The Controlling

Epilogue

"Zach doesn't understand."

"Understand what?" Gumball turned to face the other feline, the two sitting in the house's backyard. It was nearly sundown, the stars seen appearing in the sky. "Your existence again?"

"No. Zach is confused. Why is everyone nice to Zach now?"

"Dude, it's been a week. Everyone's pretty much figured out you're a good guy now." Gumball replied, looking up at the darkening sky.

"But.. Didn't Zach hurt them before?" Zach raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but change exists. As long as you know what you did wasn't great and you learn from it, then people will start to like you."

"..Zach was going to kill you before though.." The other feline out of self consciousness felt the grass in his paws. "..And now Zach is.. Here. Existing.."

"Zach, I get it. All this is.. Pretty confusing. Sure, I have no clue how the heck you survived, but.. What matters is.. That you're okay. You're safe now."

"..Do you still trust Zach?.."

Gumball was a little caught off guard by this question, but answered honestly. "Yeah. If you were out to kill me you would've done it earlier. Probably not as good though, no offense."

Zach slightly laughed. "That's true." He soon frowned, to the concern of the other. "..Zach doesn't know if Zach should be happy..."

The two fell silent, crickets heard chirping in the grass. By now the backyard had been covered with darkness, the only light being from the backdoor's see-through screen. Few cars were heard moving down the street, as all was quiet. After a few minutes, Gumball finally spoke, his tone serious, yet almost melancholy.

"...It's okay if you aren't happy.. Between you and me... I just..." He hesitated. "...I didn't want to see you disappear or... Worse.. I wanted to give you a chance for something better instead of.. Being stuck in my head.."

Zach once again raised an eyebrow, however slowly dropped it, his expression seen as almost.. Grateful. "..Because Zach saved you?"

"Eh, not just that to be honest. I'm pretty sure those other guys hated you."

"..You aren't wrong." The other cat glanced down at the ground, uncomfortable hearing the sheer mention of the other previous villains.

"But they're gone now, and you can make better friends." Gumball replied. "I'd say you already have a start."

"What do you mean by that? Zach has no friends yet." Confused, Zach looked back up.

Gumball snickered, playfully jabbing him in the arm. "Right here obviously."

"...Zach's your friend?.."

The cat nodded, smiling. "You saved me from those guys, so you've earned it."

Zach soon smiled back, though be it small. He did not respond, but Gumball could read his expression. He was truly happy that he got to have his own life, and an actual person that cared about him.

"I do admit though, I think we should kinda work on your.. Interaction with people."

"How come?"

Gumball shifted slightly. "Well.. You kinda still push some people around.. I get it, still getting used to things. But I don't think they're gonna tolerate it for too long."

"..It's been a while since Zach's talked to people.."

"It's okay dude, you'll get there. You just gotta try."

Zach nodded, sighing as he leaned back into the steps. "..Thank you for helping Zach."

"Anytime."

All seemed finally at peace. No haunting bad guys for now, no mind controlling, just a world to do whatever in. Who knew what adventures could happen? So far most people were generally okay with this situation, some being hesitant, while others skeptical. However, there was truth. Zach DOES want to change and be better. To live his own life regardless if he looked too similar to his counterpart.

The two quietly watched the now night sky, the stars glistening as not a word was spoken.

AN: I know its a little short, but well, wanted to wrap up the story a little bit more properly since well, yeah.

With that said, yes, this is the conclusion to The Controlling. Thank you to all the people that read this story, and to those that waited for the final chapter to come out. I will admit, I did lose interest in this story for a while due to lack of motivation, but I didn't want to leave this underrated story in the dust. Plus I noticed others were waiting, so wanted to tie everything up and deliver the full thing.

Thank you to my Discord friends for helping me out and supporting my idea of Zach's redemption, I'm grateful for the help. They also looked over this epilogue and suggested ideas ^^

Special thanks to you dear readers, for sticking around and liking this story. I'm utterly grateful for all your support.

Props to 6th grade me for writing the original version of this story. Its a little bittersweet to finally conclude and finish the second fanfic I ever wrote once and for all, but its nice that it gets a happy ending. (it was left unfinished)

And because I'm a nice gal, you get to see it! Well, next chapter. No no, its not "deleted scenes", its just the original version from 6th grade that I just wanna share for its importance.

Until then, I'll see you soon, thank you for reading.