Fusion Wars

*Mighty Magiswords: Fusion Wars* was a 4-part fanfiction created by Frozarburst that continued the now canceled *Mighty Magiswords* cartoon by Kyle Carrozza and Cartoon Network after its initial season finale that reintroduced certain characters from the Adventure Academy Shorts. It was released on December 28, 2017 before the first arc of Frozar's main crossover series, Toon Wars, becoming the first Magiswords-specific fanfiction, as well as Frozar's first fanfiction to be released publicly after How to train your Hero, and the start of a trilogy of stories related to it during Toon Wars' run in 2018. Later around May of the same year, it was re-released on *Mighty Magiswords'* Amino as well as Wattpad and Archive of Our Own on January 2019 as part of the Magiswords Trilogy collection.

## Plot

*Spoilers for**Mighty Magiswords Episode 50-51, Quest for Knowledge*

### Parts 1-2

Taking place immediately after the ending scene of *Quest for Knowledge*, Glori narrowly escapes the creature she assembled in the episode before at the Adventure Academy. She hides in a closet and hastily tries to think of a way to avoid the monster and get back at the Warriors for Hire for defeating her when she quickly comes up with an idea. Meanwhile after Cattus the One Blade won the Alumni Melee Brawl, Familiar and his sister Bimm both congratulate him on his victory while also hinting at Bimm and Cattus' secret crush on each other. This is quickly interrupted when the Warriors for Hire come over to congratulate Cattus all the same. But he and the Catty-Rumpus duo notice they have all the confiscated Magiswords from when they attended their old Professor Cyrus' classroom. They explain they got them back from Bunky the Closet, which Bimm questions since they're technically stealing. But the Warriors believe otherwise and return back to their apartment with the recently acquired Knowledge Magisword in hand. However, at night while they're fast asleep, Glori sneaks into their home through an open window without detection since Grup was on vacation and the alarms weren't turned on. She steals all of their Magiswords from their pouches, including the confiscated ones along with the sword they've just obtained earlier.

The next day, when Cattus, Familiar, and Bimm return to Cyrus personally to explain to him what the Warriors told them about the confiscated Magiswords, both Vambre and Prohyas bust through the classroom door hoping to get help from their friends. But Cyrus is nonplussed about it. He tells them that the reason he had all the swords locked away was because he was worried someone capable would fuse them all together along with the Knowledge Magisword to reanimated an old alien warmonger known as Fusion. When Cyrus was young, he witnessed an entire village get decimated right before his eyes because of her, and ever since, he feared that one day Fusion would return. Because Glori was unstable enough, the chances of her discovering Fusion through the melding of all the stolen Magiswords is imminent. But luckily, he knows of a way to stop her once again. A long time ago during Fusion's invasion, there was a mysterious Magisword that was forged with the ability to combine multiple people into one powerful titan known as Centurion who went on to defeat Fusion and seal her source of essence within the Knowledge sword using the Blade of Combination before defusing. Cyrus now has possession of the old weapon as he did with the Knowledge Magisword and tells the group that they can find it in the school kitchen. Downstairs, Witchy Simone tries to perfect another potion technique from earlier and has the Combiner Magisword in hand, which Cyrus explains can fuse all of them if held by the hilt unanimously. For now, they'll need Cyrus to maintain the combiner's mental stability as he's all too familiar with how it works while everyone else are first-timers. Together, Cattus, Vambre, Prohyas, Familiar, Bimm, Simone, Cyrus, and Frank Paul all fuse into the great warrior Centurion, who borrows each of their select traits.

Meanwhile in the town of Rhybloflaven, the reanimated Fusion goes on a rampage plotting to return to her mission from years ago to purge all life on the planet for colonization. Centurion arrives to fight just in time before she could do any real damage and the two combiners square off against one another, taking it through the streets and above ground, though Fusion's come well equipped for the brawl. Due to her having possession of all of Vambre and Prohyas' swords, she now has extra power and a full arsenal of weapons at her disposal. But luckily for Centurion, the combined might of his components and the equal power of the Combiner Magisword prevail as Fusion is eventually maimed and defeated thanks to Simone's use of an explosive potion and Familiar delivering the final blow with the Blade of Combination. As a result, all the Magiswords that were stolen and confiscated regenerate along with Glori, who after witnessing Fusion's destruction and hearing her grand plan realizes the error of her ways since she never wanted to hurt others and put the world at risk. She along with the Warriors for Hire reconcile for their past mistakes, and Glori vows to repair the damages done to the village and become a hero again. Unfortunately for the Warriors for Hire, since they were partially responsible for bringing back Fusion by stealing the confiscated Magiswords from earlier, they are pressured into admitting their mistake and return them to Bunky. Though Cyrus and the rest of the gang let them keep the Knowledge Magisword feeling they've learned their lesson.

### Parts 3-4

Although Fusion was ultimately defeated by Centurion for the final time, Fusion's alien counterparts stationed above the Earth had caught wind of her death and vow to avenge her by using their Planetary Cannon to destroy it completely. But not before sending themselves down there to make sure the Adventure Squad don't try to stop them once they noticed their Targeting Beacons falling and landing near the Academy. At the tower, Phibby Croax returns with a new temporary armor to assist them into fighting two of the invaders, Blockhead and Mandy, defeating them in the process. With the central Mothership lowered into the atmosphere near the Fiery Mountains, all but Cyrus and Frank journey to it and board the vessel, though Phibby is left stranded when he tries to take out its lower heavy turrets to get everyone on. The Mothership rises back into space and prepares to launch its Planet Buster when the team use the Combiner Magisword once again to apprehend the leader of the invaders, Lord Green. Despite all their power, she effortlessly defuses them and gathers all the gems that made up her associates and Fusion to become Omega Fusion, engaging in a long brawl with the squad that she would have won had it not been for Phibby's grand re-entrance and their teamwork; now enhanced after melding with one another. This leads to her crashing through the bridge after a heavy attack sending her into the engines of the Planet Buster, destroying it and damaging the ship enough to cause it to slowly fall to the Earth. Though defeated and heavily injured, Omega uses whatever ounce of her power left to incapacitate a majority of the heroes and choke hold Cattus in an attempt to tear his heart out. But the unharmed Bimm manages to distract her long enough before Cattus could lunge the Combiner Magisword into her gem containing all of her and her counterpart's essence. The teammates escape the ship before it crash lands in an empty field near the Academy, and Cyrus returns and disrupts Cattus and Bimm's almost imminent embrace while the others happily cheer for a job well done.

## Characters

### Adventure Squad

* Vambre Warrior
* Prohyas Warrior
* Cattus the One Blade
* Familiar
* Bimm
* Phibby Croax
* Witchy Simone
* Centurion

### Others

* Glori
* Professor Cyrus
* Frank Paul

### Invaders

* Fusion
* Mandy
* Blockhead
* Teller
* Lord Green/Omega Fusion

## Settings

* Adventure Academy
* Rhybloflaven (City/Village)
* Warriors for Hire H.Q.
* Deep Dark Forests
* Fiery Mountains
* Invader Mothership

## Time Placement

As mentioned above, Fusion Wars chronologically occurs just a moment after the ending clip of *Quest for Knowledge* and essentially the season finale. Though there was a second season that was released months after the fact, the show lacked any story and thus Fusion Wars as well as much of the series itself could be reorganized to fit within it. Glori herself never appeared in any of the episodes from Season 2 as well, so it's easy to suggest Fusion Wars had something to do with it. In between Parts 2 and 3, certain episodes like *Too Commercial* or *The* *Status of Cattus* had likely taken place along with Pax Morbidia, which was a side-story that took place just before Part 3. After Fusion Wars' ending, the trilogy continues into Magiswords Echoes as the series finale and introduction to *Toon Wars* post Samurai Jack Saga 2 years into the 5-year gap of the Final Days Saga.

## Reception

After the release of Fusion Wars and the first arc of Toon Wars, both received equal praise in storytelling and action. But Fusion Wars in particular was especially regarded following its first post on December 28, 2017 by both fans and casual viewers, stating that the story had a much stronger narrative despite it being relatively short and taking place after a particular episode, better development of characters within a short span of time, and its sparingly used humor. Most have also adored the relationship between Bimm and Cattus, as it was never done prior in the show and was relatively sweet and gave the two more depth without interfering with the overall narrative, which would later be built up as the trilogy went on. Storyboarder, Luke Ski, as well as several viewers and readers on Deviantart had especially praised the artwork made alongside it; some saying it gives the show more of an anime-eque style and edge. Others have praised in addition the fact that it was one of, if not the first Magiswords-only fanfiction made at the time, and was fondly recognized after the fact by fans of the original series.

One critique, however, was that the story would've been better off if it didn't continue from the events of *Quest for Knowledge,* or if more Magiswords were used. Others, including the author, had even felt that Parts 3-4 were more rushed than the previous two, or that someone like Phibby and the invaders other than Omega Fusion were unnecessary. Despite any of these problems, neither of them ever hindered Fusion Wars' success. And improvements to better the quality of the writing were made as the series went on. Following the last episode of the original series, new followers had considered Fusion Wars to be the show's unofficial ending/reboot as it never had a proper conclusion from cancellation. However, Frozarburst actively states that although the story was successful, he did not want it to come off as being the show's superior as both follow two different tones. Pax Morbidia and Echoes would eventually continue the story for fans and conclude as a trilogy in late November, 2018.

## Trivia

* This was the shortest developed fanfiction by Frozarburst outside of occasional updates made in under 2 days.
* Fusion Wars was the first fanfiction based solely on *Mighty Magiswords* on Fanfiction.net. It is also one of the first fanfiction written by Frozarburst that wasn't crossover-based, though few lines from the invaders suggests they came from *Steven Universe*.
* Fusion Wars was originally meant to be a standalone parody of Hasbro's *Transformers: Combiner Wars* cartoon with no connection to Toon Wars. But after the success of Parts 1-2, it was continued and eventually merged with Toon Wars in Magiswords: Echoes.
	+ Prohyas even references Combiner Wars, calling the Blade of Combination "A McGuffin from a cartoon about robots and stuff." This was meant to parody the Enigma of Combination.
	+ Another parallel to the cartoon comes from the name "Centurion" as a parody of Superion.
* Furthermore, as Fusion Wars was transitioning to Toon Wars, certain character arcs partially introduced in Mighty Magiswords and the trilogy were either introduced or concluded. Bimm, on the other hand, would not finish her arc until Toon Wars: The Final Days, which essentially ended both her story and the Toon Force's.
* Whenever the heroes combine into Centurion, their hair and eyes turn to a shade of blue. This was partially based off SSJ Blue from Akira Toriyama's and Toei's *Dragon Ball* franchise and was used to indicate whenever a character still has a mental link with a particular fusion.
	+ On the topic of *Dragon Ball*, in the above cover of the core cast, the characters are posing based on that of the Ginyu Force from *Dragon Ball Z*
* Although neither of these episodes are ever brought up in Fusion Wars, they take place prior or after Parts 2-3 as certain character traits that would normally contradict anything from the show were either addressed or completely ignored in the fanfiction prior to their release. These include:
	+ Like Water for Bimm - Bimm was aquaphobic (fear of water) in the episode. Though the ending of Fusion Wars shows both her and Cattus completely unphased while standing in a lake.
	+ Too Commercial - Bimm and Familiar are heavily recognized after advertising themselves, also suggesting Fusion's attack gave them a publicity boost and branded them as heroes, in addition to their improvement after *The Lanolion Sleeps Tonight*. Though in the show it's implied it was the other way around where the latter episode happens after *Too Commercial*, it's instead shown that the citizens became aware of Catty-Rumpus' heroism, though partially blamed the Warriors for Hire for Fusion's return.
	+ Status of Cattus - Cattus has his Whirlwind Magisword back but in Fusion Wars he uses a temporary broadsword as substitute while its in repair. It returns later in Echoes.
* This marks the debut of Bimm and Cattus' loving relationship that continues into Magiswords: Echoes and the Toon Wars series. Originally, the concept was refused by Frozarburst to distance himself from past shippings when he made How to train your Hero, which he considered to be too hard to read and believe (in other words, cringe-worthy). However, along with the adult version of Anais Watterson and Wulf in the Samurai Jack Saga, Bimm and Cattus would start off as a joke before gradually evolving to show why they care for each other and what they do, eventually becoming a major part of the story.
* Almost all the characters, other than Vambre or Professor Cyrus, have a slight redesign due to Frozarburst's art style. This includes anthropomorphic characters now having 5 fingers instead of four, Bimm having longer hair in the back of her head, Cattus appearing more lean and slightly built with added shoulder guards, and characters looking more proportionate like Phibby.
* Centurion's core design is made up of assets from his components while Fusion borrows Glori's style. The shape of Fusion's design would later be altered and reused for a new character in Frozar's original works.
* Much later during Frozarburst's transition to Wattpad and Archive of Our Own, it's shown frequently that Mighty Magiswords was either non-existent in either of the sites, or was less known. Though the trilogy collections received less views compared to Deviantart and Fanfiction as a result, Frozar's most infamous work, Fusion Wars, was still noticeably well regarded.