Teri x Gumball: In between worlds

Chapter 1: Nighttime attack

Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading my fanfiction about this unusual couple from an awesome cartoon series, The Amazing World of Gumball! I am a huge fan of this show and it's colorful cast of characters and like most fans I do enjoy the occasional shipping of two or more characters. Honestly, I enjoy unusual pairings mostly involving the main character and the one that draws my attention (little pun there 'cause I'm lame) the most, which in this case is Teri. Don't get me wrong! I do love Penny x Gumball, I think those two are just so freakin' adorable together, but like I mentioned earlier I love odd pairings and I want to write a fantasy story involving our favorite anthropomorphic, blue cat and the over-the-top germaphobic paper girl. If you guys don't like this pairing, not to worry, I respect your opinions 100 percent. Feel free to leave any of your thoughts or any constructive criticism down below. Luckily there's an entire fanbase dedicated to alternate opinions. For those who are curious about this story or are a fan of this ship, please read, enjoy, and leave a review.

Also, this is the first chapter of the first arc called, "the defenders of Elmore".

Enjoy the wonderful fantasy of magic, evil spirits, an unlikely team, and a mystery regarding the world of Gumball.

(I do not own The Amazing World of Gumball. All rights belong to Ben Bocquelet, the staff, Cartoon Network, and other respective owners.)

-September 8th, 2013, Watterson household, 11:50 PM-

Normally a great story would start on a bright and cheery day with the main character living life on a high note. However, despite being a main character in a great story, Gumball, a humanoid, blue cat, was currently lying in bed, clad in his pajama shirt and shorts, staring at his clock in an empty bedroom while lamenting his existence. The room was pitch black, with the exception being the dim, scarlet glow of his alarm clock and the streetlamps pale, yellow light seeping through the curtains that were drawn shut over the bedroom's single window. The entire day had been gloomy with an overcast of rain clouds that seemed to well represent the mood of the room's sole resident for an event that was brought onto him a few months ago.

Before school had ended, Penny Fitzgerald, the shapeshifting fairy creature that was his classmate and girlfriend, had announced that she was moving away by the end of the first week of Summer. The heartbroken cat was told that her father, Patrick Fitzgerald, had lost his job in Elmore and had to find work overseas. He eventually found himself a position as a construction worker for the Hitsubishi corporation in Japan and the Fitzgerald's family began packing their bags to move East. Regardless, the two broke up on mutual terms and promised to keep in touch. Unfortunately, that never happened and the two drifted apart over the course of the Summer.

With the love of his life gone, Gumball spent the entirety of the Summer depressed and secluded in his room, playing songs on his phone that reminded him of Penny, crying, and/or just staring off into space. His family and friends tried to be supportive, but their attempts to lift his spirits had little to no effect on his dreary mood. His adopted brother goldfish, Darwin, tried being sensitive around him while inviting him in on multiple fun activities, his sister, a five year old (her birthday was celebrated in August.) pink bunny known as Anais, tried to use logic to console him, and his parents just said encouraging words to him.

At school his friends, Tobias and Leslie, comforted him by stating that there were plenty of fish in the sea (minus Darwin), and Carrie, Darwin's emo ghost girlfriend, gave him a sinister-looking scythe (along with a big bucket of foreshadowing) that she found in her basement as a gift. Many others had approached him with words and gifts of comfort and while Gumball seriously appreciated the care and attention he was receiving, he was just down for the count. It was going to be a while until he actually felt good again, as for now, he really didn't know what he was going to do.

Which brings us to today. It had been a week since school had started, Gumball had miraculously managed to get into seventh grade (this was largely due to him winning another bet with Bobert last year and making him do his school work for the rest of the school year), and was now stuck in a class with Miss. Simian, who had been repositioned as a seventh grade teacher with the advent of a new teacher filling in for the sixth grade class, and his original classmates from last year. Still depressed, he slogged through the week and the weekend, not really focusing on the world around him.

While Gumball's thoughts focused less on Penny, the pain was still there from her absence and the things he missed about their relationship. It really sucked everything out of him and he often kept his distance from everyone around so he could handle these cloudy emotions on his own. He had plenty of alone time this weekend, Darwin decided to spend the weekend at Carrie's house and help his girlfriend catch up on some homework while Anais, who was now a freshman in Elmore high, had finally made friends with a goat headed girl named Macey Barnes and was throwing a weekend-long slumber party at her place. With his mom, Nicole, mostly gone at work during the daytime, this only left Gumball with his father, Richard, in a quiet house on a gloomy day that had seen some rain as of recently.

With no enthusiasm or any plans for the evening, the big-headed cat person spent most of his time in his room before eventually coming downstairs to watch some T.V. with his father. He eventually lost interest in that as well and shuffled off to his room to hide again. His mom, Nicole, arrived home from work at around 8:30, made a simple dinner for the three occupants of the house, and called her moody twelve year old son down to dinner. The three family members sat and ate in relative silence with Nicole asking how everyone's day was and Richard cracking a few jokes while stealing a few pieces of Ravioli from his son's plate. Needless to say, Gumball barely spoke or interacted with his parents and left to go to bed after he had finished his meal.

Despite his dismissive attitude towards those around him, Gumball was, in fact, well aware of the impact his mood was having on his friends and family and it upset him greatly that everyone was doing everything in their power to bring him out of his personal storm (except for Miss. Simian, who relished the sight of him in a depressed manner.) while he receded from any form of affection.

But he just couldn't get over Penny.

"It's been about three months, but I still can't believe that she's gone," he thought solemnly to himself, shedding a tear,

"Everyone acts so casually about her absence while I'm still recoiling from the fact that she's no longer going to be by my side. How am I going to move on? Is there any chance we might get back together? Should I try contacting her over the web? I don't know. I can't keep doing this to myself, maybe I should try to move on." he thought hopefully, only to feel that hope get crushed by utter despair. Everyone at school didn't really like him and none of the girl's really caught his attention either. It wasn't that he was picky or so hung up on Penny (okay, maybe that was part of it.) he just wasn't sure about any of the girls in his class and was worried that they didn't really like him. He felt like during sixth grade his constant misdeeds regarding his classmates earned him a terrible reputation and that no one would give him a chance because he had already proven to them that he wasn't exactly "boyfriend material". It all seemed hopeless to him and he wondered if it was even possible to move on, maybe he could meet someone online or perhaps a chance of fate will introduce him to someone?

He hardly believed that will be the case, but wishful thinking definitely helped a little.

The clock on his dresser now read 12:02 AM. He had spent the whole night reminiscing about happier times and loathing his current situation. Rubbing his puffy, red eyes and rolling on his side until he was facing the wall, the blue cat focused on trying to go to sleep. His alarm was going to be going off in seven hours and he wanted to be well rested for tomorrow, despite not looking forward to another day of grinding through school and facing people who were much happier than he was. The tired pre-teen snuggled into his blanket and pillow, shutting his eyes tightly,

"I'll try to act friendlier tomorrow. Maybe it'll get my mind off of… certain things." he muttered to himself, not wanting to mention Penny or the break-up outloud in fear of triggering another wave of sadness.

It took a few moments for him to feel warm and comfortable underneath the sheets. His room was warm and quiet. Nothing stirred or made a sound and his parents had long since gone to bed, allowing him to relax easily. Once he felt cozy, he allowed sleep to overcome him and his eyelids became heavier. Soon darkness obscured his consciousness along with his vision and he felt himself disappear into the void of slumber.

After an unspecified amount of time had passed, his subconscious exploded with really crazy and frightening images. It was like being in a really bizarre picture show, with each scene flashing by every few seconds. First he saw what appeared to be a black crack forming in the night sky, then his vision was obscured by dozens of wings covered in glowing feathers that simultaneously changed color. Afterwards, he was thrust to the ground where the only thing he could see was a pair of silver feet clad in leather sandals, a loud hum filled the air, drowning out all other noises, and he was forced onto his stomach by a force that felt like an ocean. Next came a blinding, blue light that filled his consciousness and burned his eyes. He screamed in agony, but his voice was drowned out by a booming voice calling out to him,

"Gumball, Gumball, WAKE UP!"

The world returned to Gumball's vision as he shot out of his slumber. The first thing he noticed was that he was in his room again and the light was on. The next thing he noticed was that his blanket was tossed aside, leaving him exposed and very cold, and someone was shaking him with very light hands. The last thing that occurred to him was that the booming voice he heard in his dream was instead very feminine and very familiar.

Very confused, the little feline turned his large noggin until he was facing the person who had intruded in on his dreams. At first, it was hard to notice them in the glare of the blinding light that assaulted his sensitive eyes, but after blinking a few times, his vision adjusted and he saw the stranger clearly. At first, he thought he was experiencing a waking dream because of who was standing at his bedside, but after a few moments of staring, he saw that it was Teri!

Now he was fully awake. Eyes widening at the sight of his paper classmate in his bedroom, he shot upwards in a sitting position with a million questions spinning through his head,

"Teri! What the-?! What are you doing in my room at (he glances at his clock) 12:27 in the morning!" he exclaimed in surprise and anger. He kept his voice low because he feared waking his parents and having to explain an embarrassing situation to them.

Teri looked exceedingly nervous, which honestly wasn't unusual because she was a hypochondriac and was always rushing off to the nurse's office any time she felt like she was suffering from a "surprise sickness" during school hours. Right now though, Gumball had no idea what would drive the class germaphobe to break into his house at 12 in the morning. However after taking a good look at her, he noticed that something was definitely wrong. She looked absolutely terrified! Not with her typical someone-sneezed-in-my-general-vicinity-and-now-I'm-going-to-get-the-Measles terror, but rather genuine fright someone felt when they were actually in danger.

Her eyes wide with terror, she grabbed Gumball's shoulder and pointed towards the door,

"Gumball! You've got to help me!" she gasped in her airy voice, turning her gaze towards the door,

"I was walking home from the hospital and then this giant "thing" came out of a crack in the sky and started chasing me down the street! What's worse was that anyone who was nearby didn't seem to notice the monster and anyone who came in contact with it collapsed! You've got to help me!" she was frantically waving her arms about as she explained herself. Gumball noticed that her voice was hoarse and her eyes were wide with terror. Despite her story sounding completely insane, she did seem downright terrified and convinced of some kind of danger.

Something still seemed off to the young feline and he needed answers,

"Okay, okay, Teri! I need you to slow down and explain a few things to me!" he stated simply while holding his hands up. This effect caused the paper, anthropomorphic bear girl to calm down although she would occasionally glance at the window behind her as if she was expecting something,

"Number one, how did you get into my house and my room? Two, why come to me for help? And three, are you sure you weren't hallucinating?" he listed all the questions he believed were important to the current situation.

Upon hearing his questions, Teri just stood still with a baffled expression on her drawn facial features. Then with an exasperated sigh, she spat out all the answers in a clear, yet rapid stream,

"I got in here by slipping under your door, I chose your place because I panicked, and finally, how can this possibly be a hallucination when that thing caused three people on the street to pass out and the surrounding electronics to short circuit!" she was on the verge of having a complete breakdown, given her raised voice and over exaggerated hand gestures.

Once again, her words and actions seemed to support her story, but it still seemed too unreal to hold any substance. He was about to just shrug it off as her just trying to pull something and was about to force her out by threatening to call the police, but froze when he realized something. He heard her mention that the creature came out of a crack in the sky. It seemed like a trivial detail at the start, but then he remembered his bizarre dream about the crack in the sky and the mysterious winged creature. Was it possible that what Teri had encountered was related to that dream.

Breaching from his inner mind, Gumball raised his eyes to Teri again and stood up, surprising the girl of the same age. Finding his words, he spoke to her,

"Teri, what did this thing look like?" he asked in a serious tone.

The paper girl's frightened face was replaced with a mixture of surprise and relief. He wasn't ignoring her like she feared and was now seemingly on the same page as she was,

"Well for starters, it wasn't really ugly, just terrifying. It must have been at least eighteen feet tall, humanoid, with many wings on it's back that glowed different-!" she was cut off when the light in Gumball's room went out.

That wasn't all that went out too.

All the electronics in the surrounding area had lost power at the same time: Gumball's clock, computer, the lampost outside, and the light that was on in the hallway had also gone dark. It occurred so suddenly, that it was like they were experiencing a blackout after a storm. An unnatural darkness had engulfed the room, leaving no visible light. The air was completely silent as well, the only things to be heard was Gumball's rapidly beating heart and quick, shallow breaths along with Teri's paper body crinkling as she began to shake nervously. In the dark he could hear the paper bear start to whimper,

"It's here…" she squeaked, she began shivering even more.

Gumball was now on edge. With the bizarre dream and Teri's story, he was starting to wonder if this was some sort of divine punishment for his misdeeds or some sort of nightmare coming to life. Actually, he kind of wished it was the latter because now was usually the time he would wake up to the alarm clock, encased in sweat, and breathing rapidly before finally collapsing back down with a nervous chuckle. He would then just get ready for school and head out to live another day of his depressing life.

Of course, this wasn't the case at all. No matter how many times Gumball prayed it was just a dream and that he'll be waking up, he was still standing in his dark room and looking towards a darkened window, waiting for the horrifying thing that lurked on the other side. The seconds that ticked by felt like hours, the inky blackness that was the night felt thick and suffocating as time drew on, and Gumball could feel the air getting colder. It was like they had both been sucked into a void: a world of death.

Then that's when he saw it. After what was really thirty seconds since the lights went out, a faint glow could be seen through the window. At first it was pink in color, then it switched to a dark violet, then a bright yellow, like as if some crazy parade was marching through the streets with an array of flashing party lights. The changes were very rapid and the lights grew brighter, soon the whole room was lit up in a dazzling display of lights. Another thing the trembling pair had noticed was that as the thing drew closer, a low hum could be heard that caused the room to vibrate a little.

If Gumball hadn't been so terrified at the moment, he would have thought that the display was beautiful and extraordinary. Instead, the bizarre phenomenon seemed so alien and terrifying, like as if an unseen omen was looming over his head, ready to crush him. If he could sum up the strange sight and feeling in two words it would be divine death.

However, despite his senses telling him not to, he crept forward, towards the window that was illuminated with magnificent colors. He wasn't doing this because he was fearless, as a matter of fact, his fight or flight instincts were screaming at him to jump back into bed, pull over the covers, curl up into a tight ball, and wait for the night to pass. Instead, he just wanted to see what the beautiful, yet horrific creature looked like and what it was doing, as a way to confirm his own fears and decide what to do afterwards. As lightly as he could, he placed one foot ahead of the other and inched closer to the portal that remained covered by the curtain.

He didn't get very far from his bed when he felt something grab his shoulder.

At the sudden touch, his body went straight into overdrive and reacted before his mind did. He jumped upon contact and whirled around, heart racing, eyes widened in terror and his fur raising on end. With all the adrenaline that was pumping through his system, he felt that he could either tear something to shreds or run as fast as a cheetah if the situation called for it.

To his relief it was only Teri. He had completely forgotten that she was standing beside him while this was going on and only noticed her after she had grabbed his shoulder. Nonetheless, she nearly scared the daylights out of him and he had to bite his tongue to keep himself from yowling out in surprise. She no longer wore a terrified expression, instead her drawn face was perplex and slightly concerned for her feline friend's current course of actions,

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

Gumball stared at her, then at the window, then back her only now he had hiked a thumb towards said object,

"I'm going to peek out and see what it's doing!" he whispered back.

This caused quite a reaction from the paper girl. First, she looked at him like he was absolutely insane and then, with her free hand, she began clawing at her forehead in a fashion that resembled someone tugging at their own hair. That's what Gumball believed at least since the paper being didn't have hair. After having what looked a mini episode, she began voicing her opinion at him,

"Are you completely stupid! What if it sees you? We'll have nowhere to run or any way to defend ourselves if that thing catches us in here." she snarled, she wasn't angry at him, rather just scared out of her mind and listening to the self preservation instincts that kept her from doing reckless things, like getting sick.

Gumball understood and acknowledged her concerns, but still felt the need to scout out the threat at hand,

"I understand that it's dangerous and trust me, I'm just as scared of that thing as you are, but I need to see what it looks like, what it's doing and see if there's anyway of escaping it." he answered silently. He brushed her hand off of his shoulder and continued to make his way to the transparent opening.

Sighing in defeat, Teri had no choice but to follow him. She had already seen the monster and witnessed it's terrifying power, but was also curious to see what it was doing. She was also comforted in the fact that she wasn't alone in this and that someone else could see the creature like she could.

Within a few moments and several paces, the two students of Elmore Junior High had reached the window, which was now shining as bright as a searchlight with vibrant flashes of color. Carefully reaching out with his right hand, Gumball grasped the coarse fabric of the curtain, and with a silent signal given to the paper bear behind him, he pulled the curtain away from the window until there was enough space for both him and Teri to see out of. The room was flooded with more light the moment he pulled back the windows covering.

What he saw was breathtaking. Standing partially on his houses front lawn and the street in front, was a large humanoid figure with twelve wings sprouting from it's back. Standing at a height of eighteen feet, it's head was almost level with Gumball's bedroom window and it's wingspan was far longer than its height, probably around 60 feet in length, enough to close the gap between his house and the neighboring house across the street and would definitely stretch over the rooftops. It was garbed in a glowing, silver tunic, three necklaces covered in jade stones hung arounds it's slender neck, and on its feet were sandals made of woven leather.

The twelve wings on its back were all equal in size in size and length and resembled eagle wings only with each feather flashing different colors. It's skin matched it's tunic, with the exception that it was reflective like a mirror and had a texture like molten silver. Lastly, it's head was really strange. It bore some semblance to a knights helmet, with a T-shaped slit on the face, a crest that ran from the brow to the neck and a few glowing marks that ran along the visor. Gumball and Teri had both seen pictures in various history books and religious texts that depicted angelic beings that sort of resembled the one standing out in the open.

The only difference was that usually angels were depicted as peaceful messengers of god: this one looked like a celestial soldier carrying out the orders of a wrathful deity.

The angelic being wasn't doing anything in particular. For a few moments, it just stood still before turning it's head, as if it were keeping an eye out for something. Its wings were propped upright, like twelve serrated blades pointed towards the heavens, making it appear taller. Tearing his gaze away from the winged creature, Gumball closed the curtain before it could look in their general direction. Turning back to Teri, he quietly lead her back to his bed and they both took a seat on the mattress.

He had many questions on his mind at the moment, but most of them wouldn't be helpful in this current scenario. Right now, as much as it frightened him, they had to figure out how to deal with the entity that was hovering outside his house because if Teri's story was anything to go off of, no one else can see the monster and so calling the police may not be an option, plus what exactly would he tell them? There's an invisible, house-sized angel outside our house that chased my friend and looks really menacing! Could you please send an officer to deal with it? Yeah, like that would go down well with the guys at the station. He glanced at Teri, who still looked frightened, but was more calm than she was earlier. She shook her head and let out a groan,

"Why isn't it doing anything? Why is it just standing out there? Does it know where we are? Is it just toying with us? Why is it after me? Why is it here? What are we going to do?" she was becoming slightly hysterical now. This was definitely quite a horrible night for her. She pulled her knees closer to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and silently sobbed. Honestly, Gumball felt like doing the same at the moment.

But he knew that wouldn't help.

Taking a deep breath, the blue cat decided his best course of action would be to calm down the paper girl,

"Yeah, calm her down. How can I calm her down when I'M the one that's shaking!" he mused sarcastically. Looking down at his paws, he saw that they were indeed trembling. He was beyond scared at this point.

The entity's radiant wings snapped Gumball out of his self doubt and he continued forward with his plan,

"Okay! Baby steps. I gotta calm her down and then we have to find some way to deal with that beautiful monstrosity that's standing on my lawn." he chuckled internally at his use of adjectives and switched his attention to the slumping figure in front of him,

"Teri?" he whispered.

The anthropomorphic paper bear girl lifted her head until she could see him clearly, she didn't have a pencil on her to draw her tears, but anyone could tell that she was crying.

Seeing that she had her attention on him, Gumball quietly spoke,

"I know you're scared right now and so am I." he stated sympathetically,

"But, right now we need to deal with that angelic creature outside." he explained.

Teri was silent for a moment. Then she let out another sigh and uncurled herself from a fetal position. If she wasn't hearing things, she could've sworn that Gumball just said that they had to deal with the monster that could knock people out just by touching them.

"Really!" she hissed, sounding very sarcastic,

"Why should we do it and, more importantly, how do you think we're going to take on a being that we can't possibly understand." her skepticism couldn't have been any more clear.

Noting what she had just said, Gumball returned with some very good reasons,

"Because, as far as we know, we're the only ones that can see it, let alone fight it." he answered, gesturing to the window to prove his point,

"And as for the second one, I don't have an exact plan, but I'm pretty sure we can outsmart...it…" he trailed off at the end of his explanation.

He just remembered something.

The Scythe! Carrie gave him a mystical scythe as a gift in an attempt to cure him of his depression. When she gave it to him, she said that it had some magical properties and something (he couldn't remember exactly what she had said, since he wasn't paying attention when she gave it to him.) else about a dark power. Carrie, being a ghost and all, was an expert on the supernatural and since they were dealing with a supernatural entity, maybe the scythe could help them defeat it.

Without saying anything, he leapt off the bed (an action that startled the girl sitting on said bed.) and approached the cupboard on which Darwin's empty fishbowl sat. Reaching behind it, he fumbled around until he felt the scythe's smooth, metallic handle and pulled the sinister weapon out of its storage space. Holding it front of him, he clicked a button on the side and a two foot, crescent shaped, steel blade sprang out from the handle and swung until it was perpendicular to the four foot long handle of the same material.

It didn't look spectacular, the handle was slightly curved and was a dull grey, although the butt end of the weapon could collapse in for easier storage. The blade itself was rather plain looking, though at the base, where the blade met the shaft, the blade had several serrated teeth that were perfect for tearing and along the flat side of the deadly edge were three runes etched into it. Gumball had no idea what they meant, but it did admittingly make the weapon look cool.

Upon seeing Gumball draw out the menacing device, Teri flinched and backed up until her back was pressed against the wall opposite of the window. With one arm raised to protect her face and another pointing at the cursed object that sat in the feline's hands, she began frantically sputtering out questions,

"What is that? Where'd you get it? Why were you hiding that in your room? Why is your room filled with so much dangerous and disgusting stuff? Is that thing cursed?" she babbled uncontrollably.

Taking slight offense to the paper hypochondriac calling his room disgusting, the mischievous cat just sighed and decided to ignore most of her questions,

"This is a magical scythe given to me by Carrie. It might help us defeat that thing out there, which by the way, is our biggest problem at the moment." his explanation did help calm her down a bit. Although she was questioning why Carrie, the creepy spirit, would give a dangerous weapon to a boy who is known for causing mischief.

Getting over her fear of the weapon and deciding to take it as a blessing, she decided to help formulate a plan. Scooting forward until she at the edge of his bed, she stood on her flimsy paper legs and proceeded towards the window,

"Okay, so you have a magical weapon that may work against the angel thing, how are going to take on something that is several times your size? We don't even know where it's weak spot is!" she exclaimed. She peaked out the window to see what it was doing and to her horror, she saw that it had gone to the house on their left and was peeking into the windows. Seriously, what a creep!

Gumball wracked his brain, coming up with multiple schemes that would give him some equal footing with the colossal creature outside. Even though the scythe gave him a longer reach, the creature's arm length was longer and his wings were nothing to scoff at either. He then realized how little he knew of the monster, he knew nothing of it's attacks aside from it causes people to collapse upon contact and he wasn't even sure if thing had a weak spot. This was very different from all the other monsters he had seen toppled in the past.

That's when it struck him!

Reaching forward, he grabbed Teri by the shoulder and pulled her closer to him. With her face a few inches from his, he could make out all her features clearly and could see that she was also in the middle of thinking,

"Teri, I have an idea!" he exclaimed excitedly.

The paper girl was visibly enthralled, a small smile formed on her lips and her eyes widened in surprise. She raised an eyebrow, a gesture that allowed Gumball to continue,

"It's a longshot, but I believe we can pull it off. We're going to topple the angel and cut off it's head." he stated simply.

Teri had to fight off the urge to laugh hysterically. That was his first plan? Try to attack the creature with a trick that bullies used to pick on smaller kids! It all seemed so laughable and ridiculous that that was his first plan. Then she thought about how this whole situation was already messed up and ridiculous, so she decided to hear him out on his scheme.

"Okay, so here's what I have in mind…" Gumball started.

He relayed a cobbled together plan to his colleague for the next minute and a half.

-Two minutes later-

The winged entity was still searching the house next to Gumball's when Gumball climbed out of his window and out onto the rooftop. The glowing giant had opened a window in the Robinson's upper floor, stuck it's arm in, and was currently rummaging through the house with it's slender hand. It was no doubt looking for Teri and probably figured that she had sought shelter in one of these houses.

This act of breaking and entering disgusted Gumball to the highest degree. The Robinson's were his greatest and most respected neighbors, and to have someone violate their privacy like that was a complete outrage. The mischievous child had an odd feeling that he was being a hypocrite, but he quickly justified his actions as being of benefit to his grumpy neighbors.

He stood alone on his roof for a moment or two in order to scope out the scene a little. Even though he was standing out in the open for the monster to see, it hadn't really noticed him yet. Maybe once it was focused on something, it didn't really pay attention to its surroundings. Then again, it did have a helmet for a head, so who knows to what extent it's senses could go.

Once he felt comfortable with what he had gathered so far, he placed the scythe into both of his hands and proceeded to walk towards the edge of the ledge he stood. He speculated that at this point Teri had reached the shed in the Watterson's backyard and was gathering the supplies they needed. Now all he needed to do was buy her a little time. He reached the edge of the roof that separated the house's second floor from the first and squared his shoulders. Facing the angelic creature, he could see that it's entire arm was now in the Robinson's house and appeared to be struggling to find something. Despite it's terrifying appearance and size, the scene was actually quite funny. It kind of reminded Gumball of the time he got his arm stuck in the vending machine and had it freed after the fire department tore the snack depositor apart.

Pushing aside the hilarious memory Gumball refocused his efforts into saving the Robinsons, for he didn't want the thing touching them when it decided to search their bedroom.

He raised his scythe above his head and began shouting,

"HEY YOU BEAUTIFUL MONSTER!"

The moment the big headed kitten started shouting, the monster reacted with lightning speed. In a single, swift move, one of its wings whipped about and struck Gumball in the chest, sending him careening into the street below. The cat boy smacked into the pavement, bounced once or twice, before rolling to a stop. He laid on the road, arms and legs sprawled over the ground with quite a few scratches covering his body. Surprisingly, he was still conscious after that powerful strike dealt by the beast.

There were quite a few things that surprised Gumball in that one moment: the entity's speed, the fact that he wasn't knocked out by its contact or from the impact on the ground, and the fact that he hadn't dropped his scythe. However, he was now several feet from his house in the middle of the road, the wind was knocked out of him, his head swimming, and he was on his back like a helpless turtle at the moment.

Through the fogginess that was his mind, he somehow heard the sound of plywood and plaster being torn apart. With some effort he lifted his head and saw that the angelic being was tearing itself from the house it was searching previously. The creature had also undergone a slight change: its wings were now a dark crimson, two eyes that matched the wings in color could be seen through the helmet's slits, and its slim frame had become muscular, which was part of the reason of how it got its arm stuck in the first place. The colossus was frantically struggling to wrench the secured arm out of the tiny window, which gave Gumball an opportunity to get back up.

Regaining his breath, he allowed his head to fall back on the pavement for a moment before he checked to see if anything was broken. Surprisingly, his body was feeling peachy, aside from a few scrapes and bruises, plus the sore spot on his chest where the thing's wing had struck him. Using his scythe as a support, Gumball pulled himself up until he was standing on his own two feet again. The moment he was up, the angelic knight of terror had manage to tear its arm out of the house while managing to rip out a section of the building. Pieces of wood and debris were flung to and fro from the awesome force that the winged titan had created.

If there was a word Gumball could use to describe how he was feeling at the precise moment, it would be total dread. His main vantage point to attack the creature from was the roof, where he was level with it. Now he was on the ground, in his pajamas, with a small bladed weapon, facing a giant with strength and power that was leagues ahead of anything in Elmore. Dread and despair were more than enough to describe his inner thoughts at the moment.

Being free, the giant winged knight glared at the trembling cat boy and began pacing towards him, his menacing figure towering over the poor little thing. Without him remembering telling his body to do so, Gumball began backing up while raising his only weapon to the side as if he were about to swing it,

"W-what do want f-from us?..." he stuttered, his voice barely a squeek.

Surprisingly, the creature stopped its advance and after a few tense moments of silence, it spoke in a grating, masculine voice,

"To finish where we left off, 6,000 years ago!" it snarled, chuckling a little.

It raised its fist, like a divine god preparing to smite a mere mortal.

"DIE INSECT!" it bellowed.

It swung it's fist down at alarming speed, straight towards Gumball. The blue cat's body was so confused as to what it should do that it did two things at the same time. Right when the massive fist was a meter away from smashing his tiny body into a red pulp, he crouched and leapt with all his strength away from the impact site. At the same time, he swung his upper torso and the scythe followed in a wide arc: towards the behemoth's muscular arm. The curved blade cut through the silver skin and into it's forearm, leaving a large gash from where it sliced.

That all happened before the entity's strike reached the ground. Upon impact, the pavement cracked and formed a crater, but his forearm and hand were sent flying after striking with too much force. The dismembered limb flew off into the darkness and crashed into what was probably a car because Gumball heard the sound of glass breaking and metal being twisted.

Landing a few feet away, on the sidewalk across his house, the pre-teen cat gazed with frightened eyes towards the attacking monster he had just evaded. What he saw was simply shocking, the strike he dealt while evading the monster's attack had left said beast without a right hand! In the heat of the moment he had not only managed to dodge its attack, but also deal some damage to it as well. Peering at the stump where the giant angel's hand used to be, Gumball could see that there was nothing in it. No blood, bone, or any sort of living tissue: it was completely hollow!

Honestly, seeing a creature with a bizarre anatomy wasn't too foreign to Gumball. For starters, his classmate, Alan, was a balloon, yet he'd seen him consume food and also found out a while ago that he even had organs comprised of air. Then you had people like Leslie, who was an anthropomorphic flower, and Bobert, who was a robot. Even Teri was a complete mystery because she was a paper girl yet possessed organs, but no bones. However, what confused him about the creature that was attacking him at the moment was how was it so strong despite being completely hollow?

He had a feeling he wasn't going to gain the answer to that question anyhow, so he chose to stick with the plan at hand. The creature stood up straight once more, not even showing any sign of pain or discomfort. It's red eyes locked onto Gumball and then onto the weapon he held at the ready. He stared in silence for a solid ten seconds before shaking it's helmet head a few times, as if it just realized something,

"So you insects are still using ancient magic? Interesting." it muttered. It didn't appear to be talking to Gumball with the way it sounded.

"When I first arrived here, I was utterly disappointed in the Earth children. They still rely on their puny devices and most can't even see me. As a matter fact, most couldn't even survive being in close proximity with my being, even when I was at such a low power." he was being condescending, treating everyone he met like they mere obstacles that couldn't put up a descent struggle. Gumball could definitely deduce at this point that the stranger didn't come in peace.

After he had finished speaking something strange began happening. An unseen force began to press down on Gumball, forcing him on his knees. He hadn't a clue what was happening, but he could definitely tell the stranger was the one responsible for this. The crushing power increased in strength and intensity as time dragged on; soon it felt as if an entire ocean was pressing itself on the blue feline. "Holy crap! This is just like my dream! What's happening? I can't move my body." a multitude of questions and concerns flew through the young man's oversized noggin as he struggled to move. He couldn't see what the demonic creature was doing because the only thing he could see were it's sandaled feet.

A loud hum filled the air and the light emanating from the monster's wings shifted from red to teal, something real bad was happening,

"Lay there and die, mortal!" he exclaimed, like a deity sentencing death upon a sinful creature.

The hum got louder and the light glowed with great intensity, the air began to heat up. Gumball assumed this was the end.

Before anything had actually happened, Gumball felt himself being snatched away from the ground and was hoisted into the air. A moment later, he heard something that sounded like a deafening blast and an intense flash of light illuminated the entire neighborhood. Evidently, this was the creature's attack that was meant to end the life of the eldest Watterson child. He had been saved at the last moment before he was vaporized.

Now there was the matter of who or what saved him from an impending doom. Looking around, Gumball saw that he was now riding what appeared to be an origami Hawk! He was sure that he was seeing this correctly, it was a large bird made entirely of paper, with an angular, pointed head and wide trapezoid wings that flapped as the wind carried it over the neighborhood. Before he could lose his mind over the sheer absurdity of what he was looking at, he saw a familiar bear-like girl sitting in front of him with her head turned back towards him,

"Teri!" he shouted in both confusion and bless.

She waved a flimsy, four fingered hand at him as a response and turned her attention to the front of the bird,

"I saw you in a bit of a pinch and I knew I had to rescue you." she explained, although it was hard to hear her soft voice over the roaring air that shot by.

Gumball was very grateful for his classmate's help in a seemingly peril situation and voiced his gratitude towards her,

"Thanks Teri, I owe you one!" he shouted, although he was unsure whether or not she had heard him,

"Did you set the trap, like I asked?" he asked, needing to know whether she did so for the sake of the plan.

Teri heard him and responded accordingly,

"Yes! It was so easy that I had time to make this origami hawk in case you needed help luring it over. I finished it right as that thing pinned you to the ground, are you alright by the way?" she called down to him. She couldn't see him that well and was unsure if he had been seriously injured.

The blue pajama clad pre-teen didn't feel any different than he had thirty seconds ago. Actually, he even felt better since he he had been saved (he was also curious about Teri's unusual item, but now wasn't the time to ask questions.) and that he still had the ancient weapon Carrie had blessed (was it a blessing if the object was supposedly cursed?) with him, although his chest still hurt,

"Yep, just peachy." he responded, with a hint of sarcasm.

He heard her mutter something, but he didn't think much of it, he was just glad that he was safe along with her. He quickly glanced back and noticed that they were several blocks away from the monster. He could see a faint blue glow, which indicated that they were quite a ways away from the eighteen foot monster.

Turning back to his friend, he tapped her shoulder to get the paper bear girl's attention,

"Could you take us back? If the trap is in place, then we need to lure it back so we can finish the job. We also don't want it chasing us down here or else it will cause more destruction." he pointed out.

Getting the gist of what he was saying, Teri nodded in agreement and caused the bird to bank until they were heading back in the direction of Gumball's house.

Feeling uncomfortable taking the creature head-on, Teri faced Gumball with a question,

"You aren't going to do something reckless like taking it on again?" they were a few blocks away from the monster and they could already see its form in the darkness.

Shaking his head, Gumball kept his attention on the radiant giant that nearly ended his life twice,

"That's not happening. Whatever it is, it's too powerful for either of us to take on directly. We need to fly by it and allow it to chase us to the wire trap you set up. Once we topple it, I'll decapitate it and hopefully that will end this conflict." he explained, trying to reassure the hawk pilot that they won't be doing anything that would put them in an unnecessarily risky situation.

They continued to fly straight until they were right on the entity's position. The moment the enemy had spotted them, it turned and fanned out it's twelve massive wings in an attempt to block their path. It proved futile because with a simple tilt, the hawk and it's two passengers slipped between the space in its wings. Not being closed to done, the winged knight launched another attack directed at the two. At the tip of its wings, an orb of energy appeared and began unleashing deadly beams of light in their general direction,

"Teri, evasive maneuvers!" Gumball shouted as the lasers shot by them.

Seeing the danger they were in, Teri swiftly dodging the dozens of lances made of deadly energy that melted anything they struck. After seventeen seconds of narrowly dodging lasers, Teri spotted a long cable lying in the middle of the road that was tied tightly to a nearby tree. She dove downwards until she was a few feet away from her destination before pulling up and taking them down gently.

Once they had touched down on the pavement, Gumball hopped off and readied his weapon: his task was to lure the beast over to them. Casting a glance towards Teri, who was riding the bird towards the other end of the cable, the blue cat relayed the final part of the plan to her,

"Okay, for the final part of my brilliant plan, you are going to hide in that bush with that end of the cable. I will draw him over here and when Silver Twelve is close enough, pull the cable and let him trip. Once he's down, I'll cut off his head." he recited the plan once again to her. He gave the creature the name "Silver Twelve" because he was tired of referring to it as it.

The flat twelve year old girl had already disappeared behind the bush by the time he finished explaining his plan for the umpteenth time now. He could hear her voice whispering from being the lawn shrub,

"Are you sure this plan is going to work? Because it seems awfully simple to me, also in case if you've forgotten, I'm made of paper! I'm not exactly a heavy weight champion!" she exclaimed nervously.

Ignoring her snarky attitude, Gumball stayed where he was and gave her a quick answer,

"Simple plans are the most effective! Abraham Lincoln said so himself." he retorted. He heard her snort a little from behind the bush and he realized that he was being mocked. Something told him that she didn't think his quote was entirely accurate and to be honest, he wasn't one hundred percent sure either. Ignoring it, he finished his thoughts,

"Also, it's too late to worry about the details, here comes Silver Twelve." he gasped.

Sure enough, roughly sixty feet away, the giant was steadily approaching him. He was walking down the middle of the street, with a course that lined up straight with Gumball's position. He wasn't firing lasers or emitting some kind of deadly energy that would crush him where he stood, he just walked in a calm manner like someone who was strolling through a park on a lovely day. One thing Gumball was glad for was that silver twelve hadn't decided to take flight or else his plan would've been screwed right there. Then he pondered if the bizarre entity could fly. It had plenty of opportunities to do so, but the only thing it used its wings for was to attack or to fire off energy blasts.

With his height and pace, Silver twelve quickly closed the distance between him and his prey. The twelve year old cat person glanced his opponent up and down and saw that he was still missing his left arm and his twelve wings were back in an upright position while flashing a spectacular rainbow of lights. He also realized for the first time that he could barely hear his footsteps as he approached, this was probably due to him being really light. The angelic entity was now thirty feet or less from Gumball's position, the blue cat heard the giant chuckle,

"I figured the flat one was nearby and would show her cowardly hide sometime soon." he sneered, obviously furious at having his moment of triumph taken from him by a hawk riding, paper girl who fled from him the first time he met her,

"Now I see that she has abandoned you and is now hiding somewhere, I presume." his grating voice cut through the silent night, giving Gumball and Teri the shivers.

Gumball took a step back, then another, he kept doing this while keeping the bladed weapon leveled with his chest. In two steps he would be at the cable and Gumball wanted to put as much distance between him and the monster before he fell. However, he had to keep his composure or else he will see through his ruse.

The mischievous feline could feel his heartbeat rising as the giant's feet drew near his trap, he wondered if Teri would be able to go through with it. He seriously hoped that she wasn't going to chicken out at the last moment and leave him to fend for himself.

"No matter." the demonic creature was still monologuing as he set his sights on the frail boy that seemed no more to him than a cockroach ready to be trampled,

"Once I finish with you, I will seek her-UGH?!"

Surprisingly, the plan that Gumball had bet his and Teri's survival on actually worked! As soon as he standing at the cord lying in front of him, the line snapped upwards, catching his right foot as he began to take another step. With a surprised grunt and a flailing of his arms, the terrifying behemoth was sent downwards.

He didn't land flat on his face, like Gumball had hoped.

Instead, he dropped to one knee using his left leg to catch himself. Confused, Silver Twelve checked what had caused his ungraceful stumble and saw a limp cord slightly tangled around his right ankle. Angered at the realization that he had fallen (literally!) for such a simple trap, he reached down and tore the cord away from himself. The process also tore the tree it was attached to straight out of it's rooted spot and came tumbling down with a deafening crash.

"Clever." Silver Twelve muttered to himself,

"Hard to believe a mere mortal brought a Nephilim to one knee. You shall never live to see the morning-!" while he was talking he raised his head so that he could see his opponent clearly, but quickly discovered that the tiny mammal had disappeared.

Panicking, silver twelve whipped it's helmeted head around, trying to see where he had run off to. He had taken his eyes off of him for one moment and now the rascal had managed to scurry away somehow. The wicked creature wondered if he had somehow retreated or was planning a surprise attack. The last one didn't seem likely because he believed that he held the upper hand and that a sudden assault was futile.

In his arrogance, he should've been more prepared.

Circling around him at an altitude of 30 feet, dangling by one hand grasping the paper hawk's underside, the blue scythe wielder positioned himself until he was in the optimal striking position. As soon as he was above the nape of the neck, Teri, who had complete control of the inanimate avion, gave him the signal by lowering the bird closer to the giant and allowed him to let go and plummet towards the unaware giant below. It was do or die now, as this was their only chance to stop the Nephilim.

For a brief second, all Gumball felt was the rushing air and every doubtful thought that screamed in his mind, this was a mistake! Next, he felt his feet make contact with the entity's smooth, reflective, silvery skin and found himself standing on top of the giant, peering at the back of it's head. He could see his own reflection, albeit it was a little distorted by the monster's skin texture.

It was still hunched over, which offered some level ground for him to stand on and not tumble off like a discarded sock. He also noted that he felt no warmth through the giant's skin even though he was barefoot and there was no apparent odor that he could smell. All of this sensory information was processed in an instant, as Gumball prepared himself for the final step.

Rotating his arms back, he swung the scythe downwards at an angle with all his might. The crescent blade cut through the air like water as it made its way towards Silver Twelve's exposed neck, catching the blue light on it's reflective, scarred surface. The blade sank into his flesh and tore its way through to the other side in one clean motion. Once the weapon had exited the wound, Gumball could see a clean, two foot cut running horizontally across the Nephilim's lower neck. If this had been a human, the spinal cord would have been bisected.

And with that strike, everything seemed to stop as Gumball and Teri waited for what happened next.

"Did it work?" they thought in unison.

At first nothing happened. Silver twelve remained still, Gumball froze in place with the scythe blade pointing away from his target, and Teri just hovered in place above the two. Then the Nephilim's head began to move. At first Gumball feared the worst and wondered if his attack had failed and that they were doomed to die right then and there. But instead, the armored noggin of the demon tilted forward and the tear in its neck began increase in length. At the same time it's body slumped forward and began to let gravity pull it to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Finally, the head tore itself free from the body, revealing a hollow interior, and tumbled to the ground.

This all happened in slow motion for Gumball, as his senses were completely shot with adrenaline. All he could think of was, "I did it! It's over!" and watched as the once terrifying colossus fell helplessly to the ground. He didn't even notice Teri swooping in to carry him away from the corpse.

As soon as the body finished falling, the hollowed remains of the monster began to fade to black and the glow that was prominently displaying on its wings, faded as well. The life from the Nephilim had faded away and left a blackened husk behind. Next, the body spontaneously combusted into purple flames that eventually died out in less than a minute, leaving no trace of the demon giant.

The living nightmare was gone, simple as that.

-two minutes later, in Gumball's room-

After Silver Twelve had been defeated, the electricity had been restored and the two could clearly see that a lot of damage had been dealt out during the fight. The Robinson's house had a large, gaping hole in the side, the street was pocketed with craters from the punch and all the laser beams fired from the monster, and a nearby tree had been uprooted and was partially blocking the road. Other than that, there wasn't much else to report and the two had both agreed on not explaining what had happened tonight. Best to leave it up for the neighborhood to sort out.

The two students had managed to slip back into the Watterson household without waking anyone (actually they were both surprised that no one had woken up during the commotion that was happening outside.) and had both snuck into Gumball's bedroom. They decided that they needed to discuss a few important matters and also needed to remain out of sight, before someone happened to show up.

They both sat on the blue cat's bed, staring at the window in the darkened room. They hadn't spoken to each other, not out of disgust or anger, but more out of the fact that they had to process what just happened. It wasn't uncomfortable, as a matter of fact, Gumball felt at ease with the absence of noise and the fact that there was someone who was experiencing the same thing he was going through. On his left, Teri was also feeling appreciative for similar reasons.

Once Gumball felt that he had his thoughts together, he decided to break the silence that was suffocating the room,

"Um, Teri…" he began, glancing over at the silent paper girl.

As soon as his words reached her, she pivoted her head, allowing Gumball to see her face instead of a thin white line that was the side of her head. This often made it difficult for people to notice her when they approached her from the side, as being paper made her completely two dimensional.

Gumball's ears lowered behind his head and he clasped his hands in his lap, he spoke softly,

"Um, I wanted to thank you for helping me out back there. If it weren't for your quick thinking and your craftiness, I would have been dead. Twice." he said, nodding his head in gratitude.

Hearing that from Gumball made Teri's already pink cheeks deepen a little more in color and her flat, round ears twitch a little. She looked down at her hands and awkwardly replied,

"Oh, um, no problem. I was just really worried that you weren't going to make it." she almost fumbled on her words. After that, she decided to thank him as well,

"I also wanted to thank you for helping me out, especially when I thought you weren't going to believe me and regard me as insane. Also, you're a quick thinker too and quite brave, facing down that monster like that, even taking a hit. I really appreciate all the help you have given me." her words were sincere and it made Gumball actually feel proud of himself. Something he hadn't felt since his break up with Penny.

They both stared at each other in comfortable silence before Teri glanced at the clock and saw the time. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized how late it was and she took in a deep breath,

"Oh my gosh! I didn't realize what time it was! I gotta get home right away!" she spouted as she immediately stood up and started glancing about the room in a panicked manner.

At first, Gumball was oddly struck by her sudden outburst, until he glanced at his digital alarm clock. It read 1:03 AM, it was really late. Realizing that her parents could be worried sick about their daughter, Gumball immediately stood up, grabbed the panicking girl by the shoulders and waited until he had her attention. As soon her eyes were on him, he whispered in a calming tone,

"It's okay, calm down." he gently assured her.

The paper girl took a moment to catch her breath and was soon calm. Gumball could feel her tense shoulders slumping as she regained her composure. Soon she was ready to speak,

"Are your parents home right now?" he asked, releasing her shoulders and taking a step back to give her some space.

Teri took a moment to ponder before she shook her head and spoke,

"No. my mom's a doctor and my dad's a surgeon. They're both working the night shift at the Elmore Hospital right now." she responded, her voice less high pitched and her expression relaxed.

The cat with an abnormally large head nodded and glanced at the window. It was still very dark out and he didn't know how far her house was. He couldn't just let his classmate walk home alone, that would be really dangerous, especially since they were just attacked. He would walk her home, as a gentleman should, but he realized that it wouldn't be any safer if they both went out in the middle of the night, them being kids and all. The only good options that came to mind were to, A.) call her parents and have them pick her up or B.) let her sleep over and explain to her folks that she had a project that needed to be done and decided to spend the night at a friend's house or something like that.

With those options in mind, he turned to Teri and laid down the options she had.

As soon as he was finished speaking, the anthropomorphic paper bear took another moment to ponder her options. While she did this, she glanced off to the side, eyebrows knit, her chin resting in her hand, and she swayed ever so slightly. Finally, an idea popped into her head and her eyes lit up as she faced the ever so patient blue cat,

"I might as well spend the night here, since my parents are usually busy." she explained, using her hands as a way to express her words,

"Besides, they'd believe me if I told them that I was sleeping over at a friend's house." and with that being said, her worries vanished at once.

Happy that another potential crisis had been averted, Gumball breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay. I have a sleeping bag in the closet that you can sleep in or you can sleep in Anais' bed since she's at her friend's house for the night." he suggested, moving his head in both the direction of the closet and the top bunk where his little sister usually slept.

Weighing her options, Teri decided to go with sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag,

"I think I'll sleep on the floor tonight. I don't like the idea of sleeping in someone else's bed, primarily because all the germs that are usually found on the pillows and bedsheets." she explained with a grimace.

Hearing Teri spewing out her irrational fear of germs caused Gumball to sigh and roll his eyes. There's the hypochondriac he knew, always ready to annoy him with her long list of reasons of why people shouldn't have fun for the sake of being "healthy" and now there's the possibility that he's going to have the neatfreak is going to deep clean the entire house and it's occupants in the middle of the night. The very thought made him shudder in disgust.

Wanting to get to bed right away, he marched over to the closet that held his belongings along with sibling's, and began rummaging through the pile of items for a sleeping bag.

While he searched, Teri watched from behind and saw the horrifying sight that was his closet and gasped out loud,

"What the-?! Why's your closet such a mess? When's the last time you cleaned it out?" she regarded in a rather loud voice.

Great. Gumball was afraid of this very specific scenario. Without stopping, he let out a sigh and answered back,

"I'm sorry if I don't waste my life making sure every square centimeter of my room is bleached. Not all of us are neat freaks like you." he muttered,

"And if you hate this mess, then you're going to loathe the one under the bed." he knew he probably shouldn't have brought that up, but she was going to figure it out regardless, so might as well see her overreact to it now rather than in the middle of the night.

Her eyes widened in horror as she slowly turned in the direction of the bed where Gumball slept. Just seeing the absolute catastrophe that was his rooms storage space was like a scene straight out of horror film to her, and he was now saying that the space under his bed was somehow worse! She was almost too scared to even consider peeking at whatever vile things lurked under the bed.

She angrily turned towards Gumball, who had finally managed to locate a rather decent-looking red sleeping bag and was holding it over his head like it was a treasured item. She threw her arms over head in a dramatic fashion,

"You know what! I'd rather sleep on your sister's bunk than on the same level as whatever potential pandemic that is brewing under your bed." she remarked sternly, placing her hands on her hips to show how serious she was.

Not even intimidated by her tone nor her furious expression, Gumball handed her the sleeping bag along with some clean sheets from his laundry basket for her to use as a pillow. Afterwards, he hopped into his bed and nestled himself under the covers,

"Good call." he muttered, nuzzling his fluffy pillow as he got comfy,

"Could you turn off the light before you turn in for the night, please." he asked as politely as he could.

Realizing that he was about to go to sleep in spite of her rage, Teri sighed in defeat and decided to prepare for bed herself. She tossed the sleeping items Gumball handed her onto the top bunk and was about to flick the switch when two questions popped into her head,

"Hey Gumball?" she asked, gazing at the slightly moving lump underneath the sheet.

Not really asleep, Gumball lifted his head until he could see his paper classmate,

"What's up?" he asked.

"I have two questions for you." she responded.

Curious, the cat student raised an eyebrow,

"Shoot." he replied in affirmation.

She decided to start with the one she felt was the most important,

"Well, for starters, what are we going to do tomorrow?" she asked.

He had no idea what she meant. He understood what she was asking, but she wasn't exactly specific. Propping himself up with his elbows, he asked her to clarify her statement,

"What do mean, exactly?" he raised an eyebrow perplexedly.

Resting her arms on the one of the ladder rungs, Teri kept her gaze fixed on Gumball's while she spoke,

"I mean what are going to do in regards to the beast that we fought? We don't know if there are more out there and they could attack at any time, so should we try doing some research? Are we going to fight the next one that appears? How are we going to deal with these things when they decide to show themselves again?" she breezed through the list of concerning queries with her airy voice.

Understanding where she was going with this, Gumball pondered the best course of action. Obviously, they had no idea what they were up against and whether or not this was going to be a daily occurrence for them both. It was also important to note that as far as they were aware, they were only ones who could see the enemy, let alone fight them. So there was no help from the outside that they could turn to. He remembered hearing a quote from somewhere saying, "know your enemy." and figured their highest priority would be gaining knowledge.

"I say tomorrow, we should do some research. I think Carrie can help us since she's an expert on the supernatural." he stated.

The bear nodded and added her own suggestion,

"Okay, that makes sense. I will head to the library at school tomorrow and see if I can pull anything up on whatever it is that attacked us. As a means to cover more ground, of course." she added.

Gumball nodded in approval and then Teri moved onto the less important question,

"And lastly, I was wondering if you had a pencil and eraser that I could borrow?" she asked, rubbing one leg with her foot and folding her long, flexible arms behind her back.

An odd request. Gumball was curious as to why she was asking for such an item, although part him had a feeling she was going to use it to draw on herself. She was made of paper after all.

"What do you need it for?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in mere curiosity.

Without any hesitation, she pointed at her eyes,

"At my house I erase my eyes and draw a blindfold before I go to bed. It helps me sleep at night." she made an erasing motion with her hands followed by gesture that mimicked a pencil drawing on her round face.

That made sense, although it was still a little strange to the young Watterson that she needed to go through such a ritual in order to assist in sleeping. He reached over to his backpack that he kept beside his bed and pulled an average looking No. 2 pencil from one of the side pockets and handed it to the paper girl standing at the foot of his bed.

Taking the desired object, Teri turned out the light, wished Gumball a good night and climbed onto the top bunk. Rolling out the sleeping bag, and setting the sheet over the pillow that most definitely belonged to his younger sister, Teri settled in for the night. Pulling the pencil out, she rubbed the eraser on her eyes until they faded away. Then she drew on a pair of blindfolds and rested her head on her makeshift pillow before placing the borrowed pencil next to her head. After a few moments, she was overcome with drowsiness and succumbed to the slumber that was beckoning her forth.

Gumball listened to his current roommate settle into bed and eventually fall asleep. One thing he was grateful for was that her body was so light that it barely made any noise, save for a slight crumpling noise as parts of her folded from the stress of various objects pressing against her as she settled in. Even her breathing was soft and peaceful. Aside from her constant hysterics regarding hygiene, Gumball was actually lead to believe that she was a pretty adequate roommate. As a matter of fact, having her here filled Gumball with sense of happiness and peace, almost as if a hole in his chest were slowly being filled.

Knowing that tomorrow was going to be a long day. Gumball closed his eyes and allowed his consciousness to slip away into the realm of dreams. Before everything faded, he prayed that there wouldn't be any more giant monsters to deal with tomorrow or any nightmares for tonight. Soon his heavy breathing filled his room and all was peaceful.

For the time being, at least.

(A/N) okay, so there's the first chapter of Teri x Gumball: In between worlds printed and done. This was quite the write and, honestly I'm proud of how it turned out. Before I leave, I wanna set a few things straight with ya folks reading this at home: first off, I know the fight was kind of brief. The reason for this was because I didn't want the first conflict to be a drawn out punch fest, instead I wanted to showcase how the two protagonists would work together to overcome a common enemy.

Another thing I want to point out, is Teri's origami abilities. I've always imagined this as an ability of hers because it allows her take on a wide variety of obstacles in a way that compliments both her and her already established abilities in TAWOG, like her ability to fold herself. I also feel like her strengths would be her intelligence, flexibility and craftiness, which make up for her frailty and her overall lack of physical strength.

As for Gumball, I chose a scythe because A.) it's my favorite melee weapon B.) it fits the theme of the story, since the enemies are malevolent spirits set on bringing about the apocalypse and C.) I feel like swords and guns are overrated and kind of cliche. As for things like power ups and training, fear not! For many wonderful things are bound to come in this magical adventure. As the story progresses Gumball, will come to realize that are bigger problems other than his failed relationship with Penny and will eventually learn to embrace the change he is destined to face.

On another note, in case if you guys had noticed this by now, I'm a huge fan of the manga and anime "Bleach" by the one and only, true angel amongst men, Tite Kubo. some of the scenes in this chapter and the chapters that follow, are loosely inspired by some of the events in the series.

Next chapter will follow the pair through school as they gather what knowledge they can on the mysterious Nephilim. On their quest for knowledge, they are both confronted by various friends and classmates who are curious about their sudden friendship. Meanwhile, an unseen evil is waiting to be unleashed upon the unsuspecting town. Can Gumball and Teri gather enough information on the vile spirits assaulting their world before they're inevitably attacked? Find out in chapter 2: Giants of old.

Please like and post a review. I wish you all a wonderful day on this beautiful panet!