TAWOG: Instinct

The Beginning

The Beginning 

Maybe it was because he had so much more girth as the abyssalis cat, but whatever the reason, it took the Wattersons and the Fitzgeralds quite a bit longer to recover from the tranquilizer than it usually did Gumball. It was already the evening of the next day by the time they began to stir, and coincidentally, they all began to stir at once. They were still lying in the Fitzgerald’s backyard, unmoved since Green turned the tranquilizer darts on them. Why no one had noticed them in a whole night and day was anyone's guess. Maybe the Watterson's weren't the only bad neighbors in Elmore? Everyone's thoughts were extremely groggy as they all rose to sitting positions, rubbing their weary heads and pulling the darts from their body's.

“Gumball…?” mumbled Penny, rubbing her head. “Where's Gumball?”

None of them knew. They all looked to the spot where they'd seen Gumball sink into the shadows, their expressions full of regret and concern.

“Green took him,” mumbled Nicole.

“And he'll most likely unleash him where he will do the most damage and cause the most fear,” Darwin said, each word having to be practically dragged out of his mouth, he was so delirious.

And there was nothing they could do about it . Without the tranquilizer equipment there was no way for them to stop the abyssalis cat the next time Gumball reverts. 

“W…what do we do?” asked Penny hopelessly.

None of them had an immediate answer. There was no way to tell where Green was going to unleash the abyssalis cat and they had no way to get Gumball away from him either. Patrick and Judith were briefly tempted to pull themselves out of this situation, for they weren't as involved as the Watterson's, but one look at Penny, and her distressed expression, made it clear to them that wasn't an option, not if they wanted to remain by their daughter's side. She had made it quite clear that she wasn't going to just leave this situation and refuse to get any further involved, like they wanted to, not with her boyfriend in the complete thick of it. And they had to accept the fact that they couldn't stop her, not even as her parents.

It went without saying that the situation had grown so dire that their parental authority meant nothing to Penny at the moment, her even going so far as to destroy her own cell phone so Patrick couldn't use it to cause Gumball harm. And they couldn't exactly ground her either. She'd come out of her shell and had the use of her shape shifting capabilities, which wasn't the case for Patrick or Judith. Even if they tried to assert their authority as her parents she could just change shape and go to Gumball's aid, regardless of how they felt about it. Their only choice was to go along with her to try and save Gumball.

But what do they do? What could any of them do? They didn't even have a lead on where he might be.

“Hey, dad!”

They all looked up at the source of the sudden voice. It was Polly, and whilst they were still trying to fully awaken, she was already up and about. The little nut had scampered out of the house, holding her father's newly charged phone in her hands.

“Polly?” Patrick inquired, finally managing to stand up to his full height, looking at his youngest daughter with concern and intrigue. “How…how are you up and around already?”

“Don't know. I just woke up before you all did,” she declared innocently, holding up her father's phone to him. “Someone has been calling you dad.”

For a moment Patrick just stared at her. She must have somehow recovered from the tranquilizer before they did. A bizarre concept, considering her status as the smallest of all of them, however, Patrick wasn't actually surprised. He should be, but he wasn't. Polly, apart from being wise well beyond her years, could arguably be described as the quirky one in their family.