The Criteria
"Man! That stuff really packs a punch," said Gumball, rubbing his head as he sat in Tina's "nest".
He had awoken some time ago and found, much to his relief, that he was still lying in Tina's metal bedding. It would seem Penny's plan had worked. He'd slept through his regression and hadn't woken up until he'd changed back. But although it was gratifying to know that there was a method around his nighttime ventures as the abyssalis cat available now it did come with its drawbacks. Namely the fact that Gumball had woken up groggy and nauseous. Still, if it means he'd no longer have to worry about hurting anyone, eating wild animals or searching for a non-existent pride it was a small price to pay.
Gumball wondered what time it was. He didn't have his phone or a watch and hadn't dared go outside, so had no means to keep track of time. Which means he had no idea how long it would be before Penny got through with school and would be coming to visit, hopefully with his family. The wait was long and strenuous, and so far the only upside about being stuck here was that Tina, despite her impoverished lifestyle, at least had a working bathroom in her house. He didn't even wanna know how she uses it though.
Eventually, there came the sound of the metal sliding doors opening and when Gumball looked up he found, to his delight, Penny had returned, and she'd brought his family along too. It was quite the emotional affair for all, with joyful tears, hugs of relief and declarations of love, especially from Darwin, who proceeded to hug Gumball the hardest.
"Dude, you have no idea how worried I've been!" he said as he and Gumball continued to share in a brotherly hug.
"I've missed you too, buddy," said Gumball, tears streaming down his face. "And again, sorry about trying to eat you."
"Yeah, hey, what was that all about, anyway?" asked Darwin, finally letting Gumball go and slightly glaring at him, crossing his arms. "Why did you turn into that thing?
"I believe we would all like to know that," said Nicole, looking at her son with just as much relief as before, but also with a slight bit of concern.
Gumball turned to Penny and gave her a confused look. "Did you tell them yet?"
Penny shook her head, which surprised Gumball slightly. He'd figured Penny would fill them in on the way over. Their house and the wrecking yard were a fair distance from each other, it'd be the perfect time to tell them.
"We had…other things to discuss on the way here, Gumball," said Penny.
"Huh? What kinda stuff?" Gumball asked. What else was there to talk about?
"I decided to fill everyone in on the truth about that thing, Gumball," Nicole admitted with a resigned smile. "On the way over I explained to Richard , Anais and Darwin my side of the family's connection to the abyssalis cat."
Gumball's ears folding back in slight depression. "I'm so sorry, mom. I didn't mean for the secret to come out."
"Hey, it's okay, Gumball," said Nicole, kneeling down to give her son a hug. "The circumstances now are far different than the reasons why we've kept the secret all this time."
"And truthfully, I don't understand what the big deal was," said Richard, shrugging his shoulders. "If I'm being honest, I'm kinda relieved to learn why Nicole can be so brutal and violent at times."
Nicole huffed and glared at her husband.
"You might wanna shush, dad," advised Anais. "Unless you want to push mom into abyssalis cat mode here and now."
"As awesome as it is to learn Gumball and his family have such a savage ancestry," said Carrie, speaking up for the first time. "I believe it's time we got to the bottom of this. From what I understand, Gumball's family can revert back to the savage nature of this "abyssalis cat"; which is apparently their ancestor, to a limited degree, you're not supposed to revert back completely, like Gumball has been." She hovered over and floated before Gumball. "I'm guessing you've gotten me involved because you are hoping I can help, right?"
Penny walked over and stood next to Gumball and gave him a supportive smile, then both gave Carrie a nod of confirmation.
"Then explain to us how this happened already," said Carrie, crossing her arms impatiently.
She could still hardly fathom that it had been Gumball that had rampaged through the mall that day. She remembered trying to possess him. All that raw instinct and urge to hunt and kill. Who would have guessed that demure little Gumball was at the core of that creature?
Gumball finally disclosed to his family that this wasn't just happening because of their lineage, that there was an actual perpetrator behind his current condition. He explained about how, after Rob sabotaged his banner, some bizarre creature came forth and proclaimed himself Gumball's new nemesis. He also went into great detail about what had become of Rob afterwards, about how this new nemesis was now casually subjecting him to electric torture on a regular basis, just so they could get the gist of what they were dealing with. Penny even pitched at this point, explaining she'd seen this heinous act in person herself as well.
After thoroughly explaining Rob's plight with Gumball's new nemesis Gumball then proceeded to explain to them about the differences between him and Rob and what his new nemesis actually wanted from him, as well as. Rob wanted to destroy Gumball, whereas this new nemesis wanted him to become something that everyone would come to fear and had done so by doing something to him that causes his DNA to regress back to the state of a full on abyssalis cat whenever the sun goes down. He also explained the changes were involuntarily, Gumball having no control over the situation once night falls, or even remembering who he is afterwards. To end with, Gumball explained that all this time, after being driven out of town the night he first regressed, he'd been meandering around in the forest, unable to return home due to being stuck between changes. This seemed to cause some confusion, so Gumball reminded them that, as the abyssalis cat, he had no memory of himself or his life as Gumball, relying solely on his abyssalis cat instinct.
And upon further insistence, Gumball explained to them what his instincts had driven him to do, every detail.
All of the family had differing reactions to the explanation. Nichole was horrified that her son now had this new, and obviously more formidable nemesis to worry about, however, what was the most difficult part for her to accept was that Gumball, rather than having run away out of heartbreak at Penny's words; like everyone had assumed, had instead been wandering in the forest looking for the pride of their ancestors. A pride that didn't exist anymore. She didn't know which one was the hardest to accept.
Richard was just unnerved by the whole situation, though that was pretty much the extent of his reaction, what with his lack of intelligence.
Anais , however, found herself flabbergasted, one aspect of Gumball's story more prominent to her than the rest. Sure, she'd been immensely worried about him, same as the rest of her family, but to think, her slightly dimwitted, incompetent, cowardly brother had spent the last few days hunting dangerous wild beasts in the forest, killing them with relative ease and then feeding on their flesh. Gumball…hunting and killing wild animals and eating raw meat like the animal he would momentarily become. Truthfully, until she saw that transformation in person herself, she didn't think she could fully believe Gumball was capable of this, any of it.
Darwin, however, despite being just as concerned for Gumball as the others, saw something in the scenario that everyone else seemed to have overlooked.
"You know, this is kinda an odd thing for someone who claims to be your "nemesis" to do," he said, tapping his chin. "Gumball essentially has superpowers now. What kinda nemesis gives their enemy superpowers?"
"Me and Penny thought along the same lines," said Gumball. "It doesn't make sense."
"Not to mention how he did this to Gumball in the first place," said Carrie, who had been hovering around Gumball and examining him from all angles. "There aren't very many beings that have the capability to cause a person's DNA to regress, especially during a specific time." Carrie then examined Gumball's face. "Just who, or what did this to you?"
"I don't know," Gumball admitted, lifting his arms when Carrie gestured he do so. "I've never seen anything like him before."
"Yeah. He was so…ugly," said Penny, remembering what happened on the cliff with a shutter.
"You've seen the one who did this as well, Penny?" Carrie asked, looking at Gumball's left leg."
"Well…to a degree," Penny admitted, "I didn't "see" him, per say. He…was my shadow for a moment."
Carrie stopped examining Gumball and looked up at Penny. "Did you say "he was your shadow for a moment"?"
"Uh-huh!" said Penny, nodding.
"Hmm…" mumbled Carrie, tapping her chin.
"What's wrong, Carrie?" asked Darwin worriedly.
"It's the capabilities of this person Gumball and Penny are describing," said Carrie. "The ability to alter DNA and a fair degree of shadow manipulation. These abilities are uncommon, even in the supernatural world." She looked at Gumball once more. "You sure you haven't an inkling who this person is? Maybe even a name?"
"Oh! Oh yeah, I do know his name. At least, it's the name he gave me," said Gumball with slight eagerness. He'd forgotten to mention it because his nemesis's name was rather…mundane? "He introduced himself as Green."
That word, the title of a casual, everyday color, caused Carrie to let out an audible gasp of shock as she covered her mouth with her hands, her usually beady eyes expanding to the point that they showed more white than the rest of her pale, wispy body.
"Gumball…?" she breathed (metaphorically), dropping her hands and levitating close to his face. "Did you just say…the one who did this to you…calls himself Green?"
"Uh…yeah," said Gumball, leaning back slightly as Carrie hovered closer. "It's actually kinda fitting, considering the guy glows with a rather bright green light."
That brief description caused Carrie to let out another cry of shock, covering her mouth with her hands again as she backpedaled in the air.
"Carrie! What's wrong?" asked Darwin worriedly, concerned by his usually infallible girlfriend's reaction.
"No…" Carrie stammered, her voice a fearful whimper that didn't suit her. "Oh nononono…"
This bizarre reaction from the usually infallible ghost girl caused everyone else to become just as concerned as Darwin, however, Carrie's reaction made Penny come to a realization.
"Carrie…?" she inquired, walking up and staring directly into Carrie's fearful face. "Do you know who this guy is?"
Carrie didn't respond with words, rather, she waved her right arm and a book appeared in her hand. The book's appearance alone was foreboding enough, bound in black leather and decorated with crimson highlights and equally crimson glyphs of some unknown language none of them could even hope to comprehend. Carrie opened the book and flipped through the pages which were as equally as black as the cover, the transcripts glowing on ominous white and written in the same language depicted on the cover. She stopped at a certain passage and presented the page to all present.
"This the creature you saw?" she asked Penny and Gumball, clear nervousness and unease in her voice.
Gumball and Penny looked at the presented page; as did everyone else, and on it was a picture drawn in mosaic style.
"Ugh! Disgusting!" said Darwin, backing up slightly with a look of revolution.
"Geez! That's the ugliest thing I've!" commented Anais.
Everyone else had a similar reaction.
Of course, Gumball definitely recognized the creature depicted in the picture to definitely be Green, having been the only amongst them to have seen him in person. Penny, however, looked somewhat perplexed. She'd only seen tidbits of Green before; from a shadow projected over the ground, to a single bare arm, but this picture, despite the slightly hard to discern art style, depicted the creature known as Green in full detail. And everything about him just spelled foreboding and evil. Gumball was right, he is truly a monster the likes of which none of them had ever seen.
"Yep! That's definitely him," Gumball confirmed, looking at the picture of Green, recognizing the coils, tendrils and wings.
Carrie's demeanor seemed to sink even further at his confirmation, turning the book back around and looking at the picture herself, her frown deepening, and…was she genuinely shaking in fear? Carrie, the girl who literally flew with the undead, was afraid of Green?
"I knew the time of his emergence was drawing close, but I didn't think it would be so soon," she said, her voice trembling. "And he had to emerge here in Elmore, of all places…?"
"Carrie, please. Who is this guy?" asked Nicole somewhat pleadingly. "Your reaction has all of us concerned."
"Yeah, is this Green guy really so terrifying?" asked Darwin, probably the most concerned out of all of them. He, along with everyone familiar with her, knew it takes a lot to get a rise out of Carrie; possibly more than most, let alone scare her, so to see her practically on the verge of panicking didn't instill a lot of confidence in him.
Who is Green?
"Terrifying? Terrifying doesn't even begin to describe Green!" Carrie finally said, her tone becoming somewhat frantic. "In the supernatural world he's basically the most nefarious being to ever exist!"
The Watterson's and Penny all exchanged looks of unease with each other at Carrie's fearful outburst.
"This guy really that bad?" asked Darwin.
Carrie nodded, "All other creatures of evil, Gargaroth included, are nothing compared to him."
This piece of information seemed to take everyone aback, especially Gumball and Darwin. They remembered the debacle involving Gargaroth, and Green is supposedly worse than even him?
"What does he want?" asked Nicole, as on edge as the rest of them, but still determined to get to the bottom of this. "Why did this "Green" character do this to Gumball?"
"Yeah. And for that matter, why does he want to be my new nemesis anyway? What did I ever do to him?" asked Gumball, having been curious about that fact from the beginning.
" "Your" nemesis?" Carrie inquired at Gumball. "Gumball, that's only the case through overlapping circumstances. Green's vendetta isn't against you personally. He's a demon of strife and violence that wants nothing more than to spread misery throughout our world. He's the nemesis of peace and unity, who emerges every thousand years or so and, through a seemingly infinitesimal action, causes a catastrophe that usually has an astronomically profound impact on the world." Carrie gave Gumball a pitied expression. "And it seems he's chosen you as his instrument of commencement for this latest plot of his, Gumball."
Gumball's eyes widened in terror. Was…all that really true?
"Wait wait wait, I still don't understand! In fact, I understand less now than I did earlier!" said Darwin, waving his fins frantically. "If this Green is such a big baddie that supposedly causes such mass mayhem whenever he shows up, then how does making Gumball turn into a monster at night accomplish anything? Sure, what happened before was pretty terrifying, but it wasn't anything "catastrophic"."
"Don't underestimate the machinations of Green," said Carrie with a serious tone. "His reputation for causing havoc has earned him several foreboding titles over the centuries. Lord of Mayhem, Master of the Shadows, King of Calamity, the list goes on. And his deeds aren't exactly subtle. Several variations of them are known throughout history, even to this day."
"Really? Like what?" asked Penny.
"You know the legend of Helen of Troy?" Carrie inquired to the whole group.
This drew a collective gasp from all of them. The Watterson's may not be known for being historically, or even intellectually inclined, but anyone who has at least a basic understanding of pop culture would at least be somewhat familiar with the lore of Helen of Troy, what with how often it's been incorporated in the media for one reason or another. Even Richard.
"Wait, you're not saying that Green was behind the Trojan War, are you?" Anais asked.
Carrie nodded and began to explain: "Helen wasn't always the notorious beauty reputed for launching a thousand ships. She was once just a plain average girl. Probably the very definition of plain, actually. It was Green that made her into the incomprehensible beauty that drove Menelaus and Paris to war with each other and started the Trojan War." She looked at Gumball. "That's probably why Green has chosen you, Gumball. You fit his criteria. Green's M.O has always been to enact his plans through someone who is known to be unassuming and superfluous.
Such a statement would usually be received harshly by the Watterson's, but right now they just didn't have the attention for it. Green was sounding more dangerous than initially believed. They were dealing with some vile twisted being who once sparked a full on war the likes of the Trojan War. And he'd apparently returned to do something similar.
Through Gumball.
"You…really think turning Gumball into a savage cat monster and having him go around destroying things and attacking people will really cause something on the scale of the Trojan War?" asked Darwin.
"From what I've read about Green and how he works, I would say Gumball's condition is only meant to start the calamity he wants," said Carrie, looking at Gumball again. "Gumball caused massive panic and destruction the night he first transformed, can you imagine what would happen if it became widely known that it was Gumball who was the monster, and that he repeatedly transforms the moment the sun goes down?" The looks on all their faces told Carrie they could imagine what would happen. "Yes. The fear alone might drive some people to just outright come after Gumball. And you all would no doubt defend him if someone were to try to hurt him."
"That's right, we would!" said Anais with determination.
"Over my dead body anyone is going to hurt Gumball," said Penny, scooping up her boyfriend and holding him close, Gumball, despite the immense fear he felt at realizing what kind of situation he was caught dead in the center of, was unable to suppress a blush of both embarrassment and gratitude.
"And that's what I'm guessing Green is banking on," clarified Carrie further. "Not only does he want Gumball to be a formidable monster that's very presence instills fear in people and will drive them to wanting to hurt him, he also wants Gumball to have reliable supporters who will diligently defend him. One group wanting to harm Gumball, the other willing to protect him against all odds. The two factions would no doubt clash with each other, probably to the point of bloodshed. Just like it was with Helen."
"Huh, would Gumball, or any of us even garner so much sympathy?" asked Darwin, looking apologetically at Gumball when he threw him a dirty look from Penny's arms, who had yet to let him go. "Sorry dude, but you have to remember that we're not the most popular people in town. If everyone were to find out you are the thing that almost killed Tina and her father and trashed the mall would very many people even be on our side?"
"I WILL BE!" declared Penny with dedication. "No one is going to hurt Gumball! Not while I am around!"
"And that's probably all the support Gumball will need to generate the immense chaos Green desires," said Carrie. "It's true that not many would speak up in defense of a Watterson, but Penny's abilities alone are formidable and beyond most people's capacity to deal with. Not to mention what Gumball is capable of when he transforms…"
"Regresses," Gumball suddenly said, Carrie giving him an impatient look. "Sorry, I just think it's a more apt description of what happens to me."
"Okay…" Carrie began again. "When Gumball "regresses", he also has abilities that are formidable and not easy to counter. Can you imagine what it would be like for people to be coming at them with the intention of hurting them, with Gumball and Penny defending themselves to the best of their own unique individual abilities?"
Indeed, they all could imagine it. Gumball; as the abyssalis cat, Penny; in her dragon form, fighting back to back in the ruins of Elmore as hoards of people constantly try to eliminate them, only adding to the surrounding devastation.
"So, what do we do?" asked Anais. "How are we going to stop what Green wants to happen from happening?"
