The Pain

(Trigger warning. Scenes depicting torture and violence in this chapter. Viewers discretion is advised.)

Molly Collins had to admit, even she couldn't make the happenings of the last few days sound boring and drab. It was in the dead of night that she'd received a call from Penny, who requested she come over to Carrie's place as soon as possible. She found the request a bit odd, given the time, but had agreed to come. Once she arrived she'd been informed by Penny and Carrie that they had a plan to get Gumball back and could use her assistance. Molly had readily agreed, anything to bring her friend home. Her role was identical to what she had done earlier, namely drawing another circle with her pristine drawing skills with that luminous ink. Though this one was fairly different from the last one, the symbols were vastly different, because, according to Carrie, she had designed it herself, to reopen the portal they had closed prior.

As Molly worked, the others that had heeded the call sent out by Penny and Carrie observed wearily.

The Wattersons and the Fitzgeralds stood in Carrie's basement next to each other. The Wattersons hadn't needed much convincing to participate in what was about to go down tonight, especially since it was practically their only chance to get Gumball back, but the Fitzgeralds, however, had required extreme urging to take part. And who could blame them? It was bad enough that, from what they'd been told, in order to get Gumball back, they needed to open a portal to the dimension where that wretched demon dwells. And that wasn't even the worst part. Only one of them would be able to pass through, for the method they were about to perform was but a crude imitation of what Green could do when opening portals to the Dark Place, and the portal this method would result in would be very fragile; only able to sustain one person for the beginning excursion and two people for the return trip. Maybe. According to Carrie, anyway.

And still, that wasn't even the worst part.

The piece de resistance was the fact that, even if they were successful in rescuing Gumball, Green could use the precarious passage they needed to open to gain entry to their world again, meaning he'd be free to torment all of them, once more and again make Gumball a catalyst for his calamity. And, according to Carrie, there was only one way to ensure that didn't happen. Green must be destroyed, once and for all. How? Apparently, in the Dark Place, he is as susceptible to physical harm as any of them in this world. Basically, unlike in their world, where he can shrug off getting the back of his head blown off, if he's mortally wounded in the Dark Place, he dies.

But there was only one amongst them that had the ability to even remotely have a chance of slaying Green. Penny. It would have to be her that ventures through the portal and confronts Green.

Which is why, at first, the Fitzgeralds had been totally opposed to the idea. What family would willingly agree to let their daughter travel to a dark realm where a murderous creature like Green dwells? They were all too aware that Green possessed abilities that were positively lethal. They'd watched the News that night Gumball had been set loose as well. However, just like during the circumstances of the incident that revealed Gumball's "condition" to her family, Penny put her foot down, declaring that she was doing this whether they approved or not, and the plan was happening with or without their input.

The only reason that Penny and Carrie had involved Penny's family and the Wattersons was because a spell needed to be chanted in order to activate the portal; same as when they collapsed it, and the more people that chanted the stronger the portal would be. If they were truly adamant about not supporting this one chance there was of saving Gumball the Fitzgeralds were welcome to decline and walk away, however, they had no influence to stop the Wattersons from participating, which was apparently still enough participants to open the portal, and Penny was going to be there to take the plunge once it was open.

And the Fitzgeralds weren't even in any position to "forcibly" stop their daughter from doing this. Even if they tried, their efforts would only make her angry, and at that point she could just drive them off with her dragon fire. They didn't know if Penny would go that far to defy them, but they definitely knew she wanted to get Gumball back no matter what, even if it meant rebelling against her family to the fullest. So, left with little choices, the Fitzgeralds stood with the Wattersons, ready to do what they could in support of the massive endeavor Penny was about to undertake.

"And, done," said Molly as she stood from the floor, a newly drawn luminescent circle, just as big as the last one, glistening upon the stone. "Everything is set and ready."

"Thanks Molly, without you this wouldn't be possible," said Penny with immense gratitude to her fellow cheerleader.

"Not a problem. I want to help get Gumball back," said Molly as she waddled out of the circle and over to the others.

"Couldn't agree more with you there," said Carrie, waving her hand, a piece of paper appearing before everyone, apart from Penny. "Alright everyone, here's the spell. Please, join hands."

Everyone complied, linking hands and forming a conjoined line on one side of the spell circle, Molly joining in as well, linking hands between Darwin and Anais. Since there were a few more people this time none of them really had a free hand to hold the piece of paper before them to read from it, so Carrie opted to instead use her telekinesis to float the papers before their faces. She did so for herself as well as she took up position between the Wattersons and the Fitzgeralds, linking hands with Nicole and Judith, having had no time to memorize the spell this time.

"Hee hee, these words sound funny," said Polly, linking hands between her mom and dad as she read her paper.

With no other reason to put it off, the group of nine individuals began to recite. "Per sacrum lumen lunae obscurum iter aperimus! Per sacrum lumen lunae obscurum iter aperimus! Per sacrum lumen lunae obscurum iter aperimus!"

For some reason, it took considerably less effort for this spell to take effect than that of the previous one. Maybe it was because there were so many more participants, or maybe it was because Carrie was better at crafting spell circles than the guy who originally wrote the book, but whatever the reason, not into the fifth chant did it circle start to react, pulsating and growing brighter. Then, the circle became a black vortex, like the floor had suddenly become a drain for a giant tub full of shadows that had just been pulled.

Penny; face finally clean of Gumball's blood, approached the vortex with determination. On the other side of this sinister, swirling pathway lay the love of her life and she was going to get him back, and destroy the one who had caused both her and him such suffering.

"Penny…" Penny turned at her father's voice, looking over her shoulder to see that he had ceased chanting and was looking at her worriedly. Everyone else was still chanting however, for unlike the previous spell, this one required a constant influx of words to remain active. "Be careful."

Penny, unwilling to spend the time on any reassuring words that she might spare her father, instead gave him a smile that she hoped portrayed her desires and intentions. Along with her desire to save Gumball, she fully intended to make it back, for whatever happens, by the end of this, she wanted her and Gumball to have a long, happy life together.

And with that, Penny stepped forward and sank down into the portal, vanishing from sight, Patrick's worry intensifying as he resumed chanting with the others.

He hoped with all his heart this wasn't the last time he would see his daughter

—

For the first time, Penny beheld the terror that is the Dark Place, and the sight was so jarring that Penny could not help but momentarily forget about the current situation and just observe the swirling shadows that made up her surroundings. Somewhere within her a small part of her suddenly became more understanding of why Green is the way he is. Confined in a place like this, alone for a thousand years at a time, that's enough to drive anyone, or anything crazy.

*ROAR!*

The sudden faint sound snapped Penny out of her surprised stupor, turning her attention to the direction of the noise. She couldn't see anything before her, but assumed the source was up ahead somewhere. And what's more, she recognized that sound. It was the roar-cry of the abyssalis cat.

"Hang on, Gumball, I'm coming!" Penny declared.

She tried to move but found that there was no ground to stand on, so opted to instead flap her miniscule wings to propel herself forward, leaving the portal she'd entered this place through behind. She heard more and more of those distinctive roar-cry's as she proceeded, which continually grew in volume, and it wasn't long before shapes emerged from the darkness as if from a thick fog, Penny approaching them from behind. And at the sight of the scene before her, whatever brief pity Penny had felt for Green's isolation in this place vanished.

Green hovered before Gumball, who was still in abyssalis cat form, both equal in size at the moment. Gumball's limbs were wedged in double tipped stalagmites, Green's tendrils extending forward, their curved spikes embedded in Gumball's arms and legs, two below the above, embedded below his shoulders, and two below, embedded in the muscles of his hips. The tendrils jerked and twisted, pulling on the flesh they were stabbing into, Gumball releasing those roar-cries in conjunction with the movements. And this apparently wasn't the only time such a torturous act had been inflicted on him. Deep puncture wounds dotted up and down Gumball's front and back legs, obviously the results of similar actions like what Green was currently doing to him now. And, to add just that much more horror to the scene, these weren't even the worst of Gumball's injuries. The blades at the ends of Green's tail were stabbed deep into Gumball's torso, two into his stomach, one into the right side of his chest.

Prnny felt her entire body seize up in horror, disgust and extreme, overwhelming concern at the current state of her boyfriend. She had never seen anyone so hurt, the sight almost unbearable, made all the worse that it was Gumball who was enduring all this. The boy she loves…was in such pain! As she watched, unable to look away, despite how horrendous the sight was, Penny saw what could only be blood floating weightlessly around Green and Gumball in great, spherical globs of crimson, more of which were seeping out of Gumball's wounds continuously. At least he was still alive, but for how long.

Suddenly, the roar-cry's ceased and Gumball slumped forward, motionless.

"Tsk tsk, and he passes out again," sneered Green in a sinister voice that was full of mirth. "I hope he doesn't take too long waking up. I ain't even close to being done."

Hearing his words, which contained such enjoyment, lit a fire in Penny, snapping out of her horrified stupor as she became enraged and she shifted into her dragon form immediately.

"GET OFF OF HIM, YOU MONSTER!"

Penny had begun moving before she was even finished speaking, veering around Green, carried speedily and swiftly on her dragon wings, which were so much more superior in strength as compared to her fairy wings. Green looked towards her as if in slow motion, his expression shifting from amused to surprised as Penny-dragon veered over to his left side, opened her jaws, and blasted him with a barge of flames. The fires slammed into Green's side like the torrent of an unleashed river, hurling him away, his tendrils and tail-blades jerking out of Gumball's body with a horrible squelching sound.

As Green vanished into the darkness Penny-dragon flew forward and hovered before Gumball's bound, mutilated form.

"Oh Gumball! What has he done to you?!" she whimpered in horror.

"Exactly what I am going to do to you!"

Penny dodged out of the way in time to avoid a blast of green energy, turning towards the direction it originated from and growling. Green re-emerged from the darkness, aloft on his mighty membraned wings, his sneer present once more.

"But first…you're good to tell me how you got here!"

Green poised his tendrils and shot them forward, their fangs extended as they closed in on Penny-dragon. She swiftly dodged out of their path one by one as she made a beeline for Green. As horrendous as the state Gumball was in at the moment she had one final task to complete before she could devote everything to his well-being. She must destroy Green once and for all, and now was the only opportunity she was going to have, in here, where he was susceptible to his own laws of physics. If she didn't and focused solely on getting Gumball to safety, Green would just continue to hound them, possibly for the next ten years, if he did not outright interfere with her attempts to get Gumball out of here. Gumball was in no condition to move on his own so the burden of getting Gumball out of this place would solely be Penny's responsibility, and it would be a lot easier if she didn't have to contend with Green in the meantime, so it was best to confront him now.

Penny only hoped that Gumball would last that long, he was bleeding pretty badly.

Penny-dragon plowed into Green with the force of a speeding train, sending them both tumbling through the blackness. She made to go for his throat, but quickly found her own clutched in Green's claw tightly. She thrashed and struggled, but he held her like a vice.

"Well? Out with it, girl!" Green demanded, apparently unfazed by Penny's in-air tackle. "How did you get here? You destroyed my connection to your world, so how did you get to mine?" Green's expression suddenly grew sinister and knowingly. "I see…you've discovered a way to make a portal on your end. How about you tell me how?"

Penny's only response was to snarl at him as she began trying to throw his claw off her neck by scraping at it with her own, not that Green seemed fazed by this.

"Aw, the little child doesn't want to share her toys?" Green said with a mocking accent. Then he sneered sinisterly. "Then how about I share some of mine?"

From the darkness more double tipped stalagmites jutted forth, poised for Penny's limbs. Penny noticed this out of the corner of her eyes and for a split second she remembered how Green had tortured her with electricity when she had been confined and had no desire to repeat the experience. Her powers seemed to capitalize on this desire, for, just as the stalagmites almost made contact with her, her form shifted, her body shrinking in size, leaving the jutting stalagmites to grab empty air.

"What?" said Green as Penny's neck slipped out of his claws.

Actually, a more accurate description would be that all of Penny's being suddenly receded into his clenched claw. Opening his claws, he found himself facing Penny perched on his spindly palm, now in her jackalope form. He scowled in annoyance, which Jackalope-Penny met with a glare of defiance. Green attempted to clap his claws together, but with the swift ability of her current form, Jackalope-Penny scurried up Green's arm before impact, jumping on his shoulder and then hopping down his back.

"Hey, get off?" Green declared, his tendrils pursuing her down his own body, fangs poised.

Looking over and seeing the tendrils trailing her, Jackalope-Penny decided to take advantage of the situation, halting down the length of Green's body in the hopes he would bite himself getting at her. The tendrils had fangs, so it stood to reason they had venom. In contrast to popular belief, snake's aren't entirely immune to their own venom. However, her plan wasn't inconspicuous enough, for the tendrils stopped and gave her a deadpan look.

"You really think I'm going to fall for that?" all four of them asked simultaneously, their voices echoing as they intermingled. They opened their mouths, the light within condensing and growing brighter.

Realizing what was coming, Jackalope-Penny jumped off Green's body just as four energy beams shot forth from the tendrils mouths, aimed precisely so that they missed Green's body, though Penny dodged in time to also evade them, falling into the empty surroundings. She shifted back into her dragon form again, Green scowling as she began circling him, multiple stalagmites jutting out of the shadows in an attempt to catch her, which she swiftly dodged repeatedly. Penny had surmised that, in order for his electric torture to work, Green's victim needed to be ensnared in his stalagmites first, which is why he was still trying to trap her in them, rather than just electrocuting her on the spot, so if she evaded them he couldn't subjecate her to that torment again.

Though this left her with little opportunity to go on the offensive.

—

Pain.

That's all Gumball knew at the moment was pain. He'd been hurt before, but never to this scale. Slowly, he began to regain consciousness, though he was in such agony he wished that wasn't the case. And on top of that he felt so cold now. Cold and dizzy, the sensation increasing as more of his life-blood seeped out of his body to float in the emptiness around him.

However, despite all his suffering, there was something that gave him solace. Within the deep fog of pain and cold that now encompassed most of his mind, a little glimmer of Gumball's consciousness was focused on something that brought him a little semblance of peace. Penny. Just the thought of her made him feel content, even now. The fact that she was safe and the memory of her beauty, this was all Gumball needed to be able to endure the unending torment he'd been experiencing for…he didn't know how long. He became so focused on his memories of Penny that he could swear he could almost see the soothing orange glow that had permeated her being ever since coming out of her shell…

It was then that Gumball realized he was seeing the light too clearly for it to all be in his head, the realization snapping out of his pain filled trance enough to see what was happening some distance away off to his left. Penny, in her dragon form, was circling Green, who was attempting to ensnare her in stalagmites. How did she get here? The portal should be destroyed!

But Gumball quickly ceased caring about the how's and focused solely on the implications. If Penny was here Green would undoubtedly do to her what he'd been doing to him. No. Gumball couldn't let that happen. He hadn't done all that he had just for his girlfriend to suffer regardless. But what could he do? Not only was he restrained, but he was heavily wounded to the point that it would be impossible for him to move, even if he could get free. If only he could strike out as is.

Wait, he could.

Calling upon the genetic information of his ancestors, Gumball willed his body to produce electricity…

—

Penny-dragon wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up. If she didn't retaliate soon Green was going to catch her and then she'd really be in trouble. Then, almost spontaneously, Green was the one bombarded with arc's of electricity. He shrieked in obvious pain, his coily body spasming sporadically as white lightning intermingled with his green glow. Penny-dragon paused in the air, watching the unexpected spectacle in confusion before spotting the source of the electricity. Gumball, despite his injuries, had apparently regained consciousness and had fired a stream of electricity into Green's back.

"Gumball…" she mumbled in gratitude and concern.

But she quickly became serious.

Electrocuted, Green apparently couldn't conjure stalagmites anymore, leaving Penny with the opportunity she needed in order to go on the offensive at last. She reared back, then unleashed a torrent of flames over Green, who's shrieks intensified. Electricity from behind, fire from in front. Who could survive that.

Apparently Green.

Suddenly, after about a minute, Penny and Gumball's jaws were forced shut by a double tipped stalagmite, their eyes widening in surprise as their attacks were nullified. Then there was a clicking sound and Penny was electrocuted yet again. She roared in pain, more stalagmites seizing her limbs, immobilizing her.

"Oh, that does it!" hissed Green as Penny's flames fully petered out, extending out a tendril that sideswiped Gumball across the face, knocking him out yet again. Green wasn't unscathed. If he was burnt, his black color hid it, but what was noticeable was that the membrane of his wings were frayed and full of holes. "No more defiance!" He glared at Penny, who fell limp in her restraints, though she had managed to retain her dragon form this time. "I'll deal with you later! I need to know how you got here! First…" Green hovered back towards Gumball, lifting two claws.

"I hope that Elmore will find a blind abyssalis cat just as intimidating as before…