The Watterson

The Watterson is a 2020 fan-based project centered around *The Amazing World of Gumball* in the Toon Wars Legacy Series, set 3 years after Crossover Forces. It focuses on Gumball and friends from Elmore trying to prevent an impending invasion of 50 duplicates of Nicole Watterson without the aid of any loved ones nor the Toon Force. It consists of 7 long chapters as a miniseries instead of an event like Toon Wars: The Final Days, much like Fusion Wars. The first chapter was released on September 10, 2020 in memory of Frozarburst's pet husky Shi, and concluded on November 8th of the same year, followed by Dark Disney.

## Story

### Toon Wars

Interestingly, the story begins prior to the events of the Gumball Saga showing Nicole and Yuki battling the Syndicate forces for civilians to make their escape. Though the population of Elmore were still captured, Nicole and Yuki found Gumball by himself in the middle of the battle and brought him to a locker at his school. From there, he would eventually be rescued by the Toon Force and become a prominent member of the team for 5 years until the Final Days where he redeems Nicole after she was freed from the Toon Goddess and witnesses the finale to the Toon God fight. After dreaming of past events from the war, he wakes up next to his brother, Darwin, who's unaware of what happened in Gumball's absence.

### Episode 1

Gumball finishes training with Nicole, now stationed in the new Toon Force Headquarters built at the end of Crossover Forces. However, his last test involves battling an accurate copy of the Toon God, whom Gumball duels with some difficulty but ultimately defeats in a brutal fashioned. Penny, who came to assist Gumball, along with Nicole point out the extremes made in the fighting, but Gumball denies any stress he's feeling. He then accepts that his training is over and departs while Nicole stays behind to perform a deep cosmic meditation, which could last for almost a week. Gumball arrives at Elmore with Penny insisting he let Darwin in on the rest of the Toonverse since even after the war, he hasn't told him or the rest of town anything about prior events. He soon meets Richard at the Rainbow Factory after being congratulated by its shareholders and Mr. Yoshida for protecting their company's shares. Before they leave, however, Walton, a dog employee who took Nicole's place when she left for the Toon Wars, introduces himself to Gumball and leaves to tell Yoshida that he left old files in the storage area of the facility. Back home, Darwin asks Gumball about his day, which he masks with a white lie as best as he could. This eats him up inside, compelling him enough to speak to Richard about it, who also agrees perhaps its time to let Darwin know about the Toonverse. Luckily, however, Darwin already knew enough from Richard accidentally spilling the beans one day, relieving most of Gumball's stress. Before he can order a meal, Nicole, in reality the 41st clone of her, arrives at the Watterson's home to ask where Nicole is. Since she's unavailable, she takes Gumball in, mortally wounds Richard, and knocks out Darwin.

### Episode 2

Gumball awakens among a unit of Nicole clones who introduce him to their commander, explaining in vague terms that they're sisters of Spectra Corp planning on bringing Gumball to their leader and rid the world of its abnormalities. 39, the shy one, understandably fears that Gumball would refuse, which everyone had come to expect but assure is for the greater good. In the confusion, he escapes into the lower levels of the old warehouse the clones are occupying, finding a working phone to tell Penny his location. Going further down the hall, he sees that the clones are borrowing leftover Syndicate technology from the start of the Gumball Saga to make armor and weapons for themselves, which he destroys with the propane tanks in the conveyor room. Before the clones can corner him, he is rescued by Penny in her wyvern mode. She takes him to the General Hospital where his father is being nursed back to health. Darwin is safe as well, wondering what the clones were. Remembering the name, Spectra Corp, Gumball asks Richard about them, which he doesn't know. Since his parents are unavailable or unable to answer, Gumball sets about finding the answers himself from his grandparents, the Senicourts. Darwin insists he come to help, much like past adventures during their cartoon, though Gumball hesitates and even shouts in fear of losing him. However, after a clever guilt trick from Darwin, he ultimately decides to partner with him.

The next morning, Penny takes the duo to their grandparents to ask about Spectra Corp. But the very name causes them to break down, mortified over the thought of the clones being alive. They mention a fire that burned the entire facility down, confirming their affiliation with the company. But before they can say more, the clones attack knocking them out. Commander Nicole explains in more detail that their job is to convert Gumball, also including Anais, to their cause to rid the world of species like those in Elmore other than the Wattersons, deeming them as abnormal to evolution and society. As further proof that they need to be put down, the clones also remind Gumball of past episodes where the citizens of Elmore actually hated him and his family for one reason or another. This easily ticks off the clones, prompting them to use their siege cannon, which Penny destroys. Despite Gumball's belief that the imperfections of people are what make them special (a lesson mirrored by Entrapta and a song sung in the show), the Nicoles still attack, forcing him, Darwin, and Penny to retreat. Commander, already a step ahead of them, prepares for the next phase of her invasion. Meanwhile, seeing how dangerous and persistent the clones were to find him, Gumball is quick to apologize to his brother and is glad to have him with him.

### Episode 3

To search for Spectra Corp unnoticed by the clones, Gumball requests aid from Bobert and Carrie to do a hard online search for the company's records, only able to find that it was once the parent company of the Rainbow Factory before it was mysteriously shut down. Bobert is forced to undergo an update that would take longer than anticipated before he could provide anymore information. Fortunately, Walton mentioning the old files he put in storage at the factory gave everyone a clue as to where they could look to find out more. While Gumball and company prepare to go to the facility, the Spectra Clones enact their plan to take Elmore hostage by scheduling a time for the city's destruction should they fail to retrieve Gumball for them. Bonus if they find Anais or Nicole Watterson. To prove they're not bluffing, they guard the streets, blocking off any known exits, destroying the town's only airport, and extinguishing Felicity who tried to protest. After making their announcement, Commander Nicole is tasked with gathering a sample of Richard's DNA while he's still at the hospital, monitored by 41 after she brought the Senicourts there. 41 is then summoned to the factory with 39 and 08 on guard for Gumball, who's borrowed Carrie's invisibility potion to keep himself intangible. He and his friends pass through security to find the hidden files Walton stored somewhere. Surprisingly, after finding what they need, Walton appears having stayed in the office complex to try and study the files himself, feeling they maybe important to him and Gumball. Before they can leave with the items, the trio of assigned clones corner them and 39 insists they surrender, less they suffer the same fate as the civilians. The heroes barely escape with the information in tow, separating to head to a van Walton can drive for a quiet get away. Though 08 proves to be an incredible foe, she is outsmarted by Gumball and Darwin using the still updating Bobert's weapons to bring down parts of the environment on top of her. 41 is also drawn away by Penny while 39 confronts Walton at the back parking lot questioning his intentions. Walton explains himself as a distraction when Carrie manages to knock out the clone from behind. With all the data in their hands and 39 apprehended, the heroes carefully drive out of Elmore before the rest of the Spectra Troops arrive to investigate. Meanwhile, Commander Nicole obtains a sample of Richard's blood, commending him for trying his best to be a decent father whilst cutting off his life support, killing him.

### Episode 4

Gumball awakens in the stolen van at the entrance of Netherworld, greeted by Walton. He brought them to his hometown hours away from Elmore, isolated enough that the clones can't easily find them. 39 also recovers and is asked to tell them who cloned Nicole Watterson, which she admits she and everyone else don't know. She personally wishes to keep Gumball safe from Supreme Nicole knowing the goal of their mission but willingly tags along in their visit to Netherworld's scenic areas. Bobert, meanwhile, awakens and is tasked with extracting the files from the Rainbow Factory in hopes of learning more about Spectra Corp before going to their base. There, they meet Walton's old friend, Jeff Gator, and Tim the Tortoise, the old cook at Spectra Corp. Walton's father saved him by telling him he could take his shift on the night of the main building's explosion seemingly caused by a gas leak. Tim recognizes Nicole 39 and is able to tell she isn't a threat, seeing she favors Supreme Nicole, who occasionally comes to observe. 39 explains that the building that exploded was built over the facility the clones were stationed in. But it's been raised and cloaked. Not wanting to have Gumball killed, she suggests he stop and wait for Bobert to finish extraction. Back in Elmore, Nicole 41 notices 39 had gone missing last night and takes it upon herself to investigate. She uncovers Gumball's footprints and the tire tracks from the van he took, following them to the hidden exit of town.

While waiting on Bobert, Gumball and company decide to explore around Netherworld and relax. The girls find new clothes, Gumball meditates, and Walton introduces Darwin to his old home, now up for sale. The two spot Nicole 24, the head scientist clone, at the waterfall but miss her. However, 39 mentions she isn't a threat either. Only coming out when needed by Supreme Nicole. Jeff explains that the reason Spectra Corp was special to Netherworld was due to the land's magic from isolation in the world, likely using it to make the clones and give their leader more power. Gumball believes he can turn Supreme Nicole to good if given the chance or simply incapacitate her to stop the invasion using the shield generator as a distraction to summon her army back to base. Thus preventing Elmore's destruction. Eventually, Bobert finishes extraction but fears showing Walton the footage, not wanting to upset him. He confirms that the Rainbow Factory was a subsidiary for Spectra Corp as cover for their cloning facility and that Walton's father, Zach Osseo, was their secret CEO, hoping to use the clones to remove all life he deemed deformed. Some lines suggest he developed this mindset after a traumatic history prior to becoming CEO, but he never expressed it to Walton, not wanting him to go through what he did in his past. His tapes reveal that the Senicourts were hired and Nicole agreed to be taught by the company and become their template. However, beyond that, there is no explanation as to why she doesn't remember any of it.

Hearing all this, 39 fully commits to the team and vows to stop Supreme Nicole however she can. Tim and Jeff also join in with Walton, who isn't totally upset since his father truly did love him despite all he did in secret. He and 39 also note that out of all 50 clones produced, one of them is missing. Likely killed from the gas leak. Supreme Nicole is not 09 and the Commander was not told the entire story either, leaving it up to the team to enact their plan and get answers from the source the next day.

### Episode 5

Darwin and Gumball converse at the bamboo forest about their past adventures. Gumball mainly admits he's glad his brother could join him but was terrified of having him killed in a similar fashion to what occured in the Final Days. Still, with all they've been through, he isn't afraid anymore. Before they can discuss something else, Supreme Nicole projects herself in the form of Cyber Catra to speak to Gumball, asking what he's doing. She's unphased when he refuses to join her, already a step ahead of him for the foreseeable future before vanishing to let Nicole 41 ambush the two, having traveled through the night to find them. She puts up a good fight and almost has Gumball in her custody only to be tricked by him and Darwin, trapping her at the nearby river. While they're gone, 41 contacts Commander, informing her and the clones of the assault on their home base. Walton and 39, meanwhile, begin to further develop feelings for each other in the middle of the plan to Spectra Corp, taking them and the rest of the group to the cloaked facility to break in undetected. They split into two teams while Jeff and Tim remain at the mountain side. Team 1, Gumball, Darwin, and Penny, head to the cloning bay to reach the entrance of Supreme Nicole's throne while Team 2 heads to the shield generator, not knowing the clones are already coming. Quick examination through the confines of the labs reveal that an attack had already begun by an unknown force, slowly but surely turning out to be an entirely separate army of monstrous Richard clones tearing through the walls. Team 1 is rescued by Nicole 24, calling herself Glados, telling them that this was part of Supreme Nicole's backup plan to purge all life on Earth and make way for a new species should her clones fail their objective knowing they could be turned. While Gumball and Darwin go to confront the supervillain, Penny stays with Glados to protect the last batch of clones being grown.

Team 2, however, is ambushed by a now heaviily armed Nicole 08 and many of the other clones, having caught up with them from 41's message. 39 stops them, reasoning to the clones that the citizens of Elmore are peaceful and that even with their abnormalities, the clones also are just as different. That difference does not equal a negative. Immediately, the Richard clones attack the moment the Nicoles begin to realize their mistakes. Gumball and Darwin then make it to the entrance but are also ambushed by an angry Commander Nicole, who splits the two up. 41 also arrives, though seeing the Richard clones decides to side with Darwin to keep them at bay. He explains to her Supreme Nicole's plan and the two stop the Commander from incapacitating Gumball by showing her the Richard grunts, causing her to have a mental breakdown from her master's change of plans. Seeing everything unravel, Supreme Nicole summons only Gumball to her throne room, leaving the others to fend for themselves.

### Episode 6

As the chaos unfolds throughout the facility, reaching outside when the rest of Netherworld's populace come to fight back against the monster clones, Gumball winds up coming face to face with Supreme Nicole and her 3 guardian copies of Bimm. He tries multiple times to try and persuade her to stop but to no avail. Meanwhile, as Penny and Glados barely hold ground in the lab, a Richard clone still within one of the pods breaks out and defends them, revealing himself to be the actual Richard in a new body. He and the others head to the entrance of Supreme Nicole's throne room, trying to pry open the door to help Gumball. Since the villain still refuses to stop, Gumball demands to know why his mother doesn't remember how she was cloned, to which Supreme Nicole explains its because she isn't the template. Rather, Nicole Watterson is actually Nicole 09, the lost clone extracted from the gas leak at Spectra Corp by her parents believing their original daughter and the other clones were killed in the blast. Because of a broken power inhibitor in her pod, Nicole 09 was able to retain the magic gained from Netherworld and explore ways to harness her ki. Supreme Nicole, meanwhile, was still taught by recordings in the underground sectors of Spectra Corp, unphased from the fires. From there, she dove into sorcery and eventually began to lose control of her body's aging, rapidly deteriorating over the years. To carry on the work of Spectra Corp and to lead the next inhabitants of the planet, she selects Gumball, Nicole, or Anais for the task, giving her the chance to forcibly unlock the darkness within the man. Darwin and Bobert, fortunately, arrive just in time to save him, helping him fight against the Bimm clones. The guardians prove too much for them until Richard, Walton, Commander, 39, 41, even Carrie and Penny break in to even the odds, defeating the guards and forcing Supreme Nicole to warp all but Gumball and Darwin outside. She attempts one last trick up her sleeve only to clumsily slip and fall flat on her face, killing her instantly from her weak vessel. Her efforts are not yet over though, as the fighting continues without her and Gumball is brought into his own mind from corruption.

### Episode 7

In the mindscape, Gumball is greeted by his inner self who represents the more resentful side of himself. They fight for control; the evil side wanting to takeover to let his anger out on the world and fulfill Spectra Corp's goal, while Gumball tries to stop him. Despite his efforts, the dark side proves too much and almost consumes Gumball's psyche, turning him into a new Toon God before Darwin intervenes, telling him to let go of the past and that he isn't weak for doing so. After holding so many grudges for years and regretting ever repressing his own power to change several key events, Gumball finally moves on, allowing his bad side to kill him. However, without Gumball as a vessel, this evil cannot exist, thus deleting it and setting the programming of Zach Osseo free. In the phsyical plane, Gumball's dying in Darwin's arms before suddenly Nicole arrives to heal him and take the two outside where the fighting had stopped. All of Supreme Nicole's control over her army had ceased to function, leaving all the Richard grunts and the Bimm trio docile and without a mission. Same with the Nicoles. Nicole Watterson assures everyone that with Spectra Corp gone, they can find new opportunities in the Toonverse and rebuild, starting with Elmore.

Sometime after, Elmore is repaired by the clones and the last batch are brought aboard the Toon Force Initiation Program as cadets. Many even befriend the civilians, including Bimm, the template of the three guards. Commander Nicole reconciles with her parents and moves into Elmore in place of the Wattersons, who've chosen to live in Toon City. Walton and 39 have since married and Gumball is thankful that he and his friends could come on this adventure, finding solus in his amazing world at last.

### Epilogue

Double Trouble loses a bet with Anais over the thought that Gumball wouldn't be able to endure the story, which he did. Over a century passes and Elmore is left abandoned and decrepit with cameras constantly searching for potential signs of life or valuables. Two members of a resistance, Barbara Gordon and Dust, enter the old Watterson household to find a mysterious object inside, returning to base via teleporter to show to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

## Chapters

1. The Prelude - 9/10/20
2. The Mystery
3. The Search
4. The Town
5. The Assault
6. The Clone
7. The Finale - 11/9/20

## Characters

* Gumball Watterson
* Darwin Watterson
* Nicole Watterson (Nicole 09)
* Richard Watterson
* Anais Watterson
* Commander Nicole
* Penny Fitzgerald (mentioned)
* Supreme Nicole
* Nicole 41
* Nicole 39
* Nicole 08
* Glados (Nicole 24)
* Bimm
* Simone
* Jeff Gator
* Tim the Tortoise
* Bergamo
* Sorrel
* Hopp
* Majora
* Mai
* Double Trouble
* Iris
* Cyber Catra
* Samurai Jack
* Jimmy Neutron
* Danny Phantom

## Settings

* Toon City
	+ Toon Force Headquarters
* Elmore
	+ Rainbow Factory
	+ City Hall
	+ The Watterson's House
	+ Outskirt Warehouse
	+ Dark Forest
* Netherworld
	+ Bamboo Forest
	+ Waterfall
	+ Riverside
	+ Spectra Corp
	+ Walton's House
	+ Diner
	+ Shopping District

## Time Placement

Chronologically, this is 3 years after the end of Crossover Forces and takes place the same time as the introduction of Dark Disney before the jump into the distant future.

## Reception

Following its release, though viewership was slow to come compared to Crossover Forces, The Watterson proved to be another success for the Toon Wars: Legacy series. It was praised as a good mix of The Amazing World of Gumball and Toon Wars, taking the otherwise comedic aspects of the original and blending them with the mature themes of its fan continuation/crossover. To Frozarburst, it was also meant to serve as his personal send off to the show and a way to introduce potential new stories revolving around the clones and more original concepts, such as Netherworld and its people. Fans were generally positive about them and were stunned from the twist of the miniseries, much like with Crossover Forces. Frozar admits he feels the story could have used more material and that it wasn't his absolute best work. However, viewers and those who helped him in development were amazed and hope to see the end result of his later projects.

## Trivia

* Frozarburst posted The Watterson in honor of those victim to the attack of 9/11 and in memory of his late husky, Shi, who passed away prior to the story's completion from age and illness.
* This fan series was inspired by Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Mega Man Legends, and The Force Unleashed games.
	+ It was also notably inspired by another fan series, Spongebob in Beyond, produced by 12th Art Group
* Frozarburst jokes that no OC can steal Nicole from Richard knowing there are around 50 other Nicoles roaming the streets.
* The game Nicole 41 plays that says "Score one for the Republic" is Star Wars Battlefront 2 from 2005. This could also be a subtle nod to the Toon Republic, which by the time of The Watterson is established
* Nicole 24's name, Glados Breen, is a mix of the names of Valve characters from Portal (GlaDOS) and Half Life (Doctor Wallace Breen).
* This and Dark Disney were not released on Deviantart until February 16, 2021 due to the site's Eclipse update bricking the literature system. Frozarburst was able to bypass this by making his chapters into txt files and uploading them into Stash, saving the formatting.
* After 2 years of trying and failing to make an Ultra Army sequel, Frozarburst decided to insert the main cast in the Watterson as cameo citizens of Netherworld, alongside Iris from the canceled Maverick Hunter Iris, feeling he was much happier working on Toon Wars: Legacy than he was with anime.
	+ In-lore, Broly used the angel power he received at the end of Ultra Army to take the clones to a place outside the Dragon Ball dimension, bringing them to the Toonverse in the realm of cartoons following Toon Wars: The Final Days.
* Walton, Jeff Gator, and Tim the Tortoise were three original characters created exclusively for the story. However, Frozar has confirmed possible inclusions for them in future works.
* In Penny's fight against 41, she morphs her arm into a Ball of Yarn Magisword, much resembling Bimm's
* Jeff Gator is actually the son of Alison Sandra Gator from the cartoon, who finally married again at the end of The Watterson to Tim.
* There is an unused phase of the Bimm Troopers fight where their merged form supercharges into a larger form similar to Super Obsidian from Toon Wars: The Final Days. It's file name is "The Judge," referencing the track "Judgement Day" from *Mega Man Zero 3*
* The Watterson is the second story with the least development time, only surpassed by Fusion Wars.
* It's possible that Zach Osseo may have somewhat been alive in The Watterson as evident by his line "I'm free" when Gumball kills his evil self. Whether or not Gumball was a reincarnation of the man or was briefly possessed by him until this point remains a mystery.
* The Condor from Storm Hawks and the Batmobile from Justice League Unlimited appear as part of the CN City illusion in the final chapter.