Chapter 5: Captured

The streets of Elmore twisted unnaturally, a chaotic mess of warped reality as Sage Blank hovered ominously above Gumball and Darwin. The brothers were out of breath, their bodies trembling with exhaustion and fear. Every attempt they'd made to stop Sage had failed. Their mimicry of the powerful Limitless and Cleave abilities had amounted to nothing. Sage stood unmoved, his quill poised and ready to wipe them from existence.

Gumball, still struggling to make sense of his heightened perception from the Six Eyes, could see the flow of reality being bent and manipulated around them. "We're done for," he muttered, his voice cracking with panic. "We can't stop him, Darwin. Nothing's working!"

Darwin, marked with the cursed tattoos similar to Sukuna, clenched his fists, his eyes darting around for any solution. "I don't want to die, Gumball! What do we do?!"

Before Gumball could respond, a familiar and fierce voice cut through the tension.

"Gumball! Darwin! Get away from him!"

The air crackled with energy as Nicole Watterson descended from the sky, her entire body glowing with a brilliant, electric blue aura. The sheer force of her landing shook the warped streets, sending tremors throughout the twisted reality around them. Her fur, once a soft blue, now burned with the energy of Super Saiyan Blue. Her eyes glowed with an otherworldly light, and her hair flickered like a flame as her body pulsed with raw power.

"Mom?!" Gumball gasped, looking up at her in awe. His Six Eyes widened as he processed the overwhelming energy radiating from her.

Nicole's voice was steady, but there was a furious edge to it. "I'm not going to let you hurt my sons," she growled, her fists clenched tightly as she locked eyes with Sage Blank. Her aura crackled around her like lightning, and the heat of her power burned the ground beneath her feet.

Sage Blank, unfazed by her appearance, simply tilted his head. The glowing question mark on his face flickered slightly as he regarded Nicole's transformation.

Nicole didn't wait for him to react. With a fierce battle cry, she launched herself at Sage Blank, moving so fast that her body blurred. Her fist, glowing with the power of Super Saiyan Blue, hurtled toward his chest with enough force to shatter mountains.

The impact should have been devastating. The ground beneath them buckled, and the shockwave from her punch ripped through the warped streets of Elmore, tearing apart buildings and sending debris flying in every direction.

But Sage didn't move. The force of Nicole's punch collided with him, but it was as if she had struck an immovable wall. Sage remained exactly where he was, completely unaffected by the attack. His body didn't even shift under the immense pressure.

Nicole's eyes widened in shock. "What…? How?"

Sage Blank raised his quill. With a simple flick, he tapped the air in front of her, and her transformation faltered. The brilliant blue aura surrounding Nicole dimmed instantly, and her body was forced to the ground as if the energy had been drained from her completely.

Nicole gasped, her knees hitting the cracked pavement as her Super Saiyan Blue state dissolved. She looked up at Sage Blank in disbelief. "That… that's impossible…"

"Mom!" Darwin screamed, rushing forward, only for Gumball to grab him by the arm and pull him back.

"Wait! We can't help her!" Gumball shouted, panic rising in his voice. "He's too strong for us!"

Sage Blank floated down toward Nicole, who was struggling to get back on her feet. Her energy was gone, her strength sealed by a power far beyond her understanding. She looked at her sons with desperation in her eyes. "I'm sorry, boys… I couldn't stop him."

Sage raised his quill again, the air around Nicole shimmering as reality bent under his control. With a single stroke, a transparent, shimmering sphere of energy formed around her, suspending her in midair. Nicole's body froze as the prison fully engulfed her, trapping her in place.

"No! Let her go!" Darwin yelled, thrashing in Gumball's grip. "She was trying to protect us!"

"We have to do something!" Gumball's heart raced as he watched their mother trapped helplessly before them. But he knew, deep down, that they didn't have the strength to save her.

Sage Blank turned his attention back to the brothers. He flicked his quill once more, and the ground beneath them shifted violently. Gumball stumbled, barely managing to stay on his feet as reality itself seemed to bend and twist in ways he couldn't fully comprehend.

"We have to fight him, Darwin!" Gumball shouted, his voice shaking with fear and determination. "It's our only chance!"

Darwin, still covered in the fading cursed marks of Sukuna, nodded hesitantly. "But… what can we do?"

"We have to combine our powers!" Gumball said quickly. "It's the only way we can stand a chance!"

With no other option, Gumball and Darwin focused their remaining energy, mimicking the techniques they'd seen in their panic. Gumball's Six Eyes flared to life, and Darwin's cursed marks glowed faintly as they attempted one final attack.

"Limitless Cleave!" they shouted in unison, their voices filled with desperation.

A wave of distorted space and cursed energy spiraled toward Sage Blank, tearing through the warped streets of Elmore. The attack was stronger than anything they'd tried before, fueled by their last shred of hope. The energy warped the air, causing reality itself to shudder under the strain.

But Sage Blank was unmoved. With a single flick of his quill, the attack unraveled before it could reach him, the energy dissipating like smoke in the wind.

The brothers collapsed to the ground, exhausted and defeated. Their final attack, everything they had, had amounted to nothing.

Sage Blank floated closer to them, his quill glowing faintly as he prepared to seal them as well.

"We… we failed," Gumball whispered, tears welling up in his eyes. "We couldn't save her… we couldn't save ourselves."

Darwin, his face pale with fear, looked up at Sage Blank as the reality around them twisted and shifted. "This… this can't be it…"

Sage raised his quill one last time, and with a single stroke, he sealed Gumball and Darwin's powers. The Six Eyes faded from Gumball's vision, and the cursed markings on Darwin's body disappeared. Both brothers were powerless.

The air around them shimmered as Sage formed another spherical prison, this time trapping Gumball and Darwin inside. The energy swirled around them, lifting them into the air where they floated helplessly beside their mother.

Sage hovered above them, his gaze unreadable. "Your battle is not yet over. You will fight again when I decide."

With that, he opened a rift in the air, and the shimmering prison spheres containing Nicole, Gumball, and Darwin were pulled through the portal. The void swallowed them, leaving Elmore silent and twisted in their absence.

Sage Blank, his task complete, turned away from the ruined world of Elmore and focused his gaze on the next realm. The game was far from over.