When Darkness Falls...

by XTech309

Prologue: Back In Control

Author's Note:

Welcome to the story’s prologue. Since this is a story about the Learning with Pibby glitch and its attack on anything even remotely related to animation, much of what is presented here is context-dependent, and part of a much broader storyline. So to save time, I'll just tell you exactly what this chapter is about. This chapter is the beginning of my interpretation of various fan theories that have arisen since the concept of Pibby was first coined, and takes place in The Amazing World of Gumball, or more specifically, The Void. In this chapter, I explore where the glitch might have come from, and who might have played a role in it, using the power granted by a certain TV remote...

If you want to know the full 100% backstory behind what's happening here, I recommend watching the AWOG episodes "The Disaster," "The Re-Run," "The Bus," "The Future," and "The Inquisition." However, I have done my best to make this chapter easy to understand even without the context. This chapter picks up directly where the series finale of TAWOG leaves off, for those of you who have seen the show.

“Wait, what? Th... then why are you doing this?”

“Because I'm a villain! What choice do I have? All I've got on my résumé is laughing maniacally, monologuing about evil plans, and a major in Canadian History. I can't exactly go into catering!”

***

”You have only yourself to blame. You being the hero of all this means that I have to be the villain! But I never wanted to be the villain! I wanted to be the cute sidekick who gets his own plush toy and a spinoff show.”

***

”I did all this for a reason! Don't you understand what's going on in Elmore? You have two choices: live in ignorance about what's gonna happen here, or listen to what I have to say! It might just save your lives.”

***

“Ugh! Why did they stop me?! Transformation is the only chance they have of escaping to the other place when this world...”

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake. Rob looks around nervously and loses his balance. The floor suddenly opens up beneath him, collapsing into the Void. Rob grasps the edge of the floor and struggles to hold on. He loses his grip on one hand and hangs on only by the other

“​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Oh no... it's started.”

The edge of the floor disappears, and Rob falls into the Void, screaming and falling. The screen freeze-frames on him (mirroring Banana Barbara's painting from "The Future"), and the credits' first notes play as the episode ends

---

Rob thought back to that time, grimacing as he considered what he could have done differently. If only those two had listened, then maybe, just maybe, he could have saved them, those from his world, that is.

What he had thought to be the apocalypse for his world turned out to be something much, much worse. Beyond anything he could have ever imagined...

Halloween, approximately 2 months ago...

Rob awoke with a start, quickly taking in the scenery around him. As he had suspected, the apocalypse had come, Elmore in its entirety, a once amazing world, consumed by the Void. It had been completely disintegrated when it had fallen into the Void, split into what must have been hundreds of individual floating islands scattered across the infinite expanse, surrounded on all sides by an endless void of static.

He rose to his feet and set out to explore, to see what had become of the inhabitants he had tried so hard to save.

***

Rob hyperventilated, confused and terrified at the same time at what he had found. This-this wasn't what was supposed to happen. They were supposed to just be consumed by it, cease to exist. But somehow, something far more sinister had happened to them.

The first red flag was that they were all still moving, not frozen in time as they were supposed to be. Everywhere he went, the inhabitants of Elmore were still moving, all of them dripping with a black, glitch-like substance and wandering around aimlessly like zombies. The darkness that had taken them covered the landscape, emitting a deafening, distorted, static sound every time Rob passed it. He stayed as far away from them as he could, using houses, plants, anything he could to disguise himself and stay out of sight. His mind raced as he struggled to find a way to fight back against whatever these things were. Then it hit him.

The Remote.

He scolded himself for not having thought of it sooner. The remote was his only option. But then he realized something else - he'd destroyed it. Well, not destroyed it, but he had shattered it into many tiny pieces that he could only assume had also ended up in the Void. If he was to survive, he would need to find it wherever it landed.

New target in mind, he moved again, careful not to make noise to alert the corrupted roaming the landscape. Eventually, he found it, or rather, its pieces. They were scattered in a small pile on the concrete floor of a parking garage, in the same spot where he had destroyed it. He even found the ATM machine, the same one he'd used the eject function on for the first time, causing it to spit out an endless supply of cash for him. Now he had the pieces, but that meant nothing without the tools to reassemble them. From his vantage point in the parking garage, he looked around in all directions before he spotted the Elmore Mall, which sat on a rather large island a few dozen meters above and in front of him. He crouched down close to the ground before jumping up towards it. Gravity was more or less non-existent in the Void, more akin to what you'd expect on the moon, and the force of his jump propelled Rob towards his destination, albeit slowly.

About a minute of floating later, Rob landed softly on the pavement in front of the mall, the remote pieces in his hand. All he had to do was make it to the hardware and electronic departments. Surprisingly, his journey there was uneventful, with no corruption to speak of, leading him to conclude that they mostly resided on the lower islands. He made his way through the electronics and hardware stores, picking up the tools he needed before settling down at a workbench and getting to work.

***

Rob looked down at the fruits of his labor, filled with the hope that he might have a fighting chance now, but also with the fear that the damn thing had returned. It was a simple remote, similar to most TV remotes from the early 2010s, and nothing special on the face of it. However, it was not until it was in use that its true capabilities came to light. To quote its previous owner, the mysterious shadow that ran the Awesome Store, It has power only a fool would not fear." Holding it tightly in his right hand, he made his way out of the mall.

He walked steadily toward the exit. All he had to do now was get out and he’d be able to end the madness that had engulfed his world. But of course, it couldn’t be that easy. His eye went wide in shock as the corruption now came for him in full force, splashing through the mall entrance like a tidal wave, emitting the same deafening static noise. He quickly changed direction, feet squeaking on the tile as he scrambled to start running backward. Not only had the corruption itself come, but it had brought those it had taken. Citizens of Elmore, reduced to mindless zombies, all of their eyes completely blank, the corruption dripping off of them like water during a spring rain. They all made a beeline for the remote wielder, moving at almost inhuman speeds.

Rob quickly whirled around, aiming the remote at the pursuing corruption. He pressed Eject first, propelling a group of 5 backward and out of sight at incredible speed. He aimed again-

Power Off.

Another swathe of them fell, completely lifeless on the tile of the mall. It was working! He aimed yet again, this time at the corruption itself.

Rewind.

Obeying the remote’s command, a section of the darkness retreated exactly as it had come. Rob continued his assault, aiming and pressing whatever function he felt fit. Corrupted citizens fell lifeless or were propelled backward and out of the fight, and corruption ReWinded back the way it came until once again it was only him left in the mall. Or at least he thought. He gasped as he felt something grab him from behind. A small puddle had formed just behind him, waiting until then to strike. Tendrils of it emerged, each one grabbing and ensnaring his limbs. Rob desperately tried to aim the remote but found his arms bound by it. The puddle enlarged itself, dragging him down into it like quicksand. With his last breath, he closed his eye, sure that this would be the end.

Nothing happened.

Once again he found himself falling, landing hard on another island that resided just below the mall. He dragged himself back up to his feet, quickly grabbing the remote that lay a few feet from him. He opened his eyes, confused, looking down to see the darkness crawling up his arm. Somehow, it did not affect him, only everyone else.

Then he realized it.

It had already affected him, sort of.

All that time ago, when he first escaped the void, he emerged a disfigured, glitched version of his former self, sending him on his path to become the ill-fated savior of Elmore. This glitch, whatever it was, couldn’t affect him, because he had already been affected by it, at least to a degree.

"I need to find out what happened." He thought aloud, clasping his hands together.

But first -

Revenge.

After some searching, he found him, Gumball. The source of all this suffering, and the one who had prevented him from saving them all. He pointed the remote at the corrupted cat and pressed ReWind. Sure enough, time rewinded on him, the corruption receding from his body. After a few seconds, he returned to normal, and Rob pressed the button again to stop the rewind. Gumball fell to the ground and took heavy, deep breaths, unaware that Rob was there. He stood up and looked around frantically before finally spotting Rob.

"YOU!" He shouted, pointing at him. "You did this to us!" He yelled, running towards Rob, who simply dodged out of the way of his still weakened enemy. Something snapped inside him, once again unfairly labeled the villain.

"NO, I DIDN'T!" Rob shouted, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself as Gumball recovered, before continuing. "Don't you see? Gumball? This is what I was trying to save you all from! This is what it has always been about! You wouldn't understand." He said, turning his back on him. "You wouldn't understand. Yes, I may have been the villain in the past, but not now. Don't you see?" He said, using a darkness-covered arm to gesture out into the Void, filled with various-sized chunks of Elmore, all of which were covered in the black corruption, the Void stretching endlessly in all directions. "It doesn't matter anymore. Because of you and all your little friends, it's all gone. There was a pause for a moment. "But that's not what was supposed to happen, everything was supposed to just be consumed, just cease to exist, even I have no idea what- this is. He paused for a moment before pointing the remote at a corrupted Tobias and hitting eject, sending him flying.

Rob's monologue stopped and they sat in silence for a few seconds. They took in their surroundings. The once amazing world of Gumball, reduced to a glitchy mess in an endless void. Condemned to wander endlessly in the void, corrupted forms of everyone they ever knew stalked a few feet away from them.

"But I haven't given up." Rob began again. "With this." He held up the remote. "I can still save us. But I can't let you get in the way again." He grinned maliciously, spun around and pointed the remote at his nemesis. "I hope you're happy with yourself, Waterson. Because of you, everyone you love is gone, and you alone will have to live with that. After all, is there anyone left to share that with, to make it hurt?" He chuckled before placing his thumb over the fast-forward button. "Goodbye, Gumball." Gumball had been sobbing up to this point, tears landing on the hard pavement below as he stared at the instrument of his fate.

"WAIT! NOOO-" He cried out before Rob pressed the button. The effect was instantaneous, his body fast-forwarding back to its corrupted state. Rob watched, still smirking, as the corruption took control of his body once again, screaming silently as he was taken again. After a few seconds, it was done, his body fully corrupted again. His eyes were blank, darkness dripped from him wherever it could, and he began to limp aimlessly again. But that wasn't enough. Rob wanted him gone. He moved to the eject button and pressed it, Gumball's corrupted self shooting out into the void. Finally satisfied, Rob went back to his original goal of saving them all. He wouldn't find answers here, he had to think outside the box, in one of the most literal ways possible.

He looked down at the button he had to push. He felt anxious, of all the functions the remote could perform, he had always shied away from this one, afraid of what it might do, never daring to press it until now. The remote was capable of incredible feats, its power had been what finally opened Rob's eyes to the reality of his existence. He feared what would happen if he pressed it, having witnessed what the other functions were capable of, from time travel to outright wiping things out of existence. But he had to, if there was to be any hope of saving them. He had to take the risk and unleash the full power of the remote.

He took a deep breath before pointing the remote directly at the camera and pressing -

Change channel.