Rerunning a Disaster

Chapter 1: Penny's Premonition

It was a bright and sunny Saturday morning in the weird little town called Elmore. On days like these, many of the town's residents choose to get out of the house and enjoy a wonderful day. Some like the local park, some prefer a stroll through the neighborhood, and the more wealthy may even make a trip to Daisyland. Often times though, you'll find many denizens making their way to the Elmore mall. With several restaurants and stores within, the townsfolk can window shop, dine out, try new game demos, get a tan, or get harassed by kiosk owners trying to sell you crap that doesn't work and you don't need for hours on end. It's the place that truly gives the phrase "shop 'til you drop" a run for its money.

One such resident who decided to head there today happened to be Penny Fitzgerald, the shapeshifting fairy and girlfriend of Gumball Watterson. Usually, Penny would spend her weekends aimlessly browsing the Internet as most tweens do, chatting with her circle of friends (plus her cousin Leslie), or playing with her little sister Polly. Though sometimes hanging out with Polly wasn't so easy, given her father Patrick's tendency to butt in. While Penny still loved her father, their relationship was definitely strained, as Patrick made it no secret he'd prefer his daughter return to the peanut shell she once wore. He had been particularly rude about it the day before, which played a major factor in her choice to hang out at the mall today.

As Penny entered the mall, she realized that she hadn't even figured out where she wanted to browse first.

"I could try Ripley 2000," she thought. "The one here's got more floor space and better supply than that one near the supermarket. Or maybe one of those nice clothes stores. I don't know how everyone else does it, but going through winter without a coat and some boots sounds brutal... Oh! Maybe I could get a little something from one of those cookie shops! They always have the best candy combos--"

Then it happened.

At least, it seemed to. If you or me had been there, all you would've seen was Penny suddenly stop walking. An odd sight, but nothing to pay much mind to. Maybe she forgot something, or maybe she was struck with the need to use the bathroom. Nothing that out of the ordinary.

None of the above was why she stopped.

Penny had gone completely rigid. Her eyes were opened wider than ever, her gaze empty. She stood still and silent for many seconds. Then her legs started to go wobbly. A great dizziness came over her, and she began to stumble while grasping one hand on her head.

"Excuse me, miss Fitzgerald?"

Penny suddenly snapped back to reality and looked over to her side. It was Larry, who was working at the information center nearby.

"Are you feeling alright, ma'am? You seem to be having trouble walking, and you look a bit queasy."

Penny looked down for a minute. Was it that obvious? In any case, she needed to sort herself out without any disruptions. She'd have to think up a quick lie to get some privacy.

"Oh, thank you Larry, but I'm fine. It's just... I think that... I think my breakfast is messing with me! Yeah, I think my mom used some really out of date toast by accident. I'm sure it'll pass soon."

Larry looked puzzled, but conceded.

"Very well then, I hope you'll feel alright soon."

"Thanks, Larry." Penny said as she trudged away. She appreciated his concern, given she was one of the few people in this town who seemed to really appreciate his insane work ethic, or was consistently nice to him. But right now, she needed to be alone.

At the rate she was going, she'd need a good while before she felt alright again.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a few minutes, Penny finally found the food court. Thankfully for her, it was empty, meaning she could have as much privacy as she needed. (There was always the women's bathroom, but sorting her thoughts in a mall bathroom just felt gross.)

Penny found one of the booths, and weakly pulled herself into it, before curling up into a ball. As she laid motionless in the seat, she began to play everything out in her head.

You see, in that moment where Penny seemed to go borderline catatonic, something had popped into her mind.

A vision.

A vivid, frightening vision.

It was of her at the mall, finding Gumball on top of Sarah, with his face smeared in the red shade of Sarah's lips. Gumball then spoke to her in a loud, unknown language. She then said something to him in that language, and ran off, feeling upset...

She could then see herself on the escalator, still tearful from the previous encounter. Then as she reached the top floor, Gumball suddenly shot up the escalator toward her at a tremendous speed...

Penny's stomach turned in and out of knots as her mind relayed the next part.

With that uncontrollable speed, Gumball collided with her. The impact was so great that she broke through the glass pane, and began to helplessly fall. Her eyes here were welled with tears, as she saw onlookers watching in shock, Gumball looking struck with guilt and horror, and then...

...

...nothing.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Poor Penny had begun to silently cry. She felt as if she was on the verge of throwing up as her mind replayed the horrific sequence over and over. Again and again she saw the image of her falling as she laid in the booth feeling more vulnerable and confused than ever before.

The poor fairy couldn't make any sense of it. She knew all about unwanted intrusive thoughts and how they could come in the form of fake scenarios, but she'd never heard of one so vivid.

What she couldn't figure out above all else was that, if this was an intrusive vision, why did it feel so... familiar?

As the tears streamed down her face, Penny tried to figure out what this feeling meant. For as distressing and shocking as this chain of events was, something in her mind didn't feel it a brand new memory, and that didn't sit right with her. (Not that this scenario sat right with her to begin with, but...)

"Maybe it's déjà vu?" she asked herself.

She quickly pushed that possibility aside.

"No, it couldn't be... déjà vu is always in relation to something you feel has happened before, and I've never had anything like... that... happen to me."

She then began to question the nature of the fall itself. She clearly saw herself breaking the glass and falling towards the floor below, which, if it didn't kill her, would certainly cause her a great deal of physical trauma.

But then why, at the most critical moment, did the vision suddenly just stop? Surely, she thought, it would've naturally concluded with her making impact on the ground below. But it seemed to stop when she was about halfway down, as if by some cruel act of God...

Just what was the nature of this vision? What did it mean? Why did it come into her mind? Penny pondered and pondered over this for so long that she forgot to be upset, for she was now set on finding the answer to this puzzling matter.

Penny took a nearby napkin and dried up her remaining tears. Even though she didn't know what she was facing, she had to figure out what was going on. And in her resolve, she knew that she had to find the other critical player in this scenario. The only other person she could trust with her life.

"...I have to find Gumball..."