The Unacceptable

Carrie was currently located in the basement of her rather expansive house, where several candles had been set up in a five pointed star pattern on the ground, a picture of Gumball in the center. This wasn't a shrine dedicated to him though, no, Carrie was attempting to perform an evocation ritual to summon his spirit. It was a bit unpalatable, but she had several reasons for doing something so unorthodox, and possibly taboo too. A good majority of the reason was because she missed him and wanted to see him again herself, but a vast majority of the reason was for her boyfriend, Darwin. After the events that went down a few days ago Darwin had begun spiraling like a pencil thrown off the Empire State Building, having been crying continuously and intensely with loss at Gumball's fate; same as the rest of his family. Carrie had tried to be there for him, even going so far as to not attend school either, same as him and Anais, opting to instead stay with Darwin in the room he and Gumball had shared. However, even her presence didn't seem to help all that much, Darwin merely holding her tightly and crying as they sat on Gumball's bed, Darwin not even having the fortitude to take refuge in his fish bowl. Several times Darwin had just cried himself to sleep, and it was during one such incident that Carrie had slipped away and returned home, determined to find something that would alleviate her boyfriend's distress. She couldn't stand to see him this way anymore.

Carrie was usually all for depression and melancholy, but the scale that Gumball's loss had instilled in so many who were close to him (and not just Darwin) was too much, even for her.

So she had decided to summon him from "beyond". Given Gumball's current "company" it stood to reason that Green would undoubtedly end Gumball's life eventually, especially considering how thoroughly Gumball had outfoxed him, as well as how he had defied him. And Carrie didn't just intend to commune with Gumball's deceased spirit either. No, the evocation she was invoking was meant to bring him forth and allow him to manifest as a ghost. But, unlike the average, every… year ghost that can only cross over to the world of the living on Halloween, Gumball would have an anchorage to this world that would keep him here indefinitely, as well as provide him with a means to be seen by others. Gumball would pretty much be like her.

Sure, he'd be a ghost, but he'd be back with them again and surely everyone would want that, even him.

But there was a problem. Carrie had performed the evocation multiple times already and nothing had happened. The only reason for that was that Gumball must not be dead yet, and Carrie didn't know if that was a comfort or a concern. If Gumball was still alive within that place Green calls home what state was he in by now? Green didn't come off as a very good host, so what could he be doing to Gumball right now? Especially provoked and vengeful, which he undoubtedly was. But Carrie wasn't going to give up, willing to stay before these burning candles, so the moment Gumball was put out of the misery he was likely experiencing at the moment Carrie could call him back and return him to them.

Suddenly, just as Carrie was about to scatter more of the supernatural powder that was meant to initiate the evocation over the picture of Gumball, there was the sound of clattering metal from above. Looking up, Carrie gritted her intangible teeth in frustration. On occasion, people would trespass into her house, the cliche victims of the "go into the local haunted house" dare, and usually Carrie would just drive them out by scaring the living daylights out of them (either by levitating random things or possessing them), but tonight she has no patience for such tomfoolery. Whoever had entered her house this time was going to be met with a very irate ghost girl that's just going to up and demand they leave, with promises of dire consequences if they don't comply.

With a growl of frustration, Carrie popped out of the basement in a flash of her teleportation ability, reappearing in her room in the attic…where she found Penny rummaging through her things.

"Penny!?" she inquired towards Penny's back, dropping her aggravated demeanor for a look of confusion. "What are you doing…? How did you…?"

A sudden breeze wafted through Carrie's fringe and, looking to the side, her eyes widened in surprise to see one of her attic's/bedroom's triangular windows was broken, a peculiar outline in the wall in its place. It…looked like a gargoyle.

"Sorry about the window, Carrie," said Penny apologetically, though continued rummaging around Carrie's room. "I'll replace it later."

"Penny!" Carrie declared in alarm as her friend frantically browsed her room. "What do you think you are doing?"

"The ink, Carrie," Penny answered whilst she rummaged. "The ink we used to break the connection. Where is it?"

"The Moonbeam Ink?" Carrie inquired. "Why? We've already severed the Dark Place ' s link to our world."

"Can it be used for the contrary?" Penny suddenly asked.

Carrie…wasn't certain she'd heard that right. Didn't want to believe she'd heard that right. "Pardon?"

"You heard me!" snapped Penny, an edge of distress entering her voice. "Rather than break Green's connection to our world, can it establish a connection to his instead?"

For a few seconds Carrie just hovered there, blinking in perplexion. "Penny…why would you…?"

"WHY ELSE!?" cried Penny, finally looking at Carrie, who was taken aback at her extremely disheveled state. "I'm going after Gumball!"

Upon hearing her reasoning Carrie became immensely torn. On one hand, she could understand where Penny was coming from, she felt the same way, but on the other…

"Carrie, please! Can the Moonbeam Ink open a path to where Gumball is?" Penny asked, this time pleadingly.

"I…I'm not sure. Maybe," Carrie answered honestly, though gave her friend a look that was a combination of understanding but also disapproval. "But don't you understand what opening a path to the Dark Place might entail?"

"It means I can get Gumball back!" said Penny with a glare of determination.

"It would also let Green back into our world," said Carrie, crossing her arms disapprovingly.

Penny paused. She hadn't considered that. Not in the slightest.

But soon realized she didn't care.

"I don't care!" she shouted, balling up her fists. "I'll do anything to get him back. As long as I can do that I don't care what…"

"Penny, get a hold of yourself!" said Carrie, putting her ghostly hands on Penny's shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. "Think about it. If you do this, everything Gumball did for not just you but for all of us would have been for nothing. Green would gain access to our world again and you and Gumball would once again be subjected to his machinations. That means everything will start again. You and Gumball will be in danger once more."

"But I can't just leave him there!" cried Penny, grabbing Carrie's shoulders now (maybe her emotions allowed her to make contact). "Please Carrie, we have to do something! I won't accept this. Losing him like this! Isn't…isn't there anything we can do. Some way we can save him?!"

Carrie looked into her friends eyes, seeing how puffy they were from all the crying. She also noticed the smeared stains on her cheeks, undoubtedly the blood Gumball had left on her face when they kissed for the last time. Carrie knew it was neither the practical or logical thing to do, for if they went this route, they could unintentionally invite Green into their world once again, but she thought of all the people stricken with soul crippling grief at the moment; like her boyfriend, his family, not to mention Gumball's girlfriend as well, and decided she could not just let it be either. Something had to be done. They had to at least try to get Gumball back.

"Let me see what I can devise," she said, lifting her hand, a very familiar book floating over to her from her bookshelf.

—

Penny sat on Carrie's bed as Carrie rummaged through the book once more, kicking her feet in anticipation. Carrie had been rigorously researching well into the night, trying to come up with a method of bringing Gumball back to them. She decided against mentioning the evocation ritual to Penny. Something told her that idea wouldn't be well received.

Suddenly, Carrie's eyes widened, and Penny obviously noticed.

"What? What is it?!" she asked, standing up from the bed. Carrie looked at her, her expression contemplating, but grim. "What?"

"Well…" said Carrie uneasily, "I went over everything I can, and I…well…it appears that there's only one strategy we can try that at least has a possibility of returning Gumball to us without us having to worry about Green."

Penny gasped in astonishment and hope. "What!? What is it?!"

"Well…" Carrie began uneasily, which only added to Penny's growing anticipation. "It seems that your earlier assumption was correct. The Moonbeam Ink can open a path to the Dark Place , just as it can close the path." Penny almost demanded the ink then and there, but then Carrie continued. "However, as I feared, doing so will give Green access to our world once more."

"I DON'T CARE!" said Penny, this time sounding fully frantic. "I'll do anything to get Gumball back!"

Carrie had been expecting, as well as afraid of that reaction. "I know, Penny, but you understand that you would be subjugated to similar horrific experiences you've gone through the last few weeks as long as Green is around, right? Wouldn't it be best to not have to deal with all that?"

"Not if it means losing Gumball," said Penny with determination.

"Yes, I get that, but what if we open a path to the Dark Place and get Gumball back, but not have to worry about Green's meddling anymore afterwards?" said Carrie.

Penny paused. "How do we do that?"

Carrie's look became serious. "We destroy Green! Once and for all!"

Penny heard Carrie's words, but at the same time, couldn't comprehend them. She would like nothing more than to personally rip Green apart for everything he had put her and Gumball through, but recalled what happened when he had entered their world.

"Carrie, what are you talking about? He can't be killed," argued Penny, shaking as memories of all the attacks Green just shook off replayed in her mind. "I saw what happened when he came here. Nothing Gumball or I did damaged him, and even when the back of his head was blown off he still came back."

"All true, but the undeniable truth is that none of that is because of some insurmountable invulnerability on Green's part," explained Carrie. "The fact is, Penny, is that the reason nothing hurt Green while he was over here is because he operates under a different set of rules than our world does. He is influenced by laws of physics that are incompatible with our world. But he does have his own laws of physics that he must abide by, just like we abide by ours. If someone were to confront him in his own dimension…"

"HE'D BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO BEING KILLED JUST LIKE WE ARE IN OUR OWN WORLD!" Penny suddenly declared excitedly. However, she then looked at Carrie with slight confusion. "Why hasn't anyone ever done this before? If Green could be killed by confronting him in his own dimension, why has he been allowed to surface again and again for so long?"

"Penny, do you really think Green will go down as easily as that? The concept is simple to say, but you remember what Green was capable of when he fought Gumball as the abyssalis cat, and he will retain all those abilities in his realm, with the only difference being him being vulnerable to being killed there," explained Carrie. "All the times he's surfaced, what do you think was the more logical option? Confront him in the hopes of destroying him for good, despite the fact he could probably blow your head off with an energy beam, or even rend you apart with his tentacles, or cast a spell from a safe distance that will make him the problem of other people a thousand years later?"

Carrie smiled with both pride and submission at her friend's declaration, "Then we'd better whip out our phones. We're going to need help."

"Penny, do you really wanna go through with this?" Carrie asked one final time. "If you do this, not only will you be confronting Green, but even if you succeed in destroying Green and bring Gumball back the final setup of Green's scheme will be activated once more. Gumball will always be the abyssalis cat, the beast is forever a part of him. If he returns, there will be those who will want to hurt him and people like you who will want to protect him. He gave his life to prevent you from being subjected to all that turmoil. Do you really want his sacrifice to be in vain?"

Carrie didn't want to argue the point of saving Gumball but this was immensely dangerous. If they did this, they'd undoubtedly be putting themselves in mortal danger.

"He should have known that I would not be able to accept his sacrifice, or live with his absence!" said Penny without hesitation. "I love him! He should have known that I would rather face such turmoil than live without him." Penny then began to tear up. "He should have believed that, whatever happens, we face it together. Like we always have!" She shook off her tears and balled her first with a frown. "I'm bringing him back! Whatever happens, I'm bringing him back to us!"

Carrie smiled with both pride and submission at her friend's declaration, "Then we'd better whip out our phones. We're going to need help."

Carrie smiled with both pride and submission at her friend's declaration, "Then we'd better whip out our phones. We're going to need help."