TAWOG: Instinct

The Diversion

The Diversion 

Patrick could do nothing but scream and flail around helplessly as he rapidly plummeted towards the ground, tumbling in the air like he was a single sock caught in the spin cycle of a washing machine. The ground and sky alternated positions constantly, so much so Patrick quickly lost the ability to tell which direction was up or down. Elmore was beginning to gain more discernible features as the seconds ticked by, shapeless blurs of light giving way to buildings with lights on in the windows below. Eventually, Patrick was able to perceive the ground rushing up to meet him, the backyard of his house, in fact. He clenched his eyes shut, waiting for impact…

…then suddenly something seized him around the middle, halting his descension with a violent jerk.

Opening his eyes, Patrick looked down to see that, while he was still descending towards the ground; which appeared to be not more than thirty feet away, the pace of his descent had substantially lessened. Whereas before he was plummeting like a stone, now he drifted towards the ground like a feather. Looking over his shoulder, he discovered that Penny had managed to catch up to him, grabbing him around the waist and vigorously flapping her wings in order to slow his descent. She couldn't outright carry him to safety, Patrick weighed too much for that, but she had managed to slow his velocity to at least none lethal levels.

“Penny…” he said in a dumbstruck tone, the ground below coming closer and closer.

“Don't worry, dad, I got you,” said Penny reassuringly in a strained voice as she struggled to keep flapping her wings.

Eventually, Patrick felt his feet hit solid earth, Penny landing beside him, appearing haggard and exhausted from the ordeal.

“PATRICK!” Patrick looked up to see his wife sprinting towards him and rigorously throwing her arms around him. “Are you alright?!”

“I'm fine Judith,” he said reassuringly as he gently pushed his wife off, though internally he was still reeling from the ordeal. But he managed to push past it as he looked at his daughter gratefully. “Thanks to our daughter.”

Penny was still struggling to catch her breath, but responded to her father's gratitude with an appreciative smile.

“Hahahaha!”

At the sound of the shrill laughter they all turned to see the tendril of Green casually receding towards them from above, looking at them with a sinister sneer.

“GREEN!” growled Penny, entering a defensive stance and spreading her wings intimidatingly. “Stay away from my dad!”

“YEAH!” screamed Polly, rushing up beside her sister and standing alongside her between Green and Patrick. She was still holding Mr. Cuddles. “Leave daddy alone!”

“Stay away from my husband!” said Judith, standing next to her daughter's, her expression protective.

Patrick watched as his family came to his defense. He didn't know how to feel about it. He was the man of the house and should be protecting them, but at the same time it was obvious this…Green was after him. He was about to suggest they run, but before he could he caught a brief sideways glance from Penny. In that brief moment an understanding passed between them. He was her father and she would defend him, but she hadn't forgotten what had happened earlier, how he was willing to harm Gumball, and if he tried to convince any of them to flee and leave the Wattersons with this demon she would not partake. Even if they could get away, she wasn't going to leave Gumball and his family to the mercy of this evil entity.

“Why don't you leave all of us alone?!” said Darwin, him and the other Wattersons walking up beside the Fitzgeralds, though they were standing between Green and Gumball.