The Newcomer
An Amazing World of Gumball
By NeoNimbus
Chapter 59-The Clones: Part 3
Brian couldn't believe how today was turning out; first, the clones became suddenly vicious and attempted to kill him and his friends and now, not only did they run off with the cloning machine, but they are using to clone themselves much faster. It didn't help that they were heading their way to town and it was certain that their presence would spell disaster to Elmore. Now, everyone in the Paxton residence were currently looking at one another, hoping that one of them came up with an idea to stop them before it was too late.
"So, does anyone have any idea on what we should do now?" Brian asked his friends, as he himself pondered in the outfit Mike gave to him minutes ago.
"Other than preventing the clones from leaving Elmore, none at the moment." Gumball replied.
So the others resumed pondering once more, trying their best to hatch up a plan. Eventually, after what felt like forever, Mike finally spoke up, as if he had found the solution to the problem.
"I think I got it! Everyone, except for Brian, Rhonda and I, go out and inform everyone that will believe us of the situation. Once we managed to gather enough people to form an army, we'll go out as a full frontal assault, just to give Mrs. Jotunheim enough time to make her way to the cloning machine and activate the fail-safe."
Understandably, everyone was surprised to hear the maroon badger's plan. But their shock was replaced by outrage, displeased that what Mike was suggesting was outright crazy, even insane.
"Are you serious, Mike?! That's outrageous!" Gumball exclaimed.
"Yeah, we won't have a fighting chance out there!" Darwin pointed out.
"I have to agree with my brothers on this one…" Anais began. "The last thing we want to do is become sitting ducks for them."
"Guys, calm down and let me explain first." the maroon badger insisted, prompting everyone to hear Mike out. "The only reason we need to go with the direct approach is merely to distract them so we can give Mrs. Jotunheim a chance. Plus, we can't allow one clone to leave Elmore at all. We don't need to win through a frontal attack. Just keep them busy."
Once the maroon badger made that last statement cleared, everyone calmed down enough and nodded their heads, agreeing that in spite of the risk, this may very well be the only good plan that they have.
"Sorry if I have to ask the obvious, Mike…" Brian began, having not spoken for a while. "But what makes you think that everyone is going to believe that an army of several thousand clones would come by here?"
"Think about it, Brian. If two clones were in my house, what's stopping them from being in everyone elses?" Mike replied with a question of his own.
"…Good point." Brian replied, accepting Mike's statement.
"So it's settled, we have to gather as many people as we can." Mike insisted, before the maroon badger quickly turned away from his friends, though they didn't move right away.
"Double time! Quick march!" Mike ordered, as everyone got up and ran home to get anyone they could. "Brian, Rhonda, come with me."
Both the fox and the mouse looked at one another, uncertain what their friend was up to. But not wanting to argue with the maroon badger any further, the two decided to hear him out on what he had in mind.
"Alright Mike, lead the way."
The moment Brian and Rhonda followed the maroon badger, the two couldn't believe where he had led them to. Of all the places that Mike could think of, they ended up at Uppermore, the richest neighborhood in town. Making things much complicated was that they were standing right in front of a tall and magnificent two story house and it didn't take the purple fox too long to realize who's house it belongs to.
"Mike, this is crazy!" Brian shouted. "The last thing I wanted to do was to show up at the place of one of my least favorite people."
"Not that I doubt you, Mike, but what makes you so sure Ivan would help us?" Rhonda asked the maroon badger.
"We're fighting an army of Brian clones; I think he'll love to help pummel them out of existence." Mike replied with confidence that this would work.
"Why doesn't that make me feel any better?" Brian replied flatly, as he and his friends made their way to the front door.
"I don't think we have much of a choice, Brian. Besides, Ivan is quite strong in his own right." Rhonda informed her boyfriend.
"And we might need more muscle then I can provide on my own if things go south." Mike stated.
"Are you saying our backup plan is to fight our way to the machine?" Brian asked in hope that he was wrong.
"Pretty much. Bring something made of metal as a weapon." Mike replied, as he turned around to go knock on the door.
A few seconds, Ivan opened the front door and as soon as he saw Brian, Rhonda and Mike in front of him, he was hardly happy, especially now that his two least favorite people are at his home.
"You boneheads have a lot of nerve to show up at my place." the red bear spoke with disdain.
"It's nice to see you too, Neanderthal." Mike insulted Ivan, irking him. "Seriously though, we actually came here because we need your help real bad."
Ivan looked at the maroon badger, baffled by that last statement.
"I'm sorry; did you say that you need my help?"
"That's what Mike said." Rhonda replied.
"And why should I help any of you?! I don't even like you two!" Ivan asked, as he pointed at Brian and Mike.
"At least hear us out. Believe me, you might actually enjoy it." Brian insisted.
"...Fine, but you better not waste my time." Ivan reluctantly agreed.
"How's beating up an army of Brian's a way of spending your time?" Mike said, playing to the inner rage of Ivan.
Ivan looked at Mike, somewhat dumbfounded by that question. Slowly, but surely, a sadistic grin formed on the red bear's face, leaving the trio no doubt that he was ecstatic.
Once the trio was certain that Ivan was on board, Brian, Rhonda and Mike made their way back to the Paxtons, hoping that everyone had gathered enough people to face the ongoing threat. But upon arrival, however, the seven were surprised to find out that almost everyone in town was inside the house, each having a look of concern on their faces.
"Mike, you were right!" Gumball shouted, as he ran over to him. "The clones hit every house in town in small groups."
"Why attack in small groups?" asked Brian
"They're probably scouts looking for something...or someone." Mike said, as he looked at Brian and Rhonda.
The moment the maroon badger said those words, everyone stop chatting with one another and turned their attention to the two, with neither Brian nor Rhonda enjoying the attention they're receiving. But things got complicated when the purple fox heard an all too familiar voice among the crowd.
"Care to explain what's going on, Brian?" Gordon and Annie were right in front of their son and they weren't happy.
At that moment, Brian realized that he had been caught red-handed and unwilling to lie to his parents; the purple fox took a deep breath before offering them his answers.
"It all began yesterday afternoon during school…"
Five minutes later…
"…And it's been like that ever since."
Once Brian was done with his story, everyone became silent all over the house, surprised what the purple fox had just explained to them. Never in their lives did they imagine something like that to even occur to begin with.
"Wow, that is something I would actually expect from Gumball." a stunned Nicole remarked.
"Hello, I'm right here!" said Gumball, clearly irritated by his mother's words.
"So, do you and your friends at least have a plan on dealing with this problem?" asked Mr. Robinson.
"Yes we do!" Mike replied, taking center stage. "A small group will go with Mrs. Jotunheim to activate a fail-safe that should destroy all the clones."
"And the rest of us?" asked a concerned Larry.
"That's simple, the rest of us will battle them head on until Mrs. Jotunheim activates the fail-safe." the maroon badger replied.
"This will work as a distraction to most of the clones, making Mrs. Jotunheim's job easier." Brian added.
Everyone felt rather uncomfortable by the idea of taking a direct approach towards the clones, but at the same time, they realized that, in spite of the risk, they all agreed that it was the best plan they had for the moment.
"So who's going with Mrs. Jotunheim?" asked Max.
"The ones that probably should be away from most of the fighting," Just then, Mike, Brian, and Rhonda, were surrounded by the Watterson siblings, Penny, Tobias, Carrie, and Ivan. "Us."
Everyone looked at the kids, surprised that they would risk their own lives. At the same time, they decided not to argue with them, as it was best to at least trust them with such an important task.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Brian?" asked a concerned Gordon.
"Yes dad, I want to." Brian replied. "It's my responsibility and I want to make it up for it."
"Everyone head home and arm yourselves with anything that can do a lot of damage. We can't afford to hold back." Mike informed everyone.
Surprisingly, everyone complied with the maroon badger's request and before long; they immediately exited the Paxton residence and went straight to their homes, intending to arm themselves.
"Mike, I've never seen you take charge like this before." an awestruck Darwin spoke.
"Yeah, I just noticed that." Brian noted.
"You've basically got the whole town to follow your plan." Penny added.
"To be honest, I'm surprised they actually listened to the idea." Mike admitted, leaving everyone dumbfounded. "Don't just stand there; we've got to get moving now."
Everyone nodded their heads in response, before saluting Mike, which took him off guard.
"You don't have to salute." the maroon badger assured his friends, causing them to rub their head sheepishly.
It took them a long while to find anything to arm themselves with, but once they obtained their main weapons of choice, the entire town marched their way towards the outskirts of town, intending to stop the clones dead in their tracks. From shovels to bats to frying pans and rolling pins, everybody was armed and ready to fight at all cost.
"Margaret, if we don't managed to make it out alive; I just want you to know…THAT YOUR COOKING NEEDS SOME IMPROVEMENT!" Mr. Robinson shouted at his wife, prompting her to whack him on the head.
"You two need to keep it down…" Annie urged the couple. "Right now, we need to focus on the task."
"Annie's got a point." Gordon agreed with his wife. "We need to make sure that none of the clones leave this town, not even one."
In the midst of their conversation, everyone stopped, prompting the four to turn around and realize that they have made it to their location. Before long, however, a purple tidal wave was marching towards the shocked crowd, before they did a double take and realized that there was an army of Brians heading their way, each with a serious expression on their face, determined to leave Elmore at all cost.
"Alright everyone, listen up!" Nicole shouted as loud as she can for the townsfolk. "We need to give it all we got and remember don't hold back on those clones!"
"You heard what my wife said!" Richard yelled at the top of his lung. "This is our home and we're not going to let those clones do whatever they want to! Now, are you ready to face them head on?!"
"YES!" everyone shouted, satisfying both Richard and Nicole in the process.
"Well, in that case…CHARGE!" the older, blue feline declared, as she and the rest of the town began to mobilize, with the clones making the same move on their part, before they began to collide with one another in the assault.
While the entire town and the army of clones battled against one another, in another section of town, Brian, along with his friends, managed to quietly made their way to the outskirts of Elmore, thankful that not a single clone was in sight; after taking a long and narrow path, the group finally made their to what appeared to be an abandoned steel mill.
"Alright Mike, remind us what your plan was again?" asked an uncertain Brian.
"With most of the clones on the other side fighting, they won't expect us to walk in the back door and take them by surprise." Mike explained again.
"But what if there are a few clones in the back?" Gumball pointed out to the maroon badger.
"Then we'll take them out as discreetly as possible." Ivan wasn't happy as he thought he was actually going to pound some Brians.
"Ivan, you'll get your chance." Darwin assured the disappointed red bear. "Besides, we don't want to attract too much attention."
"I hope you're right, Blubber Boy." Ivan stated. "I don't want to miss this opportunity."
With that, Brian and the rest of his friends made their way towards the steel mill; upon arrival, however, the group was stunned to find a large steel gate blocking their only entrance. As everyone tried to figure on what to do next, Brian noticed a nearby panel just a few inches away from them, which gave the purple fox an idea.
"Anais, would you do the honor?" asked Brian, before he pointed to the panel.
"Don't worry about it, Brian, this will be piece of cake." Anais assured the purple fox, before she quickly rubbed her feet to produce some electricity and shoot the current into the panel, activating it in the process.
They then walked in to see there wasn't anyone guarding the place outside as they all were too busy with the fighting out front.
'Loos like the coast is clear.' Brian thought, before he heard the tracker gave off some erratic reading.
"The machine is in that building." Mrs. Jotunheim pointed at the tallest building in the mill.
"At least we don't have to worry too much about facing those clones in here." Tobias remarked.
"Well we best not waste time!" Penny said, as the rest agreed and hurried to the tower, making their way inside the steel mill. One section after another, the group, so far, had not encountered a single clone in their midst, while they hurriedly tried to make their way to their destination as fast as they can. Eventually, though, Brian and his friends stopped dead in their tracks when they find themselves in front of a door, prompting a curious Gumball to turn the knob around.
"Guys, this door is locked and it doesn't look like there's any other way to get around." the blue feline informed his companions.
"We can't go around the tower as they're watching the front door…" Tobias said looking through the window.
"Well, that bites." Carrie commented flatly. "How are we going to get in now?"
"Don't worry, I got this!" Ivan informed the group, before he charged towards the door as hard as he could.
Thankfully for the red bear, the rusty hinges proved to be no match for Ivan's strength, as Ivan was able to topple the door. Unfortunately for him and the rest of the group, there were several Brian clones waiting inside and looked at the group with astonishment, no doubt having become aware of their presence.
"Subtle, Ivan… Real flipping subtle." Mike said face palming. "Brian, Ivan and I can handle these guys! Get Mrs. Jotunheim to the machine!" Mike ordered, as the pointed at the clear stairway.
"Alright Mike, be careful. You too, Ivan." Brian called out to the two.
The red bear, however, was enjoying himself beating up the clones, laughing wildly of the opportunity he's been relishing for so long, prompting the purple fox to shrug, while Mike drop kicked a nearby clone, toppling four others like dominoes. Preoccupied by their situation, Brian and the rest of the group departed to the stairway, making their way to the tower.
"We need to be on our guards now, you guys..." Brian began to explain, as he and his friends ran up on the stairway. "There's no telling what the clones will do now that they know we're here."
"Don't worry Brian; we'll make sure we're well prepared when that happens." Gumball, as well as everyone, assured the purple fox, before making their way into another room. Based on their estimations, they only had a few rooms left from where they are, which also meant that they were much closer to their destination. But as they made a run to the other side, out of nowhere, a giant door appeared out of nowhere, locking itself tight and preventing anyone from passing through.
"Well, this is just great." Carrie commented. "Now how are we supposed to get to the machine?"
"Why are you complaining, Carrie? Can't you just phase through the door and unlock the door?" Darwin pointed out.
"…Oh yeah." Carrie replied, before she phased through the door and looked at the lock. It would take some time but she could probably get it off.
'This is going to take a while.' the young ghost thought, before she began to manipulate the lock mechanism.
While the young ghost was busy unlocking the door, clones unexpectedly popped from out of nowhere and leaped towards the group, intending to take them down with an ambush. Unfortunately for the clones, however, they were well prepared and quickly dispatched them with one blow after another, with Penny landing a kick on the last clone, causing him to revert back into a crystal.
"Wow, I didn't think we were that good." said an exhausted Penny.
"Either that or they have just gotten sloppy." Darwin commented.
Just then, they heard a huge clank from behind, prompting the group to turn around and see the giant door move on its own, as Carrie phased out, just in time to see her friends looking worn out and tired, as well as several crystals laying all over the floor.
"What'd I miss?" Carrie asked plainly.
"Just one of those fights when you least expect it." Brian casually replied, before the purple fox thought of something.
"Carrie, go make sure that Mike and Ivan are okay." Carrie nodded as she phased through the floor. "Everyone else; let's keep going!"
With those words spoke, the purple fox lead the group to the stairway, as they were getting closer to their destination.
Shortly after her friends went off to the cloning machine, Carrie peeked out of the ceiling to see Mike and Ivan surrounded by at least twenty clones. They were both holding makeshift weapons, like pipes and shovels.
'Oh no!' Carrie thought to herself.
"What do you think, Ivan?" Mike asked.
"Well, it might actually be a fair fight if one more shows up." Ivan said, surveying the scene they were in.
"Then I guess I'll have to get that one." Mike shrugged.
"Oh I didn't know you were fighting too." Both Mike and Ivan smiled as they started taking down clone after clone with their weapons. After the last clone had turned back to crystal, Carrie could help but blush as one of her favorite people just got more awesome.
'That was amazing.' she thought, before she made her way to the unsuspecting boys.
"Good job, you guys!" the young ghost praised the two, causing both Mike and Ivan to yelp, before realizing it was Carrie.
"Don't do that." Ivan scolded Carrie. "But seriously, thanks."
"Same here." said Mike. "By the way, did anything happen while we're busy fighting?"
"Everyone is upstairs. They should have the machine down soon." Carrie explained.
"Well we better go up and check. I doubt they left it unguarded." Mike reasoned.
"Let's get a move on then." Ivan insisted, before the trio made their way upwards. "My fists demand more clone face time."
After passing through one room after another, Brian, along with his group, were able to make their way into the final area of the tower. But upon approaching the door, the cloning machine was nowhere to be found, leaving everyone quite confused. The room was also extremely dark so they couldn't see much except the light coming through a window above them.
"That's strange…" Mrs. Jotunheim began, as she looked down at the tracker and back at the empty room. "It says that it's right here."
"Something's not right here." Rhonda commented.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Gumball said to no one in particular.
"Well you should be!" A clone appeared from a dark corner, causing everyone to yelp back, before said clone noticed Rhonda among the group. Initially shocked to see her with the group, the clone's expression was replaced by rage, before a small army of clones unexpectedly popped up from the shadows.
'Oh no, this doesn't look good.' Brian thought to himself.
Just then, the door behind his group suddenly opened, revealing Mike, Carrie and Ivan, having arrived just in time.
"Looks like the cavalry has just arrived." Mike announced, before noticing the army of clones. "Whoa! We're gonna need more pipes."
"Sic 'em, boys." the lead clone informed his army.
"I've been waiting for this moment!" Ivan exclaimed, before he let all his rage boil over and rushed over the clones. Soon, everyone but the real Brian followed suit as the purple fox helped Mrs. Jotunheim find the machine in the room.
"If I would hide a cloning machine, where would I put it?" Brian asked to himself, as he and the witch pondered on the possible place for the cloning machine. Then when Brian knocked on one of the walls it made a sound like it was made of wood. Eventually, the two looked at one another, as if they had found the answer.
"Are you're thinking what I'm thinking kid?"
"I do, Mrs. Jotunheim. I think one of these walls is concealing the cloning machine itself."
"If what you say is true, we need to find a way to reach there. The only question is: how do we do that?"
As if to answer her question, a few clones were thrown towards the nearest wall, courtesy of Mike and Ivan and much to their amazement, the cloning machine was right in front of Brian and Mrs. Jotunheim.
"Well, that was easier than I thought." the purple fox commented.
"Alright kid, I'll take it from here. Just keep those clones off of my back until I activate the fail-safe." the witch informed Brian, before making her way inside.
Brian watched the hole behind his back, as his friends were fighting the clones and from what he could tell, they weren't winning. While Mike and Ivan were doing alright, everyone else that wasn't accustomed to fighting like they had to weren't keeping a good pace with the clones and that left the purple fox deeply concerned.
'I need to do something.' Brian thought, before the purple fox made his way to his friends, starting with Rhonda.
"I got your back, Rhonda." he shouted, punching one clone in the face.
"Thanks for the help, Brian. I owe you one." the mouse thanked her boyfriend.
"Don't mention it, Rhonda. I'm just happy you're safe." Brian assured his girlfriend. "Now come on, let's help everyone!"
One by one, Brian, with Rhonda's assistance, came to their friend's aid, knocking out the nearest clone in their vicinity, giving them a fighting chance for the next several minutes. But in spite of their best efforts, the clones continued to gain the upperhand, slowly overpowering them, including Mike and Ivan; before long, everyone found themselves cornered, as the clones menacingly approached the terrified group.
"I'm sorry everyone, I wish I never used the cloning machine." Brian apologized to his friends.
"Don't worry Brian; we know you didn't mean to do this on purpose." Gumball, as well as his friends, assured the purple fox.
"At least we were able to make a good stand up until this point." Mike stated.
But just when their situation was about to take a grim turn…
"The fail-safe is ready!" Mrs. Jotunheim shouted, before she activated it.
"WHAT?!" the clones horrifyingly exclaimed.
Suddenly, the clones felt a strange sensation all over their bodies, causing them to shiver from head to toe, until finally, they disappeared in a cloud of smoke, as it immediately dispersed, revealing the crystals where the clones once stood, as everyone looked on with astonishment.
The townsfolk didn't know how long they've been fighting with clones, whether it was Nicole planting her foot on one of their faces or Richard bulldozing them with his body, but in spite of their best efforts, the clones continued to fight on, slowly pushing them away.
'This is crazy!' Max thought to himself. 'These clones look like they're really determined to leave Elmore! If this keeps up, the whole world would be in-'
Max's thoughts were interrupted, however, as the clones suddenly stopped what they were doing and before the townsfolk knew what happened next, their bodies shivered from head to toe, as if they were in some sort of trance. After what felt like an eternity, the clones suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke, just as it quickly dispersed revealing the crystals were the clones used to stand and for a while, there was a long silence all over the outskirts.
"Did you guys see what just happened to them right now?" asked Larry, finally breaking the silence.
"We all did, Larry." Max replied, before smiling. "That means that they did it. They were able to stop them."
With those words spoken, everyone began to celebrate and cheer, happy that the outcome didn't turn into a grim one.
Mike looked out through the window from the tower, having witnessed the clones revert back into crystals and hearing the townsfolk cheering with joy, no doubt that they were safe and sound, before he turned around to face his friends, taking a deep breath and shouting on top of his lungs.
"We won!"
The moment the maroon badger said those two words, everyone cheered, happy to know that the situation has finally come to an end, especially for Brian.
"That's a relief!" Brian happily exclaimed. "I'm glad this is all over."
Just then, the purple fox felt a tap on his shoulder, prompting him to turn around see Ivan standing right in front of him, unusually smiling at Brian for a change.
"I have to admit, you put up a good fight back there. It was really amazing." Ivan praised his rival, before becoming serious. "But just so you know, this event doesn't change anything between us."
"At least you were honest with me, Ivan." said Brian. "But seriously, thank you so much."
"Don't mention it." the red bear insisted. "Anyway, I have to get going now. My mom is probably worried about me right now."
With that, Ivan made his way to the stairways, intending to head back home, while Brian made his way to his friends, joining with them in their celebration, before a certain witch made her way to the group.
"I hope you learned your lesson kid." Mrs. Jotunheim said to the purple fox. "Maybe now you will be careful next time."
"There will be no next time." Gumball joked.
"I'll be shocked if she lets you within forty feet of it." Darwin joined in.
"After what I've been through, I'd rather stay away from it from now on." said Brian, just happy that everything was back to normal.
"I wonder how bad your parents are going to punish you for this." Tobias spoke aloud, causing Brian to cringe. Of all the things he had to hear, it was the last thing he expected and it'll be a matter of time before that happens.
"Cheer up, Brian. I'm sure the punishment won't be that bad." Rhonda insisted.
"Believe me Rhonda; they don't tolerate this kind of action." Brian said otherwise, lamenting of what his parents would do when he had to face them.
But for now, he just wanted to continue celebrating with his friends.
Next time on The Newcomer
Chapter 60-The Opposites
When Rhonda is unable to hang out with Brian, due to his actions, she decided to hang out with Penny and her friends, only to find herself in a conflict with Teri.
Tidbits
-First time in a long time I have done a three part chapter and it turned out quite good as I thought.
-Once again, I want to thank Sal for his help on this one.
I hope everyone enjoyed the final part of The Clones and I'll be seeing ya next chapter.