matter …" he said, bringing his tendrils to bear, spikes poised, Gumball looking on in unrestrained horror. " I have other methods of inflicting pain ."

Green was going to instigate his wrath by any means necessary, even if he couldn't alleviate his frustrations through the electric torture like he usually prefers. After all, he had a thousand years until he could penetrate the barrier between worlds again and he was going to have precious little to do in the meantime, so he'd better get his amusement where he could. And he'd best savor this brief moment of it as well. After all, as a mortal, Gumball wasn't going to last long; a month at most, and whether he starves to death or perishes from the wounds Green intended to inflict was anyone's guess.

But either way, in Gumball's case, it was going to be excruciating.

—

Back at Elmore the site where everything had gone down had become a proverbial media circus. After all the harrowing events had passed several reporters and filming crews had arrived on scene, the night lit up with the flashes of cameras, and not just from the News crews, but the police officers and detectives beginning an investigation as well. The angry mob had also disbanded after everything was over as well, the Donut Cop and his lieutenants finally following proper protocol and documenting the area, mainly all the damages.

But back on the subject of News, several witnesses were being interviewed simultaneously, from those that had been present at City Hall, to those who had been in the thickest of it directly, Mike The Microphone Guy's headless, trenchcoat wearing body holding his microphone head towards three certain individuals who had been right there when it had all finally come to an end. Carrie and Molly spoke into the microphone (Mike's head). Molly described her brief involvement, though, in contrast, Carrie had so much more to tell.

Penny, however, had nothing to say, still sobbing on her knees, Molly by her side, having decided to go comfort her friend once she was done telling the reporters all she could of her brief involvement in this.

Carrie described into the microphone everything pertaining to the circumstances involving the large cat that had rampaged through Elmore in great detail, which included the true perpetrator behind it all. Of course, her description of the entity known as Green wouldn't have been believed by most, if not for the insurmountable amount of evidence that backed up the claim. And not just the devastation to the surrounding area. As it turns out, several of the people that had been held up in the surrounding buildings during the entire escapade hadn't tried to flee at any opportunity, but had opted to stay and record the events with their phones, and Channel 6 soon received an influx of phone recorded videos of what had transpired.

So, with an editing team working second by second, Channel 6 News was able to provide visual input to their audience as Carrie told her tale, carefully edited footage provided here and there to emphasize and clarify certain events. The citizens of Elmore at home currently watching Channel 6 were treated to recordings of Gumball, as the abyssalis cat, rampaging through town, only to be calmed by Penny when she shifted form and became the likeness of an abyssalis cat, only for Green himself to arrive on scene to intentionally aggravate the situation. From here, Carrie described how she came on scene shortly after the arrival of Green and her, Molly and Penny began the preparations to cast the spell that would end this once and for all, footage of the beam hitting Green's portal, plus everything that followed afterwards, all of it being broadcasted all over town with Carrie's words.

And all the records were from the vantage point of someone recording from a high window of a tall building.

It was here when a certain two families of Elmore became overly distraught.

The Wattersons and the Fitzgeralds were currently at the Fitzgerald's house, watching the News in the Fitzgerald's living room. The Fitzgeralds had almost lost it when Green began subjugating Penny to immense electric torture, believing that the situation in town couldn't get any worse at the moment. They were wrong. On TV, Carrie explained how, despite the spell being successful and Green being forcibly expelled from their world, Gumball still retained the ability to change into the abyssalis cat, and how that he had come to believe that this would only bring harm to himself and those around him; a fact that was practically assured, what with the behavior of the angry mob that had surrounded them at the time… so he'd come to the only conclusion that would ensure the safety of those he loves.

On the couch Judith had her hands clasped over her mouth in horror, Patrick looked dumbstruck and Polly wept silently with grief, and over on the next couch, Nicole and Richard were holding each other and sobbing uncontrollably, and it was the same for Darwin and Anais. It was easy to understand why. On the screen, they all watched as Gumball, changed into that thing once more, was drawn into the portal along with Green…and then vanished from sight, the portal collapsing violently soon after.

And with it, the only hope of Gumball returning to them.

—

Over the course of the next few days Elmore was bustling with quite a few reactions to what happened that were most unexpected. The Wattersons had a not so favorable reputation in Elmore, that had always been a certainty, but what Gumball had done had left everyone extremely torn. His act of self sacrifice was nothing short of heroic, something no one would come to expect from a Watterson in a million years. It left most so conflicted that they couldn't even cast looks of disdain at the other Wattersons like usual. Only a completely heartless jerk would be so shallow as to be so cruel as to show scorn towards a family that had just lost a member of their family, said family member having also performed a totally selfless, gallant deed that had led to his loss.

At Elmore Junior High, things were just as unorthodox. Gumball didn't have a glowing reputation at the educational facility he'd attended either, and his previous disappearance hadn't been that difficult for most to accept, but now, however, things couldn't be more different. Apart from being portrayed in the News, several of the videos of the events involving Gumball and Green's confrontation had been uploaded to the internet and had almost immediately gone viral, meaning every social media buff had seen them, and this being a middle school and all meant Gumball's deed was now widely known throughout the student body.

It left most feeling melancholy, depressed and somewhat guilty.

Gumball had been a perpetual annoyance to most, true, and yet he'd given his life for those he loved. Such an act touched them right in the heart. And naturally, those that were particularly close to Gumball were even more so affected by the news of his fate. Alan, Carmen and Leslie were particularly aggrieved, unable to not shed at least a single tear whenever they recalled the image of him slipping into the portal, to undoubtedly never be seen again, Alan comforting Carmen with a…string…on her shoulder.

Even those who hadn't been particularly close to Gumball were affected by what had happened. Tina was finally back in school, her and her dad having finally come to and she was giving the go ahead to return to school; though she had a neck brace that concealed some rather thick stitches and her arm was in a sling. Her first desire upon returning was to seek out Gumball and get revenge on him for all he'd done to her and her father, as well as get him back for her wounded pride, but Jamie was surprisingly not on board when Tina came to her to enlist her assistance in getting one over on him. When she questioned her, Jamie whipped out her phone and showed Tina the videos.

Upon watching them Tina could hardly believe it. Gumball…was gone? Despite everything she'd been through because of him, Tina had never wished anything on this scale to befall Gumball. It…left her feeling sad.

However, those who were most deeply affected by all this weren't actually in attendance at school, hadn't been for days. Anais and Darwin hadn't been to school since the incident, and the rumor was that all the Wattersons were too overwhelmed by grief to even leave their house much. And it was true, Nicole, Richard, Anais and Darwin had spent the majority of the last few days just crying at home, thought's constantly of their lost child and brother. It had been hard enough the first time and this was even worse. For now there was practically no hope of him coming back.

And that's probably what grieved them the most, for, throughout all of this, despite all the worries and concerns, it never occurred to the Wattersons that Gumball might actually not make it out of this, that he'd…become a legitimate casualty.

And they weren't the only ones.

—

Penny had never thought there could be a worse despair than what she'd gone through some days ago, when Gumball had first disappeared. She was wrong. She became so upset after she'd watched Gumball disappear that she had been unaware of anything else but the overwhelming sense of loss and heartache that plagued her afterwards, having to be escorted home by the police and into the arms of her concerned family. They themselves were overly relieved that she'd come home to them relatively unharmed, but at the same time knew she wasn't okay. No. She was anything but okay. Penny's family, they couldn't imagine the immense loss she must be feeling right now. The sight of Gumball being drawn into that portal haunted even them greatly, filling them with a sense of mourning and regret, so they couldn't imagine what it was like for Penny.

In the two days since the final confrontation with Green, every waking moment all Penny could do was constantly recall Gumball disappearing behind that rippling blackness and her sobs would begin anew and with unrelenting force. Her family had since stopped trying to console her, for she wouldn't even acknowledge their presence, though they knew it wasn't out of malice. They knew Penny's grief must be so intense that she just blotted out the entire world around her, and all they could do was let her get it all out.

Though, since her family could do nothing to alleviate her grief their concern for her well-being grew with each passing day. And not just that, as said before, they also were feeling Gumball's loss themselves as well. Gumball had both his good qualities and his bad qualities, but now he'd proven without a doubt how much he'd loved Penny and the length he had been willing to go for her. After all, how can his love be questioned now? He'd literally given his life for her. And even Patrick was affected by this. In the past he'd seen Gumball prove his devotion to his daughter time and again, but was still doubtful because of all the grief he could, and has, caused his daughter through his dimwitted actions, but now there was nothing Patrick could think of that could countermand what Gumball had done for Penny.

Lowering her pillow from her tearstained face, Penny's eyes reflected her determination, the bloody handprints that Gumball had left upon her cheeks smeared so much now they resembled warpaint. However, if she was going to get Gumball back she needed to come up with a plan of action, and she was pretty sure who could help her in regards to that.

As it reached noon on the third day since the final rampage of the abyssalis cat Penny finally seemed to snap out of the fog that had been comprised of loss, remorse, regret, grief, heartache, heartbreak and longing, finding herself lying on her bed; having been escorted there by her family after being returned home, clutching her pillow in a tight embrace, recalling she had been practically instinctively pleading that she was holding Gumball, rather than an inanimate object composed of cotton and fabric.

But it was not acceptance that had snapped her out of her distressed stupor. No. A fire of determination and defiance had flared within her heart. Gumball, he meant so much to Penny, and this whole ordeal had had the added effect of revealing to her just how much. How much she herself loves him as much he loves her. No. She would not accept this. She would not accept that he was gone. She…was going to get him back.

Whatever the cost.