Chapter 17: Nightly Frights

## Plot

After X manages to find them in the woods, Gumball/Darwin and Anais have to try to outrun him, with a little help on their side. Unfortunately not everything works in their favor.

## Chapter (WARNING FOR SPOILERS)

X is revealed to be there in the woods, with his followers not far behind him. He enjoys the fright in Gumball/Darwin's eyes, as he pulls out a dagger and orders his group to grab Anais.

As X remarks about last words, Gumball/Darwin are struggling to come up with a plan, feeling there are not much options. Having no choice, they unsheathe their claws, much to the man's confusion, and they swung at him. Unfortunately, X dodges, leaving the two to accidentally aim for Anais instead, falling over. Standing up, they see the bleeding mark on her face, horrified by their actions.

X laughs, interrupting the moment as he states a rather rude and hurtful comment towards them, claiming he was right about "the experiments being monsters".

Unable to handle the mockery and hurt, Gumball/Darwin run deeper into the woods, as Anais cries for them to come back, though it's not heard. As the two run through the forest in tears, they accidentally bump into someone. Confused, annoyed, and rather on edge for a moment, they soon recognize the individual to be Vanessa, who they embrace right away as they cried.

Vanessa reveals that she managed to escape the fire, though was unable to rescue the other children. Upon hearing of X's whereabouts, she's rather annoyed, though questions the situation at hand, noticing the two are alone. In a brief moment of panic, all is okay, as Anais appears from some bushes, though her injury is still not very healed.

Vanessa tends to the wound right away, unaware of how it came to be. Anais soon notices her brothers quietly leaving, to which she goes after them, having their fox friend look after their supplies. She finds them sitting at the edge of a cliff behind some greenery, noticing how quiet and distraught they were.

The bunny reassures them that her injury is fine, though she would not get an answer for that. Rather, the two speak up, questioning what will happen after all of this running and group activity, unsure if they'll be back in hiding. There's a moment of existential dread, as they're not even sure how they'll live with any of it in the future, as their sister tries to reassure them it might be okay. Gumball/Darwin soon break down sobbing, Anais comforting them, for a moment the three sharing silence.

That is, until a metal object stabs Gumball/Darwin in the chest.

Anais screams, viewing the injury as it's revealed to be a medium sized pitchfork. Her brothers had not spoken yet, them very much horrified as they're feeling the blood leaking onto their fingers. X soon appears, being the culprit of the act, very much evil in this moment.

The young bunny tries to help Gumball/Darwin, but all three are soon kicked to the cliff, nearly dangling off as X intends to throw them off and kill them. However, Penny comes to the rescue in her red flaming dragon form, to which the X Group scatters in fright. She lands on the cliff, returning to her regular form, as she becomes panicked for the three's wellbeing.

Vanessa enters the scene as well, as everyone now is currently focused on Gumball/Darwin's very much bleeding injury. She reveals that there may be something in Gilson's lab that could help them patch it up, and check for whether it was fatal or not. At first the two are reluctant, not wanting to step foot into the place again, but agree for their wellbeing.

Penny transforms back into a dragon, as she flies them all back towards Elmore.

## Fun facts!

-Chapter 17 repurposes a deleted scene from Chapter 14, where Anais would be injured by the two by accident.

-In the original version of this chapter, there was a gag where when realizing Anais was missing, Gumball would be panicked and speak so fast his words were together, such as "OhmygoshwaitweforgotAnaiswhatarewe-". Comedically, he would realize the bag is missing once Anais is found, and in the same fashion go "Ohmygoshweforgotthebagweneedtogobackandrescueit-", to which the two's sister would reveal that the bag was fine and in her hands. This was cut mostly because it wasn't really needed.