TAWOG: Instinct

The Regression

The Regression 

Gumball's sleep had become as unrestful as the surroundings of this shadowy realm. He dreamed of being confronted by a very irate Penny, who had Mr. Cuddles with her, but this wasn't the Mr. Cuddles Gumball knew and loathed. While Mr. Cuddles was known for being a big spider, being a tarantula, this Mr. Cuddles was the size of a gorilla, frothing beneath his fangs as he lunged at Gumball, but was held back by a leash held by Penny. However, she was in the process of undoing said leash, with the obvious intent of releasing her pet turned attack dog upon him. Gumball pleaded with Penny not to do it, but her only response was a cold glare as the leash was unclasped from Mr. Cubbles’s manacle-like collar, setting him loose.

Gumball screamed and fled down the corridor of Elmore Junior High behind him, but didn't get far before another bane of his existence came around the bend in front of him. It was Tina, her scales now undisguised, showing off her true colors of vibrant pink; her secret he had supposedly exposed to the whole school. She came barreling towards him at full speed, the hallway lockers bursting open in her wake as she let out a savage roar.

A larger than average Mr. Cuddles behind him, an exposed, angry Tina before him, Gumball had no way to escape. All he could do was crouch to the floor, cover his head and let out a cry of fear as he waited for the two to descend upon him, but before that could happen a fierce roar tore through the corridor, shaking the whole building. It didn't sound like Tina's roar, it sounded much more, savage? And when Gumball looked up, he saw not two massive individuals who sought retribution from him, but two massive eyes of luminescent orange, the slitted pupils of the glowing yellow gazing not just at him but almost seemed to peer right through him, into his soul.

—

Gumball awoke with a start, panting heavily in order to catch his breath and try to still his drumming heart. He was still within that realm of swirling darkness, suspended within an orb of pulsating green plasma. It didn't take long to locate his captor, for Green was the kind of…thing…that was really hard to miss. Currently though, his focus wasn't on Gumball, but on Rob, who he was continuously shocking with snaps of his claws, letting out ominous chuckles as Rob screamed in absolute agony.

Gumball had felt vindication when he last saw such a sight, for even now, his relationship with Penny was continually deteriorating because of Rob's scheme and he had wanted to see him suffer for it, but now, the sight was completely unnerving. Rob was undoubtedly suffering immensely every time he was zapped, and Green seemed to draw nothing but amusement from his pain. Gumball was no stranger to bullying, having been the target of ridicule many times over, but this wasn't the same. This wasn't just mean, it wasn't even malicious, it was borderline sociopathic.

Green, he was the type of character Gumball had only seen in movies before, and it was a whole nother experience to witness such brutality and cruelty in person. Green had been right, he was a true villain.

“Ah, I see you have awakened,” chuckled Green upon noticing Gumball bearing witness to his actions. He ceased snapping his fingers, nudged the bound Rob deeper into the swirling shadows with the three blades at the end of each of his tail tips and proceeded to hover around Gumball's prison, slithering through the air like an eel. “Good, that means we can finally begin. Would you like for me to reveal to you what my intentions are at last, Gumball?”

“Oh, the anticipation is killing me,” Gumball tried to sound sarcastic, but couldn't suppress a note of fear from entering his voice. After all, no matter what, Green's form was immensely intimidating. “So what's it gonna be? Torture, like with Rob? Or are you just going to eat me?”

“Oh, you'd like that, would you?” said Green with a sinister smirk. “You're of the mind that such things couldn't be worse than losing the love of your life, maybe even hoping it would put you out of your misery. It would even be somewhat expected, given my appearance. After all, don't antagonists of monster movies eat people? However, I hate to disappoint you, Gumball, but my appearance is misleading in regards to my goals. I do not intend to end you in any way, like a casual nemesis, quite the opposite, in fact.”