The Gem

Chapter 3

Darwin couldn't remember what happened today. He knew the beginning, he had been going to the arcade while Nicole shopped, but then.. Nothing. It was like his mind blanked out the moment he got to that part. It frightened him how he didn't know where he's been the past several hours.

As he traveled down the sidewalk of town, he questioned why he was even out here. The goldfish had just suddenly found himself on the sidewalk moments ago, blocks away from home. It looked like it had rained bad, telling by the flooded streets and everything around him pretty much soaked with water. What on Earth happened?

"Darwin Raglan Caspian Ahab Poseidon Nicodemus Watterson the third! Where on Earth have you been?!" Nicole was in the doorway, fuming with anger, as she dragged the fish inside the second he opened the front door. "We've been worried sick!"

"I'm so sorry Mrs. Mom I had no idea I was gone for so long.." He replied, guilt on his face, though it changed to be confusion. "..Though I have no idea what happened."

"What do you mean you don't know what happened?!" This only angered his mother worse. She looked about ready to smash the nearest thing in the room at this point.

"I can't remember what happened today! I know I went to the arcade but then I found myself on the sidewalk after bad rain!"

Nicole put her hands on her hips, her eyes practically turning into flames. She didn't really believe him, but decided to somewhat play along with what she assumed was a lie. "Well if you want to know so bad, your brother told me that you picked up some necklace, smacked him in the face, and ran off!"

"What?!" Darwin widened his eyes, shocked by the information, yet frightened. He hurt Gumball? Why couldn't he remember it? Speaking of which.. "Wait, where is he?.."

"He was looking for you." Anais appeared from the stairs, rather annoyed herself. She was less angry than her mother however, looking almost curious, as if she knew something the goldfish didn't. "He didn't want to sit around waiting for you to come home."

Nicole immediately turned to the young bunny, confused, as her anger briefly ceased. "He what?! I told him it was too dangerous to go out in that storm! Did he even bring a raincoat?!"

"Yeah he did. Though, he's been gone a while, I assume still out searching." Anais glanced over at Darwin. She studied his movements, but didn't find much trace of any bizarre behavior. Where was the necklace however? It was nowhere in sight on the fish. He looked, no, he practically was acting regularly. This greatly confused her, but she could worry about it later. "So I suggest you go look for him now, because he's probably going to spend hours out there. You and I both know him well."

"You're right.. I don't know what happened to cause this but I'll try to set things right!" The goldfish made his way to the door, and promptly left, leaving Nicole and Anais in the room.

"Darn it I was so angry I forgot to ground him!" The cat scowled.

"Were you really?" Anais gave her a deadpan look. Seeing her mother sigh and shake her head no, she went back upstairs. "Figured as such."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ugh... What?..."

Gumball sat up, groaning as he rubbed his head in pain. Opening his eyes, he found himself on the shore of the lake, soaking wet. "Where am I?.."

The cat coughed up water, as he got up to his feet, observing his surroundings. Sudden memories began flooding back, making him panic, as he patted himself all over, the realization dawning on him. "WAIT HOLD ON HOW AM I NOT DEAD?!"

He could remember plunging into the lake, the way Darwin looked at him. The thought made him scowl. How could his own best friend do that to him? Gumball decided to not think about it for now. He needed to find home first. Could he go home though? Darwin would be there, wouldn't he? The last thing he wanted was to hardly survive a second murder attempt.

Sighing, he walked up onto a forest trail, deciding to take a walk. Perhaps it was best to wait it out for now, to plan out what to do. However, all he could think about was what had happened. The arcade. The gem. The rain. The slap. The knife. The gem. The gem. The gem.

He let out a scream of frustration, kicking a nearby pebble. "WHY DID DARWIN HAVE TO FIND THAT STUPID NECKLACE?!"

"This is all Darwin's fault!" The feline ranted, continuing his path. He didn't care where he was going, as long as it wasn't home. Thankfully it was relatively quiet, no creatures popping out to spook him. "If he hadn't have found that thing none of this would have happened!"

Gumball paused, finding walking unbearable now. "Now, he's gonna be at home all happy and nobody's gonna bat an eye! I hate this!"

However, his anger for a moment became confusion, as he found a picture on the ground. Picking it up, he raised an eyebrow. It was strangely undamaged for being left in the rain and in woods. Was this left here recently? "..A picture of Darwin?.. This looks... Weird... Why is it here in the middle of the woods?"

Faint whispers were heard through the trees, slightly unnerving. As he stared at the picture, he gripped it tighter, feeling an immense anger. He dropped it, letting it float to the ground gently. It was like something inside snapped. Darwin hadn't come back in any way to find him, he would've remembered he was here, right? There was no way he would forget. Unless.. What if he truly wasn't possessed?.. No, that's not right..

He couldn't help but feel right about it though, as the whispers continued, yet.. He was conflicted. As he stood there in the woods, Gumball began to recollect memories of them hanging out together. They had been through so much misadventures and tales. Darwin was good, he knew it in his heart, right? It was possession. He could see it in his eyes.

As he reminisced however, there were times that were sour. The fish wasn't always super friendly.. Maybe the the possession thing was an act, to get back at him for his bad mood. That must be it. It was too convenient for an evil gem necklace to show up out of the blue.

Rage surged through him. It even felt like his heart darkened at the thought. What could he do though? He didn't want to kill him, did he? Well, he would get in trouble for that anyways. No, it wasn't right to let him get away scot free with nearly drowning him.

He had to pay.

Suddenly, almost as if he had done it before, the photo flew right up to his hand, which began to glow a bright, yet dark blue, as he threw it into the air. He cackled, watching it burn right before him in the light, until it became nothing but specks of ash in the dirt. This felt good.

Darkness began to surround him, as he was lifted into the air. He wasn't really paying attention to what was going on, only focused on his pure hatred. His fur was now a dark blue, his ears and tail pointed to match, along with his muzzle being a darker hue than usual. His whiskers were also slightly longer, and it was noticeable that his teeth were definitely sharper. He grinned, the darkness welcoming.

As the cat floated back down to the ground, a black cape trailed behind him, hooked to what looked to be a white shirt, torn at the sleeves. The shirt accompanied a pair of lighter grey jeans, almost light lavender, as if his regular pants were lightened in a wash. The main centerpiece was of course the shiny purple gem that was tied to his cape, gleaming and glowing powerfully.

Why was he upset at this before? It felt great.

As he opened his eyes, revealing them changed to be a black with white slits, he cackled, blue flame like powers emerging from his paws.

Darwin was going to pay. After all, karma's gonna come collect his debt.