The Dark Night Of The Soul

Epilogue Pt. 2

Late at night, Richard drives up to the driveway of Penny's house. The lights are off, which means that her family is sleeping. Gumball and Penny get out of Richard's car from the back. Richard turns off the engine, showing that nobody is in any hurry to go.

Penny and Gumball walk up to the steps, to the porch. They hold onto each other's hands. They stare into each other's eyes.

"So," Starts Gumball. "What did you think about dinner?"

"I had a great time, Gumball."

"Good...Good night, Penny."

"Good night Gumball."

They share one last peck on the lips before Penny goes towards the doors and turns the knob. But then-

"Penny, wait."

She stops, the front door slightly ajar. She closes it, the door makes a soft creak. She gives Gumball her full attention.

"I have something for you." Gumball says. He grabs for something in his back pocket. He pulls out a small, cheap-looking, silver cardboard box. He takes off the top to reveal a simple ring. Penny is completely still, frozen in her place. She doesn't move when Gumball grabs her hand. "In twenty years, I'm gonna ask you again. To marry me." He slides the ring onto her finger. "That's a promise." The ring fits perfectly on her.

Penny takes back her hand, she puts the ring close up to her face. Her eyes strain trying to see it underneath the darkness. The streetlamps provide very little light at all. It doesn't matter though, she knows that it's there and that this isn't a dream. Penny knows that Gumball had spent what little money he possibly had just for her. She knows that-that-that there were no words for the love they have for each other.

Penny looks at Gumball. Tears are trickling down her shell. She opens her mouth as if to say something, but she doesn't. They share one extra long hug. Gumball goes back inside Richard's car, Penny looks at the car driving off with Gumball in the backseat, then she looks back at the ring. She reaches for the doorknob again.

A voice whispers to Penny, a soft, sudden voice from nowhere that shakes Penny to the core. "Penny..."

It says.

Penny turns around to see who's there, but before she could see anyone, something forces itself down her throat. All she sees is the wispy tail of a ghost.

Carrie is in full control of Penny now. Carrie blinks several times, shuffle her feet, just trying to get comfortable in this new body. She moves her fingers, she notices the ring and smiles. Drool seeps out of her mouth. Carrie clears her throat by coughing.

"HellooOOooOOooo Gumbaaaalllll." Says Carrie. "It's meeee, Peeeennyyy." She opens the door and goes inside. She continues to talk.

"HellooOOooOOooo Gumbaaaalllll. It's meeee, Peeeennyyy."

Saturday morning and the Watterson family is sleeping in, that is, except for Gumball. He likes to get up early. When everybody is asleep, he has the house to himself. He gets a bowl of cereal and turns on the television.

The doorbell rings. Gumball, wondering who it could be, puts his bowl on the ground and goes to answer it. He opens the door and sees Penny. She looks the same as she did the last time Gumball saw her.

"Hello Gumball." Carrie says. "It's me, Penny."

Gumball is happy, although a bit caught off guard as well. He swings the door wide open for her. "Come on in, Penny." She sits on the sofa, Gumball sits next to her. "What brings you here so early?"

"I felt lonely." She says it like she's been practicing.

"Aww..." Gumball gives her a big grin, she blushes.

Carrie looks down and sees Gumball's hand. She wants to touch it. She places her hand on top of Gumball's.

My first time. Touching Gumball. Carrie is giddy with excitement, but remains cool and calm.

She begins to stroke Gumball's soft fur, then her fingers intertwine with his fingers. She uses her thumb to continue stroking his hand. She looks up and her gaze locks with Gumball, he smiles.

This is it, you're finally going to do it. All your hard work has lead up to this. Your first kiss with Gumball.

She leans towards Gumball. Slowly. Slowly. Their lips are inching closer and closer together. Carrie savors each moment, letting the time build up to the kiss, the climax. She wants it to last hours.

Their lips connect, they match together like a heart has been split in two.

My first kiss! My first kiss!

Carrie can feel Feel. I can feel his moist lips with hers. She wants to taste them. She licks around the edge of his mouth before entering the inside of it.

So good.

She can feel his hotbreath on her tongue. Her tongue explores the inside of Gumball's mouth, rubbing itself on everywhere. She lets out a moan,

Warmth, this is how it felt like.

She lets out a moan, her whole body aches with a sensual pleasure.

It feels so good.

Carrie starts to use her hands, she rest them on Gumball's cheeks, she pulls him closer to her. Gumball takes the hint and starts to use his tongue as well. Their mouths tangle with each other, coating each others tongue with saliva. Carrie can feel Gumball blushing. He's burning up.

Penny must've never done this with him.

Her hands go down. They wrap around his shoulders. Her hands go down again. She holds both of his arms.

I want him to touch me too.

She slides her hands up and down on his arms, she squeezes them to get a good feel.

Touch me Gumball.

She gets a hold of Gumball's hands and have him hug her in a tight embrace. Her hands rest on his chest,then they go under his shirt.

Let me be closer to you. I want to feel your fur, your skin.

She runs her hands across his furry chest.

Ohh, it feels so good running through my fingers.

She places her hand on where his heart is, she can feel his heart beating.

I feel your heart pounding, you're getting real excited, aren't you? Me too.

Her hands go down, they land on his curvacious hips. One of her hands play with his tail, letting the tail squirm around her fingers. The other hand caresses his ass, she squeezes it to get a good feel. Her hands starts to move onto his legs, then onto his thighs.

I want more of you.

Carrie grabs Gumball's shirt and takes it off of him. She throws it to the floor.

"Penny?" Asks Gumball. "What do you wanna do with me?" Carrie smiles and continues to kiss him. She pushes him down onto the sofa, he's lying down with Carrie on top of him. Gumball mumbles out the name, "Penny..."

I never thought I would get this far, today's my lucky day.

He says her name again, "Oh Penny..."

Wait, I-I need to stop this. He thinks I'm Penny. I have to tell him the truth before we go any further. I don't want my first time to be with Gumball thinking I'm some one else. But wait, what if he gets upset? I'll just have to risk it, I can't have him thinking I'm someone I'm not.

Their lips part.

"Hmm." She doesn't want to stop, but this is more important. "Gumball, wait."

"What's the problem?" Gumball still lies there on the sofa. His arms are spread out, waiting for Penny to come back to him.

"I need to tell you something."

Gumball sits up. "What is it?" He asks.

"I'm...not Penny."

"Huh?"

"I'm Carrie." Gumball stares at her confusingly, wondering why Penny is acting so weird all of a sudden. Then he remembers that Carrie has a crush on him, and also her ability to control other people's bodies. He frantically grabs for a couch cushion and uses it to cover his bare chest.

"Carrie!" He yells, but then he quiets himself, not wanting his whole family to wake up. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm sorry I surprised you like that Gumball. I got caught in the moment and forgot to tell you sooner."

"What are you doing in Penny's body? Get out of there!" His yelling sounds like hissing.

"Wait, let me explain myself first."

"What is there to explain?"

"Listen, please."

"...Fine, I'm listening."

"Good...I took over Penny's body so we can...be together, you and me be more closer, I mean." She stops to see if Gumball is still listening. He is, but he's also still upset.

"Yeah." He says. "I kinda figured that one out already. What I want to know is what makes you think trying to pretend you're my girlfriend and touching me like that was a good idea."

"You liked it didn't you?" Carrie's hand rubs his toes. "I could tell you really enjoyed it."

Gumball jerks his feet away from Carrie. "That's because I thought you were Penny. Now that I know it was you doing all that, it's kinda creepy."

"...Creepy? Look, I realize now that maybe what I was planning to do with you could be consider a bit unsettling. Under these circumstances. But, but-"

"Carrie." Gumball says her name with such a fierce and demanding tone, it startles Carrie. "I want you to get out of Penny's body. Right now."

"But wait, don't you see? Both me and Penny can be your girlfriends now. You can be with the both of us at the same time. Everybody wins in this situation."

"Not for Penny, she doesn't want you using her body."

"Penny's a nice girl. She can share."

"Get out of her body Carrie, I mean it. Right now."

Oh no, this isn't going well at all. If Gumball keeps getting angrier, he won't speak to me, he won't look at me. He's going to absolutely hate me and ignore me for the rest of his life. This makes this your last chance to-to, oh, I don't know what to do anymore! But I can't give up, I came so close, so close. But what can I do? I have to do something. Quick. But what?

Carrie throws herself on Gumball. She pins Gumball's arms down and starts kissing him.

"Come on Gumball. Just give this some more time, you'll get used to the idea."

Gumball jerks his head around to avoid Carrie's kisses.

"Stop it Carrie."

"You're going to thank me for this Gumball, we can be happy together."

"I mean it Carrie. Stop it!"

"We'll have so much fun together."

"Stop it."

"We can try things I've done before. Like swimming, or riding bikes, or walking. That one's still new to me." She giggles and tries kissing Gumball again.

"I said Stop It!"

Gumball manages to get one of his arms free and slaps Carrie across her face, and she stops. She lies her head on Gumball's chest, she cries.

"Why?" She says. "Didn't you want this?"

"No. What made you think that?"

"You-You said you love me Gumball."

It's time for Gumball to confess a few things now. He sighs.

"I don't."

"Wha...?" Carrie looks at Gumball, Gumball looks at Carrie. She grabs tufts of Gumball's fur in her hands. "Yes. You do. You told me yourself you liked me. A lot."

"I lied."

"...What...did you say?"

"I lied because I didn't wanted to see you so depressed. I just wanted to cheer you up. But now, I'm really regretting saying that to you."

Carrie loosens the grip she has on Gumball and sits on the far end of the sofa. The tears keep coming.

"I never had a chance..."

"...Yeah..."

Carrie buries her face in her hands and continues to cry. Gumball goes to her and rubs her back.

"Um..." He doesn't know what to say.

Carrie takes notice of him rubbing her. Slowly, she turns to face Gumball, she stares at him a long time before saying anything.

"Are you sure?" She asks.

In a flash, Gumball grabs her hand. He tugs at it, almost hurting her in the process, and puts it close to her face.

"Do you see this?" Questions Gumball. "Do you see this ring, Carrie?"

"Yes?"

"I gave this ring to Penny just last night. This ring is suppose to represent how much I love her. No matter what happens in the future, or right now, I'll always be with her. I'll always love her. We're going to stay with each other forever, till the day we die old. And there's absolutely nothing you can do to change that. Leave Penny alone."

Gumball lets go of her hand. They sit there on the sofa in silence.

Eventually, Carrie comes out of Penny's mouth and dashes out through the door.

"A trick that people use to make you think they're smart

Is confidence when actually they're lost in the dark

Only someone with the mind of a child says he'll grow up

Cause headin' down the avalanche your life will show up

It's nice to be loved. It can never happen too late

I wanna share my food with you but you've stolen my plate

Hey now, hey now, go your way now."

Cats have an average lifespan of twelve to thirteen years. Gumball died sooner than that, which is understandable considering the lifestyle he held.

Everybody went to his funeral, even the ones who hated him; Mr. Robinson, Tina and her gang, even Carrie and her broken heart all went to his funeral.

"You tortured little girl

Showing them what love is all about

Where did all the time go?

Everywhere is gone, gone, gone."

Carrie is very quiet, floating at the very edge of the crowd, barely listening to the Father speaking. The whole crowd is sobbing however, Gumball's family and Penny are crying harder than everyone there. Carrie isn't crying though.

"You get the point now

You pick yourself up off the bars

He's on his arm now

Cause they remind you off the pictures on the wall now

But she was young and I wasn't not even born yet

If you think I know a little more then

You have this person on the streets you aren't correct

Because I'm ignorant as shit, not hear to preach, man

You know I just wanna have fun, go to the beach, man

Thats all I am, I'm just a simple guy who talks when

You put a microphone in front of him."

Everybody leaves when the burial is over and they all leave a flower on his grave. Everyone except for Carrie, she stays right where she is.

"You twisted little girl

Showing them what life is all about

Where did all the time go?

Every where it's gone.

Running left in a relationship

Going in circles and I just can't wait

Running left so we can get in shape

Get in shape because we can't escape

Running left because I'm already late

Really not, I'm in the exact same place

Running laps in your relationship

Running away from the shadows themselves."

Carrie doesn't know why some people, like herself become a ghost, while other people stay dead. She thinks it's all a matter of chance. Like a coin toss, dead or alive, you have an equal opportunity to be one or the other.

"The worlds always amazed at how much cash you made
But not at how you made it, it's just strange
It sounded kind of cool over the phone
It killed your neighbors and they dug and crushed their bones."

Carrie decided to give Gumball seven days, a week. If he didn't come back from the dead, she'll have to learn to move on.

"You tortured little girl

Showing them what laughter's all about

Where did all the wine go?

Every night it's gone."

Over the course of the week, Carrie stays exactly at the same spot, never leaving her eyes on Gumball's tombstone. Son. Brother. Future Husband. A Star That Burned Out Too Quickly.

Also during the week, other ghosts appear, a few skeletons, and a zombie or two. Carrie didn't pay too much attention to any of them, too busy waiting for Gumball. There is this one ghost that came to this cemetary yesterday, it plays around with the other ghosts and likes to sing. Carrie likes its somgs, It gave her something to listen to while she waits and doesn't get too bored.

"You got it all worked out

Funny little girl

Showing them what pain is all about

Where did all the time go?

Every night its gone, gone, gone."

It's almost the end of the seventh day, the sun is setting.

I guess this is it. Time to move on.

She hears that the ghost is nearing the end of its song. She decides to thank it before she leaves. She moves her eyes away from the grave and sees the ghost right behind her.

"…Gumball…?"

"You're the coolest girl in this whole town

I just wanna parade you around…"

OK! That's it, I'm done. What did you guys think? Was it a bit sad? I thought it was kinda sad. Maybe after this, I'll try to make a Gumball x Carric fic that isn't so filled with drama. Something a bit more cheerful.
By the way, you know where the title and the chapter name came from? It's from the album Dark Night of The Soul and the chapters are names of the songs on it. Go listen to it right now.