Chapter 16: Forest of Beasts

## Plot

Now hiding in the Forest of Doom for the time being, the three siblings try to get some rest. Unfortunately for them, several occurrences decide to change that. Meanwhile, Gumball/Darwin end up having a mysterious nightmare.

## Chapter (WARNING FOR SPOILERS)

The Watterson siblings arrive at the Forest of Doom. After a bit of walking, they decide to rest in a clearing. Gumball/Darwin are rather melancholy about having to stay here for a while, to which Anais reassures them that it won't be forever.

G/D goes to sleep, though Anais stays up a little longer, deep in thought about the situation. She's worried about all that has happened, questioning if this was truely the right decision. She soon gets herself to sleep.

Meanwhile, Gumball is the first to wake up, finding darkness. He tries to speak to Darwin mentally as they do, but discovers that, they aren't even stitched together. Confused, he goes to look for Darwin, and comes across Elmore Junior High in the distance, dark and eerie. However when he enters, school is still in session, with students walking around. They all collectively look at him.

Disturbed, he tries to look around, only to bump into Anais, who asks what he's doing. When he tells her he's looking for Darwin, all the other kids, including Anais, suddenly go blank. She tells him not to look for Darwin, that it is danger. This confuses Gumball, but he forgets about it as he sees Darwin in the hallway, who had also been looking for him.

The two are glad to see each other, though notice something is wrong. Suddenly, the students grab Gumball and Darwin each, and pull them away from each other, as mysterious barriers appear, keeping them trapped in separate sides of the hallway.

Trying to escape from them, they suddenly hear a voice that tells them they cannot. Recognizing it, Gumball is angry, as Gilson is seen standing between the two barriers.

Gilson acknowledges the current situation, and implies.. He can bring them back together by one way. He raises up a scalpel, as he walks towards Darwin's barrier. Gumball screams for him to get away, but it is fruitless. Gilson hurts Darwin, to which the cat somehow feels it too. The man notices this, finding it fascinating, but does not stop.

Gumball finds the school setting gone, but then discovers that he and Darwin are back to being stitched together, sharing the same thought space. There is darkness surrounding them again, and they panic as they are unable to move, as Gilson comes closer, scalpel in hand. As the weapon is close to stabbing them, G/D scream in terror.

They wake up, letting out a scream for real, until realizing they're in the woods. Just a nightmare. Their relief is cut short however, as they start hearing howls, and see glowing eyes in the dark. Scared, they wake up Anais, telling her what was going on. Slowly, Anais counts to three, as the three prepare to run. They do so, as the creatures of the woods take chase.

As they find themselves cornered, the three panic, until G/D internally realizes they can take down these monsters. They manage to punch one of the creatures, sending it flying miles away in the woods, to which they glare at the other ones standing before them. The other monsters are frightened and intimidated, quickly leaving the scene.

G/D celebrates their victory, until Anais warns them to look out.

## Fun facts!

-The original name for this chapter on Fanfiction.net is called "Forests with monsters". This was changed for the DeviantArt, Wattpad, and ao3 versions.